diff --git a/e2e/global.setup.ts b/e2e/global.setup.ts
index d45831a7d..f550b5bac 100644
--- a/e2e/global.setup.ts
+++ b/e2e/global.setup.ts
@@ -42,12 +42,13 @@ async function globalSetup() {
   try {
     const response = await fetch(setupUrl, { method: 'POST' })
     if (!response.ok) {
-      console.error('[setup] Failed to seed database:', response.status, response.statusText)
-    } else {
-      console.log('[setup] Database seeded successfully')
+      throw new Error(`Seed endpoint returned ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`)
     }
+    console.log('[setup] Database seeded successfully')
   } catch (error) {
-    console.warn('[setup] Setup endpoint not available (non-fatal):', (error as Error).message)
+    const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+    console.error('[setup] Failed to seed database:', message)
+    throw new Error(`[setup] Seeding failed — aborting test suite. ${message}`)
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/frontends/workflowui/src/app/api/setup/route.ts b/frontends/workflowui/src/app/api/setup/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b7e14d133
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontends/workflowui/src/app/api/setup/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * POST /api/setup
+ *
+ * Seeds the database via the C++ DBAL REST API with system packages
+ * and page configurations. Called by E2E global setup to bootstrap
+ * test data before the test suite runs.
+ */
+
+import { NextResponse } from 'next/server'
+
+const DBAL_URL =
+  process.env.DBAL_DAEMON_URL ??
+  process.env.DBAL_ENDPOINT ??
+  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL ??
+  'http://localhost:8080'
+
+const ENTITY_BASE = `${DBAL_URL}/system/core`
+
+const SEED_PACKAGES = [
+  { packageId: 'package_manager', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"autoUpdate":false,"systemPackage":true,"uninstallProtection":true}' },
+  { packageId: 'ui_header', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":true}' },
+  { packageId: 'ui_footer', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":true}' },
+  { packageId: 'ui_home', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":true,"defaultRoute":"/","publicAccess":true}' },
+  { packageId: 'ui_auth', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":true}' },
+  { packageId: 'ui_login', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":true}' },
+  { packageId: 'dashboard', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":true,"defaultRoute":"/"}' },
+  { packageId: 'user_manager', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":true,"minLevel":4}' },
+  { packageId: 'role_editor', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":false,"minLevel":4}' },
+  { packageId: 'admin_dialog', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":false,"minLevel":4}' },
+  { packageId: 'database_manager', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":false,"minLevel":5,"dangerousOperations":true}' },
+  { packageId: 'schema_editor', version: '1.0.0', enabled: true, config: '{"systemPackage":false,"minLevel":5,"dangerousOperations":true}' },
+]
+
+const SEED_PAGE_CONFIGS = [
+  { path: '/', title: 'MetaBuilder', description: 'Data-driven application platform', packageId: 'ui_home', component: 'home_page', componentTree: '{}', level: 0, requiresAuth: false, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 0 },
+  { path: '/dashboard', title: 'Dashboard', packageId: 'dashboard', component: 'dashboard_home', componentTree: '{}', level: 1, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 0 },
+  { path: '/profile', title: 'User Profile', packageId: 'dashboard', component: 'user_profile', componentTree: '{}', level: 1, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 50 },
+  { path: '/login', title: 'Login', packageId: 'ui_login', component: 'login_page', componentTree: '{}', level: 0, requiresAuth: false, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 0 },
+  { path: '/admin', title: 'Administration', packageId: 'admin_dialog', component: 'admin_panel', componentTree: '{}', level: 4, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 0 },
+  { path: '/admin/users', title: 'User Management', packageId: 'user_manager', component: 'user_list', componentTree: '{}', level: 4, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 10 },
+  { path: '/admin/roles', title: 'Role Editor', packageId: 'role_editor', component: 'role_editor', componentTree: '{}', level: 4, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 20 },
+  { path: '/admin/database', title: 'Database Manager', packageId: 'database_manager', component: 'database_manager', componentTree: '{}', level: 5, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 30 },
+  { path: '/admin/schema', title: 'Schema Editor', packageId: 'schema_editor', component: 'schema_editor', componentTree: '{}', level: 5, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 40 },
+  { path: '/admin/packages', title: 'Package Manager', packageId: 'package_manager', component: 'package_list', componentTree: '{}', level: 4, requiresAuth: true, isPublished: true, sortOrder: 50 },
+]
+
+async function dbalPost(entity: string, data: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<{ ok: boolean; status: number }> {
+  const res = await fetch(`${ENTITY_BASE}/${entity}`, {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+    body: JSON.stringify(data),
+  })
+  return { ok: res.ok, status: res.status }
+}
+
+export async function POST() {
+  const results = { packages: 0, pages: 0, skipped: 0, errors: 0 }
+
+  for (const pkg of SEED_PACKAGES) {
+    try {
+      const res = await dbalPost('InstalledPackage', {
+        ...pkg,
+        installedAt: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000),
+      })
+      if (res.ok) {
+        results.packages++
+      } else if (res.status === 409) {
+        results.skipped++
+      } else {
+        results.errors++
+        console.warn(`[Seed] Failed to seed package ${pkg.packageId}: HTTP ${res.status}`)
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      results.errors++
+      console.warn(`[Seed] Failed to seed package ${pkg.packageId}:`, error instanceof Error ? error.message : error)
+    }
+  }
+
+  for (const page of SEED_PAGE_CONFIGS) {
+    try {
+      const res = await dbalPost('PageConfig', page)
+      if (res.ok) {
+        results.pages++
+      } else if (res.status === 409) {
+        results.skipped++
+      } else {
+        results.errors++
+        console.warn(`[Seed] Failed to seed page ${page.path}: HTTP ${res.status}`)
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      results.errors++
+      console.warn(`[Seed] Failed to seed page ${page.path}:`, error instanceof Error ? error.message : error)
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.warn(`[Seed] Complete: ${results.packages} packages, ${results.pages} pages, ${results.skipped} skipped, ${results.errors} errors`)
+
+  return NextResponse.json({
+    success: true,
+    message: 'Database seeded successfully',
+    results,
+  })
+}