diff --git a/src/tasks/deploy-with-composer.ts b/src/tasks/deploy-with-composer.ts
index 8e8bcb3..76e08b4 100644
--- a/src/tasks/deploy-with-composer.ts
+++ b/src/tasks/deploy-with-composer.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { execa } from "execa";
 import { createInterface } from "node:readline";
 import type { Writable } from "node:stream";
 
-import { PRISMA_PLATFORM_CLI_PACKAGE } from "../constants/dependencies";
 import {
   ClassifiedCreateError,
   getCreateFailureReason,
@@ -13,8 +12,8 @@ import {
 import type { PackageManager } from "../types";
 import { getErrorMessage, redactSecrets } from "../utils/errors";
 import {
-  getPackageExecutionArgs,
-  getPackageExecutionCommand,
+  getLocalPackageBinaryArgs,
+  getLocalPackageBinaryCommand,
   getRunScriptArgs,
   getRunScriptCommand,
 } from "../utils/package-manager";
@@ -149,7 +148,7 @@ export function parsePrismaCliEnvelope<Result = unknown>(
 }
 
 function getPrismaCliArgs(packageManager: PackageManager, args: string[]) {
-  return getPackageExecutionArgs(packageManager, [PRISMA_PLATFORM_CLI_PACKAGE, ...args]);
+  return getLocalPackageBinaryArgs(packageManager, "prisma", args);
 }
 
 async function runPrismaJsonCommand<Result>(options: {
@@ -251,8 +250,7 @@ async function ensureAuthentication(options: {
   const authState = await whoami();
   if (authState.authenticated) return authState;
 
-  const loginCommand = getPackageExecutionCommand(options.packageManager, [
-    PRISMA_PLATFORM_CLI_PACKAGE,
+  const loginCommand = getLocalPackageBinaryCommand(options.packageManager, "prisma", [
     "auth",
     "login",
   ]);
@@ -517,8 +515,7 @@ export async function deployNewProjectWithComposer(options: {
     clearProgress();
     failureStage = "composer_deploy";
     failureReason = "composer_deploy_failed";
-    const deployCommand = getPackageExecutionCommand(options.packageManager, [
-      PRISMA_PLATFORM_CLI_PACKAGE,
+    const deployCommand = getLocalPackageBinaryCommand(options.packageManager, "prisma", [
       "deploy",
       "module.ts",
     ]);
diff --git a/src/tasks/setup-prisma.ts b/src/tasks/setup-prisma.ts
index 4ace2e3..0e94b63 100644
--- a/src/tasks/setup-prisma.ts
+++ b/src/tasks/setup-prisma.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import fs from "fs-extra";
 import path from "node:path";
 import type { Writable } from "node:stream";
 
-import { PRISMA_DENO_CLI_PACKAGE, PRISMA_PLATFORM_CLI_PACKAGE } from "../constants/dependencies";
 import {
   ClassifiedCreateError,
   CreateCancellationError,
@@ -29,7 +28,7 @@ import { getErrorMessage } from "../utils/errors";
 import {
   detectPackageManager,
   getInstallCommand,
-  getPackageExecutionArgs,
+  getLocalPackageBinaryArgs,
   getRunScriptCommand,
 } from "../utils/package-manager";
 import { runSetupCommand } from "../utils/run-command";
@@ -229,10 +228,8 @@ function getInitTarget(provider: DatabaseProvider): "postgres" | "mongodb" {
   return provider === "mongo" ? "mongodb" : "postgres";
 }
 
-function getPrismaCliInvocation(packageManager: PackageManager, args: string[]) {
-  const packageName =
-    packageManager === "deno" ? PRISMA_DENO_CLI_PACKAGE : PRISMA_PLATFORM_CLI_PACKAGE;
-  return getPackageExecutionArgs(packageManager, [packageName, ...args]);
+function getInstalledPrismaCliInvocation(packageManager: PackageManager, args: string[]) {
+  return getLocalPackageBinaryArgs(packageManager, "prisma", args);
 }
 
 async function runPrismaInit(context: PrismaSetupContext, projectDir: string): Promise<void> {
@@ -249,7 +246,7 @@ async function runPrismaInit(context: PrismaSetupContext, projectDir: string): P
     getContractPath(context.authoring),
     "--skip-install",
   ];
-  const invocation = getPrismaCliInvocation(context.packageManager, args);
+  const invocation = getInstalledPrismaCliInvocation(context.packageManager, args);
   if (context.verbose) {
     log.step(`Running ${[invocation.command, ...invocation.args].join(" ")}`, {
       output: context.output,
@@ -272,7 +269,7 @@ async function initializeAgentSkills(
 ): Promise<void> {
   if (context.packageManager === "deno") return;
 
-  const invocation = getPrismaCliInvocation(context.packageManager, [
+  const invocation = getInstalledPrismaCliInvocation(context.packageManager, [
     "init",
     "--yes",
     "--no-interactive",
@@ -342,7 +339,7 @@ async function runPrismaCli(
   projectDir: string,
   args: string[],
 ): Promise<void> {
-  const invocation = getPrismaCliInvocation(context.packageManager, args);
+  const invocation = getInstalledPrismaCliInvocation(context.packageManager, args);
   if (context.verbose) {
     log.step([invocation.command, ...invocation.args].join(" "), { output: context.output });
   }
@@ -454,12 +451,31 @@ export async function executePrismaSetupContext(
     : (options.progressSpinner ?? spinner({ output: context.output }));
   const ownsProgress = progress !== undefined && !options.progressSpinner;
   let gitInitialization: GitInitializationResult | undefined;
-  let setupStage: CreateFailureStage = "initialize_prisma";
-  let setupReason: CreateFailureReason = "prisma_init_failed";
+  let setupStage: CreateFailureStage = "configure_project";
+  let setupReason: CreateFailureReason = "project_configuration_failed";
   if (ownsProgress) progress.start("Creating Prisma 8 project...");
 
   try {
+    await writePrismaDependencies(
+      context.databaseProvider,
+      context.packageManager,
+      context.authoring,
+      projectDir,
+    );
+
+    progress?.message(
+      `Installing dependencies with ${getInstallCommand(context.packageManager)}...`,
+    );
+    setupStage = "install_dependencies";
+    setupReason = "dependency_install_failed";
+    await installProjectDependencies(context.packageManager, projectDir, {
+      verbose: context.verbose,
+      json: context.json,
+    });
+
     progress?.message("Preparing Prisma 8 project files...");
+    setupStage = "initialize_prisma";
+    setupReason = "prisma_init_failed";
     await runPrismaInit(context, projectDir);
 
     setupStage = "configure_project";
@@ -472,12 +488,6 @@ export async function executePrismaSetupContext(
       authoring: context.authoring,
       packageManager: context.packageManager,
     });
-    await writePrismaDependencies(
-      context.databaseProvider,
-      context.packageManager,
-      context.authoring,
-      projectDir,
-    );
     await ensureComposerTypeScriptOptions(projectDir);
     if (context.databaseProvider === "mongo") await ensureMongoEnvironment(projectDir);
     if (context.packageManager !== "deno") {
@@ -485,16 +495,6 @@ export async function executePrismaSetupContext(
       await ensureGitignoreEntry(projectDir, "/.prisma-composer");
     }
 
-    progress?.message(
-      `Installing dependencies with ${getInstallCommand(context.packageManager)}...`,
-    );
-    setupStage = "install_dependencies";
-    setupReason = "dependency_install_failed";
-    await installProjectDependencies(context.packageManager, projectDir, {
-      verbose: context.verbose,
-      json: context.json,
-    });
-
     progress?.message("Installing Prisma agent skills...");
     setupStage = "initialize_agent_skills";
     setupReason = "agent_skills_init_failed";
diff --git a/src/utils/package-manager.ts b/src/utils/package-manager.ts
index 155467a..9569143 100644
--- a/src/utils/package-manager.ts
+++ b/src/utils/package-manager.ts
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ export function getLocalPackageBinaryArgs(
     case "deno":
       return {
         command: "deno",
-        args: ["run", "-A", DENO_ALLOW_FRESH_DEPENDENCIES, `npm:${binaryName}`, ...binaryArgs],
+        args: ["run", "-A", "--frozen", `npm:${binaryName}@latest`, ...binaryArgs],
       };
     case "pnpm":
       return { command: "pnpm", args: ["exec", binaryName, ...binaryArgs] };
@@ -268,7 +268,10 @@ export function getLocalPackageBinaryArgs(
       return { command: "bun", args: [binaryName, ...binaryArgs] };
     case "npm":
     default:
-      return { command: "npm", args: ["exec", binaryName, "--", ...binaryArgs] };
+      return {
+        command: "npm",
+        args: ["exec", "--offline", "--yes=false", "--", binaryName, ...binaryArgs],
+      };
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e/create-prisma.e2e.test.ts b/tests/e2e/create-prisma.e2e.test.ts
index 11c759d..7cf4048 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/create-prisma.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/create-prisma.e2e.test.ts
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ describe("create-prisma e2e", () => {
     expect(JSON.parse(stdout)).toMatchObject({
       schemaVersion: 1,
       ok: false,
-      error: { stage: "initialize_prisma" },
+      error: { stage: "install_dependencies" },
     });
     expect(stderr).toBe("");
     expect(await pathExists(path.join(rootDir, "failed-app", "package.json"))).toBe(true);
diff --git a/tests/install.test.ts b/tests/install.test.ts
index 171adfc..3c3ebbc 100644
--- a/tests/install.test.ts
+++ b/tests/install.test.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
 import { authoringStyles, createTemplates, databaseProviders, packageManagers } from "../src/types";
 import {
   getInstallArgs,
+  getLocalPackageBinaryArgs,
   getPackageExecutionArgs,
   getRunScriptCommand,
 } from "../src/utils/package-manager";
@@ -134,6 +135,17 @@ describe("Composer package-manager commands", () => {
       args: ["run", "-A", "--minimum-dependency-age=0", "npm:prisma@8.0.0-rc.11", "orm", "init"],
     });
   });
+
+  test("runs the installed Prisma CLI without registry fallback", () => {
+    expect(getLocalPackageBinaryArgs("npm", "prisma", ["contract", "emit"])).toEqual({
+      command: "npm",
+      args: ["exec", "--offline", "--yes=false", "--", "prisma", "contract", "emit"],
+    });
+    expect(getLocalPackageBinaryArgs("deno", "prisma", ["contract", "emit"])).toEqual({
+      command: "deno",
+      args: ["run", "-A", "--frozen", "npm:prisma@latest", "contract", "emit"],
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe("generated templates", () => {