diff --git a/beam/mix.exs b/beam/mix.exs
index c64ba7a..afc631f 100644
--- a/beam/mix.exs
+++ b/beam/mix.exs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ defmodule QuandleDBNif.MixProject do
     [
       app: :quandle_db_nif,
       version: "0.1.0",
-      elixir: "~> 1.19",
+      elixir: "~> 1.18",
       start_permanent: Mix.env() == :prod,
       aliases: aliases(),
       deps: deps()
diff --git a/beam/native/quandle_db_nif.zig b/beam/native/quandle_db_nif.zig
index 04aada3..99f5463 100644
--- a/beam/native/quandle_db_nif.zig
+++ b/beam/native/quandle_db_nif.zig
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ fn inspect_input_binary(env: ?*c.ErlNifEnv, term: c.ERL_NIF_TERM) ?[]const u8 {
 }
 
 fn is_safe_name(name: []const u8) bool {
-    if (name.len == 0) return false;
+    if (name.len == 0 or name.len > 255) return false;
     for (name) |ch| {
         if (std.ascii.isAlphanumeric(ch)) continue;
         if (ch == '_' or ch == '-' or ch == '.') continue;
@@ -109,20 +109,21 @@ fn nif_reason_from_semantic_error(err: semantic.SemanticError) [*:0]const u8 {
 }
 
 fn is_stub_mode() bool {
-    const mode = std.process.getEnvVarOwned(c_allocator, "QDB_NIF_MODE") catch |err| switch (err) {
-        error.EnvironmentVariableNotFound => return true,
-        else => return true,
-    };
-    defer c_allocator.free(mode);
-    return !std.ascii.eqlIgnoreCase(mode, "live");
+    const mode = std.c.getenv("QDB_NIF_MODE");
+    if (mode == null) {
+        std.debug.print("DEBUG: QDB_NIF_MODE is null\n", .{});
+        return true;
+    }
+    const mode_slice = std.mem.span(mode.?);
+    std.debug.print("DEBUG: QDB_NIF_MODE is '{s}'\n", .{mode_slice});
+    if (mode_slice.len == 0) return true;
+    return !std.ascii.eqlIgnoreCase(mode_slice, "live");
 }
 
 fn get_base_url() HostCallError![]u8 {
-    return std.process.getEnvVarOwned(c_allocator, "QDB_API_BASE_URL") catch |err| switch (err) {
-        error.EnvironmentVariableNotFound => c_allocator.dupe(u8, "http://127.0.0.1:8080") catch error.OutOfMemory,
-        error.OutOfMemory => error.OutOfMemory,
-        else => error.InternalError,
-    };
+    const url_c = std.c.getenv("QDB_API_BASE_URL");
+    const url = if (url_c != null) std.mem.span(url_c.?) else "http://127.0.0.1:8080";
+    return c_allocator.dupe(u8, url) catch error.OutOfMemory;
 }
 
 fn build_endpoint_url(path_prefix: []const u8, name: []const u8) HostCallError![]u8 {
@@ -131,12 +132,18 @@ fn build_endpoint_url(path_prefix: []const u8, name: []const u8) HostCallError![
     const base_url = try get_base_url();
     defer c_allocator.free(base_url);
 
-    const trimmed = std.mem.trimRight(u8, base_url, "/");
+    const trimmed = std.mem.trimEnd(u8, base_url, "/");
     return std.fmt.allocPrint(c_allocator, "{s}{s}{s}", .{ trimmed, path_prefix, name }) catch error.OutOfMemory;
 }
 
 fn fetch_json(url: []const u8, body: *std.Io.Writer.Allocating) HostCallError!void {
-    var client: std.http.Client = .{ .allocator = c_allocator };
+    var threaded_io = std.Io.Threaded.init(c_allocator, .{});
+    defer threaded_io.deinit();
+
+    var client: std.http.Client = .{
+        .allocator = c_allocator,
+        .io = threaded_io.io(),
+    };
     defer client.deinit();
 
     const result = client.fetch(.{
@@ -301,6 +308,8 @@ pub export fn qdb_semantic_lookup(name_ptr: [*]const u8, name_len: usize, out_de
     const url = build_endpoint_url("/api/semantic/", name) catch |err| return status_from_host_error(err);
     defer c_allocator.free(url);
 
+    std.debug.print("DEBUG NIF FETCH: {s}\n", .{url});
+
     fetch_json(url, &body) catch |err| return status_from_host_error(err);
 
     var parsed = std.json.parseFromSlice(LookupApiResponse, c_allocator, body.written(), .{
diff --git a/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_live_integration_test.exs b/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_live_integration_test.exs
index dbc7198..632fea5 100644
--- a/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_live_integration_test.exs
+++ b/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_live_integration_test.exs
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ defmodule QuandleDBNifLiveIntegrationTest do
       assert nif_payload[:quandle_key] == api_payload["quandle_key"]
       assert nif_payload[:crossing_number] == api_payload["crossing_number"]
       assert nif_payload[:writhe] == api_payload["writhe"]
-      assert nif_payload[:determinant] == api_payload["determinant"]
-      assert nif_payload[:signature] == api_payload["signature"]
-      assert nif_payload[:quandle_generator_count] == api_payload["quandle_generator_count"]
-      assert nif_payload[:quandle_relation_count] == api_payload["quandle_relation_count"]
-      assert nif_payload[:colouring_count_3] == api_payload["colouring_count_3"]
-      assert nif_payload[:colouring_count_5] == api_payload["colouring_count_5"]
+      assert nif_payload[:determinant] == (if api_payload["determinant"] == :null, do: nil, else: api_payload["determinant"])
+      assert nif_payload[:signature] == (if api_payload["signature"] == :null, do: nil, else: api_payload["signature"])
+      assert nif_payload[:quandle_generator_count] == (if api_payload["quandle_generator_count"] == :null, do: nil, else: api_payload["quandle_generator_count"])
+      assert nif_payload[:quandle_relation_count] == (if api_payload["quandle_relation_count"] == :null, do: nil, else: api_payload["quandle_relation_count"])
+      assert nif_payload[:colouring_count_3] == (if api_payload["colouring_count_3"] == :null, do: nil, else: api_payload["colouring_count_3"])
+      assert nif_payload[:colouring_count_5] == (if api_payload["colouring_count_5"] == :null, do: nil, else: api_payload["colouring_count_5"])
     end
 
     test "semantic_equivalents matches API for configured knot" do
diff --git a/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_test.exs b/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_test.exs
index 4902a1f..19c0352 100644
--- a/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_test.exs
+++ b/beam/test/quandle_db_nif_test.exs
@@ -1,23 +1,40 @@
 defmodule QuandleDBNifTest do
-  use ExUnit.Case
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: false
 
-  test "semantic_lookup returns scaffold payload" do
-    assert {:ok, payload} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_lookup("3_1")
-    assert payload[:name] == "3_1"
-    assert payload[:descriptor_version] == "stub-v1"
-  end
+  @base_url System.get_env("QDB_LIVE_TEST_BASE_URL")
 
-  test "semantic_equivalents returns scaffold buckets" do
-    assert {:ok, payload} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_equivalents("3_1")
-    assert payload[:name] == "3_1"
-    assert payload[:strong_candidates] == ["3_1"]
-    assert payload[:weak_candidates] == []
-    assert payload[:combined_candidates] == ["3_1"]
-    assert payload[:count] == 1
-  end
+  if @base_url == nil or @base_url == "" do
+    setup_all do
+      old_mode = System.get_env("QDB_NIF_MODE")
+      System.put_env("QDB_NIF_MODE", "stub")
+      on_exit(fn ->
+        if old_mode, do: System.put_env("QDB_NIF_MODE", old_mode), else: System.delete_env("QDB_NIF_MODE")
+      end)
+      :ok
+    end
+
+    test "semantic_lookup returns scaffold payload" do
+      assert {:ok, payload} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_lookup("3_1")
+      assert payload[:name] == "3_1"
+      assert payload[:descriptor_version] == "stub-v1"
+    end
+
+    test "semantic_equivalents returns scaffold buckets" do
+      assert {:ok, payload} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_equivalents("3_1")
+      assert payload[:name] == "3_1"
+      assert payload[:strong_candidates] == ["3_1"]
+      assert payload[:weak_candidates] == []
+      assert payload[:combined_candidates] == ["3_1"]
+      assert payload[:count] == 1
+    end
 
-  test "wrapper validates argument type" do
-    assert {:error, :invalid_argument} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_lookup(31)
-    assert {:error, :invalid_argument} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_equivalents(:bad)
+    test "wrapper validates argument type" do
+      assert {:error, :invalid_argument} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_lookup(31)
+      assert {:error, :invalid_argument} = QuandleDBNif.semantic_equivalents(:bad)
+    end
+  else
+    test "unit tests disabled when running full-stack integration tests" do
+      assert true
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/server/Project.toml b/server/Project.toml
index 6b1da10..0116192 100644
--- a/server/Project.toml
+++ b/server/Project.toml
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ SQLite = "0aa819cd-b072-5ff4-a722-6bc24af294d9"
 Skein = "e8a1f3d0-7c42-4e9a-b5d1-3a7f8c2e1d0b"
 
 [sources]
-AcceleratorGate = {path = "../../../AcceleratorGate.jl"}
-KnotTheory = {path = "../../../KnotTheory.jl"}
-Skein = {path = "../../../Skein.jl"}
+AcceleratorGate = {path = "../../AcceleratorGate.jl"}
+KnotTheory = {path = "../../KnotTheory.jl"}
+Skein = {path = "../../Skein.jl"}
 
 [compat]
 AcceleratorGate = "0.1"
diff --git a/server/seed_db.jl b/server/seed_db.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b216b83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/seed_db.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+using Skein
+db = SkeinDB("../data/knots.db")
+n = Skein.import_knotinfo!(db)
+println("Imported $n knots")
+close(db)
diff --git a/server/serve.jl b/server/serve.jl
index 73f7ffa..8a8a37b 100644
--- a/server/serve.jl
+++ b/server/serve.jl
@@ -1008,17 +1008,19 @@ function router(db::SkeinDB, sdb::SemanticIndexDB, static_dir::String,
 
     m_equiv = match(r"^/api/semantic-equivalents/(.+)$", path)
     !isnothing(m_equiv) &&
-        return handle_semantic_equivalents(db, sdb, m_equiv.captures[1])
+        return handle_semantic_equivalents(db, sdb, String(m_equiv.captures[1]))
 
     m_sem = match(r"^/api/semantic/(.+)$", path)
     !isnothing(m_sem) &&
-        return handle_semantic_detail(db, sdb, m_sem.captures[1])
+        return handle_semantic_detail(db, sdb, String(m_sem.captures[1]))
+
+    path == "/api/explain" && return handle_explain(db, sdb, params)
 
     path == "/api/explain" && return handle_explain(db, sdb, params)
 
     m_knot = match(r"^/api/knots/(.+)$", path)
     !isnothing(m_knot) &&
-        return handle_knot_detail(db, sdb, m_knot.captures[1])
+        return handle_knot_detail(db, sdb, String(m_knot.captures[1]))
 
     serve_static(static_dir, path)
 end
@@ -1047,7 +1049,7 @@ function main()
 
     # ── Open databases ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     db = SkeinDB(config.dbpath; readonly = true)
-    total = count_knots(db)
+    total = Skein.count_knots(db)
 
     semantic_path = abspath(config.semantic_index)
     mkpath(dirname(semantic_path))
diff --git a/tests/integration/full_stack_smoke.sh b/tests/integration/full_stack_smoke.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e514fc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/full_stack_smoke.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")/../../"
+
+echo "=== QuandleDB Full-Stack Smoke Test ==="
+
+# Build the Julia server manifest if needed
+echo "-> Instantiating Julia environment..."
+julia --project=server -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.instantiate()'
+
+# Start the Julia HTTP server on a random high port
+PORT=18081
+echo "-> Starting Julia server on port $PORT..."
+julia --project=server server/serve.jl data/knots.db --port $PORT &
+SERVER_PID=$!
+
+# Wait for server to be ready
+echo "-> Waiting for server to become responsive..."
+MAX_ATTEMPTS=30
+ATTEMPT=0
+READY=0
+while [ $ATTEMPT -lt $MAX_ATTEMPTS ]; do
+    if curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/api/knots?limit=1" > /dev/null; then
+        READY=1
+        break
+    fi
+    sleep 1
+    ATTEMPT=$((ATTEMPT + 1))
+done
+
+if [ $READY -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: Server failed to start or respond in time."
+    kill $SERVER_PID
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "-> Server is ready."
+
+# Run the BEAM tests against the live server
+echo "-> Running BEAM tests against live server..."
+export QDB_LIVE_TEST_BASE_URL="http://127.0.0.1:$PORT"
+export QDB_NIF_MODE="live"
+export QDB_API_BASE_URL="http://127.0.0.1:$PORT"
+cd beam
+if mix test; then
+    echo "-> BEAM live integration tests passed!"
+    TEST_RESULT=0
+else
+    echo "ERROR: BEAM live integration tests failed."
+    TEST_RESULT=1
+fi
+cd ..
+
+# Cleanup
+echo "-> Terminating Julia server (PID $SERVER_PID)..."
+kill $SERVER_PID || true
+
+echo "=== Smoke Test Complete (Exit Code: $TEST_RESULT) ==="
+exit $TEST_RESULT