diff --git a/.changeset/fn-8978-typescript-dedup.md b/.changeset/fn-8978-typescript-dedup.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..521b887c44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fn-8978-typescript-dedup.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@runfusion/fusion": patch
+---
+
+summary: Clean up the published CLI manifest so TypeScript is declared once as a runtime dependency.
+category: internal
+dev: Removed the duplicate `typescript` devDependencies entry from packages/cli/package.json (the runtime `dependencies` entry required by the tsup `external` list is unchanged) and regenerated pnpm-lock.yaml.
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index 3547258e54..7992bfe2d5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -115,7 +115,6 @@
     "tsup": "^8.5.1",
     "tsx": "^4.19.0",
     "typebox": "^1.0.0",
-    "typescript": "^5.7.0",
     "vitest": "^4.1.10",
     "yaml": "^2.8.3"
   },
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/package-config.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/package-config.test.ts
index 0023908c2e..05a305b757 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/package-config.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/package-config.test.ts
@@ -338,6 +338,37 @@ describe("CLI package.json publishing config", () => {
       },
     );
 
+    /*
+    FNXC:Packaging 2026-08-11-05:52:
+    FN-8978 removed the duplicate TypeScript declaration from CLI devDependencies.
+    Prepack copies remaining devDependencies into the published manifest, so this
+    guard covers the packed output as well as the source manifest.
+    */
+    it("published manifest keeps tsup externals as runtime-only dependencies", () => {
+      const publishedPkg = applyPrepackTransform(pkg);
+      const deps = Object.keys(publishedPkg.dependencies || {});
+      const devDeps = Object.keys(publishedPkg.devDependencies || {});
+
+      for (const external of externals) {
+        if (
+          builtinModules.includes(external) ||
+          external.startsWith("node:") ||
+          external in TRANSITIVE_EXTERNALS
+        ) {
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        expect(
+          deps,
+          `published tsup external "${external}" must be in @runfusion/fusion dependencies — otherwise \`npx runfusion.ai\` fails with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND on a clean install. If this is a transitive dep, add it to TRANSITIVE_EXTERNALS with a reason.`,
+        ).toContain(external);
+        expect(
+          devDeps,
+          `published tsup external "${external}" must not be only a devDependency`,
+        ).not.toContain(external);
+      }
+    });
+
     it("TRANSITIVE_EXTERNALS entries still appear in tsup external (otherwise stale)", () => {
       for (const name of Object.keys(TRANSITIVE_EXTERNALS)) {
         expect(
diff --git a/packages/cli/tsup.config.ts b/packages/cli/tsup.config.ts
index 913e4875b8..8a316e925d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/tsup.config.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/tsup.config.ts
@@ -441,6 +441,12 @@ const cliBuildConfig = {
     */
     "playwright-core",
     // FNXC:KnowledgeGraph 2026-08-10-10:00: TypeScript 5.9.3 (sha512-jl1vZzPDinLr9eUt3J/t7V6FgNEw9QjvBPdysz9KfQDD41fQrC2Y4vKQdiaUpFT4bXlb1RHhLpp8wtm6M5TgSw==) stays runtime external.
+    /*
+    FNXC:KnowledgeGraph 2026-08-11-05:52:
+    FN-8978 requires TypeScript to remain a runtime dependency only, never a
+    devDependency or TRANSITIVE_EXTERNALS entry: bundled @fusion/core knowledge-
+    graph extractors import it from dist/bin.js at runtime.
+    */
     "typescript",
   ],
   splitting: false,