diff --git a/apps/studio/src/client/components/studio-sidebar.tsx b/apps/studio/src/client/components/studio-sidebar.tsx
index 56010aff..b1861875 100644
--- a/apps/studio/src/client/components/studio-sidebar.tsx
+++ b/apps/studio/src/client/components/studio-sidebar.tsx
@@ -38,6 +38,17 @@ const data = {
 export function StudioSidebar({
   ...props
 }: React.ComponentProps<typeof Sidebar>) {
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    // Installs the basic template to ensure it's available for new projects
+    void vanillaRpcClient.workspace.registry.template
+      .installDependencies({
+        templateName: "basic",
+      })
+      .catch((error: unknown) => {
+        logger.error("Error installing template", { error });
+      });
+  }, []);
+
   const [userResult] = useAtom(userAtom);
 
   const { data: favorites } = useQuery(
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/constants.ts b/packages/workspace/src/constants.ts
index a3ae11c1..79ce914d 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/constants.ts
@@ -23,3 +23,4 @@ export const APP_STATUSES = [
 export const GIT_AUTHOR = { email: "agent@quests.dev", name: "Quests Agent" };
 export const WEBSITE_URL = "https://quests.dev";
 export const APP_NAME = "Quests";
+export const INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000; // 5 minutes
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/logic/spawn-runtime.ts b/packages/workspace/src/logic/spawn-runtime.ts
index d62fc97b..9384f333 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/logic/spawn-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/logic/spawn-runtime.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   fromCallback,
 } from "xstate";
 
+import { INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS } from "../constants";
 import { type AppConfig } from "../lib/app-config/types";
 import { cancelableTimeout, TimeoutError } from "../lib/cancelable-timeout";
 import { pathExists } from "../lib/path-exists";
@@ -18,7 +19,6 @@ import { getWorkspaceServerURL } from "./server/url";
 
 const BASE_RUNTIME_TIMEOUT_MS = 60 * 1000; // 1 minute
 const RUNTIME_TIMEOUT_MULTIPLIER_MS = 30 * 1000; // 30 seconds
-const INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000; // 5 minutes
 
 const portManager = new PortManager({
   basePort: 9200,
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/rpc/routes/registry.ts b/packages/workspace/src/rpc/routes/registry.ts
index 6b249e0c..15ed9b57 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/rpc/routes/registry.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/rpc/routes/registry.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import { z } from "zod";
 
+import {
+  DEFAULT_TEMPLATE_NAME,
+  INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS,
+  REGISTRY_TEMPLATES_FOLDER,
+} from "../../constants";
+import { absolutePathJoin } from "../../lib/absolute-path-join";
+import { templateExists } from "../../lib/app-dir-utils";
+import { cancelableTimeout } from "../../lib/cancelable-timeout";
 import {
   getRegistryAppDetails,
   RegistryAppDetailsSchema,
@@ -56,10 +64,89 @@ const screenshot = base
     }
   });
 
+let HAS_INSTALLED_DEFAULT_TEMPLATE = false;
+
+const installDependencies = base
+  .input(z.object({ templateName: z.literal(DEFAULT_TEMPLATE_NAME) }))
+  .handler(async ({ context, errors, input, signal }) => {
+    const { templateName } = input;
+
+    if (HAS_INSTALLED_DEFAULT_TEMPLATE) {
+      return {
+        message: `Dependencies already installed for template ${templateName}`,
+        success: true,
+      };
+    }
+
+    // Check if template exists
+    const exists = await templateExists({
+      folderName: templateName,
+      workspaceConfig: context.workspaceConfig,
+    });
+
+    if (!exists) {
+      throw errors.NOT_FOUND({
+        message: `Template ${templateName} not found`,
+      });
+    }
+
+    const templateDir = absolutePathJoin(
+      context.workspaceConfig.registryDir,
+      REGISTRY_TEMPLATES_FOLDER,
+      templateName,
+    );
+
+    try {
+      const installTimeout = cancelableTimeout(INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS);
+      installTimeout.start();
+      const combinedSignal = signal
+        ? AbortSignal.any([signal, installTimeout.controller.signal])
+        : installTimeout.controller.signal;
+
+      const result = await context.workspaceConfig.runShellCommand(
+        "pnpm install",
+        {
+          cwd: templateDir,
+          signal: combinedSignal,
+        },
+      );
+
+      installTimeout.cancel();
+
+      if (result.isErr()) {
+        // Log error but don't expose to UI
+        context.workspaceConfig.captureException(result.error);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const processResult = await result.value;
+
+      if (processResult.exitCode !== 0) {
+        const error = new Error(
+          `pnpm install failed with exit code ${processResult.exitCode ?? "unknown"}: ${processResult.stderr}`,
+        );
+        context.workspaceConfig.captureException(error);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      HAS_INSTALLED_DEFAULT_TEMPLATE = true;
+      return;
+    } catch (error) {
+      // Log error but don't expose to UI
+      context.workspaceConfig.captureException(
+        error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error)),
+      );
+      return;
+    }
+  });
+
 export const registry = {
   app: {
     byFolderName,
     list,
     screenshot,
   },
+  template: {
+    installDependencies,
+  },
 };