diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 3dd376ae..f7c51fa8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -159,6 +159,67 @@ jobs:
         $normalized = $linkPath -replace '\\', '/'
         "MSVC_LINK_PATH=$normalized" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
         Write-Host "Persisted MSVC_LINK_PATH=$normalized"
+
+    - name: Initialize MSVC developer environment (Windows)
+      if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+      shell: pwsh
+      run: |
+        $vsDevCmdPaths = @(
+          "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat",
+          "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat",
+          "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat"
+        )
+
+        $vsDevCmd = $vsDevCmdPaths | Where-Object { Test-Path $_ } | Select-Object -First 1
+
+        if (-not $vsDevCmd) {
+          Write-Host "::warning::VsDevCmd.bat not found; MSVC environment variables may be missing"
+          return
+        }
+
+        Write-Host "Initializing MSVC environment via $vsDevCmd"
+        $cmdOutput = cmd /c "`"$vsDevCmd`" -arch=amd64 -host_arch=amd64 && set" 2>$null
+        if (-not $cmdOutput) {
+          Write-Host "::warning::VsDevCmd invocation produced no output"
+          return
+        }
+
+        $captured = @{}
+        foreach ($line in $cmdOutput) {
+          if ($line -match '^(.*?)=(.*)$') {
+            $name = $matches[1]
+            $value = $matches[2]
+            $captured[$name] = $value
+          }
+        }
+
+        $keysToExport = @(
+          'INCLUDE', 'LIB', 'LIBPATH', 'UCRTVersion',
+          'UniversalCRTSdkDir', 'WindowsSdkDir', 'WindowsLibPath',
+          'VCToolsInstallDir', 'VCINSTALLDIR', 'FrameworkDIR', 'FrameworkDIR64',
+          'FrameworkVersion', 'FrameworkVersion64', 'ExtensionSdkDir',
+          'DevEnvDir', 'VCIDEInstallDir', 'VSINSTALLDIR', 'VisualStudioVersion',
+          'VC_VCTIP_INSTALLDIR', 'VC_TOOLS_INSTALL_DIR', 'Path', 'PATH'
+        )
+
+        foreach ($key in $keysToExport) {
+          if ($captured.ContainsKey($key)) {
+            $value = $captured[$key]
+            if ($key -ieq 'PATH') {
+              $merged = "$value;$env:PATH"
+              "PATH=$merged" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
+              Write-Host "Exported PATH from VsDevCmd (merged with existing PATH)"
+            } elseif ($key -ieq 'Path') {
+              $merged = "$value;$env:PATH"
+              "PATH=$merged" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
+              Write-Host "Exported Path from VsDevCmd (merged with existing PATH)"
+            } else {
+              "{0}={1}" -f $key, $value | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
+              Write-Host "Exported $key from VsDevCmd"
+            }
+          }
+        }
+        Write-Host "MSVC developer environment variables exported (selected set)"
     
     - name: Diagnose vcpkg (Windows)
       if: runner.os == 'Windows' && (steps.vcpkg.outcome == 'failure' || steps.vcpkg.outcome == 'success')
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2f82e68c..7492fdef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -234,6 +234,67 @@ jobs:
           "MSVC_LINK_PATH=$normalized" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
           Write-Host "Persisted MSVC_LINK_PATH=$normalized"
 
+      - name: "Initialize MSVC developer environment (Windows)"
+        if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          $vsDevCmdPaths = @(
+            "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat",
+            "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat",
+            "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat"
+          )
+
+          $vsDevCmd = $vsDevCmdPaths | Where-Object { Test-Path $_ } | Select-Object -First 1
+
+          if (-not $vsDevCmd) {
+            Write-Host "::warning::VsDevCmd.bat not found; MSVC environment variables may be missing"
+            return
+          }
+
+          Write-Host "Initializing MSVC environment via $vsDevCmd"
+          $cmdOutput = cmd /c "`"$vsDevCmd`" -arch=amd64 -host_arch=amd64 && set" 2>$null
+          if (-not $cmdOutput) {
+            Write-Host "::warning::VsDevCmd invocation produced no output"
+            return
+          }
+
+          $captured = @{}
+          foreach ($line in $cmdOutput) {
+            if ($line -match '^(.*?)=(.*)$') {
+              $name = $matches[1]
+              $value = $matches[2]
+              $captured[$name] = $value
+            }
+          }
+
+          $keysToExport = @(
+            'INCLUDE', 'LIB', 'LIBPATH', 'UCRTVersion',
+            'UniversalCRTSdkDir', 'WindowsSdkDir', 'WindowsLibPath',
+            'VCToolsInstallDir', 'VCINSTALLDIR', 'FrameworkDIR', 'FrameworkDIR64',
+            'FrameworkVersion', 'FrameworkVersion64', 'ExtensionSdkDir',
+            'DevEnvDir', 'VCIDEInstallDir', 'VSINSTALLDIR', 'VisualStudioVersion',
+            'VC_VCTIP_INSTALLDIR', 'VC_TOOLS_INSTALL_DIR', 'Path', 'PATH'
+          )
+
+          foreach ($key in $keysToExport) {
+            if ($captured.ContainsKey($key)) {
+              $value = $captured[$key]
+              if ($key -ieq 'PATH') {
+                $merged = "$value;$env:PATH"
+                "PATH=$merged" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
+                Write-Host "Exported PATH from VsDevCmd (merged with existing PATH)"
+              } elseif ($key -ieq 'Path') {
+                $merged = "$value;$env:PATH"
+                "PATH=$merged" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
+                Write-Host "Exported Path from VsDevCmd (merged with existing PATH)"
+              } else {
+                "{0}={1}" -f $key, $value | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf8 -Append
+                Write-Host "Exported $key from VsDevCmd"
+              }
+            }
+          }
+          Write-Host "MSVC developer environment variables exported (selected set)"
+
       - name: "Free Disk Space (Linux)"
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         shell: bash