diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f6b279601..c14775787 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ clean:
 ## --- Automated checks --------------------------------------------------------
 smoketest:
 	@echo "🚀 Running smoketest..."
-	@bash -c '\
+	@/bin/bash -c 'source $(VENV_DIR)/bin/activate && \
 		./smoketest.py --verbose || { echo "❌ Smoketest failed!"; exit 1; }; \
 		echo "✅ Smoketest passed!" \
 	'
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ test:
 	@/bin/bash -c "source $(VENV_DIR)/bin/activate && \
 		export DATABASE_URL='sqlite:///:memory:' && \
 		export TEST_DATABASE_URL='sqlite:///:memory:' && \
-		uv run pytest -n auto --maxfail=0 -v --ignore=tests/fuzz"
+		uv run --active pytest -n auto --maxfail=0 -v --ignore=tests/fuzz"
 
 test-profile:
 	@echo "🧪 Running tests with profiling (showing slowest tests)..."
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ test-profile:
 	@/bin/bash -c "source $(VENV_DIR)/bin/activate && \
 		export DATABASE_URL='sqlite:///:memory:' && \
 		export TEST_DATABASE_URL='sqlite:///:memory:' && \
-		uv run pytest -n auto --durations=20 --durations-min=1.0 --disable-warnings -v --ignore=tests/fuzz"
+		uv run --active pytest -n auto --durations=20 --durations-min=1.0 --disable-warnings -v --ignore=tests/fuzz"
 
 coverage:
 	@test -d "$(VENV_DIR)" || $(MAKE) venv
@@ -1027,7 +1027,9 @@ flake8:                             ## 🐍  flake8 checks
 
 pylint: uv                             ## 🐛  pylint checks
 	@echo "🐛 pylint $(TARGET) (parallel)..."
-	uv run pylint -j 0 --fail-on E --fail-under 10 $(TARGET)
+	@test -d "$(VENV_DIR)" || $(MAKE) venv
+	@/bin/bash -c "source $(VENV_DIR)/bin/activate && \
+		uv run --active pylint -j 0 --fail-on E --fail-under 10 $(TARGET)"
 
 markdownlint:					    ## 📖  Markdown linting
 	@# Install markdownlint-cli2 if not present
@@ -1073,7 +1075,9 @@ pycodestyle:                        ## 📝  Simple PEP-8 checker
 
 pre-commit: uv                      ## 🪄  Run pre-commit tool
 	@echo "🪄  Running pre-commit hooks..."
-	uv run pre-commit run --config .pre-commit-lite.yaml --all-files --show-diff-on-failure
+	@test -d "$(VENV_DIR)" || $(MAKE) venv
+	@/bin/bash -c "source $(VENV_DIR)/bin/activate && \
+		uv run --active pre-commit run --config .pre-commit-lite.yaml --all-files --show-diff-on-failure"
 
 ruff:                               ## ⚡  Ruff lint + (eventually) format
 	@echo "⚡ ruff $(TARGET)..." && $(VENV_DIR)/bin/ruff check $(TARGET)