diff --git a/workspace/preflight.py b/workspace/preflight.py
index d6123f25..e1929f3e 100644
--- a/workspace/preflight.py
+++ b/workspace/preflight.py
@@ -180,16 +180,38 @@ def run_preflight(config: WorkspaceConfig, config_path: str) -> PreflightReport:
                 required_env = list(entry.get("required_env") or [])
             break
 
+    # Smoke mode skips the auth-env block: the boot smoke (CI publish-image,
+    # issue #2275) exercises executor.execute() against stub deps, never
+    # hits the real provider, and CI cannot enumerate every adapter's auth
+    # env without forming a maintenance treadmill. Hermes 2026-05-03 outage:
+    # template smoke crashed for two cycles because molecule-ci injected
+    # CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN/ANTHROPIC_API_KEY/etc. but not HERMES_API_KEY.
+    # Bypass here means new templates can ship without the workflow
+    # learning their env names.
+    smoke_mode = os.environ.get("MOLECULE_SMOKE_MODE", "").strip().lower() in (
+        "1", "true", "yes", "on",
+    )
     for env_var in required_env:
-        if not os.environ.get(env_var):
-            report.failures.append(
+        if os.environ.get(env_var):
+            continue
+        if smoke_mode:
+            report.warnings.append(
                 PreflightIssue(
-                    severity="fail",
+                    severity="warn",
                     title="Required env",
-                    detail=f"Missing required environment variable: {env_var}",
-                    fix=f"Set {env_var} via the secrets API (global or workspace-level).",
+                    detail=f"Missing {env_var} (skipped — MOLECULE_SMOKE_MODE)",
+                    fix="",
                 )
             )
+            continue
+        report.failures.append(
+            PreflightIssue(
+                severity="fail",
+                title="Required env",
+                detail=f"Missing required environment variable: {env_var}",
+                fix=f"Set {env_var} via the secrets API (global or workspace-level).",
+            )
+        )
 
     # Backward compat: if legacy auth_token_file is set, warn but don't block
     # if the token is available via required_env or auth_token_env.
diff --git a/workspace/tests/test_preflight.py b/workspace/tests/test_preflight.py
index febf536a..063dcb8f 100644
--- a/workspace/tests/test_preflight.py
+++ b/workspace/tests/test_preflight.py
@@ -286,6 +286,55 @@ def test_required_env_empty_list_passes(tmp_path):
     assert report.ok is True
 
 
+def test_required_env_skipped_in_smoke_mode(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """MOLECULE_SMOKE_MODE=1 demotes Required-env failures to warnings.
+
+    Boot smoke (issue #2275) exercises executor.execute() against stub
+    deps and never hits the real provider, so missing auth env is not
+    a real blocker. Without this bypass, every adapter that introduces
+    a new auth env var (HERMES_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, etc.)
+    would silently break the publish-image gate until molecule-ci's
+    fake-env list catches up — the 2026-05-03 hermes outage. The
+    warning still surfaces in the report so unset env doesn't go
+    completely silent.
+    """
+    monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_API_KEY", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setenv("MOLECULE_SMOKE_MODE", "1")
+
+    config = make_config(
+        runtime_config=RuntimeConfig(required_env=["HERMES_API_KEY"]),
+    )
+
+    report = run_preflight(config, str(tmp_path))
+
+    assert report.ok is True
+    assert any(
+        issue.title == "Required env" and "HERMES_API_KEY" in issue.detail
+        for issue in report.warnings
+    ), "smoke-mode bypass should still warn so unset env stays visible"
+    assert not any(
+        issue.title == "Required env" for issue in report.failures
+    )
+
+
+def test_required_env_smoke_mode_off_still_fails(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Sanity: smoke bypass is OFF when MOLECULE_SMOKE_MODE is unset."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_API_KEY", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("MOLECULE_SMOKE_MODE", raising=False)
+
+    config = make_config(
+        runtime_config=RuntimeConfig(required_env=["HERMES_API_KEY"]),
+    )
+
+    report = run_preflight(config, str(tmp_path))
+
+    assert report.ok is False
+    assert any(
+        issue.title == "Required env" and "HERMES_API_KEY" in issue.detail
+        for issue in report.failures
+    )
+
+
 # ---------- Per-model required_env (models[] override) ----------