diff --git a/.changeset/unified-mdx-components.md b/.changeset/unified-mdx-components.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 5a7895c1a..000000000
--- a/.changeset/unified-mdx-components.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
----
-mdxui: minor
----
-
-Create unified abstraction layer for MDX UI components that automatically injects the appropriate implementation based on the environment (browser or terminal).
diff --git a/.changeset/workflow-step-interface.md b/.changeset/workflow-step-interface.md
index a654e0db2..de14bc60d 100644
--- a/.changeset/workflow-step-interface.md
+++ b/.changeset/workflow-step-interface.md
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 ---
-'mdxui': patch
 '@mdxui/ink': patch
 ---
 
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/basic-browser/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/basic-browser/package.json
index c8c7b45d1..dcb63517f 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/basic-browser/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/basic-browser/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/basic-browser",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "description": "Complete MDX browser with editing, preview, and file management capabilities",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/browser/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/browser/package.json
index 38c809888..646b00a3a 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/browser/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/browser/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/browser",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "description": "Browser component for viewing, editing, and previewing MDX content",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/chrome/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/chrome/package.json
index 1b2032cfa..9dfaffbef 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/chrome/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/chrome/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/chrome",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.2.0",
   "description": "Chrome extension for rendering MDX files with Monaco editor and Shiki",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/core/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/core/package.json
index fb93284e8..c9ef6c1b6 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/core/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/core/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/core",
+  "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "sideEffects": [
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/ink/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/ink/package.json
index 6c51922eb..f31191c08 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/ink/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/ink/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/ink",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "description": "Create CLI apps using MDX with React Ink and Pastel",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/magicui/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/magicui/package.json
index 1e1fe1187..6dab4db46 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/magicui/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/magicui/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/magicui",
+  "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "sideEffects": [
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/mcp/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/mcp/package.json
index eda7ef9a4..b58e6895d 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/mcp/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/mcp/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/mcp",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "description": "Model Context Protocol server for MDX files",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/react/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/react/package.json
index bea2f2653..4ec556cdd 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/react/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/react/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/react",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "description": "React components for mdxui with dual API support",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/reveal/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/reveal/package.json
index 3829174af..e77ad528d 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/reveal/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/reveal/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/reveal",
+  "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "sideEffects": [
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/safari/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/safari/package.json
index 695378d65..4fcd7e2c3 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/safari/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/safari/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/safari",
+  "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "description": "Safari extension for rendering text, markdown, mdx, and mdxld files with Monaco Editor",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/semantic-mapping/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/semantic-mapping/package.json
index ddc0c2dff..0b3706e55 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/semantic-mapping/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/semantic-mapping/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/semantic-mapping",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "description": "Semantic MDX parser that extracts structured props from markdown children",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/shadcn/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/shadcn/package.json
index 6187b81b4..c24c7444f 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/shadcn/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/shadcn/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/shadcn",
+  "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "sideEffects": [
diff --git a/packages/@mdxui/types/package.json b/packages/@mdxui/types/package.json
index 9700586c7..2f1d750c8 100644
--- a/packages/@mdxui/types/package.json
+++ b/packages/@mdxui/types/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@mdxui/types",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "description": "TypeScript types for mdxui components",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/mdxui/DEPRECATED.md b/packages/mdxui/DEPRECATED.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..18098c3d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/mdxui/DEPRECATED.md
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# `mdxui` in this repo is DEPRECATED — and it is a name collision, not just dead code
+
+**The published `mdxui` on npm is not this package.** It is
+[`dot-do/ui` → `packages/mdxui`](https://github.com/dot-do/ui/tree/main/packages/mdxui).
+
+| | this repo (`dot-do/mdx`) | the published package (`dot-do/ui`) |
+|---|---|---|
+| version | `0.1.0` | `6.1.0` in-repo, `7.0.0-alpha.1` on npm (`latest`) |
+| npm identity | **none** — never published from here | every published version of `mdxui`, `0.0.0` → `7.0.0-alpha.1`, records `repository: dot-do/ui` |
+| what it exports | `Button`, `Card`, `Slides`, `Slide`, and the namespace objects `Core` / `Shadcn` / `Ink` / `Magicui` / `Browser` | Business-as-Code higher-order abstractions — `./site`, `./app`, `./admin`, `./zod`, `./templates` |
+
+## The two APIs are disjoint
+
+This is the part that makes the collision dangerous rather than merely untidy. The two packages share
+a name and share **nothing else**. Anything that resolves `mdxui` to the wrong one does not get a
+version mismatch — it gets a module with none of the expected exports.
+
+## What changed here, and what did not
+
+**Changed:** every package under `packages/mdxui` and `packages/@mdxui/*` in this repo is now
+`"private": true`, so `changeset publish` cannot push any of them to npm. Two pending changesets
+(`unified-mdx-components.md`, and the `mdxui` half of `workflow-step-interface.md`) declared a
+`mdxui` release from this repo; they have been removed. Had a release run before this change, this
+repo would have published `mdxui@0.2.0` and **moved the npm `latest` tag off `dot-do/ui`'s
+`7.0.0-alpha.1`**.
+
+**Not changed:** the workspace name is still `mdxui`, so in-repo consumers still resolve and build.
+Renaming it is the *next* step, not this one — see below.
+
+## Do not import `mdxui` from this repo
+
+New code in this repo should import the underlying `@mdxui/*` workspace packages directly
+(`@mdxui/core`, `@mdxui/shadcn`, `@mdxui/magicui`, `@mdxui/browser`, `@mdxui/ink`, …) rather than the
+`mdxui` barrel. New code **outside** this repo that wants `mdxui` wants `dot-do/ui`.
+
+## Remaining in-repo consumers — these block the delete
+
+| consumer | how it couples |
+|---|---|
+| `packages/mdxe` | `dependencies: { "mdxui": "workspace:*" }`, and `src/template/components/mdx-components.tsx` imports `{ Button, Card, Core, Shadcn, Magicui, Browser } from 'mdxui'` |
+| `packages/@mdxui/mcp` | declares `mdxui` as a dependency |
+| `examples/deck`, `examples/payload-blog` | declare `mdxui` as a dependency |
+| `README.md`, `examples/blog/getting-started-with-mdxe.mdx` | document `import … from 'mdxui'` |
+
+`mdxe` is the one that matters: it is a live, published package whose scaffolding template emits an
+`import … from 'mdxui'` into user projects. **In a user's project that import resolves to npm — i.e.
+to `dot-do/ui`'s `mdxui`, which has none of those exports.** Migrating `mdxe` off the barrel and onto
+explicit `@mdxui/*` imports is the prerequisite for deleting this directory.
+
+## Why this exists
+
+Recorded for the next agent so the reasoning is not re-derived: the owner ruled on 2026-08-03 that
+"the mdxui in the mdx repo is old and needs mostly deprecated … the new mdxui packages are in the ui
+repo … and mdxui needs to be removed from the mdx repo and refer to the ui repo." Tracked as
+`dot-do/vis#166` (which upgrades `dot-do/vis#145` from "dead code" to "name collision").
diff --git a/packages/mdxui/README.md b/packages/mdxui/README.md
index 2c28c34db..d38b4df2c 100644
--- a/packages/mdxui/README.md
+++ b/packages/mdxui/README.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # `mdxui` – Component Library for MDX
 
+> **⚠ DEPRECATED — and this is not the `mdxui` published on npm.**
+> The published `mdxui` is [`dot-do/ui` → `packages/mdxui`](https://github.com/dot-do/ui/tree/main/packages/mdxui),
+> a different package with a disjoint API. Every package under `packages/mdxui` and
+> `packages/@mdxui/*` **in this repo** is now `private` and cannot be published.
+> Read [DEPRECATED.md](./DEPRECATED.md) before touching anything here.
+
 `mdxui` is a collection of UI packages that provide ready‑to‑use React components for Markdown and MDX content. Each package focuses on a different environment—from web apps to the terminal. All packages can be used individually or through the main `mdxui` bundle, which re‑exports them under namespaces like `Core`, `Shadcn` and `Ink`.
 
 ```ts
diff --git a/packages/mdxui/package.json b/packages/mdxui/package.json
index 6092a9363..99c42c4a2 100644
--- a/packages/mdxui/package.json
+++ b/packages/mdxui/package.json
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 {
   "name": "mdxui",
+  "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "version": "0.1.0",
-  "description": "MDX UI components library",
+  "description": "DEPRECATED — not the published `mdxui`. This is the mdx repo's legacy in-repo barrel; the published mdxui lives at github.com/dot-do/ui (packages/mdxui). See DEPRECATED.md.",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "types": "dist/index.d.ts",
   "files": [