diff --git a/frontend/src/stores/studioStore.ts b/frontend/src/stores/studioStore.ts
index 2ff46b9e..e53382c7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/stores/studioStore.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/stores/studioStore.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import {
 	registerStudioPageScripts,
 	unregisterStudioPageScripts,
 } from "@/data/studioPageScripts"
-import { setCustomComponentFilePaths } from "@/utils/components"
+import { registerCustomComponentPaths } from "@/utils/components"
 import type { CustomVueComponentMeta } from "@/types/vue"
 
 import type { StudioApp } from "@/types/Studio/StudioApp"
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ const useStudioStore = defineStore("store", () => {
 	// custom components
 	async function setCustomComponents() {
 		await loadCustomVueComponents()
-		setCustomComponentFilePaths(customVueComponents.value)
+		await registerCustomComponentPaths(customVueComponents.value)
 	}
 
 	async function loadCustomVueComponents() {
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/block.ts b/frontend/src/utils/block.ts
index 67055916..3e2d098b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/block.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/block.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import LucideCode from "~icons/lucide/code"
 
 import { generateId, isObjectEmpty, kebabToCamelCase, numberToPx } from "./helpers";
 import { copyObject, getBlockCopy, getComponentBlock } from "@/utils/serializer"
+import { componentHasDefaultSlot, getComponentSlots } from "@/utils/components"
 
 import type { StyleValue, FrappeUIComponents } from "@/types"
 import type { ComponentEvent } from "@/types/ComponentEvent"
@@ -72,6 +73,8 @@ class Block implements BlockOptions {
 		}
 		if (options.isCustomVueComponent) {
 			this.isCustomVueComponent = options.isCustomVueComponent
+			// Warm the slot cache so canHaveChildren() knows this component's default slot
+			void getComponentSlots(this.componentName, true)
 		}
 
 		// get component props
@@ -219,10 +222,21 @@ class Block implements BlockOptions {
 	}
 
 	canHaveChildren() {
-		if (this.isRoot() || this.isContainer() || this.hasComponentSlots() || this.hasChildren()) return true
+		if (
+			this.isRoot() ||
+			this.isContainer() ||
+			this.hasComponentSlots() ||
+			this.hasChildren() ||
+			this.hasDefaultSlot()
+		)
+			return true
 		return false
 	}
 
+	hasDefaultSlot() {
+		return componentHasDefaultSlot(this.componentName)
+	}
+
 	isRoot() {
 		return this.componentId === "root" || this.originalElement === "body";
 	}
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/components.ts b/frontend/src/utils/components.ts
index a94c0264..0eb527b8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/components.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/components.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import type { VueProp, VuePropType } from "@/types/vue"
 
 import * as jsonTypes from "@/json_types"
 import { isObjectEmpty } from "@/utils/helpers"
-import { ConcreteComponent } from "vue"
+import { ConcreteComponent, reactive } from "vue"
 import type { CustomVueComponentMeta } from "@/types/vue"
 
 interface ComponentTypes {
@@ -219,11 +219,13 @@ const frameworkUIComponentPaths: Record<string, string> = {
 const templateCache = new Map<string, string>()
 
 const customComponentFilePaths = new Map<string, string>()
-function setCustomComponentFilePaths(components: CustomVueComponentMeta[]) {
+
+async function registerCustomComponentPaths(components: CustomVueComponentMeta[]) {
 	customComponentFilePaths.clear()
 	for (const comp of components) {
 		customComponentFilePaths.set(comp.component_name, comp.file_path)
 	}
+	await Promise.all(components.map((comp) => getComponentSlots(comp.component_name, true)))
 }
 
 function getComponentTemplate(componentName: string): string {
@@ -281,8 +283,11 @@ async function fetchCustomComponentTemplate(componentName: string): Promise<stri
 	if (!filePath) return ""
 
 	try {
-		// Use Vite's ?raw import to get unprocessed file content as a string
-		const module = await import(/* @vite-ignore */ `${filePath}?raw`)
+		// Use Vite's ?raw import to get unprocessed file content as a string. In dev, a unique
+		// query busts the browser's ES-module cache so a re-fetch after invalidateComponentCache
+		// (HMR content edit) gets the new source instead of the stale cached module.
+		const cacheBust = import.meta.env.DEV ? `&t=${Date.now()}` : ""
+		const module = await import(/* @vite-ignore */ `${filePath}?raw${cacheBust}`)
 		const rawSource = module.default || ""
 		if (rawSource) {
 			templateCache.set(componentName, rawSource)
@@ -296,35 +301,42 @@ async function fetchCustomComponentTemplate(componentName: string): Promise<stri
 
 function parseSlotsFromTemplate(template: string) {
 	const slotRegex = /<slot\s*(?:name=["']([^"']*)?["'])?(?:\s*\/>|\s*>(.*?)<\/slot>)?/gi
-	const slots = []
+	const slots = new Map<string, { name: string; type: "named" | "default" }>()
 	let match
 
 	while ((match = slotRegex.exec(template)) !== null) {
-		// Named slot with name attribute
-		const namedSlot = match[1]
-		// Default/unnamed slot or slot content
-		const defaultSlotContent = match[2]
-
-		if (namedSlot) {
-			slots.push({
-				name: namedSlot,
-				type: "named",
-				hasDefaultContent: !!defaultSlotContent,
-			})
-		} else if (defaultSlotContent || match[0].includes("<slot")) {
-			slots.push({
-				name: "default",
-				type: "default",
-				hasDefaultContent: !!defaultSlotContent,
-			})
+		const name = match[1] || "default"
+		if (!slots.has(name)) {
+			slots.set(name, { name, type: match[1] ? "named" : "default" })
 		}
 	}
-	return slots
+	return [...slots.values()]
 }
 
+const slotsCache = reactive(new Map<string, ReturnType<typeof parseSlotsFromTemplate>>())
+
 async function getComponentSlots(componentName: string, isCustomVueComponent?: boolean) {
-	const template = isCustomVueComponent ? await fetchCustomComponentTemplate(componentName) : getComponentTemplate(componentName)
-	return parseSlotsFromTemplate(template)
+	const cached = slotsCache.get(componentName)
+	if (cached) return cached
+	const template = isCustomVueComponent
+		? await fetchCustomComponentTemplate(componentName)
+		: getComponentTemplate(componentName)
+	const slots = parseSlotsFromTemplate(template)
+	if (template) slotsCache.set(componentName, slots)
+	return slots
+}
+
+function componentHasDefaultSlot(componentName: string): boolean {
+	if (!slotsCache.has(componentName)) {
+		const template = getComponentTemplate(componentName)
+		if (template) slotsCache.set(componentName, parseSlotsFromTemplate(template))
+	}
+	return (slotsCache.get(componentName) ?? []).some((slot) => slot.type === "default")
+}
+
+function invalidateComponentCache(componentName: string) {
+	templateCache.delete(componentName)
+	slotsCache.delete(componentName)
 }
 
 function resolveProperty(
@@ -369,4 +381,11 @@ function resolveProperty(
 	return { type: type as string, inputType, options }
 }
 
-export { getComponentProps, getComponentTemplate, getComponentSlots, setCustomComponentFilePaths }
+export {
+	getComponentProps,
+	getComponentTemplate,
+	getComponentSlots,
+	componentHasDefaultSlot,
+	invalidateComponentCache,
+	registerCustomComponentPaths,
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/useLiveEditor.ts b/frontend/src/utils/useLiveEditor.ts
index f58ff066..89ebf71c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/useLiveEditor.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/useLiveEditor.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { inject, onMounted, onBeforeUnmount } from "vue"
 
 import { fetchApp } from "@/utils/helpers"
+import { invalidateComponentCache, getComponentSlots } from "@/utils/components"
 import useStudioStore from "@/stores/studioStore"
 import useComponentStore from "@/stores/componentStore"
 
@@ -40,13 +41,27 @@ export function useLiveEditor() {
 	// dev; content edits hot-reload on their own). Reload the app's component set.
 	const onCustomComponentsChanged = () => store.loadCustomVueComponents()
 
+	// 3. A custom .vue component's content changed on disk. Vite hot-reloads its rendered module,
+	// but our template/slot caches keep the stale copy — so a newly added/removed <slot> wouldn't
+	// affect droppability. Drop the caches for the edited component and re-warm its slots.
+	const onCustomComponentFileChanged = ({ path }: { path: string }) => {
+		const component = store.customVueComponents.find(
+			(comp) => `${comp.studio_app}/${comp.studio_file_path}` === path,
+		)
+		if (!component) return
+		invalidateComponentCache(component.component_name)
+		void getComponentSlots(component.component_name, true)
+	}
+
 	onMounted(() => {
 		socket?.on("studio_doc_update", onDiskSync)
 		import.meta.hot?.on("studio:custom-components-changed", onCustomComponentsChanged)
+		import.meta.hot?.on("studio:file-changed", onCustomComponentFileChanged)
 	})
 	onBeforeUnmount(() => {
 		socket?.off("studio_doc_update", onDiskSync)
 		import.meta.hot?.off("studio:custom-components-changed", onCustomComponentsChanged)
+		import.meta.hot?.off("studio:file-changed", onCustomComponentFileChanged)
 	})
 }