diff --git a/site/decodal-site/src/pages/playground.astro b/site/decodal-site/src/pages/playground.astro
index c5b8b57..47f733c 100644
--- a/site/decodal-site/src/pages/playground.astro
+++ b/site/decodal-site/src/pages/playground.astro
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ import ManualLayout from '../layouts/ManualLayout.astro';
         <p>Virtual files are evaluated in the browser through WebAssembly. Use import paths such as <code>./schemas/service.dcdl</code>.</p>
       </div>
       <div class="playground-actions">
+        <label class="example-picker">
+          <span>Example</span>
+          <select id="example-select" aria-label="Playground example"></select>
+        </label>
+        <button id="load-example" type="button">Load</button>
         <p id="status" class="status">Loading WASM...</p>
         <button id="run" disabled>Run</button>
       </div>
diff --git a/site/decodal-site/src/scripts/playground-examples.js b/site/decodal-site/src/scripts/playground-examples.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e3859d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/decodal-site/src/scripts/playground-examples.js
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+export const playgroundExamples = [
+  {
+    id: 'service-deployment',
+    title: 'Service deployment',
+    activePath: 'main.dcdl',
+    files: {
+      'main.dcdl': `let
+  schema = import "./schemas/service.dcdl";
+  prod = import "./env/prod.dcdl";
+  shared = import "./shared/tags.dcdl";
+in
+  schema.Service & prod.ServicePatch & {
+    name = "api";
+    image = "registry.example.com/api:2026-06-24";
+    port = 9000 + 443;
+    public = prod.is_public && 9000 + 443 > 9000;
+    tags = shared.common ++ ["api", "edge"];
+  }
+`,
+      'schemas/service.dcdl': `Service = {
+  name = String;
+  image = String;
+  port = Int & > 443 default 8443;
+  replicas = Int & > 0 default 2;
+  public = Bool default false;
+  feature.metrics = Bool default true;
+  feature.tracing = Bool default false;
+};
+`,
+      'env/prod.dcdl': `is_public = true;
+
+ServicePatch = {
+  replicas = 3;
+  feature.tracing = true;
+};
+`,
+      'shared/tags.dcdl': `common = ["decodal", "prod"];
+`,
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    id: 'access-policy',
+    title: 'Access policy',
+    activePath: 'main.dcdl',
+    files: {
+      'main.dcdl': `let
+  policy = import "./policy/base.dcdl";
+  teams = import "./policy/teams.dcdl";
+  env = "prod";
+in
+{
+  service = "payments";
+  readers = policy.defaultReaders ++ teams.observability;
+  writers = policy.defaultWriters ++ teams.payments;
+  admins = match env {
+    "prod": policy.breakglassAdmins;
+    _: teams.platform;
+  };
+  audit.required = env == "prod";
+  audit.retention_days = match env {
+    "prod": 365;
+    _: 30;
+  };
+}
+`,
+      'policy/base.dcdl': `defaultReaders = ["group:engineering", "group:support"];
+defaultWriters = ["group:platform"];
+breakglassAdmins = ["user:oncall-primary", "user:oncall-secondary"];
+`,
+      'policy/teams.dcdl': `platform = ["group:platform-admins"];
+payments = ["group:payments-api", "group:payments-sre"];
+observability = ["group:observability"];
+`,
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    id: 'edge-worker',
+    title: 'Edge worker config',
+    activePath: 'main.dcdl',
+    files: {
+      'main.dcdl': `let
+  schema = import "./schemas/worker.dcdl";
+  routes = import "./routes.dcdl";
+  production = true;
+in
+  schema.Worker & {
+    name = "decodal-docs";
+    compatibility_date = "2026-06-15";
+    workers_dev = !production;
+    route.host = routes.primary_host;
+    route.paths = routes.docs_paths ++ routes.playground_paths;
+    cache.ttl_seconds = 60 * 60;
+    cache.bypass = !production;
+  }
+`,
+      'schemas/worker.dcdl': `Worker = {
+  name = String;
+  compatibility_date = String;
+  workers_dev = Bool default false;
+  route.host = String;
+  cache.ttl_seconds = Int & >= 0 default 300;
+  cache.bypass = Bool default false;
+};
+`,
+      'routes.dcdl': `primary_host = "decodal.example.com";
+docs_paths = ["/docs/*", "/assets/*"];
+playground_paths = ["/playground/*"];
+`,
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    id: 'data-pipeline',
+    title: 'Data pipeline',
+    activePath: 'main.dcdl',
+    files: {
+      'main.dcdl': `let
+  schema = import "./schemas/pipeline.dcdl";
+  presets = import "./presets/batch.dcdl";
+  env = "staging";
+in
+  schema.Pipeline & presets.Batch & {
+    name = "events-rollup";
+    source.topic = "events.raw";
+    sink.table = "analytics.events_daily";
+    workers = match env {
+      "prod": 8;
+      "staging": 3;
+      _: 1;
+    };
+    alerts.enabled = env != "dev";
+    transforms = presets.standardTransforms ++ ["dedupe", "aggregate_daily"];
+  }
+`,
+      'schemas/pipeline.dcdl': `Pipeline = {
+  name = String;
+  source.topic = String;
+  sink.table = String;
+  workers = Int & > 0 default 1;
+  batch.size = Int & >= 100 default 1000;
+  batch.timeout_seconds = Int & > 0 default 60;
+  alerts.enabled = Bool default false;
+};
+`,
+      'presets/batch.dcdl': `standardTransforms = ["parse_json", "validate_schema", "enrich_metadata"];
+
+Batch = {
+  batch.size = 5000;
+  batch.timeout_seconds = 30 + 30;
+};
+`,
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    id: 'diagnostics',
+    title: 'Diagnostics: invalid port',
+    activePath: 'main.dcdl',
+    files: {
+      'main.dcdl': `let
+  schema = import "./schemas/service.dcdl";
+in
+  schema.Service & {
+    name = "broken-api";
+    port = 442;
+  }
+`,
+      'schemas/service.dcdl': `Service = {
+  name = String;
+  port = Int & > 443 default 8443;
+  replicas = Int & > 0 default 2;
+};
+`,
+    },
+  },
+];
diff --git a/site/decodal-site/src/scripts/playground.js b/site/decodal-site/src/scripts/playground.js
index f52e597..b0b79b1 100644
--- a/site/decodal-site/src/scripts/playground.js
+++ b/site/decodal-site/src/scripts/playground.js
@@ -1,26 +1,9 @@
 import init, { evaluateProject } from '../wasm/decodal_wasm.js';
 import { highlightDecodal } from '../lib/highlight.js';
+import { playgroundExamples } from './playground-examples.js';
 
 const STORAGE_KEY = 'decodal-playground-project-v1';
-
-const starterFiles = {
-  'main.dcdl': `let
-  schema = import "./schemas/service.dcdl";
-in
-  schema.Service & {
-    name = "api";
-    port = 9000 + 443;
-    tags = ["web"] ++ ["prod"];
-    feature.enable = 9000 + 443 > 9000 && true;
-  }
-`,
-  'schemas/service.dcdl': `Service = {
-  name = String;
-  port = Int & > 443 default 8443;
-  feature.enable = Bool default true;
-};
-`,
-};
+const starterProject = playgroundExamples[0];
 
 const source = document.getElementById('source');
 const sourceHighlight = document.getElementById('source-highlight');
@@ -31,9 +14,19 @@ const fileTree = document.getElementById('file-tree');
 const activeFile = document.getElementById('active-file');
 const newFile = document.getElementById('new-file');
 const deleteFile = document.getElementById('delete-file');
+const exampleSelect = document.getElementById('example-select');
+const loadExample = document.getElementById('load-example');
 
 const project = loadProject();
 
+for (const example of playgroundExamples) {
+  const option = document.createElement('option');
+  option.value = example.id;
+  option.textContent = example.title;
+  exampleSelect.append(option);
+}
+exampleSelect.value = starterProject.id;
+
 setActiveFile(project.activePath);
 renderFileTree();
 updateHighlight();
@@ -49,7 +42,11 @@ function loadProject() {
   } catch (_error) {
     // Fall back to the starter project.
   }
-  return { files: { ...starterFiles }, activePath: 'main.dcdl' };
+  return { files: cloneFiles(starterProject.files), activePath: starterProject.activePath };
+}
+
+function cloneFiles(files) {
+  return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(files).map(([path, source]) => [path, source]));
 }
 
 function normalizeFiles(files) {
@@ -65,6 +62,17 @@ function saveProject() {
   localStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, JSON.stringify(project));
 }
 
+function loadExampleProject(exampleId) {
+  const example = playgroundExamples.find((item) => item.id === exampleId) ?? starterProject;
+  project.files = cloneFiles(example.files);
+  project.activePath = example.activePath;
+  exampleSelect.value = example.id;
+  setActiveFile(project.activePath);
+  output.textContent = '';
+  output.classList.remove('error');
+  execute();
+}
+
 function normalizePath(path) {
   const parts = [];
   for (const part of String(path).replaceAll('\\', '/').split('/')) {
@@ -165,6 +173,12 @@ try {
 }
 
 run.addEventListener('click', execute);
+loadExample.addEventListener('click', () => {
+  const example = playgroundExamples.find((item) => item.id === exampleSelect.value);
+  if (!example) return;
+  if (!confirm(`Load example "${example.title}"? This replaces the current virtual files.`)) return;
+  loadExampleProject(example.id);
+});
 newFile.addEventListener('click', () => {
   const path = normalizePath(prompt('New virtual file path', 'schemas/types.dcdl') ?? '');
   if (!path) return;
@@ -172,7 +186,7 @@ newFile.addEventListener('click', () => {
     setActiveFile(path);
     return;
   }
-  project.files[path] = path.endsWith('.dcdl') ? '' : '// Decodal source\n';
+  project.files[path] = 'value = "new";\n';
   setActiveFile(path);
 });
 deleteFile.addEventListener('click', () => {
diff --git a/site/decodal-site/src/style.css b/site/decodal-site/src/style.css
index d8b8ed8..4d6ee42 100644
--- a/site/decodal-site/src/style.css
+++ b/site/decodal-site/src/style.css
@@ -281,7 +281,30 @@ main.playground {
 .playground-actions {
   align-items: center;
   display: flex;
-  gap: 12px;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  gap: 8px;
+  justify-content: flex-end;
+}
+
+.example-picker {
+  align-items: center;
+  color: var(--muted);
+  display: flex;
+  font-size: 12px;
+  font-weight: 700;
+  gap: 6px;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+}
+
+.example-picker select {
+  background: var(--surface);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  color: var(--text);
+  font: inherit;
+  min-width: 180px;
+  padding: 7px 10px;
+  text-transform: none;
 }
 
 button {