diff --git a/.github/copilot-instructions.md b/.github/copilot-instructions.md
index 78c06efa..4141b9dd 100644
--- a/.github/copilot-instructions.md
+++ b/.github/copilot-instructions.md
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ For detailed project context, architecture, code conventions, and common tasks,
 5. **Verify before finishing** — before completing any task, search docs for identifiers you touched (field names, env vars, endpoints, struct names) and fix any stale references.
 6. **Every new function must have tests** — use table-driven tests, shared mocks from `internal/testutil/`, and aim for 80%+ coverage. Run `make lint` and `make test` before considering work complete.
 7. **Use testutil helpers** — use `MockPublisher`, `MockCache`, `MockDeduplicator`, `MockSubscriber` from `testutil/mocks.go` instead of creating ad-hoc mocks. Use `testutil.MakeJWT()` for auth tests. Use `policy.NewMemoryStore(p)` for policy tests. Use `pipes.NewMemoryStore(queries...)` for pipes tests.
+8. **Validate locally before pushing** — run `make ci` (or at minimum `make coverage`) in your sandbox and confirm it passes before opening or updating a PR. The repo runs on a shared self-hosted runner pool with finite throughput and bills AI-reviewer credits per push; a speculative commit to "see what CI says" costs real minutes and dollars. If a test passes locally but flakes on CI, investigate the runner environment before patching the test — see the "Local-First Validation" section in [AGENTS.md](../AGENTS.md) for full guidance.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/admin-approval.yml b/.github/workflows/admin-approval.yml
index 8706d7bb..7f6ce155 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/admin-approval.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/admin-approval.yml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   admin-approval:
     name: Admin approval
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - name: Check for admin approval
         env:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 6ef6fc57..b5d08735 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ on:
   push:
     branches: [main]
   pull_request:
+    # Default `pull_request` types are [opened, synchronize, reopened]
+    # which do NOT include `ready_for_review`. Without it, flipping a
+    # PR from draft → ready doesn't re-trigger CI, so the e2e job
+    # (gated on `draft == false`) silently skips on the existing run.
+    # Adding `ready_for_review` ensures the full suite runs at the
+    # moment the PR becomes review-ready.
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened, ready_for_review]
     branches: [main]
 
 permissions:
@@ -15,7 +22,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   check:
     name: Check
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
 
@@ -34,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
 
   lint:
     name: Lint
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
 
@@ -54,7 +61,7 @@ jobs:
 
   test:
     name: Test
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
 
@@ -83,7 +90,7 @@ jobs:
 
   build:
     name: Build
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
 
@@ -96,7 +103,7 @@ jobs:
 
   integration:
     name: Integration Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     needs: [test]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
@@ -113,7 +120,7 @@ jobs:
     # Vitest unit tests for the TypeScript SDK. Fast (~30s) and runs on
     # every PR — no path filter so a deps bump or workflow tweak still
     # exercises the suite.
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
 
@@ -146,7 +153,7 @@ jobs:
     # Node to 22 which provides it — but keeping the flag while the
     # raw-SQL race is still unfixed). Drop once follow-up lands.
     if: github.event_name == 'push' || github.event.pull_request.draft == false
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     needs: [build]
     continue-on-error: true
     steps:
@@ -158,5 +165,20 @@ jobs:
           cache: "npm"
           cache-dependency-path: tests/sdk/package-lock.json
 
+      # Build the wavehouse image once via the shared remote BuildKit
+      # and `--load` it into the runner pod's Docker daemon (DinD
+      # sidecar) so the docker compose stack started by setup.ts uses
+      # the prebuilt image instead of re-building from source. The
+      # BUILDX_BUILDER env var is preset on the runner pod, so buildx
+      # transparently routes to the shared builder + cache.
+      - name: Build wavehouse image (remote BuildKit, --load)
+        run: docker buildx build --load -t wavehouse:e2e -f deployments/Dockerfile .
+
       - name: Run E2E tests
+        env:
+          # Setting WAVEHOUSE_IMAGE makes tests/compose.yaml use the
+          # prebuilt image (loaded by the previous step) instead of
+          # invoking its own `build:` directive. See header comment in
+          # tests/compose.yaml.
+          WAVEHOUSE_IMAGE: wavehouse:e2e
         run: make test-e2e
diff --git a/.github/workflows/claude-agent.yml b/.github/workflows/claude-agent.yml
index cd90a2a3..8583ecf4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/claude-agent.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/claude-agent.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   claude:
     name: Run Claude
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     # Gate: must be a trusted actor AND either mention @claude or apply
     # the `agent` label. The author_association path differs per event
     # so each branch is explicit.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/claude-review.yml b/.github/workflows/claude-review.yml
index cd15e902..35d9f573 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/claude-review.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/claude-review.yml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
       github.event.pull_request.draft == false
       && github.actor != 'dependabot[bot]'
       && contains(fromJSON('["OWNER","MEMBER","COLLABORATOR","CONTRIBUTOR"]'), github.event.pull_request.author_association)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dependabot-automerge.yml b/.github/workflows/dependabot-automerge.yml
index 59c02085..7e052b95 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dependabot-automerge.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dependabot-automerge.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   auto-merge:
     if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - name: Fetch Dependabot metadata
         id: meta
diff --git a/.github/workflows/label.yml b/.github/workflows/label.yml
index 38d49a08..7720437a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/label.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/label.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   label:
     name: Apply labels
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/labeler@634933edcd8ababfe52f92936142cc22ac488b1b  # v6.0.1
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-title.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-title.yml
index fdffb4ef..b2fcdbda 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-title.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-title.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   validate:
     name: Validate
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - name: Check Conventional Commits format
         id: check
diff --git a/.github/workflows/project-orchestrator.yml b/.github/workflows/project-orchestrator.yml
index 8c367b28..bf5415d2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/project-orchestrator.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/project-orchestrator.yml
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ env:
 
 jobs:
   orchestrate:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - name: Guard — require PROJECT_BOARD_TOKEN
         env:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 0cf675cd..8d76d81d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   release:
     name: Release
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/triage.yml b/.github/workflows/triage.yml
index 5f710b23..46a126ff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/triage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/triage.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   classify:
     name: Classify and label
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [wave-rf-runners]
     # Skip re-triggering on our own label edits.
     if: github.actor != 'github-actions[bot]' && github.event.issue.pull_request == null
     steps:
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 85888622..b40b05b4 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -112,6 +112,37 @@ Dev tools (`gotestsum`, `gofumpt`, `goimports`) are pinned in `go.mod` via nativ
 - **Every new function should have corresponding test cases.** Run `make lint` and `make test` before considering work complete.
 - **E2E tests via SDK**: The TypeScript SDK is the primary E2E test harness. Tests in `tests/sdk/` exercise the full pipeline (ingest → ClickHouse → query) and simultaneously validate backend behavior and SDK correctness. Use `make test-e2e` to run, or `make test-e2e-dev` for watch mode. Add new E2E scenarios as `tests/sdk/*.test.ts` files using helpers from `tests/sdk/helpers.ts`.
 
+## Local-First Validation (MANDATORY)
+
+**Validate locally before pushing. Do not use CI as your first feedback loop.** The repo runs on a shared 4-runner self-hosted VM with finite throughput and bills AI-reviewer (Claude, Gemini, Copilot) credits on every push. A speculative "let's see what CI says" commit costs real minutes and real dollars and is visible to the entire team as churn. Every push should represent a change you have locally verified to pass the same gates CI will run.
+
+### Before every push
+
+Run the CI-equivalent locally:
+
+```bash
+make ci         # Full parity with CI: tidy + fmt + lint + vulncheck + build + tests
+make coverage   # Matches the CI `Test` job (race detector; -p 1 in CI for package serialization)
+```
+
+If `make ci` passes, your commit has crossed the same gates CI will run. If it fails, fix it before pushing — don't rely on CI to surface issues that took seconds to catch locally.
+
+For workflow-only changes where `make ci` isn't relevant, manually read through your YAML diff line-by-line before pushing. If you already have `actionlint` installed locally, also run `actionlint .github/workflows/*.yml`; CI's own billing makes "push and see" for workflow-file iteration especially wasteful.
+
+### If local passes but CI fails
+
+**Treat this as an environment mismatch, not a test bug, until proven otherwise.** Tests that pass on a dev machine in milliseconds but time out on the self-hosted VM point to runner-side problems (I/O pressure, zombie processes, disk contention, shared-VM fsync storms) — not to flaky test code. Investigate the runner before changing tests or production code. Masking environment issues with longer timeouts or retries tends to compound: today's 5s bump becomes tomorrow's 30s bump becomes next week's unbounded wait, and the underlying runner problem keeps slowly degrading.
+
+Order of operations before patching tests for "CI flakiness":
+
+1. **Reproduce the reported failure locally first.** `go test -race -run TestFoo ./...` on your machine. If it fails locally, you have a real test bug; fix it with deterministic primitives (use `c.Wait()` not `time.Sleep`, use `require.Eventually` not `time.Sleep` then assert, use channel sync not goroutine scheduling assumptions).
+2. **If it passes locally, try to reproduce under load.** Run 4 concurrent copies of `make coverage` to simulate the VM's shared-runner contention. If that still passes, the problem is the VM — not the test.
+3. **Only then touch the runner.** SSH in, check `iostat -x 2`, `pgrep -af nats-server`, `df -h`, `du -sh /opt/github/action-runner-*/_work`. Environment fixes (cleanup crons, tmpfs for test temp dirs, slower runner count, faster disk) stay scoped to the runner and don't pollute the codebase.
+
+### When delegating to another agent
+
+If you hand work to a subagent or another Claude session, tell them explicitly: *"Run locally first. Do not push to CI until `make ci` passes on your checkout."* Agents default to "commit and let CI run" because it looks like progress; in this repo that default is expensive. Override it at delegation time.
+
 ## Review Response (MANDATORY)
 
 **Every review comment on a PR gets a substantive reply, and every conversation gets resolved before merge. This applies equally to human reviewers and AI reviewers (Copilot, Gemini Code Assist, claude-review, future bots). The `main branch protection` ruleset enforces `required_review_thread_resolution: true`, so unresolved threads literally block merge.**
diff --git a/internal/cache/local_test.go b/internal/cache/local_test.go
index cce96b62..137a74c5 100644
--- a/internal/cache/local_test.go
+++ b/internal/cache/local_test.go
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@ func TestLocalCache_Overwrite(t *testing.T) {
 	defer func() { _ = c.Close() }()
 
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	_ = c.Set(ctx, "key", []byte("v1"), 10*time.Second)
-	time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
-	_ = c.Set(ctx, "key", []byte("v2"), 10*time.Second)
-	time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	require.NoError(t, c.Set(ctx, "key", []byte("v1"), 10*time.Second))
+	c.Wait()
+	require.NoError(t, c.Set(ctx, "key", []byte("v2"), 10*time.Second))
+	c.Wait()
 
 	val, _, err := c.Get(ctx, "key")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)