diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 265d8fd4d7..0e0ef78b1a 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -34,8 +34,5 @@ public/cache
 public/tmp
 db_backup_*.sql
 *.log
-playwright-report
-test-results
-blob-report
 .codex
 .agents
diff --git a/scripts/ci-deploy.sh b/scripts/ci-deploy.sh
index 0f9261236c..c5b9753e6c 100644
--- a/scripts/ci-deploy.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci-deploy.sh
@@ -93,8 +93,6 @@ for managed_name in epicnext-cms epicnext-cms-app; do
 done
 cp "$deploy_dir/.env" .env
 pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
-# Prepare browser before cutover so installation failures cannot interrupt the site.
-pnpm exec playwright install chromium
 
 echo "Building $image"
 DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --network=host --progress=plain --cache-from epicnext-cms:latest \
@@ -161,8 +159,7 @@ candidate_attempted=1
 )
 healthy
 node scripts/verify-deployed-release.mjs http://127.0.0.1:3002/api/health "$sha"
-PLAYWRIGHT_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3002 pnpm test:e2e
-# Publish the latest alias only after health and browser checks pass.
+# Publish the latest alias only after health and release checks pass.
 docker tag "$image" epicnext-cms:latest
 cutover_started=0
 if [ "$backup_created" -eq 1 ]; then docker rm "$backup_name" || true; fi
diff --git a/src/lib/ci-deploy.test.ts b/src/lib/ci-deploy.test.ts
index 60ee35f217..8339ea3e83 100644
--- a/src/lib/ci-deploy.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ci-deploy.test.ts
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ describe("deployment transaction", () => {
 		expect(result.calls.indexOf("pnpm db:migrate")).toBeLessThan(
 			result.calls.indexOf("docker stop"),
 		);
-		expect(result.calls.indexOf("pnpm test:e2e")).toBeLessThan(
+		expect(result.calls.indexOf("verify-deployed-release.mjs")).toBeLessThan(
 			result.calls.indexOf(
 				`docker tag epicnext-cms:${sha} epicnext-cms:latest`,
 			),
diff --git a/src/lib/ci-workflow-contract.test.ts b/src/lib/ci-workflow-contract.test.ts
index 6d000c9f2e..750cfb3951 100644
--- a/src/lib/ci-workflow-contract.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ci-workflow-contract.test.ts
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ describe("CI workflow", () => {
 	it("smoke-tests the deployed app within the deployment transaction", () => {
 		expect(workflow).toContain("bash scripts/ci-deploy.sh");
 		const deploy = readFileSync("scripts/ci-deploy.sh", "utf8");
-		expect(deploy).toContain("pnpm test:e2e");
-		expect(deploy).toContain("PLAYWRIGHT_BASE_URL");
+		expect(deploy).toContain(
+			"node scripts/verify-deployed-release.mjs http://127.0.0.1:3002/api/health",
+		);
 	});
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/deploy-workflow-contract.test.ts b/src/lib/deploy-workflow-contract.test.ts
index b459136bd7..cf76594d5e 100644
--- a/src/lib/deploy-workflow-contract.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/deploy-workflow-contract.test.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ it("uses two test workers and runs smoke checks in the deployment transaction",
 	expect(workflow).not.toContain("\n  e2e:");
 	expect(workflow).toContain("bash scripts/ci-deploy.sh");
 	expect(deploy).toContain(
-		"PLAYWRIGHT_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3002 pnpm test:e2e",
+		"node scripts/verify-deployed-release.mjs http://127.0.0.1:3002/api/health",
 	);
 });
 it("locks CI and scheduled deployments using the same production lock", () => {
diff --git a/src/test/ci-deploy-harness.sh b/src/test/ci-deploy-harness.sh
index 61bdaae57d..3ec66ee02c 100644
--- a/src/test/ci-deploy-harness.sh
+++ b/src/test/ci-deploy-harness.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ flock() { echo "lock" >> "$TEST_DIR/calls"; [ "$SCENARIO" != lock-failure ]; }
 pnpm() {
   echo "pnpm $*" >> "$TEST_DIR/calls"
   if [ "$1" = db:migrate ] && [ "$SCENARIO" = migration-failure ]; then return 1; fi
-  if [ "$1" = test:e2e ] && [ "$SCENARIO" = smoke-failure ]; then return 1; fi
   return 0
 }
 curl() {
@@ -43,5 +42,12 @@ docker() {
 }
 export -f git flock pnpm curl sleep docker
 
-node() { echo "node $*" >> "$TEST_DIR/calls"; [ "$SCENARIO" != release-failure ]; }
+node() {
+  echo "node $*" >> "$TEST_DIR/calls"
+  case "$SCENARIO" in
+    release-failure) return 1 ;;
+    smoke-failure) case "$*" in *verify-deployed-release.mjs*) return 1 ;; esac ;;
+  esac
+  return 0
+}
 export -f node