diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 40e7948eb..7cecf508f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -179,27 +179,17 @@ test:
   stage: test
   needs: []
   rules:
+    # Tests disabled by default — compile+deploy is the fast path for now.
+    # Trigger manually from the pipeline UI when needed.
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"
-      changes:
-        - Cargo.toml
-        - Cargo.lock
-        - crates/**
-        - bin/**
-        - services/**
-        - testing/**
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.service
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training-runtime
+      when: manual
+      allow_failure: true
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
-      changes:
-        - Cargo.toml
-        - Cargo.lock
-        - crates/**
-        - bin/**
-        - services/**
-        - testing/**
+      when: manual
+      allow_failure: true
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "web" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "api"
+      when: manual
+      allow_failure: true
   services:
     - name: redis:7-alpine
       alias: redis
@@ -232,17 +222,6 @@ compile-services:
   needs: []
   rules:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main" && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"
-      changes:
-        - Cargo.toml
-        - Cargo.lock
-        - crates/**
-        - bin/**
-        - services/**
-        - testing/**
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.service
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training-runtime
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "web" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "api"
   script:
     # All CI pods have runtime_class_name=nvidia → real GPU available
@@ -302,7 +281,6 @@ compile-services:
   stage: build
   needs:
     - job: compile-services
-      optional: true
   image:
     name: gcr.io/kaniko-project/executor:debug
     entrypoint: [""]
@@ -311,19 +289,6 @@ compile-services:
     - docker
   rules:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main" && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"
-      changes:
-        - Cargo.toml
-        - Cargo.lock
-        - crates/**
-        - bin/**
-        - services/**
-        - testing/**
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.service
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.runtime
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway-runtime
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training
-        - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training-runtime
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "web" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "api"
   before_script:
     - mkdir -p /kaniko/.docker