diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9238c0f49..7bc708f00 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -535,23 +535,15 @@ build-web-dashboard:
       changes:
         - web-dashboard/**
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "web" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "api"
-  before_script:
-    - apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl unzip ca-certificates
-    - curl -fsSL https://downloads.rclone.org/v1.69.1/rclone-v1.69.1-linux-amd64.zip -o /tmp/rclone.zip
-    - unzip -j /tmp/rclone.zip '*/rclone' -d /usr/local/bin/ && rm /tmp/rclone.zip
   script:
     - cd web-dashboard
     - npm ci
     - npm run build
-    # Trust MinIO CA — rclone (Go) uses system CAs, not RCLONE_CA_CERT for S3.
-    # Container runs non-root, so merge system + MinIO CA into writable /tmp bundle.
-    - cp /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt /tmp/ca-bundle.crt 2>/dev/null || true
-    - cat /etc/ssl/minio-ca/ca.crt >> /tmp/ca-bundle.crt 2>/dev/null || true
-    - export SSL_CERT_FILE=/tmp/ca-bundle.crt
-    - export RCLONE_S3_PROVIDER=Minio RCLONE_S3_ENDPOINT=https://minio.foxhunt.svc.cluster.local:9000 RCLONE_S3_REGION=us-east-1
-    - export RCLONE_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$MINIO_ACCESS_KEY RCLONE_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$MINIO_SECRET_KEY
-    - rclone sync dist/ :s3:foxhunt-binaries/latest/web-dashboard/dist/
-    - echo "Web dashboard assets uploaded to MinIO"
+    - echo "Web dashboard assets ready as CI artifacts"
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - web-dashboard/dist/
+    expire_in: 1 day
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Stage 3d: Write manifest after all compiles complete