diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index daa3e4ac6..1dfc131b7 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # Runs on ci-build pool (L4, CUDA 8.9, scale-to-zero), linker: clang+lld
 # CI builder image: CUDA 12.4 + Rust 1.89 + protoc + sccache (hosted on Scaleway CR)
 # Service images: pushed to Scaleway Container Registry (Kaniko)
+# Note: .gitlab-ci.yml itself is NOT in changes: filters — CI-only edits skip build
 
 # Ensure pipeline is always created — individual job rules handle filtering.
 # Without this, GitLab CE may silently drop push pipelines when changes:
@@ -171,7 +172,6 @@ check:
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training-runtime
-        - .gitlab-ci.yml
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
       changes:
         - Cargo.toml
@@ -207,7 +207,6 @@ test:
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training-runtime
-        - .gitlab-ci.yml
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
       changes:
         - Cargo.toml
@@ -260,7 +259,6 @@ compile-services:
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training-runtime
-        - .gitlab-ci.yml
   script:
     # Detect GPU compute capability and partition sccache per architecture
     - export CUDA_COMPUTE_CAP=$(nvidia-smi --query-gpu=compute_cap --format=csv,noheader | head -1 | tr -d '.')
@@ -333,7 +331,6 @@ compile-services:
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.web-gateway-runtime
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training
         - infra/docker/Dockerfile.training-runtime
-        - .gitlab-ci.yml
   before_script:
     - mkdir -p /kaniko/.docker
     - >-
@@ -465,7 +462,20 @@ train-validate-dqn:
         --data-dir /mnt/training-data/futures-baseline
         --output-dir ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/output
         --max-steps-per-epoch 50
-    - echo "DQN validation passed"
+    - echo "=== DQN training complete, running evaluation ==="
+    - /usr/local/bin/evaluate_baseline
+        --model dqn
+        --models-dir ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/output
+        --data-dir /mnt/training-data/futures-baseline
+        --output ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/output/dqn_eval_report.json
+        --symbol ES.FUT
+    - echo "DQN validation + evaluation passed"
+    - cat ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/output/dqn_eval_report.json
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - output/dqn_eval_report.json
+    when: always
+    expire_in: 30 days
 
 train-validate-tft:
   extends: .train-validate-base