diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
index 2f27326..00c8ef0 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -47,15 +47,27 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with: { node-version: 20, cache: npm }
-      - name: Cache Playwright
+      - run: npm ci
+      - name: Compute Playwright version
+        id: pw
+        run: echo "version=$(node -p \"require('@playwright/test/package.json').version\")" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Cache Playwright browsers
+        id: pw-cache
         uses: actions/cache@v4
         with:
-          path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
-          key: ms-playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
-      - run: npm ci
-      - run: npx playwright install ${{ matrix.browser }}
-        env:
-          PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
+          # macOS and Linux paths are included; missing paths are ignored.
+          path: |
+            ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright
+            ~/.cache/ms-playwright
+          key: playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw.outputs.version }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw.outputs.version }}-
+            playwright-${{ runner.os }}-
+
+      - name: Install Playwright (only if cache miss)
+        if: steps.pw-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: npx playwright install --with-deps ${{ matrix.browser }}
       - run: npm run build
 
       - name: E2E (start + test + teardown)
@@ -116,15 +128,27 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with: { node-version: 20, cache: npm }
-      - name: Cache Playwright
+      - run: npm ci
+      - name: Compute Playwright version
+        id: pw
+        run: echo "version=$(node -p \"require('@playwright/test/package.json').version\")" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Cache Playwright browsers
+        id: pw-cache
         uses: actions/cache@v4
         with:
-          path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
-          key: ms-playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
-      - run: npm ci
-      - run: npx playwright install
-        env:
-          PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
+          # macOS and Linux paths are included; missing paths are ignored.
+          path: |
+            ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright
+            ~/.cache/ms-playwright
+          key: playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw.outputs.version }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw.outputs.version }}-
+            playwright-${{ runner.os }}-
+
+      - name: Install Playwright (only if cache miss)
+        if: steps.pw-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: npx playwright install --with-deps
       - run: npm run build
       # 1) Sanity check that the build exists
       - name: Verify Next build output
@@ -205,9 +229,10 @@ jobs:
         run: npm i -D @lhci/cli
 
       - name: Build application
-        run: npm run build
+        run:
+          npm run build
 
-      # 1) Sanity check that the build exists
+          # 1) Sanity check that the build exists
       - name: Verify Next build output
         run: |
           set -euxo pipefail
@@ -216,33 +241,38 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install Chrome via Puppeteer (mac_arm)
         run: |
+          # Install Chrome (arm64) into a local cache
           set -euxo pipefail
           mkdir -p .cache/puppeteer
-          echo "Installing Chrome for mac_arm platform..."
-          npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@stable \
-            --platform=mac_arm \
-            --path .cache/puppeteer
 
-          echo "Chrome installation complete. Getting executable path..."
-          CHROME_PATH=$(npx @puppeteer/browsers executable-path chrome@stable --platform=mac_arm --path .cache/puppeteer)
-          echo "Chrome executable path: $CHROME_PATH"
+          # 1) Install and capture the build id that was actually installed
+          INSTALL_OUT="$(npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@stable --platform=mac_arm --path .cache/puppeteer)"
+          echo "$INSTALL_OUT"
 
-          # Verify the path is not empty
+          # INSTALL_OUT looks like: "chrome@140.0.7339.80 /abs/path/to/.../Google Chrome for Testing"
+          BUILD_ID="$(printf '%s\n' "$INSTALL_OUT" | awk '{print $1}' | cut -d@ -f2)"
+          echo "Detected Chrome build: $BUILD_ID"
+
+          # 2) Ask for the executable path using the explicit build id
+          CHROME_PATH="$(npx @puppeteer/browsers executable-path chrome@"$BUILD_ID" --platform=mac_arm --path .cache/puppeteer || true)"
+          echo "Chrome executable path (via CLI): ${CHROME_PATH:-<empty>}"
+
+          # 3) Fallback: resolve the binary directly from the cache if the CLI returned empty
           if [ -z "$CHROME_PATH" ]; then
-            echo "❌ Chrome path is empty after installation"
-            ls -la .cache/puppeteer/ || true
+            CHROME_PATH="$(/usr/bin/find ".cache/puppeteer/chrome" -type f -path "*/chrome-mac-arm64/Google Chrome for Testing.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome for Testing" -print -quit || true)"
+            echo "Chrome executable path (via find): ${CHROME_PATH:-<empty>}"
+          fi
+
+          # 4) Hard fail if still empty
+          if [ -z "$CHROME_PATH" ] || [ ! -x "$CHROME_PATH" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Chrome path is empty or not executable"
+            ls -la .cache/puppeteer || true
             exit 1
           fi
 
-          # Verify the executable exists
-          if [ ! -f "$CHROME_PATH" ]; then
-            echo "❌ Chrome executable not found at: $CHROME_PATH"
-            ls -la .cache/puppeteer/ || true
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
-          echo "✅ Chrome installed successfully at: $CHROME_PATH"
+          # 5) Export for subsequent steps in this job and later ones
           echo "CHROME_PATH=$CHROME_PATH" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          "$CHROME_PATH" --version || true
 
       - name: Ensure arm64 Node for Lighthouse
         run: |
@@ -324,15 +354,27 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with: { node-version: 20, cache: npm }
-      - name: Cache Playwright
+      - run: npm ci
+      - name: Compute Playwright version
+        id: pw
+        run: echo "version=$(node -p \"require('@playwright/test/package.json').version\")" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Cache Playwright browsers
+        id: pw-cache
         uses: actions/cache@v4
         with:
-          path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
-          key: ms-playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
-      - run: npm ci
-      - run: npx playwright install
-        env:
-          PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
+          # macOS and Linux paths are included; missing paths are ignored.
+          path: |
+            ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright
+            ~/.cache/ms-playwright
+          key: playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw.outputs.version }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw.outputs.version }}-
+            playwright-${{ runner.os }}-
+
+      - name: Install Playwright (only if cache miss)
+        if: steps.pw-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: npx playwright install --with-deps
       - run: npm run build
       - name: Start app + wait
         run: |