diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/tests.yml b/.gitea/workflows/tests.yml
index eed5478..a9e0cdc 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -107,7 +107,10 @@ jobs:
       PORT: 3000
       DEMO_MODE: 'true'
       UPLOADS_DIR: /tmp/redefined-uploads
-      NODE_ENV: production
+      # NODE_ENV is deliberately unset: `npm install` omits devDependencies when
+      # NODE_ENV=production, which strips tsc/vite/@playwright/test and breaks the
+      # build. It would also flip the session cookie to Secure, which the e2e run
+      # serves over plain http.
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -125,12 +128,24 @@ jobs:
         run: node migrate.js up
         working-directory: backend
 
-      - name: Build and start backend
+      - name: Build backend
+        run: npm run build
+        working-directory: backend
+
+      - name: Start backend
         run: |
           mkdir -p /tmp/redefined-uploads
-          npm run build
-          node dist/server.js &
-          sleep 3
+          node dist/server.js > /tmp/backend.log 2>&1 &
+          for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+            if node -e "require('http').get('http://localhost:3000/api/config', r => process.exit(r.statusCode === 200 ? 0 : 1)).on('error', () => process.exit(1))"; then
+              echo "Backend ready after ${i}s"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            sleep 1
+          done
+          echo "Backend did not become ready within 30s:"
+          cat /tmp/backend.log
+          exit 1
         working-directory: backend
 
       - name: Install frontend deps
@@ -149,6 +164,10 @@ jobs:
         run: npx playwright test --reporter=json
         working-directory: frontend
 
+      - name: Backend log
+        if: steps.e2e.outcome == 'failure'
+        run: cat /tmp/backend.log
+
       - name: Summarize
         if: always()
         run: node scripts/summarize-playwright.js frontend/playwright-results.json
diff --git a/scripts/summarize-jest.js b/scripts/summarize-jest.js
index eac7e38..2797862 100644
--- a/scripts/summarize-jest.js
+++ b/scripts/summarize-jest.js
@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 
 const [, , resultsPath, label] = process.argv;
+
+// This runs with `if: always()`, so it also fires when an earlier step failed and
+// no results file was ever written. Report that plainly and exit 0 — the job still
+// fails on the real step, and a stack trace here would only bury it.
+if (!fs.existsSync(resultsPath)) {
+  report([`## ${label || 'Test'} Results`, '', `No results file at \`${resultsPath}\` — the test step failed before writing one.`, '']);
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
 const raw = fs.readFileSync(resultsPath, 'utf-8');
 const data = JSON.parse(raw);
 
@@ -33,11 +42,15 @@ if (data.numFailedTests > 0) {
   lines.push('');
 }
 
-const summaryPath = process.env.GITEA_STEP_SUMMARY || process.env.GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY;
-if (summaryPath) {
-  fs.appendFileSync(summaryPath, lines.join('\n') + '\n');
-} else {
-  console.log(lines.join('\n'));
-}
+report(lines);
 
-process.exit(data.numFailedTests > 0 ? 1 : 0);
\ No newline at end of file
+process.exit(data.numFailedTests > 0 ? 1 : 0);
+
+function report(out) {
+  const summaryPath = process.env.GITEA_STEP_SUMMARY || process.env.GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY;
+  if (summaryPath) {
+    fs.appendFileSync(summaryPath, out.join('\n') + '\n');
+  } else {
+    console.log(out.join('\n'));
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/summarize-playwright.js b/scripts/summarize-playwright.js
index 2a191a8..c9f0bd5 100644
--- a/scripts/summarize-playwright.js
+++ b/scripts/summarize-playwright.js
@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 
 const [, , resultsPath] = process.argv;
+
+// This runs with `if: always()`, so it also fires when an earlier step failed and
+// no results file was ever written. Report that plainly and exit 0 — the job still
+// fails on the real step, and a stack trace here would only bury it.
+if (!fs.existsSync(resultsPath)) {
+  report([`## Playwright E2E Results`, '', `No results file at \`${resultsPath}\` — the test step failed before writing one.`, '']);
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
 const raw = fs.readFileSync(resultsPath, 'utf-8');
 const data = JSON.parse(raw);
 const stats = data.stats || {};
@@ -44,11 +53,15 @@ if (failures.length) {
   lines.push('');
 }
 
-const summaryPath = process.env.GITEA_STEP_SUMMARY || process.env.GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY;
-if (summaryPath) {
-  fs.appendFileSync(summaryPath, lines.join('\n') + '\n');
-} else {
-  console.log(lines.join('\n'));
-}
+report(lines);
 
-process.exit((stats.unexpected || 0) > 0 ? 1 : 0);
\ No newline at end of file
+process.exit((stats.unexpected || 0) > 0 ? 1 : 0);
+
+function report(out) {
+  const summaryPath = process.env.GITEA_STEP_SUMMARY || process.env.GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY;
+  if (summaryPath) {
+    fs.appendFileSync(summaryPath, out.join('\n') + '\n');
+  } else {
+    console.log(out.join('\n'));
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file