diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml
index 1c8cbfd..28ead19 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml
@@ -8,40 +8,8 @@ on:
       - '*'
 
 jobs:
-  test:
-    name: Lint, Build & Unit Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: github.ref != 'refs/heads/main'
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout Code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Setup Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version: '1.23'
-
-      - name: Run Backend Lint & Unit Tests
-        run: |
-          go mod tidy
-          go vet ./...
-          go test -v ./...
-
-      - name: Setup Node.js
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
-        with:
-          node-version: '22'
-
-      - name: Typecheck & Build Frontend
-        run: |
-          cd frontend
-          npm install --no-audit --no-fund
-          npx tsc --noEmit
-          npm run build
-
-  build-docker:
-    name: Build & Push Docker Image
-    needs: test
+  build-test-push:
+    name: Build, Test in Container & Push
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: github.ref != 'refs/heads/main'
     steps:
@@ -69,10 +37,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "image=${IMAGE_NAME}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "tag=${DOCKER_TAG}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "actor=${ACTOR_NAME}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "Building Docker image: ${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG} (Registry: ${REGISTRY_HOST}, Actor: ${ACTOR_NAME})"
-
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+          echo "Target Docker image: ${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG} (Registry: ${REGISTRY_HOST}, Actor: ${ACTOR_NAME})"
 
       - name: Login to Gitea Container Registry
         uses: docker/login-action@v3
@@ -81,11 +46,10 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ steps.prep.outputs.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.PUSH_TOKEN || secrets.GITEA_TOKEN || github.token }}
 
-      - name: Build and Push Multi-Arch Image
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
-        with:
-          context: .
-          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
-          push: true
-          tags: |
-            ${{ steps.prep.outputs.image }}:${{ steps.prep.outputs.tag }}
+      - name: Build & Run All Checks in Container, then Push
+        run: |
+          FULL_IMAGE="${{ steps.prep.outputs.image }}:${{ steps.prep.outputs.tag }}"
+          echo "🚀 Building container & executing Frontend/Backend checks inside image: ${FULL_IMAGE}"
+          DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --progress=plain -t "${FULL_IMAGE}" .
+          echo "✅ All checks & tests passed inside container! Pushing ${FULL_IMAGE}..."
+          docker push "${FULL_IMAGE}"
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 4730f78..4f9bfe4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,29 +1,47 @@
 # ==============================================================================
-# Stage 1: Frontend Build (Runs natively on $BUILDPLATFORM — zero QEMU overhead)
+# Stage 1: Frontend Check & Build (Cached npm dependencies layer)
 # ==============================================================================
-FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM node:22-alpine AS frontend-builder
+FROM node:22-alpine AS frontend-builder
 WORKDIR /app/frontend
 COPY frontend/package*.json ./
 RUN npm install --no-audit --no-fund
 COPY frontend/ ./
-RUN npm run build
+RUN npx tsc --noEmit && npm run build
 
 # ==============================================================================
-# Stage 2: Go Backend Build (Native Cross-Compile via TARGETOS / TARGETARCH)
+# Stage 2: Go Backend Lint, Unit Tests & Binary Build (Cached Go module & sqlite layer)
 # ==============================================================================
-FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM golang:1.23-alpine AS backend-builder
-ARG TARGETOS=linux
-ARG TARGETARCH=amd64
+FROM golang:1.23-alpine AS backend-builder
 WORKDIR /app
 RUN apk add --no-cache git ca-certificates
+
+# Cache Go modules & pre-compile heavy dependencies (modernc.org/sqlite) in a dedicated layer
 COPY go.mod ./
+RUN go get github.com/go-chi/chi/v5@v5.2.0 \
+    github.com/go-chi/cors@v1.2.1 \
+    github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5@v5.2.1 \
+    github.com/gorilla/websocket@v1.5.3 \
+    golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt@v0.31.0 \
+    modernc.org/sqlite@v1.34.4 && \
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 go build \
+      modernc.org/sqlite \
+      github.com/go-chi/chi/v5 \
+      github.com/go-chi/cors \
+      github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 \
+      github.com/gorilla/websocket \
+      golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt
+
+# Copy application source & compiled frontend SPA assets for go:embed
 COPY cmd/ ./cmd/
 COPY internal/ ./internal/
 COPY migrations/ ./migrations/
-# Copy compiled frontend SPA assets into cmd/server/dist for go:embed
 COPY --from=frontend-builder /app/frontend/dist ./cmd/server/dist
-RUN go mod tidy
-RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=${TARGETOS} GOARCH=${TARGETARCH} go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o /app/mindsift ./cmd/server
+
+# Run go mod tidy, static analysis (go vet), unit tests (go test), and compile final binary
+RUN go mod tidy && \
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 go vet ./... && \
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 go test -v ./... && \
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o /app/mindsift ./cmd/server
 
 # ==============================================================================
 # Stage 3: Minimal Production Runtime (< 35 MB)