diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
index 0d78c25..59c542a 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
@@ -329,6 +329,16 @@ jobs:
           echo "Browser smoke process crashed with SIGSEGV — retrying the unchanged suite once..."
           npm run test:e2e
 
+      - name: Preserve browser diagnostics
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: browser-diagnostics
+          path: |
+            job-tracker-ui/.artifacts/playwright-results.json
+            job-tracker-ui/test-results
+          retention-days: 7
+
   deploy:
     needs: test
     if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
diff --git a/docs/infrastructure/2026-10-20-browser-ci-diagnostics.md b/docs/infrastructure/2026-10-20-browser-ci-diagnostics.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fef52ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/infrastructure/2026-10-20-browser-ci-diagnostics.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Browser CI diagnostic repair — 20 October 2026
+
+Run 821, attempt 2, tested main commit `2278473763848254c12d65c1062109eb1b7dc4cf`. Its backend build, 1,054 backend tests, 824 frontend tests, dependency policy, lint, TypeScript and production frontend build completed before the browser step. The browser step began at 20:37:52 UTC on 17 October and ended unsuccessfully at 20:51:55 UTC. The downloadable log ends at “Running 331 tests using 1 worker”, without an assertion, timeout or process-exit diagnostic. Deployment was skipped. Subsequent successful scheduled backup jobs do not constitute a successful application deployment.
+
+The existing GitHub-only Playwright reporter does not emit ordinary per-test progress. The repair adds the built-in list reporter alongside GitHub annotations and a JSON report. An always-run artifact step retains the JSON result and existing failure screenshots/traces for seven days using Gitea-compatible upload-artifact v3. No tests, assertions, timeouts, retries, browser projects, authorization checks or deployment conditions are weakened. This is a diagnostic repair; the underlying termination cause is still unproven and requires the instrumented run.
+
+Verification: all 331 tests in 53 files are still discovered. A separate temporary probe deliberately failed one ordinary assertion: the process returned 1, printed the failing test name, wrote a trace and persisted one unexpected failure and zero skipped cases in JSON. The probe is an isolated reporter self-check, not an application regression result or committed test. Application/test TypeScript passed. Lint and final hygiene are recorded before publication; the next main CI run remains authoritative for application regression and deployment.
+
+Unfinished Phase 7 work in the original checkout is excluded. The owner has explicitly authorized this main deployment despite existing release qualifications. The temporary dev-only braces exception retains its original expiry after 31 October 2026; other dependency findings, outstanding production gates and P5-13 withholding remain unchanged. The requested Qwen model is downloaded but is not activated by this change.
diff --git a/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts b/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts
index e075d7b..f15f1d6 100644
--- a/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ export default defineConfig({
   workers: 1,
   retries: process.env.CI ? 1 : 0,
   metadata: { isolatedDataRoot: reuseServers ? null : dataRoot },
-  reporter: process.env.CI ? "github" : "list",
+  reporter: process.env.CI
+    ? [["list"], ["github"], ["json", { outputFile: ".artifacts/playwright-results.json" }]]
+    : "list",
   use: {
     baseURL: appUrl,
     trace: "retain-on-failure",