diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
index c7db794..c92a151 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
@@ -190,6 +190,30 @@ jobs:
           echo "Frontend test process crashed with SIGSEGV — retrying the complete suite once..."
           npm test -- --watchAll=false --runInBand
 
+      - name: Build frontend
+        working-directory: job-tracker-ui
+        env:
+          CI: 'false'
+          GENERATE_SOURCEMAP: 'false'
+          NODE_OPTIONS: --max-old-space-size=4096
+        # Build once, then make Playwright serve this exact export. A SIGSEGV-only retry preserves
+        # the runner workaround without hiding an ordinary compiler or type-check failure.
+        run: |
+          set +e
+          npm run build
+          build_status=$?
+          set -e
+
+          if [ "$build_status" -eq 0 ]; then
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ "$build_status" -ne 139 ]; then
+            exit "$build_status"
+          fi
+
+          echo "Frontend build process crashed with SIGSEGV — retrying once..."
+          npm run build
+
       - name: Install browser smoke runtime
         working-directory: job-tracker-ui
         env:
@@ -206,6 +230,7 @@ jobs:
           # Exercise the deployable frontend and avoid Turbopack's persistence crashes on
           # this runner's slow Docker volume.
           PLAYWRIGHT_STATIC_EXPORT: 'true'
+          PLAYWRIGHT_PREBUILT_EXPORT: 'true'
         # The runner occasionally terminates an otherwise healthy Node process with
         # SIGSEGV/139. Retry only that infrastructure signature. Do not reinstall npm
         # or browser payloads here: doing so used to redownload hundreds of megabytes
@@ -227,19 +252,6 @@ jobs:
           echo "Browser smoke process crashed with SIGSEGV — retrying the unchanged suite once..."
           npm run test:e2e
 
-      - name: Build frontend
-        working-directory: job-tracker-ui
-        env:
-          CI: 'false'
-          GENERATE_SOURCEMAP: 'false'
-          NODE_OPTIONS: --max-old-space-size=4096
-        # CRA's build (Terser minify + fork-ts-checker workers) has repeatedly died silently on
-        # this runner with no error output (OOM/SIGSEGV signature — same resource-starved-runner
-        # class as the npm ci and dotnet-install flakes elsewhere in this workflow). Retry once.
-        run: |
-          npm run build \
-            || ( echo "Frontend build failed ($?) — retrying once..." && npm run build )
-
   deploy:
     needs: test
     if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
diff --git a/docs/work-programmes/master-progress.md b/docs/work-programmes/master-progress.md
index 2554292..fa43ff3 100644
--- a/docs/work-programmes/master-progress.md
+++ b/docs/work-programmes/master-progress.md
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ Updated: 2026-08-30
 - Hardened deployment replacement semantics: backend/frontend images receive exact commit tags, the prior running core images are retained as the rollback release, and any post-replacement failure automatically restores both previous services while keeping the deployment result failed. Removed the non-actionable blanket `compose pull || true` suppression.
 - Completed the next lifecycle-controller boundary by moving status changes and deterministic email status suggestions out of the core controller. The applied-date invariant and cleared-date audit event now live in `JobLifecycleEvents`, so full edits and status-only updates cannot drift.
 - Added axe-powered WCAG A/AA browser gates for public entry points and the Dashboard, Jobs, Kanban, Career, Settings, and Admin/System workspaces. Fixed the shared violations they exposed: primary-action contrast, dark-surface language-toggle contrast, account-avatar contrast, sidebar list semantics, job-filter accessible names, and the Google sign-in wrapper role.
+- Removed the duplicate frontend production build from CI: Next now builds once before browser smoke, and Playwright serves that exact static export instead of rebuilding it. Ordinary build failures remain terminal and only the runner's explicit exit-139 signature retries.
 - Transferred the independent `UserRuleSettings` table from both provider startup paths to its own provider-aware migration; owner-keyed settings survive adoption, downgrade and retry.
 - Moved `GmailReviewDecisions` into a provider-aware migration, preserving existing SQLite decisions and closing the previously missing MariaDB table path.
 - Moved recovery codes, trusted devices, and revocable user sessions into one provider-aware authentication-support migration; populated legacy rows and indexes survive adoption, downgrade, and retry.
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ Updated: 2026-08-30
 - Deployment rollback configuration: Docker Compose configuration validation passed with non-secret fixture values. Runtime rollback rehearsal remains pending because the local Linux Docker daemon is offline.
 - Status lifecycle extraction: Release build passed with 0 warnings/errors and the complete backend suite passed 736/736, including applied-date preservation, status suggestions, and cross-tenant not-found behavior.
 - Accessibility package: public axe flow passed 1/1 and authenticated axe flow passed 1/1 across six workspaces; ESLint passed with zero warnings; all 60 frontend suites and 260/260 tests passed; optimized Next build and integrated TypeScript passed; npm audit reported zero vulnerabilities after adding `@axe-core/playwright`.
+- Prebuilt-export browser path: focused Playwright passed 1/1 while serving the existing optimized export without invoking another Next build.
 - Focused frontend: 2 suites, 6 tests passed.
 - Full frontend: 64 suites, 272 tests passed.
 - Next production build and TypeScript: passed.
diff --git a/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts b/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts
index 559b216..9b3b3a6 100644
--- a/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/job-tracker-ui/playwright.config.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const appUrl = "http://localhost:3300";
 const dataRoot = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `jobtracker-e2e-${process.pid}-${Date.now().toString(36)}`);
 const reuseServers = process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_REUSE_SERVERS === "true";
 const useStaticExport = process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_STATIC_EXPORT === "true";
+const usePrebuiltExport = process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_PREBUILT_EXPORT === "true";
 const quote = (value: string) => `"${value.replaceAll('"', '\\"')}"`;
 const nodeCommand = quote(process.execPath);
 const dotnetCommand = quote(process.env.DOTNET_HOST_PATH || "dotnet");
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     },
     {
       command: useStaticExport
-        ? `${nodeCommand} ${nextCommand} build && ${nodeCommand} ${exportServerCommand}`
+        ? `${usePrebuiltExport ? "" : `${nodeCommand} ${nextCommand} build && `}${nodeCommand} ${exportServerCommand}`
         : `${nodeCommand} ${nextCommand} dev --webpack --hostname localhost --port 3300`,
       url: appUrl,
       timeout: 120_000,