diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml
index 595cd5e..c159628 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@ name: Dev — Build & local smoke test
 # Validates that the build compiles and the server starts cleanly.
 # No GCP deployment — this is the inner dev loop gate.
 # Merge to stage when you want a real environment.
+#
+# Build approach: pull ci-base from Artifact Registry (has elb + elc + runtime
+# at /opt/el), extract the SDK onto the runner host, then run elb build.
+# elb compiles each .el source independently — no combined mega-file, no OOM.
+# Output: dist/neuron-landing (linux/amd64). Dockerfile.stage COPYs it directly.
+#
+# For pull_request events: secrets are not injected, so ci-base can't be pulled.
+# Fall back to committed bin/elb-linux-amd64 + bin/elc-linux-amd64 + runtime/.
+# No docker cache (no Artifact Registry auth), but the full build + smoke test runs.
 
 on:
   push:
@@ -11,8 +20,20 @@ on:
       - 'src/**'
       - 'dist/**'
       - 'runtime/**'
-      - 'Dockerfile.stage'
       - 'manifest.el'
+      - 'Dockerfile.stage'
+      - '.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml'
+      - '.gitea/workflows/stage.yaml'
+      - '.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml'
+
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [dev]
+    paths:
+      - 'src/**'
+      - 'dist/**'
+      - 'runtime/**'
+      - 'manifest.el'
+      - 'Dockerfile.stage'
       - '.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml'
       - '.gitea/workflows/stage.yaml'
       - '.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml'
@@ -34,63 +55,104 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 2
 
-      - name: Set up El SDK
-        run: echo "EL_HOME=/opt/el" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+      # ── GCP auth (push/workflow_dispatch only) ────────────────────────────
+      # pull_request events don't get secrets injected. GCP auth is skipped
+      # for PRs — El SDK comes from committed bin/ + runtime/ instead.
 
       - name: Authenticate to GCP
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         uses: google-github-actions/auth@v2
         with:
           credentials_json: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
 
       - name: Set up gcloud SDK
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v2
         with:
           project_id: neuron-785695
 
       - name: Configure docker auth for Artifact Registry
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         run: gcloud auth configure-docker us-central1-docker.pkg.dev --quiet
 
+      # ── El SDK setup ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+      # Push builds: extract elb + elc + runtime from ci-base (always latest).
+      # PR builds:   use committed bin/elb-linux-amd64 + bin/elc-linux-amd64 + runtime/.
+
+      - name: Extract El SDK from ci-base (push builds)
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          docker pull us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-ci/ci-base:latest
+          CID=$(docker create us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-ci/ci-base:latest)
+          sudo mkdir -p /opt/el
+          docker cp "$CID:/opt/el" /opt/
+          docker rm "$CID"
+          echo "ELB=/opt/el/dist/bin/elb"              >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "ELC=/opt/el/dist/platform/elc"          >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "EL_RUNTIME=/opt/el/el-compiler/runtime" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Set up El SDK from committed bin/ (PR builds)
+        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          DEST="${{ github.workspace }}/../foundation-el"
+          mkdir -p "$DEST/dist/bin" "$DEST/dist/platform" "$DEST/el-compiler/runtime"
+          cp bin/elb-linux-amd64 "$DEST/dist/bin/elb"
+          cp bin/elc-linux-amd64 "$DEST/dist/platform/elc"
+          chmod +x "$DEST/dist/bin/elb" "$DEST/dist/platform/elc"
+          cp runtime/el_runtime.c "$DEST/el-compiler/runtime/"
+          cp runtime/el_runtime.h "$DEST/el-compiler/runtime/"
+          cp runtime/el_runtime.js "$DEST/el-compiler/runtime/"
+          echo "ELB=$DEST/dist/bin/elb"              >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "ELC=$DEST/dist/platform/elc"         >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "EL_RUNTIME=$DEST/el-compiler/runtime" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      # ── Build neuron-web binary ───────────────────────────────────────────
+
+      - name: Build neuron-web with elb
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          "$ELB" build \
+            --elc "$ELC" \
+            --runtime "$EL_RUNTIME"
+          echo "Binary: $(ls -lh dist/neuron-landing)"
+
+      # ── Compile JS client sources ─────────────────────────────────────────
+
+      - name: Compile JS El sources
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          cp "$EL_RUNTIME/el_runtime.js" src/js/
+          mkdir -p dist/js
+          for f in src/js/*.el; do
+            [ -f "$f" ] || continue
+            name=$(basename "$f" .el)
+            "$ELC" --target=js --bundle --minify --obfuscate "$f" > "dist/js/${name}.js"
+            echo "  compiled: $f -> dist/js/${name}.js"
+          done
+          rm -f src/js/el_runtime.js
+
+      # ── Docker build + smoke test ─────────────────────────────────────────
+
       - name: Compute image tag
         id: tag
         run: echo "tag=dev-${GITHUB_SHA:0:8}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Touch HTML placeholder files
-        # El binary regenerates these at startup via fs_write. They must exist
-        # in the build context for Dockerfile COPY to succeed. touch is
-        # idempotent if the files already exist from a prior run.
         run: touch src/index.html src/about.html src/terms.html src/enterprise-terms.html
 
-      - name: Build El binary (elb)
-        # elb compiles each .el source independently (no combined mega-file),
-        # then links via cc. Output: dist/neuron-landing (linux/amd64 binary).
-        # This avoids the exponential memory growth that hits elc on the
-        # concatenated main-combined.el approach.
-        run: |
-          set -euo pipefail
-          export EL_HOME=/opt/el
-          /opt/el/dist/bin/elb build \
-            --elc=/opt/el/dist/platform/elc \
-            --runtime=/opt/el/el-compiler/runtime
-          echo "Binary: $(ls -lh dist/neuron-landing)"
-
-      - name: Compile JS El sources
-        run: |
-          set -euo pipefail
-          ELC=/opt/el/dist/platform/elc
-          mkdir -p dist/js
-          for f in src/js/*.el; do
-            [ -f "$f" ] || continue
-            name=$(basename "$f" .el)
-            "$ELC" --target=js --bundle --minify --obfuscate "$f" > "dist/js/${name}.js"
-            echo "  compiled: $f → dist/js/${name}.js"
-          done
-
       - name: Build Docker image (local only — no push)
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           TAG="${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}"
+          CACHE_ARGS=""
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" != "pull_request" ]; then
+            CACHE_ARGS="--cache-from us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:latest"
+          fi
           docker build \
-            --cache-from us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:latest \
+            --build-arg BUILDKIT_INLINE_CACHE=1 \
+            $CACHE_ARGS \
             -f Dockerfile.stage \
             -t "marketing:${TAG}" \
             .
@@ -107,8 +169,6 @@ jobs:
             -e LANDING_ROOT=/srv/landing \
             "$IMAGE"
 
-          # entrypoint.sh sleeps 4s for soul-demo to load before starting neuron-web.
-          # Poll up to 45s total.
           for i in $(seq 1 15); do
             STATUS=$(curl -sSo /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 5 http://localhost:8080/ || echo "000")
             echo "Attempt $i/15: HTTP $STATUS"
@@ -125,4 +185,3 @@ jobs:
           docker stop dev-smoke && docker rm dev-smoke || true
           echo "Dev smoke test FAILED"
           exit 1
-