diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e19c33d7..9a7a13b1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 name: CI
 
-# Automatic runs are temporarily paused while GitHub Actions billing is
-# unavailable. Keep the workflow runnable by hand so the CI definition remains
-# easy to verify and restore. `scripts/ci-local.sh fast` is the local mirror of
-# the `verify` job and runs from a pre-push hook in the meantime; keep the two
-# in step, because a local gate that has drifted reports green for a rule this
-# workflow would fail.
+# `scripts/ci-local.sh fast` is the local mirror of the `verify` job and runs
+# from a pre-push hook; keep the two in step, because a local gate that has
+# drifted reports green for a rule this workflow would fail.
 on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+  pull_request:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 # A new manual run for the same ref supersedes the run in flight.
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   verify:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7
 
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ jobs:
 
   packed-cli-consumer:
     needs: verify
+    # Hosted runner: manual-only while GitHub Actions billing is unavailable.
+    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -114,6 +116,8 @@ jobs:
   # whose startup surface this job probes.
   windows-compat:
     needs: verify
+    # Hosted runner: manual-only while GitHub Actions billing is unavailable.
+    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
     runs-on: windows-2025
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/invariants.yml b/.github/workflows/invariants.yml
index 65fbfcdc..b34baa93 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/invariants.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/invariants.yml
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@ name: Invariants
 # The rules in CLAUDE.md that nothing currently enforces. Deterministic checks
 # only -- no model, no secrets, no network. Runs read-only: findings surface as
 # GitHub annotations on the PR, which need no write permission.
-# Automatic runs are temporarily paused while GitHub Actions billing is
-# unavailable. Keep the workflow runnable by hand so the checks remain easy to
-# verify and restore. `scripts/ci-local.sh fast` ports every check below and
-# runs from a pre-push hook in the meantime; a check added here must be added
-# there too.
+# `scripts/ci-local.sh fast` ports every check below and runs from a pre-push
+# hook; a check added here must be added there too.
 on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+  pull_request:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 permissions:
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   check:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7
         with:
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Relay authentication uses the shared middleware seam
         run: |
-          test "$(grep -F 'app.use(\"/v1/*\", requireIdentity)' apps/relay/src/index.ts)" || {
+          test "$(grep -F 'app.use("/v1/*", requireIdentity)' apps/relay/src/index.ts)" || {
             echo "::error file=apps/relay/src/index.ts::Missing the fail-closed /v1 identity middleware."; exit 1;
           }
           test "$(grep -F 'PUBLIC_V1_PATHS' apps/relay/src/middleware.ts)" || {
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2bd891de..0e8b4f71 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   build:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64]
     permissions:
       contents: read
     steps:
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ jobs:
 
   publish:
     needs: build
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64]
     environment: npm
     permissions:
       contents: read
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ jobs:
 
   attach:
     needs: publish
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64]
     permissions:
       contents: write
     steps:
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/release-workflow.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/release-workflow.test.ts
index a2c7063d..5bc9b697 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/release-workflow.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/release-workflow.test.ts
@@ -49,13 +49,40 @@ function actionReferences(value: unknown): string[] {
 }
 
 describe("npm release workflow", () => {
-  it("keeps billable verification workflows manual-only while automatic runs are paused", () => {
-    for (const source of [ciWorkflow, invariantsWorkflow]) {
-      expect(source).toMatch(/^on:\n  workflow_dispatch:\s*$/m);
-      expect(source).not.toMatch(/^  (?:pull_request|push):/m);
+  // Was "keep these workflows manual-only". That held while every job ran on a
+  // GitHub-hosted runner and hosted billing was unavailable. Now `verify` and
+  // the invariants check run on a self-hosted runner, which costs nothing, so
+  // blanket manual-only would keep the gate switched off for no reason.
+  //
+  // What still has to hold is narrower: a job on a *hosted* runner must not be
+  // reachable from an automatic trigger, or every push fails on the billing
+  // block and CI reads red for a reason unrelated to the change.
+  it("never lets an automatic trigger reach a job on a billable hosted runner", () => {
+    const hostedRunner = /runs-on: (?!\[self-hosted)/;
+
+    for (const [name, source] of [["ci", ciWorkflow], ["invariants", invariantsWorkflow]] as const) {
+      const automatic = /^  (?:pull_request|push):/m.test(source);
+      if (!automatic) continue;
+
+      // Job blocks are two-space keys under `jobs:`; split on them so each
+      // job's runs-on and its `if:` guard are read together.
+      const jobs = source.split(/\n(?=  [a-z][a-z0-9-]*:\n)/).filter((block) => /runs-on:/.test(block));
+      const ungated = jobs
+        .filter((block) => hostedRunner.test(block))
+        .filter((block) => !/if: github\.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'/.test(block))
+        .map((block) => block.trimStart().split(":")[0]);
+
+      expect(ungated, `${name}.yml runs hosted jobs on an automatic trigger`).toEqual([]);
     }
   });
 
+  it("runs the gate itself on the self-hosted runner, so a push is actually checked", () => {
+    // The point of the move: `verify` is what decides whether a change ships,
+    // and it has to run without hosted minutes.
+    expect(ciWorkflow).toMatch(/verify:\n {4}runs-on: \[self-hosted, macOS, ARM64\]/);
+    expect(invariantsWorkflow).toMatch(/check:\n {4}runs-on: \[self-hosted, macOS, ARM64\]/);
+  });
+
   it("publishes the CLI for both supported listener platforms", () => {
     const manifest = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(root, "packages/cli/package.json"), "utf8"));
     expect(manifest.os).toEqual(["darwin", "linux"]);
diff --git a/scripts/verify-action-pins.rb b/scripts/verify-action-pins.rb
index af3bd303..8cbcecc3 100644
--- a/scripts/verify-action-pins.rb
+++ b/scripts/verify-action-pins.rb
@@ -20,8 +20,13 @@
   end
 end
 
+# `safe_load_file` needs Psych 3.3 (Ruby 3.0). The self-hosted runner has an
+# older stock Ruby and failed here with `undefined method 'safe_load_file'`,
+# which reads like a pinning violation rather than a missing method. Reading the
+# file ourselves works on every Ruby that ships `safe_load` with keyword
+# arguments, which is 2.6 onward.
 Dir.glob(".github/workflows/*.{yml,yaml}").sort.each do |file|
-  visit.call(YAML.safe_load_file(file, aliases: false), file, [])
+  visit.call(YAML.safe_load(File.read(file), aliases: false), file, [])
 end
 
 unless failures.empty?