diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d5f8522..271c1f5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -16,21 +16,35 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
 
-      # --locked fails the job when uv.lock does not match pyproject, so CI
-      # resolves exactly what a developer resolved rather than picking up a
-      # newer release mid-run. --no-build installs from wheels only, which
-      # keeps a dependency's setup.py from executing on the runner.
+      # Plain `uv sync`, deliberately, on two counts.
       #
-      # The editable workspace members install regardless: --no-build refuses
-      # source distributions of dependencies, not a local editable install.
-      # Verified both ways, since the flag reads as though it would block them:
-      # a sync with an empty UV_CACHE_DIR into a fresh environment installs
-      # coordinode, langchain-coordinode and llama-index-graph-stores-coordinode
-      # and imports them, and every job below has run green with the flag on a
-      # clean runner. Remove it only with evidence, not on the wording.
-      - run: uv sync --locked --no-build
-      - run: uv run --locked --no-build ruff check coordinode/ langchain-coordinode/ llama-index-coordinode/ tests/
-      - run: uv run --locked --no-build ruff format --check coordinode/ langchain-coordinode/ llama-index-coordinode/ tests/
+      # Resolving fresh is wanted on the pull requests where it actually
+      # happens, which is not all of them. `uv sync` follows the committed lock
+      # while that lock satisfies pyproject.toml, so an ordinary pull request
+      # installs the locked versions. When a pull request moves dependency
+      # metadata without regenerating the lock, uv resolves the new set and
+      # these jobs exercise it. `--locked` would instead refuse to run and
+      # report that the lock needs updating, which says nothing about whether
+      # the new version works.
+      #
+      # The two flags tried here also break the release, and for one shared
+      # reason: the release bumps the version in pyproject.toml and leaves
+      # uv.lock naming the old one, so uv has to re-resolve.
+      #
+      #   --locked     fails on exactly that mismatch, reporting that the
+      #                lockfile needs to be updated.
+      #   --no-build   fails because re-resolving means building this
+      #                workspace's own three packages, which are source rather
+      #                than wheels: "Building source distributions for
+      #                coordinode is disabled".
+      #
+      # Verified on the release branch with a cold cache: both fail there, and
+      # both pass on that same branch once uv.lock carries the new version. So
+      # restoring either one means first making the release regenerate the
+      # lock, and even then it gives up the fresh resolution described above.
+      - run: uv sync
+      - run: uv run ruff check coordinode/ langchain-coordinode/ llama-index-coordinode/ tests/
+      - run: uv run ruff format --check coordinode/ langchain-coordinode/ llama-index-coordinode/ tests/
 
   test:
     name: Test (Python ${{ matrix.python-version }})
@@ -49,13 +63,13 @@ jobs:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
 
       - name: Install dependencies
-        run: uv sync --locked --no-build --all-packages
+        run: uv sync --all-packages
 
       - name: Generate proto stubs
-        run: uv run --locked --no-build make proto
+        run: uv run make proto
 
       - name: Unit tests
-        run: uv run --locked --no-build pytest tests/unit/ -v
+        run: uv run pytest tests/unit/ -v
 
   build-embedded:
     name: Build embedded (CI check)
@@ -83,7 +97,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install wheel + run embedded tests
         # The main `test` job skips coordinode_embedded with importorskip
         # because that runner doesn't build the wheel.  This job has the
-        # wheel — install it and run the embedded tests here, then assert
+        # wheel, so install it and run the embedded tests here, then assert
         # nothing was skipped (a skip with the wheel installed means a
         # broken manylinux glibc / missing numpy / etc., not the expected
         # "no wheel" condition).
@@ -116,7 +130,7 @@ jobs:
             exit 1
           fi
           if ! echo "$OUTPUT" | grep -qE '=+ [0-9]+ passed'; then
-            echo "::error::No tests passed — the module was likely not collected"
+            echo "::error::No tests passed; the module was likely not collected"
             exit 1
           fi
 
@@ -151,7 +165,7 @@ jobs:
               echo "coordinode is ready (attempt $i)"
               exit 0
             fi
-            echo "Attempt $i/30 — not ready yet, sleeping 5s..."
+            echo "Attempt $i/30, not ready yet, sleeping 5s..."
             sleep 5
           done
           echo "Error: coordinode did not become healthy after 150s" >&2
@@ -159,10 +173,10 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install + generate proto
         run: |
-          uv sync --locked --no-build --all-packages
-          uv run --locked --no-build make proto
+          uv sync --all-packages
+          uv run make proto
 
       - name: Integration tests
         env:
           COORDINODE_ADDR: "localhost:7080"
-        run: uv run --locked --no-build pytest tests/integration/ -v --timeout=30
+        run: uv run pytest tests/integration/ -v --timeout=30