diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-cd.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-cd.yml
index d4886bd..e38c69a 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-cd.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-cd.yml
@@ -310,19 +310,11 @@ jobs:
           DOCKER_BUILDKIT: 1
           COMPOSE_DOCKER_CLI_BUILD: 1
 
-      - name: Start infrastructure services (postgres, redis)
-        # --no-recreate: never touch a container that is already running.
-        # Prevents the "container name already in use" conflict when redis/postgres
-        # are healthy from a previous deploy.
-        run: |
-          docker compose up -d \
-            --no-deps \
-            --no-recreate \
-            postgres redis
-
       - name: Deploy main app services
+        # Only cycle the app containers — postgres and redis are long-running
+        # infrastructure that must never be restarted by CI.
         # --force-recreate: always swap in the freshly-built images.
-        # --no-deps: infra is already handled above; don't touch postgres/redis.
+        # --no-deps: do NOT pull in postgres/redis as dependencies.
         run: |
           docker compose up -d \
             --no-deps \