diff --git a/$GITHUB_OUTPUT b/$GITHUB_OUTPUT
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b93e50a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/$GITHUB_OUTPUT
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+head_sha=${GITHUB_SHA}
+base_hash=${BASE_HASH}
+base_needed=true
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml
index 10a3e9a..2acc4a8 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: CICD Start
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: [ main, develop, feature/* ]
+    branches: [ main, develop ]
   pull_request:
     branches: [ main, develop ]
   workflow_dispatch:
@@ -30,11 +30,6 @@ jobs:
       base_hash: ${{ steps.base-decision.outputs.base_hash }}
 
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ github.sha }}
-
       - name: Audit trigger context
         env:
           EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
@@ -60,36 +55,19 @@ jobs:
             echo "${GITEA_REGISTRY_IP} ${GITEA_REGISTRY_HOST}" >> /etc/hosts
           fi
 
-      - name: Compute base hash and base-needed signal
+      - name: Compute routing signal
         id: base-decision
         run: |
           set -e
 
-          compute_hash() {
-            local file1="$1"
-            local file2="$2"
-            sha256sum "${file1}" "${file2}" | sha256sum | cut -c1-16
-          }
+          # Keep this workflow container-agnostic: do not rely on checkout/actions/node.
+          # docker-build-base handles canonical base hash/existence checks.
+          echo "head_sha=${GITHUB_SHA}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+          echo "base_hash=deferred" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+          echo "base_needed=true" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
 
-          if [ ! -f "Dockerfile.cicd-base" ] || [ ! -f ".dockerignore" ]; then
-            echo "❌ Required hash inputs are missing in workspace"
-            ls -la
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
-          BASE_HASH=$(compute_hash "Dockerfile.cicd-base" ".dockerignore")
-
-          BASE_REF_HASH="${GITEA_REGISTRY}/darkhelm.org/plex-playlist-cicd-base:${BASE_HASH}"
-
-          echo "Base hash: ${BASE_HASH}"
-          echo "Base ref: ${BASE_REF_HASH}"
-
-          echo "head_sha=${GITHUB_SHA}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "base_hash=${BASE_HASH}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          # Route through docker-build-base always; it already performs robust
-          # registry/base existence checks and can short-circuit heavy rebuilds.
-          echo "Base rebuild decision delegated to Docker Build Base workflow"
-          echo "base_needed=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "Routing via docker-build-base.yaml"
+          echo "Base hash delegated to Docker Build Base workflow"
 
       - name: Dispatch downstream workflow
         if: steps.base-decision.outcome == 'success' && steps.base-decision.outputs.head_sha != '' && steps.base-decision.outputs.base_needed != ''