diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-smoke.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..392ee1df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-smoke.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+name: CI Smoke Checks
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+env:
+  FORCE_JAVASCRIPT_ACTIONS_TO_NODE24: "true"
+
+jobs:
+  sayhello-build-run:
+    name: Sayhello Build and Run
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.12"
+
+      - name: Set up uv
+        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v4
+        with:
+          enable-cache: true
+
+      - name: Sync Python dependencies
+        run: uv sync
+
+      - name: Build sayhello pipeline
+        run: uv run ultrarag build examples/experiments/sayhello.yaml
+
+      - name: Run sayhello pipeline
+        run: uv run ultrarag run examples/experiments/sayhello.yaml
+
+  frontend-build:
+    name: Frontend Build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        working-directory: ui/frontend
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+
+      - name: Set up Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: "24"
+          cache: npm
+          cache-dependency-path: ui/frontend/package-lock.json
+
+      - name: Install frontend dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Build frontend
+        run: npm run build
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dockerhub-nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/dockerhub-nightly.yml
index 97bb7aa2..d82b1498 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dockerhub-nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dockerhub-nightly.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ on:
 env:
   IMAGE_NAME: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}/ultrarag
   IMAGE_TAG: v0.3.0
+  FORCE_JAVASCRIPT_ACTIONS_TO_NODE24: "true"
 
 jobs:
   check-recent-commits:
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ jobs:
       should_build: ${{ steps.commit-check.outputs.should_build }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           fetch-depth: 1
 
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ jobs:
             tag_suffix: ""
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
       - name: Set up QEMU
         uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
       - name: Set up Buildx
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
           password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
       - name: Build and push
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
         with:
           context: .
           file: ${{ matrix.dockerfile }}