diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 2cabe00..a34ea1c 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -11,9 +11,20 @@ jobs:
   rust:
     name: Rust Checks
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:16-alpine
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_DB: crank_test
+          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd "pg_isready -U postgres -d crank_test"
+          --health-interval 10s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 5
     env:
-      TEST_DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@127.0.0.1:55432/crank_test
-      CRANK_CI_POSTGRES: crank-ci-postgres
+      TEST_DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@postgres:5432/crank_test
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -27,20 +38,6 @@ jobs:
           cargo clippy --version
           docker --version
 
-      - name: Start test Postgres
-        run: |
-          docker rm -f "$CRANK_CI_POSTGRES" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-          docker run -d --rm \
-            --name "$CRANK_CI_POSTGRES" \
-            -e POSTGRES_DB=crank_test \
-            -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres \
-            -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres \
-            -p 127.0.0.1:55432:5432 \
-            postgres:16-alpine >/dev/null
-          until docker exec "$CRANK_CI_POSTGRES" pg_isready -U postgres -d crank_test >/dev/null 2>&1; do
-            sleep 1
-          done
-
       - name: Check formatting
         run: cargo fmt --all --check
 
@@ -53,10 +50,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run tests
         run: cargo test --workspace --all-targets
 
-      - name: Stop test Postgres
-        if: always()
-        run: docker rm -f "$CRANK_CI_POSTGRES" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-
   ui:
     name: UI Checks
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -85,6 +78,25 @@ jobs:
   frontend-e2e:
     name: Frontend E2E
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:16-alpine
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_DB: crank
+          POSTGRES_USER: crank
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: crank
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd "pg_isready -U crank -d crank"
+          --health-interval 10s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 5
+    env:
+      CRANK_E2E_USE_EXTERNAL_POSTGRES: "1"
+      CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_HOST: postgres
+      CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_PORT: "5432"
+      CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_DB: crank
+      CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_USER: crank
+      CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_PASSWORD: crank
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
diff --git a/apps/ui/scripts/playwright-stack.sh b/apps/ui/scripts/playwright-stack.sh
index d6e7b59..e088a53 100644
--- a/apps/ui/scripts/playwright-stack.sh
+++ b/apps/ui/scripts/playwright-stack.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ GRPC_FIXTURE_BIND="${CRANK_E2E_GRPC_FIXTURE_BIND:-127.0.0.1:3311}"
 POSTGRES_DB="${CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_DB:-crank}"
 POSTGRES_USER="${CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_USER:-crank}"
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD="${CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-crank}"
+POSTGRES_HOST="${CRANK_E2E_POSTGRES_HOST:-127.0.0.1}"
+USE_EXTERNAL_POSTGRES="${CRANK_E2E_USE_EXTERNAL_POSTGRES:-0}"
 ADMIN_EMAIL="${CRANK_E2E_ADMIN_EMAIL:-owner@crank.local}"
 ADMIN_PASSWORD="${CRANK_E2E_ADMIN_PASSWORD:-change-me-admin-password}"
 
@@ -58,7 +60,9 @@ cleanup() {
     kill "$(cat "$TMP_DIR/ui-server.pid")" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
     rm -f "$TMP_DIR/ui-server.pid"
   fi
-  docker rm -f "$POSTGRES_CONTAINER" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  if [[ "$USE_EXTERNAL_POSTGRES" != "1" ]]; then
+    docker rm -f "$POSTGRES_CONTAINER" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  fi
   kill_port_processes "$UI_PORT"
   kill_port_processes "$ADMIN_PORT"
   kill_port_processes "$MCP_PORT"
@@ -87,19 +91,23 @@ PY
   done
 }
 
-docker run -d --rm \
-  --name "$POSTGRES_CONTAINER" \
-  -e POSTGRES_DB="$POSTGRES_DB" \
-  -e POSTGRES_USER="$POSTGRES_USER" \
-  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD="$POSTGRES_PASSWORD" \
-  -p "$POSTGRES_PORT:5432" \
-  postgres:16-alpine >/dev/null
+if [[ "$USE_EXTERNAL_POSTGRES" = "1" ]]; then
+  wait_for_port "$POSTGRES_HOST" "$POSTGRES_PORT"
+else
+  docker run -d --rm \
+    --name "$POSTGRES_CONTAINER" \
+    -e POSTGRES_DB="$POSTGRES_DB" \
+    -e POSTGRES_USER="$POSTGRES_USER" \
+    -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD="$POSTGRES_PASSWORD" \
+    -p "$POSTGRES_PORT:5432" \
+    postgres:16-alpine >/dev/null
 
-until docker exec "$POSTGRES_CONTAINER" pg_isready -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d "$POSTGRES_DB" >/dev/null 2>&1; do
-  sleep 1
-done
+  until docker exec "$POSTGRES_CONTAINER" pg_isready -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d "$POSTGRES_DB" >/dev/null 2>&1; do
+    sleep 1
+  done
+fi
 
-export POSTGRES_HOST="127.0.0.1"
+export POSTGRES_HOST
 export POSTGRES_PORT="$POSTGRES_PORT"
 export POSTGRES_DB="$POSTGRES_DB"
 export POSTGRES_USER="$POSTGRES_USER"