diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 5f1fe90..e268fd5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -485,32 +485,39 @@ jobs:
         run: docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.ci.yml --profile full up -d --build app
 
       - name: Resolve and pin app IP
-        # 'app' hostname collides on shared gitea_gitea network — same split
-        # -brain as e2epg. Smoke test #2 hit ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED even
-        # after both warm-ups returned the expected codes, because curl and
-        # Playwright-launched Chromium picked different IPs from the DNS set.
-        # Probe each resolved IP for /api/health and pin the winner as
-        # APP_BASE_URL so every subsequent step (wait, warm-up, smoke run)
-        # hits the same container.
+        # 'app' hostname collides on shared gitea_gitea network: many unrelated
+        # containers (from other stacks or concurrent jobs) also answer to
+        # "app" and to /api/health. Previously we probed every IP that
+        # `getent hosts app` returned and pinned the first 200 responder —
+        # which could easily be a foreign container whose process then died
+        # mid-test, producing ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED.
+        #
+        # Use docker compose ps to uniquely identify OUR app container, then
+        # docker inspect to read its IP on the gitea_gitea network (the one
+        # the act_runner job can reach). No DNS, no guessing.
         run: |
+          set -e
           for i in $(seq 1 36); do
-            IPS=$(getent hosts app | awk '{print $1}')
-            if [ -n "$IPS" ]; then
-              for ip in $IPS; do
-                CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 5 "http://$ip:3100/api/health" || echo "000")
-                echo "Attempt $i: $ip -> HTTP $CODE"
+            CID=$(docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.ci.yml ps -q app || true)
+            if [ -n "$CID" ]; then
+              APP_IP=$(docker inspect -f '{{range $k,$v := .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{if eq $k "gitea_gitea"}}{{$v.IPAddress}}{{end}}{{end}}' "$CID")
+              if [ -n "$APP_IP" ]; then
+                CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 5 "http://$APP_IP:3100/api/health" || echo "000")
+                echo "Attempt $i: container $CID on $APP_IP -> HTTP $CODE"
                 if [ "$CODE" = "200" ]; then
-                  echo "APP_IP=$ip" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-                  echo "APP_BASE_URL=http://$ip:3100" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+                  echo "APP_IP=$APP_IP" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+                  echo "APP_BASE_URL=http://$APP_IP:3100" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
                   exit 0
                 fi
-              done
+              else
+                echo "Attempt $i: container $CID has no gitea_gitea IP yet"
+              fi
             else
-              echo "Attempt $i: 'app' not yet in DNS"
+              echo "Attempt $i: compose has no 'app' container yet"
             fi
             sleep 5
           done
-          echo "No reachable app:3100 found"
+          echo "Our stack's app container never reported healthy on gitea_gitea"
           docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.ci.yml logs app --tail=50
           exit 1