diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index 99c8e0d..4d1414a 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -1,14 +1,21 @@
 name: Build, Test and Package Release
 
-# Manually triggered pipeline (see aidlc-docs/features/react-frontend/operations/deployment/deployment-instructions.md):
-# - Run it yourself from Gitea Actions, picking the branch/ref to run against.
-# - Always runs the build/test/lint gate first.
-# - The "deploy" step currently only packages dist/ as a downloadable artifact
-#   (no automatic upload to a host yet). Typically run on a `release/*` branch
-#   once you've manually created it for a release.
+# Pipeline (see aidlc-docs/features/react-frontend/operations/deployment/deployment-instructions.md):
+# - Runs automatically on every pull request (merge request) as a build/test/lint gate.
+# - Can also be triggered manually from Gitea Actions, picking the branch/ref to run against.
+# - The "deploy" job currently only packages dist/ as a downloadable artifact
+#   (no automatic upload to a host yet) and only runs for manual (workflow_dispatch) runs.
+#   Typically run on a `release/*` branch once you've manually created it for a release.
+# - Uploaded artifacts expire after 1 day (retention-days: 1).
+# - Gitea Actions has no GitLab/Azure DevOps-style approval gate (a single job with a
+#   "manual" play button inside an already-running pipeline). The closest equivalent is
+#   workflow_dispatch: the deploy job only runs when someone presses "Run workflow" in
+#   the Gitea Actions UI, i.e. a one-click manual approval.
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch: {}
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
 
 jobs:
   build-and-test:
@@ -44,10 +51,11 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: dist
           path: dist/
-          retention-days: 30
+          retention-days: 1
 
   deploy:
     needs: build-and-test
+    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Download build artifact
@@ -65,4 +73,4 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: release-dist
           path: dist/
-          retention-days: 30
+          retention-days: 1