diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 5bd8f40c..d6aa63d9 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ concurrency:
 
 env:
   DOTNET_VERSION: '9.0.x'
+  PYTHONUNBUFFERED: '1'
+  PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE: '1'
 
 jobs:
   # ========================================================================
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         # Install from requirements.txt (cache key from setup-python)
         pip install --disable-pip-version-check --quiet --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
-        pip install --disable-pip-version-check --quiet -r requirements.txt psycopg2-binary
+        pip install --disable-pip-version-check --quiet --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt psycopg2-binary
 
         # Verify installation
         python3 -c 'import requests, yaml, openpyxl, pytest, psycopg; print("✓ Python dependencies installed")'
@@ -89,8 +91,23 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         which psql || (sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq postgresql-client)
 
-        echo "=== Database Connection Check ==="
-        psql -U quantengine_ci -d quantenginedb -c "SELECT version();" || exit 1
+        echo "=== Waiting for PostgreSQL to be ready ==="
+        ATTEMPT=0
+        MAX_ATTEMPTS=30
+        while [ $ATTEMPT -lt $MAX_ATTEMPTS ]; do
+          if psql -U quantengine_ci -d quantenginedb -c "SELECT version();" 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "✓ PostgreSQL is ready"
+            break
+          fi
+          ATTEMPT=$((ATTEMPT + 1))
+          echo "Attempt $ATTEMPT/$MAX_ATTEMPTS: PostgreSQL not ready, waiting..."
+          sleep 2
+        done
+
+        if [ $ATTEMPT -eq $MAX_ATTEMPTS ]; then
+          echo "ERROR: PostgreSQL failed to start after $MAX_ATTEMPTS attempts"
+          exit 1
+        fi
 
         echo "=== Applying Migrations ==="
         for f in $(ls src/dotnet/QuantEngine.Infrastructure/Migrations/V*.sql | sort -V); do