diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-master.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-master.yaml
index 133350e..dd0f61e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-master.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-master.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   meta:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     outputs:
       short-sha: ${{ steps.sha.outputs.short }}
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-pr.yaml
index 6dcc7bf..5153525 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-pr.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ on:
 jobs:
   meta:
     if: contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'build') && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     outputs:
       short-sha: ${{ steps.sha.outputs.short }}
     steps:
@@ -31,7 +33,9 @@ jobs:
   comment:
     needs: [meta, build]
     if: contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'build') && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     steps:
       - name: Comment PR with image tags
         uses: actions/github-script@v7
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 5648e37..768c06c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   test:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
@@ -45,7 +47,9 @@ jobs:
         run: make test
 
   lint:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker.yml b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
index 548fa03..5fde2ca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   goreleaser-check:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-l-x64
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
@@ -51,8 +53,55 @@ jobs:
         env:
           LATEST_TAG: latest
 
+      - name: Build server and sandbox images
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p linux/amd64
+          cp dist/panda-server_linux_amd64_v1/panda-server linux/amd64/panda-server
+          docker build -f goreleaser.server.Dockerfile -t panda-server-smoke .
+          docker build -f sandbox/Dockerfile -t panda-sandbox-smoke .
+
+      - name: Smoke test server sandbox initialization
+        run: |
+          # Write a minimal config that the server can parse.
+          # The server will initialize the sandbox (Docker access, image pull,
+          # network creation) before attempting to connect to the proxy.
+          cat > /tmp/smoke-config.yaml <<'CONFIG'
+          server:
+            host: "0.0.0.0"
+            port: 2480
+            transport: sse
+          sandbox:
+            image: "panda-sandbox-smoke:latest"
+            network: "panda-smoke-test"
+          proxy:
+            url: "http://localhost:19999"
+          CONFIG
+
+          # Run the server and capture logs. It will fail at proxy connection,
+          # but we check that sandbox initialization completed successfully.
+          LOGS=$(docker run --rm \
+            -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
+            -v /tmp/smoke-config.yaml:/app/config.yaml:ro \
+            --group-add "$(stat -c '%g' /var/run/docker.sock)" \
+            panda-server-smoke \
+            serve --config /app/config.yaml 2>&1 || true)
+
+          echo "$LOGS"
+
+          if echo "$LOGS" | grep -q "Sandbox service started"; then
+            echo "Smoke test passed: sandbox initialized successfully"
+          else
+            echo "Smoke test failed: sandbox did not initialize"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # Clean up the network created by the server.
+          docker network rm panda-smoke-test 2>/dev/null || true
+
   build-sandbox:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/eval.yaml b/.github/workflows/eval.yaml
index 9e58de3..d5918c6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/eval.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/eval.yaml
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   evaluate:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     timeout-minutes: 60
 
     steps:
@@ -224,7 +226,9 @@ jobs:
           comment_mode: always
 
   compare-models:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on:
+      - self-hosted-ghr
+      - size-m-x64
     needs: evaluate
     if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && inputs.model == 'claude-sonnet-4-5'
 
diff --git a/goreleaser.server.Dockerfile b/goreleaser.server.Dockerfile
index 8846773..df69184 100644
--- a/goreleaser.server.Dockerfile
+++ b/goreleaser.server.Dockerfile
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ RUN mkdir -p /model/all-MiniLM-L6-v2 && \
 # =============================================================================
 FROM alpine:3.21
 
-RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates tzdata
+RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates tzdata docker-cli
 
 RUN addgroup -g 1000 panda && \
     adduser -u 1000 -G panda -D panda
diff --git a/pkg/cli/init.go b/pkg/cli/init.go
index 2d89f84..4317a19 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/init.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/init.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
+	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	dockerimage "github.com/docker/docker/api/types/image"
@@ -197,6 +199,8 @@ proxy:
 }
 
 func buildComposeTemplate(serverImage, configDir string) string {
+	dockerGID := detectDockerSocketGID()
+
 	return fmt.Sprintf(`# panda server - Docker Compose configuration
 # Generated by 'panda init'. Managed by 'panda server' commands.
 
@@ -205,6 +209,8 @@ services:
     image: %s
     container_name: panda-server
     restart: unless-stopped
+    group_add:
+      - "%s"
     ports:
       - "127.0.0.1:2480:2480"
     volumes:
@@ -223,7 +229,7 @@ networks:
 
 volumes:
   panda-storage:
-`, serverImage, configDir)
+`, serverImage, dockerGID, configDir)
 }
 
 func checkDockerAndPullImages() error {
@@ -298,3 +304,23 @@ func pullImage(cli *dockerclient.Client, image string) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// detectDockerSocketGID returns the group ID that owns /var/run/docker.sock.
+// This is used to add the correct group to the server container so the
+// non-root panda user can access the Docker socket. Falls back to "0" (root)
+// if the socket cannot be stat'd.
+func detectDockerSocketGID() string {
+	const dockerSocket = "/var/run/docker.sock"
+
+	info, err := os.Stat(dockerSocket)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "0"
+	}
+
+	stat, ok := info.Sys().(*syscall.Stat_t)
+	if !ok {
+		return "0"
+	}
+
+	return strconv.FormatUint(uint64(stat.Gid), 10)
+}