diff --git a/.github/workflows/full-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/full-ci.yml
index dc1c3e9b..539ca4ba 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/full-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/full-ci.yml
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ jobs:
           RUSTDOCFLAGS: -D warnings
 
   msrv:
+    needs: lint
     timeout-minutes: 25
     name: MSRV (1.89)
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: cargo check --workspace --all-targets
 
   docs-and-demo:
+    needs: shells
     timeout-minutes: 25
     name: generated docs + demo
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -205,6 +207,7 @@ jobs:
         run: python3 scripts/check_skips.py --job ci/backends-ha --report "$RUNNER_TEMP/skips-ha.jsonl"
 
   deploy:
+    needs: msrv
     timeout-minutes: 20
     name: deployment files
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -317,7 +320,7 @@ jobs:
   # `sdk` job above runs the full checks on one interpreter; here only the test suites run on the others.
   sdk-runtimes:
     timeout-minutes: 20
-    needs: tools
+    needs: [tools, sdk]
     name: client SDK tests (${{ matrix.runtime }})
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
@@ -368,7 +371,7 @@ jobs:
 
   orchestrator:
     timeout-minutes: 30
-    needs: tools
+    needs: [tools, sdk-runtimes]
     name: agent orchestrator (Go)
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
@@ -434,6 +437,7 @@ jobs:
   # The completion scripts must parse in the shells they are for. A missing shell fails the run (AG_REQUIRE_COMPONENTS=shell)
   # instead of being skipped; PowerShell is on the runner image, zsh and fish are installed here.
   shells:
+    needs: deploy
     timeout-minutes: 20
     name: shell completions (bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell)
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -464,7 +468,7 @@ jobs:
   # and the AG_LLM_MODEL variable; forks and pull requests from forks have neither, so the step is skipped).
   mcp:
     timeout-minutes: 20
-    needs: tools
+    needs: [tools, orchestrator]
     name: MCP server with an agent (scripted; live model opt-in)
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
@@ -495,6 +499,7 @@ jobs:
   # `str | None` annotations broke scripts/e2e_smoke.py there). The interpreter comes from uv (already pinned
   # above); the scripts that read TOML (tomllib, 3.11+) are tested by the jobs that need them.
   scripts-py39:
+    needs: lint
     timeout-minutes: 10
     name: lightweight scripts on Python 3.9
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/qualification.yml b/.github/workflows/qualification.yml
index 018db78f..2018b455 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/qualification.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/qualification.yml
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@ jobs:
     secrets: inherit
 
   web:
+    needs: codeql
     uses: ./.github/workflows/web.yml
     with:
       full: true
 
   security:
+    needs: codeql
     uses: ./.github/workflows/security.yml
     with:
       full: true
@@ -38,9 +40,11 @@ jobs:
       security-events: write
 
   containers:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/containers.yml
 
   docs:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/docs.yml
     with:
       full: true
@@ -50,21 +54,27 @@ jobs:
       id-token: write
 
   packaging:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/packaging.yml
 
   coverage:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/quality.yml
 
   windows:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/windows.yml
 
   fuzz:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/fuzz.yml
 
   performance:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/perf.yml
 
   oci:
+    needs: [core, web, security]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/oci-runtimes.yml
 
   complete:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/security.yml b/.github/workflows/security.yml
index 97054cab..2cc82d25 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/security.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/security.yml
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ jobs:
           comment-summary-in-pr: never
 
   sbom:
+    needs: [cargo-deny, npm-audit, pip-audit, govulncheck, hygiene]
     if: inputs.full
     name: SBOMs build (scripts/sbom.sh)
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/docs/architecture/testing.md b/docs/architecture/testing.md
index cea35ca4..66c76e97 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/testing.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/testing.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 Normal PRs and main commits use path-aware fast CI: Linux Rust unit/core-storage contracts, SDK checks against one shared server build when API/SDK files change, Go contracts when the executor changes, and offline workflow checks when tooling changes. Web changes run lint, types, unit tests and a production build; documentation changes build the site. Unrelated changes do not start Rust or cross-platform builds. On main, selection covers all changes since the last successful run, so cancelling an earlier run cannot drop its pending checks. Unknown paths or unavailable Git/API history conservatively select all fast components.
 
-The full matrix runs through `qualification.yml` on demand, nightly, and during release preparation: macOS, Windows, Linux coverage (which also executes the full Linux suite), PostgreSQL/S3/HA, all SDK runtimes, CLI examples, all browser engines/viewports, CodeQL, fuzzing, OCI runtimes, packaging and performance checks. SDK/runtime jobs share one verified server/CLI/MCP build. Coverage supplies Linux full-suite correctness, so it is not also run as a separate identical Linux test job.
+The full matrix runs through `qualification.yml` on demand, nightly, and during release preparation: macOS, Windows, Linux coverage (which also executes the full Linux suite), PostgreSQL/S3/HA, all SDK runtimes, CLI examples, all browser engines/viewports, CodeQL, fuzzing, OCI runtimes, packaging and performance checks. SDK/runtime jobs share one verified server/CLI/MCP build. Background qualification is staged and matrices are bounded to leave runner capacity for ordinary PRs. Coverage supplies Linux full-suite correctness, so it is not also run as a separate identical Linux test job.
 
 Stale validation runs are cancelled. Explicitly pinned release candidates use separate refs and continue while main advances. Release publication promotes prepared, attested bytes and does not add a third full Rust run. See [Releasing](../operations/releasing.md) for the ready-candidate contract and publication time budget.
 
diff --git a/scripts/test_ci_policy.py b/scripts/test_ci_policy.py
index 3e4243e2..0f17ec97 100644
--- a/scripts/test_ci_policy.py
+++ b/scripts/test_ci_policy.py
@@ -141,11 +141,22 @@ def test_linux_full_tests_are_already_the_coverage_run(self):
     def test_shared_tools_are_built_once_for_sdk_runtime_matrix(self):
         jobs = workflow('full-ci')['jobs']
         for name in ('sdk', 'sdk-runtimes', 'orchestrator', 'mcp'):
-            self.assertEqual(jobs[name]['needs'], 'tools')
+            self.assertIn('tools', [jobs[name]['needs']] if isinstance(jobs[name]['needs'], str) else jobs[name]['needs'])
             commands = '\n'.join(s.get('run', '') for s in jobs[name]['steps'])
             self.assertNotIn('cargo build', commands)
             self.assertIn('sha256sum --check', commands)
 
+    def test_background_qualification_leaves_runner_headroom(self):
+        jobs = workflow('qualification')['jobs']
+        for name in ('web', 'security'):
+            self.assertEqual(jobs[name]['needs'], 'codeql')
+        for name in ('containers', 'docs', 'packaging', 'coverage', 'windows', 'fuzz', 'performance', 'oci'):
+            self.assertEqual(jobs[name]['needs'], ['core', 'web', 'security'])
+        core = workflow('full-ci')['jobs']
+        self.assertEqual(core['sdk-runtimes']['needs'], ['tools', 'sdk'])
+        self.assertEqual(core['orchestrator']['needs'], ['tools', 'sdk-runtimes'])
+        self.assertEqual(core['sdk-runtimes']['strategy']['max-parallel'], 2)
+
     def test_browser_matrix_is_preserved_but_explicit(self):
         jobs = workflow('web')['jobs']
         for job in ('server-build', 'e2e', 'identity-provider'):