diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build-iso-dev.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build-iso-dev.yml
index 1b75258e..abb635e3 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build-iso-dev.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build-iso-dev.yml
@@ -11,31 +11,33 @@ jobs:
     timeout-minutes: 60
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
+        id: checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 1
         timeout-minutes: 3
         continue-on-error: true
 
-      - name: Sync from local repo (fast LAN fallback)
+      - name: Sync from local repo (fallback if checkout failed)
         run: |
-          # actions/checkout fetches via WAN which is unreliable
-          # ~/archy is kept in sync via rsync from dev machine
-          if [ -d "$HOME/archy/.gitea" ]; then
-            echo "Syncing from ~/archy (rsync'd source)..."
-            rsync -a --delete \
+          # Only sync from ~/archy if checkout failed or workspace is empty
+          if [ -f "CLAUDE.md" ] && [ -d "core" ] && [ -d "neode-ui" ]; then
+            echo "Checkout succeeded — using checked-out code"
+          elif [ -d "$HOME/archy/core" ] && [ -d "$HOME/archy/neode-ui" ]; then
+            echo "Checkout failed — syncing from ~/archy (LAN fallback)..."
+            rsync -a \
               --exclude '.git' --exclude 'node_modules' --exclude 'target' \
               --exclude 'image-recipe/build' --exclude 'image-recipe/results' \
               --exclude 'web/dist' \
               "$HOME/archy/" ./
-            echo "Synced. Latest commit msg from source:"
-            head -1 "$HOME/archy/.gitea/workflows/build-iso-dev.yml"
           else
-            echo "No local repo at ~/archy, relying on checkout"
+            echo "ERROR: No checkout and no local fallback"
+            exit 1
           fi
           echo "Workspace verification:"
-          grep 'torConnected' neode-ui/src/views/Home.vue && echo "  Home.vue changes: PRESENT" || echo "  Home.vue changes: MISSING"
-          grep 'host.containers.internal:host-gateway' scripts/first-boot-containers.sh && echo "  Container DNS fix: PRESENT" || echo "  Container DNS fix: MISSING"
+          [ -f "scripts/first-boot-containers.sh" ] && echo "  first-boot-containers.sh: PRESENT" || echo "  first-boot-containers.sh: MISSING"
+          grep -q 'network-alias' scripts/first-boot-containers.sh 2>/dev/null && echo "  network-alias fix: PRESENT" || echo "  network-alias fix: MISSING"
+          grep -q 'apache2-utils' image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh 2>/dev/null && echo "  apache2-utils: PRESENT" || echo "  apache2-utils: MISSING"
 
       - name: Install ISO build dependencies
         run: |