diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index d0956e1..2b15d72 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -219,19 +219,19 @@ jobs:
       - name: Wait for server instance
         run: |
           echo "Waiting for smoke-aws-docs instance..."
-          for i in $(seq 1 60); do
+          for i in $(seq 1 10); do
             STATUS=$(mcpctl get instances -o json 2>/dev/null | \
               node -e "try{const d=JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync('/dev/stdin','utf-8'));const i=Array.isArray(d)?d.find(x=>x.serverName&&x.serverName.includes('aws')):null;console.log(i?.status??'WAITING')}catch{console.log('WAITING')}" 2>/dev/null || echo "WAITING")
-            echo "  Instance status: $STATUS ($i/60)"
+            echo "  Instance status: $STATUS ($i/10)"
             if [ "$STATUS" = "RUNNING" ]; then
               echo "Instance is running!"
               break
             fi
-            if [ "$i" = "60" ]; then
+            if [ "$i" = "10" ]; then
               echo "::warning::Instance did not reach RUNNING — container management may not be available in CI"
               echo "API-layer smoke tests will still run"
             fi
-            sleep 5
+            sleep 2
           done
 
       - name: Run smoke tests
@@ -311,12 +311,18 @@ jobs:
       - name: Package RPM (${{ matrix.arch }})
         env:
           NFPM_ARCH: ${{ matrix.arch }}
-        run: nfpm pkg --packager rpm --target dist/
+        run: |
+          echo "Packaging RPM for arch: $NFPM_ARCH"
+          nfpm pkg --packager rpm --target dist/
+          ls -la dist/mcpctl-*.rpm
 
       - name: Package DEB (${{ matrix.arch }})
         env:
           NFPM_ARCH: ${{ matrix.arch }}
-        run: nfpm pkg --packager deb --target dist/
+        run: |
+          echo "Packaging DEB for arch: $NFPM_ARCH"
+          nfpm pkg --packager deb --target dist/
+          ls -la dist/mcpctl*.deb
 
       - name: Upload RPM artifact
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
@@ -340,7 +346,7 @@ jobs:
 
   publish-rpm:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [build]
+    needs: [build, smoke]
     if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'
     strategy:
       matrix:
@@ -394,7 +400,7 @@ jobs:
 
   publish-deb:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [build]
+    needs: [build, smoke]
     if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'
     strategy:
       matrix: