diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 01a48ae8..dc73c364 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@
 # `runs-on: game-maker-ci` picks the image built from tools/ci/Dockerfile. The render device and
 # /dev/shm come from the runner's own container.options (/_stacks/git/runner/config.yaml), not
 # from here – without them chromium falls back to software WebGL.
+#
+# Two jobs without `needs:`, so they start together and use both slots of the runner
+# (`capacity: 2`, four cores). The gate no longer stands in front of the suite: a lint error used
+# to cost the full e2e run before it was reported, and the run reported it after six minutes
+# instead of one. Both still have to pass for the push to be green.
+#
+# The price is contention: while the gate runs, vitest and chromium share the four cores, and the
+# suite measures text widths and frame counts. That is why the gate caps vitest at two workers
+# (GM_TEST_WORKERS) – two cores stay free for the browser for the whole overlap.
 name: game-maker
 
 on:
@@ -10,6 +19,20 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
+  gate:
+    runs-on: game-maker-ci
+    timeout-minutes: 20
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Install
+        run: npm ci --no-audit --no-fund
+
+      - name: Gate
+        run: ./check.sh
+        env:
+          GM_TEST_WORKERS: 2
+
   suite:
     runs-on: game-maker-ci
     timeout-minutes: 45
@@ -25,9 +48,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install
         run: npm ci --no-audit --no-fund
 
-      - name: Gate
-        run: ./check.sh
-
       - name: Build
         run: npm run build
 
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index 1075b37a..ce9c1e1d 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -46,5 +46,9 @@ export default defineConfig({
     root: '.',
     include: ['tests/**/*.test.ts'],
     environment: 'node',
+    // Unset locally, so vitest keeps its own guess (one worker per core). CI sets it while the
+    // gate runs next to the editor suite: the two jobs share four cores, and the suite measures
+    // text widths and frame counts, which a machine under full load reports differently.
+    maxWorkers: Number(process.env.GM_TEST_WORKERS) || undefined,
   },
 });