diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index afd8905..cb147a2 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -139,6 +139,10 @@ jobs:
             - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
               with:
                   node-version-file: .node-version
+                  # Same lockfile/key as `build`, and tag runs can read caches
+                  # saved on `main` — without this, every release pays a cold
+                  # `npm ci` despite the warm shared npm cache.
+                  cache: "npm"
                   registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org/"
             - run: npm ci
             # Consume the dist/ that `build` produced and gated, instead of