diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d2a30af..4237a78 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -6,13 +6,6 @@ on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [ main ]
 
-env:
-  # WHY?: services are executed way before the env can be sourced from .env file
-  # NOTE: still inlining these values because of gitea misbehaving with env loads
-  DB_NAME: piku_test_db
-  DB_USER: test
-  DB_PASSWORD: password123
-
 jobs:
   setup-environment:
     name: Generate Certificates
@@ -33,6 +26,62 @@ jobs:
           path: certs/
           retention-days: 1
 
+  backend:
+    name: Backend CI
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: setup-environment
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:16-alpine
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_DB: piku_test
+          POSTGRES_USER: test
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password123
+          # WHY?: gitea act runner seems to persist volumes (veryyy stubborn -_-)
+          # Redirecting PGDATA to /tmp ensures a fresh init every run.
+          PGDATA: /tmp/pgdata
+        ports:
+          - 5442:5432
+        options: --tmpfs /var/lib/postgresql/data --health-cmd pg_isready --health-interval 10s --health-timeout 5s --health-retries 5
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        working-directory: ./backend
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Install uv
+        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
+        with:
+          enable-cache: true
+          cache-dependency-glob: "backend/uv.lock"
+
+      - name: Restore certificates
+        uses: christopherHX/gitea-download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: ssl-certs
+          path: certs/
+
+      - name: Setup Environment
+        run: |
+          cp ../.env.example ../.env
+          uv sync
+          if [ "$GITEA_ACTIONS" = "true" ]; then
+            export DB_HOST="postgres"
+            export DB_PORT="5432"
+          else
+            export DB_HOST="127.0.0.1"
+            export DB_PORT="5442"
+          fi
+          export DB_PASSWORD='password123'
+          export DB_NAME="piku_test"
+          export DB_USER="test"
+
+      - name: Lint & Test
+        run: |
+
+
+          uv run ruff check
+          uv run python manage.py test
+
   frontend:
     name: Frontend CI
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -64,55 +113,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Unit Tests
         run: bun run test
 
-  backend:
-    name: Backend CI
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: setup-environment
-    services:
-      postgres:
-        image: postgres:16-alpine
-        env:
-          POSTGRES_DB: piku_test_db
-          POSTGRES_USER: test
-          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password123
-        ports:
-          - 5442:5432
-        options: --tmpfs /var/lib/postgresql/data --health-cmd pg_isready --health-interval 10s --health-timeout 5s --health-retries 5
-    defaults:
-      run:
-        working-directory: ./backend
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
-        with:
-          enable-cache: true
-          cache-dependency-glob: "backend/uv.lock"
-
-      - name: Restore certificates
-        uses: christopherHX/gitea-download-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: ssl-certs
-          path: certs/
-
-      - name: Setup Environment
-        run: |
-          cp ../.env.example ../.env
-          uv sync
-
-      - name: Lint & Test
-        run: |
-          if [ "$GITEA_ACTIONS" = "true" ]; then
-            export DB_HOST="postgres"
-            export DB_PORT="5432"
-          else
-            export DB_HOST="127.0.0.1"
-            export DB_PORT="5442"
-          fi
-
-          uv run ruff check
-          uv run python manage.py test
-
   e2e:
     name: E2E Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest