diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/e2e-chat.yml b/.gitea/workflows/e2e-chat.yml
index 986e5dab0..57b7da591 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/e2e-chat.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/e2e-chat.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 name: E2E Chat
 
 # Comprehensive Playwright E2E for the unified chat stack (desktop
-# ChatTab + mobile MobileChat). Runs on every PR that touches canvas,
-# workspace-server, or this workflow file.
+# ChatTab + mobile MobileChat). Heavy browser execution is intentionally
+# outside the normal required PR path: PRs run it only after entering the
+# `merge-queue`, while push/main, nightly, and manual dispatch preserve
+# coverage without making every PR pay the full runtime/browser cost.
 #
 # Architecture:
 #   1. Ephemeral Postgres + Redis (docker, unique container names)
@@ -22,6 +24,11 @@ on:
     branches: [main, staging]
   pull_request:
     branches: [main, staging]
+  schedule:
+    # Nightly at 09:00 UTC. Keeps coverage for the currently non-required
+    # heavy browser lane without spending runner time on every PR.
+    - cron: '0 9 * * *'
+  workflow_dispatch:
 
 concurrency:
   group: e2e-chat-${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha || github.sha }}
@@ -50,7 +57,14 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
       - id: decide
+        env:
+          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          QUEUE_LABEL: merge-queue
         run: |
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "schedule" ] || [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
+            echo "chat=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
           BASE="${GITHUB_BASE_REF:-${{ github.event.before }}}"
           if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ] && [ -n "${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}" ]; then
             BASE="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}"
@@ -67,9 +81,26 @@ jobs:
             exit 0
           fi
           CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only "$BASE" HEAD)
-          if echo "$CHANGED" | grep -qE '^(canvas/|workspace-server/|\.gitea/workflows/e2e-chat\.yml$)'; then
+          if ! echo "$CHANGED" | grep -qE '^(canvas/|workspace-server/|\.gitea/workflows/e2e-chat\.yml$)'; then
+            echo "chat=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" != "pull_request" ]; then
+            echo "chat=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          authfile=$(mktemp)
+          chmod 600 "$authfile"
+          printf 'header = "Authorization: token %s"\n' "$GITEA_TOKEN" > "$authfile"
+          labels=$(curl -fsS -K "$authfile" \
+            "${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}/labels" \
+            | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print("\n".join(label.get("name","") for label in json.load(sys.stdin)))')
+          rm -f "$authfile"
+          if printf '%s\n' "$labels" | grep -qx "$QUEUE_LABEL"; then
             echo "chat=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           else
+            echo "PR is not in merge-queue; skipping heavy E2E Chat for normal PR path."
             echo "chat=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           fi
 
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/e2e-staging-canvas.yml b/.gitea/workflows/e2e-staging-canvas.yml
index c0c57a70c..696863c2a 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/e2e-staging-canvas.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/e2e-staging-canvas.yml
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ name: E2E Staging Canvas (Playwright)
 # e2e-staging-saas.yml (which tests the API shape) by exercising the
 # actual browser + canvas bundle against live staging.
 #
-# Triggers: push to main/staging or PR touching canvas sources + this workflow,
-# manual dispatch, and weekly cron to catch browser/runtime drift even
-# when canvas is quiet.
+# Triggers: push to main, PR touching canvas sources + this workflow only
+# after the PR enters `merge-queue`, manual dispatch, and scheduled cron to
+# catch browser/runtime drift even when canvas is quiet.
 # Added staging to push/pull_request branches so the auto-promote gate
 # check (--event push --branch staging) can see a completed run for this
 # workflow — mirrors what PR #1891 does for e2e-api.yml.
@@ -37,9 +37,10 @@ on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [main]
   schedule:
-    # Weekly on Sunday 08:00 UTC — catches Chrome / Playwright / Next.js
+    # Nightly at 08:00 UTC — catches Chrome / Playwright / Next.js
     # release-note-shaped regressions that don't ride in with a PR.
-    - cron: '0 8 * * 0'
+    - cron: '0 8 * * *'
+  workflow_dispatch:
 
 concurrency:
   # Per-SHA grouping (changed 2026-04-28 from a single global group). The
@@ -79,10 +80,13 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
       - id: decide
+        env:
+          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          QUEUE_LABEL: merge-queue
         # Inline replacement for dorny/paths-filter — see e2e-api.yml.
-        # Cron triggers always run real work (no diff context).
+        # Cron and manual triggers always run real work (no diff context).
         run: |
-          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "schedule" ]; then
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "schedule" ] || [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
             echo "canvas=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             exit 0
           fi
@@ -102,9 +106,26 @@ jobs:
             exit 0
           fi
           CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only "$BASE" HEAD)
-          if echo "$CHANGED" | grep -qE '^(canvas/|\.gitea/workflows/e2e-staging-canvas\.yml$)'; then
+          if ! echo "$CHANGED" | grep -qE '^(canvas/|\.gitea/workflows/e2e-staging-canvas\.yml$)'; then
+            echo "canvas=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" != "pull_request" ]; then
+            echo "canvas=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          authfile=$(mktemp)
+          chmod 600 "$authfile"
+          printf 'header = "Authorization: token %s"\n' "$GITEA_TOKEN" > "$authfile"
+          labels=$(curl -fsS -K "$authfile" \
+            "${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}/labels" \
+            | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print("\n".join(label.get("name","") for label in json.load(sys.stdin)))')
+          rm -f "$authfile"
+          if printf '%s\n' "$labels" | grep -qx "$QUEUE_LABEL"; then
             echo "canvas=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           else
+            echo "PR is not in merge-queue; skipping heavy E2E Staging Canvas for normal PR path."
             echo "canvas=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           fi
 
diff --git a/tests/test_heavy_e2e_pr_gating.py b/tests/test_heavy_e2e_pr_gating.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c16e6acb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_heavy_e2e_pr_gating.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import yaml
+
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+
+
+def workflow_on(path: Path):
+    doc = yaml.safe_load(path.read_text())
+    return doc.get("on") or doc.get(True)
+
+
+def test_browser_e2e_workflows_are_not_unconditional_pr_heavy_lanes():
+    workflows = [
+        ROOT / ".gitea/workflows/e2e-chat.yml",
+        ROOT / ".gitea/workflows/e2e-staging-canvas.yml",
+    ]
+
+    for path in workflows:
+        text = path.read_text()
+        events = workflow_on(path)
+
+        assert "workflow_dispatch" in events
+        assert "schedule" in events
+        assert "merge-queue" in text
+        assert "/issues/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}/labels" in text
+        assert "PR is not in merge-queue" in text