diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
index be5e090..f31c1b5 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
@@ -180,7 +180,6 @@ jobs:
 
           prewarm_base_image() {
             image_ref="$1"
-            # Skip if image already exists locally
             if docker image inspect "${image_ref}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
               echo "Image ${image_ref} already exists locally, skipping pre-pull"
               return 0
@@ -203,11 +202,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -e
           export DOCKER_API_VERSION=1.43
-          # DOCKER_BUILDKIT=0 is required for Synology ContainerManager's Docker daemon,
-          # which does not support BuildKit syntax. Remove when Synology updates to a
-          # Docker Engine version with full BuildKit support (currently 24.x, needs 23+).
-          # --cache-to type=inline is a no-op while BuildKit is disabled; it activates
-          # automatically when DOCKER_BUILDKIT=0 is removed.
           if ! DOCKER_BUILDKIT=0 docker build --cache-from nas-dashboard-dev:latest -t nas-dashboard-dev:latest dashboard/; then
             echo "Build failed. Checking for network issues..."
             curl -I https://registry.npmmirror.com || echo "npmmirror unreachable"
@@ -237,42 +231,36 @@ jobs:
 
           # Docker 24 compose fails when it can't connect external networks
           # during container creation. Try compose first; if the container
-          # isn't created, strip networks from the resolved config via
-          # docker compose config output (processed with Python json).
+          # isn't created, strip networks from compose file and retry.
           docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never 2>&1 || true
 
-          if ! docker inspect nas-dashboard-dev >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            echo "Compose failed to create container, stripping networks from config..."
-            docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml config --format json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "
-import json, sys
-cfg = json.load(sys.stdin)
-cfg['services']['dashboard-dev']['networks'] = {}
-cfg['networks'] = {}
-with open('/tmp/no-network.yml', 'w') as f:
-    for k, v in cfg.items():
-        if k == 'services':
-            f.write('services:\n')
-            for svc, svc_cfg in v.items():
-                f.write(f'  {svc}:\n')
-                for sk, sv in svc_cfg.items():
-                    if sk == 'networks':
-                        continue
-                    elif isinstance(sv, dict):
-                        f.write(f'    {sk}:\n')
-                        for dk, dv in sv.items():
-                            f.write(f'      {dk}: {json.dumps(dv) if not isinstance(dv, str) else dv}\n')
-                    elif isinstance(sv, list):
-                        f.write(f'    {sk}:\n')
-                        for e in sv:
-                            f.write(f'      {json.dumps(e) if not isinstance(e, str) else e}\n')
-                    else:
-                        f.write(f'    {sk}: {json.dumps(sv) if not isinstance(sv, str) else sv}\n')
-        elif k == 'networks':
-            continue
-        else:
-            f.write(f'{k}: {json.dumps(v) if not isinstance(v, str) else v}\n')
-"
-            docker compose -f /tmp/no-network.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never
+          if ! docker container inspect nas-dashboard-dev >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "Compose failed to create container, stripping networks from compose file..."
+            python3 -c "
+          import os
+          lines = open('docker-compose.dev.yml').readlines()
+          out = []
+          skip_net = False
+          for l in lines:
+              stripped = l.strip()
+              if stripped == 'networks:' and not l[0].isspace():
+                  skip_net = True
+                  continue
+              if skip_net:
+                  if l[0].isspace():
+                      continue
+                  skip_net = False
+              if stripped == 'networks:' and l[:4].strip() == '':
+                  skip_net = True
+                  continue
+              if skip_net:
+                  if l.startswith('      '):
+                      continue
+                  skip_net = False
+              out.append(l)
+          open('/tmp/ci.yml','w').writelines(out)
+          "
+            docker compose -f /tmp/ci.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never
           fi
 
           # Connect networks after container is created (idempotent)
@@ -295,7 +283,6 @@ with open('/tmp/no-network.yml', 'w') as f:
             echo "Waiting... ($i/30) Status: $STATUS"
             sleep 2
           done
-          # Final check
           STATUS=$(docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' nas-dashboard-dev 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
           if [ "$STATUS" != "healthy" ]; then
             echo "❌ Container failed to become healthy: $STATUS"