diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
index 3a5b000..6f8795b 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Deploy dev
         run: |
-          set -euo pipefail
+          set -u
           export DOCKER_API_VERSION=1.43
 
           cd /volume1/docker/nas-dashboard
@@ -228,11 +228,32 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
           # Deploy with compose (without --build since we already built the image)
-          docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never
+          # Network connection during compose can transiently fail on Docker 24;
+          # we catch it and connect networks manually below.
+          docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never || true
 
-          # Manually connect to networks after container is created
-          docker network connect nas-dashboard_internal nas-dashboard-dev || true
-          docker network connect gitea_gitea nas-dashboard-dev || true
+          # Verify the container exists before proceeding
+          if ! docker inspect nas-dashboard-dev >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "❌ Container was not created by compose"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # Manually connect to networks (idempotent, handles compose failure)
+          docker network connect nas-dashboard_internal nas-dashboard-dev 2>/dev/null || true
+          docker network connect gitea_gitea nas-dashboard-dev 2>/dev/null || true
+
+          # Verify both connections
+          echo "=== Network connections ==="
+          docker inspect nas-dashboard-dev --format '{{json .NetworkSettings.Networks}}' | python3 -c "
+import json,sys
+nets = json.load(sys.stdin)
+for n in nets:
+    print(f'  ✅ Connected to {n}')
+if 'nas-dashboard_internal' not in nets or 'gitea_gitea' not in nets:
+    print('❌ Not connected to required networks')
+    sys.exit(1)
+print('✅ All network connections established')
+"
 
       - name: Wait for container to be healthy
         run: |