diff --git a/docs/ci.md b/docs/ci.md
index 731e47d2bfc..ced0ce22feb 100644
--- a/docs/ci.md
+++ b/docs/ci.md
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ Local changed-lane logic lives in `scripts/changed-lanes.mjs` and is executed by
 
 On pushes, the `checks` matrix adds the push-only `compat-node22` lane. On pull requests, that lane is skipped and the matrix stays focused on the normal test/channel lanes.
 
-The slowest Node test families are split or balanced so each job stays small: channel contracts split registry and core coverage into eight weighted shards each, auto-reply reply tests split by prefix group, and agentic gateway/plugin configs are spread across the existing source-only agentic Node jobs instead of waiting on built artifacts. `check-additional` keeps package-boundary compile/canary work together and separates it from runtime topology gateway/architecture work.
+The slowest Node test families are split or balanced so each job stays small: channel contracts split registry and core coverage into eight weighted shards each, auto-reply reply tests split by prefix group, and agentic gateway/plugin configs are spread across the existing source-only agentic Node jobs instead of waiting on built artifacts. `check-additional` keeps package-boundary compile/canary work together and separates it from runtime topology gateway/architecture work; the gateway watch regression uses the minimal `gatewayWatch` build profile instead of rebuilding the full CI artifact sidecar set.
 
 GitHub may mark superseded jobs as `cancelled` when a newer push lands on the same PR or `main` ref. Treat that as CI noise unless the newest run for the same ref is also failing. Aggregate shard checks use `!cancelled() && always()` so they still report normal shard failures but do not queue after the whole workflow has already been superseded.
 The CI concurrency key is versioned (`CI-v2-*`) so a GitHub-side zombie in an old queue group cannot indefinitely block newer main runs.
diff --git a/scripts/build-all.mjs b/scripts/build-all.mjs
index 602cf99419a..50f436dec57 100644
--- a/scripts/build-all.mjs
+++ b/scripts/build-all.mjs
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ export const BUILD_ALL_PROFILES = {
     "write-cli-startup-metadata",
     "write-cli-compat",
   ],
+  gatewayWatch: ["tsdown", "runtime-postbuild", "build-stamp"],
 };
 
 export function resolveBuildAllSteps(profile = "full") {
diff --git a/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs b/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs
index 6d17469826b..04856fb6777 100644
--- a/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs
@@ -583,9 +583,9 @@ async function main() {
   const options = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
   ensureDir(options.outputDir);
   if (!options.skipBuild) {
-    runCheckedCommand("pnpm", ["build:ci-artifacts"]);
+    runCheckedCommand("node", ["scripts/build-all.mjs", "gatewayWatch"]);
     // The watch harness must start from a completed dist/runtime baseline.
-    // Refresh the build stamp after the CI artifact build finishes so run-node
+    // Refresh the build stamp after the gateway build finishes so run-node
     // does not spuriously rebuild inside the bounded watch window.
     writeBuildStamp({ cwd: process.cwd() });
   }
diff --git a/test/scripts/build-all.test.ts b/test/scripts/build-all.test.ts
index 27a2c1b9553..4e2d50dacfa 100644
--- a/test/scripts/build-all.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/build-all.test.ts
@@ -143,6 +143,14 @@ describe("resolveBuildAllSteps", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("uses a minimal built runtime profile for gateway watch regression", () => {
+    expect(resolveBuildAllSteps("gatewayWatch").map((step) => step.label)).toEqual([
+      "tsdown",
+      "runtime-postbuild",
+      "build-stamp",
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("does not cache plugin-sdk entry shims over compiled JS", () => {
     const step = BUILD_ALL_STEPS.find((entry) => entry.label === "write-plugin-sdk-entry-dts");
     expect(step).toBeTruthy();