Refactor runner and installation scripts for improved functionality

- Removed the `--disable-hiprt` flag from the runner command, simplifying the rendering options for users. - Updated the `jiggablend-runner` script and README to reflect the removal of the HIPRT control flag, enhancing clarity in usage instructions. - Enhanced the installation script to provide clearer examples for running the jiggablend manager and runner, improving user experience during setup. - Implemented a more robust GPU backend detection mechanism, allowing for better compatibility with various hardware configurations.
2026-03-14 21:08:06 -05:00
parent 28cb50492c
commit 16d6a95058
30 changed files with 1041 additions and 782 deletions
--- a/14
+++ b/14
@@ -27,7 +27,19 @@ cleanup: cleanup-manager cleanup-runner
 run: cleanup build init-test
 	@echo "Starting manager and runner in parallel..."
 	@echo "Press Ctrl+C to stop both..."
-	@trap 'kill $$MANAGER_PID $$RUNNER_PID 2>/dev/null; exit' INT TERM; \
+	@MANAGER_PID=""; RUNNER_PID=""; INTERRUPTED=0; \
+	cleanup() { \
+		exit_code=$$?; \
+		trap - INT TERM EXIT; \
+		if [ -n "$$RUNNER_PID" ]; then kill -TERM "$$RUNNER_PID" 2>/dev/null || true; fi; \
+		if [ -n "$$MANAGER_PID" ]; then kill -TERM "$$MANAGER_PID" 2>/dev/null || true; fi; \
+		if [ -n "$$MANAGER_PID$$RUNNER_PID" ]; then wait $$MANAGER_PID $$RUNNER_PID 2>/dev/null || true; fi; \
+		if [ "$$INTERRUPTED" -eq 1 ]; then exit 0; fi; \
+		exit $$exit_code; \
+	}; \
+	on_interrupt() { INTERRUPTED=1; cleanup; }; \
+	trap on_interrupt INT TERM; \
+	trap cleanup EXIT; \
 	bin/jiggablend manager -l manager.log & \
 	MANAGER_PID=$$!; \
 	sleep 2; \
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ bin/jiggablend runner --api-key <your-api-key>
 # With custom options
 bin/jiggablend runner --manager http://localhost:8080 --name my-runner --api-key <key> --log-file runner.log

-# Hardware compatibility flags (force CPU + disable HIPRT)
-bin/jiggablend runner --api-key <key> --force-cpu-rendering --disable-hiprt
+# Hardware compatibility flag (force CPU)
+bin/jiggablend runner --api-key <key> --force-cpu-rendering

 # Using environment variables
 JIGGABLEND_MANAGER=http://localhost:8080 JIGGABLEND_API_KEY=<key> bin/jiggablend runner
--- a/cmd/jiggablend/cmd/runner.go
+++ b/cmd/jiggablend/cmd/runner.go
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ func init() {
 	runnerCmd.Flags().BoolP("verbose", "v", false, "Enable verbose logging (same as --log-level=debug)")
 	runnerCmd.Flags().Duration("poll-interval", 5*time.Second, "Job polling interval")
 	runnerCmd.Flags().Bool("force-cpu-rendering", false, "Force CPU rendering for all jobs (disables GPU rendering)")
-	runnerCmd.Flags().Bool("disable-hiprt", false, "Disable HIPRT acceleration in Blender Cycles")

 	// Bind flags to viper with JIGGABLEND_ prefix
 	runnerViper.SetEnvPrefix("JIGGABLEND")
@@ -54,7 +53,6 @@ func init() {
 	runnerViper.BindPFlag("verbose", runnerCmd.Flags().Lookup("verbose"))
 	runnerViper.BindPFlag("poll_interval", runnerCmd.Flags().Lookup("poll-interval"))
 	runnerViper.BindPFlag("force_cpu_rendering", runnerCmd.Flags().Lookup("force-cpu-rendering"))
-	runnerViper.BindPFlag("disable_hiprt", runnerCmd.Flags().Lookup("disable-hiprt"))
 }

 func runRunner(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
@@ -68,7 +66,6 @@ func runRunner(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	verbose := runnerViper.GetBool("verbose")
 	pollInterval := runnerViper.GetDuration("poll_interval")
 	forceCPURendering := runnerViper.GetBool("force_cpu_rendering")
-	disableHIPRT := runnerViper.GetBool("disable_hiprt")

 	var r *runner.Runner

@@ -124,7 +121,7 @@ func runRunner(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	}

 	// Create runner
-	r = runner.New(managerURL, name, hostname, forceCPURendering, disableHIPRT)
+	r = runner.New(managerURL, name, hostname, forceCPURendering)

 	// Check for required tools early to fail fast
 	if err := r.CheckRequiredTools(); err != nil {
@@ -167,8 +164,8 @@ func runRunner(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		runnerID, err = r.Register(apiKey)
 		if err == nil {
 			logger.Infof("Registered runner with ID: %d", runnerID)
-			// Download latest Blender and detect HIP vs NVIDIA so we only force CPU for Blender < 4.x when using HIP
-			logger.Info("Detecting GPU backends (HIP/NVIDIA) for Blender < 4.x policy...")
+			// Detect GPU vendors/backends from host hardware so we only force CPU for Blender < 4.x when using AMD.
+			logger.Info("Detecting GPU backends (AMD/NVIDIA/Intel) from host hardware for Blender < 4.x policy...")
 			r.DetectAndStoreGPUBackends()
 			break
 		}
--- a/installer.sh
+++ b/installer.sh
@@ -109,5 +109,5 @@ echo "Binary: jiggablend"
 echo "Wrappers: jiggablend-manager, jiggablend-runner"
 echo "Run 'jiggablend-manager' to start the manager with test config."
 echo "Run 'jiggablend-runner [url] [runner flags...]' to start the runner."
-echo "Example: jiggablend-runner http://your-manager:8080 --force-cpu-rendering --disable-hiprt"
+echo "Example: jiggablend-runner http://your-manager:8080 --force-cpu-rendering"
 echo "Note: Depending on whether you're running the manager or runner, additional dependencies like Blender, ImageMagick, or FFmpeg may be required. See the project README for details."
--- a/internal/auth/auth.go
+++ b/internal/auth/auth.go
@@ -668,24 +668,42 @@ func (a *Auth) IsProductionModeFromConfig() bool {
 	return a.cfg.IsProductionMode()
 }

+func (a *Auth) writeUnauthorized(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	// Keep API behavior unchanged for programmatic clients.
+	if strings.HasPrefix(r.URL.Path, "/api/") {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
+		_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"error": "Unauthorized"})
+		return
+	}
+
+	// For HTMX UI fragment requests, trigger a full-page redirect to login.
+	if strings.EqualFold(r.Header.Get("HX-Request"), "true") {
+		w.Header().Set("HX-Redirect", "/login")
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
+		_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"error": "Unauthorized"})
+		return
+	}
+
+	// For normal browser page requests, redirect to login page.
+	http.Redirect(w, r, "/login", http.StatusFound)
+}
+
 // Middleware creates an authentication middleware
 func (a *Auth) Middleware(next http.HandlerFunc) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		cookie, err := r.Cookie("session_id")
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("Authentication failed: missing session cookie for %s %s", r.Method, r.URL.Path)
-			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
-			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"error": "Unauthorized"})
+			a.writeUnauthorized(w, r)
 			return
 		}

 		session, ok := a.GetSession(cookie.Value)
 		if !ok {
 			log.Printf("Authentication failed: invalid session cookie for %s %s", r.Method, r.URL.Path)
-			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
-			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"error": "Unauthorized"})
+			a.writeUnauthorized(w, r)
 			return
 		}

@@ -717,18 +735,14 @@ func (a *Auth) AdminMiddleware(next http.HandlerFunc) http.HandlerFunc {
 		cookie, err := r.Cookie("session_id")
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("Admin authentication failed: missing session cookie for %s %s", r.Method, r.URL.Path)
-			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
-			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"error": "Unauthorized"})
+			a.writeUnauthorized(w, r)
 			return
 		}

 		session, ok := a.GetSession(cookie.Value)
 		if !ok {
 			log.Printf("Admin authentication failed: invalid session cookie for %s %s", r.Method, r.URL.Path)
-			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
-			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"error": "Unauthorized"})
+			a.writeUnauthorized(w, r)
 			return
 		}

--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -23,6 +23,14 @@ const (
 	KeyProductionMode       = "production_mode"
 	KeyAllowedOrigins       = "allowed_origins"
 	KeyFramesPerRenderTask  = "frames_per_render_task"
+
+	// Operational limits (seconds / bytes / counts)
+	KeyRenderTimeoutSecs      = "render_timeout_seconds"
+	KeyEncodeTimeoutSecs      = "encode_timeout_seconds"
+	KeyMaxUploadBytes         = "max_upload_bytes"
+	KeySessionCookieMaxAge    = "session_cookie_max_age"
+	KeyAPIRateLimit           = "api_rate_limit"
+	KeyAuthRateLimit          = "auth_rate_limit"
 )

 // Config manages application configuration stored in the database
@@ -311,3 +319,34 @@ func (c *Config) GetFramesPerRenderTask() int {
 	return n
 }

+// RenderTimeoutSeconds returns the per-frame render timeout in seconds (default 3600 = 1 hour).
+func (c *Config) RenderTimeoutSeconds() int {
+	return c.GetIntWithDefault(KeyRenderTimeoutSecs, 3600)
+}
+
+// EncodeTimeoutSeconds returns the video encode timeout in seconds (default 86400 = 24 hours).
+func (c *Config) EncodeTimeoutSeconds() int {
+	return c.GetIntWithDefault(KeyEncodeTimeoutSecs, 86400)
+}
+
+// MaxUploadBytes returns the maximum upload size in bytes (default 50 GB).
+func (c *Config) MaxUploadBytes() int64 {
+	v := c.GetIntWithDefault(KeyMaxUploadBytes, 50<<30)
+	return int64(v)
+}
+
+// SessionCookieMaxAgeSec returns the session cookie max-age in seconds (default 86400 = 24 hours).
+func (c *Config) SessionCookieMaxAgeSec() int {
+	return c.GetIntWithDefault(KeySessionCookieMaxAge, 86400)
+}
+
+// APIRateLimitPerMinute returns the API rate limit (requests per minute per IP, default 100).
+func (c *Config) APIRateLimitPerMinute() int {
+	return c.GetIntWithDefault(KeyAPIRateLimit, 100)
+}
+
+// AuthRateLimitPerMinute returns the auth rate limit (requests per minute per IP, default 10).
+func (c *Config) AuthRateLimitPerMinute() int {
+	return c.GetIntWithDefault(KeyAuthRateLimit, 10)
+}
+
--- a/internal/database/migrations/000003_add_last_used_at.down.sql
+++ b/internal/database/migrations/000003_add_last_used_at.down.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+-- SQLite does not support DROP COLUMN directly; recreate the table without last_used_at.
+CREATE TABLE runner_api_keys_backup (
+	id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+	key_prefix TEXT NOT NULL,
+	key_hash TEXT NOT NULL,
+	name TEXT NOT NULL,
+	description TEXT,
+	scope TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'user',
+	is_active INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+	created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+	created_by INTEGER,
+	FOREIGN KEY (created_by) REFERENCES users(id),
+	UNIQUE(key_prefix)
+);
+
+INSERT INTO runner_api_keys_backup SELECT id, key_prefix, key_hash, name, description, scope, is_active, created_at, created_by FROM runner_api_keys;
+
+DROP TABLE runner_api_keys;
+
+ALTER TABLE runner_api_keys_backup RENAME TO runner_api_keys;
+
+CREATE INDEX idx_runner_api_keys_prefix ON runner_api_keys(key_prefix);
+CREATE INDEX idx_runner_api_keys_active ON runner_api_keys(is_active);
+CREATE INDEX idx_runner_api_keys_created_by ON runner_api_keys(created_by);
--- a/internal/database/migrations/000003_add_last_used_at.up.sql
+++ b/internal/database/migrations/000003_add_last_used_at.up.sql
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ALTER TABLE runner_api_keys ADD COLUMN last_used_at TIMESTAMP;
--- a/internal/manager/blender.go
+++ b/internal/manager/blender.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package api
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
 	"compress/bzip2"
-	"compress/gzip"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log"
@@ -16,6 +15,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	"jiggablend/pkg/blendfile"
 )

 const (
@@ -439,144 +440,16 @@ func (s *Manager) cleanupExtractedBlenderFolders(blenderDir string, version *Ble
 	}
 }

-// ParseBlenderVersionFromFile parses the Blender version that a .blend file was saved with
-// This reads the file header to determine the version
+// ParseBlenderVersionFromFile parses the Blender version that a .blend file was saved with.
+// Delegates to the shared pkg/blendfile implementation.
 func ParseBlenderVersionFromFile(blendPath string) (major, minor int, err error) {
-	file, err := os.Open(blendPath)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to open blend file: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer file.Close()
-
-	return ParseBlenderVersionFromReader(file)
+	return blendfile.ParseVersionFromFile(blendPath)
 }

-// ParseBlenderVersionFromReader parses the Blender version from a reader
-// Useful for reading from uploaded files without saving to disk first
+// ParseBlenderVersionFromReader parses the Blender version from a reader.
+// Delegates to the shared pkg/blendfile implementation.
 func ParseBlenderVersionFromReader(r io.ReadSeeker) (major, minor int, err error) {
-	// Read the first 12 bytes of the blend file header
-	// Format: BLENDER-v<major><minor><patch> or BLENDER_v<major><minor><patch>
-	// The header is: "BLENDER" (7 bytes) + pointer size (1 byte: '-' for 64-bit, '_' for 32-bit)
-	// + endianness (1 byte: 'v' for little-endian, 'V' for big-endian)
-	// + version (3 bytes: e.g., "402" for 4.02)
-	header := make([]byte, 12)
-	n, err := r.Read(header)
-	if err != nil || n < 12 {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read blend file header: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// Check for BLENDER magic
-	if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
-		// Might be compressed - try to decompress
-		r.Seek(0, 0)
-		return parseCompressedBlendVersion(r)
-	}
-
-	// Parse version from bytes 9-11 (3 digits)
-	versionStr := string(header[9:12])
-	var vMajor, vMinor int
-
-	// Version format changed in Blender 3.0
-	// Pre-3.0: "279" = 2.79, "280" = 2.80
-	// 3.0+: "300" = 3.0, "402" = 4.02, "410" = 4.10
-	if len(versionStr) == 3 {
-		// First digit is major version
-		fmt.Sscanf(string(versionStr[0]), "%d", &vMajor)
-		// Next two digits are minor version
-		fmt.Sscanf(versionStr[1:3], "%d", &vMinor)
-	}
-
-	return vMajor, vMinor, nil
-}
-
-// parseCompressedBlendVersion handles gzip and zstd compressed blend files
-func parseCompressedBlendVersion(r io.ReadSeeker) (major, minor int, err error) {
-	// Check for compression magic bytes
-	magic := make([]byte, 4)
-	if _, err := r.Read(magic); err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, err
-	}
-	r.Seek(0, 0)
-
-	if magic[0] == 0x1f && magic[1] == 0x8b {
-		// gzip compressed
-		gzReader, err := gzip.NewReader(r)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to create gzip reader: %w", err)
-		}
-		defer gzReader.Close()
-
-		header := make([]byte, 12)
-		n, err := gzReader.Read(header)
-		if err != nil || n < 12 {
-			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read compressed blend header: %w", err)
-		}
-
-		if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
-			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid blend file format")
-		}
-
-		versionStr := string(header[9:12])
-		var vMajor, vMinor int
-		if len(versionStr) == 3 {
-			fmt.Sscanf(string(versionStr[0]), "%d", &vMajor)
-			fmt.Sscanf(versionStr[1:3], "%d", &vMinor)
-		}
-
-		return vMajor, vMinor, nil
-	}
-
-	// Check for zstd magic (Blender 3.0+): 0x28 0xB5 0x2F 0xFD
-	if magic[0] == 0x28 && magic[1] == 0xb5 && magic[2] == 0x2f && magic[3] == 0xfd {
-		return parseZstdBlendVersion(r)
-	}
-
-	return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("unknown blend file format")
-}
-
-// parseZstdBlendVersion handles zstd-compressed blend files (Blender 3.0+)
-// Uses zstd command line tool since Go doesn't have native zstd support
-func parseZstdBlendVersion(r io.ReadSeeker) (major, minor int, err error) {
-	r.Seek(0, 0)
-
-	// We need to decompress just enough to read the header
-	// Use zstd command to decompress from stdin
-	cmd := exec.Command("zstd", "-d", "-c")
-	cmd.Stdin = r
-
-	stdout, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to create zstd stdout pipe: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to start zstd decompression: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// Read just the header (12 bytes)
-	header := make([]byte, 12)
-	n, readErr := io.ReadFull(stdout, header)
-
-	// Kill the process early - we only need the header
-	cmd.Process.Kill()
-	cmd.Wait()
-
-	if readErr != nil || n < 12 {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read zstd compressed blend header: %v", readErr)
-	}
-
-	if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid blend file format in zstd archive")
-	}
-
-	versionStr := string(header[9:12])
-	var vMajor, vMinor int
-	if len(versionStr) == 3 {
-		fmt.Sscanf(string(versionStr[0]), "%d", &vMajor)
-		fmt.Sscanf(versionStr[1:3], "%d", &vMinor)
-	}
-
-	return vMajor, vMinor, nil
+	return blendfile.ParseVersionFromReader(r)
 }

 // handleGetBlenderVersions returns available Blender versions
@@ -713,7 +586,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleDownloadBlender(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 	tarFilename = strings.TrimSuffix(tarFilename, ".bz2")

 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/x-tar")
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("attachment; filename=%s", tarFilename))
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("attachment; filename=%q", tarFilename))
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Length", fmt.Sprintf("%d", stat.Size()))
 	w.Header().Set("X-Blender-Version", blenderVersion.Full)

--- a/internal/manager/jobs.go
+++ b/internal/manager/jobs.go
@@ -345,9 +345,9 @@ func (s *Manager) handleCreateJob(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// Only create render tasks for render jobs
 	if req.JobType == types.JobTypeRender {
 		// Determine task timeout based on output format
-		taskTimeout := RenderTimeout // 1 hour for render jobs
+		taskTimeout := s.renderTimeout
 		if *req.OutputFormat == "EXR_264_MP4" || *req.OutputFormat == "EXR_AV1_MP4" || *req.OutputFormat == "EXR_VP9_WEBM" {
-			taskTimeout = VideoEncodeTimeout // 24 hours for encoding
+			taskTimeout = s.videoEncodeTimeout
 		}

 		// Create tasks for the job (batch INSERT in a single transaction)
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleCreateJob(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		// Create encode task immediately if output format requires it
 		// The task will have a condition that prevents it from being assigned until all render tasks are completed
 		if *req.OutputFormat == "EXR_264_MP4" || *req.OutputFormat == "EXR_AV1_MP4" || *req.OutputFormat == "EXR_VP9_WEBM" {
-			encodeTaskTimeout := VideoEncodeTimeout // 24 hours for encoding
+			encodeTaskTimeout := s.videoEncodeTimeout
 			conditionJSON := `{"type": "all_render_tasks_completed"}`
 			var encodeTaskID int64
 			err = s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
@@ -2592,7 +2592,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleDownloadJobFile(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 	}

 	// Set headers
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("%s; filename=%s", disposition, fileName))
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("%s; filename=%q", disposition, fileName))
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", contentType)

 	// Stream file
@@ -2710,7 +2710,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleDownloadEXRZip(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {

 	fileName := fmt.Sprintf("%s-exr.zip", safeJobName)
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/zip")
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("attachment; filename=%s", fileName))
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("attachment; filename=%q", fileName))

 	zipWriter := zip.NewWriter(w)
 	defer zipWriter.Close()
@@ -2881,7 +2881,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handlePreviewEXR(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {

 	// Set headers
 	pngFileName := strings.TrimSuffix(fileName, filepath.Ext(fileName)) + ".png"
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("inline; filename=%s", pngFileName))
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("inline; filename=%q", pngFileName))
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "image/png")
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(pngData)))

--- a/internal/manager/manager.go
+++ b/internal/manager/manager.go
@@ -30,27 +30,22 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
 )

-// Configuration constants
+// Configuration constants (non-configurable infrastructure values)
 const (
 	// WebSocket timeouts
 	WSReadDeadline  = 90 * time.Second
 	WSPingInterval  = 30 * time.Second
 	WSWriteDeadline = 10 * time.Second

-	// Task timeouts
-	RenderTimeout      = 60 * 60      // 1 hour for frame rendering
-	VideoEncodeTimeout = 60 * 60 * 24 // 24 hours for encoding
-
-	// Limits
-	MaxUploadSize            = 50 << 30 // 50 GB
+	// Infrastructure timers
 	RunnerHeartbeatTimeout   = 90 * time.Second
 	TaskDistributionInterval = 10 * time.Second
 	ProgressUpdateThrottle   = 2 * time.Second
-
-	// Cookie settings
-	SessionCookieMaxAge = 86400 // 24 hours
 )

+// Operational limits are loaded from database config at Manager initialization.
+// Defaults are defined in internal/config/config.go convenience methods.
+
 // Manager represents the manager server
 type Manager struct {
 	db      *database.DB
@@ -109,6 +104,12 @@ type Manager struct {

 	// Server start time for health checks
 	startTime time.Time
+
+	// Configurable operational values loaded from config
+	renderTimeout      int   // seconds
+	videoEncodeTimeout int   // seconds
+	maxUploadSize      int64 // bytes
+	sessionCookieMaxAge int  // seconds
 }

 // ClientConnection represents a client WebSocket connection with subscriptions
@@ -166,6 +167,11 @@ func NewManager(db *database.DB, cfg *config.Config, auth *authpkg.Auth, storage
 		router:    chi.NewRouter(),
 		ui:        ui,
 		startTime: time.Now(),
+
+		renderTimeout:       cfg.RenderTimeoutSeconds(),
+		videoEncodeTimeout:  cfg.EncodeTimeoutSeconds(),
+		maxUploadSize:       cfg.MaxUploadBytes(),
+		sessionCookieMaxAge: cfg.SessionCookieMaxAgeSec(),
 		wsUpgrader: websocket.Upgrader{
 			CheckOrigin:     checkWebSocketOrigin,
 			ReadBufferSize:  1024,
@@ -189,6 +195,10 @@ func NewManager(db *database.DB, cfg *config.Config, auth *authpkg.Auth, storage
 		jobStatusUpdateMu: make(map[int64]*sync.Mutex),
 	}

+	// Initialize rate limiters from config
+	apiRateLimiter = NewRateLimiter(cfg.APIRateLimitPerMinute(), time.Minute)
+	authRateLimiter = NewRateLimiter(cfg.AuthRateLimitPerMinute(), time.Minute)
+
 	// Check for required external tools
 	if err := s.checkRequiredTools(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -267,6 +277,7 @@ type RateLimiter struct {
 	mu       sync.RWMutex
 	limit    int           // max requests
 	window   time.Duration // time window
+	stopChan chan struct{}
 }

 // NewRateLimiter creates a new rate limiter
@@ -275,12 +286,17 @@ func NewRateLimiter(limit int, window time.Duration) *RateLimiter {
 		requests: make(map[string][]time.Time),
 		limit:    limit,
 		window:   window,
+		stopChan: make(chan struct{}),
 	}
-	// Start cleanup goroutine
 	go rl.cleanup()
 	return rl
 }

+// Stop shuts down the cleanup goroutine.
+func (rl *RateLimiter) Stop() {
+	close(rl.stopChan)
+}
+
 // Allow checks if a request from the given IP is allowed
 func (rl *RateLimiter) Allow(ip string) bool {
 	rl.mu.Lock()
@@ -313,7 +329,11 @@ func (rl *RateLimiter) Allow(ip string) bool {
 // cleanup periodically removes old entries
 func (rl *RateLimiter) cleanup() {
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(5 * time.Minute)
-	for range ticker.C {
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ticker.C:
 			rl.mu.Lock()
 			cutoff := time.Now().Add(-rl.window)
 			for ip, reqs := range rl.requests {
@@ -330,15 +350,16 @@ func (rl *RateLimiter) cleanup() {
 				}
 			}
 			rl.mu.Unlock()
+		case <-rl.stopChan:
+			return
+		}
 	}
 }

-// Global rate limiters for different endpoint types
+// Rate limiters — initialized per Manager instance in NewManager.
 var (
-	// General API rate limiter: 100 requests per minute per IP
-	apiRateLimiter = NewRateLimiter(100, time.Minute)
-	// Auth rate limiter: 10 requests per minute per IP (stricter for login attempts)
-	authRateLimiter = NewRateLimiter(10, time.Minute)
+	apiRateLimiter  *RateLimiter
+	authRateLimiter *RateLimiter
 )

 // rateLimitMiddleware applies rate limiting based on client IP
@@ -610,17 +631,16 @@ func (s *Manager) respondError(w http.ResponseWriter, status int, message string
 }

 // createSessionCookie creates a secure session cookie with appropriate flags for the environment
-func createSessionCookie(sessionID string) *http.Cookie {
+func (s *Manager) createSessionCookie(sessionID string) *http.Cookie {
 	cookie := &http.Cookie{
 		Name:     "session_id",
 		Value:    sessionID,
 		Path:     "/",
-		MaxAge:   SessionCookieMaxAge,
+		MaxAge:   s.sessionCookieMaxAge,
 		HttpOnly: true,
 		SameSite: http.SameSiteLaxMode,
 	}

-	// In production mode, set Secure flag to require HTTPS
 	if authpkg.IsProductionMode() {
 		cookie.Secure = true
 	}
@@ -712,7 +732,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleGoogleCallback(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}

 	sessionID := s.auth.CreateSession(session)
-	http.SetCookie(w, createSessionCookie(sessionID))
+	http.SetCookie(w, s.createSessionCookie(sessionID))

 	http.Redirect(w, r, "/", http.StatusFound)
 }
@@ -745,7 +765,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleDiscordCallback(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 	}

 	sessionID := s.auth.CreateSession(session)
-	http.SetCookie(w, createSessionCookie(sessionID))
+	http.SetCookie(w, s.createSessionCookie(sessionID))

 	http.Redirect(w, r, "/", http.StatusFound)
 }
@@ -838,7 +858,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleLocalRegister(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}

 	sessionID := s.auth.CreateSession(session)
-	http.SetCookie(w, createSessionCookie(sessionID))
+	http.SetCookie(w, s.createSessionCookie(sessionID))

 	s.respondJSON(w, http.StatusCreated, map[string]interface{}{
 		"message": "Registration successful",
@@ -875,7 +895,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleLocalLogin(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}

 	sessionID := s.auth.CreateSession(session)
-	http.SetCookie(w, createSessionCookie(sessionID))
+	http.SetCookie(w, s.createSessionCookie(sessionID))

 	s.respondJSON(w, http.StatusOK, map[string]interface{}{
 		"message": "Login successful",
--- a/internal/manager/renderer.go
+++ b/internal/manager/renderer.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package api
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"html/template"
+	"log"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -92,13 +93,17 @@ func newUIRenderer() (*uiRenderer, error) {
 func (r *uiRenderer) render(w http.ResponseWriter, data pageData) {
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/html; charset=utf-8")
 	if err := r.templates.ExecuteTemplate(w, "base", data); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Template render error: %v", err)
 		http.Error(w, "template render error", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		return
 	}
 }

 func (r *uiRenderer) renderTemplate(w http.ResponseWriter, templateName string, data interface{}) {
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/html; charset=utf-8")
 	if err := r.templates.ExecuteTemplate(w, templateName, data); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Template render error for %s: %v", templateName, err)
 		http.Error(w, "template render error", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		return
 	}
 }
--- a/internal/manager/runners.go
+++ b/internal/manager/runners.go
@@ -765,7 +765,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleDownloadJobContext(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reques

 	// Set appropriate headers for tar file
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/x-tar")
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=context.tar")
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=\"context.tar\"")

 	// Stream the file to the response
 	io.Copy(w, file)
@@ -821,7 +821,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleDownloadJobContextWithToken(w http.ResponseWriter, r *ht

 	// Set appropriate headers for tar file
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/x-tar")
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=context.tar")
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=\"context.tar\"")

 	// Stream the file to the response
 	io.Copy(w, file)
@@ -836,7 +836,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleUploadFileFromRunner(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Requ
 		return
 	}

-	err = r.ParseMultipartForm(MaxUploadSize) // 50 GB (for large output files)
+	err = r.ParseMultipartForm(s.maxUploadSize)
 	if err != nil {
 		s.respondError(w, http.StatusBadRequest, fmt.Sprintf("Failed to parse multipart form: %v", err))
 		return
@@ -944,7 +944,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleUploadFileWithToken(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reque
 		return
 	}

-	err = r.ParseMultipartForm(MaxUploadSize) // 50 GB (for large output files)
+	err = r.ParseMultipartForm(s.maxUploadSize)
 	if err != nil {
 		s.respondError(w, http.StatusBadRequest, fmt.Sprintf("Failed to parse multipart form: %v", err))
 		return
@@ -1228,7 +1228,7 @@ func (s *Manager) handleDownloadFileForRunner(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Req

 	// Set headers
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", contentType)
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("attachment; filename=%s", decodedFileName))
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("attachment; filename=%q", decodedFileName))

 	// Stream file
 	io.Copy(w, file)
@@ -1476,40 +1476,33 @@ func (s *Manager) handleRunnerJobWebSocket(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reques
 				}
 			}
 		case "runner_heartbeat":
-			// Lookup runner ID from job's assigned_runner_id
+			s.handleWSRunnerHeartbeat(conn, jobID)
+			continue
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// handleWSRunnerHeartbeat processes a runner heartbeat received over a job WebSocket.
+func (s *Manager) handleWSRunnerHeartbeat(conn *websocket.Conn, jobID int64) {
 	var assignedRunnerID sql.NullInt64
 	err := s.db.With(func(db *sql.DB) error {
 		return db.QueryRow(
-					"SELECT assigned_runner_id FROM jobs WHERE id = ?",
-					jobID,
+			"SELECT assigned_runner_id FROM jobs WHERE id = ?", jobID,
 		).Scan(&assignedRunnerID)
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to lookup runner for job %d heartbeat: %v", jobID, err)
-				// Send error response
-				response := map[string]interface{}{
-					"type":    "error",
-					"message": "Failed to process heartbeat",
-				}
-				s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, response)
-				continue
+		s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, map[string]interface{}{"type": "error", "message": "Failed to process heartbeat"})
+		return
 	}

 	if !assignedRunnerID.Valid {
 		log.Printf("Job %d has no assigned runner, skipping heartbeat update", jobID)
-				// Send acknowledgment but no database update
-				response := map[string]interface{}{
-					"type":      "heartbeat_ack",
-					"timestamp": time.Now().Unix(),
-					"message":   "No assigned runner for this job",
-				}
-				s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, response)
-				continue
+		s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, map[string]interface{}{"type": "heartbeat_ack", "timestamp": time.Now().Unix(), "message": "No assigned runner for this job"})
+		return
 	}

 	runnerID := assignedRunnerID.Int64
-
-			// Update runner heartbeat
 	err = s.db.With(func(db *sql.DB) error {
 		_, err := db.Exec(
 			"UPDATE runners SET last_heartbeat = ?, status = ? WHERE id = ?",
@@ -1519,25 +1512,11 @@ func (s *Manager) handleRunnerJobWebSocket(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reques
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to update runner %d heartbeat for job %d: %v", runnerID, jobID, err)
-				// Send error response
-				response := map[string]interface{}{
-					"type":    "error",
-					"message": "Failed to update heartbeat",
-				}
-				s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, response)
-				continue
+		s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, map[string]interface{}{"type": "error", "message": "Failed to update heartbeat"})
+		return
 	}

-			// Send acknowledgment
-			response := map[string]interface{}{
-				"type":      "heartbeat_ack",
-				"timestamp": time.Now().Unix(),
-			}
-			s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, response)
-
-			continue
-		}
-	}
+	s.sendWebSocketMessage(conn, map[string]interface{}{"type": "heartbeat_ack", "timestamp": time.Now().Unix()})
 }

 // handleWebSocketLog handles log entries from WebSocket
@@ -1948,162 +1927,164 @@ func (s *Manager) cleanupJobStatusUpdateMutex(jobID int64) {
 // This function is serialized per jobID to prevent race conditions when multiple tasks
 // complete concurrently and trigger status updates simultaneously.
 func (s *Manager) updateJobStatusFromTasks(jobID int64) {
-	// Serialize updates per job to prevent race conditions
 	mu := s.getJobStatusUpdateMutex(jobID)
 	mu.Lock()
 	defer mu.Unlock()

-	now := time.Now()
-
-	// All jobs now use parallel runners (one task per frame), so we always use task-based progress
-
-	// Get current job status to detect changes
-	var currentStatus string
-	err := s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
-		return conn.QueryRow(`SELECT status FROM jobs WHERE id = ?`, jobID).Scan(&currentStatus)
-	})
+	currentStatus, err := s.getJobStatus(jobID)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to get current job status for job %d: %v", jobID, err)
 		return
 	}

-	// Cancellation is terminal from the user's perspective.
-	// Do not allow asynchronous task updates to revive cancelled jobs.
 	if currentStatus == string(types.JobStatusCancelled) {
 		return
 	}

-	// Count total tasks and completed tasks
-	var totalTasks, completedTasks int
-	err = s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
-		err := conn.QueryRow(
+	counts, err := s.getJobTaskCounts(jobID)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Failed to count tasks for job %d: %v", jobID, err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	progress := counts.progress()
+
+	if counts.pendingOrRunning == 0 && counts.total > 0 {
+		s.handleAllTasksFinished(jobID, currentStatus, counts, progress)
+	} else {
+		s.handleTasksInProgress(jobID, currentStatus, counts, progress)
+	}
+}
+
+// jobTaskCounts holds task state counts for a job.
+type jobTaskCounts struct {
+	total            int
+	completed        int
+	pendingOrRunning int
+	failed           int
+	running          int
+}
+
+func (c *jobTaskCounts) progress() float64 {
+	if c.total == 0 {
+		return 0.0
+	}
+	return float64(c.completed) / float64(c.total) * 100.0
+}
+
+func (s *Manager) getJobStatus(jobID int64) (string, error) {
+	var status string
+	err := s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
+		return conn.QueryRow(`SELECT status FROM jobs WHERE id = ?`, jobID).Scan(&status)
+	})
+	return status, err
+}
+
+func (s *Manager) getJobTaskCounts(jobID int64) (*jobTaskCounts, error) {
+	c := &jobTaskCounts{}
+	err := s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
+		if err := conn.QueryRow(
 			`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status IN (?, ?, ?, ?)`,
 			jobID, types.TaskStatusPending, types.TaskStatusRunning, types.TaskStatusCompleted, types.TaskStatusFailed,
-		).Scan(&totalTasks)
-		if err != nil {
+		).Scan(&c.total); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		return conn.QueryRow(
+		if err := conn.QueryRow(
 			`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status = ?`,
 			jobID, types.TaskStatusCompleted,
-		).Scan(&completedTasks)
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("Failed to count completed tasks for job %d: %v", jobID, err)
-		return
+		).Scan(&c.completed); err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
-
-	// Calculate progress
-	var progress float64
-	if totalTasks == 0 {
-		// All tasks cancelled or no tasks, set progress to 0
-		progress = 0.0
-	} else {
-		// Standard task-based progress
-		progress = float64(completedTasks) / float64(totalTasks) * 100.0
-	}
-
-	var jobStatus string
-
-	// Check if all non-cancelled tasks are completed
-	var pendingOrRunningTasks int
-	err = s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
-		return conn.QueryRow(
-			`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks 
-		 WHERE job_id = ? AND status IN (?, ?)`,
+		if err := conn.QueryRow(
+			`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status IN (?, ?)`,
 			jobID, types.TaskStatusPending, types.TaskStatusRunning,
-		).Scan(&pendingOrRunningTasks)
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("Failed to count pending/running tasks for job %d: %v", jobID, err)
-		return
+		).Scan(&c.pendingOrRunning); err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
-
-	if pendingOrRunningTasks == 0 && totalTasks > 0 {
-		// All tasks are either completed or failed/cancelled
-		// Check if any tasks failed
-		var failedTasks int
-		s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
-			conn.QueryRow(
+		if err := conn.QueryRow(
 			`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status = ?`,
 			jobID, types.TaskStatusFailed,
-			).Scan(&failedTasks)
+		).Scan(&c.failed); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := conn.QueryRow(
+			`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status = ?`,
+			jobID, types.TaskStatusRunning,
+		).Scan(&c.running); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 		return nil
 	})
+	return c, err
+}

-		if failedTasks > 0 {
-			// Some tasks failed - check if job has retries left
+// handleAllTasksFinished handles the case where no pending/running tasks remain.
+func (s *Manager) handleAllTasksFinished(jobID int64, currentStatus string, counts *jobTaskCounts, progress float64) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	var jobStatus string
+
+	if counts.failed > 0 {
+		jobStatus = s.handleFailedTasks(jobID, currentStatus, &progress)
+		if jobStatus == "" {
+			return // retry handled; early exit
+		}
+	} else {
+		jobStatus = string(types.JobStatusCompleted)
+		progress = 100.0
+	}
+
+	s.setJobFinalStatus(jobID, currentStatus, jobStatus, progress, now, counts)
+}
+
+// handleFailedTasks decides whether to retry or mark the job failed.
+// Returns "" if a retry was triggered (caller should return early),
+// or the final status string.
+func (s *Manager) handleFailedTasks(jobID int64, currentStatus string, progress *float64) string {
 	var retryCount, maxRetries int
 	err := s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
 		return conn.QueryRow(
-					`SELECT retry_count, max_retries FROM jobs WHERE id = ?`,
-					jobID,
+			`SELECT retry_count, max_retries FROM jobs WHERE id = ?`, jobID,
 		).Scan(&retryCount, &maxRetries)
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to get retry info for job %d: %v", jobID, err)
-				// Fall back to marking job as failed
-				jobStatus = string(types.JobStatusFailed)
-			} else if retryCount < maxRetries {
-				// Job has retries left - reset failed tasks and redistribute
+		return string(types.JobStatusFailed)
+	}
+
+	if retryCount < maxRetries {
 		if err := s.resetFailedTasksAndRedistribute(jobID); err != nil {
 			log.Printf("Failed to reset failed tasks for job %d: %v", jobID, err)
-					// If reset fails, mark job as failed
-					jobStatus = string(types.JobStatusFailed)
-				} else {
-					// Tasks reset successfully - job remains in running/pending state
-					// Don't update job status, just update progress
-					jobStatus = currentStatus // Keep current status
-					// Recalculate progress after reset (failed tasks are now pending again)
-					var newTotalTasks, newCompletedTasks int
-					s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
-						conn.QueryRow(
-							`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status IN (?, ?, ?, ?)`,
-							jobID, types.TaskStatusPending, types.TaskStatusRunning, types.TaskStatusCompleted, types.TaskStatusFailed,
-						).Scan(&newTotalTasks)
-						conn.QueryRow(
-							`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status = ?`,
-							jobID, types.TaskStatusCompleted,
-						).Scan(&newCompletedTasks)
-						return nil
-					})
-					if newTotalTasks > 0 {
-						progress = float64(newCompletedTasks) / float64(newTotalTasks) * 100.0
+			return string(types.JobStatusFailed)
 		}
-					// Update progress only
-					err := s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
-						_, err := conn.Exec(
-							`UPDATE jobs SET progress = ? WHERE id = ?`,
-							progress, jobID,
-						)
+		// Recalculate progress after reset
+		counts, err := s.getJobTaskCounts(jobID)
+		if err == nil && counts.total > 0 {
+			*progress = counts.progress()
+		}
+		err = s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
+			_, err := conn.Exec(`UPDATE jobs SET progress = ? WHERE id = ?`, *progress, jobID)
 			return err
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("Failed to update job %d progress: %v", jobID, err)
 		} else {
-						// Broadcast job update via WebSocket
 			s.broadcastJobUpdate(jobID, "job_update", map[string]interface{}{
-							"status":   jobStatus,
-							"progress": progress,
+				"status":   currentStatus,
+				"progress": *progress,
 			})
 		}
-					return // Exit early since we've handled the retry
+		return "" // retry handled
 	}
-			} else {
-				// No retries left - mark job as failed and cancel active tasks
-				jobStatus = string(types.JobStatusFailed)
+
+	// No retries left
 	if err := s.cancelActiveTasksForJob(jobID); err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to cancel active tasks for job %d: %v", jobID, err)
 	}
-			}
-		} else {
-			// All tasks completed successfully
-			jobStatus = string(types.JobStatusCompleted)
-			progress = 100.0 // Ensure progress is 100% when all tasks complete
-		}
+	return string(types.JobStatusFailed)
+}

-		// Update job status (if we didn't return early from retry logic)
-		if jobStatus != "" {
+// setJobFinalStatus persists the terminal job status and broadcasts the update.
+func (s *Manager) setJobFinalStatus(jobID int64, currentStatus, jobStatus string, progress float64, now time.Time, counts *jobTaskCounts) {
 	err := s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
 		_, err := conn.Exec(
 			`UPDATE jobs SET status = ?, progress = ?, completed_at = ? WHERE id = ?`,
@@ -2113,44 +2094,30 @@ func (s *Manager) updateJobStatusFromTasks(jobID int64) {
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to update job %d status to %s: %v", jobID, jobStatus, err)
-			} else {
-				// Only log if status actually changed
-				if currentStatus != jobStatus {
-					log.Printf("Updated job %d status from %s to %s (progress: %.1f%%, completed tasks: %d/%d)", jobID, currentStatus, jobStatus, progress, completedTasks, totalTasks)
+		return
+	}
+	if currentStatus != jobStatus {
+		log.Printf("Updated job %d status from %s to %s (progress: %.1f%%, completed tasks: %d/%d)", jobID, currentStatus, jobStatus, progress, counts.completed, counts.total)
 	}
-				// Broadcast job update via WebSocket
 	s.broadcastJobUpdate(jobID, "job_update", map[string]interface{}{
 		"status":       jobStatus,
 		"progress":     progress,
 		"completed_at": now,
 	})
-				// Clean up mutex for jobs in final states (completed or failed)
-				// No more status updates will occur for these jobs
 	if jobStatus == string(types.JobStatusCompleted) || jobStatus == string(types.JobStatusFailed) {
 		s.cleanupJobStatusUpdateMutex(jobID)
 	}
-			}
-		}
+}

-		// Encode tasks are now created immediately when the job is created
-		// with a condition that prevents assignment until all render tasks are completed.
-		// No need to create them here anymore.
-	} else {
-		// Job has pending or running tasks - determine if it's running or still pending
-		var runningTasks int
-		s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
-			conn.QueryRow(
-				`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tasks WHERE job_id = ? AND status = ?`,
-				jobID, types.TaskStatusRunning,
-			).Scan(&runningTasks)
-			return nil
-		})
+// handleTasksInProgress handles the case where tasks are still pending or running.
+func (s *Manager) handleTasksInProgress(jobID int64, currentStatus string, counts *jobTaskCounts, progress float64) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	var jobStatus string

-		if runningTasks > 0 {
-			// Has running tasks - job is running
+	if counts.running > 0 {
 		jobStatus = string(types.JobStatusRunning)
-			var startedAt sql.NullTime
 		s.db.With(func(conn *sql.DB) error {
+			var startedAt sql.NullTime
 			conn.QueryRow(`SELECT started_at FROM jobs WHERE id = ?`, jobID).Scan(&startedAt)
 			if !startedAt.Valid {
 				conn.Exec(`UPDATE jobs SET started_at = ? WHERE id = ?`, now, jobID)
@@ -2158,7 +2125,6 @@ func (s *Manager) updateJobStatusFromTasks(jobID int64) {
 			return nil
 		})
 	} else {
-			// All tasks are pending - job is pending
 		jobStatus = string(types.JobStatusPending)
 	}

@@ -2171,18 +2137,16 @@ func (s *Manager) updateJobStatusFromTasks(jobID int64) {
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to update job %d status to %s: %v", jobID, jobStatus, err)
-		} else {
-			// Only log if status actually changed
-			if currentStatus != jobStatus {
-				log.Printf("Updated job %d status from %s to %s (progress: %.1f%%, completed: %d/%d, pending: %d, running: %d)", jobID, currentStatus, jobStatus, progress, completedTasks, totalTasks, pendingOrRunningTasks-runningTasks, runningTasks)
+		return
+	}
+	if currentStatus != jobStatus {
+		pending := counts.pendingOrRunning - counts.running
+		log.Printf("Updated job %d status from %s to %s (progress: %.1f%%, completed: %d/%d, pending: %d, running: %d)", jobID, currentStatus, jobStatus, progress, counts.completed, counts.total, pending, counts.running)
 	}
-			// Broadcast job update during execution (not just on completion)
 	s.broadcastJobUpdate(jobID, "job_update", map[string]interface{}{
 		"status":   jobStatus,
 		"progress": progress,
 	})
-		}
-	}
 }

 // broadcastLogToFrontend broadcasts log to connected frontend clients
--- a/internal/runner/api/manager.go
+++ b/internal/runner/api/manager.go
@@ -241,8 +241,8 @@ func (m *ManagerClient) DownloadContext(contextPath, jobToken string) (io.ReadCl
 	}

 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
 		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-		resp.Body.Close()
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("context download failed with status %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, string(body))
 	}

@@ -435,8 +435,8 @@ func (m *ManagerClient) DownloadBlender(version string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	}

 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
 		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-		resp.Body.Close()
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to download blender: status %d, body: %s", resp.StatusCode, string(body))
 	}

--- a/internal/runner/blender/detect.go
+++ b/internal/runner/blender/detect.go
@@ -1,45 +1,116 @@
-// Package blender: GPU backend detection for HIP vs NVIDIA.
+// Package blender: host GPU backend detection for AMD/NVIDIA/Intel.
 package blender

 import (
 	"bufio"
-	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
-
-	"jiggablend/pkg/scripts"
 )

-// DetectGPUBackends runs a minimal Blender script to detect whether HIP (AMD) and/or
-// NVIDIA (CUDA/OptiX) devices are available. Use this to decide whether to force CPU
-// for Blender < 4.x (only force when HIP is present, since HIP has no official support pre-4).
-func DetectGPUBackends(blenderBinary, scriptDir string) (hasHIP, hasNVIDIA bool, err error) {
-	scriptPath := filepath.Join(scriptDir, "detect_gpu_backends.py")
-	if err := os.WriteFile(scriptPath, []byte(scripts.DetectGPUBackends), 0644); err != nil {
-		return false, false, fmt.Errorf("write detection script: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer os.Remove(scriptPath)
+// DetectGPUBackends detects whether AMD, NVIDIA, and/or Intel GPUs are available
+// using host-level hardware probing only.
+func DetectGPUBackends() (hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel bool, ok bool) {
+	return detectGPUBackendsFromHost()
+}

-	env := TarballEnv(blenderBinary, os.Environ())
-	cmd := exec.Command(blenderBinary, "-b", "--python", scriptPath)
-	cmd.Env = env
-	cmd.Dir = scriptDir
-	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+func detectGPUBackendsFromHost() (hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel bool, ok bool) {
+	if amd, nvidia, intel, found := detectGPUBackendsFromDRM(); found {
+		return amd, nvidia, intel, true
+	}
+	if amd, nvidia, intel, found := detectGPUBackendsFromLSPCI(); found {
+		return amd, nvidia, intel, true
+	}
+	return false, false, false, false
+}
+
+func detectGPUBackendsFromDRM() (hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel bool, ok bool) {
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir("/sys/class/drm")
 	if err != nil {
-		return false, false, fmt.Errorf("run blender detection: %w (output: %s)", err, string(out))
+		return false, false, false, false
+	}
+
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		name := entry.Name()
+		if !isDRMCardNode(name) {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		vendorPath := filepath.Join("/sys/class/drm", name, "device", "vendor")
+		vendorRaw, err := os.ReadFile(vendorPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		vendor := strings.TrimSpace(strings.ToLower(string(vendorRaw)))
+		switch vendor {
+		case "0x1002":
+			hasAMD = true
+			ok = true
+		case "0x10de":
+			hasNVIDIA = true
+			ok = true
+		case "0x8086":
+			hasIntel = true
+			ok = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel, ok
+}
+
+func isDRMCardNode(name string) bool {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(name, "card") {
+		return false
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(name, "-") {
+		// Connector entries like card0-DP-1 are not GPU device nodes.
+		return false
+	}
+	if len(name) <= len("card") {
+		return false
+	}
+	_, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimPrefix(name, "card"))
+	return err == nil
+}
+
+func detectGPUBackendsFromLSPCI() (hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel bool, ok bool) {
+	if _, err := exec.LookPath("lspci"); err != nil {
+		return false, false, false, false
+	}
+
+	out, err := exec.Command("lspci").CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, false, false, false
 	}

 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(strings.NewReader(string(out)))
 	for scanner.Scan() {
-		line := strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
-		switch line {
-		case "HAS_HIP":
-			hasHIP = true
-		case "HAS_NVIDIA":
+		line := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text()))
+		if !isGPUControllerLine(line) {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if strings.Contains(line, "nvidia") {
 			hasNVIDIA = true
+			ok = true
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(line, "amd") || strings.Contains(line, "ati") || strings.Contains(line, "radeon") {
+			hasAMD = true
+			ok = true
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(line, "intel") {
+			hasIntel = true
+			ok = true
 		}
 	}
-	return hasHIP, hasNVIDIA, scanner.Err()
+
+	return hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel, ok
+}
+
+func isGPUControllerLine(line string) bool {
+	return strings.Contains(line, "vga compatible controller") ||
+		strings.Contains(line, "3d controller") ||
+		strings.Contains(line, "display controller")
 }
--- a/internal/runner/blender/version.go
+++ b/internal/runner/blender/version.go
@@ -1,143 +1,19 @@
 package blender

 import (
-	"compress/gzip"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
-	"os"
-	"os/exec"
+
+	"jiggablend/pkg/blendfile"
 )

 // ParseVersionFromFile parses the Blender version that a .blend file was saved with.
 // Returns major and minor version numbers.
+// Delegates to the shared pkg/blendfile implementation.
 func ParseVersionFromFile(blendPath string) (major, minor int, err error) {
-	file, err := os.Open(blendPath)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to open blend file: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer file.Close()
-
-	// Read the first 12 bytes of the blend file header
-	// Format: BLENDER-v<major><minor><patch> or BLENDER_v<major><minor><patch>
-	// The header is: "BLENDER" (7 bytes) + pointer size (1 byte: '-' for 64-bit, '_' for 32-bit)
-	// + endianness (1 byte: 'v' for little-endian, 'V' for big-endian)
-	// + version (3 bytes: e.g., "402" for 4.02)
-	header := make([]byte, 12)
-	n, err := file.Read(header)
-	if err != nil || n < 12 {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read blend file header: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// Check for BLENDER magic
-	if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
-		// Might be compressed - try to decompress
-		file.Seek(0, 0)
-		return parseCompressedVersion(file)
-	}
-
-	// Parse version from bytes 9-11 (3 digits)
-	versionStr := string(header[9:12])
-
-	// Version format changed in Blender 3.0
-	// Pre-3.0: "279" = 2.79, "280" = 2.80
-	// 3.0+: "300" = 3.0, "402" = 4.02, "410" = 4.10
-	if len(versionStr) == 3 {
-		// First digit is major version
-		fmt.Sscanf(string(versionStr[0]), "%d", &major)
-		// Next two digits are minor version
-		fmt.Sscanf(versionStr[1:3], "%d", &minor)
-	}
-
-	return major, minor, nil
-}
-
-// parseCompressedVersion handles gzip and zstd compressed blend files.
-func parseCompressedVersion(file *os.File) (major, minor int, err error) {
-	magic := make([]byte, 4)
-	if _, err := file.Read(magic); err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, err
-	}
-	file.Seek(0, 0)
-
-	if magic[0] == 0x1f && magic[1] == 0x8b {
-		// gzip compressed
-		gzReader, err := gzip.NewReader(file)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to create gzip reader: %w", err)
-		}
-		defer gzReader.Close()
-
-		header := make([]byte, 12)
-		n, err := gzReader.Read(header)
-		if err != nil || n < 12 {
-			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read compressed blend header: %w", err)
-		}
-
-		if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
-			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid blend file format")
-		}
-
-		versionStr := string(header[9:12])
-		if len(versionStr) == 3 {
-			fmt.Sscanf(string(versionStr[0]), "%d", &major)
-			fmt.Sscanf(versionStr[1:3], "%d", &minor)
-		}
-
-		return major, minor, nil
-	}
-
-	// Check for zstd magic (Blender 3.0+): 0x28 0xB5 0x2F 0xFD
-	if magic[0] == 0x28 && magic[1] == 0xb5 && magic[2] == 0x2f && magic[3] == 0xfd {
-		return parseZstdVersion(file)
-	}
-
-	return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("unknown blend file format")
-}
-
-// parseZstdVersion handles zstd-compressed blend files (Blender 3.0+).
-// Uses zstd command line tool since Go doesn't have native zstd support.
-func parseZstdVersion(file *os.File) (major, minor int, err error) {
-	file.Seek(0, 0)
-
-	cmd := exec.Command("zstd", "-d", "-c")
-	cmd.Stdin = file
-
-	stdout, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to create zstd stdout pipe: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to start zstd decompression: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// Read just the header (12 bytes)
-	header := make([]byte, 12)
-	n, readErr := io.ReadFull(stdout, header)
-
-	// Kill the process early - we only need the header
-	cmd.Process.Kill()
-	cmd.Wait()
-
-	if readErr != nil || n < 12 {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read zstd compressed blend header: %v", readErr)
-	}
-
-	if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
-		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid blend file format in zstd archive")
-	}
-
-	versionStr := string(header[9:12])
-	if len(versionStr) == 3 {
-		fmt.Sscanf(string(versionStr[0]), "%d", &major)
-		fmt.Sscanf(versionStr[1:3], "%d", &minor)
-	}
-
-	return major, minor, nil
+	return blendfile.ParseVersionFromFile(blendPath)
 }

 // VersionString returns a formatted version string like "4.2".
 func VersionString(major, minor int) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%d.%d", major, minor)
 }
-
--- a/internal/runner/runner.go
+++ b/internal/runner/runner.go
@@ -46,23 +46,22 @@ type Runner struct {
 	gpuLockedOut   bool
 	gpuLockedOutMu sync.RWMutex

-	// hasHIP/hasNVIDIA are set at startup by running latest Blender to detect GPU backends.
-	// Used to force CPU only for Blender < 4.x when HIP is present (no official HIP support pre-4).
-	// gpuDetectionFailed is true when detection could not run; we then force CPU for all versions (we could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA).
+	// hasAMD/hasNVIDIA/hasIntel are set at startup by hardware/Blender GPU backend detection.
+	// Used to force CPU only for Blender < 4.x when AMD is present (no official HIP support pre-4).
+	// gpuDetectionFailed is true when detection could not run; we then force CPU for all versions.
 	gpuBackendMu       sync.RWMutex
-	hasHIP             bool
+	hasAMD             bool
 	hasNVIDIA          bool
+	hasIntel           bool
 	gpuBackendProbed   bool
 	gpuDetectionFailed bool

 	// forceCPURendering forces CPU rendering for all jobs regardless of metadata/backend detection.
 	forceCPURendering bool
-	// disableHIPRT disables HIPRT acceleration when configuring Cycles HIP devices.
-	disableHIPRT bool
 }

 // New creates a new runner.
-func New(managerURL, name, hostname string, forceCPURendering, disableHIPRT bool) *Runner {
+func New(managerURL, name, hostname string, forceCPURendering bool) *Runner {
 	manager := api.NewManagerClient(managerURL)

 	r := &Runner{
@@ -74,7 +73,6 @@ func New(managerURL, name, hostname string, forceCPURendering, disableHIPRT bool
 		processors: make(map[string]tasks.Processor),

 		forceCPURendering: forceCPURendering,
-		disableHIPRT:      disableHIPRT,
 	}

 	// Generate fingerprint
@@ -93,17 +91,16 @@ func (r *Runner) CheckRequiredTools() error {
 	return nil
 }

-var cachedCapabilities map[string]interface{} = nil
+var (
+	cachedCapabilities map[string]interface{}
+	capabilitiesOnce   sync.Once
+)

 // ProbeCapabilities detects hardware capabilities.
 func (r *Runner) ProbeCapabilities() map[string]interface{} {
-	if cachedCapabilities != nil {
-		return cachedCapabilities
-	}
-
+	capabilitiesOnce.Do(func() {
 		caps := make(map[string]interface{})

-	// Check for ffmpeg and probe encoding capabilities
 		if err := exec.Command("ffmpeg", "-version").Run(); err == nil {
 			caps["ffmpeg"] = true
 		} else {
@@ -111,7 +108,8 @@ func (r *Runner) ProbeCapabilities() map[string]interface{} {
 		}

 		cachedCapabilities = caps
-	return caps
+	})
+	return cachedCapabilities
 }

 // Register registers the runner with the manager.
@@ -141,52 +139,66 @@ func (r *Runner) Register(apiKey string) (int64, error) {
 	return id, nil
 }

-// DetectAndStoreGPUBackends downloads the latest Blender from the manager (if needed),
-// runs a detection script to see if HIP (AMD) and/or NVIDIA devices are available,
-// and stores the result. Call after Register. Used so we only force CPU for Blender < 4.x
-// when the runner has HIP (no official HIP support pre-4); NVIDIA is allowed.
+// DetectAndStoreGPUBackends runs host-level backend detection and stores AMD/NVIDIA/Intel results.
+// Call after Register. Used so we only force CPU for Blender < 4.x when AMD is present.
 func (r *Runner) DetectAndStoreGPUBackends() {
 	r.gpuBackendMu.Lock()
 	defer r.gpuBackendMu.Unlock()
 	if r.gpuBackendProbed {
 		return
 	}
-	latestVer, err := r.manager.GetLatestBlenderVersion()
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("GPU backend detection failed (could not get latest Blender version: %v). All jobs will use CPU because we could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA.", err)
+	hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel, ok := blender.DetectGPUBackends()
+	if !ok {
+		log.Printf("GPU backend detection failed (host probe unavailable). All jobs will use CPU because backend availability is unknown.")
 		r.gpuBackendProbed = true
 		r.gpuDetectionFailed = true
 		return
 	}
-	binaryPath, err := r.blender.GetBinaryPath(latestVer)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("GPU backend detection failed (could not get Blender binary: %v). All jobs will use CPU because we could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA.", err)
-		r.gpuBackendProbed = true
-		r.gpuDetectionFailed = true
-		return
+
+	detectedTypes := 0
+	if hasAMD {
+		detectedTypes++
 	}
-	hasHIP, hasNVIDIA, err := blender.DetectGPUBackends(binaryPath, r.workspace.BaseDir())
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("GPU backend detection failed (script error: %v). All jobs will use CPU because we could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA.", err)
-		r.gpuBackendProbed = true
-		r.gpuDetectionFailed = true
-		return
+	if hasNVIDIA {
+		detectedTypes++
 	}
-	r.hasHIP = hasHIP
+	if hasIntel {
+		detectedTypes++
+	}
+	if detectedTypes > 1 {
+		log.Printf("mixed GPU vendors detected (AMD=%v NVIDIA=%v INTEL=%v): multi-vendor setups may not work reliably, but runner will continue with GPU enabled", hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel)
+	}
+
+	r.hasAMD = hasAMD
 	r.hasNVIDIA = hasNVIDIA
+	r.hasIntel = hasIntel
 	r.gpuBackendProbed = true
 	r.gpuDetectionFailed = false
-	log.Printf("GPU backend detection: HIP=%v NVIDIA=%v (Blender < 4.x will force CPU only when HIP is present)", hasHIP, hasNVIDIA)
+	log.Printf("GPU backend detection: AMD=%v NVIDIA=%v INTEL=%v (Blender < 4.x will force CPU only when AMD is present)", hasAMD, hasNVIDIA, hasIntel)
 }

-// HasHIP returns whether the runner detected HIP (AMD) devices. Used to force CPU for Blender < 4.x only when HIP is present.
-func (r *Runner) HasHIP() bool {
+// HasAMD returns whether the runner detected AMD devices. Used to force CPU for Blender < 4.x only when AMD is present.
+func (r *Runner) HasAMD() bool {
 	r.gpuBackendMu.RLock()
 	defer r.gpuBackendMu.RUnlock()
-	return r.hasHIP
+	return r.hasAMD
 }

-// GPUDetectionFailed returns true when startup GPU backend detection could not run or failed. When true, all jobs use CPU because we could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA.
+// HasNVIDIA returns whether the runner detected NVIDIA GPUs.
+func (r *Runner) HasNVIDIA() bool {
+	r.gpuBackendMu.RLock()
+	defer r.gpuBackendMu.RUnlock()
+	return r.hasNVIDIA
+}
+
+// HasIntel returns whether the runner detected Intel GPUs (e.g. Arc).
+func (r *Runner) HasIntel() bool {
+	r.gpuBackendMu.RLock()
+	defer r.gpuBackendMu.RUnlock()
+	return r.hasIntel
+}
+
+// GPUDetectionFailed returns true when startup GPU backend detection could not run or failed. When true, all jobs use CPU because backend availability is unknown.
 func (r *Runner) GPUDetectionFailed() bool {
 	r.gpuBackendMu.RLock()
 	defer r.gpuBackendMu.RUnlock()
@@ -313,10 +325,11 @@ func (r *Runner) executeJob(job *api.NextJobResponse) (err error) {
 			r.encoder,
 			r.processes,
 			r.IsGPULockedOut(),
-			r.HasHIP(),
+			r.HasAMD(),
+			r.HasNVIDIA(),
+			r.HasIntel(),
 			r.GPUDetectionFailed(),
 			r.forceCPURendering,
-			r.disableHIPRT,
 			func() { r.SetGPULockedOut(true) },
 		)

--- a/internal/runner/tasks/encode.go
+++ b/internal/runner/tasks/encode.go
@@ -298,6 +298,9 @@ func (p *EncodeProcessor) Process(ctx *Context) error {
 				ctx.Info(line)
 			}
 		}
+		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Error reading encode stdout: %v", err)
+		}
 	}()

 	// Stream stderr
@@ -311,6 +314,9 @@ func (p *EncodeProcessor) Process(ctx *Context) error {
 				ctx.Warn(line)
 			}
 		}
+		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Error reading encode stderr: %v", err)
+		}
 	}()

 	err = cmd.Wait()
--- a/internal/runner/tasks/processor.go
+++ b/internal/runner/tasks/processor.go
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"jiggablend/pkg/executils"
 	"jiggablend/pkg/types"
 	"os/exec"
-	"strconv"
-	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -43,23 +41,25 @@ type Context struct {

 	// GPULockedOut is set when the runner has detected a GPU error (e.g. HIP) and disables GPU for all jobs.
 	GPULockedOut bool
-	// HasHIP is true when the runner detected HIP (AMD) devices at startup. Used to force CPU for Blender < 4.x only when HIP is present.
-	HasHIP bool
-	// GPUDetectionFailed is true when startup GPU backend detection could not run; we force CPU for all versions (could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA).
+	// HasAMD is true when the runner detected AMD devices at startup.
+	HasAMD bool
+	// HasNVIDIA is true when the runner detected NVIDIA GPUs at startup.
+	HasNVIDIA bool
+	// HasIntel is true when the runner detected Intel GPUs (e.g. Arc) at startup.
+	HasIntel bool
+	// GPUDetectionFailed is true when startup GPU backend detection could not run; we force CPU for all versions (backend availability unknown).
 	GPUDetectionFailed bool
 	// OnGPUError is called when a GPU error line is seen in render logs; typically sets runner GPU lockout.
 	OnGPUError func()
 	// ForceCPURendering is a runner-level override that forces CPU rendering for all jobs.
 	ForceCPURendering bool
-	// DisableHIPRT is a runner-level override that disables HIPRT acceleration in Blender.
-	DisableHIPRT bool
 }

 // ErrJobCancelled indicates the manager-side job was cancelled during execution.
 var ErrJobCancelled = errors.New("job cancelled")

 // NewContext creates a new task context. frameEnd should be >= frame; if 0 or less than frame, it is treated as single-frame (frameEnd = frame).
-// gpuLockedOut is the runner's current GPU lockout state; hasHIP means the runner has HIP (AMD) devices (force CPU for Blender < 4.x only when true); gpuDetectionFailed means detection failed at startup (force CPU for all versions—could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA); onGPUError is called when a GPU error is detected in logs (may be nil).
+// gpuLockedOut is the runner's current GPU lockout state; gpuDetectionFailed means detection failed at startup (force CPU for all versions); onGPUError is called when a GPU error is detected in logs (may be nil).
 func NewContext(
 	taskID, jobID int64,
 	jobName string,
@@ -75,10 +75,11 @@ func NewContext(
 	encoder *encoding.Selector,
 	processes *executils.ProcessTracker,
 	gpuLockedOut bool,
-	hasHIP bool,
+	hasAMD bool,
+	hasNVIDIA bool,
+	hasIntel bool,
 	gpuDetectionFailed bool,
 	forceCPURendering bool,
-	disableHIPRT bool,
 	onGPUError func(),
 ) *Context {
 	if frameEnd < frameStart {
@@ -101,10 +102,11 @@ func NewContext(
 		Encoder:            encoder,
 		Processes:          processes,
 		GPULockedOut:       gpuLockedOut,
-		HasHIP:             hasHIP,
+		HasAMD:             hasAMD,
+		HasNVIDIA:          hasNVIDIA,
+		HasIntel:           hasIntel,
 		GPUDetectionFailed: gpuDetectionFailed,
 		ForceCPURendering:  forceCPURendering,
-		DisableHIPRT:       disableHIPRT,
 		OnGPUError:         onGPUError,
 	}
 }
@@ -187,8 +189,7 @@ func (c *Context) ShouldEnableExecution() bool {
 }

 // ShouldForceCPU returns true if GPU should be disabled and CPU rendering forced
-// (runner GPU lockout, GPU detection failed at startup for any version, metadata force_cpu,
-// or Blender < 4.x when the runner has HIP).
+// (runner GPU lockout, GPU detection failed at startup, or metadata force_cpu).
 func (c *Context) ShouldForceCPU() bool {
 	if c.ForceCPURendering {
 		return true
@@ -196,17 +197,10 @@ func (c *Context) ShouldForceCPU() bool {
 	if c.GPULockedOut {
 		return true
 	}
-	// Detection failed at startup: we could not determine HIP vs NVIDIA, so force CPU for all versions.
+	// Detection failed at startup: backend availability unknown, so force CPU for all versions.
 	if c.GPUDetectionFailed {
 		return true
 	}
-	v := c.GetBlenderVersion()
-	major := parseBlenderMajor(v)
-	isPre4 := v != "" && major >= 0 && major < 4
-	// Blender < 4.x: force CPU when runner has HIP (no official HIP support).
-	if isPre4 && c.HasHIP {
-		return true
-	}
 	if c.Metadata != nil && c.Metadata.RenderSettings.EngineSettings != nil {
 		if v, ok := c.Metadata.RenderSettings.EngineSettings["force_cpu"]; ok {
 			if b, ok := v.(bool); ok && b {
@@ -217,21 +211,6 @@ func (c *Context) ShouldForceCPU() bool {
 	return false
 }

-// parseBlenderMajor returns the major version number from a string like "4.2.3" or "3.6".
-// Returns -1 if the version cannot be parsed.
-func parseBlenderMajor(version string) int {
-	version = strings.TrimSpace(version)
-	if version == "" {
-		return -1
-	}
-	parts := strings.SplitN(version, ".", 2)
-	major, err := strconv.Atoi(parts[0])
-	if err != nil {
-		return -1
-	}
-	return major
-}
-
 // IsJobCancelled checks whether the manager marked this job as cancelled.
 func (c *Context) IsJobCancelled() (bool, error) {
 	if c.Manager == nil {
--- a/internal/runner/tasks/render.go
+++ b/internal/runner/tasks/render.go
@@ -104,15 +104,10 @@ func (p *RenderProcessor) Process(ctx *Context) error {
 	renderFormat := "EXR"

 	if ctx.ShouldForceCPU() {
-		v := ctx.GetBlenderVersion()
-		major := parseBlenderMajor(v)
-		isPre4 := v != "" && major >= 0 && major < 4
 		if ctx.ForceCPURendering {
 			ctx.Info("Runner compatibility flag is enabled: forcing CPU rendering for this job")
 		} else if ctx.GPUDetectionFailed {
-			ctx.Info("GPU backend detection failed at startup—we could not determine whether this machine has HIP (AMD) or NVIDIA GPUs, so rendering will use CPU to avoid compatibility issues")
-		} else if isPre4 && ctx.HasHIP {
-			ctx.Info("Blender < 4.x has no official HIP support: using CPU rendering only")
+			ctx.Info("GPU backend detection failed at startup—we could not determine available GPU backends, so rendering will use CPU to avoid compatibility issues")
 		} else {
 			ctx.Info("GPU lockout active: using CPU rendering only")
 		}
@@ -195,7 +190,6 @@ func (p *RenderProcessor) createRenderScript(ctx *Context, renderFormat string)
 		settingsMap = make(map[string]interface{})
 	}
 	settingsMap["force_cpu"] = ctx.ShouldForceCPU()
-	settingsMap["disable_hiprt"] = ctx.DisableHIPRT
 	settingsJSON, err := json.Marshal(settingsMap)
 	if err == nil {
 		if err := os.WriteFile(renderSettingsFilePath, settingsJSON, 0644); err != nil {
@@ -277,6 +271,9 @@ func (p *RenderProcessor) runBlender(ctx *Context, blenderBinary, blendFile, out
 				}
 			}
 		}
+		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Error reading stdout: %v", err)
+		}
 	}()

 	// Stream stderr and watch for GPU error lines
@@ -297,6 +294,9 @@ func (p *RenderProcessor) runBlender(ctx *Context, blenderBinary, blendFile, out
 				}
 			}
 		}
+		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Error reading stderr: %v", err)
+		}
 	}()

 	// Wait for completion
--- a/internal/runner/workspace/archive.go
+++ b/internal/runner/workspace/archive.go
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ func ExtractTarStripPrefix(reader io.Reader, destDir string) error {

 		targetPath := filepath.Join(destDir, name)

+		// Sanitize path to prevent directory traversal
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(filepath.Clean(targetPath), filepath.Clean(destDir)+string(os.PathSeparator)) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid file path in tar: %s", header.Name)
+		}
+
 		switch header.Typeflag {
 		case tar.TypeDir:
 			if err := os.MkdirAll(targetPath, os.FileMode(header.Mode)); err != nil {
--- a/internal/runner/workspace/archive_test.go
+++ b/internal/runner/workspace/archive_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+package workspace
+
+import (
+	"archive/tar"
+	"bytes"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func createTarBuffer(files map[string]string) *bytes.Buffer {
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	tw := tar.NewWriter(&buf)
+	for name, content := range files {
+		hdr := &tar.Header{
+			Name: name,
+			Mode: 0644,
+			Size: int64(len(content)),
+		}
+		tw.WriteHeader(hdr)
+		tw.Write([]byte(content))
+	}
+	tw.Close()
+	return &buf
+}
+
+func TestExtractTar(t *testing.T) {
+	destDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	buf := createTarBuffer(map[string]string{
+		"hello.txt": "world",
+		"sub/a.txt": "nested",
+	})
+
+	if err := ExtractTar(buf, destDir); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ExtractTar: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(destDir, "hello.txt"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read hello.txt: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(data) != "world" {
+		t.Errorf("hello.txt = %q, want %q", data, "world")
+	}
+
+	data, err = os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(destDir, "sub", "a.txt"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read sub/a.txt: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(data) != "nested" {
+		t.Errorf("sub/a.txt = %q, want %q", data, "nested")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractTarStripPrefix(t *testing.T) {
+	destDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	buf := createTarBuffer(map[string]string{
+		"toplevel/":        "",
+		"toplevel/foo.txt": "bar",
+	})
+
+	if err := ExtractTarStripPrefix(buf, destDir); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ExtractTarStripPrefix: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(destDir, "foo.txt"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read foo.txt: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(data) != "bar" {
+		t.Errorf("foo.txt = %q, want %q", data, "bar")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractTarStripPrefix_PathTraversal(t *testing.T) {
+	destDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	buf := createTarBuffer(map[string]string{
+		"prefix/../../../etc/passwd": "pwned",
+	})
+
+	err := ExtractTarStripPrefix(buf, destDir)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error for path traversal, got nil")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractTar_PathTraversal(t *testing.T) {
+	destDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	buf := createTarBuffer(map[string]string{
+		"../../../etc/passwd": "pwned",
+	})
+
+	err := ExtractTar(buf, destDir)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error for path traversal, got nil")
+	}
+}
--- a/internal/storage/storage.go
+++ b/internal/storage/storage.go
@@ -82,6 +82,9 @@ func (s *Storage) JobPath(jobID int64) string {

 // SaveUpload saves an uploaded file
 func (s *Storage) SaveUpload(jobID int64, filename string, reader io.Reader) (string, error) {
+	// Sanitize filename to prevent path traversal
+	filename = filepath.Base(filename)
+
 	jobPath := s.JobPath(jobID)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(jobPath, 0755); err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create job directory: %w", err)
--- a/internal/storage/storage_test.go
+++ b/internal/storage/storage_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+package storage
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func setupStorage(t *testing.T) *Storage {
+	t.Helper()
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	s, err := NewStorage(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("NewStorage: %v", err)
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+func TestSaveUpload(t *testing.T) {
+	s := setupStorage(t)
+	path, err := s.SaveUpload(1, "test.blend", strings.NewReader("data"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveUpload: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read saved file: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(data) != "data" {
+		t.Errorf("got %q, want %q", data, "data")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSaveUpload_PathTraversal(t *testing.T) {
+	s := setupStorage(t)
+	path, err := s.SaveUpload(1, "../../etc/passwd", strings.NewReader("evil"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveUpload: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// filepath.Base strips traversal, so the file should be inside the job dir
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(path, s.JobPath(1)) {
+		t.Errorf("saved file %q escaped job directory %q", path, s.JobPath(1))
+	}
+
+	if filepath.Base(path) != "passwd" {
+		t.Errorf("expected basename 'passwd', got %q", filepath.Base(path))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSaveOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	s := setupStorage(t)
+	path, err := s.SaveOutput(42, "output.png", strings.NewReader("img"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveOutput: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read saved output: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(data) != "img" {
+		t.Errorf("got %q, want %q", data, "img")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGetFile(t *testing.T) {
+	s := setupStorage(t)
+	savedPath, err := s.SaveUpload(1, "readme.txt", strings.NewReader("hello"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveUpload: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	f, err := s.GetFile(savedPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetFile: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+
+	buf := make([]byte, 64)
+	n, _ := f.Read(buf)
+	if string(buf[:n]) != "hello" {
+		t.Errorf("got %q, want %q", string(buf[:n]), "hello")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestJobPath(t *testing.T) {
+	s := setupStorage(t)
+	path := s.JobPath(99)
+	if !strings.Contains(path, "99") {
+		t.Errorf("JobPath(99) = %q, expected to contain '99'", path)
+	}
+}
--- a/pkg/blendfile/version.go
+++ b/pkg/blendfile/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+package blendfile
+
+import (
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+)
+
+// ParseVersionFromReader parses the Blender version from a reader.
+// Returns major and minor version numbers.
+//
+// Blend file header layout (12 bytes):
+//
+//	"BLENDER" (7) + pointer-size (1: '-'=64, '_'=32) + endian (1: 'v'=LE, 'V'=BE)
+//	+ version (3 digits, e.g. "402" = 4.02)
+//
+// Supports uncompressed, gzip-compressed, and zstd-compressed blend files.
+func ParseVersionFromReader(r io.ReadSeeker) (major, minor int, err error) {
+	header := make([]byte, 12)
+	n, err := r.Read(header)
+	if err != nil || n < 12 {
+		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read blend file header: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
+		r.Seek(0, 0)
+		return parseCompressedVersion(r)
+	}
+
+	return parseVersionDigits(header[9:12])
+}
+
+// ParseVersionFromFile opens a blend file and parses the Blender version.
+func ParseVersionFromFile(blendPath string) (major, minor int, err error) {
+	file, err := os.Open(blendPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to open blend file: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	return ParseVersionFromReader(file)
+}
+
+// VersionString returns a formatted version string like "4.2".
+func VersionString(major, minor int) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%d.%d", major, minor)
+}
+
+func parseVersionDigits(versionBytes []byte) (major, minor int, err error) {
+	if len(versionBytes) != 3 {
+		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("expected 3 version digits, got %d", len(versionBytes))
+	}
+	fmt.Sscanf(string(versionBytes[0]), "%d", &major)
+	fmt.Sscanf(string(versionBytes[1:3]), "%d", &minor)
+	return major, minor, nil
+}
+
+func parseCompressedVersion(r io.ReadSeeker) (major, minor int, err error) {
+	magic := make([]byte, 4)
+	if _, err := r.Read(magic); err != nil {
+		return 0, 0, err
+	}
+	r.Seek(0, 0)
+
+	// gzip: 0x1f 0x8b
+	if magic[0] == 0x1f && magic[1] == 0x8b {
+		gzReader, err := gzip.NewReader(r)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to create gzip reader: %w", err)
+		}
+		defer gzReader.Close()
+
+		header := make([]byte, 12)
+		n, err := gzReader.Read(header)
+		if err != nil || n < 12 {
+			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read compressed blend header: %w", err)
+		}
+		if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
+			return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid blend file format")
+		}
+		return parseVersionDigits(header[9:12])
+	}
+
+	// zstd: 0x28 0xB5 0x2F 0xFD
+	if magic[0] == 0x28 && magic[1] == 0xb5 && magic[2] == 0x2f && magic[3] == 0xfd {
+		return parseZstdVersion(r)
+	}
+
+	return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("unknown blend file format")
+}
+
+func parseZstdVersion(r io.ReadSeeker) (major, minor int, err error) {
+	r.Seek(0, 0)
+
+	cmd := exec.Command("zstd", "-d", "-c")
+	cmd.Stdin = r
+
+	stdout, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to create zstd stdout pipe: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to start zstd decompression: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	header := make([]byte, 12)
+	n, readErr := io.ReadFull(stdout, header)
+
+	cmd.Process.Kill()
+	cmd.Wait()
+
+	if readErr != nil || n < 12 {
+		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read zstd compressed blend header: %v", readErr)
+	}
+	if string(header[:7]) != "BLENDER" {
+		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid blend file format in zstd archive")
+	}
+
+	return parseVersionDigits(header[9:12])
+}
--- a/pkg/blendfile/version_test.go
+++ b/pkg/blendfile/version_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+package blendfile
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func makeBlendHeader(major, minor int) []byte {
+	header := make([]byte, 12)
+	copy(header[:7], "BLENDER")
+	header[7] = '-'
+	header[8] = 'v'
+	header[9] = byte('0' + major)
+	header[10] = byte('0' + minor/10)
+	header[11] = byte('0' + minor%10)
+	return header
+}
+
+func TestParseVersionFromReader_Uncompressed(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		major      int
+		minor      int
+		wantMajor  int
+		wantMinor  int
+	}{
+		{"Blender 4.02", 4, 2, 4, 2},
+		{"Blender 3.06", 3, 6, 3, 6},
+		{"Blender 2.79", 2, 79, 2, 79},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			header := makeBlendHeader(tt.major, tt.minor)
+			r := bytes.NewReader(header)
+
+			major, minor, err := ParseVersionFromReader(r)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("ParseVersionFromReader: %v", err)
+			}
+			if major != tt.wantMajor || minor != tt.wantMinor {
+				t.Errorf("got %d.%d, want %d.%d", major, minor, tt.wantMajor, tt.wantMinor)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseVersionFromReader_GzipCompressed(t *testing.T) {
+	header := makeBlendHeader(4, 2)
+	// Pad to ensure gzip has enough data for a full read
+	data := make([]byte, 128)
+	copy(data, header)
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	gz := gzip.NewWriter(&buf)
+	gz.Write(data)
+	gz.Close()
+
+	r := bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes())
+	major, minor, err := ParseVersionFromReader(r)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ParseVersionFromReader (gzip): %v", err)
+	}
+	if major != 4 || minor != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("got %d.%d, want 4.2", major, minor)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseVersionFromReader_InvalidMagic(t *testing.T) {
+	data := []byte("NOT_BLEND_DATA_HERE")
+	r := bytes.NewReader(data)
+
+	_, _, err := ParseVersionFromReader(r)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error for invalid magic, got nil")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseVersionFromReader_TooShort(t *testing.T) {
+	data := []byte("SHORT")
+	r := bytes.NewReader(data)
+
+	_, _, err := ParseVersionFromReader(r)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error for short data, got nil")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestVersionString(t *testing.T) {
+	got := VersionString(4, 2)
+	want := "4.2"
+	if got != want {
+		t.Errorf("VersionString(4, 2) = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}
--- a/pkg/executils/exec.go
+++ b/pkg/executils/exec.go
@@ -361,6 +361,9 @@ func RunCommandWithStreaming(
 				}
 			}
 		}
+		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil && !isBenignPipeReadError(err) {
+			logSender(taskID, types.LogLevelWarn, fmt.Sprintf("stdout read error: %v", err), stepName)
+		}
 	}()

 	go func() {
@@ -375,6 +378,9 @@ func RunCommandWithStreaming(
 				}
 			}
 		}
+		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil && !isBenignPipeReadError(err) {
+			logSender(taskID, types.LogLevelWarn, fmt.Sprintf("stderr read error: %v", err), stepName)
+		}
 	}()

 	err = cmd.Wait()
--- a/pkg/scripts/scripts.go
+++ b/pkg/scripts/scripts.go
@@ -11,6 +11,3 @@ var UnhideObjects string
 //go:embed scripts/render_blender.py.template
 var RenderBlenderTemplate string

-//go:embed scripts/detect_gpu_backends.py
-var DetectGPUBackends string
-
--- a/pkg/scripts/scripts/detect_gpu_backends.py
+++ b/pkg/scripts/scripts/detect_gpu_backends.py
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-# Minimal script to detect HIP (AMD) and NVIDIA (CUDA/OptiX) backends for Cycles.
-# Run with: blender -b --python detect_gpu_backends.py
-# Prints HAS_HIP and/or HAS_NVIDIA to stdout, one per line.
-import sys
-
-def main():
-    try:
-        prefs = bpy.context.preferences
-        if not hasattr(prefs, 'addons') or 'cycles' not in prefs.addons:
-            return
-        cprefs = prefs.addons['cycles'].preferences
-        has_hip = False
-        has_nvidia = False
-        for device_type in ('HIP', 'CUDA', 'OPTIX'):
-            try:
-                cprefs.compute_device_type = device_type
-                cprefs.refresh_devices()
-                devs = []
-                if hasattr(cprefs, 'get_devices'):
-                    devs = cprefs.get_devices()
-                elif hasattr(cprefs, 'devices') and cprefs.devices:
-                    devs = list(cprefs.devices) if hasattr(cprefs.devices, '__iter__') else [cprefs.devices]
-                if devs:
-                    if device_type == 'HIP':
-                        has_hip = True
-                    if device_type in ('CUDA', 'OPTIX'):
-                        has_nvidia = True
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-        if has_hip:
-            print('HAS_HIP', flush=True)
-        if has_nvidia:
-            print('HAS_NVIDIA', flush=True)
-    except Exception as e:
-        print('ERROR', str(e), file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
-        sys.exit(1)
-
-import bpy
-main()
--- a/pkg/scripts/scripts/render_blender.py.template
+++ b/pkg/scripts/scripts/render_blender.py.template
@@ -175,13 +175,9 @@ if render_settings_override:
 if current_engine == 'CYCLES':
    # Check if CPU rendering is forced
    force_cpu = False
-    disable_hiprt = False
    if render_settings_override and render_settings_override.get('force_cpu'):
        force_cpu = render_settings_override.get('force_cpu', False)
        print("Force CPU rendering is enabled - skipping GPU detection")
-    if render_settings_override and render_settings_override.get('disable_hiprt'):
-        disable_hiprt = render_settings_override.get('disable_hiprt', False)
-        print("Disable HIPRT flag is enabled")
    
    # Ensure Cycles addon is enabled
    try:
@@ -213,9 +209,10 @@ if current_engine == 'CYCLES':
                traceback.print_exc()
                sys.exit(1)

-        # Check all devices and choose the best GPU type
-        # Device type preference order (most performant first)
-        device_type_preference = ['OPTIX', 'CUDA', 'HIP', 'ONEAPI', 'METAL']
+        # Check all devices and choose the best GPU type.
+        # Explicit fallback policy: NVIDIA -> Intel -> AMD -> CPU.
+        # (OPTIX/CUDA are NVIDIA, ONEAPI is Intel, HIP/OPENCL are AMD)
+        device_type_preference = ['OPTIX', 'CUDA', 'ONEAPI', 'HIP', 'OPENCL']
        gpu_available = False
        best_device_type = None
        best_gpu_devices = []
@@ -325,16 +322,7 @@ if current_engine == 'CYCLES':
                try:
                    if best_device_type == 'HIP':
                        # HIPRT (HIP Ray Tracing) for AMD GPUs
-                        if disable_hiprt:
                        if hasattr(cycles_prefs, 'use_hiprt'):
-                                cycles_prefs.use_hiprt = False
-                                print(f"  Disabled HIPRT (HIP Ray Tracing) via runner compatibility flag")
-                            elif hasattr(scene.cycles, 'use_hiprt'):
-                                scene.cycles.use_hiprt = False
-                                print(f"  Disabled HIPRT (HIP Ray Tracing) via runner compatibility flag")
-                            else:
-                                print(f"  HIPRT toggle not available on this Blender version")
-                        elif hasattr(cycles_prefs, 'use_hiprt'):
                            cycles_prefs.use_hiprt = True
                            print(f"  Enabled HIPRT (HIP Ray Tracing) for faster rendering")
                        elif hasattr(scene.cycles, 'use_hiprt'):
@@ -356,16 +344,6 @@ if current_engine == 'CYCLES':
                            scene.cycles.use_optix_denoising = True
                            print(f"  Enabled OptiX denoising (if OptiX available)")
                        print(f"  CUDA ray tracing active")
-                    elif best_device_type == 'METAL':
-                        # MetalRT for Apple Silicon (if available)
-                        if hasattr(scene.cycles, 'use_metalrt'):
-                            scene.cycles.use_metalrt = True
-                            print(f"  Enabled MetalRT (Metal Ray Tracing) for faster rendering")
-                        elif hasattr(cycles_prefs, 'use_metalrt'):
-                            cycles_prefs.use_metalrt = True
-                            print(f"  Enabled MetalRT (Metal Ray Tracing) for faster rendering")
-                        else:
-                            print(f"  MetalRT not available")
                    elif best_device_type == 'ONEAPI':
                        # Intel oneAPI - Embree might be available
                        if hasattr(scene.cycles, 'use_embree'):
				`@@ -0,0 +1 @@`
				`ALTER TABLE runner_api_keys ADD COLUMN last_used_at TIMESTAMP;`