diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index b66e8a1..c3df72d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v5
         with:
           global-json-file: global.json
+          cache: true
+          cache-dependency-path: app/api/packages.lock.json
       - run: npm ci
       - run: dotnet restore app/api --locked-mode
       - run: dotnet tool restore
@@ -29,6 +31,16 @@ jobs:
       - run: npm run typecheck
       - run: dotnet format app/api --verify-no-changes --no-restore
       - run: npm test
+      - name: Upload Playwright artifacts on failure
+        if: failure()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: playwright-failure-${{ github.run_id }}
+          path: |
+            playwright-report/
+            test-results/
+          if-no-files-found: ignore
+          retention-days: 7
 
   # Render deploys the API from this Dockerfile only after a merge (render.yaml). Build and boot
   # the same image here, so a broken image or Production startup fails the PR instead.
@@ -89,6 +101,8 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v5
         with:
           global-json-file: global.json
+          cache: true
+          cache-dependency-path: app/api/packages.lock.json
       - run: dotnet restore app/api --locked-mode
       - run: dotnet tool restore
       - name: Build the migration bundle
@@ -116,3 +130,15 @@ jobs:
           test -n "$RENDER_DEPLOY_HOOK_URL" ||
             { echo "::error::Set the RENDER_DEPLOY_HOOK_URL secret in the api-deploy environment."; exit 1; }
           curl --silent --show-error --fail --request POST --output /dev/null "${RENDER_DEPLOY_HOOK_URL}&ref=${GITHUB_SHA}"
+      - name: Wait for Render API health
+        run: |
+          for attempt in $(seq 1 30); do
+            body=$(curl --silent --fail --max-time 2 https://specthread-api.onrender.com/health) || body=""
+            if [ "$body" = '{"status":"ok"}' ]; then
+              echo "Render API health check passed."
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            if [ "$attempt" -lt 30 ]; then sleep 8; fi
+          done
+          echo "::error::Render API did not become healthy within five minutes."
+          exit 1
diff --git a/docs/CI-PIPELINE-FEEDBACK.md b/docs/CI-PIPELINE-FEEDBACK.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e90f19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/CI-PIPELINE-FEEDBACK.md
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# CI Pipeline Feedback and Deployment Availability
+
+## Status
+
+Implemented on `feature/pipeline-feedback`; pending PR review and GitHub Actions validation.
+
+## Problem
+
+The current GitHub Actions workflow validates pull requests and deploys the API after
+merges to `main`. It does not retain Playwright reports as workflow artifacts, NuGet
+restore caching is not configured, and the deployment job stops after calling the
+Render deploy hook without checking that the public API is responding.
+
+## Goals
+
+- Make failed Playwright runs easier to diagnose from GitHub Actions.
+- Reuse NuGet packages across runs, keyed by the API lock file while retaining locked
+  restores.
+- After the API deploy hook is accepted, check that the Render API health endpoint
+  returns the expected liveness response within a bounded time.
+
+## Non-goals
+
+- Change application behavior, database schema, or migration order.
+- Deploy the web app; Vercel continues to manage that separately.
+- Add Render API credentials, query Render's deployment API, or prove that the
+  responding process is running the exact requested commit.
+- Retry a failed migration, roll back a deployment automatically, or run deploy checks
+  on pull requests.
+
+## Design
+
+1. Configure `actions/setup-dotnet` NuGet caching in the `verify` and `deploy-api`
+   jobs, using `app/api/packages.lock.json` as the cache dependency. Keep
+   `dotnet restore --locked-mode` unchanged.
+2. If `verify` fails, upload `playwright-report/` and `test-results/` as a GitHub
+   Actions artifact for seven days. Ignore missing artifact directories because a
+   failure can occur before Playwright starts. The test workflow uses isolated,
+   disposable data and dummy provider credentials.
+3. After the Render deploy-hook request succeeds, poll
+   `https://specthread-api.onrender.com/health` for up to five minutes. Succeed only
+   when the response is HTTP 200 with `{"status":"ok"}`; otherwise fail the deploy
+  job with a concise diagnostic. Each request is capped at two seconds, with an
+  eight-second pause between at most 30 attempts, keeping the total below five
+  minutes. Never print the deploy-hook URL or credentials.
+
+The health endpoint is a liveness check. Without querying Render's deployment API or
+exposing a build identifier, this verifies service availability but does not prove that
+the exact requested commit is serving traffic.
+
+## Acceptance criteria
+
+- Pull-request checks and their ordering are unchanged; deployment still runs only on
+  pushes to `main` after `verify` and `api-image` pass.
+- Failed `verify` runs retain any available Playwright report and test results for
+  seven days, without failing solely because a report directory is absent.
+- NuGet cache keys follow `app/api/packages.lock.json`; locked restore remains enabled
+  in both jobs.
+- The deployment job performs bounded health polling after the hook succeeds and fails
+  clearly on timeout or an unexpected response.
+- No secrets, database data, migrations, new services, or third-party test frameworks
+  are added.
+
+## Validation
+
+- Workflow YAML parsing and structural assertions passed; the health polling worst case
+  is 292 seconds. `git diff --check` passed.
+- Passed locally: `npm run lint`, `npm run typecheck`,
+  `dotnet format app/api --verify-no-changes --no-restore`, `npm run build`,
+  `npm run build:api`, and `npm test` (409 passed).
+- GitHub Actions has not run on this branch yet. The live Render health check runs only
+  after a merge to `main`; no production deployment was triggered during local validation.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/HANDOFF.md b/docs/HANDOFF.md
index 42b224a..bb43b41 100644
--- a/docs/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/docs/HANDOFF.md
@@ -1,6 +1,37 @@
 # Shared handoff
 
-## Current task: Link suggestions from closing references, and moving a link (2026-11-05)
+## Current task: CI pipeline feedback and deployment availability (2026-10-30)
+
+- Branch: `feature/pipeline-feedback`, from `main` at `09848a9`.
+- Scope: improve CI feedback, NuGet restore performance, and API deployment availability
+  without changing application behavior, migrations, or production secrets.
+- Completed:
+  - `.github/workflows/ci.yml` enables setup-dotnet NuGet caching keyed by
+    `app/api/packages.lock.json` in `verify` and `deploy-api`; restores remain locked.
+  - Failed `verify` runs upload any available Playwright report and test results for
+    seven days.
+  - After a successful Render deploy-hook request, `deploy-api` polls the API's public
+    `/health` endpoint for up to five minutes (30 attempts, two-second request timeout,
+    eight-second pauses) and fails clearly if it never returns the expected liveness
+    response.
+  - `docs/CI-PIPELINE-FEEDBACK.md` records the design and acceptance criteria; this
+    guide records the CI behavior.
+- Changed files: `.github/workflows/ci.yml`, `docs/CI-PIPELINE-FEEDBACK.md`,
+  `docs/TESTING.md`, and this handoff.
+- Validation: workflow YAML parsed and structural assertions passed; the health poll's
+  calculated worst case is 292 seconds. Passed `git diff --check`, `npm run lint`,
+  `npm run typecheck`, `dotnet format app/api --verify-no-changes --no-restore`,
+  `npm run build`, `npm run build:api`, and `npm test` (409 passed). GitHub Actions has
+  not run on this branch yet.
+- Risks and limitations: `/health` is liveness-only and may be answered by an already
+  healthy instance; this does not prove the requested SHA is serving. Verifying the
+  deployed revision would require Render deployment-status access or an API version
+  endpoint. The health poll runs only after a merge to `main`, not in a PR.
+- Next step: open a PR and confirm the workflow passes. After merge, check that the
+  Render deployment reaches healthy status; compare CI restore duration after the
+  NuGet cache has been populated.
+
+## Previous task: Link suggestions from closing references, and moving a link (2026-11-05)
 
 - Branch: `feature/evidence-suggestions-and-moves`, from `main` at `031dd88` (PR #25 merged).
 - Scope: two stories for Danielle (Tech Lead), ADR-056: suggest links from explicit
@@ -179,7 +210,6 @@
 - Next step: review, then open a PR to `main` carrying both stories and the migration.
 
 ## Previous task: Criteria versions, accepted-criteria warning, follow-ups, and milestones (2026-10-29, merged as PR #23)
-
 - Branch: `feature/requirement-change-tracking`, from `main` at `8555d75` (PR #22 merged).
 - Scope: four stories from the scenarios "Changing a requirement after its code was
   merged", "Signing off a contract milestone", and "Checking student team progress":
diff --git a/docs/TESTING.md b/docs/TESTING.md
index 82cbd36..9f07522 100644
--- a/docs/TESTING.md
+++ b/docs/TESTING.md
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ On Linux CI install browsers with `npx playwright install --with-deps chromium`.
 The GitHub Actions workflow runs these same checks. It does not need Supabase
 credentials. Reinstall Chromium after updating Playwright.
 
+CI caches npm packages from `package-lock.json` and NuGet packages from
+`app/api/packages.lock.json`; the API restore remains locked. If the `verify` job
+fails, its Playwright HTML report and `test-results/` directory are uploaded as a
+GitHub Actions artifact for seven days when present.
+
 A second CI job, `api-image`, builds the root Dockerfile that Render deploys and runs
 it as Render does: Production, port 8080, no database or issuer. It requires `/health`
 to answer `{"status":"ok"}`, anonymous `/me` to answer 401, the OpenAPI document not to
@@ -31,6 +36,9 @@ trust store. Reproduce it with `docker build --tag specthread-api:ci .` and
 
 A third job, `deploy-api`, runs only on pushes to `main` after both pass. It is not a
 check: it applies migrations to Supabase and deploys the API (ADR-044, docs/DEPLOYMENT.md).
+After the Render deploy hook succeeds, it polls the public `/health` endpoint for up
+to five minutes and requires `{"status":"ok"}`. This checks service liveness, not
+that the exact requested commit is serving traffic.
 
 The test web server and schema project require a running Docker engine and
 postgres:17. The first webServer entry calls scripts/build-api.mjs before starting