diff --git a/.github/workflows/reference-implementation-postgres.yml b/.github/workflows/reference-implementation-postgres.yml
index 1f3daead4..949f68dfe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reference-implementation-postgres.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reference-implementation-postgres.yml
@@ -73,6 +73,15 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: npm ci
 
+      # Patchright publishes no Chromium build for ubuntu-latest (26.04) yet.
+      # Google Chrome stable ships for it, so the browser tests run on the
+      # branded channel (PDPP_BROWSER_CHANNEL=chrome on the test step).
+      - name: Install Google Chrome for browser tests
+        run: |
+          wget -q -O /tmp/chrome.deb https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
+          sudo apt-get install -y /tmp/chrome.deb
+          google-chrome --version
+
       - name: Build workspace packages
         run: |
           npm --prefix packages/connector-protocol run build
@@ -86,6 +95,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Test reference implementation (postgres)
         env:
+          PDPP_BROWSER_CHANNEL: chrome
           PDPP_OWNER_PASSWORD: reference-implementation-ci
           TEST_SANDBOX_PG_UNSAFE_HOST: "1"
           # test/search-index-repair-correctness.postgres.test.ts has a 20k-record
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reference-implementation.yml b/.github/workflows/reference-implementation.yml
index f426bd348..b3720c52a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reference-implementation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reference-implementation.yml
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ jobs:
             packages/local-collector/node_modules
             apps/console/node_modules
             ~/.cache/ms-playwright
-          key: node-modules-v2-${{ runner.os }}-node24.22.1-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
+          key: node-modules-v3-${{ runner.os }}-node24.22.1-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         if: steps.node-modules-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ jobs:
             packages/local-collector/node_modules
             apps/console/node_modules
             ~/.cache/ms-playwright
-          key: node-modules-v2-${{ runner.os }}-node24.22.1-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
+          key: node-modules-v3-${{ runner.os }}-node24.22.1-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         if: steps.node-modules-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
@@ -256,6 +256,15 @@ jobs:
           npm --prefix reference-implementation/vendor/mcp-server run build
           npm --prefix reference-implementation/vendor/cli run build
 
+      # Patchright publishes no Chromium build for ubuntu-latest (26.04) yet.
+      # Google Chrome stable ships for it, so the browser tests run on the
+      # branded channel (PDPP_BROWSER_CHANNEL=chrome on the test step).
+      - name: Install Google Chrome for browser tests
+        run: |
+          wget -q -O /tmp/chrome.deb https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
+          sudo apt-get install -y /tmp/chrome.deb
+          google-chrome --version
+
       - name: Build workspace packages
         # The root tsconfig.json's project references only cover the app
         # (tsconfig.app.json/tsconfig.node.json) -- `npx tsc -b` never
@@ -281,6 +290,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Test reference implementation
         env:
+          PDPP_BROWSER_CHANNEL: chrome
           PDPP_OWNER_PASSWORD: reference-implementation-ci
           PDPP_TEST_PROFILE: "memory-default"
           PDPP_TEST_SHARD_INDEX: ${{ matrix.shard }}