diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 0105334..39d70af 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -83,13 +83,15 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          python3 -m pip install --user --no-cache-dir yamllint==1.35.1
-          echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+          python3 -m venv .venv
+          . .venv/bin/activate
+          pip install --no-cache-dir yamllint==1.35.1
 
       - name: Lint YAML
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           # Lint tracked YAML only (avoid .git and other noise)
+          . .venv/bin/activate
           git ls-files '*.yml' '*.yaml' | xargs -r yamllint -d "{extends: default, rules: {line-length: disable}}"
 
diff --git a/.markdownlint-cli2.yaml b/.markdownlint-cli2.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec6adb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.markdownlint-cli2.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Notes repo: long lines (IPs, commands, URLs) are common.
+config:
+  MD013: false
+
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d8110e4..cc0dc9c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,4 +22,3 @@ Personal notes for my homelab: build logs, configs, and operational runbooks for
 
 This is an actively evolving notebook. Some sections may be incomplete or “work in progress”.
 
-