diff --git a/.github/workflows/cut-release-candidate.yml b/.github/workflows/cut-release-candidate.yml
index 74fb83b6..713fe9b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cut-release-candidate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cut-release-candidate.yml
@@ -41,6 +41,15 @@ concurrency:
   group: cut-release-candidate
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
+env:
+  # Temporary: keep Node 20 as the actions runtime so the currently
+  # SHA-pinned action versions (which are Node 20-based) keep working
+  # after the June 2, 2026 default flip to Node 24. HARD DEADLINE:
+  # September 16, 2026, when Node 20 is removed from the runner entirely.
+  # Remove this once the pinned actions are bumped to Node 24-compatible
+  # versions. Tracked in specs/ci-rework/README.md §12.5.
+  ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION: "true"
+
 jobs:
   cut:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index db233aba..c947b86e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 env:
+  # Temporary: keep Node 20 as the actions runtime so the currently
+  # SHA-pinned action versions (which are Node 20-based) keep working
+  # after the June 2, 2026 default flip to Node 24. HARD DEADLINE:
+  # September 16, 2026, when Node 20 is removed from the runner entirely.
+  # Remove this once the pinned actions are bumped to Node 24-compatible
+  # versions. Tracked in specs/ci-rework/README.md §12.5.
+  ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION: "true"
+
   # Non-secret env vars consumed by the dbt invocations test model. These
   # are the same values used pre-rework and are checked in to profiles.yml
   # via env_var() — they need to be present, not secret.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yml b/.github/workflows/pr.yml
index 962835a3..46c84d7f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,15 @@ concurrency:
   group: tier1-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
+env:
+  # Temporary: keep Node 20 as the actions runtime so the currently
+  # SHA-pinned action versions (which are Node 20-based) keep working
+  # after the June 2, 2026 default flip to Node 24. HARD DEADLINE:
+  # September 16, 2026, when Node 20 is removed from the runner entirely.
+  # Remove this once the pinned actions are bumped to Node 24-compatible
+  # versions. Tracked in specs/ci-rework/README.md §12.5.
+  ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION: "true"
+
 jobs:
   integration-local:
     name: integration (${{ matrix.warehouse }})
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 222e9e18..fc31d4bd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 env:
+  # Temporary: keep Node 20 as the actions runtime so the currently
+  # SHA-pinned action versions (which are Node 20-based) keep working
+  # after the June 2, 2026 default flip to Node 24. HARD DEADLINE:
+  # September 16, 2026, when Node 20 is removed from the runner entirely.
+  # Remove this once the pinned actions are bumped to Node 24-compatible
+  # versions. Tracked in specs/ci-rework/README.md §12.5.
+  ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION: "true"
+
   # Non-secret env vars consumed by the invocations test model (see
   # integration_test_project/profiles.yml).
   DBT_CLOUD_PROJECT_ID: 123
diff --git a/compose.yml b/compose.yml
index 1db84317..9ce45f72 100644
--- a/compose.yml
+++ b/compose.yml
@@ -96,9 +96,13 @@ services:
       /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -S sqlserver -U sa -P ${MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD:-123Administrator} -No -d master -i docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql
       && echo "SQL Server bootstrap complete.";
       '
-    # The configurator exits after init.sql completes; that exit is success.
-    # `docker compose up --wait` treats a service as healthy when it has no
-    # healthcheck and exits 0, so this satisfies the wait without a healthcheck.
+    # This is a run-to-completion init container: it runs init.sql, prints
+    # the success message, and exits. Crucially, it is NOT compatible with
+    # `docker compose up --wait` — `--wait` treats "not running" as a
+    # failure regardless of exit code, so a container that exits cleanly
+    # still makes `--wait` return non-zero. `scripts/ci/compose-up.sh`
+    # handles that by bringing init containers up separately and using
+    # `docker compose wait` (different command) to block on their exit.
 
 volumes:
   postgres_data:
diff --git a/models/dim_dbt__current_models.sql b/models/dim_dbt__current_models.sql
index 27273cbb..5454c35d 100644
--- a/models/dim_dbt__current_models.sql
+++ b/models/dim_dbt__current_models.sql
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 with
     base as (select * from {{ ref("stg_dbt__models") }}),
+
     model_executions as (select * from {{ ref("stg_dbt__model_executions") }}),
+
     latest_models as (
 
         {# Retrieves the models present in the most recent run #}
-        select * from base where run_started_at = (select max(run_started_at) from base)
+        select * from base where run_started_at = (select max(b.run_started_at) from base as b)
 
     ),
 
@@ -132,4 +134,3 @@ with
 
 select *
 from final
-
diff --git a/models/staging/stg_dbt__model_executions.sql b/models/staging/stg_dbt__model_executions.sql
index ad2c4f50..c025ac35 100644
--- a/models/staging/stg_dbt__model_executions.sql
+++ b/models/staging/stg_dbt__model_executions.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 with
     base as (select * from {{ ref("model_executions") }}),
+
     enhanced as (
 
         select
@@ -30,4 +31,3 @@ with
 
 select *
 from enhanced
-
diff --git a/models/staging/stg_dbt__models.sql b/models/staging/stg_dbt__models.sql
index d8184183..61c619f7 100644
--- a/models/staging/stg_dbt__models.sql
+++ b/models/staging/stg_dbt__models.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 with
     base as (select * from {{ ref("models") }}),
+
     enhanced as (
 
         select
@@ -29,4 +30,3 @@ with
 
 select *
 from enhanced
-
diff --git a/models/staging/stg_dbt__seed_executions.sql b/models/staging/stg_dbt__seed_executions.sql
index 90f52870..2fcb154c 100644
--- a/models/staging/stg_dbt__seed_executions.sql
+++ b/models/staging/stg_dbt__seed_executions.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 with
     base as (select * from {{ ref("seed_executions") }}),
+
     enhanced as (
 
         select
@@ -29,4 +30,3 @@ with
 
 select *
 from enhanced
-
diff --git a/models/staging/stg_dbt__seeds.sql b/models/staging/stg_dbt__seeds.sql
index 0e5dcb1d..de2052c5 100644
--- a/models/staging/stg_dbt__seeds.sql
+++ b/models/staging/stg_dbt__seeds.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 with
     base as (select * from {{ ref("seeds") }}),
+
     enhanced as (
 
         select
@@ -26,4 +27,3 @@ with
 
 select *
 from enhanced
-
diff --git a/models/staging/stg_dbt__snapshot_executions.sql b/models/staging/stg_dbt__snapshot_executions.sql
index 8794b99b..25cc25e5 100644
--- a/models/staging/stg_dbt__snapshot_executions.sql
+++ b/models/staging/stg_dbt__snapshot_executions.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 with
     base as (select * from {{ ref("snapshot_executions") }}),
+
     enhanced as (
 
         select
@@ -29,4 +30,3 @@ with
 
 select *
 from enhanced
-
diff --git a/models/staging/stg_dbt__sources.sql b/models/staging/stg_dbt__sources.sql
index 1bd8cef1..508d869a 100644
--- a/models/staging/stg_dbt__sources.sql
+++ b/models/staging/stg_dbt__sources.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 with
     base as (select * from {{ ref("sources") }}),
+
     enhanced as (
 
         select
@@ -26,4 +27,3 @@ with
 
 select *
 from enhanced
-
diff --git a/scripts/ci/compose-up.sh b/scripts/ci/compose-up.sh
index 87664496..098d6b64 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/compose-up.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/compose-up.sh
@@ -1,14 +1,26 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Bring up local data warehouse containers and wait for them to be healthy.
+# Bring up local data warehouse containers and wait for them to be ready.
 #
 # Usage:
 #   scripts/ci/compose-up.sh                # all services
 #   scripts/ci/compose-up.sh postgres       # one service (plus its dependencies)
 #   scripts/ci/compose-up.sh trino sqlserver
 #
-# Uses `docker compose up --wait`, which exits 0 only when every requested
-# service is healthy (or has run-to-completion successfully, in the case of
-# the sqlserver-configurator init job).
+# "Ready" means two different things depending on the service type:
+#
+#   - Long-running services (postgres, trino, sqlserver): brought up with
+#     `docker compose up --wait`, which blocks until each service's
+#     healthcheck reports healthy.
+#
+#   - Short-lived init containers (sqlserver-configurator): brought up
+#     separately, then waited on with `docker compose wait`, which blocks
+#     until the container exits and surfaces its exit code. We can't use
+#     `--wait` for these because `--wait` treats "not running" as a failure
+#     regardless of exit code — so a container that runs init.sql, exits 0,
+#     and is therefore "not running" makes `--wait` return non-zero. That's
+#     what was breaking the SQL Server lane on CI runners (the configurator
+#     just happens to exit faster on Linux runners than on a dev laptop, so
+#     the local race was masking the bug).
 
 set -euo pipefail
 source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/_lib.sh"
@@ -17,8 +29,9 @@ cd "${repo_root}"
 
 require_cmd docker
 
-# Map the warehouse short-name a user might pass to its compose service set.
-# `sqlserver` requires the configurator sidecar to run init.sql.
+# Map warehouse short-names to the compose services they require.
+# `sqlserver` needs both `sqlserver` itself and the `sqlserver-configurator`
+# sidecar that runs `init.sql`.
 services=()
 if (( $# == 0 )); then
   services=(postgres trino sqlserver sqlserver-configurator)
@@ -38,7 +51,32 @@ else
   done
 fi
 
-banner "Starting services: ${services[*]}"
-docker compose up -d --wait "${services[@]}"
+# Split: short-lived init containers vs. long-running healthchecked services.
+# Convention: anything matching `*-configurator` is treated as init.
+long_running=()
+init=()
+for svc in "${services[@]}"; do
+  if [[ "${svc}" == *-configurator ]]; then
+    init+=("${svc}")
+  else
+    long_running+=("${svc}")
+  fi
+done
 
-log "all requested services are healthy"
+if (( ${#long_running[@]} > 0 )); then
+  banner "Starting long-running services: ${long_running[*]}"
+  docker compose up -d --wait "${long_running[@]}"
+  log "long-running services are healthy"
+fi
+
+if (( ${#init[@]} > 0 )); then
+  banner "Starting init containers: ${init[*]}"
+  docker compose up -d "${init[@]}"
+  # `docker compose wait` blocks until each named container exits and
+  # returns the highest exit code observed. Failure here means an init
+  # script (e.g. SQL Server `init.sql`) errored.
+  if ! docker compose wait "${init[@]}"; then
+    die "init container(s) failed: ${init[*]} — check 'docker compose logs ${init[*]}'"
+  fi
+  log "init containers completed successfully"
+fi
diff --git a/specs/ci-rework/README.md b/specs/ci-rework/README.md
index 157d8612..71f48f93 100644
--- a/specs/ci-rework/README.md
+++ b/specs/ci-rework/README.md
@@ -865,6 +865,27 @@ or dbt Slack #package-ecosystem channel.
 
 ### 12.5. Hardening debt — operational
 
+- **Node 20 → Node 24 action migration. ⚠ Has a hard deadline.**
+  All four workflow files currently set
+  `ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION: "true"` at workflow scope
+  as a temporary mitigation. The SHA-pinned action versions we use
+  (`actions/checkout@34e1148...` v4, `astral-sh/setup-uv@caf0cab...`
+  v3, `google-github-actions/auth@c200f36...` v2) are Node 20-based.
+  GitHub Actions timeline:
+
+    - **2026-06-02**: Node 24 becomes the default runtime. Without
+      the env var, our pinned actions would fail. The env var keeps
+      Node 20 working.
+    - **2026-09-16**: Node 20 is **removed entirely** from the
+      runner. The env var stops working on this date. Workflows
+      will fail if action SHAs haven't been bumped.
+
+  Before **2026-09-16**, bump each action's SHA pin to a Node
+  24-compatible release, regression-test all four workflows
+  (Tier 1/2/3 + the cutter), then remove the
+  `ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION` env block from every
+  workflow file. Dependabot (already configured) should surface the
+  bumps automatically once Node 24-compatible versions are tagged.
 - **Pre-commit hooks for SQLFluff.** Catches lint issues before they
   reach CI. Optional, contributor convenience. Constraint inherited
   from §12.2: lint requires the dbt-snowflake adapter init, which