diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 972b057..de844aa 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@
 #
 # The lint and test phases are the gates: `make lint` (script/lint)
 # builds the lint stage alone and `make test` (script/test) the test
-# stage alone, and the builder stage depends on both, so the image
-# cannot be built unless they pass. Each covers the frontend as well,
-# through a copy from a node stage. Inside them each tool is invoked
-# directly, never through make or script/, whose lint and test are
-# themselves docker builds.
+# stage alone, and the two build stages, frontend-build and builder,
+# depend on both, so the image cannot be built unless they pass. Each
+# phase covers the frontend as well, through a copy from a node stage.
+# Inside them each tool is invoked directly, never through make or
+# script/, whose lint and test are themselves docker builds.
 
 # Frontend lint stage: eslint with the rules in eslint.config.js. The
 # lint phase below runs it.
@@ -35,30 +35,26 @@ RUN golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
 # phase run it.
 COPY --from=frontend-lint /app/yarn.lock /dev/null
 
-# Frontend stage: the unit tests in test/unit/, then the production
-# build into dist/, which the runtime stage serves. The test phase below
-# runs it. The tests print a dot each; if any fails, they run again with
-# every test listed, and the step fails even if that run passes.
-# NODE_OPTIONS chooses the reporter because yarn adds its arguments
-# after the test files, where node would take a reporter option for one
-# more file.
+# Frontend test stage: the unit tests in test/unit/. The test phase
+# below runs it, and the frontend-build stage starts from it. The tests
+# print a dot each; if any fails, they run again with every test listed,
+# and the step fails even if that run passes. NODE_OPTIONS chooses the
+# reporter because yarn adds its arguments after the test files, where
+# node would take a reporter option for one more file.
 # node:22-alpine as of 2026-02-22
-FROM node@sha256:e4bf2a82ad0a4037d28035ae71529873c069b13eb0455466ae0bc13363826e34 AS frontend
+FROM node@sha256:e4bf2a82ad0a4037d28035ae71529873c069b13eb0455466ae0bc13363826e34 AS frontend-test
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY package.json yarn.lock ./
 RUN yarn install --frozen-lockfile
-# vite.config.js reads the commit for the page's footer with git.
-RUN apk add --no-cache git
 COPY . .
 RUN NODE_OPTIONS=--test-reporter=dot timeout 90 yarn --silent run test || \
     { echo "--- Rerunning with every test listed for details ---"; \
       NODE_OPTIONS=--test-reporter=spec timeout 90 yarn --silent run test; \
       exit 1; }
-RUN yarn build
 
 # Test phase: the backend's tests with the race detector and coverage,
-# and the frontend's through the copy from the frontend stage at the
-# end. -race needs cgo and so a C compiler, which the Debian Go image
+# and the frontend's through the copy from the frontend-test stage at
+# the end. -race needs cgo and so a C compiler, which the Debian Go image
 # ships and the alpine one does not. -timeout 90s is a backstop above
 # the 60-second cap on the suite. The rerun with -v only shows details:
 # the step fails however it ends, because the first run already failed.
@@ -75,9 +71,21 @@ RUN --mount=type=tmpfs,target=/go/pkg/mod \
     go test -timeout 90s -race -cover ./... || \
     { echo "--- Rerunning with -v for details ---"; \
       go test -timeout 90s -race -v ./...; exit 1; }
-# Nothing is wanted from the frontend stage; the copy is what makes
+# Nothing is wanted from the frontend-test stage; the copy is what makes
 # this phase run its tests.
-COPY --from=frontend /app/yarn.lock /dev/null
+COPY --from=frontend-test /app/yarn.lock /dev/null
+
+# Frontend build stage: the production build into dist/, which the
+# runtime stage serves, on the yarn packages and source of the
+# frontend-test stage. Nothing is wanted from the two phases; the copies
+# are what make BuildKit build them first, so this stage cannot run
+# unless lint and test passed.
+FROM frontend-test AS frontend-build
+COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null
+COPY --from=test /src/go.sum /dev/null
+# vite.config.js reads the commit for the page's footer with git.
+RUN apk add --no-cache git
+RUN yarn build
 
 # Backend build stage. Nothing is wanted from the two phases; the copies
 # are what make BuildKit build them first, so this stage cannot run
@@ -131,7 +139,7 @@ RUN addgroup -g 1000 -S netwatch && \
 RUN rm /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
 COPY configs/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/templates/netwatch.conf.template
 COPY configs/security-headers.conf /etc/nginx/security-headers.conf
-COPY --from=frontend /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
+COPY --from=frontend-build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
 COPY --from=builder /src/netwatch-server /usr/local/bin/netwatch-server
 COPY bin/entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7956481..c664a53 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ either one is broken. We provide:
 - `script/clean` — remove what `script/build` writes
 - `script/projectname` — print the project name (used for the Docker image tag)
 - `script/test` — build the `test` phase of `Dockerfile` without the cache: the
-  frontend's unit tests and production build in its `frontend` stage, and the
-  backend's Go tests with the race detector and coverage
+  frontend's unit tests in its `frontend-test` stage, and the backend's Go tests
+  with the race detector and coverage. The frontend's production build is left
+  to the image build, in the `frontend-build` stage
 - `script/lint` — build the `lint` phase of `Dockerfile` without the cache:
   eslint in its `frontend-lint` stage, and golangci-lint over the Go packages
 - `script/fmt` — format all files (writes): prettier over the JavaScript, CSS,
@@ -78,8 +79,8 @@ either one is broken. We provide:
 - `script/frontend-test` — run the unit tests in `test/unit/` on the host with
   Node's built-in test runner, through the `test` script in `package.json`, and
   if any fails, run them again listing every test, and fail; then the production
-  build. Each test run has a 90-second timeout. `make test` runs the same in
-  Docker
+  build. Each test run has a 90-second timeout. `make test` runs the same tests
+  in Docker, without the production build
 - `script/frontend-fmt` — format the JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Markdown with
   prettier (writes)
 - `script/frontend-fmt-check` — check prettier formatting (read-only)
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index d119197..a12f8da 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -21,6 +21,14 @@ Run `make frontend-viewport-test` in CI as its own step; it is not part of
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-14: `make test` no longer runs the frontend's production build, which
+  the tests do not need ([#118](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/118)).
+  `yarn build` moved out of the stage that runs the frontend's unit tests, now
+  named `frontend-test`, into a new `frontend-build` stage, which starts from it
+  and, like the `builder` stage, waits on the lint and test phases, so the image
+  still cannot be built unless they pass. The runtime stage copies `dist/` from
+  it, and the `git` that `vite.config.js` reads the commit with is installed
+  there. No build cache was added
 - 2026-10-14: opening the debug log no longer raises the measured latencies
   ([#131](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/131)). With the panel open,
   each line written drew the panel again with every line before it, up to 1000,
@@ -503,3 +511,9 @@ Run `make frontend-viewport-test` in CI as its own step; it is not part of
 - A configurable host list (an environment variable or a config file)
 - Export of the latency history (CSV or JSON)
 - A notification when the health status changes to DEGRADED
+- `make test` within the 20-second target
+  ([#118](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/118)): every run compiles
+  the Go standard library and every dependency with the race detector from
+  nothing. Whether test builds may keep Go's compiled packages between runs
+  waits on sneak's ruling in
+  [prompts#113](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/issues/113)
diff --git a/script/frontend-test b/script/frontend-test
index 5a8c965..390a0a3 100755
--- a/script/frontend-test
+++ b/script/frontend-test
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 # script/frontend-test: run the frontend test suite on the host: the
 # unit tests in test/unit/, through the test script in package.json,
 # then the production build, which fails on broken code. make test runs
-# the same in the frontend stage of Dockerfile. The tests print a dot
-# each; if any fails, they run again with every test listed, and the
-# script fails even if that run passes. NODE_OPTIONS chooses the
+# the same tests in the frontend-test stage of Dockerfile, and the image
+# build runs the production build in its frontend-build stage. The tests
+# print a dot each; if any fails, they run again with every test listed,
+# and the script fails even if that run passes. NODE_OPTIONS chooses the
 # reporter because yarn adds its arguments after the test files, where
 # node would take a reporter option for one more file.
 set -eu