diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
index aa152fc..f5e9e1d 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -70,11 +70,9 @@ jobs:
           KUBECONFIG_B64: ${{ secrets.KUBECONFIG_B64 }}
         continue-on-error: true
 
-      - name: Install kubectl
+      - name: Verify kubectl availability
         run: |
-          curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
-          chmod +x kubectl
-          sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/
+          kubectl version --client || (echo "ERROR: kubectl not available" && exit 1)
 
       - name: Deploy test pod from new image
         run: |
@@ -91,20 +89,16 @@ jobs:
           kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l run=api-gateway-test-${{ steps.sha.outputs.short_sha }} -n api --timeout=60s
         continue-on-error: true
 
-      - name: Run integration tests against test pod
+      - name: Run integration tests inside test pod
         run: |
-          echo "Running integration tests against test pod..."
-          # Port-forward to test pod
-          kubectl port-forward -n api pod/api-gateway-test-${{ steps.sha.outputs.short_sha }} 8080:8080 &
-          PF_PID=$!
-          sleep 3
+          echo "Running integration tests inside test pod..."
+          echo "Test pod: api-gateway-test-${{ steps.sha.outputs.short_sha }}"
+          sleep 5
           
-          # Run tests
-          TEST_RESULT=0
-          go test -v -tags=integration -timeout=5m ./internal/integration/... || TEST_RESULT=$?
-          
-          kill $PF_PID || true
-          exit $TEST_RESULT
+          # Run tests from inside the pod
+          # Pod has network access to all services via network policy labels
+          kubectl exec -n api pod/api-gateway-test-${{ steps.sha.outputs.short_sha }} -- \
+            go test -v -tags=integration -timeout=5m ./internal/integration/...
         env:
           GATEWAY_URL: http://localhost:8080
         continue-on-error: false