diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 722b4cb..a3c2408 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ version: 2
 # the cooldown and still open the moment an advisory lands.
 updates:
   # pyproject.toml is the package definition (`[tool.uv] managed = false`, no
-  # uv.lock), so it is tracked as a pip project rather than a uv one.
+  # uv.lock), so it is tracked as a pip project rather than a uv one: Dependabot's `uv` ecosystem reads a uv.lock
+  # that this repo does not have. `pip` here is only the Dependabot ecosystem name; nothing in CI runs pip.
   #
   # The lower bounds in pyproject.toml are the oldest versions this package
   # supports, not the newest it was tested with. The "Dependency floor audit"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-jvm.yml b/.github/workflows/test-jvm.yml
index 4b90426..958b463 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-jvm.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-jvm.yml
@@ -105,14 +105,24 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
-      - name: Install Bandit
-        run: python -m pip install "bandit==1.9.4"
+      # Bandit and pip-audit run through uvx (a throwaway environment each), so the jobs install nothing into the runner's Python.
+      - name: Setup UV package manager
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # Retry transient network failures (a connection reset failed a whole examples job on #8897); the
+          # script is downloaded first so a retried transfer is never piped half-written into sh.
+          installer="$(mktemp)"
+          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/0.12.0/install.sh
+          sh "$installer"
+          echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+          export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
+          uv --version
 
       - name: Run Bandit on src and tests (must be clean)
-        run: python -m bandit -c pyproject.toml -r src tests --severity-level low --confidence-level low
+        run: uvx bandit==1.9.4 -c pyproject.toml -r src tests --severity-level low --confidence-level low
 
       - name: Run Bandit on examples (must be clean at medium+/high-confidence)
-        run: python -m bandit -c pyproject.toml -r examples --severity-level medium --confidence-level high
+        run: uvx bandit==1.9.4 -c pyproject.toml -r examples --severity-level medium --confidence-level high
 
   # Meterian cannot scan this folder: `uv lock` refuses on a project carrying
   # `[tool.uv] managed = false`, so it produces no lockfile to read (see #5616).
@@ -129,9 +139,9 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
-      # Pinned rather than tracking latest, unlike the other uv installs in this
-      # repo: this job's own output depends on how uv resolves, so a silent
-      # resolver change would silently change what gets audited.
+      # The uv version is pinned in every install URL of this repo. It matters most here:
+      # this job's own output depends on how uv resolves, so a silent resolver change
+      # would silently change what gets audited.
       - name: Setup UV package manager
         shell: bash
         run: |
@@ -144,9 +154,6 @@ jobs:
           export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
           uv --version
 
-      - name: Install pip-audit
-        run: python -m pip install "pip-audit==2.10.1"
-
       # --resolution lowest-direct pins every declared dependency to the oldest
       # release its own constraint admits, which is the version this manifest
       # actually promises to work with. The default resolution would pick the
@@ -166,30 +173,50 @@ jobs:
       # The list is read from the classifiers rather than repeated here, so adding
       # an interpreter to the package cannot leave it unaudited.
       #
-      # --disable-pip reads the pinned file directly rather than asking pip to
-      # resolve it. Without it, a floor whose version has no wheel for the
-      # running interpreter fails as an sdist build error instead of reporting
-      # the advisory that caused the regression.
+      # `uv pip compile` is not used: the floors are resolved with `uv lock` on a throwaway project, one per
+      # interpreter, that carries the package's dependencies and the audited extras and nothing else (pyproject.toml
+      # itself stays a non-uv project, and `uv lock` would refuse it with `managed = false` and would also resolve
+      # the dev extra). `requires-python = "==3.X.*"` makes the lock resolve for that interpreter only, which is what
+      # `--python-version` did. `uv export` writes the pinned file; --disable-pip makes pip-audit read it directly
+      # rather than asking pip to resolve it. Without it, a floor whose version has no wheel for the running
+      # interpreter fails as an sdist build error instead of reporting the advisory that caused the regression.
       - name: Audit declared dependency floors on every supported interpreter
         run: |
           # The trailing dot in the prefix is load-bearing: the classifiers also
           # carry a bare "Programming Language :: Python :: 3", which without it
-          # yields --python-version 3 and fails.
-          versions=$(python -c 'import tomllib;p="Programming Language :: Python :: 3.";print(" ".join(c.rsplit(" ",1)[1] for c in tomllib.load(open("pyproject.toml","rb"))["project"]["classifiers"] if c.startswith(p)))')
+          # yields version 3 and fails.
+          versions=$(uv run --no-project python -c 'import tomllib;p="Programming Language :: Python :: 3.";print(" ".join(c.rsplit(" ",1)[1] for c in tomllib.load(open("pyproject.toml","rb"))["project"]["classifiers"] if c.startswith(p)))')
           # No classifiers would audit nothing and still pass, which is the kind
           # of silent gap this job exists to close.
           [ -n "$versions" ] || { echo "no Python version classifiers found in pyproject.toml"; exit 1; }
           echo "auditing declared floors for: $versions"
           for v in $versions; do
             echo "::group::Resolve floors for Python $v"
-            uv pip compile pyproject.toml \
-              --extra test --extra vector --extra examples --extra arrow --extra pandas \
-              --resolution lowest-direct \
-              --python-version "$v" \
-              -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/floors-$v.txt"
+            proj="$RUNNER_TEMP/floors-$v"
+            mkdir -p "$proj"
+            uv run --no-project python - "$v" "$proj/pyproject.toml" << 'PY'
+          import sys
+          import tomllib
+
+          version, out = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]
+          extras = ["test", "vector", "examples", "arrow", "pandas"]
+          with open("pyproject.toml", "rb") as f:
+              project = tomllib.load(f)["project"]
+          deps = list(project["dependencies"])
+          for extra in extras:
+              deps += project["optional-dependencies"][extra]
+          with open(out, "w") as f:
+              f.write('[project]\nname = "floors"\nversion = "0"\n')
+              f.write('requires-python = "==%s.*"\n' % version)
+              f.write("dependencies = [\n")
+              for d in deps:
+                  f.write("    %r,\n" % d)
+              f.write("]\n")
+          PY
+            (cd "$proj" && uv lock --resolution lowest-direct && uv export --frozen --no-hashes --no-annotate --no-emit-project -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/floors-$v.txt")
             cat "$RUNNER_TEMP/floors-$v.txt"
             echo "::endgroup::"
-            pip-audit --no-deps --disable-pip -r "$RUNNER_TEMP/floors-$v.txt"
+            uvx pip-audit==2.10.1 --no-deps --disable-pip -r "$RUNNER_TEMP/floors-$v.txt"
           done
 
   # First job: Download ArcadeDB JARs (platform-agnostic)
@@ -304,7 +331,7 @@ jobs:
           # Retry transient network failures (a connection reset failed a whole examples job on #8897); the
           # script is downloaded first so a retried transfer is never piped half-written into sh.
           installer="$(mktemp)"
-          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh
+          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/0.12.0/install.sh
           sh "$installer"
           echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
           export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
@@ -328,11 +355,6 @@ jobs:
         if: matrix.platform == 'linux/amd64' || matrix.platform == 'linux/arm64'
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@f87e5991a6d7451dcb8d9637bfbc97413f497069 # v4.4.1
 
-      - name: Install Python build dependencies
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          uv pip install --system build wheel setuptools
-
       - name: Set UTF-8 encoding (Windows only)
         if: matrix.platform == 'windows/amd64' || matrix.platform == 'windows/arm64'
         shell: bash
@@ -417,7 +439,7 @@ jobs:
           # Retry transient network failures (a connection reset failed a whole examples job on #8897); the
           # script is downloaded first so a retried transfer is never piped half-written into sh.
           installer="$(mktemp)"
-          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh
+          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/0.12.0/install.sh
           sh "$installer"
           echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
           export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
@@ -439,7 +461,7 @@ jobs:
 
       # The tests below run on the runner (glibc 2.39). This step runs the wheel where its tag says it must
       # work: a manylinux_2_28 container (glibc 2.28, AlmaLinux 8, the oldest system the Linux wheels are tagged for).
-      # pip refuses a wheel tagged above 2.28 there, so a JRE that raises the floor again fails here as well as in
+      # uv (like pip) refuses a wheel tagged above 2.28 there, so a JRE that raises the floor again fails here as well as in
       # scripts/verify_wheel_platform_tag.py. The wheel's own JRE does the work: no Java in the container.
       - name: Install and run the wheel in manylinux_2_28 (Linux only)
         if: startsWith(matrix.platform, 'linux/')
@@ -455,15 +477,17 @@ jobs:
           esac
           PYTAG="cp${PYVER//./}-cp${PYVER//./}"
           ls -l test-install/*.whl
-          docker run --rm -i -e PYTAG="$PYTAG" -v "$PWD/test-install:/wheels:ro" \
+          # The runner's uv is mounted into the container (a glibc 2.17 build); the image's own Python is used, never downloaded.
+          docker run --rm -i -e PYTAG="$PYTAG" -e UV_PYTHON_DOWNLOADS=never -v "$PWD/test-install:/wheels:ro" \
+            -v "$(command -v uv):/usr/local/bin/uv:ro" \
             "quay.io/pypa/manylinux_2_28_${ARCH}:latest" bash -es <<'CONTAINER'
           ldd --version | head -n 1
           test -x "/opt/python/$PYTAG/bin/python" || { echo "no $PYTAG in this image" >&2; ls /opt/python >&2; exit 1; }
-          "/opt/python/$PYTAG/bin/python" -m venv /tmp/smoke
-          # --only-binary: a source build of JPype must not hide a missing wheel
-          /tmp/smoke/bin/python -m pip install --quiet --only-binary=:all: /wheels/*.whl
+          with=()
+          for w in /wheels/*.whl; do with+=(--with "$w"); done
           cd /tmp
-          /tmp/smoke/bin/python - <<'PYSMOKE'
+          # --no-build: a source build of JPype must not hide a missing wheel
+          uv run --no-project --no-build --quiet --python "/opt/python/$PYTAG/bin/python" "${with[@]}" python - <<'PYSMOKE'
           import tempfile
           import arcadedb
           with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
@@ -477,18 +501,6 @@ jobs:
       # Note: Java is NOT required for arcadedb (JRE is bundled)
       # This package works without any external Java installation!
 
-      - name: Install wheel and test dependencies
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          # This list is hand-maintained and mirrors the `test` extra. It had
-          # already drifted: pyarrow and pandas were missing, so to_arrow() and
-          # to_dataframe() tests skipped themselves in this job while it
-          # reported green. setuptools is there for tests/test_wheel_packages.py and
-          # tests/test_wheel_tags.py, which run setup.py on a copy of the sources (this job
-          # no longer installs build tools: it builds nothing). The guard step below now fails the build if any
-          # test skips for a missing import, so the next drift is loud.
-          uv pip install --system test-install/*.whl "setuptools>=84.1.0" pytest pytest-cov requests numpy "psycopg[binary]" redis neo4j pyarrow pandas polars "adbc-driver-postgresql>=1.12" "duckdb>=1.4.2" "ladybug>=0.21.2" "networkx>=3.4"
-
       - name: Run pytest on host
         id: pytest
         # A HUNG TEST ENDS THE STEP, NOT THE DAY. On 2026-09-25 the windows/3.13
@@ -497,9 +509,20 @@ jobs:
         # GitHub's 6-hour default. The step takes 108-319 s on every platform.
         timeout-minutes: 30
         shell: bash
+        env:
+          PYVER: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
         run: |
           echo "🧪 Testing arcadedb (with bundled JRE)..."
 
+          # The wheel and its `test` extra go into a throwaway `uv run` environment, so nothing is installed into the
+          # runner's Python. The extra mirrors what this job once listed by hand (it had drifted: pyarrow and pandas were
+          # missing, so to_arrow() and to_dataframe() tests skipped themselves while the job reported green; setuptools is
+          # in it for tests/test_wheel_packages.py and tests/test_wheel_tags.py, which run setup.py on a copy of the
+          # sources). The guard below fails the build if any test skips for a missing import, so a drift is loud.
+          wheels=(test-install/*.whl)
+          [ "${#wheels[@]}" -eq 1 ] || { echo "expected one wheel in test-install, found ${#wheels[@]}" >&2; exit 1; }
+          UVRUN=(uv run --no-project --python "$PYVER" --with "${wheels[0]}[test]")
+
           # Run pytest with JUnit XML output for structured results
           # pytest runs with its default fd capture on every platform. Windows used to run with
           # --capture=sys (humemai/arcadedb-embedded-python#10): the default capture swaps fds 1
@@ -509,7 +532,7 @@ jobs:
           # to the console on Windows by default (ARCADEDB_LOG_CONSOLE, src/arcadedb/_logdir.py),
           # which removes the cause; tests/test_log_redirect.py redirects fd 1 and 2 on purpose.
           set +e  # Don't exit on test failures
-          pytest tests/ -v --tb=short --color=yes --junitxml=test-results.xml
+          "${UVRUN[@]}" python -m pytest tests/ -v --tb=short --color=yes --junitxml=test-results.xml
           PYTEST_EXIT_CODE=$?
           set -e
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-native.yml b/.github/workflows/test-native.yml
index 1838802..e44865f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-native.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-native.yml
@@ -394,12 +394,12 @@ jobs:
           MANYLINUX_IMAGE: ${{ matrix.container }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          docker run --rm -v "$T/wheel/dist:/wheel:ro" -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/scripts/smoke_wheel.py:/smoke_wheel.py:ro" "$MANYLINUX_IMAGE" bash -euo pipefail -c '
+          # The runner's uv is mounted into the container (a glibc 2.17 build); the image's own Python is used, never downloaded.
+          # --no-index: nothing but the wheel is installed.
+          docker run --rm -e UV_PYTHON_DOWNLOADS=never -v "$(command -v uv):/usr/local/bin/uv:ro" -v "$T/wheel/dist:/wheel:ro" -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/scripts/smoke_wheel.py:/smoke_wheel.py:ro" "$MANYLINUX_IMAGE" bash -euo pipefail -c '
             ldd --version | sed -n 1p
-            /opt/python/cp312-cp312/bin/python -m venv /tmp/venv
-            /tmp/venv/bin/python -m pip install --no-index /wheel/*.whl
             cd /tmp
-            /tmp/venv/bin/python /smoke_wheel.py
+            uv run --no-project --no-index --python /opt/python/cp312-cp312/bin/python --with /wheel/*.whl python /smoke_wheel.py
           '
 
       - name: "Gate: the macOS library links system libraries only"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-python-examples.yml b/.github/workflows/test-python-examples.yml
index 27da294..b0df568 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-python-examples.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-python-examples.yml
@@ -233,17 +233,12 @@ jobs:
           # Retry transient network failures (a connection reset failed a whole examples job on #8897); the
           # script is downloaded first so a retried transfer is never piped half-written into sh.
           installer="$(mktemp)"
-          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh
+          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/0.12.0/install.sh
           sh "$installer"
           echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
           export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
           uv --version
 
-      - name: Install Python build dependencies
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          uv pip install --system build wheel setuptools
-
       - name: Set UTF-8 encoding (Windows only)
         if: matrix.platform == 'windows/amd64' || matrix.platform == 'windows/arm64'
         shell: bash
@@ -334,7 +329,7 @@ jobs:
           # Retry transient network failures (a connection reset failed a whole examples job on #8897); the
           # script is downloaded first so a retried transfer is never piped half-written into sh.
           installer="$(mktemp)"
-          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh
+          curl -LsSf --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 5 -o "$installer" https://astral.sh/uv/0.12.0/install.sh
           sh "$installer"
           echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
           export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
@@ -349,29 +344,54 @@ jobs:
 
       # Note: Java is NOT required - arcadedb has bundled JRE!
 
-      - name: Install ArcadeDB Python bindings
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          uv pip install --system test-install/arcadedb_jvm-*.whl
-
-      - name: Install example dependencies
+      # The wheel and the example dependencies live in a uv project of their own (examples-env/, not the repo's pyproject.toml,
+      # which is a package definition and not a uv project), synced with `uv sync`. Nothing is installed into the runner's Python.
+      # torch comes from the CPU-only PyTorch index (explicit: only torch is looked up there), which saves the CUDA download.
+      # PyTorch is required by sentence-transformers, even on macOS.
+      # numpy is not capped: the old macOS `numpy<2.0` was for Intel Macs, where PyTorch stops at 2.2 (built against
+      # NumPy 1.x). That leg (darwin/amd64) is disabled; re-enabling it needs the cap back for that platform only.
+      # On Apple Silicon the cap breaks pyarrow, which requires NumPy 2 (example 27).
+      - name: Install ArcadeDB Python bindings and example dependencies
         shell: bash
+        env:
+          PYVER: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
         run: |
-          # Install dependencies needed by examples
-          # PyTorch is required by sentence-transformers, even on macOS
-          # For Python 3.13+, wheels might only be on PyTorch official index
-          if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
-            # macOS: Install CPU-only PyTorch (supports MPS acceleration)
-            uv pip install --system torch --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
-            # numpy is not capped: the old macOS `numpy<2.0` was for Intel Macs, where PyTorch stops at 2.2 (built against
-            # NumPy 1.x). That leg (darwin/amd64) is disabled; re-enabling it needs the cap back for that platform only.
-            # On Apple Silicon the cap breaks pyarrow, which requires NumPy 2 (example 27).
-            uv pip install --system numpy requests sentence-transformers pandas polars pyarrow
-          else
-            # Linux & Windows: Install CPU-only PyTorch to save space (avoid CUDA)
-            uv pip install --system torch --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
-            uv pip install --system numpy requests sentence-transformers pandas polars pyarrow
-          fi
+          wheels=(test-install/arcadedb_jvm-*.whl)
+          [ "${#wheels[@]}" -eq 1 ] || { echo "expected one wheel in test-install, found ${#wheels[@]}" >&2; exit 1; }
+          mkdir -p examples-env
+          cat > examples-env/pyproject.toml <<TOML
+          [project]
+          name = "examples-env"
+          version = "0"
+          requires-python = ">=3.11"
+          dependencies = [
+              "arcadedb-jvm",
+              "torch",
+              "numpy",
+              "requests",
+              "sentence-transformers",
+              "pandas",
+              "polars",
+              "pyarrow",
+              "tqdm",
+              "py7zr",
+              "lxml",
+          ]
+
+          [tool.uv.sources]
+          arcadedb-jvm = { path = "../${wheels[0]}" }
+          torch = { index = "pytorch-cpu" }
+
+          [[tool.uv.index]]
+          name = "pytorch-cpu"
+          url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu"
+          explicit = true
+          TOML
+          uv sync --project examples-env --python "$PYVER"
+          # The examples run with this interpreter directly, so a timeout kills the example itself and not a `uv run` wrapper.
+          ex_py="$(uv run --project examples-env --no-sync python -c 'import sys; print(sys.executable)')"
+          echo "EX_PY=$ex_py" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          "$ex_py" -c "import arcadedb; print('arcadedb', arcadedb.__version__)"
 
       # Restored before the dataset step, which is what triggers the model
       # download. Keyed on the model name so bumping the model invalidates it.
@@ -394,9 +414,8 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         continue-on-error: true
         run: |
-          uv pip install --system sentence-transformers >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
           for attempt in 1 2 3; do
-            if python3 -c "from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer; SentenceTransformer('all-MiniLM-L6-v2'); print('model ready')"; then
+            if "$EX_PY" -c "from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer; SentenceTransformer('all-MiniLM-L6-v2'); print('model ready')"; then
               echo "✅ model cached on attempt $attempt"
               exit 0
             fi
@@ -408,7 +427,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Download datasets
         shell: bash
         run: |
-          uv pip install --system tqdm py7zr lxml
           cd examples
 
           # Determine which examples are selected
@@ -438,7 +456,7 @@ jobs:
             # every failure into "exited 0" and would have made this skip
             # everything, including real ones.
             local rc=0
-            if python3 download_data.py "$@"; then
+            if "$EX_PY" download_data.py "$@"; then
               return 0
             else
               rc=$?
@@ -693,13 +711,13 @@ jobs:
 
             # Run the example with appropriate parameters
             if [ -n "$example_jvm_args" ]; then
-              if ARCADEDB_JVM_ARGS="$example_jvm_args" JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="" _JAVA_OPTIONS="" $TIMEOUT_CMD $timeout_duration python "$example" $example_args > "$log_file" 2>&1; then
+              if ARCADEDB_JVM_ARGS="$example_jvm_args" JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="" _JAVA_OPTIONS="" $TIMEOUT_CMD $timeout_duration "$EX_PY" "$example" $example_args > "$log_file" 2>&1; then
                 exit_code=0
               else
                 exit_code=$?
               fi
             else
-              if ARCADEDB_JVM_ARGS="" JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="" _JAVA_OPTIONS="" $TIMEOUT_CMD $timeout_duration python "$example" $example_args > "$log_file" 2>&1; then
+              if ARCADEDB_JVM_ARGS="" JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="" _JAVA_OPTIONS="" $TIMEOUT_CMD $timeout_duration "$EX_PY" "$example" $example_args > "$log_file" 2>&1; then
                 exit_code=0
               else
                 exit_code=$?
@@ -713,11 +731,11 @@ jobs:
               ref_args="${example_args/--db arcadedb_cypher/--db python_memory}"
               ref_args="${ref_args/--run-label ci10/--run-label ci10ref}"
               ref_log="${example%.py}-reference.log"
-              if ! $TIMEOUT_CMD $timeout_duration python "$example" $ref_args > "$ref_log" 2>&1; then
+              if ! $TIMEOUT_CMD $timeout_duration "$EX_PY" "$example" $ref_args > "$ref_log" 2>&1; then
                 echo "❌ reference run (python_memory) of $example failed; last 20 lines:"
                 tail -n 20 "$ref_log"
                 exit_code=1
-              elif ! python scripts/compare_query_hashes.py "$log_file" "$ref_log"; then
+              elif ! "$EX_PY" scripts/compare_query_hashes.py "$log_file" "$ref_log"; then
                 echo "❌ $example: answers differ from the python_memory reference (above)"
                 exit_code=1
               fi
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index b45f712..f1cfade 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -35,16 +35,16 @@ ARCADEDB_TAG=26.11.1-SNAPSHOT ./scripts/build.sh    # pin the arcadedata/arcaded
 Tests run against the **built wheel**, not the source tree. `pyproject.toml` has `[tool.uv] managed = false`, so it is not a uv project.
 
 ```bash
-uv venv                                                                          # once
-uv pip install --reinstall-package arcadedb "$(ls dist/*.whl | head -1)[test]"   # after each build
-uv run pytest                                    # all
-uv run pytest tests/test_core.py -v              # one file
-uv run pytest tests/test_core.py::TestX::test_y  # one test
-uv run pytest -k transaction
-uv run pytest -m server / -m "not server"        # markers: server, server_wire, integration
+W="$(ls dist/*.whl | head -1)"
+uv run --no-project --with "$W[test]" python -m pytest                                    # all
+uv run --no-project --with "$W[test]" python -m pytest tests/test_core.py -v              # one file
+uv run --no-project --with "$W[test]" python -m pytest tests/test_core.py::TestX::test_y  # one test
+uv run --no-project --with "$W[test]" python -m pytest -k transaction
+uv run --no-project --with "$W[test]" python -m pytest -m server                          # markers: server, server_wire, integration
 ```
 
-- `--reinstall-package` is needed because rebuilds keep the same version.
+- `--with` builds a throwaway environment from the wheel file, so there is no venv to keep and nothing to reinstall after a rebuild. If uv's cache still serves an older wheel of the same version (rebuilds keep the version), add `--reinstall-package arcadedb-jvm`.
+- Use `python -m pytest`, not the `pytest` entry point: with `--with`, the entry point does not see the packages of the environment.
 - **No skips policy**: CI fails on any skipped test not listed in `scripts/check_test_skips.py` (the list is empty). Don't add `pytest.skip`/`importorskip` for missing features or deps; tests that can't run on a platform go in `collect_ignore` in `tests/conftest.py`; known engine bugs use strict `xfail`.
 - Never bind or address a hand-picked port (e.g. 2480) in a test: use `server.get_http_port()` or the `_free_ports()` pattern in `test_server_wire_protocols.py`. Parallel runs share the machine and collisions surface as unrelated failures.
 - Never assert on raw wall-clock elapsed time; a JVM pause makes it flaky. Timeouts are hang detectors, not latency bounds.
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ uv run pytest -m server / -m "not server"        # markers: server, server_wire,
 Pre-commit: black, isort (`--profile black`), shfmt (`-i 4 -ci -sr`), pretty-format-yaml (not on `.github/`), actionlint. CI also runs Bandit, which must be clean:
 
 ```bash
-python -m bandit -c pyproject.toml -r src tests --severity-level low --confidence-level low
-python -m bandit -c pyproject.toml -r examples --severity-level medium --confidence-level high
+uvx bandit==1.9.4 -c pyproject.toml -r src tests --severity-level low --confidence-level low
+uvx bandit==1.9.4 -c pyproject.toml -r examples --severity-level medium --confidence-level high
 ```
 
 ## Architecture
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ python -m bandit -c pyproject.toml -r examples --severity-level medium --confide
 
 Each package has one test and one release workflow: `test-jvm.yml` and `release-jvm.yml` for `arcadedb-jvm`, `test-native.yml` and `release-native.yml` for `arcadedb` (the release workflows call the test workflows with `workflow_call`; the PyPI trusted publishers are keyed on the release file names and the environments `pypi-jvm` and `pypi`, so never rename them without changing PyPI first). `test-python-examples.yml` runs `examples/`. `docs.yml` builds the Antora component in `docs/` as a site of its own (`docs/antora-playbook.yml`, Antora 3.2.1, a warning fails it) and attaches it as the `docs-site` artifact; it is the only check of a docs-only pull request. Link into the main manual with `{arcadedb-docs-url}/<page>`, never an `arcadedb::` xref (the component on its own cannot resolve it).
 
-`.github/workflows/test-jvm.yml` builds ONE wheel per platform (linux/amd64, linux/arm64, darwin/arm64, windows/amd64), tagged `py3-none-<platform>` by `setup.py` (`bdist_wheel.get_tag`; `scripts/verify_wheel_tag.py` checks it), and tests that wheel on Python 3.11–3.14; also runs nightly against `arcadedata/arcadedb:latest`. `requires-python` is `>=3.11,<3.15` because the tag no longer keeps pip off 3.15 and JPype has no 3.15 wheel; drop the cap with it. The org shares a runner cap with upstream, so the unit tests run 10 legs on every event (linux/amd64 on all four Pythons, the other three platforms on 3.11 and 3.14, the shape of test-native.yml), and the examples run all four platforms on 3.14 on a pull request (4 legs, 28 checks in all) and 16 legs on push to main, the nightly run, dispatch and the release (40 checks). `scripts/select_matrix.py` holds both lists (`PULL_REQUEST_LEGS`, keyed `jvm` and `examples`), the first job of each workflow runs it, and `tests/test_select_matrix.py` pins the full matrix; docs page `development/ci.adoc`. Keep the job names `Test arcadedb (<platform>, Python <version>)` unchanged. Both workflows accept an `arcadedb-tag` input to pin the image. `test-python-examples.yml` runs `examples/`. A dependency-floor audit resolves extras with `--resolution lowest-direct` for each Python classifier and runs pip-audit, so raise lower bounds when a floor has an advisory.
+`.github/workflows/test-jvm.yml` builds ONE wheel per platform (linux/amd64, linux/arm64, darwin/arm64, windows/amd64), tagged `py3-none-<platform>` by `setup.py` (`bdist_wheel.get_tag`; `scripts/verify_wheel_tag.py` checks it), and tests that wheel on Python 3.11–3.14; also runs nightly against `arcadedata/arcadedb:latest`. `requires-python` is `>=3.11,<3.15` because the tag no longer keeps pip off 3.15 and JPype has no 3.15 wheel; drop the cap with it. The org shares a runner cap with upstream, so the unit tests run 10 legs on every event (linux/amd64 on all four Pythons, the other three platforms on 3.11 and 3.14, the shape of test-native.yml), and the examples run all four platforms on 3.14 on a pull request (4 legs, 28 checks in all) and 16 legs on push to main, the nightly run, dispatch and the release (40 checks). `scripts/select_matrix.py` holds both lists (`PULL_REQUEST_LEGS`, keyed `jvm` and `examples`), the first job of each workflow runs it, and `tests/test_select_matrix.py` pins the full matrix; docs page `development/ci.adoc`. Keep the job names `Test arcadedb (<platform>, Python <version>)` unchanged. Both workflows accept an `arcadedb-tag` input to pin the image. `test-python-examples.yml` runs `examples/`. A dependency-floor audit locks the dependencies and extras on a throwaway uv project with `--resolution lowest-direct` for each Python classifier and runs `uvx pip-audit` on the export, so raise lower bounds when a floor has an advisory. No tool is installed with pip anywhere in CI or the scripts: one-off tools run through `uvx tool==X`, the wheel is built with `uvx --from "build[uv]==1.6.1" pyproject-build --installer uv`, and the uv install URL is pinned (`0.12.0`).
 
 `.github/workflows/release-jvm.yml` publishes `arcadedb-jvm` on a bare-version tag (`26.11.1.dev0`, `26.11.1`, `26.11.1.post1`; no `v`, never `aN`/`bN`/`rcN`). Its first job runs `scripts/check_version.py` (the devN/postN counting rule, read-only, fails closed); `scripts/after_tag_verify.sh` checks the finished release. The rule is stated once, on the docs page `development/release.adoc`.
 
diff --git a/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/ci.adoc b/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/ci.adoc
index ba5c001..1002fab 100644
--- a/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/ci.adoc
+++ b/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/ci.adoc
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ The package supports four platforms and four Python versions (3.11 to 3.14). Tha
 The wheel of `arcadedb-jvm` is tagged `py3-none-<platform>` (`setup.py`), like the native wheel: it carries a JRE for its platform, but nothing in it is compiled against CPython. So a Python version is a test, not a build. `test-jvm.yml` has two jobs:
 
 * `Build arcadedb-jvm wheel (<platform>)` builds the wheel once for each platform and uploads it as `wheel-<platform>`. `scripts/verify_wheel_tag.py` fails the build when the wheel is not `py3-none-<platform>`.
-* `Test arcadedb (<platform>, Python <version>)` downloads that wheel and installs it into one Python. It builds nothing. The release publishes these same four files.
+* `Test arcadedb (<platform>, Python <version>)` downloads that wheel and runs the tests on one Python in a throwaway `uv run --no-project --with "<wheel>[test]" python -m pytest` environment. It builds nothing. The release publishes these same four files.
 
-The `requires-python` of the package is `>=3.11,<3.15`. The wheel tag no longer keeps pip off Python 3.15, so the cap does it. JPype has no 3.15 wheel yet; remove the cap, and add 3.15 to the matrix, when it has one.
+The `requires-python` of the package is `>=3.11,<3.15`. The wheel tag no longer keeps an installer off Python 3.15, so the cap does it. JPype has no 3.15 wheel yet; remove the cap, and add 3.15 to the matrix, when it has one.
 
 == What runs when
 
diff --git a/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/release.adoc b/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/release.adoc
index d09b7dd..6ec7f6f 100644
--- a/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/release.adoc
+++ b/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/development/release.adoc
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ The second argument is the previous release. Use `-` for the first release of th
 * The workflow run, and the conclusion of the publish job and of its upload step.
 * The files on PyPI: one `py3-none` wheel for each platform (the same file for every Python version), each under 100 MB, none yanked.
 * The sha256 of every file on PyPI against the wheels the workflow checked.
-* A `pip download` for each of the four platforms, and a fresh install on Python 3.12 and 3.14 that opens a database and runs one SQL and one openCypher query.
+* A download of the wheel of each of the four platforms from PyPI (picked from the PyPI JSON, fetched with `curl`, sha256 compared with the one PyPI lists), and a fresh `uv run --with` install on Python 3.12 and 3.14 that opens a database and runs one SQL and one openCypher query.
 
 It prints `PASS` or `FAIL` for each step, and its exit code is the number of failures.
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 50d5556..69caffe 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ description = "ArcadeDB embedded multi-model database, JVM build with a bundled
 readme = "README.md"
 # The upper bound is JPype: jpype1 1.7.1 has wheels for CPython 3.11 to 3.14 and none for 3.15 (JPype
 # merged 3.15 support in jpype-project/jpype#1501, not released yet). The wheels of this package are
-# py3-none-<platform>, so the wheel tag no longer keeps pip off an interpreter: without this cap pip
-# would install the wheel on 3.15 and then try to build JPype from source.
+# py3-none-<platform>, so the wheel tag no longer keeps an installer off an interpreter: without this cap an installer
+# would put the wheel on 3.15 and then try to build JPype from source.
 # REMOVE THE CAP when jpype1 ships cp315 wheels: then add the 3.15 classifier below, 3.15 to PYTHONS in
 # scripts/select_matrix.py and the cap in tests/test_select_matrix.py.
 requires-python = ">=3.11,<3.15"
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@ dependencies = [
 [tool.uv]
 # This pyproject is the *package definition* consumed by the wheel build
 # (scripts/build.sh). It is not a uv project: tests run against the built wheel,
-# installed with its `test` extra into a virtual environment (see README,
-# Testing). `managed = false` makes uv skip it during project discovery, so
-# `uv run` uses that environment instead of trying to sync this package.
+# with its `test` extra, in a throwaway `uv run --no-project --with` environment
+# (see README, Testing). `managed = false` makes uv skip it during project
+# discovery, so `uv run` never tries to sync this package.
 managed = false
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ pandas = [
 ]
 # Optional: ResultSet.to_polars() and insert_dataframe() with a Polars frame. Both go
 # through Arrow, so pyarrow comes with it. insert_dataframe() with a pandas frame needs
-# `pip install 'arcadedb-jvm[arrow,pandas]'` (the pandas extra alone has no pyarrow,
+# `uv add 'arcadedb-jvm[arrow,pandas]'` (the pandas extra alone has no pyarrow,
 # because to_dataframe() does not need it).
 polars = [
     "polars>=1.0",
diff --git a/scripts/Dockerfile.build b/scripts/Dockerfile.build
index 3d21d20..c08e5e3 100644
--- a/scripts/Dockerfile.build
+++ b/scripts/Dockerfile.build
@@ -191,9 +191,10 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     curl \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Install uv for faster, deterministic installs
+# Install uv (pinned, the same version as the CI workflows)
+ARG UV_VERSION=0.12.0
 ENV PATH="/root/.cargo/bin:/root/.local/bin:${PATH}"
-RUN curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh && uv --version
+RUN curl -LsSf "https://astral.sh/uv/${UV_VERSION}/install.sh" | sh && uv --version
 
 WORKDIR /build
 
@@ -215,9 +216,10 @@ COPY pyproject.toml ./
 COPY README.md ./
 
 
-# Install Python build dependencies
-# No jpype1: setup.py never imports it, and a Python without a JPype wheel (3.15, until JPype > 1.7.1) would compile it
-RUN uv pip install --system build wheel setuptools
+# The wheel is built with `build` run through uvx, in an isolated environment that uv creates from [build-system]
+# (setuptools, wheel). No jpype1: setup.py never imports it, and a Python without a JPype wheel (3.15, until JPype > 1.7.1)
+# would compile it. Nothing is installed into the image's Python, and uv never downloads another one.
+ENV UV_PYTHON_DOWNLOADS=never
 
 # Re-declare build args for this stage (required after FROM)
 ARG PACKAGE_NAME
@@ -268,12 +270,12 @@ RUN if [ -n "${BUILD_VERSION}" ]; then \
         fi; \
         if [ -n "${WHEEL_PLAT}" ]; then \
             echo "🏷️  Building wheel with platform tag: ${WHEEL_PLAT}"; \
-            python3 -m build --wheel --config-setting=--build-option=--plat-name=${WHEEL_PLAT}; \
+            uvx --from "build[uv]==1.6.1" pyproject-build --installer uv --wheel --config-setting=--build-option=--plat-name=${WHEEL_PLAT}; \
         else \
-            python3 -m build --wheel; \
+            uvx --from "build[uv]==1.6.1" pyproject-build --installer uv --wheel; \
         fi; \
     else \
-        python3 -m build --wheel; \
+        uvx --from "build[uv]==1.6.1" pyproject-build --installer uv --wheel; \
     fi && \
     if echo "${TARGET_PLATFORM}" | grep -q '^linux-'; then \
         if [ -n "${WHEEL_PLAT}" ] && ! ls /build/dist/*${WHEEL_PLAT}*.whl 1> /dev/null 2>&1; then \
@@ -304,17 +306,19 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     curl \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Install uv for faster, deterministic installs
+# Install uv (pinned, the same version as the CI workflows)
+ARG UV_VERSION=0.12.0
 ENV PATH="/root/.cargo/bin:/root/.local/bin:${PATH}"
-RUN curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh && uv --version
+RUN curl -LsSf "https://astral.sh/uv/${UV_VERSION}/install.sh" | sh && uv --version
 
 WORKDIR /test
 
 # Copy the wheel from builder
 COPY --from=python-builder /build/dist/*.whl /tmp/
 
-# Install the wheel and test dependencies
-RUN uv pip install --system /tmp/*.whl pytest pytest-cov
+# The wheel and the test dependencies go into a throwaway `uv run` environment (nothing is installed into the image's
+# Python). The RUN below and the CMD use the same --with set, so the environment is in uv's cache when the container starts.
+ENV UV_PYTHON_DOWNLOADS=never
 
 # Copy tests
 COPY --from=python-builder /build/tests ./tests/
@@ -352,6 +356,6 @@ finally:\n\
 ' > /test/test_install.py && chmod +x /test/test_install.py
 
 # Run the installation test
-RUN python3 /test/test_install.py
+RUN uv run --no-project --with "$(ls /tmp/*.whl)" --with pytest --with pytest-cov python /test/test_install.py
 
-CMD ["python3", "/test/test_install.py"]
+CMD ["sh", "-c", "exec uv run --no-project --with \"$(ls /tmp/*.whl)\" --with pytest --with pytest-cov python /test/test_install.py"]
diff --git a/scripts/after_tag_verify.sh b/scripts/after_tag_verify.sh
index 730333f..c211a43 100755
--- a/scripts/after_tag_verify.sh
+++ b/scripts/after_tag_verify.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 # the four platforms, one wheel (py3-none-<platform>) for each platform.
 #
 # Run it under bash (not zsh). Every step prints PASS or FAIL; the exit code is the number of FAILs.
-# Set PIN=4-5 to pin the smoke runs to those cores. It downloads about 0.6 GB (the 4 checked wheels of the run and four from PyPI): TMPDIR or WORK should point at a disk, not a tmpfs. Needs: gh, curl, python3, uv.
+# Set PIN=4-5 to pin the smoke runs to those cores. It downloads about 0.6 GB (the 4 checked wheels of the run and four from PyPI): TMPDIR or WORK should point at a disk, not a tmpfs. Needs: gh, curl, python3, sha256sum, uv.
 set -uo pipefail
 V="${1:?version}"
 PREV="${2:?previous version}"
@@ -98,9 +98,24 @@ sys.exit(1 if bad else 0)
 EOF
 fi
 
-# (d) every platform resolves, and a fresh environment installs and works (3.12 and 3.14)
-for plat in manylinux_2_34_x86_64 manylinux_2_34_aarch64 macosx_11_0_arm64 win_amd64; do
-    if uvx pip download --no-deps --only-binary=:all: --platform "$plat" --python-version 3.12 "$DIST==$V" -d "$W/dl-$plat" > "$W/dl-$plat.log" 2>&1; then pass "pip download $plat (Python 3.12)"; else fail "pip download $plat: $(tail -1 "$W/dl-$plat.log")"; fi
+# (d) every platform has a wheel on PyPI that downloads and matches the sha256 PyPI lists for it, and a fresh environment installs and works (3.12 and 3.14)
+# uv has no `download` command, and `uv pip` is not used here: the wheel of each platform is picked from the PyPI JSON read in (b) and fetched with curl.
+# The install of the release on the host platform is exercised by the uv run smoke below.
+for plat in 'manylinux.*x86_64' 'manylinux.*aarch64' 'macosx.*arm64' 'win_amd64'; do
+    pick=$(
+        python3 - "$W/pypi-new.json" "$plat" << 'EOF'
+import json,re,sys
+hits=[u for u in json.load(open(sys.argv[1]))["urls"] if re.search(r"-py3-none-",u["filename"]) and re.search(sys.argv[2],u["filename"])]
+if len(hits)==1: print(hits[0]["url"], hits[0]["digests"]["sha256"], hits[0]["filename"])
+EOF
+    )
+    read -r url sha name <<< "$pick"
+    if [ -z "${url:-}" ]; then
+        fail "no single wheel for $plat on PyPI"
+        continue
+    fi
+    mkdir -p "$W/dl"
+    if curl -fsSL --retry 3 -o "$W/dl/$name" "$url" > "$W/dl-$name.log" 2>&1 && [ "$(sha256sum "$W/dl/$name" | cut -d' ' -f1)" = "$sha" ]; then pass "download $name ($plat), sha256 matches PyPI"; else fail "download $name ($plat): $(tail -1 "$W/dl-$name.log")"; fi
 done
 for py in 3.12 3.14; do
     [ -n "${SKIP_SMOKE:-}" ] && {
diff --git a/scripts/build-native.sh b/scripts/build-native.sh
index 9d9b775..ee6f72d 100755
--- a/scripts/build-native.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-native.sh
@@ -140,32 +140,17 @@ if ! command -v jlink &> /dev/null; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-# Check for build module (required for wheel building)
-PYTHON_WITH_BUILD=""
-
-# Look for Python with working build module
-# Test that -m build actually works, not just that import build succeeds
-for py_cmd in python3.13 python3.12 python3.11 python3 python; do
-    if command -v "$py_cmd" &> /dev/null; then
-        PY_PATH="$(command -v "$py_cmd")"
-        # Test both import AND that -m build works
-        if "$PY_PATH" -c "import build" 2> /dev/null && "$PY_PATH" -m build --version &> /dev/null 2>&1; then
-            PYTHON_WITH_BUILD="$PY_PATH"
-            echo -e "${CYAN}✅ Found working build module in: ${YELLOW}${PYTHON_WITH_BUILD}${NC}"
-            break
-        fi
-    fi
-done
-
-if [[ -z "$PYTHON_WITH_BUILD" ]]; then
-    echo -e "${RED}❌ build module not found or broken in any Python installation${NC}"
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}💡 Please ensure build module is properly installed:${NC}"
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}   1. If you have a venv, activate it and run: uv pip install build${NC}"
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}   2. Otherwise, create a venv:${NC}"
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}      python3 -m venv .build-env${NC}"
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}      source .build-env/bin/activate${NC}"
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}      uv pip install build${NC}"
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}      ./scripts/build.sh${NC}"
+# Wheel building runs `build` through uvx (an isolated environment, nothing installed into any Python), so uv is the only requirement
+if ! command -v uv &> /dev/null; then
+    echo -e "${RED}❌ uv not found${NC}"
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}💡 Install uv: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/${NC}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+BUILD_CMD=(uvx --from "build[uv]==1.6.1" pyproject-build --installer uv)
+# Any Python 3 on PATH runs the small helper scripts (stdlib only)
+PYTHON_BIN="$(command -v python3 || command -v python || true)"
+if [[ -z "$PYTHON_BIN" ]]; then
+    echo -e "${RED}❌ no python found${NC}"
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -294,7 +279,7 @@ fi
 echo -e "${CYAN}📦 Preparing package...${NC}"
 
 # Build and copy JRE
-copy_tree_with_symlinks "$PY_BINDINGS_DIR/temp_jre" "$PY_BINDINGS_DIR/src/arcadedb/jre" "$PYTHON_WITH_BUILD"
+copy_tree_with_symlinks "$PY_BINDINGS_DIR/temp_jre" "$PY_BINDINGS_DIR/src/arcadedb/jre" "$PYTHON_BIN"
 
 JAR_COUNT=$(ls -1 "$JARS_DIR"/*.jar | wc -l)
 echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Package prepared (${JAR_COUNT} JARs + JRE)${NC}"
@@ -370,10 +355,10 @@ fi
 # Build wheel
 mkdir -p "$DIST_DIR"
 rm -f "$DIST_DIR"/*.whl
-"$PYTHON_WITH_BUILD" -m build --wheel --outdir "$DIST_DIR"
+"${BUILD_CMD[@]}" --wheel --outdir "$DIST_DIR"
 
 # Rename wheel to have correct platform tag if needed
-# (python -m build may not set it correctly for cross-platform builds)
+# (the build may not set it correctly for cross-platform builds)
 WHEEL_FILE=$(ls "$DIST_DIR"/*.whl | head -n1)
 if [[ -n "$WHEEL_FILE" ]]; then
     # Extract components from wheel filename
diff --git a/scripts/build.sh b/scripts/build.sh
index 7ba4e54..8aa15f3 100755
--- a/scripts/build.sh
+++ b/scripts/build.sh
@@ -548,7 +548,6 @@ fi
 echo ""
 
 echo -e "${BLUE}💡 Next steps:${NC}"
-echo -e "   🧪 Run tests against this wheel (from the repository root; uv venv once first):"
-echo -e "      ${YELLOW}uv pip install --reinstall-package arcadedb \"<the wheel above>[test]\"${NC}"
-echo -e "      ${YELLOW}uv run pytest${NC}"
+echo -e "   🧪 Run tests against this wheel (from the repository root):"
+echo -e "      ${YELLOW}uv run --no-project --with \"<the wheel above>[test]\" python -m pytest${NC}"
 echo ""
diff --git a/scripts/ensure-build-tools.sh b/scripts/ensure-build-tools.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 09c57cb..0000000
--- a/scripts/ensure-build-tools.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-# Ensure build tools are installed for all Python versions available
-
-set -e
-
-echo "Checking Python installations and installing build tools..."
-
-if ! command -v uv &> /dev/null; then
-    echo "❌ uv not found"
-    echo "💡 Install uv: https://astral.sh/uv"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-# Check system python3
-if command -v python3 &> /dev/null; then
-    PYTHON_PATH=$(command -v python3)
-    echo "Found python3 at: $PYTHON_PATH"
-
-    # Try to install build in the current environment
-    # This will fail silently if the environment is managed (like Homebrew)
-    uv pip install --python "$PYTHON_PATH" build 2> /dev/null || echo "  ⚠️  Could not install in $PYTHON_PATH (managed environment)"
-fi
-
-# Also check common Homebrew Python 3.14 location
-if [[ -f "/opt/homebrew/bin/python3.14" ]]; then
-    echo "Found /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.14"
-    uv pip install --python /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.14 build 2> /dev/null || echo "  ⚠️  Could not install in /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.14 (managed environment)"
-fi
-
-echo "✅ Done"