diff --git a/apps/worker/src/__tests__/test-runner.test.ts b/apps/worker/src/__tests__/test-runner.test.ts
index 3522e70..306711c 100644
--- a/apps/worker/src/__tests__/test-runner.test.ts
+++ b/apps/worker/src/__tests__/test-runner.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync, mkdirSync, rmSync } from 'fs'
 import { join } from 'path'
 import { tmpdir } from 'os'
 import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'fs'
-import { detectTestRunner, detectPackageManager, detectMonorepo, runTests, stripLocalUvSources } from '../test-runner.js'
+import { detectTestRunner, detectPackageManager, detectMonorepo, runTests, stripLocalUvSources, stripHeavyPyDeps } from '../test-runner.js'
 
 // Helper: create a temp directory with specific files
 function createTempDir(): string {
@@ -351,6 +351,190 @@ pkg-c = { path = "/absolute/path/to/pkg-c" }
   })
 })
 
+describe('stripHeavyPyDeps', () => {
+  let tempDir: string
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    tempDir = createTempDir()
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  it('strips heavy packages from base dependencies', () => {
+    const pyprojectContent = `[project]
+name = "test-project"
+dependencies = [
+    "requests>=2.28.0",
+    "torch>=2.8.0",
+    "torchvision>=0.24.1",
+    "pillow>=10.0.0",
+    "open-clip-torch>=2.20.0",
+    "transformers>=4.57.3",
+    "bitsandbytes>=0.41.0",
+    "peft>=0.18.0",
+]
+
+[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
+packages = ["my_package"]
+`
+    touchFile(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml', pyprojectContent)
+    touchFile(tempDir, 'uv.lock', 'some lock content')
+
+    stripHeavyPyDeps(tempDir)
+
+    const result = readFileSync(join(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml'), 'utf-8')
+    // Heavy packages should be removed
+    expect(result).not.toContain('torch>=2.8.0')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('torchvision')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('open-clip-torch')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('transformers')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('bitsandbytes')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('peft')
+    // Lightweight packages should be preserved
+    expect(result).toContain('requests>=2.28.0')
+    expect(result).toContain('pillow>=10.0.0')
+    // Other sections should be preserved
+    expect(result).toContain('[project]')
+    expect(result).toContain('[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]')
+    // uv.lock should be deleted
+    expect(existsSync(join(tempDir, 'uv.lock'))).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('strips entire [project.optional-dependencies] section', () => {
+    const pyprojectContent = `[project]
+name = "test-project"
+dependencies = [
+    "requests>=2.28.0",
+]
+
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+dev = [
+    "pytest>=8.0.0",
+]
+training = [
+    "torch>=2.8.0",
+    "trl>=0.12.0",
+]
+azure = [
+    "azure-ai-ml>=1.12.0",
+]
+
+[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
+packages = ["my_package"]
+`
+    touchFile(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml', pyprojectContent)
+
+    stripHeavyPyDeps(tempDir)
+
+    const result = readFileSync(join(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml'), 'utf-8')
+    // Entire optional-dependencies section should be removed
+    expect(result).not.toContain('[project.optional-dependencies]')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('pytest>=8.0.0')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('trl>=0.12.0')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('azure-ai-ml')
+    // Base deps and other sections should be preserved
+    expect(result).toContain('requests>=2.28.0')
+    expect(result).toContain('[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]')
+  })
+
+  it('handles nvidia-* prefix packages', () => {
+    const pyprojectContent = `[project]
+name = "test-project"
+dependencies = [
+    "requests>=2.28.0",
+    "nvidia-cublas-cu12>=12.1.0",
+    "nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12>=12.0",
+]
+`
+    touchFile(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml', pyprojectContent)
+
+    stripHeavyPyDeps(tempDir)
+
+    const result = readFileSync(join(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml'), 'utf-8')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('nvidia-cublas')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('nvidia-cuda-runtime')
+    expect(result).toContain('requests>=2.28.0')
+  })
+
+  it('preserves pyproject.toml with no heavy deps', () => {
+    const pyprojectContent = `[project]
+name = "test-project"
+dependencies = [
+    "requests>=2.28.0",
+    "pillow>=10.0.0",
+]
+`
+    touchFile(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml', pyprojectContent)
+    touchFile(tempDir, 'uv.lock', 'some lock content')
+
+    stripHeavyPyDeps(tempDir)
+
+    const result = readFileSync(join(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml'), 'utf-8')
+    expect(result).toBe(pyprojectContent)
+    // uv.lock should NOT be deleted when no changes were made
+    expect(existsSync(join(tempDir, 'uv.lock'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('handles openadapt-evals-like pyproject.toml', () => {
+    const pyprojectContent = `[project]
+name = "openadapt-evals"
+version = "0.46.0"
+dependencies = [
+    "open-clip-torch>=2.20.0",
+    "pillow>=10.0.0",
+    "pydantic-settings>=2.0.0",
+    "requests>=2.28.0",
+    "openai>=1.0.0",
+    "anthropic>=0.76.0",
+    "openadapt-ml>=0.11.0",
+]
+
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+dev = [
+    "pytest>=8.0.0",
+    "ruff>=0.1.0",
+]
+training = [
+    "imagehash>=4.3.0",
+]
+verl = [
+    "verl>=0.3.0",
+]
+
+[tool.uv.sources]
+openadapt-ml = { path = "../openadapt-ml", editable = true }
+
+[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
+packages = ["openadapt_evals"]
+`
+    touchFile(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml', pyprojectContent)
+
+    stripHeavyPyDeps(tempDir)
+
+    const result = readFileSync(join(tempDir, 'pyproject.toml'), 'utf-8')
+    // Heavy base dep should be stripped
+    expect(result).not.toContain('open-clip-torch')
+    // Optional deps section entirely removed
+    expect(result).not.toContain('[project.optional-dependencies]')
+    expect(result).not.toContain('verl')
+    // Lightweight base deps preserved
+    expect(result).toContain('pillow>=10.0.0')
+    expect(result).toContain('requests>=2.28.0')
+    expect(result).toContain('openai>=1.0.0')
+    expect(result).toContain('anthropic>=0.76.0')
+    expect(result).toContain('openadapt-ml>=0.11.0')
+    // Other sections preserved
+    expect(result).toContain('[tool.uv.sources]')
+    expect(result).toContain('[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]')
+  })
+
+  it('does nothing when pyproject.toml does not exist', () => {
+    expect(() => stripHeavyPyDeps(tempDir)).not.toThrow()
+  })
+})
+
 describe('runTests with real commands', () => {
   let tempDir: string
 
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/test-runner.ts b/apps/worker/src/test-runner.ts
index e65f063..f4410ac 100644
--- a/apps/worker/src/test-runner.ts
+++ b/apps/worker/src/test-runner.ts
@@ -206,6 +206,159 @@ export function stripLocalUvSources(workDir: string): void {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Known heavy Python packages that should be stripped from dependencies
+ * on the worker. These packages (CUDA, PyTorch, large ML frameworks) are
+ * 100MB-2GB each and are not needed to run tests.
+ *
+ * Patterns are matched against the package name portion of dependency lines
+ * (before any version specifier). Case-insensitive.
+ */
+const HEAVY_PY_PACKAGES = [
+  'torch',
+  'torchvision',
+  'torchaudio',
+  'open-clip-torch',
+  'bitsandbytes',
+  'triton',
+  'nvidia-',           // nvidia-cublas-cu12, nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12, etc.
+  'cu12',              // standalone CUDA 12 packages
+  'cu11',              // standalone CUDA 11 packages
+  'xformers',
+  'flash-attn',
+  'deepspeed',
+  'apex',
+  'vllm',
+  'transformers',
+  'accelerate',
+  'peft',
+  'safetensors',
+  'sentencepiece',
+  'tokenizers',
+]
+
+/**
+ * Check if a dependency line references a heavy package.
+ *
+ * Dependency lines look like:
+ *   "torch>=2.8.0"
+ *   "open-clip-torch>=2.20.0"
+ *   "nvidia-cublas-cu12>=12.1.0"
+ *
+ * We match the package name (everything before `>=`, `==`, `~=`, `<`, `>`, `[`, etc.)
+ * against the HEAVY_PY_PACKAGES patterns.
+ */
+function isHeavyDep(depLine: string): boolean {
+  const trimmed = depLine.trim().replace(/^["']|["'],?\s*$/g, '')
+  if (!trimmed || trimmed.startsWith('#')) return false
+
+  // Extract package name (before version specifier)
+  const pkgName = trimmed.split(/[>=<!~\[;]/)[0].trim().toLowerCase()
+  if (!pkgName) return false
+
+  return HEAVY_PY_PACKAGES.some(pattern => {
+    const p = pattern.toLowerCase()
+    // If pattern ends with '-', match as prefix
+    if (p.endsWith('-')) {
+      return pkgName.startsWith(p)
+    }
+    return pkgName === p
+  })
+}
+
+/**
+ * Strip heavy ML/CUDA dependencies from pyproject.toml to keep installs lightweight.
+ *
+ * The Wright worker runs tests, not training. Heavy packages like PyTorch (2GB+),
+ * CUDA libraries, and large ML frameworks slow down installs, eat disk space, and
+ * may fail entirely on non-GPU containers.
+ *
+ * This function:
+ *   1. Removes known heavy packages from `[project] dependencies = [...]`
+ *   2. Removes the entire `[project.optional-dependencies]` section (all groups).
+ *      Optional deps are already skipped by `uv sync --no-dev`, but some groups
+ *      may be pulled in transitively or via `all = [...]` meta-groups.
+ *
+ * Combined with `--inexact`, missing transitive deps from stripped packages are
+ * tolerated — uv will install what it can and skip the rest.
+ */
+export function stripHeavyPyDeps(workDir: string): void {
+  const pyprojectPath = join(workDir, 'pyproject.toml')
+  if (!existsSync(pyprojectPath)) return
+
+  const content = readFileSync(pyprojectPath, 'utf-8')
+  const lines = content.split('\n')
+  const outputLines: string[] = []
+  let inDeps = false
+  let inOptDeps = false
+  let inOptGroup = false
+  let strippedAny = false
+  let bracketDepth = 0
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+    const line = lines[i]
+    const trimmed = line.trim()
+
+    // Track [project.optional-dependencies] section — skip it entirely
+    if (trimmed === '[project.optional-dependencies]') {
+      inOptDeps = true
+      inOptGroup = false
+      strippedAny = true
+      console.log('[test-runner] Stripping [project.optional-dependencies] section')
+      continue
+    }
+
+    // If we're in optional-dependencies, skip until we hit a new top-level section
+    if (inOptDeps) {
+      if (trimmed.startsWith('[') && trimmed.endsWith(']') && trimmed !== '[project.optional-dependencies]') {
+        inOptDeps = false
+        // Fall through to process this line normally
+      } else {
+        continue
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Track `dependencies = [` in [project] section
+    if (/^dependencies\s*=\s*\[/.test(trimmed)) {
+      inDeps = true
+      bracketDepth = (line.match(/\[/g) || []).length - (line.match(/\]/g) || []).length
+      outputLines.push(line)
+      continue
+    }
+
+    if (inDeps) {
+      // Track bracket depth (handles multi-line arrays)
+      bracketDepth += (line.match(/\[/g) || []).length - (line.match(/\]/g) || []).length
+      if (bracketDepth <= 0) {
+        inDeps = false
+        outputLines.push(line)
+        continue
+      }
+
+      // Check if this dependency line is heavy
+      if (isHeavyDep(trimmed)) {
+        strippedAny = true
+        console.log(`[test-runner] Stripped heavy dependency: ${trimmed}`)
+        continue
+      }
+    }
+
+    outputLines.push(line)
+  }
+
+  if (strippedAny) {
+    writeFileSync(pyprojectPath, outputLines.join('\n'))
+    console.log('[test-runner] Removed heavy dependencies from pyproject.toml')
+
+    // Delete uv.lock so uv regenerates it without the heavy deps
+    const lockPath = join(workDir, 'uv.lock')
+    if (existsSync(lockPath)) {
+      unlinkSync(lockPath)
+      console.log('[test-runner] Removed stale uv.lock (will regenerate)')
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Install dependencies using the detected package manager.
  */
@@ -215,7 +368,7 @@ export function installDependencies(workDir: string, pm: PackageManager): void {
     pnpm: 'pnpm install',
     yarn: 'yarn install',
     pip: 'pip install -e .',
-    uv: 'uv sync',
+    uv: 'uv sync --no-dev --inexact',
     poetry: 'poetry install',
     cargo: 'cargo build',
     go: 'go mod download',
@@ -225,10 +378,13 @@ export function installDependencies(workDir: string, pm: PackageManager): void {
   const cmd = commands[pm]
   if (!cmd) return
 
-  // For uv projects, strip local path sources from pyproject.toml that reference
-  // sibling directories (e.g. "../openadapt-ml") which won't exist on the worker.
+  // For uv projects, strip local path sources and heavy ML dependencies from
+  // pyproject.toml. Local paths reference sibling directories (e.g. "../openadapt-ml")
+  // that won't exist on the worker. Heavy deps (PyTorch, CUDA, etc.) are 100MB-2GB
+  // each and not needed to run tests.
   if (pm === 'uv') {
     stripLocalUvSources(workDir)
+    stripHeavyPyDeps(workDir)
   }
 
   console.log(`[test-runner] Installing dependencies with ${pm}: ${cmd}`)