diff --git a/.github/workflows/cache-verify.yml b/.github/workflows/cache-verify.yml
index 52e11fa30..d66456f13 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cache-verify.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cache-verify.yml
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 name: CI Cache Verification
-
 on:
   push:
     paths:
       - '.github/workflows/cache-verify.yml'
   workflow_dispatch:
-
 jobs:
   build-images:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -40,24 +38,31 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: ${{ matrix.name }}-image
           path: /tmp/${{ matrix.name }}.tar
-
   cache-environment:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: '20'
-      - id: cache-key
-        env:
-          LOCK_HASH: ${{ hashFiles('backend/yarn.lock', 'webapp/yarn.lock', 'cypress/yarn.lock') }}
-        run: echo "key=ci-all-cache-${{ runner.os }}-${{ env.LOCK_HASH }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Compute cache key
+        id: cache-key
+        run: |
+          BACKEND_HASH=$(sha256sum backend/yarn.lock | cut -d' ' -f1)
+          WEBAPP_HASH=$(sha256sum webapp/yarn.lock | cut -d' ' -f1)
+          CYPRESS_HASH=$(sha256sum cypress/yarn.lock | cut -d' ' -f1 2>/dev/null || echo "none")
+          echo "lock-hash=${BACKEND_HASH}-${WEBAPP_HASH}-${CYPRESS_HASH}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "key=ci-all-cache-${{ runner.os }}-${BACKEND_HASH}-${WEBAPP_HASH}-${CYPRESS_HASH}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
       - name: Show lockfile hashes (debug)
         run: |
-          echo "backend/yarn.lock hash: ${{ hashFiles('backend/yarn.lock') }}"
-          echo "webapp/yarn.lock hash: ${{ hashFiles('webapp/yarn.lock') }}"
-          echo "cypress/yarn.lock hash: ${{ hashFiles('cypress/yarn.lock') }}"
+          echo "backend/yarn.lock hash: $(sha256sum backend/yarn.lock | cut -d' ' -f1)"
+          echo "webapp/yarn.lock hash: $(sha256sum webapp/yarn.lock | cut -d' ' -f1)"
+          echo "cypress/yarn.lock hash: $(sha256sum cypress/yarn.lock | cut -d' ' -f1 2>/dev/null || echo 'not found')"
 
       - name: Restore full CI cache
         id: restore-cache
@@ -66,8 +71,6 @@ jobs:
           path: |
             backend/node_modules
             webapp/node_modules
-            cypress/node_modules
-            node_modules
             ~/.cache/Cypress
             /opt/cucumber-json-formatter
           key: ${{ steps.cache-key.outputs.key }}
@@ -75,23 +78,22 @@ jobs:
             ci-all-cache-${{ runner.os }}-
             ci-all-cache-
 
-      - name: Show cache hit status
+      - name: Cache status: Hit
         if: steps.restore-cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
         run: echo "✅ Cache was hit!"
 
-      - name: Show cache miss status
+      - name: Cache status: Miss
         if: steps.restore-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
         run: echo "❌ Cache was missed."
 
-      - name: Ensure Cypress binary is present
+      - name: Ensure Cypress and Formatter are present
         run: |
-          if [ ! -x "$(command -v cypress)" ]; then
+          # Install Cypress CLI if needed
+          if ! npx --no-install cypress --version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             yarn global add cypress
           fi
           npx cypress verify
-
-      - name: Ensure cucumber-json-formatter present
-        run: |
+          # Install cucumber-json-formatter if missing
           if [ ! -f /opt/cucumber-json-formatter ]; then
             wget --no-verbose -O /opt/cucumber-json-formatter "https://github.com/cucumber/json-formatter/releases/download/v19.0.0/cucumber-json-formatter-linux-386"
             chmod +x /opt/cucumber-json-formatter
@@ -100,9 +102,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Print Cypress version
         run: npx cypress --version
 
-      - name: Check Formatter
+      - name: Print Formatter version/help
         run: /opt/cucumber-json-formatter --help || echo "Formatter missing"
-
   consolidate-environment:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [build-images, cache-environment]