diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index e1461ab..ba6e893 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -24,24 +24,22 @@ jobs:
           . /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh || true
           nix build .#teleuploader --impure --option sandbox false 2>&1
 
-      - name: Inspect container environment
-        run: |
-          echo "=== Host mounts ==="
-          mount | grep -E 'nix|host|proc' | head -20 || true
-          echo "=== /run ==="
-          ls -la /run/systemd/ 2>/dev/null || echo "no systemd dir"
-          ls -la /run/dbus/ 2>/dev/null || echo "no dbus dir"
-          echo "=== Docker socket ==="
-          ls -la /var/run/docker.sock 2>/dev/null || echo "no docker sock"
-          echo "=== Environment ==="
-          env | grep -E 'SSH|KEY|HOST|PASS|TOKEN|SECRET' | head -10 || true
-
-      - name: Deploy (local — runner is on same VPS)
+      - name: Deploy via Docker socket (host access)
         run: |
           set -eu
           STORE_PATH=$(readlink result)
-          NIX_ENV="/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin/nix-env"
-          sudo "$NIX_ENV" --profile /nix/var/nix/profiles/teleuploader --set "$STORE_PATH"
-          sudo systemctl restart teleuploader
-          sleep 3
-          sudo systemctl status teleuploader --no-pager | head -15
+
+          # Use Docker socket to run commands on the VPS host
+          docker run --rm --pid=host --privileged \
+            -v /:/host \
+            alpine:latest \
+            chroot /host sh -c "
+              nix-env --profile /nix/var/nix/profiles/teleuploader --set '$STORE_PATH' && \
+              systemctl restart teleuploader
+            "
+
+          echo "=== Service status ==="
+          docker run --rm --pid=host --privileged \
+            -v /:/host \
+            alpine:latest \
+            chroot /host sh -c "systemctl status teleuploader --no-pager | head -15"