diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-traceability.yml b/.github/workflows/release-traceability.yml
index 054b05a..38636d7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-traceability.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-traceability.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,18 @@ jobs:
           SERVICE_IMAGE_LATEST_REF: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:latest
         run: bash ./scripts/github-actions/build-service-image.sh
 
+      - name: Build linux binary artifact
+        env:
+          BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT: dist/billing-service-linux-amd64
+        run: bash ./scripts/github-actions/build-service-binary.sh
+
+      - name: Upload billing-service binary artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@d3f86a106a0bac45b974a628896c90dbdf5c8093 # v4
+        with:
+          name: billing-service-linux-amd64
+          path: dist/billing-service-linux-amd64
+          if-no-files-found: error
+
       - name: Push image
         run: bash ./scripts/github-actions/push-image-placeholder.sh
 
@@ -35,12 +47,32 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
+      - name: Download billing-service binary artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4
+        with:
+          name: billing-service-linux-amd64
+          path: dist
+
+      - name: Install ansible
+        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ansible
+
+      - name: Configure deploy SSH
+        env:
+          SSH_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+        run: |
+          test -n "${SSH_PRIVATE_KEY}"
+          install -d -m 0700 ~/.ssh
+          printf '%s\n' "${SSH_PRIVATE_KEY}" > ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
+          chmod 0600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
+          ssh-keyscan -H jp-xhttp-contabo.svc.plus >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+
       - name: Deploy via playbook
         env:
-          IMAGE_REF: ${{ needs.build.outputs.service_image_ref }}
           BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_REF: ${{ needs.build.outputs.service_image_ref }}
-          BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_TAG: ${{ needs.build.outputs.service_image_tag }}
-          BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_COMMIT: ${{ needs.build.outputs.service_image_commit }}
+          BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT: dist/billing-service-linux-amd64
+          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
+          INTERNAL_SERVICE_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.INTERNAL_SERVICE_TOKEN }}
+          STACK_TARGET_HOST: jp-xhttp-contabo.svc.plus
         run: bash ./scripts/github-actions/deploy-billing-service.sh
 
   validate:
@@ -57,8 +89,18 @@ jobs:
       - name: Verify traceability script cases
         run: bash ./scripts/github-actions/test-validate-release-traceability.sh
 
+      - name: Configure validate SSH
+        env:
+          SSH_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+        run: |
+          test -n "${SSH_PRIVATE_KEY}"
+          install -d -m 0700 ~/.ssh
+          printf '%s\n' "${SSH_PRIVATE_KEY}" > ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
+          chmod 0600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
+          ssh-keyscan -H jp-xhttp-contabo.svc.plus >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+
       - name: Validate runtime traceability
         env:
           SERVICE_IMAGE_REF: ${{ needs.build.outputs.service_image_ref }}
-          RUNTIME_PING_URL: https://accounts.svc.plus/api/ping
-        run: bash ./scripts/github-actions/validate-release-traceability.sh
+          STACK_TARGET_HOST: jp-xhttp-contabo.svc.plus
+        run: bash ./scripts/github-actions/validate-release-traceability-remote.sh
diff --git a/docs/release-traceability.md b/docs/release-traceability.md
index dc86560..7a714ab 100644
--- a/docs/release-traceability.md
+++ b/docs/release-traceability.md
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ release identity.
 
 ## Runtime contract
 
-- `IMAGE` must contain the full image reference used to start the container.
+- `IMAGE` must contain the full release image reference produced by the build
+  job, even when the target host runs the service as a systemd binary instead
+  of a container.
 - `/api/ping` returns `image`, `tag`, `commit`, and `version`.
 - `tag`, `commit`, and `version` are derived from `IMAGE`.
 - If `IMAGE` is missing or malformed, the derived fields stay empty instead of
@@ -14,9 +16,13 @@ release identity.
 ## Pipeline contract
 
 - Build must produce `service_image_ref` only from the full `GITHUB_SHA`.
-- Deploy must consume `service_image_ref` and pass it through as the runtime
-  image identity.
-- Validate must use `GET https://accounts.svc.plus/api/ping`.
+- Build must also produce the linux billing-service binary artifact consumed by
+  deploy.
+- Deploy must consume that build artifact directly and must not rebuild on the
+  target host.
+- Deploy must pass `service_image_ref` through as the runtime image identity.
+- Validate must query `billing-service` on the deployment target at
+  `http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/ping` over SSH.
 - Validate must derive `tag` and `commit` from `service_image_ref` and compare
   them against `/api/ping`.
 - Validate must fail when runtime `image`, `tag`, `commit`, or `version` is
@@ -27,11 +33,11 @@ release identity.
 ## External playbook alignment
 
 The external `playbooks/deploy_billing_service.yml` playbook should accept
-`IMAGE_REF` (or an equivalent full image reference variable), derive any
-repo/tag helpers from it, and inject `IMAGE=<full image ref>` into the running
-container environment for the service exposed through
-`https://accounts.svc.plus/api/ping`.
+`BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT` and `BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_REF`, deploy the
+binary artifact to the target host without rebuilding it there, and inject
+`IMAGE=<full image ref>` into `/etc/default/billing-service` for the runtime
+served through `http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/ping`.
 
-If `accounts.svc.plus/api/ping` keeps returning empty runtime metadata, treat
+If `billing-service /api/ping` keeps returning empty runtime metadata, treat
 that as a deployment contract failure: the runtime did not receive the full
 `IMAGE` value and release traceability is broken.
diff --git a/scripts/github-actions/build-service-binary.sh b/scripts/github-actions/build-service-binary.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c90902b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/github-actions/build-service-binary.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+artifact_path="${BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT:?BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT is required}"
+target_dir="$(dirname "${artifact_path}")"
+
+mkdir -p "${target_dir}"
+
+CGO_ENABLED="${CGO_ENABLED:-0}" \
+GOOS="${GOOS:-linux}" \
+GOARCH="${GOARCH:-amd64}" \
+go build -buildvcs=false -o "${artifact_path}" ./cmd/billing-service
+
+chmod 0755 "${artifact_path}"
diff --git a/scripts/github-actions/deploy-billing-service.sh b/scripts/github-actions/deploy-billing-service.sh
index ae5c976..19f9702 100644
--- a/scripts/github-actions/deploy-billing-service.sh
+++ b/scripts/github-actions/deploy-billing-service.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,36 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-test -n "${IMAGE_REF:?IMAGE_REF is required}"
-ansible-playbook -i inventory playbooks/deploy_billing_service.yml
+target_host="${STACK_TARGET_HOST:?STACK_TARGET_HOST is required}"
+artifact_path="${BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT:?BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT is required}"
+image_ref="${BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_REF:-${IMAGE_REF:-}}"
+database_url="${DATABASE_URL:?DATABASE_URL is required}"
+internal_service_token="${INTERNAL_SERVICE_TOKEN:?INTERNAL_SERVICE_TOKEN is required}"
+playbooks_repo_url="${PLAYBOOKS_REPO_URL:-https://github.com/x-evor/playbooks.git}"
+playbooks_repo_ref="${PLAYBOOKS_REPO_REF:-c0f1a1c2ee00e4131db2484c8cc00b2bc4dc1263}"
+
+if [[ ! -f "${artifact_path}" ]]; then
+  echo "binary artifact not found: ${artifact_path}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "${image_ref}" ]]; then
+  echo "BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_REF or IMAGE_REF is required" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+workdir="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "${workdir}"' EXIT
+
+git clone --depth 1 "${playbooks_repo_url}" "${workdir}/playbooks"
+git -C "${workdir}/playbooks" fetch --depth 1 origin "${playbooks_repo_ref}"
+git -C "${workdir}/playbooks" checkout --detach FETCH_HEAD
+
+export ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING=false
+export BILLING_SERVICE_BINARY_ARTIFACT="$(cd "$(dirname "${artifact_path}")" && pwd)/$(basename "${artifact_path}")"
+export BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_REF="${image_ref}"
+export DATABASE_URL="${database_url}"
+export INTERNAL_SERVICE_TOKEN="${internal_service_token}"
+
+cd "${workdir}/playbooks"
+ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini deploy_billing_service.yml --limit "${target_host}"
diff --git a/scripts/github-actions/test-release-traceability-workflow.sh b/scripts/github-actions/test-release-traceability-workflow.sh
index 200c195..5018511 100644
--- a/scripts/github-actions/test-release-traceability-workflow.sh
+++ b/scripts/github-actions/test-release-traceability-workflow.sh
@@ -30,6 +30,34 @@ if not any(line.strip() == "- build" for line in validate_block):
 if not any(line.strip() == "- deploy" for line in validate_block):
     raise SystemExit("validate job must depend on deploy")
 
+build_block = []
+deploy_block = []
+current_job = None
+
+for line in lines:
+    if line.startswith("  build:"):
+        current_job = "build"
+    elif line.startswith("  deploy:"):
+        current_job = "deploy"
+    elif line.startswith("  validate:"):
+        current_job = "validate"
+    elif line.startswith("  ") and not line.startswith("    "):
+        current_job = None
+
+    if current_job == "build":
+        build_block.append(line)
+    elif current_job == "deploy":
+        deploy_block.append(line)
+
+if not any("Upload billing-service binary artifact" in line for line in build_block):
+    raise SystemExit("build job must upload the billing-service binary artifact")
+
+if not any("Download billing-service binary artifact" in line for line in deploy_block):
+    raise SystemExit("deploy job must download the billing-service binary artifact")
+
+if not any("BILLING_SERVICE_IMAGE_REF: ${{ needs.build.outputs.service_image_ref }}" in line for line in deploy_block):
+    raise SystemExit("deploy job must consume needs.build.outputs.service_image_ref")
+
 if not any("SERVICE_IMAGE_REF: ${{ needs.build.outputs.service_image_ref }}" in line for line in validate_block):
     raise SystemExit("validate job must consume needs.build.outputs.service_image_ref")
 PY
diff --git a/scripts/github-actions/validate-release-traceability-remote.sh b/scripts/github-actions/validate-release-traceability-remote.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c63e7ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/github-actions/validate-release-traceability-remote.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+service_image_ref="${SERVICE_IMAGE_REF:?SERVICE_IMAGE_REF is required}"
+target_host="${STACK_TARGET_HOST:?STACK_TARGET_HOST is required}"
+ssh_target="${RUNTIME_SSH_TARGET:-root@${target_host}}"
+runtime_ping_path="${RUNTIME_PING_PATH:-http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/ping}"
+tag="${service_image_ref##*:}"
+commit="${tag#sha-}"
+
+ssh -o BatchMode=yes "${ssh_target}" "systemctl is-active billing-service >/dev/null"
+
+runtime_payload="$(ssh -o BatchMode=yes "${ssh_target}" "curl -fsS ${runtime_ping_path}")"
+
+jq -e \
+  --arg image "${service_image_ref}" \
+  --arg tag "${tag}" \
+  --arg commit "${commit}" \
+  '
+  (.image | type == "string" and length > 0) and
+  (.tag | type == "string" and length > 0) and
+  (.commit | type == "string" and length > 0) and
+  (.version | type == "string" and length > 0) and
+  .image == $image and
+  .tag == $tag and
+  .commit == $commit and
+  .version == $commit
+  ' <<<"${runtime_payload}" >/dev/null