diff --git a/.github/workflows/bazel_test.yml b/.github/workflows/bazel_test.yml
index cbb0f585f4..c221371b26 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bazel_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bazel_test.yml
@@ -27,9 +27,8 @@ permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
-  test:
+  lint:
     runs-on: [self-hosted, bazel]
-
     steps:
     - name: Checkout repository
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -37,6 +36,14 @@ jobs:
         lfs: false
     - name: Check BUILD.bazel dependencies
       run: ./scripts/check_build_deps.sh --strict
+
+  test:
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, bazel]
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout repository
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        lfs: false
     - name: Run tests
       run: bazel test --build_event_json_file=test.json //src/test/... //src/main/go/...
     - name: Collect failed test logs
diff --git a/scripts/check_build_deps.sh b/scripts/check_build_deps.sh
index 687b6261cd..f3eafb467a 100755
--- a/scripts/check_build_deps.sh
+++ b/scripts/check_build_deps.sh
@@ -22,11 +22,31 @@ NC='\033[0m' # No Color
 MODE="${1:-check}"
 EXIT_CODE=0
 
+# Cache for expensive bazel query results
+LIBRARY_DEPS_CACHE=""
+MAIN_DEPS_CACHE=""
+
+# Get deps of library/ (cached)
+get_library_deps() {
+    if [ -z "$LIBRARY_DEPS_CACHE" ]; then
+        LIBRARY_DEPS_CACHE=$(bazel query 'deps(//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library/...)' 2>/dev/null || true)
+    fi
+    echo "$LIBRARY_DEPS_CACHE"
+}
+
+# Get deps of src/main (cached)
+get_main_deps() {
+    if [ -z "$MAIN_DEPS_CACHE" ]; then
+        MAIN_DEPS_CACHE=$(bazel query 'deps(//src/main/...)' 2>/dev/null || true)
+    fi
+    echo "$MAIN_DEPS_CACHE"
+}
+
 # Rule 1: src/main should not depend on src/test
 check_main_depends_on_test() {
     echo -e "${YELLOW}Checking: src/main should not depend on src/test...${NC}"
 
-    violations=$(bazel query 'deps(//src/main/...) intersect //src/test/...' 2>/dev/null || true)
+    violations=$(get_main_deps | grep "^//src/test/" || true)
 
     if [ -n "$violations" ]; then
         echo -e "${RED}VIOLATION: src/main depends on src/test:${NC}"
@@ -43,7 +63,7 @@ check_main_depends_on_test() {
 check_library_depends_on_scala_proto() {
     echo -e "${YELLOW}Checking: library/ should not depend on Scala proto types...${NC}"
 
-    violations=$(bazel query 'deps(//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library/...) intersect //src/main/protobuf/...' 2>/dev/null | grep "_scala_proto" || true)
+    violations=$(get_library_deps | grep "^//src/main/protobuf/.*_scala_proto$" || true)
     if [ -z "$violations" ]; then
         count=0
     else
@@ -65,7 +85,7 @@ check_library_depends_on_scala_proto() {
 check_library_depends_on_proto_converters() {
     echo -e "${YELLOW}Checking: library/ should not depend on proto_converters...${NC}"
 
-    violations=$(bazel query 'deps(//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library/...) intersect //src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/model/proto_converters/...' 2>/dev/null | grep "^//" || true)
+    violations=$(get_library_deps | grep "^//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/model/proto_converters/" || true)
 
     if [ -n "$violations" ]; then
         count=$(echo "$violations" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
@@ -85,7 +105,8 @@ check_library_depends_on_proto_converters() {
 count_proto_deps() {
     echo -e "${YELLOW}=== Proto dependency counts ===${NC}"
 
-    scala_proto_results=$(bazel query 'deps(//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library/...) intersect //src/main/protobuf/...' 2>/dev/null | grep "_scala_proto" || true)
+    library_deps=$(get_library_deps)
+    scala_proto_results=$(echo "$library_deps" | grep "^//src/main/protobuf/.*_scala_proto$" || true)
     if [ -z "$scala_proto_results" ]; then
         scala_proto_count=0
     else
@@ -94,7 +115,7 @@ count_proto_deps() {
     echo "library/ Scala proto deps: $scala_proto_count"
 
     # C++/Go proto deps are expected (map generation tools)
-    all_proto_count=$(bazel query 'deps(//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library/...) intersect //src/main/protobuf/...' 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
+    all_proto_count=$(echo "$library_deps" | grep -c "^//src/main/protobuf/" || echo "0")
     echo "library/ all proto deps (includes C++/Go build tools): $all_proto_count"
 }