diff --git a/scripts/gate-ci.mjs b/scripts/gate-ci.mjs
index 953d084e..f6e6199a 100644
--- a/scripts/gate-ci.mjs
+++ b/scripts/gate-ci.mjs
@@ -126,7 +126,10 @@ const main = async () => {
 
   // --- Phase 2 (expensive) — only when phase 1 would have been green ---
   const needsDb =
-    scope.test.mode !== 'none' || scope.build.mode !== 'none' || scope.e2e.mode === 'selected'
+    scope.test.mode !== 'none' ||
+    scope.build.mode !== 'none' ||
+    scope.e2e.mode === 'selected' ||
+    scope.e2e.mode === 'curated'
   if (needsDb) {
     console.log('\n[gate:ci] ▶ preflight (teqo_test)')
     const dbOk = await diagnoseDatabaseTarget({
@@ -162,7 +165,11 @@ const main = async () => {
   // the e2e build gets in CI, instead of int fixture residue. Same condition
   // as the CI step. (The gate still builds the default `.next`, not
   // `.next-e2e` — e2e never runs here, OPS72.)
-  if (scope.build.mode !== 'none' || scope.e2e.mode === 'selected') {
+  if (
+    scope.build.mode !== 'none' ||
+    scope.e2e.mode === 'selected' ||
+    scope.e2e.mode === 'curated'
+  ) {
     run('db:reset', 'pnpm', ['db:reset'], dbEnv)
   } else {
     console.log('\n[gate:ci] ⊘ db:reset skipped (no build/e2e phase)')