diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-maximal.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-maximal.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fdc1069da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-maximal.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+name: Publish Maximal Docker Image
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - feature/optimize-docker-ci
+  workflow_dispatch: # for manual run from GitHub UI
+
+jobs:
+  build-and-push-image:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    
+    # permission to upload the image to GitHub Container Registry
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Log in to GitHub Container Registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Build and push Docker image
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          context: .
+          file: Dockerfile.maximal
+          push: true
+          # this will tag the image as latest, you can also add more tags if needed
+          tags: ghcr.io/tirthpatel90/serena-maximal:latest
+          # Caching on for future runs, this will speed up the build process by reusing layers
+          cache-from: type=gha
+          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
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diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-maximal.yml b/.github/workflows/test-maximal.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa5a52153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-maximal.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+name: Test with Maximal Image
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - feature/optimize-docker-ci
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+# Added permissions block to resolve GitHub Advanced Security warning
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  fast-docker-test:
+    name: Linux Tests (Containerized)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    
+    # Execute the workflow directly inside the pre-built maximal container
+    container:
+      image: ghcr.io/tirthpatel90/serena-maximal:latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Quick Workspace Sync
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # Perform a rapid workspace sync (bypasses heavy toolchain installations)
+          uv sync --extra dev --locked
+          uv pip list
+
+      - name: Test with pytest (Optimized)
+        shell: bash
+        run: uv run poe test -q --tb=short
+
+      - name: Type-checking with mypy
+        shell: bash
+        run: uv run poe type-check
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile.maximal b/Dockerfile.maximal
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d5f4f7db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile.maximal
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+# ---------------------------------------------------------
+# STAGE 1: The Maximal Base (All dependencies baked in)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------
+FROM python:3.11-slim AS base
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-c"]
+
+ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
+ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
+
+# Prevent apt-get from hanging indefinitely on interactive prompts
+ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+
+# 1. Install ALL system dependencies together
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    curl build-essential git ssh sudo wget zip unzip \
+    sed \
+    ccls \
+    fpc fpc-source \
+    libcurl4-openssl-dev libssl-dev libicu-dev zlib1g-dev \
+    pkg-config libuv1-dev libxml2-dev \
+    cpanminus libanyevent-perl libio-aio-perl \
+    default-jdk \
+    ruby-full \
+    golang-go \
+    r-base \
+    opam \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# 2. Install pipx
+RUN python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir pipx
+ENV PATH="/root/.local/bin:${PATH}"
+
+# 3. Install Julia (Bypass Precompilation Hang)
+ENV JULIA_NUM_THREADS=1
+ENV JULIA_CPU_THREADS=1
+ENV JULIA_PKG_PRECOMPILE_AUTO=0
+RUN curl -L https://julialang-s3.julialang.org/bin/linux/x64/1.10/julia-1.10.4-linux-x86_64.tar.gz -o julia.tar.gz \
+    && mkdir -p /opt/julia \
+    && tar -xzf julia.tar.gz -C /opt/julia --strip-components=1 \
+    && rm julia.tar.gz \
+    && wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/p/prelink/execstack_0.0.20131005-1_amd64.deb \
+    && dpkg -i execstack_0.0.20131005-1_amd64.deb \
+    && rm execstack_0.0.20131005-1_amd64.deb \
+    && execstack -c /opt/julia/lib/julia/libopenlibm.so \
+    && execstack -c /opt/julia/lib/julia/sys.so || true \
+    && ln -s /opt/julia/bin/julia /usr/local/bin/julia \
+    && julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add("LanguageServer")'
+
+# 4. Install R Language Server (Using Pre-compiled Binaries)
+RUN Rscript -e "install.packages('languageserver', repos='https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/bookworm/latest')"
+
+# 5. Install Node.js and Elm
+ENV NVM_VERSION=0.40.3
+ENV NODE_VERSION=22.18.0
+RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v${NVM_VERSION}/install.sh | bash
+ENV NVM_DIR=/root/.nvm
+RUN . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" && nvm install ${NODE_VERSION} \
+    && nvm use v${NODE_VERSION} \
+    && nvm alias default v${NODE_VERSION} \
+    && npm install -g elm@0.19.1-6
+ENV PATH="${NVM_DIR}/versions/node/v${NODE_VERSION}/bin/:${PATH}"
+
+# 6. Install uv
+RUN curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
+
+# 7. Install Rust
+ENV RUSTUP_HOME=/usr/local/rustup
+ENV CARGO_HOME=/usr/local/cargo
+ENV PATH="${CARGO_HOME}/bin:${PATH}"
+RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y \
+    --default-toolchain stable \
+    --profile minimal \
+    && rustup component add rust-analyzer
+
+# 8. Install Go gopls
+RUN go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest
+ENV PATH="/root/go/bin:${PATH}"
+
+# 9. Install Ruby LSP
+RUN gem install ruby-lsp
+
+# 10. Install Perl Language Server
+RUN PERL_MM_USE_DEFAULT=1 cpanm --notest --force Perl::LanguageServer
+
+# 11. Install Terraform
+RUN wget https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/1.5.0/terraform_1.5.0_linux_amd64.zip \
+    && unzip terraform_1.5.0_linux_amd64.zip \
+    && mv terraform /usr/local/bin/ \
+    && rm terraform_1.5.0_linux_amd64.zip
+
+# 12. Install Zig and ZLS
+RUN wget https://github.com/zigtools/zls/releases/download/0.14.0/zls-x86_64-linux.tar.xz \
+    && tar -xf zls-x86_64-linux.tar.xz \
+    && mv zls /usr/local/bin/ \
+    && rm zls-x86_64-linux.tar.xz \
+    && wget https://ziglang.org/download/0.14.0/zig-linux-x86_64-0.14.0.tar.xz \
+    && tar -xf zig-linux-x86_64-0.14.0.tar.xz -C /usr/local --strip-components=1 \
+    && rm zig-linux-x86_64-0.14.0.tar.xz
+
+# 13. Install Lua Language Server
+ENV LUA_LS_VERSION="3.15.0"
+RUN mkdir -p /opt/lua-ls \
+    && wget https://github.com/LuaLS/lua-language-server/releases/download/${LUA_LS_VERSION}/lua-language-server-${LUA_LS_VERSION}-linux-x64.tar.gz \
+    && tar -xzf lua-language-server-${LUA_LS_VERSION}-linux-x64.tar.gz -C /opt/lua-ls \
+    && rm lua-language-server-${LUA_LS_VERSION}-linux-x64.tar.gz \
+    && chmod +x /opt/lua-ls/bin/lua-language-server \
+    && ln -s /opt/lua-ls/bin/lua-language-server /usr/local/bin/lua-language-server
+
+# 14. Install Regal (Rego Language Server)
+ENV REGAL_VERSION="0.39.0"
+RUN curl -L -o regal https://github.com/StyraInc/regal/releases/download/v${REGAL_VERSION}/regal_Linux_x86_64 \
+    && chmod +x regal \
+    && mv regal /usr/local/bin/
+
+# 15. Install OCaml, Dune, and OCaml-LSP-Server
+# Disable sandboxing for Docker compatibility
+RUN opam init -a -y --disable-sandboxing \
+    && eval $(opam env) \
+    && opam install -y dune 'ocaml-lsp-server>=1.23.0'
+ENV PATH="/root/.opam/default/bin:${PATH}"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------
+# STAGE 2: Serena App Setup
+# ---------------------------------------------------------
+WORKDIR /workspaces/serena
+
+# Copy all files for development
+COPY . /workspaces/serena/
+
+# Create Serena configuration
+ENV SERENA_HOME=/workspaces/serena/config
+RUN mkdir -p $SERENA_HOME
+RUN cp src/serena/resources/serena_config.template.yml $SERENA_HOME/serena_config.yml
+RUN sed -i 's/^gui_log_window: .*/gui_log_window: False/' $SERENA_HOME/serena_config.yml
+RUN sed -i 's/^web_dashboard_listen_address: .*/web_dashboard_listen_address: 0.0.0.0/' $SERENA_HOME/serena_config.yml
+RUN sed -i 's/^web_dashboard_open_on_launch: .*/web_dashboard_open_on_launch: False/' $SERENA_HOME/serena_config.yml
+
+# Create virtual environment and install dependencies
+RUN uv venv
+RUN . .venv/bin/activate \
+    && uv pip install -r pyproject.toml -e . \
+    && uv pip install ansible-core ansible-lint
+
+ENV PATH="/workspaces/serena/.venv/bin:${PATH}"
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/bash", "-c", "source .venv/bin/activate && $0 $@"]
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