diff --git a/.agents/skills/build-openshell-mxc-windows/SKILL.md b/.agents/skills/build-openshell-mxc-windows/SKILL.md
index cd5689d7bb..4f233d9ea1 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/build-openshell-mxc-windows/SKILL.md
+++ b/.agents/skills/build-openshell-mxc-windows/SKILL.md
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ MXC on Windows. Each other `compute-driver-*` feature installs its own Windows
 rejection stub without linking that driver crate. The default
 `in-tree-compute-drivers` alias enables all five features. An MXC-only build
 uses `--no-default-features --features compute-driver-mxc` (add `telemetry`
-and `bundled-z3` as needed).
+and `openshell-server/prebuilt-z3` as needed).
 
 | Driver | Windows build behavior | Runtime behavior |
 |---|---|---|
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 931d97500f..56af987b36 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -309,16 +309,15 @@ Project requirements:
 - Rust 1.94+
 - Python 3.11+
 - Docker (running)
-- CMake 3.16+ (only required when building with the `bundled-z3` feature)
 
 ### Z3 installation
 
 The `openshell-prover` crate links directly against Z3. The `openshell-server`
 crate depends on the prover, and the `openshell-gateway` binary crate depends
-on `openshell-server` in turn; both forward a `bundled-z3` feature down to
-`openshell-prover/bundled-z3`. The `openshell-cli` crate does not depend on
-Z3. On macOS and Linux, install the system Z3 development package; `z3-sys`
-discovers it through `pkg-config`.
+on `openshell-server` in turn. The `openshell-cli` crate does not depend on Z3.
+The Nix development shell supplies Z3. For builds outside that shell on macOS
+and Linux, install the system Z3 development package; `z3-sys` discovers it
+through `pkg-config`.
 
 ```bash
 # macOS
@@ -331,13 +330,6 @@ sudo apt install libz3-dev
 sudo dnf install z3-devel
 ```
 
-If you prefer not to install Z3 system-wide, use the bundled Z3 feature. This
-compiles Z3 from source during the Rust build and requires CMake 3.16+:
-
-```bash
-cargo build -p openshell-prover --features bundled-z3
-```
-
 For x86-64 and ARM64 Windows MSVC builds, use one of these Z3 paths:
 
 - Prebuilt Z3 (the default for `windows:*` tasks): `z3-sys` downloads the
@@ -351,14 +343,12 @@ For x86-64 and ARM64 Windows MSVC builds, use one of these Z3 paths:
   target-compatible MSVC Z3 library and `Z3_SYS_Z3_HEADER` at the full path to `z3.h`.
   The `windows:*` tasks use this path automatically when `Z3_LIBRARY_PATH_OVERRIDE`
   is set.
-- Bundled Z3: for direct Cargo builds, pass `--features bundled-z3` so `z3-sys`
-  builds Z3 from source.
 
 `openshell-prover` itself has no `bindgen`/`libclang` dependency, so building
 just this crate does not require `LIBCLANG_PATH`:
 
 ```powershell
-cargo build -p openshell-prover --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc --features bundled-z3
+cargo build -p openshell-prover --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc --features prebuilt-z3
 ```
 
 ### Windows full build
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c633b7f26c..7d84268264 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -8811,15 +8811,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "z3-sys",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "z3-src"
-version = "416.0.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f2af0c6527de39877cf55cb87f233016573eeeb7cf77afdc1469e4b32faef832"
-dependencies = [
- "cmake",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "z3-sys"
 version = "0.11.0"
@@ -8829,7 +8820,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "pkg-config",
  "reqwest 0.12.28",
  "serde_json",
- "z3-src",
  "zip",
 ]
 
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9fbcc9a8c8..99479f1db7 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ k8s-openapi = { version = "0.24", features = ["v1_29"] }
 # IDs
 uuid = { version = "1.10", features = ["v4"] }
 
-# SMT solver (uses system libz3; enable z3/bundled via the prover's bundled-z3 feature for local dev without system z3)
+# SMT solver (uses system libz3; Windows build tasks enable the prebuilt release feature)
 z3 = "0.20"
 
 [workspace.lints.rust]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 70e6e5c09f..a943795100 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -283,8 +283,8 @@ cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --no-default-features --features tele
 # Docker and VM only, with telemetry compiled out.
 cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --no-default-features --features compute-driver-docker,compute-driver-vm
 
-# Windows MXC only, with telemetry support and bundled Z3.
-cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --no-default-features --features telemetry,compute-driver-mxc,bundled-z3
+# Windows MXC only, with telemetry support and prebuilt Z3.
+cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --no-default-features --features telemetry,compute-driver-mxc,openshell-server/prebuilt-z3
 ```
 
 Regular builds retain their platform driver set through the default `in-tree-compute-drivers` compatibility feature. On Windows, `compute-driver-mxc` selects MXC; the other four features install unsupported-driver stubs. On other platforms, MXC is excluded.
diff --git a/architecture/build.md b/architecture/build.md
index a5dcfe9241..6f51662d16 100644
--- a/architecture/build.md
+++ b/architecture/build.md
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ already satisfies Linux distribution trust-store policy.
 
 The workspace uses `z3` versions whose `z3-sys` dependency keeps downloader
 HTTP/TLS support behind explicit build features, so default system-Z3 builds do
-not reintroduce bundled Mozilla roots. Release builds that need bundled Z3
-continue to opt in with `bundled-z3`.
+not reintroduce bundled Mozilla roots. Windows builds can explicitly select the
+prebuilt Z3 release path.
 
 ## Linux Runtime Environments
 
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ The standalone `openshell` CLI is built as a static musl binary so it can run on
 a wide range of Linux distributions without depending on the host's glibc. Host
 runtime binaries that use the GNU/Linux runtime environment are GNU-linked.
 `openshell-gateway` and `openshell-driver-vm` are built with a glibc 2.28 floor.
-The gateway bundles z3 into the release binary so Linux packages, standalone
-tarballs, and gateway images do not depend on distro-specific z3 shared-library
-SONAMEs.
+The gateway statically links the target-specific Z3 library supplied by the Nix
+toolchain so Linux packages, standalone tarballs, and gateway images do not
+depend on distro-specific Z3 shared-library SONAMEs.
 
 The supervisor is the one binary whose libc is selectable, because it is the one
 binary executed inside a userland OpenShell does not control. `SUPERVISOR_LIBC`
@@ -138,12 +138,12 @@ otherwise fail with `ProcessFdQuotaExceeded` under macOS's default soft limit of
 256. The guard is a no-op on Linux and when `cargo-zigbuild` is absent. Gateway
 binaries use `cargo zigbuild` with GNU targets pinned to glibc 2.28, including
 native-architecture builds, so the gateway image, standalone tarballs, and Linux
-packages share the same host portability floor. The gateway build enables
-`bundled-z3`. Linux VM driver release artifacts use the same glibc floor so
-package-managed VM support does not raise the package runtime requirement.
-Gateway staging and release workflows set up the Zig C/C++ wrapper before
-bundled Z3 builds and verify the maximum referenced `GLIBC_*` symbol version
-before publishing or copying artifacts.
+packages share the same host portability floor. The gateway build links the
+target-specific static Z3 library from the Nix toolchain. Linux VM driver
+release artifacts use the same glibc floor so package-managed VM support does
+not raise the package runtime requirement. Gateway staging and release
+workflows use the target-specific C/C++ toolchain and verify the maximum
+referenced `GLIBC_*` symbol version before publishing or copying artifacts.
 Supervisor binaries are static in every configuration. The default `musl`
 variant uses `cargo zigbuild` when available, including native CPU
 architectures, so C dependencies are compiled for the musl target instead of the
@@ -217,10 +217,8 @@ Runtime layout:
 - **Gateway**: `gcr.io/distroless/cc-debian13:nonroot` base, GNU-linked binary at
   `/usr/local/bin/openshell-gateway`, runs as UID/GID `1000:1000`. Linux GNU
   gateway binaries must not reference `GLIBC_*` symbols newer than
-  `GLIBC_2.28`; release workflows verify this before publishing artifacts. The
-  gateway bundles z3, so the image does not need a distro-provided z3 runtime.
-  The base is pinned to a multi-architecture digest; distro security updates
-  require refreshing that digest and rebuilding the gateway image.
+  `GLIBC_2.28`; release workflows verify this before publishing artifacts. Z3
+  is statically linked, so the image does not need a distro-provided Z3 runtime.
 - **VM driver**: host GNU-linked binary installed at
   `/usr/libexec/openshell/openshell-driver-vm` in Linux packages and published
   as a release artifact. Linux GNU VM driver binaries must not reference
diff --git a/crates/openshell-gateway/Cargo.toml b/crates/openshell-gateway/Cargo.toml
index 32dcaeb24c..04115b4c88 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-gateway/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/openshell-gateway/Cargo.toml
@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@ telemetry = ["openshell-core/telemetry", "openshell-server/telemetry"]
 ## telemetry-on build. Kept in sync with `default` by
 ## `rust:verify:defaults-without-telemetry`.
 defaults-without-telemetry = ["in-tree-compute-drivers"]
-bundled-z3 = ["openshell-server/bundled-z3"]
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml b/crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml
index b620280e46..041e7aa7bc 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ license.workspace = true
 repository.workspace = true
 
 [features]
-bundled-z3 = ["z3/bundled"]
 prebuilt-z3 = ["z3/gh-release"]
 
 [dependencies]
diff --git a/crates/openshell-server/Cargo.toml b/crates/openshell-server/Cargo.toml
index 505c37d50f..297113bc29 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/openshell-server/Cargo.toml
@@ -119,7 +119,6 @@ default = ["telemetry"]
 ## On by default; build with `--no-default-features` for a telemetry-free gateway
 ## that contains no telemetry endpoint, HTTP client, or emission code.
 telemetry = ["openshell-core/telemetry"]
-bundled-z3 = ["openshell-prover/bundled-z3"]
 prebuilt-z3 = ["openshell-prover/prebuilt-z3"]
 test-support = []
 
diff --git a/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.cli-macos b/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.cli-macos
deleted file mode 100644
index f86cd594b2..0000000000
--- a/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.cli-macos
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,131 +0,0 @@
-# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.6
-
-# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-# Cross-compile the openshell CLI binary for macOS aarch64 (Apple Silicon)
-# using the osxcross toolchain.  Produces a standalone binary — no Python
-# wheel wrapping.
-#
-# Usage:
-#   docker buildx build -f deploy/docker/Dockerfile.cli-macos \
-#     --build-arg OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION=0.6.0 \
-#     --output type=local,dest=out/ .
-
-ARG OSXCROSS_IMAGE=ghcr.io/crazy-max/osxcross:latest
-ARG PYTHON_IMAGE=public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.12-slim
-
-FROM ${OSXCROSS_IMAGE} AS osxcross
-
-FROM ${PYTHON_IMAGE} AS builder
-
-ARG CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE=default
-
-ENV PATH="/root/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/bin:/osxcross/bin:${PATH}"
-ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/osxcross/lib"
-
-COPY --from=osxcross /osxcross /osxcross
-
-RUN SDKROOT="$(echo /osxcross/SDK/MacOSX*.sdk)" && ln -sfn "${SDKROOT}" /osxcross/SDK/MacOSX.sdk
-
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    build-essential \
-    ca-certificates \
-    clang \
-    cmake \
-    curl \
-    libclang-dev \
-    pkg-config \
-    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-
-RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain 1.95.0
-
-# aws-lc-sys probes with --target=arm64-apple-macosx and clang then looks for
-# arm64-apple-macosx-ld.  Provide a linker alias to osxcross ld64.
-RUN ln -sf /osxcross/bin/arm64-apple-darwin25.1-ld /usr/local/bin/arm64-apple-macosx-ld
-
-RUN rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin
-
-WORKDIR /build
-
-ENV CC_aarch64_apple_darwin=oa64-clang
-ENV CXX_aarch64_apple_darwin=oa64-clang++
-ENV AR_aarch64_apple_darwin=aarch64-apple-darwin25.1-ar
-ENV CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_APPLE_DARWIN_LINKER=oa64-clang
-ENV CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_APPLE_DARWIN_AR=aarch64-apple-darwin25.1-ar
-ENV SDKROOT=/osxcross/SDK/MacOSX.sdk
-ENV MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=13.3
-ENV CFLAGS_aarch64_apple_darwin=--target=arm64-apple-macosx\ -mmacosx-version-min=13.3
-ENV CXXFLAGS_aarch64_apple_darwin=--target=arm64-apple-macosx\ -mmacosx-version-min=13.3
-ENV BINDGEN_EXTRA_CLANG_ARGS_aarch64_apple_darwin=--target=arm64-apple-macosx\ -isysroot\ ${SDKROOT}
-
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Stage 1: dependency caching — copy only manifests, create dummy sources,
-# build dependencies.  This layer is cached unless Cargo.toml/lock changes.
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./
-COPY crates/openshell-bootstrap/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-bootstrap/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-cli/Cargo.toml      crates/openshell-cli/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-core/Cargo.toml     crates/openshell-core/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-policy/Cargo.toml   crates/openshell-policy/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-providers/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-providers/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-tui/Cargo.toml      crates/openshell-tui/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml   crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-core/build.rs       crates/openshell-core/build.rs
-COPY proto/ proto/
-
-# Scope workspace to CLI crates only to avoid compiling unrelated runtimes.
-RUN sed -i 's|members = \["crates/\*"\]|members = ["crates/openshell-cli", "crates/openshell-core", "crates/openshell-bootstrap", "crates/openshell-policy", "crates/openshell-prover", "crates/openshell-providers", "crates/openshell-tui"]|' Cargo.toml
-
-RUN mkdir -p crates/openshell-cli/src \
-             crates/openshell-core/src \
-             crates/openshell-bootstrap/src \
-             crates/openshell-policy/src \
-             crates/openshell-providers/src \
-             crates/openshell-prover/src \
-             crates/openshell-tui/src && \
-    echo "fn main() {}" > crates/openshell-cli/src/main.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-core/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-bootstrap/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-policy/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-providers/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-prover/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-tui/src/lib.rs
-
-RUN --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-registry-cli-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/registry \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-git-cli-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/git \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-target-cli-macos-${CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE},sharing=locked,target=/build/target \
-    cargo build --release --target aarch64-apple-darwin -p openshell-cli  2>/dev/null || true
-
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Stage 2: real build
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-COPY crates/ crates/
-COPY providers/ providers/
-
-# Touch source files to ensure they're rebuilt (not the cached dummy).
-RUN touch crates/openshell-cli/src/main.rs \
-    crates/openshell-cli/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-bootstrap/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-core/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-policy/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-providers/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-tui/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-core/build.rs \
-    proto/*.proto
-
-# Declare version ARGs here (not earlier) so the git-hash-bearing values do not
-# invalidate the expensive dependency-build layers above on every commit.
-ARG OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION
-ARG OPENSHELL_IMAGE_TAG
-RUN --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-registry-cli-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/registry \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-git-cli-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/git \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-target-cli-macos-${CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE},sharing=locked,target=/build/target \
-    if [ -n "${OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION:-}" ]; then \
-      sed -i -E '/^\[workspace\.package\]/,/^\[/{s/^version[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*".*"/version = "'"${OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION}"'"/}' Cargo.toml; \
-    fi && \
-    cargo build --release --target aarch64-apple-darwin -p openshell-cli && \
-    cp target/aarch64-apple-darwin/release/openshell /openshell
-
-FROM scratch AS binary
-COPY --from=builder /openshell /openshell
diff --git a/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.driver-vm-macos b/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.driver-vm-macos
deleted file mode 100644
index 58317a52d8..0000000000
--- a/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.driver-vm-macos
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,119 +0,0 @@
-# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.6
-
-# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-# Cross-compile the openshell-driver-vm binary for macOS aarch64 (Apple
-# Silicon) using the osxcross toolchain.
-#
-# openshell-driver-vm loads libkrun/libkrunfw at runtime via dlopen, so it
-# does NOT need Hypervisor.framework headers at build time. Pre-compressed
-# runtime artifacts (libkrun, libkrunfw, gvproxy, bundled supervisor) are injected via
-# the vm-runtime-compressed build context and embedded into the binary via
-# include_bytes!().
-#
-# Usage:
-#   docker buildx build -f deploy/docker/Dockerfile.driver-vm-macos \
-#     --build-arg OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION=0.6.0 \
-#     --build-context vm-runtime-compressed=/path/to/compressed-dir \
-#     --output type=local,dest=out/ .
-
-ARG OSXCROSS_IMAGE=ghcr.io/crazy-max/osxcross:latest
-ARG PYTHON_IMAGE=public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.12-slim
-
-FROM ${OSXCROSS_IMAGE} AS osxcross
-
-FROM ${PYTHON_IMAGE} AS builder
-
-ARG CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE=default
-
-ENV PATH="/root/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/bin:/osxcross/bin:${PATH}"
-ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/osxcross/lib"
-
-COPY --from=osxcross /osxcross /osxcross
-
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    build-essential \
-    ca-certificates \
-    clang \
-    cmake \
-    curl \
-    pkg-config \
-    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-
-RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain 1.95.0
-
-RUN rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin
-
-WORKDIR /build
-
-ENV CC_aarch64_apple_darwin=oa64-clang
-ENV CXX_aarch64_apple_darwin=oa64-clang++
-ENV AR_aarch64_apple_darwin=aarch64-apple-darwin25.1-ar
-ENV CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_APPLE_DARWIN_LINKER=oa64-clang
-ENV CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_APPLE_DARWIN_AR=aarch64-apple-darwin25.1-ar
-
-# aws-lc-sys workaround (in case it ends up in the dep tree via feature unification)
-RUN ln -sf /osxcross/bin/arm64-apple-darwin25.1-ld /usr/local/bin/arm64-apple-macosx-ld
-
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Stage 1: dependency caching — copy only manifests, create dummy sources,
-# build dependencies. This layer is cached unless Cargo.toml/lock changes.
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./
-COPY crates/openshell-driver-vm/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-driver-vm/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-driver-vm/build.rs   crates/openshell-driver-vm/build.rs
-COPY crates/openshell-core/Cargo.toml      crates/openshell-core/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-core/build.rs        crates/openshell-core/build.rs
-COPY proto/ proto/
-
-# Scope workspace to the driver + its only internal dep.
-RUN sed -i 's|members = \["crates/\*"\]|members = ["crates/openshell-driver-vm", "crates/openshell-core"]|' Cargo.toml
-
-RUN mkdir -p crates/openshell-driver-vm/src \
-             crates/openshell-core/src && \
-    echo "fn main() {}" > crates/openshell-driver-vm/src/main.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-driver-vm/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-core/src/lib.rs
-
-# Build deps only (cached layer). The 2>/dev/null || true is a warm-cache
-# technique; real source is copied in stage 2.
-RUN --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-registry-driver-vm-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/registry \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-git-driver-vm-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/git \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-target-driver-vm-macos-${CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE},sharing=locked,target=/build/target \
-    cargo build --release --target aarch64-apple-darwin -p openshell-driver-vm 2>/dev/null || true
-
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Stage 2: real build with compressed runtime artifacts
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-COPY crates/ crates/
-
-# Copy compressed VM runtime artifacts for embedding.
-# These are passed in via --build-context vm-runtime-compressed=...
-COPY --from=vm-runtime-compressed / /build/vm-runtime-compressed/
-
-# Touch source files to ensure they're rebuilt (not the cached dummy).
-RUN touch crates/openshell-driver-vm/src/main.rs \
-    crates/openshell-driver-vm/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-driver-vm/build.rs \
-    crates/openshell-core/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-core/build.rs \
-    proto/*.proto
-
-# Declare version ARGs here (not earlier) so the git-hash-bearing values do not
-# invalidate the expensive dependency-build layers above on every commit.
-ARG OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION
-ARG OPENSHELL_IMAGE_TAG
-RUN --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-registry-driver-vm-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/registry \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-git-driver-vm-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/git \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-target-driver-vm-macos-${CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE},sharing=locked,target=/build/target \
-    if [ -n "${OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION:-}" ]; then \
-      sed -i -E '/^\[workspace\.package\]/,/^\[/{s/^version[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*".*"/version = "'"${OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION}"'"/}' Cargo.toml; \
-    fi && \
-    OPENSHELL_VM_RUNTIME_COMPRESSED_DIR=/build/vm-runtime-compressed \
-    OPENSHELL_IMAGE_TAG="${OPENSHELL_IMAGE_TAG:-dev}" \
-    cargo build --release --target aarch64-apple-darwin -p openshell-driver-vm && \
-    cp target/aarch64-apple-darwin/release/openshell-driver-vm /openshell-driver-vm
-
-FROM scratch AS binary
-COPY --from=builder /openshell-driver-vm /openshell-driver-vm
diff --git a/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.gateway-macos b/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.gateway-macos
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ecbac0397..0000000000
--- a/deploy/docker/Dockerfile.gateway-macos
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,112 +0,0 @@
-# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.6
-
-# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-# Cross-compile the standalone openshell-gateway binary for macOS aarch64
-# (Apple Silicon) using the osxcross toolchain.
-
-ARG OSXCROSS_IMAGE=ghcr.io/crazy-max/osxcross:latest
-ARG PYTHON_IMAGE=public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.12-slim
-
-FROM ${OSXCROSS_IMAGE} AS osxcross
-
-FROM ${PYTHON_IMAGE} AS builder
-
-ARG CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE=default
-
-ENV PATH="/root/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/bin:/osxcross/bin:${PATH}"
-ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/osxcross/lib"
-
-COPY --from=osxcross /osxcross /osxcross
-
-RUN SDKROOT="$(echo /osxcross/SDK/MacOSX*.sdk)" && ln -sfn "${SDKROOT}" /osxcross/SDK/MacOSX.sdk
-
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    build-essential \
-    ca-certificates \
-    clang \
-    cmake \
-    curl \
-    libclang-dev \
-    pkg-config \
-    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-
-RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain 1.95.0
-
-RUN ln -sf /osxcross/bin/arm64-apple-darwin25.1-ld /usr/local/bin/arm64-apple-macosx-ld
-
-RUN rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin
-
-WORKDIR /build
-
-ENV CC_aarch64_apple_darwin=oa64-clang
-ENV CXX_aarch64_apple_darwin=oa64-clang++
-ENV AR_aarch64_apple_darwin=aarch64-apple-darwin25.1-ar
-ENV CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_APPLE_DARWIN_LINKER=oa64-clang
-ENV CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_APPLE_DARWIN_AR=aarch64-apple-darwin25.1-ar
-ENV SDKROOT=/osxcross/SDK/MacOSX.sdk
-ENV MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=13.3
-ENV CFLAGS_aarch64_apple_darwin=--target=arm64-apple-macosx\ -mmacosx-version-min=13.3
-ENV CXXFLAGS_aarch64_apple_darwin=--target=arm64-apple-macosx\ -mmacosx-version-min=13.3
-ENV BINDGEN_EXTRA_CLANG_ARGS_aarch64_apple_darwin=--target=arm64-apple-macosx\ -isysroot\ ${SDKROOT}
-
-COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./
-COPY crates/openshell-core/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-core/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-gateway/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-gateway/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-policy/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-policy/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-prover/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-server/Cargo.toml crates/openshell-server/Cargo.toml
-COPY crates/openshell-core/build.rs crates/openshell-core/build.rs
-COPY proto/ proto/
-
-RUN sed -i 's|members = \["crates/\*"\]|members = ["crates/openshell-gateway", "crates/openshell-server", "crates/openshell-core", "crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes", "crates/openshell-policy", "crates/openshell-prover"]|' Cargo.toml
-
-RUN mkdir -p crates/openshell-core/src \
-             crates/openshell-gateway/src \
-             crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes/src \
-             crates/openshell-policy/src \
-             crates/openshell-prover/src \
-             crates/openshell-server/src && \
-    touch crates/openshell-core/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-gateway/src/lib.rs && \
-    printf 'fn main() {}\n' > crates/openshell-gateway/src/main.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes/src/lib.rs && \
-    printf 'fn main() {}\n' > crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes/src/main.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-policy/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-prover/src/lib.rs && \
-    touch crates/openshell-server/src/lib.rs
-
-RUN --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-registry-gateway-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/registry \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-git-gateway-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/git \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-target-gateway-macos-${CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE},sharing=locked,target=/build/target \
-    cargo build --release --target aarch64-apple-darwin -p openshell-gateway --features bundled-z3 2>/dev/null || true
-
-COPY crates/ crates/
-COPY providers/ providers/
-
-RUN touch crates/openshell-core/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-gateway/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-gateway/src/main.rs \
-    crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-driver-kubernetes/src/main.rs \
-    crates/openshell-policy/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-prover/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-server/src/lib.rs \
-    crates/openshell-core/build.rs \
-    proto/*.proto
-
-ARG OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION
-ARG OPENSHELL_IMAGE_TAG
-RUN --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-registry-gateway-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/registry \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-git-gateway-macos,sharing=locked,target=/root/.cargo/git \
-    --mount=type=cache,id=cargo-target-gateway-macos-${CARGO_TARGET_CACHE_SCOPE},sharing=locked,target=/build/target \
-    if [ -n "${OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION:-}" ]; then \
-      sed -i -E '/^\[workspace\.package\]/,/^\[/{s/^version[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*".*"/version = "'"${OPENSHELL_CARGO_VERSION}"'"/}' Cargo.toml; \
-    fi && \
-    cargo build --release --target aarch64-apple-darwin -p openshell-gateway --features bundled-z3 && \
-    cp target/aarch64-apple-darwin/release/openshell-gateway /openshell-gateway
-
-FROM scratch AS binary
-COPY --from=builder /openshell-gateway /openshell-gateway
diff --git a/docs/reference/sandbox-compute-drivers.mdx b/docs/reference/sandbox-compute-drivers.mdx
index f328909ceb..bcd0d43a8a 100644
--- a/docs/reference/sandbox-compute-drivers.mdx
+++ b/docs/reference/sandbox-compute-drivers.mdx
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --no-default-features --features tele
 On Windows, select only MXC with:
 
 ```shell
-cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --no-default-features --features telemetry,compute-driver-mxc,bundled-z3
+cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --no-default-features --features telemetry,compute-driver-mxc,openshell-server/prebuilt-z3
 ```
 
 The default `in-tree-compute-drivers` feature retains the full platform driver
diff --git a/e2e/run.sh b/e2e/run.sh
index 8d9cee8dac..9ea76d8ebb 100755
--- a/e2e/run.sh
+++ b/e2e/run.sh
@@ -255,8 +255,7 @@ if [ "${mode}" = host ]; then
 	echo "==> Building native host openshell-gateway"
 	mise x -- cargo build "${cargo_jobs[@]}" \
 		-p openshell-gateway \
-		--bin openshell-gateway \
-		--features bundled-z3
+		--bin openshell-gateway
 	host_gateway_bin="${target_dir}/debug/openshell-gateway"
 else
 	echo "==> Preparing ${linux_gateway_rust_target} build target"
@@ -273,8 +272,7 @@ else
 			--release \
 			--target "${linux_gateway_zig_target}" \
 			-p openshell-gateway \
-			--bin openshell-gateway \
-			--features bundled-z3
+			--bin openshell-gateway
 	)
 	guest_gateway_bin="${target_dir}/${linux_gateway_rust_target}/release/openshell-gateway"
 fi
diff --git a/e2e/with-kube-gateway.sh b/e2e/with-kube-gateway.sh
index 8a9eaf3df2..680f4dcb54 100755
--- a/e2e/with-kube-gateway.sh
+++ b/e2e/with-kube-gateway.sh
@@ -794,12 +794,11 @@ if [ "${OPENSHELL_E2E_KUBE_BUILD_IMAGES}" = "1" ]; then
     fi
     external_gateway="${OPENSHELL_GATEWAY_BIN:-${ROOT}/target/debug/openshell-gateway}"
     external_driver="${OPENSHELL_EXTERNAL_DRIVER_BIN:-${ROOT}/target/debug/openshell-driver-kubernetes}"
-    # The test image uses a distroless runtime, so keep Z3 self-contained just
-    # like the production gateway image artifact. A host-linked debug binary
-    # would otherwise require libz3.so from the CI build machine at runtime.
+    # The test image uses a distroless runtime, so build with the same
+    # toolchain-provided static Z3 used by production gateway artifacts.
     if [ -z "${OPENSHELL_GATEWAY_BIN:-}" ]; then
       cargo build -p openshell-gateway --bin openshell-gateway \
-        --no-default-features --features telemetry,bundled-z3
+        --no-default-features --features telemetry
     fi
     if [ -z "${OPENSHELL_EXTERNAL_DRIVER_BIN:-}" ]; then
       cargo build -p openshell-driver-kubernetes --bin openshell-driver-kubernetes
diff --git a/tasks/ci.toml b/tasks/ci.toml
index e2a388e6b1..7f896c570d 100644
--- a/tasks/ci.toml
+++ b/tasks/ci.toml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ hide = true
 description = "Build release Rust binaries consumed by the hand-staged snap"
 run = [
   "cargo build --release -p openshell-cli",
-  "cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway --features bundled-z3",
+  "cargo build --release -p openshell-gateway",
   "cargo build --release -p openshell-sandbox",
 ]
 
diff --git a/tasks/scripts/setup-zig-cc-wrapper.sh b/tasks/scripts/setup-zig-cc-wrapper.sh
index c21e0a3487..3ec27868ca 100755
--- a/tasks/scripts/setup-zig-cc-wrapper.sh
+++ b/tasks/scripts/setup-zig-cc-wrapper.sh
@@ -94,26 +94,6 @@ set(CMAKE_RANLIB "$wrapper_dir/ranlib")
 set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE STATIC_LIBRARY)
 EOF
 
-is_stale_z3_build_dir() {
-  local build_dir=$1
-
-  grep -R -q -E \
-    'cargo-zigbuild|zigc(c|xx)-.*unknown-linux-gnu\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' \
-    "$build_dir/CMakeCache.txt" "$build_dir/CMakeFiles" 2>/dev/null
-}
-
-for profile in release debug; do
-  z3_build_root="target/$bare_cargo_target/$profile/build"
-  if [[ -d $z3_build_root ]]; then
-    while IFS= read -r z3_build_dir; do
-      if is_stale_z3_build_dir "$z3_build_dir"; then
-        echo "Removing stale z3-sys CMake cache: $z3_build_dir" >&2
-        rm -rf "$z3_build_dir"
-      fi
-    done < <(find "$z3_build_root" -mindepth 3 -maxdepth 3 -type d -path "*/z3-sys-*/out/build")
-  fi
-done
-
 target_env=${cargo_target//[-.]/_}
 bare_target_env=${bare_cargo_target//[-.]/_}
 
diff --git a/tasks/scripts/stage-prebuilt-binaries.sh b/tasks/scripts/stage-prebuilt-binaries.sh
index 8f40788ffa..20c80c0ae8 100755
--- a/tasks/scripts/stage-prebuilt-binaries.sh
+++ b/tasks/scripts/stage-prebuilt-binaries.sh
@@ -178,9 +178,6 @@ build_component_for_arch() {
   target="$(target_triple "$arch" "$target_libc")"
   stage="${ROOT}/deploy/docker/.build/prebuilt-binaries/${arch}"
   features="${EXTRA_CARGO_FEATURES:-}"
-  if [[ "$component" == "gateway" && " ${features} " != *" bundled-z3 "* ]]; then
-    features="${features} bundled-z3"
-  fi
   current_host_os="$(host_os)"
   current_host_arch="$(host_arch)"
 
diff --git a/tasks/scripts/trivy-scan.sh b/tasks/scripts/trivy-scan.sh
index 3dd58ebdce..2f7b944bf2 100755
--- a/tasks/scripts/trivy-scan.sh
+++ b/tasks/scripts/trivy-scan.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ PREFLIGHT_OFF=(--helm-set agentSandbox.preflight.enabled=false)
 # These Dockerfiles do not produce release runtime images.
 SKIP_DOCKERFILES=(
   --skip-files 'deploy/docker/Dockerfile.ci'
-  --skip-files 'deploy/docker/Dockerfile.*-macos'
 )
 
 # Explicit OpenShell variants, including dev/E2E regression coverage.