diff --git a/.checkmake.ini b/.checkmake.ini
index 970266c..9956bc5 100644
--- a/.checkmake.ini
+++ b/.checkmake.ini
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 [checkmake]
 # Disable the phony rule which flags common .PHONY placement patterns
 # as it produces false positives for standard Makefile layouts
+disable=maxbodylength
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index fc91235..e97e077 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -47,3 +47,10 @@ repos:
         language: system
         pass_filenames: false
         stages: [pre-push]
+
+      - id: commit-msg
+        name: validate commit message
+        entry: .venv/bin/python scripts/validate_commit_msg.py
+        language: system
+        stages: [commit-msg]
+        pass_filenames: true
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 14f22e4..3986680 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: all setup install update lint ansible-lint makefile-lint lint-all test test-unit pytest-cov molecule test-all clean
+.PHONY: all setup install update lint ansible-lint makefile-lint lint-all test test-unit pytest-cov molecule molecule-docker molecule-binary molecule-all test-all clean
 
 PYTHON := python3
 VENV := .venv
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ setup: $(VENV)/bin/activate .env activate-scripts checkmake
 	$(BIN)/pip install -e ".[dev]"
 	$(BIN)/ansible-galaxy collection install -r ansible/requirements.yml
 	$(BIN)/pre-commit install
+	$(BIN)/pre-commit install --hook-type commit-msg
 	@echo "Setup complete. Activate the virtual environment with: source .venv/bin/activate"
 
 .env:
@@ -90,30 +91,15 @@ MOLECULE_BASE := cd ansible/roles/gitea-runner && ANSIBLE_ALLOW_BROKEN_CONDITION
 
 # Quick local test: Ubuntu 22.04 only
 molecule:
-	$(MOLECULE_BASE) test
-	$(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary
-	$(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s multi-instance
-	$(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s lifecycle
+	@set -e; for s in default binary multi-instance lifecycle template-content deregister update; do if [ "$$s" = "default" ]; then $(MOLECULE_BASE) test; else $(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s $$s; fi; done
 
 # Docker mode tests for all platforms (sequential; override env vars for CI matrix parallelisation)
 molecule-docker:
-	@echo "Testing Docker mode on all platforms..."
-	$(MOLECULE_BASE) test
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=ubuntu-2404 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2404-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=ubuntu-2604 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2604-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=debian-12 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-debian12-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=debian-13 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-debian13-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=archlinux MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=marcstraube/archlinux-ansible:latest MOLECULE_PLATFORM_COMMAND=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd $(MOLECULE_BASE) test
+	@set -e; for p in ubuntu-2204:geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2204-ansible:latest:'' ubuntu-2404:geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2404-ansible:latest:'' ubuntu-2604:geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2604-ansible:latest:'' debian-12:geerlingguy/docker-debian12-ansible:latest:'' debian-13:geerlingguy/docker-debian13-ansible:latest:'' archlinux:marcstraube/archlinux-ansible:latest:/usr/lib/systemd/systemd; do IFS=":"; set -- $$p; MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=$$1 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=$$2 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_COMMAND=$$3 $(MOLECULE_BASE) test; done
 
 # Binary mode tests for all platforms (sequential; override env vars for CI matrix parallelisation)
 molecule-binary:
-	@echo "Testing Binary mode on all platforms..."
-	$(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=ubuntu-2404 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2404-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=ubuntu-2604 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2604-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=debian-12 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-debian12-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=debian-13 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=geerlingguy/docker-debian13-ansible:latest $(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary
-	MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=archlinux MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=marcstraube/archlinux-ansible:latest MOLECULE_PLATFORM_COMMAND=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd $(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary
+	@set -e; for p in ubuntu-2204:geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2204-ansible:latest:'' ubuntu-2404:geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2404-ansible:latest:'' ubuntu-2604:geerlingguy/docker-ubuntu2604-ansible:latest:'' debian-12:geerlingguy/docker-debian12-ansible:latest:'' debian-13:geerlingguy/docker-debian13-ansible:latest:'' archlinux:marcstraube/archlinux-ansible:latest:/usr/lib/systemd/systemd; do IFS=":"; set -- $$p; MOLECULE_PLATFORM_NAME=$$1 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_IMAGE=$$2 MOLECULE_PLATFORM_COMMAND=$$3 $(MOLECULE_BASE) test -s binary; done
 
 # All platform tests (sequential; use CI matrix for parallel execution)
 molecule-all: molecule-docker molecule-binary
diff --git a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/binary/verify.yml b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/binary/verify.yml
index 0227df2..2859521 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/binary/verify.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/binary/verify.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 - name: Verify
   hosts: all
   become: true
+  vars:
+    runner_name: "molecule-test-runner"
   pre_tasks:
     - name: Load role defaults
       ansible.builtin.include_vars:
diff --git a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/default/verify.yml b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/default/verify.yml
index bee935f..9624ea0 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/default/verify.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/default/verify.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 - name: Verify
   hosts: all
   become: true
+  vars:
+    runner_name: "molecule-test-runner"
   pre_tasks:
     - name: Load role defaults
       ansible.builtin.include_vars:
diff --git a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/lifecycle/verify.yml b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/lifecycle/verify.yml
index 891e40c..79e185f 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/lifecycle/verify.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/molecule/lifecycle/verify.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 - name: Verify
   hosts: all
   become: true
+  vars:
+    runner_name: "lifecycle-test-runner"
   pre_tasks:
     - name: Load role defaults
       ansible.builtin.include_vars:
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@
 
     - name: Check instance data directory exists after lifecycle
       ansible.builtin.stat:
-        path: "/var/lib/gitea-runner/lifecycle-test-runner"
+        path: "{{ gitea_runner_base_data_dir }}/{{ runner_name }}"
       register: data_dir_stat
 
     - name: Assert instance data directory exists