diff --git a/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image-content.ts b/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image-content.ts
index ab566d7bd7..bb15e2819a 100644
--- a/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image-content.ts
+++ b/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image-content.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 const repositoryRoot = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, "../..");
 
 export const DAYTONA_IMAGE_CONTENT_SCHEMA =
-  "paperclip-daytona-runner-image-content/v3";
+  "paperclip-daytona-runner-image-content/v4";
 export const DAYTONA_IMAGE_PLATFORM = "linux/amd64";
 export const DAYTONA_IMAGE_DOCKERFILE_PATH = "docker/daytona-runner/Dockerfile";
 
@@ -27,11 +27,30 @@ export const DAYTONA_IMAGE_INPUT_PATHS = [
   "packages/paperclip-runner",
 ] as const;
 
-const ignoredDirectoryPaths = new Set([
+const ignoredGeneratedDirectoryPaths = new Set([
   "packages/paperclip-runner/dist",
   "packages/paperclip-runner/runner/target",
 ]);
 
+// These paths may be copied into Docker's provider-build context, but they do
+// not contribute to the release runnerd binary or the executable/digested
+// provider-pack runtime payload. Keep the exclusions narrow and package-scoped:
+// unknown non-documentation files remain hashed by default, so a newly
+// introduced runtime input fails safe by invalidating the image key.
+const ignoredRunnerDevelopmentDirectoryPaths = new Set([
+  "packages/paperclip-runner/devtools",
+  "packages/paperclip-runner/docs",
+  "packages/paperclip-runner/examples",
+  "packages/paperclip-runner/test",
+  "packages/paperclip-runner/test-fixtures",
+  "packages/paperclip-runner/test-support",
+]);
+
+const runnerDocumentationFilePattern = /\.md$/;
+const runnerTestFilePattern = /\.(?:spec|test)\.(?:[cm]?[jt]sx?)$/;
+const runnerRustIntegrationTestPathPattern =
+  /^packages\/paperclip-runner\/runner\/crates\/[^/]+\/tests(?:\/|$)/;
+
 export interface DaytonaImageContentOptions {
   repositoryRoot?: string;
   inputPaths?: readonly string[];
@@ -49,10 +68,20 @@ function normalizedRelativePath(value: string): string {
 }
 
 function shouldIgnore(relativePath: string): boolean {
-  if (ignoredDirectoryPaths.has(relativePath)) return true;
+  if (ignoredGeneratedDirectoryPaths.has(relativePath)) return true;
   return relativePath.split("/").includes("node_modules");
 }
 
+function shouldIgnoreRunnerDevelopmentInput(relativePath: string): boolean {
+  if (!relativePath.startsWith("packages/paperclip-runner/")) return false;
+  if (ignoredRunnerDevelopmentDirectoryPaths.has(relativePath)) return true;
+  return (
+    runnerDocumentationFilePattern.test(relativePath) ||
+    runnerTestFilePattern.test(relativePath) ||
+    runnerRustIntegrationTestPathPattern.test(relativePath)
+  );
+}
+
 function updateRecord(
   hash: ReturnType<typeof createHash>,
   kind: string,
@@ -160,7 +189,12 @@ async function hashEntry(
   relativePath: string,
 ): Promise<void> {
   const normalizedPath = normalizedRelativePath(relativePath);
-  if (shouldIgnore(normalizedPath)) return;
+  if (
+    shouldIgnore(normalizedPath) ||
+    shouldIgnoreRunnerDevelopmentInput(normalizedPath)
+  ) {
+    return;
+  }
 
   const absolutePath = path.resolve(root, relativePath);
   const relativeFromRoot = path.relative(root, absolutePath);
diff --git a/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image.test.ts b/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image.test.ts
index 19211d331d..e7c17c3bfd 100644
--- a/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image.test.ts
+++ b/tests/runner-e2e/daytona-image.test.ts
@@ -177,6 +177,102 @@ describe("runner E2E Daytona image contract", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("reuses the image for runner-only tests and documentation", async () => {
+    const root = await mkdtemp(
+      path.join(tmpdir(), "paperclip-daytona-runner-development-inputs-"),
+    );
+    const options = {
+      repositoryRoot: root,
+      inputPaths: ["packages/paperclip-runner"],
+      baseImages: [`example.test/base:1@sha256:${"a".repeat(64)}`],
+      frontendDigest: `sha256:${"c".repeat(64)}`,
+    } as const;
+    try {
+      const runnerRoot = path.join(root, "packages/paperclip-runner");
+      await mkdir(path.join(runnerRoot, "src/live"), { recursive: true });
+      await mkdir(path.join(runnerRoot, "docs"), { recursive: true });
+      await mkdir(path.join(runnerRoot, "spec"), { recursive: true });
+      await mkdir(path.join(runnerRoot, "test-fixtures"), { recursive: true });
+      await mkdir(path.join(runnerRoot, "runner/crates/runner-core/src"), {
+        recursive: true,
+      });
+      await mkdir(path.join(runnerRoot, "runner/crates/runner-core/tests"), {
+        recursive: true,
+      });
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "src/live/transport.ts"),
+        "export const runtime = 'one';\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "runner/crates/runner-core/src/lib.rs"),
+        'pub const RUNTIME: &str = "one";\n',
+      );
+      await writeFile(path.join(runnerRoot, "README.md"), "first readme\n");
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "docs/local-runner.md"),
+        "first documentation\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "spec/architecture.md"),
+        "first architecture note\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "src/live/transport.test.ts"),
+        "first TypeScript test\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "test-fixtures/provider.json"),
+        '{"fixture":"one"}\n',
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "runner/crates/runner-core/tests/recovery.rs"),
+        "// first Rust integration test\n",
+      );
+
+      const baseline = await computeDaytonaImageContentId(options);
+      await writeFile(path.join(runnerRoot, "README.md"), "second readme\n");
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "docs/local-runner.md"),
+        "second documentation\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "spec/architecture.md"),
+        "second architecture note\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "src/live/transport.test.ts"),
+        "second TypeScript test\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "test-fixtures/provider.json"),
+        '{"fixture":"two"}\n',
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "runner/crates/runner-core/tests/recovery.rs"),
+        "// second Rust integration test\n",
+      );
+      expect(await computeDaytonaImageContentId(options)).toBe(baseline);
+
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "src/live/transport.ts"),
+        "export const runtime = 'two';\n",
+      );
+      expect(await computeDaytonaImageContentId(options)).not.toBe(baseline);
+
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "src/live/transport.ts"),
+        "export const runtime = 'one';\n",
+      );
+      await writeFile(
+        path.join(runnerRoot, "runner/crates/runner-core/src/lib.rs"),
+        'pub const RUNTIME: &str = "two";\n',
+      );
+      expect(await computeDaytonaImageContentId(options)).not.toBe(baseline);
+    } finally {
+      await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("rejects mutable Docker base references", () => {
     expect(() => extractDaytonaBaseImages("FROM node:24-bookworm\n")).toThrow(
       "must use an immutable sha256 digest",