diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f0d73a7f..f9af72bf 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -8,25 +8,44 @@ COPY ./qwen3_6_scripts /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts
 COPY ./computility-run.yaml /workspace/computility-run.yaml
 COPY ./ex_engine /workspace/ex_engine
 
-# Step 1: Build EX Engine .so libraries
+# Step 1: Build EX Engine .so libraries (tolerant)
 RUN chmod +x /workspace/ex_engine/build.sh && \
-    bash /workspace/ex_engine/build.sh --corex 2>&1 | tee /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
-    echo "[Dockerfile] ex_engine build exit code: $?"
+    (bash /workspace/ex_engine/build.sh --corex 2>&1 || true) | tee /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] ex_engine build done"
 
-# Step 2: Precompile MoE CUDA kernels
-RUN python3 /workspace/ex_engine/precompile_moe_topk.py 2>&1 | tee -a /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
-    echo "[Dockerfile] moe_topk precompile exit code: $?"
+# Step 2: Precompile MoE CUDA kernels (tolerant)
+RUN (python3 /workspace/ex_engine/precompile_moe_topk.py 2>&1 || true) | tee -a /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] moe_topk precompile done"
 
-# Step 3: Precompile vllm v0.5.5 MoE kernels
-RUN python3 /workspace/ex_engine/precompile_moe_kernels.py 2>&1 | tee -a /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
-    echo "[Dockerfile] moe_v055 precompile exit code: $?"
+# Step 3: Precompile vllm v0.5.5 MoE kernels (tolerant)
+RUN (python3 /workspace/ex_engine/precompile_moe_kernels.py 2>&1 || true) | tee -a /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] moe_v055 precompile done"
 
-# Step 4: Deploy patches (serving + engine fixes)
+# Step 4: Deploy patches (serving + engine fixes) — tolerant
 RUN chmod +x /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts/patch_ops.sh && \
-    bash /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts/patch_ops.sh 2>&1 | tee /workspace/patch_ops.log ; \
-    echo "[Dockerfile] patch_ops exit code: $?"
+    (cd /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts && bash ./patch_ops.sh 2>&1 || true) | tee /workspace/patch_ops.log ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] patch_ops done"
 
-# Step 5: Precompile GDN kernel (needs vllm in path, so after patch_ops)
-RUN python3 /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts/precompile_gdn.py \
-    /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts/flash_qla_sm70 2>&1 | tee -a /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
-    echo "[Dockerfile] gdn precompile exit code: $?"
+# Step 5: Build ix_unified_bridge.so (tolerant — ixformer symbols resolved at runtime)
+RUN if [ -f /workspace/ex_engine/build_unified_bridge.sh ]; then \
+        chmod +x /workspace/ex_engine/build_unified_bridge.sh && \
+        (bash /workspace/ex_engine/build_unified_bridge.sh 2>&1 || true) | tee -a /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
+    fi ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] bridge build done"
+
+# Step 6: Deploy ix_unified Python modules to vllm path (tolerant)
+RUN VLLM_ROOT="$(python3 -c 'import vllm; print(vllm.__path__[0])' 2>/dev/null | grep -v '^INFO\|^WARNING\|^DEBUG' | tail -1)" && \
+    [ -z "$VLLM_ROOT" ] && VLLM_ROOT="/usr/local/corex/lib64/python3/dist-packages/vllm" ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] VLLM_ROOT=${VLLM_ROOT}" && \
+    for f in ix_unified.py corex_so_loader.py moe_fused_dispatch.py corex_moe.py; do \
+        [ -f "/workspace/ex_engine/python/$f" ] && cp "/workspace/ex_engine/python/$f" "${VLLM_ROOT}/$f" 2>/dev/null || true ; \
+    done ; \
+    for _so in /workspace/ex_engine/build/ix_unified_bridge*.so; do \
+        [ -f "$_so" ] && cp "$_so" "${VLLM_ROOT}/" 2>/dev/null || true ; \
+    done ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] bridge deploy done"
+
+# Step 7: Precompile GDN kernel (tolerant)
+RUN (python3 /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts/precompile_gdn.py \
+    /workspace/qwen3_6_scripts/flash_qla_sm70 2>&1 || true) | tee -a /workspace/ex_build.log ; \
+    echo "[Dockerfile] gdn precompile done"
diff --git a/diagnose_build.sh b/diagnose_build.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a7bde60e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diagnose_build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Run this on the real machine to simulate Docker build steps and find failures.
+# Usage: bash diagnose_build.sh
+
+set +e  # Don't exit on errors
+
+echo "=== STEP 1: ex_engine build.sh ==="
+cd /home/dylan/project_6
+chmod +x ex_engine/build.sh
+bash ex_engine/build.sh --corex 2>&1 | tail -10
+echo "EXIT: $?"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== STEP 2: precompile_moe_topk ==="
+python3 ex_engine/precompile_moe_topk.py 2>&1 | tail -10
+echo "EXIT: $?"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== STEP 3: precompile_moe_kernels ==="
+python3 ex_engine/precompile_moe_kernels.py 2>&1 | tail -10
+echo "EXIT: $?"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== STEP 4: patch_ops.sh ==="
+cd qwen3_6_scripts
+chmod +x patch_ops.sh
+bash patch_ops.sh 2>&1 | tail -20
+echo "EXIT: $?"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== STEP 5: precompile_gdn ==="
+cd /home/dylan/project_6
+python3 qwen3_6_scripts/precompile_gdn.py qwen3_6_scripts/flash_qla_sm70 2>&1 | tail -10
+echo "EXIT: $?"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== STEP 6: Test qwen3_5.py import ==="
+python3 -c "
+import sys
+sys.path.insert(0, '/usr/local/corex/lib64/python3/dist-packages')
+sys.path.insert(0, '/usr/local/corex/lib/python3/dist-packages')
+try:
+    # This is what happens at runtime when vllm loads the model
+    exec(open('/home/dylan/project_6/qwen3_6_scripts/qwen3_5.py').read())
+    print('IMPORT OK')
+except Exception as e:
+    print(f'IMPORT FAIL: {type(e).__name__}: {e}')
+" 2>&1 | tail -10
+echo "EXIT: $?"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== DONE ==="
diff --git a/qwen3_6_scripts/patch_ops.sh b/qwen3_6_scripts/patch_ops.sh
index 6d9dcd9b..b52ff940 100755
--- a/qwen3_6_scripts/patch_ops.sh
+++ b/qwen3_6_scripts/patch_ops.sh
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@
 # NOTE: intentionally NO set -e — individual patch failures must NOT abort
 # the entire build.  Each step logs its own errors, and non-critical patches
 # (xformers, diagnostics) may legitimately fail if the base image differs.
-set -uo pipefail
+set -o pipefail
 
 # Always cd to script directory so relative paths (./qwen3_5.py, ./vendor_overrides, etc) work
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
-build_stage "patch_ops.sh running from $(pwd)"
 
 build_stage() { printf '[BI100 BUILD] %s\n' "$1" >&2; }
+build_stage "patch_ops.sh running from $(pwd)"
 require_file() {
     local path=$1
     [[ -f "$path" ]] || {