diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index d4deb48..73e632f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 variables:
   DEFAULT_IMAGE: debian:stable
   APT_CACHE_DIR: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/.cache/apt
-  NPM_CONFIG_CACHE: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/.cache/.npm
+  NPM_CONFIG_CACHE: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/.cache/npm
   EXTRA_DESCRIPTION: ''
 
 stages:
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ stages:
   - test
   - deploy
 
-
 # only run for merge requests and tags
 include:
   - template: "Workflows/MergeRequest-Pipelines.gitlab-ci.yml"
@@ -34,89 +33,98 @@ cache: &global_cache
 before_script:
   - mkdir -p $APT_CACHE_DIR $NPM_CONFIG_CACHE
 
-# just do a quick syntax check job
-code_test_job:
+# quick variable test
+test_variable:
   stage: precheck
-  image: node:latest
-  cache: {}
   script:
-    - npm install
-    - npm test
-
-# if we've been tagged with a tag starting with v or test_, build some binaries for
-# and leave them in the build artifacts
-build_job:
-  stage: build
-  rules:
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^(v|test_).*/'
-  artifacts:
-    paths:
-      - build/*
-    name: '$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG'
-  script:
-    - mkdir -p build/debian
-    - dpkg --add-architecture i386
-    - apt-get -qq update
-    - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" install -y npm wine wine32
-    - npm install --prefer-offline
-    - npm run dist
-    - (cd dist ; mv *.zip *.exe *.7z *.json ../build)
-    - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" install -y build-essential devscripts
-    - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" build-dep .
-    - dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us
-    - mv ../*.{deb,dsc,buildinfo,tar.xz,changes} build/debian/
-
-# currently we run syntax checking before we even attempt builds
-# this is left as an example placeholder for post-build tests
-#
-# test1:
-#   stage: test
-#   cache:
-#     <<: *global_cache
-#     policy: pull
-#   script:
-#     - apt-get -qq update
-#     - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" install -y npm
-#     - npm install --prefer-offline
-#     - npm test
-#
-# test2:
-#   stage: test
-#   script:
-#     - echo "Do another parallel test here"
-#     - echo "For example run a lint test"
-#
-
-# copy the assets over to our build server
-staging_upload:
-  stage: deploy
-  image: google/cloud-sdk:alpine
-  rules:
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^test_.*/'
-  cache: {}
-  script:
-    - echo "This will be the upload script for $CI_COMMIT_TAG"
+    - echo $CI_JOB_STAGE
     - env
-    - echo "Credentials in $GCLOUD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT"
+    - echo $GCLOUD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
     - cat $GCLOUD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
-    - gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file $GCLOUD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
-    - echo build artifacts ----
-    - ls -R build
-    - echo copying
-    - gsutil -m --project=gridtracker rsync build/* gs://gridtracker_dltest/$CI_COMMIT_TAG
-
-# this only creates a "source code release" -- gitlab doesn't specify binaries
-# except as links to external storage, which is suboptimal for now
-source_release:
-  stage: deploy
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release-cli:latest
-  rules:
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^v.*/'
-  script:
-    - echo 'Release for $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
-  release:
-    name: 'GridTracker $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
-    description: 'GridTracker source $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
-    tag_name: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG'
-    ref: '$CI_COMMIT_SHA'
 
+## just do a quick syntax check job
+#code_test_job:
+#  stage: precheck
+#  image: node:latest
+#  cache: {}
+#  script:
+#    - npm install
+#    - npm test
+#
+## if we've been tagged with a tag starting with v or test_, build some binaries for
+## and leave them in the build artifacts
+#build_job:
+#  stage: build
+#  rules:
+#    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^(v|test_).*/'
+#  artifacts:
+#    paths:
+#      - build/*
+#    name: '$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG'
+#  script:
+#    - mkdir -p build/debian
+#    - dpkg --add-architecture i386
+#    - apt-get -qq update
+#    - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" install -y npm wine wine32
+#    - npm install --prefer-offline
+#    - npm run dist
+#    - (cd dist ; mv *.zip *.exe *.7z *.json ../build)
+#    - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" install -y build-essential devscripts
+#    - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" build-dep .
+#    - dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us
+#    - mv ../*.{deb,dsc,buildinfo,tar.xz,changes} build/debian/
+#
+## currently we run syntax checking before we even attempt builds
+## this is left as an example placeholder for post-build tests
+##
+## test1:
+##   stage: test
+##   cache:
+##     <<: *global_cache
+##     policy: pull
+##   script:
+##     - apt-get -qq update
+##     - apt-get -qq -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" install -y npm
+##     - npm install --prefer-offline
+##     - npm test
+##
+## test2:
+##   stage: test
+##   script:
+##     - echo "Do another parallel test here"
+##     - echo "For example run a lint test"
+##
+#
+## copy the assets over to our build server
+#staging_upload:
+#  stage: deploy
+#  image: google/cloud-sdk:alpine
+#  rules:
+#    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^test_.*/'
+#  cache: {}
+#  script:
+#    - echo "This will be the upload script for $CI_COMMIT_TAG"
+#    - env
+#    - echo "Credentials in $GCLOUD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT"
+#    - cat $GCLOUD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
+#    - gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file $GCLOUD_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
+#    - echo build artifacts ----
+#    - ls -R build
+#    - echo copying
+#    - gsutil -m --project=gridtracker rsync build/* gs://gridtracker_dltest/$CI_COMMIT_TAG
+#
+## this only creates a "source code release" -- gitlab doesn't specify binaries
+## except as links to external storage, which is suboptimal for now
+#source_release:
+#  stage: deploy
+#  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release-cli:latest
+#  rules:
+#    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^v.*/'
+#  script:
+#    - echo 'Release for $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
+#  release:
+#    name: 'GridTracker $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
+#    description: 'GridTracker source $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
+#    tag_name: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG'
+#    ref: '$CI_COMMIT_SHA'
+#