diff --git a/.github/workflows/debian.yml b/.github/workflows/debian.yml
index 5fe29d94..817a9ca8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/debian.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/debian.yml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install system dependencies
         run: |
-          sudo apt-get install -y python3.13 python3.13-venv python3-pip nodejs npm git wget curl ripgrep
+          sudo apt-get install -y python3.13 python3.13-venv python3-pip
 
       - name: Pre-seed virtualenv with local wheel before dpkg install
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/homebrew.yml b/.github/workflows/homebrew.yml
index dccb6dda..fdceff50 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/homebrew.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/homebrew.yml
@@ -87,18 +87,6 @@ class Archivebox < Formula
   license "MIT"
 
   depends_on "python@3.13"
-  depends_on "node"
-  depends_on "git"
-  depends_on "wget"
-  depends_on "curl"
-  depends_on "ripgrep"
-  depends_on "yt-dlp"
-
-  on_linux do
-    depends_on "pkg-config" => :build
-    depends_on "openssl@3"
-    depends_on "libffi"
-  end
 
 ${RESOURCES}
 
@@ -106,21 +94,6 @@ ${RESOURCES}
     virtualenv_install_with_resources
   end
 
-  def post_install
-    (var/"archivebox").mkpath
-    with_env(DATA_DIR: var/"archivebox") do
-      system bin/"archivebox", "install", "--binproviders", "pip,npm"
-    end
-  end
-
-  service do
-    run [opt_bin/"archivebox", "server", "--quick-init", "0.0.0.0:8000"]
-    keep_alive crashed: true
-    working_dir var/"archivebox"
-    log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-    error_log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-  end
-
   test do
     assert_match version.to_s, shell_output("#{bin}/archivebox version")
   end
@@ -148,11 +121,7 @@ RUBY
           echo "$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/sbin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
 
       - name: Install brew dependencies
-        run: |
-          brew install python@3.13 node git wget curl ripgrep yt-dlp
-          if [ "$RUNNER_OS" = "Linux" ]; then
-            brew install pkg-config openssl@3 libffi
-          fi
+        run: brew install python@3.13
 
       - name: Install archivebox via brew from local formula
         run: |
@@ -256,18 +225,6 @@ class Archivebox < Formula
   head "https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox.git", branch: "dev"
 
   depends_on "python@3.13"
-  depends_on "node"
-  depends_on "git"
-  depends_on "wget"
-  depends_on "curl"
-  depends_on "ripgrep"
-  depends_on "yt-dlp"
-
-  on_linux do
-    depends_on "pkg-config" => :build
-    depends_on "openssl@3"
-    depends_on "libffi"
-  end
 
 ${RESOURCES}
 
@@ -275,21 +232,6 @@ ${RESOURCES}
     virtualenv_install_with_resources
   end
 
-  def post_install
-    (var/"archivebox").mkpath
-    with_env(DATA_DIR: var/"archivebox") do
-      system bin/"archivebox", "install", "--binproviders", "pip,npm"
-    end
-  end
-
-  service do
-    run [opt_bin/"archivebox", "server", "--quick-init", "0.0.0.0:8000"]
-    keep_alive crashed: true
-    working_dir var/"archivebox"
-    log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-    error_log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-  end
-
   test do
     assert_match version.to_s, shell_output("#{bin}/archivebox version")
   end
diff --git a/bin/build_brew.sh b/bin/build_brew.sh
index b10bad47..e6bf8a45 100755
--- a/bin/build_brew.sh
+++ b/bin/build_brew.sh
@@ -54,12 +54,8 @@ echo "[+] Updating formula file: $FORMULA_FILE"
 
 # Build the formula from the template
 cat > "$FORMULA_FILE" << RUBY
-# This formula is auto-generated by bin/build_brew.sh using homebrew-pypi-poet.
-# To update: run bin/build_brew.sh, or trigger the GitHub Actions homebrew workflow.
-#
-# Users install with:
-#   brew tap archivebox/archivebox
-#   brew install archivebox
+# Auto-generated by bin/build_brew.sh using homebrew-pypi-poet.
+# Users install with: brew tap archivebox/archivebox && brew install archivebox
 
 class Archivebox < Formula
   include Language::Python::Virtualenv
@@ -72,18 +68,8 @@ class Archivebox < Formula
   head "https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox.git", branch: "dev"
 
   depends_on "python@3.13"
-  depends_on "node"
-  depends_on "git"
-  depends_on "wget"
-  depends_on "curl"
-  depends_on "ripgrep"
-  depends_on "yt-dlp"
-
-  on_linux do
-    depends_on "pkg-config" => :build
-    depends_on "openssl@3"
-    depends_on "libffi"
-  end
+  # All other runtime deps (node, chrome, yt-dlp, etc.) are installed
+  # on-demand by \`archivebox install\` and should NOT be declared here.
 
   # Python dependency resource blocks auto-generated by homebrew-pypi-poet
   # AUTOGENERATED_RESOURCES_START
@@ -94,20 +80,6 @@ ${RESOURCES}
     virtualenv_install_with_resources
   end
 
-  def post_install
-    # Install runtime dependencies (plugins, JS extractors, etc.)
-    (var/"archivebox").mkpath
-    system({ "DATA_DIR" => var/"archivebox" }, bin/"archivebox", "install", "--binproviders", "pip,npm")
-  end
-
-  service do
-    run [opt_bin/"archivebox", "server", "--quick-init", "0.0.0.0:8000"]
-    keep_alive crashed: true
-    working_dir var/"archivebox"
-    log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-    error_log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-  end
-
   test do
     assert_match version.to_s, shell_output("#{bin}/archivebox version")
   end
diff --git a/brew_dist/archivebox.rb b/brew_dist/archivebox.rb
index 6f9d8ada..f25dd8e6 100644
--- a/brew_dist/archivebox.rb
+++ b/brew_dist/archivebox.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
-# This formula is auto-generated by bin/build_brew.sh using homebrew-pypi-poet.
-# To update: run bin/build_brew.sh, or trigger the GitHub Actions homebrew workflow.
-#
-# Users install with:
-#   brew tap archivebox/archivebox
-#   brew install archivebox
+# Auto-generated by bin/build_brew.sh using homebrew-pypi-poet.
+# Users install with: brew tap archivebox/archivebox && brew install archivebox
 
 class Archivebox < Formula
   include Language::Python::Virtualenv
@@ -16,21 +12,10 @@ class Archivebox < Formula
   head "https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox.git", branch: "dev"
 
   depends_on "python@3.13"
-  depends_on "node"
-  depends_on "git"
-  depends_on "wget"
-  depends_on "curl"
-  depends_on "ripgrep"
-  depends_on "yt-dlp"
+  # All other runtime deps (node, chrome, yt-dlp, etc.) are installed
+  # on-demand by `archivebox install` and should NOT be declared here.
 
-  on_linux do
-    depends_on "pkg-config" => :build
-    depends_on "openssl@3"
-    depends_on "libffi"
-  end
-
-  # Python dependency resource blocks are auto-generated by bin/build_brew.sh
-  # using homebrew-pypi-poet. Run that script to populate this section.
+  # Python dependency resource blocks auto-generated by homebrew-pypi-poet
   # AUTOGENERATED_RESOURCES_START
   # AUTOGENERATED_RESOURCES_END
 
@@ -38,22 +23,6 @@ class Archivebox < Formula
     virtualenv_install_with_resources
   end
 
-  def post_install
-    # Install runtime dependencies (plugins, JS extractors, etc.)
-    (var/"archivebox").mkpath
-    with_env(DATA_DIR: var/"archivebox") do
-      system bin/"archivebox", "install", "--binproviders", "pip,npm"
-    end
-  end
-
-  service do
-    run [opt_bin/"archivebox", "server", "--quick-init", "0.0.0.0:8000"]
-    keep_alive crashed: true
-    working_dir var/"archivebox"
-    log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-    error_log_path var/"log/archivebox.log"
-  end
-
   test do
     assert_match version.to_s, shell_output("#{bin}/archivebox version")
   end
diff --git a/pkg/debian/nfpm.yaml b/pkg/debian/nfpm.yaml
index 64accf7f..83cb0074 100644
--- a/pkg/debian/nfpm.yaml
+++ b/pkg/debian/nfpm.yaml
@@ -25,17 +25,8 @@ depends:
   - python3 (>= 3.11)
   - python3-pip
   - python3-venv
-  - nodejs
-  - npm
-  - git
-  - wget
-  - curl
-  - ripgrep
-
-recommends:
-  - yt-dlp
-  - ffmpeg
-  - chromium | chromium-browser | google-chrome-stable
+  # All other runtime deps (node, chrome, yt-dlp, etc.) are installed on-demand
+  # by `archivebox install` and should NOT be declared as package dependencies.
 
 contents:
   # Wrapper script for /usr/bin/archivebox