@@ -196,4 +196,8 @@ yarn test:e2e:desktop                             # All desktop tests
 # Web
 yarn test:e2e:web:debug <filename-fragment>       # Debug single test
 yarn test:e2e:web                                 # All web tests
+
+# CI
+yarn test:e2e:ci                                  # Always confirm that all tests pass in CI before pushing
+
 ```
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ FetchReader (Streams API → EventEmitter: data/error/end)
 CachedFilelike (VirtualLRUBuffer LRU cache, 500MB default, 10MB blocks)
     │
     ▼
+BatchingReadable (coalesces reads <64KiB apart within a microtask tick, ≤4MiB span)
+    │
+    ▼
 RemoteFileReadable (IReadable adapter: size(), read(offset, size))
     │
     ├─────────────────── Worker boundary ────────────────────┐
@@ -76,7 +79,8 @@ WorkerSerializedIterableSource → BufferedIterableSource → Player
 | `util/VirtualLRUBuffer.ts` | Block-level LRU memory management |
 | `util/getNewConnection.ts` | HTTP connection decision algorithm |
 | `util/RequestQueue.ts` | Global concurrency limiter (10 max) |
-| `IterablePlayer/Mcap/RemoteFileReadable.ts` | `IReadable` adapter wrapping CachedFilelike |
+| `IterablePlayer/Mcap/RemoteFileReadable.ts` | `IReadable` adapter wrapping CachedFilelike (reads pass through BatchingReadable) |
+| `IterablePlayer/Mcap/BatchingReadable.ts` | Coalesces nearby `IReadable.read()` calls into fewer, larger reads |
 | `IterablePlayer/Mcap/McapIterableSource.ts` | Factory: indexed vs streaming decision |
 | `IterablePlayer/Mcap/McapIndexedIterableSource.ts` | Random access via chunk indexes |
 | `IterablePlayer/shared/MultiIterableSource.ts` | Multi-file orchestration |
@@ -306,6 +310,7 @@ WorkerSerializedIterableSource       McapIterableSourceWorker.worker.ts
 8. **WASM decompression preload** prevents initialization failures under slow network
 9. **Cache budget division** for multi-file: consider fewer large files over many small ones
 10. **BufferedIterableSource** (10s, 300MB) smooths network latency for playback
+11. **Read coalescing** (`BatchingReadable`): merges `read()` calls arriving in the same microtask tick (gap <64KiB, ≤4MiB span) before they reach `CachedFilelike`
 
 ## Common Pitfalls
 - Server missing `Accept-Ranges: bytes` header → fails at open
 
@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@ applyTo: "**/*.ts,**/*.tsx"
 
 These rules are derived from [CONTRIBUTING.md](../../CONTRIBUTING.md) and apply to all TypeScript and TSX files.
 
+## Branch naming
+
+Branch names must use a prefix that matches the target branch (enforced in CI by
+[enforce-branch-naming.yml](../workflows/enforce-branch-naming.yml)):
+
+| Target branch | Allowed source prefixes |
+|---------------|-------------------------|
+| `main` | `release/`, `hotfix/` |
+| `develop` | `feature/`, `bugfix/`, `dependabot/`, `sync/` |
+
+Use a short, descriptive, kebab-case name after the prefix (e.g. `feature/improve-ai-experience`).
+
 ## Component Structure
 
 Every React component must follow this file organization:
 
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ MCAP is an open-source container format for heterogeneous timestamped data, desi
 | Indexed source | `McapIndexedIterableSource.ts` |
 | Unindexed source | `McapUnindexedIterableSource.ts` |
 | File readable | `BlobReadable.ts` (local), `RemoteFileReadable.ts` (HTTP Range) |
+| Remote read coalescing | `BatchingReadable.ts` (merges nearby `read()` calls in a microtask tick) |
 | Decompression | `packages/mcap-support/src/decompressHandlers.ts` |
 | Schema parsing | `packages/mcap-support/src/parseChannel.ts` |
 | 10s read-ahead (default) | `BufferedIterableSource` (`DEFAULT_READ_AHEAD_DURATION = { sec: 10, nsec: 0 }`) |
 
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ FetchReader (Streams API → EventEmitter: data/error/end)
 CachedFilelike (LRU block cache via VirtualLRUBuffer)
      │
      ▼
+BatchingReadable (coalesces nearby read() calls within a microtask tick)
+     │
+     ▼
 RemoteFileReadable (IReadable adapter: size(), read(offset, size))
      │
      ▼                              ┌─── Worker boundary ───┐
@@ -276,23 +279,48 @@ export const globalRequestQueue = new RequestQueue(GLOBAL_REQUEST_QUEUE_MAX_CONC
 Thin adapter bridging `CachedFilelike` (byte-offset Filelike API) to `McapTypes.IReadable` (bigint offset/size API).
 
 ```typescript
+const DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE_BYTES = 1024 * 1024 * 500; // 500MiB
+
 class RemoteFileReadable {
-  #remoteReader: CachedFilelike;  // Configured with 500MB cache
+  #remoteReader: CachedFilelike;         // Cache size configurable, defaults to 500MiB
+  #batchingReadable: BatchingReadable;   // Coalesces reads before CachedFilelike
 
-  constructor(url: string, cacheSizeInBytes = 500 * 1024 * 1024) {
+  constructor(url: string, options?: { cacheSizeInBytes?: number; readAheadEnabled?: boolean }) {
     const fileReader = new BrowserHttpReader(url);
-    this.#remoteReader = new CachedFilelike({ fileReader, cacheSizeInBytes });
+    this.#remoteReader = new CachedFilelike({
+      fileReader,
+      cacheSizeInBytes: options?.cacheSizeInBytes ?? DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE_BYTES,
+      readAheadEnabled: options?.readAheadEnabled,
+    });
+    const inner = {
+      size: async () => BigInt(this.#remoteReader.size()),
+      read: async (offset, size) => this.#remoteReader.read(Number(offset), Number(size)),
+    };
+    this.#batchingReadable = new BatchingReadable(inner);
   }
 
   async size(): Promise<bigint> { return BigInt(this.#remoteReader.size()); }
   async read(offset: bigint, size: bigint): Promise<Uint8Array> {
-    return await this.#remoteReader.read(Number(offset), Number(size));
+    return await this.#batchingReadable.read(offset, size);  // → coalesced → CachedFilelike
   }
 }
 ```
 
 ---
 
+## BatchingReadable
+
+**Source**: `packages/suite-base/src/players/IterablePlayer/Mcap/BatchingReadable.ts`
+
+### Purpose
+Coalescing layer between `McapIndexedReader` and `CachedFilelike`. Accumulates `read()` calls that arrive within the same microtask tick, sorts them by offset, and merges those whose gap is `< 64 KiB` (up to a `4 MiB` merged span) into a single underlying read — cutting HTTP Range requests for MCAP files with many small chunks.
+
+### Notes
+- Single-member groups are forwarded zero-copy; multi-member groups are sliced (copied) per request so a small result does not pin the full merged buffer in memory.
+- Only coalesces reads that are concurrently pending in the same tick. `McapIndexedReader` issues reads strictly sequentially (each awaited before the next), so real coalescing depends on concurrent access — validate request-count reduction empirically for a given workload.
+
+---
+
 ## Multi-File Cache Budget Distribution
 
 When `MultiIterableSource` handles multiple remote URLs:
@@ -321,5 +349,5 @@ This means:
 | `packages/suite-base/src/util/BrowserHttpReader.ts` | HTTP Range request implementation |
 | `packages/suite-base/src/util/FetchReader.ts` | Streams API EventEmitter adapter |
 | `packages/suite-base/src/util/RequestQueue.ts` | Global concurrency limiter (10 max) |
-| `packages/suite-base/src/players/IterablePlayer/Mcap/RemoteFileReadable.ts` | IReadable adapter (500MB default) |
-
+| `packages/suite-base/src/players/IterablePlayer/Mcap/RemoteFileReadable.ts` | IReadable adapter (500MB default); reads pass through BatchingReadable |
+| `packages/suite-base/src/players/IterablePlayer/Mcap/BatchingReadable.ts` | Coalesces nearby `read()` calls (gap <64KiB, ≤4MiB span) into fewer inner reads |
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
       - run: corepack enable yarn
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
       - run: corepack enable yarn
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
       - run: corepack enable yarn
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
       - run: corepack enable yarn
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           submodules: true
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
 
 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
           token: ${{ secrets.LICHTBLICK_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
 
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
       - run: corepack enable yarn
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
       - run: corepack enable yarn
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24
       - run: corepack enable yarn
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: main
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
           node-version: 24