diff --git a/scripts/Invoke-CIJob.ps1 b/scripts/Invoke-CIJob.ps1
index 13db7c5..6cd4f63 100644
--- a/scripts/Invoke-CIJob.ps1
+++ b/scripts/Invoke-CIJob.ps1
@@ -105,11 +105,6 @@ param(
     # Requires Set-TemplateSharedFolders.ps1 to have been run on the template.
     [switch] $UseSharedCache,
 
-    # Skip artifact packaging and collection (Phase 5 packaging + Phase 6).
-    # Use for burn-in / smoke builds that intentionally produce no output.
-    # In production (absent) the build must produce artifacts or the job fails.
-    [switch] $SkipArtifact,
-
     # Credential Manager target for Gitea PAT used by -UseGitClone (private repos).
     # Store with: New-StoredCredential -Target 'GiteaPAT' -UserName '<user>' -Password '<pat>' -Persist LocalMachine
     # Ignored when -UseGitClone is not set.
@@ -499,17 +494,12 @@ try {
     if ($GuestArtifactSource -ne '') { $remoteBuildParams['GuestArtifactSource'] = $GuestArtifactSource }
     if ($ExtraGuestEnv.Count -gt 0)  { $remoteBuildParams['ExtraGuestEnv']       = $ExtraGuestEnv }
     if ($UseSharedCache)             { $remoteBuildParams['UseSharedCache']       = $true }
-    if ($SkipArtifact)               { $remoteBuildParams['SkipArtifact']         = $true }
     & "$scriptDir\Invoke-RemoteBuild.ps1" @remoteBuildParams
     Write-JobEvent -Phase 'phase5.build' -Status 'success'
     $phaseTimings.Add([PSCustomObject]@{ Phase = 'Phase 5 - Remote build'; Sec = [int]((Get-Date) - $phaseStart).TotalSeconds })
     $phaseStart = Get-Date
 
     # ── Phase 6: Collect artifacts ────────────────────────────────────────
-    if ($SkipArtifact) {
-        Write-Host "`n[Phase 6/6] Artifact collection skipped (-SkipArtifact)."
-        Write-JobEvent -Phase 'phase6.artifacts' -Status 'skipped'
-    } else {
         Write-Host "`n[Phase 6/6] Collecting artifacts..."
         Write-JobEvent -Phase 'phase6.artifacts' -Status 'start'
         if ($GuestOS -eq 'Linux') {
@@ -530,8 +520,7 @@ try {
                 -HostArtifactDir   $jobArtifactDir `
                 -IncludeLogs
         }
-        Write-JobEvent -Phase 'phase6.artifacts' -Status 'success' -Data @{ dir = $jobArtifactDir }
-    }
+    Write-JobEvent -Phase 'phase6.artifacts' -Status 'success' -Data @{ dir = $jobArtifactDir }
     $elapsed = (Get-Date) - $startTime
     Write-JobEvent -Phase 'job' -Status 'success' -Data @{ elapsedSec = [int]$elapsed.TotalSeconds }
     $phaseTimings.Add([PSCustomObject]@{ Phase = 'Phase 6 - Artifacts'; Sec = [int]((Get-Date) - $phaseStart).TotalSeconds })
diff --git a/scripts/Invoke-RemoteBuild.ps1 b/scripts/Invoke-RemoteBuild.ps1
index 048d562..80ee488 100644
--- a/scripts/Invoke-RemoteBuild.ps1
+++ b/scripts/Invoke-RemoteBuild.ps1
@@ -126,12 +126,6 @@ param(
     # and VMware Tools HGFS driver present in the guest.
     [switch] $UseSharedCache,
 
-    # When set, skip artifact packaging and do NOT write artifacts.zip in the guest.
-    # Use for burn-in / smoke builds that intentionally produce no output.
-    # In production (default: absent) the build MUST produce GuestArtifactSource or the
-    # job fails — a silently-empty build is treated as an error.
-    [switch] $SkipArtifact,
-
     # Guest OS type — Linux uses SSH instead of WinRM.
     [ValidateSet('Windows', 'Linux')]
     [string] $GuestOS = 'Windows',
@@ -433,7 +427,7 @@ try {
         # ── Custom build command (e.g. python, msbuild, cmake…) ──────────
         Write-Host "[Invoke-RemoteBuild] Running build command: $BuildCommand"
         $buildExit = Invoke-Command -Session $session -ScriptBlock {
-            param($workDir, $cmd, $artifactZip, $artifactSrc, $useCache, $extraEnv, $skipArt)
+            param($workDir, $cmd, $artifactZip, $artifactSrc, $useCache, $extraEnv)
             # Unbuffered Python output — lines appear in real-time instead of being held in buffer
             $env:PYTHONUNBUFFERED = '1'
             if ($useCache) {
@@ -448,14 +442,14 @@ try {
             & cmd /c "$cmd 2>&1" | ForEach-Object { Write-Host $_ }
             $exit = $LASTEXITCODE
 
-            if ($exit -eq 0 -and -not $skipArt) {
+            if ($exit -eq 0) {
                 $archiveDir = Split-Path $artifactZip -Parent
                 if (-not (Test-Path $archiveDir)) {
                     New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $archiveDir -Force | Out-Null
                 }
                 $srcPath = Join-Path $workDir $artifactSrc
                 if (-not (Test-Path $srcPath)) {
-                    throw "Artifact source directory not found: $srcPath. Build succeeded (exit 0) but produced no output. Check GuestArtifactSource or use -SkipArtifact for builds that intentionally produce no files."
+                    throw "Artifact source directory not found: $srcPath. Build succeeded (exit 0) but produced no output. Check GuestArtifactSource."
                 }
                 else {
                     $7zip = 'C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe'
@@ -471,7 +465,7 @@ try {
             }
 
             return $exit
-        } -ArgumentList $GuestWorkDir, $BuildCommand, $GuestArtifactZip, $GuestArtifactSource, $UseSharedCache.IsPresent, $ExtraGuestEnv, $SkipArtifact.IsPresent
+        } -ArgumentList $GuestWorkDir, $BuildCommand, $GuestArtifactZip, $GuestArtifactSource, $UseSharedCache.IsPresent, $ExtraGuestEnv
 
         if ($buildExit -ne 0) {
             throw "Build command failed (exit $buildExit)"
@@ -534,11 +528,7 @@ try {
         }
     }
 
-    if ($SkipArtifact) {
-        Write-Host '[Invoke-RemoteBuild] Build succeeded. Artifact packaging skipped (-SkipArtifact).'
-    } else {
-        Write-Host "[Invoke-RemoteBuild] Build succeeded. Artifact at $GuestArtifactZip"
-    }
+    Write-Host "[Invoke-RemoteBuild] Build succeeded. Artifact at $GuestArtifactZip"
 }
 finally {
     Remove-PSSession $session -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
diff --git a/scripts/Start-BurnInTest.ps1 b/scripts/Start-BurnInTest.ps1
index 149e096..beaa932 100644
--- a/scripts/Start-BurnInTest.ps1
+++ b/scripts/Start-BurnInTest.ps1
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ param(
     [int]    $Rounds              = 3,
     [int]    $Parallelism         = 4,
     [string] $BuildCommand        = 'powershell -NoProfile -NonInteractive -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File build.ps1',
-    [switch] $NoSkipArtifact,
     [int]    $RoundTimeoutMinutes = 60
 )
 
@@ -74,7 +73,6 @@ $burnInParams = @{
     Rounds                = $Rounds
     RoundTimeoutMinutes   = $RoundTimeoutMinutes
 }
-if (-not $NoSkipArtifact) { $burnInParams['SkipArtifact'] = $true }
 
 & "$scriptDir\Test-CapacityBurnIn.ps1" @burnInParams
 
diff --git a/scripts/Test-CapacityBurnIn.ps1 b/scripts/Test-CapacityBurnIn.ps1
index e230957..eeebac1 100644
--- a/scripts/Test-CapacityBurnIn.ps1
+++ b/scripts/Test-CapacityBurnIn.ps1
@@ -124,10 +124,6 @@ param(
 
     [string] $BuildCommand = '',
 
-    # Skip artifact packaging and collection in every child job.
-    # Set this for burn-in and smoke runs that use delay-only build commands.
-    [switch] $SkipArtifact,
-
     [ValidateRange(1, 10)]
     [int] $Parallelism = 4,
 
@@ -215,9 +211,6 @@ for ($r = 1; $r -le $Rounds; $r++) {
         if ($BuildCommand -ne '') {
             $argList.Add('-BuildCommand'); $argList.Add($BuildCommand)
         }
-        if ($SkipArtifact) {
-            $argList.Add('-SkipArtifact')
-        }
 
         $argArray = $argList.ToArray()