diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 960ea24..97c64ea 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ require (
 	charm.land/huh/v2 v2.0.3
 	charm.land/lipgloss/v2 v2.0.3
 	github.com/a2aproject/a2a-go/v2 v2.2.0
-	github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260612160914-27aa4eec85f2
+	github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260616211440-0ec9b650a0ab
 	github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/envoy v1.37.0
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 071664b..dc3da9e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc v1.0.0 h1:cXCdzVdstXyiTqTvfqk9SDHpKNjxuom+DOlyEeQ
 github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc v1.0.0/go.mod h1:mG5amYoWBHf8vpLOuehzbGGw0EHxpZZ6lCpQ4fNJ8LE=
 github.com/a2aproject/a2a-go/v2 v2.2.0 h1:eayiNXYpyTOLVhhQrGmIHlcy8GnOdnwaNdYQPvS84Ik=
 github.com/a2aproject/a2a-go/v2 v2.2.0/go.mod h1:htTxMwicNXXXEwwfjuB/Pd1g7UHDrswhSievncmTVcE=
-github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260612160914-27aa4eec85f2 h1:SlFLoJ3EPWrgR3bBlwCUmpJY6rqrAmvkwb1a9++WOBw=
-github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260612160914-27aa4eec85f2/go.mod h1:TgdtEUV6iaflJTwmS8ONiGsyyJD+5okPZj2H6mM8WlA=
+github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260616211440-0ec9b650a0ab h1:ESQ0AWzhw3GROJ5ZIT6tzqHg92mIEqdp/esSmK3s6zQ=
+github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260616211440-0ec9b650a0ab/go.mod h1:TgdtEUV6iaflJTwmS8ONiGsyyJD+5okPZj2H6mM8WlA=
 github.com/atotto/clipboard v0.1.4 h1:EH0zSVneZPSuFR11BlR9YppQTVDbh5+16AmcJi4g1z4=
 github.com/atotto/clipboard v0.1.4/go.mod h1:ZY9tmq7sm5xIbd9bOK4onWV4S6X0u6GY7Vn0Yu86PYI=
 github.com/aymanbagabas/go-udiff v0.4.1 h1:OEIrQ8maEeDBXQDoGCbbTTXYJMYRCRO1fnodZ12Gv5o=
diff --git a/internal/hack/install-ax.sh b/internal/hack/install-ax.sh
index d0a54a7..2ee316e 100755
--- a/internal/hack/install-ax.sh
+++ b/internal/hack/install-ax.sh
@@ -41,6 +41,37 @@ function log_step() {
   echo -e "${COLOR_CYAN}[step]: ${step_name}${COLOR_RESET}"
 }
 
+# wait_with_spinner runs a blocking command while showing a simple spinner on an
+# interactive terminal, then reports "done"/"failed" and returns the command's
+# exit status.
+wait_with_spinner() {
+  local msg="$1"; shift
+  if [[ ! -t 2 ]]; then
+    "$@"
+    return $?
+  fi
+
+  local out; out="$(mktemp)"
+  "$@" >"${out}" 2>&1 &
+  local pid=$! frames='|/-\' i=0
+  while kill -0 "${pid}" 2>/dev/null; do
+    i=$(( (i + 1) % ${#frames} ))
+    printf '\r%s %s' "${frames:${i}:1}" "${msg}" >&2
+    sleep 0.1
+  done
+
+  local status=0
+  wait "${pid}" || status=$?
+  if [[ "${status}" -eq 0 ]]; then
+    printf '\r\033[K%s... done\n' "${msg}" >&2
+  else
+    printf '\r\033[K%s... failed\n' "${msg}" >&2
+    cat "${out}" >&2
+  fi
+  rm -f "${out}"
+  return "${status}"
+}
+
 function usage() {
   echo "Usage: $0 [options]"
   echo ""
@@ -171,6 +202,35 @@ build_antigravity_image() {
   echo "${repo}@${digest}"
 }
 
+build_ateom_image() {
+  if [[ -n "${ATEOM_IMAGE:-}" ]]; then
+    echo "${ATEOM_IMAGE}"
+    return
+  fi
+  if [[ -z "${KO_DOCKER_REPO:-}" ]]; then
+    echo "Error: KO_DOCKER_REPO environment variable must be set" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # Resolve the substrate source for the version AX is pinned to in go.mod.
+  go mod download github.com/agent-substrate/substrate
+  local sub_dir ateom_ref
+  sub_dir="$(go list -m -f '{{.Dir}}' github.com/agent-substrate/substrate)"
+  if [[ -z "${sub_dir}" ]]; then
+    echo "Error: could not locate the substrate module (go list -m)." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  log_step "build_ateom_image (from ${sub_dir})" >&2
+  ateom_ref="$(cd "${sub_dir}" && KO_DOCKER_REPO="${KO_DOCKER_REPO}" GOFLAGS="" ko build --platform=linux/amd64 -B ./cmd/ateom-gvisor)"
+
+  if [[ "${ateom_ref}" != *@sha256:* ]]; then
+    echo "Error: ko did not return a digest-pinned ateom image (got '${ateom_ref}')." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  echo "${ateom_ref}"
+}
+
 deploy_ax_server() {
   log_step "deploy_ax_server"
 
@@ -187,15 +247,23 @@ deploy_ax_server() {
   echo "Using GCS Bucket: ${BUCKET_NAME}"
 
   # Build and push the antigravity harness image, capturing its reference.
-  local antigravity_image
+  local antigravity_image ateom_image
   antigravity_image=$(build_antigravity_image)
+  ateom_image=$(build_ateom_image)
 
   # Render template and apply with ko
   sed -e "s|\${GEMINI_API_KEY}|${GEMINI_API_KEY}|g" \
       -e "s|\${BUCKET_NAME}|${BUCKET_NAME}|g" \
       -e "s|\${ANTIGRAVITY_IMAGE}|${antigravity_image}|g" \
+      -e "s|\${ATEOM_IMAGE}|${ateom_image}|g" \
       internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml \
       | run_ko -f -
+
+  # Wait for the antigravity ActorTemplate's golden snapshot to be ready.
+  log_step "wait for actortemplate/ax-harness-template to be Ready"
+  wait_with_spinner "waiting for golden snapshot (timeout ${AX_WAIT_TIMEOUT:-5m})" \
+    run_kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready actortemplate/ax-harness-template \
+    -n ax --timeout="${AX_WAIT_TIMEOUT:-5m}"
 }
 
 delete_ax_server() {
@@ -205,6 +273,7 @@ delete_ax_server() {
   sed -e "s|\${GEMINI_API_KEY}|dummy-key|g" \
       -e "s|\${BUCKET_NAME}|dummy-bucket|g" \
       -e "s|\${ANTIGRAVITY_IMAGE}|dummy-image|g" \
+      -e "s|\${ATEOM_IMAGE}|dummy-image|g" \
       internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml \
       | run_kubectl delete --ignore-not-found -f -
 }
diff --git a/internal/manifests/README.md b/internal/manifests/README.md
index 23805b0..f4d8cf1 100644
--- a/internal/manifests/README.md
+++ b/internal/manifests/README.md
@@ -27,12 +27,16 @@ and container image are provided by AX.
 ### 1. Build and Deploy
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> Do not manually edit `internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml`. The installation script automatically injects your `${GEMINI_API_KEY}`, `${BUCKET_NAME}`, and the built `${ANTIGRAVITY_IMAGE}` reference during deployment.
+> Do not manually edit `internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml`. The installation script automatically injects your `${GEMINI_API_KEY}`, `${BUCKET_NAME}`, and the built `${ANTIGRAVITY_IMAGE}` and `${ATEOM_IMAGE}` references during deployment.
 
-The installation script builds two images and applies the resolved manifests to
-your cluster: the AX control-plane (Go) image, built with `ko` using the
-`harness` build tag, and the built-in **antigravity harness** image, built from
-`python/antigravity/Dockerfile` with Docker or Podman.
+The installation script builds the required images and applies the resolved
+manifests to your cluster:
+
+- the AX control-plane (Go) image, built with `ko` using the `harness` build tag;
+- the built-in **antigravity harness** image, built from
+  `python/antigravity/Dockerfile` with Docker or Podman;
+- the **ateom-gvisor** worker image, built with `ko` from the `go.mod` pinned
+  substrate module.
 
 #### Build prerequisites
 
@@ -80,11 +84,6 @@ export KO_DEFAULTPLATFORMS="linux/amd64"
 ./internal/hack/install-ax.sh --deploy-ax-server
 ```
 
-Wait until the templates are ready:
-```bash
-kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready actortemplate/ax-harness-template -n ax --timeout=5m
-```
-
 ### 2. Port-Forward Services
 
 The `harness` path has no Envoy router or `Service`; connect directly to the `ax-server` `ReplicaSet`:
diff --git a/internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml b/internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml
index 5d12159..d33dd06 100644
--- a/internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml
+++ b/internal/manifests/ax-deployment2.yaml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: ax
 spec:
   replicas: 5
-  ateomImage: ko://github.com/agent-substrate/substrate/cmd/ateom-gvisor
+  ateomImage: ${ATEOM_IMAGE}
 ---
 apiVersion: ate.dev/v1alpha1
 kind: ActorTemplate