diff --git a/docs/examples/conftest.py b/docs/examples/conftest.py
index d4c3c22cb..3538b1326 100644
--- a/docs/examples/conftest.py
+++ b/docs/examples/conftest.py
@@ -187,6 +187,12 @@ def add_option_safe(option_name, **kwargs):
         default=False,
         help="Ignore all requirement checks (GPU, RAM, Ollama, API keys)",
     )
+    add_option_safe(
+        "--skip-resource-checks",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Skip hardware capability gates (VRAM/RAM). API credential and Ollama checks are unaffected.",
+    )
 
 
 def _collect_vllm_example_files(session) -> list[str]:
@@ -564,7 +570,12 @@ def pytest_runtest_setup(item):
     # Get config options from CLI (matching test/conftest.py behavior)
     config = item.config
     ignore_all = config.getoption("--ignore-all-checks", default=False)
-    ignore_gpu = config.getoption("--ignore-gpu-check", default=False) or ignore_all
+    skip_resource = config.getoption("skip_resource_checks", default=False)
+    ignore_gpu = (
+        config.getoption("--ignore-gpu-check", default=False)
+        or ignore_all
+        or skip_resource
+    )
     ignore_ollama = (
         config.getoption("--ignore-ollama-check", default=False) or ignore_all
     )
diff --git a/test/README.md b/test/README.md
index 4c4c7a148..abc3d9d2a 100644
--- a/test/README.md
+++ b/test/README.md
@@ -136,6 +136,10 @@ pytestmark = [pytest.mark.e2e, pytest.mark.huggingface, require_gpu(), require_r
 | `require_ram(min_gb=N)` | N GB+ system RAM |
 | `require_api_key("ENV_VAR")` | Specific API credentials |
 
+Pass `--skip-resource-checks` to bypass `require_gpu` and `require_ram` gates — useful for running test logic on under-spec hardware or reproducing failures from higher-spec machines. API credential and Ollama checks are unaffected. On machines with no GPU at all, gated tests will run and may fail naturally.
+
+The env var `_MELLEA_SKIP_RESOURCE_CHECKS=1` has the same effect and can be used in CI environments without modifying the pytest invocation.
+
 > **Deprecated:** The markers `requires_gpu`, `requires_heavy_ram`, `requires_api_key`,
 > and `requires_gpu_isolation` are deprecated. Existing tests using them still work
 > (conftest auto-skip handles them) but new tests must use predicates. Migrate legacy
diff --git a/test/conftest.py b/test/conftest.py
index a904a06ba..e65f552e0 100644
--- a/test/conftest.py
+++ b/test/conftest.py
@@ -209,6 +209,12 @@ def add_option_safe(option_name, **kwargs):
         default=False,
         help="Group tests by backend and run them together (reduces GPU memory fragmentation)",
     )
+    add_option_safe(
+        "--skip-resource-checks",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Skip hardware capability gates (VRAM/RAM). API credential and Ollama checks are unaffected.",
+    )
 
 
 BACKEND_MARKERS: dict[str, str] = {
@@ -254,6 +260,16 @@ def pytest_configure(config):
         "markers", "llm: Tests that make LLM calls (deprecated — use e2e instead)"
     )
 
+    # Propagate --skip-resource-checks as env var so predicates.py can read it
+    # at module-import time (before test collection begins).
+    if config.getoption("skip_resource_checks", default=False):
+        os.environ["_MELLEA_SKIP_RESOURCE_CHECKS"] = "1"
+
+
+def pytest_unconfigure():
+    """Clean up env var so repeated programmatic pytest invocations are unaffected."""
+    os.environ.pop("_MELLEA_SKIP_RESOURCE_CHECKS", None)
+
 
 # ============================================================================
 # Heavy GPU Test Process Isolation
diff --git a/test/predicates.py b/test/predicates.py
index 26f34c507..a23c48696 100644
--- a/test/predicates.py
+++ b/test/predicates.py
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ def require_gpu(*, min_vram_gb: int | None = None):
     Args:
         min_vram_gb: Minimum VRAM in GB.  When ``None``, any GPU suffices.
     """
+    if os.environ.get("_MELLEA_SKIP_RESOURCE_CHECKS"):
+        return pytest.mark.skipif(False, reason="")
+
     if not _gpu_available():
         return pytest.mark.skipif(True, reason="No GPU available (CUDA/MPS)")
 
@@ -124,6 +127,9 @@ def _system_ram_gb() -> float:
 
 def require_ram(min_gb: int):
     """Skip unless the system has at least *min_gb* GB of RAM."""
+    if os.environ.get("_MELLEA_SKIP_RESOURCE_CHECKS"):
+        return pytest.mark.skipif(False, reason="")
+
     ram = _system_ram_gb()
     if ram > 0 and ram < min_gb:
         return pytest.mark.skipif(