diff --git a/bin/apt-install.sh b/bin/apt-install.sh
index 37454c698..60475b700 100755
--- a/bin/apt-install.sh
+++ b/bin/apt-install.sh
@@ -25,12 +25,12 @@ for step in "${steps[@]}"; do
     case "$step" in
         skiplang-build-deps)
             apt-get update
-            apt-get install -q -y wget gnupg
+            apt-get install -q -y --no-install-recommends wget gnupg
             wget -O - https://apt.llvm.org/llvm-snapshot.gpg.key | apt-key add -
             echo "deb http://apt.llvm.org/jammy/ llvm-toolchain-jammy-$LLVM_VERSION main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/llvm.list
             echo "deb-src http://apt.llvm.org/jammy/ llvm-toolchain-jammy-$LLVM_VERSION main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/llvm.list
             apt-get update
-            apt-get install -q -y automake clang-$LLVM_VERSION file gawk git lld-$LLVM_VERSION llvm-$LLVM_VERSION make
+            apt-get install -q -y --no-install-recommends automake clang-$LLVM_VERSION file gawk git lld-$LLVM_VERSION llvm-$LLVM_VERSION make
 
             update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang clang /usr/bin/clang-$LLVM_VERSION $PRIORITY \
                 --slave /usr/bin/clang++ clang++ /usr/bin/clang++-$LLVM_VERSION \
@@ -46,18 +46,18 @@ for step in "${steps[@]}"; do
             wget -O - https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource-repo.gpg.key | apt-key add -
             echo "deb https://deb.nodesource.com/node_22.x nodistro main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodejs.list
             apt-get update
-            apt-get install -q -y nodejs jq
+            apt-get install -q -y --no-install-recommends nodejs npm jq
             ;;
         other-CI-tools)
             # Assumes other steps have been run before
-            apt-get install -q -y clang-format-$LLVM_VERSION docker.io docker-buildx parallel pip shellcheck
+            apt-get install -q -y --no-install-recommends clang-format-$LLVM_VERSION docker.io docker-buildx parallel pip shellcheck
             # Version from requirements-dev.txt (check repo root, then /tmp for docker builds)
             BLACK_VERSION=$(grep '^black==' requirements-dev.txt /tmp/requirements-dev.txt 2>/dev/null | head -1 | cut -d'=' -f3)
             pip install black=="${BLACK_VERSION:-26.1.0}"
             update-alternatives --auto clang
             ;;
         other-dev-tools)
-            apt-get install -q -y rsync
+            apt-get install -q -y --no-install-recommends rsync
             ;;
         *)
             echo "Unknown step $step"
diff --git a/skiplang/Dockerfile b/skiplang/Dockerfile
index 7fc4aabae..1ae65be42 100644
--- a/skiplang/Dockerfile
+++ b/skiplang/Dockerfile
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ ARG LLVM_VERSION=20
 # Note: [trusted=yes] is needed because apt.llvm.org's GPG key uses SHA1 signatures
 # which modern Debian rejects since Feb 2026. This is an upstream LLVM issue.
 RUN apt-get update --quiet && \
-    apt-get install --quiet --yes make wget && \
+    apt-get install --quiet --yes --no-install-recommends make wget && \
     echo "deb [trusted=yes] http://apt.llvm.org/bookworm/ llvm-toolchain-bookworm-${LLVM_VERSION} main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/llvm.list && \
     apt-get update --quiet && \
-    apt-get install --quiet --yes \
+    apt-get install --quiet --yes --no-install-recommends \
         clang-${LLVM_VERSION} \
         llvm-${LLVM_VERSION} \
         lld-${LLVM_VERSION} && \
diff --git a/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon/Dockerfile b/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon/Dockerfile
index 0fb3c9299..64b659e2a 100644
--- a/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon/Dockerfile
+++ b/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon/Dockerfile
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ FROM ubuntu:latest
 
 # install dependencies needed to build the node addon
 RUN apt-get update --quiet \
- && apt-get install --quiet --yes g++ make python3 wget \
+ && apt-get install --quiet --yes --no-install-recommends g++ make python3 wget \
  && wget --quiet --output-document=- https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | bash - \
- && apt-get install --quiet --yes nodejs \
+ && apt-get install --quiet --yes --no-install-recommends nodejs npm \
  && apt-get clean \
  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
  && npm install --global typescript \
diff --git a/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon_unreleased/Dockerfile b/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon_unreleased/Dockerfile
index 7b14ad5ae..e0a95836f 100644
--- a/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon_unreleased/Dockerfile
+++ b/skipruntime-ts/tests/native_addon_unreleased/Dockerfile
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ FROM ubuntu:latest
 
 # install dependencies needed to build the node addon
 RUN apt-get update --quiet \
- && apt-get install --quiet --yes g++ make python3 wget \
+ && apt-get install --quiet --yes --no-install-recommends g++ make python3 wget \
  && wget --quiet --output-document=- https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | bash - \
- && apt-get install --quiet --yes nodejs \
+ && apt-get install --quiet --yes --no-install-recommends nodejs npm \
  && apt-get clean \
  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
  && npm install --global typescript \
diff --git a/sql/Dockerfile b/sql/Dockerfile
index e798a9e6c..e51b09729 100644
--- a/sql/Dockerfile
+++ b/sql/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 FROM skiplabs/skip AS base
 
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -q -y curl sqlite3 unzip zip && \
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -q -y --no-install-recommends curl sqlite3 unzip zip && \
     npm install -g bun && \
     npx playwright install-deps && \
     apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* && \