diff --git a/scripts/check-hex.js b/scripts/check-hex.js
index cad3d23d..3874779d 100755
--- a/scripts/check-hex.js
+++ b/scripts/check-hex.js
@@ -8,54 +8,61 @@ import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 const SEARCH_PATTERN = '(?<!&|[\\w])#[0-9a-fA-F]{3,8}\\b';
 
 // Allow-list tokens and vector logos so brand assets can keep their baked colors.
+// These are translated to git pathspec exclusions.
 const IGNORED_GLOBS = [
-  '!css/tokens.css',
-  '!**/*.svg',
-  '!**/node_modules/**',
-  '!.git/**',
-  '!**/*.min.js',
-  '!**/*.map',
-  '!css/tailwind.generated.css',
-  '!dist/**',
-  '!build/**',
-  '!vendor/**',
-  '!js/utils/qrcode.js',
-  '!**/dist/**',
-  '!REMEDIATION_REPORT.md',
-  '!CHANGELOG.md',
-  '!scripts/daily-design-system-audit.mjs',
-  '!config/instance-config.js',
-  '!config/validate-config.js',
-  '!js/embed.js',
-  '!tests/unit/embed-accent.test.mjs',
-  '!tests/visual/embed-layout.spec.ts',
-  '!ai/**'
+  'css/tokens.css',
+  '**/*.svg',
+  '**/node_modules/**',
+  '.git/**',
+  '**/*.min.js',
+  '**/*.map',
+  'css/tailwind.generated.css',
+  'dist/**',
+  'build/**',
+  'vendor/**',
+  'js/utils/qrcode.js',
+  '**/dist/**',
+  'REMEDIATION_REPORT.md',
+  'CHANGELOG.md',
+  'scripts/daily-design-system-audit.mjs',
+  'config/instance-config.js',
+  'config/validate-config.js',
+  'js/embed.js',
+  'tests/unit/embed-accent.test.mjs',
+  'tests/visual/embed-layout.spec.ts',
+  'ai/**',
+  '**/*.ai'
 ];
 
-const rgArgs = [
-  '--color=never',
-  '--no-heading',
+const gitArgs = [
+  'grep',
   '-n',
-  '-P' // Enable PCRE2 for lookbehind support
+  '-I', // Ignore binary files
+  '-P', // Enable PCRE2 for lookbehind support
+  SEARCH_PATTERN,
+  '--',
+  '.'
 ];
 
+// Add exclusions
 for (const glob of IGNORED_GLOBS) {
-  rgArgs.push('--glob', glob);
+  gitArgs.push(`:(exclude)${glob}`);
 }
 
-rgArgs.push('--regexp', SEARCH_PATTERN, '.');
-
-const result = spawnSync('rg', rgArgs, { encoding: 'utf8' });
+// We rely on 'git' being available and 'git grep' supporting -P.
+// Typically available in most CI/dev environments.
+const result = spawnSync('git', gitArgs, { encoding: 'utf8' });
 
 if (result.error) {
-  console.error('Failed to execute ripgrep:', result.error.message);
+  console.error('Failed to execute git grep:', result.error.message);
   process.exit(2);
 }
 
-// ripgrep exits with:
-//   0 when matches are found,
-//   1 when no matches are found,
+// git grep exits with:
+//   0 when matches are found (failure for us),
+//   1 when no matches are found (success for us),
 //   2+ on errors.
+
 if (result.status === 0 && result.stdout.trim()) {
   console.error('Hex colors detected outside tokens or SVG assets:');
   console.error(result.stdout.trimEnd());
@@ -64,7 +71,7 @@ if (result.status === 0 && result.stdout.trim()) {
 }
 
 if (result.status && result.status !== 1) {
-  console.error('ripgrep reported an error while scanning for hex values.');
+  console.error('git grep reported an error while scanning for hex values.');
   if (result.stderr) {
     console.error(result.stderr.trimEnd());
   }
diff --git a/tests/ui/uploadModal-integration.test.mjs b/tests/ui/uploadModal-integration.test.mjs
index 3ce6207e..6c4e2425 100644
--- a/tests/ui/uploadModal-integration.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/ui/uploadModal-integration.test.mjs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { test, describe, it, before, after } from "node:test";
+import { test, describe, it, before, after, beforeEach } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert";
 import { createUiDom } from "./helpers/jsdom-test-helpers.mjs";
 
@@ -108,6 +108,13 @@ describe("UploadModal Integration", () => {
     if (dom) dom.cleanup();
   });
 
+  beforeEach(() => {
+      // Ensure clean DOM state
+      if (global.document && global.document.body) {
+          global.document.body.innerHTML = '';
+      }
+  });
+
   it("should detect default R2 connection and show summary when loaded and unlocked", async () => {
       // Setup Mock Data
       const pubkey = "pk1";
@@ -170,13 +177,10 @@ describe("UploadModal Integration", () => {
           meta: { bucket: "locked-bucket" }
       }];
 
-      // Setup DOM - Reuse existing container or create if missing (cleaned by load)
-      let container = document.getElementById("modalContainer");
-      if (!container) {
-          container = document.createElement("div");
-          container.id = "modalContainer";
-          document.body.appendChild(container);
-      }
+      // Setup DOM - Create new container
+      const container = document.createElement("div");
+      container.id = "modalContainer";
+      document.body.appendChild(container);
 
       // Re-instantiate
       const modal = new UploadModal({