diff --git a/.github/actions/deploy-components/action.yaml b/.github/actions/deploy-components/action.yaml
index e734a38b..0f89ecbc 100644
--- a/.github/actions/deploy-components/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/actions/deploy-components/action.yaml
@@ -37,6 +37,22 @@ inputs:
     description: 'Set slim chart version'
     required: false
     default: ''
+  slim-controller-image-tag:
+    description: 'Set slim controller container image version'
+    required: false
+    default: ''
+  preload-slim-images:
+    description: 'Load prebuilt slim images into kind'
+    required: false
+    default: 'false'
+  slim-node-image:
+    description: 'Full slim node image reference to load into kind'
+    required: false
+    default: ''
+  slim-controller-image:
+    description: 'Full slim controller image reference to load into kind'
+    required: false
+    default: ''
   deploy-directory:
     description: 'Deploy directory to a kind cluster'
     required: false
@@ -116,6 +132,20 @@ runs:
         task -d ./${{ inputs.checkout-path }} integrations:kind:create \
           KIND_CLUSTER_NAME=${{ inputs.kind-cluster-name }}
 
+    - name: Load prebuilt slim images into kind
+      if: ${{ inputs.preload-slim-images != 'false' }}
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        set -euo pipefail
+
+        if [ -z "${{ inputs.slim-node-image }}" ] || [ -z "${{ inputs.slim-controller-image }}" ]; then
+          echo "Both slim-node-image and slim-controller-image are required when preload-slim-images is enabled."
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        kind load docker-image "${{ inputs.slim-node-image }}" --name "${{ inputs.kind-cluster-name }}"
+        kind load docker-image "${{ inputs.slim-controller-image }}" --name "${{ inputs.kind-cluster-name }}"
+
     - name: Deploy SPIRE
       if: ${{ inputs.deploy-spire != 'false' }}      
       shell: bash
@@ -128,12 +158,14 @@ runs:
       run: |
         task -d ./${{ inputs.checkout-path }} integrations:slim:test-env:deploy:controller \
           SLIM_IMAGE_TAG=${{ inputs.slim-image-tag }} \
+          SLIM_CONTROLLER_IMAGE_TAG=${{ inputs.slim-controller-image-tag }} \
           SLIM_CHART_TAG=${{ inputs.slim-chart-tag }} \
           KIND_CLUSTER_NAME=${{ inputs.kind-cluster-name }} \
           HELM_NAMESPACE=${{ inputs.kind-cluster-namespace }}
 
         task -d ./${{ inputs.checkout-path }} integrations:slim:test-env:deploy:clusters \
           SLIM_IMAGE_TAG=${{ inputs.slim-image-tag }} \
+          SLIM_CONTROLLER_IMAGE_TAG=${{ inputs.slim-controller-image-tag }} \
           SLIM_CHART_TAG=${{ inputs.slim-chart-tag }} \
           KIND_CLUSTER_NAME=${{ inputs.kind-cluster-name }} \
           HELM_NAMESPACE=${{ inputs.kind-cluster-namespace }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-integrations.yaml b/.github/workflows/test-integrations.yaml
index 8e1ae3ee..73d7e418 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-integrations.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-integrations.yaml
@@ -112,6 +112,52 @@ jobs:
         with:
           kind-version: ${{ needs.set-kind-version.outputs.kind-version }}
 
+      - name: Resolve slim image tags
+        id: resolve-slim-tags
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ -n "${{ inputs.override_slim_image_tag }}" ]; then
+            tag="${{ inputs.override_slim_image_tag }}"
+          else
+            tag="local-${GITHUB_SHA::12}"
+          fi
+          echo "slim_tag=${tag}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "controller_tag=${tag}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Checkout slim source
+        if: ${{ inputs.override_slim_image_tag == '' }}
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: agntcy/slim
+          fetch-depth: 1
+          path: slim-src
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: ${{ inputs.override_slim_image_tag == '' }}
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Build slim images (linux/amd64)
+        if: ${{ inputs.override_slim_image_tag == '' }}
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          SLIM_TAG="${{ steps.resolve-slim-tags.outputs.slim_tag }}"
+
+          docker buildx build \
+            --platform linux/amd64 \
+            --load \
+            --tag "ghcr.io/agntcy/slim:${SLIM_TAG}" \
+            --file slim-src/data-plane/Dockerfile \
+            slim-src
+
+          docker buildx build \
+            --platform linux/amd64 \
+            --load \
+            --tag "ghcr.io/agntcy/slim/control-plane:${SLIM_TAG}" \
+            --file slim-src/control-plane/Dockerfile \
+            slim-src
+
       - name: Deploy Slim with Controller
         uses: ./.github/actions/deploy-components
         with:
@@ -119,7 +165,11 @@ jobs:
           deploy-spire: "true"
           deploy-slim-topology: "true"
           slim-config: "spire"
-          slim-image-tag: ${{ inputs.override_slim_image_tag }}
+          preload-slim-images: ${{ inputs.override_slim_image_tag == '' }}
+          slim-node-image: ghcr.io/agntcy/slim:${{ steps.resolve-slim-tags.outputs.slim_tag }}
+          slim-controller-image: ghcr.io/agntcy/slim/control-plane:${{ steps.resolve-slim-tags.outputs.controller_tag }}
+          slim-image-tag: ${{ steps.resolve-slim-tags.outputs.slim_tag }}
+          slim-controller-image-tag: ${{ steps.resolve-slim-tags.outputs.controller_tag }}
           slim-chart-tag: ${{ inputs.override_slim_chart_tag }}
 
       - name: Run slim topology test
diff --git a/integrations/agntcy-slim/Taskfile.yml b/integrations/agntcy-slim/Taskfile.yml
index 73c5c404..f9f03f8b 100644
--- a/integrations/agntcy-slim/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/integrations/agntcy-slim/Taskfile.yml
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ vars:
   MCP_PROXY_IMAGE_TAG: '{{ .MCP_PROXY_IMAGE_TAG | default "0.1.5" }}'
   SLIM_CONFIG: '{{ .SLIM_CONFIG | default "base" }}'
 
-  SLIM_CHART_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_CHART_TAG | default "v0.7.0" }}'
-  SLIM_IMAGE_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_IMAGE_TAG | default "0.7.2-dev.1" }}'
+  SLIM_CHART_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_CHART_TAG | default "v1.0.0" }}'
+  SLIM_IMAGE_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_IMAGE_TAG | default "1.3.0-rc.0" }}'
 
-  SLIM_CONTROLLER_CHART_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_CONTROLLER_CHART_TAG | default "v0.7.0" }}'
-  SLIM_CONTROLLER_IMAGE_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_CONTROLLER_IMAGE_TAG | default "0.7.2-dev.1" }}'
+  SLIM_CONTROLLER_CHART_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_CONTROLLER_CHART_TAG | default "v1.0.0" }}'
+  SLIM_CONTROLLER_IMAGE_TAG: '{{ .SLIM_CONTROLLER_IMAGE_TAG | default "1.0.0" }}'
 
   SLIM_CONTROLLER_ENDPOINT: '{{ .SLIM_CONTROLLER_ENDPOINT | default "https://slim-control.admin.svc.cluster.local:50052" }}'
   SLIM_CONTROLLER_LOCAL_ENDPOINT: '{{ .SLIM_CONTROLLER_LOCAL_ENDPOINT | default "localhost:50051" }}'
@@ -116,6 +116,22 @@ tasks:
       - test-env:generate:cluster-configs
     cmd: |
       #!/bin/sh
+      cleanup_watch() {
+        if [ -n "${KUBE_WATCH_PID:-}" ]; then
+          kill "$KUBE_WATCH_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+          wait "$KUBE_WATCH_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+        fi
+      }
+      trap cleanup_watch EXIT
+
+      # Watch workload resources cluster-wide for up to 10m while Helm --wait runs (multi-namespace deploy).
+      if command -v timeout >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        timeout 600s kubectl get pods -A -o wide -w &
+      else
+        kubectl get pods -A -o wide -w &
+      fi
+      KUBE_WATCH_PID=$!
+
       for file in "./config/.gen"/*.yaml ;do
         helm upgrade agntcy-$(basename "$file" .yaml) \
           oci://{{ .IMAGE_REPO }}/slim/helm/slim \
diff --git a/integrations/agntcy-slim/config/peer-to-peer.yaml b/integrations/agntcy-slim/config/peer-to-peer.yaml
index 0ac1feda..ec054825 100644
--- a/integrations/agntcy-slim/config/peer-to-peer.yaml
+++ b/integrations/agntcy-slim/config/peer-to-peer.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ topology:
                 - "cluster-b"
             image: ghcr.io/agntcy/slim/bindings-examples:0.7.1          
             args: 
-              - p2p
+              - slim-bindings-p2p
               - --local
               - org/ns/alice
               - --spire-socket-path
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ topology:
                 - "cluster-a"
             image: ghcr.io/agntcy/slim/bindings-examples:0.7.1                      
             args:
-              - p2p
+              - slim-bindings-p2p
               - --local
               - org/ns/bob
               - --remote
diff --git a/integrations/agntcy-slim/tests/topology_test.go b/integrations/agntcy-slim/tests/topology_test.go
index 9ff1a6ae..056a90da 100644
--- a/integrations/agntcy-slim/tests/topology_test.go
+++ b/integrations/agntcy-slim/tests/topology_test.go
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ var _ = ginkgo.Describe("Agntcy slim topology test", func() {
 					cfgJSON, err := json.Marshal(cfg)
 					gomega.Expect(err).NotTo(gomega.HaveOccurred(), "failed to marshal client config")
 
-					args := append(args, "--slim", string(cfgJSON))
+					args := append(args, "--slim-config", string(cfgJSON))
 					k8sHelper = k8sHelper.WithArgs(args).WithSpire()
 
 				} else {
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ var _ = ginkgo.Describe("Agntcy slim topology test", func() {
 					cfgJSON, err := json.Marshal(cfg)
 					gomega.Expect(err).NotTo(gomega.HaveOccurred(), "failed to marshal client config")
 
-					args = append(args, "--slim", string(cfgJSON))
+					args = append(args, "--slim-config", string(cfgJSON))
 					k8sHelper = k8sHelper.WithArgs(args)
 				}