diff --git a/pkg/server.go b/pkg/server.go
index 323c83656..cf2c5fead 100644
--- a/pkg/server.go
+++ b/pkg/server.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/scheme"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/record"
 
 	"github.com/openshift/monitoring-plugin/internal/managementrouter"
@@ -127,18 +128,11 @@ func createHTTPServer(ctx context.Context, cfg *Config) (*http.Server, error) {
 	var k8sconfig *rest.Config
 	var err error
 
-	// Uncomment the following line for local development:
-	// k8sconfig, err = clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", os.Getenv("KUBECONFIG"))
-	// if err != nil {
-	// 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot get kubeconfig from file: %w", err)
-	// }
-
-	// Comment the following line for local development:
 	var k8sclient *dynamic.DynamicClient
 	if acmMode || alertManagementAPIMode {
-		k8sconfig, err = rest.InClusterConfig()
+		k8sconfig, err = loadKubeConfig()
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot get in cluster config: %w", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot load kubernetes config: %w", err)
 		}
 
 		k8sclient, err = dynamic.NewForConfig(k8sconfig)
@@ -154,15 +148,20 @@ func createHTTPServer(ctx context.Context, cfg *Config) (*http.Server, error) {
 	// hang the entire server startup indefinitely.
 	var managementClient management.Client
 	if alertManagementAPIMode {
-		const initTimeout = 30 * time.Second
-		initCtx, initCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, initTimeout)
-		defer initCancel()
-
-		k8sClient, err := k8s.NewClient(initCtx, k8sconfig)
+		// The k8s client must receive the long-lived ctx so that its
+		// informers keep running for the lifetime of the server.
+		// Do NOT pass a timeout-scoped context here: informers that
+		// are started with a cancelled context stop watching and the
+		// relabeled-rules cache freezes.
+		k8sClient, err := k8s.NewClient(ctx, k8sconfig)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create k8s client for alert management API: %w", err)
 		}
 
+		const initTimeout = 30 * time.Second
+		initCtx, initCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, initTimeout)
+		defer initCancel()
+
 		if err := k8sClient.TestConnection(initCtx); err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to connect to kubernetes cluster for alert management API: %w", err)
 		}
@@ -402,6 +401,23 @@ func configHandler(cfg *Config) (http.HandlerFunc, *PluginConfig) {
 	}), &pluginConfig
 }
 
+// loadKubeConfig returns a *rest.Config by preferring KUBECONFIG (useful for
+// local development and CI) and falling back to in-cluster service-account config.
+func loadKubeConfig() (*rest.Config, error) {
+	if kubeconfig := os.Getenv("KUBECONFIG"); kubeconfig != "" {
+		cfg, err := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", kubeconfig)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot build config from KUBECONFIG: %w", err)
+		}
+		return cfg, nil
+	}
+	cfg, err := rest.InClusterConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot get in-cluster config: %w", err)
+	}
+	return cfg, nil
+}
+
 func startProxy(cfg *Config, k8sclient *dynamic.DynamicClient, tlsConfig *tls.Config, timeout time.Duration, kind proxy.KindType, port proxy.ProxyPort) {
 	proxyRouter := setupProxyRoutes(cfg, k8sclient, kind)
 	proxyRouter.Use(corsHeaderMiddleware())
diff --git a/test/e2e/create_alert_rule_test.go b/test/e2e/create_alert_rule_test.go
index cc4a3656b..f0ea56ca5 100644
--- a/test/e2e/create_alert_rule_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/create_alert_rule_test.go
@@ -32,10 +32,11 @@ func TestCreateUserDefinedAlertRule(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer cleanup()
 
+	createExpr := "vector(1) or vector(0)"
 	payload := managementrouter.CreateAlertRuleRequest{
 		AlertingRule: &managementrouter.AlertRuleSpec{
 			Alert: strPtr("E2ECreateAlert"),
-			Expr:  strPtr("vector(1)"),
+			Expr:  &createExpr,
 			For:   strPtr("1m"),
 			Labels: &map[string]string{
 				"severity": "info",
@@ -102,8 +103,8 @@ func TestCreateUserDefinedAlertRule(t *testing.T) {
 		for _, rule := range group.Rules {
 			if rule.Alert == "E2ECreateAlert" {
 				foundAlert = true
-				if rule.Expr.String() != "vector(1)" {
-					t.Errorf("Expected expr 'vector(1)', got %q", rule.Expr.String())
+				if rule.Expr.String() != createExpr {
+					t.Errorf("Expected expr %q, got %q", createExpr, rule.Expr.String())
 				}
 				if rule.For == nil || string(*rule.For) != "1m" {
 					t.Errorf("Expected for '1m', got %v", rule.For)
diff --git a/test/e2e/delete_alert_rule_test.go b/test/e2e/delete_alert_rule_test.go
index 4a01af43d..771be223f 100644
--- a/test/e2e/delete_alert_rule_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/delete_alert_rule_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 
@@ -42,6 +43,10 @@ func TestDeleteAlertRule(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Logf("Created 3 rules with IDs: %v", ruleIDs)
 
+	// Allow time for the informer watch event to propagate and
+	// the relabeled-rules cache to sync the new PrometheusRule.
+	time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+
 	deleteReq := managementrouter.BulkDeleteAlertRulesRequest{
 		RuleIds: []string{ruleIDs[0], ruleIDs[1]},
 	}
diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/framework.go b/test/e2e/framework/framework.go
index ce768f4bb..ac2dcd7b2 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/framework.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/framework.go
@@ -12,9 +12,13 @@ import (
 
 	osmv1client "github.com/openshift/client-go/monitoring/clientset/versioned"
 	monitoringv1client "github.com/prometheus-operator/prometheus-operator/pkg/client/versioned"
+	authv1 "k8s.io/api/authentication/v1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	rbacv1 "k8s.io/api/rbac/v1"
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
 
 	"github.com/openshift/monitoring-plugin/pkg/k8s"
@@ -73,12 +77,17 @@ func New() (*Framework, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create osmv1 clientset: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	bearerToken, err := resolveToken(clientset, config)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to resolve bearer token: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	f = &Framework{
 		Clientset:             clientset,
 		Monitoringv1clientset: monitoringv1clientset,
 		Osmv1clientset:        osmv1clientset,
 		PluginURL:             pluginURL,
-		BearerToken:           config.BearerToken,
+		BearerToken:           bearerToken,
 	}
 
 	return f, nil
@@ -135,3 +144,70 @@ func (f *Framework) AuthorizedRequest(ctx context.Context, method, url string, b
 	}
 	return req, nil
 }
+
+// resolveToken returns a bearer token for authenticating HTTP requests to the
+// plugin server. It tries, in order: inline BearerToken, BearerTokenFile, and
+// finally creates a short-lived ServiceAccount token (for CI kubeconfigs that
+// use client-certificate auth).
+func resolveToken(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, config *rest.Config) (string, error) {
+	if config.BearerToken != "" {
+		return config.BearerToken, nil
+	}
+	if config.BearerTokenFile != "" {
+		data, err := os.ReadFile(config.BearerTokenFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("reading bearer token file: %w", err)
+		}
+		token := strings.TrimSpace(string(data))
+		if token != "" {
+			return token, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return createServiceAccountToken(clientset)
+}
+
+// createServiceAccountToken creates a ServiceAccount with cluster-admin
+// privileges and returns a short-lived bearer token for it. This covers CI
+// environments where the kubeconfig authenticates via client certificates
+// and no bearer token is available.
+func createServiceAccountToken(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset) (string, error) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	const saName = "e2e-management-api"
+	const ns = "default"
+
+	sa := &corev1.ServiceAccount{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: saName},
+	}
+	if _, err := clientset.CoreV1().ServiceAccounts(ns).Create(ctx, sa, metav1.CreateOptions{}); err != nil && !apierrors.IsAlreadyExists(err) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("creating service account: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	crb := &rbacv1.ClusterRoleBinding{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: saName},
+		Subjects: []rbacv1.Subject{{
+			Kind:      rbacv1.ServiceAccountKind,
+			Name:      saName,
+			Namespace: ns,
+		}},
+		RoleRef: rbacv1.RoleRef{
+			APIGroup: rbacv1.GroupName,
+			Kind:     "ClusterRole",
+			Name:     "cluster-admin",
+		},
+	}
+	if _, err := clientset.RbacV1().ClusterRoleBindings().Create(ctx, crb, metav1.CreateOptions{}); err != nil && !apierrors.IsAlreadyExists(err) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("creating cluster role binding: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	expSeconds := int64(3600)
+	treq := &authv1.TokenRequest{
+		Spec: authv1.TokenRequestSpec{
+			ExpirationSeconds: &expSeconds,
+		},
+	}
+	resp, err := clientset.CoreV1().ServiceAccounts(ns).CreateToken(ctx, saName, treq, metav1.CreateOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("requesting service account token: %w", err)
+	}
+	return resp.Status.Token, nil
+}
diff --git a/test/e2e/helpers_test.go b/test/e2e/helpers_test.go
index 8071266fe..46f0b6063 100644
--- a/test/e2e/helpers_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/helpers_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"testing"
@@ -17,10 +18,16 @@ func strPtr(s string) *string { return &s }
 func createRuleViaAPI(t *testing.T, f *framework.Framework, ctx context.Context, namespace, alertName, prName string) string {
 	t.Helper()
 
+	// Each rule needs a unique expression so the spec-equivalence check
+	// does not reject it as a duplicate of a rule from another test.
+	// absent() returns 1 when the selector matches nothing, which is
+	// always the case for a fabricated metric name.
+	expr := fmt.Sprintf("absent(nonexistent{e2e_rule=%q})", alertName)
+
 	payload := managementrouter.CreateAlertRuleRequest{
 		AlertingRule: &managementrouter.AlertRuleSpec{
 			Alert: &alertName,
-			Expr:  strPtr("vector(1)"),
+			Expr:  &expr,
 			For:   strPtr("1m"),
 			Labels: &map[string]string{
 				"severity": "info",