diff --git a/app/core/worker.py b/app/core/worker.py
index 053b5bc..f44ca48 100644
--- a/app/core/worker.py
+++ b/app/core/worker.py
@@ -120,45 +120,31 @@ async def on_startup(ctx: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
     async_session = async_sessionmaker(worker_engine, expire_on_commit=False)
 
     # Activate plugins that are marked active in DB (register event handlers)
-    # RLS fail-closed requires tenant context for tenant-table writes
+    # RLS fail-closed requires tenant context for tenant-table writes.
+    # The worker skips plugin activation — cron jobs and contributions
+    # are registered by the API container's startup. The worker only
+    # needs event handlers and job processing.
     from app.models.tenant import Tenant as TenantModel
     from app.core.db import set_tenant_context
 
     async with async_session() as db:
-        # Load all tenant IDs for per-tenant plugin activation
+        # Load all tenant IDs for per-tenant event handler registration
         tenant_result = await db.execute(sa_select(TenantModel.id))
         all_tenant_ids = [row[0] for row in tenant_result]
-        logger.info(f"Worker: loaded {len(all_tenant_ids)} tenants for plugin activation")
+        logger.info(f"Worker: loaded {len(all_tenant_ids)} tenants")
 
-    async with async_session() as db:
-        for name in registry.resolve_load_order():
-            plugin = registry.get_plugin(name)
-            if plugin is None:
-                continue
-            result = await db.execute(
-                sa_select(PluginModel).where(PluginModel.name == name)
-            )
-            plugin_record = result.scalar_one_or_none()
-            if plugin_record is None or not plugin_record.active:
-                continue
-            # Activate plugin per-tenant with tenant context set
-            activation_failed = False
-            for tenant_id in all_tenant_ids:
-                try:
-                    await set_tenant_context(db, tenant_id)
-                    await plugin.on_activate(db, container, event_bus)
-                    # Flush to detect any RLS errors that were swallowed by the plugin
-                    await db.flush()
-                except Exception as exc:
-                    # RLS may block duplicate cron job inserts — rollback and continue
-                    # The cron jobs are already registered from the API container startup
-                    logger.warning(f"Worker: plugin {name} activation issue for tenant {tenant_id}: {exc}")
-                    await db.rollback()
-                    activation_failed = True
-                    break
-            if not activation_failed:
-                logger.info(f"Worker: activated plugin {name}")
-        await db.commit()
+    # Register event handlers only (no DB writes, no cron job registration)
+    for name in registry.resolve_load_order():
+        plugin = registry.get_plugin(name)
+        if plugin is None:
+            continue
+        try:
+            # Just register event handlers, skip DB-writing on_activate
+            if hasattr(plugin, 'register_event_handlers'):
+                await plugin.register_event_handlers(event_bus)
+                logger.info(f"Worker: registered event handlers for {name}")
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logger.warning(f"Worker: failed to register event handlers for {name}: {exc}")
 
     # Register webhook dispatcher on the event bus
     register_webhook_event_handlers(event_bus)