diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 773d1c2..437bfe9 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,46 +1,6 @@
-.template:
+hydra:
+  only:
+    - merge_requests
   image: nixos/nix
-  retry: 2
-  before_script:
-    # report CPU info so we can monitor if real KVM becomes available. create /dev/kvm to fool nix
-    - cat /proc/cpuinfo
-    - ls -l /dev/kvm || true
-    - touch /dev/kvm
   script:
-    - nix-build tests/default.nix -A ${SUITE}.${VERSION} --arg nonKVM true
-
-19-09-intern:
-  extends: .template
-  variables:
-    VERSION: "nixpkgs_19_09"
-    SUITE:   "intern"
-
-19-09-extern:
-  extends: .template
-  variables:
-    VERSION: "nixpkgs_19_09"
-    SUITE:   "extern"
-
-19-09-clamav:
-  extends: .template
-  variables:
-    VERSION: "nixpkgs_19_09"
-    SUITE:   "clamav"
-
-unstable-intern:
-  extends: .template
-  variables:
-    VERSION: "nixpkgs_unstable"
-    SUITE:   "intern"
-
-nixpkgs_unstable-extern:
-  extends: .template
-  variables:
-    VERSION: "nixpkgs_unstable"
-    SUITE:   "extern"
-
-nixpkgs_unstable-clamav:
-  extends: .template
-  variables:
-    VERSION: "nixpkgs_unstable"
-    SUITE:   "clamav"
+    - nix run -f channel:nixos-unstable hydra-cli -c hydra-cli -H https://hydra.nix-community.org jobset-wait simple-nixos-mailserver $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID