diff --git a/Dockerfile.agentic-base b/Dockerfile.agentic-base
index cab089a862..ff291b09c3 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.agentic-base
+++ b/Dockerfile.agentic-base
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ ENV PYTHONPATH="/switchyard:/app/services/core/jobs/src:/app/services/core/entit
 RUN /app/.venv/bin/python -c "import nmp.core.jobs; import nmp.core.entities; print('All critical modules imported successfully')"
 
 # Install NAT and related components used by runner backends:
-# - nvidia-nat[most]: nat runtime with common plugin set.
+# - nvidia-nat[mcp,eval,langchain]: nat runtime with plugins used by these eval tasks.
 # - nvidia-nat-atif: ATIF schema models for trajectory validation.
 # - nvidia-nat-eval: nat eval / optimize support.
 # - nvidia-nat-mcp: mcp_client function type support.
@@ -105,10 +105,13 @@ RUN /app/.venv/bin/python -c "import nmp.core.jobs; import nmp.core.entities; pr
 #
 # All nvidia-nat* packages MUST be pinned to the same version. The CLI/meta
 # package historically lagged the plugin packages (e.g. nvidia-nat==1.4.3 vs
-# nvidia-nat-core/eval/langchain==1.7.0), which caused ImportErrors at plugin
+# nvidia-nat-core/eval/langchain==1.8.0), which caused ImportErrors at plugin
 # discovery (e.g. register_dataset_loader) and crashed `nat start fastapi`.
+# NAT 1.8.0 depends on prerelease transitive packages, so allow prereleases for
+# this isolated install step.
 RUN uv pip install --python /app/.venv/bin/python \
-        "nvidia-nat[most]==1.7.0" nvidia-nat-atif==1.7.0 nvidia-nat-eval==1.7.0 nvidia-nat-mcp==1.7.0 && \
+        --prerelease=allow \
+        "nvidia-nat[mcp,eval,langchain]==1.8.0" nvidia-nat-atif==1.8.0 nvidia-nat-eval==1.8.0 nvidia-nat-mcp==1.8.0 && \
     uv pip install --python /app/.venv/bin/python -e /app/plugins/nemo-agents && \
     uv pip install --python /app/.venv/bin/python -e /app/plugins/nemo-agents/examples/calculator-agent && \
     chown -R harbor:harbor /app/.venv
diff --git a/tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt b/tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt
index 69b202fc96..7f43d407f9 100644
--- a/tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt
+++ b/tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt
@@ -15,18 +15,22 @@
 #
 #   python3.11 -m venv .venv-nat
 #   source .venv-nat/bin/activate
-#   pip install -r tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt
+#   uv pip install --python .venv-nat/bin/python --prerelease=allow \
+#     -r tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt
 #   nat --version
 #
 # OR use uv with an isolated venv:
 #
 #   uv venv .venv-nat --python 3.11
-#   uv pip install -r tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt --python .venv-nat/bin/python
+#   uv pip install --python .venv-nat/bin/python --prerelease=allow \
+#     -r tests/agentic-use/requirements-nat.txt
 #
 # DOCKER CONTAINER
 # ----------------
 # Dockerfile.agentic-base installs this automatically during image build:
-#   uv pip install "nvidia-nat[mcp,eval,langchain]"
+#   uv pip install --prerelease=allow "nvidia-nat[mcp,eval,langchain]==1.8.0" ...
 
-nvidia-nat[mcp,eval,langchain]
-nvidia-nat-atif
+nvidia-nat[mcp,eval,langchain]==1.8.0
+nvidia-nat-atif==1.8.0
+nvidia-nat-eval==1.8.0
+nvidia-nat-mcp==1.8.0