diff --git a/handwritten/bigtable/cloudbuild.yaml b/handwritten/bigtable/cloudbuild.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..23c64be391e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/handwritten/bigtable/cloudbuild.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+steps:
+# 1. Set up Node.js environment
+- name: 'node:24'
+  entrypoint: 'bash'
+  args:
+  - '-c'
+  - |
+    npm install
+  dir: 'handwritten/bigtable'
+  id: 'install-dependencies'
+
+# 2. Configure environment variables for the tests and run system tests
+#    - GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS: GCB steps run as a service account
+#      that is typically granted permissions directly. Explicitly setting
+#      GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS might not be needed if the GCB service
+#      account has the right roles (e.g., Bigtable Admin, Bigtable User).
+#      If you need to use specific service account key JSON, you'd store it
+#      in Secret Manager and mount it here. For simplicity, we'll rely on
+#      the GCB service account's inherent permissions.
+#    - GCLOUD_PROJECT: Can be passed as a build variable.
+- name: 'node:24'
+  entrypoint: 'bash'
+  args:
+  - '-c'
+  - |
+    npm run system-test
+  dir: 'handwritten/bigtable'
+  env:
+  - 'GCLOUD_PROJECT=${_GCP_PROJECT_ID}' # Pass project ID via build variable
+  # If you need specific credentials from Secret Manager, uncomment these:
+  # - 'GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/secrets/sa-key.json'
+  id: 'run-system-tests'
+  waitFor: ['install-dependencies']
+  # For Secret Manager, uncomment these (adjust secret name and volume path as needed):
+  # secretEnv: ['SA_KEY']
+  # volumes:
+  #   - name: 'sa-keys'
+  #     path: '/secrets'
+
+# 3. (Optional) Code Coverage Reporting
+- name: 'node:24'
+  entrypoint: 'bash'
+  args:
+  - '-c'
+  - |
+    # Check if nyc is installed and run report
+    if [ -f ./node_modules/nyc/bin/nyc.js ]; then
+      ./node_modules/nyc/bin/nyc.js report || true # `|| true` prevents build failure if nyc report itself exits non-zero
+    else
+      echo "nyc not found, skipping coverage report."
+    fi
+    # The original codecov.sh script from Kokoro needs to be made available to GCB.
+    # Options:
+    #   a) Commit codecov.sh into your repo (e.g., .kokoro/codecov.sh) and call it:
+    #      if [ -f .kokoro/codecov.sh ]; then . ./.kokoro/codecov.sh; fi
+    #   b) Replicate its functionality directly in this step.
+    #   c) Store it in a GCS bucket and fetch it.
+    echo "Codecov reporting (if desired) would be integrated here."
+  dir: 'handwritten/bigtable'
+  id: 'coverage-report'
+  waitFor: ['run-system-tests']
+
+# If you use Secret Manager for credentials, uncomment and configure:
+# availableSecrets:
+#   secretManager:
+#   - versionName: projects/${PROJECT_ID}/secrets/YOUR_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_SECRET_NAME/versions/latest
+#     env: 'SA_KEY' # This env var will hold the secret value. Use it as GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS in step 3 if needed.
+
+# Define a substitution variable for your project ID
+# Replace 'long-door-651' with the actual GCP Project ID your system tests should run against.
+substitutions:
+  _GCP_PROJECT_ID: 'long-door-651'
+
+timeout: '10800s'
diff --git a/handwritten/bigtable/src/tabular-api-surface.ts b/handwritten/bigtable/src/tabular-api-surface.ts
index 7e2abd907a44..b9aba06c2d8e 100644
--- a/handwritten/bigtable/src/tabular-api-surface.ts
+++ b/handwritten/bigtable/src/tabular-api-surface.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import {
 } from './index';
 import {BoundData, RawFilter} from './filter';
 import {Row} from './row';
-import {BackoffSettings} from 'google-gax/build/src/gax';
 import {google} from '../protos/protos';
 import {CallOptions, grpc, ServiceError} from 'google-gax';
 import {Transform} from 'stream';
@@ -38,13 +37,18 @@ import {
 } from './client-side-metrics/client-side-metrics-attributes';
 import {mutateInternal} from './utils/mutateInternal';
 
+// StrictLongRunningType introduces a type equal to BackoffSettings so that we
+// don't have to reach into the gax folder of build which is causing pack and
+// play errors.
+type StrictLongRunningType = NonNullable<CallOptions['longrunning']>;
+
 // See protos/google/rpc/code.proto
 // (4=DEADLINE_EXCEEDED, 8=RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED, 10=ABORTED, 14=UNAVAILABLE)
 export const RETRYABLE_STATUS_CODES = new Set([4, 8, 10, 14]);
 // (1=CANCELLED)
 export const IGNORED_STATUS_CODES = new Set([1]);
 
-export const DEFAULT_BACKOFF_SETTINGS: BackoffSettings = {
+export const DEFAULT_BACKOFF_SETTINGS: StrictLongRunningType = {
   initialRetryDelayMillis: 10,
   retryDelayMultiplier: 2,
   maxRetryDelayMillis: 60000,
@@ -495,7 +499,7 @@ Please use the format 'prezzy' or '${instance.name}/tables/prezzy'.`);
 
 export function getNextDelay(
   numConsecutiveErrors: number,
-  config: BackoffSettings,
+  config: StrictLongRunningType,
 ) {
   // 0 - 100 ms jitter
   const jitter = Math.floor(Math.random() * 100);
diff --git a/handwritten/bigtable/system-test/install.ts b/handwritten/bigtable/system-test/install.ts
index 5257a7ba101c..1cb9d3ebd8ba 100644
--- a/handwritten/bigtable/system-test/install.ts
+++ b/handwritten/bigtable/system-test/install.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ describe('📦 pack-n-play test', () => {
       packageDir: process.cwd(),
       sample: {
         description: 'JavaScript user can use the library',
-        ts: readFileSync(
+        cjs: readFileSync(
           './system-test/fixtures/sample/src/index.js',
         ).toString(),
       },