diff --git a/.github/workflows/dry-run.yml b/.github/workflows/dry-run.yml
index 2db61c17e..6c6d67da7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dry-run.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dry-run.yml
@@ -16,16 +16,16 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install deps
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt-get install -y libsqlite3-dev zlib1g-dev cppcheck clang-tidy clang-format
+          sudo apt-get install -y libsqlite3-dev zlib1g-dev cppcheck
 
       - name: clang-format
-        run: make -f Makefile.cbm lint-format
+        run: make -f Makefile.cbm lint-format CLANG_FORMAT=clang-format-18
 
       - name: cppcheck
         run: make -f Makefile.cbm lint-cppcheck
 
       - name: clang-tidy
-        run: make -f Makefile.cbm lint-tidy
+        run: make -f Makefile.cbm lint-tidy CLANG_TIDY=clang-tidy-18
 
   # ── Step 2: Unit tests (ASan + UBSan) ────────────────────────
   test:
diff --git a/Makefile.cbm b/Makefile.cbm
index c2ababbcb..b86dd095a 100644
--- a/Makefile.cbm
+++ b/Makefile.cbm
@@ -408,11 +408,12 @@ clean-c:
 
 # ── Linting ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-# clang-tidy and clang-format from Homebrew LLVM (keg-only on macOS)
-LLVM_BIN = $(shell brew --prefix llvm 2>/dev/null)/bin
-CLANG_TIDY = $(shell [ -x "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-tidy" ] && echo "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-tidy" || echo clang-tidy)
-CLANG_FORMAT = $(shell [ -x "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-format" ] && echo "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-format" || echo clang-format)
-CPPCHECK = cppcheck
+# clang-tidy and clang-format: use Homebrew LLVM on macOS, overridable via make args
+# e.g. make lint-format CLANG_FORMAT=clang-format-18
+LLVM_BIN := $(shell brew --prefix llvm 2>/dev/null)/bin
+CLANG_TIDY ?= $(shell [ -x "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-tidy" ] && echo "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-tidy" || echo clang-tidy)
+CLANG_FORMAT ?= $(shell [ -x "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-format" ] && echo "$(LLVM_BIN)/clang-format" || echo clang-format)
+CPPCHECK ?= cppcheck
 
 # macOS SDK sysroot (needed for Homebrew LLVM to find system headers)
 SYSROOT = $(shell xcrun --show-sdk-path 2>/dev/null)
@@ -442,6 +443,7 @@ lint-cppcheck:
 		--quiet \
 		--suppress=varFuncNullUB \
 		--suppress=intToPointerCast \
+		--suppress=unusedStructMember \
 		--suppress=nullPointerOutOfMemory \
 		--suppress=nullPointerArithmeticOutOfMemory \
 		--suppress=ctunullpointerOutOfMemory \