diff --git a/scripts/openclaude-bin-heap.test.ts b/scripts/openclaude-bin-heap.test.ts
index 51a008455..65b8cceb5 100644
--- a/scripts/openclaude-bin-heap.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/openclaude-bin-heap.test.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ describe('openclaude launcher heap guard', () => {
     expect(source).not.toMatch(/import\s*\{[^}]*enableCompileCache[^}]*\}\s*from\s*['"]node:module['"]/s)
   })
 
+  // Real CLI startup has an 8s child deadline; allow time to assert its result.
   test('strips launcher-only percentage before Commander when native heap and expose-gc are present', () => {
     const env = {
       ...process.env,
@@ -98,8 +99,9 @@ describe('openclaude launcher heap guard', () => {
     expect(output).not.toContain(
       "unknown option '--max-old-space-size-percentage=50'",
     )
-  })
+  }, 10_000)
 
+  // Real CLI startup has an 8s child deadline; allow time to assert its result.
   test('strips launcher-only percentage before Commander when heap relaunch is disabled', () => {
     const env = {
       ...process.env,
@@ -120,8 +122,9 @@ describe('openclaude launcher heap guard', () => {
     expect(output).not.toContain(
       "unknown option '--max-old-space-size-percentage=50'",
     )
-  })
+  }, 10_000)
 
+  // Real CLI startup has an 8s child deadline; allow time to assert its result.
   test('strips launcher-only percentage when OPENCLAUDE_HEAP_RELAUNCHED is already set', () => {
     const env = {
       ...process.env,
@@ -142,7 +145,7 @@ describe('openclaude launcher heap guard', () => {
     expect(output).not.toContain(
       "unknown option '--max-old-space-size-percentage=50'",
     )
-  })
+  }, 10_000)
 })
 
 describe('heap-limit percentage resolution', () => {
diff --git a/src/cli/bgFinalizer.test.ts b/src/cli/bgFinalizer.test.ts
index fdc51937a..5c1679648 100644
--- a/src/cli/bgFinalizer.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/bgFinalizer.test.ts
@@ -633,8 +633,8 @@ describe('background session finalizer', () => {
     return { id, child, readyPath }
   }
 
-  async function waitForFile(path: string): Promise<void> {
-    for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 500; attempt += 1) {
+  async function waitForFile(path: string, attempts: number = 500): Promise<void> {
+    for (let attempt = 0; attempt < attempts; attempt += 1) {
       if (await Bun.file(path).exists()) return
       await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 10))
     }
@@ -967,6 +967,7 @@ describe('background session finalizer', () => {
   async function runWaitingDetachedLaunch(
     name: string,
     fixtureEnv: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {},
+    readinessAttempts?: number,
   ): Promise<{ id: string; childPid: number; readyPath: string }> {
     const readyPath = join(configDir, `${name}.ready`)
     const launcher = spawn(
@@ -1017,7 +1018,7 @@ describe('background session finalizer', () => {
       if (!id || childPid === undefined) {
         throw new Error('detached wait launch omitted its session identity')
       }
-      await waitForFile(readyPath)
+      await waitForFile(readyPath, readinessAttempts)
       ownershipTransferred = true
       return { id, childPid, readyPath }
     } finally {
@@ -1044,6 +1045,9 @@ describe('background session finalizer', () => {
       env: {
         OPENCLAUDE_BG_FINALIZER_FIXTURE_SKIP_READY: '1',
       },
+      // Readiness is deliberately suppressed; only exercise the failure path.
+      readinessAttempts: 25,
+      expectedError: 'fixture readiness file was not created',
     },
   ]) {
     it(
@@ -1051,8 +1055,8 @@ describe('background session finalizer', () => {
       async () => {
         const name = `failed-handoff-${scenario.label.replaceAll(' ', '-')}`
         await expect(
-          runWaitingDetachedLaunch(name, scenario.env),
-        ).rejects.toThrow()
+          runWaitingDetachedLaunch(name, scenario.env, scenario.readinessAttempts),
+        ).rejects.toThrow(scenario.expectedError)
         const session = (await listBackgroundSessions()).find(
           candidate => candidate.name === name,
         )
diff --git a/src/cli/printMaxTurns.test.ts b/src/cli/printMaxTurns.test.ts
index a18bc682b..8f1855e1a 100644
--- a/src/cli/printMaxTurns.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/printMaxTurns.test.ts
@@ -135,18 +135,6 @@ function createHeadlessRunOptions(maxTurns: number | undefined) {
   }
 }
 
-async function waitForAskCall(
-  askSpy: ReturnType<typeof spyOn<typeof queryEngineModule, 'ask'>>,
-): Promise<void> {
-  const deadline = Date.now() + 15_000
-  while (askSpy.mock.calls.length === 0) {
-    if (Date.now() >= deadline) {
-      throw new Error('Timed out waiting for runHeadless to call ask()')
-    }
-    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 25))
-  }
-}
-
 describe('headless --print max-turns', () => {
   const savedSimple = process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE
 
@@ -213,9 +201,8 @@ describe('headless --print max-turns', () => {
         createHeadlessRunOptions(0),
       )
 
-      await waitForAskCall(askSpy)
-      expect(askSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[0]?.maxTurns).toBe(0)
       await runPromise
+      expect(askSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[0]?.maxTurns).toBe(0)
       expect(shutdownSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(0)
     } finally {
       await runPromise?.catch(() => {})
diff --git a/src/components/PromptInput/utils.test.ts b/src/components/PromptInput/utils.test.ts
index 39f35d630..0b078c629 100644
--- a/src/components/PromptInput/utils.test.ts
+++ b/src/components/PromptInput/utils.test.ts
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ test.each([
   /** Observes the real hook after mounting its AppState provider. */
   function HookProbe() {
     observedBanner = useSwarmBanner()
-    React.useEffect(() => { notifyRendered() }, [])
+    React.useLayoutEffect(() => { notifyRendered() }, [])
     return null
   }