diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/new-workspace/smart-workspace-name-input-surface.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/new-workspace/smart-workspace-name-input-surface.tsx
index 277f24da30b..d43695e1c01 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/new-workspace/smart-workspace-name-input-surface.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/new-workspace/smart-workspace-name-input-surface.tsx
@@ -192,6 +192,8 @@ export function renderSmartWorkspaceNameInput(
             applyEmojiReplacement(completedEmoji)
             return
           }
+          // A pending emoji caret frame would otherwise yank the caret back mid-typing.
+          cancelLocalInputFocusFrame()
           onValueChange(nextValue)
           setEmojiCursor(nextCursor)
           if (!disabled && mode !== 'text') {
diff --git a/tests/e2e/linear-url-workspace-entry.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/linear-url-workspace-entry.spec.ts
index 76e17e11ffe..d1cb2677257 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/linear-url-workspace-entry.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/linear-url-workspace-entry.spec.ts
@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@ async function releaseHeldLinearLookup(page: Page): Promise<void> {
 
 async function pasteLinearUrl(page: Page, input: ReturnType<Page['locator']>): Promise<void> {
   await page.evaluate((text) => window.api.ui.writeClipboardText(text), LINEAR_URL)
+  // X selection ownership is async; pasting before it lands delivers stale text.
+  await expect
+    .poll(() => page.evaluate(() => window.api.ui.readClipboardText()), { timeout: 5_000 })
+    .toBe(LINEAR_URL)
   await input.focus()
   await page.keyboard.press(pasteChord())
 }
diff --git a/tests/e2e/native-chat-first-flush-race.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/native-chat-first-flush-race.spec.ts
index 1362a882902..2e85e2dc132 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/native-chat-first-flush-race.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/native-chat-first-flush-race.spec.ts
@@ -141,10 +141,24 @@ test.describe('Native chat first-flush transcript race (#8401)', () => {
         path: path.join(screenshotDir, '01-loading-no-error.png')
       })
 
-      // Why: a short real delay proves the first readSession attempt already
-      // hit the not-yet-flushed file (returning notFound) and the renderer's
-      // backoff retry — not a lucky first read — is what picks it up below.
-      await orcaPage.waitForTimeout(1_500)
+      // Why observe, not sleep: 1_500ms is exactly UNFLUSHED_SETTLE_MS, so a fixed
+      // wait straddles the boundary where the host reports the transcript pending
+      // and the renderer cancels its own retry. Read through the same IPC instead,
+      // proving the miss directly. A notFound is never cached, so this cannot
+      // perturb the hydration the assertions below measure.
+      await expect
+        .poll(
+          () =>
+            orcaPage.evaluate(
+              ({ id, file }) =>
+                window.api.nativeChat
+                  .readSession('claude', id, 50, file)
+                  .then((result) => Boolean(result && 'error' in result && result.notFound)),
+              { id: sessionId, file: transcriptPath }
+            ),
+          { timeout: 10_000, message: 'transcript resolved before the first flush' }
+        )
+        .toBe(true)
       await expect(orcaPage.getByText(ERROR_TITLE)).toHaveCount(0)
 
       const userText = 'Explain the native chat first-flush race fix for #8401'
diff --git a/tests/e2e/orchestration-idle-mail-delivery.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/orchestration-idle-mail-delivery.spec.ts
index cffa6415208..9d90aed1875 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/orchestration-idle-mail-delivery.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/orchestration-idle-mail-delivery.spec.ts
@@ -653,7 +653,12 @@ test.describe('orchestration delivery to a cold-parked agent', () => {
   const parkingDelayMs = 500
 
   test.use({
-    orcaAppExtraEnv: { ORCA_E2E_TERMINAL_PARKING_DELAY_MS: String(parkingDelayMs) }
+    orcaAppExtraEnv: {
+      ORCA_E2E_TERMINAL_PARKING_DELAY_MS: String(parkingDelayMs),
+      // The working-title round trip (PTY -> daemon -> main) must beat the Enter
+      // timer; 500ms is a production heuristic, not a budget CI can honour.
+      ORCA_E2E_ORCHESTRATION_POINTER_ENTER_DELAY_MS: '5000'
+    }
   })
 
   test('keeps one pointer and one idempotent prompt on the same parked PTY', async ({
diff --git a/tests/e2e/slept-workspace-remount-wake.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/slept-workspace-remount-wake.spec.ts
index f820a7c7f69..54109a6b532 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/slept-workspace-remount-wake.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/slept-workspace-remount-wake.spec.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ test('remounting a slept hidden pane does not respawn its PTY', async ({ orcaPag
   expect(sample.tabPtyHints[0], 'sleep must keep the session id as a wake hint').toBeTruthy()
 
   const remounted = await orcaPage.evaluate(
-    (tabId) => window.__store?.getState().remountTerminalTabForRecovery(tabId) ?? false,
+    (tabId) => window.__store?.getState().remountTerminalTabForRecovery(tabId).remounted ?? false,
     sleptTabId
   )
   expect(remounted, 'remountTerminalTabForRecovery did not find the slept tab').toBe(true)
diff --git a/tests/e2e/tasks-page.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/tasks-page.spec.ts
index b8f57a1996f..962f86de0c5 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/tasks-page.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/tasks-page.spec.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ import { GITHUB_TASK_SEARCH_IDLE_MS } from '../../src/renderer/src/components/us
 // on a loaded runner, so one slow keystroke committed a prefix and failed the assertion.
 const TASK_SEARCH_TYPING_DELAY_MS = Math.round(GITHUB_TASK_SEARCH_IDLE_MS / 6)
 const TASK_SEARCH_SETTLE_MS = GITHUB_TASK_SEARCH_IDLE_MS + 50
+// Why derived: the probe must outlast the idle window plus a React commit and two
+// store round trips; a flat 2s left ~1.2s of slack on a single-worker runner.
+const TASK_SEARCH_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS = GITHUB_TASK_SEARCH_IDLE_MS * 6
 
 type RenderedTaskSource = {
   source: string
@@ -411,7 +414,9 @@ test.describe('Tasks page', () => {
 
     await input.fill('')
     await expect
-      .poll(async () => readTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage), { timeout: 2_000 })
+      .poll(async () => readTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage), {
+        timeout: TASK_SEARCH_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS
+      })
       .toEqual({ countQueries: ['is:issue is:open'], fetchQueries: ['is:issue is:open'] })
     await resetTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage)
 
@@ -422,7 +427,9 @@ test.describe('Tasks page', () => {
     // The contract is that no prefix of the typed query is ever queried, not that the
     // probe is empty at one instant: exactly one request per surface, for the final value.
     await expect
-      .poll(async () => readTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage), { timeout: 2_000 })
+      .poll(async () => readTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage), {
+        timeout: TASK_SEARCH_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS
+      })
       .toEqual({ countQueries: ['is:issue rate'], fetchQueries: ['is:issue rate'] })
 
     await resetTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage)
@@ -430,7 +437,9 @@ test.describe('Tasks page', () => {
     await input.press('Enter')
 
     await expect
-      .poll(async () => readTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage), { timeout: 2_000 })
+      .poll(async () => readTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage), {
+        timeout: TASK_SEARCH_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS
+      })
       .toEqual({ countQueries: ['is:issue ratex'], fetchQueries: ['is:issue ratex'] })
     await orcaPage.waitForTimeout(TASK_SEARCH_SETTLE_MS)
     expect(await readTaskSearchRequestProbe(orcaPage)).toEqual({