diff --git a/test/gbrain-refresh-install-render.test.ts b/test/gbrain-refresh-install-render.test.ts
index 0b803ed2a..b630402c6 100644
--- a/test/gbrain-refresh-install-render.test.ts
+++ b/test/gbrain-refresh-install-render.test.ts
@@ -44,13 +44,18 @@ describe('gstack-config gbrain-refresh: machine-wide render guards', () => {
     expect(branch).toContain('command -v bun');
   });
 
-  test('renders the :user variant in place into the install', () => {
+  test('renders the :user variant for the claude host', () => {
     expect(branch).toContain('gen:skill-docs:user --host claude');
   });
 
-  test('is self-documenting about the reset --hard / re-run cycle', () => {
-    expect(branch).toContain('reset --hard');
-    expect(branch).toContain('gbrain-refresh');
+  // #2569: the render goes to an UNTRACKED out-dir, never in place — the old
+  // in-place render dirtied the install checkout on every refresh, and this
+  // branch used to self-document a reset --hard / re-run cycle as the
+  // workaround. The out-dir render makes that cycle unnecessary.
+  test('renders to an untracked out-dir, never in place (#2569)', () => {
+    expect(branch).toContain('--out-dir');
+    expect(branch).toContain('render/claude');
+    expect(branch).not.toContain('reset --hard');
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/test/setup-bun-cmd-and-pipe-bugs.test.ts b/test/setup-bun-cmd-and-pipe-bugs.test.ts
index 695a1d447..098597d55 100644
--- a/test/setup-bun-cmd-and-pipe-bugs.test.ts
+++ b/test/setup-bun-cmd-and-pipe-bugs.test.ts
@@ -45,16 +45,19 @@ describe('setup: gen:skill-docs:user exit-code propagation (pipe-masking fix)',
     expect(r.stdout).not.toContain('LOG:  warning');
   });
 
-  test('setup: the live gbrain regen block has no pipe before the || guard', () => {
+  test('setup: the live gbrain render block has no pipe masking its exit code', () => {
     // Slice the exact block from setup and confirm the fix is in place
-    // without resorting to a fragile line-number check.
-    const start = SETUP_SRC.indexOf('gbrain detected — regenerating');
+    // without resorting to a fragile line-number check. (#2569 renamed the
+    // block from "regenerating" to "rendering ... into $_GSTACK_RENDER_DIR" —
+    // the exit-code-propagation invariant is unchanged.)
+    const start = SETUP_SRC.indexOf('gbrain detected — rendering');
     expect(start).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
-    const end = SETUP_SRC.indexOf('|| log', start);
+    const end = SETUP_SRC.indexOf('warning: gen:skill-docs:user failed', start);
     expect(end).toBeGreaterThan(start);
     const block = SETUP_SRC.slice(start, end);
     expect(block).toContain('bun_cmd run gen:skill-docs:user --host claude');
-    // The bug shape: `... | tail -N` between the call and the `|| log` guard.
+    // The bug shape: `... | tail -N` between the call and the failure guard —
+    // a pipe would replace the render's exit code with tail's.
     expect(block).not.toMatch(/gen:skill-docs:user[^\n]*\|\s*tail/);
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/setup-sections-linking.test.ts b/test/setup-sections-linking.test.ts
index a6aa516ce..b0558283f 100644
--- a/test/setup-sections-linking.test.ts
+++ b/test/setup-sections-linking.test.ts
@@ -24,12 +24,17 @@ function fnBody(src: string, name: string): string {
 }
 
 describe('setup links sections/ for cherry-pick install targets', () => {
-  test('link_claude_skill_dirs links sections/ via _link_or_copy', () => {
+  test('link_claude_skill_dirs installs runtime assets (incl. sections/) via the shared helper', () => {
+    // #2317/#2454 generalized the sections/-only install into
+    // _link_skill_runtime_assets, which carries EVERY runtime asset a skill
+    // references (sections/, checklist.md, specialists/, ...). That helper
+    // routes through _link_or_copy internally (windows-safe), so the old
+    // per-directory _link_or_copy assertion moved there.
     const body = fnBody(SETUP, 'link_claude_skill_dirs');
-    expect(body).toContain('sections');
-    // sections install must route through the windows-safe helper, not raw ln.
-    expect(body).toMatch(/_link_or_copy\s+"\$gstack_dir\/\$dir_name\/sections"\s+"\$target\/sections"/);
-    expect(body).toMatch(/if \[ -d "\$gstack_dir\/\$dir_name\/sections" \]/);
+    expect(body).toMatch(/_link_skill_runtime_assets\s+"\$gstack_dir\/\$dir_name"\s+"\$target"/);
+    const helper = fnBody(SETUP, '_link_skill_runtime_assets');
+    expect(helper).toContain('_link_or_copy');
+    expect(helper).not.toMatch(/\bln -s/);
   });
 
   test('kiro per-skill loop rewrites + copies sections/*', () => {
diff --git a/test/uninstall-windows-copies.test.ts b/test/uninstall-windows-copies.test.ts
index e72fe962f..fb4a92636 100644
--- a/test/uninstall-windows-copies.test.ts
+++ b/test/uninstall-windows-copies.test.ts
@@ -151,8 +151,17 @@ describe.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32')(
     test('SKILL.md symlink pointing elsewhere → kept and listed', () => {
       // Target path must not contain "gstack" anywhere (the provenance match
       // is a substring check, mirroring setup's cleanup helpers) — the suite
-      // tmpdir prefix does, so use a separate neutral tmpdir.
-      const neutral = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'other-skill-src-'));
+      // tmpdir prefix does, so use a separate neutral tmpdir. os.tmpdir()
+      // reads $TMPDIR at CALL time, and in shared-process shard runs a
+      // neighboring test can leave it pointing at a gstack-containing path —
+      // observed once in a full-suite shard (the "neutral" target then
+      // matched the provenance substring and the dir was wrongly deleted by
+      // the test's own expectations). Fall back to a fixed neutral root and
+      // ASSERT neutrality so the precondition can never silently rot.
+      let neutralRoot = os.tmpdir();
+      if (neutralRoot.includes('gstack')) neutralRoot = '/private' + path.sep + 'tmp';
+      const neutral = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(neutralRoot, 'other-skill-src-'));
+      expect(neutral.includes('gstack')).toBe(false);
       const elsewhere = path.join(neutral, 'elsewhere.md');
       fs.writeFileSync(elsewhere, '# not ours\n');
       const dir = path.join(skillsDir, 'someone-elses');