diff --git a/browse/src/server.ts b/browse/src/server.ts
index 47c2e2e4d..a31d3c83a 100644
--- a/browse/src/server.ts
+++ b/browse/src/server.ts
@@ -812,8 +812,17 @@ function parentWatchdogTick(parentPid: number = BROWSE_PARENT_PID): void {
     }
   }
 }
+// Poll cadence. Env-overridable as a test seam: watchdog.test.ts shrinks it
+// (250ms) so a free-tier test can observe a real tick deciding on a dead
+// parent instead of sleeping through the 15s production cadence. Production
+// launchers never set this; unparsable or non-positive values fall back to 15s.
+const rawWatchdogIntervalMs = parseInt(process.env.BROWSE_PARENT_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS || '', 10);
+const PARENT_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS =
+  Number.isFinite(rawWatchdogIntervalMs) && rawWatchdogIntervalMs > 0
+    ? rawWatchdogIntervalMs
+    : 15_000;
 if (BROWSE_PARENT_PID > 0 && !IS_HEADED_WATCHDOG) {
-  setInterval(parentWatchdogTick, 15_000);
+  setInterval(parentWatchdogTick, PARENT_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS);
 } else if (IS_HEADED_WATCHDOG) {
   console.log('[browse] Parent-process watchdog disabled (headed mode)');
 } else if (BROWSE_PARENT_PID === 0) {
diff --git a/browse/test/browser-skill-commands.test.ts b/browse/test/browser-skill-commands.test.ts
index c93a908e2..9d200e10d 100644
--- a/browse/test/browser-skill-commands.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/browser-skill-commands.test.ts
@@ -342,8 +342,15 @@ describe.skipIf(SKIP_SPAWN)('spawnSkill: lifecycle', () => {
   it('timeout fires, exit code 124, token revoked', async () => {
     const dir = makeSkillDir(tiers.bundled, 'sleeper',
       'name: sleeper\nhost: x.com\ntrusted: true',
-      // Sleep longer than the test timeout; the spawn should kill us.
-      `await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 30000)); console.log("done");`,
+      // The child's self-lifetime is a bound, not a wait — the test blocks
+      // only for the 1s spawn timeout that kills it. 8s is sized to be far
+      // above that 1s (the kill always lands first) but below this test's
+      // 10s ceiling: if the timeout-kill ever regresses, the child completes,
+      // prints "done", and the assertions below fail cleanly in-budget
+      // instead of the test opaquely timing out while the child lingers.
+      // (runToFiles gives skill children no stdin pipe, so a parent-death
+      // EOF lifetime isn't available here — self-timing is required.)
+      `await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 8000)); console.log("done");`,
     );
     const skill = readBrowserSkill('sleeper', tiers)!;
     const result = await spawnSkill({
@@ -351,6 +358,9 @@ describe.skipIf(SKIP_SPAWN)('spawnSkill: lifecycle', () => {
     });
     expect(result.timedOut).toBe(true);
     expect(result.exitCode).toBe(124);
+    // The kill must land before the script completes — "done" ever appearing
+    // means the child outlived its timeout.
+    expect(result.stdout).not.toContain('done');
     expect(listTokens().filter(t => t.clientId.startsWith('skill:sleeper:'))).toEqual([]);
   }, 10_000);
 
diff --git a/browse/test/stop-dead-daemon.test.ts b/browse/test/stop-dead-daemon.test.ts
index b92a669d3..e8ededa43 100644
--- a/browse/test/stop-dead-daemon.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/stop-dead-daemon.test.ts
@@ -109,7 +109,16 @@ describe('stop --force-restart on a LIVE daemon', () => {
     const tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'browse-stop-force-'));
     const stateFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'browse.json');
     // Portable long-lived child standing in for the wedged daemon process.
-    const wedged = spawn('bun', ['-e', 'await Bun.sleep(300000)'], { stdio: 'ignore' });
+    // Its lifetime is tied to this test process instead of a fixed sleep: it
+    // blocks until its stdin (a pipe we hold open) hits EOF. That means it
+    // can never self-exit mid-test — which would let the "pid is dead"
+    // assertion below pass without the CLI having killed anything — and it
+    // reaps itself the moment the test process dies, even on a hard kill
+    // where the finally block never runs.
+    const wedged = spawn('bun', ['-e',
+      "process.stdin.resume(); const bye = () => process.exit(0); "
+      + "process.stdin.on('end', bye); process.stdin.on('error', bye); process.stdin.on('close', bye);",
+    ], { stdio: ['pipe', 'ignore', 'ignore'] });
     try {
       const port = await closedPort();
       fs.writeFileSync(stateFile, JSON.stringify({
diff --git a/browse/test/terminal-agent-owner-watchdog.test.ts b/browse/test/terminal-agent-owner-watchdog.test.ts
index e28502964..386718d2c 100644
--- a/browse/test/terminal-agent-owner-watchdog.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/terminal-agent-owner-watchdog.test.ts
@@ -44,9 +44,16 @@ describe('terminal-agent owner lifecycle', () => {
     // process.execPath (the running bun) instead of `sleep`: coreutils are
     // not guaranteed on a bare windows-latest runner, and this test is on the
     // Windows CI curated list — the owner-orphan leak it pins is a Windows bug.
+    // The owner's lifetime is tied to this test process instead of a fixed
+    // 30s sleep: it blocks until its stdin (a pipe we hold open) hits EOF, so
+    // it is guaranteed alive until the SIGTERM below no matter how slow the
+    // runner is, and it reaps itself if the test process dies without running
+    // afterEach. Node-compatible stdin APIs, not Bun.stdin — Windows-portable.
     const owner = Bun.spawn(
-      [process.execPath, '-e', 'await Bun.sleep(30000)'],
-      { stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', 'ignore'] },
+      [process.execPath, '-e',
+        "process.stdin.resume(); const bye = () => process.exit(0); "
+        + "process.stdin.on('end', bye); process.stdin.on('error', bye); process.stdin.on('close', bye);"],
+      { stdio: ['pipe', 'ignore', 'ignore'] },
     );
     spawned.push(owner);
     const agent = Bun.spawn(['bun', 'run', AGENT_SCRIPT], {
diff --git a/browse/test/watchdog.test.ts b/browse/test/watchdog.test.ts
index 56201779e..ff4cfb84f 100644
--- a/browse/test/watchdog.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/watchdog.test.ts
@@ -27,8 +27,10 @@ import { resolveConfig } from '../src/config';
 // seam as idleCheckTick) and tunnelActive is simulated via setTunnelActive.
 //
 // Each test spawns the real server.ts. Tests 1 and 2 verify behavior via
-// stdout log line (fast). Test 3 waits for the watchdog poll cycle to confirm
-// the server REMAINS alive after parent death (slow — ~20s observation window).
+// stdout log line (fast). Test 3 shrinks the poll cadence via
+// BROWSE_PARENT_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS (test seam in server.ts), waits for the
+// tick's one-time "parent exited (server stays alive" log to prove a tick
+// observed the death, then confirms the server REMAINS alive.
 
 const ROOT = path.resolve(import.meta.dir, '..');
 const SERVER_SCRIPT = path.join(ROOT, 'src', 'server.ts');
@@ -139,21 +141,37 @@ describe('parent-process watchdog (v0.18.1.0)', () => {
     const parentPid = parentProc.pid!;
 
     // Default headless: no BROWSE_HEADED, real parent PID — watchdog active.
-    serverProc = spawnServer({ BROWSE_PARENT_PID: String(parentPid) }, 34903);
+    // The poll cadence is shrunk via the server's env seam (250ms instead of
+    // the production 15s) so observing a real tick doesn't cost a 20s sleep.
+    serverProc = spawnServer({
+      BROWSE_PARENT_PID: String(parentPid),
+      BROWSE_PARENT_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS: '250',
+    }, 34903);
     const serverPid = serverProc.pid!;
 
-    // Give the server a moment to start and register the watchdog interval.
-    await Bun.sleep(2000);
+    // Startup barrier: poll stdout for the listen line instead of a fixed 2s
+    // sleep. The watchdog interval is registered at module load, before this
+    // line prints, so once we see it the ticks are running.
+    const bootOut = await readStdoutUntil(serverProc, 'Server running on', 15_000);
+    expect(bootOut).toContain('Server running on');
     expect(isProcessAlive(serverPid)).toBe(true);
 
-    // Kill the parent. The watchdog polls every 15s, so first tick after
-    // parent death lands within ~15s. Pre-#994 the server would shutdown
-    // here. Post-#994 the server logs the parent exit and stays alive.
+    // Kill the parent, then wait for a tick to OBSERVE the death: the
+    // stay-alive branch logs a one-time latched line. Seeing it proves a tick
+    // ran after parent death and chose NOT to shut down — pre-#994 the same
+    // tick called shutdown instead. (Await exited first so the PID is reaped
+    // and the tick's kill(pid, 0) probe sees ESRCH, not a zombie.)
     parentProc.kill('SIGKILL');
+    await parentProc.exited;
+    const marker = `Parent process ${parentPid} exited (server stays alive`;
+    const out = await readStdoutUntil(serverProc, marker, 15_000);
+    expect(out).toContain(marker);
+    expect(out).not.toContain('shutting down');
 
-    // Wait long enough for at least one watchdog tick (15s) plus margin.
-    // Server should still be alive — that's the whole point of #994.
-    await Bun.sleep(20_000);
+    // Let several more ticks land (4+ at 250ms — the old fixed 20s sleep
+    // covered ~1 production tick) and confirm the server is still alive —
+    // that's the whole point of #994.
+    await Bun.sleep(1_000);
     expect(isProcessAlive(serverPid)).toBe(true);
   }, 45_000);
 });