diff --git a/tests/browser/github-body.spec.mjs b/tests/browser/github-body.spec.mjs
index a2e43df25c..b2ded6561f 100644
--- a/tests/browser/github-body.spec.mjs
+++ b/tests/browser/github-body.spec.mjs
@@ -151,6 +151,24 @@ test("PR media plays under the packaged media policy in a narrow GitHub panel",
   }
   for (const source of [before, after])
     await expect(panel.locator(`a[href="${source}"]`)).toHaveCount(0);
+  // WebKit can finish a seek issued just after playback pauses without moving:
+  // seeked fires and currentTime stays where playback paused. Keep the
+  // fullscreen video from autoplaying, so the seek below follows no pause, and
+  // seek only after its initial-position restore has landed.
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    window.fullscreenRestored = new Promise((resolve) => {
+      const observer = new MutationObserver(() => {
+        const video = document.querySelector(
+          '[role="dialog"][aria-label="Video attachment"] video',
+        );
+        if (!video) return;
+        observer.disconnect();
+        video.pause();
+        video.addEventListener("seeked", resolve, { once: true });
+      });
+      observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });
+    });
+  });
   await panel
     .getByRole("button", { name: "Open video fullscreen" })
     .nth(1)
@@ -175,9 +193,9 @@ test("PR media plays under the packaged media policy in a narrow GitHub panel",
       ),
     )
     .toBe(true);
+  await page.evaluate(() => window.fullscreenRestored);
   // Native seek controls are browser-owned; observe the real media seek boundary.
   const seek = await fullscreen.evaluate(async (element) => {
-    element.pause();
     const seconds = element.duration / 2;
     const completed = new Promise((resolve) =>
       element.addEventListener("seeked", resolve, { once: true }),
diff --git a/tests/browser/inbox-archive.spec.mjs b/tests/browser/inbox-archive.spec.mjs
index 9be0bc1158..af04bae933 100644
--- a/tests/browser/inbox-archive.spec.mjs
+++ b/tests/browser/inbox-archive.spec.mjs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { test, expect } from "./fixture.mjs";
 import { openPage } from "./navigation.mjs";
 import { readJournal } from "./reading.mjs";
+import { frames } from "./timeline.mjs";
 
 const channel = "f12918e7-88d0-4ddd-aa6b-d4888ff6d3bd";
 // The Archive shortcut acts on the last opened conversation.
@@ -25,6 +26,23 @@ test.use({
   screenshot: "off",
 });
 
+// Opening a conversation reveals its entry reply, the window's first, by
+// focusing that row. In WebKit the focus clears the editor selection, so a
+// fill racing the reveal types nothing. The row can be in view before the
+// reveal runs, and list aria-busy does not cover reader positioning: wait for
+// the focus and the reveal's next-frame acknowledgement before filling.
+async function revealed(page, inbox, app) {
+  await expect(
+    inbox.getByRole("list", { name: "Inbox conversations" }),
+  ).toHaveAttribute("aria-busy", "false");
+  await expect(
+    conversations(inbox).locator(
+      `[data-message-id="${app.inboxWindow.replies[0].id}"]`,
+    ),
+  ).toBeFocused();
+  await frames(page);
+}
+
 async function choose(page, inbox, control, option) {
   await inbox
     .getByRole("button", { name: "Inbox filters", exact: true })
@@ -449,6 +467,7 @@ test("Inbox sending keeps the conversation open until manually archived", async
   await expect(
     inbox.getByRole("checkbox", { name: "Archive on send" }),
   ).toHaveCount(0);
+  await revealed(page, inbox, app);
   const detail = conversations(inbox);
   const editor = detail.getByRole("textbox");
   await editor.fill("Keep this conversation");
@@ -540,6 +559,7 @@ test("selected row button advances and menu closes without losing the original d
   const next = rows.filter({ hasText: "Unread neighbor" });
   await expect(rows).toHaveCount(2);
   await thread.getByRole("button", { name: /^Open / }).click();
+  await revealed(page, inbox, app);
   const editor = conversations(inbox).getByRole("textbox");
   await editor.fill("Keep the selected archive draft");
   await editor.evaluate((el) => {
@@ -607,18 +627,7 @@ test("unselected row Archive preserves the open editor and unread neighbor", asy
   const next = rows.filter({ hasText: "Unread neighbor" });
   await expect(rows).toHaveCount(2);
   await thread.getByRole("button", { name: /^Open / }).click();
-  const target = conversations(inbox).locator(
-    `[data-message-id="${app.inboxWindow.replies[0].id}"]`,
-  );
-  await expect(target).toBeInViewport();
-  // Finish entry reveal and its next-frame acknowledgement before taking the
-  // editor/row-focus baseline; list aria-busy does not cover reader positioning.
-  await page.evaluate(
-    () =>
-      new Promise((resolve) =>
-        requestAnimationFrame(() => requestAnimationFrame(resolve)),
-      ),
-  );
+  await revealed(page, inbox, app);
   const editor = conversations(inbox).getByRole("textbox");
   await editor.fill("Keep the unselected archive draft");
   await editor.evaluate((el) => {
@@ -671,6 +680,7 @@ test("reply and fresh mention reopen their filters without replacing composer dr
   await choose(page, inbox, "Show", "Archived");
   await expect(rows).toHaveCount(1);
   await rows.getByRole("button", { name: /^Open / }).click();
+  await revealed(page, inbox, app);
   const detail = conversations(inbox);
   const editor = detail.getByRole("textbox");
   await editor.fill("Unsent mention retention draft");
diff --git a/tests/browser/navigation-groups.spec.mjs b/tests/browser/navigation-groups.spec.mjs
index 6cbb4e180c..90312fe44b 100644
--- a/tests/browser/navigation-groups.spec.mjs
+++ b/tests/browser/navigation-groups.spec.mjs
@@ -884,13 +884,18 @@ test("Create new retains its draft when preferences fail before submission and r
   await page.getByText("Diagnostics", { exact: true }).click();
   const held = gate(),
     started = gate();
+  // Transient at first, so relay recovery owns the failure and shows its notice.
+  let status = 502;
   const failLegacy = async (route) => {
     started.resolve();
     await held.promise;
-    app.report.sidebarPreferenceFailures ??= [];
-    app.report.sidebarPreferenceFailures.push(route.request().url());
+    const failed = status;
+    const failures =
+      failed === 502 ? "sidebarPreferenceFailures" : "relayFailures";
+    app.report[failures] ??= [];
+    app.report[failures].push(route.request().url());
     await route.fulfill({
-      status: 502,
+      status: failed,
       contentType: "application/json",
       body: JSON.stringify({ error: "Preferences unavailable" }),
     });
@@ -930,10 +935,19 @@ test("Create new retains its draft when preferences fail before submission and r
     await expect(dialog.getByRole("alert")).toContainText("Retry preferences");
     expect(app.report.sidebarPublications ?? []).toHaveLength(0);
     // Another failed recovery must keep both the draft and recovery action.
+    // Recovery would retry a transient failure on its own seconds later, and
+    // after the unroute below that read could remove Retry preferences while
+    // the final click is still landing. A 4xx is not transient, so recovery
+    // leaves it alone and the dialog's Retry is the only way out. The test
+    // flips the status here, not the click, so a recovery read that lands
+    // first also gets a 403 and can satisfy the response wait. Reads
+    // serialize behind the disabled Retry, so toBeEnabled still waits for the
+    // manual read.
+    status = 403;
     const retryFailed = page.waitForResponse(
       (response) =>
         new URL(response.url()).pathname.endsWith("/sidebar-preferences") &&
-        response.status() === 502,
+        response.status() === 403,
     );
     await dialog
       .getByRole("button", { name: "Retry preferences", exact: true })
diff --git a/tests/browser/sidebar-section-creation.spec.mjs b/tests/browser/sidebar-section-creation.spec.mjs
index 7d96f83226..658add4bac 100644
--- a/tests/browser/sidebar-section-creation.spec.mjs
+++ b/tests/browser/sidebar-section-creation.spec.mjs
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ test("Channels offers empty-section creation with keyboard focus and confirmed p
         writerReads++;
         if (failWriterRead) {
           failWriterRead = false;
-          // A denial keeps manual recovery available while transient reads retry.
+          // Relay recovery retries a transient failure such as a 502 about a
+          // second later, which can remove Retry preferences while a slow
+          // click is still landing. A denial leaves the retry to the user.
           app.report.relayFailures ??= [];
           app.report.relayFailures.push(route.request().url());
           await route.fulfill({
@@ -163,7 +165,7 @@ test("Channels offers empty-section creation with keyboard focus and confirmed p
   await expect(
     dialog.getByRole("button", { name: "Create", exact: true }),
   ).toBeDisabled();
-  await expect(dialog.getByRole("alert")).not.toContainText("502");
+  await expect(dialog.getByRole("alert")).not.toContainText("403");
   // Recover preferences without replaying creation, then Cancel/reopen.
   await dialog.getByRole("button", { name: "Retry preferences" }).click();
   await expect(field).toBeFocused();
diff --git a/tests/browser/voice-notes.spec.mjs b/tests/browser/voice-notes.spec.mjs
index 8c3904fb23..b796f231b1 100644
--- a/tests/browser/voice-notes.spec.mjs
+++ b/tests/browser/voice-notes.spec.mjs
@@ -1,27 +1,48 @@
 import { watchPageErrors } from "./page-errors.mjs";
 import { test, expect } from "./playwright-test.mjs";
-import { createServer } from "./vite-server.mjs";
+import { build, preview } from "./vite-server.mjs";
 import react from "@vitejs/plugin-react";
+import { mkdtemp, rm } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
-let server, origin;
+let server, directory, url;
+// A dev server serves this fixture as about 800 modules. On a busy runner,
+// WebKit's first navigation took longer than the navigation timeout to load
+// them, so build the page once and serve the bundle.
 test.beforeAll(async () => {
-  server = await createServer({
-    root: fileURLToPath(new URL("../../", import.meta.url)),
+  const root = fileURLToPath(new URL("../../", import.meta.url));
+  directory = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "buzz-voice-notes-"));
+  const config = {
+    root,
     configFile: false,
     envDir: false,
+    logLevel: "error",
     plugins: [react()],
-    server: { host: "127.0.0.1", port: 0 },
+    // Development React, as the dev server served, keeps StrictMode's checks.
+    define: {
+      "import.meta.env.DEV": "true",
+      "process.env.NODE_ENV": '"development"',
+    },
+    build: {
+      rollupOptions: {
+        input: join(root, "tests/fixtures/voice-notes.html"),
+      },
+      outDir: join(directory, "dist"),
+      emptyOutDir: true,
+      target: "esnext",
+    },
+  };
+  await build(config);
+  server = await preview({
+    ...config,
+    preview: { host: "127.0.0.1", port: 0, strictPort: true },
   });
-  await server.listen();
-  origin = server.resolvedUrls.local[0];
-  // A new server transforms the fixture's modules, Tailwind's globals.css
-  // among them, during its first navigation. On a slow runner that took longer
-  // than the navigation timeout, so transform them before any test navigates.
-  await server.warmupRequest("/tests/fixtures/voice-notes.tsx");
-  await server.waitForRequestsIdle();
+  url = `http://127.0.0.1:${server.httpServer.address().port}/tests/fixtures/voice-notes.html`;
 });
 test.afterAll(async () => {
-  await server?.close();
+  if (server) await new Promise((resolve) => server.httpServer.close(resolve));
+  if (directory) await rm(directory, { recursive: true, force: true });
 });
 test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
   await page.route("**/api/relay/media?*", async (route) => {
@@ -38,7 +59,7 @@ test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
       body: Buffer.from(bytes),
     });
   });
-  await page.goto(`${origin}tests/fixtures/voice-notes.html`);
+  await page.goto(url);
   await page.evaluate(() => {
     const mic = {
       mode: "allow",
@@ -376,18 +397,12 @@ test("rejects a full attachment draft before opening the microphone", async ({
   await expect(
     page.getByRole("status").filter({ hasText: /file-\d+\.txt:.*Ready/ }),
   ).toHaveCount(10);
-  const uploaded = await page.evaluate(async () => {
-    const { attachmentDraft } = await import(
-      "/src/features/messages/attachment-draft.ts"
-    );
-    return attachmentDraft(
-      window.voiceFixture.session,
-      "voice-fixture:draft:general",
-      "general",
-    )
+  const uploaded = await page.evaluate(() =>
+    window.voiceFixture
+      .attachmentDraft("voice-fixture:draft:general", "general")
       .snapshot()
-      .map((item) => item.uploaded);
-  });
+      .map((item) => item.uploaded),
+  );
   expect(uploaded.map((item) => item.type)).toEqual(
     Array(10).fill("text/plain"),
   );
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/voice-notes.tsx b/tests/fixtures/voice-notes.tsx
index b203337583..ba1d0db829 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/voice-notes.tsx
+++ b/tests/fixtures/voice-notes.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
   type UploadedAttachment,
 } from "../../src/features/relay/attachments";
 import { PublishRejected } from "../../src/features/relay/outbox";
+import { attachmentDraft } from "../../src/features/messages/attachment-draft";
 import "../../src/shared/styles/globals.css";
 
 const viewer = keypair(),
@@ -161,7 +162,8 @@ Object.assign(window, {
   voiceFixture: {
     report,
     media: (url: string) => urls.get(url),
-    session: owner.session,
+    attachmentDraft: (key: string, channelId: string) =>
+      attachmentDraft(owner.session, key, channelId),
     toggle: (enabled: boolean) => runtime.reconcile(enabled ? [plugin] : []),
   },
 });