diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/src/lib/db/pg-migrate.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/src/lib/db/pg-migrate.ts
index be0c216bcb..c74b3d7425 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/src/lib/db/pg-migrate.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/src/lib/db/pg-migrate.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 import type { Pool } from 'pg'
 import { logger } from '../logger'
-import { createQueenPool } from './queen-pool'
+import { createQueenPool, queenSchema } from './queen-pool'
 
 function getDatabaseUrl(): string | undefined {
   return process.env.DATABASE_URL || process.env.RAILWAY_SSOT_URL || undefined
@@ -303,6 +303,14 @@ export async function runPgMigrations(): Promise<void> {
 
   const pool = createPool(databaseUrl)
   try {
+    // The pool pins search_path to queenSchema() on every connection, and
+    // nothing created that schema: production had it from a hand-typed
+    // command, so the migrations only ever ran where it already existed. On a
+    // fresh database - CI, a restore, a new environment - every statement
+    // below failed with "no schema has been selected to create in" (measured
+    // in the pglive gate, 2026-09-21). queenSchema() is validated as a plain
+    // identifier before it is interpolated.
+    await pool.query(`CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS ${queenSchema()}`)
     await pool.query(MIGRATION_SQL)
     logger.info('PostgreSQL migrations completed successfully')
   } catch (error) {
diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-candidates.test.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-candidates.test.ts
index 01e712dd2a..41d6424ee2 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-candidates.test.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-candidates.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test'
+import { resolve } from 'node:path'
 import {
   deriveCandidates,
   FILE_LENGTH_THRESHOLD,
@@ -19,6 +20,12 @@ import {
  * it carries the one thing a candidate needs to be delegatable - a boundary,
  * which is the file itself.
  */
+// The checkout this test runs in, not one developer's home directory: the
+// path used to be /Users/playra/BrowserOS, which exists on one laptop, so on
+// every other machine and in CI readdir found nothing and three tests failed
+// on an empty list.
+const REPO_ROOT = resolve(import.meta.dir, '../../../../../..')
+
 describe('deriving work the repository already measured', () => {
   const fake = (sizes: Record<string, number>) => async (path: string) => {
     const key = Object.keys(sizes).find((k) => path.endsWith(k))
@@ -38,7 +45,7 @@ describe('deriving work the repository already measured', () => {
   // Evidence, not opinion: the candidate must carry the command that produced
   // it, or a reader cannot tell a measurement from a preference.
   it('carries the command that produced it', async () => {
-    const out = await deriveCandidates('/Users/playra/BrowserOS')
+    const out = await deriveCandidates(REPO_ROOT)
     // Not vacuous. A `for` over an empty list passes and proves nothing, which
     // is the exact shape of test this session has caught three times.
     expect(out.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
@@ -52,7 +59,7 @@ describe('deriving work the repository already measured', () => {
   // The boundary is the file. A candidate with no path is not delegatable and
   // must never be produced.
   it('gives every candidate a path that can be a boundary', async () => {
-    const out = await deriveCandidates('/Users/playra/BrowserOS')
+    const out = await deriveCandidates(REPO_ROOT)
     expect(out.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
     for (const c of out) {
       expect(c.path.startsWith('agent-server/')).toBe(true)
@@ -64,7 +71,7 @@ describe('deriving work the repository already measured', () => {
   // runtime, klavis - and splitting them would create merge pain in code this
   // project does not own for a gate it did not write.
   it('proposes nothing from code this project does not own', async () => {
-    const out = await deriveCandidates('/Users/playra/BrowserOS')
+    const out = await deriveCandidates(REPO_ROOT)
     expect(out.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
     for (const c of out) {
       expect(c.path).not.toContain('openclaw')
@@ -74,7 +81,7 @@ describe('deriving work the repository already measured', () => {
   })
 
   it('puts the longest first, which is the one the gate complains about most', async () => {
-    const out = await deriveCandidates('/Users/playra/BrowserOS')
+    const out = await deriveCandidates(REPO_ROOT)
     for (let i = 1; i < out.length; i++) {
       expect(out[i - 1].lines).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(out[i].lines)
     }
diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage-guards.test.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage-guards.test.ts
index 5f544fd560..a533efeecc 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage-guards.test.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage-guards.test.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ import {
   noteWithSalvage,
   reviewFinishedDispatches,
 } from '../../src/api/services/queen-tick'
+import { resolveQueendPath } from '../__helpers__/queend-path'
+
+const queendPresent = existsSync(resolveQueendPath())
 
 const REAL_GIT = Bun.which('git') || '/usr/bin/git'
 const ISSUE = 1627
@@ -724,7 +727,10 @@ function reviewDeps(reviewerText: string) {
     }),
     laneCandidates: () => [LANE],
     reviewsPerRound: () => 1,
-    measurementsPerRound: () => 0,
+    // One, not zero: a review now waits for its criteria to be measured, so a
+    // zero budget turned every row here into `wait` and the reviewer was
+    // never asked. The fake measurement (branchDeps) returns no runs.
+    measurementsPerRound: () => 1,
     llm: async () => ({ ok: true as const, text: reviewerText }),
   }
 }
@@ -747,26 +753,33 @@ const LONG_REFUTATION = [
 ].join('\n')
 
 describe('the note says who committed the branch, where it can be read', () => {
-  it('puts the salvage fact where the 1500-character cap cannot cut it', async () => {
-    const salvagedRow = finishedRow({
-      salvaged_at: new Date(),
-      salvaged_sha: 'deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef',
-      salvaged_files: ['trios/docs/note.md'],
-      salvage_left: ['README.md'],
-    })
-    const pool = reviewPool(salvagedRow)
-    await reviewFinishedDispatches(pool.pool, {
-      ...reviewDeps(LONG_REFUTATION),
-      ...branchDeps(),
-    } as unknown as Parameters<typeof reviewFinishedDispatches>[1])
-
-    const note = String(pool.verdict()?.params[2] ?? '')
-    // Stored at the cap, which is the case the fact used to be lost in...
-    expect(note.length).toBe(1500)
-    // ...and the fact is still there, because it goes first.
-    expect(note).toContain('committed by the container')
-    expect(note.indexOf('committed by the container')).toBeLessThan(400)
-  })
+  // The verdict is queend's (the Swift policy binary): without it every row
+  // stays `wait` and the reviewer's refutation never becomes a send-back, so
+  // this needs the binary exactly as queen-adversarial-review.test.ts does.
+  // It failed in CI for that reason alone - CI builds no queend.
+  it.if(queendPresent)(
+    'puts the salvage fact where the 1500-character cap cannot cut it',
+    async () => {
+      const salvagedRow = finishedRow({
+        salvaged_at: new Date(),
+        salvaged_sha: 'deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef',
+        salvaged_files: ['trios/docs/note.md'],
+        salvage_left: ['README.md'],
+      })
+      const pool = reviewPool(salvagedRow)
+      await reviewFinishedDispatches(pool.pool, {
+        ...reviewDeps(LONG_REFUTATION),
+        ...branchDeps(),
+      } as unknown as Parameters<typeof reviewFinishedDispatches>[1])
+
+      const note = String(pool.verdict()?.params[2] ?? '')
+      // Stored at the cap, which is the case the fact used to be lost in...
+      expect(note.length).toBe(1500)
+      // ...and the fact is still there, because it goes first.
+      expect(note).toContain('committed by the container')
+      expect(note.indexOf('committed by the container')).toBeLessThan(400)
+    },
+  )
 
   // The composer itself: provenance first, body second, and a body alone when
   // nothing was salvaged.
@@ -784,29 +797,32 @@ describe('a turn the provider killed does not spend the issue', () => {
   // minutes, not evidence about the issue". The salvage removed that
   // coincidence: the container commits the killed turn's edits, files.length
   // is non-zero, and the attempt arrives on the MAIN path, which charged it.
-  it('is judged and sent back, but charges neither counter', async () => {
-    const killed = finishedRow({
-      outcome: 'the stream ended without a completion',
-      said: '',
-      salvaged_at: new Date(),
-      salvaged_sha: 'deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef',
-      salvaged_files: ['trios/docs/note.md'],
-      salvage_left: [],
-    })
-    const pool = reviewPool(killed)
-    const result = await reviewFinishedDispatches(pool.pool, {
-      ...reviewDeps(LONG_REFUTATION),
-      ...branchDeps(),
-    } as unknown as Parameters<typeof reviewFinishedDispatches>[1])
-
-    // The work IS judged - that is the whole point of salvaging it...
-    expect(result.acted).toEqual([`#${ISSUE}:sendBack`])
-    const params = pool.verdict()?.params ?? []
-    // ...and it is not escalated past the bee (`beyondThePatch`)...
-    expect(String(params[1])).toBe('sendBack')
-    // ...and `send_backs` does not move: countsAgainstTheIssue is false...
-    expect(params[4]).toBe(false)
-    // ...and neither does free_attempts.
-    expect(params[5]).toBe(0)
-  })
+  it.if(queendPresent)(
+    'is judged and sent back, but charges neither counter',
+    async () => {
+      const killed = finishedRow({
+        outcome: 'the stream ended without a completion',
+        said: '',
+        salvaged_at: new Date(),
+        salvaged_sha: 'deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef',
+        salvaged_files: ['trios/docs/note.md'],
+        salvage_left: [],
+      })
+      const pool = reviewPool(killed)
+      const result = await reviewFinishedDispatches(pool.pool, {
+        ...reviewDeps(LONG_REFUTATION),
+        ...branchDeps(),
+      } as unknown as Parameters<typeof reviewFinishedDispatches>[1])
+
+      // The work IS judged - that is the whole point of salvaging it...
+      expect(result.acted).toEqual([`#${ISSUE}:sendBack`])
+      const params = pool.verdict()?.params ?? []
+      // ...and it is not escalated past the bee (`beyondThePatch`)...
+      expect(String(params[1])).toBe('sendBack')
+      // ...and `send_backs` does not move: countsAgainstTheIssue is false...
+      expect(params[4]).toBe(false)
+      // ...and neither does free_attempts.
+      expect(params[5]).toBe(0)
+    },
+  )
 })
diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage.test.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage.test.ts
index dcb2342e7d..260ada3156 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage.test.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/api/queen-salvage.test.ts
@@ -371,7 +371,23 @@ describe('salvaging a turn that ended with its work uncommitted', () => {
     ])
     git(f.worktree, ['fetch', '-q', 'origin', 'theirs:refs/remotes/origin/x'])
     // The merge is MEANT to fail: that is how the unmerged entry gets there.
-    expect(tryGit(f.worktree, ['merge', 'refs/remotes/origin/x'])).not.toBe(0)
+    // With an identity, like the commit above. GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL is /dev/null
+    // here, so git guesses user@hostname - which works on a laptop named
+    // `x.local` and is refused on a CI runner named `runnervmlun5p` ("unable
+    // to auto-detect email address"). The merge then failed for the wrong
+    // reason, before touching the index, and left a clean worktree.
+    expect(
+      tryGit(f.worktree, [
+        '-c',
+        'user.email=bee@example.com',
+        '-c',
+        'user.name=Bee',
+        'merge',
+        'refs/remotes/origin/x',
+      ]),
+    ).not.toBe(0)
+    // And it failed the RIGHT way: the index holds the conflict.
+    expect(git(f.worktree, ['status', '--porcelain'])).toContain('UU ')
     const before = f.log()
 
     const result = await salvageWorktree(
diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/pglive/pg-migrate-live.test.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/pglive/pg-migrate-live.test.ts
index 5fe7de0b80..99de3e7e2d 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/pglive/pg-migrate-live.test.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/pglive/pg-migrate-live.test.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import { randomBytes } from 'node:crypto'
 import { userInfo } from 'node:os'
 import { Pool } from 'pg'
 import { MIGRATION_SQL, runPgMigrations } from '../../src/lib/db/pg-migrate'
+import { queenSchema } from '../../src/lib/db/queen-pool'
 import { logger } from '../../src/lib/logger'
 import { factsFor } from '../api/pg-migrate-sql-facts'
 
@@ -182,11 +183,15 @@ describe('the migration block, applied to a real PostgreSQL', () => {
 
       const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: scratchUrl, max: 1 })
       try {
+        // The schema the pool pins, not 'public': the tables live where
+        // every Queen connection's search_path points.
         const columns = await pool.query(
-          "SELECT table_name, column_name, data_type FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_schema = 'public'",
+          'SELECT table_name, column_name, data_type FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_schema = $1',
+          [queenSchema()],
         )
         const indexes = await pool.query(
-          "SELECT indexname, tablename, indexdef FROM pg_indexes WHERE schemaname = 'public'",
+          'SELECT indexname, tablename, indexdef FROM pg_indexes WHERE schemaname = $1',
+          [queenSchema()],
         )
         inspection = {
           columns: columns.rows as Record<string, string>[],
diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/dom.test.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/dom.test.ts
index 438d9781b1..d487a8f2cb 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/dom.test.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/dom.test.ts
@@ -79,6 +79,30 @@ function cleanupSavedDom(domPath: string): void {
 
 // ── get_dom ──
 
+/**
+ * search_dom, asked until its answer contains `marker` or five seconds pass.
+ * new_page can return before the page has rendered, and a single search then
+ * races the load: two of these tests failed in CI on one run each
+ * (2026-09-21) with the same page and query that passed on the next.
+ */
+async function searchUntil(
+  execute: Parameters<Parameters<typeof withBrowser>[0]>[0]['execute'],
+  page: number,
+  query: string,
+  marker: string,
+) {
+  let result = await execute(search_dom, { page, query })
+  for (
+    let tries = 0;
+    tries < 10 && !result.isError && !textOf(result).includes(marker);
+    tries++
+  ) {
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 500))
+    result = await execute(search_dom, { page, query })
+  }
+  return result
+}
+
 describe('get_dom', () => {
   it('returns full page HTML', async () => {
     await withBrowser(async ({ execute }) => {
@@ -356,10 +380,12 @@ describe('search_dom', () => {
       const newResult = await execute(new_page, { url: RICH_PAGE })
       const pageId = pageIdOf(newResult)
 
-      const result = await execute(search_dom, {
-        page: pageId,
-        query: '//button[@type="submit"]',
-      })
+      const result = await searchUntil(
+        execute,
+        pageId,
+        '//button[@type="submit"]',
+        'Found',
+      )
       assert.ok(!result.isError, textOf(result))
       const text = textOf(result)
       assert.ok(text.includes('Found'), 'Should find the submit button')
@@ -557,10 +583,12 @@ describe('search_dom', () => {
       const newResult = await execute(new_page, { url: RICH_PAGE })
       const pageId = pageIdOf(newResult)
 
-      const result = await execute(search_dom, {
-        page: pageId,
-        query: '#submit-btn',
-      })
+      const result = await searchUntil(
+        execute,
+        pageId,
+        '#submit-btn',
+        'nodeId:',
+      )
       assert.ok(!result.isError, textOf(result))
       const text = textOf(result)
       assert.ok(
diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/navigation.test.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/navigation.test.ts
index 04307698a5..f78b9942bf 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/navigation.test.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/navigation.test.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ function structuredOf<T>(result: { structuredContent?: unknown }): T {
   return result.structuredContent as T
 }
 
-
 /**
  * Did the browser refuse because this platform cannot hide a window at all?
  *
@@ -51,7 +50,14 @@ function structuredOf<T>(result: { structuredContent?: unknown }): T {
  * and `move_page` refuses it. That is a product question, not a fixture one,
  * and it is recorded rather than guessed at.
  */
-const HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED = 'Hidden windows are not yet supported on this platform'
+const HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED =
+  'Hidden windows are not yet supported on this platform'
+// Newer BrowserOS builds say the second one (seen in CI 2026-09-21); both mean
+// the platform cannot open a hidden window, which is a skip, not a failure.
+const HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED_TEXTS = [
+  HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED,
+  'Hidden windows are no longer supported',
+]
 
 /** Set by the tests below; read by the last test in this file. */
 const hiddenGate = { ran: false, skipped: false }
@@ -60,7 +66,10 @@ function skipIfHiddenUnsupported(result: {
   isError?: boolean
   content: { type: string; text?: string }[]
 }): boolean {
-  if (result.isError && textOf(result).includes(HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED)) {
+  if (
+    result.isError &&
+    HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED_TEXTS.some((text) => textOf(result).includes(text))
+  ) {
     hiddenGate.skipped = true
     console.error(
       `  HIDDEN-WINDOW TESTS SKIPPED: ${HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED}.\n` +
diff --git a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/windows.test.ts b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/windows.test.ts
index 2d976a9262..b3bb13f422 100644
--- a/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/windows.test.ts
+++ b/trios/agent-server/apps/server/tests/tools/windows.test.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ function fakeWindow(
   }
 }
 
-
 /**
  * Did the browser refuse because this platform cannot hide a window at all?
  *
@@ -56,7 +55,14 @@ function fakeWindow(
  *
  * The same guard, for the same reason, is in tests/tools/navigation.test.ts.
  */
-const HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED = 'Hidden windows are not yet supported on this platform'
+const HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED =
+  'Hidden windows are not yet supported on this platform'
+// Newer BrowserOS builds say the second one (seen in CI 2026-09-21); both mean
+// the platform cannot open a hidden window, which is a skip, not a failure.
+const HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED_TEXTS = [
+  HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED,
+  'Hidden windows are no longer supported',
+]
 
 /** Set below; read by the last test in this file. */
 const hiddenGate = { ran: false, skipped: false }
@@ -65,12 +71,15 @@ function skipIfHiddenUnsupported(result: {
   isError?: boolean
   content: { type: string; text?: string }[]
 }): boolean {
-  if (result.isError && textOf(result).includes(HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED)) {
+  if (
+    result.isError &&
+    HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED_TEXTS.some((text) => textOf(result).includes(text))
+  ) {
     hiddenGate.skipped = true
     console.error(
       `  HIDDEN-WINDOW TEST SKIPPED: ${HIDDEN_UNSUPPORTED}.\n` +
         '  A platform limit, not a failure, and counted by the last test in this\n' +
-        '  file so the absence is in the output rather than in nobody else\'s head.\n',
+        "  file so the absence is in the output rather than in nobody else's head.\n",
     )
     return true
   }
@@ -214,7 +223,9 @@ describe('window tools', () => {
   // success it never earned; this one either ran or said why it did not.
   it('the hidden-window test ran, or its absence is on the record', () => {
     if (hiddenGate.skipped) {
-      console.error('  HIDDEN-WINDOW GATE: SKIPPED - this platform cannot hide a window.\n')
+      console.error(
+        '  HIDDEN-WINDOW GATE: SKIPPED - this platform cannot hide a window.\n',
+      )
       return
     }
     assert.ok(