diff --git a/test/unit/agent-sdk-driver.test.ts b/test/unit/agent-sdk-driver.test.ts
index 7f870d610a..f4549bc79b 100644
--- a/test/unit/agent-sdk-driver.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/agent-sdk-driver.test.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,11 @@ describe("createAgentSdkCodingAgentDriver", () => {
   });
 
   it("enumerates tracked and untracked worktree changes with git", async () => {
+    // Real subprocess spawns (init, 2x config, add, commit, plus the driver's own diff enumeration) --
+    // legitimately more wall-clock latency than the default 15s test timeout reliably covers under
+    // concurrent CI shard/system load (observed timing out under heavy parallel contention with no logic
+    // failure; passes in well under 1s in isolation). An explicit timeout says so instead of relying on
+    // ambient headroom.
     const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "gittensory-agent-sdk-"));
     try {
       await execFileAsync("git", ["init"], { cwd: dir });
@@ -114,7 +119,7 @@ describe("createAgentSdkCodingAgentDriver", () => {
     } finally {
       await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
-  });
+  }, 30000);
 
   it("derives changed files from the worktree after untracked mutating tools", async () => {
     const driver = driverWith({
diff --git a/test/unit/ai-summaries.test.ts b/test/unit/ai-summaries.test.ts
index 157369dd68..02b0e86e4c 100644
--- a/test/unit/ai-summaries.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/ai-summaries.test.ts
@@ -409,12 +409,16 @@ describe("optional deterministic-summary rewrite layer", () => {
   });
 
   it("routes every forbidden public term through the canonical sanitizer and falls back when AI is unsafe", async () => {
+    // Iterates every entry in FORBIDDEN_PUBLIC_COMMENT_WORDS (40+ words) as its own real round trip through
+    // rewriteSignalBundleWithAi -- legitimately more work than the default 15s test timeout reliably covers
+    // under load (observed timing out under concurrent CI shard contention, not a logic failure: every
+    // assertion that DID run passed). An explicit timeout says so instead of relying on ambient headroom.
     for (const word of FORBIDDEN_PUBLIC_COMMENT_WORDS) {
       const run = vi.fn(async () => ({ response: `Looks great, includes ${word} detail.` }));
       const result = await rewriteSignalBundleWithAi(publicEnv({}, run), rewriteReq());
       expect(result, `forbidden word: ${word}`).toMatchObject({ status: "unsafe", text: DETERMINISTIC_BODY });
     }
-  });
+  }, 30000);
 
   it("rejects reward, ranking, scoreability, and reviewability variants in public AI rewrites", async () => {
     const unsafeOutputs = [
diff --git a/test/unit/upstream-ruleset.test.ts b/test/unit/upstream-ruleset.test.ts
index d6ce7d8c68..ec19b79dbe 100644
--- a/test/unit/upstream-ruleset.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/upstream-ruleset.test.ts
@@ -1085,6 +1085,10 @@ describe("upstream ruleset drift tracking", () => {
     expect(calls.find((call) => call.method === "POST")?.body?.assignees).toEqual(["alice", "bob"]); // trimmed, empty segment dropped
   });
 
+  // 29 distinct real-D1-backed scenarios run sequentially in this one test -- legitimately more work than
+  // the default 15s test timeout reliably covers under concurrent CI shard/system load (observed timing out
+  // under heavy parallel contention with no assertion failure). An explicit timeout says so instead of
+  // relying on ambient headroom.
   it("handles edge cases while filing upstream drift issues", async () => {
     const defaultRepoEnv = createTestEnv({ GITTENSORY_AUTO_FILE_DRIFT_ISSUES: "1", GITTENSORY_DRIFT_ISSUE_TOKEN: "token", GITTENSORY_DRIFT_ISSUE_REPO: "" });
     await upsertUpstreamDriftReport(defaultRepoEnv, driftReport("source-fingerprint", { severity: "medium", affectedAreas: [] }));
@@ -1225,7 +1229,7 @@ describe("upstream ruleset drift tracking", () => {
     const disabledEnv = createTestEnv();
     delete (disabledEnv as Partial<Env>).GITTENSORY_AUTO_FILE_DRIFT_ISSUES;
     await expect(fileUpstreamDriftIssues(disabledEnv)).resolves.toMatchObject({ status: "disabled" });
-  });
+  }, 45000);
 
   it("finds the existing drift issue on page 2 when the repo has more than 100 open signals issues", async () => {
     const env = createTestEnv({ GITTENSORY_AUTO_FILE_DRIFT_ISSUES: "true", GITTENSORY_DRIFT_ISSUE_TOKEN: "token" });