diff --git a/e2e/auth.test.ts b/e2e/auth.test.ts
index 821a3fd..0542307 100644
--- a/e2e/auth.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/auth.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { test, expect, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
+import { test, expect, waitForHydration, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
 
 // Virtual authenticator helpers
 async function setupVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession) {
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ async function removeVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession, authenticatorId: stri
 async function registerUser(page: Page, email: string, username: string) {
   await page.goto("/auth/register");
   await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Register" })).toBeVisible();
+  await waitForHydration(page);
   await page.getByLabel("Email").click();
   await page.getByLabel("Email").fill(email);
   await page.getByLabel("Username").click();
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ async function logout(page: Page, accountLabel: string) {
   // The account cluster lives inside an avatar dropdown now. Click the
   // avatar (its aria-label is displayName || username), then click the
   // Log Out menuitem inside the popup.
+  await waitForHydration(page);
   await page.getByRole("navigation").getByRole("button", { name: accountLabel }).click();
   await page.getByRole("menuitem", { name: "Log Out" }).click();
   await expect(page.getByRole("navigation").getByRole("link", { name: "Sign In" })).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5000 });
diff --git a/e2e/explore.test.ts b/e2e/explore.test.ts
index 7bd442a..defa731 100644
--- a/e2e/explore.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/explore.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { test, expect, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
+import { test, expect, waitForHydration, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
 
 async function setupVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession) {
   await cdp.send("WebAuthn.enable");
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ async function setupVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession) {
 async function registerUser(page: Page, email: string, username: string) {
   await page.goto("/auth/register");
   await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Register" })).toBeVisible();
+  await waitForHydration(page);
   await page.getByLabel("Email").fill(email);
   await page.getByLabel("Username").fill(username);
   await page.getByRole("checkbox").check();
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/test.ts b/e2e/fixtures/test.ts
index 8f27f1b..0309d4f 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/test.ts
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/test.ts
@@ -74,5 +74,29 @@ export const test = base.extend({
   },
 });
 
+/**
+ * Wait until React has hydrated the current page. Vite dev injects scripts
+ * asynchronously, so a button/form is visible (and clickable per Playwright's
+ * actionability check) before its React `onClick`/`onSubmit` is wired up.
+ * Without this, the first click after navigation is a coin flip on a cold
+ * dev server — controlled inputs ignore the keystrokes and submit handlers
+ * never run, so the form posts empty fields or natively GETs to itself.
+ *
+ * Detects hydration by checking for React's `__reactProps$<id>` property
+ * which is attached during commit. CI uses production builds where this
+ * isn't a problem, but the check is cheap and harmless there.
+ */
+export async function waitForHydration(page: import("@playwright/test").Page) {
+  await page.waitForFunction(
+    () => {
+      const el = document.body.querySelector("button, input, form, a");
+      if (!el) return false;
+      return Object.keys(el).some((k) => k.startsWith("__reactProps$"));
+    },
+    null,
+    { timeout: 10000 },
+  );
+}
+
 export { expect };
 export type { CDPSession, Page } from "@playwright/test";
diff --git a/e2e/notifications.test.ts b/e2e/notifications.test.ts
index 39aa17e..e7549a9 100644
--- a/e2e/notifications.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/notifications.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { test, expect, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
+import { test, expect, waitForHydration, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
 
 async function setupVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession) {
   await cdp.send("WebAuthn.enable");
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ async function setupVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession) {
 async function registerUser(page: Page, email: string, username: string) {
   await page.goto("/auth/register");
   await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Register" })).toBeVisible();
+  await waitForHydration(page);
   await page.getByLabel("Email").fill(email);
   await page.getByLabel("Username").fill(username);
   await page.getByRole("checkbox").check();
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ test.describe("Notifications", () => {
 
     // A follows B (auto-accept).
     await page.goto(`/users/${bUsername}`);
+    await waitForHydration(page);
     await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Follow" }).click();
     await expect(page.getByRole("button", { name: "Unfollow" })).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5000 });
 
diff --git a/e2e/public-content.test.ts b/e2e/public-content.test.ts
index f0941f7..449633b 100644
--- a/e2e/public-content.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/public-content.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { test, expect, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
+import { test, expect, waitForHydration, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
 
 // Reuses the virtual-authenticator + register helpers from auth.test.ts.
 // Inlined rather than factored out to keep this file independently runnable.
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ async function setupVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession) {
 async function registerUser(page: Page, email: string, username: string) {
   await page.goto("/auth/register");
   await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Register" })).toBeVisible();
+  await waitForHydration(page);
   await page.getByLabel("Email").fill(email);
   await page.getByLabel("Username").fill(username);
   await page.getByRole("checkbox").check();
diff --git a/e2e/social.test.ts b/e2e/social.test.ts
index 270cf0b..b18587f 100644
--- a/e2e/social.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/social.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { test, expect, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
+import { test, expect, waitForHydration, type CDPSession, type Page } from "./fixtures/test";
 
 // Inline virtual-authenticator + register helpers, mirroring the pattern
 // in auth.test.ts / public-content.test.ts so this file runs standalone.
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ async function setupVirtualAuthenticator(cdp: CDPSession) {
 async function registerUser(page: Page, email: string, username: string) {
   await page.goto("/auth/register");
   await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Register" })).toBeVisible();
+  await waitForHydration(page);
   await page.getByLabel("Email").fill(email);
   await page.getByLabel("Username").fill(username);
   await page.getByRole("checkbox").check();
diff --git a/playwright.config.ts b/playwright.config.ts
index 6e21e1b..8acd9d3 100644
--- a/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/playwright.config.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@ export default defineConfig({
   outputDir: "./e2e/results",
   fullyParallel: true,
   retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 0,
-  workers: process.env.CI ? 1 : undefined,
+  // Locally the journal/planner run under Vite dev — many parallel workers
+  // overwhelm cold-compile of /api/* routes and cause flaky timeouts on
+  // first hits. CI runs production builds and is unaffected. Keep at 1 in
+  // both environments for parity.
+  workers: 1,
   reporter: process.env.CI
     ? [["github"], ["html", { open: "never" }], ["json", { outputFile: "playwright-results.json" }]]
     : "list",