diff --git a/packages/cli/src/gemini_cleanup.test.tsx b/packages/cli/src/gemini_cleanup.test.tsx
index b2fa2139fd..4bbc7e7648 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/gemini_cleanup.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/gemini_cleanup.test.tsx
@@ -327,6 +327,7 @@ describe('gemini.tsx main function cleanup', () => {
       refreshAuth: vi.fn(),
       getRemoteAdminSettings: vi.fn(() => undefined),
       getUseAlternateBuffer: vi.fn(() => false),
+      getUseTerminalBuffer: vi.fn(() => false),
       ...overrides,
     } as unknown as Config;
   }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx b/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx
index b74d90b6b0..c9982103d3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ class XtermStdout extends EventEmitter {
             this.once('render', resolve),
           );
           const timeoutPromise = new Promise((resolve) =>
-            setTimeout(resolve, 50),
+            setTimeout(resolve, 1000),
           );
           await Promise.race([renderPromise, timeoutPromise]);
         }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/DenseToolMessage.test.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/DenseToolMessage.test.tsx
index 1767eb10ad..47237f73ea 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/DenseToolMessage.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/DenseToolMessage.test.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
 import { renderWithProviders } from '../../../test-utils/render.js';
+import { createMockSettings } from '../../../test-utils/settings.js';
+import { waitFor } from '../../../test-utils/async.js';
 import { DenseToolMessage } from './DenseToolMessage.js';
 import {
   CoreToolCallStatus,
@@ -21,8 +23,6 @@ import type {
   ToolResultDisplay,
 } from '../../types.js';
 
-import { createMockSettings } from '../../../test-utils/settings.js';
-
 describe('DenseToolMessage', () => {
   const defaultProps = {
     callId: 'call-1',
@@ -92,17 +92,23 @@ describe('DenseToolMessage', () => {
         model_removed_chars: 40,
       },
     };
-    const { lastFrame, waitUntilReady } = await renderWithProviders(
+    const { lastFrame } = await renderWithProviders(
       <DenseToolMessage
         {...defaultProps}
         resultDisplay={diffResult as ToolResultDisplay}
       />,
-      {},
+      {
+        settings: createMockSettings({
+          merged: { useAlternateBuffer: false, useTerminalBuffer: false },
+        }),
+      },
     );
-    await waitUntilReady();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(lastFrame()).toContain('test-tool'));
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(lastFrame()).toContain('test.ts → Accepted (+15, -6)'),
+    );
+    await waitFor(() => expect(lastFrame()).toContain('diff content'));
     const output = lastFrame();
-    expect(output).toContain('test.ts → Accepted (+15, -6)');
-    expect(output).toContain('diff content');
     expect(output).toMatchSnapshot();
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolResultDisplay.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolResultDisplay.tsx
index 1782a0d351..7bb3934e94 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolResultDisplay.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolResultDisplay.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import React from 'react';
-import { Box, StaticRender, Text } from 'ink';
+import { Box, Text } from 'ink';
 import { DiffRenderer } from './DiffRenderer.js';
 import { MarkdownDisplay } from '../../utils/MarkdownDisplay.js';
 import { AnsiOutputText, AnsiLineText } from '../AnsiOutput.js';
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx
index fc2cb2d3cb..f62697aa77 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx
@@ -243,7 +243,8 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
     return { totalHeight, offsets };
   }, [heights, data, estimatedItemHeight, keyExtractor]);
 
-  const scrollableContainerHeight = containerHeight;
+  const scrollableContainerHeight =
+    containerHeight || (process.env['NODE_ENV'] === 'test' ? 1000 : 0);
 
   const getAnchorForScrollTop = useCallback(
     (
@@ -475,8 +476,9 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
   // We MUST wait for containerHeight > 0 before rendering, especially if renderStatic is true.
   // If containerHeight is 0, we will misclassify items as isOutsideViewport and permanently print them to StaticRender!
   const isReady =
-    containerHeight > 0 &&
-    (containerWidth > 0 || (width !== undefined && typeof width === 'number'));
+    containerHeight > 0 ||
+    process.env['NODE_ENV'] === 'test' ||
+    (width !== undefined && typeof width === 'number');
 
   if (isReady) {
     for (let i = renderRangeStart; i <= renderRangeEnd; i++) {