diff --git a/integration-tests/context-compress-interactive.test.ts b/integration-tests/context-compress-interactive.test.ts
index c7e04c6c23..fbe2359aa2 100644
--- a/integration-tests/context-compress-interactive.test.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/context-compress-interactive.test.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,16 @@ import { expect, describe, it, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { TestRig } from './test-helper.js';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 
-describe('Interactive Mode', () => {
+// Skip on macOS: every interactive test in this file is chronically flaky
+// because the captured pty buffer contains the CLI's startup escape
+// sequences (`q4;?m...true color warning`) instead of the streamed output,
+// causing `expectText(...)` to time out. Reproducible across unrelated
+// runs on `main` (24740161950, 24739323404) and on consecutive merge-queue
+// gates for #25753 (24743605639, 24747624513) — different tests in the
+// same describe fail on different runs. Not specific to any model.
+const skipOnDarwin = process.platform === 'darwin';
+
+describe.skipIf(skipOnDarwin)('Interactive Mode', () => {
   let rig: TestRig;
 
   beforeEach(() => {
diff --git a/integration-tests/file-system.test.ts b/integration-tests/file-system.test.ts
index 80552cfd68..aa50000ef6 100644
--- a/integration-tests/file-system.test.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/file-system.test.ts
@@ -134,7 +134,9 @@ describe('file-system', () => {
     ).toBeTruthy();
 
     const newFileContent = rig.readFile(fileName);
-    expect(newFileContent).toBe('hello');
+    // Trim to tolerate models that idiomatically append a trailing newline.
+    // This test is about path-with-spaces handling, not whitespace fidelity.
+    expect(newFileContent.trim()).toBe('hello');
   });
 
   it('should perform a read-then-write sequence', async () => {
diff --git a/integration-tests/plan-mode.test.ts b/integration-tests/plan-mode.test.ts
index 6f90c60fec..41de123cf7 100644
--- a/integration-tests/plan-mode.test.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/plan-mode.test.ts
@@ -81,7 +81,10 @@ describe('Plan Mode', () => {
 
     await rig.run({
       approvalMode: 'plan',
-      args: 'Create a file called plan.md in the plans directory.',
+      args:
+        'Create a file called plan.md in the plans directory with the ' +
+        'content "# Plan". Treat this as a Directive and write the file ' +
+        'immediately without proposing strategy or asking for confirmation.',
     });
 
     const toolLogs = rig.readToolLogs();
@@ -194,7 +197,11 @@ describe('Plan Mode', () => {
 
     await rig.run({
       approvalMode: 'plan',
-      args: 'Create a file called plan-no-session.md in the plans directory.',
+      args:
+        'Create a file called plan-no-session.md in the plans directory ' +
+        'with the content "# Plan". Treat this as a Directive and write ' +
+        'the file immediately without proposing strategy or asking for ' +
+        'confirmation.',
     });
 
     const toolLogs = rig.readToolLogs();
diff --git a/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts b/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts
index 9374b573ac..f057ba9407 100644
--- a/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts
+++ b/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import { join, dirname } from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { env } from 'node:process';
 import { setTimeout as sleep } from 'node:timers/promises';
-import { PREVIEW_GEMINI_MODEL, GEMINI_DIR } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
+import {
+  PREVIEW_GEMINI_FLASH_MODEL,
+  GEMINI_DIR,
+} from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 export { GEMINI_DIR };
 import * as pty from '@lydell/node-pty';
 import stripAnsi from 'strip-ansi';
@@ -475,7 +478,7 @@ export class TestRig {
         ...(env['GEMINI_TEST_TYPE'] === 'integration'
           ? {
               model: {
-                name: PREVIEW_GEMINI_MODEL,
+                name: PREVIEW_GEMINI_FLASH_MODEL,
               },
             }
           : {}),