diff --git a/e2e/account-sharing.spec.ts b/e2e/account-sharing.spec.ts
index 2b4453ddc..cf5d0d2ab 100644
--- a/e2e/account-sharing.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/account-sharing.spec.ts
@@ -491,12 +491,16 @@ test.describe("account sharing", () => {
     // than on a wall of refusals: the revoke cleared their acting session in
     // the same transaction that stamped the row.
     await page.goto("/measurements");
+    // Their own record, back. This goes first: the protected shell holds
+    // every child — nav, banner, page body — behind its hydration gate until
+    // `/api/auth/me` resolves, so "no banner" straight after a navigation is
+    // satisfied by the page still loading and would stay green if the revoke
+    // had left the acting session standing. The delegate's own marker only
+    // exists once the record really resolved to theirs.
+    await expect(page.getByText(DELEGATE_MARKER).first()).toBeVisible();
     await expect(
       page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner"]'),
     ).toHaveCount(0);
-    // Their own record, back — which is also the proof that the page did not
-    // simply fail to load.
-    await expect(page.getByText(DELEGATE_MARKER).first()).toBeVisible();
   });
 
   test("the ended grant stays on the record as history", async () => {
diff --git a/e2e/delegated-writes.spec.ts b/e2e/delegated-writes.spec.ts
index d55d40d49..1074b44ed 100644
--- a/e2e/delegated-writes.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/delegated-writes.spec.ts
@@ -193,6 +193,21 @@ test.describe("delegated writes", () => {
     // And the row it created is not theirs to change. Absent, not disabled:
     // a `toBeDisabled()` assertion here would pass against the exact design
     // this release exists to avoid.
+    //
+    // The list has to have painted the reading first. Both layouts stamp
+    // `measurement-row` and only the mounted one exists, so this holds at
+    // either viewport and says the rows really arrived — without it every
+    // count below is a statement about an empty or still-loading list.
+    const rows = page.getByTestId("measurement-row");
+    await expect(rows.first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
+
+    // The selection column is the gate. `canManage` is false below MANAGE, so
+    // no row carries a checkbox — which is what makes the bulk bar
+    // unreachable rather than merely unrendered. The bar on its own proved
+    // nothing here: it renders on `count > 0`, and with nothing selected an
+    // owner meets no bar either, so that assertion could not fail for the
+    // reason this comment gives.
+    await expect(rows.getByRole("checkbox")).toHaveCount(0);
     await expect(
       page.locator('[data-slot="selection-action-bar"]'),
     ).toHaveCount(0);
diff --git a/e2e/doctor-report-delegate.spec.ts b/e2e/doctor-report-delegate.spec.ts
index 204734eea..c17512663 100644
--- a/e2e/doctor-report-delegate.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/doctor-report-delegate.spec.ts
@@ -112,10 +112,26 @@ async function enterRecord(page: Page, username: string): Promise<void> {
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Leave the record and prove the own-record shell is back.
+ *
+ * Leaving replaces the document, and the protected shell renders its
+ * hydration gate — no nav, no banner, no page body — until `/api/auth/me`
+ * resolves. "The banner is gone" is true of that gate as well, so on its own
+ * it is satisfied by the document on its way out and is not a wait at all.
+ * The top bar only exists past the gate, so it is the anchor the absence
+ * hangs on.
+ */
 async function leaveRecord(page: Page): Promise<void> {
   await withDocumentReplacement(page, () =>
     page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner-exit"]').click(),
   );
+  await expect(
+    page.locator('[data-slot="record-scope-hydration-gate"]'),
+  ).toHaveCount(0, { timeout: 30_000 });
+  await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="top-bar"]')).toBeVisible({
+    timeout: 30_000,
+  });
   await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner"]')).toHaveCount(
     0,
     { timeout: 30_000 },
diff --git a/e2e/documents-ai.spec.ts b/e2e/documents-ai.spec.ts
index 2e75854b0..17a6e786c 100644
--- a/e2e/documents-ai.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/documents-ai.spec.ts
@@ -373,6 +373,15 @@ test.describe("document vault — AI assist + content search", () => {
     const sheet = page.getByRole("dialog");
     await expect(sheet).toBeVisible();
 
+    // The sheet shell paints skeletons while the detail query is pending, so
+    // its own visibility says nothing about the body having rendered. The
+    // footer download action belongs to the resolved document, so waiting on
+    // it is what keeps the two absences below from passing against a
+    // skeleton that never had the line to begin with.
+    await expect(
+      sheet.locator('[data-slot="document-download"]'),
+    ).toBeVisible();
+
     await expect(
       sheet.locator('[data-slot="document-detail-ai-read"]'),
     ).toHaveCount(0);
diff --git a/e2e/documents.spec.ts b/e2e/documents.spec.ts
index 838d66342..6fbcfc54b 100644
--- a/e2e/documents.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/documents.spec.ts
@@ -311,10 +311,15 @@ test.describe("document vault", () => {
     await expect(detail).not.toBeVisible();
 
     await page.reload();
+    // A reload replaces the document, and the protected shell holds every
+    // child until `/api/auth/me` resolves, so "the sheet is not visible"
+    // right here would be a statement about the hold, not about the handoff
+    // having been consumed. The list row is the first thing that exists only
+    // once the page really rendered, so it goes first.
+    await expect(openButton(page, "MRT Knie")).toBeVisible();
     await expect(detail).not.toBeVisible();
     expect(new URL(page.url()).searchParams.get("doc")).toBeNull();
 
-    await expect(openButton(page, "MRT Knie")).toBeVisible();
     await openButton(page, "MRT Knie").click();
     await expect(detail).toBeVisible();
     await detail.locator('[data-slot="document-chat-open"]').click();
diff --git a/e2e/measurement-flow.spec.ts b/e2e/measurement-flow.spec.ts
index 11672cf53..28b48c145 100644
--- a/e2e/measurement-flow.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/measurement-flow.spec.ts
@@ -114,25 +114,23 @@ test.describe("add measurement flow", () => {
     );
 
     await page.goto("/", { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" });
-    // Past the route-level skeleton first. `networkidle` says nothing about
-    // whether the suspended segment resolved, and every locator below lives
-    // inside the content that replaces it.
-    await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="dashboard-loading"]')).toHaveCount(
-      0,
-      { timeout: 60_000 },
-    );
-    await page.waitForLoadState("networkidle");
 
     // Open the "Add" dropdown — the dashboard's quick-entry trigger sits
     // at the top-right of `<main>`. Scope the locator there so we don't
     // accidentally match an "Add" button on the sidebar.
     const main = page.locator("main");
-    await openMenu(
-      page,
-      main
-        .getByRole("button", { name: /^add$|hinzufügen|hinzufuegen/i })
-        .first(),
-    );
+    const addTrigger = main
+      .getByRole("button", { name: /^add$|hinzufügen|hinzufuegen/i })
+      .first();
+    // Wait for the trigger itself rather than for the route-level skeleton to
+    // go. The skeleton is also absent while the protected shell holds the
+    // whole page behind its hydration gate, so its disappearance is not a
+    // statement about the suspended segment having resolved; the control the
+    // next line clicks is. `networkidle` says nothing about either.
+    await expect(addTrigger).toBeVisible({ timeout: 60_000 });
+    await page.waitForLoadState("networkidle");
+
+    await openMenu(page, addTrigger);
 
     // v1.5 phase-5: the menu items now have distinct labels — the
     // measurement entry says "Measurement" / "Messung" instead of "Add",
diff --git a/e2e/medications-wizard-oneshot.spec.ts b/e2e/medications-wizard-oneshot.spec.ts
index abe36b10a..fbc955f1d 100644
--- a/e2e/medications-wizard-oneshot.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/medications-wizard-oneshot.spec.ts
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ test.describe("medication wizard — one-shot", () => {
       (url) => url.pathname === "/medications" && !url.searchParams.has("new"),
     );
 
+    // The replay this guards against can only happen once the client shell is
+    // live and the URL effect has run, and until `/api/auth/me` resolves the
+    // protected shell paints nothing at all — so the absence has to hang on
+    // the hydrated page. The hero title is the medications page's own
+    // heading, and it renders only in the settled branch.
+    await expect(page.locator('[data-tour-id="medications-hero"]')).toBeVisible(
+      { timeout: 30_000 },
+    );
     await expect(
       page.locator('[data-slot="medication-wizard-dialog"]'),
     ).toHaveCount(0);
diff --git a/e2e/today-just-in.spec.ts b/e2e/today-just-in.spec.ts
index eaa6923a6..2583b460d 100644
--- a/e2e/today-just-in.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/today-just-in.spec.ts
@@ -204,9 +204,10 @@ test("a fresh arrival flips the day in place", async ({ page }) => {
     // mean something: a note that was never rendered is also absent at the
     // end, and a day that was already final also reads final at the end.
     await page.goto("/");
-    await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="today-hero-skeleton"]')).toHaveCount(
-      0,
-    );
+    // No wait on the skeleton being gone: it is also gone while the protected
+    // shell holds the whole page behind its hydration gate, so it resolves
+    // before the digest has rendered anything. The hero count below is the
+    // wait, and it is a wait on the content itself.
     const hero = page.locator('[data-slot="today-hero"]');
     // Counts rather than visibility, matching the AFTER block: the two are
     // then the same assertion with the expected number flipped, and neither
diff --git a/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles-a11y.spec.ts b/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles-a11y.spec.ts
index 53ca7303f..a71afb7a8 100644
--- a/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles-a11y.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles-a11y.spec.ts
@@ -200,10 +200,52 @@ async function openProfileRecord(page: Page) {
   await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/profile$/);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Run an act that swaps the document out, and wait until it has.
+ *
+ * Exiting a record is a full navigation. A token stamped on the window before
+ * the click is gone the moment the new document exists, which is the only
+ * signal that the old one is not still the page under test.
+ */
+async function withDocumentReplacement(
+  page: Page,
+  act: () => Promise<void>,
+): Promise<void> {
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    (window as Window & { __hlNavToken?: true }).__hlNavToken = true;
+  });
+  await act();
+  await page.waitForFunction(
+    () =>
+      (window as Window & { __hlNavToken?: true }).__hlNavToken === undefined,
+    undefined,
+    { timeout: 30_000 },
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Leave the record and prove the own-record shell is back.
+ *
+ * Leaving replaces the document, and the protected shell renders its
+ * hydration gate — no nav, no banner, no page body — until `/api/auth/me`
+ * resolves. "The banner is gone" is true of that gate as well, so on its own
+ * it is satisfied by the document on its way out and is not a wait at all.
+ * The top bar only exists past the gate, so it is the anchor the absence
+ * hangs on.
+ */
 async function leaveRecord(page: Page) {
-  await page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner-exit"]').click();
+  await withDocumentReplacement(page, () =>
+    page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner-exit"]').click(),
+  );
+  await expect(
+    page.locator('[data-slot="record-scope-hydration-gate"]'),
+  ).toHaveCount(0, { timeout: 30_000 });
+  await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="top-bar"]')).toBeVisible({
+    timeout: 30_000,
+  });
   await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner"]')).toHaveCount(
     0,
+    { timeout: 30_000 },
   );
 }
 
diff --git a/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles.spec.ts b/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles.spec.ts
index 7799d023f..4b069833f 100644
--- a/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/v137-sharing-managed-profiles.spec.ts
@@ -145,13 +145,26 @@ async function openRecord(page: Page, username: string) {
   return { accountId, accessLevel, recordKind };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Leave the record and prove the own-record shell is back.
+ *
+ * Leaving replaces the document, and the protected shell renders its
+ * hydration gate — no nav, no banner, no page body — until `/api/auth/me`
+ * resolves. "The banner is gone" is true of that gate as well, so on its own
+ * it is satisfied by the document on its way out and is not a wait at all.
+ * The top bar only exists past the gate, so it is the anchor the absence
+ * hangs on.
+ */
 async function leaveRecord(page: Page) {
-  // Leaving is the same act pointed the other way, and it has the same gap.
-  // The banner being gone is satisfied by the document that is on its way out,
-  // so on its own it is not a wait at all.
   await withDocumentReplacement(page, () =>
     page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner-exit"]').click(),
   );
+  await expect(
+    page.locator('[data-slot="record-scope-hydration-gate"]'),
+  ).toHaveCount(0, { timeout: 30_000 });
+  await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="top-bar"]')).toBeVisible({
+    timeout: 30_000,
+  });
   await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner"]')).toHaveCount(
     0,
     { timeout: 30_000 },
@@ -432,6 +445,19 @@ test.describe.serial("scoped sharing browser journeys", () => {
     await expect(banner).toContainText(record.username);
 
     await page.goto("/measurements");
+    // Two gates stand between the navigation and the page: the shell's own
+    // hold on `/api/auth/me`, and the route's own `PageAuthGate`. Both paint
+    // a page with no header action on it, so the absence has to hang on the
+    // header the button would have sat in. The hero title renders in the same
+    // `PageHeader` whose `actions` slot the button fills, and only in the
+    // settled branch, so it says the header really rendered without the
+    // button rather than not having rendered yet.
+    await expect(banner).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
+    await expect(
+      page.locator('[data-tour-id="measurements-hero"]'),
+    ).toBeVisible({
+      timeout: 30_000,
+    });
     await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="measurement-add"]')).toHaveCount(0);
 
     await page.goto("/settings/account");
@@ -569,8 +595,13 @@ test.describe.serial("scoped sharing browser journeys", () => {
       data?: { recordId?: string };
     };
     expect(integrationPayload.data?.recordId).toBe(accountId);
+    // The loading branch of this card emits the same family attribute with
+    // `aria-busy="true"` on it, and a skeleton holds zero controls — so the
+    // read-only claim below passes against a card that never arrived. The
+    // settled card is the one that labels itself by its own title id, so the
+    // locator names that instead of the family alone.
     const integrations = page.locator(
-      '[data-record-settings-family="integrations"]',
+      '[data-record-settings-family="integrations"][aria-labelledby="managed-integration-status-title"]',
     );
     await expect(integrations).toBeVisible();
     await expect(integrations).toHaveAttribute("data-record-id", accountId);
diff --git a/e2e/v138-managed-record-capabilities.spec.ts b/e2e/v138-managed-record-capabilities.spec.ts
index 29650bf10..529d127c4 100644
--- a/e2e/v138-managed-record-capabilities.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/v138-managed-record-capabilities.spec.ts
@@ -68,10 +68,26 @@ async function openRecord(page: Page, username: string) {
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Leave the record and prove the own-record shell is back.
+ *
+ * Leaving replaces the document, and the protected shell renders its
+ * hydration gate — no nav, no banner, no page body — until `/api/auth/me`
+ * resolves. "The banner is gone" is true of that gate as well, so on its own
+ * it is satisfied by the document on its way out and is not a wait at all.
+ * The top bar only exists past the gate, so it is the anchor the absence
+ * hangs on.
+ */
 async function leaveRecord(page: Page) {
   await withDocumentReplacement(page, () =>
     page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner-exit"]').click(),
   );
+  await expect(
+    page.locator('[data-slot="record-scope-hydration-gate"]'),
+  ).toHaveCount(0, { timeout: 30_000 });
+  await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="top-bar"]')).toBeVisible({
+    timeout: 30_000,
+  });
   await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="shared-record-banner"]')).toHaveCount(
     0,
     { timeout: 30_000 },
diff --git a/e2e/v1427-coach-launch.spec.ts b/e2e/v1427-coach-launch.spec.ts
index 9c976824c..724a99535 100644
--- a/e2e/v1427-coach-launch.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/v1427-coach-launch.spec.ts
@@ -136,19 +136,22 @@ test.describe("Coach launch surfaces on insights sub-pages", () => {
 
       await page.goto(`/insights/${slug}`, { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" });
 
-      // CCH-04 — the per-metric inline launch icon is retired; no header
-      // launcher renders on the sub-page.
-      await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="coach-launch-icon"]')).toHaveCount(
-        0,
-      );
-
-      // The FAB is the permanent launcher; with no unread nudge it
+      // The FAB is the permanent launcher, and it is also the proof that the
+      // shell got past its hydration gate: nothing — header, FAB, page body —
+      // exists until `/api/auth/me` resolves, so an absence asserted above
+      // this line is a statement about the gate. With no unread nudge the FAB
       // renders without the unread dot.
       const fab = page.locator('[data-slot="coach-fab"]');
       await expect(fab).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
       await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="coach-fab-unread"]')).toHaveCount(
         0,
       );
+
+      // The per-metric inline launch icon is retired; no header launcher
+      // renders on the sub-page.
+      await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="coach-launch-icon"]')).toHaveCount(
+        0,
+      );
     });
 
     test(`/insights/${slug} mounts the dot-free Coach FAB on Desktop Chrome`, async ({
@@ -161,15 +164,18 @@ test.describe("Coach launch surfaces on insights sub-pages", () => {
 
       await page.goto(`/insights/${slug}`, { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" });
 
-      await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="coach-launch-icon"]')).toHaveCount(
-        0,
-      );
-
+      // Same order as the mobile branch, for the same reason: the FAB is the
+      // marker that the shell finished hydrating, so the retired header
+      // launcher is claimed absent only after something has rendered.
       const fab = page.locator('[data-slot="coach-fab"]');
       await expect(fab).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
       await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="coach-fab-unread"]')).toHaveCount(
         0,
       );
+
+      await expect(page.locator('[data-slot="coach-launch-icon"]')).toHaveCount(
+        0,
+      );
     });
   }