diff --git a/config/dot/quickshell/displays-harness.qml b/config/dot/quickshell/displays-harness.qml
index 37008bc..05d460c 100644
--- a/config/dot/quickshell/displays-harness.qml
+++ b/config/dot/quickshell/displays-harness.qml
@@ -32,7 +32,14 @@ ShellRoot {
                 canConfirm: Displays.canConfirm,
                 secondsLeft: Displays.secondsLeft,
                 lastError: Displays.lastError,
-                overridden: monitor ? Displays.isOverridden(monitor.name) : false
+                overridden: monitor ? Displays.isOverridden(monitor.name) : false,
+                // The compositor being visually restored is not the service
+                // being done: revert verification keeps its own readback
+                // running for a few ticks, and busy blocks a new apply until
+                // it settles. A caller that only watched `awaiting` raced
+                // this and got a refusal with no error text.
+                settled: !Displays.busy && !Displays.revertVerificationActive
+                    && !Displays.awaitingConfirmation
             });
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/declared-dependencies-contract b/tests/quickshell/declared-dependencies-contract
index 888722a..865c163 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/declared-dependencies-contract
+++ b/tests/quickshell/declared-dependencies-contract
@@ -47,6 +47,15 @@ SESSION='^(systemctl|busctl|journalctl|loginctl|hostnamectl|localectl|systemd-in
 # Anything added here needs a matching install block and a stated reason.
 SELF_INSTALLED='^(bun|claude|node|npm|pnpm)$'
 
+# Tools an alias may lean on without Panama installing them anywhere. The
+# docker aliases serve the machines that run Docker by deliberate choice;
+# Panama's container runtime is rootless podman (development-packages), and
+# declaring docker in a list would put a second container daemon on every
+# fresh machine to keep five aliases company. Where docker is absent the
+# aliases fail by naming the missing command, which is the honest outcome.
+# Anything added here needs that same property: absence must be loud.
+OPTIONAL='^(docker)$'
+
 # jq programs are quoted arguments, but the scanner is line-based and cannot
 # tell a filter from a command. `not` is a jq builtin appearing inside one.
 JQ_BUILTINS='^(not|empty|error|env|input|inputs)$'
@@ -105,6 +114,7 @@ while read -r script; do
         [[ "$cmd" =~ $BASELINE ]] && continue
         [[ "$cmd" =~ $SESSION ]] && continue
         [[ "$cmd" =~ $SELF_INSTALLED ]] && continue
+        [[ "$cmd" =~ $OPTIONAL ]] && continue
         [[ "$cmd" =~ $JQ_BUILTINS ]] && continue
 
         pkg="$(package_for "$cmd")"
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/displays-contract b/tests/quickshell/displays-contract
index 793531e..3746676 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/displays-contract
+++ b/tests/quickshell/displays-contract
@@ -309,7 +309,10 @@ target_scale=$(awk -v s="$original_scale" 'BEGIN { print (s == 1.25) ? 1.5 : 1.2
 run ipc call displays-test revertChange >/dev/null
 immediate_reverted=false
 for _ in $(seq 1 60); do
-    if display_is_restored && [[ "$(status | jq -r .awaiting)" == "false" ]]; then
+    # settled, not awaiting: the compositor can look restored while the
+    # service's revert verification is still reading back, and an apply in
+    # that window is refused as busy. See the settled field in the harness.
+    if display_is_restored && [[ "$(status | jq -r .settled)" == "true" ]]; then
         immediate_reverted=true
         break
     fi
@@ -345,6 +348,11 @@ done
 [[ "$(status | jq -r .overridden)" == "false" ]] || fail 'an unconfirmed change was written to the settings store'
 
 # ── A confirmed change is what writes ────────────────────────────────────────
+# Wait out the revert readback before applying again -- same race as above.
+for _ in $(seq 1 40); do
+    [[ "$(status | jq -r .settled)" == "true" ]] && break
+    sleep 0.2
+done
 [[ "$(run ipc call displays-test applyScale "$target_scale")" == "true" ]] \
     || fail 'the confirmed-change fixture could not apply'
 
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/settings-system-contract b/tests/quickshell/settings-system-contract
index ce50c80..b143cab 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/settings-system-contract
+++ b/tests/quickshell/settings-system-contract
@@ -41,8 +41,19 @@ for _ in $(seq 1 40); do
     fi
     sleep 0.1
 done
-jq -e '.monitorName == "DP-2" and .width == 4500 and .height == 3000 and .scale == 1.5 and .format == "XRGB2101010"' <<<"$status" >/dev/null \
-    || fail "live monitor data was not normalized: $status"
+# Against the live compositor, not a named machine: this once asserted DP-2 at
+# 4500x3000 in XRGB2101010, which pinned the desktop it was written on and
+# could never pass on a laptop's eDP-1. The property is that SystemSettings
+# mirrors whatever monitor is actually primary, normalized -- so ask Hyprland
+# what that is.
+live_monitor="$(hyprctl -j monitors | jq -c '.[0]')"
+jq -e --argjson live "$live_monitor" '
+    .monitorName == $live.name
+    and .width == $live.width
+    and .height == $live.height
+    and ((.scale - $live.scale) | fabs) < 0.001
+    and (.format | length) > 0' <<<"$status" >/dev/null \
+    || fail "live monitor data was not normalized: $status (compositor: $live_monitor)"
 
 [[ "$(qs_for_harness ipc call settings-system-test panelAllowed '__definitely_not_a_panel__' | jq -r .)" == "false" ]] \
     || fail 'unsupported GNOME panel was accepted'
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/ssh-keys-contract b/tests/quickshell/ssh-keys-contract
index 60a2896..77e28c8 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/ssh-keys-contract
+++ b/tests/quickshell/ssh-keys-contract
@@ -96,9 +96,18 @@ grep -q 'durableRemoval' "$helper" \
 
 kind="$(printf '%s' "$state" | field "['agent'].get('kind','')")"
 if [[ "$kind" == "gnome-keyring" ]]; then
-    reason="$(printf '%s' "$("$helper" agent-remove "$HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519")" | field "['error']")"
-    [[ "$reason" == *"does not stick"* ]] \
-        || fail "removal against a keyring agent was not refused with its reason (got: $reason)"
+    # Whichever key this machine actually has. This used to hardcode
+    # id_ed25519, which asserted the author's machine: any other key name
+    # earned "That key no longer exists" instead of the refusal under test.
+    # No key at all means the property cannot be exercised here, not that it
+    # failed.
+    real_key="$(compgen -G "$HOME/.ssh/id_*.pub" | head -1)"
+    real_key="${real_key%.pub}"
+    if [[ -n "$real_key" ]]; then
+        reason="$(printf '%s' "$("$helper" agent-remove "$real_key")" | field "['error']")"
+        [[ "$reason" == *"does not stick"* ]] \
+            || fail "removal against a keyring agent was not refused with its reason (got: $reason)"
+    fi
     grep -q 'does not stick' "$page" \
         || fail 'the page does not say that removing a key from this agent has no effect'
 fi
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/switcher-contract b/tests/quickshell/switcher-contract
index fecb7e3..5c44ceb 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/switcher-contract
+++ b/tests/quickshell/switcher-contract
@@ -73,7 +73,12 @@ grep -q 'WlrKeyboardFocus.None' "$window" \
 
 # ── Live ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-if command -v qs >/dev/null 2>&1 && qs ipc call switcher cancel >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+# Stepping refuses to open with fewer than two windows (see step() in the
+# state service) -- that is designed behavior, not a failure, so a session
+# with one window skips the live half rather than failing against it.
+open_windows="$(hyprctl -j clients 2>/dev/null | jq length 2>/dev/null || echo 0)"
+if command -v qs >/dev/null 2>&1 && (( open_windows >= 2 )) \
+    && qs ipc call switcher cancel >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     qs ipc call switcher next >/dev/null 2>&1
     sleep 0.6
     mapped="$(hyprctl layers -j 2>/dev/null | grep -c 'qs-switcher' || true)"