diff --git a/tests/integration/agent_loader/agent_dirname_test.ts b/tests/integration/agent_loader/agent_dirname_test.ts
index 1e71a3a1d..13b5acdff 100644
--- a/tests/integration/agent_loader/agent_dirname_test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/agent_loader/agent_dirname_test.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ describe.each(['__dirname', '__filename', 'import_meta_url'])(
 
     beforeAll(async () => {
       await execAsync('npm install', {cwd: projectPath});
-    }, TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT);
+    });
 
     it(
       'should run agent and load params from file nearby via package.json script',
@@ -56,6 +56,6 @@ describe.each(['__dirname', '__filename', 'import_meta_url'])(
       await fs
         .unlink(path.join(projectPath, 'package-lock.json'))
         .catch(() => {});
-    }, TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT);
+    });
   },
 );
diff --git a/tests/integration/app_loader/app_loader_test.ts b/tests/integration/app_loader/app_loader_test.ts
index 4367307b8..7d06a3fd8 100644
--- a/tests/integration/app_loader/app_loader_test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/app_loader/app_loader_test.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ describe('App loader CLI integration', () => {
 
       beforeAll(async () => {
         await execAsync('npm install', {cwd: projectPath});
-      }, TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT);
+      });
 
       it(
         'should run app via package.json start script and get responses',
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ describe('App loader CLI integration', () => {
         await fs
           .unlink(path.join(projectPath, 'package-lock.json'))
           .catch(() => {});
-      }, TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT);
+      });
     },
   );
 });
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ describe('AgentLoader discovery and loading integration', () => {
   beforeAll(async () => {
     await execAsync('npm install', {cwd: projectPath});
     loader = new AgentLoader(projectPath);
-  }, TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT);
+  });
 
   it(
     'should discover apps vs agents across directories and standalone files',
@@ -138,5 +138,5 @@ describe('AgentLoader discovery and loading integration', () => {
     await fs
       .unlink(path.join(projectPath, 'package-lock.json'))
       .catch(() => {});
-  }, TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/tests/integration/build_setup/build_setup_test.ts b/tests/integration/build_setup/build_setup_test.ts
index 880dee469..4a4f1eb53 100644
--- a/tests/integration/build_setup/build_setup_test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/build_setup/build_setup_test.ts
@@ -14,15 +14,6 @@ const dirname = process.cwd();
 
 const TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT = 20000;
 
-// These hooks run `npm install` (plus `npm run build` for ts_* setups) and the
-// recursive node_modules teardown, overrunning vitest's default 10s hookTimeout
-// and causing flaky "Hook timed out in 10000ms" failures. All twelve hook runs
-// take ~16s combined on ubuntu-latest, but a cold, network-bound install has
-// been measured at ~70s, so 120s covers the worst case. Don't raise
-// TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT for hook flakes; that stays the 20s per-test budget.
-// Trade-off: a stuck hook now takes this long to surface.
-const HOOK_TIMEOUT = 120000;
-
 describe('Build setup', () => {
   describe.each([
     'js_commonjs',
@@ -52,7 +43,7 @@ describe('Build setup', () => {
         expect(buildResult.stderr).toBe('');
         expect(buildResult.stdout).toContain('\nBuild complete');
       }
-    }, HOOK_TIMEOUT);
+    });
 
     it(
       'should build and run agent successfully',
@@ -128,6 +119,6 @@ describe('Build setup', () => {
           .rm(`${projectPath}/dist`, {recursive: true, force: true})
           .catch(() => {});
       }
-    }, HOOK_TIMEOUT);
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/tests/integration/skills/script_js/agent_test.ts b/tests/integration/skills/script_js/agent_test.ts
index b17df2c86..c904b0196 100644
--- a/tests/integration/skills/script_js/agent_test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/skills/script_js/agent_test.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ const TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT = 60000;
 describe('Agent with skills that generates JS script and runs it locally', () => {
   beforeAll(async () => {
     await execAsync('npm install', {cwd: PROJECT_PATH});
-  }, TEST_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT);
+  });
 
   it(
     'should run agent with skills successfully',
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 1b7eaee63..5ec0393a7 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -9,14 +9,23 @@ import {defineConfig} from 'vitest/config';
 
 /**
  * Hook budget (ms) for the `integration` project: install-heavy `beforeAll`
- * hooks run `npm install` (and sometimes `npm run build`) per fixture, which
- * exceeds Vitest's 10s default on a slow or loaded machine.
+ * hooks run `npm install` (and sometimes `npm run build`) per fixture, and the
+ * matching `afterAll` hooks recursively remove the resulting `node_modules`.
+ * That exceeds Vitest's 10s default on a slow or loaded machine.
+ *
+ * The twelve `build_setup` hook runs take ~16s combined warm on ubuntu-latest,
+ * but a cold, network-bound install has been measured at ~70s, so 120s covers
+ * the worst case. Trade-off: a genuinely stuck hook takes this long to surface.
+ *
+ * An install or teardown hook must not pass its own timeout argument, which
+ * shadows this floor rather than raising it.
  */
 const INTEGRATION_HOOK_TIMEOUT_MS = 120000;
 
 /**
  * Test budget (ms) for the `integration` project: matches the largest per-file
- * timeout in the repo. Per-file `it()`/hook timeouts still override both.
+ * timeout in the repo. A per-test `it()` timeout may still override this; a
+ * hook timeout must not (see above).
  */
 const INTEGRATION_TEST_TIMEOUT_MS = 60000;