diff --git a/docs/release/v0.2-frontend-overhaul.md b/docs/release/v0.2-frontend-overhaul.md
index 40c6b4d..5787060 100644
--- a/docs/release/v0.2-frontend-overhaul.md
+++ b/docs/release/v0.2-frontend-overhaul.md
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ Filled during execution. Each entry: phase #, date, what landed, what's next.
 | 7.8 /float | ✅ complete | +layout@.svelte already migrated in Phase 3 (KI-05 sync $effect retired). +page.svelte is a bespoke task panel (list pills, drag-and-drop, context menus); no high-value wrapper opportunities. |
 | 7.9 /viewer | ✅ complete | +layout@.svelte already migrated in Phase 3. +page.svelte is a bespoke transcript viewer with audio player — explicitly bespoke per §6.3. |
 | 7.10 /preview | ✅ complete | +layout@.svelte already migrated in Phase 3. +page.svelte is the Wayland-hardened transcription preview overlay — uses zero portaled primitives per the plan's hard rule. |
-| 8 | in progress | Full release gate. |
+| 8 | ✅ complete | Full release gate green: `cargo fmt --check`, `cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings`, `cargo test --workspace`, `cargo nextest run --workspace` (435/435), `npm run check` (0/0/5704), `npm test` (13/13 across 2 files), `npm run test:browser` (3/3 in Chromium), `npm run test:e2e` (16/16 across two viewports), `npm run analyze` → `reports/bundle-stats.html` (1.7 MB), `scripts/dogfood-rebrand-drill.sh` 8/8, `npm run guard:no-skeleton` clean. Browser-mode tests excluded from the jsdom suite via `vite.config.js` so the two runners don't double-run. Playwright `expect: { timeout }` lifted to 15 s for cold first-compile resilience. |
 
 ## 12. Bundle-size delta
 
diff --git a/playwright.config.ts b/playwright.config.ts
index cb68b8b..5819a80 100644
--- a/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/playwright.config.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ export default defineConfig({
   retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 0,
   reporter: [["list"], ["html", { open: "never", outputFolder: "playwright-report" }]],
   outputDir: "test-results",
+  // Vite's first compile of the SPA tree can blow past the default 5s
+  // expect timeout on cold runs (especially on the 900x700 project,
+  // which fires before any module cache is warm). Bumping the global
+  // expect timeout avoids per-test {timeout: …} sprinkles.
+  expect: { timeout: 15_000 },
   use: {
     baseURL: "http://localhost:1420",
     trace: "on-first-retry",
diff --git a/vite.config.js b/vite.config.js
index 171be5e..95d2758 100644
--- a/vite.config.js
+++ b/vite.config.js
@@ -53,8 +53,17 @@ export default defineConfig(async () => ({
     // #[cfg(test)] sibling convention; no separate tests/ tree.
     include: ["src/**/*.{test,spec}.{ts,js}"],
     // Frontend tests must never reach into the Tauri backend; that surface
-    // is owned by `cargo test` in src-tauri/ and crates/.
-    exclude: ["src-tauri/**", "node_modules/**", "build/**", ".svelte-kit/**"],
+    // is owned by `cargo test` in src-tauri/ and crates/. v0.2 browser-mode
+    // component tests live under *.browser.{test,spec}.{ts,js,svelte} and
+    // are run by `npm run test:browser` against vitest.browser.config.js —
+    // exclude them from this jsdom suite so they don't double-run.
+    exclude: [
+      "src-tauri/**",
+      "node_modules/**",
+      "build/**",
+      ".svelte-kit/**",
+      "src/**/*.browser.{test,spec}.{ts,js,svelte}",
+    ],
     // Restore a clean global state between tests — vitest's restoreMocks
     // unwinds vi.spyOn / vi.fn, clearMocks resets call history, and
     // unstubAllGlobals undoes vi.stubGlobal. Prevents accidental leakage