diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint-build-test.yml b/.github/workflows/lint-build-test.yml
index 56d2a11e6..e9d6c0563 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint-build-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint-build-test.yml
@@ -174,8 +174,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: yarn
       - run: yarn --immutable
       - run: yarn build
-      - run: yarn bundle ./packages/extension/src/vats/sample-vat.js
-      - run: yarn test:e2e
+      - run: yarn test:e2e:ci
       - name: Require clean working directory
         shell: bash
         run: |
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index c22494e34..acd20a3ad 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
     "@metamask/eslint-config-nodejs": "^14.0.0",
     "@metamask/eslint-config-typescript": "^14.0.0",
     "@metamask/utils": "^9.3.0",
+    "@ocap/test-utils": "workspace:^",
     "@ts-bridge/cli": "^0.5.1",
     "@ts-bridge/shims": "^0.1.1",
     "@types/serve-handler": "^6",
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/app.ts b/packages/cli/src/app.ts
index 02180bdc2..5c764dc83 100755
--- a/packages/cli/src/app.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/app.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
+import path from 'node:path';
 import yargs from 'yargs';
 import { hideBin } from 'yargs/helpers';
 
 import { createBundle } from './commands/bundle.js';
 import { getServer } from './commands/serve.js';
 import { defaultConfig } from './config.js';
+import type { Config } from './config.js';
 
 await yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
   .usage('$0 <command> [options]')
@@ -26,33 +28,35 @@ await yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
     },
   )
   .command(
-    'serve <dir> [-p port]',
+    'serve <dir> [options]',
     'Serve bundled user code by filename',
     (_yargs) =>
       _yargs
-        .option('port', {
-          alias: 'p',
-          type: 'number',
-          default: defaultConfig.server.port,
-        })
         .option('dir', {
-          alias: 'd',
           type: 'string',
           dir: true,
           required: true,
-          describe: 'A directory of files to bundle',
+          describe: 'A directory containing bundle files to serve',
+        })
+        .option('port', {
+          alias: 'p',
+          type: 'number',
+          default: defaultConfig.server.port,
         }),
     async (args) => {
-      console.info(`serving ${args.dir} on localhost:${args.port}`);
-      const server = getServer({
+      const appName = 'bundle server';
+      const url = `http://localhost:${args.port}`;
+      const resolvedDir = path.resolve(args.dir);
+      const config: Config = {
         server: {
           port: args.port,
         },
-        dir: args.dir,
-      });
+        dir: resolvedDir,
+      };
+      console.info(`starting ${appName} in ${resolvedDir} on ${url}`);
+      const server = getServer(config);
       await server.listen();
     },
   )
-  .help('h')
-  .alias('h', 'help')
+  .help('help')
   .parse();
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/serve.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/serve.test.ts
index 7c665d160..b7902bc01 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/serve.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/serve.test.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
 import { getServer } from './serve.js';
 import { getTestBundles } from '../../test/bundles.js';
 import { defaultConfig } from '../config.js';
+import { withTimeout } from '../utils.js';
 
 const isBundleSourceResult = (
   value: unknown,
@@ -61,8 +62,9 @@ describe('serve', async () => {
         },
         dir: root,
       });
+      const url = `http://localhost:${port}`;
       const requestBundle = async (path: string): Promise<unknown> => {
-        const resp = await nodeFetch(`http://localhost:${port}/${path}`);
+        const resp = await nodeFetch(`${url}/${path}`);
         if (resp.ok) {
           return resp.json();
         }
@@ -107,10 +109,7 @@ describe('serve', async () => {
 
         expect(receivedBundleHash).toStrictEqual(expectedBundleHash);
       } finally {
-        await Promise.race([
-          new Promise((_resolve) => setTimeout(_resolve, 400)),
-          close(),
-        ]);
+        await withTimeout(close(), 400).catch(console.error);
       }
     });
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..213d51651
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import '@ocap/shims/endoify';
+import { delay } from '@ocap/test-utils';
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+
+import { withTimeout } from './utils.js';
+
+describe('utils', async () => {
+  describe('withTimeout', () => {
+    it('times out within the specified duration', async () => {
+      const duration = 300;
+      const delta = 100;
+      const timeout = withTimeout(new Promise(() => undefined), duration);
+      await delay(duration + delta);
+      await expect(async () => await timeout).rejects.toThrow(/timed out/u);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6acbf95bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/**
+ * Wrap a promise with a timeout rejection.
+ *
+ * @param promise - The promise to wrap with a timeout.
+ * @param timeout - How many ms to wait before rejecting.
+ * @returns A wrapped promise which rejects after timeout miliseconds.
+ */
+export async function withTimeout<Return>(
+  promise: Promise<Return>,
+  timeout: number,
+): Promise<Return> {
+  return Promise.race([
+    promise,
+    new Promise((_resolve, reject) =>
+      setTimeout(
+        () =>
+          reject(
+            new Error(`promise timed out after ${timeout}ms`, {
+              cause: promise,
+            }),
+          ),
+        timeout,
+      ),
+    ),
+  ]) as Promise<Return>;
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/bundles.ts b/packages/cli/test/bundles.ts
index 9cfaced4f..733775ce0 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/bundles.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/bundles.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@ import { cp } from '../src/file.js';
 
 const makeTestBundleRoot = async (): Promise<string> => {
   const testRoot = resolve(import.meta.url.split(':')[1] as string, '..');
+  const stageRoot = resolve(tmpdir(), 'test');
 
   // copy bundle targets to staging area
   const testBundleRoot = resolve(testRoot, 'bundles');
-  const stageBundleRoot = resolve(tmpdir(), 'test/bundles');
+  const stageBundleRoot = resolve(stageRoot, 'bundles');
   await mkdir(stageBundleRoot, { recursive: true });
   for (const ext of ['.js', '.expected']) {
     await Promise.all(
@@ -20,10 +21,7 @@ const makeTestBundleRoot = async (): Promise<string> => {
       }),
     );
   }
-  await cp(
-    join(testRoot, 'test.bundle'),
-    join(stageBundleRoot, '../test.bundle'),
-  );
+  await cp(join(testRoot, 'test.bundle'), join(stageRoot, 'test.bundle'));
 
   // return the staging area, ready for testing
   return stageBundleRoot;
diff --git a/packages/extension/package.json b/packages/extension/package.json
index ec96d8beb..ea1be7226 100644
--- a/packages/extension/package.json
+++ b/packages/extension/package.json
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
     "build:dev": "yarn build:vite:dev && yarn test:build",
     "build:vite": "vite build --config vite.config.ts",
     "build:vite:dev": "yarn build:vite --mode development",
-    "bundle": "node ../../scripts/bundle-vat.js",
     "changelog:validate": "../../scripts/validate-changelog.sh @ocap/extension",
     "clean": "rimraf --glob ./dist './*.tsbuildinfo'",
     "lint": "yarn lint:ts && yarn lint:eslint && yarn lint:misc --check && yarn constraints && yarn lint:dependencies",
@@ -37,10 +36,10 @@
     "test:dev": "yarn test --coverage false",
     "test:verbose": "yarn test --reporter verbose",
     "test:watch": "vitest --config vitest.config.ts",
-    "test:e2e": "playwright test",
+    "test:e2e": "yarn playwright test",
+    "test:e2e:ci": "./scripts/test-e2e-ci.sh",
     "test:e2e:ui": "playwright test --ui",
-    "test:e2e:debug": "playwright test --debug",
-    "start:server": "npx http-server ./src/vats -p 3000 -a localhost --cors -y"
+    "test:e2e:debug": "playwright test --debug"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@endo/eventual-send": "^1.2.6",
diff --git a/packages/extension/playwright.config.ts b/packages/extension/playwright.config.ts
index 7735dd424..52415db8a 100644
--- a/packages/extension/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/packages/extension/playwright.config.ts
@@ -14,9 +14,4 @@ export default defineConfig({
       },
     },
   ],
-  webServer: {
-    command: 'yarn start:server',
-    url: 'http://localhost:3000',
-    reuseExistingServer: true,
-  },
 });
diff --git a/packages/extension/scripts/test-e2e-ci.sh b/packages/extension/scripts/test-e2e-ci.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a7d3222f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/extension/scripts/test-e2e-ci.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -x
+set -e
+set -o pipefail
+
+yarn ocap bundle "./src/vats"
+
+# Start the server in background and capture its PID
+yarn ocap serve "./src/vats" & 
+SERVER_PID=$!
+
+function cleanup() {
+  # Kill the server if it's still running
+  if kill -0 $SERVER_PID 2>/dev/null; then
+    kill $SERVER_PID
+  fi
+}
+# Ensure we always close the server
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+yarn test:e2e
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 9e825de6f..9e15f370a 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ export default defineConfig({
       thresholds: {
         autoUpdate: true,
         'packages/cli/**': {
-          statements: 75.47,
-          functions: 72.22,
+          statements: 71.66,
+          functions: 76.19,
           branches: 61.11,
-          lines: 75.47,
+          lines: 71.66,
         },
         'packages/errors/**': {
           statements: 100,
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index b7f1a878c..92ff3d15b 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -1613,6 +1613,7 @@ __metadata:
     "@metamask/snaps-utils": "npm:^8.3.0"
     "@metamask/utils": "npm:^9.3.0"
     "@ocap/shims": "workspace:^"
+    "@ocap/test-utils": "workspace:^"
     "@ocap/utils": "workspace:^"
     "@ts-bridge/cli": "npm:^0.5.1"
     "@ts-bridge/shims": "npm:^0.1.1"