diff --git a/.cascade/env b/.cascade/env
index 44ca356f..467165a4 100644
--- a/.cascade/env
+++ b/.cascade/env
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 CI=true
 DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/cascade
 DATABASE_SSL=false
-TEST_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/cascade_test
 REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
+TEST_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/cascade_test
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 4c685444..33debd37 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,11 @@ export default defineConfig({
 
 			// ── Unit: Core ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 			// ~159 files — agents, gadgets, config, db, utils, cli, pm, github,
-			// jira, trello, web, webhook, queue, and top-level unit tests
+			// jira, trello, web, webhook, queue, and top-level unit tests.
+			// isolate: false skips per-file module re-evaluation, reducing the
+			// collect phase overhead. Safe here because these tests use simple
+			// mocks with no inter-test shared state. Files that use
+			// vi.useFakeTimers() all call vi.useRealTimers() in afterEach/afterAll.
 			{
 				test: {
 					name: 'unit-core',
@@ -120,6 +124,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
 						'tests/unit/*.test.ts',
 					],
 					...sharedTest,
+					isolate: false,
 				},
 				resolve,
 			},