diff --git a/frontend/e2e/playwright.config.ts b/frontend/e2e/playwright.config.ts
index e6fcd9be..a6be7650 100644
--- a/frontend/e2e/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/e2e/playwright.config.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ if (tier === 'stand' && !TIERS.stand.baseURL) {
 }
 
 export default defineConfig<BackendOptions>({
+    // Playwright's 0.2 per-pixel default absorbs cross-machine rendering noise the
+    // pinned container removes by construction; it also let a palette change through
+    // while reporting green. Count differing pixels instead: glyph antialiasing
+    // jitters by 2, while the palette change that slipped moved 71.
+    expect: { toHaveScreenshot: { maxDiffPixels: 20, threshold: 0 } },
     forbidOnly: isCI,
     fullyParallel: true,
     globalTimeout: isCI ? 10 * 60_000 : undefined,
diff --git a/frontend/e2e/routes.ts b/frontend/e2e/routes.ts
index 1aa12151..c8664b50 100644
--- a/frontend/e2e/routes.ts
+++ b/frontend/e2e/routes.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,9 @@ export const ROUTE_MANIFEST: RouteManifestEntry[] = [
     {
         cassette: flowsCassette,
         path: routes.flow('5'),
-        ready: (page) => page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Flow actions' }),
+        // The terminal mounts after the header, and the visual spec masks it —
+        // capturing before it exists compares live pixels against a masked baseline.
+        ready: (page) => page.locator('.xterm').first(),
         sources: [
             'src/pages/flows',
             'src/features/flows',