diff --git a/tests/mock-api/copilot-proxy.mjs b/tests/mock-api/copilot-proxy.mjs
index e3074b44..94ae1940 100644
--- a/tests/mock-api/copilot-proxy.mjs
+++ b/tests/mock-api/copilot-proxy.mjs
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ function handleChatCompletions(socket, body) {
       { id: chatId, object: "chat.completion.chunk", choices: [{ index: 0, delta: { tool_calls: [{ index: 0, function: { arguments: JSON.stringify(first.input) } }] }, finish_reason: null }] },
       { id: chatId, object: "chat.completion.chunk", choices: [{ index: 0, delta: {}, finish_reason: "tool_calls" }] },
       "[DONE]",
-    ]);
+    ], intent.delay ?? 0);
   } else {
     // tool_call — translate mcp__cydo__Foo → cydo-Foo for copilot's MCP tool registry
     let toolName = intent.name;
@@ -265,8 +265,9 @@ function handleChatCompletions(socket, body) {
       { id: chatId, object: "chat.completion.chunk", choices: [{ index: 0, delta: { tool_calls: [{ index: 0, function: { arguments: JSON.stringify(intent.input) } }] }, finish_reason: null }] },
       { id: chatId, object: "chat.completion.chunk", choices: [{ index: 0, delta: {}, finish_reason: "tool_calls" }] },
       "[DONE]",
-    // Let the real client deliver Answer before its canonical idle event.
-    ], toolName === "cydo-Answer" ? 500 : 0);
+    // Let the real client deliver Answer before its canonical idle event,
+    // and honor an intent delay (ANSWER_DELAY_MS) whenever it is larger.
+    ], Math.max(intent.delay ?? 0, toolName === "cydo-Answer" ? 500 : 0));
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/mock-api/patterns.mjs b/tests/mock-api/patterns.mjs
index 11b0a46f..6468ec0a 100644
--- a/tests/mock-api/patterns.mjs
+++ b/tests/mock-api/patterns.mjs
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 // Shared pattern matching module for mock API servers.
 // Imported by server.mjs (Claude/Codex) and copilot-proxy.mjs (Copilot).
 
+// An instant Answer collapses the answerer-focused UI state to ~75ms on an
+// idle machine (faster than Playwright's visibility polling can observe), so
+// specs asserting the intermediate focus time out on a page that already moved
+// on correctly. Every Answer response carries this delay so the transient
+// state lasts long enough to be testable.
+export const ANSWER_DELAY_MS = 400;
+
 // Match a user text against known patterns and return a structured intent.
 // Returns one of:
 //   { type: "text", text: string }
@@ -76,6 +83,7 @@ export function matchPattern(userText) {
     if (m)
       return {
         type: "multi_tool_call",
+        delay: ANSWER_DELAY_MS,
         tool_calls: [
           {
             name: "mcp__cydo__Answer",
@@ -96,6 +104,7 @@ export function matchPattern(userText) {
     if (m)
       return {
         type: "tool_call",
+        delay: ANSWER_DELAY_MS,
         name: "mcp__cydo__Answer",
         input: { qid: parseInt(m[1]), message: "follow-up-answered" },
       };
@@ -105,6 +114,7 @@ export function matchPattern(userText) {
     if (m)
       return {
         type: "tool_call",
+        delay: ANSWER_DELAY_MS,
         name: "mcp__cydo__Answer",
         input: { qid: parseInt(m[1]), message: "non-direct-answer" },
       };
@@ -142,6 +152,7 @@ export function matchPattern(userText) {
     if (m)
       return {
         type: "tool_call",
+        delay: ANSWER_DELAY_MS,
         name: "mcp__cydo__Answer",
         input: { qid: parseInt(m[1]), message: "switch-mode-answer" },
       };
@@ -348,6 +359,7 @@ export function matchPattern(userText) {
   if (match)
     return {
       type: "tool_call",
+      delay: ANSWER_DELAY_MS,
       name: "mcp__cydo__Answer",
       input: { qid: parseInt(match[1]), message: match[2].trim() },
     };
diff --git a/tests/mock-api/server.mjs b/tests/mock-api/server.mjs
index 674ab74d..8ebeb01b 100644
--- a/tests/mock-api/server.mjs
+++ b/tests/mock-api/server.mjs
@@ -82,6 +82,17 @@ function streamTextResponse(res, text, model = "claude-sonnet-4-20250514") {
   res.end();
 }
 
+// Honor an intent's delay (e.g. ANSWER_DELAY_MS on Answer patterns) before
+// streaming its response. Cleared if the client disconnects first.
+function respondAfterIntentDelay(res, intent, respond) {
+  if (intent?.delay) {
+    const timer = setTimeout(respond, intent.delay);
+    res.on("close", () => clearTimeout(timer));
+  } else {
+    respond();
+  }
+}
+
 function streamToolUseResponse(
   res,
   toolName,
@@ -938,7 +949,9 @@ function handleResponses(req, res) {
       // Codex doesn't support MCP + shell calls in parallel, and the
       // deferral mechanism is exercised even with a single Answer call.
       const first = intent.tool_calls[0];
-      oaiStreamFunctionCallResponse(res, first.name, first.input);
+      respondAfterIntentDelay(res, intent, () =>
+        oaiStreamFunctionCallResponse(res, first.name, first.input),
+      );
     } else if (intent.type === "autonomous_compaction_switchmode") {
       oaiStreamFunctionCallResponse(
         res,
@@ -952,7 +965,9 @@ function handleResponses(req, res) {
       oaiStreamWebSearchCallResponse(res, intent.query, [intent.query]);
     } else {
       // tool_call — names are already correct for the OpenAI/Codex protocol
-      oaiStreamFunctionCallResponse(res, intent.name, intent.input);
+      respondAfterIntentDelay(res, intent, () =>
+        oaiStreamFunctionCallResponse(res, intent.name, intent.input),
+      );
     }
   });
 }
@@ -1347,7 +1362,9 @@ function handleMessages(req, res) {
     } else if (intent.type === "multi_tool_call") {
       const toolNames = intent.tool_calls.map((tc) => tc.name);
       const inputs = intent.tool_calls.map((tc) => tc.input);
-      streamMultiToolUseResponse(res, toolNames, inputs, model);
+      respondAfterIntentDelay(res, intent, () =>
+        streamMultiToolUseResponse(res, toolNames, inputs, model),
+      );
     } else if (intent.type === "eager_ask") {
       streamEagerAskThenSlowToolResponse(
         res,
@@ -1375,19 +1392,14 @@ function handleMessages(req, res) {
         model,
       );
     } else if (intent.type === "shell" || intent.type === "background_shell") {
-      const respond = () =>
+      respondAfterIntentDelay(res, intent, () =>
         streamToolUseResponse(
           res,
           "Bash",
           { command: intent.command, description: "Running command" },
           model,
-        );
-      if (intent.delay) {
-        const timer = setTimeout(respond, intent.delay);
-        res.on("close", () => clearTimeout(timer));
-      } else {
-        respond();
-      }
+        ),
+      );
     } else {
       // tool_call — map generic names to Anthropic tool names
       let toolName = intent.name;
@@ -1399,7 +1411,9 @@ function handleMessages(req, res) {
         toolName = "Read";
         input = { file_path: intent.input.path };
       }
-      streamToolUseResponse(res, toolName, input, model);
+      respondAfterIntentDelay(res, intent, () =>
+        streamToolUseResponse(res, toolName, input, model),
+      );
     }
   });
 }