diff --git a/test/e2e/README.md b/test/e2e/README.md
index 4134a37..50ac57d 100644
--- a/test/e2e/README.md
+++ b/test/e2e/README.md
@@ -73,12 +73,14 @@ concluding anything from a 404.
 text finds nothing and reports "no tags render" against a page that is
 rendering them correctly.
 
-**A headed browser will not launch from an agent shell here.** Both
-`chromium.launch()` and `launchPersistentContext()` time out on the handshake
-despite `DISPLAY=:0` being set; headless works. Interactive flows (the admin
-login, `docker-credential-atcr login`) still need a human at a real browser —
-but non-interactive page checks can run headless, and `batch10-anonpull.mjs`
-does.
+**Headed works; if it times out, retry before concluding otherwise.** A headed
+`launchPersistentContext` normally comes up in well under a second — the
+display is reachable (`DISPLAY=:0`, `XAUTHORITY` set to the mutter XWayland
+cookie, both the Wayland socket and `/tmp/.X11-unix/X0` present; `xdpyinfo`
+confirms it). Two launches did once hang for the full 180s handshake timeout
+under heavy concurrent docker and test load, which is easy to misread as "headed
+is impossible here" and switch everything to headless. It is not. Check
+`xdpyinfo` and retry.
 
 **Logged-out checks need their own profile.** `lib.mjs`'s `PROFILE` is signed
 in, and clearing its cookies costs an interactive re-login for everything else.
diff --git a/test/e2e/batch10-anonpull.mjs b/test/e2e/batch10-anonpull.mjs
index 42570c0..f68589a 100644
--- a/test/e2e/batch10-anonpull.mjs
+++ b/test/e2e/batch10-anonpull.mjs
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import { APPVIEW } from './lib.mjs';
 const HOLD = process.env.ATCR_HOLD_URL ?? 'http://127.0.0.1:8080';
 const HANDLE = process.env.ATCR_E2E_HANDLE ?? 'evan.jarrett.net';
 const REPO = process.env.ATCR_E2E_REPO ?? 'valtest';
+// Defaults to headed, which is how these are meant to be watched.
+// ATCR_E2E_HEADLESS=1 for unattended runs.
 const HEADLESS = process.env.ATCR_E2E_HEADLESS === '1';
 
 const captain = await fetch(