diff --git a/lib/src/stories/RemoteControlSection.stories.tsx b/lib/src/stories/RemoteControlSection.stories.tsx
index e77bf686e..a8ccdd988 100644
--- a/lib/src/stories/RemoteControlSection.stories.tsx
+++ b/lib/src/stories/RemoteControlSection.stories.tsx
@@ -206,6 +206,10 @@ export const SetupPhoneQr: Story = {
   // The one setup-panel story that settles on the QR's accessible name rather
   // than on text, so it cannot use {@link setupPanel}.
   play: async (context) => {
+    // The QR is a lazily-imported chunk. Fetched cold after the click, it can
+    // outlast `findByRole`'s 1 s on a loaded WebKit runner; loaded here first,
+    // the panel's own import resolves from the module cache.
+    await import('../components/QrCode');
     const canvas = within(context.canvasElement);
     await userEvent.click(await canvas.findByRole('button', { name: 'Set up a phone' }));
     await canvas.findByRole('img', { name: 'Setup code for this machine' });
diff --git a/lib/src/stories/TerminalPaneHeader.stories.tsx b/lib/src/stories/TerminalPaneHeader.stories.tsx
index 64cdf2d54..f748662f4 100644
--- a/lib/src/stories/TerminalPaneHeader.stories.tsx
+++ b/lib/src/stories/TerminalPaneHeader.stories.tsx
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { flattenScenario, SCENARIO_SHELL_PROMPT } from '../lib/platform';
 import { removeMouseSelectionState, setMouseReporting, setOverride } from '../lib/mouse-selection';
 import { addPlainNote, clearAllNotepads } from '../lib/notepad/notepad-store';
 import { recordToolDirty, resetToolDirty } from '../lib/tool-dirty-store';
-import { requireElement, settleTerminals, waitForCondition, waitForPrimedState } from './settle-terminals';
+import { requireElement, settleTerminalContext, waitForCondition, waitForPrimedState } from './settle-terminals';
 
 const SESSION_ID = 'tab-story';
 
@@ -230,8 +230,7 @@ async function openHeaderRightClickDialog() {
     clientX: rect.left + rect.width / 2,
     clientY: rect.top + rect.height / 2,
   }));
-  await requireElement('[data-terminal-context]', 'terminal context');
-  await settleTerminals();
+  await settleTerminalContext();
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/src/stories/Wall.stories.tsx b/lib/src/stories/Wall.stories.tsx
index 9b3fb5a5c..2aa952020 100644
--- a/lib/src/stories/Wall.stories.tsx
+++ b/lib/src/stories/Wall.stories.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import {
   SCENARIO_LS_OUTPUT,
 } from '../lib/platform';
 import type { ActivityState } from '../lib/terminal-registry';
-import { requireElement, settleTerminals, waitForCondition } from './settle-terminals';
+import { requireElement, settleTerminalContext, settleTerminals, waitForCondition } from './settle-terminals';
 
 const meta: Meta<typeof Wall> = {
   title: 'App/Wall',
@@ -101,8 +101,7 @@ async function minimizeFirstVisiblePane() {
 async function openAlertDialog() {
   const header = await requireElement<HTMLElement>('[data-pane-header-for]', 'pane header');
   header.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('contextmenu', { bubbles: true, cancelable: true, button: 2 }));
-  await requireElement('[data-terminal-context]', 'terminal context');
-  await settleTerminals();
+  await settleTerminalContext();
 }
 
 export const Default: Story = {
@@ -219,11 +218,6 @@ export const TerminalContext: Story = {
     await settleTerminals();
     const header = await requireElement('[data-pane-header-for="context-live"]', 'terminal header');
     header.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('contextmenu', { bubbles: true, cancelable: true, button: 2 }));
-    await waitForCondition(() => !!document.querySelector('[data-helper-terminal]'));
-    // Hold until autorun has finished and the helper has painted, so the capture
-    // is never the "Waiting for shell…" or "Running …" frame on the way there.
-    await waitForCondition(() =>
-      document.querySelector('[aria-label="Helper terminal status"]')?.textContent?.includes('autoran') ?? false);
-    await settleTerminals();
+    await settleTerminalContext();
   },
 };
diff --git a/lib/src/stories/settle-terminals.ts b/lib/src/stories/settle-terminals.ts
index 6bb1fdf08..731231a3d 100644
--- a/lib/src/stories/settle-terminals.ts
+++ b/lib/src/stories/settle-terminals.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,24 @@ export async function settleTerminals(opts?: { timeoutMs?: number }): Promise<vo
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Hold until an open terminal context has settled: its helper's autorun has
+ * finished (the status row's spinner is gone) and every terminal, the helper's
+ * included, has painted. The helper steps through "Waiting for shell…" and
+ * "Running …" on timers, so a capture without this lands on whichever step a
+ * loaded runner happened to reach.
+ */
+export async function settleTerminalContext(opts?: { timeoutMs?: number }): Promise<void> {
+  await requireElement('[data-terminal-context]', 'terminal context');
+  const settled = () => {
+    const status = document.querySelector('[data-terminal-context] [aria-label$="terminal status"]');
+    return !!status && !status.querySelector('.animate-spin');
+  };
+  await waitForCondition(settled, opts);
+  if (!settled()) throw new Error('terminal context autorun never finished');
+  await settleTerminals(opts);
+}
+
 /**
  * Hold until the preview's primed-state decorator has applied.
  *