diff --git a/docs/testing.md b/docs/testing.md
index 53c62fb3aa..de5d285d3f 100644
--- a/docs/testing.md
+++ b/docs/testing.md
@@ -169,14 +169,15 @@ rendered declarations. Keep canonical rejection checks separate from the
 intentionally reduced compact advertisement, and probe actual client renderers
 when changing schema representations.
 
-The reused CLI boundary workers cap V8 old space at 384 MiB for ordinary runs
-and 512 MiB with coverage enabled. Covered ADB fixtures exhaust the ordinary
-384 MiB budget; those fixtures also complete with the shared CLI graph preloaded
-at 512 MiB. This is a measured capacity control, not a suite-wide speedup claim.
-Both profiles keep the
-same bounded worker count, and spawned REA processes retain their own heap
-settings. Explicitly disabling coverage retains the ordinary profile; coverage
-provider options alone do not enable instrumentation.
+The reused CLI boundary workers cap V8 old space at 512 MiB, with or without
+coverage. Ordinary CI also exhausted the former 384 MiB budget after earlier
+files loaded the shared source/contract graph, while later command registration
+and schema/help rendering still needed transient allocation space. This is a
+measured capacity control, not a suite-wide speedup claim. The worker count
+remains bounded at two, and spawned REA processes retain their own heap settings.
+Coverage enablement still controls instrumentation, test deadlines and coverage
+thresholds; explicitly disabling it or selecting only a provider does not enable
+instrumentation.
 
 Vitest worker limits do not bound subprocesses launched within a test. Bound
 those batches separately so repeated CLI validation cannot oversubscribe the
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/ciTestProjects.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/ciTestProjects.test.ts
index 5641f700de..ac5c481dd1 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/ciTestProjects.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/ciTestProjects.test.ts
@@ -78,37 +78,33 @@ describe("canonical test-project ownership", () => {
   });
 
   it.each([
-    { flags: [], heap: 384, timeout: 30_000, lines: 68 },
-    { flags: ["--coverage"], heap: 512, timeout: 60_000, lines: 68 },
-    { flags: ["--coverage.enabled"], heap: 512, timeout: 60_000, lines: 68 },
-    { flags: ["--coverage=false"], heap: 384, timeout: 30_000, lines: 68 },
+    { flags: [], timeout: 30_000, lines: 68 },
+    { flags: ["--coverage"], timeout: 60_000, lines: 68 },
+    { flags: ["--coverage.enabled"], timeout: 60_000, lines: 68 },
+    { flags: ["--coverage=false"], timeout: 30_000, lines: 68 },
     {
       flags: ["--coverage.enabled=false"],
-      heap: 384,
       timeout: 30_000,
       lines: 68,
     },
     {
       flags: ["--coverage.provider=v8"],
-      heap: 384,
       timeout: 30_000,
       lines: 68,
     },
     {
       flags: ["--coverage.enabled", "--shard", "1/6"],
-      heap: 512,
       timeout: 60_000,
       lines: 0,
     },
     {
       flags: ["--coverage.enabled=false", "--shard=1/6"],
-      heap: 384,
       timeout: 30_000,
       lines: 0,
     },
   ])(
     "resolves worker resources from actual CLI options: $flags",
-    async ({ flags, heap, timeout, lines }) => {
+    async ({ flags, timeout, lines }) => {
       const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-vitest-worker-policy-");
       const script = join(root, "worker-policy.mjs");
       await writeFile(
@@ -134,7 +130,7 @@ describe("canonical test-project ownership", () => {
         },
       );
       expect(JSON.parse(result.stdout)).toEqual({
-        execArgv: [`--max-old-space-size=${String(heap)}`],
+        execArgv: ["--max-old-space-size=512"],
         timeout,
         lines,
       });
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 6f733c9874..92519037a8 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -66,10 +66,10 @@ const PROJECT_POLICIES = {
     // CLI tests create fresh command instances or subprocesses and own their
     // cleanup. Reuse the immutable graph; module mocks belong in process-global.
     isolate: false,
-    // Coverage of the shared command/schema graph exhausts the ordinary
-    // 384 MiB budget. The preloaded CLI/ADB control completes with 512 MiB;
-    // keep both profiles bounded with the same concurrency.
-    execArgv: [`--max-old-space-size=${COVERAGE_ENABLED ? "512" : "384"}`],
+    // The shared source/contract graph also needs transient schema/help space.
+    // Ordinary CI exhausted 384 MiB after earlier files warmed that graph.
+    // Use the measured 512 MiB budget with the same bounded concurrency.
+    execArgv: ["--max-old-space-size=512"],
   },
   "process-boundary": {
     pool: "forks" as const,