diff --git a/apps/vscode/scripts/test-standalone-core-api-server.ts b/apps/vscode/scripts/test-standalone-core-api-server.ts
index 09b2bec945..0854c3d404 100644
--- a/apps/vscode/scripts/test-standalone-core-api-server.ts
+++ b/apps/vscode/scripts/test-standalone-core-api-server.ts
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
 	const clineTestWorkspace = mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "cline-test-workspace-"))
 
 	console.log("Starting HostBridge test server...")
-	const hostbridge: ChildProcess = spawn("npx", ["tsx", path.join(__dirname, "test-hostbridge-server.ts")], {
-		stdio: "pipe",
+	const hostbridge: ChildProcess = spawn("bun", [path.join(__dirname, "test-hostbridge-server.ts")], {
+		stdio: "inherit",
 		env: {
 			...process.env,
 			TEST_HOSTBRIDGE_WORKSPACE_DIR: clineTestWorkspace,
@@ -118,11 +118,13 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
 	const workosFetchMockPath = path.join(projectRoot, "scripts", "testing-platform-workos-fetch-mock.cjs")
 	const baseArgs = ["--enable-source-maps", "--require", workosFetchMockPath, path.join(distDir, "cline-core.js")]
 
-	const spawnArgs = USE_C8 ? ["c8", "--report-dir", covDir, "node", ...baseArgs] : ["node", ...baseArgs]
+	const c8Bin = path.join(projectRoot, "node_modules", ".bin", process.platform === "win32" ? "c8.cmd" : "c8")
+	const spawnCommand = USE_C8 ? c8Bin : "node"
+	const spawnArgs = USE_C8 ? ["--report-dir", covDir, "node", ...baseArgs] : baseArgs
 
 	console.log(`Starting Cline Core Service... (useC8=${USE_C8})`)
 
-	const coreService: ChildProcess = spawn("npx", spawnArgs, {
+	const coreService: ChildProcess = spawn(spawnCommand, spawnArgs, {
 		cwd: projectRoot,
 		env: {
 			...process.env,
diff --git a/apps/vscode/scripts/testing-platform-orchestrator.ts b/apps/vscode/scripts/testing-platform-orchestrator.ts
index a92df0a3ad..10a0ac4193 100644
--- a/apps/vscode/scripts/testing-platform-orchestrator.ts
+++ b/apps/vscode/scripts/testing-platform-orchestrator.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import kill from "tree-kill"
 let showServerLogs = false
 let fix = false
 let coverage = false
-const WAIT_SERVER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 15000
+const WAIT_SERVER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 60000
 const usedPorts = new Set<number>()
 
 /**
@@ -94,8 +94,10 @@ async function startServer(): Promise<{ server: ChildProcess; grpcPort: string }
 	const grpcPort = (await getAvailablePort()).toString()
 	const hostbridgePort = (await getAvailablePort()).toString()
 
-	const server = spawn("npx", ["tsx", "scripts/test-standalone-core-api-server.ts"], {
-		stdio: showServerLogs ? "inherit" : "pipe",
+	const server = spawn("bun", ["scripts/test-standalone-core-api-server.ts"], {
+		// When logs are hidden, ignore stdio instead of piping it without a reader:
+		// an unread pipe can fill and stall server startup/shutdown in CI.
+		stdio: showServerLogs ? "inherit" : "ignore",
 		env: {
 			...process.env,
 			PROTOBUS_PORT: grpcPort,
@@ -104,23 +106,44 @@ async function startServer(): Promise<{ server: ChildProcess; grpcPort: string }
 		},
 	})
 
-	// Wait for either the server to become ready or fail on spawn error
-	await Promise.race([
-		waitForPort(Number(grpcPort), "127.0.0.1", WAIT_SERVER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT),
-		new Promise((_, reject) => server.once("error", reject)),
-	])
+	try {
+		// Wait for either the server to become ready or fail on spawn error.
+		await Promise.race([
+			waitForPort(Number(grpcPort), "127.0.0.1", WAIT_SERVER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT),
+			new Promise((_, reject) => server.once("error", reject)),
+			new Promise((_, reject) =>
+				server.once("exit", (code, signal) => reject(new Error(`Server exited before ready: ${code ?? signal}`))),
+			),
+		])
+	} catch (error) {
+		await stopServer(server)
+		throw error
+	}
 
 	return { server, grpcPort }
 }
 
 function stopServer(server: ChildProcess): Promise<void> {
 	return new Promise((resolve) => {
-		if (!server.pid) return resolve()
+		if (!server.pid || server.exitCode !== null || server.signalCode !== null) return resolve()
 
+		let settled = false
+		const finish = () => {
+			if (!settled) {
+				settled = true
+				resolve()
+			}
+		}
+
+		server.once("exit", finish)
 		kill(server.pid, "SIGINT", (err) => {
 			if (err) console.warn("Failed to kill server process:", err)
-			server.once("exit", () => resolve())
 		})
+		setTimeout(() => {
+			if (!settled && server.pid) {
+				kill(server.pid, "SIGKILL", finish)
+			}
+		}, 5000).unref()
 	})
 }