diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.test.ts
index 95b80cdd5da..65d5b33096a 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.test.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ describe("runQaManualLane", () => {
       alternateModel: "mock-openai/gpt-5.4-alt",
       message: "check the kickoff file",
       timeoutMs: 5_000,
+      replySettleMs: 0,
     });
 
     expect(startQaProviderServer).toHaveBeenCalledWith("mock-openai");
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ describe("runQaManualLane", () => {
       alternateModel: "openai/gpt-5.4",
       message: "check the kickoff file",
       timeoutMs: 5_000,
+      replySettleMs: 0,
     });
 
     expect(startQaProviderServer).toHaveBeenCalledWith("live-frontier");
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.ts
index 6b98c7017f7..b76f1d857a3 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/manual-lane.runtime.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ type QaManualLaneParams = {
   thinkingDefault?: QaThinkingLevel;
   message: string;
   timeoutMs?: number;
+  replySettleMs?: number;
 };
 
 function resolveManualLaneTimeoutMs(params: {
@@ -108,7 +109,10 @@ export async function runQaManualLane(params: QaManualLaneParams) {
       { timeoutMs: timeoutMs + 5_000 },
     )) as { status?: string; error?: string };
 
-    await sleep(500);
+    const replySettleMs = params.replySettleMs ?? 500;
+    if (replySettleMs > 0) {
+      await sleep(replySettleMs);
+    }
 
     const reply =
       lab.state