diff --git a/src/gateway/server-cron.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-cron.test.ts
index 841b8e3648f..c233e44c564 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-cron.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-cron.test.ts
@@ -651,7 +651,9 @@ describe("buildGatewayCronService", () => {
         ?.sessionKey;
       const wakeOpts = wakeCall?.[0] as { agentId?: string; sessionKey?: string } | undefined;
 
-      expect(enqueueSessionKey).toBeDefined();
+      if (!enqueueSessionKey) {
+        throw new Error("Expected enqueue session key");
+      }
       expect(enqueueSessionKey).toMatch(/^agent:ops:/);
       expect(wakeOpts?.agentId).toBe("ops");
       expect(wakeOpts?.sessionKey).toMatch(/^agent:ops:/);
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-runtime-services.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-runtime-services.test.ts
index 3c997f49111..800475a572f 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-runtime-services.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-runtime-services.test.ts
@@ -189,8 +189,9 @@ describe("server-runtime-services", () => {
     expect(log.child).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, "session-delivery-recovery");
     const deliveryLog = log.child.mock.results[0]?.value;
     const sessionDeliveryLog = log.child.mock.results[1]?.value;
-    expect(deliveryLog).toBeDefined();
-    expect(sessionDeliveryLog).toBeDefined();
+    if (!deliveryLog || !sessionDeliveryLog) {
+      throw new Error("Expected delivery recovery log children");
+    }
     expect(hoisted.recoverPendingDeliveries).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
       deliver: hoisted.deliverOutboundPayloads,
       cfg: {},
diff --git a/src/gateway/server.chat.gateway-server-chat.test.ts b/src/gateway/server.chat.gateway-server-chat.test.ts
index ec958669d53..ac87d44914f 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server.chat.gateway-server-chat.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server.chat.gateway-server-chat.test.ts
@@ -131,9 +131,9 @@ describe("gateway server chat", () => {
       .filter((value): value is string => typeof value === "string");
 
   const expectRecordFields = (value: unknown, expected: Record<string, unknown>) => {
-    expect(value).toBeDefined();
-    expect(typeof value).toBe("object");
-    expect(value).not.toBeNull();
+    if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
+      throw new Error("Expected record");
+    }
     const actual = value as Record<string, unknown>;
     for (const [key, expectedValue] of Object.entries(expected)) {
       expect(actual[key]).toEqual(expectedValue);
@@ -973,7 +973,9 @@ describe("gateway server chat", () => {
               message !== null &&
               (message as { role?: unknown }).role === "assistant",
           );
-          expect(assistantMessage).toBeDefined();
+          if (!assistantMessage) {
+            throw new Error("Expected assistant history message");
+          }
         });
         const assistantContent = (assistantMessage as { content?: unknown[] }).content ?? [];
         expect(assistantContent).toHaveLength(2);