diff --git a/tests/features/step_definitions/commit-status.steps.js b/tests/features/step_definitions/commit-status.steps.js
index 3cbe24a..4df2e3a 100644
--- a/tests/features/step_definitions/commit-status.steps.js
+++ b/tests/features/step_definitions/commit-status.steps.js
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ function bashQuiet(cmd) {
 }
 
 function runReportStatus(args) {
-  return bash(`export GITEA_API_URL="http://localhost:18080" GITEA_TOKEN="test-token-abc123" GIT_PAGES_URL="https://reports.example.com" GITHUB_REPOSITORY="test-owner/test-repo" GITHUB_SHA="abc123def456789012345678901234567890abcd" GITHUB_RUN_ID="42"; bash "${REPORT_SCRIPT}" ${args}`);
+  const apiUrl = process.env.GITEA_API_URL || 'http://localhost:18080';
+  return bash(`export GITEA_API_URL="${apiUrl}" GITEA_TOKEN="test-token-abc123" GIT_PAGES_URL="https://reports.example.com" GITHUB_REPOSITORY="test-owner/test-repo" GITHUB_SHA="abc123def456789012345678901234567890abcd" GITHUB_RUN_ID="42"; bash "${REPORT_SCRIPT}" ${args}`);
 }
 
 function getMockBody() {
@@ -110,7 +111,12 @@ Then('the source commit shows the deployment status alongside the build status',
 When('a build step tries to report status but the build system is unavailable', function () {
   bashQuiet(`source "${MOCK_SCRIPT}" && mock_stop`);
   execSync('sleep 0.3', { stdio: 'ignore' });
-  bashQuiet(`source "${MOCK_SCRIPT}" && mock_set_response 500 && mock_start`);
+  const out = execSync(`bash -o pipefail -c 'source "${MOCK_SCRIPT}" && mock_set_response 500 && mock_start >&2 && echo "$GITEA_API_URL"'`, {
+    cwd: PROJECT_ROOT,
+    encoding: 'utf-8',
+    stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+  });
+  process.env.GITEA_API_URL = out.trim();
   const r = runReportStatus('success "Should fail"');
   this.reportStatusFailed = (r.status !== 0);
 });
diff --git a/tests/features/step_definitions/common.steps.js b/tests/features/step_definitions/common.steps.js
index 6c665a8..6460bd7 100644
--- a/tests/features/step_definitions/common.steps.js
+++ b/tests/features/step_definitions/common.steps.js
@@ -6,15 +6,16 @@ const PROJECT_ROOT = path.resolve(__dirname, '..', '..', '..');
 const MOCK_SCRIPT = path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'tests', 'helpers', 'mock-api.sh');
 
 Before({ tags: '@mock' }, function () {
-  const out = execSync(`bash -c 'source "${MOCK_SCRIPT}" && mock_start && sleep 1 && curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 3 http://localhost:18080/api/v1/repos/health/check'`, {
+  const out = execSync(`bash -o pipefail -c 'source "${MOCK_SCRIPT}" && mock_start >&2 && echo "$GITEA_API_URL"'`, {
     cwd: PROJECT_ROOT,
     encoding: 'utf-8',
     stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
   });
-  const trimmed = out.trim();
-  if (!trimmed.startsWith('2') && !trimmed.startsWith('4')) {
-    throw new Error(`Mock server failed to start (HTTP ${trimmed})`);
+  const apiUrl = out.trim();
+  if (!apiUrl.startsWith('http')) {
+    throw new Error(`Mock server failed to start (no API URL: ${apiUrl})`);
   }
+  process.env.GITEA_API_URL = apiUrl;
 });
 
 After({ tags: '@mock' }, function () {
diff --git a/tests/features/step_definitions/test-execution.steps.js b/tests/features/step_definitions/test-execution.steps.js
index 8657eb7..100af60 100644
--- a/tests/features/step_definitions/test-execution.steps.js
+++ b/tests/features/step_definitions/test-execution.steps.js
@@ -21,9 +21,15 @@ function bash(cmd) {
   }
 }
 
+function getFreePort() {
+  const out = execSync(`python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.socket(); s.bind(('',0)); print(s.getsockname()[1]); s.close()"`, { encoding: 'utf-8' });
+  return parseInt(out.trim(), 10);
+}
+
 function setupMock(seqJson) {
-  execSync('lsof -ti :18080 2>/dev/null | xargs -r kill -9 2>/dev/null || true', { stdio: 'ignore' });
-  execSync('sleep 0.4', { stdio: 'ignore' });
+  const port = getFreePort();
+  process.env.MOCK_PORT = String(port);
+  process.env.GITEA_API_URL = `http://localhost:${port}`;
 
   const seqFile = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `cucumber_seq_${Date.now()}.json`);
   fs.writeFileSync(seqFile, seqJson);
@@ -34,17 +40,16 @@ function setupMock(seqJson) {
   const configFile = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `cucumber_cfg_${Date.now()}.txt`);
   fs.writeFileSync(configFile, `SEQUENCE\n${seqJson}\n${idxFile}`);
 
-  const proc = spawn('python3', [MOCK_SERVER, '18080', configFile, reqFile], {
+  const proc = spawn('python3', [MOCK_SERVER, String(port), configFile, reqFile], {
     cwd: PROJECT_ROOT,
     detached: true,
     stdio: 'ignore',
   });
   proc.unref();
-  this._mockProc = proc;
 
   for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
     try {
-      execSync('curl -s --max-time 1 http://localhost:18080/', { stdio: 'ignore' });
+      execSync(`nc -z localhost ${port}`, { stdio: 'ignore' });
       fs.writeFileSync(idxFile, '0');
       return;
     } catch (_) {}
@@ -69,7 +74,8 @@ When('a test workflow is dispatched to a test project', function () {
     { code: 200, body: { workflow_runs: [{ id: 1, status: 'running' }] } },
     { code: 200, body: { id: 1, status: 'completed', conclusion: 'success' } },
   ]));
-  const r = runDispatch('"test-owner/test-repo" "test.yml" "main" \'{"version":"1.2.3"}\' "http://localhost:18080" "test-token-abc123"');
+  const url = process.env.GITEA_API_URL;
+  const r = runDispatch(`"test-owner/test-repo" "test.yml" "main" '{"version":"1.2.3"}' "${url}" "test-token-abc123"`);
   this.dispatchResult = r.status;
 });
 
@@ -87,7 +93,8 @@ When('a test workflow is dispatched and the tests fail', function () {
     { code: 200, body: { workflow_runs: [{ id: 1, status: 'running' }] } },
     { code: 200, body: { id: 1, status: 'completed', conclusion: 'failure' } },
   ]));
-  const r = runDispatch('"test-owner/test-repo" "test.yml" "main" \'{"version":"1.2.3"}\' "http://localhost:18080" "test-token-abc123"');
+  const url = process.env.GITEA_API_URL;
+  const r = runDispatch(`"test-owner/test-repo" "test.yml" "main" '{"version":"1.2.3"}' "${url}" "test-token-abc123"`);
   this.dispatchResult = r.status;
 });
 
@@ -103,7 +110,8 @@ When('a test workflow is dispatched but does not finish within the allowed time'
     { code: 200, body: { id: 1, status: 'running' } },
     { code: 200, body: { id: 1, status: 'running' } },
   ]));
-  const r = runDispatch('"test-owner/test-repo" "test.yml" "main" \'{"version":"1.2.3"}\' "http://localhost:18080" "test-token-abc123" "0.001"');
+  const url = process.env.GITEA_API_URL;
+  const r = runDispatch(`"test-owner/test-repo" "test.yml" "main" '{"version":"1.2.3"}' "${url}" "test-token-abc123" "0.001"`);
   this.dispatchResult = r.status;
 });
 
diff --git a/tests/helpers/mock-api.sh b/tests/helpers/mock-api.sh
index b5420fb..583b1c9 100644
--- a/tests/helpers/mock-api.sh
+++ b/tests/helpers/mock-api.sh
@@ -13,30 +13,13 @@ _free_port() {
   python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.socket(); s.bind(('',0)); print(s.getsockname()[1]); s.close()"
 }
 
-_kill_port() {
-  local pids
-  pids=$(lsof -ti ":$MOCK_PORT" 2>/dev/null) || true
-  [ -n "$pids" ] && kill $pids 2>/dev/null || true
-  sleep 0.5
-  pids=$(lsof -ti ":$MOCK_PORT" 2>/dev/null) || true
-  [ -n "$pids" ] && kill -9 $pids 2>/dev/null || true
-}
-
-_wait_port_free() {
-  local i=0
-  while lsof -ti ":$MOCK_PORT" >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ $i -lt 50 ]; do
-    sleep 0.1
-    i=$((i + 1))
-  done
-}
-
 _wait_port_ready() {
   local i=0
-  while [ $i -lt 50 ]; do
+  while [ $i -lt 10 ]; do
     if nc -z localhost "$MOCK_PORT" 2>/dev/null; then
       return 0
     fi
-    sleep 0.2
+    sleep 0.1
     i=$((i + 1))
   done
   return 1
@@ -73,9 +56,6 @@ mock_start() {
     echo "$MOCK_RESPONSE_CODE" >> "$MOCK_CONFIG_FILE"
   fi
 
-  _kill_port
-  _wait_port_free
-
   nohup python3 "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/mock-server.py" "$MOCK_PORT" "$MOCK_CONFIG_FILE" "$MOCK_REQUEST_FILE" \
     </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1 &
   MOCK_PID=$!
@@ -84,8 +64,6 @@ mock_start() {
 
 mock_stop() {
   [ -n "${MOCK_PID:-}" ] && kill -9 "$MOCK_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
-  _kill_port
-  _wait_port_free
   [ -n "${MOCK_REQUEST_FILE:-}" ] && rm -f "${MOCK_REQUEST_FILE}" 2>/dev/null || true
   [ -n "${MOCK_SEQUENCE_FILE:-}" ] && rm -f "${MOCK_SEQUENCE_FILE}" 2>/dev/null || true
   [ -n "${MOCK_SEQUENCE_FILE:-}" ] && rm -f "${MOCK_SEQUENCE_FILE}.idx" 2>/dev/null || true