diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index d9131e9fa62..1b919509467 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -266,3 +266,65 @@ Open Settings (`Ctrl/Cmd+,`) → switch logging to **Debug** → reproduce → *
 3. **Restart** app (and computer if needed).
 4. **Reset data** — **View → Clear All Data**, or delete the config directory.
 5. **Collect debug logs and heap snapshots**.
+
+## Cursor Cloud specific instructions
+
+### Running the Electron app in Cloud Agent VMs
+
+The Cloud Agent VM has a TigerVNC X server on `:1` (owned by user `ubuntu`). To launch the app:
+
+1. Allow local X connections: `su - ubuntu -c "DISPLAY=:1 xhost +local:"`
+2. Run with in-process network service (required to avoid network service subprocess crashes in this container environment):
+   ```
+   export DISPLAY=:1
+   /workspace/node_modules/electron/dist/electron dist/ --disable-dev-mode --no-sandbox --disable-gpu --disable-software-rasterizer --in-process-gpu --enable-features=NetworkServiceInProcess2
+   ```
+3. GTK and dbus warnings are expected and harmless in this environment.
+
+### Key development commands
+
+All standard commands are documented in the table at the top of this file. Quick reference:
+
+- **Lint**: `npm run lint:js-quiet`
+- **Type check**: `npm run check-types`
+- **Unit tests**: `npm run test:unit` (Jest, 1140+ tests, ~3s)
+- **Build (dev)**: `npm run build` (webpack, ~4s)
+- **Run app**: `npm start` (builds + launches; on Linux runs `linux-dev-setup` first)
+- **Dev mode (watch)**: `npm run watch` (auto-rebuild + Electron restart on file changes)
+- **All checks**: `npm run check` (lint + type-check + build-config + unit tests in parallel)
+
+### E2E tests (Playwright)
+
+The E2E suite lives in `e2e/` with its own `package.json`. It uses Playwright's Electron support (not browser testing — no Playwright browsers needed). See `e2e/AGENTS.md` for full guidance.
+
+**Setup (one-time after npm install):**
+```bash
+cd e2e && npm install && cd ..
+npm run build-test   # builds webpack with NODE_ENV=test → outputs to e2e/dist/
+```
+
+**Running tests:**
+```bash
+cd e2e
+DISPLAY=:1 npx playwright test --reporter=list --workers=1                    # all tests
+DISPLAY=:1 npx playwright test specs/startup/welcome_screen_modal.test.ts --reporter=list --workers=1  # single file
+npx playwright test --list                                                     # list all tests
+```
+
+**Environment variables for server-backed tests:**
+- `MM_TEST_SERVER_URL` — e.g. `http://localhost:8065`
+- `MM_TEST_USER_NAME` — e.g. `sysadmin`
+- `MM_TEST_PASSWORD` — e.g. `Sys@dmin-sample1`
+
+**Known limitations in Cloud Agent VMs:**
+- A few download-item tests that depend on specific download completion states may be flaky.
+- Keyboard-shortcut-based tests may fail in headless/container environments (the `e2e/AGENTS.md` recommends IPC invocations over keyboard shortcuts for this reason).
+- Tests tagged `@darwin` or `@win32` are platform-specific and won't run on Linux.
+- Tests requiring a live Mattermost server need `MM_TEST_SERVER_URL`, `MM_TEST_USER_NAME`, `MM_TEST_PASSWORD` env vars.
+
+### Gotchas
+
+- `npm run linux-dev-setup` requires `sudo` to set SUID on `chrome-sandbox`. It runs automatically before `npm start` and `npm run watch`.
+- The `postinstall` script runs `patch-package && electron-builder install-app-deps`. If native module compilation fails, ensure build tools (gcc, make, python3) are available.
+- Electron 41 uses Chromium's utility process model; in constrained environments (Docker/Firecracker), child processes may segfault. The `--enable-features=NetworkServiceInProcess2` flag moves the network service in-process to work around this.
+- `DISPLAY=:1` must be set for any command that launches Electron (including E2E tests). The X server is managed by TigerVNC under the `ubuntu` user; run `su - ubuntu -c "DISPLAY=:1 xhost +local:"` once per session to allow root processes to connect.
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/index.ts b/e2e/fixtures/index.ts
index b669817147d..a88ed8922da 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/index.ts
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/index.ts
@@ -83,8 +83,9 @@ export const test = base.extend<Fixtures>({
                 '--disable-gpu',
                 '--disable-gpu-sandbox',
                 '--disable-dev-shm-usage',
-                '--no-zygote',
                 '--disable-software-rasterizer',
+                '--in-process-gpu',
+                '--enable-features=NetworkServiceInProcess2',
 
                 // Stability
                 '--disable-breakpad',
diff --git a/e2e/helpers/appReadiness.ts b/e2e/helpers/appReadiness.ts
index eaa4b14aea2..ff856fb8e1d 100644
--- a/e2e/helpers/appReadiness.ts
+++ b/e2e/helpers/appReadiness.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,21 @@ export async function waitForAppReady(app: ElectronApplication): Promise<void> {
     await expect.poll(
         async () => {
             try {
-                return await app.evaluate(() => (global as any).__e2eAppReady === true);
+                const ready = await app.evaluate(() => {
+                    // In headless/VNC CI environments, the main window may not auto-show.
+                    // Force-show it so the 'show' event fires and __e2eAppReady gets set.
+                    if (!(global as any).__e2eAppReady) {
+                        const refs = (global as any).__e2eTestRefs;
+                        if (refs) {
+                            const mainWin = refs.MainWindow.get();
+                            if (mainWin && !mainWin.isVisible()) {
+                                mainWin.show();
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                    return (global as any).__e2eAppReady === true;
+                });
+                return ready;
             } catch (error) {
                 const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
                 if (