diff --git a/src/signal/monitor.event-handler.typing-read-receipts.test.ts b/src/signal/monitor.event-handler.typing-read-receipts.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index adc2e77b63a..00000000000
--- a/src/signal/monitor.event-handler.typing-read-receipts.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,115 +0,0 @@
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
-import {
-  createBaseSignalEventHandlerDeps,
-  createSignalReceiveEvent,
-} from "./monitor/event-handler.test-harness.js";
-
-const sendTypingMock = vi.fn();
-const sendReadReceiptMock = vi.fn();
-const dispatchInboundMessageMock = vi.fn(
-  async (params: {
-    replyOptions?: { onReplyStart?: () => void };
-    dispatcher?: { sendFinalReply?: (payload: { text: string }) => void };
-  }) => {
-    await Promise.resolve(params.replyOptions?.onReplyStart?.());
-    return { queuedFinal: false, counts: { tool: 0, block: 0, final: 0 } };
-  },
-);
-
-vi.mock("./send.js", () => ({
-  sendMessageSignal: vi.fn(),
-  sendTypingSignal: sendTypingMock,
-  sendReadReceiptSignal: sendReadReceiptMock,
-}));
-
-vi.mock("../auto-reply/dispatch.js", () => ({
-  dispatchInboundMessage: dispatchInboundMessageMock,
-  dispatchInboundMessageWithDispatcher: dispatchInboundMessageMock,
-  dispatchInboundMessageWithBufferedDispatcher: dispatchInboundMessageMock,
-}));
-
-vi.mock("../pairing/pairing-store.js", () => ({
-  readChannelAllowFromStore: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([]),
-  upsertChannelPairingRequest: vi.fn(),
-}));
-
-describe("signal event handler typing + read receipts", () => {
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    vi.useRealTimers();
-    sendTypingMock.mockClear().mockResolvedValue(true);
-    sendReadReceiptMock.mockClear().mockResolvedValue(true);
-    dispatchInboundMessageMock.mockClear();
-  });
-
-  it("sends typing + read receipt for allowed DMs", async () => {
-    const { createSignalEventHandler } = await import("./monitor/event-handler.js");
-    const handler = createSignalEventHandler(
-      createBaseSignalEventHandlerDeps({
-        cfg: {
-          messages: { inbound: { debounceMs: 0 } },
-          channels: { signal: { dmPolicy: "open", allowFrom: ["*"] } },
-        },
-        account: "+15550009999",
-        blockStreaming: false,
-        historyLimit: 0,
-        groupHistories: new Map(),
-        sendReadReceipts: true,
-      }),
-    );
-
-    await handler(
-      createSignalReceiveEvent({
-        dataMessage: {
-          message: "hi",
-        },
-      }),
-    );
-
-    expect(sendTypingMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith("+15550001111", expect.any(Object));
-    expect(sendReadReceiptMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      "signal:+15550001111",
-      1700000000000,
-      expect.any(Object),
-    );
-  });
-
-  it("prefixes group bodies with sender label", async () => {
-    let capturedBody = "";
-    dispatchInboundMessageMock.mockImplementationOnce(
-      async (params: { dispatcher?: { sendFinalReply?: (payload: { text: string }) => void } }) => {
-        const ctx = params as { ctx?: { Body?: string } };
-        capturedBody = ctx.ctx?.Body ?? "";
-        params.dispatcher?.sendFinalReply?.({ text: "ok" });
-        return { queuedFinal: true, counts: { tool: 0, block: 0, final: 1 } };
-      },
-    );
-
-    const { createSignalEventHandler } = await import("./monitor/event-handler.js");
-    const handler = createSignalEventHandler(
-      createBaseSignalEventHandlerDeps({
-        cfg: {
-          channels: { signal: {} },
-        } as never,
-        account: "+15550009999",
-        blockStreaming: false,
-        historyLimit: 0,
-        groupHistories: new Map(),
-        allowFrom: [],
-        groupAllowFrom: [],
-        sendReadReceipts: false,
-      }),
-    );
-
-    await handler(
-      createSignalReceiveEvent({
-        dataMessage: {
-          message: "hello",
-          groupInfo: { groupId: "group-1", groupName: "Test Group" },
-        },
-      }),
-    );
-
-    expect(dispatchInboundMessageMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(capturedBody).toContain("Alice (+15550001111): hello");
-  });
-});
diff --git a/src/signal/monitor/event-handler.inbound-contract.test.ts b/src/signal/monitor/event-handler.inbound-contract.test.ts
index 910e177a5c0..82abd3917c2 100644
--- a/src/signal/monitor/event-handler.inbound-contract.test.ts
+++ b/src/signal/monitor/event-handler.inbound-contract.test.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,63 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { inboundCtxCapture as capture } from "../../../test/helpers/inbound-contract-dispatch-mock.js";
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { expectInboundContextContract } from "../../../test/helpers/inbound-contract.js";
+import type { MsgContext } from "../../auto-reply/templating.js";
 import { createSignalEventHandler } from "./event-handler.js";
 import {
   createBaseSignalEventHandlerDeps,
   createSignalReceiveEvent,
 } from "./event-handler.test-harness.js";
 
-describe("signal createSignalEventHandler inbound contract", () => {
-  it("passes a finalized MsgContext to dispatchInboundMessage", async () => {
-    capture.ctx = undefined;
+const { sendTypingMock, sendReadReceiptMock, dispatchInboundMessageMock, capture } = vi.hoisted(
+  () => {
+    const captureState: { ctx: MsgContext | undefined } = { ctx: undefined };
+    return {
+      sendTypingMock: vi.fn(),
+      sendReadReceiptMock: vi.fn(),
+      dispatchInboundMessageMock: vi.fn(
+        async (params: {
+          ctx: MsgContext;
+          replyOptions?: { onReplyStart?: () => void | Promise<void> };
+        }) => {
+          captureState.ctx = params.ctx;
+          await Promise.resolve(params.replyOptions?.onReplyStart?.());
+          return { queuedFinal: false, counts: { tool: 0, block: 0, final: 0 } };
+        },
+      ),
+      capture: captureState,
+    };
+  },
+);
 
+vi.mock("../send.js", () => ({
+  sendMessageSignal: vi.fn(),
+  sendTypingSignal: sendTypingMock,
+  sendReadReceiptSignal: sendReadReceiptMock,
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../../auto-reply/dispatch.js", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("../../auto-reply/dispatch.js")>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    dispatchInboundMessage: dispatchInboundMessageMock,
+    dispatchInboundMessageWithDispatcher: dispatchInboundMessageMock,
+    dispatchInboundMessageWithBufferedDispatcher: dispatchInboundMessageMock,
+  };
+});
+
+vi.mock("../../pairing/pairing-store.js", () => ({
+  readChannelAllowFromStore: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([]),
+  upsertChannelPairingRequest: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+describe("signal createSignalEventHandler inbound contract", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    capture.ctx = undefined;
+    sendTypingMock.mockReset().mockResolvedValue(true);
+    sendReadReceiptMock.mockReset().mockResolvedValue(true);
+    dispatchInboundMessageMock.mockClear();
+  });
+
+  it("passes a finalized MsgContext to dispatchInboundMessage", async () => {
     const handler = createSignalEventHandler(
       createBaseSignalEventHandlerDeps({
         // oxlint-disable-next-line typescript/no-explicit-any
@@ -31,7 +78,7 @@ describe("signal createSignalEventHandler inbound contract", () => {
 
     expect(capture.ctx).toBeTruthy();
     expectInboundContextContract(capture.ctx!);
-    const contextWithBody = capture.ctx as unknown as { Body?: string };
+    const contextWithBody = capture.ctx!;
     // Sender should appear as prefix in group messages (no redundant [from:] suffix)
     expect(String(contextWithBody.Body ?? "")).toContain("Alice");
     expect(String(contextWithBody.Body ?? "")).toMatch(/Alice.*:/);
@@ -39,8 +86,6 @@ describe("signal createSignalEventHandler inbound contract", () => {
   });
 
   it("normalizes direct chat To/OriginatingTo targets to canonical Signal ids", async () => {
-    capture.ctx = undefined;
-
     const handler = createSignalEventHandler(
       createBaseSignalEventHandlerDeps({
         // oxlint-disable-next-line typescript/no-explicit-any
@@ -62,13 +107,40 @@ describe("signal createSignalEventHandler inbound contract", () => {
     );
 
     expect(capture.ctx).toBeTruthy();
-    const context = capture.ctx as unknown as {
-      ChatType?: string;
-      To?: string;
-      OriginatingTo?: string;
-    };
+    const context = capture.ctx!;
     expect(context.ChatType).toBe("direct");
     expect(context.To).toBe("+15550002222");
     expect(context.OriginatingTo).toBe("+15550002222");
   });
+
+  it("sends typing + read receipt for allowed DMs", async () => {
+    const handler = createSignalEventHandler(
+      createBaseSignalEventHandlerDeps({
+        cfg: {
+          messages: { inbound: { debounceMs: 0 } },
+          channels: { signal: { dmPolicy: "open", allowFrom: ["*"] } },
+        },
+        account: "+15550009999",
+        blockStreaming: false,
+        historyLimit: 0,
+        groupHistories: new Map(),
+        sendReadReceipts: true,
+      }),
+    );
+
+    await handler(
+      createSignalReceiveEvent({
+        dataMessage: {
+          message: "hi",
+        },
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(sendTypingMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith("+15550001111", expect.any(Object));
+    expect(sendReadReceiptMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "signal:+15550001111",
+      1700000000000,
+      expect.any(Object),
+    );
+  });
 });