diff --git a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/discourse_test.go b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/discourse_test.go
index e9ab2b0d..85e5c0ad 100644
--- a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/discourse_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/discourse_test.go
@@ -43,11 +43,9 @@ const walkthroughGroup = "walkthrough-members"
 //
 // The probe itself is the shared one in helpers_test.go, which FedWiki's
 // guard also binds; only the key and the operator-facing remedy differ.
-// Leaves the page on the settings surface; callers must navigate onward
-// themselves.
-func skipUnlessForumReachable(t *testing.T, page *rod.Page, base string) {
+func skipUnlessForumReachable(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Helper()
-	skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable(t, page, base, "discourse", "discourse-base-url",
+	skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable(t, "discourse", "discourse-base-url",
 		"start the discourse compose profile or the fakeserver (see this file's header)")
 }
 
@@ -95,16 +93,13 @@ func submitMappingForm(page *rod.Page, groupName string) {
 
 func TestDiscourseMappingWalkthrough(t *testing.T) {
 	defer browsertest.Recover(t)
-	page, base := browsertest.OpenOperator(t, "/operator/integrations/discourse")
+	page, _ := browsertest.OpenOperator(t, "/operator/integrations/discourse")
 
 	if strings.Contains(page.MustElement(`#operator-body`).MustHTML(), "Discourse is not configured") {
 		t.Skip("app booted without Discourse config; see this file's header for the fakeserver + flags bootstrap")
 	}
 
-	skipUnlessForumReachable(t, page, base)
-	// The probe leaves the page on the settings surface; return to the
-	// mapping surface before driving the form phases.
-	page.Timeout(15 * time.Second).MustNavigate(base + "/operator/integrations/discourse")
+	skipUnlessForumReachable(t)
 	page.Timeout(10 * time.Second).MustElement(`form[hx-post="/partials/operator/discourse/mappings"]`)
 
 	t.Logf("phase 1a: empty group name → 422 + field error")
diff --git a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/fedwiki_sites_test.go b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/fedwiki_sites_test.go
index 6dc9d413..ca4fbfff 100644
--- a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/fedwiki_sites_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/fedwiki_sites_test.go
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ type sitesWalk struct {
 func TestFedWikiSitesWalkthrough(t *testing.T) {
 	defer browsertest.Recover(t)
 	page, base := browsertest.OpenOperator(t, "/operator/integrations")
-	skipUnlessFarmReachable(t, page, base)
+	skipUnlessFarmReachable(t)
 	env := browsertest.EnvFromTestDir(t)
 	farmURL, farmToken := env["MC_FEDWIKI_FARM_API_URL"], env["MC_FEDWIKI_ADMIN_TOKEN"]
 	if farmURL == "" || farmToken == "" {
diff --git a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/helpers_test.go b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/helpers_test.go
index febd5150..ee896d32 100644
--- a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/helpers_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/helpers_test.go
@@ -65,15 +65,19 @@ func foundIn(html string, banned ...string) []string {
 }
 
 // skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable probes the endpoint an integration is
-// actually configured with — the effective value of key on that integration's
-// settings page — and skips when it does not answer. It is the generic half of
+// configured with and skips when it does not answer. It is the generic half of
 // the pattern skipUnlessForumReachable applies to Discourse: a walkthrough may
 // be pointed at a compose profile (or an external service) that simply is not
 // composed, and every service-touching phase would then fail on connection
 // errors instead of skipping.
 //
-// Three outcomes, deliberately distinguished:
-//   - no effective value rendered → return, so a walkthrough's config-plumbing
+// The endpoint comes from test/.env, the file the console's environment is
+// built from (endpointEnvVar names the variable). The settings page cannot
+// supply it: these keys are deployment-only, so the page shows static text
+// and no field holding the URL.
+//
+// Four outcomes, deliberately distinguished:
+//   - no http value in test/.env → return, so a walkthrough's config-plumbing
 //     phases still run against an integration nobody configured;
 //   - configured but refusing connections → skip;
 //   - configured but answering 5xx → skip (container up, service still booting
@@ -82,27 +86,10 @@ func foundIn(html string, banned ...string) []string {
 //     point at this machine that resolves elsewhere → fail, naming the
 //     /etc/hosts lines that fix it (requireResolvesHere).
 //
-// Reading the URL off the settings page rather than off test/.env keeps the
-// probe truthful for every bootstrap — compose profile, fake server, or a
-// service hosted outside compose entirely. Leaves the page on the settings
-// surface; callers must navigate onward themselves.
 // hint names, in the caller's own words, what would make the endpoint answer.
-func skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable(t *testing.T, page *rod.Page, base, integrationKey, key, hint string) {
+func skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable(t *testing.T, integrationKey, key, hint string) {
 	t.Helper()
-	page.Timeout(15 * time.Second).MustNavigate(base + "/operator/integrations/" + integrationKey + "/settings")
-	// The settings page is one declared form, one field per non-secret key
-	// (operator.integration.settings, forms-library lane D): the endpoint
-	// URL is a plain text field named for its key, not a table row, so its
-	// configured value is the field's own value. Wait for the form, then
-	// read the field; an absent or non-http value means the endpoint is not
-	// configured and the guard proceeds (the settings surface never dials
-	// the endpoint, so an unconfigured one still exercises the phases).
-	page.Timeout(10 * time.Second).MustElement(`form[data-form="operator.integration.settings"]`)
-	has, field, err := page.Has(`[name="` + key + `"]`)
-	if err != nil || !has {
-		return
-	}
-	endpoint := strings.TrimSpace(field.MustProperty("value").String())
+	endpoint := strings.TrimSpace(browsertest.EnvFromTestDir(t)[endpointEnvVar(key)])
 	if !strings.HasPrefix(endpoint, "http") {
 		return
 	}
@@ -118,6 +105,13 @@ func skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable(t *testing.T, page *rod.Page, base,
 	}
 }
 
+// endpointEnvVar names the environment variable the console reads for a
+// config key: the MC prefix, the key upper-cased, and "-" replaced by "_"
+// (viper.SetEnvPrefix, SetEnvKeyReplacer and AutomaticEnv in cmd/root.go).
+func endpointEnvVar(key string) string {
+	return "MC_" + strings.ToUpper(strings.ReplaceAll(key, "-", "_"))
+}
+
 // resolutionProblem says why host's lookup answer does not let a test reach
 // it, or "" when it does: the lookup failed, it returned no address, or a
 // name defined to point at this machine (localhost, *.localhost,
@@ -176,9 +170,9 @@ func requireResolvesHere(t *testing.T, integrationKey, endpoint string) {
 // skipUnlessFarmReachable is the FedWiki binding of the guard above. The farm
 // API URL is the endpoint every FedWiki surface dials, and the `fedwiki`
 // compose profile is what composes a farm to answer it.
-func skipUnlessFarmReachable(t *testing.T, page *rod.Page, base string) {
+func skipUnlessFarmReachable(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Helper()
-	skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable(t, page, base, "fedwiki", "fedwiki-farm-api-url",
+	skipUnlessIntegrationEndpointReachable(t, "fedwiki", "fedwiki-farm-api-url",
 		`add "fedwiki" to COMPOSE_PROFILES in test/.env, bring the stack up, and uncomment the MC_FEDWIKI_* block`)
 }
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/integration_settings_test.go b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/integration_settings_test.go
index 1e36341a..b0123267 100644
--- a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/integration_settings_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/integration_settings_test.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func TestIntegrationSettingsWalkthrough(t *testing.T) {
 	// has always had. An unconfigured farm is not a skip: the settings surface
 	// is config plumbing and never dials the farm, so the guard returns and
 	// the phases run.
-	skipUnlessFarmReachable(t, page, base)
+	skipUnlessFarmReachable(t)
 
 	settingsSaveOverride(t, page, base)
 	originalInterval := settingsRefuseDuration(t, page)
diff --git a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/resolution_test.go b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/resolution_test.go
index 33bffb79..07ad843d 100644
--- a/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/resolution_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/operator-walkthroughs/resolution_test.go
@@ -36,3 +36,14 @@ func TestResolutionProblem(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestEndpointEnvVar(t *testing.T) {
+	for key, want := range map[string]string{
+		"fedwiki-farm-api-url": "MC_FEDWIKI_FARM_API_URL",
+		"discourse-base-url":   "MC_DISCOURSE_BASE_URL",
+	} {
+		if got := endpointEnvVar(key); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("endpointEnvVar(%q) = %q, want %q", key, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}