From 1d791baf5fbeef6f1d66784d060b29c7b1eb573a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brandon Chatham <bdchatham@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:26:27 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] test(integration): give saturation followers a post-load
 catch-up window

Co-Authored-By: Devin AI <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 test/integration/seiload_test.go | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++++++-------
 1 file changed, 33 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/test/integration/seiload_test.go b/test/integration/seiload_test.go
index ccd7b609..946252e0 100644
--- a/test/integration/seiload_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/seiload_test.go
@@ -219,6 +219,10 @@ const (
 	// followerMaxLag is how many blocks a follower may trail the validators'
 	// head after load: read skew between two RPCs, not a stall.
 	followerMaxLag = 10
+	// followerCatchUpTimeout bounds how long a follower that fell behind under
+	// load has to return within followerMaxLag before it counts as stalled.
+	followerCatchUpTimeout = 5 * time.Minute
+	followerCatchUpPoll    = 10 * time.Second
 	// maxRevertRatio is the share of executed transactions that may revert
 	// before a run stops describing its workload.
 	maxRevertRatio = 0.01
@@ -227,9 +231,10 @@ const (
 )
 
 // assertChainLive fails unless the validators still produce blocks and every
-// follower sits within followerMaxLag of their head. catching_up is a one-way
-// latch that a follower stalled after its first catch-up never re-flips, so
-// heights are compared directly.
+// follower returns within followerMaxLag of their head inside
+// followerCatchUpTimeout. catching_up is a one-way latch that a follower
+// stalled after its first catch-up never re-flips, so heights are compared
+// directly.
 func assertChainLive(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, hc *http.Client, ch *chain) {
 	t.Helper()
 	validators := ch.network.TendermintRPC()
@@ -239,12 +244,31 @@ func assertChainLive(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, hc *http.Client, ch *cha
 		t.Errorf("post-load validators halted: %v", err)
 		return
 	}
-	head := mustLatestHeight(ctx, t, hc, validators, "post-load validator")
-	for _, n := range ch.rpcNodes {
-		h := mustLatestHeight(ctx, t, hc, n.TendermintRPC(), "post-load "+n.Name())
-		if lag := head - h; lag > followerMaxLag {
-			t.Errorf("post-load %s at height %d trails the validator head %d by %d blocks (> %d)",
-				n.Name(), h, head, lag, followerMaxLag)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(followerCatchUpTimeout)
+	for {
+		head := mustLatestHeight(ctx, t, hc, validators, "post-load validator")
+		var lagging []string
+		for _, n := range ch.rpcNodes {
+			h := mustLatestHeight(ctx, t, hc, n.TendermintRPC(), "post-load "+n.Name())
+			if lag := head - h; lag > followerMaxLag {
+				lagging = append(lagging, fmt.Sprintf("%s at height %d trails the validator head %d by %d blocks (> %d)",
+					n.Name(), h, head, lag, followerMaxLag))
+			}
+		}
+		if len(lagging) == 0 {
+			return
+		}
+		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
+			for _, l := range lagging {
+				t.Errorf("post-load %s after %s", l, followerCatchUpTimeout)
+			}
+			return
+		}
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			t.Errorf("post-load follower catch-up: %v", ctx.Err())
+			return
+		case <-time.After(followerCatchUpPoll):
 		}
 	}
 }

From 8a64e6cfa012db546db0809f3d1ef60bf8632c2f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brandon Chatham <bdchatham@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:29:50 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] test(integration): recheck validator liveness after
 follower catch-up; report ctx end directly

Co-Authored-By: Devin AI <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 test/integration/seiload_test.go | 9 +++++++++
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+)

diff --git a/test/integration/seiload_test.go b/test/integration/seiload_test.go
index 946252e0..743e40d1 100644
--- a/test/integration/seiload_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/seiload_test.go
@@ -246,6 +246,10 @@ func assertChainLive(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, hc *http.Client, ch *cha
 	}
 	deadline := time.Now().Add(followerCatchUpTimeout)
 	for {
+		if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("post-load follower catch-up: %v", err)
+			return
+		}
 		head := mustLatestHeight(ctx, t, hc, validators, "post-load validator")
 		var lagging []string
 		for _, n := range ch.rpcNodes {
@@ -256,6 +260,11 @@ func assertChainLive(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, hc *http.Client, ch *cha
 			}
 		}
 		if len(lagging) == 0 {
+			advanceCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Minute)
+			defer cancel()
+			if err := sei.WaitHeightAdvances(advanceCtx, hc, validators, 2); err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("post-load validators halted during follower catch-up: %v", err)
+			}
 			return
 		}
 		if time.Now().After(deadline) {