diff --git a/test/commands/change.interactive-show.test.ts b/test/commands/change.interactive-show.test.ts
index 34c6f259..b4dee52d 100644
--- a/test/commands/change.interactive-show.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/change.interactive-show.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -9,9 +9,6 @@ describe('change show (interactive behavior)', () => {
   const changesDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'changes');
   const bin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  });
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(changesDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/test/commands/change.interactive-validate.test.ts b/test/commands/change.interactive-validate.test.ts
index bd43367c..33484ab2 100644
--- a/test/commands/change.interactive-validate.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/change.interactive-validate.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -12,9 +12,6 @@ describe('change validate (interactive behavior)', () => {
   const changesDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'changes');
   const bin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  });
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(changesDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/test/commands/show.test.ts b/test/commands/show.test.ts
index c9a9b569..67de310c 100644
--- a/test/commands/show.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/show.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, beforeAll } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -10,9 +10,6 @@ describe('top-level show command', () => {
   const specsDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'specs');
   const openspecBin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  });
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(changesDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/test/commands/spec.interactive-show.test.ts b/test/commands/spec.interactive-show.test.ts
index fd0be69d..f41fdb63 100644
--- a/test/commands/spec.interactive-show.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/spec.interactive-show.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -9,9 +9,6 @@ describe('spec show (interactive behavior)', () => {
   const specsDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'specs');
   const bin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  });
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(specsDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/test/commands/spec.interactive-validate.test.ts b/test/commands/spec.interactive-validate.test.ts
index 70d3dc60..14949d6c 100644
--- a/test/commands/spec.interactive-validate.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/spec.interactive-validate.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -9,9 +9,6 @@ describe('spec validate (interactive behavior)', () => {
   const specsDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'specs');
   const bin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  });
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(specsDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/test/commands/spec.test.ts b/test/commands/spec.test.ts
index 60802cf4..2a93d18f 100644
--- a/test/commands/spec.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/spec.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, beforeAll } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -9,10 +9,6 @@ describe('spec command', () => {
   const specsDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'specs');
   const openspecBin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
   
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    // Ensure CLI is built so bin/openspec.js loads latest logic from dist/
-    execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  });
   
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(specsDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/test/commands/validate.enriched-output.test.ts b/test/commands/validate.enriched-output.test.ts
index 6e88ce80..90b4d1b4 100644
--- a/test/commands/validate.enriched-output.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/validate.enriched-output.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -9,10 +9,6 @@ describe('validate command enriched human output', () => {
   const changesDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'changes');
   const bin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    // Build once so the bin can resolve dist
-    try { execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' }); } catch {}
-  });
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(changesDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/test/commands/validate.test.ts b/test/commands/validate.test.ts
index 2f536844..5e4254c3 100644
--- a/test/commands/validate.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/validate.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -10,9 +10,6 @@ describe('top-level validate command', () => {
   const specsDir = path.join(testDir, 'openspec', 'specs');
   const bin = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin', 'openspec.js');
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    execSync('pnpm -s build', { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  });
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await fs.mkdir(changesDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 5e92c39b..2d6f6588 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
   test: {
     globals: true,
     environment: 'node',
+    globalSetup: './vitest.setup.ts',
     // Keep default pool settings; some tests rely on process.chdir,
     // which is not supported in worker threads
     include: ['test/**/*.test.ts'],
diff --git a/vitest.setup.ts b/vitest.setup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..03bc27e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vitest.setup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { execSync } from 'child_process';
+import { existsSync } from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+
+// Run once before all tests
+export async function setup() {
+  const distPath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'dist', 'cli', 'index.js');
+  
+  if (!existsSync(distPath)) {
+    console.log('Building project before tests...');
+    try {
+      execSync('pnpm run build', { 
+        stdio: 'inherit',
+        cwd: process.cwd()
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error('Failed to build project:', error);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file