diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 9652a78ea51..16819981345 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -2324,6 +2324,8 @@ jobs:
               -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY \
               -e AWS_REGION_NAME="us-east-1" \
               -e VERTEXAI_CREDENTIALS=$VERTEXAI_CREDENTIALS \
+              -e VERTEXAI_PROJECT=$VERTEXAI_PROJECT \
+              -e VERTEXAI_LOCATION=$VERTEXAI_LOCATION \
               -e AZURE_FOUNDRY_API_KEY=$AZURE_FOUNDRY_API_KEY \
               -e AZURE_FOUNDRY_API_BASE=$AZURE_FOUNDRY_API_BASE \
               -e LITELLM_LOCAL_ANTHROPIC_BETA_HEADERS="True" \
diff --git a/tests/claude_code/conftest.py b/tests/claude_code/conftest.py
index fe827c2bb22..91d7447d026 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/conftest.py
@@ -367,17 +367,26 @@ def _print_rate_limit_summary(summary: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
 
 
 def pytest_sessionstart(session):
-    """Clear stale per-worker shards from any prior session.
+    """Reset per-session state before tests run.
 
-    Without this, a previous run's shard directory leaks into the next
-    `pytest_sessionfinish` merge — yielding a `compat-results.json`
-    that includes results from runs that aren't part of the current
-    session, and a misleading rate-limit summary that re-flags
-    failures the user already saw and addressed.
+    Two responsibilities:
 
-    Only the controller (non-xdist-worker) clears; workers must not
-    race the controller while it's wiping the directory.
+    1. Clear the module-level `_COLLECTOR` singleton, which survives
+       across `pytest.main()` invocations within the same Python
+       process. Without this reset, results from a prior session
+       would leak into the next run's `compat-results.json` artifact.
+
+    2. Remove stale per-worker shards from any prior session. Without
+       this, a previous run's shard directory leaks into the next
+       `pytest_sessionfinish` merge — yielding a `compat-results.json`
+       that includes results from runs that aren't part of the current
+       session, and a misleading rate-limit summary that re-flags
+       failures the user already saw and addressed. Only the
+       controller (non-xdist-worker) clears; workers must not race
+       the controller while it's wiping the directory.
     """
+    _COLLECTOR.items.clear()
+
     if _is_xdist_worker(session):
         return
     artifact_path = Path(os.environ.get(RESULTS_ARTIFACT_ENV) or DEFAULT_ARTIFACT_PATH)
@@ -395,17 +404,6 @@ def pytest_sessionstart(session):
             continue
 
 
-def pytest_sessionstart(session):
-    """Clear collected results at the start of each session.
-
-    The `_COLLECTOR` is a module-level singleton, so it survives across
-    `pytest.main()` invocations within the same Python process. Without
-    this reset, results from a prior session would leak into the next
-    run's `compat-results.json` artifact.
-    """
-    _COLLECTOR.items.clear()
-
-
 def pytest_sessionfinish(session, exitstatus):
     """Write the per-process results shard, then merge if we're the controller.