diff --git a/tests/claude_code/_basic_messaging.py b/tests/claude_code/_basic_messaging.py
index 80e9827ba8e..4e23d5f1ed2 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/_basic_messaging.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/_basic_messaging.py
@@ -5,17 +5,16 @@ Every basic_messaging cell follows the same skeleton:
   1. Read the proxy base URL + API key from env, fail-early if missing.
   2. Fan the three Claude tiers out via `run_claude_models_parallel`.
   3. Inspect each model's outcome and report one `compat_result` row per
-     model — `ClaudeCLIError`, non-zero exit, missing stream events
-     (streaming variant only), and empty assistant text are all per-model
-     fails; everything else is a per-model pass.
+     model — `ClaudeCLIError`, non-zero exit, and empty assistant text
+     are all per-model fails; everything else is a per-model pass.
   4. Surface a joined failure message via `pytest.fail(...)` so the
      pytest run also goes red.
 
 The conftest infers `(feature_id, provider)` purely from the test file
 path, so each per-provider file just declares its model list and calls
 `run_basic_messaging_cell(...)`. This keeps all cell logic in one place
-— a future tweak to the env-missing guard, the failure-loop shape, or
-the stream-events check now propagates to every cell automatically.
+— a future tweak to the env-missing guard or the failure-loop shape
+now propagates to every cell automatically.
 
 The leading underscore in the filename is what keeps pytest from
 collecting this module as a test file.
@@ -43,14 +42,17 @@ def run_basic_messaging_cell(
     compat_result,
     models: Sequence[str],
     prompt: str,
-    require_stream_events: bool = False,
 ) -> None:
     """Run the shared `basic_messaging_*` × <provider> cell body.
 
-    `require_stream_events=True` adds the streaming-variant assertion
-    that at least one stream-json event is observed for each model —
-    the regression check that catches a proxy buffering the full
-    response before flushing.
+    The streaming and non-streaming variants share this body because
+    the CLI driver consumes stdout via `subprocess.run(capture_output=True)`
+    after the process exits — we can only observe that events arrived,
+    not *when* they arrived. A wire-level "did the proxy buffer the
+    full response before flushing?" check therefore can't live here;
+    it belongs in a driver that streams stdout incrementally. Until
+    that exists, the streaming cells exercise the same shape and
+    check the same per-model outcomes as the non-streaming cells.
     """
     base_url = os.environ.get(PROXY_BASE_URL_ENV)
     api_key = os.environ.get(PROXY_API_KEY_ENV)
@@ -91,12 +93,6 @@ def run_basic_messaging_cell(
             failures.append(error)
             continue
 
-        if require_stream_events and not outcome.events:
-            error = f"[{model}] no stream-json events emitted; streaming wire silent"
-            compat_result.add({"status": "fail", "error": error})
-            failures.append(error)
-            continue
-
         if not outcome.text.strip():
             error = f"[{model}] claude returned empty assistant text"
             compat_result.add({"status": "fail", "error": error})
diff --git a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_anthropic.py b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_anthropic.py
index 378af3bceb2..7d7a5bb32e2 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_anthropic.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_anthropic.py
@@ -6,10 +6,16 @@ report the outcome via `compat_result`.
 
 The CLI is run with `--print --output-format stream-json`, which streams
 incremental events as the upstream produces tokens. The cell goes green
-only when every Claude tier returns a non-empty reply over a streamed
-wire (i.e. at least one stream-json event is observed). This catches
-regressions where the proxy buffers the full response before flushing,
-silently degrading the streaming experience customers rely on.
+only when every Claude tier returns a non-empty reply.
+
+Note: a true "did the proxy buffer the full response before flushing?"
+check would require observing event arrival times on the wire, which
+the `cli_driver` cannot do today — it consumes stdout via
+`subprocess.run(capture_output=True)` after the process exits, so a
+buffered-then-flushed response is indistinguishable from a truly
+streamed one. That regression check belongs in a streaming-aware
+driver; until then this cell verifies the same shape as the
+non-streaming variant.
 
 The (feature, provider) for this cell is inferred from the file path by
 `tests/claude_code/conftest.py`:
@@ -21,9 +27,7 @@ The (feature, provider) for this cell is inferred from the file path by
 The shared `run_basic_messaging_cell` helper fans the three Claude tiers
 out in parallel inside this single test, with one
 `compat_result.add(...)` entry per model so the matrix builder still
-sees three rows for this (feature, provider). The `require_stream_events`
-flag adds the streaming-only assertion that at least one stream-json
-event was observed per model.
+sees three rows for this (feature, provider).
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -39,11 +43,10 @@ ANTHROPIC_MODELS = [
 
 def test_basic_messaging_streaming_anthropic(compat_result):
     """Drive the `claude` CLI against the LiteLLM proxy and assert a
-    non-empty streamed reply (at least one stream-json event observed).
+    non-empty streamed reply (one row per Claude tier).
     """
     run_basic_messaging_cell(
         compat_result=compat_result,
         models=ANTHROPIC_MODELS,
         prompt="Count from 1 to 5, one number per line.",
-        require_stream_events=True,
     )
diff --git a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_azure.py b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_azure.py
index bea1a3b5a2d..f7d344615c8 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_azure.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_azure.py
@@ -30,11 +30,10 @@ AZURE_MODELS = [
 
 def test_basic_messaging_streaming_azure(compat_result):
     """Drive the `claude` CLI against the LiteLLM proxy and assert a
-    non-empty streamed reply (at least one stream-json event observed).
+    non-empty streamed reply (one row per Claude tier).
     """
     run_basic_messaging_cell(
         compat_result=compat_result,
         models=AZURE_MODELS,
         prompt="Count from 1 to 5, one number per line.",
-        require_stream_events=True,
     )
diff --git a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_converse.py b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_converse.py
index 5e655a617f9..3a8a81bfc5b 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_converse.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_converse.py
@@ -26,11 +26,10 @@ BEDROCK_CONVERSE_MODELS = [
 
 def test_basic_messaging_streaming_bedrock_converse(compat_result):
     """Drive the `claude` CLI against the LiteLLM proxy and assert a
-    non-empty streamed reply (at least one stream-json event observed).
+    non-empty streamed reply (one row per Claude tier).
     """
     run_basic_messaging_cell(
         compat_result=compat_result,
         models=BEDROCK_CONVERSE_MODELS,
         prompt="Count from 1 to 5, one number per line.",
-        require_stream_events=True,
     )
diff --git a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_invoke.py b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_invoke.py
index aeb43095df6..a24bb7f1ef4 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_invoke.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_bedrock_invoke.py
@@ -26,11 +26,10 @@ BEDROCK_INVOKE_MODELS = [
 
 def test_basic_messaging_streaming_bedrock_invoke(compat_result):
     """Drive the `claude` CLI against the LiteLLM proxy and assert a
-    non-empty streamed reply (at least one stream-json event observed).
+    non-empty streamed reply (one row per Claude tier).
     """
     run_basic_messaging_cell(
         compat_result=compat_result,
         models=BEDROCK_INVOKE_MODELS,
         prompt="Count from 1 to 5, one number per line.",
-        require_stream_events=True,
     )
diff --git a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_vertex_ai.py b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_vertex_ai.py
index 6f00c7d330f..a369c780ebc 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_vertex_ai.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/basic_messaging_streaming/test_vertex_ai.py
@@ -26,11 +26,10 @@ VERTEX_AI_MODELS = [
 
 def test_basic_messaging_streaming_vertex_ai(compat_result):
     """Drive the `claude` CLI against the LiteLLM proxy and assert a
-    non-empty streamed reply (at least one stream-json event observed).
+    non-empty streamed reply (one row per Claude tier).
     """
     run_basic_messaging_cell(
         compat_result=compat_result,
         models=VERTEX_AI_MODELS,
         prompt="Count from 1 to 5, one number per line.",
-        require_stream_events=True,
     )
diff --git a/tests/claude_code/conftest.py b/tests/claude_code/conftest.py
index 6f3118df664..89bf5bfc529 100644
--- a/tests/claude_code/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/claude_code/conftest.py
@@ -241,6 +241,16 @@ def pytest_runtest_makereport(item, call):
     elif report.when != "call":
         return
 
+    # A skipped test (e.g. `pytest.skip(...)` called inside the body or
+    # by a `pytest.mark.skipif` evaluated at call time) is neither a
+    # pass nor a fail — it just didn't run. Recording it as anything
+    # here would produce a spurious row (the not-failed/empty-collected
+    # branch below would mark it as a fail with "test passed without
+    # reporting via compat_result"), so bail out and let the cell stay
+    # "not_tested" in the published matrix.
+    if report.skipped:
+        return
+
     inferred = _infer_feature_and_provider(Path(str(item.path)))
     if inferred is None:
         return