diff --git a/test/aspire-integration.test.ts b/test/aspire-integration.test.ts
index d54d5a99e..97eb166e4 100644
--- a/test/aspire-integration.test.ts
+++ b/test/aspire-integration.test.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { trace, metrics } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { NodeSDK, resources, metrics as sdkMetrics } from '@opentelemetry/sdk-node';
 import { OTLPTraceExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-trace-otlp-grpc';
 import { OTLPMetricExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-metrics-otlp-grpc';
+import { dockerSkipReason } from './helpers/skip-guards.js';
 
 const { Resource } = resources;
 const { PeriodicExportingMetricReader } = sdkMetrics;
@@ -23,20 +24,7 @@ const { PeriodicExportingMetricReader } = sdkMetrics;
 // Skip guard — bail early if Docker is unavailable or tests disabled
 // ============================================================================
 
-function dockerAvailable(): boolean {
-  try {
-    execSync('docker --version', { stdio: 'ignore' });
-    return true;
-  } catch {
-    return false;
-  }
-}
-
-const SKIP_REASON = process.env['SKIP_DOCKER_TESTS'] === '1'
-  ? 'SKIP_DOCKER_TESTS=1'
-  : !dockerAvailable()
-    ? 'Docker not available'
-    : null;
+const SKIP_REASON = dockerSkipReason();
 
 const CONTAINER_NAME = 'squad-aspire-dashboard';
 const DASHBOARD_URL = 'http://localhost:18888';
diff --git a/test/cli/aspire.test.ts b/test/cli/aspire.test.ts
index c17d7a578..d4c817c39 100644
--- a/test/cli/aspire.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli/aspire.test.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,13 @@ import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import { existsSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
+import { dockerSkipReason } from '../helpers/skip-guards.js';
+
+// ===========================================================================
+// Skip guard — bail early if Docker is unavailable or tests disabled
+// ===========================================================================
+
+const SKIP_REASON = dockerSkipReason();
 
 // ===========================================================================
 // Docker availability helpers (mockable)
@@ -66,7 +73,10 @@ function buildAspireStopCommands(name = 'squad-aspire-dashboard'): string[][] {
 // Docker availability
 // ===========================================================================
 
-describe('CLI: squad aspire — Docker availability', { timeout: 30_000 }, () => {
+describe.skipIf(SKIP_REASON !== null)(
+  `CLI: squad aspire — Docker availability (${SKIP_REASON ?? 'enabled'})`,
+  { timeout: 30_000 },
+  () => {
   it('checkDockerAvailability returns version string when Docker is present', () => {
     const result = checkDockerAvailability();
     if (result === null) {
diff --git a/test/helpers/skip-guards.ts b/test/helpers/skip-guards.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e200a1b3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/skip-guards.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/**
+ * Shared test helpers for skip guards and environment detection.
+ *
+ * Provides reusable functions for detecting Docker availability,
+ * shell module availability, and other environment conditions
+ * that determine whether certain test suites should run.
+ */
+
+import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+
+/**
+ * Check if Docker is available on this machine.
+ * Returns true if `docker --version` succeeds within 5 seconds.
+ */
+export function isDockerAvailable(): boolean {
+  try {
+    execSync('docker --version', { stdio: 'ignore', timeout: 5000 });
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Determine skip reason for Docker-dependent tests.
+ * Returns null if tests should run, or a string reason to skip.
+ */
+export function dockerSkipReason(): string | null {
+  if (process.env['SKIP_DOCKER_TESTS'] === '1') {
+    return 'SKIP_DOCKER_TESTS=1';
+  }
+  if (!isDockerAvailable()) {
+    return 'Docker not available';
+  }
+  return null;
+}
diff --git a/test/template-sync.test.ts b/test/template-sync.test.ts
index 66938078b..c5e27a8ca 100644
--- a/test/template-sync.test.ts
+++ b/test/template-sync.test.ts
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ describe('sync-templates.mjs script execution', () => {
     const output = execSync('node scripts/sync-templates.mjs', {
       cwd: ROOT,
       encoding: 'utf-8',
-      timeout: 30_000,
+      timeout: 60_000,
     });
     expect(output).toContain('Synced');
   });