diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 921745a..2cf4900 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -76,13 +76,11 @@ jobs:
                   enable-cache: true
 
             - name: Test ${{ matrix.service }}
-              # Unit (coverage-gated) + integration (ungated). e2e is marked but not in
-              # the per-build gate — it's orchestration-heavy; run it via `ci test --tier e2e`.
-              # Keyed on the build context so multi-image stacks test the right subtree;
-              # no-ops for units with no pyproject (e.g. devbox).
-              run: |
-                  uv run ci test "${{ matrix.context }}" --tier unit
-                  uv run ci test "${{ matrix.context }}" --tier integration
+              # Runs unit + integration together; the project's --cov-fail-under applies
+              # to their COMBINED coverage. e2e is orchestration-heavy and runs separately
+              # (e2e.yml / `ci test --tier e2e`). Keyed on the build context so multi-image
+              # stacks test the right subtree; no-ops for units with no pyproject (devbox).
+              run: uv run ci test "${{ matrix.context }}"
 
             - name: Set up Docker Buildx
               uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
diff --git a/stacks/apps/takeout-manager/manager/pyproject.toml b/stacks/apps/takeout-manager/manager/pyproject.toml
index 699f16f..f5a22cd 100644
--- a/stacks/apps/takeout-manager/manager/pyproject.toml
+++ b/stacks/apps/takeout-manager/manager/pyproject.toml
@@ -32,4 +32,4 @@ markers = [
     "integration: needs external services (real process / fakes / docker)",
     "e2e: full black-box end-to-end (docker compose)",
 ]
-addopts = "--strict-markers --cov=backend --cov-report=term-missing --cov-fail-under=35"
+addopts = "--strict-markers --cov=backend --cov-report=term-missing --cov-fail-under=88"
diff --git a/stacks/monitoring/custom-exporter/pyproject.toml b/stacks/monitoring/custom-exporter/pyproject.toml
index 999ff51..ebfa203 100644
--- a/stacks/monitoring/custom-exporter/pyproject.toml
+++ b/stacks/monitoring/custom-exporter/pyproject.toml
@@ -35,5 +35,5 @@ addopts = [
     "--cov=iperf3_exporter",
     "--cov-report=term-missing",
     "--cov-report=html",
-    "--cov-fail-under=30",
+    "--cov-fail-under=75",
 ]
diff --git a/tools/ci/ci/apptests.py b/tools/ci/ci/apptests.py
index 6830e5d..0cd5364 100644
--- a/tools/ci/ci/apptests.py
+++ b/tools/ci/ci/apptests.py
@@ -3,8 +3,13 @@
 Discovery is structural: any dir under ``stacks/`` with a ``pyproject.toml`` is a
 testable project (each declares its own pytest dev-group, so ``uv run pytest``
 self-bootstraps). Tiers are ``tests/{unit,integration,e2e}`` subdirs, run if they
-exist. Coverage gating is a unit-tier concern, so non-unit tiers clear the
-project's ``addopts`` (otherwise ``--cov-fail-under`` trips on a partial run).
+exist.
+
+The default (gated) run executes unit + integration **together in one pytest**, so
+the project's ``--cov-fail-under`` applies to the *combined* coverage of both tiers.
+A single explicit ``--tier`` runs that tier alone and clears ``addopts`` (a partial
+run shouldn't trip the coverage gate). e2e is not in the default suite — it's run
+explicitly via ``--tier e2e`` (the e2e workflow).
 
 The selection logic is pure and unit-tested; only :func:`run_tests` shells out.
 """
@@ -15,6 +20,8 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 TIERS = ("unit", "integration", "e2e")
+# The gated default suite: unit + integration, coverage measured across both.
+DEFAULT_TIERS = ("unit", "integration")
 
 
 def discover_test_projects(repo_root: str | Path) -> list[str]:
@@ -42,32 +49,39 @@ def select_projects(projects: list[str], selector: str | None) -> list[str]:
     return selected
 
 
-def tiers_to_run(tier: str) -> list[str]:
-    if tier == "all":
-        return list(TIERS)
+def tiers_to_run(tier: str | None) -> list[str]:
+    """No tier → the default gated suite (unit+integration); else that single tier."""
+    if tier is None:
+        return list(DEFAULT_TIERS)
     if tier in TIERS:
         return [tier]
-    raise ValueError(f"unknown tier {tier!r} (want unit|integration|e2e|all)")
+    raise ValueError(f"unknown tier {tier!r} (want unit|integration|e2e)")
+
 
+def run_tests(
+    repo_root: str | Path, projects: list[str], tiers: list[str], gated: bool = True, runner=subprocess.run
+) -> int:
+    """Run each project's existing tiers in one pytest invocation. Returns an exit code.
 
-def run_tests(repo_root: str | Path, projects: list[str], tiers: list[str], runner=subprocess.run) -> int:
-    """Run ``uv run pytest tests/<tier>`` for each existing (project, tier). Returns an exit code."""
+    ``gated`` keeps the project's ``addopts`` so ``--cov-fail-under`` applies to the
+    combined coverage of all tiers run together; otherwise ``addopts`` is cleared
+    (a single explicit tier is a partial run and shouldn't be coverage-gated).
+    """
     root = Path(repo_root)
     rc = 0
     ran_any = False
     for rel in projects:
         proj = root / rel
-        for tier in tiers:
-            if not (proj / "tests" / tier).is_dir():
-                continue
-            ran_any = True
-            print(f"==> {rel} : {tier}")
-            # Coverage gate (e.g. --cov-fail-under) is a unit-tier concern; a partial
-            # run of integration/e2e would otherwise fail it on ~0% coverage.
-            extra = [] if tier == "unit" else ["-o", "addopts="]
-            result = runner(["uv", "run", "pytest", f"tests/{tier}", *extra], cwd=proj)
-            if result.returncode != 0:
-                rc = 1
+        present = [t for t in tiers if (proj / "tests" / t).is_dir()]
+        if not present:
+            continue
+        ran_any = True
+        print(f"==> {rel} : {' '.join(present)}")
+        paths = [f"tests/{t}" for t in present]
+        extra = [] if gated else ["-o", "addopts="]
+        result = runner(["uv", "run", "pytest", *paths, *extra], cwd=proj)
+        if result.returncode != 0:
+            rc = 1
     if not ran_any:
         print("No matching test tiers.")
     return rc
diff --git a/tools/ci/ci/cli.py b/tools/ci/ci/cli.py
index ea5303f..6ea5cf3 100644
--- a/tools/ci/ci/cli.py
+++ b/tools/ci/ci/cli.py
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ def _cmd_test(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
         selected = sorted({p for c in contexts for p in apptests.select_projects(projects, c)})
     else:
         selected = apptests.select_projects(projects, args.selector)
-    return apptests.run_tests(args.repo_root, selected, apptests.tiers_to_run(args.tier))
+    # No --tier → the gated default suite (unit+integration, combined coverage).
+    return apptests.run_tests(
+        args.repo_root, selected, apptests.tiers_to_run(args.tier), gated=args.tier is None
+    )
 
 
 def _cmd_images(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
@@ -61,7 +64,7 @@ def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
 
     test = sub.add_parser("test", help="run app pytest suites by tier")
     test.add_argument("selector", nargs="?", default=None, help="app name or repo-relative path")
-    test.add_argument("--tier", default="all", choices=["unit", "integration", "e2e", "all"])
+    test.add_argument("--tier", default=None, choices=["unit", "integration", "e2e"])
     test.add_argument("--affected", action="store_true", help="only projects changed vs --base")
     test.add_argument("--base", default="origin/main")
     test.add_argument("--repo-root", default=".")
diff --git a/tools/ci/tests/test_apptests.py b/tools/ci/tests/test_apptests.py
index b9b4337..c911af8 100644
--- a/tools/ci/tests/test_apptests.py
+++ b/tools/ci/tests/test_apptests.py
@@ -46,8 +46,9 @@ def test_select_no_match_returns_empty():
 
 
 def test_tiers_to_run():
-    assert tiers_to_run("all") == ["unit", "integration", "e2e"]
+    assert tiers_to_run(None) == ["unit", "integration"]  # default gated suite
     assert tiers_to_run("unit") == ["unit"]
+    assert tiers_to_run("e2e") == ["e2e"]
     import pytest
 
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
@@ -63,38 +64,48 @@ def test_discover_finds_pyproject_dirs_and_skips_venv(tmp_path):
     assert discover_test_projects(tmp_path) == ["stacks/apps/warden/app"]
 
 
-def _fake_runner(calls, rc_for=None):
+def _fake_runner(calls, returncode=0):
     def runner(cmd, cwd=None):
         calls.append((cmd, str(cwd)))
 
         class R:
-            returncode = (rc_for or {}).get(cmd[-1], 0)
+            pass
 
+        R.returncode = returncode
         return R()
 
     return runner
 
 
-def test_run_tests_skips_missing_tiers_and_clears_addopts_for_nonunit(tmp_path):
+def test_gated_run_combines_existing_tiers_in_one_call_keeping_addopts(tmp_path):
     proj = tmp_path / "stacks/apps/warden/app"
     (proj / "tests" / "unit").mkdir(parents=True)
     (proj / "tests" / "integration").mkdir(parents=True)
-    # no tests/e2e → that tier is skipped
+    # no tests/e2e → excluded
     calls: list = []
     rc = run_tests(tmp_path, ["stacks/apps/warden/app"], ["unit", "integration", "e2e"],
-                   runner=_fake_runner(calls))
-    invoked_tiers = [cmd[3] for cmd, _ in calls]  # "tests/<tier>"
-    assert invoked_tiers == ["tests/unit", "tests/integration"]
-    # unit keeps the project's addopts; integration clears them
-    assert "-o" not in calls[0][0]
-    assert "-o" in calls[1][0] and "addopts=" in calls[1][0]
+                   gated=True, runner=_fake_runner(calls))
+    assert len(calls) == 1  # one combined invocation
+    cmd = calls[0][0]
+    assert cmd[:3] == ["uv", "run", "pytest"]
+    assert "tests/unit" in cmd and "tests/integration" in cmd and "tests/e2e" not in cmd
+    assert "-o" not in cmd  # gated → keep the project's addopts (coverage on the combined run)
     assert rc == 0
 
 
+def test_ungated_run_clears_addopts(tmp_path):
+    proj = tmp_path / "stacks/apps/warden/app"
+    (proj / "tests" / "integration").mkdir(parents=True)
+    calls: list = []
+    run_tests(tmp_path, ["stacks/apps/warden/app"], ["integration"], gated=False,
+              runner=_fake_runner(calls))
+    cmd = calls[0][0]
+    assert "-o" in cmd and "addopts=" in cmd  # partial run → no coverage gate
+
+
 def test_run_tests_propagates_failure(tmp_path):
     proj = tmp_path / "stacks/apps/warden/app"
     (proj / "tests" / "unit").mkdir(parents=True)
-    calls: list = []
     rc = run_tests(tmp_path, ["stacks/apps/warden/app"], ["unit"],
-                   runner=_fake_runner(calls, rc_for={"tests/unit": 1}))
+                   runner=_fake_runner([], returncode=1))
     assert rc == 1