diff --git a/Sources/AppDelegate.swift b/Sources/AppDelegate.swift
index c3b56efe..082b9486 100644
--- a/Sources/AppDelegate.swift
+++ b/Sources/AppDelegate.swift
@@ -5750,9 +5750,6 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCent
                         "expectedLatestWindowId": window1.windowId.uuidString,
                         "expectedLatestTabId": tabId1.uuidString,
                     ], at: path)
-                    // Leave the initial window's terminal focused so UI tests can type shell
-                    // commands while still keeping the second window configured for notifications.
-                    window1.window?.makeKeyAndOrderFront(nil)
                     self.publishMultiWindowNotificationSocketStateIfNeeded(at: path)
                 }
             }
@@ -5821,7 +5818,7 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCent
                         "socketPathExists": health.socketPathExists ? "1" : "0",
                         "socketFailureSignals": failureSignals,
                     ], at: dataPath)
-                    guard !isTimedOut else { return }
+                    guard !isTimedOut, !isReady else { return }
                     DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.05) {
                         publish()
                     }
diff --git a/Sources/TerminalController.swift b/Sources/TerminalController.swift
index b536d0e7..ca04b758 100644
--- a/Sources/TerminalController.swift
+++ b/Sources/TerminalController.swift
@@ -1247,6 +1247,9 @@ class TerminalController {
         case "send_key":
             return sendKey(args)
 
+        case "send_workspace":
+            return sendInputToWorkspace(args)
+
         case "send_surface":
             return sendInputToSurface(args)
 
@@ -9267,6 +9270,7 @@ class TerminalController {
         Input commands:
           send <text>                     - Send text to current terminal
           send_key <key>                  - Send special key (ctrl-c, ctrl-d, enter, tab, escape)
+          send_workspace <workspace_id> <text> - Send text to a workspace's focused terminal
           send_surface <id|idx> <text>    - Send text to a specific terminal
           send_key_surface <id|idx> <key> - Send special key to a specific terminal
           read_screen [id|idx] [--scrollback] [--lines N] - Read terminal text (plain text)
@@ -11594,6 +11598,49 @@ class TerminalController {
         return success ? "OK" : "ERROR: Failed to send input"
     }
 
+    private func sendInputToWorkspace(_ args: String) -> String {
+        guard let tabManager else { return "ERROR: TabManager not available" }
+        let parts = args.split(separator: " ", maxSplits: 1).map(String.init)
+        guard parts.count == 2 else { return "ERROR: Usage: send_workspace <workspace_id> <text>" }
+
+        let workspaceArg = parts[0].trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
+        let text = parts[1]
+        guard let workspaceId = UUID(uuidString: workspaceArg) else {
+            return "ERROR: Invalid workspace ID"
+        }
+
+        var success = false
+        var error: String?
+        DispatchQueue.main.sync {
+            guard let targetManager = AppDelegate.shared?.tabManagerFor(tabId: workspaceId)
+                ?? (tabManager.tabs.contains(where: { $0.id == workspaceId }) ? tabManager : nil) else {
+                error = "ERROR: Workspace not found"
+                return
+            }
+            guard let tab = targetManager.tabs.first(where: { $0.id == workspaceId }),
+                  let terminalPanel = tab.focusedTerminalPanel else {
+                error = "ERROR: No focused terminal in workspace"
+                return
+            }
+
+            let unescaped = text
+                .replacingOccurrences(of: "\\n", with: "\r")
+                .replacingOccurrences(of: "\\r", with: "\r")
+                .replacingOccurrences(of: "\\t", with: "\t")
+
+            if let surface = terminalPanel.surface.surface {
+                sendSocketText(unescaped, surface: surface)
+            } else {
+                terminalPanel.sendText(unescaped)
+                terminalPanel.surface.requestBackgroundSurfaceStartIfNeeded()
+            }
+            success = true
+        }
+
+        if let error { return error }
+        return success ? "OK" : "ERROR: Failed to send input"
+    }
+
     private func sendInputToSurface(_ args: String) -> String {
         guard let tabManager = tabManager else { return "ERROR: TabManager not available" }
         let parts = args.split(separator: " ", maxSplits: 1).map(String.init)
diff --git a/cmuxUITests/MultiWindowNotificationsUITests.swift b/cmuxUITests/MultiWindowNotificationsUITests.swift
index 245d423e..5753173f 100644
--- a/cmuxUITests/MultiWindowNotificationsUITests.swift
+++ b/cmuxUITests/MultiWindowNotificationsUITests.swift
@@ -224,6 +224,10 @@ final class MultiWindowNotificationsUITests: XCTestCase {
             XCTFail("Missing setup workspace id")
             return
         }
+        guard let tabId1 = setup["tabId1"], !tabId1.isEmpty else {
+            XCTFail("Missing source workspace id")
+            return
+        }
         if let expectedSocketPath = setup["socketExpectedPath"], !expectedSocketPath.isEmpty {
             socketPath = expectedSocketPath
         }
@@ -270,11 +274,6 @@ final class MultiWindowNotificationsUITests: XCTestCase {
             return
         }
 
-        XCTAssertTrue(app.windows.element(boundBy: 0).waitForExistence(timeout: 4.0), "Expected at least one window before typing notify command")
-        app.windows.element(boundBy: 0)
-            .coordinate(withNormalizedOffset: CGVector(dx: 0.5, dy: 0.5))
-            .click()
-
         let notifyCommand = [
             "rm -f \(shellSingleQuote(commandStatusPath)) \(shellSingleQuote(commandStdoutPath)) \(shellSingleQuote(commandStderrPath));",
             "(sleep 1;",
@@ -290,7 +289,10 @@ final class MultiWindowNotificationsUITests: XCTestCase {
             "2>\(shellSingleQuote(commandStderrPath));",
             "printf '%s' $? >\(shellSingleQuote(commandStatusPath))) >/dev/null 2>&1 &"
         ].joined(separator: " ")
-        app.typeText(notifyCommand + "\n")
+        guard socketCommand("send_workspace \(tabId1) \(notifyCommand)\\n") == "OK" else {
+            XCTFail("Failed to inject delayed bundled `cmux notify` command into source workspace \(tabId1)")
+            return
+        }
 
         let finder = XCUIApplication(bundleIdentifier: "com.apple.finder")
         finder.activate()