diff --git a/E2E_BUGS.md b/E2E_BUGS.md
index 08b04f3..c78958d 100644
--- a/E2E_BUGS.md
+++ b/E2E_BUGS.md
@@ -32,11 +32,32 @@ regression still fails loudly.
    typescript-language-server (js/ts). This is the single most common
    exception across the suite.
 
-2. **Workspace-symbol search (`grep`) returns nothing before indexing
-   finishes.** clangd, vtsls, pylyzer, pyright, EmmyLua all report empty
-   `matches` for `workspace/symbol` queries issued immediately after startup,
-   since none exposes a synchronous "ready" signal — the server hasn't
-   indexed the workspace yet when the query fires.
+2. ~~**Workspace-symbol search (`grep`) returns nothing before indexing
+   finishes.**~~ **Fixed for clangd, vtsls, and pyright.** clangd, vtsls,
+   pylyzer, pyright, and EmmyLua used to report empty `matches` for
+   `workspace/symbol` queries issued immediately after startup, since none
+   exposes a synchronous "ready" signal. This turned out to be the same
+   class of bug as item 3 below rather than a pure server quirk:
+   `run_workspace_symbol_query` (`src/commands/symbol_query.rs`) already had
+   a prime-and-retry path (`prime_workspace_document`, opening a workspace
+   file to give the server something to index) but it only triggered when
+   the first `workspace/symbol` call *errored* — an empty-but-successful
+   `[]` response was accepted as final. Changed the condition to also prime
+   and retry on an empty result, with a short poll (a few hundred-ms-spaced
+   attempts) after priming since indexing an opened document is still
+   asynchronous. Verified against live clangd (`E2E_CASES="cpp/clangd,c/clangd"`,
+   also spot-checked `objc`/`objcpp`/`cuda`, which share clangd's exact code
+   path): `grep Order` now reliably returns real matches instead of `[]`,
+   even from a cold index, across repeated runs. Removed the `grep`
+   empty-matches exceptions for clangd (cpp/c/objc/objcpp/cuda), vtsls
+   (typescript/javascript), and pyright/pylyzer (python) — the same fix
+   applies architecturally to all of them since they're all document-driven
+   analyzers with no true "ready" signal. vtsls, pyright, and pylyzer
+   weren't available to verify locally in this sandbox, so those removals
+   are provisional pending CI; if any disagrees, revert just that server's
+   exception (same discipline as the Rust `callees` revert below). EmmyLua's
+   `grep` exception was left in place — untouched pending separate
+   investigation.
 
 3. ~~**ts_ls (typescript-language-server) "No Project" errors.**~~ **Fixed.**
    For both TS and JS, ts_ls used to throw `No Project` on `grep`,
diff --git a/src/commands/symbol_query.rs b/src/commands/symbol_query.rs
index 4e208fc..ac0916a 100644
--- a/src/commands/symbol_query.rs
+++ b/src/commands/symbol_query.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ mod tests;
 
 use kinds::{CallHierarchyDirection, LocationQueryKind};
 
+const PRIME_RETRY_ATTEMPTS: u32 = 5;
+const PRIME_RETRY_DELAY: Duration = Duration::from_millis(750);
+
 pub(super) use render::{
     render_file_list_json, render_list_symbols_json, render_paths_text,
     render_symbol_match_paths_text, render_symbol_matches_text, render_symbol_names_text,
@@ -66,15 +69,36 @@ pub(super) fn run_workspace_symbol_query(
         config,
         |workspace, initialize, client| {
             ensure_workspace_symbol_support(initialize)?;
-            let response = if let Ok(response) = client.workspace_symbol(query) {
-                response
-            } else {
-                prime_workspace_document(&args.query.directory, config, workspace, client)?;
-                client.workspace_symbol(query).map_err(|error| {
+            let matches = client
+                .workspace_symbol(query)
+                .ok()
+                .map(|response| symbol_matches_from_response(&response))
+                .transpose()?
+                .unwrap_or_default();
+            if !matches.is_empty() {
+                return Ok(matches);
+            }
+
+            prime_workspace_document(&args.query.directory, config, workspace, client)?;
+
+            // A freshly opened document can take a moment for the server to
+            // fold into its workspace-wide symbol index (e.g. clangd indexes
+            // headers pulled in by the opened file asynchronously), so poll
+            // briefly rather than giving up on the first still-empty result.
+            let mut matches = Vec::new();
+            for attempt in 0..PRIME_RETRY_ATTEMPTS {
+                if attempt > 0 {
+                    std::thread::sleep(PRIME_RETRY_DELAY);
+                }
+                let response = client.workspace_symbol(query).map_err(|error| {
                     error.with_prefix(format!("failed to query {}", workspace.server.server))
-                })?
-            };
-            symbol_matches_from_response(&response)
+                })?;
+                matches = symbol_matches_from_response(&response)?;
+                if !matches.is_empty() {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            Ok(matches)
         },
     )?;
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/c.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/c.yaml
index 861f1b6..38dede4 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/c.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/c.yaml
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: clangd may not publish workspace symbols before background indexing completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/cpp.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/cpp.yaml
index 35920f1..2056c75 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/cpp.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/cpp.yaml
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: clangd may not publish workspace symbols before background indexing completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/cuda.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/cuda.yaml
index 386360e..6eb64d9 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/cuda.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/cuda.yaml
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: clangd may not publish workspace symbols before background indexing completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/javascript.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/javascript.yaml
index b8cd83f..ff64dcf 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/javascript.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/javascript.yaml
@@ -33,9 +33,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: vtsls returns no workspace symbols before project analysis completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/objc.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/objc.yaml
index 42c40dc..e05ee61 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/objc.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/objc.yaml
@@ -15,9 +15,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: clangd may not publish workspace symbols before background indexing completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/objcpp.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/objcpp.yaml
index 5121274..f51c2ec 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/objcpp.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/objcpp.yaml
@@ -15,9 +15,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: clangd may not publish workspace symbols before background indexing completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/python.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/python.yaml
index 3eab2ff..b80259f 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/python.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/python.yaml
@@ -32,9 +32,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: pylyzer returns no immediate workspace-symbol matches
         - command: callers
           outcome: empty-matches
           reason: pylyzer returns no incoming call-hierarchy edges for the fixture function
@@ -53,9 +50,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: pyright advertises workspace symbols but returns no matches before background analysis completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/typescript.yaml b/tests/e2e/cases/typescript.yaml
index e6f3421..00bb34f 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/typescript.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/typescript.yaml
@@ -38,9 +38,6 @@ pairs:
     smoke:
       status: queries
       exceptions:
-        - command: grep
-          outcome: empty-matches
-          reason: vtsls returns no workspace symbols before project analysis completes
         - command: build-index
           outcome: failure
           message: background-work progress