diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index cef2e8c0f8..fa639cc6ff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -970,6 +970,12 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           "$HOME/.vite-plus/bin/vp" node --version \
             || echo "prewarm failed; cases will download the runtime on demand"
+          # Warm the Node.js version index cache (~1h TTL) into the runtime
+          # seed. Cases without a version pin resolve "latest LTS" before
+          # their first output, and a stalled nodejs.org fetch there times
+          # out the 60s step budget (same stall class as #2390).
+          "$HOME/.vite-plus/bin/vp" env list-remote > /dev/null \
+            || echo "index prewarm failed; cases will fetch the version index on demand"
 
       - name: Install Playwright Chromium
         run: pnpm exec playwright install chromium
@@ -1059,6 +1065,12 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           "$USERPROFILE/.vite-plus/bin/vp.exe" node --version \
             || echo "prewarm failed; cases will download the runtime on demand"
+          # Warm the Node.js version index cache (~1h TTL) into the runtime
+          # seed. Cases without a version pin resolve "latest LTS" before
+          # their first output, and a stalled nodejs.org fetch there times
+          # out the 60s step budget (same stall class as #2390).
+          "$USERPROFILE/.vite-plus/bin/vp.exe" env list-remote > /dev/null \
+            || echo "index prewarm failed; cases will fetch the version index on demand"
 
       - name: Install Playwright Chromium
         shell: bash
diff --git a/crates/vp_cli_snapshots/tests/cli_snapshots/main.rs b/crates/vp_cli_snapshots/tests/cli_snapshots/main.rs
index c0991f0014..23dc1572de 100644
--- a/crates/vp_cli_snapshots/tests/cli_snapshots/main.rs
+++ b/crates/vp_cli_snapshots/tests/cli_snapshots/main.rs
@@ -653,6 +653,12 @@ impl CaseHome {
         env.insert("TERM".into(), "xterm-256color".into());
         env.insert("VP_CLI_TEST".into(), "1".into());
         env.insert("NODE_NO_WARNINGS".into(), "1".into());
+        // Cap download attempts far below vp's 10-minute default: a stalled
+        // runtime or package-manager download must fail fast enough for vp's
+        // retry (3 attempts, exponential backoff) to finish inside the 60s
+        // step budget. Healthy CI downloads take ~1s; Windows runners stall
+        // intermittently (see command_cache_bun in the #2390 stall class).
+        env.insert("VP_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT".into(), "30".into());
         env.insert("VP_HOME".into(), self.vp_home().into_os_string());
         if cfg!(windows) {
             env.insert("USERPROFILE".into(), self.home.clone().into_os_string());