diff --git a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/healthcheck.cy.ts b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/healthcheck.cy.ts
index aff19334..111a45e2 100644
--- a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/healthcheck.cy.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/healthcheck.cy.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe("the healthcheck", () => {
     // wait until text on the start screen is visible
     cy.contains("If you see this text, Neovim is ready!")
 
-    cy.typeIntoTerminal(":checkhealth yazi{enter}")
+    cy.runExCommand({ command: "checkhealth yazi" })
 
     // the version of yazi.nvim itself should be shown
     cy.readFile("../.release-please-manifest.json").then(
diff --git a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/hover-highlights.cy.ts b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/hover-highlights.cy.ts
index 184e13ba..7f11150f 100644
--- a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/hover-highlights.cy.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/hover-highlights.cy.ts
@@ -221,18 +221,18 @@ describe("highlighting the buffer with 'hover' events", () => {
       )
 
       cy.typeIntoTerminal("q")
-      cy.typeIntoTerminal(":messages{enter}")
-
-      // Hovering a new file should have triggered the integration
-      //
-      // the main message from the integration in the
-      // startupScriptModifications script should be visible. Check the file
-      // to see the full integration.
-      cy.contains("Just received a YaziDDSHover event!")
-
-      // some event data should be visible. See the lua type YaziHoverEvent for
-      // the structure
-      cy.contains(`type = "hover"`)
+      cy.runExCommand({ command: "messages" }).then((result) => {
+        // Hovering a new file should have triggered the integration
+        //
+        // the main message from the integration in the
+        // startupScriptModifications script should be visible. Check the file
+        // to see the full integration.
+        expect(result.value).to.contain("Just received a YaziDDSHover event!")
+
+        // some event data should be visible. See the lua type YaziHoverEvent for
+        // the structure
+        expect(result.value).to.contain(`type = "hover"`)
+      })
     })
   })
 
diff --git a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/integrations.cy.ts b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/integrations.cy.ts
index 0f962301..79f739a9 100644
--- a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/integrations.cy.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/integrations.cy.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ describe("grug-far integration (search and replace)", () => {
       cy.typeIntoTerminal("{esc}")
 
       // close the split on the right so we can get some more space
-      cy.typeIntoTerminal(":only{enter}")
+      cy.runExCommand({ command: "only" })
 
       // the selected files should be visible in the view, used as the files to
       // whitelist into the search and replace operation
diff --git a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-directories.cy.ts b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-directories.cy.ts
index 8b85faff..849448c5 100644
--- a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-directories.cy.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-directories.cy.ts
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@ describe("opening directories", () => {
       cy.typeIntoTerminal("q")
       cy.contains("-- TERMINAL --").should("not.exist")
 
-      cy.typeIntoTerminal(":CountBuffers{enter}")
-      cy.contains("Number of open buffers: 2")
+      cy.runExCommand({ command: "CountBuffers" }).then((result) => {
+        expect(result.value).to.equal("Number of open buffers: 2")
+      })
     })
   })
 
diff --git a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-files.cy.ts b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-files.cy.ts
index d09cb409..dab64247 100644
--- a/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-files.cy.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/cypress/e2e/using-ya-to-read-events/opening-files.cy.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import type { MyTestDirectoryFile } from "MyTestDirectory"
 import {
   isFileNotSelectedInYazi,
   isFileSelectedInYazi,
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ describe("opening files", () => {
         // match some text from inside the file
         "Hello",
       )
-      cy.typeIntoTerminal(":tabnext{enter}")
+      cy.runExCommand({ command: "tabnext" })
 
       cy.contains("If you see this text, Neovim is ready!")
 
@@ -174,9 +175,9 @@ describe("opening files", () => {
         cy.typeIntoTerminal("q")
 
         // the file should now be renamed - ask neovim to confirm this
-        cy.typeIntoTerminal(":buffers{enter}")
-
-        cy.contains("renamed-file.txt")
+        cy.runExCommand({ command: "buffers" }).then((result) => {
+          expect(result.value).to.contain("renamed-file.txt")
+        })
       })
     })
   })
@@ -260,9 +261,11 @@ describe("opening files", () => {
       // the file to verify this.
       // NOTE: the test-setup configures the `"` register to be the clipboard
       cy.typeIntoTerminal("o{enter}{esc}")
-      cy.typeIntoTerminal(':normal ""p{enter}')
-
-      cy.contains("routes/posts.$postId/adjacent-file.txt")
+      cy.runLuaCode({ luaCode: `return vim.fn.getreg('"')` }).then((result) => {
+        expect(result.value).to.contain(
+          "routes/posts.$postId/adjacent-file.txt" satisfies MyTestDirectoryFile,
+        )
+      })
     })
   })
 
@@ -299,12 +302,17 @@ describe("opening files", () => {
       // the file to verify this.
       // NOTE: the test-setup configures the `"` register to be the clipboard
       cy.typeIntoTerminal("o{enter}{esc}")
-      cy.typeIntoTerminal(':normal ""p{enter}')
-
-      // all selected files should now be visible
-      cy.contains("routes/posts.$postId/adjacent-file.txt")
-      cy.contains("routes/posts.$postId/route.tsx")
-      cy.contains("routes/posts.$postId/adjacent-file.txt")
+      cy.runLuaCode({ luaCode: `return vim.fn.getreg('"')` }).then((result) => {
+        expect(result.value).to.eql(
+          (
+            [
+              "routes/posts.$postId/adjacent-file.txt",
+              "routes/posts.$postId/route.tsx",
+              "routes/posts.$postId/should-be-excluded-file.txt",
+            ] satisfies MyTestDirectoryFile[]
+          ).join("\n"),
+        )
+      })
     })
   })
 
@@ -319,11 +327,14 @@ describe("opening files", () => {
       cy.typeIntoTerminal("{control+a}")
       cy.typeIntoTerminal("{enter}")
 
-      cy.typeIntoTerminal(":buffers{enter}")
-
-      // all files should now be visible
-      cy.contains("dir with spaces/file1.txt")
-      cy.contains("dir with spaces/file2.txt")
+      cy.runExCommand({ command: "buffers" }).then((result) => {
+        expect(result.value).to.match(
+          new RegExp("dir with spaces/file1.txt" satisfies MyTestDirectoryFile),
+        )
+        expect(result.value).to.match(
+          new RegExp("dir with spaces/file2.txt" satisfies MyTestDirectoryFile),
+        )
+      })
     })
   })
 
diff --git a/integration-tests/package.json b/integration-tests/package.json
index 19f2f94f..834c4746 100644
--- a/integration-tests/package.json
+++ b/integration-tests/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "cy:run": "concurrently --success command-cypress --kill-others --names 'app,cypress' --prefix-colors 'blue,yellow' 'pnpm tui start'  'wait-on --timeout 60000 http://127.0.0.1:3000 && npx cypress run'",
-    "dev": "concurrently --kill-others --names 'app,cypress' --prefix-colors 'blue,yellow' 'pnpm tui start'  'pnpm cypress open --e2e'",
+    "dev": "concurrently --kill-others --names 'app,cypress' --prefix-colors 'blue,yellow' 'pnpm tui start'  'pnpm cypress open --e2e --browser=electron'",
     "eslint": "eslint --max-warnings=0 ."
   },
   "dependencies": {