diff --git a/src/lib/api/api.ts b/src/lib/api/api.ts
index b88aaf70..4848e03e 100644
--- a/src/lib/api/api.ts
+++ b/src/lib/api/api.ts
@@ -605,6 +605,13 @@ export const send_email = async function send_email({
 }) {
     console.log('*** send_email() ***');
 
+    // Skip email sending entirely when running in a test/Playwright environment.
+    // Set window.__ae_test_mode = true via addInitScript to activate this guard.
+    if (typeof globalThis !== 'undefined' && (globalThis as any).__ae_test_mode) {
+        console.log(`[TEST MODE] send_email() suppressed — would have sent to: ${to_email}, subject: ${subject}`);
+        return null;
+    }
+
     const endpoint = `/util/email/send`;
 
     data['from_email'] = from_email; // Required