diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index d1431bd..1afe400 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,18 @@ fi
 # The issue-flow half of the labels state machine. Decisions are pure strings;
 # API calls live below the divider so fixture tests can exercise every branch.
 
-STALE_AFTER=$((48 * 3600))
+ISSUEFLOW_NOW="${ISSUEFLOW_NOW:-$(date -u +%s)}"
+ISSUEFLOW_STALE_HOURS="${ISSUEFLOW_STALE_HOURS:-48}"
+[[ "$ISSUEFLOW_NOW" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || {
+  echo "issueflow: ISSUEFLOW_NOW must be UTC epoch seconds" >&2
+  if [ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" = "$0" ]; then exit 1; else return 1; fi
+}
+[[ "$ISSUEFLOW_STALE_HOURS" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || {
+  echo "issueflow: ISSUEFLOW_STALE_HOURS must be a non-negative integer" >&2
+  if [ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" = "$0" ]; then exit 1; else return 1; fi
+}
+NOW="$ISSUEFLOW_NOW"
+STALE_AFTER=$((ISSUEFLOW_STALE_HOURS * 3600))
 QUEUE_LABELS=(ready claimed blocked)
 TRIAGE_ACTORS=()
 
@@ -232,7 +243,6 @@ main() {
   REPO="${REPO:?set REPO to owner/name}"
   LABELS_CONF="${LABELS_CONF:-.github/labels.conf}"
   load_issueflow_config "$LABELS_CONF"
-  NOW="$(date +%s)"
   if [ "${EVENT_NAME:-}" = issues ] && [ "${EVENT_ACTION:-}" = opened ]; then
     reconcile_opened_issue "${EVENT_ISSUE:?set EVENT_ISSUE for issues:opened}"
   fi
diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index 186a80e..30290f1 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -31,10 +31,19 @@ check "needs-triage plus queue is a conflict" 0 "FLAG_CONFLICT" queue_decision <
 
 # Invariant 2: claims have an owner and either a PR or recent activity.
 check "claim with open PR stays claimed" 0 "KEEP" claim_decision 1 true 999999
-check "recent claim without PR stays claimed" 0 "KEEP" claim_decision 1 false 60
+check "claim below stale boundary stays claimed" 0 "KEEP" claim_decision 1 false $((STALE_AFTER - 1))
+check "claim exactly at stale boundary stays claimed" 0 "KEEP" claim_decision 1 false "$STALE_AFTER"
+check "claim past stale boundary is reclaimed" 0 "RECLAIM" claim_decision 1 false $((STALE_AFTER + 1))
 check "unassigned claim is flagged" 0 "FLAG_UNASSIGNED" claim_decision 0 false 60
-check "quiet claim without PR is reclaimed" 0 "RECLAIM" claim_decision 1 false $((STALE_AFTER + 1))
 check "quiet unassigned claim is also reclaimed" 0 "RECLAIM" claim_decision 0 false $((STALE_AFTER + 1))
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # expansions belong to the isolated bash -c process
+check "injected clock is retained" 0 "1700000000" \
+  bash -c 'ISSUEFLOW_NOW=1700000000 source "$1"; printf "%s\n" "$NOW"' _ \
+  "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # expansions belong to the isolated bash -c process
+check "injected stale hours set the boundary" 0 "10800" \
+  bash -c 'ISSUEFLOW_STALE_HOURS=3 source "$1"; printf "%s\n" "$STALE_AFTER"' _ \
+  "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
 
 # Invariant 3: blocked declarations parse and release only when all close.
 refs="$(blocked_references <<< $'Context #99. Blocked by #12 (first), #7 (second). Blocks #44.')"