diff --git a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts
index 5f25ddc2..02341b70 100644
--- a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts
+++ b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts
@@ -275,6 +275,90 @@ describe('workforce persona workflow writer', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  describe('truncated-stdout disk fallback', () => {
+    // The claude CLI buffers a full --print response then emits it; for
+    // large workflow artifacts the LLM's max_output_tokens cap kicks in
+    // and the JSON gets cut off mid-emit. The writer typically *did*
+    // succeed at writing the workflow to disk via the Write tool (now that
+    // bypass-permissions makes that reliable in headless mode), so the
+    // parser should fall back to reading the file rather than hard-failing.
+
+    const truncatedJsonOutput = [
+      'I need to author a workflow that ships this PR. Let me produce the structured JSON response.',
+      '',
+      '```json',
+      '{',
+      '  "artifact": {',
+      '    "path": "workflows/generated/persona.ts",',
+      '    "language": "typescript",',
+      // cut off here — no `content` field, no closing braces
+    ].join('\n');
+
+    it('recovers from truncated stdout by reading a fresh file at expectedPath', () => {
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      const writerInvokedAtMs = 100;
+      const parsed = parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(truncatedJsonOutput, artifactPath, {
+        repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+        writerInvokedAtMs,
+        statFile: (path) => path.endsWith('persona.ts') ? { mtimeMs: writerInvokedAtMs + 1_000 } : undefined,
+        readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+      });
+      expect(parsed.responseFormat).toBe('structured-json');
+      expect(parsed.content).toContain('workflow("persona")');
+      expect(parsed.metadata).toMatchObject({ recoveredFromDisk: true });
+    });
+
+    it('does NOT fall back to a STALE file (mtime older than writerInvokedAtMs)', () => {
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      const writerInvokedAtMs = 1_000;
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(truncatedJsonOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          writerInvokedAtMs,
+          statFile: () => ({ mtimeMs: writerInvokedAtMs - 1 }),
+          readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/structured JSON or include fenced TypeScript artifact/);
+    });
+
+    it('does NOT fall back when `writerInvokedAtMs` is absent (preserves prior behavior for callers that have not opted in)', () => {
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(truncatedJsonOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          // writerInvokedAtMs intentionally omitted
+          statFile: () => ({ mtimeMs: Date.now() }),
+          readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/structured JSON or include fenced TypeScript artifact/);
+    });
+
+    it('does NOT fall back when no file exists at expectedPath (stat returns undefined)', () => {
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(truncatedJsonOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          writerInvokedAtMs: 100,
+          statFile: () => undefined,
+          readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/structured JSON or include fenced TypeScript artifact/);
+    });
+
+    it('does NOT fall back when the on-disk file fails structural validation (re-raises original parser error)', () => {
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(truncatedJsonOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          writerInvokedAtMs: 100,
+          statFile: () => ({ mtimeMs: 200 }),
+          // File on disk is not a valid workflow (no `workflow(` call) — fallback should refuse it.
+          readFileText: () => 'export const broken = 1;',
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/structured JSON or include fenced TypeScript artifact/);
+    });
+  });
+
   it('invokes the spawned harness non-interactively (no TUI flag, structured-response contract)', async () => {
     const base = generate({
       spec: spec({
diff --git a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts
index 9a927209..ff653aaa 100644
--- a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts
+++ b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
-import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { readFileSync, statSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { dirname, isAbsolute, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
 
@@ -158,6 +158,25 @@ export interface WorkforcePersonaWriterResult {
 export interface PersonaResponseParseOptions {
   repoRoot?: string;
   readFileText?: (path: string) => string;
+  /**
+   * Optional `Date.now()`-style ms timestamp captured *before* the writer
+   * subprocess was spawned. When set, the parser's "stdout was truncated
+   * but a file exists on disk at expectedPath" fallback only fires for a
+   * file whose mtime is newer than this — i.e. one this writer call
+   * produced — so the parser cannot accidentally accept a stale leftover
+   * artifact from a prior attempt as the current writer's output.
+   *
+   * Without this timestamp the parser treats the file as untrusted and
+   * skips the disk fallback (preserving prior behavior).
+   */
+  writerInvokedAtMs?: number;
+  /**
+   * Optional stat-by-path used by the disk fallback. Defaults to
+   * `fs.statSync(path)` swallowing ENOENT to `undefined`. Override for
+   * deterministic tests of the freshness check without touching the real
+   * filesystem.
+   */
+  statFile?: (path: string) => { mtimeMs: number } | undefined;
 }
 
 export interface ResolvedWorkforcePersonaContext {
@@ -227,6 +246,13 @@ export async function writeWorkflowWithWorkforcePersona(
   });
   const promptDigest = digest(task);
   const selection = resolved.context.selection;
+  // Pin "writer invoked at" immediately before the spawn so the parser's
+  // disk fallback can prove a file at outputPath was actually written by
+  // THIS sendMessage window (mtime > this timestamp) rather than left
+  // over from a prior attempt. Capturing earlier — e.g. before the
+  // resolver and task-builder awaits — opens a multi-second window in
+  // which a stale leftover could falsely satisfy the freshness check.
+  const writerInvokedAtMs = Date.now();
   const run = resolved.context.sendMessage(task, {
     workingDirectory: options.repoRoot,
     name: `ricky-workflow-writer-${promptDigest.slice(0, 12)}`,
@@ -275,6 +301,7 @@ export async function writeWorkflowWithWorkforcePersona(
   try {
     parsed = parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(result.output, options.outputPath, {
       repoRoot: options.repoRoot,
+      writerInvokedAtMs: writerInvokedAtMs,
     });
   } catch (error) {
     await dumpDebug('parse-error');
@@ -955,11 +982,73 @@ export function parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(
     return validateStructuredResponse(embedded, expectedPath, 'structured-json', options);
   }
 
+  // Last-resort disk fallback. claude --print buffers a full response then
+  // returns; for large workflow artifacts the LLM's max_output_tokens cap
+  // kicks in and the JSON gets cut off mid-emit (observed: 38KB of valid
+  // JSON ending at `"language": "typescript",` with no closing braces). In
+  // that case the writer typically *did* succeed at writing the workflow
+  // source to disk via the Write tool — there's just no parseable stdout
+  // wrapper for the parser to read. Trust the file on disk only when (a)
+  // the caller provided `writerInvokedAtMs` so we can prove the file is
+  // fresh, and (b) the file's mtime is strictly after that timestamp.
+  const recovered = recoverArtifactFromTruncatedOutput(expectedPath, options);
+  if (recovered) {
+    try {
+      validateArtifactContent(recovered);
+      return {
+        content: recovered,
+        metadata: { recoveredFromDisk: true, reason: 'stdout-truncated-or-unparseable' },
+        responseFormat: 'structured-json',
+      };
+    } catch {
+      // Recovered content failed structural validation; fall through to
+      // the original parser-failure error so the caller sees the real
+      // truncation symptom rather than a misleading "no workflow()" error.
+    }
+  }
+
   throw new WorkforcePersonaWriterError(
     'Workforce persona response must be structured JSON or include fenced TypeScript artifact and JSON metadata blocks.',
   );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Reads the artifact from disk as a last-resort fallback when the writer's
+ * stdout could not be parsed. Only fires when the caller pinned a
+ * `writerInvokedAtMs` timestamp AND the file at `expectedPath` was modified
+ * strictly after it — proving the file is the current writer's output, not
+ * a stale leftover from a prior attempt.
+ */
+function recoverArtifactFromTruncatedOutput(
+  expectedPath: string,
+  options: PersonaResponseParseOptions,
+): string | undefined {
+  if (!options.repoRoot || options.writerInvokedAtMs === undefined) return undefined;
+  const expectedResolved = isAbsolute(expectedPath)
+    ? expectedPath
+    : resolve(options.repoRoot, expectedPath);
+
+  const statFn = options.statFile ?? defaultStatFile;
+  const stat = statFn(expectedResolved);
+  if (!stat) return undefined;
+  if (stat.mtimeMs <= options.writerInvokedAtMs) return undefined;
+
+  try {
+    return options.readFileText?.(expectedResolved) ?? readFileSync(expectedResolved, 'utf8');
+  } catch {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+}
+
+function defaultStatFile(path: string): { mtimeMs: number } | undefined {
+  try {
+    const stats = statSync(path);
+    return { mtimeMs: stats.mtimeMs };
+  } catch {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Walks `text` looking for the first top-level balanced `{ ... }` object
  * and parses it. String literals (including nested escape sequences) and