diff --git a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts
index f2d56407..9ba83980 100644
--- a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts
+++ b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.test.ts
@@ -360,6 +360,135 @@ describe('workforce persona workflow writer', () => {
         }),
       ).toThrow(/structured JSON or include fenced TypeScript artifact/);
     });
+
+    // Regression: when the writer is prompted to use the Write tool, claude
+    // sometimes emits a complete ```typescript fence whose body is a
+    // *placeholder* ("// (full source above — file written to disk)")
+    // followed by a complete ```json metadata fence. Both fences parse,
+    // so the parser took the fenced-response path and threw "does not
+    // call workflow()" — even though the actual workflow source had just
+    // been written to disk and the rest of the response was structurally
+    // fine. Result: ~25 minutes of writer work discarded, and 3 more
+    // 25-minute repair attempts burned chasing the same symptom. The
+    // parser must treat the placeholder-fence case as a stdout-format
+    // mismatch and prefer the freshly-written file on disk, exactly like
+    // it already does for outright truncated stdout.
+    const placeholderFenceOutput = [
+      'The file is complete and correct. Here is the response contract output:',
+      '',
+      '```typescript',
+      '// workflows/generated/persona.ts',
+      '// (full source above — file written to disk)',
+      '```',
+      '',
+      '```json',
+      JSON.stringify({
+        artifact: {
+          path: 'workflows/generated/persona.ts',
+          language: 'typescript',
+          linesOfCode: 513,
+          writtenToDisk: true,
+        },
+        metadata: { workflowName: 'persona', agents: ['lead'] },
+      }, null, 2),
+      '```',
+    ].join('\n');
+
+    it('recovers from a placeholder ```typescript fence + complete ```json metadata fence', () => {
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      const writerInvokedAtMs = 100;
+      const parsed = parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(placeholderFenceOutput, artifactPath, {
+        repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+        writerInvokedAtMs,
+        statFile: (path) => path.endsWith('persona.ts') ? { mtimeMs: writerInvokedAtMs + 1_000 } : undefined,
+        readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+      });
+      expect(parsed.responseFormat).toBe('fenced-artifact');
+      expect(parsed.content).toContain('workflow("persona")');
+      expect(parsed.metadata).toMatchObject({ recoveredFromDisk: true, reason: 'fenced-ts-placeholder' });
+    });
+
+    it('does NOT recover from a placeholder fence when the on-disk file is STALE (mtime <= writerInvokedAtMs)', () => {
+      // Regression guard for the bypass identified during review: when
+      // `recoverArtifactFromTruncatedOutput` correctly rejects a stale
+      // on-disk file, the placeholder-fence helper used to return
+      // `undefined` and the parser fell through to
+      // `validateStructuredResponse` → `recoverExpectedArtifactContent`,
+      // which has no mtime check and would silently surface the stale
+      // artifact as if it were the current writer's output. The helper
+      // must now throw the original "does not call workflow()" error so
+      // no fallthrough is possible.
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      const writerInvokedAtMs = 1_000;
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(placeholderFenceOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          writerInvokedAtMs,
+          statFile: () => ({ mtimeMs: writerInvokedAtMs - 1 }),
+          // Even though the on-disk file is a valid workflow, the mtime
+          // says it predates this writer run — must NOT be accepted.
+          readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/does not call workflow\(\)/);
+    });
+
+    it('placeholder fence path falls through to disk recovery only when `writerInvokedAtMs` is provided', () => {
+      // Without `writerInvokedAtMs` the disk-recovery freshness guard
+      // short-circuits, so the placeholder-fence helper has no fresh
+      // file to fall back to and must re-throw the original
+      // "does not call workflow()" error rather than returning a
+      // misleading shape or silently consuming a stale artifact.
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(placeholderFenceOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          // writerInvokedAtMs intentionally omitted
+          statFile: () => ({ mtimeMs: Date.now() }),
+          readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/does not call workflow\(\)/);
+    });
+
+    it('does NOT recover from a placeholder fence when on-disk content also lacks `workflow(` (no silent bypass)', () => {
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(placeholderFenceOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          writerInvokedAtMs: 100,
+          statFile: () => ({ mtimeMs: 200 }),
+          readFileText: () => 'export const broken = 1;',
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/does not call workflow\(\)/);
+    });
+
+    it('placeholder fence path re-validates fenced metadata against the recovered disk content (mismatched path still throws)', () => {
+      // Regression guard for CodeRabbit's metadata concern: after the
+      // helper recovers content from disk, it must re-run the full
+      // fenced-response validator on the recovered content + metadata
+      // so metadata-level issues (mismatched `path`) still surface.
+      const artifactPath = 'workflows/generated/persona.ts';
+      const writerInvokedAtMs = 100;
+      const mismatchedFenceOutput = [
+        '```typescript',
+        '// (file written to disk)',
+        '```',
+        '',
+        '```json',
+        JSON.stringify({
+          path: 'workflows/generated/SOMETHING-ELSE.ts',
+          workflowName: 'persona',
+        }, null, 2),
+        '```',
+      ].join('\n');
+      expect(() =>
+        parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(mismatchedFenceOutput, artifactPath, {
+          repoRoot: '/tmp/repo',
+          writerInvokedAtMs,
+          statFile: (path) => path.endsWith('persona.ts') ? { mtimeMs: writerInvokedAtMs + 1_000 } : undefined,
+          readFileText: () => workflowSource(),
+        }),
+      ).toThrow(/fenced metadata path .* did not match expected output path/);
+    });
   });
 
   it('invokes the spawned harness non-interactively (no TUI flag, structured-response contract)', async () => {
diff --git a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts
index e84481d7..6b767352 100644
--- a/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts
+++ b/src/product/generation/workforce-persona-writer.ts
@@ -1029,7 +1029,14 @@ export function parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(
     const clarification = metadataJson ? parseClarificationResponse(metadataJson) : null;
     if (clarification) return { metadata: {}, responseFormat: 'needs-clarification', clarification };
     if (metadataJson && tsFence) {
-      return validateFencedResponse(tsFence, metadataJson, expectedPath);
+      // The writer is sometimes prompted to use the Write tool and only
+      // emit a placeholder ("// (file written to disk)") inside the ts
+      // fence. validateFencedResponse rejects that because the placeholder
+      // lacks a `workflow(` call. tryFencedResponseOrDiskRecovery prefers
+      // a fresh on-disk artifact in that case; it always returns or throws
+      // (never falls through to validateStructuredResponse below), so
+      // stale on-disk artifacts can't sneak in via recoverExpectedArtifactContent.
+      return tryFencedResponseOrDiskRecovery(tsFence, metadataJson, expectedPath, options);
     }
     if (metadataJson) {
       return validateStructuredResponse(metadataJson, expectedPath, 'structured-json', options);
@@ -1040,7 +1047,7 @@ export function parsePersonaWorkflowResponse(
   const metadataFence = fencedBlock(output, 'metadata');
   const metadata = metadataFence ? parseJsonObject(metadataFence) : null;
   if (tsFence && metadata) {
-    return validateFencedResponse(tsFence, metadata, expectedPath);
+    return tryFencedResponseOrDiskRecovery(tsFence, metadata, expectedPath, options);
   }
 
   // Tolerant fallback: Claude Sonnet has been observed to emit a prose
@@ -1307,6 +1314,65 @@ function validateFencedResponse(
   };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Attempt `validateFencedResponse` first; if it rejects the ts fence for
+ * lacking a `workflow(` call AND a freshly-written workflow exists on disk
+ * at `expectedPath`, prefer the disk content. The placeholder-fence pattern
+ * shows up when the writer is prompted to use the Write tool: it emits
+ * something like `// (full source above — file written to disk)` inside
+ * the ts fence and the actual source lands on disk. Returning the disk
+ * content instead of throwing keeps the writer's successful work from
+ * being discarded over a stdout-format mismatch.
+ *
+ * Always returns or throws — never `undefined`. That contract is load-
+ * bearing: if the caller could fall through to `validateStructuredResponse`
+ * on `undefined`, an unguarded `recoverExpectedArtifactContent` call could
+ * silently surface a STALE on-disk artifact from a prior writer run (no
+ * mtime check). By throwing the original "no workflow() call" error when
+ * disk recovery fails, we preserve the freshness guarantee
+ * `recoverArtifactFromTruncatedOutput` enforces via `writerInvokedAtMs`.
+ *
+ * After a successful disk read, re-validates the recovered content + the
+ * fence metadata via the full `validateFencedResponse` pipeline — so
+ * metadata-level issues (missing fields, mismatched `path`) still surface
+ * even though the on-disk content saved us from the placeholder symptom.
+ */
+function tryFencedResponseOrDiskRecovery(
+  tsFence: string,
+  metadata: Record<string, unknown>,
+  expectedPath: string,
+  options: PersonaResponseParseOptions,
+): ParsedPersonaResponse {
+  try {
+    return validateFencedResponse(tsFence, metadata, expectedPath);
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (!(error instanceof WorkforcePersonaWriterError)) throw error;
+    if (!/does not call workflow\(\)/.test(error.message)) throw error;
+    const recovered = recoverArtifactFromTruncatedOutput(expectedPath, options);
+    if (!recovered) throw error;
+    let parsed: ParsedPersonaResponse;
+    try {
+      parsed = validateFencedResponse(recovered, metadata, expectedPath);
+    } catch (recoveredError) {
+      // If the on-disk file *also* lacks `workflow(`, surface the original
+      // error — the writer genuinely produced an invalid artifact. For any
+      // other validation failure (bad metadata, mismatched path), let it
+      // bubble up so the caller sees the real symptom.
+      if (
+        recoveredError instanceof WorkforcePersonaWriterError &&
+        /does not call workflow\(\)/.test(recoveredError.message)
+      ) {
+        throw error;
+      }
+      throw recoveredError;
+    }
+    return {
+      ...parsed,
+      metadata: { ...parsed.metadata, recoveredFromDisk: true, reason: 'fenced-ts-placeholder' },
+    };
+  }
+}
+
 function validateArtifactContent(content: string): void {
   if (!/\bworkflow\(/.test(content)) {
     throw new WorkforcePersonaWriterError('Workforce persona artifact does not call workflow().');