diff --git a/test/helpers/qa-functional-eval.ts b/test/helpers/qa-functional-eval.ts
index 4e881c819..84e75c512 100644
--- a/test/helpers/qa-functional-eval.ts
+++ b/test/helpers/qa-functional-eval.ts
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export async function runQAFunctionalCase(entry: { id: string; family: QAFamily;
     fixtureGit(fixture.root, ['commit', '-m', 'Bind current QA instructions to fixture']);
     fixture.revision = fixtureGit(fixture.root, ['rev-parse', 'HEAD']);
     if (fixtureGit(fixture.root, ['status', '--porcelain'])) throw new Error('QA fixture must start clean');
-    observer = await observeQAWrites(fixture.root, { evidenceProducer: true });
+    observer = await observeQAWrites(fixture.root, { evidenceProducer: true, atomicWriteMode: entry.mode });
     await runRecordedOfficeHoursAttempt({
       collector, name: entry.id, suite: 'Functional QA native E2E',
       model: process.env.EVALS_MODEL ?? resolveEvalModel('capture'),
diff --git a/test/helpers/qa-functional-observer.ts b/test/helpers/qa-functional-observer.ts
index 866c232a3..22e513e66 100644
--- a/test/helpers/qa-functional-observer.ts
+++ b/test/helpers/qa-functional-observer.ts
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ export interface QAWriteObservation {
   limits: string[];
 }
 
-export async function observeQAWrites(root: string, options: { reportDirectory?: string; evidenceProducer?: boolean; atomicTargets?: string[] } = {}) {
+export async function observeQAWrites(root: string, options: { reportDirectory?: string; evidenceProducer?: boolean; atomicTargets?: string[]; atomicWriteMode?: QAMode } = {}) {
   if (process.platform !== 'linux') throw new Error('QA write observer unavailable: Linux inotify required');
   if (fs.realpathSync(root) !== root) throw new Error('Observer root must be canonical');
   let reportDirectory: string | undefined;
@@ -83,7 +83,9 @@ export async function observeQAWrites(root: string, options: { reportDirectory?:
   }
   const transientFile = (relative: string) => qaWriteAllowed(relative, 'qa-only')
     || (reportDirectory !== undefined && relative.startsWith(reportDirectory + path.sep))
-    || (options.atomicTargets ?? []).some(target => relative.startsWith(target + '.tmp.') && /^\.tmp\.[1-9]\d*\.[0-9a-f]{12}$/.test(relative.slice(target.length)));
+    || (options.atomicTargets ?? []).some(target => relative.startsWith(target + '.tmp.') && /^\.tmp\.[1-9]\d*\.[0-9a-f]{12}$/.test(relative.slice(target.length)))
+    || (options.atomicWriteMode !== undefined && /\.tmp\.[1-9]\d*\.[0-9a-f]{12}$/.test(relative)
+      && qaWriteAllowed(relative.replace(/\.tmp\.[1-9]\d*\.[0-9a-f]{12}$/, ''), options.atomicWriteMode));
   const before = qaTreeSnapshot(root);
   const { dlopen, FFIType, ptr } = await import('bun:ffi');
   const libc = dlopen('libc.so.6', {
diff --git a/test/qa-caller-report-observer.test.ts b/test/qa-caller-report-observer.test.ts
index 68004e864..ae9df1c4c 100644
--- a/test/qa-caller-report-observer.test.ts
+++ b/test/qa-caller-report-observer.test.ts
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ function fixture() {
   return root;
 }
 
-async function atomicPublication(directory: string, declared?: string, atomicTargets?: string[]) {
+async function atomicPublication(directory: string, declared?: string, atomicTargets?: string[], atomicWriteMode?: 'qa' | 'qa-only') {
   const root = fixture();
   const temporary = path.join(root, directory, 'exploration-004.json.tmp.2644.340bb6ad0afe');
   const target = path.join(root, directory, 'exploration-004.json');
-  const observer = await observeQAWrites(root, { reportDirectory: declared, atomicTargets });
+  const observer = await observeQAWrites(root, { reportDirectory: declared, atomicTargets, atomicWriteMode });
   const stat = fs.lstatSync;
   let renamedAtWatch = false;
   let stopped = false;
@@ -83,6 +83,15 @@ async function atomicPublication(directory: string, declared?: string, atomicTar
     expect(result.observation.events).toContainEqual(expect.objectContaining({ path: result.target, mask: 0x80 }));
   });
 
+  test('fix mode treats an atomic temp for an authorized source/test write as transient; report-only mode stays strict', async () => {
+    const fix = await atomicPublication('src', undefined, undefined, 'qa');
+    expect(fix.renamedAtWatch).toBe(false);
+    expect(fix.observation.failures).toEqual([]);
+    const reportOnly = await atomicPublication('src', undefined, undefined, 'qa-only');
+    expect(reportOnly.renamedAtWatch).toBe(true);
+    expect(reportOnly.observation.complete).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   test('supports an explicitly selected nested report directory, not an implicit reports name', async () => {
     const result = await atomicPublication('foreign/reports', 'foreign/reports');
     expect(result.observation.complete).toBe(true);