diff --git a/test/skill-e2e-design.test.ts b/test/skill-e2e-design.test.ts
index 475b67b1d..221e39aa4 100644
--- a/test/skill-e2e-design.test.ts
+++ b/test/skill-e2e-design.test.ts
@@ -76,12 +76,25 @@ A civic tech data platform for government employees to access, visualize, and sh
     run('git', ['add', '.']);
     run('git', ['commit', '-m', 'initial project setup']);
 
-    // Copy design-consultation skill
+    // Copy design-consultation skill — INCLUDING sections/. The skill has
+    // been carved since v1.57.0.0 (e722c5bf): Phases 3-6, where the DESIGN.md
+    // structure (the "AESTHETIC: [direction]" proposal template) is
+    // prescribed, live in sections/proposal-and-preview.md behind a STOP-read.
+    // Without the dir the agent improvises structure from the skeleton
+    // ("Visual thesis" vocabulary) and the section-synonym check becomes a
+    // coin flip (observed: CI run 33090283032 failed both attempts with
+    // "no sections dir" in the trace; the skeleton-only pass on 32899975845
+    // was lucky vocabulary).
     fs.mkdirSync(path.join(designDir, 'design-consultation'), { recursive: true });
     fs.copyFileSync(
       path.join(ROOT, 'design-consultation', 'SKILL.md'),
       path.join(designDir, 'design-consultation', 'SKILL.md'),
     );
+    fs.cpSync(
+      path.join(ROOT, 'design-consultation', 'sections'),
+      path.join(designDir, 'design-consultation', 'sections'),
+      { recursive: true },
+    );
   });
 
   afterAll(() => {