From 10dfd32a3e27d0b7a71babb8a33af320354d324f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: PerishFire <39043006+PerishCode@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2026 14:24:44 +0800
Subject: [PATCH] Revert "feat: add screenshot-based visual validation to
 critique loop (#3660)" (#3865)

This reverts commit 931780c914d88d864c83646cc0d8770c953b7411.
---
 apps/daemon/package.json                      |   4 -
 apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms.ts              |   1 -
 apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/built-ins.ts    |  51 +-
 apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/registry.ts     |   3 -
 .../src/plugins/atoms/visual-validation.ts    | 672 ------------------
 apps/daemon/src/plugins/index.ts              |   2 -
 apps/daemon/src/plugins/pipeline-schedule.ts  | 106 ---
 apps/daemon/src/server.ts                     | 138 +---
 .../tests/plugins-atom-registry.test.ts       |   6 +-
 apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atoms-info.test.ts  |  10 +-
 .../plugins-bundled-atoms-roster.test.ts      |   1 -
 .../plugins-bundled-scenarios-roster.test.ts  |   4 -
 .../daemon/tests/plugins-headless-run.test.ts | 328 ---------
 .../tests/plugins-pipeline-runner.test.ts     |   6 -
 .../tests/plugins-pipeline-schedule.test.ts   | 163 -----
 .../tests/plugins-scenario-fallback.test.ts   |   3 -
 .../tests/plugins-visual-validation.test.ts   | 616 ----------------
 nix/pnpm-deps.nix                             |   4 +-
 .../atoms/visual-validation/SKILL.md          |  23 -
 .../atoms/visual-validation/open-design.json  |  39 -
 .../3d-creator-portfolio/example.html         |   2 +-
 .../velar-luxury-real-estate/example.html     |   2 +-
 .../scenarios/od-new-generation/SKILL.md      |   7 +-
 .../scenarios/od-tune-collab/SKILL.md         |   6 +-
 pnpm-lock.yaml                                |  12 -
 tools/pack/src/linux.ts                       |   6 +-
 tools/pack/src/mac/app.ts                     |   6 +-
 tools/pack/src/resources.ts                   | 104 +--
 tools/pack/src/win/resources.ts               |  20 +-
 tools/pack/tests/mac.test.ts                  |   3 -
 tools/pack/tests/playwright-fixture.ts        |  85 ---
 tools/pack/tests/resources.test.ts            | 239 +------
 tools/pack/tests/win-resources.test.ts        |  62 +-
 33 files changed, 66 insertions(+), 2668 deletions(-)
 delete mode 100644 apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/visual-validation.ts
 delete mode 100644 apps/daemon/src/plugins/pipeline-schedule.ts
 delete mode 100644 apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-schedule.test.ts
 delete mode 100644 apps/daemon/tests/plugins-visual-validation.test.ts
 delete mode 100644 plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/SKILL.md
 delete mode 100644 plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/open-design.json
 delete mode 100644 tools/pack/tests/playwright-fixture.ts

diff --git a/apps/daemon/package.json b/apps/daemon/package.json
index bfc456042..c49148614 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/package.json
+++ b/apps/daemon/package.json
@@ -51,11 +51,8 @@
     "jszip": "3.10.1",
     "multer": "2.1.1",
     "node-pty": "1.1.0",
-    "pixelmatch": "7.2.0",
-    "playwright": "1.60.0",
     "posthog-node": "5.34.6",
     "prom-client": "15.1.3",
-    "pngjs": "7.0.0",
     "tar": "7.5.15",
     "undici": "7.25.0"
   },
@@ -64,7 +61,6 @@
     "@types/express": "5.0.6",
     "@types/multer": "2.1.0",
     "@types/node": "20.19.39",
-    "@types/pngjs": "6.0.5",
     "typescript": "5.9.3",
     "vitest": "4.1.6"
   },
diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms.ts b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms.ts
index 23bd8ac37..d85c03abd 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ export const FIRST_PARTY_ATOMS: ReadonlyArray<AtomCatalogEntry> = [
   { id: 'live-artifact',           label: 'Live artifact',           description: 'Create/refresh live artifacts.',            status: 'implemented', taskKinds: ['new-generation', 'tune-collab'] },
   { id: 'connector',               label: 'Connector',               description: 'Composio connector tool calls.',            status: 'implemented', taskKinds: ['new-generation', 'tune-collab'] },
   { id: 'critique-theater',        label: 'Critique theater',        description: '5-dim panel critique; devloop signal.',     status: 'implemented', taskKinds: ['new-generation', 'code-migration', 'figma-migration', 'tune-collab'] },
-  { id: 'visual-validation',       label: 'Visual validation',       description: 'Render the current artifact, compare it to reference screenshots, and feed the result into critique scoring.', status: 'implemented', taskKinds: ['new-generation', 'tune-collab'] },
   // Phase 6/7/8 atoms — promoted from 'planned' to 'implemented'
   // by the §3.N1-N4 / §3.O2-O5 / §3.P1-P2 / §3.Q2 / §3.S1 slices.
   { id: 'code-import',             label: 'Code import',             description: 'Walk an existing repo into <cwd>/code/index.json.',       status: 'implemented', taskKinds: ['code-migration'] },
diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/built-ins.ts b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/built-ins.ts
index cb2e74378..4dbfbdb56 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/built-ins.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/built-ins.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,13 @@
 // Plan §3.D — built-in atom workers.
 //
-// Registered on first use into the worker registry. Every implemented
-// atom gets at least a permissive worker so the registry-driven
-// pipeline runner stays at parity with the v1 stub for atoms whose
-// real work happens entirely inside the agent CLI (file-write,
-// todo-write, media-image, …) — the daemon has no independent ground
-// truth to observe there and shipping a real watcher would force the
-// agent into a fixed protocol we explicitly kept out of scope.
-//
-// Planned atoms are not registered at all. Plugin doctor already warns
-// that those atoms are not runnable yet, and skipping registration keeps
-// explicit pipeline stages from masquerading as successful no-op runs.
+// Registered on first use into the worker registry. Every atom in
+// FIRST_PARTY_ATOMS gets at least a permissive worker so the
+// registry-driven pipeline runner stays at parity with the v1 stub
+// for atoms whose real work happens entirely inside the agent CLI
+// (file-write, todo-write, media-image, …) — the daemon has no
+// independent ground truth to observe there and shipping a real
+// watcher would force the agent into a fixed protocol we explicitly
+// kept out of scope.
 //
 // One atom does have a daemon-observable signal today:
 // `critique-theater`. The worker walks the run's devloop audit log
@@ -26,14 +23,12 @@ import {
   type AtomOutcome,
   type AtomWorkerContext,
 } from './registry.js';
-import { runVisualValidation } from './visual-validation.js';
 
 let installed = false;
 
 export function registerBuiltInAtomWorkers(): void {
   if (installed) return;
   for (const atom of FIRST_PARTY_ATOMS) {
-    if (atom.status !== 'implemented') continue;
     if (atom.id === 'critique-theater') {
       registerAtomWorker({
         id:       atom.id,
@@ -42,14 +37,6 @@ export function registerBuiltInAtomWorkers(): void {
       });
       continue;
     }
-    if (atom.id === 'visual-validation') {
-      registerAtomWorker({
-        id:       atom.id,
-        describe: 'renders the current artifact and compares it against reference screenshots',
-        run:      visualValidationWorker,
-      });
-      continue;
-    }
     registerAtomWorker({
       id:       atom.id,
       describe: 'permissive default (daemon has no independent ground truth for this atom)',
@@ -81,28 +68,6 @@ function critiqueTheaterWorker(ctx: AtomWorkerContext): AtomOutcome {
   return { signals: {} };
 }
 
-async function visualValidationWorker(ctx: AtomWorkerContext): Promise<AtomOutcome> {
-  if (!ctx.cwd) {
-    return {
-      signals: {
-        'preview.ok': false,
-        'critique.score': 1,
-      },
-      note: 'visual validation failed: run has no project working directory',
-    };
-  }
-  const result = await runVisualValidation({
-    cwd: ctx.cwd,
-    projectId: ctx.projectId,
-    daemonUrl: ctx.daemonUrl,
-    entryFile: ctx.entryFile,
-  });
-  return {
-    signals: result.signals,
-    note: result.report.message,
-  };
-}
-
 // Matches `score=4`, `score: 4.5`, `Critique score 4/5`, etc.
 function parseCritiqueScore(summary: string | null): number | null {
   if (!summary) return null;
diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/registry.ts b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/registry.ts
index 5953feb1a..ea5acd92a 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/registry.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/registry.ts
@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ export interface AtomWorkerContext {
   runId:          string;
   projectId:      string;
   conversationId: string | null;
-  daemonUrl:      string | null;
-  cwd:            string | null;
-  entryFile:      string | null;
   stage:          PipelineStage;
   iteration:      number;
   snapshot:       AppliedPluginSnapshot;
diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/visual-validation.ts b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/visual-validation.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index e9ac7d40a..000000000
--- a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/atoms/visual-validation.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,672 +0,0 @@
-import path from 'node:path';
-import { promises as fsp } from 'node:fs';
-import pixelmatch from 'pixelmatch';
-import { PNG } from 'pngjs';
-import { type Page, type ViewportSize } from 'playwright';
-import { detectEntryFile } from '../../projects.js';
-import type { UntilSignals } from '../until.js';
-
-const DEFAULT_PIXELMATCH_THRESHOLD = 0.1;
-const DEFAULT_DIFF_BOX_PADDING = 12;
-const DEFAULT_DIFF_BOX_MERGE_DISTANCE = 24;
-const DEFAULT_DIFF_BOX_STROKE_WIDTH = 2;
-const DEFAULT_MAX_DIFF_BOX_REGIONS = 12;
-const DEFAULT_MAX_CANVAS_PIXELS = 16_000_000;
-const DIFF_COLOR = [255, 76, 76] as const;
-const IGNORED_REFERENCE_SCAN_DIRS = new Set(['critique', 'dist', 'node_modules', '.next']);
-const AUTO_DISCOVERED_REFERENCE_IMAGE_RE = /\.png$/i;
-const PACKAGED_PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_DIR = 'ms-playwright';
-const VISUAL_VALIDATION_CHROMIUM_CHANNEL = 'chromium';
-
-export interface VisualValidationCaptureInput {
-  entryFile: string;
-  entryUrl: string;
-  outputPath: string;
-  viewport: ViewportSize;
-}
-
-export interface VisualValidationRegion {
-  minX: number;
-  minY: number;
-  maxX: number;
-  maxY: number;
-}
-
-export interface VisualValidationComparison {
-  referencePath: string;
-  actualPath: string;
-  diffPath: string;
-  referenceWidth: number;
-  referenceHeight: number;
-  actualWidth: number;
-  actualHeight: number;
-  comparedWidth: number;
-  comparedHeight: number;
-  diffPixels: number;
-  diffRatio: number;
-  similarity: number;
-  regions: VisualValidationRegion[];
-  suggestions: string[];
-}
-
-export interface VisualValidationReport {
-  status: 'ok' | 'skipped' | 'failed';
-  entryFile: string | null;
-  message: string;
-  comparedAt: string;
-  comparison: VisualValidationComparison | null;
-}
-
-export interface RunVisualValidationOptions {
-  cwd: string;
-  projectId?: string | null;
-  daemonUrl?: string | null;
-  referenceImages?: ReadonlyArray<string>;
-  entryFile?: string | null;
-  entryUrl?: string | null;
-  pixelmatchThreshold?: number;
-  captureScreenshot?: (input: VisualValidationCaptureInput) => Promise<void>;
-}
-
-export async function runVisualValidation(
-  input: RunVisualValidationOptions,
-): Promise<{ report: VisualValidationReport; signals: UntilSignals }> {
-  const cwd = path.resolve(input.cwd);
-  const entryFile = input.entryFile ?? await detectEntryFile(cwd);
-  let outputDir: string | null = null;
-
-  try {
-    const referenceImages = await resolveReferenceImages(cwd, input.referenceImages);
-    if (referenceImages.length === 0) {
-      return {
-        report: {
-          status: 'skipped',
-          entryFile,
-          message: 'skipped: no reference screenshot found for visual validation',
-          comparedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
-          comparison: null,
-        },
-        signals: {},
-      };
-    }
-
-    outputDir = path.join(cwd, 'critique', 'visual-validation');
-    await fsp.mkdir(outputDir, { recursive: true });
-    if (!entryFile) {
-      const failure = buildFailedVisualValidationResult(
-        null,
-        'visual validation failed: no HTML entry file found for visual validation',
-      );
-      await writeVisualValidationArtifacts(outputDir, failure.report);
-      return failure;
-    }
-
-    let best: VisualValidationComparison | null = null;
-    for (const [index, referencePath] of referenceImages.entries()) {
-      const reference = PNG.sync.read(await fsp.readFile(referencePath));
-      assertPngSize(reference, referencePath);
-      const viewport = viewportForReference(reference, referencePath);
-      const stem = buildReferenceArtifactStem(cwd, referencePath, index);
-      const actualPath = path.join(outputDir, `${stem}.actual.png`);
-      const diffPath = path.join(outputDir, `${stem}.diff.png`);
-      const capture = input.captureScreenshot ?? captureWithPlaywright;
-      const entryUrl = await resolveVisualValidationEntryUrl({
-        entryFile,
-        ...(input.projectId == null ? {} : { projectId: input.projectId }),
-        ...(input.daemonUrl == null ? {} : { daemonUrl: input.daemonUrl }),
-        ...(input.entryUrl == null ? {} : { entryUrl: input.entryUrl }),
-      });
-      await capture({
-        entryFile,
-        entryUrl,
-        outputPath: actualPath,
-        viewport,
-      });
-      const actual = PNG.sync.read(await fsp.readFile(actualPath));
-      assertPngSize(actual, actualPath);
-      const comparison = await comparePngs({
-        cwd,
-        reference,
-        referencePath,
-        actual,
-        actualPath,
-        diffPath,
-        pixelmatchThreshold: input.pixelmatchThreshold ?? DEFAULT_PIXELMATCH_THRESHOLD,
-      });
-      if (!best || comparison.similarity < best.similarity) best = comparison;
-    }
-
-    if (!best) {
-      const failure = buildFailedVisualValidationResult(
-        entryFile,
-        'visual validation failed before any comparisons completed',
-      );
-      await writeVisualValidationArtifacts(outputDir, failure.report);
-      return failure;
-    }
-
-    const similarity = best.similarity;
-    const critiqueBand = similarityToCritiqueScore(similarity);
-    const report: VisualValidationReport = {
-      status: 'ok',
-      entryFile,
-      message: summarizeComparison(best),
-      comparedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
-      comparison: best,
-    };
-    await writeVisualValidationArtifacts(outputDir, report);
-    return {
-      report,
-      signals: {
-        'preview.ok': true,
-        'critique.score': critiqueBand,
-      },
-    };
-  } catch (error) {
-    const failure = buildFailedVisualValidationResult(
-      entryFile,
-      `visual validation failed: ${formatVisualValidationError(error)}`,
-    );
-    if (outputDir) {
-      await writeVisualValidationArtifacts(outputDir, failure.report).catch(() => {});
-    }
-    return failure;
-  }
-}
-
-export function similarityToCritiqueScore(similarity: number): number {
-  if (similarity >= 98) return 5;
-  if (similarity >= 95) return 4;
-  if (similarity >= 88) return 3;
-  if (similarity >= 78) return 2;
-  return 1;
-}
-
-async function comparePngs(input: {
-  cwd: string;
-  reference: PNG;
-  referencePath: string;
-  actual: PNG;
-  actualPath: string;
-  diffPath: string;
-  pixelmatchThreshold: number;
-}): Promise<VisualValidationComparison> {
-  const width = Math.max(input.reference.width, input.actual.width);
-  const height = Math.max(input.reference.height, input.actual.height);
-  assertPngPixels(width, height, `${input.referencePath} vs ${input.actualPath}`);
-  const normalizedReference = normalizePng(input.reference, width, height);
-  const normalizedActual = normalizePng(input.actual, width, height);
-  const diffMask = new PNG({ width, height });
-  const diffPixels = pixelmatch(
-    normalizedReference.data,
-    normalizedActual.data,
-    diffMask.data,
-    width,
-    height,
-    {
-      threshold: input.pixelmatchThreshold,
-      alpha: 0.2,
-      diffColor: [DIFF_COLOR[0], DIFF_COLOR[1], DIFF_COLOR[2]],
-    },
-  );
-  const highlighted = clonePng(normalizedActual);
-  const mergedRegions = mergeDiffBoxes(diffBoxesFromMask(diffMask), DEFAULT_DIFF_BOX_MERGE_DISTANCE);
-  for (const region of mergedRegions) {
-    drawBox(highlighted, padBox(region, DEFAULT_DIFF_BOX_PADDING, width, height), DEFAULT_DIFF_BOX_STROKE_WIDTH);
-  }
-  await fsp.writeFile(input.diffPath, PNG.sync.write(highlighted));
-  const totalPixels = width * height;
-  const diffRatio = totalPixels > 0 ? diffPixels / totalPixels : 0;
-  const similarity = Number(((1 - diffRatio) * 100).toFixed(2));
-  return {
-    referencePath: relativeToProject(input.cwd, input.referencePath),
-    actualPath: relativeToProject(input.cwd, input.actualPath),
-    diffPath: relativeToProject(input.cwd, input.diffPath),
-    referenceWidth: input.reference.width,
-    referenceHeight: input.reference.height,
-    actualWidth: input.actual.width,
-    actualHeight: input.actual.height,
-    comparedWidth: width,
-    comparedHeight: height,
-    diffPixels,
-    diffRatio: Number(diffRatio.toFixed(6)),
-    similarity,
-    regions: mergedRegions,
-    suggestions: buildSuggestions({
-      similarity,
-      regionCount: mergedRegions.length,
-      comparedWidth: width,
-      comparedHeight: height,
-      referenceWidth: input.reference.width,
-      referenceHeight: input.reference.height,
-      actualWidth: input.actual.width,
-      actualHeight: input.actual.height,
-    }),
-  };
-}
-
-async function captureWithPlaywright(input: VisualValidationCaptureInput): Promise<void> {
-  configurePackagedPlaywrightEnvironment();
-  const { chromium } = await import('playwright');
-  const browser = await chromium.launch(resolveVisualValidationChromiumLaunchOptions());
-  try {
-    const page = await browser.newPage({ viewport: input.viewport, deviceScaleFactor: 1 });
-    await stabilizePage(page);
-    await page.goto(input.entryUrl, { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
-    await page.screenshot({
-      path: input.outputPath,
-      fullPage: false,
-      animations: 'disabled',
-      caret: 'hide',
-    });
-  } finally {
-    await browser.close();
-  }
-}
-
-export function resolveVisualValidationChromiumLaunchOptions(): { channel: 'chromium' } {
-  return {
-    // Playwright's default headless launch uses chromium_headless_shell-*.
-    // Packaged builds may legitimately ship only chromium-* via `--no-shell`,
-    // so force the bundled Chromium new-headless channel instead.
-    channel: VISUAL_VALIDATION_CHROMIUM_CHANNEL,
-  };
-}
-
-export function resolvePackagedPlaywrightBrowsersPath(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): string | null {
-  const configured = env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH?.trim();
-  if (configured) return configured;
-  const resourceRoot = env.OD_RESOURCE_ROOT?.trim();
-  if (!resourceRoot) return null;
-  return path.join(resourceRoot, PACKAGED_PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_DIR);
-}
-
-function configurePackagedPlaywrightEnvironment(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): void {
-  const browsersPath = resolvePackagedPlaywrightBrowsersPath(env);
-  if (!browsersPath || env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH?.trim()) return;
-  env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH = browsersPath;
-}
-
-async function stabilizePage(page: Page): Promise<void> {
-  await page.addInitScript(`
-    (() => {
-      const style = document.createElement('style');
-      style.textContent = \`
-        *,
-        *::before,
-        *::after {
-          animation-duration: 0s !important;
-          animation-delay: 0s !important;
-          transition-duration: 0s !important;
-          transition-delay: 0s !important;
-          caret-color: transparent !important;
-        }
-        html {
-          scroll-behavior: auto !important;
-        }
-      \`;
-      document.documentElement.appendChild(style);
-    })();
-  `);
-}
-
-async function writeVisualValidationArtifacts(
-  outputDir: string,
-  report: VisualValidationReport,
-): Promise<void> {
-  await fsp.writeFile(path.join(outputDir, 'report.json'), JSON.stringify(report, null, 2) + '\n', 'utf8');
-  const lines = [
-    '# Visual validation',
-    '',
-    `Status: ${report.status}`,
-    `Compared at: ${report.comparedAt}`,
-    report.entryFile ? `Entry file: ${report.entryFile}` : 'Entry file: <none>',
-    '',
-    report.message,
-  ];
-  if (report.comparison) {
-    lines.push(
-      '',
-      `Reference: ${report.comparison.referencePath}`,
-      `Actual: ${report.comparison.actualPath}`,
-      `Diff: ${report.comparison.diffPath}`,
-      `Similarity: ${report.comparison.similarity}%`,
-      `Diff ratio: ${(report.comparison.diffRatio * 100).toFixed(2)}%`,
-    );
-    if (report.comparison.suggestions.length > 0) {
-      lines.push('', 'Suggestions:');
-      for (const suggestion of report.comparison.suggestions) {
-        lines.push(`- ${suggestion}`);
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  await fsp.writeFile(path.join(outputDir, 'summary.md'), lines.join('\n') + '\n', 'utf8');
-}
-
-function buildFailedVisualValidationResult(
-  entryFile: string | null,
-  message: string,
-): { report: VisualValidationReport; signals: UntilSignals } {
-  return {
-    report: {
-      status: 'failed',
-      entryFile,
-      message,
-      comparedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
-      comparison: null,
-    },
-    signals: { 'preview.ok': false, 'critique.score': 1 },
-  };
-}
-
-async function resolveVisualValidationEntryUrl(input: {
-  entryFile: string;
-  projectId?: string | null;
-  daemonUrl?: string | null;
-  entryUrl?: string | null;
-}): Promise<string> {
-  if (typeof input.entryUrl === 'string' && input.entryUrl.length > 0) {
-    return input.entryUrl;
-  }
-  if (!input.projectId || !input.daemonUrl) {
-    throw new Error(
-      'visual validation requires daemon preview context to resolve the project entry URL',
-    );
-  }
-  const base = input.daemonUrl.replace(/\/+$/, '');
-  const response = await fetch(
-    `${base}/api/projects/${encodeURIComponent(input.projectId)}/preview-url?file=${encodeURIComponent(input.entryFile)}`,
-    { headers: { accept: 'application/json' } },
-  );
-  if (!response.ok) {
-    throw new Error(`visual validation preview route lookup failed: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
-  }
-  const payload = await response.json() as { url?: unknown };
-  if (typeof payload.url !== 'string' || payload.url.length === 0) {
-    throw new Error('visual validation preview route lookup returned no url');
-  }
-  return new URL(payload.url, `${base}/`).toString();
-}
-
-async function resolveReferenceImages(
-  cwd: string,
-  explicit?: ReadonlyArray<string>,
-): Promise<string[]> {
-  if (explicit && explicit.length > 0) {
-    return explicit.map((entry) => path.resolve(cwd, entry));
-  }
-
-  const files = await walkFiles(cwd, '');
-  const candidates = files.filter((relPath) => {
-    const lower = relPath.toLowerCase();
-    if (!AUTO_DISCOVERED_REFERENCE_IMAGE_RE.test(lower)) return false;
-    if (lower.startsWith('critique/')) return false;
-    return isAutoDiscoveredReferenceImage(lower);
-  });
-  candidates.sort();
-  return candidates.map((relPath) => path.join(cwd, relPath));
-}
-
-function isAutoDiscoveredReferenceImage(relPath: string): boolean {
-  const name = path.basename(relPath);
-  const dirSegments = path.dirname(relPath)
-    .split(/[\\/]+/)
-    .filter((segment) => segment !== '.' && segment.length > 0);
-  return isNamedReferenceImage(name)
-    || dirSegments.includes('references')
-    || dirSegments.includes('reference')
-    || dirSegments.includes('spec');
-}
-
-function isNamedReferenceImage(name: string): boolean {
-  return name.startsWith('reference')
-    || name.startsWith('baseline')
-    || name.startsWith('expected');
-}
-
-async function walkFiles(root: string, relDir: string): Promise<string[]> {
-  const dir = relDir ? path.join(root, relDir) : root;
-  const entries = await fsp.readdir(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
-  const out: string[] = [];
-  for (const entry of entries) {
-    if (entry.name.startsWith('.')) continue;
-    if (entry.isSymbolicLink()) continue;
-    const relPath = relDir ? path.join(relDir, entry.name) : entry.name;
-    if (entry.isDirectory()) {
-      if (IGNORED_REFERENCE_SCAN_DIRS.has(entry.name)) continue;
-      out.push(...await walkFiles(root, relPath));
-      continue;
-    }
-    if (entry.isFile()) out.push(relPath);
-  }
-  return out;
-}
-
-function summarizeComparison(comparison: VisualValidationComparison): string {
-  const parts = [
-    `visual similarity ${comparison.similarity}% against ${path.basename(comparison.referencePath)}`,
-    `${comparison.regions.length} highlighted diff region${comparison.regions.length === 1 ? '' : 's'}`,
-  ];
-  if (comparison.suggestions.length > 0) {
-    parts.push(`focus: ${comparison.suggestions[0]}`);
-  }
-  return parts.join('; ');
-}
-
-function formatVisualValidationError(error: unknown): string {
-  if (error instanceof Error && error.message) return error.message;
-  return 'unknown error';
-}
-
-function buildSuggestions(input: {
-  similarity: number;
-  regionCount: number;
-  comparedWidth: number;
-  comparedHeight: number;
-  referenceWidth: number;
-  referenceHeight: number;
-  actualWidth: number;
-  actualHeight: number;
-}): string[] {
-  const suggestions: string[] = [];
-  if (Math.abs(input.referenceWidth - input.actualWidth) > 24 || Math.abs(input.referenceHeight - input.actualHeight) > 24) {
-    suggestions.push('Match the reference canvas size or responsive breakpoint before tuning local styling.');
-  }
-  if (input.regionCount === 0 && input.similarity < 100) {
-    suggestions.push('Recheck anti-aliasing, image loading, and screenshot viewport settings.');
-  } else if (input.regionCount <= 2 && input.similarity < 95) {
-    suggestions.push('Fix the most visible component-level styling mismatches in the highlighted regions.');
-  } else if (input.regionCount >= 6) {
-    suggestions.push('Layout, spacing, or typography is drifting across the page rather than in one isolated component.');
-  }
-  if (input.similarity < 90) {
-    suggestions.push('Audit large spacing, sizing, and color-token differences before doing fine polish.');
-  }
-  if (suggestions.length === 0) {
-    suggestions.push('Only minor visual polish remains; tighten spacing and token parity in the highlighted regions.');
-  }
-  return suggestions;
-}
-
-function clonePng(source: PNG): PNG {
-  const target = new PNG({ width: source.width, height: source.height });
-  source.data.copy(target.data);
-  return target;
-}
-
-function viewportForReference(reference: PNG, label: string): ViewportSize {
-  assertPngSize(reference, label);
-  return { width: reference.width, height: reference.height };
-}
-
-function normalizePng(source: PNG, width: number, height: number): PNG {
-  const out = new PNG({ width, height });
-  PNG.bitblt(source, out, 0, 0, source.width, source.height, 0, 0);
-  return out;
-}
-
-function assertPngSize(png: PNG, label: string): void {
-  assertPngPixels(png.width, png.height, label);
-}
-
-function assertPngPixels(width: number, height: number, label: string): void {
-  if (!Number.isFinite(width) || !Number.isFinite(height) || width <= 0 || height <= 0) {
-    throw new Error(`${label} has invalid PNG dimensions`);
-  }
-  const pixels = width * height;
-  if (pixels > DEFAULT_MAX_CANVAS_PIXELS) {
-    throw new Error(`${label} is ${pixels} pixels; maximum allowed is ${DEFAULT_MAX_CANVAS_PIXELS} pixels`);
-  }
-}
-
-function drawBox(png: PNG, box: VisualValidationRegion, strokeWidth: number): void {
-  for (let y = box.minY; y <= box.maxY; y += 1) {
-    for (let x = box.minX; x <= box.maxX; x += 1) {
-      const isStroke =
-        x - box.minX < strokeWidth
-        || box.maxX - x < strokeWidth
-        || y - box.minY < strokeWidth
-        || box.maxY - y < strokeWidth;
-      if (!isStroke) continue;
-      const index = (y * png.width + x) << 2;
-      png.data[index] = DIFF_COLOR[0];
-      png.data[index + 1] = DIFF_COLOR[1];
-      png.data[index + 2] = DIFF_COLOR[2];
-      png.data[index + 3] = 255;
-    }
-  }
-}
-
-function diffBoxesFromMask(maskPng: PNG): VisualValidationRegion[] {
-  const { width, height } = maskPng;
-  const changed = new Uint8Array(width * height);
-  let overall: VisualValidationRegion | null = null;
-  for (let index = 0; index < changed.length; index += 1) {
-    const dataIndex = index << 2;
-    if (
-      maskPng.data[dataIndex] === DIFF_COLOR[0]
-      && maskPng.data[dataIndex + 1] === DIFF_COLOR[1]
-      && maskPng.data[dataIndex + 2] === DIFF_COLOR[2]
-    ) {
-      changed[index] = 1;
-      const x = index % width;
-      const y = Math.floor(index / width);
-      overall = overall == null
-        ? { minX: x, minY: y, maxX: x, maxY: y }
-        : {
-            minX: Math.min(overall.minX, x),
-            minY: Math.min(overall.minY, y),
-            maxX: Math.max(overall.maxX, x),
-            maxY: Math.max(overall.maxY, y),
-          };
-    }
-  }
-  if (overall == null) return [];
-  const boxes: VisualValidationRegion[] = [];
-  const queue = new Int32Array(width * height);
-  for (let index = 0; index < changed.length; index += 1) {
-    if (changed[index] === 0) continue;
-    let head = 0;
-    let tail = 0;
-    let minX = index % width;
-    let maxX = minX;
-    let minY = Math.floor(index / width);
-    let maxY = minY;
-    changed[index] = 0;
-    queue[tail++] = index;
-    while (head < tail) {
-      const current = queue[head++] ?? -1;
-      if (current < 0) continue;
-      const x = current % width;
-      const y = Math.floor(current / width);
-      minX = Math.min(minX, x);
-      maxX = Math.max(maxX, x);
-      minY = Math.min(minY, y);
-      maxY = Math.max(maxY, y);
-      tail = enqueueChanged(changed, queue, tail, x > 0 ? current - 1 : -1);
-      tail = enqueueChanged(changed, queue, tail, x < width - 1 ? current + 1 : -1);
-      tail = enqueueChanged(changed, queue, tail, y > 0 ? current - width : -1);
-      tail = enqueueChanged(changed, queue, tail, y < height - 1 ? current + width : -1);
-    }
-    boxes.push({ minX, minY, maxX, maxY });
-    if (boxes.length > DEFAULT_MAX_DIFF_BOX_REGIONS) return [overall];
-  }
-  return boxes;
-}
-
-function enqueueChanged(changed: Uint8Array, queue: Int32Array, tail: number, index: number): number {
-  if (index < 0 || changed[index] === 0) return tail;
-  changed[index] = 0;
-  queue[tail] = index;
-  return tail + 1;
-}
-
-function mergeDiffBoxes(boxes: VisualValidationRegion[], distance: number): VisualValidationRegion[] {
-  if (boxes.length < 2) return boxes;
-  const pending = boxes.slice();
-  const merged: VisualValidationRegion[] = [];
-  while (pending.length > 0) {
-    let current = pending.shift()!;
-    let changed = true;
-    while (changed) {
-      changed = false;
-      for (let i = pending.length - 1; i >= 0; i -= 1) {
-        const candidate = pending[i]!;
-        if (!boxesTouchOrNear(current, candidate, distance)) continue;
-        current = {
-          minX: Math.min(current.minX, candidate.minX),
-          minY: Math.min(current.minY, candidate.minY),
-          maxX: Math.max(current.maxX, candidate.maxX),
-          maxY: Math.max(current.maxY, candidate.maxY),
-        };
-        pending.splice(i, 1);
-        changed = true;
-      }
-    }
-    merged.push(current);
-  }
-  return merged;
-}
-
-function boxesTouchOrNear(a: VisualValidationRegion, b: VisualValidationRegion, distance: number): boolean {
-  return !(
-    a.maxX + distance < b.minX
-    || b.maxX + distance < a.minX
-    || a.maxY + distance < b.minY
-    || b.maxY + distance < a.minY
-  );
-}
-
-function padBox(
-  box: VisualValidationRegion,
-  padding: number,
-  maxWidth: number,
-  maxHeight: number,
-): VisualValidationRegion {
-  return {
-    minX: clamp(box.minX - padding, 0, maxWidth - 1),
-    minY: clamp(box.minY - padding, 0, maxHeight - 1),
-    maxX: clamp(box.maxX + padding, 0, maxWidth - 1),
-    maxY: clamp(box.maxY + padding, 0, maxHeight - 1),
-  };
-}
-
-function sanitizeStem(input: string): string {
-  const normalized = input.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9._-]+/g, '-').replace(/^-+|-+$/g, '');
-  return normalized || 'reference';
-}
-
-function buildReferenceArtifactStem(cwd: string, referencePath: string, index: number): string {
-  const relativeReferencePath = relativeToProject(cwd, referencePath)
-    .replace(/^\.\//, '')
-    .replace(/\.[^.]+$/, '');
-  return `${sanitizeStem(relativeReferencePath)}-${index + 1}`;
-}
-
-function relativeToProject(cwd: string, target: string): string {
-  return path.relative(cwd, target).split(path.sep).join('/');
-}
-
-function clamp(value: number, min: number, max: number): number {
-  return Math.max(min, Math.min(max, value));
-}
diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/index.ts b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/index.ts
index 02d4d2879..0bc5865d2 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/index.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/index.ts
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ export * from './atoms/patch-edit.js';
 export * from './atoms/registry.js';
 export * from './atoms/rewrite-plan.js';
 export * from './atoms/token-map.js';
-export * from './atoms/visual-validation.js';
 export * from './bundled.js';
 export * from './connector-gate.js';
 export * from './connector-probe.js';
@@ -94,7 +93,6 @@ export * from './lockfile.js';
 export * from './persistence.js';
 export * from './marketplaces.js';
 export * from './pipeline.js';
-export * from './pipeline-schedule.js';
 export * from './pipeline-runner.js';
 export * from './publish.js';
 export * from './registry.js';
diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/pipeline-schedule.ts b/apps/daemon/src/plugins/pipeline-schedule.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 6ec441936..000000000
--- a/apps/daemon/src/plugins/pipeline-schedule.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,106 +0,0 @@
-import type {
-  AppliedPluginSnapshot,
-  GenUISurfaceSpec,
-  PipelineStage,
-  PluginPipeline,
-} from '@open-design/contracts';
-
-const POST_RUN_ATOMS = new Set([
-  'visual-validation',
-]);
-
-export interface PipelineScheduleSplit {
-  preRun: PluginPipeline | null;
-  postRun: PluginPipeline | null;
-}
-
-export interface PipelineSnapshotScheduleSplit {
-  preRun: AppliedPluginSnapshot | null;
-  postRun: AppliedPluginSnapshot | null;
-}
-
-export function splitPipelineByExecutionBoundary(
-  pipeline: PluginPipeline | null | undefined,
-): PipelineScheduleSplit {
-  if (!pipeline?.stages?.length) {
-    return { preRun: null, postRun: null };
-  }
-
-  const postRunStart = pipeline.stages.findIndex((stage) =>
-    stage.atoms.some((atomId) => POST_RUN_ATOMS.has(atomId)));
-  if (postRunStart < 0) {
-    return { preRun: pipeline, postRun: null };
-  }
-
-  const preRunStages: PipelineStage[] = pipeline.stages.slice(0, postRunStart);
-  const postRunStages: PipelineStage[] = pipeline.stages.slice(postRunStart);
-
-  return {
-    preRun: preRunStages.length > 0 ? { ...pipeline, stages: preRunStages } : null,
-    postRun: postRunStages.length > 0 ? { ...pipeline, stages: postRunStages } : null,
-  };
-}
-
-export function splitPipelineSnapshotByExecutionBoundary(
-  snapshot: AppliedPluginSnapshot | null | undefined,
-): PipelineSnapshotScheduleSplit {
-  if (!snapshot) {
-    return { preRun: null, postRun: null };
-  }
-
-  const pipelineSplit = splitPipelineByExecutionBoundary(snapshot.pipeline);
-  const preRunSurfaceOnlySnapshot = buildPreRunSurfaceOnlySnapshot(snapshot, pipelineSplit.preRun);
-  return {
-    preRun: pipelineSplit.preRun
-      ? {
-          ...snapshot,
-          pipeline: pipelineSplit.preRun,
-          genuiSurfaces: filterSurfacesForPipelineStages(
-            snapshot.genuiSurfaces,
-            pipelineSplit.preRun,
-            { includeTriggerless: true },
-          ),
-        }
-      : preRunSurfaceOnlySnapshot,
-    postRun: pipelineSplit.postRun
-      ? {
-          ...snapshot,
-          pipeline: pipelineSplit.postRun,
-          genuiSurfaces: filterSurfacesForPipelineStages(
-            snapshot.genuiSurfaces,
-            pipelineSplit.postRun,
-            { includeTriggerless: false },
-          ),
-        }
-      : null,
-  };
-}
-
-function buildPreRunSurfaceOnlySnapshot(
-  snapshot: AppliedPluginSnapshot,
-  preRunPipeline: PluginPipeline | null,
-): AppliedPluginSnapshot | null {
-  if (preRunPipeline) return null;
-  const triggerlessSurfaces = snapshot.genuiSurfaces?.filter((surface) => !surface.trigger?.stageId);
-  if (!triggerlessSurfaces?.length) return null;
-  return {
-    ...snapshot,
-    pipeline: { stages: [] },
-    genuiSurfaces: triggerlessSurfaces,
-  };
-}
-
-function filterSurfacesForPipelineStages(
-  surfaces: GenUISurfaceSpec[] | undefined,
-  pipeline: PluginPipeline,
-  options: { includeTriggerless: boolean },
-): GenUISurfaceSpec[] | undefined {
-  if (!surfaces?.length) return surfaces;
-
-  const stageIds = new Set(pipeline.stages.map((stage) => stage.id));
-  return surfaces.filter((surface) => {
-    const stageId = surface.trigger?.stageId;
-    if (!stageId) return options.includeTriggerless;
-    return stageIds.has(stageId);
-  });
-}
diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/server.ts b/apps/daemon/src/server.ts
index c6dc2291b..7ccdea60e 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/src/server.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/src/server.ts
@@ -157,7 +157,6 @@ import {
   restoreProjectSnapshotLink,
   resolvePluginSnapshot,
   runPipelineForRun,
-  splitPipelineSnapshotByExecutionBoundary,
   runStageWithRegistry,
   startSnapshotGc,
   uninstallPlugin,
@@ -10935,13 +10934,10 @@ export async function startServer({
   // back to the canned v1 stub for diagnostic bisection or replay
   // of pre-Stage-D runs. Errors are swallowed (logged) so a bad
   // pipeline never blocks the agent run.
-  const executePipelineForRun = async (args) => {
+  const firePipelineForRun = (args) => {
     const { run, snapshot, runs, db: dbHandle } = args;
-    if (!snapshot?.pipeline) {
-      return { outcomes: [], lastSignalsByStage: new Map() };
-    }
+    if (!snapshot?.pipeline?.stages?.length) return;
     const env = { maxIterations: readPluginEnvKnobs().maxDevloopIterations };
-    const lastSignalsByStage = new Map();
     const emitPipeline = (evt) => {
       try { runs.emit(run, evt.kind, evt); } catch {/* ignore */}
     };
@@ -10956,47 +10952,32 @@ export async function startServer({
       : 'registry';
     let runStage;
     if (runnerMode === 'stub') {
-      runStage = ({ stage, iteration }) => {
-        const outcome = {
-          signals: {
-            'critique.score':  iteration >= 0 ? 4 : 0,
-            'preview.ok':      true,
-            'user.confirmed':  true,
-          },
-        };
-        lastSignalsByStage.set(stage.id, outcome.signals);
-        return outcome;
-      };
+      runStage = ({ iteration }) => ({
+        signals: {
+          'critique.score':  iteration >= 0 ? 4 : 0,
+          'preview.ok':      true,
+          'user.confirmed':  true,
+        },
+      });
     } else {
       registerBuiltInAtomWorkers();
       runStage = async ({ stage, iteration, snapshot: stageSnapshot }) => {
-        const projectRecord = getProject(dbHandle, projectIdForRun);
-        const cwd = projectRecord
-          ? resolveProjectDir(PROJECTS_DIR, projectIdForRun, projectRecord.metadata)
-          : null;
-        const entryFile = typeof projectRecord?.metadata?.entryFile === 'string'
-          ? projectRecord.metadata.entryFile
-          : null;
         const outcome = await runStageWithRegistry({
           db:             dbHandle,
           runId:          run.id,
           projectId:      projectIdForRun,
           conversationId: run.conversationId ?? null,
-          daemonUrl,
-          cwd,
-          entryFile,
           stage,
           iteration,
           snapshot:       stageSnapshot,
         });
-        lastSignalsByStage.set(stage.id, outcome.signals ?? {});
         return {
           signals:         outcome.signals,
           critiqueSummary: outcome.critiqueSummary,
         };
       };
     }
-    const outcomes = await runPipelineForRun({
+    void runPipelineForRun({
       db: dbHandle,
       runId:           run.id,
       projectId:       projectIdForRun,
@@ -11007,13 +10988,7 @@ export async function startServer({
       runStage,
       emitPipeline,
       emitGenui,
-    });
-    return { outcomes, lastSignalsByStage };
-  };
-
-  const firePipelineForRun = (args) => {
-    const { run, snapshot, runs } = args;
-    void executePipelineForRun(args).catch((err) => {
+    }).catch((err) => {
       try {
         runs.emit(run, 'pipeline_stage_failed', {
           runId:      run.id,
@@ -13542,67 +13517,25 @@ export async function startServer({
       for (const chunk of plaintextStdoutBuffer) {
         send('stdout', { chunk });
       }
-      let finalStatus = status;
-      if (
-        finalStatus === 'succeeded'
-        && run.postRunPipelineSnapshot?.pipeline?.stages?.length
-      ) {
-        try {
-          const { outcomes, lastSignalsByStage } = await executePipelineForRun({
-            run,
-            snapshot: run.postRunPipelineSnapshot,
-            runs: design.runs,
-            db,
+      // Capture the pi session file path for conversational continuity.
+      // The session path is discovered by attachPiRpcSession when it
+      // processes agent_end; persist it under (conversationId, agentId) so
+      // another conversation in the same cwd cannot inherit this history.
+      if (acpSession && typeof acpSession.getLastSessionPath === 'function') {
+        const sessionPath = acpSession.getLastSessionPath();
+        if (status === 'succeeded' && def.streamFormat === 'pi-rpc') {
+          persistCapturedAgentSession(db, {
+            conversationId: run.conversationId,
+            agentId: def.id,
+            sessionId: sessionPath,
+            stablePromptHash: currentStableHash,
           });
-          const failedStage = outcomes.find((outcome) => {
-            if (!outcome.converged) return true;
-            const stage = run.postRunPipelineSnapshot.pipeline.stages.find(
-              (candidate) => candidate.id === outcome.stageId,
-            );
-            if (!stage?.atoms.includes('visual-validation')) return false;
-            const signals = lastSignalsByStage.get(outcome.stageId) ?? {};
-            if (signals['preview.ok'] === false) return true;
-            return typeof signals['critique.score'] === 'number'
-              && signals['critique.score'] < 4;
-          });
-          if (failedStage) {
-            const failedSignals = lastSignalsByStage.get(failedStage.stageId) ?? {};
-            const failedScore = failedSignals['critique.score'];
-            send('error', createSseErrorPayload(
-              'PLUGIN_PIPELINE_FAILED',
-              typeof failedScore === 'number'
-                ? `Post-run visual validation scored ${failedScore}, so the run cannot finish successfully.`
-                : `Post-run pipeline stage "${failedStage.stageId}" did not finish successfully.`,
-            ));
-            finalStatus = 'failed';
-          }
-        } catch (err) {
-          send('error', createSseErrorPayload(
-            'PLUGIN_PIPELINE_FAILED',
-            err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
-          ));
-          finalStatus = 'failed';
         }
       }
-      if (finalStatus === 'succeeded') {
-        // Capture the pi session file path for conversational continuity.
-        // The session path is discovered by attachPiRpcSession when it
-        // processes agent_end; persist it under (conversationId, agentId) so
-        // another conversation in the same cwd cannot inherit this history.
-        if (acpSession && typeof acpSession.getLastSessionPath === 'function') {
-          const sessionPath = acpSession.getLastSessionPath();
-          if (def.streamFormat === 'pi-rpc') {
-            persistCapturedAgentSession(db, {
-              conversationId: run.conversationId,
-              agentId: def.id,
-              sessionId: sessionPath,
-              stablePromptHash: currentStableHash,
-            });
-          }
-        }
+      if (status === 'succeeded') {
         persistDeliveredAgentSessionState();
       }
-      finishWithRetryDecision(finalStatus, code, signal);
+      finishWithRetryDecision(status, code, signal);
       } finally {
         // Best-effort cleanup of the per-run agy log file on every close
         // path — successful, failed, cancelled, or non-zero exit — so
@@ -14073,17 +14006,19 @@ export async function startServer({
         : {}),
     };
     res.status(202).json(body);
-    const pipelineSchedule = resolvedSnapshot?.ok
-      ? splitPipelineSnapshotByExecutionBoundary(resolvedSnapshot.snapshot)
-      : { preRun: null, postRun: null };
-    // Fire only pre-run-safe stages before the agent starts. Stages that
-    // depend on agent-produced artifacts (`visual-validation`) are
-    // deferred until the run succeeds so they inspect the current output
-    // instead of the untouched pre-run workspace.
-    if (resolvedSnapshot?.ok && pipelineSchedule.preRun) {
+    // Plan §3.I1 / spec §10.1 — fire the pipeline schedule on the run's
+    // SSE stream BEFORE the agent process is started. The first
+    // pipeline_stage_started event is emitted synchronously (before
+    // the first await inside runPipelineForRun), so any SSE consumer
+    // that subscribes between create() and start() sees a stage event
+    // ahead of the agent's message_chunk stream — exactly what §8 e2e-3
+    // expects. The stub stage runner returns immediately so a
+    // non-loop pipeline walks through every stage in O(stages) time;
+    // the audit row in `run_devloop_iterations` records the timeline.
+    if (resolvedSnapshot?.ok && resolvedSnapshot.snapshot.pipeline) {
       firePipelineForRun({
         run,
-        snapshot: pipelineSchedule.preRun,
+        snapshot: resolvedSnapshot.snapshot,
         runs: design.runs,
         db,
       });
@@ -14098,7 +14033,6 @@ export async function startServer({
         console.warn('[plugins] skill candidate hook setup failed', err);
       }
     }
-    run.postRunPipelineSnapshot = pipelineSchedule.postRun;
     design.runs.start(run, () => startChatRun(meta, run));
 
     // Analytics v2: emit run_created (daemon-side authoritative) and
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atom-registry.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atom-registry.test.ts
index ca288693b..b8c5a7ca0 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atom-registry.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atom-registry.test.ts
@@ -92,9 +92,6 @@ function ctxFor(stage: PipelineStage, iteration = 0): AtomWorkerContext {
     runId:          'run-1',
     projectId:      'project-1',
     conversationId: 'conv-A',
-    daemonUrl:      null,
-    cwd:            tmpDir,
-    entryFile:      null,
     stage,
     iteration,
     snapshot:       fakeSnapshot(),
@@ -230,7 +227,7 @@ describe('built-in critique-theater worker', () => {
 });
 
 describe('registerBuiltInAtomWorkers: idempotency', () => {
-  it('registers every implemented first-party atom exactly once even on repeat calls', () => {
+  it('registers every FIRST_PARTY_ATOM exactly once even on repeat calls', () => {
     registerBuiltInAtomWorkers();
     const first = listRegisteredAtomIds();
     registerBuiltInAtomWorkers();
@@ -239,7 +236,6 @@ describe('registerBuiltInAtomWorkers: idempotency', () => {
     expect(first).toContain('critique-theater');
     expect(first).toContain('file-write');
     expect(first).toContain('media-image');
-    expect(first).toContain('visual-validation');
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atoms-info.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atoms-info.test.ts
index f15c3c176..84d99c7f9 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atoms-info.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-atoms-info.test.ts
@@ -29,15 +29,9 @@ describe('atoms catalog — Phase 6/7/8 promotion', () => {
     expect(atom?.taskKinds).toContain('code-migration');
   });
 
-  it("'visual-validation' is implemented with daemon-backed screenshot comparison", () => {
-    const atom = findAtom('visual-validation');
-    expect(atom?.status).toBe('implemented');
-    expect(isImplementedAtom('visual-validation')).toBe(true);
-  });
-
-  it('the catalog no longer contains planned first-party atoms', () => {
+  it('the catalog has no remaining planned atoms (after the §3.AA2 promotion)', () => {
     const planned = FIRST_PARTY_ATOMS.filter((a) => a.status === 'planned');
-    expect(planned).toEqual([]);
+    expect(planned.map((a) => a.id)).toEqual([]);
   });
 
   it('every atom in the catalog has a non-empty taskKinds[]', () => {
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-atoms-roster.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-atoms-roster.test.ts
index 6543daf7a..bde9f5387 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-atoms-roster.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-atoms-roster.test.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ const PHASE_4_ATOMS = [
   'direction-picker',
   'todo-write',
   'critique-theater',
-  'visual-validation',
 ];
 
 // Phase 6 (figma-migration native, spec §21.4)
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-scenarios-roster.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-scenarios-roster.test.ts
index 14407d5c9..3706e92e6 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-scenarios-roster.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-bundled-scenarios-roster.test.ts
@@ -62,10 +62,6 @@ describe('plugins/_official/scenarios roster', () => {
       expect(manifest.od.taskKind).toBe(expected.taskKind);
       const stageIds = manifest.od.pipeline.stages.map((s: { id: string }) => s.id);
       expect(stageIds).toEqual(expected.pipelineStages);
-      if (folder === 'od-new-generation' || folder === 'od-tune-collab') {
-        const critiqueStage = manifest.od.pipeline.stages.find((s: { id: string }) => s.id === 'critique');
-        expect(critiqueStage?.atoms).toEqual(['critique-theater']);
-      }
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-headless-run.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-headless-run.test.ts
index c441794cb..a9b124657 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-headless-run.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-headless-run.test.ts
@@ -31,14 +31,6 @@ import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import url from 'node:url';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
-import {
-  clearAtomWorkers,
-  registerAtomWorker,
-} from '../src/plugins/atoms/registry.js';
-import {
-  registerBuiltInAtomWorkers,
-  resetBuiltInAtomWorkersForTests,
-} from '../src/plugins/atoms/built-ins.js';
 import { startServer } from '../src/server.js';
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(url.fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
@@ -728,324 +720,4 @@ process.stdin.on('end', () => {
     await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/runs/${encodeURIComponent(runBody.runId)}/cancel`, { method: 'POST' });
     await fs.rm(tmpRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
   });
-
-  it('defers visual-validation until after the agent rewrites the artifact', async () => {
-    const fs = await import('node:fs/promises');
-    const os = await import('node:os');
-    const tmpRoot = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-headless-visual-validation-'));
-    const fixture = path.join(tmpRoot, 'visual-validation-plugin');
-    const seenHtml: string[] = [];
-
-    clearAtomWorkers();
-    resetBuiltInAtomWorkersForTests();
-    registerBuiltInAtomWorkers();
-    registerAtomWorker({
-      id: 'visual-validation',
-      run: async (ctx) => {
-        if (!ctx.cwd) throw new Error('expected project cwd for visual validation');
-        seenHtml.push(await readFile(path.join(ctx.cwd, 'index.html'), 'utf8'));
-        return {
-          signals: {
-            'preview.ok': true,
-            'critique.score': 5,
-          },
-          note: 'captured test artifact',
-        };
-      },
-    });
-
-    try {
-      await fs.mkdir(fixture, { recursive: true });
-      await fs.writeFile(
-        path.join(fixture, 'open-design.json'),
-        JSON.stringify({
-          $schema: 'https://open-design.ai/schemas/plugin.v1.json',
-          name: 'visual-validation-plugin',
-          title: 'Visual Validation Plugin',
-          version: '1.0.0',
-          description: 'fixture with a post-run visual validation stage',
-          license: 'MIT',
-          od: {
-            kind: 'skill',
-            taskKind: 'new-generation',
-            useCase: { query: 'Make a {{topic}} brief.' },
-            inputs: [{ name: 'topic', type: 'string', required: true, label: 'Topic' }],
-            pipeline: {
-              stages: [
-                {
-                  id: 'critique',
-                  atoms: ['visual-validation'],
-                  repeat: false,
-                },
-              ],
-            },
-            capabilities: ['prompt:inject'],
-          },
-        }, null, 2),
-      );
-      await fs.writeFile(
-        path.join(fixture, 'SKILL.md'),
-        '---\nname: visual-validation-plugin\ndescription: fixture with visual validation\n---\n# Visual validation\n',
-      );
-
-      const installResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/plugins/install`, {
-        method: 'POST',
-        headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json', accept: 'text/event-stream' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ source: fixture }),
-      });
-      await readSseUntilSuccess(installResp);
-
-      const projectId = `visual-validation-${Date.now()}`;
-      const createResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/projects`, {
-        method: 'POST',
-        headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({
-          id: projectId,
-          name: 'Visual validation pipeline e2e',
-          pluginId: 'visual-validation-plugin',
-          pluginInputs: { topic: 'artifact rewrite' },
-          grantCaps: ['pipeline:*'],
-        }),
-      });
-      expect(createResp.status).toBe(200);
-      const createBody = (await createResp.json()) as {
-        appliedPluginSnapshotId?: string;
-      };
-      expect(createBody.appliedPluginSnapshotId).toBeTruthy();
-
-      const seedResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/projects/${projectId}/files`, {
-        method: 'POST',
-        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'index.html', content: '<!doctype html><h1>before</h1>' }),
-      });
-      expect(seedResp.status).toBe(200);
-
-      await withFakeAgent(
-        'opencode',
-        `
-const fs = require('node:fs');
-if (process.argv.includes('--version')) {
-  console.log('opencode 0.0.0');
-  process.exit(0);
-}
-if (process.argv[2] === 'models') {
-  console.log('test/model');
-  process.exit(0);
-}
-if (process.argv[2] === 'run') {
-  setTimeout(() => {
-    fs.writeFileSync('index.html', '<!doctype html><h1>after</h1>');
-    console.log(JSON.stringify({ type: 'text', part: { text: 'rewritten' } }));
-    process.exit(0);
-  }, 150);
-}
-`,
-        async () => {
-          const runResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/runs`, {
-            method: 'POST',
-            headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
-            body: JSON.stringify({
-              agentId: 'opencode',
-              projectId,
-              pluginId: 'visual-validation-plugin',
-              appliedPluginSnapshotId: createBody.appliedPluginSnapshotId,
-              grantCaps: ['pipeline:*'],
-            }),
-          });
-          expect(runResp.status).toBe(202);
-          const runBody = (await runResp.json()) as { runId: string };
-
-          await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 50));
-          expect(seenHtml).toEqual([]);
-
-          const deadline = Date.now() + 5_000;
-          while (Date.now() < deadline) {
-            const statusResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/runs/${encodeURIComponent(runBody.runId)}`);
-            expect(statusResp.status).toBe(200);
-            const statusBody = (await statusResp.json()) as { status?: string };
-            if (statusBody.status === 'succeeded' && seenHtml.length > 0) break;
-            await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 50));
-          }
-
-          expect(seenHtml).toEqual(['<!doctype html><h1>after</h1>']);
-        },
-      );
-    } finally {
-      clearAtomWorkers();
-      resetBuiltInAtomWorkersForTests();
-      registerBuiltInAtomWorkers();
-      await fs.rm(tmpRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('fails the run after post-run visual validation and before the terminal end event', async () => {
-    const fs = await import('node:fs/promises');
-    const os = await import('node:os');
-    const tmpRoot = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-headless-visual-validation-gate-'));
-    const fixture = path.join(tmpRoot, 'visual-validation-gate-plugin');
-    const seenHtml: string[] = [];
-
-    clearAtomWorkers();
-    resetBuiltInAtomWorkersForTests();
-    registerBuiltInAtomWorkers();
-    registerAtomWorker({
-      id: 'visual-validation',
-      run: async (ctx) => {
-        if (!ctx.cwd) throw new Error('expected project cwd for visual validation');
-        seenHtml.push(await readFile(path.join(ctx.cwd, 'index.html'), 'utf8'));
-        return {
-          signals: {
-            'preview.ok': false,
-            'critique.score': 1,
-          },
-          note: 'captured failing test artifact',
-        };
-      },
-    });
-
-    try {
-      await fs.mkdir(fixture, { recursive: true });
-      await fs.writeFile(
-        path.join(fixture, 'open-design.json'),
-        JSON.stringify({
-          $schema: 'https://open-design.ai/schemas/plugin.v1.json',
-          name: 'visual-validation-gate-plugin',
-          title: 'Visual Validation Gate Plugin',
-          version: '1.0.0',
-          description: 'fixture with a failing post-run visual validation stage',
-          license: 'MIT',
-          od: {
-            kind: 'skill',
-            taskKind: 'new-generation',
-            useCase: { query: 'Make a {{topic}} brief.' },
-            inputs: [{ name: 'topic', type: 'string', required: true, label: 'Topic' }],
-            pipeline: {
-              stages: [
-                {
-                  id: 'critique',
-                  atoms: ['visual-validation'],
-                  repeat: false,
-                },
-              ],
-            },
-            capabilities: ['prompt:inject'],
-          },
-        }, null, 2),
-      );
-      await fs.writeFile(
-        path.join(fixture, 'SKILL.md'),
-        '---\nname: visual-validation-gate-plugin\ndescription: fixture with failing visual validation\n---\n# Visual validation gate\n',
-      );
-
-      const installResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/plugins/install`, {
-        method: 'POST',
-        headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json', accept: 'text/event-stream' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ source: fixture }),
-      });
-      await readSseUntilSuccess(installResp);
-
-      const projectId = `visual-validation-gate-${Date.now()}`;
-      const createResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/projects`, {
-        method: 'POST',
-        headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({
-          id: projectId,
-          name: 'Visual validation gate pipeline e2e',
-          pluginId: 'visual-validation-gate-plugin',
-          pluginInputs: { topic: 'artifact rewrite' },
-          grantCaps: ['pipeline:*'],
-        }),
-      });
-      expect(createResp.status).toBe(200);
-      const createBody = (await createResp.json()) as {
-        appliedPluginSnapshotId?: string;
-      };
-      expect(createBody.appliedPluginSnapshotId).toBeTruthy();
-
-      const seedResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/projects/${projectId}/files`, {
-        method: 'POST',
-        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'index.html', content: '<!doctype html><h1>before</h1>' }),
-      });
-      expect(seedResp.status).toBe(200);
-
-      await withFakeAgent(
-        'opencode',
-        `
-const fs = require('node:fs');
-if (process.argv.includes('--version')) {
-  console.log('opencode 0.0.0');
-  process.exit(0);
-}
-if (process.argv[2] === 'models') {
-  console.log('test/model');
-  process.exit(0);
-}
-if (process.argv[2] === 'run') {
-  setTimeout(() => {
-    fs.writeFileSync('index.html', '<!doctype html><h1>after</h1>');
-    console.log(JSON.stringify({ type: 'text', part: { text: 'rewritten' } }));
-    process.exit(0);
-  }, 150);
-}
-`,
-        async () => {
-          const runResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/runs`, {
-            method: 'POST',
-            headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
-            body: JSON.stringify({
-              agentId: 'opencode',
-              projectId,
-              pluginId: 'visual-validation-gate-plugin',
-              appliedPluginSnapshotId: createBody.appliedPluginSnapshotId,
-              grantCaps: ['pipeline:*'],
-            }),
-          });
-          expect(runResp.status).toBe(202);
-          const runBody = (await runResp.json()) as { runId: string };
-
-          const eventsResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/runs/${encodeURIComponent(runBody.runId)}/events`, {
-            headers: { accept: 'text/event-stream' },
-          });
-          expect(eventsResp.body).toBeTruthy();
-          const reader = eventsResp.body!.getReader();
-          const decoder = new TextDecoder();
-          let buffer = '';
-          const events: string[] = [];
-
-          while (true) {
-            const { value, done } = await reader.read();
-            if (done) break;
-            buffer += decoder.decode(value, { stream: true });
-            const blocks = buffer.split('\n\n');
-            buffer = blocks.pop() ?? '';
-            for (const block of blocks) {
-              const eventLine = block.split('\n').find((line) => line.startsWith('event: '));
-              if (!eventLine) continue;
-              const event = eventLine.slice('event: '.length);
-              events.push(event);
-              if (event === 'end') break;
-            }
-            if (events.includes('end')) break;
-          }
-
-          expect(seenHtml).toEqual(['<!doctype html><h1>after</h1>']);
-          expect(events).toContain('pipeline_stage_started');
-          expect(events).toContain('pipeline_stage_completed');
-          expect(events.indexOf('pipeline_stage_completed')).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
-          expect(events.indexOf('end')).toBeGreaterThan(events.indexOf('pipeline_stage_completed'));
-
-          const statusResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/runs/${encodeURIComponent(runBody.runId)}`);
-          expect(statusResp.status).toBe(200);
-          const statusBody = (await statusResp.json()) as { status?: string };
-          expect(statusBody.status).toBe('failed');
-        },
-      );
-    } finally {
-      clearAtomWorkers();
-      resetBuiltInAtomWorkersForTests();
-      registerBuiltInAtomWorkers();
-      await fs.rm(tmpRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
 });
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-runner.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-runner.test.ts
index 4f0a0f2b3..6dd701b68 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-runner.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-runner.test.ts
@@ -212,9 +212,6 @@ describe('pipeline-runner: Stage D registry runner integration', () => {
         runId: 'run-stage-d',
         projectId: 'project-1',
         conversationId: 'conv-A',
-        daemonUrl: null,
-        cwd: null,
-        entryFile: null,
         stage,
         iteration,
         snapshot: snap2,
@@ -249,9 +246,6 @@ describe('pipeline-runner: Stage D registry runner integration', () => {
           runId: 'run-permissive',
           projectId: 'project-1',
           conversationId: 'conv-A',
-          daemonUrl: null,
-          cwd: null,
-          entryFile: null,
           stage,
           iteration,
           snapshot:  snap2,
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-schedule.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-schedule.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index fbbbe1482..000000000
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-pipeline-schedule.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,163 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import type { AppliedPluginSnapshot, GenUISurfaceSpec, PluginPipeline } from '@open-design/contracts';
-import {
-  splitPipelineByExecutionBoundary,
-  splitPipelineSnapshotByExecutionBoundary,
-} from '../src/plugins/pipeline-schedule.js';
-
-describe('splitPipelineByExecutionBoundary', () => {
-  it('keeps pre-run-only pipelines intact', () => {
-    const pipeline: PluginPipeline = {
-      stages: [
-        { id: 'discovery', atoms: ['discovery-question-form'] },
-        { id: 'plan', atoms: ['todo-write'] },
-      ],
-    };
-
-    const schedule = splitPipelineByExecutionBoundary(pipeline);
-
-    expect(schedule.preRun).toEqual(pipeline);
-    expect(schedule.postRun).toBeNull();
-  });
-
-  it('defers visual-validation stages until after the run succeeds', () => {
-    const pipeline: PluginPipeline = {
-      stages: [
-        { id: 'discovery', atoms: ['discovery-question-form'] },
-        { id: 'generate', atoms: ['file-write', 'live-artifact'] },
-        {
-          id: 'critique',
-          atoms: ['critique-theater', 'visual-validation'],
-          repeat: true,
-          until: 'critique.score>=4 || iterations>=3',
-        },
-      ],
-    };
-
-    const schedule = splitPipelineByExecutionBoundary(pipeline);
-
-    expect(schedule.preRun?.stages.map((stage) => stage.id)).toEqual([
-      'discovery',
-      'generate',
-    ]);
-    expect(schedule.postRun?.stages.map((stage) => stage.id)).toEqual([
-      'critique',
-    ]);
-  });
-
-  it('keeps the full suffix in post-run order once a post-run atom appears', () => {
-    const pipeline: PluginPipeline = {
-      stages: [
-        { id: 'direction', atoms: ['discovery-question-form'] },
-        { id: 'patch', atoms: ['file-write'] },
-        { id: 'critique', atoms: ['critique-theater', 'visual-validation'] },
-        { id: 'handoff', atoms: ['handoff'] },
-      ],
-    };
-
-    const schedule = splitPipelineByExecutionBoundary(pipeline);
-
-    expect(schedule.preRun?.stages.map((stage) => stage.id)).toEqual([
-      'direction',
-      'patch',
-    ]);
-    expect(schedule.postRun?.stages.map((stage) => stage.id)).toEqual([
-      'critique',
-      'handoff',
-    ]);
-  });
-});
-
-describe('splitPipelineSnapshotByExecutionBoundary', () => {
-  it('keeps triggerless surfaces in pre-run only and stage-scopes the deferred suffix', () => {
-    const surfaces: GenUISurfaceSpec[] = [
-      { id: 'confirm', kind: 'confirmation', persist: 'run' },
-      { id: 'direction-form', kind: 'form', persist: 'run', trigger: { stageId: 'direction' } },
-      { id: 'critique-form', kind: 'form', persist: 'run', trigger: { stageId: 'critique' } },
-      { id: 'handoff-form', kind: 'form', persist: 'run', trigger: { stageId: 'handoff' } },
-    ];
-    const snapshot = {
-      snapshotId: 'snap-1',
-      pluginId: 'sample-plugin',
-      pluginVersion: '1.0.0',
-      manifestSourceDigest: 'digest-1',
-      inputs: {},
-      resolvedContext: { items: [] },
-      capabilitiesGranted: [],
-      capabilitiesRequired: [],
-      assetsStaged: [],
-      taskKind: 'new-generation',
-      appliedAt: 0,
-      connectorsRequired: [],
-      connectorsResolved: [],
-      mcpServers: [],
-      pipeline: {
-        stages: [
-          { id: 'direction', atoms: ['discovery-question-form'] },
-          { id: 'critique', atoms: ['visual-validation'] },
-          { id: 'handoff', atoms: ['handoff'] },
-        ],
-      },
-      genuiSurfaces: surfaces,
-      status: 'fresh',
-    } as AppliedPluginSnapshot;
-
-    const split = splitPipelineSnapshotByExecutionBoundary(snapshot);
-
-    expect(split.preRun?.pipeline?.stages.map((stage) => stage.id)).toEqual(['direction']);
-    expect(split.preRun?.genuiSurfaces?.map((surface) => surface.id)).toEqual([
-      'confirm',
-      'direction-form',
-    ]);
-    expect(split.postRun?.pipeline?.stages.map((stage) => stage.id)).toEqual([
-      'critique',
-      'handoff',
-    ]);
-    expect(split.postRun?.genuiSurfaces?.map((surface) => surface.id)).toEqual([
-      'critique-form',
-      'handoff-form',
-    ]);
-  });
-
-  it('raises triggerless surfaces before an all-deferred pipeline starts', () => {
-    const snapshot = {
-      snapshotId: 'snap-2',
-      pluginId: 'sample-plugin',
-      pluginVersion: '1.0.0',
-      manifestSourceDigest: 'digest-2',
-      inputs: {},
-      resolvedContext: { items: [] },
-      capabilitiesGranted: [],
-      capabilitiesRequired: [],
-      assetsStaged: [],
-      taskKind: 'new-generation',
-      appliedAt: 0,
-      connectorsRequired: [],
-      connectorsResolved: [],
-      mcpServers: [],
-      pipeline: {
-        stages: [
-          { id: 'critique', atoms: ['visual-validation'] },
-          { id: 'handoff', atoms: ['handoff'] },
-        ],
-      },
-      genuiSurfaces: [
-        { id: 'confirm', kind: 'confirmation', persist: 'run' },
-        { id: 'critique-form', kind: 'form', persist: 'run', trigger: { stageId: 'critique' } },
-        { id: 'handoff-form', kind: 'form', persist: 'run', trigger: { stageId: 'handoff' } },
-      ],
-      status: 'fresh',
-    } as AppliedPluginSnapshot;
-
-    const split = splitPipelineSnapshotByExecutionBoundary(snapshot);
-
-    expect(split.preRun?.pipeline?.stages).toEqual([]);
-    expect(split.preRun?.genuiSurfaces?.map((surface) => surface.id)).toEqual([
-      'confirm',
-    ]);
-    expect(split.postRun?.genuiSurfaces?.map((surface) => surface.id)).toEqual([
-      'critique-form',
-      'handoff-form',
-    ]);
-  });
-});
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-scenario-fallback.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-scenario-fallback.test.ts
index dc49c6a5b..a44d0e873 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-scenario-fallback.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-scenario-fallback.test.ts
@@ -129,9 +129,6 @@ describe('apply: bundled-scenario pipeline fallback (spec §23.3.3)', () => {
       ]),
     });
     expect(out.result.pipeline?.stages?.[0]?.id).toBe('discovery');
-    expect(out.result.pipeline?.stages?.find((stage) => stage.id === 'critique')?.atoms).toEqual([
-      'critique-theater',
-    ]);
   });
 
   it('keeps pipeline undefined when no scenario matches the taskKind', () => {
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-visual-validation.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-visual-validation.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 5a251ff80..000000000
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/plugins-visual-validation.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,616 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import { chmod, mkdir, mkdtemp, readFile, rm, symlink, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
-import os from 'node:os';
-import path from 'node:path';
-import { PNG } from 'pngjs';
-import {
-  resolveVisualValidationChromiumLaunchOptions,
-  resolvePackagedPlaywrightBrowsersPath,
-  runVisualValidation,
-  similarityToCritiqueScore,
-} from '../src/plugins/atoms/visual-validation.js';
-
-describe('visual validation atom runner', () => {
-  it('skips cleanly when no reference images are present', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-skip-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(320, 240, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('skipped');
-      expect(result.signals).toEqual({});
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('fails closed when references exist but no HTML entry file is found', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-missing-entry-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(result.report.entryFile).toBeNull();
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('no HTML entry file found');
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(false);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(1);
-
-      const reportPath = path.join(cwd, 'critique', 'visual-validation', 'report.json');
-      const saved = JSON.parse(await readFile(reportPath, 'utf8')) as { status?: string; message?: string };
-      expect(saved.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(saved.message).toContain('no HTML entry file found');
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('compares rendered output against reference screenshots and writes a report', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-compare-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          const png = createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255]);
-          paintRect(png, { x: 40, y: 25, width: 60, height: 30 }, [255, 0, 0, 255]);
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(png));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.similarity).toBeLessThan(95);
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.diffPixels).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.suggestions.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(true);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(3);
-
-      const reportPath = path.join(cwd, 'critique', 'visual-validation', 'report.json');
-      const saved = JSON.parse(await readFile(reportPath, 'utf8')) as { comparison?: { diffPixels?: number } };
-      expect(saved.comparison?.diffPixels).toBe(result.report.comparison?.diffPixels);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('honors an explicit entryFile over auto-detected index.html', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-explicit-entry-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>stale</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'active.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>active</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      let capturedEntryFile: string | null = null;
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryFile: 'active.html',
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ entryFile, outputPath }) => {
-          capturedEntryFile = entryFile;
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(result.report.entryFile).toBe('active.html');
-      expect(capturedEntryFile).toBe('active.html');
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('uses the daemon preview route instead of file:// when project context is available', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-preview-route-'));
-    const originalFetch = globalThis.fetch;
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      globalThis.fetch = async (input) => {
-        expect(String(input)).toBe(
-          'http://127.0.0.1:7456/api/projects/project-123/preview-url?file=index.html',
-        );
-        return new Response(
-          JSON.stringify({ url: '/api/projects/project-123/preview/scope-123/index.html' }),
-          { status: 200, headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' } },
-        );
-      };
-
-      let capturedEntryUrl: string | null = null;
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        projectId: 'project-123',
-        daemonUrl: 'http://127.0.0.1:7456/',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ entryUrl, outputPath }) => {
-          capturedEntryUrl = entryUrl;
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(capturedEntryUrl).toBe(
-        'http://127.0.0.1:7456/api/projects/project-123/preview/scope-123/index.html',
-      );
-    } finally {
-      globalThis.fetch = originalFetch;
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('fails closed instead of falling back to file:// when preview context is unavailable', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-missing-preview-context-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({ cwd });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('requires daemon preview context');
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(false);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(1);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('captures with the reference dimensions instead of the old clamp bounds', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-reference-viewport-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(1920, 300, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      let capturedViewport: { width: number; height: number } | null = null;
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath, viewport }) => {
-          capturedViewport = viewport;
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(viewport.width, viewport.height, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(capturedViewport).toEqual({ width: 1920, height: 300 });
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.referenceWidth).toBe(1920);
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.actualWidth).toBe(1920);
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.referenceHeight).toBe(300);
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.actualHeight).toBe(300);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('fails closed when capture throws', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-fail-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async () => {
-          throw new Error('playwright launch failed');
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('playwright launch failed');
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(false);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(1);
-
-      const reportPath = path.join(cwd, 'critique', 'visual-validation', 'report.json');
-      const saved = JSON.parse(await readFile(reportPath, 'utf8')) as { status?: string; message?: string };
-      expect(saved.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(saved.message).toContain('playwright launch failed');
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('fails closed when the visual-validation artifact directory cannot be created', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-artifact-dir-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'critique'), 'not-a-directory', 'utf8');
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('ENOTDIR');
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(false);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(1);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('fails closed when the Playwright browser runtime is unavailable', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-no-browser-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async () => {
-          throw new Error(
-            "browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist at /tmp/ms-playwright/chromium\nPlease run the following command to download new browsers: npx playwright install",
-          );
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain("Executable doesn't exist");
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(false);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(1);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('resolves the packaged Playwright browser cache from OD_RESOURCE_ROOT', () => {
-    expect(
-      resolvePackagedPlaywrightBrowsersPath({
-        OD_RESOURCE_ROOT: '/tmp/open-design/resources',
-      } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv),
-    ).toBe('/tmp/open-design/resources/ms-playwright');
-  });
-
-  it('preserves an explicit Playwright browser cache override', () => {
-    expect(
-      resolvePackagedPlaywrightBrowsersPath({
-        OD_RESOURCE_ROOT: '/tmp/open-design/resources',
-        PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: '/custom/playwright-cache',
-      } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv),
-    ).toBe('/custom/playwright-cache');
-  });
-
-  it('launches visual validation with Playwright new-headless Chromium', () => {
-    expect(resolveVisualValidationChromiumLaunchOptions()).toEqual({
-      channel: 'chromium',
-    });
-  });
-
-  it('skips ignored dependency trees before recursing for references', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-ignore-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'references'), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'references', 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'node_modules', 'huge-package', 'assets'), { recursive: true });
-      await chmod(path.join(cwd, 'node_modules'), 0o000);
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-    } finally {
-      await chmod(path.join(cwd, 'node_modules'), 0o755).catch(() => {});
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('fails closed when reference auto-discovery hits an unreadable non-ignored directory', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-discovery-unreadable-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'private-assets'), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'private-assets', 'notes.txt'), 'keep out', 'utf8');
-      await chmod(path.join(cwd, 'private-assets'), 0o000);
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('failed');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('EACCES');
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(false);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(1);
-    } finally {
-      await chmod(path.join(cwd, 'private-assets'), 0o755).catch(() => {});
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('only auto-discovers PNG reference screenshots', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-png-only-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'reference-home.jpg'), 'not-a-png', 'utf8');
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('skipped');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('no reference screenshot found');
-      expect(result.signals).toEqual({});
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('ignores arbitrary root-level spec-prefixed PNG assets', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-root-spec-asset-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'special-offer.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('skipped');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('no reference screenshot found');
-      expect(result.signals).toEqual({});
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('still auto-discovers spec-directory PNG assets', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-spec-dir-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'spec'), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'spec', 'special-offer.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.referencePath).toBe('spec/special-offer.png');
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('skips symlinked directories while scanning for references', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-symlink-cycle-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'references'), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'references', 'reference-home.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'loop', 'nested'), { recursive: true });
-      await symlink(path.join(cwd, 'loop'), path.join(cwd, 'loop', 'nested', 'back-to-loop'));
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.referencePath).toBe('references/reference-home.png');
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('keeps per-reference artifacts distinct when basenames collide', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-collisions-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'references'), { recursive: true });
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'spec'), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'references', 'reference.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'spec', 'reference.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      const captures: string[] = [];
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          captures.push(path.relative(cwd, outputPath));
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(captures).toEqual([
-        'critique/visual-validation/references-reference-1.actual.png',
-        'critique/visual-validation/spec-reference-2.actual.png',
-      ]);
-      expect(captures).toContain(result.report.comparison?.actualPath);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('does not treat substring directory names as reference-image segments', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-segment-match-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'assets', 'aspect'), { recursive: true });
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'preferences'), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'assets', 'aspect', 'hero.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'preferences', 'panel.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        captureScreenshot: async () => {
-          throw new Error('visual validation should skip when no reference images are present');
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('skipped');
-      expect(result.report.message).toContain('no reference screenshot');
-      expect(result.signals).toEqual({});
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('scores from the worst reference match instead of the best one', async () => {
-    const cwd = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'od-visual-worst-reference-'));
-    try {
-      await writeFile(path.join(cwd, 'index.html'), '<!doctype html><html><body>ok</body></html>', 'utf8');
-      await mkdir(path.join(cwd, 'references'), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'references', 'reference-desktop.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-      await writeFile(
-        path.join(cwd, 'references', 'reference-mobile.png'),
-        PNG.sync.write(createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255])),
-      );
-
-      const result = await runVisualValidation({
-        cwd,
-        entryUrl: 'about:blank',
-        captureScreenshot: async ({ outputPath }) => {
-          const png = createFilledPng(200, 120, [255, 255, 255, 255]);
-          if (outputPath.endsWith('reference-mobile-2.actual.png')) {
-            paintRect(png, { x: 20, y: 20, width: 160, height: 80 }, [255, 0, 0, 255]);
-          }
-          await writeFile(outputPath, PNG.sync.write(png));
-        },
-      });
-
-      expect(result.report.status).toBe('ok');
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.referencePath).toBe('references/reference-mobile.png');
-      expect(result.report.comparison?.similarity).toBeLessThan(50);
-      expect(result.signals['preview.ok']).toBe(true);
-      expect(result.signals['critique.score']).toBe(1);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it('maps similarity bands to critique scores conservatively', () => {
-    expect(similarityToCritiqueScore(99)).toBe(5);
-    expect(similarityToCritiqueScore(96)).toBe(4);
-    expect(similarityToCritiqueScore(90)).toBe(3);
-    expect(similarityToCritiqueScore(80)).toBe(2);
-    expect(similarityToCritiqueScore(60)).toBe(1);
-  });
-});
-
-function createFilledPng(
-  width: number,
-  height: number,
-  rgba: readonly [number, number, number, number],
-): PNG {
-  const png = new PNG({ width, height });
-  for (let i = 0; i < png.data.length; i += 4) {
-    png.data[i] = rgba[0];
-    png.data[i + 1] = rgba[1];
-    png.data[i + 2] = rgba[2];
-    png.data[i + 3] = rgba[3];
-  }
-  return png;
-}
-
-function paintRect(
-  png: PNG,
-  rect: { x: number; y: number; width: number; height: number },
-  rgba: readonly [number, number, number, number],
-): void {
-  for (let y = rect.y; y < rect.y + rect.height; y += 1) {
-    for (let x = rect.x; x < rect.x + rect.width; x += 1) {
-      const index = (y * png.width + x) << 2;
-      png.data[index] = rgba[0];
-      png.data[index + 1] = rgba[1];
-      png.data[index + 2] = rgba[2];
-      png.data[index + 3] = rgba[3];
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/nix/pnpm-deps.nix b/nix/pnpm-deps.nix
index c59fb8953..b60dd4f7e 100644
--- a/nix/pnpm-deps.nix
+++ b/nix/pnpm-deps.nix
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@
   # 1. Temporarily set the consuming `hash = lib.fakeHash;`
   # 2. Run the relevant nix build/flake check
   # 3. Copy the expected hash printed by Nix into the matching field below
-  daemonHash = "sha256-w1y5qrGa/vZtg4LXQvyrUp4a4Rk9x6z7ve4Up65P6cA=";
-  webHash = "sha256-Uj9HlDpTtO8y/0ykTVkFtM0oukt1zSYsmIp7JZ9NJJc=";
+  daemonHash = "sha256-AEg1yKQK55U9P5EJPNqWNkF9teKAV0rwV84F8Im2Ir0=";
+  webHash = "sha256-/VNR08beUFynS6/uZHoA9AlZE8PPPicGAyJJ6Oy7trg=";
 }
diff --git a/plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/SKILL.md b/plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/SKILL.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 2959b86bd..000000000
--- a/plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/SKILL.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
----
-name: visual-validation
-description: Render the current artifact, compare it against reference screenshots, and feed the result into critique scoring.
-od:
-  scenario: new-generation
-  mode: critique
----
-
-# Visual validation
-
-This atom renders the current project artifact through the daemon preview
-route, compares it against discovered or explicit reference screenshots, and
-feeds a conservative score back into the critique loop.
-
-## Current state
-
-- The daemon registry executes `visual-validation` as a built-in atom worker.
-- Reports are written under `critique/visual-validation/`.
-- When no reference screenshots are present, the atom skips without changing
-  critique signals.
-
-When references exist but the daemon cannot render the artifact, the atom fails
-closed by returning a low critique score and `preview.ok: false`.
diff --git a/plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/open-design.json b/plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/open-design.json
deleted file mode 100644
index ead5b2f0f..000000000
--- a/plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation/open-design.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "$schema": "https://open-design.ai/schemas/plugin.v1.json",
-  "specVersion": "1.0.0",
-  "name": "visual-validation",
-  "title": "Visual validation",
-  "version": "0.1.0",
-  "description": "Render the current artifact, compare it against reference screenshots, and feed the result into critique scoring.",
-  "license": "MIT",
-  "author": {
-    "name": "Open Design",
-    "url": "https://github.com/nexu-io"
-  },
-  "homepage": "https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design/tree/main/plugins/_official/atoms/visual-validation",
-  "tags": [
-    "atom",
-    "first-party",
-    "new-generation",
-    "tune-collab",
-    "visual-validation"
-  ],
-  "compat": {
-    "agentSkills": [
-      {
-        "path": "./SKILL.md"
-      }
-    ]
-  },
-  "od": {
-    "kind": "atom",
-    "scenario": "new-generation",
-    "mode": "critique",
-    "capabilities": [
-      "prompt:inject",
-      "fs:read",
-      "fs:write",
-      "subprocess"
-    ]
-  }
-}
diff --git a/plugins/_official/examples/3d-creator-portfolio/example.html b/plugins/_official/examples/3d-creator-portfolio/example.html
index d7a1659e3..612977140 100644
--- a/plugins/_official/examples/3d-creator-portfolio/example.html
+++ b/plugins/_official/examples/3d-creator-portfolio/example.html
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@
   </div>
 
   <script>
-
+    
     /* ---------- FadeIn (IntersectionObserver) ---------- */
     document.querySelectorAll('.fade').forEach(el => {
       const cfg = (el.dataset.fade || '').split(';').reduce((a,p)=>{const[k,v]=p.split(':');if(k)a[k.trim()]=v;return a;},{});
diff --git a/plugins/_official/examples/velar-luxury-real-estate/example.html b/plugins/_official/examples/velar-luxury-real-estate/example.html
index 449ad2fda..06606f376 100644
--- a/plugins/_official/examples/velar-luxury-real-estate/example.html
+++ b/plugins/_official/examples/velar-luxury-real-estate/example.html
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@
   </div>
 
   <script>
-
+    
     const BG_IMG = 'https://images.higgs.ai/?default=1&output=webp&url=https%3A%2F%2Fd8j0ntlcm91z4.cloudfront.net%2Fuser_38xzZboKViGWJOttwIXH07lWA1P%2Fhf_20260603_073200_7082add5-f1f8-4873-8696-d6f78a44089b.png&w=1920&q=85';
     document.getElementById('hero').style.setProperty('--bg', `url("${BG_IMG}")`);
 
diff --git a/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-new-generation/SKILL.md b/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-new-generation/SKILL.md
index 219f67f07..f273de82f 100644
--- a/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-new-generation/SKILL.md
+++ b/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-new-generation/SKILL.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: od-new-generation
-description: Default reference pipeline for the new-generation taskKind — discovery → plan → generate → critique with critique-theater in the devloop.
+description: Default reference pipeline for the new-generation taskKind — discovery → plan → generate → critique with a critique-theater devloop.
 od:
   scenario: new-generation
   mode: scenario
@@ -33,10 +33,7 @@ rather than a code change.
 The discovery stage gives the agent a clean surface for clarifying
 questions; the plan stage commits to a TodoWrite-backed plan; the
 generate stage produces the artifact; the critique stage devloops
-until the score converges or the iteration ceiling is hit. Visual
-validation stays available for explicit pipelines, but it is not part
-of the default critique loop until the daemon can feed post-render
-results back into a real retry boundary.
+until the score converges or the iteration ceiling is hit.
 
 ## Plugins that customise this scenario
 
diff --git a/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-tune-collab/SKILL.md b/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-tune-collab/SKILL.md
index 913875af4..0e33f39de 100644
--- a/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-tune-collab/SKILL.md
+++ b/plugins/_official/scenarios/od-tune-collab/SKILL.md
@@ -35,8 +35,4 @@ artifact lineage chain stays intact across multi-turn tune cycles.
 The handoff stage records `handoffKind: 'patch'` (or
 `'deployable-app'` when the user opted in via
 `od plugin run --target deployable-app` AND `build-test` ran
-successfully somewhere upstream in the project's history). The
-visual-validation atom remains available for explicit pipelines, but
-the default critique loop stays text-only until the daemon can use a
-post-render score to trigger another patch iteration instead of only
-failing after the agent has exited.
+successfully somewhere upstream in the project's history).
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 87355a57a..01b5c0224 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -101,15 +101,6 @@ importers:
       node-pty:
         specifier: 1.1.0
         version: 1.1.0
-      pixelmatch:
-        specifier: 7.2.0
-        version: 7.2.0
-      playwright:
-        specifier: 1.60.0
-        version: 1.60.0
-      pngjs:
-        specifier: 7.0.0
-        version: 7.0.0
       posthog-node:
         specifier: 5.34.6
         version: 5.34.6
@@ -135,9 +126,6 @@ importers:
       '@types/node':
         specifier: 20.19.39
         version: 20.19.39
-      '@types/pngjs':
-        specifier: 6.0.5
-        version: 6.0.5
       typescript:
         specifier: 5.9.3
         version: 5.9.3
diff --git a/tools/pack/src/linux.ts b/tools/pack/src/linux.ts
index 636c1ea93..8eaa27b1f 100644
--- a/tools/pack/src/linux.ts
+++ b/tools/pack/src/linux.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import {
 } from "@open-design/platform";
 
 import type { ToolPackConfig } from "./config.js";
-import { copyBundledPlaywrightChromium, copyBundledResourceTrees, linuxResources } from "./resources.js";
+import { copyBundledResourceTrees, linuxResources } from "./resources.js";
 import { copyOptionalVelaCliBinary } from "./vela-cli.js";
 import { electronBuilderVersionForAppVersion, readRuntimeAppVersion } from "./versions.js";
 import { processWebSourcemaps } from "./web-sourcemaps.js";
@@ -458,10 +458,6 @@ async function copyResourceTree(config: ToolPackConfig, paths: LinuxPaths): Prom
     workspaceRoot: config.workspaceRoot,
     resourceRoot: paths.resourceRoot,
   });
-  await copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-    workspaceRoot: config.workspaceRoot,
-    resourceRoot: paths.resourceRoot,
-  });
   await mkdir(join(paths.resourceRoot, "bin"), { recursive: true });
   await cp(process.execPath, join(paths.resourceRoot, "bin", "node"));
   await chmod(join(paths.resourceRoot, "bin", "node"), 0o755);
diff --git a/tools/pack/src/mac/app.ts b/tools/pack/src/mac/app.ts
index 5212c18b7..8d8a13474 100644
--- a/tools/pack/src/mac/app.ts
+++ b/tools/pack/src/mac/app.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import {
   shouldInstallInternalPackageForMacPrebundle,
   shouldUseMacStandalonePrebundle,
 } from "../mac-prebundle.js";
-import { copyBundledPlaywrightChromium, copyBundledResourceTrees } from "../resources.js";
+import { copyBundledResourceTrees } from "../resources.js";
 import { copyOptionalVelaCliBinary } from "../vela-cli.js";
 import { electronBuilderVersionForAppVersion } from "../versions.js";
 import { runEsbuild, runNpmInstall, runPnpm } from "./commands.js";
@@ -138,10 +138,6 @@ export async function copyResourceTree(config: ToolPackConfig, paths: MacPaths):
     workspaceRoot: config.workspaceRoot,
     resourceRoot: paths.resourceRoot,
   });
-  await copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-    workspaceRoot: config.workspaceRoot,
-    resourceRoot: paths.resourceRoot,
-  });
   await copyOptionalVelaCliBinary({
     platform: "mac",
     requireBundled: config.requireVelaCli,
diff --git a/tools/pack/src/resources.ts b/tools/pack/src/resources.ts
index 22ec61b5c..c89193582 100644
--- a/tools/pack/src/resources.ts
+++ b/tools/pack/src/resources.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
-import { access, cp, mkdir } from "node:fs/promises";
-import { createRequire } from "node:module";
-import { basename, dirname, join } from "node:path";
+import { cp } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
 function resolveToolsPackRoot(startDir: string): string {
@@ -51,9 +50,6 @@ export const linuxResources = {
   desktopTemplate: join(resourcesRoot, "linux", "open-design.desktop.template"),
 } as const;
 
-const CHROMIUM_BUNDLE_ROOT_RE = /^chromium(?:_headless_shell)?-\d+$/i;
-const HEADED_CHROMIUM_BUNDLE_ROOT_RE = /^chromium-\d+$/i;
-
 const BUNDLED_RESOURCE_TREES = [
   { from: "skills", to: "skills" },
   // After the skills/design-templates split (specs/current/skills-and-design-templates.md)
@@ -83,99 +79,3 @@ export async function copyBundledResourceTrees({
     });
   }
 }
-
-export async function copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-  resourceRoot,
-  sourceExecutablePath,
-  workspaceRoot,
-}: {
-  resourceRoot: string;
-  sourceExecutablePath?: string;
-  workspaceRoot: string;
-}): Promise<{ sourceRoots: string[]; targetRoots: string[] }> {
-  const { sourceRoots } = await resolveBundledPlaywrightChromiumSourceRoots({
-    sourceExecutablePath,
-    workspaceRoot,
-  });
-  const targetRoots: string[] = [];
-  for (const sourceRoot of sourceRoots) {
-    const targetRoot = join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", basename(sourceRoot));
-    await mkdir(dirname(targetRoot), { recursive: true });
-    await cp(sourceRoot, targetRoot, { recursive: true });
-    targetRoots.push(targetRoot);
-  }
-  return { sourceRoots, targetRoots };
-}
-
-export function resolveDaemonPlaywrightChromiumExecutablePath(workspaceRoot: string): string {
-  const daemonPackagePath = join(workspaceRoot, "apps", "daemon", "package.json");
-  const requireFromDaemon = createRequire(daemonPackagePath);
-  const playwrightModule = requireFromDaemon("playwright") as {
-    chromium?: { executablePath?: () => string };
-  };
-  const executablePath = playwrightModule.chromium?.executablePath?.();
-  if (!executablePath) {
-    throw new Error("tools-pack: daemon Playwright Chromium executable path is unavailable");
-  }
-  return executablePath;
-}
-
-function resolveChromiumBundleRoot(executablePath: string): string {
-  let current = dirname(executablePath);
-  while (true) {
-    const name = basename(current);
-    if (CHROMIUM_BUNDLE_ROOT_RE.test(name)) return current;
-    const parent = dirname(current);
-    if (parent === current) break;
-    current = parent;
-  }
-  throw new Error(`tools-pack: unable to locate Chromium bundle root for ${executablePath}`);
-}
-
-export async function resolveChromiumBundleRoots(executablePath: string): Promise<string[]> {
-  const primaryRoot = resolveChromiumBundleRoot(executablePath);
-  const match = basename(primaryRoot).match(/^chromium(?:_headless_shell)?-(\d+)$/i);
-  if (!match) return [primaryRoot];
-  const revision = match[1];
-  const parent = dirname(primaryRoot);
-  const roots = [primaryRoot];
-  const optionalVariants = [
-    join(parent, `chromium-${revision}`),
-    join(parent, `chromium_headless_shell-${revision}`),
-  ].filter((variantRoot) => variantRoot !== primaryRoot);
-  for (const variantRoot of optionalVariants) {
-    try {
-      await access(variantRoot);
-      roots.push(variantRoot);
-    } catch {
-      // Some Playwright installs ship only one Chromium variant. Keep
-      // packaging the variant that actually backs chromium.launch().
-    }
-  }
-  assertBundledChromiumRootsSupportChannelLaunch(roots, executablePath);
-  return roots;
-}
-
-function assertBundledChromiumRootsSupportChannelLaunch(
-  roots: readonly string[],
-  executablePath: string,
-): void {
-  if (roots.some((root) => HEADED_CHROMIUM_BUNDLE_ROOT_RE.test(basename(root)))) return;
-  throw new Error(
-    `tools-pack: bundled Playwright Chromium for ${executablePath} is missing the chromium-* bundle required by channel: 'chromium'; reinstall Playwright without --only-shell or add the headed Chromium bundle`,
-  );
-}
-
-export async function resolveBundledPlaywrightChromiumSourceRoots({
-  sourceExecutablePath,
-  workspaceRoot,
-}: {
-  sourceExecutablePath?: string;
-  workspaceRoot: string;
-}): Promise<{ executablePath: string; sourceRoots: string[] }> {
-  const executablePath =
-    sourceExecutablePath ?? resolveDaemonPlaywrightChromiumExecutablePath(workspaceRoot);
-  await access(executablePath);
-  const sourceRoots = await resolveChromiumBundleRoots(executablePath);
-  return { executablePath, sourceRoots };
-}
diff --git a/tools/pack/src/win/resources.ts b/tools/pack/src/win/resources.ts
index 5b6ce1f6b..e5b970cf6 100644
--- a/tools/pack/src/win/resources.ts
+++ b/tools/pack/src/win/resources.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,7 @@ import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 
 import { hashJson, hashPath, ToolPackCache } from "../cache.js";
 import type { ToolPackConfig } from "../config.js";
-import {
-  copyBundledPlaywrightChromium,
-  copyBundledResourceTrees,
-  resolveBundledPlaywrightChromiumSourceRoots,
-  winResources,
-} from "../resources.js";
+import { copyBundledResourceTrees, winResources } from "../resources.js";
 import {
   copyOptionalVelaCliBinary,
   resolveOptionalVelaCliBinary,
@@ -26,9 +21,6 @@ async function createResourceTreeCacheKey(config: ToolPackConfig): Promise<strin
     velaCliBin == null
       ? null
       : await resolveOptionalVelaCliOpenCodeCompanionTree(velaCliBin);
-  const playwrightSource = await resolveBundledPlaywrightChromiumSourceRoots({
-    workspaceRoot: config.workspaceRoot,
-  });
   return hashJson({
     assetsCommunityPets: await hashPath(join(config.workspaceRoot, "assets", "community-pets")),
     assetsFrames: await hashPath(join(config.workspaceRoot, "assets", "frames")),
@@ -38,12 +30,6 @@ async function createResourceTreeCacheKey(config: ToolPackConfig): Promise<strin
     node: "win.resource-tree",
     pluginOfficial: await hashPath(join(config.workspaceRoot, "plugins", "_official")),
     pluginRegistry: await hashPath(join(config.workspaceRoot, "plugins", "registry")),
-    playwrightChromium: await Promise.all(
-      playwrightSource.sourceRoots.map(async (sourceRoot) => ({
-        hash: await hashPath(sourceRoot),
-        root: sourceRoot,
-      })),
-    ),
     promptTemplates: await hashPath(join(config.workspaceRoot, "prompt-templates")),
     schemaVersion: RESOURCE_TREE_CACHE_SCHEMA_VERSION,
     skills: await hashPath(join(config.workspaceRoot, "skills")),
@@ -81,10 +67,6 @@ export async function prepareResourceTree(
         workspaceRoot: config.workspaceRoot,
         resourceRoot,
       });
-      await copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-        workspaceRoot: config.workspaceRoot,
-        resourceRoot,
-      });
       await mkdir(join(resourceRoot, "bin"), { recursive: true });
       await cp(winResources.sevenZipExe, join(resourceRoot, "bin", "7z.exe"));
       await cp(winResources.sevenZipDll, join(resourceRoot, "bin", "7z.dll"));
diff --git a/tools/pack/tests/mac.test.ts b/tools/pack/tests/mac.test.ts
index 0c1de619f..0926eb6af 100644
--- a/tools/pack/tests/mac.test.ts
+++ b/tools/pack/tests/mac.test.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import {
 } from "../src/mac/app.js";
 import { resolveSeededAppConfigPaths, seedPackagedAppConfig, writeLaunchPackagedConfig } from "../src/mac/index.js";
 import { resolveMacPaths } from "../src/mac/paths.js";
-import { ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture } from "./playwright-fixture.js";
 
 async function pathExists(path: string): Promise<boolean> {
   try {
@@ -155,7 +154,6 @@ describe("seedPackagedAppConfig", () => {
 describe("copyResourceTree", () => {
   it("does not embed the build machine Node launcher into mac resources", async () => {
     const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-tools-pack-mac-"));
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(process.cwd());
     try {
       const config = makeConfig(root);
       const paths = resolveMacPaths(config);
@@ -179,7 +177,6 @@ describe("copyResourceTree", () => {
 
       expect(await pathExists(join(paths.resourceRoot, "bin", "node"))).toBe(false);
     } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
       await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
     }
   });
diff --git a/tools/pack/tests/playwright-fixture.ts b/tools/pack/tests/playwright-fixture.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 576bf99af..000000000
--- a/tools/pack/tests/playwright-fixture.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,85 +0,0 @@
-import { chmod, lstat, mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
-import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
-import { basename, dirname, join } from "node:path";
-import process from "node:process";
-
-import { resolveDaemonPlaywrightChromiumExecutablePath } from "../src/resources.js";
-
-async function pathExists(path: string): Promise<boolean> {
-  try {
-    await lstat(path);
-    return true;
-  } catch {
-    return false;
-  }
-}
-
-export async function ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(workspaceRoot: string): Promise<{
-  cleanup: () => Promise<void>;
-  executablePath: string;
-  headlessSentinel: string;
-  headedRoot: string;
-  headlessRoot: string;
-}> {
-  const originalBrowsersPath = process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH;
-  let temporaryBrowsersPath: string | null = null;
-  let executablePath = resolveDaemonPlaywrightChromiumExecutablePath(workspaceRoot);
-  let headedRoot = dirname(executablePath);
-  while (!/^chromium-(\d+)$/i.test(basename(headedRoot))) {
-    const parent = dirname(headedRoot);
-    if (parent === headedRoot) {
-      throw new Error(`tools-pack tests: unexpected Playwright Chromium root ${executablePath}`);
-    }
-    headedRoot = parent;
-  }
-  const revisionMatch = basename(headedRoot).match(/^chromium-(\d+)$/i);
-  if (!revisionMatch) {
-    throw new Error(`tools-pack tests: unexpected Playwright Chromium root ${headedRoot}`);
-  }
-  const revision = revisionMatch[1];
-  let headlessRoot = join(dirname(headedRoot), `chromium_headless_shell-${revision}`);
-  if (!(await pathExists(headedRoot))) {
-    temporaryBrowsersPath = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-playwright-fixture-"));
-    process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH = temporaryBrowsersPath;
-    executablePath = resolveDaemonPlaywrightChromiumExecutablePath(workspaceRoot);
-    headedRoot = dirname(executablePath);
-    while (!/^chromium-(\d+)$/i.test(basename(headedRoot))) {
-      const parent = dirname(headedRoot);
-      if (parent === headedRoot) {
-        throw new Error(`tools-pack tests: unexpected Playwright Chromium root ${executablePath}`);
-      }
-      headedRoot = parent;
-    }
-    headlessRoot = join(dirname(headedRoot), `chromium_headless_shell-${revision}`);
-  }
-  const chromeDir = dirname(executablePath);
-  const headlessSentinel = join(headlessRoot, "HEADLESS_SENTINEL");
-  if (!(await pathExists(headedRoot))) {
-    await mkdir(chromeDir, { recursive: true });
-    await writeFile(executablePath, "#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n", "utf8");
-    await chmod(executablePath, 0o755);
-    await writeFile(join(chromeDir, "LICENSE"), "license\n", "utf8");
-  }
-
-  if (!(await pathExists(headlessRoot))) {
-    await mkdir(headlessRoot, { recursive: true });
-  }
-
-  if (!(await pathExists(headlessSentinel))) {
-    await writeFile(headlessSentinel, "headless shell\n", "utf8");
-  }
-
-  return {
-    cleanup: async () => {
-      if (temporaryBrowsersPath != null) {
-        if (originalBrowsersPath == null) delete process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH;
-        else process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH = originalBrowsersPath;
-        await rm(temporaryBrowsersPath, { force: true, recursive: true });
-      }
-    },
-    executablePath,
-    headlessSentinel,
-    headedRoot,
-    headlessRoot,
-  };
-}
diff --git a/tools/pack/tests/resources.test.ts b/tools/pack/tests/resources.test.ts
index fbc5aca57..1d99c0831 100644
--- a/tools/pack/tests/resources.test.ts
+++ b/tools/pack/tests/resources.test.ts
@@ -11,15 +11,11 @@ import {
   writeFile,
 } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
-import { basename, dirname, join } from "node:path";
+import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import process from "node:process";
 
-import {
-  copyBundledPlaywrightChromium,
-  copyBundledResourceTrees,
-} from "../src/resources.js";
+import { copyBundledResourceTrees } from "../src/resources.js";
 import { copyOptionalVelaCliBinary, resolveOptionalVelaCliBinary } from "../src/vela-cli.js";
-import { ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture } from "./playwright-fixture.js";
 
 async function writeFakeOpenCodeCompanion(
   source: string,
@@ -332,237 +328,6 @@ describe("copyOptionalVelaCliBinary", () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe("copyBundledPlaywrightChromium", () => {
-  it("copies the headed Chromium and headless shell revision trees into packaged resources", async () => {
-    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-tools-pack-playwright-"));
-    const resourceRoot = join(root, "resources", "open-design");
-    const sourceExecutablePath = join(
-      root,
-      "ms-playwright",
-      "chromium-1234",
-      "chrome-linux",
-      "chrome",
-    );
-
-    try {
-      await mkdir(dirname(sourceExecutablePath), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(sourceExecutablePath, "#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n", "utf8");
-      await chmod(sourceExecutablePath, 0o755);
-      await writeFile(
-        join(root, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234", "chrome-linux", "LICENSE"),
-        "license\n",
-        "utf8",
-      );
-      await mkdir(join(root, "ms-playwright", "chromium_headless_shell-1234", "chrome-headless-shell-linux64"), {
-        recursive: true,
-      });
-      await writeFile(
-        join(
-          root,
-          "ms-playwright",
-          "chromium_headless_shell-1234",
-          "chrome-headless-shell-linux64",
-          "README",
-        ),
-        "headless shell\n",
-        "utf8",
-      );
-
-      const copied = await copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-        workspaceRoot: root,
-        resourceRoot,
-        sourceExecutablePath,
-      });
-
-      expect(copied.sourceRoots).toEqual([
-        join(root, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234"),
-        join(root, "ms-playwright", "chromium_headless_shell-1234"),
-      ]);
-      expect(copied.targetRoots).toEqual([
-        join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234"),
-        join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", "chromium_headless_shell-1234"),
-      ]);
-      await expect(
-        readFile(
-          join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234", "chrome-linux", "LICENSE"),
-          "utf8",
-        ),
-      ).resolves.toBe("license\n");
-      await expect(
-        readFile(
-          join(
-            resourceRoot,
-            "ms-playwright",
-            "chromium_headless_shell-1234",
-            "chrome-headless-shell-linux64",
-            "README",
-          ),
-          "utf8",
-        ),
-      ).resolves.toBe("headless shell\n");
-    } finally {
-      await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it("copies the headed Chromium tree even when the headless shell tree is absent", async () => {
-    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-tools-pack-playwright-headed-only-"));
-    const resourceRoot = join(root, "resources", "open-design");
-    const sourceExecutablePath = join(
-      root,
-      "ms-playwright",
-      "chromium-1234",
-      "chrome-linux",
-      "chrome",
-    );
-
-    try {
-      await mkdir(dirname(sourceExecutablePath), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(sourceExecutablePath, "#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n", "utf8");
-      await chmod(sourceExecutablePath, 0o755);
-      await writeFile(
-        join(root, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234", "chrome-linux", "LICENSE"),
-        "license\n",
-        "utf8",
-      );
-
-      const copied = await copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-        workspaceRoot: root,
-        resourceRoot,
-        sourceExecutablePath,
-      });
-
-      expect(copied.sourceRoots).toEqual([
-        join(root, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234"),
-      ]);
-      expect(copied.targetRoots).toEqual([
-        join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234"),
-      ]);
-      await expect(
-        readFile(
-          join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", "chromium-1234", "chrome-linux", "LICENSE"),
-          "utf8",
-        ),
-      ).resolves.toBe("license\n");
-      await expect(
-        access(join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", "chromium_headless_shell-1234")),
-      ).rejects.toThrow();
-    } finally {
-      await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it("copies the daemon-resolved Playwright revision trees into packaged resources", async () => {
-    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-tools-pack-playwright-launch-"));
-    const resourceRoot = join(root, "resources", "open-design");
-    const workspaceRoot = process.cwd();
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(workspaceRoot);
-
-    try {
-      const copied = await copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-        workspaceRoot,
-        resourceRoot,
-      });
-
-      expect(copied.sourceRoots).toEqual([
-        playwrightFixture.headedRoot,
-        playwrightFixture.headlessRoot,
-      ]);
-      expect(copied.targetRoots).toEqual([
-        join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", basename(playwrightFixture.headedRoot)),
-        join(resourceRoot, "ms-playwright", basename(playwrightFixture.headlessRoot)),
-      ]);
-      await expect(
-        access(
-          join(
-            resourceRoot,
-            "ms-playwright",
-            basename(playwrightFixture.headlessRoot),
-            basename(playwrightFixture.headlessSentinel),
-          ),
-        ),
-      ).resolves.toBeUndefined();
-    } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
-      await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
-    }
-  });
-
-  it("keeps synthetic Playwright bundles out of the shared cache", async () => {
-    const originalBrowsersPath = process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH;
-    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-tools-pack-playwright-fixture-"));
-    const workspaceRoot = join(root, "workspace");
-    const sharedCacheRoot = join(root, "shared-cache");
-    process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH = sharedCacheRoot;
-
-    await mkdir(join(workspaceRoot, "apps", "daemon"), { recursive: true });
-    await writeFile(
-      join(workspaceRoot, "apps", "daemon", "package.json"),
-      "{\"name\":\"@open-design/daemon-test-fixture\"}\n",
-      "utf8",
-    );
-    await mkdir(join(workspaceRoot, "apps", "daemon", "node_modules", "playwright"), {
-      recursive: true,
-    });
-    await writeFile(
-      join(workspaceRoot, "apps", "daemon", "node_modules", "playwright", "index.js"),
-      [
-        "const { join } = require('node:path');",
-        "exports.chromium = {",
-        "  executablePath() {",
-        "    const root = process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH ?? join(__dirname, '..', '..', '..', '..', 'shared-cache');",
-        "    return join(root, 'chromium-1234', 'chrome-linux', 'chrome');",
-        "  },",
-        "};",
-        "",
-      ].join("\n"),
-      "utf8",
-    );
-
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(workspaceRoot);
-
-    try {
-      expect(playwrightFixture.headedRoot.startsWith(sharedCacheRoot)).toBe(false);
-      await expect(access(playwrightFixture.executablePath)).resolves.toBeUndefined();
-    } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
-      await expect(access(playwrightFixture.headedRoot)).rejects.toThrow();
-      expect(process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH).toBe(sharedCacheRoot);
-      await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
-      if (originalBrowsersPath == null) delete process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH;
-      else process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH = originalBrowsersPath;
-    }
-  });
-
-  it("fails when only the headless shell bundle is available for a channel launch", async () => {
-    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-tools-pack-playwright-shell-only-"));
-    const resourceRoot = join(root, "resources", "open-design");
-    const sourceExecutablePath = join(
-      root,
-      "ms-playwright",
-      "chromium_headless_shell-1234",
-      "chrome-headless-shell-linux64",
-      "headless_shell",
-    );
-
-    try {
-      await mkdir(dirname(sourceExecutablePath), { recursive: true });
-      await writeFile(sourceExecutablePath, "#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n", "utf8");
-      await chmod(sourceExecutablePath, 0o755);
-
-      await expect(
-        copyBundledPlaywrightChromium({
-          workspaceRoot: root,
-          resourceRoot,
-          sourceExecutablePath,
-        }),
-      ).rejects.toThrow(/missing the chromium-\* bundle required by channel: 'chromium'/);
-    } finally {
-      await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
-    }
-  });
-});
-
 describe("resolveOptionalVelaCliBinary", () => {
   it("prefers OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN over the npm resolver", async () => {
     await expect(
diff --git a/tools/pack/tests/win-resources.test.ts b/tools/pack/tests/win-resources.test.ts
index 8d9433bf2..82b2a17eb 100644
--- a/tools/pack/tests/win-resources.test.ts
+++ b/tools/pack/tests/win-resources.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { chmod, mkdir, mkdtemp, readFile, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
-import { basename, dirname, join } from "node:path";
-import process from "node:process";
+import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
@@ -9,7 +8,6 @@ import { ToolPackCache } from "../src/cache.js";
 import type { ToolPackConfig } from "../src/config.js";
 import { prepareResourceTree } from "../src/win/resources.js";
 import type { WinPaths } from "../src/win/types.js";
-import { ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture } from "./playwright-fixture.js";
 
 async function writeFakeOpenCodeCompanion(
   source: string,
@@ -65,7 +63,6 @@ describe("prepareResourceTree", () => {
     const workspaceRoot = join(root, "workspace");
     const resourceRoot = join(root, "materialized", "open-design");
     const cache = new ToolPackCache(join(root, "cache"));
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(process.cwd());
     const config = { workspaceRoot } as ToolPackConfig;
     const paths = { resourceRoot } as WinPaths;
     const templatePath = join(
@@ -103,10 +100,9 @@ describe("prepareResourceTree", () => {
         "miss",
       ]);
     } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
       await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
     }
-  }, 15_000);
+  });
 
   it("copies a configured Vela CLI binary into the Windows resource tree", async () => {
     const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-win-vela-"));
@@ -114,7 +110,6 @@ describe("prepareResourceTree", () => {
     const resourceRoot = join(root, "materialized", "open-design");
     const source = join(root, "source", "vela.exe");
     const cache = new ToolPackCache(join(root, "cache"));
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(process.cwd());
     const config = { workspaceRoot } as ToolPackConfig;
     const paths = { resourceRoot } as WinPaths;
     const originalVelaBin = process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN;
@@ -135,19 +130,17 @@ describe("prepareResourceTree", () => {
         readFile(join(resourceRoot, "bin", "libexec", "opencode", "opencode"), "utf8"),
       ).resolves.toBe("fake opencode\n");
     } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
       if (originalVelaBin == null) delete process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN;
       else process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN = originalVelaBin;
       await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
     }
-  }, 15_000);
+  });
 
   it("fails strict Windows resource preparation when configured Vela CLI is missing", async () => {
     const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-win-vela-strict-"));
     const workspaceRoot = join(root, "workspace");
     const resourceRoot = join(root, "materialized", "open-design");
     const cache = new ToolPackCache(join(root, "cache"));
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(process.cwd());
     const config = {
       workspaceRoot,
       requireVelaCli: true,
@@ -162,12 +155,11 @@ describe("prepareResourceTree", () => {
         prepareResourceTree(config, paths, cache, { materialize: true }),
       ).rejects.toThrow();
     } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
       if (originalVelaBin == null) delete process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN;
       else process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN = originalVelaBin;
       await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
     }
-  }, 15_000);
+  });
 
   it("invalidates the Windows resource tree cache when the Vela companion changes", async () => {
     const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-win-vela-companion-"));
@@ -175,7 +167,6 @@ describe("prepareResourceTree", () => {
     const resourceRoot = join(root, "materialized", "open-design");
     const source = join(root, "source", "vela.exe");
     const cache = new ToolPackCache(join(root, "cache"));
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(process.cwd());
     const config = { workspaceRoot } as ToolPackConfig;
     const paths = { resourceRoot } as WinPaths;
     const originalVelaBin = process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN;
@@ -211,52 +202,9 @@ describe("prepareResourceTree", () => {
         "miss",
       ]);
     } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
       if (originalVelaBin == null) delete process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN;
       else process.env.OPEN_DESIGN_VELA_CLI_BIN = originalVelaBin;
       await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
     }
-  }, 15_000);
-
-  it("invalidates the Windows resource tree cache when the Playwright bundle changes", async () => {
-    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "open-design-win-playwright-bundle-"));
-    const workspaceRoot = join(root, "workspace");
-    const resourceRoot = join(root, "materialized", "open-design");
-    const cache = new ToolPackCache(join(root, "cache"));
-    const playwrightFixture = await ensureDaemonPlaywrightFixture(process.cwd());
-    const materializedReadme = join(
-      resourceRoot,
-      "ms-playwright",
-      basename(playwrightFixture.headlessRoot),
-      basename(playwrightFixture.headlessSentinel),
-    );
-    const config = { workspaceRoot } as ToolPackConfig;
-    const paths = { resourceRoot } as WinPaths;
-
-    try {
-      await createWorkspaceFixture(workspaceRoot);
-      await writeFile(playwrightFixture.headlessSentinel, "headless shell one\n", "utf8");
-
-      await prepareResourceTree(config, paths, cache, { materialize: true });
-
-      await expect(readFile(materializedReadme, "utf8")).resolves.toBe(
-        "headless shell one\n",
-      );
-
-      await writeFile(playwrightFixture.headlessSentinel, "headless shell two\n", "utf8");
-
-      await prepareResourceTree(config, paths, cache, { materialize: true });
-
-      await expect(readFile(materializedReadme, "utf8")).resolves.toBe(
-        "headless shell two\n",
-      );
-      expect(cache.report().entries.map((entry) => entry.status)).toEqual([
-        "miss",
-        "miss",
-      ]);
-    } finally {
-      await playwrightFixture.cleanup();
-      await rm(root, { force: true, recursive: true });
-    }
-  }, 15_000);
+  });
 });