diff --git a/src/features/redesign/surfaces/ChatSurface.tsx b/src/features/redesign/surfaces/ChatSurface.tsx
index f1fd73948..e8fc91d61 100644
--- a/src/features/redesign/surfaces/ChatSurface.tsx
+++ b/src/features/redesign/surfaces/ChatSurface.tsx
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { useLocation, useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";
import { UniversalComposer, DEFAULT_TIERS, type RouterTier } from "../components/UniversalComposer";
import { Pill } from "../components/Pill";
import { StreamingMarkdown } from "../components/StreamingMarkdown";
-import type { ActiveBatchRun, ChatAnswer } from "../fixtures";
+import { sampleAnswer, type ActiveBatchRun, type ChatAnswer } from "../fixtures";
import { useBatchLive } from "../hooks/useBatchLive";
import { useLiveArtifacts, type LiveArtifactDetail } from "../hooks/useLiveArtifacts";
import { ChatThinking } from "../components/ChatThinking";
@@ -545,6 +545,27 @@ export function ChatSurface({
];
}, [liveDetail]);
const [turns, setTurns] = useState
([]);
+ // QA-only seeded answer state: `?qaState=answer` under the dogfood chrome
+ // flag renders the sampleAnswer fixture as a completed turn. This exists so
+ // the answer moment is photographable (nightly loop, evidence folders) and
+ // contract-forcible without a paid authenticated run. Never reachable
+ // organically: the flag is set only by the QA capture pipeline.
+ const qaAnswerSeededRef = useRef(false);
+ useEffect(() => {
+ if (qaAnswerSeededRef.current) return;
+ if (launchParams.get("qaState") !== "answer") return;
+ try {
+ if (window.localStorage.getItem("nodebench-redesign-qa-chrome") !== "1") return;
+ } catch {
+ return;
+ }
+ qaAnswerSeededRef.current = true;
+ const now = Date.now();
+ setTurns([
+ { id: "qa-u", role: "user", text: "Summarize Orbital Labs. Keep it evidence-led and end with a next action.", createdAt: now },
+ { id: "qa-a", role: "assistant", packet: sampleAnswer, tier: "auto", createdAt: now + 1 },
+ ]);
+ }, [launchParams]);
const recoveredRunIdRef = useRef(null);
const consumedContinuationRef = useRef(null);
const [hasUserInteracted, setHasUserInteracted] = useState(false);
@@ -1839,7 +1860,7 @@ function AnswerPacket({
{/* Avatar gutter — parity-studio bot icon pattern */}
✦
-
+
{packet.shortAnswer.length > 60 ? "Research complete" : "NodeBench"}