diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/bus-state.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/bus-state.test.ts
index 3d1aa92174..9acc89d996 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/bus-state.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/bus-state.test.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ describe("qa-bus state", () => {
 
     state.reactToMessage({
       messageId: message.id,
-      emoji: "white_check_mark",
+      emoji: "eyes",
+      senderId: "alice",
     });
     state.editMessage({
       messageId: message.id,
@@ -49,51 +50,45 @@ describe("qa-bus state", () => {
       messageId: message.id,
     });
 
-    const updated = state.readMessage({ messageId: message.id });
-    expect(updated.threadId).toBe(thread.id);
-    expect(updated.reactions).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(updated.text).toContain("(edited)");
-    expect(updated.deleted).toBe(true);
-
-    const waited = await state.waitFor({
-      kind: "thread-id",
-      threadId: thread.id,
-      timeoutMs: 50,
+    const snapshot = state.getSnapshot();
+    expect(snapshot.threads).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(snapshot.threads[0]).toMatchObject({
+      id: thread.id,
+      conversationId: "qa-room",
+      title: "QA thread",
+    });
+    expect(snapshot.messages[0]).toMatchObject({
+      id: message.id,
+      text: "inside thread (edited)",
+      deleted: true,
+      reactions: [{ emoji: "eyes", senderId: "alice" }],
     });
-    expect("id" in waited && waited.id).toBe(thread.id);
   });
 
-  it("replays fresh events after a reset rewinds the cursor", () => {
+  it("waits for a text match and rejects on timeout", async () => {
     const state = createQaBusState();
-
-    state.addInboundMessage({
-      conversation: { id: "alice", kind: "direct" },
-      senderId: "alice",
-      text: "before reset",
-    });
-    const beforeReset = state.poll({
-      accountId: "default",
-      cursor: 0,
-    });
-    expect(beforeReset.events).toHaveLength(1);
-
-    state.reset();
-    state.addInboundMessage({
-      conversation: { id: "alice", kind: "direct" },
-      senderId: "alice",
-      text: "after reset",
+    const pending = state.waitFor({
+      kind: "message-text",
+      textIncludes: "needle",
+      timeoutMs: 500,
     });
 
-    const afterReset = state.poll({
-      accountId: "default",
-      cursor: beforeReset.cursor,
-    });
-    expect(afterReset.events).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(afterReset.events[0]?.kind).toBe("inbound-message");
-    expect(
-      afterReset.events[0] &&
-        "message" in afterReset.events[0] &&
-        afterReset.events[0].message.text,
-    ).toBe("after reset");
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      state.addOutboundMessage({
+        to: "dm:alice",
+        text: "haystack + needle",
+      });
+    }, 20);
+
+    const matched = await pending;
+    expect("text" in matched && matched.text).toContain("needle");
+
+    await expect(
+      state.waitFor({
+        kind: "message-text",
+        textIncludes: "missing",
+        timeoutMs: 20,
+      }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow("qa-bus wait timeout");
   });
 });
diff --git a/scripts/qa-e2e.ts b/scripts/qa-e2e.ts
index c329ddccb6..05bf253554 100644
--- a/scripts/qa-e2e.ts
+++ b/scripts/qa-e2e.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { runQaE2eSelfCheck } from "../src/qa-e2e/runner.js";
+import { runQaE2eSelfCheck } from "../extensions/qa-lab/api.js";
 
 const outputPath = process.argv[2]?.trim() || ".artifacts/qa-e2e/self-check.md";
 
diff --git a/src/cli/qa-cli.ts b/src/cli/qa-cli.ts
index f3caf2be8d..e110d63f30 100644
--- a/src/cli/qa-cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli/qa-cli.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { Command } from "commander";
-import { registerQaLabCli } from "../qa-e2e/cli.js";
+import { registerQaLabCli } from "../../extensions/qa-lab/api.js";
 
 export function registerQaCli(program: Command) {
   registerQaLabCli(program);
diff --git a/src/qa-e2e/cli.ts b/src/qa-e2e/cli.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 7e5585eb0c..0000000000
--- a/src/qa-e2e/cli.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-export { registerQaLabCli } from "../../extensions/qa-lab/api.js";
diff --git a/src/qa-e2e/runner.ts b/src/qa-e2e/runner.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 57d9d5c96c..0000000000
--- a/src/qa-e2e/runner.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-export * from "../../extensions/qa-lab/api.js";