diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ceb2c03c44b..a0dd402899d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Google Meet: grant Meet media permissions through the Playwright browser context when CDP grants do not affect the attached Chrome page, and report in-call microphone/speaker permission problems instead of marking realtime speech ready.
 - QA/Slack: fail the live mention-gating scenario on any unexpected SUT reply, even when the reply does not echo the expected marker. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - QA/Matrix: steer the live tool-progress preview check away from `HEARTBEAT.md` and report final preview candidates when the live marker reply misses the exact token. Thanks @vincentkoc.
+- QA/Matrix: let the live tool-progress preview check verify progress replacement events without depending on the preview saying `Working`. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Tlon: expose `groupInviteAllowlist` in the channel config schema and clarify that group invite auto-accept fails closed without an invite allowlist. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Control UI/WebChat: collapse duplicate in-flight internal text sends onto the active Gateway run so rapid repeat submits do not start fresh `agent:main:main` dispatches. Fixes #75737. Thanks @dsdsddd1 and @BunsDev.
 - Mattermost: accept the documented `channels.mattermost.streaming` config and honor `streaming: "off"` by disabling draft preview posts. Thanks @vincentkoc.
diff --git a/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenario-runtime-room.ts b/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenario-runtime-room.ts
index 541653fba31..5754ba44a0f 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenario-runtime-room.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenario-runtime-room.ts
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ function buildMatrixQaToolProgressTimeoutMessage(params: {
       return (
         event.eventId === params.previewEventId ||
         event.relatesTo?.eventId === params.previewEventId ||
-        /\bWorking\b/i.test(event.body ?? "")
+        event.body !== undefined
       );
     })
     .slice(-8);
@@ -812,18 +812,31 @@ async function runMatrixToolProgressScenario(
     mentionUserIds: [context.sutUserId],
     roomId: context.roomId,
   });
-  const preview = await client.waitForRoomEvent({
-    observedEvents: context.observedEvents,
-    predicate: (event) =>
-      event.roomId === context.roomId &&
-      event.sender === context.sutUserId &&
-      event.kind === params.expectedPreviewKind &&
-      event.relatesTo === undefined &&
-      /\bWorking\b/i.test(event.body ?? ""),
-    roomId: context.roomId,
-    since: startSince,
-    timeoutMs: context.timeoutMs,
-  });
+  const preview = await client
+    .waitForRoomEvent({
+      observedEvents: context.observedEvents,
+      predicate: (event) =>
+        event.roomId === context.roomId &&
+        event.sender === context.sutUserId &&
+        event.kind === params.expectedPreviewKind &&
+        event.relatesTo === undefined,
+      roomId: context.roomId,
+      since: startSince,
+      timeoutMs: context.timeoutMs,
+    })
+    .catch((err: unknown) => {
+      throw new Error(
+        buildMatrixQaToolProgressTimeoutMessage({
+          cause: err,
+          events: context.observedEvents,
+          expectedPreviewKind: params.expectedPreviewKind,
+          previewEventId: "<not observed>",
+          roomId: context.roomId,
+          startIndex: startObservedIndex,
+          sutUserId: context.sutUserId,
+        }),
+      );
+    });
   const matchesExpectedProgress = (body: string | undefined) =>
     params.progressPattern.test(body ?? "") ||
     (params.allowGenericProgressLine === true && hasMatrixQaToolProgressPreviewLine(body));
@@ -838,7 +851,6 @@ async function runMatrixToolProgressScenario(
             event.kind === params.expectedPreviewKind &&
             event.relatesTo?.relType === "m.replace" &&
             event.relatesTo.eventId === preview.event.eventId &&
-            /\bWorking\b/i.test(event.body ?? "") &&
             matchesExpectedProgress(event.body),
           roomId: context.roomId,
           since: preview.since,
diff --git a/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts b/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts
index e2bf2ab9e0a..ddd5908e4c5 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts
@@ -2567,7 +2567,7 @@ describe("matrix live qa scenarios", () => {
           event: matrixQaMessageEvent({
             kind: "notice",
             eventId: previewEventId,
-            body: "Working...",
+            body: "One moment.",
           }),
           since: "driver-sync-preview",
         },
@@ -2575,7 +2575,7 @@ describe("matrix live qa scenarios", () => {
           event: matrixQaMessageEvent({
             kind: "notice",
             eventId: "$tool-progress-generic-update",
-            body: "Working...\n- `tool: exec_command`",
+            body: "- `tool: exec_command`",
             relatesTo: {
               relType: "m.replace",
               eventId: previewEventId,
@@ -2610,7 +2610,7 @@ describe("matrix live qa scenarios", () => {
     await expect(runMatrixQaScenario(scenario!, matrixQaScenarioContext())).resolves.toMatchObject({
       artifacts: {
         driverEventId: "$tool-progress-generic-trigger",
-        previewBodyPreview: "Working...\n- `tool: exec_command`",
+        previewBodyPreview: "- `tool: exec_command`",
         previewEventId: "$tool-progress-generic-preview",
         reply: {
           eventId: "$tool-progress-generic-final",