diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/live-transports/whatsapp/whatsapp-live.runtime.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/live-transports/whatsapp/whatsapp-live.runtime.ts
index 8d49870e58b..30c7eaf1fc5 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/live-transports/whatsapp/whatsapp-live.runtime.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/live-transports/whatsapp/whatsapp-live.runtime.ts
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ type WhatsAppCredentialHeartbeat = ReturnType<typeof startQaCredentialLeaseHeart
 
 const WHATSAPP_QA_CAPTURE_CONTENT_ENV = "OPENCLAW_QA_WHATSAPP_CAPTURE_CONTENT";
 const QA_REDACT_PUBLIC_METADATA_ENV = "OPENCLAW_QA_REDACT_PUBLIC_METADATA";
+const WHATSAPP_QA_TRANSIENT_DRIVER_ATTEMPTS = 3;
 const WHATSAPP_QA_ENV_KEYS = [
   "OPENCLAW_QA_WHATSAPP_DRIVER_PHONE_E164",
   "OPENCLAW_QA_WHATSAPP_SUT_PHONE_E164",
@@ -474,6 +475,14 @@ function isTransientWhatsAppQaDriverError(error: unknown) {
   return /\bConnection Closed\b/iu.test(formatErrorMessage(error));
 }
 
+async function restartWhatsAppQaDriverSession(params: {
+  authDir: string;
+  current: WhatsAppQaDriverSession;
+}) {
+  await params.current.close().catch(() => {});
+  return await startWhatsAppQaDriverSession({ authDir: params.authDir });
+}
+
 async function runWhatsAppScenario(params: {
   driver: WhatsAppQaDriverSession;
   driverPhoneE164: string;
@@ -772,7 +781,7 @@ export async function runWhatsAppQaLive(params: {
         );
         continue;
       }
-      let retriedDriver = false;
+      let driverAttempt = 1;
       while (true) {
         try {
           const result = await runWhatsAppScenario({
@@ -792,17 +801,31 @@ export async function runWhatsAppQaLive(params: {
             sutPhoneE164: runtimeEnv.sutPhoneE164,
           });
           scenarioResults.push(
-            retriedDriver
-              ? { ...result, details: `${result.details}; driver reconnected` }
+            driverAttempt > 1
+              ? {
+                  ...result,
+                  details: `${result.details}; driver reconnected ${driverAttempt - 1}x`,
+                }
               : result,
           );
           break;
         } catch (error) {
-          if (!retriedDriver && isTransientWhatsAppQaDriverError(error)) {
-            retriedDriver = true;
-            await activeDriver.close().catch(() => {});
-            activeDriver = await startWhatsAppQaDriverSession({ authDir: driverAuthDir });
-            driver = activeDriver;
+          if (
+            driverAttempt < WHATSAPP_QA_TRANSIENT_DRIVER_ATTEMPTS &&
+            isTransientWhatsAppQaDriverError(error)
+          ) {
+            driverAttempt += 1;
+            try {
+              activeDriver = await restartWhatsAppQaDriverSession({
+                authDir: driverAuthDir,
+                current: activeDriver,
+              });
+              driver = activeDriver;
+            } catch (restartError) {
+              if (!isTransientWhatsAppQaDriverError(restartError)) {
+                throw restartError;
+              }
+            }
             continue;
           }
           preservedGatewayDebugArtifacts = true;
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 719c21d15ea..6eafb05691e 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenario-runtime-room.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenario-runtime-room.ts
@@ -613,6 +613,30 @@ async function runMatrixStreamingPreviewScenario(
     since: startSince,
     timeoutMs: context.timeoutMs,
   });
+  if (preview.event.body === params.finalText) {
+    advanceMatrixQaActorCursor({
+      actorId: "driver",
+      syncState: context.syncState,
+      nextSince: preview.since,
+      startSince,
+    });
+    const finalReply = buildMatrixReplyArtifact(preview.event, params.finalText);
+    return {
+      artifacts: {
+        driverEventId,
+        previewEventId: undefined,
+        reply: finalReply,
+        token: params.finalText,
+        triggerBody,
+      },
+      details: [
+        `driver event: ${driverEventId}`,
+        `scenario: ${params.label}`,
+        "preview event: <none>; final delivered without draft replacement",
+        ...buildMatrixReplyDetails("final reply", finalReply),
+      ].join("\n"),
+    } satisfies MatrixQaScenarioExecution;
+  }
   const finalized = await client.waitForRoomEvent({
     observedEvents: context.observedEvents,
     predicate: (event) =>
diff --git a/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts b/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts
index 85412bc0d4e..cf1e3981ce5 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/scenarios.test.ts
@@ -2991,6 +2991,47 @@ describe("matrix live qa scenarios", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("accepts final-only partial streaming replies without a draft replacement", async () => {
+    const fallbackFinalText = "MATRIX_QA_PARTIAL_STREAM_PREVIEW_COMPLETE";
+    const { sendTextMessage, waitForRoomEvent } = mockMatrixQaRoomClient({
+      driverEventId: "$partial-stream-trigger",
+      events: [
+        {
+          event: ({ sendTextMessage }) =>
+            matrixQaMessageEvent({
+              kind: "message",
+              eventId: "$partial-final-only",
+              body: readMatrixQaReplyDirective(
+                mockMessageBody(sendTextMessage, "sendTextMessage"),
+                fallbackFinalText,
+              ),
+            }),
+          since: "driver-sync-final",
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const scenario = requireMatrixQaScenario("matrix-room-partial-streaming-preview");
+
+    const result = await runMatrixQaScenario(scenario, matrixQaScenarioContext());
+    const artifacts = result.artifacts as {
+      driverEventId?: unknown;
+      previewEventId?: unknown;
+      reply?: { eventId?: unknown };
+    };
+    expect(artifacts.driverEventId).toBe("$partial-stream-trigger");
+    expect(artifacts.previewEventId).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(artifacts.reply?.eventId).toBe("$partial-final-only");
+    expect(result.details).toContain("final delivered without draft replacement");
+    expect(waitForRoomEvent).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    expectSentTextMessage(sendTextMessage, {
+      bodyIncludes: "Partial streaming QA check",
+      mentionUserIds: ["@sut:matrix-qa.test"],
+      roomId: "!main:matrix-qa.test",
+    });
+  });
+
   it("captures Matrix tool progress inside the quiet preview before finalizing", async () => {
     const previewEventId = "$tool-progress-preview";
     const { sendTextMessage } = mockMatrixQaRoomClient({