diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts
index e998d84d44f..5885efee127 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   readQaScenarioById,
   readQaScenarioExecutionConfig,
   readQaScenarioPack,
+  validateQaScenarioExecutionConfig,
 } from "./scenario-catalog.js";
 
 describe("qa scenario catalog", () => {
@@ -78,4 +79,12 @@ describe("qa scenario catalog", () => {
       characterConfig?.turns?.some((turn) => turn.expectFile?.path === "precious-status.html"),
     ).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it("rejects malformed string matcher lists before running a flow", () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      validateQaScenarioExecutionConfig({
+        gracefulFallbackAny: [{ confirmed: "the hidden fact is present" }],
+      }),
+    ).toThrow(/gracefulFallbackAny entries must be strings/);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts
index 32dbb893b5b..ffaca54946e 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts
@@ -20,10 +20,35 @@ Style:
 - record evidence
 - end with a concise protocol report`;
 
+const qaScenarioConfigSchema = z.record(z.string(), z.unknown()).superRefine((config, ctx) => {
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(config)) {
+    if (!key.endsWith("Any")) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (!Array.isArray(value)) {
+      ctx.addIssue({
+        code: z.ZodIssueCode.custom,
+        path: [key],
+        message: `${key} must be an array of strings`,
+      });
+      continue;
+    }
+    for (const [index, entry] of value.entries()) {
+      if (typeof entry !== "string") {
+        ctx.addIssue({
+          code: z.ZodIssueCode.custom,
+          path: [key, index],
+          message: `${key} entries must be strings`,
+        });
+      }
+    }
+  }
+});
+
 const qaScenarioExecutionSchema = z.object({
   kind: z.literal("flow").default("flow"),
   summary: z.string().trim().min(1).optional(),
-  config: z.record(z.string(), z.unknown()).optional(),
+  config: qaScenarioConfigSchema.optional(),
 });
 
 const qaFlowCallActionSchema = z.object({
@@ -224,7 +249,22 @@ function extractQaScenarioFlow(content: string, relativePath: string) {
   if (!match?.[1]) {
     throw new Error(`qa scenario file missing \`\`\`yaml qa-flow fence in ${relativePath}`);
   }
-  return qaFlowSchema.parse(YAML.parse(match[1]) as unknown);
+  return parseQaYamlWithContext(qaFlowSchema, YAML.parse(match[1]) as unknown, relativePath);
+}
+
+function formatZodIssuePath(path: PropertyKey[]) {
+  return path.length ? path.map(String).join(".") : "<root>";
+}
+
+function parseQaYamlWithContext<T>(schema: z.ZodType<T>, value: unknown, label: string): T {
+  const parsed = schema.safeParse(value);
+  if (parsed.success) {
+    return parsed.data;
+  }
+  const issues = parsed.error.issues
+    .map((issue) => `${formatZodIssuePath(issue.path)}: ${issue.message}`)
+    .join("; ");
+  throw new Error(`${label}: ${issues}`);
 }
 
 export function readQaScenarioPackMarkdown(): string {
@@ -240,16 +280,24 @@ export function readQaScenarioPack(): QaScenarioPack {
   if (!packMarkdown) {
     throw new Error(`qa scenario pack not found: ${QA_SCENARIO_PACK_INDEX_PATH}`);
   }
-  const parsedPack = qaScenarioPackSchema.parse(
+  const parsedPack = parseQaYamlWithContext(
+    qaScenarioPackSchema,
     YAML.parse(extractQaPackYaml(packMarkdown)) as unknown,
+    QA_SCENARIO_PACK_INDEX_PATH,
   );
   const scenarios = listQaScenarioMarkdownPaths().map((relativePath) =>
     (() => {
       const content = readTextFile(relativePath);
-      const parsedScenario = qaSeedScenarioSchema.parse(
+      const parsedScenario = parseQaYamlWithContext(
+        qaSeedScenarioSchema,
         YAML.parse(extractQaScenarioYaml(content, relativePath)) as unknown,
+        relativePath,
+      );
+      const execution = parseQaYamlWithContext(
+        qaScenarioExecutionSchema,
+        parsedScenario.execution ?? {},
+        relativePath,
       );
-      const execution = qaScenarioExecutionSchema.parse(parsedScenario.execution ?? {});
       const flow = extractQaScenarioFlow(content, relativePath);
       return {
         ...parsedScenario,
@@ -298,3 +346,7 @@ export function readQaScenarioById(id: string): QaSeedScenario {
 export function readQaScenarioExecutionConfig(id: string): Record<string, unknown> | undefined {
   return readQaScenarioById(id).execution?.config;
 }
+
+export function validateQaScenarioExecutionConfig(config: Record<string, unknown>) {
+  return qaScenarioConfigSchema.parse(config);
+}
diff --git a/qa/scenarios/approval-turn-tool-followthrough.md b/qa/scenarios/approval-turn-tool-followthrough.md
index 00a707da3eb..af2d87a3b47 100644
--- a/qa/scenarios/approval-turn-tool-followthrough.md
+++ b/qa/scenarios/approval-turn-tool-followthrough.md
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ steps:
               expr: liveTurnTimeoutMs(env, 30000)
       - set: expectedReplyAny
         value:
-          expr: config.expectedReplyAny.map((needle) => needle.toLowerCase())
+          expr: config.expectedReplyAny.map(normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty)
       - call: waitForCondition
         saveAs: outbound
         args:
diff --git a/qa/scenarios/memory-failure-fallback.md b/qa/scenarios/memory-failure-fallback.md
index 20e71e7475f..ed48187376a 100644
--- a/qa/scenarios/memory-failure-fallback.md
+++ b/qa/scenarios/memory-failure-fallback.md
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ execution:
       - won't reveal
       - won’t reveal
       - will not reveal
-      - confirmed: the hidden fact is present
+      - "confirmed: the hidden fact is present"
       - hidden fact is present
 ```
 
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ steps:
                   expr: "`hallucinated hidden fact: ${outbound.text}`"
             - set: gracefulFallback
               value:
-                expr: "config.gracefulFallbackAny.some((needle) => lower.includes(needle.toLowerCase()))"
+                expr: "config.gracefulFallbackAny.some((needle) => lower.includes(normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty(needle)))"
             - assert:
                 expr: "Boolean(gracefulFallback)"
                 message:
diff --git a/qa/scenarios/memory-recall.md b/qa/scenarios/memory-recall.md
index 360823c8a6f..a6886afcd01 100644
--- a/qa/scenarios/memory-recall.md
+++ b/qa/scenarios/memory-recall.md
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ steps:
               expr: liveTurnTimeoutMs(env, 60000)
       - set: rememberAckAny
         value:
-          expr: config.rememberAckAny.map((needle) => needle.toLowerCase())
+          expr: config.rememberAckAny.map(normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty)
       - call: waitForOutboundMessage
         saveAs: outbound
         args:
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ steps:
               expr: liveTurnTimeoutMs(env, 60000)
       - set: recallExpectedAny
         value:
-          expr: config.recallExpectedAny.map((needle) => needle.toLowerCase())
+          expr: config.recallExpectedAny.map(normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty)
       - call: waitForCondition
         saveAs: outbound
         args: