diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/template-delivery-e2e.yml b/.gitea/workflows/template-delivery-e2e.yml
index 3d5e2ca6..1b51990c 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/template-delivery-e2e.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/template-delivery-e2e.yml
@@ -14,12 +14,21 @@ name: template-delivery-e2e
 #     PLUGIN channel and NOT the asset channel (negative control).
 #
 # STAGED ROLLOUT (do NOT make required until green):
-#   Phase 1 (now): advisory — runs on the relevant paths + main + dispatch.
+#   Phase 1 (done): advisory — runs on the relevant paths + main + dispatch.
 #                  Asserts the new two-channel contract.
-#   Phase 2 (after this goes green twice on the new contract): remove
-#                  continue-on-error and add this check to branch protection
-#                  required_status_checks so a future delivery regression is
-#                  merge-blocking.
+#   Phase 2a (THIS change, mc#2996): HARDEN the asset-channel assertions so the
+#                  gate is reliable enough to make required. The C (config.yaml)
+#                  + D (prompts) checks now poll within E2E_ASSET_SETTLE_SECS: a
+#                  freshly-online tenant's /configs inspection endpoint can be
+#                  transiently slow / time out the first read (the 9c2161d red was
+#                  `curl: (28) ... 0 bytes` → config read as size 0, a FALSE stub,
+#                  not a real delivery failure). A genuine stub still fails after
+#                  the budget. continue-on-error STAYS in this PR — the flip is
+#                  gated by lint-pre-flip-continue-on-error on recent green main
+#                  runs, which this hardening produces.
+#   Phase 2b (follow-up, after 2a is green on main): remove continue-on-error and
+#                  add the emitted context to branch protection
+#                  required_status_checks → a delivery regression is merge-blocking.
 #
 # Cost: provisions ONE throwaway tenant + ONE seo-agent (real EC2), teardown
 # trap deletes the org even on failure. Path-filtered so it only runs when the
@@ -73,14 +82,17 @@ jobs:
   # Job renamed for the RFC#2843 #32 two-channel contract (config+prompts via
   # the asset channel; seo-all installs via the post-online plugin reconcile,
   # not at boot). Renaming the job changes the emitted status context.
-  # bp-exempt: advisory Phase-1 gate (continue-on-error, mc#2996) — informational, not a required BP context.
+  # bp-exempt: Phase 2a — still advisory (continue-on-error) while the hardened
+  # asset assertions bank green main runs; lint-pre-flip-continue-on-error then
+  # permits the Phase-2b flip + branch-protection add (mc#2996).
   delivery:
     # No colon in the name — lint-required-context's PyYAML AST parse rejects an
     # unquoted scalar containing a colon.
     name: Template-asset delivery (fresh seo-agent — config+prompts via asset channel, seo-all via plugin reconcile)
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    # Phase 1: advisory. Remove this line in Phase 2 to make it merge-blocking.
-    # mc#2996 — Phase 2 promotion tracker (remove continue-on-error; forced 14d renewal cadence).
+    # Phase 2a: STILL advisory. The flip to required (remove this line + add to
+    # branch protection) is Phase 2b, gated by lint-pre-flip-continue-on-error on
+    # the green main runs this hardening produces. mc#2996.
     continue-on-error: true  # mc#2996
     timeout-minutes: 30
     env:
diff --git a/tests/e2e/test_template_delivery_e2e.sh b/tests/e2e/test_template_delivery_e2e.sh
index 03b737ed..90f4a990 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/test_template_delivery_e2e.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/test_template_delivery_e2e.sh
@@ -56,6 +56,15 @@ EXPECTED_MODEL="${E2E_EXPECTED_MODEL:-moonshot/kimi-k2.6}"
 EXPECTED_PLUGIN="${E2E_EXPECTED_PLUGIN:-seo-all}"
 PROVISION_TIMEOUT_SECS="${E2E_PROVISION_TIMEOUT_SECS:-900}"
 PLUGIN_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_SECS="${E2E_PLUGIN_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_SECS:-600}"
+# Settle budget for the ASSET-channel assertions (C config.yaml, D prompts).
+# A freshly-online tenant's /configs inspection endpoint (execs into the
+# container) can be transiently slow or time out the first read — observed:
+# `curl: (28) ... 0 bytes` on a just-online box → config.yaml read as size 0 →
+# false "stub" failure. The assertions poll within this budget and only FAIL
+# after it expires, so a genuine stub still fails loudly (the gate's real
+# signal) while a transient/early read no longer false-negatives. Required for
+# this gate to be merge-blocking without flaking (mc#2996 Phase 2).
+ASSET_SETTLE_SECS="${E2E_ASSET_SETTLE_SECS:-180}"
 
 # Collision-proof slug (random suffix), same convention as the sibling harness.
 RAND=$(head -c4 /dev/urandom | od -An -tx1 | tr -d ' \n')
@@ -160,21 +169,31 @@ MODEL=$(tenant_call GET "/workspaces/$WID/model" | python3 -c "import json,sys;p
 ok "B: model=$MODEL"
 
 # C. config.yaml delivered + REAL (not the 218 B default stub)
-CFG_SIZE=$(tenant_call GET "/workspaces/$WID/files" | python3 -c "
+# D. prompts/ delivered (identity prompt)
+#
+# Both read the tenant's /configs inspection endpoint, which can be transiently
+# slow / time out on a just-online box. Poll within ASSET_SETTLE_SECS so a
+# transient read or a not-yet-settled volume retries; only fail AFTER the budget
+# (a real stub stays a stub). The LAST observed values feed the failure message.
+ASSET_DEADLINE=$(( $(date +%s) + ASSET_SETTLE_SECS )); CFG_SIZE=0; PROMPTS=0
+while true; do
+  CFG_SIZE=$(tenant_call GET "/workspaces/$WID/files" | python3 -c "
 import json,sys
 for f in json.load(sys.stdin):
     if f.get('path')=='config.yaml': print(f.get('size',0)); break
 else: print(0)
 " 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
-[ "${CFG_SIZE:-0}" -gt 1024 ] || fail "C: config.yaml size=$CFG_SIZE B (≤1KiB ⇒ default stub, template config NOT delivered)"
-ok "C: config.yaml delivered ($CFG_SIZE B)"
-
-# D. prompts/ delivered (identity prompt)
-PROMPTS=$(tenant_call GET "/workspaces/$WID/files?path=prompts" | python3 -c "
+  PROMPTS=$(tenant_call GET "/workspaces/$WID/files?path=prompts" | python3 -c "
 import json,sys
 d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(len(d) if isinstance(d,list) else 0)
 " 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
-[ "${PROMPTS:-0}" -gt 0 ] || fail "D: prompts/ empty — identity prompt NOT delivered"
+  { [ "${CFG_SIZE:-0}" -gt 1024 ] && [ "${PROMPTS:-0}" -gt 0 ]; } && break
+  [ "$(date +%s)" -gt "$ASSET_DEADLINE" ] && break
+  sleep 10
+done
+[ "${CFG_SIZE:-0}" -gt 1024 ] || fail "C: config.yaml size=$CFG_SIZE B after ${ASSET_SETTLE_SECS}s (≤1KiB ⇒ default stub, template config NOT delivered)"
+ok "C: config.yaml delivered ($CFG_SIZE B)"
+[ "${PROMPTS:-0}" -gt 0 ] || fail "D: prompts/ empty after ${ASSET_SETTLE_SECS}s — identity prompt NOT delivered"
 ok "D: prompts/ delivered ($PROMPTS file(s))"
 
 # E. plugins/seo-all/SKILL.md installed via the post-online PLUGIN reconcile —