diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-live.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-live.yml
index b3833bd45..f58e4af68 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-live.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-live.yml
@@ -10,11 +10,10 @@ name: E2E — live render (Sandpack bundler)
 #     the deployed app directly. `ai: true` adds the LLM answer checks;
 #     `pkg_pr_new_ref` boots one container at a pkg.pr.new build (DEV-2198
 #     validation days).
-#   - schedule — the weekly prod canary (Mon 05:00 UTC), deployed mode with AI
-#     on. Deploy-time breakage is caught by the post-deploy smoke below; the
-#     canary exists for external drift — the hosted bundler, npm, the broker,
-#     docs-bucket rot — which moves on week-scale. Daily would burn container
-#     hours and turn every bundler blip into a triage.
+#   - schedule — the nightly prod canary (03:00 UTC, after the 01:00 starter
+#     matrix). Deploy-time breakage is caught by the post-deploy smoke below;
+#     the canary catches external drift — the hosted bundler, npm, the broker,
+#     docs-bucket rot — and, at Dan's call, runs every live-gated test nightly.
 #   - workflow_call with `smoke: true` — the post-deploy subset both deploy
 #     workflows invoke: `--grep @smoke`, one container, a few minutes.
 #
diff --git a/runner/e2e/preview-recovery.spec.ts b/runner/e2e/preview-recovery.spec.ts
index addd1fe6a..3018267db 100644
--- a/runner/e2e/preview-recovery.spec.ts
+++ b/runner/e2e/preview-recovery.spec.ts
@@ -196,7 +196,14 @@ test("live: breaking and un-breaking a line leaves the grid alone", async ({ pag
     const at = doc.indexOf("'Company name'") + 1;
     view.dispatch({ changes: { from: at, to: at + "Company name".length, insert: "Sentinel column" } });
   })()`);
-  await expect(preview.getByText("Sentinel column")).toBeVisible({ timeout: 60_000 });
+  // Handsontable renders a column header more than once — the master table
+  // plus overlay clones, and at least one copy is a hidden internal render —
+  // so a bare getByText is a strict-mode violation the moment the rename
+  // actually lands, and a positional .first() can pin the hidden copy. Filter
+  // to the visible instance (first live run of this rework, DEV-2203).
+  await expect(
+    preview.getByText("Sentinel column").filter({ visible: true }).first(),
+  ).toBeVisible({ timeout: 60_000 });
 
   // The grid never left, the status never left ready — and, the discriminating bit,
   // the preview document was never reset behind our back.