diff --git a/tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts b/tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts
index ca665dae..6c0f2d1b 100644
--- a/tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts
+++ b/tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ export default defineConfig({
     setupFiles: ['./tests/setup.ts'],
     environment: 'node',
 
+    // The marker a test uses to tell it is running under this lane (see
+    // tests/integration/storage-batch-operations.test.ts's batch-vs-
+    // individual timing case) — a wall-clock RATIO assertion self-skips
+    // with a reason when this is absent, rather than flaking the
+    // correctness gate on whichever path happens to be faster this build.
+    env: { BRAINY_PERF_LANE: '1' },
+
     // Sequential, single fork — same isolation the gate uses, so a perf
     // measurement isn't skewed by sibling test contention.
     pool: 'forks',
@@ -45,7 +52,12 @@ export default defineConfig({
       'tests/critical-performance-benchmark.test.ts',
       'tests/api/performance-benchmarks.test.ts',
       'tests/package-size-limit.test.ts',
-      'tests/model-loading.test.ts'
+      'tests/model-loading.test.ts',
+      // Not a whole perf file — one wall-clock-ratio case inside an
+      // otherwise-correctness integration suite (self-skipped everywhere
+      // else via BRAINY_PERF_LANE). Stays in the integration gate's
+      // include too, so every OTHER test in the file keeps running there.
+      'tests/integration/storage-batch-operations.test.ts'
     ],
 
     reporters: process.env.CI ? ['dot'] : ['basic'],
diff --git a/tests/integration/storage-batch-operations.test.ts b/tests/integration/storage-batch-operations.test.ts
index 9972df1a..53547fe5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/storage-batch-operations.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/storage-batch-operations.test.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,13 @@ describe('Storage-Level Batch Operations v5.12.0', () => {
       expect(entity?.vector?.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
     })
 
-    it('should be faster than individual gets for large batches', async () => {
+    it('should be faster than individual gets for large batches', async (ctx) => {
+      // Wall-clock RATIO assertion — belongs to the perf lane (npm run
+      // test:perf), not the correctness gate: under the exclusive release
+      // gate this flaked when individual gets got faster on their own
+      // (open-path/hydration changes), not because batchGet regressed.
+      ctx.skip(!process.env.BRAINY_PERF_LANE, 'timing-ratio assertion — runs only under the perf lane (npm run test:perf)')
+
       // Create 100 entities
       const ids: string[] = []
       for (let i = 0; i < 100; i++) {