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++) {
diff --git a/tests/unit/test-suite-coverage-guard.test.ts b/tests/unit/test-suite-coverage-guard.test.ts
index d4d268ac..f12b0587 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test-suite-coverage-guard.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/test-suite-coverage-guard.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
  * config (so it never runs and gives false coverage confidence — the exact drift
  * that left ~27 test files un-run before 8.0). Every `*.test.ts` must either match
  * a gate config (`tests/unit/**`, `tests/integration/**`, `*.unit.test.ts`,
- * `*.integration.test.ts`) or be explicitly listed in MANUAL_ONLY below.
+ * `*.integration.test.ts`, or the perf lane's `tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts`
+ * — see PERF_LANE_FILES below) or be explicitly listed in MANUAL_ONLY below.
  */
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
 import { readdirSync } from 'node:fs'
@@ -24,10 +25,12 @@ function allTestFiles(dir: string, out: string[] = []): string[] {
 }
 
 /**
- * Test files INTENTIONALLY excluded from the unit/integration gate: benchmarks,
- * scale/perf measurements, package-size checks, and real-model-load checks. They
- * are run manually (slow / need real resources), not in CI. Every entry is a
- * conscious decision — a NEW orphan not listed here fails the guard below.
+ * Test files INTENTIONALLY excluded from every automated gate — conformance
+ * suites invoked directly, and checks that need real resources (network,
+ * unusual scale) no CI lane provides. Wall-clock/scale benchmarks that DO
+ * run automatically belong to the perf lane (PERF_LANE_FILES / inGate
+ * below), not here. Every entry is a conscious decision — a NEW orphan not
+ * listed here fails the guard below.
  */
 const MANUAL_ONLY = new Set<string>([
   // Conformance suites run as an explicit gate stage (both engines run them
@@ -40,15 +43,11 @@ const MANUAL_ONLY = new Set<string>([
   // The sparse-store cut's shared operator rows (both engines run these):
   // explicit conformance-gate invocation, like its siblings.
   'tests/conformance/sparse-store-cut.test.ts',
-  'tests/api/performance-benchmarks.test.ts',
+  // NOT the perf lane: no wall-clock/scale assertion, so it does not belong
+  // in tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts's include list — genuinely run
+  // by hand only.
   'tests/critical-neural-validation.test.ts',
-  'tests/critical-performance-benchmark.test.ts',
-  'tests/model-loading.test.ts',
   'tests/package-size-breakdown.test.ts',
-  'tests/package-size-limit.test.ts',
-  'tests/performance/graph-scale-performance.test.ts',
-  'tests/performance/triple-intelligence-scale.test.ts',
-  'tests/performance/typeAware.bench.test.ts',
   // Cross-engine field-addressing conformance suite: pinned bit-for-bit against
   // the native accelerator's implementation of the SAME contract, and invoked
   // directly (`npx vitest run tests/conformance/namespace-law.test.ts`), never
@@ -59,6 +58,21 @@ const MANUAL_ONLY = new Set<string>([
   'tests/conformance/namespace-law.test.ts'
 ])
 
+/**
+ * The perf lane's own gate: `tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts`, run by
+ * `npm run test:perf`. Mirrors that config's `include` list — kept in sync
+ * by inspection, the same convention that config uses against the root
+ * gate's exclude list (see its own header comment). A file that runs here
+ * is GATED, not manual: it belongs in this set (or the `tests/performance/`
+ * prefix below), never in MANUAL_ONLY.
+ */
+const PERF_LANE_FILES = new Set<string>([
+  'tests/critical-performance-benchmark.test.ts',
+  'tests/api/performance-benchmarks.test.ts',
+  'tests/package-size-limit.test.ts',
+  'tests/model-loading.test.ts'
+])
+
 function inGate(rel: string): boolean {
   return (
     rel.startsWith('tests/unit/') ||
@@ -67,7 +81,11 @@ function inGate(rel: string): boolean {
     // ('tests/lifecycle/**/*.test.ts'; see tests/lifecycle/README.md).
     rel.startsWith('tests/lifecycle/') ||
     rel.endsWith('.unit.test.ts') ||
-    rel.endsWith('.integration.test.ts')
+    rel.endsWith('.integration.test.ts') ||
+    // The perf lane (see PERF_LANE_FILES above) — mirrors
+    // tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts's `tests/performance/**` glob.
+    rel.startsWith('tests/performance/') ||
+    PERF_LANE_FILES.has(rel)
   )
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.test.ts b/tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.unit.test.ts
similarity index 99%
rename from tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.test.ts
rename to tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.unit.test.ts
index fd5fa4d5..1f3f5333 100644
--- a/tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.test.ts
+++ b/tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.unit.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * @module tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope
+ * @module tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.unit
  * @description `vfs.search({ path })` scopes with a SERVED filter.
  *
  * The scope used to be emitted as `path: { $startsWith }` — an operator that is