diff --git a/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh b/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh
index 5e5b52b3..78f3eb1c 100755
--- a/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh
+++ b/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ roots:
   indexes: indexes
   sessions: sessions
 EOF
-  chmod 0600 "$TASK13_SERVER_WORKSPACE_CONFIG"
+  chmod 0644 "$TASK13_SERVER_WORKSPACE_CONFIG"
 
   mkdir -p "$TASK13_SERVER_DATA" "$TASK13_SERVER_PI_STATE" "$TASK13_SERVER_REGISTRY"
   "$TASK13_ROOT/scripts/prepare-server-pi-state.sh" \
@@ -1564,7 +1564,7 @@ task13_assert_server_runtime() {
     || task13_fail "server core did not use the smoke-built core image"
   [[ "$(docker inspect --format '{{.Image}}' "$frontend_id")" == "$expected_frontend_image" ]] \
     || task13_fail "server frontend did not use the smoke-built frontend image"
-  task13_compose exec -T core sh -ceu '
+  task13_compose_logged "verify server runtime configuration and secret readability" exec -T core sh -ceu '
     test -r /run/thothii-auth/auth.yaml
     test -d /data/auth
     test -z "${AUTH_MODE+x}"
@@ -2529,7 +2529,7 @@ task13_self_test_source_contract() {
   local image_evidence_environment image_evidence_initialization
   local server_auth_projection_override server_auth_projection_descriptor
   local server_auth_projection_environment server_auth_privileged_configure
-  local server_fixture_reclamation
+  local server_fixture_reclamation server_runtime_config_probe server_workspace_config_permission
   root="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd -P)"
   workflow="$root/.github/workflows/deployment.yml"
   runner_preparation="$root/scripts/prepare-linux-docker-runner.sh"
@@ -2560,6 +2560,8 @@ task13_self_test_source_contract() {
   server_auth_projection_environment='THT_AUTH_RUNTIME_''ROOT=%s'
   server_auth_privileged_configure='sudo -n -- "$TASK13_''THT"'
   server_fixture_reclamation='task13_reclaim_server_fixture_''ownership'
+  server_runtime_config_probe='task13_compose_''logged "verify server runtime configuration and secret readability"'
+  server_workspace_config_permission='chmod 0644 "$TASK13_SERVER_''WORKSPACE_CONFIG"'
   if rg -n 'docker[[:space:]]+(system[[:space:]]+)?prune' \
     "$root/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh" \
     "$root/scripts/tht-update-smoke.sh" \
@@ -2635,6 +2637,10 @@ task13_self_test_source_contract() {
   [[ "$(grep -Ec "^${server_fixture_reclamation}\\(\\)|^[[:space:]]+${server_fixture_reclamation}$" \
     "$root/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh")" -eq 2 ]] \
     || task13_fail "the server smoke must reclaim its root- and core-owned fixture exactly once"
+  grep -Fq -- "$server_runtime_config_probe" "$root/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh" \
+    || task13_fail "the server runtime preconditions must emit a named diagnostic"
+  grep -Fq -- "$server_workspace_config_permission" "$root/scripts/unified-deployment-smoke.sh" \
+    || task13_fail "the server workspace fixture must be readable by the container UID"
   [[ -x "$runner_preparation" ]] \
     || task13_fail "the Linux Docker runner preparation must be executable"
   for path in /usr/local/lib/android /usr/share/dotnet /opt/ghc /usr/local/.ghcup; do