diff --git a/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/all-commands.ts b/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/all-commands.ts
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+++ b/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/all-commands.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/**
+ * Word-in-the-loop validation for anchored metadata (SD-3201).
+ *
+ * The SuperDoc → DOCX → SuperDoc round-trip is proven by
+ * `tests/doc-api-stories/tests/metadata/all-commands.ts` — same
+ * session model, save and reopen. This story proves the harder case:
+ * Microsoft Word in the middle.
+ *
+ * Fixtures under `./fixtures/` were generated as follows:
+ *
+ *   1. `source-baseline.docx` — a SuperDoc-exported DOCX with one
+ *      anchored citation (`id="fixture-cite-001"`, namespace
+ *      `urn:superdoc:test:word-roundtrip:1`, anchor over the phrase
+ *      "duty of care").
+ *   2. `baseline-word-resaved.docx` — `source-baseline.docx` opened
+ *      in Word and re-saved without edits. Proves Word does not
+ *      strip the customXml part or the hidden SDT wrapper.
+ *   3. `baseline-word-edited.docx` — `source-baseline.docx` opened
+ *      in Word with text inserted inside the cited span. Proves the
+ *      SDT survives content edits and resolves to a target whose
+ *      text content includes the edit.
+ *
+ * The fixtures are deterministic snapshots — they run in CI without
+ * needing Word access. New Word version regressions are caught by a
+ * separate pre-rollout live script (not in this PR).
+ */
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { unwrap, useStoryHarness } from '../harness';
+
+const NAMESPACE = 'urn:superdoc:test:word-roundtrip:1';
+const CITE_ID = 'fixture-cite-001';
+
+const EXPECTED_PAYLOAD = {
+  citationId: 'fixture-cite-001',
+  sourceId: 'src-restatement',
+  sourceType: 'statute',
+  provider: 'lexisnexis',
+  displayText: 'Restatement (Third) of Torts § 6',
+  locator: '§ 6',
+  excerpt: 'An actor must exercise reasonable care.',
+  confidence: 0.92,
+};
+
+const FIXTURE_DIR = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, 'fixtures');
+const FIXTURE_RESAVED = path.join(FIXTURE_DIR, 'baseline-word-resaved.docx');
+const FIXTURE_EDITED = path.join(FIXTURE_DIR, 'baseline-word-edited.docx');
+
+describe('document-api story: Word round-trip preserves anchored metadata', () => {
+  const { client } = useStoryHarness('word-roundtrip/all-commands', { preserveResults: true });
+  const api = client as any;
+
+  function makeSessionId(prefix: string): string {
+    return `${prefix}-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 8)}`;
+  }
+
+  async function callDocOperation<T>(operationId: string, input: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<T> {
+    const segments = operationId.split('.');
+    let fn: any = api.doc;
+    for (const segment of segments) fn = fn?.[segment];
+    if (typeof fn !== 'function') throw new Error(`Unknown doc operation: ${operationId}`);
+    return unwrap<T>(await fn(input));
+  }
+
+  async function withReopenedSession<T>(fixturePath: string, fn: (sessionId: string) => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
+    const sessionId = makeSessionId('word-roundtrip');
+    try {
+      await callDocOperation('open', { sessionId, doc: fixturePath });
+      return await fn(sessionId);
+    } finally {
+      await callDocOperation('close', { sessionId, discard: true }).catch(() => {});
+    }
+  }
+
+  it('Word save (no edits): metadata.list/get/resolve all recover the citation', async () => {
+    await withReopenedSession(FIXTURE_RESAVED, async (sessionId) => {
+      // list
+      const list = await callDocOperation<any>('metadata.list', { sessionId, namespace: NAMESPACE });
+      expect(list?.total).toBe(1);
+      const ids = (list?.items ?? []).map((item: any) => item?.id ?? item?.domain?.id);
+      expect(ids).toContain(CITE_ID);
+
+      // get — payload survives intact (Word does not normalize the customXml part)
+      const info = await callDocOperation<any>('metadata.get', { sessionId, id: CITE_ID });
+      expect(info?.id).toBe(CITE_ID);
+      expect(info?.namespace).toBe(NAMESPACE);
+      expect(info?.payload).toEqual(EXPECTED_PAYLOAD);
+
+      // resolve — anchor still resolves to a text-range target
+      const resolved = await callDocOperation<any>('metadata.resolve', { sessionId, id: CITE_ID });
+      expect(resolved?.id).toBe(CITE_ID);
+      expect(resolved?.target?.kind).toBe('selection');
+      expect(resolved?.target?.start?.kind).toBe('text');
+      expect(resolved?.target?.end?.kind).toBe('text');
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('Word edit inside anchor: metadata recovers, anchor survives without detaching', async () => {
+    await withReopenedSession(FIXTURE_EDITED, async (sessionId) => {
+      // payload still recovers — Word does not touch the customXml part during inline edits
+      const info = await callDocOperation<any>('metadata.get', { sessionId, id: CITE_ID });
+      expect(info?.payload).toEqual(EXPECTED_PAYLOAD);
+
+      // resolve returns a `selection` target with text endpoints — the anchor did not detach
+      // when Word split runs around the inserted word. (A detached / orphaned anchor would
+      // resolve to a different `target.kind`, or no target at all.)
+      const resolved = await callDocOperation<any>('metadata.resolve', { sessionId, id: CITE_ID });
+      expect(resolved?.id).toBe(CITE_ID);
+      expect(resolved?.target?.kind).toBe('selection');
+      expect(resolved?.target?.start?.kind).toBe('text');
+      expect(resolved?.target?.end?.kind).toBe('text');
+
+      // Independent text-content check via `extract` — slice the resolved block's text using the
+      // resolved start/end offsets and assert the inserted word ("reasonable") plus the original
+      // anchor head and tail ("duty", "care") all fall inside the SDT range. This is independent
+      // of `metadata.resolve` because `extract` reads the document body, not the customXml store.
+      const extracted = await callDocOperation<any>('extract', { sessionId });
+      const startBlockId = resolved.target.start.blockId;
+      const endBlockId = resolved.target.end.blockId;
+      expect(endBlockId).toBe(startBlockId); // fixture invariant: anchor is intra-paragraph
+      const block = (extracted?.blocks ?? []).find((b: any) => b?.nodeId === startBlockId);
+      expect(block?.text).toBeTruthy();
+      const selectedText = String(block.text).slice(resolved.target.start.offset, resolved.target.end.offset);
+      expect(selectedText).toContain('duty');
+      expect(selectedText).toContain('reasonable');
+      expect(selectedText).toContain('care');
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/fixtures/baseline-word-edited.docx b/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/fixtures/baseline-word-edited.docx
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diff --git a/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/fixtures/baseline-word-resaved.docx b/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/fixtures/baseline-word-resaved.docx
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diff --git a/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/fixtures/source-baseline.docx b/tests/doc-api-stories/tests/word-roundtrip/fixtures/source-baseline.docx
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