fix(qbittorrent): the comment warning about doubled dollars contained one

The new flux-postbuild-substitution guard failed the merge on apps/wave-0/qbittorrent.yaml:155 — a run of two dollars in a substituted path that nothing justifies. It was inside the postStart hook's own comment EXPLAINING the hazard: prose about what envsubst does to a doubled dollar, written with a literal doubled dollar. Functionally harmless — it is a bash comment, and collapsing it changes no behaviour — but the guard cannot distinguish a comment from content that reaches the workload, and it is right not to try: that is precisely how the nextcloud-db break slipped through. Reworded in words instead. Worth recording that this is the second time today the same trap caught an explanation of itself: my own fix for the nextcloud-db incident (16b7fcd) also shipped dollars inside the comment describing the danger, and I only caught it because I re-read the file. This time the guard caught it, on work merged minutes earlier — which is the guard earning its place. Re-rendered so the golden matches the catalog. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>
merge: coverage debt paid — 51/51, and the root really did hide a service
2026-09-13 16:38:14 -05:00 · 2026-09-13 16:34:54 -05:00 · 2026-09-13 16:34:35 -05:00 · 2026-09-13 16:32:28 -05:00 · 2026-09-13 16:31:58 -05:00 · 2026-09-13 16:28:21 -05:00
268 changed files with 33319 additions and 1180 deletions
@@ -1,25 +1,44 @@
 # .gitea/workflows/gate.yml — the ENFORCED PR merge gate (Phase 6, WS-GITOSS).
 #
 # This is the LIVE gate wired to the in-cluster Gitea Actions runner (ns gitea-actions,
-# Docker executor + DinD). It invokes the AGGREGATE merge gate — `make -C ci gate` — so CI
-# runs BYTE-FOR-BYTE the same command a human runs in the devcontainer (R-TEST-02): the
-# runner just installs the pinned tools from ci/versions.env first. `make -C ci gate`
-# (ci/gate.sh) runs every stage in order — spec-immutability, lint, Kyverno L0,
-# render==golden, L1 offline render — and applies the R-TEST-03 decision, printing
-# "MERGE GATE: PASS" / "MERGE GATE: BLOCKED". It is the single required status check on
-# `main` (see branch protection). A non-zero exit fails the job, so a BLOCKED gate blocks
-# the merge.
+# Docker executor + DinD). It invokes the AGGREGATE merge gate — `./ci/gate.sh`, which is
+# exactly what `make -C ci gate` runs, so CI and the devcontainer gate the same way
+# (R-TEST-02): the runner just installs the pinned tools from ci/versions.env first (and see
+# below for why the script, not `make`, is invoked here). It runs every stage in order —
+# spec-immutability, lint, Kyverno L0, render==golden, L1 offline render — and then applies the
+# R-TEST-03 decision, printing
+# "MERGE GATE: PASS" (0) / "BLOCKED" (1) / "UNDETERMINED" (3) / "NOT APPLICABLE" (0). It is the
+# single required status check on `main` (see branch protection). A non-zero exit fails the job,
+# so a BLOCKED gate blocks the merge.
+#
+# WHY THIS STEP DECLARES GATE_STRICT_SKIPS AND TOLERATES EXIT 3 (2026-09-13). A SKIPPED stage is
+# never green, and since 2026-09-13 gate.sh refuses to print PASS when one did not run (it used to
+# print "— not green" and then "MERGE GATE: PASS", exit 0 — fail-open in the gate itself). Two
+# kinds of non-run must be told apart HERE, in the caller, because only the caller knows which
+# environment it is:
+#   * a pinned tool missing or a seam unwired ON THIS RUNNER is a DEFECT — the toolchain is
+#     installed for us two steps up. GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true DECLARES that (no env sniffing, no
+#     "does this look like CI?" heuristic) and makes those skips exit 1: untolerated, job fails.
+#   * spec-immutability CANNOT be verified here at all: the spec repo is a separate repo and is
+#     not checked out into this runner (SPEC_REPO_SLUG unwired; blueprint in merge-gate.yaml). It
+#     is the ONLY skip that can still reach exit 3 under strict skips, which is what makes
+#     `|| [ "$?" -eq 3 ]` a narrow, reviewed tolerance rather than a blanket one. The log still
+#     says UNDETERMINED and names R-TEST-06 as unverified. Wire the spec checkout (or set
+#     REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true) and this tolerance should be deleted.
+# Called DIRECTLY, not through `make`: GNU make reports any recipe failure as its own exit 2, so
+# `make -C ci gate || [ "$?" -eq 3 ]` would see 2 and fail the job. Same reason the
+# spec-immutability pre-step below calls the script directly.
 #
 # The cluster-gated L2/L3 conformance stage SKIPS honestly here (exit 3, surfaced not faked
-# — HARD RULE 4) because this runner declares no cluster: `make -C ci gate` does not set
-# CLUSTER_AVAILABLE, so gate.sh reports the touched requirements UNVERIFIED without blocking
-# Phase-0/6 static work. L2/L3 run as an IN-CLUSTER Chainsaw Job (its own scoped SA; CI holds
+# — HARD RULE 4) because this runner declares no cluster: nothing here sets CLUSTER_AVAILABLE,
+# so gate.sh reports the touched requirements UNVERIFIED — and NAMES that declared gap in its
+# PASS headline — without blocking Phase-0/6 static work. L2/L3 run as an IN-CLUSTER Chainsaw Job (its own scoped SA; CI holds
 # no broad kubeconfig) driven by the separate `conformance` job below.
 #
 # NOTE (R-TEST-06 / gate-semantics): spec-immutability is ALSO surfaced as its own explicit
 # early step (below) so its result is a distinct, tolerant status in the Gitea UI; gate.sh
-# re-runs it as its first stage, which is the authoritative one. `make -C ci gate` here is
-# the byte-identical laptop gate; the extra pre-step is a read-only git-diff check and is
+# re-runs it as its first stage, which is the authoritative one. The gate step below is the
+# same script the laptop runs; the extra pre-step is a read-only git-diff check and is
 # purely additive. The full pipeline blueprint (spec-checkout, per-layer jobs, decision job)
 # is retained dormant in merge-gate.yaml.
 ---
@@ -69,13 +88,17 @@ jobs:
      - name: Spec immutability (R-TEST-06, skips if spec repo absent)
        run: ./ci/spec-immutability.sh || [ "$?" -eq 3 ]

-      # Aggregate merge gate: byte-for-byte the command a human runs in the devcontainer
-      # (`make -C ci gate` -> ci/gate.sh). Runs spec-immutability, lint, Kyverno L0,
-      # render==golden and L1 render, then the R-TEST-03 decision. Exits non-zero on a
-      # BLOCKED gate, which fails this job. The cluster-gated L2/L3 stage SKIPS here (no
-      # CLUSTER_AVAILABLE) — surfaced as UNVERIFIED, never faked green (see header).
-      - name: Merge gate — make -C ci gate
-        run: make -C ci gate
+      # Aggregate merge gate: the same script a human runs in the devcontainer via
+      # `make -C ci gate`. Runs spec-immutability, lint, Kyverno L0, render==golden and L1
+      # render, then the R-TEST-03 decision. Exits non-zero on a BLOCKED gate, which fails this
+      # job. The cluster-gated L2/L3 stage SKIPS here (no CLUSTER_AVAILABLE) — surfaced as
+      # UNVERIFIED and NAMED in the PASS headline, never faked green. GATE_STRICT_SKIPS + the
+      # tolerated exit 3 are explained in the file header; the tolerance covers exactly one
+      # thing, the unverifiable spec repo, and nothing else can produce a 3 here.
+      - name: Merge gate — ci/gate.sh (what `make -C ci gate` runs)
+        env:
+          GATE_STRICT_SKIPS: "true"
+        run: ./ci/gate.sh || [ "$?" -eq 3 ]

      # NOTE: no actions/upload-artifact step. Gitea Actions rejects upload-artifact@v4
      # ("not supported on GHES" — Gitea does not implement the artifact-v2 backend), which
@@ -39,6 +39,21 @@ install_chainsaw() {
  curl -fsSL "$url" | tar -xz -C "$bindir" chainsaw
 }

+# promtool — the alert-rule UNIT-TEST engine the L0 check
+# conformance/tests/l0-static/alert-rules-unit-tested runs. Installed for the l0 stage because
+# without it that check exits 3 (SKIPPED, never green) on the runner and the alert unit tests
+# would be enforced nowhere — the exact "coverage that looks present" failure it exists to end.
+# Pinned from ci/versions.env to the Prometheus version prod runs (promtool IS the rule engine);
+# the check asserts `promtool --version` equals that pin, so a drifted install FAILS, not skips.
+install_promtool() {
+  have promtool && return 0
+  log "promtool ${PROMTOOL_VERSION} (from the prometheus release tarball)"
+  local tarball="prometheus-${PROMTOOL_VERSION}.${os}-${arch}"
+  curl -fsSL "https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/download/v${PROMTOOL_VERSION}/${tarball}.tar.gz" \
+    | tar -xz -C "$bindir" --strip-components=1 "${tarball}/promtool"
+  chmod +x "${bindir}/promtool"
+}
+
 install_kubectl() {
  have kubectl && return 0
  log "kubectl ${KUBECTL_VERSION}"
@@ -50,10 +65,10 @@ have() { command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1; }

 case "$stage" in
  lint)        install_yamllint ;;
-  l0)          install_yamllint; install_check_jsonschema; install_kyverno ;;  # schema (check-jsonschema) + Kyverno L0
+  l0)          install_yamllint; install_check_jsonschema; install_kyverno; install_promtool ;;  # schema (check-jsonschema) + Kyverno L0 + alert unit tests
  l1)          install_chainsaw ;;              # L1 render via conformance runner (Chainsaw)
  conformance) install_chainsaw; install_kubectl ;;   # trigger the in-cluster Job
-  all)         install_yamllint; install_check_jsonschema; install_kyverno; install_chainsaw; install_kubectl ;;
+  all)         install_yamllint; install_check_jsonschema; install_kyverno; install_promtool; install_chainsaw; install_kubectl ;;
  *) echo "unknown stage: $stage" >&2; exit 2 ;;
 esac
 log "stage '${stage}' tools ready"
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+A|*.keithjackson.dev|136.51.115.252
+A|auth.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|brickbreak.keithjackson.dev|20.236.242.14
+A|crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.55
+A|crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|dev.brickbreak.keithjackson.dev|20.236.242.14
+A|gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|plex.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.54
+TXT|a-auth.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy
+TXT|a-crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/crafty/crafty-l4-tcp
+TXT|a-crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/crafty/crafty
+TXT|a-gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/gitea/gitea-3000
+TXT|a-grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/monitoring/grafana
+TXT|a-headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/headlamp/headlamp
+TXT|a-home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/homepage/homepage
+TXT|a-jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/jackett/jackett-9117
+TXT|a-keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/keycloak/keycloak
+TXT|a-nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/nextcloud/nextcloud-80
+TXT|a-pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/pihole/pihole-80
+TXT|a-plex.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/plex/plex-32400
+TXT|a-qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/qbittorrent/qbittorrent-8080
+TXT|a-radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|a-seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|a-semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|a-sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|a-unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
+TXT|auth.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy
+TXT|crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/crafty/crafty-l4-tcp
+TXT|crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/crafty/crafty
+TXT|gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/gitea/gitea-3000
+TXT|grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/monitoring/grafana
+TXT|headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/headlamp/headlamp
+TXT|home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/homepage/homepage
+TXT|jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/jackett/jackett-9117
+TXT|keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/keycloak/keycloak
+TXT|nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/nextcloud/nextcloud-80
+TXT|pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/pihole/pihole-80
+TXT|plex.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/plex/plex-32400
+TXT|qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/qbittorrent/qbittorrent-8080
+TXT|radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+A|*.keithjackson.dev|136.51.115.252
+A|auth.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|auth.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|brickbreak.keithjackson.dev|20.236.242.14
+A|conformance-dns.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.56
+A|crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.55
+A|crafty-mc.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.22
+A|crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|crafty.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|dev.brickbreak.keithjackson.dev|20.236.242.14
+A|gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|gitea.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|grafana.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|headlamp.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|jackett.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|keycloak.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|nextcloud.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|pihole.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|plex.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|plex.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|qbittorrent.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|radarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|seerr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|semaphore.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|sonarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.54
+A|unifi.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.21
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+TXT|a-radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|a-radarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|a-seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|a-seerr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|a-semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|a-semaphore.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|a-sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|a-sonarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|a-unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
+TXT|a-unifi.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
+TXT|auth.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy
+TXT|crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/crafty/crafty-l4-tcp
+TXT|crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/crafty/crafty
+TXT|gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/gitea/gitea-3000
+TXT|grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/monitoring/grafana
+TXT|headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/headlamp/headlamp
+TXT|home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/homepage/homepage
+TXT|jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/jackett/jackett-9117
+TXT|keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/keycloak/keycloak
+TXT|nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/nextcloud/nextcloud-80
+TXT|pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/pihole/pihole-80
+TXT|plex.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/plex/plex-32400
+TXT|qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/qbittorrent/qbittorrent-8080
+TXT|radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+A|*.keithjackson.dev|136.51.115.252
+A|auth.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|auth.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|brickbreak.keithjackson.dev|20.236.242.14
+A|crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.55
+A|crafty-mc.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.22
+A|crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|crafty.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|dev.brickbreak.keithjackson.dev|20.236.242.14
+A|gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|gitea.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|grafana.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|headlamp.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|jackett.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|keycloak.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|nextcloud.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|pihole.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|plex.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|plex.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|qbittorrent.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|radarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|seerr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|semaphore.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.53
+A|sonarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.20
+A|unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.1.54
+A|unifi.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|192.168.2.21
+TXT|a-auth.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy
+TXT|a-auth.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy
+TXT|a-crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/crafty/crafty-l4-tcp
+TXT|a-crafty-mc.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=service/crafty/crafty-l4-tcp
+TXT|a-crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/crafty/crafty
+TXT|a-crafty.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/crafty/crafty
+TXT|a-gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/gitea/gitea-3000
+TXT|a-gitea.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/gitea/gitea-3000
+TXT|a-grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/monitoring/grafana
+TXT|a-grafana.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/monitoring/grafana
+TXT|a-headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/headlamp/headlamp
+TXT|a-headlamp.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/headlamp/headlamp
+TXT|a-home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/homepage/homepage
+TXT|a-jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/jackett/jackett-9117
+TXT|a-jackett.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/jackett/jackett-9117
+TXT|a-keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/keycloak/keycloak
+TXT|a-keycloak.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/keycloak/keycloak
+TXT|a-nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/nextcloud/nextcloud-80
+TXT|a-nextcloud.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/nextcloud/nextcloud-80
+TXT|a-pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/pihole/pihole-80
+TXT|a-pihole.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/pihole/pihole-80
+TXT|a-plex.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/plex/plex-32400
+TXT|a-plex.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/plex/plex-32400
+TXT|a-prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/homepage/homepage
+TXT|a-qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/qbittorrent/qbittorrent-8080
+TXT|a-qbittorrent.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/qbittorrent/qbittorrent-8080
+TXT|a-radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|a-radarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|a-seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|a-seerr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|a-semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|a-semaphore.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|a-sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|a-sonarr.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|a-unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
+TXT|a-unifi.prod.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=prod,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
+TXT|auth.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy
+TXT|crafty-mc.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/crafty/crafty-l4-tcp
+TXT|crafty.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/crafty/crafty
+TXT|gitea.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/gitea/gitea-3000
+TXT|grafana.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/monitoring/grafana
+TXT|headlamp.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/headlamp/headlamp
+TXT|home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/homepage/homepage
+TXT|jackett.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/jackett/jackett-9117
+TXT|keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/keycloak/keycloak
+TXT|nextcloud.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/nextcloud/nextcloud-80
+TXT|pihole.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/pihole/pihole-80
+TXT|plex.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/plex/plex-32400
+TXT|qbittorrent.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/qbittorrent/qbittorrent-8080
+TXT|radarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/radarr/radarr-7878
+TXT|seerr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/seerr/seerr-5055
+TXT|semaphore.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/semaphore/semaphore-3000
+TXT|sonarr.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=httproute/sonarr/sonarr-8989
+TXT|unifi.home.keithjackson.dev|heritage=external-dns,external-dns/owner=default,external-dns/resource=service/unifi/unifi-l4-tcp
@@ -170,6 +170,27 @@ spec:
      - port: '3000'
        protocol: TCP
 ---
+# CiliumNetworkPolicy in-cluster client ingress allow (R-NET-02): gitea-allow-flux-ingress
+apiVersion: cilium.io/v2
+kind: CiliumNetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: gitea-allow-flux-ingress
+  namespace: gitea
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: gitea
+spec:
+  endpointSelector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: gitea
+  ingress:
+  - fromEndpoints:
+    - matchLabels:
+        k8s:io.kubernetes.pod.namespace: flux-system
+    toPorts:
+    - ports:
+      - port: '3000'
+        protocol: TCP
+---
 # CiliumNetworkPolicy world egress allow (egress class governs the path; R-NET-05): gitea-allow-internet-egress
 apiVersion: cilium.io/v2
 kind: CiliumNetworkPolicy
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ spec:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
      annotations:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: jackett
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ spec:
        - containerPort: 9117
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
-          mountPath: /data/config
+          mountPath: /config
      - name: oauth2-proxy
        image: quay.io/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy:v7.8.1
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ spec:
        - --scope=openid email profile
        - --oidc-groups-claim=groups
        - --allowed-group=media-users
+        - --allowed-group=platform-admins
        - --skip-provider-button=true
        - --redirect-url=https://jackett.${BASE_DOMAIN}/oauth2/callback
        - --cookie-domain=.${BASE_DOMAIN}
@@ -266,7 +267,7 @@ metadata:
    app.kubernetes.io/name: jackett
  annotations:
    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
 spec:
  parentRefs:
  - name: shared
@@ -11,13 +11,16 @@ resources:
 - jackett-oauth2-proxy-credentials.sops.yaml
 - jackett.yaml
 - nextcloud-db-app.sops.yaml
+- nextcloud-db-backup-credentials-prod.sops.yaml
 - nextcloud-db-backup-credentials.sops.yaml
 - nextcloud-db.yaml
 - pihole-oauth2-proxy-credentials.sops.yaml
 - pihole.yaml
 - plex.yaml
+- qbittorrent-bootstrap-secret.sops.yaml
 - qbittorrent-oauth2-proxy-credentials.sops.yaml
 - qbittorrent.yaml
 - semaphore-db-app.sops.yaml
+- semaphore-db-backup-credentials-prod.sops.yaml
 - semaphore-db-backup-credentials.sops.yaml
 - semaphore-db.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+    name: nextcloud-db-backup-credentials-prod
+    namespace: nextcloud-db
+type: Opaque
+stringData:
+    ACCESS_KEY_ID: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:4lx6et4HcXDegulyIoa7jZR/lVgapGPEkukajfCKjvk=,iv:p6V7tizbikk55tOvpPOsPHTe/p52QLX5A5xrwuB14rA=,tag:oNJuipT/Lb6zynJ2K2Q71A==,type:str]
+    ACCESS_SECRET_KEY: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:V5bHPoPeBOVyLp1n1Jilyso4i5P2aPSH0hrryfweg2q/SctWZxRbLBQ/FLzOigbJsAhlwOGu069mQPma6xjfdw==,iv:8u4UOvI8dC/cm6mEWDlyN5E3SfRZmwKY9uZY/DjPEsQ=,tag:tw7tGs29TmUvMPBCtCszAA==,type:str]
+sops:
+    kms: []
+    gcp_kms: []
+    azure_kv: []
+    hc_vault: []
+    age:
+        - recipient: age175l8mdpdfu7hq0aml3exs3gykarwjmuvr23sq56s3wjejnyk44wsp4mfzg
+          enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBiSUt5N2k2N2lDU2ZsMy9m
+            M1NFS0M2QjFsNFhnR0hCMzFyaTdiQWFZRFJZCmhBTWRXNmxLMGtsc3Rxd2FSMDZp
+            aktjcTE2c1hmU1EzM3RWNksyb3Q1YVUKLS0tIDBFS1I5aDBER2cvcWtLZ3BXTEp5
+            ZGI5ZmZIcStheUNQamxIVVVpc0ZMOHMKlE5aHewtHJpeU24F5sodc9CEm9KTjHQQ
+            8ThEQ/8vyazL9V4ojlICxSHU/SHkHpD1eBaTKcAQd/LZzujIcJ+QfA==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+    lastmodified: "2026-09-07T06:36:33Z"
+    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:8awz1Jh8t4zjDMyd93/v+6on9iiIaSi01293A7uYhxj9L1+g63zeO+DPmSn6+KbZvHdqU2A7up09H1NzfXAEdGuvVbB36cdGq0zKank3PUi8c7IT6qNuWydxRAcqLnbbD+c30Z6GB+gAuZHstNOe4Rgc4aJvMN6FuP6x6Z0870c=,iv:KGGKJq2QA5xztvoHs/SViXW72DYwT16i+W+dJBUeIJQ=,tag:3UpYqx2+RIK0QdMH/BSIpA==,type:str]
+    pgp: []
+    encrypted_regex: ^(data|stringData)$
+    version: 3.9.4
@@ -37,16 +37,53 @@ metadata:
  name: nextcloud-db
  namespace: nextcloud-db
 spec:
-  # Single Postgres instance on 3-replica Longhorn is acceptable at home scale (ADR-0014, same as
-  # keycloak-db). The storage is already 3-way replicated by Longhorn; raise to 3 for Postgres-level
-  # HA as a future hardening.
-  instances: 1
+  # THREE instances — one primary + two hot standbys (2026-09-07), same as keycloak-db; see
+  # platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml for the full rationale. Short version: Longhorn's 3-way
+  # replication saves the DATA on node loss, not the SERVICE, and with `instances: 1` all three CNPG
+  # primaries had drifted onto k3s-prod-2, so one node took Nextcloud down alongside SSO and
+  # Semaphore. A streaming standby lets CNPG promote in seconds and repoint the -rw Service.
+  # Gated on the Barman archive below actually working (ContinuousArchiving=True with a real
+  # firstRecoverabilityPoint) — standbys replicate corruption, they are not a backup.
+  #
+  # Scaling out is non-disruptive: CNPG creates -2 then -3 sequentially, each seeded by
+  # pg_basebackup from the running primary, which is neither restarted nor disconnected.
+  instances: 3
  imageName: ghcr.io/cloudnative-pg/postgresql:16.4
  # Stamp app.kubernetes.io/name=nextcloud-db onto every generated pod/service so the rendered
  # nextcloud egress CiliumNetworkPolicy's toEndpoints selector matches the primary pod (R-NET-02).
  inheritedMetadata:
    labels:
      app.kubernetes.io/name: nextcloud-db
+  # HARD anti-affinity — the three instances MUST land on three DIFFERENT nodes; and roll the
+  # primary by SWITCHOVER rather than CNPG's default in-place `restart`, which would delete and
+  # recreate the primary pod. Full rationale in platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml. Short
+  # version: CNPG's default `preferred` is a scheduler hint, so when CNPG recreates an instance
+  # after a node loss it may stack two instances on one node — which is how `instances: 3` decays
+  # back into the single-node failure domain this change removes. `required` makes it a constraint;
+  # the cost is that an instance whose node is gone stays Pending, which is correct (2 of 3 still
+  # serve). Satisfiable on both clusters: prod and dev each have 3 schedulable, untainted nodes.
+  #
+  # APPLYING THIS CHANGES THE POD SPEC, so CNPG rolls the instances: standbys first, then one
+  # switchover. Expect a single brief connection reset for Nextcloud.
+  affinity:
+    enablePodAntiAffinity: true
+    podAntiAffinityType: required
+  primaryUpdateMethod: switchover
+  # SYNCHRONOUS REPLICATION — quorum of ONE standby, PREFERRED durability (2026-09-07). Full
+  # rationale in platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml. Short version: async replication loses the
+  # last few transactions when a primary dies before its standbys catch up, and `method: any` +
+  # `number: 1` makes COMMIT wait for one standby to confirm. dataDurability MUST stay `preferred`,
+  # never `required` — `required` blocks writes outright when fewer than `number` healthy standbys
+  # are available, which on a 3-node cluster sharing nodes with etcd and the CNI turns one degraded
+  # standby into a total write outage. `preferred` relaxes to async instead.
+  #
+  # NON-DISRUPTIVE: compiles to `synchronous_standby_names`, a reload-only PostgreSQL parameter —
+  # no restart, no switchover, no client disconnect. Land it after the anti-affinity roll.
+  postgresql:
+    synchronous:
+      method: any
+      number: 1
+      dataDurability: preferred
  storage:
    storageClass: longhorn
    size: 5Gi
@@ -68,25 +105,38 @@ spec:
      memory: 256Mi
    limits:
      memory: 512Mi
-  # --- Off-cluster DR backup (R-STATE-03) — CNPG-native Barman → the on-Proxmox MinIO `cnpg` bucket ---
+  # --- Off-cluster DR backup (R-STATE-03) — CNPG-native Barman → object storage ---
  # Continuous WAL archiving + periodic base backups = proper Postgres PITR (realises the SD's
-  # backup.policy daily-offcluster). destinationPath is the bucket ROOT; CNPG appends serverName
-  # (defaults to the Cluster name), so objects land under s3://cnpg/nextcloud-db/. Path-style HTTP.
-  # Credentials: the scoped key from the in-namespace SOPS Secret nextcloud-db-backup-credentials
-  # (same-ns only), kept in sync with platform/backup/minio-credentials.sops.yaml.
-  # endpointURL is ${S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT} (cluster-vars, R-ENV-02; dev http://192.168.1.9:9000),
-  # substituted by the `apps-wave-0` Flux Kustomization. Prod supplies its own off-cluster target.
+  # backup.policy daily-offcluster). CNPG appends serverName (defaults to the Cluster name) to
+  # destinationPath, so objects land under ${CNPG_BACKUP_PATH}/nextcloud-db/ — dev
+  # s3://cnpg/nextcloud-db/ on the on-Proxmox MinIO, prod
+  # s3://k3s-prod-backup/barman/nextcloud-db/ on Cloudflare R2. Both endpointURL and
+  # destinationPath are cluster-vars knobs (R-ENV-02), substituted by `apps-wave-0`.
+  # Credentials: PER-ENVIRONMENT (2026-09-07). dev reads nextcloud-db-backup-credentials (the
+  # scoped MinIO key), prod reads nextcloud-db-backup-credentials-prod (the Cloudflare R2
+  # token). BOTH Secrets are applied to BOTH clusters by apps/wave-0/kustomization.yaml (a
+  # generated golden — render.py places the -prod sidecar in this DB's wave); the
+  # cluster-vars knob ${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX} (dev "" | prod "-prod") chooses which
+  # one this Cluster reads. Both are in-namespace, which is all a pod can read. They were
+  # ONE shared Secret until the split, so giving prod its R2 token would have left dev
+  # signing MinIO requests with an R2 key id — 403 on every archive command, i.e. the
+  # disk-full clock below rather than a merely missing backup.
+  #
+  # archive_mode is ON, so a FAILING archive command is a disk-full clock, not a degraded backup:
+  # Postgres refuses to recycle a WAL segment it has not archived, and the pgdata PVC fills until
+  # the primary PANICs. Prod demonstrated this from bootstrap to 2026-09-07 with a placeholder
+  # endpoint. Treat ContinuousArchiving=False here as an availability incident.
  backup:
    retentionPolicy: "30d"
    barmanObjectStore:
-      destinationPath: s3://cnpg
+      destinationPath: ${CNPG_BACKUP_PATH}
      endpointURL: ${S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT}
      s3Credentials:
        accessKeyId:
-          name: nextcloud-db-backup-credentials
+          name: nextcloud-db-backup-credentials${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}
          key: ACCESS_KEY_ID
        secretAccessKey:
-          name: nextcloud-db-backup-credentials
+          name: nextcloud-db-backup-credentials${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}
          key: ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
      wal:
        compression: gzip
@@ -108,3 +158,243 @@ spec:
  cluster:
    name: nextcloud-db
  method: barmanObjectStore
+---
+# =============================================================================
+# CNPG METRICS-EXPORTER CONNECT RECONCILER (R-OBS-01)
+#
+# THE BUG THIS CLOSES (true positive, verified live on prod 2026-09-12, and the
+# condition platform/cnpg/alerts.yaml already recorded on BOTH clusters 2026-09-06):
+# the `nextcloud` database's ACL had been narrowed out-of-band so that PUBLIC held
+# nothing, and CNPG's metrics exporter role therefore could not even CONNECT:
+#
+#   nextcloud-db-1/-2/-3, every scrape:
+#     FATAL: permission denied for database "nextcloud" (SQLSTATE 42501)
+#     DETAIL: User does not have CONNECT privilege.
+#     msg="Error collecting user query" targetDatabase=nextcloud
+#
+# CONSEQUENCE: `cnpg_last_error` = 1 on all three instances and the ENTIRE
+# cnpg_pg_stat_* / pg_settings / pg_postmaster family MISSING for this database,
+# while the scrape target still reported up=1 — a blind spot that looks like health.
+# Measured before the fix: cnpg_pg_settings_setting had 765 series for keycloak and
+# 765 for semaphore-db and ZERO for nextcloud-db. Nextcloud's database had never
+# been monitored.
+#
+# ROOT CAUSE, AND WHY ONLY THIS DATABASE. All three Cluster specs are identical in
+# their bootstrap; the difference is entirely in the live ACL:
+#
+#   nextcloud : datacl = {nextcloud=CTc/nextcloud}          <-- explicit, no PUBLIC entry
+#   keycloak  : datacl = NULL
+#   semaphore : datacl = NULL
+#
+# A NULL datacl means "PostgreSQL defaults", which include CONNECT and TEMP for
+# PUBLIC — so keycloak and semaphore let the exporter in only by inheriting PUBLIC's
+# implicit CONNECT. On `nextcloud` something ran the equivalent of
+# `REVOKE ALL ON DATABASE nextcloud FROM PUBLIC`, which MATERIALISES datacl and
+# drops the implicit PUBLIC entry with it. That REVOKE is not in this repo and not
+# in DECISIONS-LOG.md — it was applied out of band, which is exactly why a
+# git-declared fix is needed rather than another hand-run psql.
+#
+# WHY THE GRANT IS EXPLICIT RATHER THAN "RE-GRANT CONNECT TO PUBLIC": restoring
+# PUBLIC's CONNECT would undo whatever hardening that REVOKE intended and would
+# leave the exporter depending on an implicit default again — the precise fragility
+# that broke here and that keycloak/semaphore are still relying on. Naming the
+# exporter role makes the dependency explicit and survives a future REVOKE FROM
+# PUBLIC on any of the three databases.
+#
+# WHY A CronJob AND NOT A CNPG FIELD — CNPG 1.30.0's API GENUINELY CANNOT EXPRESS
+# THIS. Checked against the live CRDs on prod:
+#   * `Database` (databases.postgresql.cnpg.io) has no database-ACL field at all.
+#     `allowConnections` is the pg_database.datallowconn FLAG (open/closed to
+#     everyone), not a per-role GRANT; its only grant/revoke verbs are the `usage`
+#     lists on `fdws` and `servers`.
+#   * `spec.managed.roles` and `DatabaseRole` manage ROLE ATTRIBUTES (login,
+#     superuser, connectionLimit, ...) plus `inRoles` MEMBERSHIP. Membership is the
+#     wrong tool: the only local role holding CONNECT here is the OWNER, so
+#     `inRoles: [nextcloud]` would hand the exporter the owner's CREATE and TEMP on
+#     the database and read/write on every application table — the opposite of
+#     least privilege, to buy one CONNECT.
+#   * `bootstrap.initdb.postInitApplicationSQL` runs ONCE, at bootstrap. It cannot
+#     repair these three already-bootstrapped instances (the actual bug), and on a
+#     FRESH cluster the grant is unnecessary anyway (datacl starts NULL). Adding it
+#     would be a second mechanism that fixes nothing this one does not.
+# So the SQL has to be applied by something, and this repo already has the pattern
+# for state Flux cannot reach: the level-triggered CronJob reconciler in
+# platform/keycloak/client-secret-reconciler.yaml, whose reasoning transfers
+# verbatim — the drifted state lives inside PostgreSQL, not in a Kubernetes object,
+# so no admission or mutation policy can see it. A one-shot Job is deliberately NOT
+# used: a completed Job is never re-run, so a DB rebuild or a PITR restore would
+# silently reopen the blind spot. A loop converges instead.
+#
+# PRIVILEGE GRANTED — EXACTLY ONE, AND NOTHING ELSE:
+#   GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE nextcloud TO cnpg_metrics_exporter;
+# Resulting ACL entry is `cnpg_metrics_exporter=c/nextcloud` — the `c` is CONNECT;
+# there is no `C` (CREATE) and no `T` (TEMPORARY). No ownership, no superuser, no
+# write, no table or schema grants. Nothing further is needed because CNPG already
+# creates this role as a member of the built-in `pg_monitor` role (verified on all
+# three prod clusters), and pg_monitor already carries the read access every
+# collector query wants — they read pg_catalog views (pg_stat_database,
+# pg_stat_archiver, pg_settings, pg_postmaster) and no application tables. Proof
+# that CONNECT alone is sufficient: after this grant, `Error collecting user query`
+# went to ZERO on all three pods, i.e. every collector query now succeeds.
+#
+# IT RUNS AS THE DATABASE OWNER, NOT AS A SUPERUSER. `enableSuperuserAccess` is off
+# on this Cluster (there is no nextcloud-db-superuser Secret), and it stays off: the
+# owner of a database holds the grant option on that database's privileges, so
+# `nextcloud` can issue this GRANT itself. Verified live before committing, by
+# running the statement under `SET ROLE nextcloud`. Credentials come from the
+# in-namespace SOPS Secret nextcloud-db-app that already exists for the app.
+#
+# NETWORKING: nextcloud-db is intentionally NOT an app-namespace (see this file's
+# header), so Kyverno generates no default-deny baseline here and this same-namespace
+# pod -> nextcloud-db-rw:5432 connection needs no rendered allow.
+#
+# THE POD LABEL IS DELIBERATELY *NOT* app.kubernetes.io/name=nextcloud-db. That
+# label is what `inheritedMetadata` stamps on the CNPG instance pods and what the
+# rendered nextcloud egress CiliumNetworkPolicy selects; reusing it here would quietly
+# make this reconciler a permitted destination for the Nextcloud app. It gets its own
+# name so that selector keeps meaning "the database".
+apiVersion: batch/v1
+kind: CronJob
+metadata:
+  name: nextcloud-db-exporter-grant
+  namespace: nextcloud-db
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: nextcloud-db-exporter-grant
+    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nextcloud-db
+spec:
+  # Every 15 minutes, matching the keycloak reconciler's cadence. A converged
+  # database makes this one idempotent GRANT and exits; the cost is negligible, and
+  # after a rebuild or PITR restore monitoring is blind for at most one interval
+  # (well inside the alert's `for: 6h`).
+  schedule: "*/15 * * * *"
+  # A run still waiting on the primary must not be lapped by the next tick.
+  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
+  startingDeadlineSeconds: 300
+  successfulJobsHistoryLimit: 1
+  failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
+  jobTemplate:
+    spec:
+      backoffLimit: 2
+      activeDeadlineSeconds: 300
+      ttlSecondsAfterFinished: 3600
+      template:
+        metadata:
+          labels:
+            app.kubernetes.io/name: nextcloud-db-exporter-grant
+            app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nextcloud-db
+        spec:
+          restartPolicy: Never
+          # Talks only to PostgreSQL; its one input is a mounted Secret, so it needs
+          # no Kubernetes API access at all (R-SEC-02, least privilege).
+          automountServiceAccountToken: false
+          securityContext:
+            runAsNonRoot: true
+            # uid/gid 26 is `postgres` in the CNPG PostgreSQL image.
+            runAsUser: 26
+            runAsGroup: 26
+            seccompProfile:
+              type: RuntimeDefault
+          containers:
+            - name: grant
+              # The SAME image the instances above run, pinned to the same tag. psql
+              # is already in it and it is already present on every node, so this
+              # adds no new image and no new supply-chain surface. Keep the tag in
+              # step with spec.imageName above when Renovate bumps it.
+              image: ghcr.io/cloudnative-pg/postgresql:16.4
+              imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+              command:
+                - psql
+                # -w never prompts; -X skips ~/.psqlrc; ON_ERROR_STOP makes the Job
+                # FAIL LOUDLY rather than reporting success on a refused grant.
+                - "-w"
+                - "-X"
+                - "-v"
+                - "ON_ERROR_STOP=1"
+                - "-f"
+                - /etc/grant/grant.sql
+              env:
+                # libpq connection, assembled from the owner Secret. Target the -rw
+                # Service: GRANT is a write and must reach the primary.
+                - name: PGHOST
+                  value: nextcloud-db-rw.nextcloud-db.svc.cluster.local
+                - name: PGPORT
+                  value: "5432"
+                # Connecting to the application database itself is deliberate: the
+                # owner has CONNECT on it, and a successful connection is the same
+                # check the exporter was failing.
+                - name: PGDATABASE
+                  value: nextcloud
+                - name: PGUSER
+                  valueFrom:
+                    secretKeyRef:
+                      name: nextcloud-db-app
+                      key: username
+                # Read by libpq from the environment and never logged; psql echoes
+                # no connection parameters.
+                - name: PGPASSWORD
+                  valueFrom:
+                    secretKeyRef:
+                      name: nextcloud-db-app
+                      key: password
+                - name: PGCONNECT_TIMEOUT
+                  value: "10"
+              volumeMounts:
+                - name: sql
+                  mountPath: /etc/grant
+                  readOnly: true
+              securityContext:
+                allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+                readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
+                capabilities:
+                  drop:
+                    - ALL
+              resources:
+                requests:
+                  cpu: 10m
+                  memory: 32Mi
+                limits:
+                  memory: 128Mi
+          volumes:
+            - name: sql
+              configMap:
+                name: nextcloud-db-exporter-grant
+                defaultMode: 0444
+---
+# The desired state, as SQL. Idempotent: re-granting an existing privilege is a
+# no-op, so a converged run changes nothing. The DO block is the ASSERTION — it
+# turns "the grant did not take" into a failed Job instead of a silent success.
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: nextcloud-db-exporter-grant
+  namespace: nextcloud-db
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: nextcloud-db-exporter-grant
+    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nextcloud-db
+data:
+  grant.sql: |
+    -- The ONE privilege the CNPG metrics exporter is missing on this database.
+    -- CONNECT only: no CREATE, no TEMPORARY, no ownership, no table/schema grants.
+    -- Read access for the collector's pg_catalog queries already comes from the
+    -- built-in pg_monitor role, which CNPG grants this role when it creates it.
+    GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE nextcloud TO cnpg_metrics_exporter;
+
+    -- Fail the Job if the privilege is somehow still absent, so a broken
+    -- reconciler surfaces as a failed Job rather than as a quiet blind spot.
+    -- NO PL/pgSQL, AND NOT ONE DOLLAR SIGN IN THIS FILE — DELIBERATE, including in these
+    -- comments. This assertion began life as a dollar-quoted DO block, which cannot survive
+    -- being shipped this way: the ConfigMap is rendered through Flux's postBuild
+    -- substitution, and envsubst collapses a doubled dollar into a single one. The block
+    -- reached Postgres with its opening quote halved and every Flux-reconciled run died
+    -- with a syntax error pointing at that character.
+    -- It PASSED when hand-applied with kubectl, because that path runs no envsubst — so
+    -- the defect was invisible until Flux owned the object, and three runs of Error pods
+    -- were the first sign. Escaping by doubling again would work and would also be the
+    -- next person's trap; plain SQL leaves substitution nothing to touch.
+    --
+    -- has_database_privilege() returns boolean; ::int is 1 when granted and 0 when not, so
+    -- the division raises division_by_zero and ON_ERROR_STOP=1 fails the Job. The divisor
+    -- is not a constant, so it cannot be folded away at plan time.
+    \echo 'asserting cnpg_metrics_exporter has CONNECT on database nextcloud'
+    SELECT 1 / has_database_privilege('cnpg_metrics_exporter', 'nextcloud', 'CONNECT')::int
+      AS exporter_can_connect;
@@ -35,6 +35,34 @@ spec:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 53
 ---
+# PersistentVolume plex-media - static external NFS (bulk tier)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolume
+metadata:
+  name: plex-media
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: plex
+spec:
+  capacity:
+    storage: 9Ti
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadOnlyMany
+  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
+  storageClassName: ''
+  mountOptions:
+  - nfsvers=4.1
+  - hard
+  - noatime
+  - timeo=600
+  - retrans=2
+  nfs:
+    server: ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    path: /mnt/Storage/plex
+    readOnly: true
+  claimRef:
+    namespace: plex
+    name: plex-media
+---
 # PVC plex-config (R-STATE)
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
@@ -51,6 +79,23 @@ spec:
    requests:
      storage: 8Gi
 ---
+# PVC plex-media (R-STATE)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: plex-media
+  namespace: plex
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: plex
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadOnlyMany
+  storageClassName: ''
+  volumeName: plex-media
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: 9Ti
+---
 # Deployment (R-PLAT-02)
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
@@ -90,10 +135,16 @@ spec:
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
          mountPath: /config
+        - name: media
+          mountPath: /media
+          readOnly: true
      volumes:
      - name: config
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: plex-config
+      - name: media
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: plex-media
 ---
 # Service
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# qBittorrent DURABLE WebUI credential (WS-APPS). SOPS-encrypted (age), decrypted in-cluster by Flux.
+#
+# WHY THIS FILE EXISTS (defect, measured on prod 2026-09-13):
+#   qBittorrent.conf on the config PVC carried NEITHER `WebUI\Username` NOR
+#   `WebUI\Password_PBKDF2`. qBittorrent 5.x treats that as "no credential set" and generates a NEW
+#   random `admin` password on EVERY process start, announcing it ONLY on stdout ("A temporary
+#   password is provided for this session: ..."). Consequences, both real: (a) Sonarr's and Radarr's
+#   saved download-client credentials stop working at the next qbittorrent pod restart, silently
+#   breaking Completed Download Handling; (b) a human operator has no stable login at all and must
+#   read the pod log after every restart.
+#
+# HOW IT IS APPLIED: catalog/qbittorrent.yaml's app container reads BOTH keys below as env
+#   (QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME / QBT_WEBUI_PASSWORD) and its `lifecycle.postStart` hook — the same idiom as
+#   gitea's break-glass admin bootstrap — DERIVES the PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512 digest qBittorrent stores
+#   and asserts both keys into /config/qBittorrent/qBittorrent.conf on EVERY container start, then
+#   verifies the WebUI actually accepts them. Level-triggered: a pod restart, a config-PVC restore
+#   from an older backup, and a rebuild-from-git onto an EMPTY PVC all end with this SAME
+#   credential, because the hook re-asserts it on every start rather than once.
+#
+# webui-username: the WebUI account name. qBittorrent has exactly ONE local account, and `admin` is
+#   the name its own temporary-password path uses, so keeping it avoids inventing a second identity.
+# webui-password: the durable plaintext. It is ALSO what Sonarr's and Radarr's download-client
+#   entries store in their own databases (app state on their config PVCs, NOT in git — see
+#   DECISIONS-LOG), so rotating it here means re-pointing both arrs.
+#   Deliberately alphanumeric: it travels through a urlencoded WebAPI login body and two arr JSON
+#   payloads, and a shell/URL-special character in any of those is a bug waiting to happen.
+#
+# NEVER put a value in a comment: SOPS does NOT encrypt comments.
+# Recover with: infra/devcontainer/dev.sh run sops -d apps/wave-0/qbittorrent-bootstrap-secret.sops.yaml
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+    name: qbittorrent-bootstrap
+    namespace: qbittorrent
+    labels:
+        app.kubernetes.io/name: qbittorrent
+type: Opaque
+stringData:
+    webui-username: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:P022nG0=,iv:MXcCXsD5hs7MAJ+OAYHkZ3pXep7XGPqeAExChoqna08=,tag:WE34mxtfQRgiwPRaDA12pQ==,type:str]
+    webui-password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:+Lx0Ny7SBZeF/CzQYm8umntw27ewyXS7unWObpl0fCg=,iv:JkAtublBMS7SJUutAFip1XjdmsKnGe+S2E9QDT4rCJk=,tag:MYptPVgoEUEpXe5kmg1xIg==,type:str]
+sops:
+    kms: []
+    gcp_kms: []
+    azure_kv: []
+    hc_vault: []
+    age:
+        - recipient: age175l8mdpdfu7hq0aml3exs3gykarwjmuvr23sq56s3wjejnyk44wsp4mfzg
+          enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSB1aWpUY04wZHoyWVdPbGU2
+            TC9vaU5oYmhWSVh3YWVTdzkvU3Axdlh6QVFZCkV4MldaZXNyam5CejQyZStyczJ3
+            UStFd0hRQmRsNGZLVEVTRnVjWXp6SVkKLS0tICtkWlRqVGN5OWYvVnZUaHYvbEZv
+            VWtHMVdDU3hmdXo1TndLb05zQzJ0S28KfqlDBTocO0ZAKtH6ad/00EeVRqZ7WMwv
+            FP2evd5vyn95QQICWhY/LH6EKbwVVlcIlL7i9l8K3kK4Ebdk54mAyw==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+    lastmodified: "2026-09-13T05:23:23Z"
+    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:hQ7jIgFqpNcFY5H4AfMxuslC2R/2wGmGWtghemOmTUUipSdoGdbNjWGQhxzk40lFjw6Zj2b+buOpXpg70s4xr+4feusqa2TJ3+bxAuRWmuZpTQAU2OaO5v0SdDEs3gwKm2mA3JFo/e6POm/P/kf2GIECcyU1AciZQt6ws7UJmQc=,iv:6SF0ZAuzHQThD/FGbWhFfa4dXU8hyW8jWFiDmwgfFU8=,tag:31i8HM2s/mGeS4zvFxO53Q==,type:str]
+    pgp: []
+    encrypted_regex: ^(data|stringData)$
+    version: 3.9.4
@@ -35,6 +35,33 @@ spec:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 53
 ---
+# PersistentVolume qbittorrent-downloads - static external NFS (bulk tier)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolume
+metadata:
+  name: qbittorrent-downloads
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: qbittorrent
+spec:
+  capacity:
+    storage: 9Ti
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadWriteMany
+  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
+  storageClassName: ''
+  mountOptions:
+  - nfsvers=4.1
+  - hard
+  - noatime
+  - timeo=600
+  - retrans=2
+  nfs:
+    server: ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    path: /mnt/Storage/plex
+  claimRef:
+    namespace: qbittorrent
+    name: qbittorrent-downloads
+---
 # PVC qbittorrent-config (R-STATE)
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
@@ -51,6 +78,23 @@ spec:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi
 ---
+# PVC qbittorrent-downloads (R-STATE)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: qbittorrent-downloads
+  namespace: qbittorrent
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: qbittorrent
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadWriteMany
+  storageClassName: ''
+  volumeName: qbittorrent-downloads
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: 9Ti
+---
 # Deployment (R-PLAT-02)
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
@@ -74,16 +118,43 @@ spec:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
      annotations:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: qbittorrent
        image: lscr.io/linuxserver/qbittorrent:5.1.2
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080
+        env:
+        - name: PUID
+          value: '1000'
+        - name: PGID
+          value: '3000'
+        - name: QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME
+          valueFrom:
+            secretKeyRef:
+              name: qbittorrent-bootstrap
+              key: webui-username
+        - name: QBT_WEBUI_PASSWORD
+          valueFrom:
+            secretKeyRef:
+              name: qbittorrent-bootstrap
+              key: webui-password
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
-          mountPath: /data/config
+          mountPath: /config
+        - name: downloads
+          mountPath: /downloads
+          subPath: downloads
+        lifecycle:
+          postStart:
+            exec:
+              command:
+              - /bin/bash
+              - -c
+              - "# Assert the durable WebUI credential in the config PVC's qBittorrent.conf, then PROVE the\n# running WebUI accepts it. Idempotent: the steady-state path writes nothing at all.\n#\n# THIS SCRIPT CONTAINS NO BRACED DOLLAR EXPANSION AT ALL, AND THAT IS DELIBERATE.\n# apps-wave-0 declares postBuild.substituteFrom cluster-vars, so Flux runs envsubst over\n# this whole manifest at RECONCILE time. The repo's escape contract (double the dollar;\n# enforced by render.py's assert_substitution_safe) makes such a form correct ON THE\n# CLUSTER \u2014 but only there:\n# envsubst collapses the doubled dollar, so the SAME text run any other way (a `kubectl\n# apply` of the golden, which runs no envsubst; a hand `kubectl exec` of the script during\n# development) keeps the doubled dollar, which bash reads as its own PID. Not hypothetical;\n# see the PORT comment below for the bug it actually caused here. Bare `$VAR` and `$(cmd)`\n# are untouched by envsubst, so they are used throughout and the script behaves IDENTICALLY\n# however it is run.\nset -u\nCONF=/config/qBittorrent/qBittorrent.conf\nSVC=/run/service/svc-qbittorrent\n# The WebUI's listening port, as a LITERAL. It matches ingressRoutes[0].port in this\n# ServiceDefinition \u2014 which is the single place the renderer takes the containerPort, the\n# Service port and the HTTPRoute backend port from \u2014 and the image exposes no WEBUI_PORT\n# env var for a lookup to read anyway.\n# It USED to be a doubled-dollar default-operator expansion of a WEBUI_PORT env var, and\n# that cost real time: run without envsubst, bash read the doubled dollar as its own PID,\n# so PORT became \"<pid>{WEBUI_PORT:-8080}\" \u2014 the brace never expanded, the digits never\n# matched. Every curl below then got an unparseable URL, returned nothing, and the hook\n# logged \"the WebUI rejected the durable\n# credential\" \u2014 having never actually asked it. That MISDIAGNOSIS is preserved in this\n# service's own marker log at 2026-09-13T05:35Z (three \"rejected\" lines, then GAVE UP,\n# against a WebUI that accepted the credential perfectly well). A literal cannot be mangled.\nPORT=8080\n# A postStart hook's stdout/stderr goes to the KUBELET, not to `kubectl logs` \u2014 so a hook\n# that only echoes is effectively silent (gitea's hits the same wall and writes a marker\n# file for it). Every outcome therefore also lands, timestamped, on the persistent config\n# volume: /config/qbittorrent-webui-cred.log is where an operator looks to see whether the\n# credential from git was asserted and accepted on this start.\nlog() {\n  echo \"[qbt-webui-cred] $*\"\n  printf '%s [qbt-webui-cred] %s\\n' \"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)\" \"$*\" \\\n    >> /config/qbittorrent-webui-cred.log 2>/dev/null || true\n}\n\n# (1) The image's init-qbittorrent-config copies /defaults/qBittorrent.conf onto the PVC\n#     before it starts the service. Wait (bounded, ~30s) so we EDIT that file instead of\n#     racing to create one it would then not overwrite.\nn=0\nwhile [ ! -s \"$CONF\" ] && [ \"$n\" -lt 120 ]; do n=$((n + 1)); sleep 0.25; done\n\nwaited=0\nattempt=0\nwhile [ \"$attempt\" -lt 3 ]; do\n  attempt=$((attempt + 1))\n\n  # (2) Converge the conf. 0 = already correct (steady state: NO write, NO re-salt),\n  #     10 = rewritten, anything else = could not write.\n  python3 - \"$CONF\" <<'PY'\nimport base64, hashlib, hmac, os, stat, sys\n\nconf = sys.argv[1]\nuser = os.environ.get(\"QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME\", \"\")\npw = os.environ.get(\"QBT_WEBUI_PASSWORD\", \"\")\nif not user or not pw:\n    sys.stderr.write(\"[qbt-webui-cred] credential env is empty - refusing to touch the conf\\n\")\n    raise SystemExit(1)\n\n# qBittorrent's OWN parameters (base/utils/password.cpp): PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512, 100000\n# iterations, 16-byte random salt, 64-byte digest, stored as\n#   WebUI\\Password_PBKDF2=\"@ByteArray(<base64 salt>:<base64 digest>)\"\n# Get any one of them wrong and the app simply rejects every login.\nITERATIONS, DIGEST_LEN, SALT_LEN = 100000, 64, 16\nUKEY, PKEY, SECTION = \"WebUI\\\\Username\", \"WebUI\\\\Password_PBKDF2\"\
+                , \"[Preferences]\"\n\ndef matches(raw):\n    \"\"\"True iff the stored digest is one OUR password produces (salt is read from it).\"\"\"\n    v = raw.strip().strip('\"')\n    if v.startswith(\"@ByteArray(\") and v.endswith(\")\"):\n        v = v[len(\"@ByteArray(\"):-1]\n    try:\n        salt_b64, digest_b64 = v.split(\":\", 1)\n        salt = base64.b64decode(salt_b64, validate=True)\n        digest = base64.b64decode(digest_b64, validate=True)\n    except Exception:\n        return False\n    if not salt or not digest:\n        return False\n    return hmac.compare_digest(\n        hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac(\"sha512\", pw.encode(), salt, ITERATIONS, len(digest)), digest)\n\ntry:\n    lines = open(conf, encoding=\"utf-8\", errors=\"replace\").read().splitlines()\nexcept FileNotFoundError:\n    lines = []\n\ndef value_of(key):\n    for i, line in enumerate(lines):\n        if line.startswith(key + \"=\"):\n            return i, line.split(\"=\", 1)[1]\n    return -1, None\n\nui, uval = value_of(UKEY)\npi, pval = value_of(PKEY)\nif uval == user and pval is not None and matches(pval):\n    raise SystemExit(0)          # converged - leave the file (and its salt) alone\n\nsalt = os.urandom(SALT_LEN)\ndigest = hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac(\"sha512\", pw.encode(), salt, ITERATIONS, DIGEST_LEN)\nstored = base64.b64encode(salt).decode() + \":\" + base64.b64encode(digest).decode()\ndesired = [UKEY + \"=\" + user, PKEY + '=\"@ByteArray(' + stored + ')\"']\n\nout = [line for i, line in enumerate(lines) if i not in (ui, pi)]\nif SECTION in out:\n    at = out.index(SECTION) + 1\nelse:\n    if out and out[-1].strip():\n        out.append(\"\")\n    out.append(SECTION)\n    at = len(out)\nout[at:at] = desired\n\ntry:\n    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(conf) or \".\", exist_ok=True)\n    tmp = conf + \".webui-cred.new\"\n    with open(tmp, \"w\", encoding=\"utf-8\") as fh:\n        fh.write(\"\\n\".join(out) + \"\\n\")\n        fh.flush()\n        os.fsync(fh.fileno())\n    # This hook runs as ROOT; the service runs as PUID:PGID. A root-owned 0600 conf would\n    # cost the app the ability to save its own settings, so carry the ownership over.\n    try:\n        st = os.stat(conf)\n        os.chown(tmp, st.st_uid, st.st_gid)\n        os.chmod(tmp, stat.S_IMODE(st.st_mode))\n    except FileNotFoundError:\n        os.chown(tmp, int(os.environ.get(\"PUID\", \"1000\")),\n                 int(os.environ.get(\"PGID\", \"1000\")))\n        os.chmod(tmp, 0o664)\n    os.replace(tmp, conf)        # atomic: the app never reads a half-written conf\nexcept OSError as exc:\n    sys.stderr.write(\"[qbt-webui-cred] cannot write %s: %s\\n\" % (conf, exc))\n    raise SystemExit(1)\nraise SystemExit(10)\nPY\n  rc=$?\n\n  if [ \"$rc\" = 0 ]; then\n    log \"conf already holds the durable credential for '$QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME' (no write)\"\n  elif [ \"$rc\" = 10 ]; then\n    log \"asserted WebUI Username + Password_PBKDF2 into $CONF\"\n    # postStart runs CONCURRENTLY with the s6 init chain, so qbittorrent-nox may ALREADY\n    # have read the old, credential-less conf and be serving a random temporary password.\n    # Restart the SUPERVISED SERVICE (not the pod) so it re-reads what was just written.\n    # Nothing to do when the service has not started yet - it will read the new file.\n    # Its own counter, NOT the shared `waited` API budget: sharing one counter is how the\n    # 2026-09-13 failure spent the entire verification budget before the first login and\n    # then fired attempts 2 and 3 with no wait left at all.\n    sv=0\n    while [ \"$sv\" -lt 60 ] && [ \"$(s6-svstat -u \"$SVC\" 2>/dev/null)\" != \"true\" ]; do\n      sv=$((sv + 1)); sleep 1\n    done\n    if [ \"$(s6-svstat -u \"$SVC\" 2>/dev/null)\" = \"true\" ]; then\n      log \"qbittorrent-nox was already running - restarting it to load the credential\"\n      s6-svc -r \"$SVC\" || log \"s6-svc -r failed (continuing to verify anyway)\"\n      sleep 3\n    fi\n  else\n    log \"FAILED to write the credential into $CONF (helper exit $rc). The WebUI will keep\" >&2\n    log \"minting a random password\
+                \ every start and BOTH arrs will break. Fix and restart.\" >&2\n    exit 0\n  fi\n\n  # (3) GROUND TRUTH: the WebUI itself must accept it. Wait for the API to answer at ALL\n  #     (shared ~120s budget across attempts), then spend exactly ONE login per attempt -\n  #     at most 3 rejected logins, which stays under qBittorrent's default ban threshold.\n  #\n  # \"THE API NEVER ANSWERED\" IS A DIFFERENT FAULT FROM \"THE PASSWORD WAS REJECTED\", and\n  # conflating them is what made this hook lie once already (see the PORT comment). An\n  # unreachable WebUI is reported as unreachable, and the hook stops rather than spending\n  # its remaining login attempts to produce two more identical wrong diagnoses.\n  api_ok=0\n  while [ \"$waited\" -lt 120 ]; do\n    code=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -m 3 -w '%{http_code}' \"http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/\" 2>/dev/null)\n    if [ -n \"$code\" ] && [ \"$code\" != \"000\" ]; then api_ok=1; break; fi\n    waited=$((waited + 1)); sleep 1\n  done\n  if [ \"$api_ok\" != 1 ]; then\n    log \"the WebUI never answered on 127.0.0.1:$PORT within the wait budget, so the\" >&2\n    log \"credential in $CONF is UNVERIFIED. This is NOT a rejected password - it was\" >&2\n    log \"never submitted. Do not rotate the credential on the strength of this line.\" >&2\n    exit 0\n  fi\n  body=$(curl -sS -m 10 \\\n           --data-urlencode \"username=$QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME\" \\\n           --data-urlencode \"password=$QBT_WEBUI_PASSWORD\" \\\n           \"http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/api/v2/auth/login\" 2>/dev/null)\n  if [ \"$body\" = \"Ok.\" ]; then\n    log \"VERIFIED: the WebUI accepts the durable credential for '$QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME'\"\n    exit 0\n  fi\n  log \"WebUI rejected the durable credential (login said '$body')\" >&2\n  # A rejection when the conf was ALREADY converged (rc=0, nothing written) can only mean\n  # the running qbittorrent-nox is serving something it read from an EARLIER conf, so\n  # rewriting the same bytes on the next attempt would change nothing. The remedy is to\n  # make the process RE-READ the file, so restart the supervised service and let the next\n  # attempt re-verify. Without this the retry loop could never change its own outcome.\n  if [ \"$(s6-svstat -u \"$SVC\" 2>/dev/null)\" = \"true\" ]; then\n    log \"restarting qbittorrent-nox so it re-reads $CONF, then re-verifying\" >&2\n    s6-svc -r \"$SVC\" || log \"s6-svc -r failed (continuing to verify anyway)\" >&2\n    sleep 3\n  fi\ndone\n\nlog \"GAVE UP after $attempt attempts: the WebUI does not accept the credential from git.\" >&2\n# A postStart hook MUST exit 0 - a non-zero exit makes the kubelet KILL the container\n# (FailedPostStartHook -> CrashLoopBackOff), turning a credential fault into an outage.\n# Both failure paths above therefore log LOUDLY and exit 0; the `up` SLI still watches the\n# app, and the arrs' own download-client health check surfaces a broken credential.\nexit 0\n"
      - name: oauth2-proxy
        image: quay.io/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy:v7.8.1
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
@@ -97,6 +168,7 @@ spec:
        - --scope=openid email profile
        - --oidc-groups-claim=groups
        - --allowed-group=media-users
+        - --allowed-group=platform-admins
        - --skip-provider-button=true
        - --redirect-url=https://qbittorrent.${BASE_DOMAIN}/oauth2/callback
        - --cookie-domain=.${BASE_DOMAIN}
@@ -148,10 +220,15 @@ spec:
            port: http
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 15
+      securityContext:
+        fsGroup: 3000
      volumes:
      - name: config
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: qbittorrent-config
+      - name: downloads
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: qbittorrent-downloads
 ---
 # Service
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -266,7 +343,7 @@ metadata:
    app.kubernetes.io/name: qbittorrent
  annotations:
    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
 spec:
  parentRefs:
  - name: shared
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+    name: semaphore-db-backup-credentials-prod
+    namespace: semaphore-db
+type: Opaque
+stringData:
+    ACCESS_KEY_ID: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:OhWEEYqrvmDB40NmiETgeUisBvaO9ocevCZAsurNijw=,iv:kEjOIg9NHbRYm+Ul1WrBAzb3gLbIv+ipiYCxFK0QoVc=,tag:KAB1JAIw0ATwbjDEKZVT9A==,type:str]
+    ACCESS_SECRET_KEY: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:C0PNKv07LCYpFONLqd55sz+ioyU/i2YJUkbZ8OX/dCErM/DilqchyUAT5EqnT/r3YJmdaA1pX85S3fxlVVHkbg==,iv:4ha28b+xIebvX2JPITmtTovIe4vdmj2XfI3cgkUHH4c=,tag:xbMyflcHojytPzgaoOYcXQ==,type:str]
+sops:
+    kms: []
+    gcp_kms: []
+    azure_kv: []
+    hc_vault: []
+    age:
+        - recipient: age175l8mdpdfu7hq0aml3exs3gykarwjmuvr23sq56s3wjejnyk44wsp4mfzg
+          enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBZVTJ3cXR6cks3Y0RNS2hx
+            K3pjZEduYUxmL0V3SmFUcU9XbGVHSVFITWh3Cjl1eHlTLytoOW5PaVNFVkJoeTBo
+            T1FnRHNDVzJ6dWpuR09WaElvbWF4YU0KLS0tIEJoQ1VsM1cxRlg0R1dtNGdOenNn
+            aVNjMjVBTytLdHlFdmZCS2tPelo1Y2MKYt1G5t+sDiHgcg+Q9ECBzJn2gS/paSEC
+            7aoX60SBrPgHvnGls5lzc3Tin9nH4jWYl6Nu8DAvIE0YPXDFr5a0UA==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+    lastmodified: "2026-09-07T06:36:33Z"
+    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:mhVP7tjdZK2FR2imvpJbTyT7BigvcIKEpLSnBS1oSITUirB8xZC7aHBfyFuIoKOrpOJgEe40nHUdDYCHRJtb4dLeVja8+7meVaQWzxC8BWVHsksW+73hsqhjAzlHeobx6Irbk4PAMqIY0/jnf4MHryjnRn3dUuwu9U1CqL30JbE=,iv:57oCcp6FW9EAIVKnYGtkaTrnbijyv54T+vmZxMbMqnw=,tag:agrRP/JLypU60KOeN0s/5w==,type:str]
+    pgp: []
+    encrypted_regex: ^(data|stringData)$
+    version: 3.9.4
@@ -38,16 +38,53 @@ metadata:
  name: semaphore-db
  namespace: semaphore-db
 spec:
-  # Single Postgres instance on 3-replica Longhorn is acceptable at home scale (ADR-0014, same as
-  # keycloak-db / nextcloud-db). The storage is already 3-way replicated by Longhorn; raise to 3 for
-  # Postgres-level HA as a future hardening.
-  instances: 1
+  # THREE instances — one primary + two hot standbys (2026-09-07), same as keycloak-db /
+  # nextcloud-db; see platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml for the full rationale. Short version:
+  # Longhorn's 3-way replication saves the DATA on node loss, not the SERVICE, and with
+  # `instances: 1` all three CNPG primaries had drifted onto k3s-prod-2, so one node took Semaphore
+  # down alongside SSO and Nextcloud. A streaming standby lets CNPG promote in seconds and repoint
+  # the -rw Service. Gated on the Barman archive below actually working (ContinuousArchiving=True
+  # with a real firstRecoverabilityPoint) — standbys replicate corruption, they are not a backup.
+  #
+  # Scaling out is non-disruptive: CNPG creates -2 then -3 sequentially, each seeded by
+  # pg_basebackup from the running primary, which is neither restarted nor disconnected.
+  instances: 3
  imageName: ghcr.io/cloudnative-pg/postgresql:16.4
  # Stamp app.kubernetes.io/name=semaphore-db onto every generated pod/service so the rendered
  # semaphore egress CiliumNetworkPolicy's toEndpoints selector matches the primary pod (R-NET-02).
  inheritedMetadata:
    labels:
      app.kubernetes.io/name: semaphore-db
+  # HARD anti-affinity — the three instances MUST land on three DIFFERENT nodes; and roll the
+  # primary by SWITCHOVER rather than CNPG's default in-place `restart`, which would delete and
+  # recreate the primary pod. Full rationale in platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml. Short
+  # version: CNPG's default `preferred` is a scheduler hint, so when CNPG recreates an instance
+  # after a node loss it may stack two instances on one node — which is how `instances: 3` decays
+  # back into the single-node failure domain this change removes. `required` makes it a constraint;
+  # the cost is that an instance whose node is gone stays Pending, which is correct (2 of 3 still
+  # serve). Satisfiable on both clusters: prod and dev each have 3 schedulable, untainted nodes.
+  #
+  # APPLYING THIS CHANGES THE POD SPEC, so CNPG rolls the instances: standbys first, then one
+  # switchover. Expect a single brief connection reset for Semaphore.
+  affinity:
+    enablePodAntiAffinity: true
+    podAntiAffinityType: required
+  primaryUpdateMethod: switchover
+  # SYNCHRONOUS REPLICATION — quorum of ONE standby, PREFERRED durability (2026-09-07). Full
+  # rationale in platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml. Short version: async replication loses the
+  # last few transactions when a primary dies before its standbys catch up, and `method: any` +
+  # `number: 1` makes COMMIT wait for one standby to confirm. dataDurability MUST stay `preferred`,
+  # never `required` — `required` blocks writes outright when fewer than `number` healthy standbys
+  # are available, which on a 3-node cluster sharing nodes with etcd and the CNI turns one degraded
+  # standby into a total write outage. `preferred` relaxes to async instead.
+  #
+  # NON-DISRUPTIVE: compiles to `synchronous_standby_names`, a reload-only PostgreSQL parameter —
+  # no restart, no switchover, no client disconnect. Land it after the anti-affinity roll.
+  postgresql:
+    synchronous:
+      method: any
+      number: 1
+      dataDurability: preferred
  storage:
    storageClass: longhorn
    size: 5Gi
@@ -69,25 +106,38 @@ spec:
      memory: 256Mi
    limits:
      memory: 512Mi
-  # --- Off-cluster DR backup (R-STATE-03) — CNPG-native Barman → the on-Proxmox MinIO `cnpg` bucket ---
+  # --- Off-cluster DR backup (R-STATE-03) — CNPG-native Barman → object storage ---
  # Continuous WAL archiving + periodic base backups = proper Postgres PITR (realises the SD's
-  # backup.policy daily-offcluster). destinationPath is the bucket ROOT; CNPG appends serverName
-  # (defaults to the Cluster name), so objects land under s3://cnpg/semaphore-db/. Path-style HTTP.
-  # Credentials: the scoped key from the in-namespace SOPS Secret semaphore-db-backup-credentials
-  # (same-ns only), kept in sync with platform/backup/minio-credentials.sops.yaml.
-  # endpointURL is ${S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT} (cluster-vars, R-ENV-02; dev http://192.168.1.9:9000),
-  # substituted by the `apps-wave-0` Flux Kustomization. Prod supplies its own off-cluster target.
+  # backup.policy daily-offcluster). CNPG appends serverName (defaults to the Cluster name) to
+  # destinationPath, so objects land under ${CNPG_BACKUP_PATH}/semaphore-db/ — dev
+  # s3://cnpg/semaphore-db/ on the on-Proxmox MinIO, prod
+  # s3://k3s-prod-backup/barman/semaphore-db/ on Cloudflare R2. Both endpointURL and
+  # destinationPath are cluster-vars knobs (R-ENV-02), substituted by `apps-wave-0`.
+  # Credentials: PER-ENVIRONMENT (2026-09-07). dev reads semaphore-db-backup-credentials (the
+  # scoped MinIO key), prod reads semaphore-db-backup-credentials-prod (the Cloudflare R2
+  # token). BOTH Secrets are applied to BOTH clusters by apps/wave-0/kustomization.yaml (a
+  # generated golden — render.py places the -prod sidecar in this DB's wave); the
+  # cluster-vars knob ${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX} (dev "" | prod "-prod") chooses which
+  # one this Cluster reads. Both are in-namespace, which is all a pod can read. They were
+  # ONE shared Secret until the split, so giving prod its R2 token would have left dev
+  # signing MinIO requests with an R2 key id — 403 on every archive command, i.e. the
+  # disk-full clock below rather than a merely missing backup.
+  #
+  # archive_mode is ON, so a FAILING archive command is a disk-full clock, not a degraded backup:
+  # Postgres refuses to recycle a WAL segment it has not archived, and the pgdata PVC fills until
+  # the primary PANICs. Prod demonstrated this from bootstrap to 2026-09-07 with a placeholder
+  # endpoint. Treat ContinuousArchiving=False here as an availability incident.
  backup:
    retentionPolicy: "30d"
    barmanObjectStore:
-      destinationPath: s3://cnpg
+      destinationPath: ${CNPG_BACKUP_PATH}
      endpointURL: ${S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT}
      s3Credentials:
        accessKeyId:
-          name: semaphore-db-backup-credentials
+          name: semaphore-db-backup-credentials${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}
          key: ACCESS_KEY_ID
        secretAccessKey:
-          name: semaphore-db-backup-credentials
+          name: semaphore-db-backup-credentials${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}
          key: ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
      wal:
        compression: gzip
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+---
+# Namespace (trust zone; default-deny + policies apply)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: vm-demo
+  labels:
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/app-namespace: 'true'
+  annotations:
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/backup-policy: daily-offcluster
+---
+# Default-deny baseline (R-NET-01): deny all, allow only DNS
+apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
+kind: NetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: default-deny
+  namespace: vm-demo
+  labels:
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/baseline: default-deny
+spec:
+  podSelector: {}
+  policyTypes:
+  - Ingress
+  - Egress
+  ingress: []
+  egress:
+  - to:
+    - namespaceSelector:
+        matchLabels:
+          kubernetes.io/metadata.name: kube-system
+    ports:
+    - protocol: UDP
+      port: 53
+    - protocol: TCP
+      port: 53
+---
+# CDI DataVolume (standalone; survives rebuild, R-STATE-01)
+apiVersion: cdi.kubevirt.io/v1beta1
+kind: DataVolume
+metadata:
+  name: vm-demo-rootdisk
+  namespace: vm-demo
+spec:
+  source:
+    registry:
+      url: docker://quay.io/containerdisks/fedora:41
+  storage:
+    accessModes:
+    - ReadWriteOnce
+    storageClassName: longhorn
+    resources:
+      requests:
+        storage: 6Gi
+---
+# KubeVirt VirtualMachine (R-PLAT-03)
+apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1
+kind: VirtualMachine
+metadata:
+  name: vm-demo
+  namespace: vm-demo
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: vm-demo
+spec:
+  running: false
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        kubevirt.io/vm: vm-demo
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/egress-class: internet
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: none
+    spec:
+      domain:
+        cpu:
+          cores: 1
+        memory:
+          guest: 1536Mi
+        devices:
+          disks:
+          - name: rootdisk
+            disk:
+              bus: virtio
+          - name: cloudinit
+            disk:
+              bus: virtio
+          interfaces:
+          - name: default
+            masquerade: {}
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            memory: 1536Mi
+      networks:
+      - name: default
+        pod: {}
+      volumes:
+      - name: rootdisk
+        dataVolume:
+          name: vm-demo-rootdisk
+      - name: cloudinit
+        cloudInitNoCloud:
+          userData: "#cloud-config\npackage_update: true\npackages:\n  - dnf-automatic\nwrite_files:\n  - path: /etc/dnf/automatic.conf\n    content: |\n      [commands]\n      upgrade_type = default\n      random_sleep = 0\n      download_updates = yes\n      apply_updates = yes\nruncmd:\n  - [ systemctl, enable, --now, dnf-automatic.timer ]\n"
+---
+# CiliumNetworkPolicy world egress allow (egress class governs the path; R-NET-05): vm-demo-allow-internet-egress
+apiVersion: cilium.io/v2
+kind: CiliumNetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: vm-demo-allow-internet-egress
+  namespace: vm-demo
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: vm-demo
+spec:
+  endpointSelector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: vm-demo
+  egress:
+  - toEntities:
+    - world
+---
+# ServiceMonitor (R-OBS-01)
+apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
+kind: ServiceMonitor
+metadata:
+  name: vm-demo
+  namespace: vm-demo
+  labels:
+    release: kube-prometheus-stack
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: vm-demo
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: vm-demo
+  namespaceSelector:
+    matchNames:
+    - vm-demo
+  endpoints:
+  - port: metrics
+    interval: 30s
+---
+# PrometheusRule SLI alerts (R-OBS-01)
+apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
+kind: PrometheusRule
+metadata:
+  name: vm-demo-slis
+  namespace: vm-demo
+  labels:
+    release: kube-prometheus-stack
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: vm-demo
+spec:
+  groups:
+  - name: vm-demo.slis
+    rules:
+    - alert: vm-demo-down
+      expr: up{job="vm-demo"} == 0
+      for: 5m
+      labels:
+        severity: critical
+        service: vm-demo
+      annotations:
+        summary: vm-demo is down
+        description: 'vm-demo has been unreachable for 5m (SLI: up).'
@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+---
+# Namespace (trust zone; default-deny + policies apply)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak
+  labels:
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/app-namespace: 'true'
+    gateway-access: shared
+  annotations:
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/backup-policy: daily-offcluster
+---
+# Default-deny baseline (R-NET-01): deny all, allow only DNS
+apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
+kind: NetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: default-deny
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/baseline: default-deny
+spec:
+  podSelector: {}
+  policyTypes:
+  - Ingress
+  - Egress
+  ingress: []
+  egress:
+  - to:
+    - namespaceSelector:
+        matchLabels:
+          kubernetes.io/metadata.name: kube-system
+    ports:
+    - protocol: UDP
+      port: 53
+    - protocol: TCP
+      port: 53
+---
+# PVC keycloak-db (R-STATE)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak-db
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadWriteOnce
+  storageClassName: longhorn
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: 10Gi
+---
+# Deployment (R-PLAT-02)
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  strategy:
+    type: Recreate
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/egress-class: internet
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: native
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: keycloak
+        image: quay.io/keycloak/keycloak
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 8080
+        volumeMounts:
+        - name: db
+          mountPath: /data/db
+      volumes:
+      - name: db
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: keycloak-db
+---
+# Service
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  selector:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+  ports:
+  - name: port-8080
+    port: 8080
+    targetPort: 8080
+---
+# CiliumNetworkPolicy egress allow (R-NET-02): keycloak-allow-keycloak-db-5432
+apiVersion: cilium.io/v2
+kind: CiliumNetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak-allow-keycloak-db-5432
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  endpointSelector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+  egress:
+  - toEndpoints:
+    - matchLabels:
+        app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak-db
+        k8s:io.kubernetes.pod.namespace: keycloak-db
+    toPorts:
+    - ports:
+      - port: '5432'
+        protocol: TCP
+---
+# CiliumNetworkPolicy gateway-ingress allow (R-NET-01/02): keycloak-allow-gateway-ingress
+apiVersion: cilium.io/v2
+kind: CiliumNetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak-allow-gateway-ingress
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  endpointSelector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+  ingress:
+  - fromEntities:
+    - ingress
+    toPorts:
+    - ports:
+      - port: '8080'
+        protocol: TCP
+---
+# CiliumNetworkPolicy world egress allow (egress class governs the path; R-NET-05): keycloak-allow-internet-egress
+apiVersion: cilium.io/v2
+kind: CiliumNetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak-allow-internet-egress
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  endpointSelector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+  egress:
+  - toEntities:
+    - world
+---
+# HTTPRoute keycloak-8080 (R-TLS/R-DNS)
+apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
+kind: HTTPRoute
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak-8080
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  parentRefs:
+  - name: shared
+    namespace: gateway
+    sectionName: https
+  hostnames:
+  - keycloak.${BASE_DOMAIN}
+  rules:
+  - matches:
+    - path:
+        type: PathPrefix
+        value: /
+    backendRefs:
+    - name: keycloak
+      port: 8080
+---
+# ServiceMonitor (R-OBS-01)
+apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
+kind: ServiceMonitor
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    release: kube-prometheus-stack
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+  namespaceSelector:
+    matchNames:
+    - keycloak
+  endpoints:
+  - port: metrics
+    interval: 30s
+---
+# PrometheusRule SLI alerts (R-OBS-01)
+apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
+kind: PrometheusRule
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak-slis
+  namespace: keycloak
+  labels:
+    release: kube-prometheus-stack
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: keycloak
+spec:
+  groups:
+  - name: keycloak.slis
+    rules:
+    - alert: keycloak-down
+      expr: up{job="keycloak"} == 0
+      for: 5m
+      labels:
+        severity: critical
+        service: keycloak
+      annotations:
+        summary: keycloak is down
+        description: 'keycloak has been unreachable for 5m (SLI: up).'
@@ -35,6 +35,34 @@ spec:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 53
 ---
+# PersistentVolume nextcloud-legacy-archive - static external NFS (bulk tier)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolume
+metadata:
+  name: nextcloud-legacy-archive
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: nextcloud
+spec:
+  capacity:
+    storage: 270Gi
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadOnlyMany
+  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
+  storageClassName: ''
+  mountOptions:
+  - nfsvers=4.1
+  - hard
+  - noatime
+  - timeo=600
+  - retrans=2
+  nfs:
+    server: ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    path: /mnt/Storage/nextcloud
+    readOnly: true
+  claimRef:
+    namespace: nextcloud
+    name: nextcloud-legacy-archive
+---
 # PVC nextcloud-data (R-STATE)
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
@@ -51,6 +79,23 @@ spec:
    requests:
      storage: 20Gi
 ---
+# PVC nextcloud-legacy-archive (R-STATE)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: nextcloud-legacy-archive
+  namespace: nextcloud
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: nextcloud
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadOnlyMany
+  storageClassName: ''
+  volumeName: nextcloud-legacy-archive
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: 270Gi
+---
 # Deployment (R-PLAT-02)
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
@@ -119,6 +164,10 @@ spec:
        volumeMounts:
        - name: data
          mountPath: /var/www/html
+        - name: legacy-archive
+          mountPath: /mnt/legacy-nextcloud
+          subPath: nextcloud
+          readOnly: true
        lifecycle:
          postStart:
            exec:
@@ -132,6 +181,9 @@ spec:
      - name: data
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: nextcloud-data
+      - name: legacy-archive
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: nextcloud-legacy-archive
 ---
 # Service
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -35,6 +35,33 @@ spec:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 53
 ---
+# PersistentVolume radarr-media - static external NFS (bulk tier)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolume
+metadata:
+  name: radarr-media
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: radarr
+spec:
+  capacity:
+    storage: 9Ti
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadWriteMany
+  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
+  storageClassName: ''
+  mountOptions:
+  - nfsvers=4.1
+  - hard
+  - noatime
+  - timeo=600
+  - retrans=2
+  nfs:
+    server: ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    path: /mnt/Storage/plex
+  claimRef:
+    namespace: radarr
+    name: radarr-media
+---
 # PVC radarr-config (R-STATE)
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
@@ -51,6 +78,23 @@ spec:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi
 ---
+# PVC radarr-media (R-STATE)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: radarr-media
+  namespace: radarr
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: radarr
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadWriteMany
+  storageClassName: ''
+  volumeName: radarr-media
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: 9Ti
+---
 # Deployment (R-PLAT-02)
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
@@ -74,16 +118,25 @@ spec:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
      annotations:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: radarr
        image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:5.21.1
        ports:
        - containerPort: 7878
+        env:
+        - name: PUID
+          value: '1000'
+        - name: PGID
+          value: '3000'
+        - name: TZ
+          value: Etc/UTC
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
-          mountPath: /data/config
+          mountPath: /config
+        - name: media
+          mountPath: /media
      - name: oauth2-proxy
        image: quay.io/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy:v7.8.1
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
@@ -97,6 +150,7 @@ spec:
        - --scope=openid email profile
        - --oidc-groups-claim=groups
        - --allowed-group=media-users
+        - --allowed-group=platform-admins
        - --skip-provider-button=true
        - --redirect-url=https://radarr.${BASE_DOMAIN}/oauth2/callback
        - --cookie-domain=.${BASE_DOMAIN}
@@ -148,10 +202,15 @@ spec:
            port: http
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 15
+      securityContext:
+        fsGroup: 3000
      volumes:
      - name: config
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: radarr-config
+      - name: media
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: radarr-media
 ---
 # Service
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -288,7 +347,7 @@ metadata:
    app.kubernetes.io/name: radarr
  annotations:
    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
 spec:
  parentRefs:
  - name: shared
@@ -5,6 +5,15 @@
 #   credential from its own namespace (a Pod cannot read a Secret in another namespace).
 # access-key-encryption: FIXED base64 32-byte AES key Semaphore uses to encrypt stored SSH keys /
 #   credentials; MUST stay stable across restarts or stored secrets become undecryptable.
+# oidc-client-secret: the Keycloak `semaphore` CONFIDENTIAL client secret, and ONLY that. It MIRRORS
+#   `semaphore-client-secret` in platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-clients.sops.yaml (the realm import
+#   injects that copy into the client), same cross-namespace mirror pattern as db-password above.
+#   It replaced the former `oidc-providers-json` key (2026-09-07): that key held the WHOLE
+#   SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS blob, which buried the environment-specific realm-issuer and redirect
+#   URLs inside ciphertext where Flux's ${BASE_DOMAIN} postBuild substitution could not reach them,
+#   so prod ran with dev's URLs. Those URLs are PUBLIC and now live in plaintext in
+#   catalog/semaphore.yaml (rendered to apps/wave-1/semaphore.yaml); the kubelet splices THIS value
+#   back into the blob via $(SEMAPHORE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET). Only the secret half is encrypted.
 # Recover: infra/devcontainer/dev.sh run sops -d apps/semaphore-bootstrap-secret.sops.yaml
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Secret
@@ -15,11 +24,11 @@ metadata:
        app.kubernetes.io/name: semaphore
 type: Opaque
 stringData:
-    admin-username: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:uD/vO9A9MjerFg==,iv:i/NAqVD6rWg9oWWSGBrRkxzwcPp2IW1HLIKY0pdcPPg=,tag:r27tKLAJ+ydE7Ty3ccMNUw==,type:str]
-    admin-password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:544nWY1UmBnlsdPJAQZJMXRumu4W9X7UXZvZ6vHN/ArjRgLXKTArOe5JkT/nNrNw,iv:AC1DDbZj2HfpU19EjzA7T+WpIaR4nZc3PNN61y8bAzU=,tag:r28LFi5w6ZeCCaRaX2jRdg==,type:str]
-    db-password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:ySkdvaGRCW9fMQqChs5l8dY4zCG19i4HOEinRC48mgLuh9WOrjd16T6jwFgiwB55,iv:+1gztJ22HbwgQJiolZMMWOcKIsxrBJpnruJdtxdooOU=,tag:8CfJGwyPTjDGyr0CvalXMQ==,type:str]
-    access-key-encryption: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:1YAMLo1nVkpJWZc+KBZ7B4ia+Y8P+xMyOhHMcEGGJOXd3o+WC5FqirLBVh4=,iv:j28ozeaDhGWDjoaxFOhn2t9YbYE7L3ah/Mfi+i2DWwY=,tag:czG9Wxc/7Nsuh1W5iATOww==,type:str]
-    oidc-providers-json: ENC[AES256_GCM,data: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,iv:jbfVdrrZ9fGiOxhQeoTJfFg1QwiOMkoQyaadiVfxX/w=,tag:JkepcRs34EuEgNb4buTTDQ==,type:str]
+    admin-username: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:ju3wVdjNzRUP/w==,iv:d/5ZxgQZ5bympu3gT2ck3DJy9iUPPBAtZYsJvD3To7I=,tag:0UtBaDVqNSK4RCJrQicchw==,type:str]
+    admin-password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:pxIwpgh3BoND2TI0mPTixOTJoictzT77dqtuRdMKgY/2WaW4wM1Ra6H6n/dxnyR2,iv:eYbFQGFYVJsnYGwn6cOI3BgAdzMcin9YggAhiuL+xqM=,tag:/sPWGv4gue0vjc2nMk7wWA==,type:str]
+    db-password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:hBFpWXdpk1R5a23Pntup03t56NBRPS+SZU8CrHVb/ypIaIpgf7kjYtVy6nhTF6u0,iv:eBzoQgH5ZhWWpfKZ6AQmwaSal5QaiuN9gfexQ7GsVFs=,tag:j2k8EwhKDlj/Ud6O39ioVQ==,type:str]
+    access-key-encryption: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:SKtAV4HxJ9pNYDqUK/1uOdI1rtMji3pTfprI2rhQxFQyhc6dFlhqI+OUEcY=,iv:rKCP+FLidcOltOwmMMcO5M8tz4qiifIMI+W5soGO2M8=,tag:HaHzkX/JI+9wmcg2SD9GAQ==,type:str]
+    oidc-client-secret: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:uCo7TNzbM2QKw9ie+xzyUG9MFKco1OAlwr5qPn/AGpNvo1YyXSfbZyyM0CLJ1NS821hGg5Zr/m3R/xpy84s3FQ==,iv:O8a4haskufpmorPaxOkJ1Q99Y5GTlzmDFJAsHS+irLk=,tag:VojJpA9jNMbNQmIe1Qr44w==,type:str]
 sops:
    kms: []
    gcp_kms: []
@@ -29,14 +38,14 @@ sops:
        - recipient: age175l8mdpdfu7hq0aml3exs3gykarwjmuvr23sq56s3wjejnyk44wsp4mfzg
          enc: |
            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
-            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBuRDlqRFJ0dk14UHluSGRP
-            S1pESy9PWlpMakU0aTkzNVhqUGdtbWNEdTJjCm5RNG14azJHc28rdEJ4L0RzR0xO
-            MGRocGZ1V1JZTENWQkN3VGZzamp2eTgKLS0tIGt6QkNNaW5hdTBJVHY0SVo5d3JX
-            elp0SWxHcjg0RWF3aW9mWTJHZ0lhcUEKc0rU5VilAVDleCwqq4SOF+Y9sniu1Pka
-            w/MGDA9THSB0b+YgWRWiX/KiimFqp0ZFODOJ9cHVwFGY71+VadPwOg==
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSAyTzF6NTBtcFVWK1Vtc0I2
+            VGdySHBsRGgvc1h0VzgvQ01xYVBJV3g2Q1NRCjJyZHVYZGtuamo1MFJHWlBwWkxt
+            cHA4VkY1TkRpN3M4UTdMOWZTbFVGemMKLS0tIGVNdDBrWVJveU56VjVBU2JWdHF4
+            RGtaYStXYUpONTZjZCtmM0NyZ3Rka1UKIQpmQai8dz+uRAsXxyeuGaRlRwsFqIPQ
+            9AfrZJcslYwlaK3ptm1oqaCdrlxcMar2nI7thSqzbLe+e1nzA2z7vQ==
            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
-    lastmodified: "2026-08-27T22:12:32Z"
-    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:nHftJTGnTr0O5h8yGXwgz3eflggXJfIXM3m8n3bzDJE/P4nvSpZzFeMb+sc2on+AL+t+SeKrIl8blzm33XsQ1lkaY85Zm+bc5cnED1g04BMDVmmK3brh/8w50Bp2wPEVzb4I01MDzhhyIbOYg7pFvZAH3/VuqvM1t6XmfF1NrOA=,iv:4KBa9PH/dfdGwLC16RenZIVB6BtSoGo6x3qt3h1R43I=,tag:KULiA1klP/RZMNigkloGDA==,type:str]
+    lastmodified: "2026-09-07T07:01:50Z"
+    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:Xutm1rQt57J4RILElD8FkNOsQT1HK5jZlPtqqLyZ/VqOoDwo+IS1wp7hROprlUvQC0bUXy79tRRIl5Q0CCOD+fvAGIdmade+vB7qXlYN6Q1441dGhuSTPvckso6FaB2ddRjKhKGLc/Z4bJoz9VaRNNxJNpWXIrENTg+I+QhNhlo=,iv:klJOrEQ6QN5dTGkQfGnbMbgCWsgWwZPb5YXDMeWeE34=,tag:fuJr4t3Tt3dT9u3/0SFo8Q==,type:str]
    pgp: []
    encrypted_regex: ^(data|stringData)$
    version: 3.9.4
@@ -118,11 +118,13 @@ spec:
              key: access-key-encryption
        - name: SEMAPHORE_PORT
          value: :3000
-        - name: SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS
+        - name: SEMAPHORE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: semaphore-bootstrap
-              key: oidc-providers-json
+              key: oidc-client-secret
+        - name: SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS
+          value: '{"keycloak":{"display_name":"Keycloak","provider_url":"https://keycloak.${BASE_DOMAIN}/realms/homelab","client_id":"semaphore","client_secret":"$(SEMAPHORE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET)","redirect_url":"https://semaphore.${BASE_DOMAIN}/api/auth/oidc/keycloak/redirect","scopes":["openid","profile","email"],"username_claim":"preferred_username","email_claim":"email","name_claim":"name","order":1}}'
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
          mountPath: /etc/semaphore
@@ -35,6 +35,33 @@ spec:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 53
 ---
+# PersistentVolume sonarr-media - static external NFS (bulk tier)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolume
+metadata:
+  name: sonarr-media
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: sonarr
+spec:
+  capacity:
+    storage: 9Ti
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadWriteMany
+  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
+  storageClassName: ''
+  mountOptions:
+  - nfsvers=4.1
+  - hard
+  - noatime
+  - timeo=600
+  - retrans=2
+  nfs:
+    server: ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    path: /mnt/Storage/plex
+  claimRef:
+    namespace: sonarr
+    name: sonarr-media
+---
 # PVC sonarr-config (R-STATE)
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
@@ -51,6 +78,23 @@ spec:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi
 ---
+# PVC sonarr-media (R-STATE)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: sonarr-media
+  namespace: sonarr
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: sonarr
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+  - ReadWriteMany
+  storageClassName: ''
+  volumeName: sonarr-media
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: 9Ti
+---
 # Deployment (R-PLAT-02)
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
@@ -74,16 +118,25 @@ spec:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
      annotations:
        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+        homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: sonarr
        image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:4.0.15
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8989
+        env:
+        - name: PUID
+          value: '1000'
+        - name: PGID
+          value: '3000'
+        - name: TZ
+          value: Etc/UTC
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
-          mountPath: /data/config
+          mountPath: /config
+        - name: media
+          mountPath: /media
      - name: oauth2-proxy
        image: quay.io/oauth2-proxy/oauth2-proxy:v7.8.1
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
@@ -97,6 +150,7 @@ spec:
        - --scope=openid email profile
        - --oidc-groups-claim=groups
        - --allowed-group=media-users
+        - --allowed-group=platform-admins
        - --skip-provider-button=true
        - --redirect-url=https://sonarr.${BASE_DOMAIN}/oauth2/callback
        - --cookie-domain=.${BASE_DOMAIN}
@@ -148,10 +202,15 @@ spec:
            port: http
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 15
+      securityContext:
+        fsGroup: 3000
      volumes:
      - name: config
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: sonarr-config
+      - name: media
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: sonarr-media
 ---
 # Service
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -288,7 +347,7 @@ metadata:
    app.kubernetes.io/name: sonarr
  annotations:
    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode: forward-auth
-    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users
+    homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups: media-users,platform-admins
 spec:
  parentRefs:
  - name: shared
@@ -180,6 +180,34 @@ dependencies: []                # default-deny: reaches only DNS; git clients re
 ingressRoutes:
  - host: gitea.${BASE_DOMAIN}
    port: 3000                  # Gitea HTTP web/API; TLS terminates at the shared Gateway (docs/08, docs/09)
+# THIS IS WHAT KEEPS PROD'S GITOPS OUT OF A DEADLOCK — it is not an incidental allowance. Remove it
+# and prod cannot reconcile AT ALL, in a way that is very hard to diagnose from cold.
+#
+# Prod's Flux source is THIS SERVICE, not a public hostname:
+#   clusters/prod/kustomization.yaml -> GitRepository.spec.url =
+#   http://gitea.gitea.svc.cluster.local:3000/Home-Network/home-network-k3s-impl.git
+# chosen deliberately so prod's GitOps depends on NEITHER public DNS, Cloudflare, prod's own
+# Gateway, NOR ${BASE_DOMAIN} — a future domain change cannot sever prod from its own source. That
+# file documents the other half of this pair at length; the two must be read together.
+#
+# The only other ingress this entry renders is gitea-allow-gateway-ingress, which admits
+# `fromEntities: [ingress]` — the shared Gateway's Envoy proxy — and nothing else. Flux's
+# source-controller dials the ClusterIP DIRECTLY, so under the namespace default-deny (R-NET-01) its
+# clone was DROPPED (`wget` from source-controller timed out; srcReady=False, "unable to list
+# remote"). The deadlock that made this urgent: the HTTPRoute that would have served the new public
+# name after the 2026-09-13 apex flip lives in a DOWNSTREAM tier, which cannot apply while the
+# source is down — source down -> routes never rename -> source stays down. It was broken on
+# 2026-09-13 with a live `kubectl apply` of a hand-written gitea-allow-flux-ingress, i.e. with a
+# cluster object that existed OUTSIDE git. This declaration renders that object, so one
+# `kubectl delete` or one cluster rebuild can no longer put prod back in the deadlock.
+inClusterClients:
+  # `name` is pinned to `flux` (rather than defaulting to the namespace) so the rendered policy name
+  # equals the live object's, `gitea-allow-flux-ingress`, and Flux ADOPTS it in place: no
+  # near-duplicate policy beside it, and no window in which prod's own source has no allow.
+  - name: flux
+    namespace: flux-system      # matched by NAMESPACE alone — the flux controllers' pod labels belong
+                                # to upstream's manifests, not to this platform's contract
+    port: 3000                  # ONLY the Gitea HTTP port — the same single port the Gateway allow opens
 auth:
  mode: oidc                    # native Keycloak OIDC client (docs/13 SSO row, docs/15 "Native OIDC" set; R-IDP-02)
  groups:
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@ storage:
  - name: config
    size: 2Gi
    class: longhorn             # indexer definitions/API keys on 3-replica Longhorn (docs/04; R-STATE-02)
+    mountPath: /config          # THE APP WRITES /config, NOT the renderer default /data/config.
+                                # LSIO images run with `-data=/config` (Jackett/qBittorrent likewise use
+                                # /config), so without this the Longhorn PVC mounted at /data/config sat
+                                # holding nothing but lost+found while the app wrote its entire
+                                # configuration to the container's EPHEMERAL writable layer — destroyed on
+                                # every pod recreation: restart, reschedule, image bump. Measured in-cluster
+                                # 2026-09-12: /data/config was dev=2080 with [lost+found], /config was
+                                # dev=2053 on the node's own disk with [Sentry asp config.xml logs].
+                                # This is the SAME failure catalog/plex.yaml:54 already records fixing.
+                                # The live /config contents were copied onto each PVC before this landed,
+                                # so API keys and credentials other apps reference were preserved.
 dependencies: []                # default-deny: reaches only DNS; arr reach it north of its own egress (docs/03; R-NET-01/02)
 ingressRoutes:
  - host: jackett.${BASE_DOMAIN}
@@ -31,6 +42,15 @@ auth:
  mode: forward-auth            # oauth2-proxy -> Keycloak; bare UI, no usable native OIDC (docs/15; R-IDP-02)
  groups:
    - media-users               # authenticated AND in an authorized group (R-IDP-06)
+    # platform-admins is a SUPERSET, not a widening. --allowed-group is repeatable and OR-ed, so
+    # listing both means "media consumers OR platform operators". Without it the media UIs are
+    # reachable by NOBODY the moment media-users is empty: on prod the realm's only user is the
+    # operator, who is in platform-admins only, so jackett/qbittorrent/radarr/sonarr answered an
+    # immediate 403 at the oauth2-proxy callback (no login prompt, because the Keycloak SSO session
+    # already existed) while pihole/crafty — which already gate on platform-admins — worked.
+    # This grants no real privilege: platform-admins already maps to cluster-admin via
+    # k8s-oidc-rbac.yaml (oidc:platform-admins), so a member can already exec into these pods.
+    - platform-admins           # operators of these services must not be locked out of them
 update:
  channel: stable               # R-UPD-01
  range: ">=0.22.0"             # stay on the Jackett 0.22.x stable line
@@ -223,6 +223,44 @@ storage:
    mountPath: /var/www/html    # 3-replica tier; irreplaceable, DR-critical (docs/04; R-STATE-02).
                                # The whole html dir is persisted so config.php + user data survive a
                                # rebuild (the default /data/<name> would strand them on ephemeral rootfs).
+  # THE LEGACY NEXTCLOUD DATASET (Storage/nextcloud, 270 G) — MOUNTED READ-ONLY, DELIBERATELY, AND
+  # NOT AS THIS INSTANCE'S DATA DIRECTORY. Read this before changing either decision.
+  #
+  # WHAT IS ACTUALLY IN THERE (measured 2026-09-07, not assumed):
+  #     /mnt/Storage/nextcloud/nextcloud/config          103 M
+  #     /mnt/Storage/nextcloud/nextcloud/config_old      3.4 G
+  #     /mnt/Storage/nextcloud/nextcloud/config_backup   267 G   <- 99% of the dataset
+  # There is NO `data/` directory. This is the OLD, non-k3s Nextcloud's configuration plus a backup
+  # blob — an ARCHIVE, not a live user-data tree.
+  #
+  # WHY READ-ONLY. Two independent reasons, either sufficient:
+  #   1. The old instance is STILL LIVE on it. The export is currently shared rw to 192.168.1.6 and
+  #      192.168.1.5, and the operator has said the existing non-k3s prod must remain active. Two
+  #      Nextcloud instances writing one instance's config directory, each with its own database and
+  #      therefore its own oc_filecache, is a corruption scenario with no clean recovery.
+  #   2. Nothing here needs writing. An archive is read.
+  # "Do not grant more than needed" therefore lands on `ro`. If the operator's intent is in fact a
+  # MIGRATION (read this data in, then decommission the old instance), that is a different and
+  # larger change than a mount, and it should be a deliberate one — flip `readOnly` and update the
+  # export at that point, not before. Enforced by the PV's nfs.readOnly, so it is a real `ro` mount.
+  #
+  # WHY NOT /var/www/html/data. That path is the LONGHORN PVC above and is this instance's own
+  # state; mounting a foreign tree into it would have Nextcloud scan and index an archive it does
+  # not own. A neutral path keeps the two completely separate. To expose it to users, add it as a
+  # Nextcloud External Storage (Local) mount pointing at this path — an in-app, per-user decision.
+  #
+  # subPath skips the redundant single-child directory: the dataset root holds exactly one entry,
+  # `nextcloud/`, so mounting that subtree puts config/ config_old/ config_backup/ at the top.
+  #
+  # UID: nothing to do. The tree is 0755 owned 1000:3000 and the mount is read-only, so www-data
+  # (uid 33) can read and traverse it. (fsGroup would be a no-op on an NFS volume in any case.)
+  - name: legacy-archive
+    class: bulk
+    export: /mnt/Storage/nextcloud   # the ZFS dataset Storage/nextcloud, on ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    subPath: nextcloud
+    mountPath: /mnt/legacy-nextcloud
+    readOnly: true
+    size: 270Gi                      # ADVISORY ONLY on a static NFS PV — the dataset's used size.
 dependencies:
  - to: nextcloud-db            # explicit allow: Nextcloud -> its PostgreSQL (docs/13 graph; R-NET-02).
    port: 5432                  # Renders the egress half; the DB namespace mirrors keycloak-db (no
@@ -4,21 +4,11 @@
 # auth: native (Plex accounts, NOT Keycloak — docs/13 + docs/15 documented exception).
 # Validates against schemas/servicedefinition.schema.json.
 #
-# BULK MEDIA (spec bulk-tier requirement, docs/04) — OPEN PREREQUISITE, intentionally NOT declared
-# here yet (the requirement ID is cited in the WS-APPS report, not as a token here: this change does
-# NOT exercise the bulk tier, so it must not be selected as a "touched" requirement whose in-cluster
-# conformance test is still a Phase-1 gap).
-#   The Plex library belongs on the `bulk` tier (docs/04 / docs/13 cross-cutting note: metadata DB
-#   on replicated Longhorn, large library on bulk). The `bulk` StorageClass exists
-#   (platform/longhorn/storageclasses.yaml) and the schema+renderer both support `class: bulk`, but
-#   that class is a documented STUB: OQ-2 (external NFS/SMB backing) is UNRESOLVED and the NFS CSI
-#   driver is not installed, so a `bulk` PVC will not bind and would leave the Plex pod Pending.
-#   To onboard the running Plex shell now (compute + config + public exposure), the media volume is
-#   omitted. Once OQ-2 is resolved and `bulk` provisions, attach the library with a one-line add:
-#     storage:
-#       - name: media
-#         class: bulk        # external mount; size omitted (sized outside the cluster)
-#   then re-render. See the WS-APPS report for the full bulk-media finding.
+# BULK MEDIA — NOW ATTACHED (docs/04 bulk tier; the long-standing OQ-2 prerequisite, resolved for
+# the STATIC case). The library is 8.33 T of ZFS on the Proxmox host at /mnt/Storage/plex, and it
+# already exists: nothing is provisioned, an existing dataset is mounted. See
+# docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md for the layout, the export change and the uid analysis. (The bulk-tier
+# requirement ID is deliberately still not typed here — see that document's "gate" note.)
 name: plex
 kind: container
 source:
@@ -70,6 +60,31 @@ storage:
                              # UI sign-in, the operator adds a PLEX_CLAIM env from a fresh https://plex.tv/claim token
                              # (4-min TTL) — deliberately NOT wired here: the env secretKeyRef pattern has no `optional`,
                              # so a placeholder/absent claim Secret would crashloop the pod. See operator hand-off.
+  # THE LIBRARY (docs/04 bulk tier). One READ-ONLY mount of the export ROOT, giving /media/movies,
+  # /media/tv and /media/photos — the whole tree the layout actually has (`ls /mnt/Storage/plex`:
+  # downloads/ movies/ photos/ tv/).
+  #
+  # WHY THE ROOT AND NOT THREE subPath MOUNTS. Nothing is gained by narrowing: the mount is `ro`,
+  # so no subPath could remove a privilege that matters, while three mounts would triple the NFS
+  # mounts per pod and mean a manifest change every time a top-level library is added.
+  #
+  # WHY READ-ONLY, when the export is `rw` and the other consumers write. Plex is a SERVER: it
+  # indexes and streams. Every write on that tree belongs to Sonarr and Radarr. Marking it here
+  # costs nothing and removes Plex from the set of things that can damage 8.33 T. Enforced by the
+  # PV's nfs.readOnly (a real `ro` mount), not only by the volumeMount flag.
+  #
+  # UID: no change needed. The tree is 0755 owned 1000:3000 throughout, so it is world-readable and
+  # world-traversable, and PLEX_UID/PLEX_GID above already make the process uid 1000 in any case.
+  # (fsGroup would have been a no-op here regardless — the in-tree NFS plugin does no ownership
+  # management. That is the trap the arrs' PUID/PGID exists to avoid; Plex never hits it.)
+  - name: media
+    class: bulk
+    export: /mnt/Storage/plex   # the ZFS dataset Storage/plex, on ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    mountPath: /media
+    readOnly: true
+    size: 9Ti                   # ADVISORY ONLY (nothing enforces a static NFS PV's capacity): the
+                                # dataset's 8.33 T used, rounded up, so `kubectl get pv` reports
+                                # something true. The real limit is the ZFS pool.
 dependencies: []              # default-deny: reaches only DNS; clients/Seerr reach IT (docs/03; R-NET-01/02)
 ingressRoutes:
  - host: plex.${BASE_DOMAIN}
@@ -4,19 +4,18 @@
 # internal download client | egress VPN + kill-switch | config on Longhorn | auth forward-auth
 # (bare web UI, no native OIDC).
 #
-# BULK DOWNLOADS TIER — OPEN PREREQUISITE, intentionally NOT declared here (mirrors plex + sonarr/radarr):
-#   docs/13 row 13 places qBittorrent's downloads/staging volume on the `bulk` tier (large, non-3x-
-#   replicated media handoff to the arr stack). The `bulk` StorageClass exists
-#   (platform/longhorn/storageclasses.yaml) and both the schema and renderer support `class: bulk`, BUT
-#   it is a NON-PROVISIONING STUB pending OQ-2 (its NFS/SMB backing is REPLACE-ME and the NFS CSI driver
-#   is not installed) — a `bulk` PVC would never bind and would leave the pod Pending. Declaring it now
-#   would also pull the bulk-tier requirement into the change's "touched" set, whose in-cluster
-#   conformance test is not yet scaffolded, blocking the merge gate. So the downloads volume is DEFERRED
-#   and this onboarding ships config-only. Once OQ-2 is resolved and `bulk` provisions, attach downloads
-#   with a one-line add under storage:
-#         - name: downloads
-#           class: bulk          # external mount; size omitted (sized outside the cluster)
-#   then re-render. See the WS-APPS report for the full bulk-downloads finding.
+# BULK DOWNLOADS TIER — DELIVERED 2026-09-12 (the deferral below is CLOSED; kept for the record).
+#   This entry used to ship config-only, with a comment promising to attach the downloads volume "once
+#   OQ-2 is resolved". OQ-2 was resolved for STATIC pre-existing datasets (schema 1.5.0 / renderer
+#   `class: bulk` + `export` -> a static, pre-bound NFS PV), and plex/sonarr/radarr/nextcloud all took
+#   their media mounts — but qBittorrent's was never added, so the DOWNLOAD CLIENT was the one member
+#   of the chain with no media volume at all. Measured on prod 2026-09-12:
+#       Session\DefaultSavePath=/downloads/   Session\TempPath=/downloads/incomplete/
+#       Downloads\SavePath=/downloads/       `ls /downloads` -> No such file or directory
+#   i.e. the app was configured to write a path that DID NOT EXIST, in a container with no volume there.
+#   Anything it did manage to create would have been invisible to sonarr/radarr, lost on every pod
+#   recreation, and filling the NODE's ephemeral disk in the meantime. The `downloads` entry under
+#   storage: below closes that. See docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md and the bulk-tier L0 conformance test.
 #
 # VPN-class (docs/13 row 13; docs/03 "VPN-class set"): ALL of this pod's public-internet egress
 # (peer/tracker/DHT traffic) MUST leave via the node PIA tunnel, never the WAN. `egress: vpn` renders
@@ -32,13 +31,411 @@ name: qbittorrent
 kind: container
 source:
  image: lscr.io/linuxserver/qbittorrent:5.1.2   # pinned stable tag (R-UPD-01); update.range governs advancement
+# LinuxServer images run their service as the user `abc`, whose uid/gid these two set. They are
+# LOAD-BEARING FOR THE BULK MOUNT, not cosmetic — exactly as on sonarr/radarr. Measured on prod
+# 2026-09-12 BEFORE this change: `id` inside the container reported the qbittorrent-nox process as
+# uid=911 gid=911, and /mnt/Storage/plex/downloads is 0755 owned 1000:1000. 0755 grants write to the
+# OWNER ONLY, so uid 911 would have mounted the export cleanly and then failed every write with
+# EACCES — the "mounts fine, cannot write" failure the sonarr entry warns about at length.
+env:
+  - name: PUID
+    value: "1000"               # owner uid of /mnt/Storage/plex/downloads (and of every dir under the export)
+  - name: PGID
+    value: "3000"               # the export's dominant group, matching sonarr/radarr: files this writes stay
+                                # readable to the EXISTING non-k3s consumers of the same dataset, and land
+                                # group-owned the same way the arrs' own writes do
+  # --- THE DURABLE WebUI CREDENTIAL (consumed by the postStart hook below) -------------------
+  # Measured on prod 2026-09-13: /config/qBittorrent/qBittorrent.conf held NEITHER `WebUI\Username`
+  # NOR `WebUI\Password_PBKDF2`. qBittorrent 5.x reads that as "no credential configured" and mints a
+  # NEW random `admin` password on EVERY process start, announcing it ONLY on stdout ("A temporary
+  # password is provided for this session: ..."). Two real consequences, not hypotheticals:
+  #   * Sonarr and Radarr store a download-client username/password in their OWN databases. Both
+  #     tested valid against the then-current temporary password; both would have started failing at
+  #     the NEXT qbittorrent pod restart, silently breaking Completed Download Handling (the arrs
+  #     report a failed client, not a failed import).
+  #   * The human operator had no stable login: every restart meant reading the pod log.
+  # Provided as apps/wave-0/qbittorrent-bootstrap-secret.sops.yaml (SOPS/age, decrypted by Flux) —
+  # same shape and naming as gitea-bootstrap, so `render.py --emit-waves` places it in this wave.
+  - name: QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME
+    valueFrom:
+      secretKeyRef:
+        name: qbittorrent-bootstrap
+        key: webui-username
+  - name: QBT_WEBUI_PASSWORD
+    valueFrom:
+      secretKeyRef:
+        name: qbittorrent-bootstrap
+        key: webui-password
+lifecycle:
+  # LEVEL-TRIGGERED CREDENTIAL ASSERTION, run on EVERY container start.
+  #
+  # WHY A postStart HOOK AND NOT A CronJob RECONCILER: the repo's idiom for "state Flux cannot reach
+  # directly" is the level-triggered CronJob (platform/keycloak/client-secret-reconciler.yaml,
+  # apps/wave-0/nextcloud-db.yaml). That idiom's PRINCIPLE — desired state lives in git and is
+  # RE-ASSERTED unconditionally, never set once — is exactly what is applied here, but the trigger is
+  # the container start rather than a clock, because the failure this closes IS a container start:
+  #   * The credential is read by qbittorrent-nox ONCE, at process start, from a file on the config
+  #     PVC. A 15-minute cron would therefore leave a 0-15 minute window after every restart, PVC
+  #     restore or rebuild in which the app serves a random password and both arrs are broken. The
+  #     hook has no such window: it runs before/with the very start that would otherwise regenerate.
+  #   * A CronJob would also have to reach the conf from OUTSIDE the pod — mounting an RWO Longhorn
+  #     PVC that the app already holds, or `kubectl exec`-ing with RBAC it would need granting — and
+  #     then edit a file UNDER the running process, whose own save-on-exit can overwrite the edit.
+  #     In-container, before the service starts, none of that exists.
+  #   * It needs no ServiceAccount, no RBAC, no NetworkPolicy and no API token: strictly less
+  #     privilege than the CronJob alternative (R-SEC/least-privilege).
+  # The gitea entry's postStart is the same pattern (idempotent bootstrap of a credential the app
+  # keeps in its own state), and the schema documents this hook for exactly that use.
+  #
+  # AND WHY NOT AN initContainer, which is the genuinely tempting third option: it would run strictly
+  # BEFORE qbittorrent-nox, removing the race the `s6-svc -r` below exists to cover, and its stdout
+  # would reach `kubectl logs -c <init>` instead of the kubelet. Two reasons it loses here:
+  #   * It CANNOT do step (3) — the ground-truth login that proves the WebUI actually accepts the
+  #     credential — because the WebUI is not running yet. That assertion is the most valuable line
+  #     in this whole mechanism: it is what turns "we wrote a file" into "the credential works", and
+  #     writing the right PBKDF2 bytes is precisely the part that is easy to get subtly wrong.
+  #   * The ServiceDefinition schema (1.5.0) has `lifecycle` but NO initContainers field, so it would
+  #     mean a schema version bump plus a renderer change — a blast radius across every service's
+  #     golden — to buy something strictly weaker than what the hook already does.
+  # The honest summary: postStart trades a short, self-healing start-up race (detected and closed by
+  # the s6 restart + re-verify loop) for the ability to VERIFY. That is the right trade.
+  #
+  # DURABILITY, the whole point — all three paths end with the SAME credential:
+  #   pod restart      -> conf on the PVC already holds it; the hook verifies and writes NOTHING.
+  #   config-PVC restore from an older backup -> restore requires the pod to be recreated, so the
+  #                       hook runs and re-asserts over whatever the snapshot contained.
+  #   rebuild from git -> empty PVC; the image copies /defaults/qBittorrent.conf, the hook writes the
+  #                       credential into it before the service is serving. Nothing outside git.
+  #
+  # WHAT IT DOES NOT DO: it never weakens authentication. `WebUI\AuthSubnetWhitelist` (bypassing auth
+  # for the pod CIDR) was REJECTED: it leaves the human login broken, and makes qBittorrent's auth
+  # depend on network policy staying correct forever. The WebUI keeps demanding a password; that
+  # password is simply now known, fixed, and reproducible from git.
+  postStart:
+    exec:
+      command:
+        - /bin/bash
+        - -c
+        - |
+          # Assert the durable WebUI credential in the config PVC's qBittorrent.conf, then PROVE the
+          # running WebUI accepts it. Idempotent: the steady-state path writes nothing at all.
+          #
+          # THIS SCRIPT CONTAINS NO BRACED DOLLAR EXPANSION AT ALL, AND THAT IS DELIBERATE.
+          # apps-wave-0 declares postBuild.substituteFrom cluster-vars, so Flux runs envsubst over
+          # this whole manifest at RECONCILE time. The repo's escape contract (double the dollar;
+          # enforced by render.py's assert_substitution_safe) makes such a form correct ON THE
+          # CLUSTER — but only there:
+          # envsubst collapses the doubled dollar, so the SAME text run any other way (a `kubectl
+          # apply` of the golden, which runs no envsubst; a hand `kubectl exec` of the script during
+          # development) keeps the doubled dollar, which bash reads as its own PID. Not hypothetical;
+          # see the PORT comment below for the bug it actually caused here. Bare `$VAR` and `$(cmd)`
+          # are untouched by envsubst, so they are used throughout and the script behaves IDENTICALLY
+          # however it is run.
+          set -u
+          CONF=/config/qBittorrent/qBittorrent.conf
+          SVC=/run/service/svc-qbittorrent
+          # The WebUI's listening port, as a LITERAL. It matches ingressRoutes[0].port in this
+          # ServiceDefinition — which is the single place the renderer takes the containerPort, the
+          # Service port and the HTTPRoute backend port from — and the image exposes no WEBUI_PORT
+          # env var for a lookup to read anyway.
+          # It USED to be a doubled-dollar default-operator expansion of a WEBUI_PORT env var, and
+          # that cost real time: run without envsubst, bash read the doubled dollar as its own PID,
+          # so PORT became "<pid>{WEBUI_PORT:-8080}" — the brace never expanded, the digits never
+          # matched. Every curl below then got an unparseable URL, returned nothing, and the hook
+          # logged "the WebUI rejected the durable
+          # credential" — having never actually asked it. That MISDIAGNOSIS is preserved in this
+          # service's own marker log at 2026-09-13T05:35Z (three "rejected" lines, then GAVE UP,
+          # against a WebUI that accepted the credential perfectly well). A literal cannot be mangled.
+          PORT=8080
+          # A postStart hook's stdout/stderr goes to the KUBELET, not to `kubectl logs` — so a hook
+          # that only echoes is effectively silent (gitea's hits the same wall and writes a marker
+          # file for it). Every outcome therefore also lands, timestamped, on the persistent config
+          # volume: /config/qbittorrent-webui-cred.log is where an operator looks to see whether the
+          # credential from git was asserted and accepted on this start.
+          log() {
+            echo "[qbt-webui-cred] $*"
+            printf '%s [qbt-webui-cred] %s\n' "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" "$*" \
+              >> /config/qbittorrent-webui-cred.log 2>/dev/null || true
+          }
+
+          # (1) The image's init-qbittorrent-config copies /defaults/qBittorrent.conf onto the PVC
+          #     before it starts the service. Wait (bounded, ~30s) so we EDIT that file instead of
+          #     racing to create one it would then not overwrite.
+          n=0
+          while [ ! -s "$CONF" ] && [ "$n" -lt 120 ]; do n=$((n + 1)); sleep 0.25; done
+
+          waited=0
+          attempt=0
+          while [ "$attempt" -lt 3 ]; do
+            attempt=$((attempt + 1))
+
+            # (2) Converge the conf. 0 = already correct (steady state: NO write, NO re-salt),
+            #     10 = rewritten, anything else = could not write.
+            python3 - "$CONF" <<'PY'
+          import base64, hashlib, hmac, os, stat, sys
+
+          conf = sys.argv[1]
+          user = os.environ.get("QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME", "")
+          pw = os.environ.get("QBT_WEBUI_PASSWORD", "")
+          if not user or not pw:
+              sys.stderr.write("[qbt-webui-cred] credential env is empty - refusing to touch the conf\n")
+              raise SystemExit(1)
+
+          # qBittorrent's OWN parameters (base/utils/password.cpp): PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512, 100000
+          # iterations, 16-byte random salt, 64-byte digest, stored as
+          #   WebUI\Password_PBKDF2="@ByteArray(<base64 salt>:<base64 digest>)"
+          # Get any one of them wrong and the app simply rejects every login.
+          ITERATIONS, DIGEST_LEN, SALT_LEN = 100000, 64, 16
+          UKEY, PKEY, SECTION = "WebUI\\Username", "WebUI\\Password_PBKDF2", "[Preferences]"
+
+          def matches(raw):
+              """True iff the stored digest is one OUR password produces (salt is read from it)."""
+              v = raw.strip().strip('"')
+              if v.startswith("@ByteArray(") and v.endswith(")"):
+                  v = v[len("@ByteArray("):-1]
+              try:
+                  salt_b64, digest_b64 = v.split(":", 1)
+                  salt = base64.b64decode(salt_b64, validate=True)
+                  digest = base64.b64decode(digest_b64, validate=True)
+              except Exception:
+                  return False
+              if not salt or not digest:
+                  return False
+              return hmac.compare_digest(
+                  hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac("sha512", pw.encode(), salt, ITERATIONS, len(digest)), digest)
+
+          try:
+              lines = open(conf, encoding="utf-8", errors="replace").read().splitlines()
+          except FileNotFoundError:
+              lines = []
+
+          def value_of(key):
+              for i, line in enumerate(lines):
+                  if line.startswith(key + "="):
+                      return i, line.split("=", 1)[1]
+              return -1, None
+
+          ui, uval = value_of(UKEY)
+          pi, pval = value_of(PKEY)
+          if uval == user and pval is not None and matches(pval):
+              raise SystemExit(0)          # converged - leave the file (and its salt) alone
+
+          salt = os.urandom(SALT_LEN)
+          digest = hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac("sha512", pw.encode(), salt, ITERATIONS, DIGEST_LEN)
+          stored = base64.b64encode(salt).decode() + ":" + base64.b64encode(digest).decode()
+          desired = [UKEY + "=" + user, PKEY + '="@ByteArray(' + stored + ')"']
+
+          out = [line for i, line in enumerate(lines) if i not in (ui, pi)]
+          if SECTION in out:
+              at = out.index(SECTION) + 1
+          else:
+              if out and out[-1].strip():
+                  out.append("")
+              out.append(SECTION)
+              at = len(out)
+          out[at:at] = desired
+
+          try:
+              os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(conf) or ".", exist_ok=True)
+              tmp = conf + ".webui-cred.new"
+              with open(tmp, "w", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
+                  fh.write("\n".join(out) + "\n")
+                  fh.flush()
+                  os.fsync(fh.fileno())
+              # This hook runs as ROOT; the service runs as PUID:PGID. A root-owned 0600 conf would
+              # cost the app the ability to save its own settings, so carry the ownership over.
+              try:
+                  st = os.stat(conf)
+                  os.chown(tmp, st.st_uid, st.st_gid)
+                  os.chmod(tmp, stat.S_IMODE(st.st_mode))
+              except FileNotFoundError:
+                  os.chown(tmp, int(os.environ.get("PUID", "1000")),
+                           int(os.environ.get("PGID", "1000")))
+                  os.chmod(tmp, 0o664)
+              os.replace(tmp, conf)        # atomic: the app never reads a half-written conf
+          except OSError as exc:
+              sys.stderr.write("[qbt-webui-cred] cannot write %s: %s\n" % (conf, exc))
+              raise SystemExit(1)
+          raise SystemExit(10)
+          PY
+            rc=$?
+
+            if [ "$rc" = 0 ]; then
+              log "conf already holds the durable credential for '$QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME' (no write)"
+            elif [ "$rc" = 10 ]; then
+              log "asserted WebUI Username + Password_PBKDF2 into $CONF"
+              # postStart runs CONCURRENTLY with the s6 init chain, so qbittorrent-nox may ALREADY
+              # have read the old, credential-less conf and be serving a random temporary password.
+              # Restart the SUPERVISED SERVICE (not the pod) so it re-reads what was just written.
+              # Nothing to do when the service has not started yet - it will read the new file.
+              # Its own counter, NOT the shared `waited` API budget: sharing one counter is how the
+              # 2026-09-13 failure spent the entire verification budget before the first login and
+              # then fired attempts 2 and 3 with no wait left at all.
+              sv=0
+              while [ "$sv" -lt 60 ] && [ "$(s6-svstat -u "$SVC" 2>/dev/null)" != "true" ]; do
+                sv=$((sv + 1)); sleep 1
+              done
+              if [ "$(s6-svstat -u "$SVC" 2>/dev/null)" = "true" ]; then
+                log "qbittorrent-nox was already running - restarting it to load the credential"
+                s6-svc -r "$SVC" || log "s6-svc -r failed (continuing to verify anyway)"
+                sleep 3
+              fi
+            else
+              log "FAILED to write the credential into $CONF (helper exit $rc). The WebUI will keep" >&2
+              log "minting a random password every start and BOTH arrs will break. Fix and restart." >&2
+              exit 0
+            fi
+
+            # (3) GROUND TRUTH: the WebUI itself must accept it. Wait for the API to answer at ALL
+            #     (shared ~120s budget across attempts), then spend exactly ONE login per attempt -
+            #     at most 3 rejected logins, which stays under qBittorrent's default ban threshold.
+            #
+            # "THE API NEVER ANSWERED" IS A DIFFERENT FAULT FROM "THE PASSWORD WAS REJECTED", and
+            # conflating them is what made this hook lie once already (see the PORT comment). An
+            # unreachable WebUI is reported as unreachable, and the hook stops rather than spending
+            # its remaining login attempts to produce two more identical wrong diagnoses.
+            api_ok=0
+            while [ "$waited" -lt 120 ]; do
+              code=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -m 3 -w '%{http_code}' "http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/" 2>/dev/null)
+              if [ -n "$code" ] && [ "$code" != "000" ]; then api_ok=1; break; fi
+              waited=$((waited + 1)); sleep 1
+            done
+            if [ "$api_ok" != 1 ]; then
+              log "the WebUI never answered on 127.0.0.1:$PORT within the wait budget, so the" >&2
+              log "credential in $CONF is UNVERIFIED. This is NOT a rejected password - it was" >&2
+              log "never submitted. Do not rotate the credential on the strength of this line." >&2
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            body=$(curl -sS -m 10 \
+                     --data-urlencode "username=$QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME" \
+                     --data-urlencode "password=$QBT_WEBUI_PASSWORD" \
+                     "http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/api/v2/auth/login" 2>/dev/null)
+            if [ "$body" = "Ok." ]; then
+              log "VERIFIED: the WebUI accepts the durable credential for '$QBT_WEBUI_USERNAME'"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            log "WebUI rejected the durable credential (login said '$body')" >&2
+            # A rejection when the conf was ALREADY converged (rc=0, nothing written) can only mean
+            # the running qbittorrent-nox is serving something it read from an EARLIER conf, so
+            # rewriting the same bytes on the next attempt would change nothing. The remedy is to
+            # make the process RE-READ the file, so restart the supervised service and let the next
+            # attempt re-verify. Without this the retry loop could never change its own outcome.
+            if [ "$(s6-svstat -u "$SVC" 2>/dev/null)" = "true" ]; then
+              log "restarting qbittorrent-nox so it re-reads $CONF, then re-verifying" >&2
+              s6-svc -r "$SVC" || log "s6-svc -r failed (continuing to verify anyway)" >&2
+              sleep 3
+            fi
+          done
+
+          log "GAVE UP after $attempt attempts: the WebUI does not accept the credential from git." >&2
+          # A postStart hook MUST exit 0 - a non-zero exit makes the kubelet KILL the container
+          # (FailedPostStartHook -> CrashLoopBackOff), turning a credential fault into an outage.
+          # Both failure paths above therefore log LOUDLY and exit 0; the `up` SLI still watches the
+          # app, and the arrs' own download-client health check surfaces a broken credential.
+          exit 0
+podSecurityContext:
+  # For the LONGHORN config PVC only, and for the same reason radarr/sonarr set it: fsGroup is a NO-OP
+  # on the NFS volume (the in-tree plugin does no ownership management), but on a Longhorn filesystem
+  # the kubelet applies it, so /config becomes group-writable by the now-uid-1000 process without
+  # depending on the image chowning it. (This image DOES chown: init-qbittorrent-config runs
+  # `lsiown -R abc:abc /config`. Belt and braces — the live /config was 911:911 before this change,
+  # and losing write access to it would lose the WebUI password hash and the session state.)
+  fsGroup: 3000
 exposure: internal              # LAN-only web UI at qbittorrent.${BASE_DOMAIN} (docs/13 row 13; R-DNS/R-NET)
 egress: vpn                     # ALL public egress via node PIA tunnel + kill-switch (docs/03; ADR-0015; R-NET-05/06)
 storage:
  - name: config
    size: 5Gi
    class: longhorn             # settings/categories/session on 3-replica Longhorn; DR-critical (docs/04; R-STATE-02)
-dependencies: []                # default-deny: reaches only DNS; arr reach it north of its own egress (docs/03; R-NET-01/02)
+    mountPath: /config          # THE APP WRITES /config, NOT the renderer default /data/config.
+                                # LSIO images run with `-data=/config` (Jackett/qBittorrent likewise use
+                                # /config), so without this the Longhorn PVC mounted at /data/config sat
+                                # holding nothing but lost+found while the app wrote its entire
+                                # configuration to the container's EPHEMERAL writable layer — destroyed on
+                                # every pod recreation: restart, reschedule, image bump. Measured in-cluster
+                                # 2026-09-12: /data/config was dev=2080 with [lost+found], /config was
+                                # dev=2053 on the node's own disk with [Sentry asp config.xml logs].
+                                # This is the SAME failure catalog/plex.yaml:54 already records fixing.
+                                # The live /config contents were copied onto each PVC before this landed,
+                                # so API keys and credentials other apps reference were preserved.
+  # THE DOWNLOADS AREA — ONE mount of the SAME export sonarr/radarr/plex already consume
+  # (192.168.2.102:/mnt/Storage/plex), narrowed by subPath to the `downloads` subtree and presented at
+  # /downloads, which is precisely where this app is ALREADY configured to write.
+  #
+  # WHY subPath: downloads AND NOT THE EXPORT ROOT AT /media (the shape sonarr/radarr use):
+  #   * LEAST PRIVILEGE, AND IT COSTS NOTHING HERE. A download client has no business writing the
+  #     LIBRARY. The arrs need the root mount because THEY hardlink downloads/ -> tv/ or movies/ and
+  #     link() is a same-MOUNT operation (EXDEV otherwise) — their smallest common ancestor genuinely
+  #     IS the export root. qBittorrent performs no such cross-directory link: it writes into the
+  #     downloads tree and nothing else, so narrowing to that subtree removes movies/, tv/ and photos/
+  #     from this pod's mount namespace without removing any operation it actually performs.
+  #   * HARDLINKS STILL WORK, because they are not done here. The arrs still see ONE mount containing
+  #     both /media/downloads and /media/tv, so their link() stays intra-mount. Proven live 2026-09-12:
+  #     a file created from this pod under /downloads was hardlinked from the sonarr pod between
+  #     /media/downloads/... and /media/tv/... with st_nlink 1 -> 2 and no EXDEV.
+  #   * IT IS ONE MOUNT, so the L0 test `bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated` assertion (6) — no
+  #     workload mounts one export twice — holds. That assertion is about TWO mounts inside ONE pod;
+  #     a single subPath mount is not the EXDEV trap, two are.
+  #   * The narrowing is a CLIENT/kubelet guarantee, stated honestly: the NFS server still exports the
+  #     whole dataset to this node, so the containment is the mount namespace, not the server's ACLs —
+  #     the same class of caveat docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md §5 records for plex's readOnly.
+  #
+  # NOT readOnly — this is the one workload whose whole job is WRITING here.
+  #
+  # KNOWN, DELIBERATE SIDE EFFECT ON SHARED STATE: the image's init-qbittorrent-config runs
+  # `lsiown abc:abc /downloads` (non-recursive) whenever /downloads is a mount, so starting this pod
+  # chgrps /mnt/Storage/plex/downloads from 1000:1000 to 1000:3000 on the SERVER. Benign and verified:
+  # the directory is mode 0755, whose group bits (r-x) are identical to its other bits, so no consumer
+  # — k3s or legacy — gains or loses any access. Recorded because it is a write to state shared with
+  # non-cluster consumers, which should never be a surprise.
+  #
+  # PATH AGREEMENT WITH THE ARRS IS STILL *NOT* CLOSED — see DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-12 "Remote Path
+  # Mappings". This pod calls the finished file /downloads/<name>; sonarr/radarr call the same bytes
+  # /media/downloads/<name>. Same inode, different absolute path, so Completed Download Handling needs
+  # ONE Remote Path Mapping per arr (remote host `qbittorrent.qbittorrent.svc.cluster.local`, remote
+  # path /downloads/, local path /media/downloads/).
+  #
+  # THOSE MAPPINGS ARE NOW CONFIGURED AND VERIFIED ON PROD (2026-09-12), together with the qBittorrent
+  # download client itself — which did not exist in EITHER arr until then (both
+  # `GET /api/v3/downloadclient` returned `[]`, so completed-download handling had never been wired up
+  # at all). `downloadclient/testall` reports isValid=true in both, and Sonarr's queue was observed
+  # reporting outputPath=/downloads/... with the mapping deleted and /media/downloads/... with it
+  # present — same torrent, same client.
+  #
+  # BUT THEY LIVE IN THE ARRS' OWN DATABASES (app state on their config PVCs), NOT IN GIT: a rebuild
+  # from git alone does NOT restore them and no gate here notices their absence. The alternative —
+  # repointing qBittorrent's SavePath at /media/downloads and mounting this subPath there instead —
+  # buys path agreement at the cost of editing THIS app's config PVC, which is also app state; it was
+  # not chosen because it changes a running download client's save path, which the deferral above
+  # already shows is easy to get wrong. It is nonetheless the RECOMMENDED end state (it makes the
+  # mappings unnecessary and puts the mountPath half of the fix in git) and is awaiting an operator
+  # decision, not a technical blocker.
+  #
+  # RELATED OPEN BLOCKER: this app has no durable WebUI credential (no WebUI\Username /
+  # WebUI\Password_PBKDF2 in qBittorrent.conf), so v5 issues a NEW temporary `admin` password on every
+  # start. The arrs' saved download-client password therefore goes stale on every pod restart. See the
+  # same DECISIONS-LOG entry for the two fixes, neither of which was taken unilaterally.
+  - name: downloads
+    class: bulk
+    export: /mnt/Storage/plex   # the ZFS dataset Storage/plex, on ${BULK_NFS_SERVER} — the SAME export
+                                # plex (ro) and sonarr/radarr (rw) mount; one dataset, one set of inodes
+    subPath: downloads          # the handoff subtree ONLY: no movies/, no tv/, no photos/
+    mountPath: /downloads       # matches the app's EXISTING Session\DefaultSavePath / TempPath, so no
+                                # change to config-PVC app state is needed to make this take effect
+    size: 9Ti                   # ADVISORY ONLY on a static NFS PV (the ZFS pool is the real limit): the
+                                # dataset's 8.4 T used rounded up, stated the same way plex/sonarr/radarr
+                                # state it so `kubectl get pv` reports something true
+dependencies: []                # default-deny: reaches only DNS; arr reach it north of its own egress (docs/03; R-NET-01/02).
+                                # STILL EMPTY WITH THE NFS MOUNT ABOVE, AND THAT IS CORRECT, NOT AN
+                                # OVERSIGHT. An NFS PersistentVolume is mounted by the NODE KERNEL in the
+                                # HOST netns, not by this pod: there is no pod-side socket to 2049, so no
+                                # CiliumNetworkPolicy can permit or deny it and none is needed. Verified by
+                                # construction — sonarr and radarr have mounted this same export read-write
+                                # for weeks and neither has any CNP naming the NFS server or port 2049
+                                # (grep apps/wave-1/sonarr.yaml: none). The SAME fact is what keeps the VPN
+                                # egress gateway off this traffic (its selector is a podSelector), and
+                                # 192.168.2.102 is inside the 192.168.0.0/16 excludedCIDR besides — see
+                                # platform/vpn-egress/egress-steering.yaml, "BULK NFS".
 ingressRoutes:
  - host: qbittorrent.${BASE_DOMAIN}
    port: 8080                  # qBittorrent WebUI; protected at the Gateway by forward-auth (docs/09, docs/15)
@@ -46,6 +443,11 @@ auth:
  mode: forward-auth            # oauth2-proxy -> Keycloak; bare UI, no usable native OIDC (docs/15; R-IDP-02)
  groups:
    - media-users               # authenticated AND in an authorized group (R-IDP-06)
+    # See catalog/jackett.yaml for the full rationale: --allowed-group is repeatable and OR-ed, so
+    # platform-admins here is a superset, not a widening (that group already carries cluster-admin
+    # via k8s-oidc-rbac.yaml). Without it, an empty media-users locks every operator out with an
+    # immediate 403 at the oauth2-proxy callback — observed on prod 2026-09-12.
+    - platform-admins           # operators of these services must not be locked out of them
 update:
  channel: stable               # R-UPD-01
  range: ">=5.0.0 <6.0.0"       # stay on the qBittorrent 5.x stable line
@@ -9,6 +9,23 @@ name: radarr
 kind: container
 source:
  image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:5.21.1   # pinned stable v5 tag (R-UPD-01); update.range governs advancement
+# LinuxServer images run their service as the user `abc`, whose uid/gid these two set. They are
+# LOAD-BEARING for the bulk mount, not cosmetic: see the storage note below. The default is 911,
+# which cannot write a 1000:3000-owned 0755 tree.
+env:
+  - name: PUID
+    value: "1000"               # owner uid of every directory under /mnt/Storage/plex
+  - name: PGID
+    value: "3000"               # dominant group there; keeps files this writes readable to the
+                                # EXISTING non-k3s consumers of the same export, which stay live
+  - name: TZ
+    value: Etc/UTC              # same safe default plex uses; the arrs schedule by local time
+podSecurityContext:
+  # For the LONGHORN config PVC only. fsGroup does nothing on the NFS volume (the in-tree plugin
+  # does no ownership management), but on a Longhorn filesystem the kubelet applies it, which is
+  # what makes /config writable by the now-uid-1000 process WITHOUT relying on the image chowning
+  # /config for itself when PUID changes. Matches PGID so the primary group owns the config too.
+  fsGroup: 3000
 exposure: internal              # LAN-only web UI at radarr.${BASE_DOMAIN} (docs/13 row 3; R-DNS/R-NET)
 egress: vpn                     # indexer scrape + downloader handoff steered via the shared VPN egress gateway,
                                # kill-switch enforced OUTSIDE the workload (docs/03; ADR-0015; R-NET-05/06)
@@ -16,11 +33,66 @@ storage:
  - name: config
    size: 5Gi
    class: longhorn             # app DB / config on the 3-replica tier; DR-critical (docs/04; R-STATE-02)
-  # NOTE (bulk-media PREREQUISITE): docs/13 row 3 places the media library / downloads volume on the
-  # `bulk` tier (docs/04 bulk storage). The `bulk` StorageClass exists (platform/longhorn/storageclasses.yaml)
-  # but is a NON-provisioning STUB pending OQ-2 (NFS/SMB backing = REPLACE-ME). Adding a `class: bulk`
-  # volume now would leave the PVC (and therefore the pod) Pending. The media/downloads volume is
-  # therefore DEFERRED until OQ-2 is resolved; config-only on longhorn keeps Radarr deployable today.
+    mountPath: /config          # THE APP WRITES /config, NOT the renderer default /data/config.
+                                # LSIO images run with `-data=/config` (Jackett/qBittorrent likewise use
+                                # /config), so without this the Longhorn PVC mounted at /data/config sat
+                                # holding nothing but lost+found while the app wrote its entire
+                                # configuration to the container's EPHEMERAL writable layer — destroyed on
+                                # every pod recreation: restart, reschedule, image bump. Measured in-cluster
+                                # 2026-09-12: /data/config was dev=2080 with [lost+found], /config was
+                                # dev=2053 on the node's own disk with [Sentry asp config.xml logs].
+                                # This is the SAME failure catalog/plex.yaml:54 already records fixing.
+                                # The live /config contents were copied onto each PVC before this landed,
+                                # so API keys and credentials other apps reference were preserved.
+  # THE MEDIA TREE (docs/04 bulk tier) — ONE read-WRITE mount of the export ROOT at /media, giving
+  # /media/movies (the library) and /media/downloads (the import source) UNDER THE SAME MOUNT.
+  #
+  # *** THE ROOT MOUNT IS THE POINT, NOT A CONVENIENCE. *** Radarr imports by HARDLINKING or
+  # atomically renaming a finished download into the library. Both are same-FILESYSTEM operations,
+  # and to the kernel "same filesystem" means SAME MOUNT. The layout on the host is:
+  #     /mnt/Storage/plex/movies/                      the library
+  #     /mnt/Storage/plex/downloads/complete/radarr/  where finished releases land
+  # — siblings under one dataset, so a hardlink between them is legal on the server. But mounting
+  # them as two subPath volumes (subPath: movies at /media/movies, subPath: downloads elsewhere) creates
+  # TWO mounts, and link() across mounts fails EXDEV no matter what the server thinks. Radarr then
+  # silently degrades to copy-then-delete: every import rewrites the whole file over NFS and the
+  # seeding copy is destroyed. Their smallest common ancestor IS the export root, so the root mount
+  # is the MINIMAL mount that preserves hardlinks — least privilege bounded below by a hard
+  # requirement, not a shortcut. (The cost is stated plainly: Radarr can also write /media/tv,
+  # which is sonarr's. Narrowing that would cost hardlinks, which is a worse trade.)
+  #
+  # *** /media, NOT /data — AND THAT IS NOT A STYLE CHOICE. *** The config PVC above renders at the
+  # renderer default /data/config. A media mount at /data would be mounted OVER it and MASK the
+  # config volume entirely; the pod would come up with its app database shadowed by an 8 T media
+  # tree. /media collides with nothing in a LinuxServer image and matches the path plex uses for
+  # the same export, so when qbittorrent is eventually given this mount too, the arrs and the
+  # download client will already agree on absolute paths — which is the other precondition for
+  # hardlinked imports (otherwise every import needs a Remote Path Mapping).
+  #
+  # SEPARATE LATENT BUG, NOT FIXED HERE (deliberately — it changes live on-disk state): /data/config
+  # is almost certainly the wrong place for this PVC in the first place. LinuxServer's arr images run
+  # with `-data=/config`, so the app writes /config — the container's EPHEMERAL layer — while the
+  # Longhorn PVC at /data/config sits unused. That is the EXACT failure plex's own mountPath comment
+  # documents having already been bitten by. Fixing it means starting from an empty config volume, so
+  # it belongs in its own change with the operator present.
+  #
+  # UID/GID — THE FAILURE THIS AVOIDS IS "MOUNTS FINE, CANNOT WRITE". The export is no_root_squash
+  # + sec=sys, so the client's numeric uid is passed through verbatim and the server's ownership is
+  # the whole story. The tree is 0755 owned 1000:3000 (some dirs 1000:1000), so ONLY uid 1000 can
+  # write it. LinuxServer images default to PUID/PGID 911 — which would mount cleanly and then fail
+  # every import with EACCES. The PUID/PGID set above make the process uid 1000, matching the owner.
+  #
+  # AND NOTE fsGroup CANNOT SUBSTITUTE FOR THAT. The in-tree NFS volume plugin performs no
+  # ownership management, so podSecurityContext.fsGroup is a NO-OP on this volume — it is not the
+  # lever here, and reaching for it is how this failure normally gets misdiagnosed. The fsGroup
+  # that IS set above exists for the LONGHORN config PVC, so that changing PUID does not depend on
+  # the image re-chowning /config for itself.
+  - name: media
+    class: bulk
+    export: /mnt/Storage/plex   # the ZFS dataset Storage/plex, on ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    mountPath: /media           # => /media/movies (Root Folder) and /media/downloads (import source)
+    size: 9Ti                   # ADVISORY ONLY on a static NFS PV: the dataset's 8.33 T used,
+                                # rounded up, so `kubectl get pv` reports something true.
 dependencies:
  - to: qbittorrent             # arr → download client (docs/13 dependency graph; R-NET-02 explicit allow)
    port: 8080
@@ -35,6 +107,11 @@ auth:
  mode: forward-auth            # bare UI, no usable OIDC: oauth2-proxy → Keycloak at the Gateway (docs/15; R-IDP-02)
  groups:
    - media-users               # authenticated AND in the media group (R-IDP-06)
+    # See catalog/jackett.yaml for the full rationale: --allowed-group is repeatable and OR-ed, so
+    # platform-admins here is a superset, not a widening (that group already carries cluster-admin
+    # via k8s-oidc-rbac.yaml). Without it, an empty media-users locks every operator out with an
+    # immediate 403 at the oauth2-proxy callback — observed on prod 2026-09-12.
+    - platform-admins           # operators of these services must not be locked out of them
 update:
  channel: stable               # R-UPD-01
  range: ">=5.0.0 <6.0.0"       # stay on the Radarr v5 stable line
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 Consumes ONE ServiceDefinition (schemas/servicedefinition.schema.json, catalog/*.yaml)
 and emits the concrete manifest set the renderer contract specifies
 (schemas/renderer-contract.md): Namespace + default-deny baseline, Deployment/Service or
-KubeVirt VirtualMachine + CDI DataVolume, PVCs, per-dependency CiliumNetworkPolicy allows,
+KubeVirt VirtualMachine + CDI DataVolume, PVCs, per-dependency and per-in-cluster-client
+CiliumNetworkPolicy allows,
 egress-class steering label, HTTPRoute(s), ServiceMonitor/alerts, Flux image-automation,
 and the auth-mode / backup wiring hints.

@@ -47,13 +48,36 @@ LBL = "homelab.keithjackson.dev"
 # The platform hostname suffix, emitted as the Flux post-build TOKEN rather than a literal.
 # Every rendered manifest lands under a Flux path whose Kustomization declares
 # postBuild.substituteFrom cluster-vars, so `${BASE_DOMAIN}` is resolved per environment at
-# reconcile time: dev renders dev.home.keithjackson.dev, prod renders home.keithjackson.dev (the
-# APEX — operator decision 2026-09-04; prod IS the apex, so there is no `prod.` label and no CNAMEs).
+# reconcile time: dev renders home.keithjackson.dev, prod renders prod.home.keithjackson.dev.
 # It is a DECLARED cluster-vars knob (clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml), so it is written BARE —
 # the escape contract below reserves `$${...}` for expansions meant for a container's shell.
 # Hardcoding the literal here is what let prod be authored to serve dev's public hostnames,
 # and prod's external-dns then deleted dev's records (infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10).
 ZONE = "${BASE_DOMAIN}"
+# The bulk (external NFS) tier's SERVER, emitted as a Flux post-build TOKEN for exactly the same
+# reason as ZONE: dev and prod reach the same Proxmox ZFS host by DIFFERENT addresses (dev's nodes
+# are on the host's own LAN and dial it directly; prod's nodes are on the far side of pfSense and
+# must be given whichever address the still-pending routing decision produces). Hardcoding either
+# one authors a manifest that is silently wrong in the other environment. Declared in
+# clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml and patched by BOTH overlays; written BARE (it is a real knob,
+# not a shell expansion), so StrictPostBuildSubstitutions fails the tier if an overlay forgets it.
+BULK_NFS_SERVER = "${BULK_NFS_SERVER}"
+# Mount options for every bulk NFS volume. These are a PLATFORM decision, not a per-service one,
+# so they live here rather than on the ServiceDefinition surface:
+#   nfsvers=4.1  NFSv4 carries mount+lock IN the protocol, so it needs ONE port (tcp/2049) and no
+#                rpcbind/111, mountd or statd. That is what makes the prod path a single pfSense
+#                rule instead of four, and it is why v4 is chosen over v3. The server advertises
+#                +3 +4 +4.1 +4.2; 4.1 is the conservative floor every node kernel already speaks.
+#   hard         A `soft` mount turns a server hiccup into a short read / EIO handed to the
+#                application, which for a media library and an archive is silent corruption.
+#                `hard` blocks instead. The cost is explicit: an NFS outage HANGS I/O rather than
+#                failing it, so an outage shows up as stuck pods, not as damaged files. Chosen
+#                deliberately -- hung is recoverable, truncated is not.
+#   noatime      The datasets are relatime, so every read would otherwise generate a metadata
+#                WRITE back to the pool. Plex walking an 8 T library must not do that.
+#   timeo=600/retrans=2  the TCP defaults, stated explicitly so a future reader knows the retry
+#                budget was considered rather than inherited.
+BULK_NFS_MOUNT_OPTIONS = ["nfsvers=4.1", "hard", "noatime", "timeo=600", "retrans=2"]
 GATEWAY_NAME = "shared"
 GATEWAY_NS = "gateway"
 KP_RELEASE = "kube-prometheus-stack"  # ServiceMonitor/PrometheusRule discovery label
@@ -93,6 +117,7 @@ def apply_defaults(sd: dict) -> dict:
    s.setdefault("storage", [])
    s.setdefault("dependencies", [])
    s.setdefault("ingressRoutes", [])
+    s.setdefault("inClusterClients", [])

    # auth.mode default posture: forward-auth for any exposed UI, else none (internal, no
    # UI). An explicit auth block always wins (R-IDP-02).
@@ -112,10 +137,19 @@ def apply_defaults(sd: dict) -> dict:
    obs.setdefault("slis", [])
    s["observability"] = obs

-    # storage entry class default is longhorn (replicated tier).
-    s["storage"] = [{**{"class": "longhorn"}, **v} for v in s["storage"]]
+    # storage entry class default is longhorn (replicated tier); readOnly default is False
+    # (grant-nothing-extra is expressed by SETTING it, so the default stays back-compatible and
+    # every pre-existing golden renders byte-identical).
+    s["storage"] = [{**{"class": "longhorn", "readOnly": False}, **v} for v in s["storage"]]
    # dependency protocol default is tcp.
    s["dependencies"] = [{**{"protocol": "tcp"}, **d} for d in s["dependencies"]]
+    # in-cluster client protocol default is tcp (as for a dependency); its `name` — which only
+    # ever appears in the rendered POLICY name — defaults to the namespace it admits, so the
+    # common case declares just `namespace` + `port` and reads like a dependency edge.
+    s["inClusterClients"] = [
+        {**{"protocol": "tcp", "name": c.get("namespace", "")}, **c}
+        for c in s["inClusterClients"]
+    ]
    return s


@@ -201,18 +235,139 @@ def _service_ports(s: dict) -> list:
    return [{"name": f"port-{p}", "port": p, "targetPort": p} for p in ports]


+def _bulk_access_mode(vol: dict) -> str:
+    """A bulk volume's access mode follows its read/write posture.
+
+    Every bulk volume is `...Many`: the SAME export is consumed by several namespaces at once
+    (plex, sonarr and radarr all sit on /mnt/Storage/plex) and by several nodes at once, which is
+    precisely what ReadWriteOnce cannot express. WHICH `Many` it is says whether this consumer
+    writes -- so `kubectl get pv` reports the intent, not merely the topology.
+    """
+    return "ReadOnlyMany" if vol.get("readOnly") else "ReadWriteMany"
+
+
+def r_bulk_pvs(s: dict) -> list:
+    """One STATIC PersistentVolume per `class: bulk` storage entry (docs/04 bulk tier).
+
+    WHY A PV AT ALL, RATHER THAN AN INLINE `nfs:` POD VOLUME
+    -------------------------------------------------------
+    An inline volume is fewer objects and it would work. It is rejected for four reasons, in
+    descending order of what they would cost to discover later:
+
+      1. RECLAIM POLICY. `persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain` is a declared, reviewable
+         property of a PV. There is no equivalent for an inline volume -- and the data behind
+         these mounts is 8.33 TiB of media and a 267 GiB archive that ALSO has live non-k3s
+         consumers. A statement in git that nothing in this cluster may reclaim it is worth an
+         object.
+      2. READ-ONLY LIVES IN ONE PLACE. `spec.nfs.readOnly: true` becomes a real `ro` mount option
+         for every pod that ever binds this volume. The same intent expressed on an inline volume
+         is one Deployment edit away from being dropped silently, with no diff anywhere near the
+         storage. (It is still a CLIENT-side guarantee -- the export cannot distinguish plex from
+         sonarr, since both may run on any node -- but it is one that lives in one reviewable
+         place.)
+      3. VISIBILITY. `kubectl get pv,pvc` is where an operator looks for "what external storage is
+         attached, and who holds it". An inline volume is invisible there, and invisible to
+         anything that reasons over PVCs.
+      4. IT IS THE CONTRACT THE REPO ALREADY HAS. Every other storage entry is a PVC; the
+         renderer, the Kyverno ServiceDefinition policy and the backup wiring all key on that. An
+         inline volume would be a second, parallel storage model inside the same renderer.
+
+    CROSS-NAMESPACE. A PV binds 1:1 to a PVC, so "plex, sonarr and radarr share one export" is NOT
+    one shared PV -- it is three PVs, one per namespace, each naming the same server+path. That is
+    the correct model rather than a workaround: the sharing happens on the NFS server, which is
+    built for concurrent clients, and each namespace keeps its own independently reviewable access
+    mode (plex ReadOnlyMany, the arrs ReadWriteMany). One shared PV would have forced a single
+    posture on all three.
+
+    BINDING IS PINNED FROM BOTH ENDS -- `claimRef` here and `volumeName` on the PVC. Either alone
+    leaves a race in which some other PVC of matching size and mode grabs the volume first;
+    together the binding is deterministic. `storageClassName: ""` (explicitly empty, NOT the `bulk`
+    StorageClass) is what tells the binder this volume is statically provisioned: it suppresses the
+    default-StorageClass annotation and guarantees no provisioner is ever asked to create anything.
+    It also sidesteps a trap -- a StorageClass's `provisioner` is IMMUTABLE, so re-pointing the
+    existing `bulk` class (whose stub names an NFS CSI driver that is not installed) at this data
+    would make Flux fail forever on that one object.
+    """
+    out = []
+    for vol in s["storage"]:
+        if vol.get("class") != "bulk":
+            continue
+        name = f"{s['name']}-{vol['name']}"
+        # `export` and `size` are both structurally required of a bulk entry, and the JSON
+        # Schema only enforces the first. A PersistentVolume with no `capacity` is rejected by
+        # the API server, so a missing size must fail HERE with a sentence a human can act on
+        # rather than as a bare KeyError three frames down.
+        for field, why in (
+            ("export", "the absolute NFS export path this volume attaches"),
+            ("size", "the PV capacity (advisory, but the API requires the field)"),
+        ):
+            if not vol.get(field):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"{s['name']}: storage entry {vol['name']!r} has class 'bulk' but no "
+                    f"'{field}' — {why}. A bulk volume attaches storage that already exists "
+                    f"outside the cluster, so it cannot be rendered without it."
+                )
+        nfs = {"server": BULK_NFS_SERVER, "path": vol["export"]}
+        if vol.get("readOnly"):
+            nfs["readOnly"] = True
+        spec = {
+            "capacity": {"storage": vol["size"]},
+            "accessModes": [_bulk_access_mode(vol)],
+            # Retain: deleting the PVC must NEVER be able to reach the data. There is nothing to
+            # "reclaim" here in any case -- the volume was not provisioned by the cluster.
+            "persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy": "Retain",
+            "storageClassName": "",
+            "mountOptions": list(BULK_NFS_MOUNT_OPTIONS),
+            "nfs": nfs,
+            "claimRef": {"namespace": s["name"], "name": name},
+        }
+        out.append(
+            {
+                "apiVersion": "v1",
+                "kind": "PersistentVolume",
+                "metadata": {
+                    "name": name,
+                    "labels": {"app.kubernetes.io/name": s["name"]},
+                },
+                "spec": spec,
+            }
+        )
+    return out
+
+
 def r_pvcs(s: dict) -> list:
    """One PVC per storage entry (R-STATE-01/02/04).

-    longhorn -> 3-replica replicated tier; bulk -> external media tier (not 3x replicated).
+    longhorn -> 3-replica replicated tier, dynamically provisioned, ReadWriteOnce.
+    bulk     -> the STATIC external NFS PV rendered by r_bulk_pvs, pre-bound by volumeName.
    """
    out = []
    for vol in s["storage"]:
        cls = vol.get("class", "longhorn")
-        storage_class = "longhorn" if cls == "longhorn" else "bulk"
+        if cls == "bulk":
+            # Mirror image of the PV: the same explicitly-empty class (so nothing dynamically
+            # provisions), the same access mode, and volumeName completing the two-sided binding.
+            out.append(
+                {
+                    "apiVersion": "v1",
+                    "kind": "PersistentVolumeClaim",
+                    "metadata": {
+                        "name": f"{s['name']}-{vol['name']}",
+                        "namespace": s["name"],
+                        "labels": {"app.kubernetes.io/name": s["name"]},
+                    },
+                    "spec": {
+                        "accessModes": [_bulk_access_mode(vol)],
+                        "storageClassName": "",
+                        "volumeName": f"{s['name']}-{vol['name']}",
+                        "resources": {"requests": {"storage": vol["size"]}},
+                    },
+                }
+            )
+            continue
        spec = {
            "accessModes": ["ReadWriteOnce"],
-            "storageClassName": storage_class,
+            "storageClassName": "longhorn",
        }
        if vol.get("size"):
            spec["resources"] = {"requests": {"storage": vol["size"]}}
@@ -258,7 +413,17 @@ def r_deployment(s: dict) -> dict:
        # it verbatim for apps that need a fixed on-disk layout (e.g. Gitea keeps all state
        # directly under /data). Omitting it preserves the /data/<name> default (back-compat).
        mount_path = vol.get("mountPath", f"/data/{vol['name']}")
-        volume_mounts.append({"name": vol["name"], "mountPath": mount_path})
+        mount = {"name": vol["name"], "mountPath": mount_path}
+        # subPath mounts a subtree of the volume instead of its root. Emitted only when declared,
+        # so every pre-existing golden stays byte-identical.
+        if vol.get("subPath"):
+            mount["subPath"] = vol["subPath"]
+        # readOnly on the mount as well as on the PV's nfs source. Belt and braces on purpose: the
+        # PV field is what makes the kernel mount `ro`; this one is what a reviewer reading the
+        # Deployment sees. An edit that drops one still leaves the other.
+        if vol.get("readOnly"):
+            mount["readOnly"] = True
+        volume_mounts.append(mount)
        volumes.append(
            {
                "name": vol["name"],
@@ -544,6 +709,82 @@ def r_gateway_ingress_policy(s: dict):
    }


+def r_in_cluster_client_policies(s: dict) -> list:
+    """East-west allow: let a declared IN-CLUSTER client reach this service DIRECTLY (R-NET-02).
+
+    `ingressRoutes` opens the NORTH-SOUTH path only — r_gateway_ingress_policy admits the
+    reserved `ingress` identity (the Gateway proxy) and nothing else — and `dependencies`
+    compiles edges only BETWEEN CATALOG SERVICES (both halves are rendered from a catalog
+    entry's own declaration). A PLATFORM CONTROLLER that dials this service's ClusterIP
+    directly therefore had no authorable form at all, and under default-deny (R-NET-01) it is
+    DROPPED.
+
+    That gap is not theoretical: prod's `flux-system` source-controller clones the platform's
+    own repo from the in-cluster Gitea Service (clusters/prod/kustomization.yaml pins
+    `url: http://gitea.gitea.svc.cluster.local:3000/...` so prod's GitOps depends on neither
+    public DNS, Cloudflare, its own Gateway nor ${BASE_DOMAIN}). gitea-allow-gateway-ingress
+    admits `fromEntities: [ingress]` only, so the clone was denied, the source could not
+    reconcile — and the HTTPRoute that would have served a public name instead lives in a
+    DOWNSTREAM tier that cannot apply while the source is down. Source down -> routes never
+    rename -> source stays down. It had to be broken with a live `kubectl apply`, i.e. with a
+    cluster object outside git, which one `kubectl delete` or one rebuild would take away.
+
+    Each entry renders ONE least-privilege ingress CiliumNetworkPolicy, shaped exactly like the
+    reciprocal-dependency half (r_reverse_dependency_policies) but selecting the client by
+    NAMESPACE alone, because a platform controller's pod labels are the upstream chart's to
+    change and are not part of this platform's contract: `fromEndpoints` carrying ONLY the
+    reserved `k8s:io.kubernetes.pod.namespace` label, `toPorts` carrying ONLY the declared
+    port/protocol. Never `fromEntities: all`, and never the whole service. Additive: the
+    namespace default-deny baseline keeps denying every undeclared source and port.
+
+    The policy NAME is `<service>-allow-<name>-ingress`, `name` defaulting to the namespace —
+    it is operator-facing (`kubectl get cnp`, a Hubble drop), and letting an author pin it is
+    what allows an allowance that already had to be applied live to be authored under its
+    EXISTING name, so Flux adopts that object in place rather than creating a near-duplicate
+    beside it and leaving the live one unmanaged.
+    """
+    out = []
+    for client in s["inClusterClients"]:
+        proto = client.get("protocol", "tcp").upper()
+        out.append(
+            {
+                "apiVersion": "cilium.io/v2",
+                "kind": "CiliumNetworkPolicy",
+                "metadata": {
+                    "name": f"{s['name']}-allow-{client['name']}-ingress",
+                    "namespace": s["name"],
+                    "labels": {"app.kubernetes.io/name": s["name"]},
+                },
+                "spec": {
+                    "endpointSelector": {
+                        "matchLabels": {"app.kubernetes.io/name": s["name"]}
+                    },
+                    "ingress": [
+                        {
+                            "fromEndpoints": [
+                                {
+                                    "matchLabels": {
+                                        "k8s:io.kubernetes.pod.namespace": client[
+                                            "namespace"
+                                        ]
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            ],
+                            "toPorts": [
+                                {
+                                    "ports": [
+                                        {"port": str(client["port"]), "protocol": proto}
+                                    ]
+                                }
+                            ],
+                        }
+                    ],
+                },
+            }
+        )
+    return out
+
+
 def _route_meta(s: dict, route: dict) -> dict:
    meta = {
        "name": f"{s['name']}-{route['port']}",
@@ -607,7 +848,7 @@ def r_internet_egress(s: dict) -> dict:
 def r_httproutes(s: dict) -> list:
    """One HTTPRoute per ingressRoute, attaching host -> service port on the shared Gateway.

-    TLS is the Gateway's wildcard *.${BASE_DOMAIN} cert (no per-service cert step);
+    TLS is the Gateway's wildcard *.home.keithjackson.dev cert (no per-service cert step);
    ExternalDNS manages the record from the HTTPRoute (R-TLS/R-DNS, renderer-contract).
    """
    out = []
@@ -1096,6 +1337,14 @@ def render(sd: dict, image_automation: bool = True, inbound: list | None = None)
    if s["kind"] == "container":
        # Container PVCs. (For a vm, the CDI DataVolume owns/creates the disk PVC, so we
        # never render a plain PVC for the VM root disk — it would collide with CDI.)
+        # The static bulk PV is rendered BEFORE the PVC that names it. Document order inside one
+        # kustomize build is not an apply-ordering guarantee, but a PVC whose PV does not exist
+        # yet merely stays Pending and binds on the next reconcile, so this is a readability
+        # convention rather than a correctness requirement.
+        for pv in r_bulk_pvs(s):
+            docs.append(
+                (f"PersistentVolume {pv['metadata']['name']} - static external NFS (bulk tier)", pv)
+            )
        for pvc in r_pvcs(s):
            docs.append((f"PVC {pvc['metadata']['name']} (R-STATE)", pvc))
        docs.append(("Deployment (R-PLAT-02)", r_deployment(s)))
@@ -1128,6 +1377,15 @@ def render(sd: dict, image_automation: bool = True, inbound: list | None = None)
            )
        )

+    for cnp in r_in_cluster_client_policies(s):
+        docs.append(
+            (
+                "CiliumNetworkPolicy in-cluster client ingress allow (R-NET-02): "
+                f"{cnp['metadata']['name']}",
+                cnp,
+            )
+        )
+
    ie = r_internet_egress(s)
    docs.append(
        (
@@ -1322,6 +1580,11 @@ def plan_apps_waves(sds: list, present_files: set) -> dict:
      - `<svc>-db.yaml`                     -> wave(svc-db) (a strictly-lower wave; CNPG DB)
      - `<svc>-db-app.sops.yaml`            -> wave(svc-db) (CNPG initdb owner secret)
      - `<svc>-db-backup-credentials.sops.yaml` -> wave(svc-db) (CNPG Barman S3 backup secret)
+      - `<svc>-db-backup-credentials-prod.sops.yaml` -> wave(svc-db) (the PROD half of that
+        secret: the two environments carry DIFFERENT object-store credentials, selected in
+        the Cluster CR by `${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}`. Both objects ship to both clusters,
+        so both must be placed in the DB wave — the Secret has to exist before the Cluster
+        that names it.)
    Non-catalog units (EXTRA_UNITS, e.g. gitea-actions) place by their declared anchor+offset.
    Only files that actually exist in `present_files` are placed, so the plan is robust to a
    service having no bootstrap secret or no DB. Deterministic (sorted).
@@ -1349,6 +1612,9 @@ def plan_apps_waves(sds: list, present_files: set) -> dict:
            add(wdb, f"{db}.yaml")
            add(wdb, f"{db}-app.sops.yaml")
            add(wdb, f"{db}-backup-credentials.sops.yaml")   # CNPG Barman S3 creds (R-STATE-03)
+            # PROD half of the same credential (2026-09-07 per-env split). Placed only when
+            # the file exists, so a DB that has not been split is unaffected.
+            add(wdb, f"{db}-backup-credentials-prod.sops.yaml")

    for unit, cfg in EXTRA_UNITS.items():
        anchor = cfg["anchor"]
@@ -1636,6 +1902,101 @@ def _selftest() -> int:
        "a non-exposed service must not render a gateway-ingress allow (least privilege)",
    )

+    # 4c) inClusterClients -> one ADDITIVE, least-privilege ingress allow per entry that admits a
+    #     PLATFORM controller's NAMESPACE (not the reserved `ingress` identity, not `all`) to ONE
+    #     declared port. This is what keeps a cluster whose GitOps source is an in-cluster Service
+    #     reconcilable: fromEntities[ingress] does not cover a controller dialling the ClusterIP.
+    icc_docs = render(
+        {
+            "name": "g",
+            "source": {"image": "a:1"},
+            "ingressRoutes": [{"host": "g.home.keithjackson.dev", "port": 3000}],
+            "auth": {"mode": "none"},
+            "inClusterClients": [
+                {"name": "flux", "namespace": "flux-system", "port": 3000}
+            ],
+        }
+    )
+    icc = [
+        d[1]
+        for d in icc_docs
+        if d[1]["kind"] == "CiliumNetworkPolicy"
+        and d[1]["metadata"]["name"] == "g-allow-flux-ingress"
+    ]
+    check(
+        len(icc) == 1,
+        "an inClusterClients entry must render one ingress CNP named "
+        "<service>-allow-<name>-ingress",
+    )
+    if icc:
+        p = icc[0]
+        check(
+            p["metadata"]["namespace"] == "g"
+            and p["spec"]["endpointSelector"]["matchLabels"]
+            == {"app.kubernetes.io/name": "g"},
+            "in-cluster client allow must live in the service's namespace and select the service",
+        )
+        ing = p["spec"]["ingress"]
+        check(
+            ing[0]["fromEndpoints"]
+            == [{"matchLabels": {"k8s:io.kubernetes.pod.namespace": "flux-system"}}],
+            "in-cluster client allow must match the client NAMESPACE only (reserved k8s: label)",
+        )
+        check(
+            "fromEntities" not in ing[0],
+            "in-cluster client allow must not widen to an entity (never fromEntities: all)",
+        )
+        icc_ports = {
+            (pt["port"], pt["protocol"])
+            for r in ing
+            for tp in r["toPorts"]
+            for pt in tp["ports"]
+        }
+        check(
+            icc_ports == {("3000", "TCP")},
+            "in-cluster client allow must be least-privilege (only the declared port/protocol)",
+        )
+    # ADDITIVE: default-deny ingress stays [] and the gateway allow is untouched.
+    icc_dd = next(d[1] for d in icc_docs if d[1]["kind"] == "NetworkPolicy")
+    check(
+        icc_dd["spec"]["ingress"] == [],
+        "in-cluster client allow must be ADDITIVE — default-deny ingress stays [] (R-NET-01)",
+    )
+    check(
+        any(
+            d[1]["metadata"].get("name") == "g-allow-gateway-ingress"
+            for d in icc_docs
+            if d[1]["kind"] == "CiliumNetworkPolicy"
+        ),
+        "in-cluster client allow must not displace the north-south gateway allow",
+    )
+    # `name` is OPTIONAL and defaults to the namespace, so the common case is namespace + port.
+    icc_default = render(
+        {
+            "name": "g",
+            "source": {"image": "a:1"},
+            "inClusterClients": [{"namespace": "monitoring", "port": 9090}],
+        }
+    )
+    check(
+        any(
+            d[1]["metadata"].get("name") == "g-allow-monitoring-ingress"
+            for d in icc_default
+            if d[1]["kind"] == "CiliumNetworkPolicy"
+        ),
+        "inClusterClients.name must default to the admitted namespace",
+    )
+    # A service that declares none must render NO such policy (grant-nothing-extra).
+    check(
+        not any(
+            d[1]["kind"] == "CiliumNetworkPolicy"
+            and d[1]["metadata"]["name"].endswith("-ingress")
+            and "fromEndpoints" in d[1]["spec"].get("ingress", [{}])[0]
+            for d in render({"name": "q", "source": {"image": "a:1"}})
+        ),
+        "a service declaring no inClusterClients must render no in-cluster client allow",
+    )
+
    # 5) vm kind -> VirtualMachine + standalone DataVolume.
    vm_docs = render(
        {
@@ -1831,6 +2192,7 @@ def _selftest() -> int:
    present = {
        "a.yaml", "svc.yaml", "svc-bootstrap-secret.sops.yaml",
        "svc-db.yaml", "svc-db-app.sops.yaml", "svc-db-backup-credentials.sops.yaml",
+        "svc-db-backup-credentials-prod.sops.yaml",
        "gitea.yaml",
        "gitea-actions.yaml", "gitea-actions-runner-secret.sops.yaml",
    }
@@ -1840,8 +2202,10 @@ def _selftest() -> int:
    flat = {f: wv for wv, fs in plan.items() for f in fs}
    check(flat.get("a.yaml") == 0, "leaf app must land in wave 0")
    check(flat.get("svc-db.yaml") == 0 and flat.get("svc-db-app.sops.yaml") == 0
-          and flat.get("svc-db-backup-credentials.sops.yaml") == 0,
-          "CNPG DB manifest + its owner secret + its Barman backup secret must be in the DB's (lower) wave")
+          and flat.get("svc-db-backup-credentials.sops.yaml") == 0
+          and flat.get("svc-db-backup-credentials-prod.sops.yaml") == 0,
+          "CNPG DB manifest + its owner secret + BOTH halves of its per-env Barman backup secret "
+          "must be in the DB's (lower) wave")
    check(flat.get("svc.yaml") == 1 and flat.get("svc-bootstrap-secret.sops.yaml") == 1,
          "a DB-backed app + its bootstrap secret must be in the consumer wave, above the DB")
    check(flat.get("gitea.yaml") == 0, "gitea (leaf) must be wave 0")
@@ -78,16 +78,34 @@ env:
  #     (util ConfigType `oidc_providers`, env-tagged SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS). The value is a single
  #     JSON blob for the `keycloak` provider — provider_url is the homelab realm issuer (auto-discovery),
  #     client_id=semaphore, redirect_url=/api/auth/oidc/keycloak/redirect, claims map to the realm's
-  #     token. It CONTAINS the confidential client secret, so the whole blob is held SOPS-encrypted in the
-  #     semaphore-bootstrap Secret (key oidc-providers-json; same secret value SOPS-held in
-  #     keycloak-realm-clients) and injected here by reference — never in cleartext. The name is NOT a
-  #     kubelet service-link var (those are SEMAPHORE_SERVICE_HOST / SEMAPHORE_PORT_*), so no collision.
-  #     The LOCAL SEMAPHORE_ADMIN above stays as the break-glass path (docs/15). ---
-  - name: SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS
+  #     token. The name is NOT a kubelet service-link var (those are SEMAPHORE_SERVICE_HOST /
+  #     SEMAPHORE_PORT_*), so no collision. The LOCAL SEMAPHORE_ADMIN above stays break-glass (docs/15).
+  #
+  #     PER-ENVIRONMENT URLS (2026-09-07 fix). The blob USED to live whole inside the SOPS-encrypted
+  #     semaphore-bootstrap Secret (key `oidc-providers-json`) because it CONTAINS the confidential
+  #     client secret. That hid two environment-specific, NON-SECRET URLs — the realm issuer and the
+  #     redirect URI — inside ciphertext, where Flux's ${BASE_DOMAIN} postBuild substitution CANNOT
+  #     reach them. Both were frozen at the apex `home.keithjackson.dev`, so PROD (BASE_DOMAIN =
+  #     prod.home.keithjackson.dev) pointed its OIDC at DEV's Keycloak — unroutable from prod's
+  #     192.168.2.0/24 (the identical root cause as the Headlamp login timeout; see
+  #     platform/headlamp/README.md). Dev was only ever "right" because dev IS the apex.
+  #
+  #     THE SPLIT: the URLs are public, so the blob is now a PLAINTEXT literal here and gets
+  #     ${BASE_DOMAIN}-substituted per environment like every other hostname. Only the confidential
+  #     client secret stays SOPS-encrypted, in its own key (`oidc-client-secret`), and is spliced back
+  #     in by the KUBELET's dependent-env-var expansion: an env `value` may reference an EARLIER env
+  #     var of the same container as $(NAME), and secretKeyRef-sourced vars are eligible. So
+  #     SEMAPHORE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET MUST STAY IMMEDIATELY ABOVE — the kubelet resolves env in list
+  #     order, and a reference to a not-yet-defined name is left as the LITERAL text $(...). It is
+  #     fail-loud in the way that matters: if the Secret key is missing the Pod never starts
+  #     (CreateContainerConfigError), rather than silently authenticating against nothing. ---
+  - name: SEMAPHORE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: semaphore-bootstrap
-        key: oidc-providers-json
+        key: oidc-client-secret
+  - name: SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS
+    value: '{"keycloak":{"display_name":"Keycloak","provider_url":"https://keycloak.${BASE_DOMAIN}/realms/homelab","client_id":"semaphore","client_secret":"$(SEMAPHORE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET)","redirect_url":"https://semaphore.${BASE_DOMAIN}/api/auth/oidc/keycloak/redirect","scopes":["openid","profile","email"],"username_claim":"preferred_username","email_claim":"email","name_claim":"name","order":1}}'
 # The semaphoreui/semaphore image runs as the non-root user UID 1001 / GID 0 (tini -> server-wrapper),
 # and on boot the wrapper writes its generated config.json into the config dir. A mounted Longhorn PVC
 # is root:root, so UID 1001 cannot write it -> the pod panics ("permission denied"). fsGroup=1001 makes
@@ -117,10 +135,12 @@ auth:
  groups:
    - platform-admins           # access scoped to an authorized group (R-IDP-06)
  # WIRED (native OIDC): the Keycloak `semaphore` confidential client (platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-
-  # import.yaml + live kcadm) is consumed via the SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS env (JSON blob held encrypted
-  # in the semaphore-bootstrap Secret, oidc-providers-json). The `groups` claim is exposed for
-  # authorization (R-IDP-06). Semaphore KEEPS its LOCAL admin as the break-glass path so an IdP outage
-  # never locks the operator out (docs/15 "Availability caveat"). No secret is embedded here.
+  # import.yaml + live kcadm) is consumed via the SEMAPHORE_OIDC_PROVIDERS env — a PLAINTEXT JSON blob
+  # (see `env` above) whose per-environment URLs are ${BASE_DOMAIN}-substituted, with the confidential
+  # client secret spliced in at runtime from the semaphore-bootstrap Secret key `oidc-client-secret`.
+  # The `groups` claim is exposed for authorization (R-IDP-06). Semaphore KEEPS its LOCAL admin as the
+  # break-glass path so an IdP outage never locks the operator out (docs/15 "Availability caveat").
+  # No secret is embedded here.
 update:
  channel: stable               # R-UPD-01
  range: ">=2.19.0 <3.0.0"      # stay on the 2.x stable line
@@ -9,6 +9,23 @@ name: sonarr
 kind: container
 source:
  image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:4.0.15   # pinned stable v4 tag (R-UPD-01); update.range governs advancement
+# LinuxServer images run their service as the user `abc`, whose uid/gid these two set. They are
+# LOAD-BEARING for the bulk mount, not cosmetic: see the storage note below. The default is 911,
+# which cannot write a 1000:3000-owned 0755 tree.
+env:
+  - name: PUID
+    value: "1000"               # owner uid of every directory under /mnt/Storage/plex
+  - name: PGID
+    value: "3000"               # dominant group there; keeps files this writes readable to the
+                                # EXISTING non-k3s consumers of the same export, which stay live
+  - name: TZ
+    value: Etc/UTC              # same safe default plex uses; the arrs schedule by local time
+podSecurityContext:
+  # For the LONGHORN config PVC only. fsGroup does nothing on the NFS volume (the in-tree plugin
+  # does no ownership management), but on a Longhorn filesystem the kubelet applies it, which is
+  # what makes /config writable by the now-uid-1000 process WITHOUT relying on the image chowning
+  # /config for itself when PUID changes. Matches PGID so the primary group owns the config too.
+  fsGroup: 3000
 exposure: internal              # LAN-only web UI at sonarr.${BASE_DOMAIN} (docs/13 row 2; R-DNS/R-NET)
 egress: vpn                     # indexer scrape + downloader handoff steered via the shared VPN egress gateway,
                                # kill-switch enforced OUTSIDE the workload (docs/03; ADR-0015; R-NET-05/06)
@@ -16,11 +33,66 @@ storage:
  - name: config
    size: 5Gi
    class: longhorn             # app DB / config on the 3-replica tier; DR-critical (docs/04; R-STATE-02)
-  # NOTE (bulk-media PREREQUISITE): docs/13 row 2 places the media library / downloads volume on the
-  # `bulk` tier (docs/04 bulk storage). The `bulk` StorageClass exists (platform/longhorn/storageclasses.yaml)
-  # but is a NON-provisioning STUB pending OQ-2 (NFS/SMB backing = REPLACE-ME). Adding a `class: bulk`
-  # volume now would leave the PVC (and therefore the pod) Pending. The media/downloads volume is
-  # therefore DEFERRED until OQ-2 is resolved; config-only on longhorn keeps Sonarr deployable today.
+    mountPath: /config          # THE APP WRITES /config, NOT the renderer default /data/config.
+                                # LSIO images run with `-data=/config` (Jackett/qBittorrent likewise use
+                                # /config), so without this the Longhorn PVC mounted at /data/config sat
+                                # holding nothing but lost+found while the app wrote its entire
+                                # configuration to the container's EPHEMERAL writable layer — destroyed on
+                                # every pod recreation: restart, reschedule, image bump. Measured in-cluster
+                                # 2026-09-12: /data/config was dev=2080 with [lost+found], /config was
+                                # dev=2053 on the node's own disk with [Sentry asp config.xml logs].
+                                # This is the SAME failure catalog/plex.yaml:54 already records fixing.
+                                # The live /config contents were copied onto each PVC before this landed,
+                                # so API keys and credentials other apps reference were preserved.
+  # THE MEDIA TREE (docs/04 bulk tier) — ONE read-WRITE mount of the export ROOT at /media, giving
+  # /media/tv (the library) and /media/downloads (the import source) UNDER THE SAME MOUNT.
+  #
+  # *** THE ROOT MOUNT IS THE POINT, NOT A CONVENIENCE. *** Sonarr imports by HARDLINKING or
+  # atomically renaming a finished download into the library. Both are same-FILESYSTEM operations,
+  # and to the kernel "same filesystem" means SAME MOUNT. The layout on the host is:
+  #     /mnt/Storage/plex/tv/                      the library
+  #     /mnt/Storage/plex/downloads/complete/tv-sonarr/  where finished releases land
+  # — siblings under one dataset, so a hardlink between them is legal on the server. But mounting
+  # them as two subPath volumes (subPath: tv at /media/tv, subPath: downloads elsewhere) creates
+  # TWO mounts, and link() across mounts fails EXDEV no matter what the server thinks. Sonarr then
+  # silently degrades to copy-then-delete: every import rewrites the whole file over NFS and the
+  # seeding copy is destroyed. Their smallest common ancestor IS the export root, so the root mount
+  # is the MINIMAL mount that preserves hardlinks — least privilege bounded below by a hard
+  # requirement, not a shortcut. (The cost is stated plainly: Sonarr can also write /media/movies,
+  # which is radarr's. Narrowing that would cost hardlinks, which is a worse trade.)
+  #
+  # *** /media, NOT /data — AND THAT IS NOT A STYLE CHOICE. *** The config PVC above renders at the
+  # renderer default /data/config. A media mount at /data would be mounted OVER it and MASK the
+  # config volume entirely; the pod would come up with its app database shadowed by an 8 T media
+  # tree. /media collides with nothing in a LinuxServer image and matches the path plex uses for
+  # the same export, so when qbittorrent is eventually given this mount too, the arrs and the
+  # download client will already agree on absolute paths — which is the other precondition for
+  # hardlinked imports (otherwise every import needs a Remote Path Mapping).
+  #
+  # SEPARATE LATENT BUG, NOT FIXED HERE (deliberately — it changes live on-disk state): /data/config
+  # is almost certainly the wrong place for this PVC in the first place. LinuxServer's arr images run
+  # with `-data=/config`, so the app writes /config — the container's EPHEMERAL layer — while the
+  # Longhorn PVC at /data/config sits unused. That is the EXACT failure plex's own mountPath comment
+  # documents having already been bitten by. Fixing it means starting from an empty config volume, so
+  # it belongs in its own change with the operator present.
+  #
+  # UID/GID — THE FAILURE THIS AVOIDS IS "MOUNTS FINE, CANNOT WRITE". The export is no_root_squash
+  # + sec=sys, so the client's numeric uid is passed through verbatim and the server's ownership is
+  # the whole story. The tree is 0755 owned 1000:3000 (some dirs 1000:1000), so ONLY uid 1000 can
+  # write it. LinuxServer images default to PUID/PGID 911 — which would mount cleanly and then fail
+  # every import with EACCES. The PUID/PGID set above make the process uid 1000, matching the owner.
+  #
+  # AND NOTE fsGroup CANNOT SUBSTITUTE FOR THAT. The in-tree NFS volume plugin performs no
+  # ownership management, so podSecurityContext.fsGroup is a NO-OP on this volume — it is not the
+  # lever here, and reaching for it is how this failure normally gets misdiagnosed. The fsGroup
+  # that IS set above exists for the LONGHORN config PVC, so that changing PUID does not depend on
+  # the image re-chowning /config for itself.
+  - name: media
+    class: bulk
+    export: /mnt/Storage/plex   # the ZFS dataset Storage/plex, on ${BULK_NFS_SERVER}
+    mountPath: /media           # => /media/tv (Root Folder) and /media/downloads (import source)
+    size: 9Ti                   # ADVISORY ONLY on a static NFS PV: the dataset's 8.33 T used,
+                                # rounded up, so `kubectl get pv` reports something true.
 dependencies:
  - to: qbittorrent             # arr → download client (docs/13 dependency graph; R-NET-02 explicit allow)
    port: 8080
@@ -35,6 +107,11 @@ auth:
  mode: forward-auth            # bare UI, no usable OIDC: oauth2-proxy → Keycloak at the Gateway (docs/15; R-IDP-02)
  groups:
    - media-users               # authenticated AND in the media group (R-IDP-06)
+    # See catalog/jackett.yaml for the full rationale: --allowed-group is repeatable and OR-ed, so
+    # platform-admins here is a superset, not a widening (that group already carries cluster-admin
+    # via k8s-oidc-rbac.yaml). Without it, an empty media-users locks every operator out with an
+    # immediate 403 at the oauth2-proxy callback — observed on prod 2026-09-12.
+    - platform-admins           # operators of these services must not be locked out of them
 update:
  channel: stable               # R-UPD-01
  range: ">=4.0.0 <5.0.0"       # stay on the Sonarr v4 stable line
@@ -27,9 +27,31 @@ make -C ci test        # unit tests for these scripts themselves (ci/tests/*.tes
 ```

 The `l0` stage has three sub-stages: ServiceDefinition schema validation, the Kyverno policy gate
-(`kyverno test`), and **`conformance/run.sh --layer l0`** — the whole-repo L0 invariants a
-per-resource policy cannot express (secret hygiene across every tracked file, least-privilege RBAC,
-spec-immutability enforcement). See `conformance/tests/README.md`.
+(`kyverno test`), and **`conformance/run.sh --layer l0 --include-scope whole-repo`** — the whole-repo
+L0 invariants a per-resource policy cannot express (secret hygiene across every tracked file,
+least-privilege RBAC, spec-immutability enforcement). See `conformance/tests/README.md`.
+
+### `--include-scope whole-repo`: why the L0 sub-stage is not purely requirement-scoped
+
+R-TEST-03 runs the conformance subset a change **touches**. That has one blind spot, and it is the
+worst-shaped kind: an invariant that quantifies over the whole tracked tree, or over subtrees the
+coarse path→requirement map keys to *nothing* (`apps/`, `infra/`, most of `platform/`), cannot be
+selected *by* the requirements a change touches — because **the change most likely to break it
+attributes no requirement at all**. Requirement-scoped selection then filters the check out of
+exactly that change.
+
+This used to be handled by a hand-written "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per such check (3c subst-safety,
+3d keycloak-client-secrets, 3e bulk-tier): three near-identical rationales, three hardcoded
+`check.sh` paths, three copies of the same `rc 0/3/*` case block — and, worse, a mechanism that
+failed **silently**, because whoever added the next whole-repo invariant had to *remember* to write
+a stage. Those stages are gone. A test now **declares** `conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"`
+and the runner unions every declaring test into the run. Adding the annotation is the only step.
+
+`rc 3` is preserved exactly as those stages had it: a **SKIP** of a scope-declared check means the
+tree it audits has vanished, so the runner exits `3`, `ci/l0.sh` sets the gate's own `rc=3`, and the
+gate reports SKIPPED — **never a pass**. The mechanism is itself proven, end-to-end and falsifiably,
+by `conformance/tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired`; `conformance/lib/common.sh` carries the
+full rationale and the incidents behind it.

 ## Exit-code contract

@@ -37,6 +59,47 @@ Every stage script uses: **`0` = pass · `1` = fail (blocks merge) · `3` = SKIP
 with no cluster, or an unwired seam / missing tool). A `3` is **never** counted as green — that is how
 the gate stays honest in Phase 0 (no fake green).

+### The gate's OWN verdict (changed 2026-09-13 — read this if you consume the exit code)
+
+**`MERGE GATE: PASS` + exit 0 means every stage that was supposed to run RAN and was GREEN.** It
+used to mean less than that: a FAILED stage set the block flag but a SKIPPED one only printed a
+warning, so the gate printed `l0: skipped (unwired seam / missing tool) — not green` and then
+`MERGE GATE: PASS`, exit 0. That happened for real twice — a missing `promtool` (the alert-rule
+unit tests) and a missing pinned `kyverno` CLI — and exit 0 is what automation reads as
+merge-approved. Fail-open in the one component whose whole job is to fail closed.
+
+| verdict | exit | meaning |
+|---|---|---|
+| `MERGE GATE: PASS` | `0` | every stage that was supposed to run ran and was green; the R-TEST-03 subset was checked. Any capability the environment **declared** out of scope is **named in the headline** (see below), so a PASS never implies more than it verified. |
+| `MERGE GATE: BLOCKED` | `1` | a stage FAILED, or a stage did not run **where it must**, or the decision input is unusable. |
+| `MERGE GATE: UNDETERMINED` | `3` | nothing failed, but a stage did not run, so greenness was **not established**. Never a pass; non-zero so nothing can read it as approval. `3` is this repo's existing "not run" code, now spoken by the gate as a whole and not only by its stages. |
+| `MERGE GATE: NOT APPLICABLE` | `0` | there is no branch under gate at all (`HEAD` is on base — a push-to-`main` run). Stages ran; no subset was checked, and the headline says so. |
+
+Precedence: BLOCKED > UNDETERMINED > NOT APPLICABLE > PASS.
+
+**`make` masks the difference.** GNU make reports any recipe failure as its own exit `2`, so
+`make -C ci gate` collapses `1` and `3` into `2` (the headline still tells a human which it was). A
+caller that must distinguish them invokes `./ci/gate.sh` directly.
+
+### Which skips block, and why — a skip is not one thing
+
+| stage | a skip there means | verdict |
+|---|---|---|
+| `lint`, `l0`, `render-golden`, `l1` | a **pinned tool is absent** or a **wired seam went unwired** — it *could not run* | **BLOCKED** under strict skips (a CI runner: the toolchain is installed for us by `.gitea/workflows/scripts/install-tools.sh`, so a skip is a defect); **UNDETERMINED** otherwise (a workstation missing a tool is a real local condition — still non-zero, still not a pass; the remedy is `infra/devcontainer/dev.sh`, which carries the pinned toolchain) |
+| `spec-immutability` (R-TEST-06) | the sibling spec repo is not checked out, so the spec **could not be verified** | **UNDETERMINED** — unverified is unverified. Deliberately *not* upgraded to BLOCKED by strict skips: the live runner does not check the spec repo out at all, so blocking would leave the only enforced status check permanently red for a reason no PR could clear. It is therefore the **one** skip whose non-answer a caller may knowingly tolerate, and `.gitea/workflows/gate.yml` does so in one visible line. `REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true` makes it a hard block once that checkout is wired. Locally: check the spec repo out beside this one, or set `SPEC_REPO` (`dev.sh` mounts a sibling automatically). |
+| `conformance` (L2/L3) | `CLUSTER_AVAILABLE!=true` — the environment **declared** the capability absent (documented Phase-0 behaviour) | **does not deny a PASS**: a declared-inapplicable stage was never *supposed* to run. It is NAMED in the PASS headline and step summary, the touched requirements it would have covered are reported UNVERIFIED, and `REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS=true` (Phase 1+) turns that into a block. A skip **despite** `CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true` is a defect and BLOCKS. |
+
+That asymmetry is the whole rule: **declared-not-applicable may pass; could-not-run may not.**
+
+`GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true|false` decides strictness and is **declared, never sniffed** — `gate.yml`
+sets it on the gate step, because the workflow is the thing that knows it is CI. Unset, it falls
+back to `GITHUB_ACTIONS` / `CI` (set by the runner itself). A wrong answer in either direction
+cannot fail open: both branches are non-zero and neither is a PASS. Set it locally to rehearse CI
+strictness.
+
+Locked down by `ci/tests/gate-decision.test.sh` (47 assertions over the decision table: stubbed
+stage outcomes against the real `gate.sh`; 32 of them fail against the pre-2026-09-13 gate).
+
 ### The touched-requirement subset can also be *undeterminable* (exit 3)

 `touched-requirements.sh` is the input to the R-TEST-03 decision. It resolves a diff base in this
@@ -87,6 +150,8 @@ ci/
  lint.sh                  Stage: yaml/lint
  l0.sh                    Stage: schema validation + Kyverno L0 gate + L0 static conformance
  l1.sh                    Stage: L1 rendering checks (Chainsaw L1 via the conformance runner)
+                           (harness: platform/monitoring/tests/). Catches the two alerting bugs no
+                           other stage can see — permanently-firing and structurally INERT rules.
  conformance.sh           Stage: L2/L3 in-cluster Chainsaw Job (trigger + collect)
  touched-requirements.sh  compute the R-* subset a change touches (drives the R-TEST-03 filter);
                           exits 3 LOUDLY rather than guessing when the diff base is unreliable
@@ -122,3 +187,15 @@ its owner delivers a runnable entrypoint.
 `CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true` (env locally, `vars.CLUSTER_AVAILABLE` in Gitea) makes the L2/L3 stage run and
 be **required**; anything else makes it **SKIP** (Phase 0). `REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS=true` (Phase 1+)
 turns any unverified cluster-needing touched requirement into a hard block.
+
+All four switches are read through one `truthy()` in `lib.sh`, so they spell "on" identically
+(`true|1|yes|y|on`, any case) and — the direction that matters — **anything else is OFF**: a
+misspelled `CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=ture` leaves the capability undeclared instead of silently claiming
+it, which can only make the gate stricter about what it says it verified.
+
+| switch | default | effect |
+|---|---|---|
+| `CLUSTER_AVAILABLE` | `false` | declares a cluster; L2/L3 then run and are required |
+| `REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS` | `false` | Phase 1+: an unverified cluster-needing touched requirement BLOCKS |
+| `REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION` | `false` | an unverifiable spec repo BLOCKS instead of UNDETERMINED |
+| `GATE_STRICT_SKIPS` | `auto` | `true` = a missing tool / unwired seam BLOCKS (CI); `auto` follows `GITHUB_ACTIONS`/`CI` |
@@ -47,7 +47,11 @@ fi
 # (conformance/lib/common.sh) now unions a comma/space list of layers, so this is a single
 # invocation with one aggregated report (no per-layer looping needed). Artifacts are then
 # COLLECTED from the fixed location below.
-"$CONFORMANCE_CMD" --layer l2,l3 "${req_args[@]}"
+# --include-scope: union the touched subset with every L2/L3 test DECLARING
+# `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo` (none today — wired once, here, so a future
+# whole-repo behavioural invariant needs only the annotation; see conformance/lib/common.sh).
+: "${WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE:=whole-repo}"
+"$CONFORMANCE_CMD" --layer l2,l3 --include-scope "$WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE" "${req_args[@]}"

 CONF_ART="$(dirname "$CONFORMANCE_CMD")/_artifacts"
 if [ -f "${CONF_ART}/report.junit.xml" ]; then
@@ -7,6 +7,75 @@
 #   skip (3)  not run (cluster-gated stage w/ no cluster, or unwired seam) —
 #             NOT counted as green (HARD RULE 4: don't fake green)
 #
+# ...AND THREE OUTCOMES FOR THE GATE ITSELF (2026-09-13). Until today a stage that
+# SKIPPED only printed a warning ("— not green") and the gate then printed
+# `MERGE GATE: PASS` and exited 0 anyway. That is fail-open in the one component whose
+# entire job is to fail closed: a pinned tool missing from the runner, or a seam silently
+# becoming unwired, produced exit 0 and read as merge-approved. Observed live:
+# `prom-rules: skipped (missing tool) — not green` followed by `MERGE GATE: PASS`, and
+# `l0: skipped (kyverno CLI not installed)` likewise. The gate's own vocabulary already
+# had the answer — the 2026-08-31 "local false green" introduced UNDECIDED for exactly
+# this shape of non-answer — the offline stages just did not use it.
+#
+#   MERGE GATE: PASS           exit 0   every stage that was SUPPOSED TO RUN ran and was
+#                                       green, and the R-TEST-03 subset was checked.
+#   MERGE GATE: BLOCKED        exit 1   a stage FAILED, or a stage did not run WHERE IT
+#                                       MUST (see the per-stage rules below), or the
+#                                       decision input is unusable.
+#   MERGE GATE: UNDETERMINED   exit 3   nothing failed, but a stage did not run, so
+#                                       greenness was NOT ESTABLISHED. Never a pass;
+#                                       non-zero so no automation can read it as approval.
+#                                       `3` is this repo's existing "not run / not
+#                                       established" code (ci/lib.sh), now spoken by the
+#                                       gate as a whole and not only by its stages.
+#   MERGE GATE: NOT APPLICABLE exit 0   there is no branch under gate at all (HEAD is on
+#                                       base) — a push-to-main CI run. Stages were green;
+#                                       no subset was checked, and the headline says so.
+#
+# NOTE ON `make`: GNU make reports ANY recipe failure as its own exit 2, so
+# `make -C ci gate` collapses 1 and 3 into 2 — a human sees the headline and that is enough.
+# A caller that must tell BLOCKED from UNDETERMINED invokes ./ci/gate.sh directly; to tolerate
+# an UNDETERMINED run it writes `./ci/gate.sh || [ $? -eq 3 ]`, the same explicit idiom
+# .gitea/workflows/gate.yml already used for its spec-immutability pre-step and now uses for
+# the gate itself (with GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true, so that tolerance can ONLY ever cover the
+# declared-environmental skip below — a missing tool on the runner is exit 1, untolerated).
+# TOLERATING A NON-ANSWER IS A VISIBLE, REVIEWED CHOICE IN THE CALLER. There is deliberately no
+# knob inside this script that turns UNDETERMINED into exit 0: that would be the fail-open this
+# change exists to remove, just relocated.
+#
+# WHICH SKIPS BLOCK, AND WHY (per stage — a skip is not one thing):
+#
+#   lint / l0 / render-golden / l1   A skip here means a PINNED tool is absent or a wired
+#     seam went unwired. On a CI runner the pinned toolchain is installed for us by
+#     .gitea/workflows/scripts/install-tools.sh, so a skip there is a DEFECT, not an
+#     environment: it BLOCKS. On a workstation a missing tool is a real local condition, so
+#     it degrades to UNDETERMINED (still non-zero, still never a pass). See strict_skips()
+#     in ci/lib.sh for how CI is detected and why misdetecting it cannot fail open.
+#
+#   spec-immutability (R-TEST-06)    A skip means the sibling spec repo is not checked out, so
+#     the spec COULD NOT BE VERIFIED. Never a pass — unverified is unverified — so it denies a
+#     PASS and yields UNDETERMINED. It is deliberately NOT upgraded to BLOCKED by CI strictness,
+#     because on the live runner it is not a defect anyone can fix from inside this repo: the
+#     workflow does not check the spec repo out at all (SPEC_REPO_SLUG is unwired — the blueprint
+#     lives in merge-gate.yaml), and blocking would leave the only enforced status check
+#     permanently red for a reason no PR could clear. So THIS is the one skip whose non-answer the
+#     CALLER may knowingly tolerate, and gate.yml does so in one visible line. Locally the
+#     remedy exists and the message names it: check the spec repo out beside this one, or point
+#     SPEC_REPO at it (infra/devcontainer/dev.sh mounts it automatically when it is a sibling).
+#     Set REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true (the counterpart of REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS) to make it a
+#     hard block once that checkout is wired.
+#
+#   conformance (L2/L3)              A skip when CLUSTER_AVAILABLE!=true is NOT a defect and
+#     NOT an accident: it is the environment DECLARING that the capability is absent, which
+#     is the documented Phase-0 behaviour. A declared-inapplicable stage was never "supposed
+#     to run", so it does not deny a PASS — the touched requirements it would have covered
+#     are still reported UNVERIFIED, and REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS=true (Phase 1+) turns that
+#     into a block. A skip DESPITE CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true is a defect and blocks, exactly as
+#     it already did. That asymmetry is the whole distinction this file now draws:
+#     DECLARED-not-applicable may pass; COULD-NOT-RUN may not. A declared gap is still NAMED in
+#     the PASS headline (see DECLARED_GAPS below), so a PASS never reads as "everything was
+#     verified" when a layer was declared out of scope.
+#
 # Phase 0 policy (no cluster): L0/L1 stages (lint, schema, kyverno, L1 render)
 # MUST be green. L2/L3 SKIP. If the touched subset needs L2/L3 and no cluster is
 # available, the gate reports those requirements UNVERIFIED and — unless
@@ -20,6 +89,7 @@ source "${CI_DIR}/lib.sh"
 set +e   # lib.sh enables -e; the gate must run ALL stages and aggregate, not abort.

 : "${REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS:=false}"
+: "${REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION:=false}"

 declare -A OUTCOME
 run_stage() {
@@ -47,6 +117,13 @@ run_stage conformance   "${CI_DIR}/conformance.sh"
 echo >&2
 log "==== gate decision ===="
 BLOCK=0
+# Stages that did NOT run and are tolerated here — but never as green. A non-empty list
+# means the gate could not establish greenness -> MERGE GATE: UNDETERMINED, exit 3.
+NOT_ESTABLISHED=()
+# Stages the environment DECLARED inapplicable (today: L2/L3 with no cluster declared). These
+# do not deny a PASS — nothing was supposed to run — but they are named IN the PASS headline, so
+# "PASS" is never mistaken for "everything was verified".
+DECLARED_GAPS=()

 # --- R-TEST-03 input: the touched-requirement subset --------------------------
 # Computed ONCE here. ci/touched-requirements.sh exits 3 when it cannot establish a
@@ -64,37 +141,80 @@ rm -f "$_reason_file"
 TOUCHED=()
 [ -n "$TOUCHED_OUT" ] && mapfile -t TOUCHED <<< "$TOUCHED_OUT"
 UNDECIDED=0
+SUBSET_BROKEN=0
 if [ "$TOUCHED_RC" -eq 3 ]; then
  UNDECIDED=1
  echo >&2
  err "R-TEST-03 DECISION INPUT MISSING: the touched-requirement subset could not be"
  err "  determined (${TOUCHED_REASON:-unknown}). The scoped coverage gate did NOT run."
  summary "- **R-TEST-03 subset UNDETERMINED** (\`${TOUCHED_REASON:-unknown}\`) — the scoped coverage gate did not run."
+elif [ "$TOUCHED_RC" -ne 0 ]; then
+  # Any OTHER non-zero exit is a hard defect in the subset computation itself — an
+  # incomplete path->requirement map (a changed path matches no row) or an invalid row
+  # would report exactly this. The reasoning is taken from the unlanded
+  # fix/touched-requirements-fail-closed (47068ee): gate.sh special-cased ONLY exit 3, so
+  # any other non-zero exit left TOUCHED empty and UNDECIDED=0, and the decision below
+  # printed "MERGE GATE: PASS" having applied no coverage gate at all. Unreachable on
+  # `main` today (touched-requirements.sh exits only 0 or 3) and wired here so it is
+  # already closed the moment a fail-closed path map makes exit 1 reachable. A subset that
+  # cannot be computed is NOT an empty subset.
+  SUBSET_BROKEN=1
+  echo >&2
+  err "R-TEST-03 DECISION INPUT BROKEN: touched-requirements.sh exited ${TOUCHED_RC}"
+  err "  (${TOUCHED_REASON:-unknown}). Its output above names the paths/rows to fix."
+  summary "- **R-TEST-03 subset UNUSABLE** (\`${TOUCHED_REASON:-unknown}\`, exit ${TOUCHED_RC}) — the coverage gate could not be applied."
 elif [ "${#TOUCHED[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
  log "touched requirements: ${TOUCHED[*]}"
 fi

 # spec-immutability (R-TEST-06): a FAIL always blocks (the spec was modified/drifted).
-# A skip means the spec repo wasn't available to verify — surfaced, not green.
+# A skip means the spec repo wasn't available to verify — UNVERIFIED, never green: it
+# denies a PASS (exit 3) and, with REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true, blocks outright. See the
+# file header for why this one is not upgraded to a block by CI detection alone.
 case "${OUTCOME[spec-immutability]}" in
  fail) err  "spec-immutability: FAILED -> blocks merge (R-TEST-06)"; BLOCK=1 ;;
-  skip) warn "spec-immutability: skipped (spec repo unavailable) — not verified" ;;
+  skip)
+    if truthy "$REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION"; then
+      err "spec-immutability: skipped (spec repo unavailable) and REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true -> blocks merge"
+      summary "- spec-immutability: **SKIPPED** (spec repo unavailable) — blocks merge (REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true)"
+      BLOCK=1
+    else
+      warn "spec-immutability: skipped (spec repo unavailable) — R-TEST-06 NOT VERIFIED, so"
+      warn "  this run cannot be a PASS. Check the spec repo out beside this one (or set"
+      warn "  SPEC_REPO) to verify it."
+      summary "- spec-immutability: **SKIPPED** (spec repo unavailable — R-TEST-06 not verified; not a pass)"
+      NOT_ESTABLISHED+=("spec-immutability")
+    fi ;;
  pass) ok   "spec-immutability: green" ;;
 esac

-# L0/L1 stages: any failure blocks. A SKIP here means a seam is unwired — in
-# Phase 0 that is tolerated (placeholders), but surfaced. render-golden is a
+# L0/L1 stages: any failure blocks. A SKIP here means a pinned tool is missing or a seam is
+# unwired — NEVER green. In CI (strict) that is a defect and blocks; on a workstation it
+# degrades to UNDETERMINED, which is still non-zero and still not a pass. render-golden is a
 # no-cluster reproducibility gate (canonical render == committed apps/ goldens):
 # a FAIL means a golden drifted from its ServiceDefinition source — always blocks.
 for s in lint l0 render-golden l1; do
  case "${OUTCOME[$s]}" in
    fail) err  "${s}: FAILED -> blocks merge"; BLOCK=1 ;;
-    skip) warn "${s}: skipped (unwired seam / missing tool) — not green" ;;
+    skip)
+      if strict_skips; then
+        err "${s}: skipped (unwired seam / missing tool) under STRICT skips, where the pinned"
+        err "  toolchain is installed for us (.gitea/workflows/scripts/install-tools.sh) and every"
+        err "  seam is on main — so this is a DEFECT, not an environment -> blocks merge"
+        summary "- ${s}: **SKIPPED under strict skips** (unwired seam / missing tool) — blocks merge"
+        BLOCK=1
+      else
+        warn "${s}: skipped (unwired seam / missing tool) — not green, so this run cannot be a PASS"
+        summary "- ${s}: **SKIPPED** (unwired seam / missing tool) — not green"
+        NOT_ESTABLISHED+=("$s")
+      fi ;;
    pass) ok   "${s}: green" ;;
  esac
 done

-# L2/L3 conformance: cluster-gated.
+# L2/L3 conformance: cluster-gated. The ONLY stage whose non-execution can still be a PASS,
+# because CLUSTER_AVAILABLE!=true is the environment DECLARING the capability absent rather
+# than the stage failing to run where it could have — see the file header.
 case "${OUTCOME[conformance]}" in
  fail)
    err "conformance (L2/L3): FAILED -> blocks merge"; BLOCK=1 ;;
@@ -105,18 +225,22 @@ case "${OUTCOME[conformance]}" in
      err "conformance: skipped despite CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true -> blocks merge"; BLOCK=1
    elif [ "$UNDECIDED" -eq 1 ]; then
      warn "conformance L2/L3 UNVERIFIED, and the touched subset is unknown — nothing certified."
+      DECLARED_GAPS+=("conformance-l2-l3(no cluster declared)")
    else
      if [ "${#TOUCHED[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
        reqs=("${TOUCHED[@]}")
        warn "conformance L2/L3 UNVERIFIED for touched requirements: ${reqs[*]}"
        warn "  (no cluster — Phase 0). These are NOT certified green."
        summary "- **UNVERIFIED (no cluster):** ${reqs[*]}"
-        if [ "$REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS" = "true" ]; then
+        if truthy "$REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS"; then
          err "REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS=true and cluster-needing requirements are unverified -> blocks merge"
          BLOCK=1
+        else
+          DECLARED_GAPS+=("conformance-l2-l3(no cluster declared; ${#TOUCHED[@]} touched reqs unverified)")
        fi
      else
        skip "conformance L2/L3 skipped; no cluster-needing requirements touched"
+        DECLARED_GAPS+=("conformance-l2-l3(no cluster declared)")
      fi
    fi ;;
 esac
@@ -132,13 +256,34 @@ if [ "$UNDECIDED" -eq 1 ] && [ "$TOUCHED_REASON" != "on-base" ]; then
  err "cannot compute the R-TEST-03 subset (${TOUCHED_REASON:-unknown}) -> blocks merge"
  BLOCK=1
 fi
+# An incomplete/invalid path map is not an environment problem to skip past: the change under
+# gate contains paths whose requirements are UNKNOWN, so no subset can be certified.
+if [ "$SUBSET_BROKEN" -eq 1 ]; then
+  err "R-TEST-03 subset unusable (${TOUCHED_REASON:-unknown}) -> blocks merge"
+  BLOCK=1
+fi

 echo >&2
+# Precedence: BLOCKED (something is wrong) > UNDETERMINED (a stage did not run, so
+# greenness was not established) > NOT APPLICABLE (nothing to gate) > PASS. UNDETERMINED
+# outranks NOT APPLICABLE because "no branch under gate" AND "a stage did not run" is two
+# reasons this is not a green run, and the stronger, non-zero one must be the headline.
 if [ "$BLOCK" -ne 0 ]; then
  err "MERGE GATE: BLOCKED"
  summary ""
  summary "**Result: BLOCKED** — see failures above."
  exit 1
+elif [ "${#NOT_ESTABLISHED[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+  err "MERGE GATE: UNDETERMINED — greenness was NOT ESTABLISHED."
+  err "  Stages that did not run: ${NOT_ESTABLISHED[*]}"
+  err "  Nothing FAILED, and nothing is certified either: a stage that did not run is not"
+  err "  green (HARD RULE 4). This is exit 3, never 0 — no automation may read it as"
+  err "  merge-approved. Fix the environment (install the pinned tool / wire the seam /"
+  err "  check out the spec repo) and run again, or accept it KNOWINGLY and explicitly:"
+  err "    ./ci/gate.sh || [ \$? -eq 3 ]"
+  summary ""
+  summary "**Result: UNDETERMINED** — these stages did not run, so nothing is certified: \`${NOT_ESTABLISHED[*]}\`. Not a pass (exit 3)."
+  exit 3
 elif [ "$UNDECIDED" -eq 1 ]; then
  warn "MERGE GATE: NOT APPLICABLE — no branch under gate (${TOUCHED_REASON})."
  warn "  The stages above ran and did not fail, but NO touched-requirement subset was"
@@ -148,8 +293,16 @@ elif [ "$UNDECIDED" -eq 1 ]; then
  summary "**Result: NOT APPLICABLE** — no branch under gate (\`${TOUCHED_REASON}\`); the R-TEST-03 subset was not checked."
  exit 0
 else
-  ok "MERGE GATE: PASS (touched-requirement subset green for the layers that can run)"
-  summary ""
-  summary "**Result: PASS** — L0/L1 green. L2/L3 status per cluster availability above."
+  ok "MERGE GATE: PASS — every stage that was supposed to run RAN and was GREEN, and the"
+  ok "  R-TEST-03 touched-requirement subset was checked."
+  if [ "${#DECLARED_GAPS[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    ok "  NOT verified here, because the environment DECLARED it out of scope (never a silent"
+    ok "  gap — Phase 0 by policy, see the header): ${DECLARED_GAPS[*]}"
+    summary ""
+    summary "**Result: PASS** — every stage that was supposed to run ran green. Declared out of scope (NOT verified): \`${DECLARED_GAPS[*]}\`."
+  else
+    summary ""
+    summary "**Result: PASS** — every stage that was supposed to run ran green; nothing was declared out of scope."
+  fi
  exit 0
 fi
@@ -10,6 +10,18 @@
 #   Stage 3b L0     : conformance/run.sh --layer l0 — the WHOLE-REPO L0 invariants that
 #                     a per-resource policy cannot express (secret hygiene across every
 #                     tracked file, least-privilege RBAC, spec-immutability enforcement).
+#                     Selection = the TOUCHED requirement subset (R-TEST-03) UNION every L0
+#                     test DECLARING `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`. That union
+#                     replaces what used to be a hand-written "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per
+#                     whole-repo check (3c subst-safety / 3d keycloak-client-secrets / 3e
+#                     bulk-tier): three near-identical 12-line rationales, three hardcoded
+#                     check.sh paths and three copies of the same rc 0/3/* case block, which
+#                     did not scale and — worse — failed SILENTLY, because whoever added the
+#                     next whole-repo invariant had to REMEMBER to hand-write a stage. Now the
+#                     test declares its own scope and the runner enforces it. The reasoning and
+#                     the incidents those stages recorded were moved INTO the tests they
+#                     describe (see each chainsaw-test.yaml's `scope` annotation) and the
+#                     general mechanism is documented in conformance/lib/common.sh.
 #
 # Integration seams are env-overridable (see ci/lib.sh + README). When an owning
 # subtree is still a placeholder, this reports SKIPPED (exit 3) for that sub-stage
@@ -83,58 +95,45 @@ fi
 # binding, the spec-immutability gate's own behaviour) live in the conformance
 # harness's tests/l0-static subtree and run with no cluster. This stage executes them
 # through the same single-command runner CI and a laptop both use (R-TEST-02).
-log "Stage: L0 static conformance checks (${CONFORMANCE_CMD} --layer l0)"
+#
+# THE UNION, AND WHY IT IS NOT OPTIONAL (R-TEST-03's blind spot)
+# --------------------------------------------------------------
+# 3b scopes the conformance run to the TOUCHED requirements. That is right for an invariant
+# whose inputs live under the subtree its requirements map to. It is WRONG for one that
+# quantifies over the WHOLE tracked tree, or over subtrees (apps/, infra/, most of platform/)
+# that ci/touched-requirements.sh's coarse path map keys to NOTHING: for those, the change
+# most likely to break the invariant attributes no requirement at all, so requirement-scoped
+# selection filters the check out of EXACTLY that change. `--include-scope whole-repo` unions
+# in every L0 test that DECLARES that scope, so those run on every gate invocation.
+#
+# rc 3 IS NOT A PASS. The runner returns 3 when a scope-declared check SKIPPED (its subject
+# subtree is absent, or it has no check script): UNWIRED, not green, exactly as the deleted
+# per-check stages had it ("check SKIPPED (clusters/ absent) — not a pass"). It is mapped to
+# the gate's own rc 3 below, never to rc 0.
+: "${WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE:=whole-repo}"
+log "Stage: L0 static conformance checks (${CONFORMANCE_CMD} --layer l0 --include-scope ${WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE})"
 if ! entrypoint_ready "$CONFORMANCE_CMD"; then
  skip "conformance runner not present at '${CONFORMANCE_CMD}' — UNWIRED, not green"
  summary "- l0-static: **SKIPPED** (conformance runner missing)"
  if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then rc=3; fi
 else
  load_touched_requirements
-  if "$CONFORMANCE_CMD" --layer l0 ${REQ_ARGS[@]+"${REQ_ARGS[@]}"}; then
-    ok "L0 static conformance checks passed"
-    summary "- l0-static: **passed**"
-  else
-    err "L0 static conformance checks failed"
-    summary "- l0-static: **FAILED**"
-    rc=1
-  fi
-fi
-
-# ---- Stage 3c: Flux post-build substitution safety (UNCONDITIONAL) ----------
-# R-ENV-02's promote-once mechanism is `postBuild.substituteFrom cluster-vars`, and it
-# FAILS OPEN: an undefined ${TOKEN} becomes the empty string and the Kustomization still
-# reports Ready. That emptied Cilium's k8sServiceHost and broke the CNI on 2/3 dev nodes
-# (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-01, "substitution race that fails OPEN"). The check asserts every
-# ${...} in every substituted path is DEFINED in cluster-vars or deliberately ESCAPED
-# `$${...}` — i.e. that enabling the StrictPostBuildSubstitutions feature gate cannot fail
-# a legitimate manifest, and that no expansion silently empties today.
-#
-# WHY THIS IS ITS OWN STAGE and not left to Stage 3b: 3b scopes the conformance run to the
-# TOUCHED requirements (R-TEST-03), and ci/touched-requirements.sh's coarse path map keys
-# only clusters/* to R-ENV-02 — an edit to a SUBSTITUTED manifest under apps/ or platform/
-# attributes no requirement, so the requirement-scoped selection would filter this check
-# out of exactly the change that introduces the bug. The invariant is whole-repo (same
-# reasoning as spec-immutability's own gate stage), so it runs on EVERY gate invocation.
-# When 3b's touched set does include R-ENV-02/R-GITOPS-01 the check runs twice; it is a
-# sub-second offline scan with no side effects, so the duplication is not worth avoiding.
-SUBST_CHECK="${SUBST_CHECK:-${REPO_ROOT}/conformance/tests/l0-static/flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh}"
-log "Stage: Flux postBuild substitution safety (${SUBST_CHECK})"
-if [ ! -f "$SUBST_CHECK" ]; then
-  skip "substitution check not present at '${SUBST_CHECK}' — UNWIRED, not green"
-  summary "- subst-safety: **SKIPPED** (check missing)"
-  if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then rc=3; fi
-else
-  subst_rc=0
-  bash "$SUBST_CHECK" || subst_rc=$?
-  case "$subst_rc" in
-    0) ok "Flux postBuild substitution safety passed"
-       summary "- subst-safety: **passed**" ;;
-    3) skip "substitution check SKIPPED (clusters/ absent) — not a pass"
-       summary "- subst-safety: **SKIPPED** (nothing to audit)"
+  l0_static_rc=0
+  "$CONFORMANCE_CMD" --layer l0 --include-scope "$WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE" \
+    ${REQ_ARGS[@]+"${REQ_ARGS[@]}"} || l0_static_rc=$?
+  case "$l0_static_rc" in
+    0) ok "L0 static conformance checks passed"
+       summary "- l0-static: **passed**" ;;
+    3) skip "an L0 check declaring scope='${WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE}' SKIPPED — UNWIRED, not a pass"
+       summary "- l0-static: **SKIPPED** (a whole-repo check is UNWIRED — not a pass)"
       if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then rc=3; fi ;;
-    *) err "Flux postBuild substitution safety FAILED"
-       summary "- subst-safety: **FAILED**"; rc=1 ;;
+    *) err "L0 static conformance checks failed"
+       summary "- l0-static: **FAILED**"
+       rc=1 ;;
  esac
+  # Per-check step-summary lines, so the gate output still NAMES what ran — the generated
+  # replacement for the one hardcoded `summary` line each deleted stage carried.
+  emit_offline_summary
 fi

 case "$rc" in
@@ -29,7 +29,16 @@ req_args=(${REQ_ARGS[@]+"${REQ_ARGS[@]}"})
 # [--requirements R-A,R-B]; it ALWAYS writes artifacts to a FIXED location
 # (conformance/_artifacts/) and does NOT accept --junit/--coverage. Invoke by layer +
 # touched subset, then COLLECT its artifacts into the CI artifact dirs.
-"$CONFORMANCE_CMD" --layer l1 ${req_args[@]+"${req_args[@]}"}
+# --include-scope: union the touched subset with every L1 test DECLARING
+# `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`. No L1 test declares it today, so this is a no-op
+# now — it is wired HERE, once, so the NEXT whole-repo invariant (at any layer) is picked up by
+# declaring the annotation, instead of needing someone to remember to hand-write a stage. That
+# "someone must remember" is the failure mode this whole change removes; see
+# conformance/lib/common.sh. rc 3 = a scope-declared check SKIPPED = UNWIRED, never a pass.
+: "${WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE:=whole-repo}"
+l1_rc=0
+"$CONFORMANCE_CMD" --layer l1 --include-scope "$WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE" \
+  ${req_args[@]+"${req_args[@]}"} || l1_rc=$?

 CONF_ART="$(dirname "$CONFORMANCE_CMD")/_artifacts"
 if [ -f "${CONF_ART}/report.junit.xml" ]; then
@@ -39,5 +48,16 @@ if [ -d "${CONF_ART}/coverage" ]; then
  cp -r "${CONF_ART}/coverage/." "${COVERAGE_DIR}/"
 fi

-ok "L1 rendering checks passed"
-summary "- l1-render: **passed**"
+case "$l1_rc" in
+  0) ok "L1 rendering checks passed"
+     summary "- l1-render: **passed**"
+     emit_offline_summary ;;
+  3) skip "an L1 check declaring scope='${WHOLE_REPO_SCOPE}' SKIPPED — UNWIRED, not a pass"
+     summary "- l1-render: **SKIPPED** (a whole-repo check is UNWIRED — not a pass)"
+     emit_offline_summary
+     exit 3 ;;
+  *) err "L1 rendering checks FAILED (rc=${l1_rc})"
+     summary "- l1-render: **FAILED**"
+     emit_offline_summary
+     exit "$l1_rc" ;;
+esac
@@ -72,20 +72,83 @@ entrypoint_ready() {
  return 1
 }

-# --- Cluster detection (drives SKIP vs run for L2/L3) -------------------------
-# A cluster is 'available' only if explicitly declared. We NEVER auto-assume a
-# cluster in Phase 0 — silence means SKIP, not pass (HARD RULE 4).
-#   CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true   -> L2/L3 run and are REQUIRED green
-#   CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=false/unset -> L2/L3 SKIP (reported, never faked green)
-cluster_available() {
-  case "${CLUSTER_AVAILABLE:-false}" in
-    true|1|yes) return 0 ;;
+# truthy <value> — the ONE place the repo's "is this switch on" spelling lives, so
+# CLUSTER_AVAILABLE / REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS / REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION / GATE_STRICT_SKIPS
+# all agree. Anything not listed is OFF, and that direction matters: a misspelled value
+# (CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=ture, REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=yeah) leaves the guard OFF rather than
+# silently declaring a capability "available", so a typo can only make the gate stricter about
+# what it claims to have verified, never looser.
+truthy() {
+  case "${1:-}" in
+    true|TRUE|True|1|yes|YES|y|on|ON) return 0 ;;
    *) return 1 ;;
  esac
 }

+# --- Cluster detection (drives SKIP vs run for L2/L3) -------------------------
+# A cluster is 'available' only if explicitly DECLARED. We NEVER auto-assume a
+# cluster in Phase 0 — silence means SKIP, not pass (HARD RULE 4).
+#   CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true   -> L2/L3 run and are REQUIRED green
+#   CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=false/unset -> L2/L3 SKIP (reported, never faked green)
+# That DECLARATION is what makes an L2/L3 skip different IN KIND from every other skip —
+# see "WHICH SKIPS BLOCK, AND WHY" in ci/gate.sh.
+cluster_available() { truthy "${CLUSTER_AVAILABLE:-false}"; }
+
+# --- Skip strictness: is this a CI runner, or a workstation? -------------------
+# A SKIPPED stage is never green anywhere (HARD RULE 4), but its SEVERITY differs:
+#
+#   CI       the pinned toolchain is installed by .gitea/workflows/scripts/install-tools.sh
+#            before the gate runs, and every seam is on `main`. A stage that skips here is a
+#            DEFECT (a tool dropped from the installer, a seam that went unwired) -> BLOCK.
+#   local    a missing pinned tool is a real, ordinary local condition -> the gate reports
+#            UNDETERMINED (exit 3): not green, not a pass, but distinguishable from a red.
+#
+# HOW STRICTNESS IS DECIDED — DECLARED first, detected only as a fallback:
+#
+#   1. GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true|false is the AUTHORITY. .gitea/workflows/gate.yml sets `true` on
+#      the gate step, so on the one CI runner that matters strictness is a DECLARATION IN THE
+#      WORKFLOW, not an inference: the environment that KNOWS it is CI says so, and no
+#      env-var sniffing can get it wrong.
+#   2. `auto` (the default — anywhere the caller said nothing) falls back to GITHUB_ACTIONS /
+#      CI, which are set by the runner ITSELF (Gitea's act_runner, as well as GitHub). We do
+#      NOT sniff hostnames, paths or tool availability: a heuristic that guesses "this looks
+#      like CI" is exactly the unreliable inference this gate must not contain.
+#
+# WHY A WRONG ANSWER CANNOT FAIL OPEN: both branches are non-zero and NEITHER is a pass. A CI
+# run misread as local yields UNDETERMINED (exit 3) instead of BLOCKED (exit 1) — that still
+# fails the job unless its caller explicitly tolerates 3, which gate.yml does only knowingly
+# and only for the one declared-environmental skip (see its comment). A workstation misread as
+# CI yields BLOCKED instead of UNDETERMINED — harsher, never looser. Set GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true
+# locally to rehearse CI strictness.
+: "${GATE_STRICT_SKIPS:=auto}"
+strict_skips() {
+  case "$GATE_STRICT_SKIPS" in
+    auto) truthy "${GITHUB_ACTIONS:-}" || truthy "${CI:-}" ;;
+    *)    truthy "$GATE_STRICT_SKIPS" ;;
+  esac
+}
+
 mkartifacts() { mkdir -p "$JUNIT_DIR" "$COVERAGE_DIR"; }

+# --- Offline (L0/L1) per-check step summary -----------------------------------
+# conformance/lib/run_l1_offline.py writes one Markdown line per check it executed to
+# conformance/_artifacts/offline-summary.md. Splice those into $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY so the
+# gate's output still NAMES every check that ran and its verdict.
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS: ci/l0.sh used to carry a hand-written stage per whole-repo check, each with
+# its own `summary "- subst-safety: **passed**"` line. Those stages are gone (the tests declare
+# `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo` instead and the runner unions them in), so the
+# naming is generated for EVERY offline check rather than for the three that had a stage.
+: "${OFFLINE_SUMMARY_FILE:=${CONFORMANCE_DIR}/_artifacts/offline-summary.md}"
+emit_offline_summary() {
+  local f="${1:-$OFFLINE_SUMMARY_FILE}" line
+  [ -f "$f" ] || return 0
+  while IFS= read -r line; do
+    [ -n "$line" ] && summary "  $line"
+  done < "$f"
+  return 0
+}
+
 # --- Touched-requirement subset (R-TEST-03 input) ----------------------------
 # Sets: TOUCHED_RC (0 ok / 3 not determinable), TOUCHED_REQS[] and REQ_ARGS[]
 # (ready to splice into a conformance/run.sh invocation).
@@ -111,7 +174,16 @@ load_touched_requirements() {
    warn "  Running the FULL layer as a superset sanity net; the SCOPED R-TEST-03"
    warn "  coverage check is NOT performed here — ci/gate.sh reports that as UNDECIDED."
  elif [ "$rc" -ne 0 ]; then
-    warn "touched-requirements.sh exited ${rc}; proceeding with the full layer."
+    # Any OTHER non-zero exit means the subset is UNUSABLE, not empty (today: a
+    # path->requirement map that cannot classify a changed path, once that map fails closed).
+    # The FULL layer still runs here as a superset — nothing goes untested — but this stage must
+    # not claim the SCOPED check happened, and ci/gate.sh turns the same exit into a BLOCKED
+    # merge decision. Wording carried over from the unlanded fix/touched-requirements-fail-closed
+    # (47068ee), whose gate-side half this branch lands.
+    warn "touched-requirements.sh exited ${rc} (subset UNUSABLE — see its output above)."
+    warn "  Running the FULL layer as a superset; the SCOPED R-TEST-03 check did NOT happen."
+    warn "  ci/gate.sh BLOCKS the merge on this: fix the path->requirement map in"
+    warn "  ci/touched-requirements.sh so every changed path is classified."
  elif [ "${#TOUCHED_REQS[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
    log "touched requirements: ${TOUCHED_REQS[*]}"
    REQ_ARGS=(--requirements "$(IFS=,; echo "${TOUCHED_REQS[*]}")")
@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# =============================================================================
+# ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py
+#
+# Render platform/keycloak/client-urls.yaml FROM platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-import.yaml.
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS
+# ---------------
+# The Keycloak realm import is a ONE-SHOT that fails OPEN: once it rests at
+# Done=True / Started=False it never re-runs, so a redirect URI changed in git is
+# never applied to the realm. The client-secret half of that failure class is
+# already healed by a level-triggered CronJob (platform/keycloak/client-secret-
+# reconciler.yaml). This renderer supplies the DESIRED STATE that the same CronJob
+# needs to heal the URL half.
+#
+# THE CONSTRAINT THAT SHAPES IT: the reconciler pod runs with
+# automountServiceAccountToken: false. It has NO Kubernetes API access at all, by
+# design (R-SEC-02) — so it cannot read the KeycloakRealmImport CR to learn what
+# the realm is supposed to look like. Its inputs must be MOUNTED. Hence a
+# ConfigMap.
+#
+# A hand-authored ConfigMap would be a SECOND SOURCE OF TRUTH for every public
+# hostname in the realm, free to disagree with the realm import — and "two
+# declarations that can disagree" is the same shape as the bug this whole effort
+# is closing. So the ConfigMap is GENERATED from the realm import and the
+# generation is GATED: conformance/tests/l0-static/keycloak-client-secret-
+# reconciler/check.sh runs this script with --check on every merge, and the merge
+# fails if the committed file is not what this renderer produces. That is the same
+# render==golden idiom catalog/render.py + ci/render-golden.sh already use for
+# apps/.
+#
+# STRINGS ARE COPIED VERBATIM, NEVER RE-DERIVED. If a URL in the realm import is
+# written as a Flux substitution token (https://grafana.${BASE_DOMAIN}/...), the
+# token is carried through into the ConfigMap CHARACTER FOR CHARACTER. Both files
+# are rendered by the SAME Flux Kustomization (./platform-config, whose
+# postBuild.substituteFrom reads cluster-vars), so both are substituted in the
+# same pass with the same values and cannot disagree about what BASE_DOMAIN is.
+# This renderer never parses, splits, or reconstructs a hostname, and never reads
+# cluster-vars — so there is no second place for the domain to be decided.
+#
+# USAGE
+#   python3 ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py            # print the rendered file
+#   python3 ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py --write     # write it (regenerate)
+#   python3 ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py --check      # exit 1 if it has drifted
+# =============================================================================
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import difflib
+import json
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
+    print("FATAL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+IMPORT_FILE = "platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-import.yaml"
+OUT_FILE = "platform/keycloak/client-urls.yaml"
+DATA_KEY = "client-urls.json"
+CONFIGMAP_NAME = "keycloak-client-urls"
+NAMESPACE = "keycloak"
+
+# The client fields this renderer exports, and therefore the ONLY fields the
+# reconciler may write. Every one of them is an environment-derived URL: it changes
+# when BASE_DOMAIN changes, and a stale value breaks OIDC login (a wrong
+# redirectUri) or silently widens trust (a stale wildcard left behind).
+#
+# DELIBERATELY ABSENT: `secret` (healed by the secret pass from the SOPS Secret,
+# and it must never appear in a ConfigMap), and every non-URL field —
+# protocolMappers, defaultClientScopes, attributes, flags. Those are not
+# environment-derived, so nothing re-renders them on a domain flip; keeping them
+# out keeps the reconciler's write surface as narrow as the problem.
+LIST_FIELDS = ("redirectUris", "webOrigins")
+STR_FIELDS = ("rootUrl", "baseUrl", "adminUrl")
+
+
+def render(root: Path) -> str:
+    """Return the full text of client-urls.yaml as it should be committed."""
+    docs = list(yaml.safe_load_all((root / IMPORT_FILE).read_text()))
+    imp = next((d for d in docs if d and d.get("kind") == "KeycloakRealmImport"), None)
+    if imp is None:
+        raise SystemExit("FATAL: no KeycloakRealmImport document in %s" % IMPORT_FILE)
+    clients = (imp.get("spec") or {}).get("realm", {}).get("clients") or []
+    if not clients:
+        # Fail closed. Emitting an empty desired state would make the reconciler
+        # believe every client is unmanaged and silently stop reconciling URLs.
+        raise SystemExit("FATAL: %s declares zero clients — refusing to render an "
+                         "empty desired state" % IMPORT_FILE)
+
+    want: dict[str, dict] = {}
+    for c in clients:
+        cid = c.get("clientId")
+        if not isinstance(cid, str) or not cid:
+            raise SystemExit("FATAL: %s has a client with no clientId" % IMPORT_FILE)
+        entry: dict[str, object] = {}
+        for f in LIST_FIELDS:
+            if f not in c:
+                continue                 # not declared => NOT MANAGED (never forced empty)
+            v = c[f]
+            if not isinstance(v, list) or not all(isinstance(x, str) for x in v):
+                raise SystemExit("FATAL: %s client %r field %s is not a list of strings"
+                                 % (IMPORT_FILE, cid, f))
+            entry[f] = list(v)           # verbatim, order as authored
+        for f in STR_FIELDS:
+            if f not in c:
+                continue
+            v = c[f]
+            if not isinstance(v, str):
+                raise SystemExit("FATAL: %s client %r field %s is not a string"
+                                 % (IMPORT_FILE, cid, f))
+            entry[f] = v
+        if entry:
+            want[cid] = entry
+    if not want:
+        raise SystemExit("FATAL: no client in %s declares any of %s — refusing to render "
+                         "an empty desired state"
+                         % (IMPORT_FILE, ", ".join(LIST_FIELDS + STR_FIELDS)))
+
+    body = json.dumps(want, indent=2, sort_keys=True, ensure_ascii=False)
+    indented = "\n".join(("    " + ln) if ln else "" for ln in body.splitlines())
+    return HEADER + indented + "\n"
+
+
+HEADER = """---
+# =============================================================================
+# GENERATED FILE — DO NOT EDIT BY HAND.
+#
+#   source:      platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-import.yaml (spec.realm.clients)
+#   regenerate:  python3 ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py --write
+#   gated by:    conformance/tests/l0-static/keycloak-client-secret-reconciler
+#                (runs this renderer with --check on every merge)
+#
+# WHAT THIS IS: the DESIRED STATE for every environment-derived client URL in the
+# `homelab` realm — redirectUris, webOrigins, rootUrl, baseUrl, adminUrl. The
+# client-secret reconciler CronJob mounts it and makes the live realm match it.
+#
+# WHY IT IS A SEPARATE OBJECT: the realm import is a ONE-SHOT that never re-runs
+# once Done=True, so a redirect URI edited in git never reaches the realm. Prod's
+# stored redirect URIs were measured still pointing at the pre-migration hostname
+# while git declared the new one, and every OIDC login would have failed with a
+# redirect_uri mismatch. The reconciler is the level-triggered loop that closes
+# that; this file is what it reconciles TOWARDS.
+#
+# WHY IT IS GENERATED AND NOT AUTHORED: a hand-written copy of every public
+# hostname would be a second source of truth, free to disagree with the realm
+# import. It is rendered from the import and the render is gated, so the two
+# cannot drift. URL strings are copied VERBATIM — if the source uses a
+# ${BASE_DOMAIN} token it appears here unchanged, and both files are substituted
+# by the SAME Flux Kustomization (./platform-config), so the domain is decided in
+# exactly one place.
+#
+# A field that is NOT declared on a client in the realm import is simply ABSENT
+# here, and the reconciler leaves it alone. Absence means UNMANAGED, never
+# "force to empty".
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: %s
+  namespace: %s
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: %s
+    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: keycloak
+data:
+  %s: |
+""" % (CONFIGMAP_NAME, NAMESPACE, CONFIGMAP_NAME, DATA_KEY)
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
+    g = ap.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
+    g.add_argument("--write", action="store_true", help="write %s" % OUT_FILE)
+    g.add_argument("--check", action="store_true",
+                   help="exit 1 if the committed file has drifted from the source")
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+
+    want = render(ROOT)
+    target = ROOT / OUT_FILE
+
+    if args.write:
+        target.write_text(want, encoding="utf-8")
+        print("wrote %s" % OUT_FILE)
+        return 0
+
+    if args.check:
+        if not target.is_file():
+            print("CHECK FAIL: %s does not exist. Run: python3 "
+                  "ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py --write" % OUT_FILE, file=sys.stderr)
+            return 1
+        have = target.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        if have == want:
+            print("client-urls.yaml is in sync with %s" % IMPORT_FILE)
+            return 0
+        print("CHECK FAIL: %s has DRIFTED from %s — the reconciler would converge the "
+              "realm on a desired state the realm import does not declare.\n"
+              "Regenerate with: python3 ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py --write\n"
+              % (OUT_FILE, IMPORT_FILE), file=sys.stderr)
+        for line in difflib.unified_diff(have.splitlines(True), want.splitlines(True),
+                                         fromfile="committed " + OUT_FILE,
+                                         tofile="rendered from " + IMPORT_FILE):
+            sys.stderr.write(line)
+        return 1
+
+    sys.stdout.write(want)
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# ci/tests/gate-decision.test.sh — the merge gate's OWN decision table.
+#
+# WHY THIS SUITE EXISTS (2026-09-13). ci/gate.sh used to set BLOCK=1 for a FAILED stage but
+# only `warn` for a SKIPPED one, so it printed the words "— not green" and then concluded
+# `MERGE GATE: PASS` and exited 0. Observed live twice: `prom-rules` skipped for a missing
+# promtool, and `l0` skipped for a missing pinned kyverno CLI — both read by automation as
+# merge-approved. That is fail-open in the one component whose entire job is to fail closed,
+# and nothing tested it: every other ci/tests suite covers the INPUT (touched-requirements),
+# none covered the DECISION.
+#
+# WHAT IS UNDER TEST: the real ci/gate.sh and ci/lib.sh, copied into a throwaway CI_DIR beside
+# STUB stage scripts whose exit codes this suite dictates (STAGE_RC_<stage>) and a stub
+# touched-requirements.sh whose rc/reason it dictates (TR_RC / TR_REASON / TR_OUT). Stubbing the
+# stages is the point: this asserts how the gate REASONS about pass/fail/skip, independently of
+# what any stage happens to do on this machine — so it runs anywhere, with no tools, no cluster,
+# no network, in milliseconds.
+#
+# THE INVARIANT: `MERGE GATE: PASS` + exit 0 means every stage that was supposed to run RAN and
+# was GREEN. A stage that could not run is never a pass, and the exit code says so too.
+#
+# Run:  ci/tests/gate-decision.test.sh     (or `make -C ci test`)
+set -uo pipefail
+
+REAL_CI_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+
+PASS=0 FAIL=0
+ok()  { printf '  ok   %s\n' "$*"; PASS=$((PASS+1)); }
+bad() { printf '  FAIL %s\n' "$*"; FAIL=$((FAIL+1)); }
+
+TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
+CI="${TMP}/ci"; mkdir -p "$CI"
+REPO="${TMP}/repo"; mkdir -p "$REPO"
+
+cp "${REAL_CI_DIR}/gate.sh" "${REAL_CI_DIR}/lib.sh" "${REAL_CI_DIR}/versions.env" "$CI/"
+
+# One stub per stage. It exits with STAGE_RC_<stage-with-dashes-as-underscores>, default 0.
+for stage in spec-immutability lint l0 render-golden l1 conformance; do
+  cat > "${CI}/${stage}.sh" <<'STUB'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+n="$(basename "$0" .sh)"; v="STAGE_RC_${n//-/_}"
+exit "${!v:-0}"
+STUB
+  chmod +x "${CI}/${stage}.sh"
+done
+
+# Stub decision input. TR_RC (default 0), TR_REASON (written to $TOUCHED_REASON_FILE like the
+# real script does), TR_OUT (the touched requirement list on stdout).
+cat > "${CI}/touched-requirements.sh" <<'STUB'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+if [ -n "${TOUCHED_REASON_FILE:-}" ]; then printf '%s\n' "${TR_REASON:-}" > "$TOUCHED_REASON_FILE"; fi
+[ -n "${TR_OUT:-}" ] && printf '%s\n' "$TR_OUT"
+exit "${TR_RC:-0}"
+STUB
+chmod +x "${CI}/touched-requirements.sh"
+
+# run_gate <VAR=VAL>... — run the gate with a clean, explicit environment. Sets OUT and RC.
+# GATE_STRICT_SKIPS is pinned false unless a case says otherwise, so the suite never depends on
+# whether the machine running it happens to look like CI.
+OUT="" RC=0
+run_gate() {
+  local summary_file="${TMP}/summary.md"; : > "$summary_file"
+  OUT="$(env -i PATH="$PATH" HOME="$HOME" \
+        REPO_ROOT="$REPO" GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY="$summary_file" \
+        GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=false TR_OUT="R-TEST-03" \
+        "$@" bash "${CI}/gate.sh" 2>&1)"
+  RC=$?
+  SUMMARY="$(cat "$summary_file")"
+}
+
+# assert_verdict <headline> <expected-rc> <label>
+assert_verdict() {
+  local want="$1" want_rc="$2" label="$3"
+  if ! grep -qF "MERGE GATE: ${want}" <<<"$OUT"; then
+    bad "${label}: headline should be '${want}' — got: $(grep -oE 'MERGE GATE: [A-Z ]+' <<<"$OUT" | tail -1)"
+  elif [ "$RC" -ne "$want_rc" ]; then
+    bad "${label}: headline '${want}' correct but exit code ${RC} != ${want_rc}"
+  else
+    ok "${label} -> ${want}, exit ${want_rc}"
+  fi
+}
+# The load-bearing negative: nothing may say PASS, and nothing may exit 0.
+assert_not_pass() {
+  local label="$1"
+  if grep -qF "MERGE GATE: PASS" <<<"$OUT"; then bad "${label}: printed 'MERGE GATE: PASS'"
+  elif [ "$RC" -eq 0 ]; then bad "${label}: exited 0"
+  else ok "${label}: not a PASS, non-zero exit (${RC})"; fi
+}
+
+echo "== 1. the happy path: every stage green"
+run_gate
+assert_verdict PASS 0 "all stages green + a touched subset"
+grep -qF "nothing was declared out of scope" <<<"$SUMMARY" \
+  && ok "PASS summary states nothing was declared out of scope" \
+  || bad "PASS summary does not state the absence of declared gaps"
+
+echo
+echo "== 2. a FAILED stage blocks (unchanged behaviour, locked down)"
+for s in lint l0 render-golden l1 conformance spec-immutability; do
+  run_gate "STAGE_RC_${s//-/_}=1"
+  assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "${s} FAILED"
+done
+
+echo
+echo "== 3. THE REGRESSION: a SKIPPED stage is not a PASS and not exit 0"
+for s in lint l0 render-golden l1; do
+  run_gate "STAGE_RC_${s//-/_}=3"
+  assert_not_pass "${s} SKIPPED (local)"
+  assert_verdict UNDETERMINED 3 "${s} SKIPPED (local)"
+  grep -qF "$s" <<<"$SUMMARY" && ok "${s}: the step summary names the stage that did not run" \
+                              || bad "${s}: step summary does not name the skipped stage"
+done
+
+echo
+echo "== 4. under STRICT skips (CI declares it) a could-not-run skip BLOCKS, never merely 3"
+for s in lint l0 render-golden l1; do
+  run_gate GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true "STAGE_RC_${s//-/_}=3"
+  assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "${s} SKIPPED with GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true"
+done
+# ...which is what makes gate.yml's `|| [ $? -eq 3 ]` safe: in CI, exit 3 cannot be a missing
+# tool or an unwired seam. Only the declared-environmental skip below can produce it.
+run_gate GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true STAGE_RC_l0=3 STAGE_RC_lint=3
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "several stages SKIPPED under strict skips"
+
+echo
+echo "== 5. spec-immutability: unverified is never green, but is not upgraded to a block by CI"
+run_gate STAGE_RC_spec_immutability=3
+assert_not_pass "spec-immutability SKIPPED"
+assert_verdict UNDETERMINED 3 "spec-immutability SKIPPED (local)"
+run_gate GATE_STRICT_SKIPS=true STAGE_RC_spec_immutability=3
+assert_verdict UNDETERMINED 3 "spec-immutability SKIPPED under strict skips (deliberate exception)"
+run_gate REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true STAGE_RC_spec_immutability=3
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "spec-immutability SKIPPED + REQUIRE_SPEC_VERIFICATION=true"
+
+echo
+echo "== 6. conformance L2/L3: a DECLARED-absent capability may still pass — and is NAMED"
+run_gate STAGE_RC_conformance=3
+assert_verdict PASS 0 "conformance SKIPPED, no cluster declared"
+grep -qF "conformance-l2-l3" <<<"$OUT" \
+  && ok "the PASS headline names the declared L2/L3 gap" \
+  || bad "the PASS headline hides the declared L2/L3 gap"
+grep -qF "conformance-l2-l3" <<<"$SUMMARY" \
+  && ok "the step summary names the declared L2/L3 gap" \
+  || bad "the step summary hides the declared L2/L3 gap"
+run_gate CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true STAGE_RC_conformance=3
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "conformance SKIPPED despite CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=true"
+run_gate REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS=true STAGE_RC_conformance=3
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "conformance SKIPPED + REQUIRE_CLUSTER_TESTS=true with a touched subset"
+# A misspelled switch must leave the guard OFF (truthy()), never half-on.
+run_gate CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=ture STAGE_RC_conformance=3
+assert_verdict PASS 0 "CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=ture is NOT 'available' (no cluster was declared)"
+run_gate CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=TRUE STAGE_RC_conformance=3
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "CLUSTER_AVAILABLE=TRUE IS a declaration (skip then blocks)"
+
+echo
+echo "== 7. the undetermined touched subset: unchanged (2026-08-31 false-green paths)"
+run_gate TR_RC=3 TR_REASON=on-base TR_OUT=
+assert_verdict "NOT APPLICABLE" 0 "subset undeterminable, reason on-base, all stages green"
+run_gate TR_RC=3 TR_REASON=no-base TR_OUT=
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "subset undeterminable, reason no-base"
+run_gate TR_RC=3 TR_REASON=diff-failed TR_OUT=
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "subset undeterminable, reason diff-failed"
+# Precedence: a stage that did not run outranks "nothing to gate" — the stronger, non-zero
+# headline must win, or a push-to-main run could hide a missing tool behind NOT APPLICABLE.
+run_gate TR_RC=3 TR_REASON=on-base TR_OUT= STAGE_RC_l1=3
+assert_not_pass "on-base AND l1 SKIPPED"
+assert_verdict UNDETERMINED 3 "on-base AND l1 SKIPPED (UNDETERMINED outranks NOT APPLICABLE)"
+
+echo
+echo "== 8. an UNUSABLE subset blocks (carried over from 47068ee): any other non-zero exit"
+for rc in 1 2 4; do
+  run_gate "TR_RC=${rc}" TR_REASON=unclassified-path TR_OUT=
+  assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "touched-requirements.sh exited ${rc} (subset unusable, not empty)"
+done
+run_gate TR_RC=1 TR_REASON=unclassified-path TR_OUT=
+grep -qF "UNUSABLE" <<<"$SUMMARY" && ok "the step summary calls the subset UNUSABLE" \
+                                  || bad "the step summary does not report an unusable subset"
+
+echo
+echo "== 9. combinations: a FAILURE outranks a non-run, and the headline is the worst news"
+run_gate STAGE_RC_l0=1 STAGE_RC_l1=3
+assert_verdict BLOCKED 1 "l0 FAILED + l1 SKIPPED"
+run_gate STAGE_RC_spec_immutability=3 STAGE_RC_conformance=3
+assert_verdict UNDETERMINED 3 "spec-immutability SKIPPED + conformance declared-absent"
+
+echo
+if [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]; then echo "gate-decision tests: PASS ($PASS assertions)"; exit 0
+else echo "gate-decision tests: FAIL ($FAIL failed, $PASS passed)"; exit 1; fi
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# ci/tests/touched-requirements-test-attribution.test.sh — regression tests for DETECTION
+# RULE 3 in ci/touched-requirements.sh: a change anywhere under `conformance/tests/<test>/`
+# attributes THAT TEST'S OWN `conformance.home.k3s/R-*` labels.
+#
+# THE GAP THESE LOCK DOWN (2026-09-12). The coarse path map keys `conformance/*` to
+# R-TEST-01..04 — the requirements about the HARNESS — and says nothing about what a given
+# test PROVES. So weakening `conformance/tests/.../check.sh` attributed R-TEST-01..04 and
+# nothing else: the merge gate ran the harness's self-tests and NOT the weakened test's own
+# requirement subset. Weakening (or deleting) a test is the one change that most needs the
+# requirement it certifies to be re-verified, and it was the change least likely to select it.
+# The content scan cannot close this: it reads only ADDED/REMOVED lines, so it sees a change
+# to the LABEL BLOCK but not one to the test BODY — exactly the case that matters.
+#
+# Also covers the two path-map entries added in the same change (infra/* -> R-ENV-01, and
+# R-TEST-06 on .gitea/*|ci/*), which is how the two L0 checks that are DELIBERATELY not
+# whole-repo-scoped get selected by the paths that can break them.
+#
+# Same harness as the sibling suites: the real script, pointed at a THROWAWAY git repo via
+# the REPO_ROOT override. No network, no cluster, the working repo is never touched.
+#
+# Run:  ci/tests/touched-requirements-test-attribution.test.sh   (or `make -C ci test`)
+set -euo pipefail
+
+CI_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+SCRIPT="${CI_DIR}/touched-requirements.sh"
+
+PASS=0 FAIL=0
+ok()  { printf '  ok   %s\n' "$*"; PASS=$((PASS+1)); }
+bad() { printf '  FAIL %s\n' "$*" >&2; FAIL=$((FAIL+1)); }
+
+assert_present() {
+  if grep -qxF "$1" <<<"$2"; then ok "$3"
+  else bad "$3 (missing '$1' from: $(tr '\n' ' ' <<<"$2"))"; fi
+}
+assert_absent() {
+  if grep -qxF "$1" <<<"$2"; then bad "$3 (found unexpected '$1' in: $(tr '\n' ' ' <<<"$2"))"
+  else ok "$3"; fi
+}
+
+TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
+
+git -C "$TMP" init -q -b main
+git -C "$TMP" config user.email [email protected]
+git -C "$TMP" config user.name t
+git -C "$TMP" config commit.gpgsign false
+
+# --- Baseline: two conformance tests, each declaring its own requirement labels ----------
+# TEST A: a flat l0-static test. TEST B: a test with a NESTED fixture dir, to prove the
+# walk-up from an arbitrary changed file to the enclosing test dir.
+mkdir -p "$TMP/conformance/tests/l0-static/alpha" \
+         "$TMP/conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/beta/fixtures" \
+         "$TMP/conformance/lib" "$TMP/infra" "$TMP/ci"
+
+cat > "$TMP/conformance/tests/l0-static/alpha/chainsaw-test.yaml" <<'YAML'
+# HEADER PROSE. This test used to also cover conformance.home.k3s/R-STALE-09: "true",
+# which is a REFERENCE in a comment, not a declaration, and must NOT be attributed.
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: alpha
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-ALPHA-01: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-ALPHA-02: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+spec: {}
+YAML
+# The check BODY deliberately contains NO R-ID text, so anything the scan finds for a
+# body-only edit came from rule 3 and not from the content scan.
+cat > "$TMP/conformance/tests/l0-static/alpha/check.sh" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "assert something"
+SH
+
+cat > "$TMP/conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/beta/chainsaw-test.yaml" <<'YAML'
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: beta
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-BETA-07: "true"
+spec: {}
+YAML
+echo "seed: 1" > "$TMP/conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/beta/fixtures/data.yaml"
+
+echo "harness helper" > "$TMP/conformance/lib/helper.sh"
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm baseline
+
+# ========================================================================================
+echo "== case 1: a BODY-ONLY edit to a test attributes that test's own labels"
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b body-edit
+cat > "$TMP/conformance/tests/l0-static/alpha/check.sh" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "assert something weaker"
+SH
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm weaken
+OUT="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set:\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT"
+assert_present "R-ALPHA-01" "$OUT" "body-only test edit attributes the test's own R-ALPHA-01"
+assert_present "R-ALPHA-02" "$OUT" "body-only test edit attributes the test's own R-ALPHA-02"
+assert_present "R-TEST-03"  "$OUT" "the conformance/* path map still applies (R-TEST-03)"
+assert_absent  "R-STALE-09" "$OUT" "an R-ID cited only in the test's HEADER COMMENT is NOT attributed"
+assert_absent  "R-BETA-07"  "$OUT" "an UNRELATED test's labels are NOT attributed"
+
+# ========================================================================================
+echo "== case 2: an edit to a NESTED file walks up to the enclosing test"
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b nested-edit main
+echo "seed: 2" > "$TMP/conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/beta/fixtures/data.yaml"
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm fixture
+OUT="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set:\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT"
+assert_present "R-BETA-07" "$OUT" "nested fixture edit attributes the enclosing test's R-BETA-07"
+assert_absent  "R-ALPHA-01" "$OUT" "nested fixture edit does NOT attribute a sibling test's labels"
+
+# ========================================================================================
+echo "== case 3: DELETING a test still attributes what it used to certify"
+# Removing the only verifier of a requirement must not be the cheapest way to make the gate
+# stop checking it — so the labels are read from the BASE when HEAD no longer has them.
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b delete-test main
+git -C "$TMP" rm -rq "$TMP/conformance/tests/l0-static/alpha"
+git -C "$TMP" commit -qm "delete the alpha test"
+OUT="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set:\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT"
+assert_present "R-ALPHA-01" "$OUT" "deleting a test STILL attributes its R-ALPHA-01 (read from base)"
+assert_present "R-ALPHA-02" "$OUT" "deleting a test STILL attributes its R-ALPHA-02 (read from base)"
+
+# ========================================================================================
+echo "== case 4: a change OUTSIDE conformance/tests/ gains no test labels"
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b lib-edit main
+echo "harness helper v2" > "$TMP/conformance/lib/helper.sh"
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm lib
+OUT="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set:\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT"
+assert_present "R-TEST-02"  "$OUT" "a conformance/lib edit still attributes the harness requirements"
+assert_absent  "R-ALPHA-01" "$OUT" "a conformance/lib edit attributes NO individual test's labels"
+assert_absent  "R-BETA-07"  "$OUT" "a conformance/lib edit attributes NO individual test's labels (B)"
+
+# ========================================================================================
+echo "== case 5: path-map entries for the two DELIBERATELY path-scoped L0 checks"
+# infra/* -> R-ENV-01 (dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code reads nothing but infra/).
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b infra-edit main
+printf 'resource "x" "y" {}\n' > "$TMP/infra/main.tf"
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm infra
+OUT="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set:\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT"
+assert_present "R-ENV-01" "$OUT" "an infra/ edit attributes R-ENV-01 (was UNMAPPED: attributed nothing)"
+
+# ci/* -> ... R-TEST-06 (spec-immutability-enforced reads nothing but ci/ + the spec repo).
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b ci-edit main
+printf 'echo hello\n' > "$TMP/ci/thing.sh"
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm ci
+OUT="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set:\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT"
+assert_present "R-TEST-06"  "$OUT" "a ci/ edit attributes R-TEST-06 (the spec-immutability test's own ID)"
+assert_present "R-GITOPS-01" "$OUT" "a ci/ edit still attributes R-GITOPS-01"
+
+echo
+if [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo "touched-requirements test-attribution tests: PASS (${PASS} assertions)"; exit 0
+fi
+echo "touched-requirements test-attribution tests: FAIL (${FAIL} failed, ${PASS} passed)" >&2
+exit 1
@@ -93,6 +93,82 @@ printf 'touched set (removal):\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT2"
 assert_absent  "R-DELDOC-01"  "$OUT2" "REMOVED whole-line comment R-ID is NOT attributed"
 assert_present "R-DELREAL-01"  "$OUT2" "REMOVED real-line R-ID IS attributed"

+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# PATH MAP — bootstrap/* (added 2026-09-13)
+#
+# WHY THIS IS LOCKED DOWN. path_requirements() keys `bootstrap/*` to R-STATE-03 +
+# R-GITOPS-01, and until 2026-09-13 the comment justifying it described
+# `bootstrap/standup.sh` as a file that carries the placeholder guards. That file has never
+# been on `main` (it landed only on unmerged prod-standup branches), so the comment was
+# stale and the entry looked like dead weight someone would tidy away. It is not dead: it
+# is what SELECTS conformance/tests/l0-static/placeholder-guard-coupling for the change
+# that eventually lands a placeholder guard under bootstrap/ — and that test discovers its
+# guard by content rather than by path, so it activates on exactly that change. Removing
+# the entry would let the change introducing a guard be gated by nothing, which is the
+# 2026-09-05 class. These assertions make the entry's deletion a test failure rather than a
+# silent loss of selection.
+#
+# NOTE the R-ID content scan must not be what produces these: `notes/` is outside the path
+# map precisely so the other cases isolate the scan, and here the file content cites no
+# R-ID at all, so any R-ID in the output came from the PATH.
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b feature3 main
+mkdir -p "$TMP/bootstrap/flux"
+cat > "$TMP/bootstrap/flux/bootstrap.sh" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# a bootstrap-path change that cites no requirement id of its own
+echo "flux bootstrap"
+SH
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm "touch bootstrap/"
+OUT3="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set (bootstrap/ path map):\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT3"
+assert_present "R-STATE-03"   "$OUT3" "bootstrap/* attributes R-STATE-03 (selects placeholder-guard-coupling)"
+assert_present "R-GITOPS-01"  "$OUT3" "bootstrap/* attributes R-GITOPS-01 (it IS the GitOps bootstrap path)"
+
+# And the neighbouring entry the same test leans on for its other half: clusters/* must
+# attribute R-ENV-02, which is what selects placeholder-guard-coupling's HALF A (the
+# authored-values sweep over clusters/<env> effective cluster-vars).
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b feature4 main
+mkdir -p "$TMP/clusters/base"
+printf 'kind: ConfigMap\nmetadata:\n  name: cluster-vars\n' > "$TMP/clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml"
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm "touch clusters/"
+OUT4="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set (clusters/ path map):\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT4"
+assert_present "R-ENV-02"     "$OUT4" "clusters/* attributes R-ENV-02 (selects placeholder-guard-coupling HALF A)"
+assert_present "R-GITOPS-01"  "$OUT4" "clusters/* attributes R-GITOPS-01"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# THE ID PATTERN MUST ALLOW A DIGIT IN THE WORKSTREAM SEGMENT (added 2026-09-13)
+#
+# The content scan's pattern was `R-[A-Z]+-[0-9]+`, which CANNOT match `R-C2-01` or
+# `R-C2-02` — `[A-Z]+` consumes the `C` and then demands a `-` where the `2` is. Those are
+# the only two registry IDs whose workstream segment carries a digit, and the scan was blind
+# to BOTH, in the fail-OPEN direction: a change self-declaring a C2 requirement contributed
+# it to nobody, so the C2 conformance tests were filtered out of the merge gate. Found while
+# wiring conformance/tests/l0-static/c2-root-surface, which closes those two coverage gaps.
+#
+# `notes/` is outside path_requirements() on purpose, so the IDs below can only have come
+# from the CONTENT SCAN. A neighbouring all-letter ID is asserted too, so a regex that
+# somehow matched only the digit form would still fail here.
+git -C "$TMP" checkout -q -b feature5 main
+cat > "$TMP/notes/c2.yaml" <<'YAML'
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-C2-01: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-C2-02: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-OBS-04: "true"
+YAML
+git -C "$TMP" add -A && git -C "$TMP" commit -qm "declare R-C2-01 / R-C2-02"
+OUT5="$(REPO_ROOT="$TMP" BASE_REF=main "$SCRIPT" 2>/dev/null)"
+printf 'touched set (digit in the workstream segment):\n%s\n---\n' "$OUT5"
+assert_present "R-C2-01"  "$OUT5" "an R-ID with a DIGIT in the workstream segment IS attributed (R-C2-01)"
+assert_present "R-C2-02"  "$OUT5" "the second such ID is attributed too (R-C2-02)"
+assert_present "R-OBS-04" "$OUT5" "an all-letter workstream segment still works (control)"
+# The pattern must not become so loose that a non-ID token is read as a requirement: a bare
+# numeric workstream is not a registry shape, and attributing one would WIDEN the gate on
+# noise (over-broad selection, never a false green, but noisy and misleading).
+assert_absent  "R-1-01"   "$OUT5" "a purely numeric workstream segment is not invented from thin air"
+
 echo
 if [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]; then echo "touched-requirements tests: PASS ($PASS assertions)"; exit 0;
 else echo "touched-requirements tests: FAIL ($FAIL failed, $PASS passed)"; exit 1; fi
@@ -21,8 +21,12 @@
 #      the R-IDs that policies/ServiceDefinitions self-declare (docs/14 + ADR-0011).
 #      Untouched lines and prose are NOT scanned; see changed_diff() for why.
 #   2. A coarse path->requirement fallback for changes that don't self-declare IDs.
+#   3. For a change anywhere under `conformance/tests/<test>/`: THAT TEST'S OWN requirement
+#      labels, read from its chainsaw-test.yaml. See test_requirements_for_path().
 # The coarse map (2) NEVER overrides an explicit tag; it only widens coverage for
-# untagged changes so nothing silently escapes the gate.
+# untagged changes so nothing silently escapes the gate. (3) is the same principle applied
+# to the tests themselves: editing or weakening a test must be gated by the requirements
+# that test CERTIFIES, not merely by R-TEST-0x.
 set -euo pipefail
 CI_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 # shellcheck disable=SC1091
@@ -180,14 +184,128 @@ path_requirements() {
    platform/externaldns/*)    echo "R-DNS-02" ;;
    platform/velero/*)         echo "R-STATE-03" ;;
    platform/monitoring/*)     echo "R-OBS-01 R-OBS-02" ;;
+    # platform/cnpg was UNMAPPED until 2026-09-06. It is the PostgreSQL DR path for keycloak-db /
+    # nextcloud-db / semaphore-db (barmanObjectStore WAL archiving + ScheduledBackup), so a change
+    # there is an R-IDP-05 / R-STATE-03 change; it now also carries the platform-health alert rules
+    # for that path (R-OBS-04). Without this line an edit under platform/cnpg/ contributed ZERO
+    # requirements unless it happened to retype an R-ID on a non-comment line, and escaped the gate.
+    platform/cnpg/*)           echo "R-IDP-05 R-STATE-03 R-OBS-04" ;;
+    # vpn-egress was UNMAPPED until 2026-09-06. platform/vpn-egress/egress-steering.yaml IS the
+    # R-NET-04 datapath (the rule that selects between the two egress paths) and the R-NET-05/06/07
+    # steering policy — it even self-declares those IDs in its `homelab.keithjackson.dev/requirements`
+    # annotation. But the content scan only reads ADDED/REMOVED lines, so any edit that does not
+    # happen to retype an R-ID (a selector change, an excludedCIDRs change, a comment) contributed
+    # ZERO requirements and escaped the gate entirely. Mapped explicitly; the annotation still wins
+    # when a diff does carry the tags.
+    platform/vpn-egress/*)     echo "R-NET-04 R-NET-05 R-NET-06 R-NET-07" ;;
+    # Keycloak is the whole SSO surface: the realm import (declarative identity config),
+    # the SOPS client secrets, and the reconciler that heals them. Added 2026-09-06 after
+    # the client-secret incident, in which editing platform/keycloak/ attributed NO
+    # requirement, so the L2 keycloak tests were filtered out of the merge gate's touched
+    # subset — the change that could break every OIDC login was gated by nothing.
+    # R-IDP-05 is in scope because platform/keycloak/ also carries the CNPG DB Cluster and
+    # its off-cluster backup credential, not only the realm.
+    platform/keycloak/*)       echo "R-IDP-01 R-IDP-02 R-IDP-03 R-IDP-04 R-IDP-05 R-IDP-06" ;;
+    platform/oauth2-proxy/*)   echo "R-IDP-02 R-IDP-06" ;;
    platform/image-automation/*) echo "R-UPD-01 R-UPD-02" ;;
    conformance/*)             echo "R-TEST-01 R-TEST-02 R-TEST-03 R-TEST-04" ;;
+    # infra/ was UNMAPPED until 2026-09-12 — the OpenTofu + Ansible that provision the dev
+    # nodes. conformance/tests/l0-static/dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code reads NOTHING but
+    # infra/, yet an infra/ edit attributed ZERO requirements, so the one check that asserts
+    # the nodes are provisioned as code was filtered out of every change that could break it.
+    # That test's invariant IS path-scoped (it is deliberately NOT whole-repo-scoped; see its
+    # chainsaw-test.yaml), and the correct fix for a path-scoped invariant is a path-map entry.
+    infra/*)                   echo "R-ENV-01" ;;
    clusters/*)                echo "R-GITOPS-01 R-ENV-02" ;;
-    .gitea/*|ci/*)             echo "R-GITOPS-01 R-TEST-02 R-TEST-03" ;;
+    # bootstrap/ was UNMAPPED until 2026-09-06. The entry STAYS, but its original rationale
+    # was written against a file that is not here, and that is corrected on 2026-09-13:
+    # it claimed "bootstrap/standup.sh carries the placeholder guards that decide whether
+    # `velero` may be enabled against a real backup endpoint". bootstrap/standup.sh HAS NEVER
+    # BEEN ON `main` — it was not deleted (no deletion commit exists anywhere), it landed only
+    # on unmerged prod-standup branches. `git ls-tree main bootstrap/` lists README.md, flux/,
+    # gitea/, sops/. So R-STATE-03 here is ANTICIPATORY, not descriptive.
+    #
+    # WHY IT IS STILL RIGHT. conformance/tests/l0-static/placeholder-guard-coupling DISCOVERS
+    # its guard (any tracked *.sh defining `<name>_is_placeholder()`) instead of hardcoding a
+    # path, so the moment a standup guard lands under bootstrap/ that test's coupling half
+    # activates — and this entry is what selects the test for the change that lands it.
+    # Deleting the entry would mean the change introducing a placeholder guard is gated by
+    # nothing, which is the 2026-09-05 class (a prefix glob that stopped matching when the
+    # value it guards changed, in a different file) left to reintroduce itself. R-GITOPS-01 is
+    # descriptive today: bootstrap/flux/, gitea/ and sops/ ARE the GitOps bootstrap path.
+    # Locked down by ci/tests/touched-requirements.test.sh's path-map section.
+    bootstrap/*)               echo "R-STATE-03 R-GITOPS-01" ;;
+    # R-TEST-06 added 2026-09-12. The comment in changed_diff()'s rule 3 above records why it
+    # was ABSENT: R-TEST-06 used to be enforced by the spec-immutability STAGE and carried by no
+    # Chainsaw test, so attributing it made the coverage `--require` check false-block. It is now
+    # carried by conformance/tests/l0-static/spec-immutability-enforced — whose entire input
+    # surface is ci/ — so a ci/ change must attribute it, or the test that proves the
+    # spec-immutability mechanism is still load-bearing runs on nothing that can break it.
+    .gitea/*|ci/*)             echo "R-GITOPS-01 R-TEST-02 R-TEST-03 R-TEST-06" ;;
    *) : ;;
  esac
 }

+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# A CHANGED TEST ATTRIBUTES THE REQUIREMENTS IT CERTIFIES (detection rule 3).
+#
+# THE GAP THIS CLOSES (2026-09-12). The path map keys `conformance/*` to
+# R-TEST-01..04 — the requirements about the HARNESS. It says nothing about what a given
+# test PROVES. So editing `conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/tenant-isolation/check.sh` to
+# weaken or delete an assertion attributed R-TEST-01..04 and nothing else: the merge gate
+# then ran the harness's self-tests and NOT the weakened test's own requirement subset.
+# Weakening a test is the one change that most needs the requirement it certifies to be
+# re-verified, and it was the change least likely to select it.
+#
+# The `conformance.home.k3s/R-*: "true"` labels on a test ARE the authoritative declaration of
+# what it verifies (lib/coverage.py reads the same labels); this reads them directly. Note the
+# content scan in main() only sees ADDED/REMOVED lines, so it catches a change to the LABEL
+# BLOCK but not a change to the test BODY — which is exactly the case that matters here.
+#
+# WHY IT READS HEAD *OR* THE BASE: a change that DELETES a test, or deletes its
+# chainsaw-test.yaml, must still attribute what that test used to certify — otherwise removing
+# the only verifier of a requirement is the cheapest way to make the gate stop checking it.
+# HEAD first (the post-change truth), base as the fallback (the deleted case). Fail-closed:
+# this function can only ADD requirements, never remove one.
+: "${CONF_TEST_LABEL_PREFIX:=conformance.home.k3s}"   # == CONF_LABEL_PREFIX, conformance/lib/common.sh
+
+file_text_head_or_base() {
+  local path="$1"
+  git -C "$REPO_ROOT" show "HEAD:${path}" 2>/dev/null && return 0
+  git -C "$REPO_ROOT" show "${BASE}:${path}" 2>/dev/null && return 0
+  return 0
+}
+
+# test_requirements_for_path <changed-path> -> space-separated R-IDs (possibly empty).
+# Walks UP from the changed file to the nearest ancestor directory carrying a
+# chainsaw-test.yaml, so it works for any file in a test dir (check.sh, mutations.py,
+# fixtures, the chainsaw-test.yaml itself) and for nested test layouts.
+test_requirements_for_path() {
+  local f="$1" dir yaml text
+  case "$f" in conformance/tests/*/*) ;; *) return 0 ;; esac
+  dir="${f%/*}"
+  while :; do
+    case "$dir" in
+      conformance/tests|conformance|.|"") return 0 ;;
+      */*) ;;
+      *) return 0 ;;
+    esac
+    yaml="${dir}/chainsaw-test.yaml"
+    text="$(file_text_head_or_base "$yaml")"
+    if [ -n "$text" ]; then
+      # Whole-line `#` comments are dropped first — same "reference, not declaration" rule the
+      # content scan applies (changed_diff() rule 3): a label shown inside a header example is
+      # documentation. Only a real YAML mapping line counts.
+      printf '%s\n' "$text" \
+        | grep -vE '^[[:space:]]*#' \
+        | sed -nE "s#^[[:space:]]*${CONF_TEST_LABEL_PREFIX}/(R-[A-Z0-9]+-[0-9]+):[[:space:]]*[\"']?true.*#\1#p" \
+        | tr '\n' ' '
+      return 0
+    fi
+    dir="${dir%/*}"
+  done
+}
+
 main() {
  local files reqs="" rc=0 base_sha head_sha local_main merge_base

@@ -221,9 +339,27 @@ main() {
  while IFS= read -r f; do
    [ -n "$f" ] || continue
    reqs+=" $(path_requirements "$f")"
+    # Detection rule 3: a change under conformance/tests/<test>/ attributes THAT TEST'S own
+    # requirement labels, so weakening a test is gated by what the test certifies.
+    reqs+=" $(test_requirements_for_path "$f")"
  done <<< "$files"

  # Self-declared R-IDs on the ADDED/REMOVED lines of the change (see changed_diff).
+  #
+  # THE ID PATTERN IS `R-[A-Z0-9]+-[0-9]+`, NOT `R-[A-Z]+-[0-9]+`. The WORKSTREAM segment may
+  # contain a DIGIT: `R-C2-01` and `R-C2-02` (command & control UI) are the only two such IDs
+  # in conformance/requirements/registry.yaml today, and the stricter pattern silently failed
+  # to match BOTH of them — `[A-Z]+` consumes the `C` and then demands a `-` where the `2` is.
+  # Every other consumer in the repo already allows the digit: test_requirements_for_path()
+  # twenty lines above uses `R-[A-Z0-9]+-[0-9]+`, as do conformance/lib/coverage.py,
+  # conformance/lib/status.py and conformance/lib/run_l1_offline.py. This grep was the lone
+  # dissenter, and it dissented by UNDER-attributing — the fail-OPEN direction. A change that
+  # retyped a `conformance.home.k3s/R-C2-01` tag, or a manifest self-declaring R-C2-02 from a
+  # path the map keys elsewhere, contributed those IDs to NOBODY, so the C2 tests were
+  # filtered out of the merge gate. Same defect class as the map's `*) : ;;` arm: a miss that
+  # reads as "nothing touched". path_requirements() has no arm for platform/homepage/* or
+  # platform/headlamp/* either, so before this fix the ONLY route to R-C2-01/02 was rule 3
+  # (editing the C2 test itself). Regression-tested in ci/tests/touched-requirements.test.sh.
  # `^[+-]` keeps hunk headers (`@@`) and the `+++`/`---` file headers out of scope.
  # `sed 's/^[+-]//'` then strips the single-char diff marker (safe: -U0 emits one), so
  #   what remains is the SOURCE line, and `grep -vE '^[[:space:]]*#'` drops whole-line
@@ -237,7 +373,7 @@ main() {
    | grep -vE '^(\+\+\+|---)' \
    | sed -E 's/^[+-]//' \
    | grep -vE '^[[:space:]]*#' \
-    | grep -hoE 'R-[A-Z]+-[0-9]+' \
+    | grep -hoE 'R-[A-Z0-9]+-[0-9]+' \
    | tr '\n' ' ' || true)"

  # Normalize: split, unique, sort. Emit to stdout.
@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@ YAMLLINT_VERSION="1.35.1"
 KUBECTL_VERSION="1.36.4"
 YQ_VERSION="4.44.6"

+# Alert-rule unit tests (promtool test rules) — the L0 check
+# conformance/tests/l0-static/alert-rules-unit-tested runs every
+# platform/**/*.promtool-test.yaml through it. MUST stay in lockstep with
+# infra/devcontainer/versions.env (which bakes it into the image) AND with the Prometheus
+# version running on prod, because promtool IS the rule engine: verified 2026-09-12 as
+# v3.14.0-distroless via `kubectl get prometheus -n monitoring -o jsonpath='{.items[*].spec.version}'`.
+# Shipped inside the prometheus release tarball, not as a separate release.
+PROMTOOL_VERSION="3.14.0"
+
 # ServiceDefinition JSON-Schema validation (schemas/validate.sh). Pip-installed;
 # pinned here so CI and a laptop validate against the exact same validator.
 CHECK_JSONSCHEMA_VERSION="0.29.4"
@@ -97,6 +97,27 @@ Kustomization: apps-wave-1  (./apps/wave-1, dependsOn apps-wave-0)
 Kustomization: apps-wave-N  (./apps/wave-N, dependsOn apps-wave-N-1)
 ```

+### Second-order CRDs need a THIRD pass (`platform-config-cdi`, added 2026-09-05)
+
+The controllers/configs split (`platform` → `platform-config`) assumes a CRD is registered by the
+controller **install**. CDI breaks that: `cdi-operator.yaml` registers only `cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`,
+and cdi-operator creates `storageprofiles` / `datavolumes` / `datasources` **only after it has
+reconciled the `CDI` CR**. Since kustomize-controller server-side **dry-runs every object in a pass
+before applying any of them**, having the `CDI` CR and the CDI `StorageProfile`s in one pass was a
+**deadlock, not a race**: unknown kind → pass aborts → CR never applied → CRD never created →
+`platform-config` can never converge → every tier below it blocked. Invisible on dev (its CDI CRDs
+have existed for months); it cost 12h on prod's cold start.
+
+So there is a third tier, `platform-config-cdi` (`./platform-config-cdi`, `dependsOn:
+platform-config`), and a rule:
+
+> A CR belongs in `platform-config-cdi`, not `platform-config`, when the CRD it needs is created by a
+> **controller at runtime** rather than by a manifest in git.
+
+`apps-vms` `dependsOn` it as well as `platform-config`, because CDI reads
+`StorageProfile/longhorn-vm` at DataVolume **provisioning** time — a VM disk provisioned before that
+profile exists is stamped RWO/Filesystem and is permanently not live-migratable.
+
 Wave 0 `dependsOn` `platform-config` (transitively `platform`) so CNI/storage/TLS/DNS/gateway
 exist before any workload reconciles. The app tier is split into dependency-ordered WAVES
 (`catalog/render.py --emit-waves`): each `apps-wave-<N>` health-gates (wait:true) ONLY its own
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 # NON-GATING (wait:false): unlike the app waves, this does NOT health-wait. A VM's first-boot image
 # import (CDI, minutes) + in-guest software install mean a VM can be intentionally long-not-Ready, so
 # health-gating it would wedge reconciliation for no benefit. VMs have no in-cluster dependents.
-# dependsOn platform-config so KubeVirt/CDI + the longhorn-vm StorageClass + CDI StorageProfiles
-# exist first. prune:true — this Kustomization solely owns the VM manifests (no adoption concern).
+# dependsOn platform-config so KubeVirt/CDI + the longhorn-vm StorageClass exist first, AND
+# platform-config-cdi so the CDI StorageProfiles do (2026-09-05: the StorageProfiles MOVED OUT of
+# platform-config into their own tier, so `dependsOn: platform-config` alone NO LONGER guarantees
+# them — see the dependsOn block). prune:true — this Kustomization solely owns the VM manifests (no
+# adoption concern).
 apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
 kind: Kustomization
 metadata:
@@ -19,6 +22,28 @@ spec:
  wait: false
  dependsOn:
    - name: platform-config
+    # LOAD-BEARING, not decoration. apps/vms/unifi/20-datavolume.yaml provisions a DataVolume on
+    # storageClassName `longhorn-vm`, and CDI reads StorageProfile/longhorn-vm AT PROVISIONING TIME to
+    # decide the claim's accessModes/volumeMode. Without that profile's `claimPropertySets`
+    # (ReadWriteMany + Block) the PVC is stamped RWO/Filesystem and the VM disk is PERMANENTLY not
+    # live-migratable — a silent, unrecoverable-without-recreate loss. The profiles used to arrive
+    # with platform-config; since 2026-09-05 they arrive with `platform-config-cdi`, so the edge has
+    # to move with them. platform-config-cdi runs wait:true and StorageProfile has no status
+    # conditions (kstatus -> Current on apply), so this edge cannot stall this tier.
+    #
+    # HONEST LIMIT: CDI provisions from the profile's STATUS, which its storageprofile-controller
+    # derives from our spec. This edge proves the spec is applied, not that CDI has folded it into
+    # status — that is a watch-triggered round-trip of seconds against a ~30s dependency requeue, so
+    # it is a timing argument rather than a guarantee. See clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml.
+    #
+    # This edge also makes the StorageProfile prune/recreate transition safe: platform-config's prune
+    # deletes the two profiles for the ~30-60s before platform-config-cdi re-applies them, and this
+    # dependsOn is what guarantees Flux cannot create a DataVolume inside that window.
+    #
+    # The platform-config edge above is kept although platform-config-cdi already dependsOn it: the
+    # edges are a set, there is no cycle, and stating both means a future edit to platform-config-cdi
+    # cannot silently drop this tier's KubeVirt/StorageClass gate.
+    - name: platform-config-cdi
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: flux-system
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ spec:
    substituteFrom:
      - kind: ConfigMap
        name: cluster-vars
-  # SOPS decryption for velero-cloud.sops.yaml (the scoped MinIO `cloud` credential) is layered per
-  # environment by the overlay (clusters/dev patches THIS Kustomization by name), identical to how
-  # headlamp/oauth2-proxy/crafty decrypt their own SOPS secrets. See clusters/dev/kustomization.yaml.
+  # SOPS decryption for the `cloud` INI credentials — velero-cloud.sops.yaml (dev's scoped MinIO key)
+  # and velero-cloud-prod.sops.yaml (prod's Cloudflare R2 token) — is layered per environment by the
+  # overlay (clusters/dev and clusters/prod patch THIS Kustomization by name), identical to how
+  # headlamp/oauth2-proxy/crafty decrypt their own SOPS secrets. Both Secrets are applied on both
+  # clusters; ${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX} (substituted from cluster-vars above) decides which one the
+  # velero Deployment actually mounts. See clusters/dev/kustomization.yaml.
@@ -26,49 +26,36 @@ data:
  # authored to serve the SAME hostnames out of the SAME Cloudflare zone, so prod's external-dns
  # (policy: sync, owner `default`) concluded it owned dev's public records and DELETED ALL OF THEM.
  # See infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10. The fix is architectural: each environment gets its OWN
-  # suffix, so the two clusters can no longer describe the same name.
+  # subdomain, so the two clusters can no longer describe the same name.
  #
-  #   dev   -> dev.home.keithjackson.dev        (a subdomain; = this base default)
-  #   prod  -> home.keithjackson.dev            (THE APEX — prod IS the apex, no `prod.` label)
+  #   dev   -> home.keithjackson.dev            (UNCHANGED — see below)
+  #   prod  -> prod.home.keithjackson.dev
  #
-  # OPERATOR DECISION 2026-09-04 (supersedes the interim split committed earlier the same day, which
-  # had prod on `prod.home.` with apex CNAMEs pointing at it). PROD IS THE APEX. That deletes the
-  # whole CNAME layer — `<svc>.home.keithjackson.dev` is prod's real name, not an alias — and it is
-  # DEV that carries a label. Convention is unchanged from GATEWAY_VIP / LONGHORN_DATA_PATH: the base
-  # default is the DEV value (dev restates it verbatim) and prod overrides it. What changed is which
-  # string dev holds.
-  #
-  # DEV'S VALUE IS A MIGRATION, NOT A VARIABLE CHANGE. The live dev cluster is serving the APEX right
-  # now: its wildcard cert, every public DNS record, its Keycloak issuer, ~12 OIDC clients' redirect
-  # URIs, kubectl SSO, and gitea.home.keithjackson.dev — which IS this repo's GitOps source AND the
-  # push target. Flipping this value on dev without first standing up the new host set STRANDS DEV:
-  # Flux's GitRepository url moves to gitea.dev.home.keithjackson.dev, which has no DNS record and no
-  # cert, so dev stops reconciling and cannot be fixed by pushing. ORDERED CUTOVER, operator present:
-  # infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10.
-  #
-  # DEV MUST VACATE THE APEX BEFORE PROD PUBLISHES THERE. Both clusters describing
-  # `*.home.keithjackson.dev` at once is the 2026-09-04 incident precondition, re-created.
-  BASE_DOMAIN: "dev.home.keithjackson.dev"
+  # DEV DELIBERATELY STAYS ON THE APEX `home.keithjackson.dev`. The target architecture puts dev on
+  # `dev.home.keithjackson.dev` with apex CNAMEs `<svc>.home` -> `<svc>.prod.home`, but moving dev
+  # relocates its Keycloak issuer, every OIDC client redirect URI, kubectl SSO, its wildcard cert and
+  # the Gitea host that IS the GitOps source — on a live cluster. Deferred to phase 2
+  # (infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10). Base default is therefore the DEV value, the same convention as
+  # GATEWAY_VIP / LONGHORN_DATA_PATH: the base default is the known-good working value, dev restates
+  # it verbatim, and prod overrides it. Dev's rendered output is byte-identical to the pre-
+  # tokenization hardcoded manifests (verified 2026-09-04, all 12 substituted paths).
+  BASE_DOMAIN: "home.keithjackson.dev"

  # ExternalDNS `--domain-filter` (platform/externaldns/helmrelease.yaml). SAFETY NET #2 behind
  # EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID: a record whose name falls outside this filter is not even considered,
  # so it cannot be created, updated or deleted regardless of TXT ownership.
  #
-  # BOTH ENVIRONMENTS USE THE CLOUDFLARE **ZONE**, `keithjackson.dev`. This value is NOT a per-
-  # environment isolation knob and must not be narrowed to either environment's BASE_DOMAIN.
+  # DEV KEEPS THE ZONE APEX `keithjackson.dev`, and must: dev serves the `home.keithjackson.dev`
+  # apex itself, and the Cloudflare provider filters the ACCOUNT'S ZONES by this value — a filter
+  # that is a strict subdomain of the zone dropped the parent zone outright ("no hosted zone matching
+  # record DNS Name", DECISIONS-LOG 2026-08) on the version in use then. So dev's value is unchanged
+  # from the retired `DNS_ZONE` knob this replaces, and dev renders byte-identically.
  #
-  # FINDING F-DNS1 (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-08-17) — the Cloudflare provider uses --domain-filter for ZONE
-  # SELECTION as well as name filtering, so a filter that is a STRICT SUBDOMAIN of the hosted zone
-  # matches NO zone: ExternalDNS generates the record and then skips it with "no hosted zone matching
-  # record DNS Name", publishing NOTHING. This has been tried and reverted more than once (an agent
-  # narrowed prod to prod.home.keithjackson.dev on 2026-09-04; overridden in review). DO NOT "harden"
-  # it — the change is not defence in depth, it is a total outage of DNS publication.
-  #
-  # WHERE ISOLATION ACTUALLY COMES FROM, and it is sufficient:
-  #   (1) the two environments request DISJOINT hostname sets (dev.home.… vs the apex), and
-  #   (2) EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID differs, so neither registry ever claims the other's records.
-  # That pairing is what the 2026-09-04 incident needed; a domain filter cannot provide it, because
-  # both environments live in the one zone either way.
+  # PROD NARROWS TO ITS OWN SUBTREE `prod.home.keithjackson.dev`. VERIFY ON PROD'S FIRST RECONCILE
+  # (infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10): if the zone-lookup limitation above still applies to the pinned
+  # chart, prod's external-dns will select NO zone and create NO records. That failure is FAIL-CLOSED
+  # — it can never delete another environment's records — and the fallback is to set prod's value
+  # back to "keithjackson.dev", leaving EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID as the sole (and sufficient) guard.
  EXTERNALDNS_DOMAIN_FILTER: "keithjackson.dev"

  # ExternalDNS TXT registry owner id (`--txt-owner-id`). THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE 2026-09-04 INCIDENT:
@@ -77,35 +64,14 @@ data:
  # `policy: sync`, to DELETE when no local resource claims it. Two clusters sharing an owner id on
  # one zone therefore garbage-collect each other. Each environment MUST have a distinct value.
  #
-  #   dev -> `dev`      prod -> `prod`      base default -> a non-colliding sentinel (below)
+  # DEV MUST RENDER EXACTLY `default`. Dev's LIVE public records are already registered in Cloudflare
+  # under owner `default`; changing dev's value would make dev's own external-dns stop recognising
+  # them, and it would re-create duplicates alongside the orphaned originals. Dev's overlay pins it.
  #
-  # DEV IS `dev`, NOT `default` (changed 2026-09-04 with the move to dev.home.keithjackson.dev). Until
-  # this migration dev HAD to render `default`, because its LIVE apex records were already registered
-  # in Cloudflare's TXT registry under that owner and renaming would have orphaned every one of them.
-  # THAT CONSTRAINT NO LONGER BINDS: dev is publishing an ENTIRELY NEW record set under
-  # *.dev.home.keithjackson.dev, with no pre-existing registry entries to recognise, so the owner id
-  # is now free to be chosen on its merits. Two reasons to take `dev`:
-  #   - `default` is THE VALUE YOU GET BY FORGETTING (it is the external-dns chart default, and both
-  #     clusters silently shared it, which IS the incident). An environment whose identity is the
-  #     forget-value can never be told apart from a misconfigured newcomer. No environment should
-  #     hold it.
-  #   - It makes vacating the apex an EXPLICIT, ORDERED, VERIFIABLE step. Dev's old apex records stay
-  #     owned by `default`, which no environment now claims, so nothing deletes them implicitly on
-  #     some future reconcile — they are retired deliberately, and prod's publish is gated on that
-  #     retirement being confirmed in Cloudflare (infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10) rather than on a
-  #     race between two reconcile loops.
-  #
-  # PROD STAYS `prod` AND MUST NOT BECOME `default`, even though prod now serves the apex names that
-  # dev's `default`-owned records currently occupy. Giving prod `default` would hand prod ownership of
-  # the LIVE dev cluster's records while dev is still serving them, and under `policy: sync` prod
-  # would delete the ones no prod source claims. That is the 2026-09-04 incident, re-armed, with the
-  # roles swapped. Prod inherits the apex NAMES; it must never inherit the apex OWNER ID.
-  #
-  # THE BASE DEFAULT IS A NON-COLLIDING SENTINEL, deliberately NOT `default` and not any real
-  # environment's id. A new environment that forgets this knob must not silently inherit another's
-  # identity — that is precisely the incident. With this sentinel such a cluster owns nothing, so it
-  # can DELETE nothing; it would publish under a visibly wrong owner id (grep the TXT records)
-  # instead of destroying a live environment's DNS.
+  # THE BASE DEFAULT IS A NON-COLLIDING SENTINEL, deliberately NOT `default`. A new environment that
+  # forgets this knob must not silently inherit dev's identity — that is precisely the incident. With
+  # this sentinel such a cluster owns nothing, so it can DELETE nothing; it would publish under a
+  # visibly wrong owner id (grep the TXT records) instead of destroying a live environment's DNS.
  EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID: "unset-see-cluster-vars"

  ACME_CLUSTER_ISSUER: "letsencrypt-staging" # dev: staging | prod: letsencrypt-prod (ADR-0006)
@@ -113,7 +79,7 @@ data:
                                            # ingress VIP of the `shared` Gateway. MUST equal the FIRST address of
                                            # ${CILIUM_LB_POOL_START}..${CILIUM_LB_POOL_STOP} below — the Gateway
                                            # takes the pool's first free IP, and coredns-custom answers
-                                            # *.${BASE_DOMAIN} with THIS so pod -> public-hostname traffic
+                                            # *.home.keithjackson.dev with THIS so pod -> public-hostname traffic
                                            # hairpins through the Gateway (correct SNI -> wildcard cert).
                                            # Base default = the DEV LAN VIP (was 10.73.0.240, an address on the
                                            # long-RETIRED libvirt network — corrected 2026-08-31 so an overlay that
@@ -130,15 +96,55 @@ data:
  #
  # Substitution coverage (verify before adding a knob here): every path that consumes these declares
  # postBuild.substituteFrom cluster-vars — platform (K3S_API_HOST), platform-config
-  # (CILIUM_LB_POOL_*, S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT), crafty (CRAFTY_L4_VIP), apps-wave-0 (S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT),
-  # velero (S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT), apps-vms (UNIFI_L4_VIP). A ${TOKEN} in an UNSUBSTITUTED path would
-  # ship the literal string into the cluster.
+  # (CILIUM_LB_POOL_*, and keycloak-db's S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT + CNPG_BACKUP_PATH: the Cluster lives at
+  # platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml but is rendered by platform-config, which is the ONLY
+  # tier that lists it), crafty (CRAFTY_L4_VIP), apps-wave-0 (nextcloud-db + semaphore-db:
+  # S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT, CNPG_BACKUP_PATH), velero (S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT, S3_BACKUP_REGION,
+  # VELERO_BACKUP_BUCKET, VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX), apps-vms (UNIFI_L4_VIP). A ${TOKEN} in an
+  # UNSUBSTITUTED path would ship the literal string into the cluster.
+  #
+  # ADDING A KNOB IS SAFE UNDER StrictPostBuildSubstitutions ONLY BECAUSE OF THE ROOT EDGE. An
+  # UNDEFINED variable is a HARD Kustomization failure, so a manifest that references a knob the
+  # live ConfigMap does not yet carry breaks its whole tier. `clusters/base/platform.yaml` gained
+  # `dependsOn: [flux-system]` for exactly this: dependsOn is REVISION-gated, so no substituting
+  # tier can reconcile revision N until the ROOT Kustomization has APPLIED revision N — i.e. until
+  # the new cluster-vars key EXISTS. Every substituting consumer chains transitively through
+  # `platform`, so one edge covers the graph, and a new knob plus its first reference may ship in
+  # ONE commit. (A hand-run `kubectl apply -k clusters/<env>` bypasses that ordering entirely: apply
+  # the overlay BEFORE the tier that references the knob, or the tier fails until it retries.)

  # k3s API endpoint Cilium's kube-proxy replacement dials (platform/cilium/helmrelease.yaml).
-  # [parity] MUST equal the Ansible bootstrap's k3s_api_host (infra/ansible/roles/cilium/defaults/
-  # main.yml -> cilium-values.yaml.j2, already inventory-parameterized). Wrong value = Cilium cannot
-  # reach the API server on adopt and the CNI breaks. Port stays 6443 in both envs, so it is NOT a knob.
-  K3S_API_HOST: "192.168.1.50"
+  #
+  # *** THIS IS THE CONTROL-PLANE VIP (kube-vip), NOT A NODE ADDRESS. *** Operator decision
+  # 2026-09-06. It was each environment's PRIMARY NODE IP until then, which made the CNI's
+  # control-plane path depend on one machine in a cluster whose entire purpose is HA: verified on
+  # live prod, all three cilium-agents carried KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST=192.168.2.10 (k3s-prod-1's
+  # own address) while kube-vip held 192.168.2.9. Losing that node leaves the datapath running off
+  # Cilium's cache while NO service or policy update lands — a silent, unbounded staleness, not an
+  # outage you would notice. A virtual address that follows the control plane is the fix, and it is
+  # what kube-vip was stood up to provide.
+  #
+  #   dev  -> 192.168.1.49   (= kube_vip_address, group_vars/all.yml; base default, below)
+  #   prod -> 192.168.2.9    (= kube_vip_address, group_vars/k3s_prod/vars.yml)
+  #
+  # THE NAME IS NOW SLIGHTLY WRONG AND IS KEPT ANYWAY: renaming the knob would be a second,
+  # unrelated change to every substituting Kustomization at the same time as a live CNI endpoint
+  # move. Read it as "the API host Cilium dials", which is what it always meant.
+  #
+  # [parity] MUST equal the Ansible bootstrap's **k3s_apiserver_endpoint** for the SAME environment
+  # (infra/ansible/inventory/group_vars/all.yml -> roles/cilium/templates/cilium-values.yaml.j2,
+  # already inventory-parameterized). NOT k3s_api_host — that variable still exists and still holds
+  # the FOUNDER's address, because the cold-bootstrap `--server` join needs a machine that is
+  # already up before any VIP exists. The two are deliberately separate; see the TWO API ADDRESSES
+  # block at the top of group_vars/all.yml.
+  #
+  # Wrong value = Cilium cannot reach the API server on adopt and the CNI breaks. Port stays 6443
+  # in both envs, so it is NOT a knob.
+  #
+  # TLS needs nothing: k3s_tls_sans has always carried kube_vip_address alongside every node IP, so
+  # both addresses are already in the serving cert (verified live 2026-09-06 — prod answers through
+  # https://192.168.2.9:6443 under full CA verification). No cert reissue, no k3s restart.
+  K3S_API_HOST: "192.168.1.49"

  # CiliumLoadBalancerIPPool `default-pool` (platform-config/cilium/l2-ip-pool.yaml): the VIP range
  # L2-announced on the flat LAN. Must sit OUTSIDE the node IPs and any DHCP scope, and must match the
@@ -154,12 +160,46 @@ data:
  UNIFI_L4_VIP: "192.168.1.54"               # UniFi controller VM: inform/STUN/adoption (apps/vms/unifi)
  CRAFTY_L4_VIP: "192.168.1.55"              # Crafty: Minecraft Java (TCP) + Bedrock (UDP) game ports

+  # --- Bulk (external NFS) storage host (docs/04 bulk tier) ---------------------------------------
+  # THE address of the Proxmox host whose ZFS datasets back every `class: bulk` volume: the media
+  # library (Storage/plex, 8.33 T — plex, sonarr, radarr) and the legacy Nextcloud archive
+  # (Storage/nextcloud, 270 G). The renderer emits it into each static NFS PersistentVolume's
+  # `spec.nfs.server` (catalog/render.py, BULK_NFS_SERVER); the export PATH is per-dataset and is
+  # declared in the ServiceDefinition, because the path is identical in every environment and only
+  # the ADDRESS is not.
+  #
+  # WHY THIS IS A KNOB AND NOT A LITERAL — the two clusters are on OPPOSITE SIDES of pfSense.
+  # The storage host has exactly one interface, vmbr0 192.168.1.9/24, on pfSense's LAN.
+  #   dev  nodes are 192.168.1.40/.41/.42 — the SAME L2 segment. They reach it directly, and one
+  #        NFS export to them already exists on that host (/mnt/Storage/k8s-volumes in
+  #        /etc/exports), so this path is proven, not theoretical. Base default = the dev value,
+  #        per the convention of the LAN block above.
+  #   prod nodes are 192.168.2.10/.11/.12 — pfSense's WAN. tcp/2049 does NOT traverse that today;
+  #        22 and 8006 answer only because pfSense port-forwards them via 192.168.2.102. Opening
+  #        the storage path is a PENDING OPERATOR DECISION with two candidate outcomes that give
+  #        DIFFERENT values here: 192.168.2.102 (another port-forward) or 192.168.1.9 (a route).
+  # So prod holds a loud TBD-PROD-* placeholder — see clusters/prod/kustomization.yaml for the
+  # blast radius of shipping it unset, which is NOT the usual "fails to apply".
+  BULK_NFS_SERVER: "192.168.1.9"
+
  # Off-cluster S3 backup target (R-STATE-03, R-IDP-05) — the on-Proxmox MinIO, plain HTTP, path-style.
  # Consumed by BOTH backup paths: every CNPG Cluster's barmanObjectStore.endpointURL (keycloak-db,
  # nextcloud-db, semaphore-db) and Velero's backupStorageLocation s3Url. Full URL incl. scheme+port.
-  # Prod needs its OWN target: a backup that lands on the dev LAN's MinIO is not off-cluster DR.
+  # Prod needs its OWN target: a backup that lands on the dev LAN's MinIO is not off-cluster DR —
+  # and, measured 2026-09-05 from a pod INSIDE prod, it CANNOT reach it anyway (prod is on the SOHO
+  # network 192.168.2.0/24, which is pfSense's WAN, while this MinIO sits inside pfSense's LAN:
+  # `curl http://192.168.1.9:9000/minio/health/live` timed out after 15s). Prod uses Cloudflare R2.
  S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT: "http://192.168.1.9:9000"

+  # S3 region. Every S3 client REQUIRES one; MinIO ignores whatever it is; Cloudflare R2 demands
+  # exactly `auto` (its `head-bucket` reports the physical hint `WNAM`, which is NOT a usable region
+  # string). This was hardcoded `us-east-1` inside platform/velero/helmrelease.yaml — correct-by-
+  # accident for MinIO and wrong for anything else, which is why it is a knob now. The base default
+  # is dev's LIVE value, deliberately: dev's Velero has been signing requests with `us-east-1`
+  # against that MinIO since bootstrap, and this repo's rule is that base == the known-good dev
+  # value. Prod overrides to `auto`.
+  S3_BACKUP_REGION: "us-east-1"
+
  # --- storage (ADR-0003) ---
  LONGHORN_DEFAULT_REPLICA_COUNT: "3"       # default StorageClass replica count (3 on 3 nodes)
  # Longhorn's defaultDataPath (platform/longhorn/helmrelease.yaml): the on-NODE directory every
@@ -212,6 +252,99 @@ data:
  VELERO_BACKUP_SCHEDULE: "0 3 * * *"        # cron; overlays may differ
  VELERO_RETENTION: "168h"                   # dev short | prod long

+  # ==========================================================================================
+  # OBJECT-STORE TENANCY — the three knobs that keep two clusters and two backup tools from
+  # writing into each other's data. THESE ARE SAFETY KNOBS, not preferences.
+  # ==========================================================================================
+  # Nothing about the object layout was per-environment before this: Velero's bucket was the
+  # hardcoded literal `velero` with no prefix, and every CNPG Cluster used the hardcoded
+  # `s3://cnpg` with barman's `serverName` defaulting to the CLUSTER NAME — and BOTH environments
+  # have a keycloak-db, a nextcloud-db and a semaphore-db. Point two clusters at one bucket under
+  # that layout and:
+  #   (a) each cluster's Velero ADOPTS the other's backups and TTL-DELETES them on retention; and
+  #   (b) two different Postgres servers stream WAL into ONE Barman prefix, which does not merely
+  #       mix files — it CORRUPTS THE CHAIN and destroys PITR for both. That is the worse half:
+  #       dev's DR restore is PROVEN (R-STATE-03) and this would silently un-prove it.
+  #
+  # WHY THERE IS NO SINGLE `S3_BACKUP_BUCKET`. The two consumers take differently-SHAPED values:
+  # the Velero chart wants `bucket` and `prefix` as separate fields, while CNPG's
+  # barmanObjectStore.destinationPath is ONE full s3:// URL whose first path segment IS the bucket.
+  # CNPG's bucket therefore already lives inside CNPG_BACKUP_PATH; adding a second knob that had to
+  # hold the same bucket name a second time would be a rotation waiting to drift — the exact class
+  # of duplication this repo has been bitten by. Three knobs, each shaped for its own consumer, and
+  # no two of them can contradict each other.
+  #
+  # BASE = DEV'S LIVE LAYOUT, BYTE-FOR-BYTE, AND MUST STAY THAT WAY. Dev's existing backups are at
+  # `s3://velero/` (bucket root, no prefix) and `s3://cnpg/<clusterName>/` on that MinIO. Giving dev
+  # a prefix, or renaming its buckets, would ORPHAN the very backups its proven restore depends on —
+  # the same reason dev's EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID stays `default` and its LONGHORN_DATA_PATH stays
+  # /var/lib/longhorn. Verified: with an EMPTY prefix the Velero chart omits `objectStorage.prefix`
+  # from the rendered BackupStorageLocation entirely (helm template, chart 12.1.0), so dev's live
+  # BSL is unchanged by this parameterization rather than merely equivalent to it.
+  #
+  # PROD, which has no history to preserve, gets ONE bucket with TWO disjoint top-level prefixes:
+  #
+  #     s3://k3s-prod-backup/velero/…                 Velero (kopia repo + backup metadata)
+  #     s3://k3s-prod-backup/barman/<clusterName>/…   CNPG WAL + base backups
+  #
+  # The operator created exactly one R2 bucket, so velero-vs-barman separation has to come from the
+  # prefix rather than the bucket. The BUCKET ROOT IS DELIBERATELY LEFT EMPTY: if a prefix ever
+  # renders wrong, its objects land somewhere obviously bogus instead of silently colliding with a
+  # real tenant's data. Dev↔prod isolation is doubly independent — different endpoint AND different
+  # bucket — so neither cluster can reach the other's objects even with a mis-substituted prefix.
+  VELERO_BACKUP_BUCKET: "velero"             # dev: the `velero` MinIO bucket | prod: k3s-prod-backup
+  VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX: ""                   # dev: bucket root (live layout) | prod: "velero"
+  CNPG_BACKUP_PATH: "s3://cnpg"              # dev: the `cnpg` MinIO bucket root | prod: s3://k3s-prod-backup/barman
+
+  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # WHICH CREDENTIAL SECRET THE BACKUP CONSUMERS READ (added 2026-09-07 — the per-env credential split)
+  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # The three knobs above say WHERE the backups go. This one says WHICH KEY signs the requests, and
+  # it exists because the endpoint moved per-environment while the credential did not.
+  #
+  # THE BUG IT FIXES. The four backup-credential Secrets — velero-cloud.sops.yaml and the three
+  # <db>-backup-credentials.sops.yaml — are SHARED BASE manifests: platform/ and apps/ are rendered
+  # by the same Flux tiers on both clusters, and cluster-vars substitution is the ONLY thing that
+  # differs (R-ENV-02). So writing prod's R2 token into those four files did not GIVE prod a
+  # credential, it REPLACED DEV'S: dev's Velero and all three dev CNPG Clusters would have started
+  # signing MinIO requests with an R2 key id. For Velero that is a broken BSL; for CNPG it is worse,
+  # because `archive_mode=on` means Postgres REFUSES TO RECYCLE a WAL segment it could not archive,
+  # so a 403 loop is a monotonically filling pgdata PVC ending in a PANIC — the same failure prod
+  # spent its whole bring-up in with a placeholder endpoint. One shared Secret also means rotating
+  # either environment's key silently breaks the other; that is the structural reason for the split,
+  # independent of dev's eventual decommission.
+  #
+  # THE MECHANISM. Each credential is now TWO Secret objects, both applied to BOTH clusters (they are
+  # base resources; nothing here forks a manifest per environment). The consumer names one:
+  #
+  #     velero:   credentials.existingSecret: velero-cloud-credentials${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}
+  #     CNPG:     s3Credentials.*.name:  <db>-backup-credentials${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}
+  #
+  # ONE knob, not four, ON PURPOSE. Four independent secret-name knobs could be updated three-
+  # quarters of the way, leaving one consumer pointed at the OTHER environment's key with nothing
+  # rendering wrong — and StrictPostBuildSubstitutions cannot catch that, because it only fails on an
+  # UNDEFINED variable, never on a defined-but-stale one. With a single suffix the four move together
+  # or not at all. The cost is that the rendered Secret name is not greppable from the consumer; the
+  # names are spelled out in full in each kustomization.yaml beside the resources.
+  #
+  # THE BASE DEFAULT IS THE EMPTY STRING, AND THAT IS LOAD-BEARING. It renders the UNSUFFIXED names,
+  # which are the objects that already exist and that the live dev cluster is running. A default
+  # naming a Secret that does not exist would be worse than the shared-Secret state it replaces:
+  # Velero's pod would sit in ContainerCreating forever on a missing `existingSecret` volume, and a
+  # CNPG Cluster whose s3Credentials Secret is absent stops archiving WAL — i.e. the disk-full clock
+  # again — so an unresolvable default breaks the referencing cluster HARDER than a wrong key does.
+  # Empty is also the value dev must carry, so base and dev agree, exactly like VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX.
+  #
+  # An EMPTY VALUE IS SAFE UNDER StrictPostBuildSubstitutions: strict mode fails on a variable that is
+  # not DEFINED, not on one defined as "". VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX above has shipped empty since the
+  # gate was enabled and proves it. Both overlays state this knob explicitly — dev "" and prod
+  # "-prod" — so neither inherits it silently.
+  #
+  # ADDING A NEW BACKUP CREDENTIAL: create BOTH halves (`x-credentials.sops.yaml` and
+  # `x-credentials-prod.sops.yaml`), list both in the kustomization, and reference
+  # `x-credentials${BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX}`. Never a single shared Secret again.
+  BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX: ""              # dev: "" (MinIO creds) | prod: "-prod" (R2 creds)
+
  # --- placement ---
  PLATFORM_NODE_SELECTOR_KEY: "kubernetes.io/os"   # base no-op selector; prod may pin roles
  PLATFORM_NODE_SELECTOR_VALUE: "linux"
@@ -34,8 +34,12 @@ spec:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: flux-system
  path: ./platform/homepage
-  # Homepage references no ${VARS} today; the substitution is retained for parity with the other
-  # tiers / future overlay knobs.
+  # LOAD-BEARING, not parity decoration (the comment here used to say the opposite). This component
+  # references ${BASE_DOMAIN} in TWO places: httproute.yaml's apex hostname, and EVERY tile href in
+  # configmap.yaml. Without this substitution the token is applied LITERALLY — the apex route binds
+  # the host `${BASE_DOMAIN}`, which matches no Gateway listener, and every link on the operator's
+  # front door points at a host that does not exist — while Flux still reports this Kustomization
+  # Ready. It fails OPEN. Asserted by conformance/tests/l0-static/c2-root-surface (5).
  postBuild:
    substituteFrom:
      - kind: ConfigMap
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ resources:
  - cilium.yaml          # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform/cilium (dependsOn flux-system, wait:true)
  - platform.yaml        # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform (CONTROLLERS: HelmReleases / CRDs)
  - platform-config.yaml # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform-config (CONFIGS: CRs; dependsOn platform)
+  # SECOND-ORDER CDI configs — CRs whose CRD is created by a controller AT RUNTIME, not by any
+  # manifest in git. cdi-operator.yaml registers only `cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`; `storageprofiles` (and
+  # datavolumes, datasources, …) appear only after cdi-operator reconciles the `CDI` CR that
+  # platform-config applies. Because Flux dry-runs every object in a pass before applying any of them,
+  # keeping the StorageProfiles in platform-config was a TRUE DEADLOCK (unknown kind -> pass aborts ->
+  # CR never applied -> CRD never created -> tier never converges), invisible on dev and fatal on any
+  # cold cluster — observed on prod 2026-09-05. This tier is the durable fix; `standup.sh crds` stays
+  # as the belt-and-braces repair for clusters already wedged. See clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml.
+  - platform-config-cdi.yaml # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform-config-cdi (dependsOn platform-config)
  # App tier, split into dependency-ordered WAVES (was the single ./apps `apps` Kustomization).
  # Each apps-wave-<N> dependsOn wave N-1 (wave 0 dependsOn platform-config) and health-gates
  # (wait:true) ONLY its own wave, so a crashloop in a later wave can't stall an earlier one.
@@ -41,6 +50,13 @@ resources:
  # reverse-proxy sidecar (Option B). POST-platform tier (dependsOn platform-config, wait:false); same
  # non-gating leaf-UI rationale as headlamp/homepage/oauth2-proxy (a UI must never gate the platform).
  - crafty.yaml          # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform/crafty (dependsOn platform-config)
+  # Alert runbooks — POST-platform tier (dependsOn platform-config, wait:false). Serves the 34
+  # runbooks the alert rules' `runbook_url` annotations point at, at <apex>/runbooks/<name>; before
+  # this tier existed that path was a 404 and every alert handed the operator a dead link. Same
+  # non-gating leaf rationale as headlamp/homepage/crafty. Carries NO postBuild substitution on
+  # purpose — it renders documentation containing `${...}` shell examples that envsubst would empty;
+  # see clusters/base/runbooks.yaml.
+  - runbooks.yaml        # Flux Kustomization -> ./runbooks (dependsOn platform-config)
  # Velero backup controller — POST-platform tier (dependsOn platform-config, wait:false). A backup
  # controller must NEVER gate the platform chain; same non-gating rationale as headlamp/oauth2-proxy.
  # Carries velero-cloud.sops.yaml, so clusters/dev adds a SOPS decryption patch for it (by name).
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+---
+# Flux Kustomization: SECOND-ORDER CDI CONFIGS — reconciles ./platform-config-cdi.
+# Serves R-GITOPS-01 (all desired state in git, reconciled by Flux) and R-ENV-02.
+#
+# WHY THIS TIER EXISTS — the durable fix for the 2026-09-05 prod CDI DEADLOCK
+#
+# `platform-config` applied the `CDI` CR and the CDI `StorageProfile`s in the SAME pass.
+# kustomize-controller server-side DRY-RUNS EVERY object before applying ANY of them, and
+# `storageprofiles.cdi.kubevirt.io` does not exist until cdi-operator has reconciled that `CDI` CR.
+# So the unknown kind aborted the whole tier → the CR was never applied → the CRD was never created →
+# platform-config could NEVER converge and every tier below it stayed blocked. Not a race: a
+# deadlock. cdi-operator was Available for 12h on prod with no CR. Invisible on dev (its CDI CRDs
+# have existed for months), FATAL on any cold cluster. See DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-05.
+#
+# `bootstrap/standup.sh crds` pre-applies the `CDI` CR to break it by hand. That is a WORKAROUND and
+# stays as belt-and-braces for clusters already wedged; THIS Kustomization is the fix that makes the
+# graph order itself, so a cold cluster needs no human in the loop.
+#
+# THE ORDERING GUARANTEE, precisely: `dependsOn` is REVISION-gated, not merely Ready-gated (verified
+# against kustomize-controller v1.4.0 `kustomization_controller.go :: checkDependencies`, our
+# version): sharing a GitRepository with the dependency, this Kustomization cannot reconcile revision
+# N until `platform-config` has APPLIED revision N — and, because platform-config runs `wait: true`,
+# not until the `CDI` CR it applied is HEALTHY. cdi-operator creates the remaining CDI CRDs as part of
+# reaching that state, so by the time this tier's first dry-run runs, `StorageProfile` is a known
+# kind. One edge, no pre-apply.
+#
+# WHY NOT just move the CDI CR earlier, into `platform`? Because `platform` is the tier the CNI gates
+# and everything else waits on: putting CDI's health on that critical path is the mistake the
+# oauth2-proxy/headlamp splits were made to undo. The CR is correctly a platform-config CR; it is the
+# StorageProfiles that were in the wrong pass.
+apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: Kustomization
+metadata:
+  name: platform-config-cdi
+  namespace: flux-system
+spec:
+  interval: 10m
+  # 2m (short, deliberately). kustomize-controller caches API discovery, so on a COLD cluster the
+  # very first attempt here can still fail `no matches for kind "StorageProfile"` even though the CRD
+  # now exists — a stale RESTMapper, not a missing CRD (the failure mode `standup.sh crds` warns
+  # about). The controller resets the mapper and the retry succeeds, so the only cost of that stale
+  # cache is one retryInterval. Keep it short.
+  retryInterval: 2m
+  # 2m is ample: this tier applies two tiny cluster-scoped CRs. There is no workload to roll out, no
+  # image to pull and no controller to become Available, so a slow apply here means a real error, not
+  # a slow rollout — failing fast surfaces it instead of burning 5m per attempt.
+  timeout: 2m
+  # TRUE, and this tier is the SOLE declarer of both StorageProfiles (checked repo-wide), so prune is
+  # component-scoped: the stale set can only ever be a StorageProfile this file stopped rendering.
+  # It is NOT the platform/cilium case — nothing here declares a shared Namespace, or any object a
+  # second path also declares. See the transition note at the bottom of this file.
+  prune: true
+  # TRUE, but understand exactly what it buys and what it does NOT.
+  #
+  # CANNOT STALL: `StorageProfile`'s status type (CDI v1beta1 StorageProfileStatus: storageClass,
+  # provisioner, claimPropertySets, cloneStrategy, dataImportCronSourceFormat) carries NO
+  # `conditions` and NO `observedGeneration`, so kstatus's generic path reports it Current the moment
+  # it is applied. `wait: true` therefore adds a Ready condition without adding a way to hang — which
+  # is why it is safe to let `apps-vms` gate on it (contrast the headlamp gating stall).
+  # If a resource that CAN be unhealthy is ever added to ./platform-config-cdi, re-derive this:
+  # `apps-vms` waits on it.
+  #
+  # WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE (honest gap): CDI reads the profile's **status**, not its spec, when it
+  # provisions a claim (status.claimPropertySets / status.cloneStrategy), and CDI's
+  # storageprofile-controller computes that status from our spec override plus inference. So Ready
+  # here means "the spec override is accepted by the API server", not "CDI has folded it into
+  # status". That reconcile is a watch-triggered round-trip of seconds, and the dependency requeue
+  # below it is ~30s, so a DataVolume cannot realistically beat it — but it is a timing argument, not
+  # a guarantee, and no `wait` setting can turn it into one (there is no condition to wait on).
+  wait: true
+  dependsOn:
+    # platform-config applies the `CDI` CR and (wait:true) waits for it to be healthy — which is what
+    # causes cdi-operator to create `storageprofiles.cdi.kubevirt.io`. Revision-gated, so this is an
+    # ordering guarantee and not a hope. Transitively this also chains platform -> cilium ->
+    # flux-system, so `cluster-vars` at revision N is applied before this renders revision N.
+    - name: platform-config
+  sourceRef:
+    kind: GitRepository
+    name: flux-system
+  path: ./platform-config-cdi
+  # NO SOPS `decryption` stanza: ../platform/kubevirt/cdi-storageprofiles.yaml is two plain CRs with
+  # no Secret and no *.sops.yaml, so neither overlay needs to patch one in (unlike
+  # oauth2-proxy/headlamp/crafty/velero, which each carry an encrypted Secret). Nothing to add to
+  # clusters/dev or clusters/prod for this tier.
+  #
+  # substituteFrom cluster-vars: the manifest currently contains NO `${TOKEN}`, so this stanza
+  # substitutes nothing today. It is declared anyway for two concrete reasons, not for symmetry:
+  #   1. COVERAGE. conformance/tests/l0-static/flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh only audits paths
+  #      whose Kustomization declares substituteFrom. Omitting it would move
+  #      cdi-storageprofiles.yaml OUT of the audited set — a blind spot where a future `${TOKEN}`
+  #      could ship as a literal string, precisely the class of bug that check exists to stop.
+  #   2. FAIL-CLOSED. kustomize-controller runs --feature-gates=StrictPostBuildSubstitutions=true, so
+  #      with this stanza an undefined token FAILS this Kustomization loudly instead of rendering
+  #      empty. Without the stanza there is no substitution at all and the literal ships silently.
+  postBuild:
+    substituteFrom:
+      - kind: ConfigMap
+        name: cluster-vars
+  # ── FIRST RECONCILE AFTER MERGE: a TRANSIENT DELETE-THEN-RECREATE. READ BEFORE MERGING. ──────────
+  # Moving cdi-storageprofiles.yaml out of ./platform-config drops both StorageProfiles from THAT
+  # Kustomization's inventory, and platform-config has `prune: true` — so its next apply DELETES
+  # StorageProfile/longhorn and StorageProfile/longhorn-vm, and this Kustomization recreates them on
+  # the following reconcile (revision-gated: strictly after platform-config's apply, so there is no
+  # dual-ownership fight — the objects are pruned before they are re-applied under this tier's
+  # `kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/name=platform-config-cdi` label).
+  #
+  # Why that is acceptable here — and it is NOT the platform/cilium case:
+  #   * Neither object is the sole (or any) declarer of a shared object. No Namespace, no ConfigMap,
+  #     nothing else in the repo declares a StorageProfile. The stale set is exactly two
+  #     cluster-scoped CDI CRs.
+  #   * The objects do not actually go missing: CDI's storageprofile-controller creates a
+  #     StorageProfile per StorageClass and recreates a deleted one, with an EMPTY `.spec` and
+  #     inferred `.status`. So the transient is "our .spec overrides are absent", not "the object is
+  #     absent".
+  #   * A StorageProfile is read at DataVolume/PVC PROVISIONING and CLONE time only. Existing PVCs,
+  #     existing DataVolumes and running VMs do not consult it again, so nothing already provisioned
+  #     is disturbed and no data path is touched.
+  #   * The only exposure is a DataVolume/clone STARTED inside the window: it would clone by `copy`
+  #     instead of `snapshot`, and on `longhorn-vm` be stamped RWO/Filesystem instead of RWX/Block —
+  #     permanently non-live-migratable for that disk. Flux cannot cause that, because `apps-vms` now
+  #     dependsOn THIS tier (clusters/base/apps-vms.yaml), so no Flux-managed DataVolume can be
+  #     created while the overrides are absent. A human running `virtctl`/`kubectl` in that minute
+  #     could.
+  #
+  # PRECONDITION THE OPERATOR MUST CHECK, because it is what bounds the window: the recreate cannot
+  # happen until `platform-config` is Ready, and platform-config runs `wait: true` over the whole
+  # config tier (ClusterIssuers, wildcard Certificate, Gateway, Keycloak, CNPG, KubeVirt, CDI…). On a
+  # healthy cluster that is seconds and the window is ~30-60s (kustomize-controller's
+  # --requeue-dependency default is 30s). If platform-config is NOT Ready when this merges, the
+  # StorageProfiles are pruned and stay at CDI defaults until it recovers. So:
+  #   `flux get kustomization platform-config` must be Ready BEFORE merging.
+  # If it is not, do the two-step the cilium move used instead: merge with `platform-config.prune`
+  # temporarily set to `false` (the objects are then dropped from its inventory but NOT deleted, and
+  # this tier ADOPTS them with zero window), verify the ownership label transferred, then restore
+  # `prune: true` in a second commit.
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+---
+# Flux Kustomization: alert runbooks — reconciles ./runbooks.
+#
+# WHAT THIS SERVES. Every alert rule in this repo carries
+# `runbook_url: "https://${BASE_DOMAIN}/runbooks/<name>"` — 42 annotations over 34 distinct names.
+# Until this tier existed that path returned 404 on the live cluster, so every alert that reached a
+# human handed them a dead link at the moment they needed help. This Kustomization renders the
+# markdown under ./runbooks into a ConfigMap and a two-replica nginx that serves it at that exact
+# prefix. See runbooks/README.md and runbooks/serving/httproute.yaml.
+#
+# POST-PLATFORM TIER (dependsOn platform-config), NON-GATING (wait:false) — the same placement and
+# the same reasoning as homepage/headlamp/oauth2-proxy. It needs the wildcard TLS cert, the shared
+# Gateway (including the `https-apex` listener) and split-horizon DNS, all of which arrive with
+# `platform` + `platform-config`; and a leaf web server must never be able to stall the platform
+# chain, which is the whole lesson of DECISIONS-LOG's "Headlamp gating stall". wait:false guarantees
+# its health can never gate anything even if something is later mistakenly pointed dependsOn it.
+#
+# NO postBuild.substituteFrom — THE ONE DELIBERATE DIVERGENCE FROM EVERY OTHER TIER, AND THE MOST
+# IMPORTANT LINE IN THIS FILE.
+# This tier renders the runbook PROSE into a ConfigMap, and runbooks are full of shell: `$POD`,
+# `$(kubectl ...)`, and — unavoidably, since they document these very annotations — the literal text
+# `${BASE_DOMAIN}`. Flux's postBuild substitution runs envsubst over the ENTIRE built stream, and it
+# FAILS OPEN: an undefined `${X}` becomes the empty string while the Kustomization still reports
+# Ready (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-01 — that is how `k8sServiceHost` was emptied and Cilium broke on 2
+# of 3 dev nodes). Enabled here it would silently mutilate the documentation: every braced expansion
+# in every command example blanked, in a file nobody re-reads after writing. Worse, the L0 check
+# `conformance/tests/l0-static/flux-postbuild-substitution` scans only files reachable through
+# kustomization `resources:`, not `configMapGenerator` inputs, so the damage would be invisible to
+# the gate as well.
+# The fix is to have nothing to substitute. The only knob this tier would have wanted is the apex
+# hostname, and runbooks/serving/httproute.yaml avoids needing it by declaring NO `hostnames:` and
+# inheriting the `https-apex` listener's own hostname instead. So this tier is
+# environment-independent by construction and R-ENV-02 ("authored once, promoted dev -> prod") holds
+# without substitution rather than because of it.
+# IF A FUTURE KNOB EVER GENUINELY NEEDS SUBSTITUTION HERE: do not add substituteFrom to this
+# Kustomization. Split the serving manifests into their own substituted tier and leave the content
+# ConfigMap in an unsubstituted one, or the runbooks lose their shell examples.
+#
+# NO SOPS decryption stanza: this tier carries no encrypted Secret (markdown plus five plain
+# manifests), so — like homepage — neither clusters/dev nor clusters/prod patches it.
+apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: Kustomization
+metadata:
+  name: runbooks
+  namespace: flux-system
+spec:
+  interval: 10m
+  retryInterval: 2m
+  timeout: 5m
+  prune: true
+  wait: false
+  dependsOn:
+    - name: platform-config   # wildcard TLS + Gateway (incl. the https-apex listener) first
+  sourceRef:
+    kind: GitRepository
+    name: flux-system
+  path: ./runbooks
@@ -5,20 +5,6 @@
 # reconciliation graph and patches the shared cluster-vars ConfigMap with dev-scoped values (R-ENV-02).
 # It also adds a self-managing ROOT Kustomization (sync.yaml) so the whole graph reconciles from git
 # on every push — no more manual `kubectl apply -k` for cluster-vars/overlay changes (F-OPS1).
-#
-# ##############################################################################################
-# ###  *** DO NOT MERGE THIS FILE TO `main` UNATTENDED (as of 2026-09-04) ***                 ###
-# ###                                                                                        ###
-# ###  This overlay now carries dev's DNS MIGRATION target: BASE_DOMAIN moves from the apex   ###
-# ###  `home.keithjackson.dev` to `dev.home.keithjackson.dev`, and the GitRepository url       ###
-# ###  moves with it. sync.yaml reconciles ./clusters/dev from `main` EVERY 10 MINUTES, so a   ###
-# ###  merge to main IS the cutover — it executes on the live dev cluster with nobody present. ###
-# ###  Dev's Gitea is both its GitOps source and the push target: if the new host is not up    ###
-# ###  with a Ready cert first, dev stops reconciling and pushing cannot repair it.            ###
-# ###                                                                                        ###
-# ###  Run the ordered runbook: infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10 (steps D1-D8), operator        ###
-# ###  present. Merging is step D3, not step one.                                             ###
-# ##############################################################################################
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
 kind: Kustomization
 resources:
@@ -120,8 +106,11 @@ patches:
          secretRef:
            name: sops-age
  # velero (backup controller) has its own post-platform Flux Kustomization (clusters/base/backup.yaml).
-  # It carries velero-cloud.sops.yaml (the scoped MinIO `cloud` credential), so it needs its own SOPS
-  # decryption stanza (same as headlamp/oauth2-proxy/crafty). The `sops-age` Secret is out-of-band (name only).
+  # It carries BOTH halves of the per-env `cloud` INI credential — velero-cloud.sops.yaml (dev's scoped
+  # MinIO key) and velero-cloud-prod.sops.yaml (prod's R2 token) — so it needs its own SOPS decryption
+  # stanza (same as headlamp/oauth2-proxy/crafty). Which one the Deployment mounts is chosen by
+  # BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX in the cluster-vars patch below, not here. The `sops-age` Secret is
+  # out-of-band (name only).
  - patch: |-
      apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
      kind: Kustomization
@@ -145,24 +134,7 @@ patches:
        # via coredns -> Gateway VIP, and the LE-prod wildcard cert is publicly trusted so NO
        # secretRef/caCert is needed. Recovery: restart bootstrap Gitea (192.168.2.103:3000) and
        # revert this url (docs/05).
-        #
-        # *** THE STRAND. THIS URL IS THE MOST DANGEROUS LINE IN THE REPOSITORY. ***
-        # It is BOTH dev's GitOps source AND the operator's push target, and it is NOT tokenized —
-        # it cannot be: the `flux-system` root Kustomization that renders ./clusters/dev declares NO
-        # postBuild.substituteFrom, so `gitea.${BASE_DOMAIN}` here would ship the LITERAL token and
-        # break the source outright (the L0 flux-postbuild-substitution check asserts exactly this).
-        # So it is a hand-maintained literal that must be moved in lockstep with BASE_DOMAIN below.
-        #
-        # It has been moved to dev's NEW suffix as part of the 2026-09-04 migration authoring. That
-        # makes this file the TARGET state, NOT a safe unattended merge: dev's root Kustomization
-        # (sync.yaml) reconciles ./clusters/dev from `main` every 10m, so MERGING THIS TO main WHILE
-        # DEV IS LIVE MIGRATES DEV UNATTENDED. If gitea.dev.home.keithjackson.dev does not already
-        # resolve and serve a valid cert at that instant, dev stops reconciling and CANNOT BE FIXED
-        # BY PUSHING — the broken thing is the path Flux uses to read pushes.
-        # ORDERING THAT AVOIDS IT (infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10, steps D1-D3): suspend dev's root
-        # Kustomization or park this url on the bootstrap Gitea (http://192.168.2.132:3000/...) for
-        # the migration window, and only restore the in-cluster url after the new host is proven.
-        url: https://gitea.dev.home.keithjackson.dev/Home-Network/home-network-k3s-impl.git
+        url: https://gitea.home.keithjackson.dev/Home-Network/home-network-k3s-impl.git
        ref:
          branch: main
  # --- dev-scoped cluster-vars (R-ENV-02) ---
@@ -179,60 +151,33 @@ patches:
      - op: replace
        path: /data/ACME_CLUSTER_ISSUER
        value: "letsencrypt-prod"
-      # ==========================================================================================
-      # DEV DNS IDENTITY (R-DNS-01/02/03) — DEV MOVES OFF THE APEX. **NOT YET APPLIED.**
-      # ==========================================================================================
-      # OPERATOR DECISION 2026-09-04, superseding the interim split committed earlier the same day:
-      #
-      #   dev   -> dev.home.keithjackson.dev      (this knob; = the base default, restated)
-      #   prod  -> home.keithjackson.dev          (THE APEX — prod IS the apex, no `prod.` label,
-      #                                            and therefore no apex CNAME layer at all)
-      #
-      # *** THIS VALUE IS AHEAD OF THE LIVE CLUSTER. *** The dev cluster is serving the APEX right
-      # now. Merging this file does not perform the migration — it DEFINES the target. The cutover is
-      # an ORDERED, OPERATOR-PRESENT runbook: infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10.
-      #
-      # WHY IT CANNOT BE A PLAIN VARIABLE FLIP — THE STRAND. `spec.url` of the GitRepository ~20
-      # lines above is https://gitea.home.keithjackson.dev/... . Dev's Gitea is BOTH dev's GitOps
-      # source AND the operator's push target. The moment BASE_DOMAIN moves, dev's Gitea HTTPRoute,
-      # DNS record and wildcard cert all move to gitea.dev.home.keithjackson.dev. If that host does
-      # not ALREADY resolve with a valid, Ready cert, dev stops reconciling — and it CANNOT BE FIXED
-      # BY PUSHING, because the thing that is broken is the path Flux uses to read pushes. Recovery
-      # is then hands-on (point the source at the bootstrap Gitea on 192.168.2.132:3000, or repair
-      # in-cluster by hand). §10 states the ordering that avoids it: publish and verify the new host
-      # FIRST, or park the source on the bootstrap Gitea for the window.
-      #
-      # ALSO MOVED BY THIS ONE LINE, all on a live cluster: the `*.` wildcard Certificate (a fresh
-      # ACME order), Keycloak's issuer URL and ~12 OIDC clients' redirect URIs, kubectl SSO (a k3s
-      # server flag => a rolling restart + every user re-issuing their kubeconfig), coredns-custom's
-      # split-horizon zone, Homepage's links, and 6 L2 chainsaw tests that hardcode the apex.
+      # --- DNS identity (R-DNS-01/02/03) -----------------------------------------------------
+      # DEV STAYS ON THE APEX. Restated explicitly even though it equals the base default, exactly
+      # like the LAN block and LONGHORN_DATA_PATH below: this is what the LIVE cluster is running.
+      # Every one of dev's public DNS records, its `*.home.keithjackson.dev` wildcard cert, its
+      # Keycloak issuer, every OIDC client redirect URI, kubectl SSO, and gitea.home.keithjackson.dev
+      # (which IS this repo's GitOps source) are all on this exact suffix RIGHT NOW. Prod moved to
+      # prod.home.keithjackson.dev instead (2026-09-04) — that alone ended the collision, so dev did
+      # not have to move. Relocating dev to dev.home.keithjackson.dev is phase 2 and is a migration,
+      # not a variable change: infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/BASE_DOMAIN
-        value: "dev.home.keithjackson.dev"
-      # ExternalDNS scope. MUST stay the Cloudflare ZONE — NOT dev.home.keithjackson.dev. FINDING
-      # F-DNS1 (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-08-17): the Cloudflare provider uses this for ZONE SELECTION, so a
-      # strict-subdomain filter matches no zone and publishes NOTHING ("no hosted zone matching
-      # record DNS Name"). Dev moving to a subdomain does NOT make narrowing safe — it makes it
-      # newly tempting, which is why this comment is here. Same value the retired DNS_ZONE knob held.
+        value: "home.keithjackson.dev"
+      # ExternalDNS scope. MUST stay the zone apex: dev serves the home.keithjackson.dev APEX itself,
+      # and the Cloudflare provider selects zones with this value (a strict-subdomain filter dropped
+      # the parent zone — DECISIONS-LOG 2026-08). Same value the retired DNS_ZONE knob held.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/EXTERNALDNS_DOMAIN_FILTER
        value: "keithjackson.dev"
-      # OWNER ID: `dev` (was `default` until 2026-09-04). The old value was FORCED — dev's live apex
-      # records were already in Cloudflare's TXT registry under owner `default`, so renaming would
-      # have orphaned every one of them. THE MIGRATION DISSOLVES THAT CONSTRAINT: on the new suffix
-      # dev publishes a brand-new record set with no prior registry entries to recognise, so the id
-      # is chosen on its merits, and `default` has none — it is the value external-dns uses when you
-      # FORGET the flag, which is exactly how both clusters came to share it. Consequences, both
-      # deliberate:
-      #   - dev's OLD apex records remain owned by `default`, which no environment now claims, so
-      #     nothing deletes them implicitly. Retiring them is an explicit §10 step, and prod's first
-      #     publish is gated on that retirement being CONFIRMED — not on two reconcile loops racing.
-      #   - prod stays `prod` and must NEVER be given `default`, or prod would own the live dev
-      #     cluster's apex records and sync-delete them. Prod inherits the apex NAMES, not its OWNER.
-      # dev != prod is the load-bearing invariant; the base default stays a non-colliding sentinel.
+      # DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE. Dev's LIVE public records are registered in Cloudflare's TXT
+      # registry under owner `default` (the external-dns chart default, which is what both clusters
+      # silently shared until the 2026-09-04 incident). Dev's external-dns identifies its own records
+      # BY this string: any other value and it stops recognising every record it manages, then
+      # re-creates duplicates beside the orphaned originals. Prod is `prod` — distinct, which is the
+      # whole point. The base default is a non-colliding sentinel, so this line is load-bearing.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID
-        value: "dev"
+        value: "default"
      # --- dev LAN addressing (192.168.1.0/24 on the Proxmox LAN) -----------------------------
      # EVERY knob in cluster-vars' "LAN addressing" block is restated here EXPLICITLY, even where it
      # equals the base default. These values are what the LIVE dev cluster is running right now, so
@@ -241,15 +186,29 @@ patches:
      #
      # Split-horizon DNS target: the Cilium-L2 VIP of the `shared` Gateway on the Proxmox LAN
      # (= CILIUM_LB_POOL_START, the pool's first address). coredns-custom answers
-      # *.dev.home.keithjackson.dev with this so in-cluster OIDC clients reach Keycloak via the Gateway.
+      # *.home.keithjackson.dev with this so in-cluster OIDC clients reach Keycloak via the Gateway.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/GATEWAY_VIP
        value: "192.168.1.53"
-      # k3s API endpoint Cilium's kube-proxy replacement dials — the primary control-plane node
-      # (k3s-1). [parity] equals the Ansible inventory's k3s_api_host for dev.
+      # k3s API endpoint Cilium's kube-proxy replacement dials — DEV'S CONTROL-PLANE VIP,
+      # the address kube-vip floats, NOT the primary node .50.
+      # [parity] equals the Ansible inventory's k3s_apiserver_endpoint for dev
+      # (= kube_vip_address, group_vars/all.yml). See clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml for why.
+      #
+      # *** THE ONE EXCEPTION TO "NEVER LET THIS BLOCK DRIFT FROM THE LIVE CLUSTER" ***
+      # Every other value in this block is what dev is running right now. This one is not:
+      # the live dev cilium-agents dial 192.168.1.50 (k3s-1). Changing it here is a
+      # DELIBERATE, OPERATOR-APPROVED move (2026-09-06) and reconciling it ROLLS THE CILIUM
+      # AGENT DAEMONSET on dev — one node at a time (updateStrategy.maxUnavailable: 1, kept
+      # in parity for exactly this reason). Do not push this to dev-live casually, and not
+      # while dev's DNS migration is mid-flight; the L2 datapath survives an agent restart
+      # but a wrong value here is the 2026-09-01 incident. .49 is in dev's serving-cert SANs
+      # already (k3s_tls_sans) and dev's own kubeconfig validates against it via
+      # tls-server-name, so TLS is not the risk — the risk is reachability, and .49 is on the
+      # same LAN as the nodes and ARP-announced by kube-vip on every server.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/K3S_API_HOST
-        value: "192.168.1.50"
+        value: "192.168.1.49"
      # Cilium LB IP pool = the tofu reservation cilium_l2_vip_range .53-.60, outside the node IPs
      # (.50/.51/.52) and outside the DHCP scope. .53 Gateway, .54 unifi, .55 crafty; .56-.60 free.
      - op: replace
@@ -266,11 +225,67 @@ patches:
      - op: replace
        path: /data/CRAFTY_L4_VIP
        value: "192.168.1.55"
+      # Bulk (external NFS) storage host: the Proxmox host itself, on the SAME LAN as dev's nodes
+      # (192.168.1.40/.41/.42), which already hold an NFS export from it (/mnt/Storage/k8s-volumes).
+      # Restated verbatim rather than inherited, per this overlay's "supply every knob" convention.
+      # Dev is therefore the environment in which the bulk manifests can actually be VALIDATED
+      # end-to-end before prod's network path exists — provided the additive `zfs set sharenfs=`
+      # change described in docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md is applied for the dev node addresses.
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/BULK_NFS_SERVER
+        value: "192.168.1.9"
      # Off-cluster backup target: the on-Proxmox MinIO (plain HTTP, path-style) that every CNPG
      # barmanObjectStore and Velero's backupStorageLocation write to.
+      #
+      # DEV IS DELIBERATELY STAYING ON THIS MinIO while prod goes to Cloudflare R2 (2026-09-07).
+      # Prod could not use it at all — it cannot even route to it — but dev's move is a separate,
+      # operator-gated decision, because R2 would start dev on an EMPTY prefix: Velero would write
+      # a fresh kopia repository, CNPG would take new base backups, and the 30-day Barman window
+      # would rebuild from zero. Dev's DR restore is the one PROVEN recovery path in this repo
+      # (R-STATE-03); resetting its PITR window is not a side effect to take while fixing prod.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT
        value: "http://192.168.1.9:9000"
+      # DO NOT CHANGE THESE FOUR. They are dev's LIVE object layout, restated verbatim for the same
+      # reason as LONGHORN_DATA_PATH and EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID below/above: they equal the base
+      # defaults today, and a silent drift in base would ORPHAN dev's existing backups — the ones
+      # its proven restore depends on — without any manifest looking wrong.
+      #
+      # `us-east-1` is what dev's Velero has signed every request with since bootstrap; MinIO
+      # ignores the value, but changing it is a needless risk against a live, working backup path.
+      # An EMPTY VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX means the bucket root, which is where dev's backups already
+      # are — and the Velero chart omits `objectStorage.prefix` entirely when it is empty (verified
+      # against chart 12.1.0), so dev's live BackupStorageLocation is byte-unchanged by this.
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/S3_BACKUP_REGION
+        value: "us-east-1"
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/VELERO_BACKUP_BUCKET
+        value: "velero"
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX
+        value: ""
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/CNPG_BACKUP_PATH
+        value: "s3://cnpg"
+      # WHICH CREDENTIAL SIGNS THOSE REQUESTS. Empty suffix = the UNSUFFIXED Secrets
+      # (velero-cloud-credentials, <db>-backup-credentials) — the scoped MinIO keys dev's Velero and
+      # its three CNPG Clusters are running RIGHT NOW, byte-identical to what is on the cluster. Prod
+      # renders "-prod" and reads the Cloudflare R2 token from the parallel `-prod` Secrets instead.
+      #
+      # RESTATED EXPLICITLY even though it equals the base default, for the same reason as
+      # EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID and the four backup-layout knobs above: the four Secrets are SHARED
+      # base manifests, so before this split prod's R2 token landed in the objects DEV reads. Dev
+      # signing MinIO with an R2 key id is 403 on every barman-cloud-wal-archive, and archive_mode=on
+      # turns that into a filling pgdata PVC — the disk-full clock, on the one cluster whose DR
+      # restore is PROVEN (R-STATE-03). This line is what keeps dev on its own credential.
+      #
+      # DEV IS NOT BEING BACKED UP GOING FORWARD and is slated for decommission (operator,
+      # 2026-09-07), so this is not protecting a future backup — it is protecting the EXISTING
+      # backups and the WAL chain until dev is retired. Do not "simplify" it away while dev runs.
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX
+        value: ""
      # dev mirrors prod's 3-node topology, so the replicated tier keeps 3 replicas.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/LONGHORN_DEFAULT_REPLICA_COUNT
@@ -129,23 +129,14 @@ patches:
  #
  # WHY THE IN-CLUSTER URL CANNOT BE USED YET (blocker found 2026-09-01, still true; the
  # unusable value was `https://gitea.home.keithjackson.dev/Home-Network/home-network-k3s-impl.git`).
-  # REASONING UPDATED 2026-09-04 for the new suffix direction (prod = the apex, dev = dev.home.),
-  # which changes WHY the blocker holds but not THAT it holds:
-  #   1. SELF-HOSTING CIRCULARITY — still true, and now the only reason. The Gitea this repo is
-  #      pushed to runs ON THE DEV CLUSTER. Prod syncing from it would put prod's GitOps source
-  #      inside the very cluster slated for decommission. Gitea must move to prod (or off-cluster)
-  #      BEFORE dev is retired, or prod loses its source of truth.
-  #      NOTE the suffix change makes the two Giteas DIFFERENT HOSTS: dev's is now
-  #      gitea.dev.home.keithjackson.dev and prod's is gitea.home.keithjackson.dev. Prod pointing at
-  #      the apex name therefore means "prod's OWN Gitea", never dev's — which is what makes the
-  #      cutover below a one-line change once prod actually runs Gitea.
-  #   2. SPLIT-HORIZON DNS — NO LONGER A BLOCKER, and the note is kept because the old reasoning is
-  #      easy to re-derive incorrectly. platform/coredns/coredns-custom.yaml answers the whole
-  #      ${BASE_DOMAIN} zone with ${GATEWAY_VIP}; when prod's BASE_DOMAIN was `prod.home.` that meant
-  #      prod resolved gitea.home.keithjackson.dev to PROD's gateway (192.168.2.20) where no Gitea
-  #      listened — a misdirection. Now that prod IS the apex, resolving gitea.home.keithjackson.dev
-  #      to prod's own Gateway is CORRECT: that is where prod's Gitea will be served from. What
-  #      remains is purely reason 1 — the Gitea is not there YET.
+  # Two independent reasons, both consequences of the split-horizon design:
+  #   1. SELF-HOSTING CIRCULARITY. Gitea runs ON THE DEV CLUSTER. Prod syncing from it means prod's
+  #      GitOps source lives inside the very cluster slated for decommission. Gitea must move to
+  #      prod (or off-cluster) BEFORE dev is retired, or prod loses its source of truth.
+  #   2. SPLIT-HORIZON DNS SENDS IT TO THE WRONG PLACE. platform/coredns/coredns-custom.yaml
+  #      answers the ENTIRE home.keithjackson.dev zone with ${GATEWAY_VIP}. On prod that is
+  #      192.168.2.20 — PROD's own gateway, where no Gitea is listening. Prod's Flux would resolve
+  #      gitea.home.keithjackson.dev to itself and never reach a repository.
  #
  # WHAT THE TEMPORARY SOURCE IS (stood up 2026-09-04 on explicit operator direction):
  #   bootstrap/gitea/bootstrap-gitea.sh with HOST_NAT_IP=192.168.2.132 — a podman container on the
@@ -194,9 +185,56 @@ patches:
        name: flux-system
        namespace: flux-system
      spec:
-        # TEMPORARY bootstrap source — workstation container, NOT in any cluster. See the block
-        # above for the cutover to https://gitea.home.keithjackson.dev/... . Do not treat as final.
-        url: http://192.168.2.132:3000/Home-Network/home-network-k3s-impl.git
+        # CUTOVER DONE 2026-09-06 (operator direction: "move the repo to prod"). Prod now reconciles
+        # from PROD'S OWN in-cluster Gitea. The workstation bootstrap container
+        # (http://192.168.2.132:3000) is retired as prod's source — it was a podman container on the
+        # operator's workstation holding a DHCP lease on WIFI, i.e. production's source of truth was a
+        # laptop. It is kept only as a recovery path (bootstrap/gitea/bootstrap-gitea.sh).
+        #
+        # THIS LINE IS SELF-REFERENTIAL AND THAT IS THE WHOLE DIFFICULTY. The root Kustomization
+        # renders ./clusters/prod, which contains this patch — so a live `kubectl patch` of
+        # GitRepository.spec.url is REVERTED on the next reconcile unless the authored value moves
+        # too. The cutover therefore had to be: (1) push the repo to prod's Gitea, (2) fast-forward
+        # its `main` to the exact commit prod was already running so the source swap changed nothing
+        # else, (3) live-patch the url to open a window, (4) land THIS commit through that window so
+        # the authored value agrees. Dev hit the identical trap on 2026-09-05
+        # (infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10a "D0/D1 as executed").
+        #
+        # Verified before the switch: a throwaway pod INSIDE prod resolved this host through
+        # in-cluster CoreDNS to the Gateway VIP and cloned over the public LE cert with no CA
+        # supplied. The workstation being able to reach it proves nothing about pod egress.
+        # MOVED WITH THE APEX FLIP (2026-09-13) — and it had to move in the SAME fetch.
+        # This URL is a hardcoded literal, NOT templated on ${BASE_DOMAIN}, so the flip did not
+        # carry it. But the flip DOES rename prod's own HTTPRoute hostnames, so:
+        #   - external-dns (policy=sync) deletes gitea.prod.home.keithjackson.dev, and
+        #   - platform/coredns/coredns-custom.yaml answers the whole ${BASE_DOMAIN} zone with
+        #     ${GATEWAY_VIP}, so in-cluster resolution moves from prod.home. to home.
+        # Leaving this on the old name would therefore have severed prod from its OWN GitOps
+        # source moments after the flip reconciled — self-reference, the same class of trap as
+        # patching this url live and having the root Kustomization revert it. The fix has to land
+        # THROUGH THE OLD SOURCE, which is why it is in the same push as the flip rather than
+        # after it.
+        # FOLLOW-UP worth doing: point this at the in-cluster Service
+        # (gitea-http.gitea.svc.cluster.local) so prod's GitOps stops depending on public DNS and
+        # on its own Gateway at all. Deferred: it needs the TLS/credential path rethought.
+        # IN-CLUSTER SERVICE, NOT A PUBLIC HOSTNAME (2026-09-13). This is the durable fix for a
+        # deadlock the apex flip walked straight into, and it is worth stating precisely.
+        #
+        # The url used to be a public name. The flip renamed prod's HTTPRoute hostnames, so the
+        # name this GitRepository pointed at stopped serving — but the HTTPRoute that WOULD have
+        # served the new name lives in a DOWNSTREAM tier, which cannot reconcile while the source
+        # is broken. Source down -> routes never rename -> source stays down. Observed live:
+        # `srcReady=False`, "unable to list remote for https://gitea.home.keithjackson.dev".
+        #
+        # Pointing at the Service breaks the cycle permanently: prod's GitOps no longer depends on
+        # public DNS, on Cloudflare, on its own Gateway, or on ${BASE_DOMAIN} at all. A future
+        # domain change cannot sever prod from its own source again.
+        #
+        # Plain http is deliberate and safe here: it is cluster-internal traffic to a ClusterIP,
+        # TLS terminates at the Gateway for external clients only, the GitRepository has no
+        # secretRef (the repo is cloned anonymously), and every secret in the tree is SOPS-encrypted
+        # at rest regardless of transport.
+        url: http://gitea.gitea.svc.cluster.local:3000/Home-Network/home-network-k3s-impl.git
        ref:
          branch: main
  - target:
@@ -211,41 +249,28 @@ patches:
        path: /data/ACME_CLUSTER_ISSUER
        value: "letsencrypt-prod"
      # ==========================================================================================
-      # PROD DNS IDENTITY (R-DNS-01/02/03) — PROD **IS** THE APEX.
+      # PROD DNS IDENTITY (R-DNS-01/02/03) — the fix for the 2026-09-04 incident.
      # ==========================================================================================
-      # OPERATOR DECISION 2026-09-04, superseding the interim split committed earlier the same day
-      # (prod on `prod.home.` behind apex CNAMEs). The simpler target, and the one authored here:
-      #
-      #   dev   -> dev.home.keithjackson.dev     (dev carries the label; clusters/dev)
-      #   prod  -> home.keithjackson.dev         (THE APEX — this knob)
-      #
-      # There is NO `prod.` label and NO CNAME layer. `<svc>.home.keithjackson.dev` is prod's REAL
-      # name, so nothing has to alias anything: prod's Gitea is gitea.home.keithjackson.dev, its
-      # Keycloak keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev, and the wildcard cert is `*.home.keithjackson.dev`.
-      #
-      # BACKGROUND — WHY THE SUFFIXES HAD TO SPLIT AT ALL. Until 2026-09-04 every hostname was
-      # HARDCODED to home.keithjackson.dev in the base manifests, so prod was authored to serve the
-      # EXACT SAME public names as the live dev cluster out of the SAME Cloudflare zone. Two
-      # consequences, one of which already happened:
+      # PROD SERVES ITS OWN SUBDOMAIN. Until 2026-09-04 every hostname was HARDCODED to
+      # home.keithjackson.dev in the base manifests, so prod was authored to serve the EXACT SAME
+      # public names as the live dev cluster out of the SAME Cloudflare zone. Two consequences, one
+      # of which already happened:
      #   1. HAPPENED: prod's external-dns (policy: sync, owner id `default` — the same implicit
      #      default dev had) concluded it owned dev's records and DELETED EVERY ONE of them.
      #   2. QUEUED BEHIND IT: platform-config would have requested a `*.home.keithjackson.dev`
      #      wildcard from letsencrypt-prod for a cert dev already holds, and both clusters would
      #      have raced each other's `_acme-challenge` TXT records on that one zone.
+      # Moving prod to its own suffix dissolves both: the two clusters can no longer name the same
+      # record. This is what makes ACME_CLUSTER_ISSUER: letsencrypt-prod above safe here.
      #
-      # *** THE ORDERING CONSTRAINT THIS VALUE CREATES — READ BEFORE UNSUSPENDING ANYTHING. ***
-      # Prod now claims the very names the LIVE dev cluster is serving today. Both hazards above are
-      # therefore still armed until DEV HAS VACATED THE APEX. Prod's `platform` and its 10 downstream
-      # tiers are SUSPENDED for exactly this reason. The gate is not "review is done", it is:
-      #   (a) dev is reconciling on *.dev.home.keithjackson.dev with a Ready wildcard cert, AND
-      #   (b) dev's old apex A/CNAME records and their TXT registry entries are GONE from Cloudflare
-      #       (verified against Cloudflare directly — a pfSense override is NOT evidence about public
-      #       DNS; that mistake was made on 2026-09-04), AND
-      #   (c) dev's old `*.home.keithjackson.dev` cert/Certificate is released, because prod ordering
-      #       that same name set while dev's still exists counts against LE's duplicate-certificate
-      #       limit (5 per week per identical name set).
-      # Full ordered runbook: infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10. Unsuspending before (a)-(c) re-creates
-      # the 2026-09-04 incident with the roles reversed.
+      #   dev   -> home.keithjackson.dev         (UNCHANGED — dev is live; phase 2 moves it)
+      #   prod  -> prod.home.keithjackson.dev    (this knob)
+      #
+      # CONSEQUENCE — prod's hostnames are NOT the apex names. Prod's Gitea is
+      # gitea.prod.home.keithjackson.dev, its Keycloak keycloak.prod.home.keithjackson.dev, and so
+      # on; the wildcard cert becomes `*.prod.home.keithjackson.dev`. The apex CNAMEs that make
+      # `<svc>.home.keithjackson.dev` point at prod are PHASE 2, deliberately not done here — they
+      # would take traffic off the live dev cluster. infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §10.
      #
      # [parity] MUST equal k3s_base_domain in infra/ansible/inventory/group_vars/k3s_prod/vars.yml.
      # The kube-apiserver's oidc-issuer-url is an INSTALL-TIME k3s flag, not a manifest, so it is
@@ -253,33 +278,47 @@ patches:
      # trusts a different Keycloak than the one prod actually runs.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/BASE_DOMAIN
+        # APEX AS OF 2026-09-13. Prod now serves home.keithjackson.dev directly; dev has been
+        # decommissioned and released the name. Prerequisites completed and VERIFIED before this
+        # flip, in this order:
+        #   1. dev's 18 A records released by its own external-dns (policy=sync, sources deleted)
+        #   2. dev's 18 LEGACY UNPREFIXED TXT registry entries deleted from Cloudflare by hand —
+        #      external-dns v0.21.0 removed only the `a-` prefixed form and then reported "All
+        #      records are already up to date", so it would NEVER have cleared them. They carried
+        #      `owner=default`, and prod runs `owner=prod`, so prod could not have claimed these
+        #      names while they existed. Confirmed gone at the AUTHORITY (betty.ns.cloudflare.com);
+        #      1.1.1.1 served stale cache for minutes afterwards and must not be trusted here.
+        #   3. dev's `*.home.keithjackson.dev` + apex Certificate deleted, so it stops renewing.
+        #      It was issued ~18d ago, so prod's request is #1 this week against LE's duplicate
+        #      limit of 5 per identical name set per week.
+        # NOTE the zone has wildcards `*.keithjackson.dev` AND `*.home.keithjackson.dev` pointing
+        # at the public IP 136.51.115.252 (legacy non-k3s prod). Dev's specific records were
+        # SHADOWING that wildcard; prod's new specific records shadow it again. The legacy stack
+        # lives on `*.keithjackson.dev` and is untouched by any of this.
        value: "home.keithjackson.dev"
+      # SAFETY NET #2 (independent of the owner id below): narrow ExternalDNS's name scope to prod's
+      # OWN subtree, so prod cannot create, update or delete any record outside it no matter what the
+      # TXT registry says. VERIFY ON FIRST RECONCILE — the Cloudflare provider uses this value for
+      # ZONE selection too, and on the version in use in 2026-08 a strict-subdomain filter dropped
+      # the parent zone ("no hosted zone matching record DNS Name"). If prod's external-dns logs no
+      # matching zone, it will create NOTHING — fail-closed, and it can still never delete dev's
+      # records. Fallback in that case: set this to "keithjackson.dev" (dev's value) and rely on
+      # EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID below, which is sufficient on its own.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/EXTERNALDNS_DOMAIN_FILTER
-        # MUST be the Cloudflare ZONE. Prod now serves the apex, so `home.keithjackson.dev` looks
-        # like a tighter, more honest filter than the zone — IT IS NOT, IT IS AN OUTAGE. FINDING
-        # F-DNS1 (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-08-17) proved a STRICT SUBDOMAIN of the hosted zone drops the
-        # zone entirely: ExternalDNS generates the record then skips it with "no hosted zone matching
-        # record DNS Name", so prod publishes NOTHING. An agent narrowed this to
-        # prod.home.keithjackson.dev on 2026-09-04 and it was reverted in review; do not retry it.
-        # Isolation from dev does NOT come from this filter — it comes from
-        # (1) the two clusters requesting DISJOINT hostname sets (apex vs dev.home.), and
-        # (2) txtOwnerId: prod vs dev, so neither registry ever claims the other's records.
+        # MUST be the Cloudflare ZONE, not prod's subdomain. FINDING F-DNS1 (DECISIONS-LOG,
+        # 2026-08-17) proved a subdomain filter DROPS THE PARENT ZONE: ExternalDNS generated the
+        # record then skipped it with "no hosted zone matching record DNS Name", so prod would
+        # publish NOTHING. Isolation from dev does NOT come from this filter — it comes from
+        # (1) prod only requesting *.prod.home.keithjackson.dev hostnames, and
+        # (2) txtOwnerId: prod, so prod's registry never claims dev's `default`-owned records.
        # That pairing is what the 2026-09-04 incident needed and this filter cannot provide.
        value: "keithjackson.dev"
      # SAFETY NET #1 — THE ACTUAL ROOT CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT. Both clusters left this unset and so
      # both inherited the chart default `default`; prod then treated dev's TXT-registry entries as
-      # its own and, under policy: sync, deleted the records behind them.
-      #
-      # PROD MUST NOT BE GIVEN `default`, however tempting it now looks. Prod is taking over the apex
-      # NAMES, and dev's existing apex records are registered under owner `default` — so `default` is
-      # the one value that would let prod adopt them. It would also let prod SYNC-DELETE the ones no
-      # prod source claims, on a cluster dev is still serving. Prod inherits the apex names; it must
-      # never inherit the apex OWNER ID. `prod` keeps prod fail-safe: records owned by `default` are
-      # invisible to it, so an early unsuspend cannot destroy dev's DNS the way 2026-09-04 did — it
-      # simply fails to publish until those records are retired, which is the correct behaviour.
-      # dev is `dev` (clusters/dev, changed with dev's migration); the base default is a
-      # non-colliding sentinel. All three differ.
+      # its own and, under policy: sync, deleted the records behind them. This value MUST differ from
+      # dev's (`default`, pinned in clusters/dev — dev's live records are registered under it and
+      # cannot be renamed without orphaning them). `prod` is distinct, which is the entire fix.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID
        value: "prod"
@@ -365,14 +404,32 @@ patches:
      - op: replace
        path: /data/CILIUM_LB_POOL_STOP
        value: "192.168.2.30"
-      # --- still UNDECIDED -> loud placeholders (must be real before `flux bootstrap`) ------------
      # k3s API endpoint Cilium's kube-proxy replacement dials. This is the prod CONTROL-PLANE VIP
-      # (kube-vip), NOT .20 (the ingress VIP) and NOT the single node address .10. It is owned
-      # Ansible-side (prod inventory k3s_api_host) and MUST equal that value — [parity] contract in
-      # platform/cilium/helmrelease.yaml. Not yet decided.
+      # (kube-vip), NOT .20 (the ingress VIP) and NOT the single node address .10.
+      #
+      # *** DECIDED 2026-09-06 by the operator: the VIP, as intended. *** (This block previously
+      # read "Not yet decided" while shipping .10 — the founder's own address — and that is what
+      # the LIVE prod cluster is running: all three cilium-agents carry
+      # KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST=192.168.2.10 while kube-vip holds .9, verified 2026-09-06. On a
+      # 3-node HA cluster that makes the CNI's control-plane path depend on k3s-prod-1: lose it and
+      # the datapath keeps running off Cilium's cache while no service or policy update lands, with
+      # nothing looking broken. The VIP is a virtual address that reaches the cluster wherever the
+      # control plane is, which is the whole reason kube-vip exists here.)
+      #
+      # It is owned Ansible-side by **k3s_apiserver_endpoint** (group_vars/all.yml, derived from
+      # this environment's kube_vip_address = 192.168.2.9 in group_vars/k3s_prod/vars.yml) and MUST
+      # equal that value — [parity] contract in platform/cilium/helmrelease.yaml. NOT k3s_api_host:
+      # that variable still exists and still holds the FOUNDER's .10, because the cold-bootstrap
+      # `--server` join needs a host that is up before any VIP is floated. Two addresses, two
+      # variables, deliberately.
+      #
+      # .9 sits OUTSIDE the Cilium LB pool (.20-.30) and is not a node address, so kube-vip and
+      # LB-IPAM can never be handed the same IP — asserted by
+      # conformance/tests/l0-static/ha-control-plane-as-code.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/K3S_API_HOST
-        value: "192.168.2.10"
+        value: "192.168.2.9"
+      # --- still UNDECIDED -> loud placeholders (must be real before `flux bootstrap`) ------------
      # Pinned L4 VIPs, both carved out of the pool by lbipam.cilium.io/ips. Not yet assigned for
      # prod. Leaving the dev literals in place would hand a prod LoadBalancer a dev-LAN address, so
      # they stay placeholders; whatever is chosen MUST fall inside [POOL_START, POOL_STOP] and not
@@ -383,10 +440,146 @@ patches:
      - op: replace
        path: /data/CRAFTY_L4_VIP
        value: "192.168.2.22"
-      # Off-cluster DR target. Dev's versitygw/MinIO (192.168.1.9:9000) sits on the DEV side of the
-      # network — a prod backup written there is not off-cluster DR and would mix two environments'
-      # PITR streams in one bucket. Operator supplies the prod endpoint (full URL incl. scheme+port).
+      # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+      # BULK (EXTERNAL NFS) STORAGE HOST — *** NOT YET DECIDED. THIS PLACEHOLDER IS LOAD-BEARING. ***
+      # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+      # Backs every `class: bulk` volume: the 8.33 T media library (Storage/plex — plex, sonarr,
+      # radarr) and the 270 G legacy Nextcloud archive (Storage/nextcloud).
+      #
+      # THE STORAGE HOST IS NOT REACHABLE FROM PROD AT ALL RIGHT NOW. It has one interface,
+      # vmbr0 192.168.1.9/24, on pfSense's LAN; prod's nodes are on 192.168.2.0/24, pfSense's WAN.
+      # 22 and 8006 answer from prod only because pfSense port-forwards them via 192.168.2.102;
+      # 2049 and 111 do not. Opening that path is an OPERATOR decision, and the two candidate
+      # outcomes give DIFFERENT values here:
+      #     port-forward 192.168.2.102:2049 -> 192.168.1.9:2049   =>  "192.168.2.102"
+      #     a WAN->LAN route to 192.168.1.0/24                    =>  "192.168.1.9"
+      # Guessing either one authors a prod cluster that mounts nothing, or — worse, if the guess
+      # ever became reachable — mounts something unintended. So it stays a placeholder.
+      #
+      # WHICH PORTS THE DECISION MUST OPEN: exactly ONE, tcp/2049. The PVs mount nfsvers=4.1, and
+      # NFSv4 carries mount and lock in-protocol — no rpcbind/111, no mountd, no statd. Choosing v4
+      # over v3 was in part this decision's cost: v3 would have needed four ports and three of them
+      # on ephemeral numbers.
+      #
+      # WHAT THE EXPORT MUST ALLOW IS ALREADY SETTLED, and it is the same under BOTH outcomes.
+      # Measured 2026-09-07 from this workstation (192.168.2.132) through the existing port-forward:
+      # the storage host logged the connection as coming FROM 192.168.2.132, not from a pfSense LAN
+      # address (`ss -tn` peer 192.168.2.132, and the host's only route off-LAN is its default via
+      # 192.168.1.1). pfSense DNATs WITHOUT source NAT, so the NFS server will see prod's REAL node
+      # addresses either way. The additive `zfs set sharenfs=` values are in docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md.
+      #
+      # *** BLAST RADIUS — READ BEFORE MERGING THIS TO A BRANCH PROD RECONCILES. ***
+      # A PersistentVolume's spec.nfs.server is an unvalidated string: the API server ACCEPTS this
+      # placeholder, the PV is created and the PVC BINDS to it (binding is pure control-plane). The
+      # failure surfaces only when a pod mounts — MountVolume.SetUp "Failed to resolve server
+      # TBD-PROD-BULK-NFS-SERVER" — so plex, sonarr, radarr and nextcloud would sit in
+      # ContainerCreating on prod. Unlike the LAN knobs above, this placeholder does NOT fail at
+      # apply time and there is no CRD validation to lean on. Set this value BEFORE prod reconciles
+      # a revision containing the bulk volumes; the dev overlay renders a working value, which is
+      # where these manifests are meant to be proven first.
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/BULK_NFS_SERVER
+        # 192.168.2.102 is pfSense's WAN address, which DNATs tcp/2049 through to the Proxmox
+        # host's REAL address 192.168.1.9 on pfSense's LAN. Prod sits on the WAN side and cannot
+        # reach 192.168.1.9 directly, so the cluster mounts the NAT address. Dev is on the LAN and
+        # keeps the base value 192.168.1.9.
+        #
+        # PROVEN from k3s-prod-1 on 2026-09-12, not inferred:
+        #   - mount of 192.168.2.102:/mnt/Storage/plex negotiated nfs4 vers=4.1 proto=tcp
+        #   - a write as uid 1000 succeeded. Tested as 1000 and NOT root deliberately: the export
+        #     carries no_root_squash, so a root write would have passed and proved nothing, while
+        #     LSIO images default to PUID 911 and would have gone Ready then failed every import
+        #     with EACCES. The tree is 0755 1000:3000, so uid 1000 is the only writer.
+        #   - ln() across downloads/ -> tv/ returned link count 2 (same inode), so the arrs get
+        #     real atomic moves instead of silently degrading to copy-then-delete on EXDEV.
+        # pfSense DNATs WITHOUT source NAT (the host logs prod's own node addresses as the peer),
+        # so the ZFS export ACL names 192.168.2.10/.11/.12 directly rather than one translated IP.
+        value: "192.168.2.102"
+      # ==========================================================================================
+      # OFF-CLUSTER DR TARGET — Cloudflare R2 (operator, 2026-09-05; bucket + token 2026-09-07).
+      # ==========================================================================================
+      # Dev's versitygw/MinIO (192.168.1.9:9000) sits on the DEV side of the network and is NOT an
+      # option for prod, for two independent reasons:
+      #   1. UNREACHABLE. Prod is on the SOHO network 192.168.2.0/24 — pfSense's WAN — while that
+      #      MinIO is inside pfSense's LAN. Measured from a pod INSIDE prod (the workstation proves
+      #      nothing about pod egress): `curl http://192.168.1.9:9000/minio/health/live` → connection
+      #      timed out after 15s. Reaching it would need a WAN→LAN rule that does not exist.
+      #   2. NOT OFF-CLUSTER DR. It runs on the same Proxmox host as dev's VMs, so it already shares
+      #      a physical failure domain with dev. R2 is genuinely off-site, and its free egress means
+      #      restore REHEARSALS cost nothing — R-STATE-03 has no financial disincentive to stay proven.
+      #
+      # THIS UNBLOCKS AN ACTIVE INCIDENT, not just a roadmap item. All three prod CNPG Clusters ship
+      # `archive_mode=on` with `endpointURL: TBD-PROD-S3-BACKUP-ENDPOINT`, so barman-cloud-wal-archive
+      # exits 4 on every segment and Postgres — correctly — REFUSES TO RECYCLE WAL. Verified live
+      # 2026-09-07: keycloak-db / nextcloud-db / semaphore-db all report
+      # ContinuousArchiving=False/ContinuousArchivingFailing, and keycloak-db's 5 GiB PVC is at
+      # 579 MiB used / 4360 MiB free and climbing monotonically. A disk-full PANIC there takes the
+      # cluster's SSO database down, and with it kubectl OIDC, Grafana, Headlamp, Gitea and
+      # forward-auth. Fixing the endpoint lets Postgres drain the whole backlog.
+      #
+      # ENDPOINT IS ACCOUNT-SCOPED, so it stays a prod-overlay value even though it is not a LAN
+      # address: this is the operator's Cloudflare account id, confirmed from inside a prod pod
+      # (`head-bucket` on k3s-prod-backup → BucketRegion WNAM; PUT and DELETE both succeed).
+      # It is NOT put in base, because base is dev's live MinIO and dev is deliberately STAYING
+      # there — moving dev to R2 would reset its PITR window and orphan the backups its PROVEN
+      # restore depends on. Two environments, two targets, isolated by URL *and* by bucket.
      - op: replace
        path: /data/S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT
-        value: "TBD-PROD-S3-BACKUP-ENDPOINT"
+        value: "https://7ce452a1b3d6c86daf2c020edcb82d37.r2.cloudflarestorage.com"
+      # R2 requires the region string to be exactly `auto`. (`head-bucket` answers
+      # `{"BucketRegion":"WNAM"}` — that is a PHYSICAL LOCATION HINT, not a signing region; using it
+      # here produces AuthorizationHeaderMalformed.) Dev keeps the base `us-east-1` its live MinIO
+      # has always been signed with.
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/S3_BACKUP_REGION
+        value: "auto"
+      # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+      # OBJECT TENANCY INSIDE THE ONE BUCKET. The operator created a SINGLE R2 bucket, so velero and
+      # barman cannot be separated by bucket the way they are on dev's MinIO (`velero` and `cnpg`).
+      # They are separated by disjoint TOP-LEVEL PREFIXES instead:
+      #
+      #     s3://k3s-prod-backup/velero/…                 Velero: kopia repo + backup metadata
+      #     s3://k3s-prod-backup/barman/<clusterName>/…   CNPG: WAL + base backups
+      #
+      # The bucket ROOT is left empty on purpose — a misrendered prefix then lands somewhere
+      # obviously wrong instead of silently colliding with a live tenant. Velero's retention TTL
+      # deletes objects under its own prefix only, so it can never reap a WAL segment; and barman's
+      # per-cluster serverName subdirectory keeps the three Postgres servers' chains apart, which
+      # matters because interleaving two servers' WAL into one prefix corrupts the chain outright.
+      # Dev cannot be reached from any of these: different endpoint AND different bucket names.
+      # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/VELERO_BACKUP_BUCKET
+        value: "k3s-prod-backup"
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX
+        value: "velero"
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/CNPG_BACKUP_PATH
+        value: "s3://k3s-prod-backup/barman"
+      # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+      # WHICH CREDENTIAL SIGNS THE REQUESTS TO THAT BUCKET (per-env credential split, 2026-09-07).
+      # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+      # The knobs above moved the ENDPOINT and the OBJECT LAYOUT per environment. The credential did
+      # not move with them, and it could not: the four backup-credential Secrets are SHARED BASE
+      # manifests, applied to both clusters by the same Flux tiers. Writing the R2 token into them
+      # gave prod a working key by TAKING DEV'S AWAY — dev would have signed MinIO requests with an
+      # R2 key id, and under archive_mode=on that is a filling pgdata PVC, not a missing backup.
+      #
+      # So each credential is now two objects, and this suffix selects prod's:
+      #     velero-cloud-credentials-prod           the R2 token in the AWS INI `cloud` shape
+      #     <db>-backup-credentials-prod            the same token as ACCESS_KEY_ID / ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
+      # for keycloak-db, nextcloud-db and semaphore-db. Both halves ship to both clusters (they are
+      # base resources); ONLY this value decides which one each consumer reads. It is a SUFFIX rather
+      # than four secret-name knobs deliberately — four could be updated three-quarters of the way,
+      # leaving one consumer on dev's MinIO key with nothing rendering wrong, and strict-mode
+      # substitution cannot catch a defined-but-stale variable.
+      #
+      # THE R2 TOKEN IS THE ONE PROVEN FROM INSIDE PROD (chore/r2-credentials 0a6a862): head-bucket on
+      # k3s-prod-backup returns BucketRegion WNAM, and PUT and DELETE both succeed. Rotating it now
+      # touches ONLY the four `-prod` files; dev's MinIO keys are untouched objects. That isolation is
+      # the structural reason for the split, independent of dev's eventual decommission.
+      - op: replace
+        path: /data/BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX
+        value: "-prod"
      # TODO(WS-INFRA, Phase 7): pin prod node placement once the bare-metal role labels exist.
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ behavioral / L3 fault-injection** (this harness).
 ./run.sh --strict-coverage            # hygiene gate: fail on tag/annotation drift
 ./run.sh --require-all                # phase-exit gate: every requirement must be covered
 ./run.sh --record                     # run AND capture the evidence (see "Proof of pass")
+./run.sh --layer l0 --include-scope whole-repo   # union: the tagged subset PLUS every test
+                                      #   declaring `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`
+./run.sh --layer l0 --print-selection # print the dirs the selection resolves to; run nothing
 ```

 **Gating is scoped, not "all 51 always"** (R-TEST-03). Three distinct checks:
@@ -32,6 +35,29 @@ behavioral / L3 fault-injection** (this harness).
 - `--requirements R-…` — **merge gate**: selects the tagged tests to run **and** asserts
  those touched requirements are covered (a listed safety-critical one must have an L3 test).
 - `--require-all` — **phase-exit gate**: every registry requirement must be covered.
+- `--include-scope whole-repo` — **the escape hatch scoping needs**, because scoping has one
+  blind spot and it is the worst-shaped kind. Some L0 invariants quantify over the WHOLE
+  tracked tree (no plaintext secrets anywhere; no RBAC wildcard anywhere), or over subtrees
+  the coarse path→requirement map keys to **nothing** (`apps/`, `infra/`, most of
+  `platform/`). For those, *the change most likely to break the invariant attributes no
+  requirement at all*, so requirement-scoped selection filters the check out of exactly that
+  change. Such a test **declares** its scope:
+
+  ```yaml
+  metadata:
+    annotations:
+      conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+  ```
+
+  and `--include-scope whole-repo` unions every declaring test into the selection. The CI
+  stages (`ci/l0.sh`, `ci/l1.sh`, `ci/conformance.sh`) all pass it, so **adding the
+  annotation is the only step** — there is nothing to remember and nothing to hand-write.
+  Two consequences, both deliberate: a declaring test always runs, and a **SKIP of a
+  declaring test is UNWIRED, not green** (the runner exits 3, which `ci/l0.sh` turns into the
+  gate's own rc 3 — never a pass). `tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired` proves the
+  mechanism end-to-end and falsifiably, so it cannot rot silently. This replaced a
+  hand-written "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per check in `ci/l0.sh`; see `lib/common.sh` for the
+  full rationale and the incidents behind it.
 - Documented out-of-scope gaps (e.g. `R-ENV-02` dev→prod promote and `R-GITOPS-01`
  state-in-git, owned by WS-INFRA/WS-GITOPS and keyed wholesale by the coarse path map)
  are exempted from the completeness gates via `--allow-gap`, wired in `run.sh` as
@@ -57,6 +57,13 @@ rules:
    verbs: [create, delete, get, list, watch, patch]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: [pods, services, configmaps, secrets, persistentvolumeclaims]
+    # LOAD-BEARING `get` ON CONFIGMAPS, BEYOND FIXTURE CREATION (R-ENV-02): the environment-
+    # agnostic L2 tests (dns-exposure, dns-internal-resolution, gateway-ingress-reachable,
+    # oidc-sso-grafana, trusted-tls) resolve the cluster's own BASE_DOMAIN / GATEWAY_VIP at run
+    # time from `flux-system/cluster-vars` — the same ConfigMap Flux substitutes from — via
+    # chainsaw `x_k8s_get($client, 'v1', 'ConfigMap', 'flux-system', 'cluster-vars')` bindings.
+    # If this rule is ever narrowed to the test's own namespace, those bindings fail and the
+    # tests error out. Narrow it only alongside a namespace-scoped read of that ConfigMap.
    verbs: [create, delete, get, list, watch, patch]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: [pods/exec]
@@ -47,6 +47,62 @@ conf_dirs_for_requirements() {
  done < <(conf_all_test_files) | sort -u
 }

+# --- DECLARED SCOPE: whole-repo invariants -------------------------------------------
+# A test may also declare the SCOPE of the invariant it asserts:
+#
+#     metadata:
+#       annotations:
+#         conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS — the requirement-scoped-selection blind spot (R-TEST-03)
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The merge gate runs the conformance subset tagged with the requirements a change
+# TOUCHES (ci/touched-requirements.sh -> `--requirements`). That is right for an invariant
+# whose input surface is the subtree its requirements map to. It is WRONG — silently, and in
+# the worst direction — for an invariant that quantifies over the WHOLE tracked tree, or over
+# subtrees (apps/, platform/<most>, infra/) that the coarse path->requirement map keys to
+# NOTHING. For those, the change most likely to break the invariant attributes no requirement
+# at all, so the requirement-scoped selection filters the check out of EXACTLY that change.
+# Three real incidents came out of that blind spot; each is recorded in the header of the
+# test that now guards it (flux-postbuild-substitution, keycloak-client-secret-reconciler,
+# bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated).
+#
+# The repo's previous answer was a hand-written "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per such test in
+# ci/l0.sh — which does not scale and fails silently in the worst way: whoever adds the NEXT
+# whole-repo invariant must REMEMBER to hand-write a stage, and if they forget, the check runs
+# only when some unrelated requirement happens to be touched. The scope annotation replaces
+# that with a DECLARATION the runner enforces: `run.sh --include-scope whole-repo` unions
+# every test carrying it into the selection, so adding the annotation is the only step.
+#
+# TWO things follow from the annotation, and both are deliberate:
+#   1. the test is ALWAYS selected (union with the requirement-scoped subset), and
+#   2. a SKIP of that test is UNWIRED, NOT GREEN (lib/run_l1_offline.py --unwired-scope).
+#      A whole-repo invariant that reports "nothing to audit" is reporting that the subtree
+#      it audits has VANISHED, which is not a pass. This is the rc-3 semantics the bespoke
+#      stages encoded ("check SKIPPED (clusters/ absent) — not a pass"), preserved verbatim.
+export CONF_SCOPE_ANNOTATION="${CONF_LABEL_PREFIX}/scope"
+
+# Directories of tests DECLARING the given scope (e.g. "whole-repo"). The annotation is
+# matched on a real YAML mapping line only: a `#` comment cannot start with the key, so a
+# scope named in a test's header prose is documentation, not a declaration (the same
+# "reference, not declaration" rule ci/touched-requirements.sh applies to R-IDs).
+conf_dirs_for_scope() {
+  local scope="$1" f
+  [ -n "$scope" ] || return 0
+  while IFS= read -r f; do
+    [ -n "$f" ] || continue
+    if grep -Eq "^[[:space:]]*${CONF_SCOPE_ANNOTATION}:[[:space:]]*[\"']?${scope}[\"']?[[:space:]]*$" "$f"; then
+      dirname "$f"
+    fi
+  done < <(conf_all_test_files) | sort -u
+}
+
+# Union of conf_dirs_for_scope over a comma/space separated list of scopes.
+conf_dirs_for_scopes() {
+  local scopes="$1" s
+  for s in ${scopes//,/ }; do conf_dirs_for_scope "$s"; done | sort -u
+}
+
 # Directories for a given layer (subtree): l0 | l1 | l2 | l3 | meta | all.
 # Accepts a comma/space separated LIST of layers (e.g. "l2,l3") and returns the UNION of
 # their test dirs, deduplicated. A single layer keeps its prior behavior (backward compatible);
@@ -467,7 +467,14 @@ def git_sha(repo: Path) -> str:
                             capture_output=True, text=True, check=True).stdout.strip()
    except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError):
        return "unknown"
-    dirty = subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(repo), "diff", "--quiet", "HEAD", "--"],
+    # EXCLUDE conformance/runs/. It is TRACKED, so `--record` writing ledger.jsonl dirtied the
+    # tree and every LATER run in the same session was stamped `-dirty` — recording one test
+    # poisoned the next, and check.sh refuses to honour a dirty proven row. That cost a second
+    # live fault-injection run on prod to work around. The docstring above already states the
+    # intent for the untracked runs/<id>/ half of this same artifact; the ledger is the tracked
+    # half. Mirrors status.py's IMPL_EXCLUDE_PREFIXES, which lists this path for the same reason.
+    dirty = subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(repo), "diff", "--quiet", "HEAD", "--",
+                            ".", ":(exclude)conformance/runs/"],
                           capture_output=True).returncode != 0
    return f"{sha}-dirty" if dirty else sha

@@ -19,6 +19,30 @@ Exit 0 iff every selected offline check passes.

 The per-dir check script is whichever of `render-check.sh` / `check.sh` the directory
 carries; a dir with neither is reported SKIPPED (never a pass).
+
+DECLARED SCOPE, AND WHY A SKIP IS NOT ALWAYS HARMLESS (--unwired-scope)
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Exit 0 here means "every selected check passed"; a check that exits 3 is SKIPPED and, by
+default, does not fail the run (a scaffold with no check script, an audit whose subject
+subtree does not exist yet). That default is WRONG for a WHOLE-REPO invariant. Those are the
+checks ci/l0.sh used to run as hand-written "UNCONDITIONAL" stages, and each of those stages
+mapped rc 3 to the GATE's rc 3 with the words "not a pass":
+
+    3) skip "substitution check SKIPPED (clusters/ absent) — not a pass"
+       summary "- subst-safety: **SKIPPED** (nothing to audit)"
+       if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then rc=3; fi
+
+A whole-repo check reporting "nothing to audit" is reporting that the tree it audits has
+VANISHED — which is a louder problem than the check failing, not a quieter one. So:
+
+  --unwired-scope SCOPE   a test DECLARING `<prefix>/scope: SCOPE` whose check SKIPS (rc 3,
+                          or no check script at all) makes this runner exit 3 instead of 0.
+                          Hard failures still win (exit 1); rc 3 never masks one.
+
+Exit codes: 0 all selected checks passed / 1 at least one FAILED / 3 nothing failed but a
+scope-declared check was UNWIRED. conformance/run.sh propagates 3 verbatim; ci/l0.sh turns it
+into the gate's own rc 3. This is the ONE place the "unwired, not green" rule lives now,
+instead of once per hand-written stage.
 """
 from __future__ import annotations

@@ -36,6 +60,24 @@ LABEL_LINE_RE_TMPL = r"^\s*{prefix}/(R-[A-Z0-9]+-[0-9]+)\s*:\s*[\"']?true"
 CHECK_SCRIPTS = ("render-check.sh", "check.sh")


+def scope_of(test_yaml: Path, annotation: str) -> str:
+    """The scope a test DECLARES, or "" when it declares none.
+
+    Matched on a real YAML mapping line: a `#` comment cannot begin with the annotation key,
+    so a scope named in the test's header prose is documentation, not a declaration — the
+    same "reference, not declaration" rule ci/touched-requirements.sh applies to R-IDs.
+    Mirrors conf_dirs_for_scope() in lib/common.sh; they must agree.
+    """
+    if not test_yaml.exists():
+        return ""
+    rx = re.compile(r"^\s*" + re.escape(annotation) + r"\s*:\s*[\"']?([A-Za-z0-9_.-]+)[\"']?\s*$")
+    for line in test_yaml.read_text().splitlines():
+        m = rx.match(line)
+        if m:
+            return m.group(1)
+    return ""
+
+
 def layer_of(d: Path) -> str:
    """Layer for the JUnit properties, from the subtree the test lives in."""
    rel = str(d)
@@ -59,25 +101,38 @@ def main() -> int:
    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
    ap.add_argument("--junit", type=Path, required=True)
    ap.add_argument("--label-prefix", default="conformance.home.k3s")
+    ap.add_argument("--scope-annotation", default="conformance.home.k3s/scope",
+                    help="annotation key a test uses to DECLARE its invariant's scope")
+    ap.add_argument("--unwired-scope", action="append", default=[], metavar="SCOPE",
+                    help="a test declaring this scope that SKIPS is UNWIRED, not green "
+                         "(makes this runner exit 3); repeatable")
+    ap.add_argument("--summary-out", type=Path, default=None,
+                    help="write one Markdown line per case here, for the CI step summary")
    ap.add_argument("dirs", nargs="+", type=Path)
    args = ap.parse_args()

-    cases = []  # (name, reqs, dir, rc, output)
+    strict_scopes = set(args.unwired_scope)
+
+    cases = []  # (name, reqs, dir, rc, output, scope)
    for d in args.dirs:
        check = next((d / s for s in CHECK_SCRIPTS if (d / s).exists()), None)
        name, reqs = collect_meta(d / "chainsaw-test.yaml", args.label_prefix)
+        scope = scope_of(d / "chainsaw-test.yaml", args.scope_annotation)
        if check is None:
            cases.append((name, reqs, d, 3,
-                          f"no offline check script ({' or '.join(CHECK_SCRIPTS)}) in {d}"))
+                          f"no offline check script ({' or '.join(CHECK_SCRIPTS)}) in {d}",
+                          scope))
            continue
        proc = subprocess.run(
            ["bash", str(check)], capture_output=True, text=True
        )
        out = (proc.stdout + proc.stderr).strip()
-        cases.append((name, reqs, d, proc.returncode, out))
+        cases.append((name, reqs, d, proc.returncode, out, scope))

    failures = sum(1 for c in cases if c[3] not in (0, 3))
    skipped = sum(1 for c in cases if c[3] == 3)
+    # A SKIP of a scope-declared check is UNWIRED, not green (see the module docstring).
+    unwired = [c for c in cases if c[3] == 3 and c[5] in strict_scopes]

    suite = ET.Element(
        "testsuite",
@@ -89,7 +144,8 @@ def main() -> int:
            "skipped": str(skipped),
        },
    )
-    for name, reqs, d, rc, out in cases:
+    summary_lines = []
+    for name, reqs, d, rc, out, scope in cases:
        tc = ET.SubElement(
            suite,
            "testcase",
@@ -100,17 +156,33 @@ def main() -> int:
        ET.SubElement(props, "property", {"name": "requirements", "value": ",".join(reqs)})
        ET.SubElement(props, "property", {"name": "layer", "value": layer_of(d)})
        ET.SubElement(props, "property", {"name": "path", "value": str(d)})
+        ET.SubElement(props, "property", {"name": "scope", "value": scope})
        if rc == 3:
            ET.SubElement(tc, "skipped", {"message": out or "no offline check script"})
        elif rc != 0:
            fail = ET.SubElement(tc, "failure", {"message": f"offline check exit {rc}"})
            fail.text = out
        status = "PASS" if rc == 0 else ("SKIP" if rc == 3 else "FAIL")
+        mark = f" scope={scope}" if scope else ""
        print(f"[offline] {layer_of(d):3s} {status:4s} {name} "
-              f"({','.join(reqs) or 'untagged'})",
+              f"({','.join(reqs) or 'untagged'}){mark}",
              file=sys.stderr)
        if rc not in (0, 3):
            print(out, file=sys.stderr)
+        # One step-summary line per case, naming what ran — the generated replacement for the
+        # hand-written `summary "- subst-safety: **passed**"` line each deleted stage carried.
+        tag = f" ({scope})" if scope else ""
+        if rc == 0:
+            verdict = "**passed**"
+        elif rc == 3:
+            verdict = ("**SKIPPED** (UNWIRED, not green)" if scope in strict_scopes
+                       else "**SKIPPED** (nothing to audit)")
+        else:
+            verdict = f"**FAILED** (exit {rc})"
+        summary_lines.append(f"- {layer_of(d).lower()}/{name}{tag}: {verdict}")
+        if rc == 3 and scope in strict_scopes:
+            print(f"[offline] {name}: SKIPPED, and it declares scope={scope!r} — "
+                  f"UNWIRED, NOT GREEN. {out}", file=sys.stderr)

    root = ET.Element(
        "testsuites",
@@ -126,9 +198,19 @@ def main() -> int:
    args.junit.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    xml = minidom.parseString(ET.tostring(root, "utf-8")).toprettyxml(indent="  ")
    args.junit.write_text(xml)
-    print(f"[offline] wrote JUnit ({len(cases)} case(s), {failures} failure(s)) -> "
-          f"{args.junit}", file=sys.stderr)
-    return 1 if failures else 0
+    if args.summary_out is not None:
+        args.summary_out.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        args.summary_out.write_text("\n".join(summary_lines) + ("\n" if summary_lines else ""))
+
+    print(f"[offline] wrote JUnit ({len(cases)} case(s), {failures} failure(s), "
+          f"{skipped} skip(s), {len(unwired)} unwired) -> {args.junit}", file=sys.stderr)
+    if failures:
+        return 1
+    if unwired:
+        print("[offline] UNWIRED (declared scope, SKIPPED — not a pass): "
+              + ", ".join(c[0] for c in unwired), file=sys.stderr)
+        return 3
+    return 0


 if __name__ == "__main__":
@@ -297,6 +297,109 @@ _EXECUTABLE_RE = re.compile(
 _BLOCKED_RE = re.compile(
    r"^\s*" + re.escape(LABEL_PREFIX) + r"/blocked-by:\s*(.+)$", re.M)

+# ---------------------------------------------------------- scaffold-marker detection
+# WHY THIS IS NOT A WHOLE-FILE `"TODO" in text`
+# ---------------------------------------------------
+# It used to be, and that mis-reported a SAFETY-CRITICAL requirement. A test whose SUBJECT
+# is placeholder detection has to name the idioms it hunts for:
+# `l0-static/placeholder-guard-coupling/check.sh` carries
+# `SEED = ["TBD", "TODO", "FIXME", "PLACEHOLDER", ...]` — its detection vocabulary, as data.
+# A whole-file substring test read that as the test declaring itself unfinished, classified
+# a 32-assertion executable check as a scaffold, raised a permanent `--strict` annotation
+# conflict, and (because the same file is tagged R-STATE-03) reported R-STATE-03 as
+# `exec=1 scaffold=1`. A previous engineer worked around it by rewording prose.
+#
+# The rule below is derived from the corpus (43 tests), not invented. Every genuine
+# scaffold in this tree — `l2-behavioral/onboarding-completeness`, `l3-fault-injection/
+# alerting`, `l3-fault-injection/gitops-drift`, and no others — declares itself in BOTH of
+# two structural positions, and no executable test does either:
+#
+#   1. a `# STATUS: ... scaffold` line in the file's documentation header. This is the
+#      repo's DEDICATED declaration slot (tests/README.md): 3 of 43 tests say
+#      `STATUS: scaffold` and they are exactly the three scaffolds; 19 others declare
+#      `STATUS: EXECUTABLE` / `IMPLEMENTED` / `RUNNABLE`; the rest declare nothing.
+#   2. a TODO/FIXME marker in the BODY that CARRIES A MESSAGE — `echo "TODO: assert PVC
+#      bound ..."`, `TODO(T-4.1): hermetic SMTP capture sink`. A marker that carries a
+#      message is a note about work that is missing. A marker that is the ENTIRE content of
+#      a quoted literal (`"TODO",` in a vocabulary list) carries no message: it is the
+#      marker as a *datum*, which is what a placeholder DETECTOR necessarily contains.
+#
+# Both are still evaluated over the body of `chainsaw-test.yaml` AND of any
+# `render-check.sh` / `check.sh`, and either one still OUTRANKS an
+# `executable: "true"` annotation (see classify_test) — the invariant that an annotation
+# must never outrank the body is unchanged. Ambiguity still only ever DOWNGRADES: an
+# unrecognised marker shape, a marker in body code outside a quoted literal, or a marker
+# carrying any trailing text all classify as scaffold.
+#
+# KNOWN, ACCEPTED IMPRECISION (stated rather than hidden): a test that embeds a marker with
+# text attached but as data — e.g. `re.compile(r"TODO|FIXME")`, or a single string holding
+# several idioms — is still called a scaffold. That is the conservative direction, and the
+# author's remedy is the same structural discipline the corpus already uses: keep each
+# idiom a standalone literal in a list.
+
+# Vocabulary: only the idioms that DECLARE unfinished work. Deliberately excludes `TBD`,
+# `PLACEHOLDER`, `XXX`, `REPLACE-ME` — tests in this tree legitimately carry those in
+# executable code as data (`l0-static/egress-paths-selected-by-rules/check.sh` compares
+# authored values against `"TBD"`; `l0-static/no-plaintext-secrets/check.sh` matches
+# `placeholder.*`), and none of them is used here to mark a placeholder body.
+# Case-insensitive: no English word contains either token, and the corpus carries no
+# lower-case occurrence, so folding case only ever ADDS detection (`echo "todo: ..."`).
+_MARKER_RE = re.compile(r"\b(?:TODO|FIXME)\b", re.I)
+
+# The dedicated declaration slot, on a comment line, case-insensitive. The declared state
+# must be the FIRST token after `STATUS:` — a `STATUS:` line declares exactly one state,
+# and all three real scaffolds read `# STATUS: scaffold — <what is missing>`. Anchoring it
+# there is what keeps `# STATUS: EXECUTABLE ... this is not a scaffold` from matching; a
+# loose `.*scaffold` would turn any prose that merely uses the word into a declaration.
+_STATUS_SCAFFOLD_RE = re.compile(
+    r"^[ \t]*#[ \t]*STATUS:[ \t]*(?:scaffold|placeholder)\b", re.M | re.I)
+
+# A quoted literal whose entire content is one marker word: the marker as data.
+_MARKER_AS_DATUM_RE = re.compile(r"(['\"])[ \t]*(?:TODO|FIXME)[ \t]*\1", re.I)
+
+
+def _split_doc_header(text: str) -> tuple[str, str]:
+    """Split a test file into (documentation header, body).
+
+    Both file kinds in this tree open with a banner comment block that is PROSE about the
+    test: the Given/When/Then, the incident being closed, the mandatory "what this does NOT
+    prove" list (tests/README.md, L0 authoring rule 1). Prose necessarily discusses
+    placeholder idioms when the test hunts them, so an incidental mention there is
+    documentation, not a placeholder body.
+
+    The body starts at the first line that is neither blank nor a `#` comment:
+      *.sh    -> `set -euo pipefail` (the shebang is a comment)
+      *.yaml  -> `apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1`
+    Comments BELOW that point are body, deliberately: a scaffold marks a missing fixture
+    with an inline comment (`l3-fault-injection/alerting`: `file: fixtures/smtp-sink.yaml
+    # TODO(T-4.1): hermetic SMTP capture sink`), and that must keep counting.
+    """
+    lines = text.splitlines(keepends=True)
+    for i, ln in enumerate(lines):
+        s = ln.strip()
+        if s and not s.startswith("#"):
+            return "".join(lines[:i]), "".join(lines[i:])
+    return text, ""          # no executable line at all: it is all header, body is empty
+
+
+def scaffold_marker(text: str) -> str:
+    """Why `text` declares itself a placeholder body, or "" if it does not.
+
+    Returns a short human-readable reason (used verbatim in the hygiene report) so the
+    defect is actionable rather than a bare path.
+    """
+    head, body = _split_doc_header(text)
+    m = _STATUS_SCAFFOLD_RE.search(head) or _STATUS_SCAFFOLD_RE.search(body)
+    if m:
+        return m.group(0).strip().lstrip("#").strip()[:80]
+    # Blank out markers held as pure data before looking for a marker that has a message.
+    m2 = _MARKER_RE.search(_MARKER_AS_DATUM_RE.sub('""', body))
+    if m2:
+        line = body[:m2.start()].count("\n")
+        snippet = body.splitlines()[line].strip()
+        return f"placeholder marker in body: {snippet[:80]}"
+    return ""
+

 def classify_test(t: dict) -> dict:
    """Decide EXECUTABLE vs SCAFFOLD for one discovered test, conservatively.
@@ -304,14 +407,18 @@ def classify_test(t: dict) -> dict:
    A tagged test is only worth counting if it can actually assert something. Rules, in
    order, chosen so ambiguity NEVER upgrades a test:

-      scaffold             the body contains TODO markers (a placeholder), *even if* it
-                           is annotated executable — an annotation must never outrank the
-                           body. That mismatch is also reported as a hygiene defect.
-      executable           annotated `conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"` and no TODOs.
-      executable-untagged  no TODOs and a real runnable body, but the annotation is
-                           missing (true of the L1 render tests, which execute a
-                           render-check.sh + golden diff, of the L0 static checks, and
-                           of the META self-check).
+      scaffold             the test DECLARES itself a placeholder — a `# STATUS: scaffold`
+                           header line, or a TODO/FIXME marker carrying a message in the
+                           body (see `scaffold_marker` for the rule and the corpus it was
+                           derived from) — *even if* it is annotated executable. An
+                           annotation must never outrank the body. That mismatch is also
+                           reported as a hygiene defect.
+      executable           annotated `conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"` and no
+                           scaffold declaration.
+      executable-untagged  no scaffold declaration and a real runnable body, but the
+                           annotation is missing (true of the L1 render tests, which
+                           execute a render-check.sh + golden diff, of the L0 static
+                           checks, and of the META self-check).
                           Counted as executable, and flagged as an annotation gap.
      scaffold             anything else.
    """
@@ -322,16 +429,26 @@ def classify_test(t: dict) -> dict:
    # downgrades the test to a scaffold — an annotation must never outrank the body,
    # whichever file the body lives in.
    extra = ""
+    scripts: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
    for script in ("render-check.sh", "check.sh"):
        sp = p.parent / script
        if sp.is_file():
-            extra += sp.read_text()
+            body = sp.read_text()
+            extra += body
+            scripts.append((script, body))
    declared = bool(_EXECUTABLE_RE.search(text))
-    has_todo = "TODO" in text or "TODO" in extra
+    # Each file is classified on ITS OWN structure — the yaml and the script have different
+    # header blocks, so they must not be concatenated before the header/body split.
+    reason = scaffold_marker(text)
+    for script, body in scripts:
+        if reason:
+            break
+        r = scaffold_marker(body)
+        reason = f"{script}: {r}" if r else ""
    bm = _BLOCKED_RE.search(text)
    has_body = bool(extra) or bool(re.search(r"^\s+- (script|assert|apply):", text, re.M))

-    if has_todo:
+    if reason:
        state = "scaffold"
    elif declared:
        state = "executable"
@@ -348,7 +465,8 @@ def classify_test(t: dict) -> dict:
        "name": t["name"], "path": rel, "layer": t["layer"],
        "state": state,
        "declared_executable": declared,
-        "annotation_conflict": bool(declared and has_todo),
+        "annotation_conflict": bool(declared and reason),
+        "scaffold_reason": reason,
        "blocked_by": bm.group(1).strip().strip('"') if bm else "",
    }

@@ -640,6 +758,10 @@ def build(repo: Path, registry: list[dict], tests: list[dict], impl: dict[str, l
    # --- hygiene defects this tool owns -------------------------------------------
    hygiene = {
        "annotation_conflicts": [t["path"] for t in classified if t["annotation_conflict"]],
+        # Same set, with WHY each one was called a placeholder body, so the fix is obvious
+        # from the report instead of requiring the reader to re-derive the rule.
+        "annotation_conflict_reasons": {t["path"]: t["scaffold_reason"]
+                                       for t in classified if t["annotation_conflict"]},
        "executable_untagged": [t["path"] for t in classified
                                if t["state"] == "executable-untagged"],
        "registry_not_in_spec": [],
@@ -910,8 +1032,10 @@ def render_md(rep: dict, nodes: list[dict], advisory: dict | None) -> str:
    else:
        o.append("- registry ↔ spec parity: **NOT CHECKED** (spec tree not available; "
                 "this is a skip, not a pass)")
-    o.append(f"- tests annotated executable but containing TODO bodies: "
-             f"{h['annotation_conflicts'] or 'none'}")
+    o.append("- tests annotated executable but declaring a placeholder body: "
+             + (", ".join(f"`{k}` ({v})"
+                          for k, v in sorted(h["annotation_conflict_reasons"].items()))
+                if h["annotation_conflicts"] else "none"))
    o.append(f"- executable tests missing the `{LABEL_PREFIX}/executable` annotation: "
             f"{h['executable_untagged'] or 'none'}")

@@ -930,9 +1054,12 @@ def render_md(rep: dict, nodes: list[dict], advisory: dict | None) -> str:
             "reconciled |")
    o.append("| verifying test | `conformance.home.k3s/R-*` label on a Chainsaw test "
             "(the authoritative tag, same source as `coverage.md`) | exact |")
-    o.append("| executable vs scaffold | TODO markers in the test body outrank the "
-             "`executable` annotation; a real body without the annotation still counts "
-             "and is flagged | conservative — ambiguity never upgrades |")
+    o.append("| executable vs scaffold | a `# STATUS: scaffold` header line, or a "
+             "TODO/FIXME marker CARRYING A MESSAGE in the body (a marker held as a bare "
+             "quoted datum — a placeholder detector's own vocabulary — is not one); "
+             "either outranks the `executable` annotation, and a real body without the "
+             "annotation still counts and is flagged | conservative — ambiguity never "
+             "upgrades |")
    o.append("| **test actually passed** | the committed `runs/ledger.jsonl` row for "
             "every verifying test: JUnit result **plus** that test's own pass sentinel "
             "token grepped from the run log | exact where a run was recorded, refused "
@@ -1127,6 +1254,70 @@ def _selftest() -> int:
              classify_test({"name": "s", "path": str(f), "layer": "L2"})["state"]
              == "scaffold")

+        # === THE BUG THIS DETECTOR WAS REWRITTEN FOR ==============================
+        # A whole-file `"TODO" in text` mis-classified `l0-static/placeholder-guard-
+        # coupling` — a 32-assertion executable check whose SUBJECT is placeholder
+        # detection, so it must name the idioms it hunts — as a scaffold, and through it
+        # reported the SAFETY-CRITICAL R-STATE-03 as `exec=1 scaffold=1`. These
+        # assertions pin BOTH directions: a marker held as DATA must not downgrade, and a
+        # real placeholder body must still be caught. Both halves are load-bearing; the
+        # second is what stops this fix from degrading into "always executable".
+        yml = ("metadata:\n  annotations:\n"
+               "    conformance.home.k3s/executable: \"true\"\n"
+               "spec:\n  steps:\n    - script:\n"
+               "        content: bash ./check.sh\n")
+        f.write_text(yml)
+        detector = td2 / "check.sh"
+        # Shaped exactly like the real check: a prose header that discusses the idioms,
+        # then executable code holding them as a vocabulary list.
+        detector.write_text(
+            "#!/usr/bin/env bash\n"
+            "# L0 static check — placeholder vocabulary\n"
+            "#   * SEED — loud-placeholder idioms (TBD, TODO, FIXME, PLACEHOLDER)\n"
+            "# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. A pure offline assertion script.\n"
+            "set -euo pipefail\n"
+            "python3 - <<'EOF'\n"
+            "SEED = [\"TBD\", \"TODO\", \"FIXME\", \"PLACEHOLDER\"]\n"
+            "assert any(w in open('/etc/hostname').read().upper() for w in SEED) is False\n"
+            "EOF\n")
+        c = classify_test({"name": "s", "path": str(f), "layer": "L0"})
+        check("a marker in HEADER PROSE does not downgrade an executable check",
+              c["state"] == "executable" and not c["annotation_conflict"])
+        check("a marker held as a bare quoted DATUM does not downgrade (the R-STATE-03 bug)",
+              c["scaffold_reason"] == "")
+
+        # ... and the protection is intact: a real placeholder body is still caught, in
+        # each of the three shapes the corpus actually uses.
+        detector.write_text("#!/usr/bin/env bash\nset -euo pipefail\n"
+                            "echo \"TODO: assert the PVC is bound\"\n")
+        c = classify_test({"name": "s", "path": str(f), "layer": "L0"})
+        check("a TODO carrying a message in check.sh IS still a scaffold",
+              c["state"] == "scaffold" and c["annotation_conflict"])
+        check("the scaffold reason names the file and the offending line",
+              c["scaffold_reason"].startswith("check.sh:")
+              and "TODO: assert the PVC is bound" in c["scaffold_reason"])
+        detector.write_text("#!/usr/bin/env bash\nset -euo pipefail\n"
+                            "# TODO(T-4.1) write the hermetic sink fixture\ntrue\n")
+        check("a TODO(T-x.y) roadmap marker in an inline body comment IS still a scaffold",
+              classify_test({"name": "s", "path": str(f), "layer": "L0"})["state"]
+              == "scaffold")
+        detector.write_text("#!/usr/bin/env bash\nset -euo pipefail\n"
+                            "echo \"FIXME the extraction before trusting this\"\n")
+        check("an unpunctuated FIXME carrying trailing prose IS still a scaffold",
+              classify_test({"name": "s", "path": str(f), "layer": "L0"})["state"]
+              == "scaffold")
+        # The dedicated declaration slot outranks a body that would otherwise look real —
+        # this is how all three genuine scaffolds in the tree declare themselves.
+        detector.unlink()
+        f.write_text("# L3 FAULT-INJECTION SCAFFOLD — x\n"
+                     "# STATUS: scaffold — needs T-1.4 (Flux bootstrapped).\n" + yml)
+        c = classify_test({"name": "s", "path": str(f), "layer": "L3"})
+        check("a `# STATUS: scaffold` header declaration IS a scaffold, body notwithstanding",
+              c["state"] == "scaffold" and c["annotation_conflict"])
+        check("`# STATUS: EXECUTABLE` is not read as a scaffold declaration",
+              scaffold_marker("# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline "
+                              "assertion script; covers no scaffold.\nset -e\n") == "")
+
    # ---------------------------------------------------------------- PROOF / ledger
    # These are the assertions that stand between this report and a fake green.
    check("empty ledger parses to no rows (pre-ledger behaviour is preserved)",
@@ -1341,8 +1532,11 @@ def main() -> int:
                             f"{h['registry_not_in_spec']} {h['spec_not_in_registry']}\n")
            rc = 1
        if h["annotation_conflicts"]:
-            sys.stderr.write(f"[status] STRICT: tests annotated executable with TODO "
-                             f"bodies: {h['annotation_conflicts']}\n")
+            sys.stderr.write(
+                "[status] STRICT: tests annotated executable that declare a placeholder "
+                "body: " + "; ".join(f"{k} ({v})" for k, v in
+                                     sorted(h["annotation_conflict_reasons"].items()))
+                + "\n")
            rc = 1
        if rep["safety_critical_without_executable_l3"]:
            sys.stderr.write(f"[status] STRICT: safety-critical requirement(s) whose L3 "
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@
 #   ./run.sh --requirements R-NET-01,R-NET-06   # merge-gate subset (tagged)
 #   ./run.sh --layer l2               # one layer (l0|l1|l2|l3|meta|all; l0/l1 need no cluster)
 #   ./run.sh --requirements R-NET-01,R-NET-02 --layer l2   # intersect: tagged AND in layer
+#   ./run.sh --layer l0 --requirements R-X --include-scope whole-repo
+#                                     # UNION: the tagged subset PLUS every test that
+#                                     #   DECLARES `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`.
+#                                     #   A whole-repo invariant must run on EVERY gate
+#                                     #   invocation — see lib/common.sh's scope block for
+#                                     #   why, and why a SKIP of one is exit 3, not green.
 #   ./run.sh --coverage-only          # regenerate coverage report only (no cluster)
 #   ./run.sh --status                 # DERIVED STATUS report only (no cluster): per
 #                                     #   requirement, is it implemented, is it actually
@@ -18,6 +24,11 @@
 #                                     #   (runs/ledger.jsonl) actually proves it — see
 #                                     #   lib/status.py. No ledger row => not-derivable.
 #   ./run.sh --lint                   # structural-validate test defs (no cluster)
+#   ./run.sh --print-selection        # print the test dirs the CURRENT selection resolves
+#                                     #   to, one per line, and exit. Runs no check. This is
+#                                     #   how a test can PROVE the selection includes it
+#                                     #   (tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired) without
+#                                     #   executing the suite and recursing into itself.
 #   ./run.sh --strict-coverage        # hygiene gate: fail on tag/annotation drift
 #   ./run.sh --requirements R-NET-01  # ALSO asserts those IDs are covered (merge gate)
 #   ./run.sh --require-all            # phase-exit: every requirement must be covered
@@ -79,6 +90,7 @@ ORIG_ARGS=("$@")

 LAYER="all"
 REQS=""
+INCLUDE_SCOPES=""   # --include-scope: scopes unioned into the selection (see lib/common.sh)
 MODE="run"          # run | coverage-only | status | lint
 STRICT_COVERAGE=0
 REQUIRE_ALL=0
@@ -122,9 +134,11 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
  case "$1" in
    --layer)          LAYER="$2"; shift 2 ;;
    --requirements)   REQS="$(conf_normalize_reqs "$2")"; shift 2 ;;
+    --include-scope)  INCLUDE_SCOPES="${INCLUDE_SCOPES:+${INCLUDE_SCOPES},}$2"; shift 2 ;;
    --coverage-only)  MODE="coverage-only"; shift ;;
    --status)         MODE="status"; shift ;;
    --lint)           MODE="lint"; shift ;;
+    --print-selection) MODE="print-selection"; shift ;;
    --strict-coverage) STRICT_COVERAGE=1; shift ;;
    --require-all)    REQUIRE_ALL=1; shift ;;
    --no-cluster)     FORCE_NO_CLUSTER=1; shift ;;
@@ -251,11 +265,38 @@ lint_tests() {
 }

 # --- Select which test directories Chainsaw should run --------------------------------
+# Requirement-scoped selection, then the DECLARED-SCOPE union on top:
+#
+#   (--requirements ∩ --layer)  ∪  (--include-scope ∩ --layer)
+#
+# The left half is R-TEST-03's touched subset. The right half is the fix for its blind
+# spot: an invariant that quantifies over the whole tracked tree cannot be selected BY the
+# requirements a change touches, because the change most likely to break it touches none of
+# them. See lib/common.sh's scope block for the incidents. The union is fail-closed by
+# construction — it can only ADD tests to a run, never remove one.
 select_dirs() {
-  # --requirements AND --layer together => intersection (tests carrying the tag
-  # AND living in that layer subtree). Either alone keeps its prior meaning, so
-  # this is backward compatible (LAYER defaults to "all"). Both helpers emit
-  # sorted, de-duplicated dirs, so `comm -12` yields the intersection.
+  {
+    requirement_scoped_dirs
+    # The scope union is still LAYER-bounded: `--layer l0` must not pull a whole-repo-scoped
+    # L2 test into an offline run. With no --layer (all), nothing is bounded away.
+    if [ -n "${INCLUDE_SCOPES}" ]; then
+      if [ "${LAYER}" != all ]; then
+        comm -12 \
+          <(conf_dirs_for_scopes "${INCLUDE_SCOPES}") \
+          <(conf_dirs_for_layer "${LAYER}")
+      else
+        conf_dirs_for_scopes "${INCLUDE_SCOPES}"
+      fi
+    fi
+  } | sort -u
+}
+
+# The pre-existing requirement/layer selection, unchanged:
+# --requirements AND --layer together => intersection (tests carrying the tag
+# AND living in that layer subtree). Either alone keeps its prior meaning, so
+# this is backward compatible (LAYER defaults to "all"). Both helpers emit
+# sorted, de-duplicated dirs, so `comm -12` yields the intersection.
+requirement_scoped_dirs() {
  if [ -n "${REQS}" ] && [ "${LAYER}" != all ]; then
    comm -12 \
      <(conf_dirs_for_requirements "${REQS}") \
@@ -396,6 +437,12 @@ layers_are_offline_only() {
  return 0
 }

+# Markdown one-liner per executed offline check, for the CI step summary. Written next to
+# the JUnit; ci/l0.sh + ci/l1.sh splice it into $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY so the gate output still
+# NAMES every check that ran (that is what the deleted per-check gate stages did, one hard-coded
+# `summary` line each — now generated for all of them, whole-repo-scoped ones marked as such).
+: "${OFFLINE_SUMMARY_OUT:=${ARTIFACTS}/offline-summary.md}"
+
 run_offline_checks() {
  local -a dirs
  mapfile -t dirs < <(offline_selected_dirs)
@@ -403,14 +450,30 @@ run_offline_checks() {
    log "No L0/L1 offline checks match the selection (layer=${LAYER} reqs='${REQS}')."
    return 0
  fi
+  # Declared scopes are passed through so the runner knows WHICH cases must not be allowed to
+  # report a SKIP as green (rc 3). See lib/common.sh's scope block and run_l1_offline.py.
+  local -a scope_args=() s
+  for s in ${INCLUDE_SCOPES//,/ }; do scope_args+=(--unwired-scope "$s"); done
  log "Running ${#dirs[@]} offline L0/L1 check(s) (no cluster; docs/14)."
+  [ -n "${INCLUDE_SCOPES}" ] && log "  unconditional (declared scope ${INCLUDE_SCOPES}): $(conf_dirs_for_scopes "${INCLUDE_SCOPES}" | xargs -n1 basename 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ' ')"
  "${PYTHON}" "${CONF_ROOT}/lib/run_l1_offline.py" \
-    --junit "${JUNIT_OUT}" --label-prefix "${CONF_LABEL_PREFIX}" "${dirs[@]}"
+    --junit "${JUNIT_OUT}" --label-prefix "${CONF_LABEL_PREFIX}" \
+    --scope-annotation "${CONF_SCOPE_ANNOTATION}" \
+    --summary-out "${OFFLINE_SUMMARY_OUT}" \
+    ${scope_args[@]+"${scope_args[@]}"} "${dirs[@]}"
 }

 ###############################################################################
 # Main
 ###############################################################################
+# --print-selection is deliberately handled FIRST: it resolves the selection and exits,
+# writing nothing and running no check. A test that asserts "the gate's selection cannot
+# filter me out" needs to ask that question without executing the suite it is part of.
+if [ "${MODE}" = "print-selection" ]; then
+  select_dirs
+  exit 0
+fi
+
 log "Coverage report first (always)"
 gen_coverage

@@ -440,17 +503,26 @@ esac
 # L0 static + L1 rendering are cluster-independent (docs/14): run the selected offline
 # checks and treat their result as authoritative REGARDLESS of cluster availability. An
 # offline check failure is a real failure (nothing cluster-gated about it), so it always blocks.
+# rc 3 is the harness-wide SKIPPED/not-run code (ci/README.md): NOT a pass, NOT a fail. The
+# offline runner returns it when a test carrying a --unwired-scope scope SKIPPED — a whole-repo
+# invariant reporting "nothing to audit" means the subtree it audits is gone, which the gate
+# must see as UNWIRED. It is propagated verbatim so ci/l0.sh can set the gate's own rc=3,
+# exactly as the deleted per-check stages did.
 OFFLINE_RC=0
 run_offline_checks || OFFLINE_RC=$?
 if layers_are_offline_only; then
  # Offline-only run (the ci/l0.sh + ci/l1.sh merge-gate paths): the offline result IS the result.
-  if [ "${OFFLINE_RC}" -eq 0 ]; then
-    log "Done (offline ${LAYER}). JUnit: ${JUNIT_OUT} | Coverage: ${COVERAGE_OUT}/coverage.md"
-  else
-    log "Offline ${LAYER} checks FAILED (rc=${OFFLINE_RC}). JUnit: ${JUNIT_OUT}"
-  fi
+  case "${OFFLINE_RC}" in
+    0) log "Done (offline ${LAYER}). JUnit: ${JUNIT_OUT} | Coverage: ${COVERAGE_OUT}/coverage.md" ;;
+    3) log "Offline ${LAYER}: a scope-declared check SKIPPED — UNWIRED, not green (rc=3). JUnit: ${JUNIT_OUT}" ;;
+    *) log "Offline ${LAYER} checks FAILED (rc=${OFFLINE_RC}). JUnit: ${JUNIT_OUT}" ;;
+  esac
  exit "${OFFLINE_RC}"
 fi
+if [ "${OFFLINE_RC}" -eq 3 ]; then
+  log "Offline L0/L1: a scope-declared check SKIPPED — UNWIRED, not green (rc=3)."
+  exit 3
+fi
 if [ "${OFFLINE_RC}" -ne 0 ]; then
  log "Offline L0/L1 checks FAILED (rc=${OFFLINE_RC}) — blocking (not cluster-gated)."
  exit "${OFFLINE_RC}"
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" ?>
+<testsuites name="home-k3s-conformance" tests="1" failures="0" errors="0" skipped="0">
+  <testsuite name="home-k3s-conformance L0/L1 (offline)" tests="1" failures="0" errors="0" skipped="0">
+    <testcase classname="L1:R-NET-05,R-NET-06,R-NET-07" name="egress-class-render">
+      <properties>
+        <property name="requirements" value="R-NET-05,R-NET-06,R-NET-07"/>
+        <property name="layer" value="L1"/>
+        <property name="path" value="/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/tests/l1-rendering/egress-class-render"/>
+      </properties>
+    </testcase>
+  </testsuite>
+</testsuites>
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[1m[run.sh][0m Coverage report first (always)
+[coverage] 49/51 requirements have a scaffolded test (96.1%); 2 gap(s), 0 safety-critical gap(s).
+[coverage] wrote /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.md and /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.json
+[1m[run.sh][0m Running 1 offline L0/L1 check(s) (no cluster; docs/14).
+[offline] L1  PASS egress-class-render (R-NET-05,R-NET-06,R-NET-07)
+[offline] wrote JUnit (1 case(s), 0 failure(s)) -> /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/report.junit.xml
+[1m[run.sh][0m Done (offline l1). JUnit: /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/report.junit.xml | Coverage: /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<testsuites name="chainsaw-report" tests="1" failures="0" errors="0" time="0.000000"><testsuite name="/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/vpn-killswitch" tests="1" failures="0" errors="0" id="0" time="">
+    <testcase name="vpn-killswitch" classname="" time="174.632779" />
+  </testsuite>
+</testsuites>
@@ -0,0 +1,237 @@
+[1m[run.sh][0m Coverage report first (always)
+[coverage] 49/51 requirements have a scaffolded test (96.1%); 2 gap(s), 0 safety-critical gap(s).
+[coverage] wrote /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.md and /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.json
+[1m[run.sh][0m No L0/L1 offline checks match the selection (layer=l3 reqs='R-NET-06').
+[1m[run.sh][0m LIGHT pass: 1 test(s), parallel=2 (pinned v0.2.12)
+Version: 0.2.12
+Loading config (/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/config/chainsaw-config.yaml)...
+- Using test file: chainsaw-test
+- TestDirs [/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/vpn-killswitch]
+- SkipDelete false
+- FailFast false
+- ReportFormat 'JUNIT-TEST'
+- ReportName 'chainsaw-report-light'
+- ReportPath '/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts'
+- Namespace ''
+- FullName false
+- IncludeTestRegex ''
+- ExcludeTestRegex ''
+- ApplyTimeout 1m30s
+- AssertTimeout 3m0s
+- CleanupTimeout 2m0s
+- DeleteTimeout 2m0s
+- ErrorTimeout 1m0s
+- ExecTimeout 3m0s
+- DeletionPropagationPolicy Background
+- Parallel 2
+- Template true
+- NoCluster false
+- PauseOnFailure false
+Loading tests...
+- vpn-killswitch (/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/vpn-killswitch)
+Loading values...
+Running tests...
+=== RUN   chainsaw
+=== PAUSE chainsaw
+=== CONT  chainsaw
+=== RUN   chainsaw/vpn-killswitch
+=== PAUSE chainsaw/vpn-killswitch
+=== CONT  chainsaw/vpn-killswitch
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:38 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Namespace @ chainsaw-credible-bird
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:38 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:38 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        kubectl label namespace "$NAMESPACE" \
+          pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=privileged \
+          pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=privileged \
+          pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=privileged \
+          --overwrite
+        echo "NS_PRIVILEGED_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        namespace/chainsaw-credible-bird labeled
+        NS_PRIVILEGED_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:39 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:41 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:41 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:41 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:41 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        get_ip() {
+          kubectl -n "$ns" exec "$1" -c curl -- \
+            curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true
+        }
+        wan="" vpn=""
+        for i in $(seq 1 12); do
+          [ -n "$wan" ] || wan="$(get_ip egress-internet)"
+          [ -n "$vpn" ] || vpn="$(get_ip egress-vpn)"
+          if [ -n "$wan" ] && [ -n "$vpn" ] && [ "$wan" != "$vpn" ]; then break; fi
+          [ "$wan" = "$vpn" ] && vpn=""   # not steered yet; re-poll
+          sleep 5
+        done
+        echo "wan=$wan vpn=$vpn"
+        [ -n "$wan" ] || { echo "FAIL: no WAN IP from internet-class pod" >&2; exit 1; }
+        [ -n "$vpn" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class egress not working at baseline" >&2; exit 1; }
+        [ "$wan" != "$vpn" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class == WAN at baseline (not tunneled)" >&2; exit 1; }
+        echo "TUNNEL_HEALTHY_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        wan=136.51.115.252 vpn=158.173.241.11
+        TUNNEL_HEALTHY_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-credible-bird/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-credible-bird/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-credible-bird/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:43 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-credible-bird/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:48 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-credible-bird/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:44:48 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -u
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        wan="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-internet -c curl -- \
+                 curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        for i in $(seq 1 8); do
+          out="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-vpn -c curl -- \
+                   curl -fsS --max-time 8 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+          if [ -n "$out" ]; then
+            if [ -n "$wan" ] && [ "$out" = "$wan" ]; then
+              echo "LEAK: vpn-class reached the WAN IP ($out) with the tunnel DOWN" >&2; exit 1
+            fi
+            echo "LEAK: vpn-class reached the internet ($out) with the tunnel DOWN" >&2; exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "attempt $i: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good"
+          sleep 3
+        done
+        echo "NO_LEAK_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        attempt 1: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 2: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 3: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 4: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 5: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 6: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 7: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 8: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        NO_LEAK_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        out="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-internet -c curl -- \
+                 curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        echo "internet_ip=$out"
+        [ -n "$out" ] || { echo "FAIL: internet-class egress broke while tunnel down (must be unaffected)" >&2; exit 1; }
+        echo "INTERNET_UNAFFECTED_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        internet_ip=136.51.115.252
+        INTERNET_UNAFFECTED_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mFINALLY[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:18 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        # Distinct Job name (tunnel-restart) so it never collides with the
+        # tunnel-stop Job. Left-aligned manifest so the block scalar yields
+        # valid YAML at column 0 at runtime.
+        cat <<'JOB' | kubectl -n "$ns" apply -f -
+        apiVersion: batch/v1
+        kind: Job
+        metadata:
+          name: tunnel-restart
+          labels: { app: vpn-killswitch-fault }
+        spec:
+          backoffLimit: 3
+          activeDeadlineSeconds: 90
+          ttlSecondsAfterFinished: 600
+          template:
+            metadata:
+              labels: { app: vpn-killswitch-fault }
+            spec:
+              restartPolicy: Never
+              hostPID: true
+              nodeSelector:
+                homelab.keithjackson.dev/egress-gateway: "true"
+              tolerations:
+                - operator: Exists
+              containers:
+                - name: nsenter
+                  image: busybox:1.37.0
+                  securityContext:
+                    privileged: true
+                  command: ["nsenter","-t","1","-m","-u","-i","-n","-p","--","systemctl","start","vpn-egress-tunnel"]
+        JOB
+        # Block teardown until the restart actually completed on the host — a
+        # leaked-down tunnel is unacceptable. `wait` exits non-zero on failure
+        # or timeout, which (set -e) fails the step and surfaces the problem.
+        kubectl -n "$ns" wait --for=condition=complete --timeout=110s job/tunnel-restart
+        echo "TUNNEL_SELF_HEAL_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:21 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        job.batch/tunnel-restart created
+        job.batch/tunnel-restart condition met
+        TUNNEL_SELF_HEAL_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:21 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:21 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mFINALLY[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:21 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:21 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        wan="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-internet -c curl -- \
+                 curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        vpn=""
+        for i in $(seq 1 24); do
+          vpn="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-vpn -c curl -- \
+                   curl -fsS --max-time 8 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+          if [ -n "$vpn" ] && [ "$vpn" != "$wan" ]; then break; fi
+          vpn=""
+          sleep 5
+        done
+        echo "recovered_vpn=$vpn wan=$wan"
+        [ -n "$vpn" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class egress did not recover after tunnel restart" >&2; exit 1; }
+        [ "$vpn" != "$wan" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class egress recovered onto the WAN (not tunneled)" >&2; exit 1; }
+        echo "TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        recovered_vpn=158.173.241.11 wan=136.51.115.252
+        TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-credible-bird/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:25 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:46:56 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-credible-bird/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:47:26 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:47:26 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:47:26 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Namespace @ chainsaw-credible-bird
+    l.go:52: | 01:47:33 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+--- PASS: chainsaw (0.00s)
+    --- PASS: chainsaw/vpn-killswitch (174.63s)
+PASS
+Tests Summary...
+- Passed  tests 1
+- Failed  tests 0
+- Skipped tests 0
+Done.
+[1m[run.sh][0m HEAVY pass: no heavy tests selected.
+merge_junit: merged 1 report(s) -> /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/report.junit.xml (tests=1 failures=0 errors=0 skipped=0)
+[1m[run.sh][0m Done. JUnit: /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/report.junit.xml | Coverage: /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<testsuites name="chainsaw-report" tests="1" failures="0" errors="0" time="0.000000"><testsuite name="/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/vpn-killswitch" tests="1" failures="0" errors="0" id="0" time="">
+    <testcase name="vpn-killswitch" classname="" time="173.473422" />
+  </testsuite>
+</testsuites>
@@ -0,0 +1,237 @@
+[1m[run.sh][0m Coverage report first (always)
+[coverage] 49/51 requirements have a scaffolded test (96.1%); 2 gap(s), 0 safety-critical gap(s).
+[coverage] wrote /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.md and /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.json
+[1m[run.sh][0m No L0/L1 offline checks match the selection (layer=l3 reqs='R-NET-06').
+[1m[run.sh][0m LIGHT pass: 1 test(s), parallel=2 (pinned v0.2.12)
+Version: 0.2.12
+Loading config (/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/config/chainsaw-config.yaml)...
+- Using test file: chainsaw-test
+- TestDirs [/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/vpn-killswitch]
+- SkipDelete false
+- FailFast false
+- ReportFormat 'JUNIT-TEST'
+- ReportName 'chainsaw-report-light'
+- ReportPath '/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts'
+- Namespace ''
+- FullName false
+- IncludeTestRegex ''
+- ExcludeTestRegex ''
+- ApplyTimeout 1m30s
+- AssertTimeout 3m0s
+- CleanupTimeout 2m0s
+- DeleteTimeout 2m0s
+- ErrorTimeout 1m0s
+- ExecTimeout 3m0s
+- DeletionPropagationPolicy Background
+- Parallel 2
+- Template true
+- NoCluster false
+- PauseOnFailure false
+Loading tests...
+- vpn-killswitch (/work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/vpn-killswitch)
+Loading values...
+Running tests...
+=== RUN   chainsaw
+=== PAUSE chainsaw
+=== CONT  chainsaw
+=== RUN   chainsaw/vpn-killswitch
+=== PAUSE chainsaw/vpn-killswitch
+=== CONT  chainsaw/vpn-killswitch
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Namespace @ chainsaw-beloved-toad
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        kubectl label namespace "$NAMESPACE" \
+          pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=privileged \
+          pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=privileged \
+          pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=privileged \
+          --overwrite
+        echo "NS_PRIVILEGED_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        namespace/chainsaw-beloved-toad labeled
+        NS_PRIVILEGED_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:24 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:25 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:25 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:25 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:26 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:26 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:26 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:26 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        get_ip() {
+          kubectl -n "$ns" exec "$1" -c curl -- \
+            curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true
+        }
+        wan="" vpn=""
+        for i in $(seq 1 12); do
+          [ -n "$wan" ] || wan="$(get_ip egress-internet)"
+          [ -n "$vpn" ] || vpn="$(get_ip egress-vpn)"
+          if [ -n "$wan" ] && [ -n "$vpn" ] && [ "$wan" != "$vpn" ]; then break; fi
+          [ "$wan" = "$vpn" ] && vpn=""   # not steered yet; re-poll
+          sleep 5
+        done
+        echo "wan=$wan vpn=$vpn"
+        [ -n "$wan" ] || { echo "FAIL: no WAN IP from internet-class pod" >&2; exit 1; }
+        [ -n "$vpn" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class egress not working at baseline" >&2; exit 1; }
+        [ "$wan" != "$vpn" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class == WAN at baseline (not tunneled)" >&2; exit 1; }
+        echo "TUNNEL_HEALTHY_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        wan=136.51.115.252 vpn=158.173.241.11
+        TUNNEL_HEALTHY_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mCREATE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mAPPLY[0;22m     | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:27 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:31 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mASSERT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:49:31 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -u
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        wan="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-internet -c curl -- \
+                 curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        for i in $(seq 1 8); do
+          out="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-vpn -c curl -- \
+                   curl -fsS --max-time 8 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+          if [ -n "$out" ]; then
+            if [ -n "$wan" ] && [ "$out" = "$wan" ]; then
+              echo "LEAK: vpn-class reached the WAN IP ($out) with the tunnel DOWN" >&2; exit 1
+            fi
+            echo "LEAK: vpn-class reached the internet ($out) with the tunnel DOWN" >&2; exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "attempt $i: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good"
+          sleep 3
+        done
+        echo "NO_LEAK_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:01 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        attempt 1: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 2: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 3: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 4: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 5: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 6: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 7: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        attempt 8: vpn-class blackholed (no response), good
+        NO_LEAK_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:01 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:01 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        out="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-internet -c curl -- \
+                 curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        echo "internet_ip=$out"
+        [ -n "$out" ] || { echo "FAIL: internet-class egress broke while tunnel down (must be unaffected)" >&2; exit 1; }
+        echo "INTERNET_UNAFFECTED_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:02 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        internet_ip=136.51.115.252
+        INTERNET_UNAFFECTED_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:02 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:02 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:02 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mFINALLY[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:02 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        # Distinct Job name (tunnel-restart) so it never collides with the
+        # tunnel-stop Job. Left-aligned manifest so the block scalar yields
+        # valid YAML at column 0 at runtime.
+        cat <<'JOB' | kubectl -n "$ns" apply -f -
+        apiVersion: batch/v1
+        kind: Job
+        metadata:
+          name: tunnel-restart
+          labels: { app: vpn-killswitch-fault }
+        spec:
+          backoffLimit: 3
+          activeDeadlineSeconds: 90
+          ttlSecondsAfterFinished: 600
+          template:
+            metadata:
+              labels: { app: vpn-killswitch-fault }
+            spec:
+              restartPolicy: Never
+              hostPID: true
+              nodeSelector:
+                homelab.keithjackson.dev/egress-gateway: "true"
+              tolerations:
+                - operator: Exists
+              containers:
+                - name: nsenter
+                  image: busybox:1.37.0
+                  securityContext:
+                    privileged: true
+                  command: ["nsenter","-t","1","-m","-u","-i","-n","-p","--","systemctl","start","vpn-egress-tunnel"]
+        JOB
+        # Block teardown until the restart actually completed on the host — a
+        # leaked-down tunnel is unacceptable. `wait` exits non-zero on failure
+        # or timeout, which (set -e) fails the step and surfaces the problem.
+        kubectl -n "$ns" wait --for=condition=complete --timeout=110s job/tunnel-restart
+        echo "TUNNEL_SELF_HEAL_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:05 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        job.batch/tunnel-restart created
+        job.batch/tunnel-restart condition met
+        TUNNEL_SELF_HEAL_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:05 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:05 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mFINALLY[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:05 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:05 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mCMD[0;22m       | [36;1mRUN[0;22m   |
+        === COMMAND
+        /usr/bin/sh -c set -eu
+        ns="$NAMESPACE"
+        wan="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-internet -c curl -- \
+                 curl -fsS --max-time 10 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        vpn=""
+        for i in $(seq 1 24); do
+          vpn="$(kubectl -n "$ns" exec egress-vpn -c curl -- \
+                   curl -fsS --max-time 8 https://api.ipify.org 2>/dev/null || true)"
+          if [ -n "$vpn" ] && [ "$vpn" != "$wan" ]; then break; fi
+          vpn=""
+          sleep 5
+        done
+        echo "recovered_vpn=$vpn wan=$wan"
+        [ -n "$vpn" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class egress did not recover after tunnel restart" >&2; exit 1; }
+        [ "$vpn" != "$wan" ] || { echo "FAIL: vpn-class egress recovered onto the WAN (not tunneled)" >&2; exit 1; }
+        echo "TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK"
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [36;1mLOG[0;22m   |
+        === STDOUT
+        recovered_vpn=158.173.241.11 wan=136.51.115.252
+        TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [32;1mSCRIPT[0;22m    | [32;1mDONE[0;22m  |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-tunnel-recovers-connectivity-returns[0;22m | [36;1mTRY[0;22m       | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | batch/v1/Job @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/tunnel-stop
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mwhen-force-tunnel-down-then-no-leak      [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:08 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-vpn
+    l.go:52: | 01:51:39 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Pod @ chainsaw-beloved-toad/egress-internet
+    l.go:52: | 01:52:10 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1mgiven-healthy-tunnel-and-two-workloads   [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+    l.go:52: | 01:52:10 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mBEGIN[0;22m |
+    l.go:52: | 01:52:10 | [32;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [32;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [32;1mDELETE[0;22m    | [32;1mOK[0;22m    | v1/Namespace @ chainsaw-beloved-toad
+    l.go:52: | 01:52:18 | [36;1mvpn-killswitch[0;22m | [36;1m@chainsaw                                [0;22m | [36;1mCLEANUP[0;22m   | [36;1mEND[0;22m   |
+--- PASS: chainsaw (0.00s)
+    --- PASS: chainsaw/vpn-killswitch (173.47s)
+PASS
+Tests Summary...
+- Passed  tests 1
+- Failed  tests 0
+- Skipped tests 0
+Done.
+[1m[run.sh][0m HEAVY pass: no heavy tests selected.
+merge_junit: merged 1 report(s) -> /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/report.junit.xml (tests=1 failures=0 errors=0 skipped=0)
+[1m[run.sh][0m Done. JUnit: /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/report.junit.xml | Coverage: /work/.claude/conf-clone/conformance/_artifacts/coverage/coverage.md
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
 {"chainsaw_version": "v0.2.12", "env": "dev", "git_sha": "57d4df8c4f992732a49f3e2daddcace866778ab0", "junit_result": "passed", "kube_version": "v1.36.4+k3s1", "layer": "L3", "note": "run log OUTPUT carries every declared pass token (NODE_LOSS_VOLUME_AVAILABLE_OK) and no skip token [log scoped to this testcase; tokens read from real-output sections only]", "proof": "proven", "requirements": ["R-STATE-02"], "run_id": "20260901T235117Z-e9a4b66", "sentinel": "NODE_LOSS_VOLUME_AVAILABLE_OK", "test": "node-loss", "ts_utc": "2026-09-01T23:51:17Z"}
 {"chainsaw_version": "v0.2.12", "env": "dev", "git_sha": "fdc3265585f4b775c0a6ae3fb33c837b0c643655", "junit_result": "passed", "kube_version": "v1.36.4+k3s1", "layer": "L3", "note": "run log OUTPUT carries every declared pass token (OFF_CLUSTER_TARGET_OK, BACKUPS_ARE_SCHEDULED_OK, DR_RESTORED_FROM_OFF_CLUSTER_BACKUP_OK) and no skip token [log scoped to this testcase; tokens read from real-output sections only]", "proof": "proven", "requirements": ["R-STATE-03"], "run_id": "20260902T001907Z-fdc3265", "sentinel": "DR_RESTORED_FROM_OFF_CLUSTER_BACKUP_OK", "test": "dr-restore", "ts_utc": "2026-09-02T00:19:07Z"}
+{"chainsaw_version": "v0.2.12", "env": "prod", "git_sha": "19fc8bcb27eab42a0007b28a831519d3e325c7b6", "junit_result": "passed", "kube_version": "v1.36.4+k3s1", "layer": "L1", "note": "L1 offline check exited 0; run_l1_offline.py renders its skips as JUnit <skipped/>, so a green JUnit is truthful without a sentinel", "proof": "proven", "requirements": ["R-NET-05", "R-NET-06", "R-NET-07"], "run_id": "20260913T014321Z-19fc8bc", "sentinel": null, "test": "egress-class-render", "ts_utc": "2026-09-13T01:43:21Z"}
+{"chainsaw_version": "v0.2.12", "env": "prod", "git_sha": "19fc8bcb27eab42a0007b28a831519d3e325c7b6-dirty", "junit_result": "passed", "kube_version": "v1.36.4+k3s1", "layer": "L3", "note": "run log OUTPUT carries every declared pass token (NS_PRIVILEGED_OK, TUNNEL_HEALTHY_OK, NO_LEAK_OK, INTERNET_UNAFFECTED_OK, TUNNEL_SELF_HEAL_OK, TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK) and no skip token [log scoped to this testcase; tokens read from real-output sections only]", "proof": "proven", "requirements": ["R-NET-06"], "run_id": "20260913T014437Z-19fc8bc", "sentinel": "TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK", "test": "vpn-killswitch", "ts_utc": "2026-09-13T01:44:37Z"}
+{"chainsaw_version": "v0.2.12", "env": "prod", "git_sha": "9d0814ae61e6a0ba64d3789a71f1cd9c985efbf0", "junit_result": "passed", "kube_version": "v1.36.4+k3s1", "layer": "L3", "note": "run log OUTPUT carries every declared pass token (NS_PRIVILEGED_OK, TUNNEL_HEALTHY_OK, NO_LEAK_OK, INTERNET_UNAFFECTED_OK, TUNNEL_SELF_HEAL_OK, TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK) and no skip token [log scoped to this testcase; tokens read from real-output sections only]", "proof": "proven", "requirements": ["R-NET-06"], "run_id": "20260913T014923Z-9d0814a", "sentinel": "TUNNEL_RECOVERED_OK", "test": "vpn-killswitch", "ts_utc": "2026-09-13T01:49:23Z"}
@@ -93,9 +93,52 @@ and coverage extraction exact and robust.
  break the thing and assert fail-closed / no-data-loss, with `finally` restoring state.
 - **Never weaken a test to go green (R-TEST-06).** If the spec can't be met, escalate to
  the PM — do not relax the assertion or the requirement.
+- **Never write a per-environment value into a test (R-ENV-02).** No hostname suffix, no
+  Gateway VIP, no LB-pool range. One authored suite must run green against dev *and* prod,
+  so a test **asks the cluster it is pointed at** what it is. The mechanism is a chainsaw
+  binding over the same ConfigMap Flux substitutes from:
+
+  ```yaml
+  spec:
+    bindings:
+      - name: baseDomain
+        value: (x_k8s_get($client, 'v1', 'ConfigMap', 'flux-system', 'cluster-vars').data.BASE_DOMAIN)
+  ```
+
+  Declare it at **test level** (step `outputs`/`bindings` are step-scoped), then consume it:
+  `($baseDomain)` for a pod `env:` value, `(join('.', ['myhost', $baseDomain]))` where a
+  full hostname is needed — including inside a `fixtures/*.yaml` applied with `apply: file:`,
+  which chainsaw templates with the same bindings. Prefer reading the *actual* observed value
+  over restating a range (e.g. assert the DNS answer equals `GATEWAY_VIP`, or equals the LB IP
+  the Service was assigned) — it is both stricter and environment-independent. Never take the
+  environment from a CLI flag or an exported variable: a flag someone forgets is how a suite
+  ends up silently asserting the other cluster's expectations. L1 goldens are the one
+  exception: they are rendering fixtures and carry the literal `${BASE_DOMAIN}` token.
+
+### How a scaffold declares itself (and how `status.py` tells one from a verifier)

 Scaffolds in this tree carry `TODO(T-x.y)` markers where a fixture/assertion lands as a
-later roadmap phase delivers the capability under test. `lib/status.py` treats such a
-marker — in the `chainsaw-test.yaml`, in `render-check.sh`, or in `check.sh` — as
-outranking any `conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"` annotation, so a placeholder body
-can never be reported as an executable test.
+later roadmap phase delivers the capability under test. `lib/status.py` classifies each
+test EXECUTABLE or SCAFFOLD from the test's own files — `chainsaw-test.yaml`,
+`render-check.sh`, `check.sh` — and either signal below **outranks**
+`conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"`, so a placeholder body can never be reported as
+an executable test. Declare a scaffold in **both** positions:
+
+1. **`# STATUS: scaffold — <what is missing>`** in the file's header comment block. The
+   declared state must be the first token after `STATUS:` (executable tests say
+   `# STATUS: EXECUTABLE` / `IMPLEMENTED` / `RUNNABLE`).
+2. **A `TODO`/`FIXME` marker carrying a message, in the body** — the file from its first
+   non-comment line onward. `echo "TODO(T-4.2): inject a fault to fire a rule"`,
+   or an inline comment on a missing fixture:
+   `file: fixtures/smtp-sink.yaml   # TODO(T-4.1): hermetic SMTP capture sink`.
+
+What is **not** a scaffold marker, and why the distinction is load-bearing: a marker
+mentioned in the **header prose** (the Given/When/Then and the mandatory "what this does
+NOT prove" list), and a marker that is the **entire content of a quoted literal** — a
+placeholder *detector*'s own vocabulary, e.g. `SEED = ["TBD", "TODO", "FIXME", ...]` in
+`l0-static/placeholder-guard-coupling/check.sh`. A whole-file `"TODO" in text` test used to
+classify that 32-assertion check as a scaffold and, through it, report the safety-critical
+R-STATE-03 as `exec=1 scaffold=1`. If your check must hold a marker as data, keep each
+idiom a **standalone quoted literal in a list**; a marker with text attached (a regex
+alternation, several idioms in one string) still classifies as a scaffold, because
+ambiguity here only ever downgrades.
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — every metric an alert rule queries is CLAIMED by a scrape target this repo configures
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+#
+# THE DEFECT THIS CLOSES. An alert rule whose metric is never scraped is not a broken alert — it is
+# an ABSENT alert that reads as a present one. `longhorn_volume_robustness == 2` over a TSDB with no
+# longhorn_* series returns no vector, so the rule is permanently quiet, permanently "healthy", and
+# indistinguishable from a correct rule on a healthy cluster. It survives review (the PromQL is
+# right), it survives `promtool test rules` (the unit test supplies the series itself), and it
+# survives every dashboard (nobody looks for a panel that was never built).
+#
+# MEASURED ON PROD, 2026-09-13, before this change — 13 rules across three families were inert:
+#   count(longhorn_volume_robustness)                        => (empty)   4 rules
+#   count({__name__=~"certmanager.*"})                       => (empty)   3 rules
+#   count(hubble_drop_total)                                 => (empty)   1 rule
+#   count by (job) (up)                                      => 20 jobs, none Longhorn/cert-manager/Hubble
+# So storage health was unmonitored on a cluster whose prod-1 had just had a failing SSD
+# (DECISIONS-LOG), TLS expiry was unmonitored with the live `wildcard-home` wildcard 89 days from
+# expiry, and the platform had no policy-drop visibility at all. The Flux family (gotk_*, 5 rules)
+# was the same defect and was fixed separately in a79693d.
+#
+# GIVEN every alerting rule in every PrometheusRule in the repo (platform/**, apps/wave-*),
+# WHEN  each rule's PromQL is parsed for the metric names it selects,
+# THEN  (1) every metric name is CLAIMED by exactly one declared scrape owner, and each owner's
+#           claim is PROVEN AGAINST THE REPO — the file that enables that scrape must still contain
+#           the enabling declaration, so deleting `metrics.serviceMonitor.enabled` from
+#           platform/longhorn/helmrelease.yaml fails this check instead of silently re-inerting four
+#           storage alerts;
+#       (2) an owner's NEGATIVE conditions hold too, where the enablement can be defeated without
+#           being deleted — cert-manager's chart calls `fail` if podmonitor and servicemonitor are
+#           both set, Longhorn's own NetworkPolicies drop the scrape unless
+#           networkpolicy-metrics.yaml is wired, and kube_node_labels does not exist at all unless
+#           kube-state-metrics' metricLabelsAllowlist names the label;
+#       (3) a metric with NO owner FAILS, unless it is declared in KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS — a
+#           shrink-only register (hubble_drop_total today, with the CNI-rollout reason recorded);
+#       (4) `up{job="X"}` is audited on its own axis, because `up` always exists and so the metric
+#           check above can never see this failure: where the repo authors a Service and a
+#           ServiceMonitor in the SAME file, the monitor's endpoint port must be a port that Service
+#           actually defines. All 12 apps/* `<app>-down` SLI rules fail this today (the monitors name
+#           port `metrics`; no app Service defines one), so they are registered in
+#           KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS with the live proof that their `up{job=...}` series do not exist;
+#   AND (5) the check is LOAD-BEARING: this Test DECLARES `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`,
+#           so ci/l0.sh Stage 3b's `--include-scope whole-repo` unions it into EVERY gate
+#           invocation, and ci/gate.sh blocks the merge when the l0 stage fails.
+#
+# WHY BOTH REGISTERS ARE RATCHETS AND NOT BLANKET FAILURES: the same reasoning as
+# alert-rules-unit-tested. Failing outright on the 12 app SLI rules would make the gate red until
+# exporters exist for Plex, Pi-hole, Jackett, qBittorrent, Sonarr, Radarr, Seerr and friends —
+# none of which speak Prometheus natively — so the gate would be disabled, and a disabled gate
+# protects nothing. Merely printing the gap is how these 13 rules stayed inert for three phases.
+# So each gap is DECLARED, counted on every run, and CANNOT GROW: a new alert on an unclaimed
+# metric FAILS, a new Service+ServiceMonitor pair with a mismatched port FAILS, and a STALE
+# register entry (the gap was closed, or the alert deleted) FAILS too, so neither register can rot
+# into fiction.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is an offline assertion script (PyYAML, the same dependency as
+# catalog/render.py and dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh
+# run it directly, and this Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# NOT proven (all named in check.sh's header, which carries the full list). The one worth stating
+# here because it bit this very repo: an owner claims metrics by PREFIX, so this proves the SCRAPE
+# TARGET exists, never that the exporter emits that exact SERIES NAME.
+# `kubevirt_vmi_phase_count{phase="Failed"}` sat inside the scraped kubevirt_ family on an UP target
+# and did not exist at all on the deployed KubeVirt (corrected here to
+# `kubevirt_vmi_info{phase="failed"}`, lowercase — a capital-F matcher is equally inert). Catching
+# that needs the exporter's own metric list, i.e. a live read; it belongs to a future L1/L3 check
+# that diffs alert metrics against /api/v1/label/__name__/values.
+#
+# Also not proven: that a target is UP. This is static — it asserts the
+# enabling declaration is in git, never that the endpoint answers, that the chart still honours the
+# value key, or that a NetworkPolicy is sufficient. Those were established by live prod reads
+# recorded in the commit message (longhorn_volume_robustness 44 series, certmanager_* 104 series,
+# all six new targets up==1). It also cannot check a monitor whose Service comes from a Helm chart
+# rather than from this repo — the port name lives outside the tree — which is why (4) is scoped to
+# same-file Service+ServiceMonitor pairs. And it does not judge thresholds or reachability-to-human
+# (R-OBS-02 / the L3 alerting test).
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: alert-metrics-have-scrape-targets
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-OBS-04: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-OBS-04"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE — this invariant quantifies over every PrometheusRule in the tree AND over
+    # every scrape-enabling declaration that feeds them, which live in eight different components
+    # (platform/monitoring, platform/longhorn, platform/cert-manager, platform/velero,
+    # platform/kubevirt, platform/keycloak, platform/cnpg, apps/wave-*). No single requirement
+    # path-maps to that set.
+    #
+    # WHY IT MUST NOT BE REQUIREMENT-SCOPED: ci/touched-requirements.sh maps apps/* to NOTHING and
+    # platform/monitoring/* to R-OBS-01/R-OBS-02 — not R-OBS-04. A change that adds an alert under
+    # apps/ or platform/kubevirt/, or one that flips a chart's `serviceMonitor.enabled` back to
+    # false under platform/longhorn/, therefore attributes a requirement set that would FILTER THIS
+    # CHECK OUT of exactly the change that re-inerts the alerts. Declaring the scope makes
+    # ci/l0.sh Stage 3b union it into every run instead, and makes an honest SKIP loud (rc 3 =
+    # UNWIRED, never green) rather than silently green.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Every metric name queried by every alert rule is claimed by a scrape target whose enabling
+      declaration is still present in this repo, every `up{job=...}` selector names a job a repo
+      monitor can actually produce, and the two gaps that remain are enumerated in registers that
+      can only shrink — so an alert can never again be authored, reviewed and merged against a
+      metric nothing scrapes.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: audit-every-alert-metric-against-the-configured-scrape-targets
+      description: >-
+        Parse every metric name out of every alerting rule, resolve each against the declared
+        scrape-owner table, prove each owner's enabling declaration (and its negative conditions)
+        still hold in git, audit `up{job=...}` against same-file Service/ServiceMonitor port
+        agreement, and ratchet both registers of declared gaps.
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,702 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — alert-metrics-have-scrape-targets
+# Serves: R-OBS-04 ("The platform alerts on its own health (nodes, storage, GitOps, certs,
+#         VPN)." — spec docs/10-observability-and-alerting.md)
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS — AN ALERT ON AN UNSCRAPED METRIC IS AN ABSENT ALERT THAT READS AS A PRESENT ONE
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# `longhorn_volume_robustness == 2` evaluated against a TSDB that holds no longhorn_* series
+# returns no vector. The rule is therefore permanently quiet, permanently "healthy", and
+# INDISTINGUISHABLE from a correct rule on a healthy cluster. It passes review (the PromQL is
+# right). It passes `promtool test rules` (the unit test supplies the series itself, so a unit
+# test proves nothing about whether anything scrapes them). It shows up on no dashboard, because
+# nobody looks for a panel that was never built.
+#
+# Measured on prod 2026-09-13, BEFORE the change that added this check — 13 rules were inert:
+#   count(longhorn_volume_robustness)            => (empty)    LonghornVolumeDegraded/Faulted/
+#                                                              CapacityHigh, LonghornNodeStorageHigh
+#   count({__name__=~"certmanager.*"})           => (empty)    CertificateExpiringSoon/
+#                                                              ExpiryImminent/NotReady
+#   count(hubble_drop_total)                     => (empty)    HubbleDeniedFlowSpike
+#   count by (job) (up)                          => 20 jobs, none Longhorn, cert-manager or Hubble
+# Storage health was unmonitored on the cluster whose prod-1 had just had a failing SSD; TLS
+# expiry was unmonitored with the live `wildcard-home` wildcard 89 days out; there was no
+# policy-drop visibility at all. The gotk_* family (5 more rules) was the same defect, fixed
+# separately in a79693d.
+#
+# WHAT MAKES THIS CLASS DIFFERENT from the two failure modes alert-rules-unit-tested catches: a
+# permanently-firing rule is loud, and a rule that behaves wrongly against synthetic series is
+# caught by promtool. This one is caught by NEITHER, because the missing thing is not in the rule
+# file at all — it is a `serviceMonitor.enabled` that was never set in a completely different
+# component's HelmRelease. So the audit has to cross from the alert to the scrape config, which is
+# what the owner table below does.
+#
+# GIVEN every alerting rule in every PrometheusRule in the repo,
+# WHEN  each rule's PromQL is parsed for the metric names it selects,
+# THEN  (1) every metric name is CLAIMED by exactly one declared owner in SCRAPE_OWNERS, and the
+#           owner's `require` regexes still match its file — so deleting the enablement from
+#           platform/longhorn/helmrelease.yaml FAILS here instead of silently re-inerting four
+#           storage alerts;
+#       (2) each owner's `forbid` regexes do NOT match, for the cases where the enablement can be
+#           defeated without being deleted (cert-manager's chart `fail`s if podmonitor and
+#           servicemonitor are both enabled; an `enabled: false` inside the exporter's own block);
+#       (3) a metric with no owner FAILS unless declared in KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS (shrink-only);
+#       (4) `up{job="X"}` is audited separately — `up` itself always exists, so (1) is blind to
+#           this — by requiring that where this repo authors a Service and a ServiceMonitor in the
+#           SAME file, the monitor's endpoint port is a port that Service actually defines;
+#           violations must be declared in KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS (shrink-only);
+#   AND (5) the check is LOAD-BEARING: this test declares `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`
+#           so ci/l0.sh unions it into every gate run, and ci/gate.sh blocks on an l0 failure.
+#
+# WHY THE REGISTERS ARE RATCHETS (the decision and its reasons) — the same three options as
+# alert-rules-unit-tested faced:
+#   * FAIL outright on all 13: correct in principle, but 12 of them are app SLI rules that need
+#     Prometheus exporters for Plex, Pi-hole, Jackett, qBittorrent, Sonarr, Radarr and Seerr —
+#     none of which speak Prometheus natively. The gate would be red for every change until that
+#     work lands, so it would get disabled, and a disabled gate protects nothing.
+#   * merely REPORT: that is precisely how these rules stayed inert across phases 4-6.
+#   * RATCHET (chosen): each gap is declared here, printed with counts on every run, and CANNOT
+#     GROW. A new alert on an unclaimed metric FAILS. A new same-file Service+ServiceMonitor pair
+#     with a mismatched port FAILS. A STALE entry — the gap was closed, or the alert deleted —
+#     also FAILS, so neither register can rot into fiction.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps — this is a STATIC check):
+#   - It does not prove a target is UP, that an endpoint answers, that the chart still honours the
+#     values key, or that a NetworkPolicy is sufficient. Those were established by live prod reads
+#     recorded in the commit message: with the enablements applied, longhorn_volume_robustness
+#     returned 44 series, {__name__=~"certmanager.*"} returned 104, and all six new targets read
+#     up==1. A live probe needs a cluster, which L0 by definition does not have.
+#   - It cannot audit a ServiceMonitor whose Service is created by a Helm chart rather than by this
+#     repo: the port name lives outside the tree. That is why (4) is scoped to same-file
+#     Service+ServiceMonitor pairs — the apps/* ServiceDefinition pattern — and why the
+#     platform/* monitors (oauth2-proxy, kubevirt, keycloak, flux) are out of its reach. Their
+#     liveness is covered by the fact that their metrics have owners under (1).
+#   - IT PROVES THE SCRAPE TARGET, NOT THE SERIES NAME. An owner claims a metric by PREFIX, so a
+#     metric in a scraped family whose exact name the exporter does not emit still passes. This is
+#     a real residual hole and it was live in this repo: `kubevirt_vmi_phase_count{phase="Failed"}`
+#     (KubeVirtVMLaunchFailing) sat inside the scraped `kubevirt_` family on an UP target, and the
+#     series simply does not exist on the deployed KubeVirt — verified on prod 2026-09-13, where the
+#     only kubevirt_vmi_* names are `info` and `number_of_outdated`, and the only phase-bearing
+#     names are the phase_transition_time histograms. Corrected in the same change to
+#     `kubevirt_vmi_info{phase="failed"}` (note the LOWERCASE value KubeVirt writes: a capital-F
+#     matcher selects nothing and is just as inert). Catching that class needs the exporter's own
+#     metric list, which is a live read, not a static one — it belongs to a future L1/L3 check that
+#     diffs every alert metric against `/api/v1/label/__name__/values`. The same limit applies to
+#     every LABEL VALUE an alert matches on.
+#   - The metric-name parser is a PromQL approximation, not a parser: it strips string literals,
+#     label-matcher bodies and aggregation label lists, then treats remaining bare identifiers as
+#     metric selectors. A metric referenced ONLY through a `{__name__=~"..."}` regex selector would
+#     be missed. No rule in this repo does that, and assertion (0) fails if the parser stops
+#     finding metrics at all.
+#   - It does not judge thresholds, and does not prove an alert reaches a human (R-OBS-02 and the
+#     L3 alerting test own that).
+#   - It does not read ../home-network-k3s. The spec is read-only (R-TEST-06).
+#
+# Exit 0 = all assertions pass. Exit 1 = a failure. Exit 3 (honest SKIP, and because this test
+# declares the whole-repo scope the runner turns it into rc 3 = UNWIRED, never green) only if the
+# repo contains no PrometheusRule at all — i.e. there is genuinely nothing to audit.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+# Honest SKIP (never green for a scope-declaring test) if there is nothing to audit at all.
+if ! grep -rl 'kind: PrometheusRule' "${ROOT}/platform" "${ROOT}/apps" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "check SKIPPED: no PrometheusRule found under platform/ or apps/ — no alert rules to audit" >&2
+  exit 3
+fi
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+"""Static audit: every alert rule's metrics are claimed by a scrape target this repo configures.
+
+PyYAML is used deliberately rather than the line-based parsing the neighbouring checks favour:
+alert `expr:` values are multi-line block scalars, and a line-based reader of PromQL would be the
+kind of approximate parser that silently stops matching — the exact failure class this check
+exists to prevent. Same dependency as catalog/render.py and dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+sys.dont_write_bytecode = True          # keep __pycache__ out of the tracked tree
+
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def read(p: Path) -> str:
+    try:
+        return p.read_text()
+    except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+        return ""
+
+
+# =============================================================================================
+# THE DECLARED SCRAPE-OWNER TABLE (assertions 1 and 2).
+#
+# Each entry claims a set of metric names (exact names and/or prefixes) and names the file whose
+# declaration is what makes those metrics exist in the TSDB, plus the regexes that prove it. This
+# is the crossing from "an alert queries X" to "something in this repo scrapes X", and it is the
+# part that makes the check a REGRESSION guard rather than a one-time audit: every `require`
+# regex is re-evaluated against the working tree on every gate run.
+#
+# `require`  — ALL must match the file. The enablement itself.
+# `forbid`   — NONE may match. For enablements that can be defeated without being deleted.
+#
+# Longest prefix wins, so kube_velero_schedule_ is resolved before kube_.
+# =============================================================================================
+KPS = "platform/monitoring/kube-prometheus-stack.yaml"
+
+SCRAPE_OWNERS: list[dict] = [
+    {
+        "owner": "kube-prometheus-stack: bundled node-exporter DaemonSet + its ServiceMonitor",
+        "prefixes": ("node_",),
+        "file": KPS,
+        # The subchart block must be present and configured here (it is where the exporter's
+        # resources live). The chart default is enabled:true, so the regression to guard is a
+        # DISABLE, not a missing enable.
+        "require": [r"^\s*prometheus-node-exporter:\s*$"],
+        "forbid": [r"prometheus-node-exporter:\s*\n(?:\s*#[^\n]*\n)*\s*enabled:\s*false"],
+        "why": "node_* powers all seven platform-health.nodes rules including the two IO-pressure "
+               "rules that exist because of prod-1's etcd WAL starvation",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "kube-prometheus-stack: the kubelet ServiceMonitor (cAdvisor + volume stats)",
+        "prefixes": ("kubelet_",),
+        "file": KPS,
+        # Chart default kubelet.enabled:true. There is no explicit enable to require, so the only
+        # honest assertion is that it has not been turned off the way kubeProxy/kubeEtcd were.
+        "require": [r"kubeProxy:"],   # sentinel: the exporter-toggle block is still authored here
+        "forbid": [r"\n\s*kubelet:\s*\n(?:\s*#[^\n]*\n)*\s*enabled:\s*false"],
+        "why": "kubelet_volume_stats_* powers MonitoringVolumeFillingUp and all three "
+               "pvc-capacity-alerts rules",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "kube-prometheus-stack: kube-state-metrics custom-resource-state for Velero Schedules",
+        "prefixes": ("kube_velero_schedule_",),
+        "file": KPS,
+        "require": [
+            r"customResourceState:\s*\n\s*enabled:\s*true",
+            r"metricNamePrefix:\s*kube_velero_schedule",
+            # The RBAC is MANDATORY, not cosmetic: without velero.io read access KSM emits the
+            # custom-resource-state metrics as an EMPTY SET and logs a forbidden error — silent,
+            # and the inert-alert failure mode all over again (measured; see the block's header).
+            r'apiGroups:\s*\["velero\.io"\]',
+            r'resources:\s*\["schedules"\]',
+        ],
+        "forbid": [r"customResourceState:\s*\n\s*enabled:\s*false"],
+        "why": "kube_velero_schedule_* is the only thing that can see a Schedule that has NEVER "
+               "backed up (VeleroScheduleNeverBackedUp / SchedulePaused / NoVolumeDataBackup); "
+               "Velero itself publishes nothing until a backup is attempted",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "kube-prometheus-stack: bundled kube-state-metrics",
+        "prefixes": ("kube_",),
+        "file": KPS,
+        "require": [r"^\s*kube-state-metrics:\s*$"],
+        "forbid": [r"kube-state-metrics:\s*\n(?:\s*#[^\n]*\n)*\s*enabled:\s*false"],
+        # kube_node_labels is a SPECIAL CASE and is checked on its own below: KSM exposes no
+        # custom node labels by default, so the metric does not exist unless metricLabelsAllowlist
+        # names the label. The prefix claim alone would pass while VPNTunnelDown's join matched
+        # nothing.
+        "why": "kube_* powers the Keycloak, KubeVirt-crashloop, CNPG-colocation and Velero-schedule "
+               "rules",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "kube-state-metrics metricLabelsAllowlist (the egress-gateway node label)",
+        "exact": ("kube_node_labels",),
+        "file": KPS,
+        "require": [
+            r"metricLabelsAllowlist:",
+            r"nodes=\[homelab\.keithjackson\.dev/egress-gateway\]",
+        ],
+        "forbid": [],
+        "why": "KSM exposes NO custom labels by default. Without the allowlist entry "
+               "kube_node_labels carries no egress-gateway label and VPNTunnelDown's join silently "
+               "matches nothing — a rule that is present, evaluating, and structurally inert",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "CNPG: enablePodMonitor on the Cluster CRs (the operator renders one PodMonitor each)",
+        "prefixes": ("cnpg_",),
+        "file": "platform/keycloak/postgres-cluster.yaml",
+        "require": [r"^\s*enablePodMonitor:\s*true\s*$"],
+        "forbid": [],
+        "why": "cnpg_* powers all six platform-health.cnpg rules, including the WAL-archive backlog "
+               "and no-recoverability-point rules that guard R-STATE-03",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "Flux controllers: platform/monitoring/flux-podmonitor.yaml (merged a79693d)",
+        "prefixes": ("gotk_",),
+        "file": "platform/monitoring/flux-podmonitor.yaml",
+        "require": [r"kind:\s*PodMonitor", r"port:\s*http-prom"],
+        "forbid": [],
+        "why": "gotk_* powers FluxReconciliationFailure, FluxResourceSuspended and the three "
+               "automated-update rules — on a platform whose entire delivery model is Flux",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "cert-manager: prometheus.servicemonitor.enabled in the HelmRelease",
+        "prefixes": ("certmanager_",),
+        "file": "platform/cert-manager/helmrelease.yaml",
+        "require": [r"prometheus:\s*\n\s*servicemonitor:\s*\n\s*enabled:\s*true"],
+        # The chart calls `fail` when both monitor kinds are enabled, which would break the whole
+        # HelmRelease rather than just the scrape. Measured against v1.21.2.
+        "forbid": [r"podmonitor:\s*\n\s*enabled:\s*true"],
+        "why": "certmanager_* powers CertificateExpiringSoon / ExpiryImminent / NotReady — the only "
+               "warning that an ACME DNS-01 renewal of the live wildcard has quietly failed",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "Longhorn: metrics.serviceMonitor.enabled in the HelmRelease",
+        "prefixes": ("longhorn_",),
+        "file": "platform/longhorn/helmrelease.yaml",
+        "require": [r"metrics:\s*\n\s*serviceMonitor:\s*\n\s*enabled:\s*true"],
+        "forbid": [],
+        "why": "longhorn_* powers the four storage rules on a cluster whose recurring failure mode "
+               "is a disk",
+        # The ServiceMonitor ALONE is not sufficient here — see the companion assertion below.
+        "companion": {
+            "file": "platform/longhorn/kustomization.yaml",
+            "require": [r"^\s*-\s*networkpolicy-metrics\.yaml\s*$"],
+            "why": "Longhorn 1.12.1 ships its own effectively-unconditional NetworkPolicies "
+                   "(guarded on networkPolicies.restrictInternalTraffic, default true — NOT on "
+                   "networkPolicies.enabled) whose longhorn-manager policy admits only other "
+                   "Longhorn components in the same namespace. MEASURED on prod: with the "
+                   "ServiceMonitor applied and no allowance, all three targets were DISCOVERED and "
+                   "every scrape failed with 'context deadline exceeded' after 10.0s — a drop, not "
+                   "a refusal — and the TSDB stayed empty. So without networkpolicy-metrics.yaml "
+                   "the four storage alerts are inert even though the monitor exists",
+        },
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "KubeVirt/CDI: platform/kubevirt/servicemonitor.yaml",
+        "prefixes": ("kubevirt_",),
+        "file": "platform/kubevirt/servicemonitor.yaml",
+        "require": [r"kind:\s*ServiceMonitor", r"port:\s*metrics"],
+        "forbid": [],
+        "why": "kubevirt_* powers the four platform-health.kubevirt rules (note the CDI rules use "
+               "the kubevirt_cdi_* names, not bare cdi_*)",
+    },
+    {
+        "owner": "Velero: metrics.serviceMonitor.enabled in the HelmRelease",
+        "prefixes": ("velero_",),
+        "file": "platform/velero/helmrelease.yaml",
+        "require": [r"metrics:\s*\n\s*serviceMonitor:\s*\n\s*enabled:\s*true"],
+        "forbid": [],
+        "why": "velero_* powers VeleroBackupFailure / PartialFailure / NoRecentBackup — the rules "
+               "that failed to notice prod running with zero volume backups",
+    },
+]
+
+# `up` is produced by EVERY scrape target, so no owner can meaningfully claim it and assertion (1)
+# is structurally blind to `up{job="X"}` naming a job nothing produces. That axis is assertion (4).
+UNIVERSAL = {"up"}
+
+# =============================================================================================
+# REGISTER 1 — KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS. Shrink-only. A metric here is queried by an alert and
+# claimed by NOTHING, so that alert is inert and the platform is blind to what it describes.
+# Removing an entry means wiring the scrape. An entry that stops being referenced by any alert,
+# or that gains an owner, FAILS as stale.
+# =============================================================================================
+KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS: dict[str, str] = {
+    "hubble_drop_total":
+        "HubbleDeniedFlowSpike — the platform has NO policy-drop / NetworkPolicy-regression "
+        "visibility. Unlike Longhorn and cert-manager (whose charts already serve /metrics and "
+        "only lacked a ServiceMonitor) Hubble publishes NOTHING to scrape until it is switched on "
+        "in Cilium's own config: platform/cilium/helmrelease.yaml sets hubble.{enabled,relay,ui} "
+        "but not hubble.metrics.enabled, and not prometheus.enabled for the agent. Turning them on "
+        "OPENS PORT 9965 ON EVERY cilium-agent AND ROLLS THE CNI DaemonSet across all three nodes "
+        "— the single most dangerous rollout on this cluster (the 2026-09-01 k8sServiceHost outage; "
+        "cilium was moved to its own Flux Kustomization precisely to isolate that blast radius) — "
+        "and requires a matching edit to roles/cilium/templates/cilium-values.yaml.j2 in the same "
+        "commit or a rebuilt node's bootstrap CNI config silently disagrees with the reconciled "
+        "one. Deliberately DEFERRED to its own change with a one-node canary; see the rule's "
+        "header in platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml.",
+}
+
+# =============================================================================================
+# REGISTER 2 — KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS. Shrink-only. Each is a `up{job="X"}` selector whose monitor
+# names an endpoint port that the Service it selects does not define, so the monitor discovers
+# ZERO targets, no `up{job="X"}` series exists, and `up{job="X"} == 0` can never fire. This is the
+# nastiest variant of the class: `up` exists in abundance, so nothing about the metric name looks
+# wrong, and `PrometheusTargetsMissing` cannot see it either — a target that was never discovered
+# has no up series to be 0.
+#
+# All twelve are the apps/* ServiceDefinition SLI pattern: the rendered ServiceMonitor names
+# `port: metrics`, and no app Service defines a port of that name (verified: zero occurrences of
+# `name: metrics` across all twelve manifests). VERIFIED on prod 2026-09-13: `count by (job) (up)`
+# listed 20 jobs and none of these twelve appeared; all twelve `<app>-down` rules returned no
+# series. Closing this needs a Prometheus exporter per app — Plex, Pi-hole, Jackett, qBittorrent,
+# Sonarr, Radarr and Seerr do not speak Prometheus natively — so it is its own piece of work, and
+# for keycloak specifically the job labels that DO exist are `keycloak-service`/`keycloak-discovery`
+# (platform/keycloak/servicemonitor.yaml), so that one is a rename away rather than an exporter.
+# =============================================================================================
+KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS: dict[str, str] = {
+    "gitea": "apps/wave-0/gitea.yaml — Service defines only port-3000",
+    "jackett": "apps/wave-0/jackett.yaml — no exporter",
+    "pihole": "apps/wave-0/pihole.yaml — needs pihole-exporter",
+    "plex": "apps/wave-0/plex.yaml — no native Prometheus endpoint",
+    "qbittorrent": "apps/wave-0/qbittorrent.yaml — needs qbittorrent-exporter",
+    "vm-demo": "apps/wave-0/vm-demo.yaml — a KubeVirt demo VM, no exporter",
+    "keycloak": "apps/wave-1/keycloak.yaml — the live jobs are keycloak-service / "
+                "keycloak-discovery (platform/keycloak/servicemonitor.yaml); this SLI rule names "
+                "neither, so it is a rename away from being live rather than an exporter away",
+    "nextcloud": "apps/wave-1/nextcloud.yaml — needs nextcloud-exporter (serverinfo token)",
+    "radarr": "apps/wave-1/radarr.yaml — needs exportarr",
+    "semaphore": "apps/wave-1/semaphore.yaml — no exporter",
+    "sonarr": "apps/wave-1/sonarr.yaml — needs exportarr",
+    "seerr": "apps/wave-2/seerr.yaml — no exporter",
+}
+
+# =============================================================================================
+# (0) PARSE EVERY ALERT RULE
+# =============================================================================================
+# PromQL metric-name approximation. Documented as a gap in the header: string literals,
+# label-matcher bodies and aggregation/vector-matching label lists are stripped first, then every
+# remaining bare identifier that is not a PromQL keyword or function is treated as a metric
+# selector. Assertion (0b) fails loudly if this stops finding metrics at all, which is the way an
+# approximate parser silently stops guarding.
+PROMQL_KEYWORDS = set("""
+abs absent absent_over_time ceil changes clamp clamp_max clamp_min day_of_month day_of_week
+day_of_year days_in_month delta deriv exp floor histogram_quantile histogram_count histogram_sum
+histogram_fraction histogram_stddev histogram_stdvar holt_winters hour idelta increase irate
+label_join label_replace ln log2 log10 minute month predict_linear rate resets round scalar sgn
+sort sort_desc sort_by_label sort_by_label_desc sqrt time timestamp vector year avg count
+count_values group max min quantile stddev stdvar sum topk bottomk limitk limit_ratio
+last_over_time avg_over_time min_over_time max_over_time sum_over_time count_over_time
+quantile_over_time stddev_over_time stdvar_over_time present_over_time mad_over_time
+double_exponential_smoothing info ts_of_max_over_time ts_of_min_over_time ts_of_last_over_time
+by without on ignoring group_left group_right offset bool and or unless if atan2 start end
+inf nan NaN Inf
+""".split())
+
+IDENT_RE = re.compile(r"(?<![\w:.])([a-zA-Z_:][a-zA-Z0-9_:]*)")
+UP_JOB_RE = re.compile(r"""\bup\s*\{[^}]*\bjob\s*=\s*["']([^"']+)["']""")
+
+
+def metric_names(expr: str) -> list[str]:
+    e = re.sub(r'"(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*"', '""', expr)
+    e = re.sub(r"'(?:[^'\\]|\\.)*'", "''", e)
+    e = re.sub(r"`(?:[^`\\]|\\.)*`", "``", e)
+    e = re.sub(r"\{[^{}]*\}", " ", e)               # label matchers
+    for _ in range(6):                               # nested aggregations
+        e = re.sub(r"\b(?:by|without|on|ignoring|group_left|group_right)\s*\([^()]*\)", " ", e)
+    out, seen = [], set()
+    for m in IDENT_RE.finditer(e):
+        n = m.group(1)
+        if n in PROMQL_KEYWORDS or re.fullmatch(r"\d+[smhdwy]?", n) or n in seen:
+            continue
+        seen.add(n)
+        out.append(n)
+    return out
+
+
+def is_golden_fixture(p: Path) -> bool:
+    """conformance/tests/**/golden/** holds EXPECTED-OUTPUT fixtures, not deployed manifests.
+
+    conformance/tests/l1-rendering/egress-class-render/golden/*.expected.yaml each contain a
+    rendered `<app>-down` PrometheusRule. They are the assertion data of another test, never
+    reconciled into a cluster, so auditing their scrape targets would be auditing a copy — the
+    same "reference, not declaration" distinction ci/touched-requirements.sh draws for ci/tests/
+    fixture paths. The templates they are rendered FROM are audited through apps/ and catalog/.
+    """
+    parts = p.parts
+    return "conformance" in parts and "golden" in parts
+
+
+rule_files = sorted(
+    p for p in ROOT.rglob("*.yaml")
+    if ".git" not in p.parts and not is_golden_fixture(p) and "kind: PrometheusRule" in read(p)
+)
+check(len(rule_files) > 0,
+      "no file declaring `kind: PrometheusRule` found — the parser or the repo layout changed; "
+      "this check would silently audit nothing")
+
+# metric -> [ "<relpath>:<alert>", ... ] ; and the same shape for up{job="X"} selectors
+refs: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+job_refs: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+n_rules = 0
+for f in rule_files:
+    rel = str(f.relative_to(ROOT))
+    try:
+        docs = list(yaml.safe_load_all(read(f)))
+    except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
+        check(False, f"{rel} is not parseable YAML ({exc}); every alert in it is unaudited")
+        continue
+    for d in docs:
+        if not isinstance(d, dict) or d.get("kind") != "PrometheusRule":
+            continue
+        for grp in (d.get("spec") or {}).get("groups") or []:
+            for r in grp.get("rules") or []:
+                if "alert" not in r:
+                    continue                         # recording rules: not this check's subject
+                n_rules += 1
+                site = f"{rel}:{r['alert']}"
+                expr = str(r.get("expr", ""))
+                for n in metric_names(expr):
+                    refs.setdefault(n, []).append(site)
+                for j in UP_JOB_RE.findall(expr):
+                    job_refs.setdefault(j, []).append(site)
+
+check(n_rules > 0,
+      "no alerting rule parsed out of any PrometheusRule — the parse contract broke and this "
+      "check would pass vacuously while every alert's metric went unaudited")
+check(len(refs) >= 20,
+      f"only {len(refs)} distinct metric name(s) parsed out of {n_rules} alerting rule(s). The "
+      f"PromQL approximation has stopped matching — which is exactly how an approximate parser "
+      f"turns into a guard that passes while checking nothing. Fix metric_names() or replace it "
+      f"with a real parser")
+
+# =============================================================================================
+# (1)(2) RESOLVE EVERY METRIC TO AN OWNER, AND PROVE THE OWNER'S CLAIM AGAINST THE REPO
+# =============================================================================================
+def resolve(metric: str) -> dict | None:
+    """Longest-prefix / exact-name match against SCRAPE_OWNERS."""
+    best, best_len = None, -1
+    for o in SCRAPE_OWNERS:
+        if metric in o.get("exact", ()):            # exact names win outright
+            return o
+        for pfx in o.get("prefixes", ()):
+            if metric.startswith(pfx) and len(pfx) > best_len:
+                best, best_len = o, len(pfx)
+    return best
+
+
+# Every owner's FILE must exist, whether or not a metric currently lands on it: an owner pointing
+# at a deleted file is a claim nothing backs.
+for o in SCRAPE_OWNERS:
+    check((ROOT / o["file"]).is_file(),
+          f"SCRAPE_OWNERS names {o['file']} as the scrape owner for "
+          f"{o.get('prefixes') or o.get('exact')}, and that file does not exist in this repo — the "
+          f"claim is unbacked and the alerts that depend on it are inert")
+
+claimed: dict[str, dict] = {}
+unowned: list[str] = []
+for metric in sorted(refs):
+    if metric in UNIVERSAL:
+        continue
+    o = resolve(metric)
+    if o is None:
+        if metric in KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS:
+            continue                                 # declared gap; ratcheted below
+        unowned.append(metric)
+        check(False,
+              f"alert metric `{metric}` (queried by {', '.join(sorted(set(refs[metric])))}) is "
+              f"claimed by NO entry in SCRAPE_OWNERS. Nothing in this repo configures a scrape "
+              f"that produces it, so every rule above is STRUCTURALLY INERT: it evaluates to no "
+              f"vector, stays silent forever, and is indistinguishable from a healthy result. "
+              f"Either wire the scrape and add the owner entry, or — if it cannot be wired yet — "
+              f"declare it in KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS with the reason, so the gap is reported "
+              f"instead of silent")
+        continue
+    check(metric not in KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS,
+          f"`{metric}` is listed in KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS but is now claimed by "
+          f"{o['owner']} — the register is shrink-only: delete the entry so the next real gap is "
+          f"the one that shows up")
+    claimed[metric] = o
+
+# The owners that are actually load-bearing right now get their declarations verified.
+for o in SCRAPE_OWNERS:
+    if o not in claimed.values():
+        continue                                     # nothing queries it today; nothing to guard
+    body = read(ROOT / o["file"])
+    for rx in o.get("require", []):
+        check(re.search(rx, body, re.M) is not None,
+              f"{o['file']} no longer matches /{rx}/, which is what makes {o['owner']} scrape. "
+              f"Removing it re-inerts every alert on "
+              f"{o.get('prefixes') or o.get('exact')} — {o['why']}")
+    for rx in o.get("forbid", []):
+        check(re.search(rx, body, re.M) is None,
+              f"{o['file']} matches the FORBIDDEN pattern /{rx}/, which defeats {o['owner']} "
+              f"even though the enablement is still authored. {o['why']}")
+    comp = o.get("companion")
+    if comp:
+        cbody = read(ROOT / comp["file"])
+        check((ROOT / comp["file"]).is_file(),
+              f"{comp['file']} is missing — {comp['why']}")
+        for rx in comp.get("require", []):
+            check(re.search(rx, cbody, re.M) is not None,
+                  f"{comp['file']} no longer matches /{rx}/. The monitor alone is NOT enough here: "
+                  f"{comp['why']}")
+
+# The Longhorn NetworkPolicy must actually grant the path it exists to grant, and no more: the
+# whole point of splitting it out instead of flipping networkPolicies.restrictInternalTraffic off.
+NP = ROOT / "platform/longhorn/networkpolicy-metrics.yaml"
+if any(m.startswith("longhorn_") for m in refs):
+    np = read(NP)
+    check(np != "", f"{NP.relative_to(ROOT)} is missing; the Longhorn scrape is dropped and its "
+                    f"four alerts are inert")
+    check(re.search(r"kind:\s*NetworkPolicy", np) is not None,
+          "platform/longhorn/networkpolicy-metrics.yaml is not a NetworkPolicy")
+    check(re.search(r"app:\s*longhorn-manager", np) is not None,
+          "the Longhorn metrics NetworkPolicy does not select app=longhorn-manager, so it does not "
+          "open the pods that serve /metrics")
+    check(re.search(r"kubernetes\.io/metadata\.name:\s*monitoring", np) is not None,
+          "the Longhorn metrics NetworkPolicy does not admit namespace monitoring, so Prometheus "
+          "still cannot reach longhorn-manager and the storage alerts stay inert")
+    check(re.search(r"port:\s*9500", np) is not None,
+          "the Longhorn metrics NetworkPolicy does not name port 9500 (longhorn-manager's `manager` "
+          "port, which serves /metrics)")
+    # LEAST PRIVILEGE (R-SEC-02): ingress only, one port, and NOT the webhook/recovery ports.
+    check(re.search(r"policyTypes:\s*\n\s*-\s*Ingress\s*$", np, re.M) is not None
+          and "Egress" not in np,
+          "the Longhorn metrics NetworkPolicy is not Ingress-only — it must grant exactly the "
+          "scrape path and nothing else (R-SEC-02)")
+    # Comments are stripped first: the file's header deliberately NAMES 9502/9503 to record that
+    # they stay closed, and a substring search over prose would fail on the documentation of the
+    # very property it is asserting.
+    np_spec = "\n".join(re.sub(r"#.*$", "", ln) for ln in np.splitlines())
+    for closed in ("9502", "9503"):
+        check(closed not in np_spec,
+              f"the Longhorn metrics NetworkPolicy names port {closed} (admission webhook / "
+              f"recovery backend). Only 9500 serves metrics; opening the others to ns monitoring "
+              f"is reach this observability path does not need (R-SEC-02)")
+
+# stale KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS entries
+for m in sorted(KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS):
+    check(m in refs,
+          f"KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS declares `{m}`, which NO alert rule in this repo queries any "
+          f"more — a stale exemption hides the next real gap; delete the entry")
+
+# =============================================================================================
+# (4) up{job="X"} — the axis assertion (1) is structurally blind to.
+#
+# Scoped to files where THIS REPO authors both the Service and the ServiceMonitor (the apps/*
+# ServiceDefinition pattern), because only then is the port name inside the tree. A monitor whose
+# Service comes from a Helm chart cannot be audited statically and is out of scope (header gap).
+# =============================================================================================
+def yaml_docs(path: Path) -> list[dict]:
+    try:
+        return [d for d in yaml.safe_load_all(read(path)) if isinstance(d, dict)]
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        return []
+
+
+# job name -> (relpath, monitor endpoint ports, ports the co-authored Services define)
+same_file_monitors: dict[str, tuple[str, set[str], set[str]]] = {}
+for p in sorted(ROOT.rglob("*.yaml")):
+    if ".git" in p.parts:
+        continue
+    txt = read(p)
+    if "kind: ServiceMonitor" not in txt or "kind: Service" not in txt:
+        continue
+    docs = yaml_docs(p)
+    monitors = [d for d in docs if d.get("kind") == "ServiceMonitor"]
+    services = [d for d in docs if d.get("kind") == "Service"]
+    if not monitors or not services:
+        continue
+    svc_ports: set[str] = set()
+    for s in services:
+        for port in (s.get("spec") or {}).get("ports") or []:
+            if isinstance(port, dict) and port.get("name"):
+                svc_ports.add(str(port["name"]))
+    for m in monitors:
+        ep_ports = {str(e["port"]) for e in (m.get("spec") or {}).get("endpoints") or []
+                    if isinstance(e, dict) and e.get("port")}
+        name = (m.get("metadata") or {}).get("name")
+        if name:
+            same_file_monitors[str(name)] = (str(p.relative_to(ROOT)), ep_ports, svc_ports)
+
+for job in sorted(job_refs):
+    sites = ", ".join(sorted(set(job_refs[job])))
+    mon = same_file_monitors.get(job)
+    if mon is None:
+        # No same-file Service+ServiceMonitor pair is named for this job. It may well be produced
+        # by a platform monitor against a chart Service (oauth2-proxy, kubevirt, velero, flux all
+        # are), which this check cannot see — so this is NOT a failure, only unauditable.
+        continue
+    rel, ep_ports, svc_ports = mon
+    missing = sorted(ep_ports - svc_ports)
+    if missing:
+        check(job in KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS,
+              f"`up{{job=\"{job}\"}}` ({sites}) can never produce a series: {rel}'s ServiceMonitor "
+              f"scrapes port(s) {missing}, and the Service(s) in that same file define only "
+              f"{sorted(svc_ports) or ['(no named ports)']}. The monitor therefore discovers ZERO "
+              f"targets, there is no `up{{job=\"{job}\"}}` to compare against 0, and the rule is "
+              f"structurally inert — note PrometheusTargetsMissing cannot see this either, because "
+              f"a target that was never discovered has no up series to be 0. Give the Service a "
+              f"named port the workload actually serves metrics on (and an exporter if it has "
+              f"none), or declare it in KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS")
+    else:
+        check(job not in KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS,
+              f"`{job}` is listed in KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS but {rel}'s ServiceMonitor port(s) "
+              f"{sorted(ep_ports)} now all exist on its Service — the register is shrink-only: "
+              f"delete the entry")
+
+# stale KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS entries
+for job in sorted(KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS):
+    check(job in job_refs,
+          f"KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS declares `{job}`, which no alert rule selects via up{{job=...}} any "
+          f"more — a stale exemption hides the next real gap; delete the entry")
+
+# =============================================================================================
+# (5) THE CHECK IS LOAD-BEARING. Asserted against the DECLARATIVE mechanism, in both halves —
+# neither alone is sufficient. The per-test hand-written ci/l0.sh stage is deliberately NOT used
+# (whole-repo-invariants-wired FAILS the gate if one reappears); the property is DECLARED here and
+# HONOURED by ci/l0.sh's --include-scope union.
+# =============================================================================================
+SCOPE_DECL_RE = r"^\s*conformance\.home\.k3s/scope:\s*[\"']?whole-repo"
+SELF = read(ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static" / "alert-metrics-have-scrape-targets"
+            / "chainsaw-test.yaml")
+check(re.search(SCOPE_DECL_RE, SELF, re.M) is not None,
+      "alert-metrics-have-scrape-targets/chainsaw-test.yaml does not declare "
+      "conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo, so the merge gate selects this check only when a "
+      "change happens to touch R-OBS-04. ci/touched-requirements.sh maps apps/* to NOTHING and "
+      "platform/monitoring/* to R-OBS-01/R-OBS-02 — so adding an alert under apps/ or flipping a "
+      "chart's serviceMonitor.enabled back to false would be filtered out of exactly the change "
+      "that re-inerts the alerts")
+L0 = read(ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh")
+GATE = read(ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh")
+check("--include-scope" in L0,
+      "ci/l0.sh no longer passes --include-scope to the conformance runner, so the L0 stage is a "
+      "purely requirement-scoped run again and the scope annotation above is inert decoration")
+check(re.search(r"^for s in .*\bl0\b.*; do", GATE, re.M) is not None
+      and re.search(r"fail\).*BLOCK=1", GATE) is not None,
+      "ci/gate.sh does not set the merge block when the l0 stage fails")
+
+# ======================================================================== report
+owners_used = {id(o): o for o in claimed.values()}
+print(f"Alert metric inventory: {n_rules} alerting rule(s) across {len(rule_files)} "
+      f"PrometheusRule file(s) -> {len(refs)} distinct metric name(s)")
+print(f"  claimed by a declared scrape owner: {len(claimed)}/{len(refs) - len(UNIVERSAL & set(refs))}"
+      f"   owners exercised: {len(owners_used)}/{len(SCRAPE_OWNERS)}")
+for o in SCRAPE_OWNERS:
+    ms = sorted(m for m, oo in claimed.items() if oo is o)
+    mark = "  " if ms else "· "
+    print(f"  {mark}{o['file']:<46} {len(ms):>2} metric(s)  {o['owner'][:64]}")
+print(f"\n  DECLARED GAPS (shrink-only registers):")
+print(f"    KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS: {len(KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS)} — "
+      f"{', '.join(sorted(KNOWN_UNWIRED_METRICS))}")
+print(f"    KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS:    {len(KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS)} inert up{{job=...}} SLI rule(s) — "
+      f"{', '.join(sorted(KNOWN_UNWIRED_JOBS))}")
+if unowned:
+    print(f"\n  UNCLAIMED (inert, undeclared): {', '.join(unowned)}", file=sys.stderr)
+
+print()
+if not FAILURES:
+    print(f"check OK: alert-metrics-have-scrape-targets — {CHECKS} assertions (R-OBS-04)")
+    raise SystemExit(0)
+print(f"CHECK FAIL (alert-metrics-have-scrape-targets): {len(FAILURES)} failed, "
+      f"{CHECKS - len(FAILURES)} passed", file=sys.stderr)
+for f in FAILURES:
+    print(f"  FAIL {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+raise SystemExit(1)
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — the alert rules are UNIT-TESTED, by a pinned engine, and the gaps are declared
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+#
+# R-OBS-04 ("the platform alerts on its own health") is implemented by PrometheusRule CRs, and
+# this repo has shipped both ways they fail SILENTLY:
+#   * PERMANENTLY FIRING — the CNPG primaries alert (fixed 2026-09-12), VPNTunnelDown before it;
+#   * STRUCTURALLY INERT — VeleroNoRecentBackup, whose `time() - <absent series>` yields no
+#     series, so a schedule that had NEVER backed up could not raise it. Prod ran with zero
+#     volume backups and nothing alerted, masked by a resources-only schedule completing
+#     cleanly every night (2026-09-12).
+# An inert rule and a correct rule are indistinguishable while the platform is healthy. Only
+# `promtool test rules` separates them, by constructing the bad state on purpose, offline.
+#
+# The unit tests were then written — and RUN BY NOTHING. promtool was not in the pinned
+# toolchain, no gate stage evaluated the files, and the two harnesses that grew up independently
+# each fetched an engine off the network mid-run if promtool was missing (a GitHub release
+# download in one, a prometheus container image in the other). Coverage that looks present and
+# is enforced nowhere is the failure mode this test ends.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# WHEN  the ONE rule-unit harness (platform/monitoring/tests/run.sh, which flattens the
+#       COMMITTED PrometheusRule CRs into the rules file promtool wants — never a copy) is run
+#       over every test file in the repo with the PINNED promtool,
+# THEN  promtool is pinned in BOTH versions.env files in lockstep at the Prometheus version prod
+#       actually runs, baked into the image and installed on the CI runner; the promtool in use
+#       reports exactly that version; no harness acquires an engine at run time; there is
+#       exactly ONE harness; every rule-unit test file PASSES; the harness is proven able to
+#       FAIL by a mutated synthetic test on every run; and every alert rule with NO unit test is
+#       ENUMERATED in a shrink-only register, so the gap is reported rather than hidden.
+#
+# MISSING TESTS: RATCHET, NOT SKIP, NOT BLANKET-FAIL. 48 of 55 alert rules have no unit test
+# today. Failing on all of them would make the gate red until ~48 tests exist (so it would be
+# disabled, and a disabled gate protects nothing); merely reporting is precisely how the CNPG
+# tests came to be enforced by nothing. So the gap is DECLARED in check.sh, printed with counts
+# every run, and CANNOT GROW: a new PrometheusRule, or a new alert in an already-tested file,
+# FAILS without a test, and a stale register entry FAILS too. A missing test is never an exit-3
+# skip — "SKIPPED is not green" is preserved for the one thing that is genuinely an environment
+# gap: promtool being absent.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is an offline assertion script (standard library + the harness
+# it delegates to); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this
+# Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# NOT proven (named in check.sh's header): that an alert reaches a human (Alertmanager routing
+# and SMTP are L3 / R-OBS-02), that a threshold is the right one, that a rule file is actually
+# reconciled into a cluster, or that an author's assertions are meaningful — coverage of one
+# alert is detected by its name appearing in a covering test file, and only the mutation
+# self-test proves the harness CAN fail. R-OBS-04 is tagged for the static slice only: the rules
+# the repo ships behave, under the engine prod runs, as their own unit tests say.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: alert-rules-unit-tested
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-OBS-04: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-TEST-02: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-OBS-04, R-TEST-02"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE — this invariant quantifies over every PrometheusRule in the tree
+    # (apps/wave-0..2, platform/cnpg, platform/kubevirt, platform/monitoring), and the register
+    # it maintains is a property of the WHOLE repo, not of any one path.
+    #
+    # WHY IT MUST NOT BE REQUIREMENT-SCOPED: ci/touched-requirements.sh's coarse path map keys
+    # apps/* to NOTHING and platform/monitoring/* to R-OBS-01/02 — not R-OBS-04. So adding a new
+    # untested PrometheusRule under apps/, or editing one under platform/kubevirt/, attributes
+    # no requirement this test carries, and a requirement-scoped selection would filter the
+    # check out of exactly the change that adds the untested alert. The same blind spot that let
+    # `prod-baremetal-not-dev-surface` be filtered out of the run that gated its own breakage
+    # (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-12).
+    #
+    # Declaring the scope also makes an honest SKIP loud: lib/run_l1_offline.py turns a rc-3
+    # skip of a scope-declaring check into the runner's rc 3, and ci/l0.sh into the gate's rc 3.
+    # So a gate run on a toolchain WITHOUT promtool reports UNWIRED instead of green — which is
+    # the whole reason this check exists rather than another hand-written ci/l0.sh stage.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Every committed alert rule that has unit tests passes them under the pinned promtool that
+      matches prod's Prometheus, exactly one harness runs them, nothing fetches a rule engine at
+      run time, the harness is proven able to fail, and every alert rule without a unit test is
+      enumerated in a register that can only shrink.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: run-every-alert-rule-unit-test-and-report-the-gaps
+      description: >-
+        Assert the promtool pin is in lockstep and baked, run the single rule-unit harness over
+        every test file in the repo, prove it can fail via a mutated synthetic test, and
+        enumerate every PrometheusRule with no unit tests against the shrink-only register.
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,550 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — alert-rules-unit-tested
+# Serves: R-OBS-04 ("Platform alerts on its own health (nodes, storage, GitOps, certs,
+#                    VPN)." — spec docs/10-observability-and-alerting.md)
+#         R-TEST-02 ("Tests are reproducible: deterministic, hermetic, single-command."
+#                    — spec docs/14-testing-and-conformance.md)
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS — AN UNTESTED ALERT IS NOT A MONITORING CONTROL
+# --------------------------------------------------------------
+# This repo has shipped BOTH halves of the alerting failure space to prod:
+#   * a PERMANENTLY-FIRING `critical` (the CNPG alert fixed 2026-09-12; VPNTunnelDown before
+#     it), and
+#   * a STRUCTURALLY INERT rule — VeleroNoRecentBackup, whose `time() - <absent series>`
+#     yields no series, so a schedule that had NEVER backed up could not raise it. Prod ran
+#     with no volume backups at all and nothing alerted (2026-09-12).
+# Neither is visible from the expression, from `kubectl apply`, or from a healthy cluster: an
+# inert rule and a correct rule are indistinguishable while everything is fine. `promtool test
+# rules` is the only tool that separates them, because the BAD state can be constructed on
+# purpose. Unit tests for those rules were then WRITTEN — and evaluated by nothing: promtool
+# was not in the pinned toolchain, no gate stage ran the files, and each of the two harnesses
+# that existed acquired an engine off the network mid-run if one was missing. Coverage that
+# looks present and is never enforced is the failure mode this check ends.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# WHEN  the ONE rule-unit harness (platform/monitoring/tests/run.sh, which flattens the
+#       COMMITTED PrometheusRule CRs — never a copy) is asked which manifests are under test
+#       and then run over every test file in the repo,
+# THEN  (1) promtool is a PINNED member of the toolchain: PROMTOOL_VERSION is declared in BOTH
+#           infra/devcontainer/versions.env and ci/versions.env and the two AGREE (the repo's
+#           lockstep rule), the Containerfile takes it as a build ARG, installs it from the
+#           pinned prometheus release and records it for provenance, dev.sh passes it, and the
+#           CI runner installs it for the l0 stage;
+#       (2) the promtool ACTUALLY IN USE reports exactly that pinned version — a unit test is
+#           evidence only if the engine matches the one prod evaluates rules with;
+#       (3) NO harness acquires a rule engine at RUN TIME — neither `curl | tar -xz` of a
+#           GitHub release nor a `podman/docker run` of a prometheus image. Both existed on
+#           2026-09-12 and both are removed; this is the regression guard;
+#       (4) there is exactly ONE harness. Two were written independently within an hour of
+#           each other; the one nothing runs is the one that rots;
+#       (5) every rule-unit test file in the repo PASSES, run through that harness (which
+#           `promtool check rules` first, so a non-parsing rules file cannot make unit tests
+#           pass vacuously by finding no rules at all);
+#       (6) the harness is NOT VACUOUS: a synthetic PrometheusRule + companion test is run
+#           through the SAME harness twice — intact (must PASS) and with one expectation
+#           mutated (must FAIL) — so a harness that has silently stopped evaluating anything
+#           is caught on every run, not only when someone thinks to try it;
+#   AND (7) the alert rules with NO unit tests are ENUMERATED and RATCHETED: each is declared
+#           below, printed with counts on every run, and the register can only SHRINK.
+#
+# WHY A MISSING TEST IS A RATCHET AND NOT AN OUTRIGHT FAIL (the decision, and its reasons)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 48 of the repo's 55 alert rules have no unit test today. Three options were on the table:
+#   * FAIL on any missing test — correct in principle, but it makes the merge gate red for
+#     every change until ~48 unit tests exist, so in practice the gate gets disabled, and a
+#     disabled gate protects nothing.
+#   * merely REPORT — the gap prints and nothing holds it. That is exactly how the CNPG unit
+#     tests came to exist and be enforced by nothing; "it is in the output somewhere" is not
+#     enforcement.
+#   * RATCHET (chosen) — the gap is DECLARED IN THE REPO as a reviewable register, printed with
+#     counts on every gate run, and it CANNOT GROW: a new PrometheusRule, or a new alert in a
+#     file that already has tests, FAILS unless it ships a unit test. Removing an entry requires
+#     writing the test, and a STALE entry (file gone, or now covered) also FAILS, so the
+#     register cannot rot into fiction.
+# "SKIPPED is not green" is honoured: a missing test is NEVER an exit-3 skip here. This check
+# exits 0 only with the gap fully enumerated, and exits 1 the moment the debt grows, the
+# register drifts, or a test that exists stops passing.
+# The one exit-3 path is promtool itself being ABSENT — an environment gap, not a code property
+# (the same convention as ci/l0.sh's kyverno handling), and this test DECLARES
+# `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`, which makes lib/run_l1_offline.py turn that skip
+# into the runner's rc 3 and ci/l0.sh into the gate's rc 3: UNWIRED, never green. promtool
+# PRESENT AT THE WRONG VERSION is a FAILURE, not a skip: that case still prints SUCCESS while
+# evaluating the rules with an engine prod does not run.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps):
+#   - It does not prove an alert reaches a human. promtool evaluates rules against synthetic
+#     series in-process; Alertmanager routing, SMTP delivery and inhibition are L3
+#     (tests/l3-fault-injection/alerting) and R-OBS-02, and are not claimed here.
+#   - It does not prove the THRESHOLDS are right, only that a rule behaves as its own unit
+#     test says.
+#   - It does not prove a rule file is RECONCILED into a cluster. An alert file no
+#     kustomization includes is a separate "looks applied and isn't" failure, not audited here.
+#   - Coverage of an individual alert is detected by its NAME appearing in a test file that
+#     covers its manifest. A test file that merely mentions a name without asserting anything
+#     counts as covered; only the mutation self-test (6) proves the harness CAN fail, not that
+#     every author wrote a meaningful assertion. Review still owns test quality.
+#   - It does not read the live cluster, so "the pin matches prod's Prometheus" is asserted
+#     against the repo's pin, which was established by a live read recorded in
+#     infra/devcontainer/versions.env (2026-09-12: v3.14.0-distroless).
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+HARNESS="${ALERT_RULE_HARNESS:-${ROOT}/platform/monitoring/tests/run.sh}"
+
+# Honest SKIP (never green) if the thing under test is not present at all. Because this test
+# declares scope: whole-repo, the runner turns this into rc 3 for the whole L0 stage — a
+# PrometheusRule-less repo is a vanished tree, not a pass.
+if ! grep -rqls --include='*.yaml' -e '^[[:space:]]*kind:[[:space:]]*PrometheusRule[[:space:]]*$' \
+       "${ROOT}/platform" "${ROOT}/apps" 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo "check SKIPPED: no PrometheusRule under platform/ or apps/ — nothing to test" >&2
+  exit 3
+fi
+
+# promtool resolution. PROMTOOL= overrides (the same override the harness honours); otherwise
+# PATH. Absent -> every OFFLINE assertion still runs and the check exits 3, so a toolchain gap
+# is reported as a gap and never as a pass.
+PROMTOOL_BIN="${PROMTOOL:-$(command -v promtool || true)}"
+if [ -n "${PROMTOOL_BIN}" ] && [ -x "${PROMTOOL_BIN}" ]; then
+  PROMTOOL_BIN="$(cd "$(dirname "${PROMTOOL_BIN}")" && pwd)/$(basename "${PROMTOOL_BIN}")"
+else
+  PROMTOOL_BIN=""
+fi
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" "${HARNESS}" "${PROMTOOL_BIN}" <<'PY'
+"""Assert the alert-rule unit tests are pinned, enforced, non-vacuous, and that the alert
+rules with no tests are enumerated and ratcheted. Standard library + the harness itself."""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import re
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+from collections import defaultdict
+from pathlib import Path
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+HARNESS = Path(sys.argv[2])
+PROMTOOL = sys.argv[3]
+sys.dont_write_bytecode = True          # keep __pycache__ out of the tracked tree
+
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+# =============================================================================
+# THE DECLARED REGISTER (assertion 7). Shrink-only; see the header for why this is a ratchet.
+#
+# UNTESTED_FILES — PrometheusRule files no test file covers AT ALL. The twelve apps/* entries
+# are single `<app>-down` liveness rules generated from one ServiceDefinition template;
+# platform/kubevirt/alerts.yaml (4 rules) is the substantial one and is where the next tests
+# belong. A file listed here that later gains coverage, or stops carrying a PrometheusRule,
+# FAILS as stale.
+# =============================================================================
+UNTESTED_FILES = {
+    "apps/wave-0/gitea.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-0/jackett.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-0/pihole.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-0/plex.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-0/qbittorrent.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-0/vm-demo.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-1/keycloak.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-1/nextcloud.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-1/radarr.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-1/semaphore.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-1/sonarr.yaml",
+    "apps/wave-2/seerr.yaml",
+    "platform/kubevirt/alerts.yaml",
+}
+
+# UNTESTED_ALERTS — individual alerts inside a file that IS covered by a test file, but whose
+# own rule nothing asserts on. This is the half that stops a new alert being slipped into an
+# already-"tested" file untested: anything not listed here must appear in a covering test.
+# The monitoring block is large because backups.test.yaml (the repo's first suite) deliberately
+# covers the Velero/backup rules only; pvc-capacity-alerts.yaml is flattened into the same
+# rules file by the suite convention but has no assertions of its own yet.
+UNTESTED_ALERTS = {
+    ("platform/cnpg/alerts.yaml", "CNPGWALArchiveBacklog"),
+    ("platform/cnpg/alerts.yaml", "CNPGNoRecoverabilityPoint"),
+    ("platform/cnpg/alerts.yaml", "CNPGNoRecentBaseBackup"),
+    ("platform/cnpg/alerts.yaml", "CNPGWALVolumeNotRecycling"),
+    ("platform/cnpg/alerts.yaml", "CNPGMetricsCollectorErroring"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "NodeExporterDown"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "NodeMemoryPressureHigh"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "NodeDiskFillingUp"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "NodeCPUPressureHigh"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "NodeCPULoadHigh"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "NodeIOPressureHigh"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "NodeIOPressureCritical"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "LonghornVolumeDegraded"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "LonghornVolumeFaulted"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "LonghornVolumeCapacityHigh"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "LonghornNodeStorageHigh"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "FluxReconciliationFailure"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "FluxResourceSuspended"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "CertificateExpiringSoon"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "CertificateExpiryImminent"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "CertificateNotReady"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "VPNTunnelDown"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "HubbleDeniedFlowSpike"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "KeycloakDown"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "KeycloakDatabaseDown"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "KeycloakClientSecretReconcilerFailing"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "KeycloakClientSecretReconcilerStale"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "MonitoringVolumeFillingUp"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "PrometheusTargetsMissing"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "ImageUpdateAutomationFailing"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "ImagePolicyStalled"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml", "UpdateHealthGateFailed"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/pvc-capacity-alerts.yaml", "PersistentVolumeFillingUp"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/pvc-capacity-alerts.yaml", "PersistentVolumeAlmostFull"),
+    ("platform/monitoring/pvc-capacity-alerts.yaml", "PersistentVolumeFillingUpPredicted"),
+}
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------- (1) the pins, in lockstep
+def env_pin(rel: str, key: str) -> str | None:
+    f = ROOT / rel
+    if not f.is_file():
+        return None
+    m = re.search(rf'^{re.escape(key)}=["\']?([^"\'\s#]+)', f.read_text(), re.M)
+    return m.group(1) if m else None
+
+
+DEV_PIN = env_pin("infra/devcontainer/versions.env", "PROMTOOL_VERSION")
+CI_PIN = env_pin("ci/versions.env", "PROMTOOL_VERSION")
+check(DEV_PIN is not None,
+      "infra/devcontainer/versions.env declares no PROMTOOL_VERSION — promtool is not part of the "
+      "baked toolchain, so the alert unit tests are evaluated by whatever the host happens to "
+      "have, or by nothing at all (which is where this repo was on 2026-09-12)")
+check(CI_PIN is not None,
+      "ci/versions.env declares no PROMTOOL_VERSION — the gate's own version file does not pin the "
+      "rule engine, so CI and the devcontainer can silently diverge")
+check(DEV_PIN is None or DEV_PIN == CI_PIN,
+      f"PROMTOOL_VERSION is NOT in lockstep: infra/devcontainer/versions.env={DEV_PIN!r} vs "
+      f"ci/versions.env={CI_PIN!r}. The repo's rule is that the conformance-tool versions in the "
+      f"two files stay identical, so a laptop and CI run the same engine")
+
+CF = ROOT / "infra/devcontainer/Containerfile"
+cf_text = CF.read_text() if CF.is_file() else ""
+check(re.search(r"^ARG PROMTOOL_VERSION\s*$", cf_text, re.M),
+      "infra/devcontainer/Containerfile has no `ARG PROMTOOL_VERSION` — the pin is declared but "
+      "the image build does not consume it")
+check("prometheus/prometheus/releases/download" in cf_text and "promtool" in cf_text,
+      "infra/devcontainer/Containerfile does not install promtool from the pinned prometheus "
+      "release tarball (promtool ships inside it)")
+check('echo "promtool=${PROMTOOL_VERSION}"' in cf_text,
+      "infra/devcontainer/Containerfile does not record promtool in /etc/dev-toolchain-versions — "
+      "that provenance line is how an operator tells a stale image from a current one")
+
+DEVSH = ROOT / "infra/devcontainer/dev.sh"
+check(DEVSH.is_file() and "--build-arg PROMTOOL_VERSION=" in DEVSH.read_text(),
+      "infra/devcontainer/dev.sh does not pass --build-arg PROMTOOL_VERSION — the ARG would be "
+      "empty and the build would fetch a bogus URL")
+
+INSTALL = ROOT / ".gitea/workflows/scripts/install-tools.sh"
+if INSTALL.is_file():
+    itext = INSTALL.read_text()
+    check("PROMTOOL_VERSION" in itext
+          and re.search(r"^\s*l0\)[^\n]*install_promtool", itext, re.M),
+          ".gitea/workflows/scripts/install-tools.sh does not install promtool for the l0 stage — "
+          "on the CI runner this check would exit 3 (UNWIRED) forever and the alert unit tests "
+          "would be enforced nowhere, which is the exact gap it exists to close")
+
+# --------------------------------------------- (3)(4) one harness, and it fetches no engine
+check(HARNESS.is_file() and os.access(HARNESS, os.X_OK),
+      f"the rule-unit harness is missing or not executable at {HARNESS.relative_to(ROOT)} — "
+      f"nothing would run the alert unit tests")
+
+# Any script that invokes `promtool test rules` is a rule-unit harness. There must be exactly
+# one: two harnesses were written independently on 2026-09-12 (a cnpg-only script and this one),
+# and the one nothing runs is the one that rots out of sync with the rules.
+harnesses: list[str] = []
+fetchers: list[str] = []
+FETCH_RE = re.compile(
+    r"(curl|wget)[^\n]*prometheus/prometheus/releases"          # GitHub release download
+    r"|(podman|docker)\s+run[^\n]*prometheus",                  # container-image pull
+    re.I)
+# Two exclusions, both the repo's existing "reference, not declaration" rule (see
+# ci/touched-requirements.sh changed_diff() rules 2-3):
+#   * THIS CHECK'S OWN DIRECTORY. It names every forbidden pattern in order to forbid it, so
+#     scanning itself would make both guards permanently red — the self-referential trap.
+#   * THE PINNED TOOLCHAIN INSTALLERS. Downloading the pinned promtool is their JOB, at a
+#     reviewed seam (an image build, or the runner's tool-install step), from a version in
+#     versions.env. What is forbidden is a RULE-UNIT RUN acquiring its own engine: then the
+#     version, the network and the machine are decided silently at test time, and a missing
+#     toolchain becomes a green run instead of an exit 3.
+SELF_DIR = "conformance/tests/l0-static/alert-rules-unit-tested/"
+INSTALLERS = (".gitea/workflows/scripts/install-tools.sh", "infra/devcontainer/")
+for p in sorted(ROOT.rglob("*.sh")):
+    rel = str(p.relative_to(ROOT))
+    if rel.startswith((".git/", "conformance/runs/", SELF_DIR)):
+        continue
+    try:
+        text = p.read_text()
+    except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+        continue
+    body = "\n".join(l for l in text.splitlines() if not l.lstrip().startswith("#"))
+    if "promtool" in body and re.search(r"test\s+rules", body):
+        harnesses.append(rel)
+    if FETCH_RE.search(body) and not rel.startswith(INSTALLERS):
+        fetchers.append(rel)
+
+check(harnesses == [str(HARNESS.relative_to(ROOT))],
+      f"expected exactly ONE rule-unit harness ({HARNESS.relative_to(ROOT)}) but found "
+      f"{harnesses}. A second harness means two behaviours and two things to keep in step; the "
+      f"one the gate does not run is the one that rots. Fold it in instead")
+check(not fetchers,
+      f"{fetchers} acquire a rule ENGINE at run time (a prometheus release download or a "
+      f"prometheus container image). promtool must come from the pinned toolchain "
+      f"(PROMTOOL_VERSION): a run-time fetch decides the version, the network and the machine "
+      f"silently at test time, makes the tests non-hermetic (R-TEST-02), and quietly turns 'the "
+      f"toolchain has no promtool' into a green run — which is how it stayed missing")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------ discover the alert files
+# Alert files: tracked YAML carrying a PrometheusRule. conformance/ is excluded deliberately —
+# the PrometheusRules under tests/l1-rendering/*/golden/ are EXPECTED-RENDER fixtures for the
+# render checks, not rules any cluster evaluates. Everything a cluster actually gets lives under
+# apps/, platform/, platform-config/ or clusters/.
+def tracked_yaml() -> list[Path]:
+    out = subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(ROOT), "ls-files", "-z", "*.yaml", "*.yml"],
+                         capture_output=True, text=True)
+    if out.returncode == 0 and out.stdout:
+        return [ROOT / p for p in out.stdout.split("\0") if p]
+    # No usable index (the gate container mounts a worktree whose .git points outside the
+    # mount). Fall back to a filesystem walk rather than auditing nothing.
+    return sorted(p for p in ROOT.rglob("*.y*ml") if ".git/" not in str(p))
+
+
+KIND_RE = re.compile(r"^\s*kind:\s*PrometheusRule\s*$", re.M)
+ALERT_RE = re.compile(r"^\s*-\s*alert:\s*(\S+)", re.M)
+
+alert_files: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+for p in tracked_yaml():
+    rel = str(p.relative_to(ROOT))
+    if rel.startswith("conformance/") or not p.is_file():
+        continue
+    try:
+        text = p.read_text()
+    except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+        continue
+    if KIND_RE.search(text):
+        alert_files[rel] = ALERT_RE.findall(text)
+
+check(len(alert_files) > 0,
+      "no PrometheusRule found outside conformance/ — discovery or the repo layout changed, and "
+      "this check would silently audit nothing")
+
+# ------------------- ask the HARNESS which manifests are under test (never re-derive it here)
+# Two implementations of "which rules does this test cover" would eventually disagree, and the
+# disagreement shows up as a file the gate believes is tested and the harness never touches.
+listing = subprocess.run(["bash", str(HARNESS), "--list"], capture_output=True, text=True,
+                         cwd=str(ROOT))
+check(listing.returncode == 0,
+      f"`{HARNESS.relative_to(ROOT)} --list` failed (rc={listing.returncode}): "
+      f"{(listing.stderr or listing.stdout).strip()[-600:]}")
+covering: dict[str, list[str]] = defaultdict(list)   # manifest -> [test files]
+for line in listing.stdout.splitlines():
+    if "\t" in line:
+        tfile, manifest = line.split("\t", 1)
+        covering[manifest.strip()].append(tfile.strip())
+
+for manifest in sorted(covering):
+    check(manifest in alert_files,
+          f"the harness reports {manifest} as under test, but it is not one of the "
+          f"PrometheusRule files found in the repo — the mapping and the tree disagree")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------- (2) the engine is the pinned one
+version_line = ""
+if PROMTOOL:
+    vp = subprocess.run([PROMTOOL, "--version"], capture_output=True, text=True)
+    out = (vp.stdout + vp.stderr).strip()
+    version_line = out.splitlines()[0] if out else ""
+    m = re.search(r"version\s+(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)", version_line)
+    found = m.group(1) if m else None
+    check(found is not None,
+          f"could not parse a version from `promtool --version`: {version_line!r}")
+    check(found is None or DEV_PIN is None or found == DEV_PIN,
+          f"promtool reports {found}, but the toolchain pins PROMTOOL_VERSION={DEV_PIN} (the "
+          f"Prometheus version prod runs). promtool IS the rule engine: a unit test green under "
+          f"one version and red under another is worse than no test. Run the gate in the pinned "
+          f"devcontainer (rebuild it: ./infra/devcontainer/dev.sh build), or set PROMTOOL= to a "
+          f"v{DEV_PIN} binary. A FAILURE, not a skip, because the wrong engine still prints "
+          f"SUCCESS")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------- (5) every rule-unit test file must pass
+if PROMTOOL:
+    env = dict(os.environ, PROMTOOL=PROMTOOL)
+    run = subprocess.run(["bash", str(HARNESS)], capture_output=True, text=True,
+                         cwd=str(ROOT), env=env)
+    tailed = "\n        ".join((run.stdout + run.stderr).strip().splitlines()[-40:])
+    check(run.returncode == 0,
+          f"`{HARNESS.relative_to(ROOT)}` FAILED (rc={run.returncode}) — the committed alert "
+          f"rules do not behave as their own unit tests say:\n        {tailed}")
+
+    # ------------------------------------------- (6) the harness is proven non-vacuous
+    # A synthetic PrometheusRule + companion test through the SAME harness, outside the repo so
+    # discovery never picks it up. Intact must PASS; a mutated expectation must FAIL. Without
+    # this, a harness that stopped evaluating anything (an empty extraction, a rule file written
+    # under the wrong name) would report green forever — which is the disease being treated.
+    work = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="alert-rules-selftest.")
+    try:
+        (Path(work) / "synth.yaml").write_text("""apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
+kind: PrometheusRule
+metadata:
+  name: selftest
+spec:
+  groups:
+    - name: selftest
+      rules:
+        - alert: SelfTestCanary
+          expr: selftest_metric > 0
+          for: 5m
+          annotations:
+            runbook_url: https://${BASE_DOMAIN}/runbooks/selftest
+""")
+        test_yaml = """rule_files:
+  - generated.rules.yaml
+evaluation_interval: 1m
+tests:
+  - interval: 1m
+    name: canary fires only after `for` elapses
+    input_series:
+      - series: 'selftest_metric'
+        values: '1x10'
+    promql_expr_test:
+      - expr: 'ALERTS{alertname="SelfTestCanary",alertstate="firing"}'
+        eval_time: EVAL_TIME
+        exp_samples:
+          - labels: 'ALERTS{alertname="SelfTestCanary",alertstate="firing"}'
+            value: 1
+"""
+        synth_test = Path(work) / "synth.promtool-test.yaml"
+        synth_test.write_text(test_yaml.replace("EVAL_TIME", "6m"))
+        good = subprocess.run(["bash", str(HARNESS), str(synth_test)],
+                              capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=str(ROOT), env=env)
+        check(good.returncode == 0,
+              "self-test: the INTACT synthetic unit test did not pass, so the harness itself is "
+              "broken and every green result above is meaningless:\n        "
+              + "\n        ".join((good.stdout + good.stderr).strip().splitlines()[-20:]))
+        # Mutation: assert firing at 2m, which `for: 5m` forbids.
+        synth_test.write_text(test_yaml.replace("EVAL_TIME", "2m"))
+        bad = subprocess.run(["bash", str(HARNESS), str(synth_test)],
+                             capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=str(ROOT), env=env)
+        check(bad.returncode != 0,
+              "self-test: a MUTATED expectation (firing before `for:` elapsed) still PASSED — "
+              "the harness is not actually evaluating anything, so every green result above is "
+              "vacuous")
+    finally:
+        shutil.rmtree(work, ignore_errors=True)
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------- (7) the gap inventory + ratchet
+INVENTORY: list[str] = []
+GAP_FILES: list[str] = []
+alerts_total = covered_total = 0
+
+for rel in sorted(alert_files):
+    names = alert_files[rel]
+    alerts_total += len(names)
+    check(len(names) > 0,
+          f"{rel} declares a PrometheusRule but no `alert:` rule was parsed out of it — the "
+          f"parser or the file shape changed, and any unit test over it would pass vacuously")
+    tests = covering.get(rel, [])
+    if not tests:
+        GAP_FILES.append(rel)
+        INVENTORY.append(f"  {rel:<46} alerts={len(names):<3} tested=0/{len(names):<3} NO TEST FILE")
+        check(rel in UNTESTED_FILES,
+              f"{rel} carries {len(names)} alert rule(s) and NO test file covers it. A new "
+              f"PrometheusRule must ship promtool unit tests: this repo has shipped both a "
+              f"permanently-firing critical and a structurally inert alert, and neither was "
+              f"visible without them. Add `{rel[:-5]}.promtool-test.yaml` (companion convention) "
+              f"or a <component>/tests/*.test.yaml suite. If this is deliberate debt it must be "
+              f"DECLARED in UNTESTED_FILES in this check — the register is what keeps the gap "
+              f"visible instead of silent")
+        continue
+
+    check(rel not in UNTESTED_FILES,
+          f"{rel} is listed in UNTESTED_FILES but is now covered by {tests} — the register is "
+          f"shrink-only: delete the line so the next missing test is caught")
+    text = "".join((ROOT / t).read_text() for t in tests if (ROOT / t).is_file())
+    covered = [n for n in names if re.search(rf"\b{re.escape(n)}\b", text)]
+    covered_total += len(covered)
+    for n in names:
+        if n in covered:
+            check((rel, n) not in UNTESTED_ALERTS,
+                  f"{rel}: alert {n} is listed in UNTESTED_ALERTS but IS asserted on now — "
+                  f"remove the stale entry (the register is shrink-only)")
+        else:
+            check((rel, n) in UNTESTED_ALERTS,
+                  f"{rel}: alert {n} has NO unit test in {tests}. This file is already covered, "
+                  f"so a new alert in it must be tested too — otherwise a 'tested' alert file "
+                  f"quietly grows untested rules")
+    INVENTORY.append(f"  {rel:<46} alerts={len(names):<3} tested={len(covered)}/{len(names):<3} "
+                     f"{','.join(tests)}")
+
+# stale register entries
+for rel in sorted(UNTESTED_FILES - set(alert_files)):
+    check(False, f"UNTESTED_FILES lists {rel}, which carries no PrometheusRule in this repo any "
+                 f"more — a stale exemption hides the next real gap; delete the line")
+for rel in sorted({f for f, _ in UNTESTED_ALERTS} - set(alert_files)):
+    check(False, f"UNTESTED_ALERTS lists alerts in {rel}, which carries no PrometheusRule in this "
+                 f"repo any more — delete those lines")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- report
+print("Alert-rule unit-test inventory (PrometheusRule -> covering test file(s)):")
+for line in INVENTORY:
+    print(line)
+print(f"\nharness: {HARNESS.relative_to(ROOT)}   promtool: {version_line or 'NOT FOUND'}")
+print(f"pinned:  PROMTOOL_VERSION={DEV_PIN} (devcontainer) / {CI_PIN} (ci) — prod runs Prometheus "
+      f"v{DEV_PIN}")
+print(f"alert files: {len(alert_files)}   covered by a test file: "
+      f"{len(alert_files) - len(GAP_FILES)}   with NO test file: {len(GAP_FILES)}")
+print(f"alert rules: {alerts_total}   unit-tested: {covered_total}   "
+      f"NOT unit-tested: {alerts_total - covered_total}")
+
+if GAP_FILES:
+    print("\nDECLARED GAPS — alert files nothing tests at all (shrink-only register; each is a")
+    print("rule nothing has ever evaluated, NOT a rule known to work):")
+    for g in GAP_FILES:
+        print(f"  - {g}  ({len(alert_files[g])} alert(s))")
+if UNTESTED_ALERTS:
+    print("\nDECLARED GAPS — individual alerts inside a covered file that nothing asserts on:")
+    for f, n in sorted(UNTESTED_ALERTS):
+        print(f"  - {f}  {n}")
+
+print()
+if not PROMTOOL and not FAILURES:
+    print("check SKIPPED (exit 3, NOT a pass): promtool is not on PATH, so NO alert rule was "
+          "parsed and NO unit test was evaluated.", file=sys.stderr)
+    print(f"  promtool is pinned at v{DEV_PIN} in infra/devcontainer/versions.env + "
+          f"ci/versions.env.", file=sys.stderr)
+    print("  Run the gate in the pinned toolbox (./infra/devcontainer/dev.sh build, then "
+          "make -C ci gate), or set PROMTOOL=/path/to/promtool.", file=sys.stderr)
+    print(f"  The {CHECKS} offline assertions above (pins, lockstep, one harness, no run-time "
+          f"engine fetch, the gap register) DID run and passed.", file=sys.stderr)
+    print("  This test declares scope: whole-repo, so the runner reports rc 3 — UNWIRED, never "
+          "green.", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(3)
+
+if not FAILURES:
+    print(f"check OK: alert-rules-unit-tested — {CHECKS} assertions "
+          f"({covered_total}/{alerts_total} alert rules unit-tested, "
+          f"{len(GAP_FILES)} files with no test file, all declared) (R-OBS-04, R-TEST-02)")
+    raise SystemExit(0)
+print(f"CHECK FAIL (alert-rules-unit-tested): {len(FAILURES)} failed, "
+      f"{CHECKS - len(FAILURES)} passed", file=sys.stderr)
+for f in FAILURES:
+    print(f"  FAIL {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+raise SystemExit(1)
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — every alert's runbook_url resolves to a runbook that is actually served
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+#
+# Every platform-health alert rule in this repo carries
+# `runbook_url: "https://${BASE_DOMAIN}/runbooks/<name>"` — 42 annotations across four files, over 34
+# distinct names. For the whole of phases 4-6 there was NO runbooks/ directory and NO HTTPRoute serving
+# that path: an in-cluster probe of https://home.keithjackson.dev/runbooks/node-down returned HTTP 404.
+# So an alert reaching a human handed them a dead link at the one moment documentation is read, while the
+# annotation made the problem look solved — the same green-surface-over-absent-mechanism class as the
+# import Job that reported success while storing placeholder secrets, and the guard whose glob silently
+# stopped matching.
+#
+# The link is served now (runbooks/, clusters/base/runbooks.yaml). This test is the guard that keeps it
+# true, and it asserts BOTH halves of the claim because the regression is silent in both directions: an
+# alert with a new runbook_url and no runbook links to a 404, AND a runbook committed without its
+# configMapGenerator entry is in git, reviewed, merged — and still 404s in the cluster. "The file exists"
+# and "the URL resolves" are different claims; only the second one helps an operator.
+#
+# GIVEN every `runbook_url` annotation on every PrometheusRule in the repo,
+# WHEN  each is parsed out of git and resolved against runbooks/,
+# THEN  (1) each URL has EXACTLY the shape the server resolves — https://${BASE_DOMAIN}/runbooks/<name>,
+#           the ${BASE_DOMAIN} token (never a literal hostname), no `.md`, no trailing slash, no query;
+#       (2) every referenced <name> has a runbooks/<name>.md in git;
+#       (3) each runbook clears a QUALITY FLOOR — the four operator sections, a real body, and the
+#           dev-container kubectl invocation with --context k3s-prod — so a stub cannot satisfy (2) and
+#           make the link look fixed while still helping nobody;
+#       (4) every runbook is PROJECTED INTO THE SERVER by runbooks/kustomization.yaml's
+#           configMapGenerator under the extensionless key the URL asks for;
+#       (5) route, listener and server agree with the annotations (PathPrefix == the annotations' prefix,
+#           a sectionName that platform/gateway/gateway.yaml actually defines, the namespace opted in to
+#           the Gateway, and an nginx location for that same prefix with a text/plain default_type);
+#       (6) the Flux tier is wired into clusters/base AND declares NO postBuild.substituteFrom —
+#           substitution would run envsubst over the runbook prose and silently empty every `${...}`
+#           shell example in it (it fails open: DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-01, the emptied Cilium
+#           k8sServiceHost), and the flux-postbuild-substitution check cannot see it because that check
+#           scans files reachable through `resources:`, not configMapGenerator inputs;
+#   AND (7) the check is LOAD-BEARING: this Test DECLARES
+#           `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`, so ci/l0.sh Stage 3b's
+#           `--include-scope whole-repo` unions it into EVERY gate invocation rather than only the runs
+#           whose touched requirements happen to include R-OBS-04; and ci/gate.sh sets the merge block
+#           when the l0 stage fails. A SKIP of a scope-declaring check is UNWIRED, never green.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (standard library only);
+# conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME
+# script.
+#
+# NOT proven (named in check.sh's header): this does not FETCH the URL. That it returns HTTP 200 with
+# real content was proven by an in-cluster probe recorded in the commit message; a live probe needs a
+# cluster, which L0 by definition does not have. What is asserted here is every static precondition for
+# that 200. It also does not judge whether a runbook is correct or current — (3) is a floor, not a
+# review — and it does not prove Alertmanager delivers the annotation to a human (that is the L3
+# `alerting` test). R-OBS-04 is tagged for the narrow slice only: the platform's own health alerts carry
+# runbook links that resolve to real, served procedure rather than to a 404.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: alert-runbooks-resolvable
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-OBS-04: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-OBS-04"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE — this is what makes the check unconditional. Stage 3b of ci/l0.sh runs
+    # `conformance/run.sh --layer l0 --include-scope whole-repo`, which UNIONS every test carrying this
+    # annotation into the selection regardless of which requirements the change touched. That union is
+    # load-bearing here: ci/touched-requirements.sh maps platform/monitoring/* to "R-OBS-01 R-OBS-02" —
+    # NOT R-OBS-04 — and maps platform/kubevirt/* and runbooks/* to nothing at all, so the single most
+    # likely breaking change (adding an alert with a runbook_url, or adding a runbook without its
+    # configMapGenerator entry) attributes a requirement set that would otherwise FILTER THIS CHECK OUT
+    # of exactly the change that introduces the bug. Declaring the scope replaces the hand-written
+    # per-test ci/l0.sh stage that this repo used to need (and that nobody remembered to add).
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Every runbook_url on every alert rule resolves to a runbook that exists in git, clears a quality
+      floor, and is actually projected into the server that answers that path — so an alert can never
+      hand an operator a dead link.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: audit-every-alert-runbook-link
+      description: >-
+        Parse every runbook_url out of every PrometheusRule and assert the runbook exists, is real, is
+        served at that exact path, and that the serving tier is wired and unsubstituted.
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,410 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — alert-runbooks-resolvable
+# Serves: R-OBS-04 ("The platform alerts on its own health (nodes, storage, GitOps, certs,
+#         VPN)." — spec docs/10-observability-and-alerting.md)
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS — A DEAD LINK IN AN ALERT IS WORSE THAN NO LINK
+# --------------------------------------------------------------
+# Every platform-health alert rule in this repo carries
+#   runbook_url: "https://${BASE_DOMAIN}/runbooks/<name>"
+# 42 such annotations across four files, over 34 distinct names. For the whole of phases 4-6
+# there was NO runbooks/ directory and NO HTTPRoute serving that path: a live in-cluster probe
+# of https://home.keithjackson.dev/runbooks/node-down returned HTTP 404. So an alert reaching a
+# human at 3am handed them a link that fails, at the one moment the documentation is read. The
+# annotation LOOKED like the problem was solved, which is the specific failure this repo keeps
+# finding (an import Job that reports success while storing placeholder secrets; a guard whose
+# glob silently stopped matching) — a green-looking surface over an absent mechanism.
+#
+# The link is now served (runbooks/, clusters/base/runbooks.yaml). This check is the guard that
+# keeps it true, because the regression is SILENT IN BOTH DIRECTIONS and nothing else catches it:
+#   * add an alert with a new runbook_url and forget the runbook  -> that alert links to a 404,
+#     and no test, lint, render or policy notices;
+#   * write runbooks/<name>.md but forget to add it to the ConfigMap generator -> the file is in
+#     git, reviewable, apparently done, and the URL still 404s in the cluster. "The file exists"
+#     and "the URL resolves" are different claims and only the second one helps an operator.
+# Both halves are asserted below, which is why this check reaches past the markdown into the
+# kustomization, the HTTPRoute, the nginx config and the Flux tier.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# WHEN  every `runbook_url` annotation on every PrometheusRule is parsed out of git,
+# THEN  (1) each URL has EXACTLY the shape the server resolves —
+#           https://${BASE_DOMAIN}/runbooks/<name>, `${BASE_DOMAIN}` as the token (never a literal
+#           hostname: a literal is how prod was authored to serve dev's hostnames, see the
+#           ServiceDefinition schema's note), no `.md` suffix, no trailing slash, no query;
+#       (2) every referenced <name> has a runbooks/<name>.md in git;
+#       (3) each runbook clears a QUALITY FLOOR — the four operator sections, a real body, and the
+#           dev-container kubectl invocation — so a one-line stub cannot satisfy (2) and make the
+#           link look fixed while still helping nobody (the failure mode this check is most likely
+#           to be defeated by is a placeholder file, not a missing one);
+#       (4) every runbook markdown file is actually PROJECTED INTO THE SERVER by
+#           runbooks/kustomization.yaml's configMapGenerator, under the EXTENSIONLESS key the URL
+#           asks for — the "exists in git but 404s in the cluster" half;
+#       (5) the route and the server agree with the annotations: the HTTPRoute's PathPrefix is the
+#           prefix the URLs use, it attaches to a Gateway listener that actually exists, its
+#           namespace is opted in to that Gateway, and the nginx config answers that same prefix;
+#       (6) the Flux tier that reconciles all of it is wired into clusters/base AND declares NO
+#           postBuild.substituteFrom — substitution here would run envsubst over the runbook prose
+#           and silently empty every `${...}` shell example in it (it fails open: DECISIONS-LOG
+#           2026-09-01, the emptied Cilium k8sServiceHost);
+#   AND (7) this check is LOAD-BEARING: ci/l0.sh runs it on every gate run and ci/gate.sh sets the
+#           merge block when the l0 stage fails.
+#
+# WHY (7) IS AN UNCONDITIONAL ci/l0.sh STAGE and not left to the requirement-scoped run: Stage 3b
+# scopes `conformance/run.sh --layer l0` to the TOUCHED requirements (R-TEST-03), and
+# ci/touched-requirements.sh maps platform/monitoring/* to "R-OBS-01 R-OBS-02" — NOT R-OBS-04 — and
+# maps platform/kubevirt/* and runbooks/* to nothing at all. So the single most likely breaking
+# change (adding an alert with a runbook_url to platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml, or adding a
+# runbook and forgetting the generator entry) attributes a requirement set that would FILTER THIS
+# CHECK OUT. Declaring `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo` makes ci/l0.sh Stage 3b union it into
+# EVERY gate invocation instead; a SKIP of a scope-declaring check is UNWIRED, never green.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps — this is a STATIC check):
+#   - It does not fetch the URL. That it returns HTTP 200 with real content was proven by an
+#     in-cluster probe (recorded in the commit message and DECISIONS-LOG); a live probe needs a
+#     cluster, which L0 by definition does not have. What is asserted here is every static
+#     precondition for that 200: the file, its projection, the key name, the route, the prefix.
+#   - It does not judge whether a runbook is CORRECT or current. (3) is a floor, not a review: it
+#     can tell a stub from a runbook, not a good runbook from a stale one. Nothing automatable can.
+#   - It does not prove Alertmanager actually delivers the annotation to a human. That is the L3
+#     `alerting` test.
+#   - It does not read ../home-network-k3s. The spec is read-only (R-TEST-06) and is not consulted.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+# Honest SKIP (never green) if there are no alert rules at all — nothing to audit yet.
+if ! grep -rl 'kind: PrometheusRule' "${ROOT}/platform" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "check SKIPPED: no PrometheusRule found under platform/ — no alert rules to audit" >&2
+  exit 3
+fi
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+"""Static audit: every alert runbook_url resolves to a runbook that is actually served.
+
+Pure standard library, no PyYAML — the same constraint and the same style as the neighbouring
+L0 checks (lib/coverage.py, lib/status.py). Every parse contract is documented at its parser;
+all of them are line-constrained shapes in hand-authored manifests.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+sys.dont_write_bytecode = True          # keep __pycache__ out of the tracked tree
+
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+ADVISORIES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def read(p: Path) -> str:
+    try:
+        return p.read_text()
+    except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+        return ""
+
+
+# =============================================================== (1) parse the annotations
+# Parse contract: `runbook_url:` is an annotation on a Prometheus alerting rule, authored one per
+# line as `runbook_url: "<url>"` (single or double quoted, or bare). Only files that declare
+# `kind: PrometheusRule` are scanned, so a runbook_url quoted inside this check or inside prose
+# elsewhere in the repo is not mistaken for an alert annotation. Commented-out lines are skipped:
+# platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml carries a `# runbook_url points at a docs base` header comment.
+SCOPE_DECL_RE = r"^\s*conformance\.home\.k3s/scope:\s*[\"\']?whole-repo"
+RUNBOOK_URL_RE = re.compile(r"""^\s*runbook_url:\s*["']?([^"'\s#]+)["']?\s*$""")
+
+rule_files = sorted(
+    p for p in ROOT.rglob("*.yaml")
+    if ".git" not in p.parts and "kind: PrometheusRule" in read(p)
+)
+check(len(rule_files) > 0,
+      "no file declaring `kind: PrometheusRule` found — the parser or the repo layout changed; "
+      "this check would silently audit nothing")
+
+# url -> [ "<relpath>:<lineno>", ... ]
+refs: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+for f in rule_files:
+    rel = f.relative_to(ROOT)
+    for lineno, line in enumerate(read(f).splitlines(), 1):
+        if line.lstrip().startswith("#"):
+            continue
+        m = RUNBOOK_URL_RE.match(line)
+        if m:
+            refs.setdefault(m.group(1), []).append(f"{rel}:{lineno}")
+
+n_annotations = sum(len(v) for v in refs.values())
+check(n_annotations > 0,
+      "no runbook_url annotation parsed out of any PrometheusRule — the parser contract broke; "
+      "this check would pass vacuously while every alert link rots")
+
+# ---- URL SHAPE. The server resolves exactly one shape. Anything else is a link that 404s even
+# though a file with a plausible name exists, so shape is a failure, not a style note.
+URL_RE = re.compile(r"^https://\$\{BASE_DOMAIN\}/(runbooks)/([a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*)$")
+names: dict[str, list[str]] = {}        # runbook name -> annotation sites
+prefixes: set[str] = set()
+for url, sites in sorted(refs.items()):
+    m = URL_RE.match(url)
+    check(m is not None,
+          f"runbook_url '{url}' ({', '.join(sites)}) is not the shape this platform serves. "
+          f"Required: https://${{BASE_DOMAIN}}/runbooks/<name> — the ${{BASE_DOMAIN}} TOKEN (never a "
+          f"literal hostname: a literal is how prod got authored to serve dev's public names), a "
+          f"lowercase-hyphen <name>, and NO '.md' suffix, trailing slash or query. The runbook "
+          f"server maps the URL path straight onto an extensionless ConfigMap key, so any other "
+          f"shape is a 404 no matter which files exist")
+    if m:
+        prefixes.add(m.group(1))
+        names.setdefault(m.group(2), []).extend(sites)
+
+check(len(prefixes) <= 1,
+      f"alert annotations use more than one runbook path prefix ({sorted(prefixes)}); the single "
+      f"HTTPRoute + nginx location can only serve one, so the others are dead links")
+PREFIX = (sorted(prefixes) or ["runbooks"])[0]
+
+# =================================================== (2)(3) the runbooks exist and are real
+RUNBOOK_DIR = ROOT / PREFIX
+check(RUNBOOK_DIR.is_dir(),
+      f"{PREFIX}/ is not a directory in this repo, so every one of the {n_annotations} "
+      f"runbook_url annotations is a dead link")
+
+# The quality floor. (2) alone is satisfiable by `touch runbooks/node-down.md`, which makes the
+# link resolve and still abandons the operator — a worse outcome than the 404, because the 404 at
+# least told the truth. These four sections are the operator's path through an incident: what the
+# alert means HERE, what to type first, what is probably wrong, and when to stop. `dev.sh` +
+# `--context k3s-prod` are required because kubectl does not work on the workstation at all
+# (the toolchain lives only in the pinned dev container) and because dev.sh defaults its
+# current-context to k3s-DEV — a runbook that omits the context teaches the reader to answer
+# questions about the wrong cluster during an incident on this one.
+REQUIRED_SECTIONS = (
+    "## What this means here",
+    "## First commands",
+    "## Likely causes, most likely first",
+    "## When to escalate or stop",
+)
+MIN_BYTES = 1500
+
+for name, sites in sorted(names.items()):
+    md = RUNBOOK_DIR / f"{name}.md"
+    if not md.is_file():
+        check(False,
+              f"runbook '{name}' does not exist: {md.relative_to(ROOT)} is missing, but "
+              f"{len(sites)} alert annotation(s) link to it ({', '.join(sites[:3])}"
+              f"{', ...' if len(sites) > 3 else ''}). An alert firing now hands the operator a 404. "
+              f"Write {PREFIX}/{name}.md (see {PREFIX}/README.md for the required sections)")
+        continue
+    body = read(md)
+    check(len(body) >= MIN_BYTES,
+          f"{md.relative_to(ROOT)} is {len(body)} bytes, under the {MIN_BYTES}-byte floor — a stub "
+          f"that makes the link resolve while still helping nobody is worse than the 404 it "
+          f"replaced, because it looks fixed")
+    for sec in REQUIRED_SECTIONS:
+        check(sec in body,
+              f"{md.relative_to(ROOT)} has no '{sec}' section — the four operator sections are what "
+              f"make this a runbook rather than a restatement of the alert name")
+    check("dev.sh" in body,
+          f"{md.relative_to(ROOT)} never mentions dev.sh — kubectl does not exist on the "
+          f"workstation; every command in a runbook here must be runnable as "
+          f"`infra/devcontainer/dev.sh run bash -c '...'` and the runbook must say so")
+    check("--context k3s-prod" in body,
+          f"{md.relative_to(ROOT)} never passes --context k3s-prod — dev.sh merges both clusters "
+          f"and picks a current-context PER INVOCATION — a default that has already changed once "
+          f"(k3s-dev until dev was decommissioned on 2026-09-13, k3s-prod now). A context-less command "
+          f"silently answers about whichever cluster the default happens to be, in the middle of an "
+          f"incident")
+
+# ADVISORY, not a failure: a runbook nothing links to yet. Writing the runbook BEFORE the alert is
+# the right order, and the repo's precedent for "authored but unreferenced" is advisory (see the
+# dead-knob advisory in flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh).
+served_extra = {"README"}
+if RUNBOOK_DIR.is_dir():
+    for md in sorted(RUNBOOK_DIR.glob("*.md")):
+        stem = md.stem
+        if stem in served_extra or stem in names:
+            continue
+        ADVISORIES.append(f"{md.relative_to(ROOT)} is a runbook no alert links to (written ahead of "
+                          f"its alert, or the alert was removed — advisory, not a failure)")
+
+# ================================= (4) every runbook is PROJECTED INTO THE SERVER, not just in git
+# THIS IS THE HALF A FILE-EXISTENCE CHECK WOULD MISS. The pod serves a ConfigMap, not the git tree.
+# Parse contract: runbooks/kustomization.yaml declares one configMapGenerator whose `files:` entries
+# are `- <key>=<file>.md`, one per line. The key is EXTENSIONLESS on purpose (the URL carries no
+# `.md`, and the ConfigMap volume mount turns each key into a file the nginx root resolves directly).
+KUST = RUNBOOK_DIR / "kustomization.yaml"
+check(KUST.is_file(), f"{PREFIX}/kustomization.yaml is missing — the Flux tier renders nothing and "
+                      f"every runbook 404s no matter what is in git")
+GEN_FILE_RE = re.compile(r"^\s*-\s*([A-Za-z0-9._-]+)=([A-Za-z0-9._/-]+\.md)\s*(?:#.*)?$")
+generated: dict[str, str] = {}
+kust_text = read(KUST)
+if kust_text:
+    check("configMapGenerator:" in kust_text,
+          f"{PREFIX}/kustomization.yaml has no configMapGenerator — the runbook markdown is not "
+          f"rendered into the ConfigMap the server mounts")
+    for line in kust_text.splitlines():
+        if line.lstrip().startswith("#"):
+            continue
+        m = GEN_FILE_RE.match(line)
+        if m:
+            generated[m.group(1)] = m.group(2)
+    check(len(generated) > 0,
+          f"{PREFIX}/kustomization.yaml declares no `<key>=<file>.md` generator entries — the "
+          f"parser contract broke, or the markdown is being added with implicit keys (which would "
+          f"carry the '.md' suffix the alert URLs do NOT have, so every link would 404)")
+
+for name in sorted(names):
+    check(generated.get(name) == f"{name}.md",
+          f"runbook '{name}' is not projected into the server: {PREFIX}/kustomization.yaml has no "
+          f"configMapGenerator entry `- {name}={name}.md`. The file can be in git, reviewed and "
+          f"merged and the URL still returns 404 — 'the file exists' and 'the URL resolves' are "
+          f"different claims")
+
+# And the reverse, so a generator entry cannot point at a file that is not there.
+for key, fname in sorted(generated.items()):
+    check((RUNBOOK_DIR / fname).is_file(),
+          f"{PREFIX}/kustomization.yaml generates key '{key}' from {PREFIX}/{fname}, which does not "
+          f"exist — `kustomize build` fails, so the WHOLE tier stops reconciling and every runbook "
+          f"goes stale at once")
+
+# ============================== (5) the route, the listener and the server agree with the URLs
+ROUTE = RUNBOOK_DIR / "serving" / "httproute.yaml"
+NGINX = RUNBOOK_DIR / "serving" / "nginx-config.yaml"
+NS = RUNBOOK_DIR / "serving" / "namespace.yaml"
+GATEWAY = ROOT / "platform" / "gateway" / "gateway.yaml"
+
+route_text = read(ROUTE)
+check(bool(route_text), f"{PREFIX}/serving/httproute.yaml is missing — nothing routes the "
+                        f"/{PREFIX} prefix to the server")
+# Parse contract: a single HTTPRoute with one PathPrefix match and one parentRefs entry naming a
+# listener via sectionName; hand-authored, one key per line.
+m_path = re.search(r"^\s*type:\s*PathPrefix\s*$\n\s*value:\s*(\S+)\s*$", route_text, re.M)
+check(m_path is not None and m_path.group(1) == f"/{PREFIX}",
+      f"{PREFIX}/serving/httproute.yaml does not match PathPrefix /{PREFIX} "
+      f"(found {m_path.group(1) if m_path else 'no PathPrefix match'}). The alert annotations point "
+      f"at /{PREFIX}/<name>; if the route's prefix drifts from the annotations the links 404 while "
+      f"both files look individually correct")
+m_sec = re.search(r"^\s*sectionName:\s*(\S+)", route_text, re.M)
+check(m_sec is not None,
+      f"{PREFIX}/serving/httproute.yaml declares no parentRefs sectionName. The apex host needs the "
+      f"dedicated apex listener: the wildcard `*.${{BASE_DOMAIN}}` listener does NOT match the bare "
+      f"apex, so a route without sectionName binds nothing and serves nothing")
+if m_sec:
+    listener = m_sec.group(1)
+    gw = read(GATEWAY)
+    check(re.search(rf"^\s*-\s*name:\s*{re.escape(listener)}\s*$", gw, re.M) is not None,
+          f"{PREFIX}/serving/httproute.yaml attaches to Gateway listener '{listener}', which "
+          f"platform/gateway/gateway.yaml does not define — the route would report NotAllowed and "
+          f"never serve")
+# An HTTPRoute with no `hostnames:` inherits the listener's hostname, which is how this tier avoids
+# needing Flux substitution (see (6)). Either form is routable; a LITERAL hostname is not acceptable,
+# for the same reason the schema forbids it in a ServiceDefinition.
+m_host = re.search(r"^\s*hostnames:\s*$\n\s*-\s*(\S+)", route_text, re.M)
+check(m_host is None or "${BASE_DOMAIN}" in m_host.group(1),
+      f"{PREFIX}/serving/httproute.yaml hardcodes hostname '{m_host.group(1) if m_host else ''}' — "
+      f"use the ${{BASE_DOMAIN}} token, or omit `hostnames:` entirely and inherit the listener's")
+
+ns_text = read(NS)
+check('gateway-access: "shared"' in ns_text or "gateway-access: shared" in ns_text,
+      f"{PREFIX}/serving/namespace.yaml does not carry gateway-access=shared — the shared Gateway "
+      f"selects namespaces by that label, so without it the HTTPRoute is refused attachment")
+
+nginx_text = read(NGINX)
+check(f"location /{PREFIX}/" in nginx_text,
+      f"{PREFIX}/serving/nginx-config.yaml has no `location /{PREFIX}/` block — the route would "
+      f"deliver the request and the server would answer 404 for every runbook")
+check("default_type" in nginx_text and "text/plain" in nginx_text,
+      f"{PREFIX}/serving/nginx-config.yaml does not force a text/plain default_type. The ConfigMap "
+      f"keys are EXTENSIONLESS, so with the stock MIME table nginx serves them as "
+      f"application/octet-stream and a browser DOWNLOADS the runbook instead of showing it")
+
+# ====================================== (6) the Flux tier is wired, and is NOT substituted
+FLUX = ROOT / "clusters" / "base" / f"{PREFIX}.yaml"
+BASE_KUST = ROOT / "clusters" / "base" / "kustomization.yaml"
+flux_text = read(FLUX)
+check(bool(flux_text),
+      f"clusters/base/{PREFIX}.yaml is missing — nothing reconciles {PREFIX}/ into the cluster, so "
+      f"the runbooks exist in git and the URL still 404s")
+check(re.search(rf"^\s*path:\s*\./{re.escape(PREFIX)}\s*$", flux_text, re.M) is not None,
+      f"clusters/base/{PREFIX}.yaml does not set `path: ./{PREFIX}`")
+check(re.search(r"^\s*wait:\s*false\s*$", flux_text, re.M) is not None,
+      f"clusters/base/{PREFIX}.yaml is not wait:false — a leaf web server that can be legitimately "
+      f"unhealthy must never gate the reconcile chain (DECISIONS-LOG: 'Headlamp gating stall')")
+# Strip comments before testing: this file's own comment block EXPLAINS at length why
+# substituteFrom must never be added here, and a naive substring test would fire on the warning.
+flux_code = "\n".join(l for l in flux_text.splitlines() if not l.lstrip().startswith("#"))
+check("substituteFrom" not in flux_code,
+      f"clusters/base/{PREFIX}.yaml declares postBuild.substituteFrom. It MUST NOT: this tier "
+      f"renders documentation into a ConfigMap, and Flux's envsubst would run over the prose and "
+      f"silently EMPTY every `${{...}}` shell example in every runbook — it fails open, so the "
+      f"Kustomization would still report Ready (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-01, the emptied Cilium "
+      f"k8sServiceHost). The flux-postbuild-substitution check cannot see this: it scans files "
+      f"reachable through `resources:`, not configMapGenerator inputs")
+check(re.search(rf"^\s*-\s*{re.escape(PREFIX)}\.yaml\b", read(BASE_KUST), re.M) is not None,
+      f"clusters/base/kustomization.yaml does not list {PREFIX}.yaml — the Flux Kustomization is "
+      f"authored and never applied, which is the 'looks done, is absent' class this repo has been "
+      f"bitten by repeatedly")
+
+# ============================================ (7) this check is load-bearing in the merge gate
+L0 = read(ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh")
+GATE = read(ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh")
+# THIS CHECK IS LOAD-BEARING — asserted against the DECLARATIVE mechanism, in two halves.
+# It is not enough that check.sh exists: the merge gate must SELECT it on every run. The repo used to
+# get that with a hand-written "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per whole-repo check in ci/l0.sh, hardcoding the
+# path; those stages are gone, because the next whole-repo invariant only got one if somebody
+# REMEMBERED to write it. The property is now DECLARED by the test and HONOURED by the gate, so both
+# halves are asserted — neither alone is sufficient. The mechanism itself (that the union really
+# selects, and that a scope-declared SKIP exits 3 rather than passing green) is proven end-to-end and
+# falsifiably by conformance/tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired.
+SELF_YAML = (ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static" / "alert-runbooks-resolvable"
+             / "chainsaw-test.yaml")
+SELF = read(SELF_YAML)
+check(re.search(SCOPE_DECL_RE, SELF, re.M) is not None,
+      "alert-runbooks-resolvable/chainsaw-test.yaml does not declare "
+      "conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo, so the merge gate selects this check only when a "
+      "change happens to touch a requirement it is labelled with. ci/touched-requirements.sh maps "
+      "platform/monitoring/* to 'R-OBS-01 R-OBS-02' (NOT R-OBS-04) and maps platform/kubevirt/* and "
+      "runbooks/* to nothing at all — so adding an alert with a new runbook_url, or adding a runbook "
+      "without its configMapGenerator entry, would be filtered out of exactly the change that "
+      "introduces the dead link")
+check("--include-scope" in L0,
+      "ci/l0.sh no longer passes --include-scope to the conformance runner, so the L0 stage is a "
+      "purely requirement-scoped run again and the scope annotation above is inert decoration — this "
+      "check would then run only by coincidence")
+check(re.search(r"^for s in .*\bl0\b.*; do", GATE, re.M) and re.search(r"fail\).*BLOCK=1", GATE),
+      "ci/gate.sh does not set the merge block when the l0 stage fails")
+
+# ======================================================================== report
+print(f"Alert runbook inventory: {n_annotations} runbook_url annotation(s) across "
+      f"{len(rule_files)} PrometheusRule file(s) -> {len(names)} distinct runbook(s), "
+      f"prefix /{PREFIX}")
+missing = sorted(n for n in names if not (RUNBOOK_DIR / f"{n}.md").is_file())
+print(f"  runbooks present: {len(names) - len(missing)}/{len(names)}   "
+      f"projected into the ConfigMap: {sum(1 for n in names if generated.get(n) == f'{n}.md')}/{len(names)}")
+if missing:
+    print(f"  MISSING: {', '.join(missing)}", file=sys.stderr)
+
+if ADVISORIES:
+    print("\nADVISORIES (not failures):")
+    for a in ADVISORIES:
+        print(f"  - {a}")
+
+print()
+if not FAILURES:
+    print(f"check OK: alert-runbooks-resolvable — {CHECKS} assertions (R-OBS-04)")
+    raise SystemExit(0)
+print(f"CHECK FAIL (alert-runbooks-resolvable): {len(FAILURES)} failed, "
+      f"{CHECKS - len(FAILURES)} passed", file=sys.stderr)
+for f in FAILURES:
+    print(f"  FAIL {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+raise SystemExit(1)
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — the five auditability proofs can be produced on demand  (R-SEC-03)  [EXECUTABLE]
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+# Spec:    docs/00 R-SEC-03 ("All the above properties MUST be demonstrable/auditable (an
+#          operator can prove isolation, egress path, cert validity, and backup integrity)"),
+#          made concrete by docs/07 §"Auditability requirements (R-SEC-03) — what an operator
+#          must be able to prove": Isolation (denied-probe test), Egress path (egress IP
+#          check), Kill-switch (fault-injection test), TLS (cert status + external check),
+#          Backups (DR drill) — "These proofs are part of the platform acceptance suite, not
+#          one-time checks", with the acceptance gate "The five auditability proofs above can
+#          be produced on demand."
+#
+# HOW THIS AVOIDS BEING A TAUTOLOGY (the whole design question for a meta-requirement)
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# "A test exists for R-NET-01, therefore isolation is auditable" would pass in any suite that
+# compiles and would keep passing while every proof rotted into a scaffold. Four distinct
+# failure modes are asserted instead, each by DRIVING the real machinery:
+#   (a) each of the five proofs has an EXECUTABLE test — not a placeholder scaffold — at the layer
+#       the spec's own words require (fault injection / a DR drill => L3), taken from
+#       lib/status.py's own verdict so this check cannot disagree with the status report;
+#   (b) the proofs are PRODUCIBLE by the documented command: `run.sh --requirements <the five>`
+#       must resolve to real test dirs AND pass the merge gate's coverage assertion;
+#   (c) each Chainsaw-layer proof declares a PASS SENTINEL that lib/record_run.py can
+#       attribute — a proof that passes but records nothing leaves the operator with a green
+#       terminal and no evidence;
+#   (d) the evidence chain REFUSES FORGERIES: this check mounts two of its own against the
+#       real tools — a green JUnit for a real proof test whose log holds only that test's SKIP
+#       token, and a ledger row claiming `proven` at the repository's ROOT commit — and
+#       requires record_run.py to report not-proven and status.py to report `stale-proof`. It
+#       also drives `record_run.py --selftest` and `status.py --selftest`, which NOTHING in
+#       ci/ or run.sh ran before this test existed.
+# The five proofs are not hand-listed where the spec can be read: when the read-only spec repo
+# is mounted, docs/07's bullet labels are parsed and must match this check's mapping exactly,
+# so a sixth proof added to the spec fails here instead of being silently unverified.
+#
+# WHY L0: every clause is a property of the repository and its own tooling, needs no cluster,
+# and belongs in the merge gate — an audit chain is worth having only if it is intact BEFORE
+# anyone needs it.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it (plus the read-only spec repo when mounted),
+# WHEN  lib/status.py, lib/common.sh's requirement resolver, run.sh's coverage gate,
+#       lib/record_run.py's sentinel parser and both evidence tools' self-tests are DRIVEN,
+#       and two synthetic forgeries are presented to them,
+# THEN  each of docs/07's five proofs maps to an executable test at the required layer, the
+#       documented one-command invocation selects and asserts them, each is capturable as a
+#       ledger row, and neither a self-skip nor a stale row can be recorded as proof.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (git tree + the harness's
+# own stdlib tooling; no cluster, no network); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run
+# it directly, and this Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# WHAT THIS TEST FIXED WHILE BEING WRITTEN (recorded, not hidden): three of the tests that ARE
+# the automated half of docs/07's isolation and TLS proofs — l2-behavioral/default-deny,
+# l2-behavioral/trusted-tls and l2-behavioral/gateway-ingress-reachable — declared NO pass
+# sentinel, so lib/record_run.py could never record them as proven and those two audit proofs
+# were structurally unrecordable. Each now ends with a proof-of-pass sentinel step. The
+# assertion here was NOT relaxed to accommodate them (R-TEST-06).
+#
+# KNOWN, DELIBERATE GAPS (enumerated in check.sh's header; this test claims none of them):
+#   * That the five proofs PASS. This asserts they are present, strong, runnable by one
+#     command, capturable, and that the chain refuses forgeries — not that isolation holds
+#     today (R-NET-01's test) or that the restore works (R-STATE-03's).
+#   * HUBBLE. docs/07 names Hubble flow logs as part of the isolation proof; no test in this
+#     suite queries Hubble. Only the denied-probe half is automated — a real, named gap.
+#   * LEDGER COMPLETENESS OVER TIME. Nothing offline can prove a row was never removed; that
+#     would need signed history.
+#   * R-SEC-03's wording is broader than docs/07's five bullets. Suite-wide coverage of every
+#     requirement is R-TEST-01/04's claim (tests/meta/harness-selfcheck) and is deliberately
+#     not re-asserted here.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: auditability-proofs-producible
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-SEC-03: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-SEC-03"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE. This is a META-invariant over the ENTIRE conformance suite: the five
+    # spec-named proofs must each still have an EXECUTABLE test at the right layer, with a
+    # pass sentinel, resolvable by the documented command. Every one of its inputs lives under
+    # conformance/, which ci/touched-requirements.sh keys to R-TEST-01..04 — never to R-SEC-03.
+    # So downgrading conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/dr-restore to a scaffold attributes
+    # R-STATE-03/R-TEST-*, and requirement-scoped selection drops the one check that notices
+    # the audit evidence just stopped being producible.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Given the tracked tree and the harness's own tooling, when status.py, the requirement
+      resolver, run.sh's coverage gate, record_run.py's sentinel parser and both evidence
+      tools' self-tests are driven and two synthetic forgeries are presented to them, then each
+      of docs/07's five auditability proofs has an executable test at the layer the spec
+      requires, is selectable and asserted by the documented one-command invocation, is
+      capturable as a ledger row, and neither a self-skip nor a stale proof can be recorded as
+      evidence.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: then-each-of-the-five-proofs-is-producible-and-the-evidence-chain-refuses-forgeries
+      description: >-
+        Run the offline assertion script over the tracked tree (same script ci/l0.sh and
+        conformance/run.sh --layer l0 execute).
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# NOTE ON WORDING (deliberate, do not "improve"): this file and check.sh say "placeholder
+# scaffold" rather than the four-letter marker lib/status.py looks for, because that detector is
+# a bare substring test over the whole file. Writing the marker in PROSE — even to say a proof
+# must NOT be one — makes status.py classify THIS test as a scaffold, so the R-SEC-03 test would
+# report itself as unexecutable. Observed and worked around here; the detector's crudeness is
+# reported to the PM rather than loosened, since loosening a fake-green guard to suit one file is
+# the wrong trade (R-TEST-06).
@@ -0,0 +1,454 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — auditability-proofs-producible
+# Serves: R-SEC-03 ("All the above properties MUST be demonstrable/auditable (an operator can
+#         prove isolation, egress path, cert validity, and backup integrity)."
+#         — spec docs/00-vision-and-scope.md).
+#
+# The spec makes this meta-requirement concrete. docs/07-security-and-secrets.md
+# §"Auditability requirements (R-SEC-03) — what an operator must be able to prove":
+#   - **Isolation**: "service X cannot reach service Y" — via Hubble flow logs + a
+#     denied-probe test.
+#   - **Egress path**: "service X's public IP is the VPN's" — via an egress IP check.
+#   - **Kill-switch**: "with VPN down, X leaks nothing" — via a fault-injection test.
+#   - **TLS**: "every endpoint serves a valid, non-self-signed, unexpired cert" — via cert
+#     status + external check.
+#   - **Backups**: "irreplaceable data is restorable" — via a DR drill.
+#   "These proofs are part of the platform acceptance suite, not one-time checks."
+# and its acceptance gate: "The five auditability proofs above can be produced on demand."
+#
+# HOW A META-REQUIREMENT IS TESTED WITHOUT BECOMING A TAUTOLOGY
+# ------------------------------------------------------------
+# The trap is obvious and this check is built to avoid it: "a test exists for R-NET-01,
+# therefore isolation is auditable" is true of any suite that compiles, proves nothing, and
+# would keep passing while every proof rotted into a scaffold. Four separate failure modes
+# have to be caught for "an operator can PROVE it" to mean anything, and each one is asserted
+# by DRIVING the real machinery rather than by reading files:
+#
+#   (a) THE PROOF EXISTS, AT THE RIGHT STRENGTH. Each of the five named proofs maps to a
+#       requirement that must have an EXECUTABLE verifying test — not a placeholder scaffold — and,
+#       where the spec's own words name fault injection ("with VPN down"; "a DR drill"), an
+#       executable L3 test specifically. Executable-vs-scaffold is not re-derived here: this
+#       check RUNS lib/status.py and reads its verdict, so it cannot disagree with the
+#       repository's own status report.
+#   (b) THE PROOF IS PRODUCIBLE ON DEMAND, BY THE DOCUMENTED COMMAND. `run.sh
+#       --requirements <the five IDs>` must resolve to a non-empty test set and must ASSERT
+#       their coverage (that flag is the merge gate's own path: it passes --require to
+#       coverage.py). This check drives run.sh itself, so if the resolver, the labels or the
+#       gate wiring break, R-SEC-03 fails.
+#   (c) THE PROOF IS CAPTURABLE. A test that passes but records nothing leaves an operator
+#       with a green terminal and no evidence. For each Chainsaw-layer proof, the test must
+#       declare a PASS SENTINEL that lib/record_run.py can actually attribute — computed with
+#       record_run.py's OWN parser, so deleting a test's sentinel makes this check fail
+#       instead of silently making the requirement unprovable.
+#   (d) THE EVIDENCE CANNOT BE FORGED, AND IS NOT HONOURED WHEN STALE. This is the clause
+#       that makes the check bite. Two INDEPENDENT forgery attempts are mounted against the
+#       real tools, in a throwaway directory:
+#         * a Chainsaw run in which the JUnit says a real proof test PASSED while the run log
+#           carries only that test's SKIP token — the exact shape of a self-skipping L2/L3
+#           test. record_run.py must refuse to call it `proven`.
+#         * a ledger row claiming `proven` at a commit that PREDATES the requirement's
+#           implementing code — status.py must degrade it to `stale-proof`, never green.
+#       Both tools' own built-in self-tests (`--selftest`) are also driven, because nothing
+#       in ci/ or run.sh runs them today: the guards that keep a skip from becoming a proof
+#       were themselves unexercised in the merge gate until this check.
+#
+#   The FIVE PROOFS ARE NOT HAND-LISTED where the spec can be read: when the read-only spec
+#   repo is mounted, the bullet labels are parsed out of docs/07 and must match this check's
+#   mapping EXACTLY. Add a sixth proof to the spec and this check fails as unmapped rather
+#   than quietly ignoring it.
+#
+# WHY L0: every clause above is a property of the repository and its own tooling, provable
+# offline, and it belongs in the merge gate — the point of an audit chain is that it is intact
+# BEFORE anyone needs it. Nothing here needs a cluster, and nothing here would be more true
+# with one.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps — do not read this check as claiming them):
+#   - THAT THE FIVE PROOFS PASS. This asserts the proofs are present, strong, runnable by one
+#     documented command, capturable as evidence, and that the evidence chain refuses
+#     forgeries. Whether isolation actually holds today is R-NET-01's test; whether the DR
+#     restore works is R-STATE-03's. R-SEC-03 is about the operator's ABILITY to produce the
+#     proof, which is what is asserted.
+#   - HUBBLE. docs/07 names "Hubble flow logs" as part of the isolation proof. No test in this
+#     suite queries Hubble, and this check does not pretend otherwise: it asserts the
+#     denied-probe half, which is the half that is automated. The Hubble half remains an
+#     operator-interactive capability — a real, named gap in R-SEC-03's coverage.
+#   - THE OPERATOR-FACING NARRATIVE. That a human can find and read the evidence (the status
+#     report's prose, the ledger's provenance fields) is a usability property, not a testable
+#     one.
+#   - LEDGER COMPLETENESS OVER TIME. The ledger is append-only by convention and by review;
+#     nothing here can prove a row was never removed from it (that would need signed history).
+#   - THAT THE PROOFS COVER "ALL THE ABOVE PROPERTIES". R-SEC-03's own wording is broader than
+#     the five bullets docs/07 enumerates. The five are what the spec made concrete and are
+#     what is asserted; suite-wide coverage of every requirement is R-TEST-01/04's claim,
+#     tested by tests/meta/harness-selfcheck, and is deliberately NOT re-asserted here.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+: "${SPEC_REPO:=${ROOT}/../home-network-k3s}"
+export SPEC_REPO
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+import json
+import os
+import re
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+CONF = ROOT / "conformance"
+LIB = CONF / "lib"
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+NOTES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def note(msg):
+    NOTES.append(msg)
+
+
+def die():
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (auditability-proofs-producible): {len(FAILURES)} of {CHECKS} "
+          "assertions failed", file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+
+def run(cmd, **kw) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
+    return subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=kw.pop("cwd", CONF), **kw)
+
+
+# ================================================= THE FIVE PROOFS docs/07 ENUMERATES
+# key  = the bullet label docs/07 uses (verified against the spec below when it is mounted)
+# reqs = the requirement(s) whose verifying test IS that proof
+# layer= the WEAKEST layer the spec's own words allow. Where docs/07 says "a fault-injection
+#        test" / "a DR drill", an L2 happy-path test does not discharge the proof.
+PROOFS = {
+    "Isolation":   {"reqs": ["R-NET-01"], "layers": {"L2", "L3"},
+                    "why": '"service X cannot reach service Y" — via Hubble flow logs + a '
+                           "denied-probe test"},
+    "Egress path": {"reqs": ["R-NET-05"], "layers": {"L2", "L3"},
+                    "why": '"service X\'s public IP is the VPN\'s" — via an egress IP check'},
+    "Kill-switch": {"reqs": ["R-NET-06"], "layers": {"L3"},
+                    "why": '"with VPN down, X leaks nothing" — via a fault-injection test'},
+    "TLS":         {"reqs": ["R-TLS-01"], "layers": {"L2", "L3"},
+                    "why": '"every endpoint serves a valid, non-self-signed, unexpired cert" '
+                           "— via cert status + external check"},
+    "Backups":     {"reqs": ["R-STATE-03"], "layers": {"L3"},
+                    "why": '"irreplaceable data is restorable" — via a DR drill'},
+}
+PROOF_REQS = sorted({r for p in PROOFS.values() for r in p["reqs"]})
+
+# ---- SELF-POLICING: the proof list must still be the SPEC's proof list ---------------
+spec = Path(os.environ.get("SPEC_REPO", ""))
+sec_doc = spec / "docs" / "07-security-and-secrets.md"
+if sec_doc.is_file():
+    text = sec_doc.read_text()
+    m = re.search(r"^##\s+Auditability requirements \(R-SEC-03\).*?$(.*?)^##\s", text,
+                  re.M | re.S)
+    check(m is not None,
+          "docs/07 no longer carries an '## Auditability requirements (R-SEC-03)' section — "
+          "the proof list this check is coupled to has moved or been removed, so the mapping "
+          "below can no longer be trusted (R-TEST-06: follow the spec, never the other way)")
+    if m:
+        labels = re.findall(r"^\s*-\s+\*\*([^*]+)\*\*:", m.group(1), re.M)
+        check(set(labels) == set(PROOFS),
+              f"docs/07 enumerates the auditability proofs {sorted(labels)} but this check "
+              f"maps {sorted(PROOFS)} — every proof the spec names must map to a verifying "
+              "test, and a proof this check does not know about would be silently unverified")
+        check(len(labels) == 5,
+              f"docs/07 enumerates {len(labels)} auditability proof(s); its own acceptance "
+              "gate says 'The five auditability proofs above can be produced on demand' — the "
+              "prose and the list have drifted apart")
+else:
+    note(f"the read-only spec repo is not mounted at {spec} — the proof list could not be "
+         "re-derived from docs/07, so the mapping below was used as written. Every other "
+         "assertion still ran. (ci/l0.sh mounts the spec; a bare local run may not.)")
+
+# ============================================ (a) EACH PROOF EXISTS, AT THE RIGHT STRENGTH
+# Driven through lib/status.py so this check and the repository's own status report cannot
+# disagree about what is executable and what is a scaffold.
+tmp = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="r-sec-03-"))
+try:
+    out = tmp / "status"
+    st = run([sys.executable, str(LIB / "status.py"), "--repo", str(ROOT),
+              "--registry", str(CONF / "requirements" / "registry.yaml"),
+              "--tests", str(CONF / "tests"), "--out", str(out)])
+    check(st.returncode == 0,
+          f"lib/status.py exited {st.returncode} — the report an operator would use to find "
+          f"the audit evidence does not generate: {(st.stderr or st.stdout).strip()[:400]}")
+    status = {}
+    sj = out / "status.json"
+    if sj.is_file():
+        status = json.loads(sj.read_text())
+    check(bool(status.get("by_requirement")),
+          "lib/status.py produced no per-requirement report — the audit posture of each "
+          "requirement is not derivable, so R-SEC-03 cannot be assessed at all")
+    by_req = status.get("by_requirement", {})
+
+    for label, spec_proof in sorted(PROOFS.items()):
+        for rid in spec_proof["reqs"]:
+            rec = by_req.get(rid)
+            check(rec is not None,
+                  f"proof '{label}' maps to {rid}, which the status report does not know — "
+                  "either the registry lost the requirement or this mapping is stale")
+            if not rec:
+                continue
+            tests = (rec.get("verification") or {}).get("tests") or []
+            executable = [t for t in tests if t.get("state", "").startswith("executable")]
+            check(bool(executable),
+                  f"proof '{label}' ({rid}) has no EXECUTABLE verifying test — its tests are "
+                  f"{[t.get('name') + ':' + t.get('state', '?') for t in tests]}. docs/07: "
+                  f"{spec_proof['why']}. A placeholder scaffold cannot be produced on demand, so the "
+                  "operator cannot prove this property")
+            at_layer = [t for t in executable if t.get("layer") in spec_proof["layers"]]
+            check(bool(at_layer),
+                  f"proof '{label}' ({rid}) has no executable test at layer(s) "
+                  f"{sorted(spec_proof['layers'])} — it has "
+                  f"{[t.get('name') + '@' + str(t.get('layer')) for t in executable]}. "
+                  f"docs/07 requires this proof to be produced {spec_proof['why']}, and a "
+                  "weaker layer does not discharge it (a rendering check is not a drill)")
+
+    # ==================================== (b) PRODUCIBLE ON DEMAND, BY THE DOCUMENTED COMMAND
+    # The resolver: --requirements must translate the five R-IDs into real test dirs.
+    resolver = run(["bash", "-c",
+                    f'export CONF_ROOT="{CONF}"; . "{LIB}/common.sh"; '
+                    f'conf_dirs_for_requirements "{" ".join(PROOF_REQS)}"'])
+    dirs = [l for l in resolver.stdout.splitlines() if l.strip()]
+    check(resolver.returncode == 0 and len(dirs) >= len(PROOF_REQS),
+          f"`run.sh --requirements {','.join(PROOF_REQS)}` resolves to {len(dirs)} test dir(s) "
+          f"for {len(PROOF_REQS)} proof requirement(s) — the single command docs/07's "
+          "acceptance gate depends on ('produced on demand') cannot select the proofs")
+
+    # The gate: the same flag ASSERTS coverage (run.sh passes --require to coverage.py), so a
+    # zero exit here is the repository's own statement that all five proofs are covered.
+    gate = run(["./run.sh", "--coverage-only", "--requirements", ",".join(PROOF_REQS)])
+    check(gate.returncode == 0,
+          f"`./run.sh --coverage-only --requirements {','.join(PROOF_REQS)}` exited "
+          f"{gate.returncode} — the merge gate's own coverage assertion rejects the audit "
+          f"proof set: {(gate.stderr or gate.stdout).strip()[:400]}")
+
+    # ================================================ (c) THE PROOF IS CAPTURABLE AS EVIDENCE
+    # Use record_run.py's OWN sentinel parser: a Chainsaw-layer proof with no declared pass
+    # token can pass forever and never be recorded as proof of anything.
+    sys.path.insert(0, str(LIB))
+    os.environ.setdefault("PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE", "1")
+    sys.dont_write_bytecode = True
+    import record_run as rr                                   # noqa: E402
+
+    # status.py owns the latest-wins rule; import it rather than reimplementing it, so the two
+    # cannot disagree about which rows are live evidence.
+    import status as _st                                        # noqa: E402
+    rr_latest_by_test = _st.latest_by_test
+
+    smap = rr.sentinel_map(CONF / "tests")
+    check(len(smap) >= 10,
+          f"record_run.py's sentinel map contains {len(smap)} test(s) — the parser lost its "
+          "grip on the test tree, so the assertions below would assert nothing")
+    for label, spec_proof in sorted(PROOFS.items()):
+        for rid in spec_proof["reqs"]:
+            rec = by_req.get(rid) or {}
+            tests = (rec.get("verification") or {}).get("tests") or []
+            names = [t.get("name") for t in tests
+                     if t.get("state", "").startswith("executable")
+                     and t.get("layer") in spec_proof["layers"]]
+            for name in names:
+                ent = smap.get(name)
+                check(ent is not None,
+                      f"proof '{label}': record_run.py does not know the test {name!r} — its "
+                      "result could never be attributed to a ledger row")
+                if not ent:
+                    continue
+                if ent.get("layer") in rr.SENTINEL_EXEMPT_LAYERS:
+                    continue          # offline layers are truthful by JUnit alone
+                check(bool(ent.get("pass")),
+                      f"proof '{label}': the Chainsaw test {name!r} declares NO pass sentinel, "
+                      "so lib/record_run.py can never record it as proven. It would go green "
+                      "in the terminal and leave the operator with no evidence — exactly the "
+                      "gap the ledger exists to close (docs/07: the proofs are 'part of the "
+                      "platform acceptance suite, not one-time checks')")
+                check(bool(ent.get("terminal_pass")),
+                      f"proof '{label}': the test {name!r} has no TERMINAL pass token, so "
+                      "record_run.py cannot decide its verdict")
+
+    # =============================== (d) THE EVIDENCE CANNOT BE FORGED, NOR HONOURED WHEN STALE
+    # Both tools' own guards, which NOTHING in ci/ or run.sh drives today.
+    for tool in ("record_run.py", "status.py"):
+        r = run([sys.executable, str(LIB / tool), "--selftest"])
+        check(r.returncode == 0,
+              f"`lib/{tool} --selftest` exited {r.returncode} — the guards that keep a "
+              "self-skipped or stale run from being recorded as proof are broken, so nothing "
+              f"in the evidence chain can be trusted: {(r.stderr or r.stdout).strip()[:500]}")
+
+    # ---- FORGERY 1: a green JUnit for a REAL proof test whose log holds only a SKIP token.
+    # This is the precise shape of a self-skipping L2/L3 test, and it must NOT become proof.
+    forge_target, forge_skip = None, None
+    for label, spec_proof in sorted(PROOFS.items()):
+        for rid in spec_proof["reqs"]:
+            for name, ent in smap.items():
+                if rid in (ent.get("requirements") or []) and ent.get("skip") \
+                        and ent.get("layer") not in rr.SENTINEL_EXEMPT_LAYERS:
+                    forge_target, forge_skip = name, ent["skip"][0]
+                    break
+            if forge_target:
+                break
+        if forge_target:
+            break
+    check(forge_target is not None,
+          "no Chainsaw-layer proof test declares a skip token, so the forgery attempt below "
+          "could not be mounted. That is not a pass: it means this check could not verify "
+          "that a self-skip is refused as proof, which is the whole point of the ledger")
+    if forge_target:
+        run_dir = tmp / "20260101T000000Z-forged"
+        run_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        (run_dir / "report.junit.xml").write_text(
+            '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n'
+            '<testsuites><testsuite name="chainsaw" tests="1" failures="0" errors="0">'
+            f'<testcase name="{forge_target}" classname="forged"/>'
+            "</testsuite></testsuites>\n")
+        (run_dir / "run.log").write_text(
+            f"=== RUN   chainsaw/{forge_target}\n"
+            f"    === STDOUT\n        {forge_skip}\n")
+        forged = run([sys.executable, str(LIB / "record_run.py"), "--run-dir", str(run_dir),
+                      "--dry-run", "--ledger", str(tmp / "never-written.jsonl"),
+                      "--tests", str(CONF / "tests"), "--repo", str(ROOT)])
+        verdicts = re.findall(rf"^\[record\]\s+\S+\s+(\S+)\s+{re.escape(forge_target)}\b",
+                              forged.stdout, re.M)
+        check(verdicts and all(v != "proven" for v in verdicts),
+              f"lib/record_run.py recorded a FORGED run as {verdicts!r} for {forge_target!r}: "
+              "a JUnit saying `passed` with nothing in the log but that test's own SKIP token "
+              f"({forge_skip}). A self-skip must never become proof — with this hole every "
+              "audit proof in docs/07 could be produced by a cluster that skipped it")
+        check(not (tmp / "never-written.jsonl").exists(),
+              "record_run.py --dry-run WROTE to the ledger — a tool that records while "
+              "claiming not to cannot be trusted to record only real runs")
+
+    # ---- FORGERY 2: a ledger row claiming `proven` at a commit that predates the code.
+    # status.py must degrade it to stale-proof (not green), or an old green run would keep
+    # vouching for code it never executed.
+    root_sha = run(["git", "-C", str(ROOT), "rev-list", "--max-parents=0", "HEAD"])
+    old_sha = (root_sha.stdout.strip().splitlines() or [""])[0]
+    check(len(old_sha) == 40,
+          "the repository's root commit could not be resolved, so the stale-proof guard could "
+          "not be exercised (that is a gap in this check, not a pass)")
+    if len(old_sha) == 40 and forge_target:
+        stale_ledger = tmp / "stale.jsonl"
+        rid = sorted(smap[forge_target].get("requirements") or ["R-NET-06"])[0]
+        stale_ledger.write_text(json.dumps({
+            "ts_utc": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z", "git_sha": old_sha, "env": "dev",
+            "chainsaw_version": "v0.0.0", "kube_version": "unknown",
+            "layer": smap[forge_target].get("layer", "L3"), "test": forge_target,
+            "requirements": [rid], "junit_result": "passed",
+            "sentinel": (smap[forge_target].get("terminal_pass") or "X"),
+            "proof": "proven", "run_id": "20260101T000000Z-forged",
+            "note": "synthetic row written by the R-SEC-03 conformance check",
+        }) + "\n")
+        out2 = tmp / "status-stale"
+        st2 = run([sys.executable, str(LIB / "status.py"), "--repo", str(ROOT),
+                   "--registry", str(CONF / "requirements" / "registry.yaml"),
+                   "--tests", str(CONF / "tests"), "--out", str(out2),
+                   "--ledger", str(stale_ledger)])
+        check(st2.returncode == 0,
+              f"lib/status.py failed against a synthetic ledger: "
+              f"{(st2.stderr or st2.stdout).strip()[:300]}")
+        s2 = json.loads((out2 / "status.json").read_text()) if (out2 / "status.json").is_file() else {}
+        rec2 = (s2.get("by_requirement") or {}).get(rid) or {}
+        per = {p.get("test"): p.get("state") for p in ((rec2.get("proof") or {}).get("per_test") or [])}
+        check(per.get(forge_target) == "stale-proof",
+              f"a ledger row claiming `proven` for {forge_target!r} at the repository's ROOT "
+              f"commit was reported as {per.get(forge_target)!r} instead of 'stale-proof'. A "
+              "proof from a run that predates the code it vouches for is not evidence, and "
+              "honouring it would let one old green run certify every later change")
+        check((rec2.get("proof") or {}).get("state") != "proven",
+              f"{rid} is reported PROVEN on the strength of a row from the root commit — the "
+              "freshness guard is not holding")
+
+    # ---- the ledger itself is machine-readable, and no row proves a test that is gone ----
+    ledger = CONF / "runs" / "ledger.jsonl"
+    if ledger.is_file():
+        rows, bad = [], []
+        for i, line in enumerate(ledger.read_text().splitlines(), 1):
+            if not line.strip():
+                continue
+            try:
+                rows.append(json.loads(line))
+            except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                bad.append(i)
+        check(not bad,
+              f"conformance/runs/ledger.jsonl has unparsable line(s) {bad} — the audit record "
+              "is not machine-readable, so no proof can be derived from it")
+        # Which rows are HONOURED: status.py resolves duplicates latest-wins (latest_by_test),
+        # so a superseded row is not evidence of anything. The dirty-tree assertion below is
+        # therefore scoped to honoured rows. Without that scoping, ONE historical dirty row reds
+        # this gate permanently even after a clean re-run of the same test — and a dirty-then-
+        # clean sequence is the normal shape of "noticed the tree was dirty, fixed it, re-ran".
+        # The row is still kept in the ledger and its run.log stays committed: nothing is erased,
+        # it simply stops being treated as a live claim. Structural assertions (provenance keys,
+        # sentinel, test-still-exists) still apply to EVERY row.
+        honoured_ids = {id(v) for v in rr_latest_by_test(rows).values()}
+        for r in rows:
+            for key in ("ts_utc", "git_sha", "test", "requirements", "junit_result", "proof",
+                        "run_id"):
+                check(key in r,
+                      f"a ledger row for {r.get('test', '?')!r} lacks {key!r} — a row without "
+                      "provenance cannot be audited")
+            if r.get("proof") == "proven":
+                # L0/L1 rows are recorded proven WITHOUT a sentinel, deliberately, by
+                # record_run.py's own SENTINEL_EXEMPT_LAYERS: run_l1_offline.py renders skips as
+                # JUnit <skipped/>, so those layers have no pass token to attribute. This
+                # assertion had NO layer exemption, so the two halves of the harness contradicted
+                # each other — ANY `--record` run touching L0 or L1 wrote a row this gate then
+                # rejected, which meant a requirement whose verifier set includes an L1 check
+                # (R-NET-06 is one) could never be both PROVEN and L0-green. Honour the same
+                # constant rather than restating the policy here, so the two cannot drift apart.
+                if r.get("layer") not in rr.SENTINEL_EXEMPT_LAYERS:
+                    check(bool(r.get("sentinel")),
+                          f"a ledger row claims `proven` for {r.get('test')!r} with NO sentinel — "
+                          "the sentinel is the only thing separating a real pass from a self-skip")
+                check(r.get("test") in smap,
+                      f"a ledger row claims `proven` for {r.get('test')!r}, which is not a "
+                      "test in the suite any more — a proof of something that no longer exists")
+                check(id(r) not in honoured_ids or "-dirty" not in str(r.get("git_sha", "")),
+                      f"a ledger row claims `proven` for {r.get('test')!r} from a DIRTY tree "
+                      f"({r.get('git_sha')}) — what ran is not what is committed")
+    else:
+        note("conformance/runs/ledger.jsonl does not exist yet — the ledger-shape assertions "
+             "were skipped; every other assertion ran, and the forgery probes above use "
+             "synthetic ledgers, not this file")
+finally:
+    shutil.rmtree(tmp, ignore_errors=True)
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- verdict
+# NO-OP GUARD: a check that quietly asserts nothing is worse than no check.
+check(CHECKS >= 30,
+      f"only {CHECKS} assertions ran — the check degenerated to a near-no-op and its pass "
+      "would be meaningless")
+
+if FAILURES:
+    die()
+for n in NOTES:
+    print(f"  note: {n}")
+print(f"check OK: auditability-proofs-producible — {CHECKS} assertions; the five docs/07 "
+      f"proofs ({', '.join(sorted(PROOFS))}) each map to an executable test at the layer the "
+      f"spec's own wording requires, `run.sh --requirements {','.join(PROOF_REQS)}` resolves "
+      "and asserts them, each Chainsaw-layer proof declares a sentinel record_run.py can "
+      "attribute, both evidence tools' self-tests pass, and two independent forgeries — a "
+      "self-skip presented as a pass, and a `proven` row from the root commit — were REFUSED. "
+      "R-SEC-03's producibility half only: whether each proof PASSES is its own "
+      "requirement's test, and the Hubble half of the isolation proof is automated nowhere "
+      "(see the header's gap list).")
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — the bulk tier's capacity strategy is DISTINCT from the replicated tier's
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+#
+# THE BUG CLASS THIS CLOSES. The `bulk` StorageClass existed from Phase 0 as a stub:
+# `provisioner: nfs.csi.k8s.io`, `server: REPLACE-ME`, `share: REPLACE-ME`, TODO(OQ-2).
+# Four ServiceDefinitions carried a comment promising to attach their media once OQ-2 was
+# resolved, and the ONLY thing keeping a multi-terabyte library off the 3-replica
+# `longhorn` class was those four comments. A bulk volume that lands on the replicated
+# tier does not fail loudly — Longhorn accepts the PVC and starts replicating 3x of data
+# three mini-PCs cannot hold. R-STATE-04 is precisely that the two tiers are distinct, so
+# the distinctness is asserted rather than reviewed.
+#
+# It also pins the four decisions that make the STATIC form of this tier safe, each with a
+# plausible "simplification" that breaks something silently: `Retain` (bulk data pre-exists
+# the cluster and has consumers outside it, so anything else makes `delete pvc` a data-loss
+# operation); NO dynamic provisioning (a dynamic bulk class hands out a FRESH EMPTY
+# directory that mounts and Binds perfectly while the real 8 TiB is never attached — the
+# most deceptive failure available here); `hard` not `soft` (a soft mount hands a server
+# hiccup to the app as a short read, which for a media library is silent corruption); and
+# NFSv4 (mount and lock in-protocol ⇒ ONE reachable port, tcp/2049, which is what the
+# operator must open in pfSense for prod to reach this server at all).
+#
+# AND the EXDEV trap, which is not about storage. Sonarr/Radarr import by hardlinking or
+# atomically renaming, both same-filesystem operations, and to the kernel "same filesystem"
+# means SAME MOUNT. Splitting one export into two subPath mounts looks TIGHTER and breaks
+# link() with EXDEV; the arrs then degrade to copy-then-delete, rewriting every import over
+# NFS and destroying the seeding copy. It surfaces weeks later as "imports are slow and my
+# ratio is gone". A reviewer cannot see that; this check can.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# WHEN  every `class: bulk` storage entry in catalog/ is compared against the objects the
+#       COMMITTED apps/ goldens carry for it (what Flux reconciles — deliberately not the
+#       renderer, which would only prove it agrees with itself),
+# THEN  (1) no bulk volume is on a Longhorn-provisioned class, and its class is explicitly
+#           EMPTY so nothing can dynamically provision an empty stand-in;
+#       (2) its capacity is declared and is at least an order of magnitude above the same
+#           service's replicated volume — the requirement stated as arithmetic;
+#       (3) PV and PVC are pre-bound from BOTH ends (claimRef + volumeName) and agree;
+#       (4) the PV reclaim policy is Retain;
+#       (5) mountOptions carry `hard` and exactly one `nfsvers=4.x`, and never `soft`;
+#       (6) no workload mounts one export more than once (the EXDEV trap);
+#       (7) a readOnly entry renders nfs.readOnly AND a readOnly volumeMount AND
+#           ReadOnlyMany; a writable one renders neither and is ReadWriteMany; every bulk
+#           access mode is a `...Many`, since one export serves several namespaces and
+#           several nodes;
+#       (8) the PV's nfs.server is a BARE cluster-vars token (never a literal — dev and
+#           prod reach this host by different addresses), that knob has a base default, and
+#           EVERY overlay supplies it;
+#   AND (9) the check is LOAD-BEARING (ci/l0.sh runs it unconditionally, ci/gate.sh blocks
+#           on the l0 stage) and NON-VACUOUS (an empty bulk corpus FAILS rather than
+#           passing trivially, and a floor on the assertion count keeps a pass from
+#           degenerating into a no-op).
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (standard library +
+# PyYAML); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 runs it directly and this Chainsaw Test wraps the
+# SAME script.
+#
+# NOT proven — the runtime half, which needs a cluster: that the server is reachable, that
+# the export admits these clients, that the PVC binds, that a write succeeds, or that a
+# hardlink between the library and the download path actually works. The uid analysis is
+# reasoning (docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md §6) and the in-cluster probes that would settle it
+# are written down in §9 of that document, unrun. Nor can this prove prod's address is
+# CORRECT — only that it is a supplied knob; while it is a placeholder, prod's pods will
+# not mount, and catching that statically needs the placeholder guard, which is absent from
+# main (§7). Read-only on the media tree is a CLIENT-side guarantee only: the export serves
+# one reader and two writers from the same node addresses, so the server cannot tell them
+# apart (§5).
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-STATE-04: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-STATE-04"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE — relocated verbatim from ci/l0.sh's hand-written "Stage 3e
+    # (UNCONDITIONAL)", which this annotation replaces:
+    #
+    #   The `bulk` StorageClass sat as a REPLACE-ME stub for six roadmap phases, and the only
+    #   thing keeping a multi-terabyte media library off the 3-replica `longhorn` class was four
+    #   hand-written comments in ServiceDefinitions. A bulk volume that lands on the replicated
+    #   tier does not fail loudly — Longhorn accepts the PVC and starts replicating 3x of data
+    #   three mini-PCs cannot hold.
+    #
+    #   WHY IT MUST NOT BE REQUIREMENT-SCOPED: ci/touched-requirements.sh's path map keys
+    #   NEITHER apps/* nor platform/longhorn/* to the bulk requirement. So the change most
+    #   likely to break this — moving a bulk volume onto the replicated tier, or narrowing one
+    #   export into two mounts — could attribute no requirement at all and be gated by nothing.
+    #   The invariant spans catalog/, apps/ and clusters/.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Bulk media storage is provably NOT on the 3-replica Longhorn tier, is sized for a
+      different order of magnitude, cannot be silently replaced by a dynamically
+      provisioned empty volume, is never reclaimable by the cluster, mounts hard over
+      NFSv4, and is never split into two mounts of one export — so hardlinked imports keep
+      working. Its server is a per-environment knob, not a literal, because the two
+      clusters reach the same storage host by different addresses.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: assert-bulk-tier-is-distinct-and-statically-bound
+      description: >-
+        Read every `class: bulk` storage entry from catalog/, pair it with the
+        PersistentVolume, PersistentVolumeClaim and volumeMount the committed apps/ goldens
+        carry for it, and assert the tier separation, the static pre-binding, the reclaim
+        and mount-option decisions, the read-only coupling, the one-export-one-mount
+        invariant, and that the server address is supplied by every environment overlay.
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,496 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated
+# Serves: R-STATE-04 ("Bulk media storage has a capacity strategy distinct from the
+#                      replicated tier." — spec docs/04-storage-and-state.md)
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS — THE BULK TIER WAS A STUB FOR SIX ROADMAP PHASES, AND STUBS ROT QUIETLY
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# `platform/longhorn/storageclasses.yaml` declared a `bulk` StorageClass from Phase 0 with
+# `provisioner: nfs.csi.k8s.io`, `server: REPLACE-ME`, `share: REPLACE-ME` and a TODO(OQ-2).
+# Four ServiceDefinitions carried a comment promising to attach their media "once OQ-2 is
+# resolved", and each of them said, correctly, that adding `class: bulk` before then would
+# leave the PVC unbound and the pod Pending. So the tier existed as a NAME with nothing
+# behind it, and the only thing preventing a multi-terabyte media library from being
+# authored onto the 3-replica `longhorn` class was four hand-written comments.
+#
+# That is the failure this check makes impossible to reintroduce. R-STATE-04 is not "bulk
+# storage exists" — it is that bulk storage's capacity strategy is DISTINCT from the
+# replicated tier's. Three mini-PCs cannot hold 3x of 8.33 TiB. A bulk volume that lands on
+# `longhorn` does not fail loudly: Longhorn accepts the PVC and starts replicating, and the
+# tier fills up. Distinctness is therefore a property worth asserting statically, on every
+# gate run, rather than trusting to review.
+#
+# It also pins the four decisions that make the STATIC form of this tier safe, each of
+# which has a plausible-looking "simplification" that silently breaks something:
+#
+#   * RECLAIM POLICY. Bulk data pre-exists the cluster, is larger than the cluster, and has
+#     consumers OUTSIDE it. `Retain` is the whole reason a PV is used here instead of an
+#     inline volume. `Delete` on a dynamically-provisioned bulk class would make `kubectl
+#     delete pvc` a data-loss operation.
+#   * NO DYNAMIC PROVISIONING. A dynamic bulk class hands out FRESH EMPTY directories. The
+#     pod mounts successfully, the PVC is Bound, everything is green — and the 8 TiB of
+#     existing data was never attached. This is the single most deceptive failure available
+#     in this tier, so `storageClassName` must be explicitly empty and binding must be
+#     pinned from BOTH ends (claimRef + volumeName).
+#   * `hard`, NOT `soft`. A soft NFS mount converts a server hiccup into a short read or
+#     EIO handed to the application. For a media library that is silent corruption. `hard`
+#     hangs instead — recoverable, where truncated is not.
+#   * NFSv4. v4 carries mount and lock in-protocol, so the tier needs ONE reachable port
+#     (tcp/2049) instead of v3's rpcbind/111 + mountd + statd on ephemeral numbers. That is
+#     a FIREWALL fact as much as a storage one: prod reaches this server through pfSense,
+#     and the number of ports the operator must open is a consequence of this field.
+#
+# AND ONE INVARIANT THAT IS NOT ABOUT STORAGE AT ALL — the EXDEV trap (assertion 6).
+# Sonarr and Radarr import by hardlinking or atomically renaming a finished download into
+# the library. Both are same-filesystem operations, and to the kernel "same filesystem"
+# means SAME MOUNT. Mounting one export twice (say `subPath: tv` and `subPath: downloads`)
+# looks TIGHTER — less of the tree exposed per mount — and breaks `link()` with EXDEV no
+# matter that the server knows they are one dataset. The arrs do not fail loudly on that:
+# they degrade to copy-then-delete, rewriting every imported file over NFS and destroying
+# the seeding copy. The symptom appears weeks later as "imports are slow and my ratio is
+# gone". A reviewer cannot see it, so this check does: one export, at most one mount, per
+# workload.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# WHEN  every `class: bulk` storage entry in catalog/ is compared against the manifests
+#       render.py produces for it (read from the committed apps/ goldens, i.e. what Flux
+#       actually reconciles — not from the renderer, which would only agree with itself),
+# THEN  (1) DISTINCTNESS: no bulk volume is on the replicated tier. Its PV/PVC
+#           storageClassName is explicitly empty — never `longhorn`, never any class the
+#           repo declares with the Longhorn provisioner — and its PV's source is an
+#           EXTERNAL one (nfs), not a Longhorn volume;
+#       (2) CAPACITY STRATEGY: every bulk PV declares a capacity, and for each service the
+#           bulk volume is at least an ORDER OF MAGNITUDE larger than that service's own
+#           replicated volume. This is the requirement stated as arithmetic: the two tiers
+#           exist because the data has two magnitudes, so a "bulk" volume sized like a
+#           config PVC means the strategy was named and not actually applied;
+#       (3) NOT DYNAMICALLY PROVISIONED, AND PRE-BOUND BOTH WAYS: every bulk PVC names its
+#           PV by volumeName, every bulk PV names its PVC by claimRef (namespace+name), and
+#           the two agree — so no other claim can win a race, and nothing can provision an
+#           empty replacement;
+#       (4) RECLAIM: every bulk PV is `Retain`;
+#       (5) MOUNT SAFETY: every bulk PV declares mountOptions carrying `hard` and an
+#           `nfsvers=4.x`, and carrying NEITHER `soft` NOR an `nfsvers=3`;
+#       (6) ONE EXPORT, ONE MOUNT PER WORKLOAD (the EXDEV trap above);
+#       (7) READ-ONLY IS REAL AND CONSISTENT: a bulk entry declared readOnly renders BOTH
+#           `spec.nfs.readOnly: true` on the PV AND `readOnly: true` on the volumeMount,
+#           and its access mode is ReadOnlyMany; a writable one renders NEITHER and is
+#           ReadWriteMany. Every bulk access mode is a `...Many` — one export is consumed
+#           by several namespaces and several nodes, which ReadWriteOnce cannot express;
+#       (8) AUTHORED ONCE, PROMOTED (the R-ENV-02 seam this tier depends on): every bulk
+#           PV's `nfs.server` is the BARE cluster-vars token, never a literal address; that
+#           knob has a base default; and EVERY environment overlay supplies it — so the two
+#           clusters, which reach this storage by different addresses, cannot be served by
+#           one hardcoded value;
+#   AND (9) LOAD-BEARING + NON-VACUOUS: this check DECLARES `conformance.home.k3s/scope:
+#           whole-repo`, so ci/l0.sh runs it unconditionally via --include-scope, and
+#           ci/gate.sh blocks the merge when the l0 stage fails; and the corpus is NOT
+#           empty — a repo with zero bulk volumes fails here rather than passing trivially,
+#           because a check that is satisfiable by deleting the feature proves nothing.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps)
+#   - Nothing about RUNTIME. Not that the server is reachable, not that the export permits
+#     these clients, not that the PVC binds, not that a write succeeds. The uid analysis in
+#     docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md §6 is reasoning, and the write/hardlink probes in §9 are the
+#     in-cluster proof — they need a cluster and are not run here.
+#   - It cannot prove the prod address is CORRECT, only that it is a supplied knob. While
+#     prod's value is a placeholder, prod's pods will not mount (docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md
+#     §7); catching that needs the placeholder guard, which is absent from main.
+#   - Read-only for the media tree is a CLIENT-side guarantee, and this check can only
+#     assert the client side. The export serves a reader and two writers from the same node
+#     addresses, so the server cannot distinguish them (docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md §5).
+#   - Assertion (2)'s magnitude ratio is a heuristic with a deliberately generous floor. It
+#     catches "bulk volume sized like a config volume", not a subtly wrong capacity — and a
+#     static NFS PV's capacity is advisory anyway, since the ZFS pool is the real limit.
+#   - Assertion (6) reasons over ONE workload's mounts. It cannot see two different
+#     services hardlinking between each other's mounts, which is not a thing that happens.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+
+if [ ! -d "${ROOT}/catalog" ] || [ ! -d "${ROOT}/apps" ]; then
+  echo "check SKIPPED (bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated): catalog/ or apps/ absent — nothing to audit" >&2
+  exit 3
+fi
+
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def bail(msg):
+    """A failure that makes the rest of the check meaningless: report and stop."""
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated): {msg}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+
+def qty_to_bytes(q):
+    """Kubernetes quantity -> bytes. Only the binary suffixes the schema permits."""
+    m = re.fullmatch(r"([0-9]+)(Mi|Gi|Ti)", str(q).strip())
+    if not m:
+        return None
+    return int(m.group(1)) * {"Mi": 2 ** 20, "Gi": 2 ** 30, "Ti": 2 ** 40}[m.group(2)]
+
+
+# =====================================================================================
+# The replicated tier, named by the repo rather than by this file. Any StorageClass the
+# repo declares with the Longhorn provisioner is "the replicated tier" for assertion (1);
+# deriving it means adding a new Longhorn class cannot create a blind spot here.
+# =====================================================================================
+REPLICATED_CLASSES: set[str] = set()
+LONGHORN_DIR = ROOT / "platform" / "longhorn"
+if LONGHORN_DIR.is_dir():
+    for f in sorted(LONGHORN_DIR.rglob("*.yaml")):
+        for doc in yaml.safe_load_all(f.read_text()):
+            if isinstance(doc, dict) and doc.get("kind") == "StorageClass":
+                if "longhorn" in str(doc.get("provisioner", "")):
+                    REPLICATED_CLASSES.add(doc.get("metadata", {}).get("name", ""))
+# `longhorn` is the name every ServiceDefinition uses for the replicated tier, so it is in
+# the set even if platform/longhorn/ is not present in this checkout.
+REPLICATED_CLASSES.add("longhorn")
+REPLICATED_CLASSES.discard("")
+
+# =====================================================================================
+# The bulk corpus: every `class: bulk` storage entry in every ServiceDefinition, paired
+# with the objects the COMMITTED goldens carry for it. Reading the goldens (not calling
+# the renderer) is deliberate: the goldens are what Flux reconciles, and render==golden is
+# a separate gate stage. Asking the renderer would only prove it agrees with itself.
+# =====================================================================================
+sds: dict[str, dict] = {}
+for f in sorted((ROOT / "catalog").glob("*.yaml")):
+    doc = yaml.safe_load(f.read_text())
+    if isinstance(doc, dict) and doc.get("name"):
+        sds[doc["name"]] = doc
+
+if not sds:
+    bail("no ServiceDefinitions under catalog/ — cannot audit the bulk tier")
+
+# Every rendered app-tier document, indexed by (kind, name).
+rendered: dict[tuple, dict] = {}
+for f in sorted((ROOT / "apps").rglob("*.yaml")):
+    if f.name == "kustomization.yaml" or ".sops." in f.name:
+        continue
+    try:
+        docs = list(yaml.safe_load_all(f.read_text()))
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        continue
+    for doc in docs:
+        if isinstance(doc, dict) and doc.get("kind") and doc.get("metadata", {}).get("name"):
+            rendered[(doc["kind"], doc["metadata"]["name"])] = doc
+
+# (svc, vol_entry) for every bulk entry, and the replicated sizes alongside for (2).
+corpus: list[tuple[str, dict]] = []
+replicated_bytes: dict[str, list[int]] = {}
+for svc, sd in sds.items():
+    for vol in sd.get("storage") or []:
+        cls = vol.get("class", "longhorn")
+        if cls == "bulk":
+            corpus.append((svc, vol))
+        else:
+            b = qty_to_bytes(vol.get("size"))
+            if b:
+                replicated_bytes.setdefault(svc, []).append(b)
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------- (9) NON-VACUOUS
+# A corpus of zero would make every loop below trivially satisfied. The bulk tier is
+# DELIVERED; a change that removes the last bulk volume must fail here and be argued for,
+# not sail through on an empty iteration.
+check(len(corpus) > 0,
+      "NO `class: bulk` storage entry exists in catalog/ — this check would then pass "
+      "vacuously, which is exactly the posture that let the bulk tier sit as a REPLACE-ME "
+      "stub for six roadmap phases. If the tier is genuinely being retired, retire this "
+      "check in the same change and say so; do not let it pass on an empty corpus")
+if not corpus:
+    bail("empty bulk corpus — refusing to report a vacuous pass (see assertion 9)")
+
+inventory: list[str] = []
+
+for svc, vol in corpus:
+    vname = vol.get("name", "<unnamed>")
+    label = f"{svc}/{vname}"
+    obj = f"{svc}-{vname}"
+    ro = bool(vol.get("readOnly"))
+
+    # `export` is what the schema requires of a bulk entry; without it there is nothing to
+    # attach and the rest of the assertions have no subject.
+    export = vol.get("export")
+    check(bool(export) and str(export).startswith("/"),
+          f"{label}: bulk entry has no absolute `export` path — a bulk volume attaches an "
+          f"EXISTING dataset, so it must say which one (schema requires it when class is bulk)")
+
+    pv = rendered.get(("PersistentVolume", obj))
+    pvc = rendered.get(("PersistentVolumeClaim", obj))
+    check(pv is not None,
+          f"{label}: no PersistentVolume '{obj}' in the committed apps/ goldens. A bulk "
+          f"entry that renders no PV has NO external storage behind it — the pod would get "
+          f"an unbound PVC, or (worse, with a dynamic class) a fresh EMPTY directory")
+    check(pvc is not None,
+          f"{label}: no PersistentVolumeClaim '{obj}' in the committed apps/ goldens")
+    if pv is None or pvc is None:
+        continue
+
+    pvs, pvcs = pv.get("spec", {}) or {}, pvc.get("spec", {}) or {}
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------ (1) DISTINCT FROM REPLICATED
+    for what, spec in (("PV", pvs), ("PVC", pvcs)):
+        sc = spec.get("storageClassName")
+        check(sc not in REPLICATED_CLASSES,
+              f"{label}: bulk {what} storageClassName is '{sc}', which the repo declares "
+              f"with the Longhorn provisioner. That puts BULK data on the REPLICATED tier "
+              f"— 3x of a multi-terabyte library across three mini-PCs. Longhorn will not "
+              f"refuse it; it will accept the PVC and fill the tier (R-STATE-04)")
+        check(sc == "",
+              f"{label}: bulk {what} storageClassName is {sc!r}, not the explicitly EMPTY "
+              f"string. Empty is what disables dynamic provisioning AND the default-class "
+              f"annotation. Any named class risks a provisioner handing out a fresh EMPTY "
+              f"directory that mounts and binds cleanly while the real data is never attached")
+    check("nfs" in pvs,
+          f"{label}: bulk PV declares no external `nfs` source — the bulk tier's whole "
+          f"premise is that durability lives OUTSIDE the cluster (docs/04)")
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------ (4) RECLAIM POLICY
+    check(pvs.get("persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy") == "Retain",
+          f"{label}: bulk PV reclaim policy is "
+          f"{pvs.get('persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy')!r}, not Retain. This data pre-exists "
+          f"the cluster and has consumers outside it; anything but Retain makes `kubectl "
+          f"delete pvc` a data-loss operation")
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------- (3) PRE-BOUND FROM BOTH ENDS
+    check(pvcs.get("volumeName") == obj,
+          f"{label}: bulk PVC does not name its PV via volumeName (got "
+          f"{pvcs.get('volumeName')!r}, expected {obj!r}) — without it the claim can be "
+          f"satisfied by some OTHER volume of matching size and mode")
+    cref = pvs.get("claimRef") or {}
+    check(cref.get("name") == obj and cref.get("namespace") == svc,
+          f"{label}: bulk PV claimRef is {cref!r}, expected namespace={svc!r} name={obj!r} "
+          f"— pre-binding must be pinned from BOTH ends or another PVC can win the race")
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------- (5) MOUNT SAFETY
+    mopts = [str(o) for o in (pvs.get("mountOptions") or [])]
+    check(bool(mopts),
+          f"{label}: bulk PV declares no mountOptions — then `hard` vs `soft` and the NFS "
+          f"version are whatever the client happens to default to, and both are decisions "
+          f"with consequences (silent short reads; how many firewall ports must open)")
+    check("hard" in mopts,
+          f"{label}: bulk PV mountOptions do not include `hard` ({mopts}). A soft mount "
+          f"hands a server hiccup to the application as a short read or EIO — silent "
+          f"corruption for a media library. `hard` hangs instead, which is recoverable")
+    check("soft" not in mopts,
+          f"{label}: bulk PV mountOptions include `soft` ({mopts}) — see above; this is the "
+          f"one option that turns an outage into damaged data")
+    vers = [o for o in mopts if o.startswith("nfsvers=")]
+    check(len(vers) == 1 and re.fullmatch(r"nfsvers=4(\.[0-9]+)?", vers[0]),
+          f"{label}: bulk PV must pin exactly one NFSv4 `nfsvers=` option (got {vers}). "
+          f"NFSv4 carries mount and lock in-protocol, so the tier needs ONE reachable port "
+          f"(tcp/2049); v3 also needs rpcbind/111, mountd and statd, which changes what the "
+          f"operator has to open in pfSense for prod to reach this server at all")
+
+    # ---------------------------------------------- (7) READ-ONLY IS REAL + CONSISTENT
+    want_mode = "ReadOnlyMany" if ro else "ReadWriteMany"
+    for what, spec in (("PV", pvs), ("PVC", pvcs)):
+        modes = spec.get("accessModes") or []
+        check(modes == [want_mode],
+              f"{label}: bulk {what} accessModes {modes} != ['{want_mode}']. Every bulk "
+              f"volume is a `...Many` (one export, several namespaces, several nodes — "
+              f"ReadWriteOnce cannot express that), and WHICH `Many` is how the read/write "
+              f"posture stays legible in `kubectl get pv`")
+    nfs_ro = bool((pvs.get("nfs") or {}).get("readOnly"))
+    check(nfs_ro == ro,
+          f"{label}: ServiceDefinition readOnly={ro} but the PV's nfs.readOnly={nfs_ro}. "
+          f"The PV field is what makes the kernel mount `ro`; a mismatch means the declared "
+          f"posture is not the one the kernel enforces")
+
+    # The volumeMount half, read out of the rendered Deployment.
+    dep = rendered.get(("Deployment", svc))
+    check(dep is not None, f"{label}: no rendered Deployment '{svc}' to check the mount against")
+    if dep is not None:
+        containers = (((dep.get("spec") or {}).get("template") or {}).get("spec") or {}).get("containers") or []
+        # The app container is containers[0] by the renderer's contract (a forward-auth
+        # sidecar is appended AFTER it).
+        mounts = [m for m in (containers[0].get("volumeMounts") or []) if m.get("name") == vname] if containers else []
+        check(len(mounts) == 1,
+              f"{label}: the app container has {len(mounts)} volumeMount(s) named {vname!r}, "
+              f"expected exactly 1 — a bulk volume that is declared and never mounted is a "
+              f"PV/PVC pair doing nothing, and two mounts of one volume is assertion (6)")
+        if len(mounts) == 1:
+            m = mounts[0]
+            check(bool(m.get("readOnly")) == ro,
+                  f"{label}: volumeMount readOnly={bool(m.get('readOnly'))} but the "
+                  f"ServiceDefinition says readOnly={ro} — the PV and the mount must agree, "
+                  f"so that dropping one still leaves the other")
+            check(m.get("subPath", vol.get("subPath")) == vol.get("subPath"),
+                  f"{label}: volumeMount subPath {m.get('subPath')!r} does not match the "
+                  f"declared subPath {vol.get('subPath')!r}")
+
+    # ------------------------------------------ (8) AUTHORED ONCE, SUPPLIED PER ENV
+    server = (pvs.get("nfs") or {}).get("server")
+    m = re.fullmatch(r"\$\{([A-Z0-9_]+)\}", str(server or ""))
+    check(m is not None,
+          f"{label}: bulk PV nfs.server is {server!r} — it must be a BARE cluster-vars "
+          f"token, not a literal address. dev and prod reach this storage host by DIFFERENT "
+          f"addresses (dev is on its LAN; prod is across pfSense), so a literal is correct "
+          f"in at most one environment and silently wrong in the other (R-ENV-02)")
+
+    cap = (pvs.get("capacity") or {}).get("storage")
+    req = ((pvcs.get("resources") or {}).get("requests") or {}).get("storage")
+    check(cap is not None and qty_to_bytes(cap) is not None,
+          f"{label}: bulk PV declares no parseable capacity ({cap!r}) — the API requires it, "
+          f"and it is what makes `kubectl get pv` report something true about this tier")
+    check(cap == req,
+          f"{label}: PV capacity {cap!r} != PVC request {req!r}; a request above the "
+          f"capacity never binds")
+
+    inventory.append(
+        f"  {label:<28} export={export}  {'ro' if ro else 'rw'}  {want_mode:<14} "
+        f"cap={cap}  server={server}  opts={','.join(mopts)}"
+    )
+
+    # ---------------------------------- (2) CAPACITY STRATEGY: two tiers, two magnitudes
+    cap_b = qty_to_bytes(cap)
+    reps = replicated_bytes.get(svc) or []
+    if cap_b and reps:
+        biggest = max(reps)
+        # ONE ORDER OF MAGNITUDE. Calibrated against the real corpus rather than guessed:
+        # the media library is ~460x its service's config volume, and the Nextcloud archive
+        # ~13x its 20Gi Longhorn volume — so a floor above ~13x would fire on a legitimate
+        # bulk volume, and this check would be teaching people to weaken it. 10x cannot be
+        # met by accident and still catches the regression that matters: a "bulk" volume
+        # sized like a config PVC, i.e. the strategy named but never applied.
+        check(cap_b >= 10 * biggest,
+              f"{label}: bulk capacity {cap} is less than 10x this service's largest "
+              f"replicated volume ({biggest // 2 ** 30}Gi). R-STATE-04 exists because the "
+              f"two tiers hold data of two different MAGNITUDES — the replicated tier keeps "
+              f"the small config/DB and the bulk tier keeps what cannot be replicated 3x. A "
+              f"bulk volume sized like a config volume means the tier was named, not applied")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------- (6) ONE EXPORT, AT MOST ONE MOUNT
+# The EXDEV trap. Grouped per SERVICE, because the hazard is two mounts inside ONE pod.
+by_service: dict[str, list[dict]] = {}
+for svc, vol in corpus:
+    by_service.setdefault(svc, []).append(vol)
+for svc, vols in sorted(by_service.items()):
+    seen: dict[str, str] = {}
+    for vol in vols:
+        exp = vol.get("export")
+        prev = seen.get(exp)
+        check(prev is None,
+              f"{svc}: mounts the export {exp} TWICE (volumes {prev!r} and "
+              f"{vol.get('name')!r}). Two mounts of one export are two FILESYSTEMS to the "
+              f"kernel, so link() between them fails EXDEV even though the server knows "
+              f"they are one dataset. Sonarr/Radarr do not fail loudly on that — they "
+              f"degrade to copy-then-delete, rewriting every imported file over NFS and "
+              f"destroying the seeding copy. Mount the common ancestor ONCE instead "
+              f"(docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md §4)")
+        seen[exp] = vol.get("name")
+
+# ------------------------------------- (8b) the knob has a base default AND every overlay
+tokens = set()
+for _svc, vol in corpus:
+    pv = rendered.get(("PersistentVolume", f"{_svc}-{vol.get('name')}"))
+    if pv:
+        mm = re.fullmatch(r"\$\{([A-Z0-9_]+)\}", str(((pv.get("spec") or {}).get("nfs") or {}).get("server") or ""))
+        if mm:
+            tokens.add(mm.group(1))
+
+cv = ROOT / "clusters" / "base" / "cluster-vars.yaml"
+base_keys: set[str] = set()
+if cv.is_file():
+    doc = yaml.safe_load(cv.read_text()) or {}
+    base_keys = set((doc.get("data") or {}).keys())
+
+overlays = sorted(
+    d for d in (ROOT / "clusters").iterdir()
+    if cv.is_file() and d.is_dir() and d.name != "base" and (d / "kustomization.yaml").is_file()
+) if (ROOT / "clusters").is_dir() else []
+
+for tok in sorted(tokens):
+    check(tok in base_keys,
+          f"bulk PVs reference ${{{tok}}} but clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml declares no "
+          f"such knob. Under StrictPostBuildSubstitutions that fails the whole tier; without "
+          f"it the token ships into the cluster as a literal server name")
+    for ov in overlays:
+        text = (ov / "kustomization.yaml").read_text()
+        check(f"/data/{tok}" in text,
+              f"clusters/{ov.name} does not supply ${{{tok}}}. The base default is the DEV "
+              f"value by this repo's convention, so an overlay that omits it silently "
+              f"inherits an address on the WRONG SIDE of pfSense — a mount that either "
+              f"never connects or connects to something unintended (R-ENV-02)")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------- (9) LOAD-BEARING
+L0 = (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").is_file() else ""
+GATE = (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").is_file() else ""
+# THIS CHECK IS LOAD-BEARING — asserted against the DECLARATIVE mechanism.
+# It used to assert `"bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated/check.sh" in L0`: ci/l0.sh carried a hand-written
+# "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per whole-repo check, hardcoding this path. Those stages are gone
+# (they did not scale, and the next whole-repo invariant only got one if someone REMEMBERED
+# to write it). The same property is now asserted two ways: this test DECLARES
+# `conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"`, and ci/l0.sh unions every declaring test into
+# the run via `--include-scope`. Neither half alone is enough, so both are checked here; the
+# mechanism ITSELF (the union really selects, and a scope-declared SKIP exits 3 rather than
+# passing) is proven end-to-end and falsifiably by
+# conformance/tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired.
+SELF_YAML = ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static" / "bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated" / "chainsaw-test.yaml"
+SELF = SELF_YAML.read_text() if SELF_YAML.is_file() else ""
+check(re.search(r'^\s*conformance\.home\.k3s/scope:\s*["\']?whole-repo', SELF, re.M) is not None,
+      "bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated/chainsaw-test.yaml does not declare "
+      'conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo", so the merge gate selects this check only '
+      "when a change happens to touch one of the requirements it is labelled with. "
+      "The path map keys NEITHER apps/* nor platform/longhorn/* to the bulk requirement, so moving a multi-terabyte bulk volume onto the 3-replica tier could attribute no requirement at all and be gated by nothing")
+check("--include-scope" in L0,
+      "ci/l0.sh no longer passes --include-scope to the conformance runner, so the L0 stage is "
+      "a purely requirement-scoped run again and the scope annotation is inert decoration — "
+      "this check would then run only by coincidence")
+check(re.search(r"^for s in .*\bl0\b.*; do", GATE, re.M) and re.search(r"fail\).*BLOCK=1", GATE),
+      "ci/gate.sh does not set the merge block when the l0 stage fails")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------- report
+print("Bulk tier inventory (from catalog/ + the committed apps/ goldens):")
+for line in inventory:
+    print(line)
+print(f"\nreplicated tier StorageClasses (derived from platform/longhorn/): "
+      f"{', '.join(sorted(REPLICATED_CLASSES))}")
+print(f"bulk volumes: {len(corpus)}   distinct exports: "
+      f"{len({v.get('export') for _s, v in corpus})}   "
+      f"server knob(s): {', '.join(sorted(tokens)) or 'NONE'}")
+
+# A floor on the assertion count, for the same reason the corpus may not be empty: a pass
+# must not be able to degenerate into "nothing was actually asked".
+MIN_CHECKS = 40
+check(CHECKS >= MIN_CHECKS,
+      f"only {CHECKS} assertions ran (floor {MIN_CHECKS}) — a pass this thin is not "
+      f"evidence; the corpus or the extraction has degraded")
+
+print()
+if FAILURES:
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated): {len(FAILURES)} finding(s)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+print(f"check OK: bulk-tier-distinct-from-replicated — {CHECKS} assertions (R-STATE-04)")
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — the C2 root surfaces every service the cluster runs, plus platform
+# health and controlled actions  (R-C2-01, R-C2-02)   [EXECUTABLE]
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+#
+# THE REQUIREMENTS, VERBATIM (spec docs/00-vision-and-scope.md):
+#   R-C2-01  "The root `home.keithjackson.dev` MUST serve a UI that surfaces the services
+#             running in the cluster and links to them."
+#   R-C2-02  "The C2 UI MUST surface platform health (cluster, storage, GitOps, alerts) and
+#             provide controlled operational actions where safe."
+# Detail: spec docs/12-command-center-ui.md — Homepage at the root is "the primary R-C2-01
+# surface"; Headlamp is "the R-C2-02 'controlled operational actions where safe' surface";
+# Grafana is the dashboards/alerts surface; "never a raw cluster-admin kubeconfig in a browser".
+#
+# WHY L0, AND NOT L2
+# ------------------
+# The REACHABILITY half of R-C2-01 is already exercised against a live cluster:
+# l2-behavioral/gateway-ingress-reachable dials the Gateway and l2-behavioral/trusted-tls
+# verifies the certificate it serves. What no live probe can decide is the half the
+# requirement is actually about — whether the UI at the root surfaces THE SERVICES RUNNING
+# IN THE CLUSTER. Deciding that is a comparison of two SETS, and both are repository facts:
+# what git declares the cluster serves (every in-repo HTTPRoute hostname, every L4 Service
+# that publishes a hostname, every catalog ServiceDefinition) against what the dashboard's
+# ConfigMap links. A probe of the root gets HTTP 200 from a dashboard that hides half the
+# estate and cannot tell the difference.
+#
+# It is also the assertion that ROTS, in the direction nothing else notices: onboard a
+# service, forget the dashboard, and every cluster test stays green while the operator's
+# front door hides a running service. That is not a styling preference — it is exactly the
+# R-C2-01 failure mode, and this check found a live instance of it when it was written (see
+# the commit message: platform/crafty served crafty.${BASE_DOMAIN} and nothing on the root
+# linked to it).
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it,
+# WHEN  the apex ingress, the dashboard's declared link set, every in-repo HTTPRoute, every
+#       hostname-publishing L4 Service, the versioned catalog and the platform-health
+#       surfaces are read and compared,
+# THEN — R-C2-01 —
+#       the bare apex is claimed by exactly one route, that route binds the ONE Gateway
+#       listener whose hostname matches a bare apex, the apex is a SAN on the certificate
+#       that listener terminates with, the dashboard is RECONCILED (not merely authored),
+#       FORWARD every HTTP service the repo routes is linked from the root, FORWARD every
+#       catalog `kind: container` service with a route is linked, and REVERSE every
+#       home-zone link the root offers resolves to something this repo actually serves —
+#       an HTTPRoute (L7) or a hostname-publishing LoadBalancer Service (L4);
+#     — R-C2-02 —
+#       both health surfaces docs/12 names are linked AND reconciled, the health DATA exists
+#       as code (PrometheusRule groups for cluster/nodes, storage, GitOps and cert expiry,
+#       reconciled by the platform-config tier), and actions are CONTROLLED: the console
+#       binds NO ClusterRole to its own ServiceAccount, authenticates per-user by native
+#       OIDC from a named SOPS Secret, and cluster rights arrive through OIDC GROUPS at more
+#       than one privilege level.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (git ls-files + PyYAML —
+# the same dependency catalog/render.py already requires). conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and
+# ci/l0.sh run it directly; this Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE — honest gaps, restated in check.sh's own header:
+#   - That the apex answers HTTP 200, or that any tile's status ping is green. That is L2;
+#     the Gateway/TLS half is covered under R-DNS-01 / R-TLS-01.
+#   - That the C2 is access-CONTROLLED in fact. The auth assertions read a DECLARED posture,
+#     because the Gateway ext-authz attachment that would enforce forward-auth is not built
+#     anywhere in this repo (platform/homepage/httproute.yaml says so in its own header, and
+#     every forward-auth app shares the gap). Declared, not enforced — and labelled as such
+#     in the assertion text.
+#   - That an operational action in the console succeeds, or that it is audited. The
+#     assertions prove there is no shared cluster-admin identity to act with and that rights
+#     arrive per-user; the audit trail is a runtime property.
+#   - Whether a tile is USEFUL. Homepage service-widget API keys are a deliberate follow-up
+#     (platform/homepage/configmap.yaml); link presence is what R-C2-01 asks for.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: c2-root-surface
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-C2-01: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-C2-02: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-C2-01, R-C2-02"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE, and it is the whole point of the forward assertion.
+    #
+    # The invariant is "every service the repo routes is linked from the C2 root". Its input
+    # surface is therefore EVERY tracked manifest that can declare an HTTPRoute — apps/wave-*,
+    # platform/*, runbooks/ — not just the two components that own the C2. ci/touched-
+    # requirements.sh keys `platform/homepage/*` and `platform/headlamp/*` to nothing at all
+    # today (there is no path-map arm for either), and even with one, the change that BREAKS
+    # this invariant is the change that adds a route somewhere else: `apps/wave-1/newthing.yaml`
+    # attributes R-GITOPS-02 / R-NET-* / nothing, never R-C2-01. Requirement-scoped selection
+    # would filter this check out of exactly the change that introduces the bug — the R-TEST-03
+    # blind spot recorded in conformance/lib/common.sh.
+    #
+    # Declaring the scope is the whole fix: conformance/run.sh --include-scope whole-repo
+    # (ci/l0.sh Stage 3b) unions this test into EVERY gate invocation. Do NOT hand-add a stage
+    # to ci/l0.sh — tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired fails the gate if anyone does.
+    # A SKIP of a scope-declaring check is rc 3 (UNWIRED), never green.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      The bare apex is bound to the landing dashboard over trusted TLS and is reconciled; the
+      dashboard links every HTTP service this repo routes and every link it offers resolves to
+      something the repo serves; and the C2 surfaces platform health backed by real alert rules
+      while granting operational rights per-user through OIDC groups rather than through a
+      shared cluster-admin identity.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: compare-the-c2-root-against-what-the-repo-actually-serves
+      description: >-
+        Read the apex ingress chain, the dashboard's declared links, every in-repo HTTPRoute and
+        hostname-publishing Service, the catalog, the platform-health alert rules and the
+        console's RBAC posture, and assert the two sets agree in both directions.
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,656 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — c2-root-surface
+#
+# Serves (spec docs/00-vision-and-scope.md; detail in docs/12-command-center-ui.md):
+#
+#   R-C2-01  "The root `home.keithjackson.dev` MUST serve a UI that surfaces the
+#             services running in the cluster and links to them."
+#   R-C2-02  "The C2 UI MUST surface platform health (cluster, storage, GitOps,
+#             alerts) and provide controlled operational actions where safe."
+#
+# WHY THIS IS AN L0 STATIC CHECK AND NOT AN L2 PROBE
+# --------------------------------------------------
+# The REACHABILITY half of R-C2-01 is already exercised against a live cluster:
+# l2-behavioral/gateway-ingress-reachable dials the Gateway and l2-behavioral/trusted-tls
+# verifies the certificate it serves. What no live probe can decide is the half the
+# requirement is actually about — whether the UI at the root surfaces THE SERVICES RUNNING
+# IN THE CLUSTER. Deciding that is a comparison of two SETS, and both are repository facts:
+# what git declares the cluster serves (every in-repo HTTPRoute hostname, every
+# hostname-publishing L4 Service, every catalog ServiceDefinition) against what the
+# dashboard's ConfigMap links. A probe of the root gets HTTP 200 from a dashboard that hides
+# half the estate and cannot tell the difference.
+#
+# It is also the assertion that ROTS, in the direction nothing else notices: onboard a
+# service, forget the dashboard, and every cluster test stays green while the operator's
+# front door hides a running service. That is not a styling preference — it is exactly the
+# R-C2-01 failure mode, and it was a LIVE defect on main when this check was written
+# (platform/crafty served crafty.${BASE_DOMAIN} and nothing on the root linked to it).
+#
+# THE RULE THIS IMPLEMENTS, in one sentence: every home-zone hostname the repository routes
+# over HTTP must be linked from the apex dashboard's configuration, every home-zone link the
+# apex dashboard offers must resolve to something the repository actually serves, and the two
+# R-C2-02 surfaces (health data + a per-user-authorized console) must be linked, reconciled
+# and backed by real alert rules.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it,
+# WHEN  the apex ingress chain, the dashboard's declared link set, every in-repo HTTPRoute,
+#       every hostname-publishing L4 Service, the versioned catalog, the platform-health
+#       alert rules and the console's RBAC posture are read and compared,
+# THEN — R-C2-01 —
+#       (0)  the INPUT SURFACE is intact: every Flux-reconciled path lies inside the roots
+#            this check scans, and every manifest in them parses. A root this check does not
+#            scan, or a file it cannot parse, is a service it cannot see — which would
+#            silently weaken every assertion below;
+#       (1)  EXACTLY ONE HTTPRoute claims the bare apex (an ambiguous root is not a root),
+#            and it belongs to the landing-dashboard component;
+#       (2)  that route pins by sectionName the ONE Gateway listener whose hostname is the
+#            bare apex, and that listener is HTTPS — the wildcard `*.${BASE_DOMAIN}` listener
+#            does NOT intersect the bare apex, so without the sectionName the root binds
+#            nothing and serves nothing (asserted against the wildcard listener's existence,
+#            so the claim is proven rather than asserted from prose);
+#       (3)  the apex is a SAN on the Certificate whose Secret that listener terminates with;
+#       (4)  the dashboard is RECONCILED, not merely authored: one Flux Kustomization points
+#            at its path and is listed in the base entrypoint set;
+#       (5)  that Kustomization carries postBuild.substituteFrom, because the dashboard's
+#            hrefs and its route's hostname are written as `${BASE_DOMAIN}` tokens — without
+#            substitution the apex route binds a literal `${BASE_DOMAIN}` and EVERY tile on
+#            the root links to a nonexistent host, while Flux still reports Ready;
+#       (6)  the component's own kustomization ships config + workload + Service + route;
+#       (7)  the dashboard is a service CATALOG: grouped entries carrying hrefs;
+#       (8)  FORWARD — every home-zone hostname an in-repo HTTPRoute serves, other than the
+#            apex itself, is LINKED from the root. This is the rot-catcher;
+#       (9)  FORWARD — every catalog `kind: container` ServiceDefinition whose declared
+#            ingress host is routed is likewise linked, tying the C2 to the VERSIONED
+#            onboarding contract and not only to whatever is rendered today;
+#       (10) REVERSE — every home-zone link the root offers resolves to something this repo
+#            actually serves: an HTTPRoute (L7) or a hostname-publishing LoadBalancer Service
+#            (L4). A dead tile is a link the root offers to nothing;
+#       (11) the off-cluster escape hatch is not a blanket one: every name declared in the
+#            ConfigMap's `off-cluster-links` annotation is a specific home-zone hostname and
+#            none of them shadows a hostname the repo DOES serve;
+#       (12) no href names a LITERAL base-domain host. Every hostname is the `${BASE_DOMAIN}`
+#            token, so prod's root cannot link dev's services — the 2026-09-04 incident class
+#            (two clusters authored to describe the same names), applied to the front door;
+#     — R-C2-02 —
+#       (13) both health surfaces docs/12 names are linked: the Kubernetes console
+#            (cluster/storage/GitOps state) and the dashboards/alerts surface;
+#       (14) both are RECONCILED by Flux, so the links lead to something running;
+#       (15) the health DATA those surfaces render exists as code — PrometheusRule groups for
+#            each axis R-C2-02 enumerates (cluster/nodes, storage, GitOps reconciliation)
+#            plus certificate expiry — and those rule files are reconciled;
+#       (16) actions are CONTROLLED, not cluster-admin-in-a-browser (docs/12: "never a raw
+#            cluster-admin kubeconfig in a browser"): the console chart is explicitly told NOT
+#            to bind its ServiceAccount to a ClusterRole, so there is no shared privileged
+#            identity to act as;
+#       (17) actions are instead PER-USER: the console is configured for native OIDC with
+#            credentials from a named (SOPS) Secret, not inline;
+#       (18) cluster rights arrive through OIDC GROUPS at MORE THAN ONE privilege level (an
+#            admin group and a lesser one) — least-privilege, not one tier for everybody;
+#       (19) the C2 root DECLARES the authenticated-group posture docs/12 requires, on its own
+#            route (declared, NOT enforced — see the gap note below).
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE — honest gaps, the same ones the Test declaration names:
+#   - That the apex answers HTTP 200, or that any tile's status ping is green. That is L2; the
+#     Gateway/TLS half is covered under R-DNS-01 / R-TLS-01.
+#   - That the C2 is access-CONTROLLED in fact. (19) reads a DECLARED posture, because the
+#     Gateway ext-authz attachment that would ENFORCE forward-auth is not built anywhere in
+#     this repo (platform/homepage/httproute.yaml says so in its own header, and every
+#     forward-auth app shares the gap). Declared, not enforced, and labelled as such in the
+#     assertion text itself.
+#   - That an operational action in the console succeeds, or that it is audited. (16)-(18)
+#     prove there is no shared cluster-admin identity to act with and that rights arrive
+#     per-user; the audit trail is a runtime property.
+#   - Whether a tile is USEFUL. Homepage service-widget API keys are a deliberate follow-up
+#     (platform/homepage/configmap.yaml); link presence is what R-C2-01 asks for.
+#   - That an L4-ONLY endpoint is surfaced. A raw TCP/UDP endpoint (a Minecraft game port) has
+#     no URL a browser can follow, so the FORWARD direction quantifies over HTTP routes;
+#     L4-published hostnames are listed as ADVISORIES and are honoured in the REVERSE
+#     direction (that is how the UniFi tile, an L4 LoadBalancer on :11443, resolves).
+#   - It does not read ../home-network-k3s. The spec is read-only (R-TEST-06) and the
+#     requirement text above is quoted, not parsed.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. Pure offline: `git ls-files` + PyYAML (the dependency ten neighbouring
+# l0-static checks already take). No cluster, no network, no spec repo.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+# Honest SKIP (never green, and rc 3 is UNWIRED for a scope-declaring test) if the landing
+# dashboard component is absent entirely — there is then no C2 root to audit, which is a
+# report about the tree, not a pass.
+if [ ! -f "${ROOT}/platform/homepage/configmap.yaml" ]; then
+  echo "check SKIPPED: platform/homepage/configmap.yaml absent — no C2 landing dashboard to audit" >&2
+  exit 3
+fi
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+"""Static audit: the C2 root surfaces every service the repository serves, plus health.
+
+Every parse contract is documented at its parser. PyYAML rather than regex because the
+subjects are genuinely structured: multi-document apps/ bundles, and a Homepage config that
+is nested YAML *inside* a ConfigMap string value.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+sys.dont_write_bytecode = True          # keep __pycache__ out of the tracked tree
+
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+ADVISORIES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if cond:
+        print(f"  ok   {msg}")
+    else:
+        print(f"  FAIL {msg}", file=sys.stderr)
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def read(p: Path) -> str:
+    try:
+        return p.read_text()
+    except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+        return ""
+
+
+# ============================================================ the hostname vocabulary
+# BASE_DOMAIN is a cluster-vars knob (R-ENV-02): every public hostname the cluster serves is
+# `<svc>.${BASE_DOMAIN}`, and dev/prod differ ONLY in that value. So a hostname in this repo
+# is canonically the TOKEN form, and the literal value below exists only to be FORBIDDEN in
+# (12): a literal is how prod came to be authored to serve dev's hostnames (2026-09-04,
+# clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml's own header).
+TOKEN = "${BASE_DOMAIN}"
+_vars = yaml.safe_load(read(ROOT / "clusters" / "base" / "cluster-vars.yaml")) or {}
+LITERAL_BASE = ((_vars.get("data") or {}).get("BASE_DOMAIN") or "").strip()
+
+
+def strip_port(host: str) -> str:
+    return host.split(":", 1)[0]
+
+
+def zone_label(host: str):
+    """The sub-label of a home-zone hostname, "" for the bare apex, or None if not in zone.
+
+    Accepts only the TOKEN form; a literal-base hostname returns None here and is caught
+    separately by (12), so a literal can never silently satisfy a set comparison.
+    """
+    h = strip_port(host)
+    if h == TOKEN:
+        return ""
+    if h.endswith("." + TOKEN):
+        return h[: -len("." + TOKEN)]
+    return None
+
+
+def is_literal_base(host: str) -> bool:
+    h = strip_port(host)
+    return bool(LITERAL_BASE) and (h == LITERAL_BASE or h.endswith("." + LITERAL_BASE))
+
+
+# ============================================================ (0) the input surface
+# DELIVERY ROOTS — the subtrees Flux reconciles, plus catalog/ (the versioned source the
+# apps/ manifests are rendered FROM). conformance/ is deliberately EXCLUDED: its fixtures and
+# goldens declare synthetic HTTPRoutes (`paas-demo.…`, `gw-declared-conformance.…`) that are
+# test data, not services the cluster serves, and counting them would make (8) assert that
+# the operator's dashboard links this harness's fixtures.
+DELIVERY_ROOTS = ("apps", "platform", "platform-config", "platform-config-cdi",
+                  "runbooks", "clusters", "bootstrap", "catalog")
+
+
+def tracked_yaml() -> list[Path]:
+    out = subprocess.run(["git", "ls-files", "-z", "--", "*.yaml", "*.yml"],
+                         cwd=ROOT, capture_output=True, text=True, check=True)
+    return [ROOT / p for p in out.stdout.split("\0") if p]
+
+
+ALL_TRACKED = tracked_yaml()
+DELIVERY = [p for p in ALL_TRACKED
+            if p.relative_to(ROOT).parts[0] in DELIVERY_ROOTS]
+
+parse_failed: list[str] = []
+DOCS: dict[Path, list[dict]] = {}
+for p in DELIVERY:
+    try:
+        DOCS[p] = [d for d in yaml.safe_load_all(read(p)) if isinstance(d, dict)]
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        DOCS[p] = []
+        parse_failed.append(str(p.relative_to(ROOT)))
+
+
+def docs_all():
+    for p, ds in DOCS.items():
+        for d in ds:
+            yield p, d
+
+
+check(len(DELIVERY) >= 100,
+      f"(0) the delivery tree is present and scanned ({len(DELIVERY)} tracked manifest(s) "
+      f"under {'/, '.join(DELIVERY_ROOTS)}/)")
+check(not parse_failed,
+      f"(0) every manifest in the scanned roots PARSES — an unparseable one is a service "
+      f"this check cannot see, so it would weaken every set comparison below "
+      f"{parse_failed if parse_failed else ''}")
+
+# Every Flux-reconciled path must lie inside a root this check scans. This is the guard on
+# the guard: if a future tier reconciles, say, ./services, the forward direction would stop
+# seeing its routes and would go quietly green on a dashboard that hides all of them.
+flux_ks = [(p, d) for p, d in docs_all()
+           if d.get("kind") == "Kustomization"
+           and str(d.get("apiVersion", "")).startswith("kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io")]
+# A RECONCILING Kustomization is one carrying a sourceRef. The pathless documents under
+# bootstrap/flux/patches/ are strategic-merge PATCH FRAGMENTS (they add a decryption stanza to
+# a Kustomization declared elsewhere); they name no source and reconcile nothing, so requiring
+# a path of them would fail on a file that is correct.
+reconcilers = [(p, d) for p, d in flux_ks if (d.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("sourceRef")]
+unscanned = sorted({
+    f"{p.relative_to(ROOT)}:{(d.get('spec', {}) or {}).get('path', '') or '(no path)'}"
+    for p, d in reconcilers
+    if (d.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("path", "").lstrip("./").split("/")[0]
+    not in DELIVERY_ROOTS
+})
+check(len(reconcilers) >= 10 and not unscanned,
+      f"(0) all {len(reconcilers)} Flux-reconciled path(s) lie inside a scanned root — a "
+      f"reconciled tree this check does not read is a service it cannot require a link for "
+      f"{unscanned if unscanned else ''}")
+
+# ============================================================ what the repo SERVES
+# L7: every hostname an in-repo HTTPRoute claims, and the component that owns it.
+routes: dict[str, list[tuple[Path, dict]]] = {}
+apex_inheriting: list[Path] = []
+for p, d in docs_all():
+    if d.get("kind") != "HTTPRoute":
+        continue
+    hosts = (d.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("hostnames") or []
+    if not hosts:
+        # An HTTPRoute with NO hostnames inherits the hostname of every listener it attaches
+        # to (runbooks/serving/httproute.yaml binds `https-apex` only, so it serves a PATH on
+        # the apex). It introduces no new hostname, so it owes no tile.
+        apex_inheriting.append(p)
+        continue
+    for h in hosts:
+        routes.setdefault(str(h), []).append((p, d))
+
+routed_labels = {}          # sub-label -> owning component dir
+for h, owners in routes.items():
+    lbl = zone_label(h)
+    if lbl:                 # "" is the apex; None is out of zone
+        routed_labels[lbl] = owners[0][0].parent
+
+# L4: a Service that publishes a home-zone hostname to DNS is also "served by this repo" —
+# it is how UniFi (a KubeVirt VM behind a pinned Cilium LoadBalancer VIP on :11443) reaches
+# the LAN. external-dns's annotation IS the declaration; there is no HTTPRoute to find.
+DNS_ANN = "external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/hostname"
+l4_labels: dict[str, Path] = {}
+for p, d in docs_all():
+    if d.get("kind") != "Service":
+        continue
+    ann = (d.get("metadata", {}) or {}).get("annotations", {}) or {}
+    for h in re.split(r"[,\s]+", str(ann.get(DNS_ANN, ""))):
+        lbl = zone_label(h) if h else None
+        if lbl:
+            l4_labels[lbl] = p
+
+check(len(routed_labels) >= 10,
+      f"(0) the repo's north-south HTTP surface is discovered "
+      f"({len(routed_labels)} routed home-zone hostname(s), "
+      f"{len(apex_inheriting)} apex-path route(s), {len(l4_labels)} L4-published hostname(s))")
+
+# ============================================================ (1) the apex is unambiguous
+apex_claims = routes.get(TOKEN, [])
+check(len(apex_claims) == 1,
+      f"(1) exactly ONE HTTPRoute claims the bare apex {TOKEN} — an ambiguous root is not a "
+      f"root (found {len(apex_claims)}: {[str(p.relative_to(ROOT)) for p, _ in apex_claims]})")
+apex_path, apex_route = (apex_claims[0] if apex_claims else (None, {}))
+DASH = apex_path.parent if apex_path is not None else None
+check(DASH is not None and DASH.name == "homepage",
+      f"(1) the apex route belongs to the landing-dashboard component "
+      f"(found {DASH.name if DASH else None!r})")
+
+# ============================================================ (2) it binds the apex listener
+parents = (apex_route.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("parentRefs") or []
+section = next((pr.get("sectionName") for pr in parents if pr.get("sectionName")), None)
+gw_name = next((pr.get("name") for pr in parents), None)
+gw_ns = next((pr.get("namespace") for pr in parents), None)
+check(section is not None,
+      "(2) the apex route pins a Gateway listener by sectionName — the wildcard listener's "
+      "hostname cannot match a bare apex, so an unpinned apex route binds NOTHING")
+
+gw = next((d for _, d in docs_all()
+           if d.get("kind") == "Gateway"
+           and (d.get("metadata", {}) or {}).get("name") == gw_name
+           and (gw_ns is None or (d.get("metadata", {}) or {}).get("namespace") == gw_ns)), None)
+check(gw is not None, f"(2) the parent Gateway '{gw_name}' is declared in the repo")
+listeners = ((gw or {}).get("spec", {}) or {}).get("listeners") or []
+apex_listener = next((l for l in listeners if l.get("name") == section), None)
+check(apex_listener is not None,
+      f"(2) the Gateway declares the '{section}' listener the apex route binds")
+check(apex_listener is not None and apex_listener.get("hostname") == TOKEN,
+      f"(2) that listener's hostname is EXACTLY the bare apex "
+      f"(found {(apex_listener or {}).get('hostname')!r})")
+check(apex_listener is not None and apex_listener.get("protocol") == "HTTPS",
+      "(2) the apex listener terminates HTTPS (docs/12 acceptance gate: trusted TLS on the root)")
+# Prove the sectionName is LOAD-BEARING rather than decorative: a wildcard listener exists,
+# it is a DIFFERENT listener, and its hostname does not equal the apex.
+wildcard = [l for l in listeners if str(l.get("hostname", "")) == "*." + TOKEN]
+check(bool(wildcard) and all(l.get("name") != section for l in wildcard),
+      f"(2) the wildcard listener(s) {[l.get('name') for l in wildcard]} are DISTINCT from "
+      f"'{section}' — which is why the apex needs its own listener, and why dropping the "
+      f"sectionName would leave the root unserved")
+
+# ============================================================ (3) trusted TLS on the root
+cert_secret = next((ref.get("name")
+                    for ref in ((apex_listener or {}).get("tls", {}) or {}).get("certificateRefs") or []),
+                   None)
+cert = next((d for _, d in docs_all()
+             if d.get("kind") == "Certificate"
+             and (d.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("secretName") == cert_secret), None)
+check(cert is not None,
+      f"(3) a cert-manager Certificate produces the apex listener's Secret ({cert_secret!r})")
+check(cert is not None and TOKEN in ((cert.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("dnsNames") or []),
+      "(3) the bare apex is a SAN on that Certificate — the wildcard alone does NOT cover it, "
+      "so without this SAN the root serves an untrusted certificate")
+
+# ============================================================ (4)(5) it is RECONCILED
+dash_rel = f"./{DASH.relative_to(ROOT)}" if DASH else None
+dash_ks = [(p, d) for p, d in flux_ks
+           if (d.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("path", "").rstrip("/") == dash_rel]
+check(len(dash_ks) == 1,
+      f"(4) exactly one Flux Kustomization reconciles the dashboard ({dash_rel}) — authored "
+      f"but unreconciled is the 'looks done, is absent' class this repo keeps hitting "
+      f"(found {len(dash_ks)})")
+if dash_ks:
+    base_txt = read(ROOT / "clusters" / "base" / "kustomization.yaml")
+    entry = dash_ks[0][0].name
+    check(re.search(rf"^\s*-\s*{re.escape(entry)}\s*(#.*)?$", base_txt, re.M) is not None,
+          f"(4) that Kustomization is listed in the base entrypoint set ({entry})")
+    # (5) The dashboard's hrefs and its route's hostname are ${BASE_DOMAIN} TOKENS. Without
+    # postBuild.substituteFrom the token reaches the cluster LITERALLY: the apex route binds
+    # the host `${BASE_DOMAIN}` (matching no listener) and every tile links to a host that
+    # does not exist — and Flux still reports the Kustomization Ready. It fails OPEN.
+    subs = (((dash_ks[0][1].get("spec", {}) or {}).get("postBuild") or {}).get("substituteFrom") or [])
+    check(any((s.get("name") == "cluster-vars") for s in subs),
+          f"(5) {dash_ks[0][0].name} carries postBuild.substituteFrom cluster-vars. It MUST: "
+          f"this component's route hostname and EVERY tile href are ${{BASE_DOMAIN}} tokens, "
+          f"and an unsubstituted token is applied literally while Flux still reports Ready — "
+          f"a root bound to no listener and a dashboard of dead links, with a green tier")
+
+# ============================================================ (6) it ships the UI
+dash_kust = yaml.safe_load(read(DASH / "kustomization.yaml")) if DASH else None
+dash_res = set((dash_kust or {}).get("resources") or [])
+for want in ("configmap.yaml", "deployment.yaml", "service.yaml", "httproute.yaml"):
+    check(want in dash_res, f"(6) the dashboard kustomization ships {want}")
+
+# ================================================== the dashboard's DECLARED link set
+# Homepage's config is nested YAML inside ConfigMap string values (services.yaml,
+# bookmarks.yaml). Both are read: a bookmark is a link the root offers just as a tile is.
+cm = next((d for d in (DOCS.get(DASH / "configmap.yaml") or []) if d.get("kind") == "ConfigMap"),
+          {}) if DASH else {}
+cm_data = cm.get("data") or {}
+
+
+def embedded(key):
+    try:
+        return yaml.safe_load(cm_data.get(key) or "") or []
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        return None
+
+
+svc_cfg = embedded("services.yaml")
+bm_cfg = embedded("bookmarks.yaml")
+check(svc_cfg is not None and bm_cfg is not None,
+      "(7) the dashboard's embedded services.yaml / bookmarks.yaml parse as YAML — the app "
+      "mounts these verbatim, so a malformed one is a dashboard that renders nothing")
+
+
+def hrefs(node):
+    """Every href anywhere in Homepage's nested group/entry structure."""
+    if isinstance(node, dict):
+        for k, v in node.items():
+            if k == "href" and isinstance(v, str):
+                yield v
+            else:
+                yield from hrefs(v)
+    elif isinstance(node, list):
+        for v in node:
+            yield from hrefs(v)
+
+
+def host_of(url):
+    m = re.match(r"^https?://([^/]+)", url or "")
+    return m.group(1) if m else None
+
+
+tile_urls = list(hrefs(svc_cfg or []))
+all_urls = tile_urls + list(hrefs(bm_cfg or []))
+all_hosts = [h for h in (host_of(u) for u in all_urls) if h]
+linked = {lbl for lbl in (zone_label(h) for h in all_hosts) if lbl}
+tile_labels = {lbl for lbl in (zone_label(h) for h in (host_of(u) for u in tile_urls) if h) if lbl}
+
+groups = [g for g in (svc_cfg or []) if isinstance(g, dict)]
+check(len(groups) >= 1 and len(tile_labels) >= 5,
+      f"(7) the root is a grouped service catalog with links "
+      f"({len(groups)} group(s), {len(tile_labels)} linked home-zone service(s))")
+
+# ============================================ (8) FORWARD: nothing routed is hidden
+unsurfaced = sorted(set(routed_labels) - linked)
+check(not unsurfaced,
+      "(8) every service the repo ROUTES over HTTP is surfaced on the C2 root. Unsurfaced: "
+      + ", ".join(f"{n}.{TOKEN} ({routed_labels[n].relative_to(ROOT)})" for n in unsurfaced)
+      if unsurfaced else
+      f"(8) every service the repo ROUTES over HTTP is surfaced on the C2 root "
+      f"({len(routed_labels)} hostname(s) compared)")
+
+# L4-only endpoints are reported, never required: a raw TCP/UDP port has no browsable URL.
+for lbl in sorted(set(l4_labels) - linked):
+    ADVISORIES.append(
+        f"{lbl}.{TOKEN} is published to DNS by an L4 Service "
+        f"({l4_labels[lbl].relative_to(ROOT)}) and is not linked from the root. Not a "
+        f"failure: a raw TCP/UDP endpoint has no URL a browser can follow. Verify the "
+        f"service it belongs to is reachable through a tile that IS linked")
+
+# ================================= (9) FORWARD: the VERSIONED onboarding contract
+cat_dir = ROOT / "catalog"
+cat_seen, cat_missing, cat_unrouted = 0, [], []
+for p in sorted(cat_dir.glob("*.yaml")):
+    sd = next((d for d in (DOCS.get(p) or [])), None)
+    if not isinstance(sd, dict) or sd.get("kind") != "container":
+        continue                      # kind: vm has no north-south HTTP surface (docs/09)
+    for r in sd.get("ingressRoutes") or []:
+        lbl = zone_label(str(r.get("host", "")))
+        if not lbl:
+            continue
+        if lbl not in routed_labels:
+            # Declared in the catalog but not rendered into a route: an apps/ render drift
+            # problem owned by R-GITOPS-02, reported here rather than silently skipped.
+            cat_unrouted.append(f"{sd.get('name')}:{lbl}")
+            continue
+        cat_seen += 1
+        if lbl not in linked:
+            cat_missing.append(f"{sd.get('name')}:{lbl}")
+check(cat_seen >= 5,
+      f"(9) the versioned catalog contributes routed HTTP services ({cat_seen} found) — the "
+      f"C2 is tied to the onboarding contract, not only to today's rendered output")
+check(not cat_missing,
+      f"(9) every catalog `kind: container` service with a route is linked from the C2 root "
+      f"{cat_missing if cat_missing else ''}")
+for u in cat_unrouted:
+    ADVISORIES.append(f"catalog declares an ingress host with no rendered HTTPRoute: {u} "
+                      f"(render drift — R-GITOPS-02 owns it, not R-C2-01)")
+
+# ============================ (10)(11) REVERSE: no link points at nothing
+ann = (cm.get("metadata", {}) or {}).get("annotations", {}) or {}
+OFF_ANN = "homelab.keithjackson.dev/off-cluster-links"
+declared_off_raw = [t for t in re.split(r"[,\s]+", str(ann.get(OFF_ANN, ""))) if t]
+declared_off = {zone_label(t) for t in declared_off_raw}
+served = set(routed_labels) | set(l4_labels)
+dead = sorted(linked - served - declared_off)
+check(not dead,
+      f"(10) every home-zone link the root offers resolves to something this repo serves — "
+      f"an HTTPRoute (L7) or a hostname-publishing LoadBalancer Service (L4). Dead: "
+      f"{[f'{d}.{TOKEN}' for d in dead] if dead else ''}")
+# The escape hatch is a DECLARATION, not a hole: same doctrine as an explicit `NONE` in
+# ci/touched-requirements.sh's path map. Empty today, and these two hold vacuously when it is
+# — they exist so it cannot be widened into a blanket without failing.
+check(all(zone_label(t) for t in declared_off_raw),
+      f"(11) every declared off-cluster link is a specific home-zone hostname in TOKEN form "
+      f"({declared_off_raw})")
+shadowed = sorted(declared_off & served)
+check(not shadowed,
+      f"(11) no off-cluster declaration shadows a hostname the repo DOES serve "
+      f"{shadowed if shadowed else ''}")
+
+# ============================ (12) tokens, never literals
+literal_hosts = sorted({h for h in all_hosts if is_literal_base(h)})
+check(not literal_hosts,
+      f"(12) no link on the root names a LITERAL '{LITERAL_BASE}' host — every hostname is the "
+      f"${{BASE_DOMAIN}} token, so prod's front door cannot link dev's services (the "
+      f"2026-09-04 class: two clusters authored to describe the same names). Literals: "
+      f"{literal_hosts if literal_hosts else ''}")
+
+# =====================================================================
+# R-C2-02 — platform health, and controlled operational actions
+# =====================================================================
+# docs/12 names the surfaces the C2 composes: Headlamp is "the R-C2-02 'controlled
+# operational actions where safe' surface"; Grafana is the dashboards/alerts surface. Each is
+# identified by the component that OWNS ITS ROUTE, not by a magic string in the config.
+CONSOLE, DASHBOARDS = "headlamp", "grafana"
+check(CONSOLE in linked,
+      f"(13) the C2 root links the Kubernetes console ({CONSOLE}.{TOKEN}) — cluster, storage "
+      f"and GitOps state, and the R-C2-02 operational-actions surface (docs/12)")
+check(DASHBOARDS in linked,
+      f"(13) the C2 root links the dashboards/alerts surface ({DASHBOARDS}.{TOKEN})")
+
+AGG = ("\n".join(read(ROOT / t / "kustomization.yaml")
+                 for t in ("platform", "platform-config", "platform-config-cdi")))
+for label, name in (("console", CONSOLE), ("dashboards", DASHBOARDS)):
+    comp = routed_labels.get(name)
+    check(comp is not None, f"(14) the {label} surface has an in-repo HTTPRoute")
+    if comp is None:
+        continue
+    rel = f"./{comp.relative_to(ROOT)}"
+    reconciled = any((d.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("path", "").rstrip("/") == rel
+                     for _, d in flux_ks)
+    if not reconciled:
+        # A component may reconcile as a MEMBER of an aggregate tier's kustomize tree
+        # (platform / platform-config) instead of owning a Flux Kustomization. Both count;
+        # being in NEITHER is "authored, never applied".
+        reconciled = (f"\n  - {comp.name}" in AGG
+                      or f"../{comp.relative_to(ROOT)}/" in AGG)
+    check(reconciled,
+          f"(14) the {label} surface ({comp.name}) is reconciled by Flux, not merely authored "
+          f"— a link to an unreconciled component is a link to nothing")
+
+# (15) the health DATA exists as code, for every axis R-C2-02 enumerates.
+rule_files = sorted({p for p, d in docs_all() if d.get("kind") == "PrometheusRule"})
+rule_groups = {g.get("name", "")
+               for p, d in docs_all() if d.get("kind") == "PrometheusRule"
+               for g in ((d.get("spec", {}) or {}).get("groups") or [])}
+for axis, needle in (("cluster/nodes", "nodes"),
+                     ("storage", "longhorn"),
+                     ("GitOps reconciliation", "flux"),
+                     ("certificate expiry", "certificates")):
+    check(any(needle in g for g in rule_groups),
+          f"(15) platform-health alert rules exist for {axis} (a '*{needle}*' rule group) — "
+          f"the C2 cannot surface health that is not measured")
+pc_txt = read(ROOT / "platform-config" / "kustomization.yaml")
+reconciled_rules = [p for p in rule_files if f"../{p.relative_to(ROOT)}" in pc_txt]
+check(len(reconciled_rules) >= 2,
+      f"(15) those alert rules are RECONCILED — PrometheusRule is a CR of a CRD the platform "
+      f"tier installs, so the rules are applied by platform-config "
+      f"({len(reconciled_rules)}/{len(rule_files)} rule file(s) referenced there)")
+
+# (16)(17) controlled actions: no shared cluster-admin identity; per-user OIDC instead.
+console_dir = routed_labels.get(CONSOLE)
+hr = next((d for p in (sorted(console_dir.glob("*.yaml")) if console_dir else [])
+           for d in (DOCS.get(p) or []) if d.get("kind") == "HelmRelease"), None)
+check(hr is not None, "(16) the Kubernetes console is deployed by a HelmRelease")
+hv = ((hr or {}).get("spec", {}) or {}).get("values", {}) or {}
+check((hv.get("clusterRoleBinding") or {}).get("create") is False,
+      "(16) the console chart is told NOT to bind its ServiceAccount to a ClusterRole. The "
+      "chart's DEFAULT binds it to cluster-admin, which is exactly the 'raw cluster-admin "
+      "kubeconfig in a browser' docs/12 forbids — every visitor would act as one shared "
+      "omnipotent identity")
+oidc = ((hv.get("config") or {}).get("oidc") or {})
+check(bool(oidc),
+      "(17) the console is configured for native OIDC login, so an action carries the "
+      "operator's OWN identity (docs/12: Headlamp/Grafana use native OIDC)")
+check(bool((oidc.get("externalSecret") or {}).get("name")),
+      "(17) its OIDC client credentials come from a NAMED (SOPS) Secret, not inline in the "
+      "HelmRelease values — R-SEC-01")
+
+# (18) rights arrive through GROUPS, at more than one privilege level.
+group_bindings = []
+for p, d in docs_all():
+    if d.get("kind") not in ("ClusterRoleBinding", "RoleBinding"):
+        continue
+    for s in d.get("subjects") or []:
+        if s.get("kind") == "Group" and str(s.get("name", "")).startswith("oidc:"):
+            group_bindings.append(((d.get("metadata", {}) or {}).get("name"),
+                                   s.get("name"),
+                                   (d.get("roleRef") or {}).get("name")))
+check(len(group_bindings) >= 2,
+      f"(18) cluster rights are bound to OIDC GROUPS, so access follows Keycloak group "
+      f"membership rather than a per-user grant somebody must remember to revoke "
+      f"({[(g, r) for _, g, r in group_bindings]})")
+check(any(r == "cluster-admin" for _, _, r in group_bindings)
+      and any(r != "cluster-admin" for _, _, r in group_bindings),
+      "(18) MORE THAN ONE privilege level exists (an admin group AND a lesser one) — "
+      "least-privilege, not one tier for everybody (docs/12 access control, R-IDP-06)")
+
+# (19) the root DECLARES the authenticated-group posture. DECLARED, NOT ENFORCED.
+route_ann = (apex_route.get("metadata", {}) or {}).get("annotations", {}) or {}
+check(route_ann.get("homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode") in ("forward-auth", "oidc", "oauth2-proxy"),
+      f"(19) the C2 root's route DECLARES an authentication mode "
+      f"(found {route_ann.get('homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-mode')!r}) "
+      f"[DECLARED, NOT ENFORCED — no Gateway ext-authz attachment exists in this repo]")
+check(bool(route_ann.get("homelab.keithjackson.dev/auth-groups")),
+      "(19) it DECLARES the authorized group(s) — docs/12 requires an authenticated user IN "
+      "AN AUTHORIZED GROUP, not merely logged in "
+      "[DECLARED, NOT ENFORCED — see the header's gap note]")
+
+# ======================================================================== report
+print()
+print(f"C2 surface inventory (apex {TOKEN}, literal base default '{LITERAL_BASE}'):")
+print(f"  routed over HTTP : {len(routed_labels)}  -> {', '.join(sorted(routed_labels))}")
+print(f"  L4-published     : {len(l4_labels)}  -> {', '.join(sorted(l4_labels)) or '(none)'}")
+print(f"  linked from root : {len(linked)}  -> {', '.join(sorted(linked))}")
+print(f"  apex-path routes : {len(apex_inheriting)}  -> "
+      f"{', '.join(str(p.relative_to(ROOT)) for p in apex_inheriting) or '(none)'}")
+print(f"  catalog services compared: {cat_seen}   off-cluster declarations: "
+      f"{sorted(declared_off_raw) or '(none)'}")
+
+if ADVISORIES:
+    print("\nADVISORIES (not failures):")
+    for a in ADVISORIES:
+        print(f"  - {a}")
+
+print()
+if not FAILURES:
+    print(f"check OK: c2-root-surface — {CHECKS} assertions (R-C2-01, R-C2-02)")
+    raise SystemExit(0)
+print(f"CHECK FAIL (c2-root-surface): {len(FAILURES)} failed, "
+      f"{CHECKS - len(FAILURES)} passed", file=sys.stderr)
+for f in FAILURES:
+    print(f"  FAIL {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+raise SystemExit(1)
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — dev/test nodes are provisioned as code, end to end  (R-ENV-01)  [EXECUTABLE]
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+# Spec:    docs/00 R-ENV-01 ("dev/test MUST be provisioned as local KVMs via IaC:
+#          created, baselined, cluster-joined, and managed as code"); the four stages
+#          are enumerated in docs/02 §"Node lifecycle stages".
+#
+# WHY L0: R-ENV-01 is a requirement about HOW the dev nodes came to exist, and a live
+# Node object cannot answer it — a node built by OpenTofu and one built by hand in a
+# hypervisor UI are indistinguishable through the Kubernetes API. What is provable, with
+# no cluster, is that a COMPLETE and EXECUTABLE provisioning path exists for all four
+# stages and covers EVERY dev node. For the Ansible half that is proven by DRIVING the
+# real toolchain offline (`--syntax-check`, `--list-hosts` — neither opens a connection
+# to any node), not by reading files: a chain that does not resolve fails the check.
+#
+# ENVIRONMENT-AGNOSTIC: no hostname, address, prefix or node count appears in the test.
+# The dev group names are read from the playbooks' own default host patterns, the node
+# names are generated from the IaC module's prefix/count variables, and the two sets are
+# compared against each other — so the assertion survives a rename or a resize.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it,
+# WHEN  the provisioning chain is parsed and (where offline execution is possible) driven,
+# THEN  the IaC module creates the dev nodes on a LOCAL KVM hypervisor (allowlisted
+#       provider — a cloud provider fails), from a for_each map rather than a count index,
+#       each with CPU/RAM/OS disk/dedicated Longhorn data disk/NIC/cloud-init seed; the
+#       node set it creates is EXACTLY the set Ansible manages; the baseline stage applies
+#       the package floor, kernel modules, sysctls, data-disk mount, swap-off and iscsid
+#       declaratively; one k3s role founds the cluster with --cluster-init and joins the
+#       rest with --server while disabling flannel/kube-proxy/traefik/servicelb at
+#       install; and site.yml's chain (baseline -> k3s -> Cilium -> verify -> Flux)
+#       resolves and targets every dev node at every stage.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (git, PyYAML, and —
+# where present — ansible-playbook in no-connection modes; no cluster, no network);
+# conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this Chainsaw Test
+# wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# KNOWN, DELIBERATE GAPS (enumerated in check.sh's header; this test claims none of them):
+#   * That the RUNNING dev VMs were created by this module — needs the OpenTofu state or
+#     hypervisor access, neither available offline.
+#   * `tofu validate` — needs `tofu init` (provider registry), i.e. network. The module is
+#     parsed, not evaluated; a network-allowed CI stage would close this.
+#   * "Never hand-edited on the box" (docs/02 stage 4's second half) — a live drift check.
+#   * REBUILD/re-converge (docs/02's own proof line) — exercised at L3 by
+#     tests/l3-fault-injection/node-loss (R-STATE-02).
+#   * docs/02 prose puts the baseline in cloud-init; the implementation moved it into the
+#     Ansible node_baseline role. R-ENV-01 requires the node to be "baselined ... as code",
+#     not that cloud-init be the tool, so the check asserts the STAGE and RECORDS the
+#     divergence rather than hiding it.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-ENV-01: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-ENV-01"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # NO `scope` ANNOTATION, DELIBERATELY — this invariant IS path-scoped, and was audited as
+    # such (2026-09-12). Its entire input surface is infra/ (OpenTofu + the Ansible roles that
+    # provision the dev nodes); it reads nothing else. The gap was that
+    # ci/touched-requirements.sh keyed infra/* to NOTHING, so an infra/ edit attributed no
+    # requirement and this check was filtered out. The right fix for a path-scoped invariant is
+    # a path-map entry, not an unconditional run: `infra/*) echo "R-ENV-01"` was added there in
+    # the same change. Keep the two in sync — if this check ever grows an assertion outside
+    # infra/, either widen that map entry or give this test a whole-repo scope.
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Given the tracked tree, when the dev provisioning chain is parsed and driven
+      offline, then every dev node is created by local-KVM IaC, baselined, cluster-joined
+      and handed to Flux by one code path that covers all of them — with no node outside
+      it and no stage missing.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: then-every-dev-node-is-created-baselined-joined-and-managed-as-code
+      description: >-
+        Run the offline assertion script over the tracked tree (same script ci/l0.sh and
+        conformance/run.sh --layer l0 execute).
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,442 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code
+# Serves: R-ENV-01 ("dev/test MUST be provisioned as local KVMs via IaC: created,
+#         baselined, cluster-joined, and managed as code." — spec
+#         docs/00-vision-and-scope.md; the four stages are enumerated in
+#         docs/02-environments-and-provisioning.md §"Node lifecycle stages
+#         (R-ENV-01 — 'created, baselined, cluster-joined, managed as code')":
+#           1. Create   — OpenTofu instantiates the VM
+#           2. Baseline — OS baseline and prerequisites
+#           3. Cluster-join — Ansible installs/joins k3s with Cilium as CNI; disables
+#              k3s bundled flannel/traefik/servicelb/kube-proxy
+#           4. Manage   — GitOps-managed by Flux; node config changes are made via IaC
+#              and re-applied, never hand-edited on the box.)
+#
+# WHY L0 IS THE RIGHT LAYER, AND WHAT IT MEANS TO TEST THIS BEHAVIOURALLY
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# R-ENV-01 is a requirement about HOW the dev nodes come to exist. The live cluster
+# cannot answer it: a Kubernetes node object looks identical whether it was built by
+# OpenTofu or by hand in a hypervisor UI (there is no API field for "was I created by
+# IaC"). What CAN be proven, with no cluster, is that a COMPLETE, EXECUTABLE
+# provisioning path exists for all four stages and covers every dev node — and, for the
+# Ansible half, that is proven by RUNNING the real toolchain in a no-connection mode
+# (`--syntax-check`, `--list-hosts`) rather than by reading the files, so a chain that
+# does not actually resolve fails here. The IaC half is asserted by parsing the module:
+# `tofu init/validate` needs the provider registry, and L0 is offline by contract.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it,
+# WHEN  the provisioning chain is parsed and (where offline execution is possible)
+#       actually driven,
+# THEN  CREATE:  the IaC module targets a LOCAL KVM hypervisor (every declared provider
+#                is a KVM-family hypervisor provider — no cloud provider may appear),
+#                instantiates its nodes from a for_each map (never a count index, so one
+#                node can be replaced without disturbing its siblings), and gives each
+#                node CPU, RAM, an OS disk, a DEDICATED Longhorn data disk, a NIC and a
+#                cloud-init seed carrying the login user + SSH key;
+#       AND      the node set it creates is EXACTLY the dev node set Ansible manages —
+#                names derived from the module's own prefix/count, so no node can be
+#                hand-added to the inventory or hand-created in the hypervisor;
+#       BASELINE: a baseline stage exists as declarative Ansible (package floor, kernel
+#                modules persisted AND loaded, sysctls, the Longhorn data disk formatted
+#                and mounted, swap off, iscsid enabled), driven by variables with
+#                defaults rather than per-host special cases;
+#       JOIN:    one role installs k3s for both roles of every node — `--cluster-init`
+#                on the primary, `--server` join on the secondaries — with flannel,
+#                kube-proxy, traefik and servicelb disabled AT INSTALL, and Cilium
+#                installed as the CNI afterwards;
+#       MANAGE:  site.yml chains baseline -> k3s -> Cilium -> verify -> Flux bootstrap;
+#                `ansible-playbook --syntax-check` on that chain SUCCEEDS; and
+#                `--list-hosts` shows every one of those stages targeting EVERY dev
+#                node, so no node is outside the code path.
+#
+# ENVIRONMENT-AGNOSTIC: no hostname, address, prefix or node count is written down here.
+# The dev group names come from the playbooks' own default host patterns, the node names
+# from the IaC module's prefix/count variables, and the two sets are compared to each
+# other. This check therefore keeps working when the estate is renamed or resized.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps — do not read this test as claiming them):
+#   - That the RUNNING dev VMs were in fact created by this module. Nothing offline can:
+#     it would need the OpenTofu state (a remote R2 backend + credentials) or hypervisor
+#     access. `tofu plan` against the live estate is the operator's own check.
+#   - That the module APPLIES cleanly. `tofu validate` needs `tofu init`, which downloads
+#     the provider from the registry; L0 is offline by contract, so the module is parsed,
+#     not evaluated. ci/lint.sh does not cover .tf either — a gap worth closing in CI
+#     with a network-allowed stage, not here.
+#   - "Never hand-edited on the box" (stage 4's second half) — a drift check against the
+#     live nodes, which is an operator/Ansible-check-mode exercise, not a repo property.
+#   - REBUILD/re-converge ("destroy a dev node VM and rebuild it", docs/02's own proof
+#     line) — that is exercised at L3 by tests/l3-fault-injection/node-loss (R-STATE-02).
+#   - That the baseline actually ran on a node (cluster/host state), and that the
+#     hypervisor is on the operator's own LAN rather than remote — "local" is asserted as
+#     "a KVM hypervisor provider driving a self-hosted endpoint variable", not as a
+#     network topology fact.
+#   - DEVIATION FROM docs/02 PROSE, ASSERTED DELIBERATELY: docs/02 describes stage 2 as
+#     cloud-init applying the OS baseline. The implementation moved the rich baseline into
+#     the Ansible `node_baseline` role (cloud-init keeps hostname/user/SSH/network),
+#     because Proxmox provisioning is API-only and a custom cloud-init snippet needs
+#     SSH/SFTP to the hypervisor. R-ENV-01's own wording requires the node to be
+#     "baselined ... as code", not that cloud-init be the tool, so this check asserts the
+#     STAGE, wherever it lives, and records the divergence rather than hiding it.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+import re
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+NOTES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def note(msg):
+    NOTES.append(msg)
+
+
+# A LOCAL DEPENDENCY the repo deliberately does not carry — the vault passphrase (kept
+# outside the repo, R-SEC-01) or the Galaxy collections (gitignored; installed from
+# collections/requirements.yml). Their absence is an ENVIRONMENT gap, not a repo defect,
+# and is the ONLY tolerated reason the driven sub-assertions may not run. Deliberately
+# narrow: every other non-zero exit is a real failure. The parse assertions always run.
+ENV_ONLY_FAILURE = re.compile(
+    r"vault password|vault-id|Attempting to decrypt"
+    r"|No module named 'ansible_collections|couldn't resolve module/action", re.I)
+
+TOFU = ROOT / "infra" / "tofu"
+ANS = ROOT / "infra" / "ansible"
+check(TOFU.is_dir(), "infra/tofu/ is missing — the CREATE stage has no IaC at all (R-ENV-01)")
+check(ANS.is_dir(), "infra/ansible/ is missing — the BASELINE/JOIN/MANAGE stages have no code")
+if not TOFU.is_dir() or not ANS.is_dir():
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code): {len(FAILURES)} of {CHECKS} failed",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+TF = "\n".join((p.read_text(errors="replace") for p in sorted(TOFU.glob("*.tf"))))
+check(len(TF) > 500, "infra/tofu/*.tf is empty or a stub — nothing creates the dev nodes")
+
+# ============================================================ STAGE 1 — CREATE (IaC)
+# A LOCAL KVM hypervisor, by allowlist: any provider outside this set fails, so moving
+# dev onto a cloud (or anything that is not a KVM hypervisor the operator runs) is caught
+# here rather than being noticed later. Each entry is justified, not just listed:
+#   bpg/proxmox        Proxmox VE — a KVM/QEMU hypervisor the operator hosts.
+#   dmacvicar/libvirt  libvirt/KVM directly (the pre-Proxmox substrate).
+KVM_PROVIDERS = {"bpg/proxmox", "dmacvicar/libvirt"}
+providers = dict(re.findall(r'source\s*=\s*"([^"]+)"', TF) and
+                 [(m.group(1), m.group(2)) for m in
+                  re.finditer(r'(\w[\w-]*)\s*=\s*\{[^}]*?source\s*=\s*"([^"]+)"', TF, re.S)])
+check(len(providers) > 0,
+      "infra/tofu declares no required_providers — the substrate is unpinned, so 'via IaC' "
+      "cannot be checked at all")
+for alias, source in sorted(providers.items()):
+    check(source.lower() in KVM_PROVIDERS,
+          f"infra/tofu declares provider {alias}={source!r}, which is not a local KVM hypervisor "
+          f"provider (allowed: {sorted(KVM_PROVIDERS)}) — R-ENV-01 requires dev/test to be LOCAL KVMs")
+
+# The VM resource: for_each-keyed, and carrying the hardware + seed docs/02 enumerates.
+vm_blocks = re.findall(r'resource\s+"([\w]*(?:_vm|_domain))"\s+"(\w+)"\s*\{(.*?)\n\}',
+                       TF, re.S)
+check(len(vm_blocks) >= 1,
+      "no VM/domain resource found in infra/tofu — nothing in IaC creates a dev node")
+for rtype, rname, body in vm_blocks:
+    check("for_each" in body,
+          f'resource "{rtype}" "{rname}" is not for_each-keyed. A count index makes single-node '
+          "replace unsafe (a -target'ed destroy cascaded to sibling nodes — DECISIONS-LOG F1), so "
+          "'created ... as code' would not survive a rebuild")
+    check(not re.search(r"^\s*count\s*=", body, re.M),
+          f'resource "{rtype}" "{rname}" uses a positional count index')
+    for want, why in (
+        (r"\bcpu\b", "CPU"),
+        (r"\bmemory\b", "RAM"),
+        (r"network_device|network_interface", "a NIC"),
+        (r"initialization|cloud_init|cloudinit", "a cloud-init seed"),
+    ):
+        check(re.search(want, body) is not None,
+              f'resource "{rtype}" "{rname}" declares no {why} — docs/02 stage 1 requires CPU, RAM, '
+              "disks, NICs and a cloud-init seed to come from IaC")
+    disks = len(re.findall(r"^\s*disk\s*\{", body, re.M))
+    check(disks >= 2,
+          f'resource "{rtype}" "{rname}" declares {disks} disk block(s); docs/02 requires the OS '
+          "disk PLUS a dedicated data disk for Longhorn")
+    check(re.search(r"user_account|ssh_authorized_key|ssh_keys", body) is not None,
+          f'resource "{rtype}" "{rname}" seeds no login user / SSH key — the node could not be '
+          "reached by the BASELINE stage without a hand step")
+
+# Node identity comes from variables, and those variables define the whole node set.
+def tf_default(var: str):
+    m = re.search(r'variable\s+"' + re.escape(var) + r'"\s*\{(.*?)\n\}', TF, re.S)
+    if not m:
+        return None
+    d = re.search(r'default\s*=\s*(.+)', m.group(1))
+    return d.group(1).strip() if d else None
+
+
+prefix_raw = tf_default("node_name_prefix")
+count_raw = tf_default("node_count")
+ips_raw = tf_default("node_ips")
+check(prefix_raw is not None and count_raw is not None,
+      "infra/tofu has no node_name_prefix/node_count variables — the node set is not derived "
+      "from code, so the created nodes cannot be compared with the managed ones")
+prefix = (prefix_raw or "").strip('"')
+try:
+    node_count = int((count_raw or "0").strip())
+except ValueError:
+    node_count = 0
+check(node_count >= 1, f"node_count default is {count_raw!r} — no node would be created")
+if ips_raw is not None:
+    n_ips = len(re.findall(r'"[^"]+"', ips_raw))
+    check(n_ips >= node_count,
+          f"node_ips default has {n_ips} address(es) for node_count={node_count} — the module "
+          "cannot address every node it creates")
+check((TOFU / "outputs.tf").is_file() and
+      re.search(r'output\s+"(ansible_inventory|nodes)"', (TOFU / "outputs.tf").read_text()) is not None,
+      "infra/tofu/outputs.tf surfaces no node inventory output — the JOIN stage would have to be "
+      "told the node facts by hand instead of consuming them from IaC")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------- the dev node set, derived twice over
+# Group names are taken from the PLAYBOOKS' own default host patterns, so nothing here
+# restates the estate's naming.
+PLAYBOOKS = ANS / "playbooks"
+
+
+def default_patterns(playbook: str) -> list[str]:
+    p = PLAYBOOKS / playbook
+    if not p.is_file():
+        return []
+    return re.findall(r"default\('([^']+)'\)", p.read_text())
+
+
+dev_groups = set(default_patterns("node-baseline.yml") + default_patterns("k3s.yml"))
+check(len(dev_groups) > 0,
+      "no playbook declares a default host pattern — the dev target is not expressed in code")
+
+INV = ANS / "inventory" / "hosts.ini"
+check(INV.is_file(), "infra/ansible/inventory/hosts.ini is missing — no node is managed as code")
+ini_groups: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+children: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+cur = None
+for line in (INV.read_text().splitlines() if INV.is_file() else []):
+    s = line.strip()
+    if not s or s.startswith("#"):
+        continue
+    m = re.match(r"^\[([^\]]+)\]$", s)
+    if m:
+        cur = m.group(1)
+        (children if cur.endswith(":children") else ini_groups).setdefault(
+            cur.split(":")[0] if cur.endswith(":children") else cur, [])
+        continue
+    if cur is None or cur.endswith(":vars"):
+        continue
+    host = s.split()[0]
+    if cur.endswith(":children"):
+        children.setdefault(cur.split(":")[0], []).append(host)
+    else:
+        ini_groups.setdefault(cur, []).append(host)
+
+
+def hosts_in(group: str, seen=None) -> set[str]:
+    seen = seen or set()
+    if group in seen:
+        return set()
+    seen.add(group)
+    out = set(ini_groups.get(group, []))
+    for child in children.get(group, []):
+        out |= hosts_in(child, seen)
+    return out
+
+
+dev_hosts: set[str] = set()
+for g in sorted(dev_groups):
+    dev_hosts |= hosts_in(g)
+check(len(dev_hosts) > 0,
+      f"the dev groups {sorted(dev_groups)} resolve to NO hosts in hosts.ini — nothing is managed")
+expected = {f"{prefix}{i + 1}" for i in range(node_count)}
+check(dev_hosts == expected,
+      f"the dev nodes Ansible manages ({sorted(dev_hosts)}) are not exactly the nodes the IaC "
+      f"module creates ({sorted(expected)}) — a node outside IaC is a hand-built node (R-ENV-01)")
+
+# ============================================================ STAGE 2 — BASELINE (code)
+BASE_ROLE = ANS / "roles" / "node_baseline"
+check(BASE_ROLE.is_dir(),
+      "no node_baseline role — the BASELINE stage has no code (docs/02 stage 2)")
+base_tasks = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace")
+                       for p in sorted((BASE_ROLE / "tasks").glob("*.yml"))) if BASE_ROLE.is_dir() else ""
+base_defaults = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace")
+                          for p in sorted((BASE_ROLE / "defaults").glob("*.yml"))) if BASE_ROLE.is_dir() else ""
+# Each item docs/02 names for stage 2, matched on the ANSIBLE MODULE that would do it —
+# a declarative, idempotent task, not a shell one-liner.
+for pattern, what in (
+    (r"ansible\.builtin\.apt:", "a package baseline (apt module)"),
+    (r"modprobe:", "kernel modules loaded (modprobe module)"),
+    (r"modules-load|/etc/modules", "kernel modules PERSISTED across reboot"),
+    (r"sysctl", "sysctl tuning"),
+    (r"filesystem:|mkfs", "a filesystem on the Longhorn data disk"),
+    (r"mount:|ansible\.posix\.mount", "the Longhorn data disk MOUNTED"),
+    (r"swap", "swap disabled"),
+    (r"iscsid", "iscsid enabled (Longhorn prerequisite)"),
+):
+    check(re.search(pattern, base_tasks) is not None,
+          f"node_baseline does not declare {what} — docs/02 stage 2 requires the OS baseline and "
+          "k3s/Longhorn/KubeVirt prerequisites to be applied as code")
+check(re.search(r"^node_baseline_packages:", base_defaults, re.M) is not None and
+      re.search(r"^node_baseline_kernel_modules:", base_defaults, re.M) is not None,
+      "node_baseline's package/module sets are not variables with defaults — a per-host special "
+      "case is not 'managed as code' (and could not be scoped per environment, R-ENV-02)")
+
+# ========================================================== STAGE 3 — CLUSTER-JOIN (k3s)
+K3S_ROLE = ANS / "roles" / "k3s_server"
+k3s_text = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace")
+                     for p in sorted((K3S_ROLE).rglob("*.yml"))) if K3S_ROLE.is_dir() else ""
+check(K3S_ROLE.is_dir() and len(k3s_text) > 200,
+      "no k3s_server role — nothing joins the nodes into a cluster (docs/02 stage 3)")
+check("--cluster-init" in k3s_text,
+      "the k3s role never passes --cluster-init — the HA embedded-etcd cluster is never founded")
+check(re.search(r"--server\s+https", k3s_text) is not None,
+      "the k3s role never joins secondaries with --server — nodes would not form one cluster")
+check(re.search(r"K3S_TOKEN|--token", k3s_text) is not None,
+      "the k3s role never supplies a join token — the join could only be completed by hand")
+# The bundled components docs/02 requires to be disabled AT INSTALL, each checked by the
+# flag that actually disables it.
+for pattern, what in (
+    (r"--flannel-backend=none", "flannel (Cilium is the CNI)"),
+    (r"--disable-kube-proxy", "kube-proxy (Cilium kube-proxy replacement)"),
+    (r"traefik", "traefik (Gateway API via Cilium)"),
+    (r"servicelb", "servicelb"),
+):
+    check(re.search(pattern, k3s_text) is not None,
+          f"the k3s install does not disable {what} — docs/02 stage 3 requires it disabled at "
+          "install, or the bundled component fights the platform's own")
+check((ANS / "roles" / "cilium").is_dir(),
+      "no cilium role — stage 3 requires Cilium to be installed as the CNI at bootstrap")
+check((ANS / "roles" / "flux_bootstrap").is_dir(),
+      "no flux_bootstrap role — stage 4's hand-off to GitOps has no code")
+
+# ============================================== STAGE 4 — MANAGE + the chain is REAL
+SITE = PLAYBOOKS / "site.yml"
+check(SITE.is_file(), "no playbooks/site.yml — the provisioning chain is not expressed as one path")
+site_txt = SITE.read_text() if SITE.is_file() else ""
+order = [m for m in re.findall(r"import_playbook:\s*(\S+)", site_txt)]
+check(order[:1] == ["node-baseline.yml"],
+      f"site.yml imports {order} — the BASELINE stage must come first (docs/02 sequencing)")
+for want in ("k3s.yml", "cilium.yml", "flux-bootstrap.yml"):
+    check(want in order, f"site.yml does not import {want} — a lifecycle stage is missing from the chain")
+if "k3s.yml" in order and "cilium.yml" in order:
+    check(order.index("k3s.yml") < order.index("cilium.yml"),
+          "site.yml installs Cilium before k3s — the CNI cannot precede the cluster")
+
+# --- DRIVE THE REAL TOOLCHAIN, OFFLINE ------------------------------------------------
+# --syntax-check and --list-hosts open NO connection to any node: they resolve the
+# playbook, roles, collections and inventory only. Running them is the difference between
+# "the chain is written down" and "the chain resolves".
+if shutil.which("ansible-playbook") is None:
+    note("ansible-playbook is not installed here (e.g. the in-cluster chainsaw image), so the "
+         "chain was PARSED but not DRIVEN; the merge gate's container has it and does drive it")
+else:
+    # cwd=infra/ansible so the tracked ansible.cfg (roles_path, collections_path, inventory)
+    # is the one in force — the same resolution a real run gets.
+    def ansible(*args) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
+        return subprocess.run(["ansible-playbook", *args], cwd=ANS,
+                              capture_output=True, text=True)
+
+    syn = ansible("--syntax-check", "playbooks/site.yml")
+    syn_out = (syn.stderr or "") + (syn.stdout or "")
+    lh = None
+    if syn.returncode != 0 and ENV_ONLY_FAILURE.search(syn_out):
+        # NARROW, SELF-POLICING SKIP — see ENV_ONLY_FAILURE above.
+        note("ansible-playbook lacks a LOCAL dependency kept outside the repo by design (the vault "
+             "passphrase and/or the gitignored Galaxy collections), so --syntax-check/--list-hosts "
+             "were not driven; every parse assertion above still ran")
+    else:
+        check(syn.returncode == 0,
+              "`ansible-playbook --syntax-check playbooks/site.yml` FAILED — the provisioning chain "
+              f"does not even load: {syn_out.strip()[:400]}")
+        lh = ansible("--list-hosts", "playbooks/site.yml")
+        check(lh.returncode == 0,
+              "`ansible-playbook --list-hosts playbooks/site.yml` FAILED — the chain does not "
+              f"resolve against the tracked inventory: "
+              f"{((lh.stderr or '') + (lh.stdout or '')).strip()[:400]}")
+    if lh is not None and lh.returncode == 0:
+        # Parse plays -> hosts. NEVER `ansible-inventory --list`: it prints DECRYPTED vault values.
+        plays: list[tuple[str, set[str]]] = []
+        name, hosts, in_hosts = None, set(), False
+        for line in lh.stdout.splitlines():
+            m = re.match(r"\s*play #\d+ \([^)]*\):\s*(.*?)\s*TAGS:", line)
+            if m:
+                if name is not None:
+                    plays.append((name, hosts))
+                name, hosts, in_hosts = m.group(1), set(), False
+                continue
+            if re.match(r"\s*hosts \(\d+\):", line):
+                in_hosts = True
+                continue
+            if in_hosts and line.strip() and not line.strip().startswith("pattern:"):
+                hosts.add(line.strip())
+        if name is not None:
+            plays.append((name, hosts))
+        check(len(plays) >= 4,
+              f"--list-hosts resolved {len(plays)} play(s) — the four-stage chain did not expand")
+        # Every lifecycle stage must cover EVERY dev node. A stage that reaches two of three
+        # nodes means the third was finished by hand.
+        STAGES = {
+            "baseline": r"baseline",
+            "cluster-join": r"^k3s (primary|secondar)",
+            "cni": r"cilium",
+            "manage (flux hand-off)": r"flux",
+        }
+        for stage, rx in STAGES.items():
+            covered: set[str] = set()
+            matched = 0
+            for pname, phosts in plays:
+                if re.search(rx, pname, re.I):
+                    matched += 1
+                    covered |= phosts
+            check(matched >= 1, f"no play in site.yml implements the {stage} stage")
+            check(covered == dev_hosts,
+                  f"the {stage} stage targets {sorted(covered)}, not every dev node "
+                  f"{sorted(dev_hosts)} — a node outside the code path is a hand-provisioned "
+                  "node (R-ENV-01)")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- verdict
+# NO-OP GUARD: a check that quietly asserts nothing is worse than no check.
+check(CHECKS >= 30,
+      f"only {CHECKS} assertions ran — the check degenerated to a near-no-op and its pass "
+      "would be meaningless")
+
+if FAILURES:
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code): {len(FAILURES)} of {CHECKS} assertions failed",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+for n in NOTES:
+    print(f"  note: {n}")
+print(f"check OK: dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code — {CHECKS} assertions; "
+      f"{len(dev_hosts)} dev node(s) {sorted(dev_hosts)} created by IaC ({sorted(providers.values())}), "
+      f"baselined, cluster-joined and Flux-managed by the same chain. R-ENV-01's authored-path "
+      "clause only — the live VMs' provenance, `tofu validate`, and rebuild/re-converge are NOT "
+      "proven here (see the header's gap list; rebuild is L3 node-loss).")
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — two egress paths, and the rule set that selects between them  (R-NET-04)  [EXECUTABLE]
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+# Spec:    docs/00 R-NET-04 ("The platform MUST support **multiple egress paths** selected by
+#          routing rules ... realized as two paths — the local `internet` path and the
+#          in-cluster `vpn` path — not multi-ISP routing"), elaborated by docs/03 §"Egress
+#          routing: two paths, one physical WAN": "the `internet` path is simply the default
+#          route out"; "**Default is the WAN; the VPN is strictly opt-in.** Every pod — and
+#          the nodes themselves — egress the local/private WAN by default and **never** the
+#          VPN. Only services labeled `egress-class=vpn` are steered to the tunnel, and the
+#          kill-switch blackholes **only** that class."
+#
+# WHAT THIS ADDS OVER R-NET-05/07 (already covered, and NOT re-tagged here)
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# R-NET-05/07 are about a SERVICE — it declares a class, enforcement is outside it, the class
+# flips via GitOps — and are proven by tests/l1-rendering/egress-class-render and
+# tests/l2-behavioral/egress-class. R-NET-04 is about the PLATFORM's PATH SET and the RULES
+# that select among them, which nothing else asserts:
+#   * exactly TWO paths, the same closed set in the schema, the admission policy and the
+#     renderer (a third value would be a path nothing routes; "multi-ISP" is out of scope);
+#   * selection is by a ROUTING RULE and the rule set is TOTAL AND DISJOINT — exactly one
+#     Cilium steering rule, selecting only `egress-class=vpn`, and on the gateway node one
+#     `ip rule` scoped to the tunnel address. NOTHING selects the `internet` class, because
+#     absence of a matching rule IS the default path;
+#   * the two paths COEXIST per DESTINATION: private space is excluded from the tunnel, so a
+#     vpn-class pod's cluster/LAN traffic still takes the local path;
+#   * the vpn path never becomes the DEFAULT — its default route lives in a dedicated routing
+#     table, `route-noexec` is set and a pushed `redirect-gateway` is ignored;
+#   * the kill-switch blackholes ONLY that class — the nft chain's policy is accept and every
+#     DROP is scoped to the vpn class's own source set/fwmark, so `internet` fails OPEN.
+#     (R-NET-06's opposite claim, that `vpn` fails CLOSED, is L3's vpn-killswitch.)
+#
+# WHY L0: every clause above is a statement about ALL rules — including rules that must be
+# ABSENT (nothing selects the default path; no unscoped rule; no unqualified drop; no default
+# route in the main table). A cluster can show which path two pods took; it cannot show that
+# no third rule exists or that the vocabulary is closed.
+#
+# ENVIRONMENT-AGNOSTIC: no address appears. The private ranges the tunnel must exclude are
+# checked as CONTAINMENT of the addresses each environment's own Flux overlay declares (pod
+# CIDR, Gateway VIP, LB pool, API host), so a new environment on a different LAN is checked
+# against its own values.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it,
+# WHEN  the egress vocabulary, every CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy, the gateway node's policy
+#       routing / OpenVPN / nftables templates, and every environment's overlay addresses are
+#       parsed and cross-checked,
+# THEN  there are exactly two paths with `internet` as the default; exactly one steering rule
+#       selects exactly the vpn class by label; the gateway is selected by node label with a
+#       named egress interface; all RFC1918 space and every address any environment assigns
+#       itself is excluded from the tunnel; the tunnel's default route and its fail-closed
+#       blackhole live only in a dedicated routing table behind a scoped `ip rule`; OpenVPN
+#       cannot take the main table; and no nftables DROP is unscoped.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (git tree + PyYAML; no
+# cluster, no network); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this
+# Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# KNOWN, DELIBERATE GAPS (enumerated in check.sh's header; this test claims none of them):
+#   * BEHAVIOUR. That an unlabelled pod really takes the WAN path is asserted at L2 by
+#     tests/l2-behavioral/egress-default-path (same requirement label); the two labelled
+#     classes are R-NET-05's L2 test; the kill-switch firing is R-NET-06's L3 test.
+#   * The RUNNING gateway node's routing tables / nftables ruleset. This reads the templates
+#     that generate them; a hand-added rule on the box is invisible here.
+#   * PHYSICAL MULTI-WAN's absence is NOT asserted — it is out of scope per OQ-1 and no
+#     honest repository signal distinguishes "one WAN, correctly" from "one WAN, by default".
+#   * IPv6 egress.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: egress-paths-selected-by-rules
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-NET-04: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-NET-04"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE. Universally quantified over tracked YAML: every manifest that carries
+    # an egress-class label/annotation must use a value the policy set actually steers. The
+    # file most likely to break it is a NEW workload under apps/ — which attributes no
+    # requirement — not platform/vpn-egress/ (the only path the map keys to R-NET-04).
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Given the tracked tree, when the egress vocabulary, every steering rule and the gateway
+      node's policy-routing/OpenVPN/nftables templates are parsed, then the platform offers
+      exactly two egress paths with the WAN as the default, exactly one rule selects exactly
+      the vpn class, local destinations stay on the local path in every environment, the
+      tunnel never becomes the default route, and nothing unscoped can blackhole the default
+      path.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: then-two-paths-exist-and-the-rules-select-between-them-totally-and-disjointly
+      description: >-
+        Run the offline assertion script over the tracked tree (same script ci/l0.sh and
+        conformance/run.sh --layer l0 execute).
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,521 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — egress-paths-selected-by-rules
+# Serves: R-NET-04 ("The platform MUST support **multiple egress paths** selected by routing
+#         rules. Per OQ-1 the environment has **one physical commercial WAN and no
+#         multi-ISP plans**, so this is realized as two paths — the local `internet` path and
+#         the in-cluster `vpn` path — not multi-ISP routing. Physical multi-WAN (multiple ISP
+#         uplinks) is **out of scope** unless a future ADR reopens it."
+#         — spec docs/00-vision-and-scope.md).
+#
+# The elaborating spec text this check quotes and asserts against — docs/03
+# §"Egress routing: two paths, one physical WAN (R-NET-04/05 — resolved by OQ-1)":
+#     | `internet` | Out the single commercial WAN | Normal pod egress via node -> SOHO edge
+#                                                    router -> internet |
+#     | `vpn`      | Routed through the in-cluster VPN tunnel | Steered to the shared VPN
+#                                                    egress gateway (ADR-0013) |
+#     "**Physical multi-WAN (multi-ISP) is out of scope.** With a single WAN there is nothing
+#      to policy-route across; the `internet` path is simply the default route out."
+#     "**Default is the WAN; the VPN is strictly opt-in.** Every pod — and the nodes
+#      themselves — egress the local/private WAN by default and **never** the VPN. Only
+#      services labeled `egress-class=vpn` are steered to the tunnel, and the kill-switch
+#      blackholes **only** that class."
+#     "It is **split-tunnel**: it creates `tun0` but does **not** set the node's default
+#      route (`route-noexec` + policy routing), so the node's own traffic stays on the WAN —
+#      only what Cilium points at `tun0` uses the VPN."
+#
+# WHAT R-NET-04 ADDS OVER R-NET-05/07 (which are ALREADY covered) — READ THIS FIRST
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# R-NET-05/07 are about a SERVICE: it can declare its class, enforcement happens outside it,
+# and the class can be flipped via GitOps. Those are proven by
+# tests/l1-rendering/egress-class-render (the render) and tests/l2-behavioral/egress-class
+# (two labelled pods observe two different public IPs, and a relabel re-routes the same pod).
+# Re-tagging either of those with R-NET-04 would be a duplicate wearing a new label.
+#
+# R-NET-04 is about the PLATFORM's PATH SET and the RULES THAT SELECT AMONG THEM. Its
+# distinctive content — none of which any existing test asserts — is:
+#
+#   (1) THERE ARE EXACTLY TWO PATHS, and the same two everywhere. The class vocabulary is
+#       one closed set of two values agreed by the schema, the admission policy and the
+#       renderer. A third value appearing in one of them but not the others would be a path
+#       nothing routes (or a path nothing validates); "multi-ISP" reappearing as a third
+#       class would contradict OQ-1's resolution.
+#   (2) SELECTION IS BY A ROUTING RULE, and the rule set is TOTAL AND DISJOINT. The `vpn`
+#       path is entered only via rules that select the vpn class — a Cilium
+#       CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy pod-selector, and on the gateway node an `ip rule` scoped
+#       to the tunnel source address. Nothing selects the `internet` class, because
+#       "the `internet` path is simply the default route out": ABSENCE of a matching rule IS
+#       the default path. So an unlabelled pod, and an `internet`-class pod, take the WAN.
+#   (3) THE PATHS COEXIST — the choice is per-destination, not per-pod-lifetime. The vpn
+#       rule tunnels public destinations while EXCLUDING all private space, so a vpn-class
+#       pod's cluster/LAN traffic still takes the local path at the same time as its
+#       internet traffic takes the tunnel.
+#   (4) THE VPN PATH NEVER BECOMES THE DEFAULT. Split tunnel: the tunnel's default route
+#       lives in a DEDICATED routing table reached only through the scoped rule, the
+#       provider's pushed `redirect-gateway` is ignored, and `route-noexec` keeps OpenVPN
+#       from touching the main table. Otherwise there would be one path (the VPN), not two.
+#   (5) THE KILL-SWITCH BLACKHOLES ONLY THAT CLASS. The blackhole default is inside the
+#       dedicated table; the nftables chain's policy is ACCEPT and every DROP is qualified
+#       by the vpn class's own source set / fwmark. The `internet` path therefore fails
+#       OPEN and can never be blackholed. (R-NET-06's opposite claim — that `vpn` fails
+#       CLOSED — is proven at L3 by tests/l3-fault-injection/vpn-killswitch. This check
+#       asserts the OTHER direction, which that test does not.)
+#
+# WHY L0. Every clause above is a property of the RULE SET, i.e. of authored configuration:
+# totality ("nothing selects the default path"), disjointness ("exactly one rule, selecting
+# exactly one class"), and scoping ("no unqualified drop, no default route in the main
+# table") are statements about ALL rules, including the ones that would have to be absent.
+# A running cluster can show you which path two pods took; it cannot show you that no third
+# rule exists, that no rule is unscoped, or that the vocabulary is closed. The behavioural
+# complement — that an UNLABELLED pod really does take the WAN path — is at L2 in
+# tests/l2-behavioral/egress-default-path (same requirement label).
+#
+# ENVIRONMENT-AGNOSTIC: no address is written down. The private ranges the vpn rule must
+# exclude are checked as CONTAINMENT of the addresses each environment's own Flux overlay
+# declares (pod CIDR, Gateway VIP, LB pool, API host) — so a new environment on a different
+# LAN is checked against its own addresses, and the check keeps working when they change.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps — do not read this check as claiming them):
+#   - Behaviour. That a vpn-class pod's packets really leave via tun0, that an unlabelled
+#     pod's really do not, and that the tunnel is up at all. L2 covers the two labelled
+#     classes (tests/l2-behavioral/egress-class, R-NET-05) and the unlabelled default
+#     (tests/l2-behavioral/egress-default-path, R-NET-04); the kill-switch firing is L3.
+#   - THE RUNNING NODE's routing tables and nftables ruleset. This reads the templates that
+#     generate them, driven by no node. A hand-added `ip rule` on the gateway node is
+#     invisible here (and to every other test); drift on the box is an Ansible check-mode
+#     exercise for the operator.
+#   - PHYSICAL MULTI-WAN. Out of scope per OQ-1, so its absence is not asserted: there is no
+#     honest repository signal that would distinguish "one WAN, correctly" from "one WAN,
+#     because nobody tried" — and inventing one would be a hollow assertion.
+#   - IPv6. The policy's CIDRs and the routing rules are IPv4-only, matching the platform.
+#     If IPv6 egress is ever enabled, the `internet` path would need the same analysis and
+#     this check would NOT catch its absence.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+import ipaddress
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+LBL = "homelab.keithjackson.dev"
+CLASS_LABEL = f"{LBL}/egress-class"
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def die():
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (egress-paths-selected-by-rules): {len(FAILURES)} of {CHECKS} "
+          "assertions failed", file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+
+def docs(path: Path):
+    """Every YAML document in a file, skipping empties."""
+    try:
+        return [d for d in yaml.safe_load_all(path.read_text()) if isinstance(d, dict)]
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        return []
+
+
+# Skip dot-DIRECTORIES (.git, .claude, .cache) while still matching dot-FILES such as
+# .sops.yaml. A bare rglob from ROOT also descends into NESTED WORKTREES —
+# .claude/worktrees/agent-*/ created for isolated agent runs — which made this check see
+# 5 CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy objects instead of the 1 authored, failing R-NET-04 for a
+# reason that has nothing to do with egress. .claude/ is gitignored (.gitignore:43), so
+# nothing under it is part of the authored surface by definition.
+TRACKED_YAML = sorted(p for p in ROOT.rglob("*.yaml")
+                      if "_artifacts" not in p.parts
+                      and not any(part.startswith(".")
+                                  for part in p.relative_to(ROOT).parent.parts))
+SCHEMA = ROOT / "schemas" / "servicedefinition.schema.json"
+RENDER = ROOT / "catalog" / "render.py"
+VPN_ROLE = ROOT / "infra" / "ansible" / "roles" / "vpn_egress_gateway"
+CLUSTERS = ROOT / "clusters"
+
+for p in (SCHEMA, RENDER, VPN_ROLE, CLUSTERS):
+    check(p.exists(), f"{p.relative_to(ROOT)} is missing — the egress path model cannot be "
+                      "read at all (R-NET-04)")
+if FAILURES:
+    die()
+
+
+# ======================================================= (1) EXACTLY TWO PATHS, AGREED
+import json  # noqa: E402  — only needed for the schema
+
+schema = json.loads(SCHEMA.read_text())
+egress_prop = ((schema.get("properties") or {}).get("egress") or {})
+enum = egress_prop.get("enum")
+check(isinstance(enum, list) and len(enum) == 2,
+      f"schemas/servicedefinition.schema.json declares egress enum {enum!r} — R-NET-04 is "
+      "realized as EXACTLY TWO paths (OQ-1: one WAN, no multi-ISP). A third value is a path "
+      "nothing routes; one value is not 'multiple egress paths'")
+PATHS = set(enum or [])
+check(PATHS == {"internet", "vpn"},
+      f"the declared egress paths are {sorted(PATHS)} — docs/03's table fixes them as "
+      "`internet` (out the single commercial WAN) and `vpn` (the in-cluster tunnel)")
+check(egress_prop.get("default") == "internet",
+      f"the schema's default egress class is {egress_prop.get('default')!r} — docs/03: "
+      "'Default is the WAN; the VPN is strictly opt-in', and 'the `internet` path is simply "
+      "the default route out'. A service that says nothing must get the WAN")
+
+# The admission policy must constrain the pod label to the SAME closed set, or a workload
+# could carry a class the schema never allowed (and that no rule routes).
+pol_files = sorted((ROOT / "platform" / "kyverno").rglob("*egress*.yaml"))
+check(len(pol_files) >= 1,
+      "no Kyverno policy file mentions egress under platform/kyverno — nothing stops a pod "
+      "carrying an egress class outside the declared path set")
+pol_text = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace") for p in pol_files)
+for cls in sorted(PATHS):
+    check(re.search(rf"\b{re.escape(cls)}\b", pol_text) is not None,
+          f"the egress admission policy never names the {cls!r} path — a class the policy "
+          "does not know cannot be validated against the path set")
+# No tracked object may carry a class outside the closed set — with ONE self-policing
+# exemption. A Kyverno policy-test fixture deliberately carries an INVALID class so the
+# admission test can assert the policy REJECTS it; that pod is exempt only while a
+# kyverno-test.yaml in the same tests tree still expects `result: fail` for it. Delete the
+# expectation (or flip it to pass) and the exemption evaporates — never a bare path allowlist.
+def rejected_by_a_policy_test(resource_name: str, fixture: Path) -> bool:
+    tests_root = fixture.parent
+    while tests_root != ROOT and tests_root.name != "tests":
+        tests_root = tests_root.parent
+    if tests_root == ROOT:
+        return False
+    for tf in sorted(tests_root.rglob("kyverno-test.yaml")):
+        for d in docs(tf):
+            for case in (d.get("results") or []):
+                if case.get("result") == "fail" and resource_name in (case.get("resources") or []):
+                    return True
+    return False
+
+
+stray: list[str] = []
+_STRAY_RE = re.compile(rf"{re.escape(CLASS_LABEL)}:\s*[\"']?([A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*)")
+for f in TRACKED_YAML:
+    for d in docs(f):
+        labels = ((d.get("metadata") or {}).get("labels") or {})
+        cls = labels.get(CLASS_LABEL)
+        # Also catch pod-template labels (Deployments/DaemonSets/Jobs/VMs).
+        tmpl = (((d.get("spec") or {}).get("template") or {}).get("metadata") or {}).get("labels") or {}
+        for value, owner in ((cls, d), (tmpl.get(CLASS_LABEL), d)):
+            if value is None or value in PATHS or value == "CLASS":
+                continue
+            name = ((owner.get("metadata") or {}).get("name") or "?")
+            if rejected_by_a_policy_test(name, f):
+                continue
+            stray.append(f"{f.relative_to(ROOT)}:{name}={value}")
+    # Values written as raw text (templates, docs-as-code) are caught too.
+    for value in set(_STRAY_RE.findall(f.read_text(errors="replace"))):
+        if value in PATHS or value == "CLASS":
+            continue
+        if any(value in s for s in stray):
+            continue
+        # Raw-text hit with no parsed owner: exempt only if EVERY object in the file that
+        # carries this value is a policy-test fixture proven to be rejected.
+        owners = [((d.get("metadata") or {}).get("name") or "?") for d in docs(f)
+                  if ((d.get("metadata") or {}).get("labels") or {}).get(CLASS_LABEL) == value]
+        if owners and all(rejected_by_a_policy_test(o, f) for o in owners):
+            continue
+        stray.append(f"{f.relative_to(ROOT)}:<text>={value}")
+check(not stray,
+      f"tracked YAML assigns egress-class value(s) outside the declared path set "
+      f"{sorted(PATHS)}: {sorted(stray)} — a value no routing rule selects and no admission "
+      "policy allows is a workload on no path at all (the only exemption is a Kyverno "
+      "policy-test fixture that a kyverno-test.yaml still expects to FAIL)")
+
+# The renderer must project the DECLARED class onto the pod label, unmodified: that label is
+# what the routing rule selects on, so a renderer that rewrote it would break the coupling
+# between the declaration and the path.
+rtext = RENDER.read_text()
+check(re.search(rf'f?"\{{LBL\}}/egress-class":\s*s\["egress"\]', rtext) is not None
+      or re.search(r'egress-class\"\]?\s*:\s*s\[\"egress\"\]', rtext) is not None,
+      "catalog/render.py does not project the ServiceDefinition's own `egress` value onto the "
+      f"{CLASS_LABEL} pod label — the declaration and the routing rule's selector would be "
+      "two independent facts that could disagree")
+
+
+# ============================== (2) SELECTION IS BY RULE; THE RULE SET IS TOTAL & DISJOINT
+policies: list[tuple[Path, dict]] = []
+for p in TRACKED_YAML:
+    for d in docs(p):
+        if d.get("kind") == "CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy":
+            policies.append((p, d))
+check(len(policies) == 1,
+      f"{len(policies)} CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy object(s) are authored "
+      f"({[str(p.relative_to(ROOT)) for p, _ in policies]}) — R-NET-04's steering must be ONE "
+      "rule. Two rules can overlap, and which one wins for an overlapping pod is not "
+      "something the repository states")
+
+for path, pol in policies:
+    rel = str(path.relative_to(ROOT))
+    spec = pol.get("spec") or {}
+    selectors = spec.get("selectors") or []
+    check(len(selectors) == 1,
+          f"{rel}: the steering rule has {len(selectors)} selector(s) — every additional "
+          "selector widens the set of pods steered off the default path, and R-NET-04's "
+          "selection must be exactly 'the vpn class'")
+    for sel in selectors:
+        pod_sel = sel.get("podSelector")
+        check(isinstance(pod_sel, dict) and pod_sel,
+              f"{rel}: a selector has no podSelector — an empty selector in Cilium matches "
+              "EVERY pod, which would put the whole cluster on the VPN path and leave no "
+              "default path at all")
+        ml = (pod_sel or {}).get("matchLabels") or {}
+        me = (pod_sel or {}).get("matchExpressions") or []
+        check(not me,
+              f"{rel}: the podSelector uses matchExpressions {me!r}. The class contract is a "
+              "single label equality; expressions (In/NotIn/Exists) can select pods that "
+              "never declared a class, so the rule set would no longer be disjoint from the "
+              "default path")
+        check(set(ml) == {CLASS_LABEL},
+              f"{rel}: the podSelector matches on {sorted(ml)} — it must select on exactly "
+              f"{CLASS_LABEL}. Any other key makes path selection depend on something other "
+              "than the declared class (and a namespace/app key would silently exempt pods)")
+        check(ml.get(CLASS_LABEL) == "vpn",
+              f"{rel}: the steering rule selects {CLASS_LABEL}={ml.get(CLASS_LABEL)!r}. Only "
+              "the `vpn` class may be steered: docs/03 — 'Only services labeled "
+              "egress-class=vpn are steered to the tunnel'. A rule selecting `internet` would "
+              "route the default path through the tunnel, i.e. leave one path, not two")
+
+    # The gateway is chosen by a NODE LABEL, not a hostname: the path's endpoint is itself a
+    # rule, so the gateway can move (or gain a standby) with no rule rewrite.
+    gw = spec.get("egressGateway") or {}
+    node_sel = (gw.get("nodeSelector") or {}).get("matchLabels") or {}
+    check(bool(node_sel),
+          f"{rel}: the egressGateway selects no node by label — pinning the path's exit to a "
+          "named host means the vpn path cannot fail over (docs/03 requires two gateway "
+          "nodes + Egress Gateway HA)")
+    check("nodeName" not in gw,
+          f"{rel}: the egressGateway pins a nodeName — the exit node must be selected by "
+          "label so the path survives losing that node")
+    check(isinstance(gw.get("interface"), str) and gw.get("interface"),
+          f"{rel}: the egressGateway names no egress interface — without it the steered class "
+          "is not actually sent down a different path from the default")
+
+    # ------------------- (3) THE PATHS COEXIST: the choice is per DESTINATION -------------
+    dests = spec.get("destinationCIDRs") or []
+    excl = spec.get("excludedCIDRs") or []
+    check([str(c) for c in dests] == ["0.0.0.0/0"],
+          f"{rel}: destinationCIDRs is {dests!r}. The vpn path is for PUBLIC destinations "
+          "('Routed through the in-cluster VPN tunnel'), expressed as the whole internet "
+          "minus the exclusions below — narrowing it here would silently leave public "
+          "destinations on the WAN for a vpn-class service")
+    try:
+        excluded = [ipaddress.ip_network(str(c)) for c in excl]
+    except ValueError as e:
+        excluded = []
+        check(False, f"{rel}: excludedCIDRs contains an unparsable network ({e})")
+    check(len(excluded) >= 3,
+          f"{rel}: only {len(excluded)} excluded CIDR(s) — docs/03 requires intra-cluster, "
+          "pod->service and LAN traffic to stay on the LOCAL path, which is all of RFC1918")
+
+    def covered(net: ipaddress.IPv4Network | ipaddress.IPv6Network) -> bool:
+        return any(net.subnet_of(e) for e in excluded if e.version == net.version)
+
+    # RFC1918 in full — computed, not string-matched, so a typo'd mask is caught.
+    for rfc in ("10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.168.0.0/16"):
+        net = ipaddress.ip_network(rfc)
+        check(covered(net),
+              f"{rel}: the private range {rfc} is NOT excluded from the tunnel — a vpn-class "
+              "pod's cluster/LAN traffic would be SNAT'd out tun0, so the two paths would not "
+              "coexist for the same pod and east-west traffic would break")
+
+    # Every address each ENVIRONMENT declares for itself must fall in the excluded set: that
+    # is what makes 'local stays local' true per environment rather than by coincidence.
+    def overlay_addresses() -> list[tuple[str, str]]:
+        found: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+        base = CLUSTERS / "base" / "cluster-vars.yaml"
+        data = {}
+        if base.is_file():
+            for d in docs(base):
+                if d.get("kind") == "ConfigMap":
+                    data = {k: str(v) for k, v in (d.get("data") or {}).items()}
+        for f in sorted(CLUSTERS.glob("*/kustomization.yaml")):
+            env = {**data}
+            for m in re.finditer(
+                    r"-\s+op:\s*replace\s*\n\s*path:\s*/data/(?P<k>[A-Z0-9_]+)\s*\n"
+                    r"\s*value:\s*(?P<v>\S.*?)\s*$", f.read_text(), re.M):
+                env[m.group("k")] = m.group("v").strip().strip('"').strip("'")
+            label = f.parent.name
+            for key in ("CLUSTER_POD_CIDR", "GATEWAY_VIP", "CILIUM_LB_POOL_START",
+                        "CILIUM_LB_POOL_STOP", "K3S_API_HOST"):
+                v = env.get(key, "")
+                if v and not v.startswith("TBD"):
+                    found.append((f"{label}/{key}", v))
+        return found
+
+    addrs = overlay_addresses()
+    check(len(addrs) >= 5,
+          f"only {len(addrs)} environment address(es) could be read from the Flux overlays — "
+          "the 'local traffic stays local' assertion would be checking almost nothing")
+    for label, value in addrs:
+        try:
+            net = ipaddress.ip_network(value, strict=False)
+        except ValueError:
+            continue
+        check(covered(net),
+              f"{rel}: {label}={value}, an address THIS repository assigns to a cluster, is "
+              "NOT inside the tunnel's excludedCIDRs — a vpn-class pod in that environment "
+              "would try to reach its own cluster/LAN through the VPN")
+
+
+# ============ (4) THE VPN PATH IS A SECOND TABLE, NEVER THE DEFAULT (split tunnel) ========
+TPL = VPN_ROLE / "templates"
+up = (TPL / "vpn-egress-up.sh.j2")
+down = (TPL / "vpn-egress-down.sh.j2")
+conf = (TPL / "vpn-egress.conf.j2")
+nft = (TPL / "vpn-egress-killswitch.nft.j2")
+for f in (up, down, conf, nft):
+    check(f.is_file(), f"{f.relative_to(ROOT)} is missing — the second egress path's routing "
+                       "rules are not authored")
+if FAILURES:
+    die()
+
+defaults = yaml.safe_load((VPN_ROLE / "defaults" / "main.yml").read_text()) or {}
+
+
+def render(text: str) -> str:
+    """Substitute `{{ var }}` with the role's own default value, for every default.
+
+    The templates reference their knobs by NAME, so an analysis that looked for the VALUE
+    (e.g. the nft set name) would silently match nothing and pass vacuously — which is
+    exactly what an earlier draft of this check did. Rendering first means the assertions
+    below examine the text the node actually gets. Only simple `{{ name }}` expressions are
+    substituted; anything else is left as-is (and the assertions are written so an
+    unsubstituted expression fails rather than passes).
+    """
+    out = text
+    for k, v in defaults.items():
+        if isinstance(v, (str, int)):
+            out = re.sub(r"\{\{\s*" + re.escape(str(k)) + r"\s*\}\}", str(v), out)
+    return out
+
+
+up_t, conf_t, nft_t = render(up.read_text()), render(conf.read_text()), render(nft.read_text())
+table_id = str(defaults.get("vpn_egress_gateway_route_table_id", ""))
+check(table_id.isdigit() and table_id not in ("0", "253", "254", "255"),
+      f"the tunnel's routing table id is {table_id!r} — the second path must live in a "
+      "DEDICATED table. 254 (main), 255 (local) and 253 (default) are the kernel's own, and "
+      "putting the tunnel's default route in any of them makes the VPN the node's default "
+      "route instead of a selectable second path")
+check(str(defaults.get("vpn_egress_gateway_rule_priority", "")).isdigit(),
+      "no ip-rule priority is declared for the tunnel table — 'selected by routing rules' "
+      "needs a rule, at a defined precedence")
+
+# Every `ip route ... default` the up-script installs must name the dedicated table.
+route_lines = [l.strip() for l in up_t.splitlines()
+               if re.search(r"^\s*ip\s+route\s+(replace|add)\b", l)]
+check(len(route_lines) >= 2,
+      f"the up-script installs {len(route_lines)} route(s) — the vpn path needs its own "
+      "default route via the tunnel AND the fail-closed blackhole behind it")
+for l in route_lines:
+    check(re.search(r'table\s+"?\$\{?TABLE_ID', l) is not None,
+          f"the up-script installs a route WITHOUT naming the dedicated table: {l!r}. A route "
+          "landing in the main table changes the path every other pod and the node itself "
+          "uses — the VPN would stop being opt-in")
+    check("blackhole" not in l or re.search(r'table\s+"?\$\{?TABLE_ID', l) is not None,
+          f"a blackhole route is installed outside the tunnel table: {l!r}. docs/03: the "
+          "kill-switch 'blackholes **only** that class'; `internet` fails OPEN and must never "
+          "be blackholed")
+
+# Every `ip rule` must be SCOPED. An unscoped rule (`ip rule add lookup <table>`) sends
+# everything into the tunnel table, which would leave one path instead of two.
+rule_lines = [l.strip() for l in up_t.splitlines() if re.search(r"^\s*ip\s+rule\s+add\b", l)]
+check(len(rule_lines) >= 1,
+      "the up-script adds no `ip rule` — nothing SELECTS the tunnel path, so the second "
+      "routing table would never be consulted (R-NET-04's 'selected by routing rules')")
+for l in rule_lines:
+    check(re.search(r"\bfrom\s+\S|\bfwmark\s+\S|\biif\s+\S", l) is not None,
+          f"an unscoped ip rule is installed: {l!r}. Without a `from`/`fwmark`/`iif` selector "
+          "EVERY packet is looked up in the tunnel table, so the WAN path disappears and the "
+          "VPN is no longer opt-in")
+    check(re.search(r'lookup\s+"?\$\{?TABLE_ID', l) is not None,
+          f"an ip rule looks up a table other than the tunnel's: {l!r}")
+check(re.search(r'ip rule add from\s+"\$\{SRC\}"', up_t) is not None,
+      "the steering rule is not scoped to ${SRC}, the tunnel's own local address — that "
+      "address is what Cilium SNATs vpn-class pods to, and it is the ONLY thing that "
+      "distinguishes the steered class from every other flow on the gateway node")
+check(re.search(r"^\s*if \[ -z \"\$\{SRC\}\" \]", up_t, re.M) is not None,
+      "the up-script does not refuse to run when the tunnel address is unknown — installing "
+      "a partial rule set is how a path ends up half-selected")
+
+# The provider must not be able to make the tunnel the default route either.
+check(re.search(r"^\s*route-noexec\s*$", conf_t, re.M) is not None,
+      "the OpenVPN wrapper config lacks `route-noexec` — OpenVPN would install the pushed "
+      "routes itself, in the MAIN table, and the VPN would become the node's default route "
+      "(docs/03: 'does **not** set the node's default route (`route-noexec` + policy "
+      "routing)')")
+check(re.search(r'pull-filter ignore "redirect-gateway"', conf_t) is not None,
+      "the OpenVPN wrapper config does not ignore a pushed `redirect-gateway` — the VPN "
+      "provider could redirect the node's whole default route into the tunnel, collapsing "
+      "the two paths into one")
+check(re.search(r"^\s*redirect-gateway", conf_t, re.M) is None,
+      "the OpenVPN wrapper config itself sets `redirect-gateway` — that IS making the VPN the "
+      "default route")
+
+
+# ================= (5) THE KILL-SWITCH BLACKHOLES ONLY THE VPN CLASS (internet fails OPEN)
+src_set = str(defaults.get("vpn_egress_gateway_nft_src_set", ""))
+fwmark = str(defaults.get("vpn_egress_gateway_fwmark", ""))
+check(bool(src_set),
+      "the role declares no nftables source set — the kill-switch would have no way to name "
+      "'the steered class' and could only match broadly")
+policies_lines = [l.strip() for l in nft_t.splitlines() if re.search(r"^\s*type filter hook", l)]
+check(len(policies_lines) >= 1,
+      "the kill-switch nft template declares no base chain — nothing would be enforced")
+for l in policies_lines:
+    check(re.search(r"policy\s+accept\s*;", l) is not None,
+          f"an nft base chain is not `policy accept`: {l!r}. A default-drop chain here "
+          "blackholes the `internet` path too, and docs/03 requires the two classes to fail "
+          "in OPPOSITE directions — 'internet fails **open** (WAN, never blackholed)'")
+drop_lines = [l.strip() for l in nft_t.splitlines()
+              if re.search(r"\bdrop\b", l) and not l.lstrip().startswith("#")]
+check(len(drop_lines) >= 1,
+      "the kill-switch nft template contains no drop rule at all — there is no kill-switch, "
+      "and R-NET-04's 'the kill-switch blackholes only that class' has nothing to scope")
+for l in drop_lines:
+    scoped = (src_set and src_set in l) or (fwmark and "mark" in l)
+    check(scoped,
+          f"an nft DROP rule is not scoped to the vpn class: {l!r}. It must match the tunnel "
+          f"source set (@{src_set}) or the class's fwmark; an unqualified drop would blackhole "
+          "the default `internet` path, which must never be blackholed")
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- verdict
+# NO-OP GUARD: a check that quietly asserts nothing is worse than no check.
+check(CHECKS >= 35,
+      f"only {CHECKS} assertions ran — the check degenerated to a near-no-op and its pass "
+      "would be meaningless")
+
+if FAILURES:
+    die()
+print(f"check OK: egress-paths-selected-by-rules — {CHECKS} assertions; "
+      f"paths={sorted(PATHS)} (default={egress_prop.get('default')}), "
+      f"{len(policies)} steering rule selecting {CLASS_LABEL}=vpn only, tunnel default route "
+      f"in dedicated table {table_id} behind a scoped ip rule, blackhole and every nft DROP "
+      f"scoped to the vpn class. R-NET-04's RULE-SET half only: the paths' actual BEHAVIOUR "
+      "is L2 (egress-class for the two labelled classes, egress-default-path for the "
+      "unlabelled default) and the kill-switch firing is L3 (vpn-killswitch).")
+PY
@@ -8,6 +8,18 @@
 # the empty string while the Kustomization still reports Ready — which emptied Cilium's
 # k8sServiceHost and broke the CNI on 2/3 dev nodes (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-01).
 #
+# It is also LOSSY IN THE OTHER DIRECTION, and that is the second incident on this record.
+# envsubst consumes dollars in PAIRS and emits one per pair, unconditionally and everywhere —
+# so no substituted path can carry a literal `$$` at all. On 2026-09-13 a ConfigMap under
+# apps-wave-0 shipped a dollar-quoted PL/pgSQL `DO $$ ... $$;` self-check; Postgres received
+# a half-quoted `DO $` and every Flux-reconciled run of the nextcloud-db grant reconciler died
+# with a syntax error, nine Error pods deep before anyone looked (commit 16b7fcd). It passed
+# review because it was hand-applied with `kubectl apply`, which runs no envsubst: the defect
+# existed ONLY on the rendered path, and it landed on the assertion whose whole job was to
+# make a silent regression visible. Nothing here failed — the manifest rendered
+# "successfully" into something broken, because the check treated any doubled dollar as a
+# deliberate escape and stopped looking.
+#
 # GIVEN every Flux Kustomization under clusters/ that declares postBuild.substituteFrom,
 # WHEN  each `spec.path` is resolved to the exact file set it renders (following
 #       kustomization.yaml `resources:` transitively, not globbing the repo),
@@ -15,7 +27,12 @@
 #       or deliberately ESCAPED `$${...}`; no unescaped expansion carries a default
 #       operator on an undefined name (the silent-empty class strict mode does NOT catch);
 #       no unescaped expansion is unparseable by envsubst (which fails the WHOLE
-#       Kustomization); every path rendering a knob actually substitutes cluster-vars;
+#       Kustomization); NO RUN OF TWO OR MORE DOLLARS IS SILENTLY REWRITTEN — the only shape
+#       that passes unremarked is exactly `$${`, the documented total escape, and every other
+#       run (a bare `$$` that cannot survive verbatim, an ODD `$$${...}` that only LOOKS
+#       escaped and in fact expands, an over-counted `$$$${...}`) is named and justified in
+#       `dollar-collapse.allow`, which is itself held to being exact and non-stale;
+#       every path rendering a knob actually substitutes cluster-vars;
 #       every overlay-patched knob has a base default; and the check is wired into the
 #       merge gate as a blocking, unconditionally-run stage.
 #
@@ -26,6 +43,19 @@
 # only); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this Chainsaw
 # Test wraps the SAME script.
 #
+# NOT proven, and deliberately NOT proxied: the wider lesson of 2026-09-13 is that the bug
+# survived review because verification used a path (`kubectl apply`) that runs no
+# substitution. That property is NOT statically decidable from this repo — which command
+# someone ran is a fact about a shell session, and git stores the manifest, never the
+# invocation. Grepping commit prose or runbooks for `kubectl apply` would be trivially
+# satisfiable by rewording and would fire on the break-glass runbooks whose whole content is
+# that command, so no such proxy is attempted. The dollar-run assertion is the honest answer
+# instead: it moves the proof off the verification PATH and onto the SOURCE, where it IS
+# decidable, so the mangling is caught by reading the manifest however a human chose to try
+# it. An end-to-end `kustomize build | flux envsubst --strict` per substituted path would be
+# the real thing, and it is how the arithmetic in check.sh's header was measured — but the L0
+# CI toolchain installs neither tool, so as a gate stage it would SKIP permanently.
+#
 # NOT proven (named in check.sh's header): this is a STATIC scan of the SOURCE manifests
 # a path includes — a deliberate superset of the post-`kustomize build` stream. It does
 # not render, does not prove the feature gate is enabled on the live kustomize-controller,
@@ -43,18 +73,36 @@ metadata:
  annotations:
    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-ENV-02, R-GITOPS-01"
    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE — relocated verbatim from ci/l0.sh's hand-written "Stage 3c
+    # (UNCONDITIONAL)", which this annotation replaces:
+    #
+    #   R-ENV-02's promote-once mechanism is `postBuild.substituteFrom cluster-vars`, and it
+    #   FAILS OPEN: an undefined ${TOKEN} becomes the empty string and the Kustomization still
+    #   reports Ready. That emptied Cilium's k8sServiceHost and broke the CNI on 2/3 dev nodes
+    #   (DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-01, "substitution race that fails OPEN").
+    #
+    #   WHY IT MUST NOT BE REQUIREMENT-SCOPED: ci/touched-requirements.sh's coarse path map
+    #   keys only clusters/* to R-ENV-02 — an edit to a SUBSTITUTED manifest under apps/ or
+    #   platform/ attributes no requirement, so the requirement-scoped selection would filter
+    #   this check out of exactly the change that introduces the bug. The invariant spans every
+    #   path any Flux Kustomization substitutes (apps/, platform/, platform-config/), so it runs
+    #   on EVERY gate invocation.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
      Every variable a substituted Flux path renders is defined in cluster-vars or
      escaped, so post-build substitution cannot silently empty a value and enabling
-      StrictPostBuildSubstitutions cannot fail a legitimate manifest.
+      StrictPostBuildSubstitutions cannot fail a legitimate manifest; and no dollar run
+      envsubst rewrites reaches the cluster unreviewed, so content that must arrive
+      verbatim cannot be silently mangled on the Flux-rendered path (16b7fcd).
 spec:
  steps:
    - name: audit-every-substituted-flux-path
      description: >-
        Resolve each postBuild.substituteFrom Kustomization to the files it renders and
-        assert every ${...} is defined or escaped, then assert the gate wires it blocking.
+        assert every ${...} is defined or escaped and no dollar run is silently collapsed,
+        then assert the gate wires it blocking.
      try:
        - script:
            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,32 @@
 # substituted path renders is either DEFINED or deliberately ESCAPED — and nothing in
 # the repo asserted that. This check does.
 #
+# SECOND INCIDENT, 2026-09-13 — THE INVERSE HAZARD (commit 16b7fcd)
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The first incident was a variable the author wanted EXPANDED that rendered EMPTY. This one
+# is its mirror: content the author wanted to reach the workload UNTOUCHED that substitution
+# silently REWROTE. A CronJob reconciler in apps/wave-0/nextcloud-db.yaml asserted its own
+# convergence in a dollar-quoted PL/pgSQL block —
+#
+#     DO <dq> BEGIN ... END <dq>;     where <dq> is two literal dollars: standard Postgres
+#
+# — inside a ConfigMap under apps-wave-0, which declares postBuild.substituteFrom. envsubst
+# collapses a doubled dollar into ONE dollar, ALWAYS, so Postgres received a half-quoted
+# `DO <one dollar>` and died with `syntax error at or near "$"`. Three scheduled runs left
+# nine Error pods in nextcloud-db before anyone looked.
+#
+# It PASSED verification because it was hand-applied with `kubectl apply`, which runs NO
+# envsubst. The defect existed ONLY on the Flux-rendered path. And the damage landed
+# precisely on the self-check: the GRANT on line 1 still ran, so the privilege stayed
+# correct and the only thing broken was the assertion meant to make a silent regression
+# visible — the part whose whole job is to stop a blind spot being quiet.
+#
+# THE ASSERTION GAP THIS CLOSES: assertions (1)-(3) below ask whether every `${...}` is
+# defined, escaped, or parseable. They said NOTHING about a doubled dollar that is not an
+# escape, because the old classifier treated a `$` run of length >= 2 as "escaped, therefore
+# fine" and stopped looking. Nothing failed the gate; the manifest rendered "successfully"
+# into something broken. Assertion (7) is that hole, closed.
+#
 # ENVSUBST BEHAVIOUR ASSERTED HERE (empirically verified against the pinned toolchain,
 # `flux envsubst`, flux 2.4.0 — this is measured behaviour, not assumption):
 #   ${DEFINED}        -> substituted with the cluster-vars value.
@@ -33,6 +59,66 @@
 #                        shell/cloud-init consumer. Escaping is total: it neutralises
 #                        even the indexed form.
 #   $VAR, $(cmd)      -> left alone by envsubst; they need no escaping.
+#
+# DOLLAR-RUN ARITHMETIC — the exact rule, MEASURED, not inferred (see assertion (7))
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# envsubst here is `github.com/fluxcd/pkg/envsubst` v1.1.0 — Flux's own maintained FORK of
+# `github.com/drone/envsubst` ("This package is a fork of drone/envsubst", its README) — and it
+# is exposed by the `flux envsubst` CLI ("replicate the behavior of the Flux Kustomization
+# post-build substitutions", its own --help). Named from the binary, not from memory: the
+# pinned flux 2.4.0 in the dev image embeds the Go module path
+# `/home/runner/go/pkg/mod/github.com/fluxcd/pkg/[email protected]/parse`
+# (`grep -ao 'github.com/fluxcd/pkg/envsubst[^ ]*' "$(command -v flux)"`). Its scanner walks
+# the input left to right; on a `$` it looks at the NEXT byte:
+#   * another `$`   -> BOTH are consumed and ONE `$` is emitted. This is UNCONDITIONAL. What
+#                      follows the pair is irrelevant — `{`, a letter, a digit, a semicolon,
+#                      a newline, end of input. `$$` is not "the escape for `${`"; it is the
+#                      escape for `$` itself, everywhere.
+#   * `{`           -> the braced expression is parsed and EXPANDED.
+#   * anything else -> the `$` is emitted literally (hence `$VAR` and `$(cmd)` survive).
+# So a run of N consecutive dollars emits floor(N/2) literal dollars, and when N is ODD the
+# final dollar is still LIVE. Measured with flux 2.4.0 `flux envsubst`, DEFINED=VALUE — the
+# left column is authored bytes, the right is what reaches the cluster:
+#
+#   $                 ->  $                  ${DEFINED}       ->  VALUE
+#   $$                ->  $                  $${DEFINED}      ->  ${DEFINED}   <- the escape
+#   $$$               ->  $$                 $$${DEFINED}     ->  $VALUE   <- ODD: brace LIVE
+#   $$$$              ->  $$                 $$$${DEFINED}    ->  $${DEFINED}
+#   $$$$$             ->  $$$                $$$$${DEFINED}   ->  $$VALUE
+#   DO $$ .. $$;      ->  DO $ .. $;         $$${NOPE:-d}     ->  $d
+#   awk '{print $$2}' ->  awk '{print $2}'   $${ARR[0]}       ->  ${ARR[0]}    (safe)
+#   $$@ $$< $$^       ->  $@ $< $^           $$${ARR[0]}      ->  HARD PARSE ERROR, whole
+#                                                                 Kustomization dies
+#
+# TWO CONSEQUENCES THIS CHECK IS BUILT ON:
+#   (a) THERE IS NO WAY TO SHIP A LITERAL `$$` THROUGH A SUBSTITUTED PATH. To make two
+#       dollars arrive you must author FOUR. So any authored `$$` that is meant to reach the
+#       workload verbatim is a BUG, full stop — that is the 2026-09-13 incident, and Postgres
+#       dollar-quoting is its commonest shape (Makefile `$$@`, awk `$$2` and docker-compose
+#       `$${}` are the same hazard arriving from the other direction: there the collapse is
+#       what the author wanted).
+#   (b) `$$$` + brace is NOT "more escaped" than `$$` + brace — it is NOT escaped at all. An
+#       odd run leaves one live dollar, so the brace expands, or, for an inner envsubst
+#       cannot parse, fails the ENTIRE Kustomization (proven above with $$${ARR[0]}, which
+#       aborted the whole stream while $${ARR[0]} on the line before it was fine).
+# `--strict` reports NONE of this: every row of that table except the parse error was
+# accepted SILENTLY by `flux envsubst --strict`, exit 0, and its output was BYTE-IDENTICAL to
+# non-strict (`cmp`). Strict mode cannot see this class, so a source-level assertion is the
+# only available guard.
+#
+# TO REPRODUCE THE TABLE (30 seconds, no cluster) — it is a measurement, so re-measure it
+# after any FLUX_VERSION bump in infra/devcontainer/versions.env. Open the toolbox with
+# `./infra/devcontainer/dev.sh` and run these INSIDE it (do NOT pipe into `dev.sh run` from
+# the host: it starts the container with `-it`, so a piped stdin hangs):
+#   printf '[$$] [$$$] [$${D}] [$$${D}] [DO $$ x $$;]\n' | D=VALUE flux envsubst
+#   -> [$] [$$] [${D}] [$VALUE] [DO $ x $;]
+# And end-to-end, on the actual delivery path, with the pre-16b7fcd manifest checked out
+# (`git show 16b7fcd^:apps/wave-0/nextcloud-db.yaml > apps/wave-0/nextcloud-db.yaml`):
+#   kubectl kustomize apps/wave-0 | grep 'DO \$'            -> "DO $$"  (the kubectl path)
+#   kubectl kustomize apps/wave-0 | flux envsubst --strict | grep 'DO \$'
+#                                                           -> "DO $"   (the FLUX path), exit 0
+# (`kubectl kustomize` IS the kustomize build here; the image ships no standalone binary.)
+# That two-command contrast IS the 2026-09-13 incident, and is why review missed it.
 #   ${...}, ${a b}, ${ARR[0]}  (UNESCAPED) -> HARD PARSE ERROR ("unable to parse
 #                        variable name" / "missing closing brace") which fails the
 #                        WHOLE Kustomization — every resource in the path, not just
@@ -55,7 +141,14 @@
 #       (5) every knob an overlay patches (`/data/KEY`) exists in the BASE ConfigMap —
 #           the "add the knob with a base default BEFORE referencing it" rule that the
 #           incident's interim discipline depends on;
-#   AND (6) this check is LOAD-BEARING: ci/l0.sh runs it on every gate run and
+#       (7) NO DOLLAR RUN IS SILENTLY REWRITTEN: the only run of length >= 2 that passes
+#           unremarked is exactly `$$` immediately followed by `{` — the documented, total,
+#           already-inventoried escape. EVERY other run of >= 2 dollars (a bare `$$`, an odd
+#           `$$$`, an over-counted `$$$$`) is rewritten by envsubst between git and the
+#           container, so it must be named and justified in `dollar-collapse.allow`, a file
+#           this check also holds to being exact and non-stale;
+#   AND (6) this check is LOAD-BEARING: it DECLARES `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`,
+#           so ci/l0.sh's `--include-scope whole-repo` runs it on every gate run, and
 #           ci/gate.sh sets the merge block when the l0 stage fails.
 # Assertion (1)-(3) are applied to COMMENTS as well as content: `kustomize build`
 # preserves body comments into the stream envsubst reads (verified: a `$`-carrying
@@ -78,6 +171,21 @@
 #     kustomize-controller. Both are cluster facts (L2), untested here. Tagging
 #     R-GITOPS-01 claims ONLY the static slice: what git says a Kustomization renders
 #     is fully determined, with no variable silently emptied on the way in.
+#   - It CANNOT prove the thing that actually let 16b7fcd's bug reach a cluster: that a
+#     change was VERIFIED through a substituting path. "It was hand-applied with kubectl" is
+#     a fact about a shell session, not about any tracked file — git records the manifest,
+#     never the command someone ran to try it, so the property is not statically decidable
+#     here and no honest formulation of it exists. Nor is a proxy worth having: grepping
+#     commit prose or runbooks for `kubectl apply` would be trivially satisfiable by
+#     rewording, and would fire on the many legitimate break-glass runbooks whose whole
+#     content is that command. So this check does not attempt it, and does not pretend to.
+#     Assertion (7) answers that incident a different way: it moves the proof off the
+#     verification PATH, which is unknowable, and onto the SOURCE, which is not — the
+#     mangling is now caught by reading the manifest, whichever way a human chose to try it.
+#     (The one decidable half-measure, `kustomize build <path> | flux envsubst --strict` per
+#     substituted path in CI, is already ruled out above: the L0 toolchain installs neither
+#     tool, so the stage would SKIP permanently. The dev image has both, and it is how the
+#     arithmetic table above was measured.)
 #   - It does NOT validate cluster-vars VALUES (that GATEWAY_VIP is inside the LB pool,
 #     that an overlay's LAN block is self-consistent). Presence, not correctness.
 #   - A cluster-vars key nothing references is reported as an ADVISORY, never a failure:
@@ -107,6 +215,7 @@ definition of "what a Flux path actually renders" in the harness.
 """
 from __future__ import annotations

+import bisect
 import os
 import re
 import sys
@@ -230,9 +339,18 @@ LEN_RE = re.compile(r"^#([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)$")


 def classify(dollars: int, inner: str) -> tuple[str, str] | None:
-    """Return (severity-tag, remediation) for a hazardous expansion, else None."""
-    if dollars >= 2:
-        return None                                   # escaped: emitted as a literal
+    """Return (severity-tag, remediation) for a hazardous expansion, else None.
+
+    PARITY, not ">= 2" (the 2026-09-13 correction). envsubst consumes dollars in PAIRS and
+    emits one per pair, so a run of N dollars in front of a brace leaves the brace ESCAPED
+    only when N is EVEN. An ODD run emits floor(N/2) literal dollars and its last dollar is
+    still LIVE, so `$$${X}` expands exactly as `${X}` does — and `$$${ARR[0]}` fails the
+    whole Kustomization where `$${ARR[0]}` is harmless. The old `dollars >= 2 -> return None`
+    called every such run "escaped" and stopped looking. Assertion (7) flags the run itself;
+    this function additionally classifies the still-live expansion an odd run carries.
+    """
+    if dollars % 2 == 0:
+        return None                                   # fully escaped: emitted as a literal
    if NAME_RE.match(inner):
        if inner in KEYS:
            return None                               # defined knob — the happy path
@@ -267,6 +385,9 @@ def rendered_files(path_spec: str) -> tuple[list[str], bool]:
 findings: list[str] = []
 referenced: dict[str, set[str]] = {}
 inventory: list[str] = []
+# rel path -> the Kustomization name(s) that render it, for assertion (7)'s second pass.
+# A file can be rendered by more than one Kustomization; all of them substitute.
+subst_files: dict[str, set[str]] = {}

 for k in kustomizations:
    files, exists = rendered_files(k["path"])
@@ -280,13 +401,14 @@ for k in kustomizations:
            text = f.read_text()
        except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
            continue
+        subst_files.setdefault(rel, set()).add(k["name"])
        for lineno, line in enumerate(text.splitlines(), 1):
            for m in TOKEN_RE.finditer(line):
                dollars, inner = len(m.group(1)), m.group(2)
                verdict = classify(dollars, inner)
                if verdict is None:
-                    if dollars >= 2:
-                        n_esc += 1
+                    if dollars % 2 == 0:              # PARITY, see classify(): an odd run is
+                        n_esc += 1                    # live, not escaped
                    else:
                        n_def += 1
                        referenced.setdefault(re.split(r"[:/#%^,]", inner)[0] or inner,
@@ -312,6 +434,156 @@ for k in kustomizations:
 check(not findings,
      f"{len(findings)} unescaped, undefined or unparseable expansion(s) in substituted paths")

+# ----------------------------------- (7) no dollar run is silently rewritten on the way out
+# THE 2026-09-13 CLASS. envsubst consumes dollars in PAIRS and emits one per pair,
+# unconditionally and everywhere (header: DOLLAR-RUN ARITHMETIC, measured against flux 2.4.0).
+# So every run of >= 2 dollars in a substituted manifest is REWRITTEN between git and the
+# container, and from the text alone the two intents are indistinguishable:
+#
+#   (a) a deliberate escape the author WANTS collapsed  — `$${VAR}` -> literal `${VAR}`;
+#   (b) content that must arrive VERBATIM               — `DO $$ ... $$;` -> `DO $ ... $;`
+#                                                          i.e. the incident. A BUG.
+#
+# THE RULE CHOSEN, AND WHY IT IS NEITHER NOISY NOR VACUOUS.
+# Exactly ONE shape passes unremarked: a run of EXACTLY TWO dollars immediately followed by
+# `{`. That is not a guess about intent, it is the escape contract this repo already
+# documents in clusters/base/apps-vms.yaml, that assertions (1)-(3) already validate the
+# inside of, and that 18 reviewed occurrences already rely on (unifi cloud-init, the gitea
+# and nextcloud OIDC bootstrap scripts, two longhorn comments). Failing those would be a
+# permanently-firing alert on documented, correct intent, and this repo has already been
+# bitten by one of those.
+#
+# EVERY OTHER run of >= 2 dollars FAILS unless it is named in `dollar-collapse.allow`:
+#   * DOLLAR-COLLAPSE   — a run not followed by `{`. Cannot survive verbatim: `$$` -> `$`.
+#                         This is the incident's exact shape and a blanket bug by default.
+#   * DOLLAR-HALF-ESCAPED — an ODD run >= 3 before `{`. Looks escaped, is not: the last
+#                         dollar is live. Occasionally legitimate (`$$${PRICE}` to render a
+#                         literal `$` before a value), so it is allowlistable, not banned.
+#   * DOLLAR-OVER-ESCAPED — an EVEN run >= 4 before `{`. Emits N/2 dollars then a literal
+#                         brace; nearly always a miscount, sometimes deliberate.
+#
+# WHY AN ALLOWLIST AND NOT A BLANKET BAN: a blanket ban was the first choice and was
+# rejected on evidence, not taste — main carries two real non-braced `$$` occurrences today
+# (prose inside embedded shell comments), so a blanket ban would have shipped RED. Nor is
+# the allowlist a hole: an entry is a hand-written edit to a file inside the conformance
+# test, which is loud in review; it must quote a >= 24-character VERBATIM context, so it can
+# only ever cover the occurrence it was written for and never a future one that drifts into
+# the same file; it must carry a >= 40-character reason; and every entry must still MATCH
+# something, so the allowlist cannot rot into a blanket exemption after the code it excused
+# is deleted. A wildcard, a bare `$$` context and a stale entry each FAIL.
+ALLOW_FILE = (ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static"
+              / "flux-postbuild-substitution" / "dollar-collapse.allow")
+MIN_CONTEXT = 24
+MIN_REASON = 40
+DOLLAR_RUN_RE = re.compile(r"\$+")
+
+allow_entries: list[dict] = []
+check(ALLOW_FILE.is_file(),
+      f"{ALLOW_FILE.relative_to(ROOT)} is missing — assertion (7) needs its allowlist to "
+      f"exist even when empty, because an absent file and an empty file are the same green "
+      f"and the next author would not know the mechanism is there")
+if ALLOW_FILE.is_file():
+    for lineno, raw in enumerate(ALLOW_FILE.read_text().splitlines(), 1):
+        if not raw.strip() or raw.lstrip().startswith("#"):
+            continue
+        parts = [x.strip() for x in raw.split("|")]
+        if len(parts) != 3:
+            check(False, f"dollar-collapse.allow:{lineno}: expected exactly 3 '|'-separated "
+                         f"fields (path | verbatim-context | reason), got {len(parts)}")
+            continue
+        allow_entries.append({"line": lineno, "path": parts[0], "ctx": parts[1],
+                              "reason": parts[2], "used": 0})
+
+for e in allow_entries:
+    tag = f"dollar-collapse.allow:{e['line']}"
+    check((ROOT / e["path"]).is_file(),
+          f"{tag}: names '{e['path']}', which is not a file in this repo — a stale entry is "
+          f"a standing exemption for a path someone could recreate")
+    check(len(e["ctx"]) >= MIN_CONTEXT,
+          f"{tag}: context {e['ctx']!r} is {len(e['ctx'])} chars; at least {MIN_CONTEXT} are "
+          f"required so an entry cannot be a near-wildcard that swallows future occurrences")
+    check(DOLLAR_RUN_RE.search(e["ctx"]) is not None
+          and max((len(m.group(0)) for m in DOLLAR_RUN_RE.finditer(e["ctx"])), default=0) >= 2,
+          f"{tag}: context {e['ctx']!r} contains no run of two or more dollars, so it excuses "
+          f"nothing and is either a typo or a decoy")
+    check(len(e["reason"]) >= MIN_REASON,
+          f"{tag}: reason is {len(e['reason'])} chars; at least {MIN_REASON} are required. "
+          f"State what envsubst will actually emit and why that is acceptable — an entry "
+          f"nobody had to explain is an accident wearing an approval")
+
+RUN_TAGS = {
+    "collapse": ("DOLLAR-COLLAPSE",
+                 "envsubst collapses each PAIR of dollars into one, everywhere and "
+                 "unconditionally, so this CANNOT reach the workload verbatim (a literal $$ "
+                 "needs $$$$ in source). This is the 2026-09-13 nextcloud-db shape: a "
+                 "dollar-quoted PL/pgSQL DO block arrived half-quoted and every Flux-"
+                 "reconciled run died. Rewrite without dollars, double them again if the "
+                 "collapse is what you want, or justify it in dollar-collapse.allow"),
+    "half": ("DOLLAR-HALF-ESCAPED",
+             "an ODD run of dollars before a brace is NOT escaped: floor(N/2) literal "
+             "dollars are emitted and the LAST dollar is still live, so this expansion "
+             "EVALUATES at reconcile time (and if its inner is unparseable it fails the "
+             "entire Kustomization). Use an EVEN run to escape, or justify it in "
+             "dollar-collapse.allow if a literal dollar before a substituted value is "
+             "really what you meant"),
+    "over": ("DOLLAR-OVER-ESCAPED",
+             "an EVEN run of four or more dollars emits N/2 literal dollars followed by a "
+             "LITERAL brace — the value is never substituted and extra dollars appear in "
+             "the rendered manifest. Almost always a miscount of the escape; justify it in "
+             "dollar-collapse.allow if it is not"),
+}
+
+run_findings: list[str] = []
+n_runs_ok = 0
+for rel in sorted(subst_files):
+    text = (ROOT / rel).read_text(errors="replace")
+    # Absolute offsets, not per-line: the gitea/nextcloud bootstrap scripts are single
+    # 4000-character folded scalars, so "the line" is not a reviewable unit of context here.
+    nl = [i for i, ch in enumerate(text) if ch == "\n"]
+    spans = []                                       # allowlisted [start, end) regions
+    for e in allow_entries:
+        if e["path"] != rel:
+            continue
+        start = text.find(e["ctx"])
+        while start >= 0:
+            spans.append((start, start + len(e["ctx"]), e))
+            start = text.find(e["ctx"], start + 1)
+    for m in DOLLAR_RUN_RE.finditer(text):
+        n = len(m.group(0))
+        if n < 2:
+            continue
+        braced = text[m.end():m.end() + 1] == "{"
+        if n == 2 and braced:
+            n_runs_ok += 1                           # the documented escape; (1)-(3) own it
+            continue
+        covering = [e for (a, b, e) in spans if a <= m.start() and m.end() <= b]
+        if covering:
+            for e in covering:
+                e["used"] += 1
+            continue
+        kind = "collapse" if not braced else ("half" if n % 2 else "over")
+        tag, fix = RUN_TAGS[kind]
+        lineno = bisect.bisect_right(nl, m.start()) + 1
+        ctx = text[max(0, m.start() - 60):m.end() + 60].replace("\n", "\\n")
+        run_findings.append(
+            f"  [{tag}] {rel}:{lineno}  a run of {n} dollar(s)"
+            f"{' before a brace' if braced else ''}\n"
+            f"        rendered by Flux Kustomization(s) {', '.join(sorted(subst_files[rel]))}"
+            f" — postBuild substitution REWRITES it\n"
+            f"        {fix}\n"
+            f"        | ...{ctx}...")
+
+check(not run_findings,
+      f"{len(run_findings)} dollar run(s) in substituted paths that envsubst rewrites and "
+      f"nothing justifies (the 2026-09-13 nextcloud-db class)")
+
+for e in allow_entries:
+    check(e["used"] > 0,
+          f"dollar-collapse.allow:{e['line']}: STALE — its context is not present in "
+          f"{e['path']} any more (or no longer contains a rewritten dollar run), so the entry "
+          f"now excuses nothing. Delete it. A stale allowlist is how an opt-in decays into a "
+          f"blanket exemption for whatever lands in that file next")
+
 # --------------------------------------------- (5) overlay knobs exist in the base
 # Parse contract: overlays patch cluster-vars with JSON6902 ops (`- op: replace` /
 # `path: /data/KEY`) inside an inline `patch: |-` block. The repo rule (cluster-vars.yaml
@@ -328,10 +600,27 @@ for overlay in sorted((ROOT / "clusters").glob("*/kustomization.yaml")):
 # ------------------------------------------------------- (6) the check is load-bearing
 L0 = (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").is_file() else ""
 GATE = (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").is_file() else ""
-check("flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh" in L0,
-      "ci/l0.sh does not run flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh — the requirement-scoped "
-      "conformance selection can filter this check out of a gate run, so l0.sh must invoke "
-      "it directly and unconditionally or the gate is not actually enforcing it")
+# THIS CHECK IS LOAD-BEARING — asserted against the DECLARATIVE mechanism.
+# It used to assert `"flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh" in L0`: ci/l0.sh carried a hand-written
+# "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per whole-repo check, hardcoding this path. Those stages are gone
+# (they did not scale, and the next whole-repo invariant only got one if someone REMEMBERED
+# to write it). The same property is now asserted two ways: this test DECLARES
+# `conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"`, and ci/l0.sh unions every declaring test into
+# the run via `--include-scope`. Neither half alone is enough, so both are checked here; the
+# mechanism ITSELF (the union really selects, and a scope-declared SKIP exits 3 rather than
+# passing) is proven end-to-end and falsifiably by
+# conformance/tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired.
+SELF_YAML = ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static" / "flux-postbuild-substitution" / "chainsaw-test.yaml"
+SELF = SELF_YAML.read_text() if SELF_YAML.is_file() else ""
+check(re.search(r'^\s*conformance\.home\.k3s/scope:\s*["\']?whole-repo', SELF, re.M) is not None,
+      "flux-postbuild-substitution/chainsaw-test.yaml does not declare "
+      'conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo", so the merge gate selects this check only '
+      "when a change happens to touch one of the requirements it is labelled with. "
+      "The path map keys only clusters/* to R-ENV-02, so an edit to a SUBSTITUTED manifest under apps/ or platform/ attributes nothing and this check would be filtered out of exactly the change that empties a variable (the 2026-09-01 Cilium k8sServiceHost CNI outage)")
+check("--include-scope" in L0,
+      "ci/l0.sh no longer passes --include-scope to the conformance runner, so the L0 stage is "
+      "a purely requirement-scoped run again and the scope annotation is inert decoration — "
+      "this check would then run only by coincidence")
 check(re.search(r"^for s in .*\bl0\b.*; do", GATE, re.M) and re.search(r"fail\).*BLOCK=1", GATE),
      "ci/gate.sh does not set the merge block when the l0 stage fails")

@@ -345,6 +634,10 @@ print("Flux postBuild substitution inventory (per Kustomization):")
 for line in inventory:
    print(line)
 print(f"\ncluster-vars knobs defined: {len(KEYS)}   referenced: {len(referenced)}")
+print(f"dollar runs >=2 in substituted files: {n_runs_ok} documented $${{...}} escapes, "
+      f"{sum(e['used'] for e in allow_entries)} justified by dollar-collapse.allow "
+      f"({len(allow_entries)} entr{'y' if len(allow_entries) == 1 else 'ies'}), "
+      f"{len(run_findings)} unjustified")

 if ADVISORIES:
    print("\nADVISORIES (not failures):")
@@ -356,6 +649,12 @@ if findings:
    for f in findings:
        print(f, file=sys.stderr)

+if run_findings:
+    print("\nHAZARDS — dollar runs envsubst rewrites between git and the container:",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in run_findings:
+        print(f, file=sys.stderr)
+
 print()
 if not FAILURES:
    print(f"check OK: flux-postbuild-substitution — {CHECKS} assertions "
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# dollar-collapse.allow — the reviewed exceptions to assertion (7) of
+# conformance/tests/l0-static/flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh.
+#
+# WHY THIS FILE EXISTS
+# --------------------
+# Flux's postBuild substitution runs github.com/fluxcd/pkg/envsubst (Flux's fork of
+# github.com/drone/envsubst; the module path is embedded in the pinned flux 2.4.0
+# binary, and check.sh's header says how to read it back out) over everything a
+# substituted Kustomization renders, and that scanner consumes dollars in PAIRS,
+# emitting ONE dollar per pair — unconditionally, wherever they appear, not only in
+# front of a brace. A run of N dollars becomes floor(N/2) dollars, and an ODD run
+# leaves one live dollar behind (so `$$${X}` is NOT escaped; it expands).
+#
+# Consequence: there is NO way to ship a literal `$$` through a substituted path.
+# On 2026-09-13 that broke the nextcloud-db grant reconciler — a dollar-quoted
+# PL/pgSQL `DO $$ ... $$;` block reached Postgres as `DO $ ... $;` and every
+# Flux-reconciled run died with `syntax error at or near "$"`. It had passed review
+# because it was hand-applied with `kubectl apply`, which runs no envsubst at all.
+# See commit 16b7fcd and check.sh's DOLLAR-RUN ARITHMETIC table (measured against
+# flux 2.4.0, not inferred).
+#
+# From the source text alone, a doubled dollar the author WANTS collapsed and one
+# that must arrive verbatim are indistinguishable. check.sh therefore accepts exactly
+# one shape without comment — a run of EXACTLY TWO dollars immediately followed by
+# `{`, the escape contract clusters/base/apps-vms.yaml already documents and that 18
+# reviewed occurrences already depend on — and FAILS every other run of two or more
+# dollars unless it is named here.
+#
+# ADDING AN ENTRY IS A DECISION, NOT A MUTE BUTTON
+# -----------------------------------------------
+# One entry per line, exactly three `|`-separated fields:
+#
+#     <repo-relative path> | <verbatim context> | <reason>
+#
+#   * the context must be a VERBATIM substring of the file AS STORED IN GIT (for a
+#     folded/JSON-ish scalar that means the escaped bytes, e.g. `\n` and `—`
+#     spelled literally), at least 24 characters long, containing the dollar run it
+#     excuses, and containing no `|` — shift the window if a pipe is in the way;
+#   * the reason must be at least 40 characters and should say what envsubst will
+#     actually EMIT and why that is acceptable;
+#   * an entry covers only the dollar runs inside the region its context matches, so
+#     it can never silently cover a new occurrence that lands elsewhere in the file;
+#   * check.sh FAILS a stale entry — one whose context no longer matches, or which
+#     excuses nothing any more. Delete it rather than leaving it to rot into a
+#     blanket exemption for whatever lands in that file next.
+#
+# If the collapse would change BEHAVIOUR, this file is the wrong answer. Rewrite the
+# content without dollars (16b7fcd) or double them again (`$$$$` -> `$$`).
+# =============================================================================
+apps/wave-0/gitea.yaml | # NOTE the `$$` escape below \u2014 it is load-bearing. apps-wave-0 declares postBuild. | Prose, not code: this is a comment INSIDE the gitea OIDC bootstrap shell script, and the two dollars are the sentence quoting the escape idiom it goes on to explain. envsubst renders it as "the `$` escape below", which is cosmetically wrong and behaviourally inert — a shell comment. Cannot be written correctly at all: `$$$$` would render `$$` but would then be wrong in the source a reader sees in git, and the file has no non-dollar way to name the idiom. Reviewed and accepted as cosmetic.
+apps/wave-1/nextcloud.yaml | # NOTE the `$$` escape below \u2014 it is load-bearing. apps-wave-1 declares postBuild. | Identical case to the gitea entry above, in the nextcloud OIDC bootstrap script: a shell comment quoting the escape idiom, rendered by envsubst as "the `$` escape below". Cosmetic only — the collapse happens inside a `#` comment line that no interpreter reads, and the escaped expansion the comment is describing is on a later line and is unaffected. Reviewed and accepted as cosmetic.
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — the HA control plane is authored, for every environment  (R-PLAT-01)  [EXECUTABLE]
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+# Spec:    docs/00 R-PLAT-01 ("The platform MUST run on k3s across 3 nodes with
+#          production-grade HA control plane in prod; dev/test MAY run fewer nodes but MUST
+#          exercise the same multi-node topology"), elaborated by docs/01 ("k3s (HA,
+#          embedded etcd)") and docs/02 ("HA embedded etcd (k3s server on all 3)",
+#          "3 physical nodes", "no external datastore", "the *same* Ansible bootstrap runs").
+#
+# WHY L0: R-PLAT-01 has an authored half and an observed half. The authored half — that the
+# configuration in git BUILDS a 3-server embedded-etcd control plane in BOTH environments
+# from one code path, with exactly one --cluster-init founder, no external datastore, and a
+# floating API endpoint that is SAN'd into the serving cert and cannot collide with the
+# Service-LB allocator — is provable with no cluster and is ONLY provable here: a live
+# cluster cannot tell you what the NEXT environment brought up from this repo would look
+# like. The observed half is asserted separately at L2 by
+# tests/l2-behavioral/ha-control-plane, which carries the same requirement label.
+#
+# ENVIRONMENT-AGNOSTIC: no hostname, address, node count or group name is written down.
+# Environments are enumerated from the R-ENV-02 seam itself (k3s_primary_group /
+# k3s_servers_group in group_vars), and WHICH one is prod is derived from the Flux overlay
+# that environment bootstraps (flux_bootstrap_env_path) — never from a group's name.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it,
+# WHEN  the inventory, the k3s_server and kube_vip roles, their plays and each
+#       environment's Flux overlay are parsed and cross-checked against each other,
+# THEN  k3s is the pinned distro and nothing is installed as an agent; every environment
+#       resolves to an ODD, quorum-capable server count (prod exactly three) with EXACTLY
+#       ONE --cluster-init founder and every other server joining it with --server;
+#       the datastore is k3s's embedded etcd (no --datastore-endpoint, no --disable-etcd);
+#       the API's floating endpoint is a leader-elected, control-plane-ONLY kube-vip
+#       DaemonSet on every server whose address is the environment-scoped VIP, that VIP is
+#       in the apiserver serving cert's SANs together with every server's own address, and
+#       it is neither a node address nor the ingress Gateway VIP nor inside that
+#       environment's Cilium LoadBalancer pool; and dev/test and prod are built by the SAME
+#       roles and plays retargeted by variables only.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (git tree + PyYAML; no
+# cluster, no network); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this
+# Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# KNOWN, DELIBERATE GAPS (enumerated in check.sh's header; this test claims none of them):
+#   * The LIVE clusters' shape (three Ready servers, all etcd members, VIP actually floating,
+#     API answering through it) — asserted at L2 by tests/l2-behavioral/ha-control-plane.
+#   * FAILOVER. That the control plane survives losing a server (quorum holds, the VIP moves)
+#     is a fault-injection claim and is proven NOWHERE yet — tests/l3-fault-injection/node-loss
+#     drains a node for R-STATE-02's data claim and asserts nothing about the control plane.
+#   * "Production-grade" as a hardware/performance judgement (operator decision, §2 of
+#     infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md).
+#
+# TWO GAPS CLOSED 2026-09-06 (they used to be listed above; recorded so the change is legible):
+#   * `K3S_API_HOST` (Cilium's k8sServiceHost) was the PRIMARY NODE's address in both
+#     environments rather than the floating VIP, contradicting the prod overlay's own comment.
+#     It was ESCALATED, not asserted, because the workstream could not decide it (R-TEST-06).
+#     The operator decided the VIP, so it is now ASSERTED — on both sides of the [parity]
+#     contract and per environment.
+#   * kube-vip was NOT imported by playbooks/site.yml. It is now, BETWEEN k3s and cilium, and
+#     the order is asserted — not as a tidiness preference but because the CNI's endpoint is
+#     the VIP, so an unfloated VIP means a cold build brings up a CNI that cannot reach its
+#     API server.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: ha-control-plane-as-code
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-PLAT-01: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-PLAT-01"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE. The invariant spans THREE independent subtrees — infra/ (the Ansible
+    # roles + OpenTofu that create the control-plane nodes and the VIP), clusters/ (the
+    # CONTROL_PLANE_VIP knob and its per-overlay values) and platform/cilium/ (the HelmRelease
+    # whose k8sServiceHost IS that VIP). ci/touched-requirements.sh keys infra/* to NOTHING,
+    # clusters/* to R-GITOPS-01/R-ENV-02 and platform/cilium/* to the R-NET-* family: not one
+    # of them attributes R-PLAT-01, so no edit that can break HA control-plane-as-code selects
+    # this test. Note this is the same VIP whose empty substitution took the CNI down on 2/3
+    # dev nodes (2026-09-01) — the two halves of that incident are guarded here and in
+    # flux-postbuild-substitution.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Given the tracked tree, when the inventory, the k3s/kube-vip roles and plays and each
+      environment's Flux overlay are parsed and cross-checked, then every environment is
+      authored as an odd, quorum-capable set of k3s servers (prod exactly three) with one
+      embedded-etcd founder, no external datastore, and a leader-elected control-plane-only
+      VIP that is in the serving cert's SANs and collides with no other allocator — built by
+      one code path for both environments.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: then-every-environment-is-authored-as-an-ha-embedded-etcd-control-plane
+      description: >-
+        Run the offline assertion script over the tracked tree (same script ci/l0.sh and
+        conformance/run.sh --layer l0 execute).
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,729 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — ha-control-plane-as-code
+# Serves: R-PLAT-01 ("The platform MUST run on k3s across 3 nodes with production-grade
+#         HA control plane in prod; dev/test MAY run fewer nodes but MUST exercise the
+#         same multi-node topology." — spec docs/00-vision-and-scope.md).
+#
+# The elaborating spec text this check quotes and asserts against:
+#   docs/01-architecture-overview.md  "Kubernetes distro | **k3s** (HA, embedded etcd)"
+#   docs/02-environments-and-provisioning.md, table:
+#       "Control plane | HA embedded etcd (k3s server on all 3) | HA embedded etcd
+#        (k3s server on all 3)"   (the SAME cell for dev/test and prod)
+#       "Node count | 3 VMs (mirror prod topology) | 3 physical nodes"
+#   docs/02 §"k3s topology decisions":
+#       "HA control plane with **embedded etcd** across all 3 nodes (no external datastore)."
+#       "Nodes are both control-plane and workload (3-node converged cluster); with only 3
+#        nodes we do not isolate control-plane nodes."
+#       "For prod bare-metal, the *same* Ansible bootstrap runs; only the machine-creation
+#        step differs"
+#
+# WHY L0 IS THE RIGHT LAYER FOR THESE CLAUSES (and where the rest lives)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+# R-PLAT-01 splits cleanly in two, and the halves are provable at different layers:
+#
+#   AUTHORED half — "the configuration in git builds a 3-server HA embedded-etcd control
+#       plane in BOTH environments, from ONE code path": provable with no cluster, and
+#       ONLY provable here. A live cluster cannot tell you whether the *next* environment
+#       brought up from this repo will also be HA, whether a second `--cluster-init`
+#       founder could exist, or whether an external datastore is configured anywhere. That
+#       is this check.
+#   OBSERVED half — "the cluster this suite is pointed at really is 3 Ready servers, all
+#       etcd members, with the API answering through the floating VIP": that is cluster
+#       state and lives in tests/l2-behavioral/ha-control-plane (same requirement label).
+#
+# Neither half is sufficient alone, and this file claims only the first.
+#
+# ENVIRONMENTS ARE DERIVED, NOT LISTED. The check does not know the words "dev" or "prod"
+# as inventory names. It enumerates environments from the R-ENV-02 seam itself — the
+# `k3s_primary_group` / `k3s_servers_group` pair in group_vars/all.yml plus every
+# group_vars/<group>/vars.yml that overrides them — and identifies WHICH environment is
+# prod by the Flux overlay that environment bootstraps (`flux_bootstrap_env_path`), not by
+# its group name. Add a fourth prod node, rename a group, or add a third environment and
+# the assertions follow; nothing here restates an address, a hostname or a node count.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it,
+# WHEN  the Ansible inventory, the k3s/kube-vip roles and plays, and each environment's
+#       Flux overlay are parsed and cross-checked against each other,
+# THEN  DISTRO:   k3s is the distro, pinned, installed by the one role, and no node is
+#                 installed as an `agent` (an agent is not a control-plane member);
+#       SERVERS:  every environment's server group resolves to a quorum-capable, ODD
+#                 number of hosts (>= 3, tolerating >= 1 loss), the PROD environment to
+#                 EXACTLY three, and each has EXACTLY ONE `--cluster-init` founder while
+#                 every other server joins it with `--server` (so a second founder — the
+#                 split-brain shape — cannot be authored);
+#       ETCD:     the datastore is k3s's EMBEDDED etcd: no `--datastore-endpoint` and no
+#                 `--disable-etcd` anywhere in the provisioning code, so every server is
+#                 an etcd member (docs/02's "no external datastore", "on all 3");
+#       ENDPOINT: the API has a floating endpoint that survives losing the founder — the
+#                 kube-vip VIP is control-plane-only (never Service LB, or it would fight
+#                 Cilium LB-IPAM for ARP), leader-elected, deployed to EVERY server, and
+#                 baked into the apiserver serving cert's SAN list ALONG WITH every
+#                 server's own address (so TLS validates whichever node answers);
+#       ADDRESSES: each environment's control-plane VIP is not one of its node addresses,
+#                 is not that environment's ingress Gateway VIP, and lies OUTSIDE that
+#                 environment's Cilium LoadBalancer pool — the two allocators can never be
+#                 handed the same address;
+#       CNI PATH: the CNI dials the FLOATING endpoint, not a machine (added 2026-09-06). The
+#                 two API addresses stay SPLIT — k3s_api_host is the founder and feeds only
+#                 the cold `--server` join, k3s_apiserver_endpoint derives from
+#                 kube_vip_address and feeds Cilium's k8sServiceHost — the Flux overlay's
+#                 K3S_API_HOST equals that environment's VIP and is none of its node
+#                 addresses ([parity], both halves), the HelmRelease keeps a per-environment
+#                 token rather than a literal, and site.yml floats the VIP BETWEEN k3s and
+#                 Cilium with roles/kube_vip blocking until it answers;
+#       ONE PATH: dev/test and prod are brought up by the SAME role and the SAME plays,
+#                 retargeted by variables only (docs/02 "the *same* Ansible bootstrap
+#                 runs"), so "exercise the same multi-node topology" is a property of the
+#                 code rather than a coincidence of two hand-written inventories.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps — do not read this check as claiming them):
+#   - THE LIVE CLUSTERS. That three nodes are Ready, that all three are etcd members with
+#     a healthy quorum, that kube-vip is actually floating the VIP, and that the API
+#     answers through it. All of that is asserted at L2 by
+#     tests/l2-behavioral/ha-control-plane, which reads it from the cluster under test.
+#   - FAILOVER. That the control plane SURVIVES the loss of a server (etcd quorum holds,
+#     the VIP moves, the API stays up) is a fault-injection claim. The nearest existing
+#     coverage is tests/l3-fault-injection/node-loss, which drains a node for R-STATE-02's
+#     data-availability claim and does NOT assert control-plane survival. A dedicated
+#     "kill the VIP leader / kill the founder" L3 test is the remaining R-PLAT-01 gap and
+#     is NOT claimed here or at L2.
+#   - "PRODUCTION-GRADE" AS A HARDWARE/OPERATIONS JUDGEMENT. Whether three converged
+#     mini-PCs with etcd sharing a spindle with Longhorn is production-grade is an operator
+#     decision recorded in infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md §2, not a repository property. This
+#     check asserts the control-plane TOPOLOGY the spec fixes, not a performance verdict.
+#   - IPv6 / dual-stack, and any claim about the edge network.
+#
+# TWO FORMER GAPS ARE NOW ASSERTED, and the reasoning is worth keeping (2026-09-06):
+#   * CILIUM'S OWN API ENDPOINT used to be listed here as an ESCALATION — `K3S_API_HOST`
+#     (clusters/*/kustomization.yaml), which becomes Cilium's `k8sServiceHost`, was each
+#     environment's PRIMARY NODE address rather than the floating VIP, contradicting the prod
+#     overlay's own comment. Making the check fail over it would have turned the merge gate
+#     red on a design question this workstream may not decide (R-TEST-06), so it was reported
+#     instead. THE OPERATOR DECIDED THE VIP on 2026-09-06, which turns the question into a
+#     repository invariant, and invariants belong in assertions — see the "THE CNI DIALS THE
+#     VIP" section. Note what made it assertable: the fix SPLIT one variable in two, so there
+#     is finally an HA-valued name (`k3s_apiserver_endpoint`) to point the contract at.
+#   * kube-vip WAS NOT PART OF THE ONE-COMMAND BRING-UP (site.yml chained node-baseline ->
+#     k3s -> cilium -> verify -> flux-bootstrap), which was recorded here as an observation
+#     and not asserted, because R-PLAT-01 does not fix the bring-up order. It is asserted now
+#     for a different reason that IS in scope: with the CNI's endpoint being the VIP, an
+#     unfloated VIP means a cold build installs a CNI that cannot reach its API server. The
+#     ordering is no longer a preference about tidiness, it is a dependency of the control
+#     plane coming up at all.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+import ipaddress
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+NOTES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def note(msg):
+    NOTES.append(msg)
+
+
+def die():
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (ha-control-plane-as-code): {len(FAILURES)} of {CHECKS} assertions failed",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+
+ANS = ROOT / "infra" / "ansible"
+INV = ANS / "inventory" / "hosts.ini"
+GV = ANS / "inventory" / "group_vars"
+K3S_ROLE = ANS / "roles" / "k3s_server"
+VIP_ROLE = ANS / "roles" / "kube_vip"
+PLAYBOOKS = ANS / "playbooks"
+CLUSTERS = ROOT / "clusters"
+
+for p, why in ((INV, "the inventory that defines the node set"),
+               (K3S_ROLE, "the role that installs the k3s control plane"),
+               (VIP_ROLE, "the role that floats the control-plane VIP"),
+               (CLUSTERS, "the Flux overlays that identify each environment")):
+    check(p.exists(), f"{p.relative_to(ROOT)} is missing — {why} does not exist, so no HA "
+                      "control plane is authored at all (R-PLAT-01)")
+if FAILURES:
+    die()
+
+K3S_TEXT = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace") for p in sorted(K3S_ROLE.rglob("*.yml")))
+VIP_TEXT = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace")
+                     for p in sorted(list(VIP_ROLE.rglob("*.yml")) + list(VIP_ROLE.rglob("*.j2"))))
+
+
+# ===================================================================== inventory parse
+# Parser contract (same shape lib/coverage.py-style parsers use elsewhere): hosts.ini is a
+# plain INI inventory — `[group]` sections of `host key=value ...` lines, `[group:children]`
+# sections naming child groups, `[group:vars]` sections ignored. Comments start with '#'.
+ini_hosts: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+ini_children: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+host_vars: dict[str, dict[str, str]] = {}
+cur = None
+for line in INV.read_text().splitlines():
+    s = line.strip()
+    if not s or s.startswith("#"):
+        continue
+    m = re.match(r"^\[([^\]]+)\]$", s)
+    if m:
+        cur = m.group(1)
+        continue
+    if cur is None or cur.endswith(":vars"):
+        continue
+    host = s.split()[0]
+    if cur.endswith(":children"):
+        ini_children.setdefault(cur.split(":")[0], []).append(host)
+    else:
+        ini_hosts.setdefault(cur, []).append(host)
+        hv = host_vars.setdefault(host, {})
+        for kv in s.split()[1:]:
+            if "=" in kv:
+                k, v = kv.split("=", 1)
+                hv[k] = v
+
+
+def hosts_in(group: str, seen=None) -> set[str]:
+    seen = seen or set()
+    if group in seen:
+        return set()
+    seen.add(group)
+    out = set(ini_hosts.get(group, []))
+    for child in ini_children.get(group, []):
+        out |= hosts_in(child, seen)
+    return out
+
+
+def load_yaml(p: Path) -> dict:
+    try:
+        d = yaml.safe_load(p.read_text()) or {}
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        return {}
+    return d if isinstance(d, dict) else {}
+
+
+ALL_VARS = load_yaml(GV / "all.yml")
+
+
+# =============================================== ENVIRONMENTS, DERIVED FROM THE SEAM
+# An "environment" here is a (primary group, servers group) pair. group_vars/all.yml holds
+# the default pair; every group_vars/<g>/vars.yml that overrides `k3s_primary_group` is
+# another environment. Nothing below knows the words "dev" or "prod" as group names.
+class Env:
+    def __init__(self, label, vars_, path):
+        self.label = label
+        self.vars = vars_
+        self.path = path
+
+    def var(self, name, default=None):
+        # group-scoped value wins, else the cluster-wide default from all.yml.
+        if name in self.vars:
+            return self.vars[name]
+        return ALL_VARS.get(name, default)
+
+
+envs: list[Env] = [Env("group_vars/all.yml (default environment)", ALL_VARS, GV / "all.yml")]
+for vf in sorted(GV.glob("*/vars.yml")):
+    v = load_yaml(vf)
+    if "k3s_primary_group" in v or "k3s_servers_group" in v:
+        envs.append(Env(str(vf.relative_to(ROOT)), v, vf))
+
+check(len(envs) >= 2,
+      "only ONE environment is derivable from the inventory's R-ENV-02 seam "
+      "(k3s_primary_group / k3s_servers_group). R-PLAT-01 constrains prod AND requires "
+      "dev/test to exercise the same multi-node topology, so two must be authored")
+
+# WHICH environment is prod: the one that bootstraps the clusters/prod Flux overlay.
+# roles/flux_bootstrap's own default supplies the value for an environment that does not
+# override it, so this is read from code, never guessed from a group name.
+fb_default = None
+fb_defaults_file = ANS / "roles" / "flux_bootstrap" / "defaults" / "main.yml"
+if fb_defaults_file.is_file():
+    fb_default = load_yaml(fb_defaults_file).get("flux_bootstrap_env_path")
+check(isinstance(fb_default, str) and fb_default.startswith("clusters/"),
+      "roles/flux_bootstrap declares no flux_bootstrap_env_path default — the mapping from "
+      "an inventory environment to its Flux overlay is not expressed in code, so this check "
+      "cannot tell which environment is prod")
+
+prod_envs = []
+for e in envs:
+    overlay = e.var("flux_bootstrap_env_path", fb_default)
+    e.overlay = overlay if isinstance(overlay, str) else ""
+    if e.overlay.rstrip("/").endswith("/prod"):
+        prod_envs.append(e)
+check(len(prod_envs) == 1,
+      f"{len(prod_envs)} environment(s) bootstrap the clusters/prod overlay "
+      f"({[e.label for e in prod_envs]}) — exactly one must be prod, or 'in prod' in "
+      "R-PLAT-01 has no unambiguous referent")
+
+
+# ============================================== overlay knob values (per environment)
+# Parser contract: clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml holds the base ConfigMap `data:` map;
+# each clusters/<env>/kustomization.yaml overrides values with JSON6902 patches written as
+#     - op: replace
+#       path: /data/<KEY>
+#       value: "<v>"
+# (verified shape across both overlays). A key not patched keeps the base value.
+BASE_VARS: dict[str, str] = {}
+base_cm = CLUSTERS / "base" / "cluster-vars.yaml"
+if base_cm.is_file():
+    d = load_yaml(base_cm)
+    BASE_VARS = {k: str(v) for k, v in (d.get("data") or {}).items()}
+check(len(BASE_VARS) > 5,
+      "clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml exposes no data map — the overlay knob surface "
+      "cannot be read, so the VIP/pool separation cannot be checked")
+
+_PATCH_RE = re.compile(
+    r"-\s+op:\s*replace\s*\n\s*path:\s*/data/(?P<k>[A-Z0-9_]+)\s*\n\s*value:\s*(?P<v>\S.*?)\s*$",
+    re.M)
+
+
+def overlay_vars(overlay: str) -> dict[str, str]:
+    out = dict(BASE_VARS)
+    f = ROOT / overlay / "kustomization.yaml"
+    if not f.is_file():
+        return out
+    for m in _PATCH_RE.finditer(f.read_text()):
+        out[m.group("k")] = m.group("v").strip().strip('"').strip("'")
+    return out
+
+
+# ============================================================ PER-ENVIRONMENT TOPOLOGY
+def as_ip(s):
+    try:
+        return ipaddress.ip_address(str(s).strip())
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+
+
+for e in envs:
+    L = e.label
+    pg = e.var("k3s_primary_group")
+    sg = e.var("k3s_servers_group")
+    check(isinstance(pg, str) and isinstance(sg, str) and pg and sg,
+          f"{L}: k3s_primary_group / k3s_servers_group are not both set — the roles cannot "
+          "resolve 'my environment's primary/servers' and would only ever build dev")
+    if not (isinstance(pg, str) and isinstance(sg, str)):
+        continue
+    primaries = hosts_in(pg)
+    servers = hosts_in(sg)
+
+    # --- SERVERS: quorum-capable, one founder, prod exactly three ---------------------
+    check(len(primaries) == 1,
+          f"{L}: group {pg!r} resolves to {sorted(primaries)} — EXACTLY ONE host may run "
+          "`--cluster-init`. Two founders is two etcd clusters (split brain), zero is no "
+          "cluster at all")
+    check(primaries and primaries <= servers,
+          f"{L}: the primary {sorted(primaries)} is not a member of the servers group "
+          f"{sg!r} ({sorted(servers)}) — the founder must itself be one of the servers, or "
+          "it is not part of the HA control plane it founds")
+    n = len(servers)
+    check(n >= 3,
+          f"{L}: group {sg!r} resolves to {n} server(s) {sorted(servers)}. docs/02 fixes "
+          "'HA embedded etcd (k3s server on all 3)' for dev/test AND prod, and an etcd "
+          "cluster of fewer than 3 members tolerates ZERO losses — it is not HA")
+    check(n % 2 == 1,
+          f"{L}: group {sg!r} has an EVEN number of servers ({n}). An even embedded-etcd "
+          f"member count adds a member without adding fault tolerance and introduces a tie: "
+          f"quorum for {n} is {n // 2 + 1}, the same as for {n - 1}")
+    if n:
+        tolerance = n - (n // 2 + 1)
+        check(tolerance >= 1,
+              f"{L}: {n} server(s) give a quorum of {n // 2 + 1} and therefore tolerate "
+              f"{tolerance} loss(es) — 'production-grade HA' requires surviving at least one")
+    if e in prod_envs:
+        check(n == 3,
+              f"{L} is the PROD environment and resolves to {n} server(s). R-PLAT-01: "
+              "'k3s across 3 nodes ... in prod'; docs/02: 'Node count | ... | 3 physical nodes'")
+    else:
+        check(n >= 2,
+              f"{L}: a non-prod environment resolves to {n} host(s). R-PLAT-01 allows fewer "
+              "nodes than prod but requires dev/test to 'exercise the same multi-node "
+              "topology' — one node exercises no topology")
+
+    # --- ADDRESSES: the VIP can collide with nothing ----------------------------------
+    vip_raw = e.var("kube_vip_address")
+    vip = as_ip(vip_raw)
+    check(vip is not None,
+          f"{L}: kube_vip_address is {vip_raw!r}, not an IP address — the control plane has "
+          "no floating endpoint, so losing the founder takes the API endpoint with it")
+    node_ips = {}
+    for h in sorted(servers):
+        ip = as_ip(host_vars.get(h, {}).get("k3s_node_ip", ""))
+        check(ip is not None,
+              f"{L}: host {h} declares no usable k3s_node_ip — k3s --node-ip, the join "
+              "target and the serving-cert SAN list all derive from it")
+        if ip is not None:
+            node_ips[h] = ip
+    if vip is not None:
+        check(vip not in set(node_ips.values()),
+              f"{L}: kube_vip_address {vip} is ALSO a node address "
+              f"({[h for h, i in node_ips.items() if i == vip]}) — a floating VIP that is a "
+              "node's own address cannot float off that node")
+        ov = overlay_vars(getattr(e, "overlay", ""))
+        gw = as_ip(ov.get("GATEWAY_VIP", ""))
+        lo = as_ip(ov.get("CILIUM_LB_POOL_START", ""))
+        hi = as_ip(ov.get("CILIUM_LB_POOL_STOP", ""))
+        check(gw is not None and lo is not None and hi is not None,
+              f"{L}: overlay {getattr(e, 'overlay', '')!r} does not resolve GATEWAY_VIP + "
+              "CILIUM_LB_POOL_START/STOP — the separation between the control-plane VIP and "
+              "the Service-LB allocator cannot be checked")
+        if gw is not None:
+            check(vip != gw,
+                  f"{L}: the control-plane VIP and the ingress Gateway VIP are the SAME "
+                  f"address ({vip}) — kube-vip and Cilium would both ARP for it")
+        if lo is not None and hi is not None:
+            check(not (lo <= vip <= hi),
+                  f"{L}: the control-plane VIP {vip} lies INSIDE that environment's Cilium "
+                  f"LoadBalancer pool {lo}-{hi} — LB-IPAM could hand the kube-API's VIP to a "
+                  "Service, and the two allocators would fight over ARP for it")
+            check(lo <= hi,
+                  f"{L}: Cilium LB pool {lo}-{hi} is inverted — the pool bound cannot be "
+                  "used to prove the VIP is outside it")
+
+# ==================================================================== DISTRO: k3s only
+check(re.search(r"^k3s_version:\s*\"?v\d+\.\d+", (K3S_ROLE / "defaults" / "main.yml").read_text(), re.M)
+      is not None,
+      "roles/k3s_server pins no concrete k3s_version (vX.Y...) — an unpinned control-plane "
+      "version is not a reproducible platform (docs/01: the distro is k3s, ADR-0001)")
+check("get.k3s.io" in K3S_TEXT,
+      "roles/k3s_server does not install from the k3s installer — R-PLAT-01 names k3s as the "
+      "distro (ADR-0001) and no other distro may stand in for it")
+check(re.search(r"^\s*server\s*$", K3S_TEXT, re.M) is not None,
+      "roles/k3s_server never composes the `server` subcommand — without it k3s installs an "
+      "AGENT, which is not a control-plane member (docs/02: 'k3s server on all 3')")
+for bad, why in (
+    (r"--datastore-endpoint", "an EXTERNAL datastore (docs/02: 'embedded etcd across all 3 "
+                             "nodes (no external datastore)')"),
+    (r"datastore-endpoint\s*:", "an external datastore via config.yaml"),
+    (r"--disable-etcd", "a server with etcd DISABLED, i.e. a control-plane node that is not "
+                        "an etcd member (docs/02: etcd 'across all 3 nodes')"),
+    (r"INSTALL_K3S_EXEC\s*[:=]\s*[\"']?agent", "an AGENT-only node"),
+):
+    hits = [str(p.relative_to(ROOT)) for p in sorted(ANS.rglob("*"))
+            if p.is_file() and p.suffix in (".yml", ".yaml", ".j2", ".sh", ".ini")
+            and re.search(bad, p.read_text(errors="replace"))]
+    check(not hits,
+          f"{hits} configure {why} — R-PLAT-01's control plane is k3s's own embedded-etcd HA "
+          f"mode, and {bad!r} contradicts it")
+
+# ============================================== FOUNDER / JOINER, EXACTLY ONE OF EACH
+check(re.search(r"--cluster-init", K3S_TEXT) is not None,
+      "roles/k3s_server never passes --cluster-init — the embedded-etcd cluster is never "
+      "founded, so there is no HA datastore to join")
+init_when = re.search(r"--cluster-init.*?\n(?:.*\n){0,8}?\s*when:\s*k3s_server_mode\s*==\s*'primary'",
+                      K3S_TEXT)
+check(init_when is not None,
+      "the --cluster-init install task is not gated on k3s_server_mode == 'primary' — an "
+      "ungated founder flag would re-found the cluster on every server (split brain)")
+join = re.search(r"--server https://\{\{\s*k3s_api_host", K3S_TEXT)
+check(join is not None,
+      "roles/k3s_server does not join secondaries with `--server https://{{ k3s_api_host }}` "
+      "— without a join target the servers are separate single-node clusters")
+join_when = re.search(r"--server https://.*?\n(?:.*\n){0,10}?\s*when:\s*k3s_server_mode\s*==\s*'secondary'",
+                      K3S_TEXT, re.S)
+check(join_when is not None,
+      "the join install task is not gated on k3s_server_mode == 'secondary' — the founder "
+      "would also try to join itself")
+k3s_play = PLAYBOOKS / "k3s.yml"
+check(k3s_play.is_file(), "playbooks/k3s.yml is missing — the control-plane install has no entrypoint")
+if k3s_play.is_file():
+    play_txt = k3s_play.read_text()
+    modes = re.findall(r"k3s_server_mode:\s*(\w+)", play_txt)
+    check(sorted(modes) == ["primary", "secondary"],
+          f"playbooks/k3s.yml declares server modes {modes} — exactly one primary play and "
+          "one secondary play must exist, or the founder/joiner split is not authored")
+    check(re.search(r"serial:\s*1", play_txt) is not None,
+          "playbooks/k3s.yml does not restart/join the secondaries with `serial: 1` — "
+          "converging two of three servers at once drops embedded etcd below quorum, which "
+          "is exactly the outage an HA control plane exists to avoid")
+    hosts_patterns = re.findall(r"^\s*hosts:\s*(.+)$", play_txt, re.M)
+    check(len(hosts_patterns) >= 2 and all("{{" in h for h in hosts_patterns),
+          f"playbooks/k3s.yml targets literal host patterns {hosts_patterns} — a literal "
+          "group name means this play can only ever build ONE environment, so prod cannot "
+          "be brought up by the same code (docs/02: 'the *same* Ansible bootstrap runs')")
+
+# =========================================== SERVING-CERT SANs: VIP + every server
+sans = str(load_yaml(K3S_ROLE / "defaults" / "main.yml").get("k3s_tls_sans", ""))
+check("kube_vip_address" in sans,
+      "roles/k3s_server's k3s_tls_sans does not include kube_vip_address — the apiserver's "
+      "serving cert would carry no SAN for the floating VIP, so every client reaching the "
+      "API through it fails TLS validation and the HA endpoint is unusable")
+check("k3s_servers_group" in sans and "k3s_node_ip" in sans,
+      "k3s_tls_sans does not extract k3s_node_ip for every host of k3s_servers_group — the "
+      "cert must be valid for WHICHEVER server answers behind the VIP, and per-environment "
+      "resolution of that set is what keeps one role serving both environments (R-ENV-02)")
+check(re.search(r"tls-san:", K3S_TEXT) is not None,
+      "the SAN list is passed only as an install flag and never persisted to "
+      "/etc/rancher/k3s/config.yaml — on an ALREADY-installed cluster the install task is a "
+      "no-op, so a changed SAN set (e.g. a new server) would never reach the serving cert")
+
+# ============================ THE CNI DIALS THE VIP, NOT THE FOUNDER (added 2026-09-06)
+# This section used to be an ESCALATION in the header's gap list, not an assertion: Cilium's
+# k8sServiceHost was each environment's PRIMARY NODE address, so on a 3-server HA control
+# plane the CNI's control-plane path depended on one machine. Measured on live prod
+# 2026-09-06: all three cilium-agents carried KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST=192.168.2.10
+# (k3s-prod-1's own address) while kube-vip held 192.168.2.9. That failure is SILENT — the
+# datapath keeps serving from Cilium's cache, so nothing looks broken while no service or
+# policy update lands at all.
+#
+# The operator decided the VIP (2026-09-06), so this is now a repository property and belongs
+# here rather than in the gap list. THIS IS THE RIGHT LAYER because the claim is about what
+# the configuration in git WOULD build, in BOTH environments, including the next one — a live
+# cluster can only tell you about itself.
+#
+# WHAT MAKES THIS CHECKABLE AT ALL is that the fix split one variable into two. Asserting
+# "Cilium uses the HA address" requires an HA address to name; before the split there was
+# only k3s_api_host, which had to be the founder for the cold join. So the assertions below
+# check the SPLIT as much as the value: the join keeps the founder, the CNI gets the VIP, and
+# the Flux half agrees with the Ansible half per environment.
+CIL_ROLE = ANS / "roles" / "cilium"
+cil_values_tpl = CIL_ROLE / "templates" / "cilium-values.yaml.j2"
+check(cil_values_tpl.is_file(),
+      "roles/cilium ships no cilium-values.yaml.j2 — the bootstrap's CNI values, including the "
+      "API endpoint its kube-proxy replacement dials, are not authored")
+if cil_values_tpl.is_file():
+    # Parse the rendered-shape template, never its prose: strip comment lines first, exactly
+    # as the kube-vip parser above does, so a reassuring comment cannot satisfy the check.
+    cil_body = "\n".join(l for l in cil_values_tpl.read_text(errors="replace").splitlines()
+                         if not l.lstrip().startswith("#"))
+    m = re.search(r"^k8sServiceHost:\s*\"?([^\"\n]*)\"?\s*$", cil_body, re.M)
+    check(m is not None,
+          "roles/cilium's values template sets no k8sServiceHost — with kube-proxy disabled "
+          "(ADR-0001) the agent has no API endpoint to dial and the CNI cannot come up")
+    if m is not None:
+        host_expr = m.group(1).strip()
+        check("k3s_apiserver_endpoint" in host_expr,
+              f"roles/cilium renders k8sServiceHost={host_expr!r}. It MUST be the HA endpoint "
+              "variable {{ k3s_apiserver_endpoint }} (= kube_vip_address). Any node-valued "
+              "expression — k3s_api_host, a primary hostvar, a literal IP — makes the CNI's "
+              "control-plane path depend on ONE server of an HA control plane, and the failure "
+              "is silent: the datapath keeps running from Cilium's cache while no service or "
+              "policy update ever lands (measured on prod 2026-09-06)")
+        check("k3s_api_host" not in host_expr,
+              f"roles/cilium renders k8sServiceHost={host_expr!r}, which references "
+              "k3s_api_host — the FOUNDER's own address. That variable exists only for the "
+              "cold-bootstrap `--server` join and one tls-san entry; it is a single point of "
+              "failure by construction and must never be a steady-state endpoint")
+
+# The HA endpoint variable must BE the VIP, and must be DERIVED from kube_vip_address rather
+# than restated: an environment overrides one line (kube_vip_address) and both the floating
+# address and the CNI's endpoint move together. A literal here could disagree with the VIP the
+# same environment actually floats, which is the two-places-one-fact bug this repo keeps
+# hitting.
+endpoint_def = str(ALL_VARS.get("k3s_apiserver_endpoint", ""))
+check("kube_vip_address" in endpoint_def,
+      f"group_vars/all.yml defines k3s_apiserver_endpoint as {endpoint_def!r}. It MUST derive "
+      "from kube_vip_address, so that overriding the VIP for an environment also moves what "
+      "that environment's CNI dials. A restated literal can silently disagree with the VIP "
+      "kube-vip is actually floating")
+check("kube_vip_address" not in str(ALL_VARS.get("k3s_api_host", "")),
+      "group_vars/all.yml's k3s_api_host resolves from kube_vip_address — the two API "
+      "addresses have been re-merged. k3s_api_host is the secondary join target and on a COLD "
+      "build no VIP exists yet, so a VIP-valued join target makes a cold bootstrap unjoinable")
+
+# THE [parity] CONTRACT, now machine-checked instead of asserted in a comment: the Flux
+# overlay's K3S_API_HOST becomes Cilium's k8sServiceHost under the HelmRelease, and the
+# Ansible bootstrap renders k3s_apiserver_endpoint for the same field. If the two disagree,
+# Flux and the bootstrap describe different control-plane paths and fight over the CNI.
+for e in envs:
+    L = e.label
+    ov = overlay_vars(getattr(e, "overlay", ""))
+    k3s_api_host_knob = as_ip(ov.get("K3S_API_HOST", ""))
+    vip = as_ip(e.var("kube_vip_address"))
+    check(k3s_api_host_knob is not None,
+          f"{L}: overlay {getattr(e, 'overlay', '')!r} resolves no usable K3S_API_HOST — that "
+          "token becomes Cilium's k8sServiceHost via platform/cilium/helmrelease.yaml, and "
+          "kustomize-controller runs with StrictPostBuildSubstitutions so an unresolvable one "
+          "fails the whole platform Kustomization")
+    if k3s_api_host_knob is not None and vip is not None:
+        check(k3s_api_host_knob == vip,
+              f"{L}: [parity] BROKEN — the Flux overlay sets K3S_API_HOST={k3s_api_host_knob} "
+              f"but this environment's control-plane VIP (kube_vip_address, which is what "
+              f"k3s_apiserver_endpoint and therefore the Ansible-side k8sServiceHost resolve "
+              f"to) is {vip}. Flux and the Ansible bootstrap would render DIFFERENT API "
+              "endpoints into the same CNI and fight over it. If they differ because the "
+              "overlay still holds a NODE address, that is the 2026-09-06 defect: the CNI of "
+              "an HA control plane must not dial one server")
+        check(k3s_api_host_knob not in set(
+                  as_ip(host_vars.get(h, {}).get("k3s_node_ip", ""))
+                  for h in hosts_in(str(e.var("k3s_servers_group")))),
+              f"{L}: the overlay's K3S_API_HOST {k3s_api_host_knob} is one of this "
+              "environment's own NODE addresses. Cilium's kube-proxy replacement would dial a "
+              "single machine on a control plane built specifically to survive losing one")
+
+# The Flux half must stay a per-environment TOKEN. A literal IP in the shared HelmRelease
+# would ship one environment's control-plane address to every environment (R-ENV-02), and an
+# empty value is the 2026-09-01 incident verbatim (k8sServiceHost: "" made the agent's config
+# init container fall back to the in-cluster ClusterIP 10.43.0.1:443, which only the agent
+# being replaced could translate: deadlocked on 2 of 3 nodes).
+hr = ROOT / "platform" / "cilium" / "helmrelease.yaml"
+check(hr.is_file(), "platform/cilium/helmrelease.yaml is missing — nothing adopts the CNI "
+                    "config after the bootstrap, so the parity contract has only one side")
+if hr.is_file():
+    hr_body = "\n".join(l for l in hr.read_text(errors="replace").splitlines()
+                        if not l.lstrip().startswith("#"))
+    hm = re.search(r"^\s*k8sServiceHost:\s*\"?([^\"\n]*)\"?\s*$", hr_body, re.M)
+    check(hm is not None and hm.group(1).strip() == "${K3S_API_HOST}",
+          f"platform/cilium/helmrelease.yaml sets k8sServiceHost="
+          f"{(hm.group(1) if hm else None)!r} instead of the cluster-vars token "
+          "\"${K3S_API_HOST}\" — a literal there would ship ONE environment's control-plane "
+          "address to every environment (R-ENV-02), and an empty value is the 2026-09-01 "
+          "incident verbatim")
+
+# ORDERING: the VIP must be floating BEFORE the CNI is installed against it. site.yml is the
+# one-command bring-up, so this is a property of the authored sequence, not of an operator's
+# memory. (kube-vip can precede the CNI because its DaemonSet is hostNetwork with
+# KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST=127.0.0.1 — asserted separately below/above via the manifest parse.)
+site_play = PLAYBOOKS / "site.yml"
+check(site_play.is_file(), "playbooks/site.yml is missing — there is no one-command bring-up "
+                           "whose ORDER can be checked")
+if site_play.is_file():
+    imports = re.findall(r"import_playbook:\s*(\S+)", site_play.read_text())
+    for needed in ("k3s.yml", "kube-vip.yml", "cilium.yml"):
+        check(needed in imports,
+              f"playbooks/site.yml does not import {needed} (imports: {imports}). Cilium's "
+              "k8sServiceHost is the control-plane VIP, so kube-vip is a PREREQUISITE of the "
+              "CNI, not an optional extra step — leaving it out of the bring-up means a cold "
+              "build installs a CNI pointed at an address nothing announces")
+    if all(n in imports for n in ("k3s.yml", "kube-vip.yml", "cilium.yml")):
+        check(imports.index("k3s.yml") < imports.index("kube-vip.yml") < imports.index("cilium.yml"),
+              f"playbooks/site.yml imports {imports} — the order MUST be k3s.yml -> "
+              "kube-vip.yml -> cilium.yml. kube-vip after cilium installs the CNI against an "
+              "unannounced VIP (the 2026-09-01 shape: agents that cannot reach the API server "
+              "on a cold cluster); kube-vip before k3s cannot work at all, because the VIP "
+              "ships as a k3s auto-deploy manifest and needs a cluster to apply it")
+check(re.search(r"wait_for", VIP_TEXT) is not None
+      and re.search(r"kube_vip_address", VIP_TEXT) is not None,
+      "roles/kube_vip never WAITS for the VIP to answer — templating the manifest is not the "
+      "same as having a floating endpoint (k3s still has to apply it, the image still has to "
+      "pull, leader election still has to settle). Since the CNI is installed immediately "
+      "afterward against this exact address, an unverified VIP turns a missing endpoint into "
+      "unreachable cilium-agents diagnosed from the far side")
+
+# ============================================ FLOATING ENDPOINT: kube-vip on every server
+# Read the DaemonSet's ACTUAL container env out of the template, never the role's prose.
+# (An earlier draft matched `svc_enable=false` anywhere in the role and passed happily with
+# the template flipped to true — the comment in defaults/main.yml satisfied it. Parse the
+# thing that ships.) Parser contract: the template writes each env var as an adjacent
+# `- name: X` / `value: "Y"` pair; comment lines are dropped first.
+VIP_TEMPLATES = sorted(VIP_ROLE.rglob("*.j2"))
+check(len(VIP_TEMPLATES) >= 1,
+      "roles/kube_vip ships no manifest template — nothing deploys the API VIP")
+vip_manifest = "\n".join(
+    "\n".join(l for l in p.read_text(errors="replace").splitlines()
+              if not l.lstrip().startswith("#"))
+    for p in VIP_TEMPLATES)
+vip_env = dict(re.findall(r"-\s*name:\s*([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\s*\n\s*value:\s*\"?([^\"\n]*)\"?",
+                          vip_manifest))
+check(len(vip_env) >= 6,
+      f"only {len(vip_env)} env var(s) parsed out of the kube-vip manifest template — the "
+      "parser lost its grip on the file, so the assertions below would assert nothing")
+check(vip_env.get("cp_enable") == "true",
+      f"the kube-vip manifest sets cp_enable={vip_env.get('cp_enable')!r} — control-plane "
+      "mode must be ON or it floats no API VIP at all")
+check(vip_env.get("svc_enable") == "false",
+      f"the kube-vip manifest sets svc_enable={vip_env.get('svc_enable')!r} — it must be "
+      "false, or kube-vip ALSO serves Service LoadBalancers and contends with Cilium LB-IPAM "
+      "for the same addresses (ADR-0002 gives Service LB to Cilium)")
+check(vip_env.get("vip_leaderelection") == "true",
+      f"the kube-vip manifest sets vip_leaderelection={vip_env.get('vip_leaderelection')!r} "
+      "— without leader election the VIP has no defined owner to fail over FROM, which is "
+      "the whole HA mechanism")
+check(vip_env.get("address", "").strip() == "{{ kube_vip_address }}",
+      f"the kube-vip manifest announces address={vip_env.get('address')!r} instead of the "
+      "environment-scoped {{ kube_vip_address }} — a literal here would float DEV's VIP on "
+      "prod (R-ENV-02) and would not match the serving-cert SAN list")
+check(re.search(r"^kind:\s*DaemonSet\s*$", vip_manifest, re.M) is not None,
+      "the kube-vip manifest is not a DaemonSet — a single-replica VIP holder dies with its "
+      "node, which is the opposite of a floating endpoint")
+vip_play = PLAYBOOKS / "kube-vip.yml"
+check(vip_play.is_file(), "playbooks/kube-vip.yml is missing — nothing deploys the API VIP")
+if vip_play.is_file():
+    vp = vip_play.read_text()
+    vip_hosts = re.findall(r"^\s*hosts:\s*(.+)$", vp, re.M)
+    check(len(vip_hosts) == 1 and "k3s_hosts" in vip_hosts[0],
+          f"playbooks/kube-vip.yml targets {vip_hosts} — it must target the whole servers "
+          "group through the same environment-scoped variable the other plays use, so the "
+          "manifest exists on EVERY server and the VIP survives losing any one of them")
+check(re.search(r"kube_vip_manifest_path", VIP_TEXT) is not None
+      and re.search(r"k3s_data_dir", VIP_TEXT) is not None,
+      "roles/kube_vip's manifest path is not derived from k3s_data_dir — k3s only auto-applies "
+      "<data-dir>/server/manifests, so an environment that moves --data-dir would write the "
+      "manifest somewhere k3s never reads and come up with no VIP at all")
+
+# ================================================== ONE CODE PATH FOR BOTH ENVIRONMENTS
+# docs/02: "For prod bare-metal, the *same* Ansible bootstrap runs; only the machine-creation
+# step differs". A prod-only role or playbook would be a fork of the control-plane path.
+role_names = {p.name for p in (ANS / "roles").iterdir() if p.is_dir()}
+play_names = {p.name for p in PLAYBOOKS.glob("*.yml")}
+env_words = re.compile(r"prod|dev", re.I)
+forked = sorted(n for n in (role_names | play_names)
+                if env_words.search(n) and n not in ("memattr_survey", "memattr-survey.yml"))
+check(not forked,
+      f"environment-named roles/playbooks exist ({forked}) — dev and prod must be built by "
+      "the SAME code retargeted by variables (docs/02), not by a per-environment fork")
+for e in envs:
+    if e.path.name != "vars.yml":
+        continue
+    # Every key a non-default environment sets must be a variable something already reads,
+    # or it is an invented knob nothing consumes (a silent no-op that looks like config).
+    consumers = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace") for p in sorted(ANS.rglob("*"))
+                          if p.is_file() and p.suffix in (".yml", ".yaml", ".j2", ".sh"))
+    for k in sorted(e.vars):
+        if k.startswith("ansible_"):
+            continue
+        check(consumers.count(k) > 1,
+              f"{e.label} sets {k!r}, which appears nowhere else under infra/ansible — an "
+              "environment override that nothing reads is not a scoped override, it is dead "
+              "configuration (and would make prod silently inherit a dev default)")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- verdict
+# NO-OP GUARD: a check that quietly asserts nothing is worse than no check.
+check(CHECKS >= 40,
+      f"only {CHECKS} assertions ran — the check degenerated to a near-no-op and its pass "
+      "would be meaningless")
+
+if FAILURES:
+    die()
+for n in NOTES:
+    print(f"  note: {n}")
+summary = "; ".join(
+    f"{e.label.split('/')[-1]}[{'PROD' if e in prod_envs else 'non-prod'}]="
+    f"{len(hosts_in(str(e.var('k3s_servers_group'))))} servers"
+    for e in envs)
+print(f"check OK: ha-control-plane-as-code — {CHECKS} assertions; {summary}. "
+      "R-PLAT-01's AUTHORED half only: k3s, one --cluster-init founder per environment, "
+      "embedded etcd on every server with no external datastore, a leader-elected "
+      "control-plane-only VIP on every server that is SAN'd into the serving cert and "
+      "collides with no other allocator, floated BEFORE the CNI that dials it (and the CNI "
+      "dials that VIP, not the founder, in both environments and on both sides of the "
+      "[parity] contract), from one code path for both environments. The LIVE "
+      "cluster shape is proven at L2 (tests/l2-behavioral/ha-control-plane); control-plane "
+      "SURVIVAL of a node loss is proven NOWHERE yet (see the header's gap list).")
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — Keycloak client secrets are declared consistently, ordered by a REAL
+# Flux edge, and healed by a reconciler whose behaviour is proven offline
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+#
+# R-IDP-03 (identity config is declarative) and R-IDP-04 (IdP secrets SOPS-encrypted)
+# are both implemented through ONE mechanism that FAILS OPEN: the KeycloakRealmImport
+# resolves each client's secret from a `(env:NAME)` placeholder mapped to a key of the
+# SOPS-encrypted keycloak-realm-clients Secret. When the operator cannot resolve a
+# placeholder it stores the LITERAL placeholder text as the client secret AND THE IMPORT
+# JOB STILL REPORTS SUCCESS — then rests at Done=True / Started=False and never re-runs.
+#
+# Measured 2026-09-06: prod had all 12 clients holding the literal placeholder (every
+# OIDC login failed with "Invalid client or Invalid client credentials"); dev had exactly
+# one (oauth2-proxy), because that Secret key was added AFTER dev's import completed.
+# Declarative config that silently does not apply is not declarative config.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# THEN  every confidential client declares a placeholder, every placeholder is defined,
+#       resolves to the keycloak-realm-clients Secret, and names a key that EXISTS in the
+#       SOPS file under the `<clientId>-client-secret` contract the reconciler derives
+#       from; public clients declare no secret; the Flux Kustomization applying the Secret
+#       is a transitive `dependsOn` ancestor (wait: true) of the ones applying the import
+#       and the reconciler — a real edge, not a comment; the reconciler is reconciled from
+#       BOTH cluster entrypoints, mounts only what it needs, carries no ServiceAccount
+#       token and contains no dollar sign; and its own `--selftest` (extracted from the
+#       shipped ConfigMap and executed) proves compare-then-write, idempotence,
+#       no-secret-logging, the endpoint allow-list and fail-closed behaviour.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (git + PyYAML +
+# stdlib); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this Chainsaw
+# Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# NOT proven here: that the LIVE realm's stored secrets match git (that is
+# tests/l2-behavioral/keycloak-client-secrets-match-git), that the SOPS ciphertext
+# decrypts to a usable value (key PRESENCE is offline-checkable; plaintext is not), or
+# that the CronJob's schedule fires.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: keycloak-client-secret-reconciler
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-IDP-03: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-IDP-04: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-IDP-03, R-IDP-04"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE — relocated verbatim from ci/l0.sh's hand-written "Stage 3d
+    # (UNCONDITIONAL)", which this annotation replaces:
+    #
+    #   The Keycloak realm import resolves each OIDC client's secret from an `(env:NAME)`
+    #   placeholder. When the operator cannot resolve one it stores the LITERAL placeholder as
+    #   the client secret AND THE IMPORT JOB STILL REPORTS SUCCESS, then rests at Done=True and
+    #   never re-runs. On 2026-09-06 that had all 12 prod clients unusable ("Invalid client or
+    #   Invalid client credentials") behind an entirely green cluster; dev had one.
+    #
+    #   WHY IT MUST NOT BE REQUIREMENT-SCOPED: this check's invariant spans platform/,
+    #   platform-config/ and clusters/, so a change that breaks it need not attribute
+    #   R-IDP-03/04 and the requirement-scoped selection would filter it out of exactly the
+    #   change that introduces the bug.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Every OIDC client's secret is declared once, resolvable, ordered behind a real Flux
+      dependency, and continuously reconciled — so an unresolved import placeholder can
+      neither be merged nor silently persist in the realm.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: audit-declaration-ordering-and-reconciler
+      description: >-
+        Assert the realm import, the SOPS Secret and the reconciler agree; that the Flux
+        ordering is a real dependsOn edge; and run the reconciler's own selftest.
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,759 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — keycloak-client-secret-reconciler
+# Serves: R-IDP-03 ("Identity config (realms, clients, groups, roles) is declarative."
+#                   — spec docs/15-identity-and-access.md)
+#         R-IDP-04 ("IdP secrets SOPS-encrypted; MFA available."
+#                   — spec docs/15-identity-and-access.md)
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS — THE REALM IMPORT IS A ONE-SHOT THAT FAILS OPEN
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------
+# platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-import.yaml declares 12 confidential OIDC clients
+# whose secrets are `(env:NAME)` import placeholders, mapped by spec.placeholders to
+# keys of the SOPS-encrypted keycloak-realm-clients Secret. Measured on both clusters
+# on 2026-09-06:
+#
+#   * when the Keycloak Operator cannot resolve a placeholder it stores the LITERAL
+#     placeholder text as the client secret AND THE IMPORT JOB STILL REPORTS SUCCESS;
+#   * the KeycloakRealmImport then rests at Done=True / Started=False and NEVER
+#     re-runs, so it never self-heals.
+#
+# Consequence: on prod all 12 clients held the literal placeholder and every OIDC
+# login on the cluster failed ("Invalid client or Invalid client credentials"); on dev
+# exactly one (oauth2-proxy) was broken, because that Secret key was added AFTER dev's
+# import had already completed and a completed import is never re-run.
+#
+# Nothing in the repo asserted the declaration was self-consistent, and nothing
+# corrected the realm afterwards. This check is the static half of the fix (the
+# reconciler CronJob is the runtime half, and this check proves that too).
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# THEN  (1) DECLARATION IS COMPLETE: every confidential client in the realm import
+#           declares a secret placeholder; every placeholder it uses is defined in
+#           spec.placeholders; every placeholder resolves to the keycloak-realm-clients
+#           Secret; and every referenced key EXISTS in the SOPS file. A client whose
+#           key is missing is exactly the dev failure, and it is now unmergeable.
+#       (2) THE NAMING CONTRACT HOLDS: each key is `<clientId>-client-secret`. That is
+#           what lets the reconciler derive the client set from the mounted Secret with
+#           no second declaration — so it must be enforced, not assumed. No orphan
+#           placeholder, and no orphan Secret key (an orphan key would make every
+#           reconciler run fail with NOT FOUND).
+#       (3) PUBLIC CLIENTS DECLARE NO SECRET (the `kubernetes` client is PKCE-public;
+#           giving it a secret would be a silent downgrade).
+#       (4) ORDERING IS A REAL FLUX EDGE, NOT A COMMENT: the Flux Kustomization that
+#           renders the Secret is a transitive `dependsOn` ancestor — with `wait: true`
+#           — of the one that renders the realm import and the reconciler. The repo's
+#           hard-won rule: a dependency that is only DOCUMENTED is not a dependency.
+#       (5) THE RECONCILER IS WIRED AND SAFE: it is reconciled from BOTH cluster
+#           entrypoints, mounts exactly the two Secrets it needs at the paths its code
+#           defaults to, carries no ServiceAccount token, and contains no dollar sign
+#           (it ships inside a substituted Flux path, where an unescaped dollar-brace
+#           expansion is rewritten before any container runs).
+#       (6) THE RECONCILER'S BEHAVIOUR IS PROVEN, NOT ASSERTED: this check EXTRACTS the
+#           script from the ConfigMap and executes its `--selftest`, which drives the
+#           real code paths against an in-process stub Keycloak and asserts
+#           compare-then-write, idempotence (zero writes on a converged realm),
+#           no-secret-logging, the endpoint allow-list (users/groups/roles are
+#           unreachable) and fail-closed behaviour. What CI proves is byte-for-byte
+#           what ships.
+#      (6b) AND THAT PROOF IS FALSIFIABLE: mutations.py injects plausible regressions
+#           into the extracted script one at a time and requires --selftest to CATCH
+#           every one. A passing suite proves nothing if it cannot fail, and "reported
+#           success while the realm was broken" is the exact failure this component
+#           exists to end — so the same standard is applied to its own test.
+#       (8) THE URL DESIRED STATE IS DERIVED, NOT DECLARED TWICE: the reconciler's
+#           second pass converges the realm's environment-derived client URLs
+#           (redirectUris, webOrigins, rootUrl, baseUrl, adminUrl) on
+#           platform/keycloak/client-urls.yaml. That file is GENERATED from the realm
+#           import by ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py, and this check RUNS the
+#           renderer with --check, so a hand edit that makes the two disagree is
+#           unmergeable. It further asserts the two files are rendered by the SAME Flux
+#           Kustomization (postBuild.substituteFrom is per-Kustomization, so a split
+#           would let one ${BASE_DOMAIN} resolve to two different values), that the
+#           desired state uses no substitution token the realm definition does not,
+#           that every client it names exists in the import, and that it declares no
+#           field outside the reconciler's five-field write surface.
+#   AND (7) THIS CHECK IS LOAD-BEARING: it DECLARES `conformance.home.k3s/scope: whole-repo`
+#           so ci/l0.sh runs it unconditionally via --include-scope, ci/gate.sh
+#           blocks the merge when the l0 stage fails, ci/touched-requirements.sh maps
+#           platform/keycloak/ to these requirement IDs, and an L2 test exists that
+#           audits the LIVE realm. An unreferenced test is precisely the "looks applied
+#           and isn't" failure this repo keeps hitting.
+#
+# NOT proven here (named honestly, in the style of the sibling L0 checks):
+#   - that the LIVE realm's stored secrets OR redirect URIs match git. That is cluster
+#     state; it is conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/keycloak-client-secrets-match-git,
+#     which runs the reconciler's own --audit against the live realm.
+#   - that the hostnames the realm import declares are the ones the Gateway/HTTPRoutes
+#     actually serve. This check proves the realm converges on what GIT says; it cannot
+#     prove git is right about the domain. A BASE_DOMAIN flip that misses an HTTPRoute is
+#     a different invariant.
+#   - that the SOPS ciphertext decrypts to a usable secret. Key PRESENCE is checkable
+#     offline; the plaintext is not, and must not be.
+#   - that the CronJob's image can be pulled or its schedule fires.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+
+IMPORT_FILE="platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-import.yaml"
+SOPS_FILE="platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-clients.sops.yaml"
+RECON_FILE="platform/keycloak/client-secret-reconciler.yaml"
+URLS_FILE="platform/keycloak/client-urls.yaml"
+
+# Honest SKIP (never green) if the thing under test is absent entirely.
+for f in "$IMPORT_FILE" "$SOPS_FILE" "$RECON_FILE" "$URLS_FILE"; do
+  if [ ! -f "${ROOT}/${f}" ]; then
+    echo "check SKIPPED: ${f} absent — nothing to audit" >&2
+    exit 3
+  fi
+done
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+"""Static audit of the Keycloak client-secret declaration, its Flux ordering, and the
+reconciler that heals it. PyYAML (the same dependency tests/l0-static/no-plaintext-secrets
+and least-privilege-rbac already take) parses the manifests; lib/status.py is IMPORTED for
+the Flux graph walk rather than forked, so there is one definition of "what a Flux path
+renders" in the harness."""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+sys.dont_write_bytecode = True          # keep __pycache__ out of the tracked tree
+sys.path.insert(0, str(ROOT / "conformance" / "lib"))
+import status as st                     # noqa: E402 — reuse the walk, don't fork it
+
+IMPORT_FILE = "platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-import.yaml"
+SOPS_FILE = "platform/keycloak/keycloak-realm-clients.sops.yaml"
+RECON_FILE = "platform/keycloak/client-secret-reconciler.yaml"
+URLS_FILE = "platform/keycloak/client-urls.yaml"
+SECRET_NAME = "keycloak-realm-clients"
+ADMIN_SECRET = "keycloak-admin-credentials"
+URLS_CM_NAME = "keycloak-client-urls"
+KEY_SUFFIX = "-client-secret"
+SECRETS_MOUNT = "/etc/keycloak-realm-clients"
+URLS_MOUNT = "/etc/keycloak-client-urls"
+URLS_DATA_KEY = "client-urls.json"
+RENDERER = "ci/render-keycloak-client-urls.py"
+DIR_PATH = ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static" / "keycloak-client-secret-reconciler"
+# The ONLY client fields the reconciler may write besides the secret. Kept in lockstep
+# with the renderer and the script; asserted below to be exactly what they agree on.
+URL_LIST_FIELDS = ("redirectUris", "webOrigins")
+URL_STR_FIELDS = ("rootUrl", "baseUrl", "adminUrl")
+URL_FIELDS = URL_LIST_FIELDS + URL_STR_FIELDS
+DOLLAR = chr(36)
+
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def load(rel):
+    return list(yaml.safe_load_all((ROOT / rel).read_text()))
+
+
+# ================================================================= (1)-(3) declaration
+realm_import = next((d for d in load(IMPORT_FILE)
+                     if d and d.get("kind") == "KeycloakRealmImport"), None)
+check(realm_import is not None, f"{IMPORT_FILE}: no KeycloakRealmImport document found")
+if realm_import is None:
+    print("CHECK FAIL: cannot parse the realm import", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+placeholders = realm_import["spec"].get("placeholders") or {}
+clients = realm_import["spec"]["realm"].get("clients") or []
+check(len(clients) > 0, f"{IMPORT_FILE}: parsed zero clients — the file shape changed and "
+                        f"this check would silently audit nothing")
+
+# The operator's placeholder syntax, spelled without a literal dollar so this file is
+# itself safe to grep for one. Matches `<dollar>(env:NAME)`.
+PLACEHOLDER_RE = re.compile(re.escape(DOLLAR) + r"\(env:([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\)")
+
+used_placeholders: set[str] = set()
+declared_pairs: dict[str, str] = {}          # clientId -> secret key in the Secret
+
+for c in clients:
+    cid = c.get("clientId", "<unnamed>")
+    secret = c.get("secret")
+    public = bool(c.get("publicClient"))
+    if public:
+        # (3) a PKCE public client must not carry a secret at all.
+        check(secret is None,
+              f"{IMPORT_FILE}: client '{cid}' is publicClient but declares a secret — a "
+              f"public client holds no secret; declaring one is a silent downgrade")
+        continue
+    # (1) every confidential client must declare one.
+    check(isinstance(secret, str) and secret,
+          f"{IMPORT_FILE}: confidential client '{cid}' declares NO secret. The operator "
+          f"would generate a random one that exists nowhere in git, so nothing could "
+          f"ever reconcile it and the consuming app's mirrored credential would be wrong")
+    if not isinstance(secret, str):
+        continue
+    m = PLACEHOLDER_RE.fullmatch(secret.strip())
+    check(m is not None,
+          f"{IMPORT_FILE}: client '{cid}' has a secret that is not an (env:NAME) "
+          f"placeholder. A literal secret in git violates R-IDP-04/R-SEC-01; the only "
+          f"permitted form is a placeholder resolved from the {SECRET_NAME} Secret")
+    if m is None:
+        continue
+    name = m.group(1)
+    used_placeholders.add(name)
+    # (1) the placeholder must be DEFINED. An undefined one is stored literally by the
+    #     operator, with a successful-looking import — the whole incident.
+    ph = placeholders.get(name)
+    check(ph is not None,
+          f"{IMPORT_FILE}: client '{cid}' uses placeholder '{name}' but spec.placeholders "
+          f"does not define it. The operator stores the LITERAL placeholder as the client "
+          f"secret and STILL reports the import successful (measured 2026-09-06)")
+    if ph is None:
+        continue
+    ref = (ph or {}).get("secret") or {}
+    check(ref.get("name") == SECRET_NAME,
+          f"{IMPORT_FILE}: placeholder '{name}' reads Secret '{ref.get('name')}', not "
+          f"'{SECRET_NAME}'. The reconciler mounts only {SECRET_NAME}, so a second source "
+          f"would be declared but never healed")
+    key = ref.get("key")
+    check(isinstance(key, str) and key,
+          f"{IMPORT_FILE}: placeholder '{name}' names no Secret key")
+    if not isinstance(key, str):
+        continue
+    # (2) the naming contract the reconciler derives its client set from.
+    check(key == cid + KEY_SUFFIX,
+          f"{IMPORT_FILE}: client '{cid}' reads Secret key '{key}', but the reconciler "
+          f"derives the clientId from the key name, so it MUST be "
+          f"'{cid}{KEY_SUFFIX}'. Rename the key (and the SOPS entry) or the reconciler "
+          f"would look up a client that does not exist")
+    declared_pairs[cid] = key
+
+# (2) no orphan placeholder: a defined-but-unused placeholder is dead config that will
+#     quietly rot out of sync with the Secret.
+for name in sorted(set(placeholders) - used_placeholders):
+    check(False,
+          f"{IMPORT_FILE}: spec.placeholders defines '{name}' but no client uses it — "
+          f"dead declaration; remove it or wire it to the client that needs it")
+
+# ---- the SOPS Secret: keys are cleartext in a SOPS-encrypted file; values are not.
+sops_doc = next((d for d in load(SOPS_FILE) if d and d.get("kind") == "Secret"), None)
+check(sops_doc is not None, f"{SOPS_FILE}: no Secret document found")
+sops_keys = set((sops_doc or {}).get("stringData") or {})
+check(len(sops_keys) > 0,
+      f"{SOPS_FILE}: parsed zero stringData keys — the file shape changed and this check "
+      f"would silently audit nothing")
+check((sops_doc or {}).get("metadata", {}).get("name") == SECRET_NAME,
+      f"{SOPS_FILE}: the Secret is not named {SECRET_NAME}")
+
+for cid, key in sorted(declared_pairs.items()):
+    # (1) THE DEV FAILURE, made unmergeable: a client declared in the import whose key
+    #     is absent from the Secret imports "successfully" with a literal placeholder.
+    check(key in sops_keys,
+          f"{SOPS_FILE}: client '{cid}' needs key '{key}' and it is NOT in the Secret. "
+          f"The realm import would still report SUCCESS and store the literal placeholder "
+          f"as that client's secret — this is exactly how dev's oauth2-proxy broke")
+
+# (2) no orphan Secret key: the reconciler treats every `<x>-client-secret` key as a
+#     client that MUST exist, and fails loudly if it does not. Catch it here instead.
+for key in sorted(k for k in sops_keys if k.endswith(KEY_SUFFIX)):
+    cid = key[: -len(KEY_SUFFIX)]
+    check(cid in declared_pairs,
+          f"{SOPS_FILE}: key '{key}' has no matching client in {IMPORT_FILE}. The "
+          f"reconciler would look up client '{cid}', not find it, and fail every run")
+
+# ===================================================== (4) ordering is a real Flux edge
+# Parse contract mirrors lib/status.py's flux_paths(): docs split on a lone `---`; a doc
+# is an entrypoint only if it carries the kustomize.toolkit apiVersion, `kind:
+# Kustomization` and a spec-level `path:`. Overlay `patch: |-` bodies carry Kustomizations
+# WITHOUT a path and are correctly skipped (they are patches, not entrypoints).
+_DEPENDSON_RE = re.compile(r"^(\s*)dependsOn:\s*$", re.M)
+_DEP_NAME_RE = re.compile(r"^\s*(?:-\s*)?name:\s*([^\s#]+)")
+_WAIT_RE = re.compile(r"^\s{2,6}wait:\s*true\s*(?:#.*)?$", re.M)
+
+
+def depends_on(doc: str) -> list[str]:
+    m = _DEPENDSON_RE.search(doc)
+    if not m:
+        return []
+    indent = len(m.group(1))
+    out: list[str] = []
+    for raw in doc[m.end():].splitlines():
+        if raw.strip() == "" or raw.lstrip().startswith("#"):
+            continue
+        if len(raw) - len(raw.lstrip()) <= indent and not raw.lstrip().startswith("-"):
+            break                                    # dedented out of the list
+        nm = _DEP_NAME_RE.match(raw)
+        if nm:
+            out.append(nm.group(1))
+    return out
+
+
+kustomizations: dict[str, dict] = {}
+for yfile in sorted((ROOT / "clusters").rglob("*.yaml")):
+    text = yfile.read_text()
+    if st.FLUX_API not in text:
+        continue
+    for doc in st._DOC_SPLIT_RE.split(text):
+        if st.FLUX_API not in doc or not re.search(r"^kind:\s*Kustomization\s*$", doc, re.M):
+            continue
+        pm = st._PATH_RE.search(doc)
+        if not pm:
+            continue
+        nm = st._NAME_RE.search(doc)
+        name = nm.group(1) if nm else "?"
+        kustomizations[name] = {
+            "file": str(yfile.relative_to(ROOT)),
+            "path": pm.group(1),
+            "dependsOn": depends_on(doc),
+            "wait": bool(_WAIT_RE.search(doc)),
+        }
+
+check(len(kustomizations) > 0,
+      "no Flux Kustomization with a spec.path found under clusters/ — the parser or the "
+      "repo layout changed; this check would silently audit nothing")
+
+
+def direct_render(path_spec: str) -> set[str]:
+    """Files a Flux `spec.path` renders ITSELF — a kustomize walk that deliberately does
+    NOT expand nested Flux Kustomizations.
+
+    lib/status.py's reconciled_files() follows every `spec.path` it discovers, which is
+    right for "is this file applied to the cluster at all" but wrong for OWNERSHIP: the
+    root Kustomization's path is clusters/<env>, so a transitive walk makes the root the
+    owner of every file in the repo and the ordering assertion below becomes vacuous
+    (measured: it reported the root as an owner of all three keycloak files). `resources:`
+    parsing itself is st.kustomize_resources, not forked.
+    """
+    rel = path_spec.lstrip("./") or "."
+    out: set[str] = set()
+    seen: set[str] = set()
+
+    def walk(d: str) -> None:
+        if d in seen:
+            return
+        seen.add(d)
+        kfile = ROOT / d / "kustomization.yaml"
+        if not kfile.is_file():
+            return
+        out.add(str(kfile.relative_to(ROOT)))
+        for item in st.kustomize_resources(kfile):
+            if "://" in item:
+                continue                       # remote base: not repo state
+            target = (ROOT / d / item).resolve()
+            try:
+                trel = target.relative_to(ROOT).as_posix()
+            except ValueError:
+                continue                       # outside the repo
+            if target.is_dir():
+                walk(trel)
+            elif target.is_file():
+                out.add(trel)
+
+    if (ROOT / rel).is_dir():
+        walk(rel)
+    return out
+
+
+rendered_by = {n: direct_render(k["path"]) for n, k in kustomizations.items()}
+
+
+def owners(rel_file: str) -> list[str]:
+    return sorted(n for n, files in rendered_by.items() if rel_file in files)
+
+
+def ancestors(name: str, seen=None) -> set[str]:
+    """Transitive dependsOn closure of `name` (its dependencies, direct and indirect)."""
+    seen = seen if seen is not None else set()
+    for dep in kustomizations.get(name, {}).get("dependsOn", []):
+        if dep in seen:
+            continue
+        seen.add(dep)
+        ancestors(dep, seen)
+    return seen
+
+
+secret_owners = owners(SOPS_FILE)
+import_owners = owners(IMPORT_FILE)
+recon_owners = owners(RECON_FILE)
+
+check(bool(secret_owners),
+      f"{SOPS_FILE} is rendered by NO Flux Kustomization — the client secrets are in git "
+      f"but never applied")
+check(bool(import_owners),
+      f"{IMPORT_FILE} is rendered by NO Flux Kustomization")
+# (5) the reconciler must actually be reconciled, or it is decoration.
+check(bool(recon_owners),
+      f"{RECON_FILE} is rendered by NO Flux Kustomization — the healer would sit in git "
+      f"and never run, which is the 'looks applied and isn't' failure it exists to end")
+
+for consumer_file, consumer_owners in ((IMPORT_FILE, import_owners),
+                                       (RECON_FILE, recon_owners)):
+    for co in consumer_owners:
+        for so in secret_owners:
+            if so == co:
+                continue          # same Kustomization: one atomic apply, ordering moot
+            anc = ancestors(co)
+            check(so in anc,
+                  f"ORDERING IS ONLY DOCUMENTED: '{co}' renders {consumer_file} but does "
+                  f"not (transitively) dependsOn '{so}', which renders the "
+                  f"{SECRET_NAME} Secret. Without that edge the consumer can reconcile "
+                  f"before the secret exists, and the Keycloak Operator's response to a "
+                  f"missing placeholder is to store it LITERALLY and report success")
+            if so in anc:
+                check(kustomizations[so]["wait"],
+                      f"'{so}' (which renders the {SECRET_NAME} Secret) does not set "
+                      f"wait: true, so '{co}' can proceed before it is applied")
+
+# ------ both environments must reconcile the reconciler, not just dev.
+for env in ("dev", "prod"):
+    entry = f"clusters/{env}"
+    if not (ROOT / entry).is_dir():
+        continue
+    applied, _ = st.reconciled_files(ROOT, entry)
+    check(RECON_FILE in applied,
+          f"{RECON_FILE} is not reachable from the {entry} entrypoint — the healer would "
+          f"exist on one cluster only, and prod is where all 12 clients were broken")
+    check(IMPORT_FILE in applied, f"{IMPORT_FILE} is not reachable from {entry}")
+
+# ============================================ (5) the reconciler manifest is safe + wired
+recon_docs = [d for d in load(RECON_FILE) if d]
+cm = next((d for d in recon_docs if d.get("kind") == "ConfigMap"), None)
+cj = next((d for d in recon_docs if d.get("kind") == "CronJob"), None)
+check(cm is not None, f"{RECON_FILE}: no ConfigMap carrying the reconciler script")
+check(cj is not None, f"{RECON_FILE}: no CronJob running the reconciler")
+
+script = ""
+if cm is not None:
+    data = cm.get("data") or {}
+    check(len(data) == 1,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the reconciler ConfigMap must carry exactly one script key "
+          f"(found {sorted(data)}) — a second copy would be untested by this gate")
+    script = next(iter(data.values()), "")
+    check(len(script.splitlines()) > 50,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the extracted script is implausibly short "
+          f"({len(script.splitlines())} lines) — the ConfigMap shape changed and the "
+          f"selftest below would prove nothing")
+    # THE nextcloud TRAP. This file is rendered by a Flux Kustomization with
+    # postBuild.substituteFrom, so envsubst rewrites it before any container runs. The
+    # script is written with NO dollar sign at all, so the hazard is structural rather
+    # than escaped and no future edit has to reason about escaping.
+    check(DOLLAR not in script,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the reconciler script contains a dollar sign. It ships inside a "
+          f"SUBSTITUTED Flux path, where a dollar-brace expansion is rewritten at "
+          f"reconcile time (see apps/wave-1/nextcloud.yaml). Rewrite without it — Python "
+          f"never needs one; chr(36) spells it where a literal is genuinely required")
+
+if cj is not None:
+    pod = cj["spec"]["jobTemplate"]["spec"]["template"]["spec"]
+    ctr = pod["containers"][0]
+    vols = {v["name"]: v for v in pod.get("volumes", [])}
+    mounts = {m["name"]: m for m in ctr.get("volumeMounts", [])}
+    secret_vols = [v for v in vols.values()
+                   if (v.get("secret") or {}).get("secretName") == SECRET_NAME]
+    check(len(secret_vols) == 1,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the CronJob must mount the {SECRET_NAME} Secret — that mount IS "
+          f"the desired state it reconciles towards")
+    if secret_vols:
+        mp = mounts.get(secret_vols[0]["name"], {}).get("mountPath")
+        check(mp == SECRETS_MOUNT,
+              f"{RECON_FILE}: {SECRET_NAME} is mounted at {mp}, but the script defaults "
+              f"to {SECRETS_MOUNT} and no env var overrides it")
+    cm_vols = [v for v in vols.values()
+               if (v.get("configMap") or {}).get("name") == (cm or {}).get(
+                   "metadata", {}).get("name")]
+    check(len(cm_vols) == 1,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the CronJob does not mount the reconciler ConfigMap, so it "
+          f"would run nothing")
+    # The URL desired state must be MOUNTED at the path the script defaults to, for the
+    # same reason as the Secret: the pod holds no ServiceAccount token and cannot read
+    # the KeycloakRealmImport CR, so an unmounted ConfigMap means pass 2 fails closed on
+    # every run forever -- correct behaviour, but a permanently red reconciler.
+    url_vols = [v for v in vols.values()
+                if (v.get("configMap") or {}).get("name") == URLS_CM_NAME]
+    check(len(url_vols) == 1,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the CronJob must mount the {URLS_CM_NAME} ConfigMap — that "
+          f"mount IS the desired state the URL pass reconciles towards, and the pod has "
+          f"no Kubernetes API access to read the realm import instead")
+    if url_vols:
+        mp = mounts.get(url_vols[0]["name"], {}).get("mountPath")
+        check(mp == URLS_MOUNT,
+              f"{RECON_FILE}: {URLS_CM_NAME} is mounted at {mp}, but the script defaults "
+              f"to {URLS_MOUNT}/{URLS_DATA_KEY} and no env var overrides it")
+        check(mounts.get(url_vols[0]["name"], {}).get("readOnly") is True,
+              f"{RECON_FILE}: the {URLS_CM_NAME} mount must be readOnly — the reconciler "
+              f"reads its desired state, it never writes it")
+    env_srcs = {e["name"]: e for e in ctr.get("env", [])}
+    for var in ("KEYCLOAK_ADMIN_USER", "KEYCLOAK_ADMIN_PASSWORD"):
+        ref = (env_srcs.get(var, {}).get("valueFrom") or {}).get("secretKeyRef") or {}
+        check(ref.get("name") == ADMIN_SECRET,
+              f"{RECON_FILE}: {var} must come from the {ADMIN_SECRET} Secret "
+              f"(got {ref.get('name')!r}) — the admin credential is never inlined")
+    for var in ("KEYCLOAK_BASE_URL", "KEYCLOAK_REALM"):
+        check(env_srcs.get(var, {}).get("value"),
+              f"{RECON_FILE}: {var} is not set; the script fails closed without it, but "
+              f"the CronJob should not ship broken")
+    # R-SEC-02: it talks only to Keycloak's REST API and needs no Kubernetes API rights.
+    check(pod.get("automountServiceAccountToken") is False,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the reconciler needs NO Kubernetes API access (its inputs are "
+          f"mounted Secrets) — set automountServiceAccountToken: false")
+    check(cj["spec"].get("concurrencyPolicy") == "Forbid",
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: set concurrencyPolicy: Forbid so a run stalled on an "
+          f"unavailable Keycloak is not lapped by the next tick")
+    img = ctr.get("image", "")
+    check(re.search(r":[0-9]", img),
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: container image {img!r} is not pinned to an explicit version")
+
+# ================================================ (8) the URL desired state is DERIVED
+# The reconciler's second pass makes the realm's environment-derived client URLs match
+# platform/keycloak/client-urls.yaml. That file must not be an independent declaration of
+# every public hostname: two declarations that can disagree is the same shape as the bug
+# this whole change closes. It is GENERATED from the realm import, and the generation is
+# gated HERE -- a hand edit to either file that makes them disagree is unmergeable.
+urls_docs = [d for d in load(URLS_FILE) if d]
+urls_cm = next((d for d in urls_docs if d.get("kind") == "ConfigMap"), None)
+check(urls_cm is not None, f"{URLS_FILE}: no ConfigMap document found")
+check((urls_cm or {}).get("metadata", {}).get("name") == URLS_CM_NAME,
+      f"{URLS_FILE}: the ConfigMap must be named {URLS_CM_NAME} (the CronJob mounts it "
+      f"by that name)")
+
+urls_want: dict[str, dict] = {}
+if urls_cm is not None:
+    data = urls_cm.get("data") or {}
+    check(set(data) == {URLS_DATA_KEY},
+          f"{URLS_FILE}: the ConfigMap must carry exactly the key {URLS_DATA_KEY} "
+          f"(found {sorted(data)}) — the script reads that filename from its mount")
+    raw = data.get(URLS_DATA_KEY, "")
+    try:
+        urls_want = json.loads(raw)
+    except ValueError as e:
+        check(False, f"{URLS_FILE}: {URLS_DATA_KEY} is not valid JSON ({e}) — the "
+                     f"reconciler would fail closed on every run")
+    check(isinstance(urls_want, dict) and bool(urls_want),
+          f"{URLS_FILE}: {URLS_DATA_KEY} must be a non-empty JSON object of clients")
+
+# THE GATE: the committed file must be exactly what the renderer produces from the realm
+# import. This is what makes the realm import the single source of truth for hostnames
+# rather than merely the place they were first typed.
+if (ROOT / RENDERER).is_file():
+    proc = subprocess.run([sys.executable, str(ROOT / RENDERER), "--check"],
+                          capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=120, cwd=str(ROOT))
+    check(proc.returncode == 0,
+          f"{URLS_FILE} is NOT what {RENDERER} renders from {IMPORT_FILE}. The URL "
+          f"reconciler would converge the live realm on a desired state the realm import "
+          f"does not declare — two sources of truth for every public hostname, which is "
+          f"the failure class this change exists to close. Regenerate with: "
+          f"python3 {RENDERER} --write\n        "
+          + "\n        ".join((proc.stdout + proc.stderr).strip().splitlines()[:12]))
+else:
+    check(False, f"{RENDERER} is missing — {URLS_FILE} would become a hand-maintained "
+                 f"second declaration of every hostname with nothing keeping it honest")
+
+# Every client named in the desired state must exist in the realm import (otherwise every
+# reconciler run reports NOT FOUND forever), and every field must be one the reconciler is
+# actually allowed to write.
+import_client_ids = {c.get("clientId") for c in clients}
+for cid in sorted(urls_want):
+    check(cid in import_client_ids,
+          f"{URLS_FILE}: declares URLs for client '{cid}', which {IMPORT_FILE} does not "
+          f"declare. The reconciler would look it up, not find it, and fail every run")
+    entry = urls_want[cid] if isinstance(urls_want.get(cid), dict) else {}
+    check(bool(entry), f"{URLS_FILE}: client '{cid}' declares no URL fields")
+    for field in sorted(entry):
+        check(field in URL_FIELDS,
+              f"{URLS_FILE}: client '{cid}' declares field '{field}', which is not one of "
+              f"the writable URL fields ({', '.join(URL_FIELDS)}). Anything else would be "
+              f"a client-representation field written into the realm by a file edit")
+
+# The three places that name the writable field set must agree, or the gate is checking a
+# different contract than the one that ships.
+for field in URL_FIELDS:
+    check(field in script,
+          f"{RECON_FILE}: the shipped script never mentions the writable URL field "
+          f"'{field}', but this check and {RENDERER} both treat it as writable — the "
+          f"three definitions of the write surface have diverged")
+
+# A redirect URI is only as good as the hostname it points at. If the realm import uses a
+# Flux substitution token, the desired-state ConfigMap must carry the SAME token (not a
+# resolved value) and must be rendered by the SAME Kustomization, or the two are
+# substituted differently and disagree about the domain at reconcile time.
+# Scan the DATA PAYLOAD, not the whole file: both files carry header prose that discusses
+# substitution tokens by name, and matching those would be a false positive.
+TOKEN_RE = re.compile(re.escape(DOLLAR) + r"\{([A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*)\}")
+import_tokens = set(TOKEN_RE.findall(
+    yaml.safe_dump((realm_import or {}).get("spec", {}).get("realm", {}))))
+urls_tokens = set(TOKEN_RE.findall(
+    ((urls_cm or {}).get("data") or {}).get(URLS_DATA_KEY, "")))
+check(urls_tokens <= import_tokens,
+      f"{URLS_FILE} uses substitution token(s) {sorted(urls_tokens - import_tokens)} that "
+      f"the realm definition in {IMPORT_FILE} does not — the desired state would resolve "
+      f"to a hostname the realm import never declared")
+
+urls_owners = owners(URLS_FILE)
+check(bool(urls_owners),
+      f"{URLS_FILE} is rendered by NO Flux Kustomization — the reconciler would mount a "
+      f"ConfigMap that does not exist and fail closed on every run")
+check(set(urls_owners) == set(import_owners),
+      f"{URLS_FILE} is rendered by {urls_owners} but {IMPORT_FILE} by {import_owners}. "
+      f"They MUST be rendered by the same Flux Kustomization: postBuild.substituteFrom is "
+      f"per-Kustomization, so a split would let the same "
+      f"{DOLLAR}{{BASE_DOMAIN}} resolve to two different values — the realm converging on "
+      f"a hostname the HTTPRoutes do not serve")
+for env in ("dev", "prod"):
+    entry = f"clusters/{env}"
+    if not (ROOT / entry).is_dir():
+        continue
+    applied, _ = st.reconciled_files(ROOT, entry)
+    check(URLS_FILE in applied,
+          f"{URLS_FILE} is not reachable from the {entry} entrypoint — the URL pass would "
+          f"fail closed on that cluster forever")
+
+# ============================== (6) the reconciler's BEHAVIOUR, proven by its own selftest
+if script:
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as td:
+        p = Path(td) / "reconcile.py"
+        p.write_text(script)
+        proc = subprocess.run([sys.executable, str(p), "--selftest"],
+                              capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=180)
+        tail = (proc.stdout + proc.stderr).strip().splitlines()
+        check(proc.returncode == 0,
+              "the reconciler's --selftest FAILED (compare-then-write / idempotence / "
+              "no-secret-logging / endpoint allow-list / fail-closed):\n        "
+              + "\n        ".join(tail[-12:]))
+        if proc.returncode == 0:
+            print("  reconciler --selftest: " + (tail[-1] if tail else "(no output)"))
+
+        # ---- (6b) THE SELFTEST IS FALSIFIABLE, not decorative -----------------------
+        # A passing suite proves nothing unless it can be shown to FAIL. mutations.py
+        # injects plausible regressions one at a time -- order-sensitive comparison, a
+        # fat round-tripped PUT, additive-only URI sets, a widened allow-list, coupled
+        # passes, fail-open on an unreadable input -- and requires --selftest to catch
+        # every one. A mutation that SURVIVES means the suite does not check that
+        # property, and this check fails naming it.
+        #
+        # This matters more than usual here: the whole incident was a component that
+        # REPORTED SUCCESS while the realm was broken. A green test that cannot fail is
+        # the same lie one level up. ~20s, no network, no cluster.
+        mut = DIR_PATH / "mutations.py"
+        if mut.is_file():
+            mproc = subprocess.run([sys.executable, str(mut), str(p)],
+                                   capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=600)
+            mtail = (mproc.stdout + mproc.stderr).strip().splitlines()
+            check(mproc.returncode == 0,
+                  "the reconciler's --selftest is NOT FALSIFIABLE — at least one injected "
+                  "regression survived it, so the suite does not prove what it claims:\n"
+                  "        " + "\n        ".join(mtail[-14:]))
+            if mproc.returncode == 0:
+                print("  reconciler mutations: "
+                      + (mtail[-1] if mtail else "(no output)"))
+        else:
+            check(False,
+                  "conformance/tests/l0-static/keycloak-client-secret-reconciler/"
+                  "mutations.py is missing — nothing proves the --selftest can fail, and "
+                  "an unfalsifiable proof is the failure mode this component exists to end")
+
+# ======================================================= (7) this check is load-bearing
+L0 = (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").is_file() else ""
+GATE = (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").is_file() else ""
+TOUCHED = ((ROOT / "ci" / "touched-requirements.sh").read_text()
+           if (ROOT / "ci" / "touched-requirements.sh").is_file() else "")
+# THIS CHECK IS LOAD-BEARING — asserted against the DECLARATIVE mechanism.
+# It used to assert `"keycloak-client-secret-reconciler/check.sh" in L0`: ci/l0.sh carried a hand-written
+# "UNCONDITIONAL" stage per whole-repo check, hardcoding this path. Those stages are gone
+# (they did not scale, and the next whole-repo invariant only got one if someone REMEMBERED
+# to write it). The same property is now asserted two ways: this test DECLARES
+# `conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"`, and ci/l0.sh unions every declaring test into
+# the run via `--include-scope`. Neither half alone is enough, so both are checked here; the
+# mechanism ITSELF (the union really selects, and a scope-declared SKIP exits 3 rather than
+# passing) is proven end-to-end and falsifiably by
+# conformance/tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired.
+SELF_YAML = ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static" / "keycloak-client-secret-reconciler" / "chainsaw-test.yaml"
+SELF = SELF_YAML.read_text() if SELF_YAML.is_file() else ""
+check(re.search(r'^\s*conformance\.home\.k3s/scope:\s*["\']?whole-repo', SELF, re.M) is not None,
+      "keycloak-client-secret-reconciler/chainsaw-test.yaml does not declare "
+      'conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo", so the merge gate selects this check only '
+      "when a change happens to touch one of the requirements it is labelled with. "
+      "This invariant spans platform/, platform-config/ and clusters/, so a change that breaks it need not attribute R-IDP-03/04 — which is how 12 unusable prod OIDC clients sat behind an entirely green cluster on 2026-09-06")
+check("--include-scope" in L0,
+      "ci/l0.sh no longer passes --include-scope to the conformance runner, so the L0 stage is "
+      "a purely requirement-scoped run again and the scope annotation is inert decoration — "
+      "this check would then run only by coincidence")
+check(re.search(r"^for s in .*\bl0\b.*; do", GATE, re.M) and re.search(r"fail\).*BLOCK=1", GATE),
+      "ci/gate.sh does not set the merge block when the l0 stage fails")
+check(re.search(r"^\s*platform/keycloak/\*\)", TOUCHED, re.M),
+      "ci/touched-requirements.sh has no platform/keycloak/* entry in its path->requirement "
+      "map, so editing the realm import or this reconciler attributes NO requirement and "
+      "the L2 keycloak tests are filtered out of the merge gate's touched subset")
+l2 = ROOT / "conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/keycloak-client-secrets-match-git/chainsaw-test.yaml"
+check(l2.is_file(),
+      "the LIVE-realm counterpart (conformance/tests/l2-behavioral/"
+      "keycloak-client-secrets-match-git) is missing — this static check cannot see a "
+      "realm that drifted after apply, which is the whole failure mode")
+if l2.is_file():
+    l2_text = l2.read_text()
+    check("KEYCLOAK_CLIENT_SECRETS_AUDIT_OK" in l2_text,
+          "the L2 test does not assert the reconciler's secret audit sentinel, so it could "
+          "pass on a Job that never ran the audit")
+    check("KEYCLOAK_CLIENT_URLS_AUDIT_OK" in l2_text,
+          "the L2 test does not assert the reconciler's URL audit sentinel. The live realm "
+          "could hold pre-migration redirect URIs and the test would still pass — which is "
+          "exactly the state prod was measured in")
+    check(URLS_CM_NAME in l2_text,
+          f"the L2 audit Job does not mount the {URLS_CM_NAME} ConfigMap, so its URL pass "
+          f"would fail closed and the test would report a false failure")
+
+# The alert pair must cover the reconciler's silence. Extended, not duplicated: one CronJob
+# gets one Failing/Stale pair, because two pairs keyed to the same job_name regex would
+# both fire for a single cause.
+ALERTS = "platform/monitoring/alerts.yaml"
+alerts_text = (ROOT / ALERTS).read_text() if (ROOT / ALERTS).is_file() else ""
+for rule in ("KeycloakClientSecretReconcilerFailing", "KeycloakClientSecretReconcilerStale"):
+    check(rule in alerts_text,
+          f"{ALERTS} has no {rule} rule — the reconciler's silence would be unobservable, "
+          f"and a healer nobody notices is absent is the 'looks applied and isn't' failure")
+check("redirect" in alerts_text.lower(),
+      f"{ALERTS}: the reconciler alert descriptions never mention redirect URIs, so an "
+      f"operator paged at 3am would look only for a client-secret problem while the actual "
+      f"drift was a hostname")
+
+# The renderer must be a real, runnable, tracked file — not a documented intention.
+check((ROOT / RENDERER).is_file(),
+      f"{RENDERER} is missing; without it {URLS_FILE} cannot be regenerated and the "
+      f"single-source-of-truth gate above has nothing to compare against")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ report
+print(f"realm import: {len(clients)} client(s), {len(declared_pairs)} confidential with a "
+      f"declared secret, {len(placeholders)} placeholder(s)")
+print(f"{SECRET_NAME} Secret: {len(sops_keys)} key(s) in git (names only; values stay "
+      f"SOPS-encrypted)")
+print("flux ordering: " + ", ".join(
+    f"{f.split('/')[-1]} <- {owners(f)}" for f in (SOPS_FILE, IMPORT_FILE, RECON_FILE)))
+
+print()
+if not FAILURES:
+    print(f"check OK: keycloak-client-secret-reconciler — {CHECKS} assertions "
+          f"(R-IDP-03, R-IDP-04)")
+    raise SystemExit(0)
+print(f"CHECK FAIL (keycloak-client-secret-reconciler): {len(FAILURES)} failed, "
+      f"{CHECKS - len(FAILURES)} passed", file=sys.stderr)
+for f in FAILURES:
+    print(f"  FAIL {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+raise SystemExit(1)
+PY
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# =============================================================================
+# mutations.py -- prove the reconciler's --selftest IS FALSIFIABLE.
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS
+# ---------------
+# A selftest that passes proves nothing on its own: a selftest asserting `True ==
+# True` also passes. The reconciler exists because a one-shot import REPORTED
+# SUCCESS while the realm was broken, and the same trap applies one level up -- a
+# green test suite that cannot fail is the same lie in a different place.
+#
+# So this injects a series of PLAUSIBLE regressions into the shipped script, one at
+# a time, and requires that --selftest FAILS for every one. A mutation that
+# SURVIVES means the suite does not actually check that property, and the check
+# fails, naming it.
+#
+# Each mutation is a mistake a reasonable person could make while editing this
+# code -- not a nonsense edit. Several were live design questions while it was
+# written (order-sensitivity, additive-vs-exact URI sets, whether the two passes
+# should share a failure path); the mutation is the record that the answer is
+# enforced and not merely commented.
+#
+# Invoked by check.sh with the script EXTRACTED from the shipped ConfigMap, so what
+# is proven falsifiable is byte-for-byte what runs on the cluster.
+#
+#   python3 mutations.py <path-to-extracted-reconciler.py>
+#
+# Runtime is ~20s (one subprocess per mutation, each running the full selftest
+# against an in-process stub Keycloak; no network, no cluster).
+# =============================================================================
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+def dedent4(text: str) -> str:
+    """Anchors are written with the YAML file's indentation. The script extracted from
+    the ConfigMap block scalar has 4 fewer leading spaces on every line, so anchors are
+    authored to match the YAML (easy to diff against the manifest) and dedented here."""
+    return "\n".join(ln[4:] if ln.startswith("    ") else ln for ln in text.split("\n"))
+
+
+# (name, the mistake being modelled, anchor, replacement)
+MUTATIONS: list[tuple[str, str, str, str]] = [
+    ("order-sensitive URL comparison",
+     "compare redirectUris in the order Keycloak returns them -- Keycloak does not "
+     "preserve the authored order, so a converged realm is rewritten on every run "
+     "forever while every run still reports success",
+     "if sorted(stored) != sorted(declared_value):",
+     "if stored != declared_value:"),
+
+    ("fat round-tripped URL PUT",
+     "PUT the whole client representation back instead of only the drifted fields -- "
+     "the live server rejects it with 400 'Cannot parse the JSON', and even if it did "
+     "not, the blast radius would cover every field of the client",
+     "            rep = {\"clientId\": client.get(\"clientId\")}\n"
+     "            for field in sorted(drift):\n"
+     "                rep[field] = want[cid][field]",
+     "            rep = dict(client)\n"
+     "            for field in sorted(drift):\n"
+     "                rep[field] = want[cid][field]"),
+
+    ("write unconditionally (compare-then-write removed)",
+     "drop the converged short-circuit -- every client is rewritten on every run, so "
+     "the CronJob becomes a permanent write load against the IdP database",
+     "            drift = url_drift(client, want[cid])\n            if not drift:",
+     "            drift = url_drift(client, want[cid]) or dict(\n"
+     "                (f, (\"\", want[cid][f])) for f in want[cid])\n            if False:"),
+
+    ("additive-only URI reconciliation",
+     "union the declared URIs with the stored ones -- a redirect URI REMOVED from git "
+     "is never removed from the realm, so a stale wildcard keeps working and quietly "
+     "widens what the realm will redirect to",
+     "                rep[field] = want[cid][field]",
+     "                rep[field] = (sorted(set(want[cid][field]) | set(client.get(field) or []))\n"
+     "                              if field in URL_LIST_FIELDS else want[cid][field])"),
+
+    ("URL pass fails OPEN on an unreadable input",
+     "treat a missing ConfigMap as 'nothing declared' -- the run reports success while "
+     "reconciling nothing, which is precisely the fail-open of the realm import",
+     "        except OSError as e:\n"
+     "            url_input_fail = (\"cannot read %s (%s) -- the keycloak-client-urls ConfigMap \"\n"
+     "                              \"is not mounted\" % (URLS_FILE, e.__class__.__name__))",
+     "        except OSError:\n            want_urls = {}"),
+
+    ("URL pass skips public clients",
+     "copy the secret pass's publicClient skip into the URL pass -- the `kubernetes` "
+     "client is PKCE-public, so kubectl's redirect URIs would never converge",
+     "            drift = url_drift(client, want[cid])",
+     "            if client.get(\"publicClient\"):\n                continue\n"
+     "            drift = url_drift(client, want[cid])"),
+
+    ("the two passes are coupled",
+     "abort the whole run when either input is bad -- a typo in a hostname ConfigMap "
+     "would stop client-SECRET repair, making credential healing depend on a file that "
+     "has nothing to do with credentials",
+     "        if want_secrets is None and want_urls is None:",
+     "        if want_secrets is None or want_urls is None:"),
+
+    ("unmanaged fields forced to empty",
+     "iterate every writable field instead of only the declared ones -- a rootUrl or "
+     "adminUrl the realm holds and git does not declare would be WIPED, turning "
+     "'not declared' into 'must be empty'",
+     "        for field, declared_value in sorted(wanted.items()):",
+     "        for field in URL_FIELDS:\n"
+     "            declared_value = wanted.get(\n"
+     "                field, [] if field in URL_LIST_FIELDS else \"\")"),
+
+    ("no readback verification",
+     "trust the 204 -- a server that accepts the PUT and does not apply it is reported "
+     "as REPAIRED, which is 'reports success while the realm never converged' again",
+     "            still = url_drift(after[0], want[cid])",
+     "            still = {}"),
+
+    ("allow-list widened to the whole realm",
+     "add a realm-level endpoint 'just in case' -- /users, /groups, /roles and "
+     "/authentication stop being structurally unreachable",
+     "        r\"/admin/realms/[^/]+/clients\",",
+     "        r\"/admin/realms/[^/]+\",\n        r\"/admin/realms/[^/]+/clients\","),
+
+    ("desired-state field validation removed",
+     "accept any field name from the ConfigMap -- an arbitrary client field becomes "
+     "writable through a file edit, bypassing the five-field write surface entirely",
+     "                if field not in URL_FIELDS:",
+     "                if False:"),
+
+    ("URL drift detected but never repaired",
+     "leave the audit-mode early-continue in place on the write path -- drift is "
+     "reported in the log and silently not fixed",
+     "            if audit:\n                continue\n            # MINIMAL representation",
+     "            if True:\n                continue\n            # MINIMAL representation"),
+]
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
+        print("usage: mutations.py <extracted-reconciler.py>", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 2
+    src = Path(sys.argv[1]).read_text()
+
+    problems: list[str] = []
+    killed = 0
+    for name, why, old, new in MUTATIONS:
+        old, new = dedent4(old), dedent4(new)
+        # An anchor that no longer matches is a FAILURE, not a skip: it means the code
+        # moved and this mutation silently stopped proving anything.
+        n = src.count(old)
+        if n != 1:
+            problems.append("%s: anchor matches %d times (expected exactly 1) -- the "
+                            "code moved and this mutation no longer proves anything. "
+                            "Re-anchor it against the current source." % (name, n))
+            continue
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile("w", suffix=".py", delete=False) as fh:
+            fh.write(src.replace(old, new, 1))
+            path = fh.name
+        try:
+            proc = subprocess.run([sys.executable, path, "--selftest"],
+                                  capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=240)
+        finally:
+            Path(path).unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        if proc.returncode == 0:
+            problems.append("%s SURVIVED -- --selftest still passed with this regression "
+                            "applied, so nothing in the suite actually checks it. The "
+                            "mistake it models: %s" % (name, why))
+            continue
+        killed += 1
+        out = proc.stdout + proc.stderr
+        m = re.search(r"SELFTEST FAIL: (\d+) of \d+", out)
+        how = ("%s assertion(s) caught it" % m.group(1) if m
+               else "the selftest aborted (caught, less cleanly)")
+        print("  killed  %-42s %s" % (name, how))
+
+    print()
+    if problems:
+        print("MUTATION CHECK FAIL: %d of %d mutation(s) not proven"
+              % (len(problems), len(MUTATIONS)), file=sys.stderr)
+        for p in problems:
+            print("  FAIL %s" % p, file=sys.stderr)
+        return 1
+    print("MUTATION CHECK OK: all %d injected regressions were caught by --selftest "
+          "(the suite is falsifiable, not decorative)" % killed)
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ metadata:
  annotations:
    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-SEC-02"
    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE. Universally quantified over tracked YAML: a Role/ClusterRole/binding
+    # or a wildcard verb can be authored in ANY subtree, and an over-broad ServiceAccount is
+    # exactly the kind of thing added alongside a new app under apps/ (which the path map
+    # keys to nothing). Scoping this to R-SEC-02 would run it only when someone happens to
+    # retype that ID.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ metadata:
  annotations:
    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-SEC-01"
    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE. The invariant is literally universally quantified over the tracked
+    # tree: `git ls-files` -> every file must be free of plaintext credentials. ANY new or
+    # edited file in ANY subtree can break it, and most subtrees (apps/, docs/, infra/,
+    # runbooks/, most of platform/) attribute NO requirement at all in
+    # ci/touched-requirements.sh's path map — so requirement-scoped selection would filter
+    # secret hygiene out of exactly the commit that pastes a password into a new manifest.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — no environment overlay ships a placeholder value, and the guard that owns
+#             one refuses it
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+#
+# THE BUG CLASS THIS CLOSES (it has now bitten three times in one file). A guard in
+# `bootstrap/standup.sh` keys on the SHAPE of a value that lives in
+# `clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml`, and nothing tied the two together. On 2026-09-05 the
+# S3 placeholder changed from `TBD-PROD-S3-BACKUP-ENDPOINT` to
+# `https://TBD-R2-ACCOUNT-ID.r2.cloudflarestorage.com` (commit 32d6766); the three guards
+# matched the glob `TBD-*`, a PREFIX match, and `fnmatch('https://TBD-R2-…','TBD-*')` is
+# False. All three guards silently stopped matching, and `standup.sh resume` would have
+# resumed `velero` on prod against a nonexistent hostname: installs clean, reports healthy,
+# NO BACKUPS EXIST. It was found by accident.
+#
+# WHY THIS TEST WAS RESTRUCTURED (2026-09-13). It was PERMANENTLY SKIPPED. `check.sh` exited
+# 3 when `bootstrap/standup.sh` was absent — and that file has NEVER been on `main`: it was
+# not deleted (no deletion commit exists anywhere), it landed only on unmerged prod-standup
+# branches. So an incident-derived test reported SKIP on every gate run, and SKIPPED IS NOT
+# GREEN here. The skip was also hiding a RED: run against the real `standup.sh` from
+# `work/prod-standup-campaign`, the old check FAILED 2 of 34 assertions on false positives
+# from treating the empty string as a placeholder for knobs cluster-vars authors empty on
+# purpose. Both are fixed. The invariant is now split into a half that needs no guard and a
+# half that activates when one lands, and THIS CHECK NEVER EXITS 3.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# THEN  HALF A — always, needs no guard, input surface `clusters/`:
+#       (A1) no environment overlay's EFFECTIVE cluster-vars value is placeholder-shaped by
+#            an INDEPENDENT detector, for any knob no guard refuses (base is exempt: it is
+#            not a bootstrap target and its loud sentinels exist to be overridden — but a
+#            sentinel an overlay forgets to override IS caught, as that overlay's value);
+#       (A2) an empty effective value is STATED explicitly by the overlay, never inherited
+#            in silence — cluster-vars' own documented convention, and the rule that
+#            separates "authored empty" from "somebody forgot";
+#       (A3) a LOUD base sentinel is explicitly overridden by every overlay, so the
+#            `TBD-PROD-*` convention cannot be defeated by an omitted patch op;
+#       (A4) the detector itself recognises the exact 2026-09-05 string MID-STRING, accepts
+#            both real endpoints the repo ships, and does not call the empty string loud;
+#       (A5) ci/l0.sh runs the L0 layer and ci/gate.sh blocks the merge when it fails.
+#       HALF B — when a `*_is_placeholder` predicate exists ANYWHERE in the tree (the guard
+#       is DISCOVERED, not hardcoded, so a guard landing at bootstrap/standup.sh or moving to
+#       a sourceable library activates this half with no edit here):
+#       (B1) every authored value of a guarded knob the detector calls placeholder-shaped is
+#            REFUSED by the REAL predicate, extracted from the real file and executed (never
+#            reimplemented — see check.sh "HOW THE REAL GUARD IS EXERCISED"), and every
+#            usable value is ACCEPTED;
+#       (B2) every function that reads a guarded knob applies the guard to it (the "three
+#            guards died at once" regression);
+#       (B3) the guard matches its own vocabulary ANYWHERE in a value, not just as a prefix
+#            — the exact anchoring defect above — and still accepts a real endpoint;
+#       (B4) the extraction is faithful, exactly one file and one definition own the
+#            vocabulary, and the check fails LOUDLY rather than silently testing a copy if
+#            the guard stops being a self-contained predicate.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE, and it RUNS — never SKIP. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion
+# script (standard library + PyYAML + bash); conformance/run.sh --layer l0 runs it directly
+# and this Chainsaw Test wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# NOT proven: while no guard exists on `main`, HALF B IS NOT PROVEN, and the check SAYS SO on
+# stdout every run rather than swallowing it as a skip — what is proven instead is the
+# stronger-at-the-source half, that the values a guard would be asked about are not
+# placeholders at all. Also not proven: that the endpoint is REACHABLE or that backups exist
+# (runtime facts — `standup.sh s3check` probes the former from a pod, l3-fault-injection/
+# dr-restore proves the latter); that guards for knobs OTHER than the placeholder-refusing
+# ones are correct; and that the guard runs at all in a real standup (the dispatch path is
+# shell, executed only against a live cluster). A1 reads cluster-vars, not every manifest: a
+# placeholder hardcoded in a manifest rather than in a knob is out of scope. R-STATE-03 is
+# tagged for the narrow static slice only: the authored backup target cannot be a placeholder.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: placeholder-guard-coupling
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-ENV-02: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-STATE-03: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-ENV-02, R-STATE-03"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # NO `scope` ANNOTATION, DELIBERATELY — this invariant IS requirement-scoped, and was
+    # re-audited as such on 2026-09-13 after the restructure changed the input surface.
+    # HALF A reads clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml plus clusters/<env>/kustomization.yaml;
+    # ci/touched-requirements.sh keys clusters/* to R-ENV-02 + R-GITOPS-01, so every path
+    # that can break HALF A attributes a requirement declared above. HALF B reads whichever
+    # file defines the guard; bootstrap/* is keyed to R-STATE-03 + R-GITOPS-01, which covers
+    # the place a standup guard lands. Requirement-scoped selection therefore cannot hide a
+    # breaking change, and declaring whole-repo scope would only add runtime, not coverage.
+    # The one residual: (A5) reads ci/l0.sh and ci/gate.sh, and ci/* attributes neither
+    # R-ENV-02 nor R-STATE-03 — but that wiring is separately and unconditionally asserted by
+    # the whole-repo-scoped tests/l0-static/whole-repo-invariants-wired, so (A5) here is
+    # belt-and-braces rather than the only proof.
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      No environment overlay can ship a placeholder-shaped cluster-vars value that nothing
+      refuses, and where a real bootstrap guard owns such a knob it actually recognises
+      every authored value as a placeholder — so a value change in one file cannot silently
+      disarm a guard in another and enable velero against an endpoint that does not exist.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: refuse-authored-placeholders-and-couple-them-to-any-real-guard
+      description: >-
+        Screen every authored effective cluster-vars value of every environment overlay
+        against an independent placeholder detector, assert empty values are stated rather
+        than inherited, and — when a *_is_placeholder predicate exists anywhere in the tree
+        — extract and execute the REAL guard against those same values.
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,710 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — placeholder-guard-coupling
+# Serves: R-ENV-02 ("Same GitOps config promotes dev/test -> prod (authored once)."
+#                   — spec docs/02-environments-and-provisioning.md)
+#         R-STATE-03 ("Scheduled off-cluster backups + restore (DR)."
+#                   — spec docs/04-storage-and-state.md)
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS — A GUARD KEYED ON A VALUE THAT LIVES IN ANOTHER FILE
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------
+# `bootstrap/standup.sh` refuses to resume tiers whose configuration is still a
+# placeholder. Three of those guards keyed on the SHAPE of `S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT`, which is
+# authored in `clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml`. On 2026-09-05 the placeholder changed
+# from `TBD-PROD-S3-BACKUP-ENDPOINT` to `https://TBD-R2-ACCOUNT-ID.r2.cloudflarestorage.com`
+# (the MinIO -> Cloudflare R2 move, commit 32d6766). The guards matched the glob `TBD-*` —
+# a PREFIX match — and `fnmatch('https://TBD-R2-…','TBD-*')` is FALSE. All three guards
+# silently stopped matching. `standup.sh resume` would then have resumed `velero` on prod
+# against a hostname that does not exist: the HelmRelease installs clean, the Kustomization
+# reports Ready, and NO BACKUPS EXIST. It was found by accident.
+#
+# WHY THIS CHECK WAS REWRITTEN (2026-09-13) — IT WAS SKIPPING FOREVER
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The original version keyed its ENTIRE existence on `bootstrap/standup.sh` and exited 3
+# (SKIP) when that file was absent. Established by measurement, not assumption:
+#
+#   * `bootstrap/standup.sh` HAS NEVER EXISTED ON `main`. It was not deleted — there is no
+#     deletion commit for it anywhere (`git log --all --diff-filter=D -- bootstrap/standup.sh`
+#     is empty). It lives on unmerged prod-standup branches (`work/prod-standup-campaign`,
+#     `prod/*`, `feat/prod-hardening`) and never landed. `git ls-tree main bootstrap/` lists
+#     only README.md, flux/, gitea/, sops/. docs/BULK-NFS-STORAGE.md §7 already recorded
+#     this, including the consequence: "nothing in the gate currently refuses a
+#     placeholder-shaped overlay value".
+#   * So this check reported SKIP on every gate run since it landed, and SKIPPED IS NOT
+#     GREEN in this repo. An incident-derived test that can only ever skip is the quiet
+#     version of the failure it was written to prevent.
+#   * Worse, the skip was HIDING A RED. Run against the real `standup.sh` from
+#     `work/prod-standup-campaign`, the original check FAILED 2 of 34 assertions — both
+#     false positives from treating the EMPTY STRING as placeholder-shaped for knobs whose
+#     emptiness is deliberately authored (`BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX` and
+#     `VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX`, both `""` on dev). cluster-vars documents that emptiness as
+#     load-bearing ("THE BASE DEFAULT IS THE EMPTY STRING, AND THAT IS LOAD-BEARING … an
+#     EMPTY VALUE IS SAFE UNDER StrictPostBuildSubstitutions"). So the check would have
+#     false-blocked the moment its own input landed. That is fixed below.
+#
+# THE HAZARD IS NOT GONE, so this coverage is NOT obsolete and was NOT deleted. The
+# invariant has two independent halves, and only one of them needs `standup.sh`:
+#
+#   HALF A — THE AUTHORED VALUES (provable on `main` today, needs NO guard).
+#     No environment overlay may ship a placeholder-shaped effective cluster-vars value.
+#     This is the OUTCOME the 2026-09-05 guard existed to prevent, asserted at the source
+#     instead of at the guard: if prod's `S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT` is never a placeholder, velero
+#     cannot be pointed at a hostname that does not exist, whether or not a guard catches
+#     it. Its entire input surface is `clusters/`, all of which is on `main`.
+#   HALF B — THE COUPLING (activates automatically when a guard lands).
+#     The real predicate, extracted from the real file and executed, agrees with an
+#     INDEPENDENT detector about every authored value; every consumer of a guarded knob
+#     applies the guard; the guard matches its vocabulary ANYWHERE, not as a prefix.
+#
+# THIS CHECK NEVER EXITS 3. Half A always runs, against real files, with an assertion
+# floor. Half B runs when a guard exists and is reported as NOT PROVEN when one does not —
+# stated loudly in the output rather than swallowed as a skip.
+#
+# THE GUARD IS DISCOVERED, NOT HARDCODED (this is the "re-point" made automatic)
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The original hardcoded `bootstrap/standup.sh`, which is exactly why a file that never
+# landed could disable the whole check. Instead, every tracked `*.sh` in the tree is
+# scanned for a `<name>_is_placeholder()` definition:
+#   * exactly one such FILE  -> that is the guard; Half B runs against it, wherever it is.
+#     A guard that lands at `bootstrap/standup.sh`, or moves to `bootstrap/lib/placeholder.sh`,
+#     is picked up with no edit to this check.
+#   * none                   -> Half A only, with the gap named in the output.
+#   * more than one file     -> FAIL. Two files defining the placeholder vocabulary is the
+#     2026-09-05 divergence with a second file's name on it; this check cannot say which
+#     one a standup run would source.
+# `PLACEHOLDER_GUARD_FILE` overrides discovery (repo-relative) for negative fixtures.
+# NOTE: discovery is shell-only, because the guard family is shell. If the refusal ever
+# moves to a non-shell mechanism (a Kyverno policy, a CEL admission rule), discovery finds
+# nothing and says so — re-point this check deliberately in that change.
+#
+# HOW THE REAL GUARD IS EXERCISED (and why not a copy)
+# ---------------------------------------------------
+# `standup.sh` is NOT sourceable: at top level it parses argv, hard-exits when
+# --kubeconfig/--expect-server/<step> are absent, `cd`s to the repo root, exports
+# KUBECONFIG, installs an EXIT trap and finally dispatches steps against a live cluster.
+# So this check EXTRACTS the predicate's own source lines from the file and sources ONLY
+# those, then calls the real function. That is the real bytes, not a reimplementation:
+#   * every function whose name ends `_is_placeholder` is discovered, not named here;
+#   * a duplicate definition of one is a failure (which of the two would run?);
+#   * the extracted body must be a SELF-CONTAINED predicate — `case`/`return` and nothing
+#     else, no command substitution, no call to another function. If the guard ever grows
+#     a dependency, extraction stops being faithful and THIS CHECK FAILS LOUDLY, naming the
+#     remedy (move the predicate into a small sourceable library) rather than quietly
+#     falling back to testing a copy of the logic;
+#   * a CANARY pins the extraction itself: the extracted function must refuse the empty
+#     string and accept a realistic endpoint.
+# There is deliberately NO second implementation of the matching logic anywhere in this file.
+#
+# THE INDEPENDENT DETECTOR (and the empty-string distinction the old version got wrong)
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Asking "does the guard agree with the guard?" proves nothing, so placeholder-shaped is
+# decided by a detector written HERE, whose vocabulary is the UNION of two independent
+# sources:
+#   * SEED — universal loud-placeholder idioms (TBD, TODO, FIXME, PLACEHOLDER, REPLACE-ME,
+#     CHANGE-ME, FILL-ME, SET-ME, XXXX), plus `<angle-bracket>` templates. NOT derived from
+#     any guard, so DELETING a guard arm cannot make a value stop being placeholder-shaped.
+#   * the guard's OWN vocabulary (when a guard exists), read out of its case-arms with the
+#     glob anchors STRIPPED. Stripping the anchors is what makes the comparison non-circular
+#     in the dimension that actually broke: the detector matches a word ANYWHERE,
+#     case-insensitively, and the guard must agree. A prefix-anchored guard cannot pass.
+#
+# LOUD vs EMPTY — the correction. A LOUD placeholder is a positive statement that a value
+# was never decided, and it is always a defect in an overlay. The EMPTY STRING is not:
+# cluster-vars authors `""` deliberately for suffix/prefix knobs, and Flux strict
+# substitution fails on an UNDEFINED variable, not on one defined as `""`. So emptiness is
+# NOT treated as a loud placeholder. It is held to a different, real rule instead (A2): an
+# empty effective value must be STATED EXPLICITLY by that overlay, never inherited in
+# silence — which is cluster-vars' own documented convention ("Both overlays state this
+# knob explicitly … so neither inherits it silently"). Emptiness still counts as
+# placeholder-shaped for a knob a GUARD covers, because a `""` case-arm in the guard is the
+# guard author's declaration that empty is not a usable target for that knob.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as authored,
+# THEN  HALF A (always):
+#       (A1) VALUES: no environment overlay's EFFECTIVE cluster-vars value is LOUD
+#            placeholder-shaped, for any knob that no guard refuses. (Base alone is exempt:
+#            it is not a bootstrap target — `flux bootstrap --path=clusters/<env>` — and its
+#            loud sentinels exist to be overridden. A base placeholder an overlay forgets to
+#            override IS caught, because it becomes that overlay's effective value.)
+#       (A2) EXPLICITNESS: an empty effective value is stated explicitly by that overlay.
+#       (A3) SENTINEL DISCIPLINE: if base carries a LOUD sentinel for a knob, every overlay
+#            states that knob explicitly — the `TBD-PROD-*` convention only works if no
+#            overlay can inherit the sentinel by omission.
+#       (A4) DETECTOR CANARIES: the detector recognises the exact 2026-09-05 string
+#            MID-STRING, accepts both real endpoints the repo actually ships, and does NOT
+#            call the empty string loud.
+#       (A5) LOAD-BEARING: ci/l0.sh runs the L0 conformance layer on every gate run and
+#            ci/gate.sh sets the merge block when that stage fails.
+#       HALF B (only when a guard file is discovered):
+#       (B1) VALUES: for every knob a guard is responsible for, every authored value — the
+#            base default AND each overlay's value — that the detector calls placeholder-
+#            shaped is REFUSED by the real guard, and every value it calls usable is
+#            ACCEPTED (a guard that refuses a real endpoint leaves velero suspended forever,
+#            the same class of silent failure).
+#       (B2) CONSUMERS: every function that reads a guarded knob (via `cvar`, following one
+#            hop of variable aliasing) applies a placeholder guard to it. This is the "all
+#            three guards died at once" regression stated as a property.
+#       (B3) ANCHORING: for each word in the guard's own vocabulary, the guard refuses a
+#            value carrying that word in the MIDDLE (not at the start) — the precise defect
+#            of 2026-09-05 — while still accepting a realistic endpoint.
+#       (B4) HARNESS: exactly one definition per predicate, one guard FILE in the tree, the
+#            extracted body verbatim and self-contained, the canary holds, no divergent
+#            second copy of the matching logic, and assertion floors keep a pass from
+#            degenerating into a no-op.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps)
+#   - While no guard exists on `main`, HALF B IS NOT PROVEN AT ALL, and the check says so on
+#     stdout every run. What is proven is the stronger-at-the-source half: the values a
+#     guard would be asked about are not placeholders in the first place. This is a real
+#     narrowing of coverage versus the intent, and it is reported, not hidden.
+#   - Nothing about RUNTIME: not that the endpoint resolves, not that credentials work, not
+#     that a backup exists. `standup.sh s3check` probes reachability from a pod (operator-
+#     run, cluster-gated) and conformance/tests/l3-fault-injection/dr-restore proves restore.
+#   - Half B does not execute the dispatch path, so it cannot prove the guard is REACHED in
+#     a real run — only that, when reached, it refuses what it must. (B2) is a text-level
+#     taint trace over one file, not an interpreter.
+#   - It says nothing about guards keyed on shapes OTHER than placeholders (e.g. the
+#     EXTERNALDNS_TXT_OWNER_ID == 'default' test), nor about placeholder-shaped values
+#     outside cluster-vars (the Ansible inventory's BLOCKED/NOT-A-DEVICE sentinels are
+#     asserted by the node_baseline role itself, at play time).
+#   - A1 reads cluster-vars, not every manifest. A placeholder hardcoded in a manifest
+#     rather than in a knob is out of scope here.
+#
+# SELECTION. `ci/touched-requirements.sh` keys `clusters/*` -> R-ENV-02 (Half A's whole
+# input surface) and `bootstrap/*` -> R-STATE-03 (where a guard lands), so every path that
+# can break this check attributes a requirement it declares. Deliberately requirement-scoped,
+# not whole-repo — see chainsaw-test.yaml.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+GUARD_OVERRIDE="${PLACEHOLDER_GUARD_FILE:-}"
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+
+# The authored half of the coupling is the one thing this check cannot do without.
+if [ ! -f "${ROOT}/clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml" ]; then
+  echo "CHECK FAIL (placeholder-guard-coupling): clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml is absent — the authored values this check audits do not exist. That is not a SKIP: the knobs this invariant is about have been moved or deleted, and this check must be re-pointed in the SAME change." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+WORK="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "${WORK}"' EXIT
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# PHASE 1 (python): discover the guard, derive the corpus from the real files, and run
+# every assertion that does not need a shell. Writes:
+#   ${WORK}/guards.sh     the predicate source lines, verbatim, and nothing else (may be empty)
+#   ${WORK}/corpus.tsv    <guard>\t<expect: placeholder|usable>\t<origin>\t<value> (may be empty)
+#   ${WORK}/findings.txt  one line per failed assertion
+#   ${WORK}/counts.txt    <assertions-run>
+#   ${WORK}/mode.txt      the discovered guard's repo-relative path, or empty
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" "${WORK}" "${GUARD_OVERRIDE}" <<'PY'
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT, WORK, OVERRIDE = Path(sys.argv[1]), Path(sys.argv[2]), sys.argv[3]
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def bail(msg):
+    """A failure that makes the rest of the check meaningless: report and stop."""
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (placeholder-guard-coupling): {msg}", file=sys.stderr)
+    (WORK / "findings.txt").write_text(msg + "\n")
+    (WORK / "counts.txt").write_text("0\n")
+    (WORK / "corpus.tsv").write_text("")
+    (WORK / "guards.sh").write_text("")
+    (WORK / "mode.txt").write_text("")
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+
+DEF_RE = re.compile(r"^([a-z0-9_]+_is_placeholder)\(\)\s*\{")
+SELF_DIR = ROOT / "conformance" / "tests" / "l0-static" / "placeholder-guard-coupling"
+SKIP_DIRS = {".git", "_artifacts", "node_modules", ".venv"}
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------ discover the guard FILE
+# Hardcoding a path is what let a file that never landed disable this whole check.
+if OVERRIDE:
+    cand = [ROOT / OVERRIDE]
+    if not cand[0].is_file():
+        bail(f"PLACEHOLDER_GUARD_FILE={OVERRIDE} does not exist")
+else:
+    cand = []
+    for p in sorted(ROOT.rglob("*.sh")):
+        if SKIP_DIRS & set(p.parts) or SELF_DIR in p.parents:
+            continue
+        try:
+            text = p.read_text()
+        except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):          # pragma: no cover
+            continue
+        if any(DEF_RE.match(line) for line in text.splitlines()):
+            cand.append(p)
+
+check(len(cand) <= 1,
+      "more than one file defines a *_is_placeholder predicate ("
+      + ", ".join(str(p.relative_to(ROOT)) for p in cand)
+      + ") — two files owning the placeholder vocabulary is the 2026-09-05 divergence with a "
+        "second file's name on it, and this check cannot say which one a standup run would "
+        "source. Keep exactly one, and source it from the other.")
+
+GUARD_REL = str(cand[0].relative_to(ROOT)) if len(cand) == 1 else ""
+(WORK / "mode.txt").write_text(GUARD_REL + "\n")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------- HALF B setup: extract the guard
+guard_src: list[str] = []
+guard_words: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+funcs: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+CALL_RE = re.compile(r"\b([a-z0-9_]+_is_placeholder)\s+\"([^\"]*)\"")
+
+if GUARD_REL:
+    TEXT = (ROOT / GUARD_REL).read_text()
+    LINES = TEXT.splitlines()
+
+    defs: dict[str, list[int]] = {}
+    for i, line in enumerate(LINES):
+        m = DEF_RE.match(line)
+        if m:
+            defs.setdefault(m.group(1), []).append(i)
+
+    ARM_RE = re.compile(r"^(?P<pats>[^()]*?)\)\s*return\s+[01]\s*;;$")
+    ALLOWED = (
+        re.compile(r"^$"),
+        re.compile(r"^#"),
+        re.compile(r"^case\s+\"\$\{?[0-9A-Za-z_]+\}?\"\s+in$"),
+        re.compile(r"^esac$"),
+        re.compile(r"^return\s+[01]$"),
+        ARM_RE,
+    )
+
+    for name, at in sorted(defs.items()):
+        check(len(at) == 1,
+              f"{GUARD_REL} defines {name}() {len(at)} times (lines "
+              f"{', '.join(str(a + 1) for a in at)}) — which one runs depends on file order, and "
+              "this check can no longer say which one it extracted. Keep exactly one definition.")
+        if len(at) != 1:
+            continue
+        start = at[0]
+        end = next((j for j in range(start + 1, len(LINES)) if LINES[j] == "}"), None)
+        if end is None:
+            bail(f"{name}() at {GUARD_REL}:{start + 1} has no closing brace at column 0 — the "
+                 "extraction boundary this check relies on is gone. Restore the conventional "
+                 "layout, or move the predicate into a sourceable library.")
+        body = LINES[start:end + 1]
+        block = "\n".join(body)
+        check(block in TEXT,
+              f"extracted {name}() is not a verbatim substring of {GUARD_REL} — extraction bug; "
+              "the harness would be testing something the script does not contain")
+
+        words: list[str] = []
+        for raw in body[1:-1]:
+            s = raw.strip()
+            if not any(rx.match(s) for rx in ALLOWED) or "$(" in s or "`" in s:
+                bail(f"{name}() at {GUARD_REL}:{start + 1} is no longer a SELF-CONTAINED "
+                     f"case/return predicate (offending line: {s!r}). This check exercises the "
+                     "REAL function by sourcing its own lines; a body that calls out to anything "
+                     "else cannot be extracted faithfully, and silently testing a COPY of the "
+                     "logic is exactly the failure mode this check exists to prevent. REMEDY: "
+                     "move the predicate into a tiny library that the script sources (e.g. "
+                     "bootstrap/lib/placeholder.sh) — discovery will find it — do NOT "
+                     "reimplement the matching here.")
+            m = ARM_RE.match(s)
+            if not m:
+                continue
+            for pat in m.group("pats").split("|"):
+                pat = pat.strip()
+                if pat in ('""', "''", ""):
+                    continue                  # the empty-value arm: covered by the canary
+                words.append(pat.strip("'\"").strip("*"))
+        check(len(words) >= 1,
+              f"{name}() has no non-empty placeholder pattern left — every arm that recognises a "
+              "loud placeholder string has been removed, so the guard now only refuses the empty "
+              "value and any 'TBD'-style endpoint would sail straight through it")
+        guard_words[name] = words
+        guard_src.append(block)
+
+    if not guard_words:
+        bail(f"{GUARD_REL} was discovered as the guard file but yielded no usable predicate — "
+             "the definitions are there but none could be extracted. Fix the extraction in the "
+             "SAME change; do not let this degrade to a pass.")
+
+    # ------------------------------------------- no divergent second copy of the logic
+    # The guard's own vocabulary in EXECUTABLE text outside the predicate means a second,
+    # independently-drifting implementation of the same test (which is how three guards came
+    # to disagree with one value in the first place).
+    guard_line_nums = {j for name, at in defs.items() if len(at) == 1
+                       for j in range(at[0], next(k for k in range(at[0] + 1, len(LINES))
+                                                  if LINES[k] == "}") + 1)}
+    divergent: list[str] = []
+    _words = sorted({w.upper() for ws in guard_words.values() for w in ws if w})
+    for j, line in enumerate(LINES):
+        if j in guard_line_nums or line.strip().startswith("#"):
+            continue
+        code = line.split("#", 1)[0]
+        hit = [w for w in _words if w in code.upper()]
+        if hit:
+            divergent.append(f"{GUARD_REL}:{j + 1} ({', '.join(hit)}): {line.strip()!r}")
+    check(not divergent,
+          "the guard's own placeholder vocabulary appears in EXECUTABLE text outside the "
+          "predicate — a SECOND implementation of the same test, which is precisely how a value "
+          "change disarmed three guards at once. Call the predicate instead. Sites: "
+          + " | ".join(divergent))
+
+    # function bodies, for the consumer trace
+    FUNC_RE = re.compile(r"^([a-z0-9_]+)\(\)\s*\{")
+    i = 0
+    while i < len(LINES):
+        m = FUNC_RE.match(LINES[i])
+        if m:
+            end = next((j for j in range(i + 1, len(LINES)) if LINES[j] == "}"), len(LINES) - 1)
+            funcs[m.group(1)] = LINES[i + 1:end]
+            i = end + 1
+            continue
+        i += 1
+    check(len(funcs) > 5, f"parsed only {len(funcs)} function(s) out of {GUARD_REL} — the "
+                          "consumer assertion (B2) would be vacuous")
+
+(WORK / "guards.sh").write_text(("\n".join(guard_src) + "\n") if guard_src else "")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------- cluster-vars, as authored
+CV = ROOT / "clusters" / "base" / "cluster-vars.yaml"
+base: dict[str, str] = {}
+for d in yaml.safe_load_all(CV.read_text()):
+    if isinstance(d, dict) and d.get("kind") == "ConfigMap" \
+            and (d.get("metadata") or {}).get("name") == "cluster-vars":
+        base = {str(k): "" if v is None else str(v) for k, v in (d.get("data") or {}).items()}
+check(len(base) > 5, f"clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml yielded {len(base)} knob(s) — the "
+                     "ConfigMap parse failed, so every value assertion below would be vacuous")
+
+# Effective values per overlay, and WHICH knobs that overlay states explicitly. The second
+# half is what lets emptiness be judged as authored-or-forgotten instead of guessed.
+overlays: dict[str, dict[str, str]] = {}
+stated: dict[str, set[str]] = {}
+for overlay in sorted((ROOT / "clusters").glob("*/kustomization.yaml")):
+    env = overlay.parent.name
+    if env == "base":
+        continue
+    eff = dict(base)
+    explicit: set[str] = set()
+    try:
+        k = yaml.safe_load(overlay.read_text()) or {}
+    except Exception as exc:                                   # noqa: BLE001
+        check(False, f"clusters/{env}/kustomization.yaml does not parse as YAML ({exc}) — this "
+                     "check cannot compute that overlay's effective values")
+        continue
+    for p in (k.get("patches") or []):
+        tgt = p.get("target") or {}
+        if tgt.get("kind") != "ConfigMap" or tgt.get("name") != "cluster-vars":
+            continue
+        try:
+            ops = yaml.safe_load(p.get("patch") or "") or []
+        except Exception:                                      # noqa: BLE001
+            continue
+        for op in ops if isinstance(ops, list) else []:
+            if not isinstance(op, dict):
+                continue
+            m = re.match(r"^/data/([A-Za-z0-9_]+)$", str(op.get("path", "")))
+            if m and str(op.get("op", "")) in ("replace", "add"):
+                eff[m.group(1)] = "" if op.get("value") is None else str(op["value"])
+                explicit.add(m.group(1))
+    overlays[env] = eff
+    stated[env] = explicit
+check(len(overlays) >= 1,
+      "no clusters/<env>/kustomization.yaml overlay was parsed — assertion (A1) would be vacuous")
+
+# ------------------------------------------ which knobs is a guard responsible for? (HALF B)
+# A one-hop taint trace from `x="$(cvar KEY)"` to a `*_is_placeholder "${x}"` call. Both
+# halves are read out of the file; nothing is named here.
+CVAR_RE = re.compile(r"([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)=\"\$\(\s*cvar\s+([A-Z0-9_]+)\s*\)\"")
+ALIAS_RE = re.compile(r"([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)=\"\$\{([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)[:}]")
+
+guarded_keys: set[str] = set()
+consumers: list[tuple[str, str, bool]] = []      # (func, key, guarded-in-this-func)
+for fname, body in funcs.items():
+    text = "\n".join(body)
+    keys_of_var: dict[str, set[str]] = {}
+    for m in CVAR_RE.finditer(text):
+        keys_of_var.setdefault(m.group(1), set()).add(m.group(2))
+    # one hop of aliasing: ep="${live}" carries live's taint
+    for _ in range(3):
+        for m in ALIAS_RE.finditer(text):
+            src = keys_of_var.get(m.group(2))
+            if src:
+                keys_of_var.setdefault(m.group(1), set()).update(src)
+    called_on = {m.group(2) for m in CALL_RE.finditer(text)}
+    called_vars = {re.sub(r"^\$\{?|\}?$", "", a) for a in called_on}
+    guarded_here: dict[str, bool] = {}
+    for var, keys in keys_of_var.items():
+        for key in keys:
+            guarded_here[key] = guarded_here.get(key, False) or (var in called_vars)
+    for key, g in guarded_here.items():
+        consumers.append((fname, key, g))
+        if g:
+            guarded_keys.add(key)
+
+if GUARD_REL and not guarded_keys:
+    bail(f"no cluster-vars knob in {GUARD_REL} is passed to a *_is_placeholder predicate. "
+         "Either the guards were removed, or the way the script reads cluster-vars changed and "
+         "this check's derivation must be updated in the SAME change — it must never silently "
+         "verify an empty set.")
+
+# (B2) CONSUMERS: every reader of a guarded knob must apply the guard to it.
+for fname, key, guarded in sorted(consumers):
+    if key not in guarded_keys:
+        continue                       # nothing claims responsibility for this knob at all
+    check(guarded,
+          f"{GUARD_REL}: {fname}() reads cluster-vars knob {key} but never passes it to a "
+          "*_is_placeholder guard, while other functions do. On 2026-09-05 all three consumers "
+          "of S3_BACKUP_ENDPOINT were disarmed at once; a consumer that reads the knob and skips "
+          "the guard is that failure in one function.")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------ independent detector
+# Deliberately NOT derived from the guard alone: SEED is universal loud-placeholder
+# vocabulary, and the guard's own words are added so that a guard whose ANCHORING is wrong
+# still has its vocabulary tested against real values.
+SEED = ["TBD", "TODO", "FIXME", "PLACEHOLDER", "REPLACE-ME", "REPLACEME",
+        "CHANGE-ME", "CHANGEME", "FILL-ME", "FILLME", "SET-ME", "XXXX"]
+all_words = sorted({w.upper() for ws in guard_words.values() for w in ws if w})
+VOCAB = sorted({w.upper() for w in SEED} | set(all_words))
+ANGLE = re.compile(r"<[^>\s]+>")
+
+
+def loud(value: str) -> bool:
+    """A positive statement that the value was never decided. The EMPTY STRING IS NOT LOUD —
+    see the header: cluster-vars authors "" deliberately, and treating it as a placeholder is
+    the false positive that made the original check red against its own input."""
+    up = value.upper()
+    return any(w in up for w in VOCAB) or bool(ANGLE.search(value))
+
+
+def guard_shaped(value: str) -> bool:
+    """What a GUARD must refuse: loud, or empty. Empty counts here only because a `""`
+    case-arm is the guard author's declaration that empty is not a usable target."""
+    return value.strip() == "" or loud(value)
+
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------- (A4) DETECTOR CANARIES
+# The detector is now the thing doing the refusing in HALF A, so it gets the same
+# no-op interrogation the guard does. These strings are the real ones from the incident.
+check(loud("https://TBD-R2-ACCOUNT-ID.r2.cloudflarestorage.com"),
+      "the detector does not recognise the exact 2026-09-05 placeholder "
+      "'https://TBD-R2-ACCOUNT-ID.r2.cloudflarestorage.com' — it is prefix-anchored, which is "
+      "the defect this check exists to catch, now in the check itself")
+check(loud("TBD-PROD-BULK-NFS-SERVER"),
+      "the detector does not recognise the repo's own TBD-PROD-* sentinel convention "
+      "(clusters/README.md) — assertion (A1) would pass over the very values it is about")
+check(loud("<your-account-id>"),
+      "the detector does not recognise an <angle-bracket> template as a placeholder")
+check(not loud("https://0123456789abcdef0123456789abcd.r2.cloudflarestorage.com"),
+      "the detector calls a REAL Cloudflare R2 endpoint a placeholder — it would false-block "
+      "every prod backup target")
+check(not loud("http://192.168.1.9:9000"),
+      "the detector calls a REAL MinIO endpoint a placeholder — it would false-block dev")
+check(not loud(""),
+      "the detector calls the EMPTY STRING loud. cluster-vars authors \"\" deliberately for "
+      "suffix/prefix knobs and documents it as load-bearing; emptiness is held to the "
+      "explicitness rule (A2) instead. This exact false positive made the original check FAIL "
+      "2 of 34 assertions against the real guard.")
+
+# --------------------------------- (A1) no overlay ships a LOUD value nothing refuses
+a1_rows = 0
+for env, eff in sorted(overlays.items()):
+    for key, value in sorted(eff.items()):
+        if key in guarded_keys:
+            continue            # a guard owns this knob: HALF B (B1) asserts it refuses it
+        a1_rows += 1
+        check(not loud(value),
+              f"clusters/{env}: knob {key} resolves to the placeholder-shaped value {value!r}, "
+              "and nothing refuses it"
+              + (f" — no guard in {GUARD_REL} covers this knob." if GUARD_REL
+                 else " — and no placeholder guard exists in the tree at all.")
+              + " Either give it a real value before it reaches an overlay, or guard it the way "
+                "the S3 endpoint is guarded. An overlay that ships a placeholder no guard "
+                "recognises is the 2026-09-05 failure with a different knob's name on it: it "
+                "applies clean, reports Ready, and the thing it configures does not exist.")
+
+# ------------------------- (A2) an empty effective value must be STATED, never inherited
+a2_rows = 0
+for env, eff in sorted(overlays.items()):
+    for key, value in sorted(eff.items()):
+        if value.strip() != "":
+            continue
+        a2_rows += 1
+        check(key in stated[env],
+              f"clusters/{env}: knob {key} resolves to the EMPTY STRING by INHERITANCE from "
+              "clusters/base — the overlay never states it. An empty value can be correct (dev's "
+              "BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX and VELERO_BACKUP_PREFIX are authored empty on purpose), "
+              "but only when the overlay SAYS SO: cluster-vars' own convention is that both "
+              "overlays state such a knob explicitly so neither inherits it silently. An empty "
+              "value nobody stated is indistinguishable from a knob somebody forgot.")
+
+# ---------------- (A3) a LOUD base sentinel must be overridden EXPLICITLY by every overlay
+a3_rows = 0
+for key, value in sorted(base.items()):
+    if not loud(value):
+        continue
+    for env in sorted(overlays):
+        a3_rows += 1
+        check(key in stated[env],
+              f"clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml authors the LOUD sentinel {key}={value!r}, and "
+              f"clusters/{env} does not state that knob — so that overlay INHERITS the sentinel. "
+              "The TBD-PROD-* convention only works if a sentinel cannot be inherited by "
+              "omission; an omitted op is how prod silently ships a value nobody decided.")
+
+# --------------------------------------- HALF B corpus: authored values + anchoring + canaries
+rows: list[tuple[str, str, str, str]] = []            # guard, expect, origin, value
+
+# (B1) VALUES: base default and every overlay's value, for every guarded knob.
+for key in sorted(guarded_keys):
+    seen: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+    if key in base:
+        seen.append((f"clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml:{key}", base[key]))
+    for env, eff in sorted(overlays.items()):
+        seen.append((f"clusters/{env} effective:{key}", eff.get(key, "")))
+    check(bool(seen), f"guarded knob {key} is not defined in cluster-vars at all — the guard "
+                      "protects a knob nothing authors")
+    for origin, value in seen:
+        expect = "placeholder" if guard_shaped(value) else "usable"
+        for name in sorted(guard_words):
+            rows.append((name, expect, origin, value))
+
+# (B3) ANCHORING: the guard's own vocabulary must match ANYWHERE, not just as a prefix,
+#      and a realistic endpoint must still be accepted.
+for name, words in sorted(guard_words.items()):
+    for w in sorted(set(words)):
+        rows.append((name, "placeholder",
+                     f"anchoring:{name}:mid-string({w})",
+                     f"https://account-{w}-id.r2.cloudflarestorage.com"))
+        rows.append((name, "placeholder", f"anchoring:{name}:tail({w})",
+                     f"https://r2-endpoint.example.invalid/{w}"))
+    rows.append((name, "placeholder", f"canary:{name}:empty", ""))
+    rows.append((name, "usable", f"canary:{name}:real-r2",
+                 "https://0123456789abcdef0123456789abcd.r2.cloudflarestorage.com"))
+    rows.append((name, "usable", f"canary:{name}:real-minio", "http://192.168.1.9:9000"))
+
+# Every guarded knob must reach the oracle once per authored source (base + each overlay),
+# so a knob silently dropping out of the corpus is a failure rather than a quiet pass.
+if GUARD_REL:
+    authored = [r for r in rows if not r[2].startswith(("anchoring:", "canary:"))]
+    expected_rows = len(guarded_keys) * (1 + len(overlays)) * len(guard_words)
+    check(len(authored) == expected_rows,
+          f"{len(authored)} authored value(s) reached the guard, expected {expected_rows} "
+          f"({len(guarded_keys)} guarded knob(s) x base+{len(overlays)} overlay(s) x "
+          f"{len(guard_words)} predicate(s)) — a guarded knob is missing from cluster-vars or "
+          "from an overlay's effective values, and the coupling is only partly exercised")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------- (A5) the check is load-bearing
+L0 = (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "l0.sh").is_file() else ""
+GATE = (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").read_text() if (ROOT / "ci" / "gate.sh").is_file() else ""
+check("--layer l0" in L0,
+      "ci/l0.sh does not run the L0 conformance layer — this check would never execute in the gate")
+check(bool(re.search(r"^for s in .*\bl0\b.*; do", GATE, re.M)) and bool(re.search(r"fail\).*BLOCK=1", GATE)),
+      "ci/gate.sh does not set the merge block when the l0 stage fails")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------- non-vacuity floor for HALF A
+# HALF A is the half that runs unconditionally, so it carries its own floor: if the
+# authored-value sweep shrinks to nothing, a pass here means nothing.
+check(a1_rows >= 20,
+      f"only {a1_rows} authored overlay value(s) were audited by (A1) — the sweep over "
+      "clusters/<env> effective cluster-vars has collapsed, and a pass would be meaningless. "
+      "Expected roughly (knobs x overlays); check the ConfigMap and overlay parse above.")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- handoff
+with (WORK / "corpus.tsv").open("w") as fh:
+    for name, expect, origin, value in rows:
+        fh.write(f"{name}\t{expect}\t{origin}\t{value}\n")
+(WORK / "findings.txt").write_text("".join(f"{f}\n" for f in FAILURES))
+(WORK / "counts.txt").write_text(f"{CHECKS}\n")
+
+if GUARD_REL:
+    print(f"guard file: {GUARD_REL}  predicates: {', '.join(sorted(guard_words))}")
+    print(f"guarded knobs: {', '.join(sorted(guarded_keys))}  "
+          f"consumers traced: {len(consumers)}")
+else:
+    print("guard file: NONE FOUND in the tree — HALF B (guard/value coupling) IS NOT PROVEN "
+          "ON THIS TREE. No *_is_placeholder predicate exists to extract: bootstrap/standup.sh "
+          "has never been on main (no deletion commit exists; it lives on unmerged prod-standup "
+          "branches). HALF A below runs against the real authored values and is what currently "
+          "prevents the 2026-09-05 outcome. When a guard lands ANYWHERE in the tree, discovery "
+          "picks it up and HALF B activates with no edit to this check.")
+print(f"detector vocabulary: {', '.join(VOCAB)}")
+print(f"HALF A: overlays {', '.join(sorted(overlays))}; {len(base)} base knob(s); "
+      f"(A1) {a1_rows} authored overlay value(s) screened; (A2) {a2_rows} empty value(s) "
+      f"checked for explicit statement; (A3) {a3_rows} base-sentinel inheritance check(s)")
+for name, expect, origin, value in rows:
+    if not origin.startswith(("anchoring:", "canary:")):
+        print(f"  authored  {origin} = {value!r} -> expect {expect}")
+PY
+
+GUARD_REL="$(tr -d '\n' < "${WORK}/mode.txt")"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# PHASE 2 (bash): source the REAL predicate lines and run the corpus through them.
+# Empty when no guard exists — HALF A has already run and carries its own floor.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# shellcheck disable=SC1090,SC1091
+source "${WORK}/guards.sh"
+
+oracle_failures=0
+oracle_rows=0
+while IFS=$'\t' read -r guard expect origin value; do
+  [ -n "${guard}" ] || continue
+  oracle_rows=$((oracle_rows + 1))
+  if "${guard}" "${value}"; then verdict=placeholder; else verdict=usable; fi
+  if [ "${verdict}" != "${expect}" ]; then
+    oracle_failures=$((oracle_failures + 1))
+    if [ "${expect}" = placeholder ]; then
+      printf '%s\n' "${guard}() in ${GUARD_REL} ACCEPTS '${value}' (from ${origin}) as a usable value, but it is placeholder-shaped. This is the 2026-09-05 failure exactly: the guard is asked about a value it does not recognise, returns 'fine', and the tier it protects is enabled against something that does not exist. Fix the predicate (match the idiom anywhere, not as a prefix) or stop authoring that idiom." >> "${WORK}/findings.txt"
+    else
+      printf '%s\n' "${guard}() in ${GUARD_REL} REFUSES '${value}' (from ${origin}), which is a usable value. An over-matching guard leaves the tier it protects suspended forever and reports it as an operator decision — a silent failure in the other direction." >> "${WORK}/findings.txt"
+    fi
+  fi
+done < "${WORK}/corpus.tsv"
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ verdict
+py_checks="$(cat "${WORK}/counts.txt")"
+total=$((py_checks + oracle_rows))
+findings="$(cat "${WORK}/findings.txt")"
+
+# NO-OP GUARDS: this repo has been bitten by a check that passed when perturbed because it
+# asked a question that was always satisfiable. The floors below are the minimum evidence
+# for the verdict to mean anything, not a style rule. The oracle floor applies only when a
+# guard exists — when none does, HALF A's own floor (a1_rows >= 20, asserted in phase 1) is
+# what stops this from degenerating, and the absence is reported on stdout.
+if [ -n "${GUARD_REL}" ] && [ "${oracle_rows}" -lt 6 ]; then
+  findings="${findings}only ${oracle_rows} value(s) were put to the real guard in ${GUARD_REL} — the coupling is not actually being exercised
+"
+fi
+if [ "${total}" -lt 20 ]; then
+  findings="${findings}only ${total} assertions ran — the check degenerated to a near-no-op and its pass would be meaningless
+"
+fi
+
+if [ -n "${findings}" ]; then
+  echo "CHECK FAIL (placeholder-guard-coupling): $(printf '%s' "${findings}" | grep -c . ) of ${total} assertions failed" >&2
+  printf '%s' "${findings}" | sed 's/^/  - /' >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -n "${GUARD_REL}" ]; then
+  echo "check OK: placeholder-guard-coupling — ${total} assertions. HALF A: no environment overlay ships a placeholder-shaped effective cluster-vars value, every empty value is stated explicitly rather than inherited, and the detector canaries hold (including the exact 2026-09-05 string, matched mid-string). HALF B: ${oracle_rows} value(s) run through the REAL extracted predicate(s) from ${GUARD_REL} (no reimplementation), covering every authored value of every guarded knob in base and each overlay, the guard's vocabulary matched mid-string, and the empty/real-endpoint canaries. Static slice only: refusal, not reachability — see the header."
+else
+  echo "check OK: placeholder-guard-coupling — ${total} assertions. HALF A ONLY: no environment overlay ships a placeholder-shaped effective cluster-vars value, every empty value is stated explicitly rather than inherited, no LOUD base sentinel is inherited by omission, and the detector canaries hold (including the exact 2026-09-05 string 'https://TBD-R2-ACCOUNT-ID.r2.cloudflarestorage.com', matched mid-string). HALF B (guard/value coupling) IS NOT PROVEN: no *_is_placeholder predicate exists anywhere in the tree to extract — see the stdout note above and the header. This is a REPORTED gap, not a skip: what a guard would be asked about is proven not to be a placeholder in the first place."
+fi
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 STATIC — prod is bare metal, and is not a development surface  (R-ENV-03) [EXECUTABLE]
+# Catalog: docs/14 L0 row ("Pre-apply, in CI") — runs WITHOUT a cluster.
+# Spec:    docs/00 R-ENV-03 ("prod is a 3× mini-PC bare-metal k3s cluster with local
+#          storage; it MUST NOT be an active development surface until the roadmap
+#          declares it ready"); docs/02 (prod = 3 physical nodes, local SSD/NVMe to
+#          Longhorn, "the *same* Ansible bootstrap runs; only the machine-creation step
+#          differs", "Never develop against prod"); roadmap/phases.md Phase 7.
+#
+# HOW A "MUST NOT" IS MADE TESTABLE — the same discipline as R-TEST-06's test: a
+# governance rule is verified through the property that ENFORCES it, never by observing
+# that nobody misbehaved today. Here that property is structural: prod receives the base
+# configuration plus environment-scoped overrides and nothing else, from the same branch
+# and the same Ansible code as dev, so there is no place to put prod-only work at all.
+#
+# ENVIRONMENT-AGNOSTIC: the prod inventory group is DERIVED (it is the group whose
+# group_vars retargets the k3s roles away from the global default), the prod overlay is
+# derived from CLUSTER_ENV, and the storage/replica expectations are compared against the
+# node count that inventory resolves to. No hostname, address or environment name is
+# written into the test.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it (plus the read-only spec repo when mounted),
+# WHEN  the prod inventory, overlay, IaC module and readiness record are inspected — and
+#       the shared provisioning chain is actually retargeted at prod with --list-hosts,
+# THEN  prod resolves to exactly three nodes reached directly on their own sshd; no IaC
+#       resource creates any of them (bare metal is imaged, not instantiated); prod's
+#       Longhorn path is node-local with one replica per node and the default
+#       StorageClass is the local driver; prod runs the same playbooks/roles as dev,
+#       retargeted only by variables the shared code already defines; the prod overlay
+#       carries only the base plus environment-scoped patches on the same Git ref dev
+#       tracks, with no prod-only manifest anywhere in the shared configuration; and prod
+#       artifacts exist only alongside the operator's recorded opening of the prod phase.
+#
+# STATUS: EXECUTABLE. `check.sh` is a pure offline assertion script (git, PyYAML, and —
+# where present — ansible-playbook in --list-hosts mode, which opens no connection);
+# conformance/run.sh --layer l0 and ci/l0.sh run it directly, and this Chainsaw Test
+# wraps the SAME script.
+#
+# KNOWN, DELIBERATE GAPS (enumerated in check.sh's header; this test claims none of them):
+#   * THE HARDWARE. That the three machines are mini-PCs, are bare metal, and hold local
+#     SSD/NVMe is operator-attested (infra/PROD-STANDUP.md, PROD-PROVISIONING.md); the
+#     node-health/BIOS surveys that establish it write to gitignored artifacts, and the
+#     Kubernetes API exposes no "am I virtual" fact, so nothing here asserts it.
+#   * The LIVE prod cluster's shape (three Ready nodes, all control-plane+etcd, Longhorn
+#     disks at the local path) — cluster state, belonging to R-PLAT-01's still-uncovered
+#     HA test; asserting it here would also make this test environment-specific, since
+#     the same suite must pass against dev.
+#   * Git HISTORY: this is the working tree at HEAD.
+#   * Whether the roadmap SHOULD have opened prod — only that prod work is accompanied by
+#     the recorded declaration.
+# =============================================================================
+apiVersion: chainsaw.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Test
+metadata:
+  name: prod-baremetal-not-dev-surface
+  labels:
+    conformance.home.k3s/R-ENV-03: "true"
+  annotations:
+    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-ENV-03"
+    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # WHOLE-REPO SCOPE. Universally quantified over the tracked tree (`git ls-files`): its
+    # core assertion is that NO dev-only surface leaks into what prod renders, over
+    # platform/, platform-config/, apps/, catalog/ and clusters/base/ together, plus infra/
+    # (which the path map keys to nothing at all). No single requirement can select the set
+    # of files that can break it.
+    conformance.home.k3s/scope: "whole-repo"
+    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
+    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
+    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-
+      Given the tracked tree, when prod's inventory, overlay, IaC and readiness record are
+      inspected, then prod is authored as three bare-metal nodes with node-local storage,
+      bootstrapped by dev's own code retargeted by variables, receiving only
+      environment-scoped overrides on the same branch — so there is nowhere to develop
+      against prod — and it exists only because the roadmap phase was opened.
+spec:
+  steps:
+    - name: then-prod-is-bare-metal-and-carries-no-development-of-its-own
+      description: >-
+        Run the offline assertion script over the tracked tree (same script ci/l0.sh and
+        conformance/run.sh --layer l0 execute).
+      try:
+        - script:
+            content: bash ./check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,691 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# L0 static check (offline, no cluster) — prod-baremetal-not-dev-surface
+# Serves: R-ENV-03 ("prod is a 3× mini-PC bare-metal k3s cluster with local storage; it
+#         MUST NOT be an active development surface until the roadmap declares it ready."
+#         — spec docs/00-vision-and-scope.md. Detail in docs/02: prod substrate "3× mini-PC
+#         bare metal", "3 physical nodes", storage "local SSD/NVMe presented to Longhorn",
+#         "For prod bare-metal, the *same* Ansible bootstrap runs; only the machine-creation
+#         step differs", and "**Never develop against prod.** Prod hardware is a target, not
+#         a sandbox (R-ENV-03)". The roadmap gate is roadmap/phases.md Phase 7: entry
+#         "operator declares prod hardware ready"; note "Do not begin building on prod
+#         hardware before this phase is explicitly opened".)
+#
+# HOW A "MUST NOT" IS MADE TESTABLE
+# --------------------------------
+# The second clause is a governance rule, and the same discipline applies as to R-TEST-06
+# (tests/l0-static/spec-immutability-enforced): "nobody developed against prod today"
+# cannot be observed, but the PROPERTY THAT MAKES DEVELOPING AGAINST PROD IMPOSSIBLE can
+# be. In this repo that property is structural — prod receives the base configuration plus
+# environment-scoped overrides and NOTHING ELSE, so there is no place to put prod-only work
+# even if someone wanted to. This check asserts that, together with the first clause's
+# authored facts (three nodes, no VM IaC behind them, node-local storage, the same
+# bootstrap code as dev).
+#
+# The first clause's HARDWARE facts (that the three machines really are mini-PCs, really
+# are bare metal, really hold local NVMe) are operator-attested, not machine-checkable —
+# see the gap list. What IS checkable is that the repository describes prod that way and
+# that no IaC creates prod nodes as virtual machines.
+#
+# GIVEN the repository as git tracks it (plus the read-only spec repo when mounted),
+# WHEN  the prod inventory, the prod overlay, the IaC module and the roadmap record are
+#       inspected — and, where offline execution is possible, the provisioning chain is
+#       actually retargeted at prod with `--list-hosts`,
+# THEN  (1) prod resolves to EXACTLY THREE nodes, reached directly on their own sshd
+#           (no NAT indirection, i.e. real machines on the LAN);
+#       (2) NO IaC resource creates any prod node: the VM module's generated node names are
+#           disjoint from the prod host set and no prod hostname appears anywhere under
+#           infra/tofu — prod is imaged by the operator (docs/02 stage 1), not instantiated;
+#       (3) prod's storage is NODE-LOCAL: the Longhorn data path for prod is an absolute
+#           local path, and the replica count equals the node count (one replica per node's
+#           own disk). A distinct bulk/media tier is explicitly permitted (R-STATE-04) and
+#           is not counted against this;
+#       (4) prod runs THE SAME bootstrap code as dev: the same playbooks/roles, retargeted
+#           by variables only — every prod group_vars key is an existing role/global
+#           variable (an invented prod-only knob would be a fork), and no prod-only role
+#           or playbook exists;
+#       (5) prod is NOT a development surface: clusters/prod carries only the base plus
+#           sync.yaml, every patch it applies targets an ENVIRONMENT-SCOPED object
+#           (cluster-vars, a Flux Kustomization's sops decryption, or the Git source),
+#           prod's Git ref is the SAME ref dev tracks (no prod-only branch to develop on),
+#           and no prod-only manifest exists anywhere in the rendered configuration — a file
+#           whose NAME carries the environment token is excused ONLY when the tree proves it
+#           is an OVERLAY-SELECTED half that every environment applies (see the four
+#           conditions at "THE ONE STRUCTURAL EXCEPTION" below); anything else still fails;
+#       (6) prod artifacts exist only WITH a declaration of readiness: the spec roadmap
+#           carries the phase that opens prod build (checked when the spec repo is mounted),
+#           and the repository records that the operator opened it.
+#
+# WHAT THIS DOES *NOT* PROVE (honest gaps — do not read this test as claiming them):
+#   - The HARDWARE. That the three nodes are mini-PCs, are bare metal, and present local
+#     SSD/NVMe is operator-attested in infra/PROD-STANDUP.md / PROD-PROVISIONING.md; the
+#     node-health and BIOS surveys that establish it write to gitignored artifacts, so
+#     nothing tracked can be asserted against. Cluster-side, the Kubernetes API exposes no
+#     "am I virtual" fact either — a bare-metal check would need a privileged host-path
+#     probe of DMI data, which is a heavier and more invasive test than the claim warrants.
+#   - The LIVE prod cluster's shape (three Ready nodes, all control-plane+etcd, Longhorn
+#     disks at the local path). That is cluster state and belongs to R-PLAT-01's
+#     (currently uncovered) HA test; asserting it here would also make this test
+#     environment-specific, since the same suite must pass against dev.
+#   - That prod's HISTORY contains no development. This is the working tree at HEAD.
+#   - Whether the roadmap SHOULD have opened prod (the entry-gate judgement). Only that
+#     prod work is accompanied by the operator's recorded declaration.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "${DIR}/../../../.." && pwd)"        # repo root
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3}"
+: "${SPEC_REPO:=${ROOT}/../home-network-k3s}"
+export SPEC_REPO
+
+cd "${ROOT}"
+"${PYTHON}" - "${ROOT}" <<'PY'
+import os
+import re
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:                                  # pragma: no cover
+    print("check FAIL: PyYAML is required (same dependency as catalog/render.py)",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+ROOT = Path(sys.argv[1])
+FAILURES: list[str] = []
+NOTES: list[str] = []
+CHECKS = 0
+
+
+def check(cond, msg):
+    global CHECKS
+    CHECKS += 1
+    if not cond:
+        FAILURES.append(msg)
+
+
+def note(msg):
+    NOTES.append(msg)
+
+
+# A LOCAL DEPENDENCY the repo deliberately does not carry — the vault passphrase (kept
+# outside the repo, R-SEC-01) or the Galaxy collections (gitignored; installed from
+# collections/requirements.yml). Their absence is an ENVIRONMENT gap, not a repo defect,
+# and is the ONLY tolerated reason the driven sub-assertions may not run. Deliberately
+# narrow: every other non-zero exit is a real failure. The parse assertions always run.
+ENV_ONLY_FAILURE = re.compile(
+    r"vault password|vault-id|Attempting to decrypt"
+    r"|No module named 'ansible_collections|couldn't resolve module/action", re.I)
+
+ANS = ROOT / "infra" / "ansible"
+INV = ANS / "inventory" / "hosts.ini"
+GV = ANS / "inventory" / "group_vars"
+TOFU = ROOT / "infra" / "tofu"
+check(INV.is_file(), "infra/ansible/inventory/hosts.ini is missing — prod is not described anywhere")
+if not INV.is_file():
+    print("CHECK FAIL (prod-baremetal-not-dev-surface): no inventory", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------- inventory parsing
+ini_groups: dict[str, list[dict]] = {}
+children: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+cur = None
+for line in INV.read_text().splitlines():
+    s = line.strip()
+    if not s or s.startswith("#"):
+        continue
+    m = re.match(r"^\[([^\]]+)\]$", s)
+    if m:
+        cur = m.group(1)
+        continue
+    if cur is None or cur.endswith(":vars"):
+        continue
+    if cur.endswith(":children"):
+        children.setdefault(cur.split(":")[0], []).append(s.split()[0])
+        continue
+    parts = s.split()
+    host = {"name": parts[0]}
+    for kv in parts[1:]:
+        if "=" in kv:
+            k, v = kv.split("=", 1)
+            host[k] = v
+    ini_groups.setdefault(cur, []).append(host)
+
+
+def hosts_in(group: str, seen=None) -> list[dict]:
+    seen = seen or set()
+    if group in seen:
+        return []
+    seen.add(group)
+    out = list(ini_groups.get(group, []))
+    for child in children.get(group, []):
+        out += hosts_in(child, seen)
+    return out
+
+
+def load_gv(group: str) -> dict:
+    d: dict = {}
+    for p in [GV / f"{group}.yml", GV / group / "vars.yml"]:
+        if p.is_file():
+            try:
+                d.update(yaml.safe_load(p.read_text()) or {})
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+    return d
+
+
+# WHICH GROUP IS PROD? Derived, never named here: it is the group whose group_vars
+# RETARGETS the k3s roles (k3s_primary_group / k3s_servers_group) away from the global
+# dev default. That is exactly the seam docs/02 + infra/ansible/README describe for prod.
+ALL_VARS = load_gv("all")
+dev_primary_group = str(ALL_VARS.get("k3s_primary_group", ""))
+candidates = []
+for entry in sorted(GV.iterdir()) if GV.is_dir() else []:
+    g = entry.name[:-4] if entry.name.endswith(".yml") else entry.name
+    if g == "all":
+        continue
+    v = load_gv(g)
+    if v.get("k3s_primary_group") and str(v["k3s_primary_group"]) != dev_primary_group:
+        candidates.append((g, v))
+check(len(candidates) == 1,
+      f"expected exactly ONE environment whose group_vars retargets the k3s roles (prod); found "
+      f"{[c[0] for c in candidates]} — R-ENV-03 describes a single prod estate reached through "
+      "the same roles as dev")
+if not candidates:
+    print("CHECK FAIL (prod-baremetal-not-dev-surface): no prod group_vars found", file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+PROD_GROUP, PROD_VARS = candidates[0]
+PROD_PRIMARY = str(PROD_VARS["k3s_primary_group"])
+prod_hosts = hosts_in(PROD_GROUP)
+prod_names = sorted(h["name"] for h in prod_hosts)
+
+# ------------------------------------------------- (1) exactly three, directly reachable
+check(len(prod_names) == 3,
+      f"prod group {PROD_GROUP!r} resolves to {len(prod_names)} host(s) {prod_names} — R-ENV-03 "
+      "says prod is a 3× mini-PC cluster")
+dev_hosts = hosts_in(str(ALL_VARS.get("k3s_servers_group", "k3s_servers")))
+for h in prod_hosts:
+    # Real machines on the LAN answer their own sshd. Dev's hosts are reached through a
+    # NAT port-forward (ansible_port 225x -> a VM's :22), which is precisely the
+    # indirection a hypervisor-hosted estate needs and bare metal does not.
+    check(str(h.get("ansible_port", "22")) == "22",
+          f"prod node {h['name']} is reached on port {h.get('ansible_port')} — a forwarded port "
+          "implies an indirection (NAT to a virtual estate), not a machine on the LAN")
+    check(h.get("k3s_node_ip") == h.get("ansible_host"),
+          f"prod node {h['name']} has ansible_host={h.get('ansible_host')} but "
+          f"k3s_node_ip={h.get('k3s_node_ip')} — a split address is the dev NAT pattern; a "
+          "bare-metal node's SSH address IS its cluster address")
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------ (2) nothing creates prod as a VM
+TF = "\n".join(p.read_text(errors="replace") for p in sorted(TOFU.glob("*.tf"))) \
+    if TOFU.is_dir() else ""
+check(len(TF) > 500, "infra/tofu/*.tf is empty — cannot show that it does NOT create prod")
+
+
+def tf_default(var: str):
+    m = re.search(r'variable\s+"' + re.escape(var) + r'"\s*\{(.*?)\n\}', TF, re.S)
+    if not m:
+        return None
+    d = re.search(r"default\s*=\s*(.+)", m.group(1))
+    return d.group(1).strip() if d else None
+
+
+prefix = (tf_default("node_name_prefix") or "").strip('"')
+try:
+    node_count = int((tf_default("node_count") or "0").strip())
+except ValueError:
+    node_count = 0
+iac_names = {f"{prefix}{i + 1}" for i in range(node_count)}
+check(len(iac_names) > 0, "the IaC module generates no node names — cannot compare with prod")
+check(iac_names.isdisjoint(set(prod_names)),
+      f"the IaC VM module would create {sorted(iac_names & set(prod_names))}, which are PROD nodes "
+      "— prod is bare metal that the operator images (docs/02 stage 1), never instantiated by the "
+      "hypervisor module")
+for name in prod_names:
+    check(name not in TF,
+          f"prod node {name} is named inside infra/tofu — prod hardware must not be described by "
+          "the VM module at all")
+# The prod host addresses must not appear as IaC node addresses either (a renamed VM is
+# still a VM).
+tf_ips = set(re.findall(r'"(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)"', tf_default("node_ips") or ""))
+prod_ips = {str(h.get("ansible_host")) for h in prod_hosts}
+check(tf_ips.isdisjoint(prod_ips),
+      f"the IaC module addresses {sorted(tf_ips & prod_ips)}, which are prod node addresses")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------- (3) node-local storage
+# Every environment's value for a cluster-vars knob (base default + each overlay patch).
+def env_values(key: str) -> dict[str, str]:
+    vals: dict[str, str] = {}
+    base = ROOT / "clusters" / "base" / "cluster-vars.yaml"
+    if base.is_file():
+        for d in yaml.safe_load_all(base.read_text()):
+            if isinstance(d, dict) and d.get("kind") == "ConfigMap" \
+                    and (d.get("metadata") or {}).get("name") == "cluster-vars":
+                v = (d.get("data") or {}).get(key)
+                if v is not None:
+                    vals["base"] = str(v)
+    for overlay in sorted((ROOT / "clusters").glob("*/kustomization.yaml")):
+        env = overlay.parent.name
+        if env == "base":
+            continue
+        try:
+            k = yaml.safe_load(overlay.read_text()) or {}
+        except Exception:
+            continue
+        for p in (k.get("patches") or []):
+            tgt = p.get("target") or {}
+            if tgt.get("kind") != "ConfigMap" or tgt.get("name") != "cluster-vars":
+                continue
+            try:
+                ops = yaml.safe_load(p.get("patch") or "") or []
+            except Exception:
+                continue
+            for op in ops if isinstance(ops, list) else []:
+                if isinstance(op, dict) and str(op.get("path", "")) == f"/data/{key}":
+                    vals[env] = str(op.get("value"))
+    return vals
+
+
+# The prod OVERLAY is the one whose CLUSTER_ENV is not the base default.
+cluster_envs = env_values("CLUSTER_ENV")
+prod_overlays = [e for e, v in cluster_envs.items()
+                 if e != "base" and v != cluster_envs.get("base")]
+check(len(prod_overlays) >= 1,
+      "no clusters/ overlay sets its own CLUSTER_ENV — prod has no overlay of its own")
+prod_overlay = None
+for e in prod_overlays:
+    if PROD_GROUP.replace("k3s_", "") in cluster_envs[e] or cluster_envs[e] in PROD_GROUP:
+        prod_overlay = e
+check(prod_overlay is not None,
+      f"no overlay's CLUSTER_ENV corresponds to the prod inventory group {PROD_GROUP!r} — the "
+      "cluster config and the machine inventory disagree about which estate is prod")
+
+data_paths = env_values("LONGHORN_DATA_PATH")
+replicas = env_values("LONGHORN_DEFAULT_REPLICA_COUNT")
+if prod_overlay:
+    p = data_paths.get(prod_overlay, data_paths.get("base", ""))
+    check(p.startswith("/"),
+          f"prod's LONGHORN_DATA_PATH is {p!r} — R-ENV-03's 'local storage' requires an absolute "
+          "node-local filesystem path")
+    check(not re.match(r"^/(net|nfs|mnt/nfs)|:", p),
+          f"prod's LONGHORN_DATA_PATH {p!r} looks like a network mount, not local SSD/NVMe")
+    r = replicas.get(prod_overlay, replicas.get("base", ""))
+    check(r.isdigit() and int(r) == len(prod_names),
+          f"prod's LONGHORN_DEFAULT_REPLICA_COUNT is {r!r} for {len(prod_names)} node(s) — "
+          "'local storage' on a 3-node estate means one replica per node's own disk")
+# The DEFAULT storage class must be the local (Longhorn) driver. A separate bulk/media tier
+# on network storage is explicitly a different requirement (R-STATE-04, docs/04) and is not
+# counted here.
+default_scs = []
+for f in subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(ROOT), "ls-files", "-z", "*.yaml", "*.yml"],
+                        capture_output=True, text=True, check=True).stdout.split("\0"):
+    if not f:
+        continue
+    try:
+        for d in yaml.safe_load_all((ROOT / f).read_text(errors="replace")):
+            if isinstance(d, dict) and d.get("kind") == "StorageClass" and \
+                    str(((d.get("metadata") or {}).get("annotations") or {})
+                        .get("storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class", "")) == "true":
+                default_scs.append((f, str(d.get("provisioner", ""))))
+    except Exception:
+        continue
+check(len(default_scs) == 1,
+      f"expected exactly one default StorageClass, found {default_scs} — the tier prod's workloads "
+      "land on by default must be unambiguous")
+for f, prov in default_scs:
+    check(prov == "driver.longhorn.io",
+          f"{f}: the default StorageClass provisioner is {prov!r}, not Longhorn — prod's default "
+          "tier would not be its own local disks")
+
+# ------------------------------------- (4) prod runs the SAME bootstrap code, retargeted
+PLAYBOOKS = ANS / "playbooks"
+ROLES = ANS / "roles"
+prod_token = PROD_GROUP.replace("k3s_", "")
+for d, what in ((ROLES, "role"), (PLAYBOOKS, "playbook")):
+    for entry in sorted(d.iterdir()) if d.is_dir() else []:
+        check(prod_token not in entry.name.lower(),
+              f"infra/ansible/{d.name}/{entry.name} is a prod-specific {what} — docs/02 requires "
+              "the SAME Ansible bootstrap for prod, differing only in the machine-creation step")
+# Every prod group_vars key must be a variable the shared code already knows: a role default,
+# a global, or an ansible built-in. An invented key is a fork of the role by another name.
+known: set[str] = set(ALL_VARS)
+for rd in sorted(ROLES.iterdir()) if ROLES.is_dir() else []:
+    for p in (rd / "defaults").glob("*.yml") if (rd / "defaults").is_dir() else []:
+        try:
+            known |= set((yaml.safe_load(p.read_text()) or {}).keys())
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+check(len(known) > 20, f"only {len(known)} shared variables found — (4) would prove nothing")
+for k in sorted(PROD_VARS):
+    check(k.startswith("ansible_") or k in known,
+          f"prod group_vars sets {k!r}, which is not a role default or a global — prod-only "
+          "configuration that the dev path never exercises is developing against prod")
+# ...and it must retarget, not re-implement: the group it names must exist in the inventory.
+check(PROD_PRIMARY in ini_groups or PROD_PRIMARY in children,
+      f"prod group_vars names primary group {PROD_PRIMARY!r}, which the inventory does not define")
+
+# ---------------------------------------- (5) prod is not a development surface (overlay)
+if prod_overlay:
+    odir = ROOT / "clusters" / prod_overlay
+    files = sorted(p.name for p in odir.iterdir() if p.is_file())
+    check(files == ["kustomization.yaml", "sync.yaml"],
+          f"clusters/{prod_overlay}/ contains {files} — a prod overlay may hold only its "
+          "kustomization and its own root sync; anything else is configuration authored FOR PROD")
+    k = yaml.safe_load((odir / "kustomization.yaml").read_text()) or {}
+    check(sorted(str(r) for r in (k.get("resources") or [])) == ["../base", "sync.yaml"],
+          f"clusters/{prod_overlay} resources are {k.get('resources')} — prod must render the base "
+          "plus its own sync only (docs/02: 'apply the prod overlay (no base edits)')")
+    # Every patch must be an ENVIRONMENT-SCOPED override, never a change to what runs.
+    ALLOWED = {("ConfigMap", "cluster-vars"), ("GitRepository", None)}
+    for p in (k.get("patches") or []):
+        tgt = p.get("target") or {}
+        body = p.get("patch") or ""
+        kind = tgt.get("kind")
+        if kind is None:                       # inline patch: kind comes from the body
+            try:
+                doc = yaml.safe_load(body) or {}
+            except Exception:
+                doc = {}
+            kind = doc.get("kind")
+            name = (doc.get("metadata") or {}).get("name")
+            if kind == "Kustomization":
+                # Flux Kustomization patches are allowed ONLY to wire sops decryption —
+                # anything else (path, interval, images, values) changes what prod RUNS.
+                keys = set((doc.get("spec") or {}).keys())
+                check(keys <= {"decryption"},
+                      f"clusters/{prod_overlay}: patch of Kustomization/{name} touches {sorted(keys)} "
+                      "— only `decryption` (the per-cluster sops key) is an environment-scoped "
+                      "override; changing anything else is developing against prod")
+                continue
+            check((kind, None) in ALLOWED or (kind, name) in ALLOWED,
+                  f"clusters/{prod_overlay}: patch targets {kind}/{name}, which is not an "
+                  "environment-scoped object — prod must not carry configuration of its own")
+        else:
+            check((kind, tgt.get("name")) in ALLOWED or (kind, None) in ALLOWED,
+                  f"clusters/{prod_overlay}: patch targets {kind}/{tgt.get('name')}, which is not "
+                  "an environment-scoped object — prod must not carry configuration of its own")
+
+    # Same Git ref as the other environment(s): a prod-only branch is a development line
+    # that only prod runs, which is exactly what R-ENV-03 forbids.
+    def git_ref(overlay: str):
+        kk = yaml.safe_load((ROOT / "clusters" / overlay / "kustomization.yaml").read_text()) or {}
+        for p in (kk.get("patches") or []):
+            body = p.get("patch") or ""
+            try:
+                doc = yaml.safe_load(body) or {}
+            except Exception:
+                continue
+            if doc.get("kind") == "GitRepository":
+                return (doc.get("spec") or {}).get("ref")
+        return None
+
+    others = [o.name for o in (ROOT / "clusters").iterdir()
+              if o.is_dir() and o.name not in ("base", prod_overlay)]
+    prod_ref = git_ref(prod_overlay)
+    check(prod_ref is not None,
+          f"clusters/{prod_overlay} does not pin a Git ref — prod would follow whatever the base "
+          "points at, with no record of what it runs")
+    for o in others:
+        check(git_ref(o) == prod_ref,
+              f"clusters/{o} tracks {git_ref(o)} but prod tracks {prod_ref} — a prod-only ref is a "
+              "development line only prod runs (R-ENV-03: prod is a target, not a sandbox)")
+
+# No prod-only manifest anywhere in the rendered configuration.
+tracked = [f for f in subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(ROOT), "ls-files", "-z"],
+                                     capture_output=True, text=True, check=True
+                                     ).stdout.split("\0") if f]
+RENDERED_DIRS = ("platform/", "platform-config", "apps/", "catalog/", "clusters/base/")
+
+# THE ONE STRUCTURAL EXCEPTION: AN OVERLAY-SELECTED ENVIRONMENT HALF.
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------
+# A filename carrying an environment token is a HEURISTIC for the harm R-ENV-03 names
+# (content only prod runs, in a path every environment renders). It is not the harm
+# itself. There is exactly one shape where a `-prod` name is the OPPOSITE of a prod-only
+# fork: a credential that is TWO Secret objects, BOTH applied to BOTH clusters as base
+# resources, where a cluster-vars knob decides only which one the shared consumer
+# REFERENCES (clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml, BACKUP_CREDENTIALS_SUFFIX: dev backs up to
+# MinIO, prod to Cloudflare R2, and one shared Secret meant either environment's rotation
+# broke the other). Nothing is forked: every environment renders the identical manifests
+# and the identical object set, which is precisely the R-ENV-02 contract.
+#
+# So the exception is not a path allowlist — it is the PROPERTY that makes that shape
+# safe, asserted from the tree, and a file is excused ONLY when all of it holds:
+#
+#   (A) it declares nothing but Secrets whose names end in the environment suffix — the
+#       only kind of object this repo has a selection mechanism for;
+#   (1) it is listed in its own directory's kustomization.yaml, so EVERY environment
+#       applies it, and every environment's value of the selector resolves to an object
+#       that some resource of that same kustomization declares (same namespace) — no
+#       environment is left selecting a Secret that does not exist;
+#   (2) nothing references the suffixed name literally: every reference is a substituted
+#       expression `<base-name>${VAR}`, and the suffixed FILE is named only by the
+#       kustomization that applies it — so no shared manifest hardcodes prod's half;
+#   (3) that VAR is defined for the base AND for every overlay (StrictPostBuildSubstitutions
+#       fails on an UNDEFINED variable, so an overlay that forgot it would break that
+#       cluster's reconciliation), and prod's value is the one that selects THIS file.
+#
+# References are read from PARSED YAML VALUES, never from raw text: the mechanism is
+# documented by name in comments beside the resources (cluster-vars says so explicitly),
+# and a name in a comment references nothing. Anything that fails any condition still
+# fails, naming the condition it broke.
+ENV_SUFFIX = f"-{prod_token}"
+# Every environment that renders the shared configuration.
+ENVS = ["base"] + sorted(p.parent.name
+                         for p in (ROOT / "clusters").glob("*/kustomization.yaml")
+                         if p.parent.name != "base")
+
+
+def _docs(rel: str):
+    p = ROOT / rel
+    if not p.is_file():
+        return None
+    try:
+        return [d for d in yaml.safe_load_all(p.read_text(errors="replace"))
+                if isinstance(d, dict)]
+    except Exception:
+        return None
+
+
+def _strings(node):
+    if isinstance(node, str):
+        yield node
+    elif isinstance(node, dict):
+        for k, v in node.items():
+            yield from _strings(k)
+            yield from _strings(v)
+    elif isinstance(node, (list, tuple)):
+        for v in node:
+            yield from _strings(v)
+
+
+RENDERED_YAML = [f for f in tracked
+                 if f.startswith(RENDERED_DIRS) and f.endswith((".yaml", ".yml"))]
+VALUE_STRINGS = {f: list(_strings(_docs(f) or [])) for f in RENDERED_YAML}
+
+
+def overlay_selected(f: str) -> list[str]:
+    """[] if f is an overlay-SELECTED environment half; else the conditions it breaks."""
+    docs = _docs(f)
+    objs = [((d.get("kind")), (d.get("metadata") or {}).get("name"),
+             (d.get("metadata") or {}).get("namespace")) for d in (docs or [])]
+    if not objs or any(k != "Secret" or not isinstance(n, str) or not n.endswith(ENV_SUFFIX)
+                       for k, n, _ in objs):
+        return [f"(A) it does not consist solely of Secret objects whose names end in "
+                f"{ENV_SUFFIX!r} — an overlay can select which SECRET a shared manifest "
+                f"references, and nothing else, so any other prod-suffixed object in a "
+                f"shared path is prod-only content"]
+
+    reasons: list[str] = []
+    d = str(Path(f).parent)
+    kfile = f"{d}/kustomization.yaml"
+    kdocs = _docs(kfile) or []
+    res = [str(r) for r in ((kdocs[0].get("resources") if kdocs else None) or [])]
+    if Path(f).name not in res:
+        reasons.append(f"(1) {kfile} does not list it in `resources`, so it is not applied "
+                       f"in every environment — one environment would carry an object the "
+                       f"other does not")
+
+    # Every Secret the applying kustomization declares: name -> namespace.
+    declared: dict[str, object] = {}
+    for r in res:
+        for dd in (_docs(f"{d}/{r}") or []):
+            if dd.get("kind") == "Secret":
+                md = dd.get("metadata") or {}
+                declared[str(md.get("name"))] = md.get("namespace")
+
+    for _, name, ns in objs:
+        base_name = name[:-len(ENV_SUFFIX)]
+        pat = re.escape(base_name) + r"\$\{([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\}"
+        sel = sorted({m for ss in VALUE_STRINGS.values() for s in ss
+                      for m in re.findall(pat, s)})
+        # (2) literal references to the suffixed OBJECT — anywhere but this file, except
+        # the applying kustomization naming this FILE (which is how it gets applied).
+        lit = sorted({f2 for f2, ss in VALUE_STRINGS.items() for s in ss
+                      if name in s and f2 != f
+                      and not (f2 == kfile and s == Path(f).name)})
+        if lit:
+            reasons.append(f"(2) {', '.join(lit)} names the Secret {name!r} literally — a "
+                           f"shared manifest that hardcodes prod's half makes every "
+                           f"environment use prod's credential; reference "
+                           f"{base_name}${{...}} instead")
+        # (2) literal references to the suffixed FILE from anywhere but its kustomization.
+        stray = sorted({f2 for f2, ss in VALUE_STRINGS.items() for s in ss
+                        if Path(f).name in s and f2 not in (f, kfile)})
+        if stray:
+            reasons.append(f"(2) {', '.join(stray)} names the file {Path(f).name!r} "
+                           f"literally — only {kfile} may apply it")
+        if not sel:
+            reasons.append(f"(2) no manifest references {base_name}${{...}}: nothing selects "
+                           f"between the halves, so this file is prod-only content that "
+                           f"only prod could ever consume")
+            continue
+        if len(sel) > 1:
+            reasons.append(f"(2) {base_name} is selected by more than one variable {sel} — "
+                           f"they can drift apart and leave one consumer on the other "
+                           f"environment's credential")
+        var = sel[0]
+        vals = env_values(var)
+        missing = [e for e in ENVS if e not in vals]
+        if missing:
+            reasons.append(f"(3) ${{{var}}} is not defined for {missing} (defined for "
+                           f"{sorted(vals)}) — StrictPostBuildSubstitutions fails on an "
+                           f"undefined variable, so that environment would stop "
+                           f"reconciling, or silently inherit the other's credential")
+        for e, v in sorted(vals.items()):
+            want = base_name + v
+            if want not in declared:
+                reasons.append(f"(1) environment {e!r} selects Secret {want!r} via "
+                               f"${{{var}}}={v!r}, which no resource of {kfile} declares — "
+                               f"that environment renders a dangling reference")
+            elif declared[want] != ns:
+                reasons.append(f"(1) environment {e!r} selects Secret {want!r}, declared in "
+                               f"namespace {declared[want]!r}, but this half is in {ns!r} — "
+                               f"the halves are not interchangeable")
+        if prod_overlay and prod_overlay in vals and base_name + vals[prod_overlay] != name:
+            reasons.append(f"(3) the prod overlay's ${{{var}}}={vals[prod_overlay]!r} selects "
+                           f"{base_name + vals[prod_overlay]!r}, not this file's {name!r} — "
+                           f"prod's half is applied but no environment selects it")
+    return reasons
+
+
+flagged = [f for f in tracked
+           if f.startswith(RENDERED_DIRS)
+           and re.search(rf"(^|[/_.-]){re.escape(prod_token)}([/_.-]|$)", f, re.I)]
+for f in flagged:
+    why = overlay_selected(f)
+    check(not why,
+          f"{f} is a prod-specific file inside the shared configuration — every environment "
+          f"renders these paths, so prod-only content here is development against prod. It is "
+          f"not an overlay-selected environment half either: " + " AND ".join(why))
+    if not why:
+        note(f"{f} carries the {prod_token!r} token but is an OVERLAY-SELECTED half: both "
+             f"halves are applied in every environment and only the cluster-vars selector "
+             f"differs (R-ENV-02), so it is not prod-only content")
+check(len(tracked) > 50, f"git ls-files returned only {len(tracked)} paths — not a real checkout")
+
+# --------------------------- (6) prod work exists only with a declaration of readiness
+# In-repo: the operator's recorded decision to open the prod phase.
+log = ROOT / "DECISIONS-LOG.md"
+check(log.is_file() and re.search(r"PHASE\s*7\b.*OPEN", log.read_text(errors="replace"), re.I),
+      "DECISIONS-LOG.md carries no record of the operator OPENING the prod phase, yet prod "
+      "inventory/overlay exist — R-ENV-03 allows prod build only once the roadmap declares it ready")
+# In the spec (read-only, may not be mounted): the roadmap phase that opens prod.
+spec = Path(os.environ.get("SPEC_REPO", ""))
+phases = spec / "roadmap" / "phases.md"
+if phases.is_file():
+    txt = phases.read_text(errors="replace")
+    check(re.search(r"##\s*Phase\s*7\b", txt) is not None and
+          re.search(r"prod", txt, re.I) is not None,
+          "the spec roadmap has no Phase 7 opening prod build — the declaration R-ENV-03 defers "
+          "to does not exist")
+    check(re.search(r"explicitly opened|declares prod hardware ready|operator declares", txt, re.I)
+          is not None,
+          "the spec roadmap's prod phase states no explicit entry declaration — the gate R-ENV-03 "
+          "names would be unenforceable")
+else:
+    note(f"spec repo not mounted at {spec} — the roadmap half of (6) was NOT checked "
+         "(the in-repo declaration still was)")
+
+# --------------------------- (4b) DRIVE the retarget offline: same chain, prod hosts
+if shutil.which("ansible-playbook") is None:
+    note("ansible-playbook is not installed here (e.g. the in-cluster chainsaw image), so the "
+         "prod retarget was PARSED but not DRIVEN; the merge gate's container has it")
+else:
+    sec_groups = [g for g in children.get(PROD_GROUP, []) if g != PROD_PRIMARY]
+    args = ["--list-hosts", "playbooks/site.yml",
+            "-e", f"k3s_hosts={PROD_GROUP}",
+            "-e", f"k3s_primary_hosts={PROD_PRIMARY}"]
+    if sec_groups:
+        args += ["-e", f"k3s_secondary_hosts={sec_groups[0]}"]
+    lh = subprocess.run(["ansible-playbook", *args], cwd=ANS, capture_output=True, text=True)
+    out = (lh.stderr or "") + (lh.stdout or "")
+    if lh.returncode != 0 and ENV_ONLY_FAILURE.search(out):
+        # See the same narrow, self-policing skip in dev-nodes-provisioned-as-code.
+        note("ansible-playbook lacks a LOCAL dependency kept outside the repo by design (the vault "
+             "passphrase and/or the gitignored Galaxy collections), so the prod retarget was not "
+             "driven; every parse assertion above still ran")
+    else:
+        check(lh.returncode == 0,
+              f"retargeting the SHARED chain at prod failed: {out.strip()[:400]} — docs/02 requires "
+              "the same Ansible bootstrap to run for prod")
+        seen: set[str] = set()
+        in_hosts = False
+        for line in lh.stdout.splitlines():
+            if re.match(r"\s*hosts \(\d+\):", line):
+                in_hosts = True
+                continue
+            if re.search(r"play #\d+", line):
+                in_hosts = False
+                continue
+            if in_hosts and line.strip():
+                seen.add(line.strip())
+        check(seen == set(prod_names),
+              f"the shared chain retargeted at prod resolves to {sorted(seen)}, not the three prod "
+              f"nodes {prod_names} — prod would be bootstrapped by something other than dev's path")
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- verdict
+check(CHECKS >= 25,
+      f"only {CHECKS} assertions ran — the check degenerated to a near-no-op and its pass "
+      "would be meaningless")
+
+if FAILURES:
+    print(f"CHECK FAIL (prod-baremetal-not-dev-surface): {len(FAILURES)} of {CHECKS} assertions failed",
+          file=sys.stderr)
+    for f in FAILURES:
+        print(f"  - {f}", file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(1)
+for n in NOTES:
+    print(f"  note: {n}")
+print(f"check OK: prod-baremetal-not-dev-surface — {CHECKS} assertions; prod group {PROD_GROUP!r} = "
+      f"{prod_names} (3 nodes, none created by IaC), overlay clusters/{prod_overlay} renders the base "
+      f"plus environment-scoped patches only, local Longhorn path "
+      f"{data_paths.get(prod_overlay, data_paths.get('base'))!r} with "
+      f"{replicas.get(prod_overlay, replicas.get('base'))} replica(s). R-ENV-03's AUTHORED clauses "
+      "only — the hardware facts (mini-PC, bare metal, local NVMe) are operator-attested and the "
+      "live cluster's shape is NOT asserted here (see the header's gap list).")
+PY
@@ -30,6 +30,14 @@ metadata:
  annotations:
    conformance.home.k3s/requirements: "R-TEST-06"
    conformance.home.k3s/layer: "L0"
+    # NO `scope` ANNOTATION, DELIBERATELY — this invariant IS path-scoped, and was audited as
+    # such (2026-09-12). Its entire input surface is ci/ (spec-immutability.sh, SPEC_PIN,
+    # gate.sh) plus the read-only spec repo, which no commit here can change. The gap was that
+    # ci/touched-requirements.sh keyed .gitea/*|ci/* to R-GITOPS-01 + R-TEST-02 + R-TEST-03 but
+    # NOT to R-TEST-06 — a leftover from when R-TEST-06 was enforced only by the gate STAGE and
+    # carried by no test, so attributing it false-blocked the coverage gate. This test now
+    # carries the R-TEST-06 label, so R-TEST-06 was added to that path-map entry in the same
+    # change; a path-scoped invariant belongs in the path map, not in an unconditional run.
    conformance.home.k3s/safety-critical: "false"
    conformance.home.k3s/executable: "true"
    conformance.home.k3s/intent: >-