diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 37a6882..62827b9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,18 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+      # GitHub-hosted ubuntu-latest ships shellcheck; the Forgejo runner image
+      # this instance uses (ghcr.io/catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04) does not.
+      # actionlint already self-installs below — the same for shellcheck, so a
+      # green head is reachable once a ceremony runner is online (#188).
+      - name: Install shellcheck
+        env:
+          SHELLCHECK_VERSION: 0.10.0
+        run: |
+          curl -fsSLo shellcheck.tar.xz \
+            "https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/releases/download/v${SHELLCHECK_VERSION}/shellcheck-v${SHELLCHECK_VERSION}.linux.x86_64.tar.xz"
+          tar -xJf shellcheck.tar.xz "shellcheck-v${SHELLCHECK_VERSION}/shellcheck"
+          sudo install "shellcheck-v${SHELLCHECK_VERSION}/shellcheck" /usr/local/bin/shellcheck
       - name: Shellcheck
         run: bash .github/scripts/shellcheck-all.sh
       - name: Install actionlint
diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index e0b3174..54c2c23 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ TRIAGE_ACTORS=()
 # The needs-ruling invariants (#52) — one implementation for both surfaces.
 # shellcheck source=lib/ruling.sh
 . "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/../../lib/ruling.sh"
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/../../lib/forge.sh"
+# shellcheck source=lib/closes_references.sh
+. "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/../../lib/closes_references.sh"
 
 log() { printf 'issueflow: %s\n' "$*"; }
 run() { if [ -n "${DRY_RUN:-}" ]; then log "DRY_RUN: $*"; else "$@"; fi; }
@@ -271,12 +275,12 @@ offsite_resolved_decision() { # PR states on stdin -> NUDGE | QUIET
 ensure_comment() { # $1 issue, $2 marker, $3 message
   local n="$1" marker="$2" message="$3"
   if issue_comment_has_marker "$n" "$marker"; then return; fi
-  run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "<!-- issueflow:$marker -->
+  run forge_issue_comment "$n" "<!-- issueflow:$marker -->
 $message" >/dev/null
 }
 
 issue_comment_has_marker() { # $1 issue, $2 marker
-  gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$1/comments" --jq '.[].body' \
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$1/comments" --jq '.[].body' \
     | grep -qF "<!-- issueflow:$2 -->"
 }
 
@@ -284,7 +288,7 @@ reference_states() {
   local ref state
   while IFS= read -r ref; do
     [ -n "$ref" ] || continue
-    state="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/issues/$ref" --jq '.state' 2>/dev/null || echo UNKNOWN)"
+    state="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/issues/$ref" --jq '.state' 2>/dev/null || echo UNKNOWN)"
     case "$state" in open) echo OPEN ;; closed) echo CLOSED ;; *) echo UNKNOWN ;; esac
   done
 }
@@ -295,23 +299,23 @@ offsite_pr_states() {
     [ -n "$ref" ] || continue
     repo="${ref%#*}"
     number="${ref##*#}"
-    state="$(gh api "repos/$repo/pulls/$number" --jq '.state' 2>/dev/null || echo UNKNOWN)"
+    state="$(forge_api "repos/$repo/pulls/$number" --jq '.state' 2>/dev/null || echo UNKNOWN)"
     case "$state" in open) echo OPEN ;; closed) echo CLOSED ;; *) echo UNKNOWN ;; esac
   done
 }
 
 offsite_timeline() { # unreadable timelines are deliberately silent
-  gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$1/timeline" 2>/dev/null || return 1
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$1/timeline" 2>/dev/null || return 1
 }
 
 last_issue_activity() {
   local n="$1" created="$2" latest
   latest="$({
       printf '%s\n' "$created"
-      gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at'
+      forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at'
       # Assignment is the claim itself. Ignoring it would let an old issue be
       # reclaimed in the seconds between assignment and its required draft PR.
-      gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/timeline" \
+      forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/timeline" \
         --jq '.[] | select(.event == "assigned") | .created_at'
     } \
     | sort | tail -n1)"
@@ -325,7 +329,7 @@ reconcile_issue() {
   decision="$(queue_decision <<<"$ISSUE_LABELS")"
   case "$decision" in
     ADD_NEEDS_TRIAGE)
-      run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --add-label needs-triage >/dev/null
+      run forge_issue_edit "$n" --add-label needs-triage >/dev/null
       log "#$n: needs-triage (no queue state)" ;;
     FLAG_CONFLICT)
       ensure_comment "$n" queue-conflict \
@@ -358,10 +362,10 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
       # would create an impossible parked-for state (#175 D4).
       has_issue_label attention && remove_claimed=claimed,attention
       if [ -n "$owners" ]; then
-        run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --remove-assignee "$owners" \
+        run forge_issue_edit "$n" --remove-assignee "$owners" \
           --remove-label "$remove_claimed" --add-label post-merge >/dev/null
       else
-        run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" \
+        run forge_issue_edit "$n" \
           --remove-label "$remove_claimed" --add-label post-merge >/dev/null
       fi
       log "#$n: merged Refs PR -> post-merge; claim released"
@@ -387,10 +391,10 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
             'This claim has no linked open PR and no activity for 48 hours. The sweep is reclaiming it for the ready queue.'
           owners="$(jq -r '[.assignees[].login] | join(",")' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
           if [ -n "$owners" ]; then
-            run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --remove-assignee "$owners" \
+            run forge_issue_edit "$n" --remove-assignee "$owners" \
               --remove-label claimed --add-label ready >/dev/null
           else
-            run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --remove-label claimed --add-label ready >/dev/null
+            run forge_issue_edit "$n" --remove-label claimed --add-label ready >/dev/null
           fi
           log "#$n: stale claim reclaimed -> ready" ;;
       esac
@@ -429,7 +433,7 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
       READY)
         ensure_comment "$n" blockers-cleared \
           'Every issue named by `Blocked by` is closed. The sweep is moving this issue to `ready`.'
-        run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --remove-label blocked --add-label ready >/dev/null
+        run forge_issue_edit "$n" --remove-label blocked --add-label ready >/dev/null
         log "#$n: blockers closed -> ready" ;;
     esac
   elif has_issue_label epic; then
@@ -451,7 +455,7 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
     # An already-applied stale comes off: waiting on a human is legitimately
     # quiet (#50 D10), and nothing on the issue side ever puts stale back.
     if has_issue_label stale; then
-      run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --remove-label stale >/dev/null
+      run forge_issue_edit "$n" --remove-label stale >/dev/null
       log "#$n: unstale (a ruling is pending)"
     fi
     [ -n "${age:-}" ] \
@@ -462,11 +466,19 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
 
 reconcile_opened_issue() {
   local n="$1" author triage=false labels remove="" label
-  ISSUE_JSON="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/issues/$n")"
+  ISSUE_JSON="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/issues/$n")"
   # The stand-downs return 0 explicitly: a bare return carries the failed
   # test's status, which under execution is live `set -e` — and it killed the
   # run on every triage-authored mint, before one issue was reconciled (#91).
-  jq -e 'has("pull_request") | not' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON" >/dev/null || return 0
+  # `.pull_request == null`, NOT `has("pull_request") | not` (#188). The key's
+  # PRESENCE is a GitHub-only discriminator: GitHub omits it on a plain issue,
+  # Forgejo emits it on every entry and sets it to null. Measured on the list
+  # endpoints, 2026-08-02 — GitHub 0 of 9 issues carried the key, Forgejo 10 of
+  # 10 did. So the old test selected ZERO issues here and the sweep printed
+  # "reconciled." over an untouched board: the blind sweep again, one layer in.
+  # The null test is true for an issue on both forges (absent key reads as
+  # null) and false for a PR on both.
+  jq -e '.pull_request == null' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON" >/dev/null || return 0
   author="$(jq -r '.user.login' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
   is_triage_actor "$author" && triage=true
   labels="$(jq -r '.labels[].name' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
@@ -476,56 +488,73 @@ reconcile_opened_issue() {
   done
   remove="${remove#,}"
   if [ -n "$remove" ]; then
-    run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --add-label needs-triage --remove-label "$remove" >/dev/null
+    run forge_issue_edit "$n" --add-label needs-triage --remove-label "$remove" >/dev/null
   else
-    run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --add-label needs-triage >/dev/null
+    run forge_issue_edit "$n" --add-label needs-triage >/dev/null
   fi
   log "#$n: needs-triage (opened by $author)"
 }
 
 main() {
-  local owner name
+  # See labels-reconcile's twin (#188). This one already failed loudly on
+  # Forgejo — but with `line 408: gh: command not found`, which names the
+  # symptom and not the cause, and only after the sibling step had already
+  # reported a green blind sweep.
+  # The forge is decided once, here, before anything reads the board, and
+  # the backend that can speak it is loaded (#188). The CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT
+  # wrapper that stood here died with the call-site port: it declared "this
+  # code uses gh", which stopped being true the moment every site went
+  # through the shim, and leaving it would have defaulted the forgejo path
+  # into the very client its own preflight refuses.
+  forge_preflight || return 1
+  # "" means decide from the environment; forge_select takes an explicit
+  # forge only in tests.
+  forge_select "" || return 1
+
   REPO="${REPO:?set REPO to owner/name}"
   LABELS_CONF="${LABELS_CONF:-.github/labels.conf}"
   load_issueflow_config "$LABELS_CONF"
   if [ "${EVENT_NAME:-}" = issues ] && [ "${EVENT_ACTION:-}" = opened ]; then
     reconcile_opened_issue "${EVENT_ISSUE:?set EVENT_ISSUE for issues:opened}"
   fi
-  owner="${REPO%%/*}"
-  name="${REPO#*/}"
-  OPEN_PR_ISSUES="$(gh api graphql --paginate -f owner="$owner" -f name="$name" -f query='
-    query($owner: String!, $name: String!, $endCursor: String) {
-      repository(owner: $owner, name: $name) {
-        pullRequests(first: 100, states: OPEN, after: $endCursor) {
-          nodes { closingIssuesReferences(first: 100) { nodes { number } } }
-          pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
-        }
-      }
-    }' --jq '.data.repository.pullRequests.nodes[].closingIssuesReferences.nodes[].number' \
-    | sort -nu)"
-  MERGED_REF_PR_RECORDS="$(gh api graphql --paginate -f owner="$owner" -f name="$name" -f query='
-    query($owner: String!, $name: String!, $endCursor: String) {
-      repository(owner: $owner, name: $name) {
-        pullRequests(first: 100, states: MERGED, after: $endCursor) {
-          nodes { number body }
-          pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
-        }
-      }
-    }' --jq '.data.repository.pullRequests.nodes[]
-      | .number as $pr | .body | split("\n")[]
-      | [$pr, .] | @tsv' \
-    | while IFS=$'\t' read -r pr body; do
+  # owner/name split out here until #188 — the GraphQL query took them as
+  # separate variables. REST takes the owner/name path whole, so it is gone.
+  # Both gathers were `gh api graphql` until #188. Forgejo has NO GraphQL
+  # API — a real forgejo-runner job even arrives with GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL set
+  # to the empty string (probe task 278) — so these could not be translated
+  # to a Forgejo endpoint; there is none. They are REST + a parser this repo
+  # owns, over `number` and `body`, which /api/v3 and /api/v1 both return in
+  # the same shape (measured on both, 2026-08-02).
+  #
+  # Bodies travel base64 because they contain newlines: jq's @tsv escapes a
+  # newline to a literal backslash-n, which a line-oriented parser reads as
+  # one line and silently loses every declaration after the first. The old
+  # GraphQL gather sidestepped that with `split("\n")[]`; base64 is the same
+  # protection without needing the split to be correct.
+  OPEN_PR_ISSUES="$(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls?state=open" \
+    --jq '.[] | .body // "" | @base64' \
+    | while IFS= read -r b64; do
+        [ -n "$b64" ] && printf '%s' "$b64" | base64 -d | closes_references
+      done | sort -nu)"
+  # closes_references, not refs_references: GitHub's closingIssuesReferences
+  # meant the CLOSING relation specifically, and reading Refs as closing
+  # would make every referenced issue look closeable — the distinction #151
+  # was reopened by hand over.
+  MERGED_REF_PR_RECORDS="$(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls?state=closed" \
+    --jq '.[] | select(.merged_at != null) | "\(.number)\t\(.body // "" | @base64)"' \
+    | while IFS=$'\t' read -r pr b64; do
+        [ -n "$b64" ] || continue
         while IFS= read -r issue; do
           [ -n "$issue" ] && printf '%s\t%s\n' "$issue" "$pr"
-        done < <(refs_references <<<"$body")
+        done < <(printf '%s' "$b64" | base64 -d | refs_references)
       done)"
 
   local n
-  for n in $(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues?state=open&per_page=100" \
-      --jq '.[] | select(has("pull_request") | not) | .number'); do
+  for n in $(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues?state=open" \
+      --jq '.[] | select(.pull_request == null) | .number'); do
     (
-      ISSUE_JSON="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/issues/$n")"
-      jq -e 'has("pull_request") | not' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON" >/dev/null || exit 0
+      ISSUE_JSON="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/issues/$n")"
+      jq -e '.pull_request == null' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON" >/dev/null || exit 0
       ISSUE_LABELS="$(jq -r '.labels[].name' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
       reconcile_issue "$n"
     ) || log "#$n: reconcile failed — continuing with the remaining issues"
diff --git a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
index 9e7d337..04c84ef 100755
--- a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ STALE_AFTER=$((48 * 3600))
 # The needs-ruling invariants (#52) — one implementation for both surfaces.
 # shellcheck source=lib/ruling.sh
 . "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/../../lib/ruling.sh"
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/../../lib/forge.sh"
 
 log() { printf 'labels: %s\n' "$*"; }
 
@@ -185,6 +187,35 @@ set_required_bots() { # the PR author is recused by construction
 
 requested() { grep -qxF "$1" <<<"$REQUESTED"; }
 
+# outstanding_requests <requested-logins> — the portable "who still owes a
+# verdict on THIS head" (issue #188, term 4).
+#
+# GitHub clears requested_reviewers when a verdict lands, so on that forge the
+# field already answers this question and the filter below removes nothing.
+# **Forgejo does not clear it.** Measured 2026-08-02: rig!140 listed all three
+# panelists with all three verdicts in, and rig!146 still lists three while
+# MERGED — the field is stale even on a closed PR, so it over-counts forever.
+#
+# Reading it raw on Forgejo pins a PR at state:bots-reviewing for life and
+# stops blocker:unrequested from ever being true: the sweep believes a round
+# is permanently live. So the requested set is intersected with "has not
+# submitted a verdict for the current head", which is derived from
+# /pulls/{n}/reviews — the read that is true on both forges.
+#
+# Pure over REVIEWS_JSON/HEAD_SHA so the fixtures can drive it; a reviewer
+# whose only verdict is STALE still owes one, which is why this asks
+# bot_verdict rather than merely "has any review".
+outstanding_requests() {
+  local login
+  while IFS= read -r login; do
+    [ -n "$login" ] || continue
+    case "$(bot_verdict "$login")" in
+      APPROVE | BLOCK | FEEDBACK) continue ;;
+    esac
+    printf '%s\n' "$login"
+  done <<<"${1-}"
+}
+
 checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE | UNREADABLE
   # UNREADABLE is the absence of the key itself, which is what a failed fetch
   # leaves behind — distinct from a present-but-empty rollup, which honestly
@@ -514,7 +545,7 @@ $(configured_label_rows "$LABELS_CONF")"
   fi
   while IFS='|' read -r name color desc; do
     [ -n "$name" ] || continue
-    run gh label create "$name" -R "$REPO" --color "$color" --description "$desc" --force
+    run forge_label_create "$name" "$color" "$desc"
   done <<<"$rows"
 
   # LABELS.md publishes the defaults as deleted at bootstrap; until #93
@@ -528,7 +559,7 @@ $(configured_label_rows "$LABELS_CONF")"
   # the taxonomy it can create. Either way: log the name, keep going.
   while IFS= read -r name; do
     [ -n "$name" ] || continue
-    run gh label delete "$name" -R "$REPO" --yes \
+    run forge_label_delete "$name" \
       || log "retire: '$name' not deleted (already absent, or refused) — continuing"
   done <<<"$(retired_label_names)"
 }
@@ -557,10 +588,10 @@ tree_version() { # $1 = ref → that tree's version via the API, or nothing
   # Every failure path prints nothing: the caller treats "could not read"
   # as "not release-shaped" rather than warning on a guess.
   local ref="$1" ver
-  ver="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/contents/VERSION?ref=$ref" --jq '.content' 2>/dev/null \
+  ver="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/contents/VERSION?ref=$ref" --jq '.content' 2>/dev/null \
     | base64 -d 2>/dev/null | tr -d '[:space:]')"
   if [ -z "$ver" ]; then
-    ver="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/contents/package.json?ref=$ref" --jq '.content' 2>/dev/null \
+    ver="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/contents/package.json?ref=$ref" --jq '.content' 2>/dev/null \
       | base64 -d 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.version // empty' 2>/dev/null)"
   fi
   [ -z "$ver" ] || printf '%s\n' "$ver"
@@ -581,7 +612,7 @@ reconcile_pr() { # $1 = PR number; relies on the globals set from its fetch
   # concurrency group in labels.yml. With a comment-only bot on the panel
   # this path stays cold and the AUTHOR requests the human.
   if [ "$desired" = state:needs-human ] && human_request_needed; then
-    run gh api "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/requested_reviewers" -f "reviewers[]=$HUMAN" --silent
+    run forge_request_reviewer "$n" "$HUMAN"
     log "#$n: requested $HUMAN (round passed)"
   fi
 
@@ -643,7 +674,7 @@ reconcile_pr() { # $1 = PR number; relies on the globals set from its fetch
   if [ "$skip_edit" = false ] && { ! has_label "$desired" || [ -n "$remove" ] || [ -n "$add" ]; }; then
     args=(--add-label "$desired${add:+,$add}")
     [ -n "$remove" ] && args+=(--remove-label "$remove")
-    if run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" "${args[@]}" >/dev/null; then
+    if run forge_issue_edit "$n" "${args[@]}" >/dev/null; then
       log "#$n: state -> $desired${add:+ +$add}${remove:+ (cleared $remove)}"
     else
       # a deleted label must not wedge the sweep — dispatch heals the taxonomy
@@ -666,18 +697,24 @@ reconcile_pr() { # $1 = PR number; relies on the globals set from its fetch
   # the moment the PR is no longer the thing a human should merge next, the
   # claim is removed. Setting it stays with whoever owns the queue.
   if has_label merge-next && [ "$desired" != state:needs-human ]; then
-    run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --remove-label merge-next >/dev/null
+    run forge_issue_edit "$n" --remove-label merge-next >/dev/null
     log "#$n: cleared merge-next (state is $desired, not mergeable-by-a-human)"
   fi
 
   # ---- stale: real activity only, and blocked is legitimately quiet ----
+  # forge_pr_activity owns the portable half: issue comments + commits +
+  # inline review comments. The flat /pulls/{n}/comments endpoint 404s on
+  # Forgejo; the forgejo backend re-derives it from reviews with
+  # comments_count > 0 (#188 / #4844). PR created_at and review submitted_at
+  # stay here — they are already in hand and need no second fetch.
   last_activity="$(
     {
       jq -r '.created_at' <<<"$PR_JSON"
-      jq -r '.[].submitted_at' <<<"$REVIEWS_JSON"
-      gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at'
-      gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at'
-      gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/commits" --jq '.[].commit.committer.date'
+      jq -r '.[].submitted_at // empty' <<<"$REVIEWS_JSON"
+      # Non-fatal degrade (pre-#188 same edge), but do NOT swallow stderr —
+      # forge_api names failures loudly, and hiding them re-opens this issue's
+      # silent-green class (#4879 / #101 D5).
+      forge_pr_activity "$n" || true
     } | sort | tail -n1
   )"
   last_activity_epoch="$(date -d "$last_activity" +%s)"
@@ -686,11 +723,11 @@ reconcile_pr() { # $1 = PR number; relies on the globals set from its fetch
   # (#50 D10). The 7-day nudge is #52's, once for both surfaces.
   if has_label blocked || has_label needs-ruling || [ "$age" -le "$STALE_AFTER" ]; then
     if has_label stale; then
-      run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --remove-label stale >/dev/null
+      run forge_issue_edit "$n" --remove-label stale >/dev/null
       log "#$n: unstale"
     fi
   elif ! has_label stale; then
-    run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" --add-label stale >/dev/null
+    run forge_issue_edit "$n" --add-label stale >/dev/null
     log "#$n: stale ($((age / 3600))h quiet)"
   fi
 
@@ -705,6 +742,21 @@ reconcile_pr() { # $1 = PR number; relies on the globals set from its fetch
 }
 
 main() {
+  # BEFORE anything reads the board (#188). Every call site below is still
+  # `gh`, so that is what this declares — honestly, which is the point: on
+  # a Forgejo consumer the preflight refuses here instead of letting the
+  # sweep run blind and print "reconciled." over zero PRs (rig run 979).
+  # The forge is decided once, here, before anything reads the board, and
+  # the backend that can speak it is loaded (#188). The CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT
+  # wrapper that stood here died with the call-site port: it declared "this
+  # code uses gh", which stopped being true the moment every site went
+  # through the shim, and leaving it would have defaulted the forgejo path
+  # into the very client its own preflight refuses.
+  forge_preflight || return 1
+  # "" means decide from the environment; forge_select takes an explicit
+  # forge only in tests.
+  forge_select "" || return 1
+
   REPO="${REPO:?set REPO to owner/name}"
   LABELS_CONF="${LABELS_CONF:-.github/labels.conf}"
   load_config "$LABELS_CONF"
@@ -717,7 +769,7 @@ main() {
 
   # The repo's label set, read ONCE per sweep — reconcile_pr filters every
   # add against it, because one unknown name fails the whole edit call.
-  REPO_LABELS="$(gh label list -R "$REPO" --limit 200 --json name --jq '.[].name' 2>/dev/null || echo "")"
+  REPO_LABELS="$(forge_label_list 2>/dev/null || echo "")"
   [ -z "$REPO_LABELS" ] && log "WARNING: could not read the label set — applying labels unfiltered"
   missing_core_labels_warning "$(core_label_rows)" "$REPO_LABELS"
 
@@ -728,17 +780,20 @@ main() {
     status=0
     output="$(
       (
-      PR_JSON="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n")"
+      PR_JSON="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n")"
       DRAFT="$(jq -r '.draft' <<<"$PR_JSON")"
       AUTHOR="$(jq -r '.user.login' <<<"$PR_JSON")"
       set_required_bots "$AUTHOR"
       HEAD_SHA="$(jq -r '.head.sha' <<<"$PR_JSON")"
       BASE_SHA="$(jq -r '.base.sha' <<<"$PR_JSON")"
       LABELS="$(jq -r '.labels[].name' <<<"$PR_JSON")"
-      REQUESTED="$(jq -r '.requested_reviewers[].login' <<<"$PR_JSON")"
       # PENDING reviews are unsubmitted drafts in someone's browser — not a verdict
-      REVIEWS_JSON="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/reviews" --jq '.[]' \
+      REVIEWS_JSON="$(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/reviews" --jq '.[]' \
         | jq -s '[.[] | select(.state != "PENDING")]')"
+      # Read AFTER the reviews, because the raw field is not portable: Forgejo
+      # never clears it, so it is intersected with who still owes a verdict on
+      # this head (#188 term 4). A no-op on GitHub, which clears it itself.
+      REQUESTED="$(outstanding_requests "$(jq -r '.requested_reviewers[].login' <<<"$PR_JSON")")"
       # mergeability + the check rollup, the two facts the state machine was
       # blind to (#136). `gh pr view` rather than the REST PR object: the API's
       # `mergeable` is a tri-state boolean that GitHub computes lazily, while
@@ -753,7 +808,7 @@ main() {
       # D2), never left to interleave raw into the per-PR output block,
       # where an unlucky line could collide with a matched string.
       GH_VIEW_ERR_FILE="$(mktemp)"
-      GH_VIEW="$(gh pr view "$n" -R "$REPO" --json mergeable,statusCheckRollup 2>"$GH_VIEW_ERR_FILE" || echo '{}')"
+      GH_VIEW="$(forge_pr_view "$n" 2>"$GH_VIEW_ERR_FILE" || echo '{}')"
       GH_VIEW_ERR="$(cat "$GH_VIEW_ERR_FILE")"
       rm -f "$GH_VIEW_ERR_FILE"
       MERGEABLE="$(jq -r '.mergeable // "UNKNOWN"' <<<"$GH_VIEW")"
@@ -783,7 +838,7 @@ main() {
     elif [ "$status" -ne 0 ]; then
       log "#$n: reconcile failed — continuing with the remaining PRs"
     fi
-  done < <(gh pr list -R "$REPO" --state open --limit 100 --json number --jq '.[].number')
+  done < <(forge_pr_list)
   blind_sweep_warning "$unreadable" "$total" "$sampled_reason"
   log "reconciled."
 }
diff --git a/actions/labels-scope/labels-scope.sh b/actions/labels-scope/labels-scope.sh
index b8a4544..af39d62 100644
--- a/actions/labels-scope/labels-scope.sh
+++ b/actions/labels-scope/labels-scope.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ else
   set -u
 fi
 
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/../../lib/forge.sh"
+
 # labels-scope.sh — the additive half of the labels automation: derive
 # scope:* labels from a PR's changed paths and ADD them, touching nothing
 # else. This seat belonged to actions/labeler@v5 until #130: even under
@@ -68,6 +71,14 @@ glob_to_regex() { # $1 = glob (the subset above) → anchored ERE, one line
 }
 
 parse_labeler_config() { # labeler.yml on stdin → "label<TAB>glob" lines
+  # The jq variable is $lbl, not $label: **`label` is a reserved keyword in
+  # jq's grammar** (`label $out | ... | break $out`), and jq 1.6 refuses
+  # `$label` outright — "syntax error, unexpected label, expecting IDENT".
+  # jq 1.7 parses it, which is why this survived: GitHub's hosted
+  # ubuntu-latest ships 1.7, and the Forgejo runner image
+  # (ghcr.io/catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04) ships **1.6**. Measured on both,
+  # 2026-08-02 (#188). Every scope-label derivation on this forge failed on a
+  # jq compile error before the config was even read.
   # yq only normalizes YAML to JSON; the shape contract is enforced in jq,
   # where an unsupported key is a loud error naming the label it sits under.
   yq -o=json '.' - | jq -r '
@@ -75,38 +86,38 @@ parse_labeler_config() { # labeler.yml on stdin → "label<TAB>glob" lines
       error("labeler config: top level must be a map of label -> rules")
     else . end
     | to_entries[]
-    | .key as $label
+    | .key as $lbl
     | (if (.value | type) != "array" then
-         error("labeler config: \($label): rules must be a list")
+         error("labeler config: \($lbl): rules must be a list")
        else .value end)[]
     | (if type != "object" then
-         error("labeler config: \($label): each rule must be a map")
+         error("labeler config: \($lbl): each rule must be a map")
        else . end)
     | ((keys - ["changed-files"]) as $extra
        | if ($extra | length) > 0 then
-           error("labeler config: \($label): unsupported key(s) \($extra | join(", ")) — the scope job accepts changed-files/any-glob-to-any-file only (#130)")
+           error("labeler config: \($lbl): unsupported key(s) \($extra | join(", ")) — the scope job accepts changed-files/any-glob-to-any-file only (#130)")
          else . end)
     | .["changed-files"]
     | (if type == "object" then [.]
        elif type == "array" then .
-       else error("labeler config: \($label): changed-files must be a list") end)[]
+       else error("labeler config: \($lbl): changed-files must be a list") end)[]
     | (if type != "object" then
-         error("labeler config: \($label): each changed-files entry must be a map")
+         error("labeler config: \($lbl): each changed-files entry must be a map")
        else . end)
     | ((keys - ["any-glob-to-any-file"]) as $extra
        | if ($extra | length) > 0 then
-           error("labeler config: \($label): unsupported matcher(s) \($extra | join(", ")) — the scope job accepts any-glob-to-any-file only (#130)")
+           error("labeler config: \($lbl): unsupported matcher(s) \($extra | join(", ")) — the scope job accepts any-glob-to-any-file only (#130)")
          else . end)
     | .["any-glob-to-any-file"]
     | (if type == "string" then [.]
        elif type == "array" then .
-       else error("labeler config: \($label): any-glob-to-any-file must be a glob or a list of globs") end)[]
+       else error("labeler config: \($lbl): any-glob-to-any-file must be a glob or a list of globs") end)[]
     | (if type != "string" then
-         error("labeler config: \($label): globs must be strings")
+         error("labeler config: \($lbl): globs must be strings")
        elif contains("\\") then
-         error("labeler config: \($label): backslash in glob \(.) — escapes are not supported (#130)")
+         error("labeler config: \($lbl): backslash in glob \(.) — escapes are not supported (#130)")
        else . end)
-    | [$label, .] | @tsv
+    | [$lbl, .] | @tsv
   '
 }
 
@@ -125,6 +136,21 @@ derive_labels() { # $1 = "label<TAB>glob" lines, $2 = changed files (one per
 }
 
 main() {
+  # See labels-reconcile's twin (#188). This action's degraded read was the
+  # quietest of the three: an unreadable mapping and an absent one produced
+  # the same "nothing to derive" no-op, so on Forgejo a PR simply got no
+  # scope labels and nothing said why.
+  # The forge is decided once, here, before anything reads the board, and
+  # the backend that can speak it is loaded (#188). The CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT
+  # wrapper that stood here died with the call-site port: it declared "this
+  # code uses gh", which stopped being true the moment every site went
+  # through the shim, and leaving it would have defaulted the forgejo path
+  # into the very client its own preflight refuses.
+  forge_preflight || return 1
+  # "" means decide from the environment; forge_select takes an explicit
+  # forge only in tests.
+  forge_select "" || return 1
+
   REPO="${REPO:?set REPO to owner/name}"
   PR_NUMBER="${PR_NUMBER:?set PR_NUMBER to the pull request number}"
   CONFIG_REF="${CONFIG_REF:?set CONFIG_REF to the base commit the mapping is read at}"
@@ -134,13 +160,13 @@ main() {
   # No mapping is a consumer that has not adopted scope labels — an
   # advisory no-op, not a red run (scopes locate, they do not alert). A
   # mapping that EXISTS but does not parse still fails loudly below.
-  if ! config="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/contents/$CONFIG_PATH?ref=$CONFIG_REF" \
+  if ! config="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/contents/$CONFIG_PATH?ref=$CONFIG_REF" \
     --jq '.content' 2>/dev/null | base64 -d)" || [ -z "$config" ]; then
     log "no $CONFIG_PATH at $CONFIG_REF — nothing to derive"
     return 0
   fi
   tsv="$(parse_labeler_config <<<"$config")"
-  files="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$PR_NUMBER/files" --jq '.[].filename')"
+  files="$(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$PR_NUMBER/files" --jq '.[].filename')"
   labels="$(derive_labels "$tsv" "$files")"
 
   if [ -z "$labels" ]; then
@@ -148,8 +174,8 @@ main() {
     return 0
   fi
   local args=()
-  while IFS= read -r label; do args+=(-f "labels[]=$label"); done <<<"$labels"
-  run gh api "repos/$REPO/issues/$PR_NUMBER/labels" "${args[@]}" --silent
+  while IFS= read -r label; do args+=("$label"); done <<<"$labels"
+  run forge_labels_add "$PR_NUMBER" "${args[@]}"
   log "#$PR_NUMBER: scopes -> $(paste -sd, <<<"$labels") (additive POST; already-present names are no-ops)"
 }
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/188.md b/changelog.d/188.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f85084c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/188.md
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+### Added
+
+- `lib/forge.sh` — the forge selector: `forge_detect` names the forge from
+  the runner's own environment, `forge_client` names the client it needs, and
+  `forge_preflight` refuses loudly before any sweep when the two disagree
+  (#188).
+- The reconcilers and `labels-scope` run that preflight first, so a
+  GitHub-shaped client on a Forgejo instance is a named refusal instead of a
+  sweep that reads nothing and reports success (#188).
+- `lib/closes_references.sh` — the closing-keyword parser, sibling of
+  `refs_references`, so "which issues does this PR close" is answered from a
+  PR body rather than from GitHub's GraphQL API (#188).
+- `lib/forge-github.sh` and `lib/forge-forgejo.sh` — one call surface, two
+  backends, selected by `forge_select`; no forge branching at the call sites
+  (#188).
+- The forgejo backend proves each paginated gather complete against the
+  server's `x-total-count` and refuses loudly when it cannot — a missing
+  header is a refusal, not a pass (#188).
+
+### Changed
+
+- `issueflow-reconcile` gathers open and merged PRs over REST instead of
+  `gh api graphql`. Forgejo serves no GraphQL at all, so the two queries were
+  replaced rather than translated; both forges return `number` and `body`
+  from `/pulls` in the same shape (#188).
+
+- `forge_api` owns the page size, because each forge silently ignores the
+  other's parameter: `per_page=100` reads 30 items on Forgejo and `limit=100`
+  reads 30 on GitHub, both HTTP 200. No call site names one (#188).
+
+- Outstanding review requests are derived from the reviews on the current head
+  rather than from `requested_reviewers`, which Forgejo never clears — read
+  raw there, a PR would sit at `state:bots-reviewing` forever (#188).
+
+### Fixed
+
+- `labels-scope` no longer fails to compile its jq program on jq 1.6, which
+  the Forgejo runner image ships: `label` is a reserved word in jq's grammar,
+  so `$label` is a syntax error there and every scope derivation died before
+  reading the config (#188).
+
+- `labels-reconcile` and `labels-scope` no longer exit 0 on a Forgejo
+  consumer having read zero facts — measured on `heavy-duty/rig`, where the
+  sweep printed `reconciled.` over an empty PR list and scope reported "no
+  labeler.yml" for a file that exists (#188).
+
+- `forge_timeline` projects Forgejo's label events (`.type` / `.body` /
+  `.user.login`) into the GitHub shape (`.event` / `.actor.login`) so the
+  ruling ladder reads the same board on both forges (#188).
+
+- `forge_pr_activity` no longer calls `/pulls/{n}/comments` on Forgejo
+  (HTTP 404); inline review comments come from reviews with
+  `comments_count > 0` (#188).
+
+- CI installs shellcheck before linting, matching actionlint — the Forgejo
+  runner image does not ship it (#188).
diff --git a/docs/CONSUMERS.md b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
index eaac5c1..672f09f 100644
--- a/docs/CONSUMERS.md
+++ b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
@@ -396,6 +396,13 @@ never before it and never through mixed refs.
 Both actor lists are whitespace-separated. `triage-actors` names the identities
 allowed to mint issues without the sweep applying `needs-triage`. Label rows use exactly
 `name|color|description`; blank lines are ignored and extra pipes are refused.
+
+**Every account in `panel=` must be able to read the repository.** Requesting a
+review from someone without read access is refused by the forge, not silently
+dropped — on Forgejo with `422 Reviewer can't read`, naming the account
+(#188). On a public repo this is satisfied already; on a **private** consumer
+it is a real failure mode when a panel member is not on the collaborator
+list, and the sweep will report it rather than sweep blind.
 There are no comment lines: every non-blank line must be the `panel=`
 setting, the `triage-actors=` setting, or a label row, so `#`-prefixed prose
 is a parse failure, not a comment (rig #13's conversion found this the hard
diff --git a/lib/closes_references.sh b/lib/closes_references.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d77bef8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/closes_references.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# lib/closes_references.sh — "which issues does this PR body close?", parsed
+# here rather than asked of a forge (issue #188, term 3).
+#
+# Sourced, never executed: no set -e/-u — the sourcing script owns its shell
+# options, as lib/version.sh and lib/forge.sh do.
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS. issueflow-reconcile asked GitHub's GraphQL API for
+# `closingIssuesReferences` — GitHub's own parse of the closing keywords in
+# a PR body. **Forgejo has no GraphQL API at all**, and the runner confirms
+# it from the other side: a real forgejo-runner job arrives with
+# GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL set to the empty string (probe task 278, 2026-08-02).
+# So that call site could not be translated to a Forgejo endpoint — there is
+# nothing to translate it to. It had to be replaced by a parse this repo
+# owns, over a field both forges already return:
+# `GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls` carries `number` and `body` on
+# /api/v3 and /api/v1 alike (measured on both).
+#
+# That the replacement is honest is the point. The sibling half of the same
+# GraphQL query, MERGED_REF_PR_RECORDS, was ALREADY a body parse — it pulled
+# `number` and `body` and ran them through refs_references. GraphQL was
+# buying pagination convenience there, nothing semantic. This file makes the
+# other half symmetric: one parser this repo controls and can test, for both
+# link kinds, on both forges.
+#
+# THE ACCEPTED DELTA, stated so it is not rediscovered as a bug: GitHub also
+# records closing links attached through the pull request's development
+# sidebar, which live in no body and which no body parse can see. This
+# family declares its links in the body — that is what BUILDER.md's PR
+# template asks for — so the delta is zero in practice here. A consumer that
+# links through the sidebar would see those issues go unclosed by the sweep;
+# they would need to say so in the body instead.
+#
+# DEPENDENCY: issue_references, from issueflow-reconcile.sh — the LOCAL /
+# CROSS classifier that keeps rig#112 from ever being read as local #112
+# (#61). Bash resolves function calls at call time, so the order of sourcing
+# does not matter; both must simply be defined before closes_references runs.
+# refs_references depends on it exactly the same way.
+
+# closes_references — PR body on stdin -> local issue numbers this body
+# declares it CLOSES, sorted, unique.
+#
+# The keyword set is GitHub's documented one, all three verbs in all three
+# tenses. Matching is case-insensitive because bodies are written by humans
+# and agents both ("Closes", "closes", "CLOSES").
+#
+# Deliberately NOT matched: "Refs #N". That is the other relation entirely —
+# refs_references owns it, and conflating them would make every referenced
+# issue look closeable, which is the post-merge transition #151 had to be
+# reopened by hand over.
+closes_references() {
+  awk '
+    {
+      line = $0
+      lower = tolower(line)
+      # Every occurrence contributes, not just the first: a body that says
+      # "Closes #1. Closes #2." declares two, and binding to the first
+      # occurrence dropped the later ones — the same defect #184 fixed in
+      # blocked_reference_records, kept fixed here by construction.
+      while (match(lower, /(^|[^[:alnum:]_-])(close[sd]?|fix(e[sd])?|resolve[sd]?)[[:space:]:]+/)) {
+        # BOTH cursors advance together. Advancing only `lower` left the
+        # next match offset indexing the ORIGINAL line, so the second
+        # declaration on a line came back as garbage — caught by the
+        # "two closes on one line" case, which is why it is a case.
+        rest = substr(line, RSTART + RLENGTH)
+        line = rest
+        lower = tolower(rest)
+        if (rest ~ /^(#|([[:alnum:]_.-]+\/)?[[:alnum:]_.-]+#)[0-9]+/) {
+          token = rest
+          # Stop at the first thing that cannot be part of a reference, so
+          # "Closes #12, and more prose" yields #12 and not the sentence.
+          sub(/[^[:alnum:]_.\/#-].*/, "", token)
+          print token
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  ' | issue_references \
+    | awk -F '\t' '$1 == "LOCAL" { print $2 }' | sort -nu
+}
diff --git a/lib/forge-forgejo.sh b/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1aae741
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,483 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# lib/forge-forgejo.sh — the Forgejo backend: /api/v1 over curl + jq
+# (issue #188, term 1). Sourced by lib/forge.sh when forge_detect says
+# forgejo; never sourced directly, and never at the same time as the github
+# backend — they define the same verbs on purpose.
+#
+# curl+jq rather than a CLI because that is what the runner has. The image
+# this instance runs jobs in (ghcr.io/catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04, probe
+# task 278) carries curl, jq and node, and has neither `gh` nor `stoke`.
+
+# forgejo_api_base — the /api/v1 root, from the runner's own environment.
+# GITHUB_API_URL already IS the /api/v1 root on a Forgejo runner (measured:
+# https://forgejo.heavyduty.builders/api/v1). CEREMONY_FORGE_API overrides
+# it for tests and for anyone driving this outside Actions.
+forgejo_api_base() {
+  local base="${CEREMONY_FORGE_API:-${GITHUB_API_URL:-}}"
+  if [ -z "$base" ]; then
+    echo "forgejo_api_base: no GITHUB_API_URL or CEREMONY_FORGE_API — cannot reach the forge (#188)" >&2
+    return 1
+  fi
+  printf '%s\n' "${base%/}"
+}
+
+# forgejo_page_url <endpoint> <page> — pure, so the page-size contract is
+# testable without a network. Returns the endpoint with this backend's OWN
+# paging parameters applied.
+#
+# THE TRAP THIS EXISTS TO REMOVE, measured 2026-08-02 against
+# heavy-duty/rig (137 issues and PRs) and heavy-duty/ceremony on GitHub:
+#
+#   ?per_page=100   GitHub: 100 items      Forgejo: 30 items  (IGNORED)
+#   ?limit=100      GitHub:  30 items      Forgejo: 50 items  (capped)
+#
+# Each forge silently ignores the other's page-size parameter, answers
+# HTTP 200 with valid JSON, and says nothing. Every call site in this repo
+# was written GitHub-shaped, so a verbatim port would have swept 30 of
+# rig's 137 and printed "reconciled." — acceptance criterion 2 failing
+# green, and the same "degraded read that does not report it degraded"
+# failure class this whole issue exists to kill.
+#
+# So NO CALL SITE NAMES A PAGE SIZE. The backend owns it. Fixing the
+# boundary once beats fixing nine call sites and trusting the tenth — the
+# same argument that chose shape C over B, one level down.
+#
+# 50 is not a preference: Forgejo caps a page at MAX_RESPONSE_ITEMS (50 on
+# this instance) whatever you ask for, so asking for more cannot help and
+# pagination is mandatory rather than an optimisation.
+forgejo_page_url() {
+  local endpoint="${1:?forgejo_page_url: endpoint required}" page="${2:?forgejo_page_url: page required}"
+  # Strip any page-size parameter a caller left behind, in either dialect,
+  # rather than trusting that none did: this function is the one place that
+  # decides paging, and a stray per_page= would be exactly the silent
+  # truncation above.
+  local clean="$endpoint"
+  clean="$(printf '%s' "$clean" | sed -E 's/([?&])(per_page|limit|page)=[0-9]+/\1/g; s/[?&]+$//; s/([?&])&+/\1/g')"
+  case "$clean" in
+    *\?) printf '%slimit=50&page=%s\n' "$clean" "$page" ;;
+    *\?*) printf '%s&limit=50&page=%s\n' "$clean" "$page" ;;
+    *) printf '%s?limit=50&page=%s\n' "$clean" "$page" ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+# forge_api [--paginate] <endpoint> [--jq <expr>]
+#
+# --paginate walks page= until a short page, then PROVES the walk was
+# complete by comparing what it collected against the server's declared
+# x-total-count. @kimi-reviewer-andresmgsl's hardening (#4699): a MISSING
+# header is a loud refusal, not a pass. Header exposure is a server setting
+# (access-control-expose-headers), and an instance that withholds it would
+# make the completeness check compare null to a number — the guard itself
+# degrading silently, which is the failure class re-entering through the
+# door built to stop it.
+forge_api() {
+  local paginate=false endpoint="" jqexpr="" have_jq=false
+  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+      --paginate) paginate=true ;;
+      --jq) jqexpr="$2"; have_jq=true; shift ;;
+      -*) ;;
+      *) [ -n "$endpoint" ] || endpoint="$1" ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+  done
+  [ -n "$endpoint" ] || { echo "forge_api: endpoint required" >&2; return 1; }
+
+  local base token
+  base="$(forgejo_api_base)" || return 1
+  token="${GH_TOKEN:-${GITHUB_TOKEN:-${FORGEJO_TOKEN:-}}}"
+
+  local hdr body
+  hdr="$(mktemp)"; body="$(mktemp)"
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2064 # the paths are fixed at trap time on purpose
+  trap "rm -f '$hdr' '$body'" RETURN
+
+  if [ "$paginate" = false ]; then
+    if ! curl -sS -D "$hdr" -o "$body" \
+      -H "Authorization: token $token" -H 'Accept: application/json' \
+      "$base/$endpoint"; then
+      echo "forge_api: request failed: $endpoint" >&2
+      return 1
+    fi
+    forgejo_http_ok "$hdr" "$endpoint" || return 1
+    if [ "$have_jq" = true ]; then jq -r "$jqexpr" <"$body"; else cat "$body"; fi
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  # Paginated: accumulate into ONE array and apply --jq once at the end.
+  # gh --paginate applies --jq per page and concatenates; for the `.[] | …`
+  # shapes every call site here uses, the two are identical, and merging
+  # first is what makes the completeness assert possible at all.
+  local page=1 total="" got=0 n all="[]" pagejson
+  while :; do
+    if ! curl -sS -D "$hdr" -o "$body" \
+      -H "Authorization: token $token" -H 'Accept: application/json' \
+      "$base/$(forgejo_page_url "$endpoint" "$page")"; then
+      echo "forge_api: request failed: $endpoint (page $page)" >&2
+      return 1
+    fi
+    forgejo_http_ok "$hdr" "$endpoint" || return 1
+
+    # Re-read on EVERY page, not once (#4712). A board that changes size
+    # under the walk was invisible: page 1 declaring 4 and page 2 declaring
+    # 9 stopped at 4 believing itself whole. A moving total means the read
+    # cannot have been atomic, so it is refused rather than reconciled.
+    local page_total
+    page_total="$(forgejo_total_count "$hdr")" || return 1
+    if [ -z "$total" ]; then
+      total="$page_total"
+    elif [ "$page_total" != "$total" ]; then
+      cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: the declared total for '$endpoint' changed between pages — $total then $page_total (#188).
+  The collection moved under the walk, so no page set can be proven whole.
+  Refusing rather than reconciling a board that is already out of date.
+EOF
+      return 1
+    fi
+
+    pagejson="$(cat "$body")"
+    # A 200 whose body is not a collection counted as zero items (#4712),
+    # so an error object or a scalar arriving where a list belongs read as
+    # a complete EMPTY collection whenever the declared total was 0.
+    if [ "$(jq -r 'type' <<<"$pagejson" 2>/dev/null)" != array ]; then
+      cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: '$endpoint' did not return a collection (#188).
+  Expected a JSON array; got: $(head -c 200 <<<"$pagejson")
+  Refusing: a body this shim cannot count must not be counted as empty.
+EOF
+      return 1
+    fi
+    n="$(jq 'length' <<<"$pagejson")"
+    [ "$n" -gt 0 ] || break
+    all="$(jq -s '.[0] + .[1]' <<<"$all"$'\n'"$pagejson")"
+    got=$((got + n))
+    [ "$got" -lt "$total" ] || break
+    page=$((page + 1))
+  done
+
+  # The assert. A short read here is the silent-truncation bug arriving by
+  # another route, so it is fatal rather than a warning.
+  if [ "$got" -ne "$total" ]; then
+    cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: incomplete gather for '$endpoint' — collected $got of $total declared (#188).
+  Refusing rather than reconciling a partial board: a sweep over part of the
+  queue that reports success is the failure this shim exists to prevent.
+EOF
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$have_jq" = true ]; then jq -r "$jqexpr" <<<"$all"; else printf '%s\n' "$all"; fi
+}
+
+# forgejo_total_count <header-file> — the declared size of the collection.
+# Absent is fatal (#4699): without it the completeness assert cannot run,
+# and an assert that cannot run must not silently pass.
+forgejo_total_count() {
+  local hdr="$1" total
+  total="$(tr -d '\r' <"$hdr" | awk 'tolower($1) == "x-total-count:" { print $2 }' | tail -n1)"
+  if [ -z "$total" ]; then
+    cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: this forge did not send x-total-count — cannot prove the gather is complete (#188).
+  The header is exposed by a server setting (access-control-expose-headers).
+  Refusing: an unprovable read must not be reported as a whole one.
+EOF
+    return 1
+  fi
+  # Validate before it reaches arithmetic (#4712). `X-Total-Count:
+  # not-a-number` used to sail through and become the bound the walk was
+  # compared against — a guard whose own input was never checked.
+  case "$total" in
+    '' | *[!0-9]*)
+      cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: x-total-count is not a non-negative integer: '$total' (#188).
+  Refusing: the completeness bound must be a number, or the assert that
+  uses it proves nothing.
+EOF
+      return 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+  printf '%s\n' "$total"
+}
+
+# forgejo_http_ok <header-file> <endpoint> — a non-2xx is named, not
+# swallowed. gh exits non-zero on HTTP failure; curl does not without -f,
+# and -f would throw away the body that says why.
+forgejo_http_ok() {
+  local hdr="$1" endpoint="$2" code
+  code="$(tr -d '\r' <"$hdr" | awk '/^HTTP\// { c = $2 } END { print c }')"
+  case "$code" in
+    2*) return 0 ;;
+    *)
+      echo "forge_api: HTTP $code from '$endpoint'" >&2
+      return 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+# --- the verbs the reconcilers use, over /api/v1 --------------------------
+# Three asymmetries with gh, all measured against this instance on
+# 2026-08-02 using a scratch repo (never a live board):
+#
+#   1. Adding labels takes NAMES         POST /issues/{n}/labels {"labels":["x"]}  -> 200
+#      Removing one takes a numeric ID   DELETE /issues/{n}/labels/x               -> 422
+#                                        DELETE /issues/{n}/labels/149             -> 204
+#      So a removal must resolve name -> id first. gh hides this; the shim
+#      cannot.
+#
+#   2. Assignees are SET, not added and removed. PATCH /issues/{n} takes the
+#      whole list ({"assignees":[]} clears it, 201), so --remove-assignee is
+#      a read-modify-write rather than a delete.
+#
+#   3. There is no statusCheckRollup. The portable equivalent is the
+#      combined commit status, GET /commits/{sha}/status, which returns
+#      {state, statuses[]}.
+
+# forgejo_label_ids — name<TAB>id for every label in the repo, read once per
+# call site that needs it. Paginated through forge_api, so a repo with more
+# than one page of labels cannot silently lose the tail (#188).
+forgejo_label_ids() {
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/labels" --jq '.[] | "\(.name)\t\(.id)"'
+}
+
+# forge_issue_edit <n> [--add-label X]… [--remove-label X]… [--add-assignee U]… [--remove-assignee U]…
+# gh's flag surface, translated. Accepts comma-separated values, as gh does.
+forge_issue_edit() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_issue_edit: number required}"
+  shift
+  local add_labels=() rm_labels=() add_assignees=() rm_assignees=() v
+  # Unknown flags REFUSE (#4743). The github backend forwards whatever it is
+  # given to `gh`, which fails on a flag it does not know; dropping it here
+  # instead would turn a port typo into a green no-op — a mutation that
+  # silently did not happen, which is precisely this issue's failure class
+  # arriving inside the fix for it.
+  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+      --add-label | --remove-label | --add-assignee | --remove-assignee)
+        if [ "$#" -lt 2 ]; then
+          echo "forge_issue_edit: $1 requires a value (#188)" >&2
+          return 1
+        fi
+        IFS=, read -ra v <<<"$2"
+        case "$1" in
+          --add-label) add_labels+=("${v[@]}") ;;
+          --remove-label) rm_labels+=("${v[@]}") ;;
+          --add-assignee) add_assignees+=("${v[@]}") ;;
+          --remove-assignee) rm_assignees+=("${v[@]}") ;;
+        esac
+        shift
+        ;;
+      *)
+        echo "forge_issue_edit: unknown flag '$1' — refusing rather than silently skipping the edit (#188)" >&2
+        return 1
+        ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+  done
+
+  if [ "${#add_labels[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    local payload
+    payload="$(printf '%s\n' "${add_labels[@]}" | jq -R . | jq -sc '{labels: .}')"
+    forgejo_write POST "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/labels" "$payload" >/dev/null || return 1
+  fi
+
+  if [ "${#rm_labels[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    local ids id name
+    ids="$(forgejo_label_ids)" || return 1
+    for name in "${rm_labels[@]}"; do
+      id="$(awk -F '\t' -v want="$name" '$1 == want { print $2; exit }' <<<"$ids")"
+      # A label the repo does not have is not an error: the reconcilers call
+      # --remove-label unconditionally to converge state, and gh's own
+      # behaviour there is a no-op.
+      [ -n "$id" ] || continue
+      forgejo_write DELETE "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/labels/$id" '' >/dev/null || return 1
+    done
+  fi
+
+  if [ "${#add_assignees[@]}" -gt 0 ] || [ "${#rm_assignees[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    local current want payload
+    current="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/issues/$n" --jq '[.assignees[]?.login] | join("\n")')" || return 1
+    want="$(
+      {
+        printf '%s\n' "$current"
+        [ "${#add_assignees[@]}" -gt 0 ] && printf '%s\n' "${add_assignees[@]}"
+      } | grep -v '^$' | sort -u
+    )"
+    if [ "${#rm_assignees[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+      want="$(grep -vxF -f <(printf '%s\n' "${rm_assignees[@]}") <<<"$want" || true)"
+    fi
+    payload="$(printf '%s' "$want" | jq -R . | jq -sc '{assignees: [.[] | select(. != "")]}')"
+    forgejo_write PATCH "repos/$REPO/issues/$n" "$payload" >/dev/null || return 1
+  fi
+}
+
+forge_issue_comment() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_issue_comment: number required}" body="${2?forge_issue_comment: body required}"
+  forgejo_write POST "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" "$(jq -nc --arg b "$body" '{body: $b}')" >/dev/null
+}
+
+forge_pr_list() {
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls?state=open" --jq '.[].number'
+}
+
+# forge_pr_view <n> — the {mergeable, statusCheckRollup} shape the state
+# machine reads, assembled from the two places Forgejo keeps it. The rollup
+# is mapped into the node shape checks_state already parses, so the decision
+# code is untouched.
+forge_pr_view() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_pr_view: number required}" pr sha status
+  pr="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n")" || return 1
+  sha="$(jq -r '.head.sha // ""' <<<"$pr")"
+  [ -n "$sha" ] || { echo "forge_pr_view: PR $n has no head sha" >&2; return 1; }
+  status="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/commits/$sha/status")" || return 1
+  jq -n --argjson pr "$pr" --argjson st "$status" '
+    {
+      mergeable: (if $pr.mergeable == true then "MERGEABLE"
+                  elif $pr.mergeable == false then "CONFLICTING"
+                  else "UNKNOWN" end),
+      statusCheckRollup: [
+        $st.statuses[]? | {
+          __typename: "StatusContext",
+          context: .context,
+          state: (.status | ascii_upcase),
+          # checks_state groups repeated contexts and takes the NEWEST by
+          # [.startedAt, .createdAt, .completedAt]. Without a timestamp the
+          # winner would be decided by incidental array order, so a stale
+          # re-run could outrank the live verdict (#4743). The combined
+          # status carries both fields; measured on this instance.
+          createdAt: .created_at,
+          completedAt: .updated_at
+        }
+      ]
+    }'
+}
+
+forge_label_list() { forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/labels" --jq '.[].name'; }
+
+# forge_label_create — an UPSERT, matching `gh label create --force` (#4743).
+# bootstrap_labels creates every declared label on every workflow_dispatch, so
+# the second dispatch must update rather than conflict; a plain POST onto an
+# existing name aborts the bootstrap under set -e.
+forge_label_create() {
+  local name="${1:?}" color="${2:?}" desc="${3:-}" ids id payload
+  payload="$(jq -nc --arg n "$name" --arg c "$color" --arg d "$desc" '{name:$n,color:$c,description:$d}')"
+  ids="$(forgejo_label_ids)" || return 1
+  id="$(awk -F '\t' -v want="$name" '$1 == want { print $2; exit }' <<<"$ids")"
+  if [ -n "$id" ]; then
+    forgejo_write PATCH "repos/$REPO/labels/$id" "$payload" >/dev/null
+  else
+    forgejo_write POST "repos/$REPO/labels" "$payload" >/dev/null
+  fi
+}
+
+forge_label_delete() {
+  local name="${1:?}" ids id
+  ids="$(forgejo_label_ids)" || return 1
+  id="$(awk -F '\t' -v want="$name" '$1 == want { print $2; exit }' <<<"$ids")"
+  [ -n "$id" ] || return 0
+  forgejo_write DELETE "repos/$REPO/labels/$id" '' >/dev/null
+}
+
+# forgejo_write <method> <endpoint> <json-body> — every mutation goes through
+# here so a non-2xx is named rather than swallowed, the same contract
+# forgejo_http_ok gives reads.
+forgejo_write() {
+  local method="$1" endpoint="$2" payload="$3" base token hdr body rc
+  base="$(forgejo_api_base)" || return 1
+  token="${GH_TOKEN:-${GITHUB_TOKEN:-${FORGEJO_TOKEN:-}}}"
+  hdr="$(mktemp)"; body="$(mktemp)"
+  if [ -n "$payload" ]; then
+    curl -sS -X "$method" -D "$hdr" -o "$body" \
+      -H "Authorization: token $token" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+      -d "$payload" "$base/$endpoint"
+  else
+    curl -sS -X "$method" -D "$hdr" -o "$body" \
+      -H "Authorization: token $token" "$base/$endpoint"
+  fi
+  rc=$?
+  if [ "$rc" -ne 0 ]; then
+    rm -f "$hdr" "$body"
+    echo "forge: $method $endpoint failed to send" >&2
+    return 1
+  fi
+  if ! forgejo_http_ok "$hdr" "$method $endpoint"; then
+    head -c 300 "$body" >&2; echo >&2
+    rm -f "$hdr" "$body"
+    return 1
+  fi
+  cat "$body"
+  rm -f "$hdr" "$body"
+}
+
+# forge_labels_add <n> <label…> — the additive label write (ceremony#128; see
+# the github twin). POST /issues/{n}/labels adds the named labels and removes
+# nothing, and it takes NAMES — measured, unlike the removal path, which
+# needs ids.
+forge_labels_add() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_labels_add: number required}"
+  shift
+  [ "$#" -gt 0 ] || return 0
+  forgejo_write POST "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/labels" \
+    "$(printf '%s\n' "$@" | jq -R . | jq -sc '{labels: .}')" >/dev/null
+}
+
+# forge_request_reviewer <n> <user> — ask <user> for a verdict.
+#
+# This endpoint DOES exist here, contrary to an earlier reading of mine
+# (#4698) which recorded requested_reviewers as having no sub-resource at
+# all. What is true is narrower: Forgejo serves POST and DELETE on it and no
+# GET, so a GET probe answers 404 — and a POST naming a user who does not
+# exist answers 404 as well, for a different reason. Measured on a scratch
+# repo: POST with a real user who lacks read access is 422 ("Reviewer can't
+# read"), and 201 once they have it.
+#
+# The READ stays retired regardless (term 4): the field is stale here even on
+# merged PRs, so outstanding verdicts come from /pulls/{n}/reviews at the
+# current head SHA. It is the write that has an answer.
+forge_request_reviewer() {
+  local n="${1:?}" user="${2:?}"
+  forgejo_write POST "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/requested_reviewers" \
+    "$(jq -nc --arg u "$user" '{reviewers: [$u]}')" >/dev/null
+}
+
+# forge_timeline <n> — JSON array of timeline events projected into the
+# GitHub shape the reconcilers already select on. Measured mapping (#4849):
+#
+#   |                  | GitHub                         | Forgejo              |
+#   | event kind       | .event == "labeled"/"unlabeled"| .type == "label"     |
+#   | add vs remove    | the two event names            | .body "1" / ""       |
+#   | actor            | .actor.login (no .user)        | .user.login (no .actor) |
+#
+# Status is captured BEFORE jq so an unreadable read cannot report as an
+# empty timeline — the two states the ruling ladder must tell apart (#4853).
+forge_timeline() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_timeline: number required}" raw
+  raw="$(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/timeline")" || return 1
+  jq '
+    [.[]
+      | select(.type == "label")
+      | {
+          event: (if .body == "1" then "labeled" else "unlabeled" end),
+          actor: {login: (.user.login // "")},
+          label: {name: (.label.name // "")},
+          created_at: .created_at
+        }
+    ]
+  ' <<<"$raw"
+}
+
+# forge_pr_activity <n> — one ISO timestamp per line of real PR activity.
+# Forgejo has no flat /pulls/{n}/comments (HTTP 404, measured #4844); inline
+# review comments live under /pulls/{n}/reviews/{id}/comments. Only reviews
+# with comments_count > 0 are fetched, so a board with none costs zero
+# extra requests.
+forge_pr_activity() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_pr_activity: number required}" reviews rid
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at' || return 1
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/commits" --jq '.[].commit.committer.date' || return 1
+  reviews="$(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/reviews")" || return 1
+  while IFS= read -r rid; do
+    [ -n "$rid" ] || continue
+    forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/reviews/$rid/comments" \
+      --jq '.[].created_at' || return 1
+  done < <(jq -r '.[] | select((.comments_count // 0) > 0) | .id' <<<"$reviews")
+}
diff --git a/lib/forge-github.sh b/lib/forge-github.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3e9351
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/forge-github.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# lib/forge-github.sh — the GitHub backend (issue #188, term 1). Sourced by
+# lib/forge.sh when forge_detect says github; never at the same time as the
+# forgejo backend — they define the same verbs on purpose.
+#
+# This file is the CURRENT call set, extracted 1:1 and nothing more. Term 5
+# of the frozen Spec is "GitHub consumers are unchanged", and the cheapest
+# way to keep that true is for every verb here to be a thin pass-through to
+# the `gh` invocation the call site used before the port. No behaviour is
+# added, fixed or tidied on this path; anything that looks like an
+# improvement here is a regression risk against a forge nobody is currently
+# reporting bugs on.
+
+# forge_api [--paginate] <endpoint> [--jq <expr>]
+#
+# The one deliberate difference from a pure pass-through: the caller no
+# longer names a page size, because the page-size parameter is not portable
+# and is therefore the backend's to own (#188).
+#
+#   ?per_page=100   GitHub: 100 items      Forgejo: 30 items  (IGNORED)
+#   ?limit=100      GitHub:  30 items      Forgejo: 50 items  (capped)
+#
+# Both answer HTTP 200 either way, so a call site that names one is a silent
+# truncation waiting for the other forge. per_page=100 is injected here —
+# exactly what the call sites said before — so the GitHub path is unchanged
+# in behaviour while the parameter stops being a call-site concern.
+forge_api() {
+  local paginate=false endpoint="" jqexpr="" have_jq=false
+  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+      --paginate) paginate=true ;;
+      --jq) jqexpr="$2"; have_jq=true; shift ;;
+      -*) ;;
+      *) [ -n "$endpoint" ] || endpoint="$1" ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+  done
+  [ -n "$endpoint" ] || { echo "forge_api: endpoint required" >&2; return 1; }
+
+  if [ "$paginate" = true ]; then
+    endpoint="$(github_page_url "$endpoint")"
+    if [ "$have_jq" = true ]; then
+      gh api --paginate "$endpoint" --jq "$jqexpr"
+    else
+      gh api --paginate "$endpoint"
+    fi
+  else
+    if [ "$have_jq" = true ]; then
+      gh api "$endpoint" --jq "$jqexpr"
+    else
+      gh api "$endpoint"
+    fi
+  fi
+}
+
+# github_page_url <endpoint> — pure, so the page-size contract is testable
+# without a network. Strips any page-size parameter a caller left behind in
+# either dialect, then applies GitHub's own.
+github_page_url() {
+  local endpoint="${1:?github_page_url: endpoint required}" clean
+  clean="$(printf '%s' "$endpoint" | sed -E 's/([?&])(per_page|limit|page)=[0-9]+/\1/g; s/[?&]+$//; s/([?&])&+/\1/g')"
+  case "$clean" in
+    *\?) printf '%sper_page=100\n' "$clean" ;;
+    *\?*) printf '%s&per_page=100\n' "$clean" ;;
+    *) printf '%s?per_page=100\n' "$clean" ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+# --- the verbs the reconcilers use, extracted 1:1 -------------------------
+# Every one of these is the exact `gh` invocation the call site carried
+# before the port. Term 5 is kept by making this file boring.
+
+# forge_issue_edit <n> <gh-style flags…> — labels and assignees on an issue
+# or a PR (gh treats them interchangeably, and so do the call sites).
+forge_issue_edit() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_issue_edit: number required}"
+  shift
+  gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" "$@"
+}
+
+# forge_issue_comment <n> <body>
+forge_issue_comment() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_issue_comment: number required}" body="${2?forge_issue_comment: body required}"
+  gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "$body"
+}
+
+# forge_pr_list — open PR numbers, one per line. Note this used
+# `gh pr list --limit 100`: a page size in gh's OWN flag namespace, which no
+# URL-parameter strip could have caught, so it moves behind the shim with
+# the rest (#188).
+forge_pr_list() {
+  gh pr list -R "$REPO" --state open --limit 100 --json number --jq '.[].number'
+}
+
+# forge_pr_view <n> — {mergeable, statusCheckRollup} as JSON, or non-zero
+# with the reason on stderr. `gh pr view` rather than the REST PR object:
+# the API's `mergeable` is a tri-state boolean GitHub computes lazily, while
+# this returns the MERGEABLE/CONFLICTING/UNKNOWN string the UI shows.
+forge_pr_view() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_pr_view: number required}"
+  gh pr view "$n" -R "$REPO" --json mergeable,statusCheckRollup
+}
+
+# forge_label_list — every label name in the repo.
+forge_label_list() {
+  gh label list -R "$REPO" --limit 200 --json name --jq '.[].name'
+}
+
+forge_label_create() {
+  local name="${1:?}" color="${2:?}" desc="${3:-}"
+  gh label create "$name" -R "$REPO" --color "$color" --description "$desc" --force
+}
+
+forge_label_delete() {
+  local name="${1:?}"
+  gh label delete "$name" -R "$REPO" --yes
+}
+
+# forge_labels_add <n> <label…> — an ADDITIVE label write, and deliberately
+# not forge_issue_edit --add-label. The distinction is ceremony#128: the
+# labeler action computed (labels-at-job-start ∪ derived) and PUT the whole
+# set, so a label applied while the job ran was silently removed. This is the
+# raw POST, which adds the named labels, ignores ones already present, and
+# removes nothing — a concurrent label survives by construction.
+forge_labels_add() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_labels_add: number required}" args=() label
+  shift
+  for label in "$@"; do args+=(-f "labels[]=$label"); done
+  gh api "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/labels" "${args[@]}" --silent
+}
+
+# forge_request_reviewer <n> <user> — ask <user> for a verdict.
+forge_request_reviewer() {
+  local n="${1:?}" user="${2:?}"
+  gh api "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/requested_reviewers" -f "reviewers[]=$user" --silent
+}
+
+# forge_timeline <n> — JSON array of timeline events in the GitHub shape
+# (.event, .actor.login, .label.name, .created_at). The GitHub path is a
+# pass-through: that shape is what the forge already returns (#188 batch).
+# Callers must capture the status of THIS function before piping into jq —
+# a pipeline's status is the last command's, so `forge_timeline | jq`
+# collapses an unreadable timeline into an empty one (#4853).
+forge_timeline() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_timeline: number required}"
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/timeline"
+}
+
+# forge_pr_activity <n> — one ISO timestamp per line of real PR activity
+# (issue comments, inline review comments, commits). GitHub serves the
+# flat /pulls/{n}/comments collection; the forgejo twin re-derives it from
+# reviews with comments_count > 0 because that endpoint 404s there (#4844).
+forge_pr_activity() {
+  local n="${1:?forge_pr_activity: number required}"
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at' || return 1
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at' || return 1
+  forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/commits" --jq '.[].commit.committer.date' || return 1
+}
diff --git a/lib/forge.sh b/lib/forge.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bcf1c26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/forge.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,218 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# lib/forge.sh — one forge abstraction, two backends (issue #188).
+#
+# Sourced, never executed: no set -e/-u here — the sourcing script owns its
+# own shell options, exactly as lib/version.sh does. This file is the
+# selector only; the backends live beside it in lib/forge-github.sh and
+# lib/forge-forgejo.sh, and nothing here talks to a network.
+#
+# WHY THIS FILE EXISTS, stated once. Until #188 the reconcilers were `gh`
+# all the way down — 61 runtime call sites, no indirection, no forge check.
+# Pointed at a Forgejo instance (heavy-duty/rig, which moved here and runs
+# its CI on a Forgejo Actions runner) they did not fail usefully. Measured
+# against forgejo.heavyduty.builders on 2026-08-02, at ceremony 84bb1a4:
+#
+#   labels-scope         exit 0  "no .github/labeler.yml at main — nothing
+#                                 to derive"   — the file exists (HTTP 200)
+#   labels-reconcile     exit 0  "reconciled."  — having enumerated ZERO PRs
+#   issueflow-reconcile  exit 1  "unexpected end of JSON input"
+#
+# Two of the three reported SUCCESS having read nothing. labels-reconcile's
+# own blind-sweep warning (#96) could not fire, because it counts unreadable
+# PRs against a list `gh pr list` never produced — and a process
+# substitution's failure does not trip set -e, so `total` stayed 0 and the
+# sweep called itself reconciled. rig run 979 is the log.
+#
+# The tempting fix — install gh on the runner — makes it WORSE. gh speaks
+# GitHub's /api/v3 against api.github.com; Forgejo serves /api/v1 and no
+# GraphQL at all. With gh present and GH_HOST set to the Forgejo host, the
+# one loud failure goes quiet (`gh pr list` hits /api/graphql -> HTTP 405,
+# prints nothing, exits into the same empty loop) and all three actions go
+# green while reading nothing. That is this repo's own doctrine — an
+# unreadable rollup reads as "nothing is failing" — being violated by the
+# repo that wrote it.
+#
+# So: the forge is decided ONCE, before any sweep, and a client that cannot
+# speak it refuses loudly. Never "probably github".
+
+# forge_detect — print "github" or "forgejo"; exit 1 loudly when it cannot
+# tell. Order matters and every signal below was measured, not read from
+# docs: a real forgejo-runner v6.3.1 job on forgejo.heavyduty.builders
+# (probe task 278, 2026-08-02) dumped its environment, and a GitHub-hosted
+# runner's is the control.
+#
+# The trap that makes this non-obvious: **the Forgejo runner populates the
+# whole GITHUB_* namespace.** GITHUB_ACTIONS=true, GITHUB_REPOSITORY,
+# GITHUB_SHA, GITHUB_TOKEN — all set, all correct-looking. Detecting on
+# "GITHUB_ACTIONS is set" would answer "github" on both forges, which is
+# precisely the bug. What actually differs:
+#
+#   signal              GitHub                      Forgejo (measured)
+#   GITHUB_API_URL      https://api.github.com      https://<host>/api/v1
+#   GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL  https://api.github.com/…    (empty)
+#   GITEA_ACTIONS       (unset)                     true
+#
+# GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL being empty on Forgejo is not a curiosity — it is the
+# forge telling us the two `gh api graphql` sites #188 retired can never
+# work here. It is deliberately NOT a detection signal, though: an empty
+# variable is also what a hand-rolled harness leaves behind, and a signal
+# that fires on absence is a signal that fires by accident.
+forge_detect() {
+  # 1. The explicit override outranks every probe — the escape hatch for a
+  #    forge this file has not met, and the handle the tests drive. A typo
+  #    in it is fatal on purpose: the operator said something and it was
+  #    wrong, and falling through to a probe that guesses right by accident
+  #    would hide that until the guess was wrong too.
+  if [ -n "${CEREMONY_FORGE:-}" ]; then
+    case "$CEREMONY_FORGE" in
+      github | forgejo) printf '%s\n' "$CEREMONY_FORGE"; return 0 ;;
+      *)
+        echo "forge_detect: unknown forge: CEREMONY_FORGE=$CEREMONY_FORGE (expected github or forgejo)" >&2
+        return 1
+        ;;
+    esac
+  fi
+
+  # 2. Forgejo's and Gitea's own positive marker. Unambiguous where a
+  #    hand-set GITHUB_API_URL might not be, so it is read first.
+  if [ "${GITEA_ACTIONS:-}" = true ] || [ "${FORGEJO_ACTIONS:-}" = true ]; then
+    printf 'forgejo\n'
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  # 3. The API URL's shape. /api/v3 is GitHub's (github.com and GitHub
+  #    Enterprise Server alike — GHES is a github backend on a non-github.com
+  #    host, and routing it to the forgejo backend would regress term 5's
+  #    "GitHub consumers are unchanged"). /api/v1 is the Gitea shape Forgejo
+  #    serves.
+  case "${GITHUB_API_URL:-}" in
+    https://api.github.com | https://api.github.com/*) printf 'github\n'; return 0 ;;
+    */api/v3 | */api/v3/*) printf 'github\n'; return 0 ;;
+    */api/v1 | */api/v1/*) printf 'forgejo\n'; return 0 ;;
+  esac
+
+  # 4. Last resort, the server host. Only github.com itself is conclusive
+  #    here: a bare hostname says nothing about which API it serves.
+  case "${GITHUB_SERVER_URL:-}" in
+    https://github.com | https://github.com/*) printf 'github\n'; return 0 ;;
+  esac
+
+  # 5. Refuse. "Nothing to read" is not "probably github" — guessing here
+  #    reinstates the exact blind sweep this file exists to end. Name what
+  #    was inspected and the escape hatch, so the log answers "why" without
+  #    a second run (#101 D5, one layer up: report, do not diagnose).
+  cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_detect: cannot determine which forge this is — refusing to guess (#188).
+  GITHUB_API_URL='${GITHUB_API_URL:-}'
+  GITHUB_SERVER_URL='${GITHUB_SERVER_URL:-}'
+  GITEA_ACTIONS='${GITEA_ACTIONS:-}'
+Set CEREMONY_FORGE=github or CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo to say so explicitly.
+EOF
+  return 1
+}
+
+# Where the backends live. Captured at source time, not call time: a
+# function that resolves BASH_SOURCE later would resolve its own file, not
+# this one.
+FORGE_LIB_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+# forge_select [forge] — source the backend for this forge, so the forge_*
+# verbs exist. Exactly one backend is ever loaded; both define the same
+# names, which is what keeps the branching out of the 61 call sites (term 1)
+# and the single-forge assumption from growing back.
+#
+# Idempotent, because the actions call it once and the tests call it per
+# case. Pass a forge explicitly to load a specific backend; omit it and the
+# environment decides via forge_detect.
+forge_select() {
+  local forge="${1:-}"
+  if [ -z "$forge" ]; then
+    forge="$(forge_detect)" || return 1
+  fi
+  case "$forge" in
+    github | forgejo) ;;
+    *)
+      echo "forge_select: unknown forge: $forge (expected github or forgejo)" >&2
+      return 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+  # shellcheck source=/dev/null
+  . "$FORGE_LIB_DIR/forge-$forge.sh" || return 1
+  # Read by callers and tests to assert which backend is loaded, so the
+  # choice is inspectable rather than implied by which functions exist.
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2034 # consumed by sourcing scripts, not this file
+  FORGE="$forge"
+}
+
+# forge_client <forge> — print the client that backend requires.
+#
+#   github  -> gh    the current call set, extracted 1:1 (term 5)
+#   forgejo -> rest  /api/v1 over curl+jq
+#
+# forgejo is "rest" by MEASUREMENT, not preference. The image the Forgejo
+# instance actually runs jobs in (ghcr.io/catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04,
+# probe task 278) carries curl, jq and node — and has neither `gh` NOR
+# `stoke` on PATH. That second absence is what retired option A from the
+# ruling: porting the call sites to the stoke CLI would have put a binary
+# on the critical path that the runner does not have and that would need
+# installing before every job.
+forge_client() {
+  case "${1:?forge_client: forge required}" in
+    github) printf 'gh\n' ;;
+    forgejo) printf 'rest\n' ;;
+    *)
+      echo "forge_client: unknown forge: $1 (expected github or forgejo)" >&2
+      return 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+# forge_preflight — the gate. Run it BEFORE any sweep: it decides the forge
+# and proves the client can speak it, or exits non-zero with a named reason.
+#
+# CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT declares the client the caller will actually use —
+# how a call site that still hard-codes `gh` announces itself honestly while
+# the backends are being ported. Two checks run, in order:
+#
+#   1. the declaration, when made, must match what this forge needs;
+#   2. that client's binaries must actually be on PATH — checked whether or
+#      not a declaration was made, because a call site that declares the
+#      right client on a runner that lacks it is still a blind sweep waiting
+#      to happen.
+forge_preflight() {
+  local forge want
+  forge="$(forge_detect)" || return 1
+  want="$(forge_client "$forge")" || return 1
+
+  if [ -n "${CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT:-}" ] && [ "$CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT" != "$want" ]; then
+    cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_preflight: this is a '$forge' forge and the '$CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT' client cannot speak it (#188).
+  gh speaks GitHub's /api/v3 against api.github.com; Forgejo serves /api/v1
+  and has no GraphQL surface at all. Pointing one at the other does not
+  fail usefully — it reads nothing and reports success.
+  This forge needs the '$want' client.
+EOF
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  # Then prove the tools are actually here — declared or not. A missing
+  # binary is the rig failure verbatim, "line 692: gh: command not found",
+  # and it must be a refusal before the sweep, not a 127 halfway through
+  # one. Checked on BOTH paths deliberately: a call site that declares the
+  # right client on a runner that lacks it is still a blind sweep waiting
+  # to happen.
+  local missing_bins=() bin
+  case "$want" in
+    gh) command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1 || missing_bins+=(gh) ;;
+    rest) for bin in curl jq; do command -v "$bin" >/dev/null 2>&1 || missing_bins+=("$bin"); done ;;
+  esac
+  if [ "${#missing_bins[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_preflight: this is a '$forge' forge, which needs the '$want' client, and ${missing_bins[*]} is not installed (#188).
+  Refusing before the sweep: a reconciler that cannot read the board must
+  not report that it reconciled one.
+EOF
+    return 1
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
diff --git a/lib/ruling.sh b/lib/ruling.sh
index 119a5cf..c88b1ab 100644
--- a/lib/ruling.sh
+++ b/lib/ruling.sh
@@ -208,13 +208,20 @@ reconcile_ruling() { # $1 item number, $2 last real-activity epoch, $3 now
   # skips BOTH checks — the nudge's specified content links the escalation
   # comment, which only these facts identify, and half-verdicts on half-read
   # facts is the exact shape the reconciler's standing rule forbids.
-  local flags newest setter labeled_at labeled_epoch
-  if ! flags="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/timeline" \
-    --jq '.[] | select(.event == "labeled" and .label.name == "needs-ruling")
-          | [.actor.login, .created_at] | @tsv' 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  # forge_timeline projects both forges into the GitHub event shape
+  # (.event / .actor.login). Capture its status BEFORE jq: a pipeline's
+  # status is the last command's, so `forge_timeline | jq` would collapse
+  # an unreadable timeline into an empty one — the two states this function
+  # exists to tell apart (#188 / #4853).
+  local flags newest setter labeled_at labeled_epoch timeline
+  if ! timeline="$(forge_timeline "$n" 2>/dev/null)"; then
     log "#$n: ruling timeline unreadable — no verdict invented this pass"
     return 0
   fi
+  flags="$(jq -r '
+    .[] | select(.event == "labeled" and .label.name == "needs-ruling")
+        | [.actor.login, .created_at] | @tsv
+  ' <<<"$timeline")"
   if [ -z "$flags" ]; then
     # The label is on the item but no labeled event is visible (a timeline
     # hiccup, or an import). Same treatment as unreadable: do nothing.
@@ -230,7 +237,7 @@ reconcile_ruling() { # $1 item number, $2 last real-activity epoch, $3 now
   # the whole file is line-oriented, so the row format stays TSV and the
   # body is decoded at its points of use (#73). Do not switch rows to JSON.
   local comments
-  if ! comments="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" \
+  if ! comments="$(forge_api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" \
     --jq '.[] | [.user.login, .created_at, .html_url,
           ((.body // "") | @base64)] | @tsv' 2>/dev/null)"; then
     log "#$n: ruling comments unreadable — no verdict invented this pass"
@@ -268,7 +275,7 @@ reconcile_ruling() { # $1 item number, $2 last real-activity epoch, $3 now
   # ---- the bare-flag check (#50 D4, mechanical proxy) ----
   if [ "$(ruling_bare_decision "$setter" "$labeled_epoch" <<<"$authored")" = BARE ]; then
     if [ "$(ruling_bare_comment_needed "$labeled_epoch" "$marked_bare")" = POST ]; then
-      run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "$RULING_BARE_MARKER
+      run forge_issue_comment "$n" "$RULING_BARE_MARKER
 The ruling flag on this item was set by @$setter with no accompanying
 escalation comment. Setting it requires the escalation contract — the
 **question**, the **options**, and a **recommendation** — posted by the
@@ -299,7 +306,7 @@ still owed." >/dev/null
       if [ "$shape" != SHAPED ] \
         && [ "$(ruling_bare_comment_needed "$labeled_epoch" "$marked_shape")" = POST ]; then
         local missing="${shape#MALFORMED }"
-        run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "$RULING_SHAPE_MARKER
+        run forge_issue_comment "$n" "$RULING_SHAPE_MARKER
 @$setter — the [escalation comment]($esc_url) accompanying this ruling flag
 is missing required field labels: **$missing**. The contract's shape is
 fixed because this machinery checks for it (heavy-duty/ceremony#50 D12):
@@ -327,7 +334,7 @@ enforced." >/dev/null
       esac
       if [ "$rung" = RUNG12 ] \
         && [ "$(ruling_bare_comment_needed "$labeled_epoch" "$marked_rung12")" = POST ]; then
-        run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "$RULING_RUNG12_MARKER
+        run forge_issue_comment "$n" "$RULING_RUNG12_MARKER
 @$setter — this ruling is 12 hours past its \`labeled\` event: the ladder's
 12h rung ([BUILDER.md — the ruling ask](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/blob/main/BUILDER.md#the-ruling-ask),
 heavy-duty/ceremony#50 D13). Mechanically read, the escalation carries
@@ -342,7 +349,7 @@ reset on activity; this comment fires once per flag episode." >/dev/null
       fi
       if [ "$rung" = RUNG24 ] \
         && [ "$(ruling_bare_comment_needed "$labeled_epoch" "$marked_rung24")" = POST ]; then
-        run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "$RULING_RUNG24_MARKER
+        run forge_issue_comment "$n" "$RULING_RUNG24_MARKER
 @$setter — this ruling is 24 hours past its \`labeled\` event: the ladder's
 24h rung ([BUILDER.md — the ruling ask](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/blob/main/BUILDER.md#the-ruling-ask),
 heavy-duty/ceremony#50 D13). Mechanically read, the escalation carries
@@ -375,7 +382,7 @@ timer." >/dev/null
     else
       esc_line="No escalation comment accompanies the flag — the contract (question, options, recommendation) is still owed by the flag-setter."
     fi
-    run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "@$decider — a ruling on this item has been pending with no activity for ${days} days. $esc_line
+    run forge_issue_comment "$n" "@$decider — a ruling on this item has been pending with no activity for ${days} days. $esc_line
 
 Per heavy-duty/ceremony#50 D6/D7 the flag-setter ($setter) owns closing this out: judge when agreement is reached, record the ruling as a decision in one comment, remove the label, and return the item to its flow in that same comment.
 
diff --git a/test/closes_references.test.sh b/test/closes_references.test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..330ed1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/closes_references.test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Contract tests for lib/closes_references.sh (issue #188, term 3).
+# set -u, not -e: failing commands are behavior for the harness to inspect.
+set -u
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+# shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
+. "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+# issue_references (the LOCAL/CROSS classifier) lives here; closes_references
+# calls it, exactly as refs_references does.
+# shellcheck source=actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+. "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
+# shellcheck source=lib/closes_references.sh
+. "$ROOT/lib/closes_references.sh"
+
+# closes <want-newline-separated> <body> — the parse of <body> is exactly
+# <want>. Exact, not substring: "12" is contained in "123".
+closes() {
+  local want="$1" body="$2" got
+  got="$(printf '%s' "$body" | closes_references)"
+  [ "$got" = "$want" ]
+}
+
+# --- the three verbs, the three tenses ----------------------------------
+# GitHub's documented keyword set. All of them, because a body that says
+# "Fixed #4" and goes unclosed is a silent failure of the post-merge
+# transition, not a loud one.
+
+check "closes" 0 "" closes 1 'Closes #1'
+check "close" 0 "" closes 1 'Close #1'
+check "closed" 0 "" closes 1 'Closed #1'
+check "fixes" 0 "" closes 2 'Fixes #2'
+check "fix" 0 "" closes 2 'Fix #2'
+check "fixed" 0 "" closes 2 'Fixed #2'
+check "resolves" 0 "" closes 3 'Resolves #3'
+check "resolve" 0 "" closes 3 'Resolve #3'
+check "resolved" 0 "" closes 3 'Resolved #3'
+check "case-insensitive" 0 "" closes 4 'CLOSES #4'
+check "lowercase" 0 "" closes 4 'closes #4'
+check "colon form" 0 "" closes 5 'Closes: #5'
+
+# --- Refs is NOT a closing link -----------------------------------------
+# The relation this file must not swallow. refs_references owns Refs, and
+# conflating them makes every referenced issue look closeable — the
+# post-merge transition #151 was reopened by hand over exactly that
+# distinction.
+
+check "Refs is not a close" 0 "" closes '' 'Refs #7'
+check "Refs and Closes in one body keeps only the close" 0 "" \
+  closes 8 $'Refs #7\nCloses #8'
+
+# --- cross-repo references stay out (#61) -------------------------------
+# rig#112 must never be read as local #112. The classifier is shared with
+# refs_references precisely so this rule has one implementation.
+
+check "qualified reference is not local" 0 "" closes '' 'Closes rig#112'
+check "owner-qualified reference is not local" 0 "" \
+  closes '' 'Closes heavy-duty/rig#112'
+check "a local and a cross reference keep only the local" 0 "" \
+  closes 9 $'Closes rig#112\nCloses #9'
+
+# --- every occurrence contributes ---------------------------------------
+# Binding to the first occurrence is the defect #184 fixed in
+# blocked_reference_records; this parser must not reintroduce it.
+
+check "two closes on one line" 0 "" closes $'1\n2' 'Closes #1. Closes #2.'
+check "two closes on two lines" 0 "" closes $'1\n2' $'Closes #1\nCloses #2'
+check "sorted and deduplicated" 0 "" closes $'2\n10' $'Closes #10\nCloses #2\nCloses #10'
+
+# --- prose must not be swallowed ----------------------------------------
+
+check "trailing prose is not part of the reference" 0 "" \
+  closes 12 'Closes #12, and adds the guard'
+check "a sentence terminator ends the reference" 0 "" closes 13 'Closes #13.'
+check "no reference means no output" 0 "" closes '' 'Closes the door behind it'
+check "a bare issue mention is not a close" 0 "" closes '' 'See #14 for context'
+# "unclosed" contains "close" — a naive word match would fire on it.
+check "a word merely containing a verb does not fire" 0 "" \
+  closes '' 'This left #15 unclosed'
+
+# --- the shapes a real PR body carries ----------------------------------
+
+check "the template's leading declaration" 0 "" \
+  closes 188 $'Closes #188\n\n## Acceptance criteria\n\n- [ ] a thing'
+check "an empty body yields nothing" 0 "" closes '' ''
+
+summary
diff --git a/test/facts.test.sh b/test/facts.test.sh
index 32bea4a..ad2a9e3 100644
--- a/test/facts.test.sh
+++ b/test/facts.test.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ set -u
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 # shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
 . "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+# The suite drives the GITHUB backend: its gh() stubs ARE the forge boundary
+# now, and forge_api/forge_issue_edit/... resolve to the gh invocations those
+# stubs already intercept (#188). Without this the verbs are simply undefined.
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge.sh"
+forge_select github
 
 FACTS="$ROOT/lib/facts.sh"
 
diff --git a/test/forge-backends.test.sh b/test/forge-backends.test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc02d1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/forge-backends.test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,619 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Contract tests for lib/forge-github.sh and lib/forge-forgejo.sh
+# (issue #188, term 1). set -u, not -e.
+set -u
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+# shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
+. "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge.sh"
+
+TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
+
+eq() {
+  local want="$1" got
+  shift
+  got="$("$@")" || return 1
+  [ "$got" = "$want" ]
+}
+
+# --- forge_select: exactly one backend, chosen deliberately -------------
+
+check "select github loads the github backend" 0 "" \
+  bash -c '. '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge.sh; forge_select github; declare -f github_page_url >/dev/null'
+check "select forgejo loads the forgejo backend" 0 "" \
+  bash -c '. '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge.sh; forge_select forgejo; declare -f forgejo_page_url >/dev/null'
+check "select refuses an unknown forge" 1 "unknown forge" \
+  bash -c '. '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge.sh; forge_select gitlab'
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # $FORGE expands in the isolated bash -c process
+check "select with no argument reads the environment" 0 "" \
+  bash -c 'CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo; . '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge.sh; forge_select; [ "$FORGE" = forgejo ]'
+
+# --- the page-size contract, both dialects ------------------------------
+# The trap, measured 2026-08-02: each forge silently ignores the OTHER's
+# page-size parameter and answers HTTP 200 with fewer items.
+#
+#   ?per_page=100   GitHub 100   Forgejo 30  (ignored)
+#   ?limit=100      GitHub  30   Forgejo 50  (capped)
+#
+# So no call site names one, and these two functions are the only places
+# that decide. Pure on purpose: the contract is testable without a network.
+
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge-github.sh"
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge-forgejo.sh"
+
+check "github: a bare path gets a query" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?per_page=100' github_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues'
+check "github: an existing query is preserved" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&per_page=100' github_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open'
+check "forgejo: a bare path gets a query" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?limit=50&page=1' forgejo_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues' 1
+check "forgejo: an existing query is preserved" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&limit=50&page=2' forgejo_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open' 2
+
+# A caller that names a page size anyway must not be able to reintroduce the
+# truncation — the parameter is stripped in BOTH dialects, on both backends,
+# because the whole point is that the boundary decides and the call site
+# cannot override it by accident.
+check "github strips a stray per_page" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&per_page=100' github_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&per_page=30'
+check "github strips a stray limit" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&per_page=100' github_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&limit=100'
+check "forgejo strips a stray per_page" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&limit=50&page=1' forgejo_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&per_page=100' 1
+check "forgejo strips a stray limit" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&limit=50&page=1' forgejo_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues?state=open&limit=100' 1
+check "stripping the only parameter leaves a clean query" 0 "" \
+  eq 'repos/o/r/issues?limit=50&page=1' forgejo_page_url 'repos/o/r/issues?per_page=100' 1
+
+# --- the forgejo gather: complete, or loudly refused --------------------
+# curl is stubbed as a function so these are hermetic. Each case writes the
+# headers and body a real Forgejo would.
+
+# fake_forge <total-spec> <pages…> — install a curl stub serving <pages> as
+# successive page bodies, declaring <total-spec> in x-total-count. An empty
+# string omits the header entirely (@kimi's #4699 case). A comma-separated
+# spec declares a DIFFERENT total per page ("4,9"), which is
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl's changing-between-pages case (#4700 / #4712):
+# a server whose count moves under the walk cannot have been read whole.
+fake_forge() {
+  FAKE_TOTAL="$1"; shift
+  FAKE_PAGES=("$@")
+  FAKE_CALLS=0
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # the stub is invoked indirectly, by forge_api
+  curl() {
+    local hdr="" out="" url=""
+    while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+      case "$1" in
+        -D) hdr="$2"; shift ;;
+        -o) out="$2"; shift ;;
+        -H) shift ;;
+        -*) ;;
+        *) url="$1" ;;
+      esac
+      shift
+    done
+    local page=1
+    case "$url" in *page=*) page="${url##*page=}"; page="${page%%&*}" ;; esac
+    local total="$FAKE_TOTAL"
+    case "$FAKE_TOTAL" in
+      *,*)
+        total="$(printf '%s' "$FAKE_TOTAL" | cut -d, -f"$page")"
+        [ -n "$total" ] || total="$(printf '%s' "$FAKE_TOTAL" | cut -d, -f1)"
+        ;;
+    esac
+    {
+      printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n'
+      [ -n "$total" ] && printf 'X-Total-Count: %s\r\n' "$total"
+      printf '\r\n'
+    } >"$hdr"
+    if [ "$page" -le "${#FAKE_PAGES[@]}" ]; then
+      printf '%s' "${FAKE_PAGES[$((page - 1))]}" >"$out"
+    else
+      printf '[]' >"$out"
+    fi
+    FAKE_CALLS=$((FAKE_CALLS + 1))
+    return 0
+  }
+}
+
+export CEREMONY_FORGE_API=https://forge.example/api/v1
+
+# One page, and the count agrees with the declared total.
+fake_forge 2 '[{"number":1},{"number":2}]'
+check "a complete single-page gather returns its items" 0 "" \
+  eq $'1\n2' forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# Two pages that add up. The walk must not stop at the first page merely
+# because it came back non-empty — rig has 137 issues across 3 pages, which
+# is the case this models.
+fake_forge 4 '[{"number":1},{"number":2}]' '[{"number":3},{"number":4}]'
+check "a multi-page gather walks every page" 0 "" \
+  eq $'1\n2\n3\n4' forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# The whole reason the assert exists: a server that declares more than it
+# hands over must not produce a "successful" partial sweep.
+fake_forge 137 '[{"number":1},{"number":2}]'
+check "a short gather is refused, not reconciled" 1 "incomplete gather" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+check "...and the refusal names both counts" 1 "collected 2 of 137" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# @kimi-reviewer-andresmgsl's hardening (#4699): the guard must not be able
+# to degrade silently either. A Forgejo that does not expose x-total-count
+# leaves the assert with nothing to compare, and an assert that cannot run
+# must refuse rather than pass.
+fake_forge '' '[{"number":1},{"number":2}]'
+check "a missing x-total-count refuses" 1 "did not send x-total-count" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+check "...and says why it cannot prove completeness" 1 "cannot prove the gather is complete" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl's #4712 findings. Each one is a route by which
+# an unprovable read could still have been reported as a whole one — the
+# guard leaking the failure class it was built to stop, which is why they
+# are refusals rather than warnings.
+
+# A total that is not a number went straight into arithmetic. Reproduced on
+# ab23a3b: `X-Total-Count: not-a-number` returned rc=0 with that string as
+# the total.
+fake_forge 'not-a-number' '[{"number":1}]'
+check "a non-numeric total is refused" 1 "not a non-negative integer" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+check "...and the refusal quotes what arrived" 1 "not-a-number" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+fake_forge '12x' '[{"number":1}]'
+check "a partly-numeric total is refused" 1 "not a non-negative integer" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+fake_forge '-3' '[{"number":1}]'
+check "a negative total is refused" 1 "not a non-negative integer" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# A total that MOVES under the walk. The loop read it once, so a board
+# changing size mid-gather was invisible: page 1 said 4, page 2 said 9, and
+# the walk stopped at 4 believing itself complete.
+fake_forge '4,9' '[{"number":1},{"number":2}]' '[{"number":3},{"number":4}]'
+check "a total that changes between pages is refused" 1 "changed between pages" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+# The distinguishing text, not a substring that survives losing half the
+# message: "4" alone stayed green if the later total vanished, which is what
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl (#4727) and @grok-reviewer-andresmgsl (#4734)
+# both caught. A test named "names BOTH totals" must fail when one goes.
+check "...and the refusal names both totals" 1 "4 then 9" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# A 200 whose body is not a collection. `length` on a non-array counted 0,
+# so an object or a scalar arriving where a list belongs read as a complete
+# EMPTY collection when the declared total was 0 — silence dressed as a
+# clean sweep.
+fake_forge 0 '{"message":"Not found"}'
+check "a non-array body is refused" 1 "did not return a collection" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+fake_forge 0 '"a string"'
+check "a scalar body is refused" 1 "did not return a collection" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+# A genuinely empty collection is still fine — the refusal must not fire on
+# a repo that legitimately has nothing.
+fake_forge 0 '[]'
+check "an empty collection is not an error" 0 "" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# --- HTTP failures are named, not swallowed -----------------------------
+# gh exits non-zero on an HTTP error; curl does not without -f, and -f
+# discards the body that explains why. So the status is read explicitly.
+fake_forge 1 '[{"number":1}]'
+# shellcheck disable=SC2317 # invoked indirectly, by forge_api
+curl() {
+  local hdr="" out=""
+  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in -D) hdr="$2"; shift ;; -o) out="$2"; shift ;; esac
+    shift
+  done
+  printf 'HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found\r\n\r\n' >"$hdr"
+  printf '{"message":"Not found"}' >"$out"
+  return 0
+}
+check "a 404 is a named failure" 1 "HTTP 404" forge_api 'repos/o/r/issues/9999'
+check "a 404 names the endpoint" 1 "repos/o/r/issues/9999" forge_api 'repos/o/r/issues/9999'
+
+# --- forge_issue_edit: a typo must not become a green no-op --------------
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl (#4743). The github backend hands whatever it is
+# given to `gh`, which fails on a flag it does not know. Dropping it here
+# instead turned a mis-typed port site into a mutation that silently did not
+# happen — this issue's own failure class, arriving inside the fix for it.
+
+check "an unknown edit flag refuses" 1 "unknown flag" forge_issue_edit 1 --typo value
+check "...and names the flag it refused" 1 "--typo" forge_issue_edit 1 --typo value
+check "a flag with no value refuses" 1 "requires a value" forge_issue_edit 1 --add-label
+
+# --- forge_label_create: an upsert, like gh's --force --------------------
+# bootstrap_labels creates every declared label on EVERY workflow_dispatch,
+# so a plain POST onto an existing name aborts the bootstrap under set -e
+# from the second dispatch onward (#4743).
+
+WRITES="$TMP/writes"
+stub_writes() {
+  : >"$WRITES"
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # invoked indirectly, by the forge verbs
+  curl() {
+    local hdr="" out="" method=GET url="" payload=""
+    while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+      case "$1" in
+        -D) hdr="$2"; shift ;;
+        -o) out="$2"; shift ;;
+        -X) method="$2"; shift ;;
+        -d) payload="$2"; shift ;;
+        -H) shift ;;
+        -*) ;;
+        *) url="$1" ;;
+      esac
+      shift
+    done
+    printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nX-Total-Count: %s\r\n\r\n' "${FAKE_LABEL_N:-1}" >"$hdr"
+    case "$url" in
+      *"/labels?"* | */labels) printf '%s' "${FAKE_LABELS:-[]}" >"$out" ;;
+      *) printf '{}' >"$out" ;;
+    esac
+    [ "$method" = GET ] || printf '%s %s %s\n' "$method" "${url##*/api/v1/}" "$payload" >>"$WRITES"
+    return 0
+  }
+}
+
+# The label does not exist yet -> POST (create).
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 REPO=o/r forge_label_create ready 0e8a16 'in the queue'
+check "creating a new label POSTs" 0 "" grep -q '^POST repos/o/r/labels ' "$WRITES"
+
+# The label already exists -> PATCH (update), which is what --force does.
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"ready","id":7}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=1 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"ready","id":7}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=1 REPO=o/r forge_label_create ready 0e8a16 'new text'
+check "recreating an existing label PATCHes it" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '^PATCH repos/o/r/labels/7 ' "$WRITES"
+check "...and does not POST a duplicate" 1 "" grep -q '^POST repos/o/r/labels ' "$WRITES"
+check "...carrying the updated description" 0 "" grep -q 'new text' "$WRITES"
+
+# --- forge_issue_edit on forgejo: the two asymmetries, hermetically ------
+# Promised with the call-site port (@grok-reviewer-andresmgsl #4741 note 2,
+# #4751 item 2). Live scratch-repo evidence proved these work; these prove
+# they keep working, and pin the SHAPE of the requests.
+
+# Removal resolves name -> id, because Forgejo takes names on add and only a
+# numeric id on remove. Measured: DELETE .../labels/probe:one -> 422,
+# DELETE .../labels/149 -> 204.
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"stale","id":11},{"name":"ready","id":12}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=2 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"stale","id":11},{"name":"ready","id":12}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=2   REPO=o/r forge_issue_edit 5 --remove-label stale
+check "removing a label resolves its numeric id" 0 ""   grep -q '^DELETE repos/o/r/issues/5/labels/11 ' "$WRITES"
+check "...and never sends the name as the path segment" 1 ""   grep -q 'labels/stale' "$WRITES"
+
+# A label the repo does not have is a no-op, matching gh: the reconcilers
+# call --remove-label unconditionally to converge state.
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"ready","id":12}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=1 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"ready","id":12}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=1   REPO=o/r forge_issue_edit 5 --remove-label nonexistent
+check "removing an absent label writes nothing" 0 "" test ! -s "$WRITES"
+
+# Adding takes names directly — no lookup, one request.
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 REPO=o/r forge_issue_edit 5 --add-label "ready,stale"
+check "adding labels posts them by name" 0 ""   grep -q '^POST repos/o/r/issues/5/labels .*"ready"' "$WRITES"
+check "...comma-separated values are split, as gh splits them" 0 ""   grep -q '"stale"' "$WRITES"
+
+# Assignees are SET, not added/removed: PATCH takes the whole list. So a
+# removal is a read-modify-write, and a naive translation would have cleared
+# every OTHER assignee as a side effect of removing one.
+assignee_stub() {
+  : >"$WRITES"
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # invoked indirectly, by forge_issue_edit
+  curl() {
+    local hdr="" out="" method=GET url="" payload=""
+    while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+      case "$1" in
+        -D) hdr="$2"; shift ;; -o) out="$2"; shift ;;
+        -X) method="$2"; shift ;; -d) payload="$2"; shift ;;
+        -H) shift ;; -*) ;; *) url="$1" ;;
+      esac
+      shift
+    done
+    printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nX-Total-Count: 0\r\n\r\n' >"$hdr"
+    printf '{"assignees":[{"login":"alice"},{"login":"bob"}]}' >"$out"
+    [ "$method" = GET ] || printf '%s %s %s\n' "$method" "${url##*/api/v1/}" "$payload" >>"$WRITES"
+    return 0
+  }
+}
+assignee_stub
+REPO=o/r forge_issue_edit 5 --remove-assignee alice
+check "removing one assignee PATCHes the surviving list" 0 ""   grep -q '^PATCH repos/o/r/issues/5 .*"bob"' "$WRITES"
+check "...and the removed one is gone from it" 1 "" grep -q '"alice"' "$WRITES"
+
+assignee_stub
+REPO=o/r forge_issue_edit 5 --add-assignee carol
+check "adding an assignee keeps the existing ones" 0 ""   grep -qE '^PATCH repos/o/r/issues/5 .*"alice".*"bob".*"carol"|^PATCH repos/o/r/issues/5 .*"alice".*"carol".*"bob"' "$WRITES"
+
+# --- forge_labels_add / forge_request_reviewer, both backends ------------
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl #4780 item 3. These two writes came in with the
+# call-site port and had no boundary pins of their own.
+
+# ceremony#128 is the whole reason forge_labels_add exists as its own verb.
+# The labeler action computed (labels-at-job-start union derived) and PUT the
+# whole set, so a label applied while the job ran was silently removed —
+# ceremony#128 lost its `release` label, the merge door's declared-intent
+# read, two seconds after the builder set it. This write must therefore be an
+# ADDITIVE POST and must never read-modify-write.
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"scope:docs","id":21}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=1 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[{"name":"scope:docs","id":21}]' FAKE_LABEL_N=1 \
+  REPO=o/r forge_labels_add 7 scope:docs scope:cli
+check "labels_add POSTs to the issue labels collection" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '^POST repos/o/r/issues/7/labels ' "$WRITES"
+check "...carrying every name in one request" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '"scope:docs","scope:cli"' "$WRITES"
+# The regression that would reopen ceremony#128: any PUT, or a GET-then-write.
+check "...and never PUTs the whole set (ceremony#128)" 1 "" grep -q '^PUT ' "$WRITES"
+check "...exactly one write, so nothing is read-modify-written" 0 "" \
+  test "$(wc -l <"$WRITES")" -eq 1
+
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 REPO=o/r forge_labels_add 7
+check "labels_add with no labels writes nothing" 0 "" test ! -s "$WRITES"
+
+# The reviewer payload shape. Measured against this instance: the endpoint
+# serves post and delete only, and takes {"reviewers":[...]}.
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 stub_writes
+FAKE_LABELS='[]' FAKE_LABEL_N=0 REPO=o/r forge_request_reviewer 9 danmt
+check "request_reviewer POSTs to requested_reviewers" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '^POST repos/o/r/pulls/9/requested_reviewers ' "$WRITES"
+check "...with the reviewers array payload" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '{"reviewers":\["danmt"\]}' "$WRITES"
+
+# The github twin is a 1:1 gh pass-through (term 5), so its parity is pinned
+# by the command it builds rather than by an HTTP shape.
+gh_calls="$TMP/ghcalls"
+: >"$gh_calls"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2317 # invoked indirectly, by the github verbs
+gh() { printf '%s\n' "$*" >>"$gh_calls"; }
+# A subshell so the github backend does not stay loaded over the forgejo
+# cases below; REPO is deliberately scoped to it for the same reason.
+(
+  forge_select github
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2030 # scoping REPO to this subshell is the point
+  REPO=o/r
+  forge_labels_add 7 scope:docs scope:cli
+  forge_request_reviewer 9 danmt
+)
+check "github labels_add uses the additive api POST, not issue edit" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'api repos/o/r/issues/7/labels -f labels\[\]=scope:docs -f labels\[\]=scope:cli' "$gh_calls"
+check "...and never routes through issue edit --add-label" 1 "" \
+  grep -q 'issue edit' "$gh_calls"
+check "github request_reviewer posts the reviewer" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'api repos/o/r/pulls/9/requested_reviewers -f reviewers\[\]=danmt' "$gh_calls"
+
+# --- term-5 pins for the batch verbs (codex 1566) -------------------------
+# The forgejo twins have hermetic coverage below; these pin that the github
+# twins stay 1:1 extractions of the pre-port endpoints, not silent rewrites.
+: >"$gh_calls"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2317 # invoked indirectly, by the github verbs
+gh() {
+  printf '%s\n' "$*" >>"$gh_calls"
+  if [ "$1" = api ]; then
+    shift
+    local jqexpr="" endpoint=""
+    while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+      case "$1" in
+        --jq) jqexpr="$2"; shift ;;
+        --paginate) ;;
+        -*) ;;
+        *) [ -n "$endpoint" ] || endpoint="$1" ;;
+      esac
+      shift
+    done
+    local body='[]'
+    case "$endpoint" in
+      *'/issues/'*'/timeline'*)
+        body='[{"event":"labeled","actor":{"login":"alice"},"label":{"name":"ready"},"created_at":"2026-08-01T09:00:00Z"}]'
+        ;;
+      *'/issues/'*'/comments'*)
+        body='[{"created_at":"2026-08-01T10:00:00Z"}]'
+        ;;
+      *'/pulls/'*'/comments'*)
+        body='[{"created_at":"2026-08-01T10:30:00Z"}]'
+        ;;
+      *'/pulls/'*'/commits'*)
+        body='[{"commit":{"committer":{"date":"2026-08-01T11:00:00Z"}}}]'
+        ;;
+    esac
+    if [ -n "$jqexpr" ]; then jq -r "$jqexpr" <<<"$body"; else printf '%s\n' "$body"; fi
+    return 0
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+gh_tl="$(
+  forge_select github
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2030 # scoping REPO to this subshell is the point
+  REPO=o/r
+  forge_timeline 42
+)"
+check "github forge_timeline paginates the issue timeline endpoint" 0 "" \
+  grep -qE 'api --paginate repos/o/r/issues/42/timeline|api repos/o/r/issues/42/timeline' "$gh_calls"
+check "github forge_timeline is a pass-through of the GitHub event shape" 0 "" \
+  jq -e '.[0].event == "labeled" and .[0].actor.login == "alice"' <<<"$gh_tl" >/dev/null
+# The NEGATIVE half of "pass-through". A positive pin still passes if the
+# github path GAINS forgejo behaviour, and term 5 is a statement about what
+# must NOT change — so the drift these two catch is the only kind a
+# 1:1-extraction path realistically suffers.
+#
+# The GitHub timeline already IS the shape ruling.sh selects on, so a
+# projection here would be a second, divergent normalizer maintained by
+# nobody.
+check "...and never reshapes it, as the forgejo backend must" 1 "" \
+  grep -q 'issues/42/timeline.*--jq' "$gh_calls"
+: >"$gh_calls"
+gh_act="$(
+  forge_select github
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2030 # scoping REPO to this subshell is the point
+  REPO=o/r
+  forge_pr_activity 9 | sort
+)"
+check "github forge_pr_activity hits issue comments" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'repos/o/r/issues/9/comments' "$gh_calls"
+check "github forge_pr_activity hits the flat /pulls/{n}/comments endpoint" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'repos/o/r/pulls/9/comments' "$gh_calls"
+check "github forge_pr_activity hits commits" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'repos/o/r/pulls/9/commits' "$gh_calls"
+check "github forge_pr_activity emits all three timestamp sources" 0 "" \
+  test "$(printf '%s\n' "$gh_act")" = "$(printf '%s\n' '2026-08-01T10:00:00Z' '2026-08-01T10:30:00Z' '2026-08-01T11:00:00Z')"
+# The forgejo backend derives inline comments from reviews with
+# comments_count > 0, because the flat endpoint 404s there. That derivation
+# must never appear on this path: GitHub serves the flat endpoint, and a
+# github twin quietly adopting the workaround is the exact "both backends
+# drift together" failure term 5 forbids.
+check "...never deriving them from reviews, as forgejo must" 1 "" \
+  grep -q 'pulls/[0-9]*/reviews' "$gh_calls"
+
+unset -f gh
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge-forgejo.sh"
+
+# --- forge_pr_view: newest verdict per context must win ------------------
+# checks_state groups repeated contexts and selects the newest by
+# [.startedAt, .createdAt, .completedAt]. Mapping only {context,state} left
+# the winner to incidental array order, so a stale re-run could outrank the
+# live one (#4743). Forgejo's combined status carries created_at/updated_at
+# — measured on this instance, where Actions DO land as commit statuses
+# (rig main: "ci / check (push)" success, with created_at).
+pr_view_stub() {
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # invoked indirectly, by forge_pr_view
+  curl() {
+    local hdr="" out="" url=""
+    while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+      case "$1" in -D) hdr="$2"; shift ;; -o) out="$2"; shift ;; -H) shift ;; *) url="$1" ;; esac
+      shift
+    done
+    printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nX-Total-Count: 1\r\n\r\n' >"$hdr"
+    case "$url" in
+      */status) printf '%s' "$FAKE_STATUS" >"$out" ;;
+      *) printf '{"head":{"sha":"abc"},"mergeable":true}' >"$out" ;;
+    esac
+    return 0
+  }
+}
+# The FAILURE is older but listed second — array order would pick it.
+FAKE_STATUS='{"state":"failure","statuses":[
+  {"context":"ci / check","status":"success","created_at":"2026-08-02T10:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-08-02T10:00:00Z"},
+  {"context":"ci / check","status":"failure","created_at":"2026-08-02T09:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-08-02T09:00:00Z"}]}'
+pr_view_stub
+view_json="$(REPO=o/r forge_pr_view 5)"
+check "pr_view maps createdAt" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '"createdAt": "2026-08-02T10:00:00Z"' <<<"$view_json"
+check "pr_view maps completedAt" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '"completedAt":' <<<"$view_json"
+check "pr_view maps mergeable to the UI string" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '"mergeable": "MERGEABLE"' <<<"$view_json"
+# The real proof: feed it to the production classifier and confirm the newer
+# SUCCESS wins over the older FAILURE regardless of array order.
+# shellcheck source=actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+. "$ROOT/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh"
+classified="$(checks_state <<<"$view_json")"
+check "the newest verdict per context wins, not the array order" 0 "" \
+  test "$classified" = SUCCESS
+
+# --- the api base must be known -----------------------------------------
+check "no api base refuses" 1 "cannot reach the forge" \
+  bash -c 'unset CEREMONY_FORGE_API GITHUB_API_URL; . '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge-forgejo.sh; forgejo_api_base'
+
+# --- forge_timeline: project Forgejo labels into the GitHub event shape -
+# Mapping measured #4849: .type=="label", .body "1"/"" -> labeled/unlabeled,
+# .user.login -> .actor.login. Mutation-verified: collapsing add/remove or
+# emitting .user instead of .actor each reds its own case (#4853).
+timeline_stub() {
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # invoked indirectly, by forge_api
+  curl() {
+    local hdr="" out="" url=""
+    while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+      case "$1" in -D) hdr="$2"; shift ;; -o) out="$2"; shift ;; -H) shift ;; *) url="$1" ;; esac
+      shift
+    done
+    printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nX-Total-Count: %s\r\n\r\n' "${FAKE_TL_N:-2}" >"$hdr"
+    case "$url" in
+      *timeline*) printf '%s' "$FAKE_TIMELINE" >"$out" ;;
+      *) printf '[]' >"$out" ;;
+    esac
+    return 0
+  }
+}
+FAKE_TIMELINE='[
+  {"type":"label","body":"1","user":{"login":"setter"},"label":{"name":"needs-ruling"},"created_at":"2026-08-02T14:58:13Z"},
+  {"type":"label","body":"","user":{"login":"setter"},"label":{"name":"needs-ruling"},"created_at":"2026-08-02T15:22:22Z"},
+  {"type":"comment","body":"noise","user":{"login":"other"},"created_at":"2026-08-02T15:00:00Z"}
+]'
+FAKE_TL_N=3
+timeline_stub
+tl="$(REPO=o/r forge_timeline 188)"
+check "forge_timeline projects body=1 to labeled" 0 "" \
+  jq -e '.[] | select(.event == "labeled" and .label.name == "needs-ruling" and .actor.login == "setter")' <<<"$tl" >/dev/null
+check "forge_timeline projects body=\"\" to unlabeled" 0 "" \
+  jq -e '.[] | select(.event == "unlabeled" and .label.name == "needs-ruling")' <<<"$tl" >/dev/null
+check "forge_timeline drops non-label events" 0 "" \
+  test "$(jq '[.[] | select(.event == null or .event == "")] | length' <<<"$tl")" = 0
+check "forge_timeline uses .actor.login, not a bare .user" 0 "" \
+  jq -e 'all(.[]; has("actor") and (.user|not))' <<<"$tl" >/dev/null
+# Unreadable: curl fails. Status must surface through forge_timeline itself
+# (not a later jq), or the ruling ladder invents a verdict on a half-read.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2317
+curl() { return 22; }
+tl_unreadable() { REPO=o/r forge_timeline 188; }
+check "forge_timeline fails when the gather fails" 1 "" tl_unreadable
+
+# --- forge_pr_activity: no flat /pulls/{n}/comments on Forgejo -----------
+# Only reviews with comments_count > 0 are fetched (#4844).
+activity_calls="$TMP/activity_calls"
+: >"$activity_calls"
+activity_stub() {
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2317
+  curl() {
+    local hdr="" out="" url="" total=1 body='[]'
+    while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+      case "$1" in -D) hdr="$2"; shift ;; -o) out="$2"; shift ;; -H) shift ;; *) url="$1" ;; esac
+      shift
+    done
+    printf '%s\n' "$url" >>"$activity_calls"
+    case "$url" in
+      *'/issues/'*'/comments'*)
+        total=1
+        body='[{"created_at":"2026-08-01T10:00:00Z"}]'
+        ;;
+      *'/pulls/'*'/commits'*)
+        total=1
+        body='[{"commit":{"committer":{"date":"2026-08-01T11:00:00Z"}}}]'
+        ;;
+      *'/reviews/'*'/comments'*)
+        total=1
+        body='[{"created_at":"2026-08-01T12:00:00Z"}]'
+        ;;
+      *'/pulls/'*'/reviews'*)
+        total=2
+        body="$FAKE_REVIEWS"
+        ;;
+      *) total=0; body='[]' ;;
+    esac
+    printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nX-Total-Count: %s\r\n\r\n' "$total" >"$hdr"
+    printf '%s' "$body" >"$out"
+    return 0
+  }
+}
+FAKE_REVIEWS='[{"id":7,"comments_count":1},{"id":8,"comments_count":0}]'
+activity_stub
+: >"$activity_calls"
+act="$(REPO=o/r forge_pr_activity 9 | sort)"
+check "forge_pr_activity emits issue-comment timestamps" 0 "" \
+  grep -qx '2026-08-01T10:00:00Z' <<<"$act"
+check "forge_pr_activity emits commit timestamps" 0 "" \
+  grep -qx '2026-08-01T11:00:00Z' <<<"$act"
+check "forge_pr_activity emits inline review-comment timestamps" 0 "" \
+  grep -qx '2026-08-01T12:00:00Z' <<<"$act"
+check "forge_pr_activity fetches only reviews with comments_count>0" 0 "" \
+  grep -q '/reviews/7/comments' "$activity_calls"
+check "...and never fetches a zero-comment review" 1 "" \
+  grep -q '/reviews/8/comments' "$activity_calls"
+check "...and never hits the flat /pulls/{n}/comments endpoint" 1 "" \
+  grep -E '/pulls/[0-9]+/comments(\?|$)' "$activity_calls"
+
+summary
diff --git a/test/forge.test.sh b/test/forge.test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85b2b9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/forge.test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Contract tests for lib/forge.sh (issue #188). set -u, not -e: failing
+# commands are behavior for the harness to inspect.
+set -u
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
+# A PATH with the shell and the text tools lib/forge.sh itself uses, but with
+# NO forge clients on it — that is the condition under test. It cannot be a
+# genuinely empty directory: `env -i PATH=…` would then fail to find `bash`,
+# and the heredoc refusals use `cat`.
+mkdir -p "$TMP/empty"
+for _t in bash cat sed awk tr printf; do
+  _p="$(command -v "$_t" 2>/dev/null)" && ln -sf "$_p" "$TMP/empty/$_t"
+done
+# shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
+. "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge.sh"
+
+# eq <want> <cmd...> — succeeds AND prints exactly <want>. check()'s
+# substring match cannot prove "forgejo" was not printed as "forgejox".
+eq() {
+  local want="$1" got
+  shift
+  got="$("$@")" || return 1
+  [ "$got" = "$want" ]
+}
+
+# detect_in <env-assignments…> — run forge_detect in a clean environment
+# carrying only the named vars, so a leaked GITHUB_* from the CI running
+# THIS suite cannot decide the answer. Every case below is hermetic.
+detect_in() {
+  env -i PATH="$PATH" "$@" bash -c '. '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge.sh; forge_detect'
+}
+
+# A PATH carrying stub binaries for every client the preflight can require.
+# Without this the "passes" cases depend on whatever the HOST happens to have,
+# which is not hermetic and is wrong in the only place it matters: the Forgejo
+# runner image (ghcr.io/catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04) has **no gh**, so
+# "github + gh passes" failed there while passing on a developer box. Measured
+# 2026-08-02 (#188) — the same class of hosted-image assumption this issue
+# exists to find.
+STUBBIN="$TMP/bin"
+mkdir -p "$STUBBIN"
+for _b in gh curl jq; do printf '#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n' >"$STUBBIN/$_b"; chmod +x "$STUBBIN/$_b"; done
+
+preflight_in() {
+  env -i PATH="$STUBBIN:$PATH" "$@" bash -c '. '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge.sh; forge_preflight'
+}
+
+# ...and one with NO clients at all, for the missing-binary refusal.
+preflight_bare() {
+  env -i PATH="$TMP/empty" "$@" bash -c '. '"$ROOT"'/lib/forge.sh; forge_preflight'
+}
+
+# --- forge_detect: the explicit override --------------------------------
+# CEREMONY_FORGE outranks every probe. It is the escape hatch for a forge
+# whose env this file has not met yet, and the handle the tests below use
+# to drive the backends without a live instance.
+
+check "override: github" 0 "" eq github detect_in CEREMONY_FORGE=github
+check "override: forgejo" 0 "" eq forgejo detect_in CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo
+check "override refuses an unknown forge" 1 "unknown forge" \
+  detect_in CEREMONY_FORGE=gitlab
+# A typo must not silently fall through to a probe that guesses right by
+# accident: the operator said something, and it was wrong.
+check "override outranks the env" 1 "unknown forge" \
+  detect_in CEREMONY_FORGE=gitlab GITHUB_API_URL=https://api.github.com
+
+# --- forge_detect: GITHUB_API_URL, the load-bearing signal ---------------
+# Measured on forgejo.heavyduty.builders 2026-08-02 with a real
+# forgejo-runner v6.3.1 job (probe run, task 278). The Forgejo runner
+# populates the GITHUB_* namespace — GITHUB_ACTIONS=true and all — so
+# "GITHUB_ACTIONS is set" proves nothing at all. What differs is where
+# those URLs point:
+#
+#   GitHub   GITHUB_API_URL=https://api.github.com
+#   Forgejo  GITHUB_API_URL=https://forgejo.heavyduty.builders/api/v1
+#
+# That is the whole bug this issue exists for, in one variable: gh speaks
+# /api/v3 against api.github.com, and neither half is true here.
+
+check "api url: api.github.com is github" 0 "" \
+  eq github detect_in GITHUB_API_URL=https://api.github.com
+check "api url: /api/v1 is forgejo" 0 "" \
+  eq forgejo detect_in GITHUB_API_URL=https://forgejo.heavyduty.builders/api/v1
+# GitHub Enterprise Server: a self-hosted GitHub still speaks /api/v3, and
+# it is a github backend on a non-github.com host. Getting this wrong would
+# route a GHES consumer to the forgejo backend and break term 5.
+check "api url: GHES /api/v3 is github" 0 "" \
+  eq github detect_in GITHUB_API_URL=https://ghe.example.com/api/v3
+
+# --- forge_detect: GITEA_ACTIONS, the positive marker --------------------
+# The Forgejo runner also exports GITEA_ACTIONS=true (measured, task 278),
+# which GitHub never sets. It is checked BEFORE the URL shape because it is
+# unambiguous where a hand-set GITHUB_API_URL might not be.
+
+check "gitea marker alone is enough" 0 "" eq forgejo detect_in GITEA_ACTIONS=true
+check "gitea marker outranks a github-shaped api url" 0 "" \
+  eq forgejo detect_in GITEA_ACTIONS=true GITHUB_API_URL=https://api.github.com
+
+# --- forge_detect: refusing to guess ------------------------------------
+# Nothing to read is NOT "probably github". A wrong guess here is exactly
+# the silent blind sweep #188 measured; the whole point of this file is
+# that an unknown forge is loud.
+
+check "bare environment refuses" 1 "cannot determine which forge" detect_in
+check "refusal names what it looked at" 1 "GITHUB_API_URL" detect_in
+check "refusal names the escape hatch" 1 "CEREMONY_FORGE" detect_in
+
+# --- forge_preflight: the must-fail case --------------------------------
+# The Test plan's named must-fail: "point it at a Forgejo instance with a
+# GitHub-shaped client and assert it refuses loudly rather than sweeping
+# blind."
+#
+# Measured before this guard existed, against this instance:
+#   labels-scope        exit 0  "no .github/labeler.yml — nothing to derive"  (it exists)
+#   labels-reconcile    exit 0  "reconciled."                                 (zero PRs read)
+#   issueflow-reconcile exit 1  "unexpected end of JSON input"
+# Two of three swept blind and reported success. gh present made it WORSE:
+# it silenced the one loud failure. Hence: refuse before the sweep, not
+# after — and say which forge and which client, so the log answers "why"
+# without a second run (#101 D5's report-do-not-diagnose, one layer up).
+
+check "forgejo + gh-only client refuses" 1 "cannot speak" \
+  preflight_in CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh
+check "the refusal names the forge" 1 "forgejo" \
+  preflight_in CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh
+# The interpolated client, not the bare string "gh" — which also appears in
+# the explanatory prose ("gh speaks GitHub's /api/v3…"), so the old assertion
+# stayed green even if the client name never reached the message. Same class
+# as the "names both totals" weakness the panel caught in the backend suite
+# (#4727 / #4734); found by auditing this file for the same shape.
+check "the refusal names the client" 1 "the 'gh' client cannot speak it" \
+  preflight_in CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh
+# The refusal must be actionable, not merely loud: #188's whole cost was a
+# red check that told nobody what to do.
+check "the refusal names the issue" 1 "#188" \
+  preflight_in CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh
+
+# --- forge_preflight: the passing pairs ---------------------------------
+
+check "github + gh passes" 0 "" preflight_in CEREMONY_FORGE=github CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh
+check "forgejo + rest passes" 0 "" preflight_in CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=rest
+# The mirror of the must-fail: a Forgejo client against GitHub is just as
+# wrong, and symmetric refusal is cheaper than explaining why only one
+# direction is checked.
+check "github + rest refuses" 1 "cannot speak" \
+  preflight_in CEREMONY_FORGE=github CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=rest
+
+# --- forge_preflight: it refuses when the forge itself is unknown --------
+# Detection failure must not be swallowed into a pass — that would restore
+# the blind sweep through the back door.
+check "unknown forge fails the preflight" 1 "cannot determine which forge" preflight_in
+
+# --- forge_client: what each backend actually needs ----------------------
+# Measured in the runner image the Forgejo instance actually uses
+# (ghcr.io/catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04, task 278): gh ABSENT, stoke
+# ABSENT, curl and jq present. So the forgejo backend is REST-over-curl by
+# necessity, not preference — this is the measurement that retired option
+# A (port to stoke) as well: the CLI is not on the runner either.
+
+check "github backend wants gh" 0 "" eq gh forge_client github
+check "forgejo backend wants rest" 0 "" eq rest forge_client forgejo
+check "forge_client refuses an unknown backend" 1 "unknown forge" forge_client gitlab
+
+# The missing-binary arm, hermetically: an empty PATH has no client at all.
+check "a forge whose client is not installed refuses" 1 "is not installed" \
+  preflight_bare CEREMONY_FORGE=github
+check "...and names the missing binary" 1 "gh" preflight_bare CEREMONY_FORGE=github
+check "...the forgejo arm names its own tools" 1 "curl" preflight_bare CEREMONY_FORGE=forgejo
+
+summary
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/harness.sh b/test/harness.sh
index 00e05f6..3b8b3bd 100644
--- a/test/harness.sh
+++ b/test/harness.sh
@@ -34,3 +34,13 @@ summary() {
   [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]
 }
 
+
+# forge_stub_path <endpoint> — strip the paging parameters the forge shim
+# injects (#188) so a fixture keyed on the logical endpoint still matches.
+# The page size moved OUT of the call sites and into the backend, which means
+# every stub now sees "?per_page=100" appended to a paginated read; without
+# this, a fixture lookup misses and the stub answers "unreadable", which the
+# production code correctly reports as a degraded read.
+forge_stub_path() {
+  printf '%s' "$1" | sed -E 's/([?&])(per_page|limit|page)=[0-9]+/\1/g; s/[?&]+$//; s/([?&])&+/\1/g'
+}
diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index a326da9..858d1cd 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ set -u
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 # shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
 source "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+# The suite drives the GITHUB backend: its gh() stubs ARE the forge boundary
+# now, and forge_api/forge_issue_edit/... resolve to the gh invocations those
+# stubs already intercept (#188). Without this the verbs are undefined.
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge.sh"
+forge_select github
 # shellcheck source=actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
 source "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
 
@@ -182,7 +188,7 @@ chmod +x "$TMP/gh"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016 # expansions belong to the isolated bash -c process
 check "cross-repo warning is idempotent across two sweeps" 0 "" \
   env PATH="$TMP:$PATH" GH_COMMENTS="$TMP/comments" bash -c \
-  'source "$1"; REPO=heavy-duty/ceremony
+  'source "$1"; forge_select github; REPO=heavy-duty/ceremony
   ensure_comment 99 blocked-cross-repo "cross-repo warning"
   ensure_comment 99 blocked-cross-repo "cross-repo warning"
   test "$(grep -cF "<!-- issueflow:blocked-cross-repo -->" "$GH_COMMENTS")" -eq 1' \
@@ -234,6 +240,7 @@ check "claimed plus attention is a healthy issue" 0 "KEEP" \
 INOW=2000000000
 iso_at() { date -u -d "@$1" +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ; }
 
+# shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend, not called directly (#188)
 issue_stub_gh() {
   if [ "$1" = api ]; then
     shift
@@ -246,6 +253,7 @@ issue_stub_gh() {
       esac
       shift
     done
+    endpoint="$(forge_stub_path "$endpoint")"
     file="$TMP/$(printf '%s' "$endpoint" | tr '/' '_').json"
     printf '%s\n' "$endpoint" >>"$TMP/api-calls"
     [ ! -f "$file.error" ] || return 1
@@ -286,6 +294,7 @@ issue_probe() { # $1 issue, $2 labels, $3 assignees, $4 open PR, $5 merged PR, $
       MERGED_REF_PR_RECORDS=""
     fi
     run() { "$@"; }
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend, not called directly (#188)
     gh() { issue_stub_gh "$@"; }
     reconcile_issue "$1" 2>&1
   )
@@ -531,6 +540,7 @@ jq -n --arg flag "$(iso_at $((INOW - 8 * 86400)))" \
 jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 8 * 86400 - 60)))" \
   '[{"user":{"login":"setter"},"created_at":$at,"html_url":"https://x/esc24","body":"question, options, recommendation"}]' \
   >"$(cfix 24)"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend (#188)
 churn_last="$( (REPO=owner/repo; gh() { issue_stub_gh "$@"; }
   last_issue_activity 24 "$(iso_at $((INOW - 10 * 86400)))") )"
 check "last activity ignores the 2-day-old label churn" 0 "" \
@@ -566,6 +576,11 @@ if [ "$1" = api ]; then
     esac
     shift
   done
+  # Inlined, not the suite's helper: this stub is a standalone executable on
+  # PATH and cannot see a shell function from the test process. Strips the
+  # paging the forge shim injects so fixtures stay keyed on the logical
+  # endpoint (#188).
+  endpoint="$(printf '%s' "$endpoint" | sed -E 's/([?&])(per_page|limit|page)=[0-9]+/\1/g; s/[?&]+$//; s/([?&])&+/\1/g')"
   file="$GH_FIXTURES/$(printf '%s' "$endpoint" | tr '/?&=' '____').json"
   [ ! -f "$file.error" ] || exit 1
   if [ -f "$file" ]; then payload="$(cat "$file")"; else payload='[]'; fi
@@ -577,13 +592,22 @@ echo "gh stub: unexpected call: gh $*" >&2
 exit 97
 EOF
 chmod +x "$ARRIVAL/stub/gh"
-printf '%s\n' \
-  '{"data":{"repository":{"pullRequests":{"nodes":[],"pageInfo":{"hasNextPage":false,"endCursor":null}}}}}' \
-  >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/graphql.json"
+# The two PR gathers were GraphQL until #188; they are REST now, so the
+# fixtures are the /pulls list both forges return. Empty by default — the
+# merged-Refs case below fills the closed one.
+printf '[]\n' >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_pulls_state_open.json"
+printf '[]\n' >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_pulls_state_closed.json"
 arrival_fixture() { printf '%s\n' "$1" >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_91.json"; }
+# CEREMONY_FORGE=github below, and at the executable-sweep driver further
+# down: these fixtures ARE a GitHub board (a gh stub on PATH answering
+# /api/v3 shapes), so the suite says so at the forge boundary rather than
+# letting main()'s preflight infer a forge from whatever env the CI job
+# leaked (#188). Stubbing `gh` and staying silent about the forge is the
+# boundary this issue moved.
 arrival_run() {
   : >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/edits"
   env PATH="$ARRIVAL/stub:$PATH" GH_FIXTURES="$ARRIVAL/fixtures" \
+    CEREMONY_FORGE=github \
     REPO=owner/repo LABELS_CONF="$ARRIVAL/labels.conf" \
     EVENT_NAME=issues EVENT_ACTION=opened EVENT_ISSUE=91 \
     bash "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
@@ -619,13 +643,17 @@ check "...and the sweep still runs" 0 "" \
   grep -qF 'issueflow: reconciled.' <<<"$pr_out"
 
 # The merged-Refs transition must survive the executable's set -e path too.
-# Keep this at main() granularity: the GraphQL gather and loop are the code
-# a sourced decision probe cannot exercise (#91's lesson).
+# Keep this at main() granularity: the PR gather and loop are the code a
+# sourced decision probe cannot exercise (#91's lesson).
+#
+# merged_at is what makes this PR merged rather than merely closed — the
+# REST replacement for GraphQL's states: MERGED filter (#188). Both forges
+# return the field, and both return null on a closed-unmerged PR.
 printf '%s\n' \
-  '{"data":{"repository":{"pullRequests":{"nodes":[{"number":400,"body":"Refs #40","closingIssuesReferences":{"nodes":[]}}],"pageInfo":{"hasNextPage":false,"endCursor":null}}}}}' \
-  >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/graphql.json"
+  '[{"number":400,"body":"Refs #40","merged_at":"2026-07-30T00:00:00Z"},{"number":401,"body":"Refs #40","merged_at":null}]' \
+  >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_pulls_state_closed.json"
 printf '[{"number":40}]\n' \
-  >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_state_open_per_page_100.json"
+  >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_state_open.json"
 jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at "$INOW")" \
   '{number:40,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"- [x] built\n- [ ] verify live label",labels:[{name:"claimed"}],assignees:[{login:"builder"}]}' \
   >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_40.json"
@@ -633,18 +661,95 @@ printf '[]\n' >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_40_comments.json"
 : >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/edits"
 subprocess_out="$(
   env PATH="$ARRIVAL/stub:$PATH" GH_FIXTURES="$ARRIVAL/fixtures" \
+    CEREMONY_FORGE=github \
     REPO=owner/repo LABELS_CONF="$ARRIVAL/labels.conf" \
     bash "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh" 2>&1
 )"
 subprocess_rc=$?
 check "executable sweep transitions merged Refs work" 0 "" \
   test "$subprocess_rc" -eq 0
-check "...reaches the transition through GraphQL and the issue loop" 0 "" \
+check "...reaches the transition through the REST gather and the issue loop" 0 "" \
   grep -qF '#40: merged Refs PR -> post-merge; claim released' <<<"$subprocess_out"
 check "...and performs the release edit from the executable path" 0 "" \
   grep -qF -- 'issue edit 40 -R owner/repo --remove-assignee builder --remove-label claimed --add-label post-merge' \
   "$ARRIVAL/fixtures/edits"
 
+# -- the issue/PR discriminator is not `has("pull_request")` ---------------
+# Measured on the two list endpoints, 2026-08-02 (#188):
+#
+#   GitHub   plain issues OMIT the key   -> 0 of 9 carried it
+#   Forgejo  every entry HAS the key     -> 10 of 10, valued null on issues
+#
+# So `select(has("pull_request") | not)` selected ZERO issues on Forgejo and
+# the sweep printed "reconciled." over an untouched board — the blind sweep
+# again, one layer in, and invisible because the log looks identical to a
+# legitimately empty queue. Caught by rehearsing DRY_RUN against rig's live
+# board, not by any unit test. `.pull_request == null` is true for an issue on
+# both forges (an absent key reads as null) and false for a PR on both.
+disc() { jq -e "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo issue || echo pr; }
+check "github-shaped issue (key absent) reads as an issue" 0 "issue" \
+  bash -c 'echo "{\"number\":1}" | jq -e ".pull_request == null" >/dev/null && echo issue || echo pr'
+check "forgejo-shaped issue (key present, null) reads as an issue" 0 "issue" \
+  bash -c 'echo "{\"number\":1,\"pull_request\":null}" | jq -e ".pull_request == null" >/dev/null && echo issue || echo pr'
+check "a PR reads as a PR on either shape" 0 "pr" \
+  bash -c 'echo "{\"number\":1,\"pull_request\":{\"url\":\"x\"}}" | jq -e ".pull_request == null" >/dev/null && echo issue || echo pr'
+# The old test, kept as the must-fail: it disagrees with the new one on the
+# forgejo shape, which is exactly the bug.
+check "the old has() test misreads a forgejo issue as a PR" 0 "pr" \
+  bash -c 'echo "{\"number\":1,\"pull_request\":null}" | jq -e "has(\"pull_request\") | not" >/dev/null && echo issue || echo pr'
+
+# -- the OPEN-pull gather, at main() granularity ----------------------------
+# The closed/merged half above proves one REST path; this proves the other,
+# which is a DIFFERENT pipeline: `.body | @base64` -> base64 -d ->
+# closes_references -> OPEN_PR_ISSUES. The 27 parser cases in
+# test/closes_references.test.sh cannot reach it — they test the parser, not
+# the encoding and wiring around it (#188).
+#
+# Both directions in ONE sweep, so neither assertion can pass vacuously:
+#   #50 IS closed by an open PR -> the claim is KEPT, no reclaim edit
+#   #51 is closed by nothing    -> the claim is RECLAIMED
+# A break anywhere in the pipeline reclaims #50 too, and the first check
+# fails. A break that reclaims nothing fails the second.
+#
+# `Closes #50` sits on the THIRD line of the body on purpose. jq's @tsv
+# escapes a newline to a literal backslash-n, so a line-oriented parser
+# reading an @tsv-encoded body sees one line and drops everything after the
+# first — with the declaration on line 3, that defect reclaims #50 and this
+# case goes red. On line 1 it would pass either way, which is the definition
+# of a vacuous test.
+printf '%s\n' \
+  '[{"number":500,"body":"## Summary\nSome prose about the work.\nCloses #50\n","merged_at":null}]' \
+  >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_pulls_state_open.json"
+printf '[]\n' >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_pulls_state_closed.json"
+printf '[{"number":50},{"number":51}]\n' \
+  >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_state_open.json"
+# Both claims are two hours quiet against a ONE-hour stale bound, so the
+# reclaim clock has genuinely expired for whichever of them no open PR
+# rescues. The clock is injected rather than real: INOW is a fixed epoch in
+# 2033, so without ISSUEFLOW_NOW the subprocess reads its own wall clock,
+# dates these claims in the future, and both survive on a negative age —
+# which is a green test proving nothing.
+for n in 50 51; do
+  jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 7200)))" --argjson n "$n" \
+    '{number:$n,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"- [x] built",labels:[{name:"claimed"}],assignees:[{login:"builder"}]}' \
+    >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_$n.json"
+  printf '[]\n' >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_${n}_comments.json"
+done
+: >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/edits"
+open_pr_out="$(
+  env PATH="$ARRIVAL/stub:$PATH" GH_FIXTURES="$ARRIVAL/fixtures" \
+    CEREMONY_FORGE=github ISSUEFLOW_NOW="$INOW" ISSUEFLOW_STALE_HOURS=1 \
+    REPO=owner/repo LABELS_CONF="$ARRIVAL/labels.conf" \
+    bash "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh" 2>&1
+)"
+check "the open-pull gather completes" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issueflow: reconciled.' <<<"$open_pr_out"
+check "a claim closed by an open PR survives the base64 round trip" 1 "" \
+  grep -qE 'issue edit 50 .*--remove-label claimed' "$ARRIVAL/fixtures/edits"
+check "...while the claim no open PR closes is reclaimed in the same sweep" 0 "" \
+  grep -qE 'issue edit 51 .*--remove-label claimed --add-label ready' \
+  "$ARRIVAL/fixtures/edits"
+
 # D2 preserved: only the deliberate stand-downs changed; a genuine failure on
 # the arrival path still kills the run loudly.
 : >"$ARRIVAL/fixtures/repos_owner_repo_issues_91.json.error"
diff --git a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
index 00fcafd..87f4107 100755
--- a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,19 @@ export LC_ALL=C
 cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
 # shellcheck source=actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
 . actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+# This suite drives the GITHUB backend: its gh() stubs ARE the forge boundary
+# now, and forge_label_delete/forge_issue_comment/... resolve to the gh
+# invocations those stubs already intercept (#188). main() selects a backend
+# itself, but these probes call the pure functions directly, so the suite has
+# to say which forge it is standing in.
+forge_select github
+# This suite predates test/harness.sh and carries its own expect(), so it does
+# not get harness.sh's helper — define it here rather than pulling in a second
+# assertion vocabulary. Strips the paging the shim injects so a fixture keyed
+# on the logical endpoint still matches (#188).
+forge_stub_path() {
+  printf '%s' "$1" | sed -E 's/([?&])(per_page|limit|page)=[0-9]+/\1/g; s/[?&]+$//; s/([?&])&+/\1/g'
+}
 load_config .github/labels.conf
 set_required_bots codex-bot-andresmgsl
 
@@ -512,6 +525,7 @@ reconcile_probe() { # $1 = REPO_LABELS content → the log lines reconcile_pr em
     MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS
     PR_JSON='{"created_at":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z"}'
     run() { :; }                              # swallow mutations
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend, not called directly (#188)
     gh() { :; }                               # no network
     reconcile_pr 777 2>&1
   )
@@ -610,6 +624,7 @@ ruling_probe() { # $1 = the PR's labels → the log lines reconcile_pr emits
     MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS
     PR_JSON='{"created_at":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z"}'
     run() { :; }                              # swallow mutations
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend, not called directly (#188)
     gh() { :; }                               # no network
     reconcile_pr 888 2>&1
   )
@@ -659,6 +674,7 @@ ruling_sweep_probe() { # $1 = the PR's labels → reconcile_pr's log lines
     MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS
     PR_JSON="$(jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((RNOW - 10 * 86400)))" '{created_at: $at}')"
     run() { "$@"; } # mutations reach the stub and are recorded, not swallowed
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend, not called directly (#188)
     gh() {
       if [ "$1" = api ]; then
         shift
@@ -671,6 +687,7 @@ ruling_sweep_probe() { # $1 = the PR's labels → reconcile_pr's log lines
           esac
           shift
         done
+        endpoint="$(forge_stub_path "$endpoint")"
         file="$RTMP/$(printf '%s' "$endpoint" | tr '/' '_').json"
         # A missing fixture is an empty collection — projected through the
         # caller's --jq exactly like real gh, so '.[].foo' yields no lines.
@@ -738,6 +755,10 @@ blind_main_probe() {
     GITHUB_EVENT_NAME=schedule
     REPO=owner/repo
     LABELS_CONF=.github/labels.conf
+    # This probe IS a GitHub board — say so at the forge boundary rather
+    # than leaving main()'s preflight to infer one (#188).
+    CEREMONY_FORGE=github
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend, not called directly (#188)
     gh() {
       if [ "$1" = label ] && [ "$2" = list ]; then
         core_label_rows | cut -d'|' -f1
@@ -821,10 +842,10 @@ expected_upserts="$({ core_label_rows; configured_label_rows .github/labels.conf
 )
 expect "a dispatch deletes the six in the same run as the upserts" \
   "$RETIRED_WANT" \
-  "$(sed -n 's/^gh label delete \(.*\) -R owner\/repo --yes$/\1/p' "$BOOT/happy")"
+  "$(sed -n 's/^forge_label_delete \(.*\)$/\1/p' "$BOOT/happy")"
 expect "...and the recorded upsert set is unchanged from today's" \
   "$expected_upserts" \
-  "$(sed -n 's/^gh label create \([^ ]*\) .*/\1/p' "$BOOT/happy")"
+  "$(sed -n 's/^forge_label_create \([^ ]*\) .*/\1/p' "$BOOT/happy")"
 
 # -- a missing label is success: gh exits non-zero with not-found, and the
 #    guard keeps that from aborting the dispatch. Red without the guard.
@@ -895,7 +916,7 @@ boot_dry_probe() {
 }
 dry_out="$(boot_dry_probe)"
 expect "DRY_RUN narrates each deletion" \
-  6 "$(grep -c '^labels: DRY_RUN: gh label delete' <<<"$dry_out")"
+  6 "$(grep -c '^labels: DRY_RUN: forge_label_delete' <<<"$dry_out")"
 expect "...and performs none" \
   no "$(test -f "$BOOT/dry-real" && echo yes || echo no)"
 
@@ -922,6 +943,7 @@ printf 'panel=bot-a bot-b bot-c\n' >"$EXEC/labels.conf"
 exec_env() { # $1 = event name → the real script, executed under the PATH stub
   : >"$EXEC/record"
   env PATH="$EXEC/stub:$PATH" GH_RECORD="$EXEC/record" \
+    CEREMONY_FORGE=github \
     REPO=owner/repo LABELS_CONF="$EXEC/labels.conf" GITHUB_EVENT_NAME="$1" \
     bash actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
 }
@@ -946,5 +968,51 @@ for ev in schedule pull_request_target; do
   expect "...and deletes nothing" \
     no "$(grep -q '^delete ' "$EXEC/record" && echo yes || echo no)"
 done
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# outstanding_requests — the portable "who still owes a verdict" (#188 term 4)
+#
+# GitHub clears requested_reviewers when a verdict lands; Forgejo never does.
+# Measured 2026-08-02: rig!140 listed all three panelists with all three
+# verdicts in, and rig!146 still lists three while MERGED. Read raw on
+# Forgejo, that pins a PR at state:bots-reviewing for life and stops
+# blocker:unrequested from ever being true.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+HEAD_SHA=head1
+REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews \
+  "$(rev "$BOT1" APPROVED head1 "" 2026-08-01T00:00:00Z)" \
+  "$(rev "$BOT2" CHANGES_REQUESTED head1 "" 2026-08-01T00:00:00Z)" \
+  "$(rev "$BOT3" APPROVED head0 "" 2026-07-01T00:00:00Z)")"
+
+expect "a head-current approval is no longer outstanding" "" \
+  "$(outstanding_requests "$BOT1")"
+expect "a blocking verdict is not outstanding either — it is answered" "" \
+  "$(outstanding_requests "$BOT2")"
+# The one that matters: an approval of an OLDER head is not a verdict on this
+# head, so that reviewer still owes one. Treating STALE as answered would let
+# a stale round read as complete.
+expect "a stale approval still owes a verdict" "$BOT3" \
+  "$(outstanding_requests "$BOT3")"
+expect "a reviewer who never reviewed still owes one" "nobody" \
+  "$(outstanding_requests "nobody")"
+
+# The Forgejo shape, end to end: the field lists all three long after every
+# verdict landed. Only the stale one may survive the filter.
+expect "the never-cleared forgejo field collapses to who actually owes" \
+  "$BOT3" "$(outstanding_requests "$BOT1
+$BOT2
+$BOT3")"
+
+# The GitHub shape: the field is already accurate, so the filter is a no-op
+# on the set GitHub would have produced (term 5 — behaviour unchanged).
+expect "on a github-shaped field the filter removes nothing" "nobody" \
+  "$(outstanding_requests "nobody")"
+expect "an empty request list stays empty" "" "$(outstanding_requests "")"
+
+# The summary and the gate belong at the TRUE end of the file. They sat in the
+# middle until #188: eight outstanding_requests expects were appended after
+# them, so a failure there printed FAIL, was left out of the totals, and the
+# suite still exited 0 (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl #4780 item 2). Anything
+# appended below this line is ungated — so nothing goes below it.
 printf 'labels-reconcile tests: %d passed, %d failed\n' "$pass" "$fail"
 [ "$fail" -eq 0 ]
diff --git a/test/release-chain.test.sh b/test/release-chain.test.sh
index 8733425..3633824 100644
--- a/test/release-chain.test.sh
+++ b/test/release-chain.test.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ set -u
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 # shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
 . "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+# The suite drives the GITHUB backend: its gh() stubs ARE the forge boundary
+# now, and forge_api/forge_issue_edit/... resolve to the gh invocations those
+# stubs already intercept (#188). Without this the verbs are simply undefined.
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge.sh"
+forge_select github
 
 FACTS="$ROOT/lib/facts.sh"
 DECIDE="$ROOT/lib/decide.sh"
diff --git a/test/ruling.test.sh b/test/ruling.test.sh
index 2eaffb7..7150e39 100644
--- a/test/ruling.test.sh
+++ b/test/ruling.test.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ set -u
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 # shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
 source "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+# The suite drives the GITHUB backend: its gh() stubs ARE the forge boundary
+# now, and forge_api/forge_issue_edit/... resolve to the gh invocations those
+# stubs already intercept (#188). Without this the verbs are undefined.
+# shellcheck source=lib/forge.sh
+. "$ROOT/lib/forge.sh"
+forge_select github
 # shellcheck source=lib/ruling.sh
 source "$ROOT/lib/ruling.sh"
 
@@ -123,6 +129,7 @@ run() { "$@"; }
 
 iso() { date -u -d "@$1" +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ; }
 
+# shellcheck disable=SC2317 # reached through the forge backend, not called directly (#188)
 gh() {
   if [ "$1" = api ]; then
     shift
@@ -135,6 +142,7 @@ gh() {
       esac
       shift
     done
+    endpoint="$(forge_stub_path "$endpoint")"
     file="$TMP/$(printf '%s' "$endpoint" | tr '/' '_').json"
     [ -f "$file" ] || return 1
     if [ -n "$jqexpr" ]; then jq -r "$jqexpr" "$file"; else cat "$file"; fi