diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 2b65061..2a05151 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,19 @@ jobs:
         # at the root that nobody added to docs/VENDORED.txt is invisible to
         # every consumer's docs-sync, so it fails CI here instead.
         run: bash .github/scripts/vendored-check.sh
+      - name: Fetch the recorded upstream commit
+        # test/upstream-delta.test.sh REFUSES when the recorded object is
+        # absent rather than calling it unverifiable (#200). "Runs offline"
+        # means the test reads local evidence — it does not mean CI may omit
+        # the evidence and pass. This step supplies it; the test never reaches
+        # the network itself.
+        run: |
+          ref="$(grep -vE '^[[:space:]]*(#|$)' .upstream-ref | head -n1)"
+          git fetch --no-tags --depth=1 \
+            https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony.git "$ref" || {
+              echo "::error::could not fetch the recorded upstream commit $ref" >&2
+              exit 1
+            }
       - name: Tests
         env:
           # The npm-backed version_write case may skip locally when npm is
diff --git a/.upstream-ref b/.upstream-ref
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2337fa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.upstream-ref
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# The upstream commit this tree carries (docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md).
+# Full 40-char SHA, immutable: captured at fetch, merged, then recorded —
+# NOT re-read from gh/main later, which moves. Read by
+# test/upstream-delta.test.sh, which REFUSES when the object is absent
+# rather than calling it unverifiable.
+# github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony
+8c3a4d1dee2bdb5ac06a632a285bb65ab2615214
diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index fbe3d16..f5386b5 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -1159,7 +1159,10 @@ reconcile_issue_pass() { # $1 = issue — one issue's whole pass, in its own sub
       || skip_issue "$n" "could not read the issue: $(read_failure_reason "$READ_FAILURE_STDERR")"
     issue_payload_valid "$n" <<<"$ISSUE_JSON" \
       || skip_issue "$n" "the issue read answered a payload that is not issue #$n carrying a label array"
-    jq -e 'has("pull_request") | not' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON" >/dev/null || exit 0
+    # `.pull_request == null`, never `has("pull_request") | not` (#188, #210):
+    # every Forgejo entry CARRIES the key, valued null on an issue, so the
+    # has() form selects zero rows here — silently, forever.
+    jq -e '.pull_request == null' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON" >/dev/null || exit 0
     ISSUE_LABELS="$(jq -r '.labels[].name' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
     reconcile_issue "$n" || exit $?
     commit_staged_effects
@@ -1273,7 +1276,8 @@ main() {
     log "could not read the issue board: $(read_failure_reason "$READ_FAILURE_STDERR")"
     return 1
   fi
-  BOARD_RECORDS="$(jq -r '.[] | select(has("pull_request") | not)
+  # `.pull_request == null`, never `has("pull_request") | not` (#188, #210).
+  BOARD_RECORDS="$(jq -r '.[] | select(.pull_request == null)
     | [(.number | tostring), ((.labels // []) | map(.name) | join(",")), (.title // "")]
     | @tsv' \
     <<<"$board_json")"
@@ -1284,7 +1288,7 @@ main() {
   # is exactly the emptied gate the release's own `blocked` -> `ready`
   # promotion answers, which is why a `ready` release leaves the flag
   # dormant rather than flagging the whole board.
-  release_bodies="$(jq -r '.[] | select(has("pull_request") | not)
+  release_bodies="$(jq -r '.[] | select(.pull_request == null)
     | select((.labels // []) | map(.name) | index("release"))
     | [(.number | tostring), ((.body // "") | gsub("[\t\r\n]"; " "))] | @tsv' \
     <<<"$board_json")"
diff --git a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
index b6c49f1..449ab12 100755
--- a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -1094,8 +1094,8 @@ main() {
       HEAD_COMMIT_AT=""
       if [ "$DRAFT" != true ]; then
         HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE="$(mktemp)"
-        HEAD_COMMIT_AT="$(forge_api "repos/$REPO/commits/$HEAD_SHA" \
-          --jq '.commit.committer.date' 2>"$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE" || echo "")"
+        HEAD_COMMIT_AT="$(forge_commit_at "$HEAD_SHA" \
+          2>"$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE" || echo "")"
         HEAD_COMMIT_ERR="$(cat "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE")"
         rm -f "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE"
         case "$HEAD_COMMIT_AT" in
diff --git a/changelog.d/200.md b/changelog.d/200.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..acfada8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/200.md
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+### Added
+
+- `docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md` — the recurring upstream sync as a runbook: the
+  standing resolutions, which side wins each and the issue that decided it
+  (#200).
+
+- It names the step the 0.6.0 sync nearly shipped without: auditing what the
+  merge brought in that did **not** conflict. `git merge` asks no question
+  about a function upstream added to a file this tree owns (#200).
+
+- It records that the same mechanic applies to state, not just to call sites: a
+  resolved region can silently remove a producer whose consumers auto-merged,
+  and every one of those consumers degrades to empty rather than erroring
+  (#200).
+
+- It says to verify with the runner's tooling, because "green locally" was
+  wrong three times in one sync — untracked files, a pinned linter, and a
+  pinned `jq` whose empty-input exit code differs (#200).
+
+- It says every branch open across a sync is stale afterwards — Forgejo never
+  re-tests an open PR when main moves, so a prior approval is evidence about a
+  tree that no longer exists (#200).
+
+- It says to audit post-merge runs by executed steps rather than colour, and to
+  inventory what the sync changed about workflow triggers and jobs first (#200).
+
+- `.upstream-ref` records the upstream commit this tree carries, in
+  machine-readable form beside the CHANGELOG's prose (#200).
+
+- `test/upstream-delta.test.sh` fails the PR that scatters a forge decision
+  into a file the inventory does not name. Discovery is derived from the tree,
+  so a composite `action.yml` or a `.yaml` workflow is seen without anyone
+  remembering to add a glob (#200).
+
+- Discovery is git's, not the filesystem's: `ls-files`, so the tarballs `ci.yml`
+  extracts into the checkout and any developer cache are not parsed as source
+  (#200).
+
+- It refuses when the recorded commit is missing, absent from the object store,
+  or not an ancestor — three distinct refusals, none of them a skip. `ci.yml`
+  fetches that exact object so the test reads local evidence without CI
+  omitting it (#200).
+
+- Its mutation cases drive the real check against a constructed tree, so
+  replacing the guard with `return 0` reds five of them (#200).
+
+- `docs/CONSUMERS.md` states that two ceremonies answer to the same version
+  number, and how a consumer says which one it pinned (#200).
diff --git a/changelog.d/209.md b/changelog.d/209.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..320b984
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/209.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+### Fixed
+
+- `blocker:unrequested` is judged on this forge again. The head-commit date was
+  read from `repos/{o}/{r}/commits/{sha}`, which Forgejo answers **404** — so
+  every sweep degraded and left the blocker unjudged (#209).
+
+- `forge_commit_at` is a verb on both backends: GitHub serves a single commit at
+  the bare path with the date nested, Forgejo at `git/commits/{sha}` with it
+  under `.created`. The caller asks for one timestamp and knows neither shape
+  (#209).
+
+### Added
+
+- `test/forge-backends.test.sh` pins each backend's path **and** field, because
+  a stubbed `forge_api` cannot catch a wrong path — which is how this shipped
+  and why a live sweep was what found it (#209).
diff --git a/changelog.d/210.md b/changelog.d/210.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed46cf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/210.md
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+### Fixed
+
+- `issueflow-reconcile` sees this forge's issues again. The board gather used
+  `has("pull_request")`, and every Forgejo entry carries that key — so it
+  selected zero rows on every sweep while printing `reconciled.` (#210).
+
+- Three sites take `.pull_request == null`, the discriminator the file's own
+  comment already specified and that one of its four call sites already used
+  (#210).
+
+- `post-merge` transitions can fire again: they could not, because the sweep
+  saw no issues to transition (#210).
+
+### Added
+
+- A gather-level case drives the real board read against a Forgejo-shaped
+  fixture — every entry carrying the key. The existing discriminator cases
+  assert `jq` expressions in isolation and passed throughout this regression
+  (#210).
+
+- A source pin forbids `has("pull_request")` on this surface, because the rule
+  was stated in a comment and violated forty lines below it. It strips comments,
+  so the #188 warning that explains the trap is allowed to stay (#210).
+
+- All three sites are covered behaviourally, not only by the pin: the board
+  gather, the release-body gather through an observable window flag, and the
+  per-issue payload check (#210).
diff --git a/docs/CONSUMERS.md b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
index 682a61b..0454f32 100644
--- a/docs/CONSUMERS.md
+++ b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
@@ -687,6 +687,26 @@ Bumping the pin re-syncs the mirror in the same PR —
 
 ## Version pinning
 
+**Two ceremonies answer to the same version number.** `heavy-duty/ceremony`
+exists on GitHub and on `forgejo.heavyduty.builders`, and the forge tree tracks
+upstream's version numbers deliberately (ceremony#197 D2) — so `0.6.0` names a
+different tree on each, differing by the forge-compatibility delta. They are
+not forks that drifted: the forge tree carries upstream's content and adds to
+it (`docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md`).
+
+What that means for a consumer:
+
+- **Name the forge you pinned, not just the tag.** `heavy-duty/ceremony@0.6.0`
+  is ambiguous on its own; the host in your `uses:` line is what disambiguates
+  it, so do not describe your pin anywhere without it.
+- **A tag that exists upstream may not exist here yet.** The forge tree's
+  `CEREMONY_SELF_REF` takes upstream's number as soon as the sync lands, which
+  is *before* the release ceremony cuts that tag here. Do not bump a pin to a
+  version whose tag you have not confirmed on the forge you consume from.
+- **The forge tree's `CHANGELOG.md` header names the upstream commit it
+  carries**, and `.upstream-ref` records the same SHA. That is how you tell
+  which `0.6.0` you are actually running.
+
 - **Pin an exact ceremony release tag** — `@0.1.0`, never a branch and
   never a moving major pointer: the family pins things and reviews
   updates ([#1 D2](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/issues/1)).
diff --git a/docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md b/docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84bbd8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md
@@ -0,0 +1,267 @@
+# Syncing this tree with upstream ceremony
+
+`heavy-duty/ceremony` exists on two forges and they diverge in opposite
+directions on purpose:
+
+- **upstream** — `github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony`, where new ceremony features
+  are written. **Read-only from here.** No issue, PR, comment, review or
+  release is ever created there.
+- **this tree** — `forgejo.heavyduty.builders/heavy-duty/ceremony`, which
+  carries upstream's content plus the forge-compatibility delta and never
+  writes back.
+
+This document is the procedure for bringing upstream's work across. It is
+written to be followed without prior context; where it states a resolution, the
+resolution is standing and does not get re-decided each sync.
+
+Worked example throughout: the `0.6.0` sync (#197, #198), which merged upstream
+`8c3a4d1` onto `dad99dd` and took four heads to get green.
+
+## The standing resolutions
+
+These recur every sync. They are decided; re-deciding them is the cost this
+list exists to remove.
+
+| what | which side wins | decided by |
+|---|---|---|
+| `VERSION` | **upstream** — this tree tracks upstream's version numbers | #197 D2 |
+| `CEREMONY_SELF_REF` (both carriers) | **upstream** | #197 D2 |
+| `.github/labels.conf` | **this tree** — upstream's roster names identities that do not exist here | #195 |
+| `drills/*.md` | **this tree** — a drill record is a record of a run *here* | #198 |
+| `CHANGELOG.md` | **both**, upstream's new sections above this tree's | #198 |
+| a section for a version **both** trees released | **this tree's** — ours is the published body of the tag that exists here | #198 |
+
+Two consequences worth stating plainly:
+
+- **Two trees answer to the same version number**, differing by the forge
+  delta. That is accepted, not accidental (#197 D2). The mitigation is
+  provenance in prose: `CHANGELOG.md`'s header names the upstream commit this
+  tree carries, and `.upstream-ref` records it in machine-readable form.
+- **A tag that exists upstream may not exist here.** `CEREMONY_SELF_REF` takes
+  upstream's number, and both workflows carry the self-consumption bypass
+  (`if: github.repository != 'heavy-duty/ceremony'`), so ceremony's own CI is
+  unaffected. But **no consumer may bump its pin to that number until the
+  release ceremony cuts the tag here.**
+
+## The procedure
+
+### 1. Add the upstream remote, read-only, and confirm the merge base
+
+```sh
+git remote add gh https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony.git   # if absent
+git fetch gh
+upstream_sha="$(git rev-parse gh/main)"        # capture ONCE, in full
+git merge-base main "$upstream_sha"
+```
+
+**Capture the full SHA immediately and use that value everywhere after** — the
+merge, the provenance, the `.upstream-ref` write. `gh/main` is a moving
+pointer: while this sync was being reviewed upstream advanced from `8c3a4d1`
+to `08e2912`, and re-reading `gh/main` at recording time would have written a
+commit this tree does not contain. The recorded ref is *what was merged*, never
+*what upstream is now*.
+
+**Confirm the merge base against `.upstream-ref` before merging anything.** If
+it is not what the last sync recorded, something moved — stop and re-measure
+rather than proceeding. A sync that starts from an unexpected base is a sync
+whose conflict count means nothing.
+
+### 2. Merge, never rebase
+
+```sh
+git merge "$upstream_sha"
+```
+
+One merge commit, conflicts resolved once (#197 D1). Rebasing the forge-only
+commits onto upstream would rewrite every SHA, re-resolve the same conflicts
+once per commit, and break any pin to them. A fresh re-import would discard the
+provenance in this repo's issue comments, which is where its documentation
+actually lives.
+
+### 3. Resolve the conflicts
+
+Apply the standing resolutions above. What is left is genuinely new and needs
+judgement — in the `0.6.0` sync that was 5 hunks of 18.
+
+### 4. Audit what the merge brought in that did NOT conflict
+
+**This is the step the `0.6.0` sync nearly shipped without, and the one this
+document exists for.**
+
+`git merge` takes upstream's side wherever only upstream moved a region. So a
+function upstream *added* to a file this tree already owns arrives with **no
+conflict and no question asked**. Reviewing the conflict hunks cannot find
+them: four reviewers read the same diff and each found a different subset.
+
+In the `0.6.0` sync that was **eight** runtime `gh` call sites, in three files
+and two file types, every one of which #188 had previously removed.
+
+So, after resolving:
+
+```sh
+bash test/no-runtime-gh.test.sh
+```
+
+That guard is the mechanical form of #197's acceptance bar — no runtime `gh`
+outside `lib/forge-github.sh` unless the file declares
+`CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh` **and** refuses when it cannot run. Do not satisfy
+it by adding an exemption; a declaration without a refusal is a permission slip
+for `gh: command not found`.
+
+Then check the **variables** the same way, because the same mechanic applies to
+state: if a conflicted region assigns something that auto-merged code consumes,
+resolving it "to this tree's side" silently removes the producer. Every one of
+those consumers degrades to empty rather than erroring, so nothing goes red.
+The `0.6.0` sync had three such seams. Enumerate what each resolved region
+assigns, and confirm each still has a producer.
+
+### 5. Port or declare every new `gh` call site
+
+Where a `forge_*` verb exists, port it in the merge itself. Where none does,
+the file **declares** `CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh` and refuses loudly, and the
+port gets its own issue (#199 for `refs-not-closing`, #205 for the sweep
+dispatch). "Never 'probably github'" applies to the sync as much as to a
+runtime probe.
+
+A workflow cannot call `forge_preflight`, so it declares in its `env:` block
+and refuses inline — deciding the **forge** first and the **binary** second. A
+guard that only asks whether `gh` is installed passes the moment a runner image
+ships it.
+
+### 6. Record the provenance
+
+- `CHANGELOG.md`'s header: which upstream commit this tree now carries.
+- `.upstream-ref`: the same **full 40-character** SHA, machine-readable,
+  checked by `test/upstream-delta.test.sh` — which refuses when the object is
+  absent or is not an ancestor, rather than reporting it unverifiable. `ci.yml`
+  fetches that exact object before the suite runs.
+- A `changelog.d/` fragment for the sync issue.
+
+### 7. Verify — and verify where it will actually run
+
+`test/run.sh` green on your machine is the weakest of the checks below. The
+`0.6.0` sync was "green locally" and red on the runner **three times, for three
+different reasons**:
+
+| what was green locally | why the runner disagreed |
+|---|---|
+| `shellcheck-all.sh` | it lints **tracked** files, and the new guard was untracked |
+| the whole suite | CI pins **shellcheck 0.10.0**; a different local version reports differently |
+| `issue_payload_valid` | `jq -e` on empty input exits **4** on jq 1.7 and **0** on jq 1.6 — and the runner image ships 1.6 |
+
+That last one was not a test problem: on jq 1.6 the guard that refuses an
+unreadable read was *accepting* one. **The distance between your environment
+and the runner's is part of the sync's risk surface, not an inconvenience.**
+
+So verify with the runner's own tooling:
+
+```sh
+git add -A                                        # or shellcheck sees nothing new
+CEREMONY_REQUIRE_NPM=1 CEREMONY_REQUIRE_YQ=1 bash test/run.sh
+bash .github/scripts/shellcheck-all.sh            # pinned 0.10.0, as ci.yml installs
+bash .github/scripts/actionlint-all.sh
+bash .github/scripts/self-ref-check.sh
+bash .github/scripts/marker-check.sh
+bash .github/scripts/vendored-check.sh
+bash actions/changelog-armed/changelog-armed.sh
+```
+
+and run the suite once under the runner's `jq` as well as your own.
+
+### Every branch that was open during the sync is now stale
+
+Forgejo tests branch heads; it never tests what two branches produce together,
+and it never re-tests an open PR when `main` moves under it. So after a sync
+lands, **every PR that was open across it is green against a tree that no
+longer exists** — its run did not contain the test files and rules the sync
+introduced.
+
+Both halves of that bit in this sync:
+
+- `#206` and `#207` were cut from the pre-sync base. Their green suites had 22
+  test files; the merged tree has 28.
+- `#206`'s changelog fragment was individually green and made the **combined**
+  tree red, because the terminal-citation rule (#262) arrives *with* the sync
+  and the fragment was written against a base without it.
+
+So, for each PR still open:
+
+```sh
+git merge origin/main            # in the branch — do not rewrite its commits
+CEREMONY_REQUIRE_NPM=1 CEREMONY_REQUIRE_YQ=1 bash test/run.sh
+```
+
+or, if you are only checking rather than updating, merge them into a scratch
+worktree together and run the full current suite and static guards there. A
+prior approval is evidence about the tree it was given on; after a sync it is
+not evidence about the tree the operator would merge.
+
+### 8. After it merges — audit by executed steps, never by colour
+
+The sync issue uses `Refs`, not `Closes`, and stays open until a real sweep on
+the merged `main` is linked to it.
+
+**A green run is not that evidence.** In this sync the first post-merge run was
+green and had reconciled *nothing*: upstream's #209 restructure moved reconcile
+out of the labels caller and behind a dispatch this forge cannot perform, so
+the only job that ran was the refusal. Green, correct, and proof of the
+refusal path only.
+
+So before citing any run:
+
+1. **Inventory what the sync changed about workflow triggers and jobs** — which
+   jobs exist now, which events fire them, and which of those this forge can
+   actually serve. A restructure upstream can move work between workflows
+   without touching a line of the code that does it.
+2. **Read the run's executed steps**, not its status. Name the job that did the
+   thing, and quote the line that shows it did.
+3. A green *skipped-or-refusing* path is valid evidence **for that path**, and
+   never evidence that the work happened.
+
+Neither of these is caught by the no-runtime-`gh` scan in step 4: in this sync
+both failures occurred with that guard green and CI green.
+
+## Where the forge delta lives
+
+Forge-specific behaviour is confined to the files below. Keeping it there is
+what makes each sync cost 18 hunks instead of hundreds, and
+`test/upstream-delta.test.sh` fails the PR that scatters it into a new file.
+
+**What that guard actually checks**, stated precisely so the table is not read
+as a stronger promise than it is: it walks every tracked file except prose
+(`*.md`), the test harness and `changelog.d/`, and flags any that **decides**
+the forge — the selector's verbs, `CEREMONY_FORGE*`, or a server-URL comparison
+written inline. Discovery is derived from the tree rather than from a list of
+directories and extensions, so a composite `action.yml` or a `.yaml` workflow
+is seen without anyone remembering to add it.
+
+It is a check on *forge decisions in executable and configuration files*. It is
+**not** a diff against upstream, so it cannot see a file that differs from
+upstream for some other forge-specific reason — `drills/` and
+`.github/labels.conf` are in the table for that kind of reason and are listed
+by judgement, not by scan.
+
+| file | what is forge-specific about it |
+|---|---|
+| `lib/forge.sh` | the selector: `forge_detect`, `forge_client`, `forge_preflight` |
+| `lib/forge-github.sh` | the gh backend — the one file allowed to speak `gh` |
+| `lib/forge-forgejo.sh` | the Forgejo backend, `/api/v1` over curl + jq |
+| `lib/closes_references.sh` | the closing-keyword parser that replaced GraphQL |
+| `.github/labels.conf` | this instance's roster |
+| `drills/` | records of runs on this instance |
+| `actions/refs-not-closing/run.sh` | declares `CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh` — its gather is GraphQL, which Forgejo does not serve. #199 removes the declaration |
+| `.github/workflows/labels.yml` | the sweep dispatch decides the forge inline and declares a client; a workflow has no shell to call `forge_preflight` from. #205 ports it |
+| `.github/workflows/refs-guard.yml` | schedules its job on GitHub only, so an action that can only refuse here does not stand red. #199 removes the gate |
+| `.github/workflows/release-exercise.yml` | pins `CEREMONY_FORGE: github` deliberately: the exercise drives the GitHub path |
+| `actions/docs-sync/docs-sync.sh` | fetches the doctrine mirror from the forge in `GITHUB_SERVER_URL`, and refuses rather than guessing one (#201) |
+
+Four of those are **temporary** and say which issue removes them. That is the
+point of listing them rather than exempting them: a forge-delta location with
+no exit is indistinguishable from one nobody noticed.
+
+A file that merely **calls** the shim is not a delta location — every
+reconciler and `release.yml` call `forge_select`, and that is what the shim is
+for. A file that **decides** or **declares** is, and belongs here.
+
+If a sync needs forge branching somewhere else, that is a design decision, not
+a detail: add the file to the inventory in the same PR, with the reason.
diff --git a/lib/forge-forgejo.sh b/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
index 0583f86..4331cc6 100644
--- a/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
+++ b/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
@@ -642,6 +642,27 @@ forge_release_exists() {
 # forge_commit_pulls <sha> — the pull requests whose merge produced <sha>, as
 # a JSON ARRAY in GitHub's shape. An empty array is a completed read that
 # found nothing; a non-zero exit is a read that did not complete.
+# forge_commit_at <sha> — the commit's committer date, ISO-8601, or empty.
+#
+# THE FOURTH ASYMMETRY (#209), measured 2026-08-05:
+#
+#   GET /repos/{o}/{r}/commits/{sha}      -> 404   (200 on GitHub)
+#   GET /repos/{o}/{r}/git/commits/{sha}  -> 200   date under `.created`
+#
+# Found by the first post-merge sweep after the 0.6.0 merge, not by review:
+# #198 ported this call site onto the shim with GitHub's path unchanged, and
+# the block it lives in had never executed here before. Every sweep printed
+# `could not read the head commit's date` and left blocker:unrequested
+# unjudged.
+#
+# `.created` and not `.commit.committer.date`: the /git/commits payload is the
+# git object, whose top-level `created` is the committer date. The verb hides
+# both differences so the caller keeps asking for one timestamp.
+forge_commit_at() {
+  local sha="${1:?forge_commit_at: sha required}"
+  forge_api "repos/$REPO/git/commits/$sha" --jq '.created'
+}
+
 forge_commit_pulls() {
   local sha="${1:?forge_commit_pulls: sha required}" body code out
   body="$(mktemp)"
diff --git a/lib/forge-github.sh b/lib/forge-github.sh
index 36307e1..c2e268e 100644
--- a/lib/forge-github.sh
+++ b/lib/forge-github.sh
@@ -186,6 +186,18 @@ forge_release_exists() {
 # forge_commit_pulls <sha> — the pull requests whose merge produced <sha>, as
 # a JSON array. GitHub serves the array directly; the forgejo twin builds
 # one from its single-object endpoint so this call site is identical.
+# forge_commit_at <sha> — the commit's committer date, ISO-8601, or empty.
+#
+# A VERB rather than a path at the call site, because the two forges do not
+# agree on where a single commit lives: GitHub serves it at /commits/{sha},
+# Forgejo 404s there and serves it at /git/commits/{sha} with the timestamp
+# under a different field (#209). The caller wants one timestamp; it should not
+# have to know either shape.
+forge_commit_at() {
+  local sha="${1:?forge_commit_at: sha required}"
+  forge_api "repos/$REPO/commits/$sha" --jq '.commit.committer.date'
+}
+
 forge_commit_pulls() {
   local sha="${1:?forge_commit_pulls: sha required}" errf out rc err
   errf="$(mktemp)"
diff --git a/test/forge-backends.test.sh b/test/forge-backends.test.sh
index fd44a84..d304218 100644
--- a/test/forge-backends.test.sh
+++ b/test/forge-backends.test.sh
@@ -775,6 +775,21 @@ writes_after()   { "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1; cat "$WRITES"; }
 repo_empty_release() { REPO='' forge_release_exists 1.2.3; }
 repo_empty_pulls()   { REPO='' forge_commit_pulls deadbeef; }
 
+# forge_commit_at — the FOURTH asymmetry (#209). Forgejo 404s on /commits/{sha}
+# and serves the object at /git/commits/{sha}, with the committer date under
+# `.created` rather than `.commit.committer.date`. A stubbed forge_api cannot
+# catch a wrong PATH, which is how #198 shipped GitHub's path here and every
+# sweep printed `could not read the head commit's date`.
+release_stub 200 '{"created":"2026-08-05T13:11:33Z","commit":{"committer":{"date":"WRONG"}}}'
+check "forgejo: the commit date comes from .created" 0 "2026-08-05T13:11:33Z" \
+  forge_commit_at deadbeef
+fj_not_nested() { ! forge_commit_at deadbeef | grep -q WRONG; }
+check "...and never from GitHub's nested field" 0 "" fj_not_nested
+check "forgejo: it asks /git/commits/{sha}" 0 "git/commits/deadbeef" \
+  writes_after forge_commit_at deadbeef
+fj_not_bare_path() { ! grep -qE 'repos/o/r/commits/deadbeef( |$)' "$WRITES"; }
+check "...and never the bare /commits/{sha}, which 404s here" 0 "" fj_not_bare_path
+
 release_stub 200 '{"number":7,"merged_at":"2026-01-01T00:00:00Z","labels":[{"name":"release"}]}'
 check "forgejo: one PR object becomes a one-element array" 0 '"number":7' \
   forge_commit_pulls deadbeef
@@ -857,5 +872,14 @@ check "github: the tag goes to /git/refs" 0 "git/refs" \
   gh_after forge_tag_create 1.2.3 cafebabe
 check "github: PRs behind a commit use the PLURAL path" 0 "commits/deadbeef/pulls" \
   gh_after forge_commit_pulls deadbeef
+# The other half of #209's asymmetry: GitHub serves a single commit at the bare
+# path, with the date nested. Swapping the two backends' paths must red one of
+# these two files, which is the whole point of pinning both.
+check "github: a single commit is the BARE path" 0 "commits/deadbeef" \
+  gh_after forge_commit_at deadbeef
+gh_not_git_commits() { ! gh_after forge_commit_at deadbeef | grep -q 'git/commits'; }
+check "...and never Forgejo's git/commits" 0 "" gh_not_git_commits
+check "...reading the nested committer date" 0 "commit.committer.date" \
+  gh_after forge_commit_at deadbeef
 
 summary
diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index c115695..918b635 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -1779,6 +1779,151 @@ check "a PR reads as a PR on either shape" 0 "pr" \
 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'
 
+# ...AND THE GATHER, because the rows above assert jq expressions in isolation
+# and passed all the way through #210 — a sweep that saw zero issues on every
+# pass and printed `reconciled.` The 0.6.0 merge reintroduced the has() form in
+# the board gather; these cases could not see it because they never ran it.
+#
+# The fixture is FORGEJO-SHAPED: every entry carries `pull_request`, valued
+# null on an issue and an object on a PR. On a GitHub-shaped board (key absent
+# on issues) both discriminators agree, which is why this needs its own board.
+FORGEJO_BOARD="$TMP/forgejo-board"
+mkdir -p "$FORGEJO_BOARD"
+cp "$ARRIVAL/labels.conf" "$FORGEJO_BOARD/labels.conf" 2>/dev/null || true
+printf '[]\n' >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_pulls_state_open.json"
+printf '[]\n' >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_pulls_state_closed.json"
+printf '%s\n' \
+  '[{"number":60,"pull_request":null,"labels":[],"title":"an issue with no queue state"},
+    {"number":61,"pull_request":{"merged":false},"labels":[],"title":"a pull request"}]' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_state_open.json"
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at "$INOW")" \
+  '{number:60,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"",pull_request:null,
+    labels:[],assignees:[]}' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_60.json"
+printf '[]\n' >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_60_comments.json"
+forgejo_board_run() {
+  : >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/edits"
+  env PATH="$ARRIVAL/stub:$PATH" CEREMONY_FORGE=github GH_FIXTURES="$FORGEJO_BOARD" \
+    ISSUEFLOW_NOW="$INOW" REPO=owner/repo LABELS_CONF="$ARRIVAL/labels.conf" \
+    bash "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh" 2>&1
+}
+fjb_out="$(forgejo_board_run)"
+check "a forgejo-shaped board is NOT read as empty" 1 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issueflow: no open issues.' <<<"$fjb_out"
+check "...the sweep completes over it" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issueflow: reconciled.' <<<"$fjb_out"
+# TRAVERSAL, not merely a non-empty gather: the null-valued row has a
+# deterministic outcome — no queue state means needs-triage is minted — so this
+# proves reconcile_issue_pass actually ran over it, which "the board is not
+# empty" does not (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #210 review).
+check "...the null-valued row is TRAVERSED, with an observable outcome" 0 "" \
+  grep -qE '^issueflow: #60: needs-triage' <<<"$fjb_out"
+check "...and the object-valued PR row is not reconciled as an issue" 1 "" \
+  grep -qE '^issueflow: #61' <<<"$fjb_out"
+
+# release_bodies is the THIRD producer and has its own has() site. A `release`
+# issue on a forgejo-shaped board must reach the window gather, or the #292
+# flags are decided over an empty set (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #210).
+printf '%s\n' \
+  '[{"number":60,"pull_request":null,"labels":[{"name":"ready"}],"title":"an issue"},
+    {"number":62,"pull_request":null,"labels":[{"name":"release"}],"title":"Release 9.9.9","body":"Blocked by #60."},
+    {"number":63,"pull_request":null,"labels":[{"name":"ready"}],"title":"a claimable non-member"},
+    {"number":61,"pull_request":{"merged":false},"labels":[],"title":"a pull request"}]' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_state_open.json"
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at "$INOW")" \
+  '{number:63,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"",pull_request:null,
+    labels:[{name:"ready"}],assignees:[]}' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_63.json"
+printf '[]\n' >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_63_comments.json"
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at "$INOW")" \
+  '{number:62,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"Blocked by #60.",pull_request:null,
+    labels:[{name:"release"}],assignees:[]}' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_62.json"
+printf '[]\n' >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_62_comments.json"
+fjb2_out="$(forgejo_board_run)"
+# The observable effect of release_bodies being NON-empty: an open `release`
+# issue whose gate still holds an open member makes every claimable non-member
+# draw a window flag. With that gather empty there are no carriers and no flag,
+# so this row discriminates the site rather than merely reaching it.
+check "a release issue on a forgejo-shaped board reaches the window gather" 0 "" \
+  grep -qE '#63: window flag' <<<"$fjb2_out"
+check "...and the sweep still completes" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issueflow: reconciled.' <<<"$fjb2_out"
+
+# The THIRD site is reconcile_issue_pass's per-issue payload check. Same key,
+# scalar rather than a list: null means issue, an object means PR.
+# THE SCALAR SITE, ISOLATED. `BOARD_RECORDS` filters an object-valued row out
+# of the LIST before the per-issue guard ever sees it, so a board fixture alone
+# cannot prove the scalar stand-down (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #210 review).
+#
+# The fixture that isolates it: the LIST row is null-valued, so the board
+# gather admits it — and the INDIVIDUAL payload the sweep then fetches is
+# object-valued. Only reconcile_issue_pass's own guard can stand that down.
+printf '%s\n' \
+  '[{"number":65,"pull_request":null,"labels":[],"title":"list says issue, payload says PR"}]' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_state_open.json"
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at "$INOW")" \
+  '{number:65,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"",
+    pull_request:{merged:false},labels:[],assignees:[]}' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_65.json"
+printf '[]\n' >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_65_comments.json"
+fjb3_out="$(forgejo_board_run)"
+check "the per-issue guard stands down an object-valued payload" 1 "" \
+  grep -qE '^issueflow: #65: needs-triage' <<<"$fjb3_out"
+check "...and the sweep still completes" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issueflow: reconciled.' <<<"$fjb3_out"
+
+# The same fixture with a null-valued payload MUST reconcile — otherwise the row
+# above would pass on a guard that stands everything down.
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at "$INOW")" \
+  '{number:65,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"",
+    pull_request:null,labels:[],assignees:[]}' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_65.json"
+fjb4_out="$(forgejo_board_run)"
+check "...while a null-valued payload at the same site reconciles" 0 "" \
+  grep -qE '^issueflow: #65: needs-triage' <<<"$fjb4_out"
+
+# And the GitHub shape — key absent entirely — is still an issue.
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at "$INOW")" \
+  '{number:65,user:{login:"triage-one"},created_at:$at,body:"",labels:[],assignees:[]}' \
+  >"$FORGEJO_BOARD/repos_owner_repo_issues_65.json"
+fjb5_out="$(forgejo_board_run)"
+check "...and a github-shaped payload (key absent) reconciles too" 0 "" \
+  grep -qE '^issueflow: #65: needs-triage' <<<"$fjb5_out"
+
+# -- the rule is pinned at the source, because a comment did not hold --------
+# `.pull_request == null` is stated in this file's own header AND at
+# issueflow-reconcile.sh:1113 — and the merge put `has("pull_request")` back 40
+# lines below that comment, in three places. Prose is not a guard (#210).
+# In-process, not `bash -c`: a subshell cannot see this file's functions, and a
+# pin that silently inspected nothing would be the same defect one level up.
+no_has_pull_request() {
+  local hits
+  hits="$(sed 's/[[:space:]]#.*$//; s/^[[:space:]]*#.*$//' \
+    "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh" \
+    | grep -n 'has("pull_request")')"
+  [ -z "$hits" ] || { printf 'executable has("pull_request") at:\n%s\n' "$hits" >&2; return 1; }
+}
+check "no executable has(\"pull_request\") survives on this surface" 0 "" \
+  no_has_pull_request
+# The controls, because this guard MUST tolerate the #188 comment that explains
+# why the form is wrong — a raw grep would either fail forever or pressure a
+# builder into deleting the very warning that prevents recurrence
+# (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #210 review).
+DTMP="$(mktemp -d)"; trap 'rm -rf "$DTMP"' EXIT
+strip_and_find() { # $1 = file -> 0 when an EXECUTABLE use survives
+  sed 's/[[:space:]]#.*$//; s/^[[:space:]]*#.*$//' "$1" | grep -q 'has("pull_request")'
+}
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # fixture CONTENT: the literal text a scanned file would hold
+printf '%s\n' '#!/usr/bin/env bash' \
+  '# `.pull_request == null`, NOT has("pull_request") | not (#188)' \
+  'jq -e ".pull_request == null" <<<"$J"' >"$DTMP/prose.sh"
+check "the explanatory #188 comment is allowed" 1 "" strip_and_find "$DTMP/prose.sh"
+# single-quoted so the fixture holds the LITERAL form the guard looks for
+printf '%s\n' '#!/usr/bin/env bash' \
+  "jq -r '.[] | select(has(\"pull_request\") | not)' <<<\"\$J\"" >"$DTMP/exec.sh"
+check "...while an executable jq filter is rejected" 0 "" strip_and_find "$DTMP/exec.sh"
+
 # -- 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 ->
diff --git a/test/upstream-delta.test.sh b/test/upstream-delta.test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0debbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/upstream-delta.test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,306 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# The delta-inventory guard (#200, enforcing #197 D3's standing constraint).
+#
+#   Forge-specific behaviour lives in the files docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md names,
+#   and nowhere else.
+#
+# WHY. This tree carries upstream's content plus a forge delta, forever — the
+# sync is recurring and upstream is read-only (#197 D3). What makes that
+# tractable is not luck: the 0.6.0 sync cost 18 conflict hunks across 10 files
+# because the delta sits in six files upstream never touches. Scatter
+# `forge_detect` into a seventh and every future sync pays for it, in a place
+# nobody chose.
+#
+# So this fails on the PR that scatters it, rather than on the sync after next
+# — the same reason changelog-monotonic guards a property no single tree can
+# be asked about.
+#
+# IT RUNS OFFLINE, AND IT DOES NOT PASS BY ABSENCE. Tests must not need the
+# network, and a guard that goes green when it cannot see its input is the
+# blind-sweep shape this repo keeps writing issues about. So the inventory is
+# read from the document and the tree is scanned for forge markers — both local
+# — and a missing or empty `.upstream-ref` is a REFUSAL, not a skip.
+set -u
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+# shellcheck source=test/harness.sh
+. "$ROOT/test/harness.sh"
+
+DOC="$ROOT/docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md"
+REF="$ROOT/.upstream-ref"
+
+# --- the recorded upstream ref ------------------------------------------------
+
+check "the sync document exists" 0 "" test -f "$DOC"
+check "the upstream ref is recorded" 0 "" test -f "$REF"
+
+# THE OBJECT IS MANDATORY. An earlier head accepted "UNVERIFIABLE-HERE" when
+# upstream's commit was not in the local store, which contradicted this issue's
+# own "must not pass by absence" and made the check decorative in exactly the
+# environment it matters in (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #200 review).
+#
+# "Runs offline" means the TEST reads local evidence, not that CI may omit the
+# evidence and pass. ci.yml fetches the recorded object before running the
+# suite; if it is missing here, that is a refusal.
+recorded_ref() { grep -vE '^[[:space:]]*(#|$)' "$REF" | head -n1; }
+ref_is_recorded() { [ -n "$(recorded_ref)" ]; }
+check "...and is not blank — an unrecorded ref is a refusal, not a skip" 0 "" \
+  ref_is_recorded
+# Full 40, not a short prefix: a short SHA is ambiguous across a growing repo
+# and cannot be compared byte-wise between the runbook, the CHANGELOG and here.
+ref_is_full_sha() { printf '%s' "$(recorded_ref)" | grep -qE '^[0-9a-f]{40}$'; }
+check "...and is a FULL 40-character SHA" 0 "" ref_is_full_sha
+
+ref_object_present() { git -C "$ROOT" cat-file -e "$(recorded_ref)^{commit}" 2>/dev/null; }
+check "the recorded commit is present locally — absent is a refusal, not a skip" 0 "" \
+  ref_object_present
+ref_is_ancestor() { git -C "$ROOT" merge-base --is-ancestor "$(recorded_ref)" HEAD 2>/dev/null; }
+check "...and is an ancestor of HEAD, so main really carries what is recorded" 0 "" \
+  ref_is_ancestor
+
+# --- the inventory ------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# The document's inventory table: the first `code` span of each table row in
+# the "Where the forge delta lives" section.
+inventory() {
+  awk '/^## Where the forge delta lives/ { on = 1; next }
+       on && /^## / { on = 0 }
+       on && /^\| `/ { gsub(/^\| `/, ""); sub(/`.*$/, ""); print }' "$DOC"
+}
+
+inventory_size() { inventory | wc -l; }
+inventory_is_populated() { [ "$(inventory_size)" -ge 6 ]; }
+check "the inventory names at least the six known delta files" 0 "" \
+  inventory_is_populated
+
+# Exact for a file entry, `dir/` + one path separator for a directory entry.
+# Prefix matching accepted `drills-old/x` for `drills/` and `lib/forge.sh.backup`
+# for `lib/forge.sh` (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #200 review).
+in_inventory() { # $1 = repo-relative path
+  local entry
+  while IFS= read -r entry; do
+    [ -n "$entry" ] || continue
+    case "$entry" in
+      */) case "$1" in "$entry"*) return 0 ;; esac ;;
+      *)  [ "$1" = "$entry" ] && return 0 ;;
+    esac
+  done < <(inventory)
+  return 1
+}
+check "a listed file is recognised" 0 "" in_inventory lib/forge.sh
+check "...including one listed as a directory" 0 "" in_inventory drills/0.4.1.md
+check "an unlisted file is not" 1 "" in_inventory lib/version.sh
+
+# --- the scan -----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# What "forge-specific" means, mechanically: the selector's own verbs, the
+# environment override that drives them, and — on a workflow, which has no
+# shell to call the selector from — a forge decision written inline.
+#
+# The earlier version scanned only shell under lib/ actions/ bin/ .github/scripts.
+# That missed three categories the inventory itself claims to govern: workflows,
+# .github/labels.conf and drills/. Merged main already had blind spots there —
+# labels.yml decides on GITHUB_SERVER_URL and declares a client, refs-guard.yml
+# carries a positive GitHub-only scheduling decision
+# (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #200 review).
+FORGE_MARKERS='forge_detect|forge_select|forge_preflight|forge_client|CEREMONY_FORGE\b|CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT|GITHUB_SERVER_URL|github\.server_url'
+
+# SCAN_ROOT is a parameter so the teeth below can drive the REAL check against
+# a constructed tree. The previous mutation proved the predicates and never
+# invoked no_unlisted — the guard could have been `return 0` and still passed.
+scan_root() { printf '%s' "${SCAN_ROOT:-$ROOT}"; }
+
+# DISCOVERY IS DERIVED FROM THE TREE, not from a list of directories, depths
+# and extensions. The earlier version hand-picked five globs and therefore
+# could not see `actions/*/action.yml` — this repository's normal composite
+# structure, where a client declaration is exactly a forge decision — or a
+# workflow written `.yaml` rather than `.yml`. @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl
+# constructed both and the guard stayed 21/21 green, which is the whole
+# argument against maintaining a glob list.
+#
+# So: walk everything, then EXCLUDE by class, and let content classify the
+# rest. Excluding is safer than including because a new file type arrives
+# scanned rather than invisible.
+#
+#   test/         the harness stubs and asserts these tokens by design
+#   changelog.d/  prose fragments
+#   *.md          prose. `drills/` stays in the INVENTORY because its records
+#                 are forge-specific by content, but a record mentioning a
+#                 selector verb in prose is not a decision, and scanning prose
+#                 for decisions is the mistake this guard's own comment
+#                 handling exists to avoid.
+#
+# DISCOVERY IS GIT'S, NOT THE FILESYSTEM'S. An earlier head said "tracked" and
+# used `find`, which walks the working directory and knows nothing about the
+# index. That is not pedantry: `ci.yml` extracts shellcheck and actionlint
+# tarballs INTO the checkout before the suite runs, and any developer cache
+# sits there too. @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl reproduced a false red with one
+# untracked file. `git ls-files -z` makes "tracked" executable rather than
+# prose.
+scanned_paths() {
+  local root; root="$(scan_root)"
+  git -C "$root" ls-files -z 2>/dev/null \
+    | tr '\0' '\n' \
+    | grep -vE '^(test/|changelog\.d/)' \
+    | grep -vE '\.md$' \
+    | sort
+}
+
+forge_specific_files() {
+  local root rel; root="$(scan_root)"
+  while IFS= read -r rel; do
+    [ -n "$rel" ] || continue
+    sed 's/[[:space:]]#.*$//; s/^[[:space:]]*#.*$//' "$root/$rel" 2>/dev/null \
+      | grep -qE "$FORGE_MARKERS" && printf '%s\n' "$rel"
+  done < <(scanned_paths)
+  return 0
+}
+
+# A file that merely CALLS the shim is not where the forge is decided — every
+# reconciler calls forge_preflight and that is the point of the shim. A file
+# that DECLARES a client is a different thing and is NOT exempt: it is a
+# deliberate forge-delta location and belongs in the inventory
+# (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl).
+SHIM_CONSUMERS='actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+actions/labels-scope/labels-scope.sh
+lib/facts.sh
+lib/ruling.sh
+lib/attention.sh
+.github/workflows/release.yml'
+
+declares_a_client() {
+  sed 's/[[:space:]]#.*$//; s/^[[:space:]]*#.*$//' "$(scan_root)/$1" \
+    | grep -qE 'CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT[=:]'
+}
+
+unlisted_deciders() {
+  local rel
+  while IFS= read -r rel; do
+    [ -n "$rel" ] || continue
+    if grep -qxF "$rel" <<<"$SHIM_CONSUMERS" && ! declares_a_client "$rel"; then
+      continue
+    fi
+    in_inventory "$rel" && continue
+    printf '%s\n' "$rel"
+  done < <(forge_specific_files)
+}
+
+no_unlisted() {
+  local found
+  found="$(unlisted_deciders)"
+  [ -z "$found" ] || {
+    printf 'forge-specific but not in docs/UPSTREAM-SYNC.md:\n' >&2
+    printf '  %s\n' "$found" >&2
+    return 1
+  }
+}
+check "every forge-deciding file is named in the inventory" 0 "" no_unlisted
+
+# --- teeth --------------------------------------------------------------------
+# These drive the REAL top-level check against a constructed tree, via
+# SCAN_ROOT. The earlier version asserted the predicates separately and never
+# invoked no_unlisted — so the guard could have been replaced with `return 0`
+# and both "must-fail" rows would still have passed
+# (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #200 review). A mutation test that cannot fail
+# when the thing it guards is deleted is the shape this repo keeps filing
+# issues about.
+
+TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
+
+# A tiny GIT repository, because discovery is git's now: a fixture that is only
+# a directory would be invisible to `ls-files` and every must-fail below would
+# pass vacuously.
+fixture_tree() { # -> a tracked tree with no forge-deciding files
+  local t="$TMP/tree"
+  rm -rf "$t"
+  mkdir -p "$t/lib" "$t/.github/workflows"
+  printf '#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho hello\n' >"$t/lib/plain.sh"
+  printf 'name: ci\non: [push]\n' >"$t/.github/workflows/plain.yml"
+  git -C "$t" init -q 2>/dev/null
+  git -C "$t" add -A 2>/dev/null
+  printf '%s' "$t"
+}
+track() { git -C "$root" add -A 2>/dev/null; }
+
+root="$(fixture_tree)"
+clean_tree_passes() { SCAN_ROOT="$root" no_unlisted; }
+check "the guard is green on a tree with no forge decisions" 0 "" clean_tree_passes
+
+# MUST FAIL: a shell file that decides the forge, in no inventory entry.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # fixture CONTENT: the literal text a scanned file would hold
+printf '%s\n' '#!/usr/bin/env bash' 'case "$(forge_detect)" in forgejo) : ;; esac' \
+  >"$root/lib/scattered.sh"
+track; scattered_shell() { SCAN_ROOT="$root" no_unlisted; }
+check "a new SHELL file deciding the forge fails the real guard" 1 "" scattered_shell
+check "...and the failure names the file" 1 "lib/scattered.sh" scattered_shell
+rm -f "$root/lib/scattered.sh"; track
+
+# MUST FAIL on a NON-SHELL surface too, so coverage cannot regress to the old
+# shell-only glob: a workflow deciding on the server URL.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # fixture CONTENT: the literal text a scanned file would hold
+printf '%s\n' 'name: x' 'on: [push]' 'jobs:' '  j:' '    steps:' \
+  '      - run: [ "$GITHUB_SERVER_URL" = https://github.com ] || exit 0' \
+  >"$root/.github/workflows/scattered.yml"
+track; scattered_workflow() { SCAN_ROOT="$root" no_unlisted; }
+check "a new WORKFLOW deciding the forge fails it too" 1 "" scattered_workflow
+check "...naming that file" 1 ".github/workflows/scattered.yml" scattered_workflow
+rm -f "$root/.github/workflows/scattered.yml"; track
+
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl's two reproductions, verbatim as fixtures. Both
+# passed the hand-picked-glob version 21/21, which is why discovery is derived
+# from the tree now. Deleting a discovery class must make these red.
+mkdir -p "$root/actions/unlisted-forge-decision"
+printf '%s\n' 'name: x' 'runs:' '  using: composite' '  steps:' \
+  '    - shell: bash' '      env:' '        CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT: gh' \
+  '      run: true' >"$root/actions/unlisted-forge-decision/action.yml"
+track; composite_action_seen() { SCAN_ROOT="$root" no_unlisted; }
+check "a forge declaration in actions/*/action.yml fails the guard" 1 \
+  "actions/unlisted-forge-decision/action.yml" composite_action_seen
+rm -rf "$root/actions/unlisted-forge-decision"; track
+
+# ...and a workflow written .yaml rather than .yml — `*.yml` was never a
+# complete workflow surface.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # fixture CONTENT: the literal text a scanned file would hold
+printf '%s\n' 'name: x' 'on: [push]' 'jobs:' '  j:' \
+  "    if: github.server_url == 'https://github.com'" '    steps: []' \
+  >"$root/.github/workflows/unlisted-forge-decision.yaml"
+track; yaml_workflow_seen() { SCAN_ROOT="$root" no_unlisted; }
+check "...and one in a .yaml workflow does too" 1 \
+  ".github/workflows/unlisted-forge-decision.yaml" yaml_workflow_seen
+rm -f "$root/.github/workflows/unlisted-forge-decision.yaml"; track
+check "...leaving the fixture tree green again" 0 "" clean_tree_passes
+
+# A declaration is a delta location even in a file that would otherwise read as
+# a shim consumer, so the consumer allow-list cannot hide one.
+mkdir -p "$root/lib"
+printf '%s\n' '#!/usr/bin/env bash' 'CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh' >"$root/lib/facts.sh"
+track; declared_not_exempt() { SCAN_ROOT="$root" no_unlisted; }
+check "a shim consumer that DECLARES a client is not exempt" 1 "lib/facts.sh" \
+  declared_not_exempt
+rm -f "$root/lib/facts.sh"; track
+track
+check "...and the tree is green again once it is gone" 0 "" clean_tree_passes
+
+# UNTRACKED input is not source. ci.yml extracts shellcheck and actionlint
+# tarballs into the checkout before the suite runs, and a developer cache sits
+# there too; parsing either is a false red on something outside the repository
+# property (@codex-reviewer-andresmgsl, #200 review — reproduced with one file).
+printf 'CEREMONY_FORGE_CLIENT=gh\n' >"$root/local-tool-cache.txt"
+check "an UNTRACKED marker-bearing file is ignored" 0 "" clean_tree_passes
+check "...and is still ignored once it carries a decision" 0 "" clean_tree_passes
+track
+check "...but the moment it is TRACKED the guard sees it" 1 "local-tool-cache.txt" \
+  clean_tree_passes
+git -C "$root" rm -q --cached local-tool-cache.txt 2>/dev/null
+rm -f "$root/local-tool-cache.txt"
+check "...and removing it restores green" 0 "" clean_tree_passes
+
+# Path matching, both boundaries.
+check "a directory entry does not match a sibling with the same prefix" 1 "" \
+  in_inventory drills-old/0.4.1.md
+check "a file entry does not match a longer path" 1 "" in_inventory lib/forge.sh.backup
+check "...while the real ones still match" 0 "" in_inventory drills/0.4.1.md
+
+summary