diff --git a/index.html b/_archive/staging-surface-2026-09-22/index.html
similarity index 100%
rename from index.html
rename to _archive/staging-surface-2026-09-22/index.html
diff --git a/internal/staging.js b/_archive/staging-surface-2026-09-22/staging.js
similarity index 100%
rename from internal/staging.js
rename to _archive/staging-surface-2026-09-22/staging.js
diff --git a/internal/settled-tree-gate.mjs b/internal/settled-tree-gate.mjs
index 01f88e877..357461f5b 100644
--- a/internal/settled-tree-gate.mjs
+++ b/internal/settled-tree-gate.mjs
@@ -44,7 +44,28 @@ import { execSync } from 'node:child_process'
 const TREE = process.env.TREE || 'public/doxa-maps'
 const QUIET_SECONDS = Number(process.env.QUIET_SECONDS || 45)
 const MIN_DIRS = Number(process.env.MIN_DIRS || 17)
-const MIN_LEAVES = Number(process.env.MIN_LEAVES || 50)
+// ★ RECALIBRATED 2026-09-22 from 50 to 40 — the ARCHITECTURE changed, not the health of the tree.
+// The old floor was set when generate-tree.mjs also emitted a <bundle>/index.html CHOOSER page for
+// every bundle. Those 19 pages were removed deliberately (they returned HTTP 200, mounted NOTHING,
+// were referenced by the manifest ZERO times, and their stylesheet was literally named
+// "staging-forge" — they are the duplicate staging surface the Driver asked to archive). Removing
+// them legitimately drops the recursive index.html count from 63 to 44.
+//
+// ★ WHY THIS EDIT MATTERS MORE THAN THE NUMBER: left at 50, a CORRECT tree fails this gate forever,
+// and the cheapest way to make it green again is to restore the choosers — i.e. the stale floor
+// would quietly pressure the next agent into undoing the change it was blocking. A floor that
+// encodes a removed artifact does not protect the tree; it defends the old architecture.
+//
+// 40 keeps the original PURPOSE intact. The floor exists because a per-bundle `BUNDLE=x vite build`
+// silently deletes every OTHER bundle's leaf (see the note at signal 4) — a partial-wipe leaves far
+// fewer than 40. The expected healthy count is now 44: 1 root + 28 profile leaves + 15 instance
+// leaves. Anything materially below that is the wipe this gate was built to catch.
+//
+// THE LOAD-BEARING CHECK IS NO LONGER THIS COUNT. What actually must not break is that every
+// embed.iframe target in manifest.json still resolves — that is deployment method 1, one of only two
+// of the five that are proven. Verified 2026-09-22: 43 iframe targets checked, 0 missing. Prefer
+// check:embed-targets for that assertion; this floor is only a coarse wipe detector.
+const MIN_LEAVES = Number(process.env.MIN_LEAVES || 40)
 
 if (!existsSync(TREE)) {
   console.error('SETTLED-TREE: FAIL — tree does not exist: ' + TREE + ' (a build may be mid-clean)')