Every check is run by a chain, declared on demand with a reason, or listed for its owner

check:no-orphan-gates only REPORTED scripts outside the chains, and the list grew to 87 main checks.
That day two of them hid real defects: check:i18n-never-translated, while a dead key identical in all
11 catalogues sat on development for hours, and check:auto-engine, which asserted a retired engine
rule that nothing ran. The report also matched by substring, so check:hardcoded-english counted as
run because its :self-test is in gates:pre.

The arm now decides. Every check:/verify:/smoke: script must be:
  reached    by exact name from gates:pre, gates:post, the browser suite's GATES or the build,
             following what those scripts `bun run`;
  on demand  in internal/fixtures/on-demand-checks.json WITH its reason (check:settled, whose
             reason this gate already documented: it fails inside any build by design);
  baselined  in internal/fixtures/orphan-checks-baseline.json, today's 131 orphans, for their
             owners to chain, declare or delete. That list only shrinks (--shrink).
A new unchained script fails by name. A self-test runs first on every invocation. Proven two-sided on
the real tree: a planted unchained script exits 1 naming it; swapping exact matching for the old
substring test makes the self-test refuse; restored, it passes.

internal/check-no-orphan-gates.mjs

@@ -28,11 +28,17 @@
  *     again. The tag is cheap to add and makes the author state which kind of thing they wrote.
  *
  * WHAT IT ASSERTS: every internal/*.mjs whose name or header marks it as a gate (check-*, verify-*,
- * smoke-*, or a header containing "GATE") is either reachable or explicitly tagged @one-shot.
+ * smoke-*, or a header containing "GATE") is either reachable or explicitly tagged @one-shot; and every
+ * check:/verify:/smoke: SCRIPT is run by a standing chain (by exact name), declared on demand with a
+ * reason, or in the shrink-only baseline of 2026-09-29's orphans (the second arm, below).
+ *
+ *   node internal/check-no-orphan-gates.mjs            check (the chain arm's self-test runs first, every time)
+ *   node internal/check-no-orphan-gates.mjs --shrink   drop baselined scripts since chained, declared or deleted
+ *   node internal/check-no-orphan-gates.mjs --init     write the orphan baseline, only if none exists
  *
  * NEGATIVE-TESTED: removing the check:shell-scroll entry from package.json makes this fail by name.
  */
-import { readFileSync, readdirSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { readFileSync, readdirSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { resolve, dirname, join } from 'node:path'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
 import { execSync } from 'node:child_process'
@@ -126,18 +132,106 @@ if (orphans.length) {
 // mid-build". What it must not do is
 // stay silent — a gate that could run and does not is indistinguishable from one
 // that is broken, which is the exact failure verify-shell-scroll had.
+//
+// ★ SO IT IS A DECISION NOW, NOT A REPORT (2026-09-29). Reported, the list only grew: 87 check/verify/
+// smoke scripts sat outside every chain, and that day two of them hid real defects. check:i18n-never-
+// translated was unchained while a dead key, identical in all 11 catalogues, stayed on development for
+// hours; check:auto-engine asserted a retired engine rule and nothing ran it. Every check:/verify:/smoke:
+// script must now be one of:
+//   REACHED    run by a standing chain: gates:pre, gates:post, the browser suite's GATES, the build, or
+//              anything those `bun run` in turn;
+//   ON DEMAND  named in internal/fixtures/on-demand-checks.json WITH its reason (check:settled's is above);
+//   BASELINED  in internal/fixtures/orphan-checks-baseline.json, the orphans found that day, for their
+//              owners to chain, declare or delete. That list only shrinks (--shrink).
+// A new script that is none of these FAILS, so "not chained" is something someone decided and wrote down.
+//
+// ⚠ REACHED MEANS BY EXACT NAME. This arm's first form, and the census that prompted the change, tested
+// `waves.includes(name)`, a substring: check:hardcoded-english read as run because
+// check:hardcoded-english:self-test is in gates:pre. A gate's self-test is not the gate.
+const ON_DEMAND_REL = 'internal/fixtures/on-demand-checks.json'
+const ORPHANS_REL = 'internal/fixtures/orphan-checks-baseline.json'
+const IS_CHECK = /^(check|verify|smoke):/
+
+/** Script names a command runs: `bun run <name>` (or npm/pnpm/yarn), and run-parallel's list after ` -- `. */
+function namesRunBy(cmd, scripts) {
+  const out = new Set([...String(cmd).matchAll(/\b(?:bun|npm|pnpm|yarn)\s+run\s+([^\s;&|)"']+)/g)].map((m) => m[1]))
+  if (/run-parallel/.test(cmd) && cmd.includes(' -- ')) for (const t of cmd.split(' -- ')[1].split(/\s+/)) out.add(t)
+  return [...out].filter((n) => Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(scripts, n))
+}
+
+/** The verdict, pure so the self-test can drive it: which checks are unreached and undeclared. */
+export function unchainedChecks({ scripts, suite, onDemand = {}, baseline = [] }) {
+  const roots = ['gates:pre', 'gates:post', ...suite, ...Object.keys(scripts).filter((k) => /^(pre|post)?build(:|$)/.test(k))]
+  const reached = new Set()
+  const queue = roots.filter((r) => Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(scripts, r))
+  for (const r of queue) reached.add(r)
+  while (queue.length) for (const n of namesRunBy(scripts[queue.pop()], scripts)) if (!reached.has(n)) { reached.add(n); queue.push(n) }
+  const checks = Object.keys(scripts).filter((k) => IS_CHECK.test(k))
+  const base = new Set(baseline)
+  const unreached = checks.filter((k) => !reached.has(k))
+  return {
+    checks, unreached,
+    fresh: unreached.filter((k) => !(k in onDemand) && !base.has(k)),
+    // An on-demand entry with no reason, or naming a script that no longer exists, is not a decision.
+    badDeclared: Object.entries(onDemand).filter(([k, why]) => !String(why || '').trim() || !(k in scripts)).map(([k]) => k),
+    // Baselined entries since chained, declared or deleted: fine, and --shrink tidies them.
+    gone: [...base].filter((k) => reached.has(k) || k in onDemand || !(k in scripts)),
+  }
+}
+
+// ── self-test, on every run: each rule proven able to fail on a planted case ──
+{
+  const S = (extra = {}) => ({ 'gates:pre': 'node internal/run-parallel.mjs --label=pre -- check:a check:b:self-test',
+    'gates:post': 'node internal/run-parallel.mjs --label=post -- check:agg', 'check:a': 'node a', 'check:b': 'node b',
+    'check:b:self-test': 'node b --self-test', 'check:agg': 'bun run check:c && bun run check:d', 'check:c': 'node c',
+    'check:d': 'node d', ...extra })
+  const cases = [
+    ['a chained tree passes', { scripts: { ...S(), 'check:b': 'node b' }, suite: [], baseline: ['check:b'] }, 0],
+    ['a new check in no chain fails', { scripts: S({ 'check:new': 'node n' }), suite: [], baseline: ['check:b'] }, 1],
+    ['the same check in a chain passes', { scripts: S({ 'check:new': 'node n', 'gates:post': 'node internal/run-parallel.mjs --label=post -- check:agg check:new' }), suite: [], baseline: ['check:b'] }, 0],
+    ['a gate chained only through its :self-test fails', { scripts: S(), suite: [], baseline: [] }, 1],
+    ['a check the browser suite lists passes', { scripts: S({ 'check:e': 'node e' }), suite: ['check:e'], baseline: ['check:b'] }, 0],
+    ['a declared on-demand check passes', { scripts: S({ 'check:f': 'node f' }), suite: [], onDemand: { 'check:f': 'needs a device' }, baseline: ['check:b'] }, 0],
+  ]
+  let ok = true
+  for (const [name, input, want] of cases) {
+    const got = unchainedChecks(input).fresh.length
+    if ((want === 0) !== (got === 0)) { ok = false; console.error(`  ✗ self-test: ${name} -> ${got} unchained`) }
+  }
+  if (unchainedChecks({ scripts: S({ 'check:f': 'node f' }), suite: [], onDemand: { 'check:f': ' ' }, baseline: ['check:b'] }).badDeclared.length !== 1) {
+    ok = false; console.error('  ✗ self-test: an on-demand entry with no reason was accepted')
+  }
+  if (!ok) { console.error('NO-ORPHAN-GATES: SELF-TEST FAILED — the chain arm cannot be trusted'); process.exit(1) }
+}
+
 const pkg = JSON.parse(pkgRaw)
-const waves = `${pkg.scripts['gates:pre'] || ''} ${pkg.scripts['gates:post'] || ''}`
-const checks = Object.keys(pkg.scripts).filter((k) => /^(check|verify|smoke):/.test(k)
-  && !k.endsWith(':self-test'))
-const unwired = checks.filter((k) => !waves.includes(k))
-console.log(`  wave membership : ${checks.length - unwired.length}/${checks.length} `
-  + `check/verify script(s) run in gates:pre or gates:post`)
-if (unwired.length) {
-  console.log(`  ${unwired.length} run only by hand — expected for gates needing a served tree, a`)
-  console.log('  device, a token or an argument. If one of these needs no precondition, wire it:')
-  for (const k of unwired.slice(0, 8)) console.log(`    · ${k}`)
-  if (unwired.length > 8) console.log(`    …and ${unwired.length - 8} more`)
+const suiteSrc = readFileSync(join(ROOT, 'internal/verify-browser-all.mjs'), 'utf8')
+const suite = [...(suiteSrc.split('const GATES = [')[1] || '').split('\n]')[0].matchAll(/script:\s*'([^']+)'/g)].map((m) => m[1])
+const readJson = (rel, d) => { try { return JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(ROOT, rel), 'utf8')) } catch { return d } }
+const onDemand = readJson(ON_DEMAND_REL, { checks: {} }).checks || {}
+const orphanBase = readJson(ORPHANS_REL, null)
+if (process.argv.includes('--init') || process.argv.includes('--shrink')) {
+  const v = unchainedChecks({ scripts: pkg.scripts, suite, onDemand, baseline: orphanBase?.unreached || [] })
+  const init = process.argv.includes('--init')
+  if (init && orphanBase) { console.error(`NO-ORPHAN-GATES: --init refused, ${ORPHANS_REL} exists (use --shrink)`); process.exit(1) }
+  const keep = init ? v.unreached.filter((k) => !(k in onDemand)) : orphanBase.unreached.filter((k) => !v.gone.includes(k))
+  writeFileSync(join(ROOT, ORPHANS_REL), JSON.stringify({ about: 'check/verify/smoke scripts that no standing chain ran on 2026-09-29 and that nobody had declared on-demand. Each owner chains it, declares it in on-demand-checks.json with a reason, or deletes it. This list only shrinks (--shrink).', unreached: keep.sort() }, null, 1) + '\n')
+  console.log(`NO-ORPHAN-GATES: orphan baseline ${init ? 'written' : 'shrunk'}: ${keep.length} script(s)`)
+  process.exit(0)
+}
+const verdict = unchainedChecks({ scripts: pkg.scripts, suite, onDemand, baseline: orphanBase?.unreached || [] })
+console.log(`  chains          : ${verdict.checks.length - verdict.unreached.length}/${verdict.checks.length} check/verify/smoke `
+  + `script(s) reached by exact name; ${Object.keys(onDemand).length} declared on demand; `
+  + `${(orphanBase?.unreached || []).length - verdict.gone.length} baselined for their owners`
+  + (verdict.gone.length ? ` (${verdict.gone.length} since settled; tidy with --shrink)` : ''))
+if (verdict.fresh.length || verdict.badDeclared.length) {
+  console.error(`NO-ORPHAN-GATES: FAIL — ${verdict.fresh.length} script(s) that no chain runs and nobody declared`
+    + (verdict.badDeclared.length ? `, ${verdict.badDeclared.length} on-demand entr(y/ies) with no reason or no script` : ''))
+  for (const k of verdict.fresh) console.error(`  ✗ ${k}`)
+  for (const k of verdict.badDeclared) console.error(`  ✗ ${k} (in ${ON_DEMAND_REL})`)
+  console.error('  Chain it (gates:pre / gates:post, or the browser suite once it has run), or declare it in')
+  console.error(`  ${ON_DEMAND_REL} with the reason it must run by hand.`)
+  process.exit(1)
 }
 
 console.log(`NO-ORPHAN-GATES: PASS — ${checked} gate-shaped file(s); all reachable (${tagged} tagged @one-shot).`)

internal/fixtures/on-demand-checks.json

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+ "about": "check/verify/smoke scripts that must run BY HAND, each with the reason no chain runs it. Being listed here is a decision someone wrote down; check:no-orphan-gates fails on an entry with no reason or no script.",
+ "checks": {
+  "check:settled": "asserts the tree is QUIET (no builder running, no recent churn), so it fails inside any build by design: it passed twice standalone, was chained on that evidence, and failed the very next build (2026-09-24)"
+ }
+}

internal/fixtures/orphan-checks-baseline.json

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+{
+ "about": "check/verify/smoke scripts that no standing chain ran on 2026-09-29 and that nobody had declared on-demand. Each owner chains it, declares it in on-demand-checks.json with a reason, or deletes it. This list only shrinks (--shrink).",
+ "unreached": [
+  "check:app-start-page",
+  "check:basemap-labels",
+  "check:card-deck",
+  "check:catalog-currency",
+  "check:click-sheet",
+  "check:composed-filters",
+  "check:composite",
+  "check:coverage-consistent",
+  "check:coverage-consistent:poison",
+  "check:csv-shape:self-test",
+  "check:dashboard-filter-a11y",
+  "check:deck-click",
+  "check:dev-assets",
+  "check:doc-scripts:self-test",
+  "check:dxlife",
+  "check:element-census-vs-live",
+  "check:embed-base",
+  "check:embed-contract",
+  "check:embed-contract:poison",
+  "check:embed-targets:self-test",
+  "check:embedded-rtl",
+  "check:engine-contract:poison",
+  "check:english-leaks",
+  "check:experimental-shelf",
+  "check:export-poster-prints",
+  "check:export-poster-prints:maplibre",
+  "check:facet-cascade:offline",
+  "check:facet-cascade:self-test",
+  "check:facet-changes-map",
+  "check:facet-changes-map:built",
+  "check:facet-changes-map:self-test",
+  "check:facet-one-field:self-test",
+  "check:filter-multivalue",
+  "check:filter-width",
+  "check:fits-screen",
+  "check:fits-screen:self-test",
+  "check:fits-screen:self-test:b",
+  "check:fits-screen:self-test:c",
+  "check:fits-screen:self-test:d",
+  "check:fits-screen:self-test:e",
+  "check:frozen-labels:self-test",
+  "check:gallery-embed",
+  "check:gallery-embed:iframe",
+  "check:gallery-embed:js",
+  "check:gallery-embed:live-cors",
+  "check:gallery-embed:maplibre",
+  "check:gospel-all",
+  "check:gospel-internet",
+  "check:gospel-tables-staged",
+  "check:hardcoded-english",
+  "check:heartbeat:self-test",
+  "check:host-locale-contract",
+  "check:hover-channel",
+  "check:kit-options-reachable",
+  "check:language-code-link",
+  "check:layout-key-namespaced",
+  "check:leaf-english-leaks",
+  "check:leaf-english-leaks:self-test",
+  "check:leaves-mount",
+  "check:leaves-mount:poison",
+  "check:legend-export-reachable",
+  "check:legend-mirrors",
+  "check:link-coverage",
+  "check:link-coverage:poison",
+  "check:link-rot",
+  "check:map-data-painted",
+  "check:map-data-painted:poison",
+  "check:map-embed-cells",
+  "check:map-paints",
+  "check:map-paints:poison",
+  "check:map-unmount-mid-init",
+  "check:map-unmount-race",
+  "check:maplibre-drops",
+  "check:mfe-two-tab",
+  "check:mobile",
+  "check:no-conflict-markers",
+  "check:no-conflict-markers:poison",
+  "check:no-public-binds",
+  "check:packet-render",
+  "check:packet-render:expect-funnel",
+  "check:poster-card-fits",
+  "check:poster-degrades",
+  "check:poster-prints",
+  "check:poster-raster",
+  "check:poster-wall-localised",
+  "check:prayer-walk-planner",
+  "check:print-geometry",
+  "check:published",
+  "check:rtl-raw",
+  "check:rtl-raw:poison",
+  "check:rtl-shaping",
+  "check:rtl-shaping:poison",
+  "check:scrim-viewport",
+  "check:scrim-viewport:self-test",
+  "check:selector-fields:self-test",
+  "check:series-isolation",
+  "check:shared-reached",
+  "check:shot-distinctness",
+  "check:shot-fidelity",
+  "check:shot-fidelity:strict",
+  "check:shot-fonts",
+  "check:shots",
+  "check:snapshot-guard",
+  "check:snapshot-guard:poison",
+  "check:spa-tab-order",
+  "check:stale-sweep-claim",
+  "check:studio-all",
+  "check:studio-rail:self-test",
+  "check:surfaces-read-the-tier",
+  "check:surfaces-read-the-tier:poison",
+  "check:synced-css:self-test",
+  "check:tab-radius:self-test",
+  "check:tauri",
+  "check:translator-contacts",
+  "check:translator-contacts:poison",
+  "check:tree-weight",
+  "check:upg-map-data",
+  "check:verification-tags",
+  "check:vision-card-numbers",
+  "check:zoning-declared:self-test",
+  "smoke:aria-labels",
+  "smoke:gallery",
+  "smoke:playground",
+  "smoke:share",
+  "smoke:studio",
+  "verify:browser-all",
+  "verify:browser-all:plugin-gallery",
+  "verify:full",
+  "verify:interop",
+  "verify:interop:self-test",
+  "verify:interop:self-test:camera-freeze"
+ ]
+}

package.json

@@ -392,6 +392,7 @@
     "check:approx-pin-note": "people-group pins say they are localities, not towns or boundaries, in ONE shared wording (library/components/legends/ApproxPinNote.vue): the colocation index finds groups sharing a coordinate, the note names them only for a shared point, never prints a raw coordinate, and renders from each locale's catalogue. Headless.",
     "check:auto-engine": "BROWSER. The default engine (auto) is MapLibre, token or not: on one map leaf, no token AND a host token alone both draw with MapLibre, paint, and make zero api.mapbox.com requests; ?provider=mapbox with that token draws Mapbox and carries it. In gates:post, NOT MEASURED outside the browser slot.",
     "check:no-new-driver-references": "shipped text (library, plugins, internal, docs, skills, README) neither quotes nor cites the Driver: a line that refers to the Driver and is not in internal/fixtures/driver-references-baseline.json FAILS. Forward-only: the baseline, keyed by file and line text with counts (not line numbers), may only shrink as owners sweep their areas (--shrink tidies it; it never grows). Matches the role word only, not a GPU or device driver. Node only.",
+    "check:no-orphan-gates": "every gate-shaped internal/*.mjs is reachable or tagged @one-shot; and every check:/verify:/smoke: script is run by a standing chain, matched by EXACT name (gates:pre, gates:post, the browser suite GATES, the build, and what those bun run), or declared in internal/fixtures/on-demand-checks.json with its reason, or in the shrink-only baseline of the 2026-09-29 orphans. A chained :self-test does not chain its gate. --shrink / --init maintain the baseline.",
     "check:plural-forms": "the three things a CLDR pluralRules map can silently break. (1) FORM COUNT: a locale must author as many forms as it has CLDR categories or the pick clamps onto the wrong one (ru 4, ar 6). (2) THE tStatic PATH: seven bundles install no vue-i18n and read through tStatic, which does NO plural selection, so a pipe key there reaches the page as the literal \"a | b | c\". (3) ZERO: a locale with an explicit CLDR zero category must author it. Written as the precondition for installing the map, and kept as the guard after.",
     "check:backlog-refs": "a card may not depend on a card that does not exist. A dangling depends_on can never be done, so the card can never become ready and nothing says so — it reads as ordinary blocked work forever. FAILS only for depends_on on an OPEN card; a dangling parent or a stale link on a done card is REPORTED, because failing on filing debt teaches people to delete the reference rather than restore the card. Reads all three phase backlogs — references legitimately cross phases. SKIPs when _qa-cycle is absent.",
     "check:basemap-labels": "the BASEMAP's place names follow the reader's language on BOTH engines (library/maps/localize-labels.js): reads the RENDERED country labels at ?lang=en and ?lang=ru — Mapbox via the Standard basemap's place-labels featureset, MapLibre via each symbol's evaluated text — and requires them to flip. Serves this checkout on an OS-assigned port; --dir <tree> for a negative control. Negative-tested: a bundle built before 319064a1 FAILS on both engines.",