diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 18fbf777..87ef68f4 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ green **before** any merge, release, or handing work to review.
 - Full gate: `bash scripts/check.sh` (`lint` for the static lanes only); the private ops dispatcher's `siftlode check` runs the same script. Single lanes: [`docs/development.md`](docs/development.md) § The gate.
 - **There is no CI** (owner, 2026-10-04): this gate, run here, is the only one — green before every hand-over, and `release` refuses to merge without it.
 - **A gate with any real hit is never switched off or narrowed** — not a lint rule, a compiler flag, a lane or a release step. Fix the sites, or suppress each one inline naming its invariant (`-- why`, lint-enforced). What stays narrowed is in [`docs/gates.md`](docs/gates.md), and a contract test fails when a narrowing is missing from it. The effective ESLint config of every scope and the gate/lane lines are pinned in `frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json`: any gate change fails until you regenerate it (`GATE_SNAPSHOT=update`, see gates.md) — then read that diff as a gate change. A comment saying "X is enforced by Y" is checked by running Y (E32: one such comment hid 95 functions the React Compiler skipped).
-- **The backend type lane runs in the test image, not on the host** — `requirements.lock` cannot be installed on Windows (uvloop), and a type checker without the real packages reports nonsense. It fails on NEW errors only; the pre-existing ones sit in `backend/.basedpyright/baseline.json` (no burn-down mandate: E34 found none of them a real bug). A run that fixed some rewrites it — commit that.
+- **The backend type lane runs in the test image, not on the host** — `requirements.lock` cannot be installed on Windows (uvloop), and a type checker without the real packages reports nonsense. It fails on NEW errors only; the pre-existing ones sit in `backend/.basedpyright/baseline.json` (no burn-down mandate, but none was ever triaged: a `reportOptional*` entry in code you touch may be a real bug). A run that fixed some rewrites it — commit that.
 - New DB-backed test? It must actually run, not silently skip — assume `SIFTLODE_TEST_REQUIRE_DB=1`.
 
 ## Workflow
diff --git a/docs/gates.md b/docs/gates.md
index 9440c3ef..fc88f61e 100644
--- a/docs/gates.md
+++ b/docs/gates.md
@@ -94,14 +94,14 @@ project checks needs a row.
 | Scope | Narrowed | Why | Measured |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
 | backend/app + alembic | `typeCheckingMode` — `standard` | Not `strict`/`all`: those report on every untyped third-party boundary (SQLAlchemy rows, yt-dlp dicts) — thousands of findings, near-zero real ones. `standard` was measured at 7 findings, all fixed (E32 S1). | — |
-| backend/app + alembic | `baseline.json` — pre-existing errors absorbed | The lane fails on NEW errors only; the baseline only shrinks (the lane fails when a run tightens it and it is not committed). Matching is per (file, rule, column span) + count. No burn-down mandate (E35): E34 read the 7 standard-mode findings and none was a real bug, so the entries go when their code is touched, not as work of their own. | 195 entries (E32 S1); 176 (E35) |
+| backend/app + alembic | `baseline.json` — pre-existing errors absorbed | The lane fails on NEW errors only; the baseline only shrinks (the lane fails when a run tightens it and it is not committed). Matching is per (file, rule, column span) + count. No burn-down mandate (E35): the entries go when their code is touched, not as work of their own. None of them was ever triaged one by one (the 7 findings E34 read were the `standard` ones above, fixed and not in the baseline), so an entry is not known to be harmless — the `reportOptional*` ones (24 in E35) are the likeliest real bugs; read one before re-baselining code around it. | 195 entries (E32 S1); 176 (E35) |
 | tests/ | not type-checked | A test's job is to fail loudly when wrong — the opposite of the silent runtime failure this lane catches — and annotating fixtures for a checker is churn. | — |
 
 ## pytest (backend)
 
 | Scope | Narrowed | Why | Measured |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| a hand run | `SIFTLODE_TEST_REQUIRE_DB=0` — the DB-backed and ffmpeg tests skip | The explicit "pure-logic only" run for a machine without Postgres. Off by default since E32: without it a missing DB is a hard error; the gate and CI never set it. | — |
+| a hand run | `SIFTLODE_TEST_REQUIRE_DB=0` — the DB-backed and ffmpeg tests skip | The explicit "pure-logic only" run for a machine without Postgres. Off by default since E32: without it a missing DB is a hard error; the gate never sets it. | — |
 
 ## Lanes and pipeline
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/buttonPrimitive.contract.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/buttonPrimitive.contract.test.ts
index 9e74a016..7d5f69b3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/buttonPrimitive.contract.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/buttonPrimitive.contract.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
-import { eslint } from "./lintProbe.testkit";
+import { eslint, uiFiles } from "./lintProbe.testkit";
 
 // `local/button-primitive` (eslint.config.js): one primitive per button family (docs/DESIGN.md).
 // 268 hand-rolled buttons were swept onto ui/Button, IconButton, Pressable, Chip and
@@ -43,6 +43,37 @@ describe("a hand-rolled button", () => {
     ).toBe(0);
   });
 
+  // The primitive list lives in the rule body, where neither the gate snapshot nor docs/gates.md
+  // sees it, so this holds it to exactly these files of ui/.
+  it("is allowed in exactly the control primitives of ui/", { timeout: 60_000 }, async () => {
+    const allowed: string[] = [];
+    for (const file of uiFiles())
+      if (
+        (await hits(
+          'export const R = () => <button type="button">x</button>;\n',
+          `src/components/ui/${file}`,
+        )) === 0
+      )
+        allowed.push(file);
+    expect(allowed).toEqual([
+      "AnchoredPopover.tsx",
+      "Button.tsx",
+      "Chip.tsx",
+      "Combobox.tsx",
+      "DragHandle.tsx",
+      "FilterSelect.tsx",
+      "FocusSafeButton.tsx",
+      "IconButton.tsx",
+      "Pressable.tsx",
+      "PriorityStepper.tsx",
+      "SegmentedToggle.tsx",
+      "SelectTrigger.tsx",
+      "SortControl.tsx",
+      "Tabs.tsx",
+      "form.tsx",
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("is refused spelled as an element with the button role; a component's role is its own", async () => {
     expect(await hits('export const F = () => <div role="button" tabIndex={0}>x</div>;\n')).toBe(1);
     expect(await hits('export const G = () => <span role="button">x</span>;\n')).toBe(1);
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/focusSafe.contract.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/focusSafe.contract.test.ts
index 21f272d4..c00a9588 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/focusSafe.contract.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/focusSafe.contract.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
-import { eslint } from "./lintProbe.testkit";
+import { eslint, uiFiles } from "./lintProbe.testkit";
 
 // `local/button-primitive`'s disabled check (eslint.config.js): a raw `<button disabled>` throws a
 // focused keyboard user to <body> the moment it turns disabled. ~60 were swept onto ui/FocusSafeButton;
@@ -34,4 +34,13 @@ describe("a raw button that can be disabled", () => {
     expect(await hits(DISABLED, "src/components/ui/FocusSafeButton.tsx")).toBe(0);
     expect(await hits(DISABLED, "src/components/ui/AnchoredPopover.tsx")).toBe(0);
   });
+
+  // The exemption lives in the rule body, where neither the gate snapshot nor docs/gates.md sees it,
+  // so this holds it to exactly those two: every other file in ui/ is refused.
+  it("is exempt in exactly those two of the ui/ files", { timeout: 60_000 }, async () => {
+    const exempt: string[] = [];
+    for (const file of uiFiles())
+      if ((await hits(DISABLED, `src/components/ui/${file}`)) === 0) exempt.push(file);
+    expect(exempt).toEqual(["AnchoredPopover.tsx", "FocusSafeButton.tsx"]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json b/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json
index 32aeb2bd..0dcf7ed0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json
@@ -1323,10 +1323,15 @@
       "  rm -f \"$out\"",
       "}",
       "brief_excerpt() {",
-      "  local hits",
-      "  hits=\"$(grep -v -E '^testdb-[0-9]+ ' \"$1\" |",
-      "    grep -E -i -A 2 -m 20 'error|fail|✗|×|warn|would reformat|unused|vulnerab|found [0-9]')\"",
-      "  if [ -n \"$hits\" ]; then printf '%s\\n' \"$hits\"; else tail -n 20 \"$1\"; fi",
+      "  local log hits",
+      "  log=\"$(grep -v -E '^testdb-[0-9]+ ' \"$1\")\"",
+      "  if [ \"$(printf '%s\\n' \"$log\" | wc -l)\" -le 60 ]; then",
+      "    printf '%s\\n' \"$log\"",
+      "    return",
+      "  fi",
+      "  hits=\"$(printf '%s\\n' \"$log\" |",
+      "    grep -E -i -B 1 -A 2 -m 20 'error|fail|✗|×|warn|would reformat|unused|vulnerab|found [0-9]')\"",
+      "  if [ -n \"$hits\" ]; then printf '%s\\n' \"$hits\"; else printf '%s\\n' \"$log\" | tail -n 20; fi",
       "}",
       "ruff_pinned() {",
       "  local pin host",
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/lintProbe.testkit.ts b/frontend/src/lib/lintProbe.testkit.ts
index f66fecaf..40b433cc 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/lintProbe.testkit.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/lintProbe.testkit.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { readdirSync } from "node:fs";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
 import { ESLint } from "eslint";
@@ -35,6 +36,12 @@ export const eslint = new ESLint({
   },
 });
 
+/** Every component file in ui/, by name — for a probe that pins which of them a rule exempts. */
+export const uiFiles = (): string[] =>
+  readdirSync(new URL("../components/ui/", import.meta.url))
+    .filter((f) => f.endsWith(".tsx") && !f.includes(".test."))
+    .sort();
+
 beforeAll(async () => {
   await eslint.lintText("", { filePath: "src/components/__probe.tsx" });
 }, 60_000);
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/planCodes.contract.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/planCodes.contract.test.ts
index 5547c7cb..228a8be3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/planCodes.contract.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/planCodes.contract.test.ts
@@ -19,15 +19,24 @@ const ALLOWED = new Set([
   "frontend/src/lib/planCodes.contract.test.ts",
   "scripts/audit_metrics.py",
 ]);
+// Named exceptions, cut from a line before it is matched: a test show's episode titled "E1" (the
+// whole string, quotes included) and ruff's default rule families. Anything else that looks like a
+// code is one — a docstring or a test title opening with `"""E30:` / `it("E36:` included.
+const NOT_CODES = /"E\d{1,2}"|\bE4\/E7\/E9\b/g;
 const PLAN_CODES = [
-  // an epic (`E28`, `E9.5`) or an older roadmap item (`R14`) — not `E2E`, not a ruff rule family
-  // (`E4/E7/E9`), not a TV episode (`S2 · E5`, a test show's episode titled "E1")
-  /(?<!S\d{1,2}\s?·?\s?)(?<![/"])\b(?:E\d{1,2}(?:\.\d+)?|R\d{1,2})\b(?![/"E])/,
+  // an epic (`E28`, `E9.5`, `E28/E30`) or an older roadmap item (`R14`) — not `E2E`, not a TV
+  // episode (`S2 · E5`)
+  /(?<!S\d{1,2}\s?·?\s?)\b(?:E\d{1,2}(?:\.\d+)?|R\d{1,2})\b(?!E)/,
   // a sprint cited on its own (`(S6)`, `S3e2`) or a review round (`round 4`, `deep-review`) — not
   // `S3h`, the media-card decision docs/DESIGN.md is headed by and the design lab labels
   /\(S\d{1,2}[a-z]?\d?\)|\bS(?!3h\b)\d{1,2}[a-z]\d?\b|\b[Rr]ound[ -]\d|deep-review/,
 ];
 
+const isPlanCode = (line: string) => {
+  const rest = line.replace(NOT_CODES, "");
+  return PLAN_CODES.some((re) => re.test(rest));
+};
+
 function tracked(): string[] {
   const out = execFileSync(
     "git",
@@ -44,15 +53,34 @@ function tracked(): string[] {
 }
 
 describe("plan codes", () => {
+  it("are recognised in every form a citation takes", () => {
+    const cited = [
+      '"""E30: the new sink.',
+      'it("E36: keeps x", () => {',
+      "// both sides (E28/E30)",
+      "# the roadmap's R6/R7 pair",
+      "// held since E9.5",
+      "// (S6) moved it",
+      "// deep-review round 4 found it",
+    ];
+    const clean = [
+      'title="E1",',
+      "# ruff's default rule set (E4/E7/E9 + F)",
+      "// an E2E run",
+      "// S2 · E5 is the second episode",
+      "// the S3h media card",
+    ];
+    expect(cited.filter((l) => !isPlanCode(l))).toEqual([]);
+    expect(clean.filter(isPlanCode)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("are not cited in the code", () => {
     const files = tracked();
     expect(files.length).toBeGreaterThan(1000); // a scan that reads nothing is green over nothing
     const hits = files.flatMap((f) =>
       readFileSync(new URL(f, REPO), "utf-8")
         .split("\n")
-        .flatMap((line, i) =>
-          PLAN_CODES.some((re) => re.test(line)) ? [`${f}:${i + 1}: ${line.trim()}`] : [],
-        ),
+        .flatMap((line, i) => (isPlanCode(line) ? [`${f}:${i + 1}: ${line.trim()}`] : [])),
     );
     expect(hits).toEqual([]);
   });
diff --git a/scripts/audit_metrics.py b/scripts/audit_metrics.py
index 93b12e0c..c9c02aa1 100644
--- a/scripts/audit_metrics.py
+++ b/scripts/audit_metrics.py
@@ -28,9 +28,11 @@ BE_COMPLEXITY = 10  # ruff's C901 default
 FE_COMPLEXITY = 20  # the frontend's line
 
 # what planCodes.contract.test.ts holds the code to: an epic (`E28`, `E9.5`) or a roadmap item (`R14`),
-# not `E2E`, not a ruff rule family (`E4/E7/E9`), not a TV episode (`S2 · E5`, an episode titled "E1")
-EPIC_CODE = re.compile(r'(?<![/"])\b(E\d{1,2}(\.\d+)?|R\d{1,2})\b(?![/"E])')
+# not `E2E`, not a TV episode (`S2 · E5`); NOT_CODES are its named exceptions, cut first (an episode
+# titled "E1", ruff's default `E4/E7/E9`)
+EPIC_CODE = re.compile(r"\b(E\d{1,2}(\.\d+)?|R\d{1,2})\b(?!E)")
 EPISODE = re.compile(r"S\d{1,2}\s?·?\s?E\d+")
+NOT_CODES = re.compile(r'"E\d{1,2}"|\bE4/E7/E9\b')
 NARRATION = re.compile(r"\b(used to|no longer)\b", re.IGNORECASE)
 
 
@@ -114,7 +116,12 @@ def _complexity() -> dict[str, object]:
 
 def _noise(be: list[tuple[Path, list[str]]], fe: list[tuple[Path, list[str]]]) -> dict[str, object]:
     every = be + fe
-    epic = [(p, ln) for p, ls in every for ln in ls if EPIC_CODE.search(EPISODE.sub("", ln))]
+    epic = [
+        (p, ln)
+        for p, ls in every
+        for ln in ls
+        if EPIC_CODE.search(NOT_CODES.sub("", EPISODE.sub("", ln)))
+    ]
     be_c = sum(_comment_lines(ls, True) for _, ls in be)
     fe_c = sum(_comment_lines(ls, False) for _, ls in fe)
     return {
diff --git a/scripts/check.sh b/scripts/check.sh
index 38daced2..1b66cf98 100644
--- a/scripts/check.sh
+++ b/scripts/check.sh
@@ -48,16 +48,23 @@ lane() { # lane <name> <command…> — run it, remember a failure, never stop
   fi
   rm -f "$out"
 }
-# The lines that say what broke: the first 20 error-looking ones, each with the two lines after it
-# (knip names the file on the line after "Unused files"); a log with none of them (a tool that
-# words its failures some other way) shows its tail instead, which is where a summary sits. The test
-# database's own log is left out: the DB lane provokes constraint errors on purpose, and its
-# `ERROR:` lines filled the excerpt ahead of the failing test.
+# What broke, in a log's own words. A short log is shown whole: a keyword filter keeps ruff's
+# summary line and drops the rule and file above it, and eslint's file path sits on a line of its
+# own above its errors. A long one shows its first 20 error-looking lines, each with the line before
+# it and the two after (knip names the file on the line after "Unused files"); a long log with none
+# of them shows its tail, which is where a summary sits. The test database's own log is left out:
+# the DB lane provokes constraint errors on purpose, and its `ERROR:` lines filled the excerpt ahead
+# of the failing test.
 brief_excerpt() {
-  local hits
-  hits="$(grep -v -E '^testdb-[0-9]+ ' "$1" |
-    grep -E -i -A 2 -m 20 'error|fail|✗|×|warn|would reformat|unused|vulnerab|found [0-9]')"
-  if [ -n "$hits" ]; then printf '%s\n' "$hits"; else tail -n 20 "$1"; fi
+  local log hits
+  log="$(grep -v -E '^testdb-[0-9]+ ' "$1")"
+  if [ "$(printf '%s\n' "$log" | wc -l)" -le 60 ]; then
+    printf '%s\n' "$log"
+    return
+  fi
+  hits="$(printf '%s\n' "$log" |
+    grep -E -i -B 1 -A 2 -m 20 'error|fail|✗|×|warn|would reformat|unused|vulnerab|found [0-9]')"
+  if [ -n "$hits" ]; then printf '%s\n' "$hits"; else printf '%s\n' "$log" | tail -n 20; fi
 }
 
 # --- static lanes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/scripts/lint-changed.sh b/scripts/lint-changed.sh
index f4feb716..817b48de 100644
--- a/scripts/lint-changed.sh
+++ b/scripts/lint-changed.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# The fast lint lanes on the uncommitted files only — ruff (check + format) on Python, eslint +
-# prettier on the frontend — for a check after every edit instead of a full gate run. It is a
-# convenience, never the gate: scripts/check.sh stays what a merge or a release requires.
+# The fast lint lanes on the uncommitted files only — ruff (check + format) on Python, eslint on the
+# frontend's code and prettier on all of the frontend — for a check after every edit instead of a
+# full gate run. It is a convenience, never the gate: scripts/check.sh stays what a merge or a
+# release requires.
 #
 #   bash scripts/lint-changed.sh          lint what `git status` shows as changed or new
 #   bash scripts/lint-changed.sh --hook   the same, as a Claude Code Stop hook: silent and exit 0 when
@@ -23,12 +24,19 @@ fi
 
 mapfile -t changed < <(git status --porcelain --untracked-files=all | sed -E 's/^.. //; s/.* -> //' |
   while read -r f; do [ -f "$f" ] && printf '%s\n' "$f"; done)
-py=() fe=()
+# eslint reads code; prettier reads every file the gate's `prettier --check .` does (a locale JSON,
+# a stylesheet), and `--ignore-unknown` passes over the ones it has no parser for.
+py=() fe=() pretty=()
 for f in "${changed[@]}"; do
   case "$f" in
     backend/*.py | scripts/*.py) py+=("$f") ;;
+  esac
+  case "$f" in
     frontend/*.ts | frontend/*.tsx | frontend/*.js | frontend/*.mjs) fe+=("${f#frontend/}") ;;
   esac
+  case "$f" in
+    frontend/*) pretty+=("${f#frontend/}") ;;
+  esac
 done
 
 report="$(
@@ -38,12 +46,14 @@ report="$(
   fi
   if [ ${#fe[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
     (cd frontend && npx eslint --max-warnings 0 "${fe[@]}" 2>&1)
-    (cd frontend && npx prettier --check --log-level warn "${fe[@]}" 2>&1)
+  fi
+  if [ ${#pretty[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
+    (cd frontend && npx prettier --check --ignore-unknown --log-level warn "${pretty[@]}" 2>&1)
   fi
 )"
 
 if [ -z "$report" ]; then
-  [ "$hook" = 1 ] || echo "lint-changed: clean (${#py[@]} py, ${#fe[@]} frontend)"
+  [ "$hook" = 1 ] || echo "lint-changed: clean (${#py[@]} py, ${#pretty[@]} frontend)"
   exit 0
 fi
 if [ "$hook" = 1 ]; then