diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 5c504e39..83b17e98 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ router-free navigation provider.
 ## The gate — never merge or ship red
 
 The local gate is **ruff (`check` + `format --check`) + basedpyright (backend) + the lock check + typecheck (3 tsc projects) +
-eslint + prettier --check + knip + vitest + vite build + pytest + pip-audit + npm audit**, then a coverage report (no threshold). It runs
+eslint + prettier --check + knip + vitest + vite build + pytest + pip-audit + npm audit**. It runs
 before every `release` merges and on every `publish`, which **refuses to build on failure — there is deliberately no `--skip`
 flag**; a release also requires the Playwright suite, and the image must pass a Trivy scan before it is pushed. Run it and get it
 green **before** any merge, release, or handing work to review.
diff --git a/backend/docker-compose.test.yml b/backend/docker-compose.test.yml
index 4ce8ae39..67dedcf6 100644
--- a/backend/docker-compose.test.yml
+++ b/backend/docker-compose.test.yml
@@ -35,9 +35,5 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./:/app
     working_dir: /app
-    # The suite, then the coverage total (E32 D4: reported, no threshold). pytest's exit code is the
-    # lane's — the report is printed either way and never decides it.
-    command:
-      - sh
-      - -c
-      - 'python -m pytest --cov=app --cov-report= ; rc=$$?; echo ">> backend coverage (app/) $$(python -m coverage report --format=total)% of lines"; exit $$rc'
+    # Coverage is on demand, not in the gate (E35): see docs/development.md.
+    command: ["python", "-m", "pytest"]
diff --git a/backend/requirements-dev.txt b/backend/requirements-dev.txt
index 6480647e..862ae1cc 100644
--- a/backend/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/backend/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
 # basedpyright: the backend type-check lane (E27 S3). Pinned like everything else here — a type
 # checker whose version floats silently changes what "clean" means, and the ratchet baseline it
 # writes is keyed to the diagnostics THIS version produces.
-# pytest-cov: the coverage REPORT the gate prints (E32 D4) — a number to read, deliberately with no
-# threshold; "every regression test seen red" is the bar, not a percentage.
+# pytest-cov: the on-demand coverage report (docs/development.md) — a number to read, deliberately
+# with no threshold; "every regression test seen red" is the bar, not a percentage.
 # pip-audit: the gate's audit of requirements.lock (scripts/check.sh), blocking at any severity.
 basedpyright==1.40.1
 pytest==8.4.2
diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
index 10fb564a..bd9171e3 100644
--- a/docs/development.md
+++ b/docs/development.md
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ python -m ruff format --check --config backend/ruff.toml backend scripts
 docker compose -f backend/docker-compose.test.yml run --rm --no-deps --build test \
   python -m basedpyright --project pyrightconfig.json
 
-# tests — pure-logic + the DB-backed integration lane, against an ephemeral Postgres, ending with the
-# coverage total. The backend tree is bind-mounted, so it always tests your working files.
+# tests — pure-logic + the DB-backed integration lane, against an ephemeral Postgres. The backend
+# tree is bind-mounted, so it always tests your working files.
 docker compose -f backend/docker-compose.test.yml up --build --abort-on-container-exit --exit-code-from test
 docker compose -f backend/docker-compose.test.yml down -v
 
@@ -103,7 +103,10 @@ npx vite build        # the production bundle (devOnlyGuard fails it on dev-only
 npm audit --omit=dev --audit-level=high   # what ships to the browser, at high or above
 ```
 
-Coverage is reported, never enforced: `npm run test -- --coverage`, and the pytest lane's last line.
+Coverage is on demand, never enforced and not in the gate (E35): `npm run test -- --coverage` in
+`frontend/`, and for the backend
+`docker compose -f backend/docker-compose.test.yml run --rm test python -m pytest --cov=app` (then
+`… down -v`).
 The Playwright suite (`npm run e2e`) runs against the `:8080` stack built from your tree; the release
 requires it. Before an image is pushed, it is scanned with Trivy (HIGH/CRITICAL with a fix fails;
 exceptions in `.trivyignore.yaml`, each with a reason and an expiry).
diff --git a/docs/gates.md b/docs/gates.md
index 651e4d34..67de78a8 100644
--- a/docs/gates.md
+++ b/docs/gates.md
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ project checks needs a row.
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
 | check | e2e (Playwright) not in `check` | It needs the :8080 stack built from the tree (minutes). It runs in `check-full`, and `release` rebuilds the stack and requires it (E32 D2) — nothing ships without it. | 5 specs × 3 engines |
 | pushes | no server-side gate (no CI) | Owner decision 2026-10-04. The gate (`scripts/check.sh`) runs on the dev machine before work is handed over, and `release` runs it, then e2e, before anything is merged and Trivy before the image is pushed — the CI only repeated that, after the merge. Its runner shared the git host's container, and one run there starved Gitea of memory until it stopped answering. What it added — a fresh `npm ci` on Linux — the image build does at publish. | — |
-| coverage | no threshold | Owner decision E32 D4: reported on both sides, never enforced. "Every regression test seen red" is the bar; a percentage invites tests written to move it. | frontend 80% / backend 78% of lines (E32 S1) |
+| coverage | not in the gate; no threshold | Owner decision E32 D4: never enforced; "every regression test seen red" is the bar, and a percentage invites tests written to move it. Out of the lanes since E35: read once, by hand, it found 5 bugs; as a lane it was a number nobody acted on, and the slowest vitest run (the one that flaked). On demand: docs/development.md. | frontend 80% / backend 78% of lines (E32 S1) |
 | CVE gate | HIGH/CRITICAL with a fix available only | `--ignore-unfixed` + `--severity HIGH,CRITICAL`: a finding with no fix cannot be acted on by an upgrade; it shows in the scan output. A fixable one fails the publish, and the only way past it is `.trivyignore.yaml`. | 0 open (E32 S1) |
 | npm audit | `--omit=dev --audit-level=high` | What ships to the browser, at high or above. The dev toolchain's advisories were burned down by hand in E32 S1 (18 → 0). | 0 |
 | React Compiler | the functions it skips, pinned | `components/compilerCoverage.contract.test.ts` — the list may only shrink. End state: only VirtualGrid (TanStack Virtual, an IncompatibleLibrary) remains. | 93 (E32 S1) → 29 (E32 S3) → 1, VirtualGrid (E32 S4) |
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json b/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json
index 46fe0b2a..c96525f4 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/gates.snapshot.json
@@ -2110,10 +2110,7 @@
       "    volumes:",
       "      - ./:/app",
       "    working_dir: /app",
-      "    command:",
-      "      - sh",
-      "      - -c",
-      "      - 'python -m pytest --cov=app --cov-report= ; rc=$$?; echo \">> backend coverage (app/) $$(python -m coverage report --format=total)% of lines\"; exit $$rc'"
+      "    command: [\"python\", \"-m\", \"pytest\"]"
     ],
     "frontend/.prettierignore": [
       "dist",
@@ -2238,7 +2235,7 @@
       "    pip-audit -r requirements.lock --no-deps --disable-pip",
       "}",
       "if [ \"$mode\" = all ]; then",
-      "  lane \"vitest (+ coverage report)\" frontend npm run --silent test -- --coverage",
+      "  lane \"vitest\" frontend npm run --silent test",
       "  lane \"vite build\" frontend npx vite build --logLevel warn",
       "  lane \"pytest (pure-logic + DB lane)\" pytest_lane",
       "  lane \"pip-audit (backend lock)\" pip_audit",
diff --git a/frontend/vitest.config.ts b/frontend/vitest.config.ts
index f7fc3212..ed2e85e3 100644
--- a/frontend/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/vitest.config.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ export default defineConfig({
     // collected, and the gate still prints green.
     include: ["src/**/*.test.{ts,tsx}"],
     environment: "node",
-    // E32 D4: a coverage REPORT, read and not enforced — the gate's `vitest --coverage` prints the
-    // summary; no threshold, because "every regression test seen red" is the bar, not a percentage.
+    // A coverage REPORT on demand (`npm run test -- --coverage`), never enforced and not in the gate
+    // (E32 D4, E35): "every regression test seen red" is the bar, not a percentage.
     coverage: {
       provider: "v8",
       include: ["src/**/*.{ts,tsx}"],
diff --git a/scripts/check.sh b/scripts/check.sh
index 6efbaaf2..66f3b95a 100644
--- a/scripts/check.sh
+++ b/scripts/check.sh
@@ -120,8 +120,7 @@ pip_audit() {
 }
 
 if [ "$mode" = all ]; then
-  # --coverage prints the summary: read, never a threshold (E32 D4)
-  lane "vitest (+ coverage report)" frontend npm run --silent test -- --coverage
+  lane "vitest" frontend npm run --silent test
   # the production bundle, and devOnlyGuard, which fails it when dev-only code reaches it
   lane "vite build" frontend npx vite build --logLevel warn
   lane "pytest (pure-logic + DB lane)" pytest_lane