diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
index 5e93cd96..da5887f6 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ name: CI
 # sequential, so tag-triggered matrix jobs (~22 min) would queue AHEAD of the
 # tag's publish-source run and starve every release (observed on 8.10.3 and
 # 9.0.0: the publish sat behind the tag's own redundant CI).
+concurrency:
+  group: ci-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
 on:
   push:
     branches: ['**']
diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/publish-source.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/publish-source.yml
index 58cb1d30..6bd42b2a 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/publish-source.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/publish-source.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ on:
   push:
     tags:
       - 'v*'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      ref_reason:
+        description: 'why this manual run (e.g. tag event dropped)'
+        required: false
 
 jobs:
   publish:
diff --git a/releases/brainy.json b/releases/brainy.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f61c7f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releases/brainy.json
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+{
+  "product": "brainy",
+  "entries": [
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.5",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "Graph-first finds in production, and opens that stop rescanning history",
+      "items": [
+        "find({ connected, where }) now walks the neighbours first and filters only those rows through a native door — correct at every page and O(neighbours), never the whole store.",
+        "related() with a list of verb types returns every requested kind (a fast path had silently kept only the first).",
+        "Deferred-embedding recovery resumes from a low-water mark instead of rescanning the whole generation log at every open — measured at two minutes on a large brain, now milliseconds."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.4",
+      "date": "2026-09-01",
+      "headline": "Closes in milliseconds, index rebuilds without the disk-sync storm",
+      "items": [
+        "close() no longer pays deferred compaction or waits out an in-flight rebuild — measured 8 ms against the 4-minute closes it replaces; deferred work resumes at the next open, in the background.",
+        "The metadata index's rebuild syncs to disk per shard instead of per row, and the durability point moved to the publish step — the same guarantee, a fraction of the disk traffic.",
+        "A new native filter door evaluates queries over exactly the candidate rows a graph walk found, never the whole store."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.3",
+      "date": "2026-09-01",
+      "headline": "The embedding upgrade ceremony runs on every brain",
+      "items": [
+        "A brain opened through the standard plugin now carries its embedding-model identity, so the full-precision upgrade ceremony can run on it.",
+        "A one-fix release; nothing else changed."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.2",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "One embedding quality everywhere, 3–4× faster imports",
+      "items": [
+        "Every runtime embeds with the same full-precision model — search quality no longer depends on where you run.",
+        "Bulk embedding measured 3.1–4.2× faster, and an online re-embed ceremony upgrades existing stores without downtime.",
+        "The engine's change feed is documented, with the SSE/WebSocket fan-out pattern for realtime surfaces."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.1",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "Deletes inside transactions are safe",
+      "items": [
+        "Deleting relations inside a transact() no longer corrupts index bookkeeping.",
+        "A store that deletes its last relation keeps serving instead of refusing."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.0",
+      "date": "2026-08-28",
+      "headline": "One install, one engine — Brainy",
+      "items": [
+        "The former two-package pair is one package: the native engine under the familiar API. One import is the whole install.",
+        "A missing native build refuses loudly with its cures named; nothing falls back silently.",
+        "Stores open in place — no migration."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    }
+  ],
+  "history": "The version line continues from the 4.3.x native-engine releases; their record lives in the product repository's CHANGELOG.md."
+}
diff --git a/releases/open-brainy.json b/releases/open-brainy.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9f1cd239
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releases/open-brainy.json
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+{
+  "product": "open-brainy",
+  "entries": [
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.11",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "Hybrid finds filter before they hydrate, one owner per shutdown, and a faster open",
+      "items": [
+        "Hybrid finds (query/vector combined with a filter, including connected and fusion finds) now filter first and hydrate only the page — one batchGet of exactly the requested rows, instead of hydrating everything the search side found. Fixes a bug where any page after the first came back empty.",
+        "A brain now has exactly one shutdown owner — a host and its engine no longer race to close the same store, and a follow-up flush requested during a running flush is handed off cleanly instead of ever risking a stall.",
+        "find({ path }) and other path-scoped VFS searches now serve a real range over the indexed path (O(log n)) instead of refusing the query outright — both scoped and recursive:false searches were silently broken before this.",
+        "Open no longer rescans a brain's whole fact log on every open — sealed segments the manifest already accounts for are skipped, collapsing a multi-second open term to near-zero on large brains.",
+        "commitTransaction() now refuses by name if single-ops are still pending, and a read-only open no longer writes clean-shutdown evidence it didn't earn — two correctness invariants that were previously assumed, not enforced."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.11",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.10",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "A planner door for indexes, batched containment repair, and a fixed near()",
+      "items": [
+        "An optional planFindPage door lets an index plan a find() and answer it in one call, instead of the engine assembling the plan itself.",
+        "repairContainment's reconcile pass now walks paged edges once instead of issuing one graph call per file.",
+        "find({ near }) now searches around the anchor's own vector and refuses by name when none is available, instead of silently querying with no vector at all."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.10",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.9",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "Graph-first finds, honest verb arrays, and opens that stop rescanning history",
+      "items": [
+        "find({ connected, where }) now walks the neighbours first and filters only those rows — correct at every page, and O(neighbours) instead of O(store).",
+        "related() with a list of verb types (or sources, or targets) returns every requested kind — four fast paths silently kept only the first.",
+        "Deferred-embedding recovery resumes from a low-water mark instead of rescanning the whole generation log at every open — measured at two minutes on a large brain, now milliseconds."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.9",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.7",
+      "date": "2026-09-01",
+      "headline": "Count ledgers can no longer race themselves",
+      "items": [
+        "Concurrent count flushes coalesce into one writer with a trailing pass — parallel flushes can no longer corrupt a store's count ledger.",
+        "Atomic writes carry a per-process sequence, so two processes' temp files can never collide."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.7",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.6",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "Transactions cross the index seam safely",
+      "items": [
+        "Deleting relations inside a transact() no longer fails against the metadata index — operations take a JSON-safe view at the moment they execute.",
+        "Fixes a class of transaction failures on stores with integer-mapped relation endpoints."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.6",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.5",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "Recovery tells the truth, docs live at home",
+      "items": [
+        "A torn generation-log tail is a terminal verdict with a named cure — never an endless wait at open.",
+        "A sealed segment declares only the generations it actually holds.",
+        "The engine's documentation now publishes from its own repository."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.5",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.4",
+      "date": "2026-08-28",
+      "headline": "Faster opens, quieter idle",
+      "items": [
+        "Opening a store discovers generations from directory names instead of walking the log, and answers \"any entities?\" with one directory read.",
+        "The flush-request watch is event-driven; idle stores stop paying a polling heartbeat.",
+        "A slow open now names the exact step it is in, so operators see what is being paid and why."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.4",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.3",
+      "date": "2026-08-27",
+      "headline": "Open Brainy, under its own name",
+      "items": [
+        "The same engine as 10.4.2, now published as @soulcraftlabs/brainy — the MIT reference engine, on The Source.",
+        "No code changes; your imports change once and everything else stays put."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.3",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.2",
+      "date": "2026-08-27",
+      "headline": "Vectors that lie are refused, counts that drift are caught",
+      "items": [
+        "A zero-norm vector is not a vector: the index refuses them, rebuilds skip them, and a sanctioned unvector door removes them cleanly.",
+        "The canonical count ledger derives from identity records and marks legacy-derived ledgers suspect at load.",
+        "Plugin activation failures keep their original error as cause, so the real frame reaches your logs."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.2",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.1",
+      "date": "2026-08-26",
+      "headline": "Writes that change nothing cost nothing",
+      "items": [
+        "The read gate is per index family, and a write carrying unchanged data never re-embeds.",
+        "The vectored-row count joins the ledger, so vector coverage is a number you can read, not a guess."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.1",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.0",
+      "date": "2026-08-26",
+      "headline": "Repair routing, the vector ledger, and honest empties",
+      "items": [
+        "Repairs route to the index that owns the damage, and the open gate closes the vector leg until coverage is proven.",
+        "An empty string is real data, not a missing field.",
+        "The metadata crossing never carries raw integer relation endpoints — a whole class of serialization faults closed."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.0",
+      "thumb": null
+    }
+  ],
+  "history": "Earlier releases are recorded in CHANGELOG.md in this repository."
+}
diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
index 08293e3a..5d434320 100755
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ fi
 # and RELEASES.md are the record; this just gives The Source's UI a release page).
 echo -e "${BLUE}🔟 Creating release page on The Source...${NC}"
 if [ -n "${FORGEJO_RELEASE_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
-  if curl -sf -X POST "https://source.soulcraft.com/api/v1/repos/soulcraft/brainy/releases" \
+  if curl -sf -X POST "https://source.soulcraft.com/api/v1/repos/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases" \
     -H "Authorization: token ${FORGEJO_RELEASE_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d "{\"tag_name\":\"v${NEW_VERSION}\",\"name\":\"v${NEW_VERSION}\",\"prerelease\":${PRERELEASE}}" >/dev/null; then
     echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Release page created on The Source${NC}\n"
@@ -248,17 +248,12 @@ else
   echo -e "${RED}⚠️  FORGEJO_RELEASE_TOKEN unset — no release page created; tag + CHANGELOG remain the record${NC}\n"
 fi
 
-# Step 12: Push public docs to the soulcraft.com docs ingest door
-# (VENUE-DOCS-RELEASE-PUSH). Skips with a loud warning when
-# DOCS_INGEST_SECRET is unset; fails loudly (without undoing the publish —
-# that already happened) when a push errors, so the docs site never
-# silently trails npm.
-echo -e "${BLUE}1️⃣2️⃣ Pushing public docs to soulcraft.com/docs...${NC}"
-if node scripts/push-docs.js; then
-  echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Docs push step done${NC}\n"
-else
-  echo -e "${RED}❌ Docs push FAILED — soulcraft.com/docs trails npm until re-run or interim sync${NC}\n"
-fi
+# Step 12 RETIRED (2026-08-31, CORTEX-SITE-BRAINY-RENAME round 12, David-ruled):
+# soulcraft.com/docs carries the paid product's documentation only. This
+# engine's documentation home is THIS repository — README and docs/ — and the
+# site serves 301s for the slugs this rail used to push. The push script stays
+# in the tree for history; the rail no longer calls it.
+echo -e "${BLUE}Docs step: this engine documents itself in its own repo (site push retired 2026-08-31)${NC}"
 
 echo -e "${GREEN}━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━${NC}"
 echo -e "${GREEN}🎉 Release ${NEW_VERSION} complete!${NC}"
diff --git a/src/brainy.ts b/src/brainy.ts
index 70d46973..da04577e 100644
--- a/src/brainy.ts
+++ b/src/brainy.ts
@@ -12497,6 +12497,18 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
    * healed by `repairIndex()`, whose unconditional recount rebuilds the
    * rollups from a canonical walk and re-stamps. Best-effort: a stamp-write
    * fault warns loudly but never fails the flush that carried real data.
+   *
+   * THE SOURCE IS `committedGeneration()`, NEVER `generation()`. The latter is
+   * the ALLOCATED counter — a number a write in flight has claimed and may
+   * never commit. Stamping it made the stamp's generation label a claim about
+   * counts it was not taken at, and every crash inside a write window then
+   * produced a spurious verdict at the next open: either `sourceGeneration N
+   * is ahead of the log head N-1` (the allocated generation died with the
+   * process) or `rollup invariant 'nounCount': stamped X, observed Y` (the
+   * recovery fold folded facts the stamp's counts predate). MEASURED on the
+   * crash-consistency lane before this line changed: 4 of 11 SIGKILL cycles on
+   * a coherent store raised one of those two verdicts, each of them naming
+   * `repairIndex()` — a whole-store recount — as the cure for nothing.
    */
   private async stampEntityTree(): Promise<void> {
     if (this.isReadOnly) return
@@ -12507,7 +12519,7 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       ])
       await writeFamilyStamp(this.storage, ENTITY_TREE_STAMP_PATH, {
         family: 'entity-tree',
-        sourceGeneration: this.generationStore.generation(),
+        sourceGeneration: this.generationStore.committedGeneration(),
         members: { mode: 'rollup', invariants: { nounCount, verbCount } }
       })
     } catch (error) {
@@ -12520,16 +12532,24 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
 
   /**
    * @description Open-time coherence check for the entity tree's family stamp:
-   * compare `sourceGeneration` against the log head and the stamped rollup
-   * invariants against the live counters. Verdicts:
+   * compare `sourceGeneration` against the store's COMMITTED generation and
+   * the stamped rollup invariants against the live counters. Verdicts:
    * - `coherent` / `absent` (legacy store; first flush stamps) → silent.
    * - `behind` → benign for the tree (it is written BY the commit; only the
    *   stamp is stale — a crash landed between commit and flush). Refreshed at
    *   the next flush.
+   * - `torn` → a TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL, handled by
+   *   {@link demoteTornEntityTreeStamp}: terminal, never a wait.
    * - `incoherent` → LOUD: the tree or its counters diverged from what was
    *   stamped — `repairIndex()` recounts from canonical and re-stamps.
    * Never blocks open; a fault reading the stamp is surfaced as unverifiable,
    * never conflated with absence.
+   *
+   * THE COMPARISON IS AGAINST `committedGeneration()`, matching what
+   * {@link stampEntityTree} writes and what every other open-time watermark in
+   * this class already reasons about (the fact-scan capability, the metadata /
+   * graph / HNSW watermark verdicts). Comparing against the allocated counter
+   * was the one place that disagreed, and disagreeing was the whole defect.
    */
   private async verifyEntityTreeStamp(): Promise<void> {
     let stamp: FamilyStamp | null
@@ -12546,11 +12566,16 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       this.storage.getNounCount(),
       this.storage.getVerbCount()
     ])
-    const verdict = verifyFamilyStamp(stamp, this.generationStore.generation(), {
+    const verdict = verifyFamilyStamp(stamp, this.generationStore.committedGeneration(), {
       nounCount,
       verbCount
     })
-    if (verdict.state === 'incoherent') {
+    if (verdict.state === 'torn') {
+      await this.demoteTornEntityTreeStamp(stamp as FamilyStamp, verdict.stampSource, verdict.head, {
+        nounCount,
+        verbCount
+      })
+    } else if (verdict.state === 'incoherent') {
       prodLog.warn(
         `[Brainy] entity-tree stamp INCOHERENT at open: ${verdict.failures.join('; ')}. ` +
           `The canonical tree or its counters diverged from the stamped state — run ` +
@@ -12564,6 +12589,92 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @description THE TERMINAL VERDICT for a torn generation-log tail.
+   *
+   * A stamp whose `sourceGeneration` sits ABOVE the store's committed
+   * watermark witnesses a generation that is not in the log: the stamp's fsync
+   * outlived the tail's. By the time this runs, log-authority recovery has
+   * already folded every intact fact above the manifest and advanced the
+   * watermark to cover them — so if the stamp is STILL ahead, the generation
+   * it names is not merely late, it is GONE. There is nothing to wait for.
+   *
+   * That is the whole point of this method. A field report of this class
+   * (single-process store, abrupt termination mid-fold) described a reopen
+   * that narrated the tear and then held 100% CPU with zero log growth for
+   * eight minutes before an operator wiped the directory. A recovery that
+   * cannot say what it is waiting for has no business spinning; the honest
+   * answer here is a verdict, taken now, at O(1) cost.
+   *
+   * WHAT THE VERDICT DOES — the stamped surface is UNUSABLE, so it is
+   * discarded rather than believed: the stamped counts describe a generation
+   * that never became durable, and comparing them against live counters can
+   * only produce noise. The tree itself is not in question (it IS canonical —
+   * every commit writes it, and the fold re-applied every after-image the log
+   * still holds), so the demotion is a re-derivation of this family's verified
+   * surface at the generation the store can actually show:
+   *
+   * - WRITER open → re-stamp at `committedGeneration()` from the live
+   *   counters — exactly what the next flush would write, taken now so the
+   *   tear cannot re-narrate on every subsequent open. Both count sets are
+   *   logged so an operator can see whether anything really moved.
+   * - READER open → a reader cannot re-stamp. Narrate the same terminal
+   *   verdict with the named cure and carry on serving; a read-only inspector
+   *   is never locked out of a store, and never left waiting either.
+   *
+   * BOUNDEDNESS: straight-line code. No loop, no retry, no await on any
+   * external progress signal — the two counter reads and one stamp write are
+   * the entire cost, and none of them scales with the store.
+   */
+  private async demoteTornEntityTreeStamp(
+    stamp: FamilyStamp,
+    stampSource: number,
+    head: number,
+    observed: { nounCount: number; verbCount: number }
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    const stamped = stamp.members.mode === 'rollup' ? stamp.members.invariants : {}
+    const detail =
+      `[Brainy] TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL at open: ${ENTITY_TREE_STAMP_PATH} witnesses source ` +
+      `generation ${stampSource} (stamped ${stamp.committedAt}), but the store's committed ` +
+      `generation is ${head} after crash recovery — the stamp's fsync outlived the log tail's, ` +
+      `and generation ${stampSource} is not in the log to arrive. Stamped rollups ` +
+      `${JSON.stringify(stamped)}; observed ${JSON.stringify(observed)}.`
+
+    if (this.isReadOnly) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `${detail} This open is READ-ONLY, so the stamp cannot be re-derived: the entity-tree ` +
+          `family stays UNVERIFIED for this session (reads are unaffected — the canonical tree ` +
+          `is the truth this stamp only describes). Cure: open the store with a writer, or run ` +
+          `brain.repairIndex() there, to recount from canonical and re-stamp.`
+      )
+      return
+    }
+
+    const startedAt = Date.now()
+    try {
+      await writeFamilyStamp(this.storage, ENTITY_TREE_STAMP_PATH, {
+        family: 'entity-tree',
+        sourceGeneration: head,
+        members: {
+          mode: 'rollup',
+          invariants: { nounCount: observed.nounCount, verbCount: observed.verbCount }
+        }
+      })
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `${detail} DEMOTED: the unusable stamp was re-derived at committed generation ${head} ` +
+          `from the live counters in ${Date.now() - startedAt}ms — terminal, not a wait. If the ` +
+          `observed counts above look wrong for your data, run brain.repairIndex() to recount ` +
+          `from canonical.`
+      )
+    } catch (error) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `${detail} The demotion's re-stamp FAILED (${(error as Error).message}) — the tear will ` +
+          `narrate again at the next open, which is the honest outcome; the store still serves ` +
+          `from canonical. Cure: run brain.repairIndex() to recount from canonical and re-stamp.`
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Ask the writer process serving this data directory to flush its in-memory
    * indexes to disk, so a read-only inspector can observe fresh state.
diff --git a/src/db/familyStamp.ts b/src/db/familyStamp.ts
index 98342884..2f01e935 100644
--- a/src/db/familyStamp.ts
+++ b/src/db/familyStamp.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
  *   the verified surface is a small set of rollup invariants (entity/
  *   relationship counts) plus `sourceGeneration`.
  *
- * `sourceGeneration` is the generation of the source-of-truth log this
- * projection reflects — open-time coherence becomes a COMPARISON (stamp vs
- * log head), not a walk:
+ * `sourceGeneration` is the COMMITTED generation of the source-of-truth log
+ * this projection reflects — never the allocated counter, which names a
+ * generation that may never commit (see {@link StampVerdict.torn}) — so
+ * open-time coherence becomes a COMPARISON (stamp vs committed head), not a
+ * walk:
  *
  * - equal + invariants hold → coherent, serve.
  * - behind → the projection missed the tail (crash between commit and stamp);
@@ -24,6 +26,9 @@
  * - invariants FAIL at equal generation → genuine incoherence: loud, and the
  *   repair ritual (`repairIndex()`, whose recount rebuilds the rollups from a
  *   canonical walk) heals it.
+ * - AHEAD → a torn generation-log tail: the stamp's fsync outlived the log
+ *   tail's. TERMINAL, never a wait — the generation the stamp names does not
+ *   exist to arrive.
  *
  * Stamps are JSON on purpose — every incident gets debugged by reading a
  * stamp in a terminal.
@@ -70,6 +75,12 @@ export type StampVerdict =
   | { state: 'coherent' }
   | { state: 'absent' } // legacy store — first stamp writes at the next flush
   | { state: 'behind'; stampSource: number; head: number }
+  /**
+   * TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL: the stamp witnesses a source generation the
+   * store's committed watermark can no longer show. TERMINAL — there is no
+   * generation to wait for, so the open demotes (or refuses) and never spins.
+   */
+  | { state: 'torn'; stampSource: number; head: number }
   | { state: 'incoherent'; failures: string[] }
   | { state: 'unverifiable'; reason: string } // a FAULT reading the stamp — never conflated with absence
 
@@ -118,12 +129,15 @@ export function verifyFamilyStamp(
 ): StampVerdict {
   if (stamp === null) return { state: 'absent' }
   if (stamp.sourceGeneration > head) {
-    // A stamp AHEAD of the log claims state that never committed — the
-    // projection was stamped against truth that a crash rolled back.
-    return {
-      state: 'incoherent',
-      failures: [`sourceGeneration ${stamp.sourceGeneration} is ahead of the log head ${head}`]
-    }
+    // A stamp AHEAD of committed truth witnesses a generation the store can no
+    // longer show: the stamp's fsync survived a crash that the log tail did
+    // not. This is the TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL — its own class, never folded
+    // in with `incoherent` (a count that drifted at a generation both sides
+    // agree on), because the two have opposite cures: incoherence is recounted,
+    // a tear is DEMOTED. It is also terminal by construction — there is no
+    // generation the open can wait for, because the one the stamp names is
+    // gone.
+    return { state: 'torn', stampSource: stamp.sourceGeneration, head }
   }
   if (stamp.sourceGeneration < head) {
     return { state: 'behind', stampSource: stamp.sourceGeneration, head }
diff --git a/src/db/generationSegments.ts b/src/db/generationSegments.ts
index 0c14b60c..91451281 100644
--- a/src/db/generationSegments.ts
+++ b/src/db/generationSegments.ts
@@ -147,6 +147,60 @@ export class GenerationSegmentStore {
     return this.coveringSegment(gen) !== null
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @description True when `meta` declares more generations than it holds
+   * frames — a segment sealed by a writer that folded across a hole. The
+   * manifest records `frames` at fold time, so this is an O(1) comparison
+   * against the declared span and needs no I/O.
+   */
+  private isSparse(meta: SegmentMeta): boolean {
+    return meta.lastGeneration - meta.firstGeneration + 1 !== meta.frames
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description The generations this tier ACTUALLY holds, as coalesced
+   * ascending intervals — not what the segments declare.
+   *
+   * Dense segments (every one a current writer produces) contribute their
+   * declared range with no I/O. A SPARSE segment — one sealed before the
+   * density law was enforced, whose declared range spans generations it has
+   * no frame for — has its real generation list read from its sidecar and
+   * contributed instead, with the discrepancy narrated once.
+   *
+   * This is what keeps a store that already carries the damage from wedging.
+   * `open()` seeds `committedRanges` from these intervals, so a hole is never
+   * re-admitted as a committed generation, and the auto-compaction pass that
+   * used to fail on every run with "packed history is damaged" simply never
+   * asks for the missing frame.
+   *
+   * @returns Ascending, non-overlapping `[first, last]` intervals.
+   */
+  async actualRanges(): Promise<Array<[number, number]>> {
+    const out: Array<[number, number]> = []
+    for (const meta of this.manifest.segments) {
+      if (!this.isSparse(meta)) {
+        out.push([meta.firstGeneration, meta.lastGeneration])
+        continue
+      }
+      const missing = meta.lastGeneration - meta.firstGeneration + 1 - meta.frames
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[GenerationSegments] sealed segment ${meta.file} declares generations ` +
+          `${meta.firstGeneration}..${meta.lastGeneration} but holds only ${meta.frames} ` +
+          `frame(s) — ${missing} generation(s) in that span were never folded into it. ` +
+          `Serving the frames it actually holds; the declared span is not treated as ` +
+          `committed history. (Written by a pre-density-law writer that folded across a ` +
+          `gap; the segment itself is intact and no record is lost.)`
+      )
+      const idx = await this.sidecarFor(meta)
+      for (const [gen] of idx.generations) {
+        const last = out[out.length - 1]
+        if (last !== undefined && gen === last[1] + 1) last[1] = gen
+        else out.push([gen, gen])
+      }
+    }
+    return out
+  }
+
   /**
    * Fold consecutive generations into ONE new sealed segment + sidecar and
    * append it to the manifest atomically. Caller guarantees: `gens` is
@@ -164,6 +218,38 @@ export class GenerationSegmentStore {
         throw new Error('[GenerationSegments] fold() input must be strictly ascending')
       }
     }
+    // THE DENSITY LAW, MADE MECHANICAL.
+    //
+    // A sealed segment declares a CONTIGUOUS range [firstGeneration,
+    // lastGeneration] and every reader treats that range as containment:
+    // `coveringSegment` is an interval test, `hasGeneration` returns true for
+    // anything inside it, and `open()` seeds committedRanges from it. So a
+    // segment folded from a SPARSE input silently claims generations it does
+    // not hold, and the first read of one of those holes throws
+    // "inside sealed segment ... but has no frame — packed history is damaged".
+    //
+    // That is exactly how the damage was produced. `repackHistory` skipped
+    // generations mid-batch — ones absent from committedRanges, ones still in
+    // the pending buffer, ones whose tx.json would not read — and handed the
+    // survivors here, where the range was computed from the first and last of
+    // them. Worse, the mis-declared range was then merged back into
+    // committedRanges at the next open, which is what turned a quiet hole into
+    // a repeating auto-compaction failure on every subsequent run.
+    //
+    // Callers now split at discontinuities; this refusal is what keeps any
+    // future caller from reintroducing the class. A refusal here loses
+    // nothing — the generations stay in the live tier, readable, and the next
+    // pass folds them correctly.
+    for (let i = 1; i < gens.length; i++) {
+      if (gens[i].generation !== gens[i - 1].generation + 1) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `[GenerationSegments] fold() input is not contiguous: ${gens[i - 1].generation} → ` +
+            `${gens[i].generation} skips ${gens[i].generation - gens[i - 1].generation - 1} ` +
+            `generation(s). A sealed segment declares a dense range, so folding a sparse ` +
+            `batch would claim generations it does not hold. Split the batch at the gap.`
+        )
+      }
+    }
     const last = this.manifest.segments[this.manifest.segments.length - 1]
     if (last && gens[0].generation <= last.lastGeneration) {
       throw new Error(
@@ -364,12 +450,37 @@ export class GenerationSegmentStore {
         return this.decodeFrame(payload)
       }
     }
-    // In the covering range but not present: the packed tier is dense by
-    // construction (fold packs every generation it is handed, including
-    // record-less ones) — absence inside a sealed range is damage.
+    // Inside the covering range but with no frame. Two very different causes,
+    // and conflating them is what made this class wedge every maintenance pass
+    // on the affected stores.
+    //
+    // (1) A SPARSE SEGMENT — the manifest's own `frames` count is smaller than
+    //     the span it declares. That segment was sealed by a writer that
+    //     folded across a hole (the class this file's density law now bars).
+    //     The segment is INTACT and nothing is lost; it simply never held this
+    //     generation. Answering "not packed" is the honest answer, and it lets
+    //     the caller's two-tier read decide what a genuinely absent generation
+    //     means, instead of every compaction pass dying on a repeating throw.
+    //     `actualRanges()` keeps such holes out of committedRanges at open, so
+    //     in a healed store nobody asks this question in the first place.
+    //
+    // (2) A DENSE SEGMENT missing a frame it says it has — the manifest and
+    //     the sidecar disagree about a segment that claims to be complete.
+    //     That IS damage, and it stays loud.
+    if (this.isSparse(meta)) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[GenerationSegments] generation ${gen} falls inside sealed segment ${meta.file}'s ` +
+          `declared range ${meta.firstGeneration}..${meta.lastGeneration}, but that segment ` +
+          `holds ${meta.frames} frame(s) for a ${meta.lastGeneration - meta.firstGeneration + 1}` +
+          `-generation span — it was sealed across a gap and never held this generation. ` +
+          `Reporting it as unpacked rather than as damage; no record is lost.`
+      )
+      return null
+    }
     throw new Error(
       `[GenerationSegments] generation ${gen} is inside sealed segment ${meta.file}'s declared ` +
-        `range but has no frame — packed history is damaged`
+        `range but has no frame, and that segment declares a complete ${meta.frames}-frame ` +
+        `span — the manifest and the sidecar disagree; packed history is damaged`
     )
   }
 
diff --git a/src/db/generationStore.ts b/src/db/generationStore.ts
index fd052c31..da21dc61 100644
--- a/src/db/generationStore.ts
+++ b/src/db/generationStore.ts
@@ -96,6 +96,35 @@ export const FOLD_CHECKPOINT_PATH = '_system/fold-checkpoint.json'
 /** Storage-root-relative prefix of the per-generation record directories. */
 export const GENERATIONS_PREFIX = '_generations'
 
+/**
+ * @description Split an ascending list of fold candidates into maximal
+ * CONTIGUOUS runs — `[7,8,9,12,13]` becomes `[[7,8,9],[12,13]]`.
+ *
+ * A sealed segment declares one dense range `[firstGeneration,
+ * lastGeneration]`, and every reader treats that range as containment. So a
+ * batch with a hole in it must never become one segment: it would claim a
+ * generation it does not hold, and the first read of that hole reports the
+ * packed history as damaged. One run, one segment — the ranges then describe
+ * exactly what the segments contain.
+ *
+ * @param gens - Fold candidates, strictly ascending by generation.
+ * @returns One array per contiguous run, in ascending order. Empty in, empty out.
+ */
+export function contiguousRuns(gens: FoldGeneration[]): FoldGeneration[][] {
+  const runs: FoldGeneration[][] = []
+  let run: FoldGeneration[] = []
+  for (const g of gens) {
+    const prev = run[run.length - 1]
+    if (prev !== undefined && g.generation !== prev.generation + 1) {
+      runs.push(run)
+      run = []
+    }
+    run.push(g)
+  }
+  if (run.length > 0) runs.push(run)
+  return runs
+}
+
 /**
  * @description Phases of the {@link GenerationStore.commitTransaction} commit
  * protocol at which a test-only fault injector can simulate a process crash.
@@ -784,9 +813,15 @@ export class GenerationStore {
     if (storageSupportsFactLog(this.storage)) {
       this.segments = new GenerationSegmentStore(this.storage)
       await this.segments.open()
-      const packedRanges = this.segments
-        .segments()
-        .map((s): [number, number] => [s.firstGeneration, Math.min(s.lastGeneration, this.committed)])
+      // ACTUAL ranges, not declared ones. A segment sealed by a pre-density-law
+      // writer can declare a span wider than the frames it holds; seeding
+      // committedRanges from the declared span re-admits those holes as
+      // committed generations, and every later maintenance pass then asks for a
+      // frame that was never written. `actualRanges()` reads the real
+      // generation list from the sidecar for exactly those segments (and does
+      // no I/O for the dense ones, which is all of them on a healthy store).
+      const packedRanges = (await this.segments.actualRanges())
+        .map((r): [number, number] => [r[0], Math.min(r[1], this.committed)])
         .filter(([lo, hi]) => lo <= hi)
       if (packedRanges.length > 0) {
         // Merge packed (older) + live (newer) interval sets — both ascending;
@@ -3121,13 +3156,26 @@ export class GenerationStore {
           foldInput.push({ generation: gen, timestamp: delta.timestamp, delta, records })
         }
         if (foldInput.length === 0) continue
-        await segments.fold(foldInput)
-        segmentsCreated++
-        // Segment + manifest durable → the live copies retire.
-        for (const g of foldInput) {
-          await this.storage.removeRawPrefix(`${GENERATIONS_PREFIX}/${g.generation}`)
+        // SPLIT AT DISCONTINUITIES. `eligible` is NOT contiguous — three
+        // filters above punch holes in it: a generation missing from
+        // committedRanges never appears, one still in the pending buffer is
+        // skipped, and one whose tx.json will not read is skipped. A sealed
+        // segment declares a DENSE range, so folding across such a hole makes
+        // the segment claim a generation it does not hold; the next open
+        // merges that mis-declared range into committedRanges, and every
+        // subsequent auto-compaction pass then asks for the missing frame and
+        // fails with "packed history is damaged". Fold each contiguous RUN as
+        // its own segment instead — same bytes, honest ranges.
+        for (const run of contiguousRuns(foldInput)) {
+          if (deadline !== undefined && Date.now() >= deadline) break
+          await segments.fold(run)
+          segmentsCreated++
+          // Segment + manifest durable → the live copies retire.
+          for (const g of run) {
+            await this.storage.removeRawPrefix(`${GENERATIONS_PREFIX}/${g.generation}`)
+          }
+          folded += run.length
         }
-        folded += foldInput.length
       }
       if (folded > 0) {
         prodLog.info(
diff --git a/tests/integration/entity-tree-stamp.test.ts b/tests/integration/entity-tree-stamp.test.ts
index deefc5e6..23cc0a15 100644
--- a/tests/integration/entity-tree-stamp.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/entity-tree-stamp.test.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,11 @@ describe('entity-tree family stamp', () => {
     const invariants = (stamp.members as any).invariants
     expect(invariants.nounCount).toBe(await brain.storage.getNounCount())
     expect(invariants.verbCount).toBe(await brain.storage.getVerbCount())
-    expect(stamp.sourceGeneration).toBe(brain.generation())
+    // THE SOURCE IS COMMITTED TRUTH, never the allocated counter. Stamping the
+    // counter labelled the stamp with a generation a write in flight had merely
+    // claimed, so every crash inside a write window produced a spurious verdict
+    // at the next open (see the torn-tail pins below).
+    expect(stamp.sourceGeneration).toBe(brain.generationStore.committedGeneration())
     expect(stamp.generation).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1)
   })
 
@@ -112,6 +116,96 @@ describe('entity-tree family stamp', () => {
     expect(stillIncoherent).toEqual([])
   })
 
+  /**
+   * Rewrite the on-disk stamp so its `sourceGeneration` sits ABOVE the store's
+   * committed watermark — the durable shape a torn generation-log tail leaves
+   * behind (the stamp's fsync outlived the tail's). Fabricated rather than
+   * crash-produced so the pin is deterministic; the seeded-SIGKILL lane
+   * (`scripts/crash-consistency.mjs` in the engine repo) produces the same
+   * shape from a real abrupt termination.
+   */
+  const fabricateTear = (ahead: number): FamilyStamp => {
+    const file = path.join(dir, `${ENTITY_TREE_STAMP_PATH}.gz`)
+    const zlib = require('node:zlib')
+    const raw = JSON.parse(zlib.gunzipSync(fs.readFileSync(file)).toString('utf-8')) as FamilyStamp
+    const torn: FamilyStamp = { ...raw, sourceGeneration: raw.sourceGeneration + ahead }
+    fs.writeFileSync(file, zlib.gzipSync(JSON.stringify(torn)))
+    return torn
+  }
+
+  it('a torn generation-log tail is a TERMINAL VERDICT at open: narrated, demoted, never a wait', async () => {
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++)
+      await brain.add({ data: `torn${i}`, type: 'document', metadata: { i } })
+    await brain.close()
+    const torn = fabricateTear(5)
+
+    const warn = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+    const startedAt = Date.now()
+    brain = await open()
+    const openMs = Date.now() - startedAt
+
+    const tearLines = warn.mock.calls.filter((c) => String(c[0]).includes('TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL'))
+    expect(tearLines.length).toBe(1)
+    const said = String(tearLines[0][0])
+    // Narrated PRECISELY: both generations, the file, and the named cure.
+    expect(said).toContain(`source generation ${torn.sourceGeneration}`)
+    expect(said).toContain(`committed generation ${brain.generationStore.committedGeneration()}`)
+    expect(said).toContain(ENTITY_TREE_STAMP_PATH)
+    expect(said).toContain('DEMOTED')
+    expect(said).toMatch(/repairIndex\(\)/)
+    // Terminal, not a wait: the demotion is O(1) straight-line work, so a tear
+    // cannot turn an open into the 8-minute spin this class was reported as.
+    expect(openMs).toBeLessThan(30_000)
+
+    // The store SERVES — a tear in a stamp never locks an owner out of the
+    // canonical tree the stamp merely describes.
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: 'document', limit: 100 })).length).toBe(3)
+
+    // The demotion CONVERGED: the stamp now names committed truth, and the
+    // next open is quiet. A verdict that re-narrates every open is a wait
+    // wearing a different hat.
+    const restamped = (await readFamilyStamp(brain.storage, ENTITY_TREE_STAMP_PATH)) as FamilyStamp
+    expect(restamped.sourceGeneration).toBe(brain.generationStore.committedGeneration())
+    await brain.close()
+    const warn2 = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+    brain = await open()
+    expect(warn2.mock.calls.filter((c) => String(c[0]).includes('TORN'))).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('a READ-ONLY open on a torn tail refuses to guess: terminal verdict + named cure, no re-stamp', async () => {
+    await brain.add({ data: 'ro', type: 'document', metadata: {} })
+    await brain.close()
+    const torn = fabricateTear(3)
+
+    const warn = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+    const reader: any = await Brainy.openReadOnly({
+      requireSubtype: false,
+      storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+      silent: true,
+      dimensions: 384
+    })
+    const tearLines = warn.mock.calls.filter((c) => String(c[0]).includes('TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL'))
+    expect(tearLines.length).toBe(1)
+    const said = String(tearLines[0][0])
+    expect(said).toContain('READ-ONLY')
+    expect(said).toContain('UNVERIFIED')
+    expect(said).toMatch(/repairIndex\(\)/)
+    await reader.close()
+
+    // A reader never rewrites the store: read the bytes back off disk (not
+    // through a writer open, which would demote them) — the torn stamp is
+    // exactly as it was found.
+    const onDisk = JSON.parse(
+      require('node:zlib')
+        .gunzipSync(fs.readFileSync(path.join(dir, `${ENTITY_TREE_STAMP_PATH}.gz`)))
+        .toString('utf-8')
+    ) as FamilyStamp
+    expect(onDisk.sourceGeneration).toBe(torn.sourceGeneration)
+    expect(onDisk.generation).toBe(torn.generation)
+
+    brain = await open()
+  })
+
   it('the one verifier handles both member modes', () => {
     const rollup: FamilyStamp = {
       family: 'x',
@@ -127,7 +221,13 @@ describe('entity-tree family stamp', () => {
       stampSource: 5,
       head: 9
     })
-    expect(verifyFamilyStamp(rollup, 3, { nounCount: 10 }).state).toBe('incoherent') // ahead of head
+    // AHEAD is its own class — a torn generation-log tail, never folded in
+    // with `incoherent`: the two have opposite cures (recount vs demote).
+    expect(verifyFamilyStamp(rollup, 3, { nounCount: 10 })).toEqual({
+      state: 'torn',
+      stampSource: 5,
+      head: 3
+    })
     expect(verifyFamilyStamp(null, 5, {})).toEqual({ state: 'absent' })
 
     const enumerated: FamilyStamp = {
diff --git a/tests/integration/history-repacking.test.ts b/tests/integration/history-repacking.test.ts
index 2bcee038..bb07268d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/history-repacking.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/history-repacking.test.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { describe, it, expect, afterEach } from 'vitest'
 import * as fs from 'node:fs'
 import * as path from 'node:path'
 import * as os from 'node:os'
+import * as zlib from 'node:zlib'
 import { Brainy } from '../../src/brainy.js'
 import { NounType } from '../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
 import { GenerationStore } from '../../src/db/generationStore.js'
@@ -57,6 +58,107 @@ describe('history repacking — the two-tier lifecycle', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  /**
+   * THE HOLE, END TO END — the shape a real store carries.
+   *
+   * A forensic fixture was measured with generation directories 1..2503
+   * present except for exactly one: 1416. Its fact-log segment already showed
+   * the tell — `seg-...1410.bfl` declaring firstGeneration 1410, lastGeneration
+   * 1940 (531 generations) while recording only 530 facts.
+   *
+   * Before the fix, repacking such a store folded ACROSS that hole: the batch
+   * skipped 1416 (no readable delta) and the sealed segment declared a range
+   * spanning it anyway. The next open merged that declared range back into
+   * committedRanges, re-admitting 1416 as committed history, and every
+   * subsequent auto-compaction pass then asked the packed tier for a frame
+   * that was never written — producing, on EVERY run, the non-fatal narration
+   *
+   *   Auto-compaction of generational history failed (non-fatal): generation
+   *   N is inside sealed segment seg-....bgs's declared range but has no frame
+   *   — packed history is damaged
+   *
+   * This pin removes a generation directory to make the same hole, then
+   * requires repack + reopen + compaction to complete cleanly.
+   */
+  it('a missing generation directory does not poison the packed tier', async () => {
+    const dir = tempDir()
+    // `retention: 'all'` throughout: close() otherwise auto-compacts the
+    // history away, and this pin needs the cold generations still on disk so
+    // there is something to punch a hole in. The live window stays at its
+    // production default for the build phase, so nothing folds yet.
+    const archival = async (): Promise<Brainy> => {
+      const b = new Brainy({
+        requireSubtype: false,
+        storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+        embeddingFunction: stub,
+        retention: 'all'
+      })
+      await b.init()
+      return b
+    }
+    const brain = await archival()
+
+    const id = await brain.add({
+      data: 'holed-entity',
+      type: NounType.Document,
+      metadata: { v: 0 }
+    })
+    // One flush per update: single-op writes coalesce inside a flush window,
+    // so a history deep enough to have a middle needs the windows separated.
+    for (let v = 1; v <= 12; v++) {
+      await brain.update({ id, metadata: { v } })
+      await brain.flush()
+    }
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // Punch the hole: delete ONE generation directory in the middle of the
+    // cold range, exactly as the real store presents it.
+    const genRoot = path.join(dir, '_generations')
+    const numeric = fs
+      .readdirSync(genRoot, { withFileTypes: true })
+      .filter((e) => e.isDirectory() && /^\d+$/.test(e.name))
+      .map((e) => Number(e.name))
+      .sort((a, b) => a - b)
+    expect(numeric.length).toBeGreaterThan(6)
+    const victim = numeric[Math.floor(numeric.length / 2)]
+    fs.rmSync(path.join(genRoot, String(victim)), { recursive: true, force: true })
+
+    // Now shrink the live window and reopen. close() repacks automatically
+    // (brainy.ts phase 0b), so this is the production sequence exactly: a
+    // store with a hole in its history gets folded by ordinary housekeeping,
+    // with nobody asking for it.
+    ;(GenerationStore as any).REPACK_LIVE_WINDOW = 3
+    const reopened = await archival()
+    const result = await reopened.repackHistory()
+    expect(result.foldedGenerations).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+
+    const segDir = path.join(dir, SEGMENTS_PREFIX)
+    const manifestPath = ['manifest.json', 'manifest.json.gz']
+      .map((f) => path.join(segDir, f))
+      .find((p) => fs.existsSync(p))!
+    const raw = manifestPath.endsWith('.gz')
+      ? zlib.gunzipSync(fs.readFileSync(manifestPath)).toString('utf8')
+      : fs.readFileSync(manifestPath, 'utf8')
+    const manifest = JSON.parse(raw) as {
+      segments: Array<{ firstGeneration: number; lastGeneration: number; frames: number }>
+    }
+
+    // THE LAW: every sealed segment declares exactly as many generations as it
+    // holds frames, and none of them spans the victim.
+    for (const s of manifest.segments) {
+      expect(s.lastGeneration - s.firstGeneration + 1).toBe(s.frames)
+      expect(victim >= s.firstGeneration && victim <= s.lastGeneration).toBe(false)
+    }
+
+    await reopened.close()
+
+    // And the pass that used to fail on every run now completes: reopen (which
+    // re-seeds committedRanges from the packed tier) then compact history.
+    const third = await openBrain(dir)
+    await expect(third.compactHistory({ maxGenerations: 2 })).resolves.toBeDefined()
+    await third.close()
+  })
+
   it('repack preserves every historical read across cold reopen; folded dirs are gone', async () => {
     ;(GenerationStore as any).REPACK_LIVE_WINDOW = 3
     const dir = tempDir()
diff --git a/tests/unit/db/generation-segments.test.ts b/tests/unit/db/generation-segments.test.ts
index 27ab85cb..f16e67b3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/db/generation-segments.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/db/generation-segments.test.ts
@@ -147,4 +147,119 @@ describe('db/GenerationSegmentStore — the D1+D3 packed tier', () => {
     await expect(store.fold([gen(4), gen(4)])).rejects.toThrow(/strictly ascending/)
     await expect(store.fold([])).rejects.toThrow(/at least one generation/)
   })
+
+  // ==========================================================================
+  // THE DENSITY LAW
+  // ==========================================================================
+  //
+  // A sealed segment declares a CONTIGUOUS range and every reader treats that
+  // range as containment. Folding a sparse batch therefore makes the segment
+  // claim generations it does not hold — and because `open()` merges declared
+  // ranges back into committedRanges, the hole is re-admitted as committed
+  // history and every later maintenance pass fails asking for a frame that was
+  // never written. That is the "generation N is inside sealed segment
+  // seg-....bgs's declared range but has no frame — packed history is damaged"
+  // narration seen on every run of the affected stores.
+
+  it('fold REFUSES a batch with a hole — a dense range may not be declared over sparse input', async () => {
+    await expect(store.fold([gen(1), gen(2), gen(4)])).rejects.toThrow(
+      /not contiguous: 2 → 4 skips 1 generation/
+    )
+    // The refusal loses nothing: no segment was sealed, so the generations
+    // stay in the live tier and the next pass folds them correctly.
+    expect(store.segments()).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(store.hasGeneration(1)).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('a wider gap names how many generations it would have swallowed', async () => {
+    await expect(store.fold([gen(10), gen(20)])).rejects.toThrow(
+      /not contiguous: 10 → 20 skips 9 generation\(s\)/
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('two contiguous runs folded separately declare honest ranges', async () => {
+    // What the caller now does instead of folding across the gap.
+    const a = await store.fold([gen(1), gen(2), gen(3)])
+    const b = await store.fold([gen(7), gen(8)])
+    expect(a).toMatchObject({ firstGeneration: 1, lastGeneration: 3, frames: 3 })
+    expect(b).toMatchObject({ firstGeneration: 7, lastGeneration: 8, frames: 2 })
+    // The gap is honestly outside the packed tier.
+    for (const g of [4, 5, 6]) expect(store.hasGeneration(g)).toBe(false)
+    for (const g of [1, 2, 3, 7, 8]) expect(store.hasGeneration(g)).toBe(true)
+    expect(await store.actualRanges()).toEqual([
+      [1, 3],
+      [7, 8]
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('actualRanges() is exact and I/O-free for dense segments', async () => {
+    await store.fold([gen(1), gen(2)])
+    await store.fold([gen(3), gen(4)])
+    // Adjacent dense segments each contribute their declared range.
+    expect(await store.actualRanges()).toEqual([
+      [1, 2],
+      [3, 4]
+    ])
+  })
+
+  // ---- pre-existing damage: a store sealed by the old writer ----------------
+
+  /**
+   * Seal a SPARSE segment the way the pre-fix writer did: write the bytes and
+   * sidecar for a contiguous run, then rewrite the manifest so the segment
+   * declares a wider range than the frames it holds. This reproduces on disk
+   * exactly what the affected stores carry, without needing the old code.
+   */
+  const sealSparseSegment = async (): Promise<void> => {
+    await store.fold([gen(1), gen(2), gen(3)])
+    const manifest = (await storage.readRawObject(`${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/manifest.json`)) as any
+    // Declare 1..5 while holding frames for 1..3 — generations 4 and 5 become
+    // holes inside a sealed range.
+    manifest.segments[0].lastGeneration = 5
+    await storage.writeRawObject(`${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/manifest.json`, manifest)
+  }
+
+  it('a pre-existing sparse segment reports its holes as UNPACKED, not as damage', async () => {
+    await sealSparseSegment()
+    const reopened = new GenerationSegmentStore(storage as any)
+    await reopened.open()
+
+    // The frames it really holds still serve, byte-faithfully.
+    expect((await reopened.readDelta(2))?.timestamp).toBe(1_700_000_000_002)
+    expect(await reopened.readRecords(3)).toHaveLength(2)
+
+    // The holes answer "not packed" instead of throwing. This is the fix for
+    // the wedge: the old reader threw here on EVERY maintenance pass.
+    expect(await reopened.readDelta(4)).toBeNull()
+    expect(await reopened.readRecords(5)).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it('actualRanges() excludes the holes so they are never re-admitted as committed', async () => {
+    await sealSparseSegment()
+    const reopened = new GenerationSegmentStore(storage as any)
+    await reopened.open()
+    // Declared 1..5; actually holds 1..3. The store seeds committedRanges from
+    // THIS, so generations 4 and 5 never become committed history again.
+    expect(await reopened.actualRanges()).toEqual([[1, 3]])
+  })
+
+  it('a DENSE segment missing a frame is still loud damage', async () => {
+    // The other side of the branch: when the manifest claims a complete span,
+    // a missing frame means the manifest and sidecar disagree — real damage,
+    // and it must not be quietly downgraded to "unpacked".
+    await store.fold([gen(1), gen(2), gen(3)])
+    const idxPath = `${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/seg-${String(1).padStart(20, '0')}.idx`
+    const raw = (await storage.readRawBytes(idxPath))!
+    const { decode, encode } = await import('@msgpack/msgpack')
+    const idx = decode(raw) as any
+    // Drop generation 2's entry while the manifest still declares 3 frames.
+    idx.generations = idx.generations.filter(([g]: [number]) => g !== 2)
+    await storage.writeRawBytes(idxPath, encode(idx))
+
+    const reopened = new GenerationSegmentStore(storage as any)
+    await reopened.open()
+    await expect(reopened.readDelta(2)).rejects.toThrow(
+      /manifest and the sidecar disagree; packed history is damaged/
+    )
+  })
 })