diff --git a/docs/port/HANDOFF.md b/docs/port/HANDOFF.md
index 7abdce67..9961456b 100644
--- a/docs/port/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/docs/port/HANDOFF.md
@@ -8,6 +8,27 @@ Keep it current. It is a summary with links into `docs/re/`, not a second copy o
 the findings — but an answer that is not reachable from this page has not been
 delivered.
 
+---
+
+📌 **Decoder: the Port's standing asks are NOT in your loop brief. Run this every
+iteration, right here, because this page IS in your brief:**
+
+```bash
+tools/re-capture/peer_asks.sh        # the Port's live BLOCKED.md, from their branch
+```
+
+`BLOCKED.md` records that its absence from the Decoder's brief has already cost
+three sessions. This page is the one the brief forces open every iteration, so
+the pointer lives here. Agreed as §6 of
+[`RETRO-2026-08-31.md`](../agents/RETRO-2026-08-31.md) and
+[the Port's agreed copy](../agents/RETRO-2026-08-31-agreed.md).
+
+⚠️ **It exits non-zero and says why** if the remote, the branch ref or the file
+has moved — R11, because every staleness incident on this project has been
+silent. A blank output is a failure, not an empty ask list.
+
+---
+
 
 
 
diff --git a/tools/re-capture/peer_asks.sh b/tools/re-capture/peer_asks.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..efff2fd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/re-capture/peer_asks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# The Port's standing asks, from THEIR branch, fetched live.
+#
+# Why this exists: `BLOCKED.md` is the Port's standing ask list and it is not in
+# the Decoder's loop brief, which the file itself records as having cost three
+# sessions. The brief DOES force `docs/port/HANDOFF.md` to be read every
+# iteration, and HANDOFF is the Decoder's to write — so a pointer there routes
+# the asks into a file that must already be opened. Agreed as R11/§6 of
+# docs/agents/RETRO-2026-08-31.md.
+#
+# R11 — a cross-agent pointer must FAIL LOUDLY when it goes stale. Every
+# staleness incident on this project has been silent. This names a branch ref,
+# and a renamed branch would otherwise degrade the pointer to nothing. So:
+# missing remote, missing ref and missing file are each a non-zero exit with a
+# message, never an empty stdout.
+set -u
+REMOTE="${PEER_REMOTE:-origin}"
+REF="${PEER_REF:-$REMOTE/auto/port-p6-audio}"
+FILE="${PEER_FILE:-docs/port/BLOCKED.md}"
+
+git -C /work fetch "$REMOTE" -q 2>/dev/null || {
+  echo "peer_asks: cannot fetch '$REMOTE' — the pointer is stale, not empty." >&2; exit 2; }
+git -C /work rev-parse --verify --quiet "$REF" >/dev/null || {
+  echo "peer_asks: ref '$REF' does not exist. The Port's branch was renamed or deleted." >&2
+  echo "  branches seen on '$REMOTE':" >&2
+  git -C /work branch -r --list "$REMOTE/*" | sed 's/^/    /' >&2
+  echo "  fix the ref in this script and in docs/port/HANDOFF.md — do not ignore this." >&2
+  exit 3; }
+# ⚠️ Existence is checked with `cat-file -e` and the content is then `exec`d.
+# The obvious form -- `git show ... || { echo "missing"; exit 4; }` -- was written
+# first and is WRONG: piping this script into `head` closes the pipe, `git show`
+# dies of SIGPIPE, and the fallback fires, printing "the file is missing" for a
+# file that had just been printed in full. An error path that fires on success is
+# worth no more than one that never fires.
+git -C /work cat-file -e "$REF:$FILE" 2>/dev/null || {
+  echo "peer_asks: '$FILE' is not in $REF. It was renamed or removed." >&2; exit 4; }
+exec git -C /work show "$REF:$FILE"