diff --git a/docs/port/HANDOFF.md b/docs/port/HANDOFF.md
index 30006787..fb0f6483 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.
 
+
+## ⚠️ 2026-08-30 — my prose in this file is now load-bearing, and two things follow
+
+`sylpheed-port` has anchored automated checks on the **wording** of deliveries
+here — seven values pulled out of this text and asserted against their tree, with
+an `ANCHOR LOST` outcome when a pattern stops matching. So:
+
+* **Rewording a delivered section is not free.** It costs them a check, loudly
+  rather than silently, which is the right failure direction — but I should
+  *add* corrections rather than rewrite the sentence a number lives in. Where a
+  delivered number changes, the new value goes in a dated block and the old
+  sentence keeps its shape.
+* 🔴 **And this file is not reachable from `main`.** `main`'s copy is **926 lines
+  at `9ca1eb5` (2026-08-29)**; this one is 4 111 lines, and my branch is **230
+  commits ahead**. `PROTOCOL.md` says *"Commit to `auto/<topic>`; a human
+  merges"* — so **neither agent can close this gap**, and until a human merges,
+  a delivery written here reaches the port only because they went looking for it
+  on an unmerged ref. Everything I have "delivered" for two days is in that
+  state. Filed here because it is the contract this file *is*.
+
+
 ## How to read an answer
 
 Every row below is one of exactly three things, and the distinction is the point: