diff --git a/Dockerfile.backend b/Dockerfile.backend
index d97bbbd..e23f124 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.backend
+++ b/Dockerfile.backend
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ FROM golang:1.25-alpine@sha256:f6751d823c26342f9506c03797d2527668d095b0a15f1862c
 
 RUN apk add --no-cache git make gcc musl-dev
 
-# golangci-lint v2.7.2 (2026-02-27)
-RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/v2/cmd/golangci-lint@9f61b0f53f80672872fced07b6874397c3ed197b
+# golangci-lint v2.12.2 (2026-08-09)
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/v2/cmd/golangci-lint@c0d3ddc9cf3faa61a4e378e879ece580256d76e5
 
 WORKDIR /repo/backend
 COPY backend/go.mod backend/go.sum ./
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 587c805..048ecab 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -10,23 +10,29 @@
 
 # Status
 
-pre-1.0. No git tags. Backend work in flight on feat/reportbuf-storage (dirty:
-src/main.js). Frontend is functional; backend is new and unmerged.
+pre-1.0. No git tags. `feat/reportbuf-storage` is merged; the backend, the CI
+workflow, and the backend repo standard files are all on `main`. Frontend and
+backend are both functional. Working toward the 1.0.0 milestone by closing the
+remaining repo-compliance issues on the tracker.
 
 # Next Step
 
-Land feat/reportbuf-storage: finish the in-progress src/main.js change, get make
-check green, and merge the branch to main. The branch adds the backend (buffered
-zstd-compressed report storage), the CI workflow, and backend repo standard
-files, so merging it also closes most compliance gaps.
+Compliance top-up as one small commit: add `.editorconfig` and add the `hooks`
+target to the root Makefile.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-08-09: adopted the org-standard `backend/.golangci.yml` verbatim and
+  bumped the pinned golangci-lint to v2.12.2; the previous config declared
+  `version: "2"` but used v1 schema keys, so every threshold in it was inert and
+  its green result was meaningless. `make lint` now runs
+  `golangci-lint config verify` first so an invalid config fails the build
+  instead of silently falling back to defaults
 - 2026-07-07 Adopted scripts-to-rule-them-all: `script/` entrypoints, Makefile
   shims, README Entrypoints section
 - 2026-02-27: backend with buffered zstd-compressed report storage; CI workflow
   and backend repo standard files; backend Dockerfile fixed (Go 1.25,
-  golangci-lint) and moved to repo root (feat/reportbuf-storage, unmerged)
+  golangci-lint) and moved to repo root (feat/reportbuf-storage)
 - 2026-02-26: host row layout redesigned with CSS grid; overflow and spacing
   fixes; nginx config extracted; port hardcoded to 8080
 - 2026-02-26: debug log panel, median stats, recovery probe, Docker build fix,
@@ -39,9 +45,7 @@ files, so merging it also closes most compliance gaps.
 
 # Future Steps
 
-- Compliance top-up as one small commit: add .editorconfig and add the hooks
-  target to the Makefile
-- After merge, confirm .gitea/workflows/check.yml is on main and CI is green
-  (main always green policy)
+- Confirm `.gitea/workflows/check.yml` is on `main` and CI is green (main always
+  green policy)
 - Decide what to do with untracked resume.sh: commit it, gitignore it, or delete
   it
diff --git a/backend/.golangci.yml b/backend/.golangci.yml
index 34a8e31..26b1610 100644
--- a/backend/.golangci.yml
+++ b/backend/.golangci.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 version: "2"
 
+# Config schema uses the golangci-lint v2 layout (settings live under
+# linters.settings, not top-level linters-settings) so that the
+# thresholds below are actually applied by golangci-lint >= v2.
+
 run:
   timeout: 5m
   modules-download-mode: readonly
@@ -14,19 +18,17 @@ linters:
     - wsl              # Deprecated, replaced by wsl_v5
     - wrapcheck        # Too verbose for internal packages
     - varnamelen       # Short names like db, id are idiomatic Go
-
-linters-settings:
-  lll:
-    line-length: 88
-  funlen:
-    lines: 80
-    statements: 50
-  cyclop:
-    max-complexity: 15
-  dupl:
-    threshold: 100
+  settings:
+    lll:
+      line-length: 88
+    funlen:
+      lines: 80
+      statements: 50
+    cyclop:
+      max-complexity: 15
+    dupl:
+      threshold: 100
 
 issues:
-  exclude-use-default: false
   max-issues-per-linter: 0
   max-same-issues: 0
diff --git a/backend/Makefile b/backend/Makefile
index 38cebcf..97ce004 100644
--- a/backend/Makefile
+++ b/backend/Makefile
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ build: ./$(BINARY)
 test:
 	timeout 30 go test ./...
 
+# `config verify` is run first so that a .golangci.yml which does not
+# validate against the golangci-lint schema fails the build instead of
+# silently falling back to default thresholds.
 lint:
+	golangci-lint config verify
 	golangci-lint run ./...
 
 fmt:
diff --git a/backend/internal/reportbuf/reportbuf.go b/backend/internal/reportbuf/reportbuf.go
index ff4cbad..adf5614 100644
--- a/backend/internal/reportbuf/reportbuf.go
+++ b/backend/internal/reportbuf/reportbuf.go
@@ -163,7 +163,9 @@ func (b *Buffer) writeFile(data []byte) {
 	name := fmt.Sprintf("reports-%s.jsonl.zst", ts)
 	path := filepath.Join(b.dataDir, name)
 
-	f, err := os.OpenFile( //nolint:gosec // path built from controlled dataDir + timestamp
+	// path is built from the operator-supplied dataDir plus a
+	// generated timestamp, so it carries no external input.
+	f, err := os.OpenFile( //nolint:gosec // see comment above
 		path,
 		os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_EXCL,
 		filePerms,
diff --git a/backend/internal/server/server.go b/backend/internal/server/server.go
index a67bd1e..22d4e6c 100644
--- a/backend/internal/server/server.go
+++ b/backend/internal/server/server.go
@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@ func New(
 		OnStart: func(_ context.Context) error {
 			s.startupTime = time.Now().UTC()
 
-			go func() { //nolint:contextcheck // fx OnStart ctx is startup-only; run() creates its own
+			// The fx OnStart context is scoped to startup and is
+			// cancelled once the hook returns; run() derives its
+			// own context instead of inheriting this one.
+			go func() { //nolint:contextcheck // see comment above
 				s.run()
 			}()
 
@@ -94,7 +97,9 @@ func (s *Server) run() {
 }
 
 func (s *Server) serve() int {
-	var ctx context.Context //nolint:wsl // ctx must be declared before multi-assign
+	// Declared up front because the multi-assign below also writes
+	// s.cancelFunc, so := cannot be used.
+	var ctx context.Context //nolint:wsl // see comment above
 
 	ctx, s.cancelFunc = context.WithCancel(
 		context.Background(),