diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4878a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+# .dockerignore does NOT use .gitignore semantics. Docker matches with
+# moby/patternmatcher: filepath.Match plus `**`, so `*` does not cross
+# `/` and an unprefixed pattern is anchored at the context root. Every
+# depth-independent pattern therefore needs `**/`, or `config/.env` and
+# `certs/server.key` still ship while this file reads as solved. Only
+# genuinely root-anchored entries go unprefixed. Never transplant these
+# into .gitignore, where `**/` is wrong.
+#
+# Matching is case-sensitive, so secrets use character ranges rather
+# than an ALL-CAPS twin, which would still miss `Server.Key`.
+#
+# Extend with this repo's own host-built artifacts, written anchored:
+# `/myapp`, never `**/myapp`, which also matches `cmd/myapp/` and
+# deletes the package directory from the context.
+
+# .git is sent without its config. Without a VERSION build argument the
+# stage that compiles runs `git describe --tags --always` on .git, which
+# does not need .git/config; that file can hold a credential, such as a
+# password in a remote URL or the token the CI checkout step stores there.
+# Each submodule keeps a config with the same exposure in its git directory
+# under .git/modules/, nested again for a submodule's own submodules, or in
+# its own .git directory when it keeps one.
+# KNOWN GAP: a submodule whose name has a `config` segment (`config`,
+# `deploy/config`, `config/lib`) loses its whole git directory, because
+# `**/.git/modules/**/config` also matches that segment's directory
+# under .git/modules/. Go's version stamping then fails the build;
+# nothing leaks. Name such a submodule without that segment:
+# `git submodule add --name`.
+**/.git/config
+**/.git/modules/**/config
+
+# Agent scratch: one full checkout of the repo per in-flight agent.
+# Anchored because it occurs once where agents run at the repo root.
+# KNOWN GAP: a repo running agents in subdirectories still ships
+# `services/api/.claude/` and must add its own anchored entry.
+.claude
+
+# Environment files. `*.env` covers bare `.env` and the `prod.env`
+# convention. Re-include a committed template with a negation if the
+# build needs one: `!docs/example.env`.
+**/*.[eE][nN][vV]
+**/.[eE][nN][vV].*
+**/.[eE][nN][vV][rR][cC]
+
+# Private keys and the bundles carrying them. Public certificates
+# (*.crt, *.cer) are deliberately absent: they are legitimate inputs.
+**/*.[pP][eE][mM]
+**/*.[kK][eE][yY]
+**/*.[pP]12
+**/*.[pP][fF][xX]
+**/[iI][dD]_[rR][sS][aA]
+**/[iI][dD]_[dD][sS][aA]
+**/[iI][dD]_[eE][cC][dD][sS][aA]
+**/[iI][dD]_[eE][cC][dD][sS][aA]_[sS][kK]
+**/[iI][dD]_[eE][dD]25519
+**/[iI][dD]_[eE][dD]25519_[sS][kK]
+
+# Dependencies: restored inside the image, never copied in.
+**/node_modules
+
+# OS metadata.
+**/.DS_Store
+**/Thumbs.db
+
+# Editor state: never a build input, and it churns COPY.
+**/*.swp
+**/*.swo
+**/*~
+**/*.bak
+**/.idea
+**/.vscode
+**/*.sublime-*
+
+# This repository's host-built artifacts: the example program's binary,
+# test binaries and coverage output.
+/cmd/example/example
+/*.test
+/*.out
diff --git a/.editorconfig b/.editorconfig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92ec261
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.editorconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+root = true
+
+[*]
+indent_style = space
+indent_size = 4
+end_of_line = lf
+charset = utf-8
+trim_trailing_whitespace = true
+insert_final_newline = true
+
+[Makefile]
+indent_style = tab
+
+[*.go]
+indent_style = tab
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
index 19a2731..ee73864 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 name: check
-
-on:
-  push:
-  pull_request:
-
+on: [push]
 jobs:
-  check:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
-      - run: script/cibuild
+    check:
+        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        steps:
+            # actions/checkout v4.2.2, 2026-02-22
+            - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
+            - run: script/cibuild
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 176a35f..0e3ea25 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,57 @@
-.aider*
+# OS
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Editors
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+*.bak
+.idea/
+.vscode/
+*.sublime-*
+
+# Agent scratch (worktrees of this repo, created and destroyed by
+# in-flight tooling). Unanchored: .gitignore patterns already match at
+# every depth, so no prefix is wanted here. This is not a .dockerignore
+# entry and must not be given a `**/` prefix on the way into one.
+.claude/
+
+# Node
+node_modules/
+
+# Secrets. Unanchored like every entry above, so each matches at every
+# depth. Matching is case-sensitive on Linux, so names use character
+# ranges rather than a lowercase form that misses `Server.Key`.
+
+# Environment files. `*.env` covers bare `.env` and the `prod.env`
+# convention. Only the templates `example.env` and `sample.env` are
+# re-included below. A repository that commits any other template adds
+# its own negation after these lines, for example `!.env.example`.
+*.[eE][nN][vV]
+.[eE][nN][vV].*
+.[eE][nN][vV][rR][cC]
+!example.env
+!sample.env
+
+# Private keys and the bundles carrying them.
+*.[pP][eE][mM]
+*.[kK][eE][yY]
+*.[pP]12
+*.[pP][fF][xX]
+[iI][dD]_[rR][sS][aA]
+[iI][dD]_[dD][sS][aA]
+[iI][dD]_[eE][cC][dD][sS][aA]
+[iI][dD]_[eE][cC][dD][sS][aA]_[sS][kK]
+[iI][dD]_[eE][dD]25519
+[iI][dD]_[eE][dD]25519_[sS][kK]
+
+# This repository's own entries. Go: logs, coverage output, test
+# binaries, and the example program's binary.
+*.log
+*.out
+*.test
 cmd/example/example
+
+# aider's files, among them a config file that can hold an API key.
+.aider*
diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index 26b1610..1b73eb9 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -10,14 +10,21 @@ run:
 
 linters:
   default: all
+  enable:
+    # Successor to the deprecated gomodguard. Named explicitly, rather than
+    # left to `default: all`, because it carries the module policy below.
+    - gomodguard_v2
   disable:
     # Genuinely incompatible with project patterns
     - exhaustruct      # Requires all struct fields
-    - depguard         # Dependency allow/block lists
+    - exhaustruct_v5   # Requires all struct fields (successor to exhaustruct)
     - godot            # Requires comments to end with periods
-    - wsl              # Deprecated, replaced by wsl_v5
     - wrapcheck        # Too verbose for internal packages
     - varnamelen       # Short names like db, id are idiomatic Go
+    # Deprecated: the warning is attached to the old name, so it is
+    # silenced by disabling that name, not by enabling the successor.
+    - wsl              # Deprecated, replaced by wsl_v5
+    - gomodguard       # Deprecated, replaced by gomodguard_v2
   settings:
     lll:
       line-length: 88
@@ -28,6 +35,64 @@ linters:
       max-complexity: 15
     dupl:
       threshold: 100
+    depguard:
+      # Test-support code must not be compiled into the shipped binary. A
+      # test-support package exists to hand a test privileges the program
+      # itself must never have, so a file that is not a test must not import
+      # one. Test files, and the files inside a package whose directory name
+      # ends in `test`, are where that code belongs, and are exempt.
+      #
+      # The deny list below is the one part of this file a repository is
+      # expected to extend, and the only part it may. depguard matches an
+      # import path against a list of prefixes, so it cannot be told "any path
+      # whose last segment ends in test"; a repository's own test-support
+      # packages have to be named here one at a time, by full import path,
+      # under a module path that differs from repository to repository. Add
+      # them; change nothing else.
+      rules:
+        test-support:
+          list-mode: lax
+          files:
+            - "$all"
+            - "!$test"
+            - "!**/*test/**"
+          deny:
+            - pkg: net/http/httptest
+              desc: >-
+                Test-support code belongs in test files and in packages whose
+                directory name ends in test, not in the shipped binary.
+    # Only decisions already recorded in the Go package defaults are
+    # listed here. Every entry matches the module path exactly.
+    gomodguard_v2:
+      blocked:
+        - module: github.com/rs/zerolog
+          recommendations:
+            - log/slog
+          reason: "Structured logging is stdlib log/slog."
+        # One entry per pre-fork module path, because the later releases
+        # are separate paths. A prefix match would be shorter but would
+        # also reach github.com/go-redis/redismock, the test double for
+        # the successor these entries recommend.
+        - module: github.com/go-redis/redis
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/redis/go-redis/v9
+          reason: "Pre-fork module; use the maintained go-redis v9."
+        - module: github.com/go-redis/redis/v7
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/redis/go-redis/v9
+          reason: "Pre-fork module; use the maintained go-redis v9."
+        - module: github.com/go-redis/redis/v8
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/redis/go-redis/v9
+          reason: "Pre-fork module; use the maintained go-redis v9."
+        - module: github.com/sergi/go-diff
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/aymanbagabas/go-udiff
+          reason: "No unified diff output; use go-udiff."
+        - module: github.com/hexops/gotextdiff
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/aymanbagabas/go-udiff
+          reason: "Unmaintained fork; use go-udiff."
 
 issues:
   max-issues-per-linter: 0
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 61f5e60..e38ad31 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-# Lint stage: format check + golangci-lint
-# golangci/golangci-lint:v2.12.2 (Debian-based), 2026-08-07
-FROM golangci/golangci-lint:v2.12.2@sha256:5cceeef04e53efe1470638d4b4b4f5ceefd574955ab3941b2d9a68a8c9ad5240 AS lint
+# Lint stage. The format check is not here: it runs on the host, in
+# script/fmt-check.
+# golangci/golangci-lint:v2.14.0 (Debian-based), 2026-09-24
+FROM golangci/golangci-lint@sha256:ad862ba6b3798cbe0fd9fd7408d498fd74fbd2623a92406b2fd3898faf0bf98f AS lint
 WORKDIR /src
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
 RUN go mod download
 COPY . .
-RUN make fmt-check
 # Called directly: make lint is itself a docker build of this stage.
 RUN golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
 
@@ -21,8 +21,16 @@ RUN go test -timeout 90s -race -cover ./... || \
     { echo "--- Rerunning with -v for details ---"; \
       go test -timeout 90s -race -v ./...; exit 1; }
 
-# Final stage: the copies make a plain docker build run both stages above.
+# Final stage: a development environment, set up by script/bootstrap.
+# The copies make a plain docker build run both stages above. No stage
+# compiles a binary, since simplelog is a library, so none declares the
+# VERSION build argument that script/docker and script/cibuild pass.
 # golang 1.22.12 (2025-02-04)
 FROM golang@sha256:1cf6c45ba39db9fd6db16922041d074a63c935556a05c5ccb62d181034df7f02
 COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null
 COPY --from=test /src/go.sum /dev/null
+WORKDIR /src
+COPY script/ script/
+COPY go.mod go.sum ./
+RUN script/bootstrap
+COPY . .
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 91d5631..30f3b90 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -150,9 +150,10 @@ alpine. We provide:
   building only the `test` stage of the `Dockerfile`, without the build cache,
   so every run tests; the image is tagged `simplelog-test`
 - `script/lint` — run golangci-lint in Docker by building only the `lint`
-  stage of the `Dockerfile` (which also runs the format check), without the
-  build cache, so every run lints; the image is tagged `simplelog-lint`
-- `script/fmt` — format all files with goimports (writes)
+  stage of the `Dockerfile`, without the build cache, so every run lints; the
+  image is tagged `simplelog-lint`
+- `script/fmt` — format all files with goimports (writes); goimports runs
+  with `go run` at a pinned commit, so nothing needs to install it
 - `script/fmt-check` — check formatting (read-only); fails if `gofmt -l`
   reports files
 - `script/check` — run all checks: `test`, `lint`, `fmt-check` (our own
@@ -161,9 +162,8 @@ alpine. We provide:
   via `script/projectname` (byte-identical across repos); it also passes the
   output of `git describe` as the `VERSION` build argument, which is ignored
   because this `Dockerfile` does not declare it
-- `script/cibuild` — cd to the repo root and build the Docker image without the
-  build cache, tagged via `script/projectname` (what CI runs; the image build
-  runs the checks)
+- `script/cibuild` — what CI runs: `script/bootstrap`, then `script/check`,
+  then the same image build as `script/docker` (byte-identical across repos)
 - `script/precommit` — run by the git pre-commit hook (our own extension);
   runs a `go mod tidy` guard, then `script/check`
 - `script/install-precommit` — installs the git pre-commit hook (our own
diff --git a/REPO_POLICIES.md b/REPO_POLICIES.md
index bc2f161..20382d1 100644
--- a/REPO_POLICIES.md
+++ b/REPO_POLICIES.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: Repository Policies
-last_modified: 2026-07-06
+last_modified: 2026-10-04
 ---
 
 This document covers repository structure, tooling, and workflow standards. Code
@@ -60,17 +60,28 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   prerequisite since nvm requires bash. yarn is then pinned via
   `corepack prepare yarn@<version> --activate`. Never install "latest" or "lts";
   always exact versions. `script/cibuild` runs the CI build: it changes to the
-  repo root and runs `docker build .`; the Gitea workflow calls it. Four further
-  scripts are our own extensions to the standard: `script/check` runs
-  `script/test`, `script/lint`, and `script/fmt-check`; `script/precommit` is
-  what the git pre-commit hook runs, and it calls `script/check`;
-  `script/install-precommit` installs the git pre-commit hook (the `make hooks`
-  target shims to it); and `script/projectname` (literally that filename) simply
-  outputs the project's name. Scripts that need the name call
-  `script/projectname` — e.g. `script/docker` assembles its image tag from it —
-  so those scripts stay byte-identical across all repos. Repo-type-specific
-  pre-commit extras (e.g. `go mod tidy` verification in Go repos) belong in
-  `script/precommit`, not in the hook itself. Model scripts are at
+  repo root, runs `script/bootstrap`, runs `script/check`, and builds the image
+  with the version; the Gitea workflow calls it. **`script/cibuild` runs
+  `script/bootstrap` first**, because the workflow checks out the repo and runs
+  nothing else, while `script/fmt-check` runs the formatter on the host: on a
+  pristine checkout with nothing installed the run dies there, after the
+  containerised gates have passed. **The bootstrap alone is not enough**:
+  `script/bootstrap` installs node and yarn under nvm and leaves neither on the
+  `PATH` of the shell that called it, so a bare `yarn` still exits 127. The host
+  entrypoints that need yarn — `script/fmt` and `script/fmt-check` — therefore
+  source nvm for the pinned node version before invoking it, exactly as
+  `script/bootstrap`'s own install step does. A runner carrying nothing but
+  docker and git then gets through `script/check`. Four further scripts are our
+  own extensions to the standard: `script/check` runs `script/test`,
+  `script/lint` and `script/fmt-check`; `script/precommit` is what the git
+  pre-commit hook runs, and it calls `script/check`; `script/install-precommit`
+  installs the git pre-commit hook (the `make hooks` target shims to it); and
+  `script/projectname` (literally that filename) simply outputs the project's
+  name. Scripts that need the name call `script/projectname` — e.g.
+  `script/docker` assembles its image tag from it — so those scripts stay
+  byte-identical across all repos. Repo-type-specific pre-commit extras (e.g.
+  `go mod tidy` verification in Go repos) belong in `script/precommit`, not in
+  the hook itself. Model scripts are at
   `https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/script/<name>`. The README
   must document the provided scripts in an **Entrypoints** section (see the
   README requirements below).
@@ -89,87 +100,198 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   contributor should be able to understand the entire development workflow by
   reading the Makefile.
 
-- Every repo should have a `Dockerfile`. All Dockerfiles must run `make check`
-  as a build step so the build fails if the branch is not green. For non-server
-  repos, the Dockerfile should bring up a development environment and run
-  `make check`. For server repos, `make check` should run as an early build
-  stage before the final image is assembled. Dockerfiles install development
-  prerequisites by running `script/bootstrap` rather than duplicating installs
-  inline; COPY `script/` and the dependency manifests (`package.json` +
-  `yarn.lock`, `go.mod` + `go.sum`, etc.) before running it so the bootstrap
-  layer stays cached until dependencies change.
+- Every repo should have a `Dockerfile`, and it carries the repo's gates: a
+  `lint` phase and a `test` phase, with the final stage depending on both so the
+  image cannot be built unless they pass. For non-server repos the final stage
+  brings up a development environment; for server repos it is the runtime image.
+  The gate phases and the build stage start from their pinned base images and
+  install what those images lack either inline, as the canonical Go `Dockerfile`
+  below does for `git`, or by running `script/bootstrap`, as the `prompts`
+  repo's own `Dockerfile` does for its yarn packages. The development
+  environment stage installs development prerequisites by running
+  `script/bootstrap` rather than duplicating its installs inline. A stage that
+  runs `script/bootstrap` COPYs `script/` and the dependency manifests
+  (`package.json` + `yarn.lock`, `go.mod` + `go.sum`, etc.) before running it.
 
-- **Dockerfiles must use a separate lint stage for fail-fast feedback.** Go
-  repos use a multistage build where linting runs in an independent stage based
-  on the `golangci/golangci-lint` image (pinned by hash). This stage runs
-  `make fmt-check` and `make lint` before the full build begins. The build stage
-  then declares an explicit dependency on the lint stage via
-  `COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null`, which forces BuildKit to complete
-  linting before proceeding to compilation and tests. This ensures lint failures
-  surface in seconds rather than minutes, without blocking on dependency
-  download or compilation in the build stage.
+- **Linting and testing run in Docker, as phases of the `Dockerfile`.** There is
+  no separate lint file. `script/lint` and `script/test` each build one phase
+  and nothing else:
 
-    The standard pattern for a Go repo Dockerfile is:
+    ```sh
+    docker build --no-cache --target lint -t "$(script/projectname)-lint" .
+    docker build --no-cache --target test -t "$(script/projectname)-test" .
+    ```
+
+    **A stage that is not the last one in the file is built only when the final
+    stage's chain depends on it, or when `--target` names it.** That is why the
+    two gates are always invoked by name here, and why the final stage carries a
+    `COPY --from=` of a harmless file from each of them: without that edge a
+    plain `docker build .` builds the last stage alone and exits 0 having linted
+    and tested nothing.
+
+    **Every `docker build` in `script/` is tagged**, here and in
+    `script/cibuild` and `script/docker`. An untagged build leaves a dangling
+    image behind on every invocation, on every developer host and every CI
+    runner; a tagged one replaces the previous image.
+
+    Inside a phase the tool is invoked directly — `golangci-lint`, `go test`,
+    `eslint`, `prettier` — never through `make lint` or `script/test`, which are
+    themselves a `docker build` and would recurse into a daemon that does not
+    exist in a build step. Formatting is the exception and stays on the host:
+    `script/fmt` writes the working tree, and `script/fmt-check` is its
+    read-only twin.
+
+    **No lint verdict may come from a host invocation of the linter.** On a
+    shared host golangci-lint reads a result cache keyed on file content rather
+    than location, so a second checkout of the same content is served the first
+    one's findings, and a host-global lock in `$TMPDIR` makes concurrent runs
+    exit non-zero with `parallel golangci-lint is running` — a status a caller
+    cannot tell from real findings. Both have produced wrong verdicts in this
+    org, in both directions. A container has its own cache, its own `TMPDIR` and
+    a digest-pinned binary, so neither is reachable.
+
+- **Any build that runs checks is built with `--no-cache`.** Docker invalidates
+  a `COPY` layer only when the copied content changes, so on an unchanged tree
+  the check `RUN` is served from cache, nothing executes, and the build still
+  exits 0. Every `docker build` in `script/` therefore passes `--no-cache`:
+  `script/lint`, `script/test`, `script/cibuild` and `script/docker` are the
+  four, and there is no fifth — `script/check` runs the two gate phases and
+  `script/fmt-check`, and builds no image of its own. A bare `docker build .` is
+  not evidence that anything ran: a sub-second build reporting success is a
+  cache hit, not a result. Never invalidate by pruning — `docker builder prune`
+  and friends destroy a build cache shared with every other build on the host.
+  When a check is added or changed, prove it works by planting a defect it must
+  catch and watching the run fail on it, then revert the defect. A green run
+  alone shows neither that the check ran nor that it covers what it should.
+
+- **The gate phases are separate stages, and the build stage depends on both.**
+  The lint phase is based on the `golangci/golangci-lint` image (pinned by
+  hash), so lint failures surface in seconds rather than after a full compile,
+  and the test phase is based on the Debian Go image. The canonical Go repo
+  `Dockerfile`:
 
     ```dockerfile
-    # Lint stage — fast feedback on formatting and lint issues
+    # Lint phase
     # golangci/golangci-lint:v2.x.x, YYYY-MM-DD
     FROM golangci/golangci-lint@sha256:... AS lint
     WORKDIR /src
     COPY go.mod go.sum ./
     RUN go mod download
     COPY . .
-    RUN make fmt-check
-    RUN make lint
+    RUN golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
 
-    # Build stage
-    # golang:1.x-alpine, YYYY-MM-DD
-    FROM golang@sha256:... AS builder
+    # Test phase. -race needs cgo and so a C compiler, which the Debian Go
+    # image ships and the alpine one does not.
+    # golang:1.x, YYYY-MM-DD
+    FROM golang@sha256:... AS test
     WORKDIR /src
-
-    # Force BuildKit to run the lint stage before proceeding
-    COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null
-
     COPY go.mod go.sum ./
     RUN go mod download
     COPY . .
-    RUN make test
+    RUN go test -timeout 90s -race -cover ./... || \
+        { echo "--- Rerunning with -v for details ---"; \
+          go test -timeout 90s -race -v ./...; exit 1; }
 
-    ARG VERSION=dev
-    RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -trimpath \
-        -ldflags="-s -w -X main.Version=${VERSION}" \
-        -o /app ./cmd/app/
+    # Build stage. Nothing is wanted from either phase above; the copies
+    # are what make BuildKit build them first, so this stage cannot run
+    # unless lint and test passed.
+    # golang:1.x-alpine, YYYY-MM-DD
+    FROM golang@sha256:... AS builder
+    COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null
+    COPY --from=test /src/go.sum /dev/null
+    RUN apk add --no-cache git
+    # A tar-stream context keeps the sender's file owners, which git refuses.
+    RUN git config --system --add safe.directory /src
+    WORKDIR /src
+    COPY go.mod go.sum ./
+    RUN go mod download
+    COPY . .
 
-    # Runtime stage
+    # The VERSION build arg when one is given, otherwise
+    # `git describe --tags --always` on the .git in the build context. With
+    # .git present, a version that is still empty, dev or unknown fails the
+    # build: git is missing or could not read the checkout.
+    ARG VERSION
+    RUN VERSION="${VERSION:-$(git describe --tags --always)}"; \
+        if [ -e .git ]; then \
+            case "$VERSION" in ""|dev|unknown) \
+                echo "version is '$VERSION' although .git is present" >&2; \
+                exit 1 ;; \
+            esac; \
+        fi; \
+        CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -trimpath \
+            -ldflags="-s -w -X main.Version=${VERSION}" \
+            -o /app ./cmd/app/
+
+    # Runtime stage, and the last one
     FROM alpine@sha256:...
     COPY --from=builder /app /usr/local/bin/app
     ENTRYPOINT ["app"]
     ```
 
     Key points:
-    - The lint stage uses the `golangci/golangci-lint` image directly (it
-      includes both Go and the linter), so there is no need to install the
-      linter separately.
-    - `COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null` is a no-op file copy that creates
-      a stage dependency. BuildKit runs stages in parallel by default; without
-      this line, the build stage would not wait for lint to finish and a lint
-      failure might not fail the overall build.
+    - The lint phase uses the `golangci/golangci-lint` image directly (it has
+      both Go and the linter), so nothing needs installing.
+    - `COPY --from=<phase> /src/go.sum /dev/null` is a no-op copy whose only
+      purpose is the ordering edge. BuildKit runs stages in parallel by default,
+      and a stage nothing depends on is not built at all, so without these two
+      lines a red gate would not fail the build.
+    - Keep the runtime stage last, and if you add a stage after it, give it the
+      same two copies. A plain `docker build .` builds the last stage's chain
+      and nothing else.
     - If the project uses `//go:embed` directives that reference build artifacts
-      (e.g. a web frontend compiled in a separate stage), the lint stage must
+      (e.g. a web frontend compiled in a separate stage), the lint phase must
       create placeholder files so the embed directives resolve. Example:
       `RUN mkdir -p web/dist && touch web/dist/index.html web/dist/style.css`.
-      The lint stage should not depend on the actual build output — it exists to
-      fail fast.
-    - If the project requires CGO or system libraries for linting (e.g.
-      `vips-dev`), install them in the lint stage with `apk add`.
-    - The build stage runs `make test` after compilation setup. Tests run in the
-      build stage, not the lint stage, because they may require compiled
-      artifacts or heavier dependencies.
+    - If the project requires CGO or system libraries for linting, install them
+      in the lint phase. The `golangci/golangci-lint` image is Debian-based and
+      has no `apk`, so install with `apt-get` under the Debian package name
+      (`libvips-dev`, where alpine says `vips-dev`), and delete the package
+      lists in the same `RUN`, so the layer does not keep them:
+
+        ```dockerfile
+        RUN apt-get update \
+            && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libvips-dev \
+            && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+        ```
+
+    - `.dockerignore` lets `.git` into the build context. It keeps out every git
+      `config` at any depth (`**/.git/config`, `**/.git/modules/**/config`): the
+      repository's own, each submodule's under `.git/modules/`, and that of a
+      submodule keeping its own `.git` directory. `git describe` does not need
+      them, and each can hold a credential: a password in a remote URL, or the
+      token the CI checkout step stores there. A submodule whose name has a
+      `config` segment (`config`, `deploy/config`, `config/lib`) loses its whole
+      git directory to `**/.git/modules/**/config`, and Go's version stamping
+      then fails the build: give it a name without that segment
+      (`git submodule add --name`). The stage that compiles has `git` (the
+      Debian Go image has it; an alpine one needs `apk add --no-cache git`) and
+      takes the version from the `VERSION` build argument when one is given,
+      otherwise from `git describe --tags --always`. That gives the tag on a
+      tagged commit; on a later commit, the tag, the number of commits since it
+      and the short commit (`v1.2.3-4-gabc1234`); and the short commit when no
+      tag is reachable. The stage that compiles also marks its working directory
+      safe for git (`git config --system --add safe.directory /src`): a context
+      sent as a tar stream keeps the sender's file owners, and git refuses a
+      checkout owned by another user, so the version would come out empty.
+      `ARG VERSION` has no default, and the build fails if the context carries
+      `.git` and the version still comes out empty, `dev` or `unknown`. A plain
+      `docker build .` with no build arguments must succeed; a Dockerfile that
+      refuses an empty build argument drops that refusal and keeps the argument.
 
 - Every repo should have a Gitea Actions workflow (`.gitea/workflows/`) that
-  runs `script/cibuild` (which runs `docker build .`) on push. Since the
-  Dockerfile already runs `make check`, a successful build implies all checks
-  pass.
+  runs `script/cibuild` on push, and checks out the repo as its only other step.
+  That script bootstraps, runs the gate phases, and then builds the image, so a
+  successful run means every check passed; a bare `docker build .` does not
+  carry the same guarantee, because its gate phases may come from the cache. The
+  image build is uncached and so runs the gate phases a second time. That is the
+  price of the rule above, and it is worth paying: the image that ships is built
+  from a run of its own gates rather than from a cache entry. A separate
+  workflow limited to `main` by a `branches` list under `on: push` cannot be
+  checked by review: to try a change to it, add the feature branch to that list
+  and push, then remove the branch from the list again before merging. Keep any
+  job in it that publishes behind `if: github.ref_name == 'main'`, so the run
+  from the feature branch publishes nothing.
 
 - Use platform-standard formatters: `black` for Python, `prettier` for
   JS/CSS/Markdown/HTML, `go fmt` for Go. Always use default configuration with
@@ -189,14 +311,21 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   module under test to verify it compiles/parses. There is no excuse for
   `make test` to be a no-op.
 
-- `make test` must complete in under 20 seconds. Add a 30-second timeout in the
-  Makefile.
+- `make test` must complete in under 60 seconds. That is the hard cap, and a
+  suite that exceeds it fails. Under 20 seconds is the target. A suite between
+  20 and 60 seconds is still green, but the overage must be filed as an
+  improvement bug against that repo. Add a 90-second timeout to the test
+  invocation (`go test -timeout 90s`). The backstop deliberately sits above the
+  hard cap so that it catches a genuinely hung test rather than a merely slow
+  one.
 
-- **`make test` should use the conditional verbose rerun pattern.** Run tests
-  without `-v` (verbose) first. If tests fail, automatically rerun with `-v` to
-  show full output. This keeps CI logs and `docker build` output clean on
-  success (just package/suite summaries) while providing full diagnostic detail
-  on failure (every test case, every assertion). The general shell pattern:
+- **The test command should use the conditional verbose rerun pattern.** Run
+  tests without `-v` (verbose) first. If tests fail, automatically rerun with
+  `-v` to show full output. This keeps CI logs and `docker build` output clean
+  on success (just package/suite summaries) while providing full diagnostic
+  detail on failure (every test case, every assertion). The command lives in the
+  `test` phase of the `Dockerfile`, since `script/test` builds that phase; the
+  Makefile form below is the same pattern for any repo-local invocation:
 
     ```makefile
     test:
@@ -209,11 +338,26 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
 
     ```makefile
     test:
-    	@go test -timeout 30s -race -cover ./... || \
+    	@go test -count=1 -timeout 90s -race -cover ./... || \
     		{ echo "--- Rerunning with -v for details ---"; \
-    		  go test -timeout 30s -race -v ./...; exit 1; }
+    		  go test -count=1 -timeout 90s -race -v ./...; exit 1; }
     ```
 
+    `-count=1` is required on both invocations: it defeats Go's test _result_
+    cache, so neither run can report a stored pass in place of running the
+    tests. It leaves the build cache alone, so it costs the runtime of the suite
+    and no recompilation.
+
+    That cache is Go's own, separate from Docker's layer cache. Go stores a
+    passing result in its cache directory (`GOCACHE`), and when the same tests
+    run again on unchanged code it prints that result, marked `(cached)`,
+    without running them. That matters on a developer's machine, where this
+    target runs and the directory lasts from one run to the next. The `test`
+    phase of the `Dockerfile` needs no `-count=1`: its base image holds no
+    result for this repo's tests and nothing before its `go test` step runs a
+    test, so there is nothing to replay. `--no-cache` (above) is what makes that
+    step run on an unchanged tree.
+
     Python example:
 
     ```makefile
@@ -239,10 +383,84 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   must be in `.gitignore`. No exceptions.
 
 - `.gitignore` should be comprehensive from the start: OS files (`.DS_Store`),
-  editor files (`.swp`, `*~`), language build artifacts, and `node_modules/`.
-  Fetch the standard `.gitignore` from
-  `https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.gitignore` when setting up
-  a new repo.
+  editor files (`.swp`, `*~`), in-repo agent scratch directories (`.claude/`),
+  language build artifacts, and `node_modules/`. Fetch the standard `.gitignore`
+  from `https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.gitignore` when
+  setting up a new repo. These patterns are written to `.gitignore`'s own
+  semantics, in which an unanchored pattern already matches at every depth; they
+  are not a `.dockerignore` and must not be transplanted into one unmodified.
+
+- **`.dockerignore` does not use `.gitignore` semantics, and copying patterns
+  across unmodified leaves secrets in the build context.** Docker matches with
+  `moby/patternmatcher`: `filepath.Match` semantics plus a `**` extension, so
+  `*` does not cross `/` and a pattern without a leading `**/` is anchored at
+  the build-context root. A `.dockerignore` listing `.env`, `*.pem` and `*.key`
+  therefore excludes only the copies at the repository root, while `config/.env`
+  and `certs/server.key` still reach the context and can land in an image layer
+  — which is more dangerous than a short file with no secret patterns at all,
+  because it reads as solved and stops anyone looking. Give every
+  depth-independent pattern the `**/` prefix and leave only genuinely
+  root-anchored entries unprefixed: `.claude`, and the repo's own host-built
+  binary, written `/myapp` and never `**/myapp`, which would also match
+  `cmd/myapp/` and delete the package directory from the context. Matching is
+  case-sensitive, and an ALL-CAPS twin per pattern still misses `Server.Key`, so
+  secret names use character ranges — `**/*.[kK][eE][yY]`, `**/*.[pP][eE][mM]`,
+  and likewise for `.envrc` and the extensionless SSH keys. Where such a pattern
+  also catches something the build needs, re-include it with a negation
+  (`!docs/example.env`); deleting the pattern reopens the exposure for every
+  other file it covers. Fetch the standard `.dockerignore` from
+  `https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.dockerignore` and extend
+  it with the repo's own artifacts.
+
+- **In-repo agent scratch belongs in both files, written to each file's own
+  semantics.** `.claude/` holds one worktree per in-flight agent — an entire
+  additional checkout of the repo — so under `COPY . .` the build context
+  inflates by a multiple of the repo and another session's unreviewed work can
+  be copied into an image layer. In `.gitignore` the entry is `.claude/`,
+  unanchored. In `.dockerignore` it is `.claude`, anchored and with **no** `**/`
+  prefix, because the prefixed form would also delete any nested directory of
+  that name from the build. Anchoring carries a known gap that the canonical
+  `.dockerignore` states in its own comment, since consuming repos receive the
+  file and not the tracker: the directory is created in the agent's working
+  directory, so a repo running agents in subdirectories still ships
+  `services/api/.claude/` and must add its own anchored entry there.
+
+- **A plain `docker build .` of a clone stamps the version that
+  `git describe --tags --always` gives**, derived from the `.git` in the build
+  context as the canonical `Dockerfile` above shows. Without its failure check,
+  a missing `git` or an unreadable checkout would leave `-X main.Version=` empty
+  and the build would still exit 0. `script/docker` and `script/cibuild` pass
+  the version they compute on the host; it takes precedence. They do this
+  byte-identically across repos:
+
+    ```sh
+    # Own line: a failing command substitution inside an argument does not
+    # trip `set -e`, so the inline form degrades to an empty constant.
+    version="$(git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    [ -n "$version" ] || version="unknown"
+    docker build --no-cache \
+        --build-arg VERSION="$version" \
+        -t "$(script/projectname)" .
+    ```
+
+    `--always` makes an untagged repo yield an abbreviated commit hash rather
+    than failing, and the `[ -n "$version" ]` line is the single place the
+    fallback is applied — a live check that fires on a build from an export with
+    no `.git` and on a repository with no commits yet. Do not fold it into the
+    substitution as `|| echo unknown`, which makes the guard unreachable. The
+    Dockerfile's side is `ARG VERSION` in the stage that compiles, declared
+    there because `ARG` is stage-scoped; passing `VERSION` to a repo whose
+    Dockerfile declares no such `ARG` is ignored and costs nothing, which is why
+    the scripts stay byte-identical. One consequence for CI: the standard
+    checkout action clones shallow and fetches no tags, so a repo that embeds a
+    tag-derived version must set `fetch-depth: 0` on its checkout step.
+
+- **Verify `.dockerignore` by enumerating the image, not by reading the
+  patterns.** Plant files at the root _and_ at least two directories deep, build
+  a probe image that does `COPY . .`, and list what actually landed
+  (`docker run --rm --entrypoint find IMAGE /app`). The `transferring context`
+  size is not a substitute: a nested secret is a few bytes, and BuildKit
+  transfers only the delta from the previous build.
 
 - **No build artifacts in version control.** Code-derived data (compiled
   bundles, minified output, generated assets) must never be committed to the
@@ -258,9 +476,56 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
 - Make all changes on a feature branch. You can do whatever you want on a
   feature branch.
 
-- `.golangci.yml` is standardized and must _NEVER_ be modified by an agent, only
-  manually by the user. Fetch from
-  `https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.golangci.yml`.
+- `.golangci.yml` is standardized. The vendored copy in a consuming repo must
+  _NEVER_ be modified by an agent: fetch it from
+  `https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.golangci.yml` and keep it
+  byte-identical, so that no repo can quietly loosen its own linting. Linter
+  configuration changes are made to the canonical copy in the `prompts` repo and
+  reach consuming repos by re-vendoring; an agent may open a PR against
+  canonical, which only the user merges. One list is exempt from byte-identity,
+  because it cannot be written once for every repo: the `deny` list of the
+  `test-support` depguard rule, where a repo names its own test-support packages
+  by full import path. A repo adds entries there and changes nothing else, and a
+  re-vendor carries its entries forward. The canonical golangci-lint version is
+  v2.14.0 (released 2026-09-24), pinned as the digest of the lint phase's base
+  image
+  (`golangci/golangci-lint@sha256:ad862ba6b3798cbe0fd9fd7408d498fd74fbd2623a92406b2fd3898faf0bf98f`,
+  which reports `2.14.0 built with go1.27.0 from 114493f9`). A module's `go`
+  directive must not name a newer Go minor version than the one golangci-lint
+  was built with, or golangci-lint refuses to lint it: this release lints
+  `go 1.27.1` but not `go 1.28`. That digest is the only pin, since no repo
+  installs golangci-lint on the host. A repo sets the lint phase digest to the
+  one named here and re-vendors `.golangci.yml` in the same commit, whichever of
+  the two prompted the change: the canonical copy can name linters that an older
+  golangci-lint rejects, and a newer golangci-lint can add linters that
+  `default: all` switches on until the canonical copy disables them.
+
+- **`script/bootstrap` installs a pinned tool by comparing versions, never by
+  testing presence.** An `if ! command -v <tool>; then install; fi` guard tests
+  `PATH` only, so on an already-provisioned machine the pin is inert and a
+  version bump is a silent no-op — while the Dockerfile, installing into a clean
+  image, gets the pinned version, so a local `make check` and `make docker` can
+  disagree about what the tool even is. The canonical form:
+    - compares the installed version against the pin over the **whole** version
+      token; a parser that stops at the first `-` reports `2.12.2` for a host
+      running `2.12.2-rc1` and skips the install;
+    - treats absent, non-zero, empty or unrecognised `--version` output as a
+      mismatch, so the failure direction is a redundant install and never a
+      skipped one;
+    - after installing, re-resolves the binary the way callers do — `hash -r`,
+      then through `PATH`, not through the directory the installer wrote to —
+      and fails naming the resolved path, since an install that a shadowing
+      binary hides succeeds while changing nothing any caller sees;
+    - is actually called, and prints the version on both success paths: a
+      function defined and never invoked has the same exit status and the same
+      empty output as one that worked.
+
+    Keep it POSIX sh: no arrays, no `[[`, no `grep -P`.
+
+    A Go tool a repo needs on the host is installed with `go install` pinned to
+    a commit hash (`go install <package>@<commit hash>`). It is never tracked as
+    a `go.mod` tool dependency or through a `tools.go` file, either of which
+    pulls the tool's own dependencies into the repo's `go.mod` and `go.sum`.
 
 - When pinning images or packages by hash, add a comment above the reference
   with the version and date (YYYY-MM-DD).
@@ -374,12 +639,14 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   settings.
 
 - Avoid putting files in the repo root unless necessary. Root should contain
-  only project-level config files (`README.md`, `Makefile`, `Dockerfile`,
-  `LICENSE`, `.gitignore`, `.editorconfig`, `REPO_POLICIES.md`, and
-  language-specific config). Everything else goes in a subdirectory. Canonical
-  subdirectory names:
+  only project-level config files (`README.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `Makefile`,
+  `Dockerfile`, `LICENSE`, `.gitignore`, `.editorconfig`, `REPO_POLICIES.md`,
+  and language-specific config). Everything else goes in a subdirectory.
+  Canonical subdirectory names:
     - `bin/` — executable scripts and tools
-    - `cmd/` — Go command entrypoints
+    - `cmd/` — Go command entrypoints; thin only: one `main.go` per binary whose
+      body is a single call into `internal/` or `pkg/`, no project logic in
+      `cmd/`
     - `configs/` — configuration templates and examples
     - `deploy/` — deployment manifests (k8s, compose, terraform)
     - `docs/` — documentation and markdown (README.md stays in root)
@@ -406,3 +673,7 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
     - Go: `go.mod`, `go.sum`, `.golangci.yml`
     - JS: `package.json`, `yarn.lock`, `.prettierrc`, `.prettierignore`
     - Python: `pyproject.toml`
+
+- Guidance for coding agents lives in one `AGENTS.md` at the repository root. It
+  is never committed under a file or directory named after one agent tool, such
+  as `CLAUDE.md` or `.claude/`, and never split into separate memory files.
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 5e15b59..e89bc37 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -17,13 +17,19 @@ maintenance; the library is referenced by the Go styleguide.
 
 # Next Step
 
-Bring the Makefile up to policy in one commit: add fmt-check, check, and
-hooks targets (test/lint/fmt/docker exist) and add the missing policy
-files it depends on: .golangci.yml, REPO_POLICIES.md, .editorconfig,
-.dockerignore, and .gitea/workflows/check.yml running make check.
+Restructure README.md into the standard sections: Description, Getting
+Started, Rationale, Design, TODO, License, Author
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+* 2026-10-06: re-vendored the standard files from `sneak/prompts` at
+    commit `dd4027b`: `REPO_POLICIES.md`, the CI workflow, `.gitignore`,
+    and `.golangci.yml` together with the lint stage's new image, plus
+    the `.editorconfig` and `.dockerignore` this repo lacked, which
+    finishes the Makefile and policy-files step. `script/cibuild` now
+    bootstraps and runs `script/check` before building the image, the
+    format check runs only on the host, the last `Dockerfile` stage runs
+    `script/bootstrap`, and `script/fmt` runs goimports at a pinned commit
 * 2026-10-06: the console handler takes the file and line it prints from
     the record's `PC` instead of counting stack frames, so they name the
     call site whether the record came through a `slog.Logger` or straight
@@ -63,8 +69,6 @@ files it depends on: .golangci.yml, REPO_POLICIES.md, .editorconfig,
 
 # Future Steps
 
-* Restructure README.md into the standard sections: Description,
-    Getting Started, Rationale, Design, TODO, License, Author
 * Delete the old plain TODO file once this TODO.md lands
 * Add .aider.* to .gitignore and remove the stray aider artifacts from
     the working tree
diff --git a/script/bootstrap b/script/bootstrap
index d0f3814..c6d6493 100755
--- a/script/bootstrap
+++ b/script/bootstrap
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ main() {
 
     if missing go; then pkg_install go golang go go; fi
     # golangci-lint is not installed: it runs only in docker (script/lint).
+    # Nor is goimports: script/fmt runs it with `go run` at a pinned commit.
 
     go mod download
 
diff --git a/script/check b/script/check
index 3e1778c..92875f7 100755
--- a/script/check
+++ b/script/check
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # script/check: run all checks (test, lint, fmt-check). Our own
-# extension to scripts-to-rule-them-all. Must not modify any files.
+# extension to scripts-to-rule-them-all. test and lint are Docker
+# phases; fmt-check is native, because a formatter writes the working
+# tree. Must not modify any files.
 set -eu
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"
diff --git a/script/cibuild b/script/cibuild
index 8b13f21..d8d3200 100755
--- a/script/cibuild
+++ b/script/cibuild
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# script/cibuild: run the CI build. The Dockerfile runs the format check,
-# the linter and the tests, so a successful build means they all pass.
-# --no-cache because a cached check step is a check that did not run.
+# script/cibuild: run the CI build. It bootstraps first: a CI runner
+# checks out and runs this and nothing else, and script/fmt-check runs
+# the formatter on the host, which a pristine checkout cannot do.
+# --no-cache for the same reason as script/docker: the gate phases the
+# final stage depends on are RUN steps, and a cached one is a check that
+# did not run.
 set -eu
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"
@@ -9,7 +12,17 @@ ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd -P)"
 
 main() {
     cd "$ROOT"
-    docker build --no-cache -t "$("$SCRIPT_DIR/projectname")" .
+    "$SCRIPT_DIR/bootstrap"
+    "$SCRIPT_DIR/check"
+    # Own line: a failing command substitution inside an argument does
+    # not trip `set -e`, so the inline form degrades silently to an
+    # empty constant. The VERSION build argument takes precedence over
+    # the version a build stage derives from the .git in the context.
+    version="$(git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    [ -n "$version" ] || version="unknown"
+    docker build --no-cache \
+        --build-arg VERSION="$version" \
+        -t "$("$SCRIPT_DIR/projectname")" .
 }
 
 main "$@"
diff --git a/script/docker b/script/docker
index c4688e8..07b626c 100755
--- a/script/docker
+++ b/script/docker
@@ -12,9 +12,8 @@ main() {
     cd "$ROOT"
     # Own line: a failing command substitution inside an argument does
     # not trip `set -e`, so the inline form degrades silently to an
-    # empty constant. VERSION is computed here because .dockerignore
-    # excludes .git, so `git describe` in a build stage yields an empty
-    # version without failing.
+    # empty constant. The VERSION build argument takes precedence over
+    # the version a build stage derives from the .git in the context.
     version="$(git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || true)"
     [ -n "$version" ] || version="unknown"
     docker build --no-cache \
diff --git a/script/fmt b/script/fmt
index 64817df..1f40c46 100755
--- a/script/fmt
+++ b/script/fmt
@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# script/fmt: format all files (writes).
+# script/fmt: format all files (writes). goimports runs with `go run` at
+# a pinned commit, so nothing installs it and every machine formats with
+# the same version.
 set -eu
 
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
 
+# goimports from golang.org/x/tools v0.51.0, 2026-10-02
+GOIMPORTS="golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports@ea2f152dc35325e4b9b639583972375972350a84"
+
 main() {
     cd "$ROOT"
-    goimports -l -w .
+    go run "$GOIMPORTS" -l -w .
 }
 
 main "$@"