diff --git a/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.d.ts b/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.d.ts
index 4a32762421..82e5071b2c 100644
--- a/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.d.ts
+++ b/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.d.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import type {
   CodingAgentDriver,
-  GovernorChokepointInput,
   GovernorDecision,
   IterateLoopInput,
   IterateLoopResult,
@@ -8,10 +7,16 @@ import type {
 } from "@jsonbored/gittensory-engine";
 import type { HarnessSubmissionDecision, HarnessSubmissionEventLedger } from "./harness-submission-trigger.js";
 import type { SubmissionFreshnessClaimLedger, LiveIssueSnapshot, FreshnessAbortReason } from "./submission-freshness-check.js";
+import type { GovernorChokepointInputPersisted } from "./governor-chokepoint-persisted.js";
+import type { GovernorState } from "./governor-state.js";
 
 export const ATTEMPT_OUTCOMES: readonly ["abandon", "stale", "blocked", "governed", "submitted"];
 
-export type AttemptGovernorContext = Omit<GovernorChokepointInput, "actionClass" | "repoFullName" | "nowMs" | "wouldBeAction">;
+// rateLimitBuckets/rateLimitBackoffAttempts/capUsage are optional here (via GovernorChokepointInputPersisted,
+// not the engine's own GovernorChokepointInput) so a caller can omit them and let evaluateGovernorChokepointGatePersisted
+// (#5134) auto-supply real persisted state -- forcing them required at this layer would make every caller
+// hand-thread honest-but-stale zero defaults on every invocation, silently defeating that persistence.
+export type AttemptGovernorContext = Omit<GovernorChokepointInputPersisted, "actionClass" | "repoFullName" | "nowMs" | "wouldBeAction">;
 
 export type AttemptInput = {
   loopInput: IterateLoopInput;
@@ -36,6 +41,9 @@ export type AttemptDeps = {
   /** Injected governor-ledger append (mirrors evaluateGovernorChokepointGate's own `options.append`); omitted
    *  falls back to that function's own default (the real default governor ledger). */
   governorLedgerAppend?: (event: unknown) => unknown;
+  /** Injected governor-state store (#5134); omitted falls back to evaluateGovernorChokepointGatePersisted's
+   *  own default (opens + closes the real default governor-state store for this one call). */
+  governorState?: GovernorState;
   sessionStartMs?: number;
   nowMs: number;
   executeLocalWrite: (spec: LocalWriteActionSpec) => Promise<unknown>;
diff --git a/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.js b/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.js
index e349bb66c4..d87ee5045d 100644
--- a/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.js
+++ b/packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { buildOpenPrSpec } from "@jsonbored/gittensory-engine";
 import { runIterateLoop } from "@jsonbored/gittensory-engine";
 import { checkSubmissionFreshness } from "./submission-freshness-check.js";
-import { evaluateGovernorChokepointGate } from "./governor-chokepoint.js";
+import { evaluateGovernorChokepointGatePersisted } from "./governor-chokepoint-persisted.js";
 import { prepareOpenPrSubmission } from "./harness-submission-trigger.js";
 
 // The real driving-loop entrypoint (#2337): the missing link between #2333's iterate-loop orchestrator and an
@@ -18,20 +18,23 @@ import { prepareOpenPrSubmission } from "./harness-submission-trigger.js";
 // (worktree-allocator.js, #4297) -- this module composes the create/review/gate/submit sequence #2337 is
 // actually about, not worktree allocation policy, which is a separate, already-solved concern.
 //
-// KNOWN, DELIBERATE GAPS (not silently papered over -- both were injected-but-unwired seams before this module
-// existed, and remain so here):
+// KNOWN, DELIBERATE GAP (not silently papered over -- was an injected-but-unwired seam before this module
+// existed, and remains so here):
 //   - `deps.runSlopAssessment` has no production implementation anywhere in this package. The real slop scorer
 //     (src/signals/slop.ts, 518 lines, 5 sibling src/signals/** dependencies) is far larger and more
 //     interconnected than local-write-tools.ts was, so extracting it is separate, substantial scope -- this
 //     function requires a real one be injected rather than silently stubbing a result that would either always
 //     pass (unsafe) or always fail (useless).
-//   - `input.governor`'s cross-attempt state (rate-limit buckets, budget-cap usage, convergence input,
-//     reputation history, self-plagiarism recent-submissions) has no persistence wiring anywhere in this
-//     package either -- every existing governor-*.js wrapper is a pure in/out transform over caller-supplied
-//     state (confirmed by reading governor-write-rate-limit.js: it returns an updated bucket store, but nothing
-//     persists it). A caller with no prior history should pass honest empty/zero defaults, not fabricated ones;
-//     durable cross-attempt tracking is portfolio-loop-level scope (the outer "process the queue" loop this
-//     issue does not build), not a single attempt's.
+//
+// `input.governor`'s cross-attempt state (rate-limit buckets, backoff attempts, budget-cap usage) DOES now
+// persist across separate process invocations (#5134, governor-state.js), via
+// evaluateGovernorChokepointGatePersisted -- callers no longer need to hand-thread honest empty/zero defaults
+// on every invocation; `capUsage` is loaded from that same store but its post-attempt save stays the caller's
+// job (see governor-chokepoint-persisted.js's own header for why: nothing computes "the next capUsage" from a
+// verdict, only the attempt's real outcome does). Reputation/self-plagiarism state also has real persistence
+// primitives (governor-state.js) but isn't auto-loaded here yet -- `input.governor.reputationHistory`/
+// `selfPlagiarismCandidate`/`selfPlagiarismRecentSubmissions` are still caller-supplied optional fields on
+// GovernorChokepointInput, same as before.
 
 /** True once the loop reaches handoff AND every downstream gate (freshness, submission, governor) allows. */
 export const ATTEMPT_OUTCOMES = Object.freeze(["abandon", "stale", "blocked", "governed", "submitted"]);
@@ -88,6 +91,8 @@ function assertInput(input) {
  *   claimLedger: object,
  *   fetchLiveIssueSnapshot: Function,
  *   eventLedger: object,
+ *   governorLedgerAppend?: Function,
+ *   governorState?: import("./governor-state.js").GovernorState,
  *   sessionStartMs?: number,
  *   nowMs: number,
  *   executeLocalWrite: (spec: import("@jsonbored/gittensory-engine").LocalWriteActionSpec) => Promise<unknown>,
@@ -136,7 +141,7 @@ export async function runMinerAttempt(input, deps) {
     return { outcome: "blocked", decision: submission.decision, loopResult };
   }
 
-  const governed = evaluateGovernorChokepointGate(
+  const governed = evaluateGovernorChokepointGatePersisted(
     {
       actionClass: "open_pr",
       repoFullName: input.loopInput.repoFullName,
@@ -144,7 +149,10 @@ export async function runMinerAttempt(input, deps) {
       wouldBeAction: submission.openPrInput,
       ...input.governor,
     },
-    deps.governorLedgerAppend ? { append: deps.governorLedgerAppend } : {},
+    {
+      ...(deps.governorLedgerAppend ? { append: deps.governorLedgerAppend } : {}),
+      ...(deps.governorState ? { governorState: deps.governorState } : {}),
+    },
   );
   if (!governed.decision.allowed) {
     return { outcome: "governed", decision: governed.decision, loopResult };
diff --git a/test/unit/miner-attempt-runner.test.ts b/test/unit/miner-attempt-runner.test.ts
index 8c4941da2f..3af3379534 100644
--- a/test/unit/miner-attempt-runner.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/miner-attempt-runner.test.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ vi.mock("@jsonbored/gittensory-engine", async () => {
 import { runMinerAttempt } from "../../packages/gittensory-miner/lib/attempt-runner.js";
 import { initEventLedger } from "../../packages/gittensory-miner/lib/event-ledger.js";
 import { initGovernorLedger } from "../../packages/gittensory-miner/lib/governor-ledger.js";
+import { openGovernorState } from "../../packages/gittensory-miner/lib/governor-state.js";
 import { parseFocusManifest, type CodingAgentDriver, type CodingAgentDriverResult } from "../../packages/gittensory-engine/src/index";
 
 const roots: string[] = [];
@@ -31,6 +32,16 @@ function tempGovernorLedger() {
   return ledger;
 }
 
+// Isolated per test: without this, evaluateGovernorChokepointGatePersisted's own default-store fallback
+// would open the REAL ~/.config/gittensory-miner/governor-state.sqlite3 on whatever machine runs these tests.
+function tempGovernorState() {
+  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "gittensory-miner-attempt-runner-governor-state-"));
+  roots.push(root);
+  const state = openGovernorState(join(root, "governor-state.sqlite3"));
+  closers.push(state);
+  return state;
+}
+
 afterEach(() => {
   for (const closer of closers.splice(0)) closer.close();
   for (const root of roots.splice(0)) rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
@@ -105,6 +116,7 @@ function allowingGovernorContext(overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
 function baseDeps(overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
   const eventLedger = tempEventLedger();
   const governorLedger = tempGovernorLedger();
+  const governorState = tempGovernorState();
   return {
     driver: driverReturning(okDriverResult()),
     runSlopAssessment: () => noopSlop,
@@ -113,6 +125,7 @@ function baseDeps(overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
     fetchLiveIssueSnapshot: async () => ({ state: "open" as const, referencingPrs: [] }),
     eventLedger,
     governorLedgerAppend: (event: unknown) => governorLedger.appendGovernorEvent(event as never),
+    governorState,
     nowMs: 10_000,
     executeLocalWrite: async () => ({ ranAt: 10_000 }),
     ...overrides,
@@ -218,6 +231,46 @@ describe("runMinerAttempt (#2337) — the real create->review->gate->submit pipe
     vi.unstubAllEnvs();
   });
 
+  it("falls back to the real default governor-state store when governorState is omitted", async () => {
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "gittensory-miner-attempt-runner-default-governor-state-"));
+    roots.push(root);
+    vi.stubEnv("GITTENSORY_MINER_GOVERNOR_STATE_DB", join(root, "default-governor-state.sqlite3"));
+    const deps = baseDeps();
+    delete (deps as { governorState?: unknown }).governorState;
+
+    const result = await runMinerAttempt(baseAttemptInput(), deps);
+
+    expect(result.outcome).toBe("submitted");
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+  });
+
+  it("REGRESSION (#5134/#5203): a rate limit consumed by one runMinerAttempt call is honored by the next, via the shared governor-state store -- this is what the missing wiring bug looked like", async () => {
+    const deps = baseDeps();
+    const policies = {
+      global: { open_pr: { limit: 1, windowMs: 60_000 } },
+      perRepo: { open_pr: { limit: 5, windowMs: 60_000 } },
+      backoffBaseMs: 100,
+    };
+    // rateLimitBuckets/rateLimitBackoffAttempts are DELIBERATELY omitted here (unlike allowingGovernorContext's
+    // own explicit empty defaults) -- an explicit value on the input always wins over persisted state, so
+    // omitting them is what actually exercises evaluateGovernorChokepointGatePersisted's auto-load/save path
+    // through the real runMinerAttempt entrypoint, not just the lower-level wrapper tested elsewhere.
+    const governorWithoutRateLimitState = allowingGovernorContext({ rateLimitPolicies: policies });
+    delete (governorWithoutRateLimitState as { rateLimitBuckets?: unknown }).rateLimitBuckets;
+    delete (governorWithoutRateLimitState as { rateLimitBackoffAttempts?: unknown }).rateLimitBackoffAttempts;
+
+    const first = await runMinerAttempt(baseAttemptInput({ governor: governorWithoutRateLimitState }), deps);
+    expect(first.outcome).toBe("submitted");
+
+    const second = await runMinerAttempt(
+      baseAttemptInput({ loopInput: passingLoopInput({ attemptId: "attempt-2" }), governor: governorWithoutRateLimitState }),
+      { ...deps, nowMs: deps.nowMs + 100 },
+    );
+    expect(second.outcome).toBe("governed");
+    if (second.outcome !== "governed") throw new Error("expected governed");
+    expect(second.decision.stage).toBe("rate_limit");
+  });
+
   it("fails closed on malformed input", async () => {
     const deps = baseDeps();
     await expect(runMinerAttempt(null as never, deps)).rejects.toThrow("invalid_attempt_input");