diff --git a/src/MeshWeaver.Compiler/FrameworkBuildIdentity.cs b/src/MeshWeaver.Compiler/FrameworkBuildIdentity.cs
index c97e26b02b..21352baf7c 100644
--- a/src/MeshWeaver.Compiler/FrameworkBuildIdentity.cs
+++ b/src/MeshWeaver.Compiler/FrameworkBuildIdentity.cs
@@ -114,7 +114,11 @@ public static class FrameworkBuildIdentity
     /// </summary>
     public static readonly ImmutableArray<string> ContentSurfaceAssemblies =
     [
-        "MeshWeaver.AI",
+        // MeshWeaver.AI left the content surface with #2276: the engine is a MODULE now, landed
+        // from the registry and composed into content compiles per-mesh via
+        // CompileReferences.ComposeWithModules — never part of the framework identity. Content
+        // referencing AI types compiles wherever the AI module is installed (the bake host lands
+        // it too), and an image shipping AI.dll in its app closure would 409 the registry module.
         "MeshWeaver.Application.Styles",
         "MeshWeaver.Compiler",
         "MeshWeaver.ContentCollections",
diff --git a/test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test.csproj b/test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test.csproj
index b56f4d2a77..6dc4cf4dc9 100644
--- a/test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test.csproj
+++ b/test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.Test.csproj
@@ -9,4 +9,14 @@
          framework build identity — this is the TEST project. -->
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\tools\MeshWeaver.ComboVerifier\MeshWeaver.ComboVerifier.csproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
+
+  <!-- The gate boots in-process here, and the gate requires the AI engine MODULE beside the
+       binary (#2276) — modules/ is laid by the closure lane, not copied by a ProjectReference, so
+       this TEST bin needs its own lane run with the same tester-local single row. Same pattern as
+       the old StorageModuleLayoutTest: reuse the real worker, never a hand-copied publish. -->
+  <Import Project="..\..\memex\MeshModulesPublish.targets" />
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <MeshModuleClosure Remove="@(MeshModuleClosure)" />
+    <MeshModuleClosure Include="$([MSBuild]::NormalizePath('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)', '..', '..', 'src', 'MeshWeaver.AI', 'MeshWeaver.AI.csproj'))" />
+  </ItemGroup>
 </Project>
diff --git a/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.csproj b/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.csproj
index cfd07afe66..a2c6b4a560 100644
--- a/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.csproj
+++ b/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/MeshWeaver.PluginTester.csproj
@@ -76,7 +76,19 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.Hosting.Monolith\MeshWeaver.Hosting.Monolith.csproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.Hosting\MeshWeaver.Hosting.csproj" />
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.AI\MeshWeaver.AI.csproj" />
+    <!-- 🚨 MeshWeaver.AI is deliberately NOT a ProjectReference (#2276): the engine left the
+         content surface and ships as a registry MODULE, so the gate — like a portal — lands it
+         under modules/MeshWeaver.AI/ (the closure lane below) and activates it through
+         Modules:Assemblies (PluginGateRunner builds the in-memory configuration). A compiled
+         reference here would put MeshWeaver.AI back into the framework identity for every bake
+         host, and an image shipping AI.dll in its app closure 409s the registry module. -->
+    <!-- These four used to arrive TRANSITIVELY through MeshWeaver.AI and are still part of the
+         content surface (in-mesh source compiles against them), so the closure keeps them
+         directly now that the engine reference is gone. -->
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.Mesh.Operations\MeshWeaver.Mesh.Operations.csproj" />
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.Application.Styles\MeshWeaver.Application.Styles.csproj" />
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.Markdown.Collaboration\MeshWeaver.Markdown.Collaboration.csproj" />
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.ContentCollections.Indexing.Graph\MeshWeaver.ContentCollections.Indexing.Graph.csproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.Graph\MeshWeaver.Graph.csproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.PluginCatalog\MeshWeaver.PluginCatalog.csproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.GitSync\MeshWeaver.GitSync.csproj" />
@@ -87,4 +99,17 @@
          host compiles fine — the gate must judge against the surface content actually gets. -->
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\MeshWeaver.Maps\MeshWeaver.Maps.csproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
+
+  <!-- ═════════ The AI engine rides the MODULE lane, exactly as a portal ships it ═════════
+       The closure lane lays modules/MeshWeaver.AI/ (entry DLL + its private NuGet closure) into
+       $(OutDir) after Build and into the publish dir after Publish — the same worker every host
+       uses, so the gate loads the very layout a portal loads. The row is TESTER-LOCAL: written
+       AFTER the import, replacing the shared inventory, so nothing here adds MeshWeaver.AI to any
+       portal image's closure (a closure module and a registry module of the same name are
+       mutually exclusive — the landing service answers 409). -->
+  <Import Project="..\..\memex\MeshModulesPublish.targets" />
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <MeshModuleClosure Remove="@(MeshModuleClosure)" />
+    <MeshModuleClosure Include="$([MSBuild]::NormalizePath('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)', '..', '..', 'src', 'MeshWeaver.AI', 'MeshWeaver.AI.csproj'))" />
+  </ItemGroup>
 </Project>
diff --git a/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/PluginGateRunner.cs b/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/PluginGateRunner.cs
index 33b8fe7cea..708f85f158 100644
--- a/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/PluginGateRunner.cs
+++ b/tools/MeshWeaver.PluginTester/PluginGateRunner.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 using System.Reactive;
 using System.Reactive.Linq;
 using System.Text.Json;
-using MeshWeaver.AI;
 using MeshWeaver.Data;
 using MeshWeaver.GitSync;
 using MeshWeaver.Graph;
@@ -589,16 +588,58 @@ public static GateMesh Create(TextWriter output, BakeSeed? seed = null)
                     () => meshHub ?? throw new InvalidOperationException(
                         "the gate mesh was asked for prebuilt assemblies before it finished booting"),
                     seed);
+            // 🚨 The AI engine is a MODULE (#2276), and the gate activates it the way a portal
+            // does: the csproj's closure lane laid modules/MeshWeaver.AI/ beside this binary, and
+            // this in-memory configuration is the gate's Modules:Assemblies. The engine matters
+            // here because plugin packages ship Agent and Skill nodes — without the AI node types
+            // those installs are refused "not registered". Features:StaticRepoSync:Partitions
+            // names ONE AI partition; the module's served-as-a-unit rule
+            // (AiMeshModuleAttribute.ServeFromPartitions) unions in the rest, so this cannot go
+            // stale when the engine gains a partition. The DB-served shape is load-bearing, not a
+            // preference: a statically-served AI partition refuses Agent/Skill package installs
+            // (StaticShadowedReason — the 2026-08-11 30s-hang-per-package incident).
+            var gateModules = new ConfigurationBuilder()
+                .AddInMemoryCollection(new Dictionary<string, string?>
+                {
+                    ["Modules:Assemblies:0"] = "MeshWeaver.AI.dll",
+                    // The .dll suffix is the convention every host uses AND load-bearing: the
+                    // resolver derives the folder with GetFileNameWithoutExtension, so a bare
+                    // "MeshWeaver.AI" would probe modules/MeshWeaver/ and read as absent.
+                    ["Modules:Required:0"] = "MeshWeaver.AI.dll",
+                    ["Features:StaticRepoSync:Partitions:0"] = "Agent",
+                })
+                .Build();
+            // 🚨 A gate never tests its own inputs (AGENTS.md): a missing engine module fails RED
+            // here, never a booted mesh without the AI node types that then refuses every install
+            // for a reason naming the wrong cause.
+            var missingModules = MeshBuilderModuleActivation.MissingRequired(
+                gateModules, MeshBuilder.ResolveModulePath, File.Exists);
+            if (missingModules.Length > 0)
+                throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                    "the gate's required module(s) did not resolve beside the binary: "
+                    + string.Join(", ", missingModules)
+                    + ". The MeshModulesPublish closure lane in MeshWeaver.PluginTester.csproj "
+                    + "lays modules/MeshWeaver.AI/ into the build and publish output — a run "
+                    + "whose layout is missing cannot gate.");
             var builder = new MeshBuilder(c => c.Invoke(services), AddressExtensions.CreateMeshAddress())
                 .UseMonolithMesh()
                 .AddInMemoryPersistence()
                 .AddRowLevelSecurity()
                 .AddGraph()
                 .AddSpaceType()
-                // The AI node types (Agent / Skill / Model / …) — plugin packages ship Agent
-                // and Skill nodes (LinkedIn, Feedback, ExplainerVideo), and a portal always
-                // registers these; without them those installs are refused "not registered".
-                .AddAI(MeshWeaver.AI.AiContentSources.ContentPartitions)
+                // The gate runs NO boot static-repo import (its content arrives through package
+                // installs), so the import-settled signal is registered PRE-SETTLED — the
+                // documented "nothing to import" state. The AI module's provider-credential seed
+                // resolves it, and anything sequencing on it proceeds immediately instead of
+                // waiting for an import that will never run here.
+                .ConfigureServices(s =>
+                {
+                    var settled = new StaticRepoImportSettled();
+                    settled.MarkSettled();
+                    return s.AddSingleton(settled);
+                })
+                .InstallConfiguredModules(gateModules,
+                    msg => output.WriteLine($"[gate modules] {msg}"))
                 .AddPluginCatalog()
                 .AddMeshNodes(RootAdminAccess())
                 // Per-run isolated assembly store + compilation cache (AddInMemoryPersistence