diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 88f744e6e..3dd49cece 100644
--- a/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-plugin-manifest.json",
   "name": "guardrails",
-  "version": "0.18.3",
+  "version": "0.18.4",
   "description": "Twelve safety guards that block secret/credential writes, hardcoded machine-specific paths, git hook-bypass attempts, irreversible git operations (force-push, reset --hard, worktree-wide checkout/restore discards), Bash file-write workarounds that circumvent Write/Edit hooks, commit subjects and gh pr create titles that violate the repo's tracked team convention (when one is declared in .claude/source-control.md), (advisory) hallucinated CLI flags, (advisory) /plugin:skill references that do not resolve, (advisory) markdown citing a repo path the repo's own history shows was removed, (advisory) un-throttled Workflow fan-out that risks burst 529s, and (advisory) direct git commit/gh pr create calls bypassing this marketplace's own commit/pull-request skills — each independently toggleable.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Melodic Software",
diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md b/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md
index 97ea6ce70..7a43ae899 100644
--- a/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,36 @@
 All notable changes to the `guardrails` plugin are documented here. Format follows
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/); this plugin uses semantic versioning.
 
+## [0.18.4]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **`block-hook-bypass`'s block message now states the scope the guard actually has (#1802).** The
+  message said a write was prevented and that Write/Edit is the sanctioned path, with nothing about
+  scope, so it read as "shell file writes are blocked". The guard is deliberately producer-scoped
+  over a single command string, and the gap runs in both directions: an agent concludes shell file
+  writes are unavailable and contorts around a restriction a script file does not have, while a
+  human credits the guard with coverage it never claimed — the more expensive error where the guard
+  is load-bearing in someone's threat model.
+
+  Verified against the hook with fixture input: `printf 'x' > out.log` blocks, while `bash
+  execute.sh` — whose script may write freely — is allowed, as reported. Two shapes the report did
+  **not** name are allowed too, and they matter for the wording: `bash execute.sh >> run.log` and
+  `sort data.txt > out.txt` are *direct redirects in the command string* and are allowed by the
+  producer-scoped design, as is `cat a.txt b.txt > c.txt` (only the stdin-consuming `cat > f` form
+  is a write workaround). So the report's suggested line — "direct redirects in this command only" —
+  would have overstated coverage in the other direction. The shipped note says instead that only
+  this command string is inspected — known shell file-write forms plus recognized inline
+  interpreter code (`python -c` IS scanned, so the blind spot claims only an invoked script file
+  or a program's own opaque code) — and that a redirect produced by another program is not seen.
+
+  No hook logic changes. The behaviour the note describes is now pinned by tests beside the
+  message-content assertions, so the two move together.
+
+- **The `README` residuals section names the same scope**, next to the existing quoted-span residual
+  for this guard, so the guarantee is stated where consumers read the guard's limits rather than
+  only at the moment of a block.
+
 ## [0.18.3]
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/README.md b/plugins/guardrails/README.md
index e0ab6beb4..b0b16c639 100644
--- a/plugins/guardrails/README.md
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/README.md
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ out of scope until such a signal exists.
   (`echo "$(python3 -c 'import pathlib …')"`) is **not** caught — the strip
   treats the quoted span as inert. Same friction-guard, not-a-sandbox posture as
   `block-no-verify`.
+- **`block-hook-bypass` inspects one command string, and only the write forms
+  listed above.** It reads `.tool_input.command`; it does not read the contents
+  of a script that command invokes, so `bash build.sh` runs whatever writes
+  `build.sh` performs. It is also producer-scoped by design, so a redirect whose
+  producer is another program (`sort f > out`, `curl … > page.html`, `cat a b >
+  c`) is allowed — only a content producer writing a real file
+  (`cat > f` consuming stdin, `echo`/`printf > f`, inline `python3 -c` writes,
+  the PowerShell write cmdlets) is blocked. The block message carries this scope
+  so a reader does not credit the guard with coverage it never claimed.
 - **`flag-commit-pr-skill-bypass` is a nudge, not a gate.** Detection is a
   literal-stripped top-level regex match, not a full argv-grammar parser — it
   does not evaluate shell variable / command substitution, and a determined
diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.sh b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.sh
index bcc8edc5e..dae2a46b9 100755
--- a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.sh
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.sh
@@ -223,6 +223,9 @@ strip_literals() {
           if ((i == 0)) ||
             {
               prev="${line:i-1:1}"
+              # portability-ok: `\<` and `\>` here are backslash-escaped literals
+              # inside a Bash bracket PATTERN, not GNU grep/sed word-boundary
+              # operators; Bash pattern matching is identical on BSD userland.
               [[ "$prev" == [[:space:]] || "$prev" == [\;\|\&\(\)\<\>] ]]
             }; then
             break
@@ -428,10 +431,24 @@ producer_redirect_bypass() {
   return 1
 }
 
+# The scope this guard actually has, stated where a reader meets it. Without it
+# the block reads as "shell file writes are blocked" and is over-trusted in both
+# directions: an agent contorts around a restriction a script file does not
+# have, and a human credits the guard with coverage it never claimed. The guard
+# is a speed bump against specific accidental write-workaround forms in one
+# command string, not a boundary — and it is deliberately producer-scoped, so
+# ordinary data-processing redirects (`sort f > out`, `curl … > page.html`) are
+# allowed by design too, not only writes inside an invoked script.
+_BYPASS_SCOPE_NOTE="Scope: only this command string is inspected — known shell \
+file-write forms plus recognized inline interpreter code (e.g. python -c). Writes \
+inside an invoked script file or a program's own opaque code, and redirects \
+produced by another program, are not seen."
+
 block_bypass() {
   local form="$1" reason="$2"
   echo "BLOCKED: $reason" >&2
   echo "Use the Write or Edit tool instead of a shell file-write workaround." >&2
+  echo "$_BYPASS_SCOPE_NOTE" >&2
   emit_tel "blocked" "$form"
   exit 2
 }
diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.test.sh b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.test.sh
index d39763537..603e5d6de 100755
--- a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.test.sh
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/block-hook-bypass.test.sh
@@ -605,4 +605,28 @@ psout=$(bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(pwsh_command_json "Set-Content f.txt 'x'")" 2>&1)
 assert_contains "PS write block names Write/Edit" "$psout" "Write or Edit tool"
 assert_absent "PS write block message is shell-agnostic" "$psout" "Bash file-write"
 
+# --- Enforcement-scope disclosure -------------------------------------------
+# The message asserted "use Write or Edit instead" with no scope, so it read as
+# "shell file writes are blocked" when the guard is deliberately producer-scoped
+# over one command string. Both lanes must carry the scope, and the behaviour
+# the scope describes is pinned below it so message and reality move together.
+scopeout=$(bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(command_json "printf 'x' > out.log")" 2>&1)
+assert_contains "bash block states its scope" "$scopeout" \
+  "only this command string is inspected"
+assert_contains "bash block names the invoked-script gap" "$scopeout" \
+  "inside an invoked script file"
+assert_contains "bash block exempts inspected inline code from the gap" "$scopeout" \
+  "recognized inline interpreter code"
+psscope=$(bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(pwsh_command_json "Set-Content f.txt 'x'")" 2>&1)
+assert_contains "powershell block states its scope" "$psscope" \
+  "only this command string is inspected"
+
+# The behaviour the scope note describes. A write inside an invoked script is
+# not inspected, and a redirect whose producer is another program is allowed by
+# the producer-scoped design — so the note must not promise either is blocked.
+run "invoked script is not inspected (allowed)" "bash execute.sh" 0
+run "invoked script with its own redirect (allowed)" "bash execute.sh >> run.log" 0
+run "non-producer redirect (allowed)" "sort data.txt > out.txt" 0
+run "cat with input files is not a heredoc write (allowed)" "cat a.txt b.txt > c.txt" 0
+
 report