diff --git a/plugins/ai-slop/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/ai-slop/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 0d26914cbb..e9bd84d1a6 100644
--- a/plugins/ai-slop/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/ai-slop/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-plugin-manifest.json",
   "name": "ai-slop",
-  "version": "0.3.4",
+  "version": "0.3.6",
   "description": "Detects and removes AI-writing tells (slop) in checked-in markdown prose: em dashes, emoji formatting, AI vocabulary, negative parallelisms, chatbot phrases, filler, stacked hedging, citation artifacts, and the rest of a catalog distilled from Wikipedia's Signs of AI writing. Read-only audit by default with a deterministic detector plus a judgment rubric; an explicit fix action rewrites findings behind a semantic-diff guard. Findings conform to the detector-findings convention so the review fanout fix relay can consume them.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Melodic Software",
diff --git a/plugins/ai-slop/CHANGELOG.md b/plugins/ai-slop/CHANGELOG.md
index aa83381872..019d08e86b 100644
--- a/plugins/ai-slop/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/plugins/ai-slop/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,23 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.3.6]
+
+- **`emit-findings.sh` double-escaped a pipe the source already escaped, and left Location
+  absolute when git and `pwd` spelled the same repo root differently.** Both defects were
+  identified in #3180 and fixed for `docs-hygiene:audit-noise` in #3202; this copy was not
+  reached. A naive `gsub(/\|/, "\\|")` turns `a \| b` into `a \\| b`, which GFM reads as a
+  literal backslash followed by a live delimiter, so the row splits and the fix action
+  misreads it. `esc()` now walks each backslash run and adds a delimiter escape only when
+  the run length is even, so `a\\|b` (even) becomes a live-safe `a\\\|b` instead of
+  restoring the original. Separately,
+  `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` can answer Git's Windows-drive spelling while the caller is at `/tmp/…`
+  (Git Bash). This producer failed OPEN: Location stayed absolute and nothing reported it,
+  because an absolute path is still a well-formed cell. Root resolution now prefers the
+  caller's own `pwd` (minus git's `--show-prefix`) and keeps git's two spellings as
+  fallbacks. Shared code was considered and declined: plugins are portable and there is no
+  existing cross-plugin emit-findings library; the three copies now agree on the same two
+  helpers instead.
+
 ## [0.3.4]
 
 - **The README now points back at the upstream ledger.** `docs/upstream/cursor-pstack.md` names
diff --git a/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/detect.test.sh b/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/detect.test.sh
index 8fafd56a62..1ef8e47a14 100755
--- a/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/detect.test.sh
+++ b/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/detect.test.sh
@@ -467,6 +467,45 @@ EOF
 bash "$EMIT" --from "$SYNTH" --out "$TEST_TMPDIR/findings/synth.md" --branch test-branch >/dev/null 2>&1
 assert_contains "emit: pipe escaped in cell" "$(cat "$TEST_TMPDIR/findings/synth.md")" 'zero\|tolerance'
 
+# A naive gsub double-escapes a pipe the SOURCE already escaped (`a \| b` ->
+# `a \\| b`), which GFM reads as a literal backslash plus a LIVE delimiter.
+# This repo writes literal `\|` in its own tables, so the case is real.
+ALREADY="$TEST_TMPDIR/already-esc.txt"
+cat >"$ALREADY" <<'EOF'
+Finding: rule=ai-slop/audit/rule-em-dash file=doc.md line=1 fired=a\|b excerpt=text
+Summary rule=ai-slop/audit/rule-em-dash findings=1 declined=0 disabled=0
+EOF
+ALREADY_OUT="$TEST_TMPDIR/findings/already-esc.md"
+bash "$EMIT" --from "$ALREADY" --out "$ALREADY_OUT" --branch test-branch >/dev/null 2>&1
+already_row="$(LC_ALL=C grep -m1 '^| 1 ' "$ALREADY_OUT")"
+assert_not_contains "emit: an already-escaped pipe is not double-escaped" "$already_row" '\\\|'
+assert_contains "emit: and survives as a single-escaped literal" "$already_row" 'a\|b'
+already_delims="$(printf '%s' "$already_row" | sed 's/\\|//g' | awk -F'|' '{print NF - 1}')"
+assert_contains "emit: so the row still parses as exactly 7 cells" "delims=$already_delims" "delims=8"
+
+# Repo-root spelling mismatch: git's toplevel and the caller's pwd can name
+# the same directory differently (Git Bash). This producer fails OPEN — a
+# mismatch used to leave Location absolute. A symlink makes pwd and
+# --show-toplevel disagree on Linux too.
+SPELL_REAL="$TEST_TMPDIR/spell-real"
+SPELL_LINK="$TEST_TMPDIR/spell-link"
+mkdir -p "$SPELL_REAL"
+(
+  cd "$SPELL_REAL" || exit 1
+  git init -q .
+  git config user.email t@example.com
+  git config user.name Test
+)
+ln -s "$SPELL_REAL" "$SPELL_LINK"
+printf 'Finding: rule=ai-slop/audit/rule-em-dash file=%s/doc.md line=1 fired=zero excerpt=text\n' "$SPELL_LINK" >"$TEST_TMPDIR/spell.txt"
+printf 'Summary rule=ai-slop/audit/rule-em-dash findings=1 declined=0 disabled=0\n' >>"$TEST_TMPDIR/spell.txt"
+SPELL_OUT="$TEST_TMPDIR/findings/spell.md"
+(cd "$SPELL_LINK" && bash "$EMIT" --from "$TEST_TMPDIR/spell.txt" --out "$SPELL_OUT" --branch test-branch) >/dev/null 2>&1
+spell_body="$(cat "$SPELL_OUT")"
+assert_contains "emit: a pwd-spelled absolute path is relativized" "$spell_body" "| doc.md:1 |"
+assert_not_contains "emit: Location carries no absolute prefix" "$spell_body" "$SPELL_LINK/doc.md"
+assert_not_contains "emit: Location carries no git-toplevel prefix either" "$spell_body" "$SPELL_REAL/doc.md"
+
 # An excerpt that itself contains file=/line= tokens (a doc describing this
 # format) must not spoof the Location cell — first-occurrence parsing.
 SPOOF="$TEST_TMPDIR/spoof.md"
diff --git a/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/emit-findings.sh b/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/emit-findings.sh
index c8ab97eaff..2f7fb458ca 100755
--- a/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/emit-findings.sh
+++ b/plugins/ai-slop/skills/audit/scripts/emit-findings.sh
@@ -112,7 +112,36 @@ mkdir -p "$(dirname "$OUT")"
 # elsewhere binds the FILE NAME (Windows-safe), never this frontmatter field.
 DATE_UTC="$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
 
-LC_ALL=C awk -v branch="$BRANCH" -v date_utc="$DATE_UTC" '
+# Repo root, for relativizing Location when detect.sh handed us an absolute
+# path. One directory has several SPELLINGS on Git Bash, and matching the
+# wrong one leaves every Location absolute — an absolute path is still a
+# well-formed cell, so the fail-open producer never reports it. Measured:
+# `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` answers Git Bash's Windows spelling of the same temp repo
+# while the caller reached the same directory as `/tmp/t/repo`.
+#
+# The PRIMARY anchor is derived from the caller's own `pwd` by removing the
+# sub-path git reports for it. The git-reported forms stay as fallbacks.
+# (This producer FAILs OPEN: a path that matches no spelling is left as-is.
+# The claude-config sibling fails closed on the same mismatch.)
+REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || true)"
+REPO_ROOT_ALT=""
+REPO_ROOT_PWD=""
+if [[ -n "$REPO_ROOT" ]]; then
+  REPO_ROOT_ALT="$(cd "$REPO_ROOT" 2>/dev/null && pwd)" || REPO_ROOT_ALT=""
+  [[ "$REPO_ROOT_ALT" == "$REPO_ROOT" ]] && REPO_ROOT_ALT=""
+  git_prefix="$(git rev-parse --show-prefix 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  git_prefix="${git_prefix%/}"
+  cwd_now="$(pwd)"
+  if [[ -z "$git_prefix" ]]; then
+    REPO_ROOT_PWD="$cwd_now"
+  elif [[ "$cwd_now" == */"$git_prefix" ]]; then
+    REPO_ROOT_PWD="${cwd_now%/"$git_prefix"}"
+  fi
+  [[ "$REPO_ROOT_PWD" == "$REPO_ROOT" || "$REPO_ROOT_PWD" == "$REPO_ROOT_ALT" ]] && REPO_ROOT_PWD=""
+fi
+
+LC_ALL=C awk -v branch="$BRANCH" -v date_utc="$DATE_UTC" \
+  -v repo_root="$REPO_ROOT" -v repo_root_alt="$REPO_ROOT_ALT" -v repo_root_pwd="$REPO_ROOT_PWD" '
   # Tier/Action mirror of the severity crosswalk (see header comment).
   function rule_tier(slug) {
     if (slug == "rule-knowledge-cutoff-disclaimer" || slug == "rule-llm-citation-artifacts" ||
@@ -136,7 +165,54 @@ LC_ALL=C awk -v branch="$BRANCH" -v date_utc="$DATE_UTC" '
     return "Guarded rewrite via /ai-slop:audit fix (judgment; see crosswalk row)"
   }
   # Cell-escaping rule: literal | becomes \| inside Finding/Action cells.
-  function esc(s) { gsub(/\|/, "\\|", s); return s }
+  #
+  # IDEMPOTENT. A naive gsub double-escapes a pipe the SOURCE already escaped:
+  # `a \| b` becomes `a \\| b`, which GFM reads as a literal backslash followed
+  # by a LIVE delimiter — the cell splits and the fix action misreads the row.
+  # This repo writes literal `\|` in its own tables, so the case is real rather
+  # than theoretical. Escape by the parity of the complete backslash run before
+  # each pipe: an odd count already escapes the delimiter; an even count
+  # (including zero, and `\\|`) leaves it live in GFM and needs one more `\`.
+  function esc(s,    out, i, n, c, bs) {
+    out = ""
+    n = length(s)
+    i = 1
+    while (i <= n) {
+      c = substr(s, i, 1)
+      if (c == "\\") {
+        bs = 0
+        while (i <= n && substr(s, i, 1) == "\\") { bs++; i++ }
+        if (i <= n && substr(s, i, 1) == "|") {
+          if (bs % 2 == 0) bs++
+          while (bs--) out = out "\\"
+          out = out "|"
+          i++
+        } else {
+          while (bs--) out = out "\\"
+        }
+      } else if (c == "|") {
+        out = out "\\|"
+        i++
+      } else {
+        out = out c
+        i++
+      }
+    }
+    return out
+  }
+
+  # Prefer the caller pwd spelling, then git toplevel, then cd-then-pwd.
+  # Fail OPEN: a path matching no spelling is returned unchanged (absolute
+  # Location stays well-formed). That was this producer pre-fix mode.
+  function relativize(p) {
+    if (repo_root_pwd != "" && index(p, repo_root_pwd "/") == 1)
+      return substr(p, length(repo_root_pwd) + 2)
+    if (repo_root != "" && index(p, repo_root "/") == 1)
+      return substr(p, length(repo_root) + 2)
+    if (repo_root_alt != "" && index(p, repo_root_alt "/") == 1)
+      return substr(p, length(repo_root_alt) + 2)
+    return p
+  }
 
   /^Finding: / {
     # Split the excerpt off FIRST, on the first " excerpt=" occurrence, then
@@ -157,7 +233,7 @@ LC_ALL=C awk -v branch="$BRANCH" -v date_utc="$DATE_UTC" '
     lno = substr(head, ix + 6)
     head = substr(head, 1, ix - 1)
     ix = index(head, " file=")
-    file = substr(head, ix + 6)
+    file = relativize(substr(head, ix + 6))
     slug = substr(head, 1, ix - 1)
     t = rule_tier(slug)
     row = "| " t " | high | " file ":" lno " | ai-slop:audit | " \
diff --git a/plugins/claude-config/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/claude-config/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 4f6699220c..efa084bfbb 100644
--- a/plugins/claude-config/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/claude-config/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-plugin-manifest.json",
   "name": "claude-config",
-  "version": "0.39.3",
+  "version": "0.39.4",
   "description": "Nine configuration-health skills (plus setup) for a repo's Claude Code configuration: audit (settings.json / .mcp.json / hooks / plugins / permissions drift), audit-automation-gaps (evidence-gated verdicts on automation gaps), audit-permission-grants (allow-rule / allowed-tools grants for auto-mode durability and portability), audit-permission-state (the permission rules actually in effect — every settings scope merged with per-rule provenance, what auto mode drops on entry, config written where nothing reads it, and which managed intents are enforced versus loosenable), draft-auto-mode-rules (interview and draft a paste-ready autoMode classifier block; prints only, never writes), audit-instructions (locally-owned instruction surfaces vs current model capability — proposes removals/rewrites of instructions the model no longer needs, and detects cross-surface instruction conflicts), audit-prompting-postures (the additive lane — posture guidance the prompting guide says a component's purpose needs but the component does not carry), audit-pass (one coordinated, ordered, resumable pass over a named target — three-scope inventory, run-time-derived exclusion set, stable finding identity, suppression memory, resume, one human gate — delegating every check to the plugin that owns it), and unhobble (the empirical bare-baseline experiment: reversibly strip a repo's standing instructions, log real stumbles against the current model, re-add only what evidence earns).",
   "author": {
     "name": "Melodic Software",
diff --git a/plugins/claude-config/CHANGELOG.md b/plugins/claude-config/CHANGELOG.md
index 9dea0be000..9918d645b3 100644
--- a/plugins/claude-config/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/plugins/claude-config/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,26 @@
 All notable changes to the `claude-config` plugin are documented here. Format follows
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/); this plugin uses semantic versioning.
 
+## [0.39.4]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **`audit-instructions` `emit-findings.sh` double-escaped a pipe the source already escaped,
+  and declined every in-repo finding when git and `pwd` spelled the same repo root
+  differently.** Both defects were identified in #3180 and fixed for `docs-hygiene:audit-noise`
+  in #3202; this copy was not reached. A naive `gsub(/\|/, "\\|")` turns `a \| b` into
+  `a \\| b`, which GFM reads as a literal backslash followed by a live delimiter, so the row
+  splits and the fix action misreads it. `esc()` now walks each backslash run and adds a
+  delimiter escape only when the run length is even, so `a\\|b` stays a single cell.
+  Separately, `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` can answer Git's Windows-drive spelling while
+  the caller is at `/tmp/…` (Git Bash). This producer failed CLOSED: a path it could not
+  prove was under the root was counted as `outside-repo-root` and silently missed the
+  relay. Root resolution now prefers the caller's own `pwd` (minus git's `--show-prefix`)
+  and keeps git's two spellings as fallbacks, then applies the same fail-closed fence.
+  Shared code was considered and declined: plugins are portable and there is no existing
+  cross-plugin emit-findings library; the three copies now agree on the same two helpers
+  instead.
+
 ## [0.39.3]
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.sh b/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.sh
index 0431fe11af..64042632ab 100755
--- a/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.sh
+++ b/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.sh
@@ -140,7 +140,33 @@ DATE_UTC="$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
 # Repo root, for relativizing Location. The fix action fences each remediation to
 # its finding's Location, and an absolute path is not portable to the checkout
 # that applies the fix.
+#
+# One directory has several SPELLINGS on Git Bash, and matching the wrong one
+# silently declines a real in-repo finding — this producer FAILS CLOSED, so a
+# path it cannot prove is under the root never reaches the relay. Measured:
+# `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` answers Git Bash's Windows spelling of the same temp repo
+# while the caller reached the same directory as `/tmp/t/repo`.
+#
+# The PRIMARY anchor is derived from the caller's own `pwd` by removing the
+# sub-path git reports for it. The git-reported forms stay as fallbacks.
+# (The ai-slop sibling fails OPEN on the same mismatch — Location stays
+# absolute and nothing reports it.)
 REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || true)"
+REPO_ROOT_ALT=""
+REPO_ROOT_PWD=""
+if [[ -n "$REPO_ROOT" ]]; then
+  REPO_ROOT_ALT="$(cd "$REPO_ROOT" 2>/dev/null && pwd)" || REPO_ROOT_ALT=""
+  [[ "$REPO_ROOT_ALT" == "$REPO_ROOT" ]] && REPO_ROOT_ALT=""
+  git_prefix="$(git rev-parse --show-prefix 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  git_prefix="${git_prefix%/}"
+  cwd_now="$(pwd)"
+  if [[ -z "$git_prefix" ]]; then
+    REPO_ROOT_PWD="$cwd_now"
+  elif [[ "$cwd_now" == */"$git_prefix" ]]; then
+    REPO_ROOT_PWD="${cwd_now%/"$git_prefix"}"
+  fi
+  [[ "$REPO_ROOT_PWD" == "$REPO_ROOT" || "$REPO_ROOT_PWD" == "$REPO_ROOT_ALT" ]] && REPO_ROOT_PWD=""
+fi
 
 if [[ -n "$CARVEOUT" && ! "$CARVEOUT" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
   echo "emit-findings.sh: --declined-carveout takes a non-negative integer" >&2
@@ -148,7 +174,8 @@ if [[ -n "$CARVEOUT" && ! "$CARVEOUT" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
 fi
 
 LC_ALL=C awk \
-  -v branch="$BRANCH" -v date_utc="$DATE_UTC" -v repo_root="$REPO_ROOT" -v carveout="$CARVEOUT" '
+  -v branch="$BRANCH" -v date_utc="$DATE_UTC" -v repo_root="$REPO_ROOT" \
+  -v repo_root_alt="$REPO_ROOT_ALT" -v repo_root_pwd="$REPO_ROOT_PWD" -v carveout="$CARVEOUT" '
   function rule_id(id) {
     if (id == "I28-a") return "claude-config/audit-instructions/rule-coercive-emphasis"
     if (id == "I28-b") return "claude-config/audit-instructions/rule-blanket-tool-default"
@@ -163,7 +190,54 @@ LC_ALL=C awk \
     return "Replace the blanket default with the targeted condition it stood in for (\"Use [tool] when it would ...\"). The condition is the payload; do not delete the instruction."
   }
   # Cell-escaping rule: literal | becomes \| inside Finding/Action cells.
-  function esc(s) { gsub(/\|/, "\\|", s); return s }
+  #
+  # IDEMPOTENT. A naive gsub double-escapes a pipe the SOURCE already escaped:
+  # `a \| b` becomes `a \\| b`, which GFM reads as a literal backslash followed
+  # by a LIVE delimiter — the cell splits and the fix action misreads the row.
+  # This repo writes literal `\|` in its own tables, so the case is real rather
+  # than theoretical. Escape by the parity of the complete backslash run before
+  # each pipe: an odd count already escapes the delimiter; an even count
+  # (including zero, and `\\|`) leaves it live in GFM and needs one more `\`.
+  function esc(s,    out, i, n, c, bs) {
+    out = ""
+    n = length(s)
+    i = 1
+    while (i <= n) {
+      c = substr(s, i, 1)
+      if (c == "\\") {
+        bs = 0
+        while (i <= n && substr(s, i, 1) == "\\") { bs++; i++ }
+        if (i <= n && substr(s, i, 1) == "|") {
+          if (bs % 2 == 0) bs++
+          while (bs--) out = out "\\"
+          out = out "|"
+          i++
+        } else {
+          while (bs--) out = out "\\"
+        }
+      } else if (c == "|") {
+        out = out "\\|"
+        i++
+      } else {
+        out = out c
+        i++
+      }
+    }
+    return out
+  }
+
+  # Prefer the caller pwd spelling, then git toplevel, then cd-then-pwd.
+  # Empty return means the path is not under any known spelling of the root
+  # (fail closed — this producer pre-fix mode on a spelling mismatch).
+  function relativize_in_repo(p) {
+    if (repo_root_pwd != "" && index(p, repo_root_pwd "/") == 1)
+      return substr(p, length(repo_root_pwd) + 2)
+    if (repo_root != "" && index(p, repo_root "/") == 1)
+      return substr(p, length(repo_root) + 2)
+    if (repo_root_alt != "" && index(p, repo_root_alt "/") == 1)
+      return substr(p, length(repo_root_alt) + 2)
+    return ""
+  }
 
   # Emit a YAML scalar, quoting ONLY when the plain form would misparse. Git
   # accepts branch names beginning with a YAML indicator: "#foo" reads as a
@@ -296,8 +370,8 @@ LC_ALL=C awk \
     # carrying an absolute path, where the fix pass either edits a file outside
     # the working tree or consumes the finding without applying it. Neither is
     # acceptable, so such rows are declined here and stay in the human report.
-    if (repo_root == "" || index(file, repo_root "/") != 1) { declined_outofrepo[id]++; next }
-    loc = substr(file, length(repo_root) + 2)
+    loc = relativize_in_repo(file)
+    if (loc == "") { declined_outofrepo[id]++; next }
 
     excerpt = trim(text)
     if (length(excerpt) > 160) excerpt = substr(excerpt, 1, 157) "..."
diff --git a/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.test.sh b/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.test.sh
index eb97bf816b..94f3fc941c 100755
--- a/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.test.sh
+++ b/plugins/claude-config/skills/audit-instructions/scripts/emit-findings.test.sh
@@ -403,6 +403,41 @@ assert_contains "literal pipes in the excerpt are escaped" "$ROW" '\|'
 COLS=$(printf '%s\n' "$ROW" | sed 's/\\|//g' | awk -F'|' '{print NF}')
 assert_eq "an excerpt containing pipes still parses as one 7-column row" "9" "$COLS"
 
+# --- Case 13b: cell escaping is idempotent -----------------------------------
+# A naive gsub double-escapes a pipe the SOURCE already escaped (`a \| b` ->
+# `a \\| b`), which GFM reads as a literal backslash plus a LIVE delimiter.
+PIPEF2="$CRLFREPO/already-pipe.md"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016  # backticks and \| are fixture content, not a subshell
+printf 'CRITICAL: run `a \| b` before pushing.\n' >"$PIPEF2"
+# Feed a synthetic scan row whose excerpt (the source line) already contains \|.
+printf '%s\n' "$PIPEF2:1:I28-a" >"$TEST_TMPDIR/already-pipe.txt"
+(cd "$CRLFREPO" && bash "$EMIT" --from "$TEST_TMPDIR/already-pipe.txt" \
+  --out "$TEST_TMPDIR/already-pipe-out.md" --branch testbranch >/dev/null 2>&1)
+ALREADY_ROW=$(LC_ALL=C grep -m1 '^| [0-9]' "$TEST_TMPDIR/already-pipe-out.md")
+assert_not_contains "an already-escaped pipe is not double-escaped" "$ALREADY_ROW" '\\\|'
+assert_contains "and survives as a single-escaped literal" "$ALREADY_ROW" '\|'
+ALREADY_COLS=$(printf '%s\n' "$ALREADY_ROW" | sed 's/\\|//g' | awk -F'|' '{print NF}')
+assert_eq "so the row still parses as one 7-column row" "9" "$ALREADY_COLS"
+
+# --- Case 13c: repo-root spelling mismatch does not fail-close an in-repo file
+# This producer fails CLOSED: a path it cannot prove is under the root is
+# declined. On Git Bash, git's toplevel and the caller's pwd can name the
+# same directory differently, which used to decline every in-repo hit.
+# A symlink makes the two spellings disagree on Linux too.
+SPELL_REAL="$TEST_TMPDIR/spell-real"
+SPELL_LINK="$TEST_TMPDIR/spell-link"
+mkdir -p "$SPELL_REAL"
+git -C "$SPELL_REAL" init -q 2>/dev/null
+printf -- '# Body\n\nCRITICAL: You MUST always do this.\n' >"$SPELL_REAL/doc.md"
+ln -sfn "$SPELL_REAL" "$SPELL_LINK"
+bash "$SCAN" --body-only "$SPELL_LINK/doc.md" >"$TEST_TMPDIR/spell.txt"
+(cd "$SPELL_LINK" && bash "$EMIT" --from "$TEST_TMPDIR/spell.txt" \
+  --out "$TEST_TMPDIR/spell-find.md" --branch testbranch >/dev/null 2>&1)
+SPELL_OUT=$(cat "$TEST_TMPDIR/spell-find.md")
+assert_contains "a pwd-spelled in-repo path is emitted, not declined" "$SPELL_OUT" "doc.md:3"
+assert_not_contains "and is not counted as out-of-repo" "$SPELL_OUT" "reason=outside-repo-root"
+assert_not_contains "Location carries no absolute prefix" "$SPELL_OUT" "$SPELL_LINK/doc.md"
+
 # --- Summary -----------------------------------------------------------------
 printf '\n'
 if [[ "$FAILED" -gt 0 ]]; then