diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
index a0af2c5..373258e 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      # Guards must run from the REPO ROOT — override the job's
+      # defaults.run.working-directory: lang
+      - name: Guard - single canonical runtime source
+        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
+        run: bash scripts/check-single-runtime.sh
+
+      - name: Guard - el_runtime.c growth budget
+        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
+        run: bash scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh
+
       - name: Install build dependencies
         run: |
           apt-get update -qq
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
index ad82268..f87d731 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
@@ -29,6 +29,16 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "Source branch check passed: ${SOURCE} -> stage"
 
+      # Guards must run from the REPO ROOT — override the job's
+      # defaults.run.working-directory: lang
+      - name: Guard - single canonical runtime source
+        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
+        run: bash scripts/check-single-runtime.sh
+
+      - name: Guard - el_runtime.c growth budget
+        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
+        run: bash scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh
+
       - name: Install build dependencies
         run: |
           apt-get update -qq
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
index f79347e..adaa353 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
@@ -29,6 +29,16 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "Source branch check passed: ${SOURCE} -> main"
 
+      # Guards must run from the REPO ROOT — override the job's
+      # defaults.run.working-directory: lang
+      - name: Guard - single canonical runtime source
+        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
+        run: bash scripts/check-single-runtime.sh
+
+      - name: Guard - el_runtime.c growth budget
+        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
+        run: bash scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh
+
       - name: Install build dependencies
         run: |
           apt-get update -qq
diff --git a/.githooks/pre-commit b/.githooks/pre-commit
index 2ce3237..c168617 100755
--- a/.githooks/pre-commit
+++ b/.githooks/pre-commit
@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ LANG_DIR="$ROOT/lang"
 RUNTIME="$LANG_DIR/runtime"
 ELC="$LANG_DIR/dist/platform/elc"
 
+# Runtime guards — catch drift and growth before they are committed, not in CI.
+#   check-single-runtime.sh : el_runtime.c must not be FORKED (a lagging copy
+#                             shipped to prod and dropped learned hebb edges).
+#   check-runtime-growth.sh : el_runtime.c must not GROW (it is a 2026-05-03
+#                             build shim that was never retired; see BUDGET).
+echo "→ Runtime guards..."
+bash "$ROOT/scripts/check-single-runtime.sh"
+bash "$ROOT/scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh"
+
 # If elc isn't built yet, skip with a warning rather than blocking
 if [ ! -x "$ELC" ]; then
   echo "⚠  elc not found at lang/dist/platform/elc — skipping pre-commit tests"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_interoception_p0.sh b/engram/test/run_interoception_p0.sh
index 99507ab..9ee3ed8 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_interoception_p0.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_interoception_p0.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,14 @@
 # Throwaway HOME + /tmp only. Never touches ~/.neuron or :8742.
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
-GEO="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_geometry.c"
-VIDX="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_vindex.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-p0-XXXXXX)"
 export HOME="$WORK/home"; mkdir -p "$HOME"
@@ -14,8 +18,8 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compile (plain) =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p0_emb.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p0" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p0_emb.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p0" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
 
 D="$WORK/d"; mkdir -p "$D"
 "$WORK/p0" "$D" || { echo "FAIL: run"; fail=1; }
@@ -69,8 +73,8 @@ PY
 echo
 echo "== ASan+UBSan =="
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p0_emb.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p0.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -20 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p0_emb.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p0.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -20 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
 if [ -x "$WORK/p0.san" ]; then
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   DS="$WORK/ds"; mkdir -p "$DS"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_interoception_p1.sh b/engram/test/run_interoception_p1.sh
index 41e5dbe..82591a1 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_interoception_p1.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_interoception_p1.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,14 @@
 # Throwaway HOME + /tmp only. Never touches ~/.neuron or :8742.
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
-GEO="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_geometry.c"
-VIDX="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_vindex.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-p1-XXXXXX)"
 export HOME="$WORK/home"; mkdir -p "$HOME"
@@ -14,8 +18,8 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE ENGRAM_CONSOLIDATION ENGRAM_CONSOL_CONN_MIN ENGRAM_CONSOL_PER
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compile =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p1_consol.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p1" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p1_consol.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p1" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
 
 echo
 echo "== (a) HEADLINE: hebb accrual curve over N co-activations (flag OFF, pure trunk) =="
@@ -129,8 +133,8 @@ cat "$WORK/off.txt" | sed 's/^/    /'
 echo
 echo "== ASan+UBSan (connect + perm + accrual-short) =="
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p1_consol.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p1.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p1_consol.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p1.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
 if [ -x "$WORK/p1.san" ]; then
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   DS="$WORK/san"; mkdir -p "$DS"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_interoception_p2.sh b/engram/test/run_interoception_p2.sh
index 3e209b5..0d2b7a9 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_interoception_p2.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_interoception_p2.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,14 @@
 # Throwaway HOME + /tmp only. TC defaults to 3600s; we pin it for the math.
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
-GEO="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_geometry.c"
-VIDX="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_vindex.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-p2-XXXXXX)"
 export HOME="$WORK/home"; mkdir -p "$HOME"
@@ -15,8 +19,8 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compile =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p2_chrono.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p2" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p2_chrono.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p2" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
 
 sum_wm(){ python3 -c "import json,sys; g=json.load(open('$1')); print(sum(n.get('working_memory_weight',0) for n in g['nodes']))"; }
 
@@ -78,8 +82,8 @@ python3 -c "import sys; sys.exit(0 if abs($OFFWM-1.2)<1e-9 else 1)" \
 echo
 echo "== ASan+UBSan =="
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p2_chrono.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p2.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p2_chrono.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p2.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
 if [ -x "$WORK/p2.san" ]; then
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   DS="$WORK/san"; mkdir -p "$DS"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_interoception_p3.sh b/engram/test/run_interoception_p3.sh
index 26d2fd6..f56596e 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_interoception_p3.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_interoception_p3.sh
@@ -3,18 +3,22 @@
 # Read-only pure primitive; no store, no flag. Throwaway /tmp only.
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
-GEO="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_geometry.c"
-VIDX="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_vindex.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-p3-XXXXXX)"
 export HOME="$WORK/home"; mkdir -p "$HOME"
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compile =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p3_drift.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p3" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p3_drift.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p3" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
 
 "$WORK/p3" > "$WORK/out.txt" 2>&1 || { echo "FAIL run"; cat "$WORK/out.txt"; fail=1; }
 cat "$WORK/out.txt" | sed 's/^/    /'
@@ -52,8 +56,8 @@ PY
 echo
 echo "== ASan+UBSan =="
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p3_drift.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p3.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p3_drift.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p3.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
 if [ -x "$WORK/p3.san" ]; then
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   "$WORK/p3.san" >/dev/null 2>"$WORK/san.log"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_interoception_p4.sh b/engram/test/run_interoception_p4.sh
index 9d81bc4..656c646 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_interoception_p4.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_interoception_p4.sh
@@ -2,10 +2,14 @@
 # M-INTEROCEPTION P4 gate: afferent input counters in act-stats (additive).
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
-GEO="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_geometry.c"
-VIDX="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_vindex.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-p4-XXXXXX)"
 export HOME="$WORK/home"; mkdir -p "$HOME"
@@ -13,8 +17,8 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compile =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p4_afferent.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p4" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p4_afferent.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p4" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
 
 "$WORK/p4" > "$WORK/out.txt" 2>&1 || { echo "FAIL run"; cat "$WORK/out.txt"; fail=1; }
 grep -oE 'aff_[a-z_]+":[0-9]+' "$WORK/out.txt" | sed 's/^/    /' | head -30
@@ -53,8 +57,8 @@ PY
 echo
 echo "== ASan+UBSan =="
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p4_afferent.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p4.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p4_afferent.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p4.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
 if [ -x "$WORK/p4.san" ]; then
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   "$WORK/p4.san" >/dev/null 2>"$WORK/san.log"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_interoception_p5.sh b/engram/test/run_interoception_p5.sh
index 90e6c81..a21e85e 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_interoception_p5.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_interoception_p5.sh
@@ -2,10 +2,14 @@
 # M-INTEROCEPTION P5 gate: dream-recall builtin engram_dreams_json (honesty rail).
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
-GEO="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_geometry.c"
-VIDX="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_vindex.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-p5-XXXXXX)"
 export HOME="$WORK/home"; mkdir -p "$HOME"
@@ -13,8 +17,8 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compile =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p5_dreams.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p5" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p5_dreams.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p5" 2>"$WORK/cc.log" || { echo "COMPILE FAILED"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; }
 
 D="$WORK/d"; mkdir -p "$D"
 "$WORK/p5" "$D" > "$WORK/out.txt" 2>&1 || { echo "FAIL run"; cat "$WORK/out.txt"; fail=1; }
@@ -57,8 +61,8 @@ PY
 echo
 echo "== ASan+UBSan =="
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p5_dreams.c" "$RT" "$ST" "$GEO" "$VIDX" \
-    -lcurl -lm -o "$WORK/p5.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_interoception_p5_dreams.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$WORK/p5.san" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log" || { echo "SAN COMPILE FAILED"; tail -25 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; }
 if [ -x "$WORK/p5.san" ]; then
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   DS="$WORK/ds"; mkdir -p "$DS"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_m35_hebb_persist.sh b/engram/test/run_m35_hebb_persist.sh
index 1ce7dd3..1691aae 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_m35_hebb_persist.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_m35_hebb_persist.sh
@@ -6,8 +6,14 @@
 # Writes ONLY under a throwaway /tmp dir with a throwaway HOME.
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-m35-XXXXXX)"
 BIN="$WORK/m35"
@@ -17,7 +23,7 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compiling harness (gcc: el_runtime.c + engram_store.c + test_m35_hebb_persist.c) =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m35_hebb_persist.c" "$RT" "$ST" -lcurl -o "$BIN" 2>"$WORK/cc.log"
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m35_hebb_persist.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o "$BIN" 2>"$WORK/cc.log"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "COMPILE FAILED:"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; fi
 
 echo
@@ -139,7 +145,7 @@ echo
 echo "== 5) ASan+UBSan build, exercise the full persist+reboot flow (leaks off — harness intentionally leaks el_strdup) =="
 SANBIN="$WORK/m35.san"
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m35_hebb_persist.c" "$RT" "$ST" -lcurl -o "$SANBIN" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log"
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m35_hebb_persist.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o "$SANBIN" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "  SAN COMPILE FAILED:"; tail -20 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; else
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   DSAN="$WORK/san"; mkdir -p "$DSAN"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_m3_parity.sh b/engram/test/run_m3_parity.sh
index 6eadaee..c7d533a 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_m3_parity.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_m3_parity.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,14 @@
 # Writes ONLY under a throwaway /tmp dir with a throwaway HOME + ENGRAM_DATA_DIR.
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-m3-XXXXXX)"
 DATA="$WORK/data"; mkdir -p "$DATA"
@@ -17,7 +23,7 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compiling harness (gcc: el_runtime.c + engram_store.c + test_m3_parity.c) =="
-gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m3_parity.c" "$RT" "$ST" -lcurl -o "$BIN" 2>"$WORK/cc.log"
+gcc -O1 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m3_parity.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o "$BIN" 2>"$WORK/cc.log"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "COMPILE FAILED:"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; fi
 grep -i warning "$WORK/cc.log" | grep -iE 'engram_store|eg_store|eg_load|scan_nodes|scan_edges' && echo "(warnings in M3 code above)" || true
 
@@ -106,7 +112,7 @@ echo
 echo "== 5) ASan+UBSan build, exercise M3 scan/boot/hooks (leaks off — harness intentionally leaks el_strdup) =="
 SANBIN="$WORK/m3.san"
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m3_parity.c" "$RT" "$ST" -lcurl -o "$SANBIN" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log"
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m3_parity.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o "$SANBIN" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "  SAN COMPILE FAILED:"; tail -20 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; else
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   DATA2="$WORK/data2"; mkdir -p "$DATA2"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_m7_traversal.sh b/engram/test/run_m7_traversal.sh
index 693a9fe..1340704 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_m7_traversal.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_m7_traversal.sh
@@ -6,8 +6,14 @@
 # Writes ONLY under a throwaway /tmp dir with a throwaway HOME.
 set -u
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-RT="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/el_runtime.c"
-ST="$HERE/../../lang/runtime/engram_store.c"
+RTSRC="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$HERE/../../lang/runtime")"
+# The runtime is MULTI-FILE (lang/runtime/SOURCES). This harness used to link
+# el_runtime.c + engram_store.c only, which stopped linking once el_runtime.c
+# began calling into the other engram siblings. Unquoted on purpose: a list.
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 INC="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
 WORK="$(mktemp -d /tmp/engram-m7-XXXXXX)"
 DATA="$WORK/data"; mkdir -p "$DATA"
@@ -22,7 +28,7 @@ unset ENGRAM_STORE
 fail=0
 
 echo "== compiling harness (gcc: el_runtime.c + engram_store.c + test_m7_traversal.c) =="
-gcc -O2 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m7_traversal.c" "$RT" "$ST" -lcurl -lm -o "$BIN" 2>"$WORK/cc.log"
+gcc -O2 -std=c11 -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m7_traversal.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o "$BIN" 2>"$WORK/cc.log"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "COMPILE FAILED:"; cat "$WORK/cc.log"; rm -rf "$WORK"; exit 1; fi
 echo "  ok: compiled"
 
@@ -115,7 +121,7 @@ echo
 echo "== 3) ASan+UBSan clean across parity + a small perf loop (leaks off — harness intentionally leaks el_strdup) =="
 SANBIN="$WORK/m7.san"
 gcc -O1 -g -std=c11 -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined \
-    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m7_traversal.c" "$RT" "$ST" -lcurl -lm -o "$SANBIN" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log"
+    -I "$INC" "$HERE/test_m7_traversal.c" $RTSRC $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -lm -o "$SANBIN" 2>"$WORK/san_cc.log"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "  SAN COMPILE FAILED:"; tail -20 "$WORK/san_cc.log"; fail=1; else
   export ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0
   D2="$WORK/data2"; mkdir -p "$D2"
diff --git a/engram/test/run_wal_tests.sh b/engram/test/run_wal_tests.sh
index eddd791..ae3b0cb 100755
--- a/engram/test/run_wal_tests.sh
+++ b/engram/test/run_wal_tests.sh
@@ -3,8 +3,17 @@
 set -e
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
 REL="$HERE/../../lang/runtime"
+# test_wal.c and test_failloud.c #include "el_runtime.c" directly, so el_runtime.c
+# is already IN the translation unit — link the SIBLINGS only, or every symbol in
+# it is defined twice. The siblings are still required: el_runtime.c calls into
+# all six engram TUs. (lang/runtime/SOURCES is the source of truth.)
+RTSIB="$("$HERE/../../scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh" "$REL" | grep -v '/el_runtime\.c$')"
+SSLFLAGS=""
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1 && O="$(brew --prefix openssl@3 2>/dev/null)"; then
+  SSLFLAGS="-I$O/include -L$O/lib"
+fi
 cc -O2 -fbracket-depth=1024 -Wno-parentheses-equality -I"$REL" \
-   "$HERE/test_wal.c" -lcurl -lpthread -o /tmp/test_wal
+   "$HERE/test_wal.c" $RTSIB $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o /tmp/test_wal
 HOME=/tmp/engram-throwaway-home /tmp/test_wal
 # Fail-loud data-dir check (must exit 1 with a FATAL line):
 cat > /tmp/test_failloud.c <<'C'
@@ -12,5 +21,5 @@ cat > /tmp/test_failloud.c <<'C'
 int main(void){ unsetenv("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"); unsetenv("HOME");
   engram_resolve_data_dir(); printf("REACHED\n"); return 0; }
 C
-cc -O2 -fbracket-depth=1024 -Wno-parentheses-equality -I"$REL" /tmp/test_failloud.c -lcurl -lpthread -o /tmp/test_failloud
+cc -O2 -fbracket-depth=1024 -Wno-parentheses-equality -I"$REL" /tmp/test_failloud.c $RTSIB $SSLFLAGS -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o /tmp/test_failloud
 if env -u HOME -u ENGRAM_DATA_DIR /tmp/test_failloud; then echo "FAIL: should have exited"; exit 1; else echo "[PASS] fail-loud exit on unresolvable HOME"; fi
diff --git a/lang/AGENTS.md b/lang/AGENTS.md
index 4d9c0fb..0bbee99 100644
--- a/lang/AGENTS.md
+++ b/lang/AGENTS.md
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ The runtime is native El (`runtime/*.el`) over a C OS-boundary. **Status (verifi
 
 Choose the file by concern: engram store ops → `engram_store.c`; index → `engram_vindex.c`; geometry/priming → `engram_geometry.c`; reasoning → `engram_reason.c`; grounding/consistency → `engram_verify.c`; think/stance → `engram_cognition.c`. **If no existing file owns it, create one** — add the `.c` to `runtime/SOURCES` (one line) and every build path picks it up. For a builtin that belongs to a downstream program rather than the runtime, declare `c_source "path/to/file.c"` in that program's `manifest.el`; `elb` already links it (`parse_manifest_c_sources`, `lang/elb.el:82`).
 
+> **`el_runtime.c` is on a ratchet and will reject your commit.** `runtime/BUDGET` caps it at its current line count *with no headroom*, and separately caps the number of `engram_*`/`eg_*`/`cog_*` function definitions in it. `scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh` enforces both in CI and in `.githooks/pre-commit`. **The numbers may only ever go down — do not raise them.** Every other runtime file is deliberately uncapped, because that is where the code is supposed to go. When you move code *out*, lower the numbers in the same commit; the guard tells you the new values.
+
 When you add a C builtin (verbatim-emit recipe — the El name is emitted as the exact C symbol; `builtin_arity` is an arity guard only, not a dispatch table):
 1. Implement the C function in the **concern-owning `.c`** (and declare it in that file's `.h`). Add the file to `runtime/SOURCES` if it is new. Only put it in `el_runtime.c` if it is genuinely EL core (val/str/map/list/arena) — that is ~8% of what is in there today.
 2. Add a `__`-prefixed thin wrapper in `el_seed.c` and declare it in `el_seed.h`.
diff --git a/lang/install.sh b/lang/install.sh
index 9317853..ac895b6 100644
--- a/lang/install.sh
+++ b/lang/install.sh
@@ -60,12 +60,14 @@ RUNTIME_SOURCES=(
     el_runtime.c el_seed.c
     engram_store.c engram_vindex.c engram_geometry.c
     engram_reason.c engram_verify.c engram_cognition.c
+    engram_text.c
     eg_cosine_batch.c eg_cosine_batch_strategy_cpu.c
 )
 RUNTIME_HEADERS=(
     el_runtime.h el_seed.h
     engram_store.h engram_vindex.h engram_geometry.h
     engram_reason.h engram_verify.h engram_cognition.h
+    engram_text.h
     eg_cosine_batch.h eg_cosine_batch_strategy.h
 )
 
diff --git a/lang/runtime/BUDGET b/lang/runtime/BUDGET
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6706a5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lang/runtime/BUDGET
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# BUDGET — a RATCHET on lang/runtime/el_runtime.c. Enforced by
+# scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh. These numbers may only ever go DOWN.
+#
+# WHY THIS FILE EXISTS
+# --------------------
+# scripts/check-single-runtime.sh guards against el_runtime.c being COPIED.
+# Nothing guarded against it GROWING. It grew from 10,607 lines to 20,527 —
+# 94% — in 3.5 months, while under an explicit commit-message promise that it
+# was a temporary shim about to be deleted.
+#
+# It grew because lang/AGENTS.md told every agent to grow it: it claimed
+# el_runtime.c was "the authoritative single-file link target" and that a new
+# C builtin "must live there to be linkable". That is false — placement is a
+# link-time concern, `builtin_arity` is an arity guard not a dispatch table,
+# and the shipped elc already links from ten translation units. The claim is
+# corrected, and this file is the mechanism that keeps it corrected.
+#
+# THIS IS A RATCHET, NOT A LIMIT
+# ------------------------------
+# The budget is set at the CURRENT size. There is no headroom, deliberately.
+# The file cannot grow by even one line. Any new code goes in the .c that owns
+# the concern — that is the whole point, and every other runtime file is
+# deliberately UNCAPPED.
+#
+# When you move code OUT, lower the number in the same commit. The guard tells
+# you to when you have earned it.
+#
+# FORMAT: <key> <value>   — `#` comments and blank lines ignored.
+
+# Maximum lines in lang/runtime/el_runtime.c.
+# 2026-08-16: 20,527 — the high-water mark.
+# 2026-08-16: 20,427 — engram_text.c extracted (tokenize, token hygiene,
+#             word-boundary match, damage signature). Ratcheted down.
+max_lines 20427
+
+# Maximum top-level engram/eg_/cog_ function definitions in el_runtime.c.
+# ~47.5% of the file is engram code, and engram already owns six dedicated
+# sibling files (engram_{store,vindex,geometry,reason,verify,cognition}.c).
+# Every one of these belongs in one of them. This is the Stage 3 scoreboard.
+# 2026-08-16: 279 -> 275 (4 moved to engram_text.c).
+max_engram_fns 275
diff --git a/lang/runtime/SOURCES b/lang/runtime/SOURCES
index e44c152..d825445 100644
--- a/lang/runtime/SOURCES
+++ b/lang/runtime/SOURCES
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ engram_reason.c
 engram_verify.c
 engram_cognition.c
 
+# --- Text: tokenization, token hygiene, damage signature ---------------------
+# Extracted from el_runtime.c 2026-08-16. Plain C over <ctype.h>/<string.h> —
+# touches no EL value type and no engram store type. New text helpers go HERE.
+engram_text.c
+
 # --- Vector math: batch cosine + its CPU strategy ----------------------------
 # The ggml strategy (eg_cosine_batch_strategy_ggml.c) is an OPTIONAL swap-in and
 # is deliberately NOT in the default set — it needs ggml headers. Link it in
diff --git a/lang/runtime/el_runtime.c b/lang/runtime/el_runtime.c
index 0bd532c..441be58 100644
--- a/lang/runtime/el_runtime.c
+++ b/lang/runtime/el_runtime.c
@@ -8638,6 +8638,7 @@ static char* engram_first_n_chars(const char* s, size_t n) {
  *      mutation (node/edge create, forget) is mirrored through the store's
  *      WAL-logged API so neuron.egm/neuron.wal stay authoritative.
  * ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ */
+#include "engram_text.h"   /* text: tokenize, token hygiene, loss signature */
 #include "engram_store.h"
 #include "engram_vindex.h"   /* M8: ANN (HNSW) index for activation seed selection */
 #include "engram_geometry.h" /* M9: centered relational-neighborhood geometry (priming) */
@@ -9061,31 +9062,9 @@ el_val_t engram_node(el_val_t content, el_val_t node_type, el_val_t salience) {
  *           RIGHT NOW" — which is the regression question, and the one that
  *           would have caught this in a day instead of two months.
  *
- * SIGNATURE. Conservative on purpose — a false alarm that cries corruption
- * over ordinary punctuation is worse than useless. Two patterns, both of
- * which are essentially absent from well-formed English prose:
- *   (a) alnum '?' alnum   — "na?ve", "caf?s", "don?t". A real question mark
- *                           never sits between two word characters.
- *   (b) ' ? ' followed by a lowercase letter — a lost em/en dash. A real
- *                           question mark is not preceded by a space, and
- *                           what follows one starts a new sentence.
- * Deliberately NOT flagged: a trailing '?' after a word, '? ' before a
- * capital, or '?' at end of string — all legitimate. This under-counts (it
- * cannot see a mangled 'café ' where the '?' landed before a space), so the
- * census is a floor on the damage, never an exaggeration of it. */
-static int eg_text_loss_signature(const char* s) {
-    if (!s) return 0;
-    for (const char* p = s; *p; p++) {
-        if (*p != '?') continue;
-        unsigned char prev = (p == s) ? 0 : (unsigned char)p[-1];
-        unsigned char next = (unsigned char)p[1];
-        /* (a) sandwiched between word characters. */
-        if (isalnum(prev) && isalnum(next)) return 1;
-        /* (b) spaced, with lowercase continuation — a lost dash. */
-        if (prev == ' ' && next == ' ' && islower((unsigned char)p[2])) return 1;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
+ * The SIGNATURE itself (eg_text_loss_signature) moved to engram_text.c on
+ * 2026-08-16 — it is plain C over <ctype.h> and touches nothing in here. The
+ * stock/flow gauges below stay, because they touch store and EL value types. */
 
 /* Damaged-node creations since process start. See the block comment above. */
 static int64_t _eg_txt_write_damaged = 0;
@@ -9697,37 +9676,7 @@ static int istr_contains(const char* hay, const char* needle) {
  * fix landed but never reached this release runtime — the copy the engram
  * binary actually builds against.) */
 #define ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS 32
-#define ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN    256
-
-/* Split q on whitespace into up to ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS distinct
- * (case-insensitive) tokens. Returns the token count. Over-long tokens are
- * truncated to ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN-1; over-count tokens are ignored. */
-static int engram_tokenize_query(const char* q,
-                                 char toks[][ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN], int maxtok) {
-    int n = 0;
-    if (!q) return 0;
-    const char* p = q;
-    while (*p && n < maxtok) {
-        while (*p && isspace((unsigned char)*p)) p++;
-        if (!*p) break;
-        char buf[ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN];
-        size_t tl = 0;
-        while (*p && !isspace((unsigned char)*p)) {
-            if (tl < sizeof(buf) - 1) buf[tl++] = *p;
-            p++;
-        }
-        buf[tl] = '\0';
-        if (tl == 0) continue;
-        int dup = 0;
-        for (int s = 0; s < n; s++) {
-            if (strcasecmp(toks[s], buf) == 0) { dup = 1; break; }
-        }
-        if (dup) continue;
-        memcpy(toks[n], buf, tl + 1);
-        n++;
-    }
-    return n;
-}
+/* ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN and engram_tokenize_query moved to engram_text.h/.c. */
 
 /* Count how many of the ntok distinct query tokens appear (case-insensitive)
  * in the node's content, label, or tags. 0 == no match. */
@@ -16389,29 +16338,6 @@ el_val_t engram_label_df(el_val_t term) {
 #define ENGRAM_ST_TOKLEN    64
 #define ENGRAM_ST_SCANCHARS 400
 
-/* Trim leading/trailing non-alphanumerics, then accept only tokens whose core
- * is alphanumeric plus '-' and '_' with at least 3 letters. This subsumes the
- * quoted-title guard (2026-07-25) and the "<!--" flood (2026-08-03)
- * structurally: markup and punctuation-bearing tokens never become
- * candidates, rather than being blocklisted after the fact. */
-static int eg_st_clean_token(const char* raw, size_t rawlen,
-                             char* out, size_t outcap) {
-    size_t s = 0, e = rawlen;
-    while (s < e && !isalnum((unsigned char)raw[s])) s++;
-    while (e > s && !isalnum((unsigned char)raw[e - 1])) e--;
-    size_t len = e - s;
-    if (len < 4 || len >= outcap) return 0;
-    int alpha = 0;
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < len; i++) {
-        unsigned char c = (unsigned char)raw[s + i];
-        if (isalpha(c)) alpha++;
-        else if (!isdigit(c) && c != '-' && c != '_') return 0;
-    }
-    if (alpha < 3) return 0;
-    memcpy(out, raw + s, len);
-    out[len] = '\0';
-    return 1;
-}
 
 /* ENGRAM_ST_DEBUG=1 dumps the full scored candidate set to stderr. One
  * cached branch in production. This exists because the first live run of this
@@ -16424,32 +16350,6 @@ static int _eg_st_debug(void) {
     return v;
 }
 
-/* Word-boundary document frequency. engram_label_df uses istr_contains, i.e.
- * SUBSTRING matching, and that is the wrong estimator for term specificity on
- * short tokens: "them" hits inside "theme" and "anthem", "about" and "whole"
- * come back with df 2 and 1 rather than 0. That matters here specifically
- * because the min_df floor is what rejects English function words, and it can
- * only do that job if their df is honestly zero. Substring df quietly handed
- * them a survival ticket. Measured on the live store before this fix, "whole"
- * (df=1, idf=8.76) and "about" (df=2, idf=8.36) were outscoring real topical
- * terms and losing only on position — one node whose text happened to open
- * with a function word would have seeded on it.
- *
- * engram_label_df keeps substring semantics: it is a separate published
- * measure with existing callers, and changing it underneath them is not this
- * change's business. */
-static int eg_st_label_has_word(const char* hay, const char* word) {
-    size_t wl = strlen(word);
-    for (const char* p = hay; *p; p++) {
-        if (strncasecmp(p, word, wl) != 0) continue;
-        char before = (p == hay) ? '\0' : p[-1];
-        char after  = p[wl];
-        if (before && (isalnum((unsigned char)before) || before == '_')) continue;
-        if (after  && (isalnum((unsigned char)after)  || after  == '_')) continue;
-        return 1;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
 
 /* YAKE T_Case, adapted to this corpus. YAKE up-weights all-caps tokens
  * because in ordinary prose an acronym is rare and carries topic. That
diff --git a/lang/runtime/engram_text.c b/lang/runtime/engram_text.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a5ee70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lang/runtime/engram_text.c
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+/* engram_text.c — see engram_text.h.
+ *
+ * Moved verbatim out of el_runtime.c (2026-08-16). Bodies are unchanged; only
+ * `static` was dropped so they link from this translation unit, and each
+ * function's doc comment travelled with it.
+ */
+#include "engram_text.h"
+
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+/* Split q on whitespace into up to ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS distinct
+ * (case-insensitive) tokens. Returns the token count. Over-long tokens are
+ * truncated to ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN-1; over-count tokens are ignored. */
+int engram_tokenize_query(const char* q,
+                                 char toks[][ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN], int maxtok) {
+    int n = 0;
+    if (!q) return 0;
+    const char* p = q;
+    while (*p && n < maxtok) {
+        while (*p && isspace((unsigned char)*p)) p++;
+        if (!*p) break;
+        char buf[ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN];
+        size_t tl = 0;
+        while (*p && !isspace((unsigned char)*p)) {
+            if (tl < sizeof(buf) - 1) buf[tl++] = *p;
+            p++;
+        }
+        buf[tl] = '\0';
+        if (tl == 0) continue;
+        int dup = 0;
+        for (int s = 0; s < n; s++) {
+            if (strcasecmp(toks[s], buf) == 0) { dup = 1; break; }
+        }
+        if (dup) continue;
+        memcpy(toks[n], buf, tl + 1);
+        n++;
+    }
+    return n;
+}
+
+/* Trim leading/trailing non-alphanumerics, then accept only tokens whose core
+ * is alphanumeric plus '-' and '_' with at least 3 letters. This subsumes the
+ * quoted-title guard (2026-07-25) and the "<!--" flood (2026-08-03)
+ * structurally: markup and punctuation-bearing tokens never become
+ * candidates, rather than being blocklisted after the fact. */
+int eg_st_clean_token(const char* raw, size_t rawlen,
+                             char* out, size_t outcap) {
+    size_t s = 0, e = rawlen;
+    while (s < e && !isalnum((unsigned char)raw[s])) s++;
+    while (e > s && !isalnum((unsigned char)raw[e - 1])) e--;
+    size_t len = e - s;
+    if (len < 4 || len >= outcap) return 0;
+    int alpha = 0;
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+        unsigned char c = (unsigned char)raw[s + i];
+        if (isalpha(c)) alpha++;
+        else if (!isdigit(c) && c != '-' && c != '_') return 0;
+    }
+    if (alpha < 3) return 0;
+    memcpy(out, raw + s, len);
+    out[len] = '\0';
+    return 1;
+}
+
+/* Word-boundary document frequency. engram_label_df uses istr_contains, i.e.
+ * SUBSTRING matching, and that is the wrong estimator for term specificity on
+ * short tokens: "them" hits inside "theme" and "anthem", "about" and "whole"
+ * come back with df 2 and 1 rather than 0. That matters here specifically
+ * because the min_df floor is what rejects English function words, and it can
+ * only do that job if their df is honestly zero. Substring df quietly handed
+ * them a survival ticket. Measured on the live store before this fix, "whole"
+ * (df=1, idf=8.76) and "about" (df=2, idf=8.36) were outscoring real topical
+ * terms and losing only on position — one node whose text happened to open
+ * with a function word would have seeded on it.
+ *
+ * engram_label_df keeps substring semantics: it is a separate published
+ * measure with existing callers, and changing it underneath them is not this
+ * change's business. */
+int eg_st_label_has_word(const char* hay, const char* word) {
+    size_t wl = strlen(word);
+    for (const char* p = hay; *p; p++) {
+        if (strncasecmp(p, word, wl) != 0) continue;
+        char before = (p == hay) ? '\0' : p[-1];
+        char after  = p[wl];
+        if (before && (isalnum((unsigned char)before) || before == '_')) continue;
+        if (after  && (isalnum((unsigned char)after)  || after  == '_')) continue;
+        return 1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
+/* Text-damage signature. Extracted with the function from el_runtime.c's
+ * "Text-integrity instrumentation" block; the stock/flow gauges that use it
+ * (engram_text_health_json, _eg_txt_write_damaged) stay there because they
+ * touch store and EL value types.
+ *
+ * SIGNATURE. Conservative on purpose — a false alarm that cries corruption
+ * over ordinary punctuation is worse than useless. Two patterns, both of
+ * which are essentially absent from well-formed English prose:
+ *   (a) alnum '?' alnum   — "na?ve", "caf?s", "don?t". A real question mark
+ *                           never sits between two word characters.
+ *   (b) ' ? ' followed by a lowercase letter — a lost em/en dash. A real
+ *                           question mark is not preceded by a space, and
+ *                           what follows one starts a new sentence.
+ * Deliberately NOT flagged: a trailing '?' after a word, '? ' before a
+ * capital, or '?' at end of string — all legitimate. This under-counts (it
+ * cannot see a mangled 'café ' where the '?' landed before a space), so the
+ * census is a floor on the damage, never an exaggeration of it. */
+int eg_text_loss_signature(const char* s) {
+    if (!s) return 0;
+    for (const char* p = s; *p; p++) {
+        if (*p != '?') continue;
+        unsigned char prev = (p == s) ? 0 : (unsigned char)p[-1];
+        unsigned char next = (unsigned char)p[1];
+        /* (a) sandwiched between word characters. */
+        if (isalnum(prev) && isalnum(next)) return 1;
+        /* (b) spaced, with lowercase continuation — a lost dash. */
+        if (prev == ' ' && next == ' ' && islower((unsigned char)p[2])) return 1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/lang/runtime/engram_text.h b/lang/runtime/engram_text.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd1bd0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lang/runtime/engram_text.h
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/* engram_text.h — text handling for the engram: query tokenization, candidate
+ * token hygiene, word-boundary matching, and the text-damage signature.
+ *
+ * WHY THIS FILE EXISTS
+ * --------------------
+ * These functions lived in el_runtime.c, which is a 2026-05-03 build shim that
+ * was scheduled for deletion, never retired, and grew to 20,527 lines. They do
+ * not belong there: they touch no EL value type and no engram store type. They
+ * are plain C over <ctype.h>/<string.h> operating on char buffers, and they are
+ * a concern of their own — so they get a translation unit of their own.
+ *
+ * Adding a new text helper?  Add it HERE, not to el_runtime.c. A new .c costs
+ * exactly one line in lang/runtime/SOURCES, and every build path picks it up.
+ * Placement is a LINK-TIME concern: the compiler cannot tell which .c a symbol
+ * came from (builtin_arity is an arity guard, not a dispatch table), so a
+ * function defined here is exactly as linkable as one defined in el_runtime.c.
+ */
+#ifndef ENGRAM_TEXT_H
+#define ENGRAM_TEXT_H
+
+#include <stddef.h>
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/* Max bytes per query token, including the NUL. */
+#define ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN 256
+
+/* Split q on whitespace into up to ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS distinct
+ * (case-insensitive) tokens. Returns the token count. Over-long tokens are
+ * truncated to ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN-1; over-count tokens are ignored. */
+int engram_tokenize_query(const char* q, char toks[][ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN], int maxtok);
+
+/* Trim leading/trailing non-alphanumerics, then accept only tokens whose core
+ * is alphanumeric plus '-' and '_' with at least 3 letters. This subsumes the
+ * quoted-title guard (2026-07-25) and the "<!--" flood (2026-08-03)
+ * structurally: markup and punctuation-bearing tokens never become
+ * candidates, rather than being blocklisted after the fact. */
+int eg_st_clean_token(const char* raw, size_t rawlen, char* out, size_t outcap);
+
+/* Word-boundary document frequency. engram_label_df uses istr_contains, i.e.
+ * SUBSTRING matching, and that is the wrong estimator for term specificity on
+ * short tokens: "them" hits inside "theme" and "anthem", "about" and "whole"
+ * come back with df 2 and 1 rather than 0. That matters here specifically
+ * because the min_df floor is what rejects English function words, and it can
+ * only do that job if their df is honestly zero. Substring df quietly handed
+ * them a survival ticket. Measured on the live store before this fix, "whole"
+ * (df=1, idf=8.76) and "about" (df=2, idf=8.36) were outscoring real topical
+ * terms and losing only on position — one node whose text happened to open
+ * with a function word would have seeded on it.
+ *
+ * engram_label_df keeps substring semantics: it is a separate published
+ * measure with existing callers, and changing it underneath them is not this
+ * change's business. */
+int eg_st_label_has_word(const char* hay, const char* word);
+
+/* Whether s carries the text-loss signature left by the \uXXXX -> '?' parser
+ * defect. Conservative by design; see engram_text.c for the full rationale. */
+int eg_text_loss_signature(const char* s);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* ENGRAM_TEXT_H */
diff --git a/scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh b/scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..eb140f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# check-runtime-growth.sh — GROWTH guard for lang/runtime/el_runtime.c.
+#
+# Sibling to scripts/check-single-runtime.sh. That one guards against the file
+# being COPIED (a lagging fork shipped to prod and dropped learned hebb edges).
+# Nothing guarded against it GROWING — so it grew from 10,607 to 20,527 lines in
+# 3.5 months, while under an explicit commit-message promise that it was a
+# temporary shim about to be deleted.
+#
+# This enforces the RATCHET in lang/runtime/BUDGET: the numbers may only go down.
+#
+# It also checks two invariants that keep the multi-file runtime honest:
+#   * every .c in lang/runtime/ is either in SOURCES or explicitly optional
+#   * lang/install.sh's hardcoded download list matches SOURCES
+#
+# Exits non-zero on any violation. Run from anywhere; resolves the repo root.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$ROOT"
+
+RUNTIME_DIR="lang/runtime"
+TARGET="$RUNTIME_DIR/el_runtime.c"
+BUDGET_FILE="$RUNTIME_DIR/BUDGET"
+SOURCES_FILE="$RUNTIME_DIR/SOURCES"
+
+FAIL=0
+
+for f in "$TARGET" "$BUDGET_FILE" "$SOURCES_FILE"; do
+  if [ ! -f "$f" ]; then
+    echo "FATAL: required file missing: $f" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+done
+
+budget() {
+  local key="$1"
+  sed -e 's/#.*//' "$BUDGET_FILE" | awk -v k="$key" '$1==k {print $2; found=1} END{if(!found) exit 1}'
+}
+
+MAX_LINES="$(budget max_lines)"       || { echo "FATAL: no 'max_lines' in $BUDGET_FILE" >&2; exit 1; }
+MAX_ENGRAM="$(budget max_engram_fns)" || { echo "FATAL: no 'max_engram_fns' in $BUDGET_FILE" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The message every failure prints. The guard that existed before this one told
+# you what was wrong but not where the code should go — so it was easy to
+# "fix" by arguing with the guard. This one names the destination.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+where_it_goes() {
+  cat >&2 <<'MSG'
+
+  WHERE THE CODE ACTUALLY GOES
+  ----------------------------
+  Placement is a LINK-TIME concern. The compiler cannot tell which .c a symbol
+  came from: `builtin_arity` in el-compiler/src/codegen.el maps NAME -> ARITY
+  INT only, the El name is emitted as the exact C symbol, and `ld` resolves it.
+  The SHIPPED compiler already links from ten translation units — check it:
+
+      nm lang/dist/platform/elc | grep -E 'T _(engram_think|vindex_insert)'
+
+  So a builtin defined in a sibling .c is EXACTLY as linkable as one defined in
+  el_runtime.c. Pick the file that owns the concern:
+
+      engram store ops ......... lang/runtime/engram_store.c
+      ANN / vector index ....... lang/runtime/engram_vindex.c
+      geometry, priming ........ lang/runtime/engram_geometry.c
+      reasoning operators ...... lang/runtime/engram_reason.c
+      grounding, consistency ... lang/runtime/engram_verify.c
+      think, stance ............ lang/runtime/engram_cognition.c
+
+  No existing file owns it?  Create one, add ONE line to lang/runtime/SOURCES,
+  and every build path picks it up. Every runtime file EXCEPT el_runtime.c is
+  deliberately uncapped.
+
+  Belongs to a downstream program, not the runtime?  Declare
+  `c_source "path/to/file.c"` in that program's manifest.el — elb already links
+  it (parse_manifest_c_sources, lang/elb.el:82).
+
+  See lang/AGENTS.md "Where a new C builtin goes".
+MSG
+}
+
+# --- 1. Line-count ratchet ---------------------------------------------------
+LINES="$(wc -l < "$TARGET" | tr -d ' ')"
+if [ "$LINES" -gt "$MAX_LINES" ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: $TARGET grew past its budget." >&2
+  echo "      now:    $LINES lines" >&2
+  echo "      budget: $MAX_LINES lines (lang/runtime/BUDGET: max_lines)" >&2
+  echo "      over by: $((LINES - MAX_LINES))" >&2
+  echo "" >&2
+  echo "This file is a 2026-05-03 build shim that was scheduled for deletion and" >&2
+  echo "never retired. It does not get to grow. Do NOT raise the budget." >&2
+  where_it_goes
+  FAIL=1
+fi
+
+# --- 2. Engram-concern ratchet ----------------------------------------------
+# ~47.5% of el_runtime.c is engram code, and engram already owns six sibling
+# files. This count is the Stage 3 scoreboard: it may only go down.
+ENGRAM_FNS="$(grep -cE '^(static +)?[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_ *]*\b(engram|eg|cog)_[a-z0-9_]+\(' "$TARGET" || true)"
+if [ "$ENGRAM_FNS" -gt "$MAX_ENGRAM" ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: new engram/eg_/cog_ function(s) added to $TARGET." >&2
+  echo "      now:    $ENGRAM_FNS definitions" >&2
+  echo "      budget: $MAX_ENGRAM (lang/runtime/BUDGET: max_engram_fns)" >&2
+  echo "" >&2
+  echo "Engram code belongs in the six engram_*.c files that already exist." >&2
+  where_it_goes
+  FAIL=1
+fi
+
+# --- 3. Ratchet-down nudge (advisory, never fails) ---------------------------
+if [ "$LINES" -lt "$MAX_LINES" ]; then
+  echo "NOTE: $TARGET is $((MAX_LINES - LINES)) lines under budget — lower" >&2
+  echo "      'max_lines' to $LINES in $BUDGET_FILE in this same commit, so the" >&2
+  echo "      ground you gained cannot be quietly given back." >&2
+fi
+if [ "$ENGRAM_FNS" -lt "$MAX_ENGRAM" ]; then
+  echo "NOTE: $((MAX_ENGRAM - ENGRAM_FNS)) engram fn(s) moved out — lower" >&2
+  echo "      'max_engram_fns' to $ENGRAM_FNS in $BUDGET_FILE in this same commit." >&2
+fi
+
+# --- 4. Every runtime .c is accounted for ------------------------------------
+# A new .c that is in neither SOURCES nor the optional list will not be
+# compiled by any build path — it would be silently dead. Catch that here.
+OPTIONAL_RE='^(el_android|el_gtk4|el_lvgl|el_sdl2|el_win32|el_runtime_win32|eg_cosine_batch_strategy_ggml|vindex_bench)\.c$'
+mapfile -t IN_SOURCES < <(scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh)
+for path in "$RUNTIME_DIR"/*.c; do
+  base="$(basename "$path")"
+  if printf '%s\n' "${IN_SOURCES[@]}" | grep -qxF "$base"; then continue; fi
+  if [[ "$base" =~ $OPTIONAL_RE ]]; then continue; fi
+  echo "FAIL: $path is in neither lang/runtime/SOURCES nor the platform-optional" >&2
+  echo "      list in this guard. It will not be compiled by any build path." >&2
+  echo "      Add it to SOURCES (one line), or add it to OPTIONAL_RE here if it" >&2
+  echo "      is a platform/strategy variant that is linked in deliberately." >&2
+  FAIL=1
+done
+
+# --- 5. install.sh must not drift from SOURCES -------------------------------
+# install.sh runs on machines with no repo checkout, so it cannot call
+# el-runtime-sources.sh and has to hardcode the list. That copy is exactly the
+# kind of duplicate that silently drifted before — so it is checked, not trusted.
+INSTALL_SH="lang/install.sh"
+if [ -f "$INSTALL_SH" ]; then
+  EXPECTED="$(scripts/el-runtime-sources.sh | sort)"
+  ACTUAL="$(sed -n '/^RUNTIME_SOURCES=(/,/^)/p' "$INSTALL_SH" \
+            | grep -oE '[a-z_0-9]+\.c' | sort)"
+  if [ "$EXPECTED" != "$ACTUAL" ]; then
+    echo "FAIL: $INSTALL_SH RUNTIME_SOURCES has drifted from $SOURCES_FILE." >&2
+    echo "      Only in SOURCES:    $(comm -23 <(echo "$EXPECTED") <(echo "$ACTUAL") | tr '\n' ' ')" >&2
+    echo "      Only in install.sh: $(comm -13 <(echo "$EXPECTED") <(echo "$ACTUAL") | tr '\n' ' ')" >&2
+    echo "      An SDK that ships the wrong set produces a lib/ that cannot link." >&2
+    FAIL=1
+  fi
+fi
+
+if [ "$FAIL" -ne 0 ]; then
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "OK: el_runtime.c within budget ($LINES/$MAX_LINES lines, $ENGRAM_FNS/$MAX_ENGRAM engram fns);"
+echo "    runtime sources accounted for; install.sh in step with SOURCES."
diff --git a/scripts/check-single-runtime.sh b/scripts/check-single-runtime.sh
index 6330ece..de14350 100755
--- a/scripts/check-single-runtime.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-single-runtime.sh
@@ -81,14 +81,14 @@ fi
 echo "OK: single canonical runtime source — $CANONICAL (no un-allowlisted forks)."
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# CI wire-in:
-#   foundation/el .gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml, ci-stage.yaml, sdk-release.yaml
-#   Add an early step (before the build/publish steps). It must run from the
-#   REPO ROOT, so override the job's `defaults.run.working-directory: lang`:
+# CI wire-in — DONE (2026-08-16). This block used to describe the wire-in as a
+# TODO, and it had never been done: the guard existed but ran nowhere, so it
+# caught nothing for as long as it has been in the tree. It is now an early step
+# in ci-dev.yaml, ci-stage.yaml and sdk-release.yaml (each with
+# `working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}`, since the jobs default to lang/),
+# and it runs in .githooks/pre-commit.
 #
-#     - name: Guard - single canonical runtime source
-#       working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
-#       run: bash scripts/check-single-runtime.sh
-#
-#   Also add to .githooks/pre-commit so drift is caught before it is committed.
+# Its sibling scripts/check-runtime-growth.sh is wired in at the same points and
+# guards the other half of the problem: this script stops el_runtime.c being
+# COPIED, that one stops it GROWING.
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------