diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 89bfb6c..13901d9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -137,3 +137,43 @@ jobs:
         with:
           files: dist/*
           generate_release_notes: true
+
+  # ── Required check ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  # One job that succeeds only if every other job in this workflow did, so
+  # branch protection has a single stable name to require. #87 asks for a
+  # required check on master; this is the name to point it at.
+  #
+  # Requiring the jobs themselves does not work here. `test` is a 3x3 matrix,
+  # so its checks arrive as nine generated names that change whenever the
+  # matrix does, and a required name that no longer appears blocks every PR
+  # until someone edits the branch protection. `release` is skipped on every
+  # pull request, and a required check that is skipped never reports.
+  #
+  # `if: always()` matters: without it the gate is skipped whenever an earlier
+  # job fails, and a skipped required check leaves the PR waiting for a status
+  # that will never arrive -- the failure would present as a hang, not a red X.
+  #
+  # A non-success result of any kind fails the gate, `skipped` included. A job
+  # that did not run did not verify anything, so treating it as a pass is the
+  # same fail-open shape this repository has been removing elsewhere.
+  ci-gate:
+    name: CI Gate
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    needs: [test, build]
+    if: always()
+    steps:
+      - name: Every job in this workflow must have succeeded
+        env:
+          RESULTS: ${{ toJSON(needs) }}
+        run: |
+          printf '%s\n' "$RESULTS"
+          bad=$(printf '%s' "$RESULTS" | jq -r '
+            to_entries[]
+            | select(.value.result != "success")
+            | "  \(.key): \(.value.result)"')
+          if [ -n "$bad" ]; then
+            echo "::error::CI Gate failed. These jobs did not succeed:"
+            printf '%s\n' "$bad"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "All jobs succeeded."
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_ci_gate.py b/tests/unit/test_ci_gate.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c09420
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_ci_gate.py
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+"""The CI workflow must expose one job that summarises all the others.
+
+#87 asks for a required status check on `master`. Branch protection can only
+require a check by name, and the names this workflow produces are not usable
+for that directly: `test` is a matrix, so it arrives as nine generated names
+that change with the matrix, and `release` is skipped on every pull request.
+
+So `ci-gate` exists to be the one name to require. These tests keep it honest
+-- specifically, they fail if someone adds a job to the workflow and does not
+wire it into the gate, which would otherwise silently create a job that the
+required check does not cover.
+"""
+
+import yaml
+import pytest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+WORKFLOWS_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / ".github" / "workflows"
+WORKFLOW = WORKFLOWS_DIR / "ci.yml"
+
+# The name branch protection is pointed at. Changing it silently un-requires
+# the check, so it is pinned here rather than merely read.
+GATE_ID = "ci-gate"
+GATE_NAME = "CI Gate"
+
+#: Every workflow that produces a pull-request status, and the display name a
+#: maintainer must require for it. `CI Gate` covers ci.yml and nothing else --
+#: cross-workflow `needs` is not something GitHub offers -- so the full
+#: required set is this mapping, not one name.
+#:
+#: A workflow may sit in NO_GATE only with a reason about the workflow itself.
+#: "It has no gate yet" is not one: that is the gap this table exists to make
+#: visible.
+REQUIRED_CHECKS = {
+    "ci.yml": GATE_NAME,
+}
+
+NO_GATE = {
+    "auto-assign.yml":
+        "assigns a reviewer; it verifies nothing, so requiring it would block "
+        "merges on a housekeeping step",
+    "claude-code-review.yml":
+        "posts advisory review comments and never fails on content",
+    "codeql.yml":
+        "already reports a single stable name, `CodeQL`, which should be "
+        "required directly rather than wrapped in a gate",
+    "book-build.yml":
+        "builds documentation; a docs failure should not block a code merge, "
+        "and this is a deliberate policy choice rather than an oversight",
+    "simulation-test.yml":
+        "has a gate job whose body still fails open on part of its `needs` -- "
+        "tracked separately; requiring it today would assert more than it "
+        "checks",
+    "vendor-drift.yml":
+        "reports third-party drift for triage and is expected to fail while a "
+        "vendored dependency is behind",
+}
+
+
+def _load(path):
+    return yaml.safe_load(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+
+
+def _runs_on_pull_request(doc):
+    # PyYAML parses a bare `on:` key as the boolean True.
+    triggers = doc.get("on", doc.get(True, {}))
+    if isinstance(triggers, dict):
+        return "pull_request" in triggers
+    if isinstance(triggers, list):
+        return "pull_request" in triggers
+    return triggers == "pull_request"
+
+
+def _pr_workflows():
+    found = {}
+    for path in sorted(WORKFLOWS_DIR.glob("*.yml")):
+        doc = _load(path)
+        if isinstance(doc, dict) and _runs_on_pull_request(doc):
+            found[path.name] = doc
+    assert found, f"no pull-request workflows found under {WORKFLOWS_DIR}"
+    return found
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def workflow():
+    assert WORKFLOW.is_file(), f"{WORKFLOW} does not exist"
+    return yaml.safe_load(WORKFLOW.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def jobs(workflow):
+    return workflow["jobs"]
+
+
+def _only_runs_on_tags(job):
+    """Is this job gated to tag builds, and therefore skipped on every PR?"""
+    condition = str(job.get("if", ""))
+    return "refs/tags" in condition
+
+
+def test_gate_job_exists(jobs):
+    assert GATE_ID in jobs, (
+        f"no {GATE_ID!r} job; branch protection has no single name to require"
+    )
+
+
+def test_gate_display_name_is_pinned(jobs):
+    assert jobs[GATE_ID]["name"] == GATE_NAME, (
+        "the gate's display name is what branch protection matches on; "
+        "renaming it un-requires the check without failing anything"
+    )
+
+
+def test_gate_runs_even_when_an_earlier_job_fails(jobs):
+    condition = str(jobs[GATE_ID].get("if", "")).strip()
+    assert condition == "always()", (
+        "the gate needs `if: always()`. Without it the gate is skipped when an "
+        "earlier job fails, and a skipped required check never reports -- the "
+        "pull request waits for a status that never arrives instead of showing "
+        "a failure"
+    )
+
+
+def test_gate_covers_every_job_that_runs_on_a_pull_request(jobs):
+    expected = {
+        name for name, job in jobs.items()
+        if name != GATE_ID and not _only_runs_on_tags(job)
+    }
+    declared = set(jobs[GATE_ID].get("needs", []))
+
+    missing = expected - declared
+    assert not missing, (
+        f"these jobs run on pull requests but the gate does not wait for them: "
+        f"{sorted(missing)}. A job outside the gate is a job the required "
+        f"check does not cover."
+    )
+
+    unknown = declared - set(jobs)
+    assert not unknown, f"the gate needs jobs that do not exist: {sorted(unknown)}"
+
+
+def test_jobs_left_out_of_the_gate_are_genuinely_tag_only(jobs):
+    """Excluding a job from the gate must be justified, not just convenient."""
+    declared = set(jobs[GATE_ID].get("needs", []))
+    for name, job in jobs.items():
+        if name == GATE_ID or name in declared:
+            continue
+        assert _only_runs_on_tags(job), (
+            f"job {name!r} is not in the gate and is not tag-only; either add "
+            f"it to `needs` or give it an `if:` that explains why it cannot run "
+            f"on a pull request"
+        )
+
+
+def test_every_pull_request_workflow_is_accounted_for():
+    """A new workflow must be gated or explicitly excused, not silently added.
+
+    `CI Gate` summarises ci.yml only. Requiring that one name -- which is what
+    this PR's own description asked a maintainer to do -- leaves every other
+    workflow's checks unrequired, and the rot-guard above cannot see them
+    either. This is the test that notices.
+    """
+    unaccounted = [
+        name for name in _pr_workflows()
+        if name not in REQUIRED_CHECKS and name not in NO_GATE
+    ]
+    assert not unaccounted, (
+        f"these workflows produce pull-request checks but are neither gated "
+        f"nor excused: {sorted(unaccounted)}. Add a gate job and list it in "
+        f"REQUIRED_CHECKS, or add it to NO_GATE with the reason."
+    )
+
+
+def test_gated_workflows_really_have_their_gate():
+    """Each entry in REQUIRED_CHECKS names a job that exists and is a gate."""
+    workflows = _pr_workflows()
+    for filename, display in REQUIRED_CHECKS.items():
+        assert filename in workflows, (
+            f"{filename} is in REQUIRED_CHECKS but produces no pull-request "
+            f"checks; the required set names a check that never reports"
+        )
+        jobs = workflows[filename]["jobs"]
+        matching = [j for j in jobs.values() if j.get("name") == display]
+        assert matching, (
+            f"{filename} has no job displaying as {display!r}, so branch "
+            f"protection would wait forever for a status that never arrives"
+        )
+
+
+def test_gate_fails_on_any_non_success_result(jobs):
+    """A skipped or cancelled job must fail the gate, not pass it."""
+    steps = jobs[GATE_ID]["steps"]
+    script = "\n".join(str(s.get("run", "")) for s in steps)
+
+    assert '!= "success"' in script, (
+        "the gate must require success specifically. Checking only for "
+        "'failure' lets a skipped or cancelled job through, which is the "
+        "fail-open shape this repository has been removing elsewhere"
+    )
+    assert "exit 1" in script, "the gate must actually fail the job"