diff --git a/content/docs/permissions/tenant-audit-census.mdx b/content/docs/permissions/tenant-audit-census.mdx
index c4eb6d23387..df4921fcb1e 100644
--- a/content/docs/permissions/tenant-audit-census.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/permissions/tenant-audit-census.mdx
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ holds still. They are required to be HERE and to say WHEN they were true;
 their values are not compared. The reasoning, and the measurement behind it,
 are in `scripts/check-tenant-audit-census.mjs`.
 
-Measured on 2026-09-18 at `02bdeaaf2`.
+Measured on 2026-09-18 at `d4cb05cbf`.
 
 | corpus scale (not enforced) | count |
 | :--- | ---: |
diff --git a/docs/audits/2026-08-tenant-audit-write-call-sites.counts.md b/docs/audits/2026-08-tenant-audit-write-call-sites.counts.md
index c988854b368..87827011354 100644
--- a/docs/audits/2026-08-tenant-audit-write-call-sites.counts.md
+++ b/docs/audits/2026-08-tenant-audit-write-call-sites.counts.md
@@ -19,9 +19,13 @@ line numbers, so a pure displacement cannot move them. Run the generator with
 
 ⚠️ **On a merge conflict here, regenerate — never resolve by hand.** Two branches
 that each add a write call site produce rows git merges cleanly and totals that
-merge cleanly and WRONG. This file is deliberately NOT `merge=os-regen`: that
-driver resolves an artefact's `gen:`/`check:` scripts in `@objectstack/spec`
-only, and these are root-level tooling. The gate is the backstop — a wrongly
+merge cleanly and WRONG. This file is NOT `merge=os-regen`: no `.gitattributes`
+row names it, so `git check-attr merge` over it reads `unspecified`. Routing it
+would take a `REGEN_ARTIFACTS` row whose `gen:`/`check:` names exist in the
+manifest that row declares as owner, and no manifest declares such a pair for
+this census — the gate runs straight from the lint workflow. Root-level tooling
+is no obstacle by itself: the driver resolves those names in whichever manifest
+the row names, the root one included. The gate is the backstop — a wrongly
 merged file fails `check-tenant-audit-census`, so the error is loud rather than
 silent, and `node scripts/tenant-audit-census.mjs --write` is the resolution.
 
@@ -76,7 +80,7 @@ holds still. They are required to be HERE and to say WHEN they were true;
 their values are not compared. The reasoning, and the measurement behind it,
 are in `scripts/check-tenant-audit-census.mjs`.
 
-Measured on 2026-09-18 at `02bdeaaf2`.
+Measured on 2026-09-18 at `d4cb05cbf`.
 
 | corpus scale (not enforced) | count |
 | :--- | ---: |
diff --git a/scripts/git-merge-regen.mjs b/scripts/git-merge-regen.mjs
index 4506a6d5662..bfc35b89782 100755
--- a/scripts/git-merge-regen.mjs
+++ b/scripts/git-merge-regen.mjs
@@ -831,12 +831,20 @@ function reconcileScripts() {
 /**
  * The owner-resolution rule itself, pinned — the half a live tree cannot show.
  *
- * `reconcileScripts` above is green on this tree for the same reason it was green
- * before #13585: every row is spec-owned, so it exercises exactly one manifest and
- * would keep passing if the loosening were reverted. These cases read the REAL root
- * manifest through the same functions the driver and the `pre-commit` gate use, so
- * the root path is measured on every run rather than the first time somebody
- * registers a root-owned artifact.
+ * `reconcileScripts` above no longer rests on a single manifest. Rows that declare
+ * no owner default to `DEFAULT_OWNER`; rows that declare `ROOT_OWNER` send the
+ * lookup to the root manifest instead (measured on this tree: 18 rows — 16
+ * defaulted, 2 root-owned, none naming `DEFAULT_OWNER` explicitly). The four
+ * `gen:`/`check:` names those two root-owned rows carry exist ONLY in the root
+ * manifest, so reverting #13585's loosening would now turn that reconciliation RED
+ * rather than leave it green.
+ *
+ * What a live tree still cannot show is the RULE. Which manifests get exercised is
+ * a property of whatever the table happens to hold, and a table that fell back to a
+ * single owner would stop touching the root path with nothing saying so. These
+ * cases read the REAL root manifest through the same functions the driver and the
+ * `pre-commit` gate use, so the root path is measured on every run rather than only
+ * while some row happens to declare it.
  *
  * The two-way case is the third one. A permissive lookup — "resolve the name in any
  * manifest" — passes every other assertion here and fails that one, which is the
diff --git a/scripts/tenant-audit-census.mjs b/scripts/tenant-audit-census.mjs
index ab418430523..6b1ece899bf 100644
--- a/scripts/tenant-audit-census.mjs
+++ b/scripts/tenant-audit-census.mjs
@@ -1598,9 +1598,13 @@ export function renderCountsFile(census) {
   out.push('');
   out.push('⚠️ **On a merge conflict here, regenerate — never resolve by hand.** Two branches');
   out.push('that each add a write call site produce rows git merges cleanly and totals that');
-  out.push('merge cleanly and WRONG. This file is deliberately NOT `merge=os-regen`: that');
-  out.push('driver resolves an artefact\'s `gen:`/`check:` scripts in `@objectstack/spec`');
-  out.push('only, and these are root-level tooling. The gate is the backstop — a wrongly');
+  out.push('merge cleanly and WRONG. This file is NOT `merge=os-regen`: no `.gitattributes`');
+  out.push('row names it, so `git check-attr merge` over it reads `unspecified`. Routing it');
+  out.push('would take a `REGEN_ARTIFACTS` row whose `gen:`/`check:` names exist in the');
+  out.push('manifest that row declares as owner, and no manifest declares such a pair for');
+  out.push('this census — the gate runs straight from the lint workflow. Root-level tooling');
+  out.push('is no obstacle by itself: the driver resolves those names in whichever manifest');
+  out.push('the row names, the root one included. The gate is the backstop — a wrongly');
   out.push('merged file fails `check-tenant-audit-census`, so the error is loud rather than');
   out.push('silent, and `node scripts/tenant-audit-census.mjs --write` is the resolution.');
   out.push('');