diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c70dbd6..edb670f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,10 +45,10 @@ crafter-review config        # edit .review-gates/config.json until it prints no
 `init` does four things:
 - it writes `.review-gates/config.json` from the template when there is none - the three artifact kinds as modes with every lens of their kind: trim each to what this repository runs;
 - it adds `.review-gates/push/` and `.review-gates/trees/` to `.gitignore`;
-- it writes the `/prepush` skill to `.claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md`, which a later `init` refreshes (the line after its frontmatter marks it as init's);
+- it writes the `/prepush` skill to `.claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md`, which a later `init` refreshes (the line after its frontmatter marks it as init's), with a `.gitignore` of `*` beside it: the skill is generated from the shipped text, so it stays out of git and every checkout runs `init` once (a tracked copy would lag the installed binary); a skill the repository wrote itself, without that line, is left alone and not ignored, unless `--force`;
 - it prints the next steps.
 
-It writes nothing in a subdirectory, in your home directory (`--force` when that is the repository) or over a `SKILL.md` it did not write.
+It writes nothing in a subdirectory, in your home directory or over a `SKILL.md`, a `.gitignore` beside it or a link there that it did not make (the old link into the review-gates submodule aside, which it removes); `--force` allows all but the first.
 
 `.review-gates/config.json` is committed. It says what the pipeline must know about the repository:
 - who may author its commits, and which branch a range is measured against;
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ It writes nothing in a subdirectory, in your home directory (`--force` when that
 1. Re-freeze every review in flight with crafter-review. The Flatpak's git may be another version than the one that froze it, and a different git version gives a different hash. The old `run-line.txt` also points into the submodule.
 2. `git submodule deinit -f review-gates && git rm review-gates`
 3. `crafter-review init`. If `.claude/skills/prepush` is the old link into `review-gates/`, it removes the link, never writing through it, and makes a real directory with the skill.
+4. If a copy of the skill that an earlier `init` wrote is tracked, `git rm --cached .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md` (init says so when it sees one): the skill is generated, and the `.gitignore` init writes beside it keeps it out of git from then on.
 
 An existing `config.json` needs one change since 2026-11-01: `lenses.<name>.run` is retired, so list the lenses in `modes.commits.lenses` (`config` names what is missing, and `freeze`, `run` and `slots` refuse until it is there). The reuse keys keep working: a range reviewed before the move is reused, not bought again.
 
diff --git a/implementations/Crafter.Review-Driver.cpp b/implementations/Crafter.Review-Driver.cpp
index 73ed6f1..cddb026 100644
--- a/implementations/Crafter.Review-Driver.cpp
+++ b/implementations/Crafter.Review-Driver.cpp
@@ -804,7 +804,7 @@ inventory unit, against a frozen commit range.)";
 
         // ---- init: a repository set up for the gates ---------------------------------------------
         constexpr std::array<OptionSpec, 1> InitOptions = {{
-            {"--force", false, "", "replace a SKILL.md or a link init did not make, and run from your home directory"},
+            {"--force", false, "", "replace a SKILL.md, the .gitignore beside it or a link init did not make, and run from your home directory"},
         }};
         // After the skill's frontmatter: what tells a later `init` the file is
         // its own to refresh.
@@ -818,12 +818,15 @@ inventory unit, against a frozen commit range.)";
             }
             return std::format("{}{}", marker, skill);
         }
+        // The first line of the .gitignore init writes beside the skill it
+        // owns: what tells a later `init` that file is its own.
+        constexpr std::string_view IgnoreMarker = "# written by crafter-review init";
 
         std::int32_t InitCommand(std::span<const std::string_view> args) {
             constexpr std::string_view Prog = "crafter-review init";
             const Parsed parsed = ParseOptions(args, InitOptions);
             if (parsed.help) {
-                std::print("{}", Help(Prog, "set this repository up for the pre-push gates: .review-gates/config.json from the template, the artifact dirs ignored, the prepush skill", InitOptions));
+                std::print("{}", Help(Prog, "set this repository up for the pre-push gates: .review-gates/config.json from the template, the artifact dirs ignored, the prepush skill with the .gitignore that keeps it out of git", InitOptions));
                 return 0;
             }
             if (!parsed.error.empty()) return UsageError(UsageLine(Prog, InitOptions), Prog, parsed.error);
@@ -846,20 +849,37 @@ inventory unit, against a frozen commit range.)";
             // The skill's place. The old setup linked .claude/skills/prepush
             // into the review-gates submodule: the link goes, never written
             // through, which would change the submodule's tracked file and
-            // fail the next freeze on a dirty tree. Any other link stays
-            // unless --force - checked before anything is written.
+            // fail the next freeze on a dirty tree. Any other link - the
+            // directory, SKILL.md or the .gitignore init writes beside it,
+            // dangling or not - stays unless --force, and nothing is written
+            // through it: checked before anything is written.
             const fs::path skillDir = cwd / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush";
             const fs::path skill = skillDir / "SKILL.md";
+            const fs::path skillIgnore = skillDir / ".gitignore";
             std::vector<std::pair<fs::path, fs::path>> links;
-            for (const fs::path& link : {skillDir, skill}) {
+            for (const fs::path& link : {skillDir, skill, skillIgnore}) {
                 if (!fs::is_symlink(fs::symlink_status(link, error))) continue;
                 const fs::path target = fs::read_symlink(link, error);
-                if (!force && !target.string().contains("review-gates")) {
+                // The old setup linked the skill's directory or its SKILL.md -
+                // never the .gitignore - into the review-gates submodule at the
+                // toplevel: a link that resolves under it, not one that merely
+                // names it (the pipeline's own .review-gates/ does too).
+                const fs::path resolved = (link.parent_path() / target).lexically_normal();
+                const fs::path submodule = (cwd / "review-gates").lexically_normal();
+                const bool oldSetup = link != skillIgnore && std::mismatch(submodule.begin(), submodule.end(), resolved.begin(), resolved.end()).first == submodule.end();
+                if (!force && !oldSetup) {
                     return refuse(std::format("{} is a link to {}, not into the review-gates submodule: --force replaces it", link.lexically_relative(cwd).string(), target.string()));
                 }
                 links.emplace_back(link, target);
             }
             std::println("init: {}", cwd.string());
+            // The links go first, before anything is written: one init cannot
+            // remove refuses, and nothing is written through it.
+            for (const auto& [link, target] : links) {
+                fs::remove(link, error);
+                if (error) return refuse(std::format("cannot remove the link {}: {}", link.lexically_relative(cwd).string(), error.message()));
+                std::println("  removed   the link {} -> {}", link.lexically_relative(cwd).string(), target.string());
+            }
             // The config, from the template, only when there is none. Written
             // fresh, not copied: the Flatpak's files are read-only.
             const fs::path config = cwd / ".review-gates" / "config.json";
@@ -889,20 +909,45 @@ inventory unit, against a frozen commit range.)";
                 std::println("  added     {} to .gitignore", Dyn::Join(added, " and "));
             }
             // The skill.
-            for (const auto& [link, target] : links) {
-                fs::remove(link, error);
-                std::println("  removed   the link {} -> {}", link.lexically_relative(cwd).string(), target.string());
-            }
             fs::create_directories(skillDir);
             const std::optional<std::string> shipped = Platform::ReadFile(Home() / "process" / "skill" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md");
             if (!shipped) return refuse(std::format("cannot read the skill under {}", Home().string()));
             const std::optional<std::string> existing = Platform::ReadFile(skill);
-            if (existing && !existing->contains(InitMarker) && !force) {
+            const bool owned = !existing || existing->contains(InitMarker) || force;
+            if (!owned) {
                 std::println("  kept      .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md (init did not write it: --force replaces it)");
             } else {
                 std::ofstream(skill, std::ios::binary) << WithMarker(*shipped);
                 std::println("  {} .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md", existing ? "refreshed" : "wrote    ");
             }
+            // The skill init owns stays out of git (Jorijn, 2026-11-01: every
+            // consumer leaves it untracked, one init per checkout; generated
+            // and refreshed by every init, a tracked copy lags the installed
+            // binary). Its directory ignores itself, as a generated directory
+            // does - Python's venv, pytest's cache: a .gitignore of `*` beside
+            // the skill, that file included, on every checkout that runs
+            // init, whatever the repository's own rules or one machine's say,
+            // and nothing of the repository's is edited for it. A tracked
+            // copy init wrote gets the step that untracks it. A skill the
+            // repository wrote itself is its own and stays visible: the
+            // ignore file an earlier init wrote beside it goes. An ignore
+            // file init did not write is kept, unless --force.
+            const std::optional<std::string> ignoring = Platform::ReadFile(skillIgnore);
+            const bool initIgnores = ignoring && ignoring->contains(IgnoreMarker);
+            if (owned) {
+                if (ignoring && !initIgnores && !force) {
+                    std::println("  kept      .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore (init did not write it: --force replaces it)");
+                } else {
+                    std::ofstream(skillIgnore, std::ios::binary) << std::format("{}: the generated /prepush skill stays out of git; `init` refreshes this file while this line is in it\n*\n", IgnoreMarker);
+                    std::println("  {} .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore (the generated skill ignores itself)", ignoring ? "refreshed" : "wrote    ");
+                }
+                if (Process::Run({"git", "-C", cwd.string(), "ls-files", "--error-unmatch", ".claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md"}).returnCode == 0) {
+                    std::println("  note      .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md is tracked - `git rm --cached .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md` untracks it (the skill is generated; init refreshes it)");
+                }
+            } else if (initIgnores) {
+                fs::remove(skillIgnore, error);
+                std::println("  removed   .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore (an earlier init's: the skill is the repository's own)");
+            }
             // What comes next.
             const Config::Loaded loaded = Config::Load(cwd);
             const std::vector<std::string> off = Config::LensesOff(loaded.config);
diff --git a/process/prepush.md b/process/prepush.md
index 2bdb72a..5ac75bf 100644
--- a/process/prepush.md
+++ b/process/prepush.md
@@ -666,3 +666,12 @@ repository.
   smoke config, this file, the shipped skill and the manifest template:
   every reader of a setting must agree (2026-10-12), and the run lock still
   keyed on the mode's name where the gate-state is the kind's.
+- 2026-11-01 — **the generated skill stays untracked** (Jorijn, as
+  Crafter.Build was set up: a consumer that ignored `.claude` wholesale
+  never saw the skill in git, and whether it should was the question):
+  every consumer leaves `.claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md` out of git, one
+  `init` per checkout. `init` writes a `.gitignore` of `*` beside the
+  skill, as a generated directory does, and edits nothing of the
+  repository's for it: the first self-review's gate on the repository's
+  own ignore rules was reworked twice in one range (a tracked path, one
+  machine's rule) before the gate itself went (2026-10-31's rule).
diff --git a/tests/Commands/main.cpp b/tests/Commands/main.cpp
index bf27778..c416bb8 100644
--- a/tests/Commands/main.cpp
+++ b/tests/Commands/main.cpp
@@ -85,18 +85,23 @@ echo '{"type":"result","subtype":"success","is_error":false,"result":"ok","total
         };
         const std::string shipped = Read(checkout / "process" / "skill" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md");
         const std::string marker = "<!-- written by crafter-review init";
+        const std::string ignoreMarker = "# written by crafter-review init";
 
         // init on a repository that has nothing yet, then again.
         const fs::path r = repo("r");
         const Process::Captured first = Self({"init"}, r);
         const std::string skill = Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md");
+        const std::string skillIgnore = Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore");
+        const Process::Captured firstStatus = Process::Run({"git", "-C", r.string(), "status", "--porcelain", "--untracked-files=all"}, std::nullopt, std::chrono::seconds(60), {}, Env);
         const std::size_t frontmatter = shipped.find("\n---\n", 3) + 5;
-        Check("init: the config from the template (the three kinds as modes), the artifact and worktree dirs ignored, the skill with init's marker after its frontmatter, the next steps (trim each mode's lenses; the browser line, since the template lists the functional lens)",
+        Check("init: the config from the template (the three kinds as modes), the artifact and worktree dirs ignored, the skill with init's marker after its frontmatter and a .gitignore of `*` beside it - git sees nothing of the skill, by no rule of the repository's - the next steps (trim each mode's lenses; the browser line, since the template lists the functional lens)",
               first.returnCode == 0 && Read(r / ".review-gates" / "config.json") == Read(checkout / "process" / "templates" / "config.json")
                   && Read(r / ".gitignore") == ".review-gates/push/\n.review-gates/trees/\n" && skill.starts_with(shipped.substr(0, frontmatter))
-                  && skill.substr(frontmatter).starts_with(marker) && skill.ends_with(shipped.substr(frontmatter)) && first.out.contains(" config - until it reports no problem")
+                  && skill.substr(frontmatter).starts_with(marker) && skill.ends_with(shipped.substr(frontmatter)) && skillIgnore.starts_with(ignoreMarker) && skillIgnore.ends_with("\n*\n")
+                  && firstStatus.returnCode == 0 && firstStatus.out.contains(".review-gates/config.json") && !firstStatus.out.contains(".claude")
+                  && first.out.contains("wrote     .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore") && first.out.contains(" config - until it reports no problem")
                   && first.out.contains("trim each to what this repository runs") && first.out.contains(" browser install - "),
-              first.out + first.err);
+              first.out + first.err + firstStatus.out);
         // A kept config has no trim step (that line is the template's own,
         // printed as init writes it); one that lists no lens is told to list
         // them.
@@ -112,18 +117,60 @@ echo '{"type":"result","subtype":"success","is_error":false,"result":"ok","total
         Write(r / ".gitignore", "node_modules/\n/.review-gates/push\n");
         Write(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md", std::format("---\nname: prepush\n---\n{} 0.0.1: old -->\nold text\n", marker));
         const Process::Captured again = Self({"init"}, r);
-        Check("init again: the config and an entry already ignored are kept, the missing one added once, the skill it wrote refreshed",
+        Check("init again: the config and an entry already ignored are kept, the missing one added once, the skill it wrote refreshed, and the .gitignore beside it",
               again.returnCode == 0 && Read(r / ".review-gates" / "config.json") == R"({"base": "origin/dev"})"
                   && Read(r / ".gitignore") == "node_modules/\n/.review-gates/push\n.review-gates/trees/\n" && Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md") == skill
-                  && again.out.contains("refreshed .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md"),
+                  && again.out.contains("refreshed .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md") && again.out.contains("refreshed .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore")
+                  && Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore") == skillIgnore,
               again.out + again.err);
+        // The repository's own .gitignore is never edited for the skill: one
+        // that ignores .claude wholesale (Crafter.Build) is kept as it is.
+        Write(r / ".gitignore", "node_modules/\n/.review-gates/push\n.review-gates/trees/\n.claude\n");
+        const Process::Captured wholesale = Self({"init"}, r);
+        Check("init: a repository that ignores .claude wholesale keeps its .gitignore as it is, and the skill its own .gitignore",
+              wholesale.returnCode == 0 && Read(r / ".gitignore") == "node_modules/\n/.review-gates/push\n.review-gates/trees/\n.claude\n" && wholesale.out.contains("kept      .gitignore")
+                  && Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore") == skillIgnore,
+              wholesale.out + wholesale.err);
+        // A copy init wrote that the repository tracks (a base-era init
+        // ignored nothing): the note says how to untrack it, on every init.
+        // A hand-written tracked skill is kept and not ignored - the ignore
+        // file the earlier init wrote beside it goes - with no note.
+        const fs::path tracked = repo("tracked");
+        Self({"init"}, tracked);
+        Process::Run({"git", "-C", tracked.string(), "add", "-f", ".claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md", ".gitignore"}, std::nullopt, std::chrono::seconds(60), {}, Env);
+        Process::Run({"git", "-C", tracked.string(), "-c", "user.email=me@example.com", "-c", "user.name=Me", "commit", "-q", "-m", "track the skill"}, std::nullopt, std::chrono::seconds(60), {}, Env);
+        const Process::Captured trackedInit = Self({"init"}, tracked);
+        const Process::Captured trackedAgain = Self({"init"}, tracked);
+        Write(tracked / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md", "my own skill\n");
+        Process::Run({"git", "-C", tracked.string(), "-c", "user.email=me@example.com", "-c", "user.name=Me", "commit", "-q", "-am", "my own skill"}, std::nullopt, std::chrono::seconds(60), {}, Env);
+        const Process::Captured handWritten = Self({"init"}, tracked);
+        const bool stillIgnored =
+            Process::Run({"git", "-C", tracked.string(), "check-ignore", "--no-index", "-q", ".claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md"}, std::nullopt, std::chrono::seconds(60), {}, Env).returnCode == 0;
+        Check("init on a tracked skill: one init wrote gets the note with `git rm --cached` on every init; one the repository wrote is kept and no rule ignores it any more - the earlier init's .gitignore beside it removed - and no note",
+              trackedInit.returnCode == 0 && trackedInit.out.contains("git rm --cached .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md") && trackedAgain.returnCode == 0 && trackedAgain.out.contains("git rm --cached")
+                  && handWritten.returnCode == 0 && handWritten.out.contains("kept      .claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md") && handWritten.out.contains("removed   .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore")
+                  && !fs::exists(tracked / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore") && !stillIgnored && !handWritten.out.contains("git rm --cached"),
+              std::format("exits {} {} {}, ignored {}; {}{}{}{}", trackedInit.returnCode, trackedAgain.returnCode, handWritten.returnCode, stillIgnored, trackedInit.out, trackedAgain.out, handWritten.out,
+                          handWritten.err));
         Write(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md", "my own skill\n");
         const Process::Captured kept = Self({"init"}, r);
         const std::string mine = Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md");
+        const bool keptIgnoreFile = fs::exists(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore");
         const Process::Captured forced = Self({"init", "--force"}, r);
-        Check("init: a SKILL.md init did not write is kept; --force replaces it",
-              kept.returnCode == 0 && mine == "my own skill\n" && kept.out.contains("--force replaces it") && forced.returnCode == 0 && Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md") == skill,
+        Check("init: a SKILL.md init did not write is kept, and the .gitignore init wrote beside it goes; --force replaces the skill and writes the .gitignore again",
+              kept.returnCode == 0 && mine == "my own skill\n" && kept.out.contains("--force replaces it") && !keptIgnoreFile && forced.returnCode == 0
+                  && Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md") == skill && Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore") == skillIgnore,
               kept.out + forced.out);
+        // A .gitignore beside the skill that init did not write is kept;
+        // --force replaces it.
+        Write(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore", "my own rules\n");
+        const Process::Captured foreignIgnore = Self({"init"}, r);
+        const std::string ownRules = Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore");
+        const Process::Captured forcedIgnore = Self({"init", "--force"}, r);
+        Check("init: a .gitignore beside the skill that init did not write is kept, saying so; --force replaces it",
+              foreignIgnore.returnCode == 0 && ownRules == "my own rules\n" && foreignIgnore.out.contains("kept      .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore (init did not write it: --force replaces it)")
+                  && forcedIgnore.returnCode == 0 && Read(r / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore") == skillIgnore,
+              foreignIgnore.out + forcedIgnore.out);
 
         // The old setup: the skill dir a link into the submodule.
         const fs::path old = repo("old");
@@ -158,6 +205,69 @@ echo '{"type":"result","subtype":"success","is_error":false,"result":"ok","total
                   && atHome.err.contains("is your home directory") && homeUntouched && atHomeForced.returnCode == 0 && plain.returnCode == 3
                   && plain.err.contains("is not in a git checkout"),
               refused.err + sub.err + atHome.err + plain.err);
+        // A .gitignore beside the skill that is a link - to a file outside
+        // the skill's directory, or dangling - is a link like the skill's
+        // others: refused before anything is written, never written through;
+        // --force replaces the link with init's file and leaves its target as
+        // it was.
+        const fs::path linked = repo("linked");
+        Write(linked / "outside.ignore", "keep me\n");
+        fs::create_directories(linked / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush");
+        fs::create_symlink("../../../outside.ignore", linked / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore");
+        const Process::Captured linkRefused = Self({"init"}, linked);
+        const bool linkUntouched = !fs::exists(linked / ".review-gates") && Read(linked / "outside.ignore") == "keep me\n";
+        const Process::Captured linkForced = Self({"init", "--force"}, linked);
+        std::error_code linkError;
+        const bool replaced = !fs::is_symlink(fs::symlink_status(linked / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore", linkError))
+                              && Read(linked / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore") == skillIgnore && Read(linked / "outside.ignore") == "keep me\n";
+        const fs::path dangling = repo("dangling");
+        fs::create_directories(dangling / "shared");
+        fs::create_directories(dangling / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush");
+        fs::create_symlink("../../../shared/skill.ignore", dangling / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore");
+        const Process::Captured danglingRefused = Self({"init"}, dangling);
+        Check("init: a .gitignore beside the skill that is a link is refused before anything is written and never written through, dangling or not; --force replaces the link with init's file, "
+              "its target untouched",
+              linkRefused.returnCode == 3 && linkRefused.err.contains(".claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore is a link to ../../../outside.ignore") && linkUntouched && linkForced.returnCode == 0
+                  && replaced && danglingRefused.returnCode == 3 && !fs::exists(dangling / "shared" / "skill.ignore") && !fs::exists(dangling / ".review-gates"),
+              linkRefused.err + linkForced.out + linkForced.err + danglingRefused.err);
+        // A .gitignore link whose target names review-gates is the
+        // repository's too - the old setup linked the skill's directory, never
+        // its .gitignore - so it is refused like any other. A link init cannot
+        // remove (its directory not writable, where permissions bind) refuses
+        // under --force before anything is written, nothing written through it.
+        const fs::path named = repo("named");
+        Write(named / ".review-gates" / "skill.gitignore", "mine\n");
+        fs::create_directories(named / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush");
+        fs::create_symlink("../../../.review-gates/skill.gitignore", named / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore");
+        const Process::Captured namedRefused = Self({"init"}, named);
+        // A SKILL.md link into the pipeline's own .review-gates/ names the
+        // submodule but does not resolve into it: refused and kept too.
+        const fs::path namedSkill = repo("named-skill");
+        Write(namedSkill / ".review-gates" / "skill.md", "mine\n");
+        fs::create_directories(namedSkill / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush");
+        fs::create_symlink("../../../.review-gates/skill.md", namedSkill / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md");
+        const Process::Captured namedSkillRefused = Self({"init"}, namedSkill);
+        const bool namedSkillKept = fs::is_symlink(fs::symlink_status(namedSkill / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / "SKILL.md", linkError))
+                                    && Read(namedSkill / ".review-gates" / "skill.md") == "mine\n" && !fs::exists(namedSkill / ".review-gates" / "config.json");
+        const bool namedKept = fs::is_symlink(fs::symlink_status(named / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore", linkError))
+                               && Read(named / ".review-gates" / "skill.gitignore") == "mine\n" && !fs::exists(named / ".review-gates" / "config.json");
+        const fs::path stuck = repo("stuck");
+        Write(stuck / "outside.ignore", "keep me\n");
+        fs::create_directories(stuck / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush");
+        fs::create_symlink("../../../outside.ignore", stuck / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".gitignore");
+        fs::permissions(stuck / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush", fs::perms::owner_read | fs::perms::owner_exec);
+        const bool writable = static_cast<bool>(std::ofstream(stuck / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".probe"));
+        fs::remove(stuck / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush" / ".probe", linkError);
+        const Process::Captured stuckForced = Self({"init", "--force"}, stuck);
+        fs::permissions(stuck / ".claude" / "skills" / "prepush", fs::perms::owner_all);
+        Check("init: a .gitignore or SKILL.md link into a review-gates path that is not the submodule is refused and kept; a link init cannot remove refuses under --force, writing nothing (where "
+              "permissions bind)",
+              namedRefused.returnCode == 3 && namedRefused.err.contains(".claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore is a link to ../../../.review-gates/skill.gitignore") && namedKept
+                  && namedSkillRefused.returnCode == 3 && namedSkillRefused.err.contains(".claude/skills/prepush/SKILL.md is a link to ../../../.review-gates/skill.md") && namedSkillKept
+                  && (writable
+                      || (stuckForced.returnCode == 3 && stuckForced.err.contains("cannot remove the link .claude/skills/prepush/.gitignore") && Read(stuck / "outside.ignore") == "keep me\n"
+                          && !fs::exists(stuck / ".review-gates"))),
+              namedRefused.err + namedSkillRefused.err + stuckForced.out + stuckForced.err);
 
         // doc: the texts, and where they are.
         const Process::Captured prepush = Self({"doc", "prepush"}, base);