diff --git a/docs/ADMIN-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md b/docs/ADMIN-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md
index 312bb351..19c9cd4d 100644
--- a/docs/ADMIN-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md
+++ b/docs/ADMIN-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Run `pnpm gate:verify` from a dependency-installed checkout. Exit zero means reg
 
 Investigate any of these immediately:
 
-- `GATE VERIFY FAILED` — registry structure, observed behavior, provenance, claim binding, source/deployment identity, or negative-control detection changed.
+- `GATE VERIFY FAILED` — registry structure, observed behavior, provenance, claim binding, source/deployment identity, or negative-control detection changed. The verifier aggregates independent phase failures, so repair the responsible stable-ID diagnostics as well as any accompanying stale-fixture error; do not treat the generic error as a substitute.
 - `unregistered gate` — an executable appeared under a declared gate root without a registry entry.
 - `no negative control` — a gate has no must-fail case.
 - `DEPLOYED IDENTITY UNAVAILABLE` — the runner cannot reach the installed enforcing copy. The pinned observation is checked, but live equality is not asserted.
diff --git a/docs/DEVELOPER-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md b/docs/DEVELOPER-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md
index 526bf481..dce1ded8 100644
--- a/docs/DEVELOPER-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md
+++ b/docs/DEVELOPER-GUIDE/quality-gate-registry.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pnpm gate:verify
 
 The registry covers root typecheck, lint, and format checks; RM-01 checkout preflight; the Mosaic CI queue guard; and root Husky pre-commit/pre-push hooks. It does not imply repository-wide coverage. Framework scripts, package-local build/test scripts, templates, and deployment/release scripts remain assigned to RM-54.
 
-Every gate declares exact invocations, observed and required outcomes, criterion bindings, and a single exact inerting mutation. Every must-fail case requires a non-empty reason diagnostic. The verifier rejects a stale, ambiguous, crashing, or ineffective mutation. Fixture and mutation writes reject path traversal and final-component symlinks. This proves detection of the **declared** inerting mutation, not every possible semantic weakening.
+Every gate declares exact invocations, observed and required outcomes, criterion bindings, and a single exact inerting mutation. Every must-fail case requires a non-empty reason diagnostic. The verifier rejects a stale, ambiguous, crashing, or ineffective mutation. Fixture and mutation writes reject path traversal and final-component symlinks. Independent validation phases collect labeled failures instead of letting one thrown fixture, claim, discovery, deployment, mutation, or compatibility error mask already-known stable-ID diagnostics. This proves detection of the **declared** inerting mutation, not every possible semantic weakening.
 
 ## Required versus actual
 
diff --git a/docs/PRD.md b/docs/PRD.md
index 840e3f1a..7ef0c363 100644
--- a/docs/PRD.md
+++ b/docs/PRD.md
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ Existing deterministic gates can return success without enforcing their stated p
 2. `RM02-AC-02`: Externally mutate any registered gate at its declared inerting point so its failure path succeeds; verification returns nonzero and names that gate. The verifier's internal meta-control is observed red before its healthy result is trusted.
 3. `RM02-AC-03`: An executable added under a declared gate root without an entry returns nonzero and includes `unregistered gate`.
 4. `RM02-AC-04`: A gate with zero must-fail cases returns nonzero and includes `no negative control`.
-5. `RM02-AC-05`: Unbound or semantically misbound criteria, prose claims bound to unrelated cases, unbound governing prose markers, ownerless behavior deltas, stale mutations, source/deployed drift, and modeled compatibility conflicts each return nonzero with the responsible stable ID. Registered meta-negative controls move a criterion binding, remove meaning provenance, and redirect a prose claim to an unrelated case; each is observed red for its stated reason.
+5. `RM02-AC-05`: Unbound or semantically misbound criteria, prose claims bound to unrelated cases, unbound governing prose markers, ownerless behavior deltas, stale mutations, source/deployed drift, and modeled compatibility conflicts each return nonzero with the responsible stable ID. A simultaneous stale fixture or independent phase error SHALL NOT mask responsible stable-ID diagnostics. Registered meta-negative controls move a criterion binding, remove meaning provenance, and redirect a prose claim to an unrelated case; each is observed red for its stated reason.
 6. `RM02-AC-06`: CI configuration invokes the verifier unconditionally on every pull request.
 7. `RM02-AC-07`: PR output states adjacent `DOES`/`DOES NOT` boundaries: current-tree gates and inerting mutations execute unprivileged and fail-closed; isolated own-tree replay does not execute in repository-controlled PR CI. RM-60/RM-59 are named, retained provider evidence is never inferred, and future protected post-merge detection specifies quarantine/revert rather than claiming pre-merge prevention.
 
diff --git a/docs/scratchpads/1029-rm-02-gate-registry.md b/docs/scratchpads/1029-rm-02-gate-registry.md
index 3e6d0b85..631ae905 100644
--- a/docs/scratchpads/1029-rm-02-gate-registry.md
+++ b/docs/scratchpads/1029-rm-02-gate-registry.md
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Deliver the seven-gate registry and RED-first anti-inert verifier on `feat/rm-02
 - CI wiring RED: package script and unconditional Woodpecker step tests both failed before wiring.
 - History RED: history test failed with missing module before own-tree manifest selection/provider classification was implemented.
 - `pnpm gate:verify`: exit 0; seven gates each reported `META-NEGATIVE-CONTROL ... observed red`; queue source/deployed drift control observed red; six queue behavior deltas printed as `DEFECT (owner: RM-03)`.
-- Focused Node tests: 37/37 pass after review hardening (26 verifier/wiring plus 11 history/provider tests).
+- Focused Node tests: 38/38 pass after review hardening (27 verifier/wiring plus 11 history/provider tests).
 - `pnpm typecheck`: pass (45/45 Turbo tasks).
 - `pnpm lint`: pass (25/25 Turbo tasks).
 - `pnpm format:check`: pass.
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ The queue guard's `get_state_from_status_json` runs `python3 - <<'PY'` while pro
 - Pipeline #2178 then proved the unprivileged Docker runner cannot establish Bubblewrap namespaces. A privileged experiment remained uncommitted and was rejected after Codex correctly rated it CRITICAL: PR-controlled code executes before an in-repository sandbox and could directly use the granted capability.
 - `mos-remediation` and `rev-974` independently ruled Option C. RM02-REQ-10 now retains its original text, restatement, and reason: PR CI verifies only the current tree, unprivileged and fail-closed; isolated own-tree replay is deferred to RM-60/#1031's external pre-execution authority, cross-referenced with RM-59. Future protected post-merge replay is detection with quarantine/revert, never pre-merge prevention.
 - RED-first boundary test proved the old path executed an inert intermediate verifier. The revised path states adjacent `DOES`/`DOES NOT` claims, validates historical manifest provenance without executing it, and infers no replay success. Direct sandbox tests remain hard-fail; unprivileged CI asserts terminal refusal instead of treating replay as success. Pipelines #2179/#2180/#2181 exposed two runner refusal forms: namespace denial as `spawnSync bwrap` with `error.code=EPERM`, and a test image without Bubblewrap as `error.code=ENOENT`. The replay diagnostic now preserves spawn errors. Parent-generated launcher/entry metadata distinguishes refusal before sandbox entry from child-controlled output; the detector recognizes exact `spawnSync bwrap` provenance for `EPERM`/`EACCES`/`ENOENT` and known namespace-refusal text only when the entry command provably did not run. Focused negative assertions reject unrelated `spawnSync git EPERM`, verifier output that merely says `bwrap ENOENT`, and exact namespace-denial impersonation without provenance or after sandbox entry.
+- Exact-head independent review at `38f1b249` found one valid diagnostic-masking blocker: canonical verification knew four stable-ID rebinding failures but a thrown stale fixture replacement reached the outer catch first and emitted only the generic error. RED-first reproduction confirmed the canonical path omitted both responsible criterion IDs. Verification now collects labeled failures independently across claims, discovery, deployment, case execution/outcome checks, mutation, and compatibility, preserving structural stable-ID failures alongside the stale-fixture signal. The canonical regression test requires both missing-binding IDs and the generic fixture error.
 - Exact-head independent review at `9b4d4beb` found two valid blockers. RED-first controls reproduced both: denial-looking child stderr was accepted as sandbox unavailability, and moving meaning/prose criterion IDs to an unrelated type-error case left `gate:verify` green. Bubblewrap execution now emits a parent-generated random entry marker and returns parent-owned launcher/entry metadata; unavailability requires Bubblewrap launcher provenance plus proof entry never ran, so exact denial impersonation from plain or entered-child results is rejected. Criterion objects now declare exact `caseRefs`, checked bidirectionally against case-side `criterionIds`; prose claims declare an exact must-fail `caseRef`. Registered must-fail cases move a criterion binding, remove meaning provenance, and redirect a prose claim, each producing its stable reason. The review freeze was deliberately lifted before remediation.
 - Option C security review reported no findings. Code review rejected an initial unrelated typecheck binding for the new security criterion. It was replaced with a dedicated registered `privileged-pr-gate` case: the fixture injects a privilege key into the gate step, the wiring control rejects it for that exact reason, and `gate:verify` observes the boundary negative control. Follow-up hardening uses a closed exact gate-step construction, rejects privilege across the entire pipeline, rejects non-canonical/merged YAML keys, and pins the unrestricted PR/main trigger block; quoted/escaped/alias/merge/duplicate/filter bypass tests pass. Final Codex code review approved with no findings.
 
diff --git a/scripts/gate-verify.mjs b/scripts/gate-verify.mjs
index a570e1db..1dcd3537 100644
--- a/scripts/gate-verify.mjs
+++ b/scripts/gate-verify.mjs
@@ -326,8 +326,13 @@ function validateClosedSchema(manifest, failures) {
     );
     if (!Array.isArray(criterion.caseRefs) || criterion.caseRefs.length === 0) {
       failures.push(`${criterion.id}: no declared exercising cases`);
-    } else if (new Set(criterion.caseRefs).size !== criterion.caseRefs.length) {
-      failures.push(`${criterion.id}: duplicate declared exercising case`);
+    } else {
+      if (criterion.caseRefs.some((caseRef) => typeof caseRef !== 'string' || !caseRef)) {
+        failures.push(`${criterion.id}: declared exercising cases must be non-empty strings`);
+      }
+      if (new Set(criterion.caseRefs).size !== criterion.caseRefs.length) {
+        failures.push(`${criterion.id}: duplicate declared exercising case`);
+      }
     }
   }
   rejectDuplicateIds(manifest.proseClaims, 'prose claim', failures);
@@ -683,6 +688,7 @@ async function validateMutation(root, gate, failures, observations) {
 }
 
 function findGateCase(manifest, caseRef) {
+  if (typeof caseRef !== 'string') return undefined;
   const separator = caseRef.indexOf('/');
   if (separator < 1) return undefined;
   const gateId = caseRef.slice(0, separator);
@@ -772,21 +778,45 @@ export async function verifyRegistry(options) {
 
   validateStructure(manifest, failures);
   if (options.structureOnly) return { failures, manifest, observations };
-  await validateClaims(options.root, manifest, failures);
-  await validateDiscovery(options.root, manifest, failures);
+
+  async function collectPhaseFailure(label, action) {
+    try {
+      return await action();
+    } catch (error) {
+      failures.push(`${label}: ${error.message}`);
+      return undefined;
+    }
+  }
+
+  await collectPhaseFailure('governing claim validation failed', () =>
+    validateClaims(options.root, manifest, failures),
+  );
+  await collectPhaseFailure('gate discovery failed', () =>
+    validateDiscovery(options.root, manifest, failures),
+  );
 
   for (const gate of manifest.gates ?? []) {
-    await validateDeployment(options.root, gate, failures, observations);
+    await collectPhaseFailure(`${gate.id}: deployment validation failed`, () =>
+      validateDeployment(options.root, gate, failures, observations),
+    );
     for (const gateCase of gate.cases ?? []) {
-      const result = await runCase(options.root, gate, gateCase);
+      const result = await collectPhaseFailure(
+        `${gate.id}/${gateCase.id}: case execution failed`,
+        () => runCase(options.root, gate, gateCase),
+      );
+      if (!result) continue;
       const combined = `${result.stdout ?? ''}\n${result.stderr ?? ''}`;
-      if (!outcomeMatches(gateCase.actual, result)) {
-        failures.push(
-          `${gate.id}/${gateCase.id}: observed exit ${String(result.status)}${result.signal ? ` signal ${result.signal}` : ''}${result.error ? ` error ${result.error.message}` : ''} or output disagrees with registry actual ${JSON.stringify(gateCase.actual)}`,
-        );
-      }
-      if (gateCase.reasonPattern && !new RegExp(gateCase.reasonPattern, 'm').test(combined)) {
-        failures.push(`${gate.id}/${gateCase.id}: did not fail for its stated reason`);
+      try {
+        if (!outcomeMatches(gateCase.actual, result)) {
+          failures.push(
+            `${gate.id}/${gateCase.id}: observed exit ${String(result.status)}${result.signal ? ` signal ${result.signal}` : ''}${result.error ? ` error ${result.error.message}` : ''} or output disagrees with registry actual ${JSON.stringify(gateCase.actual)}`,
+          );
+        }
+        if (gateCase.reasonPattern && !new RegExp(gateCase.reasonPattern, 'm').test(combined)) {
+          failures.push(`${gate.id}/${gateCase.id}: did not fail for its stated reason`);
+        }
+      } catch (error) {
+        failures.push(`${gate.id}/${gateCase.id}: outcome validation failed: ${error.message}`);
       }
       if (!structuredValuesEqual(gateCase.required, gateCase.actual) && gateCase.defect?.owner) {
         observations.push(
@@ -794,11 +824,15 @@ export async function verifyRegistry(options) {
         );
       }
     }
-    await validateMutation(options.root, gate, failures, observations);
+    await collectPhaseFailure(`${gate.id}: mutation validation failed`, () =>
+      validateMutation(options.root, gate, failures, observations),
+    );
   }
 
   for (const scenario of manifest.compatibilityScenarios ?? []) {
-    await runCompatibilityScenario(options.root, manifest, scenario, failures, observations);
+    await collectPhaseFailure(`${scenario.id}: compatibility validation failed`, () =>
+      runCompatibilityScenario(options.root, manifest, scenario, failures, observations),
+    );
   }
 
   return { failures, manifest, observations };
diff --git a/scripts/gate-verify.test.mjs b/scripts/gate-verify.test.mjs
index 1777b151..6e1a1126 100644
--- a/scripts/gate-verify.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/gate-verify.test.mjs
@@ -296,6 +296,43 @@ test('moving criterion bindings to unrelated cases is rejected', async () => {
   assert.match(output(result), /META-CRIT-2.*rejects-second-input.*not bound/i);
 });
 
+test('canonical verification preserves binding diagnostics when a case fixture is also stale', async () => {
+  const root = await fixture('misbinding-plus-stale-fixture');
+  await writeGate(root);
+  const manifest = baseManifest();
+  manifest.criteria.push({
+    id: 'META-CRIT-2',
+    originalText: 'The second case rejects its own bad input.',
+    currentText: 'The second case rejects its own bad input.',
+    claimType: 'integrity',
+    source: 'fixture',
+    meaningChanges: [],
+    caseRefs: ['meta-fixture/rejects-second-input'],
+  });
+  manifest.gates[0].cases.push({
+    ...manifest.gates[0].cases[0],
+    id: 'rejects-second-input',
+    criterionIds: ['META-CRIT-1'],
+  });
+  manifest.gates[0].cases[0].criterionIds = ['META-CRIT-2'];
+  manifest.gates[0].cases[0].fixture = {
+    replaceFiles: [
+      {
+        path: 'gates/meta-fixture.sh',
+        find: 'text that is not present',
+        replace: 'irrelevant',
+      },
+    ],
+  };
+  await writeManifest(root, manifest);
+
+  const result = verify(root);
+  assert.notEqual(result.status, 0);
+  assert.match(output(result), /META-CRIT-1.*rejects-bad-input.*not bound/i);
+  assert.match(output(result), /META-CRIT-2.*rejects-second-input.*not bound/i);
+  assert.match(output(result), /fixture replace.*stale or ambiguous/i);
+});
+
 test('moving meaning and prose criteria to an unrelated type error is rejected', async () => {
   const root = await fixture('real-manifest-misbinding');
   const manifest = JSON.parse(