diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 9ef29ba..39ce40c 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ Run `./scripts/dispatch reconcile`; resume from state files, never ask the owner
   `ORCH_ALLOW_UNISOLATED=1` needs the owner's explicit instruction, and its use is recorded.
   Subagent workers run inside the orchestrator's own session and trust domain.
 - A test that did not run did not pass; a worker's prose is never a grade.
-- Every high-risk dispatch needs an approval file from the owner, which the orchestrator never
-  writes. Editing the spec voids the approval. Unclassified or ambiguous work is high-risk;
-  nothing may classify it as lighter.
+- Every high-risk dispatch needs an approval file whose authority is the owner's own words: the
+  orchestrator transcribes them verbatim in the note and never originates one. Editing the spec
+  voids it. Unclassified or ambiguous work is high-risk; nothing may classify it as lighter.
 - A safety-machinery change is never checked, approved, reviewed, or merged by the new version of
   itself: the installed version runs every gate, and the new one goes live only after separate
   approval and installation.
@@ -76,5 +76,5 @@ Run `./scripts/dispatch reconcile`; resume from state files, never ask the owner
   wrong thing. Interrupted work restarts as a fresh attempt; never finish it by hand.
 - Under an autonomy grant the orchestrator finishes the job itself instead of pausing for owner
   input: it answers findings under rule 3 and, `ci` green, merges to `ready-for-main` through the
-  gated `./scripts/dispatch merge` or `dispatch integrate` — never `main`, never a bare `gh pr merge` — and stops wherever a gate stops it (HALT, a spent cap, any human-required approval).
+  gated `./scripts/dispatch merge` or `dispatch integrate` — and to `main` where granted, never a bare `gh pr merge`. A spent cap or stop-early is answered by a rule-3 re-scope that PROCEEDS, telling the owner; only HALT or a human-required act stops it, and a rule is never itself the blocker (owner 2026-08-14).
   No grant file — untracked `AUTONOMY.local.json`, or the tracked `AUTONOMY.json` that ships disabled — means no autonomy.
diff --git a/tests/rulebook_cap.sh b/tests/rulebook_cap.sh
index 88fe756..7cd2902 100755
--- a/tests/rulebook_cap.sh
+++ b/tests/rulebook_cap.sh
@@ -16,5 +16,37 @@ for marker in "Intake:" "One workstream:" "Review cap:" "Communication:" "ONE br
   fi
 done
 
+if grep -Fq -- "Every high-risk dispatch needs an approval file from the owner, which the orchestrator never" CLAUDE.md; then
+  echo "  FAIL: old high-risk approval wording remains in CLAUDE.md"
+  fails=1
+else
+  echo "  ok: old high-risk approval wording absent"
+fi
+
+for marker in "authority is the owner's own words" "transcribes them verbatim in the note" "never originates one" "Editing the spec" "Unclassified or ambiguous work is high-risk" "nothing may classify it as lighter"; do
+  if grep -Fq -- "$marker" CLAUDE.md; then
+    echo "  ok: high-risk invariant clause present: $marker"
+  else
+    echo "  FAIL: high-risk invariant clause missing from CLAUDE.md: $marker"
+    fails=1
+  fi
+done
+
+if grep -Fq -- "and stops wherever a gate stops it (HALT, a spent cap, any human-required approval)." CLAUDE.md; then
+  echo "  FAIL: old autonomy-grant wording remains in CLAUDE.md"
+  fails=1
+else
+  echo "  ok: old autonomy-grant wording absent"
+fi
+
+for marker in "Under an autonomy grant the orchestrator finishes the job itself instead of pausing for owner" "answers findings under rule 3" '`ci` green' 'merges to `ready-for-main` through the' 'gated `./scripts/dispatch merge` or `dispatch integrate`' 'to `main` where granted' 'never a bare `gh pr merge`' "spent cap or stop-early" "rule-3 re-scope" "PROCEEDS" "telling the owner" "only HALT" "human-required act stops it" "a rule is never itself the blocker"; do
+  if grep -Fq -- "$marker" CLAUDE.md; then
+    echo "  ok: autonomy-grant invariant clause present: $marker"
+  else
+    echo "  FAIL: autonomy-grant invariant clause missing from CLAUDE.md: $marker"
+    fails=1
+  fi
+done
+
 [ "$fails" -eq 0 ] && echo "PASS rulebook_cap.sh" || echo "FAIL rulebook_cap.sh"
 exit "$fails"