diff --git a/corpus/skills/cat-mode/SKILL.md b/corpus/skills/cat-mode/SKILL.md
index e056db7c..351c8278 100644
--- a/corpus/skills/cat-mode/SKILL.md
+++ b/corpus/skills/cat-mode/SKILL.md
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ agent switch, or resubmit is a fix, and none comes before the repro.
 
 **A factual or technical claim gets a real repro script, not a history search.** Judging an old comment or a "probably confabulated" suspicion needs an actual attempt under the claimed conditions, not a `git log` sweep. No citation means "never verified," not "false."
 
-**Unhedged root-cause or fix claims about live system behavior need instrument-level proof in the same message, or a `{{CAT-UNVERIFIED}}` tag naming the blocker.** The gate is the claim type, not a hedge word. Invoking `/prove-it` once does not arm it for later claims. Any hedge auto-runs prove-it in the same turn — a hedge is a trigger to verify, never a place to stop.
+**Unhedged root-cause or fix claims about live system behavior need instrument-level proof in the same message, or a `{{CAT-UNVERIFIED: <claim> -- cannot verify: <reason>}}` tag naming the blocker.** The gate is the claim type, not a hedge word. Invoking `/prove-it` once does not arm it for later claims. Any hedge auto-runs prove-it in the same turn — a hedge is a trigger to verify, never a place to stop.
 
 Outputs carry failures explicitly (a status column, an error row), never
 dropped — [[principle-explicit-errors]].
diff --git a/corpus/skills/cat-mode/references/verify.md b/corpus/skills/cat-mode/references/verify.md
index 8f384542..09ab952a 100644
--- a/corpus/skills/cat-mode/references/verify.md
+++ b/corpus/skills/cat-mode/references/verify.md
@@ -67,8 +67,10 @@ place immediately, not left in chat until asked again.
 ## Unhedged causal claims about live system behavior
 
 Unhedged root-cause or fix claims about live system behavior need
-instrument-level proof in the same message, or a `{{CAT-UNVERIFIED}}` tag naming the blocker. The gate is the
-claim type ("this is why it's slow," "this is the bug"), not a hedge word.
+instrument-level proof in the same message, or a
+`{{CAT-UNVERIFIED: <claim> -- cannot verify: <reason>}}` tag naming the
+blocker. The gate is the claim type ("this is why it's slow," "this is the
+bug"), not a hedge word.
 Log-reading and code-reading aren't enough: attach with `strace`/a debugger, or
 query live state (raw SQLite `PRAGMA`). Take a second sample before calling a
 hang. Invoking `/prove-it` once does not arm it for later claims — each new
diff --git a/tests/test_cat_mode.py b/tests/test_cat_mode.py
index 6a040ca5..9e4e5014 100644
--- a/tests/test_cat_mode.py
+++ b/tests/test_cat_mode.py
@@ -1691,5 +1691,67 @@ def test_hook_blocks_the_same_estimate_once_the_job_already_exited(self):
         self.assertIsNotNone(detect.decide_stop_from_lines(ESTIMATE_REPLY, lines))
 
 
+VERIFY_REF = os.path.join(REFERENCE_DIR, "verify.md")
+
+
+def cat_mode_markdown_paths():
+    """Every markdown file a cat-mode reader loads: SKILL.md and all of
+    references/. Listing the directory rather than naming files keeps a new
+    reference inside the scan the day it lands."""
+    paths = [SKILL_PATH]
+    paths.extend(sorted(
+        os.path.join(REFERENCE_DIR, name)
+        for name in os.listdir(REFERENCE_DIR)
+        if name.endswith(".md")
+    ))
+    return paths
+
+
+class TestEscapeHatchTemplateIsWellFormed(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Every tag this skill shows a reader must be one the gate accepts.
+
+    cat-mode carried a bare `{{CAT-UNVERIFIED}}` in the sentence that tells
+    the reader to use the tag, so quoting the rule tripped the gate that
+    enforces it. The template has to name a blocker, the same one
+    engine/CLAUDE.core.md already shows.
+
+    The scan covers references/, not just SKILL.md. That sentence is stored
+    twice on purpose -- SKILL.md keeps the one-line form and verify.md holds
+    the full text (TestCatModeReferencePackage pins that split) -- so a
+    SKILL.md-only scan reports clean while the copy a reader is pointed at
+    still shows the bare tag.
+    """
+
+    def markers(self):
+        import importlib.util as util
+        path = os.path.join(REPO_ROOT, "engine", "hooks", "_markers", "markers.py")
+        spec = util.spec_from_file_location("markers_for_test", path)
+        module = util.module_from_spec(spec)
+        spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+        return module
+
+    def read(self, path):
+        with open(path, encoding="utf-8") as handle:
+            return handle.read()
+
+    def test_no_tag_anywhere_in_the_skill_names_no_blocker(self):
+        """A scan over an empty or mis-rooted list reports clean, which reads
+        the same as a pass. Naming the two files that carry the rule keeps the
+        sweep from silently covering nothing."""
+        paths = cat_mode_markdown_paths()
+        self.assertIn(SKILL_PATH, paths)
+        self.assertIn(VERIFY_REF, paths)
+        for path in paths:
+            with self.subTest(path=os.path.relpath(path, REPO_ROOT)):
+                malformed = self.markers().malformed_tags(self.read(path))
+                self.assertEqual(malformed, [], f"tags naming no blocker: {malformed}")
+
+    def test_both_copies_of_the_rule_still_show_the_tag_at_all(self):
+        """So the fix cannot be "delete the example" in either file."""
+        for path in (SKILL_PATH, VERIFY_REF):
+            with self.subTest(path=os.path.relpath(path, REPO_ROOT)):
+                self.assertTrue(self.markers().well_formed_tags(self.read(path)))
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()