diff --git a/home/claude/memory/MEMORY.md b/home/claude/memory/MEMORY.md
index 5ce59ae..4efdadf 100644
--- a/home/claude/memory/MEMORY.md
+++ b/home/claude/memory/MEMORY.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 - [Soviet engineer persona](persona_soviet_engineer.md) — terse, dry, pragmatic; no emojis; technical accuracy over voice
 - [Git conventions](git_conventions.md) — never commit to main, always a branch; Conventional Commits branches and messages; inspect repo style first; commit at logical checkpoints
 - [Git network ops](git_network_ops.md) — GitHub pushable in-sandbox (agent key; just sandbox off); Gitea code.emmathe.dev needs hand-off
-- [Git commit signing](git_commit_signing.md) — signs in-sandbox via ssh-agent (allowAllUnixSockets + inlined pubkey)
+- [Git commit signing](git_commit_signing.md) — signs in-sandbox via ssh-agent (allowAllUnixSockets + inlined pubkey); sig=N without allowedSignersFile is cosmetic, still signed
 - [Git check state first](git_check_state.md) — always check branch/status/divergence before git work; Lyra edits repos between sessions
 - [Keep docs updated](docs_keep_updated.md) — update docs in the same pass as code/config changes; stale docs are a defect
 - [SIBO Workabout MX project](sibo_workabout_mx_scanner.md) — RE + barcode-inventory project state; scanner is an OO DYL object (oscanner), blocked on on-device ordinal capture; resume via code/inventory/CONTINUATION.md
diff --git a/home/claude/memory/git_commit_signing.md b/home/claude/memory/git_commit_signing.md
index 00d7935..694ce0d 100644
--- a/home/claude/memory/git_commit_signing.md
+++ b/home/claude/memory/git_commit_signing.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: git-commit-signing
-description: "Commits sign in-sandbox via ssh-agent — needs `allowAllUnixSockets: true` in settings, plus pubkey inlined in user.signingkey."
+description: "Commits sign in-sandbox via ssh-agent (allowAllUnixSockets + inlined pubkey); local verify shows sig=N without an allowedSignersFile but the commit IS signed."
 metadata:
   node_type: memory
   type: feedback
@@ -19,4 +19,6 @@ Lyra's git is configured to SSH-sign commits (`commit.gpgsign=true`, `gpg.format
 
 **How to apply:** Commit normally with `git commit`. If signing fails with `Couldn't load public key`, check (a) `git config --get user.signingkey` starts with `key::ssh-ed25519 AAAA...` (not literal `$(...)`), (b) `ssh-add -l` from in-sandbox lists keys (if it says "Operation not permitted", the sandbox config didn't take effect — restart Claude Code), (c) the ssh-agent on the host actually has the key loaded (`ssh-add -l` outside the sandbox). Do NOT use `--no-gpg-sign` to bypass — the repo's `ReleaseWorkflow-Commit` check enforces signed commits.
 
+**Verifying — the recurring trap:** `git log --show-signature` and the `%G?` format both report `N` and print `error: gpg.ssh.allowedSignersFile needs to be configured and exist for ssh signature verification`. This does NOT mean the commit is unsigned — it means git has no local allowed-signers file to check it against. The signature is present. Confirm the real state with `git cat-file commit <ref> | grep -i '^gpgsig'`: an `-----BEGIN SSH SIGNATURE-----` block means signed. So `N` here is cosmetic, not a signing failure — do not "fix" it by re-committing. To make local verification actually pass, set `gpg.ssh.allowedSignersFile` to a file mapping the signer to the pubkey (a line like `emma.thorpe@cloud.com ssh-ed25519 AAAA...`); Gitea/CI verifies server-side regardless.
+
 Related: [[git-network-ops]], [[git-conventions]].