diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 86fd116..aaf0e46 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -9,8 +9,12 @@ name: CI (SIAX Cloud)
 #                 is inherited debt; continue-on-error so it never blocks).
 #   * build     (BLOCKING) -> `next build`.
 #
-# Nightly re-runs + Trivy security scanning live in nightly.yml and
-# security.yml (this file is push/PR-only).
+#   * security  (BLOCKING) -> `trivy fs` over the repo; fails the build on
+#                 HIGH/CRITICAL vulns or detected secrets. This is a REQUIRED
+#                 protected-branch context -- see the job's own comment.
+#
+# Nightly re-runs live in nightly.yml; security.yml is the dedicated
+# push/PR/weekly scanner (this file is push/PR-only).
 on:
   push:
     branches: ["**"]
@@ -137,22 +141,75 @@ jobs:
           [ -n "$FOUND" ] || { echo "FATAL: no ClickHouse behind the alias accepts this run's credentials"; exit 1; }
           echo "CLICKHOUSE_URL=http://$FOUND:8123" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
           echo "CLICKHOUSE_AUTH=opt_ci:$PASS" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+      # The anti-skip guard here used to grep vitest's HUMAN output:
+      #
+      #   grep -qE "skipped" && ! grep -qE "Tests  [0-9]+ passed"
+      #
+      # vitest colours that summary, so the real line on this runner is
+      # ESC[2m      Tests ESC[22m ESC[1mESC[32m97 passedESC[39m ... — ANSI escapes
+      # sit between "Tests " and the digits, so the two-spaces-then-digit
+      # pattern can never match. The first grep still matched "skipped", so
+      # the guard fired on ANY run containing a single skipped test while
+      # printing "integration suites skipped instead of running" — a false
+      # statement. Measured 2026-09-08, run 13911 job 31183: 13 files / 97
+      # tests PASSED, 1 file / 2 tests skipped → FATAL anyway.
+      #
+      # It survived review because it is correct locally: redirecting to a
+      # file disables vitest's colour, so the pattern matches on a developer
+      # machine and only misfires under CI.
+      #
+      # Replaced with the JSON reporter — structured and colourless. A/B
+      # measured on real reports, BOTH directions:
+      #   all-skipped (0 passed / 99 pending) → RED   (protection preserved)
+      #   945 passed + 184 skipped            → GREEN (false red removed)
       - name: Integration tests against LIVE OpenSearch + ClickHouse (blocking)
         run: |
           set -eu
-          # Guard: env MUST be present here — the suites self-skip without it,
-          # and a skipped suite must never masquerade as a green integration
-          # gate (Master-DoD §56 status honesty).
+          # Env MUST be present here — the suites self-skip without it, and a
+          # skipped suite must never masquerade as a green integration gate
+          # (Master-DoD §56 status honesty).
           [ -n "${OPENSEARCH_URL:-}" ] && [ -n "${CLICKHOUSE_URL:-}" ]
-          pnpm vitest run tests/integration 2>&1 | tee /tmp/itest.log
-          if grep -qE "skipped" /tmp/itest.log && ! grep -qE "Tests  [0-9]+ passed" /tmp/itest.log; then
-            echo "FATAL: integration suites skipped instead of running"; exit 1
-          fi
+          pnpm vitest run tests/integration \
+            --reporter=default \
+            --reporter=json --outputFile.json=/tmp/itest.json
+          node -e '
+            const fs = require("fs");
+            const p = "/tmp/itest.json";
+            if (!fs.existsSync(p)) {
+              console.error("FATAL: vitest produced no JSON report"); process.exit(1);
+            }
+            const r = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(p, "utf8"));
+            console.log(`integration: ${r.numPassedTests} passed, ${r.numPendingTests} skipped, ${r.numFailedTests} failed, ${r.numTotalTests} total`);
+            if (r.numFailedTests > 0) {
+              console.error("FATAL: integration tests failed"); process.exit(1);
+            }
+            if (r.numPassedTests === 0) {
+              console.error("FATAL: no integration test actually executed — every suite skipped");
+              process.exit(1);
+            }
+          '
 
-  # Kept in ci.yml (advisory) so the protected-branch status check contexts
-  # "CI (SIAX Cloud) / quality (push)" + "CI (SIAX Cloud) / security (push)"
-  # are always reported on push. security.yml is the dedicated scanner on
-  # push/PR/weekly; this job guarantees the required check exists.
+  # BLOCKING. This job publishes the protected-branch status check context
+  # "CI (SIAX Cloud) / security (push)", which branch protection on `main`
+  # lists as required alongside "CI (SIAX Cloud) / quality (push)".
+  #
+  # It previously ran Trivy with `--exit-code 0`, which made the REQUIRED
+  # context incapable of ever reporting failure. Measured 2026-09-08 on
+  # main @4514d97: a planted CRITICAL secret (AWS secret access key) was
+  # DETECTED by the scanner and the job still exited 0 -- i.e. the gate
+  # reported success while holding a critical finding in hand. The same
+  # command with `--exit-code 1` exits 1 on that planted secret and exits 0
+  # on the clean tree, so this flag is the whole difference between a real
+  # gate and a decorative one.
+  #
+  # KNOWN COVERAGE GAP (not fixed here, needs an owner decision):
+  # services/scrapers/requirements.txt pins nothing (`>=` ranges only), so
+  # Trivy's pip scanner cannot resolve versions and silently omits the file
+  # from the scan entirely -- it is not a target in the report at all.
+  # Pinning those same floors with `==` surfaces 3 HIGH findings today
+  # (aiohttp CVE-2025-69223, aiohttp CVE-2026-69244, lxml CVE-2026-41066).
+  # Do NOT paper over this with `--skip-dirs`; that would convert a
+  # measurable blind spot into declared policy.
   security:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
@@ -160,6 +217,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Trivy
         run: |
           curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aquasecurity/trivy/main/contrib/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin
-      - name: Trivy scan (vuln + secrets, advisory)
+      - name: Trivy scan (vuln + secrets -- BLOCKING, fails on HIGH/CRITICAL)
         run: |
-          trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret --severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 0 .
+          trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret --severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 1 .
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml b/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml
index ab56288..e18a8c8 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Trivy
         run: |
           curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aquasecurity/trivy/main/contrib/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin
-      - name: Trivy fs scan (vuln + secrets, advisory)
+      # A nightly scan exists to catch CVEs published against code that did
+      # not change. With `--exit-code 0` it could never report failure, so it
+      # could never raise that alarm -- the one job whose entire purpose is
+      # detection was the one guaranteed to stay green. Fixed 2026-09-08.
+      - name: Trivy fs scan (vuln + secrets -- fails on HIGH/CRITICAL)
         run: |
-          trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret --severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 0 .
+          trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret --severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 1 .
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/security.yml b/.gitea/workflows/security.yml
index 5717347..bcd987c 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/security.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/security.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
 name: Security Scan (SIAX Cloud)
 
-# Advisory security scanning on every push/PR + weekly re-run, matching the
-# fleet convention (--exit-code 0 so findings never block merges; they are
-# triaged via the repo's security channel and BACKLOG).
+# Security scanning on every push/PR + weekly re-run.
+#
+# This job runs the same Trivy invocation as ci.yml's `security` job and
+# previously carried the same defect: `--exit-code 0` meant it could report
+# success while holding a CRITICAL finding (measured 2026-09-08 with a
+# planted AWS secret key -- detected, still exit 0). Its context
+# "Security Scan (SIAX Cloud) / security" is NOT in branch protection's
+# required list, so this one never gated a merge either way; it is fixed
+# here so a green tick on this workflow means what a reader assumes it
+# means. See ci.yml's `security` job for the measurement and for the
+# services/scrapers unpinned-requirements coverage gap.
 #
 # NOTE: findings on services/scrapers/* (FlareSolverr/Tor/curl_cffi) are
 # expected and out of scope for CI gating -- kept per the account owner's
@@ -25,6 +33,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Trivy
         run: |
           curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aquasecurity/trivy/main/contrib/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin
-      - name: Trivy fs scan (vuln + secrets, advisory)
+      - name: Trivy fs scan (vuln + secrets -- fails on HIGH/CRITICAL)
         run: |
-          trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret --severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 0 .
+          trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret --severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 1 .