diff --git a/scripts/course_lib.sh b/scripts/course_lib.sh
index 2c26754d..9ea3f682 100644
--- a/scripts/course_lib.sh
+++ b/scripts/course_lib.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ readonly COURSE_GATES
 
 _have() { command -v "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1; }
 
+# `command -v` is true for a dead pipx shim: the file is there and executable,
+# and only running it shows that the interpreter it points at is gone. That is
+# what `jupyter` is on this machine, and it turned a clean "blocked: needs
+# jupyter" into a confusing exec failure. Probe by running, not by looking.
+_works() { _have "$1" && "$1" --version > /dev/null 2>&1; }
+
 # Report "blocked" with the reason, which is the whole point of the status
 # table: "needs X" is useful, "failed" is not.
 _blocked() {
@@ -43,6 +49,17 @@ _no_code() {
 
 _runnable() { printf '%s\n' "$1"; exit 0; }
 
+# What the course tree looks like to git. Compared before and after a run,
+# because executing coursework has twice silently overwritten a submitted
+# deliverable -- TRAK's outputs/output.png and SPD's results_*.png -- and
+# neither was noticed until a much later `git status`. Gitignored build output
+# does not show up here, which is why every runner writes into build/.
+# numstat is included so that re-writing an already-modified file still counts.
+_tree_state() {
+    git -C "$COURSE_ROOT" status --porcelain -- "$COURSE_ROOT" 2>/dev/null || true
+    git -C "$COURSE_ROOT" diff --numstat -- "$COURSE_ROOT" 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
 # First tool present wins; otherwise blocked naming all the candidates.
 _require_any() {
     local label="$1"; shift
@@ -120,7 +137,17 @@ course_main() {
             printf 'usage: %s [--probe]\n' "$(basename "$0")"
             printf '  --probe  report runnable/blocked/no-code without running\n'
             ;;
-        "") _run ;;
+        "")
+            local before after
+            before="$(_tree_state)"
+            _run
+            after="$(_tree_state)"
+            if [[ "$before" != "$after" ]]; then
+                printf 'FAILED: the run changed files under %s\n' "$COURSE_ROOT" >&2
+                diff <(printf '%s\n' "$before") <(printf '%s\n' "$after") >&2 || true
+                return 1
+            fi
+            ;;
         *) printf 'unknown option: %s\n' "$1" >&2; return 1 ;;
     esac
 }
diff --git a/scripts/course_probe.sh b/scripts/course_probe.sh
index e399b149..5dc43347 100644
--- a/scripts/course_probe.sh
+++ b/scripts/course_probe.sh
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ _probe() {
             _runnable "compiles each standalone .cpp"
             ;;
         notebook)
-            _have jupyter || _blocked "needs jupyter"
+            _works jupyter || _blocked "needs jupyter"
             # Being on PATH is not the same as working: this machine has a
             # jupyter shim whose pipx venv interpreter is gone, so it fails
             # with "bad interpreter". Probe by actually invoking it.
diff --git a/scripts/course_run.sh b/scripts/course_run.sh
index ee6b39fd..93a96d19 100644
--- a/scripts/course_run.sh
+++ b/scripts/course_run.sh
@@ -181,11 +181,20 @@ _run() {
             printf 'binaries in %s/build\n' "$COURSE_ROOT" 
             ;;
         notebook)
-            _have jupyter || _blocked "needs jupyter"
-            local nb
+            _works jupyter || _blocked "needs jupyter"
+            # NOT --inplace: all four notebooks in this repo are tracked WITH
+            # their outputs, so executing in place rewrites a deliverable.
+            # --output-dir sends the executed copy to a temp dir instead.
+            # It does NOT redirect what the notebook's own code writes -- the
+            # kernel's cwd is still the notebook's directory -- so the
+            # before/after tree check in course_main is what actually catches
+            # a notebook that saves a figure beside itself.
+            local nb nbtmp
+            nbtmp="$(mktemp -d)"
             while IFS= read -r nb; do
-                jupyter nbconvert --to notebook --execute --inplace "$nb"
+                jupyter nbconvert --to notebook --execute --output-dir "$nbtmp" "$nb"
             done < <(find "$COURSE_ROOT" -name '*.ipynb' -not -path '*/.ipynb_checkpoints/*' | sort)
+            rm -rf "$nbtmp"
             ;;
         matlab)
             local tool