diff --git a/docs/shell-split-verification.md b/docs/shell-split-verification.md
index fc2fd151..c5d31541 100644
--- a/docs/shell-split-verification.md
+++ b/docs/shell-split-verification.md
@@ -114,6 +114,33 @@ Note the knock-on: renaming the nameref local hides the array from shellcheck
 through a variable (`CODE_FILES_MAP="LANG_CODE_FILES"`) so the reference is
 real, rather than suppressing.
 
+### Verify through every entry point, especially symlinks
+
+Adding a `source "$SCRIPT_DIR/lib/..."` line to `meta/lint_python.sh` broke
+`./lint_python.sh` from the repo root, because that root path is a **symlink**
+into `meta/` (so are `pyproject.toml`, `requirements.txt`, `run.sh`, `.fvmrc`).
+`SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"` does not resolve
+symlinks — `dirname` is string manipulation — so it became the repo root, where
+`lib/` does not exist, and `set -euo pipefail` turned that into an instant exit.
+
+It was invisible because every check used `bash meta/lint_python.sh`, the one
+path that cannot fail. Before splitting a script, ask how else it is reachable:
+
+```bash
+find . -maxdepth 2 -type l -lname '*<script>*'   # symlinks pointing at it
+grep -rn '<script>' .github/workflows/ .pre-commit-config.yaml meta/run.sh
+```
+
+The fix is the pattern already used elsewhere in this repo:
+
+```bash
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")"
+```
+
+Note the pre-split script had the same unresolved `SCRIPT_DIR`; it only fed
+`PROJECT_ROOT`, so the bug was latent. Adding a `source` line is what turns a
+quiet wrong value into a hard failure — which is exactly what a split does.
+
 ### Do not make a clean file shfmt-dirty
 
 157 of 298 `linux_configuration` shell files already fail `shfmt` and there is
diff --git a/docs/superpowers/evidence/lint-python-symlink-fix-2026-08-16.json b/docs/superpowers/evidence/lint-python-symlink-fix-2026-08-16.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..47b62a0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/superpowers/evidence/lint-python-symlink-fix-2026-08-16.json
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+{
+  "intent": "Fix `./lint_python.sh` from the repo root, which the preceding split broke: the root path is a symlink into meta/, and SCRIPT_DIR did not resolve it, so the new source line pointed at a lib/ that does not exist.",
+  "scope": [
+    "meta/lint_python.sh",
+    "Non-goal: no change to which linters run or to any output"
+  ],
+  "changes": [
+    "Resolve SCRIPT_DIR with `dirname \"$(readlink -f \"${BASH_SOURCE[0]}\")\"` instead of a bare dirname, matching the pattern nvidia_troubleshoot.sh already uses in this repo."
+  ],
+  "verification": [
+    {
+      "command": "./lint_python.sh --help (from the repo root, via the symlink) -- BEFORE the fix",
+      "result": "fail",
+      "evidence": "exit 1: './lint_python.sh: line 31: /home/kuhy/testsAndMisc/lib/lint_output.sh: No such file or directory'. Under set -euo pipefail this is an immediate hard exit. Pre-split, SCRIPT_DIR only fed PROJECT_ROOT, so a root-path invocation degraded quietly instead of dying."
+    },
+    {
+      "command": "./lint_python.sh --help and ./lint_python.sh scripts/check_requirements_sync.py (after the fix)",
+      "result": "pass",
+      "evidence": "exit 0 both times; the full-mode run reports all six available linters passing (ruff-lint, ruff-format-check, mypy, pylint, flake8, pycodestyle)."
+    },
+    {
+      "command": "bash meta/lint_python.sh scripts/check_requirements_sync.py, diffed against the pre-split baseline captured in a detached worktree",
+      "result": "pass",
+      "evidence": "DIRECT PATH IDENTICAL TO PRE-SPLIT BASELINE -- byte-identical, so resolving the symlink did not shift PROJECT_ROOT for the direct invocation."
+    },
+    {
+      "command": "grep -rn 'lint_python' meta/run.sh .github/workflows/ .pre-commit-config.yaml",
+      "result": "pass",
+      "evidence": "No hits: no CI job, hook or wrapper invokes it, so the broken commit did not break an automated path. It is documented as a root-path entry point in README.md and CLAUDE.md, which is how a human would hit it."
+    },
+    {
+      "command": "shellcheck -x and shfmt -d on meta/lint_python.sh",
+      "result": "pass",
+      "evidence": "Both exit 0."
+    }
+  ],
+  "risks": [
+    "PROJECT_ROOT is now meta/ for symlink invocations too, rather than the repo root. That is the same value the direct invocation always used, and the direct-path output is byte-identical to the pre-split baseline, so the two entry points now agree instead of diverging.",
+    "The general lesson, recorded in the handoff: a script reachable through a symlink must be verified through that symlink. Every check on the original split used `bash meta/lint_python.sh`, the one path that could not fail."
+  ],
+  "rollback": [
+    "Revert to the bare dirname; `./lint_python.sh` from the repo root breaks again.",
+    "Verify with `./lint_python.sh --help` expecting exit 0."
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/meta/lint_python.sh b/meta/lint_python.sh
index 34ba2a81..67335f36 100755
--- a/meta/lint_python.sh
+++ b/meta/lint_python.sh
@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@ NC='\033[0m' # No Color
 BOLD='\033[1m'
 
 # Configuration
-SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+# readlink -f, not a bare dirname: the repo root carries a lint_python.sh
+# symlink into meta/, and `dirname` on the symlink path yields the repo root,
+# where lib/ does not exist. That made `./lint_python.sh` die on the source
+# line below.
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")"
 PROJECT_ROOT="${SCRIPT_DIR}"
 
 # Sourced before argument parsing: --help calls usage() from here.