diff --git a/docs/shell-split-recipes.md b/docs/shell-split-recipes.md
index a43772b6..692a9bfc 100644
--- a/docs/shell-split-recipes.md
+++ b/docs/shell-split-recipes.md
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ enforcement script that mutates the live system or the phone.**
   else, which makes it safe for installers. Across 18 splits it caught five
   bugs no static check did. It needs the script to end in `main "$@"`; for the
   rest, use the by-hand checks below.
+- **But a stubbed run only proves the `source` lines resolve.** It sources the
+  libs and never calls them, so it cannot reach a bug in a seam that passes
+  state — `analyze_repo.sh` passed every static check plus the stub and still
+  aborted at runtime. See **`docs/shell-split-verification.md`**, which now
+  holds every "the split was green and still wrong" lesson, including the
+  `set -e` function-tail trap and the flag that looked safe and was not.
 
 ### Use `${BASH_SOURCE[0]}`, not `$0`
 
diff --git a/docs/shell-split-verification.md b/docs/shell-split-verification.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7edd6ac2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/shell-split-verification.md
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# Shell split verification: how a green split is still broken
+
+Split out of `docs/shell-split-recipes.md` when that file hit the same 250-line
+cap it exists to serve. That file covers **how to make** a split; this one
+covers **how to find out it is wrong**. Read both before the next
+`linux_configuration` or `phone_focus_mode` split.
+
+Every section below cost a failed run, a revert, or — once — a live system
+mutation.
+
+### A `--skip-install` flag is not evidence the script is safe to run
+
+`shell_check.sh` gates only `install_if_missing`'s pacman branch on
+`SKIP_INSTALL`. The AUR branch inside `install_linters` runs regardless, so a
+backgrounded "baseline" run installed four packages (`python-pbr`,
+`python-fixtures`, `python-discover`, `python-reno`) before it was killed
+mid-`makepkg`. Decision 6 was violated by a flag that looked like it granted
+permission.
+
+Before running any script to capture a baseline, grep the flag's variable and
+confirm it gates **every** mutation path, not just the first one:
+
+```bash
+grep -n 'SKIP_INSTALL\|DRY_RUN' <script>   # then read each hit
+```
+
+`--list-only` was the genuinely safe path here, because it returns before
+`install_linters` is reached at all.
+
+### A stubbed run cannot reach a bug in a seam that passes state
+
+`meta/scripts/verify_shell_split.sh` and the hand-rolled `declare -F` probe
+both **source the libs and never call the functions**. That is enough to prove
+every `source` line resolves, and nothing more. The `analyze_repo.sh` split
+passed `bash -n`, `shellcheck`, a function-set diff, a line-set diff and the
+stubbed probe — and still shipped a script that aborted immediately after
+language detection. Two separate bugs, neither reachable without executing:
+
+- **`set -e` and the function tail.** Eight `((LANG_FILES[x] > 0)) && HAS_Y=true`
+  lines were top-level statements, where a false `&&` merely leaves `$?`
+  non-zero. Wrapped into a function they become its *return value*, and the
+  last one (java, false for most repos) killed the script. Any time you wrap
+  former top-level code in a function, check what its **last statement** is;
+  append `|| true` if it is a bare conditional.
+- **A self-referencing nameref.** `local -n LANG_CODE_FILES="$1"` pointing at a
+  global of the same name still moves data on bash 5.3, but warns
+  `circular name reference` on *every access* — straight into the script's
+  output. Name the local something else (`_code_files`).
+
+So: when a seam passes state, run the thing. Stub only the parts that mutate
+the system, and diff the generated artifacts against a detached worktree at the
+pre-split commit. That comparison is what proved the fix — same file set, every
+text artifact byte-identical.
+
+Note the knock-on: renaming the nameref local hides the array from shellcheck
+(SC2034), because it is then only ever named as a bare word. Pass the name
+through a variable (`CODE_FILES_MAP="LANG_CODE_FILES"`) so the reference is
+real, rather than suppressing.
+
+### Do not make a clean file shfmt-dirty
+
+157 of 298 `linux_configuration` shell files already fail `shfmt` and there is
+no `.editorconfig` or shfmt pre-commit hook, so `shell_check.sh`'s `run_linters`
+exits 1 on the full tree regardless. That is not licence to add more: check
+`shfmt -d <file>` before and after a split. `analyze_repo.sh` was clean and a
+split made it dirty over one double blank line.
+
+`shfmt -w` also **deletes comment banners** it considers stray — it removed a
+`#====` STEP header. Re-count the banners after running it.