diff --git a/gatelock/README.md b/gatelock/README.md
index b9cc954..a79592d 100644
--- a/gatelock/README.md
+++ b/gatelock/README.md
@@ -65,6 +65,13 @@ overridden as a unit.
 projects; `DEFAULT_HMAC_KEY_FILE` (`/etc/workout-locker/hmac.key`) is
 unchanged so existing signed history keeps verifying.
 
+`gatelock.morning_session.morning_skip` is the one reader of wake-alarm's
+signed `morning_session.json` (the wake-early carrot: no lock until the signed
+`exempt_until`, 11:00 for a morning completed in time). screen-locker,
+leetcode-guard and book-guard all call it; the policy itself stays in
+wake-alarm. Path and retry budget are arguments so each consumer's tests keep
+redirecting their own constant.
+
 ## Development
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/gatelock/gatelock/morning_session.py b/gatelock/gatelock/morning_session.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53e6857
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gatelock/gatelock/morning_session.py
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2026 Krzysztof Rudnicki
+"""Read the morning-session carrot wake-alarm signed for today.
+
+The phone's morning (weigh-in, shower, dress, desk) is published to the PC
+and distilled by wake-alarm into ``morning_session.json``, HMAC-signed, always
+dated today, with an ``exempt_until`` while the morning is live or once it was
+completed in time (11:00). Every gate that honours the carrot reads it here.
+This module never re-derives that policy: the whole decision is *signature
+ok, dated today, now < exempt_until*. Missing, stale, failed or tampered all
+mean "no skip" -- the gate runs as it always has.
+
+A run deferral, never ledger state: nothing is written, so a deleted file
+cannot mint an unlocked day.
+
+The one wrinkle is a PC booted mid-morning: the file is missing or yesterday's
+until wake-alarm's ``Persistent=true`` timer catches up, which needs the
+network. The arming run waits for that, bounded; status paths never do.
+
+The path and the retry budget are parameters, not module state, so each
+consumer's test suite keeps redirecting its own constant.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from datetime import UTC, datetime
+import json
+import logging
+from pathlib import Path
+import time
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Final
+
+from gatelock.log_integrity import verify_entry_hmac
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Callable
+
+_logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+MORNING_SESSION_FILE: Final = (
+    Path.home() / ".local" / "state" / "wake_alarm" / "morning_session.json"
+)
+"""Where wake-alarm writes it. Keep in step with ``wake_alarm/_constants.py``."""
+
+# Only inside this local window is a non-today file worth waiting for: the
+# refresher runs 05:00-11:00, so outside it "not today's" is simply the truth.
+MORNING_WINDOW: Final = ((5, 0), (11, 0))
+MORNING_RETRY_SECONDS: Final = 30.0
+MORNING_POLL_SECONDS: Final = 5.0
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class MorningSkip:
+    """A skip the morning session earned: what the phone said, and until when."""
+
+    outcome: str
+    exempt_until: datetime
+
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        """Say which morning earned it and when the gate comes back."""
+        return f"{self.outcome} session, no lock until {self.exempt_until:%H:%M}"
+
+
+def _read_verified(path: Path) -> dict[str, object] | None:
+    """The file's entry when it exists, parses and verifies; else None.
+
+    Missing is debug (it is the normal state outside the morning); anything
+    else is a warning, because it means the refresher or the key is broken.
+    """
+    if not path.exists():
+        _logger.debug("No morning session file at %s", path)
+        return None
+    try:
+        entry = json.loads(path.read_text())
+    except (OSError, json.JSONDecodeError) as exc:
+        _logger.warning("Cannot read %s: %s", path, exc)
+        return None
+    if not isinstance(entry, dict) or not verify_entry_hmac(entry):
+        _logger.warning("Morning session file is not a signed object")
+        return None
+    return entry
+
+
+def _load_today(path: Path, now: datetime) -> dict[str, object] | None:
+    """Today's verified entry, or None. ``now`` is already local."""
+    entry = _read_verified(path)
+    if entry is None or entry.get("date") != now.date().isoformat():
+        return None
+    return entry
+
+
+def _skip_from(entry: dict[str, object], now: datetime) -> MorningSkip | None:
+    """The skip an entry grants at ``now``, if its window is still open."""
+    until = entry.get("exempt_until")
+    if not isinstance(until, str):
+        return None
+    try:
+        exempt_until = datetime.fromisoformat(until)
+    except ValueError:
+        _logger.warning("Morning session exempt_until unreadable: %r", until)
+        return None
+    if exempt_until.tzinfo is None or now >= exempt_until:
+        # A naive instant cannot be compared with a local one, and guessing
+        # its zone would be inventing a carrot the signer never granted.
+        return None
+    return MorningSkip(outcome=str(entry.get("outcome")), exempt_until=exempt_until)
+
+
+def _in_window(now: datetime) -> bool:
+    (start_h, start_m), (end_h, end_m) = MORNING_WINDOW
+    minutes = now.hour * 60 + now.minute
+    return start_h * 60 + start_m <= minutes < end_h * 60 + end_m
+
+
+def _local_now() -> datetime:
+    return datetime.now(tz=UTC).astimezone()
+
+
+def morning_skip(
+    path: Path = MORNING_SESSION_FILE,
+    now: datetime | None = None,
+    *,
+    wait: bool,
+    retry_seconds: float = MORNING_RETRY_SECONDS,
+    sleep: Callable[[float], None] = time.sleep,
+) -> MorningSkip | None:
+    """The skip the morning session earned at ``now``, or None.
+
+    With ``wait`` (the arming path only), a file that is not today's during
+    the morning window is retried for up to ``retry_seconds`` so a freshly
+    booted PC gives wake-alarm's catch-up run a chance to land.
+    """
+    now = (now or _local_now()).astimezone()
+    entry = _load_today(path, now)
+    waited = 0.0
+    while entry is None and wait and _in_window(now) and waited < retry_seconds:
+        sleep(MORNING_POLL_SECONDS)
+        waited += MORNING_POLL_SECONDS
+        now = _local_now()
+        entry = _load_today(path, now)
+    if entry is None:
+        if waited:
+            _logger.warning(
+                "No morning session for today after %.0fs; "
+                "is wake-alarm-session.timer running?",
+                waited,
+            )
+        return None
+    return _skip_from(entry, now)
diff --git a/gatelock/gatelock/tests/test_morning_session.py b/gatelock/gatelock/tests/test_morning_session.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5620f32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gatelock/gatelock/tests/test_morning_session.py
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2026 Krzysztof Rudnicki
+"""gatelock.morning_session -- the carrot file, read and never re-derived."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from datetime import UTC, datetime, timedelta
+import json
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import pytest
+
+from gatelock import morning_session
+from gatelock.log_integrity import compute_entry_hmac
+from gatelock.morning_session import MorningSkip, morning_skip
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterator
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+NOW = datetime(2026, 9, 19, 9, 0).astimezone()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def path(tmp_path: Path) -> Path:
+    """Where the tests write the signed file -- never the real one."""
+    return tmp_path / "morning_session.json"
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _signing_key(tmp_path: Path) -> Iterator[None]:
+    key = tmp_path / "hmac.key"
+    key.write_bytes(b"1" * 32)
+    with patch("gatelock.log_integrity.DEFAULT_HMAC_KEY_FILE", key):
+        yield
+
+
+def _write(path: Path, entry: dict[str, object], *, sign: bool = True) -> None:
+    """Write an entry; signed unless told otherwise."""
+    if sign:
+        entry["hmac"] = compute_entry_hmac(entry)
+    path.write_text(json.dumps(entry))
+
+
+def _entry(
+    outcome: str = "completed",
+    exempt_until: str | None = "11:00",
+    date: str = "2026-09-19",
+) -> dict[str, object]:
+    entry: dict[str, object] = {"date": date, "outcome": outcome}
+    if exempt_until is not None:
+        entry["exempt_until"] = (
+            datetime.fromisoformat(f"{date}T{exempt_until}").astimezone().isoformat()
+        )
+    return entry
+
+
+def _today_entry() -> dict[str, object]:
+    today = datetime.now(tz=UTC).astimezone().strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
+    return _entry(date=today, exempt_until="23:59")
+
+
+class TestVerdict:
+    """One rule: signed, today, not yet expired."""
+
+    def test_completed_grants_until_the_signed_instant(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        _write(path, _entry())
+        skip = morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False)
+        assert skip == MorningSkip("completed", NOW.replace(hour=11))
+        assert str(skip) == "completed session, no lock until 11:00"
+
+    def test_expired_and_absent_exemptions_grant_nothing(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        _write(path, _entry())
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW + timedelta(hours=3), wait=False) is None
+        _write(path, _entry("failed", exempt_until=None))
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+        _write(path, {**_entry(), "exempt_until": "later"})
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+
+    def test_a_naive_exempt_until_grants_nothing(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        _write(path, {**_entry(), "exempt_until": "2026-09-19T11:00:00"})
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+
+    def test_yesterdays_file_is_not_today(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        _write(path, _entry(date="2026-09-18"))
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+
+    def test_missing_unreadable_tampered_are_all_nothing(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+        _write(path, _entry(), sign=False)
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+        path.write_text("[1]")
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+        path.write_text("{")
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+        path.unlink()
+        path.mkdir()
+        assert morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False) is None
+
+    def test_default_now_is_the_wall_clock(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        _write(path, _today_entry())
+        assert morning_skip(path, wait=False) is not None
+
+    def test_default_path_is_wake_alarms_state_file(self) -> None:
+        assert morning_session.MORNING_SESSION_FILE.parts[-3:] == (
+            "state",
+            "wake_alarm",
+            "morning_session.json",
+        )
+
+
+class TestBootRetry:
+    """The arming path waits for the refresher, bounded; status never does."""
+
+    def test_waits_inside_the_window_then_warns(
+        self, path: Path, caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture
+    ) -> None:
+        naps: list[float] = []
+        # The window is re-checked against the real clock after each nap.
+        with patch.object(morning_session, "MORNING_WINDOW", ((0, 0), (23, 59))):
+            skip = morning_skip(
+                path, NOW, wait=True, retry_seconds=10.0, sleep=naps.append
+            )
+        assert skip is None
+        assert naps == [5.0, 5.0]
+        assert "is wake-alarm-session.timer running" in caplog.text
+
+    def test_a_file_landing_mid_wait_is_honoured(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        def land(_seconds: float) -> None:
+            _write(path, _today_entry())
+
+        with patch.object(morning_session, "MORNING_WINDOW", ((0, 0), (23, 59))):
+            skip = morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=True, retry_seconds=10.0, sleep=land)
+        assert skip is not None
+
+    def test_never_waits_outside_the_window_or_without_wait(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        naps: list[float] = []
+        late = NOW.replace(hour=14)
+        assert (
+            morning_skip(path, late, wait=True, retry_seconds=10.0, sleep=naps.append)
+            is None
+        )
+        assert (
+            morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=False, retry_seconds=10.0, sleep=naps.append)
+            is None
+        )
+        assert naps == []
+
+    def test_a_zero_budget_never_waits(self, path: Path) -> None:
+        naps: list[float] = []
+        assert (
+            morning_skip(path, NOW, wait=True, retry_seconds=0.0, sleep=naps.append)
+            is None
+        )
+        assert naps == []
diff --git a/gatelock/pyproject.toml b/gatelock/pyproject.toml
index be2be15..6946c0e 100644
--- a/gatelock/pyproject.toml
+++ b/gatelock/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "gatelock"
-version = "0.8.2"
+version = "0.9.0"
 description = "Shared per-output lock-window + HMAC log-integrity backend for blocking-overlay apps"
 requires-python = ">=3.14"
 dependencies = []  # pure stdlib — tkinter is bundled with Python