diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 814b2da..7f68db3 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ uv run assembly --help            # run the CLI from the locked environment
 
 Dev tooling is a PEP 735 `[dependency-groups]` group with `default-groups = ["dev"]`, not a `[project]` extra — `uv sync --extra dev` errors.
 
-`scripts/check.sh` is the authoritative gate; keep this list in sync with it. It runs, in order: `uv lock --check` → `ruff check` → `ruff format --check` → `mypy` → `pyright` (src strict) → `pyright` (tests) → `vulture` (dead code) → `deptry` (dependency hygiene) → `lint-imports` (import-linter architecture contracts) → max-file-length (500 lines) → `xenon` (cyclomatic complexity: function max B, module avg A, project avg A) → `swiftlint` + swift compile (macOS only, skipped elsewhere) → `markdownlint` → `codespell` (spell-check code/comments/docs via `uvx`; config in `[tool.codespell]`) → `prettier` (init template JS/CSS) → `shellcheck` → `actionlint` + `zizmor` (workflow lint/audit) → `gitleaks` (secret scan) → generated `--show-code` compile gate → init template contract gate → unused snapshot/fixture gate (`scripts/unused_fixtures_gate.py`: orphaned `.ambr`/API fixtures, since xdist disables syrupy's own unused detection) → docs consistency gate (`scripts/docs_consistency_gate.py`: REFERENCE.md/README.md env vars, exit codes, and `assembly …` command refs stay in sync with the code) → docstring coverage gate (`scripts/docstring_coverage_gate.py`: public-API docstring ratchet, an `interrogate` stand-in that handles PEP 695 generics) → `brew audit --strict` (the shipped `Formula/assembly.rb`; self-skips without Homebrew) → `pytest` (90% branch coverage) → `diff-cover` (100% patch coverage vs `origin/main`) → **mutation gate** (diff-scoped: mutates each changed line and reruns the tests that cover it — a surviving mutant fails the gate, so changed lines need assertions that would *fail* if the line broke, not just coverage; suppress a genuinely unassertable line with `# pragma: no mutate`) → a "no new escape hatches" gate (`# type: ignore` / `# noqa` / `pragma: no cover` / `Any` / `cast(` / test skip/xfail/sleep, all **count-gated against the merge-base** so moving an existing hatch in a refactor doesn't false-positive but a net-new one fails) → **CodeQL gate** (`scripts/codeql_gate.py`: the same security + quality suites the CodeQL workflow uploads to GitHub's code-scanning/quality tabs, run locally over python/actions/javascript so alerts fail before push instead of on the PR; needs the CodeQL bundle on PATH — self-skips otherwise, `codeql.yml` covers CI, and the web session-start hook provisions it) → `uv build` + `twine check --strict`. The `vulture`/`deptry`/`lint-imports`/`xenon`, patch-coverage, and mutation stages catch the failures that `ruff`+`mypy` alone won't — don't claim the gate is green until the script prints `All checks passed.`
+`scripts/check.sh` is the authoritative gate; keep this list in sync with it. It runs, in order: `uv lock --check` → `ruff check` → `ruff format --check` → `mypy` → `pyright` (src strict) → `pyright` (tests) → `vulture` (dead code) → `deptry` (dependency hygiene) → `lint-imports` (import-linter architecture contracts) → max-file-length (500 lines) → `xenon` (cyclomatic complexity: function max B, module avg A, project avg A) → `swiftlint` + swift compile (macOS only, skipped elsewhere) → `markdownlint` → `codespell` (spell-check code/comments/docs via `uvx`; config in `[tool.codespell]`) → `prettier` (init template JS/CSS) → `shellcheck` → `actionlint` + `zizmor` (workflow lint/audit) → `gitleaks` (secret scan) → generated `--show-code` compile gate → init template contract gate → unused snapshot/fixture gate (`scripts/unused_fixtures_gate.py`: orphaned `.ambr`/API fixtures, since xdist disables syrupy's own unused detection) → docs consistency gate (`scripts/docs_consistency_gate.py`: REFERENCE.md/README.md env vars, exit codes, and `assembly …` command refs stay in sync with the code) → docstring coverage gate (`scripts/docstring_coverage_gate.py`: public-API docstring ratchet, an `interrogate` stand-in that handles PEP 695 generics) → `brew audit --strict` (the shipped `Formula/assembly.rb`; self-skips without Homebrew) → `pytest` (90% branch coverage) → `diff-cover` (100% patch coverage vs `origin/main`) → **mutation gate** (diff-scoped: mutates each changed line and reruns the tests that cover it — a surviving mutant fails the gate, so changed lines need assertions that would *fail* if the line broke, not just coverage; suppress a genuinely unassertable line with `# pragma: no mutate`) → a "no new escape hatches" gate (`# type: ignore` / `# noqa` / `pragma: no cover` / `Any` / `cast(` / test skip/xfail/sleep, all **count-gated against the merge-base** so moving an existing hatch in a refactor doesn't false-positive but a net-new one fails) → `uv build` + `twine check --strict`. The `vulture`/`deptry`/`lint-imports`/`xenon`, patch-coverage, and mutation stages catch the failures that `ruff`+`mypy` alone won't — don't claim the gate is green until the script prints `All checks passed.` **CodeQL is intentionally NOT in this gate** — it's the slowest check (~minutes) and is enforced separately by the `codeql.yml` workflow (which also covers CI; `check.sh` self-skipped it on the hosted runner anyway), so dropping it keeps the local gate fast with no loss of CI coverage. `scripts/codeql_gate.py` still exists to reproduce a code-scanning alert locally (`uv run python scripts/codeql_gate.py`).
 
 **Commits are gated.** On success `check.sh` records a working-tree signature (`scripts/gate_marker.py record` → `.git/aai-gate-pass`), and a PreToolUse hook (`.claude/hooks/require-gate-before-commit.sh`) blocks `git commit` unless that signature still matches — so run the full gate to completion *before* committing (a single-file `pytest` does not satisfy it), and re-run it after any further edit. Iterate with the fast targeted commands above, gate once at the end. For a deliberate work-in-progress commit, prefix `AAI_ALLOW_COMMIT=1 git commit …`.
 
diff --git a/scripts/check.sh b/scripts/check.sh
index 1dffd1f..2bb1b6e 100755
--- a/scripts/check.sh
+++ b/scripts/check.sh
@@ -329,19 +329,12 @@ else
   echo "   origin/main not found; skipping escape-hatch diff gate (CI provides it)"
 fi
 
-echo "==> codeql (security + quality suites, mirrors codeql.yml minus swift)"
-# Runs the same query suites the CodeQL workflow uploads to GitHub's code-scanning
-# and quality tabs, so an alert fails here instead of surfacing on the PR after
-# push. The CLI ships as a ~1 GB bundle with no PyPI/npm distribution, so this
-# self-skips when absent — codeql.yml is the CI enforcement (the hosted runner's
-# PATH has no codeql, so ci.yml's check job skips this too and the PR isn't
-# double-scanned), and the web session-start hook provisions the bundle. Last of
-# the analysis gates because it's the slowest (~minutes, not diff-scoped).
-if command -v codeql >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  uv run python scripts/codeql_gate.py
-else
-  echo "   codeql not found; skipping (codeql.yml runs it in CI; install: https://github.com/github/codeql-action/releases)"
-fi
+# CodeQL is NOT run here. It's the single slowest gate (~minutes) and is enforced in CI
+# by codeql.yml, which runs the same security + quality suites on its own schedule and
+# uploads them to GitHub's code-scanning/quality tabs. ci.yml's check job never ran it
+# either (the hosted runner has no codeql on PATH, so this step self-skipped there), so
+# dropping it from the local gate loses no CI coverage — it just keeps `check.sh` fast.
+# To reproduce a code-scanning alert locally: `uv run python scripts/codeql_gate.py`.
 
 echo "==> build + twine check (PyPI publish readiness)"
 # Build sdist + wheel into ./dist, then validate the metadata and README render