diff --git a/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue b/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue
index 0076373..906ab7e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue
@@ -424,15 +424,17 @@ async function loadNotes() {
 
 interface CoverageGap {
   dir: string;
-  uncovered: number;
+  unclassified: number;
   total: number;
 }
 interface Coverage {
   total: number;
-  recorded: number;
+  accounted: number;
+  unclassified: number;
+  counts: Record<string, number>;
   estimate: boolean;
   computed_at: string;
-  repos: { repo: string; ref: string; total: number; recorded: number }[];
+  repos: { repo: string; ref: string; total: number; accounted: number }[];
   largest_gaps: CoverageGap[];
 }
 
@@ -712,32 +714,42 @@ async function confirmDelete() {
         </div>
         <template v-if="coverage">
           <div class="coverage-numbers">
-            <span class="coverage-count">{{ coverage.recorded }}/{{ coverage.total }}</span>
-            <span class="coverage-label">shapes recorded</span>
+            <span class="coverage-count">{{ coverage.accounted }}/{{ coverage.total }}</span>
+            <span class="coverage-label">shapes accounted for</span>
           </div>
           <div
             class="coverage-bar"
             role="progressbar"
-            :aria-valuenow="coverage.recorded"
+            :aria-valuenow="coverage.accounted"
             :aria-valuemin="0"
             :aria-valuemax="coverage.total"
-            aria-label="Shapes with a recorded snippet"
+            aria-label="Shapes classified against canon"
           >
             <div
               class="coverage-bar-fill"
-              :style="{ width: (coverage.total ? (coverage.recorded / coverage.total) * 100 : 0) + '%' }"
+              :style="{ width: (coverage.total ? (coverage.accounted / coverage.total) * 100 : 0) + '%' }"
             ></div>
           </div>
+          <div v-if="coverage.counts" class="coverage-gaps">
+            <span
+              v-for="k in ['canonical', 'instance', 'variant', 'exempt']"
+              :key="k"
+            >
+              <span v-if="coverage.counts[k]" class="coverage-gap-chip">
+                {{ coverage.counts[k] }} {{ k }}
+              </span>
+            </span>
+          </div>
           <div v-if="coverage.largest_gaps?.length" class="coverage-gaps">
-            <span class="coverage-gaps-label">Largest gaps:</span>
+            <span class="coverage-gaps-label">Most unclassified:</span>
             <span v-for="gap in coverage.largest_gaps" :key="gap.dir" class="coverage-gap-chip">
-              {{ gap.dir }} <span class="coverage-gap-count">{{ gap.uncovered }}</span>
+              {{ gap.dir }} <span class="coverage-gap-count">{{ gap.unclassified }}</span>
             </span>
           </div>
         </template>
         <p v-else class="coverage-empty">
-          Not measured yet — Refresh compares the bound repo's definitions
-          against recorded snippets.
+          Not measured yet — Refresh reads the bound repo's definitions into
+          the shape ledger and reports how many are classified against canon.
         </p>
         <p v-if="coverageError" class="coverage-error">{{ coverageError }}</p>
         <!-- Forge pin (#2778): owner-only, because the eligible set is the
diff --git a/src/scribe/mcp/tools/projects.py b/src/scribe/mcp/tools/projects.py
index 6bebd9b..9701846 100644
--- a/src/scribe/mcp/tools/projects.py
+++ b/src/scribe/mcp/tools/projects.py
@@ -61,11 +61,14 @@ async def enter_project(project_id: int) -> dict:
     open_tasks, recent_notes, design_system, systems, pattern_coverage —
     plus systems_bootstrap, present only when it applies (see below).
 
-    `pattern_coverage` (usually null) is a one-line estimate of how much of
-    the bound repo's code has recorded snippets — e.g. "pattern-library
-    coverage: 34/210 shapes recorded (estimate); largest gaps: internal/api".
-    When present, treat the gaps as a standing invitation: as you touch code
-    in those areas, record the shapes you find with create_snippet.
+    `pattern_coverage` (usually null) is the shape-accounting line — how many
+    of the bound repo's extracted shapes carry a classification against canon
+    (note 2786) — e.g. "shape accounting: 3100/4573 shapes accounted for —
+    12 canonical · 2900 instance (estimate, computed 2026-08-19); 1473
+    unclassified, largest: internal/api". Unclassified IS the todo: as you
+    touch code in those areas, classify the shapes you can (instances of
+    recorded canon, deliberate variants, one-off exemptions) and record the
+    canon that's missing with create_snippet.
 
     `systems` is the project's vocabulary of named subsystems/areas. It is
     returned here so you can TAG as you write: when creating or meaningfully
diff --git a/src/scribe/routes/projects.py b/src/scribe/routes/projects.py
index 8d1d6c8..2a45fe4 100644
--- a/src/scribe/routes/projects.py
+++ b/src/scribe/routes/projects.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ async def delete_project_route(project_id: int):
 @projects_bp.route("/<int:project_id>/coverage", methods=["GET"])
 @login_required
 async def get_coverage_route(project_id: int):
-    """The cached pattern-library coverage summary — never computes.
+    """The cached shape-accounting summary — never computes.
 
     `configured` tells the card whether offering a Refresh button makes
     sense; `coverage` is null until something has computed it (a webhook
diff --git a/src/scribe/services/coverage.py b/src/scribe/services/coverage.py
index 7e1f760..cf2b623 100644
--- a/src/scribe/services/coverage.py
+++ b/src/scribe/services/coverage.py
@@ -41,7 +41,10 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # Cache key in the settings KV, on the project OWNER's user_id — the same
 # channel the scheduler's last-run summary uses for machine-written state.
-_CACHE_KEY_PREFIX = "pattern_coverage_"
+# v2 suffix with #2788: the payload shape inverted (accounted/unclassified);
+# pre-ledger blobs under the old key simply stop being found, so the card
+# honestly reads "not measured yet" until the first ledger-era refresh.
+_CACHE_KEY_PREFIX = "pattern_coverage_v2_"
 
 # Files whose content can't hold definitions — the hook's skip list, verbatim,
 # plus sourcemaps (which are JSON in a trenchcoat).
@@ -157,77 +160,42 @@ def shapes_from_archive(blob: bytes) -> list[tuple[str, str, str]]:
 # --- matching shapes against recorded locations ------------------------------
 
 
-def _norm_symbol(kind_or_symbol: str) -> str:
-    # CSS shapes and recorded CSS symbols may or may not carry the leading
-    # dot; compare without it so ".btn-primary" and "btn-primary" agree.
-    return kind_or_symbol.lstrip(".").strip()
-
-
-def _location_covers(loc_path: str, loc_symbol: str, path: str, name: str) -> bool:
-    if _norm_symbol(loc_symbol) != _norm_symbol(name):
-        return False
-    if not loc_path:
-        # Symbol-only record: the symbol match is all the claim there is.
-        return True
-    # The drift check's location semantics, not a second copy of them: exact
-    # file, or the recorded path is a directory the file lives under.
-    from scribe.services.snippets import _path_touches
-
-    return _path_touches(loc_path, path)
-
-
-def match_shapes(
-    shapes: list[tuple[str, str, str]],
-    recorded: list[tuple[str, str]],
-) -> list[tuple[str, str, str, bool]]:
-    """Each shape with whether some recorded (path, symbol) location covers it.
-
-    Symbol-less recorded locations never cover a shape — a whole-file record
-    makes no claim about any particular definition inside it. The recorded
-    repo NAME is deliberately not consulted: it is free-form ("Scribe") and
-    the project binding already did the scoping; on a project binding several
-    repos this can over-credit a same-named symbol, which the estimate label
-    owns.
-    """
-    usable = [(p, s) for p, s in recorded if (s or "").strip()]
-    return [
-        (
-            path,
-            kind,
-            name,
-            any(_location_covers(lp, ls, path, name) for lp, ls in usable),
-        )
-        for path, kind, name in shapes
-    ]
+# The covering predicate (location_covers) lives in services/shape_ledger.py
+# since #2788 — the ledger's canonical marking and this module's readout are
+# two consumers of ONE doctrine, and the ledger is its home.
 
 
 def largest_gaps(
-    matched: list[tuple[str, str, str, bool]], *, top: int = 3
+    accounted: list[tuple[str, str, str, bool]], *, top: int = 3
 ) -> list[dict]:
-    """The directories with the most uncovered shapes — where a backlog
-    session should start, named the way the repo names them."""
+    """The directories with the most unclassified shapes — where a
+    classification session should start, named the way the repo names them."""
     by_dir: dict[str, dict[str, int]] = {}
-    for path, _kind, _name, covered in matched:
+    for path, _kind, _name, is_accounted in accounted:
         d = posixpath.dirname(path) or "(root)"
-        row = by_dir.setdefault(d, {"total": 0, "uncovered": 0})
+        row = by_dir.setdefault(d, {"total": 0, "unclassified": 0})
         row["total"] += 1
-        if not covered:
-            row["uncovered"] += 1
+        if not is_accounted:
+            row["unclassified"] += 1
     ranked = sorted(
-        by_dir.items(), key=lambda kv: (-kv[1]["uncovered"], kv[0])
+        by_dir.items(), key=lambda kv: (-kv[1]["unclassified"], kv[0])
     )
     return [
-        {"dir": d, "uncovered": row["uncovered"], "total": row["total"]}
+        {"dir": d, "unclassified": row["unclassified"], "total": row["total"]}
         for d, row in ranked[:top]
-        if row["uncovered"]
+        if row["unclassified"]
     ]
 
 
 # --- compute, cache, surface -------------------------------------------------
 
 
-async def _recorded_locations(user_id: int, project_id: int) -> list[tuple[str, str]]:
-    """(path, symbol) for every location of every live snippet in a project."""
+async def _recorded_locations(
+    user_id: int, project_id: int
+) -> list[tuple[int, str, str]]:
+    """(snippet_note_id, path, symbol) for every location of every live
+    snippet in a project — the canonical-marking input (#2788): the id is what
+    lets a ledger row point back at the snippet it references."""
     from sqlalchemy import select
 
     from scribe.models import async_session
@@ -244,34 +212,46 @@ async def _recorded_locations(user_id: int, project_id: int) -> list[tuple[str,
             )
         )
         notes = list(rows.scalars().all())
-    out: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+    out: list[tuple[int, str, str]] = []
     for note in notes:
         for loc in snippet_fields(note).get("locations") or []:
-            out.append((loc.get("path") or "", loc.get("symbol") or ""))
+            out.append(
+                (int(note.id), loc.get("path") or "", loc.get("symbol") or "")
+            )
     return out
 
 
 async def compute_coverage(
     user_id: int, project_id: int, *, selector: ForgeSelector | None = None
 ) -> dict | None:
-    """Measure a project's pattern-library coverage against its bound repos.
+    """Sync the shape ledger from the bound repos and read the accounting.
+
+    Since #2788 this is the ledger's sync point, not just a measurement:
+    every walk upserts the extracted shapes (new → unclassified, vanished →
+    stamped), re-stamps snippet reference locations as canonical, and then
+    reports the ACCOUNTING — how many shapes carry a classification at all —
+    rather than the old "has a snippet" fraction. Unclassified is the todo
+    (note 2786).
 
     None means "nothing to measure" — the owner's keyring serves none of the
     project's bound repos (#2778). That is the ordinary state for a
-    forge-less user and every caller treats it as silence, not failure.
-    Forge errors (unreachable, bad token) RAISE — the two callers are a
-    refresh button and a background task, and both want to know.
+    forge-less user and every caller treats it as silence, not failure; the
+    ledger is untouched in that case. Forge errors (unreachable, bad token)
+    RAISE — the two callers are a refresh button and a background task, and
+    both want to know.
 
     ``user_id`` is the project OWNER's id: the cache lives there, and the
     keyring resolved here must be the same one every other read uses.
     """
+    from scribe.services import shape_ledger
+    from scribe.services.forge import ForgeError
+
     if selector is None:
         selector = await get_forges(user_id, project_id)
     if not selector.configured:
         return None
 
-    repos: list[dict] = []
-    matched_all: list[tuple[str, str, str, bool]] = []
+    served: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
     recorded = await _recorded_locations(user_id, project_id)
     for key in await keys_for_project(user_id, project_id):
         hit = selector.resolve(key)
@@ -280,26 +260,54 @@ async def compute_coverage(
         forge, api_repo = hit
         ref = await forge.default_branch(api_repo)
         shapes = shapes_from_archive(await forge.archive(api_repo, ref))
-        matched = match_shapes(shapes, recorded)
-        matched_all.extend(matched)
-        repos.append({
-            "repo": key,
-            "ref": ref,
-            "total": len(matched),
-            "recorded": sum(1 for *_x, covered in matched if covered),
-        })
-    if not repos:
+        # The head commit is provenance sugar on the ledger rows; failing to
+        # learn it must not fail the sync — the ref names the point well
+        # enough and the row timestamps carry the when.
+        try:
+            marker = await forge.latest_commit(api_repo, "", ref) or ref
+        except ForgeError:
+            marker = ref
+        await shape_ledger.sync_repo_shapes(
+            project_id, key, shapes, seen_marker=marker
+        )
+        served.append((key, ref))
+    if not served:
         return None
 
+    await shape_ledger.mark_canonicals(project_id, recorded)
+
+    # Project-wide readout, deliberately wider than this walk: a second bound
+    # repo that was unreachable today still has live rows, and they count.
+    rows = await shape_ledger.live_rows(project_id)
+    counts = {"canonical": 0, "instance": 0, "variant": 0, "exempt": 0,
+              "unclassified": 0}
+    for row in rows:
+        counts[row.status] = counts.get(row.status, 0) + 1
+    by_repo: dict[str, dict[str, int]] = {}
+    for row in rows:
+        agg = by_repo.setdefault(row.repo_key, {"total": 0, "accounted": 0})
+        agg["total"] += 1
+        agg["accounted"] += row.status != "unclassified"
+
+    unclassified = counts.pop("unclassified")
     return {
-        "total": len(matched_all),
-        "recorded": sum(1 for *_x, covered in matched_all if covered),
+        "total": len(rows),
+        "accounted": len(rows) - unclassified,
+        "unclassified": unclassified,
+        "counts": counts,
         # Honesty flag, not decoration: every surface that shows the number
         # is expected to carry it through.
         "estimate": True,
         "computed_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
-        "repos": repos,
-        "largest_gaps": largest_gaps(matched_all),
+        "repos": [
+            {"repo": key, "ref": ref,
+             **by_repo.get(key, {"total": 0, "accounted": 0})}
+            for key, ref in served
+        ],
+        "largest_gaps": largest_gaps([
+            (r.path, r.kind, r.symbol, r.status != "unclassified")
+            for r in rows
+        ]),
     }
 
 
@@ -330,12 +338,23 @@ async def cached_coverage(user_id: int, project_id: int) -> dict | None:
 def coverage_line(coverage: dict) -> str:
     """The one-line evidence-carrying summary enter_project surfaces."""
     day = (coverage.get("computed_at") or "")[:10]
-    line = (
-        f"pattern-library coverage: {coverage.get('recorded', 0)}"
-        f"/{coverage.get('total', 0)} shapes recorded"
-        f" (estimate{', computed ' + day if day else ''})"
+    counts = coverage.get("counts") or {}
+    breakdown = " · ".join(
+        f"{counts[k]} {k}"
+        for k in ("canonical", "instance", "variant", "exempt")
+        if counts.get(k)
     )
-    gaps = [g["dir"] for g in coverage.get("largest_gaps") or []]
-    if gaps:
-        line += "; largest gaps: " + ", ".join(gaps)
+    line = (
+        f"shape accounting: {coverage.get('accounted', 0)}"
+        f"/{coverage.get('total', 0)} shapes accounted for"
+    )
+    if breakdown:
+        line += f" — {breakdown}"
+    line += f" (estimate{', computed ' + day if day else ''})"
+    unclassified = coverage.get("unclassified", 0)
+    if unclassified:
+        line += f"; {unclassified} unclassified"
+        gaps = [g["dir"] for g in coverage.get("largest_gaps") or []]
+        if gaps:
+            line += ", largest: " + ", ".join(gaps)
     return line
diff --git a/src/scribe/services/shape_ledger.py b/src/scribe/services/shape_ledger.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d464458
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scribe/services/shape_ledger.py
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+"""The shape ledger's write side — sync and mechanical marking (#2788).
+
+The coverage walk (services/coverage.py) is the only feed that sees every
+shape, so it is the ledger's sync point: each refresh upserts one repo's
+extracted shapes — new shapes arrive `unclassified` (THE todo state, note
+2786), surviving shapes bump their last-seen marker, vanished shapes get
+stamped rather than deleted (history is the point). Classifications survive
+recompute by construction: the upsert never touches a judgment, with two
+deliberate exceptions —
+
+  - a judgment whose snippet target is gone (SET NULL on snippet deletion)
+    is re-filed as unclassified so it rejoins the todo instead of dangling;
+  - a MECHANICALLY-stamped canonical row whose snippet location no longer
+    covers it falls back to unclassified. Only mechanical stamps self-heal;
+    an agent's judgment is never unwound by machinery.
+
+`location_covers` is the one covering predicate — the same doctrine the
+recorded-location drift check uses — shared by the sync's canonical marking
+and by anything else that must decide whether a recorded location speaks for
+an extracted shape.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+
+from sqlalchemy import select
+
+from scribe.models import async_session
+from scribe.models.code_shape import CodeShape
+
+# Statuses whose meaning requires a snippet target.
+_NEEDS_TARGET = ("canonical", "instance", "variant")
+
+
+def _norm_symbol(kind_or_symbol: str) -> str:
+    # CSS shapes and recorded CSS symbols may or may not carry the leading
+    # dot; compare without it so ".btn-primary" and "btn-primary" agree.
+    return kind_or_symbol.lstrip(".").strip()
+
+
+def location_covers(loc_path: str, loc_symbol: str, path: str, name: str) -> bool:
+    """Does a recorded (path, symbol) location speak for this shape?
+
+    Symbol-less locations never cover a shape — a whole-file record makes no
+    claim about any particular definition inside it. Path semantics are the
+    drift check's own: exact file, or the recorded path is a directory the
+    file lives under.
+    """
+    if not (loc_symbol or "").strip():
+        return False
+    if _norm_symbol(loc_symbol) != _norm_symbol(name):
+        return False
+    if not loc_path:
+        # Symbol-only record: the symbol match is all the claim there is.
+        return True
+    from scribe.services.snippets import _path_touches
+
+    return _path_touches(loc_path, path)
+
+
+async def sync_repo_shapes(
+    project_id: int,
+    repo_key: str,
+    shapes: list[tuple[str, str, str]],
+    *,
+    seen_marker: str,
+) -> None:
+    """Upsert one repo's extracted (path, kind, name) shapes into the ledger.
+
+    ``seen_marker`` is the commit the archive was read at when the forge can
+    say, else the ref name — provenance sugar; the row timestamps carry the
+    when.
+    """
+    now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+    async with async_session() as session:
+        rows = (
+            await session.execute(
+                select(CodeShape).where(
+                    CodeShape.project_id == project_id,
+                    CodeShape.repo_key == repo_key,
+                )
+            )
+        ).scalars().all()
+        by_key = {(r.path, r.symbol, r.kind): r for r in rows}
+        seen: set[tuple[str, str, str]] = set()
+        for path, kind, name in shapes:
+            key = (path, name, kind)
+            if key in seen:
+                continue
+            seen.add(key)
+            row = by_key.get(key)
+            if row is None:
+                session.add(CodeShape(
+                    project_id=project_id, repo_key=repo_key,
+                    path=path, symbol=name, kind=kind,
+                    first_seen_commit=seen_marker, last_seen_commit=seen_marker,
+                ))
+                continue
+            row.last_seen_commit = seen_marker
+            # A shape that vanished and came back is live again — the vanish
+            # stays visible in history via updated_at, not as a dead flag.
+            row.vanished_at = None
+            if row.status in _NEEDS_TARGET and row.snippet_id is None:
+                row.status = "unclassified"
+                row.classified_by = None
+                row.classified_at = None
+                row.reason = None
+        for key, row in by_key.items():
+            if key not in seen and row.vanished_at is None:
+                row.vanished_at = now
+        await session.commit()
+
+
+async def mark_canonicals(
+    project_id: int, recorded: list[tuple[int, str, str]]
+) -> None:
+    """Stamp snippet reference locations as `canonical` — the one mechanical
+    rule that is always safe (the judgment happened when the snippet was
+    minted; this row just makes it queryable).
+
+    ``recorded`` is (snippet_note_id, path, symbol) for every live snippet
+    location in the project. Touches only rows machinery owns: unclassified
+    rows gain the stamp; mechanically-stamped canonicals no longer covered
+    fall back to unclassified. Agent judgments are never overwritten.
+    """
+    usable = [(nid, p, s) for nid, p, s in recorded if (s or "").strip()]
+    now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+    async with async_session() as session:
+        rows = (
+            await session.execute(
+                select(CodeShape).where(
+                    CodeShape.project_id == project_id,
+                    CodeShape.vanished_at.is_(None),
+                )
+            )
+        ).scalars().all()
+        for row in rows:
+            covering = next(
+                (
+                    nid for nid, lp, ls in usable
+                    if location_covers(lp, ls, row.path, row.symbol)
+                ),
+                None,
+            )
+            if covering is not None and row.status == "unclassified":
+                row.status = "canonical"
+                row.snippet_id = covering
+                row.classified_by = "mechanical"
+                row.classified_at = now
+            elif (
+                covering is None
+                and row.status == "canonical"
+                and row.classified_by == "mechanical"
+            ):
+                row.status = "unclassified"
+                row.snippet_id = None
+                row.classified_by = None
+                row.classified_at = None
+        await session.commit()
+
+
+async def live_rows(project_id: int) -> list[CodeShape]:
+    """Every un-vanished ledger row for a project — the accounting readout's
+    input, across ALL its repos (a repo unreachable this refresh still counts;
+    accounting is project-wide)."""
+    async with async_session() as session:
+        return list(
+            (
+                await session.execute(
+                    select(CodeShape).where(
+                        CodeShape.project_id == project_id,
+                        CodeShape.vanished_at.is_(None),
+                    )
+                )
+            ).scalars().all()
+        )
diff --git a/tests/test_pattern_coverage.py b/tests/test_pattern_coverage.py
index bf7b4ed..04ab1f1 100644
--- a/tests/test_pattern_coverage.py
+++ b/tests/test_pattern_coverage.py
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ from scribe.services.coverage import (
     coverage_line,
     extract_shapes,
     largest_gaps,
-    match_shapes,
     scannable,
     shapes_from_archive,
 )
+from scribe.services.shape_ledger import location_covers
 
 # --- unit: the definition extractor (shared vectors with the hook) -----------
 
@@ -117,51 +117,53 @@ def test_shapes_from_archive_strips_the_wrapper_and_gates_files():
     assert shapes_from_archive(_tarball(TREE)) == TREE_SHAPES
 
 
-# --- unit: matching shapes against recorded locations ------------------------
+# --- unit: the covering predicate (lives with the ledger since #2788) --------
 
 
-def test_match_covers_by_exact_path_dir_prefix_and_css_dot():
-    recorded = [
-        ("src/app.py", "make_app"),   # exact file
-        ("web", ".btn"),              # dir prefix + css dot normalization
-    ]
-    matched = match_shapes(TREE_SHAPES, recorded)
-    covered = {name for _p, _k, name, ok in matched if ok}
-    assert covered == {"make_app", "btn"}
+def test_location_covers_by_exact_path_dir_prefix_and_css_dot():
+    assert location_covers("src/app.py", "make_app", "src/app.py", "make_app")
+    # dir prefix + css dot normalization
+    assert location_covers("web", ".btn", "web/button.css", "btn")
+    assert not location_covers("src/app.py", "make_app", "src/util.py", "make_app")
 
 
 def test_a_symbol_less_record_covers_nothing():
     """A whole-file snippet makes no claim about any particular definition
     inside it — crediting all of them would inflate the number for free."""
-    matched = match_shapes(TREE_SHAPES, [("src/app.py", "")])
-    assert not any(ok for *_x, ok in matched)
+    assert not location_covers("src/app.py", "", "src/app.py", "make_app")
 
 
 def test_no_prefix_bleed_between_sibling_directories():
-    matched = match_shapes(
-        [("src/library/x.py", "sym", "helper")], [("src/lib", "helper")]
-    )
-    assert not matched[0][3]
+    assert not location_covers("src/lib", "helper", "src/library/x.py", "helper")
 
 
-def test_largest_gaps_ranks_by_uncovered_and_drops_clean_dirs():
-    matched = match_shapes(TREE_SHAPES, [("src/app.py", "make_app"), ("web", ".btn")])
-    gaps = largest_gaps(matched)
-    assert gaps == [{"dir": "src", "uncovered": 2, "total": 3}]
+def test_largest_gaps_ranks_by_unclassified_and_drops_clean_dirs():
+    accounted = [
+        ("src/app.py", "sym", "make_app", True),
+        ("src/app.py", "sym", "Config", False),
+        ("src/util.py", "sym", "helper", False),
+        ("web/button.css", "css", "btn", True),
+    ]
+    gaps = largest_gaps(accounted)
+    assert gaps == [{"dir": "src", "unclassified": 2, "total": 3}]
 
 
 def test_coverage_line_is_evidence_carrying_and_labeled_estimate():
     line = coverage_line({
-        "total": 210, "recorded": 34, "estimate": True,
+        "total": 4573, "accounted": 3100, "unclassified": 1473,
+        "counts": {"canonical": 12, "instance": 2900, "variant": 0, "exempt": 188},
+        "estimate": True,
         "computed_at": "2026-08-16T12:00:00+00:00",
         "largest_gaps": [
-            {"dir": "internal/api", "uncovered": 40, "total": 60},
-            {"dir": "web/src/components", "uncovered": 25, "total": 30},
+            {"dir": "internal/api", "unclassified": 40, "total": 60},
+            {"dir": "web/src/components", "unclassified": 25, "total": 30},
         ],
     })
-    assert "34/210 shapes recorded" in line
+    assert "3100/4573 shapes accounted for" in line
+    assert "12 canonical · 2900 instance · 188 exempt" in line  # zero variant elided
     assert "estimate" in line
     assert "2026-08-16" in line
+    assert "1473 unclassified" in line
     assert "internal/api, web/src/components" in line
 
 
@@ -257,19 +259,52 @@ async def test_coverage_measures_the_tree_exactly_and_caches(seeded):
         refresh_coverage,
     )
 
+    from sqlalchemy import select
+
+    from scribe.models import async_session
+    from scribe.models.code_shape import CodeShape
+
     uid, pid = seeded["uid"], seeded["pid"]
     selector = _selector(_tarball(TREE))
 
     coverage = await compute_coverage(uid, pid, selector=selector)
     assert coverage is not None
     assert coverage["total"] == 4
-    assert coverage["recorded"] == 2
+    assert coverage["accounted"] == 2
+    assert coverage["unclassified"] == 2
+    assert coverage["counts"] == {
+        "canonical": 2, "instance": 0, "variant": 0, "exempt": 0,
+    }
     assert coverage["estimate"] is True
     assert coverage["repos"] == [{
         "repo": "git.example.com/alice/widget", "ref": "main",
-        "total": 4, "recorded": 2,
+        "total": 4, "accounted": 2,
     }]
-    assert coverage["largest_gaps"] == [{"dir": "src", "uncovered": 2, "total": 3}]
+    assert coverage["largest_gaps"] == [
+        {"dir": "src", "unclassified": 2, "total": 3}
+    ]
+
+    # The walk fed the LEDGER (#2788): every extracted shape has a row, the
+    # snippet reference locations are mechanically stamped canonical WITH
+    # their snippet id, and the rest sit in the todo state.
+    async with async_session() as s:
+        rows = (await s.execute(
+            select(CodeShape).where(CodeShape.project_id == pid)
+        )).scalars().all()
+    by_symbol = {r.symbol: r for r in rows}
+    assert set(by_symbol) == {"make_app", "Config", "helper", "btn"}
+    assert by_symbol["make_app"].status == "canonical"
+    assert by_symbol["make_app"].snippet_id is not None
+    assert by_symbol["make_app"].classified_by == "mechanical"
+    assert by_symbol["btn"].status == "canonical"
+    assert by_symbol["Config"].status == "unclassified"
+    assert by_symbol["helper"].status == "unclassified"
+    assert all(r.vanished_at is None for r in rows)
+    assert all(r.first_seen_commit for r in rows)  # ref at minimum
+
+    # Idempotence: a second walk changes nothing about the readout.
+    again = await compute_coverage(uid, pid, selector=_selector(_tarball(TREE)))
+    assert (again["total"], again["accounted"]) == (4, 2)
 
     # Nothing computed → nothing cached; refresh writes; the cache reads back
     # byte-equal, because enter_project will serve exactly this.
@@ -278,6 +313,57 @@ async def test_coverage_measures_the_tree_exactly_and_caches(seeded):
     assert (await cached_coverage(uid, pid)) == json.loads(json.dumps(stored))
 
 
+@pytest.mark.integration
+async def test_ledger_keeps_judgments_and_stamps_vanished_shapes(seeded):
+    """The two survival rules (#2788): an agent's classification outlives
+    recompute, and a shape that leaves the tree is stamped vanished — kept
+    for history, dropped from the readout."""
+    from datetime import datetime, timezone
+
+    from sqlalchemy import select
+
+    from scribe.models import async_session
+    from scribe.models.code_shape import CodeShape
+    from scribe.services.coverage import compute_coverage
+
+    uid, pid = seeded["uid"], seeded["pid"]
+    await compute_coverage(uid, pid, selector=_selector(_tarball(TREE)))
+
+    # An agent judges `helper` a deliberate one-off.
+    async with async_session() as s:
+        helper = (await s.execute(select(CodeShape).where(
+            CodeShape.project_id == pid, CodeShape.symbol == "helper",
+        ))).scalar_one()
+        helper.status = "exempt"
+        helper.reason = "test scaffolding, deliberately local"
+        helper.classified_by = "agent"
+        helper.classified_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+        await s.commit()
+
+    # The tree moves on: util.py (helper) is gone entirely, app.py loses
+    # nothing. The judgment on `helper` must survive AS HISTORY (vanished,
+    # still exempt), never be reset by the sync.
+    smaller = {k: v for k, v in TREE.items() if k != "src/util.py"}
+    coverage = await compute_coverage(uid, pid, selector=_selector(_tarball(smaller)))
+    assert coverage["total"] == 3          # helper's row left the readout
+    assert coverage["accounted"] == 2
+    assert coverage["counts"]["exempt"] == 0   # vanished rows don't count
+
+    async with async_session() as s:
+        helper = (await s.execute(select(CodeShape).where(
+            CodeShape.project_id == pid, CodeShape.symbol == "helper",
+        ))).scalar_one()
+    assert helper.vanished_at is not None
+    assert helper.status == "exempt"       # the judgment is history, kept
+    assert helper.reason == "test scaffolding, deliberately local"
+
+    # And it returns: the shape reappearing clears the stamp, judgment intact.
+    coverage = await compute_coverage(uid, pid, selector=_selector(_tarball(TREE)))
+    assert coverage["total"] == 4
+    assert coverage["accounted"] == 3      # exempt counts as accounted again
+    assert coverage["counts"]["exempt"] == 1
+
+
 @pytest.mark.integration
 async def test_enter_project_surfaces_the_line_only_once_computed(seeded):
     from scribe.mcp._context import _user_id_ctx
@@ -296,8 +382,10 @@ async def test_enter_project_surfaces_the_line_only_once_computed(seeded):
         after = await enter_project(project_id=pid)
         line = after["pattern_coverage"]
         assert line.startswith(
-            "pattern-library coverage: 2/4 shapes recorded (estimate, computed "
+            "shape accounting: 2/4 shapes accounted for — 2 canonical "
+            "(estimate, computed "
         )
+        assert "2 unclassified, largest: src" in line
         assert line.endswith("; largest gaps: src")
     finally:
         _user_id_ctx.reset(token)