diff --git a/.claude/hooks/pretooluse-merge-consent.sh b/.claude/hooks/pretooluse-merge-consent.sh
index c21580902..c5b1e5592 100755
--- a/.claude/hooks/pretooluse-merge-consent.sh
+++ b/.claude/hooks/pretooluse-merge-consent.sh
@@ -79,7 +79,13 @@ body=$(printf '%s' "$prjson" | jq -r '.body // ""' 2>/dev/null || true)
 # --- Docs-only exemption: if every changed file is docs/process, skip the gate. ---
 files=$(gq "repos/$owner/$repo/pulls/$pr/files?limit=100" | jq -r '.[].filename // empty' 2>/dev/null || true)
 if [ -n "$files" ] && ! printf '%s\n' "$files" | grep -qvE '^(docs/|\.claude/|\.husky/|\.gitea/|.*\.md$)'; then
-  decide grant "H6/H10 merge gate: PR #$pr changes only docs/process files — gate not applicable, auto-granted."
+  # Docs/process-only PR: the Done-when + review-verdict gate doesn't apply — but this exemption is a
+  # file-TYPE bypass, NOT the a+b+c "provably reviewed & ready" proof, so it does NOT auto-grant. It
+  # passes through to normal permissioning (one prompt). This deliberately keeps a human in the loop for
+  # process-control files (.claude/ / .gitea/ / .husky/ — the gate, CI, and git hooks themselves): a PR
+  # that weakens the gate must not silently self-merge (ersatztv#317 review nit). Only the satisfied
+  # merge path below auto-grants.
+  decide allow ""   # passthrough (exit 0 → normal prompt), NOT grant
 fi
 
 # --- Linked issue: Gitea auto-close keywords in the PR body. ---
diff --git a/docs/decisions.md b/docs/decisions.md
index dd580886e..f248b6a20 100644
--- a/docs/decisions.md
+++ b/docs/decisions.md
@@ -1537,14 +1537,18 @@ still fires (the merge tool isn't allow-listed). So the gate only ever *added* a
 confirmed twice — once conversationally (the per-session merge-consent norm) and again by a redundant
 mechanical prompt the gate was supposed to have subsumed.
 
-**Fix:** the satisfied and docs-exempt paths now emit
+**Fix:** ONLY the genuinely-satisfied merge path (a+b+c all true) now emits
 `{"hookSpecificOutput":{"permissionDecision":"allow", ...}}` (a new `grant` decision), which actually
 suppresses the prompt. Deny (unticked/red/negative/stale) and ask (non-derivable: no creds, Gitea
 down, no linked issue, no `## Done-when`, no verdict) are unchanged — the gate still fails closed, not
-open. Non-merge `pull_request_write` methods keep the bare `exit 0` **passthrough** (normal
-permissioning still applies) — auto-grant is scoped to the merge decision only, not broadened to
-PR-create/edit. Verified by 7 pipe tests (satisfied→allow, unticked→deny, stale→deny, red-CI→deny,
-no-verdict→ask, no-creds→ask, non-merge→passthrough).
+open. Two paths deliberately do **not** auto-grant and keep the bare `exit 0` **passthrough** (normal
+permissioning → one prompt): non-merge `pull_request_write` methods (auto-grant is scoped to
+method=merge only), and the **docs/process-only exemption**. The exemption is a file-TYPE bypass, not
+the a+b+c "provably reviewed & ready" proof, so it must not *silently* self-merge — critically, its set
+includes `.claude/`/`.gitea/`/`.husky/` (the gate, CI workflows, and git hooks themselves), so a PR
+that weakens the gate still gets a human prompt (ersatztv#317 review nit). Verified by 8 pipe tests
+(satisfied→allow, docs-only→passthrough, unticked→deny, stale→deny, red-CI→deny, no-verdict→ask,
+no-creds→ask, non-merge→passthrough).
 
 **Process consequence:** the state-derived gate *is* the consent on the satisfied path — do **not**
 also ask conversationally to merge a PR whose gate auto-grants. A separate human confirmation is still