diff --git a/tools/corpus_engine.py b/tools/corpus_engine.py
index 89b1e670..9910f01f 100755
--- a/tools/corpus_engine.py
+++ b/tools/corpus_engine.py
@@ -79,6 +79,12 @@ SAVE_CLAIM_HISTORY_RE = re.compile(
     r"histor(?:y|ical))\b",
     re.I,
 )
+SAVE_LIVE_MIGRATION_AUTHORITY_RE = re.compile(
+    r"`?save[.]rs`?[^.;!?]{0,160}\b(?:authority|authoritative|owns?)\b"
+    r"[^.;!?]{0,160}\b(?:each|every)\s+(?:save\s+)?version\s+"
+    r"migrat(?:e|es|ed|ing|ion|ions)\b",
+    re.I | re.S,
+)
 BINDING_DOORWAY_RE = re.compile(
     r"^Type: (law|spec)$|^Status:|^## Decisions log|^## Acceptance criteria",
     re.M,
@@ -427,28 +433,51 @@ class Engine:
             )
 
     def validate_wiki_save_version_claims(self) -> None:
-        """Binding wiki pages may not claim numbered save migrations still run.
+        """Binding wiki pages may not claim retired save migrations still run.
 
         Only the exact current SAVE_VERSION loads (pre-release rider,
         2026-07-16); the numbered migration ladder lives in git history. A
         sentence that couples an old vN to a live persistence/migration verb
         without naming that retirement asserts dead behavior. Dated logs and
-        the process board are historical records and exempt.
+        the process board are historical records and exempt. The same gate
+        rejects generic claims that save.rs currently owns what each version
+        migrates: that wording escaped the numbered-version check after the
+        retired authority class had already recurred across current pages.
         """
         save_rs = self.root / "crates/misaligned-core/src/save.rs"
         if not save_rs.exists():
             return
-        const = re.search(
-            r"pub const SAVE_VERSION: u32 = (\d+)", save_rs.read_text()
-        )
+        save_text = save_rs.read_text()
+        const = re.search(r"pub const SAVE_VERSION: u32 = (\d+)", save_text)
         if const is None:
             return
         current = int(const.group(1))
+        exact_current_only = (
+            re.search(r"probe[.]version\s*!=\s*SAVE_VERSION", save_text) is not None
+            and re.search(r"\bmigrate_save_state\b", save_text) is None
+        )
         for path in self.wiki_md_files():
             rel = path.relative_to(self.root).as_posix()
             if rel.startswith(("wiki/log/", "wiki/process/")):
                 continue
             text = self.read(path)
+            if exact_current_only:
+                for claim in SAVE_LIVE_MIGRATION_AUTHORITY_RE.finditer(text):
+                    paragraph_start = text.rfind("\n\n", 0, claim.start()) + 2
+                    paragraph_end = text.find("\n\n", claim.end())
+                    if paragraph_end == -1:
+                        paragraph_end = len(text)
+                    paragraph = text[paragraph_start:paragraph_end]
+                    if SAVE_CLAIM_HISTORY_RE.search(paragraph):
+                        continue
+                    line = text.count("\n", 0, claim.start()) + 1
+                    compact = " ".join(claim.group(0).split())
+                    self.bad(
+                        f"{rel}:{line} presents save.rs as the live authority "
+                        f"for per-version migration ('{compact}') but the "
+                        "pre-release loader accepts only the exact current "
+                        "schema — name that gate or explicit release-era history"
+                    )
             for chunk_match in re.finditer(r"[^.;]+", text):
                 chunk = chunk_match.group(0)
                 nums = SAVE_VERSION_NUM_RE.findall(chunk)
diff --git a/tools/test_corpus_engine.sh b/tools/test_corpus_engine.sh
index 17cd5f03..7ad09ac9 100755
--- a/tools/test_corpus_engine.sh
+++ b/tools/test_corpus_engine.sh
@@ -324,9 +324,41 @@ setup_base "$root"
 mkdir -p "$root/crates/misaligned-core/src"
 cat > "$root/crates/misaligned-core/src/save.rs" <<'EOF'
 pub const SAVE_VERSION: u32 = 33;
+fn parse_save(probe: Probe) {
+    if probe.version != SAVE_VERSION {}
+}
 EOF
 cp "$root/wiki/vision/law.md" "$root/wiki/vision/law.md.orig"
+# A generic claim that save.rs still owns per-version migrations fails even
+# when it carries no old numbered version for the earlier detector to match.
+cat >> "$root/wiki/vision/law.md" <<'EOF'
+
+`save.rs` remains the authority on what each version migrates.
+EOF
+assert_fails wiki-save-authority-stale --root "$root" --corpus
+out=$(python3 "$engine" --root "$root" --corpus 2>&1 || true)
+echo "$out" | grep -q 'presents save.rs as the live authority for per-version migration' || {
+  echo "FAIL: stale generic save-authority message missing"
+  echo "$out"
+  fail=1
+}
+# The exact-current authority asserted by the live loader passes.
+cp "$root/wiki/vision/law.md.orig" "$root/wiki/vision/law.md"
+cat >> "$root/wiki/vision/law.md" <<'EOF'
+
+`save.rs` remains the authority on the exact current schema accepted.
+EOF
+assert_ok wiki-save-authority-current --root "$root" --corpus
+# Explicit retirement history in a binding page remains legal.
+cp "$root/wiki/vision/law.md.orig" "$root/wiki/vision/law.md"
+cat >> "$root/wiki/vision/law.md" <<'EOF'
+
+The former `save.rs` authority on what each version migrates is retired to git
+history.
+EOF
+assert_ok wiki-save-authority-historical --root "$root" --corpus
 # A binding page claiming an old numbered save migration still runs fails.
+cp "$root/wiki/vision/law.md.orig" "$root/wiki/vision/law.md"
 cat >> "$root/wiki/vision/law.md" <<'EOF'
 
 Save v13 migrates the old Social mode spellings.
diff --git a/wiki/log/2026-07-19-player-contract-save-authority.md b/wiki/log/2026-07-19-player-contract-save-authority.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a5cb4e52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wiki/log/2026-07-19-player-contract-save-authority.md
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# The player contract names the current save authority
+
+```
+Type: log
+```
+
+## Intent
+
+Re-audit the highest-severity player law, repair its stale save authority
+sentence, and make the recurring claim mechanically reject itself.
+
+## Finding
+
+The player-contract tick rechecked the highest-severity law against the live
+product and save path. The direct dependency graph remains local and carries
+no network or analytics client. Save writes still sync a sibling `.tmp`, copy
+one `.bak`, and atomically rename without truncating the current save. The load
+gate, however, now accepts only the exact `SAVE_VERSION` and has no migration
+entry point.
+
+The law retained one sentence from the deleted ladder: “`save.rs` remains the
+authority on what each version migrates.” That was no longer a true account of
+current behavior. The rider now says `save.rs` owns the exact current schema
+accepted during pre-release, then requires every later post-release format
+change to carry its predecessor forward.
+
+## Defense
+
+This is another instance of a recurring mechanical class already seen in
+current architecture and mechanic pages: migration wording survives after the
+runtime authority moves. The existing corpus checker caught stale numbered
+claims but could not see this generic one. It now derives the exact-current-only
+state from the live load gate and rejects a binding page that presents
+`save.rs` as the current authority on what each or every version migrates.
+Fixtures pin the stale generic form, the exact-current form, and explicit
+retirement history, while dated logs and process records remain historical
+evidence.
diff --git a/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md b/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
index 02f1e904..0f9e5b58 100644
--- a/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
+++ b/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ add or amend a session log, then re-run the generator.
 
 <!-- GENERATED by tools/ledger_index.sh — do not edit by hand -->
 
+## 2026-07-19 - The player contract names the current save authority
+
+- Intent: Re-audit the highest-severity player law, repair its stale save authority sentence, and make the recurring claim mechanically reject itself.
+- Log: [wiki/log/2026-07-19-player-contract-save-authority.md](2026-07-19-player-contract-save-authority.md)
+
 ## 2026-07-19 - Overt re-hide needs an entry-specific rule
 
 - Intent: Re-audit the overt-phase contract against detection, social knowledge, routed evidence, rollback, and the phase-transition laws before treating its READY acceptance criteria as executable.
diff --git a/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md b/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md
index f3ae7ae0..a44c3cfb 100644
--- a/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md
+++ b/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Verdicts: **clean** (slice and code agree), **finding** (acted this tick),
 | `wiki/gameplay/overt-phase.md` | 2026-07-19 | issue | re-audit: the spec says containment and the voluntary reveal both end concealment and make all observers Convinced, then promises a re-hide outcome without defining which entry can return, what raises the durable suspicion floors, or which concealment systems resume. Filed decision-required Tangled issue #13 (containment-only recommended) and marked criterion 5 [OPEN]; the prior dependency, sensor-cut, rollback, and hunter-machine boundaries still stand — [log](../log/2026-07-19-overt-rehide-decision.md) |
 | `wiki/gameplay/horizon.md` | 2026-07-15 | finding | law verifies: B1 milestone list matches shipped systems (sinks-not-modes, $0 start, rollback classification honestly spec-deferred), B2/B3 match board stages, deferred list agrees with presence.md and cyber-conflict.md, guardrails hold; the finding was in run-shape.md — its repaired roadmap pointer missed that horizon.md itself carries the "Roadmap (v2)" milestone cut; re-pointed to name both the milestone map and the dispatch board |
 | `wiki/vision/premise.md` | 2026-07-15 | issue | pitch, felt fantasy, pillars, and the four re-cut villain layers verify against the tree and sibling laws; the machine-axis section retains facility-era vocabulary (lair/minions/Milestone 1-2, humanity->machine ascension) contradicting horizon.md's demolition and run-shape's fingerprints-never-classes — filed decision-required Tangled issue #10 with options and recommendation |
-| `wiki/vision/player-contract.md` | 2026-07-15 | finding | all five clauses verify (no network deps in the product graph, v-ladder migrations, atomic .tmp rename + one .bak generation in save.rs, honesty via public corpus); the surplus find was the doorway save-version claim gone stale a second time (v29 vs SAVE_VERSION 31) — fixed and, per recurrence-promotes-to-the-gate, corpus_engine now checks the doorway against save.rs — [log](../log/2026-07-15-doorway-save-gate.md) |
+| `wiki/vision/player-contract.md` | 2026-07-19 | finding | the local/no-telemetry dependency boundary and atomic `.tmp` + one `.bak` save path still verify, but the continuity rider's authority sentence still said `save.rs` decides what “each version migrates” after the numbered ladder was retired. The law now assigns `save.rs` the exact current schema gate and requires every later post-release format to carry its predecessor forward; recurrence extends the save-claim checker to reject generic live per-version-migration authority while the loader is exact-current-only — [log](../log/2026-07-19-player-contract-save-authority.md) |
 | `wiki/vision/scale.md` | 2026-07-15 | finding | self-similar interfaces, hall aggregation proof, and all six character spec docs verify; the maintenance-dependency law ("every murder is deferred decay") has no mechanical dispatch — machine-work.md carries the decided clause inside an IMPLEMENTED spec with no criterion, code, or work order; the clause now states that honestly and names hardware-capability-bodies as its dispatch home — [log](../log/2026-07-15-decay-honesty.md) |
 | `wiki/vision/design-judgment.md` | 2026-07-15 | finding | taste calibration agrees with the current corpus (witness summary matches the reconciled narration.md, pacing targets match act-one, rejects match shipped shape); one line predated the Ears-first amendment ("getting one camera" as the opening beat) — re-worded to earning one sense, ear then camera |
 | `wiki/vision/simulation-laws.md` | 2026-07-17 | finding | all five laws verify against audited systems (automation prices, addressed latency, device-resident work with sited signatures, ActionDesc receipts, legibility); resolved the missing placeholder home with one canonical live/retired registry, enumerated the three current REAL stand-in families, and reconciled stale billboard/core/terminal claims — [log](../log/2026-07-17-placeholder-registry.md) |
diff --git a/wiki/vision/player-contract.md b/wiki/vision/player-contract.md
index 7132b00e..d158df36 100644
--- a/wiki/vision/player-contract.md
+++ b/wiki/vision/player-contract.md
@@ -25,10 +25,11 @@ highest-severity tick findings.
    development saves may break without a migration when compatibility
    would slow structural work (Cameron: development speed outranks
    carrying legacy save weight). Breaking is a choice made in the landing
-   commit, never an accident, and save.rs remains the authority on what
-   each version migrates. From the first public release the clause binds
-   in full. A player's persistent world is the point of
-   the game; breaking it breaks the contract. Saves also survive the act of
+   commit, never an accident, and `save.rs` remains the authority on the
+   exact current schema accepted. From the first public release the clause
+   binds in full: every later format change must carry its predecessor
+   forward. A player's persistent world is the point of the game; breaking
+   it breaks the contract. Saves also survive the act of
    saving: the game never truncates the existing save in place. Every save
    write goes to a sibling temp file that is synced and atomically renamed
    over the target, and the prior save is first rotated (by copy) to exactly