diff --git a/codec_standing_rules.py b/codec_standing_rules.py
index 6400410..9d5e6dc 100644
--- a/codec_standing_rules.py
+++ b/codec_standing_rules.py
@@ -62,7 +62,11 @@ def _save(data: Dict) -> None:
 
 
 def list_rules() -> List[Dict]:
-    return load().get("rules", [])
+    """Rules with telemetry fields guaranteed present (older stores are
+    backfilled in-memory; the on-disk backfill happens on the next write)."""
+    data = load()
+    _migrate(data)
+    return data.get("rules", [])
 
 
 def add_rule(text: str) -> Dict:
@@ -85,7 +89,10 @@ def add_rule(text: str) -> Dict:
                 f"you never invoke are noise you pay for on every message."}
     rule = {"id": f"r{len(rules) + 1}_{int(datetime.now(timezone.utc).timestamp())}",
             "text": text,
-            "added": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(timespec="seconds")}
+            "added": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(timespec="seconds"),
+            # Telemetry — see prompt_block() for exactly what this counts.
+            "inject_count": 0,
+            "last_injected": None}
     rules.append(rule)
     _save(data)
     return {"ok": True, "rule": rule,
@@ -121,9 +128,68 @@ def clear_rules() -> Dict:
     return {"ok": True, "message": f"Cleared {n} standing rule(s)."}
 
 
-def prompt_block() -> str:
-    """The block appended to the chat system prompt. "" when there are none."""
-    rules = list_rules()
+def _migrate(data: Dict) -> bool:
+    """Backfill telemetry fields on rules written before they existed.
+
+    Additive only — an existing rule keeps its id, text and added date, and
+    starts at inject_count 0 / last_injected None. Never resets the store.
+    Returns True when something changed (so the caller can persist).
+    """
+    changed = False
+    for r in data.get("rules", []):
+        if "inject_count" not in r:
+            r["inject_count"] = 0
+            changed = True
+        if "last_injected" not in r:
+            r["last_injected"] = None
+            changed = True
+    return changed
+
+
+def prompt_block(record: bool = False) -> str:
+    """The block appended to the chat system prompt. "" when there are none.
+
+    `record=True` counts this as an INJECTION — see the honesty note below.
+    Only the live chat path passes it; listing, tests and previews must not,
+    or the count would measure itself.
+
+    WHAT inject_count MEANS, AND DOES NOT
+    -------------------------------------
+    It counts how many times a rule was placed into the system prompt. That is
+    the ONLY thing this pipeline can observe. A standing rule's entire lifecycle
+    is: prompt_block() -> string -> appended to sys_prompt -> sent to the LLM.
+    Nothing downstream reports whether the model consulted the rule, obeyed it,
+    or ignored it.
+
+    So this is deliberately NOT called fired_count. Measuring influence would
+    need ablation (run the turn with and without the rule and diff — doubles
+    cost, and non-determinism makes a single diff weak evidence) or asking the
+    model which rules it used — which is exactly the unverifiable self-report
+    this codebase exists to refuse. A field named fired_count would be a
+    fabricated metric wearing an authoritative name.
+
+    Practical consequence: inject_count == 0 proves a rule is dead weight
+    (it never even reached the model). A high inject_count proves nothing about
+    usefulness — only that the rule is being paid for on every message.
+    """
+    if not record:
+        rules = list_rules()
+    else:
+        # Read-modify-write under the same lock the writers use, so a concurrent
+        # add/remove can't lose the increment.
+        data = load()
+        _migrate(data)
+        rules = data.get("rules", [])
+        if rules:
+            now = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(timespec="seconds")
+            for r in rules:
+                r["inject_count"] = int(r.get("inject_count") or 0) + 1
+                r["last_injected"] = now
+            try:
+                _save(data)
+            except Exception as e:      # never break a reply over telemetry
+                log.warning("standing rules: inject-count write failed: %s", e)
+
     if not rules:
         return ""
     lines = ["STANDING RULES — the user set these; they apply to every reply:"]
diff --git a/routes/chat.py b/routes/chat.py
index 7a6210a..ae66130 100644
--- a/routes/chat.py
+++ b/routes/chat.py
@@ -722,7 +722,8 @@ def _build_chat_system_prompt(config: dict, budget, has_attachment: bool,
     # or safety framing. This is what makes "saved" an honest answer.
     try:
         import codec_standing_rules
-        _sr = codec_standing_rules.prompt_block()
+        # record=True: this is the live turn, so it counts as an injection.
+        _sr = codec_standing_rules.prompt_block(record=True)
         if _sr:
             sys_prompt += "\n\n" + _sr
     except Exception as e:
diff --git a/skills/.manifest.json b/skills/.manifest.json
index bfdff7f..300d35d 100644
--- a/skills/.manifest.json
+++ b/skills/.manifest.json
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@
     "self_improve.py": "74c8b9cb0ce81f8600d35e72b73e543bdeccb3c8e5a4cdc79ddb4df5282c1846",
     "shift_report.py": "2c4bc669dec391f18329e0fe7b955c6b911322404e7e627e102776c22b448da2",
     "skill_forge.py": "07ea8fb2d026eca050154e5e60ea1968e77bc2d7786958d60f6e1a6d50f07182",
-    "standing_rules.py": "42bcea7ba808b84daf5bb7f242ea908a1da4eb20d26d6cf0e4751118d89721a6",
+    "standing_rules.py": "9f7f4a2af7cf8fbe11aaa11440c61eeab299e28da0e3bb0d7a52703787e22ee1",
     "stuck.py": "dfddfe4dfa1a9d5c017f53e53033a7eb33114a517cd6fa937d9d44e65083f1c9",
     "system_info.py": "4cc32e0ad9cb81f34309734ef3388f7cde63407de9b23bb0cd589571a4c43ecb",
     "terminal.py": "1fe6c1cd1241ea6d328401f1c0fb4c362482e3ec2a61a4f7592b2d4822cd51c1",
diff --git a/skills/standing_rules.py b/skills/standing_rules.py
index d82837d..5a4e07b 100644
--- a/skills/standing_rules.py
+++ b/skills/standing_rules.py
@@ -43,10 +43,25 @@ def _render(rules):
     if not rules:
         return ("You have no standing rules yet. Add one with: "
                 "\"add a standing rule: <instruction>\".")
-    lines = [f"You have {len(rules)} standing rule(s), applied to every reply:"]
+    lines = [f"You have {len(rules)} standing rule(s), added to every reply:"]
+    never = []
     for i, r in enumerate(rules, 1):
+        n = int(r.get("inject_count") or 0)
+        last = r.get("last_injected")
+        when = f", last {str(last)[:10]}" if last else ""
         lines.append(f"  {i}. {r.get('text', '')}")
-    lines.append("\nRemove one with: \"remove standing rule 2\".")
+        lines.append(f"     sent to the model {n}x{when}" if n else
+                     "     never sent to the model yet")
+        if not n:
+            never.append(i)
+    lines.append("")
+    lines.append("\"sent to the model\" counts INJECTION into the prompt — not whether "
+                 "the model actually used the rule. Nothing in the pipeline can see that, "
+                 "so it isn't claimed.")
+    if never:
+        lines.append(f"Rules {', '.join(f'#{i}' for i in never)} have never even reached "
+                     f"the model — those are safe to delete.")
+    lines.append("Remove one with: \"remove standing rule 2\".")
     return "\n".join(lines)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_standing_rules.py b/tests/test_standing_rules.py
index 43353f0..64e19f9 100644
--- a/tests/test_standing_rules.py
+++ b/tests/test_standing_rules.py
@@ -119,3 +119,71 @@ def test_skill_remove(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     s.run("add a standing rule: be brief")
     assert "Removed" in s.run("remove standing rule 1")
     assert "no standing rules" in s.run("list standing rules").lower()
+
+
+# ── inject_count telemetry ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Named inject_count, NOT fired_count, deliberately. A standing rule's whole
+# lifecycle is prompt_block() -> string -> sys_prompt -> LLM. Nothing downstream
+# reports whether the model used the rule, so "fired" would be a fabricated
+# metric wearing an authoritative name — in the module that exists to refuse
+# exactly that.
+
+def test_new_rule_starts_at_zero(sr):
+    rule = sr.add_rule("be brief")["rule"]
+    assert rule["inject_count"] == 0
+    assert rule["last_injected"] is None
+
+
+def test_injection_increments_and_stamps(sr):
+    sr.add_rule("be brief")
+    sr.prompt_block(record=True)
+    r = sr.list_rules()[0]
+    assert r["inject_count"] == 1
+    assert r["last_injected"] is not None
+
+
+def test_preview_does_not_count_itself(sr):
+    """Listing/preview must never inflate the metric it reports."""
+    sr.add_rule("be brief")
+    for _ in range(5):
+        sr.prompt_block()          # record defaults to False
+        sr.list_rules()
+    assert sr.list_rules()[0]["inject_count"] == 0
+
+
+def test_count_survives_a_reload(sr):
+    """The counter is on disk, not in memory — a restart must not reset it."""
+    sr.add_rule("be brief")
+    sr.prompt_block(record=True)
+    sr.prompt_block(record=True)
+    fresh = sr.load()              # re-read from disk, no cached state
+    assert fresh["rules"][0]["inject_count"] == 2
+
+
+def test_migration_backfills_without_resetting(sr):
+    """An old store keeps its data and gains the fields at zero."""
+    import json
+    sr.RULES_PATH.write_text(json.dumps({"schema": 1, "rules": [
+        {"id": "old1", "text": "keep me", "added": "2026-07-01T10:00:00+00:00"}]}))
+    r = sr.list_rules()[0]
+    assert r["text"] == "keep me", "existing rule text must survive migration"
+    assert r["added"] == "2026-07-01T10:00:00+00:00", "added date must survive"
+    assert r["inject_count"] == 0 and r["last_injected"] is None
+
+
+def test_no_rules_means_no_write_churn(sr):
+    """An empty store must not be rewritten on every turn."""
+    sr.prompt_block(record=True)
+    assert not sr.RULES_PATH.exists() or sr.load()["rules"] == []
+
+
+def test_listing_labels_injection_honestly(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """The user-facing text must not imply the model 'used' the rule."""
+    s = _skill(monkeypatch, tmp_path)
+    s.run("add a standing rule: be brief")
+    import codec_standing_rules as mod
+    mod.prompt_block(record=True)
+    out = s.run("show my standing rules")
+    assert "sent to the model" in out
+    assert "counts INJECTION" in out
+    assert "fired" not in out.lower(), "must not claim the rule 'fired'"