diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5f86a3c..1a99aee 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ validate-cli:
 	$(PYCLI) steer preflight --sourceset gpt2-small.res-jb --pretty >/tmp/agent-machine-pycli-steer-preflight.json
 	$(BOOTSTRAP_CLI) steer preflight --sourceset gpt2-small.res-jb --pretty >/tmp/agent-machine-bootstrap-steer-preflight.json
 	$(PYCLI) steer resolve-artifacts --sourceset gpt2-small.res-jb --local-dir /tmp/agent-machine-steering-artifacts --receipt-out /tmp/agent-machine-steering-artifact-receipt.json --dry-run --pretty >/tmp/agent-machine-pycli-artifact-receipt.json
+	$(PYTHON) scripts/verify-steering-receipt.py examples/steering-artifact-receipts/gpt2-small-res-jb.missing.steering-artifact-receipt.json --expect-status not_configured --pretty >/tmp/agent-machine-steering-load-preflight.json
 	$(PYTHON) scripts/verify-steering-receipt.py examples/steering-artifact-receipts/gpt2-small-res-jb.missing.steering-artifact-receipt.json --expect-status not_configured --pretty >/tmp/agent-machine-steering-verify-preflight.json
 	$(PYTHON) scripts/load-steering-receipt.py examples/steering-artifact-receipts/synthetic.available.steering-artifact-receipt.json --attempt-load --pretty >/tmp/agent-machine-steering-synthetic-load.json
 	$(PYTHON) scripts/run-mock-steering.py /tmp/agent-machine-steer-request.json --pretty >/tmp/agent-machine-mock-steering.json
diff --git a/docs/steering-loader.md b/docs/steering-loader.md
index b235d4a..91ee4f9 100644
--- a/docs/steering-loader.md
+++ b/docs/steering-loader.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Steering Receipt Loader
 
+Status: receipt verification tranche for local steering work.
+
+## Purpose
+
+Before any local steering runtime may load model or SAE files, Agent Machine must verify that every artifact referenced by a `SteeringArtifactReceipt` exists locally and matches the receipt's SHA-256 digest.
+
+This document describes the fail-closed loader preflight. It does not claim applied steering.
 Status: receipt verification and CI-safe synthetic loading tranche for local steering work.
 
 ## Purpose
@@ -19,6 +26,9 @@ scripts/verify-steering-receipt.py \
 
 The fixture paths intentionally do not exist. The expected result is `status: not_configured`, with missing-file diagnostics for each absent artifact.
 
+## Runtime rule
+
+A future runtime loader must not attempt to load GPT-2 Small or the residual-stream SAE until:
 ## CI-safe load command
 
 ```bash
@@ -44,6 +54,17 @@ A future runtime loader must not attempt to use GPT-2 Small or the residual-stre
 
 If any check fails, the runtime must fail closed and return a non-applied posture.
 
+## Boundary
+
+This tranche verifies receipt integrity only. It does not:
+
+- load GPT-2 Small into memory
+- load the SAE into memory
+- run inference
+- inject activations
+- return `status: applied`
+
+The next implementation tranche may add optional runtime loading after this digest gate succeeds.
 ## Operator runtime imports
 
 The loader contains an optional runtime-import path for operator machines after a complete artifact receipt exists. Optional runtime dependencies are not part of normal validation and must remain outside the default bootstrap path.
diff --git a/src/agent_machine/steering_loader.py b/src/agent_machine/steering_loader.py
index e806724..9717f3d 100644
--- a/src/agent_machine/steering_loader.py
+++ b/src/agent_machine/steering_loader.py
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+"""Receipt-backed local artifact verification for steering runtime.
+
+This module verifies a SteeringArtifactReceipt before any runtime may use the
+referenced files. It is deliberately fail-closed: absent files or digest mismatch
+produce a not_configured result rather than a runtime claim.
 """Receipt-backed local artifact verification and loading gate.
 
 This module verifies a SteeringArtifactReceipt immediately before any runtime use
@@ -83,8 +88,6 @@ def load(self, receipt_path: Path, *, allow_runtime_imports: bool = False) -> di
             }
 
         return load_runtime_artifacts(receipt, model_files, sae_files, Path(receipt_path), verified)
-
-
 def verify_receipt_files(receipt_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
     """Verify receipt local paths and SHA-256 digests without loading artifacts."""
     receipt_path = Path(receipt_path)
@@ -208,8 +211,6 @@ def common_parent(paths: list[Path]) -> Path | None:
                 return None
             common = common.parent
     return common
-
-
 def sha256_file(path: Path) -> str:
     hasher = hashlib.sha256()
     with path.open("rb") as handle: