diff --git a/analysis/horizon_battery.py b/analysis/horizon_battery.py
index d5c6b8e..e53c8cb 100644
--- a/analysis/horizon_battery.py
+++ b/analysis/horizon_battery.py
@@ -263,8 +263,8 @@ def main():
         help="OOS rows date (YYYY-MM-DD). Default: latest.",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
-        "--bucket", default=cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET,
-        help=f"S3 bucket. Default: {cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET}",
+        "--bucket", default=cfg.S3_BUCKET,
+        help=f"S3 bucket. Default: {cfg.S3_BUCKET}",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--bootstrap-iter", type=int, default=1000,
diff --git a/analysis/triple_barrier_cutover_runner.py b/analysis/triple_barrier_cutover_runner.py
index bdb7fa0..03db753 100644
--- a/analysis/triple_barrier_cutover_runner.py
+++ b/analysis/triple_barrier_cutover_runner.py
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ def run_gate(
     ``DATE_CONVENTIONS.md``.
 
     Args:
-        bucket: S3 bucket. Defaults to ``cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET``.
+        bucket: S3 bucket. Defaults to ``cfg.S3_BUCKET``.
         n_days: trailing prediction-history window. Default 42.
         horizon_days: forward-realized window. Default 21 (matches
             ``cfg.FORWARD_DAYS``).
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def run_gate(
         ``window_days``, ``horizon_days``, ``n_pairs_loaded``,
         ``n_realized_filled``, ``s3_key`` (when ``write_to_s3=True``).
     """
-    bucket = bucket or cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET
+    bucket = bucket or cfg.S3_BUCKET
     dual = now_dual()
     if run_id is None:
         run_id = new_eval_run_id()
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__.split("\n\n")[0])
     parser.add_argument(
         "--bucket", default=None,
-        help=f"S3 bucket. Default: cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET ({cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET}).",
+        help=f"S3 bucket. Default: cfg.S3_BUCKET ({cfg.S3_BUCKET}).",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--window", type=int, default=DEFAULT_WINDOW_DAYS,
diff --git a/analysis/variant_cutover_gate.py b/analysis/variant_cutover_gate.py
index 00f95e1..29ff535 100644
--- a/analysis/variant_cutover_gate.py
+++ b/analysis/variant_cutover_gate.py
@@ -500,8 +500,8 @@ def main():
     """CLI entry point for offline gate evaluation."""
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__.split("\n\n")[0])
     parser.add_argument(
-        "--bucket", default=cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET,
-        help=f"S3 bucket. Default: {cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET}",
+        "--bucket", default=cfg.S3_BUCKET,
+        help=f"S3 bucket. Default: {cfg.S3_BUCKET}",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--baseline", required=True,
diff --git a/tests/test_analysis_clis_invokable.py b/tests/test_analysis_clis_invokable.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10d0ca9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_analysis_clis_invokable.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+"""Regression test pinning that every ``analysis/*`` CLI invokes ``--help``
+without an ``AttributeError`` on a stale ``cfg.<MISSING>`` reference at
+argparse default-setup time.
+
+Caught 2026-05-28 (operator audit while scoping L2878 / the regime-
+conditioning rebuild): three diagnostic CLIs that gate Stages 1d / 2d /
+3 cutover decisions — ``variant_cutover_gate``, ``horizon_battery``,
+``triple_barrier_cutover_runner`` — were ALL referencing
+``cfg.RESEARCH_BUCKET``, an attribute that has never been defined in
+``config.py`` (canonical name is ``cfg.S3_BUCKET``). The stale symbol
+was introduced 2026-05-10 by PR #117 (variant gate substrate) and
+copied into the two sibling CLIs since. The CLIs died at import time
+during the argparse default lookup before any user-facing message.
+
+Programmatic API was unaffected — the bug only surfaced when an
+operator actually ran the CLI for the first time. Latent for 18 days.
+
+This test closes the bug CLASS at PR time: every analysis-CLI module
+with a ``main()`` entry point is invoked via ``python -m`` with
+``--help`` and the test asserts exit code 0 + non-empty stdout.
+``argparse``'s ``--help`` exits with code 0; a missing-attr error
+surfaces as a non-zero exit code + stderr trace.
+
+Composes with the lib-version-bump-check chokepoint pattern (mirror
+test ``test_version_bump_workflow.py`` in alpha-engine-lib #82) —
+when a class of mistake recurs in more than one file, lift the
+chokepoint to a test that fails at PR time. See
+[[feedback_lift_invariants_to_chokepoint_after_second_recurrence]].
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+
+# Every analysis CLI with a ``main()`` entry. New CLIs added under
+# ``analysis/`` MUST be appended here (or excluded via a comment if
+# explicitly internal-only). The walker below would auto-discover them
+# but the explicit list also serves as documentation.
+ANALYSIS_CLIS = [
+    "analysis.variant_cutover_gate",
+    "analysis.horizon_battery",
+    "analysis.triple_barrier_cutover_runner",
+    "analysis.compare_modes",
+]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("module", ANALYSIS_CLIS)
+def test_analysis_cli_help_works(module: str) -> None:
+    """Pin ``python -m <module> --help`` exit 0 + non-empty usage line.
+
+    Catches stale ``cfg.<MISSING_ATTR>`` references in argparse
+    defaults — the failure mode of the original 2026-05-28 incident.
+    """
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-m", module, "--help"],
+        cwd=REPO_ROOT,
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        timeout=30,
+    )
+    assert result.returncode == 0, (
+        f"`python -m {module} --help` exited {result.returncode}.\n"
+        f"stderr:\n{result.stderr}\n"
+        f"stdout:\n{result.stdout}"
+    )
+    assert result.stdout.strip(), (
+        f"`python -m {module} --help` produced empty stdout — argparse "
+        f"should always print a usage line."
+    )
+    assert "usage:" in result.stdout.lower(), (
+        f"`python -m {module} --help` stdout missing 'usage:' line "
+        f"(argparse default formatter).\nstdout: {result.stdout[:500]}"
+    )
+
+
+def test_analysis_cli_list_covers_every_module_with_main() -> None:
+    """Walk ``analysis/*.py`` looking for any module that defines a
+    top-level ``main()`` function; assert it appears in
+    ``ANALYSIS_CLIS`` above.
+
+    Catches the case where someone adds a new analysis CLI but forgets
+    to register it in the parametrize list above, leaving the new CLI
+    un-smoke-tested.
+    """
+    analysis_dir = REPO_ROOT / "analysis"
+    discovered: list[str] = []
+    for py_path in sorted(analysis_dir.glob("*.py")):
+        if py_path.name.startswith("_"):
+            continue
+        source = py_path.read_text()
+        if "\ndef main(" not in source and not source.startswith("def main("):
+            continue
+        mod_name = f"analysis.{py_path.stem}"
+        discovered.append(mod_name)
+
+    missing = sorted(set(discovered) - set(ANALYSIS_CLIS))
+    assert not missing, (
+        "Newly-discovered analysis CLIs missing from ANALYSIS_CLIS: "
+        f"{missing}. Append them to the list above (or comment why "
+        "they're excluded from the help-smoke gate)."
+    )