diff --git a/bash/gh-wrapper.sh b/bash/gh-wrapper.sh
index 7e4a8b2..273f27c 100755
--- a/bash/gh-wrapper.sh
+++ b/bash/gh-wrapper.sh
@@ -224,6 +224,47 @@ _gh_wrapper_sync_identity() {
       ;;
   esac
 
+  # GH_TOKEN outranks the keyring identity that `gh auth switch` selects, so
+  # the hosts.yml check below verifies this function's own output rather than
+  # the auth `gh` will actually use. When a token is present and represents a
+  # different identity than the resolved owner needs, fail closed instead of
+  # silently acting as the wrong account.
+  #
+  # CLAUDE_GH_TOKEN_LOGIN names the identity GH_TOKEN authenticates as. The
+  # test fixture sets it directly. In production it is unset, so the `gh api
+  # user` fallback below resolves it — one network call per invocation. See
+  # Step 11: session-level caching is a known follow-up, deliberately not
+  # built here.
+  if [[ -n "${GH_TOKEN:-}" ]]; then
+    local token_login="${CLAUDE_GH_TOKEN_LOGIN:-}"
+
+    if [[ -z "${token_login}" ]]; then
+      # NOT `command gh`: ~/.local/bin/gh is this same wrapper and precedes
+      # the real binary in PATH, so `command` re-enters this function.
+      # _gh_wrapper_find_real_gh scans PATH while skipping this file.
+      local real_gh
+      if real_gh="$(_gh_wrapper_find_real_gh)"; then
+        token_login="$(GH_TOKEN="${GH_TOKEN}" "${real_gh}" api user --jq .login 2>/dev/null)"
+      fi
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -z "${token_login}" ]]; then
+      echo "[gh] ERROR: GH_TOKEN is set but its identity could not be resolved" >&2
+      echo "[gh] Refusing to run: GH_TOKEN overrides 'gh auth switch', so the" >&2
+      echo "[gh] identity check cannot be trusted. Unset GH_TOKEN to use the" >&2
+      echo "[gh] keyring identity." >&2
+      return 1
+    fi
+
+    if [[ "${token_login,,}" != "${desired,,}" ]]; then
+      echo "[gh] ERROR: GH_TOKEN authenticates as '${token_login}' but repo owner '${owner}' requires '${desired}'" >&2
+      echo "[gh] GH_TOKEN takes precedence over 'gh auth switch', so this would" >&2
+      echo "[gh] run as the wrong identity. Failing closed." >&2
+      echo "[gh] Fix: unset GH_TOKEN to use the keyring identity for this repo." >&2
+      return 1
+    fi
+  fi
+
   current=$(awk '/^github\.com:/{f=1} f && /^ *user:/{print $2; exit}' "${HOME}/.config/gh/hosts.yml" 2>/dev/null | tr -d "\"'")
 
   if [[ -n "${current}" && "${current}" != "${desired}" ]]; then
diff --git a/bash/tests/test-gh-wrapper-gh-token-precedence.sh b/bash/tests/test-gh-wrapper-gh-token-precedence.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8819fb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bash/tests/test-gh-wrapper-gh-token-precedence.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Regression test: _gh_wrapper_sync_identity must not report success when
+# GH_TOKEN will override the identity it just switched to.
+#
+# KNOWN-BAD CASE: case 2 below passes against the CURRENT code, because the
+# fail-closed check reads hosts.yml (its own output) rather than the auth gh
+# will actually use. That inverted assertion is the bug this test pins.
+set -uo pipefail
+unset CDPATH
+
+TESTS_DIR="$(CDPATH='' cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+WRAPPER="${TESTS_DIR}/../gh-wrapper.sh"
+
+WORKDIR="/tmp/gh-token-precedence-test-$$"
+mkdir -p "${WORKDIR}"
+trap 'rm -rf "${WORKDIR}"' EXIT
+
+GIT=/usr/bin/git
+fail=0
+_pass() { echo "  PASS: $1"; }
+_fail() {
+  echo "  FAIL: $1" >&2
+  fail=1
+}
+
+# Sandbox HOME so the fixture never reads or writes the real hosts.yml.
+export HOME="${WORKDIR}/home"
+mkdir -p "${HOME}/.config/gh"
+cat >"${HOME}/.config/gh/hosts.yml" <<'YAML'
+github.com:
+    user: smartwatermelon
+    oauth_token: fake
+YAML
+
+"${GIT}" init -q "${WORKDIR}/repo"
+"${GIT}" -C "${WORKDIR}/repo" remote add origin \
+  git@github.com:smartwatermelon/example.git
+
+# The driver each case runs: source the wrapper from inside the fixture repo and
+# call the function under test. Kept in a file rather than `bash -c` so the
+# wrapper path needs no nested quoting.
+RUNNER="${WORKDIR}/run-sync.sh"
+cat >"${RUNNER}" <<RUNNER_EOF
+cd "${WORKDIR}/repo" || exit 1
+# shellcheck source=/dev/null
+source "${WRAPPER}"
+_gh_wrapper_sync_identity
+RUNNER_EOF
+
+# Run the driver in a clean child shell with the given VAR=VALUE assignments
+# applied. \`env\` is what isolates the environment, so nothing is exported into
+# a subshell whose scope is easy to misread.
+_sync_under_env() {
+  env -u GH_TOKEN -u CLAUDE_GH_TOKEN_LOGIN "$@" bash "${RUNNER}"
+}
+
+# Case 1: no GH_TOKEN -> sync succeeds, as it does today.
+
+if _sync_under_env; then
+  _pass "no GH_TOKEN: sync succeeds"
+else
+  _fail "no GH_TOKEN: sync should succeed"
+fi
+
+# Case 2: GH_TOKEN belonging to a DIFFERENT identity than the resolved owner
+# maps to. Must fail closed. Fails against the current code, which passes.
+if _sync_under_env GH_TOKEN="fake-token-for-andrewmrich" \
+  CLAUDE_GH_TOKEN_LOGIN="andrewmrich"; then
+  _fail "mismatched GH_TOKEN: silently ran as the wrong identity"
+else
+  _pass "mismatched GH_TOKEN: fails closed"
+fi
+
+# Case 3: GH_TOKEN matching the resolved identity -> proceeds.
+if _sync_under_env GH_TOKEN="fake-token-for-smartwatermelon" \
+  CLAUDE_GH_TOKEN_LOGIN="smartwatermelon"; then
+  _pass "matching GH_TOKEN: proceeds"
+else
+  _fail "matching GH_TOKEN: should proceed"
+fi
+
+if [[ ${fail} -eq 0 ]]; then
+  echo "test-gh-wrapper-gh-token-precedence.sh: all assertions passed"
+  exit 0
+fi
+exit 1
diff --git a/bash/tests/test-gh-wrapper-identity.sh b/bash/tests/test-gh-wrapper-identity.sh
index e548403..9d1a7c1 100755
--- a/bash/tests/test-gh-wrapper-identity.sh
+++ b/bash/tests/test-gh-wrapper-identity.sh
@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@ isolate_git_env
 export HOME="/tmp/gh-wrapper-identity-test-home-$$"
 mkdir -p "${HOME}/.config/gh"
 
+# GH_TOKEN outranks the keyring identity, so _gh_wrapper_sync_identity fails
+# closed when a real token in the developer's environment disagrees with the
+# fixture owner each case resolves. That guard is correct; inheriting the
+# ambient token here is not. Sandbox it the same way HOME is sandboxed, so the
+# cases exercise the hosts.yml path they are written to test.
+unset GH_TOKEN CLAUDE_GH_TOKEN_LOGIN
+
 # git init inside the sandboxed HOME must not pick up interactive prompts.
 export GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL="${HOME}/.gitconfig"
 export GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM=/dev/null