diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 1c90697..6234944 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -386,6 +386,30 @@ archives byte-for-byte as before. Authoritative design: `docs/RFC_incremental_v2
   confirmed rc=0 on Negishi) tar's own `Cannot open: <reason>` under `htar_large`,
   since that wrapper's exit code reflects `hsi put`, not the `tar` process that
   hit the error. Invariant #6 still applies to retrieval.
+- **This isn't theoretical for the two areas that matter — audited 2026-07-12.**
+  The two areas actually required to be backed up are `data/repository` and
+  `data/landing-zone` (legacy per-experiment archives like the old flat X0A–F
+  layout are being consolidated out of scope separately). A direct relpath-length
+  scan of both, done to settle whether they're exposed rather than waiting for a
+  run to fail:
+  - `data/repository` (46 TB, ~19 categories): **max relpath 237 chars** —
+    `X0F/4_omics-analysis/.../10_KEGG_enrichment/.../gmx04141...absMaxFC.png` —
+    only **3 characters under `HTAR_ARCNAME_LEN_LIMIT` (240)**. 13,408 files are
+    already ≥200 chars. This is real, in-scope production data, not the
+    deprecated X0A raw-delivery tree that originally broke — same
+    KEGG/pathway-analysis naming family, just reorganized slightly shorter by
+    repository's ingest. Nothing has crossed 240 yet, so nothing has silently
+    dropped here, but the margin is thin enough that the next omics-analysis
+    pipeline run with a slightly longer comparison name plausibly could without
+    this fix.
+  - `data/landing-zone` (Metabolomics + inboxes): max relpath 218 chars, 46,870
+    files ≥200 chars. Same long-imaging-pipeline-name style, wider (22-char)
+    margin than repository's.
+  - Cross-checked against every historical run log: only the legacy
+    `X0A_Task4_Pendleton_Transcriptomics` target has ever actually hit "name too
+    long" — repository and landing-zone runs have not silently lost files to
+    date. The margin found here is why that's true, not evidence it's not a
+    real risk.
 - **Per-target manifest** at `{log_dir}/_vault/{badge}.manifest.json` — the
   durable cross-run state reclaim and restore rebuild the aggregate from. This is
   why routing requires a shared, durable `log_dir` (guard in `load_config`).
diff --git a/docs/RFC_incremental_v2.md b/docs/RFC_incremental_v2.md
index 8f01547..cca862d 100644
--- a/docs/RFC_incremental_v2.md
+++ b/docs/RFC_incremental_v2.md
@@ -198,6 +198,20 @@ htar's `Not readable: <relpath>` (unreadable source file, also silently skipped)
 strings but haven't been reproduced live, so are documented as a gap rather than guessed at:
 a symlink whose target path is too long, and a source file modified mid-create.
 
+**Exposure audit (2026-07-12), against the areas actually in scope — `data/repository` and
+`data/landing-zone`, not the legacy per-experiment X0A–F layout being consolidated
+separately.** A direct relpath-length scan (not waiting for a real run to fail) found
+`data/repository` (46 TB, ~19 categories) has a max relpath of **237 chars** — 3 characters
+under `HTAR_ARCNAME_LEN_LIMIT` — in `X0F/4_omics-analysis/.../10_KEGG_enrichment/...`, the
+same pathway-analysis naming family that broke the legacy X0A archive, just reorganized
+slightly shorter by repository's ingest; 13,408 files are already ≥200 chars.
+`data/landing-zone` maxes at 218 chars (46,870 files ≥200), a wider margin. Neither has
+crossed 240 yet — consistent with every historical run log showing only the legacy
+`X0A_Task4_Pendleton_Transcriptomics` target ever actually hitting "name too long" — but the
+3-char margin on repository means this was close to being a live incident, not a
+hypothetical one, and the next omics pipeline run with slightly longer comparison names
+could cross it without this fix in place.
+
 ### 2.2 Thresholds, K, and budgets (measurement-tuned; all warn-only)
 
 | Knob | Default | Basis |