diff --git a/DNA_STRAND_MASTER_PLAN.md b/DNA_STRAND_MASTER_PLAN.md
index 71cd27f..36a10fe 100644
--- a/DNA_STRAND_MASTER_PLAN.md
+++ b/DNA_STRAND_MASTER_PLAN.md
@@ -265,6 +265,54 @@ Strands G0–G4 are sequential. G5–G12 are concurrent once G4 lands.
 - **G4.6** Quota: on push, call the kernel's quota check; over-quota → refuse with a repair-pointer error whose `speak` is grandma-words and whose `remediation_tool` names the upgrade path (Storage-Kingdom cross-sell hook, §0.5). **We emit the hook; the kernel owns the price** (I-11).
 - **G4.7** Object-count and byte accounting per repo, recomputed nightly, exposed on `GET /{id}/status`.
 
+## Strand G4A — Gitea/R2 traps paid for on 2026-08-11
+
+Four failures hit while wiring G2–G4 live. Each cost a crash loop or a dead end,
+and each presents as a different problem than it is. All four are now pinned by
+tests in `api/tests/test_invariants.py`.
+
+- **G4A.1 — `[lfs] STORAGE_TYPE` breaks storage inheritance.** Naming a storage
+  type inside `[lfs]` creates a **separate** storage section that does *not*
+  inherit the endpoint or credentials from `[storage]`. Gitea crash-loops on
+  `Endpoint: does not follow ip address or domain name standards` — an error that
+  names the symptom and not the cause. **Let LFS inherit `[storage]`.** Avatars
+  initialising correctly is the tell that the rest of the config is fine.
+- **G4A.2 — setting the storage backend does not turn LFS on.** `[server]
+  LFS_START_SERVER = true` is separate. Without it the batch endpoint 404s and
+  the client reports *"Repository or object not found"*, which reads like a
+  permissions or credentials problem and is neither.
+- **G4A.3 — ⚠️ Gitea's env-to-ini SETS but never UNSETS.** Removing a `GITEA__*`
+  variable from compose does **not** remove the line from the persisted
+  `app.ini`. The container will keep booting with a setting that no longer exists
+  anywhere in the repo, so the config in git and the config in production
+  silently disagree — the exact class of drift this whole cell exists to end.
+  **To remove a setting you must edit `app.ini` on the host**
+  (`/srv/windygit/git/gitea/conf/app.ini`), not just the compose file.
+- **G4A.4 — R2 rejects the default S3 checksum algorithm.** Set
+  `MINIO_CHECKSUM_ALGORITHM = md5` or uploads fail with an opaque checksum error.
+
+### G4A.5 — ⚠️ Cloudflare's 100-second limit caps a push, and it shapes G10
+
+A plain (non-LFS) push of an 8 MB file over the tunnel died with **HTTP 524**.
+Cloudflare's proxy times out at ~100 s on the Free plan, and Grant's residential
+upstream measured ~19 KB/s during the LFS test, so anything large is a coin flip.
+
+This is not a bug to fix; it is a constraint that **dictates the model-hub
+architecture**:
+
+1. **The LFS threshold (G4.5) is load-bearing, not tidiness.** Anything big must
+   go via LFS, because a large blob inside a git pack has no way to be resumed
+   or offloaded.
+2. **G10 must serve LFS objects via presigned R2 URLs — client straight to R2 —
+   rather than proxying blobs through the tunnel.** That removes the 100 s
+   ceiling, removes Grant's home upstream from the path entirely, and is exactly
+   what Hugging Face does. Until that lands, model repos are capped by whatever
+   fits in 100 seconds.
+
+**Verified working on 2026-08-11:** a 3 MB LFS object pushed through the tunnel
+and landed in R2 at `lfs/34/2d/…`, with **no local `lfs/` directory on the host**
+— I-3 confirmed by measurement rather than by assertion.
+
 ## Strand G5 — THE SHELTER (permissions plane over Windy Cloud) · **the v0 product**
 
 *This strand is the one that ships first and the one that has no competitor. Windy Cloud today has no sharing, no permissions and no versioning of any kind (D-8).*
diff --git a/LICENSES/NOTICE.md b/LICENSES/NOTICE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..864728d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSES/NOTICE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Third-party notices — Windy Git
+
+Windy Git runs **stock Gitea** as an unforked component (D-2 / I-1). Gitea is
+distributed under the MIT license, reproduced in `gitea-MIT.txt`.
+
+MIT's only obligation is that the copyright notice and license text travel with
+copies of the software that are **distributed**. Running Windy Git as a hosted
+service is not distribution, so strictly this file is not required today — it is
+here anyway, because it will be required the moment a self-host bundle ships, and
+because shipping it costs nothing.
+
+MIT does **not** require us to advertise the lineage, does not restrict
+commercial use, and does not require publishing our modifications. That last
+point is why Gitea (MIT) was chosen over Forgejo (GPLv3 from v9): GPLv3 does not
+trigger on running a service — that is AGPL, and it is widely gotten wrong — but
+it **does** trigger on distributing a binary, which the self-host line would do.
+
+**Gitea's trademarks are not used.** The product is branded Windy Git throughout.
+
+| Component | Version | License |
+|---|---|---|
+| Gitea | 1.24.6 (pinned) | MIT — `gitea-MIT.txt` |
+| PostgreSQL | 16 | PostgreSQL License |
+| cloudflared | 2026.1.2 | Apache-2.0 |
diff --git a/LICENSES/gitea-MIT.txt b/LICENSES/gitea-MIT.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8d4b49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSES/gitea-MIT.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+Copyright (c) 2016 The Gitea Authors
+Copyright (c) 2015 The Gogs Authors
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+THE SOFTWARE.
diff --git a/api/tests/test_invariants.py b/api/tests/test_invariants.py
index f054b80..fba92ef 100644
--- a/api/tests/test_invariants.py
+++ b/api/tests/test_invariants.py
@@ -234,3 +234,53 @@ def test_g05_no_secret_literals_committed():
         text = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="ignore")
         for pattern in patterns:
             assert not pattern.search(text), f"credential literal in {path}"
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# G2.1 / G2.7 — the Gitea version is PINNED, and drift is a failure
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_g21_gitea_version_is_pinned_not_latest():
+    compose = (ROOT / "docker-compose.yml").read_text()
+    m = re.search(r"image:\s*\S*gitea/gitea:(\S+)", compose)
+    assert m, "no gitea image pin found"
+    assert m.group(1) != "latest", "G2.1: pin an exact Gitea version, never `latest`"
+    assert re.match(r"^\d+\.\d+\.\d+$", m.group(1)), f"not an exact version: {m.group(1)}"
+
+
+def test_g24_gitea_license_travels_with_us():
+    """MIT's one obligation. Cheap to honour, embarrassing to miss."""
+    assert (ROOT / "LICENSES" / "gitea-MIT.txt").exists()
+    assert "MIT" in (ROOT / "LICENSES" / "gitea-MIT.txt").read_text()
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# G4.3 — the two Gitea storage traps that cost a crash loop each
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_g43_no_lfs_storage_type_override():
+    """Naming a storage type inside [lfs] creates a SEPARATE storage section
+    that does not inherit endpoint or credentials from [storage], and Gitea
+    crash-loops with an error that names the symptom and not the cause."""
+    # Check real settings only — the compose file deliberately NAMES this key in
+    # a warning comment so the next person does not re-add it.
+    active = [
+        ln for ln in (ROOT / "docker-compose.yml").read_text().splitlines()
+        if ln.strip() and not ln.strip().startswith("#")
+    ]
+    assert not any("GITEA__lfs__STORAGE_TYPE" in ln for ln in active)
+
+
+def test_g43_lfs_server_is_actually_enabled():
+    """Setting the storage backend does NOT turn LFS on. Without this the batch
+    endpoint 404s and the client says 'Repository or object not found', which
+    reads like a permissions problem and is not one."""
+    active = [
+        ln for ln in (ROOT / "docker-compose.yml").read_text().splitlines()
+        if ln.strip() and not ln.strip().startswith("#")
+    ]
+    assert any("GITEA__server__LFS_START_SERVER" in ln for ln in active)
+
+
+def test_g43_r2_checksum_trap_is_pinned():
+    """R2 rejects the checksum algorithm S3 clients send by default."""
+    compose = (ROOT / "docker-compose.yml").read_text()
+    assert "MINIO_CHECKSUM_ALGORITHM" in compose