diff --git a/test/e2e-tier-alignment.test.ts b/test/e2e-tier-alignment.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..681a8ce94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e-tier-alignment.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/**
+ * Tier-alignment invariant (free, static).
+ *
+ * Kills the "inert demotion" defect class: E2E_TIERS declares a test's tier,
+ * but the paid test files also self-gate on `process.env.EVALS_TIER === '<tier>'`.
+ * When the two disagree, the touchfiles declaration is dead metadata — the
+ * #2077 demotion of the plan-mode/finding-floor smokes to 'periodic' was inert
+ * for months because the files still gated on 'gate' and ran in the blocking
+ * lane on every gate run.
+ *
+ * Mapping rule (test filenames do NOT map mechanically to tier keys): for each
+ * `test/skill-e2e-*.test.ts` with an EVALS_TIER self-gate, search the
+ * E2E_TOUCHFILES / LLM_JUDGE_TOUCHFILES dep lists for the exact file path. If
+ * found under key K, the file's self-gate tier must equal E2E_TIERS[K]. Files
+ * not named in any dep list are REPORTED as unmapped (a nudge to add them to
+ * their eval's dep list), never silently skipped.
+ */
+
+import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
+import { readdirSync, readFileSync } from 'fs';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import { E2E_TOUCHFILES, E2E_TIERS, LLM_JUDGE_TOUCHFILES } from './helpers/touchfiles';
+
+const TEST_DIR = import.meta.dir;
+const SELF_GATE_RE = /EVALS_TIER\s*===\s*'(gate|periodic)'/g;
+
+describe('E2E tier alignment (touchfiles declaration vs test self-gate)', () => {
+  const testFiles = readdirSync(TEST_DIR)
+    .filter((f) => f.startsWith('skill-e2e-') && f.endsWith('.test.ts'))
+    .sort();
+
+  const allDeps: Record<string, string[]> = { ...E2E_TOUCHFILES, ...LLM_JUDGE_TOUCHFILES };
+
+  test('every self-gated test file named in a dep list matches its declared tier', () => {
+    const misaligned: string[] = [];
+    const unmapped: string[] = [];
+
+    for (const file of testFiles) {
+      const content = readFileSync(path.join(TEST_DIR, file), 'utf-8');
+      const tiers = new Set<string>();
+      for (const m of content.matchAll(SELF_GATE_RE)) tiers.add(m[1]);
+      if (tiers.size !== 1) continue; // no self-gate, or mixed-tier file — out of scope
+      const selfTier = [...tiers][0];
+
+      const repoPath = `test/${file}`;
+      const owningKeys = Object.keys(allDeps).filter((k) => allDeps[k].includes(repoPath));
+      if (owningKeys.length === 0) {
+        unmapped.push(`${repoPath} (self-gates '${selfTier}')`);
+        continue;
+      }
+      for (const k of owningKeys) {
+        const declared = E2E_TIERS[k];
+        if (declared && declared !== selfTier) {
+          misaligned.push(
+            `${repoPath}: self-gates on '${selfTier}' but E2E_TIERS['${k}'] declares '${declared}' — the declaration is inert`,
+          );
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Reported, not asserted: these files' evals can't be tier-checked until
+    // their dep lists name the test file. Add `test/<file>` to the eval's
+    // touchfiles entry to bring them under the invariant.
+    if (unmapped.length > 0) {
+      console.warn(
+        `[tier-alignment] ${unmapped.length} self-gated test file(s) not named in any touchfiles dep list:\n  ` +
+          unmapped.join('\n  '),
+      );
+    }
+
+    expect(misaligned).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/helpers/touchfiles.ts b/test/helpers/touchfiles.ts
index 33ba9ad97..3550f6ff3 100644
--- a/test/helpers/touchfiles.ts
+++ b/test/helpers/touchfiles.ts
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ export const E2E_TOUCHFILES: Record<string, string[]> = {
   // AUTO_DECIDE preamble injection lives there and changes can flip the
   // regression test outcome between 'asked' and 'auto_decided'.
   'plan-ceo-review-plan-mode':    ['plan-ceo-review/**', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-completion-status.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/question-tuning.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-ask-user-format.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/review.ts', 'test/helpers/claude-pty-runner.ts'],
-  'plan-eng-review-plan-mode':    ['plan-eng-review/**', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-completion-status.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/question-tuning.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-ask-user-format.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/review.ts', 'test/helpers/claude-pty-runner.ts'],
-  'plan-design-review-plan-mode': ['plan-design-review/**', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-completion-status.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/question-tuning.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-ask-user-format.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/review.ts', 'test/helpers/claude-pty-runner.ts'],
+  'plan-eng-review-plan-mode':    ['plan-eng-review/**', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-completion-status.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/question-tuning.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-ask-user-format.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/review.ts', 'test/helpers/claude-pty-runner.ts', 'test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-plan-mode.test.ts'],
+  'plan-design-review-plan-mode': ['plan-design-review/**', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-completion-status.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/question-tuning.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-ask-user-format.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/review.ts', 'test/helpers/claude-pty-runner.ts', 'test/skill-e2e-plan-design-plan-mode.test.ts'],
   'plan-devex-review-plan-mode':  ['plan-devex-review/**', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-completion-status.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/question-tuning.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-ask-user-format.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/review.ts', 'test/helpers/claude-pty-runner.ts'],
   'plan-mode-no-op':              ['plan-ceo-review/**', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble/generate-completion-status.ts', 'scripts/resolvers/preamble.ts', 'test/helpers/claude-pty-runner.ts'],
 
diff --git a/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-finding-floor.test.ts b/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-finding-floor.test.ts
index ea3d47046..c6a893f8a 100644
--- a/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-finding-floor.test.ts
+++ b/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-finding-floor.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * /plan-design-review AskUserQuestion floor regression (gate, paid, real-PTY).
+ * /plan-design-review AskUserQuestion floor regression (periodic, paid, real-PTY).
  *
  * See test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-finding-floor.test.ts for the contract.
  */
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ import { describe, test } from 'bun:test';
 import { runPlanSkillFloorCheck } from './helpers/claude-pty-runner';
 import { FORCING_FLOOR_DESIGN } from './fixtures/forcing-finding-seeds';
 
-const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'gate';
+const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'periodic';
 const describeE2E = shouldRun ? describe : describe.skip;
 
-describeE2E('/plan-design-review AskUserQuestion floor (gate)', () => {
+describeE2E('/plan-design-review AskUserQuestion floor (periodic)', () => {
   test(
     'seeded forcing finding causes the agent to fire at least one AskUserQuestion',
     async () => {
diff --git a/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-plan-mode.test.ts b/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-plan-mode.test.ts
index 80b982878..4fef6a19e 100644
--- a/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-plan-mode.test.ts
+++ b/test/skill-e2e-plan-design-plan-mode.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * plan-design-review plan-mode smoke (gate, paid, real-PTY).
+ * plan-design-review plan-mode smoke (periodic, paid, real-PTY).
  *
  * See test/skill-e2e-plan-ceo-plan-mode.test.ts for the shared assertion
  * contract. Exercises the same contract against /plan-design-review.
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ import {
   assertReportAtBottomIfPlanWritten,
 } from './helpers/claude-pty-runner';
 
-const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'gate';
+const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'periodic';
 const describeE2E = shouldRun ? describe : describe.skip;
 
-describeE2E('plan-design-review plan-mode smoke (gate)', () => {
+describeE2E('plan-design-review plan-mode smoke (periodic)', () => {
   test('reaches a terminal outcome (asked or plan_ready) without silent writes', async () => {
     const obs = await runPlanSkillObservation({
       skillName: 'plan-design-review',
diff --git a/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-finding-floor.test.ts b/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-finding-floor.test.ts
index bd35e1c12..56a31abb6 100644
--- a/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-finding-floor.test.ts
+++ b/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-finding-floor.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * /plan-eng-review AskUserQuestion floor regression (gate, paid, real-PTY).
+ * /plan-eng-review AskUserQuestion floor regression (periodic, paid, real-PTY).
  *
  * Catches the May 2026 transcript bug where /plan-eng-review wrote a
  * multi-section review plan to ~/.claude/plans/ and called ExitPlanMode
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
  * render. See claude-pty-runner.ts for why this is separate from the
  * runPlanSkillCounting harness used by periodic finding-count tests.
  *
- * Tier: gate. Budget: 10 min (early exit on success ~30-90s typical).
+ * Tier: periodic. Budget: 10 min (early exit on success ~30-90s typical).
  * Cost: ~$0.50-$1.50 per run depending on early-exit timing.
  */
 
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ import { describe, test } from 'bun:test';
 import { runPlanSkillFloorCheck } from './helpers/claude-pty-runner';
 import { FORCING_FLOOR_ENG } from './fixtures/forcing-finding-seeds';
 
-const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'gate';
+const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'periodic';
 const describeE2E = shouldRun ? describe : describe.skip;
 
-describeE2E('/plan-eng-review AskUserQuestion floor (gate)', () => {
+describeE2E('/plan-eng-review AskUserQuestion floor (periodic)', () => {
   test(
     'seeded forcing finding causes the agent to fire at least one AskUserQuestion',
     async () => {
diff --git a/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-plan-mode.test.ts b/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-plan-mode.test.ts
index ec2adca44..2c6703e9f 100644
--- a/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-plan-mode.test.ts
+++ b/test/skill-e2e-plan-eng-plan-mode.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * plan-eng-review plan-mode smoke (gate, paid, real-PTY).
+ * plan-eng-review plan-mode smoke (periodic, paid, real-PTY).
  *
  * See test/skill-e2e-plan-ceo-plan-mode.test.ts for the shared assertion
  * contract. This file exercises the same contract against /plan-eng-review.
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import {
   assertReportAtBottomIfPlanWritten,
 } from './helpers/claude-pty-runner';
 
-const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'gate';
+const shouldRun = !!process.env.EVALS && process.env.EVALS_TIER === 'periodic';
 const describeE2E = shouldRun ? describe : describe.skip;
 
 // SEED_PLAN_FORCING_FINDINGS: 8+ files + custom-vs-builtin smell forces the
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Ignore Bun's native --shard flag because we want full control.
 None planned — will add later.
 `;
 
-describeE2E('plan-eng-review plan-mode smoke (gate)', () => {
+describeE2E('plan-eng-review plan-mode smoke (periodic)', () => {
   test('reaches a terminal outcome (asked or plan_ready) without silent writes', async () => {
     const obs = await runPlanSkillObservation({
       skillName: 'plan-eng-review',