diff --git a/phase-ends/current/logs/T1.c2.md b/phase-ends/current/logs/T1.c2.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9dacd41b1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/phase-ends/current/logs/T1.c2.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# T1.c2 — timeline --check ignores latest row's Commits cell
+- Change: tools/timeline.py main() --check: regex masks `| <rows[-1] date> | <n> |` Commits cell to `#` on both regenerated and on-disk text before comparing (md; svg carries no per-row count, mask is a no-op there). Docstring line for --check notes why. Write mode unchanged.
+- Why: committing the regenerated docs/story-timeline.md bumps today's commit count → --check was always STALE same-day (committed 5 vs live 6+).
+- Verified:
+  - before edit: `tools/timeline.py --check` → STALE ['story-timeline.md'] exit 1
+  - after: `--check` → fresh (81 rows) exit 0 (committed row 2026-10-01 shows 5)
+  - negative: edited 2026-09-30 Commits 93→94 in docs/story-timeline.md → STALE exit 1; `git checkout docs/story-timeline.md` → fresh exit 0
+- Note: mask keys on the latest date; if committed file's last row is an older day, rows differ anyway → STALE (correct).
diff --git a/tools/timeline.py b/tools/timeline.py
index a389705fd6..b558507ebf 100644
--- a/tools/timeline.py
+++ b/tools/timeline.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     tools/timeline.py            # writes docs/story-timeline.md + docs/story-timeline.svg; exit 1 if the last row
                                  # disagrees with docs/progress.json (the self-check)
     tools/timeline.py --check    # regenerate in memory and exit 1 if either committed file is stale
+                                 # (the latest row's Commits cell is not compared: committing the file bumps it)
 
 Sources (all in the repository, keyed by DATE — never by commit hash, which the public-flip rewrite changed):
   * every commit that touched docs/progress.fleet.md (the fleet digest, since 2026-06-16): the June single-metric
@@ -402,7 +403,10 @@ def main(argv):
     selfcheck(rows)
     md, svg = render_md(rows), render_svg(rows)
     if a.check:
-        stale = [p.name for p, t in ((OUT_MD, md), (OUT_SVG, svg)) if not p.exists() or p.read_text() != t]
+        # mask the latest row's Commits cell on both sides: committing the regenerated file bumps today's count
+        last = re.compile(r"^(\| " + re.escape(rows[-1]["date"]) + r" \| )\d+( \|)", re.M)
+        mask = lambda t: last.sub(r"\1#\2", t)
+        stale = [p.name for p, t in ((OUT_MD, md), (OUT_SVG, svg)) if not p.exists() or mask(p.read_text()) != mask(t)]
         if stale:
             sys.exit(f"timeline --check: STALE {stale} — run tools/timeline.py")
         print(f"timeline --check: fresh ({len(rows)} rows)")