diff --git a/tools/lane_inflight.py b/tools/lane_inflight.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86ce2b8f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/lane_inflight.py
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""lane_inflight.py — the AUTHORITATIVE record of which drafting agents are live. (P31 S68)
+
+WHY A LEDGER AND NOT A HEURISTIC. `make clean` deletes `asm/` and `build/`, and every drafting agent
+READS `asm/<binary>/nonmatchings/**/<fn>.s`. Agents never WRITE `src/`, so a dirty-tree check cannot
+see them — they DEPEND on state the operation destroys. FOUR times in S68 an R22 pulled `asm/` out
+from under a live draft; one agent survived only by finding a stale snapshot and still returned
+MATCH, which is luck rather than safety.
+
+The first guard I wrote used the mtime of the agents' scratch directories as a liveness proxy. It
+failed twice over, in both possible directions:
+  * `.run/*wave*` in its `find` expanded to so many entries that the shell refused the command
+    ("Argument list too long") — the guard then found nothing and PASSED, and I ran `make clean` on
+    a live lane;
+  * even with the glob fixed, an agent that THINKS for longer than the window looks identical to a
+    finished one — the exact flaw I had already written down for the verdicts file and then rebuilt
+    here anyway.
+
+So liveness is RECORDED, not inferred: the orchestrator adds a target when it launches the workflow
+and removes it when the verdict returns. Both are actions it already takes, so the ledger cannot
+drift without the orchestrator skipping a step it performs anyway.
+
+    tools/lane_inflight.py add ov_SC05_017 func_80189240
+    tools/lane_inflight.py done ov_SC05_017 func_80189240
+    tools/lane_inflight.py list          # exit 1 if ANY are live — this is the guard
+"""
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+import time
+
+REPO = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+PATH = os.path.join(REPO, ".run/lane_inflight.json")
+
+
+def load():
+    try:
+        with open(PATH) as fh:
+            return json.load(fh)
+    except (OSError, ValueError):
+        return {}
+
+
+def save(d):
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(PATH), exist_ok=True)
+    with open(PATH, "w") as fh:
+        json.dump(d, fh, indent=1, sort_keys=True)
+
+
+def main():
+    if len(sys.argv) < 2:
+        sys.exit(__doc__)
+    cmd = sys.argv[1]
+    d = load()
+    if cmd == "add":
+        d["%s:%s" % (sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3])] = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")
+        save(d)
+        print("in-flight: %d" % len(d))
+    elif cmd == "done":
+        d.pop("%s:%s" % (sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3]), None)
+        save(d)
+        print("in-flight: %d" % len(d))
+    elif cmd == "clear":
+        save({})
+        print("in-flight: 0")
+    elif cmd == "list":
+        for k, v in sorted(d.items()):
+            print("  %s  (since %s)" % (k, v))
+        print("in-flight: %d" % len(d))
+        return 1 if d else 0
+    else:
+        sys.exit("unknown command %r" % cmd)
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/tools/parallel_gate.py b/tools/parallel_gate.py
index a9bb67a48..818812a62 100644
--- a/tools/parallel_gate.py
+++ b/tools/parallel_gate.py
@@ -417,9 +417,11 @@ def main():
         # reporting "asm/<binary> is MISSING from the tree" mid-draft, one surviving only because it
         # found an old snapshot. Putting the guard only on the standalone script left this path —
         # the one actually used most — unguarded. A guard belongs where the operation is (R54).
-        busy = sh(["bash", "-c",
-                   "find .run/S68o1 .run/S68m1 .run/*wave* -maxdepth 2 -type d -name 'scratch_*' "
-                   "-newermt '-6 minutes' 2>/dev/null | head -5"]).stdout.strip()
+        # Liveness from the RECORDED ledger, never from scratch-dir mtimes: a `.run/*wave*` glob
+        # blew past ARG_MAX and made the heuristic silently PASS on a live lane, and even fixed it
+        # could not tell a thinking agent from a finished one.
+        _lf = sh([sys.executable, "tools/lane_inflight.py", "list"])
+        busy = _lf.stdout.strip() if _lf.returncode else ""
         if busy and not os.environ.get("R22_FORCE"):
             print("[pgate] R22 SKIPPED — drafting agents are live and read asm/ (a clean would pull "
                   "it out from under them):\n%s\n[pgate] the merge IS committed; run "
diff --git a/tools/r22_verify.sh b/tools/r22_verify.sh
index be56a626d..d8bc935d8 100644
--- a/tools/r22_verify.sh
+++ b/tools/r22_verify.sh
@@ -16,11 +16,9 @@
 set -u
 cd /home/musashi/bfm-decomp
 
-BUSY=$(find .run/S68o1 .run/S68m1 .run/*wave* -maxdepth 2 -type d -name 'scratch_*' \
-       -newermt '-6 minutes' 2>/dev/null | head -5)
-if [ -n "$BUSY" ] && [ -z "${R22_FORCE:-}" ]; then
-  echo "R22 REFUSED — drafting scratch touched in the last 6 minutes (agents are live and read asm/):"
-  echo "$BUSY" | sed 's/^/  /'
+if ! python3 tools/lane_inflight.py list > /tmp/.r22_inflight 2>&1 && [ -z "${R22_FORCE:-}" ]; then
+  echo "R22 REFUSED — drafting agents are LIVE (they read asm/, which make clean deletes):"
+  sed 's/^/  /' /tmp/.r22_inflight
   echo "Drain the lane, or set R22_FORCE=1 if you know every agent is done."
   echo "R22 DONE (refused)"
   exit 2