diff --git a/tools/verify_map_findings.py b/tools/verify_map_findings.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d201d7dcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/verify_map_findings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""verify_map_findings.py — machine-check a codegen-map audit's findings against the bytes.
+
+The regalloc.md re-derivation asks agents to classify each claim CONFIRMED / LINE-DRIFT / REFUTED /
+UNVERIFIABLE and to justify it with `real_file` + `real_line` + `source_quote`. An agent's verdict is
+a CLAIM, not evidence (R14) — and the specific failure mode this guards against is the one that makes
+a false REFUTED nearly undetectable by reading: gcc 2.8.1 -> 2.7.2 drifts by +300..+600 lines in
+reload1.c / local-alloc.c, so a naive line lookup lands inside a DIFFERENT FUNCTION and every
+subsequent sentence reads plausibly.
+
+So: re-open each cited file at each cited line and compare the agent's verbatim quote to what is
+actually there. A quote that does not match its line invalidates the finding.
+
+Comparison is whitespace-normalised (agents reflow leading tabs) but otherwise exact. A quote is also
+searched for in a +/-40 line window so a NEAR-MISS (right code, wrong line) is reported separately
+from a FABRICATION (text appears nowhere near) — those two need very different responses.
+
+  python3 tools/verify_map_findings.py <journal.jsonl|result.json>
+
+Generic over docs/gcc-2.7.2-map/*: any audit whose agents return {real_file, real_line, source_quote}.
+"""
+import json
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+
+REPO = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+SRC = os.path.join(REPO, "tools/reference/gcc-2.7.2")
+WINDOW = 40
+
+
+def norm(s):
+    return re.sub(r"\s+", " ", (s or "")).strip()
+
+
+def load_findings(path):
+    """Accept either the workflow's return value or the raw journal."""
+    txt = open(path, errors="replace").read()
+    out = []
+    # journal: one JSON object per line, agent results under .result
+    for line in txt.splitlines():
+        line = line.strip()
+        if not line.startswith("{"):
+            continue
+        try:
+            o = json.loads(line)
+        except Exception:
+            continue
+        r = o.get("result", o)
+        if isinstance(r, dict) and isinstance(r.get("findings"), list):
+            for f in r["findings"]:
+                f = dict(f)
+                f.setdefault("_chunk", r.get("chunk", "?"))
+                out.append(f)
+    if out:
+        return out
+    # otherwise: a single result blob containing .findings
+    i = txt.find('{"counts"')
+    if i < 0:
+        i = txt.find("{")
+    try:
+        blob = json.loads(txt[i:])
+    except Exception:
+        return []
+    return blob.get("findings", [])
+
+
+def check(f):
+    st = f.get("status")
+    if st == "UNVERIFIABLE":
+        return "SKIP", "declared unverifiable"
+    rf, rl, q = f.get("real_file"), f.get("real_line"), f.get("source_quote")
+    if not (rf and rl and q):
+        return "NO-EVIDENCE", "status=%s but no file/line/quote" % st
+    p = os.path.join(SRC, rf.replace("tools/reference/gcc-2.7.2/", "").lstrip("/"))
+    if not os.path.exists(p):
+        return "BAD-FILE", "no such file: %s" % rf
+    lines = open(p, errors="replace").read().splitlines()
+    if not (1 <= rl <= len(lines)):
+        return "BAD-LINE", "%s has %d lines, cited %d" % (rf, len(lines), rl)
+    nq = norm(q)
+    if not nq:
+        return "NO-EVIDENCE", "empty quote"
+    if nq in norm(lines[rl - 1]) or norm(lines[rl - 1]) in nq:
+        return "OK", ""
+    lo, hi = max(0, rl - 1 - WINDOW), min(len(lines), rl - 1 + WINDOW)
+    for j in range(lo, hi):
+        if nq in norm(lines[j]) or (norm(lines[j]) and norm(lines[j]) in nq):
+            return "NEAR", "quote found at %d, cited %d (off by %+d)" % (j + 1, rl, (j + 1) - rl)
+    return "FABRICATED", "quote appears nowhere within +/-%d lines of %s:%d" % (WINDOW, rf, rl)
+
+
+def main():
+    if len(sys.argv) < 2:
+        print(__doc__)
+        sys.exit(2)
+    findings = load_findings(sys.argv[1])
+    if not findings:
+        print("NO FINDINGS PARSED from", sys.argv[1])
+        sys.exit(1)
+    tally = {}
+    bad = []
+    for f in findings:
+        v, why = check(f)
+        tally[v] = tally.get(v, 0) + 1
+        if v not in ("OK", "SKIP"):
+            bad.append((v, f, why))
+    print("findings checked: %d" % len(findings))
+    for k in sorted(tally):
+        print("  %-12s %d" % (k, tally[k]))
+    if bad:
+        print("\n--- EVIDENCE PROBLEMS (these findings are NOT usable as-is) ---")
+        for v, f, why in bad:
+            print("\n[%s] %s :: %s" % (v, f.get("_chunk", "?"), f.get("status")))
+            print("  claim: %s" % (f.get("claim_excerpt", "")[:150]))
+            print("  cited: %s -> %s:%s" % (f.get("cited"), f.get("real_file"), f.get("real_line")))
+            print("  why  : %s" % why)
+    st = {}
+    for f in findings:
+        st[f.get("status")] = st.get(f.get("status"), 0) + 1
+    print("\nstatus distribution: %s" % st)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()