diff --git a/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceMetadataReconciliation.php b/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceMetadataReconciliation.php
index d613e12..23aef42 100644
--- a/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceMetadataReconciliation.php
+++ b/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceMetadataReconciliation.php
@@ -1675,6 +1675,17 @@ private function worktree_metadata_reconciliation_budget_arg( string $command ):
 	 * @return int|\WP_Error Dirty file count, or WP_Error when git probe failed.
 	 */
 	private function probe_worktree_dirty_count( string $path, int $timeout_seconds = 0 ): int|\WP_Error {
+		$paths = $this->probe_worktree_dirty_paths($path, $timeout_seconds);
+		return is_wp_error($paths) ? $paths : count($paths);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Probe dirty paths with the porcelain contract shared by cleanup and lifecycle gates.
+	 *
+	 * @param  string $path Worktree path.
+	 * @return string[]|\WP_Error Dirty porcelain entries, or WP_Error when git probe failed.
+	 */
+	private function probe_worktree_dirty_paths( string $path, int $timeout_seconds = 0 ): array|\WP_Error {
 		if ( '' === $path || ! is_dir($path) ) {
 			return new \WP_Error('worktree_path_missing', 'worktree path is not a directory', array( 'status' => 400 ));
 		}
@@ -1682,8 +1693,7 @@ private function probe_worktree_dirty_count( string $path, int $timeout_seconds
 		if ( is_wp_error($result) ) {
 			return $result;
 		}
-		$lines = array_filter(array_map('trim', explode("\n", (string) ( $result['output'] ?? '' ))));
-		return count($lines);
+		return array_values(array_filter(array_map('trim', explode("\n", (string) ( $result['output'] ?? '' )))));
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceWorktreeLifecycle.php b/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceWorktreeLifecycle.php
index 1da5258..8048197 100644
--- a/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceWorktreeLifecycle.php
+++ b/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceWorktreeLifecycle.php
@@ -552,6 +552,26 @@ public function worktree_finalize( string $handle, string $state, ?string $pr =
 			),
 			$metadata
 		);
+		if ( WorktreeContextInjector::has_cleanup_signal($metadata) ) {
+			$dirty_paths = $this->probe_worktree_dirty_paths($wt_path, self::CLEANUP_GIT_PROBE_TIMEOUT);
+			if ( $dirty_paths instanceof \WP_Error ) {
+				return $dirty_paths;
+			}
+			if ( array() !== $dirty_paths ) {
+				return new \WP_Error(
+					'worktree_dirty',
+					sprintf('Refusing to mark worktree "%s" terminal because git status reports %d dirty path(s). Commit, stash, or discard the changes, then finalize again.', $parsed['dir_name'], count($dirty_paths)),
+					array(
+						'status'      => 409,
+						'handle'      => $parsed['dir_name'],
+						'path'        => $wt_path,
+						'dirty_count' => count($dirty_paths),
+						'dirty_paths' => array_slice($dirty_paths, 0, 25),
+						'hint'        => 'Run git status --short in the worktree, resolve every listed change, then retry finalization.',
+					)
+				);
+			}
+		}
 		WorktreeContextInjector::store_lifecycle_metadata($parsed['dir_name'], $metadata);
 
 		$stored = WorktreeContextInjector::get_metadata($parsed['dir_name']) ?? array();
diff --git a/tests/worktree-add-lifecycle.php b/tests/worktree-add-lifecycle.php
index 3b48bc6..3e994a2 100644
--- a/tests/worktree-add-lifecycle.php
+++ b/tests/worktree-add-lifecycle.php
@@ -335,6 +335,35 @@ function create_primary_checkout( string $workspace_root ): void {
 	assert_true('https://example.test/issues/environment' === ( $wpdb->rows['homeboy@audit-primitives-environment-tracker']['task_url'] ?? '' ), 'environment tracker metadata was not persisted');
 	putenv('DATAMACHINE_TASK_URL');
 
+	$handle = 'homeboy@audit-primitives-20260616';
+
+	file_put_contents($result['path'] . '/untracked.txt', "untracked\n");
+	$untracked_finalization = $workspace->worktree_finalize($handle, 'merged');
+	assert_true(is_wp_error($untracked_finalization), 'untracked worktree finalization reported success');
+	assert_true('worktree_dirty' === $untracked_finalization->get_error_code(), 'untracked finalization did not return worktree_dirty');
+	assert_true(1 === ( $untracked_finalization->get_error_data()['dirty_count'] ?? 0 ), 'untracked finalization did not report the dirty count');
+	assert_true(in_array('?? untracked.txt', $untracked_finalization->get_error_data()['dirty_paths'] ?? array(), true), 'untracked finalization did not report the dirty path');
+	assert_true('active' === ( $wpdb->rows[$handle]['lifecycle_state'] ?? '' ), 'dirty terminal finalization mutated lifecycle metadata');
+	$active_update = $workspace->worktree_finalize($handle, 'active');
+	assert_true(! is_wp_error($active_update), 'dirty active lifecycle update must remain permissive');
+	unlink($result['path'] . '/untracked.txt');
+
+	file_put_contents($result['path'] . '/README.md', "unstaged\n");
+	$unstaged_finalization = $workspace->worktree_finalize($handle, 'closed');
+	assert_true(is_wp_error($unstaged_finalization) && 'worktree_dirty' === $unstaged_finalization->get_error_code(), 'unstaged worktree finalization did not fail closed');
+	run_command('git checkout -- README.md', $result['path']);
+
+	file_put_contents($result['path'] . '/README.md', "staged\n");
+	run_command('git add README.md', $result['path']);
+	$staged_finalization = $workspace->worktree_finalize($handle, 'cleanup_eligible');
+	assert_true(is_wp_error($staged_finalization) && 'worktree_dirty' === $staged_finalization->get_error_code(), 'staged worktree finalization did not fail closed');
+	assert_true('active' === ( $wpdb->rows[$handle]['lifecycle_state'] ?? '' ), 'staged terminal finalization mutated lifecycle metadata');
+	run_command('git reset --hard HEAD', $result['path']);
+
+	$clean_finalization = $workspace->worktree_finalize($handle, 'merged');
+	assert_true(! is_wp_error($clean_finalization), 'clean terminal worktree finalization failed');
+	assert_true('cleanup_eligible' === ( $clean_finalization['lifecycle_state'] ?? '' ), 'clean terminal finalization did not expose cleanup eligibility');
+
 	$show = $workspace->show_repo('homeboy@audit-primitives-20260616');
 	assert_true(! is_wp_error($show), 'persisted worktree is not visible to show_repo');
 	assert_true(0 < $wpdb->get_row_calls, 'persisted worktree metadata did not use direct inventory lookup');