diff --git a/docs/GRAND-QUILT.md b/docs/GRAND-QUILT.md
index bfba7e5..c9b5cd9 100644
--- a/docs/GRAND-QUILT.md
+++ b/docs/GRAND-QUILT.md
@@ -27,6 +27,15 @@ The fleet's quilt kernel speaks six opcodes: **BIND / LINK / EFFECT / VIEW /
 TICK / FORGET**. Git has spoken them for twenty years — it just never said
 so out loud.
 
+> **Provenance.** The opcode doctrine is not native to git-agent. Its canonical
+> source is [AI-Writings/algebra.md](https://github.com/SuperInstance/AI-Writings/blob/main/algebra.md)
+> — the fleet's algebra of cells; git-agent's contribution is the isomorphism
+> below (git primitives as an existing, unbroken speaker of the same opcodes).
+> This in-repo citation exists so the referral edge
+> `aw-quint-opcode → ga-quilt-emit` is verifiable where the code lives, per the
+> quilt-tools referral-graph weight law (VERIFIED requires a merged PR in the
+> TARGET repo citing the source).
+
 | Quilt opcode | Git primitive | What it actually does |
 |---|---|---|
 | **BIND** | `git commit` | Declares a cell: identity (hash), content (tree), authorship, timestamp. A commit is a node entering the quilt with a permanent name. |
diff --git a/tests/test_quilt_provenance.py b/tests/test_quilt_provenance.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53c0389
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_quilt_provenance.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+"""
+Provenance pin: the opcode doctrine in docs/GRAND-QUILT.md must carry an
+in-repo citation of its canonical source (AI-Writings/algebra.md).
+
+Why this exists: the referral edge aw-quint-opcode -> ga-quilt-emit was booked
+PENDING (never VERIFIED) because the merged quilt_emit PR cited the five-opcode
+doctrine without naming the source repo. Weight law: VERIFIED requires a merged
+PR in the TARGET repo citing the source. This pin keeps the citation from
+drifting back out.
+
+FAIL-first by construction: on main, GRAND-QUILT.md names no algebra.md
+source, so this test fails there.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+DOCS = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "docs"
+
+
+def test_grand_quilt_cites_canonical_opcode_source():
+    text = (DOCS / "GRAND-QUILT.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "AI-Writings/blob/main/algebra.md" in text, (
+        "GRAND-QUILT.md describes the opcode doctrine without citing its "
+        "canonical source (AI-Writings/algebra.md); the referral edge "
+        "aw-quint-opcode -> ga-quilt-emit would decay back to PENDING."
+    )
+
+
+def test_grand_quilt_citation_names_the_edge():
+    text = (DOCS / "GRAND-QUILT.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "aw-quint-opcode" in text and "ga-quilt-emit" in text, (
+        "citation must name the referral edge it serves, per the "
+        "quilt-tools weight law"
+    )