diff --git a/scripts/coord/claim-adjudicate.ps1 b/scripts/coord/claim-adjudicate.ps1
index c56cb2f8c..2c6b57f45 100644
--- a/scripts/coord/claim-adjudicate.ps1
+++ b/scripts/coord/claim-adjudicate.ps1
@@ -97,6 +97,15 @@ param(
     [string]$ClaimsDir = ""
 )
 
+# A CLAUDE CODE CLOUD SESSION REACHES NO OTHER SESSION THROUGH THIS SCRIPT: its --git-common-dir is
+# the VM's own clone, so a read finds nothing there and the empty answer looks clean. CLAUDE.md
+# section 5, "A cloud session is a Builder in its own session"; tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
+# holds the copies equal.
+if ($env:CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE -eq 'true') {
+    [Console]::Error.WriteLine('claim-adjudicate.ps1: refused in a Claude Code cloud session (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true). This VM''s .git/mefor-coord reaches no other session, so nothing was read or recorded.')
+    exit 3
+}
+
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
 # Banners carry emoji. On a cp1252 console git's output decodes to mojibake and every glyph test
diff --git a/scripts/coord/claim-reconcile.ps1 b/scripts/coord/claim-reconcile.ps1
index e59b8d454..67b28dbea 100644
--- a/scripts/coord/claim-reconcile.ps1
+++ b/scripts/coord/claim-reconcile.ps1
@@ -159,6 +159,15 @@ param(
     [string[]]$ConfigRoot
 )
 
+# A CLAUDE CODE CLOUD SESSION REACHES NO OTHER SESSION THROUGH THIS SCRIPT: its --git-common-dir is
+# the VM's own clone, so a read finds nothing there and the empty answer looks clean. CLAUDE.md
+# section 5, "A cloud session is a Builder in its own session"; tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
+# holds the copies equal.
+if ($env:CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE -eq 'true') {
+    [Console]::Error.WriteLine('claim-reconcile.ps1: refused in a Claude Code cloud session (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true). This VM''s .git/mefor-coord reaches no other session, so nothing was read or recorded.')
+    exit 3
+}
+
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
 # -ClaimsDir exists to AUDIT a reconstructed copy, and a release always lands in the LIVE registry,
diff --git a/scripts/coord/fleet.ps1 b/scripts/coord/fleet.ps1
index f399561ba..e7957c733 100644
--- a/scripts/coord/fleet.ps1
+++ b/scripts/coord/fleet.ps1
@@ -59,6 +59,15 @@ param(
     [string]$RepoHint
 )
 
+# A CLAUDE CODE CLOUD SESSION REACHES NO OTHER SESSION THROUGH THIS SCRIPT: its --git-common-dir is
+# the VM's own clone, so a read finds nothing there and the empty answer looks clean. CLAUDE.md
+# section 5, "A cloud session is a Builder in its own session"; tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
+# holds the copies equal.
+if ($env:CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE -eq 'true') {
+    [Console]::Error.WriteLine('fleet.ps1: refused in a Claude Code cloud session (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true). This VM''s .git/mefor-coord reaches no other session, so nothing was read or recorded.')
+    exit 3
+}
+
 Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
 $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
 
diff --git a/scripts/coord/overlap.ps1 b/scripts/coord/overlap.ps1
index a4dd118ac..880ddc090 100644
--- a/scripts/coord/overlap.ps1
+++ b/scripts/coord/overlap.ps1
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ param(
     # binds to a one-element array, which is why the existing callers that pass one path still work.
     [string[]]$TasksDir,
     # ABANDON THE WALK AND EXIT 3 if it has not finished within this many seconds. 0 = unbounded,
-    # which is the right default for a human at a prompt: a slow answer beats no answer.
+    # which is the right default for a human at a prompt: a slow answer beats no answer. Exit 3 also
+    # reports the cloud-session refusal after this param block, which prints nothing.
     #
     # It exists for the HOOK, which has the opposite need. collision_gate.ps1 spawns this script under
     # a harness timeout it does not control; when that timeout fires the hook process is killed, so it
@@ -169,6 +170,18 @@ param(
     [int]$ParallelLimit = 16
 )
 
+# A CLAUDE CODE CLOUD SESSION REACHES NO OTHER SESSION THROUGH THIS SCRIPT: its --git-common-dir is
+# the VM's own clone, so a read finds nothing there and the empty answer looks clean. CLAUDE.md
+# section 5, "A cloud session is a Builder in its own session"; tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
+# holds the copies equal.
+# Exit 3 is this script's did-not-finish code (see -TimeBudgetSeconds), so a consumer
+# that reads the exit code, as collision_gate.ps1 does, takes a refusal as no all-clear. One that
+# reads only stdout, as session-context.ps1 does, sees nothing; neither hook loads in a cloud session.
+if ($env:CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE -eq 'true') {
+    [Console]::Error.WriteLine('overlap.ps1: refused in a Claude Code cloud session (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true). This VM''s .git/mefor-coord reaches no other session, so nothing was read or recorded.')
+    exit 3
+}
+
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 . "$PSScriptRoot\session-registry.ps1"
 
diff --git a/scripts/coord/presence.ps1 b/scripts/coord/presence.ps1
index 6ae4e9a2e..9c33d145a 100644
--- a/scripts/coord/presence.ps1
+++ b/scripts/coord/presence.ps1
@@ -85,6 +85,15 @@ param(
     [int]$StartSkewMinutes = 15
 )
 
+# A CLAUDE CODE CLOUD SESSION SEES NO OTHER SESSION THROUGH THIS SCRIPT: the config roots it scans are
+# the VM's own, so the roster lists nobody else and that empty answer looks like an empty repo. CLAUDE.md
+# section 5, "A cloud session is a Builder in its own session"; tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
+# holds the line.
+if ($env:CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE -eq 'true') {
+    [Console]::Error.WriteLine('presence.ps1: refused in a Claude Code cloud session (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true). This VM''s Claude config roots list no other session, so nothing was read.')
+    exit 3
+}
+
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
 # --- Registry access, the liveness fence, and the cwd -> worktree matcher ------------------------
diff --git a/tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py b/tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
index df2675136..839c8e211 100644
--- a/tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
+++ b/tests/test_coord_cloud_refusal.py
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@
 ``tombstone-retired-backlog-allocator.ps1`` and ``hygiene-report.ps1``, and a census below holds every
 script that names the directory to a decision about it.
 
+The readers refuse as well, because there a VM's empty answer looks clean: ``overlap.ps1`` would say
+nobody else is in a file, ``claim-adjudicate.ps1`` and ``claim-reconcile.ps1`` would judge an empty
+claim pool, and ``fleet.ps1`` would render an empty roster. ``presence.ps1`` reads the Claude config
+roots rather than the directory, and those are the VM's own too, so it refuses with a tail of its own.
+
 Each refusal is paired with a control that runs the same call without ``CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE`` and
 must take the normal path, because a refusal test alone also passes against a script that refuses
 every call. tests/conftest.py drops the variable from the suite's own environment, so the controls
@@ -18,6 +23,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import json
 import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
@@ -26,6 +32,8 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+from tests.test_coord_presence import write_session
+
 ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
 COORD = ROOT / "scripts" / "coord"
 HOOKS = ROOT / "scripts" / "hooks"
@@ -36,9 +44,27 @@
     ": refused in a Claude Code cloud session (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true). This VM's .git/mefor-coord"
     " reaches no other session, so nothing was read or recorded."
 )
+PRESENCE_TAIL = (
+    ": refused in a Claude Code cloud session (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true). This VM's Claude config roots"
+    " list no other session, so nothing was read."
+)
 SEAT_DECLARE = ("-Declare", "-Seat", "builder", "-Goal", "cloud refusal test")
 # The report's offline shape: no gh, no fetch, no roots beyond the sandbox clone.
 HYGIENE_OFFLINE = ("-SkipGh", "-SkipFetch", "-NoExtraRoots")
+# Outside the census, which reads the directory's name: this script never names it.
+PRESENCE = "coord/presence.ps1"
+# The readers, each with a call and a line of its normal answer in the sandbox clone. Where a reader
+# takes -ConfigRoot, the root is relative to the clone and does not exist, so no real registry is
+# read; fleet.ps1 takes none, so its control points USERPROFILE at a fixture home instead. No call
+# asks gh.
+NO_ROOT = ("-ConfigRoot", "no-config-root")
+NOT_SCANNED = "-- nothing was scanned."
+READERS = (
+    ("coord/overlap.ps1", ("-Json", *NO_ROOT, "-TasksDir", "no-tasks"), "[]"),
+    ("coord/claim-adjudicate.ps1", (), NOT_SCANNED),
+    ("coord/claim-reconcile.ps1", (*NO_ROOT, "-NoPullRequests"), NOT_SCANNED),
+    ("coord/fleet.ps1", (), "fenceAvailable             True"),
+)
 
 needs_pwsh = pytest.mark.skipif(shutil.which("pwsh") is None, reason="the scripts run under pwsh")
 # The normal paths of these scripts are exercised on Windows by their own suites; the controls here
@@ -90,10 +116,23 @@ def _coord_dir(repo: Path) -> Path:
     return repo / ".git" / "mefor-coord"
 
 
-def _run(repo: Path, script: str, *args: str, cloud: bool) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
+def _stem(rel: str) -> str:
+    return rel.rsplit("/", 1)[-1].removesuffix(".ps1")
+
+
+def _refusal_line(rel: str) -> str:
+    name = rel.rsplit("/", 1)[-1]
+    return name + (PRESENCE_TAIL if rel == PRESENCE else REFUSAL_TAIL)
+
+
+def _run(
+    repo: Path, script: str, *args: str, cloud: bool, home: Path | None = None
+) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
     env = dict(os.environ)
     if cloud:
         env["CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE"] = "true"
+    if home is not None:
+        env["USERPROFILE"] = str(home)
     return subprocess.run(
         ["pwsh", "-NoProfile", "-NonInteractive", "-File", str(repo / "scripts" / script), *args],
         cwd=str(repo),
@@ -119,6 +158,8 @@ def _run(repo: Path, script: str, *args: str, cloud: bool) -> subprocess.Complet
         pytest.param("coord/lane.ps1", ("-Free", "1", "-InFlight", "0"), id="lane-state"),
         pytest.param("coord/tombstone-retired-backlog-allocator.ps1", (), id="tombstone-write"),
         pytest.param("worktree/hygiene-report.ps1", HYGIENE_OFFLINE, id="hygiene-report"),
+        *(pytest.param(s, a, id=_stem(s)) for s, a, _ in READERS),
+        pytest.param(PRESENCE, ("-Json",), id="presence"),
     ],
 )
 def test_each_coordination_script_refuses_in_a_cloud_session(
@@ -126,7 +167,7 @@ def test_each_coordination_script_refuses_in_a_cloud_session(
 ) -> None:
     proc = _run(repo, script, *args, cloud=True)
     assert proc.returncode == REFUSAL_EXIT, (proc.stdout, proc.stderr)
-    assert proc.stderr.strip() == script.rsplit("/", 1)[-1] + REFUSAL_TAIL, proc.stderr
+    assert proc.stderr.strip() == _refusal_line(script), proc.stderr
     assert proc.stdout == "", proc.stdout
     assert not _coord_dir(repo).exists(), "a refused call still created the coordination directory"
 
@@ -248,6 +289,36 @@ def test_each_coordination_script_takes_its_normal_path_outside_the_cloud(
     assert "refused in a Claude Code cloud session" not in proc.stdout + proc.stderr
 
 
+@needs_pwsh
+@needs_windows
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("script", "args", "answer"), [pytest.param(*r, id=_stem(r[0])) for r in READERS]
+)
+def test_each_reader_gives_its_normal_answer_outside_the_cloud(
+    repo: Path, tmp_path: Path, script: str, args: tuple[str, ...], answer: str
+) -> None:
+    """The control for each reader: the answer the refusal withholds is printed here. The fixture
+    home holds one empty config root, so fleet.ps1's fence reads it rather than the host's."""
+    home = tmp_path / "home"
+    (home / ".claude" / "sessions").mkdir(parents=True)
+    proc = _run(repo, script, *args, cloud=False, home=home)
+    assert proc.returncode == 0, (proc.stdout, proc.stderr)
+    assert any(ln.strip().endswith(answer) for ln in proc.stdout.splitlines()), proc.stdout
+
+
+@needs_pwsh
+@needs_windows
+def test_presence_lists_a_fixture_session_outside_the_cloud(repo: Path, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """The control for presence.ps1: the roster the refusal withholds is read from a fixture config
+    root holding one session, this test's own process, so the liveness fence passes."""
+    root = tmp_path / "config-root"
+    (root / "sessions").mkdir(parents=True)
+    write_session(root, pid=os.getpid(), cwd=repo, session_id="c1c1c1c1-0000")
+    proc = _run(repo, PRESENCE, "-ConfigRoot", str(root), "-Json", cloud=False)
+    assert proc.returncode == 0, (proc.stdout, proc.stderr)
+    assert [r["Short"] for r in json.loads(proc.stdout)] == ["c1c1c1c1"], proc.stdout
+
+
 @needs_pwsh
 @needs_windows
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -325,17 +396,21 @@ def test_the_declare_prompt_hook_prints_the_prompt_outside_the_cloud(repo: Path)
     "coord/lane.ps1",
     "coord/tombstone-retired-backlog-allocator.ps1",
     "worktree/hygiene-report.ps1",
+    # The readers, whose empty answer in a VM looks clean.
+    "coord/overlap.ps1",
+    "coord/claim-adjudicate.ps1",
+    "coord/claim-reconcile.ps1",
+    "coord/fleet.ps1",
 )
 PY_GUARDED = "coord/owner_log.py"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("rel", GUARDED)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("rel", (*GUARDED, PRESENCE))
 def test_each_script_carries_the_one_refusal_line(rel: str) -> None:
     """The guard is inlined, so this holds every copy to one line without pwsh, which also runs
     where the refusal tests skip."""
-    name = rel.rsplit("/", 1)[-1]
     text = (ROOT / "scripts" / rel).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-    line = f"[Console]::Error.WriteLine('{name}{REFUSAL_TAIL}')".replace("VM's", "VM''s")
+    line = f"[Console]::Error.WriteLine('{_refusal_line(rel)}')".replace("VM's", "VM''s")
     guard = f"    {line}\n    exit {REFUSAL_EXIT}\n"
     assert text.count(guard) == 1, f"{rel} lost or changed its cloud refusal line"
 
@@ -356,18 +431,15 @@ def test_each_script_carries_the_one_refusal_line(rel: str) -> None:
     "worktree/session-context.ps1": "user-scope hook",
     # Writes state that is correct for the clone it runs in, so it is no dead letter in a VM.
     "coord/lock.ps1": "clone-local mutex around worktree/new.ps1",
-    "coord/overlap.ps1": "a cache of its own answer; run by the user-scope hooks above",
-    # Reads mefor-coord and writes nothing there, or writes only through a guarded script.
-    "coord/claim-adjudicate.ps1": "reader",
-    "coord/claim-reconcile.ps1": "reader; -Apply writes only through claim.ps1",
-    "coord/fleet.ps1": "reader",
+    # Reads mefor-coord and writes nothing there, or writes only through a guarded script. A reader
+    # a person runs by hand, whose empty answer would look clean, is guarded instead.
     "hooks/claim_check.py": "reader, commit-msg hook",
     "hooks/ledger_check.py": "reader, pre-commit hook",
     "hooks/lane-level.ps1": "reader",
     "hooks/precompact-reprime.ps1": "reader, project hook",
     "hooks/worktree_gate.ps1": "reader; writes only its own log, outside mefor-coord",
-    "worktree/prune-merged.ps1": "reader",
-    "worktree/remove.ps1": "reader",
+    "worktree/prune-merged.ps1": "reader; decides about this clone's worktrees only",
+    "worktree/remove.ps1": "reader; decides about this clone's worktrees only",
     # Names the directory in prose or prints its path, and writes nothing there.
     "coord/install-coordination.ps1": "mention",
     "coord/install-git-hooks.ps1": "mention",