diff --git a/src/selfhost/config-lint.ts b/src/selfhost/config-lint.ts
index 18730a8d4a..b1e78db458 100644
--- a/src/selfhost/config-lint.ts
+++ b/src/selfhost/config-lint.ts
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ const RETIRED_FIELD_MIGRATION_WARNINGS: Record<string, string> = {
   blockedPaths: "blockedPaths is retired; use settings.hardGuardrailGlobs for path holds.",
 };
 
-function unknownTopLevelWarnings(text: string | null | undefined): string[] {
+export function unknownTopLevelWarnings(text: string | null | undefined): string[] {
   const raw = text ?? "";
   const trimmed = raw.trim();
   if (!trimmed || isOversize(raw)) return [];
diff --git a/src/services/focus-manifest-validation.ts b/src/services/focus-manifest-validation.ts
index 86ca8be1dc..c1055585d0 100644
--- a/src/services/focus-manifest-validation.ts
+++ b/src/services/focus-manifest-validation.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
   type FocusManifest,
   type FocusManifestSource,
 } from "../signals/focus-manifest";
+import { unknownTopLevelWarnings } from "../selfhost/config-lint";
 
 export type FocusManifestValidationStatus = "ok" | "warn" | "error";
 
@@ -28,7 +29,10 @@ export function buildFocusManifestValidation(input: {
   source?: FocusManifestSource | undefined;
 }): FocusManifestValidationResult {
   const manifest = parseFocusManifestContent(input.content, input.source ?? "repo_file");
-  const warnings = [...manifest.warnings];
+  // Warn on unrecognized top-level fields (e.g. a typo'd `gates:` instead of `gate:`), matching the
+  // selfhost config-lint validator — parseFocusManifestContent reads only known fields, so a mistyped
+  // block is otherwise silently dropped with no warning (#5929).
+  const warnings = [...manifest.warnings, ...unknownTopLevelWarnings(input.content)];
   const normalized = focusManifestToNormalizedJson(manifest);
   return {
     present: manifest.present,
diff --git a/test/unit/focus-manifest-validation.test.ts b/test/unit/focus-manifest-validation.test.ts
index 08495829a5..fce6aa160d 100644
--- a/test/unit/focus-manifest-validation.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/focus-manifest-validation.test.ts
@@ -129,4 +129,15 @@ maintainerRecap:
     expect(result.status).toBe("error");
     expect(result.warnings.join(" ")).toMatch(/must be a mapping/i);
   });
+
+  it("warns on an unrecognized top-level field (e.g. a typo'd `gates:` for `gate:`), matching config-lint (#5929)", () => {
+    // A recognized field plus a typo'd block: previously the typo was silently dropped with status "ok".
+    const result = buildFocusManifestValidation({ content: "wantedPaths:\n  - src/\ngates:\n  enabled: true\n" });
+    expect(result.status).toBe("warn");
+    expect(result.warnings.join(" ")).toMatch(/unknown top-level field/i);
+    expect(result.warnings.join(" ")).toMatch(/gates/);
+    // A clean manifest still carries no unknown-field warning.
+    const clean = buildFocusManifestValidation({ content: "wantedPaths:\n  - src/\n" });
+    expect(clean.warnings.join(" ")).not.toMatch(/unknown top-level field/i);
+  });
 });