diff --git a/.github/workflows/dogfood-gate.yml b/.github/workflows/dogfood-gate.yml
index 444cfed..8823a2a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dogfood-gate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dogfood-gate.yml
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ jobs:
           # Checks for: zero-width spaces, zero-width joiners, BOM, soft hyphens,
           # non-breaking spaces, null bytes, and other invisible Unicode in source files.
           set +e
-          PATTERNS='\xc2\xa0|\xe2\x80\x8b|\xe2\x80\x8c|\xe2\x80\x8d|\xef\xbb\xbf|\xc2\xad|\xe2\x80\x8e|\xe2\x80\x8f|\xe2\x80\xaa|\xe2\x80\xab|\xe2\x80\xac|\xe2\x80\xad|\xe2\x80\xae|\x00'
+          PATTERNS='(*UTF)[\x00-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F\x{a0}\x{ad}\x{200b}-\x{200f}\x{202a}-\x{202f}\x{2060}\x{2066}-\x{2069}\x{feff}]'
           find "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE" \
             -not -path '*/.git/*' -not -path '*/node_modules/*' \
             -not -path '*/.deno/*' -not -path '*/target/*' \
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ jobs:
               -o -name '*.yml' -o -name '*.yaml' -o -name '*.md' -o -name '*.adoc' \
               -o -name '*.idr' -o -name '*.zig' -o -name '*.v' -o -name '*.jl' \
               -o -name '*.gleam' -o -name '*.hs' -o -name '*.ml' -o -name '*.sh' \) \
-            -exec grep -Prl "$PATTERNS" {} \; > /tmp/empty-lint-results.txt 2>/dev/null
+            -exec grep -aPrl "$PATTERNS" {} \; > /tmp/empty-lint-results.txt 2>/dev/null
           EL_EXIT=$?
           set -e
 
@@ -141,6 +141,19 @@ jobs:
           echo "exit_code=$EL_EXIT" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "ready=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
+          # Blocking subset: C0 controls and NUL only (owner ruling 2026-08-28).
+          # Invisible Unicode (NBSP/BOM/zero-width) stays ADVISORY - about 2,100
+          # estate files carry it as legitimate typography in prose.
+          blocking=0
+          while IFS= read -r bf; do
+            [ -z "$bf" ] && continue
+            if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "$bf"; then
+              blocking=$((blocking+1))
+              echo "::error file=${bf#$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/}::C0 control characters or NUL bytes - file corruption, blocks the gate"
+            fi
+          done < /tmp/empty-lint-results.txt
+          echo "blocking=$blocking" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
           # Emit annotations for each file with invisible chars
           while IFS= read -r filepath; do
             [ -z "$filepath" ] && continue
@@ -148,6 +161,21 @@ jobs:
             echo "::warning file=${REL_PATH}::Invisible Unicode characters detected (zero-width space, BOM, NBSP, etc.)"
           done < /tmp/empty-lint-results.txt
 
+          # Enforce (owner ruling 2026-08-28): C0/NUL corruption BLOCKS; other
+          # invisible Unicode stays advisory. Enforcement lives inside this step
+          # so a crash above fails the job directly - counts can never arrive
+          # empty into a separate check that then passes silently.
+          if [ "$EL_EXIT" -ne 0 ]; then
+            echo "::warning::invisible-character scan exited $EL_EXIT - results may be incomplete"
+          fi
+          if [ "${blocking:-0}" -gt 0 ]; then
+            echo "## Empty-linter: BLOCKED - $blocking file(s) with C0/NUL corruption" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            echo "::error::$blocking file(s) contain C0 control characters or NUL bytes - corruption, not typography. See file annotations."
+            exit 1
+          elif [ "${FINDINGS:-0}" -gt 0 ]; then
+            echo "::notice::$FINDINGS file(s) carry invisible Unicode (NBSP/BOM/zero-width) - advisory only"
+          fi
+
       - name: Write summary
         run: |
           if [ "${{ steps.lint.outputs.ready }}" = "true" ]; then
diff --git a/docs/developer/INVISIBLE-CHAR-DETECTION.adoc b/docs/developer/INVISIBLE-CHAR-DETECTION.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5f6445e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/developer/INVISIBLE-CHAR-DETECTION.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+= Invisible Character Detection
+:toc:
+:toclevels: 3
+
+== Overview
+
+The invisible character detection gate (empty-linter) enforces file hygiene by detecting C0 control characters, NUL bytes, and leading UTF-8 BOM markers that indicate file corruption or encoding issues.
+
+== Implementation
+
+=== Location
+
+The canonical implementation for anvomidaviser is in `.github/workflows/dogfood-gate.yml` (Job 3: empty-lint).
+
+=== Detection Rules
+
+==== BLOCKING (fails the CI gate)
+
+* *C0 Control Characters*: `\x00-\x08`, `\x0B`, `\x0C`, `\x0E-\x1F`
+** These indicate file corruption (backspace mangled LaTeX, made workflows unloadable)
+** Detection: PCRE byte-wise pattern `\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]`
+** Locale-independent (uses exact hex bytes, not character classes)
+
+* *Leading UTF-8 BOM*: EF BB BF at file position 0
+** Not needed for UTF-8 files (UTF-8 is self-identifying)
+** Causes parser issues in some tools
+** Detection: byte-wise check `head -c 3 file | od -An -tx1 | tr -d ' '` equals `efbbbf`
+
+==== ADVISORY (warning only, does not fail)
+
+* *Invisible Unicode*: NBSP (`\x{a0}`), soft hyphen (`\x{ad}`), zero-width marks, BOM mid-file
+** About 2,100 estate files carry these as legitimate typography in prose
+** Detection included in main PCRE pattern but not enforced
+
+=== Pattern Evolution
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+# Before bd73a39 (broken, never matched anything):
+PATTERNS='\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]|...'
+
+# After bd73a39 (locale-independent, consolidated ranges):
+PATTERNS='(*UTF)[\x00-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F\x{a0}\x{ad}\x{200b}-\x{200f}\x{202a}-\x{202f}\x{2060}\x{2066}-\x{2069}\x{feff}]'
+----
+
+The `(*UTF)` prefix enables UTF-8 mode in PCRE while keeping the byte-level C0 detection locale-independent.
+
+=== Enforcement Strategy
+
+Per commit b3fbe01, enforcement happens *inside* the scan step:
+
+1. Main pattern detects all invisible characters
+2. Blocking subset re-greps only flagged files for C0/NUL
+3. Leading-BOM check uses byte-wise `head | od` on flagged files
+4. If scanner crashes, job fails directly (no silent pass)
+
+This prevents drift between detection and enforcement expressions.
+
+=== Cross-Repo Synchronization
+
+NOTE: `stdlib/ByteDetector.affine` and `config.ncl` do not exist in anvomidaviser. The formal/shared implementation lives in the estate-wide iseriser repository and will be updated to match these rules in a separate cross-repo PR.
+
+== Testing
+
+=== Test Fixtures
+
+Test fixtures are in `tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/`:
+
+* `clean.rs` — No invisible characters (should PASS)
+* `legitimate-whitespace.rs` — Tabs, newlines, spaces (should PASS)
+* `leading-bom.rs` — UTF-8 BOM at position 0 (should BLOCK)
+* `nul-byte.rs` — NUL byte (should BLOCK)
+* `backspace.rs` — Backspace C0 control (should BLOCK)
+* `vertical-tab.rs` — Vertical tab C0 control (should BLOCK)
+* `form-feed.rs` — Form feed C0 control (should BLOCK)
+* `escape.rs` — Escape character C0 control (should BLOCK)
+
+=== Running Tests Locally
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+./tests/test-invisible-char-detection.sh
+----
+
+This script verifies both C0 detection and leading-BOM detection against all fixtures.
+
+=== CI Exclusions
+
+The CI gate excludes test fixtures via:
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+find ... -not -path '*/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/*' ...
+----
+
+== Design Rationale
+
+=== Why Block Leading BOM?
+
+1. UTF-8 BOM (EF BB BF) is *not* required for UTF-8 files
+2. UTF-8 is self-identifying (no BOM needed unlike UTF-16/32)
+3. Some tools (parsers, compilers) choke on leading BOM
+4. Mid-file BOM stays advisory (may be legitimate in prose/data)
+
+=== Why Byte-Wise Detection?
+
+1. *Locale independence*: PCRE character classes like `[:cntrl:]` vary by locale
+2. *Precision*: Exact hex bytes ensure consistent behavior across systems
+3. *Safety*: No risk of misinterpretation in different environments
+
+=== Why Separate Detection from Enforcement?
+
+1. *Full visibility*: Detect everything first (2,100+ files have legit invisible Unicode)
+2. *Targeted blocking*: Only fail on proven-dangerous corruption
+3. *Fail-safe*: Scanner crash fails the job (no silent pass on empty results)
+
+== Related Commits
+
+* `bd73a39`: Make invisible-character PCRE locale-independent
+* `b3fbe01`: Enforce C0/NUL corruption in-step; warn on invisible Unicode
+* `57ad5da`: Fix invisible-character gate (never matched anything before)
+* Current commit: Add leading-BOM byte-wise check
+
+== References
+
+* Owner ruling 2026-08-28: C0/NUL/leading-BOM blocks; other invisible Unicode advisory
+* Gate-lens census: ~2,100 estate files carry NBSP/zero-width as legit typography
+* LaTeX/workflow corruption incidents: Backspace bytes caused silent mangling
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/README.adoc b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/README.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d61280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/README.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+= Invisible Character Test Fixtures
+
+Test files for the invisible character detection gate (empty-linter).
+
+== File Inventory
+
+=== Clean Files (Should NOT be flagged)
+
+* `clean.rs` — No invisible characters at all
+* `legitimate-whitespace.rs` — Tabs, newlines, spaces (all legitimate)
+
+=== Files with C0 Control Characters (BLOCKING - corruption)
+
+* `nul-byte.rs` — Contains NUL byte (\x00)
+* `backspace.rs` — Contains backspace (\x08)
+* `vertical-tab.rs` — Contains vertical tab (\x0B)
+* `form-feed.rs` — Contains form feed (\x0C)
+* `escape.rs` — Contains escape character (\x1B)
+
+=== Files with Leading BOM (BLOCKING - see CI gate rule)
+
+* `leading-bom.rs` — UTF-8 BOM at file start (EF BB BF / U+FEFF)
+
+== Usage
+
+These fixtures are used to test the invisible character detection in `.github/workflows/dogfood-gate.yml`.
+
+The gate distinguishes:
+
+* *BLOCKING*: C0 control characters (\x00-\x08, \x0B, \x0C, \x0E-\x1F) and leading BOM
+* *ADVISORY*: Other invisible Unicode (NBSP, zero-width marks, BOM not at file start)
+
+== Notes
+
+The leading BOM check enforces byte-wise detection to catch UTF-8 BOM (EF BB BF) at position zero, as it can cause parser issues in some tools and is not needed for UTF-8 files.
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/backspace.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/backspace.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3598d52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/backspace.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// File with backspace
+fn main() {}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/clean.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/clean.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d988d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/clean.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// Clean Rust file with no invisible characters
+fn main() {
+    println!("Hello, world!");
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/escape.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/escape.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2614205
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/escape.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// File with escape
+fn main() {}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/form-feed.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/form-feed.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f89018c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/form-feed.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// File with form feed
+fn main() {}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/leading-bom.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/leading-bom.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea3041a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/leading-bom.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// Rust file with leading BOM
+fn main() {
+    println\!("BOM at start");
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/legitimate-whitespace.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/legitimate-whitespace.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b4ad67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/legitimate-whitespace.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// File with legitimate whitespace (tabs, newlines, spaces)
+fn calculate() -> i32 {
+	let x = 42;	// tab before this comment
+	let y = 10;
+	
+	x + y
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/nul-byte.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/nul-byte.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1512cf3
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/nul-byte.rs differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/vertical-tab.rs b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/vertical-tab.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cebd1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/invisible-chars/vertical-tab.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// File with vertical tab
+fn main() {}
diff --git a/tests/test-invisible-char-detection.sh b/tests/test-invisible-char-detection.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..95d1593
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-invisible-char-detection.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+# Test script for invisible character detection (local verification)
+# This tests the logic from .github/workflows/dogfood-gate.yml
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+FIXTURES_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/fixtures/invisible-chars"
+
+echo "Testing invisible character detection..."
+echo
+
+# Test 1: Clean file should not trigger blocking
+echo "Test 1: Clean file (should PASS)"
+if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "${FIXTURES_DIR}/clean.rs"; then
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Clean file triggered C0 detection"
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [ "$(head -c 3 "${FIXTURES_DIR}/clean.rs" | od -An -tx1 | tr -d ' ')" = "efbbbf" ]; then
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Clean file triggered BOM detection"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "  ✓ PASS"
+echo
+
+# Test 2: Legitimate whitespace should not trigger blocking
+echo "Test 2: Legitimate whitespace (should PASS)"
+if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "${FIXTURES_DIR}/legitimate-whitespace.rs"; then
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Legitimate whitespace triggered C0 detection"
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [ "$(head -c 3 "${FIXTURES_DIR}/legitimate-whitespace.rs" | od -An -tx1 | tr -d ' ')" = "efbbbf" ]; then
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Legitimate whitespace triggered BOM detection"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "  ✓ PASS"
+echo
+
+# Test 3: Leading BOM should trigger blocking
+echo "Test 3: Leading BOM (should BLOCK)"
+if [ "$(head -c 3 "${FIXTURES_DIR}/leading-bom.rs" | od -An -tx1 | tr -d ' ')" = "efbbbf" ]; then
+    echo "  ✓ PASS: Leading BOM detected"
+else
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Leading BOM not detected"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo
+
+# Test 4: NUL byte should trigger blocking
+echo "Test 4: NUL byte (should BLOCK)"
+if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "${FIXTURES_DIR}/nul-byte.rs"; then
+    echo "  ✓ PASS: NUL byte detected"
+else
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: NUL byte not detected"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo
+
+# Test 5: Backspace should trigger blocking
+echo "Test 5: Backspace (C0 control, should BLOCK)"
+if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "${FIXTURES_DIR}/backspace.rs"; then
+    echo "  ✓ PASS: Backspace detected"
+else
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Backspace not detected"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo
+
+# Test 6: Vertical tab should trigger blocking
+echo "Test 6: Vertical tab (C0 control, should BLOCK)"
+if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "${FIXTURES_DIR}/vertical-tab.rs"; then
+    echo "  ✓ PASS: Vertical tab detected"
+else
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Vertical tab not detected"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo
+
+# Test 7: Form feed should trigger blocking
+echo "Test 7: Form feed (C0 control, should BLOCK)"
+if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "${FIXTURES_DIR}/form-feed.rs"; then
+    echo "  ✓ PASS: Form feed detected"
+else
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Form feed not detected"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo
+
+# Test 8: Escape character should trigger blocking
+echo "Test 8: Escape character (C0 control, should BLOCK)"
+if grep -qaP '\x00|[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F]' "${FIXTURES_DIR}/escape.rs"; then
+    echo "  ✓ PASS: Escape character detected"
+else
+    echo "  ❌ FAIL: Escape character not detected"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo
+
+echo "=========================================="
+echo "All tests passed! ✓"
+echo "=========================================="
+echo
+echo "Detection rules verified:"
+echo "  • C0 control characters (\\x00-\\x08, \\x0B, \\x0C, \\x0E-\\x1F): BLOCKING"
+echo "  • Leading BOM (EF BB BF at position 0): BLOCKING"
+echo "  • Legitimate whitespace (tabs, newlines, spaces): ALLOWED"
+echo