diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 54824ff..12481d8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,12 +60,19 @@ Dependencies: **none**. Node ≥ 22.13 (uses `node:sqlite`, global `fetch`).
   "routerUrl": "http://localhost:5497",
   "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
   "tenantId": "nirlab",
-  "publicBaseUrl": "http://localhost:5498"
+  "publicBaseUrl": "http://localhost:5498",
+  "admin_token": "<admin-scoped token (user nirpa) — used ONLY to self-heal bot access>",
+  "botUsername": "shre-reviewer"
 }
 ```
 
 Bot identity: Gitea user `shre-reviewer` (created via `gitea admin user create`).
 
+`admin_token` powers the 403 self-heal: when a status/comment post returns 403
+(a repo auto-wired by the admin default hook where the bot has no access yet),
+the service adds `shre-reviewer` as collaborator (write) via the admin token
+and retries the post once. Without `admin_token` the 403 surfaces as before.
+
 ## Deploy (Mac dev tier)
 
 - `launchd/ai.granthi.review.plist` → `~/Library/LaunchAgents/`, KeepAlive service on :5498, running from the `~/Services/granthi-review` clone.
@@ -83,9 +90,15 @@ Bot identity: Gitea user `shre-reviewer` (created via `gitea admin user create`)
 
 ### Known v1 limitations
 
-- The review queue is in-memory: a service restart drops queued/in-flight reviews, leaving that sha's `granthi-review` status at `pending`. Re-push (or push an empty commit) to re-trigger.
 - Bare pushes get status + ledger only (no Gitea commit-comment API).
-- Reviews for repos outside the pilot set require the bot (`shre-reviewer`) to have write access before statuses/comments can post; grant collaborator write when adding repos.
+
+### Hardening (fix/review-hardening)
+
+- **Full push-range review**: pushes are reviewed as ONE compare diff `before...after` (web compare `.diff` route — the 1.27 API has no compare diff variant). New-branch pushes (`before` = zero sha) fall back to the head commit diff. No more first-20-commits slicing under a head-sha status.
+- **Truncated diff ≠ pass**: when the 60KB cap truncates the diff, the prompt and the status description both say `partial review (diff truncated)` and the verdict is capped at `warn` (a confirmed-critical `fail` still fails).
+- **Diff fetch failure ≠ pass**: any diff-fetch failure (throw, non-200, empty body for a non-empty push/PR) short-circuits to status `warning` — `review unavailable — diff fetch failed (not blocking)` — with a ledger row. A diffless prompt is never sent.
+- **Crash-safe queue**: every accepted job is persisted to sqlite (`queue_jobs`) before the pending status posts; on startup, rows that never reached a final state are re-enqueued, so a restart no longer strands a sha at `pending`.
+- **403 self-heal**: see `admin_token` above. `scripts/wire-repos.mjs` wires the webhook + bot collaborator across ALL repos on the peer (idempotent; re-runnable).
 
 ## Adding the Reviews tab later (Granthi overlay)
 
diff --git a/scripts/wire-repos.mjs b/scripts/wire-repos.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecc68d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/wire-repos.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Wire EVERY repo on the peer forge for granthi-review:
+//   - create the push+pull_request webhook -> <hookUrl> (HMAC secret from the
+//     service config) on every repo that lacks it (idempotent: skipped when a
+//     hook with that exact URL already exists)
+//   - add the bot (shre-reviewer) as collaborator (write) so status/comment
+//     posts don't 403
+// Re-runnable at any time. Uses the admin-scoped token (config admin_token).
+//
+// Usage: node scripts/wire-repos.mjs [--dry-run]
+
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { homedir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+
+const CONFIG_DIR = process.env.GRANTHI_REVIEW_HOME || join(homedir(), '.granthi-review');
+const cfg = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(CONFIG_DIR, 'config.json'), 'utf8'));
+
+const base = (cfg.forgeBaseUrl || 'http://localhost:3030').replace(/\/$/, '');
+const adminToken = cfg.admin_token || process.env.GITEA_CLAUDE_SIA_TOKEN;
+const secret = cfg.webhookSecret;
+const botUsername = cfg.botUsername || 'shre-reviewer';
+const hookUrl = process.env.GRANTHI_REVIEW_HOOK_URL || 'http://host.docker.internal:5498/webhook';
+const dryRun = process.argv.includes('--dry-run');
+
+if (!adminToken) { console.error('no admin token (config admin_token or $GITEA_CLAUDE_SIA_TOKEN)'); process.exit(1); }
+if (!secret) { console.error('no webhookSecret in config'); process.exit(1); }
+
+async function api(method, path, body, ok = [200, 201, 204]) {
+  const res = await fetch(`${base}${path}`, {
+    method,
+    headers: {
+      Authorization: `token ${adminToken}`,
+      ...(body ? { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' } : {})
+    },
+    body: body ? JSON.stringify(body) : undefined
+  });
+  if (!ok.includes(res.status)) {
+    const text = await res.text().catch(() => '');
+    throw new Error(`${method} ${path} -> ${res.status}: ${text.slice(0, 200)}`);
+  }
+  if (res.status === 204) return null;
+  return res.json().catch(() => null);
+}
+
+async function allRepos() {
+  const repos = [];
+  for (let page = 1; ; page++) {
+    const out = await api('GET', `/api/v1/repos/search?limit=50&page=${page}`);
+    const batch = out?.data || [];
+    repos.push(...batch);
+    if (batch.length < 50) break;
+  }
+  return repos;
+}
+
+const repos = await allRepos();
+let hooksCreated = 0, hooksPresent = 0, collabAdded = 0, skipped = 0, errors = 0;
+
+for (const r of repos) {
+  const full = r.full_name;
+  const [owner, name] = full.split('/');
+  try {
+    if (r.archived || r.empty || r.mirror) { skipped++; console.log(`skip ${full} (${r.archived ? 'archived' : r.mirror ? 'mirror' : 'empty'})`); continue; }
+    const hooks = await api('GET', `/api/v1/repos/${full}/hooks?limit=50`) || [];
+    const has = hooks.some(h => h?.config?.url === hookUrl);
+    if (has) {
+      hooksPresent++;
+    } else if (dryRun) {
+      console.log(`would wire ${full}`);
+    } else {
+      await api('POST', `/api/v1/repos/${full}/hooks`, {
+        type: 'gitea',
+        active: true,
+        events: ['push', 'pull_request'],
+        config: { url: hookUrl, content_type: 'json', secret }
+      });
+      hooksCreated++;
+      console.log(`wired ${full}`);
+    }
+    // collaborator write for the bot (idempotent PUT); skip bot-owned repos
+    if (owner !== botUsername && !dryRun) {
+      await api('PUT', `/api/v1/repos/${full}/collaborators/${botUsername}`, { permission: 'write' });
+      collabAdded++;
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    errors++;
+    console.error(`ERROR ${full}: ${e.message}`);
+  }
+}
+
+console.log(`\ntotal repos: ${repos.length}`);
+console.log(`hooks created: ${hooksCreated}, already wired: ${hooksPresent}, skipped (archived/empty/mirror): ${skipped}`);
+console.log(`collaborator (write) ensured: ${collabAdded}, errors: ${errors}`);
+process.exit(errors ? 2 : 0);
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index 9454c7b..7ce4076 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ const DEFAULTS = {
   digestDir: join(CONFIG_DIR, 'digests'),
   maxDiffBytes: 60 * 1024,
   routerTimeoutMs: 240000,
-  digestLastN: 20
+  digestLastN: 20,
+  botUsername: 'shre-reviewer'
 };
 
 export function loadConfig() {
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ export function loadConfig() {
     fileCfg = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(CONFIG_DIR, 'config.json'), 'utf8'));
   } catch { /* config file optional; env/defaults apply */ }
   const cfg = { ...DEFAULTS, ...fileCfg };
+  // admin-scoped token (config key: admin_token) — used ONLY to self-heal bot
+  // permissions (add the bot as collaborator when a status/comment post 403s).
+  cfg.adminToken = fileCfg.admin_token || '';
   // env overrides
   if (process.env.GRANTHI_REVIEW_PORT) cfg.port = Number(process.env.GRANTHI_REVIEW_PORT);
   if (process.env.GRANTHI_REVIEW_TOKEN) cfg.botToken = process.env.GRANTHI_REVIEW_TOKEN;
diff --git a/src/lib/access.js b/src/lib/access.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9dfd28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/access.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// Self-healing bot access: new repos wired by the admin default hook 403 the
+// bot's status/comment posts because shre-reviewer is not a collaborator yet.
+// On a 403 we add the bot as collaborator (write) using the admin-scoped
+// token, then retry the original call exactly once.
+
+export async function withCollabRetry(fn, { adminGitea, owner, repo, botUsername, log }) {
+  try {
+    return await fn();
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e?.status !== 403) throw e;
+    if (!adminGitea) {
+      log?.(`[${owner}/${repo}] 403 from forge and no admin_token configured — cannot self-heal collaborator access`);
+      throw e;
+    }
+    log?.(`[${owner}/${repo}] 403 from forge — adding ${botUsername} as collaborator (write) and retrying once`);
+    await adminGitea.addCollaborator(owner, repo, botUsername, 'write');
+    return fn();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/db.js b/src/lib/db.js
index e3b9aae..0133cc2 100644
--- a/src/lib/db.js
+++ b/src/lib/db.js
@@ -26,7 +26,18 @@ const DDL = [
     ts TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%fZ','now'))
   )`,
   `CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_reviews_repo_ts ON reviews(repo, ts DESC)`,
-  `CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_reviews_sha ON reviews(sha)`
+  `CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_reviews_sha ON reviews(sha)`,
+  `CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS queue_jobs (
+    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+    repo TEXT NOT NULL,
+    sha TEXT NOT NULL,
+    job TEXT NOT NULL,
+    state TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'queued',
+    outcome TEXT,
+    created_ts TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%fZ','now')),
+    finished_ts TEXT
+  )`,
+  `CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_queue_jobs_state ON queue_jobs(state)`
 ];
 
 export function openDb(dbPath) {
@@ -55,6 +66,37 @@ export function insertReview(db, r) {
   return res.lastInsertRowid;
 }
 
+// --- persistent work queue (crash-safe: rows written before the pending
+// status posts; rows that never reach 'done' are re-enqueued on startup) ---
+
+export function enqueueJob(db, job) {
+  const res = db.prepare(
+    `INSERT INTO queue_jobs (repo, sha, job) VALUES (?, ?, ?)`
+  ).run(`${job.owner}/${job.repo}`, String(job.sha), JSON.stringify(job));
+  return res.lastInsertRowid;
+}
+
+export function finishJob(db, id, outcome = null) {
+  db.prepare(
+    `UPDATE queue_jobs SET state = 'done', outcome = ?,
+       finished_ts = strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%fZ','now') WHERE id = ?`
+  ).run(outcome, id);
+}
+
+// Startup reconciliation: rows still 'queued' belonged to a previous process
+// that died mid-review (their posted status is stuck at 'pending').
+export function recoverPendingJobs(db) {
+  const rows = db.prepare(
+    `SELECT id, job FROM queue_jobs WHERE state != 'done' ORDER BY id ASC`
+  ).all();
+  const out = [];
+  for (const row of rows) {
+    try { out.push({ id: row.id, job: JSON.parse(row.job) }); }
+    catch { finishJob(db, row.id, 'unparseable-job'); }
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
 export function listReviews(db, repo, limit = 50) {
   return db.prepare(
     'SELECT * FROM reviews WHERE repo = ? ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT ?'
diff --git a/src/lib/gitea.js b/src/lib/gitea.js
index 7a8fcd1..001efde 100644
--- a/src/lib/gitea.js
+++ b/src/lib/gitea.js
@@ -41,6 +41,20 @@ export class GiteaClient {
     return this.req('GET', `/api/v1/repos/${owner}/${repo}/compare/${before}...${after}`);
   }
 
+  // Full-range diff for a push (base...head) in ONE request. Gitea 1.27's API
+  // has no compare .diff variant, but the web compare route serves .diff and
+  // accepts `Authorization: token` (verified live on 1.27.1).
+  getCompareDiff(owner, repo, before, after) {
+    return this.req('GET', `/${owner}/${repo}/compare/${before}...${after}.diff`, { raw: true });
+  }
+
+  // Add a collaborator (requires owner/admin token). 204 on success.
+  addCollaborator(owner, repo, username, permission = 'write') {
+    return this.req('PUT', `/api/v1/repos/${owner}/${repo}/collaborators/${username}`, {
+      body: { permission }, ok: [204]
+    });
+  }
+
   // File content at HEAD (returns null when absent)
   async getFileHead(owner, repo, path, maxBytes = 8192) {
     try {
diff --git a/src/lib/prompt.js b/src/lib/prompt.js
index aae3fe3..94e61a6 100644
--- a/src/lib/prompt.js
+++ b/src/lib/prompt.js
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ Rules:
   if (conventions) {
     user += `\nRepo conventions (excerpt from CLAUDE.md / CONTRIBUTING.md — weigh style/design against these):\n---\n${conventions}\n---\n`;
   }
-  if (truncated) user += `\nNOTE: the diff below was TRUNCATED at the size cap; judge only what you see and do not penalize for the missing tail.\n`;
+  if (truncated) user += `\nNOTE: this is a partial review (diff truncated) — the diff below was cut at the size cap. Judge only what you see and do not penalize for the missing tail; unseen code is unreviewed, not approved.\n`;
   user += `\nUnified diff to review:\n\`\`\`diff\n${diff}\n\`\`\`\n\nReturn the JSON object now.`;
   return [
     { role: 'system', content: system },
diff --git a/src/lib/review.js b/src/lib/review.js
index b8cc669..43bc700 100644
--- a/src/lib/review.js
+++ b/src/lib/review.js
@@ -5,19 +5,26 @@
 
 import { chat } from './router.js';
 import { extractJson } from './jsonExtract.js';
-import { normalizeReview } from './verdict.js';
+import { normalizeReview, applyTruncationCap } from './verdict.js';
 import { parseTrailers } from './trailers.js';
 import { buildReviewPrompt } from './prompt.js';
 import { renderScorecardMarkdown } from './render.js';
 import { insertReview } from './db.js';
+import { withCollabRetry } from './access.js';
 
 const CONTEXT = 'granthi-review';
+const ZERO_SHA = /^0+$/;
 
-export async function runReview({ cfg, gitea, db, job, withGlobal, log }) {
+export async function runReview({ cfg, gitea, adminGitea, db, job, withGlobal, log }) {
   const { owner, repo, sha } = job;
   const fullRepo = `${owner}/${repo}`;
   const dashboardUrl = `${cfg.publicBaseUrl}/review/${owner}/${repo}`;
   const t0 = Date.now();
+  // status/comment posters that self-heal a 403 (bot not yet collaborator on
+  // repos auto-wired by the admin default hook) via the admin token, once.
+  const retryCtx = { adminGitea, owner, repo, botUsername: cfg.botUsername, log };
+  const postStatus = (body) => withCollabRetry(() => gitea.postStatus(owner, repo, sha, body), retryCtx);
+  const postComment = (index, md) => withCollabRetry(() => gitea.postIssueComment(owner, repo, index, md), retryCtx);
 
   // For PR events the webhook only carries title/body; pull the PR's commits
   // so Co-Authored-By trailer attribution sees real commit messages.
@@ -33,26 +40,36 @@ export async function runReview({ cfg, gitea, db, job, withGlobal, log }) {
 
   // 0. pending status (best-effort)
   await safe(log, 'pending-status', () =>
-    gitea.postStatus(owner, repo, sha, {
+    postStatus({
       state: 'pending', context: CONTEXT,
       description: 'AI review in progress…', target_url: dashboardUrl
     }));
 
-  // 1. diff
+  // 1. diff — any fetch failure (throw, non-200, or empty body for a job that
+  // has commits) short-circuits to a 'warning' status. A diffless prompt would
+  // make the model "review" nothing and pass; never send one.
   let diff = '', truncated = false, diffBytes = 0;
   try {
     diff = await fetchDiff({ gitea, job });
-    diffBytes = Buffer.byteLength(diff);
-    if (diffBytes > cfg.maxDiffBytes) {
-      diff = Buffer.from(diff).subarray(0, cfg.maxDiffBytes).toString('utf8');
-      truncated = true;
-      log(`[${fullRepo}@${sha.slice(0, 8)}] diff truncated ${diffBytes} -> ${cfg.maxDiffBytes} bytes`);
-    }
   } catch (e) {
-    return await failOpen({ cfg, gitea, db, job, log, dashboardUrl, t0, error: `diff fetch failed: ${e.message}` });
+    return await failOpen({
+      cfg, db, job, log, postStatus, dashboardUrl, t0,
+      error: `diff fetch failed: ${e.message}`,
+      description: 'review unavailable — diff fetch failed (not blocking)'
+    });
   }
-  if (!diff.trim()) {
-    return await failOpen({ cfg, gitea, db, job, log, dashboardUrl, t0, error: 'empty diff' , state: 'success', description: 'empty diff — nothing to review'});
+  if (!diff || !diff.trim()) {
+    return await failOpen({
+      cfg, db, job, log, postStatus, dashboardUrl, t0,
+      error: 'diff fetch failed: empty diff body for a non-empty push/PR',
+      description: 'review unavailable — diff fetch failed (not blocking)'
+    });
+  }
+  diffBytes = Buffer.byteLength(diff);
+  if (diffBytes > cfg.maxDiffBytes) {
+    diff = Buffer.from(diff).subarray(0, cfg.maxDiffBytes).toString('utf8');
+    truncated = true;
+    log(`[${fullRepo}@${sha.slice(0, 8)}] diff truncated ${diffBytes} -> ${cfg.maxDiffBytes} bytes (partial review)`);
   }
 
   // 2. conventions
@@ -98,9 +115,13 @@ export async function runReview({ cfg, gitea, db, job, withGlobal, log }) {
     }
   });
   if (!review) {
-    return await failOpen({ cfg, gitea, db, job, log, dashboardUrl, t0, error: `review unavailable: ${llmError}` });
+    return await failOpen({ cfg, db, job, log, postStatus, dashboardUrl, t0, error: `review unavailable: ${llmError}` });
   }
 
+  // A truncated diff can never yield a clean 'pass' — part of the change was
+  // not reviewed. Cap at 'warn' (a confirmed-critical 'fail' still fails).
+  applyTruncationCap(review, truncated);
+
   // 4. status + comment
   const stateByVerdict = { pass: 'success', warn: 'success', fail: 'failure' };
   const state = stateByVerdict[review.verdict];
@@ -109,14 +130,15 @@ export async function runReview({ cfg, gitea, db, job, withGlobal, log }) {
     warn: `Grade ${review.grade} (${review.overall}/100) — pass with warnings (${review.findings.length} finding(s))`,
     fail: `Grade ${review.grade} (${review.overall}/100) — BLOCKED: confirmed critical finding (admin merge = override)`
   };
+  const description = truncated
+    ? `partial review (diff truncated) — ${descByVerdict[review.verdict]}`
+    : descByVerdict[review.verdict];
   await safe(log, 'final-status', () =>
-    gitea.postStatus(owner, repo, sha, {
-      state, context: CONTEXT, description: descByVerdict[review.verdict], target_url: dashboardUrl
-    }));
+    postStatus({ state, context: CONTEXT, description, target_url: dashboardUrl }));
 
   const md = renderScorecardMarkdown({ repo: fullRepo, sha, review, dashboardUrl, truncated });
   if (job.prIndex) {
-    await safe(log, 'pr-comment', () => gitea.postIssueComment(owner, repo, job.prIndex, md));
+    await safe(log, 'pr-comment', () => postComment(job.prIndex, md));
   } else {
     // Gitea has no commit-comment API endpoint; bare pushes get status +
     // ledger + dashboard only (README documents this).
@@ -137,24 +159,25 @@ export async function runReview({ cfg, gitea, db, job, withGlobal, log }) {
   return { ok: true, verdict: review.verdict };
 }
 
-async function fetchDiff({ gitea, job }) {
+// Push reviews cover the FULL push range in ONE compare diff (base=before,
+// head=after) — never a per-commit subset, so the head status can't claim
+// success for commits that were silently dropped. New-branch pushes
+// (before = 0000…) fall back to the head commit's diff.
+export async function fetchDiff({ gitea, job }) {
   const { owner, repo } = job;
   if (job.prIndex) return gitea.getPrDiff(owner, repo, job.prIndex);
-  // push: per-commit diffs for the pushed shas (payload-provided), capped later
-  const parts = [];
-  for (const sha of job.commitShas.slice(0, 20)) {
-    try { parts.push(await gitea.getCommitDiff(owner, repo, sha)); }
-    catch (e) { parts.push(`# diff for ${sha} unavailable: ${e.message}\n`); }
+  if (!job.before || ZERO_SHA.test(job.before)) {
+    return gitea.getCommitDiff(owner, repo, job.sha);
   }
-  return parts.join('\n');
+  return gitea.getCompareDiff(owner, repo, job.before, job.sha);
 }
 
-async function failOpen({ cfg, gitea, db, job, log, dashboardUrl, t0, error, state = 'warning', description }) {
+async function failOpen({ cfg, db, job, log, postStatus, dashboardUrl, t0, error, state = 'warning', description }) {
   const { owner, repo, sha } = job;
   const fullRepo = `${owner}/${repo}`;
   log(`[${fullRepo}@${sha.slice(0, 8)}] fail-open: ${error}`);
   await safe(log, 'fail-open-status', () =>
-    gitea.postStatus(owner, repo, sha, {
+    postStatus({
       state, context: CONTEXT,
       description: description || `review unavailable — not blocking (${error.slice(0, 180)})`,
       target_url: dashboardUrl
diff --git a/src/lib/verdict.js b/src/lib/verdict.js
index cedd638..70f272e 100644
--- a/src/lib/verdict.js
+++ b/src/lib/verdict.js
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@ export function normalizeReview(raw) {
   return review;
 }
 
+// A truncated diff means part of the change was never reviewed: a clean
+// 'pass' cannot be claimed. Cap at 'warn'; a confirmed-critical 'fail' stands.
+export function applyTruncationCap(review, truncated) {
+  if (truncated && review && review.verdict === 'pass') review.verdict = 'warn';
+  return review;
+}
+
 function clampScore(v) {
   const n = Number(v);
   if (!Number.isFinite(n)) return 0;
diff --git a/src/server.js b/src/server.js
index e588859..59b6d8f 100644
--- a/src/server.js
+++ b/src/server.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { createServer } from 'node:http';
 import { loadConfig } from './config.js';
-import { openDb, listReviews } from './lib/db.js';
+import { openDb, listReviews, enqueueJob, finishJob, recoverPendingJobs } from './lib/db.js';
 import { GiteaClient } from './lib/gitea.js';
 import { ReviewQueue } from './lib/queue.js';
 import { verifySignature, jobFromWebhook } from './lib/webhook.js';
@@ -24,8 +24,34 @@ if (!cfg.webhookSecret) { console.error('missing webhookSecret in config'); proc
 
 const db = openDb(cfg.dbPath);
 const gitea = new GiteaClient({ baseUrl: cfg.forgeBaseUrl, token: cfg.botToken });
+// admin-scoped client: only used to self-heal bot collaborator access on 403
+const adminGitea = cfg.adminToken
+  ? new GiteaClient({ baseUrl: cfg.forgeBaseUrl, token: cfg.adminToken })
+  : null;
 const queue = new ReviewQueue();
 
+// Run one persisted job through the pipeline, marking the queue row done
+// whatever the outcome (runReview itself posts a final or fail-open status).
+function dispatchJob(queueRowId, job) {
+  return queue.enqueue(`${job.owner}/${job.repo}`, (withGlobal) =>
+    runReview({ cfg, gitea, adminGitea, db, job, withGlobal, log })
+  ).then(
+    (r) => finishJob(db, queueRowId, r?.ok ? (r.verdict || 'ok') : `error:${String(r?.error || '').slice(0, 200)}`),
+    (e) => {
+      log(`review pipeline error for ${job.owner}/${job.repo}@${job.sha}: ${e.stack || e.message}`);
+      finishJob(db, queueRowId, `crash:${String(e.message || e).slice(0, 200)}`);
+    }
+  );
+}
+
+// Startup reconciliation: re-enqueue persisted jobs a previous process never
+// finished (their commit status is stuck at 'pending' otherwise).
+const recovered = recoverPendingJobs(db);
+if (recovered.length) {
+  log(`recovering ${recovered.length} unfinished review job(s) from previous run`);
+  for (const { id, job } of recovered) dispatchJob(id, job);
+}
+
 const server = createServer((req, res) => {
   const url = new URL(req.url, 'http://x');
   try {
@@ -78,11 +104,11 @@ function handleWebhook(req, res) {
       return json(res, 200, { accepted: false, reason: 'not reviewable' });
     }
     log(`webhook: accepted ${job.event} ${job.owner}/${job.repo}@${String(job.sha).slice(0, 10)}${job.prIndex ? ' PR#' + job.prIndex : ''}`);
+    // persist BEFORE acking/enqueueing so a restart can re-run it, then
     // respond immediately; review runs async on the queue
+    const queueRowId = enqueueJob(db, job);
     json(res, 202, { accepted: true });
-    queue.enqueue(`${job.owner}/${job.repo}`, (withGlobal) =>
-      runReview({ cfg, gitea, db, job, withGlobal, log })
-    ).catch(e => log(`review pipeline error for ${job.owner}/${job.repo}@${job.sha}: ${e.stack || e.message}`));
+    dispatchJob(queueRowId, job);
   });
   req.on('error', e => log('webhook req error:', e.message));
 }
diff --git a/test/access.test.js b/test/access.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1d01bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/access.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { withCollabRetry } from '../src/lib/access.js';
+
+const err = (status, msg = `http ${status}`) => Object.assign(new Error(msg), { status });
+const noLog = () => {};
+
+function adminStub() {
+  const calls = [];
+  return {
+    calls,
+    addCollaborator(owner, repo, username, permission) {
+      calls.push({ owner, repo, username, permission });
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    }
+  };
+}
+
+test('403 adds collaborator (write) then retries once and succeeds', async () => {
+  const admin = adminStub();
+  let attempts = 0;
+  const out = await withCollabRetry(async () => {
+    attempts++;
+    if (attempts === 1) throw err(403);
+    return 'ok';
+  }, { adminGitea: admin, owner: 'nirpa', repo: 'newrepo', botUsername: 'shre-reviewer', log: noLog });
+  assert.equal(out, 'ok');
+  assert.equal(attempts, 2);
+  assert.deepEqual(admin.calls, [{ owner: 'nirpa', repo: 'newrepo', username: 'shre-reviewer', permission: 'write' }]);
+});
+
+test('non-403 errors are rethrown without touching collaborators', async () => {
+  const admin = adminStub();
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () => withCollabRetry(() => Promise.reject(err(500)), {
+      adminGitea: admin, owner: 'o', repo: 'r', botUsername: 'b', log: noLog
+    }),
+    /http 500/
+  );
+  assert.equal(admin.calls.length, 0);
+});
+
+test('403 with no admin client rethrows the original 403', async () => {
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () => withCollabRetry(() => Promise.reject(err(403)), {
+      adminGitea: null, owner: 'o', repo: 'r', botUsername: 'b', log: noLog
+    }),
+    (e) => e.status === 403
+  );
+});
+
+test('retry happens exactly once: second 403 propagates', async () => {
+  const admin = adminStub();
+  let attempts = 0;
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () => withCollabRetry(() => { attempts++; return Promise.reject(err(403)); }, {
+      adminGitea: admin, owner: 'o', repo: 'r', botUsername: 'b', log: noLog
+    }),
+    (e) => e.status === 403
+  );
+  assert.equal(attempts, 2);
+  assert.equal(admin.calls.length, 1);
+});
+
+test('addCollaborator failure propagates (no infinite loop)', async () => {
+  const admin = {
+    addCollaborator: () => Promise.reject(err(422, 'bad permission'))
+  };
+  let attempts = 0;
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () => withCollabRetry(() => { attempts++; return Promise.reject(err(403)); }, {
+      adminGitea: admin, owner: 'o', repo: 'r', botUsername: 'b', log: noLog
+    }),
+    /bad permission/
+  );
+  assert.equal(attempts, 1);
+});
+
+test('success path never consults the admin client', async () => {
+  const out = await withCollabRetry(() => Promise.resolve(42), {
+    adminGitea: undefined, owner: 'o', repo: 'r', botUsername: 'b', log: noLog
+  });
+  assert.equal(out, 42);
+});
diff --git a/test/fetchdiff.test.js b/test/fetchdiff.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54b9283
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fetchdiff.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { fetchDiff } from '../src/lib/review.js';
+
+function giteaStub() {
+  const calls = [];
+  return {
+    calls,
+    getPrDiff: (o, r, i) => { calls.push(['pr', o, r, i]); return Promise.resolve('PRDIFF'); },
+    getCommitDiff: (o, r, sha) => { calls.push(['commit', o, r, sha]); return Promise.resolve('HEADDIFF'); },
+    getCompareDiff: (o, r, before, after) => { calls.push(['compare', o, r, before, after]); return Promise.resolve('RANGEDIFF'); }
+  };
+}
+
+const HEAD = 'a'.repeat(40);
+const BEFORE = 'b'.repeat(40);
+
+test('PR jobs use the PR diff', async () => {
+  const g = giteaStub();
+  const out = await fetchDiff({ gitea: g, job: { owner: 'o', repo: 'r', prIndex: 5, sha: HEAD, before: null } });
+  assert.equal(out, 'PRDIFF');
+  assert.deepEqual(g.calls, [['pr', 'o', 'r', 5]]);
+});
+
+test('push uses ONE compare diff over the full before...after range', async () => {
+  const g = giteaStub();
+  const out = await fetchDiff({
+    gitea: g,
+    job: {
+      owner: 'o', repo: 'r', prIndex: null, sha: HEAD, before: BEFORE,
+      // 25 commits in the payload: must NOT fall back to per-commit slicing
+      commitShas: Array.from({ length: 25 }, (_, i) => String(i).padStart(40, '0'))
+    }
+  });
+  assert.equal(out, 'RANGEDIFF');
+  assert.deepEqual(g.calls, [['compare', 'o', 'r', BEFORE, HEAD]]);
+});
+
+test('new-branch push (before = zero sha) falls back to head commit diff', async () => {
+  const g = giteaStub();
+  const out = await fetchDiff({
+    gitea: g,
+    job: { owner: 'o', repo: 'r', prIndex: null, sha: HEAD, before: '0'.repeat(40), commitShas: [HEAD] }
+  });
+  assert.equal(out, 'HEADDIFF');
+  assert.deepEqual(g.calls, [['commit', 'o', 'r', HEAD]]);
+});
+
+test('missing before also falls back to head commit diff', async () => {
+  const g = giteaStub();
+  const out = await fetchDiff({
+    gitea: g,
+    job: { owner: 'o', repo: 'r', prIndex: null, sha: HEAD, before: null, commitShas: [HEAD] }
+  });
+  assert.equal(out, 'HEADDIFF');
+  assert.deepEqual(g.calls, [['commit', 'o', 'r', HEAD]]);
+});
+
+test('compare failure propagates (no silent placeholder diff)', async () => {
+  const g = giteaStub();
+  g.getCompareDiff = () => Promise.reject(new Error('boom 500'));
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () => fetchDiff({ gitea: g, job: { owner: 'o', repo: 'r', prIndex: null, sha: HEAD, before: BEFORE } }),
+    /boom 500/
+  );
+});
diff --git a/test/persistqueue.test.js b/test/persistqueue.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b3d3f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/persistqueue.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { openDb, enqueueJob, finishJob, recoverPendingJobs } from '../src/lib/db.js';
+
+const JOB = (over = {}) => ({
+  event: 'push', owner: 'nirpa', repo: 'demo', sha: 'a'.repeat(40),
+  ref: 'refs/heads/main', before: 'b'.repeat(40), prIndex: null, prTitle: null,
+  pusher: 'nirpa', authors: ['nirpa'], commitShas: ['a'.repeat(40)],
+  commitMessages: ['msg'], ...over
+});
+
+test('enqueued jobs that never finish are recovered on startup', () => {
+  const db = openDb(':memory:');
+  const id1 = enqueueJob(db, JOB({ sha: '1'.repeat(40) }));
+  const id2 = enqueueJob(db, JOB({ sha: '2'.repeat(40) }));
+  const id3 = enqueueJob(db, JOB({ sha: '3'.repeat(40), prIndex: 7 }));
+  finishJob(db, id2, 'pass');
+
+  const pending = recoverPendingJobs(db);
+  assert.equal(pending.length, 2);
+  assert.deepEqual(pending.map(p => p.id), [id1, id3]);
+  // job payload round-trips intact
+  assert.equal(pending[0].job.sha, '1'.repeat(40));
+  assert.equal(pending[1].job.prIndex, 7);
+  assert.deepEqual(pending[0].job.commitMessages, ['msg']);
+});
+
+test('finished jobs are not recovered again', () => {
+  const db = openDb(':memory:');
+  const id = enqueueJob(db, JOB());
+  finishJob(db, id, 'warn');
+  assert.equal(recoverPendingJobs(db).length, 0);
+});
+
+test('unparseable persisted job is marked done, not re-run forever', () => {
+  const db = openDb(':memory:');
+  db.prepare(`INSERT INTO queue_jobs (repo, sha, job) VALUES ('a/b', 'c', '{broken')`).run();
+  assert.equal(recoverPendingJobs(db).length, 0);
+  // and it is now terminal
+  assert.equal(recoverPendingJobs(db).length, 0);
+  const row = db.prepare(`SELECT state, outcome FROM queue_jobs`).get();
+  assert.equal(row.state, 'done');
+  assert.equal(row.outcome, 'unparseable-job');
+});
+
+test('recovery is ordered oldest first', () => {
+  const db = openDb(':memory:');
+  const ids = [enqueueJob(db, JOB()), enqueueJob(db, JOB()), enqueueJob(db, JOB())];
+  const pending = recoverPendingJobs(db);
+  assert.deepEqual(pending.map(p => p.id), ids);
+});
diff --git a/test/verdict.test.js b/test/verdict.test.js
index 378484a..3614711 100644
--- a/test/verdict.test.js
+++ b/test/verdict.test.js
@@ -78,3 +78,30 @@ test('normalizeReview tolerates junk', () => {
   assert.equal(r.verdict, 'pass');
   assert.equal(r.findings.length, 0);
 });
+
+// --- applyTruncationCap ---
+import { applyTruncationCap } from '../src/lib/verdict.js';
+
+test('truncation caps pass at warn', () => {
+  const r = { verdict: 'pass' };
+  applyTruncationCap(r, true);
+  assert.equal(r.verdict, 'warn');
+});
+
+test('truncation leaves warn as warn', () => {
+  const r = { verdict: 'warn' };
+  applyTruncationCap(r, true);
+  assert.equal(r.verdict, 'warn');
+});
+
+test('truncation does not downgrade fail', () => {
+  const r = { verdict: 'fail' };
+  applyTruncationCap(r, true);
+  assert.equal(r.verdict, 'fail');
+});
+
+test('no truncation leaves pass untouched', () => {
+  const r = { verdict: 'pass' };
+  applyTruncationCap(r, false);
+  assert.equal(r.verdict, 'pass');
+});