diff --git a/scripts/code-queue-runner-skills-contract-test.ts b/scripts/code-queue-runner-skills-contract-test.ts
index 70122335..c15735f5 100644
--- a/scripts/code-queue-runner-skills-contract-test.ts
+++ b/scripts/code-queue-runner-skills-contract-test.ts
@@ -88,22 +88,22 @@ mkdirSync(fixtureSource, { recursive: true });
 createSkillSet(fixtureSource, ["docs-spec", "cli-spec"]);
 symlinkSync(fixtureSource, fixtureSymlinkTarget, "dir");
 
-const sourceFallback = collectSkillAvailability({
+const missingTargetWithSource = collectSkillAvailability({
   source: fixtureSource,
   target: fixtureMissingTarget,
   requiredSkills: ["docs-spec", "cli-spec"],
 });
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.ok === true, "source exists target missing should keep runner usable", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.runnerUsable === true, "source fallback should mark runner usable", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.contractOk === false, "source fallback should still mark target projection contract degraded", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.degraded === true, "source fallback should remain degraded for host rollout", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.blocker === "skills-target-missing", "source fallback should preserve target missing degraded reason", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.degradedReason === "skills-target-missing", "source fallback should expose bounded degraded reason", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.resolvedPath === fixtureSource, "source fallback should resolve to source path", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.resolvedPathSource === "source-fallback", "source fallback should expose resolved path source", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(sourceFallback.skillCount === 2 && sourceFallback.sourceSkillCount === 2 && sourceFallback.targetSkillCount === 0, "source fallback should expose bounded counts", sourceFallback);
-assertCondition(asRecord(sourceFallback.resolution, "sourceFallback.resolution").runnerEnvValue === fixtureSource, "source fallback should pass resolved path to runner env", sourceFallback.resolution);
-assertCondition(asRecord(sourceFallback.resolution, "sourceFallback.resolution").hostRolloutRequired === true, "source fallback should require host rollout repair", sourceFallback.resolution);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.ok === false, "source exists target missing must keep runner unavailable until target is projected", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.runnerUsable === false, "source must not be passed as the runner skills path when target is missing", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.contractOk === false, "missing target must mark target projection contract degraded", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.degraded === true, "missing target should remain degraded for host rollout", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.blocker === "skills-target-missing", "missing target should preserve target missing degraded reason", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.degradedReason === "skills-target-missing", "missing target should expose bounded degraded reason", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.resolvedPath === fixtureMissingTarget, "missing target should keep runner path at the expected target", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.resolvedPathSource === "missing", "missing target should not expose source fallback resolution", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(missingTargetWithSource.skillCount === 0 && missingTargetWithSource.sourceSkillCount === 2 && missingTargetWithSource.targetSkillCount === 0, "missing target should expose bounded source and target counts", missingTargetWithSource);
+assertCondition(asRecord(missingTargetWithSource.resolution, "missingTargetWithSource.resolution").runnerEnvValue === fixtureMissingTarget, "missing target should not pass source path to runner env", missingTargetWithSource.resolution);
+assertCondition(asRecord(missingTargetWithSource.resolution, "missingTargetWithSource.resolution").hostRolloutRequired === true, "missing target should require host rollout repair", missingTargetWithSource.resolution);
 
 const symlinkOk = collectSkillAvailability({
   source: fixtureSource,
@@ -139,14 +139,14 @@ const missing = collectSkillAvailability({
   target: "/path/that/does/not/exist/for-code-queue-skills-test",
   requiredSkills: ["docs-spec", "cli-spec"],
 });
-assertCondition(missing.ok === true, "approved source should keep missing-target runner usable");
-assertCondition(missing.runnerUsable === true, "missing target with approved source should expose runner usable");
+assertCondition(missing.ok === false, "approved source must not keep missing-target runner usable");
+assertCondition(missing.runnerUsable === false, "missing target with approved source should expose runner unavailable");
 assertCondition(missing.contractOk === false, "missing target with approved source should expose hostPath contract degraded");
 assertCondition(missing.degraded === true, "missing target should be degraded");
 assertCondition(missing.blocker === "skills-target-missing", "missing target should expose blocker", missing);
 assertCondition(missing.targetMissingSkills.includes("docs-spec") && missing.targetMissingSkills.includes("cli-spec"), "missing target should list target missing skills", missing);
-assertCondition(missing.resolvedPath === "/home/ubuntu/.agents/skills", "missing target should resolve to approved source", missing);
-assertCondition(missing.resolvedPathSource === "source-fallback", "missing target should expose source fallback", missing);
+assertCondition(missing.resolvedPath === "/path/that/does/not/exist/for-code-queue-skills-test", "missing target should keep the configured target path", missing);
+assertCondition(missing.resolvedPathSource === "missing", "missing target should not expose source fallback", missing);
 assertCondition(missing.valuesPrinted === false, "missing report must also declare valuesPrinted=false");
 
 const typoTarget = collectSkillAvailability({
@@ -203,8 +203,8 @@ assertCondition(runtimePreflight.includes("skills: SkillAvailabilityReport"), "r
 assertCondition(runtimePreflight.includes("skillsSync: SkillSyncPreflightReport"), "runtime preflight type must include skills sync report");
 assertCondition(runtimePreflight.includes("collectSkillAvailability"), "runtime preflight must collect skills availability");
 assertCondition(runtimePreflight.includes("collectSkillSyncPreflight"), "runtime preflight must collect skills sync preflight");
-assertCondition(runtimePreflight.includes("skills.runnerUsable && ports.codex.ok"), "runtime preflight ok must depend on runner usable skills without blocking on host rollout contract drift");
-assertCondition(indexSource.includes("skills.runnerUsable === true"), "dev-ready must gate on structured runner usable skills");
+assertCondition(runtimePreflight.includes("skills.contractOk && ports.codex.ok"), "runtime preflight ok must depend on the read-only target projection contract");
+assertCondition(indexSource.includes("skills.contractOk === true"), "dev-ready must gate on structured target projection contract");
 assertCondition(indexSource.includes("resolvedRunnerSkillsPath"), "runtime must pass resolved skills path to code agents");
 assertCondition(indexSource.includes("runnerSkillsBlocker"), "scheduler must check skills before starting code agents");
 assertCondition(indexSource.includes("task_blocked_by_runner_skills"), "scheduler must emit structured runner skills blockers");
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ const skillsPreflightTransport = {
   }),
 };
 const defaultPreflightSummary = asRecord(codexPrPreflightQueryForTest(["--remote"], skillsPreflightTransport), "default preflight summary");
-assertCondition(defaultPreflightSummary.failureKind !== "runner-skills-blocker", "source fallback should not classify as runner skills blocker", defaultPreflightSummary);
+assertCondition(defaultPreflightSummary.failureKind === "runner-skills-blocker", "missing target should classify as runner skills blocker even when source exists", defaultPreflightSummary);
 assertCondition(asRecord(defaultPreflightSummary.skillsContract, "defaultPreflightSummary.skillsContract").hostRolloutRequired === true, "default preflight should expose host rollout blocker separately", defaultPreflightSummary);
 assertCondition(defaultPreflightSummary.preflight === undefined, "default PR preflight should omit detailed preflight internals", defaultPreflightSummary);
 assertCondition(asRecord(defaultPreflightSummary.disclosure, "defaultPreflightSummary.disclosure").fullDetailOmitted === true, "default PR preflight should disclose full detail omission", defaultPreflightSummary.disclosure);
@@ -288,11 +288,11 @@ const preflightSummary = asRecord(codexPrPreflightQueryForTest(["--remote", "--f
 const preflight = asRecord(preflightSummary.preflight, "preflight");
 const preflightSkills = asRecord(preflight.skills, "preflight.skills");
 const preflightSkillsSync = asRecord(preflight.skillsSync, "preflight.skillsSync");
-assertCondition(preflightSummary.failureKind !== "runner-skills-blocker", "full preflight should keep source fallback out of runner blocker classification", preflightSummary);
+assertCondition(preflightSummary.failureKind === "runner-skills-blocker", "full preflight should classify missing target as runner blocker", preflightSummary);
 assertCondition(asRecord(preflightSummary.skillsContract, "preflightSummary.skillsContract").degradedReason === "skills-target-missing", "full preflight should expose target missing as contract degraded reason", preflightSummary);
 assertCondition(preflightSkills.target === "/path/that/does/not/exist/for-code-queue-skills-test", "full preflight must show skills target", preflightSkills);
-assertCondition(preflightSkills.resolvedPath === "/home/ubuntu/.agents/skills", "full preflight must show resolved source fallback path", preflightSkills);
-assertCondition(preflightSkills.resolvedPathSource === "source-fallback", "full preflight must show source fallback resolution", preflightSkills);
+assertCondition(preflightSkills.resolvedPath === "/path/that/does/not/exist/for-code-queue-skills-test", "full preflight must keep resolved path at the target", preflightSkills);
+assertCondition(preflightSkills.resolvedPathSource === "missing", "full preflight must not show source fallback resolution", preflightSkills);
 assertCondition(preflightSkillsSync.dryRun === true && preflightSkillsSync.mutation === false, "full preflight must show non-mutating skills sync dry-run", preflightSkillsSync);
 assertCondition(asRecord(preflightSkillsSync.counts, "preflight.skillsSync.counts").missingTargetSkills === 2, "full preflight must show missing target count", preflightSkillsSync);
 assertCondition(asRecord(preflightSkillsSync.plannedActions, "preflight.skillsSync.plannedActions").copy === false, "full preflight must show no copy action", preflightSkillsSync);
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ process.stdout.write(`${JSON.stringify({
     "skill availability report exposes source, target, requiredSkills, missingSkills, version fingerprint/mtime, degraded/blocker and valuesPrinted=false",
     "skills sync dry-run reports source, target, counts, version fingerprint/mtime, missing skills, permission failures, instructions and no-copy actions",
     "scheduler blocks runner startup with structured infra-blocked output when required skills are unavailable",
-    "runtime-preflight, dev-ready, health and PR preflight use the same structured skill and sync reports",
+    "runtime-preflight, dev-ready, health and PR preflight require the target projection instead of source fallback",
     "default health/preflight summaries expose bounded skills lifecycle evidence and --full expansion",
     "misspelled skills paths are rejected with forbidden-skills-path-configured before generic missing/unapproved path blockers",
   ],
diff --git a/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/index.ts b/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/index.ts
index d4c97c81..9a5cc9d7 100644
--- a/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/index.ts
@@ -2478,12 +2478,12 @@ function collectSkillsSyncPreflight(): JsonValue {
 }
 
 function resolvedRunnerSkillsPath(): string {
-  return currentSkillAvailability().resolution.runnerEnvValue;
+  return config.skillsPath;
 }
 
 function runnerSkillsBlocker(): Record<string, JsonValue> | null {
   const skills = currentSkillAvailability();
-  if (skills.runnerUsable) return null;
+  if (skills.contractOk) return null;
   const pathSpelling = {
     expectedTarget: skills.pathSpelling.expectedTarget,
     forbiddenPathChecked: skills.pathSpelling.forbiddenPathChecked,
@@ -2565,7 +2565,7 @@ function collectDevReady(): JsonValue {
   const sshSharedReady = existsSync("/root/.ssh") && sshKeyProbe.ok && sshKeyProbe.output.trim().length > 0;
   const skills = collectSkillsStatus() as Record<string, JsonValue>;
   const skillsSync = collectSkillsSyncPreflight() as Record<string, JsonValue>;
-  const skillsReady = skills.ok === true || skills.runnerUsable === true;
+  const skillsReady = skills.contractOk === true;
   const runtimePreflight = runtimePreflightJson(collectRuntimePreflight({ includeRemote: false, includePushDryRun: false }));
   const ok = missingTools.length === 0 && dockerProbe.ok && composeProbe.ok && workdirExists && dockerSocketExists && codexConfigReady && sshSharedReady && skillsReady;
   const value: JsonValue = {
diff --git a/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/runtime-preflight.ts b/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/runtime-preflight.ts
index d9246705..2057ad50 100644
--- a/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/runtime-preflight.ts
+++ b/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/runtime-preflight.ts
@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ export function collectRuntimePreflight(options: RuntimePreflightOptions = {}):
   };
   const pullRequestDelivery = collectPullRequestDeliveryPreflight(options, checkedAt);
   return {
-    ok: skills.runnerUsable && ports.codex.ok && ports.opencode.ok && pullRequestDelivery.ok,
+    ok: skills.contractOk && ports.codex.ok && ports.opencode.ok && pullRequestDelivery.ok,
     checkedAt,
     cwd: process.cwd(),
     pid: process.pid,
diff --git a/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/skill-availability.ts b/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/skill-availability.ts
index 5a9e0d44..f095eac5 100644
--- a/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/skill-availability.ts
+++ b/src/components/microservices/code-queue/src/skill-availability.ts
@@ -438,41 +438,33 @@ export function collectSkillAvailability(options: SkillAvailabilityOptions): Ski
   const sourceProbe = collectSyncPathReport(source, source === defaultSource, requiredSkills).report;
   const targetProbe = collectSyncPathReport(target, target === expectedTarget || normalizedPathText(target) === normalizedPathText(source), requiredSkills).report;
   const targetSymlinkToSource = targetProbe.symlink && sameResolvedPath(targetProbe.realPath, sourceProbe.realPath);
-  const targetHasRequiredSkills = reportHasRequiredSkills(targetProbe);
   const sourceHasRequiredSkills = reportHasRequiredSkills(sourceProbe);
+  const targetHasRequiredSkills = reportHasRequiredSkills(targetProbe);
   const targetReadonlyOk = targetProbe.readonly || targetSymlinkToSource || normalizedPathText(target) === normalizedPathText(source);
   const targetReady = targetHasRequiredSkills && targetReadonlyOk;
   const targetBlocker = targetHasRequiredSkills && targetSymlinkToSource ? null : targetBlockerFor(targetProbe);
   const sourceBlocker = sourceBlockerFor(sourceProbe);
   const missingBoth = !targetProbe.exists && !sourceProbe.exists;
-  const resolutionSource: SkillAvailabilityReport["resolvedPathSource"] = forbiddenPathConfigured || missingBoth
+  const resolutionSource: SkillAvailabilityReport["resolvedPathSource"] = forbiddenPathConfigured || !targetReady
     ? "missing"
-    : targetReady
-      ? targetSymlinkToSource ? "target-symlink" : "target"
-      : sourceHasRequiredSkills
-        ? "source-fallback"
-        : "missing";
-  const resolvedPath = resolutionSource === "target" || resolutionSource === "target-symlink"
-    ? target
-    : resolutionSource === "source-fallback"
-      ? source
-      : target;
-  const selectedReport = resolutionSource === "source-fallback" ? sourceProbe : targetProbe;
-  const runnerUsable = !forbiddenPathConfigured && resolutionSource !== "missing";
-  const contractOk = runnerUsable && resolutionSource !== "source-fallback" && targetReady && !forbiddenPathExists;
+    : targetSymlinkToSource ? "target-symlink" : "target";
+  const resolvedPath = target;
+  const selectedReport = targetProbe;
+  const runnerUsable = !forbiddenPathConfigured && targetReady && !forbiddenPathExists;
+  const contractOk = runnerUsable;
   const blocker = forbiddenPathConfigured
     ? "forbidden-skills-path-configured"
+    : forbiddenPathExists
+    ? "forbidden-skills-path-present"
     : missingBoth
     ? "skills-source-and-target-missing"
     : !runnerUsable
       ? targetBlocker ?? sourceBlocker ?? "required-skills-missing"
-      : contractOk
-        ? null
-        : targetBlocker ?? (forbiddenPathExists ? "forbidden-skills-path-present" : null);
+      : null;
   const degradedReason = contractOk ? null : blocker;
-  const ok = runnerUsable;
+  const ok = contractOk;
   const missingSkills = selectedReport.missingSkills;
-  const skills = resolutionSource === "source-fallback" ? sourceProbe.skills : targetProbe.skills;
+  const skills = targetProbe.skills;
   return {
     ok,
     runnerUsable,
@@ -497,7 +489,7 @@ export function collectSkillAvailability(options: SkillAvailabilityOptions): Ski
       passesToRunnerEnv: true,
       targetBlocker,
       degradedReason,
-      hostRolloutRequired: runnerUsable && !contractOk,
+      hostRolloutRequired: sourceHasRequiredSkills && !contractOk,
     },
     mountPoint: selectedReport.mountPoint,
     exists: targetProbe.exists,
@@ -549,8 +541,8 @@ export function collectSkillAvailability(options: SkillAvailabilityOptions): Ski
     },
     repairHint: contractOk
       ? null
-      : runnerUsable
-        ? `Runner can use ${resolvedPath}; restore the read-only ${defaultSource} -> ${expectedTarget} projection so host rollout no longer reports ${degradedReason ?? "skills contract degraded"}.`
+      : sourceHasRequiredSkills
+        ? `Source ${defaultSource} has the required skills; restore the read-only ${defaultSource} -> ${expectedTarget} projection before starting runners.`
         : `Mount ${defaultSource} read-only at ${expectedTarget}, set UNIDESK_SKILLS_PATH=${expectedTarget}, and remove any forbidden skills path spelling.`,
     error: selectedReport.error,
     valuesPrinted: false,