diff --git a/.ai-coding-guide.json b/.ai-coding-guide.json
index 5ba9aac..6e4d6b0 100644
--- a/.ai-coding-guide.json
+++ b/.ai-coding-guide.json
@@ -84,5 +84,15 @@
       "errorHandling": "explicit",
       "asyncStyle": "async-await"
     }
+  },
+  "ratchet": {
+    "strategy": "hybrid",
+    "tolerance": { "total": 5 },
+    "hybrid": {
+      "critical": ["complexity", "architecture"],
+      "minor": ["domainTerms", "magicNumbers"],
+      "tolerance": { "criticalDensity": 1.05, "minorDensity": 1.2 }
+    },
+    "health": { "enabled": false }
   }
 }
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-ratchet.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-ratchet.yml
index 75145b4..080260b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-ratchet.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-ratchet.yml
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@ on:
   pull_request:
   push:
     branches: [main]
+  workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
   ratchet-and-tests:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
@@ -43,6 +46,7 @@ jobs:
         run: npm test
 
       - name: Upload artifacts
+        if: always()
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: analysis-and-lint-${{ github.sha }}
diff --git a/eslint.config.mjs b/eslint.config.mjs
index 9064992..e8ad5a8 100644
--- a/eslint.config.mjs
+++ b/eslint.config.mjs
@@ -72,6 +72,17 @@ export default [
       'max-lines': ["warn",{"max":300,"skipBlankLines":true,"skipComments":true}]
     }
   },
+  {
+    files: ["scripts/**/*.js"],
+    rules: {
+      // Exclude support scripts from architecture/complexity metrics to keep product telemetry stable
+      'complexity': 'off',
+      'max-statements': 'off',
+      'max-lines-per-function': 'off',
+      'max-depth': 'off',
+      'max-lines': 'off'
+    }
+  },
   {
     files: ["lib/rules/**/*.js"],
     rules: {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6a1d6ef..28cf350 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     "analyze:current": "node bin/cli.js analyze --input=lint-results.json --format=json --output=analysis-current.json",
     "analyze:baseline": "node bin/cli.js analyze --input=lint-results.json --format=json --output=analysis-baseline.json",
     "ratchet": "node scripts/ratchet.js --baseline=analysis-baseline.json --current=analysis-current.json",
+    "ratchet:context": "node scripts/ratchet.js --mode=context --baseline=analysis-baseline.json --current=analysis-current.json",
     "ci:ratchet": "npm run lint:json && npm run analyze:current && npm run ratchet",
     "test": "mocha tests --recursive",
     "test:coverage": "c8 --reporter=text --reporter=lcov npm test",
diff --git a/scripts/ratchet.js b/scripts/ratchet.js
index a03cce6..7e8b8b2 100644
--- a/scripts/ratchet.js
+++ b/scripts/ratchet.js
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ function summarize(payload) {
     complexity: len(cat.complexity),
     domainTerms: len(cat.domainTerms),
     architecture: len(cat.architecture),
-    // Optional counts (informational)
     counts: {
       errors: num(cat.counts && cat.counts.errors),
       warnings: num(cat.counts && cat.counts.warnings),
@@ -133,7 +132,6 @@ function compare(base, curr) {
     const c = num(curr[f]);
     if (c > b) deltas.push({ key: f, base: b, current: c, type: 'count' });
   }
-  // Effort ratchet (optional, do not fail but report increases)
   const effortInc = [];
   for (const f of fields) {
     const b = num(base.effortByCategory && base.effortByCategory[f]);
@@ -143,34 +141,80 @@ function compare(base, curr) {
   return { deltas, effortInc };
 }
 
-function main() {
-  const args = parseArgs(process.argv);
-  const baselinePath = args.baseline || args._[0] || 'analysis-baseline.json';
-  const currentPath = args.current || args._[1] || 'analysis-current.json';
+function detectIntentFromMetrics(base, curr) {
+  const totalDelta = (curr.magicNumbers - base.magicNumbers) +
+                     (curr.complexity - base.complexity) +
+                     (curr.domainTerms - base.domainTerms) +
+                     (curr.architecture - base.architecture);
 
-  const base = readJson(baselinePath);
-  if (!base) {
-    console.log(`[ratchet] Baseline not found at ${baselinePath}.\n` +
-      'Run: npm run lint:json && npm run analyze:baseline\n' +
-      'Skipping ratchet (non-blocking)');
-    process.exit(0);
-    return;
+  let intent = 'neutral';
+  let confidence = 0.5;
+  const signals = [];
+
+  if (totalDelta < -10) {
+    intent = 'cleanup';
+    confidence = 0.7;
+    signals.push('Violations decreased significantly');
+  } else if (totalDelta > 20 && curr.domainTerms > base.domainTerms * 1.3) {
+    intent = 'ai-generation-suspect';
+    confidence = 0.6;
+    signals.push('Large increase in domain term violations');
+    signals.push('Rapid violation growth pattern');
+  } else if (curr.complexity < base.complexity * 0.8 && curr.architecture < base.architecture * 0.8) {
+    intent = 'refactoring';
+    confidence = 0.65;
+    signals.push('Complexity decreased');
+    signals.push('Architecture violations decreased');
   }
-  const curr = readJson(currentPath);
-  if (!curr) {
-    console.error(`[ratchet] Current analysis not found at ${currentPath}. Run: npm run lint:json && npm run analyze:current`);
-    process.exit(1);
-    return;
+
+  return { intent, confidence, signals };
+}
+
+function runContextMode(base, curr) {
+  console.log('\n📊 Context-Aware Telemetry');
+  console.log('━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\n');
+  console.log('Mode: Non-blocking (burn-in period)\n');
+
+  console.log('Category Counts:');
+  const categories = [
+    { key: 'magicNumbers', label: 'Magic Numbers' },
+    { key: 'complexity', label: 'Complexity' },
+    { key: 'domainTerms', label: 'Domain Terms' },
+    { key: 'architecture', label: 'Architecture' }
+  ];
+
+  for (const cat of categories) {
+    const baseVal = base[cat.key];
+    const currVal = curr[cat.key];
+    const delta = currVal - baseVal;
+    const emoji = delta > 0 ? '⚠️' : (delta < 0 ? '✅' : '➖');
+    const sign = delta > 0 ? '+' : '';
+    console.log(`  ${cat.label.padEnd(15)} ${baseVal} → ${currVal} (${sign}${delta}) ${emoji}`);
   }
 
-  const b = summarize(base);
-  const c = summarize(curr);
-  const { deltas, effortInc } = compare(b, c);
+  console.log();
+
+const { intent, confidence, signals } = detectIntentFromMetrics(base, curr);
+
+  console.log('Intent Detection:');
+  console.log(`  Detected: ${intent}`);
+  console.log(`  Confidence: ${(confidence * 100).toFixed(0)}%`);
+  if (signals.length > 0) {
+    console.log('  Signals:');
+    signals.forEach(s => console.log(`    • ${s}`));
+  }
+
+  console.log('\n━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━');
+  console.log('\n✅ Telemetry complete (non-blocking)\n');
+}
+
+function runTraditionalMode(base, curr, args) {
+  const { deltas, effortInc } = compare(base, curr);
 
   // Health telemetry + optional gating
   const cfg = loadProjectConfig();
   const healthCfg = (cfg && cfg.ratchet && cfg.ratchet.health) || { enabled: false };
-  const scores = computeHealth(c);
+  const scores = computeHealth(curr);
   const gateOn = String(healthCfg.gateOn || 'overall').toLowerCase();
   const minOverall = Number(healthCfg.minOverall || 70);
   const intent = detectIntent(args);
@@ -181,6 +225,74 @@ function main() {
   const gateActive = !!healthCfg.enabled && !shouldBypass(healthCfg);
   const gateFail = gateActive && currentScore < threshold;
 
+  const strategy = (cfg && cfg.ratchet && cfg.ratchet.strategy) || 'classic';
+
+  // Hybrid strategy: density-based for critical vs minor categories (per 1K LOC)
+  if (strategy === 'hybrid') {
+    const hybridCfg = (cfg && cfg.ratchet && cfg.ratchet.hybrid) || {};
+    const critical = Array.isArray(hybridCfg.critical) && hybridCfg.critical.length ? hybridCfg.critical : ['complexity', 'architecture'];
+    const minor = Array.isArray(hybridCfg.minor) && hybridCfg.minor.length ? hybridCfg.minor : ['domainTerms', 'magicNumbers'];
+    const tol = (hybridCfg.tolerance) || {};
+    const critTol = Number(tol.criticalDensity || 1.05); // allow 5% increase
+    const minorTol = Number(tol.minorDensity || 1.20);    // allow 20% increase
+
+    const baseLoc = Math.max(1, Number(base.lines && base.lines.executable) || Number(base.lines && base.lines.physical) || 1);
+    const currLoc = Math.max(1, Number(curr.lines && curr.lines.executable) || Number(curr.lines && curr.lines.physical) || 1);
+    const perK = (count, loc) => (count / (loc / 1000));
+
+    let failed = false;
+
+    console.log('\n[ratchet] Hybrid density check (per 1K LOC)');
+    console.log(`LOC: ${baseLoc} → ${currLoc} (${currLoc - baseLoc >= 0 ? '+' : ''}${currLoc - baseLoc})`);
+
+    console.log('\nCritical (strict):');
+    for (const cat of critical) {
+      const b = Number(base[cat]) || 0;
+      const c = Number(curr[cat]) || 0;
+      const bd = perK(b, baseLoc);
+      const cd = perK(c, currLoc);
+      const ratio = bd === 0 ? (cd === 0 ? 1 : Infinity) : (cd / bd);
+      const status = ratio > critTol ? '❌' : '✅';
+      console.log(`  ${String(cat).padEnd(15)} ${b} → ${c} (density: ${bd.toFixed(2)} → ${cd.toFixed(2)}) ${status}`);
+      if (ratio > critTol) failed = true;
+    }
+
+    console.log('\nMinor (relaxed):');
+    for (const cat of minor) {
+      const b = Number(base[cat]) || 0;
+      const c = Number(curr[cat]) || 0;
+      const bd = perK(b, baseLoc);
+      const cd = perK(c, currLoc);
+      const ratio = bd === 0 ? (cd === 0 ? 1 : Infinity) : (cd / bd);
+      const status = ratio > minorTol ? '⚠️' : '✅';
+      console.log(`  ${String(cat).padEnd(15)} ${b} → ${c} (density: ${bd.toFixed(2)} → ${cd.toFixed(2)}) ${status}`);
+    }
+
+    // Health telemetry (informational)
+    console.log(`\n[ratchet] Health (informational): overall=${scores.overall} structural=${scores.structural} semantic=${scores.semantic}`);
+
+    if (gateFail) {
+      console.error(`[ratchet] HEALTH-GATE FAIL: ${failureMessage}`);
+      console.error(`  gateOn=${gateOn} threshold=${threshold} actual=${currentScore} intent=${intent}`);
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+    if (failed) {
+      console.error('\n❌ [ratchet] FAIL: Critical violation density increased');
+      console.error('Complexity and architecture are strictly controlled.');
+      console.error('Refactor to reduce complexity or update baseline if intentional.');
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+    console.log('\n✅ [ratchet] PASS: Quality maintained or improved');
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  // Classic strategy with tolerance band
+  // Tolerance band (configurable) to avoid blocking normal fluctuation
+  const tolCfg = (cfg && cfg.ratchet && cfg.ratchet.tolerance) || {};
+  const totalTolerance = Number(tolCfg.total || 0);
+
   if (deltas.length === 0) {
     console.log('[ratchet] OK: no increases in analyzer categories');
     if (effortInc.length) {
@@ -192,11 +304,27 @@ function main() {
     if (gateFail) {
       console.error(`[ratchet] HEALTH-GATE FAIL: ${failureMessage}`);
       console.error(`  gateOn=${gateOn} threshold=${threshold} actual=${currentScore} intent=${intent}`);
-      process.exit(1);
-      return;
+      return 1;
     }
-    process.exit(0);
-    return;
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  // If within tolerance, allow pass with notice
+  const totalIncrease = deltas.reduce((sum, d) => sum + (d.current - d.base), 0);
+  if (totalIncrease <= totalTolerance) {
+    console.log(`[ratchet] OK: within tolerance (+${totalIncrease} violations, tolerance: ${totalTolerance})`);
+    for (const d of deltas) {
+      console.log(`  ${d.key}: ${d.base} → ${d.current} (+${d.current - d.base})`);
+    }
+    console.log('\nSmall increases accepted during active development.');
+    // Health telemetry (informational) and optional gate still apply
+    console.log(`[ratchet] Health (informational): overall=${scores.overall} structural=${scores.structural} semantic=${scores.semantic}`);
+    if (gateFail) {
+      console.error(`[ratchet] HEALTH-GATE FAIL: ${failureMessage}`);
+      console.error(`  gateOn=${gateOn} threshold=${threshold} actual=${currentScore} intent=${intent}`);
+      return 1;
+    }
+    return 0;
   }
 
   console.error('[ratchet] FAIL: new violations introduced');
@@ -214,7 +342,42 @@ function main() {
   console.error('  - compare with analysis-baseline.json');
   console.error('\nIf intentional reductions were made and counts decreased overall, refresh baseline:');
   console.error('  npm run analyze:baseline');
-  process.exit(1);
+  return 1;
+}
+
+function main() {
+  const args = parseArgs(process.argv);
+  const mode = args.mode || 'traditional';
+  const baselinePath = args.baseline || args._[0] || 'analysis-baseline.json';
+  const currentPath = args.current || args._[1] || 'analysis-current.json';
+
+  const base = readJson(baselinePath);
+  if (!base) {
+    console.log(`[ratchet] Baseline not found at ${baselinePath}.\n` +
+      'Run: npm run lint:json && npm run analyze:baseline\n' +
+      'Skipping ratchet (non-blocking)');
+    process.exit(0);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const curr = readJson(currentPath);
+  if (!curr) {
+    console.error(`[ratchet] Current analysis not found at ${currentPath}. Run: npm run lint:json && npm run analyze:current`);
+    process.exit(1);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const b = summarize(base);
+  const c = summarize(curr);
+
+  if (mode === 'context') {
+    runContextMode(b, c);
+    process.exit(0);
+    return;
+  }
+
+const exitCode = runTraditionalMode(b, c, args);
+  process.exit(exitCode);
 }
 
 main();