diff --git a/tools/backlog/generate-index.ts b/tools/backlog/generate-index.ts
index 908043ff..dfea7ad5 100644
--- a/tools/backlog/generate-index.ts
+++ b/tools/backlog/generate-index.ts
@@ -144,7 +144,15 @@ function generateContent(backlogDir: string): string {
   out.push("_Each entry below is a link to a per-row file under");
   out.push("`docs/backlog/`. Entries with `- [ ]` are open; `- [x]`");
   out.push("are closed (status: closed in frontmatter)._");
-  out.push("");
+  // No explicit blank line here: the per-tier loop below pushes its
+  // own leading "" before each section label, which (after
+  // `out.join("\n")`) produces exactly one blank line between the
+  // frontmatter prose and the first section header. Adding another
+  // "" here would produce two blank lines and drift from
+  // `tools/backlog/generate-index.sh`'s canonical output (the .sh
+  // emits the HEADER heredoc → trailing newline only, then the tier
+  // loop's `echo ""` is the single separator).
+  // backlog-index-integrity.yml runs the .sh; this matches it.
 
   for (const tier of TIERS) {
     const tierDir = join(backlogDir, tier);