diff --git a/tools/hygiene/check-shard-before-push.ts b/tools/hygiene/check-shard-before-push.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..935167a22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/hygiene/check-shard-before-push.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,235 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bun
+// check-shard-before-push.ts — bundled pre-push self-checks for tick shards
+//
+// Run on a single shard (or multiple) before pushing. Wraps three CI gates
+// that the shard would otherwise hit only after push:
+//
+//   1. MD032 paragraph-immediately-followed-by-bullet detection
+//      (markdownlint catches this; running before push is faster feedback)
+//   2. `markdownlint-cli2` for the broad markdown lint surface
+//      (MD038 no-space-in-code, MD024, etc.)
+//   3. `audit-tick-shard-relative-paths` for broken relative-path links
+//      (the dedicated audit gate — same as CI runs in `--enforce --baseline`
+//      mode, but here in detect-only-for-this-file mode)
+//
+// This is a DX helper, not a CI gate. CI gates remain authoritative; this
+// script just shortens the local-feedback loop from "push + wait for CI"
+// to "single command + immediate output."
+//
+// Usage:
+//
+//   bun tools/hygiene/check-shard-before-push.ts <shard-path>...
+//   bun tools/hygiene/check-shard-before-push.ts docs/hygiene-history/ticks/2026/05/16/0340Z.md
+//
+// Exit codes:
+//
+//   0   all checks passed on all input files
+//   1   one or more checks failed
+//   64  argument error (no files / non-file inputs)
+//
+// Composes with: audit-tick-shard-relative-paths.ts (relative-path audit),
+// audit-md032-plus-linestart.ts (sibling `+`-marker MD032 check),
+// AUDIT-LIFECYCLE.md (the lifecycle template that motivates pre-push catches).
+
+import { existsSync, statSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+
+// arg parsing
+
+interface Args {
+  files: readonly string[];
+}
+
+type ParseResult = { ok: true; args: Args } | { ok: false; exitCode: 64; message: string };
+
+function parseArgs(argv: readonly string[]): ParseResult {
+  if (argv.length === 0) {
+    return { ok: false, exitCode: 64, message: "usage: check-shard-before-push.ts <shard-path>..." };
+  }
+  return { ok: true, args: { files: argv } };
+}
+
+// MD032 paragraph-immediately-followed-by-bullet detection.
+// The same `awk`-shaped scan I've been running per-tick this session,
+// ported to TS for the bundled-helper interface.
+
+interface Md032Finding {
+  readonly file: string;
+  readonly line: number;
+  readonly paragraph: string;
+  readonly bullet: string;
+}
+
+// Per-line "inside fenced code block" tracking. A `- ` line inside ``` ``` ```
+// fences is not a markdown list item — markdownlint correctly ignores it,
+// and so must this scanner. Same pattern as audit-tick-shard-relative-paths.ts.
+function buildCodeFenceFlags(lines: readonly string[]): boolean[] {
+  const flags = new Array<boolean>(lines.length).fill(false);
+  let inFence = false;
+  for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+    const trimmed = lines[i]!.trim();
+    if (trimmed.startsWith("```")) {
+      inFence = !inFence;
+      flags[i] = inFence; // the fence-marker line itself is "inside" the closing-toggle direction
+    } else {
+      flags[i] = inFence;
+    }
+  }
+  return flags;
+}
+
+function checkMd032(file: string): Md032Finding[] {
+  const text = readFileSync(file, "utf8");
+  const lines = text.split("\n");
+  const fenceFlags = buildCodeFenceFlags(lines);
+  const findings: Md032Finding[] = [];
+  for (let i = 1; i < lines.length; i++) {
+    if (fenceFlags[i]) continue; // skip lines inside fenced code blocks
+    const prev = lines[i - 1]!;
+    const cur = lines[i]!;
+    // Trigger: cur starts with "- " bullet AND prev is non-blank
+    //          AND prev is not itself a structural marker (#, >, *, -, |, ```)
+    if (!cur.startsWith("- ")) continue;
+    if (prev.trim() === "") continue;
+    if (/^[#>*\-|`]/.test(prev)) continue;
+    findings.push({ file, line: i + 1, paragraph: prev, bullet: cur });
+  }
+  return findings;
+}
+
+// markdownlint-cli2 wrapper.
+// Returns true on clean exit, false on findings. Stdout/stderr are echoed
+// directly so the user sees the same output they'd see from the CI gate.
+
+function runMarkdownlint(file: string): boolean {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line sonarjs/no-os-command-from-path -- bun invoked as explicit args array; no shell; no user input beyond the file path which is validated upfront.
+  const r = spawnSync("bun", ["x", "markdownlint-cli2", file], {
+    stdio: ["ignore", "inherit", "inherit"],
+  });
+  return r.status === 0;
+}
+
+// relative-path-audit wrapper.
+// The audit's `--files` mode is detect-only by default (no --enforce), so
+// we get the findings list. Exit 0 with findings == clean; non-zero =
+// argument error.
+
+function runRelativePathAudit(file: string): boolean {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line sonarjs/no-os-command-from-path -- bun invoked as explicit args array; no shell; no user input beyond the file path which is validated upfront.
+  const r = spawnSync(
+    "bun",
+    [
+      "tools/hygiene/audit-tick-shard-relative-paths.ts",
+      "--files",
+      file,
+    ],
+    { encoding: "utf8" },
+  );
+  const out = r.stdout ?? "";
+  const err = r.stderr ?? "";
+
+  // The audit script in detect-only mode (no --enforce) exits 0 even with
+  // findings; we need to inspect the output. But ANY non-zero exit (crash,
+  // argument error, signal) is unambiguously a failure regardless of stdout.
+  if (r.status !== 0) {
+    process.stdout.write(out);
+    if (err) process.stderr.write(err);
+    process.stderr.write(`audit exited with status ${r.status}\n`);
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // Exit 0 + findings: parse the output. Match the canonical "X broken
+  // relative-path links" suffix; treat "0 broken" as clean, anything else
+  // as findings. Tolerate future wording tweaks by allowing whitespace
+  // variation around the digit.
+  const FINDINGS_RE = /;\s*(\d+)\s+broken relative-path links/;
+  const m = out.match(FINDINGS_RE);
+  if (!m) {
+    // Unexpected output format — echo and fail loud rather than silent-pass.
+    process.stdout.write(out);
+    if (err) process.stderr.write(err);
+    process.stderr.write("audit produced unrecognized output format\n");
+    return false;
+  }
+  const count = Number(m[1]);
+  if (count === 0) return true;
+
+  // findings present — print them
+  process.stdout.write(out);
+  if (err) process.stderr.write(err);
+  return false;
+}
+
+// main
+
+export function main(argv: readonly string[]): 0 | 1 | 64 {
+  const parsed = parseArgs(argv);
+  if (!parsed.ok) {
+    process.stderr.write(`${parsed.message}\n`);
+    return parsed.exitCode;
+  }
+  const args = parsed.args;
+
+  // Validate inputs (per the validation pattern from the audit script).
+  const bad: { path: string; reason: string }[] = [];
+  for (const f of args.files) {
+    const abs = resolve(f);
+    if (!existsSync(abs)) {
+      bad.push({ path: f, reason: "not found" });
+      continue;
+    }
+    try {
+      if (!statSync(abs).isFile()) {
+        bad.push({ path: f, reason: "not a regular file" });
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      bad.push({ path: f, reason: `stat failed (${(e as Error).message})` });
+    }
+  }
+  if (bad.length > 0) {
+    for (const b of bad) process.stderr.write(`input ${b.reason}: ${b.path}\n`);
+    return 64;
+  }
+
+  let anyFailed = false;
+  for (const f of args.files) {
+    process.stdout.write(`=== ${f}\n`);
+
+    // 1. MD032
+    const md032 = checkMd032(f);
+    if (md032.length === 0) {
+      process.stdout.write("  ok: MD032 (paragraph-before-bullet)\n");
+    } else {
+      anyFailed = true;
+      process.stdout.write(`  FAIL: MD032 (${md032.length} finding${md032.length === 1 ? "" : "s"}):\n`);
+      for (const m of md032) {
+        process.stdout.write(`    line ${m.line}: '${m.paragraph.slice(0, 60)}' → '${m.bullet.slice(0, 60)}'\n`);
+      }
+    }
+
+    // 2. markdownlint
+    process.stdout.write("  running: markdownlint-cli2 ...\n");
+    if (runMarkdownlint(f)) {
+      process.stdout.write("  ok: markdownlint\n");
+    } else {
+      anyFailed = true;
+      process.stdout.write("  FAIL: markdownlint\n");
+    }
+
+    // 3. relative-path audit
+    process.stdout.write("  running: audit-tick-shard-relative-paths ...\n");
+    if (runRelativePathAudit(f)) {
+      process.stdout.write("  ok: relative-path audit\n");
+    } else {
+      anyFailed = true;
+      process.stdout.write("  FAIL: relative-path audit\n");
+    }
+  }
+
+  return anyFailed ? 1 : 0;
+}
+
+if (import.meta.main) {
+  process.exit(main(process.argv.slice(2)));
+}