diff --git a/packages/checks/src/check-magic-strings.ts b/packages/checks/src/check-magic-strings.ts
index b042732ebe..d895a2de4e 100644
--- a/packages/checks/src/check-magic-strings.ts
+++ b/packages/checks/src/check-magic-strings.ts
@@ -1,64 +1,122 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bun
+//
+// check-magic-strings.ts — flags string literals that appear in 3+ distinct source files.
+//
+// A string repeated across many files is a candidate for a shared constant, enum value,
+// or config entry. Cross-file detection catches what per-file checks miss: a value used
+// once per file but scattered across the codebase.
+//
+// Strings are excluded when they:
+//   - Contain spaces (Tailwind combos, sentences — not constant candidates)
+//   - Look like URLs, relative/absolute paths, hex colors, or CSS custom properties
+//   - Are under 3 or over 80 characters
+//   - Appear only on import/export/comment lines
+//   - Live in build artifacts: out/, dist/, build/, .next/, .expo/, node_modules/
+//   - Live in test/spec/stories files
+//
+// Run with --strict to exit 1 on violations (default: advisory, exit 0).
 
 import { readdirSync, readFileSync, statSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 
 const ROOT = join(import.meta.dir, '..', '..', '..');
 const SCAN_ROOTS = ['apps', 'packages'];
-const EXCLUDED_DIRS = new Set(['node_modules', 'dist', 'build', '.next', '.expo']);
+
+const EXCLUDED_DIRS = new Set([
+  'node_modules',
+  'dist',
+  'build',
+  'out',
+  '.next',
+  '.expo',
+  '.turbo',
+  'coverage',
+  '__generated__',
+]);
+
 const TARGET_EXTENSIONS = new Set(['.ts', '.tsx', '.js', '.jsx', '.mts', '.cts']);
 const EXCLUDED_FILE_PATTERNS = [/\.test\./, /\.spec\./, /\.stories\./, /\.d\.ts$/];
-const RELATIVE_PATH_PATTERN = /^\.{0,2}\//;
-const SLASHED_WORD_PATH_PATTERN = /^[\w.-]+(\/[\w.-]+)+$/;
-const WHITESPACE_PATTERN = /\s+/;
 
-const MIN_LITERAL_LENGTH = 4;
-const MIN_OCCURRENCES_PER_FILE = 3;
+const MIN_LITERAL_LENGTH = 3;
 const MAX_LITERAL_LENGTH = 80;
+const MIN_FILES = 3;
 
+// These appear everywhere by design and are not worth flagging.
 const ALLOWLIST = new Set([
-  'use client',
-  'dark',
-  'light',
-  'system',
-  'POST',
+  // HTTP verbs
   'GET',
+  'POST',
   'PUT',
   'DELETE',
   'PATCH',
+  'HEAD',
+  'OPTIONS',
+  // TypeScript primitive names (appear in Zod schemas, error messages)
+  'string',
+  'number',
+  'boolean',
+  'object',
+  'array',
+  'function',
+  'null',
+  'undefined',
+  // Boolean-string representations
+  'true',
+  'false',
+  // Common config/tooling directory names (appear as string args in build configs)
+  'node_modules',
+  'dist',
+  'build',
+  'apps',
+  'packages',
+  'src',
+  'out',
+  '.next',
+  '.expo',
 ]);
 
-// Matches single-quoted and double-quoted string literals (including escaped quotes).
-const STRING_LITERAL_PATTERN = /(['"])((?:\\.|(?!\1).)+)\1/g;
-
-interface LiteralLocation {
-  line: number;
-}
-
-interface FileViolation {
-  file: string;
-  literal: string;
-  count: number;
-  lines: number[];
-}
-
-function isTargetFile(filePath: string): boolean {
-  const extension = filePath.slice(filePath.lastIndexOf('.'));
-  if (!TARGET_EXTENSIONS.has(extension)) return false;
-  return !EXCLUDED_FILE_PATTERNS.some((pattern) => pattern.test(filePath));
+// Matches single- and double-quoted string literals (not across newlines).
+const STRING_LITERAL = /(['"])((?:\\.|(?!\1)[^\n])+)\1/g;
+
+// Ignore patterns — all hoisted to top level for Biome useTopLevelRegex compliance.
+const RE_RELATIVE_PATH = /^\.{0,2}\//;
+const RE_ABSOLUTE_PATH = /^\/[\w-]/;
+const RE_HEX_COLOR = /^#[0-9a-fA-F]{3,8}$/;
+const RE_SLASH_PATH = /^[\w.-]+(\/[\w.-]+)+$/;
+const RE_NUMERIC = /^\d+(\.\d+)?$/;
+// CSS utility class pattern (Tailwind): all lowercase+digits connected by dashes.
+// Matches flex-1, text-lg, bg-primary, text-muted-foreground, space-y-4, etc.
+const RE_CSS_UTILITY = /^[a-z][a-z0-9]*(-[a-z0-9]+)+$/;
+const RE_SEMVER = /^\d+\.\d+\.\d+/;
+// CSS dimension values: 1rem, 1.5rem, 100vh, 9999px, 0.5rem, 100%, etc.
+const RE_CSS_DIMENSION = /^\d+(\.\d+)?(%|rem|em|px|vh|vw|ch|pt|ex|deg|fr|s|ms)$/;
+
+function isTargetFile(relPath: string): boolean {
+  const ext = relPath.slice(relPath.lastIndexOf('.'));
+  if (!TARGET_EXTENSIONS.has(ext)) return false;
+  return !EXCLUDED_FILE_PATTERNS.some((p) => p.test(relPath));
 }
 
 function shouldIgnoreLiteral(value: string): boolean {
-  if (ALLOWLIST.has(value)) return true;
   if (value.length < MIN_LITERAL_LENGTH || value.length > MAX_LITERAL_LENGTH) return true;
-  if (value.includes('${')) return true;
+  if (ALLOWLIST.has(value)) return true;
+  if (value.includes(' ')) return true; // multi-word: Tailwind combos, prose, not constants
+  if (value.includes('${')) return true; // template-literal fragment
   if (value.startsWith('http://') || value.startsWith('https://')) return true;
-  if (RELATIVE_PATH_PATTERN.test(value)) return true;
-  if (SLASHED_WORD_PATH_PATTERN.test(value)) return true;
-  const words = value.trim().split(WHITESPACE_PATTERN);
-  if (words.length > 3) return true;
-  if (value.startsWith('#')) return true;
-  if (value.startsWith('--')) return true;
+  if (RE_RELATIVE_PATH.test(value)) return true; // relative paths
+  if (RE_ABSOLUTE_PATH.test(value)) return true; // absolute paths / routes
+  if (RE_HEX_COLOR.test(value)) return true; // hex colors
+  if (value.startsWith('--')) return true; // CSS custom properties
+  if (RE_SLASH_PATH.test(value)) return true; // slash-separated path-like
+  if (RE_NUMERIC.test(value)) return true; // numeric strings
+  if (RE_CSS_UTILITY.test(value)) return true; // Tailwind utility classes
+  if (value.startsWith('@')) return true; // package import paths
+  if (value.includes(',')) return true; // comma-separated values (MIME types, accept headers)
+  if (value.includes('(')) return true; // function-like (CSS functions, e.g. hsl(var(...)))
+  if (value.includes('*') || value.includes('?')) return true; // glob patterns
+  if (RE_SEMVER.test(value)) return true; // semver / version strings
+  if (value.includes(':')) return true; // Tailwind variant syntax (ios:, hover:), URL schemes
+  if (RE_CSS_DIMENSION.test(value)) return true; // CSS dimension values
   return false;
 }
 
@@ -66,107 +124,106 @@ function shouldSkipLine(line: string): boolean {
   const trimmed = line.trimStart();
   return (
     trimmed.startsWith('import ') ||
-    trimmed.startsWith('export ') ||
-    trimmed.startsWith('//') ||
-    trimmed.startsWith('*') ||
+    trimmed.startsWith('export {') ||
+    trimmed.startsWith('export type {') ||
+    trimmed.startsWith('// ') ||
+    trimmed.startsWith('//\t') ||
+    trimmed === '//' ||
+    trimmed.startsWith('* ') ||
+    trimmed === '*' ||
     trimmed.startsWith('/*')
   );
 }
 
-function collectFileViolations(file: string): FileViolation[] {
-  const fullPath = join(ROOT, file);
-  let content = '';
+// Maps literal value → set of distinct relative file paths it appears in.
+const literalFiles = new Map<string, Set<string>>();
+
+const allFiles: string[] = [];
 
+function collectFiles(dir: string, relDir: string): void {
+  let entries: string[];
   try {
-    content = readFileSync(fullPath, 'utf8');
+    entries = readdirSync(dir);
   } catch {
-    return [];
+    return;
   }
-
-  const byLiteral = new Map<string, LiteralLocation[]>();
-  const lines = content.split('\n');
-
-  for (let index = 0; index < lines.length; index++) {
-    const line = lines[index] ?? '';
-    if (shouldSkipLine(line)) continue;
-
-    const matches = line.matchAll(STRING_LITERAL_PATTERN);
-    for (const match of matches) {
-      const value = match[2];
-      if (!value || shouldIgnoreLiteral(value)) continue;
-
-      const current = byLiteral.get(value) ?? [];
-      current.push({ line: index + 1 });
-      byLiteral.set(value, current);
+  for (const entry of entries) {
+    if (EXCLUDED_DIRS.has(entry)) continue;
+    const full = join(dir, entry);
+    const rel = `${relDir}/${entry}`;
+    let isDir = false;
+    try {
+      isDir = statSync(full).isDirectory();
+    } catch {
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (isDir) {
+      collectFiles(full, rel);
+    } else if (isTargetFile(rel)) {
+      allFiles.push(rel);
     }
   }
-
-  const violations: FileViolation[] = [];
-  for (const [literal, locations] of byLiteral.entries()) {
-    if (locations.length < MIN_OCCURRENCES_PER_FILE) continue;
-    violations.push({
-      file,
-      literal,
-      count: locations.length,
-      lines: locations.map((location) => location.line),
-    });
-  }
-
-  return violations.sort((a, b) => b.count - a.count);
 }
 
-const targetFiles: string[] = [];
-
-function walkDir(dir: string, relDir: string): void {
-  let entries: string[] = [];
+function scanFile(relPath: string): void {
+  let content: string;
   try {
-    entries = readdirSync(dir);
+    content = readFileSync(join(ROOT, relPath), 'utf8');
   } catch {
     return;
   }
 
-  for (const entry of entries) {
-    if (EXCLUDED_DIRS.has(entry)) continue;
-
-    const fullPath = join(dir, entry);
-    const relPath = `${relDir}/${entry}`;
-    let isDirectory = false;
+  const seenInFile = new Set<string>(); // one entry per file, regardless of repetition count
 
-    try {
-      isDirectory = statSync(fullPath).isDirectory();
-    } catch {
-      continue;
-    }
+  for (const line of content.split('\n')) {
+    if (shouldSkipLine(line)) continue;
 
-    if (isDirectory) {
-      walkDir(fullPath, relPath);
-      continue;
+    STRING_LITERAL.lastIndex = 0;
+    for (;;) {
+      const match = STRING_LITERAL.exec(line);
+      if (match === null) break;
+      const value = match[2];
+      if (!value || shouldIgnoreLiteral(value)) continue;
+      if (seenInFile.has(value)) continue;
+      seenInFile.add(value);
+      const files = literalFiles.get(value) ?? new Set<string>();
+      files.add(relPath);
+      literalFiles.set(value, files);
     }
-
-    if (isTargetFile(relPath)) targetFiles.push(relPath);
   }
 }
 
 for (const root of SCAN_ROOTS) {
-  walkDir(join(ROOT, root), root);
+  collectFiles(join(ROOT, root), root);
 }
 
-const violations = targetFiles.flatMap((file) => collectFileViolations(file));
+for (const f of allFiles) {
+  scanFile(f);
+}
+
+const violations = [...literalFiles.entries()]
+  .filter(([, files]) => files.size >= MIN_FILES)
+  .sort((a, b) => b[1].size - a[1].size);
 
 if (violations.length === 0) {
-  console.log('No repeated magic strings found.');
+  console.log(`✓ No cross-file magic strings found (scanned ${allFiles.length} files).`);
   process.exit(0);
 }
 
-console.log('Magic string candidates found. Prefer constants/enums in shared config objects:\n');
-for (const violation of violations) {
-  console.log(
-    `${violation.file}: "${violation.literal}" appears ${violation.count} times (lines: ${violation.lines.join(', ')})`,
-  );
+console.log(
+  `Magic string candidates (${violations.length}) appearing in ${MIN_FILES}+ distinct files — prefer shared constants/enums:\n`,
+);
+
+for (const [literal, files] of violations) {
+  const sorted = [...files].sort();
+  console.log(`  "${literal}"  (${files.size} files)`);
+  for (const f of sorted) {
+    console.log(`    ${f}`);
+  }
 }
 
 console.log(
-  '\nTip: centralize repeated literals into frozen constants (Object.freeze) or enum-like objects.',
+  '\nTip: move repeated literals to a frozen constant or enum in a shared package (e.g. packages/config).',
 );
 
 const strictMode = process.argv.includes('--strict');