diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-guards.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-guards.yml
index 76de44788816..928bd19173ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-guards.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-guards.yml
@@ -261,6 +261,10 @@ jobs:
         if: ${{ matrix.group == 'ci' }}
         run: python3 tests/test_ci_select_package_tests.py
 
+      - name: Validate workflow_run triggers name workflows that exist
+        if: ${{ matrix.group == 'ci' }}
+        run: python3 tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py
+
       - name: Validate shallow complexity comparison fetching
         if: ${{ matrix.group == 'ci' }}
         run: python3 tests/test_ci_fetch_complexity_base.py
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index ef89fc600920..ca021a9d892a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -947,6 +947,7 @@ jobs:
           PY
 
   suite-coverage:
+    timeout-minutes: 5
     # Compile admission builds the test bundle and stops, so a pull request
     # that edits cmuxTests/ and skips the full suite runs none of the code it
     # changed. The policy that allows the skip is written for a merge queue
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cmux-tui-release-delivery.yml b/.github/workflows/cmux-tui-release-delivery.yml
index 942dba935056..c3709e3cace2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cmux-tui-release-delivery.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cmux-tui-release-delivery.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ on:
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
+env:
+  # The file that must carry the display name in the trigger above. Renaming a
+  # workflow silently stops every `workflow_run` consumer of it, so
+  # tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py derives the expected name from this
+  # path and fails the pull request that renames it.
+  SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS: .github/workflows/cmux-tui-release.yml
+
 concurrency:
   group: cmux-tui-registry-delivery
   cancel-in-progress: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/merge-group-fail-fast.yml b/.github/workflows/merge-group-fail-fast.yml
index e21fd42554da..ba47dcacd87e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/merge-group-fail-fast.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/merge-group-fail-fast.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@ on:
 
 permissions: {}
 
+env:
+  # `workflows:` above can only spell a display name, which is presentation and
+  # not identity: renaming that workflow would stop this one from triggering at
+  # all, with nothing red to say so. This records the file that must carry the
+  # name, tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py derives the name from the file,
+  # and the step below confirms it again at run time against the run's own
+  # `path` -- display names are not unique, and the workflow_run object that
+  # arrives here carries the stable path and workflow id next to the name.
+  SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS: .github/workflows/merge-group-policy-checks.yml
+
 jobs:
   watch:
     name: watch merge group run
@@ -30,15 +40,22 @@ jobs:
       - name: Locate and watch the merge-group CI run
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          SOURCE_PATH: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.path }}
           SOURCE_EVENT: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.event }}
           HEAD_SHA: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_sha }}
+          # The CI run is located by workflow file, never by display name.
           CI_RUNS: repos/${{ github.repository }}/actions/workflows/ci.yml/runs
           REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
+          if [ "$SOURCE_PATH" != "$SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Started by $SOURCE_PATH, not $SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS; refusing to cancel anything."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
           if [ "$SOURCE_EVENT" != "merge_group" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Merge-group policy checks unexpectedly ran for '$SOURCE_EVENT'."
+            echo "::error::$SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS unexpectedly ran for '$SOURCE_EVENT'."
             exit 1
           fi
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/persistent-macos-router.yml b/.github/workflows/persistent-macos-router.yml
index 79cdf405cd52..7e1b76168fa6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/persistent-macos-router.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/persistent-macos-router.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,13 @@ on:
 
 permissions: {}
 
+env:
+  # The file that must carry the display name in the trigger above. Renaming a
+  # workflow silently stops every `workflow_run` consumer of it, so
+  # tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py derives the expected name from this
+  # path and fails the pull request that renames it.
+  SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS: .github/workflows/ci.yml
+
 concurrency:
   group: persistent-mac-router-${{ github.event.workflow_run.id }}-${{ github.event.workflow_run.run_attempt }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-homebrew.yml b/.github/workflows/update-homebrew.yml
index a9f9ca1859df..1f6fbfab0440 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-homebrew.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-homebrew.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ permissions:
   # apart from a failure in a job the cask does not consume.
   actions: read
 
+env:
+  # The file that must carry the display name in the trigger above. Renaming a
+  # workflow silently stops every `workflow_run` consumer of it, so
+  # tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py derives the expected name from this
+  # path and fails the pull request that renames it. The job name the gate
+  # below matches is pinned the same way, by tests/test_release_homebrew_gate.py.
+  SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS: .github/workflows/release.yml
+
 jobs:
   gate:
     name: Require a signed macOS build
diff --git a/tests/test-execution.toml b/tests/test-execution.toml
index 721dfe240852..d2e34e23bac4 100644
--- a/tests/test-execution.toml
+++ b/tests/test-execution.toml
@@ -414,6 +414,10 @@ lane = "linux-guard"
 path = "tests/test_ci_select_package_tests.py"
 lane = "linux-guard"
 
+[[test]]
+path = "tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py"
+lane = "linux-guard"
+
 [[test]]
 path = "tests/test_ci_sidebar_lazy_layout_guard.py"
 lane = "linux-guard"
diff --git a/tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py b/tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..09bd886c68f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_ci_workflow_run_sources.py
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""A `workflow_run` trigger spells a display name; pin it to the file behind it.
+
+`on.workflow_run.workflows:` matches the triggering workflow's `name:`. That
+name is presentation text. Renaming a workflow for clarity stops every consumer
+of it from triggering, and nothing turns red: the consumer simply never runs
+again. `merge-group-fail-fast.yml` is the expensive version of that failure --
+it cancels a merge group's CI run at the first failed job, so when it stops
+firing every queue entry behind a doomed one burns full runner time instead.
+
+The Actions API does carry stable identity. A workflow run object has `path`
+(`.github/workflows/ci.yml`) and `workflow_id` next to the presentation `name`,
+and a run can be located by file path through
+`repos/:owner/:repo/actions/workflows/<file>/runs`. The trigger filter accepts
+neither, so the name has to stay in the trigger. What changes is that the name
+stops being the only copy: each consumer declares the file it means in
+`env.SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS`, and this test derives the expected names from
+those files. Renaming a producer now fails this test on the pull request that
+renames it.
+
+Matching a *job* by display name has no stable alternative at all: the jobs API
+reports `name` and never the YAML job id. Those matches are listed below so the
+same derivation applies to them. The one in `update-homebrew.yml` is already
+pinned by `tests/test_release_homebrew_gate.py` and is not repeated here.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import yaml
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+WORKFLOWS = ROOT / ".github" / "workflows"
+
+# The declaration a `workflow_run` consumer carries: the workflow files whose
+# `name:` its `workflows:` filter spells out, space separated.
+DECLARATION = "SOURCE_WORKFLOW_PATHS"
+
+# Consumers that match a job by display name. Each entry is
+# (consumer, producer, job id); the expected display name is derived from the
+# producer's job rather than written out a second time here.
+PINNED_JOB_NAMES = (
+    (
+        ".github/workflows/ios-testflight.yml",
+        ".github/workflows/ios-testflight.yml",
+        "upload",
+    ),
+)
+
+# The fail-fast watcher is started by a display name but must not act on one.
+# Display names are not unique, and the run object that arrives here carries
+# the stable path, so it can confirm what woke it before it cancels anything.
+IDENTITY_CHECKED = ".github/workflows/merge-group-fail-fast.yml"
+
+# `repos/:owner/:repo/actions/workflows/<file>/runs` is the identity-based way
+# to find another workflow's runs. The file still has to exist.
+RUNS_BY_PATH = re.compile(r"actions/workflows/([A-Za-z0-9._-]+\.ya?ml)/runs")
+
+
+def load(path: Path) -> dict:
+    document = yaml.safe_load(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    return document if isinstance(document, dict) else {}
+
+
+def triggers(document: dict) -> dict:
+    # PyYAML reads the bare key `on` as boolean True.
+    on = document.get("on", document.get(True))
+    return on if isinstance(on, dict) else {}
+
+
+def display_name(path: Path, document: dict) -> str:
+    name = document.get("name")
+    # A workflow without `name:` is listed, and matched, by its path.
+    return str(name) if name is not None else path.relative_to(ROOT).as_posix()
+
+
+def as_list(value: object) -> list[str]:
+    if isinstance(value, str):
+        return [value]
+    if isinstance(value, list):
+        return [str(item) for item in value]
+    return []
+
+
+def check_workflow_run_sources(documents: dict[Path, dict], failures: list[str]) -> None:
+    for path, document in documents.items():
+        workflow_run = triggers(document).get("workflow_run")
+        if not isinstance(workflow_run, dict):
+            continue
+        relative = path.relative_to(ROOT).as_posix()
+        named = as_list(workflow_run.get("workflows"))
+        environment = document.get("env")
+        declared = str((environment or {}).get(DECLARATION, "")).split()
+
+        if not declared:
+            failures.append(
+                f"{relative}: triggers on the display names {sorted(named)} and "
+                f"declares no {DECLARATION}, so renaming any of those workflows "
+                "stops this one from ever triggering and nothing reports it"
+            )
+            continue
+
+        produced: list[str] = []
+        for source in declared:
+            source_path = ROOT / source
+            if source_path not in documents:
+                failures.append(
+                    f"{relative}: {DECLARATION} names {source}, which is not a "
+                    "workflow in .github/workflows"
+                )
+                continue
+            produced.append(display_name(source_path, documents[source_path]))
+
+        if sorted(produced) != sorted(named):
+            failures.append(
+                f"{relative}: the trigger matches {sorted(named)} but "
+                f"{DECLARATION} resolves to {sorted(produced)}; the workflows "
+                "this one means no longer carry the names it waits for"
+            )
+
+
+def check_pinned_job_names(documents: dict[Path, dict], failures: list[str]) -> None:
+    for consumer, producer, job_id in PINNED_JOB_NAMES:
+        producer_jobs = documents.get(ROOT / producer, {}).get("jobs") or {}
+        job = producer_jobs.get(job_id)
+        if not isinstance(job, dict):
+            failures.append(
+                f"{consumer}: matches a job of {producer} that no longer exists: {job_id}"
+            )
+            continue
+        # The API name is the mapping key unless `name:` overrides it.
+        name = str(job.get("name", job_id))
+        text = (ROOT / consumer).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        if f'"{name}"' not in text and f"'{name}'" not in text:
+            failures.append(
+                f"{consumer}: no longer matches {producer}'s {job_id} job, whose "
+                f"display name is now {name!r}"
+            )
+
+
+def check_runs_lookups_by_path(documents: dict[Path, dict], failures: list[str]) -> None:
+    known = {path.name for path in documents}
+    for path in documents:
+        text = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        for filename in sorted(set(RUNS_BY_PATH.findall(text))):
+            if filename not in known:
+                failures.append(
+                    f"{path.relative_to(ROOT).as_posix()}: looks up runs of "
+                    f"{filename}, which is not a workflow in .github/workflows"
+                )
+
+
+def check_identity_before_acting(failures: list[str]) -> None:
+    watcher = (ROOT / IDENTITY_CHECKED).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    if "github.event.workflow_run.path" not in watcher or f"${DECLARATION}" not in watcher:
+        failures.append(
+            f"{IDENTITY_CHECKED}: must compare github.event.workflow_run.path "
+            f"against {DECLARATION} before it cancels anything, so a workflow "
+            "that merely shares a display name cannot drive it"
+        )
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    paths = sorted([*WORKFLOWS.glob("*.yml"), *WORKFLOWS.glob("*.yaml")])
+    documents = {path: load(path) for path in paths}
+
+    failures: list[str] = []
+    check_workflow_run_sources(documents, failures)
+    check_pinned_job_names(documents, failures)
+    check_runs_lookups_by_path(documents, failures)
+    check_identity_before_acting(failures)
+
+    if failures:
+        for failure in failures:
+            print(f"FAIL: {failure}")
+        return 1
+    print(f"PASS: {len(documents)} workflows match the workflows they name by file, not by display text")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())