diff --git a/docs/INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md b/docs/INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md
index 4beeaa833..78e204fb4 100644
--- a/docs/INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md
+++ b/docs/INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md
@@ -549,7 +549,9 @@ jobs:
 
 ```json
 {
-  "coverage": 80.0,
+  "line": 80.0,
+  "warn_drop": 1.0,
+  "recovery_days": 3,
   "updated": "2025-12-30",
   "notes": "Initial baseline - adjust based on project maturity"
 }
@@ -569,6 +571,13 @@ Copy from `templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/maint-coverage-guard.yml`
 | **Baseline Issue** | Auto-created/updated issue when coverage drops below baseline |
 | **Trend Artifacts** | `coverage-trend.json` and `coverage-trend-history.ndjson` for analysis |
 
+**Guard tolerance and recovery:** `warn_drop` is a percentage-point allowance below
+the baseline (default `1.0` if omitted). A run creates or updates a breach issue only
+when `current < baseline - warn_drop`; a smaller drop is an intentional no-op. An open
+breach issue closes only after coverage is at or above the full baseline for
+`recovery_days` consecutive samples (default `3`), so the warning allowance never
+closes an issue early.
+
 **Soft vs Hard Gate:**
 
 - **Soft gate** (`enable-soft-gate: true`): Reports coverage but doesn't fail the build
diff --git a/docs/ci/WORKFLOWS.md b/docs/ci/WORKFLOWS.md
index 25f0fa843..1621304a4 100644
--- a/docs/ci/WORKFLOWS.md
+++ b/docs/ci/WORKFLOWS.md
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@ The gate uses the shared `.github/scripts/detect-changes.js` helper to decide wh
 * [`maint-sync-env-from-pyproject.yml`](../../.github/workflows/maint-sync-env-from-pyproject.yml) keeps `pyproject.toml`, templates, and `requirements.lock` aligned to the canonical `autofix-versions.env` file.
 * [`maint-coverage-guard.yml`](../../.github/workflows/maint-coverage-guard.yml) periodically verifies that the latest Gate run meets baseline coverage expectations.
 * **The coverage baseline is per-repo and is NOT synced** (`config/coverage-baseline.json`; see `.github/sync-manifest.yml` exclusions). The percentage may be keyed `line` or `coverage` — both `tools/coverage_trend.py` and `tools/coverage_guard.py` accept either, and `line` wins when both are present. A repo with no baseline file reports `baseline: null` with a `baseline_status` of `absent`/`unreadable`/`no_recognised_key`, and **no delta at all**; it is never reported as a baseline of `0.00%`, because a delta measured against nothing renders as a large improvement on every run and can never fail.
+* **A guard breach is deliberately less sensitive than the baseline itself.** `warn_drop` is a percentage-point allowance below the configured baseline; it defaults to `1.0` when omitted. The guard creates or updates a breach issue only when `current < baseline - warn_drop`, so a result that is below baseline but inside that allowance is a successful no-op, not a broken monitor. Set `warn_drop` explicitly in `config/coverage-baseline.json` when a repository needs a different tolerance.
+* **Recovery is stricter than alerting.** An existing breach issue closes only after coverage is back at or above the full baseline for the configured `recovery_days`/`recovery_window` (default three) consecutive samples. The warning-drop allowance never authorizes early closure.
 * **Coverage rows measured outside the project root are reported, not silently averaged in.** A test that copies the source tree into a tmpdir makes coverage.py record each module twice — once real, once as a barely-executed duplicate that sorts to the top of every hotspot table. `coverage-trend.json` carries `foreign_file_count`, `foreign_files` and `current_project_only` alongside the unmodified `current`, and the summary names `[tool.coverage.run] omit` as the fix. `current` is deliberately left as coverage.py computed it so the record still agrees with `coverage.xml` and the delta job.
 * [`maint-metrics-retention.yml`](../../.github/workflows/maint-metrics-retention.yml) runs `scripts/metrics_retention.py` nightly (02:00 UTC) to enforce the retention policy in `config/retention-policy.json`, uploads `metrics-retention.ndjson` as an artifact, and surfaces the storage reduction percentage in the step summary. When no metrics logs are present, the run succeeds with a zero-file no-op summary.
 * [`maint-46-post-ci.yml`](../../.github/workflows/maint-46-post-ci.yml) wakes up after Gate completes, validates the workflow syntax with `actionlint`, downloads the Gate artifacts, renders the consolidated CI summary (including coverage deltas), and republishes the Gate commit status while saving a markdown preview for evidence capture.
diff --git a/tests/docs/test_workflow_source_docs.py b/tests/docs/test_workflow_source_docs.py
index 5e3892fac..6027b0f0c 100644
--- a/tests/docs/test_workflow_source_docs.py
+++ b/tests/docs/test_workflow_source_docs.py
@@ -67,6 +67,16 @@ def test_workflows_doc_names_gate_autofix_dispatch_path() -> None:
     assert 'autofixDispatch --> autofixLoop["Agents Autofix Loop' in doc
 
 
+def test_workflows_doc_explains_coverage_guard_tolerance_and_recovery() -> None:
+    doc = WORKFLOWS_DOC.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert "warn_drop" in doc
+    assert "defaults to `1.0`" in doc
+    assert "current < baseline - warn_drop" in doc
+    assert "recovery_days" in doc
+    assert "never authorizes early closure" in doc
+
+
 def test_agent_routing_doc_covers_enabled_registry_agents() -> None:
     registry = yaml.safe_load(AGENT_REGISTRY.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
     routing_doc = MULTI_AGENT_ROUTING_DOC.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
diff --git a/tests/test_coverage_guard.py b/tests/test_coverage_guard.py
index adc66031c..16e037934 100644
--- a/tests/test_coverage_guard.py
+++ b/tests/test_coverage_guard.py
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ def test_load_baseline_enforces_minimum_recovery_days(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     assert baseline.recovery_days == 3
 
 
+def test_coverage_breach_requires_drop_beyond_warn_threshold() -> None:
+    assert not coverage_guard.is_coverage_breach(84.0, 85.0, 1.0)
+    assert coverage_guard.is_coverage_breach(83.99, 85.0, 1.0)
+
+
 def test_compute_top_files_prioritises_missing_lines() -> None:
     coverage = {
         "files": {
diff --git a/tools/coverage_guard.py b/tools/coverage_guard.py
index e5dbf4a21..04359beac 100755
--- a/tools/coverage_guard.py
+++ b/tools/coverage_guard.py
@@ -148,6 +148,11 @@ def load_baseline(path: Path) -> BaselineConfig:
     )
 
 
+def is_coverage_breach(current: float, baseline: float, warn_drop: float) -> bool:
+    """Return whether coverage exceeds the configured drop allowance."""
+    return current < baseline - warn_drop
+
+
 def compute_top_files(coverage_data: dict[str, Any], limit: int = 15) -> list[FileCoverage]:
     """Return the most useful file-level coverage rows for issue comments."""
     files = coverage_data.get("files", {})
@@ -680,6 +685,7 @@ def main(args: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
         )
         return 0
     delta = current - baseline
+    warn_drop = load_baseline(parsed.baseline_path).warn_drop
     configured_recovery_window = max(
         1,
         _to_int(
@@ -714,7 +720,7 @@ def main(args: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
         return 0
 
     # Create or update issue
-    if current < baseline:
+    if is_coverage_breach(current, baseline, warn_drop):
         try:
             _find_or_create_issue(
                 repo=parsed.repo,
@@ -726,6 +732,12 @@ def main(args: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
             print(f"Failed to create or update coverage issue: {exc}", file=sys.stderr)
             return 1
     else:
+        if current < baseline:
+            print(
+                f"Coverage {current:.2f}% is within the configured {warn_drop:.2f}-point "
+                f"drop allowance below baseline {baseline:.2f}% - no new issue needed"
+            )
+            return 0
         print(f"Coverage {current:.2f}% meets baseline {baseline:.2f}% - no open issue needed")
         if not _recovery_window_satisfied(
             trend_data,