diff --git a/src/commands/autopilot.ts b/src/commands/autopilot.ts
index 82979fb12..5fa1197c1 100644
--- a/src/commands/autopilot.ts
+++ b/src/commands/autopilot.ts
@@ -686,6 +686,7 @@ export async function runAutopilot(engine: BrainEngine, args: string[]) {
       try {
         const { MinionQueue } = await import('../core/minions/queue.ts');
         const { computeRecommendations, embeddingProviderConfigured, HOSTED_EMBED_KEY_CONFIG } = await import('../core/brain-score-recommendations.ts');
+        const { countExtractionLag } = await import('../core/remediation/context.ts');
         const queue = new MinionQueue(engine);
         const slotMs = Math.floor(Date.now() / (baseInterval * 1000)) * baseInterval * 1000;
         const slot = new Date(slotMs).toISOString();
@@ -877,6 +878,9 @@ export async function runAutopilot(engine: BrainEngine, args: string[]) {
             return !!(process.env[envVar] || (cfgField ? embedKeyCfg[cfgField] : undefined));
           }),
           hasChatApiKey: !!(process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY || await engine.getConfig('anthropic_api_key')),
+          // Real extraction-lag gate for sync.repo/extract.all — same counter
+          // loadRecommendationContext uses (replaces the health.stale_pages proxy).
+          extractionLagPages: await countExtractionLag(engine),
         };
         // v0.41.18.0 (A5 + A19 + A22, T15): consult onboard recommendations
         // ALONGSIDE doctor's brain-score recommendations. Onboard's 4 new
diff --git a/src/core/brain-score-recommendations.ts b/src/core/brain-score-recommendations.ts
index 810b43bed..c6f71c37b 100644
--- a/src/core/brain-score-recommendations.ts
+++ b/src/core/brain-score-recommendations.ts
@@ -146,6 +146,16 @@ export interface RecommendationContext {
   chatModel?: string;
   /** Whether the chat provider has a usable API key. */
   hasChatApiKey?: boolean;
+  /**
+   * Count of pages needing link/timeline extraction — the SAME staleness the
+   * `gbrain extract --stale` walk and doctor's `links_extraction_lag` check use
+   * (`engine.countStalePagesForExtraction`). Gates the sync→extract pipeline
+   * (sync.repo / extract.all). Replaces the old `health.stale_pages` gate, which
+   * counted "pages whose updated_at predates their newest timeline entry" — a
+   * proxy that broke when the updated_at-on-timeline-insert trigger was dropped
+   * (migration v10) and never reflected real extraction work.
+   */
+  extractionLagPages?: number;
 }
 
 /** Triage result for one check. */
@@ -192,20 +202,28 @@ export function computeRecommendations(
   const source = ctx.sourceId ?? 'default';
 
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-  // sync.repo — fires when sync hasn't run recently OR pages are stale
+  // sync.repo + extract.all — the materialization pipeline, gated on the REAL
+  // extraction lag (pages whose link/timeline edges are stale), NOT on the
+  // legacy `health.stale_pages` proxy. `extractionLagPages` comes from the same
+  // counter the `extract --stale` walk + doctor's `links_extraction_lag` use, so
+  // the recommendation can only fire when running extract will actually reduce
+  // it (and clear the rec). See RecommendationContext.extractionLagPages.
+  // sync.repo is the prerequisite: re-sync so pages are current before extract
+  // materializes their edges.
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-  if (ctx.repoPath && health.stale_pages > 0) {
+  const extractionLag = ctx.extractionLagPages ?? 0;
+  if (ctx.repoPath && extractionLag > 0) {
     const params = { repoPath: ctx.repoPath, sourceId: ctx.sourceId, noEmbed: true };
     out.push({
       id: 'sync.repo',
       job: 'sync',
       params,
       idempotency_key: idemKey(source, 'sync', params),
-      severity: health.stale_pages > 50 ? 'high' : 'medium',
-      est_seconds: Math.min(600, 30 + health.stale_pages * 0.5),
+      severity: extractionLag > 50 ? 'high' : 'medium',
+      est_seconds: Math.min(600, 30 + extractionLag * 0.5),
       est_usd_cost: 0,  // sync is fs+DB only
       depends_on: [],
-      rationale: `${health.stale_pages} stale page${health.stale_pages === 1 ? '' : 's'} on disk`,
+      rationale: `Sync before extracting ${extractionLag} page${extractionLag === 1 ? '' : 's'} with stale link/timeline edges`,
       status: 'remediable',
     });
   }
@@ -237,7 +255,7 @@ export function computeRecommendations(
       est_seconds: Math.min(3600, 5 + health.missing_embeddings * 0.05),
       est_usd_cost,
       // sync should run first so embed sees fresh pages.
-      depends_on: ctx.repoPath && health.stale_pages > 0 ? ['sync.repo'] : [],
+      depends_on: ctx.repoPath && extractionLag > 0 ? ['sync.repo'] : [],
       rationale: `${health.missing_embeddings} chunk${health.missing_embeddings === 1 ? '' : 's'} invisible to vector search`,
       status: 'remediable',
     });
@@ -267,7 +285,7 @@ export function computeRecommendations(
   // Triggered when sync.repo fires (because sync was set to noEmbed:true,
   // and noExtract:true after T5 lands → extract job is the materializer).
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-  if (ctx.repoPath && health.stale_pages > 0) {
+  if (ctx.repoPath && extractionLag > 0) {
     const params = { mode: 'all', dir: ctx.repoPath };
     out.push({
       id: 'extract.all',
@@ -278,7 +296,7 @@ export function computeRecommendations(
       est_seconds: Math.min(600, 30 + health.page_count * 0.01),
       est_usd_cost: 0,
       depends_on: ['sync.repo'],
-      rationale: 'Materialize link + timeline edges from fresh pages',
+      rationale: `Materialize link + timeline edges for ${extractionLag} page${extractionLag === 1 ? '' : 's'} with stale extraction`,
       status: 'remediable',
     });
   }
diff --git a/src/core/remediation/context.ts b/src/core/remediation/context.ts
index 1fe8ae651..8599df699 100644
--- a/src/core/remediation/context.ts
+++ b/src/core/remediation/context.ts
@@ -68,5 +68,25 @@ export async function loadRecommendationContext(
     embeddingDimensions,
     embeddingProviderConfigured: embeddingConfigured,
     hasChatApiKey: !!(process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY || fileCfg?.anthropic_api_key),
+    extractionLagPages: await countExtractionLag(engine),
   };
 }
+
+/**
+ * Real extraction-lag count — the SAME staleness `gbrain extract --stale`
+ * processes (engine.countStalePagesForExtraction). Drives the sync→extract
+ * recommendation pipeline; replaces the legacy `health.stale_pages` proxy
+ * that no longer reflected real extraction work after the v10 trigger drop.
+ *
+ * Shared by loadRecommendationContext AND the D7 per-step recheck in
+ * runRemediation — the recheck MUST refresh this gate alongside getHealth,
+ * or a completed extract step keeps re-firing off the frozen initial count.
+ */
+export async function countExtractionLag(engine: BrainEngine): Promise<number> {
+  try {
+    return await engine.countStalePagesForExtraction();
+  } catch {
+    /* counter unavailable (very old brain / mid-migration) — treat as 0 */
+    return 0;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/core/remediation/run.ts b/src/core/remediation/run.ts
index 78f55d44b..c516dd46d 100644
--- a/src/core/remediation/run.ts
+++ b/src/core/remediation/run.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import {
   computeRecommendations,
 } from '../brain-score-recommendations.ts';
 import type { RemediationStep } from '../remediation-step.ts';
-import { loadRecommendationContext } from './context.ts';
+import { countExtractionLag, loadRecommendationContext } from './context.ts';
 import { computeRemediationPlan } from './plan.ts';
 import type {
   RemediationHooks,
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export async function runRemediation(
     clearRemediationCheckpoint,
   } = await import('../remediation-checkpoint.ts');
 
-  const ctx = await loadRecommendationContext(engine);
+  let ctx = await loadRecommendationContext(engine);
 
   // Pre-flight ceiling check via the shared plan computation.
   const initialPlan = await computeRemediationPlan(engine, { targetScore });
@@ -305,6 +305,11 @@ export async function runRemediation(
       // steps with bumped retry suffix (D1).
       if (recs.length === 0 || stepCount >= maxJobs) break;
       const freshHealth = await engine.getHealth();
+      // Refresh the extraction-lag gate alongside health: ctx was loaded once
+      // before the loop, and a completed sync/extract step is exactly what
+      // drives the count down. Reusing the frozen initial count would re-fire
+      // sync.repo/extract.all every recheck until maxJobs.
+      ctx = { ...ctx, extractionLagPages: await countExtractionLag(engine) };
       recs = computeRecommendations(freshHealth, ctx).filter((r) => r.status === 'remediable');
     }
   };
diff --git a/src/core/types.ts b/src/core/types.ts
index 9464d16de..c5421d52b 100644
--- a/src/core/types.ts
+++ b/src/core/types.ts
@@ -1423,6 +1423,15 @@ export interface BrainStats {
 export interface BrainHealth {
   page_count: number;
   embed_coverage: number;
+  /**
+   * LEGACY proxy: count of pages whose `updated_at` predates their newest
+   * timeline entry. This bumped meaningfully only while a trigger updated
+   * `pages.updated_at` on timeline insert; that trigger was dropped in
+   * migration v10, so the metric no longer reflects real "needs work" state.
+   * NO LONGER gates remediations — the sync→extract pipeline now gates on
+   * `RecommendationContext.extractionLagPages` (the real extraction-lag from
+   * `countStalePagesForExtraction`). Retained for the CLI health line + back-compat.
+   */
   stale_pages: number;
   /**
    * Islanded pages — zero inbound AND zero outbound links. A hub page
diff --git a/test/brain-score-recommendations.test.ts b/test/brain-score-recommendations.test.ts
index 998d5f1b4..5a3d55e2b 100644
--- a/test/brain-score-recommendations.test.ts
+++ b/test/brain-score-recommendations.test.ts
@@ -119,13 +119,12 @@ describe('computeRecommendations', () => {
     expect(recs.find((r) => r.id === 'embed.stale')).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
-  test('stale pages + dead links produce sync + backlinks + extract', () => {
+  test('extraction lag + dead links produce sync + backlinks + extract', () => {
     const health = makeHealth({
-      stale_pages: 25,
       dead_links: 8,
       brain_score: 70,
     });
-    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true });
+    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true, extractionLagPages: 25 });
     const ids = recs.map((r) => r.id);
     expect(ids).toContain('sync.repo');
     expect(ids).toContain('backlinks.fix');
@@ -133,18 +132,17 @@ describe('computeRecommendations', () => {
   });
 
   test('extract.all depends on sync.repo (D14: stable ids)', () => {
-    const health = makeHealth({ stale_pages: 10 });
-    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true });
+    const health = makeHealth();
+    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true, extractionLagPages: 10 });
     const extract = recs.find((r) => r.id === 'extract.all');
     expect(extract?.depends_on).toContain('sync.repo');
   });
 
-  test('embed.stale depends on sync.repo when sync also needed', () => {
+  test('embed.stale depends on sync.repo when extraction also needed', () => {
     const health = makeHealth({
-      stale_pages: 10,
       missing_embeddings: 100,
     });
-    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true });
+    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true, extractionLagPages: 10 });
     const embed = recs.find((r) => r.id === 'embed.stale');
     expect(embed?.depends_on).toContain('sync.repo');
   });
@@ -159,9 +157,9 @@ describe('computeRecommendations', () => {
   test('severity ordering: critical before high before medium', () => {
     const health = makeHealth({
       missing_embeddings: 100,  // critical
-      stale_pages: 80,          // high
     });
-    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true });
+    // extractionLagPages > 50 → sync.repo fires at 'high' severity.
+    const recs = computeRecommendations(health, { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true, extractionLagPages: 80 });
     const critIdx = recs.findIndex((r) => r.severity === 'critical');
     const highIdx = recs.findIndex((r) => r.severity === 'high');
     expect(critIdx).toBeLessThan(highIdx);
@@ -170,11 +168,10 @@ describe('computeRecommendations', () => {
   // D6 #5 — THE critical regression test for the agent contract.
   test('D6 #5: determinism — same input twice produces identical output', () => {
     const health = makeHealth({
-      stale_pages: 10,
       missing_embeddings: 50,
       dead_links: 3,
     });
-    const ctx = { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true, sourceId: 'default' };
+    const ctx = { repoPath: '/brain', embeddingProviderConfigured: true, sourceId: 'default', extractionLagPages: 10 };
     const run1 = computeRecommendations(health, ctx);
     const run2 = computeRecommendations(health, ctx);
     expect(JSON.stringify(run1)).toBe(JSON.stringify(run2));
diff --git a/test/remediation-context-extraction-lag.test.ts b/test/remediation-context-extraction-lag.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94a0ad362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/remediation-context-extraction-lag.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+// test/remediation-context-extraction-lag.test.ts
+//
+// Pins the v-next fix: the sync→extract remediation pipeline gates on REAL
+// extraction lag, not the legacy `health.stale_pages` proxy (which counted
+// "updated_at predates newest timeline entry" — meaningless after the v10
+// trigger drop). loadRecommendationContext now populates `extractionLagPages`
+// from `engine.countStalePagesForExtraction` — the SAME counter the
+// `gbrain extract --stale` walk and doctor's `links_extraction_lag` use — so a
+// recommendation can only fire when running extract will actually reduce it.
+
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
+import { PGLiteEngine } from '../src/core/pglite-engine.ts';
+import { loadRecommendationContext } from '../src/core/remediation/context.ts';
+
+let engine: PGLiteEngine;
+
+beforeAll(async () => {
+  engine = new PGLiteEngine();
+  await engine.connect({});
+  await engine.initSchema();
+});
+
+afterAll(async () => {
+  await engine.disconnect();
+});
+
+describe('loadRecommendationContext — extractionLagPages wiring', () => {
+  it('is 0 on an empty brain (nothing to extract)', async () => {
+    const ctx = await loadRecommendationContext(engine);
+    expect(ctx.extractionLagPages).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('reflects the real extraction-lag count once a page needs extraction', async () => {
+    // A freshly-imported page has links_extracted_at = NULL, which the canonical
+    // countStalePagesForExtraction predicate counts as stale-for-extraction.
+    await engine.putPage('p0', {
+      title: 'p0',
+      type: 'note' as never,
+      compiled_truth: 'body that is long enough to pass any minimum-length guards in the codebase',
+      timeline: '',
+      frontmatter: {},
+      source_path: 'p0.md',
+    });
+    const ctx = await loadRecommendationContext(engine);
+    expect(ctx.extractionLagPages).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/remediation-run-d7-refresh.serial.test.ts b/test/remediation-run-d7-refresh.serial.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e8b56279c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/remediation-run-d7-refresh.serial.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+// test/remediation-run-d7-refresh.serial.test.ts
+//
+// Pins the D7-recheck half of the extraction-lag gate fix: runRemediation
+// loads RecommendationContext ONCE before the step loop, and the per-step
+// recheck (D7) must REFRESH ctx.extractionLagPages alongside getHealth.
+// Without the refresh, a completed sync/extract step keeps re-firing off
+// the frozen initial count — the plan never converges and the loop burns
+// steps until maxJobs.
+//
+// SERIAL (R2): uses top-level mock.module for the minion queue +
+// wait-for-completion so no real worker is needed — mocks leak across
+// files in a shard process, so this file must run in its own process.
+
+import { describe, expect, mock, test } from 'bun:test';
+
+// The fake brain: sync.repo clears the extraction lag when it "runs"
+// (today's sync materializes link/timeline edges; extract.all is the
+// explicit re-materializer). The frozen-ctx bug makes runRemediation
+// ignore that and resubmit sync.repo on every D7 recheck.
+let extractionLag = 25;
+const submittedJobs: string[] = [];
+
+mock.module('../src/core/minions/queue.ts', () => ({
+  MinionQueue: class {
+    constructor(_engine: unknown) {}
+    async add(job: string): Promise<{ id: number }> {
+      submittedJobs.push(job);
+      if (job === 'sync' || job === 'extract') extractionLag = 0;
+      return { id: submittedJobs.length };
+    }
+  },
+}));
+
+mock.module('../src/core/minions/wait-for-completion.ts', () => ({
+  waitForCompletion: async () => ({ status: 'completed' }),
+}));
+
+const health = () => ({
+  page_count: 100,
+  embed_coverage: 1.0,
+  stale_pages: 0, // legacy proxy stays 0 — the real counter drives the gate
+  orphan_pages: 0,
+  missing_embeddings: 0,
+  brain_score: 70,
+  dead_links: 0,
+  link_coverage: 1.0,
+  timeline_coverage: 1.0,
+  most_connected: [],
+  embed_coverage_score: 35,
+  link_density_score: 25,
+  timeline_coverage_score: 15,
+  no_orphans_score: 15,
+  no_dead_links_score: 10,
+});
+
+const fakeEngine = {
+  kind: 'pglite' as const,
+  getHealth: async () => health(),
+  getConfig: async (key: string) =>
+    key === 'sync.repo_path' ? '/tmp/brain-example' : null,
+  countStalePagesForExtraction: async () => extractionLag,
+};
+
+describe('runRemediation D7 recheck — extraction-lag gate refresh', () => {
+  test('a completed materializer step clears the gate; the pipeline is not resubmitted', async () => {
+    const { runRemediation } = await import('../src/core/remediation/run.ts');
+    const result = await runRemediation(
+      // Only the methods the orchestrator touches are needed.
+      fakeEngine as never,
+      { targetScore: 0, maxJobs: 6 },
+    );
+    // Frozen-ctx bug: extractionLagPages stays 25 forever, so every D7
+    // recheck re-introduces the sync/extract pipeline and the loop burns
+    // all 6 maxJobs. With the refresh, the plan converges after the first
+    // completed step: no step id is ever submitted twice.
+    const ids = result.submitted.map((s) => s.id);
+    expect(new Set(ids).size).toBe(ids.length);
+    expect(submittedJobs.length).toBeLessThan(3);
+    expect(extractionLag).toBe(0);
+  });
+});