diff --git a/REPORT.md b/REPORT.md
index 67bae3b..04c079a 100644
--- a/REPORT.md
+++ b/REPORT.md
@@ -239,7 +239,12 @@ published but **NOT vouched**; floor still **0.222.0**; all apps running; plante
 R-329 and R-386 closed and compressed; **R-387** (closed) and **R-388** (the notification-model
 product decision — open, operator's call) filed.
 
-## 15. Observations — noticed, documented, NOT acted on
+## 15. Observations
+
+> **Each item carries `FILED: R-NNN` or `NOT-A-FINDING: <reason>` (gate 11, added 2026-08-23).**
+> The markers were added retrospectively on 2026-08-24 when the gate was built: item 1 was the very
+> finding that had no row, and adding its marker is the first thing the gate ever asked for. The
+> observations' text is unchanged.
 
 1. **The operator cooldown key has no app identifier, and it now bites.** PrivateBin's alarm four
    minutes after BookStack's was logged `suppressed — operator cooldown 1h,
@@ -247,13 +252,20 @@ product decision — open, operator's call) filed.
    R-182's known cooldown-key shape; it was harmless while `app_start_failed` was undeliverable and is
    not any more. **Same pattern as R-329 itself: a known-broken thing moved from unreachable to
    load-bearing.** Not fixed here.
+   FILED: R-389
 2. **The settings page grew 12 → 15 toggles in one session** — one new alarm, plus two compound
    toggles split into four. Recorded as the argument inside R-388.
+   FILED: R-388
 3. `internal/notify/notifier.go` carries **pre-existing** gofmt drift in an unrelated const block,
    confirmed by stashing this session's work and re-running `gofmt -l`. Not touched (§12).
+   NOT-A-FINDING: cosmetic drift in an unrelated const block, predating this work and touching no
+   behaviour; §12 forbids nearby refactors, so filing a row would only queue a whitespace commit.
 4. **The golden-bake runbook still lacks `pveam update`** — second consecutive bake to hit the stale
    index on the `virgin` snapshot, presenting as `400 … no such template`.
+   FILED: R-390
 5. **Deliberately left open, untouched:** R-102, R-359, R-385, and R-388's redesign.
+   NOT-A-FINDING: this item is a pointer to rows that already exist, not a new observation; it is
+   here so their absence from this session reads as deliberate rather than forgotten.
 
 ### CI runs, confirmed by ID
 
diff --git a/controller/scripts/controller_gates.py b/controller/scripts/controller_gates.py
index be0b36f..ffb933c 100644
--- a/controller/scripts/controller_gates.py
+++ b/controller/scripts/controller_gates.py
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ REPO = os.path.dirname(CTRL)                    # <repo> — the root REUSE.md l
 SHARED_REUSE = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(REPO), "felhom.eu", "scripts", "reuse_refs_check.py")
 SHARED_INSTRUCTIONS = os.path.join(
     os.path.dirname(REPO), "felhom.eu", "scripts", "instructions_gate.py")
+# R-389 — shared, like the two above: it lives in felhom.eu/scripts/ and is never copied.
+SHARED_OBSERVATIONS = os.path.join(
+    os.path.dirname(REPO), "felhom.eu", "scripts", "observations_gate.py")
 
 # (label, absolute script path, args, fast)
 GATES = [
@@ -61,6 +64,8 @@ GATES = [
     ("retrieval-promise", os.path.join(SCRIPTS, "retrieval_promise_gate.py"),   [],       True),
     ("reuse-refs",     SHARED_REUSE,                                            [REPO],   True),
     ("instructions",   SHARED_INSTRUCTIONS,                                     [REPO],   True),
+    # R-389 — a REPORT.md observation with no register row behind it. Fast: stdlib file reads.
+    ("observations", SHARED_OBSERVATIONS, [REPO], True),
 ]
 
 VERDICT = {0: "OK", 1: "FAILED", 2: "INCONCLUSIVE"}