diff --git a/docs/guides/authoring-hubs.md b/docs/guides/authoring-hubs.md
index 3887cd4..205c2ff 100644
--- a/docs/guides/authoring-hubs.md
+++ b/docs/guides/authoring-hubs.md
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ Prose a human (or agent) reads to understand this domain.
 - **`at`** — the anchor: where the claim's logic lives (grammar below).
 - **`hash`** — the seal. Absent until you `surf verify`; the gate treats a hashless claim as
   *unverified*.
+- **`refs` / `covers`** — forward-declared and currently inert. `refs` (hub composition) is parsed
+  but unused; `covers` (advisory file-scope globs) is parsed and lint-validated but never affects
+  `surf check`. Leave them empty unless you have a reason — the features that consume them aren't
+  shipped.
 
 Where hubs live is configured by the `hubs` glob in `surf.toml` (default `hubs/*.md`); keep them
 central or co-locate them with code (`["**/_hub.md"]`).
diff --git a/docs/surface-proposal.md b/docs/surface-proposal.md
index ffdd910..cc0a133 100644
--- a/docs/surface-proposal.md
+++ b/docs/surface-proposal.md
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ Then **stop**. No `refs` resolver, no catalog, no MCP service, **no reviewer plu
 
 **A note on the CI step that everyone gets wrong:** the gate hashes the working-tree span and compares to the hash committed in frontmatter. It needs the checkout, *not* full git history — do **not** `fetch-depth: 0`. The only thing the base ref buys you is scoping (re-check only anchors whose files changed in the PR), and a shallow fetch of the merge base covers that.
 
-**`covers` is deliberately absent from the MVP schema.** It is consumed only by the reviewer plugin (§7), which the MVP excludes — so asking authors to write it now would be maintaining a field that does nothing, the exact ceremony §4 warns against. Forward-declared, not shipped.
+**`covers` is authorable but inert.** The field is accepted, stored, and lint-validated (a malformed glob blocks), but **the verdict never reads it** — `surf check` is byte-for-byte identical whether or not a hub declares `covers`. The louder coverage pass that consumes these globs is consumed only by the reviewer plugin (§7), which the MVP excludes, and stays deferred until its false-negative rate is measured. So a hub may declare its scope today; nothing acts on it yet.
 
 ### 9.2 The MVP has a falsifiable success criterion
 
diff --git a/hubs/hub-format.md b/hubs/hub-format.md
index 25440a6..1e4307d 100644
--- a/hubs/hub-format.md
+++ b/hubs/hub-format.md
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ summary: The hub document format and the minimal-diff frontmatter editor used by
 anchors:
   - claim: >
       A hub is a `---`-fenced YAML frontmatter block followed by a markdown body; `at:` is a
-      scalar or a list, hash is optional until verified, and unknown fields (e.g. covers) are
-      rejected.
+      scalar or a list, hash is optional until verified, and unknown fields are rejected — though
+      forward-declared fields (`refs`, `covers`) are accepted and stored but inert in the verdict.
     at: surf-core/src/hub.rs > parse_hub
     hash: e97cc54f48d3
   - claim: >
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ anchors:
     at: surf-core/src/hub.rs > set_anchor_hash
     hash: a65d5c324dc5
 refs: []
+covers:
+  - surf-core/src/hub.rs
 ---
 
 # Hub format
diff --git a/surf-cli/src/lint.rs b/surf-cli/src/lint.rs
index 4dec6e0..094da8e 100644
--- a/surf-cli/src/lint.rs
+++ b/surf-cli/src/lint.rs
@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ fn lint_workspace(ws: &Workspace) -> Result<Vec<Finding>> {
             }
         }
 
+        lint_covers(&rel, &hub, &mut findings);
+
         if hub.frontmatter.anchors.len() > MAX_ANCHORS_PER_HUB {
             findings.push(Finding {
                 severity: Severity::Warn,
@@ -218,6 +220,59 @@ fn lint_agents_pointer(ws: &Workspace, findings: &mut Vec<Finding>) {
     }
 }
 
+/// Validate a hub's advisory `covers` globs (§9.1). The verdict never reads `covers`, so this
+/// is the only place a malformed glob can be caught — a bad pattern blocks (silently dropping it
+/// would let a typo'd scope go unnoticed, the same reasoning as `--files` in `check`, #38). When
+/// the globs are well-formed, warn for any of the hub's own anchored files that none of them
+/// match: a hub whose `covers` excludes its own anchors is almost certainly a fat-fingered glob.
+fn lint_covers(rel: &str, hub: &surf_core::Hub, findings: &mut Vec<Finding>) {
+    if hub.frontmatter.covers.is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let mut patterns = Vec::new();
+    for raw in &hub.frontmatter.covers {
+        match glob::Pattern::new(raw) {
+            Ok(p) => patterns.push(p),
+            Err(e) => findings.push(Finding {
+                severity: Severity::Block,
+                hub: rel.to_string(),
+                claim: String::new(),
+                at: raw.clone(),
+                message: format!("invalid `covers` glob \"{raw}\": {e}"),
+            }),
+        }
+    }
+    if patterns.len() != hub.frontmatter.covers.len() {
+        return; // a glob didn't compile — don't run the coverage nudge on a partial pattern set
+    }
+
+    // The hub's own anchored files (deduped, sorted for deterministic output).
+    let mut anchored: Vec<String> = hub
+        .frontmatter
+        .anchors
+        .iter()
+        .flat_map(|c| c.at.sites())
+        .filter_map(|s| parse_anchor(s).ok().map(|a| a.file))
+        .collect();
+    anchored.sort();
+    anchored.dedup();
+
+    for file in anchored {
+        if !patterns.iter().any(|p| p.matches(&file)) {
+            findings.push(Finding {
+                severity: Severity::Warn,
+                hub: rel.to_string(),
+                claim: String::new(),
+                at: file.clone(),
+                message: format!(
+                    "anchored file `{file}` is not matched by any `covers` glob — check the globs cover this hub's own anchors"
+                ),
+            });
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Markdown link targets (`](target)`) in a fragment of text.
 fn link_targets(text: &str) -> impl Iterator<Item = &str> {
     text.split("](")
@@ -644,6 +699,55 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn covers_valid_globs_are_silent() {
+        let (_t, ws) = ws_with(&[
+            ("src/auth.rs", "pub fn greet() {}\n"),
+            (
+                "hubs/a.md",
+                "---\nsummary: x\ncovers:\n  - src/**\nanchors:\n  - claim: greeting\n    at: src/auth.rs > greet\n---\n",
+            ),
+        ]);
+        assert!(lint_workspace(&ws).unwrap().is_empty());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn covers_malformed_glob_blocks() {
+        let (_t, ws) = ws_with(&[
+            ("src/auth.rs", "pub fn greet() {}\n"),
+            (
+                "hubs/a.md",
+                "---\nsummary: x\ncovers:\n  - 'src/[unterminated'\nanchors:\n  - claim: greeting\n    at: src/auth.rs > greet\n---\n",
+            ),
+        ]);
+        let f = lint_workspace(&ws).unwrap();
+        let block = f
+            .iter()
+            .find(|x| x.message.contains("invalid `covers` glob"))
+            .expect("expected a covers glob error");
+        assert_eq!(block.severity, Severity::Block);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn covers_not_matching_own_anchor_warns() {
+        // `covers` scopes only `lib/**`, but the hub anchors a file under `src/` — the fat-finger
+        // the nudge exists to catch.
+        let (_t, ws) = ws_with(&[
+            ("src/auth.rs", "pub fn greet() {}\n"),
+            (
+                "hubs/a.md",
+                "---\nsummary: x\ncovers:\n  - lib/**\nanchors:\n  - claim: greeting\n    at: src/auth.rs > greet\n---\n",
+            ),
+        ]);
+        let f = lint_workspace(&ws).unwrap();
+        let warn = f
+            .iter()
+            .find(|x| x.message.contains("not matched by any `covers` glob"))
+            .expect("expected an unmatched-anchor warning");
+        assert_eq!(warn.severity, Severity::Warn);
+        assert_eq!(warn.at, "src/auth.rs");
+    }
+
     fn agents_findings(ws: &Workspace) -> Vec<Finding> {
         lint_workspace(ws)
             .unwrap()
diff --git a/surf-core/src/hub.rs b/surf-core/src/hub.rs
index bd5a734..a70e393 100644
--- a/surf-core/src/hub.rs
+++ b/surf-core/src/hub.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ pub struct Frontmatter {
     /// Hub composition. Forward-declared per §9.3 — parsed but inert in the MVP.
     #[serde(default)]
     pub refs: Vec<String>,
+    /// Advisory coverage scope: repo-root-relative globs (same dialect as `config.hubs`)
+    /// naming the files this hub claims a relationship with. Forward-declared per §9.1 —
+    /// parsed, stored, and lint-validated, but **the verdict never reads it** (§5/§8). The
+    /// louder coverage pass that consumes these globs is deferred to #5.
+    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Vec::is_empty")]
+    pub covers: Vec<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
@@ -288,11 +294,36 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn covers_field_is_rejected() {
-        // `covers` is deliberately absent from the MVP schema (§9.1); deny_unknown_fields
-        // surfaces it as a clear error rather than silently ignoring a field that does nothing.
-        let err = parse_hub("---\nsummary: x\ncovers:\n  - src/**\n---\nbody\n").unwrap_err();
-        assert!(matches!(err, HubError::Yaml(_)));
+    fn covers_field_is_accepted() {
+        // `covers` is forward-declared per §9.1: parsed and stored, but inert in the verdict
+        // (the louder coverage pass that consumes it is deferred to #5).
+        let hub =
+            parse_hub("---\nsummary: x\ncovers:\n  - src/**\n  - lib/foo.rs\n---\nbody\n").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            hub.frontmatter.covers,
+            vec!["src/**".to_string(), "lib/foo.rs".to_string()]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn covers_defaults_to_empty() {
+        // A hub that omits `covers` parses with an empty list, and serializing it back does not
+        // introduce an empty `covers:` key — existing hubs are byte-unaffected.
+        let hub = parse_hub("---\nsummary: x\n---\nbody\n").unwrap();
+        assert!(hub.frontmatter.covers.is_empty());
+        let yaml = serde_yaml::to_string(&hub.frontmatter).unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            !yaml.contains("covers"),
+            "empty covers should not serialize: {yaml}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn covers_round_trips() {
+        let hub = parse_hub("---\nsummary: x\ncovers:\n  - src/**\n---\nbody\n").unwrap();
+        let yaml = serde_yaml::to_string(&hub.frontmatter).unwrap();
+        let reparsed: Frontmatter = serde_yaml::from_str(&yaml).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(hub.frontmatter, reparsed);
     }
 
     #[test]