diff --git a/src/objects/duty.object.ts b/src/objects/duty.object.ts
index 6dedcb6..8aae6e9 100644
--- a/src/objects/duty.object.ts
+++ b/src/objects/duty.object.ts
@@ -83,9 +83,16 @@ export const Duty = ObjectSchema.create({
       label: 'Source',
       required: true,
       options: [
-        { label: 'Role catalog', value: 'catalog', color: '#16515F', default: true },
+        { label: 'Role catalog', value: 'catalog', color: '#16515F' },
         { label: 'Assigned by manager', value: 'assigned', color: '#8C6512' },
-        { label: 'Self-declared', value: 'self', color: '#576B73' },
+        // The default. Every path that legitimately produces a governed duty
+        // stamps `source` explicitly — `duly_catalog_apply` writes 'catalog'
+        // (#34), the assignment fan-out writes 'assigned' (#33) — so the
+        // default is only ever reached by a hand-created duty, which is by
+        // definition self-declared. Fail-safe direction: a producer that
+        // forgets to stamp caliber produces an unscored duty, not a scored
+        // one (#50).
+        { label: 'Self-declared', value: 'self', color: '#576B73', default: true },
       ],
     }),
 
diff --git a/src/objects/task.object.ts b/src/objects/task.object.ts
index 85f7254..73a5cb6 100644
--- a/src/objects/task.object.ts
+++ b/src/objects/task.object.ts
@@ -66,9 +66,19 @@ export const Task = ObjectSchema.create({
       label: 'Source',
       required: true,
       options: [
-        { label: 'Role catalog', value: 'catalog', color: '#16515F', default: true },
+        { label: 'Role catalog', value: 'catalog', color: '#16515F' },
         { label: 'Assigned by manager', value: 'assigned', color: '#8C6512' },
-        { label: 'Self-declared', value: 'self', color: '#576B73' },
+        // The default. Both manufactured producers stamp this explicitly and
+        // do not rely on it: the dispatcher copies `duty.source` onto every
+        // dispatched task (`dispatch.plan.ts` — `source: duty.source ?? ''`,
+        // never omitted from the draft), and the assignment fan-out writes
+        // `source: 'assigned'` directly on both `create_record` nodes
+        // (`assignment.flow.ts`). The path that actually reaches this
+        // default is `duly_member`'s `allowCreate: true` on `duly_task`
+        // (`permission-sets.ts`) with no create form stamping `source` — a
+        // member hand-creating their own task, which is self-declared by
+        // definition (#55).
+        { label: 'Self-declared', value: 'self', color: '#576B73', default: true },
       ],
     }),
 
diff --git a/test/invariants.test.ts b/test/invariants.test.ts
index fca20b1..72dad55 100644
--- a/test/invariants.test.ts
+++ b/test/invariants.test.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,33 @@ describe('product invariants', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it('a hand-created record is self-declared, not born governed (#50, #55)', () => {
+    // The safe default for an ambiguous caliber is the UNscoreable one, on
+    // every object that carries the column — not just the one that surfaced
+    // it first. A duty or task created with no `source` supplied must land
+    // as 'self' — never 'catalog' (which additionally exposes a duty to
+    // duly_catalog_sync's cadence rewrite for a catalog item it never came
+    // from) and never 'assigned'.
+    //
+    // Both governed calibers are reachable only when the producer that knows
+    // states them explicitly: on duly_duty, duly_catalog_apply writes
+    // 'catalog' (#34); on duly_task, the dispatcher copies `duty.source`
+    // (#43) and the assignment fan-out writes 'assigned' directly (#33).
+    // Neither may ride in on the field default — the default is reached only
+    // by a hand-created record, which is self-declared by definition.
+    for (const [name, schema] of [['duly_duty', Duty], ['duly_task', Task]] as const) {
+      const options = schema.fields.source.options ?? [];
+      const defaults = options.filter((o) => o.default);
+      expect(defaults, `${name}.source: exactly one option may claim the default`).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(defaults[0]?.value, `${name}.source`).toBe('self');
+
+      for (const governed of ['catalog', 'assigned'] as const) {
+        const option = options.find((o) => o.value === governed);
+        expect(option?.default, `${name}.source: ${governed} must not be the default`).not.toBe(true);
+      }
+    }
+  });
+
   it('every object states its sharing model explicitly', () => {
     for (const schema of [Duty, Task, LogEntry, CatalogItem]) {
       expect(schema.sharingModel, `${schema.name} must state an OWD`).toBeTruthy();