diff --git a/cmd/gc/cmd_gendoc_test.go b/cmd/gc/cmd_gendoc_test.go
index de67c0de6b..b6a7422c33 100644
--- a/cmd/gc/cmd_gendoc_test.go
+++ b/cmd/gc/cmd_gendoc_test.go
@@ -2,10 +2,14 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/gastownhall/gascity/internal/docgen"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 func TestGenDocProducesMarkdown(t *testing.T) {
@@ -44,3 +48,46 @@ func TestGenDocProducesMarkdown(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("missing auto-generated note")
 	}
 }
+
+// TestCLIDocsFreshness verifies every non-hidden command in the live cobra
+// tree has a section in docs/reference/cli.md. Catches "added or renamed a
+// command without running go run ./cmd/genschema". Avoids strict byte-equal
+// comparison because cobra lazily registers `completion`/`help` only on
+// Execute, which the in-test render path does not trigger.
+func TestCLIDocsFreshness(t *testing.T) {
+	_, thisFile, _, ok := runtime.Caller(0)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("runtime.Caller failed")
+	}
+	repoRoot := filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(thisFile), "..", "..")
+
+	committedPath := filepath.Join(repoRoot, "docs", "reference", "cli.md")
+	committed, err := os.ReadFile(committedPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("reading %s: %v\nRun: go run ./cmd/genschema", committedPath, err)
+	}
+	doc := string(committed)
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	root := newRootCmd(&buf, &buf)
+
+	var missing []string
+	var walk func(cmd *cobra.Command)
+	walk = func(cmd *cobra.Command) {
+		if cmd.Hidden || cmd.Annotations["gc.docgen.skip"] == "true" {
+			return
+		}
+		heading := "## " + cmd.CommandPath() + "\n"
+		if !strings.Contains(doc, heading) {
+			missing = append(missing, cmd.CommandPath())
+		}
+		for _, c := range cmd.Commands() {
+			walk(c)
+		}
+	}
+	walk(root)
+
+	if len(missing) > 0 {
+		t.Errorf("docs/reference/cli.md is stale — missing sections for %d commands. Run: go run ./cmd/genschema\nMissing: %v", len(missing), missing)
+	}
+}