diff --git a/scripts/conformance.mjs b/scripts/conformance.mjs
index 397d3a2..f1ed402 100644
--- a/scripts/conformance.mjs
+++ b/scripts/conformance.mjs
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
  *
  *   - Orphan consumer: a feature declares `consumes: ["X"]` but no
  *     feature publishes "X".
+ *   - Unparseable manifest: a feature.manifest.ts exists but the AST
+ *     parser cannot read it — silence here would disable every gate that
+ *     keys off the manifest.
  *
  * Exits 0 on success, 1 on any violation. Prints a tabular summary of
  * the event graph for transparency.
@@ -25,7 +28,12 @@ export function findAllManifests(repoRoot = REPO_ROOT) {
   if (!fs.existsSync(packagesDir)) return [];
   const out = [];
   for (const entry of fs.readdirSync(packagesDir)) {
-    const manifestPath = path.join(packagesDir, entry, "src", "feature.manifest.ts");
+    const manifestPath = path.join(
+      packagesDir,
+      entry,
+      "src",
+      "feature.manifest.ts",
+    );
     if (fs.existsSync(manifestPath)) {
       out.push({ feature: entry, path: manifestPath });
     }
@@ -33,6 +41,12 @@ export function findAllManifests(repoRoot = REPO_ROOT) {
   return out;
 }
 
+export function findUnparseableManifests(manifests) {
+  return manifests.filter(
+    ({ path: manifestPath }) => parseManifestUseCases(manifestPath) === null,
+  );
+}
+
 export function buildEventGraph(manifests) {
   const graph = new Map();
   for (const { feature, path: manifestPath } of manifests) {
@@ -40,11 +54,13 @@ export function buildEventGraph(manifests) {
     if (!useCases) continue;
     for (const [useCase, entry] of Object.entries(useCases)) {
       for (const event of entry.publishes) {
-        if (!graph.has(event)) graph.set(event, { publishers: [], consumers: [] });
+        if (!graph.has(event))
+          graph.set(event, { publishers: [], consumers: [] });
         graph.get(event).publishers.push({ feature, useCase });
       }
       for (const event of entry.consumes) {
-        if (!graph.has(event)) graph.set(event, { publishers: [], consumers: [] });
+        if (!graph.has(event))
+          graph.set(event, { publishers: [], consumers: [] });
         graph.get(event).consumers.push({ feature, useCase });
       }
     }
@@ -68,32 +84,61 @@ function main() {
   for (const { feature } of manifests) console.log(`  - ${feature}`);
   console.log();
 
+  let failures = 0;
+
+  // An unparseable manifest blinds every manifest-keyed gate, so check it
+  // BEFORE the empty-graph early exit (an unparseable manifest contributes
+  // zero events and would otherwise slip through as "nothing to check").
+  const unparseable = findUnparseableManifests(manifests);
+  if (unparseable.length > 0) {
+    failures += unparseable.length;
+    console.error(`✗ ${unparseable.length} unparseable manifest(s):`);
+    for (const { feature } of unparseable) {
+      console.error(
+        `  ${feature}/src/feature.manifest.ts could not be parsed — every manifest-keyed gate is blind to it`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
   const graph = buildEventGraph(manifests);
-  if (graph.size === 0) {
+  if (graph.size === 0 && failures === 0) {
     console.log("No cross-feature events declared yet — nothing to check.");
     process.exit(0);
   }
 
-  console.log(`Event graph (${graph.size} event(s)):`);
-  for (const [event, { publishers, consumers }] of graph.entries()) {
-    console.log(`  ${event}`);
-    console.log(`    publishers: ${publishers.length === 0 ? "(none)" : publishers.map((p) => `${p.feature}.${p.useCase}`).join(", ")}`);
-    console.log(`    consumers:  ${consumers.length === 0 ? "(none)" : consumers.map((c) => `${c.feature}.${c.useCase}`).join(", ")}`);
+  if (graph.size > 0) {
+    console.log(`Event graph (${graph.size} event(s)):`);
+    for (const [event, { publishers, consumers }] of graph.entries()) {
+      console.log(`  ${event}`);
+      console.log(
+        `    publishers: ${publishers.length === 0 ? "(none)" : publishers.map((p) => `${p.feature}.${p.useCase}`).join(", ")}`,
+      );
+      console.log(
+        `    consumers:  ${consumers.length === 0 ? "(none)" : consumers.map((c) => `${c.feature}.${c.useCase}`).join(", ")}`,
+      );
+    }
+    console.log();
   }
-  console.log();
 
   const orphans = findOrphanConsumers(graph);
-  if (orphans.length === 0) {
+  if (orphans.length > 0) {
+    failures += orphans.length;
+    console.error(`✗ ${orphans.length} orphan consumer(s):`);
+    for (const { event, consumers } of orphans) {
+      console.error(`  ${event}`);
+      for (const c of consumers) {
+        console.error(
+          `    consumed by ${c.feature}.${c.useCase}, but no feature publishes it`,
+        );
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (failures === 0) {
     console.log("✓ pnpm conformance — passed");
     process.exit(0);
   }
-  console.error(`✗ pnpm conformance — ${orphans.length} orphan consumer(s):`);
-  for (const { event, consumers } of orphans) {
-    console.error(`  ${event}`);
-    for (const c of consumers) {
-      console.error(`    consumed by ${c.feature}.${c.useCase}, but no feature publishes it`);
-    }
-  }
+  console.error(`✗ pnpm conformance — ${failures} violation(s)`);
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/conformance.test.mjs b/scripts/conformance.test.mjs
index 3ebbc0f..1632d99 100644
--- a/scripts/conformance.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/conformance.test.mjs
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@ import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
 import path from "node:path";
 import os from "node:os";
 import fs from "node:fs";
-import { findAllManifests, buildEventGraph, findOrphanConsumers } from "./conformance.mjs";
+import {
+  findAllManifests,
+  findUnparseableManifests,
+  buildEventGraph,
+  findOrphanConsumers,
+} from "./conformance.mjs";
 
 function makeRepo(features) {
   const root = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "conformance-"));
@@ -10,8 +15,9 @@ function makeRepo(features) {
     const dir = path.join(root, "packages", name, "src");
     fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
     const useCasesStr = Object.entries(useCases)
-      .map(([ucName, uc]) =>
-        `    ${ucName}: { mutates: ${uc.mutates ?? false}, audits: [], publishes: [${(uc.publishes ?? []).map((p) => `"${p}"`).join(", ")}], consumes: [${(uc.consumes ?? []).map((c) => `"${c}"`).join(", ")}] },`,
+      .map(
+        ([ucName, uc]) =>
+          `    ${ucName}: { mutates: ${uc.mutates ?? false}, audits: [], publishes: [${(uc.publishes ?? []).map((p) => `"${p}"`).join(", ")}], consumes: [${(uc.consumes ?? []).map((c) => `"${c}"`).join(", ")}] },`,
       )
       .join("\n");
     fs.writeFileSync(
@@ -43,11 +49,34 @@ describe("conformance script", () => {
 
     it("skips packages without a manifest", () => {
       const root = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "conformance-empty-"));
-      fs.mkdirSync(path.join(root, "packages", "no-manifest", "src"), { recursive: true });
+      fs.mkdirSync(path.join(root, "packages", "no-manifest", "src"), {
+        recursive: true,
+      });
       expect(findAllManifests(root)).toEqual([]);
     });
   });
 
+  describe("findUnparseableManifests", () => {
+    it("flags a manifest the AST parser cannot read", () => {
+      const root = makeRepo({ auth: { signIn: {} } });
+      const brokenDir = path.join(root, "packages", "broken", "src");
+      fs.mkdirSync(brokenDir, { recursive: true });
+      // No defineFeature call — parseManifestUseCases returns null.
+      fs.writeFileSync(
+        path.join(brokenDir, "feature.manifest.ts"),
+        `export const brokenManifest = { name: "broken" };`,
+      );
+      const manifests = findAllManifests(root);
+      const unparseable = findUnparseableManifests(manifests);
+      expect(unparseable.map((m) => m.feature)).toEqual(["broken"]);
+    });
+
+    it("returns [] when every manifest parses", () => {
+      const root = makeRepo({ auth: { signIn: {} } });
+      expect(findUnparseableManifests(findAllManifests(root))).toEqual([]);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe("buildEventGraph + findOrphanConsumers", () => {
     it("finds zero orphans when consumers and publishers line up", () => {
       const root = makeRepo({
@@ -68,7 +97,9 @@ describe("conformance script", () => {
       const orphans = findOrphanConsumers(graph);
       expect(orphans).toHaveLength(1);
       expect(orphans[0].event).toBe("auth.signed-up");
-      expect(orphans[0].consumers).toEqual([{ feature: "marketing", useCase: "onAuthSignedUp" }]);
+      expect(orphans[0].consumers).toEqual([
+        { feature: "marketing", useCase: "onAuthSignedUp" },
+      ]);
     });
 
     it("treats publish-only events as fine (no consumers is not an orphan)", () => {