diff --git a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
index d960e55..cabd7ae 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     {
       "name": "throughline",
       "source": "./",
-      "description": "Continuous, state-aware session memory for Claude Code — capture what you did and what is, hand it off with judgment.",
+      "description": "Continuous, state-aware session memory for Claude Code - capture what you did and what is, hand it off with judgment.",
       "author": {
         "name": "Dynamic Agency",
         "email": "support@dynamicagency.com"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 157e36d..0e64fe2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -53,6 +53,39 @@ jobs:
             echo "version drift: .claude-plugin/plugin.json=$c .codex-plugin/plugin.json=$x .opencode-plugin/package.json=$o" >&2
             exit 1
           fi
+      - name: Typography (Linux)
+        if: runner.os == 'Linux'
+        # Mechanizes Jason's writing-style rule (no em/en-dashes or curly
+        # quotes in outward-facing content) so it can't regress silently -
+        # scoped to files a reader/user actually opens (README, promo site,
+        # per-harness docs, the plugin marketplace description), not the
+        # whole tree: internal docs (CHANGELOG, HANDOFF, this project's own
+        # memory files, code comments) are explicitly exempt per the style
+        # guide. The pattern is written as escape sequences on purpose - a
+        # literal em-dash pasted into this step would make it match itself.
+        #
+        # LC_ALL pinned to a UTF-8 locale: git grep -P only enables PCRE2's
+        # UTF mode under a UTF-8 locale codeset, and \x{2013} exceeds PCRE2's
+        # 8-bit max outside it - under e.g. LC_ALL=C the pattern fails to
+        # COMPILE (rc=128), and a bare `if git grep ...; then FAIL; fi` reads
+        # that failure as "no match found" and passes clean. A gate whose
+        # whole point is "can't regress silently" must not itself have a
+        # silent-pass failure mode, so the exit code is checked explicitly
+        # instead of trusting the if/then branch alone.
+        run: |
+          set +e
+          hits=$(LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 git grep -I -n -P '[\x{2013}\x{2014}\x{2018}\x{2019}\x{201C}\x{201D}]' -- \
+                   README.md docs/*.md docs/index.html .claude-plugin/marketplace.json)
+          rc=$?
+          set -e
+          if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then
+            printf '%s\n' "$hits"
+            echo "non-ASCII em/en-dash or curly quote in outward-facing files (see above) - use ASCII punctuation instead ( - , straight quotes)" >&2
+            exit 1
+          elif [ "$rc" -ne 1 ]; then
+            echo "typography check failed to run (git grep rc=$rc) - this must not read as a clean pass" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
       - name: Run hook tests
         run: sh tests/run.sh
 
diff --git a/.local-ci.json b/.local-ci.json
index 2e38837..a03f5bd 100644
--- a/.local-ci.json
+++ b/.local-ci.json
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
       "label": "hook tests",
       "run": "sh tests/run.sh"
     },
+    {
+      "label": "typography",
+      "run": "export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8; out=$(git grep -I -n -P '[—–‘’“”]' -- README.md docs/*.md docs/index.html .claude-plugin/marketplace.json); rc=$?; if [ \"$rc\" -eq 0 ]; then echo \"$out\" >&2; exit 1; elif [ \"$rc\" -ne 1 ]; then echo \"typography check failed to run (git grep rc=$rc)\" >&2; exit 1; fi"
+    },
     {
       "label": "opencode plugin",
       "run": "cd .opencode-plugin && npm ci && npm run typecheck && npm test"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 36c30a8..8a1c9cb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ All notable changes to throughline are documented here. Format loosely follows
   availability, live/archived buffer counts, and the three env vars'
   current values - so diagnosing "why isn't capture firing" no longer means
   reading `_lib.sh` and reasoning through the precedence rules by hand.
+- **CI typography gate** (issue #72): a `git grep` step fails the build on
+  em/en-dashes or curly quotes in outward-facing files (`README.md`,
+  `docs/*.md`, `docs/index.html`, the plugin marketplace description) -
+  mechanizes the existing no-em-dash writing-style rule instead of relying
+  on review to catch a regression. Mirrored in `.local-ci.json`. Fixed one
+  live violation in `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json`'s description.
 
 ## [0.15.0]