diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2b0113b4..930b7e93 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -155,6 +155,14 @@ All notable changes to vouch are documented here. Format follows
   artifact the caller could not already retrieve, and it touches no write path.
 
 ### Fixed
+- **delete gate / cascade now see goals that cite the target** (#727):
+  `referenced_by` and `cascade_plan` walked pages, claims, and relations
+  but never goals, even though `Goal.claims` / `Goal.entities` are
+  validated refs. Deleting a cited claim succeeded (empty gate), then
+  `set_goal_status` crashed with `ValueError` from `_validate_goal_refs`.
+  Goals now block delete, appear in the cascade plan, and are unlinked
+  via `lifecycle.cascade_unlink_goal_refs` (`goal.cascade_unlink` audit)
+  on approve — the same single-writer path as status moves.
 - **`extract` no longer fractures file paths/URLs into auto-approved
   garbage claims** (#702): the sentence segmenter only skipped a `.` as a
   boundary when it was flanked by digits on both sides (decimals/versions
diff --git a/src/vouch/lifecycle.py b/src/vouch/lifecycle.py
index d6583997..43dfbb29 100644
--- a/src/vouch/lifecycle.py
+++ b/src/vouch/lifecycle.py
@@ -176,6 +176,45 @@ def confirm(store: KBStore, *, claim_id: str, actor: str) -> Claim:
 _CLOSED_GOAL_STATUSES = frozenset({GoalStatus.DONE, GoalStatus.ABANDONED})
 
 
+def cascade_unlink_goal_refs(
+    store: KBStore,
+    goal_id: str,
+    *,
+    unlink_claims: list[str] | None = None,
+    unlink_entities: list[str] | None = None,
+    actor: str,
+) -> Goal | None:
+    """Drop claim/entity pointers from a goal during cascade delete.
+
+    Companion to ``set_goal_status``: both are the only callers of
+    ``store.update_goal``. Pointer edits are not status moves, but they still
+    mutate durable goal yaml and must append their own audit event
+    (``goal.cascade_unlink``) rather than calling storage from proposals.
+    Returns ``None`` when the goal is gone or nothing to unlink (idempotent).
+    """
+    try:
+        goal = store.get_goal(goal_id)
+    except ArtifactNotFoundError:
+        return None
+    claims = [c for c in (unlink_claims or []) if c in goal.claims]
+    entities = [e for e in (unlink_entities or []) if e in goal.entities]
+    if not claims and not entities:
+        return None
+    goal.claims = [c for c in goal.claims if c not in claims]
+    goal.entities = [e for e in goal.entities if e not in entities]
+    goal.updated_at = datetime.now(UTC)
+    store.update_goal(goal)
+    audit.log_event(
+        store.kb_dir,
+        event="goal.cascade_unlink",
+        actor=actor,
+        object_ids=[goal.id],
+        data={"claims": claims, "entities": entities},
+        reversible=False,
+    )
+    return goal
+
+
 def set_goal_status(
     store: KBStore,
     *,
@@ -184,14 +223,15 @@ def set_goal_status(
     actor: str,
     reason: str | None = None,
 ) -> Goal:
-    """Move an approved goal to a new status. The only goal write path.
+    """Move an approved goal to a new status. The only status write path.
 
     Same posture as `archive` / `confirm` above: a status move is metadata
     about already-reviewed knowledge, not a new assertion, so it lands
     directly — but it lands *here*, in one place, so every transition appends
     a `goal.status` event to the audit log and a row to the goal's own
     `history`. Nothing else in the codebase may set `Goal.status`; if a future
-    change needs to, it belongs in this function.
+    change needs to, it belongs in this function. Claim/entity pointer edits
+    during cascade delete go through ``cascade_unlink_goal_refs``.
     """
     try:
         new_status = GoalStatus(status)
diff --git a/src/vouch/proposals.py b/src/vouch/proposals.py
index a15abcc7..c9a5ca71 100644
--- a/src/vouch/proposals.py
+++ b/src/vouch/proposals.py
@@ -1318,6 +1318,9 @@ def referenced_by(store: KBStore, target_kind: str, target_id: str) -> list[str]
         for page in store.list_pages():
             if target_id in page.claims:
                 refs.append(f"page {page.id!r}")
+        for goal in store.list_goals():
+            if target_id in goal.claims:
+                refs.append(f"goal {goal.id!r}")
         for rel in store.list_relations():
             if _relation_refers_to(store, rel, target_kind, target_id):
                 refs.append(f"relation {rel.id!r}")
@@ -1341,6 +1344,9 @@ def referenced_by(store: KBStore, target_kind: str, target_id: str) -> list[str]
         for page in store.list_pages():
             if target_id in page.entities:
                 refs.append(f"page {page.id!r}")
+        for goal in store.list_goals():
+            if target_id in goal.entities:
+                refs.append(f"goal {goal.id!r}")
         for rel in store.list_relations():
             if _relation_refers_to(store, rel, target_kind, target_id):
                 refs.append(f"relation {rel.id!r}")
@@ -1366,11 +1372,11 @@ def cascade_plan(
     One step per referring artifact: a page citing the target in both its
     frontmatter and its body is one decision, not two.
 
-    Pages and claims lose their pointer; relations are deleted outright,
-    because an edge whose endpoint is gone has no meaning. Relations carry
-    no inbound refs of their own (`referenced_by` returns [] for them), so
-    the walk is one level deep by construction — there is no transitive
-    cascade to bound.
+    Pages, claims, and goals lose their pointer; relations are deleted
+    outright, because an edge whose endpoint is gone has no meaning.
+    Relations carry no inbound refs of their own (`referenced_by` returns
+    [] for them), so the walk is one level deep by construction — there is
+    no transitive cascade to bound.
     """
     if target_kind not in _DELETE_KINDS:
         raise ProposalError(
@@ -1384,6 +1390,11 @@ def cascade_plan(
                 steps.append(
                     {"kind": "page", "id": page.id, "unlink_claims": [target_id]}
                 )
+        for goal in store.list_goals():
+            if target_id in goal.claims:
+                steps.append(
+                    {"kind": "goal", "id": goal.id, "unlink_claims": [target_id]}
+                )
         steps.extend(_relation_cascade_steps(store, target_id))
         for claim in store.list_claims():
             if claim.id == target_id:
@@ -1410,6 +1421,11 @@ def cascade_plan(
                 steps.append(
                     {"kind": "page", "id": page.id, "unlink_entities": [target_id]}
                 )
+        for goal in store.list_goals():
+            if target_id in goal.entities:
+                steps.append(
+                    {"kind": "goal", "id": goal.id, "unlink_entities": [target_id]}
+                )
         steps.extend(_relation_cascade_steps(store, target_id))
     return steps
 
@@ -1487,6 +1503,24 @@ def _apply_cascade_claim(
     return True
 
 
+def _apply_cascade_goal(
+    store: KBStore, step: dict[str, Any], step_id: str, *, actor: str
+) -> bool:
+    # Lazy import: lifecycle imports strip_claim_markers from this module.
+    from . import lifecycle as life
+
+    return (
+        life.cascade_unlink_goal_refs(
+            store,
+            step_id,
+            unlink_claims=list(step.get("unlink_claims") or []),
+            unlink_entities=list(step.get("unlink_entities") or []),
+            actor=actor,
+        )
+        is not None
+    )
+
+
 def _apply_cascade(
     store: KBStore, steps: list[dict[str, Any]], *, actor: str
 ) -> list[str]:
@@ -1523,6 +1557,9 @@ def _apply_cascade(
         elif kind == "claim":
             if not _apply_cascade_claim(store, step, step_id, actor=actor):
                 continue
+        elif kind == "goal":
+            if not _apply_cascade_goal(store, step, step_id, actor=actor):
+                continue
         else:
             continue
         changed.append(step_id)
diff --git a/src/vouch/storage.py b/src/vouch/storage.py
index 892b726f..d51c673a 100644
--- a/src/vouch/storage.py
+++ b/src/vouch/storage.py
@@ -1141,7 +1141,7 @@ def put_goal(self, goal: Goal) -> Goal:
         return goal
 
     def update_goal(self, goal: Goal) -> Goal:
-        """Persist a mutated goal. Only `lifecycle.set_goal_status` calls this."""
+        """Persist a mutated goal. Only ``lifecycle`` may call this."""
         if not self._goal_path(goal.id).exists():
             raise ArtifactNotFoundError(f"goal {goal.id}")
         # Round-trip so in-place mutation can't skip the model validators
diff --git a/tests/test_cascade_delete.py b/tests/test_cascade_delete.py
index b24e1817..6d6a9103 100644
--- a/tests/test_cascade_delete.py
+++ b/tests/test_cascade_delete.py
@@ -112,6 +112,37 @@ def test_plan_mirrors_referenced_by_for_a_page_cited_claim(store: KBStore) -> No
     ]
 
 
+def test_plan_and_apply_unlink_goal_cited_claims(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    """Goals are first-class claim referrers after #427 — cascade must free them."""
+    from vouch.models import Goal
+
+    _claim(store, "c1")
+    store.put_goal(Goal(id="keep-c1", title="keep c1", claims=["c1"]))
+    assert referenced_by(store, "claim", "c1") == ["goal 'keep-c1'"]
+    assert cascade_plan(store, "claim", "c1") == [
+        {"kind": "goal", "id": "keep-c1", "unlink_claims": ["c1"]}
+    ]
+    pr = propose_delete(
+        store, target_kind="claim", target_id="c1", proposed_by="agent",
+        cascade=True,
+    )
+    approve(store, pr.id, approved_by="reviewer")
+    assert store.get_goal("keep-c1").claims == []
+    with pytest.raises(ArtifactNotFoundError):
+        store.get_claim("c1")
+    assert "goal.cascade_unlink" in _events(store)
+
+
+def test_plan_unlinks_goal_cited_entities(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    from vouch.models import Goal
+
+    store.put_entity(Entity(id="e1", name="E", type=EntityType.CONCEPT))
+    store.put_goal(Goal(id="track-e1", title="track e1", entities=["e1"]))
+    assert cascade_plan(store, "entity", "e1") == [
+        {"kind": "goal", "id": "track-e1", "unlink_entities": ["e1"]}
+    ]
+
+
 def test_plan_deletes_relations_and_unlinks_pages(store: KBStore) -> None:
     _claim(store, "c1")
     _claim(store, "c2")
@@ -344,6 +375,24 @@ def test_applier_skips_a_claim_already_unlinked(store: KBStore) -> None:
     assert "claim.cascade_unlink" not in _events(store)
 
 
+def test_applier_skips_a_goal_that_vanished(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    assert _apply_cascade(
+        store, [{"kind": "goal", "id": "gone", "unlink_claims": ["c1"]}],
+        actor="reviewer",
+    ) == []
+
+
+def test_applier_skips_a_goal_already_unlinked(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    from vouch.models import Goal
+
+    store.put_goal(Goal(id="g1", title="empty refs"))
+    assert _apply_cascade(
+        store, [{"kind": "goal", "id": "g1", "unlink_claims": ["c1"]}],
+        actor="reviewer",
+    ) == []
+    assert "goal.cascade_unlink" not in _events(store)
+
+
 def test_applier_skips_a_relation_that_vanished(store: KBStore) -> None:
     assert _apply_cascade(
         store, [{"kind": "relation", "id": "gone", "action": "delete"}],
diff --git a/tests/test_delete.py b/tests/test_delete.py
index 838193b5..c11ff78f 100644
--- a/tests/test_delete.py
+++ b/tests/test_delete.py
@@ -200,6 +200,29 @@ def test_unreferenced_claim_is_deletable(store: KBStore) -> None:
     assert referenced_by(store, "claim", "lonely") == []
 
 
+def test_claim_referenced_by_goal(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    """Goals cite claims; the delete gate must see that (#727)."""
+    from vouch.models import Goal
+
+    _claim(store, "c1")
+    store.put_goal(Goal(id="keep-c1", title="keep c1 live", claims=["c1"]))
+    refs = referenced_by(store, "claim", "c1")
+    assert refs == ["goal 'keep-c1'"]
+    with pytest.raises(ProposalError, match="referenced"):
+        propose_delete(
+            store, target_kind="claim", target_id="c1", proposed_by="a",
+        )
+
+
+def test_entity_referenced_by_goal(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    from vouch.models import Goal
+
+    store.put_entity(Entity(id="e1", name="E", type=EntityType.CONCEPT))
+    store.put_goal(Goal(id="track-e1", title="track e1", entities=["e1"]))
+    refs = referenced_by(store, "entity", "e1")
+    assert refs == ["goal 'track-e1'"]
+
+
 def test_entity_referenced_by_claim(store: KBStore) -> None:
     store.put_entity(Entity(id="e1", name="E", type=EntityType.CONCEPT))
     src = store.put_source(b"s")
diff --git a/tests/test_goals.py b/tests/test_goals.py
index f181d17f..1f917e5f 100644
--- a/tests/test_goals.py
+++ b/tests/test_goals.py
@@ -170,11 +170,12 @@ def test_unknown_status_and_no_op_transition_are_refused(store: KBStore) -> None
 
 def test_only_lifecycle_mutates_a_stored_goal() -> None:
     """`store.update_goal` is the single mutation path, and only
-    `lifecycle.set_goal_status` may call it.
+    `lifecycle` may call it (`set_goal_status` and cascade unlink).
 
-    A second caller would be a status move that skipped the audit-log append
-    — exactly the parallel write path the north star forbids. Storage and the
-    test suite are excluded: one defines the method, the other exercises it.
+    A second module calling storage directly would be a write that skipped
+    the audit-log append — exactly the parallel write path the north star
+    forbids. Storage and the test suite are excluded: one defines the
+    method, the other exercises it.
     """
     src_dir = Path(life.__file__).parent
     callers = sorted(