diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-policy.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-policy.yml
index e84ec7a..22bc8a0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-policy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-policy.yml
@@ -69,7 +69,18 @@ jobs:
   policy:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
+      # `pull-requests: read` — read PR body, files, draft state.
+      # `checks: read` — required by the evidence parser's `location: ci`
+      #   handling, which calls `checks.listForRef` for the PR head SHA.
+      # `contents: read` — required to fetch the head commit via
+      #   `git.getCommit` for the parser's freshness/now comparison, and
+      #   for `actions/checkout` of this workflow's repo for the parser
+      #   script. When `permissions:` is declared, anything unlisted
+      #   becomes `none` — so both must be explicit. Source: PR #19
+      #   adversarial review (2026-05-20), finding C2.
       pull-requests: read
+      checks: read
+      contents: read
     steps:
       # Check out THIS reusable workflow's repo (ArchonVII/github-workflows)
       # into a sibling path so the evidence-check step can dynamic-import
@@ -83,7 +94,20 @@ jobs:
       # match. Without an explicit ref, actions/checkout would default to
       # the repository's default branch (main), creating "workflow from v1,
       # parser from main" drift.
+      # Skip the parser checkout for draft PRs — the evidence-check step
+      # early-returns for drafts (see the `pr.draft` block below) so the
+      # parser is never invoked, and the ~5-10s clone is pure waste.
+      #
+      # We do NOT also skip for doc-only PRs at this stage: doc-only
+      # detection requires `pulls.listFiles` (an API call) which can't
+      # be evaluated at `if:`-expression time without a preceding step.
+      # The doc-only short-circuit still fires inside the evidence step;
+      # we just pay the checkout cost. Future refactor: an explicit
+      # "classify PR" step that exports outputs for both subsequent
+      # steps to gate on. Source: PR #19 adversarial review
+      # (2026-05-20), finding M1.
       - name: Check out github-workflows for parser script
+        if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           repository: ArchonVII/github-workflows
@@ -167,6 +191,7 @@ jobs:
           DOC_EXT_LIST: ${{ inputs.doc-only-extensions }}
           DOC_PREFIXES: ${{ inputs.doc-only-path-prefixes }}
           ENFORCE_EVIDENCE: ${{ inputs.enforce-evidence }}
+          WORKFLOW_LIBRARY_REF: ${{ inputs.workflow-library-ref }}
         with:
           script: |
             const pr = context.payload.pull_request;
@@ -229,13 +254,34 @@ jobs:
             const headCommitTime = headCommit.data.committer.date;
 
             // Dynamic-import the pure parser so this step has no module wiring.
+            // Wrap the import in try/catch so a missing parser file (e.g.
+            // checkout skipped, or workflow-library-ref points at a pre-parser
+            // ref) degrades to a job-summary warning instead of an unhandled
+            // step failure. Phase 1 is warning-only — even when
+            // enforce-evidence is true, a missing parser is an ecosystem
+            // config problem (wrong ref/permissions) not a PR-author
+            // problem, so we still emit core.warning, never
+            // core.setFailed. Source: PR #19 adversarial review
+            // (2026-05-20), finding M2.
             const path = require('path');
             const url = require('url');
             const parserPath = path.resolve(
               process.env.GITHUB_WORKSPACE,
               '__github-workflows__/scripts/parse-evidence.mjs',
             );
-            const { parseEvidence } = await import(url.pathToFileURL(parserPath).href);
+            const workflowRef = process.env.WORKFLOW_LIBRARY_REF || '(unset)';
+            let parseEvidence;
+            try {
+              ({ parseEvidence } = await import(url.pathToFileURL(parserPath).href));
+            } catch (err) {
+              const msg = `Could not load evidence parser at ${parserPath} (workflow-library-ref=${workflowRef}): ${err && err.message ? err.message : err}. Evidence check skipped.`;
+              core.warning(msg);
+              await summary
+                .addHeading('Evidence check (skipped)', 3)
+                .addRaw(msg)
+                .write();
+              return;
+            }
 
             const result = parseEvidence(pr.body || '', {
               headCommitTime,
diff --git a/examples/pr-policy.yml b/examples/pr-policy.yml
index 11cbc15..d9d2cbf 100644
--- a/examples/pr-policy.yml
+++ b/examples/pr-policy.yml
@@ -9,9 +9,21 @@ on:
   pull_request:
     types: [opened, edited, reopened, synchronize]
 
+# `permissions:` here scopes the GITHUB_TOKEN passed into the reusable
+# workflow. The reusable workflow itself sets a stricter job-level block,
+# but a reusable workflow can never grant itself MORE than the caller
+# grants — so every scope the reusable workflow needs must also be
+# present here:
+#   - pull-requests: read   → read PR body / files / draft state
+#   - contents: read        → checkout + `git.getCommit` for head commit time
+#   - checks: read          → required by the F2/F10 evidence parser to look
+#                             up CI check-runs for `location: ci` evidence
+#                             rows via `checks.listForRef`. Source: PR #19
+#                             adversarial review (2026-05-20), finding C2.
 permissions:
   pull-requests: read
   contents: read
+  checks: read
 
 jobs:
   policy: