diff --git a/examples/jvagent_app/agents/jvagent/orchestrator_agent/agent.yaml b/examples/jvagent_app/agents/jvagent/orchestrator_agent/agent.yaml
index 983e282a..1ccfd4ad 100644
--- a/examples/jvagent_app/agents/jvagent/orchestrator_agent/agent.yaml
+++ b/examples/jvagent_app/agents/jvagent/orchestrator_agent/agent.yaml
@@ -256,6 +256,8 @@ actions:
         - whatsapp_templates  # Meta HSM send via WhatsAppAction (WhatsApp inbound only)
         - whatsapp_flows      # Meta Flow interactive send (WhatsApp text / voice-call)
         - whatsapp_service_flows  # signup/signin + appointment booking Flow intents
+        - smoke_frontmatter   # regression fixture: its SKILL.md is deliberately
+                              # BOM-prefixed with underscore keys — do not 'fix' it
 
   # MCP gateway: a sandboxed filesystem server (npx). Its tools surface to the
   # executive (tool_servers above) as mcp_filesystem__<tool>, sandboxed per
diff --git a/examples/jvagent_app/agents/jvagent/orchestrator_agent/skills/smoke_frontmatter/SKILL.md b/examples/jvagent_app/agents/jvagent/orchestrator_agent/skills/smoke_frontmatter/SKILL.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9492d0cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/jvagent_app/agents/jvagent/orchestrator_agent/skills/smoke_frontmatter/SKILL.md
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+---
+name: smoke_frontmatter
+description: Regression fixture - declares its tools with underscore keys behind a UTF-8 BOM.
+spec: jv
+allowed_tools:
+  - file_interface__list_directory
+  - file_interface__read_file
+requires_actions:
+  - FileInterfaceAction
+tags:
+  - smoke
+---
+
+# Frontmatter Smoke - Standard Operating Procedure
+
+> **This file is deliberately malformed. Do not "fix" it.**
+>
+> It is written the way a Windows or Office editor writes one: the first three
+> bytes are a UTF-8 BOM (`EF BB BF`, invisible in every editor), and the
+> frontmatter keys use underscores rather than the canonical hyphens. Both
+> spellings once produced the same silent failure - the frontmatter parsed as
+> body, so the skill owned no tools *and* `allowed-tools:` leaked into the
+> rendered PROCEDURE. `tests/scaffold/test_skill_resolve.py` asserts on this
+> exact file; normalising it would delete the regression it guards.
+
+Use this procedure when the user asks to list or read their stored files.
+
+1. Call `file_interface__list_directory` to see what the user has.
+2. If they named a file, read it with `file_interface__read_file`.
+3. Answer with what the files actually contain. Do not invent filenames.
diff --git a/tests/scaffold/test_skill_resolve.py b/tests/scaffold/test_skill_resolve.py
index cb010b4d..57c07ab7 100644
--- a/tests/scaffold/test_skill_resolve.py
+++ b/tests/scaffold/test_skill_resolve.py
@@ -430,3 +430,63 @@ def test_unrelated_unknown_key_is_left_alone(
             )
         assert meta["team_owner"] == "platform"
         assert not caplog.records
+
+
+class TestShippedFrontmatterFixture:
+    """The example app carries a deliberately malformed SKILL.md.
+
+    The inline cases above build their own files, so they keep passing even if
+    the shipped fixture is quietly normalised by an editor that strips BOMs on
+    save — and then nothing exercises the real discovery path against a real
+    file on disk. These assert on the shipped bytes themselves.
+    """
+
+    FIXTURE = (
+        Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
+        / "examples"
+        / "jvagent_app"
+        / "agents"
+        / "jvagent"
+        / "orchestrator_agent"
+        / "skills"
+        / "smoke_frontmatter"
+    )
+
+    def test_fixture_is_still_malformed(self) -> None:
+        """Guards the guard: a stripped BOM makes this suite silently weaker."""
+        raw = (self.FIXTURE / "SKILL.md").read_bytes()
+        assert raw.startswith(
+            b"\xef\xbb\xbf"
+        ), "the UTF-8 BOM is the point of this file"
+        assert b"allowed_tools:" in raw, "underscore spelling is the point of this file"
+        assert b"requires_actions:" in raw
+
+    def test_shipped_fixture_parses_through_discovery(self) -> None:
+        from jvagent.scaffold.skill_resolve import parse_skill_bundle
+
+        data = parse_skill_bundle(self.FIXTURE, source="app")
+        assert data is not None
+        assert data["allowed_tools"] == [
+            "file_interface__list_directory",
+            "file_interface__read_file",
+        ]
+        assert data["requires_actions"] == ["FileInterfaceAction"]
+        # The body explains the bug, so it legitimately mentions "allowed-tools:".
+        # Assert on tokens that only ever appear inside the frontmatter block.
+        content = data["content"]
+        assert content.startswith("# Frontmatter Smoke")
+        assert "name: smoke_frontmatter" not in content
+        assert "spec: jv" not in content
+        assert "allowed_tools:\n" not in content
+
+    def test_fixture_is_exposed_by_the_example_agent(self) -> None:
+        """A fixture no agent loads is not exercising discovery at all."""
+        import yaml
+
+        agent_yaml = self.FIXTURE.parents[1] / "agent.yaml"
+        data = yaml.safe_load(agent_yaml.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+        skills: list = []
+        for entry in data.get("actions") or []:
+            if isinstance(entry, dict):
+                skills += (entry.get("context") or {}).get("skills") or []
+        assert "smoke_frontmatter" in skills