diff --git a/cockpit/ui/src/lib/dashboard/adapters/contracts/telltale-issues.contract.json b/cockpit/ui/src/lib/dashboard/adapters/contracts/telltale-issues.contract.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8a0047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cockpit/ui/src/lib/dashboard/adapters/contracts/telltale-issues.contract.json
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+{
+  "contract": "telltale GET /v1/issues",
+  "version": 1,
+  "producer": "telltale · src/read.ts · TelltaleIssueDTO / IssuesResponse",
+  "consumer": "command-center · cockpit/ui/src/lib/dashboard/adapters/feedback.ts · TelltaleIssue / FeedbackIssuesResponse",
+  "issueFields": {
+    "repo": "string",
+    "number": "number",
+    "title": "string",
+    "body": "string",
+    "kind": "'bug' | 'crash' | 'unknown'",
+    "project": "string",
+    "isOpen": "boolean",
+    "hasAssignee": "boolean",
+    "createdIso": "string",
+    "updatedIso": "string",
+    "labels": "string[]",
+    "url": "string"
+  },
+  "errorFields": {
+    "project": "string",
+    "message": "string"
+  },
+  "sample": {
+    "issues": [
+      {
+        "repo": "adbarc92/hexy",
+        "number": 1,
+        "title": "crash on launch",
+        "body": "opened the app and it closed immediately",
+        "kind": "crash",
+        "project": "hexy",
+        "isOpen": true,
+        "hasAssignee": false,
+        "createdIso": "2026-06-08T12:00:00Z",
+        "updatedIso": "2026-06-08T12:00:00Z",
+        "labels": ["telltale", "telltale:crash"],
+        "url": "https://github.com/adbarc92/hexy/issues/1"
+      }
+    ],
+    "errors": [
+      { "project": "lineage", "message": "config_error: no token for the org account" }
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/cockpit/ui/src/lib/dashboard/adapters/feedback.contract.test.ts b/cockpit/ui/src/lib/dashboard/adapters/feedback.contract.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..511351b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cockpit/ui/src/lib/dashboard/adapters/feedback.contract.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+// Wire contract — telltale `GET /v1/issues`, consumer side.
+//
+// telltale declares this payload in `src/read.ts` (TelltaleIssueDTO / IssuesResponse);
+// this repo declares it again in `feedback.ts` (TelltaleIssue / FeedbackIssuesResponse).
+// The two agree today. Nothing made them keep agreeing, so either side could add,
+// rename or drop a field with both suites green and the wire broken.
+//
+// The contract JSON is vendored byte-for-byte from NEXUS `docs/contracts/`, and
+// telltale vendors the same file. Each side pins the contract's canonical hash. Moving
+// the contract for one side therefore leaves the OTHER side's constant stale and red —
+// which is the whole mechanism. See NEXUS `docs/contracts/README.md`.
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
+// `?raw` keeps the file's own text, so the hash is over what is actually committed
+// rather than over a re-serialization. `vite/client` types are already in
+// tsconfig.app.json, so this needs no new declaration file.
+import raw from './contracts/telltale-issues.contract.json?raw';
+import {
+  feedbackCards,
+  type FeedbackReader,
+  type FeedbackIssuesResponse,
+  type TelltaleIssue,
+} from './feedback';
+
+// Bump ONLY together with telltale's copy of the same constant, and only after
+// reading what actually changed on the wire.
+const CONTRACT_SHA256 = '2f0e8cc1b55deac36014d3774db01e41194ecb2cdf32367c40a5a7f2c7b127ed';
+
+const contract = JSON.parse(raw) as {
+  issueFields: Record<string, string>;
+  errorFields: Record<string, string>;
+  sample: FeedbackIssuesResponse;
+};
+
+// Canonical, not raw bytes: a byte hash breaks the first time a repo checks this
+// file out with CRLF, which on Windows clones is always.
+const canonicalSha = (text: string) =>
+  createHash('sha256').update(JSON.stringify(JSON.parse(text))).digest('hex');
+
+// Compile-time exhaustiveness. tsc fails here if TelltaleIssue gains a field (this
+// object is then missing a key) or loses one (this object then has an excess key).
+// `npm run check` is where that fires; the runtime assertion below ties this literal
+// to the contract file so the two cannot drift apart either.
+const DECLARED_ISSUE_KEYS: Record<keyof TelltaleIssue, true> = {
+  repo: true,
+  number: true,
+  title: true,
+  body: true,
+  kind: true,
+  project: true,
+  isOpen: true,
+  hasAssignee: true,
+  createdIso: true,
+  updatedIso: true,
+  labels: true,
+  url: true,
+};
+
+type ErrorEntry = FeedbackIssuesResponse['errors'][number];
+const DECLARED_ERROR_KEYS: Record<keyof ErrorEntry, true> = {
+  project: true,
+  message: true,
+};
+
+describe('telltale GET /v1/issues — wire contract', () => {
+  it('the contract has not moved under this repo', () => {
+    expect(canonicalSha(raw)).toBe(CONTRACT_SHA256);
+  });
+
+  it('TelltaleIssue declares exactly the contract issue fields — no more, no fewer', () => {
+    expect(Object.keys(DECLARED_ISSUE_KEYS).sort()).toEqual(
+      Object.keys(contract.issueFields).sort(),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('the per-project error entry declares exactly the contract error fields', () => {
+    expect(Object.keys(DECLARED_ERROR_KEYS).sort()).toEqual(
+      Object.keys(contract.errorFields).sort(),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('the contract sample carries exactly those fields on the wire, not merely a superset', () => {
+    for (const issue of contract.sample.issues) {
+      expect(Object.keys(issue).sort()).toEqual(Object.keys(contract.issueFields).sort());
+    }
+    for (const err of contract.sample.errors) {
+      expect(Object.keys(err).sort()).toEqual(Object.keys(contract.errorFields).sort());
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('the real adapter consumes a contract-shaped payload', async () => {
+    // Not a shape assertion — this drives the actual production code path, so a
+    // contract the adapter cannot read fails here rather than at runtime on the board.
+    const reader: FeedbackReader = { issues: async () => contract.sample };
+    const cards = await feedbackCards(reader, { now: () => new Date('2026-06-09T12:00:00Z') });
+
+    expect(cards.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    // §6.3 — a project that failed to answer must not blank the lane; it is surfaced.
+    expect(JSON.stringify(cards)).toContain('lineage');
+  });
+});