diff --git a/.rabbit/context.yaml b/.rabbit/context.yaml
index 7e1527e..d5719ae 100644
--- a/.rabbit/context.yaml
+++ b/.rabbit/context.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ generator:
   tool: dev.kit
   repo: https://github.com/udx/dev.kit
   version: 0.10.0
-  generated_at: 2026-05-13T00:02:14Z
+  generated_at: 2026-05-13T00:55:54Z
 
 repo:
   name: dev.kit
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ refs:
   - ./changes.md
   - ./Makefile
   - ./docs/references/command-surfaces.md
+  - ./docs/references/repo-design.md
   - ./src/configs/archetypes.yaml
   - ./src/configs/audit-rules.yaml
   - ./src/configs/context-config.yaml
@@ -69,16 +70,14 @@ gaps:
 dependencies:
   - repo: udx/reusable-workflows
     kind: reusable workflow
-    resolved: true
-    archetype: workflow-repo
+    resolved: false
     used_by:
       - .github/workflows/context7-ops.yml
       - .github/workflows/npm-release-ops.yml
   - repo: udx/worker
     kind: manifest contract (deploy)
-    resolved: true
+    resolved: false
     declared_as: udx.io/worker-v1/deploy
-    archetype: manifest-repo
     used_by:
       - deploy.yml
 
@@ -146,22 +145,20 @@ manifests:
     declared_as: udx.io/worker-v1/deploy
     source_repo: udx/worker
     used_by:
-      - .rabbit/dev.kit/lessons-dev.kit-2026-04-14.md
-      - .rabbit/dev.kit/lessons-dev.kit-2026-04-15.md
       - Makefile
       - docs/references/command-surfaces.md
       - docs/references/config-contract-surfaces.md
+      - docs/repo-contract-boundary.md
       - lib/modules/repo_factors.sh
       - src/configs/context-config.yaml
       - src/configs/detection-signals.yaml
       - tests/suite.sh
     evidence:
       - version: udx.io/worker-v1/deploy
-      - path reference: .rabbit/dev.kit/lessons-dev.kit-2026-04-14.md
-      - path reference: .rabbit/dev.kit/lessons-dev.kit-2026-04-15.md
       - path reference: Makefile
       - path reference: docs/references/command-surfaces.md
       - path reference: docs/references/config-contract-surfaces.md
+      - path reference: docs/repo-contract-boundary.md
       - path reference: lib/modules/repo_factors.sh
       - path reference: src/configs/context-config.yaml
       - path reference: src/configs/detection-signals.yaml
diff --git a/lib/commands/repo.sh b/lib/commands/repo.sh
index c2da90d..411bdeb 100644
--- a/lib/commands/repo.sh
+++ b/lib/commands/repo.sh
@@ -164,7 +164,11 @@ EOF
     write_status=$?
     if [ "$write_status" -ne 0 ]; then
       dev_kit_output_section "error"
-      dev_kit_output_list_item "Context write did not finish within the allowed time"
+      if [ "$write_status" -eq 124 ]; then
+        dev_kit_output_list_item "Context write did not finish within the allowed time"
+      else
+        dev_kit_output_list_item "Context write failed with exit status $write_status"
+      fi
       return "$write_status"
     fi
   fi
diff --git a/lib/commands/uninstall.sh b/lib/commands/uninstall.sh
index e265ba0..1b04628 100644
--- a/lib/commands/uninstall.sh
+++ b/lib/commands/uninstall.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ dev_kit_cmd_uninstall() {
   local home="${DEV_KIT_HOME:-$HOME/.udx/dev.kit}"
   local yes_mode="false"
   local arg=""
+  local stdout_file=""
+  local stderr_file=""
+  local uninstall_status=0
+  local uninstall_error=""
   shift || true
 
   if [ "$format" = "json" ]; then
@@ -23,7 +27,38 @@ dev_kit_cmd_uninstall() {
       return 1
     fi
 
-    "$REPO_DIR/bin/scripts/uninstall.sh" "$@" >/dev/null
+    stdout_file="$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/dev-kit-uninstall-out.XXXXXX")" || {
+      printf '{ "command": "uninstall", "ok": false, "error": "failed to create temp output file" }\n'
+      return 1
+    }
+    stderr_file="$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/dev-kit-uninstall-err.XXXXXX")" || {
+      rm -f "$stdout_file"
+      printf '{ "command": "uninstall", "ok": false, "error": "failed to create temp error file" }\n'
+      return 1
+    }
+
+    set +e
+    "$REPO_DIR/bin/scripts/uninstall.sh" "$@" >"$stdout_file" 2>"$stderr_file"
+    uninstall_status=$?
+    set -e
+
+    [ -s "$stderr_file" ] && cat "$stderr_file" >&2
+
+    if [ "$uninstall_status" -ne 0 ]; then
+      uninstall_error="$(awk 'NF { print; exit }' "$stderr_file")"
+      [ -n "$uninstall_error" ] || uninstall_error="$(awk 'NF { print; exit }' "$stdout_file")"
+      [ -n "$uninstall_error" ] || uninstall_error="uninstall failed"
+      rm -f "$stdout_file" "$stderr_file"
+      printf '{ "command": "uninstall", "ok": false, "error": "%s", "binary": "%s", "binary_removed": %s, "home": "%s", "home_removed": %s }\n' \
+        "$(dev_kit_json_escape "$uninstall_error")" \
+        "$(dev_kit_json_escape "$target")" \
+        "$([ -e "$target" ] && printf 'false' || printf 'true')" \
+        "$(dev_kit_json_escape "$home")" \
+        "$([ -e "$home" ] && printf 'false' || printf 'true')"
+      return "$uninstall_status"
+    fi
+
+    rm -f "$stdout_file" "$stderr_file"
     printf '{ "command": "uninstall", "ok": true, "binary": "%s", "binary_removed": %s, "home": "%s", "home_removed": %s }\n' \
       "$(dev_kit_json_escape "$target")" \
       "$([ -e "$target" ] && printf 'false' || printf 'true')" \
diff --git a/lib/modules/output.sh b/lib/modules/output.sh
index 126eea2..baa8f35 100644
--- a/lib/modules/output.sh
+++ b/lib/modules/output.sh
@@ -125,6 +125,48 @@ dev_kit_spinner_notice() {
   printf '  - %s\n' "$message" >&2
 }
 
+dev_kit_process_descendants() {
+  local root_pid="$1"
+
+  ps -eo pid=,ppid= | awk -v root="$root_pid" '
+    {
+      pid = $1
+      ppid = $2
+      children[ppid] = children[ppid] " " pid
+    }
+
+    function walk(node, list, count, idx) {
+      count = split(children[node], list, " ")
+      for (idx = 1; idx <= count; idx++) {
+        if (list[idx] == "") {
+          continue
+        }
+        walk(list[idx])
+        print list[idx]
+      }
+    }
+
+    END {
+      walk(root)
+    }
+  '
+}
+
+dev_kit_process_signal_tree() {
+  local signal="$1"
+  local root_pid="$2"
+  local child_pid=""
+
+  while IFS= read -r child_pid; do
+    [ -n "$child_pid" ] || continue
+    kill "-${signal}" "$child_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+  done <<EOF
+$(dev_kit_process_descendants "$root_pid")
+EOF
+
+  kill "-${signal}" "$root_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
 dev_kit_run_guarded() {
   local label="$1"
   local soft_timeout="${2:-$DEV_KIT_PROGRESS_SOFT_TIMEOUT}"
@@ -166,7 +208,11 @@ dev_kit_run_guarded() {
     fi
 
     if [ "$hard_timeout" -gt 0 ] && [ "$elapsed" -ge "$hard_timeout" ]; then
-      kill "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+      dev_kit_process_signal_tree TERM "$pid"
+      sleep 2
+      if kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; then
+        dev_kit_process_signal_tree KILL "$pid"
+      fi
       wait "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
       dev_kit_spinner_stop ""
       [ -s "$stdout_file" ] && cat "$stdout_file"
diff --git a/lib/modules/repo_scaffold.sh b/lib/modules/repo_scaffold.sh
index 1dc88f6..373215f 100644
--- a/lib/modules/repo_scaffold.sh
+++ b/lib/modules/repo_scaffold.sh
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ dev_kit_repo_is_contract_evidence_path() {
   local path="$1"
 
   case "$path" in
-    ""|.git/*|.rabbit/context.yaml|AGENTS.md|.udx/*|.claude/*|.copilot/*|.cursor/*)
+    ""|.git/*|.rabbit/context.yaml|.rabbit/dev.kit/*|AGENTS.md|.udx/*|.claude/*|.copilot/*|.cursor/*)
       return 1
       ;;
   esac
diff --git a/tests/suite.sh b/tests/suite.sh
index 8cac642..7e1c4fc 100644
--- a/tests/suite.sh
+++ b/tests/suite.sh
@@ -51,6 +51,28 @@ should_run() {
   return 1
 }
 
+replace_in_file() {
+  local file_path="$1"
+  local before="$2"
+  local after="$3"
+  local tmp_file=""
+
+  tmp_file="$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/dev-kit-replace.XXXXXX")" || return 1
+  awk -v before="$before" -v after="$after" '
+    BEGIN { replaced = 0 }
+    {
+      line = $0
+      pos = index(line, before)
+      if (pos > 0 && replaced == 0) {
+        line = substr(line, 1, pos - 1) after substr(line, pos + length(before))
+        replaced = 1
+      }
+      print line
+    }
+    END { exit(replaced == 0) }
+  ' "$file_path" >"$tmp_file" && mv "$tmp_file" "$file_path"
+}
+
 while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
   case "$1" in
     --only)
@@ -88,6 +110,14 @@ done <<EOF
 $(dev_kit_module_paths)
 EOF
 
+while IFS= read -r command_file; do
+  [ -n "$command_file" ] || continue
+  # shellcheck disable=SC1090
+  . "$command_file"
+done <<EOF
+$(find "$REPO_DIR/lib/commands" -maxdepth 1 -type f -name '*.sh' | sort)
+EOF
+
 if should_run "core"; then
   guard_soft_output="$(
     DEV_KIT_SPINNER_DISABLE=1 \
@@ -109,6 +139,24 @@ if should_run "core"; then
   pass "guard: stops hard timeout"
   assert_contains "$guard_hard_output" "dev.kit timeout: guard test exceeded 2s" "guard: reports hard timeout"
 
+  guard_child_pid_file="$TEST_HOME/guard-child.pid"
+  set +e
+  guard_group_output="$(
+    DEV_KIT_SPINNER_DISABLE=1 \
+    dev_kit_run_guarded "guard child test" 1 2 "repo resolving is taking longer than usual" \
+      bash -lc 'sleep 30 & child=$!; printf "%s\n" "$child" > "$1"; wait "$child"' _ "$guard_child_pid_file" 2>&1
+  )"
+  guard_group_status=$?
+  set -e
+  [ "$guard_group_status" -eq 124 ] || fail "guard: stops child process groups"
+  guard_child_pid="$(cat "$guard_child_pid_file")"
+  if kill -0 "$guard_child_pid" 2>/dev/null; then
+    kill "$guard_child_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fail "guard: terminates child processes on timeout"
+  fi
+  pass "guard: terminates child processes on timeout"
+  assert_contains "$guard_group_output" "dev.kit timeout: guard child test exceeded 2s" "guard: reports child timeout"
+
   cp -R "$DOCUMENTED_SHELL_REPO" "$HOME_ACTION_REPO"
   rm -rf "$HOME_ACTION_REPO/.dev-kit"
   rm -f "$HOME_ACTION_REPO/.rabbit/context.yaml"
@@ -153,6 +201,20 @@ if should_run "core"; then
   assert_file_missing "$uninstall_bin_dir/dev.kit" "uninstall json: removes binary target"
   assert_file_missing "$uninstall_home_dir" "uninstall json: removes home target"
 
+  set +e
+  uninstall_failure_json="$(
+    REPO_DIR="$TEST_HOME/missing-repo" \
+    DEV_KIT_BIN_DIR="$uninstall_bin_dir" \
+    DEV_KIT_HOME="$uninstall_home_dir" \
+    dev_kit_cmd_uninstall json --yes 2>/dev/null
+  )"
+  uninstall_failure_status=$?
+  set -e
+  [ "$uninstall_failure_status" -ne 0 ] || fail "uninstall json: fails when uninstall script fails"
+  pass "uninstall json: fails when uninstall script fails"
+  assert_contains "$uninstall_failure_json" "\"ok\": false" "uninstall json: reports failure"
+  assert_contains "$uninstall_failure_json" "\"error\":" "uninstall json: includes error message"
+
   home_repeat_json="$(cd "$HOME_ACTION_REPO" && DEV_KIT_REPO_HARD_TIMEOUT=1 dev.kit --json)"
   assert_contains "$home_repeat_json" "\"context_status\": \"existing\"" "home: reuses existing context"
   assert_contains "$home_repeat_json" "\"context_reason\": null" "home: fresh context has no stale reason"
@@ -166,8 +228,10 @@ if should_run "core"; then
   assert_contains "$home_repeat_text" "reference: docs/references/config-contract-surfaces.md" "home text: shows gap reference"
   assert_contains "$home_repeat_text" "repair:            fix repo-owned gaps, then rerun dev.kit repo" "home text: prints repair loop next step"
 
-  perl -0pi -e 's/No repo-owned configuration contract was found in docs, manifests, or checked-in example files\./Add .env.example, .env.sample, or .env.template when repo configuration is required./' \
-    "$HOME_ACTION_REPO/.rabbit/context.yaml"
+  replace_in_file \
+    "$HOME_ACTION_REPO/.rabbit/context.yaml" \
+    "No repo-owned configuration contract was found in docs, manifests, or checked-in example files." \
+    "Add .env.example, .env.sample, or .env.template when repo configuration is required."
 
   stale_home_json="$(cd "$HOME_ACTION_REPO" && dev.kit --json)"
   assert_contains "$stale_home_json" "\"context_status\": \"stale\"" "home: marks outdated context as stale"
@@ -196,9 +260,26 @@ if should_run "core"; then
   assert_contains "$repo_text" "[next]" "repo text: renders next section"
   assert_contains "$repo_text" "confirm whether to start the research-and-fix loop now" "repo text: confirms before repair loop"
 
+  set +e
+  repo_write_failure_output="$(
+    DEV_KIT_SPINNER_DISABLE=1
+    dev_kit_context_yaml_write() {
+      printf 'boom\n' >&2
+      return 42
+    }
+    dev_kit_cmd_repo text "$DOCUMENTED_SHELL_REPO" 2>&1
+  )"
+  repo_write_failure_status=$?
+  set -e
+  [ "$repo_write_failure_status" -eq 42 ] || fail "repo text: preserves non-timeout write failures"
+  pass "repo text: preserves non-timeout write failures"
+  assert_contains "$repo_write_failure_output" "Context write failed with exit status 42" "repo text: distinguishes non-timeout write failures"
+  assert_contains "$repo_write_failure_output" "boom" "repo text: preserves underlying write error"
+
   self_repo_json="$(cd "$REPO_DIR" && dev.kit repo --json)"
   assert_not_contains "$self_repo_json" "\"repo\": \"udx/dev.kit\"" "repo: omits self dependency contracts"
   assert_not_contains "$(cat "$REPO_DIR/.rabbit/context.yaml")" "source_repo: udx/dev.kit" "repo: omits self source repo provenance"
+  assert_not_contains "$(cat "$REPO_DIR/.rabbit/context.yaml")" ".rabbit/dev.kit/" "repo: excludes generated rabbit evidence"
 
   cp -R "$SIMPLE_REPO" "$SIMPLE_ACTION_REPO"
   rm -rf "$SIMPLE_ACTION_REPO/.dev-kit"