diff --git a/src/commands/code.ts b/src/commands/code.ts
index 976f1db..5be3d45 100644
--- a/src/commands/code.ts
+++ b/src/commands/code.ts
@@ -157,9 +157,22 @@ export async function cmdCode(ctx: AppContext, task: string, opts: CodeOpts): Pr
         repoSpec = parseRepoSpec(opts.repo);
         const co = ensureLocalClone(repoSpec);
         repoRoot = co.dir;
-        process.stderr.write(
-          `⎇ repo ${repoSpec.full} ${co.cloned ? "(cloned)" : "(reusing local clone)"}\n  ${co.dir}\n`,
-        );
+        // Say what actually happened to the mirror. "reusing local clone" was
+        // equally true of a mirror last fetched a week ago, which is exactly the
+        // case a user needs told rather than hidden behind a reassuring word.
+        const tip = co.freshness.remoteTip ? ` @ ${co.freshness.remoteTip.slice(0, 7)}` : "";
+        const how = co.cloned
+          ? "(cloned)"
+          : co.freshness.state === "fresh"
+            ? "(fetched)"
+            : `(NOT REFRESHED — ${co.freshness.reason ?? "reason unknown"})`;
+        process.stderr.write(`⎇ repo ${repoSpec.full} ${how}${tip}\n  ${co.dir}\n`);
+        if (co.freshness.state !== "fresh") {
+          process.stderr.write(
+            "  ! this worktree will branch off whatever the mirror already had;\n" +
+              "    its base is not known to match the remote.\n",
+          );
+        }
       } catch (err) {
         process.stderr.write(`✗ ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}\n`);
         return 1;
diff --git a/src/core/repo.ts b/src/core/repo.ts
index bef0428..4376117 100644
--- a/src/core/repo.ts
+++ b/src/core/repo.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
+import { defaultRunner, type Runner } from "./worktree.js";
 
 export interface RepoSpec {
   owner: string;
@@ -60,6 +61,8 @@ export function cloneArgs(spec: RepoSpec, dir: string, useGh: boolean): { cmd: s
 }
 
 export interface RepoCheckout {
+  /** How current the mirror is. Never assumed — always measured or reported unknown. */
+  freshness: MirrorFreshness;
   /** Local git dir for the repo (the mirror). */
   dir: string;
   /** True when this call performed the clone (vs reusing an existing mirror). */
@@ -71,9 +74,15 @@ export interface RepoCheckout {
  * its dir. Reuses an existing mirror. Throws with an actionable message on a
  * clone failure (private repo + no auth is the common case).
  */
-export function ensureLocalClone(spec: RepoSpec): RepoCheckout {
+export function ensureLocalClone(spec: RepoSpec, run: Runner = defaultRunner()): RepoCheckout {
   const dir = localMirrorDir(spec);
-  if (existsSync(join(dir, ".git"))) return { dir, cloned: false };
+  // A mirror that already exists is validated and fetched before anything
+  // branches off it. Reusing it on the strength of its path alone is how a
+  // task silently starts from a days-old tip.
+  if (existsSync(join(dir, ".git"))) {
+    const { freshness } = refreshMirror(spec, dir, run, { exists: true });
+    return { dir, cloned: false, freshness };
+  }
   const useGh = ghAvailable();
   const { cmd, args } = cloneArgs(spec, dir, useGh);
   const r = spawnSync(cmd, args, { encoding: "utf8" });
@@ -84,7 +93,110 @@ export function ensureLocalClone(spec: RepoSpec): RepoCheckout {
       : "gh CLI not found — install it or set up git credentials for github.com";
     throw new Error(`could not clone ${spec.full}: ${why}\n  ${hint}`);
   }
-  return { dir, cloned: true };
+  // A clone just came from the remote, so its tip is the remote tip by
+  // construction. Read it back rather than asserting it.
+  const tip = run("git", ["-C", dir, "rev-parse", "HEAD"]);
+  return {
+    dir,
+    cloned: true,
+    freshness: {
+      state: "fresh",
+      remoteTip: tip.status === 0 ? tip.stdout.trim() || null : null,
+      checkedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+
+/** How current a local mirror is, relative to its GitHub remote. */
+export type MirrorFreshnessState = "fresh" | "stale" | "unknown";
+
+export interface MirrorFreshness {
+  state: MirrorFreshnessState;
+  /** Commit the remote default branch resolved to, when the fetch succeeded. */
+  remoteTip: string | null;
+  checkedAt: string;
+  /** Why the state is not "fresh". Present whenever it is not. */
+  reason?: string;
+}
+
+export interface MirrorResult {
+  dir: string;
+  freshness: MirrorFreshness;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Validate and refresh an existing mirror before anything branches off it.
+ *
+ * Three properties this function exists to guarantee:
+ *
+ *  1. The directory really is the repo that was asked for. The mirror path is
+ *     derived from the slug alone, so any directory sitting at that path would
+ *     otherwise be accepted as "octocat/hello-world" on the strength of its name.
+ *  2. The mirror is fetched, so a task worktree does not branch off a tip that
+ *     was current days ago.
+ *  3. When step 2 cannot happen — offline, auth expired, remote gone — the
+ *     result says so. It never degrades to "fresh" as a convenience.
+ *
+ * Read-only with respect to the user's working tree: it fetches into the object
+ * store and reads refs. It never checks out, resets, merges, pulls or cleans.
+ *
+ * Auth is the user's own git/gh configuration, inherited from the environment.
+ * No Aether credential is passed, and none is available to this function.
+ */
+export function refreshMirror(
+  spec: RepoSpec,
+  dir: string,
+  run: Runner,
+  options: { exists: boolean; now?: string },
+): MirrorResult {
+  const checkedAt = options.now ?? new Date().toISOString();
+  if (!options.exists) {
+    return { dir, freshness: { state: "unknown", remoteTip: null, checkedAt, reason: "no local mirror yet" } };
+  }
+
+  const remote = run("git", ["-C", dir, "remote", "get-url", "origin"]);
+  if (remote.status !== 0) {
+    return {
+      dir,
+      freshness: {
+        state: "unknown",
+        remoteTip: null,
+        checkedAt,
+        reason: remote.stderr.trim() || "could not read the mirror's origin remote",
+      },
+    };
+  }
+  // parseRepoSpec already normalizes https/ssh/.git/trailing-slash forms, so
+  // comparing through it avoids a second, subtly different URL parser.
+  let actual: string;
+  try {
+    actual = parseRepoSpec(remote.stdout.trim()).full;
+  } catch {
+    throw new Error(
+      `local mirror at ${dir} does not point at ${spec.full} — its origin is "${remote.stdout.trim()}"`,
+    );
+  }
+  if (actual !== spec.full) {
+    throw new Error(`local mirror at ${dir} does not point at ${spec.full} — its origin is ${actual}`);
+  }
+
+  const fetched = run("git", ["-C", dir, "fetch", "--prune", "origin"]);
+  if (fetched.status !== 0) {
+    return {
+      dir,
+      freshness: {
+        state: "unknown",
+        remoteTip: null,
+        checkedAt,
+        reason: (fetched.stderr || fetched.stdout).trim() || "git fetch failed",
+      },
+    };
+  }
+
+  const tip = run("git", ["-C", dir, "rev-parse", "FETCH_HEAD"]);
+  const remoteTip = tip.status === 0 ? tip.stdout.trim() || null : null;
+  return { dir, freshness: { state: "fresh", remoteTip, checkedAt } };
 }
 
 /** One-line "open a PR" footer for a finished repo run. Pure. */
diff --git a/test/repo.test.ts b/test/repo.test.ts
index 5cb2702..52be4e9 100644
--- a/test/repo.test.ts
+++ b/test/repo.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { test } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-import { parseRepoSpec, cloneArgs, prCreateHint } from "../src/core/repo.js";
+import { parseRepoSpec, cloneArgs, prCreateHint, refreshMirror } from "../src/core/repo.js";
+import type { Runner, RunResult } from "../src/core/worktree.js";
 
 test("parseRepoSpec accepts owner/name", () => {
   const s = parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world");
@@ -44,3 +45,97 @@ test("prCreateHint targets the repo + branch", () => {
   const hint = prCreateHint(parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world"), "aether/fix-1");
   assert.match(hint, /gh pr create -R octocat\/hello-world --head aether\/fix-1 --fill/);
 });
+
+// ── mirror freshness (SC-A2) ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// An existing --repo mirror must never be reused as-is. Before a task worktree
+// branches off it, the mirror's remote is validated and the mirror is fetched
+// through the user's own git/gh auth. When that cannot happen, the result says
+// stale or unknown — never fresh.
+
+function recordingRunner(table: Record<string, RunResult>): { run: Runner; calls: string[][] } {
+  const calls: string[][] = [];
+  const run: Runner = (cmd, args) => {
+    calls.push([cmd, ...args]);
+    const key = [cmd, ...args].join(" ");
+    for (const [pattern, result] of Object.entries(table)) {
+      if (key.startsWith(pattern)) return result;
+    }
+    return { status: 0, stdout: "", stderr: "" };
+  };
+  return { run, calls };
+}
+
+const OK = (stdout = ""): RunResult => ({ status: 0, stdout, stderr: "" });
+
+test("an existing mirror is fetched, not silently reused", () => {
+  const spec = parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world");
+  const { run, calls } = recordingRunner({
+    "git -C": OK("https://github.com/octocat/hello-world.git\n"),
+  });
+  const result = refreshMirror(spec, "/mirror", run, { exists: true });
+  assert.equal(result.freshness.state, "fresh");
+  const fetched = calls.some((call) => call.includes("fetch"));
+  assert.equal(fetched, true, "an existing mirror must be fetched before use");
+});
+
+test("a mirror pointing at a different repo is rejected, never used", () => {
+  const spec = parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world");
+  const { run } = recordingRunner({
+    "git -C": OK("https://github.com/somebody-else/other-repo.git\n"),
+  });
+  assert.throws(
+    () => refreshMirror(spec, "/mirror", run, { exists: true }),
+    /does not point at octocat\/hello-world/,
+  );
+});
+
+test("a failed fetch reports unknown, never fresh", () => {
+  const spec = parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world");
+  const run: Runner = (_cmd, args) => {
+    if (args.includes("fetch")) return { status: 1, stdout: "", stderr: "Could not resolve host: github.com" };
+    return OK("https://github.com/octocat/hello-world.git\n");
+  };
+  const result = refreshMirror(spec, "/mirror", run, { exists: true });
+  assert.notEqual(result.freshness.state, "fresh");
+  assert.equal(result.freshness.state, "unknown");
+  assert.match(result.freshness.reason ?? "", /Could not resolve host/);
+});
+
+test("refreshing a mirror never checks out, resets or cleans the user's tree", () => {
+  const spec = parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world");
+  const { run, calls } = recordingRunner({
+    "git -C": OK("https://github.com/octocat/hello-world.git\n"),
+  });
+  refreshMirror(spec, "/mirror", run, { exists: true });
+  for (const mutation of ["checkout", "reset", "clean", "merge", "pull", "rebase"]) {
+    assert.equal(
+      calls.some((call) => call.includes(mutation)),
+      false,
+      `refresh must not run git ${mutation} on the user's mirror`,
+    );
+  }
+});
+
+test("no Aether credential is ever handed to git or gh", () => {
+  const spec = parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world");
+  const { run, calls } = recordingRunner({
+    "git -C": OK("https://github.com/octocat/hello-world.git\n"),
+  });
+  refreshMirror(spec, "/mirror", run, { exists: true });
+  const flat = calls.flat().join(" ");
+  for (const leak of ["aek_", "Authorization", "http.extraheader", "GIT_ASKPASS", "x-access-token"]) {
+    assert.equal(flat.includes(leak), false, `credential material reached the git argv: ${leak}`);
+  }
+});
+
+test("a fresh mirror reports the exact base commit a worktree would branch from", () => {
+  const spec = parseRepoSpec("octocat/hello-world");
+  const tip = "a".repeat(40);
+  const run: Runner = (_cmd, args) => {
+    if (args.includes("rev-parse")) return OK(tip + "\n");
+    return OK("https://github.com/octocat/hello-world.git\n");
+  };
+  const result = refreshMirror(spec, "/mirror", run, { exists: true });
+  assert.equal(result.freshness.state, "fresh");
+  assert.equal(result.freshness.remoteTip, tip);
+});