diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4e89a19..71a4dfd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Unreleased
+
+Cross-platform path fix (FN-029), caught by the Windows CI matrix that Linux-only local runs had been missing.
+
+- `--files` glob expansion wrote OS-native separators into `docs/TASKS.md` — backslashes on Windows. Because the committed scope block is matched against `git` output (always forward-slash) by the drive-check scope gate, Windows-declared scopes silently failed to match their own changed files, and the committed artifact was not portable across machines.
+- The pattern is now normalized to forward-slash BEFORE globbing (so a Windows-style `src\dir\*.ts` still expands) and every stored path uses `Path.as_posix()`. The done-report backlinks written into `TASKS.md`/`PROGRESS.md` are normalized the same way.
+- The FN-021 regression test now feeds a backslash-style pattern and asserts the committed Allowed-scope block contains no backslash, so the contract is enforced even on Linux-only runs (76 total).
+
 ## v0.8.4
 
 Close-before-report ordering fix: closes the fourth round of field findings (FN-027/FN-028) and corrects the root-cause analysis of FN-023. The theme: the closeout ledger runs from a snapshot taken before anything mutates, and every verdict printed matches what actually happened on disk.
diff --git a/scripts/coderail.py b/scripts/coderail.py
index 95338f5..a5cf598 100644
--- a/scripts/coderail.py
+++ b/scripts/coderail.py
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ def write_done_report(root: Path, shown: str, title: str,
         lines += [f"- {w}" for w in tdd_warnings] + [""]
     lines += ["## Full gate output", "", "```", gate_output.rstrip(), "```", ""]
     path.write_text("\n".join(lines), encoding="utf-8")
-    return str(path.relative_to(root))
+    return path.relative_to(root).as_posix()  # FN-029: portable path in TASKS/PROGRESS
 
 
 # ------------------------------------------------- blueprint coverage
@@ -722,9 +722,14 @@ def cmd_start(args) -> int:
         raw_files += [f.strip() for f in chunk.split(",") if f.strip()]
     files: list[str] = []
     for pat in raw_files:
+        # FN-029: TASKS.md is a committed, cross-platform artifact whose paths
+        # are matched against git output (always forward-slash). Normalize the
+        # pattern to forward-slash BEFORE globbing (so a Windows-style
+        # "src\x\*.ts" still expands), and store results forward-slash too.
+        pat = pat.replace("\\", "/")
         if any(ch in pat for ch in "*?["):
             matches = sorted(
-                str(p.relative_to(root)) for p in root.glob(pat) if p.is_file()
+                p.relative_to(root).as_posix() for p in root.glob(pat) if p.is_file()
             )
             files += matches or [pat]
         else:
@@ -1268,7 +1273,7 @@ def cmd_progress(args) -> int:
         else:
             checked = "retroactive entry - no verify commands were registered"
         if matching:
-            checked += f"; surviving report: {matching[-1].relative_to(root)}"
+            checked += f"; surviving report: {matching[-1].relative_to(root).as_posix()}"
 
         next_hint = snap.get("next_hint") or "decide with the user"
         accepted = list(zip(snap.get("accept_items", []),
diff --git a/tests/test_structure.py b/tests/test_structure.py
index ee8c020..fb26c95 100644
--- a/tests/test_structure.py
+++ b/tests/test_structure.py
@@ -1224,7 +1224,10 @@ def test_files_globs_expand_and_accumulate():
         for n in ['director_core.ts', 'director_utils.ts']:
             (root/'src/director'/n).write_text('export {}\n', encoding='utf-8')
         r = cr('start', 'Glob scope task',
-               '--files', 'src/director/director*.ts',
+               # FN-029: a backslash-style pattern must still expand and, more
+               # importantly, must be stored forward-slash - TASKS.md is a
+               # committed artifact matched against git output on every OS.
+               '--files', r'src\director\director*.ts',
                '--files', 'docs/NOTES.md,README.md',
                '--verify', 'true')
         check(r.returncode == 0, r.stdout)
@@ -1232,6 +1235,11 @@ def test_files_globs_expand_and_accumulate():
         for expect in ['src/director/director_core.ts', 'src/director/director_utils.ts',
                        'docs/NOTES.md', 'README.md']:
             check(f'- {expect}' in tasks, f'missing expanded file {expect}: {tasks[-800:]}')
+        # Narrow to THIS task's Allowed scope block (the template's example
+        # task legitimately contains an escaped "\##" heading elsewhere).
+        allowed = tasks[tasks.index('Allowed:'):tasks.index('Forbidden:')]
+        check('\\' not in allowed,
+              f'FN-029: backslash leaked into committed TASKS scope: {allowed!r}')
 
 
 def test_shim_probes_candidate_homes():