diff --git a/.githooks/pre-commit b/.githooks/pre-commit
index dc615cf..6f4b424 100755
--- a/.githooks/pre-commit
+++ b/.githooks/pre-commit
@@ -6,8 +6,15 @@ if [ -z "$(git diff --cached --name-only)" ]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-if command -v npx >/dev/null 2>&1 && npx --yes code-foundry@__VERSION__ pre-commit; then
-  exit 0
+# Prefer a runtime the repository already depends on. A repository opts into
+# the gate by depending on code-foundry; one that does not keeps the
+# whitespace guard and stays offline. Nothing is fetched at commit time.
+if [ -x node_modules/.bin/code-foundry ]; then
+  exec node_modules/.bin/code-foundry pre-commit
+fi
+
+if [ -f src/runtime.mjs ]; then
+  exec node src/runtime.mjs pre-commit
 fi
 
 git diff --cached --check
diff --git a/src/commands/sync.mjs b/src/commands/sync.mjs
index d4da271..3464d10 100644
--- a/src/commands/sync.mjs
+++ b/src/commands/sync.mjs
@@ -260,9 +260,6 @@ function synchronize(options) {
     if (file === 'LICENSE' && license !== 'preserve' && license !== 'none') continue
     if (file === '.github/CODEOWNERS' && existsSync(destination)) continue
     let content = readFileSync(sourceFile)
-    if (file === '.githooks/pre-commit') {
-      content = Buffer.from(renderHook(sourceFile, source))
-    }
     if (file === 'release-please-config.json') {
       content = Buffer.from(renderReleaseConfig(target, sourceFile))
     }
@@ -589,20 +586,6 @@ function renderReleaseConfig(target, sourceFile) {
   return `${JSON.stringify(mergeReleaseConfig(target, sourceFile), null, 2)}\n`
 }
 
-/**
- * The hook runs `npx code-foundry@<version>` on every commit, so the version
- * is substituted at generation time rather than resolved at run time. A
- * mutable dist-tag there would let any publish under that tag run code on
- * every developer's machine at commit time; pinning means the gate a
- * repository received is the gate that generated it.
- *
- * @param {string} sourceFile the template path
- * @param {string} sourceRoot the package root that carries package.json
- */
-function renderHook(sourceFile, sourceRoot) {
-  return readFileSync(sourceFile, 'utf8').replaceAll('__VERSION__', readPackageVersion(sourceRoot))
-}
-
 /** @param {string} file @param {string} languages @param {string} features @param {Record<string, string>} config */
 function shouldInclude(file, languages, features, config) {
   if (file === 'ruff.toml') return includesValue(languages, 'python')
diff --git a/test/sync-pre-commit-hook.test.mjs b/test/sync-pre-commit-hook.test.mjs
index ca5b90b..c0cb981 100644
--- a/test/sync-pre-commit-hook.test.mjs
+++ b/test/sync-pre-commit-hook.test.mjs
@@ -1,59 +1,81 @@
 import { strict as assert } from 'node:assert'
-import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync, mkdirSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync, mkdirSync, chmodSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
 import { join } from 'node:path'
 import { describe, it } from 'node:test'
-import { syncRepository, readPackageVersion } from '../src/commands/sync.mjs'
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import { syncRepository } from '../src/commands/sync.mjs'
 
 function consumer() {
-  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'code-foundry-hook-pin-'))
+  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'cf-hook-'))
   mkdirSync(join(root, '.github/workflows'), { recursive: true })
-  writeFileSync(join(root, 'package.json'), '{"name":"fixture","version":"1.0.0"}\n')
+  writeFileSync(join(root, 'package.json'), '{"name":"f","version":"1.0.0"}\n')
   writeFileSync(
     join(root, '.github/code-foundry.yml'),
     'languages: typescript\npackage_manager: bun\nfeatures: all\ngit_workflow: direct\nmerge_strategy: squash\nrelease_merge_strategy: squash\n'
   )
   return root
 }
+function stage(root) {
+  writeFileSync(join(root, 'a.txt'), 'x\n')
+  spawnSync('git', ['init', '-q'], { cwd: root })
+  spawnSync('git', ['add', 'a.txt'], { cwd: root })
+}
+function gate(root) {
+  const p = join(root, '.githooks/pre-commit')
+  chmodSync(p, 0o755)
+  return spawnSync(p, [], { cwd: root, encoding: 'utf8' })
+}
+
+describe('generated pre-commit hook', () => {
+  it('never fetches anything at commit time', () => {
+    const root = consumer()
+    try {
+      syncRepository({ target: root, source: process.cwd() })
+      const h = readFileSync(join(root, '.githooks/pre-commit'), 'utf8')
+      assert.doesNotMatch(h, /\bnpx\b/, 'must not shell out to npx')
+      assert.doesNotMatch(h, /https?:/, 'must not reference a registry')
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
 
-describe('Generated pre-commit hook', () => {
-  it('pins the gate to the version that generated it', () => {
+  it('fails the commit when the depended-on gate fails', () => {
     const root = consumer()
     try {
       syncRepository({ target: root, source: process.cwd() })
-      const hook = readFileSync(join(root, '.githooks/pre-commit'), 'utf8')
-      const version = readPackageVersion(process.cwd())
-      assert.ok(
-        hook.includes(`code-foundry@${version} pre-commit`),
-        `expected the gate pinned to ${version}, got: ${hook.split('\n').find((l) => l.includes('npx')) ?? ''}`
-      )
+      mkdirSync(join(root, 'node_modules/.bin'), { recursive: true })
+      writeFileSync(join(root, 'node_modules/.bin/code-foundry'), '#!/bin/sh\nexit 7\n')
+      chmodSync(join(root, 'node_modules/.bin/code-foundry'), 0o755)
+      stage(root)
+      const r = gate(root)
+      assert.equal(r.status, 7, `gate failure must fail the commit, got ${r.status}`)
     } finally {
       rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
     }
   })
 
-  it('never resolves the gate through a mutable dist-tag', () => {
+  it('falls back to the whitespace guard when the gate is not installed', () => {
     const root = consumer()
     try {
       syncRepository({ target: root, source: process.cwd() })
-      const hook = readFileSync(join(root, '.githooks/pre-commit'), 'utf8')
-      // A dist-tag here would let any publish under that tag execute code on
-      // every developer's machine at commit time.
-      assert.doesNotMatch(hook, /code-foundry@(latest|next|beta|canary)\b/)
-      assert.doesNotMatch(hook, /__VERSION__/)
+      stage(root)
+      const r = gate(root)
+      assert.equal(r.status, 0)
     } finally {
       rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
     }
   })
 
-  it('keeps the whitespace guard as an offline fallback', () => {
+  it('blocks a commit with trailing whitespace only when the gate is absent', () => {
     const root = consumer()
     try {
       syncRepository({ target: root, source: process.cwd() })
-      const hook = readFileSync(join(root, '.githooks/pre-commit'), 'utf8')
-      assert.match(hook, /git diff --cached --check/)
-      // The fallback must not be able to short-circuit the gate.
-      assert.match(hook, /exit 0[\s\S]*npx --yes code-foundry@\d+\.\d+\.\d+ pre-commit/)
+      writeFileSync(join(root, 'b.txt'), 'trailing   \n')
+      spawnSync('git', ['init', '-q'], { cwd: root })
+      spawnSync('git', ['add', 'b.txt'], { cwd: root })
+      const r = gate(root)
+      assert.notEqual(r.status, 0, 'the fallback must still catch whitespace errors')
     } finally {
       rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
     }