diff --git a/docs/research/current-status.md b/docs/research/current-status.md
index aa3cf49715..d73b4ff9da 100644
--- a/docs/research/current-status.md
+++ b/docs/research/current-status.md
@@ -8,9 +8,14 @@ Cold replay: `make frontier1094-verify`. This local review explicitly reuses the
 
 #1048 remains open for the documented pricing and exact-certification corrections; no negative theorem from that proposal is accepted. Other historical deferrals, including #946, remain unchanged.
 
+> **Below this point every section is a historical snapshot.** Inside them, “current,”
+> “selected,” “latest” and “next” refer to that snapshot's own checkpoint. The authoritative
+> record is [selected-result.json](../../certificates/selected-result.json), and live research
+> priorities are in [autoresearch.md](../../autoresearch.md).
+
 # Historical status through #1042
 
-# Current reviewed status
+## Reviewed status at the #1042 checkpoint
 
 Selected conditional κ: **0.001672188119205421**, Jeremy Kothe's #1042 on the mutable-leaver/slot chain, Rohan Arun's #987 slot search and Hao Yan's T16 controller. The bit side remains #589 on #555.
 
@@ -22,7 +27,7 @@ The forty-PR batch integrates constructions, parallel audits, circuit candidates
 
 # Historical status through #942
 
-# Current reviewed status
+## Reviewed status at the #942 checkpoint
 
 Selected conditional κ: **0.001661960547713947**, Jonathan Capalbo's #942 T37
 composition of the #890/#869/#870/#858 lineage, with unchanged #589 on #555.
@@ -166,7 +171,7 @@ Earlier “selected” statements below are historical snapshots.
 
 ---
 
-# Selected construction: coordinated frames and completed entrance banks
+# Historical checkpoint #186: coordinated frames and completed entrance banks
 
 The selected conditional witness is **κ=330942774629799/500000000000000000
 =0.000661885549259598**, from Dugongue's #186, on chafreaky's #181 and
@@ -262,7 +267,7 @@ The previous PR #39 release and tested 2^-30 checkpoint at `1a74950` remain
 preserved. Everything below is historical: “latest” and “current” refer to the
 checkpoint, not the selected community follow-up witness.
 
-# Current contracts and research status
+# Historical contracts and research status (2^-30 snapshot)
 
 Updated October 8, 2026. Author: Douglas Colkitt.
 
@@ -305,7 +310,7 @@ Everything below records the preceding integration. Numerical uses of
 “current,” “latest,” or “retained” in that historical record refer to 2^-31;
 the parameters above supersede them for this checkpoint.
 
-## Current and earlier results
+## Results at the 2^-31 integration
 
 | State | Exponent saving kappa | Artifacts |
 | --- | --- | --- |
@@ -341,7 +346,7 @@ ranges in every recursive child, restores arbitrary values, and charges
 exceptional-address repair at every node. All three movement/layout/guard
 proof sources are embedded verbatim in the new patch.
 
-## Exact current parameters and bottleneck
+## Exact parameters and bottleneck at the 2^-31 integration
 
 The certificate uses
 
@@ -402,7 +407,7 @@ Reproduce with `make verify` and `make complex-note`. See the
 [reproduction instructions](../reproducibility.md) for applying the patch and
 building a manuscript preview without changing the pinned source.
 
-## Next research priority
+## Research priority at the 2^-31 integration (superseded; see autoresearch.md)
 
 The complex construction is integrated. The next improvement should target
 the bit finite network, especially methods transferable from the new circuit
diff --git a/tests/test_research_current_status.py b/tests/test_research_current_status.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..356f49df3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_research_current_status.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+"""The status page's only "current" section must agree with the selected record."""
+
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+import re
+import unittest
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+STATUS = ROOT / "docs/research/current-status.md"
+SELECTED = json.loads((ROOT / "certificates/selected-result.json").read_text())
+
+
+def headings(text):
+    """ATX headings outside fenced code blocks, as (line index, text)."""
+    out, fenced = [], False
+    for i, line in enumerate(text.splitlines()):
+        if line.startswith("```"):
+            fenced = not fenced
+        elif not fenced and re.match(r"#{1,6} ", line):
+            out.append((i, line))
+    return out
+
+
+class CurrentStatusTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.text = STATUS.read_text()
+        self.lines = self.text.splitlines()
+        self.heads = headings(self.text)
+
+    def test_only_the_first_heading_claims_current_or_selected(self):
+        self.assertEqual(self.heads[0], (0, "# Current reviewed status"))
+        stale = [h for _, h in self.heads[1:]
+                 if re.search(r"\b(current|selected|next research)\b", h, re.IGNORECASE)]
+        self.assertEqual(stale, [], "rename superseded headings to name their checkpoint")
+
+    def test_current_section_matches_selected_record(self):
+        end = self.heads[1][0]
+        current = "\n".join(self.lines[:end])
+        self.assertIn(f"**{SELECTED['decimal']}**", current)
+        self.assertIn(Path(SELECTED["review"]).name, current)
+        self.assertIn(f"`{SELECTED['reproduce']}`", current)
+
+    def test_history_banner_precedes_historical_sections(self):
+        end = self.heads[1][0]
+        self.assertIn("historical snapshot", "\n".join(self.lines[:end]))
+        self.assertIn("selected-result.json", "\n".join(self.lines[:end]))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()