diff --git a/docs/skill-authoring.md b/docs/skill-authoring.md
index 4e641e3a..c45515f0 100644
--- a/docs/skill-authoring.md
+++ b/docs/skill-authoring.md
@@ -234,7 +234,10 @@ break.
    description containing `:` or `#` is **quoted**. An unquoted colon loads the
    body with an _empty_ description, so `/name` still works while the skill can
    never auto-fire again; an unquoted `#` is worse-behaved, truncating the
-   description from that point on so it stays non-empty and every check passes.
+   description from that point on so it stays *non-empty* — which is why it went
+   unnoticed until `board-ops` lost both its board numbers. `verify:skills` now
+   rejects that truncation, so the gate catches it; quote the value rather than
+   relying on the check to tell you.
 2. `disable-model-invocation` is declared explicitly; default it to `false`.
 3. Description is action-first, with `Use when …; when …; when …`.
 4. **If the skill is model-invoked**, `evals/evals.json` carries **at least
diff --git a/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.mjs b/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.mjs
index 691669b3..683dd89e 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.mjs
+++ b/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.mjs
@@ -192,6 +192,14 @@ export function parseSkill(dirName, text) {
     const collapse = (s) => s.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
     const rawText = collapse(parts.join(" "));
     const keptText = collapse(parsed);
+    // A raw scalar can legitimately be longer than the parsed value without any
+    // text being lost: YAML strips presentation syntax such as an anchor
+    // (`&name`) or a tag (`!!str`) from the value. Comparing lengths alone
+    // reported those as truncation, with a message blaming a `#` that is not
+    // there. Only look at the length when the scalar actually contains a comment
+    // marker — a `#` at the start or preceded by whitespace, which is precisely
+    // where YAML begins a comment (Copilot).
+    if (!/(^|\s)#/.test(rawText)) continue;
     if (rawText.length > keptText.length) {
       errors.push(
         "`" +
diff --git a/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.test.mjs b/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.test.mjs
index 826d35b4..c1e5f0a9 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/lib/skill-manifest.test.mjs
@@ -504,3 +504,32 @@ test("the truncation guard spans a multiline plain scalar", () => {
   assert.deepEqual(ok.errors, []);
   assert.equal(ok.description, "Covers boards and the option-deletion hazard.");
 });
+
+test("the truncation guard ignores anchors and tags, which are not `#`", () => {
+  // YAML strips presentation syntax from the parsed value, so `&anchor` and
+  // `!!tag` make the raw scalar legitimately longer than what it parses to.
+  // A bare length comparison called those truncation and blamed a `#` that was
+  // nowhere in the text.
+  const mk = (value) =>
+    [
+      "---",
+      "name: alpha",
+      `description: ${value}`,
+      "disable-model-invocation: false",
+      "---",
+      "body",
+    ].join("\n");
+
+  const anchored = parseSkill("alpha", mk("&copy Some valid text."));
+  assert.deepEqual(anchored.errors, []);
+  assert.equal(anchored.description, "Some valid text.");
+
+  const tagged = parseSkill("alpha", mk("!!str Some tagged text."));
+  assert.deepEqual(tagged.errors, []);
+
+  // The real case must still fail, so the gate is not simply disarmed.
+  assert.match(
+    parseSkill("alpha", mk("Covers board #28 (v2).")).errors.join(" "),
+    /`description` is truncated/,
+  );
+});