diff --git a/.e2e-ref b/.e2e-ref
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1041c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.e2e-ref
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+9775fbfe08c823921b6493b0fd39a0e4a13c8aa2
diff --git a/.e2e-ref.md b/.e2e-ref.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a7ca53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.e2e-ref.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Why this repository pins flamenet-e2e
+
+`.e2e-ref` is the commit of [flamenet-e2e](https://gitlab.com/paulhitt/flamenet-e2e)
+whose protocol vectors the `unit-tests` job checks against. `AccountKdfTest`,
+`PQVectorTest` and `PublishedVectorsTest` all read them.
+
+🔴 **It exists because a merge in that repository could stop all work in this
+one.** flamenet-relay learned this the hard way: its jobs cloned `main` at HEAD,
+and the switch got thrown three times in twelve hours (flamenet-relay#56). Once
+it was a deadlock with no way out from inside either repository — that repo
+expected a change this one had not made, so every pipeline failed, *including
+the pipeline for the branch that made it*. See `.e2e-ref.md` there for the full
+account; the conclusion was that a pin makes that situation impossible rather
+than survivable.
+
+⚠️ **A pin alone is worse than HEAD, though.** The argument for HEAD is real: a
+client tested against a pinned old harness is tested against a pinned old spec,
+and if the vectors move and nothing says so, this suite quietly stops checking
+the protocol anybody is actually running. That is why `vectors-head` exists and
+is `allow_failure: true`.
+
+**Being behind is LOUD and NON-BLOCKING. Being broken is a hard stop.** A red
+`vectors-head` means an update is waiting, not that anything is wrong.
+
+## Taking an update
+
+One MR, both parts together:
+
+1. Put the new e2e commit in `.e2e-ref`.
+2. If the vectors themselves changed, read what changed before accepting it —
+   a moved vector is a protocol change, and this app is one of the two ends
+   that has to agree about it.
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 795edad..6c497af 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -41,11 +41,19 @@ unit-tests:
     # different project and had no reason to look.
     #
     # A pin makes the same divergence a deliberate, reviewable bump here instead
-    # of a surprise failure in a repo nobody was thinking about. Move it when
-    # the protocol moves, and read what changed on the way past.
+    # of a surprise failure in a repo nobody was thinking about. The commit
+    # lives in `.e2e-ref`; `.e2e-ref.md` says how to take an update.
+    #
+    # ⚠️ **A pin ALONE is worse than HEAD**, and that is what the first version
+    # of this got wrong. Pinning silently means the vectors can move and this
+    # suite goes on checking last month's protocol, reporting green — the exact
+    # "tested against a pinned old spec" failure the relay's own note warns
+    # about. `vectors-head` below is the other half: it runs the same checks at
+    # HEAD and is allowed to fail, so being behind is LOUD and non-blocking
+    # while being broken stays a hard stop.
     #
     # `flamenet-e2e` is public, so no credentials are needed.
-    - FLAMENET_E2E_PIN=9775fbfe08c823921b6493b0fd39a0e4a13c8aa2
+    - FLAMENET_E2E_PIN=$(cat "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.e2e-ref")
     - rm -rf "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors"
     - git clone -q https://gitlab.com/paulhitt/flamenet-e2e.git "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors"
     - git -C "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors" checkout -q "$FLAMENET_E2E_PIN"
@@ -119,3 +127,36 @@ unit-tests:
       sys.exit(1 if bad else 0)
       PY
   timeout: 30m
+
+# 🔴 **The pin's conscience.** Runs the vector suites against flamenet-e2e's
+# actual HEAD, and is allowed to fail. Without it, `.e2e-ref` is permission to
+# fall behind forever with a green board — which is the failure mode a pin
+# introduces and the reason the relay pairs its pin with the same job.
+#
+# A red run here means an update is waiting. Take it per `.e2e-ref.md`.
+vectors-head:
+  stage: test
+  tags: [mac-local]
+  allow_failure: true
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"'
+  variables:
+    GIT_DEPTH: "1"
+    OBFS4_INTEROP_OPTOUT: "1"
+  script:
+    - export JAVA_HOME=/opt/homebrew/opt/openjdk@21
+    - export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Library/Android/sdk
+    - rm -rf "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors-head"
+    - git clone --depth 1 https://gitlab.com/paulhitt/flamenet-e2e.git "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors-head"
+    - |
+      echo "pinned:  $(cat "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.e2e-ref")"
+      echo "at HEAD: $(git -C "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors-head" rev-parse HEAD)"
+    - export FLAMENET_VECTORS="$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors-head/test/vectors/protocol-v1.json"
+    - export FLAMENET_PQ_VECTORS="$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors-head/test/vectors/pqx3dh-v2.json"
+    - export FLAMENET_ACCOUNT_VECTORS="$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.ci-vectors-head/test/vectors/account-kdf-v1.json"
+    # ⚠️ Only the module that reads vectors. The rest of the suite has nothing
+    # to say about whether flamenet-e2e moved, and running it here would double
+    # the board's cost to answer a question it cannot answer.
+    - ./gradlew --no-daemon --rerun-tasks :engine:test
+  timeout: 20m