diff --git a/docs/plans/2026-07-27-vulkan-campaign.md b/docs/plans/2026-07-27-vulkan-campaign.md
index 96ca65fa..a05d8546 100644
--- a/docs/plans/2026-07-27-vulkan-campaign.md
+++ b/docs/plans/2026-07-27-vulkan-campaign.md
@@ -499,9 +499,26 @@ session, rather than one at a time:
 | V4f | Sky — deliberately masked for determinism |
 | V4g | Paperdoll and appraisal viewports, portal transit |
 
-The connected route to run: a dungeon interior, a portal transit, the paperdoll and
-an item-appraisal window, a spell cast with visible particle effects, and a dawn or
-dusk sky.
+**The user confirmed on 2026-07-27 that the local ACE server is always available
+and they will verify visually on request.** That converts this table from deferred
+debt into a real gate, and it should be used rather than banked: a slice whose
+uncovered surface is checked while the change is fresh costs minutes, whereas the
+same defect found at the V7 differential is a bisect across a dozen commits.
+
+The checklist, in the order that exercises the most per minute:
+
+| Look at | Proves |
+|---|---|
+| A dungeon interior — walk in, look along a corridor and through a doorway | `EnvCellRenderer`, the per-cell clip gate, portal visibility. **Half of V4c, currently unproven by anything.** |
+| A portal transit | The portal tunnel presentation and the depth/stencil mask |
+| The paperdoll, then examine an item | The two offscreen viewports — and §5.4's `BeginPass` change exists precisely to keep these off the backbuffer |
+| Cast a spell | Particles, and the inverse-alpha blend added at V4c |
+| Stand outside at dawn or dusk | Sky, which the offline gate masks for determinism |
+
+Worth noting: **no existing connected route visits a dungeon.** Every stop in
+`connected-r6-soak.route.txt` and `connected-world-lifecycle.route.txt` is outdoor,
+which is why EnvCell coverage was missing from the automated gates too, not just the
+offline one. Adding an interior stop to those routes is the durable fix.
 
 MSAA is left at the quality preset for GL-versus-GL self-differentials, where it
 is deterministic. The V7 GL-versus-Vulkan differential must force MSAA off,