diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cafa49b..59cf4c5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: help build run test lint clean docker-up docker-down migrate-up migrate-down generate test-cover frontend-build
+.PHONY: help build run test lint verify clean docker-up docker-down migrate-up migrate-down generate test-cover frontend-build
 
 # Default target - show help
 help:
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ help:
 	@echo "  make test-verbose   Run tests with verbose output"
 	@echo "  make lint           Run linter (golangci-lint)"
 	@echo "  make fmt            Format code with gofmt"
+	@echo "  make verify         Pre-commit gate: fmt + vet + lint + test (CI-parity)"
 	@echo ""
 	@echo "Database:"
 	@echo "  make migrate-up     Run migrations (requires DB_URL)"
@@ -97,6 +98,24 @@ vet:
 	@echo "Running go vet..."
 	go vet ./...
 
+# verify: aggregate pre-commit gate. Mirrors what CI enforces, so
+# running `make verify` locally before committing prevents the
+# class of breakages that ship green-locally / red-on-CI (e.g.
+# Bundle-9's ST1018 invisible-Unicode-literal hits, which `go vet`
+# alone cannot catch — staticcheck under golangci-lint does).
+verify:
+	@echo "==> fmt"
+	@go fmt ./... | { ! grep -q '.'; } || (echo "gofmt produced changes — commit them" && exit 1)
+	@echo "==> go vet ./..."
+	@go vet ./...
+	@echo "==> golangci-lint run ./... (incl. staticcheck ST*)"
+	@which golangci-lint > /dev/null || (echo "Installing golangci-lint..." && go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest)
+	@golangci-lint run ./... --timeout 5m
+	@echo "==> go test -short ./..."
+	@go test -short -count=1 ./...
+	@echo ""
+	@echo "verify: PASS — safe to commit"
+
 # Database targets (requires migrate tool)
 migrate-up:
 	@echo "Running migrations..."
diff --git a/internal/connector/issuer/local/bundle9_coverage_test.go b/internal/connector/issuer/local/bundle9_coverage_test.go
index adcfab0..7f3bed0 100644
--- a/internal/connector/issuer/local/bundle9_coverage_test.go
+++ b/internal/connector/issuer/local/bundle9_coverage_test.go
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ func TestValidateCSRUnicode_RejectsCNHomograph(t *testing.T) {
 func TestValidateCSRUnicode_RejectsDNSNameRTL(t *testing.T) {
 	csr := &x509.CertificateRequest{
 		Subject:  pkix.Name{CommonName: "ok.com"},
-		DNSNames: []string{"good‮evil.com"},
+		DNSNames: []string{"good\u202Eevil.com"},
 	}
 	err := validateCSRUnicode(csr, nil)
 	if err == nil {
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ func TestValidateCSRUnicode_RejectsDNSNameRTL(t *testing.T) {
 func TestValidateCSRUnicode_RejectsEmailZeroWidth(t *testing.T) {
 	csr := &x509.CertificateRequest{
 		Subject:        pkix.Name{CommonName: "ok.com"},
-		EmailAddresses: []string{"good​bad@example.com"},
+		EmailAddresses: []string{"good\u200Bbad@example.com"},
 	}
 	err := validateCSRUnicode(csr, nil)
 	if err == nil {
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ func TestValidateCSRUnicode_RejectsAdditionalSAN(t *testing.T) {
 	csr := &x509.CertificateRequest{
 		Subject: pkix.Name{CommonName: "ok.com"},
 	}
-	err := validateCSRUnicode(csr, []string{"good‮evil.com"})
+	err := validateCSRUnicode(csr, []string{"good\u202Eevil.com"})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected rejection for additional SAN RTL")
 	}
diff --git a/internal/validation/unicode_test.go b/internal/validation/unicode_test.go
index 39907e1..4c20498 100644
--- a/internal/validation/unicode_test.go
+++ b/internal/validation/unicode_test.go
@@ -36,15 +36,15 @@ func TestValidateUnicodeSafe_RejectsRTLOverride(t *testing.T) {
 		name string
 		in   string
 	}{
-		{"LRE", "good‪com"},
-		{"RLE", "good‫com"},
-		{"PDF", "good‬com"},
-		{"LRO", "good‭com"},
-		{"RLO", "good‮com"},
-		{"LRI", "good⁦com"},
-		{"RLI", "good⁧com"},
-		{"FSI", "good⁨com"},
-		{"PDI", "good⁩com"},
+		{"LRE", "good\u202Acom"},
+		{"RLE", "good\u202Bcom"},
+		{"PDF", "good\u202Ccom"},
+		{"LRO", "good\u202Dcom"},
+		{"RLO", "good\u202Ecom"},
+		{"LRI", "good\u2066com"},
+		{"RLI", "good\u2067com"},
+		{"FSI", "good\u2068com"},
+		{"PDI", "good\u2069com"},
 	}
 	for _, c := range cases {
 		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -64,10 +64,10 @@ func TestValidateUnicodeSafe_RejectsZeroWidth(t *testing.T) {
 		name string
 		in   string
 	}{
-		{"ZWSP", "good​com"},
-		{"ZWNJ", "good‌com"},
-		{"ZWJ", "good‍com"},
-		{"WJ", "good⁠com"},
+		{"ZWSP", "good\u200Bcom"},
+		{"ZWNJ", "good\u200Ccom"},
+		{"ZWJ", "good\u200Dcom"},
+		{"WJ", "good\u2060com"},
 		{"BOM", "good\uFEFFcom"},
 	}
 	for _, c := range cases {
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ func TestValidateUnicodeSafe_AcceptsPureNonASCII(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestValidateUnicodeSafe_ErrorMentionsByteOffset(t *testing.T) {
-	in := "good‮evil.com"
+	in := "good\u202Eevil.com"
 	err := ValidateUnicodeSafe(in)
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected rejection")