diff --git a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md
index 5a7221a950..15c753252b 100644
--- a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md
+++ b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md
@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@ to be listening.
 Changes to `scripts/hot-dev.sh` and `scripts/hot-dev-bg.sh` must therefore
 stay on their own direct dev-runtime orchestration proof path instead of
 piggybacking on installer proof coverage for unrelated deployment scripts.
+That same dev-runtime orchestration boundary also owns watcher stability for
+the managed local stack: `scripts/hot-dev.sh` may only rebuild the backend for
+runtime Go sources, not `*_test.go` churn, and it must suppress `pulse` binary
+change events produced by its own successful managed rebuilds or startup build.
+Otherwise unrelated parallel test edits or hot-dev's own binary output can
+tear down `7655`, produce transient `5173` proxy failures, and undermine the
+canonical browser-runtime proof path.
 That same launcher boundary also owns its CLI contract: managed commands such
 as `start --takeover` and `restart --takeover` must preserve the takeover flag
 through the actual script entrypoint instead of silently dropping second-arg
diff --git a/scripts/hot-dev.sh b/scripts/hot-dev.sh
index 6be63bbffb..ef8cedc636 100755
--- a/scripts/hot-dev.sh
+++ b/scripts/hot-dev.sh
@@ -514,8 +514,9 @@ log_info "Starting backend file watcher..."
 (
     cd "${ROOT_DIR}"
     
-    LAST_RESTART_TIME=0
     WATCHER_READY_AT=$(date +%s)
+    LAST_RESTART_TIME=0
+    SELF_BUILD_IGNORE_UNTIL=$((WATCHER_READY_AT + HOT_DEV_WATCHER_STARTUP_GRACE_SECONDS + 5))
 
     watcher_within_startup_grace() {
         local now
@@ -523,6 +524,27 @@ log_info "Starting backend file watcher..."
         (( now - WATCHER_READY_AT < HOT_DEV_WATCHER_STARTUP_GRACE_SECONDS ))
     }
 
+    mark_self_build_output() {
+        local now
+        now=$(date +%s)
+        SELF_BUILD_IGNORE_UNTIL=$((now + 5))
+    }
+
+    manual_build_event_suppressed() {
+        local now
+        now=$(date +%s)
+        (( now < SELF_BUILD_IGNORE_UNTIL ))
+    }
+
+    should_rebuild_backend_for_change() {
+        local changed_file=$1
+
+        [[ "${changed_file}" == *.go ]] || return 1
+        [[ "${changed_file}" == *_test.go ]] && return 1
+
+        return 0
+    }
+
     restart_backend() {
         # Debounce: skip if we restarted less than 3 seconds ago
         local now
@@ -604,6 +626,7 @@ log_info "Starting backend file watcher..."
 
         # Use the same build logic as the initial build.
         if build_backend_binary; then
+            mark_self_build_output
             restart_backend
         else
             log_error "✗ Build failed; keeping the current backend process running."
@@ -627,9 +650,12 @@ log_info "Starting backend file watcher..."
                 log_info "🚀 Managed restart requested, restarting backend..."
                 restart_backend
             elif [[ "$changed_file" == "${ROOT_DIR}/pulse" ]]; then
+                if manual_build_event_suppressed; then
+                    continue
+                fi
                 log_info "🚀 Manual build detected (pulse binary changed), restarting..."
                 restart_backend
-            elif [[ "$changed_file" == *.go ]] || [[ "$event" =~ CREATE|DELETE|MOVED|ATTRIB ]]; then
+            elif should_rebuild_backend_for_change "$changed_file"; then
                 rebuild_backend "$changed_file"
             fi
         done
@@ -651,6 +677,9 @@ log_info "Starting backend file watcher..."
             if [[ "$changed_file" == "${HOT_DEV_RESTART_SENTINEL}" ]]; then
                 log_info "🚀 Managed restart requested, restarting backend..."
             else
+                if manual_build_event_suppressed; then
+                    continue
+                fi
                 log_info "🚀 Manual build detected (pulse binary changed), restarting..."
             fi
             restart_backend
@@ -663,8 +692,7 @@ log_info "Starting backend file watcher..."
             --include '\.go$' \
             "${ROOT_DIR}/cmd" "${ROOT_DIR}/internal" "${ROOT_DIR}/pkg" 2>/dev/null | \
         while read -r changed_file; do
-            # fswatch sends absolute paths, simple check for .go extension
-            if [[ "$changed_file" == *.go ]]; then
+            if should_rebuild_backend_for_change "$changed_file"; then
                 rebuild_backend "$changed_file"
             fi
         done
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test-hot-dev-bg.sh b/scripts/tests/test-hot-dev-bg.sh
index c2acfea5fe..0678b42be1 100755
--- a/scripts/tests/test-hot-dev-bg.sh
+++ b/scripts/tests/test-hot-dev-bg.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)"
 HOT_DEV_BG="${ROOT_DIR}/scripts/hot-dev-bg.sh"
+HOT_DEV="${ROOT_DIR}/scripts/hot-dev.sh"
 CLEAN_MOCK_ALERTS="${ROOT_DIR}/scripts/clean-mock-alerts.sh"
 DEV_CHECK="${ROOT_DIR}/scripts/dev-check.sh"
 PACKAGE_JSON="${ROOT_DIR}/package.json"
@@ -468,7 +469,7 @@ test_makefile_routes_managed_runtime_through_npm() {
 
 test_hot_dev_script_advertises_foreground_escape_hatch() {
   local output
-  output="$(sed -n '1,30p' "${ROOT_DIR}/scripts/hot-dev.sh")"
+  output="$(sed -n '1,30p' "${HOT_DEV}")"
 
   assert_contains "hot-dev header identifies foreground escape hatch" "${output}" "hot-dev.sh - Foreground Pulse dev runtime escape hatch"
   assert_contains "hot-dev usage points to managed runtime first" "${output}" "npm run dev                             # Canonical managed dev runtime"
@@ -476,6 +477,16 @@ test_hot_dev_script_advertises_foreground_escape_hatch() {
   assert_not_contains "hot-dev usage no longer claims standard dev mode" "${output}" "Standard dev mode"
 }
 
+test_hot_dev_script_ignores_test_only_backend_churn() {
+  local output
+  output="$(cat "${HOT_DEV}")"
+
+  assert_contains "hot-dev watcher ignores Go test files" "${output}" '[[ "${changed_file}" == *_test.go ]] && return 1'
+  assert_contains "hot-dev watcher routes rebuild decisions through shared helper" "${output}" 'should_rebuild_backend_for_change "$changed_file"'
+  assert_contains "hot-dev watcher suppresses self-build binary restart loops" "${output}" 'if manual_build_event_suppressed; then'
+  assert_contains "hot-dev watcher suppresses startup self-build pulse events" "${output}" 'SELF_BUILD_IGNORE_UNTIL=$((WATCHER_READY_AT + HOT_DEV_WATCHER_STARTUP_GRACE_SECONDS + 5))'
+}
+
 test_hot_dev_bg_script_advertises_managed_entrypoint() {
   local output
   output="$(cat "${ROOT_DIR}/scripts/hot-dev-bg.sh")"
@@ -744,6 +755,7 @@ main() {
   test_frontend_package_exposes_managed_runtime_entrypoints
   test_makefile_routes_managed_runtime_through_npm
   test_hot_dev_script_advertises_foreground_escape_hatch
+  test_hot_dev_script_ignores_test_only_backend_churn
   test_hot_dev_bg_script_advertises_managed_entrypoint
   test_hot_dev_bg_usage_prefers_managed_wrappers
   test_integration_readme_uses_managed_backend_restart_wrapper