diff --git a/commands/trekexecute.md b/commands/trekexecute.md
index 36cc634..024c4d4 100644
--- a/commands/trekexecute.md
+++ b/commands/trekexecute.md
@@ -850,12 +850,24 @@ progress file.
   "steps": {
     "1": { "status": "pending", "attempts": 0, "error": null, "completed_at": null, "commit": null }
   },
+  "iterations_remaining": 25,
   "entry_condition_checked": false,
   "exit_condition_checked": false,
   "summary": null
 }
 ```
 
+**`iterations_remaining` (v1.7+, additive-optional):** the remaining
+recovery/retry budget against the global hard cap (unit = **iterations**, per the
+brief — token/cost budgeting is out of scope). Seeded to
+`TREKEXECUTE_MAX_RECOVERY_ITERATIONS` (default 25) at start. **Single writer:** the
+executor decrements it by 1 on **every recovery/retry iteration** — each step
+attempt beyond the first, and each Phase 7.6 recovery dispatch. **Backfill-on-absent:**
+when resuming a legacy `progress.json` that lacks the field, seed it to the cap
+rather than hard-failing (forward/backward-compatible; shape-validated by
+`progress-validator.mjs` — non-negative integer, never required-top). The field is
+present in the spec at minimum — there is **no `(if wired)` conditional**.
+
 ### Mode-specific behavior
 
 **mode = execute (fresh):**
@@ -1246,6 +1258,14 @@ Record in progress file:
 >    audit ran** (never before, never in place of it). A transcript that merely
 >    "feels done" is NOT a stop-signal — victory-declaration bias is the exact
 >    failure mode this gate exists to defeat.
+> 3. **Counter liveness (deterministic, defeats "never decremented")** — the gate
+>    reconciles the budget counter against the ground-truth counters the Phase 7.5
+>    audit already derives:
+>    `iterations_remaining == TREKEXECUTE_MAX_RECOVERY_ITERATIONS − (recovery_depth + Σ steps.*.attempts-beyond-first)`.
+>    A field left un-decremented (or tampered) fails this reconciliation and the
+>    result is OVERRIDDEN `completed → partial`, exactly as the audit-override
+>    already does (`:1221`). So the counter's liveness is auditable at the gate,
+>    not merely asserted in prose.
 >
 > Termination authority therefore rests on the deterministic audit + an
 > objective stop-signal, never on the model's narrative. Native `/goal` (when
@@ -1523,6 +1543,7 @@ To resume: /trekexecute --resume {path}
     "drift_details": [],
     "recovery_dispatched": false,
     "recovery_depth": 0,
+    "iterations_remaining": 25,
     "legacy_plan": false,
     "progress_file": "{path}"
   }
diff --git a/tests/commands/trekexecute.test.mjs b/tests/commands/trekexecute.test.mjs
index 0569d0c..cb0c39d 100644
--- a/tests/commands/trekexecute.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/commands/trekexecute.test.mjs
@@ -118,3 +118,33 @@ test('trekexecute — every recovery/retry loop bounded + 3-axis cap hierarchy (
   assert.match(section, /recovery_depth/, 'hierarchy must name per-session recovery_depth axis');
   assert.match(section, /TREKEXECUTE_MAX_RECOVERY_ITERATIONS/, 'hierarchy must name the global budget axis');
 });
+
+// --- S38 loop-discipline hardening: iterations_remaining budget signal (Step 4) ---
+
+test('trekexecute — iterations_remaining surfaced in progress schema + summary JSON, no (if wired) (SC c)', () => {
+  const text = read();
+  assert.ok(text.includes('iterations_remaining'), 'iterations_remaining must be present (SC c)');
+  assert.ok(!/iterations_remaining[^\n]*\(if wired\)/.test(text),
+    'no "(if wired)" conditional — field present in the spec at minimum');
+  const schemaIdx = text.indexOf('### Progress file schema');
+  assert.ok(schemaIdx >= 0, 'progress schema section missing');
+  assert.match(text.slice(schemaIdx, schemaIdx + 1400), /iterations_remaining/,
+    'progress schema must include iterations_remaining');
+  const sumIdx = text.indexOf('"trekexecute_summary": {');
+  assert.ok(sumIdx >= 0, 'summary JSON block missing');
+  assert.match(text.slice(sumIdx, sumIdx + 900), /iterations_remaining/,
+    'summary JSON must include iterations_remaining (observable)');
+});
+
+test('trekexecute — iterations_remaining decrement + backfill + gate cross-check documented (SC c)', () => {
+  const text = read();
+  assert.match(text, /decrement[^.\n]*iteration|every recovery\/retry iteration/i,
+    'decrement-per-iteration rule must be documented');
+  assert.match(text, /backfill|seed (it )?to (the )?cap/i,
+    'backfill-on-absent (legacy resume) rule must be documented');
+  const gateIdx = text.indexOf('machine-verifiable completion gate');
+  const gate = text.slice(gateIdx, gateIdx + 2200);
+  assert.match(gate, /iterations_remaining/, 'gate must cross-check iterations_remaining');
+  assert.match(gate, /recovery_depth/, 'gate cross-check must reconcile against recovery_depth');
+  assert.match(gate, /attempts/, 'gate cross-check must reconcile against attempts');
+});