diff --git a/docs/handoff.md b/docs/handoff.md
index 9e01633..671a81f 100644
--- a/docs/handoff.md
+++ b/docs/handoff.md
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ records:
 - the commit and `git status --short` at that moment.
 
 On resuming, anything that differs from the handoff is treated as unverified, and the gate runs
-again before anything builds on an earlier PASS. Add `.stackwich/` to `.gitignore`.
+again before anything builds on an earlier PASS. The tools keep `.stackwich/` out of git with a
+`.stackwich/.gitignore` of `*`; a handoff written by hand needs `.stackwich/` in `.gitignore`.
 
 ## The helper: `tools/handoff.py`
 
diff --git a/docs/verify-gate.md b/docs/verify-gate.md
index 102b9d4..29f5896 100644
--- a/docs/verify-gate.md
+++ b/docs/verify-gate.md
@@ -24,8 +24,9 @@ python3 ~/stackwich-tools/tools/verify_gate.py check
   prints `UNVERIFIED` or `STALE` with each added, modified, or removed file, and exits 1.
 - `reset --by NAME --reason TEXT` records that a person reviewed a change that ran out of cycles.
 
-The change id defaults to the current branch; pass `--change ID` to name it yourself. Add
-`.stackwich/` to `.gitignore`. The tool leaves it out of the fingerprint either way.
+The change id defaults to the current branch; pass `--change ID` to name it yourself. The tool
+writes `.stackwich/.gitignore` (`*`) when it creates the directory, so its records never get
+committed, and leaves `.stackwich/` out of the fingerprint either way.
 
 ## Example
 
diff --git a/tools/handoff.py b/tools/handoff.py
index e7fa87f..ef43ab3 100644
--- a/tools/handoff.py
+++ b/tools/handoff.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
-from verify_gate import STATE_DIR, GateError, check, default_change, diff, git, head, manifest, now, records, repo_root, tree_hash
+from verify_gate import STATE_DIR, GateError, check, default_change, diff, git, head, manifest, now, records, repo_root, state_dir, tree_hash
 
 HANDOFF = "handoff.md"
 FILES = "handoff-files.json"
@@ -57,8 +57,7 @@ def save(root: Path, change: str, stage: str, next_step: str, plan: str | None,
     ]
     if note:
         lines += ["", "Note:", "", note.strip()]
-    state = root / STATE_DIR
-    state.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    state = state_dir(root)
     (state / HANDOFF).write_text("\n".join(lines) + "\n", encoding="utf-8")
     (state / FILES).write_text(json.dumps({"change": change, "head": head(root), "tree": tree_hash(files),
                                            "files": files, "artifacts": artifacts}, indent=1) + "\n",
diff --git a/tools/test_handoff.py b/tools/test_handoff.py
index 93040a4..5c266cd 100644
--- a/tools/test_handoff.py
+++ b/tools/test_handoff.py
@@ -96,6 +96,33 @@ def test_hand_written_handoff(self):
         self.assertIn("Stage: reviewing", out.stdout)
         self.assertIn("UNCHECKED", out.stdout)
 
+    def untracked(self):
+        out = subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(self.repo), "status", "--porcelain", "--untracked-files=all"],
+                             check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
+        return out.stdout
+
+    def test_state_directory_ignores_itself(self):
+        """Neither tool should leave .stackwich/ for a later `git add -A` to commit."""
+        self.run_tool(GATE, "run", "--", "python3 -c 'pass'")
+        self.assertTrue((self.repo / ".stackwich" / "verify.jsonl").is_file())
+        self.assertNotIn(".stackwich", self.untracked())
+        self.save()
+        self.assertTrue((self.repo / ".stackwich" / "handoff.md").is_file())
+        self.assertNotIn(".stackwich", self.untracked())
+        self.assertEqual((self.repo / ".gitignore").read_text(), "build/\n")
+
+    def test_handoff_alone_ignores_its_state(self):
+        self.save()
+        self.assertNotIn(".stackwich", self.untracked())
+
+    def test_existing_state_gitignore_is_kept(self):
+        (self.repo / ".stackwich").mkdir()
+        (self.repo / ".stackwich" / ".gitignore").write_text("verify.jsonl\n")
+        self.save()
+        self.run_tool(GATE, "run", "--", "python3 -c 'pass'")
+        self.assertEqual((self.repo / ".stackwich" / ".gitignore").read_text(), "verify.jsonl\n")
+        self.assertIn(".stackwich/handoff.md", self.untracked())
+
     def test_bad_input(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.run_tool(HANDOFF, "save", "--stage", "executing", "--next", " ").returncode, 2)
         self.assertEqual(self.run_tool(HANDOFF, "save", "--stage", "nowhere", "--next", "x").returncode, 2)
diff --git a/tools/verify_gate.py b/tools/verify_gate.py
index 2e682e7..b61aaa3 100644
--- a/tools/verify_gate.py
+++ b/tools/verify_gate.py
@@ -125,9 +125,18 @@ def records(root: Path) -> list[dict]:
     return out
 
 
+def state_dir(root: Path) -> Path:
+    """Create .stackwich/ ignoring itself, so `git add -A` never commits it. An existing .gitignore there is kept."""
+    state = root / STATE_DIR
+    state.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    ignore = state / ".gitignore"
+    if not ignore.exists():
+        ignore.write_text("*\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    return state
+
+
 def append(root: Path, record: dict) -> None:
-    path = root / STATE_DIR / RECORDS
-    path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    path = state_dir(root) / RECORDS
     with path.open("a", encoding="utf-8") as handle:
         handle.write(json.dumps(record, sort_keys=True, separators=(",", ":")) + "\n")