diff --git a/docs/codex-local-workflow.md b/docs/codex-local-workflow.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cbe7be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/codex-local-workflow.md
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+# Safe local verification for the DACS Directory
+
+This workflow verifies the Directory application from a fresh Community
+worktree without borrowing mutable state or credentials from another checkout.
+It uses the Node version and SDK revision already pinned by the repository.
+
+## Keep the worktree isolated
+
+- Use Node 22, as required by
+  `reference-implementations/dacs-directory/.nvmrc` and `package.json`.
+- Do not copy `.env` files, tokens, wallets, seeds, `data/`, `node_modules/`, or
+  `vendor/` from another worktree.
+- Keep any mutable catalog state under this worktree's
+  `reference-implementations/dacs-directory/data/` directory.
+- Do not run the indexer or live/paid browser tests as part of local static and
+  unit verification. They are separate, networked activities.
+
+## Install the pinned dependencies
+
+From the Community repository root, use your normally initialized version
+manager to select an already-installed Node 22 (for example `nvm use 22`) and
+confirm that `node --version` prints `v22.x`. Then set paths from the current
+worktree rather than a fixed checkout location:
+
+```bash
+repo_root=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+app_dir="$repo_root/reference-implementations/dacs-directory"
+cd "$app_dir"
+
+export DACS_DIRECTORY_DATA="$app_dir/data"
+export NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
+unset RUN_LIVE_PAID_E2E LIVE_BUTLER_ORIGIN
+```
+
+Read the exact SDK commit from the committed setup script, then create or
+reuse a clean vendor checkout in this worktree and install both dependency trees
+from their lockfiles. The block runs in a subshell with `set -euo pipefail`, so
+pasting it into an interactive shell stops at the first failure instead of
+building whatever the SDK checkout happens to contain. It builds only after
+`HEAD` is verified to be the pinned commit:
+
+```bash
+(
+  set -euo pipefail
+  die() { echo "stopped: $*" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+  sdk_rev=$(sed -n 's/^SDK_REV="\([0-9a-f]\{40\}\)"$/\1/p' scripts/setup-sdk.sh)
+  [ "${#sdk_rev}" -eq 40 ] || die "no 40-hex SDK_REV found in scripts/setup-sdk.sh"
+
+  sdk=vendor/dacs-sdk
+  if [ ! -e "$sdk" ]; then
+    mkdir -p vendor
+    git clone --filter=blob:none https://github.com/DACS-Agent-commerce/dacs-sdk.git "$sdk"
+  fi
+
+  # An existing path must be its own Git checkout with no local changes.
+  [ "$(git -C "$sdk" rev-parse --show-toplevel)" = "$(cd "$sdk" && pwd -P)" ] \
+    || die "$sdk is not a Git checkout of its own; inspect it, do not overwrite it"
+  [ -z "$(git -C "$sdk" status --porcelain)" ] \
+    || die "$sdk has local changes; inspect them, do not overwrite them"
+
+  git -C "$sdk" fetch --depth 1 origin "$sdk_rev"
+  git -C "$sdk" checkout --detach "$sdk_rev"
+  [ "$(git -C "$sdk" rev-parse HEAD)" = "$sdk_rev" ] || die "$sdk is not at $sdk_rev"
+
+  (cd "$sdk" && npm ci --no-audit --no-fund && npm run build)
+  npm ci --no-audit --no-fund
+)
+```
+
+Rerunning the block on a clean checkout is safe: it re-pins the checkout and
+reinstalls. If it prints `stopped: ...` or any command fails, fix that before
+continuing; do not run the checks below on a partial install. Access to the SDK
+repository may require your normal GitHub authentication; do not put a token in
+a remote URL or committed file.
+
+## Run deterministic checks
+
+These are the same check commands as the Directory CI's typecheck, test,
+origin-validation, and production-build steps. The install differs: CI runs
+`npm run setup` (`npm install`), while this workflow uses `npm ci`. Use the same
+placeholder origins as the `env:` block of
+`.github/workflows/dacs-directory-ci.yml` (today
+`NEXT_PUBLIC_DIRECTORY_URL` and `NEXT_PUBLIC_BUTLER_ORIGIN`; drop any variable
+the workflow no longer sets):
+
+```bash
+npm run typecheck
+npm test
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DIRECTORY_URL=https://directory.ci.local \
+  NEXT_PUBLIC_BUTLER_ORIGIN=https://agents.ci.local \
+  npm run check:deploy-config
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DIRECTORY_URL=https://directory.ci.local \
+  NEXT_PUBLIC_BUTLER_ORIGIN=https://agents.ci.local \
+  npm run build
+```
+
+These commands do not require the indexer, a wallet, paid commerce, or a shared
+runtime data directory. Browser checks are separate from this deterministic
+verification set.
+
+If interactive development is needed, first seed the worktree-local catalog the
+way `npm run setup` does. The seed is only read when the SQLite catalog is first
+created, so copy it before the first `next dev`:
+
+```bash
+[ -f data/registrations.json ] || cp data/registrations.example.json data/registrations.json
+```
+
+Then bind only to loopback and let the OS choose a currently free port:
+
+```bash
+./node_modules/.bin/next dev --hostname 127.0.0.1 --port 0
+```
+
+Use the URL printed by Next.js. Do not attach to a port already used by another
+worktree.
diff --git a/reference-implementations/dacs-directory/README.md b/reference-implementations/dacs-directory/README.md
index 48b8e3a..454124b 100644
--- a/reference-implementations/dacs-directory/README.md
+++ b/reference-implementations/dacs-directory/README.md
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ npm run dev      # http://localhost:3400
 ```
 
 `setup` checks out the reviewed dacs-sdk revision pinned in
-`scripts/setup-sdk.sh`; no globally installed SDK is required. Tests and static checks
+`scripts/setup-sdk.sh`; no globally installed SDK is required. For a fresh, isolated
+worktree with lockfile installs and loopback-only development, see
+[safe local verification](../../docs/codex-local-workflow.md). Tests and static checks
 run with `npm test` and `npm run typecheck`. The seed smoke test can be run alone
 with `npm run test:seed`; it uses pinned chain bytes for the shipped ReviewBot listing
 so CI can prove the starter seed renders at least one active listing without depending