diff --git a/.context/LEARNINGS.md b/.context/LEARNINGS.md
index 753580cf8..5f13ad420 100644
--- a/.context/LEARNINGS.md
+++ b/.context/LEARNINGS.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 | 2026-08-23 | Codex trust and hook wiring facts verified against codex 0.148 |
 | 2026-08-23 | hack scripts must survive macOS /bin/bash 3.2 and BSD grep |
 | 2026-08-23 | make lint SA5011 false positives mean a corrupted golangci-lint cache |
+| 2026-08-19 | Empty-array expansion under set -u kills lint-drift.sh on stock macOS bash 3.2 |
 | 2026-07-25 | Using the proprietary sibling repo as design evidence leaks its internals into tracked files |
 | 2026-07-25 | Skill and doc examples of a serialized structure must round-trip through the real parser |
 | 2026-07-25 | A guard derived from a capability accessor silently lifts when the accessor is extended |
@@ -88,6 +89,16 @@ DO NOT UPDATE FOR:
 
 ---
 
+## [2026-08-19-211547] Empty-array expansion under set -u kills lint-drift.sh on stock macOS bash 3.2
+
+**Context**: make audit had never passed on this stock macOS machine: lint-drift.sh died with "exclude_args[@]: unbound variable" because bash 3.2 treats expanding an empty array as an unset-variable error under set -u. (The sibling lint-docstrings.sh gotchas — apostrophe in a $( ) comment, grep -P on BSD grep — are covered by the 2026-08-23 "hack scripts must survive macOS /bin/bash 3.2 and BSD grep" learning.)
+
+**Lesson**: Bash 3.2 under set -u aborts on ${arr[@]} when the array is empty; bash 4.4+ made this legal, so Linux CI never sees it.
+
+**Application**: In hack/ scripts guard every possibly-empty array expansion with ${arr[@]+"${arr[@]}"}. Per specs/hack-script-portability.md.
+
+---
+
 ## [2026-07-25-124457] Using the proprietary sibling repo as design evidence leaks its internals into tracked files
 
 **Context**: While deciding the pd-m4 add-path shape, I read the sibling repo's convention file to settle the question, then quoted its guide text and attributed the decision to it in a tracked plan file. An unrelated build warning prompted the sweep that caught it.
diff --git a/hack/lint-drift.sh b/hack/lint-drift.sh
index d01b85b5e..99138b692 100755
--- a/hack/lint-drift.sh
+++ b/hack/lint-drift.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ drift_grep() {
   for ex in "$@"; do
     exclude_args+=(--exclude="$ex")
   done
-  grep -rn --include='*.go' --exclude='*_test.go' "${exclude_args[@]}" \
+  # ${arr[@]+...} guard: bash 3.2 (macOS default) treats an empty
+  # array expansion as unbound under `set -u`.
+  grep -rn --include='*.go' --exclude='*_test.go' \
+    ${exclude_args[@]+"${exclude_args[@]}"} \
     -E "$pattern" internal/ 2>/dev/null || true
 }
 
diff --git a/specs/hack-script-portability.md b/specs/hack-script-portability.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bc4cdd8cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/specs/hack-script-portability.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Spec: hack/ Script Portability — macOS Default Toolchain
+
+## Problem
+
+`make audit` fails before running a single real check on a stock
+macOS machine (bash 3.2, BSD grep):
+
+`hack/lint-drift.sh` — `"${exclude_args[@]}"` on an empty array
+aborts under `set -u` on bash 3.2 ("unbound variable"; bash 4.4+
+treats it as empty).
+
+This failure predates any feature work and masks real findings: the
+audit gate cannot run at all on contributor machines with the default
+macOS toolchain.
+
+The sibling `hack/lint-docstrings.sh` portability bugs (apostrophe in
+a `$( … )` comment, `grep -cP` on BSD grep) were fixed upstream; see
+`specs/lint-docstrings-macos-portability.md`.
+
+## Fix
+
+Minimal, behavior-preserving substitution that runs identically under
+GNU and BSD toolchains:
+
+- `${arr[@]+"${arr[@]}"}` guard for empty-array expansion.
+
+## Non-Goals
+
+- Rewriting the lint scripts in Go (tracked in TASKS.md: "Replace
+  hack/lint-drift.sh with AST-based Go tests"; "Rewrite lint-style
+  scripts in Go as ctxctl subcommands"). This spec only unblocks the
+  gate until that lands.
+- A full portability audit of every script under `hack/` (only the
+  `make audit` chain is in scope).
+
+## Verification
+
+`./hack/lint-drift.sh` completes on macOS (bash 3.2.57, BSD grep)
+with the same findings as on a GNU toolchain: `lint-drift: clean`.