diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/bootstrap.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/bootstrap.test.ts
index 4775364..3d92a92 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/bootstrap.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/bootstrap.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,20 @@ import { bootstrapCommand } from '../commands/bootstrap';
 import { doctorCommand } from '../commands/doctor';
 import { driftCommand } from '../commands/drift';
 import type { CLIOptions } from '../index';
+import { parseAdf, parseManifest } from '@stackbilt/adf';
+
+// Controlled per-test override for execSync (module-level mock needed for ESM-treated builtins)
+let execSyncOverride: (((...args: unknown[]) => unknown) | null) = null;
+vi.mock('node:child_process', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import('node:child_process')>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    execSync: (...args: unknown[]) => {
+      if (execSyncOverride) return execSyncOverride(...args);
+      return actual.execSync(...(args as Parameters<typeof actual.execSync>));
+    },
+  };
+});
 
 const baseOptions: CLIOptions = {
   configPath: '.charter',
@@ -170,4 +184,70 @@ STATE:
       violation.severity === 'BLOCKER' && violation.patternName.includes('Timing-Sensitive Equality')
     )).toBe(true);
   });
+
+
+  it('registers core.adf and state.adf in DEFAULT_LOAD when manifest uses non-canonical syntax', async () => {
+    // Set up a .ai/ directory with core.adf, state.adf, and a manifest that uses
+    // non-canonical syntax ('load X always') — no '📦 DEFAULT_LOAD:' section.
+    // This replicates issue #150: parseManifest returns empty defaultLoad,
+    // so core.adf and state.adf appear as orphans and were incorrectly registered
+    // as ON_DEMAND before this fix.
+    fs.mkdirSync('.ai', { recursive: true });
+
+    const nonCanonicalManifest = `ADF: 0.1
+
+load core.adf always
+load state.adf always
+`;
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join('.ai', 'manifest.adf'), nonCanonicalManifest);
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join('.ai', 'core.adf'), 'ADF: 0.1\n\nCONTEXT:\n  - Core rules\n');
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join('.ai', 'state.adf'), 'ADF: 0.1\n\nSTATE:\n  CURRENT: active\n');
+
+    const exitCode = await bootstrapCommand(
+      { ...baseOptions, yes: true },
+      ['--yes', '--preset', 'worker', '--skip-install', '--skip-doctor'],
+    );
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+
+    // Parse the resulting manifest with the structured parser — not string.includes —
+    // because that's what verify:adf uses, and it's what was broken.
+    const resultManifest = fs.readFileSync(path.join('.ai', 'manifest.adf'), 'utf-8');
+    const doc = parseAdf(resultManifest);
+    const manifest = parseManifest(doc);
+
+    expect(manifest.defaultLoad).toContain('core.adf');
+    expect(manifest.defaultLoad).toContain('state.adf');
+
+    // Neither should appear in ON_DEMAND
+    const onDemandPaths = manifest.onDemand.map(m => m.path);
+    expect(onDemandPaths).not.toContain('core.adf');
+    expect(onDemandPaths).not.toContain('state.adf');
+  });
+
+  it('classifies frozen-lockfile install errors and sets status to partial', async () => {
+    // Override execSync to throw an ERR_PNPM_FROZEN_LOCKFILE error for this test only
+    execSyncOverride = () => {
+      throw new Error('ERR_PNPM_FROZEN_LOCKFILE: Lockfile is not up-to-date');
+    };
+
+    logs = [];
+    try {
+      await bootstrapCommand(
+        { ...baseOptions, format: 'json' },
+        ['--preset', 'worker', '--skip-doctor'],
+      );
+    } finally {
+      execSyncOverride = null;
+    }
+
+    const report = JSON.parse(logs[0]);
+    expect(report.status).toBe('partial');
+
+    const installStep = report.steps.find((s: { name: string }) => s.name === 'install');
+    expect(installStep).toBeDefined();
+    expect(installStep.status).toBe('fail');
+    const hasHint = installStep.warnings.some((w: string) => w.includes('--no-frozen-lockfile'));
+    expect(hasHint).toBe(true);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/bootstrap.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/bootstrap.ts
index 2f5e26d..ee08c2c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/bootstrap.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/bootstrap.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ import {
   manifestForPreset,
 } from './adf';
 import { loadPatterns } from '../config';
-import { parseAdf, parseManifest } from '@stackbilt/adf';
+import { parseAdf, parseManifest, formatAdf } from '@stackbilt/adf';
 import { migrateSource, updateModuleIndex } from './adf-migrate';
 import type { SourceMigrationResult } from './adf-migrate';
 
@@ -111,6 +111,15 @@ export async function bootstrapCommand(options: CLIOptions, args: string[]): Pro
   const contexts = detectResult.contexts;
   const packageManager = detectResult.packageManager;
 
+  // Check git repo status once — used for preflight warning and gating hook next-steps
+  const inGitRepo = isGitRepo();
+  if (!inGitRepo) {
+    detectResult.step.warnings.push(
+      "Not inside a git repository. Run 'git init && git add -A && git commit -m \"initial commit\"' before installing hooks. Continuing — governance files will be written but hooks cannot be installed yet."
+    );
+    warnings++;
+  }
+
   if (options.format === 'text') {
     console.log('[1/7] Detecting stack...');
     console.log(`  Stack: ${selectedPreset} (${detection.confidence} confidence)`);
@@ -120,6 +129,11 @@ export async function bootstrapCommand(options: CLIOptions, args: string[]): Pro
         console.log(`  Warning: ${w}`);
       }
     }
+    if (!inGitRepo) {
+      console.log(`  Warning: Not inside a git repository.`);
+      console.log(`  Run 'git init && git add -A && git commit -m "initial commit"' before installing hooks.`);
+      console.log(`  Continuing — governance files will be written but hooks cannot be installed yet.`);
+    }
     console.log('');
   }
 
@@ -176,15 +190,47 @@ export async function bootstrapCommand(options: CLIOptions, args: string[]): Pro
       shouldRegister = await promptYesNo('  Register these modules now? (y/N) ');
     }
     if (shouldRegister) {
-      registerOrphansInManifest(path.join('.ai', 'manifest.adf'), orphans);
+      const manifestFilePath = path.join('.ai', 'manifest.adf');
+      // Split orphans: core.adf and state.adf belong in DEFAULT_LOAD, everything else in ON_DEMAND
+      const defaultLoadOrphans = orphans.filter(m => DEFAULT_LOAD_MODULES.has(m));
+      const onDemandOrphans = orphans.filter(m => !DEFAULT_LOAD_MODULES.has(m));
+
+      if (defaultLoadOrphans.length > 0) {
+        registerModulesInDefaultLoad(manifestFilePath, defaultLoadOrphans);
+        if (options.format === 'text') {
+          console.log(`  Registered ${defaultLoadOrphans.length} module(s) as DEFAULT_LOAD in manifest.adf`);
+        }
+      }
+      if (onDemandOrphans.length > 0) {
+        registerOrphansInManifest(manifestFilePath, onDemandOrphans);
+        if (options.format === 'text') {
+          console.log(`  Registered ${onDemandOrphans.length} module(s) as ON_DEMAND in manifest.adf`);
+        }
+      }
+
       updateModuleIndex('CLAUDE.md', '.ai');
       if (options.format === 'text') {
-        console.log(`  Registered ${orphans.length} module(s) as ON_DEMAND in manifest.adf`);
         console.log('');
       }
     }
   }
 
+  // Post-write manifest self-check: warn if DEFAULT_LOAD is empty but core.adf exists
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.join('.ai', 'core.adf'))) {
+    const manifestCheckPath = path.join('.ai', 'manifest.adf');
+    if (fs.existsSync(manifestCheckPath)) {
+      try {
+        const manifestDoc = parseAdf(fs.readFileSync(manifestCheckPath, 'utf-8'));
+        const manifestParsed = parseManifest(manifestDoc);
+        if (manifestParsed.defaultLoad.length === 0 && options.format === 'text') {
+          console.log("  Warning: manifest.adf parsed with 0 DEFAULT_LOAD entries — run 'charter adf register core.adf --load default' to repair.");
+        }
+      } catch {
+        // Parse failure already flagged elsewhere
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   // ========================================================================
   // Phase 4: Migrate Agent Configs
   // ========================================================================
@@ -299,6 +345,20 @@ export async function bootstrapCommand(options: CLIOptions, args: string[]): Pro
     reason: 'Commit governance baseline',
   });
 
+  // Gate hook next-steps on being inside a git repo
+  if (inGitRepo) {
+    result.nextSteps.push({
+      cmd: 'charter hook install --pre-commit',
+      required: false,
+      reason: 'Install pre-commit hook for ADF evidence gate',
+    });
+    result.nextSteps.push({
+      cmd: 'charter hook install --commit-msg',
+      required: false,
+      reason: 'Install commit-msg hook for trailer enforcement',
+    });
+  }
+
   // ========================================================================
   // Governance Gaps — surface what's configured but not enforced
   // ========================================================================
@@ -368,6 +428,39 @@ export async function bootstrapCommand(options: CLIOptions, args: string[]): Pro
     result.nextSteps.forEach((step, i) => {
       console.log(`  ${i + 1}. ${step.cmd}`);
     });
+
+    // Partial/failure summary banner
+    if (result.status === 'partial' || result.status === 'failure') {
+      const failedSteps = result.steps.filter(s => s.status === 'fail');
+      console.log('');
+      console.log(`⚠  Bootstrap partially complete — ${failedSteps.length} step${failedSteps.length === 1 ? '' : 's'} failed:`);
+      for (const s of failedSteps) {
+        const rawErr = s.details.error ? String(s.details.error).split('\n')[0].slice(0, 120) : '';
+        const errDetail = rawErr ? ` (${rawErr})` : '';
+        const hintLine = s.warnings.find(w => w.startsWith('Hint:'));
+        const hint = hintLine ? ` — ${hintLine}` : '';
+        console.log(`   • ${s.name}${errDetail}${hint}`);
+      }
+      console.log('');
+      console.log('Next steps to complete setup:');
+      let n = 1;
+      const installFailed = failedSteps.some(s => s.name === 'install');
+      if (installFailed) {
+        const installStep = failedSteps.find(s => s.name === 'install');
+        const frozenHint = installStep?.warnings.find(w => w.includes('--no-frozen-lockfile'));
+        if (frozenHint) {
+          console.log(`   ${n++}. pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile   (or see hint above)`);
+        } else {
+          console.log(`   ${n++}. ${installStep?.details.command ?? 'npm install'}   (see hint above)`);
+        }
+        console.log(`   ${n++}. charter doctor`);
+        if (inGitRepo) {
+          console.log(`   ${n++}. charter hook install --pre-commit`);
+        }
+      } else {
+        console.log(`   ${n++}. charter doctor`);
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   return EXIT_CODE.SUCCESS;
@@ -862,10 +955,10 @@ function runInstallPhase(
     };
   } catch (err: unknown) {
     const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-    const isPermError = msg.includes('EPERM') || msg.includes('EACCES') || msg.includes('permission denied');
     warnings.push(`Install failed: ${msg}`);
-    if (isPermError) {
-      warnings.push(`Hint: permission error detected. Retry outside the sandbox or with elevated privileges: ${command}`);
+    const hint = classifyInstallError(msg, pm);
+    if (hint) {
+      warnings.push(`Hint: ${hint}`);
     }
     warnings.push(`Retry manually: ${command}`);
     return {
@@ -879,6 +972,16 @@ function runInstallPhase(
   }
 }
 
+function classifyInstallError(msg: string, pm: string): string {
+  if (/ERR_PNPM_FROZEN_LOCKFILE|frozen[-. ]lockfile|--frozen-lockfile/i.test(msg))
+    return 'Lockfile is out of date. Retry with: pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile';
+  if (/EPERM|EACCES|permission denied/i.test(msg))
+    return 'Permission error. On WSL/NTFS try: pnpm install --force  (or move project to ~/projects/)';
+  if (/ENOTFOUND|ETIMEDOUT|fetch failed|503|network/i.test(msg))
+    return `Network error. Check connectivity and retry: ${pm} install`;
+  return '';
+}
+
 function detectPackageManagerFromLockfiles(): 'pnpm' | 'npm' | 'yarn' {
   if (fs.existsSync(path.resolve('pnpm-lock.yaml'))) return 'pnpm';
   if (fs.existsSync(path.resolve('yarn.lock'))) return 'yarn';
@@ -1052,6 +1155,12 @@ function runDoctorPhase(
 // Helpers
 // ============================================================================
 
+/**
+ * Modules that must always appear in DEFAULT_LOAD rather than ON_DEMAND.
+ * core.adf and state.adf are always loaded — they are not optional.
+ */
+const DEFAULT_LOAD_MODULES = new Set(['core.adf', 'state.adf']);
+
 function isValidPreset(value: string | undefined): value is StackPreset {
   return value === 'worker' || value === 'frontend' || value === 'backend' || value === 'fullstack' || value === 'docs';
 }
@@ -1124,3 +1233,48 @@ function registerOrphansInManifest(manifestPath: string, orphans: string[]): voi
   lines.splice(insertIdx, 0, ...newEntries);
   fs.writeFileSync(manifestPath, lines.join('\n'));
 }
+
+/**
+ * Register modules in the DEFAULT_LOAD section of manifest.adf.
+ * Uses the structured parseAdf/formatAdf round-trip so the result is canonical.
+ * DEFAULT_LOAD entries are plain filenames with no "(Triggers on: ...)" suffix.
+ */
+function registerModulesInDefaultLoad(manifestPath: string, modules: string[]): void {
+  const manifestDoc = parseAdf(fs.readFileSync(manifestPath, 'utf-8'));
+  const sectionKey = 'DEFAULT_LOAD';
+
+  let section = manifestDoc.sections.find(s => s.key === sectionKey);
+  if (!section) {
+    section = {
+      key: sectionKey,
+      decoration: '📦',
+      content: { type: 'list', items: [] },
+    };
+    // Prepend DEFAULT_LOAD before any ON_DEMAND section
+    const onDemandIdx = manifestDoc.sections.findIndex(s => s.key === 'ON_DEMAND');
+    if (onDemandIdx !== -1) {
+      manifestDoc.sections.splice(onDemandIdx, 0, section);
+    } else {
+      manifestDoc.sections.push(section);
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (section.content.type !== 'list') {
+    // Fallback: append raw text rather than throwing — bootstrap should not crash
+    const raw = '\n\n📦 DEFAULT_LOAD:\n' + modules.map(m => `  - ${m}`).join('\n') + '\n';
+    fs.writeFileSync(manifestPath, fs.readFileSync(manifestPath, 'utf-8').trimEnd() + raw);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  let updated = false;
+  for (const mod of modules) {
+    if (!section.content.items.includes(mod)) {
+      section.content.items.push(mod);
+      updated = true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (updated) {
+    fs.writeFileSync(manifestPath, formatAdf(manifestDoc));
+  }
+}