diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 49a8b1784..e64d43341 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [1.94.28.0] - 2026-11-03
+
+**`gstack-ship-preflight --timeout` reaches Step 5's pregate (GST-1196).** Preflight ran `gstack-pregate` with no way to pass `--timeout`, so on a repo whose `.gstack/pregate.json` sets no `timeout_s`, a test group longer than 600 s always stopped with `PREGATE_INCOMPLETE`. The only workaround was a separate `gstack-pregate --timeout 1800` before finish (gstack-evals #176 and #179).
+
+### Fixed
+- **`gstack-ship-preflight`:** `--timeout <s>` (whole seconds, 1 to 3600) is passed to Step 5's pregate as its `--timeout` and overrides the policy's `timeout_s`. When it isn't set, `timeout_s` applies, and the default is 600 s, as the help now says. A bad value exits with usage (2).
+- **`docs/pregate.md`:** the `timeout_s` row says preflight now forwards `--timeout`.
+
+### Tests
+- `test/ship-preflight.test.ts`: `--timeout 2` bounds a 4 s test under a 600 s policy and `PREGATE_DETAIL` names `--timeout`; 0, 3601, 1.5 and x are usage errors.
+
 ## [1.94.27.0] - 2026-11-03
 
 - Housekeeping checks now run before every push instead of after a CI round (GST-1138, ship-90-90 plan). `gstack-pregate --stage guards --allow-repo-commands` runs only generated-file freshness (`regen`) and the repo's `guards`, each only for the files the branch touched, and writes `.gstack/tmp/pregate-guards.json` so it never replaces the full run's record. `gstack-ship-release push` runs it before every push, early or final, prints `GUARDS:`, and stops with the guard's fix when one fails, pushing nothing. A pass already recorded at HEAD's exact tree, by push itself or by `finish`'s preflight, is reused instead of rerun. See docs/pregate.md#prepush.
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index ef0f04c4f..3923529c2 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.94.27.0
+1.94.28.0
diff --git a/agents-digest/gstack-AGENTS.md b/agents-digest/gstack-AGENTS.md
index 3e8a4f3f9..737ca9b82 100644
--- a/agents-digest/gstack-AGENTS.md
+++ b/agents-digest/gstack-AGENTS.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# gstack digest v1.94.27.0 — regenerate/re-copy after upgrading gstack
+# gstack digest v1.94.28.0 — regenerate/re-copy after upgrading gstack
 
 Behavioral rules from gstack (https://github.com/garrytan/gstack), compressed
 for agent hosts without a full skill install. The full skills add workflows,
diff --git a/docs/pregate.md b/docs/pregate.md
index aff7f6376..c8fb847a5 100644
--- a/docs/pregate.md
+++ b/docs/pregate.md
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ the byte-pinned `/ship` renders in `test/fixtures/golden/`).
 | `sealed` | sealed or eval output that must never reach a public destination; read by the pre-push hook and `gstack-pregate sealed` (see [sealed output](#sealed)) |
 | `price_file` | repo-relative path of the paid gate's call-plan data file (`GSTACK_EVAL_CALLS v1`); `gstack-eval-plan price-gate` prices from it and never executes anything ([docs/eval-calls.md](eval-calls.md)) |
 | `stall_timeout_s` | seconds a test command may print nothing while using under a tenth of one CPU before its process group is killed and the check is `incomplete` (`PREGATE_STALLED`); default 300, `0` disables; `--stall-timeout` overrides; the `--remote` gate is exempt (see [supervision](#supervision)) |
-| `timeout_s` | seconds each runner process may take (the unit-file group, each serial file, each guard without its own `timeout_s`, and the remote gate's deadline) when `--timeout` is not passed; 1 to 3600, default 600. `gstack-ship-preflight` and the `finish` fallback run pregate without `--timeout`, so this is how a repo with long lanes sets theirs |
+| `timeout_s` | seconds each runner process may take (the unit-file group, each serial file, each guard without its own `timeout_s`, and the remote gate's deadline) when `--timeout` is not passed; 1 to 3600, default 600. `gstack-ship-preflight` forwards its own `--timeout`; without it, and in the `finish` fallback, this is how a repo with long lanes sets theirs |
 | `remote_gate` | the repo's remote test gate command; under 8 cores the local test tier becomes a `requires-remote` obligation naming it, and `--remote` runs it (see [remote gate](#remote-gate)) |
 | `run_profiles` | name → `{ workflow, events, jobs, artifact, max_age_hours?, os?, skippable? }`: the GitHub Actions runs `clear --run` verifies as evidence on the identical tree; a profile named after a lane (`free-tests.yml/macos-named-regressions`) clears that lane (see [run evidence](#run-evidence)). `--from-run` and the main-push reuse job verify runs against them too ([from-run](#from-run), [CI reuse](#ci-reuse)) |
 | `remote_gate_runs` | `{ profiles, inventory, skipped? }`: the run profiles that together clear `pregate.json/remote_gate`, the command that prints the remote gate's test files, one per line, which their runs must cover, and an optional command that prints which selected files the gate itself never runs (see [run evidence](#run-evidence)) |
diff --git a/lib/ship-preflight.ts b/lib/ship-preflight.ts
index 2b483b308..3740e3fe1 100644
--- a/lib/ship-preflight.ts
+++ b/lib/ship-preflight.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ export const PREFLIGHT_HELP = `gstack-ship-preflight — /ship Steps 1-3 and Ste
       --lanes serial|parallel   how Step 5 runs its lanes; unset, one at a time on 4 or fewer cores, all at once above
       --policy-from head   Step 5's pregate reads the branch's .gstack/pregate.json, which may only add test lanes
                            (a branch that adds the lane for a file it touches); anything else is PREGATE_HEAD_POLICY_LOOSENS
+      --timeout <s>        Step 5's pregate --timeout for each runner process, 1 to 3600; unset, the base .gstack/pregate.json
+                           timeout_s applies, else 600 s, and a longer lane is PREGATE_INCOMPLETE
   gstack-ship-preflight --tests-only --base <base> --policy-from head --simulate [--allow-repo-commands] --lane <label>=<command>...
       a dry run that proves a new ship_lanes_from mapping: which lanes the branch's own map would carry from a verified
       CI run at this tree. Every line starts SIMULATION:; no lane runs, no evidence or ledger row is written and no
@@ -153,8 +155,8 @@ function merge(cwd: string, base: string, r: Report): boolean {
   return true;
 }
 
-async function tests(cwd: string, base: string, list: { label: string; command: string }[], policyFrom: string, run: { concurrency: number; line: string }, r: Report): Promise<void> {
-  const pg = bin(cwd, 'gstack-pregate', ['--allow-repo-commands', '--base', base, '--policy-from', policyFrom], 3_600_000);
+async function tests(cwd: string, base: string, list: { label: string; command: string }[], policyFrom: string, timeout: string | undefined, run: { concurrency: number; line: string }, r: Report): Promise<void> {
+  const pg = bin(cwd, 'gstack-pregate', ['--allow-repo-commands', '--base', base, '--policy-from', policyFrom, ...(timeout ? ['--timeout', timeout] : [])], 3_600_000);
   const refusal = pg.status === 3 ? /\((PREGATE_[A-Z_]+|POLICY_[A-Z_]+)[;)]/.exec(pg.stderr)?.[1] : undefined;
   const verdict = refusal ? `refused (${refusal})` : /^PREGATE: (.+?) tree=/m.exec(pg.stdout + pg.stderr)?.[1] ?? `unreadable (exit ${pg.status})`;
   r.add(`PREGATE: ${verdict}`);
@@ -219,6 +221,8 @@ export async function preflight(argv: readonly string[], cwd: string): Promise<{
   }
   const policyFrom = flag('--policy-from') ?? 'base';
   if (!['base', 'head'].includes(policyFrom)) return { text: 'gstack-ship-preflight: --policy-from needs base|head\n', exit: 2 };
+  const timeout = flag('--timeout');
+  if (has('--timeout') && !(timeout && /^[1-9]\d*$/.test(timeout) && Number(timeout) <= 3600)) return { text: 'gstack-ship-preflight: --timeout needs whole seconds from 1 to 3600\n', exit: 2 };
   if (!base || typeof list === 'string') return { text: `gstack-ship-preflight: ${typeof list === 'string' ? list : '--base <base> is required'}\n`, exit: 2 };
   if (has('--tests-only') && !list.length) return { text: 'gstack-ship-preflight: --tests-only needs at least one --lane <label>=<command>\n', exit: 2 };
   if (has('--simulate')) return has('--tests-only') && policyFrom === 'head' && list.length ? simulate(cwd, base, list, has('--allow-repo-commands')) : { text: 'gstack-ship-preflight: --simulate needs --tests-only --policy-from head and at least one --lane <label>=<command>\n', exit: 2 };
@@ -227,7 +231,7 @@ export async function preflight(argv: readonly string[], cwd: string): Promise<{
   if (typeof concurrency === 'string') return { text: `gstack-ship-preflight: ${concurrency}\n`, exit: 2 };
   const r = new Report();
   if (has('--tests-only') || integrate(cwd, base, r)) {
-    if (list.length) await tests(cwd, base, list, policyFrom, { concurrency, line: `LANES: ${concurrency === 1 ? 'serial' : 'parallel'} (${mode ? '--lanes' : `${os.availableParallelism()} cores`})` }, r);
+    if (list.length) await tests(cwd, base, list, policyFrom, timeout, { concurrency, line: `LANES: ${concurrency === 1 ? 'serial' : 'parallel'} (${mode ? '--lanes' : `${os.availableParallelism()} cores`})` }, r);
     else if (r.exit === 0) r.next('Step 4: confirm the test framework, then rerun with --tests-only --lane <label>=<command> per suite (Step 5)');
   }
   return { text: r.render(), exit: r.exit };
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index d213d072d..a76418030 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "gstack",
-  "version": "1.94.27",
+  "version": "1.94.28",
   "description": "Garry's Stack — Claude Code skills + fast headless browser. One repo, one install, entire AI engineering workflow.",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/test/ship-preflight.test.ts b/test/ship-preflight.test.ts
index ea12627af..3ac07bbab 100644
--- a/test/ship-preflight.test.ts
+++ b/test/ship-preflight.test.ts
@@ -380,4 +380,20 @@ describe('gstack-ship-preflight Step 5 pregate: head policy and timeout_s (GST-4
     expect(lineOf(r.stdout, 'PREGATE')).toMatch(/^PREGATE: (tests |all )?incomplete/);
     expect(lineOf(r.stdout, 'PREGATE_DETAIL')).toContain('timed out after 2000 ms (timeout_s from origin/main');
   });
+
+  // Value: protects=--timeout on preflight reaches Step 5's pregate, so a repo with no timeout_s can run lanes past 600 s without a standalone pregate; fails_when=preflight drops the flag and pregate runs at timeout_s or the 600 s default;
+  //   why_new=GST-1196 (GEVA-2, gstack-evals#176/#179): a 128-file group stopped at 600 s; seam=gstack-pregate --timeout; no_claim=the finish fallback
+  test('--timeout reaches Step 5 pregate over the policy and default, and a bad value is usage', () => {
+    const slow = "const test = require('node:test');\ntest('slow', async () => { await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 4000)); });\n";
+    const f = fx(base({ timeout_s: 600 }), { 'test/slow.serial.test.js': slow });
+    const r = f.run(PREFLIGHT, ['--tests-only', '--base', 'main', '--timeout', '2', '--lane', LANE]);
+    expect(r.status).toBe(3);
+    expect(lineOf(r.stdout, 'PREGATE')).toMatch(/^PREGATE: (tests |all )?incomplete/);
+    expect(lineOf(r.stdout, 'PREGATE_DETAIL')).toContain('timed out after 2000 ms (--timeout applies');
+    for (const bad of ['0', '3601', '1.5', 'x']) {
+      const u = f.run(PREFLIGHT, ['--tests-only', '--base', 'main', '--timeout', bad, '--lane', LANE]);
+      expect(u.status).toBe(2);
+      expect(u.stdout + u.stderr).toContain('--timeout needs whole seconds from 1 to 3600');
+    }
+  });
 });