diff --git a/actions/auto-release/action.yml b/actions/auto-release/action.yml
index 9d2ae59..8599577 100644
--- a/actions/auto-release/action.yml
+++ b/actions/auto-release/action.yml
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ runs:
           esac
         fi
 
-        # --- commit gate: subject line only; 0=match, 1=no-match, >1=error ---
+        # --- commit gate: 0=release, 1=valid non-release skip, >1=error ---
         subject="${COMMIT_MESSAGE%%$'\n'*}"
         set +e
         cc_out="$(bash "$ccheck" release-gate "$subject" 2>&1)"   # capture, don't suppress
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ runs:
         set -e
         case "$rc" in
           0) commit_ok=true ;;
-          1) commit_ok=false ;;                       # no-match: cc_out is the expected ::error::, ignore it
+          1) commit_ok=false ;;                       # valid conventional non-release subject: skip
           *) echo "$cc_out"; echo "::error::conventional-commit check failed (rc=$rc)"; exit 1 ;;
         esac
 
diff --git a/actions/auto-release/test_gate.sh b/actions/auto-release/test_gate.sh
index 59fa2a8..be4bed9 100755
--- a/actions/auto-release/test_gate.sh
+++ b/actions/auto-release/test_gate.sh
@@ -68,5 +68,32 @@ bash gate.sh validate-version "3"     >/dev/null 2>&1 && bad "reject 3"      ||
 [ "$(bash gate.sh compute-tag v 3.1 150)" = "v3.1.150" ]        && ok "tag v"     || bad "tag v"
 [ "$(bash gate.sh compute-tag jtk-v 1.0 42)" = "jtk-v1.0.42" ]  && ok "tag jtk-v" || bad "tag jtk-v"
 
+# --- release commit gate: release, intentional skip, and fail-loud invalid subject ---
+CCHECK="../conventional-commit/check.sh"
+check_rc() {
+  local mode="$1" message="$2" output rc
+  if output="$(bash "$CCHECK" "$mode" "$message" 2>&1)"; then rc=0; else rc=$?; fi
+  printf '%s\n' "$rc|$output"
+}
+expect_rc() {
+  local label="$1" expected="$2" result rc
+  result="$(check_rc "$3" "$4")"
+  rc="${result%%|*}"
+  if [ "$rc" -eq "$expected" ]; then ok "$label"; else bad "$label (rc=$rc)"; fi
+}
+expect_rc "feat release" 0 release-gate "feat: ship it"
+expect_rc "fix release" 0 release-gate "fix(scope)!: stop the bug"
+expect_rc "docs skip" 1 release-gate "docs: update the guide"
+expect_rc "refactor skip" 1 release-gate "refactor(core): simplify the path"
+expect_rc "ci skip" 1 release-gate "ci: update automation"
+invalid="$(check_rc release-gate "Fix scoped reviewer workspace path validation (#533)")"
+invalid_rc="${invalid%%|*}"
+invalid_output="${invalid#*|}"
+case "$invalid_output" in
+  *"invalid landed commit subject; refusing to skip auto-release"*)
+    [ "$invalid_rc" -eq 2 ] && ok "invalid landed subject fails loudly" || bad "invalid landed subject rc=$invalid_rc" ;;
+  *) bad "invalid landed subject message" ;;
+esac
+
 echo "----"
 if [ "$fails" -eq 0 ]; then echo "all gate.sh tests passed"; else echo "$fails failed"; exit 1; fi
diff --git a/actions/conventional-commit/check.sh b/actions/conventional-commit/check.sh
index 9b9df02..5431001 100755
--- a/actions/conventional-commit/check.sh
+++ b/actions/conventional-commit/check.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #
 # Usage: check.sh <mode> <message>
 #   title         accept the full conventional-commit type set
-#   release-gate  accept only feat|fix (the release-cutting subset)
+#   release-gate  accept feat|fix, skip valid non-release types, reject malformed subjects
 set -euo pipefail
 
 mode="${1:-}"
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@ if [ -z "$mode" ] || [ -z "$message" ]; then
   exit 2
 fi
 
+title_pattern='^(feat|fix|refactor|test|docs|ci|chore|build|perf|style)(\([^)]+\))?!?: .+'
+
 case "$mode" in
   title)
-    pattern='^(feat|fix|refactor|test|docs|ci|chore|build|perf|style)(\([^)]+\))?!?: .+'
+    pattern="$title_pattern"
     ;;
   release-gate)
     pattern='^(feat|fix)(\([^)]+\))?!?: .+'
@@ -33,6 +35,19 @@ if printf '%s' "$message" | grep -Eq "$pattern"; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
+# release-gate exit 1 is reserved for a valid conventional commit that is not
+# release-worthy. A malformed landed subject must fail the workflow instead of
+# being mistaken for an intentional skip.
+if [ "$mode" = "release-gate" ] && printf '%s' "$message" | grep -Eq "$title_pattern"; then
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "$mode" = "release-gate" ]; then
+  echo "::error::invalid landed commit subject; refusing to skip auto-release: $message" >&2
+  echo "expected pattern: $title_pattern" >&2
+  exit 2
+fi
+
 echo "::error::not a conventional commit (mode=$mode): $message"
 echo "expected pattern: $pattern" >&2
 exit 1