diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50015e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SECURITY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+# Security Policy
+
+CronStream is a financial protocol. It custodies funds in smart contracts and
+signs on-chain payment authorizations off-chain. We take security seriously and
+appreciate responsible disclosure from the community.
+
+## Reporting a vulnerability
+
+**Do not open a public GitHub issue, pull request, or discussion for a security
+vulnerability.** Public disclosure before a fix puts user funds at risk.
+
+Report privately to the maintainers:
+
+- **Email:** thecronstream@gmail.com
+- **Telegram:** [@AbrahamNA_VIG](https://t.me/AbrahamNA_VIG)
+
+Please include:
+
+- A description of the vulnerability and its impact
+- Steps to reproduce (proof-of-concept, transaction hashes, or code references)
+- Affected component(s) and version/commit
+- Any suggested remediation
+
+If you can, encrypt sensitive details or share a minimal private repro rather
+than posting exploit code anywhere public.
+
+## What to expect
+
+- **Acknowledgement** within 72 hours of your report.
+- **Triage and severity assessment** shortly after, with a planned remediation
+  timeline communicated to you.
+- **Coordinated disclosure.** We will work with you on timing and credit you in
+  the fix notes unless you prefer to remain anonymous.
+
+Please give us a reasonable window to remediate before any public disclosure.
+
+## Scope
+
+In scope:
+
+- **Smart contracts** (`contracts/`): fund custody, stream accounting, voucher
+  verification, nonce/replay protection, access control, reclaim/cancel logic.
+- **Agent node** (`agent-node/`): EIP-712 voucher signing, milestone
+  verification, webhook signature validation, API authentication, rate limiting,
+  credential encryption, and the public x402 API.
+- **Frontend** (`frontend/`): issues that can lead to loss of funds, signature
+  phishing, or auth bypass.
+
+Examples of high-value reports:
+
+- Signing or submitting an extension voucher without genuine verified work
+- Replay or nonce reuse against the router contract
+- Reclaiming or withdrawing funds the caller is not entitled to
+- Webhook signature bypass that lets an attacker forge verification events
+- Leakage of stored OAuth tokens / API keys, or encryption weaknesses
+- Authentication or rate-limit bypass on the agent API
+
+## Out of scope
+
+- Vulnerabilities in third-party dependencies already tracked by Dependabot
+  (please still report if you have a working exploit against CronStream).
+- Spam, automated scanner output, missing best-practice headers with no
+  demonstrable impact, or social-engineering of maintainers.
+- Issues requiring a compromised user device or a malicious privileged operator.
+- Testnet-only griefing with no mainnet impact.
+
+## Safe harbor
+
+We support good-faith security research. If you make a genuine effort to follow
+this policy (avoid privacy violations, data destruction, and service
+degradation, and only test against assets you control or testnets), we will not
+pursue or support legal action against you for your research.
+
+## A note on the license
+
+CronStream is released under the [Business Source License 1.1](./LICENSE). The
+security of the protocol is a shared interest regardless of license terms, and
+responsible disclosure is always welcome.
diff --git a/agent-node/src/codeDiff.js b/agent-node/src/codeDiff.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6be120b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent-node/src/codeDiff.js
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/**
+ * codeDiff.js
+ * Shared "is this a real code change?" check for milestone verification.
+ *
+ * A merged PR counts as a deliverable if it adds real code — regardless of where
+ * the repo keeps that code. We use a DENYLIST (not a `src/`+`contracts/`
+ * allowlist) so it works for every project layout and every developer's
+ * workflow: Go in cmd/, Python at root, JS in lib/ or packages/, etc.
+ *
+ * A file is NOT counted when it is documentation, lockfiles, CI config, build
+ * config, or binary assets — changes to those alone shouldn't trigger payment.
+ */
+
+const DOC_EXTS = new Set([
+  '.md', '.txt', '.mdx', '.rst', '.adoc',
+]);
+
+const ASSET_EXTS = new Set([
+  '.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg', '.gif', '.svg', '.ico', '.webp', '.bmp', '.avif',
+  '.woff', '.woff2', '.ttf', '.eot', '.otf', '.mp4', '.mov', '.webm', '.pdf',
+]);
+
+// Build/CI/config formats — a PR touching only these isn't a code deliverable.
+const CONFIG_EXTS = new Set([
+  '.json', '.yml', '.yaml', '.toml', '.ini', '.cfg', '.conf',
+  '.lock', '.env', '.editorconfig', '.log', '.map', '.snap',
+]);
+
+// Non-code metadata files that have no extension.
+const IGNORE_BASENAMES = new Set([
+  'license', 'copying', 'notice', 'authors', 'codeowners', 'changelog',
+]);
+
+/**
+ * @param {string} filename - path as reported by the provider (e.g. "agent-node/src/db.js")
+ * @returns {boolean} true if the change should count toward a milestone
+ */
+export function isQualifyingCodeFile(filename) {
+  if (!filename) return false;
+  const path = filename.toLowerCase();
+
+  // CI / workflow definitions never count on their own.
+  if (path.startsWith('.github/') || path.includes('/.github/')) return false;
+
+  const base = path.split('/').pop();
+  if (!base) return false;
+
+  // Dotfiles (.gitignore, .env, .prettierrc, .babelrc, …) are config by convention.
+  if (base.startsWith('.')) return false;
+  if (IGNORE_BASENAMES.has(base)) return false;
+  if (base.endsWith('.lock')) return false;
+
+  const lastDot = base.lastIndexOf('.');
+  const ext = lastDot >= 0 ? base.slice(lastDot) : '';
+  if (DOC_EXTS.has(ext) || ASSET_EXTS.has(ext) || CONFIG_EXTS.has(ext)) return false;
+
+  // Everything else (.js .ts .tsx .sol .py .go .rs .java .rb .php .c .cpp .sh,
+  // Dockerfile, Makefile, …) is real code.
+  return true;
+}
diff --git a/agent-node/src/verificationEngine.js b/agent-node/src/verificationEngine.js
index bdb4f1b..0305494 100644
--- a/agent-node/src/verificationEngine.js
+++ b/agent-node/src/verificationEngine.js
@@ -18,12 +18,11 @@ import { getLastExtensionTime, isAlreadyProcessed, recordExtension, getProfile,
 import { readStreamBatch, submitExtension } from './chainSubmitter.js';
 import { signExtensionVoucher } from './agentSigner.js';
 import { getInstallationToken } from './githubApp.js';
+import { isQualifyingCodeFile } from './codeDiff.js';
 
 const WARN_WINDOW_S     = 48 * 3600;        // top up streams expiring within 48h
 const FROZEN_LOOKBACK_S = 7 * 24 * 3600;   // ignore streams frozen more than 7 days ago
 const GITHUB_API_BASE   = 'https://api.github.com';
-const EXCLUDED_EXTS     = ['.md', '.txt', '.mdx', '.rst'];
-const SOURCE_PREFIXES   = ['src/', 'contracts/'];
 const VOUCHER_TTL_S     = Number(process.env.VOUCHER_TTL_SECONDS ?? 3600);
 
 // ─── GitHub helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -45,11 +44,7 @@ async function ghGet(path, token) {
 }
 
 function hasQualifyingDiff(files) {
-  return files.some(f =>
-    f.additions > 0 &&
-    !EXCLUDED_EXTS.some(ext => f.filename.toLowerCase().endsWith(ext)) &&
-    SOURCE_PREFIXES.some(p => f.filename.includes(`/${p}`) || f.filename.startsWith(p)),
-  );
+  return files.some(f => f.additions > 0 && isQualifyingCodeFile(f.filename));
 }
 
 // ─── GitHub webhook verification ─────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -176,14 +171,11 @@ export function verifyJiraWebhook(payload, contractorProfile) {
 
 // ─── Bitbucket webhook verification ──────────────────────────────────────────
 
-const BB_CODE_PATH_RE  = /^(src|contracts|lib|packages)\//;
-const BB_IGNORE_EXTS   = new Set(['.md', '.txt', '.json', '.lock', '.yml', '.yaml', '.mdx']);
-
 /**
  * Verify a Bitbucket `pullrequest:fulfilled` webhook payload.
  * 3-layer gate:
  *   1. PR author matches the contractor's registered Bitbucket username / UUID
- *   2. PR contains real code changes in /src or /contracts (checked via diffstat API)
+ *   2. PR contains real code changes (any non-doc/config file, checked via diffstat API)
  *   3. Latest pipeline on the merge commit passed
  *
  * @param {object} payload    - raw Bitbucket webhook body
@@ -232,11 +224,7 @@ export async function verifyBitbucketWebhook(payload, companyCredentials, contra
     if (!diffRes.ok) return { ok: false, reason: `Bitbucket diffstat API returned ${diffRes.status}` };
     const diffData = await diffRes.json();
     const files    = diffData.values ?? [];
-    const hasCode  = files.some(f => {
-      const path = f.new?.path ?? f.old?.path ?? '';
-      const ext  = path.includes('.') ? '.' + path.split('.').pop() : '';
-      return BB_CODE_PATH_RE.test(path) && !BB_IGNORE_EXTS.has(ext);
-    });
+    const hasCode  = files.some(f => isQualifyingCodeFile(f.new?.path ?? f.old?.path ?? ''));
     if (!hasCode) {
       return { ok: false, reason: `No qualifying code changes across ${files.length} file(s)` };
     }
diff --git a/agent-node/src/verifyMilestone.js b/agent-node/src/verifyMilestone.js
index 819be94..f633b18 100644
--- a/agent-node/src/verifyMilestone.js
+++ b/agent-node/src/verifyMilestone.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  * Multi-source milestone verification for the CronStream agent node.
  *
  * Sources:
- *   github    — 3 layers: PR merged + CI green + code diff in /src or /contracts
+ *   github    — 3 layers: PR merged + CI green + real code diff (any non-doc file)
  *   jira      — ticket statusCategory is 'done'
  *   bitbucket — PR merged + optional pipeline success
  *   figma     — approval comment (approved / lgtm / ✅) within 30 days
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  * platform API keys required.
  */
 
+import { isQualifyingCodeFile } from './codeDiff.js';
+
 // ─── Custom Error ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 export class VerificationError extends Error {
@@ -33,8 +35,6 @@ export class VerificationError extends Error {
 // ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 const GITHUB_API_BASE      = 'https://api.github.com';
-const EXCLUDED_EXTENSIONS  = ['.md', '.txt', '.mdx', '.rst'];
-const SOURCE_PATH_PREFIXES = ['src/', 'contracts/'];
 
 async function githubGet(path, token) {
   const resolvedToken = token ?? process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN;
@@ -85,19 +85,14 @@ async function checkCodeDiff(owner, repo, prNumber, token) {
     page++;
   }
 
-  const qualifying = allFiles.filter(file => {
-    if (!file.additions || file.additions === 0) return false;
-    const filename = file.filename.toLowerCase();
-    if (EXCLUDED_EXTENSIONS.some(ext => filename.endsWith(ext))) return false;
-    return SOURCE_PATH_PREFIXES.some(
-      prefix => filename.includes(`/${prefix}`) || filename.startsWith(prefix),
-    );
-  });
+  const qualifying = allFiles.filter(
+    file => file.additions > 0 && isQualifyingCodeFile(file.filename),
+  );
 
   if (qualifying.length === 0) {
     throw new VerificationError(
       1,
-      'No qualifying code changes — need ≥1 addition in /src or /contracts (excluding .md/.txt)',
+      'No qualifying code changes — PR only touches docs, config, or assets',
     );
   }
   return qualifying;