diff --git a/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.test.ts
index 283351b..686170d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.test.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,47 @@ describe('buildFileIndex', () => {
   it('returns an empty index for a repository with no tracked files', () => {
     expect(buildFileIndex([])).toEqual({});
   });
+
+  it('excludes the producer\'s own artifact, so the index converges', () => {
+    // Regression, caught by the META-198 conformance suite. Run 1 emits N keys;
+    // run 2 emitted N+1 because `.agents/workspace.json` now existed on disk
+    // and the scanner reported it. The material projection therefore changed
+    // with no repository change, which breaks `generate --check` as a CI gate
+    // on every repository's first run after adoption.
+    const files = ['src/a.ts', '.agents/workspace.json'];
+    expect(Object.keys(buildFileIndex(files, ['.agents/workspace.json']))).toEqual(['src/a.ts']);
+
+    // Convergence is the property that actually matters: the index a repo
+    // produces before its artifact exists must equal the one produced after.
+    expect(JSON.stringify(buildFileIndex(['src/a.ts'], ['.agents/workspace.json'])))
+      .toBe(JSON.stringify(buildFileIndex(files, ['.agents/workspace.json'])));
+  });
+
+  it('excludes a producer-owned directory and everything beneath it', () => {
+    const files = [
+      'src/a.ts',
+      '.agents/audit-history/2026-01-01.json',
+      '.agents/audit-history/nested/2026-01-02.json',
+    ];
+    expect(Object.keys(buildFileIndex(files, ['.agents/audit-history']))).toEqual(['src/a.ts']);
+  });
+
+  it('does not exclude a repository file that merely shares a prefix', () => {
+    // `includes()` or a bare `startsWith` without the separator would drop this
+    // real file, silently removing evidence the consumer needs.
+    const files = ['.agents/audit-history-notes.md', '.agents/audit-history/run.json'];
+    expect(Object.keys(buildFileIndex(files, ['.agents/audit-history']))).toEqual([
+      '.agents/audit-history-notes.md',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('indexes everything when no producer outputs are declared', () => {
+    // The parameter is optional, so existing callers keep their behavior.
+    expect(Object.keys(buildFileIndex(['src/a.ts', '.agents/workspace.json']))).toEqual([
+      '.agents/workspace.json',
+      'src/a.ts',
+    ]);
+  });
 });
 
 describe('buildFrameworkManifest', () => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.ts b/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.ts
index d8eae6e..1588598 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/producer/evidence.ts
@@ -42,8 +42,30 @@ function toIndexKey(file: string): string {
  * META-248 joined by `hasOwnProperty(fileIndex, key)` and never read a value,
  * so an empty index made every such join silently return zero rows.
  */
-export function buildFileIndex(files: string[]): Record<string, FileIndexEntry> {
-  const keys = [...new Set(files.map(toIndexKey).filter(Boolean))].sort();
+export function buildFileIndex(
+  files: string[],
+  producerOutputs: readonly string[] = [],
+): Record<string, FileIndexEntry> {
+  // The producer's own output is not repository evidence, and indexing it makes
+  // the artifact non-convergent: run 1 emits 6 keys, run 2 emits 7 because
+  // `.agents/workspace.json` now exists on disk and the scanner sees it. The
+  // material projection therefore changes with no repository change, which
+  // makes `generate --check` fail on every repository's first CI run after
+  // adoption. It self-corrects from run 3 onward, so running `generate` twice
+  // locally hides it entirely — only generate-then-check exposes it, and that
+  // is exactly the CI path. Caught by the META-198 conformance suite.
+  // Entries match either exactly (a file, `.agents/workspace.json`) or as a
+  // directory prefix (`.agents/audit-history` excludes everything beneath it).
+  // A bare `includes()` would be wrong: `.agents/audit-history-notes.md` is a
+  // repository file that merely shares a prefix, and excluding it would drop
+  // real evidence.
+  const excluded = producerOutputs.map(toIndexKey).filter(Boolean);
+  const isProducerOutput = (key: string): boolean =>
+    excluded.some((output) => key === output || key.startsWith(`${output}/`));
+
+  const keys = [...new Set(files.map(toIndexKey).filter(Boolean))]
+    .filter((key) => !isProducerOutput(key))
+    .sort();
   const index: Record<string, FileIndexEntry> = {};
   for (const key of keys) index[key] = {};
   return index;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/producer/generate.ts b/packages/cli/src/producer/generate.ts
index 78b6a85..fb65ea6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/producer/generate.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/producer/generate.ts
@@ -223,7 +223,13 @@ export async function generateWorkspaceJson(
         .slice()
         .sort((a, b) => a.lineNumber - b.lineNumber)
         .map((c) => ({ raw: c.raw, type: c.type, canonical: c.canonical })),
-      fileIndex: buildFileIndex(repo.files),
+      // Producer-owned outputs are excluded: they are this tool's own writes,
+      // not repository evidence, and indexing them makes the artifact
+      // non-convergent. See buildFileIndex for the failure mode.
+      fileIndex: buildFileIndex(repo.files, [
+        relative(resolvedRoot, outputPath),
+        fullConfig.reportDir,
+      ]),
       topology: {
         packageCount: repo.packages.length,
         type: repo.isMonorepo ? 'monorepo' : 'single-package',