diff --git a/.agents/skills/running-tests/SKILL.md b/.agents/skills/running-tests/SKILL.md
index a944f70c..b01f20b7 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/running-tests/SKILL.md
+++ b/.agents/skills/running-tests/SKILL.md
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ because they run serially on separate runners; `--snapshot-shard 1/2` and
 `2/2` exist for that topology, not same-machine parallelism. See
 [`Shared/SnapshotKitTesting/AGENTS.md`](../../../Shared/SnapshotKitTesting/AGENTS.md).
 
+Every snapshot scope preflights the tracked references before generating or
+building. If any are still Git LFS pointer text, `./test` fails with
+`git lfs pull` rather than producing misleading "incomparable" results.
+Codex-managed macOS setup hydrates them through `./ide --bootstrap --no-open`;
+run `git lfs pull` explicitly for a manually-created or interrupted checkout.
+
 ## Iterate faster
 
 After a green build:
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index f2cf0499..c0aba1f9 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -557,8 +557,9 @@ idempotent and regenerate it through the ChatGPT desktop app's local environment
 editor when changing its schema.
 
 - macOS setup runs `./ide --bootstrap --no-open`; bootstrap trusts the new
-  checkout's `.mise.toml`, installs pinned tools, syncs agent files, and
-  generates without opening Xcode.
+  checkout's `.mise.toml`, installs pinned tools, hydrates every Git LFS object
+  referenced by the checkout, syncs agent files, and generates without opening
+  Xcode.
 - Linux setup delegates to [`.cursor/install.sh`](.cursor/install.sh), with the
   same platform limits documented below.
 - Setup first runs `./worktree --check-main`, which refreshes `origin/main` and
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1f9a8f8b..b646f7ce 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,8 +70,9 @@ Codex-managed worktrees use the checked-in local environment at
 without changing the checkout when its `HEAD` does not contain the latest main.
 The **Update to latest main** toolbar action safely fast-forwards a checkout
 directly behind main and refuses divergent feature history. On macOS the
-environment also runs `./ide --bootstrap --no-open`, offers project generation,
-affected tests, and format lint actions, and removes only that checkout's
+environment also runs `./ide --bootstrap --no-open`, which hydrates the
+checkout's Git LFS snapshot references before generating the project; it offers
+affected tests and format lint actions, and removes only that checkout's
 simulator on cleanup. `.worktreeinclude` copies the gitignored
 `.mise.local.toml` signing override from the source checkout into each new
 managed worktree.
diff --git a/ide b/ide
index ad40eb26..74cdb9d4 100755
--- a/ide
+++ b/ide
@@ -150,6 +150,16 @@ EOF
     # Install the pinned tools (Tuist, SwiftFormat, Ruby) from .mise.toml.
     echo "==> mise install"
     "$MISE" install
+
+    # Codex may create a managed worktree with LFS smudging disabled, leaving
+    # snapshot references as pointer text even though git-lfs is installed.
+    # Bootstrap is already the networked, one-shot setup boundary, and all
+    # worktrees share the repository's LFS object cache, so hydrate the current
+    # checkout here deterministically. A failed download must fail setup: an
+    # apparently ready checkout with pointer-backed references cannot run or
+    # re-record snapshots honestly.
+    echo "==> git lfs pull"
+    git lfs pull
 fi
 
 MISE="$(find_mise)"
diff --git a/test b/test
index b7881fe4..87fb1b8a 100755
--- a/test
+++ b/test
@@ -580,6 +580,52 @@ add_scheme() {
     SCHEMES+=("$candidate")
 }
 
+require_hydrated_snapshot_references() {
+    local reference lfs_files_json
+    local pointers=()
+
+    if ! command -v git-lfs >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "error: snapshot tests require git-lfs; run ./ide --bootstrap." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    # One stable JSON inventory avoids starting `git-lfs` once per reference —
+    # hundreds of subprocesses and a multi-second tax on every snapshot run.
+    # `checkout` distinguishes hydrated full objects from pointer text.
+    lfs_files_json="$WORKDIR/lfs-files.json"
+    if ! git lfs ls-files --json >"$lfs_files_json"; then
+        echo "error: could not inspect Git LFS snapshot references." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    while IFS= read -r reference; do
+        [ -n "$reference" ] && pointers+=("$reference")
+    done < <(LFS_FILES_JSON="$lfs_files_json" python3 - <<'PY'
+import json, os, pathlib
+
+inventory = json.loads(pathlib.Path(os.environ['LFS_FILES_JSON']).read_text())
+for item in inventory['files']:
+    name = item['name']
+    if '/__Snapshots__/' in name and name.endswith('.png') and not item['checkout']:
+        print(name)
+PY
+)
+
+    if [ "${#pointers[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
+        return
+    fi
+
+    echo "error: ${#pointers[@]} snapshot reference(s) are Git LFS pointer files, not PNGs." >&2
+    echo "       Snapshot comparisons would be incomplete or incomparable." >&2
+    echo "       Hydrate this checkout, then retry:" >&2
+    echo "         git lfs pull" >&2
+    echo "       First unresolved references:" >&2
+    printf '         %s\n' "${pointers[@]:0:5}" >&2
+    if [ "${#pointers[@]}" -gt 5 ]; then
+        echo "         … and $((${#pointers[@]} - 5)) more" >&2
+    fi
+    exit 1
+}
+
 case "$SCOPE" in
     all) add_scheme "$UNIT_SCHEME" ;;
     snapshots) add_scheme "$SNAPSHOT_SCHEME" ;;
@@ -666,11 +712,16 @@ if [ "${#SCHEMES[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+has_snapshot_scheme=false
+for scheme in "${SCHEMES[@]}"; do
+    [ "$scheme" = "$SNAPSHOT_SCHEME" ] && has_snapshot_scheme=true
+done
+
+if [ "$has_snapshot_scheme" = true ]; then
+    require_hydrated_snapshot_references
+fi
+
 if [ -n "$TIMING_REPORT" ]; then
-    has_snapshot_scheme=false
-    for scheme in "${SCHEMES[@]}"; do
-        [ "$scheme" = "$SNAPSHOT_SCHEME" ] && has_snapshot_scheme=true
-    done
     if [ "$has_snapshot_scheme" != true ]; then
         echo "error: --timing-report requires a snapshot test scope" >&2
         exit 1