diff --git a/.changeset/read-coercion-conformance.md b/.changeset/read-coercion-conformance.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..97e5bf475b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/read-coercion-conformance.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/verify": minor
+---
+
+Add `checkReadCoercion` — a reusable, driver-agnostic read-coercion conformance
+helper (a stored value must read back as its declared type: boolean as boolean,
+json as object, integer as number). Mirrors `checkLedger`: returns a list of
+problems (empty = conformant) with no test-runner dependency, so any driver —
+including out-of-tree ones like cloud's driver-turso — can run the identical
+contract against itself. This is the invariant behind the case_escalation
+`1 != true` incident.
diff --git a/packages/dogfood/package.json b/packages/dogfood/package.json
index 9fb5778af6..70079980aa 100644
--- a/packages/dogfood/package.json
+++ b/packages/dogfood/package.json
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
     "@objectstack/verify": "workspace:*"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@objectstack/driver-memory": "workspace:*",
+    "@objectstack/driver-sql": "workspace:*",
     "@types/node": "^26.1.0",
     "typescript": "^6.0.3",
     "vitest": "^4.1.10"
diff --git a/packages/dogfood/test/read-coercion-conformance.test.ts b/packages/dogfood/test/read-coercion-conformance.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2eb19989d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/dogfood/test/read-coercion-conformance.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+//
+// Driver read-coercion conformance — exercises the reusable `checkReadCoercion`
+// helper (from @objectstack/verify) against the framework's own SQL + memory
+// drivers. A stored value must read back as its DECLARED type on every driver:
+// a boolean as a boolean (not the integer 0/1 SQLite stores), a json field as
+// an object, an integer as a number.
+//
+// This is the invariant behind the 2026-07-06 case_escalation incident: a
+// boolean guard `field != true` read the field back as integer `1` on Turso, so
+// `1 != true` was always true and the flow self-triggered forever — while the
+// local repro (memory / better-sqlite3, both of which coerce) was green in 6s.
+// Cloud's driver-turso runs the identical contract against itself in remote mode.
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { checkReadCoercion } from '@objectstack/verify';
+import { SqlDriver } from '@objectstack/driver-sql';
+import { InMemoryDriver } from '@objectstack/driver-memory';
+
+const DRIVERS = [
+  {
+    name: 'driver-sql (better-sqlite3 :memory:)',
+    make: () =>
+      new SqlDriver({
+        client: 'better-sqlite3',
+        connection: { filename: ':memory:' },
+        useNullAsDefault: true,
+      }),
+  },
+  {
+    name: 'driver-memory',
+    // `persistence: false` → pure in-memory, so the probe object does not leak to
+    // a shared on-disk snapshot and collide with other suites in the full run.
+    make: () => new InMemoryDriver({ persistence: false }),
+  },
+];
+
+describe.each(DRIVERS)('read-coercion conformance: $name', ({ make }) => {
+  it('reads a stored row back as its declared types (boolean/json/number)', async () => {
+    const problems = await checkReadCoercion(make() as never);
+    expect(problems).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('checkReadCoercion detects a non-coercing driver', () => {
+  it('flags boolean/json/number that come back raw (the pre-fix remote-Turso shape)', async () => {
+    const raw = {
+      async connect() {},
+      async disconnect() {},
+      async syncSchema() {},
+      async create() {},
+      async find() {
+        return [{ id: '1', name: 'Widget', active: 1, meta: '{"k":1,"arr":[1,2]}', count: '5' }];
+      },
+    };
+    const problems = await checkReadCoercion(raw as never);
+    expect(problems).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(problems.join('\n')).toMatch(/boolean not coerced/);
+    expect(problems.join('\n')).toMatch(/json not coerced/);
+    expect(problems.join('\n')).toMatch(/number not coerced/);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/verify/src/index.ts b/packages/verify/src/index.ts
index 96af85216e..775f82181d 100644
--- a/packages/verify/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/verify/src/index.ts
@@ -23,3 +23,9 @@ export type { RlsReport, RlsResult } from './rls.js';
 // runtime harness): classify every declarable property, fail closed on drift.
 export { checkLedger } from './conformance.js';
 export type { ConformanceRow, ConformanceState, CheckLedgerOptions } from './conformance.js';
+
+// Driver read-coercion conformance: a stored value must read back as its
+// declared type on every driver (the case_escalation `1 != true` invariant).
+// Driver-agnostic — any driver, including out-of-tree ones, runs the same check.
+export { checkReadCoercion } from './read-coercion.js';
+export type { CoercibleDriver, ReadCoercionOptions } from './read-coercion.js';
diff --git a/packages/verify/src/read-coercion.ts b/packages/verify/src/read-coercion.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f262525d05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/verify/src/read-coercion.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * Driver read-coercion conformance — a reusable, driver-agnostic check.
+ *
+ * A stored value must read back as its DECLARED type on every driver: a
+ * `boolean` as a JS boolean (not the integer 0/1 SQLite stores), a `json` field
+ * as an object/array (not serialized text), an `integer` as a number. When two
+ * drivers disagree, code that is green on one silently breaks on the other.
+ *
+ * This is the invariant behind the 2026-07-06 `case_escalation` incident: a
+ * boolean guard `field != true` read the field back as integer `1` on Turso, so
+ * `1 != true` was always true and the flow self-triggered forever — while the
+ * local repro (memory / better-sqlite3, both of which coerce) was green.
+ *
+ * Like {@link checkLedger}, this returns a list of human-readable problems
+ * (empty = conformant) and carries NO test-runner dependency — callers assert
+ * `expect(await checkReadCoercion(driver)).toEqual([])`. It takes any driver
+ * structurally (see {@link CoercibleDriver}) so out-of-tree drivers — e.g.
+ * cloud's `driver-turso` in remote mode — can run the identical contract against
+ * themselves without importing a concrete driver type.
+ */
+
+/** The minimal driver surface this check drives. */
+export interface CoercibleDriver {
+  connect?(): Promise<void>;
+  disconnect?(): Promise<void>;
+  syncSchema(object: string, schema: unknown, options?: unknown): Promise<void>;
+  create(object: string, data: Record<string, unknown>, options?: unknown): Promise<unknown>;
+  find(object: string, query: unknown, options?: unknown): Promise<any[]>;
+}
+
+export interface ReadCoercionOptions {
+  /** Object/table name to create for the probe. Default `read_coercion_probe`. */
+  object?: string;
+}
+
+const FIELDS = {
+  name: { type: 'string' },
+  active: { type: 'boolean' },
+  meta: { type: 'json' },
+  count: { type: 'integer' },
+} as const;
+
+const INPUT = { id: '1', name: 'Widget', active: true, meta: { k: 1, arr: [1, 2] }, count: 5 };
+
+function stableStringify(v: unknown): string {
+  // Order-insensitive for plain objects so a driver that reorders JSON keys on
+  // round-trip is not falsely flagged; arrays keep their order.
+  const norm = (x: any): any => {
+    if (Array.isArray(x)) return x.map(norm);
+    if (x && typeof x === 'object') {
+      return Object.keys(x).sort().reduce((o: any, k) => ((o[k] = norm(x[k])), o), {});
+    }
+    return x;
+  };
+  return JSON.stringify(norm(v));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Round-trip a typed row through `driver` and report every field whose read-back
+ * value does not match its declared type. Empty array = conformant.
+ */
+export async function checkReadCoercion(
+  driver: CoercibleDriver,
+  opts: ReadCoercionOptions = {},
+): Promise<string[]> {
+  const object = opts.object ?? 'read_coercion_probe';
+  const problems: string[] = [];
+
+  await driver.connect?.();
+  try {
+    await driver.syncSchema(object, { name: object, fields: FIELDS });
+    await driver.create(object, { ...INPUT });
+
+    // Read back only the row we just wrote (by id), so the check is robust even
+    // when the probe object already holds unrelated rows on a shared backend.
+    const rows = await driver.find(object, { object, where: { id: INPUT.id } });
+    if (!Array.isArray(rows) || rows.length !== 1) {
+      problems.push(`find returned ${Array.isArray(rows) ? `${rows.length} rows` : typeof rows}, expected exactly 1`);
+      return problems;
+    }
+    const row = rows[0] as Record<string, unknown>;
+
+    if (row.active !== true) {
+      problems.push(`boolean not coerced: 'active' expected true, got ${typeof row.active} ${JSON.stringify(row.active)}`);
+    }
+    if (stableStringify(row.meta) !== stableStringify(INPUT.meta)) {
+      problems.push(`json not coerced: 'meta' expected object ${JSON.stringify(INPUT.meta)}, got ${typeof row.meta} ${JSON.stringify(row.meta)}`);
+    }
+    if (row.count !== 5) {
+      problems.push(`number not coerced: 'count' expected 5, got ${typeof row.count} ${JSON.stringify(row.count)}`);
+    }
+  } finally {
+    await driver.disconnect?.();
+  }
+
+  return problems;
+}
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 3da7154ddb..ba14e740ca 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -748,6 +748,12 @@ importers:
         specifier: workspace:*
         version: link:../verify
     devDependencies:
+      '@objectstack/driver-memory':
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:../plugins/driver-memory
+      '@objectstack/driver-sql':
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:../plugins/driver-sql
       '@types/node':
         specifier: ^26.1.0
         version: 26.1.0