diff --git a/.mise/tasks/obfuscate b/.mise/tasks/obfuscate
index 02b64f0..778db39 100755
--- a/.mise/tasks/obfuscate
+++ b/.mise/tasks/obfuscate
@@ -39,12 +39,17 @@ renamed=$(mktemp) || {
   echo "Error: failed to create rename result" >&2
   exit 1
 }
-head_manifest=$(mktemp) || {
+indexed_manifest=$(mktemp) || {
   rm -f "$plan" "$renamed"
   echo "Error: failed to create manifest snapshot" >&2
   exit 1
 }
-trap 'rm -f "$plan" "$renamed" "$head_manifest"' EXIT
+staged_manifest=$(mktemp) || {
+  rm -f "$plan" "$renamed" "$indexed_manifest"
+  echo "Error: failed to create staged manifest" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+trap 'rm -f "$plan" "$renamed" "$indexed_manifest" "$staged_manifest"' EXIT
 
 if ! build_obfuscation_plan "$abs_notes_dir" "$plan" ${ARGS[@]+"${ARGS[@]}"}; then
   echo "Error: obfuscation planning failed" >&2
@@ -109,15 +114,16 @@ git -C "$TARGET_DIR" rm --cached --quiet --ignore-unmatch -- \
   "${readable_paths[@]}"
 
 # Full mode always owns the complete manifest. Scoped mode stages it only when
-# a renamed mapping is absent from HEAD, preventing unrelated uncommitted
-# mappings from leaking into a pre-commit operation.
+# a renamed mapping is absent from the index, preventing unrelated unstaged
+# mappings from leaking while preserving manifest changes already selected by
+# notes stage.
 stage_manifest=false
 if ! $scoped_mode; then
   stage_manifest=true
 else
   if ! git -C "$TARGET_DIR" cat-file --filters \
-    "HEAD:$notes_dir/.manifest" > "$head_manifest" 2>/dev/null; then
-    : > "$head_manifest"
+    ":$notes_dir/.manifest" > "$indexed_manifest" 2>/dev/null; then
+    : > "$indexed_manifest"
   fi
   if ! awk -F '\t' -v renamed="$renamed" '
     FILENAME != renamed {
@@ -126,13 +132,36 @@ else
     }
     !(($2 FS $1) in entries) { missing = 1 }
     END { exit missing ? 1 : 0 }
-  ' "$head_manifest" "$renamed"; then
+  ' "$indexed_manifest" "$renamed"; then
     stage_manifest=true
   fi
 fi
 
 if $stage_manifest; then
-  git -C "$TARGET_DIR" add "$manifest"
+  if ! $scoped_mode; then
+    git -C "$TARGET_DIR" add "$manifest"
+  else
+    # Stage the indexed manifest plus only this operation's mappings. Keep
+    # unrelated working edits out of the index, and use the same canonical
+    # name ordering as the working manifest.
+    awk -F '\t' -v OFS='\t' -v renamed="$renamed" '
+      FILENAME == renamed {
+        target_ids[$2] = 1
+        target_names[$1] = 1
+        rows[++count] = $2 FS $1
+        next
+      }
+      !(($1 in target_ids) || ($2 in target_names)) { print }
+      END {
+        for (i = 1; i <= count; i++) print rows[i]
+      }
+    ' "$renamed" "$indexed_manifest" \
+      | sort -t$'\t' -k2 > "$staged_manifest"
+    manifest_blob=$(git -C "$TARGET_DIR" hash-object -w \
+      --path="$notes_dir/.manifest" "$staged_manifest")
+    git -C "$TARGET_DIR" update-index --add --cacheinfo \
+      100644 "$manifest_blob" "$notes_dir/.manifest"
+  fi
 fi
 
 echo ""
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2bf7ce3..8fb26a2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 **Collective memory, encrypted.**
 
-[![tests: 419](https://img.shields.io/badge/tests-419-brightgreen?style=flat)](test/)
+[![tests: 420](https://img.shields.io/badge/tests-420-brightgreen?style=flat)](test/)
 ![lints: 8](https://img.shields.io/badge/lints-8-blue?style=flat)
 [![license: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue?style=flat)](LICENSE)
 
diff --git a/test/obfuscate.bats b/test/obfuscate.bats
index 786ebec..31ed75b 100644
--- a/test/obfuscate.bats
+++ b/test/obfuscate.bats
@@ -174,6 +174,34 @@ setup() {
   [ -f "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/$alpha_id" ]
 }
 
+@test "scoped new mapping stages canonical order without unrelated manifest edits" {
+  # Select a later-sorting mapping in the index, then leave another mapping
+  # only in the working manifest.
+  printf '22222222\tgamma.txt\n' > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/.manifest"
+  git -C "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD" add -f notes/.manifest
+  printf '33333333\tbeta.md\n' >> "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/.manifest"
+
+  notes obfuscate alpha.md
+
+  local staged_manifest staged_names working_manifest
+  staged_manifest=$(git -C "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD" show :notes/.manifest)
+  staged_names=$(printf '%s\n' "$staged_manifest" | cut -f2)
+  working_manifest=$(cat "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/.manifest")
+  [ "$staged_names" = $'alpha.md\ngamma.txt' ]
+  [[ "$staged_manifest" != *$'\tbeta.md'* ]]
+  [[ "$working_manifest" == *$'\talpha.md'* ]]
+  [[ "$working_manifest" == *$'33333333\tbeta.md'* ]]
+
+  # After committing and removing the intentionally unstaged mapping, no
+  # order-only manifest difference remains.
+  git -C "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD" commit -q --no-verify -m "scoped obfuscation"
+  grep -v $'33333333\tbeta.md' "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/.manifest" \
+    > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/.manifest.filtered"
+  mv "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/.manifest.filtered" \
+    "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/.manifest"
+  git -C "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD" diff --quiet -- notes/.manifest
+}
+
 @test "obfuscate refuses to overwrite an existing known-ID destination" {
   notes obfuscate
   local alpha_id
@@ -284,7 +312,7 @@ SH
   [ "$rm_calls" -eq 1 ]
 }
 
-@test "scoped obfuscate reads the HEAD manifest once and batches staging" {
+@test "scoped obfuscate reads the indexed manifest once and batches staging" {
   local mock_bin command real_command call_log
   notes obfuscate
   git -C "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD" commit -q --no-verify -m "obfuscated"
@@ -306,7 +334,7 @@ SH
     notes obfuscate alpha.md beta.md
 
   [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-  [ "$(grep -c $'^git\t.* cat-file --filters HEAD:notes/.manifest$' "$call_log" || true)" -eq 1 ]
+  [ "$(grep -c $'^git\t.* cat-file --filters :notes/.manifest$' "$call_log" || true)" -eq 1 ]
   [ "$(grep -c $'^git\t.* add -- notes/' "$call_log" || true)" -eq 1 ]
   [ "$(grep -c $'^git\t.* rm --cached --quiet --ignore-unmatch -- notes/' "$call_log" || true)" -eq 1 ]
 }