diff --git a/docs/2_ARCHITECTURE.md b/docs/2_ARCHITECTURE.md
index a369380..fc31e68 100644
--- a/docs/2_ARCHITECTURE.md
+++ b/docs/2_ARCHITECTURE.md
@@ -208,8 +208,10 @@ The only accepted agent output is `submit_investigation`:
 1. Parse `InvestigationResult`.
 2. Require evidence for observed claims.
 3. Validate repository name and commit against the manifest.
-4. Resolve each path inside the checkout and reject traversal, `.git`, missing
-   files, and invalid line ranges.
+4. Resolve each path inside the checkout, following symlinks, and record the
+   target's path so the evidence link shows the lines that were checked.
+   Reject traversal, paths or symlink targets inside `.git`, missing files,
+   and invalid line ranges.
 5. Return validation errors to the model for up to three submissions.
 
 The runner emits one terminal `result` or `error` event. The host downloads
diff --git a/src/runner/submit.ts b/src/runner/submit.ts
index 4f33bcc..f9dbf4e 100644
--- a/src/runner/submit.ts
+++ b/src/runner/submit.ts
@@ -92,16 +92,21 @@ function inspectFile(repoDir: string, path: string, repository: string): { path:
   const normalized = posix.normalize(path).replace(/^\.\//, "");
   if (normalized === ".git" || normalized.startsWith(".git/")) return { problem: `"${path}" is inside .git` };
 
+  let root: string;
   let real: string;
   try {
-    real = realpathSync(resolve(repoDir, normalized));
+    root = realpathSync(repoDir);
+    real = realpathSync(resolve(root, normalized));
   } catch {
     const hint = normalized.startsWith(`${repository}/`) ? ` (paths are relative to the repository root; try "${normalized.slice(repository.length + 1)}")` : "";
     return { problem: `"${path}" does not exist in ${repository}${hint}` };
   }
-  if (!real.startsWith(realpathSync(repoDir) + sep)) return { problem: `"${path}" resolves outside ${repository}` };
+  if (!real.startsWith(root + sep)) return { problem: `"${path}" resolves outside ${repository}` };
+  // Cite the symlink's target, not the alias: the evidence URL must show the lines counted here.
+  const target = relative(root, real).split(sep).join("/");
+  if (target.split("/").includes(".git")) return { problem: `"${path}" resolves inside .git` };
   if (!statSync(real).isFile()) return { problem: `"${path}" is not a regular file` };
-  return { path: normalized, lines: countLines(readFileSync(real)) };
+  return { path: target, lines: countLines(readFileSync(real)) };
 }
 
 function countLines(content: Buffer): number {
diff --git a/test/evidence.test.ts b/test/evidence.test.ts
index f614b13..35d2705 100644
--- a/test/evidence.test.ts
+++ b/test/evidence.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { afterAll, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { buildEvidenceUrl, type Evidence, type FinalAnswer } from "../src/investigation.ts";
 import type { RepoManifest } from "../src/manifest.ts";
 import { filterEvidence } from "../src/tasks.ts";
+import { rm } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { dirname } from "node:path";
+import { validateSubmission } from "../src/runner/submit.ts";
+import { makeCitationFixture, makeInput, REPO } from "./helpers.ts";
 
 const sha = "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567";
 const manifest: RepoManifest = {
@@ -77,3 +81,23 @@ describe("buildEvidenceUrl", () => {
     );
   });
 });
+
+describe("validated citation links", () => {
+  const fx = makeCitationFixture();
+  const input = makeInput(fx);
+  afterAll(() => rm(dirname(fx.reposRoot), { recursive: true, force: true }));
+
+  it("links an accepted symlink citation to its target file", () => {
+    const verdict = validateSubmission(finalAnswer([{
+      repository: REPO, commit: fx.commit.slice(0, 7), path: "source-alias.ts", start_line: 2, end_line: 3,
+    }]), { manifest: input.manifest, repos_root: fx.reposRoot });
+    expect(verdict.ok).toBe(true);
+    if (!verdict.ok) throw new Error(verdict.problems.join("\n"));
+    const { result, dropped } = filterEvidence(verdict.result, input.manifest);
+    expect(dropped).toEqual([]);
+    expect(kept(result)).toEqual([{
+      repository: REPO, commit: fx.commit, path: "src/source.ts", start_line: 2, end_line: 3,
+      url: `https://github.com/${REPO}/blob/${fx.commit}/src/source.ts#L2-L3`,
+    }]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/helpers.ts b/test/helpers.ts
index 1495175..3f29b6f 100644
--- a/test/helpers.ts
+++ b/test/helpers.ts
@@ -108,6 +108,29 @@ export function makeFixture(): Fixture {
   return { reposRoot, scratchDir, repoDir, commit: git("rev-parse", "HEAD") };
 }
 
+/** A committed corpus of symlinks to a source file, a directory, and repository metadata. */
+export function makeCitationFixture(): Fixture {
+  const fx = makeFixture();
+  const g = (...args: string[]) => execFileSync("git", [...ident, "-C", fx.repoDir, ...args], { encoding: "utf8" }).trim();
+  mkdirSync(join(fx.repoDir, "nested"));
+  writeFileSync(join(fx.repoDir, "src/source.ts"), "first line\nsecond line\nthird line\n");
+  const aliases = {
+    "source-alias.ts": "src/source.ts",
+    "source-chain.ts": "source-alias.ts",
+    "source-dir": "src",
+    "nested/source-dir": "../src",
+    "metadata.txt": ".git/config",
+    "metadata-dir": ".git",
+    "dangling.ts": "missing.ts",
+    "cycle-a.ts": "cycle-b.ts",
+    "cycle-b.ts": "cycle-a.ts",
+  };
+  for (const [path, target] of Object.entries(aliases)) symlinkSync(target, join(fx.repoDir, path));
+  g("add", "-A");
+  g("commit", "-q", "-m", "add citation aliases");
+  return { ...fx, commit: g("rev-parse", "HEAD") };
+}
+
 export function makeInput(fx: Fixture, overrides: { text?: string; timeout_ms?: number } = {}): RunnerInput {
   return {
     trace_id: randomUUID(),
diff --git a/test/runner.test.ts b/test/runner.test.ts
index 53ce680..5ac03b5 100644
--- a/test/runner.test.ts
+++ b/test/runner.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { isBuiltin } from "node:module";
 import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { fauxAssistantMessage } from "@earendil-works/pi-ai";
-import { buildRunner, CLARIFY, call, finalAnswer, makeFixture, makeInput, parseEvents, REPO, RUNNER_DIR, runCli, runScripted, say, terminal, toolResults } from "./helpers.ts";
+import { buildRunner, CLARIFY, call, finalAnswer, makeCitationFixture, makeFixture, makeInput, parseEvents, REPO, RUNNER_DIR, runCli, runScripted, say, terminal, toolResults } from "./helpers.ts";
 import { apiKeyFor, takeCredentials } from "../src/runner/main.ts";
 import { validateSubmission } from "../src/runner/submit.ts";
 import { rejectReason } from "../src/runner/tools.ts";
@@ -276,6 +276,35 @@ describe("citation validation", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("symlink citations", () => {
+  const fx = makeCitationFixture();
+  const checkouts = { manifest: makeInput(fx).manifest, repos_root: fx.reposRoot };
+  const cite = (path: string) => finalAnswer([{ repository: REPO, commit: fx.commit.slice(0, 7), path, start_line: 2, end_line: 3 }]);
+  afterAll(() => rm(dirname(fx.reposRoot), { recursive: true, force: true }));
+
+  it.each(["source-alias.ts", "source-chain.ts", "source-dir/source.ts", "nested/source-dir/source.ts", "./src//source.ts"])(
+    "records the target path for %s", (path) => {
+      const verdict = validateSubmission(cite(path), checkouts);
+      expect(verdict.ok && verdict.result.status === "final_answer" && verdict.result.evidence).toEqual([
+        { repository: REPO, commit: fx.commit, path: "src/source.ts", start_line: 2, end_line: 3 },
+      ]);
+    },
+  );
+
+  it.each([
+    ["metadata.txt", "resolves inside .git"],
+    ["metadata-dir/config", "resolves inside .git"],
+    ["escape.txt", "resolves outside"],
+    ["dangling.ts", "does not exist"],
+    ["cycle-a.ts", "does not exist"],
+    ["source-dir", "not a regular file"],
+  ])("rejects %s", (path, message) => {
+    const verdict = validateSubmission(cite(path), checkouts);
+    expect(verdict.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(!verdict.ok && verdict.problems[0]).toContain(message);
+  });
+});
+
 const RUNNER_PACKAGES = new Set(["@earendil-works/pi-agent-core", "@earendil-works/pi-ai", "typebox", "zod"]);
 const SHARED_MODULES = new Set(["investigation.ts", "manifest.ts", "util.ts"]);
 const importsOf = (code: string) => [...code.matchAll(/from\s+["']([^"']+)["']/g)].map((m) => m[1]!);