diff --git a/docs/FRICTION.md b/docs/FRICTION.md
index 620eedc..1067556 100644
--- a/docs/FRICTION.md
+++ b/docs/FRICTION.md
@@ -224,6 +224,46 @@ harness on ubongo and shaking it down against real KVM (spec/plan in docs/superp
   `flush` is safe; (3) the firewall final-review checklist should include "does the host run
   Docker/libvirt? the flush wipes their nat."
 
+<!-- From the 2026-06-19 mesh-hardening 3/3 (askari INPUT-only integration gate). -->
+
+- `[gotcha]` **`inet filter` default-deny blocks libvirt dnsmasq DHCP — silent, hard to diagnose**
+  (2026-06-19, task-3 integration gate): when `base__firewall_input_only: true` is applied to
+  ubongo, the `table inet filter { chain input { policy drop; } }` blocks DHCP packets that arrive
+  via the libvirt bridge (`virbr-boma`). In nftables, multiple tables at the same hook priority all
+  run independently; an `accept` verdict in `table ip filter LIBVIRT_INP` does NOT prevent
+  `table inet filter` from seeing and dropping the same packet. VMs never got DHCP leases (dnsmasq
+  socket confirmed by strace to never receive POLLIN despite tcpdump seeing the packet on
+  `virbr-boma`). Diagnosed by temporarily changing `inet filter input` to `policy accept` → fd=3
+  immediately fired. Fix: `/etc/nftables.d/10-libvirt-boma.nft` drop-in adding
+  `iifname "virbr-boma" accept` (survives service restarts via `include "/etc/nftables.d/*.nft"`).
+  → The `base` role's template needs a `base__firewall_trusted_bridges` variable so this is
+  encoded at the Ansible level, not in a manual host drop-in. Every host that runs Docker or
+  libvirt and also has `base__firewall_input_only: true` needs an analogous exception.
+
+- `[gotcha]` **libvirt `leaseshelper` PID-file permission: `virPidFileReleasePath` unlinks
+  `/run/leaseshelper.pid` after EVERY call; nobody cannot recreate it** (2026-06-19, task-3
+  integration gate): dnsmasq runs as nobody; `libvirt_leaseshelper` is its `--dhcp-script`. The
+  helper acquires a PID-file mutex at `/run/leaseshelper.pid`, but `virPidFileReleasePath`
+  UNLINKS the file on exit. `/run/` is `root:root 755`, so nobody cannot create the file after the
+  first unlink → every subsequent `add` call fails with `errno=13`, dnsmasq silently drops the
+  DHCP grant (no log, no error to the client). Fix: suid root C wrapper at
+  `/usr/lib/libvirt/libvirt_leaseshelper` (original moved to `.real`) that pre-creates
+  `/run/leaseshelper.pid` owned by nobody, then drops privileges and execs the real helper. The
+  root dnsmasq fork calls the wrapper; suid gives it permission to touch `/run/`; on return to
+  nobody uid the PID file stays. Also: `/var/lib/libvirt/dnsmasq/` must be `nobody:nogroup 775`
+  so leaseshelper can update `virbr-boma.status`. This fix is host-local on ubongo and NOT in
+  Ansible — encode it in an `integration_test` role task (or a libvirt role) before the harness
+  can be safely re-deployed.
+
+- `[gotcha]` **cloud-init rejects underscores in `local-hostname` → silently skips
+  network-config → VM never gets DHCP** (2026-06-19, task-3 integration gate): setting
+  `local-hostname: boma-it-askari_inputonly-<uuid>` caused cloud-init-local to consider the
+  hostname invalid and skip writing the network-config to the system. Systemd-networkd then
+  used the genericcloud default (no DHCP), so VMs got only IPv6 link-local. Fix in
+  `scripts/integration-vm.py`: `name.replace("_", "-")` in the meta-data hostname (disk paths
+  and virsh domain names keep the original underscore). Sanitization rule: RFC-952 hostnames
+  allow hyphens, not underscores.
+
 ---
 
 ## Kaizen reviews — decisions ledger