diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 36cb64469..9d1af118c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- Added TDD bug-capture E2E tests for bug #1028 — ACMS indexing pipeline not
+  wired into CLI.  Four Robot Framework E2E tests prove ContextTierService starts
+  empty on every CLI invocation.  Tests use ``@tdd_expected_fail`` until the bug
+  fix is merged.  (#1029)
 - Added Fix-then-Revalidate orchestration loop for required validations:
   bounded retry with configurable limits (0--100 per Safety Profile),
   strategy revision escalation via ``auto_strategy_revision`` float
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index bc9365c4f..5e78c9b80 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ def serve_docs(session: nox.Session):
 @nox.session(python=SUPPORTED_PYTHONS, reuse_venv=True, venv_backend="uv")
 def build(session: nox.Session):
     """Build the wheel distribution."""
-    session.install("build")
+    session.install("build", "pip")
     session.run("python", "-m", "build", "--wheel")
 
 
diff --git a/robot/e2e/common_e2e.resource b/robot/e2e/common_e2e.resource
index b36aac3c9..8008931d2 100644
--- a/robot/e2e/common_e2e.resource
+++ b/robot/e2e/common_e2e.resource
@@ -137,6 +137,96 @@ Safe Parse Json Field
     Log    Safe Parse Json Field: JSON parse failed for field '${field_name}'. Strategy 1: ${strategy1_err}; Strategy 2: ${strategy2_err}    WARN
     RETURN    ${EMPTY}
 
+Run CLI
+    [Documentation]    Run ``python -m cleveragents`` inside a workspace directory
+    ...                with the correct environment variables.
+    ...
+    ...                Requires the calling suite to set ``${WS}`` (workspace
+    ...                directory) and ``${SUITE_HOME}`` (CLEVERAGENTS_HOME) as
+    ...                suite variables before calling this keyword.
+    ...
+    ...                Do not embed raw stdout/stderr in assertion failure messages —
+    ...                they may contain API key material.  DEBUG-level logs have the
+    ...                details.
+    [Arguments]    @{args}    ${expected_rc}=${0}    ${timeout}=120s
+    ${result}=    Run Process    ${PYTHON}    -m    cleveragents    @{args}
+    ...    cwd=${WS}
+    ...    env:CLEVERAGENTS_HOME=${SUITE_HOME}
+    ...    env:CLEVERAGENTS_AUTO_APPLY_MIGRATIONS=true
+    ...    env:NO_COLOR=1
+    ...    timeout=${timeout}
+    ...    on_timeout=kill
+    Log    STDOUT: ${result.stdout}    level=DEBUG
+    Log    STDERR: ${result.stderr}    level=DEBUG
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${result.rc}    ${expected_rc}
+    ...    CLI failed (rc=${result.rc}). Check DEBUG-level log entries above for stdout/stderr.
+    RETURN    ${result}
+
+Extract JSON From Stdout
+    [Documentation]    Extract the first JSON object from stdout that may contain
+    ...                leading non-JSON text (e.g. structlog debug messages).
+    ...                Uses ``raw_decode`` with ``strict=False`` to tolerate
+    ...                literal control characters that Rich's ``console.print``
+    ...                may inject when it wraps long lines inside JSON string
+    ...                values.  Wrapped in ``TRY/EXCEPT`` for clear failure messages.
+    ...
+    ...                **Note:** This picks the *first* JSON object (by scanning for
+    ...                the first ``{``).  Non-JSON preamble (e.g. structlog lines)
+    ...                is mitigated by ``NO_COLOR=1`` (disables Rich formatting) and
+    ...                structlog routing to stderr, so stdout typically starts with
+    ...                the JSON payload.  See ``Safe Parse Json Field`` in
+    ...                ``common_e2e.resource`` for a last-line fallback strategy
+    ...                that scans in reverse.
+    [Arguments]    ${text}
+    TRY
+        ${start}=    Evaluate    $text.index('{')
+        ${json_obj}=    Evaluate    json.JSONDecoder(strict=False).raw_decode($text, $start)[0]    modules=json
+    EXCEPT    AS    ${err}
+        Fail    Failed to extract JSON object from stdout: ${err}
+    END
+    RETURN    ${json_obj}
+
+Link Resource To Project
+    [Documentation]    Link the suite-level workspace resource to a project.
+    ...
+    ...                Requires the calling suite to set ``${WS_RESOURCE}`` as a
+    ...                suite variable before calling this keyword.
+    [Arguments]    ${project_name}
+    ${result}=    Run CLI    project    link-resource    ${project_name}    ${WS_RESOURCE}
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${result.rc}    0
+    ...    msg=project link-resource failed (rc=${result.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+
+Create Synthetic Codebase
+    [Documentation]    Populate a directory with small Python files and one
+    ...                deliberately large file for budget-enforcement testing.
+    ...
+    ...                ``${project_label}`` is embedded in docstrings and print
+    ...                statements to distinguish output from different suites.
+    [Arguments]    ${base_dir}    ${project_label}=E2E test project
+    ${main_py}=    Catenate    SEPARATOR=\n
+    ...    """Main entry point for ${project_label}."""
+    ...    ${EMPTY}
+    ...    def main() -> None:
+    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}"""Run the application."""
+    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}print("Hello from ${project_label}")
+    ...    ${EMPTY}
+    ...    if __name__ == "__main__":
+    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}main()
+    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}main.py    ${main_py}
+    ${utils_py}=    Catenate    SEPARATOR=\n
+    ...    """Utility helpers."""
+    ...    ${EMPTY}
+    ...    def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
+    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}return a + b
+    ...    ${EMPTY}
+    ...    def multiply(a: int, b: int) -> int:
+    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}return a * b
+    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}utils.py    ${utils_py}
+    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}config.py    TIMEOUT = 30\nMAX_RETRIES = 3\nDEBUG = False
+    # Large file (>1 KiB) for budget testing
+    ${large_content}=    Evaluate    "# auto-generated large file\\n" + ("x = 1\\n" * 250)
+    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}large_file.py    ${large_content}
+
 Create Temp Git Repo
     [Documentation]    Create a temporary git repository for E2E testing.
     ...
diff --git a/robot/e2e/m5_acceptance.robot b/robot/e2e/m5_acceptance.robot
index 01f62176c..14f541311 100644
--- a/robot/e2e/m5_acceptance.robot
+++ b/robot/e2e/m5_acceptance.robot
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ M5 Acceptance Suite Setup
     Should Be Equal As Integers    ${result.rc}    0
     ...    Workspace init failed (rc=${result.rc}). Check DEBUG-level log entries above.
     # Create synthetic source files for context testing
-    Create Synthetic Codebase    ${ws}
+    Create Synthetic Codebase    ${ws}    M5 test
     # Initialize a git repository — check every return code
     ${git_init}=    Run Process    git    init    cwd=${ws}    timeout=60s    on_timeout=kill
     Should Be Equal As Integers    ${git_init.rc}    0    msg=git init failed (rc=${git_init.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
@@ -78,53 +78,6 @@ M5 Acceptance Suite Teardown
     [Documentation]    Delegate to the common E2E teardown.
     E2E Suite Teardown
 
-Create Synthetic Codebase
-    [Documentation]    Populate the workspace with small Python files and one
-    ...                deliberately large file for budget-enforcement testing.
-    [Arguments]    ${base_dir}
-    ${main_py}=    Catenate    SEPARATOR=\n
-    ...    """Main entry point for M5 E2E test project."""
-    ...    ${EMPTY}
-    ...    def main() -> None:
-    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}"""Run the application."""
-    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}print("Hello from M5 test")
-    ...    ${EMPTY}
-    ...    if __name__ == "__main__":
-    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}main()
-    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}main.py    ${main_py}
-    ${utils_py}=    Catenate    SEPARATOR=\n
-    ...    """Utility helpers."""
-    ...    ${EMPTY}
-    ...    def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
-    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}return a + b
-    ...    ${EMPTY}
-    ...    def multiply(a: int, b: int) -> int:
-    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}return a * b
-    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}utils.py    ${utils_py}
-    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}config.py    TIMEOUT = 30\nMAX_RETRIES = 3\nDEBUG = False
-    # Large file (>1 KiB) for budget testing
-    ${large_content}=    Evaluate    "# auto-generated large file\\n" + ("x = 1\\n" * 250)
-    Create File    ${base_dir}${/}large_file.py    ${large_content}
-
-Run CLI
-    [Documentation]    Run ``python -m cleveragents`` inside the workspace directory
-    ...                with the correct environment variables.
-    [Arguments]    @{args}    ${expected_rc}=${0}    ${timeout}=120s
-    ${result}=    Run Process    ${PYTHON}    -m    cleveragents    @{args}
-    ...    cwd=${WS}
-    ...    env:CLEVERAGENTS_HOME=${SUITE_HOME}
-    ...    env:CLEVERAGENTS_AUTO_APPLY_MIGRATIONS=true
-    ...    env:NO_COLOR=1
-    ...    timeout=${timeout}
-    ...    on_timeout=kill
-    Log    STDOUT: ${result.stdout}    level=DEBUG
-    Log    STDERR: ${result.stderr}    level=DEBUG
-    # Do not embed raw stdout/stderr in assertion failure messages —
-    # they may contain API key material.  DEBUG-level logs above have the details.
-    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${result.rc}    ${expected_rc}
-    ...    CLI failed (rc=${result.rc}). Check DEBUG-level log entries above for stdout/stderr.
-    RETURN    ${result}
-
 Combined Output
     [Documentation]    Return the concatenation of stdout and stderr (lowercased).
     [Arguments]    ${result}
@@ -139,29 +92,6 @@ Skip If No OpenAI Key
     ${is_missing}=    Evaluate    len(os.environ.get('OPENAI_API_KEY', '')) == 0    modules=os
     Skip If    ${is_missing}    OPENAI_API_KEY not set — required for openai/gpt-4o-mini tests.
 
-Link Resource To Project
-    [Documentation]    Link the suite-level workspace resource to a project.
-    [Arguments]    ${project_name}
-    ${result}=    Run CLI    project    link-resource    ${project_name}    ${WS_RESOURCE}
-    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${result.rc}    0
-    ...    msg=project link-resource failed (rc=${result.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
-
-Extract JSON From Stdout
-    [Documentation]    Extract the first JSON object from stdout that may contain
-    ...                leading non-JSON text (e.g. structlog debug messages).
-    ...                Uses ``raw_decode`` with ``strict=False`` to tolerate
-    ...                literal control characters that Rich's ``console.print``
-    ...                may inject when it wraps long lines inside JSON string
-    ...                values.  Wrapped in ``TRY/EXCEPT`` for clear failure messages.
-    [Arguments]    ${text}
-    TRY
-        ${start}=    Evaluate    $text.index('{')
-        ${json_obj}=    Evaluate    json.JSONDecoder(strict=False).raw_decode($text, $start)[0]    modules=json
-    EXCEPT    AS    ${err}
-        Fail    Failed to extract JSON object from stdout: ${err}
-    END
-    RETURN    ${json_obj}
-
 Plan Test Setup
     [Documentation]    Setup for plan execution tests — skip if no API key
     ...                and verify prerequisite variables exist.
diff --git a/robot/e2e/m6_acceptance.robot b/robot/e2e/m6_acceptance.robot
index 2586f3947..dfc928102 100644
--- a/robot/e2e/m6_acceptance.robot
+++ b/robot/e2e/m6_acceptance.robot
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ M6 Suite Setup
     Set Suite Variable    ${RUN_SUFFIX}    ${suffix}
     # Register the local/code-review action needed by plan lifecycle tests.
     # Pick an actor that matches the available API key.
-    ${has_anthropic}=    Evaluate    bool(__import__('os').environ.get('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY', ''))
-    IF    ${has_anthropic}
-        ${actor}=    Set Variable    anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514
-    ELSE
+    ${has_openai}=    Evaluate    bool(__import__('os').environ.get('OPENAI_API_KEY', ''))
+    IF    ${has_openai}
         ${actor}=    Set Variable    openai/gpt-4o
+    ELSE
+        ${actor}=    Set Variable    anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514
     END
     ${action_yaml}=    Catenate    SEPARATOR=\n
     ...    name: local/code-review
diff --git a/robot/e2e/tdd_acms_behavioral_validation.robot b/robot/e2e/tdd_acms_behavioral_validation.robot
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..34b547132
--- /dev/null
+++ b/robot/e2e/tdd_acms_behavioral_validation.robot
@@ -0,0 +1,271 @@
+*** Settings ***
+Documentation     TDD Bug #1028 — ACMS indexing pipeline not wired into CLI.
+...
+...               Behavioral E2E tests proving that ``ContextTierService`` starts
+...               empty on every CLI invocation because the ACMS indexing pipeline
+...               is not wired into the CLI entry points.  The ``project context
+...               simulate`` and ``project context inspect`` commands operate on
+...               zero data even when run against a project directory containing
+...               files.
+...
+...               All tests are tagged ``tdd_expected_fail`` so the
+...               ``tdd_expected_fail_listener`` inverts results — a failing
+...               assertion (proving the bug exists) passes CI, while a passing
+...               assertion (bug appears fixed) fails CI until the tag is
+...               removed by the bug-fix developer.
+...
+...               See CONTRIBUTING.md > Bug Fix Workflow for the full TDD
+...               bug-capture lifecycle.
+...
+...               **Known limitation — result inversion scope:**
+...               The ``tdd_expected_fail`` listener inverts the *entire* test
+...               outcome, not just specific assertions.  If a test fails for an
+...               unrelated reason (e.g. CLI crash, infrastructure error, or suite
+...               setup failure), the inversion still converts that failure to
+...               PASS — producing a false-positive "bug confirmed" result.
+...               This is accepted because the corresponding non-inverted
+...               acceptance tests in ``m5_acceptance.robot`` cover the same CLI
+...               plumbing structurally, so infrastructure regressions surface
+...               there even if masked here.  The bug-fix developer should run
+...               these tests *without* the ``tdd_expected_fail`` tag to verify
+...               genuine assertion results after wiring the indexing pipeline.
+Resource          common_e2e.resource
+Library           OperatingSystem
+Library           String
+Library           Collections
+Library           Process
+Suite Setup       ACMS Behavioral Suite Setup
+Suite Teardown    ACMS Behavioral Suite Teardown
+
+*** Variables ***
+${PROJECT_SIMULATE}    local/tdd-1028-simulate
+${PROJECT_INSPECT}     local/tdd-1028-inspect
+${PROJECT_BUDGET}      local/tdd-1028-budget
+${PROJECT_SCALE}       local/tdd-1028-scale
+
+*** Keywords ***
+ACMS Behavioral Suite Setup
+    [Documentation]    Create an isolated workspace with ``agents init``, build a
+    ...                synthetic codebase, initialise a git repo, register it as a
+    ...                resource, and prepare for behavioral ACMS tests.
+    E2E Suite Setup
+    # Create workspace directory inside the suite home
+    ${ws}=    Set Variable    ${SUITE_HOME}${/}workspace
+    Create Directory    ${ws}
+    Set Suite Variable    ${WS}    ${ws}
+    # Initialize the CleverAgents workspace
+    ${result}=    Run CLI    init    m5-tdd-workspace
+    Log    Init stdout: ${result.stdout}    level=DEBUG
+    Log    Init stderr: ${result.stderr}    level=DEBUG
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${result.rc}    0
+    ...    Workspace init failed (rc=${result.rc}). Check DEBUG-level log entries above.
+    # Create synthetic source files for context testing
+    Create Synthetic Codebase    ${ws}    TDD 1028 test
+    # Initialize a git repository — check every return code
+    ${git_init}=    Run Process    git    init    cwd=${ws}    timeout=60s    on_timeout=kill
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${git_init.rc}    0    msg=git init failed (rc=${git_init.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+    ${git_cfg_name}=    Run Process    git    config    user.name    E2E Test    cwd=${ws}    timeout=60s    on_timeout=kill
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${git_cfg_name.rc}    0    msg=git config user.name failed (rc=${git_cfg_name.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+    ${git_cfg_email}=    Run Process    git    config    user.email    e2e@test.local    cwd=${ws}    timeout=60s    on_timeout=kill
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${git_cfg_email.rc}    0    msg=git config user.email failed (rc=${git_cfg_email.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+    ${git_add}=    Run Process    git    add    .    cwd=${ws}    timeout=60s    on_timeout=kill
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${git_add.rc}    0    msg=git add failed (rc=${git_add.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+    ${git_commit}=    Run Process    git    commit    -m    Initial commit    cwd=${ws}    timeout=60s    on_timeout=kill
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${git_commit.rc}    0    msg=git commit failed (rc=${git_commit.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+    # Detect the default branch created by git init
+    ${branch_result}=    Run Process    git    rev-parse    --abbrev-ref    HEAD    cwd=${ws}    timeout=60s    on_timeout=kill
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${branch_result.rc}    0    msg=git rev-parse failed (rc=${branch_result.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+    ${branch}=    Strip String    ${branch_result.stdout}
+    Set Suite Variable    ${WS_BRANCH}    ${branch}
+    # Register the workspace as a git-checkout resource
+    ${res_name}=    Set Variable    local/tdd-1028-ws-resource
+    Set Suite Variable    ${WS_RESOURCE}    ${res_name}
+    ${r_add}=    Run CLI    resource    add    git-checkout    ${res_name}    --path    ${ws}    --branch    ${branch}
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${r_add.rc}    0    msg=resource add failed (rc=${r_add.rc}). Check DEBUG logs above.
+    Set Suite Variable    ${SUITE_SETUP_COMPLETE}    ${TRUE}
+
+ACMS Behavioral Suite Teardown
+    [Documentation]    Delegate to the common E2E teardown.
+    E2E Suite Teardown
+
+*** Test Cases ***
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# TDD Bug #1028 — Behavioral ACMS validation
+#
+# NOTE: Each test guards against incomplete suite setup with
+#   [Setup]  Variable Should Exist  ${SUITE_SETUP_COMPLETE}
+# If suite setup fails, this guard raises an error which the
+# tdd_expected_fail listener inverts to PASS — silently passing
+# the test without executing any assertions.  This is a known
+# limitation of the tdd_expected_fail pattern; see the suite
+# documentation above.  The non-inverted m5_acceptance.robot
+# tests cover the same CLI plumbing and will surface setup
+# failures independently.
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Context Simulate Returns Non-Empty Tier Data
+    [Documentation]    Run ``project context simulate`` against a project with
+    ...                files and assert that the output contains actual indexed
+    ...                fragments (not empty tiers).
+    ...
+    ...                **Expected bug behavior:** ``total_tokens`` is 0 and
+    ...                ``fragment_count`` is 0 because the ACMS indexing pipeline
+    ...                is not wired into the CLI — ``ContextTierService`` starts
+    ...                empty on every invocation.
+    ...
+    ...                Tagged ``tdd_expected_fail`` because the assertion
+    ...                ``fragment_count > 0`` will fail, proving the bug.
+    [Tags]    tdd_expected_fail    tdd_bug    tdd_bug_1028    E2E
+    [Setup]    Variable Should Exist    ${SUITE_SETUP_COMPLETE}
+    ...    msg=Prerequisite not met: suite setup did not complete
+    # Create project and configure context policy
+    Run CLI    project    create    ${PROJECT_SIMULATE}
+    Link Resource To Project    ${PROJECT_SIMULATE}
+    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    set    ${PROJECT_SIMULATE}
+    ...    --view    default
+    ...    --include-path    **/*.py
+    # Run simulate and check for actual indexed data
+    ${result}=    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    simulate    ${PROJECT_SIMULATE}
+    ...    --format    json
+    ${sim_json}=    Extract JSON From Stdout    ${result.stdout}
+    # Behavioral assertion: the project has Python files, so simulate
+    # must produce non-zero fragment data after indexing.
+    ${fragment_count}=    Evaluate    int($sim_json.get('fragment_count', 0))
+    Should Be True    ${fragment_count} > 0
+    ...    msg=Bug #1028: fragment_count is ${fragment_count} (expected > 0). ACMS indexing pipeline is not wired into CLI — ContextTierService starts empty.
+    ${total_tokens}=    Evaluate    int($sim_json.get('total_tokens', 0))
+    Should Be True    ${total_tokens} > 0
+    ...    msg=Bug #1028: total_tokens is ${total_tokens} (expected > 0). No fragments were indexed from project files.
+
+Context Inspect Shows Indexed Resources
+    [Documentation]    Run ``project context inspect`` against a project with
+    ...                files and assert that the indexed resource count is > 0.
+    ...
+    ...                **Expected bug behavior:** ``tier_metrics`` counters are
+    ...                all zero because no indexing occurs — the ACMS pipeline
+    ...                is disconnected from the CLI.
+    ...
+    ...                Tagged ``tdd_expected_fail`` because the assertion on
+    ...                non-zero tier counts will fail, proving the bug.
+    [Tags]    tdd_expected_fail    tdd_bug    tdd_bug_1028    E2E
+    [Setup]    Variable Should Exist    ${SUITE_SETUP_COMPLETE}
+    ...    msg=Prerequisite not met: suite setup did not complete
+    # Create project and configure context policy
+    Run CLI    project    create    ${PROJECT_INSPECT}
+    Link Resource To Project    ${PROJECT_INSPECT}
+    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    set    ${PROJECT_INSPECT}
+    ...    --view    default
+    ...    --include-path    **/*.py
+    # Run inspect and check for indexed resources
+    ${result}=    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    inspect    ${PROJECT_INSPECT}
+    ...    --format    json
+    ${inspect_json}=    Extract JSON From Stdout    ${result.stdout}
+    # Behavioral assertion: at least one tier should have fragments
+    ${metrics}=    Evaluate    $inspect_json.get('tier_metrics', {})
+    ${hot_count}=    Evaluate    int($metrics.get('hot_count', 0))
+    ${warm_count}=    Evaluate    int($metrics.get('warm_count', 0))
+    ${cold_count}=    Evaluate    int($metrics.get('cold_count', 0))
+    ${total_indexed}=    Evaluate    ${hot_count} + ${warm_count} + ${cold_count}
+    Should Be True    ${total_indexed} > 0
+    ...    msg=Bug #1028: total indexed fragments is ${total_indexed} (expected > 0). tier_metrics: hot=${hot_count}, warm=${warm_count}, cold=${cold_count}. ACMS indexing pipeline is not wired into CLI.
+
+Budget Enforcement Excludes Oversized Files
+    [Documentation]    Configure ``max_file_size`` policy, add a file exceeding
+    ...                that limit, run simulate, and assert that the oversized
+    ...                file is excluded while smaller files are indexed.
+    ...
+    ...                **Expected bug behavior:** ``fragment_count`` is 0 because
+    ...                the indexing pipeline does not run at all — regardless of
+    ...                ``max_file_size`` configuration, no files are scanned.
+    ...
+    ...                Tagged ``tdd_expected_fail`` because the assertion on
+    ...                ``fragment_count > 0`` will fail, proving the bug.
+    [Tags]    tdd_expected_fail    tdd_bug    tdd_bug_1028    E2E
+    [Setup]    Variable Should Exist    ${SUITE_SETUP_COMPLETE}
+    ...    msg=Prerequisite not met: suite setup did not complete
+    # Create project with tight max_file_size (1024 bytes)
+    Run CLI    project    create    ${PROJECT_BUDGET}
+    Link Resource To Project    ${PROJECT_BUDGET}
+    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    set    ${PROJECT_BUDGET}
+    ...    --view    default
+    ...    --include-path    **/*.py
+    ...    --max-file-size    1024
+    ...    --max-total-size    8192
+    # Simulate should index small files but exclude large_file.py (>1KiB)
+    ${result}=    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    simulate    ${PROJECT_BUDGET}
+    ...    --format    json
+    ${sim_json}=    Extract JSON From Stdout    ${result.stdout}
+    # Behavioral assertion: at least the small files (main.py, utils.py,
+    # config.py) should be indexed — large_file.py should be excluded by
+    # max_file_size policy.  If fragment_count > 0, some files were indexed
+    # (and budget enforcement partially works).
+    # TODO(bugfix/m5-acms-cli-indexing-pipeline-wiring): After the indexing
+    # pipeline is wired, add a second assertion verifying that large_file.py
+    # is absent from the fragment list (i.e. budget enforcement actually
+    # excludes oversized files, not just that *some* files are indexed).
+    ${fragment_count}=    Evaluate    int($sim_json.get('fragment_count', 0))
+    Should Be True    ${fragment_count} > 0
+    ...    msg=Bug #1028: fragment_count is ${fragment_count} (expected > 0). Budget enforcement cannot exclude oversized files because the indexing pipeline does not run at all.
+
+Large Project Indexes Without Timeout
+    [Documentation]    Create a synthetic 10,000+ file project, run
+    ...                ``project context simulate``, and assert completion
+    ...                within a reasonable timeout with non-empty results.
+    ...
+    ...                **Expected bug behavior:** The simulate command completes
+    ...                but returns zero fragments because the indexing pipeline
+    ...                is not wired — the 10K files are never scanned.
+    ...
+    ...                Tagged ``tdd_expected_fail`` because the assertion on
+    ...                ``fragment_count > 0`` will fail, proving the bug.
+    [Tags]    tdd_expected_fail    tdd_bug    tdd_bug_1028    E2E
+    [Setup]    Variable Should Exist    ${SUITE_SETUP_COMPLETE}
+    ...    msg=Prerequisite not met: suite setup did not complete
+    # Generate 10,000 tiny .py files in a subdirectory
+    ${scale_dir}=    Set Variable    ${WS}${/}scale_src
+    Create Directory    ${scale_dir}
+    ${script}=    Catenate    SEPARATOR=\n
+    ...    import os, sys
+    ...    d = sys.argv[1]
+    ...    for i in range(10000):
+    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}with open(os.path.join(d, f"mod_{i:05d}.py"), "w") as f:
+    ...    ${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}${SPACE}f.write(f"# module {i}\\ndef fn_{i}(): return {i}\\n")
+    ${gen_script}=    Set Variable    ${WS}${/}_gen_10k.py
+    Create File    ${gen_script}    ${script}
+    ${gen}=    Run Process    ${PYTHON}    ${gen_script}    ${scale_dir}
+    ...    timeout=120s    on_timeout=kill
+    Should Be Equal As Integers    ${gen.rc}    0    msg=10K file generation failed
+    # NOTE: The 10K generated files are written to the filesystem but NOT
+    # committed to the workspace git repo.  The resource is registered as
+    # git-checkout type.  The bug-fix developer MUST evaluate whether the
+    # fix routes indexing through the git sandbox (which only exposes
+    # git-tracked content) or the filesystem.  If the fix uses git-tracked
+    # content, uncomment the following lines to commit the generated files:
+    #   Run Process  git  add  scale_src/  cwd=${WS}
+    #   Run Process  git  commit  -m  Add 10K test files  cwd=${WS}
+    # The m5_acceptance.robot structural test has the same pattern —
+    # neither suite commits generated files.
+    Remove File    ${gen_script}
+    # Create project with include path covering the 10K files
+    Run CLI    project    create    ${PROJECT_SCALE}
+    Link Resource To Project    ${PROJECT_SCALE}
+    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    set    ${PROJECT_SCALE}
+    ...    --view    default
+    ...    --include-path    scale_src/**/*.py
+    # Simulate must complete within 600s (10 minutes) and return data
+    ${result}=    Run CLI
+    ...    project    context    simulate    ${PROJECT_SCALE}
+    ...    --format    json    timeout=600s
+    ${sim_json}=    Extract JSON From Stdout    ${result.stdout}
+    # Behavioral assertion: with 10,000+ files, fragment_count must be
+    # non-zero if the indexing pipeline is operational.
+    ${fragment_count}=    Evaluate    int($sim_json.get('fragment_count', 0))
+    Should Be True    ${fragment_count} > 0
+    ...    msg=Bug #1028: fragment_count is ${fragment_count} (expected > 0). 10,000+ files were generated but none were indexed. ACMS indexing pipeline is not wired into CLI.