diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index b5d6940..7936d57 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -2204,10 +2204,14 @@
           # `home-manager switch` is stubbed via NOMARCHY_REBUILD (that
           # generic apply path is exercised by every manual theme change);
           # this isolates the auto decision + apply + rebuild-trigger.
+          # The state dir is a git repo with autoCommit on, so every set/apply
+          # also exercises auto_commit against a repo that has ONLY state.json
+          # — the post-#107 shape whose dead legacy pathspecs once aborted
+          # every commit silently.
           auto-theme = pkgs.testers.runNixOSTest {
             name = "nomarchy-auto-theme";
             nodes.machine = { pkgs, ... }: {
-              environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.nomarchy-state-sync ];
+              environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.nomarchy-state-sync pkgs.git ];
               time.timeZone = "UTC";       # naive HH:MM == the clock we set
             };
             testScript = ''
@@ -2220,6 +2224,14 @@
               machine.succeed(
                   "echo '{\"slug\":\"summer-day\"}' > /root/.nomarchy/state.json"
               )
+              # Git-tracked like a real downstream flake — no legacy
+              # theme-state.json/theme.json anywhere in its history.
+              machine.succeed(
+                  "git -C /root/.nomarchy init -q"
+                  " && git -C /root/.nomarchy add state.json"
+                  " && git -C /root/.nomarchy -c user.name=t -c user.email=t@t"
+                  " commit -qm init"
+              )
               machine.succeed(
                   "printf '#!/bin/sh\\necho switch >> /root/rebuilds\\n' > /root/rebuild"
                   " && chmod +x /root/rebuild"
@@ -2229,14 +2241,24 @@
                      "NOMARCHY_DEFAULT_THEMES=${pkgs.nomarchy-default-themes} "
                      "NOMARCHY_REBUILD=/root/rebuild ")
 
-              # Pair + schedule (setup writes only, no rebuild).
-              for kv in ["settings.autoTheme.enable true",
+              # Pair + schedule (setup writes only, no rebuild). autoCommit
+              # first, so every following write must land as its own commit.
+              for kv in ["settings.autoCommit true",
+                         "settings.autoTheme.enable true",
                          "settings.autoTheme.day summer-day",
                          "settings.autoTheme.night summer-night",
                          "settings.autoTheme.sunrise 07:00",
                          "settings.autoTheme.sunset 20:00"]:
                   machine.succeed(env + "nomarchy-state-sync --quiet set " + kv + " --no-switch")
 
+              # Every `set` above auto-committed (the regression: dead legacy
+              # pathspecs made `git commit` abort, skipping ALL of these).
+              machine.succeed(
+                  "git -C /root/.nomarchy log --format=%s"
+                  " | grep -qF 'set settings.autoTheme.sunset'"
+              )
+              machine.succeed("git -C /root/.nomarchy diff --quiet HEAD -- state.json")
+
               def slug():
                   return machine.succeed(env + "nomarchy-state-sync get slug").strip()
               def rebuilds():
@@ -2253,6 +2275,11 @@
               machine.succeed(env + "nomarchy-state-sync auto")
               assert slug() == "summer-night", f"post-sunset should be night, got {slug()}"
               assert rebuilds() == 1, f"sunset should trigger one rebuild, got {rebuilds()}"
+              # The switch auto-committed too — nothing left dirty behind it.
+              machine.succeed(
+                  "git -C /root/.nomarchy log --format=%s | grep -qF 'apply theme'"
+              )
+              machine.succeed("git -C /root/.nomarchy diff --quiet HEAD -- state.json")
 
               # Another tick still after sunset → idempotent, no extra rebuild.
               machine.succeed("date -s '2026-01-02 20:06:00'")
diff --git a/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/default.nix b/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/default.nix
index 3a58de9..eadc837 100644
--- a/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
   pname = "nomarchy-state-sync";
-  version = "0.5.0";
+  version = "0.5.1";
 
   src = ./.;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/nomarchy-state-sync.py b/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/nomarchy-state-sync.py
index fea207c..a338938 100644
--- a/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/nomarchy-state-sync.py
+++ b/pkgs/nomarchy-state-sync/nomarchy-state-sync.py
@@ -189,8 +189,17 @@ def auto_commit(message: str) -> None:
     if not (FLAKE_DIR / ".git").exists() or shutil.which("git") is None:
         return
     git = ["git", "-C", str(FLAKE_DIR)]
-    # Pathspec: preferred name plus any leftover legacy file still staged.
-    paths = [STATE_NAME, *LEGACY_STATE_NAMES]
+    # Pathspec: preferred name plus any legacy file git still knows — in the
+    # index or in HEAD (a migration's staged `git rm` needs the pathspec to
+    # ride along). Names known to neither MUST be dropped: unlike `git diff`,
+    # `git commit` aborts on a pathspec that matches nothing, which silently
+    # killed every auto-commit once the #107 rename removed the legacy files.
+    def known(name: str) -> bool:
+        return subprocess.run(git + ["ls-files", "--error-unmatch", "--", name],
+                              capture_output=True).returncode == 0 \
+            or subprocess.run(git + ["cat-file", "-e", f"HEAD:{name}"],
+                              capture_output=True).returncode == 0
+    paths = [STATE_NAME] + [n for n in LEGACY_STATE_NAMES if known(n)]
     # No-op when the file already matches HEAD (a `set` to the same value).
     # On a repo with no commits yet this diff errors — then just commit.
     if subprocess.run(git + ["diff", "--quiet", "HEAD", "--"] + paths,