diff --git a/.changeset/service-storage-tests-pin-core-to-source.md b/.changeset/service-storage-tests-pin-core-to-source.md
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+---
+"@objectstack/service-storage": patch
+---
+
+test(service-storage): resolve `@objectstack/core` from source, so a stale dist can no longer decide a pin (#7668)
+
+`packages/services/service-storage` had no `vitest.config.ts`, so its unit suite
+resolved `@objectstack/core` through the workspace link to
+`packages/core/dist/index.js` — a **build artifact**. The verdict of every unit
+pin in the package was therefore a function of build state rather than of the
+source in the checkout.
+
+#7668 is what that costs. All 17 cases of `attachment-access-hooks.test.ts` —
+the only executable guard on the #4757 predicate-less unscoped-multi-delete
+refusal, which cannot be expressed over REST (`deleteMany` with no `ids`/`where`
+is rejected with 400 before the hook is reached) — errored with
+`TypeError: withoutOperationPrivateKeys is not a function` against a tree whose
+prebuilt core predated that export. The source was correct throughout
+(`packages/core/src/security/operation-private-keys.ts`), so #4757 was left
+unguarded by anything runnable while nothing was actually broken.
+
+The loud error is the mild half. A core dist that is merely **behind** rather
+than missing the symbol lets a pin run **green** against core's old behaviour —
+a passing test that is not testing the code in the checkout, with nothing in the
+output saying so.
+
+**Not a task-ordering bug.** `turbo.json` already declares `test` `dependsOn`
+`^build`, and `pnpm turbo run test --filter=@objectstack/service-storage` builds
+core first and passes 352/352; it needed no change. The paths that broke are the
+ones turbo does not mediate — `pnpm test` inside the package, `vitest run <file>`,
+an editor runner, or a QA agent in a tree built at an older commit — and those
+are exactly the paths a pin is re-run on while someone is changing core, i.e.
+when it most needs to be telling the truth. Ordering cannot fix that; taking the
+artifact out of the resolution path can.
+
+A `vitest.config.ts` now aliases `@objectstack/core` to `packages/core/src`,
+matching what `service-knowledge`, `plugin-audit`, `runtime`, `metadata` and six
+other packages already do. Aliasing is graph-wide, so the dependencies still
+loaded from dist (`spec`, `observability`, `platform-objects`, `objectql`)
+resolve to the same single core instance rather than a second copy; the shared
+tsup config externalizes workspace deps, so none of them inline one. No product
+code and no test assertions changed.
diff --git a/packages/services/service-storage/vitest.config.ts b/packages/services/service-storage/vitest.config.ts
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+++ b/packages/services/service-storage/vitest.config.ts
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+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config';
+import path from 'path';
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  test: {
+    environment: 'node',
+  },
+  resolve: {
+    // This package had no vitest config at all, so `@objectstack/core` resolved
+    // through the workspace link to `packages/core/dist/index.js` — a BUILD
+    // ARTIFACT. That made the verdict of every unit pin here a function of
+    // build state rather than of source, and #7668 is what that costs: all 17
+    // cases of `attachment-access-hooks.test.ts` — the only executable guard on
+    // the #4757 predicate-less unscoped-multi-delete refusal, which cannot be
+    // expressed over REST — errored with `TypeError:
+    // withoutOperationPrivateKeys is not a function` against a prebuilt tree
+    // whose core dist predated that export. The source was correct the whole
+    // time (`packages/core/src/security/operation-private-keys.ts`).
+    //
+    // The dangerous half is not the loud error. A dist that is merely BEHIND
+    // rather than missing the symbol lets a pin run GREEN against core's old
+    // behaviour — a passing test that is not testing the code in the checkout,
+    // and nothing in the output says so.
+    //
+    // Turbo already orders the build correctly (`test` dependsOn `^build`), so
+    // `turbo run test` was never the failing path and needed no change. Every
+    // OTHER way of running this suite was: `pnpm test` inside the package,
+    // `vitest run <file>`, an editor runner, or a QA agent in a tree built at
+    // an older commit. Those are exactly the paths a pin gets re-run on while
+    // someone is changing core — i.e. when it most needs to be telling the
+    // truth. Ordering cannot fix that; removing the artifact from the path can.
+    //
+    // Aliasing is graph-wide, so the packages still loaded from dist (spec,
+    // observability, platform-objects, objectql) resolve to this same single
+    // core instance rather than a second copy — the shared tsup config
+    // externalizes workspace deps, so none of them inline one.
+    //
+    // Array form with an anchored pattern, deliberately: the object form
+    // matches by PREFIX, so a bare `@objectstack/core` entry would also swallow
+    // `@objectstack/core/logger` and resolve it to `core/src/index.ts/logger`
+    // (ENOTDIR). Same reasoning, and same shape, as `service-knowledge`'s
+    // config.
+    alias: [{ find: /^@objectstack\/core$/, replacement: path.resolve(__dirname, '../../core/src/index.ts') }],
+  },
+});