diff --git a/src/lib/covenant/integrations.ts b/src/lib/covenant/integrations.ts
index 2f1cb4d..e0f669f 100644
--- a/src/lib/covenant/integrations.ts
+++ b/src/lib/covenant/integrations.ts
@@ -1,19 +1,3 @@
-import { createClient } from "redis";
-
-// Reuse client if it exists globally to avoid reconnecting on every request
-declare global {
-  var _redisClient: ReturnType<typeof createClient> | undefined;
-}
-
-async function getRedisClient() {
-  if (!global._redisClient) {
-    global._redisClient = createClient({ url: process.env.REDIS_URL || "redis://localhost:6379" });
-    global._redisClient.on("error", (err) => console.error("Redis error:", err));
-    await global._redisClient.connect().catch(() => {});
-  }
-  return global._redisClient;
-}
-
 export class IntegrationUnavailable extends Error {
   readonly code = "INTEGRATION_UNAVAILABLE";
 }
@@ -28,11 +12,13 @@ export function requireIntegration(name: string, value: string | undefined): str
   return value.replace(/\/$/, "");
 }
 
-export async function postIntegration(url: string, body: unknown, headers: Record<string, string> = {}): Promise<Record<string, unknown>> {
+export async function postIntegration(
+  url: string,
+  body: unknown,
+  headers: Record<string, string> = {},
+): Promise<Record<string, unknown>> {
   const controller = new AbortController();
-  const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 3000); // 3 second fail-fast
-  
-  const cacheKey = `cAPI:integration:${Buffer.from(url).toString('base64')}:${Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(body)).toString('base64')}`;
+  const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 3000);
 
   try {
     const response = await fetch(url, {
@@ -41,48 +27,29 @@ export async function postIntegration(url: string, body: unknown, headers: Recor
       body: JSON.stringify(body),
       signal: controller.signal,
     });
-    clearTimeout(timeoutId);
 
     if (!response.ok) {
       if (response.status === 401 || response.status === 403) {
         throw new AuthorityDenied(`Authority denied: HTTP ${response.status}`);
       }
-      throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
+      throw new IntegrationUnavailable(`Integration failed: HTTP ${response.status}`);
     }
-    
+
     const result: unknown = await response.json();
     if (!result || typeof result !== "object" || Array.isArray(result)) {
-      throw new Error("Invalid response");
+      throw new IntegrationUnavailable("Integration failed: invalid response");
     }
 
-    // Cache successful response asynchronously
-    getRedisClient().then(client => {
-      if (client.isOpen) client.setEx(cacheKey, 3600, JSON.stringify(result)).catch(console.error);
-    }).catch(console.error);
-
     return result as Record<string, unknown>;
   } catch (error) {
-    clearTimeout(timeoutId);
-    
-    if (error instanceof AuthorityDenied) {
+    if (error instanceof AuthorityDenied || error instanceof IntegrationUnavailable) {
       throw error;
     }
-    
-    // Attempt to retrieve stale data
-    try {
-      const client = await getRedisClient();
-      if (client.isOpen) {
-        const cached = await client.get(cacheKey);
-        if (cached) {
-          const parsed = JSON.parse(cached);
-          parsed._stale = true; // Mark as stale
-          return parsed;
-        }
-      }
-    } catch (redisError) {
-      console.error("Failed to retrieve stale cache:", redisError);
-    }
 
-    throw new IntegrationUnavailable(`Integration failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"}`);
+    throw new IntegrationUnavailable(
+      `Integration failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"}`,
+    );
+  } finally {
+    clearTimeout(timeoutId);
   }
 }
diff --git a/tests/integrations.fail-closed.test.ts b/tests/integrations.fail-closed.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..735e5ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integrations.fail-closed.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  AuthorityDenied,
+  IntegrationUnavailable,
+  postIntegration,
+} from "../src/lib/covenant/integrations";
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.useRealTimers();
+  vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+  vi.restoreAllMocks();
+});
+
+describe("postIntegration fail-closed authority boundary", () => {
+  it("does not replay a prior successful response after the authority service fails", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify({ decision: "APPROVED" }), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+        }),
+      )
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(new Response("upstream failure", { status: 503 }));
+
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+
+    await expect(
+      postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", { run_id: "run-1" }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ decision: "APPROVED" });
+
+    await expect(
+      postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", { run_id: "run-1" }),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(IntegrationUnavailable);
+  });
+
+  it("does not replay a prior successful response after a network rejection", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify({ decision: "APPROVED" }), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+        }),
+      )
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("network unavailable"));
+
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+
+    await expect(
+      postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", { run_id: "run-network" }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ decision: "APPROVED" });
+
+    await expect(
+      postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", { run_id: "run-network" }),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(IntegrationUnavailable);
+  });
+
+  it("does not replay a prior successful response after the three-second timeout", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify({ decision: "APPROVED" }), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+        }),
+      )
+      .mockImplementationOnce((_url: string, init?: RequestInit) =>
+        new Promise<Response>((_resolve, reject) => {
+          init?.signal?.addEventListener("abort", () => {
+            reject(new DOMException("The operation was aborted", "AbortError"));
+          });
+        }),
+      );
+
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+
+    await expect(
+      postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", { run_id: "run-timeout" }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ decision: "APPROVED" });
+
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const timedOutRequest = postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", {
+      run_id: "run-timeout",
+    });
+    const timeoutExpectation = expect(timedOutRequest).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(
+      IntegrationUnavailable,
+    );
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(3000);
+    await timeoutExpectation;
+  });
+
+  it("preserves explicit authority denial", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal(
+      "fetch",
+      vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(new Response("denied", { status: 403 })),
+    );
+
+    await expect(
+      postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", { run_id: "run-2" }),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(AuthorityDenied);
+  });
+
+  it("fails closed on invalid success payloads", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal(
+      "fetch",
+      vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify(["not", "an", "authority", "object"]), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+        }),
+      ),
+    );
+
+    await expect(
+      postIntegration("https://cappo.example.test/authorize", { run_id: "run-3" }),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(IntegrationUnavailable);
+  });
+});