diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 00f373c..2a04a27 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@
   Use `git -C <repository-root>` or top-anchored pathspecs for repository-wide history searches.
 - A `**/*.nix` Git pathspec does not include Nix files directly in its starting directory.
   Include both `*.nix` and `**/*.nix`, or use a recursive `*.nix` pathspec, when linting every Nix file.
+- Nix `let` bindings are recursive; their source order does not determine binding availability.
+  Treat Natu `let_order` as a readability rule, not an evaluation dependency.
 - Ariadne extraction must preserve the game-root season prefix for archived source.
   Different game installs can contain compiled scripts with the same internal path.
 - Clew owns Ren'Py extraction, preparation, and compiled-script AST export. Ariadne owns analysis over Clew-produced data.
diff --git a/src/dotfiles/registry.nix b/src/dotfiles/registry.nix
index 1bee98b..673f72d 100644
--- a/src/dotfiles/registry.nix
+++ b/src/dotfiles/registry.nix
@@ -19,14 +19,12 @@ let
       ];
     }).config;
 
-  data = validate (
-    lib.mapAttrs (
-      registryName: _registry:
-      lib.mapAttrs (hostName: host: host.config.registry.${registryName}.${hostName} or { }) hosts
-    ) definitions
-  );
+  validation = import ./registry/validation.nix { inherit data definitions lib; };
 
-  validate = import ./registry/validation.nix { inherit definitions lib; };
+  data = lib.mapAttrs (
+    registryName: _registry:
+    lib.mapAttrs (hostName: host: host.config.registry.${registryName}.${hostName} or { }) hosts
+  ) definitions;
 in
 {
   types = lib.mapAttrs (_name: definition: definition.type) definitions;
@@ -45,13 +43,16 @@ in
     ) definitions;
   };
 
-  collected = data // {
-    join =
-      host: entry:
-      lib.filterAttrs (_name: value: value != null) (
-        lib.mapAttrs (
-          registryName: _registry: (data.${registryName}.${host} or { }).${entry} or null
-        ) definitions
-      );
-  };
+  collected =
+    assert validation;
+    data
+    // {
+      join =
+        host: entry:
+        lib.filterAttrs (_name: value: value != null) (
+          lib.mapAttrs (
+            registryName: _registry: (data.${registryName}.${host} or { }).${entry} or null
+          ) definitions
+        );
+    };
 }
diff --git a/src/dotfiles/registry/validation.nix b/src/dotfiles/registry/validation.nix
index 41704a3..b6b7295 100644
--- a/src/dotfiles/registry/validation.nix
+++ b/src/dotfiles/registry/validation.nix
@@ -1,41 +1,34 @@
 {
+  data,
   definitions,
   lib,
 }:
 let
-  validationAssertions =
-    data:
+  checkResults = lib.concatLists (
+    lib.mapAttrsToList (
+      registryName: definition:
+      map (check: {
+        assertion = check.assertion (entriesForRegistry registryName);
+        inherit (check) message;
+      }) definition.checks
+    ) definitions
+  );
+
+  entriesForRegistry =
+    registryName:
     lib.concatLists (
-      lib.mapAttrsToList (
-        registryName: registry:
-        let
-          entries = flattenRegistryEntries registryName data.${registryName};
-        in
-        map (check: {
-          assertion = check.assertion entries;
-          inherit (check) message;
-        }) registry.checks
-      ) definitions
+      lib.mapAttrsToList (host: entries: entriesForHost registryName host entries) data.${registryName}
     );
 
-  flattenRegistryEntries =
-    registryName: data:
-    lib.concatLists (
-      lib.mapAttrsToList (
-        host: entries:
-        lib.mapAttrsToList (entry: value: {
-          path = "registry.${registryName}.${host}.${entry}";
-          inherit host entry value;
-        }) entries
-      ) data
-    );
+  entriesForHost =
+    registryName: host: entries:
+    lib.mapAttrsToList (entry: value: {
+      path = "registry.${registryName}.${host}.${entry}";
+      inherit host entry value;
+    }) entries;
+
+  failures = lib.filter (result: !result.assertion) checkResults;
 in
-data:
-let
-  assertions = validationAssertions data;
-  failures = lib.filter (assertion: !assertion.assertion) assertions;
-in
-assert lib.assertMsg (lib.all (assertion: assertion.assertion) assertions) (
-  lib.concatMapStringsSep "\n" (assertion: assertion.message) failures
-);
-data
+lib.assertMsg (lib.all (result: result.assertion) checkResults) (
+  lib.concatMapStringsSep "\n" (result: result.message) failures
+)