diff --git a/local/scripts/audit-patch-idempotency.py b/local/scripts/audit-patch-idempotency.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..56d5c6ffda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local/scripts/audit-patch-idempotency.py
@@ -0,0 +1,331 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Validate the idempotency of every external patch in local/patches/.
+
+Per AGENTS.md "NO OVERLAY-STYLE PATCHES — AMENDED 2026" Rule 2, big
+external projects use the cookbook's `cookbook_apply_patches` helper
+which checks `git apply --reverse --check` to skip already-applied
+patches. If a patch's reverse check fails (because the upstream
+source drifted from the patch's expected state), the helper tries to
+apply the patch forward, which fails too because some hunks no
+longer apply. The result is a confusing cook failure.
+
+This script catches that class of bug at lint time. For every
+[0-9]*.patch under local/patches/<component>/, it:
+
+  1. Clones the upstream repo at the pinned rev into a temp dir
+  2. Applies the patch
+  3. Verifies `git apply --reverse --check` succeeds on the result
+     (i.e. the patch is fully reversible — idempotency invariant)
+  4. Re-applies the patch
+  5. Verifies the source is byte-identical to step 2's result
+     (i.e. the patch is idempotent — applying it twice = applying it once)
+  6. Verifies the result is reproducible: re-clone, re-apply, byte-equal
+
+If any check fails, the script exits non-zero and prints which patches
+are non-idempotent. CI or `make lint` should run this on every PR.
+
+Usage:
+  ./local/scripts/audit-patch-idempotency.py [--component <name>] [--verbose]
+"""
+import argparse
+import re
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import tomllib
+from pathlib import Path
+
+PROJECT_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
+PATCHES_ROOT = PROJECT_ROOT / "local" / "patches"
+SOURCE_ROOT = PROJECT_ROOT / "local" / "sources"
+RECIPES_ROOT = PROJECT_ROOT / "local" / "recipes"
+MAINLINE_RECIPES = PROJECT_ROOT / "recipes"
+
+PATCH_NAME_RE = re.compile(r"^\d+-[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+\.patch$")
+NUM_PREFIX_RE = re.compile(r"^(\d+)-")
+
+
+def run(cmd, **kwargs):
+    """Run a subprocess, returning (returncode, stdout, stderr)."""
+    proc = subprocess.run(
+        cmd,
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=False,
+        **kwargs,
+    )
+    return proc.returncode, proc.stdout, proc.stderr
+
+
+def collect_patches(component_filter=None):
+    """Yield (component, patch_path) for every external patch."""
+    if not PATCHES_ROOT.is_dir():
+        return
+    for component_dir in sorted(PATCHES_ROOT.iterdir()):
+        if not component_dir.is_dir():
+            continue
+        if component_filter and component_dir.name != component_filter:
+            continue
+        for patch_path in sorted(component_dir.iterdir()):
+            if patch_path.is_file() and PATCH_NAME_RE.match(patch_path.name):
+                yield component_dir.name, patch_path
+
+
+def resolve_upstream(component) -> "tuple[str | None, str | None] | tuple[str, str | None, Path]":
+    """Return (url, rev) for a component by reading its mainline recipe.
+
+    The component is matched by the recipe.toml's parent directory name
+    (e.g. recipes/libs/mesa/recipe.toml matches component="mesa"),
+    not the category. This means multiple categories with the same
+    package name (e.g. recipes/wip/demos/mesa-demos) won't accidentally
+    match.
+    """
+    candidates: list[tuple[str, str, Path]] = []
+    for recipes_root in (RECIPES_ROOT, MAINLINE_RECIPES):
+        if not recipes_root.is_dir():
+            continue
+        for recipe_toml in recipes_root.rglob("recipe.toml"):
+            if "source" in recipe_toml.parts or "target" in recipe_toml.parts:
+                continue
+            if recipe_toml.parent.name != component:
+                continue
+            try:
+                with open(recipe_toml, "rb") as f:
+                    data = tomllib.load(f)
+            except (OSError, tomllib.TOMLDecodeError):
+                continue
+            source = data.get("source") or {}
+            if "git" in source:
+                # Either pinned rev or branch tip — both are valid
+                # upstream reference points for a patch's "from" state.
+                if "rev" in source:
+                    rev = str(source["rev"])
+                elif "branch" in source:
+                    # Branch resolution requires a network call to
+                    # the upstream's `git ls-remote`. Patches that
+                    # track a branch should ideally pin a rev for
+                    # reproducibility; warn but proceed.
+                    rev = f"refs/heads/{source['branch']}"
+                else:
+                    continue
+                candidates.append((source["git"], rev, recipe_toml))
+            elif "tar" in source:
+                return ("tar", source.get("tar"), recipe_toml)
+    if not candidates:
+        return None, None
+    if len(candidates) > 1:
+        candidates.sort(key=lambda c: "local" in str(c[2]))
+    url, rev, _ = candidates[0]
+    return url, rev
+
+
+def clone_source(url, rev, target):
+    """Clone the upstream repo at the pinned rev into target/."""
+    if target.exists():
+        shutil.rmtree(target)
+    target.mkdir(parents=True)
+    rc, out, err = run(
+        ["git", "clone", "--quiet", "--no-checkout", url, str(target)],
+    )
+    if rc != 0:
+        return False, f"clone failed: {err.strip()}"
+    rc, out, err = run(
+        ["git", "-C", str(target), "checkout", "--quiet", rev],
+    )
+    if rc != 0:
+        return False, f"checkout {rev} failed: {err.strip()}"
+    return True, None
+
+
+def apply_patch(source_dir, patch_path):
+    """Apply patch in source_dir. Return (ok, error_msg)."""
+    rc, out, err = run(
+        ["git", "-C", str(source_dir), "apply", "--whitespace=nowarn", str(patch_path)],
+    )
+    if rc != 0:
+        return False, (err or out).strip()
+    return True, None
+
+
+def check_reverse(source_dir, patch_path):
+    """git apply --reverse --check. Returns (ok, error_msg)."""
+    rc, out, err = run(
+        ["git", "-C", str(source_dir), "apply", "--reverse", "--check", str(patch_path)],
+    )
+    if rc != 0:
+        return False, (err or out).strip()
+    return True, None
+
+
+def diff_trees(a, b):
+    """Return a unified diff between two source dirs, excluding .git/.
+
+    The .git/ directory has timestamps and refs that always differ
+    between clones, so we exclude it. The actual source tree is the
+    signal we care about.
+    """
+    proc = subprocess.run(
+        ["diff", "-ruN",
+         "--exclude=.git",
+         "--exclude=*.pyc", "--exclude=__pycache__",
+         str(a), str(b)],
+        capture_output=True, text=True, check=False,
+    )
+    return proc.stdout
+
+
+def audit_one(component, patch_path, verbose=False):
+    """Audit a single patch. Return a list of error strings (empty = OK)."""
+    errors: list[str] = []
+    upstream = resolve_upstream(component)
+    if isinstance(upstream, tuple) and len(upstream) == 3 and upstream[0] == "tar":
+        return [f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: tar-based source, "
+                f"manual audit required"]
+    if not upstream or upstream[0] is None:
+        return [f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: no upstream recipe found "
+                f"in local/recipes/ or recipes/"]
+    url, rev = upstream[0], upstream[1]
+    if url is None or rev is None:
+        return [f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: could not resolve upstream "
+                f"git URL or rev for component {component!r}"]
+    url = str(url)
+    rev = str(rev)
+
+    # Phase 1: clone, apply, verify reverse + idempotency
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="audit-patch-") as tmp:
+        tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+        work = tmp_path / "work"
+        work2 = tmp_path / "work2"
+
+        if verbose:
+            print(f"  cloning {url} @ {rev[:12]}...")
+        ok, err = clone_source(url, rev, work)
+        if not ok:
+            return [f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: clone failed: {err}"]
+        # Apply once
+        ok, err = apply_patch(work, patch_path)
+        if not err:
+            patch_applied_ok = True
+        else:
+            patch_applied_ok = False
+            errors.append(f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: apply failed: {err}")
+
+        if patch_applied_ok:
+            # Reverse check (idempotency invariant)
+            ok, rev_err = check_reverse(work, patch_path)
+            if not ok:
+                err_msg = rev_err or "unknown error"
+                errors.append(
+                    f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: --reverse --check FAILED — "
+                    f"patch is not idempotent. Cookbook's cookbook_apply_patches "
+                    f"will fail on a re-cook. Underlying error: {err_msg[:500]}"
+                )
+            # Idempotency: apply twice = apply once
+            ok, err = apply_patch(work, patch_path)
+            if not err:
+                # The patch is now applied twice (or rather, applied when
+                # already applied, which might fail). The cookbook's
+                # --reverse --check is meant to skip this case. If the
+                # second apply succeeded, the patch is non-idempotent
+                # (applying twice is meaningful). If it failed, check
+                # that the second failure is the expected "already
+                # applied" error.
+                errors.append(
+                    f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: second apply SUCCEEDED — "
+                    f"patch is not idempotent. Re-applying after a fresh "
+                    f"cook will apply it twice. Cookbook should skip via "
+                    f"--reverse --check; verify the helper still works."
+                )
+            else:
+                # Expected: second apply fails. Confirm the working tree
+                # is byte-identical to the first apply.
+                if verbose:
+                    print(f"  re-cloning to verify reproducibility...")
+                ok, err = clone_source(url, rev, work2)
+                if not ok:
+                    errors.append(
+                        f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: re-clone failed: {err}"
+                    )
+                else:
+                    ok, err = apply_patch(work2, patch_path)
+                    if err:
+                        errors.append(
+                            f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: "
+                            f"reproducibility — second apply failed: {err}"
+                        )
+                    else:
+                        diff_out = diff_trees(work, work2)
+                        if diff_out:
+                            errors.append(
+                                f"{component}/{patch_path.name}: non-reproducible — "
+                                f"second apply produces a different tree:\n"
+                                f"{diff_out[:1000]}"
+                            )
+    return errors
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description=(
+            "Validate the idempotency of every external patch in "
+            "local/patches/."
+        )
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--component",
+        help="Audit only the given component (default: all)",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--verbose", "-v", action="store_true",
+        help="Print progress as patches are checked",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--no-fetch", action="store_true",
+        help="Skip fetching upstream (useful when network is unavailable)",
+    )
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    patches = list(collect_patches(args.component))
+    if not patches:
+        print(f"No patches found{' for component ' + args.component if args.component else ''}.",
+              file=sys.stderr)
+        return 0
+
+    print(f"Auditing {len(patches)} patch(es)...")
+
+    all_errors = []
+    for component, patch_path in patches:
+        if args.verbose:
+            print(f"[{component}/{patch_path.name}]")
+        if args.no_fetch:
+            print(f"  {component}/{patch_path.name}: SKIPPED (--no-fetch)")
+            continue
+        errors = audit_one(component, patch_path, verbose=args.verbose)
+        if errors:
+            for e in errors:
+                print(f"  FAIL: {e}")
+            all_errors.extend(errors)
+        elif args.verbose:
+            print(f"  OK")
+
+    if all_errors:
+        print()
+        print(f"FAILED: {len(all_errors)} error(s) across {len(patches)} patch(es).")
+        print()
+        print("Common fixes:")
+        print("  1. Patch hunks reference content that no longer exists in")
+        print("     the upstream source. Re-generate the patch from a fresh")
+        print("     checkout: git diff > local/patches/<component>/NN-...patch")
+        print("  2. Patch is order-dependent with a sibling. The cookbook")
+        print("     applies them in lexical order — make sure NN-prefix order")
+        print("     matches the actual dependency order.")
+        print("  3. Patch has whitespace conflicts with the upstream source.")
+        print("     Try regenerating with `git diff --ignore-all-space`.")
+        return 1
+    print(f"All {len(patches)} patch(es) are idempotent and reproducible.")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/src/cook/script.rs b/src/cook/script.rs
index 31241dc8ee..d1d2b2c417 100644
--- a/src/cook/script.rs
+++ b/src/cook/script.rs
@@ -198,6 +198,32 @@ if [ -n "${COOKBOOK_HOST_SYSROOT}" ] && [ "${COOKBOOK_HOST_SYSROOT}" != "/usr" ]
 fi
 export LDFLAGS="${USER_LDFLAGS}-L${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/lib --static${REDBEAR_LIBATOMIC_LDFLAGS:+ ${REDBEAR_LIBATOMIC_LDFLAGS}}"
 
+# Auto-link Qt sysroot dirs for any recipe that depends on qtbase or
+# qtdeclarative. KF6 recipes need /usr/{plugins,mkspecs,metatypes,modules}
+# to be visible at the sysroot root (not under /usr/) for cmake to find
+# Qt6Config.cmake's INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES etc. Without this,
+# the build fails with "Could NOT find Qt6 (missing: Qt6_DIR)" or
+# "Qt6::Qml includes non-existent path". See local/scripts/lib/qt-sysroot.sh
+# for the full helper surface.
+#
+# We auto-detect the Qt deps by checking if either qtbase or qtdeclarative
+# has been pushed to the per-recipe sysroot. If so, link the four canonical
+# dirs. Idempotent (skips dirs that already exist as symlinks).
+#
+# Recipes can override or extend this by calling redbear_qt_link_sysroot_dirs
+# directly (it remains available via `source` of qt-sysroot.sh).
+if [ -d "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/usr/lib/cmake/Qt6Core" ] || [ -d "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/usr/lib/cmake/Qt6" ]; then
+    if [ -d "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/usr/plugins" ] && [ ! -e "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/plugins" ]; then
+        ln -s usr/plugins "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/plugins"
+    fi
+    for _rb_qt_dir in plugins mkspecs metatypes modules; do
+        if [ -d "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/usr/${_rb_qt_dir}" ] && [ ! -e "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/${_rb_qt_dir}" ]; then
+            ln -s "usr/${_rb_qt_dir}" "${COOKBOOK_SYSROOT}/${_rb_qt_dir}"
+        fi
+    done
+    unset _rb_qt_dir
+fi
+
 # This reexport C variables into custom build script that can be consumed by cc crate
 function reexport_flags {
     target=${TARGET//-/_}