diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/forge/mod.rs b/hive-c0re/src/forge/mod.rs
index 3b343810..84ff854a 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/forge/mod.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/forge/mod.rs
@@ -37,15 +37,25 @@ use users::{
 
 const FORGE_CONTAINER: &str = "hive-forge";
 
-/// Base HTTP URL for the local Forgejo instance. Reads `HIVE_FORGE_URL`
-/// from the environment (set unconditionally by `hive-c0re.nix` to
-/// `http://<forge.domain>`) so the forge port is never hardcoded.
-/// Falls back to `http://localhost:3000` for bare runs outside the
-/// NixOS module (tests, manual invocation).
+/// Base HTTP URL for the local Forgejo instance, from `HIVE_FORGE_URL`
+/// (set unconditionally by `hive-c0re.nix` to `http://<forge.domain>`).
+///
+/// # Panics
+///
+/// When `HIVE_FORGE_URL` is unset. That is deliberate: this daemon only
+/// runs under the NixOS module, which always sets it, so an unset var
+/// means the deployment is broken. There is no loopback fallback,
+/// because a guess is wrong in exactly the cases that matter — the
+/// forge may live on a different host from the daemon, and a fallback
+/// turns "misconfigured" into "silently talking to the wrong machine"
+/// or, worse, "connection refused" surfacing far from its cause.
 pub(crate) fn forge_http_base() -> &'static str {
     static BASE: OnceLock<String> = OnceLock::new();
     BASE.get_or_init(|| {
-        std::env::var("HIVE_FORGE_URL").unwrap_or_else(|_| "http://localhost:3000".to_string())
+        std::env::var("HIVE_FORGE_URL").expect(
+            "HIVE_FORGE_URL is unset — hive-c0re.nix sets it unconditionally, \
+             so this process was started outside the NixOS module",
+        )
     })
 }
 
@@ -53,15 +63,24 @@ pub(crate) fn forge_http_base() -> &'static str {
 /// `core:<token>` credentials between the scheme and authority of
 /// [`forge_http_base()`] — the form git accepts for inline auth.
 pub(crate) fn forge_git_url(token: &str, repo: &str) -> String {
-    let base = forge_http_base();
-    // Split on "://" to isolate scheme + authority.  The base URL always
-    // contains "://" (validated fallback + `HIVE_FORGE_URL` is
-    // operator-set and expected to be well-formed).
-    if let Some((scheme, host)) = base.split_once("://") {
-        format!("{scheme}://core:{token}@{host}/{repo}.git")
-    } else {
-        format!("http://core:{token}@localhost:3000/{repo}.git")
-    }
+    git_url_with_base(forge_http_base(), token, repo)
+}
+
+/// The credential-insertion half of [`forge_git_url`], split out so it
+/// can be tested without a process-wide env var (which would race every
+/// other test in this binary).
+///
+/// # Panics
+///
+/// When `base` has no `://`. Previously this fell back to
+/// `http://core:<token>@localhost:3000` — a guess that would have sent
+/// a *credentialed* push at whatever answers on the local port. A
+/// malformed base is a broken deployment; failing on it is the point.
+fn git_url_with_base(base: &str, token: &str, repo: &str) -> String {
+    let (scheme, host) = base
+        .split_once("://")
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("HIVE_FORGE_URL is not a URL (no \"://\"): {base}"));
+    format!("{scheme}://core:{token}@{host}/{repo}.git")
 }
 
 /// Forgejo org grouping every agent's config repo. Core is a site admin
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/forge/pr_merge.rs b/hive-c0re/src/forge/pr_merge.rs
index 6b685736..758ff514 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/forge/pr_merge.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/forge/pr_merge.rs
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ pub async fn post_pr_comment(repo: &str, pr: u64, body: &str) -> Result<(), Forg
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::repo_agent_name;
-    use crate::forge::forge_git_url;
+    use crate::forge::git_url_with_base;
 
     #[test]
     fn repo_agent_name_takes_trailing_segment() {
@@ -264,13 +264,23 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn forge_git_url_shape() {
-        // Credentials are inserted between scheme and authority; fallback
-        // base is `http://localhost:3000` when HIVE_FORGE_URL is unset.
-        let url = forge_git_url("tok", "agent-configs/iris");
-        assert!(url.contains("core:tok@"), "must embed credentials: {url}");
+        // Tests the pure half: credentials go between scheme and
+        // authority. Deliberately not via `forge_git_url`, which reads
+        // HIVE_FORGE_URL — setting that here would race every other
+        // test in this binary, and there is no fallback to lean on any
+        // more (a guessed base is the bug this issue removes).
+        let url = git_url_with_base("http://forge.example.test", "tok", "a/iris");
+        assert_eq!(url, "http://core:tok@forge.example.test/a/iris.git");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn forge_git_url_preserves_https() {
+        // The scheme is carried through rather than assumed: a swarm
+        // whose forge is behind TLS must not be downgraded to http.
+        let url = git_url_with_base("https://forge.example.test", "tok", "a/iris");
         assert!(
-            url.ends_with("/agent-configs/iris.git"),
-            "must end with repo path: {url}"
+            url.starts_with("https://core:tok@"),
+            "https must survive: {url}"
         );
     }
 }