diff --git a/scripts/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.js b/scripts/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.js
index bfd2b11c6..e6fdd7267 100644
--- a/scripts/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.js
+++ b/scripts/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.js
@@ -359,6 +359,34 @@ function quoteAwareSegments(input) {
 
 const SHELL_WRAPPERS = new Set(['sh', 'bash', 'zsh', 'dash', 'ksh']);
 
+// Interactive database clients that take a SQL statement as an argument
+// (`psql -c "..."`, `mysql -e "..."`, `sqlite3 db.sqlite "..."`). A real
+// SQL invocation is always quoted, so the generic quote-stripped scan can
+// never see it; for these executables the destructive-SQL phrases are
+// matched against the (unquoted) argument text instead.
+const SQL_CLIENTS = new Set([
+  'psql',
+  'pgcli',
+  'mysql',
+  'mariadb',
+  'mycli',
+  'sqlite3',
+  'sqlite',
+  'litecli',
+  'duckdb',
+  'usql',
+  'sqlcmd',
+  'clickhouse-client',
+  'clickhouse',
+  'cockroach',
+  'mongosh',
+  'mongo',
+  'cqlsh',
+  'trino',
+  'presto',
+  'beeline',
+]);
+
 /**
  * Quote-aware destructive check: catches quoted command words, newline
  * separators, quoted `find -exec`, and `sh -c`/`bash -c` wrappers that evade
@@ -376,6 +404,15 @@ function isDestructiveQuoteAware(raw, depth = 0) {
     if (isDestructiveGit(tokens)) return true;
     if (isDestructiveFindExec(tokens.join(' '))) return true;
     const base = commandBasename(tokens[0]);
+    // SQL passed to a database client lives inside a quoted argument, which
+    // the generic scan strips on purpose (a commit message that mentions
+    // "drop table" must not trip the gate). The tokens here carry the
+    // unquoted argument text, so test the SQL phrases on them when the
+    // executable is a known SQL client — `git commit -m "drop table ..."`
+    // still has no SQL client in argv0.
+    if (SQL_CLIENTS.has(base) && DESTRUCTIVE_SQL_DD.test(tokens.slice(1).join(' '))) {
+      return true;
+    }
     if (SHELL_WRAPPERS.has(base)) {
       const ci = tokens.indexOf('-c');
       if (ci !== -1 && tokens[ci + 1] && isDestructiveQuoteAware(tokens[ci + 1], depth + 1)) {
diff --git a/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js b/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js
index 495928691..e0cc22e46 100644
--- a/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js
+++ b/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js
@@ -1520,6 +1520,39 @@ function runTests() {
     passed++;
   else failed++;
 
+  if (
+    test('denies destructive SQL passed to a database client in a quoted argument', () => {
+      expectDestructiveDeny('psql -c "drop table users"', 'psql -c drop table');
+      expectDestructiveDeny("psql -c 'truncate audit_log'", 'psql -c truncate');
+      expectDestructiveDeny("psql --command='truncate audit_log'", 'psql --command= truncate');
+      expectDestructiveDeny('mysql -e "delete from sessions"', 'mysql -e delete from');
+      expectDestructiveDeny('sqlite3 app.db "drop table users"', 'sqlite3 positional drop table');
+      expectDestructiveDeny('/usr/local/bin/psql -h db -U app -c "DROP TABLE users"', 'psql with path and flags');
+    })
+  )
+    passed++;
+  else failed++;
+
+  if (
+    test('denies destructive SQL to a database client behind a shell wrapper or chain', () => {
+      expectDestructiveDeny('sh -c "psql -c \'drop table users\'"', 'psql inside sh -c');
+      expectDestructiveDeny('echo migrating && mysql -e "truncate sessions"', 'mysql in second segment');
+    })
+  )
+    passed++;
+  else failed++;
+
+  if (
+    test('allows non-destructive SQL and SQL phrases outside a database client', () => {
+      expectAllow('psql -c "select count(*) from users"', 'psql select');
+      expectAllow('psql -c "delete_from_queue()"', 'psql identifier, not a phrase');
+      expectAllow('git commit -m "refactor: drop table indirection"', 'drop table in commit message');
+      expectAllow('echo "psql -c \'drop table users\'"', 'echo of a SQL command string');
+    })
+  )
+    passed++;
+  else failed++;
+
   if (
     test('allows destructive SQL prose inside a quoted heredoc', () => {
       expectAllow(