diff --git a/scripts/board.py b/scripts/board.py
index 805ffb1..0da891e 100644
--- a/scripts/board.py
+++ b/scripts/board.py
@@ -568,7 +568,16 @@ def _repo_url(snapshot: dict) -> str:
 
 
 # The one-tap board family — the cross-board footer nav every board carries,
-# each board skipping its own entry. Owner comes from the snapshot.
+# each board skipping its own entry.
+#
+# Membership and order are NOT decided here: they live once, in the Brain's
+# `config/policy.yaml` `board: boards:`, and `_theme.board_links` is the read.
+# This file used to keep its own tuple, written before the Cortex had a board
+# — so this footer was short a chip and out of the family's order, and nothing
+# noticed. The tuple below survives only as the fallback for an older
+# PyAutoBrain checkout whose theme predates the helper; it is deliberately the
+# old list, because a fallback that guessed at the current one would drift the
+# same way. Owner still comes from the snapshot.
 BOARD_FAMILY = (("mind", "PyAutoMind"), ("brain", "PyAutoBrain"),
                 ("heart", "PyAutoHeart"), ("hands", "PyAutoHands"),
                 ("organism", "PyAutoScientist"))
@@ -576,13 +585,17 @@ def _repo_url(snapshot: dict) -> str:
 
 def _boards_nav(snapshot: dict) -> str:
     """The cross-board footer — one chip per sibling, each in its own organ's
-    colour (the theme owns the chip palette; this board owns the URLs)."""
+    colour (the theme owns the chip palette AND the family's membership; this
+    board owns only its owner and which page it is)."""
     owner = str(snapshot.get("owner") or "").lower()
     if not owner:
         return ""
-    links = {key: f"https://{owner}.github.io/{repo}/"
-             for key, repo in BOARD_FAMILY}
-    return theme().boards_footer(links, BOARD_KEY)
+    t_ = theme()
+    base = f"https://{owner}.github.io"
+    links = getattr(t_, "board_links", None)
+    links = (links(base, BOARD_KEY) if links else
+             {key: f"{base}/{repo}/" for key, repo in BOARD_FAMILY})
+    return t_.boards_footer(links, BOARD_KEY)
 
 
 def _read_prompt(snapshot: dict, section: str) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_board.py b/tests/test_board.py
index 3bdb1f4..4eeaa22 100644
--- a/tests/test_board.py
+++ b/tests/test_board.py
@@ -232,6 +232,58 @@ def test_live_repo_statuses_are_schema_valid():
     assert seen <= {"stub", "drafted", "reviewed"}, f"schema-invalid statuses: {seen}"
 
 
+# The canonical board family, in the order `PyAutoBrain/config/policy.yaml`
+# declares it. This board is `memory`, so its own chip never appears.
+FAMILY_WITHOUT_MEMORY = ["brain", "mind", "cortex", "heart", "hands", "organism"]
+
+
+def _footer(tmp_path) -> str:
+    # The synthetic tree has no git remote, so `collect` finds no owner and
+    # the footer (rightly) renders empty. Name a fake one — this file carries
+    # no instance facts.
+    snap = board.collect(_tree(tmp_path))
+    snap["owner"] = "SomeOrg"
+    html = board.render(snap, "html")
+    return re.search(r'<ul class="boards">.*?</ul>', html, re.S).group(0)
+
+
+def test_the_family_footer_carries_the_cortex_in_the_canonical_order(tmp_path):
+    """The footer's membership is the Brain's config, not a tuple in here.
+
+    It used to be a tuple in here — written before the Cortex had a board —
+    so this page linked five siblings in an ad-hoc order and silently missed
+    the sixth. Reading `_theme.board_links` means adding a board to
+    `config/policy.yaml` lights it in every footer at once.
+    """
+    footer = _footer(tmp_path)
+    assert re.findall(r'data-organ="(\w+)"', footer) == FAMILY_WITHOUT_MEMORY
+    assert "https://someorg.github.io/PyAutoCortex/" in footer
+
+
+def test_the_footer_never_links_the_page_it_is_on(tmp_path):
+    footer = _footer(tmp_path)
+    assert f'data-organ="{board.BOARD_KEY}"' not in footer
+
+
+def test_the_footer_falls_back_when_the_brain_checkout_predates_the_helper():
+    """An older PyAutoBrain beside this repo has no `board_links`. The page
+    must still render its footer — from the legacy tuple — rather than lose
+    the whole board over a nav strip."""
+    class _Older:
+        def __init__(self, real):
+            self.boards_footer = real.boards_footer
+
+    real = board.theme()
+    saved = board._boards_nav.__globals__["theme"]
+    board._boards_nav.__globals__["theme"] = lambda: _Older(real)
+    try:
+        footer = board._boards_nav({"owner": "SomeOrg"})
+    finally:
+        board._boards_nav.__globals__["theme"] = saved
+    assert re.findall(r'data-organ="(\w+)"', footer) == [
+        k for k, _ in board.BOARD_FAMILY]
+
+
 def test_html_wears_the_shared_family_theme(tmp_path):
     # The look is the Brain's `board/_theme.py`, not a stylesheet copied in
     # here: the page must carry this board's hero (mark, wordmark, tagline)