diff --git a/data.go b/data.go
index 4e07211..ce69695 100644
--- a/data.go
+++ b/data.go
@@ -62,19 +62,13 @@ func loadData(sources []dataSource) (map[string]node, error) {
 	if len(root) == 0 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no .json data found")
 	}
-	// The fences here and the scoped ones [Generator.NewTemplate] runs are one
-	// sequence split across two entry points; a new fence lands a twin below and
-	// in NewTemplate (see its comment for the one omission, checkNoCycles).
 	if err := linkRefs(root); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if err := checkNoCycles(root); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if err := checkRepeatReach(root); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if err := checkBoundLevelsHeld(root); err != nil {
+	if err := checkScope(treeScope(root)); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return root, nil
diff --git a/graph.go b/graph.go
index a5b8868..d3a8258 100644
--- a/graph.go
+++ b/graph.go
@@ -165,24 +165,28 @@ func pathLeaves(n node, tail []string) []node {
 	return out
 }
 
-// checkRepeatReach bounds the renders a repeat multiplies to along any root-to-leaf
-// path, so nested repeats cannot build what one repeat may not. It runs after
-// checkNoCycles, whose guarantee is what lets the walk terminate.
-func checkRepeatReach(root map[string]node) error {
-	mem := reachMemo{}
-	return walkNodes(root, func(path string, n node) error {
-		return repeatCheck(path, n, mem)
-	})
+// nodeScope is the set of nodes one validation pass covers: a whole loaded tree,
+// or a single inline node.
+type nodeScope func(fn func(path string, n node) error) error
+
+func treeScope(root map[string]node) nodeScope {
+	return func(fn func(path string, n node) error) error { return walkNodes(root, fn) }
 }
 
-// checkNodeRepeatReach is checkRepeatReach for one inline node: each template in
-// it is bounded, following reference edges into the already-validated tree the same
-// way a repeat through a reference multiplies along a path.
-func checkNodeRepeatReach(n node) error {
+func inlineScope(n node) nodeScope {
+	return func(fn func(path string, m node) error) error { return eachNode(n, "template", fn) }
+}
+
+// checkScope runs the per-node fences over a scope, each over the whole scope
+// before the next, so which of several broken nodes is reported does not depend on
+// the walk. It runs after checkNoCycles, whose guarantee is what lets the walks
+// terminate.
+func checkScope(s nodeScope) error {
 	mem := reachMemo{}
-	return eachNode(n, "template", func(path string, m node) error {
-		return repeatCheck(path, m, mem)
-	})
+	if err := s(func(path string, n node) error { return repeatCheck(path, n, mem) }); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return s(heldCheck)
 }
 
 type reachMemo map[node]int
@@ -204,6 +208,8 @@ func (m reachMemo) of(n node) int {
 	return r
 }
 
+// repeatCheck bounds the renders a repeat multiplies to along any root-to-leaf
+// path, so nested repeats cannot build what one repeat may not.
 func repeatCheck(path string, n node, mem reachMemo) error {
 	if t, ok := n.(*template); ok && t.repeat > 1 && mem.of(n) > MaxRepeat {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%s: repeat %d multiplies to %d renders along one path, above the maximum %d", path, t.repeat, mem.of(n), MaxRepeat)
diff --git a/hold.go b/hold.go
index 53a0a8f..908939f 100644
--- a/hold.go
+++ b/hold.go
@@ -6,27 +6,11 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
-// checkBoundLevelsHeld rejects every route to a held name except the ones that read
-// its draw. An expansion holds one draw of that name; anything else that renders it
-// draws again, and the two disagree. checkNoOverlap settles the spellings within one
+// heldCheck rejects every route to a held name except the ones that read its draw.
+// An expansion holds one draw of that name; anything else that renders it draws
+// again, and the two disagree. checkNoOverlap settles the spellings within one
 // format (a token, an operand); this settles the rest — a reference, whether it
 // sits in that format or in anything the format renders, however deep.
-//
-// It runs after checkNoCycles, whose guarantee is what lets the walk terminate.
-func checkBoundLevelsHeld(root map[string]node) error {
-	return walkNodes(root, func(path string, n node) error {
-		return heldCheck(path, n)
-	})
-}
-
-// checkNodeBoundLevelsHeld is checkBoundLevelsHeld for one inline node: the same
-// held fence, over its own templates and the shared tree they reference.
-func checkNodeBoundLevelsHeld(n node) error {
-	return eachNode(n, "template", func(path string, m node) error {
-		return heldCheck(path, m)
-	})
-}
-
 func heldCheck(path string, n node) error {
 	t, ok := n.(*template)
 	if !ok || len(t.held) == 0 {
diff --git a/reference.go b/reference.go
index 1327d83..73bd4f2 100644
--- a/reference.go
+++ b/reference.go
@@ -111,14 +111,23 @@ func linkTemplateRefs(folder []string, path string, t *template, root map[string
 }
 
 // linkNodeRefs binds the references in an inline node's templates against the
-// loaded tree. The node has no folder of its own, so every sigil is root-relative:
-// / and . mean the root, .. has no folder above it.
+// loaded tree. An inline template sits in no folder, so . and .. name nothing and
+// are rejected for the root spelling they would otherwise silently mean.
 func linkNodeRefs(n node, root map[string]node) error {
 	return eachNode(n, "template", func(path string, m node) error {
 		t, ok := m.(*template)
 		if !ok {
 			return nil
 		}
+		for _, name := range refTokens(t.format) {
+			sigil, rest, err := refShape(name)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s: reference {%s}: %w", path, name, err)
+			}
+			if sigil != "/" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s: reference {%s}: an inline template has no folder; write {/%s}", path, name, rest)
+			}
+		}
 		return linkTemplateRefs(nil, path, t, root)
 	})
 }
diff --git a/render.go b/render.go
index 9d13801..b33ddbb 100644
--- a/render.go
+++ b/render.go
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ func (t *Template) Fake() string {
 // binds its references against the loaded tree, so repeated renders pay the
 // compile and validation once. It shares [New]'s guarantees: a bad template errors
 // here, and rendering cannot fail.
-// NewTemplate runs the same fences loadData does for a category, scoped to one
-// inline node with everything but checkNoCycles: a reference binds only into the
-// loaded tree, which has no path into this node, so rendering it cannot reach
-// itself. A new fence belongs in both places (loadData and here).
+//
+// checkNoCycles is the one fence loadData runs that an inline node does not need:
+// the loaded tree is proven acyclic at [New], the node is a finite tree, and no
+// tree node can reference it, so nothing it renders can reach itself.
 func (f *Generator) NewTemplate(input string) (*Template, error) {
 	n, err := compileInput(input)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -63,10 +63,7 @@ func (f *Generator) NewTemplate(input string) (*Template, error) {
 	if err := linkNodeRefs(n, f.categories); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fejkdata: %w", err)
 	}
-	if err := checkNodeRepeatReach(n); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fejkdata: %w", err)
-	}
-	if err := checkNodeBoundLevelsHeld(n); err != nil {
+	if err := checkScope(inlineScope(n)); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fejkdata: %w", err)
 	}
 	return &Template{g: f, n: n}, nil