diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 505c6e8e0..a5652cf4d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@
     "prepare": "command -v husky >/dev/null 2>&1 && husky || exit 0",
     "quality": "npm run format:check && npm run lint && npm run lint:md && npm run docs:build && npm run test:install && npm run test:urls && npm run validate:refs && npm run validate:skills && npm run docs:validate-sidebar",
     "rebundle": "node tools/installer/bundlers/bundle-web.js rebundle",
-    "test": "npm run test:refs && npm run test:install && npm run test:urls && npm run test:channels && npm run lint && npm run lint:md && npm run format:check",
+    "test": "npm run test:refs && npm run test:install && npm run test:urls && npm run test:channels && npm run test:leaks && npm run lint && npm run lint:md && npm run format:check",
     "test:channels": "node test/test-installer-channels.js",
     "test:install": "node test/test-installation-components.js",
+    "test:leaks": "node test/test-abs-path-leak.js",
     "test:refs": "node test/test-file-refs-csv.js",
     "test:urls": "node test/test-parse-source-urls.js",
     "validate:refs": "node tools/validate-file-refs.js --strict",
diff --git a/test/test-abs-path-leak.js b/test/test-abs-path-leak.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9301f2160
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-abs-path-leak.js
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/**
+ * Absolute Path Leak Detection Test Runner
+ *
+ * Tests checkAbsolutePathLeaks() from validate-file-refs.js. Focused on Windows
+ * drive paths, which use a single separator (C:\Users) and were previously missed.
+ *
+ * Usage: node test/test-abs-path-leak.js
+ * Exit codes: 0 = all tests pass, 1 = test failures
+ */
+
+const { checkAbsolutePathLeaks } = require('../tools/validate-file-refs.js');
+
+// ANSI color codes
+const colors = {
+  reset: '[0m',
+  green: '[32m',
+  red: '[31m',
+  cyan: '[36m',
+};
+
+let totalTests = 0;
+let passedTests = 0;
+const failures = [];
+
+function test(name, fn) {
+  totalTests++;
+  try {
+    fn();
+    passedTests++;
+    console.log(`  ${colors.green}OK${colors.reset} ${name}`);
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.log(`  ${colors.red}XX${colors.reset} ${name} ${colors.red}${error.message}${colors.reset}`);
+    failures.push({ name, message: error.message });
+  }
+}
+
+function assert(condition, message) {
+  if (!condition) throw new Error(message);
+}
+
+// Number of leak lines detected in a content string (filePath is only used for labelling).
+function leakCount(content) {
+  return checkAbsolutePathLeaks('fixture.md', content).length;
+}
+
+console.log(`\n${colors.cyan}Absolute Path Leak Detection${colors.reset}\n`);
+
+test('Windows single-backslash drive path is detected', () => {
+  assert(leakCount('See C:\\Users\\alex\\notes.md for details.') === 1, 'C:\\Users... not detected');
+});
+
+test('Windows forward-slash drive path is detected', () => {
+  assert(leakCount('See C:/Users/alex/notes.md for details.') === 1, 'C:/Users... not detected');
+});
+
+test('Unix /Users path is detected', () => {
+  assert(leakCount('open /Users/alex/secret.md') === 1, '/Users path not detected');
+});
+
+test('Unix /home path is detected', () => {
+  assert(leakCount('open /home/alex/secret.md') === 1, '/home path not detected');
+});
+
+test('relative paths are not flagged', () => {
+  assert(leakCount('load `./workflow.md` and ../shared/util.md') === 0, 'relative path falsely flagged');
+});
+
+test('leaks inside fenced code blocks are ignored', () => {
+  const content = ['```bash', 'cat C:\\Users\\alex\\secret.md', '```'].join('\n');
+  assert(leakCount(content) === 0, 'leak inside code block should be stripped');
+});
+
+// --- Summary ---
+console.log(`\n${colors.cyan}${'='.repeat(55)}${colors.reset}`);
+console.log(`Total: ${totalTests}  Passed: ${colors.green}${passedTests}${colors.reset}  Failed: ${totalTests - passedTests}`);
+console.log(`${colors.cyan}${'='.repeat(55)}${colors.reset}\n`);
+
+if (failures.length > 0) {
+  for (const failure of failures) console.log(`${colors.red}XX${colors.reset} ${failure.name}: ${failure.message}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+console.log(`${colors.green}All tests passed!${colors.reset}\n`);
+process.exit(0);
diff --git a/tools/validate-file-refs.js b/tools/validate-file-refs.js
index 7e137763c..ad6365ad9 100644
--- a/tools/validate-file-refs.js
+++ b/tools/validate-file-refs.js
@@ -67,7 +67,9 @@ const STEP_META = /(?:thisStepFile|nextStepFile|continueStepFile|skipToStepFile|
 const LOAD_DIRECTIVE = /Load[:\s]+`(\.[^`]+)`/g;
 
 // Pattern: absolute path leaks
-const ABS_PATH_LEAK = /(?:\/Users\/|\/home\/|[A-Z]:\\\\)/;
+// Windows drive paths use a single separator (C:\Users or C:/Users). In a regex
+// literal `\\` already matches one backslash, so the class matches either separator.
+const ABS_PATH_LEAK = /(?:\/Users\/|\/home\/|[A-Z]:[\\/])/;
 
 // --- Output Escaping ---
 
@@ -402,7 +404,7 @@ function checkAbsolutePathLeaks(filePath, content) {
 }
 
 // --- Exports (for testing) ---
-module.exports = { extractCsvRefs };
+module.exports = { extractCsvRefs, checkAbsolutePathLeaks };
 
 // --- Main ---