diff --git a/.github/workflows/code_style.yml b/.github/workflows/code_style.yml
index 705f261b..f89161d9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/code_style.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/code_style.yml
@@ -86,52 +86,13 @@ jobs:
       uses: actions/checkout@v6
       with:
         fetch-depth: 0
+    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      with:
+        python-version: "3.12"
     - name: Check for .unwrap(), .expect(), assert!() in production code
       run: |
         BASE="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}"
-        # Get the full diff for .rs files (production only, exclude tests/ directory)
-        DIFF=$(git diff "$BASE"...HEAD -- 'src/**/*.rs' 'crates/**/*.rs' || true)
-
-        if [ -z "$DIFF" ]; then
-          echo "No production Rust changes detected."
-          exit 0
-        fi
-
-        # Extract added lines, skipping those inside test modules.
-        # Track whether we're inside a test module by watching hunk headers
-        # (lines starting with @@) whose context contains "mod tests" or "#[cfg(test)]".
-        ADDED=$(echo "$DIFF" | awk '
-          /^@@/ {
-            # Hunk context (after the second @@) tells us the function/module scope
-            in_test = (tolower($0) ~ /mod tests/ || $0 ~ /#\[cfg\(test\)\]/ || $0 ~ /#\[test\]/)
-          }
-          /^\+[^+]/ && !in_test { print }
-        ' || true)
-
-        if [ -z "$ADDED" ]; then
-          echo "No production Rust changes detected (test-only changes excluded)."
-          exit 0
-        fi
-
-        # Match panic-inducing patterns, excluding safety suppressions
-        VIOLATIONS=$(echo "$ADDED" \
-          | grep -E '\.(unwrap|expect)\(|[^_]assert(_eq|_ne)?!' \
-          | grep -Ev 'debug_assert|// safety:' \
-          || true)
-
-        if [ -n "$VIOLATIONS" ]; then
-          echo "::error::Found .unwrap(), .expect(), or assert!() in production code."
-          echo "Production code must use proper error handling instead of panicking."
-          echo "Suppress false positives with an inline '// safety: <reason>' comment."
-          echo ""
-          echo "$VIOLATIONS" | head -20
-          echo ""
-          COUNT=$(echo "$VIOLATIONS" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
-          echo "Total: $COUNT violation(s)"
-          exit 1
-        fi
-
-        echo "OK: No panic-inducing calls in changed production code."
+        python3 scripts/check_no_panics.py --base "$BASE" --head HEAD
 
   # Roll-up job for branch protection
   code-style:
diff --git a/scripts/check_no_panics.py b/scripts/check_no_panics.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..55b90d21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check_no_panics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,360 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# Requires Python 3.10+ for PEP 604 union syntax such as `int | None`.
+
+import argparse
+import pathlib
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import unittest
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+
+PANIC_PATTERN = re.compile(r"\.(?:unwrap|expect)\(|(?<!_)assert(?:_eq|_ne)?!")
+TEST_ATTR_PATTERN = re.compile(
+    r"^\s*#\s*\[\s*(?:"
+    r"test"
+    r"|tokio::test(?:\s*\([^]]*\))?"
+    r"|rstest(?:\s*\([^]]*\))?"
+    r"|test_case(?:\s*\([^]]*\))?"
+    r"|cfg\s*\([^]]*\btest\b[^]]*\)"
+    r")\s*\]"
+)
+ITEM_PATTERN = re.compile(
+    r"^\s*"
+    r"(?:(?:pub(?:\([^)]*\))?|crate)\s+)?"
+    r"(?:(?:async|unsafe|const)\s+)*"
+    r"(fn|mod|struct|enum|trait|union|impl)\b"
+    r"(?:\s+([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*))?"
+)
+
+
+@dataclass
+class LexerState:
+    block_comment_depth: int = 0
+    in_string: bool = False
+    string_escape: bool = False
+    in_char: bool = False
+    char_escape: bool = False
+    raw_string_hashes: int | None = None
+
+
+def run_git(*args: str) -> str:
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ["git", *args],
+        check=True,
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+    )
+    return result.stdout
+
+
+def sanitize_line(line: str, state: LexerState) -> str:
+    chars = list(line)
+    out = [" "] * len(chars)
+    i = 0
+
+    while i < len(chars):
+        ch = chars[i]
+        nxt = chars[i + 1] if i + 1 < len(chars) else ""
+
+        if state.block_comment_depth:
+            if ch == "/" and nxt == "*":
+                state.block_comment_depth += 1
+                i += 2
+                continue
+            if ch == "*" and nxt == "/":
+                state.block_comment_depth -= 1
+                i += 2
+                continue
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        if state.raw_string_hashes is not None:
+            if ch == '"':
+                hashes = 0
+                j = i + 1
+                while j < len(chars) and chars[j] == "#":
+                    hashes += 1
+                    j += 1
+                if hashes == state.raw_string_hashes:
+                    state.raw_string_hashes = None
+                    i = j
+                    continue
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        if state.in_string:
+            if state.string_escape:
+                state.string_escape = False
+            elif ch == "\\":
+                state.string_escape = True
+            elif ch == '"':
+                state.in_string = False
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        if state.in_char:
+            if state.char_escape:
+                state.char_escape = False
+            elif ch == "\\":
+                state.char_escape = True
+            elif ch == "'":
+                state.in_char = False
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        if ch == "/" and nxt == "/":
+            break
+        if ch == "/" and nxt == "*":
+            state.block_comment_depth += 1
+            i += 2
+            continue
+        if ch == "r":
+            j = i + 1
+            while j < len(chars) and chars[j] == "#":
+                j += 1
+            if j < len(chars) and chars[j] == '"':
+                state.raw_string_hashes = j - i - 1
+                i = j + 1
+                continue
+        if ch == '"':
+            state.in_string = True
+            i += 1
+            continue
+        if ch == "'":
+            # This can misclassify lifetimes like `'a` as char literals. That only
+            # risks false negatives by masking later code on the same line.
+            state.in_char = True
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        out[i] = ch
+        i += 1
+
+    return "".join(out)
+
+
+def is_test_item(line: str, pending_test_attr: bool) -> tuple[bool, bool]:
+    match = ITEM_PATTERN.match(line)
+    if not match:
+        return False, False
+
+    kind, name = match.groups()
+    named_tests_module = kind == "mod" and name == "tests"
+    return True, pending_test_attr or named_tests_module
+
+
+def line_test_contexts(lines: list[str]) -> list[bool]:
+    contexts = [False] * len(lines)
+    lexer = LexerState()
+    block_stack: list[bool] = []
+    pending_test_attr = False
+    pending_block_context: bool | None = None
+
+    for idx, raw in enumerate(lines):
+        code = sanitize_line(raw, lexer)
+        stripped = code.strip()
+        current_context = block_stack[-1] if block_stack else False
+
+        if TEST_ATTR_PATTERN.match(stripped):
+            pending_test_attr = True
+
+        item_found, item_is_test = is_test_item(code, pending_test_attr)
+        if item_found:
+            pending_block_context = item_is_test or current_context
+            pending_test_attr = False
+        elif stripped and not stripped.startswith("#[") and pending_test_attr:
+            pending_test_attr = False
+
+        contexts[idx] = current_context or bool(pending_block_context)
+
+        for ch in code:
+            if ch == "{":
+                if pending_block_context is not None:
+                    block_stack.append(pending_block_context)
+                    pending_block_context = None
+                else:
+                    block_stack.append(block_stack[-1] if block_stack else False)
+            elif ch == "}" and block_stack:
+                block_stack.pop()
+
+        if stripped.endswith(";"):
+            pending_block_context = None
+
+    return contexts
+
+
+def changed_rust_files(base: str, head: str) -> list[pathlib.Path]:
+    output = run_git("diff", "--name-only", f"{base}...{head}", "--", "src", "crates")
+    files = []
+    for line in output.splitlines():
+        if line.endswith(".rs") and (line.startswith("src/") or line.startswith("crates/")):
+            files.append(pathlib.Path(line))
+    return files
+
+
+def added_lines_for_file(base: str, head: str, path: pathlib.Path) -> set[int]:
+    diff = run_git("diff", "--unified=0", f"{base}...{head}", "--", str(path))
+    added: set[int] = set()
+    current_line = 0
+
+    for line in diff.splitlines():
+        if line.startswith("@@"):
+            match = re.search(r"\+(\d+)(?:,(\d+))?", line)
+            if not match:
+                continue
+            current_line = int(match.group(1))
+            continue
+        if line.startswith("+++ ") or line.startswith("--- "):
+            continue
+        if line.startswith("+"):
+            added.add(current_line)
+            current_line += 1
+        elif line.startswith("-"):
+            continue
+        else:
+            current_line += 1
+
+    return added
+
+
+def collect_violations(base: str, head: str) -> list[tuple[str, int, str]]:
+    violations: list[tuple[str, int, str]] = []
+
+    for path in changed_rust_files(base, head):
+        if not path.exists():
+            continue
+        added_lines = added_lines_for_file(base, head, path)
+        if not added_lines:
+            continue
+
+        lines = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines()
+        contexts = line_test_contexts(lines)
+        lexer = LexerState()
+        sanitized = [sanitize_line(line, lexer) for line in lines]
+
+        for line_no in sorted(added_lines):
+            if line_no < 1 or line_no > len(lines):
+                continue
+            if contexts[line_no - 1]:
+                continue
+            if "// safety:" in lines[line_no - 1]:
+                continue
+            if PANIC_PATTERN.search(sanitized[line_no - 1]):
+                violations.append((str(path), line_no, lines[line_no - 1].rstrip()))
+
+    return violations
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("--base", required=False, default="origin/staging")
+    parser.add_argument("--head", required=False, default="HEAD")
+    parser.add_argument("--self-test", action="store_true")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if args.self_test:
+        suite = unittest.defaultTestLoader.loadTestsFromTestCase(CheckNoPanicsTests)
+        result = unittest.TextTestRunner(verbosity=2).run(suite)
+        return 0 if result.wasSuccessful() else 1
+
+    violations = collect_violations(args.base, args.head)
+    if not violations:
+        print("OK: No panic-inducing calls in changed production code.")
+        return 0
+
+    print("::error::Found panic-style calls outside test-only Rust code.")
+    print("Production code must use proper error handling instead of panicking.")
+    print("Suppress false positives with an inline '// safety: <reason>' comment.")
+    print("")
+    for path, line_no, line in violations[:20]:
+        print(f"{path}:{line_no}: {line}")
+    print("")
+    print(f"Total: {len(violations)} violation(s)")
+    return 1
+
+
+class CheckNoPanicsTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_cfg_test_module_marks_inner_lines(self) -> None:
+        lines = [
+            "#[cfg(test)]\n",
+            "mod tests {\n",
+            "    assert!(true);\n",
+            "}\n",
+            "fn prod() {\n",
+            "    value.expect(\"boom\");\n",
+            "}\n",
+        ]
+
+        contexts = line_test_contexts(lines)
+
+        self.assertTrue(contexts[1])
+        self.assertTrue(contexts[2])
+        self.assertFalse(contexts[4])
+        self.assertFalse(contexts[5])
+
+    def test_test_function_marks_body_only(self) -> None:
+        lines = [
+            "#[test]\n",
+            "fn it_works(\n",
+            ") {\n",
+            "    assert_eq!(2 + 2, 4);\n",
+            "}\n",
+            "fn prod() {\n",
+            "    assert!(ready);\n",
+            "}\n",
+        ]
+
+        contexts = line_test_contexts(lines)
+
+        self.assertTrue(contexts[1])
+        self.assertTrue(contexts[2])
+        self.assertTrue(contexts[3])
+        self.assertFalse(contexts[5])
+        self.assertFalse(contexts[6])
+
+    def test_proc_macro_test_attrs_mark_body_only(self) -> None:
+        attrs = [
+            "tokio::test",
+            'tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 4)',
+            "rstest",
+            "test_case(1, 2)",
+            "cfg(all(test, unix))",
+        ]
+
+        for attr in attrs:
+            with self.subTest(attr=attr):
+                lines = [
+                    f"#[{attr}]\n",
+                    "fn it_works() {\n",
+                    '    value.expect("allowed in test");\n',
+                    "}\n",
+                    "fn prod() {\n",
+                    '    value.expect("boom");\n',
+                    "}\n",
+                ]
+
+                contexts = line_test_contexts(lines)
+
+                self.assertTrue(contexts[1])
+                self.assertTrue(contexts[2])
+                self.assertFalse(contexts[4])
+                self.assertFalse(contexts[5])
+
+    def test_named_tests_module_marks_context(self) -> None:
+        lines = [
+            "mod tests {\n",
+            "    fn helper() {\n",
+            "        assert!(true);\n",
+            "    }\n",
+            "}\n",
+        ]
+
+        contexts = line_test_contexts(lines)
+
+        self.assertTrue(all(contexts))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())