diff --git a/config/scripts/pr-e2e-pane-close-routing.test.mjs b/config/scripts/pr-e2e-pane-close-routing.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..889eec7c361
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/scripts/pr-e2e-pane-close-routing.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { existsSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { join, resolve } from 'node:path'
+import {
+  hasSshSourceChange,
+  PR_E2E_SOURCE_ROUTES,
+  selectPrE2eSpecs,
+  shouldRunReusablePrE2e
+} from './pr-e2e-source-routing.mjs'
+
+const projectDir = resolve(import.meta.dirname, '../..')
+
+/**
+ * The product paths of #21005, "retire captured remote handles when pending panes close". It
+ * changed the pane close and retirement lifecycle across three transports and matched no route
+ * at all, so it merged with E2E skipped outright. The routes named every module that BINDS a
+ * pane and none that unbinds one.
+ */
+const PENDING_PANE_CLOSE_CHANGE = [
+  'src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/retire-unbound-ipc-terminal-pane.ts',
+  'src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/retire-unbound-runtime-terminal-pane.ts',
+  'src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-pane-close-admission.ts',
+  'src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-pane-retirement-ownership.ts',
+  'src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/use-terminal-pane-close-actions.ts',
+  'src/renderer/src/store/terminals/terminal-tab-close-providers.ts'
+]
+
+const CLOSE_ROUTE = PR_E2E_SOURCE_ROUTES.find(
+  (route) => route.id === 'terminal-pane.close-and-retirement'
+)
+
+describe('pane close and retirement PR E2E routing', () => {
+  it('selects the close specs for a pane close lifecycle change', () => {
+    expect(selectPrE2eSpecs(PENDING_PANE_CLOSE_CHANGE)).toEqual([
+      'tests/e2e/paired-remote-split-pane-host-retired-ghost.spec.ts',
+      'tests/e2e/terminal-pane-close-layout-consistency.spec.ts',
+      'tests/e2e/terminal-parked-close-retirement.spec.ts'
+    ])
+    expect(shouldRunReusablePrE2e(PENDING_PANE_CLOSE_CHANGE)).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('routes each unbind authority on its own, not just as a group', () => {
+    expect(CLOSE_ROUTE, 'the close route was renamed or removed').toBeDefined()
+    // A single-file change is the shape that slipped through; assert per path rather than only
+    // on the union, where one matching path would hide five that do not.
+    for (const file of PENDING_PANE_CLOSE_CHANGE) {
+      expect(selectPrE2eSpecs([file]), file).toEqual(CLOSE_ROUTE.specs.toSorted())
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('keeps every routed spec and authority a real file', () => {
+    for (const spec of CLOSE_ROUTE.specs) {
+      expect(existsSync(join(projectDir, spec)), spec).toBe(true)
+    }
+    for (const file of PENDING_PANE_CLOSE_CHANGE) {
+      expect(existsSync(join(projectDir, file)), file).toBe(true)
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('leaves the Docker SSH lane and unrelated changes alone', () => {
+    // The lane costs a Docker relay per run. Close changes reach SSH only through the shared
+    // provider, which the non-Docker specs above already cover.
+    expect(hasSshSourceChange(PENDING_PANE_CLOSE_CHANGE)).toBe(false)
+    // Neighbours in the same directories that this route must not claim.
+    for (const file of [
+      'src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/CloseTerminalDialog.tsx',
+      'src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-hidden-view-parking.ts',
+      'src/renderer/src/runtime/runtime-rpc-client.ts',
+      'src/renderer/src/store/terminals/terminal-tab-close-providers.test.ts'
+    ]) {
+      expect(CLOSE_ROUTE.matches(file), file).toBe(false)
+    }
+  })
+})
diff --git a/config/scripts/pr-e2e-source-routing.mjs b/config/scripts/pr-e2e-source-routing.mjs
index b9c7c387716..7efe4cca8b0 100644
--- a/config/scripts/pr-e2e-source-routing.mjs
+++ b/config/scripts/pr-e2e-source-routing.mjs
@@ -150,6 +150,31 @@ export const PR_E2E_SOURCE_ROUTES = [
         file
       )
   },
+  {
+    // Why a route of its own: every other terminal-pane route names what BINDS a pane — the pty
+    // transports, the ssh reconnect ledgers, the park watchers. Nothing named what unbinds one,
+    // so the close/retire lifecycle reached main with e2e skipped outright. Unbinding is the half
+    // that can strand a PTY or leave a retired leaf mounted as a blank pane.
+    //
+    // Deliberately absent: src/renderer/src/runtime/runtime-rpc-client.ts, the transport these
+    // retirements call out through. It carries no close decision and churns ~3x these files, so
+    // routing on it would run this lane on unrelated runtime work.
+    id: 'terminal-pane.close-and-retirement',
+    specs: [
+      // Closing a tab whose pane is parked (never mounted) must retire that exact PTY.
+      'tests/e2e/terminal-parked-close-retirement.spec.ts',
+      // Closing one leaf of a split must leave root leaves, leaf→pty bindings, and live panes
+      // agreeing — the ghost-blank-pane shape a bad unbind produces.
+      'tests/e2e/terminal-pane-close-layout-consistency.spec.ts',
+      // The runtime half: a leaf the host retires must stop being mounted on a paired client.
+      'tests/e2e/paired-remote-split-pane-host-retired-ghost.spec.ts'
+    ],
+    matches: (file) =>
+      isProductSource(file) &&
+      /^(?:src\/renderer\/src\/components\/terminal-pane\/(?:retire-unbound-(?:ipc|runtime)-terminal-pane|terminal-pane-(?:close-admission|close-identity|lifecycle-close|pane-closed|retirement-ownership)|use-terminal-pane-close-actions)|src\/renderer\/src\/store\/(?:terminals\/terminal-tab-close(?:-providers)?|slices\/(?:terminal-tab-retirement|terminal-retirement-teardown-reservation|retired-terminal-tab-state-sweep)))\.ts$/.test(
+        file
+      )
+  },
   {
     id: 'terminal-session.parked-cli-split',
     specs: ['tests/e2e/terminal-parked-cli-split.spec.ts'],