diff --git a/lib/git-crypt.sh b/lib/git-crypt.sh
index 7972620..0a2825a 100644
--- a/lib/git-crypt.sh
+++ b/lib/git-crypt.sh
@@ -21,18 +21,29 @@ gcrypt_export_key() {
 
 gcrypt_verify() {
   local genome_name="$1"
-  local key_path="${KEYS_DIR}/${genome_name}.key"
 
-  info "Verifying git-crypt status for ${genome_name}..."
-  git-crypt lock
+  info "Verifying git-crypt configuration for ${genome_name}..."
 
-  if file "raw/private/.gitkeep" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "data"; then
-    success "Encryption verified: private/ directory is protected."
+  # `git-crypt status` reports the CONFIGURED status (from `.gitattributes`), not the
+  # lock/unlock status of the working tree. Encrypted lines have their labels right-aligned
+  # (with leading whitespace), so you CANNOT anchor on `^encrypted`.
+  # We filter by private/ and distinguish “encrypted” from “not encrypted” without
+  # relying on exact spacing.
+  local status_out encrypted_count not_encrypted_count
+  status_out=$(git-crypt status 2>/dev/null || true)
+  encrypted_count=$(printf '%s\n' "$status_out"     | grep 'private/' | grep -cE '^[[:space:]]*encrypted:' || true)
+  not_encrypted_count=$(printf '%s\n' "$status_out" | grep 'private/' | grep -cE '^not encrypted:'        || true)
+
+  if [[ "$encrypted_count" -gt 0 ]]; then
+    success "Encryption configured: ${encrypted_count} private file(s) under git-crypt."
+    if [[ "$not_encrypted_count" -gt 0 ]]; then
+      warn "${not_encrypted_count} file(s) under private/ are NOT covered by the git-crypt filter — check .gitattributes (leak risk)."
+    fi
+  elif [[ "$not_encrypted_count" -gt 0 ]]; then
+    warn "private/ files exist but none are covered by the git-crypt filter — check the .gitattributes filter (leak risk)."
   else
-    warn "Encryption check inconclusive. Run 'git-crypt status' manually."
+    info "No private/ files present yet — nothing to verify."
   fi
-
-  [[ -f "$key_path" ]] && git-crypt unlock "$key_path"
 }
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------