diff --git a/backend/src/agent/podman.ts b/backend/src/agent/podman.ts
index aa7645b..a3611fc 100644
--- a/backend/src/agent/podman.ts
+++ b/backend/src/agent/podman.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export class PodMan {
     }
 
     const github = await getGithubState(); // cached
-    const collisions = detectCollisions([...this.contexts.values()], github);
+    const collisions = detectCollisions([...this.contexts.values()], github, gitStates);
     for (const collision of collisions) await this.handle(collision);
   }
 
diff --git a/backend/src/collision/detector.ts b/backend/src/collision/detector.ts
index 7b26f84..99837bb 100644
--- a/backend/src/collision/detector.ts
+++ b/backend/src/collision/detector.ts
@@ -1,34 +1,84 @@
 import type { EngineerContext, Collision, GithubStateSnapshot } from '@podman/shared';
+import type { GitState } from '../memory/db.js';
 
-function normalize(path?: string): string | undefined {
-  if (!path) return undefined;
-  return path.replace(/^\.?\/?(src\/)?/, 'src/').toLowerCase();
+/**
+ * Collapse any path-ish string to a comparable file key.
+ *
+ * Vision reads paths at inconsistent depths ("agent.ts" vs
+ * "backend/src/agent.ts"), and git status lines carry a status prefix
+ * ("M README.md", "?? test.txt"). Reduce both to a lowercased basename so the
+ * same file matches regardless of how it was observed. Basename matching can
+ * over-group two same-named files in different dirs, but for live coordination
+ * that bias toward firing is the right trade.
+ */
+function fileKey(raw?: string): string | undefined {
+  if (!raw) return undefined;
+  const stripped = raw.trim().replace(/^(\?\?|[MADRCU!]{1,2})\s+/, ''); // drop git status prefix
+  const base = stripped.split(/[\\/]/).pop()?.trim();
+  if (!base) return undefined;
+  return base.toLowerCase();
 }
 
+interface Touch {
+  engineerId: string;
+  unpushed: boolean;
+  display: string; // original path/name to show in the card
+}
+
+/**
+ * Detect same-file collisions from two fused signals:
+ *  1. Vision — what each engineer currently has on screen.
+ *  2. Git ground truth — each engineer's dirty/unpushed `changedFiles`.
+ *
+ * Git overlap is deterministic and does not require both engineers to have the
+ * file on screen at the same instant, so it is the reliable demo path.
+ */
 export function detectCollisions(
   contexts: EngineerContext[],
   github: GithubStateSnapshot,
+  gitStates?: Map<string, GitState>,
 ): Collision[] {
-  const byFile = new Map<string, EngineerContext[]>();
+  const byFile = new Map<string, Touch[]>();
+  const add = (key: string | undefined, touch: Touch): void => {
+    if (!key) return;
+    (byFile.get(key) ?? byFile.set(key, []).get(key)!).push(touch);
+  };
+
+  // Signal 1: live vision context.
   for (const c of contexts) {
-    const f = normalize(c.currentFile);
-    if (!f) continue;
-    (byFile.get(f) ?? byFile.set(f, []).get(f)!).push(c);
+    add(fileKey(c.currentFile), {
+      engineerId: c.engineerId,
+      unpushed: c.hasUnpushedChanges === true,
+      display: c.currentFile ?? '',
+    });
+  }
+
+  // Signal 2: git ground truth (a dirty changed file is unpushed by definition).
+  if (gitStates) {
+    for (const [engineerId, git] of gitStates) {
+      for (const changed of git.changedFiles) {
+        add(fileKey(changed), { engineerId, unpushed: true, display: changed });
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   const out: Collision[] = [];
-  for (const [file, group] of byFile) {
-    const engineers = [...new Set(group.map((g) => g.engineerId))];
-    if (engineers.length < 2) continue;
+  for (const [, touches] of byFile) {
+    const engineers = [...new Set(touches.map((t) => t.engineerId))];
+    if (engineers.length < 2) continue; // need two distinct people on one file
 
-    const anyUnpushed = group.some((g) => g.hasUnpushedChanges) || github.unpushed === true;
+    const anyUnpushed = touches.some((t) => t.unpushed) || github.unpushed === true;
     if (!anyUnpushed) continue; // the crux GitHub alone cannot answer
 
+    // Show the most specific path we saw for this file.
+    const display =
+      touches.map((t) => t.display).sort((a, b) => b.length - a.length)[0] ?? touches[0]!.display;
+
     out.push({
-      id: `col_${file}_${Date.now()}`,
-      podId: group[0]!.podId,
-      file,
-      symbol: group.find((g) => g.currentSymbol)?.currentSymbol,
+      id: `col_${fileKey(display)}_${Date.now()}`,
+      podId: contexts[0]?.podId ?? 'demo-pod',
+      file: display,
+      symbol: contexts.find((c) => c.currentSymbol)?.currentSymbol,
       engineers,
       severity: 'warn',
       githubState: { ...github, unpushed: anyUnpushed },