diff --git a/.editorconfig b/.editorconfig
index b7bc01e..8ae9273 100644
--- a/.editorconfig
+++ b/.editorconfig
@@ -91,7 +91,9 @@ dotnet_naming_style.camel_case_style.capitalization = camel_case
 
 #### Diagnostics ####
 
-# Formatting violations fail the build; `dotnet format --verify-no-changes` gates CI.
+# Formatting violations fail the build, and that is now the whole of the enforcement: CI
+# has no `dotnet format --verify-no-changes` step any more, because this line already
+# fails it.
 dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0055.severity = error
 
 # ConfigureAwait is not meaningful in ASP.NET Core (no SynchronizationContext). It IS
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c9596ef..33e7ff5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -104,8 +104,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: restore
         run: dotnet restore DodoSSH.slnx --locked-mode
 
-      - name: verify formatting
-        run: dotnet format DodoSSH.slnx --verify-no-changes --no-restore
+      # No `dotnet format --verify-no-changes` step. It re-analysed the whole solution before
+      # the build did, for minutes, to check something the build already checks: IDE0055 is an
+      # error in .editorconfig and TreatWarningsAsErrors is on, so a misformatted file fails
+      # the build step below on its own. What the separate step added was the ability to say
+      # so a few minutes earlier, and it cost more than that on every run.
 
       # Avalonia's headless renderer is still Skia, and libSkiaSharp.so — which the layout
       # test project copies into its own output — links against libfontconfig. Without that
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0f36fcd..b33a7c2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -366,7 +366,8 @@ keychain plus a terminal — and the spike that gates all of it.
 
 ### Conventions the build enforces
 
-- Warnings are errors. `dotnet format --verify-no-changes` gates CI.
+- Warnings are errors, formatting included: `IDE0055` is an error in `.editorconfig`, so a
+  misformatted file fails the build itself rather than a separate CI step.
 - Package versions are centralised in `Directory.Packages.props`; `packages.lock.json` is
   committed and CI restores in locked mode.
 - [`BannedSymbols.txt`](BannedSymbols.txt) bans `DateTime.UtcNow` (use `TimeProvider`),
diff --git a/docs/platform-flags.md b/docs/platform-flags.md
index 3e91090..23fe04d 100644
--- a/docs/platform-flags.md
+++ b/docs/platform-flags.md
@@ -479,9 +479,11 @@ locates a fixture by source path passes locally and fails in CI. Copy fixtures t
 directory and read them via `AppContext.BaseDirectory` instead; `GoldenVectorTests` shows the
 pattern.
 
-**`dotnet format --verify-no-changes` is part of the CI gate** and exits non-zero on style
-warnings, not just whitespace. Run it before pushing; a build with zero warnings can still fail
-that step.
+**Formatting fails the build rather than a separate step.** `IDE0055` is an error in
+`.editorconfig` and `EnforceCodeStyleInBuild` is on, so `dotnet build` reports misformatted code
+the way it reports a type error. CI used to run `dotnet format --verify-no-changes` as well; it
+was removed for spending minutes to reach a verdict the build reaches anyway. `dotnet format` is
+still how to *fix* what the build complains about — it just no longer gates anything itself.
 
 ## Deployment