diff --git a/ARCHITECTURE.md b/ARCHITECTURE.md
index 1bfdd8b6b..4d77d921b 100644
--- a/ARCHITECTURE.md
+++ b/ARCHITECTURE.md
@@ -200,6 +200,10 @@ without a verb, and any regex it cannot translate exactly are all dropped rather
 than guessed at. A missing route is a coverage limit; an invented one is a lie.
 Express `app.get(RegExp, handler)` registrations are likewise omitted: a regex
 matcher does not have one finite URL to use as a Route node key.
+Express `app.use(path, middleware)` is middleware attachment, not an endpoint;
+it does not create a Route node. Dispatch-guard inference also ignores stored
+`route.routePath` metadata: comparing a recorded route name with a literal
+does not prove that the request path is being dispatched.
 
 Two rules there need more than one comparison to decide, and are worth knowing
 about before changing either:
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/storage/parse-cache.ts b/gitnexus/src/storage/parse-cache.ts
index c4a56ed56..7be46bc4a 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/storage/parse-cache.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/storage/parse-cache.ts
@@ -858,7 +858,10 @@ import { copyV8CacheIfPresent, tryLoadV8Cache, writeV8CacheFile } from './v8-sid
 // and original graph positions. Both stores must re-extract v135 captures.
 // v137: Python module-accessor syntax proofs and exact assigned-call provenance
 // join the existing subtype capture payload. Re-extract v136 in both stores.
-const SCHEMA_BUMP = 137;
+// v138 (#3561): Express middleware registrations no longer emit endpoints,
+// and dispatch guards ignore stored route metadata. Warm v137 shards retain
+// those phantom routes, so both parse stores must re-extract unchanged files.
+const SCHEMA_BUMP = 138;
 const GITNEXUS_PKG_VERSION = (() => {
   try {
     // package.json sits at gitnexus/package.json — two levels up from
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/fixtures/lang-resolution/express-route-priority/src/server.ts b/gitnexus/test/fixtures/lang-resolution/express-route-priority/src/server.ts
index 27fb6dd56..0fe8140e9 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/fixtures/lang-resolution/express-route-priority/src/server.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/fixtures/lang-resolution/express-route-priority/src/server.ts
@@ -24,3 +24,7 @@ counts.get('/ghost-block-comment' /* cached key */);
 counts.get(
   '/ghost-line-comment', // cached key
 );
+
+function inspectRoute(route) {
+  return route.routePath === '/comparison-ghost';
+}
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/express-routes.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/express-routes.test.ts
index d59728b89..e2948c100 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/express-routes.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/express-routes.test.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
 } from '../../../src/storage/parse-cache.js';
 import {
   getDurableParsedFileDir,
+  loadDurableParsedFileIndex,
   pruneAndSaveDurableParsedFileStore,
 } from '../../../src/storage/parsedfile-store.js';
 import {
@@ -113,6 +114,10 @@ describe('Express route identity and source priority', () => {
     },
   );
 
+  it('does not turn stored route metadata into a dispatch guard', () => {
+    expect(getNodesByLabel(result, 'Route')).not.toContain('/comparison-ghost');
+  });
+
   it.each([
     ['/api/chained', ['GET']],
     ['/api/chained-post', ['POST']],
@@ -238,4 +243,52 @@ describe('Express route identity and source priority', () => {
       fs.rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
   }, 120_000);
+
+  it('reparses route captures from a same-package v137 cache on upgrade', async () => {
+    const tempDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gitnexus-express-route-upgrade-'));
+    const repoDir = path.join(tempDir, 'repo');
+    const storageDir = path.join(tempDir, 'storage');
+    const previousVersion = `137+${PARSE_CACHE_VERSION.split('+').slice(1).join('+')}`;
+    try {
+      fs.cpSync(path.join(FIXTURES, 'express-route-priority'), repoDir, { recursive: true });
+      const cache: ParseCache = {
+        version: PARSE_CACHE_VERSION,
+        entries: new Map(),
+        usedKeys: new Set<string>(),
+        storagePath: storageDir,
+        onDiskKeys: new Set<string>(),
+      };
+      const initial = await runPipelineFromRepo(repoDir, () => {}, {
+        parseCache: cache,
+        workerPoolSize: 1,
+      });
+      expect(initial.reparsedFileCount).toBe(2);
+      pruneCache(cache, cache.usedKeys);
+      cache.version = previousVersion;
+      const savedKeys = await saveParseCache(storageDir, cache);
+      expect(savedKeys).toHaveLength(2);
+      const durableDir = getDurableParsedFileDir(storageDir);
+      await pruneAndSaveDurableParsedFileStore(durableDir, previousVersion, new Set(savedKeys));
+      expect((await loadDurableParsedFileIndex(durableDir, previousVersion)).size).toBe(2);
+
+      const upgraded = await loadParseCache(storageDir);
+      expect(upgraded.onDiskKeys?.size ?? 0).toBe(0);
+      expect(await loadDurableParsedFileIndex(durableDir, PARSE_CACHE_VERSION)).toEqual(new Map());
+      const result = await runPipelineFromRepo(repoDir, () => {}, {
+        parseCache: upgraded,
+        workerPoolSize: 1,
+      });
+      expect(result.reparsedFileCount).toBe(2);
+      expect(result.parseCacheHitFileCount).toBe(0);
+      const routes = getNodesByLabel(result, 'Route');
+      expect(routes).toContain('/api/info');
+      expect(routes).not.toContain('/ghost');
+      expect(routes).not.toContain('/comparison-ghost');
+      expect(
+        getNodesByLabelFull(result, 'Route').filter((node) => node.name === '/api/mcp'),
+      ).toHaveLength(1);
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  }, 120_000);
 });
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/incremental-parse-cache.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/incremental-parse-cache.test.ts
index 9680bfde4..8edd96f6b 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/incremental-parse-cache.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/incremental-parse-cache.test.ts
@@ -319,8 +319,9 @@ describe('PARSE_CACHE_VERSION', () => {
   // Moved 134 -> 135 for guarded-import and mutable binding review fixes (#3532).
   // Moved 135 -> 136 for parameter annotations and Vue embedded script fixes (#3532).
   // Moved 136 -> 137 for Python module-accessor and call-result assignment captures (#3497).
-  it('pins SCHEMA_BUMP to 137 so concurrent bumps cannot silently collide (#2766, #3015, #3088, #2885, #3128, #2865, #3130, #1432, #3161, #3179, #3219, #3190, #3253, #3273, #3339, #3354, #3371, #2965, #3390, #3398, #3396, #3394, #3399, #3414, #3408, #3402, #3446, #3450, #3499, #3502, #3487, #3505, #3504, #3497)', () => {
-    expect(Number(PARSE_CACHE_VERSION.split('+', 1)[0])).toBe(137);
+  // Moved 137 -> 138 for the route-capture corrections in #3561.
+  it('pins SCHEMA_BUMP to 138 so concurrent bumps cannot silently collide (#2766, #3015, #3088, #2885, #3128, #2865, #3130, #1432, #3161, #3179, #3219, #3190, #3253, #3273, #3339, #3354, #3371, #2965, #3390, #3398, #3396, #3394, #3399, #3414, #3408, #3402, #3446, #3450, #3499, #3502, #3487, #3505, #3504, #3497, #3561)', () => {
+    expect(Number(PARSE_CACHE_VERSION.split('+', 1)[0])).toBe(138);
     expect(PARSE_CACHE_BUCKET_COUNT).toBe(128);
     // The PREVIOUS version must fail the reuse gate, not merely differ from the
     // current one — a hardcoded number outside the conflict hunk rebases cleanly
@@ -330,7 +331,7 @@ describe('PARSE_CACHE_VERSION', () => {
       59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81,
       82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103,
       104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122,
-      123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136,
+      123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137,
     ]) {
       expect(Number(PARSE_CACHE_VERSION.split('+', 1)[0])).not.toBe(taken);
     }