diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cb6599165..fc46faf6f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Full release notes with details on each version: [GitHub Releases](https://githu
 
 ## 0.9.61 (unreleased)
 
+- Fix: a prose note whose stem is bare plural "tokens" (`TOKENS.md`) is no longer dropped as a credential dump — it reads as a design-token reference doc, unlike singular `token.md` or another keyword's bare plural (`secrets.md`), which still exclude (#3527, thanks @conradkelly).
 - Fix: `graphify.serve` now imports cleanly on Python 3.12 and 3.13. The `chinese` extra pins `jieba-py` from 3.12 onward (0.9.60 mistakenly kept the old `jieba` until 3.14, and its invalid regex escapes are a hard error on 3.12+), and the jieba import now suppresses the tokenizer's `SyntaxWarning` regardless of message or line so it never escalates under `-W error`.
 - Fix: the git hook's rebuild-root guard now rejects a symlink-loop or dangling `.graphify_root` on Python 3.13, whose `Path.resolve()` no longer raises on a loop — the saved root must resolve to a real directory inside the repo before it is adopted.
 
diff --git a/graphify/detect.py b/graphify/detect.py
index 287b0f431..eec8aaf1d 100644
--- a/graphify/detect.py
+++ b/graphify/detect.py
@@ -183,6 +183,13 @@ _GENERIC_KEYWORD_PATTERNS = [
 # stays excluded — see _is_prose_note.
 _PROSE_EXTS = frozenset({".md", ".markdown", ".rst", ".org", ".adoc", ".tex"})
 
+# Bare PLURAL "tokens" in a prose file (TOKENS.md) reads as a design-token
+# reference doc, not a credential dump — unlike every other generic keyword's
+# plural (secrets.md, passwords.md, credentials.md still read as dumps) and
+# unlike the singular "token.md", which stays excluded (#3527). Scoped to
+# prose extensions only: "tokens.txt" is still a plausible secret store.
+_BARE_PLURAL_TOKENS = re.compile(r'(?<![a-zA-Z0-9])tokens(?![a-zA-Z])', re.IGNORECASE)
+
 # Data/serialization extensions that commonly ARE secret stores when their name
 # hits a generic keyword (credentials.json, secrets.yaml, token.toml) or they sit
 # in an ambiguous sensitive dir (secrets/db.json). These stay subject to the
@@ -208,10 +215,14 @@ def _is_prose_note(path: Path) -> bool:
     """A prose/note file (.md/.rst/...) whose stem is a multi-word topic slug is
     exempt from the generic-keyword drop (#2106). A stem that IS exactly a bare
     keyword (secrets / token / passwords) is NOT exempt — that still reads as a
-    credential dump."""
+    credential dump. The one exception is bare plural "tokens" (TOKENS.md),
+    which reads as a design-token reference doc rather than a secret store
+    (#3527)."""
     if path.suffix.lower() not in _PROSE_EXTS:
         return False
     stem = Path(path.name).stem.lstrip('.') or Path(path.name).stem
+    if _BARE_PLURAL_TOKENS.fullmatch(stem):
+        return True
     return not any(p.fullmatch(stem) for p in _GENERIC_KEYWORD_PATTERNS)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_detect.py b/tests/test_detect.py
index 3a2635769..22099029a 100644
--- a/tests/test_detect.py
+++ b/tests/test_detect.py
@@ -3412,6 +3412,40 @@ def test_sensitive_bare_keyword_prose_still_dropped():
     assert not _is_sensitive(Path("token-lifecycle.md"))  # multi-word slug indexed
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("path", [
+    "TOKENS.md",
+    "tokens.md",
+    "tokens.rst",
+])
+def test_sensitive_bare_plural_tokens_prose_indexed(path):
+    """Bare plural "tokens" in a prose file is a design-token reference doc,
+    not a credential dump — unlike "token.md" (singular) or "secrets.md"
+    (another keyword's bare plural), which still read as dumps (#3527)."""
+    from graphify.detect import _is_sensitive
+    assert not _is_sensitive(Path(path))
+
+
+def test_sensitive_bare_plural_tokens_still_flagged_outside_prose():
+    """The plural exemption is scoped to prose extensions only — "tokens.txt"
+    is still a plausible secret store and stays excluded (#3527)."""
+    from graphify.detect import _is_sensitive
+    assert _is_sensitive(Path("tokens.txt"))
+    assert _is_sensitive(Path("tokens.json"))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("path", [
+    "app/lib/theme/shell_tokens.dart",
+    "src/design/tokens.ts",
+    "src/hard-tokens.ts",
+])
+def test_sensitive_design_token_source_files_indexed(path):
+    """Genuine design-token source files (.dart/.ts) are graphable source and
+    exempt from the generic-keyword drop regardless of the bare/plural rules
+    above — they were the headline repro in #3527."""
+    from graphify.detect import _is_sensitive
+    assert not _is_sensitive(Path(path))
+
+
 # ── #2232 / #2184: committed dotenv templates (.env.example etc.) are graphable ──
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("path", [