diff --git a/document-parser/domain/hashing.py b/document-parser/domain/hashing.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d438fcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/document-parser/domain/hashing.py
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+"""Deterministic hashing for chunksets — substrate for auto-stale detection (#204).
+
+A `chunkset_hash` summarises the content of a list of chunks for a
+document. The hash is recorded on each `DocumentStoreLink` at push time
+(#203 ships the column slot). When chunks change, recomputing the hash
+and comparing against the stored value tells us whether the link has
+gone stale.
+
+Why a hash and not, say, an updated_at?
+  - Idempotent re-pipelines on identical input bump `updated_at` without
+    semantic change. A content hash is the only signal that survives
+    that.
+  - It is also content-addressed: two different docs that happen to have
+    the same chunkset get the same hash. Useful for de-duplication
+    further down the road.
+
+Inputs and exclusions are pinned. Any change to the canonical inputs
+re-flips every existing link to Stale once — that is a deliberate
+release-note event, not a silent migration.
+
+This module is pure: in / out. No I/O. No randomness. No dates.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import hashlib
+import json
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterable
+
+    from domain.value_objects import ChunkResult
+
+
+# Byte separator inserted between chunks so concatenating two chunks does
+# not yield the same hash as a single chunk with the joined text. \x1f is
+# the Unicode "Information Separator One" — semantically appropriate and
+# safe inside arbitrary text.
+_CHUNK_SEPARATOR = b"\x1f"
+
+
+def chunkset_hash(chunks: Iterable[ChunkResult]) -> str:
+    """Return a deterministic SHA-256 hex digest over a chunkset.
+
+    Hashed inputs (per chunk, in order):
+      - text             (str)
+      - source_page      (int | None)
+      - headings         (list[str], order preserved)
+
+    Excluded:
+      - bboxes / doc_items   (rendering artefacts; do not affect retrieval)
+      - token_count          (derived; unstable across tokenizers)
+
+    The exclusion list is intentional. Bumping it changes every link's
+    hash and triggers a one-time corpus-wide flip to `Stale`.
+    """
+    h = hashlib.sha256()
+    for chunk in chunks:
+        payload = {
+            "t": chunk.text,
+            "p": chunk.source_page,
+            "h": list(chunk.headings or []),
+        }
+        h.update(_CHUNK_SEPARATOR)
+        h.update(json.dumps(payload, ensure_ascii=False, separators=(",", ":")).encode())
+    return h.hexdigest()
diff --git a/document-parser/tests/test_hashing.py b/document-parser/tests/test_hashing.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d3ed7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/document-parser/tests/test_hashing.py
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+"""Tests for the chunkset hash function (#204)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from domain.hashing import chunkset_hash
+from domain.value_objects import ChunkBbox, ChunkDocItem, ChunkResult
+
+
+def _chunk(text: str, *, page: int | None = 1, headings=()) -> ChunkResult:
+    return ChunkResult(text=text, headings=list(headings), source_page=page)
+
+
+def test_empty_chunkset_returns_empty_sha256() -> None:
+    """Empty input has a stable, well-known hash."""
+    h = chunkset_hash([])
+    # SHA-256 of nothing is the well-known constant.
+    assert h == "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855"
+
+
+def test_determinism_across_invocations() -> None:
+    chunks = [_chunk("a"), _chunk("b"), _chunk("c")]
+    assert chunkset_hash(chunks) == chunkset_hash(chunks)
+
+
+def test_text_change_changes_hash() -> None:
+    base = [_chunk("alpha")]
+    edited = [_chunk("alpha!")]
+    assert chunkset_hash(base) != chunkset_hash(edited)
+
+
+def test_page_change_changes_hash() -> None:
+    a = [_chunk("alpha", page=1)]
+    b = [_chunk("alpha", page=2)]
+    assert chunkset_hash(a) != chunkset_hash(b)
+
+
+def test_headings_change_changes_hash() -> None:
+    a = [_chunk("alpha", headings=("Section A",))]
+    b = [_chunk("alpha", headings=("Section B",))]
+    assert chunkset_hash(a) != chunkset_hash(b)
+
+
+def test_excluded_fields_do_not_change_hash() -> None:
+    """token_count, bboxes, doc_items are deliberately excluded."""
+    a = ChunkResult(text="alpha", headings=[], source_page=1, token_count=100, bboxes=[])
+    b = ChunkResult(
+        text="alpha",
+        headings=[],
+        source_page=1,
+        token_count=999,  # different
+        bboxes=[ChunkBbox(page=1, bbox=[0, 0, 10, 10])],  # different
+        doc_items=[ChunkDocItem(self_ref="#/x", label="text")],  # different
+    )
+    assert chunkset_hash([a]) == chunkset_hash([b])
+
+
+def test_join_attack_resistance() -> None:
+    """Splitting one chunk into two with the same combined content must
+    produce a different hash from the original single-chunk version."""
+    one = [_chunk("HelloWorld")]
+    two = [_chunk("Hello"), _chunk("World")]
+    assert chunkset_hash(one) != chunkset_hash(two)
+
+
+def test_order_matters() -> None:
+    a = [_chunk("alpha"), _chunk("bravo")]
+    b = [_chunk("bravo"), _chunk("alpha")]
+    assert chunkset_hash(a) != chunkset_hash(b)
+
+
+def test_locked_fixture_three_chunks() -> None:
+    """Locked fixture: a hand-built 3-chunk input has a fixed expected
+    hash. CI fails loud if anyone changes the canonical input list
+    without updating the fixture deliberately.
+
+    The expected hash below was computed once with the function as
+    pinned in this commit. To regenerate after a deliberate canonical
+    change, run:
+
+        python -c 'from domain.hashing import chunkset_hash; \\
+                   from domain.value_objects import ChunkResult; \\
+                   print(chunkset_hash([
+                     ChunkResult(text="Intro paragraph.", source_page=1,
+                                 headings=["Intro"]),
+                     ChunkResult(text="Body of section A.", source_page=2,
+                                 headings=["A"]),
+                     ChunkResult(text="Conclusion.", source_page=3,
+                                 headings=["Conclusion"]),
+                   ]))'
+    """
+    chunks = [
+        ChunkResult(text="Intro paragraph.", source_page=1, headings=["Intro"]),
+        ChunkResult(text="Body of section A.", source_page=2, headings=["A"]),
+        ChunkResult(text="Conclusion.", source_page=3, headings=["Conclusion"]),
+    ]
+    expected = "6ac365ae403e53675e57884b69b0629684f2209c39730093231caa11a40e5225"
+    actual = chunkset_hash(chunks)
+    assert actual == expected, (
+        f"Hash drift detected. Expected {expected}, got {actual}. "
+        "If you intentionally changed the canonical inputs, update this "
+        "fixture and document the breaking change in the release notes."
+    )