diff --git a/.fuze/manifest.json b/.fuze/manifest.json
index 7b95887..aca38d8 100644
--- a/.fuze/manifest.json
+++ b/.fuze/manifest.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "identity": {
     "namespace": "agent",
-    "note": "Prefix namespace for this product's entity types (governance/identifier-standard.md \u00a72). DECLARED here rather than derived from the repo directory name: a rename would otherwise silently orphan every id already issued, and that surfaces much later as unresolvable references with no obvious cause. Reserved spine prefixes (usr/org/prt/app, billing, messaging) belong to FuzeFront; this product's own types namespace as agent_<type>. Enforced by `gate_identifier.py --namespace`.",
+    "note": "Prefix namespace for this product's entity types (governance/identifier-standard.md §2). DECLARED here rather than derived from the repo directory name: a rename would otherwise silently orphan every id already issued, and that surfaces much later as unresolvable references with no obvious cause. Reserved spine prefixes (usr/org/prt/app, billing, messaging) belong to FuzeFront; this product's own types namespace as agent_<type>. Enforced by `gate_identifier.py --namespace`.",
     "packages": {
       "node": "@izzywdev/fuzefront-identity",
       "python": "fuzefront-identity"
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
   "hardening": {
     "ruleset": true,
     "requireSignatures": true,
-    "deployOnPush": false
+    "deployOnPush": true
   },
   "a2a": {
     "enabled": true,
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
         "min_score": 80,
         "at_width": 375
       },
-      "The standalone URL loads with no portal chrome \u2014 it is what the APK wraps."
+      "The standalone URL loads with no portal chrome — it is what the APK wraps."
     ]
   },
   "toolchain": {
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml
index 4783c94..59b5058 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml
@@ -22,8 +22,32 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      # deploy-on-push repos are NEVER bot-merged (.fuze manifest schema,
+      # governance/repo-manifest.schema.json in izzywdev/FuzeSDLC: "If true,
+      # never bot-merge; merge in a deploy window"). Read the flag from
+      # .fuze/manifest.json and gate the enable step on it here, so the
+      # declaration is ENFORCED on the merge path rather than only honored by
+      # convention — a manifest value nothing on the merge path reads is a
+      # declaration, not a control. See .fuze/manifest.json for the evidence
+      # this repo deploys on push (workflow + job cited in the PR that set
+      # hardening.deployOnPush).
+      - name: Read deploy-on-push flag
+        id: hardening
+        run: |
+          if grep -qE '"deployOnPush"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*true' .fuze/manifest.json 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "deploy_on_push=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "::notice::hardening.deployOnPush=true"
+          else
+            echo "deploy_on_push=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "::notice::hardening.deployOnPush=false"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Deploy-on-push repo — auto-merge withheld
+        if: steps.hardening.outputs.deploy_on_push == 'true'
+        run: echo "::notice title=Auto-merge withheld::hardening.deployOnPush=true — merging this PR deploys to production, so it must be merged by a human in a deploy window. This job is green because withholding the merge IS the correct outcome here, not a failure."
+
       - name: Enable auto-merge
-        if: github.event.pull_request.user.login == github.repository_owner || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'auto-merge')
+        if: steps.hardening.outputs.deploy_on_push != 'true' && (github.event.pull_request.user.login == github.repository_owner || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'auto-merge'))
         continue-on-error: true
         run: |
           gh pr merge ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }} --auto --squash --delete-branch