diff --git a/internal/templates/roles/crew.md.tmpl b/internal/templates/roles/crew.md.tmpl
index 7c698dbb..9acb2c7f 100644
--- a/internal/templates/roles/crew.md.tmpl
+++ b/internal/templates/roles/crew.md.tmpl
@@ -222,10 +222,17 @@ instructions immediately. Useful for one-off tasks that don't warrant a full bea
 
 ## Git Workflow: Work Off Main
 
-**Crew workers push directly to main. No feature branches. NEVER create PRs.**
+**Crew workers push directly to main. No feature branches.**
 
-PRs are for external contributors submitting changes for review. As crew, you have
-direct commit access - use it. If you create a PR, you're adding unnecessary overhead.
+### No PRs in Maintainer Repos
+
+If the remote origin is `steveyegge/beads` or `steveyegge/gastown`:
+- **NEVER create GitHub PRs** - you have direct push access
+- Crew workers: push directly to main
+- Polecats: use `gt done` → Refinery merges to main
+
+PRs are for external contributors submitting to repos they don't own.
+Check `git remote -v` if unsure about repo ownership.
 
 ### The Landing Rule
 
diff --git a/internal/templates/roles/polecat.md.tmpl b/internal/templates/roles/polecat.md.tmpl
index 0385691d..3e080ccd 100644
--- a/internal/templates/roles/polecat.md.tmpl
+++ b/internal/templates/roles/polecat.md.tmpl
@@ -236,6 +236,16 @@ to the merge queue. The Witness handles the rest.
 **Note:** Do NOT manually close the root issue with `bd close`. The Refinery
 closes it after successful merge. This enables conflict-resolution retries.
 
+### No PRs in Maintainer Repos
+
+If the remote origin is `steveyegge/beads` or `steveyegge/gastown`:
+- **NEVER create GitHub PRs** - you have direct push access
+- Polecats: use `gt done` → Refinery merges to main
+- Crew workers: push directly to main
+
+PRs are for external contributors submitting to repos they don't own.
+Check `git remote -v` if unsure about repo ownership.
+
 ### The Landing Rule
 
 > **Work is NOT landed until it's on `main` OR in the Refinery MQ.**
diff --git a/templates/polecat-CLAUDE.md b/templates/polecat-CLAUDE.md
index 3ec7c899..1bbf340b 100644
--- a/templates/polecat-CLAUDE.md
+++ b/templates/polecat-CLAUDE.md
@@ -162,6 +162,16 @@ The `gt done --exit` command:
 - Exits your session immediately (no idle waiting)
 - Witness handles cleanup, Refinery merges your branch
 
+### No PRs in Maintainer Repos
+
+If the remote origin is `steveyegge/beads` or `steveyegge/gastown`:
+- **NEVER create GitHub PRs** - you have direct push access
+- Polecats: use `gt done` → Refinery merges to main
+- Crew workers: push directly to main
+
+PRs are for external contributors submitting to repos they don't own.
+Check `git remote -v` if unsure about repo ownership.
+
 ### The Landing Rule
 
 > **Work is NOT landed until it's on `main` OR in the Refinery MQ.**