diff --git a/vendor/ai-stack/gitea-github-sync.sh b/vendor/ai-stack/gitea-github-sync.sh
index cd7f5b2..c07d78f 100755
--- a/vendor/ai-stack/gitea-github-sync.sh
+++ b/vendor/ai-stack/gitea-github-sync.sh
@@ -277,17 +277,34 @@ sync_github_to_gitea() {
     # old commit indefinitely, with no error at any step. Also no longer
     # silencing stderr: a real auth/network failure should be visible in the
     # log, not just "Failed to fetch" with no reason why.
+    local auth_url="${clone_url/https:\/\//https:\/\/$GITHUB_TOKEN@}"
     if [[ -d "$local_path" ]]; then
         info "Fetching $full_name from GitHub..."
-        git -C "$local_path" fetch origin '+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*' --prune --quiet || {
-            err "Failed to fetch $full_name"; return 1; }
     else
         info "Cloning $full_name from GitHub..."
         mkdir -p "$(dirname "$local_path")"
-        local auth_url="${clone_url/https:\/\//https:\/\/$GITHUB_TOKEN@}"
-        git clone --bare --quiet "$auth_url" "$local_path" || {
-            err "Failed to clone $full_name"; return 1; }
+        git init --bare --quiet "$local_path" || { err "Failed to init $full_name"; return 1; }
+        git -C "$local_path" remote add origin "$auth_url"
     fi
+    # Explicit heads+tags refspec on BOTH the initial clone and every later
+    # fetch, not `git clone --bare` (which pulls every ref the remote
+    # advertises, refs/pull/*/head included) — GitHub exposes PR refs over
+    # the same smart-HTTP endpoint a plain bare clone reads from, and those
+    # live in a namespace Gitea's own PR system reserves for itself. A later
+    # `git push --mirror` (pushes every local ref verbatim) then gets
+    # rejected by Gitea's server-side hook — confirmed live: "hook declined
+    # to update refs/pull/1/head". Scoping fetch AND push to heads/tags only
+    # avoids ever touching that namespace in either direction.
+    git -C "$local_path" fetch origin \
+        '+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*' '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*' \
+        --prune --quiet || { err "Failed to fetch $full_name"; return 1; }
+    # Self-heals a repo synced before this fix — a stray refs/pull/* (or any
+    # other non-heads/tags ref) an earlier run's unscoped `clone --bare`
+    # already pulled in would otherwise keep tripping the same Gitea hook on
+    # every sync from here on, with no other way to clear it.
+    git -C "$local_path" for-each-ref --format='%(refname)' \
+            'refs/pull/*' 'refs/merge-requests/*' 'refs/changes/*' \
+        | xargs -r -n1 git -C "$local_path" update-ref -d
 
     # Ensure repo exists on Gitea
     local gitea_check
@@ -299,12 +316,17 @@ sync_github_to_gitea() {
             >/dev/null || { err "Failed to create $repo_name on Gitea"; return 1; }
     fi
 
-    # Push to Gitea
+    # Push to Gitea — same explicit heads+tags scoping as the fetch above,
+    # not --mirror (which would push refs/pull/* etc. verbatim and hit the
+    # same rejected-hook failure this whole fix is for). --prune still makes
+    # Gitea's heads/tags a true mirror of GitHub's (deletes ones GitHub no
+    # longer has), just without ever touching reserved ref namespaces.
     local gitea_push_url="${GITEA_URL/https:\/\//https:\/\/$GITEA_USER:$GITEA_TOKEN@}"
     gitea_push_url="${gitea_push_url/http:\/\//http:\/\/$GITEA_USER:$GITEA_TOKEN@}"
     gitea_push_url="$gitea_push_url/$GITEA_USER/$repo_name.git"
 
-    git -C "$local_path" push --mirror "$gitea_push_url" --quiet || {
+    git -C "$local_path" push --prune --quiet "$gitea_push_url" \
+            '+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*' '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*' || {
         err "Failed to push $full_name to Gitea"; return 1; }
     ok "GitHub → Gitea: $full_name"
     _log "PULL $full_name OK"
@@ -320,18 +342,26 @@ sync_gitea_to_github() {
     local gitea_auth_url="${clone_url/https:\/\//https:\/\/$GITEA_USER:$GITEA_TOKEN@}"
     gitea_auth_url="${gitea_auth_url/http:\/\//http:\/\/$GITEA_USER:$GITEA_TOKEN@}"
 
-    # See the matching comment in sync_github_to_gitea() above — same
-    # explicit-refspec, visible-stderr fix, same reason.
+    # See the matching comment in sync_github_to_gitea() above — same reason
+    # applies in reverse: Gitea also exposes PR refs (refs/pull/*/head) over
+    # its git smart-HTTP endpoint, and GitHub rejects direct pushes to that
+    # same reserved namespace just as Gitea's hook does. Explicit heads+tags
+    # refspec on the initial clone too, not `git clone --bare`.
     if [[ -d "$local_path" ]]; then
         info "Fetching $full_name from Gitea..."
-        git -C "$local_path" fetch origin '+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*' --prune --quiet || {
-            err "Failed to fetch $full_name from Gitea"; return 1; }
     else
         info "Cloning $full_name from Gitea..."
         mkdir -p "$(dirname "$local_path")"
-        git clone --bare --quiet "$gitea_auth_url" "$local_path" || {
-            err "Failed to clone $full_name from Gitea"; return 1; }
+        git init --bare --quiet "$local_path" || { err "Failed to init $full_name"; return 1; }
+        git -C "$local_path" remote add origin "$gitea_auth_url"
     fi
+    git -C "$local_path" fetch origin \
+        '+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*' '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*' \
+        --prune --quiet || { err "Failed to fetch $full_name from Gitea"; return 1; }
+    # Self-heals a repo synced before this fix — see the matching comment above.
+    git -C "$local_path" for-each-ref --format='%(refname)' \
+            'refs/pull/*' 'refs/merge-requests/*' 'refs/changes/*' \
+        | xargs -r -n1 git -C "$local_path" update-ref -d
 
     # Ensure repo exists on GitHub
     local gh_check
@@ -343,9 +373,11 @@ sync_gitea_to_github() {
             >/dev/null || { err "Failed to create $repo_name on GitHub"; return 1; }
     fi
 
-    # Push to GitHub
+    # Push to GitHub — explicit heads+tags scoping, not --mirror. Same
+    # reasoning as the Gitea push above.
     local github_push_url="https://$GITHUB_TOKEN@github.com/$GITHUB_USER/$repo_name.git"
-    git -C "$local_path" push --mirror "$github_push_url" --quiet || {
+    git -C "$local_path" push --prune --quiet "$github_push_url" \
+            '+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*' '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*' || {
         err "Failed to push $full_name to GitHub"; return 1; }
     ok "Gitea → GitHub: $full_name"
     _log "PUSH $full_name OK"