diff --git a/.claude/BRANCHING.md b/.claude/BRANCHING.md
index f4b7366..e602fbc 100644
--- a/.claude/BRANCHING.md
+++ b/.claude/BRANCHING.md
@@ -179,6 +179,35 @@ else; say plainly where it came from rather than implying a check passed.
 A hotfix that touches only one domain deploys only that domain. Check the other
 half's `/api/version` before assuming the fix is live end to end.
 
+### When you genuinely need to push directly
+
+`apply_to_admins` is on, which means these rules bind the owner too. That is
+deliberate — protection an admin walks straight through is documentation, not a
+control, and every account here is an admin — but it does remove the escape
+hatch, so the way back in is worth writing down before it is needed at 3am.
+
+There is no force flag. The supported route is to lift the rule, do the thing,
+and put it back:
+
+```
+forge_branch_protection(branch="dev", delete=true)   # rule gone; direct push allowed
+git push origin dev                                   # the emergency change
+forge_branch_protection(branch="dev", apply=true)     # restored to policy
+```
+
+Both the removal and the restore are audited, which is the point: the hatch is
+open on the record rather than by a quiet exception. Restore it in the same
+session — a protection rule "temporarily" removed is how a repo ends up
+unprotected for a month.
+
+The failure mode that actually justifies this: if the required status context
+is ever renamed and no longer matches, **nothing can merge into `dev` or `main`
+at all**, including by you, because `apply_to_admins` no longer exempts anyone.
+`forge_pr_await` and `forge_pr_merge` both name that case explicitly when they
+see it. The fix is to correct `pr-build.yml`'s workflow/job names and
+`CENTRALIS_REQUIRED_CHECK` together — but if you need to land the fix itself,
+lift the rule as above.
+
 ## Guardrails
 
 - Never force-push `dev`, `main` or `release`.