diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs b/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs
index e2bb8756..914121d5 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs
@@ -157,6 +157,30 @@ async fn forge_http(
     Ok(resp.status())
 }
 
+/// Like [`forge_http`] but also returns the response body, so callers
+/// can log *why* Forgejo rejected a request (e.g. the validation
+/// message on a 422). Body read is best-effort — a read error yields an
+/// empty string rather than failing the whole call.
+async fn forge_http_full(
+    method: reqwest::Method,
+    url: &str,
+    token: &str,
+    body: &str,
+) -> Result<(StatusCode, String)> {
+    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
+    let resp = client
+        .request(method, url)
+        .header("Authorization", format!("token {token}"))
+        .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+        .body(body.to_owned())
+        .send()
+        .await
+        .with_context(|| format!("forge HTTP request to {url}"))?;
+    let status = resp.status();
+    let text = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
+    Ok((status, text))
+}
+
 /// Ensure a forgejo user named `name` exists. Idempotent: forgejo
 /// returns a "user already exists" error which we treat as success.
 /// `admin` adds `--admin` (site admin) — used for the bootstrap
@@ -1013,19 +1037,30 @@ async fn apply_config_repo_branch_protection(repo: &str, token: &str) -> Result<
     let body = format!(
         r#"{{"branch_name":"main","enable_push_whitelist":true,"push_whitelist_usernames":["core"],"enable_merge_whitelist":true,"merge_whitelist_usernames":["core"],"enable_approvals_whitelist":true,"approvals_whitelist_teams":["{OPERATORS_TEAM}"],"required_approvals":1,"block_on_official_review_requests":true,"allow_manual_merge":true,"enable_force_push":false}}"#
     );
-    let status = forge_http(reqwest::Method::POST, &url, token, &body).await?;
-    match status.as_u16() {
-        201 => {
-            tracing::info!(%repo, "forge: applied config-repo branch protection");
-            Ok(())
-        }
-        200 | 409 | 422 => {
-            tracing::debug!(%repo, "forge: config-repo branch protection already present");
-            Ok(())
-        }
-        other => {
-            anyhow::bail!("POST {CONFIG_ORG}/{repo}/branch_protections returned HTTP {other}")
-        }
+    let (status, resp_body) = forge_http_full(reqwest::Method::POST, &url, token, &body).await?;
+    if status.as_u16() == 201 {
+        tracing::info!(%repo, "forge: applied config-repo branch protection");
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+    // Non-201 is ambiguous: it can mean "rule already exists" (idempotent
+    // success) OR a silent rejection — e.g. a 422 where Forgejo refused
+    // the request and created NO rule. The old code treated 200/409/422
+    // all as success, so a rejected POST left the repo unprotected with
+    // no error (the reported case: a new agent's config repo had no
+    // `main` rule and nothing was logged). Don't trust the status code:
+    // verify the `main` rule actually exists, and on failure surface the
+    // POST's response body so the real reason is in the journal.
+    let main_url = format!("{url}/main");
+    let check = forge_http(reqwest::Method::GET, &main_url, token, "").await?;
+    if check.as_u16() == 200 {
+        tracing::debug!(%repo, %status, "forge: config-repo branch protection already present");
+        Ok(())
+    } else {
+        anyhow::bail!(
+            "branch protection for {CONFIG_ORG}/{repo} not applied: POST -> HTTP {status} \
+             (body: {body}); GET main -> HTTP {check}, no `main` rule present",
+            body = resp_body.trim(),
+        )
     }
 }