diff --git a/docs/agent-lifecycle/approvals.md b/docs/agent-lifecycle/approvals.md
index c211b587..bec3e346 100644
--- a/docs/agent-lifecycle/approvals.md
+++ b/docs/agent-lifecycle/approvals.md
@@ -62,9 +62,10 @@ request.
    config, not the tree to edit: authoring in place there produces no PR
    and no approval. (it's currently mounted read-write, which is a
    defect tracked separately, not an authoring path.)
-   Branch protection (push/merge allowlist = `core`, approvals allowlist
-   = operator team; see "Forge mirror" below) makes the agent a
-   write collaborator that **can't merge its own config PR**.
+   Branch protection (the agent isn't on the `main` push allowlist;
+   merge allowlist = `core` user + `operators` team; approvals allowlist
+   = `operators` team; see "Forge mirror" below) makes the agent a write
+   collaborator that **can't merge its own config PR**.
 2. hive-c0re's `/webhook/config-pr` endpoint receives the Forgejo
    `pull_request` event (opened / synchronized / reopened) and queues a
    `MergeConfigPr` approval; a poll fallback catches any missed webhook.
@@ -109,6 +110,39 @@ request.
    canonical sha and the terminal tag (the approval row carries a
    `submitter` column recording the agent the change is for).
 
+### Operator merge in the forge UI
+
+An operator can also merge a config PR straight in the Forgejo UI. That
+deploys the merged commit on the hive that runs the agent:
+
+1. swarm-controller gets the `agent-configs` org's `pull_request`
+   delivery. A `closed` event with `merged: true` and base branch `main`
+   names the commit in `merge_commit_sha`.
+2. The controller looks up which hive's wanted state places the agent
+   and publishes a deploy request carrying that commit on that hive's
+   deploy subject. With no such hive, or more than one, it deploys
+   nothing and logs a warning naming them.
+3. If the hive's `applied/main` already is that commit — a dashboard
+   approval merges and deploys its own PR — it does nothing. Otherwise
+   it fetches the config repo's `main`, requires the commit to descend
+   from `applied/main`, fast-forwards `applied/main` to it, and queues a
+   rebuild. A failure before the rebuild (the fetch, or a commit that
+   doesn't descend) deploys nothing and posts the error as a comment on
+   the merged PR. An agent with no container on that hive yet ignores
+   the commit; its first deploy builds what it seeds.
+
+This path runs **no eval-verify**. A merged config that doesn't
+evaluate or build fails the rebuild, and `applied/main` stays at that
+commit, so the agent's rebuilds keep failing until a fix merges. A
+failed rebuild shows on the hive like any other and isn't commented on
+the PR.
+
+Merging needs membership of the `operators` team in `agent-configs`.
+The team starts empty: add each operator by hand in the forge UI. A
+merge whose webhook delivery never reaches the controller deploys
+nothing. The hive's own poll cancels the dashboard card for that PR
+with the note `PR merged/closed outside the approval`.
+
 ### Withdrawing a pending approval
 
 The submitting agent can call `cancel_loose_end(kind: "approval", id)` to
@@ -450,9 +484,12 @@ forge never blocks a deploy.
 Each agent is a **write collaborator on its own** `agent-configs/<name>`
 repo — so it can push a branch and open a config PR — but not a member
 of any other agent's, so it can't reach another agent's config through
-the forge. Branch protection keeps `main` push/merge `core`-only with
-operator-team approval, so an agent can't fast-forward its own config or
-self-merge its PR (see the End-to-end flow above). hive-c0re passes the tokenised push
+the forge. Branch protection keeps the agent off the `main` push
+allowlist and whitelists merging to the `core` user and the `operators`
+team, so an agent can't fast-forward its own config or self-merge its
+PR (see the End-to-end flow and
+[Operator merge in the forge UI](#operator-merge-in-the-forge-ui) above).
+hive-c0re passes the tokenised push
 URL inline to `git push`, never writing it into
 `applied/<n>/.git/config`; that repo is RO-bind-mounted into the root
 agent, and a stored token would leak core's admin credential to an
diff --git a/docs/integrations/forge.md b/docs/integrations/forge.md
index a626c4ad..21e38fd8 100644
--- a/docs/integrations/forge.md
+++ b/docs/integrations/forge.md
@@ -71,11 +71,15 @@ Two things live in the `agent-configs` Forgejo organization:
   webhook at `/webhook/config-pr` queues a `MergeConfigPr` approval;
   `hive-c0re/src/forge/config_pr_poll.rs` re-scans every 5 minutes as a
   fault-tolerance backstop) — but
-  `main` is branch-protected core-only: only hive-c0re's verify-and-ff-push
-  merge handler lands on `main`, the operator team must approve first, and
-  the agent can neither push `main` directly nor self-merge. `main` is
-  fast-forward-only — hive-c0re never force-pushes (the merge handler's ff
-  push lands fine; the `push_config` mirror pushes `main` + the add-only
+  `main` is branch-protected: the merge whitelist is the `core` user
+  (hive-c0re's merge of an approved `MergeConfigPr`) and the `operators`
+  team (an operator merging in the Forgejo UI, which deploys the merged
+  commit — see
+  [approvals.md § Operator merge in the forge UI](../agent-lifecycle/approvals.md#operator-merge-in-the-forge-ui)),
+  the approval whitelist is the `operators` team, and the agent can neither
+  push `main` directly nor self-merge. hive-c0re's own merge is
+  fast-forward-only, and hive-c0re never force-pushes (the
+  `push_config` mirror pushes `main` + the add-only
   status tags without force, and treats a non-fast-forward rejection of
   `main` after a rolled-back deploy as expected — the forge keeps the
   approved history, the `failed/<id>` tag records the divergence).
diff --git a/docs/swarm/README.md b/docs/swarm/README.md
index 455cd5bb..ad22eec1 100644
--- a/docs/swarm/README.md
+++ b/docs/swarm/README.md
@@ -227,6 +227,9 @@ one per hive. It ensures them at start and every five minutes after
 - the orgs `agent-configs`, `internal` and `agents`, plus each mirror's
   owner org;
 - the empty `operators` merge-gate team in `agents` and `agent-configs`;
+- the `main` merge gate on every `agent-configs` repo: merge whitelist =
+  the `operators` team and the `core` user, approval whitelist = the
+  `operators` team. The controller leaves a repo with no `main` rule alone;
 - the pull-mirrors from `deploy.forgejo.mirrors` on the controller's
   host (with the `actions/checkout` one `deploy.forgejo.ci.enable` adds);
 - `internal/docs` (private) and `internal/knowledge` (public, with a
@@ -252,6 +255,11 @@ message — _the knowledge repo changed_, _deploy agent `foo` at rev
 re-derive. Approval happens once, at the swarm level: a hive receives a
 decision, not an event to adjudicate.
 
+A `config-pr` delivery reporting a PR merged into `main` queues a deploy
+of its `merge_commit_sha` on the one hive whose wanted state places the
+agent; with no such hive, or several, the controller deploys nothing. See
+[approvals.md § Operator merge in the forge UI](../agent-lifecycle/approvals.md#operator-merge-in-the-forge-ui).
+
 **`internal/knowledge` is on that path.** The controller's is the only
 hook on it ([`knowledge.md`](../integrations/knowledge.md) covers clearing a
 leftover). A webhook has exactly one target URL, so a second registration
@@ -262,8 +270,8 @@ would take delivery away from the first rather than add a recipient.
 **The `agent-configs` org isn't.** Each hive registers its own
 `pull_request` hook there, so that repo has two — the hive's and the
 controller's — and **both are expected; don't delete either.** Removing
-a hive's stops it acting on config PRs; removing the controller's just
-gets recreated on its next start.
+a hive's stops it acting on config PRs; removing the controller's stops
+forge-UI merges from deploying until its next start recreates it.
 
 <!-- vale write-good.Passive = YES -->
 
diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/config_pr.rs b/swarm-controller/src/config_pr.rs
index 80416259..2f466e6d 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/config_pr.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/config_pr.rs
@@ -62,6 +62,16 @@ struct WebhookPullRequest {
     /// The commit the merge left on the base branch.
     #[serde(default)]
     merge_commit_sha: Option<String>,
+    /// The branch the PR targets. Only a merge into `main` is deployed: the
+    /// hive builds its config repo's `main`.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    base: Option<WebhookBranch>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+struct WebhookBranch {
+    #[serde(rename = "ref")]
+    name: String,
 }
 
 /// A config PR that was just merged: whose config, and the commit to deploy.
@@ -75,11 +85,17 @@ pub struct MergedConfigPr {
 ///
 /// Only the `closed` action counts: Forgejo also sends `merged: true` on
 /// later events about an already-merged PR (a label or an edit), and those
-/// must not deploy it again. A body that does not parse is `None`;
-/// [`ConfigPrCache::apply_webhook_delivery`] already logs it.
+/// must not deploy it again. So does only a merge into `main`. A body that
+/// does not parse is `None`; [`ConfigPrCache::apply_webhook_delivery`]
+/// already logs it.
 pub fn merged(body: &[u8]) -> Option<MergedConfigPr> {
     let payload: ConfigPrWebhookPayload = serde_json::from_slice(body).ok()?;
-    if payload.action != "closed" || !payload.pull_request.merged {
+    let into_main = payload
+        .pull_request
+        .base
+        .as_ref()
+        .is_some_and(|base| base.name == "main");
+    if payload.action != "closed" || !payload.pull_request.merged || !into_main {
         return None;
     }
     let Some(rev) = payload.pull_request.merge_commit_sha else {
@@ -301,6 +317,7 @@ mod tests {
                 "html_url": "https://forge.example/pr",
                 "merged": merged,
                 "merge_commit_sha": merged.then_some("abc123"),
+                "base": { "ref": "main" },
             },
             "repository": { "name": "damocles" },
         })
@@ -332,6 +349,14 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(super::merged(body.to_string().as_bytes()), None);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn a_merge_into_another_branch_is_not_deployed() {
+        let mut body: serde_json::Value =
+            serde_json::from_slice(&closed(true)).expect("fixture is json");
+        body["pull_request"]["base"]["ref"] = "staging".into();
+        assert_eq!(super::merged(body.to_string().as_bytes()), None);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn an_open_delivery_is_not_a_merge() {
         assert_eq!(super::merged(&payload("damocles", 5, "open")), None);