diff --git a/apps/gittensory-ui/public/openapi.json b/apps/gittensory-ui/public/openapi.json
index a9eb9eb9d..cca6da238 100644
--- a/apps/gittensory-ui/public/openapi.json
+++ b/apps/gittensory-ui/public/openapi.json
@@ -3837,7 +3837,8 @@
                   "comment_and_label",
                   "comment_only",
                   "label_only"
-                ]
+                ],
+                "description": "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run."
               },
               "commentMode": {
                 "type": "string",
@@ -9211,7 +9212,8 @@
               "comment_and_label",
               "comment_only",
               "label_only"
-            ]
+            ],
+            "description": "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run."
           },
           "includeMaintainerAuthors": {
             "type": "boolean"
@@ -9714,7 +9716,8 @@
                         "comment_and_label",
                         "comment_only",
                         "label_only"
-                      ]
+                      ],
+                      "description": "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run."
                     },
                     "commentMode": {
                       "type": "string",
@@ -10128,7 +10131,8 @@
                   "comment_and_label",
                   "comment_only",
                   "label_only"
-                ]
+                ],
+                "description": "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run."
               },
               "commentMode": {
                 "type": "string",
diff --git a/src/openapi/schemas.ts b/src/openapi/schemas.ts
index e92af604c..7cbcdcbc9 100644
--- a/src/openapi/schemas.ts
+++ b/src/openapi/schemas.ts
@@ -779,7 +779,11 @@ export const RepositorySettingsSchema = z
     gittensorLabel: z.string(),
     blacklistLabel: z.string().nullable(),
     createMissingLabel: z.boolean(),
-    publicSurface: z.enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"]),
+    publicSurface: z
+      .enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"])
+      .describe(
+        "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run.",
+      ),
     includeMaintainerAuthors: z.boolean(),
     requireLinkedIssue: z.boolean(),
     backfillEnabled: z.boolean(),
@@ -859,7 +863,11 @@ export const RepoSettingsPreviewSchema = z
     repoFullName: z.string(),
     generatedAt: z.string(),
     settings: z.object({
-      publicSurface: z.enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"]),
+      publicSurface: z
+      .enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"])
+      .describe(
+        "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run.",
+      ),
       commentMode: z.enum(["off", "detected_contributors_only", "all_prs"]),
       publicAudienceMode: z.enum(["oss_maintainer", "gittensor_only"]),
       publicSignalLevel: z.enum(["minimal", "standard"]),
@@ -1258,7 +1266,11 @@ export const InstallationRepairSchema = z
         repoFullName: z.string(),
         isRegistered: z.boolean(),
         settings: z.object({
-          publicSurface: z.enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"]),
+          publicSurface: z
+      .enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"])
+      .describe(
+        "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run.",
+      ),
           commentMode: z.enum(["off", "detected_contributors_only", "all_prs"]),
           publicAudienceMode: z.enum(["oss_maintainer", "gittensor_only"]),
           checkRunMode: z.enum(["off", "enabled"]),
@@ -2173,7 +2185,11 @@ export const RegistrationReadinessSchema = z
     docsCompleteness: z.record(z.string(), z.unknown()),
     githubApp: z.object({
       installed: z.boolean(),
-      publicSurface: z.enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"]),
+      publicSurface: z
+      .enum(["off", "comment_and_label", "comment_only", "label_only"])
+      .describe(
+        "Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the Gittensory Context check (checkRunMode) or the Gittensory Orb Review Agent gate check (reviewCheckMode), which are independent axes by design (#2852). Setting this to \"off\" does NOT silence either check-run.",
+      ),
       commentMode: z.enum(["off", "detected_contributors_only", "all_prs"]),
       publicAudienceMode: z.enum(["oss_maintainer", "gittensor_only"]),
       checkRunMode: z.enum(["off", "enabled"]),
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 85dca132d..bb2f9c2ce 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -944,6 +944,11 @@ export type RepositorySettings = {
    *  settings.advisoryAiRouting` in shared/global or per-repo config. Defaults all-false so every advisory
    *  capability stays on the shared frontier env.AI chain until an operator opts each one in. */
   advisoryAiRouting?: AdvisoryAiRoutingConfig | undefined;
+  /** Governs ONLY the PR comment and label -- never the "Gittensory Context" check ({@link checkRunMode})
+   *  or the "Gittensory Orb Review Agent" gate check ({@link reviewCheckMode}), which are independent axes
+   *  by design (#2852: the check-run must keep posting for branch-protection/auto-merge to keep working
+   *  even when a maintainer wants full public silence). Setting this to `"off"` does NOT silence either
+   *  check-run -- see README's "Check-run and comment surfaces, disambiguated" section. */
   publicSurface: "off" | "comment_and_label" | "comment_only" | "label_only";
   includeMaintainerAuthors: boolean;
   /** Surfaces the `missing_linked_issue` advisory finding in the review comment -- does NOT block a PR on