diff --git a/src/app/api/export/[section]/route.ts b/src/app/api/export/[section]/route.ts
index d8d7d45..b32898c 100644
--- a/src/app/api/export/[section]/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/export/[section]/route.ts
@@ -367,7 +367,14 @@ export async function buildExport(
     default: {
       if (section.startsWith("custom:")) {
         const slug = section.slice("custom:".length);
-        const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({ slug }).lean();
+        const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({
+          slug,
+          $or: [
+            { createdBy: userId },
+            { createdBy: null },
+            { isShared: true, usageCount: { $gte: 3 } },
+          ],
+        }).lean();
         if (!template) {
           return { name: "Unknown", columns: [], rows: [] };
         }
diff --git a/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/[id]/route.ts b/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/[id]/route.ts
index d308d46..e54658c 100644
--- a/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/[id]/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/[id]/route.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,14 @@ export async function PATCH(
     return NextResponse.json({ error: "Not found" }, { status: 404 });
   }
 
-  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({ slug }).lean();
+  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({
+    slug,
+    $or: [
+      { createdBy: userId },
+      { createdBy: null },
+      { isShared: true, usageCount: { $gte: 3 } },
+    ],
+  }).lean();
   if (!template) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: "Section not found" }, { status: 404 });
   }
diff --git a/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/route.ts b/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/route.ts
index 7197801..dd8b8d2 100644
--- a/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/sections/[slug]/entries/route.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,14 @@ export async function GET(
   await connectDB();
   const { slug } = await params;
 
-  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({ slug }).lean();
+  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({
+    slug,
+    $or: [
+      { createdBy: userId },
+      { createdBy: null },
+      { isShared: true, usageCount: { $gte: 3 } },
+    ],
+  }).lean();
   if (!template) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: "Section not found" }, { status: 404 });
   }
@@ -89,7 +96,14 @@ export async function POST(
   await connectDB();
   const { slug } = await params;
 
-  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({ slug }).lean();
+  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({
+    slug,
+    $or: [
+      { createdBy: userId },
+      { createdBy: null },
+      { isShared: true, usageCount: { $gte: 3 } },
+    ],
+  }).lean();
   if (!template) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: "Section not found" }, { status: 404 });
   }
diff --git a/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/edit-layout/route.ts b/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/edit-layout/route.ts
index 5a2fffa..aa6c714 100644
--- a/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/edit-layout/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/edit-layout/route.ts
@@ -338,7 +338,14 @@ export async function POST(
   await connectDB();
   const { slug } = await params;
 
-  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({ slug });
+  const template = await SectionTemplate.findOne({
+    slug,
+    $or: [
+      { createdBy: userId },
+      { createdBy: null },
+      { isShared: true, usageCount: { $gte: 3 } },
+    ],
+  });
   if (!template) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: "Template not found" }, { status: 404 });
   }
@@ -381,8 +388,9 @@ Output ONLY the complete updated HTML:`;
       .replace(/\n?```$/i, "")
       .trim();
 
-    // Optionally save to template
-    if (body.save) {
+    // Optionally save to template — only the owner may persist changes, even
+    // though a shared/built-in template can be read here for AI context.
+    if (body.save && String(template.createdBy) === String(userId)) {
       template.layoutHtml = cleaned;
       await template.save();
     }
diff --git a/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/route.ts b/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/route.ts
index 9d20be7..d57b8aa 100644
--- a/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/sections/templates/[slug]/route.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export async function GET(
     $or: [
       { createdBy: userId },
       { createdBy: null },
-      { isShared: true },
+      { isShared: true, usageCount: { $gte: 3 } },
     ],
   }).lean();
 
diff --git a/src/app/api/sections/templates/route.ts b/src/app/api/sections/templates/route.ts
index 5a2497c..7c55624 100644
--- a/src/app/api/sections/templates/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/sections/templates/route.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
     isBuiltIn: false,
     createdBy: userId,
     usageCount: 1,
+    isShared: false,
   });
 
   // Add to user's customSections
diff --git a/src/lib/__tests__/section-template.test.ts b/src/lib/__tests__/section-template.test.ts
index 5bf86ef..5e088cb 100644
--- a/src/lib/__tests__/section-template.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/__tests__/section-template.test.ts
@@ -32,11 +32,11 @@ describe("SectionTemplate schema", () => {
     expect(instance.forkCount).toBe(0);
   });
 
-  it("has isShared field as Boolean defaulting to true", () => {
+  it("has isShared field as Boolean defaulting to false (private unless explicitly shared)", () => {
     const schemaPaths = SectionTemplate.schema.paths;
     expect(schemaPaths["isShared"]).toBeDefined();
     const instance = new SectionTemplate({ name: "Test", slug: "test", icon: "Star" });
-    expect(instance.isShared).toBe(true);
+    expect(instance.isShared).toBe(false);
   });
 
   it("has isShared + usageCount compound index defined", () => {
diff --git a/src/lib/models/section-template.ts b/src/lib/models/section-template.ts
index bc204f3..c1f2ab0 100644
--- a/src/lib/models/section-template.ts
+++ b/src/lib/models/section-template.ts
@@ -93,7 +93,9 @@ const SectionTemplateSchema = new Schema<ISectionTemplate>(
     sourcePrompt: { type: String, default: "" },
     forkedFrom: { type: Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: "SectionTemplate", default: null },
     forkCount: { type: Number, default: 0 },
-    isShared: { type: Boolean, default: true },
+    // Private by default — only the shared-template-pool save path
+    // (src/lib/embeddings.ts) should set this true explicitly.
+    isShared: { type: Boolean, default: false },
   },
   { timestamps: true }
 );
diff --git a/src/lib/profile/persist-sections.ts b/src/lib/profile/persist-sections.ts
index c1f7d51..2b9b242 100644
--- a/src/lib/profile/persist-sections.ts
+++ b/src/lib/profile/persist-sections.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ export interface TemplateDoc {
   isBuiltIn: boolean;
   createdBy: string;
   usageCount: number;
+  isShared: boolean;
   sourceDimension?: string;
   sourceFacetKey?: string;
 }
@@ -57,6 +58,9 @@ export function buildTemplateDoc(
     isBuiltIn: false,
     createdBy: userId,
     usageCount: 1,
+    // Personal, profile-generated sections describe the user's actual life
+    // (name/description/layout) — never share them by default.
+    isShared: false,
     ...(source?.dimension ? { sourceDimension: source.dimension } : {}),
     ...(source?.facetKey ? { sourceFacetKey: source.facetKey } : {}),
   };