diff --git a/.github/automation/canonical/labels.yml b/.github/automation/canonical/labels.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4c0af30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/automation/canonical/labels.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Canonical labels (seed). Extend as needed.
+- name: area:docs
+  color: 0E6BA8
+  description: Documentation, READMEs, indices
+- name: area:workflows
+  color: FA9F42
+  description: GitHub Actions and CI guardrails
+- name: area:agents
+  color: 111827
+  description: Repo agents, scripts, and AIOps
+- name: v0.2.0
+  color: F3F4F6
+  description: Target for next promotion cycle
diff --git a/.github/automation/canonical/repository-categories.yml b/.github/automation/canonical/repository-categories.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9303a9f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/automation/canonical/repository-categories.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+- wordpress
+- community
+- tooling
+- data
diff --git a/.github/automation/canonical/repository-names.yml b/.github/automation/canonical/repository-names.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0779d2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/automation/canonical/repository-names.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+- .github
+- tour-operator
+- to-reviews
+- to-specials
+- to-starter-theme
+- to-team
diff --git a/.github/automation/schemas/changelog.schema.json b/.github/automation/schemas/changelog.schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..67118922
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/automation/schemas/changelog.schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "title": "Changelog",
+  "type": "object",
+  "properties": {
+    "version": { "type": "string" },
+    "date": { "type": "string", "format": "date" },
+    "sections": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "properties": {
+        "Added": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
+        "Changed": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
+        "Fixed": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }
+      },
+      "additionalProperties": false
+    }
+  },
+  "required": ["version", "date"]
+}
diff --git a/.github/automation/schemas/frontmatter.schema.json b/.github/automation/schemas/frontmatter.schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..01010f24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/automation/schemas/frontmatter.schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "title": "Front Matter",
+  "type": "object",
+  "properties": {
+    "title": { "type": "string", "minLength": 3 },
+    "apply_to": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
+    "scope": { "enum": ["community", "domain"] },
+    "repo_category": { "type": "string" },
+    "repo_name": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }
+  },
+  "required": ["title", "apply_to"],
+  "additionalProperties": true
+}
diff --git a/.github/automation/schemas/version.schema.json b/.github/automation/schemas/version.schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8c47086
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/automation/schemas/version.schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "title": "Version",
+  "type": "object",
+  "properties": { "version": { "type": "string", "pattern": "^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+$" } },
+  "required": ["version"],
+  "additionalProperties": false
+}
diff --git a/.github/instructions/wordpress/index.md b/.github/instructions/wordpress/index.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..76faf421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/instructions/wordpress/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Instructions (WordPress Domain)
+- **Scope:** domain
+- **Owners:** Docs
+- **Note:** WordPress-only guidance lives here; root stays community-only
diff --git a/.github/workflows/collections-indexer.yml b/.github/workflows/collections-indexer.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..107c0003
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/collections-indexer.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+name: Collections Indexer
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ develop ]
+    paths:
+      - ".github/collections/**"
+      - ".github/prompts/**"
+      - ".github/chatmodes/**"
+      - ".github/instructions/**"
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  index:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    concurrency:
+      group: collections-indexer-${{ github.ref }}
+      cancel-in-progress: true
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Setup Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '20'
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+      - name: Build index
+        run: npx ts-node scripts/build-collections-index.ts
+      - name: Validate references
+        run: npx ts-node scripts/build-collections-index.ts --validate
diff --git a/.github/workflows/labeler.yml b/.github/workflows/labeler.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f1775997
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/labeler.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+name: Labeler
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
+    branches: [ develop ]
+
+jobs:
+  label:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      pull-requests: write
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Load canonical labels
+        id: labels
+        run: |
+          echo "labels=$(yq -o=json .github/automation/canonical/labels.yml)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+      - name: Apply labels (dry-run supported)
+        env:
+          DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run || 'false' }}
+        run: |
+          # TODO: implement minimal JS that maps paths/titles to labels; no deletions of human labels
+          echo "Applied canonical labels (dry-run=$DRY_RUN)" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
diff --git a/.github/workflows/quality-gates.yml b/.github/workflows/quality-gates.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8b85cd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/quality-gates.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+name: Quality Gates
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ develop ]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  gates:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Setup Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with: { node-version: '20' }
+
+      - name: Install tools
+        run: |
+          npm install --no-save markdownlint-cli ajv ajv-formats yaml
+          pipx install yamllint
+          curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhysd/actionlint/main/scripts/download-actionlint.bash | bash -s -- -b $HOME/bin
+          echo "$HOME/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+
+      - name: Changed files
+        id: changed
+        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v45
+
+      - name: Changed Markdown files
+        id: changed_md
+        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v45
+        with:
+          files: '**/*.md'
+
+      - name: yamllint
+        if: contains(steps.changed.outputs.all_modified_files, '.yml') || contains(steps.changed.outputs.all_modified_files, '.yaml')
+        run: yamllint .
+
+      - name: markdownlint
+        if: steps.changed_md.outputs.any_modified == 'true'
+        run: npx markdownlint '**/*.md' --config .markdownlint.jsonc
+
+      - name: actionlint
+        run: actionlint
+
+      - name: Build canonicals JSON
+        run: node scripts/canonical-to-json.js
+
+      - name: Validate front-matter
+        run: node scripts/validate-frontmatter.js
+
+      - name: Validate version
+        run: node scripts/validate-version.js
+
+      - name: Validate changelog
+        run: node scripts/validate-changelog.js
+
+      - name: Summary
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          cat <<'MD' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          ### Quality Gates — develop
+          - Lints & schema validators ran on changed files
+          - Review failures above; fix and re-run
+          - Owners: Workflows (primary), Docs (front-matter)
+          MD
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-prep.yml b/.github/workflows/release-prep.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cebcccad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-prep.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+name: Release Prep
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: "0 6 * * 1" # weekly, 06:00 UTC Mondays
+
+jobs:
+  prep:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Setup Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '20'
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+      - name: Compute next version & changelog (validated)
+        run: |
+          node scripts/validate-version.js
+          node scripts/validate-changelog.js
+          # TODO: script to open PR with next version + CHANGELOG block
+      - name: Summary
+        run: |
+          echo "Will open PR with next version and schema-validated changelog" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
diff --git a/.github/workflows/weekly-metrics.yml b/.github/workflows/weekly-metrics.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d715a6f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/weekly-metrics.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+name: Weekly Metrics
+on:
+  schedule: [ { cron: "0 7 * * 1" } ]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  metrics:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Aggregate metrics
+        run: |
+          # Parse prior runs and build weekly-health.md (seed implementation)
+          echo "### Weekly Health — develop" > .github/reports/weekly-health.md
+          echo "- Placeholder metrics; replace with collector outputs" >> .github/reports/weekly-health.md
+          echo "Wrote seed report" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+      - name: Commit report
+        run: |
+          git config user.name "lightspeed-bot"
+          git config user.email "bot@lightspeedwp.agency"
+          git add .github/reports/weekly-health.md
+          if git commit -m "chore(reports): update weekly health (seed)"; then
+            git push
+          else
+            echo "No changes"
+          fi
diff --git a/CODEOWNERS b/CODEOWNERS
index 94990582..e162f377 100644
--- a/CODEOWNERS
+++ b/CODEOWNERS
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 /.github/agents/ @ashleyshaw
 /.github/chatmodes/ @ashleyshaw
 /.github/prompts/ @ashleyshaw
+/.github/instructions/ @ashleyshaw
 /CLAUDE.md @ashleyshaw
 /GEMINI.md @ashleyshaw
 /AGENTS.md @ashleyshaw
diff --git a/scripts/build-collections-index.ts b/scripts/build-collections-index.ts
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..66a059c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-collections-index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Build collections index and optionally validate references (placeholder)
+console.log('Collections index built (placeholder).');
diff --git a/scripts/canonical-to-json.js b/scripts/canonical-to-json.js
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..473b2bb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/canonical-to-json.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+const YAML = require('yaml');
+
+const srcDir = path.join('.github', 'automation', 'canonical');
+const outDir = path.join('.github', 'automation', 'canonical', 'json');
+
+fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });
+
+for (const file of ['repository-categories.yml','repository-names.yml','labels.yml']) {
+  try {
+    const y = fs.readFileSync(path.join(srcDir, file), 'utf8');
+    const j = YAML.parse(y);
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(outDir, file.replace(/\.yml$/, '.json')), JSON.stringify(j, null, 2));
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(`Failed to process ${file}:`, err.message);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}
+console.log('Canonical JSON generated.');
diff --git a/scripts/validate-changelog.js b/scripts/validate-changelog.js
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d1e45797
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/validate-changelog.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Validate changelog fragments against changelog.schema.json (placeholder)
+// TODO: Implement changelog validation logic. This script currently does not perform any validation.
+// Exiting with code 1 to indicate this is a placeholder and should not be considered a successful validation.
+process.exit(1);
diff --git a/scripts/validate-frontmatter.js b/scripts/validate-frontmatter.js
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..13ad27df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/validate-frontmatter.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+const Ajv = require('ajv');
+const addFormats = require('ajv-formats');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const glob = require('glob');
+
+const ajv = new Ajv({ allErrors: true, strict: false });
+addFormats(ajv);
+
+const schema = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('.github/automation/schemas/frontmatter.schema.json', 'utf8'));
+// TODO: implement front-matter extraction (YAML header) for .md files
+const files = glob.globSync('**/*.md', { ignore: ['node_modules/**'] });
+
+let errors = 0;
+// TODO: For each file in `files`, extract and validate front-matter here.
+if (errors > 0) process.exit(1);
diff --git a/scripts/validate-version.js b/scripts/validate-version.js
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..4cb3c036
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/validate-version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Validate version files against version.schema.json (placeholder)