diff --git a/__tests__/integration/rulesets.test.js b/__tests__/integration/rulesets.test.js
index af6150b..2a1acb0 100644
--- a/__tests__/integration/rulesets.test.js
+++ b/__tests__/integration/rulesets.test.js
@@ -57,6 +57,20 @@ describe('translateBranchProtectionToRuleset', () => {
     expect(pr.parameters.required_review_thread_resolution).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it('omits required_status_checks rule entirely when contexts is empty (Rulesets API rejects empty)', () => {
+    const r = translateBranchProtectionToRuleset({
+      required_status_checks: { strict: true, contexts: [] }
+    });
+    expect(r.rules.find((x) => x.type === 'required_status_checks')).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('omits required_status_checks rule when contexts is missing', () => {
+    const r = translateBranchProtectionToRuleset({
+      required_status_checks: { strict: true }
+    });
+    expect(r.rules.find((x) => x.type === 'required_status_checks')).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
   it('emits required_status_checks with strict policy and contexts', () => {
     const r = translateBranchProtectionToRuleset({
       required_status_checks: { strict: true, contexts: ['ci/build', 'ci/test'] }
diff --git a/__tests__/unit/schema.test.js b/__tests__/unit/schema.test.js
index 693f3b5..006c6be 100644
--- a/__tests__/unit/schema.test.js
+++ b/__tests__/unit/schema.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,41 @@
 import { validateConfig } from '../../src/schema.js';
+import { _setConfigForTesting, isControlSurfaceRepo } from '../../src/config.js';
+
+describe('isControlSurfaceRepo', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => { _setConfigForTesting({}); });
+  afterEach(() => { _setConfigForTesting({}); });
+
+  it('returns false when no chatops_repo / controller_repo configured', () => {
+    expect(isControlSurfaceRepo('pulseengine/temper')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('matches chatops_repo.repo when enabled', () => {
+    _setConfigForTesting({
+      chatops_repo: { enabled: true, repo: 'pulseengine/temper-ops' }
+    });
+    expect(isControlSurfaceRepo('pulseengine/temper-ops')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isControlSurfaceRepo('pulseengine/temper')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('does NOT match when chatops_repo is configured but disabled', () => {
+    _setConfigForTesting({
+      chatops_repo: { enabled: false, repo: 'pulseengine/temper-ops' }
+    });
+    expect(isControlSurfaceRepo('pulseengine/temper-ops')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('matches controller_repo.repo when enabled', () => {
+    _setConfigForTesting({
+      controller_repo: { enabled: true, repo: 'pulseengine/repo-requests' }
+    });
+    expect(isControlSurfaceRepo('pulseengine/repo-requests')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('handles non-string input safely', () => {
+    expect(isControlSurfaceRepo(undefined)).toBe(false);
+    expect(isControlSurfaceRepo(null)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
 
 describe('validateConfig', () => {
   it('accepts valid config', () => {
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index f562382..533978d 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -164,6 +164,24 @@ export function getChatopsRepoConfig() {
   return config?.chatops_repo || { enabled: false };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns true when `<owner>/<repo>` is a control-surface repo owned by
+ * Temper itself (the chatops admin repo or the issue-form controller).
+ * These repos are *not* org code; they're meta. They should be skipped by
+ * `configureRepository` and `synchronizeAllRepositories` to avoid:
+ *   - branch-protection 403s (private repos on free plans)
+ *   - dependabot/template noise on a repo with no code
+ *   - the bot configuring itself into a corner
+ */
+export function isControlSurfaceRepo(fullName) {
+  if (typeof fullName !== 'string') return false;
+  const chatops = config?.chatops_repo;
+  const ctrl = config?.controller_repo;
+  if (chatops?.enabled && chatops?.repo === fullName) return true;
+  if (ctrl?.enabled && ctrl?.repo === fullName) return true;
+  return false;
+}
+
 export function getRequiredSignaturesFlag(protectionConfig = {}) {
   if (typeof protectionConfig.require_signed_commits === 'boolean') {
     return protectionConfig.require_signed_commits;
diff --git a/src/organization.js b/src/organization.js
index 3ed1354..8ce259c 100644
--- a/src/organization.js
+++ b/src/organization.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { getTargetIssueLabels } from './config.js';
+import { getTargetIssueLabels, isControlSurfaceRepo } from './config.js';
 import { getLogger } from './logger.js';
 import { configureRepository } from './repository.js';
 import { checkExistingDependabotConfig } from './dependabot.js';
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ async function synchronizeAllRepositories(octokit, org) {
         continue;
       }
 
+      if (isControlSurfaceRepo(repo.full_name)) {
+        getLogger().info(`Skipping control-surface repository: ${repo.full_name}`);
+        continue;
+      }
+
       getLogger().info(`Processing repository: ${repo.full_name}`);
       const configResult = await configureRepository(octokit, repo);
       if (!configResult.success) {
diff --git a/src/repository.js b/src/repository.js
index 1f40d3e..289ff04 100644
--- a/src/repository.js
+++ b/src/repository.js
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ import {
   getBranchProtectionConfig,
   mergePullRequestRules,
   getTargetIssueLabels,
-  getRulesetConfig
+  getRulesetConfig,
+  isControlSurfaceRepo
 } from './config.js';
 import { applyBranchProtection } from './branch-protection.js';
 import { applyRulesetFromBranchProtection } from './rulesets.js';
@@ -79,8 +80,17 @@ async function configureRepository(
   const repoInfo = normalizeRepoInput(repoOrOwner, maybeRepo);
   const owner = repoInfo.owner.login;
   const repo = repoInfo.name;
+  const fullName = `${owner}/${repo}`;
   const defaultBranch = getDefaultBranch(repoInfo);
 
+  if (isControlSurfaceRepo(fullName)) {
+    getLogger().info(
+      { repo: fullName },
+      'Skipping configuration: control-surface repo (chatops_repo / controller_repo)'
+    );
+    return { success: true, skipped: 'control-surface' };
+  }
+
   try {
     getLogger().info(`Configuring repository: ${owner}/${repo} (skipBranchScopedWork=${skipBranchScopedWork})`);
 
diff --git a/src/rulesets.js b/src/rulesets.js
index e0fe355..1aac029 100644
--- a/src/rulesets.js
+++ b/src/rulesets.js
@@ -53,12 +53,20 @@ export function translateBranchProtectionToRuleset(bpConfig = {}, name = TEMPER_
   }
 
   const checks = bpConfig.required_status_checks;
-  if (checks && checks !== null) {
+  // The Rulesets API rejects `required_status_checks` rules with empty
+  // `required_status_checks` arrays ("Expected at least 1 elements, got 0").
+  // Legacy branch-protection accepts `contexts: []`; rulesets do not.
+  // When the user has no specific named checks, omit the rule entirely —
+  // emitting a half-valid rule causes the entire ruleset POST to 422 and
+  // we silently fall back to legacy. Better to ship the ruleset without
+  // this rule than to ship no ruleset at all.
+  const hasContexts = checks && Array.isArray(checks.contexts) && checks.contexts.length > 0;
+  if (checks && checks !== null && hasContexts) {
     rules.push({
       type: 'required_status_checks',
       parameters: {
         strict_required_status_checks_policy: checks.strict ?? false,
-        required_status_checks: (checks.contexts || []).map((c) =>
+        required_status_checks: checks.contexts.map((c) =>
           typeof c === 'string' ? { context: c } : c
         )
       }