diff --git a/apps/gittensory-ui/public/sitemap.xml b/apps/gittensory-ui/public/sitemap.xml
index 769cdd5267..0e666adfa3 100644
--- a/apps/gittensory-ui/public/sitemap.xml
+++ b/apps/gittensory-ui/public/sitemap.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/miner-workflow</loc></url>
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/maintainer-workflow</loc></url>
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/github-app</loc></url>
+  <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/maintainer-install-trust</loc></url>
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/branch-analysis</loc></url>
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/scoreability</loc></url>
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/upstream-drift</loc></url>
@@ -21,4 +22,4 @@
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/docs/ai-summaries</loc></url>
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/api</loc></url>
   <url><loc>https://gittensory.aethereal.dev/changelog</loc></url>
-</urlset>
\ No newline at end of file
+</urlset>
diff --git a/apps/gittensory-ui/src/components/site/docs-nav.tsx b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/components/site/docs-nav.tsx
index 3e011f10b9..4d2ff28ad6 100644
--- a/apps/gittensory-ui/src/components/site/docs-nav.tsx
+++ b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/components/site/docs-nav.tsx
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export const docsNav: DocsGroup[] = [
       { to: "/docs/miner-workflow", label: "Miner workflow" },
       { to: "/docs/maintainer-workflow", label: "Maintainer workflow" },
       { to: "/docs/github-app", label: "GitHub App" },
+      { to: "/docs/maintainer-install-trust", label: "Maintainer install & trust" },
     ],
   },
   {
diff --git a/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routeTree.gen.ts b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routeTree.gen.ts
index 38b93e1b4f..5730353049 100644
--- a/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routeTree.gen.ts
+++ b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routeTree.gen.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import { Route as DocsPrivacySecurityRouteImport } from './routes/docs.privacy-s
 import { Route as DocsMinerWorkflowRouteImport } from './routes/docs.miner-workflow'
 import { Route as DocsMcpClientsRouteImport } from './routes/docs.mcp-clients'
 import { Route as DocsMaintainerWorkflowRouteImport } from './routes/docs.maintainer-workflow'
+import { Route as DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRouteImport } from './routes/docs.maintainer-install-trust'
 import { Route as DocsGithubAppRouteImport } from './routes/docs.github-app'
 import { Route as DocsBranchAnalysisRouteImport } from './routes/docs.branch-analysis'
 import { Route as DocsBetaOnboardingRouteImport } from './routes/docs.beta-onboarding'
@@ -152,6 +153,12 @@ const DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute = DocsMaintainerWorkflowRouteImport.update({
   path: '/maintainer-workflow',
   getParentRoute: () => DocsRoute,
 } as any)
+const DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute =
+  DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRouteImport.update({
+    id: '/maintainer-install-trust',
+    path: '/maintainer-install-trust',
+    getParentRoute: () => DocsRoute,
+  } as any)
 const DocsGithubAppRoute = DocsGithubAppRouteImport.update({
   id: '/github-app',
   path: '/github-app',
@@ -260,6 +267,7 @@ export interface FileRoutesByFullPath {
   '/docs/beta-onboarding': typeof DocsBetaOnboardingRoute
   '/docs/branch-analysis': typeof DocsBranchAnalysisRoute
   '/docs/github-app': typeof DocsGithubAppRoute
+  '/docs/maintainer-install-trust': typeof DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute
   '/docs/maintainer-workflow': typeof DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute
   '/docs/mcp-clients': typeof DocsMcpClientsRoute
   '/docs/miner-workflow': typeof DocsMinerWorkflowRoute
@@ -296,6 +304,7 @@ export interface FileRoutesByTo {
   '/docs/beta-onboarding': typeof DocsBetaOnboardingRoute
   '/docs/branch-analysis': typeof DocsBranchAnalysisRoute
   '/docs/github-app': typeof DocsGithubAppRoute
+  '/docs/maintainer-install-trust': typeof DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute
   '/docs/maintainer-workflow': typeof DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute
   '/docs/mcp-clients': typeof DocsMcpClientsRoute
   '/docs/miner-workflow': typeof DocsMinerWorkflowRoute
@@ -336,6 +345,7 @@ export interface FileRoutesById {
   '/docs/beta-onboarding': typeof DocsBetaOnboardingRoute
   '/docs/branch-analysis': typeof DocsBranchAnalysisRoute
   '/docs/github-app': typeof DocsGithubAppRoute
+  '/docs/maintainer-install-trust': typeof DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute
   '/docs/maintainer-workflow': typeof DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute
   '/docs/mcp-clients': typeof DocsMcpClientsRoute
   '/docs/miner-workflow': typeof DocsMinerWorkflowRoute
@@ -377,6 +387,7 @@ export interface FileRouteTypes {
     | '/docs/beta-onboarding'
     | '/docs/branch-analysis'
     | '/docs/github-app'
+    | '/docs/maintainer-install-trust'
     | '/docs/maintainer-workflow'
     | '/docs/mcp-clients'
     | '/docs/miner-workflow'
@@ -413,6 +424,7 @@ export interface FileRouteTypes {
     | '/docs/beta-onboarding'
     | '/docs/branch-analysis'
     | '/docs/github-app'
+    | '/docs/maintainer-install-trust'
     | '/docs/maintainer-workflow'
     | '/docs/mcp-clients'
     | '/docs/miner-workflow'
@@ -452,6 +464,7 @@ export interface FileRouteTypes {
     | '/docs/beta-onboarding'
     | '/docs/branch-analysis'
     | '/docs/github-app'
+    | '/docs/maintainer-install-trust'
     | '/docs/maintainer-workflow'
     | '/docs/mcp-clients'
     | '/docs/miner-workflow'
@@ -627,6 +640,13 @@ declare module '@tanstack/react-router' {
       preLoaderRoute: typeof DocsMaintainerWorkflowRouteImport
       parentRoute: typeof DocsRoute
     }
+    '/docs/maintainer-install-trust': {
+      id: '/docs/maintainer-install-trust'
+      path: '/maintainer-install-trust'
+      fullPath: '/docs/maintainer-install-trust'
+      preLoaderRoute: typeof DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRouteImport
+      parentRoute: typeof DocsRoute
+    }
     '/docs/github-app': {
       id: '/docs/github-app'
       path: '/github-app'
@@ -791,6 +811,7 @@ interface DocsRouteChildren {
   DocsBetaOnboardingRoute: typeof DocsBetaOnboardingRoute
   DocsBranchAnalysisRoute: typeof DocsBranchAnalysisRoute
   DocsGithubAppRoute: typeof DocsGithubAppRoute
+  DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute: typeof DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute
   DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute: typeof DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute
   DocsMcpClientsRoute: typeof DocsMcpClientsRoute
   DocsMinerWorkflowRoute: typeof DocsMinerWorkflowRoute
@@ -807,6 +828,7 @@ const DocsRouteChildren: DocsRouteChildren = {
   DocsBetaOnboardingRoute: DocsBetaOnboardingRoute,
   DocsBranchAnalysisRoute: DocsBranchAnalysisRoute,
   DocsGithubAppRoute: DocsGithubAppRoute,
+  DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute: DocsMaintainerInstallTrustRoute,
   DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute: DocsMaintainerWorkflowRoute,
   DocsMcpClientsRoute: DocsMcpClientsRoute,
   DocsMinerWorkflowRoute: DocsMinerWorkflowRoute,
diff --git a/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routes/docs.index.tsx b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routes/docs.index.tsx
index d8f09e3db9..56f031edc5 100644
--- a/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routes/docs.index.tsx
+++ b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routes/docs.index.tsx
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ const AUDIENCES: Audience[] = [
     description: "Confirmed-miner context, sanitized comments, no noisy checks.",
     primary: { to: "/docs/beta-onboarding", label: "Beta onboarding" },
     links: [
+      { to: "/docs/maintainer-install-trust", label: "Install & trust guide" },
       { to: "/docs/github-app", label: "Install the GitHub App" },
       { to: "/docs/maintainer-workflow", label: "Maintainer workflow" },
       { to: "/docs/upstream-drift", label: "Upstream drift" },
diff --git a/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routes/docs.maintainer-install-trust.tsx b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routes/docs.maintainer-install-trust.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e52220ca36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/gittensory-ui/src/routes/docs.maintainer-install-trust.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+import { createFileRoute, Link } from "@tanstack/react-router";
+
+import { DocsPage } from "@/components/site/docs-page";
+import { Callout, CodeBlock, FeatureRow } from "@/components/site/primitives";
+
+export const Route = createFileRoute("/docs/maintainer-install-trust")({
+  head: () => ({
+    meta: [
+      { title: "Maintainer install and trust guide — Gittensory docs" },
+      {
+        name: "description",
+        content:
+          "Install Gittensory as a maintainer, verify trust boundaries, preview public output, and decide when GitHub App checks are safe to enable.",
+      },
+      {
+        property: "og:title",
+        content: "Maintainer install and trust guide — Gittensory docs",
+      },
+      {
+        property: "og:description",
+        content:
+          "Install Gittensory as a maintainer, verify trust boundaries, preview public output, and decide when GitHub App checks are safe to enable.",
+      },
+      { property: "og:url", content: "/docs/maintainer-install-trust" },
+    ],
+    links: [{ rel: "canonical", href: "/docs/maintainer-install-trust" }],
+  }),
+  component: MaintainerInstallTrust,
+});
+
+function MaintainerInstallTrust() {
+  return (
+    <DocsPage
+      eyebrow="Launch guide"
+      title="Maintainer install and trust guide"
+      description="A maintainer-first checklist for installing the GitHub App, keeping public output safe, authorizing commands, using the browser extension, and rejecting weak Gittensory-driven PRs."
+    >
+      <Callout variant="safety" title="Trust posture">
+        Gittensory is advisory-first. It may help you review contribution readiness, but it does not
+        replace human maintainer judgment, expose private scoreability signals, or make reward,
+        payout, wallet, hotkey, or trust-score claims in public surfaces.
+      </Callout>
+
+      <h2>Install the GitHub App</h2>
+      <p>
+        Start from <Link to="/docs/github-app">GitHub App setup</Link>, then keep the first rollout
+        narrow until the repo owner has verified permissions, webhook delivery, and public copy.
+      </p>
+      <ol>
+        <li>Install Gittensory on one test repository or a selected repository set.</li>
+        <li>
+          Approve <code>Metadata: read</code>, <code>Pull requests: read</code>, and{" "}
+          <code>Issues: write</code>. Add <code>Checks: write</code> only when Context or Gate check
+          runs are enabled for the repository.
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          Keep webhook events enabled for <code>issues</code>, <code>issue_comment</code>,{" "}
+          <code>pull_request</code>, and <code>repository</code>.
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          Leave comments, labels, Context checks, and Gate checks in advisory mode until preview
+          output matches the repo's maintainer policy.
+        </li>
+      </ol>
+      <CodeBlock
+        lang="http"
+        code={`GET /v1/installations
+GET /v1/installations/:id/health
+GET /v1/installations/:id/repair
+GET /v1/repos/:owner/:repo/registration-readiness
+POST /v1/repos/:owner/:repo/settings-preview`}
+      />
+
+      <h2>Launch verification flow</h2>
+      <p>
+        Treat launch as a controlled trust review. Do not enable public comments or required checks
+        until every step below has a maintainer-visible result.
+      </p>
+      <CodeBlock
+        lang="text"
+        filename="maintainer-launch-flow.txt"
+        code={`Install selected repos
+  -> verify installation health and webhook delivery
+  -> preview public panel and command output
+  -> confirm private signals stay private
+  -> enable advisory Context, labels, or comments
+  -> capture screenshots/recordings for UI or extension changes
+  -> decide whether Gate should be required in branch protection`}
+      />
+
+      <h2>Maintainer controls</h2>
+      <FeatureRow
+        items={[
+          {
+            title: "Public comments",
+            description:
+              "The sticky PR panel is opt-in per repo and must be previewed before posting to GitHub.",
+          },
+          {
+            title: "Labels",
+            description:
+              "Labels are repo-configured and should stay quiet for non-confirmed-miner PRs unless maintainers intentionally enable them.",
+          },
+          {
+            title: "Context check",
+            description:
+              "Gittensory Context is advisory and should not be required by branch protection.",
+          },
+          {
+            title: "Gate check",
+            description:
+              "Gittensory Gate is opt-in. Make it required only after the repo owner chooses blocking rules and validates previews.",
+          },
+          {
+            title: "Command access",
+            description:
+              "PR-thread commands are maintainer-authorized. Untrusted contributors should not be able to trigger private maintainer packets.",
+          },
+        ]}
+      />
+
+      <h2>Command authorization</h2>
+      <p>
+        Maintainer commands should be treated like privileged review actions. Use them to fetch
+        context on demand, not to create always-on public scoring.
+      </p>
+      <CodeBlock
+        code={`@gittensory help
+@gittensory preflight
+@gittensory blockers
+@gittensory duplicate-check
+@gittensory miner-context
+@gittensory next-action`}
+      />
+      <p>
+        If a command would include private reviewability, private scoreability, duplicate-risk, or
+        contributor-history context, the result must stay in maintainer-visible surfaces. Public
+        replies should only contain sanitized actions a contributor can safely use.
+      </p>
+
+      <h2>Public-safe previews</h2>
+      <p>
+        Preview every public output path before enabling it. The same public-safety boundary applies
+        to GitHub comments, issue bodies, PR bodies, extension-visible public panels, and copied
+        snippets.
+      </p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>No wallet or hotkey identifiers.</li>
+        <li>No reward, payout, or emission estimates.</li>
+        <li>No trust-score, public score prediction, or private scoreability language.</li>
+        <li>No private reviewability blockers or maintainer-only duplicate-risk notes.</li>
+        <li>No farming instructions, bounty gaming language, or rank-chasing advice.</li>
+      </ul>
+      <p>
+        For the full boundary, keep <Link to="/docs/privacy-security">Privacy & security</Link> as
+        the source of truth. For AI-written text, use the{" "}
+        <Link to="/docs/ai-summaries">AI summaries policy</Link> before posting generated copy.
+      </p>
+
+      <h2>Browser extension states</h2>
+      <p>
+        The extension is a maintainer review aid. It should make state and scope obvious instead of
+        implying that a contributor or public viewer can see private packets.
+      </p>
+      <CodeBlock
+        lang="text"
+        filename="extension-state-map.txt"
+        code={`Signed out
+  -> no repo context, no private packet
+Signed in without repo scope
+  -> prompt for authorized GitHub App installation or browser session
+Authorized maintainer on PR page
+  -> public-safe PR panel + private maintainer blockers
+Unauthorized viewer or stale session
+  -> public-safe state only, no private blockers
+API unavailable or stale data
+  -> degraded state with retry guidance, never guessed scores`}
+      />
+      <p>
+        UI, frontend, browser-extension, or GitHub-overlay pull requests need maintainer-reviewable
+        screenshots or a short recording that shows the relevant states. A checked template box is
+        not enough evidence.
+      </p>
+
+      <h2>Audit expectations</h2>
+      <p>
+        A healthy installation should leave an audit trail that maintainers can reason about without
+        exposing repository source or contributor secrets.
+      </p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>Installation health shows permissions and webhook readiness.</li>
+        <li>Settings preview shows the exact public copy before posting.</li>
+        <li>Command previews identify the maintainer action that produced them.</li>
+        <li>Extension sessions are scoped to authorized review context.</li>
+        <li>Failures are inspectable through diagnostics instead of silent public output.</li>
+      </ul>
+
+      <h2>CI checks are not reviewer approval</h2>
+      <p>
+        Keep GitHub CI/check state separate from reviewer and mergeability state. A green CI run or
+        advisory Context check can prove automation completed, but it does not prove the PR is
+        acceptable, non-duplicative, or safe to merge. Human maintainers still decide whether the
+        contribution fits the repo, issue, and subnet goals.
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        If the repo enables <strong>Gittensory Gate</strong>, document which blockers are enforced
+        and why. Otherwise, treat Gittensory output as reviewer context only.
+      </p>
+
+      <h2>Reject weak Gittensory-driven PRs</h2>
+      <p>
+        Maintainers should request changes or close PRs that misuse Gittensory output. The tool is a
+        contribution operating layer, not a guarantee that work deserves merge.
+      </p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>Reject PRs with no linked issue, no reproduction, or no validation evidence.</li>
+        <li>Reject UI or extension PRs that omit screenshots or recordings of changed flows.</li>
+        <li>
+          Reject copied snippets that leak private scoring, reward, trust, wallet, or hotkey text.
+        </li>
+        <li>Reject duplicated work when the PR does not explain overlap and maintainer value.</li>
+        <li>
+          Reject generated broad rewrites that are not scoped to the issue acceptance criteria.
+        </li>
+        <li>Reject PRs that confuse passing CI with maintainer approval.</li>
+      </ul>
+
+      <h2>Next docs</h2>
+      <p>
+        Continue with <Link to="/docs/maintainer-workflow">Maintainer workflow</Link> for daily PR
+        review, <Link to="/docs/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</Link> for install diagnostics, and{" "}
+        <Link to="/extension">Browser extension</Link> for overlay behavior.
+      </p>
+    </DocsPage>
+  );
+}