diff --git a/AUDIT.md b/AUDIT.md
index 1ca6626c..9bb0363b 100644
--- a/AUDIT.md
+++ b/AUDIT.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ This audit is not occasional. Run it whenever you **create, adopt, or materially
 
 Audit one repository at a time. Read the target's **`main` branch** as ground truth: `main` is the released, authoritative state. Read `develop` only to detect divergence - a stale or diverged `develop` (behind `main`, or diverged) is reported as a **drift finding**, never audited as the truth. Do not treat a `develop`-only file as present if it is absent on `main`.
 
+This holds for **both workflow models**. An `operational` repo commits directly to `develop`, but its ground truth is still `main` - the promoted, gated snapshot the promotion PR blesses. `develop` there is mid-flight by design (ungated direct pushes), so auditing it would measure work in progress: conformance scaffolding that has landed on `develop` but is not yet promoted is *un-promoted work*, not a conformance defect, and it counts when it reaches `main`. A registry `groundTruthBranch` naming `develop` therefore contradicts this section - for either model.
+
 ## 2. Resolve the Repo's Type(s)
 
 Look up the repo in [`registry/repos.json`][repos] and read its `types[]`. If the entry is `classificationPending` (a backlog repo), classify it from the tree and propose a registry update:
diff --git a/registry/repos.json b/registry/repos.json
index 113136e1..c804a3f6 100644
--- a/registry/repos.json
+++ b/registry/repos.json
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@
             "url": "https://github.com/ptr727/HomeAutomation-Config",
             "status": "cataloged",
             "types": ["source-only"],
-            "groundTruthBranch": "develop",
+            "groundTruthBranch": "main",
             "workflowModel": "operational",
             "lineEndings": "lf",
             "hasDevelop": true,
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@
             "url": "https://github.com/ptr727/ESPHome-Config",
             "status": "cataloged",
             "types": ["source-only"],
-            "groundTruthBranch": "develop",
+            "groundTruthBranch": "main",
             "workflowModel": "operational",
             "lineEndings": "lf",
             "hasDevelop": true,
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@
             "url": "https://github.com/ptr727/Vantage-Config",
             "status": "cataloged",
             "types": ["source-only"],
-            "groundTruthBranch": "develop",
+            "groundTruthBranch": "main",
             "workflowModel": "operational",
             "lineEndings": "crlf",
             "hasDevelop": true,