diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index b9a9bbf5d..a0036b8f1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -41,6 +41,28 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: npm ci
 
+      - name: Every external `uses:` names a canonical owner, not a redirect
+        # Twice in two days an owner rename stopped every merge and every deploy
+        # in this repo: `maonakamoto` → `catomean` (2026-08-26), then the move to
+        # the `bitbaum` org (2026-08-28, #800). Both times nothing looked wrong.
+        # REST and git follow a rename redirect, so every normal way of checking
+        # says the reference is fine; the Actions resolver is the one consumer
+        # that does not follow it, and dies before any step exists with no
+        # readable log. Pull requests stay green, clean and mergeable — the red
+        # run is on main, under a workflow nobody opens.
+        #
+        # #800 fixed the second instance. This is the check, so there is no
+        # third: it asks the API what each referenced repo is really called and
+        # fails when that disagrees with the workflow. A static allowlist cannot
+        # do it — after a rename the workflow and the allowlist hold the same
+        # stale name and agree with each other.
+        #
+        # Deliberately NOT in `npm run verify`: verify is the offline SSOT
+        # bundle. This needs the API, so it lives here and skips without a token.
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        run: node scripts/ci/check-workflow-refs.mjs
+
       - name: Verify (docs + type-check + routes + lint + unit — same as local)
         # SSOT for "green": the pre-build gate is defined ONCE as the `verify`
         # npm script and called verbatim here, so `npm run verify` locally and CI
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index e4a91c423..1d3e0ed45 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ push branch → open PR → CI green → auto-merge.yml squash-merges it
 
 `.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml` calls the fleet's canonical sweep — the
 policy no longer lives in this repo. It is defined once in
-`maonakamoto/dotfiles`, `scripts/ci/auto-merge-sweep.sh`, and a fix made to a
+`bitbaum/dotfiles`, `scripts/ci/auto-merge-sweep.sh`, and a fix made to a
 local copy here would reach nobody. The sweep merges **one** PR per sweep, and
 only when: it is not a draft, carries no hold label, every check has finished
 green, GitHub calls it cleanly mergeable, and main's own CI is currently green. One car per sweep is deliberate — a PR's
diff --git a/scripts/ci/check-workflow-refs.mjs b/scripts/ci/check-workflow-refs.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1e2df7821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci/check-workflow-refs.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Every `uses:` that points at another repository must name that repository's
+ * CANONICAL owner — not a name that merely redirects to it.
+ *
+ * This exists because the same outage happened twice in two days:
+ *
+ *   2026-08-26  the account `maonakamoto` was renamed to `catomean`
+ *   2026-08-28  the repos moved to the organisation `bitbaum`
+ *
+ * Both times every merge and every deploy in this repo stopped, and both times
+ * nothing looked wrong. GitHub redirects a renamed owner for the REST API and
+ * for git remotes — `gh api repos/<old>/dotfiles` still answers, `git push` to
+ * the old remote still works — so every way a human normally checks says the
+ * reference is fine. The Actions resolver is the one consumer that does NOT
+ * follow the redirect. It fails before any step exists, with "This run likely
+ * failed because of a workflow file issue" and no readable log.
+ *
+ * The signal is the dangerous shape: pull requests stay GREEN, mergeable and
+ * clean. The red run is on main, under a workflow nobody opens. Work simply
+ * stops shipping.
+ *
+ * THE CHECK: ask the REST API what each referenced repo is really called. That
+ * is precisely the discrepancy — REST resolves the redirect and reports the
+ * canonical `full_name`, Actions does not resolve it at all. If those two
+ * disagree, the workflow is already broken, whether or not it has run yet.
+ *
+ * A static allowlist could not do this: after a rename the workflow file and
+ * the allowlist would both hold the same stale name and agree with each other.
+ * Only asking GitHub what the repo is called today can tell.
+ *
+ * Runs in CI, where GITHUB_TOKEN is present. Skips (exit 0) without a token so
+ * a local `npm run verify` does not depend on the network — CI is where this
+ * has to hold.
+ */
+
+import { readdirSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+
+const WORKFLOW_DIR = '.github/workflows';
+const token = process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN || process.env.GH_TOKEN;
+
+if (!token) {
+  console.log('[check-workflow-refs] no GITHUB_TOKEN — skipping (this gate runs in CI)');
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
+/**
+ * `uses: owner/repo/path@ref` and `uses: owner/repo@ref`.
+ * Local (`./.github/...`) and container (`docker://`) references have no owner
+ * to be wrong about, so they are not matched.
+ */
+const USES = /^\s*uses:\s*([A-Za-z0-9][\w.-]*)\/([\w.-]+)(?:\/[^@\s]+)?@/gm;
+
+const refs = new Map(); // "owner/repo" -> Set of workflow files
+
+for (const file of readdirSync(WORKFLOW_DIR).filter(f => /\.ya?ml$/.test(f))) {
+  const text = readFileSync(join(WORKFLOW_DIR, file), 'utf8');
+  for (const [, owner, repo] of text.matchAll(USES)) {
+    const key = `${owner}/${repo}`;
+    refs.set(key, (refs.get(key) ?? new Set()).add(file));
+  }
+}
+
+const problems = [];
+let checked = 0;
+
+for (const [ref, files] of refs) {
+  const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/repos/${ref}`, {
+    headers: {
+      authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
+      accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
+      'user-agent': 'orangecat-check-workflow-refs',
+    },
+  });
+
+  if (res.status === 404) {
+    problems.push(`${ref} does not exist (referenced by ${[...files].join(', ')})`);
+    continue;
+  }
+
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    // Rate limiting or an outage is "could not look", never "looks fine".
+    console.error(`[check-workflow-refs] could not resolve ${ref}: HTTP ${res.status}`);
+    process.exit(2);
+  }
+
+  const { full_name: canonical } = await res.json();
+  checked += 1;
+
+  if (canonical.toLowerCase() !== ref.toLowerCase()) {
+    problems.push(
+      `${ref} is a REDIRECT to ${canonical} — REST and git follow it, the Actions ` +
+        `resolver does NOT, so ${[...files].join(', ')} will fail to load with no ` +
+        `usable log. Change the reference to ${canonical}.`
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+if (problems.length > 0) {
+  console.error('[check-workflow-refs] FAIL');
+  for (const p of problems) {
+    console.error(`  ${p}`);
+  }
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+console.log(`[check-workflow-refs] OK — ${checked} external workflow reference(s), all canonical.`);