diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 20b961d..06c74c7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ marketplace `ref` at once.
 - `wiring.py` counts a pin as a trigger of a workflow that runs on a push to `main` when a
   `dorny/paths-filter` filter lists it and that filter's output gates a job's `if:`, so marola-app's
   `ci.yml` is listed again for `corpus.version` (#169).
+- `deps-stack --include-steward` and `pr-label`'s `kind/deps` find Scala Steward's PRs as
+  `app/marola-pr-bot` on an `update/` branch, not as `app/scala-steward`, a login no Steward PR ever
+  had. `pr_label_kind` now takes the head branch, and `pr-label` has a `--self-test` (#167).
 
 ## v0.16.0 — 2026-10-17
 
diff --git a/scripts/deps-stack.sh b/scripts/deps-stack.sh
index 288e27a..6f3e40c 100755
--- a/scripts/deps-stack.sh
+++ b/scripts/deps-stack.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #   just deps-stack --dry-run          # print every git/gh command; no push, no gh mutation
 #   just deps-stack --resume           # continue after a conflict (see below)
 #   just deps-stack --skip 123         # drop PR #123 from the chain (repeatable)
-#   just deps-stack --include-steward  # append scala-steward PRs after the dependabot ones
+#   just deps-stack --include-steward  # append Scala Steward's update/* PRs after the dependabot ones
 #   just deps-stack --from-json f.json # use this file instead of `gh pr list` (testing, no gh)
 #   just deps-stack status             # print the current chain + each PR's state
 #   just deps-stack clean              # delete deps/* chain branches whose stacked PR is MERGED
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@
 # can't change, and force-pushing dependabot's own branches gets undone by its next rebase — so
 # dependabot's branches are never touched (--retarget-dependabot only explains this).
 #
-# --include-steward's author:app/scala-steward query is UNVERIFIED with the default GITHUB_TOKEN
-# (scala-steward.yml uses no PAT); check `gh pr list --search "is:pr author:app/scala-steward"`.
+# --include-steward finds Scala Steward's PRs as author app/marola-pr-bot (marola-app's
+# scala-steward.yml opens them with that App's token) on an update/ branch: the App also opens
+# compiled-prompt, pointer-sync and skills PRs, so its login alone is not Steward.
 #
 # Needs `gh auth status` except for --dry-run/--from-json/--self-test. Run from the host, not ai-jail.
 set -euo pipefail
@@ -171,7 +172,9 @@ order_prs() {   # stdin: gh-pr-list-shaped JSON array -> stdout: same, filtered
       elif eco == "pip" then 1
       elif eco == "scala-steward" then 2
       else 3 end;
+    def pr_bot: (.author.login // "") == "app/marola-pr-bot";
     map(select(.number as $n | ($skip | index($n)) == null))
+    | map(select((pr_bot | not) or eco == "scala-steward"))
     | map(select($include_steward == 1 or eco != "scala-steward"))
     | map(. + {ecosystem: eco, rank: rank})
     | sort_by([.rank, .number])
@@ -195,7 +198,7 @@ discover() {   # -> ordered JSON array on stdout
     raw="$(cat "$from_json")"
   elif [ "$dry" -eq 1 ]; then
     echo "+ gh pr list --state open --search \"author:app/dependabot\" --json number,headRefName,title,baseRefName,mergeable,files" >&2
-    [ "$include_steward" -eq 1 ] && echo "+ gh pr list --state open --search \"author:app/scala-steward\" --json number,headRefName,title,baseRefName,mergeable,files" >&2
+    [ "$include_steward" -eq 1 ] && echo "+ gh pr list --state open --search \"author:app/marola-pr-bot\" --json number,headRefName,title,baseRefName,mergeable,files,author" >&2
     echo "[]"
     return 0
   else
@@ -203,7 +206,7 @@ discover() {   # -> ordered JSON array on stdout
     raw="$(gh pr list --state open --search "author:app/dependabot" --json number,headRefName,title,baseRefName,mergeable,files)"
     if [ "$include_steward" -eq 1 ]; then
       local steward
-      steward="$(gh pr list --state open --search "author:app/scala-steward" --json number,headRefName,title,baseRefName,mergeable,files)"
+      steward="$(gh pr list --state open --search "author:app/marola-pr-bot" --json number,headRefName,title,baseRefName,mergeable,files,author)"
       raw="$(jq -s 'add' <<<"$raw"$'\n'"$steward")"
     fi
   fi
@@ -214,18 +217,21 @@ discover() {   # -> ordered JSON array on stdout
 self_test() {
   local fixture="$script_dir/fixtures/deps-stack-prs.json"
   [ -f "$fixture" ] || { echo "deps-stack self-test: fixture not found: $fixture" >&2; exit 1; }
-  local include_steward=0 skip_nums=()   # the fixture has no steward/skip entries to exercise
-  local ordered
-  ordered="$(order_prs <"$fixture")"
-  local got expected
-  got="$(jq -c '[.[].number]' <<<"$ordered")"
-  expected="[101,103,102]"   # github-actions (101, 103) by number, then pip (102)
-  echo "order: $got"
-  jq -r '.[] | "  #\(.number) \(.ecosystem) \(.headRefName)"' <<<"$ordered"
-  if [ "$got" != "$expected" ]; then
-    echo "deps-stack self-test: FAILED — order $got, expected $expected" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
+  local include_steward skip_nums=()   # the fixture has no skip entries to exercise
+  local ordered got expected
+  # github-actions (101, 103) by number, then pip (102), then Steward's 104 only when asked for;
+  # 105 is marola-pr-bot off an update/ branch, never a Steward PR.
+  for include_steward in 0 1; do
+    ordered="$(order_prs <"$fixture")"
+    got="$(jq -c '[.[].number]' <<<"$ordered")"
+    expected="$([ "$include_steward" -eq 1 ] && echo "[101,103,102,104]" || echo "[101,103,102]")"
+    echo "order (include_steward=$include_steward): $got"
+    jq -r '.[] | "  #\(.number) \(.ecosystem) \(.headRefName)"' <<<"$ordered"
+    if [ "$got" != "$expected" ]; then
+      echo "deps-stack self-test: FAILED — order $got, expected $expected" >&2
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  done
   local slug
   slug="$(slug_of "dependabot/github_actions/actions/checkout-5")"
   [ "$slug" = "actions-checkout-5" ] || { echo "deps-stack self-test: FAILED — slug_of gave '$slug', expected 'actions-checkout-5'" >&2; exit 1; }
diff --git a/scripts/fixtures/deps-stack-prs.json b/scripts/fixtures/deps-stack-prs.json
index c4c9bb2..e07fe01 100644
--- a/scripts/fixtures/deps-stack-prs.json
+++ b/scripts/fixtures/deps-stack-prs.json
@@ -22,5 +22,23 @@
     "baseRefName": "main",
     "mergeable": "MERGEABLE",
     "files": [{ "path": ".github/workflows/ci.yml" }]
+  },
+  {
+    "number": 104,
+    "headRefName": "update/sbt-2.0.10",
+    "title": "Update sbt to 2.0.10",
+    "baseRefName": "main",
+    "mergeable": "MERGEABLE",
+    "author": { "login": "app/marola-pr-bot" },
+    "files": [{ "path": "project/build.properties" }]
+  },
+  {
+    "number": 105,
+    "headRefName": "ml/compiled-prompt-38761019113",
+    "title": "feat(prompt): recompile the prompts on llama3.2 (marola-ml)",
+    "baseRefName": "main",
+    "mergeable": "MERGEABLE",
+    "author": { "login": "app/marola-pr-bot" },
+    "files": [{ "path": "prompts/compiled.json" }]
   }
 ]
diff --git a/scripts/lib/pr_labels.sh b/scripts/lib/pr_labels.sh
index 13af116..aa0409e 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/pr_labels.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib/pr_labels.sh
@@ -107,11 +107,13 @@ pr_label_layers() {
   printf '%s\n' "${labels[@]}"
 }
 
-# pr_label_kind <author-login> <changed-paths-newline-separated> — best-effort, only when certain.
+# pr_label_kind <author-login> <headRefName> <changed-paths-newline-separated> — best-effort, only
+# when certain. marola-pr-bot opens Scala Steward's PRs and others too; update/ tells them apart.
 pr_label_kind() {
-  local author="$1" paths="$2"
+  local author="$1" ref="$2" paths="$3"
   case "$author" in
-    dependabot\[bot\]|app/dependabot|scala-steward\[bot\]|app/scala-steward) echo "kind/deps"; return ;;
+    dependabot\[bot\]|app/dependabot) echo "kind/deps"; return ;;
+    app/marola-pr-bot) [[ "$ref" == update/* ]] && { echo "kind/deps"; return; } ;;
   esac
   if [ -n "$paths" ] && ! grep -qvE '\.md$|^docs/' <<<"$paths"; then
     echo "kind/docs-only"
@@ -137,6 +139,6 @@ pr_label_classify() {
   printf '%s\n' $areas
   layers="$(pr_label_layers "$paths")"
   [ -n "$layers" ] && printf '%s\n' "$layers"
-  kind="$(pr_label_kind "$author" "$paths")"
+  kind="$(pr_label_kind "$author" "$ref" "$paths")"
   [ -n "$kind" ] && printf '%s\n' "$kind"
 }
diff --git a/scripts/pr-label.sh b/scripts/pr-label.sh
index f1e0f9e..760a882 100755
--- a/scripts/pr-label.sh
+++ b/scripts/pr-label.sh
@@ -5,16 +5,35 @@ script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 # shellcheck source=scripts/lib/pr_labels.sh.
 source "$script_dir/lib/pr_labels.sh"
 
-dry_run=0; pr_arg=""
+dry_run=0; pr_arg=""; self_test=0
 for arg in "$@"; do
   case "$arg" in
     --dry-run) dry_run=1 ;;
+    --self-test) self_test=1 ;;
     -h|--help) sed -n '2,13p' "$0"; exit 0 ;;
     [0-9]*|\#[0-9]*) pr_arg="${arg#\#}" ;;
     *) echo "pr-label: unrecognized argument: $arg" >&2; exit 1 ;;
   esac
 done
 
+self_test() {
+  local fails=0 got
+  check() {   # label, got, want
+    if [ "$2" = "$3" ]; then echo "  ok   $1"; else fails=$((fails + 1)); echo "  FAIL $1 — got '$2', want '$3'" >&2; fi
+  }
+  got="$(pr_label_kind app/marola-pr-bot update/sbt-2.0.10 "project/build.properties")"
+  check "a marola-pr-bot update/ PR is kind/deps" "$got" "kind/deps"
+  got="$(pr_label_kind app/marola-pr-bot ml/compiled-prompt-1 "prompts/compiled.json")"
+  check "a marola-pr-bot PR on another branch is not" "$got" ""
+  got="$(pr_label_kind app/dependabot dependabot/pip/x "requirements.txt")"
+  check "a dependabot PR is kind/deps" "$got" "kind/deps"
+  got="$(pr_label_classify update/sbt-2.0.10 app/marola-pr-bot "Update sbt to 2.0.10" "project/build.properties" | grep '^kind/' || true)"
+  check "pr_label_classify passes the branch on" "$got" "kind/deps"
+  echo "pr-label self-test:" "$([ "$fails" -eq 0 ] && echo ok || echo "$fails FAILED")"
+  [ "$fails" -eq 0 ]
+}
+if [ "$self_test" -eq 1 ]; then self_test; exit $?; fi
+
 if [ -z "$pr_arg" ]; then
   pr_arg="$(gh pr view --json number --jq .number 2>/dev/null)" || {
     echo "pr-label: no PR number given and no PR found for the current branch" >&2
diff --git a/tests/self-tests.sh b/tests/self-tests.sh
index 7189d70..4a86278 100755
--- a/tests/self-tests.sh
+++ b/tests/self-tests.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ sh_tests=(
   scripts/agents-check.sh scripts/mip-stack.sh scripts/docs-mip-stack.sh
   scripts/deps-stack.sh scripts/deps-merge.sh scripts/gha-runner.sh scripts/setup-runners.sh
   scripts/runner-preflight.sh scripts/temps.sh scripts/bump-consumers.sh scripts/bump-merge.sh scripts/ruleset-sync.sh scripts/api-docs-push.sh
-  scripts/graph.sh
+  scripts/graph.sh scripts/pr-label.sh
   plugins/marola-devkit/hooks/format.sh plugins/marola-devkit/hooks/stop-gate.sh
   plugins/marola-devkit/hooks/session-start.sh
 )