diff --git a/.github/workflows/free-durations-record.yml b/.github/workflows/free-durations-record.yml
index 0da6ab580..848be5dfc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/free-durations-record.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/free-durations-record.yml
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Open or refresh the seed PR when either seed's file set changed
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
-          OPEN_PR: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || inputs.open_pr }}
+          OPEN_PR: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && (github.event_name == 'schedule' || inputs.open_pr) }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           linux_failed=$(wc -l < "$RUNNER_TEMP/linux/record-failures.txt")
@@ -127,22 +127,32 @@ jobs:
           if ratchet=$(GSTACK_FREE_SEED_BASE="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" bun test test/free-seed-ratchet.test.ts 2>&1); then
             ratchet_line="passes"
           else
-            ratchet_line="FAILS; a maintainer must split the named file or add an annotated allowlist entry on this branch before merge:"$'\n\n'"\`\`\`"$'\n'"$(printf '%s\n' "$ratchet" | grep -E 'Free seed ratchet|^- ' | head -20)"$'\n'"\`\`\`"
+            ratchet_line="FAILS; a maintainer must split the named file or add an annotated allowlist entry on this branch before merge:"$'\n\n'"\`\`\`"$'\n'"$(printf '%s\n' "$ratchet" | sed -n -E '/Free seed ratchet|^- /p' | sed -n '1,20p')"$'\n'"\`\`\`"
           fi
           failed_line="Linux: $(failures "$RUNNER_TEMP/linux/record-failures.txt"); Windows: $(failures "$RUNNER_TEMP/windows/record-failures.txt")"
           echo "Seed growth ratchet: $ratchet_line" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
           echo "Failed while recording: $failed_line" | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
           if [ "$OPEN_PR" != true ]; then
-            echo "open_pr=false: recorded and reported only." | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            echo "Report only (open_pr=false, or a ref other than main): no branch pushed." | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
             exit 0
           fi
           branch=bot/free-duration-seeds
+          subject="test(seed): refresh the free-suite duration seeds from the weekly recording"
+          number=$(gh pr list --head "$branch" --state open --json number -q '.[0].number // empty')
+          remote_head=
+          if git fetch -q origin "+refs/heads/$branch:refs/remotes/origin/$branch" 2>/dev/null; then
+            remote_head=$(git rev-parse "origin/$branch")
+          fi
+          if [ -n "$number" ] && [ -n "$remote_head" ] && [ "$(git log --format=%s "HEAD..$remote_head")" != "$subject" ]; then
+            echo "::warning::Seed PR #$number has commits besides the bot's one refresh commit; this run leaves them in place. Merge or close that PR and the next run refreshes the seeds." | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            exit 0
+          fi
           git switch -C "$branch"
           git config user.name github-actions[bot]
           git config user.email 41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
           git add scripts/free-test-durations.json scripts/free-test-durations-windows.json
-          git commit -m "test(seed): refresh the free-suite duration seeds from the weekly recording"
-          git push --force origin "$branch"
+          git commit -m "$subject"
+          git push --force-with-lease="refs/heads/$branch:$remote_head" origin "HEAD:refs/heads/$branch"
           cat > pr-body.md <<EOF
           Weekly recording from run $GITHUB_SERVER_URL/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/actions/runs/$GITHUB_RUN_ID on $GITHUB_SHA.
 
@@ -153,7 +163,7 @@ jobs:
 
           Data only. Stamp and merge per docs/ship-policy.md; the stamp push runs the full PR checks.
           EOF
-          if number=$(gh pr list --head "$branch" --state open --json number -q '.[0].number') && [ -n "$number" ]; then
+          if [ -n "$number" ]; then
             gh pr edit "$number" --body-file pr-body.md
           else
             gh pr create --base main --head "$branch" --title "test(seed): refresh the free-suite duration seeds" --body-file pr-body.md
diff --git a/docs/TESTING_INTERNALS.md b/docs/TESTING_INTERNALS.md
index d9a4f95fa..2befad2fe 100644
--- a/docs/TESTING_INTERNALS.md
+++ b/docs/TESTING_INTERNALS.md
@@ -1200,7 +1200,9 @@ refresh to a maintainer.
   free checks decide whether the tree is healthy. An interrupted recording
   uploads no seed, and more than 5 red files on either OS proposes nothing. The
   bot never edits the allowlist: a ratchet failure is fixed on the branch by a
-  maintainer before the PR merges.
+  maintainer before the PR merges, and while the open seed PR holds any commit
+  besides the bot's one refresh commit, later runs leave it alone. Only runs on
+  `main` push the branch; a dispatch from another ref reports only.
 
 ### Windows free lane
 
diff --git a/test/free-durations-record-workflow.test.ts b/test/free-durations-record-workflow.test.ts
index de27ccf08..7a61d7c6b 100644
--- a/test/free-durations-record-workflow.test.ts
+++ b/test/free-durations-record-workflow.test.ts
@@ -82,11 +82,80 @@ test('the propose step touches only the two seeds, never the allowlist, on one b
   expect(script).toContain('branch=bot/free-duration-seeds');
   expect(script).toContain('bun test test/free-seed-ratchet.test.ts');
   expect(script).toContain('gh workflow run free-tests.yml');
-  expect(proposeStep.env.OPEN_PR).toBe("${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || inputs.open_pr }}");
+  expect(proposeStep.env.OPEN_PR).toBe("${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && (github.event_name == 'schedule' || inputs.open_pr) }}");
   expect(script.indexOf('if [ "$OPEN_PR" != true ]')).toBeLessThan(script.indexOf('git push'));
   expect(recorder.on.workflow_dispatch.inputs.open_pr).toMatchObject({ type: 'boolean', default: true });
 });
 
+test('a long ratchet report reaches the PR body instead of aborting the step under pipefail', () => {
+  const script: string = proposeStep.run;
+  const line = script.split('\n').find(entry => entry.trimStart().startsWith('ratchet_line="FAILS'))!.trim();
+  const ratchet = ['error: Free seed ratchet:', ...Array.from({ length: 3000 }, (_, i) => `- test/f${i}.test.ts is seeded at 61s, over the 60s ceiling. Fix: split it, then rerun the recording.`)].join('\n');
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'seed-ratchet-'));
+  dirs.push(dir);
+  writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'ratchet.txt'), ratchet);
+  const result = spawnSync('bash', ['-c', `set -euo pipefail\nratchet=$(cat "$1")\n${line}\nprintf '%s' "$ratchet_line"`, 'ratchet', path.join(dir, 'ratchet.txt')], { encoding: 'utf8', timeout: 10_000 });
+  expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.stdout).toContain('- test/f18.test.ts is seeded at 61s, over');
+  expect(result.stdout).not.toContain('- test/f19.test.ts');
+});
+
+test('a refresh keeps a maintainer\'s commits on the open seed PR and leases the bot branch it replaces', () => {
+  const script: string = proposeStep.run;
+  const publish = script.slice(script.indexOf('branch=bot/free-duration-seeds'), script.indexOf('cat > pr-body.md'));
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'seed-publish-'));
+  dirs.push(dir);
+  const env = Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(process.env).filter(([key]) => !key.startsWith('GIT_')));
+  const git = (cwd: string, ...args: string[]) => {
+    const result = spawnSync('git', args, { cwd, encoding: 'utf8', timeout: 10_000, env });
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    return result.stdout.trim();
+  };
+  const origin = path.join(dir, 'origin.git');
+  const work = path.join(dir, 'work');
+  git(dir, 'init', '-q', '--bare', '-b', 'main', origin);
+  git(dir, 'clone', '-q', origin, work);
+  const commit = (email: string, file: string, message: string) => {
+    git(work, 'config', 'user.name', email);
+    git(work, 'config', 'user.email', email);
+    writeFileSync(path.join(work, file), message);
+    git(work, 'add', file);
+    git(work, 'commit', '-q', '-m', message);
+  };
+  for (const file of ['free-test-durations.json', 'free-test-durations-windows.json']) {
+    writeFileSync(path.join(work, file), '{}');
+  }
+  git(work, 'checkout', '-q', '-b', 'main');
+  commit('dev@example.com', 'README', 'main');
+  git(work, 'push', '-q', 'origin', 'main');
+  const subject = 'test(seed): refresh the free-suite duration seeds from the weekly recording';
+  git(work, 'checkout', '-q', '-b', 'bot/free-duration-seeds');
+  commit('bot@example.com', 'seed.txt', subject);
+  git(work, 'push', '-q', 'origin', 'bot/free-duration-seeds');
+  const stub = path.join(dir, 'bin');
+  spawnSync('mkdir', [stub], { timeout: 10_000 });
+  writeFileSync(path.join(stub, 'gh'), '#!/bin/sh\necho 7\n', { mode: 0o755 });
+  const run = () => {
+    git(work, 'checkout', '-q', 'main');
+    spawnSync('mkdir', ['-p', path.join(work, 'scripts')], { timeout: 10_000 });
+    writeFileSync(path.join(work, 'scripts/free-test-durations.json'), `{"run":${Date.now()}}`);
+    writeFileSync(path.join(work, 'scripts/free-test-durations-windows.json'), '{}');
+    const result = spawnSync('bash', ['-c', `set -euo pipefail\n${publish}`], { cwd: work, encoding: 'utf8', timeout: 20_000,
+      env: { ...env, PATH: `${stub}:${process.env.PATH}`, GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY: path.join(dir, 'summary.md') } });
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    return git(origin, 'rev-parse', 'refs/heads/bot/free-duration-seeds');
+  };
+  const replaced = run();
+  expect(git(origin, 'log', '--format=%s', `main..${replaced}`)).toBe(subject);
+  expect(git(origin, 'show', `${replaced}:scripts/free-test-durations.json`)).toContain('"run"');
+  git(work, 'checkout', '-q', '-B', 'bot/free-duration-seeds', replaced);
+  commit('maintainer@example.com', 'allowlist.json', 'maintainer repair');
+  git(work, 'push', '-q', 'origin', 'HEAD:refs/heads/bot/free-duration-seeds');
+  const repaired = git(origin, 'rev-parse', 'refs/heads/bot/free-duration-seeds');
+  expect(run()).toBe(repaired);
+  expect(readFileSync(path.join(dir, 'summary.md'), 'utf8')).toContain("Seed PR #7 has commits besides the bot's one refresh commit");
+});
+
 test('the drift check counts added and removed files, so an unchanged file set proposes nothing', () => {
   const script: string = proposeStep.run;
   const drift = script.slice(script.indexOf('drift() {'), script.indexOf('\n}', script.indexOf('drift() {')) + 2);