diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
index fa3b587..b5e1e0e 100644
--- a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -69,3 +69,21 @@ GitHub-required community-health files stay Markdown: `SECURITY.md`,
 
 4.  Security issues: follow `SECURITY.md` — report privately, never in a
     public issue.
+
+## Signed commits
+
+Every commit that reaches the default branch must be signed; a ruleset refuses
+unsigned pushes. Estate policy:
+[SIGNING-POLICY](https://github.com/hyperpolymath/standards/blob/main/docs/SIGNING-POLICY.adoc).
+
+- **People and interactive agents** sign with an SSH key registered on GitHub
+  as a *signing* key (`gpg.format=ssh`, `user.signingkey=<key>.pub`,
+  `commit.gpgsign=true`). The committer email must be verified on that account.
+- **Apps, bots and workflows** never `git push` local commits. They write
+  through the API (`createCommitOnBranch` or the estate `signed-push` action)
+  so that GitHub signs each commit.
+- Merge PRs with **squash**. The ruleset checks every commit on the PR branch,
+  not just the result, so one unsigned commit blocks the merge. Re-create the
+  branch with signed commits (`git cherry-pick -S`) and update the existing PR
+  branch. Open a new PR only if repository controls prevent updating that branch.
+  Rebase-merge replays commits unsigned and is disabled.
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.adoc b/CONTRIBUTING.adoc
index 2880ff9..2b4034e 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.adoc
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.adoc
@@ -56,3 +56,21 @@ This root document exists because the estate docs gate
 `CONTRIBUTING.md`, `CONTRIBUTING.adoc`, or `3-practice/CONTRIBUTING.adoc`
 at the repository root. Estate documentation policy: AsciiDoc by default —
 see `hyperpolymath/standards`.
+
+== Signed commits
+
+Every commit that reaches the default branch must be signed; a ruleset refuses
+unsigned pushes. Estate policy:
+https://github.com/hyperpolymath/standards/blob/main/docs/SIGNING-POLICY.adoc[SIGNING-POLICY].
+
+* **People and interactive agents** sign with an SSH key registered on GitHub
+  as a *signing* key (`gpg.format=ssh`, `user.signingkey=<key>.pub`,
+  `commit.gpgsign=true`). The committer email must be verified on that account.
+* **Apps, bots and workflows** never `git push` local commits. They write
+  through the API (`createCommitOnBranch` or the estate `signed-push` action)
+  so that GitHub signs each commit.
+* Merge PRs with **squash**. The ruleset checks every commit on the PR branch,
+  not just the result, so one unsigned commit blocks the merge. Re-create the
+  branch with signed commits (`git cherry-pick -S`) and update the existing PR
+  branch. Open a new PR only if repository controls prevent updating that branch.
+  Rebase-merge replays commits unsigned and is disabled.