diff --git a/.github/workflows/advance-deploy-env.yml b/.github/workflows/advance-deploy-env.yml
index 6447df1..7e6b002 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/advance-deploy-env.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/advance-deploy-env.yml
@@ -3,13 +3,26 @@ name: Advance deploy environment
 # Reusable workflow. Called from each active repo on push to develop/staging/master/main.
 # For each PR contained in the push, updates the Deploy environment project field
 # and advances Status through the multi-stage validation flow:
-#   develop      → Status = "FR on dev"      (functional review on dev environment)
-#   staging      → Status = "FR on staging"  (functional review on staging environment)
-#   master/main  → Status = "Prod"           (shipped to production)
+#   develop      -> Status = "FR on dev"      (functional review on dev environment)
+#   staging      -> Status = "FR on staging"  (functional review on staging environment)
+#   master/main  -> Status = "Prod"           (shipped to production)
 #
 # The "Ready for staging" / "Ready for prod" intermediate states are set manually
 # (drag-and-drop on the kanban or via a /fr-pass comment) when the FR reviewer
 # declares the validation passed but the deploy hasn't happened yet.
+#
+# -- Per-repo override via `.kanban.yml` --
+# For repos where the default branch isn't the prod-truth (e.g. averaging-service
+# deploys a Docker image from staging without ever touching main), drop a
+# `.kanban.yml` at the repo root:
+#
+#   # .kanban.yml
+#   branch_status_map:
+#     staging: Prod          # this repo's deploy ships staging-built artifacts
+#
+# The override merges with the default mapping. Anything you don't explicitly
+# remap stays on the default. Keys are branch names; values are Status column
+# names ("Prod", "FR on staging", "FR on dev").
 
 on:
   workflow_call:
@@ -31,28 +44,53 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Determine target environment from branch
+      - name: Resolve deploy env + status (with .kanban.yml override)
         id: env
+        env:
+          BRANCH: ${{ github.ref_name }}
         run: |
-          case "${{ github.ref_name }}" in
-            develop)     echo "env=dev"     >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT" ;;
-            staging)     echo "env=staging" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT" ;;
-            master|main) echo "env=prod"    >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT" ;;
-            *)           echo "env="        >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT" ;;
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # Default mapping
+          case "$BRANCH" in
+            develop)     DEPLOY_ENV="dev";     STATUS_NAME="FR on dev" ;;
+            staging)     DEPLOY_ENV="staging"; STATUS_NAME="FR on staging" ;;
+            master|main) DEPLOY_ENV="prod";    STATUS_NAME="Prod" ;;
+            *)           DEPLOY_ENV="";        STATUS_NAME="" ;;
           esac
 
+          # Per-repo override at .kanban.yml in this repo (already checked out)
+          if [ -f .kanban.yml ]; then
+            OVERRIDE=$(yq -r ".branch_status_map.\"$BRANCH\" // \"\"" .kanban.yml 2>/dev/null || true)
+            if [ -n "$OVERRIDE" ] && [ "$OVERRIDE" != "null" ]; then
+              echo "::notice::.kanban.yml overrides $BRANCH -> $OVERRIDE"
+              STATUS_NAME="$OVERRIDE"
+              # Keep Deploy environment field consistent with the override
+              case "$OVERRIDE" in
+                "Prod")          DEPLOY_ENV="prod" ;;
+                "FR on staging") DEPLOY_ENV="staging" ;;
+                "FR on dev")     DEPLOY_ENV="dev" ;;
+              esac
+            fi
+          fi
+
+          echo "env=$DEPLOY_ENV"           >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "status_name=$STATUS_NAME"  >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
       - name: Skip if branch not tracked
         if: steps.env.outputs.env == ''
+        env:
+          BRANCH: ${{ github.ref_name }}
         run: |
-          echo "Branch '${{ github.ref_name }}' is not develop/staging/master/main — nothing to do."
+          echo "Branch '$BRANCH' is not develop/staging/master/main (and no .kanban.yml override) - nothing to do."
 
       - name: Extract PR numbers from new commits
         id: prs
         if: steps.env.outputs.env != ''
+        env:
+          BEFORE: ${{ github.event.before }}
+          SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
         run: |
-          BEFORE="${{ github.event.before }}"
-          SHA="${{ github.sha }}"
-          # First push to a branch reports a zero hash — fall back to last 50 commits
+          # First push to a branch reports a zero hash - fall back to last 50 commits
           if [ "$BEFORE" = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" ]; then
             RANGE="--max-count=50 $SHA"
           else
@@ -60,7 +98,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
           # Extract PR refs from commit *subjects* only (not bodies), to avoid picking up
           # issue references like "Closes #47" that aren't PR numbers.
-          # Squash merge subject: "Title (#NNN)"  ·  Merge commit subject: "Merge pull request #NNN"
+          # Squash merge subject: "Title (#NNN)"  Merge commit subject: "Merge pull request #NNN"
           PRS=$(git log --format='%s' $RANGE \
             | grep -oE '\(#[0-9]+\)|Merge pull request #[0-9]+' \
             | grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | tr -d '#' | sort -u | tr '\n' ' ')
@@ -74,7 +112,9 @@ jobs:
           ORG: ${{ inputs.org }}
           PROJECT_NUMBER: ${{ inputs.project-number }}
           DEPLOY_ENV: ${{ steps.env.outputs.env }}
+          STATUS_NAME: ${{ steps.env.outputs.status_name }}
           REPO_FULL: ${{ github.repository }}
+          PR_NUMBERS: ${{ steps.prs.outputs.prs }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           REPO_NAME="${REPO_FULL#*/}"
@@ -101,33 +141,27 @@ jobs:
             | select(.name=="Deploy environment") | .options[] | select(.name==$e) | .id')
           STATUS_FIELD=$(echo "$PROJ" | jq -r '.data.organization.projectV2.fields.nodes[]
             | select(.name=="Status") | .id')
-
-          # Resolve the Status option that matches this push's target environment.
-          case "$DEPLOY_ENV" in
-            dev)     STATUS_NAME="FR on dev" ;;
-            staging) STATUS_NAME="FR on staging" ;;
-            prod)    STATUS_NAME="Prod" ;;
-          esac
           STATUS_OPT=$(echo "$PROJ" | jq -r --arg s "$STATUS_NAME" '.data.organization.projectV2.fields.nodes[]
             | select(.name=="Status") | .options[] | select(.name==$s) | .id')
 
           if [ -z "$DEPLOY_OPT" ] || [ "$DEPLOY_OPT" = "null" ]; then
-            echo "Could not resolve Deploy environment option for '$DEPLOY_ENV' — aborting"
+            echo "Could not resolve Deploy environment option for '$DEPLOY_ENV' - aborting"
             exit 1
           fi
 
           # Status update degrades gracefully: if the Status field or its target
           # option can't be resolved, log a warning and skip just the Status step
           # rather than failing the whole workflow (Deploy env update still wins).
+          SKIP_STATUS=0
           if [ -z "$STATUS_FIELD" ] || [ "$STATUS_FIELD" = "null" ] \
              || [ -z "$STATUS_OPT" ] || [ "$STATUS_OPT" = "null" ]; then
-            echo "::warning::Could not resolve Status option '$STATUS_NAME' in project #$PROJECT_NUMBER — skipping Status updates"
+            echo "::warning::Could not resolve Status option '$STATUS_NAME' in project #$PROJECT_NUMBER - skipping Status updates"
             SKIP_STATUS=1
           fi
 
-          for prnum in ${{ steps.prs.outputs.prs }}; do
+          for prnum in $PR_NUMBERS; do
             # Defensive: if the number isn't a PR (e.g. issue ref slipped through),
-            # the gh api call exits non-zero — swallow that and skip cleanly.
+            # the gh api call exits non-zero - swallow that and skip cleanly.
             RESP=$(gh api graphql -f query='
               query($org: String!, $repo: String!, $num: Int!) {
                 repository(owner: $org, name: $repo) {
@@ -143,11 +177,11 @@ jobs:
                   | select(.project.number == ($n | tonumber)) | .id' 2>/dev/null | head -1)
 
             if [ -z "$ITEM_ID" ] || [ "$ITEM_ID" = "null" ]; then
-              echo "#$prnum not on project (or not a PR) — skipping"
+              echo "#$prnum not on project (or not a PR) - skipping"
               continue
             fi
 
-            echo "→ PR #$prnum: Deploy env = $DEPLOY_ENV"
+            echo "-> PR #$prnum: Deploy env = $DEPLOY_ENV"
             # Pass option IDs with -f (raw string), NOT -F: ProjectV2 single-select
             # option IDs can be all-numeric, and -F does magic type coercion that turns
             # an all-digit value into an integer, which the $o: String! variable then
@@ -161,8 +195,8 @@ jobs:
                 }) { projectV2Item { id } }
               }' -F p="$PROJECT_ID" -F i="$ITEM_ID" -F f="$DEPLOY_FIELD" -f o="$DEPLOY_OPT" > /dev/null
 
-            if [ "${SKIP_STATUS:-0}" != "1" ]; then
-              echo "→ PR #$prnum: Status = $STATUS_NAME"
+            if [ "$SKIP_STATUS" != "1" ]; then
+              echo "-> PR #$prnum: Status = $STATUS_NAME"
               gh api graphql -f query='
                 mutation($p: ID!, $i: ID!, $f: ID!, $o: String!) {
                   updateProjectV2ItemFieldValue(input: {
diff --git a/.github/workflows/kanban-reconcile.yml b/.github/workflows/kanban-reconcile.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51bdd55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/kanban-reconcile.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,329 @@
+name: Kanban reconcile
+
+# Nightly self-healing pass for the engineer kanban (project #2).
+#
+# Catches stalls and drift that the event-driven workflows
+# (advance-deploy-env, kanban-closure-router) silently miss:
+#
+#   1. Drift to Prod  - items in RfP / FR-on-staging / FR-on-dev / Code review
+#                       whose merge SHA is already on the repo's prod branch.
+#                       Cause: the push event was missed, or the deploy
+#                       happens out-of-band (e.g. averaging-service deploys
+#                       a Docker image from staging without ever pushing main).
+#
+#   2. Release vehicles  - merged PRs whose title matches the
+#                          "Release: develop -> staging" / "Dev to staging"
+#                          / "Staging to prod" pattern. They're not
+#                          deliverables - auto-move to Prod once merged.
+#
+#   3. Cancelled  - closed-not-merged PRs sitting in non-terminal columns.
+#
+#   4. Misplaced open issues - open issues that drifted into a post-merge
+#                              column (RfP, FR-on-*, Ready-for-staging).
+#                              Move back to Backlog.
+#
+# Per-repo override: a repo can declare its prod-truth branch in a
+# `.kanban.yml` at the repo root (see kanban-reconcile docs in this repo).
+# Default: the repo's GitHub default branch (main/master).
+#
+# Safety cap: if the script would move > 100 items in one run, it aborts
+# and reports - that's almost certainly a bug, not real drift.
+
+on:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '0 4 * * *'  # 04:00 UTC daily
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      dry-run:
+        description: "Log moves without applying them"
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+concurrency:
+  group: kanban-reconcile
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+jobs:
+  reconcile:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PROJECTS_KANBAN_TOKEN }}
+      ORG: tracebloc
+      PROJECT_NUMBER: 2
+      DRY_RUN: ${{ github.event.inputs.dry-run || 'false' }}
+      MAX_MOVES: 100
+    steps:
+      - name: Resolve project + field/option IDs
+        id: ids
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          PROJ=$(gh api graphql -f query='
+            query($org: String!, $num: Int!) {
+              organization(login: $org) {
+                projectV2(number: $num) {
+                  id
+                  fields(first: 50) {
+                    nodes {
+                      ... on ProjectV2SingleSelectField {
+                        id name options { id name }
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }' -F org="$ORG" -F num="$PROJECT_NUMBER")
+
+          PROJECT_ID=$(echo "$PROJ" | jq -r '.data.organization.projectV2.id')
+          STATUS_FIELD=$(echo "$PROJ" | jq -r '.data.organization.projectV2.fields.nodes[] | select(.name=="Status") | .id')
+          opt() {
+            echo "$PROJ" | jq -r --arg n "$1" '.data.organization.projectV2.fields.nodes[]
+              | select(.name=="Status") | .options[] | select(.name==$n) | .id'
+          }
+          echo "project_id=$PROJECT_ID"                 >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "status_field=$STATUS_FIELD"             >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "prod_opt=$(opt Prod)"                   >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "cancelled_opt=$(opt Cancelled)"         >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "backlog_opt=$(opt Backlog)"             >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Pull non-terminal items
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          : > items.ndjson
+          cursor="null"
+          while :; do
+            if [ "$cursor" = "null" ]; then
+              OUT=$(gh api graphql -f query='
+                query($org: String!, $num: Int!) {
+                  organization(login: $org) {
+                    projectV2(number: $num) {
+                      items(first: 100) {
+                        pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
+                        nodes {
+                          id
+                          fieldValueByName(name: "Status") {
+                            ... on ProjectV2ItemFieldSingleSelectValue { name }
+                          }
+                          content {
+                            __typename
+                            ... on PullRequest {
+                              number title state mergedAt baseRefName
+                              mergeCommit { oid }
+                              repository { name defaultBranchRef { name } }
+                            }
+                            ... on Issue {
+                              number title state stateReason
+                              repository { name defaultBranchRef { name } }
+                            }
+                          }
+                        }
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
+                }' -F org="$ORG" -F num="$PROJECT_NUMBER")
+            else
+              OUT=$(gh api graphql -f query='
+                query($org: String!, $num: Int!, $c: String!) {
+                  organization(login: $org) {
+                    projectV2(number: $num) {
+                      items(first: 100, after: $c) {
+                        pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
+                        nodes {
+                          id
+                          fieldValueByName(name: "Status") {
+                            ... on ProjectV2ItemFieldSingleSelectValue { name }
+                          }
+                          content {
+                            __typename
+                            ... on PullRequest {
+                              number title state mergedAt baseRefName
+                              mergeCommit { oid }
+                              repository { name defaultBranchRef { name } }
+                            }
+                            ... on Issue {
+                              number title state stateReason
+                              repository { name defaultBranchRef { name } }
+                            }
+                          }
+                        }
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
+                }' -F org="$ORG" -F num="$PROJECT_NUMBER" -F c="$cursor")
+            fi
+            echo "$OUT" | jq -c '.data.organization.projectV2.items.nodes[]
+              | select(.fieldValueByName.name as $s
+                       | ["Code review","FR on dev","Ready for staging",
+                          "FR on staging","Ready for prod"] | index($s))' \
+              >> items.ndjson
+
+            HAS_NEXT=$(echo "$OUT" | jq -r '.data.organization.projectV2.items.pageInfo.hasNextPage')
+            cursor=$(echo "$OUT" | jq -r '.data.organization.projectV2.items.pageInfo.endCursor')
+            [ "$HAS_NEXT" = "true" ] || break
+          done
+          echo "Found $(wc -l < items.ndjson) non-terminal items to evaluate"
+
+      - name: Classify + plan moves
+        id: plan
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          : > moves.tsv
+          : > skip.tsv
+
+          declare -A PROD_BRANCH_CACHE
+          resolve_prod_branch() {
+            local repo="$1" default_branch="$2"
+            if [ -n "${PROD_BRANCH_CACHE[$repo]:-}" ]; then
+              echo "${PROD_BRANCH_CACHE[$repo]}"; return
+            fi
+            local branch="$default_branch"
+            local body
+            body=$(gh api "/repos/$ORG/$repo/contents/.kanban.yml" \
+                   -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.raw" 2>/dev/null || true)
+            if [ -n "$body" ]; then
+              local override
+              override=$(printf '%s\n' "$body" | yq -r \
+                '.branch_status_map // {} | to_entries[] | select(.value=="Prod") | .key' 2>/dev/null \
+                | head -1)
+              if [ -n "$override" ] && [ "$override" != "null" ]; then
+                branch="$override"
+              fi
+            fi
+            PROD_BRANCH_CACHE[$repo]="$branch"
+            echo "$branch"
+          }
+
+          sha_on_branch() {
+            local repo="$1" branch="$2" sha="$3"
+            { [ -z "$sha" ] || [ "$sha" = "null" ]; } && return 1
+            local status
+            status=$(gh api "/repos/$ORG/$repo/compare/$branch...$sha" \
+                     --jq '.status' 2>/dev/null) || return 1
+            [ "$status" = "behind" ] || [ "$status" = "identical" ]
+          }
+
+          is_release_vehicle() {
+            echo "$1" | grep -qiE \
+              '^(release[: ]|dev to (staging|stg|prod)|staging to (prod|master|main))'
+          }
+
+          PROD_OPT="${{ steps.ids.outputs.prod_opt }}"
+          CANCELLED_OPT="${{ steps.ids.outputs.cancelled_opt }}"
+          BACKLOG_OPT="${{ steps.ids.outputs.backlog_opt }}"
+
+          while IFS= read -r line; do
+            ITEM_ID=$(echo "$line"  | jq -r '.id')
+            COL=$(echo "$line"      | jq -r '.fieldValueByName.name')
+            TYPE=$(echo "$line"     | jq -r '.content.__typename')
+            REPO=$(echo "$line"     | jq -r '.content.repository.name')
+            DEFAULT=$(echo "$line"  | jq -r '.content.repository.defaultBranchRef.name // "main"')
+            NUM=$(echo "$line"      | jq -r '.content.number')
+            TITLE=$(echo "$line"    | jq -r '.content.title')
+
+            if [ "$TYPE" = "PullRequest" ]; then
+              STATE=$(echo "$line" | jq -r '.content.state')
+              SHA=$(echo "$line"   | jq -r '.content.mergeCommit.oid // ""')
+
+              if [ "$STATE" = "CLOSED" ]; then
+                printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$ITEM_ID" "$CANCELLED_OPT" "$REPO#$NUM closed-not-merged ($COL)" "cancelled" >> moves.tsv
+                continue
+              fi
+
+              if [ "$STATE" = "MERGED" ] && is_release_vehicle "$TITLE"; then
+                printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$ITEM_ID" "$PROD_OPT" "$REPO#$NUM release vehicle ($COL -> Prod)" "release-vehicle" >> moves.tsv
+                continue
+              fi
+
+              if [ "$STATE" = "MERGED" ] && [ -n "$SHA" ]; then
+                PROD=$(resolve_prod_branch "$REPO" "$DEFAULT")
+                if sha_on_branch "$REPO" "$PROD" "$SHA"; then
+                  printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$ITEM_ID" "$PROD_OPT" "$REPO#$NUM SHA on $PROD ($COL -> Prod)" "drift-to-prod" >> moves.tsv
+                  continue
+                fi
+              fi
+              printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$ITEM_ID" "-" "$REPO#$NUM PR in $COL (legit waiting)" "waiting" >> skip.tsv
+              continue
+            fi
+
+            if [ "$TYPE" = "Issue" ]; then
+              STATE=$(echo "$line" | jq -r '.content.state')
+              SR=$(echo "$line"    | jq -r '.content.stateReason // ""')
+
+              if [ "$STATE" = "CLOSED" ] && { [ "$SR" = "NOT_PLANNED" ] || [ "$SR" = "DUPLICATE" ]; }; then
+                printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$ITEM_ID" "$CANCELLED_OPT" "$REPO#$NUM issue not_planned ($COL -> Cancelled)" "cancelled" >> moves.tsv
+                continue
+              fi
+
+              if [ "$STATE" = "OPEN" ]; then
+                case "$COL" in
+                  "Ready for prod"|"FR on staging"|"FR on dev"|"Ready for staging")
+                    printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$ITEM_ID" "$BACKLOG_OPT" "$REPO#$NUM open issue in $COL -> Backlog" "misplaced-issue" >> moves.tsv
+                    continue ;;
+                esac
+              fi
+              printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$ITEM_ID" "-" "$REPO#$NUM issue in $COL (no action)" "no-action" >> skip.tsv
+            fi
+          done < items.ndjson
+
+          PLANNED=$(wc -l < moves.tsv | tr -d ' ')
+          echo "planned=$PLANNED" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "Planned moves: $PLANNED"
+          echo "::group::Planned moves"
+          column -t -s$'\t' moves.tsv || cat moves.tsv
+          echo "::endgroup::"
+
+          if [ "$PLANNED" -gt "$MAX_MOVES" ]; then
+            echo "::error::$PLANNED moves exceeds MAX_MOVES=$MAX_MOVES - aborting. Investigate."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Apply moves
+        if: steps.plan.outputs.planned != '0' && env.DRY_RUN != 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          PROJECT_ID="${{ steps.ids.outputs.project_id }}"
+          STATUS_FIELD="${{ steps.ids.outputs.status_field }}"
+          ok=0; fail=0
+          while IFS=$'\t' read -r itemId optId reason label; do
+            [ "$optId" = "-" ] && continue
+            if gh api graphql -f query='
+                mutation($p: ID!, $i: ID!, $f: ID!, $o: String!) {
+                  updateProjectV2ItemFieldValue(input: {
+                    projectId: $p, itemId: $i, fieldId: $f,
+                    value: {singleSelectOptionId: $o}
+                  }) { projectV2Item { id } }
+                }' -F p="$PROJECT_ID" -F i="$itemId" -F f="$STATUS_FIELD" -f o="$optId" \
+                > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "[OK]   $reason"
+              ok=$((ok+1))
+            else
+              echo "[FAIL] $reason"
+              fail=$((fail+1))
+            fi
+          done < moves.tsv
+          echo ""
+          echo "=== Applied: $ok ok, $fail failed ==="
+
+      - name: Dry-run summary
+        if: env.DRY_RUN == 'true'
+        run: |
+          echo "DRY RUN - no moves applied."
+          echo "$(wc -l < moves.tsv | tr -d ' ') moves were planned (see prior step)."
+
+      - name: Per-label summary
+        if: always() && steps.plan.outputs.planned != '0'
+        run: |
+          {
+            echo "## Reconcile summary"
+            echo ""
+            echo "Planned: ${{ steps.plan.outputs.planned }} | Dry run: $DRY_RUN"
+            echo ""
+            echo "### Counts by label"
+            awk -F'\t' '{print $4}' moves.tsv | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn \
+              | awk '{print "- **"$2"**: "$1}'
+            echo ""
+            echo "### Individual moves"
+            awk -F'\t' '{print "- "$3" -> `"$4"`"}' moves.tsv
+          } >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"