diff --git a/.github/actions/ci-static-checks/action.yaml b/.github/actions/ci-static-checks/action.yaml
index 28af06a9156..c6d4ca8cf9e 100644
--- a/.github/actions/ci-static-checks/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/actions/ci-static-checks/action.yaml
@@ -33,14 +33,11 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       run: npm run validate:configs
 
+    # TypeScript checks and version sync run in the build-typecheck job.
     - name: Run static hook checks
       shell: bash
       run: |
-        npx prek run --all-files --stage pre-push \
-          --skip tsc-plugin \
-          --skip tsc-js \
-          --skip tsc-cli \
-          --skip version-tag-sync \
+        npx prek run --all-files --stage pre-commit \
           --skip test-cli \
           --skip test-plugin \
           --skip source-shape-test-budget \
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index f66e7ab1b07..e1d5f0dd7e1 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@
 
 exclude: ^(nemoclaw/dist/|nemoclaw/node_modules/|docs/_build/|\.venv/|uv\.lock$)
 
+# Stage-less hooks run only while creating a commit. Hooks for later Git
+# lifecycle stages declare their own `stages` explicitly below.
+default_stages:
+  - pre-commit
+
 # Which git hook shims `prek install` writes (separate from each hook's `stages:`).
 # https://prek.j178.dev/configuration/#default_install_hook_types
 default_install_hook_types:
@@ -42,9 +47,11 @@ repos:
     hooks:
       - id: trailing-whitespace
         exclude: ^skills/[^/]+/skill\.oms\.sig$
+        stages: [pre-commit]
         priority: 0
       - id: end-of-file-fixer
         exclude: ^skills/[^/]+/skill\.oms\.sig$
+        stages: [pre-commit]
         priority: 0
       - id: mixed-line-ending
         args: ["--fix=lf"]
@@ -98,6 +105,7 @@ repos:
           - "2"
           - -ci
           - -bn
+        stages: [pre-commit]
         priority: 5
 
   - repo: local
@@ -129,6 +137,7 @@ repos:
         priority: 10
       - id: check-added-large-files
         args: ["--maxkb=2000"]
+        stages: [pre-commit]
         priority: 10
       - id: check-case-conflict
         priority: 10
@@ -141,8 +150,10 @@ repos:
       - id: detect-private-key
         priority: 10
       - id: check-executables-have-shebangs
+        stages: [pre-commit]
         priority: 10
       - id: check-shebang-scripts-are-executable
+        stages: [pre-commit]
         priority: 10
 
   - repo: local
diff --git a/test/pr-workflow-contract.test.ts b/test/pr-workflow-contract.test.ts
index ab05afac934..a677d37a6d4 100644
--- a/test/pr-workflow-contract.test.ts
+++ b/test/pr-workflow-contract.test.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ type CodebaseGrowthGuardrailsWorkflow = {
   jobs: Record<string, WorkflowJob>;
 };
 
+type PrekConfig = {
+  default_stages?: string[];
+  repos: Array<{
+    hooks?: Array<{ id: string; stages?: string[] }>;
+  }>;
+};
+
 const sharedActionPaths = {
   staticChecks: "./.github/actions/ci-static-checks",
   buildTypecheck: "./.github/actions/ci-build-typecheck",
@@ -129,6 +136,7 @@ function codeFilterMatchesChangedPaths(workflow: CiWorkflow, paths: string[]): b
 describe("pull request and main workflow contracts", () => {
   const prWorkflow = readYaml<CiWorkflow>(".github/workflows/pr.yaml");
   const mainWorkflow = readYaml<CiWorkflow>(".github/workflows/main.yaml");
+  const prekConfig = readYaml<PrekConfig>(".pre-commit-config.yaml");
   const sharedActions = {
     staticChecks: readYaml<CompositeAction>(".github/actions/ci-static-checks/action.yaml"),
     buildTypecheck: readYaml<CompositeAction>(".github/actions/ci-build-typecheck/action.yaml"),
@@ -166,6 +174,28 @@ describe("pull request and main workflow contracts", () => {
     ).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("keeps ordinary hooks in pre-commit and heavyweight push hooks explicit", () => {
+    const hooks = prekConfig.repos.flatMap((repo) => repo.hooks ?? []);
+    const hook = (id: string) => hooks.find((candidate) => candidate.id === id);
+
+    expect(prekConfig.default_stages).toEqual(["pre-commit"]);
+    expect(hook("test-cli")?.stages).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(hook("test-plugin")?.stages).toBeUndefined();
+    for (const id of [
+      "trailing-whitespace",
+      "end-of-file-fixer",
+      "shfmt",
+      "check-added-large-files",
+      "check-executables-have-shebangs",
+      "check-shebang-scripts-are-executable",
+    ]) {
+      expect(hook(id)?.stages, id).toEqual(["pre-commit"]);
+    }
+    for (const id of ["tsc-plugin", "tsc-js", "tsc-cli", "version-tag-sync"]) {
+      expect(hook(id)?.stages, id).toEqual(["pre-push"]);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("reuses the same shared CI actions in PR and main workflows", () => {
     for (const [jobName, stepName, trustedActionPath, mainActionPath] of [
       [
@@ -353,7 +383,7 @@ describe("pull request and main workflow contracts", () => {
     const staticRuns = stepRuns(sharedActions.staticChecks);
     const staticRunsJoined = staticRuns.join("\n");
     const staticPrekRun = staticRuns.find((run) =>
-      run.includes("npx prek run --all-files --stage pre-push"),
+      run.includes("npx prek run --all-files --stage pre-commit"),
     );
     const buildRuns = stepRuns(sharedActions.buildTypecheck);
     const cliShardRuns = stepRuns(sharedActions.cliCoverageShard).join("\n");
@@ -363,12 +393,8 @@ describe("pull request and main workflow contracts", () => {
 
     expect(staticRuns).toContain("npm install --ignore-scripts");
     expect(staticRuns).toContain("npm run validate:configs");
-    expect(staticPrekRun).toContain("npx prek run --all-files --stage pre-push");
+    expect(staticPrekRun).toContain("npx prek run --all-files --stage pre-commit");
     for (const skippedHook of [
-      "tsc-plugin",
-      "tsc-js",
-      "tsc-cli",
-      "version-tag-sync",
       "test-cli",
       "test-plugin",
       "source-shape-test-budget",
diff --git a/test/sandbox-rlimit-hooks.test.ts b/test/sandbox-rlimit-hooks.test.ts
index 211dadf95cf..08ae83a8684 100644
--- a/test/sandbox-rlimit-hooks.test.ts
+++ b/test/sandbox-rlimit-hooks.test.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,10 @@ function runLoggedDockerShell(command: string, tmp: string) {
 }
 
 function copyRlimitFixture(rlimitLib: string): void {
-  copyRlimitFixtureWithNprocLimit(rlimitLib, process.platform === "darwin" ? 4096 : 512);
+  // TEST-ONLY OVERRIDE: production remains 512 in scripts/lib/sandbox-rlimits.sh.
+  // RLIMIT_NPROC is shared by the real user, so that default can starve this
+  // test's own shell when Vitest runs many workers concurrently.
+  copyRlimitFixtureWithNprocLimit(rlimitLib, 4096);
 }
 
 function copyRlimitFixtureWithNprocLimit(rlimitLib: string, limit: number): void {
@@ -290,6 +293,12 @@ function expectUnsupportedNprocDoesNotMaskPosixShNoFile(rlimitLib: string): void
 }
 
 describe("sandbox rlimit system hooks (#2173)", () => {
+  it("keeps the production nproc default at 512", () => {
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(SANDBOX_RLIMITS, "utf-8")).toMatch(
+      /^NEMOCLAW_SANDBOX_NPROC_LIMIT=512$/m,
+    );
+  });
+
   it("rlimit helper enforces supported nofile limits under POSIX sh", () => {
     const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-posix-sh-rlimit-"));
     const rlimitLib = path.join(tmp, "sandbox-rlimits.sh");