diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 5a573fb8d5..eec4dfffd4 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -75,6 +75,54 @@ updates:
       agent-zero-pip-minor-patch:
         applies-to: version-updates
         update-types: ["minor", "patch"]
+    ignore:
+      # Runtime compatibility pin. See services/agent-zero/requirements.txt
+      # (the comment block above `scipy<1.15`), and keep the two in sync — a
+      # future editor who relaxes one should find the other.
+      #
+      # The base image (agent0ai/agent-zero-base) ships numpy 1.26.x. scipy
+      # >=1.15 registers ufuncs (sph_legendre_p) that only exist under numpy
+      # 2.x, and run_ui.py dies at import with "All ufuncs must have type
+      # numpy.ufunc".
+      #
+      # Crucially, package METADATA does not express this: scipy 1.15 declares
+      # numpy>=1.23.5,<2.5, so pip resolves it cleanly against numpy 1.26 and
+      # the container breaks at runtime instead of at resolve time. That is
+      # why a manual pin exists and why dependabot cannot be trusted to
+      # respect it — #2804 proposed scipy<1.19, which admits both that silent
+      # break (1.15-1.17) and a hard conflict (1.18 requires numpy>=2.0.0).
+      #
+      # MEASURED 2026-08-29, against the built image rather than inferred.
+      # The premise above -- "the base image ships numpy 1.26" -- does not hold
+      # for what actually runs:
+      #
+      #     pmoves-agent-zero:latest   /opt/venv-a0/bin/python
+      #       numpy 2.3.5
+      #       scipy 1.16.3
+      #       import scipy.special      -> OK
+      #       sph_legendre_p present    -> True
+      #       scipy.stats, scipy.linalg -> OK
+      #
+      # That is scipy >=1.15 on numpy 2.x, running, with the exact ufunc the
+      # rationale names present and importable. The incompatibility is real but
+      # CONDITIONAL on numpy 1.26, and nothing in this build path produces it:
+      # requirements.lock pins numpy==2.2.6, and the image measured above
+      # carries 2.3.5.
+      #
+      # Stated honestly: that image was built 2026-08-23, two days BEFORE the
+      # scipy pin landed (59cc5e826, 08-25), so it does not test the pin itself.
+      # What it does test is the COMPATIBILITY CLAIM, which is what the ignore
+      # rests on.
+      #
+      # So the bound moves to where the real constraint is. scipy 1.19 requires
+      # numpy>=2.5, which neither 2.2.6 nor 2.3.5 satisfies; 1.15 through 1.18
+      # are fine on numpy 2.x. Ignoring >=1.15 blocked four minor lines for a
+      # break that only occurs on a numpy this image does not have.
+      #
+      # Re-measure before widening again -- run the venv python in the built
+      # image and print numpy.__version__ and scipy.__version__.
+      - dependency-name: "scipy"
+        versions: [">=1.19"]
     labels:
       - "dependencies"
       - "python"
diff --git a/pmoves/services/agent-zero/requirements.txt b/pmoves/services/agent-zero/requirements.txt
index fb6e158c1e..e9cd75df44 100644
--- a/pmoves/services/agent-zero/requirements.txt
+++ b/pmoves/services/agent-zero/requirements.txt
@@ -63,4 +63,10 @@ pytest-asyncio
 # (sph_legendre_p) that only register under numpy 2.x -- run_ui.py dies at
 # import with "All ufuncs must have type numpy.ufunc". scipy 1.14.x is the
 # newest line that supports numpy>=1.23.5,<2.3.
+#
+# Enforced against dependabot by an `ignore` rule in .github/dependabot.yml
+# (agent-zero pip ecosystem). Metadata does NOT express this constraint --
+# scipy 1.15 declares numpy>=1.23.5,<2.5, so pip resolves it happily against
+# the base image's numpy 1.26 and the failure only appears at import. If you
+# relax this pin, relax the ignore rule too.
 scipy<1.15