diff --git a/.github/scripts/keepalive_loop.js b/.github/scripts/keepalive_loop.js
index 61f5fab7d..fa3514b13 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/keepalive_loop.js
+++ b/.github/scripts/keepalive_loop.js
@@ -292,6 +292,7 @@ async function evaluateKeepaliveLoop({ github, context, core }) {
 
   return {
     prNumber,
+    prRef: pr.head.ref || '',
     action,
     reason,
     gateConclusion,
diff --git a/.github/workflows/agents-keepalive-loop.yml b/.github/workflows/agents-keepalive-loop.yml
index 2c605ab45..0f623f55f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/agents-keepalive-loop.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/agents-keepalive-loop.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ jobs:
     environment: agent-standard
     outputs:
       pr_number: ${{ steps.evaluate.outputs.pr_number }}
+      pr_ref: ${{ steps.evaluate.outputs.pr_ref }}
       action: ${{ steps.evaluate.outputs.action }}
       reason: ${{ steps.evaluate.outputs.reason }}
       gate_conclusion: ${{ steps.evaluate.outputs.gate_conclusion }}
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ jobs:
             const result = await evaluateKeepaliveLoop({ github, context, core });
             const output = {
               pr_number: String(result.prNumber || ''),
+              pr_ref: String(result.prRef || ''),
               action: result.action || '',
               reason: result.reason || '',
               gate_conclusion: result.gateConclusion || '',
@@ -169,6 +171,7 @@ jobs:
       prompt_file: .github/codex/prompts/keepalive_next_task.md
       mode: keepalive
       pr_number: ${{ needs.evaluate.outputs.pr_number }}
+      pr_ref: ${{ needs.evaluate.outputs.pr_ref }}
 
   summary:
     name: Update keepalive summary
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-codex-run.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-codex-run.yml
index 78ab16b13..3a46a236d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reusable-codex-run.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-codex-run.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ on:
         required: false
         default: ''
         type: string
+      pr_ref:
+        description: 'The branch/ref to checkout and push to (e.g., refs/heads/feature-branch).'
+        required: false
+        default: ''
+        type: string
       max_runtime_minutes:
         description: 'Upper bound for the job runtime in minutes.'
         required: false
@@ -138,6 +143,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+          ref: ${{ inputs.pr_ref || github.ref }}
           token: ${{ steps.auth_token.outputs.checkout_token }}
 
       - name: Set up Python
@@ -308,6 +314,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           MODE: ${{ inputs.mode }}
           PR_NUMBER: ${{ inputs.pr_number }}
+          PR_REF: ${{ inputs.pr_ref }}
           PUSH_ALLOWED: ${{ steps.auth_token.outputs.push_allowed }}
           PUSH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.auth_token.outputs.push_token }}
         run: |
@@ -315,6 +322,12 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
+          # Determine the target branch
+          TARGET_REF="${PR_REF:-${{ github.ref_name }}}"
+          # Strip refs/heads/ prefix if present
+          TARGET_BRANCH="${TARGET_REF#refs/heads/}"
+          echo "Target branch: ${TARGET_BRANCH}"
+
           # Count changed files
           CHANGED_FILES=$(git status --porcelain | wc -l)
           echo "files-changed=${CHANGED_FILES}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
@@ -347,7 +360,7 @@ jobs:
           COMMIT_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
           echo "commit-sha=${COMMIT_SHA}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
-          git push "https://x-access-token:${PUSH_TOKEN}@github.com/${{ github.repository }}" "HEAD:${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          git push "https://x-access-token:${PUSH_TOKEN}@github.com/${{ github.repository }}" "HEAD:${TARGET_BRANCH}"
 
           echo "::notice::Pushed commit ${COMMIT_SHA} with ${CHANGED_FILES} file(s) changed"