diff --git a/.github/workflows/hourly-product-development.yml b/.github/workflows/hourly-product-development.yml
index 9e86e5ada..f8884f33e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/hourly-product-development.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/hourly-product-development.yml
@@ -134,7 +134,13 @@ jobs:
           Select an unrelated buyer gap from current protected main. A trusted publisher will
           fail closed if any proposed changed path overlaps any live open pull request or if
           protected main advances. Do not intentionally duplicate or replace work already owned
-          by an active pull-request lane.
+          by an active pull-request lane. Before selecting a gap, list every live open pull request with its changed paths
+          and respect lane ordering: a sole-writer document stays with its owner lane.
+          A newer dependency bump is only a successor after its exact candidate independently verifies complete inheritance of every valid delta, test, fixture, contract, and evidence from the older lane.
+          Until that verification succeeds, keep both dependency lanes open and do not claim supersession.
+          Only when a successor's correctness or authority depends on another lane, wait for that prerequisite lane to reconverge to the current protected main.
+          Path-isolated work that consumes no mutable predecessor authority remains eligible.
+          Prefer gaps whose paths overlap no live lane.
 
           Keep Noema independently deployable and preserve its modular MSA role with
           ContextualWisdomLab/.github, naruon, contextual-orchestrator, and other CWL
diff --git a/test/hourly-product-development-lane-ordering.test.ts b/test/hourly-product-development-lane-ordering.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..45b63e4cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/hourly-product-development-lane-ordering.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+const workflow = readFileSync(
+  ".github/workflows/hourly-product-development.yml",
+  "utf8",
+);
+
+describe("hourly product-development lane ordering", () => {
+  it("does not treat a newer dependency bump as an automatic successor", () => {
+    expect(workflow).toContain(
+      "list every live open pull request with its changed paths",
+    );
+    expect(workflow).toContain("a sole-writer document stays with its owner lane");
+    expect(workflow).toContain(
+      "A newer dependency bump is only a successor after its exact candidate independently verifies complete inheritance of every valid delta, test, fixture, contract, and evidence from the older lane",
+    );
+    expect(workflow).toContain(
+      "Until that verification succeeds, keep both dependency lanes open and do not claim supersession",
+    );
+    expect(workflow).not.toContain(
+      "a newer dependency bump supersedes an older one on the same package",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("blocks only real prerequisite authority instead of globally serializing path-isolated work", () => {
+    expect(workflow).not.toContain(
+      "a declared successor lane must not start source work before its predecessor docs lane reconverges to the current protected main",
+    );
+    expect(workflow).toContain(
+      "Only when a successor's correctness or authority depends on another lane, wait for that prerequisite lane to reconverge to the current protected main",
+    );
+    expect(workflow).toContain(
+      "Path-isolated work that consumes no mutable predecessor authority remains eligible",
+    );
+  });
+});