diff --git a/.github/workflows/claude-code-review.yml b/.github/workflows/claude-code-review.yml
index 377996a..fc7e26c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/claude-code-review.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/claude-code-review.yml
@@ -27,13 +27,55 @@ jobs:
       github.event.pull_request.draft == false &&
       github.event.pull_request.head.repo.owner.login == 'jnasbyupgrade'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 30
+    timeout-minutes: 60
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write   # post the review comments
-      id-token: write
+      checks: read           # read sibling check-runs for the cost gate
     steps:
+      # COST GATE: the paid Claude review is the last thing to run. Wait for the
+      # PR head's OTHER check-runs to finish and only proceed if they are clean.
+      # If any sibling check failed we skip the review to avoid spending money
+      # reviewing a PR that is already known-broken. Uniform across all repos:
+      # it discovers sibling checks dynamically (no per-repo workflow names).
+      #   - decision=run  : all sibling checks completed with a good conclusion,
+      #                     OR no sibling checks exist after a short grace window
+      #                     (nothing to gate on), OR the poll timed out is treated
+      #                     as skip (see below).
+      #   - decision=skip : at least one sibling check failed/cancelled/etc, or
+      #                     we timed out waiting for still-pending checks.
+      # We exclude this workflow's own check-run (job name `claude-review`) so the
+      # gate never waits on or fails because of itself.
+      - name: Wait for CI; skip the paid review if any check failed
+        id: gate
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          SHA: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
+        run: |
+          decision=skip
+          for i in $(seq 1 72); do   # ~24 min max
+            json=$(gh api "repos/$REPO/commits/$SHA/check-runs" --paginate \
+                     --jq '[.check_runs[] | select(.name != "claude-review")]' 2>/dev/null) || json=''
+            [ -z "$json" ] && { sleep 20; continue; }
+            total=$(jq 'length' <<<"$json")
+            if [ "$total" -eq 0 ]; then
+              [ "$i" -ge 9 ] && { decision=run; break; }   # ~3 min grace: nothing to gate on
+              sleep 20; continue
+            fi
+            pending=$(jq '[.[]|select(.status!="completed")]|length' <<<"$json")
+            if [ "$pending" -eq 0 ]; then
+              bad=$(jq '[.[]|select((.conclusion//"")|test("^(failure|cancelled|timed_out|action_required|stale)$"))]|length' <<<"$json")
+              [ "$bad" -eq 0 ] && decision=run || decision=skip
+              break
+            fi
+            sleep 20
+          done
+          echo "decision=$decision" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "gate decision: $decision"
+
       - name: Check out PR head (read-only context)
+        if: steps.gate.outputs.decision == 'run'
         # Intentionally tracks the major-version tag (not a pinned SHA) so
         # upstream fixes are picked up automatically.
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -44,9 +86,15 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Run Claude Code Review
+        if: steps.gate.outputs.decision == 'run'
         uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
         with:
           claude_code_oauth_token: ${{ secrets.CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN }}
+          # Provide github_token so the action uses it directly for GitHub API
+          # calls instead of the OIDC->GitHub-App-token exchange, which 401s under
+          # pull_request_target. GITHUB_TOKEN is repo/workflow-scoped (independent
+          # of the actor's role) and has pull-requests: write here.
+          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           # NOTE: plugin_marketplaces can't be pinned — it tracks the
           # marketplace repo's default branch (upstream anthropics/claude-code).
           plugin_marketplaces: 'https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code.git'