diff --git a/.agents/skills/iterate-pr/SKILL.md b/.agents/skills/iterate-pr/SKILL.md
index 7ed9b354..519815f4 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/iterate-pr/SKILL.md
+++ b/.agents/skills/iterate-pr/SKILL.md
@@ -252,6 +252,14 @@ a stacked PR targets `main` eventually and the filter matches that eventual
 target, so this workflow runs on mid-stack PRs as well. Expect to see the check
 on every PR in a stack and decide from stack position, not from the `on:` block.
 
+The archive job is also skipped while a PR is a **draft**. A spec-only proposal
+is its own tip until its implementation is stacked on top, so the gate would
+otherwise demand it archive a change nobody has built yet, and it would sit red
+for as long as the proposal is open. A draft cannot merge, and the check runs on
+`ready_for_review`, so nothing unarchived can reach `main` — if a proposal PR is
+red on this check, mark it ready only when its implementation is stacked
+beneath it.
+
 When the archive check does run and fail, decide ONE thing before treating it as
 actionable: **is this PR the last in the chain (the tip)?** A PR is the tip when
 no other OPEN PR targets its head branch as a base:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-check-openspec.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-check-openspec.yml
index 3a81b214..e19a357b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-check-openspec.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-check-openspec.yml
@@ -6,8 +6,26 @@ name: PR OpenSpec Archive Check
 # tip of a stack (or a standalone PR) and is skipped on PRs that still have work
 # stacked on top of them. Tip = no other OPEN PR targets this PR's head branch
 # as its base.
+#
+# Drafts are skipped. A spec-only proposal is its own tip until its
+# implementation is stacked on top, so the gate would otherwise demand it
+# archive a change that has not been built yet — leaving the PR red for as long
+# as the proposal is open, which is how teams learn to ignore red. A draft
+# cannot merge, so the guarantee that no unarchived change reaches `main` is
+# unaffected: the check runs when the PR is marked ready for review.
 on:
   pull_request:
+    # Both draft-transition events are REQUIRED, and neither is in the default
+    # set (opened/synchronize/reopened), because the archive job's condition
+    # depends on draft state:
+    #   ready_for_review   — without it a draft could be marked ready and merged
+    #                        on a stale green that was never re-evaluated. This
+    #                        one protects the guarantee.
+    #   converted_to_draft — without it a PR that failed while ready keeps that
+    #                        failure after being converted back to draft, until
+    #                        some unrelated push happens to re-run it.
+    types:
+      [opened, synchronize, reopened, ready_for_review, converted_to_draft]
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -53,7 +71,12 @@ jobs:
   check-openspec-archived:
     name: "stack: openspec-archived"
     needs: stack-position
-    if: needs.stack-position.outputs.is_tip == 'true'
+    # Skipped on drafts. A proposal-only PR is its own tip — nothing is stacked
+    # on it yet — so the gate would demand it archive a change whose
+    # implementation has not been written, and it would sit red for as long as
+    # the proposal is open. A draft cannot merge, so nothing can reach `main`
+    # unarchived; the check runs the moment it is marked ready for review.
+    if: needs.stack-position.outputs.is_tip == 'true' && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6