diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 7d5bbf56758..3a882b46929 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ Skills own workflows; root owns hard policy and routing.
 - PR refs: `gh pr view/diff` or `gh api`, not web search. Prefer `gitcrawl` for maintainer discovery; missing/stale `gitcrawl` falls through to live `gh`, not contributor setup. Verify live with `gh` before mutation.
 - Bare issue/PR URL/number means review/report in chat. Suggest comment/close/merge when appropriate; mutate only when asked.
 - No unsolicited PR comments/reviews/labels/retitles/rebases/fixups/landing. Exception: close/duplicate action that needs a reason comment after explicit close/sweep/landing request.
+- Maintainer decision closes the cluster: if deciding reported behavior/proposed fix is not planned, comment+close all directly associated open issues/PRs unless explicitly told to keep one open. Associated means linked PRs/issues, duplicates, companion workaround PRs, and the canonical issue for the rejected behavior.
+- Do not leave associated issues open for hypothetical future repros. Close with rationale; ask for a new issue or reopen only if concrete new evidence appears. Close comment states: decision, why, supported alternative, and what evidence would change the decision.
 - PR review answer: bug/behavior, URL(s), affected surface, best-fix judgment, evidence from code/tests/CI/current or shipped behavior.
 - Issue/PR final answer: last line is the full GitHub URL.
 - Changelog: PR landings/fixes need one unless pure test/internal. Do not mention missing changelog as a review finding; Codex handles it during fix/landing.