diff --git a/.github/pull_request_template.md b/.github/pull_request_template.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ceb6ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/pull_request_template.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+## What
+
+<!-- What does this PR do, and why? Link the issue it addresses. -->
+
+## feedpak surface
+
+<!-- The feedpak spec is sacrosanct: the spec defines the format, this app implements it.
+     Delete this section ONLY if your change doesn't touch how the app reads or writes packs. -->
+
+- [ ] This PR does **not** change how the app reads/writes feedpaks (manifest keys, pack files, folder layout)
+- [ ] …or it does, and the spec change landed first via the [FEP process](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) — FEP / spec PR: `got-feedback/feedpak-spec#___` — and `.feedpak-spec-ref` is bumped to the merged SHA in this PR
+
+## Checklist
+
+- [ ] `CHANGELOG.md` `[Unreleased]` updated (user-visible changes)
+- [ ] Tests added/updated for new behaviour
+- [ ] Commits are DCO signed off (`git commit -s`)
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 9f6f973..c8486e3 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -588,6 +588,20 @@ tab, key/scale annotations, etc.). Published as **feedpak**; this codebase still
 **sloppak** name internally — same on-disk format. [docs/sloppak-spec.md](docs/sloppak-spec.md) is
 a local pointer + code map.
 
+**The spec is sacrosanct — read it BEFORE changing how this app reads or writes packs.** The
+spec repo defines the format; this app merely implements it ("a change is not part of the format
+until it lands here" — feedpak-spec/GOVERNANCE.md). Any new manifest key, file, or directory the
+app touches must land in the spec **first**, via the
+[FEP process](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) (proposal
+issue → one spec PR updating spec + schemas + example + changelog → then bump `.feedpak-spec-ref`
+here in the same PR as your code). CI enforces this: the `feedpak-spec` job
+([docs/feedpak-spec-gate.md](docs/feedpak-spec-gate.md)) fails any PR whose code touches a
+manifest key the pinned spec doesn't declare, and there is **no in-repo bypass** — the exceptions
+file is a closed grandfather list that only shrinks. If the format seems to be missing something
+you need, that's a FEP conversation, not a workaround. (Cautionary tale: `original_audio`, #933 —
+shipped without a spec entry, and third-party packers reverse-engineered a folder convention out
+of a code comment.)
+
 **Key code:**
 - `lib/sloppak.py` — format detection, zip/directory resolution, metadata extraction, song loading
 - `lib/sloppak_convert.py` — sloppak assembly pipeline, Demucs stem splitting