diff --git a/AUTONOMY.md b/AUTONOMY.md
index 408cf84..e486b83 100644
--- a/AUTONOMY.md
+++ b/AUTONOMY.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Where the dev workflow stops for a human today:
 | Plan approval | write plan to the issue, proceed | write plan to the issue, proceed | present + wait |
 | Ship PR sign-off | proceed through the autonomous-ship gate; end at PR-open | park (`awaiting-input`), question to the issue, continue elsewhere | present + wait |
 | Heart YELLOW | park, unless the reason set was human-acknowledged at launch (see the autonomous-ship gate) | same as `safe` | present + wait |
-| Heart RED | stop, report | stop, report | stop, report |
+| Heart RED | stop, report | stop, report | stop, report — a human may separately invoke the corrective-PR exception (below), which is not an autonomy level |
 | Merge / close | human, always | human, always | human, always |
 | Version ask | n/a — release stays `human-required` (sole exception: the scheduled-nightly standing grant, dated below) | n/a | ask |
 | Cleanup | proceed + log | proceed + log | confirm |
@@ -175,6 +175,74 @@ applicability rule so "n/a" is a stated fact, never an assumption:
 A failed leg downgrades the run to a human checkpoint: state written to the
 issue, nothing force-shipped, never modify code to make a leg pass.
 
+## Corrective-PR exception for Heart RED (human-authorized)
+
+Heart RED forbids commit, push and PR-open at every autonomy level (the levels
+table). But Heart cannot clear a RED until the fixing source reaches `main`,
+fresh wheels are built, and release-integration validation passes — so a source
+fix that directly repairs the exact defect named by the RED reason cannot be
+shipped, and recovery is impossible without violating policy. This section is
+the **one** authorized way through that deadlock, and it is a **human act**, not
+an autonomy level: it never fires under `--auto` (the hard invariant "Heart
+YELLOW/RED is never acknowledged autonomously" stands verbatim — an unattended
+`--auto` run on RED still stops and reports). A human invokes it, live, per
+incident.
+
+- **Trigger** — Heart is RED, and a source fix directly repairs a defect named
+  by a RED reason.
+- **Authorization** — explicit, contemporaneous human authorization that
+  (a) quotes the exact RED reason string and (b) approves the specific
+  corrective issue. It is recorded as a human comment on that issue; a stored,
+  reused or "standing" authorization does not count — it must be for this RED,
+  now. **The agent provides the quote.** When the circumstance arises, the agent
+  surfaces the exact RED reason string(s) **verbatim from Heart's current
+  verdict** (`pyauto-heart readiness`) together with the specific corrective
+  request it is asking the human to approve — so the human authorizes what the
+  agent put in front of them, never a string reconstructed from memory. It is the
+  human's judgement, on the agent-surfaced reason, that authorizes.
+- **Permitted, and nothing else** — commit, push, and opening **one**
+  pending-release feature PR whose issue, plan and diff all map to the named
+  reason.
+- **Forbidden** — automatic merge, issue close, release, release rehearsal, and
+  any unrelated scope. Merge stays a separate human act; **every release stays
+  blocked while Heart is RED**.
+- **Recorded in four sinks** — the authorization, the exact RED reason, the
+  causal mapping (reason → issue → plan → diff), the tests, and the validation
+  plan are written to: the **GitHub issue**; the **PR body**; the corrective
+  task's **`PyAutoMind/active.md`** entry (a `- corrective-red:` block naming
+  the reason and pointing at the authorization comment); and a
+  **`autonomy_log.md`** row whose outcome is tagged `corrective` (it is not an
+  `--auto` run, but the calibration log still records that the exception was
+  used).
+- **Multiple RED reasons** — the authorization names exactly one. The PR body
+  states which reason the diff clears and that any sibling RED reasons remain,
+  so Heart stays RED and release stays blocked until every reason is cleared by
+  its own corrective PR. A corrective PR never claims to clear a reason it does
+  not address.
+
+**Failure behaviour — park without shipping** (set the `active.md` entry to
+`status: blocked` or `awaiting-input`, write why on the issue, open no PR):
+
+- **Mixed-scope diff** — the diff touches anything beyond the named reason's
+  fix. The narrow permission covers only the causal fix; bundle nothing with it.
+- **Stale or changed RED reason** — re-read Heart's verdict at ship time; if the
+  named reason string has changed, split, or cleared, the authorization no
+  longer matches the world. Park and re-authorize against the current verdict.
+- **Missing evidence** — no causal mapping, no tests, or no validation plan.
+- **Review finds the patch is not causal** — the review faculty (or a human
+  reviewer) judges the diff does not actually repair the named reason.
+
+**Recovery sequence** — the exception opens a PR; it does not resume release
+work. That resumes only along this path:
+
+1. A **human merges** the corrective PR (a separate human act — the exception
+   never merges).
+2. **Fresh post-merge wheels are built** and **release-integration validation**
+   is re-run on `main`.
+3. Heart emits a **new verdict** over that fresh evidence.
+4. Release work resumes only on that new verdict, and release stays
+   `human-required` throughout (the release cap is untouched by this section).
+
 ## Calibration log
 
 `PyAutoMind/autonomy_log.md` — append-only. Every `--auto` run appends a row
@@ -184,9 +252,11 @@ at PR-open (or on parking):
 | date | task | effective level | gates (tests/smoke/review/heart) | outcome |
 ```
 
-Outcome ∈ `merged-unchanged` / `amended` / `rejected` / `parked`. This is the
-evidence base for raising or lowering caps — autonomy grows by demonstrated
-calibration, not by optimism.
+Outcome ∈ `merged-unchanged` / `amended` / `rejected` / `parked` / `corrective`
+(the last records a use of the human-authorized corrective-PR exception above —
+not an `--auto` run, but logged so the exception's use is auditable alongside the
+autonomy rows). This is the evidence base for raising or lowering caps — autonomy
+grows by demonstrated calibration, not by optimism.
 
 ### Calibration review — 2026-07-09
 
@@ -223,6 +293,11 @@ tier), never by weakening leg 4.
 - **Heart YELLOW/RED is never acknowledged autonomously.** A launch-time
   human acknowledgement of a named reason set is a human acknowledgement — it
   binds to that exact set, for that launch, and never extends to new reasons.
+- **The corrective-PR exception for Heart RED is a contemporaneous human act**
+  (the section above), never reachable under `--auto`. It permits only commit,
+  push and opening one pending-release PR that repairs the named RED reason —
+  never merge, close, release or unrelated scope; every release stays blocked
+  while Heart is RED.
 - **Never rewrite history** (`AGENTS.md` rules apply verbatim to autonomous
   runs).
 - The `Autonomy:` header is a model's own estimate. The caps, the explicit
@@ -234,7 +309,8 @@ tier), never by weakening leg 4.
 - `start_dev` — `--auto` usage, effective-level computation, plan-to-issue
   for `safe`, launch-acknowledgement recording (its "--auto mode" section).
 - `ship_library` / `ship_workspace` — the four-leg gate at step 4, stop at
-  PR-open, validation checklist, calibration append.
+  PR-open, validation checklist, calibration append; the RED-handling step
+  points here for the human-authorized corrective-PR exception.
 - `run_queue` — the generic queue loop: launching it is the batch's `--auto`
   activation; per-entry effective-level dispatch, `PARKED` checkpointing, RED
   stops the run.
diff --git a/skills/WORKFLOW.md b/skills/WORKFLOW.md
index bae88b5..159bcf6 100644
--- a/skills/WORKFLOW.md
+++ b/skills/WORKFLOW.md
@@ -153,7 +153,13 @@ pyauto-heart readiness --json    # authoritative GREEN / YELLOW / RED verdict
 - **YELLOW** → surface the warnings; proceed only with explicit user
   acknowledgement (a human checkpoint at **every** autonomy level —
   [`../AUTONOMY.md`](../AUTONOMY.md)).
-- **RED** → stop; report what failed. Do not ship.
+- **RED** → stop; report what failed. Do not ship — **unless** a human
+  authorizes the narrow corrective-PR exception naming the exact RED reason
+  ([`../AUTONOMY.md`](../AUTONOMY.md) "Corrective-PR exception for Heart RED"):
+  commit/push/PR-open of one reason-scoped fix only, never merge or release.
+  When that exception is in play, surface the exact RED reason string(s)
+  verbatim from `pyauto-heart readiness` so the human authorizes the quote the
+  agent provided rather than hunting for the wording.
 
 Tests/smoke runs that feed the verdict are Heart's domain — invoke them through
 the vitals faculty rather than re-deriving pass/fail criteria in the skill.
diff --git a/skills/ship_library/ship_library.md b/skills/ship_library/ship_library.md
index a737bff..9777e5a 100644
--- a/skills/ship_library/ship_library.md
+++ b/skills/ship_library/ship_library.md
@@ -53,7 +53,13 @@ pyauto-heart readiness --json        # authoritative GREEN / YELLOW / RED
 The library test suites are part of Heart's verdict — they run as the gate, not
 as an ad-hoc step the skill re-judges. **GREEN** → proceed to step 4.
 **YELLOW** → surface warnings, proceed only on explicit user acknowledgement.
-**RED** → stop and report; do not ship. If `pyauto-brain`/`pyauto-heart` are
+**RED** → stop and report; do not ship — **unless** a human authorizes the
+narrow corrective-PR exception naming the exact RED reason (`AUTONOMY.md`
+"Corrective-PR exception for Heart RED"), which permits commit/push/PR-open of
+one reason-scoped fix only, never merge or release. When that exception is in
+play, **surface the exact RED reason string(s) verbatim from `pyauto-heart
+readiness`** and the specific corrective request, so the human authorizes the
+quote the agent provided rather than hunting for the wording. If `pyauto-brain`/`pyauto-heart` are
 unavailable, run the per-repo `pytest <test_dir>/ -x` inside the worktree as the
 gate and treat any failure as RED (WORKFLOW.md). Under `--auto`, this step is
 the four-leg **autonomous-ship gate** — tests (+ downstream dependents on
diff --git a/skills/ship_workspace/ship_workspace.md b/skills/ship_workspace/ship_workspace.md
index 9a56454..13bbe29 100644
--- a/skills/ship_workspace/ship_workspace.md
+++ b/skills/ship_workspace/ship_workspace.md
@@ -50,7 +50,14 @@ pyauto-heart readiness --json        # GREEN / YELLOW / RED
 ```
 
 Workspace **smoke tests** are part of Heart's verdict. **GREEN** → execute.
-**YELLOW** → proceed only on explicit acknowledgement. **RED** → stop. If the
+**YELLOW** → proceed only on explicit acknowledgement. **RED** → stop —
+**unless** a human authorizes the narrow corrective-PR exception naming the
+exact RED reason (`AUTONOMY.md` "Corrective-PR exception for Heart RED"), which
+permits commit/push/PR-open of one reason-scoped fix only, never merge or
+release. When that exception is in play, **surface the exact RED reason
+string(s) verbatim from `pyauto-heart readiness`** and the specific corrective
+request, so the human authorizes the quote the agent provided rather than
+hunting for the wording. If the
 organism CLIs are unavailable, run `/smoke_test` (with `activate.sh` sourced) as
 the gate and treat any failure as RED. Under `--auto`, this step is the
 four-leg **autonomous-ship gate** (`AUTONOMY.md` "The autonomous-ship gate");
diff --git a/tests/test_corrective_red_exception.py b/tests/test_corrective_red_exception.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c7510a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_corrective_red_exception.py
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+"""Doc-contract tests for the human-authorized corrective-PR exception to
+Heart RED (PyAutoBrain#112).
+
+The exception is doctrine, not code, so its guardrails are pinned against the
+canonical text of AUTONOMY.md — a weakening edit (dropping a forbidden action,
+a record sink, or the human-only clause) fails loudly here rather than silently
+widening the one authorized path through a RED gate. The seam tests also pin
+the "link, don't duplicate policy" contract: the ship skills point at
+AUTONOMY.md and do not carry a second copy of the permitted/forbidden lists.
+"""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+BRAIN_HOME = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+AUTONOMY = (BRAIN_HOME / "AUTONOMY.md").read_text()
+SHIP_LIBRARY = (BRAIN_HOME / "skills" / "ship_library" / "ship_library.md").read_text()
+SHIP_WORKSPACE = (BRAIN_HOME / "skills" / "ship_workspace" / "ship_workspace.md").read_text()
+WORKFLOW = (BRAIN_HOME / "skills" / "WORKFLOW.md").read_text()
+
+SECTION_HEADER = "## Corrective-PR exception for Heart RED (human-authorized)"
+
+
+def _norm(text):
+    """Lowercase, strip markdown emphasis, and collapse whitespace so assertions
+    ignore ``**``/``` ` ``` and line wrapping."""
+    return " ".join(text.replace("*", "").replace("`", "").lower().split())
+
+
+def _section():
+    """The corrective-PR exception section body (header to the next ``## ``)."""
+    start = AUTONOMY.index(SECTION_HEADER)
+    rest = AUTONOMY[start + len(SECTION_HEADER):]
+    end = rest.find("\n## ")
+    return _norm(rest if end == -1 else rest[:end])
+
+
+def test_section_exists():
+    assert SECTION_HEADER in AUTONOMY
+
+
+def test_permitted_set_is_commit_push_pr_open_only():
+    sec = _section()
+    for verb in ("commit", "push", "opening one"):
+        assert verb in sec, verb
+    # the permission is explicitly bounded
+    assert "nothing else" in sec
+
+
+def test_forbidden_set_named():
+    sec = _section()
+    for forbidden in ("merge", "issue close", "release", "release rehearsal",
+                      "unrelated scope"):
+        assert forbidden in sec, forbidden
+    assert "every release stays blocked while heart is red" in sec
+
+
+def test_four_record_sinks_named():
+    sec = _section()
+    for sink in ("github issue", "pr body", "pyautomind/active.md",
+                 "autonomy_log.md", "- corrective-red:"):
+        assert _norm(sink) in sec, sink
+
+
+def test_park_without_shipping_cases_named():
+    sec = _section()
+    assert "park without shipping" in sec
+    for case in ("mixed-scope diff", "stale or changed red reason",
+                 "missing evidence", "not causal"):
+        assert case in sec, case
+
+
+def test_multiple_reasons_names_exactly_one():
+    sec = _section()
+    assert "multiple red reasons" in sec
+    assert "names exactly one" in sec
+
+
+def test_recovery_sequence_is_merge_then_fresh_validation_then_new_verdict():
+    sec = _section()
+    assert "recovery sequence" in sec
+    assert "human merges" in sec
+    assert "post-merge wheels" in sec
+    assert "release-integration validation" in sec
+    assert "new verdict" in sec
+    assert "human-required" in sec  # release cap untouched
+
+
+def test_agent_provides_the_quote():
+    # The human quotes the exact RED reason, so the agent must surface it
+    # verbatim from Heart's verdict — the human never reconstructs the wording.
+    sec = _section()
+    assert "the agent provides the quote" in sec
+    assert "verbatim from heart's current verdict" in sec
+    # and the ship gates instruct the agent to surface it at the RED step
+    for doc in (SHIP_LIBRARY, SHIP_WORKSPACE, WORKFLOW):
+        assert "verbatim from" in _norm(doc)
+
+
+def test_exception_is_human_only_never_under_auto():
+    sec = _section()
+    assert "human act" in sec
+    assert "never fires under --auto" in sec
+
+
+def test_never_acknowledged_autonomously_invariant_survives_verbatim():
+    # The exception must not weaken this hard invariant; it stays word-for-word.
+    assert (
+        "**Heart YELLOW/RED is never acknowledged autonomously.**" in AUTONOMY
+    )
+
+
+def test_hard_invariant_bullet_scopes_the_exception():
+    inv = _norm(AUTONOMY)
+    assert "corrective-pr exception for heart red is a contemporaneous human act" in inv
+
+
+def test_ship_skills_link_the_exception():
+    # Each ship gate points at the canonical section (link, not restatement).
+    marker = "Corrective-PR exception for Heart RED"
+    assert marker in SHIP_LIBRARY
+    assert marker in SHIP_WORKSPACE
+    assert marker in WORKFLOW
+
+
+def test_ship_skills_do_not_duplicate_policy():
+    # The exception's permitted/forbidden lists, record sinks and failure cases
+    # live only in AUTONOMY.md; the ship skills reference the section by name and
+    # must not carry a second copy that could drift. (Tokens checked here are
+    # distinctive to the exception — not incidental words like "autonomy_log.md",
+    # which ship_library legitimately uses for the calibration append.)
+    for doc in (SHIP_LIBRARY, SHIP_WORKSPACE, WORKFLOW):
+        norm = _norm(doc)
+        assert "- corrective-red:" not in norm       # the active.md block form
+        assert "park without shipping" not in norm    # the failure-case list
+        assert "recovery sequence" not in norm        # the resume-release steps