diff --git a/docs/decisions/001-webhook-auto-apply.md b/docs/decisions/001-webhook-auto-apply.md
index 795833f..95e5ceb 100644
--- a/docs/decisions/001-webhook-auto-apply.md
+++ b/docs/decisions/001-webhook-auto-apply.md
@@ -72,6 +72,27 @@ Add a `/webhook` path handler alongside the existing CFN handler in
 a Function URL directly). The URL is added to the GHE org or repo webhook
 settings.
 
+### Webhook payload — what GHE sends
+
+The GHE `push` event payload contains everything the Lambda needs to identify
+the repo without any out-of-band mapping:
+
+```json
+{
+  "ref": "refs/heads/main",
+  "after": "abc123def456...",
+  "repository": {
+    "name": "229685449397-csvd-dev-platform-dev-gov",
+    "full_name": "SCT-Engineering/229685449397-csvd-dev-platform-dev-gov",
+    "clone_url": "https://github.e.it.census.gov/SCT-Engineering/229685449397-csvd-dev-platform-dev-gov.git"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+- `repository.name` → `ACCOUNT_REPO` passed to CodeBuild
+- `after` → merge commit SHA used for GHE commit status writeback
+- No repo→callback URL map is needed or maintained
+
 **Request flow:**
 
 ```
@@ -79,15 +100,29 @@ GHE push event (main branch, account repo)
   → Lambda Function URL POST /
   → verify HMAC-SHA256 signature (secret in SM: ghe-runner/webhook-secret)
   → parse X-GitHub-Event: push
-  → filter: ref == refs/heads/main
-  → filter: repo name matches account repo pattern
-  → fetch .sc-automation.yml via GHE API (no clone needed)
+  → filter: ref == refs/heads/main AND repository.name matches account repo pattern
+  → fetch .sc-automation.yml from main via GHE API (no clone — single API call)
+  → if .sc-automation.yml missing: post ❌ commit status "no .sc-automation.yml on main" and exit
+  → post ⏳ "pending" commit status on merge SHA
   → for each entry in apply_on_merge:
-      start_codebuild_build(action="apply", account_repo=..., layer=..., ...)
-      (fire-and-forget — do NOT block for CodeBuild completion)
-  → return 200 OK immediately
+      start_codebuild_build(
+        action="apply",
+        account_repo=payload["repository"]["name"],   # from webhook
+        layer=entry["layer"],                          # from .sc-automation.yml
+        region_dir=entry["region_dir"],                # from .sc-automation.yml
+        target_account_id=entry.get("target_account_id", ""),
+        commit_sha=payload["after"]                    # for status writeback
+      )
+      (fire-and-forget — do NOT poll CodeBuild)
+  → return HTTP 200 immediately
 ```
 
+**Executor buildspec writeback:**
+The executor CodeBuild build receives `COMMIT_SHA` as an env var. In its
+POST_BUILD phase it calls `gh api` to post a GHE commit status (`success` or
+`failure`) back to the merge commit. Teams see ✅ or ❌ directly on the commit
+in the PR history — no CloudWatch required.
+
 **Key differences from the CFN handler:**
 
 - **No polling.** The webhook handler starts builds and returns immediately.
@@ -111,15 +146,19 @@ GHE push event (main branch, account repo)
 
 ### `.sc-automation.yml` lifecycle
 
-- **Proposer writes it** when it first creates the branch (if the file doesn't
-  exist yet). The Proposer knows `layer`, `region_dir`, and `target_account_id`
-  from its build environment variables. It commits `.sc-automation.yml` alongside
-  the rendered template files.
-- **Platform engineers edit it** directly via PR if they need to add or remove
+- **Proposer writes it** on the first run for a branch, if the file doesn't
+  already exist on `main`. The Proposer knows `layer`, `region_dir`, and
+  `target_account_id` from its CodeBuild env vars. It commits `.sc-automation.yml`
+  alongside the rendered template files so the file is reviewed in the same PR.
+- **Proposer does NOT overwrite it** on subsequent runs — it checks whether the
+  file already exists on `main` and skips writing if so, preserving any manual
+  edits made by platform engineers.
+- **Platform engineers edit it** directly via PR to add, remove, or reorder
   apply targets.
-- **The file is idempotent** — subsequent Proposer runs `--force-with-lease` push
-  won't break it because the Proposer will only write the file if it doesn't
-  already exist (avoiding clobbering manual edits).
+- **GHE commit status missing → blocked** — if `.sc-automation.yml` is not
+  present on `main` when a push webhook fires, the Lambda posts a `failure`
+  commit status and does not start any builds. This surfaces the problem
+  immediately without a silent no-op.
 
 ---
 
@@ -129,7 +168,9 @@ GHE push event (main branch, account repo)
 
 - Eliminates the manual "provision executor product" step after PR merge
 - Apply is fully traceable: GHE push event → CloudWatch Logs → CodeBuild build ID
+- GHE commit status writeback gives teams ✅/❌ feedback directly on the merge commit
 - No new infrastructure services (no EventBridge, no SQS, no API Gateway)
+- No repo→callback URL map to maintain — repo identity comes from the webhook payload
 - The executor SC product remains available for manual one-off runs and
   day-2 operations (re-run from a specific tag, dry-run, etc.)
 
@@ -146,10 +187,10 @@ GHE push event (main branch, account repo)
 
 ### Out of scope for this ADR
 
-- Result notification (Slack, email) after a webhook-triggered apply — tracked
-  separately
-- Path filtering (only trigger on changes under `{layer}/{region_dir}/`) —
-  tracked separately
+- SNS / Slack / email notification after a webhook-triggered apply — tracked separately
+- Path filtering (only trigger on changes under `{layer}/{region_dir}/`) — tracked separately
+- Idempotency guard against GHE webhook retries firing duplicate builds — `tf-run apply`
+  on an already-converged state is a safe no-op, so this is deferred
 
 ---