diff --git a/docs/workflows/gh-aw-automerge.md b/docs/workflows/gh-aw-automerge.md
index 84f1140..4d2602d 100644
--- a/docs/workflows/gh-aw-automerge.md
+++ b/docs/workflows/gh-aw-automerge.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Ingress selects which events dispatch here; see [Automerge routing](../routing/a
 Jobs:
 
 - `verify`: shallow sparse checkout of `elastic/oblt-aw` (`allowed_pr_authors.json`, `validateAutomergePr.ts`, and npm manifests only), then runs `scripts/obs/validateAutomergePr.ts` for `github.event.pull_request.number` (author allow list aligned with dependency-review, merge-ready label, draft/fork/ref).
-- `check-dependency-collection`: shallow sparse checkout of `elastic/oblt-aw` (collection config, gate scripts, and `package.json` / lockfile only), then classifies the PR by changed file paths against [config/obs/automerge-dependency-collections.json](../../config/obs/automerge-dependency-collections.json); skips `approve`/`automerge` when the collection is not active and posts a PR comment explaining why (no extra labels in target repos).
+- `check-dependency-collection`: shallow sparse checkout of `elastic/oblt-aw` (collection config, gate scripts, and `package.json` / lockfile only), then classifies the PR by changed file paths against [config/obs/automerge-dependency-collections.json](../../config/obs/automerge-dependency-collections.json); allows downstream jobs only for `allowed` classifications. Non-allowed outcomes (`inactive`, `ambiguous`, and `unclassified`) skip `approve`/`automerge` and post a PR gate comment explaining why (no extra labels in target repos).
 - `approve`: invokes `elastic/ai-github-actions` `gh-aw-mention-in-pr.lock.yml` when `verify` and `check-dependency-collection` pass (Copilot must not call check-run APIs for gating; branch protection handles required checks at merge time).
 - `automerge`: runs **pascalgn/automerge-action** with `GITHUB_TOKEN` on the **same** repository as the PR (`PULL_REQUEST` is the PR number). Squash-merge when `MERGE_LABELS`, `MERGE_REQUIRED_APPROVALS`, and GitHub mergeability align with branch protection.
 - `enable-merge-when-ready`: runs only when `automerge` outputs `merge_failed`; creates an ephemeral token via `elastic/oblt-actions/github/create-token@v1` and enables native auto-merge queue behavior with `gh pr merge --auto --squash`.