diff --git a/.claude/agents/_autonomous_pickup.md b/.claude/agents/_autonomous_pickup.md
index 554d9edc..d36af51f 100644
--- a/.claude/agents/_autonomous_pickup.md
+++ b/.claude/agents/_autonomous_pickup.md
@@ -36,8 +36,11 @@ env vars доступны во **всех** новых shell-сессиях ав
 Проверь что выставлены:
 
 ```powershell
-[System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("FORGEJO_TOKEN_BACKEND", "User") | Out-Null
-if (-not $?) { Write-Error "❌ Запусти setup-bot-env.ps1 сначала" }
+# GetEnvironmentVariable возвращает $null если var отсутствует — НЕ throws.
+# Поэтому проверяем результат напрямую (не через $? — он у Get* всегда $true).
+if (-not [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("FORGEJO_TOKEN_BACKEND", "User")) {
+    Write-Error "❌ FORGEJO_TOKEN_BACKEND не выставлен. Запусти scripts/setup-bot-env.ps1 сначала"
+}
 ```
 
 ### Шаг 2 — Env vars + git identity (per окно)
diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/stale-claims.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/stale-claims.yml
index c760c751..171c9ebe 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/stale-claims.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/stale-claims.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ on:
     - cron: '*/30 * * * *'
   workflow_dispatch: {}  # manual run возможен через UI
 
+concurrency:
+  group: stale-claims
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
 jobs:
   cleanup:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/scripts/cleanup-stale-claims.sh b/scripts/cleanup-stale-claims.sh
index 23a4ccee..3eebf60c 100644
--- a/scripts/cleanup-stale-claims.sh
+++ b/scripts/cleanup-stale-claims.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #
 # Освобождает issues застрявшие в `status/wip` дольше 4 часов:
 # - убирает assignee
-# - меняет label status/wip → status/ready
+# - меняет label status/wip → status/ready (delete wip → add ready)
 #
 # Why: если worker crashes или window закрывается во время работы, issue
 # остаётся wip+assigned forever. Без cleanup queue забивается.
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@
 #   FORGEJO_REPO  — lekss361/gendesign
 #   STALE_HOURS   — порог в часах (default 4)
 #
+# Assumption: issue.updated_at = последний touch (label/comment/assignee
+# change). Worker делающий task >4h без касаний issue будет считаться stale.
+# Для текущих small tasks 4h enough; в Phase 4 можно добавить heartbeat
+# comment'ы от worker'а.
+#
 # Exit codes:
 #   0 — success (even if 0 stale found)
 #   1 — env vars missing / API error
@@ -26,7 +31,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 : "${FORGEJO_URL:?FORGEJO_URL required}"
 : "${FORGEJO_REPO:?FORGEJO_REPO required}"
 
-STALE_HOURS="${STALE_HOURS:-4}"
+export STALE_HOURS="${STALE_HOURS:-4}"
 STALE_SECS=$((STALE_HOURS * 3600))
 
 curl_forgejo() {
@@ -36,34 +41,56 @@ curl_forgejo() {
 }
 
 now_utc_epoch() {
-  python3 -c 'import datetime; print(int(datetime.datetime.now(datetime.UTC).timestamp()))'
-}
-
-iso_to_epoch() {
-  python3 -c "import datetime; print(int(datetime.datetime.fromisoformat('$1'.replace('Z','+00:00')).timestamp()))"
+  python3 -c 'import datetime; print(int(datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc).timestamp()))'
 }
 
 echo "[$(date -Is)] cleanup-stale-claims: scanning status/wip issues (stale threshold: ${STALE_HOURS}h)"
 
 NOW=$(now_utc_epoch)
-CUTOFF=$((NOW - STALE_SECS))
+export CUTOFF=$((NOW - STALE_SECS))
 
-# GET all open issues с label status/wip
-RESPONSE=$(curl_forgejo "repos/$FORGEJO_REPO/issues?labels=status/wip&state=open&limit=50&page=1")
+# GET all open issues с label status/wip — pagination в Python (более надёжно чем
+# склеивать JSON arrays в bash). Defensive cap 10 pages × 50 = 500.
+
+ISSUES_TMP=$(mktemp)
+trap 'rm -f "$ISSUES_TMP"' EXIT
+
+for PAGE in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10; do
+  PAGE_RESP=$(curl_forgejo "repos/$FORGEJO_REPO/issues?labels=status/wip&state=open&limit=50&page=$PAGE")
+  echo "$PAGE_RESP" >> "$ISSUES_TMP"
+  echo "---PAGE_END---" >> "$ISSUES_TMP"
+  PAGE_LEN=$(echo "$PAGE_RESP" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(len(json.load(sys.stdin)))')
+  if [ "$PAGE_LEN" -lt 50 ]; then
+    break
+  fi
+done
 
 # Парсим JSON
-echo "$RESPONSE" | python3 <<PYEOF
-import json, os, subprocess, sys
+cat "$ISSUES_TMP" | python3 <<'PYEOF'
+import json, os, subprocess, sys, datetime
 
 cutoff = int(os.environ.get("CUTOFF", "0"))
-data = json.loads(sys.stdin.read())
+if cutoff == 0:
+    print("[ERROR] CUTOFF env var не выставлен или равен 0 — abort", file=sys.stderr)
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+# Read pagination output — multiple JSON arrays separated by "---PAGE_END---"
+raw = sys.stdin.read()
+pages = [p.strip() for p in raw.split("---PAGE_END---") if p.strip()]
+data = []
+for p in pages:
+    try:
+        data.extend(json.loads(p))
+    except json.JSONDecodeError:
+        print(f"[WARN] failed to parse page (len={len(p)}), skipping", file=sys.stderr)
 
 if not data:
-    print(f"[OK] 0 wip issues — nothing to do")
+    print("[OK] 0 wip issues — nothing to do")
     sys.exit(0)
 
 released = 0
 errors = 0
+now_epoch = int(datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc).timestamp())
 
 for issue in data:
     issue_num = issue["number"]
@@ -71,10 +98,8 @@ for issue in data:
     title = issue["title"]
     assignees = [a["login"] for a in (issue.get("assignees") or [])]
 
-    # ISO to epoch
-    import datetime
     updated_epoch = int(datetime.datetime.fromisoformat(updated_at.replace("Z", "+00:00")).timestamp())
-    age_secs = int(datetime.datetime.now(datetime.UTC).timestamp()) - updated_epoch
+    age_secs = now_epoch - updated_epoch
     age_hours = age_secs // 3600
 
     if updated_epoch >= cutoff:
@@ -85,7 +110,6 @@ for issue in data:
     print(f"    assignees: {assignees}")
     print(f"    → releasing claim")
 
-    # Build commands
     repo = os.environ["FORGEJO_REPO"]
     base = os.environ["FORGEJO_URL"] + "/api/v1"
     token = os.environ["FORGEJO_TOKEN"]
@@ -99,20 +123,21 @@ for issue in data:
             check=True, capture_output=True,
         )
 
-        # 2. Add status/ready label
-        subprocess.run(
-            ["curl", "-sS", "-X", "POST", *auth, "-d", '{"labels": ["status/ready"]}',
-             f"{base}/repos/{repo}/issues/{issue_num}/labels"],
-            check=True, capture_output=True,
-        )
-
-        # 3. Remove status/wip label
+        # 2. Remove status/wip label FIRST (если падает — issue в neutral state без status/*,
+        #    что менее опасно чем оба status/ready+status/wip одновременно)
         subprocess.run(
             ["curl", "-sS", "-X", "DELETE", *auth,
              f"{base}/repos/{repo}/issues/{issue_num}/labels/status%2Fwip"],
             check=True, capture_output=True,
         )
 
+        # 3. Add status/ready label
+        subprocess.run(
+            ["curl", "-sS", "-X", "POST", *auth, "-d", '{"labels": ["status/ready"]}',
+             f"{base}/repos/{repo}/issues/{issue_num}/labels"],
+            check=True, capture_output=True,
+        )
+
         # 4. Post comment for trace
         comment_body = json.dumps({
             "body": f"⚠️ Stale claim released: issue stuck in status/wip for {age_hours}h "
@@ -130,7 +155,7 @@ for issue in data:
         print(f"    ✗ FAILED: {e.stderr.decode() if e.stderr else 'unknown'}")
         errors += 1
 
-print(f"")
+print()
 print(f"[OK] Released {released} stale claim(s), {errors} errors")
 sys.exit(1 if errors else 0)
 PYEOF