diff --git a/patterns/archetypes/dependency-monitor.json b/patterns/archetypes/dependency-monitor.json
index 61b42ff..85d5533 100644
--- a/patterns/archetypes/dependency-monitor.json
+++ b/patterns/archetypes/dependency-monitor.json
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@
     "Add this repo's package ecosystem identifier(s) (e.g. node, python, go, rust) under network.allowed \u2014 \"defaults\" and \"github\" alone do not include package registry domains",
     "Use DO NOT constraints to prevent unrelated dependency or source changes",
     "Use skip-if-match to prevent duplicate scheduled findings",
-    "Use protected-files: fallback-to-issue for CI configuration and agent instructions (not the dependency manifests themselves, since updating those is the intended change)"
+    "Use protected-files: fallback-to-issue for CI configuration and agent instructions (not the dependency manifests themselves, since updating those is the intended change)",
+    "Add a pre-activation step that skips scheduled runs once too many open PRs share your title prefix, to avoid spamming maintainers"
   ],
   "anti_patterns": [
     "docs-sync"
diff --git a/patterns/archetypes/link-checker.json b/patterns/archetypes/link-checker.json
index 495c196..e81783a 100644
--- a/patterns/archetypes/link-checker.json
+++ b/patterns/archetypes/link-checker.json
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@
     "Persist a list of previously-confirmed unfixable links in cache-memory so scheduled runs don't repeatedly retry links with no available replacement",
     "Use protected-files: fallback-to-issue so link fixes in protected paths open an issue instead of silently failing",
     "Set if-no-changes: warn on create-pull-request and pair with noop so a run with no broken links exits cleanly instead of failing",
-    "Only replace a broken link when a working equivalent or redirect target is confirmed \u2014 do not guess at replacement URLs"
+    "Only replace a broken link when a working equivalent or redirect target is confirmed \u2014 do not guess at replacement URLs",
+    "Add a pre-activation step that skips scheduled runs once too many open PRs share your title prefix, to avoid spamming maintainers"
   ],
   "anti_patterns": []
 }
diff --git a/patterns/archetypes/linter-applier.json b/patterns/archetypes/linter-applier.json
index e0e2cc5..f23f83f 100644
--- a/patterns/archetypes/linter-applier.json
+++ b/patterns/archetypes/linter-applier.json
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@
     "Group fixes by one rule and subsystem",
     "Never disable rules or add blanket suppressions",
     "Validate semantics with relevant tests after applying fixes",
-    "Constrain create-pull-request with allowed-files scoped to the fix's file types, and set protected-files: fallback-to-issue for manifests, CI config, or agent instruction files"
+    "Constrain create-pull-request with allowed-files scoped to the fix's file types, and set protected-files: fallback-to-issue for manifests, CI config, or agent instruction files",
+    "Add a pre-activation step that skips scheduled runs once too many open PRs share your title prefix, to avoid spamming maintainers"
   ],
   "anti_patterns": []
 }