diff --git a/server/services/branchReconcile.js b/server/services/branchReconcile.js
index b17a984768..e64c85398d 100644
--- a/server/services/branchReconcile.js
+++ b/server/services/branchReconcile.js
@@ -542,9 +542,14 @@ export function parseRemoteHeads(stdout) {
  */
 export async function listRemoteHeads(repoPath) {
   const res = await execGit(['ls-remote', '--heads', RECONCILED_REMOTE], repoPath, { ignoreExitCode: true })
-    .catch(() => null);
+    .catch((err) => ({ error: err.message }));
   if (!res || res.exitCode !== 0) {
-    console.error(`❌ branch-reconcile: git ls-remote ${RECONCILED_REMOTE} failed — remote branch state unknown this cycle`);
+    // One log line serves every caller across every managed app, so it has to
+    // name the repo that went unread and git's own reason — without both, a
+    // network blip, an unauthenticated remote and a repo with no `origin` at
+    // all are one indistinguishable line and the operator has nothing to act on.
+    const why = (res?.error || res?.stderr || '').trim().split('\n')[0] || `exit ${res?.exitCode}`;
+    console.error(`❌ branch-reconcile: git ls-remote ${RECONCILED_REMOTE} failed in ${repoPath} (${why}) — remote branch state unknown this cycle`);
     return null;
   }
   return parseRemoteHeads(res.stdout);
@@ -679,8 +684,9 @@ async function worktreeAgeMs(worktreePath) {
  *   `activeAgentIds` distinguishes a live agent's worktree from an abandoned one (see
  *   `isAbandonedAgentWorktree`); omitting it leaves every agent worktree protected.
  *   `remoteHeads` is `listRemoteHeads`' answer when the caller already has it;
- *   omitted, this reads it itself, and `null` (unreadable remote) is carried
- *   through as "we could not ask" rather than "the remote is empty".
+ *   omitted, this reads it itself when the repo has an origin, and `null`
+ *   (unreadable remote, or no origin to read) is carried through as "we could
+ *   not ask" rather than "the remote is empty".
  *   `hasOrigin` is `getOriginInfo`'s verdict when the caller already has it (same
  *   rationale); omitted, this reads it itself, so a standalone caller still gets a
  *   truthful answer rather than the fail-closed default.
@@ -705,11 +711,19 @@ export async function gatherBranchState(repoPath, { defaultBranch, activeAgentId
     ? Boolean(origin?.hasOrigin)
     : Boolean(providedHasOrigin);
 
+  // The remote read is gated on `hasOrigin` for the same reason reconcile's own
+  // two are: a repo with no `origin` has no remote to ask, and probing one
+  // anyway logs a failure every cycle. This gather runs once per managed app in
+  // the read-only leftover-branch detector, and an app's repoPath can be a
+  // directory that was never a clone — `null` there means "could not ask",
+  // which is exactly what an origin-less repo can answer.
   const [branches, worktrees, prsByHeadOrNull, remoteHeads] = await Promise.all([
     getBranches(repoPath),
     listWorktrees(repoPath).catch(() => []),
     getOpenPrsByHead(repoPath, origin),
-    providedRemoteHeads === undefined ? listRemoteHeads(repoPath) : providedRemoteHeads
+    providedRemoteHeads !== undefined ? providedRemoteHeads
+      : hasOrigin ? listRemoteHeads(repoPath)
+      : null
   ]);
   // null = the forge could not be read (see getOpenPrsByHead). Carried onto every
   // input so the classifier can refuse to conclude "no PR" from an unread forge.
diff --git a/server/services/branchReconcile.test.js b/server/services/branchReconcile.test.js
index b3272dde08..8be9d8ea3c 100644
--- a/server/services/branchReconcile.test.js
+++ b/server/services/branchReconcile.test.js
@@ -470,6 +470,35 @@ describe('gatherBranchState', () => {
     expect(inputs.find((i) => i.branch === 'next/issue-88').openPr).toBeNull();
     expect(execGh).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
+
+  // The read-only leftover-branch detector calls this once per managed app, and
+  // an app's repoPath can be a directory with no origin (a static-site folder,
+  // a checkout whose remote was never added). `origin` is already resolved by
+  // the time the reads fan out, so probing the remote anyway bought nothing and
+  // logged `❌ … git ls-remote origin failed` for that app on every cycle — the
+  // exact per-cycle failure reconcile's own two remote reads are gated to avoid.
+  it('skips the remote probe on a repo with no origin', async () => {
+    getOriginInfo.mockResolvedValue({
+      hasOrigin: false, isGithub: false, host: null, fullName: null
+    });
+    git.getBranches.mockResolvedValue([
+      { name: 'local/only', isDefault: false, current: false, tracking: null, merged: false }
+    ]);
+    wt.listWorktrees.mockResolvedValue([]);
+    git.isBranchMergedInto.mockResolvedValue(false);
+    execGit.mockImplementation(async (args) => (args[0] === 'ls-remote'
+      ? { stdout: '', stderr: "fatal: 'origin' does not appear to be a git repository", exitCode: 128 }
+      : { stdout: '', exitCode: 0 }));
+    const errors = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
+
+    const inputs = await gatherBranchState('/repo', { defaultBranch: 'main' });
+    expect(inputs.find((i) => i.branch === 'local/only').hasOrigin).toBe(false);
+    expect(execGit).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.arrayContaining(['ls-remote']), expect.anything(), expect.anything()
+    );
+    expect(errors).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    errors.mockRestore();
+  });
 });
 
 describe('isAbandonedAgentWorktree', () => {
@@ -1543,6 +1572,24 @@ describe('orphaned remote branches', () => {
       expect(git.deleteBranch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/repo', 'stale/merged', { remote: true });
     });
 
+    it('names the repo and git\'s own reason when the remote cannot be read', async () => {
+      // One shared log line serves every caller across every managed app, so a
+      // bare "ls-remote failed" tells the operator neither which repo went
+      // unread nor whether it was a network blip or a broken remote.
+      execGit.mockResolvedValue({
+        stdout: '', stderr: 'ssh: Could not resolve hostname github.com', exitCode: 128
+      });
+      git.getBranches.mockResolvedValue([]);
+      const errors = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
+
+      const res = await reapOrphanedRemotes('/repo', 'main');
+      expect(res.remoteUnavailable).toBe(true);
+      const line = errors.mock.calls.map(([msg]) => String(msg)).find((m) => m.includes('ls-remote'));
+      expect(line).toContain('/repo');
+      expect(line).toContain('Could not resolve hostname');
+      errors.mockRestore();
+    });
+
     it('merge-checks the SHA ls-remote reported, not the branch name', async () => {
       // A stale `origin/<branch>` ref can say "merged" about commits origin has
       // since moved past; the live SHA is the only safe thing to judge.