diff --git a/.agent/docs/customization/access-policy.md b/.agent/docs/customization/access-policy.md
index 32b18526..cf731fab 100644
--- a/.agent/docs/customization/access-policy.md
+++ b/.agent/docs/customization/access-policy.md
@@ -93,6 +93,6 @@ Organization membership detection depends on what the agent's GitHub token can s
 
 ## Weak association normalization
 
-For mention triggers, the runtime trusts strong `author_association` values (`OWNER`, `MEMBER`, and `COLLABORATOR`) without another lookup. When GitHub reports a weaker value such as `NONE`, `CONTRIBUTOR`, `FIRST_TIMER`, or `FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR`, Sepo checks the triggering actor with `GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/collaborators/{username}` and treats a `204` response as `COLLABORATOR` before route authorization. This applies to all supported mention surfaces, including issue and pull request bodies, discussion bodies and comments, issue comments, pull request review comments, and pull request reviews.
+For mention triggers, the runtime trusts strong `author_association` values (`OWNER`, `MEMBER`, and `COLLABORATOR`) without another lookup. When GitHub reports a weaker value such as `NONE`, `CONTRIBUTOR`, `FIRST_TIMER`, or `FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR`, Sepo checks the triggering actor with `GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/collaborators/{username}/permission` and treats `triage`, `write`, `maintain`, or `admin` from either `permission` or `role_name` as `COLLABORATOR` before route authorization. Public `read` permission alone is not trusted because it can apply to non-collaborators on public repositories. This applies to all supported mention surfaces, including issue and pull request bodies, discussion bodies and comments, issue comments, pull request review comments, and pull request reviews.
 
-Issue-body mentions from `issues` events also refresh `author_association` from the live issue API before the collaborator fallback. These checks cover cases where repo-scoped tokens cannot see private org membership through webhook `author_association`, but GitHub author association remains token- and visibility-dependent. The public default allowlist therefore still includes `CONTRIBUTOR` unless a repository configures a stricter `AGENT_ACCESS_POLICY`.
+Issue-body mentions from `issues` events also retry `author_association` from the live issue API a few times before the permission fallback. These checks cover cases where repo-scoped tokens cannot see private org membership through webhook `author_association`, but GitHub author association remains token- and visibility-dependent. The public default allowlist therefore still includes `CONTRIBUTOR` unless a repository configures a stricter `AGENT_ACCESS_POLICY`.
diff --git a/.agent/src/__tests__/extract-context-cli.test.ts b/.agent/src/__tests__/extract-context-cli.test.ts
index c276fad9..f2cf6648 100644
--- a/.agent/src/__tests__/extract-context-cli.test.ts
+++ b/.agent/src/__tests__/extract-context-cli.test.ts
@@ -272,6 +272,89 @@ test("extract-context refreshes contributor issue author association from the Gi
   }
 });
 
+test("extract-context resolves stale issue body association on a later retry", () => {
+  const tempDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "agent-extract-context-"));
+
+  try {
+    const eventPath = join(tempDir, "event.json");
+    const outputPath = join(tempDir, "github-output.txt");
+    const fakeGh = join(tempDir, "gh");
+    const ghCallLog = join(tempDir, "gh-calls.txt");
+    const issueCallCount = join(tempDir, "issue-call-count.txt");
+
+    writeFileSync(
+      eventPath,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        sender: { login: "alice", type: "User" },
+        issue: {
+          number: 6,
+          title: "Investigate auth",
+          body: "@sepo-agent /implement can you fix this?",
+          html_url: "https://github.com/self-evolving/repo/issues/6",
+          node_id: "I_6",
+          author_association: "NONE",
+          user: { login: "alice" },
+        },
+      }),
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    writeFileSync(outputPath, "", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(ghCallLog, "", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(issueCallCount, "0", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(
+      fakeGh,
+      [
+        "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+        `printf '%s\\n' "$*" >> ${JSON.stringify(ghCallLog)}`,
+        "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/issues/6\" ]; then",
+        `  count=$(cat ${JSON.stringify(issueCallCount)})`,
+        "  count=$((count + 1))",
+        `  printf '%s' "$count" > ${JSON.stringify(issueCallCount)}`,
+        "  if [ \"$count\" = \"1\" ]; then",
+        "    printf 'NONE\\n'",
+        "  else",
+        "    printf 'COLLABORATOR\\n'",
+        "  fi",
+        "  exit 0",
+        "fi",
+        "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
+        "  printf 'permission fallback should not be called\\n' >&2",
+        "  exit 1",
+        "fi",
+        "printf 'unexpected gh args: %s\\n' \"$*\" >&2",
+        "exit 1",
+        "",
+      ].join("\n"),
+      { encoding: "utf8", mode: 0o755 },
+    );
+
+    execFileSync("node", [".agent/dist/cli/extract-context.js"], {
+      cwd: repoRoot,
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${tempDir}:${process.env.PATH || ""}`,
+        GITHUB_EVENT_PATH: eventPath,
+        GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: "issues",
+        GITHUB_OUTPUT: outputPath,
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
+        INPUT_MENTION: "@sepo-agent",
+        INPUT_TRIGGER_KIND: "mention",
+      },
+      stdio: "pipe",
+    });
+
+    const outputs = parseGithubOutput(outputPath);
+    const ghCalls = readFileSync(ghCallLog, "utf8");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("should_respond"), "true");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("association"), "COLLABORATOR");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_route"), "implement");
+    assert.equal(readFileSync(issueCallCount, "utf8"), "2");
+    assert.doesNotMatch(ghCalls, /collaborators\/alice\/permission/);
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
 test("extract-context promotes weak issue author association for repository collaborators", () => {
   const tempDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "agent-extract-context-"));
 
@@ -305,7 +388,8 @@ test("extract-context promotes weak issue author association for repository coll
         "  printf 'CONTRIBUTOR\\n'",
         "  exit 0",
         "fi",
-        "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice\" ]; then",
+        "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
+        "  printf 'write\\n'",
         "  exit 0",
         "fi",
         "printf 'unexpected gh args: %s\\n' \"$*\" >&2",
@@ -339,9 +423,172 @@ test("extract-context promotes weak issue author association for repository coll
   }
 });
 
+for (const permission of ["admin", "maintain", "write", "triage"]) {
+  test(`extract-context promotes weak issue body association from ${permission} repository permission`, () => {
+    const outputs = runExtractContextCli({
+      eventName: "issues",
+      payload: {
+        sender: { login: "alice", type: "User" },
+        issue: {
+          number: 358,
+          title: "Auth hardening",
+          body: "@sepo-agent /implement harden issue body auth",
+          html_url: "https://github.com/self-evolving/repo/issues/358",
+          node_id: "I_358",
+          author_association: "NONE",
+          user: { login: "alice" },
+        },
+      },
+      ghScript: [
+        "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+        "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/issues/358\" ]; then",
+        "  printf 'NONE\\n'",
+        "  exit 0",
+        "fi",
+        "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
+        `  printf '${permission}\\n'`,
+        "  exit 0",
+        "fi",
+        "printf 'unexpected gh args: %s\\n' \"$*\" >&2",
+        "exit 1",
+        "",
+      ].join("\n"),
+      env: {
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
+      },
+    });
+
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("should_respond"), "true");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("association"), "COLLABORATOR");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("source_kind"), "issue");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_by"), "alice");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_route"), "implement");
+  });
+}
+
+test("extract-context preserves weak issue body association for public read permission", () => {
+  const outputs = runExtractContextCli({
+    eventName: "issues",
+    payload: {
+      sender: { login: "alice", type: "User" },
+      issue: {
+        number: 360,
+        title: "Auth hardening",
+        body: "@sepo-agent /implement harden issue body auth",
+        html_url: "https://github.com/self-evolving/repo/issues/360",
+        node_id: "I_360",
+        author_association: "NONE",
+        user: { login: "alice" },
+      },
+    },
+    ghScript: [
+      "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+      "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/issues/360\" ]; then",
+      "  printf 'NONE\\n'",
+      "  exit 0",
+      "fi",
+      "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
+      "  printf 'read\\n'",
+      "  exit 0",
+      "fi",
+      "printf 'unexpected gh args: %s\\n' \"$*\" >&2",
+      "exit 1",
+      "",
+    ].join("\n"),
+    env: {
+      GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
+    },
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("should_respond"), "true");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("association"), "NONE");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_by"), "alice");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_route"), "implement");
+});
+
+test("extract-context promotes weak issue body association for triage role_name", () => {
+  const outputs = runExtractContextCli({
+    eventName: "issues",
+    payload: {
+      sender: { login: "alice", type: "User" },
+      issue: {
+        number: 361,
+        title: "Auth hardening",
+        body: "@sepo-agent /implement harden issue body auth",
+        html_url: "https://github.com/self-evolving/repo/issues/361",
+        node_id: "I_361",
+        author_association: "NONE",
+        user: { login: "alice" },
+      },
+    },
+    ghScript: [
+      "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+      "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/issues/361\" ]; then",
+      "  printf 'NONE\\n'",
+      "  exit 0",
+      "fi",
+      "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
+      "  printf '{\"permission\":\"read\",\"role_name\":\"triage\"}\\n'",
+      "  exit 0",
+      "fi",
+      "printf 'unexpected gh args: %s\\n' \"$*\" >&2",
+      "exit 1",
+      "",
+    ].join("\n"),
+    env: {
+      GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
+    },
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("should_respond"), "true");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("association"), "COLLABORATOR");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_by"), "alice");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_route"), "implement");
+});
+
+test("extract-context preserves weak issue body association when permission lookup fails", () => {
+  const outputs = runExtractContextCli({
+    eventName: "issues",
+    payload: {
+      sender: { login: "alice", type: "User" },
+      issue: {
+        number: 359,
+        title: "Auth hardening",
+        body: "@sepo-agent /implement harden issue body auth",
+        html_url: "https://github.com/self-evolving/repo/issues/359",
+        node_id: "I_359",
+        author_association: "NONE",
+        user: { login: "alice" },
+      },
+    },
+    ghScript: [
+      "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+      "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/issues/359\" ]; then",
+      "  printf 'NONE\\n'",
+      "  exit 0",
+      "fi",
+      "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
+      "  exit 1",
+      "fi",
+      "printf 'unexpected gh args: %s\\n' \"$*\" >&2",
+      "exit 1",
+      "",
+    ].join("\n"),
+    env: {
+      GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
+    },
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("should_respond"), "true");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("association"), "NONE");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_by"), "alice");
+  assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_route"), "implement");
+});
+
 const collaboratorGhScript = [
   "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
-  "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice\" ]; then",
+  "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
+  "  printf 'write\\n'",
   "  exit 0",
   "fi",
   "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"graphql\" ]; then",
@@ -480,7 +727,7 @@ for (const testCase of weakMentionCollaboratorCases) {
 
 const nonCollaboratorGhScript = [
   "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
-  "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice\" ]; then",
+  "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"repos/self-evolving/repo/collaborators/alice/permission\" ]; then",
   "  exit 1",
   "fi",
   "if [ \"$1\" = \"api\" ] && [ \"$2\" = \"graphql\" ]; then",
@@ -1037,12 +1284,79 @@ test("extract-context responds when an edited review comment adds a mention", ()
   }
 });
 
+test("extract-context trusts strong issue comment association without GitHub lookup", () => {
+  const tempDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "agent-extract-context-"));
+
+  try {
+    const eventPath = join(tempDir, "event.json");
+    const outputPath = join(tempDir, "github-output.txt");
+    const fakeGh = join(tempDir, "gh");
+    const ghCallLog = join(tempDir, "gh-calls.txt");
+
+    writeFileSync(
+      eventPath,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        sender: { login: "alice", type: "User" },
+        comment: {
+          id: 108,
+          node_id: "IC_108",
+          html_url: "https://github.com/self-evolving/repo/issues/173#issuecomment-108",
+          body: "@sepo-agent /answer please check this",
+          author_association: "COLLABORATOR",
+          user: { login: "alice" },
+        },
+        issue: {
+          number: 173,
+          html_url: "https://github.com/self-evolving/repo/issues/173",
+        },
+      }),
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    writeFileSync(outputPath, "", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(ghCallLog, "", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(
+      fakeGh,
+      [
+        "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+        `printf '%s\\n' "$*" >> ${JSON.stringify(ghCallLog)}`,
+        "exit 1",
+        "",
+      ].join("\n"),
+      { encoding: "utf8", mode: 0o755 },
+    );
+
+    execFileSync("node", [".agent/dist/cli/extract-context.js"], {
+      cwd: repoRoot,
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${tempDir}:${process.env.PATH || ""}`,
+        GITHUB_EVENT_PATH: eventPath,
+        GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: "issue_comment",
+        GITHUB_OUTPUT: outputPath,
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
+        INPUT_MENTION: "@sepo-agent",
+        INPUT_TRIGGER_KIND: "mention",
+      },
+      stdio: "pipe",
+    });
+
+    const outputs = parseGithubOutput(outputPath);
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("should_respond"), "true");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("association"), "COLLABORATOR");
+    assert.equal(outputs.get("requested_route"), "answer");
+    assert.equal(readFileSync(ghCallLog, "utf8"), "");
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
 test("extract-context lets public contributor mentions reach dispatch triage", () => {
   const tempDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "agent-extract-context-"));
 
   try {
     const eventPath = join(tempDir, "event.json");
     const outputPath = join(tempDir, "github-output.txt");
+    const fakeGh = join(tempDir, "gh");
 
     writeFileSync(
       eventPath,
@@ -1065,14 +1379,20 @@ test("extract-context lets public contributor mentions reach dispatch triage", (
       "utf8",
     );
     writeFileSync(outputPath, "", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(fakeGh, nonCollaboratorGhScript, {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      mode: 0o755,
+    });
 
     execFileSync("node", [".agent/dist/cli/extract-context.js"], {
       cwd: repoRoot,
       env: {
         ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${tempDir}:${process.env.PATH || ""}`,
         GITHUB_EVENT_PATH: eventPath,
         GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: "issue_comment",
         GITHUB_OUTPUT: outputPath,
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
         INPUT_MENTION: "@sepo-agent",
         INPUT_TRIGGER_KIND: "mention",
       },
@@ -1094,6 +1414,7 @@ test("extract-context preserves explicit routes for later policy checks", () =>
   try {
     const eventPath = join(tempDir, "event.json");
     const outputPath = join(tempDir, "github-output.txt");
+    const fakeGh = join(tempDir, "gh");
 
     writeFileSync(
       eventPath,
@@ -1116,14 +1437,20 @@ test("extract-context preserves explicit routes for later policy checks", () =>
       "utf8",
     );
     writeFileSync(outputPath, "", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(fakeGh, nonCollaboratorGhScript, {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      mode: 0o755,
+    });
 
     execFileSync("node", [".agent/dist/cli/extract-context.js"], {
       cwd: repoRoot,
       env: {
         ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${tempDir}:${process.env.PATH || ""}`,
         GITHUB_EVENT_PATH: eventPath,
         GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: "issue_comment",
         GITHUB_OUTPUT: outputPath,
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
         INPUT_MENTION: "@sepo-agent",
         INPUT_TRIGGER_KIND: "mention",
       },
@@ -1144,6 +1471,7 @@ test("extract-context keeps known associations available for later policy checks
   try {
     const eventPath = join(tempDir, "event.json");
     const outputPath = join(tempDir, "github-output.txt");
+    const fakeGh = join(tempDir, "gh");
 
     writeFileSync(
       eventPath,
@@ -1165,14 +1493,20 @@ test("extract-context keeps known associations available for later policy checks
       "utf8",
     );
     writeFileSync(outputPath, "", "utf8");
+    writeFileSync(fakeGh, nonCollaboratorGhScript, {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      mode: 0o755,
+    });
 
     execFileSync("node", [".agent/dist/cli/extract-context.js"], {
       cwd: repoRoot,
       env: {
         ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${tempDir}:${process.env.PATH || ""}`,
         GITHUB_EVENT_PATH: eventPath,
         GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: "issue_comment",
         GITHUB_OUTPUT: outputPath,
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "self-evolving/repo",
         INPUT_MENTION: "@sepo-agent",
         INPUT_TRIGGER_KIND: "mention",
       },
diff --git a/.agent/src/__tests__/triage.test.ts b/.agent/src/__tests__/triage.test.ts
index 31898c78..3281a25b 100644
--- a/.agent/src/__tests__/triage.test.ts
+++ b/.agent/src/__tests__/triage.test.ts
@@ -403,6 +403,20 @@ test("applyDispatchPolicy denies explicit implement when access policy restricts
   assert.equal(d.needsApproval, false);
 });
 
+test("applyDispatchPolicy rejects explicit implement for true unauthorized none association", () => {
+  const d = applyDispatchPolicy(
+    buildRequestedRouteDecision("implement", "@sepo-agent /implement add foo"),
+    "issue",
+    "NONE",
+    parseAccessPolicy(""),
+    false,
+    true,
+  );
+  assert.equal(d.route, "unsupported");
+  assert.equal(d.needsApproval, false);
+  assert.match(d.summary, /implement requests currently require OWNER, MEMBER, COLLABORATOR, CONTRIBUTOR/);
+});
+
 test("applyDispatchPolicy dispatches fix-pr on PR without approval", () => {
   const d = applyDispatchPolicy(
     normalizeDispatch('{"route":"fix-pr","needs_approval":true,"summary":"fix"}'),
diff --git a/.agent/src/cli/extract-context.ts b/.agent/src/cli/extract-context.ts
index a40d3e86..59cc6f4e 100644
--- a/.agent/src/cli/extract-context.ts
+++ b/.agent/src/cli/extract-context.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { isKnownAuthorAssociation } from "../access-policy.js";
-import { ghApi, ghApiOk } from "../github.js";
+import { gh, ghApi, ghApiOk } from "../github.js";
 import { setOutput } from "../output.js";
 import {
   DEFAULT_MENTION,
@@ -42,11 +42,73 @@ const WEAK_ASSOCIATIONS_FOR_COLLABORATOR_FALLBACK = new Set([
   "FIRST_TIMER",
   "NONE",
 ]);
+const TRUSTED_REPOSITORY_PERMISSIONS = new Set([
+  "admin",
+  "maintain",
+  "write",
+  "triage",
+]);
+const ISSUE_ASSOCIATION_REFRESH_ATTEMPTS = 3;
+const ISSUE_ASSOCIATION_REFRESH_BACKOFF_MS = 100;
+const SLEEP_BUFFER = new Int32Array(new SharedArrayBuffer(4));
+
+interface RepositoryPermissionLookup {
+  login: string;
+  permission: string;
+  roleName: string;
+  allowed: boolean;
+  error: boolean;
+  skippedReason: string;
+}
+
+interface IssueAssociationLookup {
+  association: string;
+  error: boolean;
+}
 
 function normalizeAssociation(association: string): string {
   return String(association || "").trim().toUpperCase();
 }
 
+function isWeakMentionAssociation(association: string): boolean {
+  return WEAK_ASSOCIATIONS_FOR_COLLABORATOR_FALLBACK.has(normalizeAssociation(association));
+}
+
+function sleep(ms: number): void {
+  if (ms > 0) {
+    Atomics.wait(SLEEP_BUFFER, 0, 0, ms);
+  }
+}
+
+function logMentionAssociationDiagnostic(message: string): void {
+  console.log(`[extract-context] ${message}`);
+}
+
+function isTrustedRepositoryPermission(permission: string, roleName: string): boolean {
+  return TRUSTED_REPOSITORY_PERMISSIONS.has(permission) ||
+    TRUSTED_REPOSITORY_PERMISSIONS.has(roleName);
+}
+
+function parseRepositoryPermissionResponse(raw: string): { permission: string; roleName: string } {
+  const trimmed = String(raw || "").trim();
+  if (!trimmed) {
+    return { permission: "", roleName: "" };
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(trimmed) as { permission?: unknown; role_name?: unknown; roleName?: unknown };
+    return {
+      permission: String(parsed.permission || "").trim().toLowerCase(),
+      roleName: String(parsed.role_name || parsed.roleName || "").trim().toLowerCase(),
+    };
+  } catch {
+    return {
+      permission: trimmed.toLowerCase(),
+      roleName: "",
+    };
+  }
+}
+
 function hasOrgMembership(orgLogin: string, userLogin: string): boolean {
   const membershipState = ghApi([
     `orgs/${orgLogin}/memberships/${userLogin}`,
@@ -62,27 +124,48 @@ function hasOrgMembership(orgLogin: string, userLogin: string): boolean {
   return ghApiOk([`orgs/${orgLogin}/members/${userLogin}`]);
 }
 
-function hasRepositoryPermission(userLogin: string): boolean {
-  if (!repository || !userLogin) {
-    return false;
-  }
-
-  const permission = ghApi([
-    `repos/${repository}/collaborators/${userLogin}/permission`,
-    "--jq",
-    ".permission // .role_name // empty",
-  ]).toLowerCase();
-
-  return Boolean(permission) && permission !== "none";
-}
-
-function hasRepositoryCollaborator(userLogin: string): boolean {
+function getRepositoryPermission(userLogin: string): RepositoryPermissionLookup {
   const login = String(userLogin || "").trim();
   if (!repository || !login) {
-    return false;
+    return {
+      login,
+      permission: "",
+      roleName: "",
+      allowed: false,
+      error: false,
+      skippedReason: !repository ? "missing repository" : "missing login",
+    };
   }
 
-  return ghApiOk([`repos/${repository}/collaborators/${login}`]);
+  try {
+    const parsed = parseRepositoryPermissionResponse(gh([
+      "api",
+      `repos/${repository}/collaborators/${login}/permission`,
+      "--jq",
+      '{permission: (.permission // ""), role_name: (.role_name // "")}',
+    ]));
+    return {
+      login,
+      permission: parsed.permission,
+      roleName: parsed.roleName,
+      allowed: isTrustedRepositoryPermission(parsed.permission, parsed.roleName),
+      error: false,
+      skippedReason: "",
+    };
+  } catch {
+    return {
+      login,
+      permission: "",
+      roleName: "",
+      allowed: false,
+      error: true,
+      skippedReason: "",
+    };
+  }
+}
+
+function hasRepositoryPermission(userLogin: string): boolean {
+  return getRepositoryPermission(userLogin).allowed;
 }
 
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
@@ -114,7 +197,7 @@ function resolveLabelActorAssociation(payload: Record<string, any>): string {
   return "NONE";
 }
 
-function refreshIssueAssociation(
+function refreshIssueAssociationWithRetry(
   association: string,
   issueNumber: string,
 ): string {
@@ -126,38 +209,95 @@ function refreshIssueAssociation(
     return normalizeAssociation(association) || association;
   }
 
-  const refreshed = ghApi([
-    `repos/${repository}/issues/${issueNumber}`,
-    "--jq",
-    ".author_association // empty",
-  ]).toUpperCase();
-  return refreshed || normalizeAssociation(association) || association;
+  let resolved = normalizeAssociation(association) || association;
+  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= ISSUE_ASSOCIATION_REFRESH_ATTEMPTS; attempt += 1) {
+    const refreshed = getIssueAssociation(issueNumber);
+    logMentionAssociationDiagnostic(
+      `refreshed issue association attempt ${attempt}/${ISSUE_ASSOCIATION_REFRESH_ATTEMPTS}: ${refreshed.association || "empty"}${refreshed.error ? " error=true" : ""}`,
+    );
+
+    resolved = refreshed.association || resolved;
+    if (!isWeakMentionAssociation(resolved)) {
+      return resolved;
+    }
+
+    if (attempt < ISSUE_ASSOCIATION_REFRESH_ATTEMPTS) {
+      sleep(ISSUE_ASSOCIATION_REFRESH_BACKOFF_MS);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return resolved;
+}
+
+function getIssueAssociation(issueNumber: string): IssueAssociationLookup {
+  try {
+    return {
+      association: normalizeAssociation(gh([
+        "api",
+        `repos/${repository}/issues/${issueNumber}`,
+        "--jq",
+        ".author_association // empty",
+      ])),
+      error: false,
+    };
+  } catch {
+    return {
+      association: "",
+      error: true,
+    };
+  }
+}
+
+function describePermissionLookup(result: RepositoryPermissionLookup): string {
+  const parts = [
+    `login=${result.login || "empty"}`,
+    `permission=${result.permission || "empty"}`,
+    `role_name=${result.roleName || "empty"}`,
+    `allowed=${String(result.allowed)}`,
+  ];
+  if (result.error) {
+    parts.push("error=true");
+  }
+  if (result.skippedReason) {
+    parts.push(`skipped=${result.skippedReason}`);
+  }
+  return parts.join(" ");
 }
 
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
 function normalizeMentionAuthorAssociation(association: string, payload: Record<string, any>): string {
+  const rawAssociation = String(association || "").trim();
   const normalized = normalizeAssociation(association);
-  if (authorAssociationOverride || ASSOCIATIONS_TRUSTED_WITHOUT_REFRESH.has(normalized)) {
-    return normalized || association;
+  logMentionAssociationDiagnostic(`raw event association: ${rawAssociation || "empty"}`);
+
+  if (authorAssociationOverride || !isWeakMentionAssociation(normalized)) {
+    const finalAssociation = normalized || association;
+    logMentionAssociationDiagnostic(`final normalized association: ${finalAssociation || "empty"}`);
+    return finalAssociation;
   }
 
-  const resolved = refreshIssueAssociation(
+  const resolved = refreshIssueAssociationWithRetry(
     normalized || association,
     String(payload.issue?.number || ""),
   );
   const resolvedNormalized = normalizeAssociation(resolved);
   if (ASSOCIATIONS_TRUSTED_WITHOUT_REFRESH.has(resolvedNormalized)) {
+    logMentionAssociationDiagnostic(`final normalized association: ${resolvedNormalized}`);
     return resolvedNormalized;
   }
 
-  if (
-    WEAK_ASSOCIATIONS_FOR_COLLABORATOR_FALLBACK.has(resolvedNormalized) &&
-    hasRepositoryCollaborator(getRequestedBy(eventName, payload))
-  ) {
-    return "COLLABORATOR";
+  if (isWeakMentionAssociation(resolvedNormalized)) {
+    const permission = getRepositoryPermission(getRequestedBy(eventName, payload));
+    logMentionAssociationDiagnostic(`permission fallback result: ${describePermissionLookup(permission)}`);
+    if (permission.allowed) {
+      logMentionAssociationDiagnostic("final normalized association: COLLABORATOR");
+      return "COLLABORATOR";
+    }
   }
 
-  return resolvedNormalized || resolved;
+  const finalAssociation = resolvedNormalized || resolved;
+  logMentionAssociationDiagnostic(`final normalized association: ${finalAssociation || "empty"}`);
+  return finalAssociation;
 }
 
 if (!eventPath || !eventName) {