diff --git a/.gitea/scripts/audit-force-merge.sh b/.gitea/scripts/audit-force-merge.sh
index 10ee9e6bf..0c115720c 100755
--- a/.gitea/scripts/audit-force-merge.sh
+++ b/.gitea/scripts/audit-force-merge.sh
@@ -18,15 +18,24 @@
 # per §SOP-6 security model). No-op when merged=false.
 #
 # Required env (set by the workflow):
-#   GITEA_TOKEN, GITEA_HOST, REPO, PR_NUMBER, REQUIRED_CHECKS
+#   GITEA_TOKEN, GITEA_HOST, REPO, PR_NUMBER
+#   plus one of REQUIRED_CHECKS_JSON (preferred) or REQUIRED_CHECKS (legacy)
 #
-# REQUIRED_CHECKS is a newline-separated list of status-check context
-# names that branch protection requires. Declared in the workflow YAML
-# rather than fetched from /branch_protections (which needs admin
-# scope — sop-tier-bot has read-only). Trade dynamism for simplicity:
-# when the required-check set changes, update both branch protection
-# AND this env. Keeping them in sync is less complexity than granting
-# the audit bot admin perms on every repo.
+# REQUIRED_CHECKS_JSON is a JSON object keyed by branch name. Each value
+# is an array of status-check context names that branch protection
+# requires for that branch. The script looks up the PR's base branch and
+# evaluates only the checks declared for that branch.
+#
+#   {"main": ["CI / all-required (pull_request)", ...],
+#    "staging": ["CI / all-required (pull_request)", ...]}
+#
+# REQUIRED_CHECKS (legacy) is a newline-separated list used when the
+# JSON variable is not set. Declared in the workflow YAML rather than
+# fetched from /branch_protections (which needs admin scope — sop-tier-bot
+# has read-only). Trade dynamism for simplicity: when the required-check
+# set changes, update both branch protection AND this env. Keeping them
+# in sync is less complexity than granting the audit bot admin perms on
+# every repo.
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
@@ -34,7 +43,10 @@ set -euo pipefail
 : "${GITEA_HOST:?required}"
 : "${REPO:?required}"
 : "${PR_NUMBER:?required}"
-: "${REQUIRED_CHECKS:?required (newline-separated context names)}"
+if [ -z "${REQUIRED_CHECKS_JSON:-}" ] && [ -z "${REQUIRED_CHECKS:-}" ]; then
+  echo "::error::Either REQUIRED_CHECKS_JSON or REQUIRED_CHECKS must be set"
+  exit 1
+fi
 
 OWNER="${REPO%%/*}"
 NAME="${REPO##*/}"
@@ -65,10 +77,14 @@ if [ -z "$MERGE_SHA" ]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-# 2. Required status checks declared in the workflow env.
-REQUIRED="$REQUIRED_CHECKS"
+# 2. Required status checks — branch-aware JSON dict takes precedence.
+if [ -n "${REQUIRED_CHECKS_JSON:-}" ]; then
+  REQUIRED=$(echo "$REQUIRED_CHECKS_JSON" | jq -r --arg branch "$BASE_BRANCH" '.[$branch] // [] | .[]')
+else
+  REQUIRED="$REQUIRED_CHECKS"
+fi
 if [ -z "${REQUIRED//[[:space:]]/}" ]; then
-  echo "::notice::REQUIRED_CHECKS empty — force-merge not applicable."
+  echo "::notice::REQUIRED_CHECKS empty for branch '$BASE_BRANCH' — force-merge not applicable."
   exit 0
 fi
 
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/audit-force-merge.yml b/.gitea/workflows/audit-force-merge.yml
index 899198275..00c47312f 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/audit-force-merge.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/audit-force-merge.yml
@@ -47,13 +47,25 @@ jobs:
           REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
           PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
           # Required-status-check contexts to evaluate at merge time.
-          # Newline-separated. Mirror this against branch protection
-          # (settings → branches → protected branch → required checks).
+          # Branch-aware JSON dict: keys are protected branch names,
+          # values are arrays of context names that branch protection
+          # requires for that branch. Mirror this against branch
+          # protection (settings → branches → protected branch →
+          # required checks) for each branch listed here.
+          #
           # Declared here rather than fetched from /branch_protections
           # because that endpoint requires admin write — sop-tier-bot is
           # read-only by design (least-privilege).
-          REQUIRED_CHECKS: |
-            CI / all-required (pull_request)
-            E2E API Smoke Test / E2E API Smoke Test (pull_request)
-            Handlers Postgres Integration / Handlers Postgres Integration (pull_request)
+          REQUIRED_CHECKS_JSON: |
+            {
+              "main": [
+                "CI / all-required (pull_request)",
+                "E2E API Smoke Test / E2E API Smoke Test (pull_request)",
+                "Handlers Postgres Integration / Handlers Postgres Integration (pull_request)"
+              ],
+              "staging": [
+                "CI / all-required (pull_request)",
+                "sop-checklist / all-items-acked (pull_request)"
+              ]
+            }
         run: bash .gitea/scripts/audit-force-merge.sh