diff --git a/docs/review/calibration-2026-08.md b/docs/review/calibration-2026-08.md
index 2c220f7..7511e80 100644
--- a/docs/review/calibration-2026-08.md
+++ b/docs/review/calibration-2026-08.md
@@ -244,8 +244,28 @@ Observed on PR #14 across four heads:
 | `be2e965` (merged head) | — | **0** | 8/8 pass | 0 |
 
 The same `statusCheck: true` in `.greptile/config.json` kept producing the check on
-`workspacejson/standard` across PRs #34, #35 and #36 throughout the same window. The
-configuration is not missing; emission on this repository is not dependable.
+`workspacejson/standard` across PRs #34, #35 and #36 throughout the same window, so
+the configuration was never the problem.
+
+**Root cause, established 2026-08-13 — this is not repository-specific.** The
+Greptile trial account reached its credit limit. In place of a review it posts:
+
+> `qmarcelle` has reached the 50-credit limit for trial accounts. To continue
+> receiving code reviews, [upgrade your plan](https://app.greptile.com/review/github).
+
+and emits **no check run**. That is why the check fired on `integrations` #10 and
+#13 and then stopped: the credits ran out between them and #14, not the app's
+emission becoming unreliable on this repository.
+
+The prediction that follows was confirmed the same day. `workspacejson/standard`
+kept working only until its own next pull request — on #37 Greptile reviewed the
+exact head `4f9e8f6f` and emitted **zero** check runs, where #34, #35 and #36 each
+produced exactly one. `standard` hit the identical deadlock and its requirement was
+withdrawn the same way; see that repository's `docs/repository-settings.md`.
+
+An earlier revision of this section read "emission on this repository is not
+dependable." That was accurate about the symptom and wrong about the cause, and the
+difference matters: a flaky app is waited out, an exhausted trial is topped up.
 
 **What this says about the calibration.** The seven criteria were the right bar and
 were honestly observed — the defect was caught, the revert was clean, the check was
diff --git a/docs/review/merge-policy.md b/docs/review/merge-policy.md
index 9608d00..7dd4a2b 100644
--- a/docs/review/merge-policy.md
+++ b/docs/review/merge-policy.md
@@ -251,8 +251,17 @@ requirement could not survive.
 
 The same `statusCheck: true` in `.greptile/config.json` continued to produce the
 check on `workspacejson/standard` throughout, so this was not a missing config
-value. The mechanism is real; its emission on this repository is not currently
-dependable.
+value.
+
+**The cause is the Greptile trial credit limit, not this repository.** Established
+2026-08-13: the account has reached its 50-credit trial limit, after which Greptile
+posts a credit-limit notice in place of a review and emits no check run.
+`workspacejson/standard` kept working only until its own next pull request — #37
+reviewed head `4f9e8f6f` and emitted zero check runs, against exactly one each on
+#34, #35 and #36 — and its requirement was withdrawn the same way. Details in
+[`calibration-2026-08.md`](calibration-2026-08.md).
+
+Restoring the signal is therefore a billing action, not a debugging one.
 
 **Change applied 2026-08-13**, measured before and after against the API: