diff --git a/docs/pyautobrain/spawn_spec.md b/docs/pyautobrain/spawn_spec.md
index 0393f780e..33c580bd4 100644
--- a/docs/pyautobrain/spawn_spec.md
+++ b/docs/pyautobrain/spawn_spec.md
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ not. A new organism adopts delivery deliberately after configuring its manifest.
 | 5 | `index.md` | SUBSTITUTE → skeleton: intro line + a table with the single `wiki/example/` row + "add sub-wikis following the same schema" |
 | 6 | `reading-queue.md` | EMPTY → header + section-format comment |
 | 7 | `README.md` | GENERATE → a template README asset held inside spawn (text surgery on the live README is brittle across edits; the asset keeps `--check` round-trips stable) |
-| 8 | `.github/workflows/validate.yml` | KEEP with owner substitution — self-contained (no schedule, no secrets, no sibling repos), so it clears the fresh-repo invariant. `.github/workflows/knowledge_board.yml` | DROP — it needs a GitHub Pages site the default token cannot create on a fresh repo, plus a schedule; `scripts/board.py` itself ships via rule 1, so an adopter re-adds the publisher deliberately. `.github/workflows/queue_actions.yml` | DROP — it mutates the instance reading queue from `queue-read` issues and needs the repo's labels; `scripts/queue_mark_done.py` ships via rule 1, so an adopter re-adds the processor deliberately. `.github/workflows/queue_filing.yml` | DROP — the claude-action filing workflow needs the instance's Claude OAuth secret, labels and reading queue. `.github/workflows/arxiv_refs.yml` and `.github/workflows/queue_sweep.yml` | DROP — both run on a schedule (`queue_sweep.yml` also dispatches its queue siblings with `actions: write`), which breaks the fresh-repo invariant; their scripts ship via rule 1. As in the Mind table's rule 9d there is **no `.github/**` catch-all**: a new Memory workflow is UNMATCHED and needs an explicit decision. `logo.png` (instance branding) | DROP. The old legacy-family DROP rules (root `*.bib`, PDFs, `CTI/` etc.) are retired — those files are gone from the live repo and PyAutoMemory's structure lint (`make validate-structure`, in CI) prevents their return at the source |
+| 8 | `.github/workflows/validate.yml` | GENERATE a standalone content-validation workflow: check out only this repo, run `make validate`, report wikilinks, and run the three `test_validate_*` suites. The live workflow also runs board tests and checks out Brain for its theme; copying it with owner substitution produces an unusable `YOURORG/PyAutoBrain` dependency. The template retains content CI without requiring siblings or configured secrets; full board tests remain an adopter integration check once Brain is installed. `.github/workflows/knowledge_board.yml` | DROP — it needs a GitHub Pages site the default token cannot create on a fresh repo, plus a schedule; `scripts/board.py` itself ships via rule 1, so an adopter re-adds the publisher deliberately. `.github/workflows/queue_actions.yml` | DROP — it mutates the instance reading queue from `queue-read` issues and needs the repo's labels; `scripts/queue_mark_done.py` ships via rule 1, so an adopter re-adds the processor deliberately. `.github/workflows/queue_filing.yml` | DROP — the claude-action filing workflow needs the instance's Claude OAuth secret, labels and reading queue. `.github/workflows/arxiv_refs.yml` and `.github/workflows/queue_sweep.yml` | DROP — both run on a schedule (`queue_sweep.yml` also dispatches its queue siblings with `actions: write`), which breaks the fresh-repo invariant; their scripts ship via rule 1. As in the Mind table's rule 9d there is **no `.github/**` catch-all**: a new Memory workflow is UNMATCHED and needs an explicit decision. `logo.png` (instance branding) | DROP. The old legacy-family DROP rules (root `*.bib`, PDFs, `CTI/` etc.) are retired — those files are gone from the live repo and PyAutoMemory's structure lint (`make validate-structure`, in CI) prevents their return at the source |
 | 10 | `.claude/**`, `.codex/**` | DROP — installed hook copies and agent-discovery symlinks (recreated by the PyAutoBrain installer and session-hook propagation), not source content; mirrors the Mind table's rule 10 |
 
 **Fresh-repo invariant (hard rule, rule 9):** no workflow shipped into a
diff --git a/scripts/spawn.py b/scripts/spawn.py
index 5abedfd9c..9af164757 100644
--- a/scripts/spawn.py
+++ b/scripts/spawn.py
@@ -255,11 +255,10 @@
     # The canary scan still grades every kept file (PyAutoMind#484).
     ("skills/*", "KEEP"),
     ("bibliography/*", "EMPTY"),
-    # Same fail-closed discipline as MIND_RULES (spec rule 9d). validate.yml is
-    # self-contained — no schedule, no secrets, no sibling repos — so it clears
-    # the fresh-repo invariant and ships. No catch-all: a new Memory workflow is
-    # UNMATCHED and gets an explicit decision.
-    (".github/workflows/validate.yml", "KEEP_SUB"),
+    # Memory rule 8: the live full-suite workflow needs Brain's board theme.
+    # Generate standalone content validation instead of copying that sibling
+    # checkout into a fresh repo. New workflows still fail closed as UNMATCHED.
+    (".github/workflows/validate.yml", "SPECIAL:memory_validate"),
     # DROP: the knowledge-board publisher needs a GitHub Pages site the default
     # token cannot create on a fresh repo (the Hands lesson) and a schedule —
     # both break the fresh-repo invariant. scripts/board.py itself SHIPS via
@@ -446,6 +445,41 @@
   #   category: assistant
 """
 
+MEMORY_VALIDATE_TEMPLATE = """\
+# Generated by spawn.py: content validation needs no sibling repositories.
+# Full board tests require an adopted Brain checkout and are not run here.
+name: validate
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+  pull_request:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.12"
+      - run: pip install pytest
+      - run: make validate
+      - name: Wikilink report
+        if: always()
+        run: python scripts/validate_wikilinks.py --list
+      - name: Content validator tests
+        run: >-
+          python -m pytest -q
+          tests/test_validate_literature_citations.py
+          tests/test_validate_structure.py
+          tests/test_validate_wikilinks.py
+"""
+
+
 MEMORY_INDEX_TEMPLATE = """\
 # PyAutoMemory — index
 
@@ -854,6 +888,8 @@ def generate_memory(memory_root, out_dir):
             dest.write_text(substitute_owner(src.read_text(errors="replace")))
         elif action == "EMPTY":
             dest.write_text(empty_body(src, rel))
+        elif action == "SPECIAL:memory_validate":
+            dest.write_text(MEMORY_VALIDATE_TEMPLATE)
         elif action == "SPECIAL:memory_index":
             dest.write_text(MEMORY_INDEX_TEMPLATE)
         elif action == "SPECIAL:memory_readme":
diff --git a/tests/test_spawn_template_contract.py b/tests/test_spawn_template_contract.py
index 9030b2a4c..366d374f6 100644
--- a/tests/test_spawn_template_contract.py
+++ b/tests/test_spawn_template_contract.py
@@ -305,6 +305,51 @@ def test_memory_github_is_also_fail_closed(tmp_path):
     assert (out / ".github" / "workflows" / "validate.yml").exists()
 
 
+def test_memory_validation_is_standalone_even_when_live_ci_needs_brain(tmp_path):
+    """The live board suite must not impose a sibling on a fresh template."""
+    mem = tmp_path / "PyAutoMemory"
+    files = dict(MINIMAL_MEMORY)
+    files[".github/workflows/validate.yml"] = """\
+name: validate
+on: [push, pull_request]
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: YOURORG/PyAutoBrain
+          path: PyAutoBrain
+      - run: make validate
+      - run: make test
+"""
+    _fake_repo(mem, files)
+    out = tmp_path / "out"
+    assert spawn.generate_memory(mem, out) == []
+    text = (out / ".github/workflows/validate.yml").read_text()
+    workflow = yaml.safe_load(text)
+    triggers = workflow.get("on", workflow.get(True))
+    assert set(triggers) == {"push", "pull_request"}
+    assert workflow["permissions"] == {"contents": "read"}
+    assert "secrets." not in text
+    steps = workflow["jobs"]["validate"]["steps"]
+    checkouts = [s for s in steps if s.get("uses", "").startswith("actions/checkout@")]
+    assert len(checkouts) == 1
+    assert "repository" not in checkouts[0].get("with", {})
+    commands = [s["run"] for s in steps if "run" in s]
+    assert "make validate" in commands
+    assert "python scripts/validate_wikilinks.py --list" in commands
+    test_cmd = next(s["run"] for s in steps if s.get("name") == "Content validator tests")
+    assert test_cmd.split() == [
+        "python", "-m", "pytest", "-q",
+        "tests/test_validate_literature_citations.py",
+        "tests/test_validate_structure.py",
+        "tests/test_validate_wikilinks.py",
+    ]
+    assert "make test" not in commands
+
+
 def test_spawn_stamps_the_templates_complete_index(tmp_path):
     """spawn must run the GENERATED tree's own lifecycle.py, not the live one."""
     mind = tmp_path / "PyAutoMind"