diff --git a/src/queue/processors.ts b/src/queue/processors.ts
index f9b8a59fd3..c2a2342375 100644
--- a/src/queue/processors.ts
+++ b/src/queue/processors.ts
@@ -3087,6 +3087,7 @@ async function runAgentMaintenancePlanAndExecute(
       mergeBlockedSha: pr.mergeBlockedSha,
       approvedHeadSha: pr.approvedHeadSha,
       authorLogin: pr.authorLogin,
+      linkedIssues: pr.linkedIssues,
     },
   });
   // Accuracy circuit-breakers (#self-improve / GAP-4): two INDEPENDENT, fail-open precision breakers, chained.
diff --git a/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts b/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts
index 71fae8e225..9a26b02511 100644
--- a/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts
+++ b/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts
@@ -932,6 +932,17 @@ async function performAction(env: Env, ctx: AgentActionExecutionContext, action:
       const login = action.assignee ?? "";
       if (!login) return undefined;
       const result = await ensurePullRequestAssignee(env, ctx.installationId, ctx.repoFullName, ctx.pullNumber, login);
+      // Best-effort mirror the same assignment onto every linked issue (#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership):
+      // gittensor:priority propagation requires the PR author to be the linked issue's own author OR assignee,
+      // so without this a contributor who picks up a maintainer-authored issue can never actually satisfy that
+      // check (see maybePlanAssign's doc comment, agent-actions.ts). Independent per-issue call: one issue's
+      // write failing (permissions, deleted issue, rate limit) must not affect another issue's assignment or the
+      // PR-assign outcome already computed above.
+      await Promise.all(
+        (action.assignLinkedIssues ?? []).map((issueNumber) =>
+          ensurePullRequestAssignee(env, ctx.installationId, ctx.repoFullName, issueNumber, login).catch(() => undefined),
+        ),
+      );
       if (!result.applied) {
         // GitHub silently drops an assignee lacking push/triage access to the repo -- the common case for an
         // external contributor. Fall back to a per-login label instead of a comment: ensurePullRequestLabel's
@@ -959,6 +970,7 @@ export function actionParams(action: PlannedAgentAction): AgentPendingActionPara
     ...(action.reviewBody !== undefined ? { reviewBody: action.reviewBody } : {}),
     ...(action.mergeMethod !== undefined ? { mergeMethod: action.mergeMethod } : {}),
     ...(action.assignee !== undefined ? { assignee: action.assignee } : {}),
+    ...(action.assignLinkedIssues !== undefined ? { assignLinkedIssues: action.assignLinkedIssues } : {}),
     ...(action.closeComment !== undefined ? { closeComment: action.closeComment } : {}),
     ...(action.closeReasons !== undefined ? { closeReasons: [...boundStructuredCloseReasonsForPersistence(action.closeReasons)] } : {}),
     ...(action.expectedHeadSha !== undefined ? { expectedHeadSha: action.expectedHeadSha } : {}),
diff --git a/src/settings/agent-actions.ts b/src/settings/agent-actions.ts
index d9562b4b13..bb3bff3e6d 100644
--- a/src/settings/agent-actions.ts
+++ b/src/settings/agent-actions.ts
@@ -150,6 +150,12 @@ export type PlannedAgentAction = {
   // contributor. GitHub silently drops an assignee lacking push/triage access rather than erroring, so the
   // executor falls back to a per-login label when the real assignment doesn't stick.
   assignee?: string;
+  // For an `assign` action (#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership): the SAME login also best-effort-assigned to
+  // each of these linked issue numbers (already capped, see maybePlanAssign). Without this, a contributor is
+  // assigned to their own PR but never to the issue(s) it closes -- and gittensor:priority propagation
+  // (resolveIssueLabelsForPropagation, linked-issue-label-propagation-fetch.ts) requires the PR author to be the
+  // linked issue's own author OR assignee, which an issue-opened-for-open-pickup contributor otherwise never is.
+  assignLinkedIssues?: number[];
 };
 
 // Gate-blocker codes backed by CONCRETE, non-judgment evidence: a committed secret, a deterministic
@@ -381,6 +387,9 @@ export type AgentActionPlanInput = {
     // is harmless -- those all set `conclusion: "skipped"` or hit an earlier short-circuit `return`, so the
     // `assign` block below is unreachable from them regardless.
     authorLogin?: string | null | undefined;
+    // The PR's linked/closing issue numbers (#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership), threaded through ONLY for
+    // the `assign` disposition below -- same "harmless when absent" reasoning as authorLogin just above.
+    linkedIssues?: number[] | undefined;
   };
 };
 
@@ -549,21 +558,39 @@ function screenshotTableCloseMessage(reason: string): string {
   return `${reason} This is an automated maintenance action.`;
 }
 
+// Best-effort assign-to-linked-issue fan-out cap (#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership): a PR overwhelmingly
+// closes 1 (rarely 2-3) issues. `pr.linkedIssues` is already capped much higher (50, MAX_LINKED_ISSUE_NUMBERS)
+// for extraction/storage purposes only -- this narrower cap bounds the number of extra GitHub assignee-WRITE
+// calls the executor makes for one `assign` action.
+const ASSIGN_LINKED_ISSUES_MAX = 10;
+
 /**
  * Plan best-effort assignment of the PR's opening contributor (#3182), independent of merge/close/CI outcome.
  * MUST run before the CI-pending settle-before-decide return below (#assign-before-ci-pending) — a PR that has
  * already been reviewed/evaluated (conclusion isn't "skipped") should get an assignee for triage even while an
  * unrelated check is still pending; assign has no bearing on mergeability so it never needs CI to settle first.
  * Gated purely on its own `assign` autonomy class, same as every other independent action here.
+ *
+ * Also best-effort assigns the SAME contributor to the PR's own linked issues (#priority-linked-issue-gate-
+ * ownership), capped at ASSIGN_LINKED_ISSUES_MAX. Without this, gittensor:priority propagation could never fire
+ * in practice for a contributor's PR: resolveIssueLabelsForPropagation only unlocks that label when the PR
+ * author is the linked issue's own author OR a GitHub assignee of it, but our issues are almost always opened
+ * for open pickup and rarely formally assigned (see the propagation config's own comment in
+ * gittensory-repo-focus-manifest.ts) -- so before this, only the PR itself ever got an assignee, never the
+ * issue it closes.
  */
 function maybePlanAssign(actions: PlannedAgentAction[], input: AgentActionPlanInput): void {
   const level = resolveAutonomy(input.autonomy, "assign");
   if (!isActingAutonomyLevel(level) || !input.pr.authorLogin) return;
+  const linkedIssues = input.pr.linkedIssues;
   actions.push({
     actionClass: "assign",
     requiresApproval: autonomyRequiresApproval(level),
     reason: "auto-assign PR opener",
     assignee: input.pr.authorLogin,
+    ...(linkedIssues && linkedIssues.length > 0
+      ? { assignLinkedIssues: linkedIssues.slice(0, ASSIGN_LINKED_ISSUES_MAX) }
+      : {}),
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index f07e6cf820..d4c0ff1ca1 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -1253,6 +1253,9 @@ export type AgentPendingActionParams = {
   mergeMethod?: AutoMergeMethod;
   // For an `assign` action (#3182): the GitHub login to assign when a staged action is accepted.
   assignee?: string;
+  // For an `assign` action (#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership): the linked issue numbers to ALSO assign
+  // `assignee` to when a staged action is accepted (see PlannedAgentAction.assignLinkedIssues).
+  assignLinkedIssues?: number[];
   closeComment?: string;
   // Individual close reasons, persisted for approval-queue replay so the eventual audit row keeps the structured
   // reason list rather than only the flattened `reason` field.
diff --git a/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts b/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts
index 2eb28023fe..45fbd81ff0 100644
--- a/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts
@@ -144,6 +144,16 @@ describe("executeAgentMaintenanceActions (#778 gate stack)", () => {
     expect(replayed).toMatchObject({ actionClass: "assign", requiresApproval: false, reason: "auto-assign PR opener", assignee: "alice" });
   });
 
+  it("REGRESSION (#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership): actionParams round-trips assignLinkedIssues through approval replay", () => {
+    const assign: PlannedAgentAction = { actionClass: "assign", requiresApproval: true, reason: "auto-assign PR opener", assignee: "alice", assignLinkedIssues: [42, 43] };
+
+    const persisted = actionParams(assign);
+    const replayed = pendingActionToPlanned({ actionClass: "assign", params: persisted, reason: assign.reason });
+
+    expect(persisted).toEqual({ assignee: "alice", assignLinkedIssues: [42, 43] });
+    expect(replayed).toMatchObject({ actionClass: "assign", requiresApproval: false, reason: "auto-assign PR opener", assignee: "alice", assignLinkedIssues: [42, 43] });
+  });
+
   it("actionParams round-trips structured closeReasons so approval replay preserves every close cause", () => {
     const closeWithReasons: PlannedAgentAction = {
       actionClass: "close",
@@ -854,6 +864,37 @@ describe("executeAgentMaintenanceActions (#778 gate stack)", () => {
     expect(audit?.detail).toBe("assignee refused by GitHub — fell back to a by:external-contributor label");
   });
 
+  it("LIVE assign (#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership): also assigns the PR's linked issues, not just the PR itself", async () => {
+    const env = createTestEnv({});
+    const assign: PlannedAgentAction = { actionClass: "assign", requiresApproval: false, reason: "auto-assign PR opener", assignee: "alice", assignLinkedIssues: [42, 43] };
+    const outcomes = await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ autonomy: { assign: "auto" } }), [assign]);
+    expect(ensurePullRequestAssignee).toHaveBeenCalledWith(env, 123, "owner/repo", 7, "alice"); // the PR itself
+    expect(ensurePullRequestAssignee).toHaveBeenCalledWith(env, 123, "owner/repo", 42, "alice"); // linked issue #42
+    expect(ensurePullRequestAssignee).toHaveBeenCalledWith(env, 123, "owner/repo", 43, "alice"); // linked issue #43
+    expect(ensurePullRequestAssignee).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
+    expect(outcomes[0]?.outcome).toBe("completed");
+  });
+
+  it("LIVE assign: a linked issue's assignment failing does not affect the PR-assign outcome or the other linked issue", async () => {
+    const env = createTestEnv({});
+    vi.mocked(ensurePullRequestAssignee).mockImplementation(async (_env, _installationId, _repoFullName, issueOrPrNumber) => {
+      if (issueOrPrNumber === 42) throw new Error("boom");
+      return { applied: true };
+    });
+    const assign: PlannedAgentAction = { actionClass: "assign", requiresApproval: false, reason: "auto-assign PR opener", assignee: "alice", assignLinkedIssues: [42, 43] };
+    const outcomes = await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ autonomy: { assign: "auto" } }), [assign]);
+    expect(outcomes[0]?.outcome).toBe("completed");
+    expect(ensurePullRequestAssignee).toHaveBeenCalledWith(env, 123, "owner/repo", 7, "alice");
+    expect(ensurePullRequestAssignee).toHaveBeenCalledWith(env, 123, "owner/repo", 43, "alice");
+  });
+
+  it("LIVE assign: no linkedIssues means no extra assignee calls beyond the PR itself", async () => {
+    const env = createTestEnv({});
+    const assign: PlannedAgentAction = { actionClass: "assign", requiresApproval: false, reason: "auto-assign PR opener", assignee: "alice" };
+    await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ autonomy: { assign: "auto" } }), [assign]);
+    expect(ensurePullRequestAssignee).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
   it("assign with no login is a no-op (defensive — the planner always sets it, but the executor must not call GitHub with an empty login)", async () => {
     const env = createTestEnv({});
     const assign: PlannedAgentAction = { actionClass: "assign", requiresApproval: false, reason: "auto-assign PR opener" };
diff --git a/test/unit/agent-actions.test.ts b/test/unit/agent-actions.test.ts
index 9d19aedac3..9eb4da7d89 100644
--- a/test/unit/agent-actions.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/agent-actions.test.ts
@@ -1370,6 +1370,32 @@ describe("assign — auto-assign PR opener (#3182)", () => {
     expect(classes(plan)).not.toContain("assign");
     expect(classes(plan)).toContain("close");
   });
+
+  describe("#priority-linked-issue-gate-ownership: also assigns the PR's linked issues", () => {
+    it("threads linkedIssues into assignLinkedIssues when present", () => {
+      const plan = planAgentMaintenanceActions(input({ conclusion: "success", autonomy: { assign: "auto" }, pr: { labels: [], authorLogin: "alice", linkedIssues: [42, 43] } }));
+      expect(plan).toContainEqual(expect.objectContaining({ actionClass: "assign", assignee: "alice", assignLinkedIssues: [42, 43] }));
+    });
+
+    it("omits assignLinkedIssues when linkedIssues is absent", () => {
+      const plan = planAgentMaintenanceActions(input({ conclusion: "success", autonomy: { assign: "auto" }, pr: { labels: [], authorLogin: "alice" } }));
+      const assign = plan.find((a) => a.actionClass === "assign");
+      expect(assign).not.toHaveProperty("assignLinkedIssues");
+    });
+
+    it("omits assignLinkedIssues when linkedIssues is an empty array", () => {
+      const plan = planAgentMaintenanceActions(input({ conclusion: "success", autonomy: { assign: "auto" }, pr: { labels: [], authorLogin: "alice", linkedIssues: [] } }));
+      const assign = plan.find((a) => a.actionClass === "assign");
+      expect(assign).not.toHaveProperty("assignLinkedIssues");
+    });
+
+    it("caps assignLinkedIssues at ASSIGN_LINKED_ISSUES_MAX (10) — a PR cannot fan out unbounded assignee writes", () => {
+      const linkedIssues = Array.from({ length: 15 }, (_, i) => i + 1);
+      const plan = planAgentMaintenanceActions(input({ conclusion: "success", autonomy: { assign: "auto" }, pr: { labels: [], authorLogin: "alice", linkedIssues } }));
+      const assign = plan.find((a) => a.actionClass === "assign");
+      expect(assign?.assignLinkedIssues).toEqual([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]);
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe("isProtectedAutomationAuthor", () => {