diff --git a/src/orb/apr-repo-transfer.ts b/src/orb/apr-repo-transfer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef5f97ceb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/orb/apr-repo-transfer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// APR (auto-provisioned repo) transfer-to-customer initiation (#7638, decision #7590). An APR repo is created
+// under a loopover-controlled GitHub org (#7637) and can later be transferred, on explicit customer request, to
+// the customer's own account via GitHub's standard repository-transfer flow.
+//
+// This module owns ONLY the initiation call. Detecting when a pending transfer is accepted or expires, any
+// customer-facing UI, and the policy of *when* a transfer should be offered are deliberately out of scope
+// (separate follow-ons per #7638). No provisioning or repo-creation logic lives here.
+
+import { createInstallationToken } from "../github/app";
+import { githubHeaders, timeoutFetch } from "../github/client";
+// `Env` is the ambient Cloudflare Worker binding interface (worker-configuration.d.ts) — a global, not imported.
+
+/**
+ * Result of initiating an APR repo transfer.
+ *
+ * IMPORTANT: `initiated: true` means GitHub ACCEPTED the transfer request, NOT that the transfer is complete.
+ * GitHub's transfer flow is asynchronous and acceptance-gated — the recipient must accept via a confirmation
+ * email within a time window — so the repo does not actually move when this call returns. Anything built on top
+ * of this must treat a successful result as "transfer pending", never "transfer done".
+ */
+export type AprRepoTransferResult =
+  | { initiated: true; status: number; newFullName: string | null }
+  | { initiated: false; status: number; error: string };
+
+/**
+ * Initiate a transfer of `repoFullName` (a loopover-org APR repo, `owner/name`) to the GitHub account `newOwner`,
+ * using the App installation token — the same token source as APR repo creation (#7637).
+ *
+ * Calls GitHub's `POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/transfer` with `new_owner`. Returns the initiation outcome WITHOUT
+ * throwing on an API error (a non-existent target account, or missing admin access to the repo, come back as a
+ * structured `{ initiated: false }` result), so callers get a total function they can branch on. A successful
+ * result models the transfer as INITIATED, not complete — see {@link AprRepoTransferResult}.
+ */
+export async function initiateAprRepoTransfer(
+  env: Env,
+  installationId: number,
+  repoFullName: string,
+  newOwner: string,
+): Promise<AprRepoTransferResult> {
+  const token = await createInstallationToken(env, installationId);
+  const response = await timeoutFetch(`https://api.github.com/repos/${repoFullName}/transfer`, {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: githubHeaders({ token, json: true }),
+    body: JSON.stringify({ new_owner: newOwner }),
+  });
+  if (!response.ok) {
+    const detail = await response.text().catch(() => "");
+    return { initiated: false, status: response.status, error: detail.slice(0, 200) || `transfer request failed (${response.status})` };
+  }
+  // GitHub returns 202 Accepted with the repository object; `full_name` reflects the pending destination path.
+  const payload = (await response.json().catch(() => null)) as { full_name?: string } | null;
+  return { initiated: true, status: response.status, newFullName: payload?.full_name ?? null };
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/orb-apr-repo-transfer.test.ts b/test/unit/orb-apr-repo-transfer.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8ec85d6059
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/orb-apr-repo-transfer.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import { createInstallationToken } from "../../src/github/app";
+import { initiateAprRepoTransfer } from "../../src/orb/apr-repo-transfer";
+import { createTestEnv } from "../helpers/d1";
+
+// The transfer initiation mints an App installation token. Mock that mint to return a plain opaque token string
+// — NEVER a PEM/private-key block. A prior attempt at this issue was auto-closed by the secret scanner for a
+// key-shaped fixture in the diff; the token is opaque to this module, so a bare string is a faithful stand-in.
+vi.mock("../../src/github/app", async (importOriginal) => ({
+  ...(await importOriginal<typeof import("../../src/github/app")>()),
+  createInstallationToken: vi.fn(),
+}));
+const mockedToken = vi.mocked(createInstallationToken);
+
+/** Capture the outbound request so we can assert the endpoint, method, auth, and body. */
+function stubFetch(handler: (url: string, init: RequestInit) => Response): void {
+  vi.stubGlobal("fetch", async (input: RequestInfo | URL, init?: RequestInit) => handler(String(input), init ?? {}));
+}
+
+describe("initiateAprRepoTransfer (#7638)", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    mockedToken.mockReset();
+    mockedToken.mockResolvedValue("ghs_installation_token");
+  });
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+  });
+
+  it("POSTs to the transfer endpoint with new_owner and the installation token, returning the pending destination", async () => {
+    let seenUrl = "";
+    let seenInit: RequestInit = {};
+    stubFetch((url, init) => {
+      seenUrl = url;
+      seenInit = init;
+      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ full_name: "customer-acct/widgets" }), { status: 202 });
+    });
+
+    const env = createTestEnv();
+    const result = await initiateAprRepoTransfer(env, 4242, "loopover-repos/widgets", "customer-acct");
+
+    expect(mockedToken).toHaveBeenCalledWith(env, 4242);
+    expect(seenUrl).toBe("https://api.github.com/repos/loopover-repos/widgets/transfer");
+    expect(seenInit.method).toBe("POST");
+    expect((seenInit.headers as Record<string, string>).authorization).toBe("Bearer ghs_installation_token");
+    expect(JSON.parse(String(seenInit.body))).toEqual({ new_owner: "customer-acct" });
+    expect(result).toEqual({ initiated: true, status: 202, newFullName: "customer-acct/widgets" });
+  });
+
+  it("models a successful response with no repo body as initiated with an unknown destination", async () => {
+    stubFetch(() => new Response("", { status: 202 }));
+    const result = await initiateAprRepoTransfer(createTestEnv(), 1, "loopover-repos/widgets", "customer-acct");
+    // A 202 with an unparseable/empty body still means "initiated" — the destination path is simply not known yet.
+    expect(result).toEqual({ initiated: true, status: 202, newFullName: null });
+  });
+
+  it("treats a 2xx body that omits full_name as initiated with a null destination", async () => {
+    stubFetch(() => new Response(JSON.stringify({ id: 99 }), { status: 202 }));
+    const result = await initiateAprRepoTransfer(createTestEnv(), 1, "loopover-repos/widgets", "customer-acct");
+    expect(result).toEqual({ initiated: true, status: 202, newFullName: null });
+  });
+
+  it("returns a structured error (never throws) when the target account does not exist (422)", async () => {
+    stubFetch(() => new Response(JSON.stringify({ message: "Could not resolve to a User with the login of 'ghost'." }), { status: 422 }));
+    const result = await initiateAprRepoTransfer(createTestEnv(), 1, "loopover-repos/widgets", "ghost");
+    expect(result.initiated).toBe(false);
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ initiated: false, status: 422 });
+    if (!result.initiated) expect(result.error).toContain("Could not resolve");
+  });
+
+  it("returns a structured error when the caller lacks admin access (403), with a fallback message on an empty body", async () => {
+    stubFetch(() => new Response("", { status: 403 }));
+    const result = await initiateAprRepoTransfer(createTestEnv(), 1, "loopover-repos/widgets", "customer-acct");
+    expect(result).toEqual({ initiated: false, status: 403, error: "transfer request failed (403)" });
+  });
+});