diff --git a/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-brain.yml b/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-brain.yml
index 88e2c9231dd..f938a10974f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-brain.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-brain.yml
@@ -194,12 +194,16 @@ jobs:
       - name: 'Generate Patch'
         if: "${{ github.event.inputs.enable_prs == 'true' || github.event_name == 'issue_comment' || github.event.inputs.run_interactive == 'true' }}"
         run: |
-          touch bot-changes.patch
+          rm -f bot-changes.patch bot-changes.approved
           touch pr-description.md
           if [ -f critique_result.txt ] && grep -q "\[APPROVED\]" critique_result.txt && ! grep -q "\[REJECTED\]" critique_result.txt; then
              git diff --staged > bot-changes.patch
+             if [ -s bot-changes.patch ]; then
+               echo "approved" > bot-changes.approved
+             fi
           else
              echo "Critique did not approve. Skipping patch generation."
+             rm -f bot-changes.patch pr-description.md branch-name.txt
           fi
 
       - name: 'Archive Brain Data'
@@ -210,6 +214,7 @@ jobs:
             tools/gemini-cli-bot/lessons-learned.md
             tools/gemini-cli-bot/history/*.csv
             bot-changes.patch
+            bot-changes.approved
             pr-description.md
             branch-name.txt
             pr-comment.md
@@ -275,7 +280,7 @@ jobs:
           GH_TOKEN: '${{ steps.generate_token.outputs.token }}'
           FALLBACK_PAT: '${{ secrets.GEMINI_CLI_ROBOT_GITHUB_PAT }}'
         run: |
-          if [ -s "${{ runner.temp }}/brain-data/bot-changes.patch" ]; then
+          if [ -s "${{ runner.temp }}/brain-data/bot-changes.patch" ] && [ -f "${{ runner.temp }}/brain-data/bot-changes.approved" ] && grep -qx "approved" "${{ runner.temp }}/brain-data/bot-changes.approved"; then
             git config user.name "gemini-cli[bot]"
             git config user.email "gemini-cli[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
             git remote set-url origin "https://x-access-token:${GH_TOKEN}@github.com/${{ github.repository }}.git"
diff --git a/scripts/tests/gemini-cli-bot-brain-workflow.test.ts b/scripts/tests/gemini-cli-bot-brain-workflow.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cb2783012c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/tests/gemini-cli-bot-brain-workflow.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import * as fs from 'node:fs';
+import * as os from 'node:os';
+import * as path from 'node:path';
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+const workflowPath = path.join(
+  process.cwd(),
+  '.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-brain.yml',
+);
+
+function extractGeneratePatchScript() {
+  const workflow = fs.readFileSync(workflowPath, 'utf8').replace(/\r\n/g, '\n');
+  const match = workflow.match(
+    /^[ ]{6}- name: 'Generate Patch'[\s\S]*?^[ ]{8}run: \|\n([\s\S]*?)\n\n^[ ]{6}- name: 'Archive Brain Data'/m,
+  );
+
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new Error('Could not find Generate Patch script');
+  }
+
+  return match[1]
+    .split('\n')
+    .map((line) => line.replace(/^[ ]{10}/, ''))
+    .join('\n');
+}
+
+function withTempGitRepo(callback: (dir: string) => void) {
+  const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gemini-bot-workflow-'));
+  try {
+    execFileSync('git', ['init', '--quiet'], { cwd: dir });
+    execFileSync('git', ['config', 'user.email', 'test@example.com'], {
+      cwd: dir,
+    });
+    execFileSync('git', ['config', 'user.name', 'Test User'], { cwd: dir });
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'README.md'), 'initial\n');
+    execFileSync('git', ['add', 'README.md'], { cwd: dir });
+    execFileSync('git', ['commit', '--quiet', '-m', 'initial'], { cwd: dir });
+    callback(dir);
+  } finally {
+    fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+}
+
+describe('gemini-cli bot brain workflow', () => {
+  it('removes stale patch artifacts when critique rejects changes', () => {
+    const script = extractGeneratePatchScript();
+
+    withTempGitRepo((dir) => {
+      fs.writeFileSync(
+        path.join(dir, 'bot-changes.patch'),
+        'diff --git a/README.md b/README.md\n',
+      );
+      fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'bot-changes.approved'), 'approved\n');
+      fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'pr-description.md'), 'stale title\n');
+      fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'branch-name.txt'), 'bot/stale\n');
+      fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'critique_result.txt'), '[REJECTED]\n');
+
+      execFileSync('bash', ['-c', script], { cwd: dir });
+
+      expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, 'bot-changes.patch'))).toBe(false);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, 'bot-changes.approved'))).toBe(false);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, 'pr-description.md'))).toBe(false);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, 'branch-name.txt'))).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('creates a publishable patch marker only after critique approves', () => {
+    const script = extractGeneratePatchScript();
+
+    withTempGitRepo((dir) => {
+      const readmePath = path.join(dir, 'README.md');
+      fs.writeFileSync(
+        readmePath,
+        `${fs.readFileSync(readmePath, 'utf8')}approved change\n`,
+      );
+      execFileSync('git', ['add', readmePath], { cwd: dir });
+      fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'critique_result.txt'), '[APPROVED]\n');
+
+      execFileSync('bash', ['-c', script], { cwd: dir });
+
+      expect(
+        fs.readFileSync(path.join(dir, 'bot-changes.patch'), 'utf8'),
+      ).toContain('approved change');
+      expect(
+        fs.readFileSync(path.join(dir, 'bot-changes.approved'), 'utf8'),
+      ).toBe('approved\n');
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('requires the approval marker before publishing patch artifacts', () => {
+    const workflow = fs
+      .readFileSync(workflowPath, 'utf8')
+      .replace(/\r\n/g, '\n');
+
+    expect(workflow).toContain('bot-changes.approved');
+    expect(workflow).toContain(
+      '[ -s "${{ runner.temp }}/brain-data/bot-changes.patch" ] && [ -f "${{ runner.temp }}/brain-data/bot-changes.approved" ] && grep -qx "approved" "${{ runner.temp }}/brain-data/bot-changes.approved"',
+    );
+  });
+});