feat: [QA][POLICY] Branch Protection + Mandatory Review Policy for All Repos (#918)

Refs #918
Agent: groq

.github/CODEOWNERS

@@ -14,3 +14,19 @@ timmy-config/ @perplexity
 
 # Owner gates
 hermes-agent/ @Timmy
+# CODEOWNERS - Mandatory Review Policy
+
+# Default reviewer for all repositories
+* @perplexity
+
+# Specialized component owners
+hermes-agent/ @Timmy
+hermes-agent/agent-core/ @Rockachopa
+hermes-agent/protocol/ @Timmy
+the-nexus/ @perplexity
+the-nexus/ai/ @Timmy
+timmy-home/ @perplexity
+timmy-config/ @perplexity
+
+# Owner gates
+hermes-agent/ @Timmy

.github/pull_request_template.md

@@ -48,3 +48,18 @@ Briefly describe the changes in this PR.
 ## Specialized Owners
 - [ ] @Rockachopa (for agent-core)
 - [ ] @Timmy (for ai/)
+## Pull Request Template
+
+### Summary
+- [ ] Describe the change
+- [ ] Link to related issue (e.g. `Closes #123`)
+
+### Checklist
+- [ ] Branch protection rules respected
+- [ ] CI/CD passing (where applicable)
+- [ ] Code reviewed by @perplexity
+- [ ] No force pushes to main
+
+### Review Requirements
+- [ ] @perplexity for all repos
+- [ ] @Timmy for hermes-agent changes