diff --git a/.githooks/stale-pr-closer.sh b/.githooks/stale-pr-closer.sh
new file mode 100755
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+++ b/.githooks/stale-pr-closer.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+# stale-pr-closer.sh — Auto-close conflicted PRs superseded by
+# already-merged work.
+#
+# Designed for cron on Hermes:
+#   0 */6 * * * /path/to/the-nexus/.githooks/stale-pr-closer.sh
+#
+# Closes #1250 (parent epic #1248)
+# ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# ─── Configuration ──────────────────────────────────────────
+GITEA_URL="${GITEA_URL:-https://forge.alexanderwhitestone.com}"
+GITEA_TOKEN="${GITEA_TOKEN:?Set GITEA_TOKEN env var}"
+REPO="${REPO:-Timmy_Foundation/the-nexus}"
+GRACE_HOURS="${GRACE_HOURS:-24}"
+DRY_RUN="${DRY_RUN:-false}"
+
+API="$GITEA_URL/api/v1"
+AUTH="Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN"
+
+log() { echo "[$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)] $*"; }
+
+# ─── Fetch open PRs ────────────────────────────────────────
+log "Checking open PRs for $REPO (grace period: ${GRACE_HOURS}h, dry_run: $DRY_RUN)"
+
+OPEN_PRS=$(curl -s -H "$AUTH" "$API/repos/$REPO/pulls?state=open&limit=50")
+PR_COUNT=$(echo "$OPEN_PRS" | python3 -c "import json,sys; print(len(json.loads(sys.stdin.read())))")
+
+if [ "$PR_COUNT" = "0" ]; then
+    log "No open PRs. Done."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+log "Found $PR_COUNT open PR(s)"
+
+# ─── Fetch recently merged PRs (for supersession check) ────
+MERGED_PRS=$(curl -s -H "$AUTH" "$API/repos/$REPO/pulls?state=closed&limit=100&sort=updated&direction=desc")
+
+# ─── Process each open PR ──────────────────────────────────
+echo "$OPEN_PRS" | python3 -c "
+import json, sys, re
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+
+grace_hours = int('$GRACE_HOURS')
+dry_run = '$DRY_RUN' == 'true'
+api = '$API'
+repo = '$REPO'
+
+open_prs = json.loads(sys.stdin.read())
+
+# Read merged PRs from file we'll pipe separately
+# (We handle this in the shell wrapper below)
+" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+# Use Python for the complex logic
+python3 << 'PYEOF'
+import json, sys, os, re, subprocess
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+
+GITEA_URL = os.environ.get("GITEA_URL", "https://forge.alexanderwhitestone.com")
+GITEA_TOKEN = os.environ["GITEA_TOKEN"]
+REPO = os.environ.get("REPO", "Timmy_Foundation/the-nexus")
+GRACE_HOURS = int(os.environ.get("GRACE_HOURS", "24"))
+DRY_RUN = os.environ.get("DRY_RUN", "false") == "true"
+
+API = f"{GITEA_URL}/api/v1"
+HEADERS = {"Authorization": f"token {GITEA_TOKEN}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
+
+import urllib.request, urllib.error
+
+def api_get(path):
+    req = urllib.request.Request(f"{API}{path}", headers=HEADERS)
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as resp:
+        return json.loads(resp.read())
+
+def api_post(path, data):
+    body = json.dumps(data).encode()
+    req = urllib.request.Request(f"{API}{path}", data=body, headers=HEADERS, method="POST")
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as resp:
+        return json.loads(resp.read())
+
+def api_patch(path, data):
+    body = json.dumps(data).encode()
+    req = urllib.request.Request(f"{API}{path}", data=body, headers=HEADERS, method="PATCH")
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as resp:
+        return json.loads(resp.read())
+
+def log(msg):
+    from datetime import datetime, timezone
+    ts = datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")
+    print(f"[{ts}] {msg}")
+
+now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+cutoff = now - timedelta(hours=GRACE_HOURS)
+
+# Fetch open PRs
+open_prs = api_get(f"/repos/{REPO}/pulls?state=open&limit=50")
+if not open_prs:
+    log("No open PRs. Done.")
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+log(f"Found {len(open_prs)} open PR(s)")
+
+# Fetch recently merged PRs
+merged_prs = api_get(f"/repos/{REPO}/pulls?state=closed&limit=100&sort=updated&direction=desc")
+merged_prs = [p for p in merged_prs if p.get("merged")]
+
+# Build lookup: issue_number -> merged PR that closes it
+# Parse "Closes #NNN" from merged PR bodies
+def extract_closes(body):
+    if not body:
+        return set()
+    return set(int(m) for m in re.findall(r'(?:closes?|fixes?|resolves?)\s+#(\d+)', body, re.IGNORECASE))
+
+merged_by_issue = {}
+for mp in merged_prs:
+    for issue_num in extract_closes(mp.get("body", "")):
+        merged_by_issue[issue_num] = mp
+
+# Also build a lookup by title similarity (for PRs that implement same feature without referencing same issue)
+merged_by_title_words = {}
+for mp in merged_prs:
+    # Extract meaningful words from title
+    title = re.sub(r'\[claude\]|\[.*?\]|feat\(.*?\):', '', mp.get("title", "")).strip().lower()
+    words = set(w for w in re.findall(r'\w+', title) if len(w) > 3)
+    if words:
+        merged_by_title_words[mp["number"]] = (words, mp)
+
+closed_count = 0
+
+for pr in open_prs:
+    pr_num = pr["number"]
+    pr_title = pr["title"]
+    mergeable = pr.get("mergeable", True)
+    updated_at = datetime.fromisoformat(pr["updated_at"].replace("Z", "+00:00"))
+    
+    # Skip if within grace period
+    if updated_at > cutoff:
+        log(f"  PR #{pr_num}: within grace period, skipping")
+        continue
+    
+    # Check 1: Is it conflicted?
+    if mergeable:
+        log(f"  PR #{pr_num}: mergeable, skipping")
+        continue
+    
+    # Check 2: Does a merged PR close the same issue?
+    pr_closes = extract_closes(pr.get("body", ""))
+    superseded_by = None
+    
+    for issue_num in pr_closes:
+        if issue_num in merged_by_issue:
+            superseded_by = merged_by_issue[issue_num]
+            break
+    
+    # Check 3: Title similarity match (if no issue match)
+    if not superseded_by:
+        pr_title_clean = re.sub(r'\[.*?\]|feat\(.*?\):', '', pr_title).strip().lower()
+        pr_words = set(w for w in re.findall(r'\w+', pr_title_clean) if len(w) > 3)
+        
+        best_overlap = 0
+        for mp_num, (mp_words, mp) in merged_by_title_words.items():
+            if mp_num == pr_num:
+                continue
+            overlap = len(pr_words & mp_words)
+            # Require at least 60% word overlap
+            if pr_words and overlap / len(pr_words) >= 0.6 and overlap > best_overlap:
+                best_overlap = overlap
+                superseded_by = mp
+    
+    if not superseded_by:
+        log(f"  PR #{pr_num}: conflicted but no superseding PR found, skipping")
+        continue
+    
+    sup_num = superseded_by["number"]
+    sup_title = superseded_by["title"]
+    merged_at = superseded_by.get("merged_at", "unknown")[:10]
+    
+    comment = (
+        f"**Auto-closed by stale-pr-closer**\n\n"
+        f"This PR has merge conflicts and has been superseded by #{sup_num} "
+        f"(\"{sup_title}\"), merged {merged_at}.\n\n"
+        f"If this PR contains unique work not covered by #{sup_num}, "
+        f"please reopen and rebase against `main`."
+    )
+    
+    if DRY_RUN:
+        log(f"  [DRY RUN] Would close PR #{pr_num} — superseded by #{sup_num}")
+    else:
+        # Post comment
+        api_post(f"/repos/{REPO}/issues/{pr_num}/comments", {"body": comment})
+        # Close PR
+        api_patch(f"/repos/{REPO}/pulls/{pr_num}", {"state": "closed"})
+        log(f"  Closed PR #{pr_num} — superseded by #{sup_num} ({sup_title})")
+    
+    closed_count += 1
+
+log(f"Done. {'Would close' if DRY_RUN else 'Closed'} {closed_count} stale PR(s).")
+PYEOF