diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a60c81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<!--
+  Thanks for contributing to ihasmail. CONTRIBUTING.md has the full guide;
+  this is the short version. Delete any section that does not apply.
+-->
+
+## Summary
+
+<!-- What changes, and why. -->
+
+## Related issues
+
+<!-- e.g. Closes #123. Leave blank if there are none. -->
+
+## Translations
+
+<!--
+  Nine languages ship alongside English, and a missing key silently renders
+  its English source -- so an untranslated string is invisible until somebody
+  reading that language finds it. Say which this PR is, explicitly:
+
+  - Adds or alters user-visible strings: how many keys, and the fallback
+    count before and after.
+  - Adds none.
+
+  "Adds none" is an answer. Saying nothing is not -- it leaves it to be
+  inferred. See CONTRIBUTING.md -> Translations.
+-->
+
+## Testing
+
+<!--
+  What you ran, and what you saw. `npm run typecheck`, `npm test` and
+  `npm run build` all run in CI, so the useful thing here is what CI cannot
+  do: which flows you exercised by hand, and against what -- a real Stalwart
+  instance, or `npm run dev:mock`.
+
+  If the change is visible on screen, drive the built app, not just the
+  store. See CONTRIBUTING.md -> Verifying UI work.
+-->
+
+## Screenshots
+
+<!-- For UI changes. Before/after, or a GIF for anything with motion. -->
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 783d893..7ee1545 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ check has passed — not afterwards — and the branch cannot be force-pushed or
 deleted. No approving review is required, so a PR of your own is not blocked
 waiting for one.
 
+**CI on a PR from a fork waits to be approved.** Every workflow run on an
+outside contributor's branch sits at *awaiting approval* until a maintainer
+starts it by hand, so the **build** check will not appear the moment you open
+the PR — that is the gate working, not a broken run. Pushing again will not
+start it, and neither will closing and reopening.
+
 ### Code Style
 
 - Match the existing formatting and naming conventions used elsewhere in the codebase.