diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 76a7578646..d2f1993ee7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -120,3 +120,6 @@ prime/
 
 # A Makefile for custom make targets
 Makefile.local
+
+# Local clone of the MCP server (separate repo, not a submodule of this project)
+/mcp-mokogitea-api/
diff --git a/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/pr-rc-release.yml b/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/pr-rc-release.yml
index 998a25a7f7..f6b9f905f6 100644
--- a/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/pr-rc-release.yml
+++ b/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/pr-rc-release.yml
@@ -47,6 +47,15 @@ jobs:
         env:
           PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
         run: |
+          # This RC flow drives a Joomla-style update stream (updates.xml). Repos that don't ship
+          # one (e.g. generic Go/TS) have nothing to package here, so no-op cleanly instead of
+          # aborting under `set -e` when the file is absent.
+          if [ ! -f updates.xml ]; then
+            echo "has_updates=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "No updates.xml in this repo — skipping RC update-stream packaging"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          echo "has_updates=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           BASE_VERSION=$(sed -n 's/.*<version>\(.*\)<\/version>.*/\1/p' updates.xml | head -1)
           [ -z "$BASE_VERSION" ] && BASE_VERSION="04.00.00"
           RC_VERSION="${BASE_VERSION}-rc.${PR_NUMBER}"
@@ -56,7 +65,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "RC version: $RC_VERSION (tag: $RC_TAG)"
 
       - name: Update updates.xml RC channel
-        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true'
+        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true' && steps.version.outputs.has_updates == 'true'
         env:
           RC_VERSION: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
           RC_TAG: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
@@ -106,7 +115,7 @@ jobs:
           PYEOF
 
       - name: Create RC release
-        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true'
+        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true' && steps.version.outputs.has_updates == 'true'
         env:
           GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.MOKOGITEA_TOKEN }}
           RC_TAG: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
@@ -153,7 +162,7 @@ jobs:
           PYEOF
 
       - name: Commit updates.xml
-        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true'
+        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true' && steps.version.outputs.has_updates == 'true'
         env:
           GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.MOKOGITEA_TOKEN }}
           HEAD_REF: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
diff --git a/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml b/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml
index c834bf5f8b..a789ecca58 100644
--- a/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml
+++ b/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml
@@ -47,15 +47,15 @@ jobs:
               fi
               ;;
             fix/*|bugfix/*)
-              if [ "$BASE" != "dev" ]; then
+              if [ "$BASE" != "dev" ] && [ "$BASE" != "main" ]; then
                 ALLOWED=false
-                REASON="Fix branches must target 'dev', not '${BASE}'"
+                REASON="Fix branches must target 'dev' or 'main', not '${BASE}'"
               fi
               ;;
             patch/*)
-              if [ "$BASE" != "dev" ] && [ "$BASE" != "rc" ]; then
+              if [ "$BASE" != "dev" ] && [ "$BASE" != "rc" ] && [ "$BASE" != "main" ]; then
                 ALLOWED=false
-                REASON="Patch branches must target 'dev' or 'rc', not '${BASE}'"
+                REASON="Patch branches must target 'dev', 'rc', or 'main', not '${BASE}'"
               fi
               ;;
             hotfix/*)
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ jobs:
             echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
             echo "### Allowed merge paths:" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
             echo "- \`feature/*\` → \`dev\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-            echo "- \`fix/*\` → \`dev\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo "- \`fix/*\` → \`dev\` or \`main\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo "- \`patch/*\` → \`dev\`, \`rc\`, or \`main\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
             echo "- \`hotfix/*\` → \`dev\` or \`main\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
             echo "- \`dev\` → \`main\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
             echo "- \`rc/*\` → \`main\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
@@ -147,10 +148,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Detect platform
         id: platform
         run: |
-          # Read platform from XML manifest (<platform> tag) or plain text fallback
-          PLATFORM=$(sed -n 's/.*<platform>\([^<]*\)<\/platform>.*/\1/p' .mokogitea/manifest.xml 2>/dev/null | head -1)
-          [ -z "$PLATFORM" ] && PLATFORM=$(cat .mokogitea/manifest.xml 2>/dev/null | tr -d '[:space:]')
-          [ -z "$PLATFORM" ] && PLATFORM="generic"
+          # Read platform from XML manifest (<platform> tag) if present; otherwise default to generic.
+          # manifest.xml was removed in favor of the metadata API, so guard for its absence to avoid
+          # aborting under `set -e` when the file is missing.
+          PLATFORM="generic"
+          if [ -f .mokogitea/manifest.xml ]; then
+            DETECTED=$(sed -n 's/.*<platform>\([^<]*\)<\/platform>.*/\1/p' .mokogitea/manifest.xml | head -1)
+            [ -n "$DETECTED" ] && PLATFORM="$DETECTED"
+          fi
           echo "platform=$PLATFORM" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Setup PHP
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0aea9e753f..64ac781fde 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -57,6 +57,11 @@
 - Cherry-pick upstream v1.26.4: walk git log context error handling — regression fix (#38185)
 
 ### Fixed
+- Admin config form: radio inputs (e.g. instance landing page Mode) no longer throw "Unsupported config form value mapping", which had aborted all JS init on the admin settings page
+- PR check branch policy: allow `fix/*` → `main` and `patch/*` → `main` to match documented policy (was rejecting fix/patch PRs to main)
+- PR check platform detection: guard for missing `.mokogitea/manifest.xml` so the Validate PR job no longer aborts under `set -e` (manifest replaced by metadata API)
+- Remove dangling `mcp-mokogitea-api` submodule gitlink (no `.gitmodules` entry) that broke `submodule update --init` at checkout, failing all PR build/release jobs; ignore the local clone path
+- PR RC Release workflow: no-op cleanly when `updates.xml` is absent (generic repos) instead of aborting the "Determine RC version" step under `set -e`
 - PR check: platform detection now queries metadata API instead of removed manifest.xml
 - Cherry-pick upstream v1.26.2: handle empty pull request files view to allow reviews (#37783)
 - Cherry-pick upstream v1.26.2: fix "run as root" check with snap container detection (#37622)
diff --git a/mcp-mokogitea-api b/mcp-mokogitea-api
deleted file mode 160000
index dbaf91546e..0000000000
--- a/mcp-mokogitea-api
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit dbaf91546e0fb44614cf8d914b7a78e679dc1efe
diff --git a/web_src/js/features/admin/config.test.ts b/web_src/js/features/admin/config.test.ts
index b8468610ca..d633aa9502 100644
--- a/web_src/js/features/admin/config.test.ts
+++ b/web_src/js/features/admin/config.test.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,17 @@ test('ConfigFormValueMapper', () => {
     <input name="struct.SubBoolean" type="checkbox" data-config-value-type="boolean">
     <input name="struct.SubTimestamp" type="datetime-local" data-config-value-type="timestamp">
     <textarea name="struct.NewKey">new-value</textarea>
+
+    <!-- radio group (sub key): only the option matching the config value should be checked and collected -->
+    <input type="hidden" data-config-dyn-key="landing" data-config-value-json='{"Mode": "explore"}'>
+    <input name="landing.Mode" type="radio" value="home">
+    <input name="landing.Mode" type="radio" value="explore">
+    <input name="landing.Mode" type="radio" value="login">
+
+    <!-- radio group with empty value: the server-rendered default (home) must be preserved, not unchecked -->
+    <input type="hidden" data-config-dyn-key="landingDefault" data-config-value-json='{"Mode": ""}'>
+    <input name="landingDefault.Mode" type="radio" value="home" checked>
+    <input name="landingDefault.Mode" type="radio" value="explore">
 </form>
 `;
 
@@ -44,5 +55,7 @@ test('ConfigFormValueMapper', () => {
     'k-flipped-true': 'true',
     'repository.open-with.editor-apps': '[{"DisplayName":"a","OpenURL":"b"}]', // TODO: OPEN-WITH-EDITOR-APP-JSON: it must match backend
     'struct': '{"SubBoolean":true,"SubTimestamp":123456780,"OtherKey":"other-value","NewKey":"new-value"}',
+    'landing': '{"Mode":"explore"}',
+    'landingDefault': '{"Mode":"home"}',
   });
 });
diff --git a/web_src/js/features/admin/config.ts b/web_src/js/features/admin/config.ts
index 96c7dcf84b..64cba73213 100644
--- a/web_src/js/features/admin/config.ts
+++ b/web_src/js/features/admin/config.ts
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ export class ConfigFormValueMapper {
     if (el.matches('[type="checkbox"]')) {
       if (valType !== 'boolean') requireExplicitValueType(el);
       el.checked = Boolean(val ?? el.checked);
+    } else if (el.matches('[type="radio"]')) {
+      // a radio group shares one name; check only the option whose value equals the config value.
+      // when the value is empty (unset), leave the server-rendered default selection untouched.
+      if (String(val) !== '') el.checked = el.value === String(val);
     } else if (el.matches('[type="datetime-local"]')) {
       if (valType !== 'timestamp') requireExplicitValueType(el);
       if (val) el.value = toDatetimeLocalValue(val);
@@ -120,6 +124,9 @@ export class ConfigFormValueMapper {
       //  it needs to iterate the "namedElems" to find all the checkboxes with the same name and collect values accordingly,
       //  and set the namedElems[matchedIdx] to null to avoid duplicate processing.
       val = collectCheckboxBooleanValue(el);
+    } else if (el.matches('[type="radio"]')) {
+      // only the checked radio of a group reaches here (callers skip unchecked ones); its value is the selection
+      val = el.value;
     } else if (el.matches('[type="datetime-local"]')) {
       if (valType !== 'timestamp') requireExplicitValueType(el);
       val = Math.floor(new Date(el.value).getTime() / 1000) ?? 0; // NaN is fine to JSON.stringify, it becomes null.
@@ -139,6 +146,12 @@ export class ConfigFormValueMapper {
       if (!el) continue;
       const subKey = extractElemConfigSubKey(el, dynKey);
       if (!subKey) continue; // if not match, skip
+      // a radio group has N elements sharing the same name; only the checked one carries the value.
+      // drop the unchecked ones so they neither overwrite the selection here nor leak into the fallback loop.
+      if (el.matches('[type="radio"]') && !el.checked) {
+        namedElems[idx] = null;
+        continue;
+      }
       cfgVal[subKey] = this.collectConfigValueFromElement(el);
       namedElems[idx] = null;
     }
@@ -194,6 +207,7 @@ export class ConfigFormValueMapper {
     // "foo.enabled" => "true"
     for (const el of namedElems) {
       if (!el) continue;
+      if (el.matches('[type="radio"]') && !el.checked) continue; // skip unchecked radios of a top-level group
       const dynKey = el.name;
       const newVal = this.collectConfigValueFromElement(el);
       formData.append('key', dynKey);