diff --git a/.github/workflows/alembic-validation.yml b/.github/workflows/alembic-validation.yml
index e5db6758..32b01398 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/alembic-validation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/alembic-validation.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
           fetch-depth: 0
       - name: Get changed files
         id: changed-files
@@ -40,6 +42,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         shell: bash
@@ -81,6 +86,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/core-integration-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/core-integration-tests.yml
index 32d36ef0..0d748658 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/core-integration-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/core-integration-tests.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ jobs:
     with:
       test-type: 'integration'
       use-redis: true
+      is-external-pr: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request_target' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test') }}
       changed-files-pattern: |
         **
         .github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/core-unit-test.yml b/.github/workflows/core-unit-test.yml
index e1f0c5de..7a11eed0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/core-unit-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/core-unit-test.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ jobs:
     with:
       test-type: 'unit'
       use-redis: true
+      is-external-pr: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request_target' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test') }}
       changed-files-pattern: |
         **
         .github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/fern-docs-preview.yml b/.github/workflows/fern-docs-preview.yml
index b15b4c04..dfc44fe2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fern-docs-preview.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fern-docs-preview.yml
@@ -22,10 +22,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
           submodules: true
 
       - name: Generate preview URL
         id: generate-docs
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request_target' || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test')
         working-directory: fern
         env:
           FERN_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FERN_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/fern-sdk-python-preview.yml b/.github/workflows/fern-sdk-python-preview.yml
index 3ab669ea..4b5c8d8f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fern-sdk-python-preview.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fern-sdk-python-preview.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
           submodules: true
           fetch-depth: 0
       - name: Get changed files
@@ -67,6 +69,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repo
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
           submodules: true
 
       - name: Generate cache key
@@ -83,6 +87,7 @@ jobs:
           key: ${{ steps.cache-key.outputs.key }}
 
       - name: Inject env vars into environment
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request_target' || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test')
         working-directory: .
         run: |
           while IFS= read -r line || [[ -n "$line" ]]; do
@@ -129,6 +134,7 @@ jobs:
           uv run alembic upgrade head
 
       - name: Run letta server
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request_target' || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test')
         working-directory: .
         env:
           LETTA_PG_DB: postgres
@@ -145,7 +151,7 @@ jobs:
           timeout 60 bash -c 'until curl -s http://localhost:8283/health; do sleep 1; done'
 
       - name: Generate Python SDK Preview
-        if: steps.restore-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        if: (github.event_name != 'pull_request_target' || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test')) && steps.restore-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
         working-directory: .
         env:
           FERN_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FERN_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
index 2dcfb785..c940499b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@ on:
         required: false
         type: boolean
         default: false
+      is-external-pr:
+        description: 'Whether this is an external PR that needs protection'
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 jobs:
   changed-files:
@@ -79,6 +84,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
           fetch-depth: 0
       - name: Get changed files
         id: changed-files
@@ -96,6 +103,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
 
       - name: Generate cache key
         if: inputs.skip-fern-generation != true || (!contains(needs.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files, 'fern/openapi.json') && !contains(needs.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files, 'fern/openapi-overrides.yml'))
@@ -218,6 +228,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
 
       - name: Install uv
         uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v6
@@ -292,6 +305,7 @@ jobs:
           psql -h localhost -U postgres -d postgres -c 'CREATE EXTENSION vector'
           uv run alembic upgrade head
       - name: Inject env vars into environment
+        if: inputs.is-external-pr != true
         working-directory: .
         run: |
           # Get secrets and mask them before adding to environment
@@ -311,7 +325,7 @@ jobs:
           chmod -R 755 /home/ci-runner/.letta/logs
 
       - name: Build and run docker dev server
-        if: inputs.use-docker
+        if: inputs.use-docker && inputs.is-external-pr != true
         env:
           LETTA_PG_DB: letta
           LETTA_PG_USER: letta
@@ -329,6 +343,7 @@ jobs:
           bash scripts/wait_for_service.sh localhost:8083 -- echo "Service is ready"
 
       - name: Run tests
+        if: inputs.is-external-pr != true
         working-directory: ${{ steps.detect-core-dir.outputs.dir }}
         env:
           # Database configuration (shared, but values depend on Docker usage)
diff --git a/.github/workflows/send-message-integration-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/send-message-integration-tests.yml
index a2a6ab82..fbee82e7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/send-message-integration-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/send-message-integration-tests.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
     with:
       test-type: 'send-message'
+      is-external-pr: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request_target' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test') }}
       changed-files-pattern: |
         **
         .github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-lmstudio.yml b/.github/workflows/test-lmstudio.yml
index 83e76914..dc1c07b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-lmstudio.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-lmstudio.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
     with:
       test-type: "integration"
+      is-external-pr: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request_target' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test') }}
       install-args: "--extra postgres --extra external-tools --extra dev --extra cloud-tool-sandbox --extra google"
       test-command: "uv run pytest -svv tests/"
       timeout-minutes: 60
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-ollama.yml b/.github/workflows/test-ollama.yml
index 20bcc414..81f9dad6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-ollama.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-ollama.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
     with:
       test-type: "integration"
+      is-external-pr: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request_target' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test') }}
       install-args: "--extra postgres --extra external-tools --extra dev --extra cloud-tool-sandbox --extra google"
       test-command: "uv run --frozen pytest -svv tests/"
       timeout-minutes: 60
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-vllm.yml b/.github/workflows/test-vllm.yml
index ee8448a3..dfed86e5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-vllm.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-vllm.yml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-test-workflow.yml
     with:
       test-type: "integration"
+      is-external-pr: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request_target' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'safe to test') }}
       install-args: "--extra postgres --extra external-tools --extra dev --extra cloud-tool-sandbox --extra google"
       test-command: "uv run --frozen pytest -svv tests/"
       timeout-minutes: 60