diff --git a/.woodpecker/ci.yml b/.woodpecker/ci.yml
index ac68ef1f..13b5e05f 100644
--- a/.woodpecker/ci.yml
+++ b/.woodpecker/ci.yml
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ variables:
 
 when:
   # PR + manual CI run on any branch: the pull_request pipeline is the merge
-  # gate (required status check on next; next is protected and the DEFAULT
-  # branch since 2026-08-19).
+  # gate (next is protected and the default branch since 2026-08-19).
   # Push CI runs on main only. next deliberately runs NO push ci: post-merge
   # verification on next is carried by publish.yml's `verify` step
   # (pnpm verify:release), which mirrors this pipeline's complete mandatory