diff --git a/layers/registry/app/pages/gh/[owner]/[repo]/index.vue b/layers/registry/app/pages/gh/[owner]/[repo]/index.vue
index 4cdfe857..c2c51167 100644
--- a/layers/registry/app/pages/gh/[owner]/[repo]/index.vue
+++ b/layers/registry/app/pages/gh/[owner]/[repo]/index.vue
@@ -22,12 +22,11 @@ const repoRouteFetch = useFetch<RepoRouteResolution>(
   () => `/api/repos/${repoHub.value.owner}/${repoHub.value.repo}/route-target`,
   {
     watch: [repoHub],
-    lazy: !isBot.value,
+    lazy: false,
     immediate: true,
   },
 ) as ReturnType<typeof useFetch<RepoRouteResolution>>
-if (isBot.value)
-  await repoRouteFetch
+await repoRouteFetch
 const { data: repoRouteResolution, status: repoRouteStatus } = repoRouteFetch
 const repoRouteTarget = computed(() => {
   const resolution = repoRouteResolution.value
@@ -35,7 +34,8 @@ const repoRouteTarget = computed(() => {
     return null
   return resolution.target
 })
-const fetchRepoDetailsOnServer = isBot.value && repoRouteTarget.value?._tag !== 'skill'
+const fetchRepoSourceOnServer = repoRouteTarget.value?._tag !== 'skill'
+const fetchRepoDetailsOnServer = isBot.value && fetchRepoSourceOnServer
 
 const repoProfileFetch = useFetch(
   () => `/api/orgs/${sourceHub.value.owner}`,
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ const repoProfileFetch = useFetch(
     watch: false,
     lazy: !fetchRepoDetailsOnServer,
     immediate: fetchRepoDetailsOnServer,
-    server: fetchRepoDetailsOnServer,
+    server: true,
     transform: (profile: OrgProfile) => repoPageProfile(profile, repoHub.value.repo),
   },
 )
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ const repoSourceFetch = useFetch<RepoSourceProfile>(
   () => `/api/repos/${repoHub.value.owner}/${repoHub.value.repo}`,
   {
     watch: false,
-    lazy: !fetchRepoDetailsOnServer,
-    immediate: fetchRepoDetailsOnServer,
-    server: fetchRepoDetailsOnServer,
+    lazy: !fetchRepoSourceOnServer,
+    immediate: fetchRepoSourceOnServer,
+    server: fetchRepoSourceOnServer,
   },
 ) as ReturnType<typeof useFetch<RepoSourceProfile>>
 const { data: fetchedRepoSource, status: repoSourceStatus, error: repoSourceError, refresh: refreshRepoSource } = repoSourceFetch
@@ -67,15 +67,16 @@ const repoSource = computed(() => {
   return source
 })
 
-// Bots render blocking when this is a repository page. A confirmed-missing repo
-// (`/api/repos/.../....get.ts` throws 404 once GitHub itself says 404) was
-// rendering the "Source not found" card with a 200 status — a soft 404 that
-// let nonexistent owner/repo URLs (e.g. from stale tag/collection data) sit
-// in the index. Transient upstream failures don't throw there, so this only
-// fires for genuine not-found repos.
+// Read the cached source API before every public repository response. A lazy
+// browser shell must not turn a confirmed-missing repository into a soft 404.
+if (fetchRepoSourceOnServer)
+  await repoSourceFetch
 if (fetchRepoDetailsOnServer)
-  await Promise.all([repoProfileFetch, repoSourceFetch])
-if (fetchRepoDetailsOnServer && repoSourceError.value?.statusCode === 404) {
+  await repoProfileFetch
+if (fetchRepoSourceOnServer && repoSourceError.value?.statusCode === 404) {
+  // Only missing sources need the full Owner profile for alias recovery.
+  if (!fetchRepoDetailsOnServer)
+    await refreshRepo()
   // Before the tombstone, check whether the repo segment is actually a skill
   // name. `/gh/<owner>/<skill>` is what an inbound link looks like when the
   // author drops the repository. The transform decides recovery from the full
@@ -261,7 +262,7 @@ const repositoryBadgeInput = computed(() => ({
   registryPath: repoHubPath(repoHub.value.owner, repoHub.value.repo),
 }))
 
-const repoSourceRequested = ref<string | null>(fetchRepoDetailsOnServer ? repoKey.value : null)
+const repoSourceRequested = ref<string | null>(fetchRepoSourceOnServer ? repoKey.value : null)
 watch([repoRouteStatus, repoRouteTarget, repoKey], ([routeStatus, routeTarget, key]) => {
   const routeSettled = routeStatus === 'error' || (routeStatus === 'success' && routeTarget !== null)
   if (import.meta.server || !routeSettled || routeTarget?._tag === 'skill' || repoSourceRequested.value === key)
diff --git a/test/unit/repo-public-existence.nuxt.test.ts b/test/unit/repo-public-existence.nuxt.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fcfaeb70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/repo-public-existence.nuxt.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { mockNuxtImport, mountSuspended, registerEndpoint } from '@nuxt/test-utils/runtime'
+import { createError } from 'h3'
+import { ref } from 'vue'
+import RepoPage from '../../layers/registry/app/pages/gh/[owner]/[repo]/index.vue'
+
+mockNuxtImport('useRoute', () => () => ({ params: { owner: 'missing-owner', repo: 'missing-repo' }, query: {}, path: '/gh/missing-owner/missing-repo' }))
+mockNuxtImport('useBotDetection', () => () => ({ isBot: ref(false) }))
+
+registerEndpoint('/api/repos/missing-owner/missing-repo/route-target', () => ({ owner: 'missing-owner', repo: 'missing-repo', target: { _tag: 'repo' } }))
+let missing = true
+registerEndpoint('/api/repos/missing-owner/missing-repo', () => {
+  if (missing)
+    throw createError({ statusCode: 404, message: 'Repository not found' })
+  return { owner: 'missing-owner', repo: 'missing-repo', description: 'Public Repository body', githubUrl: 'https://github.com/missing-owner/missing-repo', defaultBranch: 'main', stars: 2, forks: 0, pushedAt: '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z', createdAt: '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z', archived: false, fork: false, skillFileScanStatus: 'ok', skillFileCount: 0, skillFiles: [] }
+})
+registerEndpoint('/api/orgs/missing-owner', () => ({ owner: 'missing-owner', skills: [], repos: [], totalSkills: 0, totalStars: 0 }))
+
+it('rejects a confirmed missing repository for a public non-bot visitor', async () => {
+  await mountSuspended(RepoPage)
+  expect(useError().value).toMatchObject({ statusCode: 404 })
+})
+
+it('renders a valid public Repository without a bot identity', async () => {
+  clearNuxtData()
+  await clearError()
+  missing = false
+  const wrapper = await mountSuspended(RepoPage)
+  expect(useError().value).toBeUndefined()
+  expect(wrapper.text()).toContain('Public Repository body')
+  wrapper.unmount()
+})