diff --git a/.github/workflows/security.yml b/.github/workflows/security.yml
index e85e745..a29d346 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/security.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/security.yml
@@ -50,6 +50,14 @@ on:
           without private git deps can omit it. Scoped on purpose — do not reintroduce
           blanket `secrets: inherit`.
         required: false
+      gh-api-token:
+        description: >-
+          GitHub API token for zizmor's online audits, which resolve every repository
+          a workflow references with `uses:`. Optional: defaults to GITHUB_TOKEN, and
+          when a referenced repository is unreadable the zizmor job degrades to
+          offline audits rather than failing. Supply a token that can read every
+          referenced repository to keep the online audits running.
+        required: false
 
 permissions:
   # contents: read only. `pull-requests: write` was here for clj-holmes-action,
@@ -405,6 +413,13 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1  # v7.0.1
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
+      - name: Check out the runner script
+        uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1  # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          repository: cleancoders/github-actions
+          ref: ${{ inputs.rules-ref }}
+          path: .cc-security-rules
+          persist-credentials: false
       - name: zizmor
         # Prebuilt binary rather than `uvx` via setup-uv. setup-uv tries to cache
         # Python project dependencies and warns on every run of a Clojure repo:
@@ -415,14 +430,17 @@ jobs:
         # gitleaks and actionlint are installed in this workflow.
         shell: bash
         env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          # Falls back to GITHUB_TOKEN, which reaches only the repository being
+          # scanned. That is enough for the online audits unless a workflow here
+          # references a repository the token cannot read — see run-zizmor.sh.
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.gh-api-token || secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           VER=1.28.0
           curl -fsSL "https://github.com/zizmorcore/zizmor/releases/download/v${VER}/zizmor-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz" \
             | sudo tar -xz -C /usr/local/bin zizmor
           zizmor --version
-          zizmor --no-progress --format sarif . > zizmor.sarif
+          bash .cc-security-rules/bin/run-zizmor.sh zizmor.sarif .
       - name: Upload SARIF
         if: always()
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a  # v7.0.1 (node24)
diff --git a/.github/workflows/self-test.yml b/.github/workflows/self-test.yml
index 22acf8d..455742e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/self-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/self-test.yml
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run SARIF reporter tests
         # Pins the exit-code contract: warning-level rules must not block.
         run: bash bin/test-report-sarif.sh
+      - name: Run zizmor runner tests
+        # Pins the degradation contract: a `uses:` the token cannot read must not
+        # abort the audit, and every other failure must stay red.
+        run: bash bin/test-run-zizmor.sh
       - name: Run rule fixture tests
         run: bash bin/test-rules.sh
       - name: Check coverage table is current
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c2e260a..9d8ed26 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,6 +56,15 @@ jobs:
 | `rules-ref` | `"v1"` | Ref of this repo to source the `cc-*` rules from. **Must match the ref you consume the workflow at** — a reusable workflow cannot determine its own ref, so consuming `@v2` or a SHA without setting this gets you `v1` rules. |
 | `ignored-paths` | `""` | Paths semgrep must skip, e.g. deliberately-vulnerable fixtures. |
 
+### Secrets
+
+Both are optional; the jobs that use them self-skip or degrade when they are unset.
+
+| secret | purpose |
+|--------|---------|
+| `private-git-ssh-key` | Deploy key for cloning private git dependencies while building the classpath. Only clj-kondo and clj-watson use it, and they skip SSH setup when it is unset. |
+| `gh-api-token` | API token for zizmor's online audits, which resolve every repository a workflow references with `uses:`. Defaults to `GITHUB_TOKEN`, which reaches only the repository being scanned — so if a workflow calls a **private** reusable workflow, zizmor cannot resolve it and the job degrades to offline audits with a warning. Supply a token that can read every referenced repository to keep the online audits running. |
+
 ### Coverage
 
 Scanner rows below are generated from rule metadata by
diff --git a/bin/run-zizmor.sh b/bin/run-zizmor.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4df1747
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/run-zizmor.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Runs zizmor and writes SARIF to the given path.
+#
+# zizmor's online audits (ref-confusion, and the commit lookup inside
+# unpinned-uses) resolve every repository a workflow references with `uses:`.
+# When one of them is private to the token in use, zizmor 1.28.0 does not skip
+# that audit — it aborts the whole run with "fatal: no audit was performed", so
+# a repo whose build calls a private reusable workflow gets NO audit rather than
+# a partial one, and the SARIF comes out empty.
+#
+# GITHUB_TOKEN is scoped to the repository being scanned, so this is the default
+# state for any consumer that calls a private reusable workflow, not an edge
+# case. Rather than drop the online audits for everyone, run them and fall back
+# to offline audits only when that specific lookup failure occurs. Consumers who
+# want the online audits kept can pass a token that reaches every referenced
+# repository.
+#
+# Deliberately narrow: only the lookup failure triggers the retry. Retrying on
+# any nonzero exit would turn an unparseable workflow or a missing binary into a
+# green job, which is indistinguishable from "audited and found nothing".
+#
+# Tested by bin/test-run-zizmor.sh.
+set -uo pipefail
+
+OUT="${1:?usage: run-zizmor.sh <output.sarif> [target...]}"
+shift
+targets=("$@")
+[ "${#targets[@]}" -eq 0 ] && targets=(".")
+
+args=(--no-progress --format sarif)
+
+# zizmor decides online-vs-offline from the token's presence and warns when it
+# picks offline implicitly. Being explicit keeps that warning out of the log and
+# makes the choice visible in the argv.
+offline=0
+if [ -z "${GH_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
+  echo "zizmor: no API token supplied; running offline audits only"
+  args+=(--no-online-audits)
+  offline=1
+fi
+
+err="$(mktemp)"
+trap 'rm -f "${err}"' EXIT
+
+zizmor "${args[@]}" "${targets[@]}" > "${OUT}" 2>"${err}"
+rc=$?
+cat "${err}" >&2
+
+if [ "${rc}" -ne 0 ] && [ "${offline}" -eq 0 ] &&
+   grep -qE "no audit was performed|no access|couldn't list branches" "${err}"; then
+  echo "::warning::zizmor could not resolve every repository referenced by a \`uses:\`, which aborts its online audits. Retrying with them disabled — offline audits still ran. To keep the online audits, pass the gh-api-token secret with read access to every referenced repository."
+  zizmor "${args[@]}" --no-online-audits "${targets[@]}" > "${OUT}" 2>"${err}"
+  rc=$?
+  cat "${err}" >&2
+fi
+
+exit "${rc}"
diff --git a/bin/test-run-zizmor.sh b/bin/test-run-zizmor.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..9eaa2fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/test-run-zizmor.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Tests bin/run-zizmor.sh, which decides whether zizmor runs its online audits.
+#
+# The case that matters is a `uses:` pointing at a repository the token cannot
+# read. zizmor 1.28.0 treats that as fatal — "no audit was performed" — so a
+# consumer whose build calls a private reusable workflow gets no audit at all,
+# not a partial one. Degrading to offline audits keeps the scan meaningful;
+# propagating the failure keeps a genuinely broken scan visible.
+set -uo pipefail
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+RUN="${ROOT}/bin/run-zizmor.sh"
+pass=0; fail=0
+
+ok()    { pass=$((pass+1)); }
+bad()   { fail=$((fail+1)); echo "FAIL: $1"; }
+check() { if [ "$2" = "$3" ]; then ok; else bad "$1 — expected '$3', got '$2'"; fi; }
+
+WORK="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "${WORK}"' EXIT
+
+# A fake zizmor recording its argv, so the tests assert on the flags actually
+# passed rather than on zizmor's behaviour. FAKE_MODE picks the failure to
+# simulate; FAKE_CALLS counts invocations so a retry is distinguishable from a
+# single run.
+mkdir -p "${WORK}/bin"
+cat > "${WORK}/bin/zizmor" <<'FAKE'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "$*" >> "${FAKE_ARGV}"
+echo "1" >> "${FAKE_CALLS}"
+case "${FAKE_MODE}" in
+  ok) exit 0 ;;
+  private-uses)
+    # Verbatim shape of the zizmor 1.28.0 failure, minus the repository name.
+    if grep -q -- "--no-online-audits" <<<"$*"; then exit 0; fi
+    echo "fatal: no audit was performed" >&2
+    echo "'ref-confusion' audit failed on file://./.github/workflows/build.yml" >&2
+    echo "    2: can't access some-org/some-repo: missing or you have no access" >&2
+    exit 1 ;;
+  broken) echo "error: failed to parse workflow" >&2; exit 1 ;;
+esac
+FAKE
+chmod +x "${WORK}/bin/zizmor"
+
+# Each run gets fresh argv/call logs.
+run() {
+  FAKE_MODE="$1"; shift
+  FAKE_ARGV="${WORK}/argv"; FAKE_CALLS="${WORK}/calls"
+  : > "${FAKE_ARGV}"; : > "${FAKE_CALLS}"
+  export FAKE_MODE FAKE_ARGV FAKE_CALLS
+  PATH="${WORK}/bin:${PATH}" bash "${RUN}" "${WORK}/zizmor.sarif" "$@" 2>&1
+}
+argv()  { cat "${WORK}/argv"; }
+calls() { grep -c . "${WORK}/calls"; }
+
+# --- token present and every `uses:` reachable: online audits stay on ---------
+out="$(GH_TOKEN=tok run ok)"; rc=$?
+check "reachable scan passes"              "$rc" "0"
+check "online audits are not disabled"     "$(argv | grep -c -- '--no-online-audits')" "0"
+check "runs once when it succeeds"         "$(calls)" "1"
+
+# --- no token: zizmor would warn it is implicitly offline, so be explicit -----
+out="$(GH_TOKEN='' run ok)"; rc=$?
+check "tokenless scan passes"              "$rc" "0"
+check "tokenless scan disables online"     "$(argv | grep -c -- '--no-online-audits')" "1"
+check "tokenless scan says why"            "$(echo "$out" | grep -c 'no API token')" "1"
+
+# --- the regression: a `uses:` the token cannot read --------------------------
+# Without the retry this is a hard failure and the SARIF is empty, so the job is
+# red for a reason unrelated to any finding in the consumer's workflows.
+out="$(GH_TOKEN=tok run private-uses)"; rc=$?
+check "unreachable uses: still passes"     "$rc" "0"
+check "retries with online audits off"     "$(argv | grep -c -- '--no-online-audits')" "1"
+check "retry is a second invocation"       "$(calls)" "2"
+check "degradation is announced"           "$(echo "$out" | grep -c '::warning::')" "1"
+check "names the audit that failed"        "$(echo "$out" | grep -c 'ref-confusion')" "1"
+
+# --- a genuinely broken scan must stay broken --------------------------------
+# Retrying everything would turn real breakage (unparseable workflow, missing
+# binary) into a green job — the silent-pass failure mode this repo exists to
+# prevent.
+out="$(GH_TOKEN=tok run broken)"; rc=$?
+check "unrelated failure propagates"      "$rc" "1"
+check "unrelated failure is not retried"  "$(calls)" "1"
+
+# --- wiring: the workflow must call the script, not zizmor directly -----------
+WF="${ROOT}/.github/workflows/security.yml"
+if [ -f "$WF" ]; then
+  check "the runner is actually called" \
+    "$(grep -c 'run-zizmor.sh zizmor.sarif' "$WF")" "1"
+  check "zizmor is not invoked inline" \
+    "$(grep -cE '^\s+zizmor --no-progress' "$WF")" "0"
+fi
+
+echo "run-zizmor tests: ${pass} passed, ${fail} failed"
+[ "${fail}" -eq 0 ]