diff --git a/.github/workflows/stale-pr-reaper.yml b/.github/workflows/stale-pr-reaper.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ef2eeea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/stale-pr-reaper.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+name: stale-pr-reaper
+# daily reaper: closes a pr whose author left CodeRabbit's change request
+# unaddressed (no new commit) for 2 days. complements the 3-strikes close in
+# coderabbit-gate.yml — that fires when the author keeps pushing failing
+# commits, this fires when they go silent. scheduled workflows only run from the
+# default branch, so this activates once it is on `main`. it reads only api
+# metadata and runs from the trusted default branch — no pr head code is run.
+on:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: "17 6 * * *" # daily ~06:17 UTC
+  workflow_dispatch: {}
+permissions: {}
+concurrency:
+  group: stale-pr-reaper
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+jobs:
+  reap:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read        # checkout + run pr_bot
+      pull-requests: write  # comment + close
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5 # v4
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.12"
+      - name: close prs stale for 2 days after a change request
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+        run: |
+          now=$(date -u +%s)
+          gh pr list --repo "$REPO" --state open --limit 100 \
+            --json number,headRefOid,author,isDraft \
+            --jq '.[] | select(.isDraft|not) | [.number, .headRefOid, .author.login] | @tsv' \
+            > prs.tsv
+          while IFS=$'\t' read -r num sha author; do
+            [ -z "$num" ] && continue
+            gh api "repos/$REPO/pulls/$num/reviews?per_page=100" > reviews.json
+            if PYTHONPATH=src python -m vouch.pr_bot stale-check \
+                 --reviews-file reviews.json --head-sha "$sha" \
+                 --author "$author" --now-epoch "$now"; then
+              echo "reaping #$num (stale after change request)"
+              gh pr merge "$num" --repo "$REPO" --disable-auto || true
+              gh pr edit "$num" --repo "$REPO" --remove-label auto-merge || true
+              gh pr close "$num" --repo "$REPO" --comment \
+                "closing automatically: CodeRabbit requested changes and this pr has had no new commits for 2 days. the feedback still stands — push a fix and reopen this pr (or open a fresh one) and it will be reviewed again."
+            fi
+          done < prs.tsv
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d405b36e..1f55e02a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -33,8 +33,10 @@ All notable changes to vouch are documented here. Format follows
   the `coderabbit-gate` workflow turns its verdict into the required
   `coderabbit-approved` status check — so a fresh push voids a prior approval,
   and a pr CodeRabbit requests changes on 3 times is auto-closed (owner and
-  bots exempt). no paid model in the loop. deterministic decision logic lives
-  in `src/vouch/pr_bot.py` (pure stdlib). repo guards (branch ruleset + labels)
+  bots exempt). a daily `stale-pr-reaper` also closes a pr whose author left a
+  CodeRabbit change request unaddressed (no new commit) for 2 days. no paid
+  model in the loop. deterministic decision logic lives in
+  `src/vouch/pr_bot.py` (pure stdlib). repo guards (branch ruleset + labels)
   are configured by `scripts/setup_repo_guards.sh`. workflow security is linted
   in ci with zizmor + actionlint.
 
diff --git a/src/vouch/pr_bot.py b/src/vouch/pr_bot.py
index 2f735c8c..02d73e29 100644
--- a/src/vouch/pr_bot.py
+++ b/src/vouch/pr_bot.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import re
 import sys
 from collections.abc import Iterable, Mapping, Sequence
+from datetime import UTC, datetime
 from typing import Any
 
 # the review-gate core: writes here are the north star. mirrored verbatim in
@@ -54,6 +55,10 @@
 # a contributor gets STRIKE_LIMIT rounds of "changes requested" from CodeRabbit
 # before the pr is auto-closed. the owner and bots are exempt (author_is_exempt).
 STRIKE_LIMIT = 3
+
+# a pr whose author leaves CodeRabbit's change request unaddressed (no new
+# commit) for STALE_DAYS is auto-closed by the scheduled stale-pr-reaper.
+STALE_DAYS = 2
 _EXEMPT_AUTHORS = frozenset({"plind-junior"}) | _BOT_ACTORS
 
 
@@ -162,6 +167,39 @@ def should_close(verdict: str, strikes: int, *, author: str,
             and strikes >= limit)
 
 
+def _iso_epoch(s: str) -> float:
+    """Epoch seconds for a github ISO8601 timestamp (e.g. 2026-07-15T10:20:30Z)."""
+    dt = datetime.fromisoformat(s.replace("Z", "+00:00"))
+    if dt.tzinfo is None:
+        dt = dt.replace(tzinfo=UTC)
+    return dt.timestamp()
+
+
+def should_close_stale(reviews: Sequence[Mapping[str, Any]], *, head_sha: str,
+                       now_epoch: float, author: str, days: int = STALE_DAYS,
+                       login: str = CODERABBIT_LOGIN) -> bool:
+    """Auto-close a pr whose author left a CodeRabbit change request unaddressed.
+
+    Fires only when CodeRabbit's latest verdict *on the current head* is
+    "changes requested" and that review is >= ``days`` old — i.e. no new commit
+    has landed since (a push would move ``head_sha`` off the review's
+    ``commit_id``). the owner and bots are exempt.
+    """
+    if author_is_exempt(author):
+        return False
+    on_head = [r for r in reviews
+               if (r.get("user") or {}).get("login") == login
+               and r.get("commit_id") == head_sha
+               and str(r.get("state") or "").upper() in ("APPROVED", "CHANGES_REQUESTED")]
+    if not on_head or str(on_head[-1].get("state") or "").upper() != "CHANGES_REQUESTED":
+        return False
+    submitted = on_head[-1].get("submitted_at")
+    if not submitted:
+        return False
+    age_days = (now_epoch - _iso_epoch(str(submitted))) / 86400.0
+    return age_days >= days
+
+
 def _read_lines(path: str) -> list[str]:
     with open(path, encoding="utf-8") as fh:
         return [ln.strip() for ln in fh if ln.strip()]
@@ -197,6 +235,12 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     g.add_argument("--head-sha", required=True)
     g.add_argument("--author", required=True)
 
+    st = sub.add_parser("stale-check")
+    st.add_argument("--reviews-file", required=True)
+    st.add_argument("--head-sha", required=True)
+    st.add_argument("--author", required=True)
+    st.add_argument("--now-epoch", required=True, type=int)
+
     ns = p.parse_args(argv)
 
     if ns.cmd == "classify":
@@ -229,6 +273,13 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
             f"strikes={strikes}\n"
             f"close={'true' if close else 'false'}\n")
         return 0
+    if ns.cmd == "stale-check":
+        with open(ns.reviews_file, encoding="utf-8") as fh:
+            loaded = json.load(fh)
+        reviews = loaded if isinstance(loaded, list) else []
+        stale = should_close_stale(reviews, head_sha=ns.head_sha,
+                                   now_epoch=ns.now_epoch, author=ns.author)
+        return 0 if stale else 1
     return 2
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_pr_bot.py b/tests/test_pr_bot.py
index 34a2b9e8..c9976dca 100644
--- a/tests/test_pr_bot.py
+++ b/tests/test_pr_bot.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
+from datetime import UTC, datetime
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from vouch import pr_bot
@@ -164,6 +165,65 @@ def test_should_close_exempts_owner_and_bots():
     assert pr_bot.should_close("changes", 9, author="dependabot[bot]") is False
 
 
+def _iso(epoch):
+    return datetime.fromtimestamp(epoch, UTC).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")
+
+
+def _review_ts(state, sha, epoch, login="coderabbitai[bot]"):
+    return {"user": {"login": login}, "state": state, "commit_id": sha,
+            "submitted_at": _iso(epoch)}
+
+
+_NOW = 1_700_000_000
+
+
+def test_stale_closes_after_two_days():
+    reviews = [_review_ts("CHANGES_REQUESTED", "head", _NOW - 3 * 86400)]
+    assert pr_bot.should_close_stale(
+        reviews, head_sha="head", now_epoch=_NOW, author="rando") is True
+
+
+def test_stale_not_within_two_days():
+    reviews = [_review_ts("CHANGES_REQUESTED", "head", _NOW - 1 * 86400)]
+    assert pr_bot.should_close_stale(
+        reviews, head_sha="head", now_epoch=_NOW, author="rando") is False
+
+
+def test_stale_ignored_when_author_pushed_a_new_commit():
+    # the change request is on an old commit; head moved on and has no review.
+    reviews = [_review_ts("CHANGES_REQUESTED", "old", _NOW - 5 * 86400)]
+    assert pr_bot.should_close_stale(
+        reviews, head_sha="new", now_epoch=_NOW, author="rando") is False
+
+
+def test_stale_never_when_approved_on_head():
+    reviews = [_review_ts("APPROVED", "head", _NOW - 5 * 86400)]
+    assert pr_bot.should_close_stale(
+        reviews, head_sha="head", now_epoch=_NOW, author="rando") is False
+
+
+def test_stale_exempts_owner_and_bots():
+    reviews = [_review_ts("CHANGES_REQUESTED", "head", _NOW - 9 * 86400)]
+    assert pr_bot.should_close_stale(
+        reviews, head_sha="head", now_epoch=_NOW, author="plind-junior") is False
+    assert pr_bot.should_close_stale(
+        reviews, head_sha="head", now_epoch=_NOW, author="dependabot[bot]") is False
+
+
+def test_cli_stale_check_exit_codes(tmp_path):
+    import json as _json
+    f = tmp_path / "reviews.json"
+    f.write_text(_json.dumps(
+        [_review_ts("CHANGES_REQUESTED", "head", _NOW - 3 * 86400)]), encoding="utf-8")
+    stale = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-m", "vouch.pr_bot", "stale-check", "--reviews-file", str(f),
+         "--head-sha", "head", "--author", "rando", "--now-epoch", str(_NOW)])
+    fresh = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-m", "vouch.pr_bot", "stale-check", "--reviews-file", str(f),
+         "--head-sha", "head", "--author", "rando", "--now-epoch", str(_NOW - 3 * 86400)])
+    assert stale.returncode == 0 and fresh.returncode == 1
+
+
 def test_cli_coderabbit_gate_outputs(tmp_path):
     import json as _json
     f = tmp_path / "reviews.json"