diff --git a/OWNERS b/OWNERS
index 710de2ec..c3039f42 100644
--- a/OWNERS
+++ b/OWNERS
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ approvers:
 - tzhou5
 - kuudori
 - ma-hill
+- ldornele
 
 reviewers:
 - "86254860"
@@ -37,3 +38,4 @@ reviewers:
 - tzhou5
 - kuudori
 - ma-hill
+- ldornele
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f4338e50..198c52e6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ architecture/
 | | [Health Endpoints](hyperfleet/standards/health-endpoints.md) | `/healthz` and `/readyz` endpoint contracts |
 | **Deployment** | [Container Image Standard](hyperfleet/standards/container-image-standard.md) | Base images, labels, and image build requirements |
 | | [Helm Chart Conventions](hyperfleet/standards/helm-chart-conventions.md) | Chart structure, values schema, and naming conventions |
+| **Process** | [Ticket Hygiene](hyperfleet/standards/ticket-hygiene.md) | JIRA ticket field requirements and sprint readiness |
 
 **When to update**: When a standard changes or a new cross-cutting rule is introduced
 
diff --git a/hyperfleet/docs/working-agreement.md b/hyperfleet/docs/working-agreement.md
index 2a500ba6..12cec70b 100644
--- a/hyperfleet/docs/working-agreement.md
+++ b/hyperfleet/docs/working-agreement.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Before picking up a ticket, confirm:
 - [ ] Dependencies are identified (ticket has no blockers)
 - [ ] Open questions are answered
 - [ ] Work is sized to complete within a sprint
+- [ ] Required JIRA fields set (see [Ticket Hygiene Standard](../standards/ticket-hygiene.md))
 
 If a ticket is not ready, update it before starting work. If acceptance criteria appear out of date, raise it with the **epic owner** — they are responsible for keeping acceptance criteria current across their epic.
 
diff --git a/hyperfleet/standards/CLAUDE.md b/hyperfleet/standards/CLAUDE.md
index 1bcc4629..addaec24 100644
--- a/hyperfleet/standards/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/hyperfleet/standards/CLAUDE.md
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Reference these when working with standards (non-exhaustive - see `hyperfleet/st
 | `logging-specification.md` | Logging format and levels |
 | `makefile-conventions.md` | Makefile patterns |
 | `metrics.md` | Prometheus metrics |
+| `ticket-hygiene.md` | JIRA ticket field requirements and sprint readiness |
 | `tracing.md` | Distributed tracing |
 
 ## RFC 2119 Language
diff --git a/hyperfleet/standards/ticket-hygiene.md b/hyperfleet/standards/ticket-hygiene.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..95daebc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyperfleet/standards/ticket-hygiene.md
@@ -0,0 +1,280 @@
+---
+Status: Active
+Owner: HyperFleet Platform Team
+Last Updated: 2026-05-20
+---
+
+# HyperFleet Ticket Hygiene Standard
+
+> Defines which JIRA fields are required vs recommended per issue type, lists valid Component and Activity Type values, and establishes the ticket quality bar for sprint readiness. This standard is the single source of truth for field-level completeness — the [Definition of Ready](../docs/working-agreement.md#definition-of-ready) in the working agreement covers content quality (acceptance criteria, dependencies) while this document covers field-level completeness.
+
+---
+
+## Table of Contents
+
+1. [Overview](#overview)
+2. [Required and Recommended Fields](#required-and-recommended-fields)
+3. [Field Requirements by Issue Type](#field-requirements-by-issue-type)
+4. [Valid Components](#valid-components)
+5. [Activity Types](#activity-types)
+6. [Story Points Scale](#story-points-scale)
+7. [Fix Versions](#fix-versions)
+8. [Examples](#examples)
+9. [Enforcement](#enforcement)
+10. [References](#references)
+
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+Consistent ticket metadata enables accurate sprint reporting, capacity planning (Sankey allocation), and workload visibility. When fields like Activity Type or Component are missing, sprint reports become unreliable and capacity allocation is inaccurate.
+
+This standard applies to all tickets in the HYPERFLEET JIRA project. The [required fields](#required-and-recommended-fields) define the sprint-entry baseline for Stories, Tasks, and Bugs. Epics follow the [per-issue-type matrix](#field-requirements-by-issue-type), which relaxes some fields to SHOULD or MAY.
+
+Key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", and "MAY" are used per [RFC 2119](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119).
+
+---
+
+## Required and Recommended Fields
+
+### Required Fields
+
+Every ticket entering a sprint MUST have these fields set:
+
+| Field | Purpose |
+|-------|---------|
+| Summary | Clear, concise title under 100 characters |
+| Description (What/Why) | Structured description with What (the change) and Why (the motivation) sections |
+| Acceptance Criteria | At least 2 clear, testable criteria |
+| Story Points | Effort estimate using the [standard scale](#story-points-scale) |
+| Component | Which part of the system this work affects (see [Valid Components](#valid-components)) |
+| Activity Type | Capacity planning category (see [Activity Types](#activity-types)) |
+
+### Recommended Fields
+
+These fields SHOULD be set when applicable:
+
+| Field | Purpose |
+|-------|---------|
+| Fix Version | Target release version |
+| Labels | Additional categorization (e.g., `follow-up`, `tech-debt`) |
+| Priority | Urgency relative to other work (defaults to Normal) |
+| Epic Link | Parent epic for feature tracking (MUST for Stories — see [per-type table](#field-requirements-by-issue-type)) |
+
+---
+
+## Field Requirements by Issue Type
+
+| Field | Story | Task | Bug | Epic |
+|-------|-------|------|-----|------|
+| Summary | MUST | MUST | MUST | MUST |
+| Description (What/Why) | MUST | MUST | MUST | MUST (Goal/Scope/Success Criteria) |
+| Acceptance Criteria | MUST | MUST | MUST | SHOULD |
+| Story Points | MUST | MUST | MUST | MAY |
+| Component | MUST | MUST | MUST | SHOULD |
+| Activity Type | MUST | MUST | MUST | SHOULD |
+| Fix Version | SHOULD | SHOULD | SHOULD | MAY |
+| Priority | SHOULD | SHOULD | MUST | SHOULD |
+| Epic Link | MUST | SHOULD | SHOULD | N/A |
+| Labels | MAY | MAY | MAY | MAY |
+
+### Additional Requirements by Type
+
+#### Bug
+
+Bugs MUST include in their description:
+
+- **Steps to reproduce** or a clear trigger description
+- **Expected behavior** vs **actual behavior**
+- **Impact** (who is affected and how)
+
+#### Epic
+
+Epics MUST include in their description:
+
+- **Goal** — what the epic delivers when complete
+- **Scope** — what is in and out of scope
+- **Success criteria** — how to measure completion (replaces Acceptance Criteria for epics)
+
+---
+
+## Valid Components
+
+Each ticket MUST have at least one component assigned. Use the component that best matches the primary area of work.
+
+| Component | Scope | Repository |
+|-----------|-------|------------|
+| Adapter | Adapter framework, task configs, resource lifecycle | [hyperfleet-adapter](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-adapter) |
+| API | REST API service, handlers, DAOs, middleware | [hyperfleet-api](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-api) |
+| Architecture | Architecture docs, standards, ADRs, working agreements | [architecture](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/architecture) |
+| CICD | Prow jobs, Konflux pipelines, release automation | Multiple repos (CI config) |
+| Claude Plugins | Claude Code plugins, skills, and AI-assisted tooling | [hyperfleet-claude-plugins](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-claude-plugins) |
+| E2E Tests | End-to-end test suites and test infrastructure | [hyperfleet-e2e](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-e2e) |
+| Infrastructure | Terraform modules, Helm umbrella charts, deployment scripts | [hyperfleet-infra](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-infra) |
+| Message Broker | Shared broker library (Pub/Sub, RabbitMQ, CloudEvents) | [hyperfleet-broker](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-broker) |
+| OCI | OCI artifact distribution, Helm chart publishing | Multiple repos |
+| Sentinel | Sentinel reconciliation service, decision engine | [hyperfleet-sentinel](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-sentinel) |
+
+> **Note:** If a ticket spans multiple components, assign the primary component. Add secondary components only when the work equally affects both areas.
+
+---
+
+## Activity Types
+
+Activity Type refers to the existing JIRA custom field "Activity Type" — this section documents its valid values and provides guidance on which value to select. Activity Type MUST be set for sprint capacity planning. Tickets without an Activity Type appear as "Uncategorized" in the Sankey capacity reports.
+
+Evaluate top-down — first match wins:
+
+### Tier 1 — Non-Negotiable
+
+SLAs, escalations, CVEs — these take priority regardless of sprint plan.
+
+| Activity Type | When to Use |
+|---------------|-------------|
+| Associate Wellness & Development | Onboarding, team growth, training, associate experience |
+| Incidents & Support | Customer escalations, production incidents, outage response |
+| Security & Compliance | CVEs, vulnerabilities, security patches, compliance work |
+
+### Tier 2 — Core Principles
+
+Reduce bug backlog, ensure quality and stability.
+
+| Activity Type | When to Use |
+|---------------|-------------|
+| Quality / Stability / Reliability | Bug fixes, SLO improvements, tech debt, chores, toil reduction, PMR action items |
+
+### Tier 3 — Balance Remaining Capacity
+
+Split remaining capacity between sustainability and product delivery.
+
+| Activity Type | When to Use |
+|---------------|-------------|
+| Future Sustainability | Productivity improvements, upstream contributions, proactive architecture, enablement |
+| Product / Portfolio Work | Strategic product work, new features, BU product delivery |
+
+### Decision Flow
+
+1. Is it an escalation, incident, CVE, or training/onboarding? → **Tier 1**
+2. Does it fix bugs, reduce tech debt, improve SLOs, or reduce toil? → **Tier 2** (Quality / Stability / Reliability)
+3. Otherwise → **Tier 3**: Is it proactive improvement or enablement? → Future Sustainability. Is it new product value? → Product / Portfolio Work
+
+---
+
+## Story Points Scale
+
+HyperFleet uses a modified Fibonacci sequence. Everything scales from 1 (trivial).
+
+| Points | Meaning | Typical Scope |
+|--------|---------|---------------|
+| 0 | Tracking only | Quick task with stakeholder value but negligible effort compared to a 1-pointer |
+| 1 | Trivial | One-line change, extremely simple task. No risk, very low effort |
+| 3 | Straightforward | Time-consuming but fairly straightforward. Minor risks possible |
+| 5 | Medium | Requires investigation, design, or collaboration. Can be complex. Risks involved |
+| 8 | Large | Big task requiring investigation and design. Collaboration required. Risks expected. **Design doc required** |
+| 13 | Too large | MUST be split into smaller stories before entering a sprint |
+
+### Sizing Guidelines
+
+- **When in doubt, round up** — it is better to overestimate than to carry work across sprints
+- **Compare to known work** — look at recently completed tickets with similar scope for calibration
+- **8-point tickets MUST have a design doc** — if there is no design doc, the ticket is not ready
+- **13-point tickets MUST be split** — break them into 2-3 smaller stories with clear boundaries
+
+---
+
+## Fix Versions
+
+Fix Version tracks which release a ticket targets. Set this field when the ticket is committed to a specific release.
+
+Check the [JIRA project configuration](https://redhat.atlassian.net/projects/HYPERFLEET?selectedItem=com.atlassian.jira.jira-projects-plugin:release-page) for the current list of active versions and their target dates.
+
+---
+
+## Examples
+
+### Good Example: Story
+
+```text
+Summary: Add force-delete endpoint for nodepools
+Description:
+  ### What
+  Add a DELETE endpoint to the nodepool API that supports force deletion...
+  ### Why
+  Orphaned nodepools cannot be cleaned up when the parent cluster is deleted...
+Acceptance Criteria:
+  - [ ] DELETE /api/v1/nodepools/{id}?force=true returns 204
+  - [ ] Force-deleted nodepools bypass adapter reconciliation
+  - [ ] Audit log entry created for force-delete operations
+Story Points: 5
+Component: API
+Activity Type: Product / Portfolio Work
+Epic Link: HYPERFLEET-834 (Force Deletion)
+```
+
+### Bad Example: Story
+
+```text
+Summary: Fix nodepool stuff
+Description: Nodepools are broken, need to fix them
+Acceptance Criteria: (none)
+Story Points: (not set)
+Component: (not set)
+Activity Type: (not set)
+```
+
+**What is wrong:** Summary is vague, description lacks What/Why structure, no acceptance criteria, missing required fields (Story Points, Component, Activity Type, Epic Link).
+
+### Good Example: Bug
+
+```text
+Summary: Bug: Adapter dependency test has race condition causing flaky nightly failures
+Description:
+  ### What
+  The adapter dependency integration test fails intermittently in tier0 nightly runs...
+  ### Steps to Reproduce
+  1. Run `make integration-test` with parallel execution enabled
+  2. Observe TestAdapterDependency fails ~20% of runs
+  ### Expected Behavior
+  Test passes consistently regardless of execution order
+  ### Actual Behavior
+  Test fails with "context deadline exceeded" when another test holds the broker connection
+  ### Impact
+  Nightly CI is unreliable, requiring manual re-runs
+Acceptance Criteria:
+  - [ ] Test passes consistently in 10 consecutive CI runs
+  - [ ] Race condition root cause identified and fixed
+Story Points: 3
+Component: Adapter
+Activity Type: Quality / Stability / Reliability
+Priority: High
+```
+
+---
+
+## Enforcement
+
+### Automated Tooling
+
+The [`hyperfleet-jira`](https://github.com/openshift-hyperfleet/hyperfleet-claude-plugins/tree/main/hyperfleet-jira) Claude Code plugin provides automated triage checks:
+
+- **`/jira-triage`** — audits sprint tickets against this standard, flagging missing required fields
+- **`/jira-ticket-creator`** — enforces required fields when creating new tickets
+
+These tools use this standard as their source of truth. Discrepancies between plugin behavior and this document SHOULD be reported and fixed in the plugin (see [HYPERFLEET-1105](https://redhat.atlassian.net/browse/HYPERFLEET-1105)).
+
+### Sprint Planning Gate
+
+Before pulling tickets into a sprint, the team SHOULD run `/jira-triage` to audit all candidate tickets. Tickets that fail automated validation MUST NOT enter the sprint until fixed.
+
+---
+
+## References
+
+### Related HyperFleet Standards
+
+- [Commit Standard](./commit-standard.md) — commit message format
+- [Working Agreement](../docs/working-agreement.md) — Definition of Ready and team processes
+
+### External Resources
+
+- [RFC 2119](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119) — Key words for use in RFCs to indicate requirement levels