diff --git a/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-file.ts b/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-file.ts
index eb7865fac23..d73297acfed 100644
--- a/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-file.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-file.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ async function gitExecFileAsyncUnlocked(
             cwd: options.cwd,
             wslDistro: options.wslDistro,
             tier: options.admissionTier,
+            admissionClass: options.admissionClass,
             signal: options.admissionSignal ?? options.signal
           })
       span?.setAttribute('git.queue_wait_ms', grant.queueWaitMs)
diff --git a/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-options.ts b/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-options.ts
index e98f02ca1f1..2b478c4bf5e 100644
--- a/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-options.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/command-runner/git-exec-options.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ export type GitExecOptions = {
   observeChildTermination?: (terminated: Promise<void>, writes: boolean) => void
   /** Scheduler priority for this child; status is the safe default. */
   admissionTier?: GitAdmissionTier
+  /** File materialization during worktree creation has a separate concurrency budget. */
+  admissionClass?: 'checkout'
   /** Skips general admission; only for a caller that bounds its own concurrency (worktree deletes). */
   admissionExempt?: true
   /** Native macOS deletion spawns use the shared process worker. */
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/checkout-workers-git-args.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/checkout-workers-git-args.ts
index f6d75b709e7..eba6eda4ea3 100644
--- a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/checkout-workers-git-args.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/checkout-workers-git-args.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import {
   type GitWorktreeExecOptions
 } from '../worktree-operation-options'
 
-// Git checks out with one worker by default; 0 means one per core (Git 2.32+; older Git ignores the key).
-const PARALLEL_CHECKOUT_GIT_ARGS = ['-c', 'checkout.workers=0'] as const
+// Bound default fan-out across simultaneous creates; older Git ignores the key (2.32+).
+const PARALLEL_CHECKOUT_GIT_ARGS = ['-c', 'checkout.workers=4'] as const
 
 /** Parallel checkout args unless checkout.workers is configured at any scope for this repo and host. */
 export async function checkoutWorkersGitArgs(
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-add.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-add.ts
index 02ffb4d41f7..be4105b0b45 100644
--- a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-add.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-add.ts
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ async function performAddWorktree(
   try {
     await gitExecFileAsync([...(await checkoutWorkersArgs), ...args], {
       ...gitExecOptions(repoPath, options),
+      ...(!noCheckout ? { admissionClass: 'checkout' as const } : {}),
       // Resolve per call so later environment overrides take effect.
       timeout: resolveWorktreeAddTimeoutMs(),
       ...(checkoutProgress ? { onStderr: checkoutProgress.read } : {})
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-base-refresh.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-base-refresh.ts
index a1e84c2b9a5..abb4d7a7390 100644
--- a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-base-refresh.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-base-refresh.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
   type LocalBaseBranchGit
 } from '../../../../shared/worktree/local-base-branch-fast-forward'
 import { gitExecFileAsync } from '../../command-runner/git-exec-file'
+import { findGitSubcommandIndex } from '../../../../shared/git/commands/git-command-classification'
 import { translateWslOutputPaths } from '../../command-runner/host-routing/wsl-path-translation'
 import { runWithGitReadCacheInvalidation } from '../../source-control/git-read-cache-invalidation'
 import type { AddWorktreeOptions, GitWorktreeExecOptions } from '../worktree-operation-options'
@@ -115,7 +116,13 @@ function localBaseBranchGit(options: GitWorktreeExecOptions): LocalBaseBranchGit
     ...(options.admissionTier ? { admissionTier: options.admissionTier } : {})
   })
   return {
-    exec: (args, cwd) => gitExecFileAsync(args, execOptions(cwd)),
+    exec: (args, cwd) =>
+      gitExecFileAsync(args, {
+        ...execOptions(cwd),
+        ...(args[findGitSubcommandIndex(args)] === 'merge'
+          ? { admissionClass: 'checkout' as const }
+          : {})
+      }),
     listWorktrees: async (repoPath) => {
       const { stdout } = await withRepositoryGitCause(
         repoPath,
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-create-admission-real-git.test.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-create-admission-real-git.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fa25af37ecc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-create-admission-real-git.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+import { mkdtemp, mkdir, readFile, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { GitAdmissionScheduler } from '../../../../shared/git/admission/git-admission-scheduler'
+import { findGitSubcommandIndex } from '../../../../shared/git/commands/git-command-classification'
+import { createWorktreePreparationLockReason } from '../../../../shared/worktree/create-preparation'
+import { _resetGitAdmissionForTests } from '../../command-runner/admission/git-subprocess-admission'
+import { gitExecFileAsync } from '../../command-runner/git-exec-file'
+import { addWorktree } from './worktree-add'
+import { addSparseWorktree } from './worktree-sparse-add'
+import {
+  finalizePreparedWorktree,
+  prepareWorktreeCreateCheckout
+} from './worktree-create-preparation'
+import { refreshPreparedWorktreeTip } from './worktree-preparation-tip-refresh'
+import { refreshLocalBaseRefForWorktreeCreate } from './worktree-base-refresh'
+
+let root: string
+let repo: string
+let admission: GitAdmissionScheduler
+
+beforeEach(async () => {
+  root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-create-admission-'))
+  repo = join(root, 'repo')
+  admission = new GitAdmissionScheduler()
+  _resetGitAdmissionForTests(admission)
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['init', '-q', repo], { cwd: root })
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['symbolic-ref', 'HEAD', 'refs/heads/main'], { cwd: repo })
+  await mkdir(join(repo, 'included'))
+  await writeFile(join(repo, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'one\n')
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['add', '.'], { cwd: repo })
+  await gitExecFileAsync(
+    ['-c', 'user.name=Test', '-c', 'user.email=test@example.invalid', 'commit', '-qm', 'fixture'],
+    { cwd: repo }
+  )
+})
+
+afterEach(async () => {
+  vi.restoreAllMocks()
+  _resetGitAdmissionForTests()
+  await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+})
+
+async function behindCheckoutBudget(command: string, run: () => Promise<unknown>): Promise<void> {
+  const held = await Promise.all(
+    Array.from({ length: 3 }, () =>
+      admission.acquire({
+        args: ['worktree', 'add'],
+        cwd: repo,
+        admissionClass: 'checkout',
+        tier: 'interactive'
+      })
+    )
+  )
+  const requested = Promise.withResolvers<void>()
+  let admitted = false
+  const acquire = admission.acquire.bind(admission)
+  const spy = vi.spyOn(admission, 'acquire').mockImplementation((request) => {
+    const grant = acquire(request)
+    if (
+      request.args[findGitSubcommandIndex(request.args)] === command &&
+      (command !== 'sparse-checkout' || request.args.includes('set'))
+    ) {
+      requested.resolve()
+      void grant.then(() => {
+        admitted = true
+      })
+    }
+    return grant
+  })
+  const operation = run()
+  try {
+    await requested.promise
+    const read = await gitExecFileAsync(['rev-parse', '--verify', 'HEAD'], { cwd: repo })
+    expect(read.stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^[0-9a-f]{40}$/)
+    expect(admitted).toBe(false)
+  } finally {
+    held.forEach((grant) => grant.release())
+    await operation
+    spy.mockRestore()
+  }
+}
+
+it('isolates ordinary and sparse creates while honoring the execution host checkout config', async () => {
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['config', 'checkout.workers', 'not-an-integer'], { cwd: repo })
+  await expect(addWorktree(repo, join(root, 'invalid'), 'invalid', 'main')).rejects.toThrow()
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['config', 'checkout.workers', '0'], { cwd: repo })
+  const ordinary = join(root, 'ordinary')
+  await behindCheckoutBudget('worktree', () => addWorktree(repo, ordinary, 'ordinary', 'main'))
+  expect(await readFile(join(ordinary, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'utf8')).toBe('one\n')
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['config', '--unset', 'checkout.workers'], { cwd: repo })
+  const sparse = join(root, 'sparse')
+  await behindCheckoutBudget('sparse-checkout', () =>
+    addSparseWorktree(repo, sparse, 'sparse', ['included'], 'main')
+  )
+  expect(await readFile(join(sparse, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'utf8')).toBe('one\n')
+})
+
+it('isolates preparation, fetched-tip refresh and changed-head finalization materializations', async () => {
+  const prepared = join(root, 'prepared')
+  const reason = createWorktreePreparationLockReason('admission')
+  await behindCheckoutBudget('reset', () =>
+    prepareWorktreeCreateCheckout(repo, prepared, 'main', reason)
+  )
+  await writeFile(join(repo, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'two\n')
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['commit', '-qam', 'next', '--author=Test <test@example.invalid>'], {
+    cwd: repo,
+    env: { ...process.env, GIT_COMMITTER_NAME: 'Test', GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL: 'test@example.invalid' }
+  })
+  await behindCheckoutBudget('reset', () =>
+    refreshPreparedWorktreeTip(repo, prepared, 'main', reason)
+  )
+  expect(await readFile(join(prepared, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'utf8')).toBe('two\n')
+  await writeFile(join(repo, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'three\n')
+  await gitExecFileAsync(
+    ['-c', 'user.name=Test', '-c', 'user.email=test@example.invalid', 'commit', '-qam', 'third'],
+    { cwd: repo }
+  )
+  const target = join(root, 'finalized')
+  await behindCheckoutBudget('reset', () =>
+    finalizePreparedWorktree(repo, prepared, target, 'finalized', 'main', false, {}, reason)
+  )
+  expect(await readFile(join(target, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'utf8')).toBe('three\n')
+})
+
+it('isolates the production base fast-forward with its leading Git config arguments', async () => {
+  const newer = join(root, 'newer')
+  await addWorktree(repo, newer, 'newer', 'main')
+  await writeFile(join(newer, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'remote\n')
+  await gitExecFileAsync(
+    ['-c', 'user.name=Test', '-c', 'user.email=test@example.invalid', 'commit', '-qam', 'remote'],
+    { cwd: newer }
+  )
+  const { stdout } = await gitExecFileAsync(['rev-parse', 'HEAD'], { cwd: newer })
+  await gitExecFileAsync(['update-ref', 'refs/remotes/origin/main', stdout.trim()], { cwd: repo })
+  await behindCheckoutBudget('merge', () =>
+    refreshLocalBaseRefForWorktreeCreate(repo, 'origin/main', 'refs/remotes/origin/main')
+  )
+  expect(await readFile(join(repo, 'included', 'file.txt'), 'utf8')).toBe('remote\n')
+})
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-create-preparation.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-create-preparation.ts
index e2318c2293b..be2bb01e94f 100644
--- a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-create-preparation.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-create-preparation.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,11 @@ export async function prepareWorktreeCreateCheckout(
             '--hard',
             materializationBase
           ],
-          { ...gitExecOptions(worktreePath, options), timeout: resolveWorktreeAddTimeoutMs() }
+          {
+            ...gitExecOptions(worktreePath, options),
+            admissionClass: 'checkout',
+            timeout: resolveWorktreeAddTimeoutMs()
+          }
         )
         await verifyWorktreePreparationLockAtPath(lockPath, lockReason, options.signal)
       })
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-finalization-work.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-finalization-work.ts
index eeb968453b0..cfccc9fa9fa 100644
--- a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-finalization-work.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-finalization-work.ts
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ export async function performPreparedWorktreeFinalization(
             '--hard',
             targetHead
           ],
-          gitExecOptions(preparedPath, finalizeGitOptions)
+          { ...gitExecOptions(preparedPath, finalizeGitOptions), admissionClass: 'checkout' }
         )
       }
 
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-tip-refresh.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-tip-refresh.ts
index 9394f40c304..ba7acfc04df 100644
--- a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-tip-refresh.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-preparation-tip-refresh.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ export async function refreshPreparedWorktreeTip(
             '--hard',
             targetHead
           ],
-          gitExecOptions(preparedPath, refreshOptions)
+          { ...gitExecOptions(preparedPath, refreshOptions), admissionClass: 'checkout' }
         )
       )
       await verifyWorktreePreparationLockAtPath(lockPath, lockReason, refreshOptions.signal)
diff --git a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-sparse-add.ts b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-sparse-add.ts
index f8f25a9e8a8..c700eee8381 100644
--- a/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-sparse-add.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/worktrees/creation/worktree-sparse-add.ts
@@ -38,14 +38,14 @@ export async function addSparseWorktree(
       checkoutWorkersGitArgs(worktreePath, options),
       gitExecFileAsync(['sparse-checkout', 'init', '--cone'], gitExecOptions(worktreePath, options))
     ])
-    await gitExecFileAsync(
-      [...longPathArgs, 'sparse-checkout', 'set', '--', ...directories],
-      gitExecOptions(worktreePath, options)
-    )
-    await gitExecFileAsync(
-      [...checkoutWorkersArgs, ...longPathArgs, 'checkout', branch],
-      gitExecOptions(worktreePath, options)
-    )
+    await gitExecFileAsync([...longPathArgs, 'sparse-checkout', 'set', '--', ...directories], {
+      ...gitExecOptions(worktreePath, options),
+      admissionClass: 'checkout'
+    })
+    await gitExecFileAsync([...checkoutWorkersArgs, ...longPathArgs, 'checkout', branch], {
+      ...gitExecOptions(worktreePath, options),
+      admissionClass: 'checkout'
+    })
     return addResult
   } catch (error) {
     const wrapped: SparseWorktreeCreateError =
diff --git a/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-checkout.test.ts b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-checkout.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f81fda8088e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-checkout.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import { expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { GitAdmissionScheduler } from './git-admission-scheduler'
+
+const checkout = {
+  args: ['worktree', 'add', '/checkout'],
+  cwd: '/repo',
+  admissionClass: 'checkout' as const
+}
+
+it('reserves interactive create capacity and leaves reads and other mutations independent', async () => {
+  const scheduler = new GitAdmissionScheduler()
+  const preparations = await Promise.all([
+    scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, tier: 'status' }),
+    scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, tier: 'status' })
+  ])
+  const cancelPreparation = new AbortController()
+  const queuedPreparation = scheduler.acquire({
+    ...checkout,
+    tier: 'status',
+    signal: cancelPreparation.signal
+  })
+  const canceled = expect(queuedPreparation).rejects.toMatchObject({ name: 'AbortError' })
+  const interactive = await scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, tier: 'interactive' })
+  const cancelCreate = new AbortController()
+  const queuedCreate = scheduler.acquire({
+    ...checkout,
+    tier: 'interactive',
+    signal: cancelCreate.signal
+  })
+  const canceledCreate = expect(queuedCreate).rejects.toMatchObject({ name: 'AbortError' })
+  const unrelated = await Promise.all(
+    [
+      ['rev-parse', 'HEAD'],
+      ['fetch', 'origin'],
+      ['restore', 'file'],
+      ['checkout', 'feature']
+    ].map((args) => scheduler.acquire({ args, cwd: '/other', tier: 'interactive' }))
+  )
+  unrelated.forEach((grant) => grant.release())
+  cancelPreparation.abort()
+  cancelCreate.abort()
+  await Promise.all([canceled, canceledCreate])
+  preparations.forEach((grant) => grant.release())
+  interactive.release()
+})
+
+it('reuses checkout capacity after cancellation and idempotent release across WSL routes', async () => {
+  const scheduler = new GitAdmissionScheduler({ checkoutCap: 4, checkoutHeadroom: 0 })
+  const held = await Promise.all([
+    scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, wslDistro: 'Ubuntu' }),
+    scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, cwd: '\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\repo' })
+  ])
+  const cancel = new AbortController()
+  const waiting = scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, wslDistro: 'ubuntu', signal: cancel.signal })
+  const rejected = expect(waiting).rejects.toMatchObject({ name: 'AbortError' })
+  const otherRoute = await scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, wslDistro: 'Debian' })
+  cancel.abort()
+  await rejected
+  const replacement = scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, wslDistro: 'UBUNTU' })
+  held[0].release()
+  held[0].release()
+  const granted = await replacement
+  granted.release()
+  held[1].release()
+  otherRoute.release()
+  const next = await scheduler.acquire({ ...checkout, wslDistro: 'Ubuntu' })
+  next.release()
+})
diff --git a/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-scheduler.ts b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-scheduler.ts
index 0ee82993c69..45379dc8b5d 100644
--- a/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-scheduler.ts
+++ b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-scheduler.ts
@@ -91,7 +91,9 @@ export class GitAdmissionScheduler {
     route: string | null
     budgetKeys: readonly string[]
   } {
-    const admissionClass = classifyGitCommand(request.args) === 'network' ? 'network' : 'general'
+    const admissionClass =
+      request.admissionClass ??
+      (classifyGitCommand(request.args) === 'network' ? 'network' : 'general')
     const route = routeKey(request)
     const keys: string[] = [admissionClass]
     if (route) {
@@ -110,17 +112,22 @@ export class GitAdmissionScheduler {
     }
     const isRoute = key.startsWith('route:')
     const isNetwork = key === 'network'
+    const isCheckout = key === 'checkout'
     budget = {
       baseCapacity: isRoute
         ? this.config.routeCap
         : isNetwork
           ? this.config.networkCap
-          : this.config.generalCap,
+          : isCheckout
+            ? this.config.checkoutCap
+            : this.config.generalCap,
       headroomCapacity: isRoute
         ? this.config.routeHeadroom
         : isNetwork
           ? this.config.networkHeadroom
-          : this.config.generalHeadroom,
+          : isCheckout
+            ? this.config.checkoutHeadroom
+            : this.config.generalHeadroom,
       baseUsed: 0,
       headroomUsed: 0
     }
diff --git a/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-state.ts b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-state.ts
index 119e7c0e930..c4dc864e26e 100644
--- a/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-state.ts
+++ b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-state.ts
@@ -5,16 +5,18 @@ import type { GitAdmissionTier } from '../../rpc-contract/git-admission-tier-par
 const parallelism = typeof os.availableParallelism === 'function' ? os.availableParallelism() : 1
 export const GENERAL_CAP = Math.max(2, Math.min(4, parallelism - 4))
 export const NETWORK_CAP = 3
+export const CHECKOUT_CAP = 2
 export const GENERAL_HEADROOM = 2
 export const NETWORK_HEADROOM = 1
+export const CHECKOUT_HEADROOM = 1
 export const ROUTE_CAP = 2
 export const ROUTE_HEADROOM = 1
 export const GIT_ADMISSION_AGING_MS = 15_000
-// General 4+2 and network 3+1 are disjoint, so at most ten admitted git children run globally;
+// General 4+2, network 3+1 and checkout 2+1 admit at most thirteen Git roots per runtime;
 // worktree deletes bypass admission under their own limit (WORKTREE_DELETE_CONCURRENCY).
-export const MAX_GIT_CHILDREN = 10
+export const MAX_GIT_CHILDREN = 13
 
-export type AdmissionClass = 'general' | 'network'
+export type AdmissionClass = 'general' | 'network' | 'checkout'
 export type AdmissionSlotKind = 'base' | 'headroom'
 
 export type GitAdmissionRequest = {
@@ -22,6 +24,7 @@ export type GitAdmissionRequest = {
   cwd: string
   wslDistro?: string
   tier?: GitAdmissionTier
+  admissionClass?: 'checkout'
   signal?: AbortSignal
 }
 
@@ -55,8 +58,10 @@ export type GitAdmissionEvent = {
 export type AdmissionSchedulerConfig = {
   generalCap: number
   networkCap: number
+  checkoutCap: number
   generalHeadroom: number
   networkHeadroom: number
+  checkoutHeadroom: number
   routeCap: number
   routeHeadroom: number
   agingMs: number
@@ -67,8 +72,10 @@ export type AdmissionSchedulerConfig = {
 export const DEFAULT_ADMISSION_SCHEDULER_CONFIG: AdmissionSchedulerConfig = {
   generalCap: GENERAL_CAP,
   networkCap: NETWORK_CAP,
+  checkoutCap: CHECKOUT_CAP,
   generalHeadroom: GENERAL_HEADROOM,
   networkHeadroom: NETWORK_HEADROOM,
+  checkoutHeadroom: CHECKOUT_HEADROOM,
   routeCap: ROUTE_CAP,
   routeHeadroom: ROUTE_HEADROOM,
   agingMs: GIT_ADMISSION_AGING_MS,
diff --git a/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-waiter-queue.ts b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-waiter-queue.ts
index afb301fe7ac..09702b1c9b9 100644
--- a/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-waiter-queue.ts
+++ b/src/shared/git/admission/git-admission-waiter-queue.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ const createTierLanes = (): TierLanes => ({
 export class GitAdmissionWaiterQueue {
   private readonly lanes: Record<AdmissionClass, TierLanes> = {
     general: createTierLanes(),
-    network: createTierLanes()
+    network: createTierLanes(),
+    checkout: createTierLanes()
   }
   private readonly countsByBudget = new Map<string, number>()
   private readonly baseCandidates: Record<AdmissionClass, Record<GitAdmissionTier, CandidateHeap>> =
@@ -39,11 +40,17 @@ export class GitAdmissionWaiterQueue {
         interactive: new CandidateHeap(),
         status: new CandidateHeap(),
         background: new CandidateHeap()
+      },
+      checkout: {
+        interactive: new CandidateHeap(),
+        status: new CandidateHeap(),
+        background: new CandidateHeap()
       }
     }
   private readonly headroomCandidates: Record<AdmissionClass, CandidateHeap> = {
     general: new CandidateHeap(),
-    network: new CandidateHeap()
+    network: new CandidateHeap(),
+    checkout: new CandidateHeap()
   }
   private totalCount = 0
 
@@ -53,8 +60,9 @@ export class GitAdmissionWaiterQueue {
 
   /** @internal - exposed for bounded-storage regression tests only. */
   get candidateCountForTests(): number {
-    let count = this.headroomCandidates.general.size + this.headroomCandidates.network.size
-    for (const admissionClass of ['general', 'network'] as const) {
+    let count = 0
+    for (const admissionClass of ['general', 'network', 'checkout'] as const) {
+      count += this.headroomCandidates[admissionClass].size
       for (const tier of TIERS) {
         count += this.baseCandidates[admissionClass][tier].size
       }
@@ -136,7 +144,7 @@ export class GitAdmissionWaiterQueue {
   }
 
   snapshot(): AdmissionWaiter[] {
-    return (['general', 'network'] as const)
+    return (['general', 'network', 'checkout'] as const)
       .flatMap((admissionClass) =>
         TIERS.flatMap((tier) => {
           return [...this.lanes[admissionClass][tier].values()].flatMap((lane) =>