diff --git a/firmware/sdkconfig.defaults b/firmware/sdkconfig.defaults
index b3515d1..d083adb 100644
--- a/firmware/sdkconfig.defaults
+++ b/firmware/sdkconfig.defaults
@@ -1,20 +1,21 @@
 # Rust often needs a bit of an extra main task stack size compared to C (the default is 3K)
 # You might have to increase this further if you allocate large stack variables in the main task.
 # Bumped for the TLS handshake (Spike 6): mbedtls runs on the calling task and
-# wants several KB of stack on top of the app's own usage.
-# Bumped hard for Spike 7: libgit2's call chain is stack-hungry. Nearly every
-# function puts a `char path[GIT_PATH_MAX]` (4 KB) buffer on the stack, and the
-# repository_init → config-write → FATFS → wear-leveling chain nests ~10 of them
-# deep — a trivial config write measured ~67 KB of stack on hardware, overflowing
-# the previous 48 KB and smashing an adjacent newlib lock handle (LoadProhibited
-# in xQueueGenericSend). The push (smart-HTTP + pack + mbedTLS) is deeper still.
-# NOTE: this earlier looked like "time() only works on the main task" — but that
-# iteration ran git on a std::thread with the default 4 KB stack; the same chain
-# just overflowed sooner. It's stack depth, not thread-vs-main.
-# CAVEAT: this sdkconfig is shared with the editor build, so the editor also
-# reserves this stack for nothing. Once the push is proven, git should move to a
-# dedicated large-stack task and this can drop back to ~16 KB.
-CONFIG_ESP_MAIN_TASK_STACK_SIZE=98304
+# wants several KB of stack on top of the app's own usage. 12 KB ran the editor
+# AND a full TLS-on-main handshake on hardware — the last-known-good value for
+# this shared stack.
+#
+# Spike 7 briefly bumped this to 96 KB because libgit2's push chain is far deeper
+# (~67 KB measured for a trivial config write: nearly every function puts a 4 KB
+# `char path[GIT_PATH_MAX]` on the stack and init→config→FATFS→wear-leveling
+# nests ~10 deep). But this sdkconfig is SHARED with the editor build, so that
+# forced the editor to over-reserve ~80 KB for nothing. Git now runs on its own
+# large-stack thread instead (git_push.rs — GIT_STACK via
+# std::thread::Builder::stack_size), so this drops back to the Spike-6 value.
+# (The "time() only works on the main task" theory was a misdiagnosis: that
+# iteration ran git on a std::thread with the DEFAULT 4 KB stack and just
+# overflowed sooner — it was always stack depth, never thread-vs-main.)
+CONFIG_ESP_MAIN_TASK_STACK_SIZE=12288
 
 # Increase a bit these stack sizes as they are also a bit too small by default
 CONFIG_ESP_SYSTEM_EVENT_TASK_STACK_SIZE=4096
diff --git a/firmware/src/bin/git_push.rs b/firmware/src/bin/git_push.rs
index 0958743..10b301e 100644
--- a/firmware/src/bin/git_push.rs
+++ b/firmware/src/bin/git_push.rs
@@ -93,6 +93,13 @@ const CA_BUNDLE_PATH: &str = "/spiflash/ca.pem";
 /// SNTP first-sync budget (same as Spike 6).
 const SNTP_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(20);
 
+/// Stack for the dedicated git thread (see run()). libgit2's init→push chain
+/// measured ~67 KB on hardware and the push is deeper; 96 KB is the value proven
+/// on the main task before git moved off it. Sizing the thread — not the shared
+/// main-task stack — is the whole point of this task: the editor build no longer
+/// reserves it. Allocated from internal DRAM only while a push is running.
+const GIT_STACK: usize = 96 * 1024;
+
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
     // Required once before any esp-idf-svc call; some runtime patches only link
     // if this symbol is referenced. See esp-idf-template#71.
@@ -143,15 +150,30 @@ fn run() -> Result<()> {
     mount_fat().context("mounting flash-FAT")?;
     install_tls_trust_store().context("installing TLS trust store")?;
 
-    // Git work runs on the MAIN task, not a spawned thread. libgit2 (via mbedTLS
-    // cert validation and FATFS timestamping) calls time()/gettimeofday, whose
-    // newlib lock asserts when taken from a Rust std::thread but works on main
-    // (Spike 6 ran TLS on main fine). The main stack is sized for it in
-    // sdkconfig.defaults (CONFIG_ESP_MAIN_TASK_STACK_SIZE). Errors are LOGGED,
-    // not propagated, so the radio stays up and the monitor shows the result.
-    match git_publish() {
-        Ok(summary) => log::info!("✅ Spike 7 complete — {summary}"),
-        Err(e) => log::error!("❌ git_publish failed: {e:?}"),
+    // Git runs on a DEDICATED large-stack thread, not the main task. libgit2's
+    // call chain is deeply stack-hungry (see GIT_STACK), and sizing the *shared*
+    // main-task stack for it made the editor build over-reserve ~80 KB. Its own
+    // thread lets the main task stay small (sdkconfig.defaults, back to 12 KB).
+    //
+    // NB: an earlier iteration ran git on a std::thread and appeared to fail,
+    // which we wrongly blamed on a "newlib time() lock that only works on main".
+    // The real cause was the default 4 KB pthread stack overflowing — the same
+    // chain just smashed the stack sooner. An explicit stack_size fixes it; there
+    // is no thread-vs-main limitation. (Verified: the push below runs mbedTLS +
+    // FATFS timestamping off-main.)
+    //
+    // Errors are LOGGED, not propagated, so the radio stays up (_wifi is held on
+    // this task) and the monitor shows the result. join() blocks main until git
+    // finishes; a panic almost certainly means GIT_STACK is too small.
+    let git = std::thread::Builder::new()
+        .name("git".into())
+        .stack_size(GIT_STACK)
+        .spawn(git_publish)
+        .context("spawning git thread")?;
+    match git.join() {
+        Ok(Ok(summary)) => log::info!("✅ Spike 7 complete — {summary}"),
+        Ok(Err(e)) => log::error!("❌ git_publish failed: {e:?}"),
+        Err(_) => log::error!("❌ git thread panicked — likely stack overflow, raise GIT_STACK"),
     }
 
     log::info!("idling with Wi-Fi up — press reset to re-run");
@@ -251,8 +273,9 @@ fn install_tls_trust_store() -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// The whole publish (on the main task): init a fresh working copy, write a
-/// file, commit, and push to a fresh remote branch. Returns a one-line summary.
+/// The whole publish (runs on the dedicated git thread — see run()): init a fresh
+/// working copy, write a file, commit, and push to a fresh remote branch. Returns
+/// a one-line summary.
 fn git_publish() -> Result<String> {
     log::info!("git_publish started — free heap {}", free_heap());
     let unix = now_unix();