diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index e0939f2..d4975d7 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ inputs:
     default: "true"
   allowed-associations:
     description: "Comma-separated author associations allowed to trigger (payload check; a live write-permission check also applies)."
-    default: "OWNER,MEMBER,COLLABORATOR"
+    default: "OWNER,MEMBER,COLLABORATOR,CONTRIBUTOR,FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR"
   allowed-users:
     description: "Comma-separated logins allowed to trigger regardless of association. Widening this is a deliberate security decision."
     default: ""
diff --git a/specs/project/functional_spec.md b/specs/project/functional_spec.md
index 64a12e4..256029c 100644
--- a/specs/project/functional_spec.md
+++ b/specs/project/functional_spec.md
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ Behavior:
 `codegenie github-action` is the entrypoint the bundled composite action (`action.yml`) invokes inside GitHub Actions runners; it is not intended for interactive use. It reads the standard Actions environment (`GITHUB_EVENT_NAME`, `GITHUB_EVENT_PATH`, `GITHUB_REPOSITORY`, `GITHUB_RUN_ID`), decides whether the event should trigger a review, and when it should, runs the ordinary `--pr` review with a live status comment on the PR (see `components/repository_and_github.md`, GitHub Action Adapter). With `preflight-only: true`, it performs the same trigger and live-permission checks without claiming a comment or starting a review, and returns `should-run`/`pr-number` Action outputs.
 
 - Trigger lanes: `pull_request` (opened/synchronize/ready_for_review; drafts and fork heads skip) and `issue_comment` (created, on an open PR; the trimmed comment must equal the configured trigger phrase, default `codegenie review`, or start with it followed by whitespace — trailing text is ignored and never parsed into options).
-- Authorization: payload author association must be in the allowlist (default OWNER/MEMBER/COLLABORATOR) and a live collaborator-permission check must report write or admin; `allowed-users` bypasses both explicitly. Bot actors are ignored unless allowlisted. Authorization logic lives only in the binary — payload-only YAML approximations are forbidden. Workflow templates are single-job with per-PR `concurrency` and uniform `cancel-in-progress: true` (newest event wins); the accepted residual is that a comment can supersede its own PR's in-flight run before the skip decision. `preflight-only: true` remains available for a stricter two-job pattern: it runs the same gate without claiming a comment or reviewing, returning `should-run`/`pr-number` outputs.
+- Authorization: payload author association must be in the allowlist (default OWNER/MEMBER/COLLABORATOR/CONTRIBUTOR/FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR) and a live collaborator-permission check must report write or admin; `allowed-users` bypasses both explicitly. Bot actors are ignored unless allowlisted. CONTRIBUTOR and FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR are included because GitHub uses those labels for some write-access org teammates (private membership, and some org-repo permission shapes) instead of MEMBER. Authorization logic lives only in the binary — payload-only YAML approximations are forbidden. Workflow templates are single-job with per-PR `concurrency` and uniform `cancel-in-progress: true` (newest event wins); the accepted residual is that a comment can supersede its own PR's in-flight run before the skip decision. `preflight-only: true` remains available for a stricter two-job pattern: it runs the same gate without claiming a comment or reviewing, returning `should-run`/`pr-number` outputs.
 - Comment-author identity resolves as `bot-login` input → `/user` lookup → `github-actions[bot]`; status-comment reclaim requires an exact case-insensitive author match against it.
 - A non-triggering event is a skip: exit `0`, one-line stdout reason, nothing posted. Review and posting failures keep their existing nonzero exit semantics.
 - Inline posting maps to the existing `--post-github-comments` flag; the status comment is enabled only by this entrypoint. Repo-resident config can enable neither.
diff --git a/specs/project/html/functional_spec.html b/specs/project/html/functional_spec.html
index 075ffaf..7f6a3db 100644
--- a/specs/project/html/functional_spec.html
+++ b/specs/project/html/functional_spec.html
@@ -415,9 +415,12 @@ <h2 id="github-action-mode">GitHub Action Mode</h2>
 <code>codegenie review</code>, or start with it followed by whitespace —
 trailing text is ignored and never parsed into options).</li>
 <li>Authorization: payload author association must be in the allowlist
-(default OWNER/MEMBER/COLLABORATOR) and a live collaborator-permission
+(default OWNER/MEMBER/COLLABORATOR/CONTRIBUTOR/FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR) and a live collaborator-permission
 check must report write or admin; <code>allowed-users</code> bypasses
 both explicitly. Bot actors are ignored unless allowlisted.
+CONTRIBUTOR and FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR are included because GitHub
+uses those labels for some write-access org teammates (private
+membership, and some org-repo permission shapes) instead of MEMBER.
 Authorization logic lives only in the binary — payload-only YAML
 approximations are forbidden. Workflow templates are single-job with
 per-PR <code>concurrency</code> and uniform
diff --git a/src/github-action/event-gate.ts b/src/github-action/event-gate.ts
index 655ca80..7269b24 100644
--- a/src/github-action/event-gate.ts
+++ b/src/github-action/event-gate.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,16 @@
 // review knobs come exclusively from workflow inputs.
 
 export const DEFAULT_TRIGGER_PHRASE = "codegenie review";
-export const DEFAULT_ALLOWED_ASSOCIATIONS = ["OWNER", "MEMBER", "COLLABORATOR"];
+// GitHub reports some write-access teammates as CONTRIBUTOR /
+// FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR instead of MEMBER (private org membership, and
+// some org-repo permission shapes). The live write check is still required.
+export const DEFAULT_ALLOWED_ASSOCIATIONS = [
+  "OWNER",
+  "MEMBER",
+  "COLLABORATOR",
+  "CONTRIBUTOR",
+  "FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR"
+];
 // ready_for_review completes the draft story: drafts skip, so the moment a
 // draft is marked ready must itself trigger the review.
 const PULL_REQUEST_ACTIONS = new Set(["opened", "synchronize", "ready_for_review"]);
diff --git a/tests/github-action.test.ts b/tests/github-action.test.ts
index 79a38f4..de61225 100644
--- a/tests/github-action.test.ts
+++ b/tests/github-action.test.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,19 @@ describe("github-action event gate", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("allows CONTRIBUTOR and FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR by default", () => {
+    expect(
+      decideTrigger("pull_request", pullRequestPayload({ author_association: "CONTRIBUTOR" }), RULES)
+    ).toMatchObject({ run: true, association: "CONTRIBUTOR" });
+    expect(
+      decideTrigger(
+        "pull_request",
+        pullRequestPayload({ author_association: "FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR" }),
+        RULES
+      )
+    ).toMatchObject({ run: true, association: "FIRST_TIME_CONTRIBUTOR" });
+  });
+
   it("gates by association with an allowed-users override that skips the live check", () => {
     const outsider = pullRequestPayload({ author_association: "NONE", user: { login: "mallory", type: "User" } });
     expect(decideTrigger("pull_request", outsider, RULES)).toMatchObject({ run: false });
@@ -1153,10 +1166,11 @@ describe("GitHub Action and workflow contracts", () => {
   it("forwards preflight and bot identity inputs through the composite action", () => {
     const raw = readFileSync(path.resolve("action.yml"), "utf8");
     const action = parseYaml(raw) as {
-      inputs: Record<string, { description?: string }>;
+      inputs: Record<string, { description?: string; default?: string }>;
       outputs: Record<string, { value?: string }>;
       runs: { steps: WorkflowStep[] };
     };
+    expect(action.inputs["allowed-associations"]?.default).toBe(DEFAULT_ALLOWED_ASSOCIATIONS.join(","));
     expect(action.inputs["on-pull-request"]?.description).toContain("ready_for_review");
     expect(action.inputs["bot-login"]).toBeDefined();
     expect(action.inputs["preflight-only"]).toBeDefined();