diff --git a/web/src/app/community/layout.tsx b/web/src/app/community/layout.tsx
index a3fe58ff8..6592d515d 100644
--- a/web/src/app/community/layout.tsx
+++ b/web/src/app/community/layout.tsx
@@ -102,13 +102,14 @@ export default async function CommunityLayout({ children }: { children: React.Re
             {session ? (
               <Link
                 href="/pattern-lab"
+                prefetch={false}
                 className={styles.makeCta}
                 title="Open Pattern Lab — make a pattern and publish it here"
               >
                 Make<span className={styles.ctaRest}> &amp; publish — Pattern Lab</span> ↗
               </Link>
             ) : (
-              <Link href="/pattern-lab" title="Open Pattern Lab editor">
+              <Link href="/pattern-lab" prefetch={false} title="Open Pattern Lab editor">
                 Pattern Lab ↗
               </Link>
             )}
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ export default async function CommunityLayout({ children }: { children: React.Re
         <div className={styles.pageBody}>{children}</div>
 
         <footer className={styles.pageFooter}>
-          <Link href="/terms">Terms &amp; Privacy</Link>
+          <Link href="/terms" prefetch={false}>Terms &amp; Privacy</Link>
           <span>·</span>
           <a href="mailto:contact@patternflow.work">Report something</a>
           {/* The atlas, kept read-only since 26 October 2026. Nothing else
diff --git a/web/src/app/community/linkPrefetch.test.ts b/web/src/app/community/linkPrefetch.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2970d310b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/app/community/linkPrefetch.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { links } from "../../../test/linkTags";
+
+// A <Link> in view prefetches the page it points to, and that page's client
+// chunks come with it. On 26 October, at 390px and 1440px, /community
+// fetched 20 scripts (392.8 KB gzip), and 9 of them (218.7 KB) arrived after
+// the load event. 210.5 KB was Pattern Lab, prefetched by the header's
+// "Pattern Lab ↗", and 5.0 KB was /editions, from the firmware notice. With
+// prefetch={false} on the links that leave the community, nothing arrived
+// after load. A page outside the community loads when its link is followed.
+
+const HREF = /\bhref=(?:"([^"]*)"|\{["`]([^"`]*)["`]\})/;
+
+/** The links whose href is written out and goes somewhere other than
+ *  /community. An href computed from a variable is not read. */
+const leaving = links("app/community", "components/community").filter(({ tag }) => {
+  const m = tag.match(HREF);
+  const href = m?.[1] ?? m?.[2];
+  return href !== undefined && href.startsWith("/") && !/^\/community(?:[/?#]|$)/.test(href);
+});
+
+describe("links that leave the community", () => {
+  it("are still found", () => {
+    const files = leaving.map((l) => l.rel);
+    expect(files).toContain("app/community/layout.tsx");
+    expect(files).toContain("components/community/FirmwareNotice.tsx");
+  });
+
+  it("skip the prefetch", () => {
+    const prefetching = leaving
+      .filter(({ tag }) => !/\bprefetch=\{false\}/.test(tag))
+      .map(({ rel, tag }) => `${rel}: ${tag.match(HREF)?.[0]}`);
+    expect(prefetching).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/web/src/app/community/u/[username]/page.tsx b/web/src/app/community/u/[username]/page.tsx
index a8ed73ff0..2854893eb 100644
--- a/web/src/app/community/u/[username]/page.tsx
+++ b/web/src/app/community/u/[username]/page.tsx
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export default async function CommunityUserPage(props: RouteParams) {
         </div>
         {isSelf && (
           <div className={styles.profileSelfActions}>
-            <Link href="/pattern-lab" className={styles.btnAccent}>
+            <Link href="/pattern-lab" prefetch={false} className={styles.btnAccent}>
               Make &amp; publish ↗
             </Link>
             {/* Phone only — the header carries it everywhere else. */}
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export default async function CommunityUserPage(props: RouteParams) {
             <span className={styles.emptyBody}>
               Open Pattern Lab, make something, publish it here — it takes one button from there.
             </span>
-            <Link href="/pattern-lab" className={styles.emptyCta}>
+            <Link href="/pattern-lab" prefetch={false} className={styles.emptyCta}>
               Make &amp; publish — Pattern Lab ↗
             </Link>
           </div>
diff --git a/web/src/app/homeLinkPrefetch.test.ts b/web/src/app/homeLinkPrefetch.test.ts
index 754175524..137640b27 100644
--- a/web/src/app/homeLinkPrefetch.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/app/homeLinkPrefetch.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-import fs from 'node:fs';
-import path from 'node:path';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { links } from '../../test/linkTags';
 
 // A <Link href="/"> in view prefetches the home page, and the home page's
 // client chunks come with it: three.js (237,537 bytes gzip) and the
@@ -12,7 +11,6 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 // breadboard guide, journal, editions and compliance. They are left out
 // below until they are done the same way.
 
-const SRC = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
 const LEFT_OUT = [
   'components/guide',
   'app/build/breadboard',
@@ -22,37 +20,7 @@ const LEFT_OUT = [
   'app/compliance',
 ];
 
-function sources(dir: string): string[] {
-  return fs.readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true }).flatMap((entry) => {
-    const full = path.join(dir, entry.name);
-    if (entry.isDirectory()) return sources(full);
-    return entry.name.endsWith('.tsx') && !entry.name.includes('.test.') ? [full] : [];
-  });
-}
-
-/** Each `<Link …>` opening tag, read to the `>` outside any braces. */
-function linkTags(source: string): string[] {
-  const tags: string[] = [];
-  for (const m of source.matchAll(/<Link\b/g)) {
-    let depth = 0;
-    let end = m.index + m[0].length;
-    for (; end < source.length; end++) {
-      const c = source[end];
-      if (c === '{') depth++;
-      else if (c === '}') depth--;
-      else if (c === '>' && depth === 0) break;
-    }
-    tags.push(source.slice(m.index, end + 1));
-  }
-  return tags;
-}
-
-const homeLinks = sources(SRC).flatMap((file) => {
-  const rel = path.relative(SRC, file).split(path.sep).join('/');
-  return linkTags(fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf8'))
-    .filter((tag) => /\bhref="\/"/.test(tag))
-    .map((tag) => ({ rel, tag }));
-});
+const homeLinks = links('').filter(({ tag }) => /\bhref="\/"/.test(tag));
 
 describe('links to the home page', () => {
   it('are still found', () => {
diff --git a/web/src/components/community/AddHeaderModal.tsx b/web/src/components/community/AddHeaderModal.tsx
index b1ca7d643..efcc23645 100644
--- a/web/src/components/community/AddHeaderModal.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/community/AddHeaderModal.tsx
@@ -154,7 +154,9 @@ export default function AddHeaderModal({
               <p className={styles.formNote}>
                 The author has no header for this pattern yet — if you ran it on your own board,
                 finish the job for them. Generate the port with <strong>To hardware</strong> in{" "}
-                <Link href="/pattern-lab">Pattern Lab</Link>, verify it on hardware, and paste it
+                <Link href="/pattern-lab" prefetch={false}>
+                  Pattern Lab
+                </Link>, verify it on hardware, and paste it
                 here. It goes live immediately, credited to you; the author can pin or replace it,
                 and the port carries the pattern&apos;s own licence — the work stays theirs.
               </p>
@@ -176,7 +178,9 @@ export default function AddHeaderModal({
               <p className={styles.formNote}>
                 The board runs C++, so a pattern needs a <code>.h</code> port before anyone can
                 flash it. Generate one with <strong>To hardware</strong> in{" "}
-                <Link href="/pattern-lab">Pattern Lab</Link>, build it on your own board, and paste
+                <Link href="/pattern-lab" prefetch={false}>
+                  Pattern Lab
+                </Link>, build it on your own board, and paste
                 the working header here. Your pattern then shows as <strong>hardware ready</strong>{" "}
                 and can be filtered for in the feed.
               </p>
diff --git a/web/src/components/community/FirmwareNotice.tsx b/web/src/components/community/FirmwareNotice.tsx
index c2248193b..28af69882 100644
--- a/web/src/components/community/FirmwareNotice.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/community/FirmwareNotice.tsx
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export default function FirmwareNotice() {
         <strong>{LATEST}</strong> is out — the firmware split into editions: the core instrument,
         Audio, and Performance. One-click install, switch any time, your settings stay.
       </span>
-      <Link href="/editions" className={styles.fwNoticeLink}>
+      <Link href="/editions" prefetch={false} className={styles.fwNoticeLink}>
         Pick an edition →
       </Link>
       <button
diff --git a/web/src/components/community/NotificationsList.tsx b/web/src/components/community/NotificationsList.tsx
index 9a12516d3..4be4672f9 100644
--- a/web/src/components/community/NotificationsList.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/community/NotificationsList.tsx
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ export default function NotificationsList({ items }: { items: NotificationView[]
           Alerts arrive when someone comments on, forks, ports, or decks your work. Publish
           something and give them a reason.
         </span>
-        <Link href="/pattern-lab" className={styles.emptyCta}>
+        <Link href="/pattern-lab" prefetch={false} className={styles.emptyCta}>
           Make &amp; publish — Pattern Lab ↗
         </Link>
       </div>
diff --git a/web/test/linkTags.ts b/web/test/linkTags.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b53a854c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/test/linkTags.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// What the link prefetch tests read: the `.tsx` files under a folder and the
+// `<Link …>` opening tags in each.
+
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+/** `web/src/`. */
+export const src = path.resolve(__dirname, "../src");
+
+/** Every `.tsx` under `dir`, tests left out. */
+export function sources(dir: string): string[] {
+  return fs.readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true }).flatMap((entry) => {
+    const full = path.join(dir, entry.name);
+    if (entry.isDirectory()) return sources(full);
+    return entry.name.endsWith(".tsx") && !entry.name.includes(".test.") ? [full] : [];
+  });
+}
+
+/** Each `<Link …>` opening tag, read to the `>` outside any braces. */
+export function linkTags(source: string): string[] {
+  const tags: string[] = [];
+  for (const m of source.matchAll(/<Link\b/g)) {
+    let depth = 0;
+    let end = m.index + m[0].length;
+    for (; end < source.length; end++) {
+      const c = source[end];
+      if (c === "{") depth++;
+      else if (c === "}") depth--;
+      else if (c === ">" && depth === 0) break;
+    }
+    tags.push(source.slice(m.index, end + 1));
+  }
+  return tags;
+}
+
+/** Each `<Link>` in the files under `dirs` (relative to `src/`), with the file
+ *  it is in, relative to `src/` with forward slashes. */
+export function links(...dirs: string[]): { rel: string; tag: string }[] {
+  return dirs.flatMap((dir) =>
+    sources(path.join(src, dir)).flatMap((file) => {
+      const rel = path.relative(src, file).split(path.sep).join("/");
+      return linkTags(fs.readFileSync(file, "utf8")).map((tag) => ({ rel, tag }));
+    }),
+  );
+}