diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b4fa686..39cd30e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ The filesystem no longer encodes release policy. Instead:
 - packages with `"release_ring": "fast"` also build directly for `stable`
 - all other packages reach `stable` by promoting tested edge artifacts with `bin/repo migrate`
 - AUR sync behavior is controlled by `source`, `sync`, `aur`, patches, and hooks in `.omarchy/`
+- packages can opt out of unscoped builds with `skip_build`; explicit `--package` builds remain available
 
 ## Prerequisites
 ### aarch64 Builds (Optional)
@@ -231,6 +232,10 @@ Minimal examples:
 { "source": "local" }
 ```
 
+```json
+{ "source": "local", "skip_build": true }
+```
+
 ```json
 { "source": "aur", "pkgrel": { "suffix": 1 } }
 ```
@@ -241,13 +246,15 @@ Fields:
 - `sync`: optional for AUR packages; defaults to `true`. Set `false` for AUR-origin packages that Omarchy maintains manually.
 - `aur`: optional AUR package name when it differs from the local package directory, usually for split packages.
 - `release_ring`: optional. `fast` means the package is built directly for stable as well as edge. Packages without a ring build in edge and reach stable through tested artifact promotion (`bin/repo migrate`).
+- `skip_build`: optional boolean; defaults to `false`. Set `true` to exclude a package from scheduled version checks and unscoped builds. The package can still be built explicitly with `bin/repo release --package <name>`.
 - `pkgrel`: optional Omarchy pkgrel suffix for a version-pinned rebuild bump. This emits `<aur pkgrel>.<suffix>` instead of replacing AUR's pkgrel. `offset` can be used only when preserving monotonic upgrades from old absolute pkgrel bumps. The metadata is removed automatically when AUR sync changes `pkgver`; the current package version is read from the checked-in PKGBUILD, so the version is not duplicated in JSON.
 - `upstream_commit`: set by `bin/sync-aur` for AUR packages. Used by `bin/package-worktree` to recreate the exact raw AUR package that Omarchy last synced.
 
 ### Build Matrix
 
-- **Edge builds** (`--mirror edge`): all packages in `pkgbuilds/*`
-- **Stable builds** (`--mirror stable`): packages with `"release_ring": "fast"`
+- **Edge unscoped builds** (`--mirror edge`): packages in `pkgbuilds/*` unless `"skip_build": true`
+- **Stable unscoped builds** (`--mirror stable`): packages with `"release_ring": "fast"` unless `"skip_build": true`
+- **Explicit builds** (`--package <name>`): the selected package, including packages with `"skip_build": true`, subject to mirror eligibility
 - **Stable promotion** (`bin/repo migrate`): copies tested edge artifacts into stable
 
 ## Adding Packages
diff --git a/bin/build b/bin/build
index 1051cc2..62cc623 100755
--- a/bin/build
+++ b/bin/build
@@ -54,8 +54,9 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
     echo "  -h, --help           Show this help message"
     echo ""
     echo "This script builds packages from pkgbuilds/ based on .omarchy/package.json:"
-    echo "  --mirror edge:   builds all packages"
-    echo "  --mirror stable: builds packages with release_ring=fast only"
+    echo "  --mirror edge:   builds packages not marked skip_build=true"
+    echo "  --mirror stable: builds fast-ring packages not marked skip_build=true"
+    echo "  --package:       explicitly builds selected packages, even with skip_build=true"
     echo ""
     echo "Or build specific packages with --package:"
     echo "  Package names should match directories in pkgbuilds/"
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ mkdir -p "$BUILD_OUTPUT_DIR"
 if [[ -n "$PACKAGES" ]]; then
   print_info "Building packages: $PACKAGES"
 else
-  print_info "Building all packages for $MIRROR mirror"
+  print_info "Building unscoped packages for $MIRROR mirror"
 fi
 
 # Build/update the Docker image
diff --git a/bin/check-versions b/bin/check-versions
index 3fd57df..4ac27e3 100755
--- a/bin/check-versions
+++ b/bin/check-versions
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ check_mirror() {
       needs_build=true
       packages+=("$pkg")
     fi
-  done < <(packages_for_mirror "$mirror")
+  done < <(packages_for_unscoped_build "$mirror")
 
   echo ""
 
diff --git a/bin/list-packages b/bin/list-packages
index a2f5d5b..8cc4376 100755
--- a/bin/list-packages
+++ b/bin/list-packages
@@ -135,13 +135,14 @@ package_matches_filters() {
 }
 
 emit_package_json() {
-  local name="$1" source="$2" aur="$3" sync="$4" ring="$5" pkgrel="$6" upstream_commit="$7" patches="$8" hook="$9" version="${10}" path="${11}"
+  local name="$1" source="$2" aur="$3" sync="$4" skip_build="$5" ring="$6" pkgrel="$7" upstream_commit="$8" patches="$9" hook="${10}" version="${11}" path="${12}"
 
   jq -n \
     --arg name "$name" \
     --arg source "$source" \
     --arg aur "$aur" \
     --arg sync "$sync" \
+    --arg skip_build "$skip_build" \
     --arg release_ring "$ring" \
     --argjson pkgrel "$pkgrel" \
     --arg upstream_commit "$upstream_commit" \
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ emit_package_json() {
     --arg hook "$hook" \
     --arg version "$version" \
     --arg path "$path" \
-    '{name: $name, source: $source, aur: $aur, sync: (if $sync == "" then null else $sync == "true" end), release_ring: $release_ring, pkgrel: $pkgrel, upstream_commit: $upstream_commit, patches: $patches, post_sync_hook: ($hook == "true"), version: $version, path: $path}'
+    '{name: $name, source: $source, aur: $aur, sync: (if $sync == "" then null else $sync == "true" end), skip_build: ($skip_build == "true"), release_ring: $release_ring, pkgrel: $pkgrel, upstream_commit: $upstream_commit, patches: $patches, post_sync_hook: ($hook == "true"), version: $version, path: $path}'
 }
 
 if [[ "$LIST_REPO" == true ]]; then
@@ -178,6 +179,7 @@ while IFS= read -r pkgdir; do
   else
     sync=""
   fi
+  skip_build=$(jq -r 'if has("skip_build") then .skip_build else false end' "$metadata")
 
   package_matches_filters "$source" "$sync" "$ring" || continue
 
@@ -191,11 +193,12 @@ while IFS= read -r pkgdir; do
   version=$(get_pkgbuild_version "$pkgdir")
   relpath=${pkgdir#"$BUILD_ROOT/"}
 
-  printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' \
+  printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' \
     "$name" \
     "$source" \
     "$aur_display" \
     "$([[ -n "$sync" ]] && [[ "$sync" == true ]] && echo yes || ([[ "$sync" == false ]] && echo no || echo -))" \
+    "$([[ "$skip_build" == true ]] && echo yes || echo no)" \
     "$ring" \
     "$pkgrel_display" \
     "$upstream_display" \
@@ -207,7 +210,7 @@ while IFS= read -r pkgdir; do
   if [[ "$first_json" == false ]]; then
     printf ',\n' >> "$json_file"
   fi
-  emit_package_json "$name" "$source" "$aur" "$sync" "$ring" "$pkgrel" "$upstream_commit" "$patches" "$hook" "$version" "$relpath" >> "$json_file"
+  emit_package_json "$name" "$source" "$aur" "$sync" "$skip_build" "$ring" "$pkgrel" "$upstream_commit" "$patches" "$hook" "$version" "$relpath" >> "$json_file"
   first_json=false
 done < <(package_dirs)
 
@@ -220,11 +223,11 @@ fi
 
 if command -v gum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   gum table --print --separator $'\t' \
-    --columns Package,Source,AUR,Sync,Release_Ring,Pkgrel,Upstream,Patches,Post_Sync,Version,Path \
+    --columns Package,Source,AUR,Sync,Skip_Build,Release_Ring,Pkgrel,Upstream,Patches,Post_Sync,Version,Path \
     < "$rows_file"
 else
   {
-    printf 'Package\tSource\tAUR\tSync\tRelease_Ring\tPkgrel\tUpstream\tPatches\tPost_Sync\tVersion\tPath\n'
+    printf 'Package\tSource\tAUR\tSync\tSkip_Build\tRelease_Ring\tPkgrel\tUpstream\tPatches\tPost_Sync\tVersion\tPath\n'
     cat "$rows_file"
   } | column -t -s $'\t'
 fi
diff --git a/build/build.sh b/build/build.sh
index 318bee1..092c381 100755
--- a/build/build.sh
+++ b/build/build.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 # Build script - builds packages based on package metadata
-# Edge builds all packages. Stable builds only packages in the fast release ring.
+# Unscoped edge builds exclude skip_build packages. Stable also requires the fast release ring.
+# Explicit --package selections may build packages with skip_build=true.
 
 # Setup directories
 ARCH=${ARCH:-x86_64}
@@ -412,7 +413,7 @@ check_needs_build() {
 
 # Collect packages that should be built for the selected mirror
 collect_packages() {
-  packages_for_mirror "$MIRROR"
+  packages_for_unscoped_build "$MIRROR"
 }
 
 # Main execution
diff --git a/helpers/package-metadata.sh b/helpers/package-metadata.sh
index 213de85..1160fff 100644
--- a/helpers/package-metadata.sh
+++ b/helpers/package-metadata.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #   { "source": "aur", "sync": false }
 #   { "source": "aur", "aur": "different-aur-name" }
 #   { "source": "aur", "release_ring": "fast" }
+#   { "source": "aur", "skip_build": true }
 #   { "source": "aur", "pkgrel": { "suffix": 1, "offset": 1 } }
 #   { "source": "local" }
 #
@@ -75,6 +76,17 @@ package_is_fast_ring() {
   [[ "$(package_release_ring "$pkgdir")" == "fast" ]]
 }
 
+package_build_skipped() {
+  local pkgdir="$1"
+  local metadata skip_build
+
+  metadata=$(metadata_file_for_dir "$pkgdir")
+  [[ -f "$metadata" ]] || return 1
+
+  skip_build=$(jq -r 'if has("skip_build") then .skip_build else false end' "$metadata")
+  [[ "$skip_build" == "true" ]]
+}
+
 package_has_metadata() {
   local pkgdir="$1"
   [[ -f "$(metadata_file_for_dir "$pkgdir")" ]]
@@ -133,6 +145,16 @@ packages_for_mirror() {
   done
 }
 
+packages_for_unscoped_build() {
+  local mirror="$1"
+
+  package_dirs | while IFS= read -r pkgdir; do
+    if package_builds_for_mirror "$pkgdir" "$mirror" && ! package_build_skipped "$pkgdir"; then
+      basename "$pkgdir"
+    fi
+  done
+}
+
 package_extract_vcs_hash_from_version() {
   local version="$1"
   local version_no_pkgrel="${version%-*}"
@@ -212,7 +234,7 @@ package_git_upstream_hash() {
 
 validate_package_metadata() {
   local pkgdir="$1"
-  local metadata source sync aur ring pkgrel_type
+  local metadata source sync skip_build aur ring pkgrel_type
 
   metadata=$(metadata_file_for_dir "$pkgdir")
   [[ -f "$metadata" ]] || { echo "missing metadata: $metadata"; return 1; }
@@ -231,6 +253,12 @@ validate_package_metadata() {
     *) echo "invalid sync for $(basename "$pkgdir"): must be boolean"; return 1 ;;
   esac
 
+  skip_build=$(jq -r 'if has("skip_build") then .skip_build | type else "missing" end' "$metadata")
+  case "$skip_build" in
+    boolean|missing) ;;
+    *) echo "invalid skip_build for $(basename "$pkgdir"): must be boolean"; return 1 ;;
+  esac
+
   aur=$(jq -r 'if has("aur") then .aur | type else "missing" end' "$metadata")
   case "$aur" in
     string|missing) ;;
diff --git a/pkgbuilds/linux-ptl/.omarchy/package.json b/pkgbuilds/linux-ptl/.omarchy/package.json
index 2a9719d..c3ed389 100644
--- a/pkgbuilds/linux-ptl/.omarchy/package.json
+++ b/pkgbuilds/linux-ptl/.omarchy/package.json
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 {
-  "source": "local"
+  "source": "local",
+  "skip_build": true
 }