diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f58449..70a6976 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Infrastructure as Code for managing access to MCP community resources using Pulu
 ## What This Manages
 
 - **GitHub Teams**: Automatically syncs team memberships in the MCP GitHub organization
+- **GitHub Repositories**: Creates and owns repositories declared with `settings` in [`src/config/repoAccess.ts`](src/config/repoAccess.ts), and syncs team and user access for every listed repository. See [Creating a new repository](#creating-a-new-repository-working-group-leads) below.
 - **Google Workspace Groups**: Automatically syncs group memberships for @modelcontextprotocol.io email accounts
   - **Email Groups**: Groups with `isEmailGroup: true` accept emails from anyone (including external users) and notify all members. External posts are moderated for security.
 - **Google Workspace User Accounts**: Provisions @modelcontextprotocol.io accounts for members of roles with `provisionUser: true` (directly, or via a role nested under one through `github.parent` — e.g. SDK teams under `sdk-maintainers`, working groups under `working-groups`)
@@ -32,6 +33,34 @@ If you're a maintainer — explicitly or implicitly (SDK maintainers, working gr
 
 Once merged, Pulumi provisions the account. An admin will share your initial password (retrievable via `pulumi stack output --show-secrets newGWSUserPasswords`).
 
+### Creating a new repository (working group leads)
+
+Org members cannot create repositories directly. Instead, open a PR adding an entry to [`src/config/repoAccess.ts`](src/config/repoAccess.ts) with a `settings` block plus the usual `teams`:
+
+```ts
+{
+  repository: 'ext-example',
+  settings: {
+    description: 'MCP Extension for Example. Maintained by the Example Working Group.',
+    // visibility: 'public' (default), homepage, topics, template are optional
+  },
+  teams: [
+    { team: 'core-maintainers', permission: 'admin' },
+    { team: 'moderators', permission: 'maintain' },
+    { team: 'example-wg', permission: 'admin' },
+  ],
+},
+```
+
+The PR's `pulumi preview` comment shows the repository create. Once merged, the deploy creates the repository (with the baseline in `REPOSITORY_DEFAULTS`) and then grants the listed access, in one apply. Notes:
+
+- Repository names are lowercase kebab-case (`ext-*` for extensions, `experimental-ext-*` while experimental).
+- At least one team or user must have `admin` permission (validated), so a managed repository is never ownerless.
+- Removing the entry **archives** the repository rather than deleting it; deletion stays a manual org-owner action.
+- Entries without `settings` are access-only: the repository pre-dates this config and Pulumi manages only its collaborators. Adding `settings` to such an entry does not adopt the repository — the deploy fails with a name-already-exists error. Adopt it with `pulumi import` first; that is out of scope for the PR flow above.
+- The `repository` key of a managed entry is also the Pulumi resource name. Renaming it in place archives the old repository and creates a new one: rename on GitHub first, then move the state (`pulumi state mv`) before changing the key.
+- A repository archived by hand in GitHub stays archived (`archived` is ignored on refresh); un-archiving is a manual org-owner action.
+
 ## Cloudflare Access (security-room)
 
 [securityroom.modelcontextprotocol.io](https://securityroom.modelcontextprotocol.io) is protected by Cloudflare Zero Trust Access with GitHub as the identity provider. The reusable Access policy `Maintainers` that grants sign-in is managed from this repo by [`src/cloudflare.ts`](src/cloudflare.ts), driven by [`src/config/accessPolicies.ts`](src/config/accessPolicies.ts):
diff --git a/scripts/test-config.ts b/scripts/test-config.ts
index c3320e7..576edb6 100644
--- a/scripts/test-config.ts
+++ b/scripts/test-config.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
   NPM_DEFAULT_POLICY,
 } from '../src/config/packageAccess';
 import { ACCESS_POLICIES, getAccessPolicyTeams } from '../src/config/accessPolicies';
+import { REPOSITORY_ACCESS, REPOSITORY_DEFAULTS } from '../src/config/repoAccess';
 
 let passed = 0;
 let failed = 0;
@@ -133,6 +134,22 @@ test('Some members in provisionUser roles have Google user fields', () => {
   return membersInProvisionRoles.length > 0 && provisioned.length > 0;
 });
 
+// Test repository config
+test('REPOSITORY_ACCESS has no duplicate repositories', () => {
+  const names = REPOSITORY_ACCESS.map((r) => r.repository);
+  return names.length > 0 && names.length === new Set(names).size;
+});
+test('All managed repositories (with settings) have an admin grant', () =>
+  REPOSITORY_ACCESS.filter((r) => r.settings).every(
+    (r) =>
+      r.teams?.some((t) => t.permission === 'admin') ||
+      r.users?.some((u) => u.permission === 'admin')
+  ));
+test('All managed repositories have a non-empty description', () =>
+  REPOSITORY_ACCESS.filter((r) => r.settings).every((r) => !!r.settings!.description.trim()));
+test('REPOSITORY_DEFAULTS archives instead of deleting on destroy', () =>
+  REPOSITORY_DEFAULTS.archiveOnDestroy === true);
+
 // Test package registry access config
 test('NPM_ORG is modelcontextprotocol', () => NPM_ORG === 'modelcontextprotocol');
 test('NPM_PACKAGES is not empty and all packages are org-scoped', () =>
diff --git a/scripts/validate-config.ts b/scripts/validate-config.ts
index 4b64fb6..58014bc 100644
--- a/scripts/validate-config.ts
+++ b/scripts/validate-config.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,56 @@ for (const repo of REPOSITORY_ACCESS) {
   }
 }
 
+// Validate repository entries in REPOSITORY_ACCESS
+console.log('Validating repository entries in repoAccess.ts...');
+{
+  const repositoryNames = new Set<string>();
+  for (const repo of REPOSITORY_ACCESS) {
+    if (repositoryNames.has(repo.repository)) {
+      console.error(`ERROR: Repository "${repo.repository}" is declared twice in repoAccess.ts`);
+      hasErrors = true;
+    }
+    repositoryNames.add(repo.repository);
+  }
+
+  // Managed repositories (entries with `settings`) are created by Pulumi, so
+  // their inputs must be valid before the deploy tries to create them.
+  for (const repo of REPOSITORY_ACCESS) {
+    if (!repo.settings) continue;
+
+    if (!/^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9._-]*$/.test(repo.repository)) {
+      console.error(
+        `ERROR: Managed repository "${repo.repository}" has an invalid name; use lowercase letters, digits, '.', '_' and '-'`
+      );
+      hasErrors = true;
+    }
+
+    if (!repo.settings.description.trim()) {
+      console.error(`ERROR: Managed repository "${repo.repository}" has an empty description`);
+      hasErrors = true;
+    }
+
+    const hasAdmin =
+      (repo.teams?.some((t) => t.permission === 'admin') ?? false) ||
+      (repo.users?.some((u) => u.permission === 'admin') ?? false);
+    if (!hasAdmin) {
+      console.error(
+        `ERROR: Managed repository "${repo.repository}" grants no team or user admin permission; ` +
+          `a managed repository must have an admin so it is never ownerless`
+      );
+      hasErrors = true;
+    }
+
+    if (repo.settings.template && !repositoryNames.has(repo.settings.template)) {
+      console.error(
+        `ERROR: Managed repository "${repo.repository}" uses template "${repo.settings.template}" ` +
+          `which is not declared in repoAccess.ts; templates must be known org repositories`
+      );
+      hasErrors = true;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 // Validate role references in MEMBERS (memberOf)
 console.log('Validating role references in users.ts...');
 for (const member of MEMBERS) {
diff --git a/src/config/repoAccess.ts b/src/config/repoAccess.ts
index 67a8e60..1415b93 100644
--- a/src/config/repoAccess.ts
+++ b/src/config/repoAccess.ts
@@ -1,18 +1,85 @@
-// Repository access configuration
-// Each repository lists all teams and users that should have access and their permission level
+// Repository configuration
+// Each entry lists all teams and users that should have access to a repository
+// and their permission level. There are two kinds of entries:
+//
+// - Access-only: the repository pre-dates this config. Pulumi manages only its
+//   collaborators; the repository itself is untouched.
+// - Managed: the entry has `settings`. Pulumi creates the repository (if it does
+//   not exist yet), keeps those settings in sync, and then manages its
+//   collaborators — so a new repository and its access land in one deploy.
+//
+// To create a new repository (e.g. for a working group), add a managed entry.
+// See README.md "Creating a new repository".
+
+export type RepositoryPermission = 'pull' | 'triage' | 'push' | 'maintain' | 'admin';
+
+/**
+ * Settings for a repository that Pulumi creates and owns. Declaring this on an
+ * entry makes the deploy create the repository (if it does not exist yet) and
+ * keep these fields in sync afterwards. Removing the entry ARCHIVES the
+ * repository rather than deleting it (archiveOnDestroy); actual deletion stays
+ * a manual org-owner action.
+ */
+export interface RepositorySettings {
+  /** Shown on the repository page and in the org listing. Required. */
+  description: string;
+  /** Defaults to 'public'. */
+  visibility?: 'public' | 'private';
+  homepage?: string;
+  topics?: readonly string[];
+  /** Create from a template repository in the org (applied at creation only). */
+  template?: string;
+}
 
 export interface RepositoryAccess {
   repository: string;
+  /**
+   * Declare to have Pulumi create and own the repository. Omit for repositories
+   * that pre-date this config (access-only). Adding `settings` to a repository
+   * that already exists does not adopt it: the deploy fails with a
+   * name-already-exists error. Adopt it with `pulumi import` first. The
+   * `repository` key of a managed entry is also the Pulumi resource name, so
+   * renaming it in place archives the old repository and creates a new one:
+   * rename on GitHub first, then move the state (`pulumi state mv`) before
+   * changing the key.
+   */
+  settings?: RepositorySettings;
   teams?: Array<{
     team: string; // Team slug
-    permission: 'pull' | 'triage' | 'push' | 'maintain' | 'admin';
+    permission: RepositoryPermission;
   }>;
   users?: Array<{
     username: string; // GitHub username
-    permission: 'pull' | 'triage' | 'push' | 'maintain' | 'admin';
+    permission: RepositoryPermission;
   }>;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Baseline applied to every repository Pulumi creates. Mirrors how the org's
+ * existing extension repositories (ext-*, experimental-ext-*) are configured;
+ * per-repo fields come from RepositorySettings. Security features (Dependabot,
+ * secret scanning, ...) come from orgSettings.ts "*EnabledForNewRepositories"
+ * and are not repeated here.
+ */
+export const REPOSITORY_DEFAULTS = {
+  hasIssues: true,
+  hasProjects: false,
+  hasWiki: false,
+  hasDiscussions: false,
+  allowSquashMerge: true,
+  allowMergeCommit: false,
+  allowRebaseMerge: false,
+  allowUpdateBranch: true,
+  deleteBranchOnMerge: true,
+  squashMergeCommitTitle: 'PR_TITLE',
+  squashMergeCommitMessage: 'PR_BODY',
+  vulnerabilityAlerts: true,
+  autoInit: true,
+  licenseTemplate: 'apache-2.0',
+  // Removing a managed entry archives the repository instead of deleting it.
+  archiveOnDestroy: true,
+} as const;
+
 export const REPOSITORY_ACCESS: RepositoryAccess[] = [
   {
     repository: 'docs',
diff --git a/src/github.ts b/src/github.ts
index b7100ea..a744f35 100644
--- a/src/github.ts
+++ b/src/github.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import * as pulumi from '@pulumi/pulumi';
 import * as github from '@pulumi/github';
 import { ROLES, type Role, buildRoleLookup } from './config/roles';
-import { REPOSITORY_ACCESS } from './config/repoAccess';
+import { REPOSITORY_ACCESS, REPOSITORY_DEFAULTS } from './config/repoAccess';
+import { GITHUB_ORG } from './config/accessPolicies';
 import { ORG_ROLE_ASSIGNMENTS } from './config/orgRoles';
 import { ORG_SETTINGS } from './config/orgSettings';
 import { MEMBERS } from './config/users';
@@ -97,11 +98,42 @@ ORG_ROLE_ASSIGNMENTS.forEach((assignment) => {
 // @pulumi/github release that includes that fix.
 const orgRoleTeamNames = [...new Set(ORG_ROLE_ASSIGNMENTS.map((a) => a.team))];
 
-// Configure repository access
+// Repositories. An entry with `settings` is created and owned by Pulumi; the
+// collaborators resource then depends on it through the name output, so a new
+// repository and its access land in the same apply. Entries without `settings`
+// pre-date this config: Pulumi manages only their collaborators.
+const repositories: Record<string, github.Repository> = {};
 REPOSITORY_ACCESS.forEach((repo) => {
+  let repositoryName: pulumi.Input<string> = repo.repository;
+  if (repo.settings) {
+    const repository = new github.Repository(
+      `repository-${repo.repository}`,
+      {
+        ...REPOSITORY_DEFAULTS,
+        name: repo.repository,
+        description: repo.settings.description,
+        visibility: repo.settings.visibility ?? 'public',
+        homepageUrl: repo.settings.homepage,
+        topics: repo.settings.topics ? [...repo.settings.topics] : undefined,
+        template: repo.settings.template
+          ? { owner: GITHUB_ORG, repository: repo.settings.template }
+          : undefined,
+      },
+      {
+        // A repository archived by hand in GitHub must stay archived: without
+        // this, the deploy's `pulumi up --refresh` would plan archived: true ->
+        // false and un-archive it. Archiving through this config still works
+        // (remove the entry; archiveOnDestroy archives instead of deleting).
+        ignoreChanges: ['archived'],
+      }
+    );
+    repositories[repo.repository] = repository;
+    repositoryName = repository.name;
+  }
+
   const grantedTeams = new Set(repo.teams?.map((t) => t.team));
   new github.RepositoryCollaborators(`repo-${repo.repository}`, {
-    repository: repo.repository,
+    repository: repositoryName,
     // Ignore org-role teams, except where repoAccess.ts grants them directly on
     // this repository (e.g. lead-maintainers on maintainer-docs) — those grants
     // must stay managed by Pulumi.
@@ -119,4 +151,4 @@ REPOSITORY_ACCESS.forEach((repo) => {
   });
 });
 
-export { teams as githubTeams };
+export { teams as githubTeams, repositories as githubRepositories };