diff --git a/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowCard.tsx b/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowCard.tsx
index 10ed0cd23e..5bc805965e 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowCard.tsx
+++ b/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowCard.tsx
@@ -54,8 +54,13 @@ export function WorkflowCard({
 }: WorkflowCardProps): React.ReactElement {
   const parsed = parseWorkflowDescription(workflow.description ?? '');
   const displayName = getWorkflowDisplayName(workflow.name);
-  const category = getWorkflowCategory(workflow.name, workflow.description ?? '');
-  const tags = getWorkflowTags(workflow.name, parsed);
+  const wf = workflow as Record<string, unknown>;
+  const category = getWorkflowCategory(
+    workflow.name,
+    workflow.description ?? '',
+    wf.category as string | undefined
+  );
+  const tags = getWorkflowTags(workflow.name, parsed, wf.tags as string[] | undefined);
   const iconName = getWorkflowIconName(workflow.name, category);
   const CARD_ICON = ICON_MAP[iconName];
 
diff --git a/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowList.tsx b/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowList.tsx
index ed837f7929..91b1bde169 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowList.tsx
+++ b/packages/web/src/components/workflows/WorkflowList.tsx
@@ -106,7 +106,11 @@ export function WorkflowList(): React.ReactElement {
         }
         // Category filter
         if (activeCategory !== 'All') {
-          const cat = getWorkflowCategory(wf.name, wf.description ?? '');
+          const cat = getWorkflowCategory(
+            wf.name,
+            wf.description ?? '',
+            (wf as Record<string, unknown>).category as string | undefined
+          );
           if (cat !== activeCategory) return false;
         }
         return true;
diff --git a/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.test.ts b/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.test.ts
index 18af743267..656bbc390d 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.test.ts
+++ b/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.test.ts
@@ -174,6 +174,18 @@ describe('getWorkflowCategory', () => {
     expect(getWorkflowCategory('archon-assist', 'General help')).toBe('Development');
     expect(getWorkflowCategory('archon-idea-to-pr', 'From idea to PR')).toBe('Development');
   });
+
+  test('uses explicit category when provided', () => {
+    expect(getWorkflowCategory('my-gitlab-workflow', 'Does GitLab things', 'Automation')).toBe(
+      'Automation'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('falls back to inference when explicit category is invalid', () => {
+    expect(getWorkflowCategory('archon-smart-pr-review', 'Review PR', 'InvalidCategory')).toBe(
+      'Code Review'
+    );
+  });
 });
 
 describe('getWorkflowTags', () => {
@@ -200,6 +212,31 @@ describe('getWorkflowTags', () => {
     const githubCount = tags.filter(t => t === 'GitHub').length;
     expect(githubCount).toBeLessThanOrEqual(1);
   });
+
+  test('uses explicit tags when provided', () => {
+    const parsed = parseWorkflowDescription('A GitLab workflow');
+    const tags = getWorkflowTags('review-gitlab-mr', parsed, ['GitLab', 'Review']);
+    expect(tags).toEqual(['GitLab', 'Review']);
+  });
+
+  test('falls back to inference when no explicit tags', () => {
+    const parsed = parseWorkflowDescription('Does: review PR on GitHub');
+    const tags = getWorkflowTags('archon-pr-review', parsed, undefined);
+    expect(tags).toContain('GitHub');
+    expect(tags).toContain('Review');
+  });
+
+  test('deduplicates explicit tags', () => {
+    const parsed = parseWorkflowDescription('anything');
+    const tags = getWorkflowTags('test', parsed, ['GitLab', 'GitLab', 'Review']);
+    expect(tags).toEqual(['GitLab', 'Review']);
+  });
+
+  test('explicit empty array suppresses inference', () => {
+    const parsed = parseWorkflowDescription('Does: review PR on GitHub');
+    const tags = getWorkflowTags('archon-pr-review', parsed, []);
+    expect(tags).toEqual([]);
+  });
 });
 
 describe('getWorkflowIconName', () => {
diff --git a/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.ts b/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.ts
index e3ab01191d..9049613ca1 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.ts
+++ b/packages/web/src/lib/workflow-metadata.ts
@@ -119,9 +119,18 @@ export const CATEGORIES: WorkflowCategory[] = [
 
 /**
  * Derive a category from the workflow name and description.
- * Uses word-boundary checks for short tokens to avoid false positives.
+ * If the workflow defines an explicit `category` in YAML that matches a known
+ * category, it is used directly. Otherwise, the category is inferred from keywords.
  */
-export function getWorkflowCategory(name: string, description: string): WorkflowCategory {
+export function getWorkflowCategory(
+  name: string,
+  description: string,
+  explicitCategory?: string
+): WorkflowCategory {
+  if (explicitCategory && CATEGORIES.includes(explicitCategory as WorkflowCategory)) {
+    return explicitCategory as WorkflowCategory;
+  }
+
   const lower = `${name} ${description}`.toLowerCase();
 
   // Code Review
@@ -163,8 +172,18 @@ export function getWorkflowCategory(name: string, description: string): Workflow
 
 /**
  * Derive tags from the workflow name and parsed description.
+ * If the workflow defines explicit `tags` in YAML, those are used directly.
+ * Otherwise, tags are inferred from keywords in the name and description.
  */
-export function getWorkflowTags(name: string, parsed: ParsedDescription): string[] {
+export function getWorkflowTags(
+  name: string,
+  parsed: ParsedDescription,
+  explicitTags?: string[]
+): string[] {
+  if (explicitTags !== undefined) {
+    return [...new Set(explicitTags)];
+  }
+
   const tags: string[] = [];
   const text = `${name} ${parsed.raw}`.toLowerCase();
 
diff --git a/packages/workflows/src/loader.ts b/packages/workflows/src/loader.ts
index 0fd93cce1f..622a023760 100644
--- a/packages/workflows/src/loader.ts
+++ b/packages/workflows/src/loader.ts
@@ -335,6 +335,19 @@ export function parseWorkflow(content: string, filename: string): ParseResult {
       }
     }
 
+    // Parse optional tags — warn on non-strings
+    const tags = Array.isArray(raw.tags)
+      ? raw.tags.filter((t: unknown) => {
+          if (typeof t !== 'string') {
+            getLog().warn({ filename, value: t }, 'non_string_tag_filtered');
+            return false;
+          }
+          return true;
+        })
+      : undefined;
+
+    const category = typeof raw.category === 'string' ? raw.category : undefined;
+
     return {
       workflow: {
         name: raw.name,
@@ -345,6 +358,8 @@ export function parseWorkflow(content: string, filename: string): ParseResult {
         webSearchMode,
         additionalDirectories,
         interactive,
+        tags,
+        category,
         nodes: dagNodes,
       },
       error: null,
diff --git a/packages/workflows/src/schemas/workflow.ts b/packages/workflows/src/schemas/workflow.ts
index 008ef19a8f..b42b086afa 100644
--- a/packages/workflows/src/schemas/workflow.ts
+++ b/packages/workflows/src/schemas/workflow.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ export const workflowBaseSchema = z.object({
   fallbackModel: z.string().min(1).optional(),
   betas: z.array(z.string().min(1)).nonempty("'betas' must be a non-empty array").optional(),
   sandbox: sandboxSettingsSchema.optional(),
+  tags: z.array(z.string().min(1)).optional(),
+  category: z.string().min(1).optional(),
 });
 
 export type WorkflowBase = z.infer<typeof workflowBaseSchema>;