diff --git a/roboco/services/workspace.py b/roboco/services/workspace.py
index 7425cc0c..ce74c89c 100644
--- a/roboco/services/workspace.py
+++ b/roboco/services/workspace.py
@@ -350,11 +350,24 @@ class WorkspaceService:
             return
 
         if result.returncode != 0:
-            logger.warning(
+            stderr = result.stderr.strip()
+            # The credential-less refresh fetch is expected to fail for private
+            # repos — see this method's docstring. Downgrade the known-benign
+            # auth-failure signature to DEBUG so it doesn't pollute every
+            # monitor / log scrape during a smoke run. Genuine failures
+            # (network errors, broken remotes) still surface at WARNING.
+            is_expected_auth_fail = (
+                "could not read Username" in stderr
+                or "Authentication failed" in stderr
+                or "remote: Repository not found" in stderr
+            )
+            log = logger.debug if is_expected_auth_fail else logger.warning
+            log(
                 "ensure_workspace: refresh fetch returned non-zero",
                 workspace=str(workspace),
                 project=project_slug,
-                stderr=result.stderr.strip(),
+                stderr=stderr,
+                expected_auth_fail=is_expected_auth_fail,
             )
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/tests/unit/services/test_workspace_fetch_log_level.py b/tests/unit/services/test_workspace_fetch_log_level.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b64de09b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/services/test_workspace_fetch_log_level.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+"""Wave A4 (2026-05-12): credentials-stripped refresh fetch logs at DEBUG,
+not WARNING, when stderr is the known-benign auth-failure signature.
+
+The credential-less fetch is intentional (workspace.py:317-323 explains).
+Logging the expected auth-fail at WARNING level pollutes every monitor.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+from subprocess import CompletedProcess
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import pytest
+from roboco.services.workspace import (
+    WorkspaceService,
+)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fetch_auth_fail_logs_at_debug() -> None:
+    """`fatal: could not read Username` stderr → DEBUG log, not WARNING."""
+    workspace = Path("/tmp/fake-workspace")
+    fake_result = CompletedProcess(
+        args=["git", "fetch", "origin"],
+        returncode=128,
+        stdout="",
+        stderr=(
+            "fatal: could not read Username for 'https://github.com': "
+            "terminal prompts disabled\n"
+        ),
+    )
+
+    captured: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+
+    def capture_warning(event: str, **_kw: object) -> None:
+        captured.append(("warning", event))
+
+    def capture_debug(event: str, **_kw: object) -> None:
+        captured.append(("debug", event))
+
+    with patch(
+        "roboco.services.workspace.subprocess.run", return_value=fake_result
+    ), patch(
+        "roboco.services.workspace.logger.warning", side_effect=capture_warning
+    ), patch(
+        "roboco.services.workspace.logger.debug", side_effect=capture_debug
+    ):
+        await WorkspaceService._fetch_origin_best_effort(
+            workspace=workspace, project_slug="roboco-api"
+        )
+
+    # The benign auth-fail should NOT be a WARNING.
+    warnings = [e for (level, e) in captured if level == "warning"]
+    debugs = [e for (level, e) in captured if level == "debug"]
+    assert not warnings, f"expected no WARNING, got: {warnings}"
+    assert debugs, "expected at least one DEBUG entry, got nothing"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fetch_genuine_failure_still_warns() -> None:
+    """Network errors / other real failures must still log at WARNING."""
+    workspace = Path("/tmp/fake-workspace")
+    fake_result = CompletedProcess(
+        args=["git", "fetch", "origin"],
+        returncode=128,
+        stdout="",
+        stderr=(
+            "fatal: unable to access 'https://github.com/owner/repo.git/': "
+            "Could not resolve host: github.com\n"
+        ),
+    )
+
+    captured: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+
+    def capture_warning(event: str, **_kw: object) -> None:
+        captured.append(("warning", event))
+
+    def capture_debug(event: str, **_kw: object) -> None:
+        captured.append(("debug", event))
+
+    with patch(
+        "roboco.services.workspace.subprocess.run", return_value=fake_result
+    ), patch(
+        "roboco.services.workspace.logger.warning", side_effect=capture_warning
+    ), patch(
+        "roboco.services.workspace.logger.debug", side_effect=capture_debug
+    ):
+        await WorkspaceService._fetch_origin_best_effort(
+            workspace=workspace, project_slug="roboco-api"
+        )
+
+    warnings = [e for (level, e) in captured if level == "warning"]
+    assert warnings, f"network errors should still warn, got: {captured}"