diff --git a/dev/api-gateway/kustomization.yaml b/dev/api-gateway/gateway-kustomization.yaml
similarity index 86%
rename from dev/api-gateway/kustomization.yaml
rename to dev/api-gateway/gateway-kustomization.yaml
index 1b23264..dac4dde 100644
--- a/dev/api-gateway/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/dev/api-gateway/gateway-kustomization.yaml
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ spec:
     # substitute/substituteFrom at all: that mechanism requires the source
     # Secret to sit in flux-system (same namespace as this Kustomization),
     # which put a live copy of the real PAT in a shared, broadly-readable
-    # namespace. Rejected. The real konnect-auth Secret is applied directly
-    # into the catalog namespace instead (secret.yaml, kubectl apply -f) —
-    # never passes through flux-system.
+    # namespace. Rejected. The real konnect-auth Secret is materialized
+    # directly into the catalog namespace instead (externalsecret.yaml, via
+    # External Secrets Operator + Vault) — never passes through flux-system.
     substituteFrom:
       - kind: ConfigMap
         name: dataplane-template-defaults
diff --git a/dev/api-gateway/policies-kustomization.yaml b/dev/api-gateway/policies-kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7349210
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/api-gateway/policies-kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Split from gateway-kustomization.yaml on purpose: different change
+# cadence (policies get tuned far more often than the Gateway itself gets
+# recreated) and different blast radius (a bad policy build/prune can't
+# touch the Gateway/DataPlane, and vice versa). Same GitRepository, same
+# domain namespace, different path.
+apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: Kustomization
+metadata:
+  name: catalog-dev-api-gateway-policies
+  namespace: flux-system
+spec:
+  interval: 10m
+  sourceRef:
+    kind: GitRepository
+    name: k8s-platform
+  path: ./dataplane-globalpolicy-template
+  prune: true
+  postBuild:
+    substitute:
+      NAME: catalog-dev
+      NAMESPACE: catalog
+      # Looked up manually after gateway-kustomization.yaml's
+      # Gateway/GatewayConfiguration first reconciled — the operator
+      # auto-names the mirrored KonnectGatewayControlPlane with a random
+      # suffix, not derivable from NAME. See
+      # dataplane-globalpolicy-template/global-policies-pluginbindings.yaml's
+      # comment. Automate this lookup once the self-service pipeline exists.
+      CONTROL_PLANE_REF_NAME: catalog-dev-bkphl
+      # Every audience valid anywhere in the catalog domain — grows as the
+      # domain gains APIs. PLACEHOLDER still: no Keycloak client exists yet
+      # for "catalog-api" (only the classic-models-api client's own audience
+      # mapper exists today) — this openid-connect binding will reject every
+      # real token until that client is created.
+      JWT_AUDIENCE_WHITELIST: '["catalog-api"]' # PLACEHOLDER audience name, Keycloak client not created yet
+    substituteFrom:
+      - kind: ConfigMap
+        name: dataplane-template-defaults