diff --git a/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/model.ts b/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/model.ts
index 16b80e9c4..3cfd7691a 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/model.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/model.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ export interface GithubRepositoryChoice {
   cloneUrl: string;
   cloneProtocol?: "https" | "ssh";
   description: string | null;
-  visibility: string | null;
   updatedAt: string | null;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/options.ts b/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/options.ts
index 1c9fec5bf..c1d6ce9e4 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/options.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/add-project-flow/options.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,6 @@ export function buildManualGithubRepositoryChoices(query: string): GithubReposit
         nameWithOwner: identity?.repo ?? remoteName,
         cloneUrl: repo,
         description: "Clone this repository URL",
-        visibility: null,
         updatedAt: null,
       },
     ];
@@ -116,7 +115,6 @@ export function buildManualGithubRepositoryChoices(query: string): GithubReposit
     cloneUrl: nameWithOwner,
     cloneProtocol,
     description: `Clone owner/repo via ${cloneProtocol.toUpperCase()}`,
-    visibility: null,
     updatedAt: null,
   }));
 }
diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/add-project-flow.tsx b/packages/app/src/components/add-project-flow.tsx
index 3078062a7..45425fde8 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/components/add-project-flow.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/add-project-flow.tsx
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ export function AddProjectFlow({ request, onClose }: AddProjectFlowProps) {
         title: repository.cloneProtocol
           ? `${repository.nameWithOwner} via ${repository.cloneProtocol.toUpperCase()}`
           : repository.nameWithOwner,
-        subtitle: repository.description ?? repository.visibility,
+        subtitle: repository.description,
         icon: Github,
         testID: `add-project-flow-repository-${repository.id}`,
         select: () =>
diff --git a/packages/server/src/services/github-repository-search.test.ts b/packages/server/src/services/github-repository-search.test.ts
index 94e2ee068..d324aab16 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/services/github-repository-search.test.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/services/github-repository-search.test.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ describe("GitHub repository search", () => {
           name: " paseo ",
           nameWithOwner: " getpaseo/paseo ",
           description: null,
-          visibility: "PUBLIC",
+          isPrivate: false,
           updatedAt: "2026-07-15T12:00:00Z",
           sshUrl: " git@github.com:getpaseo/paseo.git ",
           url: "https://github.com/getpaseo/paseo",
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ describe("GitHub repository search", () => {
           "repo",
           "list",
           "--json",
-          "id,name,nameWithOwner,description,visibility,updatedAt,sshUrl,url",
+          "id,name,nameWithOwner,description,isPrivate,updatedAt,sshUrl,url",
           "--limit",
           "8",
         ],
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ describe("GitHub repository search", () => {
           name: "private-repo",
           fullName: "octo/private-repo",
           description: "Private project",
-          visibility: "PRIVATE",
+          isPrivate: true,
           updatedAt: "2026-07-14T08:00:00Z",
           url: "https://github.com/octo/private-repo",
         },
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ describe("GitHub repository search", () => {
           "repos",
           "private project",
           "--json",
-          "id,name,fullName,description,visibility,updatedAt,url",
+          "id,name,fullName,description,isPrivate,updatedAt,url",
           "--sort",
           "updated",
           "--order",
diff --git a/packages/server/src/services/github-service.ts b/packages/server/src/services/github-service.ts
index e2d82db88..d43916cb6 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/services/github-service.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/services/github-service.ts
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ const GitHubRepositoryListItemSchema = z.object({
   name: z.string(),
   nameWithOwner: z.string(),
   description: z.string().nullable().optional(),
-  visibility: z.string(),
+  isPrivate: z.boolean(),
   updatedAt: z.string(),
   sshUrl: z.string(),
   url: z.string(),
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ const GitHubRepositorySearchItemSchema = z.object({
   name: z.string(),
   fullName: z.string(),
   description: z.string().nullable().optional(),
-  visibility: z.string(),
+  isPrivate: z.boolean(),
   updatedAt: z.string(),
   url: z.string(),
 });
@@ -1287,7 +1287,7 @@ export function createGitHubService(options: CreateGitHubServiceOptions = {}): G
               "repo",
               "list",
               "--json",
-              "id,name,nameWithOwner,description,visibility,updatedAt,sshUrl,url",
+              "id,name,nameWithOwner,description,isPrivate,updatedAt,sshUrl,url",
               "--limit",
               String(limit),
             ],
@@ -1305,7 +1305,7 @@ export function createGitHubService(options: CreateGitHubServiceOptions = {}): G
             "repos",
             query,
             "--json",
-            "id,name,fullName,description,visibility,updatedAt,url",
+            "id,name,fullName,description,isPrivate,updatedAt,url",
             "--sort",
             "updated",
             "--order",
@@ -2315,7 +2315,7 @@ function normalizeRepositorySummary(repository: {
   name: string;
   nameWithOwner: string;
   description?: string | null;
-  visibility: string;
+  isPrivate: boolean;
   updatedAt: string;
   cloneUrl: string;
 }): GitHubRepositorySummary {
@@ -2328,20 +2328,15 @@ function normalizeRepositorySummary(repository: {
     name: repository.name.trim(),
     nameWithOwner,
     description: repository.description ?? null,
-    visibility: normalizeRepositoryVisibility(repository.visibility),
+    // We query isPrivate, not visibility: `gh repo list --json visibility` is unsupported before
+    // gh 2.28 (Debian Bookworm ships 2.23), while isPrivate works on every version. The wire schema
+    // requires the visibility enum, so old clients still get a value they can parse.
+    visibility: repository.isPrivate ? "private" : "public",
     updatedAt: repository.updatedAt,
     cloneUrl: repository.cloneUrl.trim(),
   };
 }
 
-function normalizeRepositoryVisibility(visibility: string): GitHubRepositorySummary["visibility"] {
-  const normalized = visibility.toLowerCase();
-  if (normalized === "public" || normalized === "private" || normalized === "internal") {
-    return normalized;
-  }
-  throw new Error(`Unknown GitHub repository visibility: ${visibility}`);
-}
-
 function toPullRequestCheckoutTarget(
   parsed: z.infer<typeof PullRequestCheckoutTargetSchema>,
 ): PullRequestCheckoutTarget {