diff --git a/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/lifecycle-repository.mjs b/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/lifecycle-repository.mjs
index d06f652..41f1473 100644
--- a/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/lifecycle-repository.mjs
+++ b/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/lifecycle-repository.mjs
@@ -505,7 +505,14 @@ async function transferDevice(client, actor, command) {
   };
 }
 
-export async function findProjectWithCapability(client, actor, projectId, capability) {
+export async function findProjectWithCapability(
+  client,
+  actor,
+  projectId,
+  capability,
+  { lock = true } = {},
+) {
+  const projectLockClause = lock ? "for share of p, os" : "";
   const result = await client.query(
     `select p.id, p.owner_scope_id, p.project_key, p.name, p.description,
       p.lifecycle_state, p.created_at, p.updated_at,
@@ -514,7 +521,7 @@ export async function findProjectWithCapability(client, actor, projectId, capabi
     from device_projects p
     join device_owner_scopes os on os.id = p.owner_scope_id
     where p.id = $1
-    for share of p, os`,
+    ${projectLockClause}`,
     [projectId],
   );
   const project = result.rows[0];
@@ -531,7 +538,7 @@ export async function findProjectWithCapability(client, actor, projectId, capabi
     from device_project_grants
     where project_id = $1
     order by created_at, id
-    for share`,
+    ${lock ? "for share" : ""}`,
     [projectId],
   );
   assertProjectCapability(
diff --git a/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/project-query-repository.mjs b/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/project-query-repository.mjs
index f9f441b..bb68c4f 100644
--- a/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/project-query-repository.mjs
+++ b/device-plane/services/device-control-core/src/project-query-repository.mjs
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ export async function getDeviceProjectWorkspace(client, actor, projectId) {
     actor,
     projectId,
     "project.read",
+    { lock: false },
   );
   const grantsResult = await client.query(
     `select id, principal_kind, principal_ref, project_role,
diff --git a/device-plane/services/device-control-core/test/project-query-repository.test.mjs b/device-plane/services/device-control-core/test/project-query-repository.test.mjs
index 0ba9b49..7458eda 100644
--- a/device-plane/services/device-control-core/test/project-query-repository.test.mjs
+++ b/device-plane/services/device-control-core/test/project-query-repository.test.mjs
@@ -81,6 +81,19 @@ test("project workspace returns only masked identity projections", async () => {
   assert.equal(serialized.includes("raw-audit-payload"), false);
 });
 
+test("project workspace authorization remains compatible with read-only transactions", async () => {
+  const queries = [];
+  const client = workspaceClient({ queries });
+
+  await getDeviceProjectWorkspace(client, actor, projectId);
+
+  assert.ok(queries.length > 0);
+  assert.equal(
+    queries.some((sql) => /\bfor\s+(?:no\s+key\s+)?(?:update|share)\b/i.test(sql)),
+    false,
+  );
+});
+
 test("project read source never selects identifier digests or credential refs", async () => {
   const source = await readFile(
     new URL("../src/project-query-repository.mjs", import.meta.url),
@@ -93,10 +106,11 @@ test("project read source never selects identifier digests or credential refs",
   assert.doesNotMatch(source, /\b(?:dae\.payload|dcr\.configuration)\b/);
 });
 
-function workspaceClient() {
+function workspaceClient({ queries = [] } = {}) {
   let grantReads = 0;
   return {
     async query(sql) {
+      queries.push(sql);
       if (/from device_projects p/.test(sql)) {
         return { rows: [projectGrantRow()] };
       }