diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
index 3b0d3d96..e1475392 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 ### Fixed
 
 - Fixed RPC `get_session_stats` to expose `contextUsage`, so headless clients can read actual current context-window usage instead of deriving it from token totals ([#2550](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/issues/2550))
+- Fixed `pi update` for git packages to fetch only the tracked target branch with `--no-tags`, reducing unrelated branch and tag noise while preserving force-push-safe updates ([#2548](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/issues/2548))
 
 ## [0.62.0] - 2026-03-23
 
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/core/package-manager.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/core/package-manager.ts
index b897f099..7e449e22 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/core/package-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/core/package-manager.ts
@@ -1279,20 +1279,66 @@ export class DefaultPackageManager implements PackageManager {
 		return match[1];
 	}
 
-	private async getLocalGitUpdateTarget(installedPath: string): Promise<{ ref: string; head: string }> {
+	private async getLocalGitUpdateTarget(
+		installedPath: string,
+	): Promise<{ ref: string; head: string; fetchArgs: string[] }> {
 		try {
+			const upstream = await this.runCommandCapture("git", ["rev-parse", "--abbrev-ref", "@{upstream}"], {
+				cwd: installedPath,
+				timeoutMs: NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS,
+			});
+			const trimmedUpstream = upstream.trim();
+			if (!trimmedUpstream.startsWith("origin/")) {
+				throw new Error(`Unsupported upstream remote: ${trimmedUpstream}`);
+			}
+			const branch = trimmedUpstream.slice("origin/".length);
+			if (!branch) {
+				throw new Error("Missing upstream branch name");
+			}
 			const head = await this.runCommandCapture("git", ["rev-parse", "@{upstream}"], {
 				cwd: installedPath,
 				timeoutMs: NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS,
 			});
-			return { ref: "@{upstream}", head };
+			return {
+				ref: "@{upstream}",
+				head,
+				fetchArgs: [
+					"fetch",
+					"--prune",
+					"--no-tags",
+					"origin",
+					`+refs/heads/${branch}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`,
+				],
+			};
 		} catch {
 			await this.runCommand("git", ["remote", "set-head", "origin", "-a"], { cwd: installedPath }).catch(() => {});
 			const head = await this.runCommandCapture("git", ["rev-parse", "origin/HEAD"], {
 				cwd: installedPath,
 				timeoutMs: NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS,
 			});
-			return { ref: "origin/HEAD", head };
+			const originHeadRef = await this.runCommandCapture("git", ["symbolic-ref", "refs/remotes/origin/HEAD"], {
+				cwd: installedPath,
+				timeoutMs: NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS,
+			}).catch(() => "");
+			const branch = originHeadRef.trim().replace(/^refs\/remotes\/origin\//, "");
+			if (branch) {
+				return {
+					ref: "origin/HEAD",
+					head,
+					fetchArgs: [
+						"fetch",
+						"--prune",
+						"--no-tags",
+						"origin",
+						`+refs/heads/${branch}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`,
+					],
+				};
+			}
+			return {
+				ref: "origin/HEAD",
+				head,
+				fetchArgs: ["fetch", "--prune", "--no-tags", "origin", "+HEAD:refs/remotes/origin/HEAD"],
+			};
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1478,15 +1524,20 @@ export class DefaultPackageManager implements PackageManager {
 			return;
 		}
 
-		// Fetch latest from remote (handles force-push by getting new history)
-		await this.runCommand("git", ["fetch", "--prune", "origin"], { cwd: targetDir });
+		const target = await this.getLocalGitUpdateTarget(targetDir);
+
+		// Fetch only the ref we will reset to, avoiding unrelated branch/tag noise.
+		await this.runCommand("git", target.fetchArgs, { cwd: targetDir });
 
 		const localHead = await this.runCommandCapture("git", ["rev-parse", "HEAD"], {
 			cwd: targetDir,
 			timeoutMs: NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS,
 		});
-		const target = await this.getLocalGitUpdateTarget(targetDir);
-		if (localHead.trim() === target.head.trim()) {
+		const refreshedTargetHead = await this.runCommandCapture("git", ["rev-parse", target.ref], {
+			cwd: targetDir,
+			timeoutMs: NETWORK_TIMEOUT_MS,
+		});
+		if (localHead.trim() === refreshedTargetHead.trim()) {
 			return;
 		}
 
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/test/git-update.test.ts b/packages/coding-agent/test/git-update.test.ts
index 2f59f9ee..392cebf0 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/test/git-update.test.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/test/git-update.test.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,10 @@ describe("DefaultPackageManager git update", () => {
 
 			await packageManager.update();
 
-			expect(executedCommands).toContain("git fetch --prune origin");
+			expect(executedCommands).toContain(
+				"git fetch --prune --no-tags origin +refs/heads/main:refs/remotes/origin/main",
+			);
+			expect(executedCommands).not.toContain("git fetch --prune origin");
 			expect(executedCommands).not.toContain("git reset --hard @{upstream}");
 			expect(executedCommands).not.toContain("git reset --hard origin/HEAD");
 			expect(executedCommands).not.toContain("git clean -fdx");
@@ -183,8 +186,26 @@ describe("DefaultPackageManager git update", () => {
 			const detachedCommit = getCurrentCommit(installedDir);
 			git(["checkout", detachedCommit], installedDir);
 
+			const executedCommands: string[] = [];
+			const managerWithInternals = packageManager as unknown as {
+				runCommand: (command: string, args: string[], options?: { cwd?: string }) => Promise<void>;
+			};
+			managerWithInternals.runCommand = async (command, args, options) => {
+				executedCommands.push(`${command} ${args.join(" ")}`);
+				const result = spawnSync(command, args, {
+					cwd: options?.cwd,
+					encoding: "utf-8",
+				});
+				if (result.status !== 0) {
+					throw new Error(`Command failed: ${command} ${args.join(" ")}\n${result.stderr}`);
+				}
+			};
+
 			await packageManager.update();
 
+			expect(executedCommands).toContain(
+				"git fetch --prune --no-tags origin +refs/heads/main:refs/remotes/origin/main",
+			);
 			expect(getCurrentCommit(installedDir)).toBe(latestCommit);
 			expect(getFileContent(installedDir, "extension.ts")).toBe("// v3");
 		});
@@ -323,12 +344,17 @@ describe("DefaultPackageManager git update", () => {
 				if (args[0] === "rev-parse" && args[1] === "@{upstream}") {
 					return "remote-head";
 				}
+				if (args[0] === "rev-parse" && args[1] === "--abbrev-ref") {
+					return "origin/main";
+				}
 				return "";
 			};
 
 			await packageManager.resolveExtensionSources([gitSource], { temporary: true });
 
-			expect(executedCommands).toContain("git fetch --prune origin");
+			expect(executedCommands).toContain(
+				"git fetch --prune --no-tags origin +refs/heads/main:refs/remotes/origin/main",
+			);
 			expect(getFileContent(cachedDir, "pi-extensions/session-breakdown.ts")).toBe("// fresh");
 		});