diff --git a/.github/workflows/shacl_validation.yml b/.github/workflows/shacl_validation.yml
index 5b6544d..b8c7138 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/shacl_validation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/shacl_validation.yml
@@ -21,19 +21,25 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      # main carries both CGMES 3.0 and NCP 2.5 (PROF + SHACL)
-      - name: Checkout application profiles library (main)
+      # application-profiles-library only links CGMES/ and NCP/ as submodules
+      # since 2026-10-15; check out the two AP repos (PROF + SHACL) directly
+      - name: Checkout CGMES application profiles (CGMES 3.0)
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          repository: entsoe/application-profiles-library
-          ref: main
-          path: .apl-main
+          repository: entsoe/CGMES-AP
+          path: .apl-cgmes
+
+      - name: Checkout NC application profiles (NCP 2.5)
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: entsoe/NC-AP
+          path: .apl-ncp
 
       - name: Install uv
         uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v6
 
       - name: Validate instances, export SARIF + SHACL reports
-        run: uv run buildScripts/validate_instances.py --apl cgmes-3.0=.apl-main --apl ncp-2.5=.apl-main
+        run: uv run buildScripts/validate_instances.py --apl cgmes-3.0=.apl-cgmes --apl ncp-2.5=.apl-ncp
 
       # one upload per SARIF run — code scanning does not combine
       # multiple runs uploaded under the same category
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7e72de3..6640023 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ validation_report/
 __pycache__/
 *.pyc
 
-# APL checkout + caches for SHACL validation #
+# AP checkouts + caches for SHACL validation #
 ############
 .apl-main/
+.apl-cgmes/
+.apl-ncp/
 .shacl_cache/
 
 # generated validation reports (CI run artifacts) #
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 66f2759..d9c2d52 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -131,12 +131,14 @@ the workflow's `Run workflow` button, which opens `auto/manifests-manual-<run-id
 ### Running Validation
 
 SHACL + schema conformance of every instance file (what CI runs, see
-`.github/workflows/shacl_validation.yml`; needs one application-profiles-library
-checkout of `main`, which carries CGMES 3.0 and NCP 2.5):
+`.github/workflows/shacl_validation.yml`; needs checkouts of `entsoe/CGMES-AP` for CGMES 3.0
+and `entsoe/NC-AP` for NCP 2.5 — the application-profiles-library only links them as
+submodules, with an extra folder level, so it cannot be used directly):
 
 ```bash
-git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/entsoe/application-profiles-library .apl-main
-uv run buildScripts/validate_instances.py --apl cgmes-3.0=.apl-main --apl ncp-2.5=.apl-main
+git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/entsoe/CGMES-AP .apl-cgmes
+git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/entsoe/NC-AP .apl-ncp
+uv run buildScripts/validate_instances.py --apl cgmes-3.0=.apl-cgmes --apl ncp-2.5=.apl-ncp
 # SARIF + sh:ValidationReports + summary.md written to reports/
 ```
 
diff --git a/buildScripts/validate_instances.py b/buildScripts/validate_instances.py
index 12d2d21..aa2123a 100644
--- a/buildScripts/validate_instances.py
+++ b/buildScripts/validate_instances.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 gets until the closure variant is adopted.
 
 Run:
-    uv run buildScripts/validate_instances.py --apl cgmes-3.0=.apl-main --apl ncp-2.5=.apl-main
+    uv run buildScripts/validate_instances.py --apl cgmes-3.0=.apl-cgmes --apl ncp-2.5=.apl-ncp
 """
 import argparse
 import json
@@ -40,12 +40,13 @@
 REPORTS = REPO_ROOT / "reports"
 LEVEL_ICONS = {"error": "🔴", "warning": "🟠", "note": "🔵"}
 
-# One APL checkout (main) carries both CGMES 3.0 and NCP 2.5 PROF + SHACL.
+# PROF + SHACL come from the AP repos the APL links as submodules: entsoe/CGMES-AP
+# (CGMES 3.0) and entsoe/NC-AP (NCP 2.5), each checked out on its own.
 # The NCP 2.5-dev export schema is vendored (buildScripts/schemas/, provenance
 # in SOURCE.json) until a triplets release ships it.
 RELEASES = {
-    "cgmes-3.0": {"apl": ".apl-main", "kind": "cgmes", "rdf_map": schemas.ENTSOE_CGMES_3_0_0_552_ED1},
-    "ncp-2.5": {"apl": ".apl-main", "kind": "nc",
+    "cgmes-3.0": {"apl": ".apl-cgmes", "kind": "cgmes", "rdf_map": schemas.ENTSOE_CGMES_3_0_0_552_ED1},
+    "ncp-2.5": {"apl": ".apl-ncp", "kind": "nc",
                 "rdf_map": str(REPO_ROOT / "buildScripts/schemas/ENTSOE_NC_2.5-dev_552_ED1.json")},
 }
 
@@ -480,7 +481,7 @@ def main():
     os.chdir(REPO_ROOT)  # relative source paths => repo-relative SARIF artifact URIs
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
     parser.add_argument("--apl", action="append", default=[], metavar="RELEASE=PATH",
-                        help="APL checkout per release, e.g. cgmes-3.0=.apl-main (repeatable)")
+                        help="APL checkout per release, e.g. cgmes-3.0=.apl-cgmes (repeatable)")
     parser.add_argument("--only", choices=sorted(RELEASES), help="run a single release")
     parser.add_argument("--no-closure", action="store_true", help="skip the dependency-closure comparison run")
     args = parser.parse_args()