diff --git a/.github/branchNameValidation.sh b/.github/branchNameValidation.sh
index e071a65a..20cd856f 100755
--- a/.github/branchNameValidation.sh
+++ b/.github/branchNameValidation.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 set -e
 
 local_branch=${1}
+[ -z "${1}" ] && local_branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 
 valid_branch='^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$'
 
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ join_by() { local IFS='|'; echo "$*"; }
 #creates glob match to check for reserved words used in branch names which would trigger failures
 glob=$(join_by $(for i in ${reserved_words[@]}; do echo "^$i-|-$i$|-$i-|^$i$"; done;))
 
-if [[ ! $local_branch =~ $valid_branch ]] || [[ $local_branch =~ $glob ]] || [[ ${#local_branch} -gt 64 ]]; then
+if [[ ! $local_branch =~ $valid_branch ]] || [[ $local_branch =~ $glob ]] || [[ ${#local_branch} -gt 20 ]]; then
     echo """
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      ERROR:  Please read below
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ if [[ ! $local_branch =~ $valid_branch ]] || [[ $local_branch =~ $glob ]] || [[
     Therefore, the branch name must be a valid service name. Branch name must be all lower case with no spaces and no underscores.
 
     From Serverless:
-        A service name should only contain alphanumeric (case sensitive) and hyphens. It should start with an alphabetic character and shouldnt exceed 128 characters.
+        A service name should only contain alphanumeric (case sensitive) and hyphens. It should start with an alphabetic character and shouldnt exceed 20 characters.
         For Github Actions support, please push your code to a new branch with a name that meets Serverless' service name requirements.
         So, make a new branch with a name that begins with a letter and is made up of only letters, numbers, and hyphens... then delete this branch.
         ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-notification.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-notification.yml
index 9969731f..ea00af1e 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-notification.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-notification.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ permissions:
   contents: write
   issues: write
   pull-requests: write
-
 jobs:
   endpoint:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:
               application_endpoint_url="endpoint not found"
           fi
           echo "application_endpoint_url=$application_endpoint_url" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          
+
     outputs:
       application_endpoint_url: ${{ steps.getendpoint.outputs.application_endpoint_url }}
 
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
       - endpoint
-    # avoiding notifications for automated Snyk Pull Requests and draft pull requests 
+    # avoiding notifications for automated Snyk Pull Requests and draft pull requests
     if: github.actor != 'mdct-github-service-account' && !github.event.pull_request.draft
     steps:
       - name: Slack Notification
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pull-request.yml b/.github/workflows/pull-request.yml
index 42170178..dde1b168 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pull-request.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pull-request.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,17 @@ name: Pull-request
 on: [pull_request]
 
 jobs:
+  prchecks:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.10"
+      - name: Configure pre-commit to skip branch name validation
+        run: |
+          echo "SKIP=branch-name-validation" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+      - uses: pre-commit/action@v3.0.1
   linting:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
@@ -11,7 +22,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
           python-version: "3.10"
-      - uses: pre-commit/action@v3.0.1
   jest-frontend:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 084b0188..e73a4955 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-exclude: 'seed-section-base-*'
+exclude: "seed-section-base-*"
 repos:
   - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
     rev: v4.0.1
@@ -38,4 +38,11 @@ repos:
   - repo: https://github.com/zricethezav/gitleaks
     rev: v8.12.0
     hooks:
-      - id: gitleaks
\ No newline at end of file
+      - id: gitleaks
+  - repo: local
+    hooks:
+      - id: branch-name-validation
+        name: branch-name-validation
+        entry: .github/branchNameValidation.sh
+        language: script
+        pass_filenames: false