diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index 8fedcf1f8f..8f784e4c2b 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ common --enable_bzlmod
 
 # Local disk cache greatly speeds up builds if the regular cache is lost
 common --disk_cache=~/.cache/bazel/bazel-disk-cache
+# Drop `experimental_` prefix once Bazel 7 is no longer supported
+common --experimental_downloader_config=downloader_config.cfg
 
 
 # Additional config to use for readthedocs builds.
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 73d254f27c..65c5baf64b 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -207,3 +207,9 @@ e.g.
 ```
 load("//python/private:foo.bzl", "foo")  # buildifier: disable=bzl-visibility
 ```
+
+### CI Failure Inspection
+
+When inspecting CI failures, if the failure is due to a network error
+downloading a repository, check if that rule set is mirrored on
+mirror.bazel.build. If so, add it to the downloader config.
diff --git a/downloader_config.cfg b/downloader_config.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a978fb89b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/downloader_config.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Try GitHub first (primary)
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/(.*) github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/(.*) github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/platforms/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/$1
+
+# Fall back to mirror (secondary)
+# Tracking upstream BCR mirror addition: https://github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/issues/139
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/platforms/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/$1
diff --git a/gazelle/.bazelrc b/gazelle/.bazelrc
index 9a38133e9d..bdb29d5bc3 100644
--- a/gazelle/.bazelrc
+++ b/gazelle/.bazelrc
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 common --deleted_packages=examples/bzlmod_build_file_generation
 common --deleted_packages=examples/bzlmod_build_file_generation/runfiles
+common --experimental_downloader_config=downloader_config.cfg
 
 test --test_output=errors
 
diff --git a/gazelle/downloader_config.cfg b/gazelle/downloader_config.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a978fb89b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gazelle/downloader_config.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Try GitHub first (primary)
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/(.*) github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/(.*) github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/platforms/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/$1
+
+# Fall back to mirror (secondary)
+# Tracking upstream BCR mirror addition: https://github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/issues/139
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/platforms/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/$1
diff --git a/sphinxdocs/.bazelrc b/sphinxdocs/.bazelrc
index caefd0af53..acff835394 100644
--- a/sphinxdocs/.bazelrc
+++ b/sphinxdocs/.bazelrc
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ build --enable_runfiles
 
 # Local disk cache greatly speeds up builds if the regular cache is lost
 common --disk_cache=~/.cache/bazel/bazel-disk-cache
+common --experimental_downloader_config=downloader_config.cfg
 
 common --incompatible_python_disallow_native_rules
 common --incompatible_no_implicit_file_export
diff --git a/sphinxdocs/downloader_config.cfg b/sphinxdocs/downloader_config.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a978fb89b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sphinxdocs/downloader_config.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Try GitHub first (primary)
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/(.*) github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/(.*) github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/platforms/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/(.*) github.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/$1
+
+# Fall back to mirror (secondary)
+# Tracking upstream BCR mirror addition: https://github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/issues/139
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel_features/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-skylib/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/platforms/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/$1
+rewrite ^github\.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/(.*) mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/rules_shell/$1