diff --git a/tests/run-tests.sh b/tests/run-tests.sh
index f6ea424..683b824 100755
--- a/tests/run-tests.sh
+++ b/tests/run-tests.sh
@@ -13,11 +13,12 @@
 #     dev binary, the other 15 suites still tell you something, and turning that
 #     into a red run would just train people to ignore red.
 #   * as a GATE (the run-tests pre-push hook): a skip is a SETUP ERROR, not a
-#     legitimate state. AGENTS.md documents vale, apm and jq as required pre-push
-#     dependencies, so a suite that cannot run on the machine doing the pushing
-#     means the machine is misconfigured -- and pre-commit prints NOTHING for a
-#     passing hook, so the skip list below is swallowed entirely. On a vale-less
-#     PATH that silently shipped a green gate having verified 15 of 17 suites.
+#     legitimate state. README.md's Prerequisites table documents vale, apm and
+#     jq as required pre-push dependencies, so a suite that cannot run on the
+#     machine doing the pushing means the machine is misconfigured -- and
+#     pre-commit prints NOTHING for a passing hook, so the skip list below is
+#     swallowed entirely. On a vale-less PATH that silently shipped a green
+#     gate having verified 15 of 17 suites.
 #     Exactly the vacuous-pass class the rest of this file exists to close.
 #
 # Deliberately its own switch, NOT folded into
@@ -258,7 +259,7 @@ fi
 # here (not just referenced) because this block goes to stderr and is what a
 # pre-push reader actually gets handed.
 if [[ "$STRICT" == true && ${#SKIPPED[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
-  echo "Error: --strict and ${#SKIPPED[@]} suite(s) skipped. Run as a gate, a skip is a SETUP ERROR on this machine, not a legitimate state: AGENTS.md documents vale, apm and jq as required pre-push dependencies, so every suite is expected to be runnable here. Install what each suite names below and re-run; do not skip the hook." >&2
+  echo "Error: --strict and ${#SKIPPED[@]} suite(s) skipped. Run as a gate, a skip is a SETUP ERROR on this machine, not a legitimate state: README.md's Prerequisites table documents vale, apm and jq as required pre-push dependencies, so every suite is expected to be runnable here. Install what each suite names below and re-run; do not skip the hook." >&2
   sidx=0
   for s in ${SKIPPED[@]+"${SKIPPED[@]}"}; do
     echo "  $s" >&2
diff --git a/tests/test-run-tests.sh b/tests/test-run-tests.sh
index 803424f..ec3fe0a 100644
--- a/tests/test-run-tests.sh
+++ b/tests/test-run-tests.sh
@@ -392,10 +392,11 @@ fi
 
 # --- 10. --strict turns a skip into a failure, and names the suite AND the reason ---
 # Graceful skipping is right for an ad-hoc run and wrong for a gate. At pre-push a
-# suite exiting 77 means a dependency AGENTS.md documents as required is missing
-# on the pushing machine -- and pre-commit prints nothing at all for a passing
-# hook, so the skip list this script writes to stdout was swallowed whole. A
-# vale-less PATH shipped a green gate having verified 15 of 17 suites.
+# suite exiting 77 means a dependency README.md's Prerequisites table documents
+# as required is missing on the pushing machine -- and pre-commit prints nothing
+# at all for a passing hook, so the skip list this script writes to stdout was
+# swallowed whole. A vale-less PATH shipped a green gate having verified 15 of
+# 17 suites.
 #
 # The reason is asserted, not just the name: "something was skipped" leaves the
 # reader with no idea which binary to install, which is most of why the swallowed
diff --git a/tests/test-vale-wrap.sh b/tests/test-vale-wrap.sh
index 1421e86..1e7261a 100755
--- a/tests/test-vale-wrap.sh
+++ b/tests/test-vale-wrap.sh
@@ -451,9 +451,11 @@ fi
 # cover anything new: it omitted scripts/lib/batch-run.sh — the shared runner
 # this branch introduced, whose own header (batch-run.sh:9-11) documents it as
 # bash-3.2-safe — along with four other scripts/*.sh. Deriving the list means a
-# new script is covered the moment it lands. LESSONS.md and the script headers
-# name bash 3.2 as an explicit repo target, so the scope is four globs, each
-# floor-asserted below:
+# new script is covered the moment it lands. The script headers name bash 3.2 as
+# an explicit repo target -- scripts/lib/batch-run.sh:10 ("all three callers are
+# explicitly bash-3.2-safe") and providers/claude-code/statusline-command.sh:100
+# ("macOS's system bash, and an explicit repo target") -- so the scope is four
+# globs, each floor-asserted below:
 #   - scripts/**/*.sh          — repo tooling and pre-commit hook scripts
 #   - tests/*.sh               — the runners and every regression test
 #   - plugins/*/.apm/**/*.sh   — the scripts plugins ship to users