diff --git a/.skills/context-counts-ok b/.skills/context-counts-ok
index a9db3ac..1157ec7 100644
--- a/.skills/context-counts-ok
+++ b/.skills/context-counts-ok
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 docs/ARCHITECTURE.md :: enumerated :: **two backends** (`local`, `gcs`)
 AGENTS.md :: enumerated :: Two that bite, each symptomless until it matters:
 AGENTS.md :: enumerated :: Two env files, split by a security boundary
-AGENTS.md :: enumerated :: **Two blob backends, one seam.**
 AGENTS.md :: enumerated :: **Three stream kinds, three sets of rules.**
 # The three contracts and their four documents are the four `docs/contracts/`
 # rows in ## Detail Docs, one line down the same file.
diff --git a/.skills/context-loss-ok b/.skills/context-loss-ok
index 2a0c596..520557c 100644
--- a/.skills/context-loss-ok
+++ b/.skills/context-loss-ok
@@ -703,3 +703,25 @@ AGENTS.md :: tighten :: - [CONVENTIONS.md](docs/CONVENTIONS.md) — the rules co
 AGENTS.md :: tighten :: - [INFRASTRUCTURE.md](docs/INFRASTRUCTURE.md) — VM topology, ports, the broker, and the buckets
 AGENTS.md :: tighten :: - [TESTING.md](docs/TESTING.md) — fakeredis's divergences, the keys an integration run may create
 AGENTS.md :: tighten :: - [content-persist-issuer-contract.md](docs/contracts/content-persist-issuer-contract.md) — keeping a blob in the permanent store by digest: obligations, the refusal registry
+
+# Judged losses from the 2026-10-16 curation (AGENTS.md 6199 -> under 6000).
+# Three Bus Conventions bullets whose every fact the destination already states
+# at length; a verbatim move would sit a near-duplicate beside the canonical
+# treatment, which Phase 5 forbids. Each read against its destination:
+#   blob backends  -> docs/STORAGE.md ## Two backends, one seam: REPLICATOR_BLOB_BACKEND
+#                     (#7), the file:// / gs:// table row, "local is the default and stays
+#                     the default", the bold to_thread rule; STORAGE.md is indexed.
+#   replicate gcs  -> docs/CONVENTIONS.md (create-if-absent, "never resolved as a path",
+#                     line 45) and docs/STREAMS.md's content.replicate bullet (#29).
+#   Watcher issues -> docs/STREAMS.md's "Watcher alone issues content.fetch" bullet: #90,
+#                     seed_fetch.py seeds scratch streams, --production, Watcher's identity.
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: - **Two blob backends, one seam.** `REPLICATOR_BLOB_BACKEND` selects them: `local`
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: announces `file://` and `gcs` announces `gs://`, and `local` stays the
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: compiled-in default deliberately (#7). Every `BlobStore` call from a coroutine
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: goes through `asyncio.to_thread`.
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: [docs/STORAGE.md](docs/STORAGE.md) is the authority for either store.
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: - **The replicate loop writes for `gcs` (#29)** — create-if-absent, and `blob_uri` is
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: never resolved as a path. Read [docs/CONVENTIONS.md](docs/CONVENTIONS.md) first.
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: - **Watcher alone issues `content.fetch` (#90).** `scripts/seed_fetch.py` seeds
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: scratch streams; the live one takes `--production` and Watcher's identity, never
+AGENTS.md :: duplicate :: `replicator`'s.
diff --git a/.skills/context-metrics.jsonl b/.skills/context-metrics.jsonl
index aba9642..89a2542 100644
--- a/.skills/context-metrics.jsonl
+++ b/.skills/context-metrics.jsonl
@@ -58,3 +58,5 @@
 {"actions": ["baseline:scheduled"], "budget": 6000, "bytes": 14180, "claims_dropped": null, "claims_warranted": null, "counts": null, "counts_acked": null, "delta_days": 0, "delta_tokens": 0, "docs_orphaned": 0, "docs_total": 22, "docs_unindexed": 0, "file": "AGENTS.md", "lines": 249, "links_dead": 0, "links_dead_anchors": 0, "no_loss": null, "no_loss_warrants": null, "note": null, "over_budget": false, "repo": "replicator", "repo_commit": "7550060", "seams": 0, "seams_acked": 36, "skill_commit": "c4ae0d7", "skill_version": "1.31", "tokens": 5993, "tokens_exact": true, "tokens_live": 164942, "top_section": "Bus Conventions", "top_section_share": 28, "ts": "2026-09-29"}
 {"actions": ["baseline:scheduled"], "budget": 6000, "bytes": 14198, "claims_dropped": null, "claims_warranted": null, "counts": null, "counts_acked": null, "delta_days": 7, "delta_tokens": 16, "docs_orphaned": 0, "docs_total": 22, "docs_unindexed": 0, "file": "AGENTS.md", "lines": 249, "links_dead": 0, "links_dead_anchors": 0, "no_loss": null, "no_loss_warrants": null, "note": null, "over_budget": true, "repo": "replicator", "repo_commit": "7604d0f", "seams": 40, "seams_acked": 36, "skill_commit": "7cf855e", "skill_version": "1.31", "tokens": 6009, "tokens_exact": true, "tokens_live": 165904, "top_section": "Bus Conventions", "top_section_share": 28, "ts": "2026-10-06"}
 {"actions": ["baseline:scheduled"], "budget": 6000, "bytes": 14190, "claims_dropped": null, "claims_warranted": null, "counts": null, "counts_acked": null, "delta_days": 7, "delta_tokens": -4, "docs_orphaned": 0, "docs_total": 22, "docs_unindexed": 0, "file": "AGENTS.md", "lines": 249, "links_dead": 0, "links_dead_anchors": 0, "no_loss": null, "no_loss_warrants": null, "note": null, "over_budget": true, "repo": "replicator", "repo_commit": "bd49943", "seams": 2, "seams_acked": 35, "skill_commit": "5ff7a82", "skill_version": "1.31", "tokens": 6005, "tokens_exact": true, "tokens_live": 166891, "top_section": "Bus Conventions", "top_section_share": 28, "ts": "2026-10-13"}
+{"actions": ["baseline:pre-curation"], "budget": 6000, "bytes": 14641, "claims_dropped": null, "claims_warranted": null, "counts": null, "counts_acked": null, "delta_days": 3, "delta_tokens": 194, "docs_orphaned": 0, "docs_total": 22, "docs_unindexed": 0, "file": "AGENTS.md", "lines": 259, "links_dead": 0, "links_dead_anchors": 0, "no_loss": null, "no_loss_warrants": null, "note": null, "over_budget": true, "repo": "replicator", "repo_commit": "931ddbf", "seams": null, "seams_acked": null, "skill_commit": "3cea77a", "skill_version": "1.31", "tokens": 6199, "tokens_exact": true, "tokens_live": 167028, "top_section": "Bus Conventions", "top_section_share": 27, "ts": "2026-10-16"}
+{"actions": ["prune:Bus Conventions/blob-backends (dup docs/STORAGE.md; to_thread rule kept inline)", "prune:Bus Conventions/replicate-gcs (dup docs/CONVENTIONS.md+STREAMS.md)", "prune:Bus Conventions/watcher-issues-fetch (dup docs/STREAMS.md)", "ack:seams x4", "prune:stale counts-ok entry"], "budget": 6000, "bytes": 14099, "claims_dropped": 0, "claims_warranted": 0, "counts": 0, "counts_acked": 4, "delta_days": 0, "delta_tokens": -244, "docs_orphaned": 0, "docs_total": 22, "docs_unindexed": 0, "file": "AGENTS.md", "lines": 251, "links_dead": 0, "links_dead_anchors": 0, "no_loss": "ok", "no_loss_warrants": 9, "note": null, "over_budget": false, "repo": "replicator", "repo_commit": "c95aa3f", "seams": 0, "seams_acked": 39, "skill_commit": "3cea77a", "skill_version": "1.31", "tokens": 5955, "tokens_exact": true, "tokens_live": 166784, "top_section": "Bus Conventions", "top_section_share": 24, "ts": "2026-10-16"}
diff --git a/.skills/context-seams-ok b/.skills/context-seams-ok
index 6af9665..265833e 100644
--- a/.skills/context-seams-ok
+++ b/.skills/context-seams-ok
@@ -469,3 +469,12 @@ tests/test_socraticode_config.py :: f"docs/COMMANDS.md caps at {sorted(map(sorte
 .socraticodecontextartifacts.json :: "description": "How the systemd unit runs and the guards it starts behind;
 # The POLITENESS description this run extended: ENVIRONMENT.md does index REPLICATOR_MIN_HOST_INTERVAL_SECONDS by name.
 .socraticodecontextartifacts.json :: "description": "Per-host politeness, the consumer-side mechanism;
+# 2026-10-16 curation: back-references to sections that stayed inline.
+# Common Commands still carries the env-load line COMMANDS.md points at.
+docs/COMMANDS.md :: AGENTS.md), then source this once per shell from the repo root; the examples below assume it:
+# Design Preferences stays in AGENTS.md; both SKILLS.md lines point at it by name.
+docs/SKILLS.md :: None — `brainstorming` runs upstream's, under AGENTS.md's **Design Preferences**.
+docs/SKILLS.md :: | `brainstorming` | Intent and design before building; this repo's overrides are AGENTS.md's Design Preferences |
+# Provenance heading from #131, not this run's; nothing links its anchor (grep "in-flight-count"),
+# so the slug is not load-bearing. Rename it with the next COMMANDS.md edit rather than widen this one.
+docs/COMMANDS.md :: The patching gate's in-flight count (#131)
diff --git a/.skills/context-token-counts b/.skills/context-token-counts
index 160ed11..f2f2c8b 100644
--- a/.skills/context-token-counts
+++ b/.skills/context-token-counts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # The offline estimators prefer a file's own last exact measurement to the
 # repo-wide figure in .skills/context-token-ratio, falling back to it for a
 # file never counted exactly or since drifted far from the size recorded here.
-14190 6005 AGENTS.md
+14099 5955 AGENTS.md
 5692 2194 docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
 26724 10372 docs/COMMANDS.md
 26391 9745 docs/CONVENTIONS.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 8941 3330 docs/FAILURE-NOTIFICATION.md
 21824 8554 docs/INFRASTRUCTURE.md
 18208 6458 docs/POLITENESS.md
-26831 10116 docs/SKILLS.md
+26669 10059 docs/SKILLS.md
 11592 4447 docs/SOCRATICODE.md
 22502 8233 docs/STORAGE.md
 25396 9285 docs/STREAMS.md
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 45be1c7..7f2b369 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -128,14 +128,11 @@ Replicator is a **consumer** first — follow what co-core and the archiver prod
   `command_id:occurred_at`). `info_source_id` and replicate's
   `info_item_rep_spec_id` are **echoed, never read** — a `test_boundaries.py`
   carve-out is one field wide, and adding one edits the charter (#28, #29).
-- **Two blob backends, one seam.** `REPLICATOR_BLOB_BACKEND` selects them: `local`
-  announces `file://` and `gcs` announces `gs://`, and `local` stays the
-  compiled-in default deliberately (#7). Every `BlobStore` call from a coroutine
-  goes through `asyncio.to_thread`.
-  [docs/STORAGE.md](docs/STORAGE.md) is the authority for either store.
 - **Store, then publish — never the reverse.** A fact pointing at absent bytes is
   unrepairable by the consumer; stored bytes with no fact repair themselves on the
   reclaim.
+- **Every `BlobStore` call from a coroutine goes through `asyncio.to_thread`** —
+  [docs/STORAGE.md](docs/STORAGE.md) is the authority for either store.
 - **Read `count=1`.** `AsyncBusConsumer.read(count>1)` raises on a malformed frame
   *before* returning the well-formed ones. Recovery claims at `count=1` too — for
   the #98 turn bound, not poison (#109).
@@ -169,12 +166,7 @@ Replicator is a **consumer** first — follow what co-core and the archiver prod
   default); `content.blobs` carries both fetch outcomes and `content.artifacts`
   both outcomes of replicate and of persist; `content.fetch-policy` is read
   **groupless** — no group, no ack, no DLQ.
-- **The replicate loop writes for `gcs` (#29)** — create-if-absent, and `blob_uri` is
-  never resolved as a path. Read [docs/CONVENTIONS.md](docs/CONVENTIONS.md) first.
 - **A fetch may not reach loopback, RFC 1918, or the tailnet (#89, #95).** Per redirect hop.
-- **Watcher alone issues `content.fetch` (#90).** `scripts/seed_fetch.py` seeds
-  scratch streams; the live one takes `--production` and Watcher's identity, never
-  `replicator`'s.
 - **The `docs/contracts/` documents are normative**, indexed below.
   `tests/test_boundaries.py` enforces the charter in CI; change a charter and its
   tests together.