diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index da332c7..e64bb88 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,8 +28,10 @@ Live at **[clawmates.work](https://clawmates.work)**.
   gateway, running Claude Code (`claude_cli`) with fallback to Kimi and GLM. *MicroVM tier*: phases run
   in Firecracker microVMs on fleet nodes (`clawmates-node` + the `fcagent` guest), with per-backend
   egress (Claude, GLM, Kimi, or a local model over vsock).
-- **An independent judge.** Every conditioned phase is judged by a model from a *different* provider
-  family than the agents (GLM by default, Kimi as automatic fallback), which runs its own allow-listed
+- **An independent judge.** Every conditioned phase is judged. When a cross-provider judge is configured
+  (prod: GLM, with Kimi as automatic fallback) it is a model from a *different* provider family than the
+  agents; without one (the self-host default) the phase is judged by Claude and recorded as **not**
+  independent. The judge runs its own allow-listed
   checks — tests, `rg`, git — against a copy of the work, commits to a verification plan before reading
   the evidence, and installs npm dependencies offline from the lockfile. A phase that fails is retried
   with the judge's guidance, up to `max_iterations`. Measured with `scripts/judge-eval.sh` (15 known-answer
@@ -40,8 +42,8 @@ Live at **[clawmates.work](https://clawmates.work)**.
   `continuous_research` auto-merges additive-only changes into the vault.
 - **Tool gates on every agent call.** A `PreToolUse` gate (both tiers) refuses destructive and exfiltrating
   commands, protects its own hook files, enforces per-role policy (e.g. a read-only verifier), and records
-  task-permission and argument-provenance ("taint") violations in shadow mode. A stop gate keeps a
-  microVM agent working until its `done_when_check` passes.
+  task-permission and argument-provenance ("taint") violations in shadow mode. A stop gate sends a
+  microVM agent back to work while its `done_when_check` fails, up to 3 times.
 - **Skills.** A catalog of skills bound to team roles, delivered to mission agents through the MCP
   skills door; per-mission skill triage and skill-use measurement.
 - **Project memory.** Each repository keeps a `.brain` (ClawhDF5) of every judge verdict; missions recall
@@ -251,8 +253,11 @@ structures, never gives an agent more reach than its sandbox. What that means to
   blocked); see [`docs/MISSION-EGRESS.md`](docs/MISSION-EGRESS.md) and
   [`docs/TASK-PERMISSION-AND-TAINT.md`](docs/TASK-PERMISSION-AND-TAINT.md) for the measurements and the
   controls being built on top.
-- Credentials are held by the secret broker behind a private socket. A mission container gets only a
-  narrowly scoped skills token, never a full session. The server reaches Docker through an allow-listed
+- Platform credentials are held by the secret broker behind a private socket, and a mission container
+  gets only a narrowly scoped skills token, never a ClawMates session. **Model-provider keys are the
+  exception:** Claude Code inside a mission needs its own credential, so container-tier missions carry
+  the provider keys (`CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN`, and `ZAI_API_KEY` / `KIMI_API_KEY` for the fallback
+  chain) in their environment, readable by the agent. The server reaches Docker through an allow-listed
   socket proxy.
 - The gate is a guardrail against accidents and obvious exfiltration, not a boundary against a
   determined agent (indirection defeats string matching). The boundaries are the VM, the network policy