diff --git a/templates/workflows/benchmark.toml b/templates/workflows/benchmark.toml
index e7c492b..225aff1 100644
--- a/templates/workflows/benchmark.toml
+++ b/templates/workflows/benchmark.toml
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ default_team_template = "rust_sdlc"
 kind      = "benchmark"
 order_idx = 0
 [phases.config]
+# INERT. `produces` is listed in phase_config::DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD —
+# artifact rendering is not driven by it. Kept because it states the
+# intent, annotated because a reader should not take it for a setting.
 produces      = ["md"]
 # NOTE: `mode` is INERT — no code selects behaviour from it.
 mode          = "author_and_baseline"
diff --git a/templates/workflows/continuous_research.toml b/templates/workflows/continuous_research.toml
index 1cec3cf..7528fe5 100644
--- a/templates/workflows/continuous_research.toml
+++ b/templates/workflows/continuous_research.toml
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ default_team_template = "continuous_research"
 kind      = "research"
 order_idx = 0
 [phases.config]
+# INERT. `produces` is listed in phase_config::DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD —
+# artifact rendering is not driven by it. Kept because it states the
+# intent, annotated because a reader should not take it for a setting.
 produces         = ["md"]
 default_topology = "hub_spoke"
 # `research`, not a new `read` kind. An unrecognised kind falls through to
@@ -71,6 +74,9 @@ commit_policy = "always"
 kind      = "research"
 order_idx = 1
 [phases.config]
+# INERT. `produces` is listed in phase_config::DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD —
+# artifact rendering is not driven by it. Kept because it states the
+# intent, annotated because a reader should not take it for a setting.
 produces         = ["md"]
 default_topology = "hub_spoke"
 task = """
diff --git a/templates/workflows/refactor.toml b/templates/workflows/refactor.toml
index 546d40f..6a24941 100644
--- a/templates/workflows/refactor.toml
+++ b/templates/workflows/refactor.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ default_team_template = "rust_sdlc"
 kind      = "coding"
 order_idx = 0
 [phases.config]
+# INERT. `loop` is listed in phase_config::DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD —
+# iteration is max_iterations + done_when, and nothing reads this value.
+# Kept because it states the intent; annotated so it is not mistaken for
+# the mechanism.
 loop            = "single_pass"
 # The planner runs `cargo tree`, `cargo outdated`, `npm outdated`,
 # etc. and produces INT-XX items per stale dep.
diff --git a/templates/workflows/research_and_code.toml b/templates/workflows/research_and_code.toml
index 909a2dd..e250895 100644
--- a/templates/workflows/research_and_code.toml
+++ b/templates/workflows/research_and_code.toml
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ kind      = "research"
 order_idx = 0
 [phases.config]
 # `pdf` names a format nothing generates — artifacts are served as Markdown.
+# INERT. `produces` is listed in phase_config::DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD —
+# artifact rendering is not driven by it. Kept because it states the
+# intent, annotated because a reader should not take it for a setting.
 produces         = ["md"]
 default_topology = "hub_spoke"
 # Research PLANS; coding BUILDS. Without this the split is a fiction:
@@ -74,6 +77,10 @@ order_idx = 1
 # DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD — "NOT IMPLEMENTED — phase iteration uses
 # max_iterations + done_when". It is kept only so the intent stays
 # visible next to the keys that actually drive the loop.
+# INERT. `loop` is listed in phase_config::DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD —
+# iteration is max_iterations + done_when, and nothing reads this value.
+# Kept because it states the intent; annotated so it is not mistaken for
+# the mechanism.
 loop            = "until_no_more_int_items"
 # The real loop. Without `done_when` the phase never enters
 # `evaluating`, is never judged, and reports `completed` whatever it
diff --git a/templates/workflows/research_only.toml b/templates/workflows/research_only.toml
index 9a839cd..9af529e 100644
--- a/templates/workflows/research_only.toml
+++ b/templates/workflows/research_only.toml
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ order_idx = 0
 # `pdf` dropped — PDF rendering was removed from the delivery path and
 # artifacts are served as Markdown, so asking for it named a format nothing
 # generates. `security_hardening` was corrected for this; this recipe was not.
+# INERT. `produces` is listed in phase_config::DECLARED_BUT_UNREAD —
+# artifact rendering is not driven by it. Kept because it states the
+# intent, annotated because a reader should not take it for a setting.
 produces         = ["md"]
 default_topology = "hub_spoke"
 # This recipe had NEITHER of the two keys below, which is the same defect