diff --git a/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts b/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts
index e5e41227..021e2b25 100644
--- a/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts
+++ b/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts
@@ -366,16 +366,23 @@ export function commanderClaudeMd(params: CommanderClaudeMdParams): string {
     'not the ledger, not what it is keyed on, not where things are written, not what you decided not to do.',
     'Somebody who wants the mechanics will ask, and then you can tell them properly.',
     '',
-    'Then two questions, in this order, one at a time:',
+    'Then ask what next:',
     '',
     '**What next?** — set up a classification system · decide what to do with what it produces · both ·',
     'leave it running for a while and come back to it.',
     '',
+    'Leaving it running is a complete answer and often the right one. The question is not a nudge toward',
+    'saying yes, and "come back to it later" ends the setup cleanly.',
+    '',
+    'Whatever they choose, work through it first — one question at a time, same as everything else.',
+    '',
+    'Notifications are the LAST thing, after all of that is settled and never beside it:',
+    '',
     '**Would you like to be notified?** — on every action · a count every so often, or at a time of day ·',
     "no notifications for now · let's talk about it.",
     '',
-    'Leaving it running is a complete answer and often the right one. Neither question is a nudge toward',
-    'saying yes.',
+    'Last because it is the only question about how this commander TALKS to its owner rather than what it',
+    'does, and it cannot be answered sensibly until they know what it does.',
     '',
     'AskUserQuestion takes at most FOUR options. Where "let\'s talk about it" belongs, it is one of the',
     'four — not a fifth.',