diff --git a/.agents/skills/webjs/SKILL.md b/.agents/skills/webjs/SKILL.md
index 29108b07f..c0c865aca 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/webjs/SKILL.md
+++ b/.agents/skills/webjs/SKILL.md
@@ -104,12 +104,12 @@ Common bundles:
 1. **Classify the change.** Route contract, data model, server mutation, auth, or only UI?
 2. **Start from the server.** Add the page/route and its server action or query before wiring interactive UI. A page render or a `<form>` POST should already return correct HTML before any component hydrates.
 3. **Put code in the narrowest owner.** Route-local first (`modules/<feature>/`), promote to `lib/` or `components/` only when reuse is real.
-4. **Keep server-only code behind `.server.ts`.** The DB driver, secrets, and `node:*` never belong in a page, layout, or component.
+4. **Keep server-only code behind `.server.ts`** (Core WebJs Rules 1 and 2).
 5. **Add interactivity per behaviour.** Reach for a component (and a signal or `@event`) only where the UI is genuinely interactive. A display-only component is elided from the browser. Then wrap the interactive part and STOP: the static markup around it stays in the page, where it costs nothing.
 6. **Validate input at the boundary.** Declare `export const validate` on an action; the RPC and `route()` boundaries run it.
 7. **Default mutations to optimistic UI** where the client can predict the result (`optimistic()` from `@webjsdev/core`).
-8. **Type every boundary from its source, never `unknown` or `any`.** The row type comes from the schema (`typeof todos.$inferSelect`), the action's input from a named `interface` and its result from `ActionResult<T>`, the routing files from `PageProps` / `LayoutProps` / `RouteHandlerContext`. `unknown` belongs on a payload nothing has vouched for yet that the next line narrows, and on a parameter of your own helper that forwards into an `html` template hole. Everywhere else, including a layout's `children`, it is a missing type. See `references/typescript.md`.
-9. **Test the narrowest meaningful layer**, and render the app in a real browser for any UI change (static checks do not catch a collapsed layout).
+8. **Type every boundary from its source, never `unknown` or `any`.** The row type comes from the schema (`typeof todos.$inferSelect`), the action's input from a named `interface` and its result from `ActionResult<T>`, the routing files from `PageProps` / `LayoutProps` / `RouteHandlerContext`. `unknown` belongs on a payload nothing has vouched for yet that the next line narrows, and on a parameter of your own helper that forwards into an `html` template hole. Everywhere else, including a layout's `children`, it is a missing type. Carry a row type into a shipping component with `import type` (erased before the browser sees it). Nothing enforces this (both spellings are valid TypeScript, so `webjs check` and `tsc` pass either way), which is why it is written down. See `references/typescript.md`.
+9. **Test the narrowest meaningful layer**, and look at any UI change in a real browser (see Testing Defaults).
 
 ## Project Layout
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ App-internal imports use the `#` root alias (`import { db } from '#db/connection
 ## Core WebJs Rules (invariants)
 
 1. Server-only code lives in `.server.ts`, `route.ts`, or `middleware.ts`. Never in a page, layout, or component (it crashes the browser at module load).
-2. `'use server'` exports are `async` functions returning serializer-safe values. Files without `'use server'` are server-only utilities.
+2. `'use server'` exports are `async` functions returning serializer-safe values, callable from browser code as RPC. Files without `'use server'` are server-only utilities: reach them only from `'use server'` actions, `route.ts`, or middleware. Never add `'use server'` to a file only other server code imports (the DB connection, the schema).
 3. Custom element tag names contain a hyphen. Pass the tag to `Class.register('tag-name')`.
 4. Event (`@`), property (`.`), and boolean (`?`) holes in `html` are UNQUOTED: `@click=${fn}`, never `@click="${fn}"`.
 5. Signals are the default state primitive. Import `signal` / `computed` from `@webjsdev/core`, read via `signal.get()` inside `render()`. The base-class factory `WebComponent({ ... })` is only for values riding an HTML attribute or arriving via SSR hydration.
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ App-internal imports use the `#` root alias (`import { db } from '#db/connection
 9. No backtick characters inside an `html\`...\`` body, even in comments (it closes the literal and 500s).
 10. TypeScript must be erasable (`erasableSyntaxOnly: true`): no `enum`, no value `namespace`, no constructor parameter properties, no legacy decorators.
 11. Reactive properties are declared ONLY through the base-class factory `extends WebComponent({ count: Number })`. Never a `static properties` block, never a class-field initializer (it clobbers the reactive accessor).
-12. A form that writes binds its action: `<form action=${importedAction}>`, or a per-button `<button formaction=${importedAction}>`. A bound submitter is SELF-SUFFICIENT (#1307): the renderer puts `formmethod="post"` and `formenctype` on the button itself, so it needs no bound form around it and works inside any form or none. Quoted bindings, non-submit controls, `<input type="submit">` (the identity needs its `value`, which is also its label, so use a `<button>`), submitter `name` / `value` / `form` / static `formaction` attributes, a `.prop` spelling of any of those, `action=${fn}` off a `<form>`, a bound form with `method="get"`, a BOUND submitter's own non-post `formmethod` or unparseable `formenctype`, and a non-action function all throw. A PLAIN button's own `formmethod` / `formenctype` is a legal native override and is left alone. A page has no `action` export, so a bare `<form method="post">` is a 405.
+12. A form that writes binds its action: `<form action=${importedAction}>`, or a per-button `<button formaction=${importedAction}>`. A bound submitter is SELF-SUFFICIENT (#1307): the renderer puts `formmethod="post"` and `formenctype` on the button itself, so it needs no bound form around it and works inside any form or none. Quoted bindings, non-submit controls, `<input type="submit">` (the identity needs its `value`, which is also its label, so use a `<button>`), submitter `name` / `value` / `form` / static `formaction` attributes (the identity IS the button's name/value pair, so both halves are spoken for), a `.prop` spelling of any of those, `action=${fn}` off a `<form>`, a bound form with `method="get"` (a GET sends no body for the action to read), a BOUND submitter's own non-post `formmethod` or unparseable `formenctype`, and a non-action function all throw. A PLAIN button's own `formmethod` / `formenctype` is a legal native override and is left alone. A page has no `action` export, so a bare `<form method="post">` is a 405.
 
 ## Export Map
 
@@ -272,18 +272,12 @@ Success is a 303 (PRG); failure re-renders the page at 422 with the result on `a
 
 ## Common Mistakes To Avoid
 
-- Treating a page or layout like a React component and expecting its markup to hydrate. It runs server-only; put interactivity in a component.
+The invariants above are not repeated here; this list is the mistakes they do not already name.
+
 - Promoting a whole page section to a component so that one control inside it can be interactive. The island should wrap the control and the state it reads. An oversized island ships its own JS AND un-elides every display-only component inside it, so the cost is not linear in what you moved.
-- Importing a `.server.ts` utility (no `'use server'`) directly into a shipping component. Its browser stub throws at load; reach it through a `'use server'` action.
-- Using a `static properties` block or a class-field initializer for reactive props instead of the `WebComponent({ ... })` factory.
-- Quoting an event / property / boolean hole (`@click="${fn}"`).
 - Writing `fetch()` to call your own server instead of importing the action.
-- Writing a bare `<form method="post">` and expecting a page `action` export to catch it. There is no such export; bind the action with `action=${fn}` or the submission is a 405.
-- Putting a submitter's `formaction=${fn}` on anything that is not a submit control, or on a button carrying its own `name` / `value`. The identity IS the button's name/value pair, so both halves are spoken for.
-- Writing `formmethod="get"` or `formenctype="text/plain"` on a button that BINDS an action. Neither can carry that action's body, so the pair contradicts itself and throws. On a button that binds nothing it is a legal native override and is honoured.
 - Binding an action whose file declares `export const method = 'GET'`. Form-bound actions strictly require POST (default). Binding a GET action to a form is a 405 at runtime and a `webjs check` error (`form-action-not-a-get-action`).
 - Leaving read-only RPC server query actions as default `POST`. Always export `export const method = 'GET'` for RPC data queries so arguments ride URL params, ETags/304 caching work, and CSRF is safely bypassed.
-- Writing `method="get"` on a bound `<form action=${fn}>`. WebJs supplies `method="post"` and `formenctype` automatically, and a bound form declaring `method="get"` is REFUSED at render (a thrown error, not a warning), because a GET sends no body for the action to read.
 - Throwing `redirect()` / `notFound()` inside a `route.ts` handler (uncaught 500). Return a `Response` there.
 - A placeholder first paint that fetches in `connectedCallback`. SSR does not call `connectedCallback`; put first-paint data in the constructor (server-known inputs) or use `async render()`.
 - A browser global (`window`, `document`, `localStorage`) in the constructor or `render()`. It throws at SSR; do browser-only work in `connectedCallback`.
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/.agents/rules/workflow.md b/packages/cli/templates/.agents/rules/workflow.md
index a587e56ba..903c3d443 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/.agents/rules/workflow.md
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/.agents/rules/workflow.md
@@ -8,30 +8,12 @@ Read `AGENTS.md` first. Full hosted docs are at https://webjs.dev/docs.
 
 ## Grow the app in place (non-negotiable)
 
-- **Study the shipped examples, then clear them and build.** The scaffold is a
-  starting point with a browsable showcase to learn the real idioms from, plus a
-  database wired up. A full-stack app ships a UI feature gallery (`app/features/`,
-  `app/examples/todo`); the api template ships a backend-features showcase
-  (`app/api/features/`), with logic in `modules/`. Building a real app: study the
-  parts that match your task (the skill teaches the same and SURVIVES the clear),
-  run `npm run gallery:clear` to shed the showcase (it keeps the agent skill and
-  the database wiring, and resets to a clean base), then regenerate the database
-  and grow the app in place under `app/`, `components/`, and `modules/<feature>/`.
-  `AGENTS.md` carries the full template-specific build playbook and the order to
-  follow.
-- **Use the wired-up database (Drizzle), never JSON files.** For any data the app
-  stores, define a Drizzle table in `db/schema.server.ts`, then
-  `npm run db:generate` and `npm run db:migrate`. Never use a JSON file, a
-  module-scope array or Map, or localStorage as a database.
-- **`app/` is routing-only.** Only routing files live in `app/` (page, layout,
-  route, middleware, metadata routes). Browser-safe helpers go in `lib/utils/`,
-  feature logic in `modules/`, server-only code behind `.server.ts`.
-- **For a UI app, render and LOOK before calling it done.** Define design tokens
-  in `app/layout.ts` with a palette that fits the app
-  (`.agents/skills/webjs/references/styling.md` is the guide), then open every
-  route you changed in a real browser and play through its states.
-  `npm run check` and `npm run typecheck` pass even when a layout collapses, so
-  the browser is the real check.
+Study the shipped showcase (a full-stack app's UI gallery under
+`app/features/` and `app/examples/todo`, the api template's
+`app/api/features/`), run `npm run gallery:clear`, then grow the app in place
+under `app/`, `components/`, and `modules/<feature>/`. `AGENTS.md` carries the
+build order, the data rule (the wired-up Drizzle database, never JSON files),
+and the browser check for a UI app.
 
 ## Before starting ANY work
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/AGENTS.md b/packages/cli/templates/AGENTS.md
index ceb7a9efa..64b6f21a9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/AGENTS.md
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/AGENTS.md
@@ -34,49 +34,14 @@ This is what separates a working app from a broken one.
 
 ## Type everything (all templates)
 
-Full-stack type safety is what the `.server.ts` boundary buys you: a client
-component importing a server action resolves to that action's real signature at
-type-check time, with no build step and no code generation in between. So
-DERIVE the type at every boundary instead of widening it:
-
-- A database row: `export type Todo = typeof todos.$inferSelect` in
-  `db/schema.server.ts` (`$inferInsert` for a write), carried into a
-  browser-shipped component with `import type` (erased before it reaches the
-  browser, so it does not trip the server-import boundary).
-- An action's input: a named `interface`. Its result: `ActionResult<T>`.
-  Narrow with `if (result.success && result.data)`.
-- Routing files: `PageProps<'/blog/[slug]'>`, `LayoutProps`,
-  `RouteHandlerContext`, all from `@webjsdev/core`. Run `npx webjsdev types`
-  for the typed `Route` union and per-route `params`.
-- A reactive property: `prop<Student>(Object)`, `prop<Tag[]>(Array)`.
-
-Never reach for `any` or a loose `as any` cast, and do not reach for `unknown`
-either just because it looks safer. `unknown` is right for a payload nothing
-has vouched for yet, narrowed on the very next line (a `route.ts` `await
-req.json()`, an action's `export const validate` or a validator it delegates
-to, a `catch` binding), and for a parameter of YOUR OWN helper that forwards
-into an `html` template hole (a hole renders a string, a number, a
-`TemplateResult`, or an array of those, so `TemplateResult` alone is too
-narrow). That second case is about a value you accept, never one the framework
-already types. Everywhere else it is a missing type, not a safe one: `unknown`
-that survives into a return type, a component prop, a layout's `children`, or
-an action signature is the shape to fix.
-Nothing enforces this (both are valid TypeScript, so `webjs check` and `tsc`
-pass either way), which is exactly why it is written down. The full ladder,
-with an end-to-end example, is in
+Derive the type at every boundary from its source. Never reach for `any`, and
+never `unknown` where a real type exists. The rule is step 8 of the skill's "Default
+Workflow"; the full ladder, with an end-to-end example, is
 `.agents/skills/webjs/references/typescript.md`.
 
 Keep server-only code (database drivers, secrets, `node:*` builtins) in
-`.server.ts` modules. There are exactly two kinds:
-
-- A `.server.ts` file WITH `'use server';` as its first line is a server
-  action: WebJs exposes its exported async functions to browser code as RPC
-  calls, so browser modules may import it directly.
-- A `.server.ts` file WITHOUT `'use server'` is a server-only utility:
-  importing it from a page, layout, or component CRASHES in the browser at
-  module load. Reach it only from `'use server'` actions, `route.ts` handlers,
-  or middleware. Never add `'use server'` to a file only other server code
-  imports (the DB connection, the schema).
+`.server.ts` modules. The two kinds (with and without `'use server'`) are the
+skill's "Core WebJs Rules" 1 and 2.
 
 ## Data (all templates)
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/CLAUDE.md b/packages/cli/templates/CLAUDE.md
index 2264bdc4f..5c37acf8e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/CLAUDE.md
@@ -9,14 +9,9 @@ is complete, WITHOUT being asked. Do not save all the work for one commit at the
 end. A finished implementation with zero commits is a mistake here, because git
 history is the user's revert and cherry-pick safety net.
 
-- After each completed unit whose tests pass, `git add` the related files and
-  `git commit` with an imperative subject under 72 chars, then push. If 5+ files
-  span more than one concern, you already waited too long.
-- Never commit to `main`. Work on a feature branch (the
-  `.claude/hooks/guard-branch-context.sh` hook enforces this).
-- No AI-attribution trailers (`Co-Authored-By`, `Generated by`).
-
-See AGENTS.md "Git workflow" for the full contract. Two hooks back this up: the
+The full git contract (branches, commit messages, attribution) is
+`.agents/rules/workflow.md` "Git rules"; the
+`.claude/hooks/guard-branch-context.sh` hook refuses a commit on `main`. Two hooks back this up: the
 `.claude/hooks/nudge-uncommitted.sh` PostToolUse hook reminds you while
 uncommitted changes pile up during work, and the
 `.claude/hooks/commit-before-stop.sh` Stop hook stops you from ending a turn
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/CONVENTIONS.md b/packages/cli/templates/CONVENTIONS.md
index 576116c75..22dbaec9d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/CONVENTIONS.md
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/CONVENTIONS.md
@@ -3,34 +3,16 @@
 The conventions for building a WebJs app live in the agent skill. **Read
 `AGENTS.md` first, then `.agents/skills/webjs/SKILL.md`** (it routes to focused
 references under `.agents/skills/webjs/references/`, loaded on demand). This file
-is the short version.
+only says where each rule lives, so no rule is stated twice.
 
-## The essentials
-
-- **`app/` is routing only.** Only routing files live there (page, layout, route,
-  middleware, metadata routes). Feature logic goes in `modules/<feature>/`
-  (`actions/`, `queries/`, `components/`, `utils/`); shared UI primitives go in
-  top-level `components/`; browser-safe helpers in `lib/utils/`.
-- **Server-only code goes behind `.server.ts`.** Reach it from a page or component
-  through a `'use server'` action, never by importing a server-only utility
-  directly into browser-bound code.
-- **Use the wired-up database (Drizzle).** Define real models in
-  `db/schema.server.ts`, then `npm run db:generate` and `npm run db:migrate`.
-  Never persist to a JSON file, an in-memory array or Map, or localStorage.
-- **The scaffold ships a showcase to learn from.** A full-stack app ships a UI
-  feature gallery (`app/features/`, `app/examples/todo`); the api template ships
-  a backend-features showcase (`app/api/features/`), with logic in `modules/`.
-  When you build a real app, study the parts that match your task (the skill
-  teaches the same and survives the clear), run `npm run gallery:clear` to shed
-  the showcase, then grow the app in place. `AGENTS.md` has the full
-  template-specific playbook.
-- **Derive types at every boundary.** Rows from `$inferSelect`, action inputs
-  from an `interface`, routing files from `PageProps` / `LayoutProps`. Never
-  `any`, and never `unknown` where a real type exists.
-- **Progressive enhancement is the default.** Pages render as HTML, `<a>`
-  navigates, a `<form action=${importedAction}>` submits, all with JavaScript off; opt into
-  interactivity per behaviour inside a component.
-- **Commit per logical unit** as soon as it is complete, and never push to `main`.
-
-Everything else (the module architecture, the `ActionResult` envelope, styling,
-testing, the client router, optimistic UI) is in the skill's references.
+- **Build order** (study the showcase: a full-stack app's gallery under
+  `app/features/` and `app/examples/todo`, the api template's
+  `app/api/features/`; then `npm run gallery:clear`, data, UI, verify):
+  the playbook in `AGENTS.md`.
+- **Data** (the wired-up Drizzle database, never a JSON file, an in-memory
+  array or Map, or localStorage): `AGENTS.md`, "Data".
+- **Layout** (`app/` is routing only, logic in `modules/<feature>/`): the
+  skill's "Project Layout".
+- **Server boundary, progressive enhancement, typing**: the skill's "What WebJs
+  Is", "Core WebJs Rules", and "Default Workflow".
+- **Git, tests, and `npm run ci`**: `.agents/rules/workflow.md`.
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-api.md b/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-api.md
index bbc79de9e..08bdeb6fa 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-api.md
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-api.md
@@ -44,20 +44,12 @@ cross-origin access use the `cors()` middleware from `@webjsdev/server`; with
 
 ### 5. Verify before you call it done
 
-Run `npm run ci` and fix what it reports. It is one command for every gate,
-the step list declared in `package.json` under `webjs.ci`, with a result line
-per step:
-
-- `webjs check` (correctness: no browser-import or boundary violation).
-- `webjs doctor` (project health). It fails on whatever `package.json`
-  `webjs.doctor.gate` marks `error`, plus the two hard toolchain checks that
-  are fatal with no gate entry, `NODE_VERSION` and `TSCONFIG_ERASABLE`.
-- `webjs typecheck` (zero type errors).
-- A dependency audit.
-- The test layers for the endpoints and modules you built.
-
-The GitHub workflow runs the same list, so a green local run predicts CI.
-While iterating, `npm run ci -- --only Tests` runs one layer.
+Run `npm run ci` and fix what it reports. It runs every gate declared under
+`webjs.ci` in `package.json` (`webjs check`, `webjs doctor`, `webjs typecheck`,
+a dependency audit, then the test layers for the endpoints and modules you
+built), and the GitHub workflow runs the
+same list; `.agents/rules/workflow.md` has what each gate checks. While
+iterating, `npm run ci -- --only Tests` runs one layer.
 
 Then boot `npm run dev` and probe each endpoint for the expected status and JSON
 shape.
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-fullstack.md b/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-fullstack.md
index 832f05e5d..02108efa6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-fullstack.md
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/partials/agents-playbook-fullstack.md
@@ -84,31 +84,21 @@ action without also triggering the row navigation.
 
 ### 6. Build components for interactivity
 
-Pages and layouts (`app/**/page.ts`, `app/**/layout.ts`) are server-only HTML
-generators, so put every interactive behavior inside a `WebComponent` custom
-element. Declare a component's reactive properties in the base-class factory,
-never as a class-field initializer (`items = []` clobbers the reactive
-accessor). Use the shorthand for primitives
+Pages and layouts never hydrate, so put every interactive behavior inside a
+`WebComponent` custom element, and declare its reactive properties only in the
+base-class factory (the skill's "Core WebJs Rules" 11). Use the shorthand for primitives
 (`extends WebComponent({ name: String, count: Number, open: Boolean })`) and the
 `prop<T>()` helper for typed objects and arrays
 (`extends WebComponent({ items: prop<Item[]>(Array), user: prop<User>(Object) })`).
 
 ### 7. Verify before you call it done
 
-Run `npm run ci` and fix what it reports. It is one command for every gate,
-the step list declared in `package.json` under `webjs.ci`, with a result line
-per step:
-
-- `webjs check` (correctness: no browser-import or boundary violation).
-- `webjs doctor` (project health). It fails on whatever `package.json`
-  `webjs.doctor.gate` marks `error`, plus the two hard toolchain checks that
-  are fatal with no gate entry, `NODE_VERSION` and `TSCONFIG_ERASABLE`.
-- `webjs typecheck` (zero type errors).
-- A dependency audit.
-- The server, browser, and e2e test layers for the features you built.
-
-The GitHub workflow runs the same list, so a green local run predicts CI.
-While iterating, `npm run ci -- --only Tests` runs one layer. Then
+Run `npm run ci` and fix what it reports. It runs every gate declared under
+`webjs.ci` in `package.json` (`webjs check`, `webjs doctor`, `webjs typecheck`,
+a dependency audit, then the server, browser, and e2e test layers for the
+features you built), and the GitHub workflow runs the
+same list; `.agents/rules/workflow.md` has what each gate checks. While
+iterating, `npm run ci -- --only Tests` runs one layer. Then
 `npm run css:build` (compile Tailwind).
 
 Then boot `npm run dev`, confirm every page route returns HTTP 200, and open