diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 86142b9..e0da8da 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -250,6 +250,15 @@ curl -s localhost:8090/healthz         # the live service (systemd --user)
 systemctl --user restart booth.service # after a code change, to see it live
 ```
 
+⚠ **A GET of a booth page, its marks page or a review page RECORDS A LOOK**
+(`.viewed`, and `.seen` for a review page). A post-deploy check that fetches
+every booth on `:8090` tells the service the operator looked at all of them at
+once: it empties "new since you looked", marks items seen on the tape, and
+pushes every expiry out a day. Two sessions did exactly that on 2026-09-23.
+Check the live service with requests that record nothing (`/healthz`, the Desk
+at `/`, `?thumb=1` file fetches), and check pages against a COPY of the data
+(`rsync` it into the scratchpad, `TestClient(create_app(copy))`).
+
 ```sh
 .venv/bin/python scripts/mutation_check.py          # prove the falsifiers still falsify
 ```
diff --git a/persistent-memory.md b/persistent-memory.md
index ea0864e..ba967b0 100644
--- a/persistent-memory.md
+++ b/persistent-memory.md
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ _As of 2026-09-23:_
 
 ## Recent decisions
 
+- `[2026-09-23]` ✅ **The Desk's "Everything else" sorts by last UPDATE, not last activity** (operator: "last activity can just be last time the booth was updated"). The section had been reverse-alphabetical because two sessions' post-deploy GET sweeps (17:48 and 21:46) each recorded a look at every booth. That also emptied "new since you looked": 3 booths (`dfa-landing`, `ldp-polish`, `pewpew-ui-brief`) had never been opened from an operator device. The operator chose the simpler fix and declined repairing `.viewed` from the access log. READ BEFORE CHECKING THE LIVE SERVICE: see CLAUDE.md "Working in here".
 - `[2026-09-23]` ✅ **The four flow rulings, and what they cost the beta** — all four taking design-dev's recommendation; READ BEFORE CUTTING ANY RELEASE, because `v1.0.0b1`'s "no new features" promise no longer describes the arc and an alpha drop-back is illegal → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-23-the-flow-rulings-and-what-they-cost-the-beta.md`
 - `[2026-09-23]` ✅ **Creation dates came from a syscall, after three guesses wearing a fact's clothes** — READ BEFORE REACHING FOR A PROXY; the system already recorded what looked unavailable, and one of the rejected proxies was a shape we had just finished paying for → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-23-dates-and-the-guess-wearing-a-facts-clothes.md`
 - `[2026-09-23]` ⚠ **The browser suite is flaky under load — OPEN, owned by design-dev** — three tests, two real defects fixed, NEITHER proven causal; do not read a green suite as proof → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-23-the-browser-suite-is-flaky-under-load.md`