diff --git a/home_root/.claude/CLAUDE.md b/home_root/.claude/CLAUDE.md
index 04bd5c7..4d25027 100644
--- a/home_root/.claude/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/home_root/.claude/CLAUDE.md
@@ -548,10 +548,13 @@ note says otherwise. On other boxes, check first.)
   value), `secret list [--prefix P]`, `secret backfill [--dry-run]` (scans THIS
   box's `~/development/*/{env.sh,.env}` + `~/.config` creds and upserts each).
   Items are hostname-namespaced (`<host>/…`); small text → item note, small binary
-  → base64 hidden field, >6000 B → a bw attachment. **STANDING DIRECTIVE: store
-  durable credentials in the vault.** Any token / API key / cert / env-secret worth
-  keeping — not ephemeral, doesn't belong in git — should be `secret put` into the
-  vault so it survives and is findable, never left single-copy on a box. The one
+  → base64 hidden field, >6000 B → a bw attachment. **STANDING DIRECTIVE (operator,
+  2026-08-11): the vault is the credential source of truth — store durable secrets
+  in it AND pull the creds you need FROM it.** Any token / API key / cert / env-secret
+  worth keeping — not ephemeral, doesn't belong in git — should be `secret put` into
+  the vault so it survives and is findable, never left single-copy on a box; and when
+  a task needs a credential (e.g. a gitea token to create a repo), **`secret get` it
+  from the vault** rather than reading an on-disk copy where practical. The one
   exception is `bootstrap.env` itself (secrets-zero — it unlocks the vault, so it
   can't live inside it; keep it `0600`). **Not a fleet service / no daemon** — each
   new dev box duplicates this stack against its own local secrets (setup steps in