diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 6778a2e..37d3292 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -33,6 +33,36 @@ Non-negotiable canon highlights (full rationale in CONCEPT.md):
 - **Siege/base-defense mode: permanently rejected.** Do not build,
   do not re-propose.
 
+## Design questions — where answers live, in order
+
+1. **CONCEPT.md / MOE.md** (paths above) — most questions are
+   already settled there; check the decisions log and § Open
+   questions before re-deriving anything.
+2. **The advisor repo's persistent memory** —
+   `~/development/advisors/game-design/persistent-memory.md` —
+   for context, foot-guns, and tried-and-abandoned ideas.
+3. **The book, via the KB.** Load-bearing design-theory claims
+   ground in Jesse Schell, *The Art of Game Design* (3rd ed.),
+   retrievable live:
+
+   ```bash
+   cd ~/development/advisors/game-design
+   source env.sh   # gitignored credentials; if missing, see env.sh.template there
+   uv run --with httpx python kb_query.py "your query" --title "Art of Game Design"
+   ```
+
+   Always pass `--title "Art of Game Design"` (mixed corpus). Use
+   distinctive tokens (lens names, Schell's coined terms), not broad
+   words. Confidence buckets: high ≥ 0.030, medium ≥ 0.016.
+   **Honesty discipline (hard floor): quote what the KB returns;
+   if it doesn't surface the claim, say so — never confabulate
+   "Schell says."** An empty result means retrieval missed, not
+   that the book lacks it. Full retrieval guidance: the advisor
+   repo's CLAUDE.md.
+
+   Foot-gun: env.sh carries a borrowed Worldtree key (ratatoskr's);
+   HTTP 401 means it rotated — fix documented in env.sh's header.
+
 ## Engine
 
 - **Godot 4.7.1-stable, pinned.** Both dev machines run