diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 2fb3b50..081c617 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -43,13 +43,20 @@ Adopted 2026-09-18, to match seismo-relay and Terra-View.  SLMM had no written
 practice before this — earlier releases used ad-hoc commits like
 `chore: version bump`.  This is the standard going forward.
 
-**Write the entry in the same commit as the work, under `## [Unreleased]`.  Cut
-the version on `dev` in a dedicated release commit.  Never touch the changelog
-at a merge boundary.**
+**Feature branches do NOT touch `CHANGELOG.md`.  Write the entry on `dev`, as
+part of finishing the merge, under `## [Unreleased]`.  Cut the version on `dev` in a
+dedicated release commit when you are ready to ship to `main`.**
 
-- **Entry goes in with the change**, not at merge or release time — that is the
-  only moment you still know *why*.  Feature branches edit `CHANGELOG.md`
-  directly; the occasional conflict is two appended bullets and is trivial.
+- **The changelog is written on `dev`, never on a feature branch.**  With
+  several branches in flight they all edit the same few lines at the top of
+  the file and conflict every time.  Writing it once, after the merge, also
+  lets it describe what actually *landed* — including anything that changed
+  during conflict resolution.
+- ⚠ **The merge is not finished until `## [Unreleased]` is updated.**  Same sitting,
+  not "later" — that is the one failure mode of writing it after the fact.
+  Reconstruct from the branch's own commit messages:
+  `git log --oneline dev..<branch>` before you merge, or
+  `git log --oneline <merge-base>..<branch>` after.
 - **No preamble under `## [Unreleased]`** — just the `### Added` / `### Changed`
   / `### Fixed` lists.  The themed opening paragraph gets written at release
   time, when the whole release is visible and can be named honestly.  A theme