diff --git a/.claude/hooks/guard-wow-install.sh b/.claude/hooks/guard-wow-install.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 2b0e24a0..00000000
--- a/.claude/hooks/guard-wow-install.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-# PreToolUse(Edit|Write|NotebookEdit) guard: refuse to write anything into the 1.12.1 install.
-#
-# Reads the hook JSON on stdin; exit 2 blocks the call, with stderr as the reason. The protected
-# roots are WOW_DATA and the `WoW` link of the primary checkout and of the cwd.
-# BENILLA_ALLOW_INSTALL_WRITE=1 lets a write through.
-input=$(cat)
-
-path=$(printf '%s' "$input" | jq -r '.tool_input.file_path // .tool_input.notebook_path // empty' 2>/dev/null)
-[ -n "$path" ] || exit 0
-
-cwd=$(printf '%s' "$input" | jq -r '.cwd // empty' 2>/dev/null)
-cwd="${cwd:-$PWD}"
-case "$path" in
-  /*) ;;
-  '~'/*) path="${HOME}${path#\~}" ;;
-  *) path="$cwd/$path" ;;
-esac
-
-[ -n "${BENILLA_ALLOW_INSTALL_WRITE:-}" ] && exit 0
-
-# Resolve the target through its nearest existing ancestor: a Write may name new directories too.
-dir=$(dirname "$path")
-while [ ! -d "$dir" ] && [ "$dir" != "/" ] && [ "$dir" != "." ]; do dir=$(dirname "$dir"); done
-[ -d "$dir" ] || exit 0
-real=$(cd -P "$dir" 2>/dev/null && pwd) || exit 0
-
-# Compare physical paths (`cd -P`): `WoW` may be a symlink, and a write can name either spelling.
-own=$(git -C "$(dirname "$0")" rev-parse --path-format=absolute --git-common-dir 2>/dev/null)
-primary=$(cd "${own:-.}/.." 2>/dev/null && pwd)
-for root in "${WOW_DATA:-}" "$primary/WoW" "$cwd/WoW"; do
-  [ -n "$root" ] && [ -d "$root" ] || continue
-  root=$(cd -P "$root" 2>/dev/null && pwd) || continue
-  case "$real/" in
-    "$root"/*)
-      cat >&2 <<EOF
-BLOCKED: that write targets the 1.12.1 INSTALL ($root).
-
-    the file: $path
-
-benilla reads a WoW install and never writes to one (docs/METHOD.md). It is the player's own copy
-of somebody else's game, and the repo may never contain any of it.
-
-Where the thing you are writing actually goes:
-
-  · anything the client persists   → \`crate::local_state\` (\`benilla-config/\`)
-  · a capture, log, or scratch file → the session scratchpad
-  · a doc                          → the repo
-
-A deliberate exception is \`BENILLA_ALLOW_INSTALL_WRITE=1\`.
-EOF
-      exit 2
-      ;;
-  esac
-done
-exit 0
diff --git a/.claude/settings.json b/.claude/settings.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 1ca735a6..00000000
--- a/.claude/settings.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "autoMemoryEnabled": false,
-  "hooks": {
-    "PreToolUse": [
-      {
-        "matcher": "Edit|Write|NotebookEdit",
-        "hooks": [
-          {
-            "type": "command",
-            "command": "\"${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/.claude/hooks/guard-wow-install.sh\"",
-            "timeout": 10
-          }
-        ]
-      }
-    ]
-  }
-}
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a1d3fe4e..79b32879 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -32,13 +32,10 @@ trace-*.json
 .DS_Store
 *.swp
 /.idea/
-# Claude Code: share the project hooks + settings + slash commands + skills, ignore per-machine state.
+# Claude Code: the skills are shared procedures (AGENTS.md names them); every other file under
+# .claude/ is its owner's own settings.
 /.claude/*
-!/.claude/settings.json
-!/.claude/hooks/
-!/.claude/commands/
 !/.claude/skills/
-/.claude/settings.local.json
 
 # Python bytecode from the `scripts/` tooling.
 __pycache__/
diff --git a/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md b/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 225319d4..09d1f389 100644
--- a/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ fork, and forks are welcome.
 - **The toolchain.** Stable Rust (`rust-toolchain.toml` adds clippy and rustfmt) and a C
   compiler, because the client's Lua is vendored and built from source. On macOS the Xcode
   command line tools, which also supply libclang for the audio bindings; on Linux the ALSA and
-  udev development packages and pkg-config. `python3` runs two of the gates, and `jq` the hooks.
+  udev development packages and pkg-config. `python3` runs two of the gates.
 - **A 1.12.1 install of your own.** `WOW_DATA=<its Data folder>`, or a `WoW` link at the repo
   root, which only a dev build sees: the player build looks for `Data/` or `WoW/Data/` beside
   the binary. benilla reads the install and never writes into it. `WOW_DATA=` (set, empty)
diff --git a/docs/METHOD.md b/docs/METHOD.md
index 485739e7..bfaf2a4c 100644
--- a/docs/METHOD.md
+++ b/docs/METHOD.md
@@ -40,8 +40,7 @@ comment naming the reference fact and why we differ. Anything else is a fork.
   interface code: FrameXML and GlueXML run off the player's own patch chain, and our own
   counterparts under `assets/ui` stay until they retire.
 - **The install is read-only.** benilla never writes into the WoW folder: no screenshot, log,
-  cache or scratch file. A hook blocks such a write at the tool call, and `scripts/smoke.sh`
-  fails a run that leaves the install changed.
+  cache or scratch file. `scripts/smoke.sh` fails a run that leaves the install changed.
 - **Local state lives in one folder**, `benilla-config/` beside the binary, and every path to
   it resolves through `crate::local_state`. Player settings are CVars persisted as a diff in
   `benilla-config/config.toml`.
@@ -85,7 +84,6 @@ comment naming the reference fact and why we differ. Anything else is a fork.
 - **Platform seams**: a `cfg(target_os)`, a `[target.'cfg(…)']` dependency, a `#[link]` or an
   `extern "system"` is invisible to the gates of the platform you are on. Say in the commit
   which platforms you built.
-- One hook: no writes into the install. Everything else is a gate or discipline.
 
 ## The local server