diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index e02d5fb1..2cf73e4a 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -550,8 +550,9 @@ fail-closed). Things worth knowing before touching it:
   is Phase 4 — resist folding it in, or the "no SQL" scope becomes unprovable-in-parts.
 
 On the docker-dev rig the central pair carries `ConfigServe` (`:4055`, committed dev key) and stays
-`Direct`; the four site nodes carry `ConfigSource` (endpoints + matching key) defaulting to `Direct`.
-Flip only the site nodes with `OTOPCUA_CONFIG_MODE=FetchAndCache` at `docker compose up`. See
+hardcoded `Direct` via its admin role; the four site nodes carry `ConfigSource` (endpoints + matching
+key) hardcoded `FetchAndCache` — mandatory for driver-only nodes since Phase 4, not a flip. There is
+no `OTOPCUA_CONFIG_MODE` env var in the compose file. See
 `docs/Configuration.md` §`ConfigSource` / `ConfigServe`, `docs/Redundancy.md` §"Command transport", and
 `docs/plans/2026-07-22-mesh-phase3-config-fetch-and-cache.md`.
 
diff --git a/docs/Configuration.md b/docs/Configuration.md
index c28def93..d6b03b42 100644
--- a/docs/Configuration.md
+++ b/docs/Configuration.md
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ from the bytes emitted at compose time and never re-derived from the JSON, so an
 costs at most one spurious "changed" revision after a runtime upgrade. Snapshot determinism is
 unaffected — compression wraps the final bytes and reorders nothing.)
 
-On the docker-dev rig the central pair carries `ConfigServe` (port `4055`, dev key) and stays `Direct`; the four site nodes carry `ConfigSource` (endpoints + matching key) defaulting to `Direct`. Flip only the site nodes with `OTOPCUA_CONFIG_MODE=FetchAndCache` at `docker compose up` — central keeps SQL and models the target topology.
+On the docker-dev rig the central pair carries `ConfigServe` (port `4055`, dev key) and stays hardcoded `Direct` via its admin role; the four site nodes carry `ConfigSource` (endpoints + matching key) hardcoded `FetchAndCache` — mandatory for driver-only nodes since Phase 4, not a flip. There is no `OTOPCUA_CONFIG_MODE` env var in the compose file; central keeps SQL and models the target topology.
 
 **`FetchAndCache` is mandatory on a driver-only node — per-cluster mesh Phase 4.** `Program.cs` now
 registers `AddOtOpcUaConfigDb` only when the node carries the `admin` role, so a **driver-only**