diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 32f746a..33d5352 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -361,6 +361,32 @@ This file is meant to be re-scanned when `scadaproj` is opened in Claude Code:
 3. Keep the project set **curated** — only the SCADA/OT/Wonderware/OPC-UA family belongs here.
 4. Flag new duplicates/overlaps and namespace mismatches rather than silently merging them.
 
+### Index edits go on `main`, and get pushed
+
+Every sister project's `CLAUDE.md` tells it to update its entry here whenever a fact this
+index records changes. That edit lands in **this** repo, which has its own checkout — so a
+naive `git commit` writes it onto whatever branch `scadaproj` happens to be on, usually an
+unrelated feature branch, sometimes one with no upstream. The index then disagrees with
+reality for as long as that branch stays unmerged, which is the exact drift the rule exists
+to prevent, and it is invisible unless someone goes looking.
+
+**So: commit index edits on `main` and push them.** Stash or set aside unrelated work first
+— never commit an index edit onto a dirty branch — and restore the original branch after:
+
+```bash
+git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD    # note it
+git checkout main && git pull
+#   …edit the entry…
+git commit -am "docs(index): <what changed about <project>>" && git push origin main
+git checkout -                     # restore
+```
+
+**Observed 2026-07-27:** the OtOpcUa `Sql` poll driver's entry had sat unpushed on
+`feat/overview-dashboard` since 2026-07-24 for exactly this reason, and the `Mqtt` driver's
+entry was about to join it. Both were recovered by cherry-picking onto `main` (`6ab50fe`,
+`591eaac`, `7dcd93c`) — **cherry-pick stranded index commits rather than merging the branch
+they are stuck on**, since that branch usually carries unrelated in-progress work.
+
 ## Other workspace projects with a CLAUDE.md (not indexed — promote on request)
 
 Listed so they can be pulled into the index above if you decide they belong.