diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 76f2cfa..f12b5b2 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ designed to enforce (mandatory reading order, fixed output format,
 explicit handoff between architecture / implementation / testing /
 debugging).
 
+See @agents/README.md
+
 ### What this means in practice
 
 - **Plan, design, decide** — myself. Architectural choices, scope,
@@ -114,3 +116,46 @@ Bounce back to the user only when:
 A summary of what shipped is fine and welcome — but in
 autonomous mode, follow it with the next dispatch, not a
 question.
+
+## Iter cycle
+
+Work is organised into **iters** — tightly scoped commits that
+ship a feature, a refactor, or a tidy. Iters cluster into named
+families (18a–f, 19a–c, …) where each family advances one larger
+concern (e.g. 18a–f together delivers the RC + uniqueness memory
+model).
+
+### Tidy-iter at family boundaries
+
+After every named iter family closes, the next iter is a
+**tidy-iter**: run `ailang-architect` over the whole surface, read
+its drift report, and resolve every item by either (a) fixing the
+drift, (b) updating DESIGN.md to ratify what shipped, or (c)
+recording in JOURNAL.md that the drift is acceptable and why.
+
+The tidy-iter is non-optional. Without a scheduled cleanup,
+codebases grow by accretion — every iter adds, none tears out,
+and the deferral compounds across families. Skipping a tidy-iter
+requires an explicit JOURNAL entry naming the reason (e.g. a
+sibling family is blocking, or the user has asked to defer).
+
+### Roles of JOURNAL.md and DESIGN.md
+
+- **DESIGN.md** is the canonical specification. It describes what
+  AILang *is*: schema, semantics, invariants, runtime contracts.
+  Every new feature must justify itself against DESIGN.md before
+  it can ship; if the feature requires changes to DESIGN.md,
+  those changes are part of the same iter. DESIGN.md is also the
+  artefact `ailang-architect` checks the code against during
+  drift review.
+
+- **JOURNAL.md** is the decisions log. It records *why* the
+  project moved the way it did — alternatives considered and
+  rejected, lessons from past iters, queued options for future
+  work, and the rationale behind choices that does not belong in
+  DESIGN.md (rationale is about the choice, not about the
+  language).
+
+Together they answer two questions: "what is the language right
+now?" (DESIGN) and "how did we get here, and what's next?"
+(JOURNAL).