diff --git a/documentation/HOWTO-join-the-table.md b/documentation/HOWTO-join-the-table.md
index 497ae0d02..af5a5c59a 100644
--- a/documentation/HOWTO-join-the-table.md
+++ b/documentation/HOWTO-join-the-table.md
@@ -25,8 +25,12 @@ bun install
 bun run dev
 ```
 
-You get the Plugin Studio, hot reload on your own edits, and a local database with your own test data. Break
-it, reset it, fill it with nonsense — it is yours.
+That is the whole setup. **Nothing to configure**, no server to reach, no Docker. You get the Plugin
+Studio, dictation, hot reload on your own edits, and a local database with your own test data. Break it,
+reset it, fill it with nonsense — it is yours.
+
+If your coding agent runs on a server rather than on your laptop, there is a second way to work —
+see [CLOUD-DEVELOPMENT-ENVIRONMENT.md](./CLOUD-DEVELOPMENT-ENVIRONMENT.md). Most people do not need it.
 
 ### 2. `main` — the truth
 
@@ -117,8 +121,8 @@ There are three databases. You work against one of the first two — never the t
 
 | Where | What is in it | Who touches it |
 |---|---|---|
-| Your laptop | your own sandbox data | you, freely |
-| The team's shared one | the team's shared test data | the team — this is usually the default |
+| Your laptop | your own sandbox data | you, freely — **this is the default** |
+| The team's shared one | the team's shared test data | the team — opt-in, see below |
 | Production | what the public sees | nobody directly |
 
 **You never publish a database.** Not yours, not anyone's. What travels is the *shape* — the tables and
@@ -134,19 +138,20 @@ live config did not match the repo, you already know why.
 
 ### Which one your laptop talks to
 
-Most teams point every laptop at the **shared** one, so you are all working against the same test data.
-Put this in `.env.local`:
+**By default, your own.** You do not configure anything. The first time you run `bun run dev` it starts a
+database on your laptop, keeps its data in `.pb/`, and gives you an admin screen at `/api/pb/_/`. A fresh
+clone plus `bun run dev` is the whole setup — no remote server, no Docker, nothing to sign into.
+
+If your team wants everyone working against the *same* test data instead, that is opt-in. Add one line to
+`.env.local`:
 
 ```
 DX_PB_URL=https://<your team's dev server>/pb
 ```
 
 You sign in with the same team account you use for everything else — there is no separate password. Ask
-whoever set up your team for the address if you do not have it.
-
-**Leave it unset and you get a private one instead.** The first time you run `bun run dev` it downloads and
-starts a database on your laptop, with its data in `.pb/`, and you can open its admin screen at
-`/api/pb/_/`. That is the fallback, and it is a fine way to work while you are finding your feet.
+whoever set up your team for the address. Leave the line out and you stay on your own local one, which is
+the right place to be while you are finding your feet.
 
 The only other thing here is `DX_PB_PORT`, which you set only if the log says port 8090 is already in use.