diff --git a/library/scripts/research/derive-city-candidates.mjs b/library/scripts/research/derive-city-candidates.mjs
index dfa3a9c42..028375939 100644
--- a/library/scripts/research/derive-city-candidates.mjs
+++ b/library/scripts/research/derive-city-candidates.mjs
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ const stats = {
   internet_researched: clusters.filter((c) => c.internet_access !== 'unknown').length,
   generated: '2026-08-01',
   scope_note: 'Scope is the full 2,106-record DX people-group corpus. No separate "2000 list" artefact exists on disk — verified by search — so this corpus IS the scope.',
-  safety_note: 'Contains NO gospel-resource, church or believer field, and must not gain one. That join is held pending a separate architecture (separate store, never joined to UPG locations in a public artifact).',
+  safety_note: 'Contains NO gospel-resource, church or believer field, and must not gain one. That join is held pending its own architecture (separate store, never joined to UPG locations in a public artifact).',
 };
 
 if (!existsSync(OUT)) mkdirSync(OUT, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/clusters.json b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/clusters.json
index dcfba44ad..cb07a68e8 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/clusters.json
+++ b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/clusters.json
@@ -1626,7 +1626,7 @@
   "uncovered_scatter": {
     "n_a_region_total": 19,
     "null_region_total": 3,
-    "decision_pending": "fold into nearest geographic neighbour OR create a 'Diaspora and Micro-territories' list. design note decides."
+    "decision_pending": "fold into nearest geographic neighbour OR create a 'Diaspora and Micro-territories' list. The product decision is open."
   },
   "asia_solved_validation": "2026-06-06 — pg_slugs predicate exact-count for all 12 Asia lists against live 2106-row source; 0 cross-country leaks",
   "uncovered_lists": [
diff --git a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/retag-adm1.mjs b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/retag-adm1.mjs
index f377c1360..349da54c3 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/retag-adm1.mjs
+++ b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/retag-adm1.mjs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 // So we re-tag `listId` and nothing else.
 //
 // R-D2: a feature whose shapeName matches NO cluster must be 0. If any appear we
-// LOG loudly, LEAVE the old tag (do not drop), and flag for the design note — never
+// LOG loudly, LEAVE the old tag (do not drop), and flag for a product decision — never
 // silently mis-tag.
 // R-D3: stable canonical writer — match the existing on-disk style EXACTLY
 // (single-line minified JSON, no trailing newline) so the diff is the listId
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ function report(r) {
     }
   }
   if (r.unmatched.length) {
-    console.log(`   *** UNMATCHED (R-D2: should be 0 — LEFT old tag, FLAGGED for design note) ***`);
+    console.log(`   *** UNMATCHED (R-D2: should be 0 — LEFT old tag, FLAGGED for review) ***`);
     for (const u of r.unmatched) {
       console.log(`     !!! ${u.shapeName.padEnd(42)} kept old listId=${u.keptOld}`);
     }
diff --git a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/search-index.js b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/search-index.js
index f4cbb0ef3..9377e7e7f 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/search-index.js
+++ b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/search-index.js
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ export function buildSearchIndex(opts = {}) {
   // ── (3b) Territories — ADM0 countries (by ISO3 → display name) ──────────────
   // The tapestry ADM0 features carry ONLY props.iso3, so target.shapeName holds
   // the ISO3 and the fly-to predicate matches f.properties.iso3. The LABEL is the
-  // human name (live countryNameMap preferred, ISO3_NAME fallback) so a design note
+  // human name (live countryNameMap preferred, ISO3_NAME fallback) so a reader
   // typing "Nepal" finds NPL. De-dup: a name already covered as an ADM1 admin
   // (none collide today, but guard anyway) isn't re-added.
   const nameMap = countryNameMap || iso3Names;
diff --git a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/uncovered-proof.mjs b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/uncovered-proof.mjs
index a3c911d17..ef623f27f 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/uncovered-proof.mjs
+++ b/plugin-designs/my-upg-100-list/data/uncovered-proof.mjs
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ const PLAIN_CACHE = '/tmp/upg-live-records.json';
 // Swap-back baseline: dropping `uncovered_lists` and re-serialising must reproduce
 // the rest of clusters.json byte-for-byte — proving the 7 uncovered zones are the
 // ONLY thing this proof's edits touch. 09b-asia-contiguity-v2 re-cut `asia_lists`
-// (the sanctioned design note re-partition: IN-A/B/C/D + NAS-B), so the baseline rolls
+// (the sanctioned re-partition: IN-A/B/C/D + NAS-B), so the baseline rolls
 // from the pre-09b-5 snapshot (3aa10103, OLD India zones) to the post-v2 value
 // below. The uncovered_lists themselves are unchanged (nepal:34, himalaya:15,
 // sa-west:43, central-asia:6, mongolia:3, japan:6, scatter:8) — verified by the