diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index ecdc414..ca1ae6f 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -428,8 +428,10 @@ unrelated staged work is neither committed nor unstaged (hooks are skipped —
 this is bookkeeping, not code). Pushing is not part of it: those commits sit
 on your local `main` until you push it, which the PR guard above will tell
 you about if you forget. The setting is off by default: a single-player
-board writes no assignee and makes no commits, exactly as before, and
-`tasks/` is committed by hand.
+board neither writes nor clears the assignee and makes no commits, exactly
+as before, and `tasks/` is committed by hand. The gate governs only whether
+a *move* writes the line — an **Assignee:** added to a file by hand is still
+read and shown on the card whether the gate is on or off.
 
 ## Task file format
 
diff --git a/manager/core/.env.example b/manager/core/.env.example
index 67c71dc..43c6872 100644
--- a/manager/core/.env.example
+++ b/manager/core/.env.example
@@ -63,8 +63,11 @@ BOARD_FETCH_TIMEOUT=10
 # backlog/ clears it, and each move commits itself — the move and the claim
 # in one commit touching only that task file, messaged
 # `board: <number> → <stage> (<name>)`. Nothing is pushed. Off (the
-# default) means today's behaviour exactly: no assignee, no commit, tasks/
-# committed by hand. Anything but empty/0/false/no/off turns it on.
+# default) means moves neither write nor clear the assignee and never
+# commit — today's behaviour exactly, tasks/ committed by hand. An
+# assignee added to a file by hand is still read and shown either way;
+# the gate only governs whether a move writes it. Anything but
+# empty/0/false/no/off turns it on.
 BOARD_COMMIT_MOVES=
 
 # Seconds between disk polls of the stage directories.