diff --git a/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/notifications/page.tsx b/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/notifications/page.tsx
index c161bd3a..34f1c35f 100644
--- a/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/notifications/page.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/notifications/page.tsx
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ import { Skeleton } from "@/components/ui/skeleton";
 import { Tabs, TabsContent, TabsList, TabsTrigger } from "@/components/ui/tabs";
 import { OfflineState } from "@/components/ui/offline-state";
 import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
+import {
+  Tooltip,
+  TooltipContent,
+  TooltipTrigger,
+} from "@/components/ui/tooltip";
 import { usePageRefresh } from "@/hooks";
 import {
   Bell,
@@ -114,20 +119,26 @@ function NotificationCard({
           <div className="flex-1 min-w-0">
             <div className="flex items-center gap-2 flex-wrap">
               <span className="font-medium">{notification.subject}</span>
-              <Badge
-                className={priorityColors[notification.priority] + " text-xs"}
-              >
-                {notification.priority}
-              </Badge>
-              {!notification.is_read && (
-                <Badge variant="secondary" className="text-xs">
-                  New
+              <HelpTip label="How urgently the sender flagged this — doesn't change what you need to do, just how prominently it's shown.">
+                <Badge
+                  className={priorityColors[notification.priority] + " text-xs"}
+                >
+                  {notification.priority}
                 </Badge>
+              </HelpTip>
+              {!notification.is_read && (
+                <HelpTip label="Hasn't been marked read yet.">
+                  <Badge variant="secondary" className="text-xs">
+                    New
+                  </Badge>
+                </HelpTip>
               )}
               {notification.requires_ack && !notification.is_acknowledged && (
-                <Badge variant="destructive" className="text-xs">
-                  Needs Ack
-                </Badge>
+                <HelpTip label="A formal signal from a PM/Board role — needs an explicit acknowledgement, tracked separately from read status.">
+                  <Badge variant="destructive" className="text-xs">
+                    Needs Ack
+                  </Badge>
+                </HelpTip>
               )}
               {notification.related_task_id && (
                 <Link
@@ -329,16 +340,51 @@ function NotificationsPageContent() {
       ) : (
         <Tabs value={activeTab} onValueChange={handleTabChange}>
           <TabsList>
-            <TabsTrigger value="all">All</TabsTrigger>
-            <TabsTrigger value="unread">
-              Unread {data && data.unread_count > 0 && `(${data.unread_count})`}
-            </TabsTrigger>
-            <TabsTrigger value="pending">
-              Pending{" "}
-              {data &&
-                data.pending_ack_count > 0 &&
-                `(${data.pending_ack_count})`}
-            </TabsTrigger>
+            {/* TooltipTrigger's asChild Slot merge injects its own data-state
+                onto the trigger, colliding with Radix Tabs' own literal
+                data-state (same trap as task-tabs.tsx) — reassert the real
+                selection state explicitly so the active-tab highlight
+                survives the merge. */}
+            <Tooltip>
+              <TooltipTrigger asChild>
+                <TabsTrigger
+                  value="all"
+                  data-state={activeTab === "all" ? "active" : "inactive"}
+                >
+                  All
+                </TabsTrigger>
+              </TooltipTrigger>
+              <TooltipContent>
+                Every notification you&apos;ve received, read or not
+              </TooltipContent>
+            </Tooltip>
+            <Tooltip>
+              <TooltipTrigger asChild>
+                <TabsTrigger
+                  value="unread"
+                  data-state={activeTab === "unread" ? "active" : "inactive"}
+                >
+                  Unread {data && data.unread_count > 0 && `(${data.unread_count})`}
+                </TabsTrigger>
+              </TooltipTrigger>
+              <TooltipContent>Notifications you haven&apos;t opened yet</TooltipContent>
+            </Tooltip>
+            <Tooltip>
+              <TooltipTrigger asChild>
+                <TabsTrigger
+                  value="pending"
+                  data-state={activeTab === "pending" ? "active" : "inactive"}
+                >
+                  Pending{" "}
+                  {data &&
+                    data.pending_ack_count > 0 &&
+                    `(${data.pending_ack_count})`}
+                </TabsTrigger>
+              </TooltipTrigger>
+              <TooltipContent>
+                Notifications still waiting on your acknowledgement
+              </TooltipContent>
+            </Tooltip>
           </TabsList>
 
           <TabsContent value={activeTab} className="mt-4 space-y-3">
diff --git a/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/settings/page.tsx b/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/settings/page.tsx
index b33fc110..5a463546 100644
--- a/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/settings/page.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/app/(dashboard)/settings/page.tsx
@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@ export default function SettingsPage() {
             <Separator />
             <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
               <div>
-                <Label>Collapsed Sidebar</Label>
+                <HelpTip label="Saved to this browser only — doesn't sync across devices.">
+                  <Label>Collapsed Sidebar</Label>
+                </HelpTip>
                 <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
                   Show icons only in the sidebar
                 </p>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/business/company-scorecard-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/business/company-scorecard-card.tsx
index 350fb710..2e56fac5 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/business/company-scorecard-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/business/company-scorecard-card.tsx
@@ -96,7 +96,9 @@ interface DeliverySectionProps {
 function DeliverySection({ delivery }: DeliverySectionProps) {
   return (
     <div className="space-y-2">
-      <SectionLabel>Delivery</SectionLabel>
+      <HelpTip label="Live task counts across the pipeline — only 'Done (30 d)' looks backward">
+        <SectionLabel>Delivery</SectionLabel>
+      </HelpTip>
       <div className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-3 sm:grid-cols-4">
         <DeliveryMetric
           label="In flight"
@@ -147,14 +149,18 @@ function SpendSection({ spend }: SpendSectionProps) {
       <SectionLabel>Spend</SectionLabel>
       <div className="rounded-lg border p-3 space-y-1.5">
         <div className="flex items-center justify-between text-sm">
-          <span className="text-muted-foreground">30-day spend</span>
+          <HelpTip label="Total agent-session cost over the trailing 30 days (Anthropic priced; local/Ollama models cost $0)">
+            <span className="text-muted-foreground">30-day spend</span>
+          </HelpTip>
           <span className="font-medium tabular-nums">
             ${spend_30d_usd.toFixed(2)}
           </span>
         </div>
         {projected_monthly_usd !== null && (
           <div className="flex items-center justify-between text-sm">
-            <span className="text-muted-foreground">Projected monthly</span>
+            <HelpTip label="The 30-day spend extrapolated to a full month">
+              <span className="text-muted-foreground">Projected monthly</span>
+            </HelpTip>
             <span className="font-medium tabular-nums">
               ${projected_monthly_usd.toFixed(2)}
             </span>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/business/goals-tab.tsx b/panel/src/components/business/goals-tab.tsx
index 9920aa25..7146dc34 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/business/goals-tab.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/business/goals-tab.tsx
@@ -101,16 +101,20 @@ function ObjectivesEditor({
               <span className="text-xs font-medium text-muted-foreground">
                 Objective #{rowIdx + 1}
               </span>
-              <Button
-                type="button"
-                variant="ghost"
-                size="sm"
-                disabled={disabled}
-                onClick={() => removeRow(rowIdx)}
-                className="h-6 px-2 text-xs text-destructive hover:text-destructive"
-              >
-                Remove
-              </Button>
+              <HelpTip label="Deletes this row locally — nothing changes until you click Save charter">
+                <span className="inline-block">
+                  <Button
+                    type="button"
+                    variant="ghost"
+                    size="sm"
+                    disabled={disabled}
+                    onClick={() => removeRow(rowIdx)}
+                    className="h-6 px-2 text-xs text-destructive hover:text-destructive"
+                  >
+                    Remove
+                  </Button>
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
             </div>
             {keys.map((key) => (
               <div key={key} className="space-y-1">
@@ -132,15 +136,19 @@ function ObjectivesEditor({
           </div>
         ))}
       </div>
-      <Button
-        type="button"
-        variant="outline"
-        size="sm"
-        disabled={disabled}
-        onClick={addRow}
-      >
-        + Add objective
-      </Button>
+      <HelpTip label="Adds a blank row using the same field keys as the first objective">
+        <span className="inline-block">
+          <Button
+            type="button"
+            variant="outline"
+            size="sm"
+            disabled={disabled}
+            onClick={addRow}
+          >
+            + Add objective
+          </Button>
+        </span>
+      </HelpTip>
     </div>
   );
 }
@@ -297,7 +305,9 @@ function GoalsForm({ goals, refetch }: GoalsFormProps) {
       <CardContent className="space-y-5">
         {/* North star */}
         <div className="space-y-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="north-star">North star</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="The long-term vision every agent's briefing includes — keep it to a sentence or two">
+            <Label htmlFor="north-star">North star</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Textarea
             id="north-star"
             rows={3}
@@ -325,7 +335,9 @@ function GoalsForm({ goals, refetch }: GoalsFormProps) {
 
         {/* Constraints */}
         <div className="space-y-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="constraints">Constraints (one per line)</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Hard rules injected into every agent's briefing (e.g. licensing, no external data egress)">
+            <Label htmlFor="constraints">Constraints (one per line)</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Textarea
             id="constraints"
             rows={3}
@@ -361,10 +373,14 @@ function GoalsForm({ goals, refetch }: GoalsFormProps) {
         </div>
 
         {/* Save */}
-        <Button onClick={handleSave} disabled={saving}>
-          <Save className="h-4 w-4 mr-2" />
-          {saving ? "Saving…" : "Save charter"}
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="Saves north star, brand voice, objectives, constraints, and operating policy in one update">
+          <span className="inline-block">
+            <Button onClick={handleSave} disabled={saving}>
+              <Save className="h-4 w-4 mr-2" />
+              {saving ? "Saving…" : "Save charter"}
+            </Button>
+          </span>
+        </HelpTip>
 
         {/* Metadata */}
         <div className="border-t pt-4 space-y-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
@@ -377,9 +393,11 @@ function GoalsForm({ goals, refetch }: GoalsFormProps) {
           {goals.updated_by && (
             <p>
               Updated by:{" "}
-              <span className="font-medium text-foreground font-mono">
-                {goals.updated_by}
-              </span>
+              <HelpTip label="The agent or CEO identity that last saved this charter">
+                <span className="font-medium text-foreground font-mono">
+                  {goals.updated_by}
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
             </p>
           )}
         </div>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/business/pitches-tab.tsx b/panel/src/components/business/pitches-tab.tsx
index 38bffd08..14606385 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/business/pitches-tab.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/business/pitches-tab.tsx
@@ -89,9 +89,12 @@ function PitchCard({ pitch, onApprove, onReject, busy }: PitchCardProps) {
           {pitch.target_cells.length > 0 && (
             <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1 mt-1">
               {pitch.target_cells.map((c) => (
-                <Badge key={c} variant="outline">
-                  {c}
-                </Badge>
+                <HelpTip
+                  key={c}
+                  label="A cell this pitch would route delivery work to if approved"
+                >
+                  <Badge variant="outline">{c}</Badge>
+                </HelpTip>
               ))}
             </div>
           )}
@@ -111,21 +114,29 @@ function PitchCard({ pitch, onApprove, onReject, busy }: PitchCardProps) {
           </div>
           {proposed ? (
             <div className="flex gap-2">
-              <Button
-                size="sm"
-                disabled={busy}
-                onClick={() => setApproveOpen(true)}
-              >
-                <Check className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Approve &amp; provision
-              </Button>
-              <Button
-                size="sm"
-                variant="outline"
-                disabled={busy}
-                onClick={() => setRejectOpen(true)}
-              >
-                <X className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Reject
-              </Button>
+              <HelpTip label="Auto-provisions a new product + workspace for the target cells listed above">
+                <span className="inline-block">
+                  <Button
+                    size="sm"
+                    disabled={busy}
+                    onClick={() => setApproveOpen(true)}
+                  >
+                    <Check className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Approve &amp; provision
+                  </Button>
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
+              <HelpTip label="Rejects without creating anything — recorded in the decision log below">
+                <span className="inline-block">
+                  <Button
+                    size="sm"
+                    variant="outline"
+                    disabled={busy}
+                    onClick={() => setRejectOpen(true)}
+                  >
+                    <X className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Reject
+                  </Button>
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
             </div>
           ) : (
             pitch.decision_notes && (
diff --git a/panel/src/components/business/secretary-tab.tsx b/panel/src/components/business/secretary-tab.tsx
index 9d190490..4c68acfa 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/business/secretary-tab.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/business/secretary-tab.tsx
@@ -67,21 +67,29 @@ function DirectiveCard({
 
         {/* Actions */}
         <div className="flex gap-2 pt-1">
-          <Button
-            size="sm"
-            disabled={busy}
-            onClick={() => onConfirm(directive.id)}
-          >
-            <Check className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Confirm
-          </Button>
-          <Button
-            size="sm"
-            variant="outline"
-            disabled={busy}
-            onClick={() => setRejectOpen(true)}
-          >
-            <X className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Reject
-          </Button>
+          <HelpTip label="Executes this directive as drafted (relay a message, update the charter, approve a pitch, or control a task)">
+            <span className="inline-block">
+              <Button
+                size="sm"
+                disabled={busy}
+                onClick={() => onConfirm(directive.id)}
+              >
+                <Check className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Confirm
+              </Button>
+            </span>
+          </HelpTip>
+          <HelpTip label="Discards the directive — the Secretary must re-propose it to try again">
+            <span className="inline-block">
+              <Button
+                size="sm"
+                variant="outline"
+                disabled={busy}
+                onClick={() => setRejectOpen(true)}
+              >
+                <X className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" /> Reject
+              </Button>
+            </span>
+          </HelpTip>
         </div>
       </div>
 
@@ -244,9 +252,11 @@ export function SecretaryTab() {
         <CardHeader className="flex-row items-center justify-between space-y-0 pb-3">
           <CardTitle>Chat</CardTitle>
           {sessionId && (
-            <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={() => void stop()}>
-              End session
-            </Button>
+            <HelpTip label="Closes this chat — your next message starts a fresh Secretary session">
+              <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={() => void stop()}>
+                End session
+              </Button>
+            </HelpTip>
           )}
         </CardHeader>
         <CardContent className="flex flex-1 flex-col gap-4">
@@ -284,18 +294,22 @@ export function SecretaryTab() {
                 </Button>
               </HelpTip>
             ) : (
-              <Button
-                onClick={() => void handleStart()}
-                disabled={starting}
-                className="h-11 shrink-0 px-6"
-                aria-label={starting ? "Starting…" : undefined}
-              >
-                {starting ? (
-                  <Loader2 className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
-                ) : (
-                  "Start"
-                )}
-              </Button>
+              <HelpTip label="Opens a new Secretary chat session — reads live company state, not a scripted bot">
+                <span className="inline-block">
+                  <Button
+                    onClick={() => void handleStart()}
+                    disabled={starting}
+                    className="h-11 shrink-0 px-6"
+                    aria-label={starting ? "Starting…" : undefined}
+                  >
+                    {starting ? (
+                      <Loader2 className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
+                    ) : (
+                      "Start"
+                    )}
+                  </Button>
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
             )}
           </div>
         </CardContent>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/conventions/conventions-tab.tsx b/panel/src/components/conventions/conventions-tab.tsx
index 749700ff..d851d104 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/conventions/conventions-tab.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/conventions/conventions-tab.tsx
@@ -34,6 +34,15 @@ const FORBIDDABLE_KINDS: DefinitionKind[] = [
   "component",
 ];
 
+const KIND_HINTS: Record<DefinitionKind, string> = {
+  model: "Pydantic / ORM data models",
+  route: "FastAPI route handlers",
+  helper: "Standalone top-level functions — placement here only warns, never blocks",
+  business_logic: "Service-layer logic (the classes services/ owns)",
+  component: "Frontend components (.tsx)",
+  other: "Anything the classifier can't place in the kinds above",
+};
+
 function actionToast(verb: string, result: ConventionsActionResult): void {
   if (result.created && result.pr_number != null) {
     toast.success(
@@ -189,50 +198,59 @@ export function ConventionsTab({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) {
               className="space-y-2 rounded-md border border-border p-3"
             >
               <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+                <HelpTip label="Repo-relative directory this rule applies to (e.g. roboco/services)">
+                  <Input
+                    value={module.path}
+                    placeholder="path/to/module"
+                    onChange={(e) =>
+                      updateModule(index, { path: e.target.value })
+                    }
+                  />
+                </HelpTip>
+                <HelpTip label="Deletes this module row locally — nothing changes until Save to repo">
+                  <Button
+                    variant="ghost"
+                    size="sm"
+                    onClick={() => removeModule(index)}
+                  >
+                    Remove
+                  </Button>
+                </HelpTip>
+              </div>
+              <HelpTip label="One-line description shown in the ambient 'Architectural Standard' prompt block every agent sees">
                 <Input
-                  value={module.path}
-                  placeholder="path/to/module"
+                  value={module.purpose}
+                  placeholder="what this module is for"
                   onChange={(e) =>
-                    updateModule(index, { path: e.target.value })
+                    updateModule(index, { purpose: e.target.value })
                   }
                 />
-                <Button
-                  variant="ghost"
-                  size="sm"
-                  onClick={() => removeModule(index)}
-                >
-                  Remove
-                </Button>
-              </div>
-              <Input
-                value={module.purpose}
-                placeholder="what this module is for"
-                onChange={(e) =>
-                  updateModule(index, { purpose: e.target.value })
-                }
-              />
+              </HelpTip>
               <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1">
                 {FORBIDDABLE_KINDS.map((kind) => (
-                  <Badge
-                    key={kind}
-                    variant={
-                      module.forbidden.includes(kind)
-                        ? "destructive"
-                        : "outline"
-                    }
-                    className="cursor-pointer"
-                    onClick={() => toggleForbidden(index, kind)}
-                  >
-                    no {kind}
-                  </Badge>
+                  <HelpTip key={kind} label={KIND_HINTS[kind]}>
+                    <Badge
+                      variant={
+                        module.forbidden.includes(kind)
+                          ? "destructive"
+                          : "outline"
+                      }
+                      className="cursor-pointer"
+                      onClick={() => toggleForbidden(index, kind)}
+                    >
+                      no {kind}
+                    </Badge>
+                  </HelpTip>
                 ))}
               </div>
             </div>
           ))}
         </div>
-        <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={addModule}>
-          Add module
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="Adds a blank module row to constrain another directory">
+          <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={addModule}>
+            Add module
+          </Button>
+        </HelpTip>
       </CardContent>
     </Card>
   );
@@ -253,9 +271,17 @@ export function ConventionsTab({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) {
           >
             <span className="text-sm">{rule.name.replace(/_/g, " ")}</span>
             <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-              <span className="w-10 text-right text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                {rule.level}
-              </span>
+              <HelpTip
+                label={
+                  rule.level === "block"
+                    ? "Block: refuses i_am_done / pr_pass with the offending file:line"
+                    : "Warn: informational only, never blocks the gate"
+                }
+              >
+                <span className="w-10 text-right text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                  {rule.level}
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Switch
                 checked={rule.level === "block"}
                 onCheckedChange={(checked) =>
@@ -285,34 +311,50 @@ export function ConventionsTab({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) {
             className="space-y-2 rounded-md border border-border p-3"
           >
             <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-              <Input
-                value={waiver.path}
-                placeholder="path/to/file.py"
-                onChange={(e) => updateWaiver(index, { path: e.target.value })}
-              />
-              <Input
-                value={waiver.rule}
-                placeholder="rule name"
-                onChange={(e) => updateWaiver(index, { rule: e.target.value })}
-              />
-              <Button
-                variant="ghost"
-                size="sm"
-                onClick={() => removeWaiver(index)}
-              >
-                Remove
-              </Button>
+              <HelpTip label="Repo-relative path or glob this waiver exempts from the rule on the right">
+                <Input
+                  value={waiver.path}
+                  placeholder="path/to/file.py"
+                  onChange={(e) =>
+                    updateWaiver(index, { path: e.target.value })
+                  }
+                />
+              </HelpTip>
+              <HelpTip label="Must match a rule name above exactly for the waiver to apply">
+                <Input
+                  value={waiver.rule}
+                  placeholder="rule name"
+                  onChange={(e) =>
+                    updateWaiver(index, { rule: e.target.value })
+                  }
+                />
+              </HelpTip>
+              <HelpTip label="Deletes this waiver row locally — nothing changes until Save to repo">
+                <Button
+                  variant="ghost"
+                  size="sm"
+                  onClick={() => removeWaiver(index)}
+                >
+                  Remove
+                </Button>
+              </HelpTip>
             </div>
-            <Input
-              value={waiver.reason}
-              placeholder="why this is waived"
-              onChange={(e) => updateWaiver(index, { reason: e.target.value })}
-            />
+            <HelpTip label="Accountability note — committed with the waiver and reviewed in the PR, never a silent suppression">
+              <Input
+                value={waiver.reason}
+                placeholder="why this is waived"
+                onChange={(e) =>
+                  updateWaiver(index, { reason: e.target.value })
+                }
+              />
+            </HelpTip>
           </div>
         ))}
-        <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={addWaiver}>
-          Add waiver
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="Adds a blank waiver row">
+          <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={addWaiver}>
+            Add waiver
+          </Button>
+        </HelpTip>
       </CardContent>
     </Card>
   );
@@ -332,11 +374,13 @@ export function ConventionsTab({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) {
             className="space-y-2 rounded-md border border-border p-3"
           >
             <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-              <Input
-                value={rule.id}
-                placeholder="rule-id"
-                onChange={(e) => updateCustom(index, { id: e.target.value })}
-              />
+              <HelpTip label="A short, unique identifier for this rule (shown as its badge in Recent violations)">
+                <Input
+                  value={rule.id}
+                  placeholder="rule-id"
+                  onChange={(e) => updateCustom(index, { id: e.target.value })}
+                />
+              </HelpTip>
               <HelpTip
                 label={
                   rule.level === "block"
@@ -354,29 +398,41 @@ export function ConventionsTab({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) {
                   updateCustom(index, { level: checked ? "block" : "warn" })
                 }
               />
-              <Button
-                variant="ghost"
-                size="sm"
-                onClick={() => removeCustom(index)}
-              >
-                Remove
-              </Button>
+              <HelpTip label="Deletes this custom rule row locally — nothing changes until Save to repo">
+                <Button
+                  variant="ghost"
+                  size="sm"
+                  onClick={() => removeCustom(index)}
+                >
+                  Remove
+                </Button>
+              </HelpTip>
             </div>
-            <Input
-              value={rule.pattern}
-              placeholder="regex pattern"
-              onChange={(e) => updateCustom(index, { pattern: e.target.value })}
-            />
-            <Input
-              value={rule.message}
-              placeholder="message shown when it matches"
-              onChange={(e) => updateCustom(index, { message: e.target.value })}
-            />
+            <HelpTip label="Regex tested against each changed file's source text — a bad pattern is skipped, never fails the gate">
+              <Input
+                value={rule.pattern}
+                placeholder="regex pattern"
+                onChange={(e) =>
+                  updateCustom(index, { pattern: e.target.value })
+                }
+              />
+            </HelpTip>
+            <HelpTip label="Shown next to a match in Recent violations below">
+              <Input
+                value={rule.message}
+                placeholder="message shown when it matches"
+                onChange={(e) =>
+                  updateCustom(index, { message: e.target.value })
+                }
+              />
+            </HelpTip>
           </div>
         ))}
-        <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={addCustom}>
-          Add custom rule
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="Adds a blank custom regex rule">
+          <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={addCustom}>
+            Add custom rule
+          </Button>
+        </HelpTip>
       </CardContent>
     </Card>
   );
diff --git a/panel/src/components/dashboard/social-history-section.tsx b/panel/src/components/dashboard/social-history-section.tsx
index 61647dc2..19071f85 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/dashboard/social-history-section.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/dashboard/social-history-section.tsx
@@ -144,9 +144,14 @@ function UnifiedHistoryRow({ row }: { row: UnifiedRow }) {
                 {PLATFORM_LABELS[platform] ?? platform}: {id}
               </a>
             ) : (
-              <span key={platform} className="text-muted-foreground">
-                {PLATFORM_LABELS[platform] ?? platform}: {id}
-              </span>
+              <HelpTip
+                key={platform}
+                label="TikTok's inbox-upload API returns no public URL — this is the platform-side post id"
+              >
+                <span className="text-muted-foreground">
+                  {PLATFORM_LABELS[platform] ?? platform}: {id}
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
             ),
           )}
         </div>
@@ -211,7 +216,9 @@ export function SocialHistorySection({ className }: { className?: string }) {
               size="sm"
               className="w-full justify-between"
             >
-              <span>{open ? "Hide" : "Show"} history</span>
+              <HelpTip label="Fetches both sources once, on first expand — up to 50 rows each">
+                <span>{open ? "Hide" : "Show"} history</span>
+              </HelpTip>
               <ChevronDown
                 className={`h-4 w-4 transition-transform ${open ? "rotate-180" : ""}`}
               />
diff --git a/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-pipeline-strip.tsx b/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-pipeline-strip.tsx
index 1b901224..eac09c4c 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-pipeline-strip.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-pipeline-strip.tsx
@@ -76,9 +76,11 @@ function PipelineRow({ item }: { item: VideoPipelineItem }) {
           prefetch={false}
           className="ml-auto"
         >
-          <Button variant="outline" size="sm">
-            Review
-          </Button>
+          <HelpTip label="Open the task to approve or reject the rendered video">
+            <Button variant="outline" size="sm">
+              Review
+            </Button>
+          </HelpTip>
         </Link>
       )}
       {canRerender && (
@@ -110,7 +112,9 @@ export function VideoPipelineStrip({ className }: { className?: string }) {
         <CardTitle className="flex items-center gap-2">
           <Film className="h-5 w-5" />
           Video Pipeline
-          <Badge variant="secondary">{items.length}</Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="Videos currently authoring, in review, or rendering — not yet in the queue below">
+            <Badge variant="secondary">{items.length}</Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         </CardTitle>
         <CardDescription>
           Every video in flight — authoring, review, or rendering — before it
diff --git a/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-post-queue.tsx b/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-post-queue.tsx
index 057f392c..a7d46d32 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-post-queue.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/dashboard/video-post-queue.tsx
@@ -483,7 +483,9 @@ function RequestVideoDialog({
           <>
             <div className="space-y-4">
               <div className="space-y-2">
-                <Label>Project</Label>
+                <HelpTip label="Only projects with the video engine enabled (Projects → Edit) can be picked">
+                  <Label>Project</Label>
+                </HelpTip>
                 <ProjectSelector
                   value={effectiveProjectId}
                   onChange={setProjectId}
@@ -493,7 +495,9 @@ function RequestVideoDialog({
                 />
               </div>
               <div className="space-y-2">
-                <Label htmlFor="video-request-occasion">Occasion</Label>
+                <HelpTip label="Short label for the trigger event — shown as a badge throughout the pipeline, queue, and history">
+                  <Label htmlFor="video-request-occasion">Occasion</Label>
+                </HelpTip>
                 <Input
                   id="video-request-occasion"
                   placeholder="e.g. v0.19.0 launch, Founder's Day..."
@@ -502,7 +506,9 @@ function RequestVideoDialog({
                 />
               </div>
               <div className="space-y-2">
-                <Label htmlFor="video-request-brief">Brief</Label>
+                <HelpTip label="What the video should communicate — read by the assigned UX/UI dev when building the composition">
+                  <Label htmlFor="video-request-brief">Brief</Label>
+                </HelpTip>
                 <Textarea
                   id="video-request-brief"
                   placeholder="What should this video cover?"
@@ -512,7 +518,9 @@ function RequestVideoDialog({
                 />
               </div>
               <div className="space-y-2">
-                <Label>Platforms</Label>
+                <HelpTip label="Where the rendered clip can post once you approve it — editable again before approving">
+                  <Label>Platforms</Label>
+                </HelpTip>
                 <div className="flex gap-4">
                   {REQUEST_PLATFORMS.map((platform) => (
                     <div key={platform} className="flex items-center gap-2">
@@ -521,12 +529,20 @@ function RequestVideoDialog({
                         checked={platforms.includes(platform)}
                         onCheckedChange={() => togglePlatform(platform)}
                       />
-                      <Label
-                        htmlFor={`video-request-${platform}`}
-                        className="text-sm font-normal"
+                      <HelpTip
+                        label={
+                          platform === "x"
+                            ? "Posts via X's OAuth 1.0a API, 280-char caption"
+                            : "Posts via TikTok's inbox-upload OAuth2 API, 2200-char caption"
+                        }
                       >
-                        {PLATFORM_LABELS[platform]}
-                      </Label>
+                        <Label
+                          htmlFor={`video-request-${platform}`}
+                          className="text-sm font-normal"
+                        >
+                          {PLATFORM_LABELS[platform]}
+                        </Label>
+                      </HelpTip>
                     </div>
                   ))}
                 </div>
@@ -654,10 +670,12 @@ export function VideoPostQueue({ className }: { className?: string }) {
   if (isLoading) return null;
 
   const requestButton = (
-    <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={() => setRequestOpen(true)}>
-      <Sparkles className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" />
-      Request a video
-    </Button>
+    <HelpTip label="Opens a dialog to brief a UX/UI dev on an on-demand video, independent of a release or spotlight">
+      <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={() => setRequestOpen(true)}>
+        <Sparkles className="mr-1 h-4 w-4" />
+        Request a video
+      </Button>
+    </HelpTip>
   );
 
   if (!posts || posts.length === 0) {
@@ -696,7 +714,9 @@ export function VideoPostQueue({ className }: { className?: string }) {
           <CardTitle className="flex items-center gap-2">
             <Film className="h-5 w-5" />
             Video Post Queue
-            <Badge variant="secondary">{posts.length}</Badge>
+            <HelpTip label="Rendered clips waiting for your preview, caption edits, approve, or reject">
+              <Badge variant="secondary">{posts.length}</Badge>
+            </HelpTip>
           </CardTitle>
           <CardAction>{requestButton}</CardAction>
           <CardDescription>
@@ -727,7 +747,9 @@ export function VideoPostQueue({ className }: { className?: string }) {
             </DialogDescription>
           </DialogHeader>
           <div className="space-y-2">
-            <Label htmlFor="video-reject-reason">Reason</Label>
+            <HelpTip label="Stored on the draft and shown in History next to this rejection">
+              <Label htmlFor="video-reject-reason">Reason</Label>
+            </HelpTip>
             <Textarea
               id="video-reject-reason"
               placeholder="e.g. off-brand tone, wrong occasion..."
diff --git a/panel/src/components/dashboard/x-post-queue.tsx b/panel/src/components/dashboard/x-post-queue.tsx
index 7012ac19..2181cd84 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/dashboard/x-post-queue.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/dashboard/x-post-queue.tsx
@@ -109,17 +109,23 @@ function XPostRow({
           </span>
         </HelpTip>
         {post.release_version && (
-          <Badge variant="outline">v{post.release_version}</Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="The release this post announces">
+            <Badge variant="outline">v{post.release_version}</Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
         {post.mention && (
-          <Badge variant="secondary" className="max-w-56 truncate">
-            re: {post.mention.text}
-          </Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="The X mention this draft replies to">
+            <Badge variant="secondary" className="max-w-56 truncate">
+              re: {post.mention.text}
+            </Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
         {post.feature && (
-          <Badge variant="outline" className="max-w-56 truncate">
-            feature: {post.feature.title}
-          </Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="The shipped feature this spotlight covers">
+            <Badge variant="outline" className="max-w-56 truncate">
+              feature: {post.feature.title}
+            </Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
       </div>
 
@@ -266,7 +272,9 @@ export function XPostQueue({ className }: { className?: string }) {
         <CardHeader>
           <CardTitle className="flex items-center gap-2">
             <Rocket className="h-5 w-5" />X Post Queue
-            <Badge variant="secondary">{posts.length}</Badge>
+            <HelpTip label="Drafts waiting for your edit, approve, or reject">
+              <Badge variant="secondary">{posts.length}</Badge>
+            </HelpTip>
           </CardTitle>
           <CardDescription>
             Drafted release announcements, feature spotlights, and mention
@@ -297,7 +305,9 @@ export function XPostQueue({ className }: { className?: string }) {
             </DialogDescription>
           </DialogHeader>
           <div className="space-y-2">
-            <Label htmlFor="x-reject-reason">Reason</Label>
+            <HelpTip label="Stored on the draft and shown in History next to this rejection">
+              <Label htmlFor="x-reject-reason">Reason</Label>
+            </HelpTip>
             <Textarea
               id="x-reject-reason"
               placeholder="e.g. tone doesn't match our voice; not worth a public reply..."
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-nav.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-nav.tsx
index ffea5bb7..9415d56e 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-nav.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-nav.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
 } from "lucide-react";
 import { Skeleton } from "@/components/ui/skeleton";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
 
 const categoryConfig: Record<
@@ -135,9 +136,11 @@ export function KBCategoryNav({
             <div className="flex-1 min-w-0 text-left">
               <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
                 <span className="font-medium text-sm">{config.label}</span>
-                <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                  {count.toLocaleString()} docs
-                </span>
+                <HelpTip label="Document count — one document can split into several chunks at embedding time, so the chunk total (Index Stats) usually runs higher.">
+                  <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground w-fit">
+                    {count.toLocaleString()} docs
+                  </span>
+                </HelpTip>
               </div>
               <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground truncate">
                 {config.description}
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-view.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-view.tsx
index f8e60dc9..b65f9119 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-view.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-category-view.tsx
@@ -86,14 +86,16 @@ function KBCategoryViewInner({ category }: { category: KBIndexType }) {
                         {doc.source}
                       </p>
                     </HelpTip>
-                    <div className="flex items-center gap-2 mt-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                      <Clock className="h-3 w-3" />
-                      <span>
-                        {formatDistanceToNow(new Date(doc.indexed_at), {
-                          addSuffix: true,
-                        })}
-                      </span>
-                    </div>
+                    <HelpTip label={new Date(doc.indexed_at).toLocaleString()}>
+                      <div className="flex items-center gap-2 mt-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground w-fit">
+                        <Clock className="h-3 w-3" />
+                        <span>
+                          {formatDistanceToNow(new Date(doc.indexed_at), {
+                            addSuffix: true,
+                          })}
+                        </span>
+                      </div>
+                    </HelpTip>
                   </div>
                 </div>
               </CardContent>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-filters.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-filters.tsx
index 3c2c75a9..18ead20d 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-filters.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-filters.tsx
@@ -85,14 +85,16 @@ export function KBFilters({ selectedTypes, onTypesChange }: KBFiltersProps) {
       <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
         <span className="text-sm font-medium">Filter by type</span>
         {selectedTypes.length > 0 && (
-          <Button
-            variant="ghost"
-            size="sm"
-            onClick={() => onTypesChange([])}
-            className="h-auto py-0 px-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground hover:text-foreground"
-          >
-            Clear
-          </Button>
+          <HelpTip label="Reset — search every index type again instead of just these">
+            <Button
+              variant="ghost"
+              size="sm"
+              onClick={() => onTypesChange([])}
+              className="h-auto py-0 px-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground hover:text-foreground"
+            >
+              Clear
+            </Button>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
       </div>
       <div className="space-y-2">
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-result-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-result-card.tsx
index d9f34e9d..d6f77519 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-result-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-result-card.tsx
@@ -75,19 +75,25 @@ export function KBResultCard({ result, onClick }: KBResultCardProps) {
             {result.metadata && Object.keys(result.metadata).length > 0 && (
               <div className="flex items-center gap-2 mt-2 flex-wrap">
                 {typeof result.metadata.language === "string" && (
-                  <span className="text-xs bg-muted px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded">
-                    {result.metadata.language}
-                  </span>
+                  <HelpTip label="Programming language this chunk was tagged with when indexed">
+                    <span className="text-xs bg-muted px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded w-fit">
+                      {result.metadata.language}
+                    </span>
+                  </HelpTip>
                 )}
                 {typeof result.metadata.agent === "string" && (
-                  <span className="text-xs bg-muted px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded">
-                    @{result.metadata.agent}
-                  </span>
+                  <HelpTip label="Agent who authored this content">
+                    <span className="text-xs bg-muted px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded w-fit">
+                      @{result.metadata.agent}
+                    </span>
+                  </HelpTip>
                 )}
                 {typeof result.metadata.section === "string" && (
-                  <span className="text-xs bg-muted px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded">
-                    {result.metadata.section}
-                  </span>
+                  <HelpTip label="Section of the source document this chunk was extracted from">
+                    <span className="text-xs bg-muted px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded w-fit">
+                      {result.metadata.section}
+                    </span>
+                  </HelpTip>
                 )}
               </div>
             )}
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-stats-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-stats-card.tsx
index 4338ea9f..a1e2219e 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-stats-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/kb-stats-card.tsx
@@ -142,9 +142,11 @@ export function KBStatsCard({ stats, isLoading }: KBStatsCardProps) {
           </div>
         </div>
         {latestUpdated && (
-          <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground pt-1">
-            Updated {formatDistanceToNow(new Date(latestUpdated))} ago
-          </p>
+          <HelpTip label={new Date(latestUpdated).toLocaleString()}>
+            <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground pt-1 w-fit">
+              Updated {formatDistanceToNow(new Date(latestUpdated))} ago
+            </p>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
       </CardContent>
     </Card>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/knowledge-base-browser.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/knowledge-base-browser.tsx
index e891a00e..e54b43a0 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/knowledge-base-browser.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/knowledge-base-browser.tsx
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { Badge } from "@/components/ui/badge";
 import { Card, CardContent, CardHeader, CardTitle } from "@/components/ui/card";
 import { Tabs, TabsContent, TabsList, TabsTrigger } from "@/components/ui/tabs";
+import {
+  Tooltip,
+  TooltipContent,
+  TooltipTrigger,
+} from "@/components/ui/tooltip";
 import { ScrollArea } from "@/components/ui/scroll-area";
 import { Progress } from "@/components/ui/progress";
 import {
@@ -326,26 +331,60 @@ function KnowledgeBaseBrowserContent() {
         onValueChange={(v) => handleTabChange(v as TabValue)}
       >
         <TabsList>
-          <TabsTrigger value="search" className="gap-2">
-            <Search className="h-4 w-4" />
-            Search
-          </TabsTrigger>
-          <TabsTrigger value="ask" className="gap-2">
-            <Sparkles className="h-4 w-4" />
-            Ask AI
-          </TabsTrigger>
-          <TabsTrigger value="mentor" className="gap-2">
-            <Brain className="h-4 w-4" />
-            Mentor
-          </TabsTrigger>
-          <TabsTrigger value="browse" className="gap-2">
-            <FolderTree className="h-4 w-4" />
-            Browse
-          </TabsTrigger>
-          <TabsTrigger value="admin" className="gap-2">
-            <Settings className="h-4 w-4" />
-            Admin
-          </TabsTrigger>
+          {(
+            [
+              {
+                value: "search",
+                icon: Search,
+                label: "Search",
+                hint: "Semantic search across indexed content, filterable by category",
+              },
+              {
+                value: "ask",
+                icon: Sparkles,
+                label: "Ask AI",
+                hint: "One-shot Q&A: retrieves matching chunks (RAG) and generates a cited answer",
+              },
+              {
+                value: "mentor",
+                icon: Brain,
+                label: "Mentor",
+                hint: "Multi-turn chat that also factors in your role and your own journal entries",
+              },
+              {
+                value: "browse",
+                icon: FolderTree,
+                label: "Browse",
+                hint: "Page through every indexed document by category, no query needed",
+              },
+              {
+                value: "admin",
+                icon: Settings,
+                label: "Admin",
+                hint: "Index health, storage stats, and manual reindex/refresh/delete controls",
+              },
+            ] as const
+          ).map((tab) => (
+            <Tooltip key={tab.value}>
+              <TooltipTrigger asChild>
+                {/* TooltipTrigger's asChild Slot merge injects its own
+                    data-state onto this trigger, and Radix Tabs' internal
+                    render spreads incoming props after its own literal
+                    data-state — so the tooltip's value silently wins and the
+                    data-[state=active] highlight never fires. Re-assert the
+                    real selection state explicitly so it survives the merge. */}
+                <TabsTrigger
+                  value={tab.value}
+                  data-state={tab.value === activeTab ? "active" : "inactive"}
+                  className="gap-2"
+                >
+                  <tab.icon className="h-4 w-4" />
+                  {tab.label}
+                </TabsTrigger>
+              </TooltipTrigger>
+              <TooltipContent>{tab.hint}</TooltipContent>
+            </Tooltip>
+          ))}
         </TabsList>
 
         {/* Search Tab */}
@@ -460,17 +499,27 @@ function KnowledgeBaseBrowserContent() {
                           <XCircle className="h-8 w-8 text-red-600" />
                         )}
                         <div>
-                          <p className="font-medium">
-                            {health.healthy ? "Healthy" : "Unhealthy"}
-                          </p>
-                          <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
-                            Embedding: {health.embedding_status}
-                          </p>
+                          <HelpTip label="Healthy requires all three subsystems below — embedding, LLM, and vector store — to each respond OK">
+                            <p className="font-medium w-fit">
+                              {health.healthy ? "Healthy" : "Unhealthy"}
+                            </p>
+                          </HelpTip>
+                          <HelpTip label="Ollama-served embedding model (qwen3-embedding:0.6b) that turns text into vectors for search">
+                            <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground w-fit">
+                              Embedding: {health.embedding_status}
+                            </p>
+                          </HelpTip>
                         </div>
                       </div>
                       <div className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-2 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                        <div>LLM: {health.llm_status}</div>
-                        <div>Vector: {health.vector_store_status}</div>
+                        <HelpTip label="Local model that generates RAG and Mentor answers from retrieved context">
+                          <div className="w-fit">LLM: {health.llm_status}</div>
+                        </HelpTip>
+                        <HelpTip label="PostgreSQL + pgvector store holding every embedded chunk for similarity search">
+                          <div className="w-fit">
+                            Vector: {health.vector_store_status}
+                          </div>
+                        </HelpTip>
                       </div>
                       {(
                         [
@@ -507,10 +556,12 @@ function KnowledgeBaseBrowserContent() {
                     <span>Summary</span>
                     <AlertDialog>
                       <AlertDialogTrigger asChild>
-                        <Button size="sm" variant="destructive">
-                          <RefreshCw className="h-3 w-3 mr-1" />
-                          Reindex All
-                        </Button>
+                        <HelpTip label="Rebuilds the Documentation index from the repo's docs/ tree — the other categories (journals, conversations, etc.) are populated live by agent activity, not by this button">
+                          <Button size="sm" variant="destructive">
+                            <RefreshCw className="h-3 w-3 mr-1" />
+                            Reindex All
+                          </Button>
+                        </HelpTip>
                       </AlertDialogTrigger>
                       <AlertDialogContent>
                         <AlertDialogHeader>
@@ -538,10 +589,14 @@ function KnowledgeBaseBrowserContent() {
                 </CardHeader>
                 <CardContent>
                   <div className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-4">
-                    <div>
-                      <p className="text-2xl font-bold">{totalDocs}</p>
-                      <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">Documents</p>
-                    </div>
+                    <HelpTip label="Sum of documents indexed across every category below">
+                      <div className="w-fit">
+                        <p className="text-2xl font-bold">{totalDocs}</p>
+                        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                          Documents
+                        </p>
+                      </div>
+                    </HelpTip>
                     <HelpTip label="A chunk is a segment of a document split for embedding — one document can produce many chunks">
                       <div className="w-fit">
                         <p className="text-2xl font-bold">{totalChunks}</p>
@@ -667,14 +722,16 @@ function KnowledgeBaseBrowserContent() {
                               </div>
 
                               <div className="grid grid-cols-3 gap-4 text-sm mb-2">
-                                <div>
-                                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">
-                                    Documents:
-                                  </span>{" "}
-                                  <span className="font-medium">
-                                    {index.document_count}
-                                  </span>
-                                </div>
+                                <HelpTip label="Document count for this category — see Chunks for the post-embedding split count">
+                                  <div className="w-fit">
+                                    <span className="text-muted-foreground">
+                                      Documents:
+                                    </span>{" "}
+                                    <span className="font-medium">
+                                      {index.document_count}
+                                    </span>
+                                  </div>
+                                </HelpTip>
                                 <HelpTip label="A chunk is a segment of a document split for embedding — one document can produce many chunks">
                                   <div className="w-fit">
                                     <span className="text-muted-foreground">
@@ -685,25 +742,37 @@ function KnowledgeBaseBrowserContent() {
                                     </span>
                                   </div>
                                 </HelpTip>
-                                <div>
-                                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">
-                                    Updated:
-                                  </span>{" "}
-                                  <span className="font-medium">
-                                    {index.last_updated
-                                      ? formatDistanceToNow(
-                                          new Date(index.last_updated),
-                                        ) + " ago"
-                                      : "Never"}
-                                  </span>
-                                </div>
+                                <HelpTip
+                                  label={
+                                    index.last_updated
+                                      ? new Date(
+                                          index.last_updated,
+                                        ).toLocaleString()
+                                      : "This index has never been populated"
+                                  }
+                                >
+                                  <div className="w-fit">
+                                    <span className="text-muted-foreground">
+                                      Updated:
+                                    </span>{" "}
+                                    <span className="font-medium">
+                                      {index.last_updated
+                                        ? formatDistanceToNow(
+                                            new Date(index.last_updated),
+                                          ) + " ago"
+                                        : "Never"}
+                                    </span>
+                                  </div>
+                                </HelpTip>
                               </div>
 
                               <div className="space-y-1">
-                                <div className="flex justify-between text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                                  <span>Storage usage</span>
-                                  <span>{percentage}%</span>
-                                </div>
+                                <HelpTip label="Share of the fleet's total chunk count this category holds — not literal disk bytes">
+                                  <div className="flex justify-between text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                                    <span>Storage usage</span>
+                                    <span>{percentage}%</span>
+                                  </div>
+                                </HelpTip>
                                 <Progress value={percentage} className="h-1" />
                               </div>
                             </div>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-answer-display.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-answer-display.tsx
index 6aa5fd45..4a3d01e2 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-answer-display.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-answer-display.tsx
@@ -149,28 +149,32 @@ export function MentorAnswerDisplay({
           <Brain className="h-5 w-5 text-primary shrink-0" />
           <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-4 gap-y-1 text-sm">
             {response.agent_role && (
-              <span className="flex items-center gap-1.5">
-                <User className="h-3.5 w-3.5 text-muted-foreground" />
-                <span className="text-muted-foreground">Role:</span>
-                <Badge variant="secondary" className="font-medium">
-                  {response.agent_role}
-                </Badge>
-                {response.agent_team && (
-                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">
-                    ({response.agent_team})
-                  </span>
-                )}
-              </span>
+              <HelpTip label="Detected from your agent identity — shapes which standards, journals, and playbooks the mentor draws on">
+                <span className="flex items-center gap-1.5 w-fit">
+                  <User className="h-3.5 w-3.5 text-muted-foreground" />
+                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">Role:</span>
+                  <Badge variant="secondary" className="font-medium">
+                    {response.agent_role}
+                  </Badge>
+                  {response.agent_team && (
+                    <span className="text-muted-foreground">
+                      ({response.agent_team})
+                    </span>
+                  )}
+                </span>
+              </HelpTip>
             )}
             {response.journal_entries_used !== undefined &&
               response.journal_entries_used > 0 && (
-                <span className="flex items-center gap-1.5">
-                  <BookMarked className="h-3.5 w-3.5 text-muted-foreground" />
-                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">
-                    {response.journal_entries_used} personal journal
-                    {response.journal_entries_used !== 1 ? "s" : ""} used
+                <HelpTip label="Entries from your own journal only — never another agent's">
+                  <span className="flex items-center gap-1.5 w-fit">
+                    <BookMarked className="h-3.5 w-3.5 text-muted-foreground" />
+                    <span className="text-muted-foreground">
+                      {response.journal_entries_used} personal journal
+                      {response.journal_entries_used !== 1 ? "s" : ""} used
+                    </span>
                   </span>
-                </span>
+                </HelpTip>
               )}
           </div>
         </div>
@@ -182,9 +186,11 @@ export function MentorAnswerDisplay({
           <CardTitle className="text-sm font-medium flex items-center gap-2">
             <Brain className="h-4 w-4 text-primary" />
             Mentor Response
-            <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-normal ml-auto">
-              {response.sources.length} sources used
-            </span>
+            <HelpTip label="Knowledge-base chunks retrieved and handed to the model as context for this answer">
+              <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-normal ml-auto w-fit">
+                {response.sources.length} sources used
+              </span>
+            </HelpTip>
           </CardTitle>
         </CardHeader>
         <CardContent>
@@ -204,16 +210,17 @@ export function MentorAnswerDisplay({
             </div>
             <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2">
               {response.suggested_followups.map((followup, index) => (
-                <Button
-                  key={index}
-                  variant="outline"
-                  size="sm"
-                  className="text-xs h-auto py-1.5 px-3"
-                  onClick={() => onFollowUp?.(followup)}
-                >
-                  <MessageCircleQuestion className="h-3 w-3 mr-1.5" />
-                  {followup}
-                </Button>
+                <HelpTip key={index} label="Ask this next, in the same conversation">
+                  <Button
+                    variant="outline"
+                    size="sm"
+                    className="text-xs h-auto py-1.5 px-3"
+                    onClick={() => onFollowUp?.(followup)}
+                  >
+                    <MessageCircleQuestion className="h-3 w-3 mr-1.5" />
+                    {followup}
+                  </Button>
+                </HelpTip>
               ))}
             </div>
           </div>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-chat.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-chat.tsx
index f4a41597..eaefcae9 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-chat.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-chat.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
 import { Textarea } from "@/components/ui/textarea";
 import { Card, CardContent } from "@/components/ui/card";
 import { Badge } from "@/components/ui/badge";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 import { ScrollArea } from "@/components/ui/scroll-area";
 import { Markdown } from "@/components/ui/markdown";
 import {
@@ -177,15 +178,19 @@ export function MentorChat({ onAsk, isLoading }: MentorChatProps) {
           <Brain className="h-5 w-5 text-primary" />
           <span className="font-medium">Mentor Chat</span>
           {conversationId && (
-            <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs">
-              Conversation active
-            </Badge>
+            <HelpTip label="Follow-up questions reuse this conversation's history for context">
+              <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs w-fit">
+                Conversation active
+              </Badge>
+            </HelpTip>
           )}
         </div>
-        <Button variant="ghost" size="sm" onClick={handleNewChat}>
-          <RotateCcw className="h-4 w-4 mr-1" />
-          New Chat
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="Clears this thread — the mentor loses this conversation's context">
+          <Button variant="ghost" size="sm" onClick={handleNewChat}>
+            <RotateCcw className="h-4 w-4 mr-1" />
+            New Chat
+          </Button>
+        </HelpTip>
       </div>
 
       {/* Messages */}
@@ -241,19 +246,21 @@ export function MentorChat({ onAsk, isLoading }: MentorChatProps) {
                   {/* Sources toggle */}
                   {msg.sources && msg.sources.length > 0 && (
                     <div>
-                      <Button
-                        variant="ghost"
-                        size="sm"
-                        className="text-xs"
-                        onClick={() =>
-                          setExpandedSources(
-                            expandedSources === idx ? null : idx,
-                          )
-                        }
-                      >
-                        {expandedSources === idx ? "Hide" : "Show"}{" "}
-                        {msg.sources.length} sources
-                      </Button>
+                      <HelpTip label="The knowledge-base chunks retrieved and handed to the model as context for this answer">
+                        <Button
+                          variant="ghost"
+                          size="sm"
+                          className="text-xs"
+                          onClick={() =>
+                            setExpandedSources(
+                              expandedSources === idx ? null : idx,
+                            )
+                          }
+                        >
+                          {expandedSources === idx ? "Hide" : "Show"}{" "}
+                          {msg.sources.length} sources
+                        </Button>
+                      </HelpTip>
                       {expandedSources === idx && (
                         <div className="mt-2 space-y-2">
                           {msg.sources.map((source, sidx) => (
@@ -278,16 +285,20 @@ export function MentorChat({ onAsk, isLoading }: MentorChatProps) {
                   {msg.followups && msg.followups.length > 0 && (
                     <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2">
                       {msg.followups.map((followup, fidx) => (
-                        <Button
+                        <HelpTip
                           key={fidx}
-                          variant="outline"
-                          size="sm"
-                          className="text-xs h-auto py-1.5"
-                          onClick={() => handleFollowUp(followup)}
-                          disabled={isLoading}
+                          label="Ask this next, in the same conversation"
                         >
-                          {followup}
-                        </Button>
+                          <Button
+                            variant="outline"
+                            size="sm"
+                            className="text-xs h-auto py-1.5"
+                            onClick={() => handleFollowUp(followup)}
+                            disabled={isLoading}
+                          >
+                            {followup}
+                          </Button>
+                        </HelpTip>
                       ))}
                     </div>
                   )}
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-query-input.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-query-input.tsx
index fb15544f..742ae255 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-query-input.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/mentor-query-input.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
 import { Textarea } from "@/components/ui/textarea";
 import { Card, CardContent } from "@/components/ui/card";
 import { Badge } from "@/components/ui/badge";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 import {
   Send,
   Loader2,
@@ -60,18 +61,33 @@ export function MentorQueryInput({
             </div>
           </div>
           <div className="flex gap-1.5">
-            <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs gap-1 bg-background">
-              <User className="h-3 w-3" />
-              Role-aware
-            </Badge>
-            <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs gap-1 bg-background">
-              <BookMarked className="h-3 w-3" />
-              Journals
-            </Badge>
-            <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs gap-1 bg-background">
-              <MessageCircle className="h-3 w-3" />
-              Follow-ups
-            </Badge>
+            <HelpTip label="Answers factor in your agent role and team">
+              <Badge
+                variant="outline"
+                className="text-xs gap-1 bg-background w-fit"
+              >
+                <User className="h-3 w-3" />
+                Role-aware
+              </Badge>
+            </HelpTip>
+            <HelpTip label="Searches your own journal entries — not other agents'">
+              <Badge
+                variant="outline"
+                className="text-xs gap-1 bg-background w-fit"
+              >
+                <BookMarked className="h-3 w-3" />
+                Journals
+              </Badge>
+            </HelpTip>
+            <HelpTip label="Multi-turn — reuses this conversation's context for related questions">
+              <Badge
+                variant="outline"
+                className="text-xs gap-1 bg-background w-fit"
+              >
+                <MessageCircle className="h-3 w-3" />
+                Follow-ups
+              </Badge>
+            </HelpTip>
           </div>
         </div>
 
diff --git a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/rag-answer-display.tsx b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/rag-answer-display.tsx
index b0364348..95fa7d81 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/rag-answer-display.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/knowledge-base/rag-answer-display.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { RAGQueryResponse } from "@/types";
 import { RAGCitationCard } from "./rag-citation-card";
 import { Markdown } from "@/components/ui/markdown";
 import { Skeleton } from "@/components/ui/skeleton";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 import {
   Bot,
   BookOpen,
@@ -120,9 +121,11 @@ export function RAGAnswerDisplay({
           <CardTitle className="text-sm font-medium flex items-center gap-2">
             <Bot className="h-4 w-4 text-primary" />
             AI Answer
-            <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-normal ml-auto">
-              {response.context_used} sources used
-            </span>
+            <HelpTip label="Knowledge-base chunks retrieved by hybrid search and handed to the model as context for this answer">
+              <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-normal ml-auto w-fit">
+                {response.context_used} sources used
+              </span>
+            </HelpTip>
           </CardTitle>
         </CardHeader>
         <CardContent>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/notifications/notification-bell.tsx b/panel/src/components/notifications/notification-bell.tsx
index b218869a..cc7d2dc0 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/notifications/notification-bell.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/notifications/notification-bell.tsx
@@ -178,20 +178,26 @@ function BellRow({ notification, onMarkRead, onAcknowledge }: BellRowProps) {
         <span className="font-medium text-sm line-clamp-1 flex-1 min-w-0">
           {notification.subject}
         </span>
-        <Badge variant="outline" className="text-[10px] shrink-0">
-          {notification.priority}
-        </Badge>
+        <HelpTip label="How urgently the sender flagged this — doesn't change what you need to do, just how prominently it's shown.">
+          <Badge variant="outline" className="text-[10px] shrink-0">
+            {notification.priority}
+          </Badge>
+        </HelpTip>
       </div>
       <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-1.5 mt-1.5">
         {!notification.is_read && (
-          <Badge variant="secondary" className="text-[10px]">
-            New
-          </Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="Hasn't been marked read yet.">
+            <Badge variant="secondary" className="text-[10px]">
+              New
+            </Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
         {needsAck && (
-          <Badge variant="destructive" className="text-[10px]">
-            Needs Ack
-          </Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="A formal signal from a PM/Board role — needs an explicit acknowledgement, tracked separately from read status.">
+            <Badge variant="destructive" className="text-[10px]">
+              Needs Ack
+            </Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
         <div className="ml-auto flex items-center gap-1">
           {!notification.is_read && (
diff --git a/panel/src/components/products/create-product-dialog.tsx b/panel/src/components/products/create-product-dialog.tsx
index 8a7b4655..f398d20e 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/products/create-product-dialog.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/products/create-product-dialog.tsx
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import {
 import { Plus } from "lucide-react";
 import { toast } from "sonner";
 import { Team, type ProductCellMapping } from "@/types";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 
 const cells: { value: Team; label: string }[] = [
   { value: Team.BACKEND, label: "Backend" },
@@ -104,12 +105,14 @@ export function CreateProductDialog() {
 
   return (
     <Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={setOpen}>
-      <DialogTrigger asChild>
-        <Button>
-          <Plus className="h-4 w-4 mr-2" />
-          New Product
-        </Button>
-      </DialogTrigger>
+      <HelpTip label="Groups per-cell projects (e.g. a SaaS app + its OSS core) into one deliverable for MegaTask and board routing.">
+        <DialogTrigger asChild>
+          <Button>
+            <Plus className="h-4 w-4 mr-2" />
+            New Product
+          </Button>
+        </DialogTrigger>
+      </HelpTip>
       <DialogContent className="sm:max-w-[525px] max-h-[90vh] overflow-y-auto">
         <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
           <DialogHeader>
@@ -121,7 +124,9 @@ export function CreateProductDialog() {
           <div className="grid gap-4 py-4">
             {/* Name */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="name">Product Name *</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Display name shown across the panel; renaming it never touches the slug already generated.">
+                <Label htmlFor="name">Product Name *</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="name"
                 value={name}
@@ -132,7 +137,9 @@ export function CreateProductDialog() {
 
             {/* Slug */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug *</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Identifier for this cell-to-project grouping, used to reference it across the panel and API.">
+                <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug *</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="slug"
                 value={slug}
@@ -147,7 +154,9 @@ export function CreateProductDialog() {
 
             {/* Description */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="description">Description</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Optional context shown in the panel only — not surfaced to agents or used in task routing.">
+                <Label htmlFor="description">Description</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Textarea
                 id="description"
                 value={description}
@@ -158,15 +167,19 @@ export function CreateProductDialog() {
 
             {/* Cell -> Project mapping */}
             <div className="grid gap-3">
-              <Label>Cell Project Mapping</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Routes each cell's work for this product to its own repo; a cell left unmapped does no work for this product.">
+                <Label>Cell Project Mapping</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               {cells.map((cell) => (
                 <div key={cell.value} className="grid gap-2">
-                  <Label
-                    htmlFor={`cell-${cell.value}`}
-                    className="text-sm text-muted-foreground"
-                  >
-                    {cell.label}
-                  </Label>
+                  <HelpTip label={`Which project the ${cell.label} cell works on for this product.`}>
+                    <Label
+                      htmlFor={`cell-${cell.value}`}
+                      className="text-sm text-muted-foreground"
+                    >
+                      {cell.label}
+                    </Label>
+                  </HelpTip>
                   <Select
                     value={cellMapping[cell.value] ?? ""}
                     onValueChange={(value) =>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/products/edit-product-dialog.tsx b/panel/src/components/products/edit-product-dialog.tsx
index 911c30be..2f22f0bb 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/products/edit-product-dialog.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/products/edit-product-dialog.tsx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
   type ProductCellMapping,
   type ProductUpdate,
 } from "@/types";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 
 const cells: { value: Team; label: string }[] = [
   { value: Team.BACKEND, label: "Backend" },
@@ -120,7 +121,9 @@ function EditProductForm({
       <div className="grid gap-4 py-4">
         {/* Slug (read-only) */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Identifier for this cell-to-project grouping, used to reference it across the panel and API. Set at creation, fixed here.">
+            <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Input
             id="slug"
             value={product.slug}
@@ -131,7 +134,9 @@ function EditProductForm({
 
         {/* Name */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="name">Product Name *</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Display name shown across the panel; renaming it never touches the slug.">
+            <Label htmlFor="name">Product Name *</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Input
             id="name"
             value={name}
@@ -142,7 +147,9 @@ function EditProductForm({
 
         {/* Description */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="description">Description</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Optional context shown in the panel only — not surfaced to agents or used in task routing.">
+            <Label htmlFor="description">Description</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Textarea
             id="description"
             value={description}
@@ -153,15 +160,19 @@ function EditProductForm({
 
         {/* Cell -> Project mapping */}
         <div className="grid gap-3">
-          <Label>Cell Project Mapping</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Routes each cell's work for this product to its own repo; a cell left unmapped does no work for this product.">
+            <Label>Cell Project Mapping</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           {cells.map((cell) => (
             <div key={cell.value} className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label
-                htmlFor={`cell-${cell.value}`}
-                className="text-sm text-muted-foreground"
-              >
-                {cell.label}
-              </Label>
+              <HelpTip label={`Which project the ${cell.label} cell works on for this product.`}>
+                <Label
+                  htmlFor={`cell-${cell.value}`}
+                  className="text-sm text-muted-foreground"
+                >
+                  {cell.label}
+                </Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Select
                 value={cellMapping[cell.value] ?? ""}
                 onValueChange={(value) =>
diff --git a/panel/src/components/products/product-table.tsx b/panel/src/components/products/product-table.tsx
index ab88a95b..67742fe0 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/products/product-table.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/products/product-table.tsx
@@ -126,9 +126,21 @@ export function ProductTable({ products, isLoading }: ProductTableProps) {
             <Table>
               <TableHeader>
                 <TableRow>
-                  <TableHead>Product</TableHead>
-                  <TableHead>Cells</TableHead>
-                  <TableHead>Progress</TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="Name and slug; click either to open the edit dialog.">
+                      <span>Product</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="Which project each cell (Backend/Frontend/UX-UI) works on for this product.">
+                      <span>Cells</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="Done / active / blocked counts across all mapped projects' tasks.">
+                      <span>Progress</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
                   <TableHead className="w-[100px]">Actions</TableHead>
                 </TableRow>
               </TableHeader>
@@ -144,9 +156,11 @@ export function ProductTable({ products, isLoading }: ProductTableProps) {
                         >
                           {product.name}
                         </Button>
-                        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
-                          {product.slug}
-                        </p>
+                        <HelpTip label="Identifier for this cell-to-project grouping, used to reference it across the panel and API.">
+                          <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
+                            {product.slug}
+                          </p>
+                        </HelpTip>
                       </div>
                     </TableCell>
                     <TableCell>
@@ -188,9 +202,11 @@ export function ProductTable({ products, isLoading }: ProductTableProps) {
                     >
                       {product.name}
                     </Button>
-                    <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
-                      {product.slug}
-                    </p>
+                    <HelpTip label="Identifier for this cell-to-project grouping, used to reference it across the panel and API.">
+                      <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
+                        {product.slug}
+                      </p>
+                    </HelpTip>
                   </div>
                   <HelpTip label="Edit product name, description, and cell-project mapping">
                     <Button
diff --git a/panel/src/components/projects/create-project-dialog.tsx b/panel/src/components/projects/create-project-dialog.tsx
index 19ae86e7..0e89d5c1 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/projects/create-project-dialog.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/projects/create-project-dialog.tsx
@@ -121,12 +121,14 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
 
   return (
     <Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={setOpen}>
-      <DialogTrigger asChild>
-        <Button>
-          <Plus className="h-4 w-4 mr-2" />
-          New Project
-        </Button>
-      </DialogTrigger>
+      <HelpTip label="Registers a git repository — sets cell ownership, branch/environment ladder, and CI/CD gate commands for agents to work on it.">
+        <DialogTrigger asChild>
+          <Button>
+            <Plus className="h-4 w-4 mr-2" />
+            New Project
+          </Button>
+        </DialogTrigger>
+      </HelpTip>
       <DialogContent className="sm:max-w-[525px]">
         <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
           <DialogHeader>
@@ -138,7 +140,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
           <div className="grid gap-4 py-4">
             {/* Name */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="name">Project Name *</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Display name shown across the panel and CEO approval queues; changing it later never touches the slug or workspace path already derived from it.">
+                <Label htmlFor="name">Project Name *</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="name"
                 value={formData.name}
@@ -149,7 +153,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
 
             {/* Slug */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug *</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Immutable after creation — composes each agent's workspace clone path (/data/workspaces/<slug>/<cell>/<agent>) and appears in every branch name for this project.">
+                <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug *</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="slug"
                 value={formData.slug}
@@ -166,7 +172,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
 
             {/* Git URL */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="git_url">Git URL *</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Cloned into each assigned agent's workspace on first access; use HTTPS so the encrypted token below can authenticate clone, push, and PR operations.">
+                <Label htmlFor="git_url">Git URL *</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="git_url"
                 value={formData.git_url}
@@ -205,7 +213,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
 
             {/* Assigned Cell */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="assigned_cell">Assigned Cell *</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Which cell owns this project — only that cell's agents can claim its tasks (enforced server-side, not just a UI filter).">
+                <Label htmlFor="assigned_cell">Assigned Cell *</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Select
                 value={formData.assigned_cell}
                 onValueChange={(value: Team) =>
@@ -227,7 +237,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
 
             {/* Default Branch */}
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="default_branch">Default Branch</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Used as both head and prod when no environment ladder is set below (a degenerate single-rung ladder) — the PR review gate diffs against it and releases cut from it.">
+                <Label htmlFor="default_branch">Default Branch</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="default_branch"
                 value={formData.default_branch}
@@ -248,20 +260,24 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
             />
 
             {/* Advanced Options Toggle */}
-            <Button
-              type="button"
-              variant="ghost"
-              className="justify-start px-0 text-muted-foreground"
-              onClick={() => setShowAdvanced(!showAdvanced)}
-            >
-              {showAdvanced ? "Hide" : "Show"} CI/CD Commands
-            </Button>
+            <HelpTip label="Test/Format/Build are reference-only today; Lint + Typecheck (or Quality Gate below, which replaces both) run automatically at the dev's pre-submit gate.">
+              <Button
+                type="button"
+                variant="ghost"
+                className="justify-start px-0 text-muted-foreground"
+                onClick={() => setShowAdvanced(!showAdvanced)}
+              >
+                {showAdvanced ? "Hide" : "Show"} CI/CD Commands
+              </Button>
+            </HelpTip>
 
             {showAdvanced && (
               <>
                 {/* CI/CD Commands */}
                 <div className="grid gap-2">
-                  <Label htmlFor="test_command">Test Command</Label>
+                  <HelpTip label="Reference only — not yet wired into any automated gate or CI run by RoboCo itself.">
+                    <Label htmlFor="test_command">Test Command</Label>
+                  </HelpTip>
                   <Input
                     id="test_command"
                     value={formData.test_command || ""}
@@ -273,7 +289,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
                 </div>
 
                 <div className="grid gap-2">
-                  <Label htmlFor="lint_command">Lint Command</Label>
+                  <HelpTip label="Runs at the dev's pre-submit gate (i_am_done) alongside Typecheck — unless Quality Gate Command below is set, which replaces both.">
+                    <Label htmlFor="lint_command">Lint Command</Label>
+                  </HelpTip>
                   <Input
                     id="lint_command"
                     value={formData.lint_command || ""}
@@ -285,7 +303,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
                 </div>
 
                 <div className="grid gap-2">
-                  <Label htmlFor="format_command">Format Command</Label>
+                  <HelpTip label="Reference only — deliberately excluded from the automated gate since formatting mutates files.">
+                    <Label htmlFor="format_command">Format Command</Label>
+                  </HelpTip>
                   <Input
                     id="format_command"
                     value={formData.format_command || ""}
@@ -300,7 +320,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
                 </div>
 
                 <div className="grid gap-2">
-                  <Label htmlFor="typecheck_command">Typecheck Command</Label>
+                  <HelpTip label="Runs at the dev's pre-submit gate (i_am_done) alongside Lint — unless Quality Gate Command below is set, which replaces both.">
+                    <Label htmlFor="typecheck_command">Typecheck Command</Label>
+                  </HelpTip>
                   <Input
                     id="typecheck_command"
                     value={formData.typecheck_command || ""}
@@ -315,7 +337,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
                 </div>
 
                 <div className="grid gap-2">
-                  <Label htmlFor="build_command">Build Command</Label>
+                  <HelpTip label="Reference only — not run automatically; the slow build/test suite is left to CI.">
+                    <Label htmlFor="build_command">Build Command</Label>
+                  </HelpTip>
                   <Input
                     id="build_command"
                     value={formData.build_command || ""}
@@ -330,7 +354,9 @@ export function CreateProjectDialog() {
                 </div>
 
                 <div className="grid gap-2">
-                  <Label htmlFor="quality_command">Quality Gate Command</Label>
+                  <HelpTip label="When set, replaces the Lint + Typecheck pair as the dev's complete pre-submit gate command.">
+                    <Label htmlFor="quality_command">Quality Gate Command</Label>
+                  </HelpTip>
                   <Input
                     id="quality_command"
                     value={formData.quality_command || ""}
diff --git a/panel/src/components/projects/edit-project-dialog.tsx b/panel/src/components/projects/edit-project-dialog.tsx
index b948f00a..e2f7f2bd 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/projects/edit-project-dialog.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/projects/edit-project-dialog.tsx
@@ -271,7 +271,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
       <div className="grid gap-4 py-4">
         {/* Slug (read-only) */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Immutable — composes each agent's workspace clone path and appears in every branch name for this project. Set at creation, fixed here.">
+            <Label htmlFor="slug">Slug</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Input
             id="slug"
             value={project.slug}
@@ -282,7 +284,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
 
         {/* Name */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="name">Project Name *</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Display name shown across the panel and CEO approval queues; renaming it never touches the slug or workspace path.">
+            <Label htmlFor="name">Project Name *</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Input
             id="name"
             value={name}
@@ -293,7 +297,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
 
         {/* Git URL */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="git_url">Git URL *</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Cloned into each assigned agent's workspace; use HTTPS so the token below can authenticate clone, push, and PR operations.">
+            <Label htmlFor="git_url">Git URL *</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Input
             id="git_url"
             value={gitUrl}
@@ -348,9 +354,17 @@ function EditProjectForm({
 
           {!clearToken && (
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="git_token" className="text-sm">
-                {project.has_git_token ? "Replace token" : "Set token"}
-              </Label>
+              <HelpTip
+                label={
+                  project.has_git_token
+                    ? "Overwrites the current token immediately on save; the previous token is discarded and cannot be recovered."
+                    : "Required for HTTPS clone/push/PR operations if the repo is private; stored Fernet-encrypted and never re-displayed once saved."
+                }
+              >
+                <Label htmlFor="git_token" className="text-sm">
+                  {project.has_git_token ? "Replace token" : "Set token"}
+                </Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="git_token"
                 type="password"
@@ -368,7 +382,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
 
         {/* Assigned Cell */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="assigned_cell">Assigned Cell *</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Which cell owns this project — only that cell's agents can claim its tasks (enforced server-side, not just a UI filter).">
+            <Label htmlFor="assigned_cell">Assigned Cell *</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Select
             value={assignedCell}
             onValueChange={(value: Team) => setAssignedCell(value)}
@@ -388,7 +404,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
 
         {/* Default Branch */}
         <div className="grid gap-2">
-          <Label htmlFor="default_branch">Default Branch</Label>
+          <HelpTip label="Used as both head and prod when no environment ladder is set below (a degenerate single-rung ladder) — the PR review gate diffs against it and releases cut from it.">
+            <Label htmlFor="default_branch">Default Branch</Label>
+          </HelpTip>
           <Input
             id="default_branch"
             value={defaultBranch}
@@ -419,19 +437,23 @@ function EditProjectForm({
         </div>
 
         {/* Advanced Options Toggle */}
-        <Button
-          type="button"
-          variant="ghost"
-          className="justify-start px-0 text-muted-foreground"
-          onClick={() => setShowAdvanced(!showAdvanced)}
-        >
-          {showAdvanced ? "Hide" : "Show"} CI/CD Commands
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="Test/Format/Build are reference-only today; Lint + Typecheck (or Quality Gate below, which replaces both) run automatically at the dev's pre-submit gate.">
+          <Button
+            type="button"
+            variant="ghost"
+            className="justify-start px-0 text-muted-foreground"
+            onClick={() => setShowAdvanced(!showAdvanced)}
+          >
+            {showAdvanced ? "Hide" : "Show"} CI/CD Commands
+          </Button>
+        </HelpTip>
 
         {showAdvanced && (
           <>
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="test_command">Test Command</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Reference only — not yet wired into any automated gate or CI run by RoboCo itself.">
+                <Label htmlFor="test_command">Test Command</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="test_command"
                 value={testCommand}
@@ -441,7 +463,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="lint_command">Lint Command</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Runs at the dev's pre-submit gate (i_am_done) alongside Typecheck — unless Quality Gate Command below is set, which replaces both.">
+                <Label htmlFor="lint_command">Lint Command</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="lint_command"
                 value={lintCommand}
@@ -451,7 +475,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="format_command">Format Command</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Reference only — deliberately excluded from the automated gate since formatting mutates files.">
+                <Label htmlFor="format_command">Format Command</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="format_command"
                 value={formatCommand}
@@ -461,7 +487,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="typecheck_command">Typecheck Command</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Runs at the dev's pre-submit gate (i_am_done) alongside Lint — unless Quality Gate Command below is set, which replaces both.">
+                <Label htmlFor="typecheck_command">Typecheck Command</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="typecheck_command"
                 value={typecheckCommand}
@@ -471,7 +499,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="build_command">Build Command</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Reference only — not run automatically; the slow build/test suite is left to CI.">
+                <Label htmlFor="build_command">Build Command</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="build_command"
                 value={buildCommand}
@@ -481,7 +511,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="quality_command">Quality Gate Command</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="When set, replaces the Lint + Typecheck pair as the dev's complete pre-submit gate command.">
+                <Label htmlFor="quality_command">Quality Gate Command</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="quality_command"
                 value={qualityCommand}
@@ -497,14 +529,16 @@ function EditProjectForm({
         )}
 
         {/* Autonomous Maintenance Toggle */}
-        <Button
-          type="button"
-          variant="ghost"
-          className="justify-start px-0 text-muted-foreground"
-          onClick={() => setShowAutonomy(!showAutonomy)}
-        >
-          {showAutonomy ? "Hide" : "Show"} Autonomous Maintenance
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="CI-watch, video engine, dependency-update bot, and sandbox DB/Redis/Mongo opt-ins — each also needs its own fleet-wide flag armed to actually run.">
+          <Button
+            type="button"
+            variant="ghost"
+            className="justify-start px-0 text-muted-foreground"
+            onClick={() => setShowAutonomy(!showAutonomy)}
+          >
+            {showAutonomy ? "Hide" : "Show"} Autonomous Maintenance
+          </Button>
+        </HelpTip>
 
         {showAutonomy && (
           <>
@@ -522,7 +556,9 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="ci_watch_workflow">CI-watch Workflow</Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Scopes CI-watch to one workflow's runs so a green run elsewhere can't mask a red one here; leave blank to fall back to the fleet default (ci.yml).">
+                <Label htmlFor="ci_watch_workflow">CI-watch Workflow</Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="ci_watch_workflow"
                 value={ciWatchWorkflow}
@@ -549,9 +585,11 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="dep_update_command">
-                Dependency-Update Command
-              </Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Dry-run only — the weekly bot runs this in a throwaway clone to detect a lockfile diff; nothing is committed until it opens a task that rides the normal PR-review flow.">
+                <Label htmlFor="dep_update_command">
+                  Dependency-Update Command
+                </Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="dep_update_command"
                 value={depUpdateCommand}
@@ -565,9 +603,11 @@ function EditProjectForm({
             </div>
 
             <div className="grid gap-2">
-              <Label htmlFor="dep_update_paths">
-                Dependency-Update Lockfile Paths
-              </Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Which lockfile paths the dry-run diffs to detect a change; leave blank to auto-infer uv.lock / pnpm-lock.yaml.">
+                <Label htmlFor="dep_update_paths">
+                  Dependency-Update Lockfile Paths
+                </Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <Input
                 id="dep_update_paths"
                 value={depUpdatePaths}
diff --git a/panel/src/components/projects/environment-ladder-editor.tsx b/panel/src/components/projects/environment-ladder-editor.tsx
index 698ae71c..04720b9d 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/projects/environment-ladder-editor.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/projects/environment-ladder-editor.tsx
@@ -98,52 +98,83 @@ export function EnvironmentLadderEditor({
                 <div className="flex flex-col">
                   <Tooltip>
                     <TooltipTrigger asChild>
-                      <Button
-                        type="button"
-                        variant="ghost"
-                        size="icon"
-                        className="h-6 w-6"
-                        disabled={isFirst}
-                        onClick={() => handleMove(index, -1)}
-                        aria-label="Move earlier in the flow"
-                      >
-                        <ArrowUp className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
-                      </Button>
+                      {/* span-wrap: disabled Button has pointer-events-none,
+                          so the tooltip needs a hoverable wrapper to fire
+                          when isFirst disables the button. */}
+                      <span className="inline-block">
+                        <Button
+                          type="button"
+                          variant="ghost"
+                          size="icon"
+                          className="h-6 w-6"
+                          disabled={isFirst}
+                          onClick={() => handleMove(index, -1)}
+                          aria-label="Move earlier in the flow"
+                        >
+                          <ArrowUp className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
+                        </Button>
+                      </span>
                     </TooltipTrigger>
-                    <TooltipContent>Move earlier in the flow</TooltipContent>
+                    <TooltipContent>
+                      {isFirst
+                        ? "Already first — lands PRs, nothing to promote from."
+                        : "Move earlier in the flow"}
+                    </TooltipContent>
                   </Tooltip>
                   <Tooltip>
                     <TooltipTrigger asChild>
-                      <Button
-                        type="button"
-                        variant="ghost"
-                        size="icon"
-                        className="h-6 w-6"
-                        disabled={isLast}
-                        onClick={() => handleMove(index, 1)}
-                        aria-label="Move later in the flow"
-                      >
-                        <ArrowDown className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
-                      </Button>
+                      <span className="inline-block">
+                        <Button
+                          type="button"
+                          variant="ghost"
+                          size="icon"
+                          className="h-6 w-6"
+                          disabled={isLast}
+                          onClick={() => handleMove(index, 1)}
+                          aria-label="Move later in the flow"
+                        >
+                          <ArrowDown className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
+                        </Button>
+                      </span>
                     </TooltipTrigger>
-                    <TooltipContent>Move later in the flow</TooltipContent>
+                    <TooltipContent>
+                      {isLast
+                        ? "Already last — the release target, nothing further to promote to."
+                        : "Move later in the flow"}
+                    </TooltipContent>
                   </Tooltip>
                 </div>
-                <span className="w-20 text-center text-[10px] font-medium uppercase text-muted-foreground">
-                  {role}
-                </span>
-                <Input
-                  value={rung.name}
-                  onChange={(e) => handleUpdate(index, "name", e.target.value)}
-                  placeholder="Name (e.g. dev, qa, stag)"
-                  className="flex-1 h-8"
-                />
-                <Input
-                  value={rung.branch}
-                  onChange={(e) => handleUpdate(index, "branch", e.target.value)}
-                  placeholder="Branch (e.g. dev, master)"
-                  className="flex-1 h-8"
-                />
+                <HelpTip
+                  label={
+                    role
+                      ? `This rung ${role === "PRs land" ? "is where PRs from this project land" : role === "release" ? "is where releases are cut and tagged" : "both receives PRs and is the release target (single-rung ladder)"}.`
+                      : "An intermediate rung — merged into from the rung above, promoted to the rung below."
+                  }
+                >
+                  <span className="w-20 text-center text-[10px] font-medium uppercase text-muted-foreground">
+                    {role}
+                  </span>
+                </HelpTip>
+                <HelpTip label="Display label for this rung (e.g. 'dev', 'qa') — shown in the panel only, not matched against branch names.">
+                  <span className="flex-1">
+                    <Input
+                      value={rung.name}
+                      onChange={(e) => handleUpdate(index, "name", e.target.value)}
+                      placeholder="Name (e.g. dev, qa, stag)"
+                      className="h-8"
+                    />
+                  </span>
+                </HelpTip>
+                <HelpTip label="The real git branch this rung maps to. Must be unique across rungs; saving rejects an empty or duplicate branch.">
+                  <span className="flex-1">
+                    <Input
+                      value={rung.branch}
+                      onChange={(e) => handleUpdate(index, "branch", e.target.value)}
+                      placeholder="Branch (e.g. dev, master)"
+                      className="h-8"
+                    />
+                  </span>
+                </HelpTip>
                 <Tooltip>
                   <TooltipTrigger asChild>
                     <Button
@@ -166,10 +197,12 @@ export function EnvironmentLadderEditor({
         </div>
       )}
 
-      <Button type="button" variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={handleAdd}>
-        <Plus className="h-4 w-4 mr-1" />
-        Add rung
-      </Button>
+      <HelpTip label="Appends a blank rung at the bottom of the ladder (the new release target) — fill in its name/branch, then reorder with the arrows.">
+        <Button type="button" variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={handleAdd}>
+          <Plus className="h-4 w-4 mr-1" />
+          Add rung
+        </Button>
+      </HelpTip>
 
       <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
         Top to bottom is the promotion flow: <strong>PRs land</strong> on the
diff --git a/panel/src/components/projects/project-filters.tsx b/panel/src/components/projects/project-filters.tsx
index 96932181..f9b98800 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/projects/project-filters.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/projects/project-filters.tsx
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
 import { Badge } from "@/components/ui/badge";
 import { Search, Filter, X } from "lucide-react";
 import { Team } from "@/types";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 
 interface ProjectFiltersProps {
   searchQuery: string;
@@ -57,7 +58,9 @@ export function ProjectFilters({
     <div className="flex flex-col gap-4 sm:flex-row sm:items-center">
       {/* Search */}
       <div className="relative flex-1 max-w-sm">
-        <Search className="absolute left-3 top-1/2 h-4 w-4 -translate-y-1/2 text-muted-foreground" />
+        <HelpTip label="Filters the list below by project name (client-side, case-insensitive substring match).">
+          <Search className="absolute left-3 top-1/2 h-4 w-4 -translate-y-1/2 text-muted-foreground" />
+        </HelpTip>
         <Input
           placeholder="Search projects..."
           value={searchQuery}
@@ -68,17 +71,19 @@ export function ProjectFilters({
 
       {/* Cell Filter */}
       <DropdownMenu>
-        <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
-          <Button variant="outline" className="gap-2">
-            <Filter className="h-4 w-4" />
-            Cell
-            {cellFilter.length > 0 && (
-              <Badge variant="secondary" className="ml-1">
-                {cellFilter.length}
-              </Badge>
-            )}
-          </Button>
-        </DropdownMenuTrigger>
+        <HelpTip label="Show only projects assigned to the checked cells (any match).">
+          <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
+            <Button variant="outline" className="gap-2">
+              <Filter className="h-4 w-4" />
+              Cell
+              {cellFilter.length > 0 && (
+                <Badge variant="secondary" className="ml-1">
+                  {cellFilter.length}
+                </Badge>
+              )}
+            </Button>
+          </DropdownMenuTrigger>
+        </HelpTip>
         <DropdownMenuContent align="start" className="w-48">
           <DropdownMenuLabel>Filter by Cell</DropdownMenuLabel>
           <DropdownMenuSeparator />
@@ -95,20 +100,24 @@ export function ProjectFilters({
       </DropdownMenu>
 
       {/* Show Inactive Toggle */}
-      <Button
-        variant={showInactive ? "default" : "outline"}
-        onClick={() => onShowInactiveChange(!showInactive)}
-        className="gap-2"
-      >
-        {showInactive ? "Showing Inactive" : "Show Inactive"}
-      </Button>
+      <HelpTip label="Include inactive projects — hidden from the default list and skipped as the fallback for idle-agent spawns.">
+        <Button
+          variant={showInactive ? "default" : "outline"}
+          onClick={() => onShowInactiveChange(!showInactive)}
+          className="gap-2"
+        >
+          {showInactive ? "Showing Inactive" : "Show Inactive"}
+        </Button>
+      </HelpTip>
 
       {/* Clear Filters */}
       {hasActiveFilters && (
-        <Button variant="ghost" onClick={clearFilters} className="gap-2">
-          <X className="h-4 w-4" />
-          Clear
-        </Button>
+        <HelpTip label="Resets search, cell filter, and Show Inactive back to defaults.">
+          <Button variant="ghost" onClick={clearFilters} className="gap-2">
+            <X className="h-4 w-4" />
+            Clear
+          </Button>
+        </HelpTip>
       )}
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/panel/src/components/projects/project-selector.tsx b/panel/src/components/projects/project-selector.tsx
index e2cc394b..7c8d218f 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/projects/project-selector.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/projects/project-selector.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
 } from "@/components/ui/select";
 import { Badge } from "@/components/ui/badge";
 import { FolderGit2, X } from "lucide-react";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 
 interface ProjectSelectorProps {
   value: string | null;
@@ -110,10 +111,12 @@ export function ProjectSelector({
               <FolderGit2 className="h-4 w-4" />
               <span>{selectedProject.name}</span>
               {selectedProject.assigned_cell && (
-                <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs">
-                  {TEAM_LABELS[selectedProject.assigned_cell] ||
-                    selectedProject.assigned_cell}
-                </Badge>
+                <HelpTip label="The cell that owns this project — only its agents can claim tasks against it.">
+                  <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs">
+                    {TEAM_LABELS[selectedProject.assigned_cell] ||
+                      selectedProject.assigned_cell}
+                  </Badge>
+                </HelpTip>
               )}
             </div>
           ) : (
diff --git a/panel/src/components/projects/project-table.tsx b/panel/src/components/projects/project-table.tsx
index 372e8ad7..a1e7256d 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/projects/project-table.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/projects/project-table.tsx
@@ -180,11 +180,31 @@ export function ProjectTable({ projects, isLoading }: ProjectTableProps) {
             <Table>
               <TableHeader>
                 <TableRow>
-                  <TableHead>Project</TableHead>
-                  <TableHead>Cell</TableHead>
-                  <TableHead>Tasks</TableHead>
-                  <TableHead>Token</TableHead>
-                  <TableHead>Status</TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="Name and slug; click either to open the edit dialog.">
+                      <span>Project</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="The team that owns this project — only that cell's agents can claim its tasks.">
+                      <span>Cell</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="Done / active / blocked counts across all of this project's tasks.">
+                      <span>Tasks</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="Whether a GitHub PAT is configured for clone/push/PR operations.">
+                      <span>Token</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
+                  <TableHead>
+                    <HelpTip label="Inactive projects are hidden from the default list and skipped as the fallback for idle-agent spawns.">
+                      <span>Status</span>
+                    </HelpTip>
+                  </TableHead>
                   <TableHead className="w-[100px]">Actions</TableHead>
                 </TableRow>
               </TableHeader>
@@ -200,9 +220,11 @@ export function ProjectTable({ projects, isLoading }: ProjectTableProps) {
                         >
                           {project.name}
                         </Button>
-                        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
-                          {project.slug}
-                        </p>
+                        <HelpTip label="Composes each agent's workspace clone path and every branch name for this project.">
+                          <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
+                            {project.slug}
+                          </p>
+                        </HelpTip>
                         {project.ci_watch_enabled && (
                           <div className="mt-1">
                             <CiWatchBadge enabled />
@@ -211,9 +233,11 @@ export function ProjectTable({ projects, isLoading }: ProjectTableProps) {
                       </div>
                     </TableCell>
                     <TableCell>
-                      <Badge className={teamColors[project.assigned_cell]}>
-                        {teamLabels[project.assigned_cell]}
-                      </Badge>
+                      <HelpTip label="Only this cell's agents can claim tasks on this project.">
+                        <Badge className={teamColors[project.assigned_cell]}>
+                          {teamLabels[project.assigned_cell]}
+                        </Badge>
+                      </HelpTip>
                     </TableCell>
                     <TableCell>
                       <TasksCell counts={project.task_counts} />
@@ -271,9 +295,11 @@ export function ProjectTable({ projects, isLoading }: ProjectTableProps) {
                     >
                       {project.name}
                     </Button>
-                    <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
-                      {project.slug}
-                    </p>
+                    <HelpTip label="Composes each agent's workspace clone path and every branch name for this project.">
+                      <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">
+                        {project.slug}
+                      </p>
+                    </HelpTip>
                   </div>
                   <div className="flex shrink-0 items-center gap-1">
                     <HelpTip label="Edit project settings and CI/CD commands">
@@ -306,9 +332,11 @@ export function ProjectTable({ projects, isLoading }: ProjectTableProps) {
                 </div>
                 <div className="mt-3 divide-y">
                   <ResponsiveTableCardRow label="Cell">
-                    <Badge className={teamColors[project.assigned_cell]}>
-                      {teamLabels[project.assigned_cell]}
-                    </Badge>
+                    <HelpTip label="Only this cell's agents can claim tasks on this project.">
+                      <Badge className={teamColors[project.assigned_cell]}>
+                        {teamLabels[project.assigned_cell]}
+                      </Badge>
+                    </HelpTip>
                   </ResponsiveTableCardRow>
                   <ResponsiveTableCardRow label="Tasks">
                     <TasksCell counts={project.task_counts} />
diff --git a/panel/src/components/rate-limit/rate-limit-banner.tsx b/panel/src/components/rate-limit/rate-limit-banner.tsx
index 95696ff5..12d39034 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/rate-limit/rate-limit-banner.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/rate-limit/rate-limit-banner.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { useRateLimitStore } from "@/store/rate-limit-store";
 import { useRateLimitSync } from "@/hooks/use-rate-limit-sync";
 import { useRateLimitWebSocket } from "@/hooks/use-rate-limit-websocket";
 import type { RateLimitEntry } from "@/types/rate-limits";
+import { HelpTip } from "@/components/ui/help-tip";
 
 // =============================================================================
 // Countdown row for a single rate-limited provider
@@ -37,18 +38,26 @@ function RateLimitRow({ entry }: { entry: RateLimitEntry }) {
   return (
     <div className="flex items-center gap-3 px-4 py-2 bg-amber-50 border-b border-amber-300 last:border-b-0">
       <AlertTriangle className="h-4 w-4 text-amber-600 shrink-0" />
-      <span className="text-sm font-medium text-amber-900">
-        {entry.provider}
-      </span>
-      {agentCount > 0 && (
-        <span className="text-sm text-amber-700">
-          {agentCount} agent{agentCount !== 1 ? "s" : ""} affected
+      <HelpTip label="This AI provider hit a rate limit or a persistent overload; every other provider keeps working normally.">
+        <span className="text-sm font-medium text-amber-900">
+          {entry.provider}
         </span>
+      </HelpTip>
+      {agentCount > 0 && (
+        <HelpTip label="Agents that were mid-task on this provider when the limit hit; each resumes automatically once it lifts — no work is lost.">
+          <span className="text-sm text-amber-700">
+            {agentCount} agent{agentCount !== 1 ? "s" : ""} affected
+          </span>
+        </HelpTip>
       )}
-      <span className="text-sm text-amber-700">{secondsLeft}s</span>
-      <span className="text-sm text-amber-800 font-medium ml-auto">
-        operations paused — resuming automatically
-      </span>
+      <HelpTip label="Estimated time until RoboCo retries this provider, based on the retry-after it reported.">
+        <span className="text-sm text-amber-700">{secondsLeft}s</span>
+      </HelpTip>
+      <HelpTip label="New spawns for this provider are queued, not dropped — a background probe-and-resume loop revives parked agents as soon as it's confirmed clear.">
+        <span className="text-sm text-amber-800 font-medium ml-auto">
+          operations paused — resuming automatically
+        </span>
+      </HelpTip>
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/panel/src/components/settings/ai-routing-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/settings/ai-routing-card.tsx
index 55f94ad5..091e54c0 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/settings/ai-routing-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/settings/ai-routing-card.tsx
@@ -527,6 +527,7 @@ export function AIRoutingCard() {
               active={currentMode === "self_hosted"}
               onClick={flipToSelfHosted}
               disabled={applyMode.isPending || !isSelfHostedConnected}
+              labelHint="Unlike Ollama/Grok, self-hosted has no built-in fallback model — pick one in the picker below or the switch fails server-side."
             />
             <ModeButton
               icon={<Cpu className="h-4 w-4" />}
@@ -561,9 +562,11 @@ export function AIRoutingCard() {
           <>
             <Separator />
             <section className="space-y-2">
-              <Label className="text-sm font-medium">
-                Self-Hosted default model
-              </Label>
+              <HelpTip label="Self-hosted has no automatic fallback — clearing this back to '(use server default)' will fail the next time Self-Hosted mode is applied.">
+                <Label className="text-sm font-medium">
+                  Self-Hosted default model
+                </Label>
+              </HelpTip>
               <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
                 Choose which discovered model all agents should use in
                 self-hosted mode.
@@ -782,6 +785,7 @@ function ModeButton({
   disabled,
   onClick,
   highlight,
+  labelHint,
 }: {
   icon: React.ReactNode;
   label: string;
@@ -790,6 +794,8 @@ function ModeButton({
   disabled: boolean;
   onClick: () => void | Promise<void>;
   highlight?: boolean;
+  /** Extra hover context on the label, e.g. a gotcha the always-visible description doesn't cover. */
+  labelHint?: string;
 }) {
   return (
     <Button
@@ -804,11 +810,15 @@ function ModeButton({
     >
       <div className="flex w-full items-center gap-2 text-sm font-medium">
         {icon}
-        <span>{label}</span>
+        <HelpTip label={labelHint}>
+          <span>{label}</span>
+        </HelpTip>
         {active ? (
-          <Badge className="ml-auto bg-primary/15 text-primary border-0 text-xs">
-            active
-          </Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="Currently applied fleet-wide — every agent spawns on this provider until the mode changes again.">
+            <Badge className="ml-auto bg-primary/15 text-primary border-0 text-xs">
+              active
+            </Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         ) : null}
       </div>
       <p className="mt-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground font-normal">
diff --git a/panel/src/components/settings/feature-flags-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/settings/feature-flags-card.tsx
index 3ef5bdfd..433029f2 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/settings/feature-flags-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/settings/feature-flags-card.tsx
@@ -289,7 +289,13 @@ export function FeatureFlagsCard() {
                         size="sm"
                         className="w-full justify-between px-2 text-muted-foreground"
                       >
-                        <span className="text-sm">X (Twitter) credentials</span>
+                        {/* Tip goes on the inner span, not the
+                            CollapsibleTrigger asChild Button — wrapping the
+                            trigger itself would clobber its open/closed
+                            data-state (same trap as Switch/TabsTrigger). */}
+                        <HelpTip label="Only takes effect once x_engine_enabled above is on.">
+                          <span className="text-sm">X (Twitter) credentials</span>
+                        </HelpTip>
                         {xCredsOpen ? (
                           <ChevronDown className="h-4 w-4" />
                         ) : (
@@ -314,7 +320,9 @@ export function FeatureFlagsCard() {
                         size="sm"
                         className="w-full justify-between px-2 text-muted-foreground"
                       >
-                        <span className="text-sm">TikTok credentials</span>
+                        <HelpTip label="Only used for the TikTok distribution leg — needs video_engine_enabled above on, and video only posts once you approve a rendered draft.">
+                          <span className="text-sm">TikTok credentials</span>
+                        </HelpTip>
                         {tiktokCredsOpen ? (
                           <ChevronDown className="h-4 w-4" />
                         ) : (
@@ -339,7 +347,9 @@ export function FeatureFlagsCard() {
                         size="sm"
                         className="w-full justify-between px-2 text-muted-foreground"
                       >
-                        <span className="text-sm">Telegram credentials</span>
+                        <HelpTip label="Only takes effect once telegram_enabled above is on — in-app notifications keep working either way.">
+                          <span className="text-sm">Telegram credentials</span>
+                        </HelpTip>
                         {telegramCredsOpen ? (
                           <ChevronDown className="h-4 w-4" />
                         ) : (
diff --git a/panel/src/components/settings/self-hosted-section.tsx b/panel/src/components/settings/self-hosted-section.tsx
index 85073514..cdceb8a5 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/settings/self-hosted-section.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/settings/self-hosted-section.tsx
@@ -145,16 +145,22 @@ export function SelfHostedSection({
       {/* Header */}
       <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
         <Server className="h-4 w-4 text-muted-foreground" />
-        <Label className="text-sm font-medium">Self-Hosted LLM</Label>
+        <HelpTip label="Routes agents to any locally-run OpenAI-compatible endpoint (Ollama, vLLM, LM Studio) instead of a cloud provider.">
+          <Label className="text-sm font-medium">Self-Hosted LLM</Label>
+        </HelpTip>
         {testResult?.ok === true && (
-          <Badge className="bg-emerald-500/10 text-emerald-600 border-0">
-            <CheckCircle2 className="h-3 w-3" /> connected
-          </Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="The last Test Connection call succeeded — the model list below reflects this endpoint.">
+            <Badge className="bg-emerald-500/10 text-emerald-600 border-0">
+              <CheckCircle2 className="h-3 w-3" /> connected
+            </Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
         {testResult?.ok === false && (
-          <Badge className="bg-red-500/10 text-red-600 border-0">
-            <XCircle className="h-3 w-3" /> error
-          </Badge>
+          <HelpTip label="The last Test Connection call failed — see the error detail below.">
+            <Badge className="bg-red-500/10 text-red-600 border-0">
+              <XCircle className="h-3 w-3" /> error
+            </Badge>
+          </HelpTip>
         )}
       </div>
 
@@ -216,9 +222,11 @@ export function SelfHostedSection({
               </Button>
             </HelpTip>
           </div>
-          <Button onClick={handleSave} disabled={saveConfig.isPending}>
-            {saveConfig.isPending ? "Saving…" : "Save"}
-          </Button>
+          <HelpTip label="Saves the Base URL above together with any token typed here, in one combined config — not just this token.">
+            <Button onClick={handleSave} disabled={saveConfig.isPending}>
+              {saveConfig.isPending ? "Saving…" : "Save"}
+            </Button>
+          </HelpTip>
         </div>
         {config?.has_token && (
           <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
@@ -336,24 +344,26 @@ export function SelfHostedSection({
                 </span>
               </HelpTip>
             </p>
-            <Button
-              variant="ghost"
-              size="sm"
-              onClick={handleRefresh}
-              disabled={refreshModels.isPending}
-            >
-              {refreshModels.isPending ? (
-                <>
-                  <RefreshCw className="mr-1.5 h-3 w-3 animate-spin" />
-                  Refreshing…
-                </>
-              ) : (
-                <>
-                  <RefreshCw className="mr-1.5 h-3 w-3" />
-                  Refresh Models
-                </>
-              )}
-            </Button>
+            <HelpTip label="Re-queries the endpoint's model list only — doesn't re-run the connection test above.">
+              <Button
+                variant="ghost"
+                size="sm"
+                onClick={handleRefresh}
+                disabled={refreshModels.isPending}
+              >
+                {refreshModels.isPending ? (
+                  <>
+                    <RefreshCw className="mr-1.5 h-3 w-3 animate-spin" />
+                    Refreshing…
+                  </>
+                ) : (
+                  <>
+                    <RefreshCw className="mr-1.5 h-3 w-3" />
+                    Refresh Models
+                  </>
+                )}
+              </Button>
+            </HelpTip>
           </div>
           <div className="divide-y rounded-md border">
             {models.map((m) => (
diff --git a/panel/src/components/settings/telegram-credentials-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/settings/telegram-credentials-card.tsx
index edda81e3..b670ee8b 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/settings/telegram-credentials-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/settings/telegram-credentials-card.tsx
@@ -69,19 +69,22 @@ export function TelegramCredentialsForm() {
 
       <div className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border p-3">
         {status?.has_credentials ? (
-          <>
+          <HelpTip label="Bot token + chat id are both stored — CEO notifications also DM via Telegram alongside the in-app bell.">
             <Key className="h-4 w-4 text-green-500" />
-            <span className="text-sm text-green-600 dark:text-green-400">
-              Credentials are set
-            </span>
-          </>
+          </HelpTip>
         ) : (
-          <>
+          <HelpTip label="Missing — notifications stay in-app only; nothing sends over Telegram until both fields below are set.">
             <KeyRound className="h-4 w-4 text-amber-500" />
-            <span className="text-sm text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400">
-              {isLoading ? "Checking..." : "No credentials configured"}
-            </span>
-          </>
+          </HelpTip>
+        )}
+        {status?.has_credentials ? (
+          <span className="text-sm text-green-600 dark:text-green-400">
+            Credentials are set
+          </span>
+        ) : (
+          <span className="text-sm text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400">
+            {isLoading ? "Checking..." : "No credentials configured"}
+          </span>
         )}
       </div>
 
diff --git a/panel/src/components/settings/tiktok-credentials-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/settings/tiktok-credentials-card.tsx
index c4c7c912..2746283d 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/settings/tiktok-credentials-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/settings/tiktok-credentials-card.tsx
@@ -88,19 +88,22 @@ export function TikTokCredentialsForm() {
 
       <div className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border p-3">
         {status?.has_credentials ? (
-          <>
+          <HelpTip label="All 4 OAuth2 secrets are stored — approved video drafts can post to TikTok's inbox-upload.">
             <Key className="h-4 w-4 text-green-500" />
-            <span className="text-sm text-green-600 dark:text-green-400">
-              Credentials are set
-            </span>
-          </>
+          </HelpTip>
         ) : (
-          <>
+          <HelpTip label="Missing at least one secret — video drafts still render and queue but can't post to TikTok until all 4 are set.">
             <KeyRound className="h-4 w-4 text-amber-500" />
-            <span className="text-sm text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400">
-              {isLoading ? "Checking..." : "No credentials configured"}
-            </span>
-          </>
+          </HelpTip>
+        )}
+        {status?.has_credentials ? (
+          <span className="text-sm text-green-600 dark:text-green-400">
+            Credentials are set
+          </span>
+        ) : (
+          <span className="text-sm text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400">
+            {isLoading ? "Checking..." : "No credentials configured"}
+          </span>
         )}
       </div>
 
diff --git a/panel/src/components/settings/x-credentials-card.tsx b/panel/src/components/settings/x-credentials-card.tsx
index d0108144..8da62e7d 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/settings/x-credentials-card.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/settings/x-credentials-card.tsx
@@ -86,19 +86,22 @@ export function XCredentialsForm() {
 
       <div className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border p-3">
         {status?.has_credentials ? (
-          <>
+          <HelpTip label="All 4 secrets are stored — approved posts in the X queue can actually publish.">
             <Key className="h-4 w-4 text-green-500" />
-            <span className="text-sm text-green-600 dark:text-green-400">
-              Credentials are set
-            </span>
-          </>
+          </HelpTip>
         ) : (
-          <>
+          <HelpTip label="Missing at least one secret — drafts still queue for review but can't post until all 4 are set.">
             <KeyRound className="h-4 w-4 text-amber-500" />
-            <span className="text-sm text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400">
-              {isLoading ? "Checking..." : "No credentials configured"}
-            </span>
-          </>
+          </HelpTip>
+        )}
+        {status?.has_credentials ? (
+          <span className="text-sm text-green-600 dark:text-green-400">
+            Credentials are set
+          </span>
+        ) : (
+          <span className="text-sm text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400">
+            {isLoading ? "Checking..." : "No credentials configured"}
+          </span>
         )}
       </div>