diff --git a/hive-priv/src/userns.rs b/hive-priv/src/userns.rs
index c812db28..42be68b8 100644
--- a/hive-priv/src/userns.rs
+++ b/hive-priv/src/userns.rs
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ const MARKER_ROOT: &str = "/var/lib/hive-priv/userns";
 const MIN_AGENT_UID: u32 = 1000;
 
 /// The dirs under `<AGENT_STATE_ROOT>/<agent>` the agent writes into. `config`
-/// is not one of them: hive-core writes it and the agent only reads it.
+/// is not one of them: hive-core writes it and the agent only reads it. `state`
+/// stays first: [`move_data`] opens it by name and opens the rest from `[1..]`.
 const DATA_DIRS: [&str; 4] = ["state", "harness", "work", "claude"];
 
 /// Where one call looks and writes, and what it was told.
@@ -729,6 +730,12 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// `move_data` opens `state` by name and takes the other dirs from `DATA_DIRS[1..]`.
+    #[test]
+    fn state_is_the_first_data_dir() {
+        assert_eq!(super::DATA_DIRS[0], "state");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn a_path_is_not_an_agent_name() {
         let root = tree();