diff --git a/docs/ci.md b/docs/ci.md
index 6db8cafc..06d36cb1 100644
--- a/docs/ci.md
+++ b/docs/ci.md
@@ -56,10 +56,19 @@ never writes to that status slot. Reproduced with three dispatches on one
 PR over 20+ minutes, all genuinely green, the PR's own status unmoved
 throughout. There is no known token-accessible way around this — the
 actual "rerun" web-UI button reruns the *same* run under the *same* event
-type, but is CSRF-gated (see `ci_rerun.rs`'s own doc comment for why the
-dispatch API is used instead). **Always re-check `pr-status` after a
-dispatch and believe what it says; only a new commit is guaranteed to move
-a stuck context.**
+type, and that's the only thing that reliably moves the status, but it's
+CSRF-gated (see `ci_rerun.rs`'s own doc comment for why an agent's token
+uses the dispatch API instead). **Always re-check `pr-status` after a
+dispatch and believe what it says. Don't push a commit just to unwedge a
+stuck status — that's the empty-commit anti-pattern this verb exists to
+avoid, and it doesn't even work reliably for the same reason `ci-rerun`
+doesn't (a brand-new commit's own `pull_request` run is genuine, but
+convincing yourself the diff needed a commit it didn't is the actual
+problem).** If the code is verified green — read the dispatched run's own
+log (`hive-forge ci-log --run <n> --job 0`; the verdict is its last line,
+`Job succeeded`/`Job failed`) — but the status is stuck, that's an
+operator action, not an agent one: ask them to click "rerun" on the PR in
+the forge web UI.
 
 ### Running checks locally