diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 012cec1b3..be79bfa3a 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -148,6 +148,45 @@ agents must apply this skill before changing or evaluating Python code.
   handling, casts, or unapproved fallback logic
 - **No guessing**: Do not say "The issue is..." before you actually know what the issue is. Investigate first.
 
+### Consistency Model — Review Expectations
+
+Basic Memory separates canonical state from derived state, and reviews (human or automated)
+must hold them to different standards:
+
+- **Canonical state** — the markdown bytes of a note (on disk and as accepted
+  `note_content`). Writes are guarded: CAS on `db_version`, generation fences,
+  checksum-guarded file operations. Corrupting, wrongly rewriting, or wrongly deleting note
+  content is always a real finding, in every code path — materialization writes canonical
+  bytes into their portable file form, so the file's *content* is never "just a projection".
+- **Derived state** — entity file metadata, observation/relation graph rows, search index
+  rows, and materialization status/lineage (file versions, checksums, write status, *when*
+  a file catches up to its accepted row). This is **eventually consistent by design**. It
+  converges through the next write, the next index pass, `reindex`, or the scheduled orphan
+  sweeper (cloud). Stale writers no-op on generation fences instead of blocking; concurrent
+  races resolve last-writer-wins.
+
+Deadlocks are always worse than temporary staleness. Do NOT raise review findings that
+propose, for derived-state paths:
+
+- adding `SELECT ... FOR UPDATE` or wider/shared transactions — this class of "fix" caused
+  the production deadlock clusters (#1213, #1224) and the silent observation duplication
+  (#1214). (Code that legitimately takes locks must still follow the canonical
+  NoteContent-first order documented by `current_relation_generation_statement`; flagging a
+  violation of that ordering IS a real finding — the ban is on adding serialization, not on
+  policing the existing protocol.);
+- adding compensating re-checks, retry markers, or two-phase machinery for races whose
+  drift self-heals on a later write or index pass;
+- treating a window where a projection lags its canonical source as a bug, including rare
+  transient-failure windows that a later edit, `reindex`, or the orphan sweeper repairs.
+  (`doctor` diagnoses in a temporary project; it is not a repair mechanism and does not
+  count as one.)
+
+A derived-state race is a real finding only when it converges to a *wrong* state that no
+existing mechanism repairs, with a realistically hittable window. Name that non-converging
+end state explicitly and the mechanism gap; otherwise do not raise it. When in doubt,
+prefer the smaller, lock-free design and note the alternative in the PR discussion instead
+of a review finding.
+
 ### Literate Programming Style
 
 Code should tell a story. Comments must explain the "why" and narrative flow, not just the "what".