diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 97d7c82..1f60a80 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,61 +11,14 @@ single Go service with the React PWA embedded in the binary.
 > `/health`, embedded PWA skeleton, Makefile, Dockerfile, CI). The planned
 > application is described in [docs/ARCHITECTURE.md](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md).
 
-## Quick start
+## Running it locally
 
-Requirements: Go 1.25 and Node.js `^22.22.2 || ^24.15.0 || >=26.0.0` — that
-is, 22.22.2 or later on the 22 line, 24.15.0 or later on the 24 line, or 26.0.0
-or later. Node.js 23, 24.0–24.14 and 25 are not supported: this is the
-`engines` range of jsdom in the committed lockfile, the strictest of all the
-web dependencies.
-
-```sh
-(cd web && npm ci)
-mkdir -p ~/.mealquest-dev   # outside the repository: it holds a secret
-chmod 700 ~/.mealquest-dev
-head -c 32 /dev/urandom | base64 > ~/.mealquest-dev/secret_key
-chmod 600 ~/.mealquest-dev/secret_key
-export MEALQUEST_HTTP_ADDR=:8080
-export MEALQUEST_PUBLIC_URL=http://localhost:5173
-export MEALQUEST_DATA_DIR="$HOME/.mealquest-dev"
-export MEALQUEST_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT=10s
-export MEALQUEST_SECRET_KEY_FILE="$HOME/.mealquest-dev/secret_key"
-# Authentik OAuth2/OpenID provider for MealQuest (redirect URI:
-# $MEALQUEST_PUBLIC_URL/auth/callback). Save its client secret to the file.
-export MEALQUEST_OIDC_ISSUER=https://auth.example.com/application/o/mealquest/
-export MEALQUEST_OIDC_CLIENT_ID=mealquest
-export MEALQUEST_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE="$HOME/.mealquest-dev/oidc_client_secret"
-export MEALQUEST_OIDC_ALLOWED_GROUPS=mealquest-admin
-# Optional: sessions end after MEALQUEST_SESSION_IDLE unused (default 720h)
-# and always MEALQUEST_SESSION_MAX after sign-in (default 4320h).
-# export MEALQUEST_SESSION_IDLE=720h
-# export MEALQUEST_SESSION_MAX=4320h
-# Optional: comma-separated IPs/CIDRs of reverse proxies whose
-# X-Forwarded-For/-Proto headers are honoured (production: Traefik). Unset
-# trusts no peer, which is right for local development.
-# export MEALQUEST_TRUSTED_PROXY=10.60.1.33
-# Optional: a SearXNG instance the Settings screen suggests as the recipe
-# search URL until one is saved.
-# export MEALQUEST_SEARXNG_URL=http://localhost:8888
-export MEALQUEST_DEFAULT_TZ=America/New_York
-make dev
-```
-
-`make dev` runs the Go server on `:8080` and the Vite dev server on `:5173`
-(which proxies `/api`, `/auth` and `/media` to `:8080`). Open
-http://localhost:5173. Configuration is environment-only and fails fast:
-every variable above is required except the commented-out session
-lifetimes (when set they must be positive, with MAX at least IDLE),
-trusted proxy list (every entry must be an IP or CIDR), the SearXNG URL
-(an absolute `http://` or `https://` URL without credentials, a query or a
-fragment) and `MEALQUEST_DEFAULT_TZ`, and
-secrets are read only from files named by `*_FILE` variables. `MEALQUEST_PUBLIC_URL`, `MEALQUEST_OIDC_ISSUER` and the
-endpoints the issuer advertises must be `https://`; plain `http://` is
-accepted only for `localhost`, `127.0.0.1` and `[::1]`.
-`MEALQUEST_DEFAULT_TZ` is the IANA zone the household settings are created
-with on first boot: until those settings exist, boot fails unless it is a
-valid IANA zone. Later boots ignore it, set or not (change the zone in
-household settings instead).
+The developer setup (prerequisites, Authentik and Google clients, the
+`MEALQUEST_*` environment, `make dev` and the optional SearXNG sidecar) is
+runbook information and lives in CTXD: project `mealquest`, file
+`RUNBOOKS.MD`, section "Local development". Configuration is read only from
+the environment, and the service refuses to start, naming every missing or
+invalid variable.
 
 ## Common commands
 
@@ -78,7 +31,8 @@ household settings instead).
 
 ## Where to read next
 
-- [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) — house rules, approved dependencies, conventions.
+- [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) — house rules, approved dependencies, the quality
+  floor every change must pass, repository layout, conventions.
 - [docs/ARCHITECTURE.md](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) — architecture of record.
 - [design/MealQuest Requirements.md](design/MealQuest%20Requirements.md) — product requirements.
 - [design/MealQuest UI Designs/design_handoff_mealquest/README.md](design/MealQuest%20UI%20Designs/design_handoff_mealquest/README.md) — UI handoff.