diff --git a/.cursor/rules/learnings-index.mdc b/.cursor/rules/learnings-index.mdc
index bef5c53..7d30d34 100644
--- a/.cursor/rules/learnings-index.mdc
+++ b/.cursor/rules/learnings-index.mdc
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ propose a retirement, a consolidation, or a glob-scoped sub-index split.
   step that must run after one (installed stamp, hygiene hooks): project
   `run:` commands exec-replace the dev process, so nothing after
   `cmd.execute` in Runner#run runs for them — post-command work needs a
-  builtin or spawn-and-wait (dev#85).
+  builtin or CommandRunner wait mode (dev#85).
   → .cursor/skills/learnings/command-runner-exec/
 
 ## toolchain
diff --git a/.cursor/skills/learnings/command-runner-exec/SKILL.md b/.cursor/skills/learnings/command-runner-exec/SKILL.md
index 68bc724..1c04db6 100644
--- a/.cursor/skills/learnings/command-runner-exec/SKILL.md
+++ b/.cursor/skills/learnings/command-runner-exec/SKILL.md
@@ -8,31 +8,33 @@ description: >-
 
 # CommandRunner exec ends the dev process
 
-`Dev::CommandRunner` runs project `run:` commands with `Kernel.exec` — the
-dev process is replaced, so nothing after `cmd.execute` in
+`Dev::CommandRunner` runs project `run:` commands with `Kernel.exec` by
+default — the dev process is replaced, so nothing after `cmd.execute` in
 `Dev::Runner#run` executes for a yaml-declared command, nor for an
-`OverriddenCommand` whose body is one. Post-execute steps only ever run
-for fully in-process builtins — which makes this an input to command
-placement: a builtin can carry post-steps, a `run:` command cannot.
+`OverriddenCommand` whose body is one. Must-happen work cannot sit after
+a maybe-exec point: it lives in a fully in-process builtin, or the
+command must run in CommandRunner's wait mode.
 
 Wrong — a follow-up step after execute, expecting it for every command:
 
     cmd.execute(args:, context:)
     stamp_installed(cmd_name, context.project_root) # skipped on exec
 
-Also wrong: hoisting the step before execute, when it records an outcome
+Also wrong: hoisting the step before execute when it records an outcome
 (the stamp means "provisioning *succeeded*" — stamping first marks a
-failed `dev up` as installed). Success-contingent work needs the command
-to run in-process: spawn-and-wait with the exit status propagated, not
-exec-replace — that fix is dev#85. Only outcome-independent work may
-move before the exec point.
+failed `dev up` as installed). Only outcome-independent work may move
+before the exec point.
 
-Observed symptom: in a repo whose dev.yml defines `up:`, `dev up` exec's
-into the project's up command and never reaches `stamp_installed`, so the
-staleness gate keeps reporting "never installed" — fatal in a CI=true
-shell. `dev install-deps` stays in-process and stamps. Check this before
-suspecting the staleness digests themselves.
+Right (dev#85): Runner sets `wait: true` on ExecutionContext for
+`STAMPING_COMMANDS` (`up`, `install-deps`); CommandRunner then runs the
+child spawn-and-wait (`Kernel.system`) instead of exec-replace, raising
+`CommandFailedError` with the child's exit status on failure, which
+Runner turns into `Kernel.exit` — stamp only on success, exit code
+preserved. Generic `run:` commands keep the exec tail-call (TTY/signal
+passthrough, no double process tree). Diagnostic signature of a missing
+wait: an exec-style provisioning command "succeeds" but the staleness
+gate keeps reporting "never installed" — fatal in a CI=true shell.
 
-learned-from: dev#73 build pass (dev up never stamped; install-deps did);
-the sequencing bug itself is dev#85
-date: 2026-08-02
+learned-from: dev#73 build pass (dev up never stamped; install-deps
+did); fixed by CommandRunner wait mode in dev#85
+date: 2026-08-03