diff --git a/deploy/README.md b/deploy/README.md
index 286eab3..03996b8 100644
--- a/deploy/README.md
+++ b/deploy/README.md
@@ -1,18 +1,26 @@
 # tenant-engine production deployment
 
-Manifests recovered from the live objects'
-`kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration` on 2026-08-14 so that a
-rollback does not depend on a cluster annotation. Applied originally during
-TEN-WP-0004; TEN-WP-0005 keeps them in-repo and pins by digest.
+**Apply home moving to `rapp-tenant-engine`.** These files remain the source of the absorbed manifests until that package is the operator apply path.
+
+
+The original manifests were recovered from live objects on 2026-08-14. The
+repository now carries the reviewed **post-cutover desired state** from
+TEN-WP-0009. It is not evidence that PostgreSQL has been provisioned or that
+the live SQLite deployment has moved.
 
 | File | Deployment | Service DNS |
 | --- | --- | --- |
 | `tenant-engine.yaml` | `tenant-engine` | `tenant-engine.tenant-engine.svc.cluster.local:8090` |
 
-The file is a five-document manifest: `Namespace`, `PersistentVolumeClaim`,
-`Deployment`, `Service`, and a least-privilege `NetworkPolicy`. Ingress is
-restricted to the `user-engine` workload; egress is restricted to
-`flex-auth-tenant-engine` on 8080 plus cluster DNS.
+`tenant-engine.yaml` declares `Namespace`, rolling `Deployment`, `Service`,
+`ServiceAccount`, and least-privilege `NetworkPolicy`. Ingress is restricted
+to `user-engine`; egress is restricted to `platform-pg` in `databases`,
+`flex-auth-tenant-engine`, and cluster DNS. PostgreSQL and flex-auth caller
+credentials are projected as files so clients can re-read them on rotation.
+
+`tenant-engine-migration.yaml` is the separate schema-migration Job and its
+egress policy. The pinned image in both files must contain the PostgreSQL code
+and migration before either manifest is applied.
 
 ## Rolling out an image
 
@@ -26,14 +34,45 @@ git push origin main
 # 2. Take the immutable digest from the workflow's "Report immutable digest"
 #    step -- deploy by digest, never by tag
 
-# 3. Edit the image digest in deploy/tenant-engine.yaml, then apply
+# 3. Provision the rapp-postgres consumer and credential projections.
+# 4. Run the schema migration Job with the migration-role lease.
+# 5. Follow the stopped-write transfer below; only then apply the runtime.
 kubectl apply -f deploy/tenant-engine.yaml
 kubectl -n tenant-engine rollout status deploy/tenant-engine --timeout=120s
 ```
 
-The Deployment uses `Recreate` because the SQLite PVC is `ReadWriteOnce`.
-A new pod applies the forward-only lifecycle migration on startup against
-the existing database.
+The desired Deployment uses `RollingUpdate`; schema migration is never a
+runtime startup side effect. Keep replicas at one until recovery and caller
+latency evidence justifies otherwise.
+
+## Stopped-write SQLite transfer
+
+This is an operator cutover, not an application startup step:
+
+1. Scale the live SQLite Deployment to zero and verify no pod holds the PVC.
+2. Snapshot or copy the SQLite file without modifying it.
+3. Apply `deploy/tenant-engine-migration.yaml` with the new immutable image and
+   wait for success.
+4. Run the transfer under the migration-role URL:
+
+   ```bash
+   tenant-engine-transfer \
+     --sqlite /path/to/stopped/tenant-engine.db \
+     --url-file /path/to/migration-url \
+     --expect-tenant tenant:trial:portalcheck=active:1 \
+     --expect-tenant tenant:trial:ten-wp-0005-t05=retired:5 \
+     --evidence-output docs/evidence/TEN-WP-0009-cutover.json
+   ```
+
+   The target must be empty. The command transfers every table in one
+   transaction, preserves event sequence values and nullable legacy
+   timestamps, then compares every row and emits only counts, digests, and the
+   requested lifecycle/version spot checks.
+5. Apply the runtime desired state, require `/health` to report
+   `store_backend: postgresql`, and execute the TEN-WP-0007 live verification
+   list.
+6. Retain the stopped SQLite PVC, access-restricted, through the recorded soak.
+   Do not run two writable authorities.
 
 ## Detecting pin drift
 
@@ -75,6 +114,13 @@ that cost us a round trip.
 kubectl -n tenant-engine rollout undo deploy/tenant-engine
 ```
 
+Before the first PostgreSQL write, reattaching the stopped SQLite PVC is a
+recoverable rollback. After any PostgreSQL write, that file is stale and must
+not be made authoritative; rollback means restore or reverse-transfer from
+PostgreSQL under a new operator plan. The repository desired manifest does not
+carry the PVC, so pre-cutover rollback also requires the retained previous
+manifest/revision.
+
 If the ReplicaSet history has been pruned, re-apply the manifest with the
 last-known-good digest below.