diff --git a/.opencode/models/README.md b/.opencode/models/README.md
index 1b3c74704..6b432513d 100644
--- a/.opencode/models/README.md
+++ b/.opencode/models/README.md
@@ -15,6 +15,43 @@ Two kinds of files live here:
 
 Two paths read from this directory; both honour the same convention.
 
+### ⚠️ Operational footgun: editing a `.txt` file does NOT live-update generation
+
+This is the single highest-leverage operational fact in this directory.
+**Both paths below require an OpenCode server restart for an edit to a
+`.txt` file to actually change what model OpenCode runs.** The dispatcher
+PASSES the resolved model on every `POST /session`, but empirical
+testing against OpenCode 0.x found that OpenCode re-resolves
+`agent.<name>.model` from its own startup-cached `opencode.json` every
+generation — the dispatcher's pass-through is recorded in the session
+metadata for observability/auditability, **not** consumed by the
+generation path. See the long comment in
+[`tools/_opencode_worker.py`](../../tools/_opencode_worker.py)
+(`run_session_blocking`, around the `POST /session` body assembly).
+
+The implication an operator MUST internalise:
+
+1. Edit `.opencode/models/<role>.txt` (or `tiers.yaml` + regen).
+2. **Restart OpenCode** (`pkill -f 'opencode serve'` then re-launch).
+3. Verify with `tools/audit_opencode_session_models.py` (or by reading
+   a fresh session's metadata) that the new model is in effect.
+
+Skipping step 2 produces the worst kind of silent regression: the
+dispatcher's logs say it requested the new model, the cycle archive
+records the new model, but OpenCode generates with the old cached
+value. There is no in-process diagnostic that surfaces the mismatch —
+it is invisible from the dispatcher side.
+
+The G11 estimator-driven adaptive tier selection
+([final-working-harvest-plan.md](../../docs/development/final-working-harvest-plan.md)
+§ G11) and the in-cycle escalation plan
+([implementer-in-cycle-escalation-plan.md](../../docs/development/implementer-in-cycle-escalation-plan.md))
+both depend on the worker actually generating with the
+dispatcher-requested model. If model swaps land without a restart,
+those features silently misbehave (a Tier 1 escalation will run on the
+previously-cached Tier 0 model and produce the same outcome the Tier 0
+attempt produced — exactly the cycle they were meant to break out of).
+
 ### Runtime (dispatcher path)
 
 `tools/_opencode_worker.py` resolves a model for an agent by:
@@ -22,12 +59,16 @@ Two paths read from this directory; both honour the same convention.
 1. Looking for `.opencode/models/<agent-name>.txt`.
 2. If absent, falling back to `.opencode/models/default.txt`.
 3. Parsing the single line as `providerID/modelID` and passing it as the
-   `model` field on `POST /session` and `POST /session/{id}/prompt_async`.
+   `model` field on `POST /session`.
 
 This is the path used by `dispatch_review.py`, `dispatch_implementer.py`,
 `conflict_drive.py`, and any other code that calls
-`_opencode_worker.run_session_blocking`. Changes to a `.txt` file take effect
-on the **next dispatched session** — no OpenCode restart needed.
+`_opencode_worker.run_session_blocking`. The dispatcher includes the
+resolved model on every session so the cycle archive carries the
+**intended** model — but per the footgun above, OpenCode's generation
+uses its startup-cached `agent.<name>.model` from `opencode.json`. Both
+sides must agree, which is why an OpenCode restart after a `.txt` edit
+remains required.
 
 ### Static (OpenCode config path)
 
@@ -54,9 +95,14 @@ python3 tools/sync_tier_models.py
 # 3. Verify everything stays in sync (CI also runs this)
 python3 tools/sync_tier_models.py --check    # exits 0 = clean
 
-# 4. Pick up the new model on the next dispatch — runtime path re-reads
-#    .txt files per cycle, no restart needed. Static path (interactive
-#    sessions, Task-tool subagents) requires an OpenCode restart.
+# 4. RESTART OpenCode so the new model actually takes effect.
+#    The dispatcher records the new model on every POST /session,
+#    but OpenCode generates from its startup-cached opencode.json —
+#    skipping the restart is the silent-regression footgun called
+#    out at the top of this README.
+pkill -f 'opencode serve' && /usr/local/bin/opencode serve &  # or your launcher
+
+# 5. Verify the new model is actually in effect on the next dispatch.
 python3 tools/dispatch_implementer.py --once
 ```