diff --git a/ALIGNMENT.md b/ALIGNMENT.md
index b449d44..2e6f2b2 100644
--- a/ALIGNMENT.md
+++ b/ALIGNMENT.md
@@ -47,20 +47,12 @@ Pick A. Update perf.hpp + every `nisps/` use site.
 
 ### 5. RMSProp deferred from `nisps/ml/` (2026-04-29)
 
-**What.** The legacy MLP supported both SGD and RMSProp paths. Stream 2 shipped only SGD as MVP. The architecture spec called for both. Documented as "follow-up bd issue when needed".
+**What.** The legacy MLP supported both SGD and RMSProp paths. Stream 2 shipped only SGD as MVP. The architecture spec called for both. Documented as a follow-up Ergo task when needed.
 
 **Why it blocks the mission.** Optimizer choice is one of the things research wants to vary. Not blocking for the current XOR-style fits, but as soon as we tune for harder loss landscapes, RMSProp will matter.
 
 **Rough cost.** A day. Port the firmware's RMSProp from `src/memlp/MLP.cpp:415-543` (decay 0.9, epsilon 1e-6, gradient accumulation, batch size). Add tests for batch training convergence.
 
-### 6. bd Dolt remote sync flaky (2026-04-29)
-
-**What.** During the rewrite, `bd close` repeatedly failed with "database `beads_meml` not found on Dolt server" or similar lock conflicts. Several agent-side bd closures could not be performed and have orchestrator-side closure notes instead. May leave stream issues in inconsistent states.
-
-**Why it blocks the mission.** Beads is the canonical task tracker; if it can't reliably sync, future agents lose visibility into what's done vs in-progress.
-
-**Rough cost.** Investigate Dolt server config + lock semantics. Out of scope for the rewrite itself.
-
 ## Open mission questions
 
 ### Q1: Per-mode MLP architectures or one shared shape? (2026-04-29)
diff --git a/MAP.md b/MAP.md
index 5da104e..4a98d78 100644
--- a/MAP.md
+++ b/MAP.md
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ the "BUILD DELTAS" block at the top of `docs/specs/vcv-module.md`). `src/MEMLNau
 - `MAP.md` — this file.
 - `ALIGNMENT.md` — strategic gaps + open mission questions, dated, opinionated.
 - `README.md` — short quickstart.
-- `AGENTS.md` — beads/bd conventions.
+- `AGENTS.md` — canonical agent contract: architecture, build/test, scope, and Ergo workflow.
 
 ## Entry points
 
diff --git a/docs/specs/_archive/tiered-plan-README.md b/docs/specs/_archive/tiered-plan-README.md
index 0444805..53d87d7 100644
--- a/docs/specs/_archive/tiered-plan-README.md
+++ b/docs/specs/_archive/tiered-plan-README.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ T2  Architecture & Contracts
      ├ playground architecture
      └ backends architecture
 T3  Component Design   →  core | playground | firmware | backends   (branches per product)
-T4  Implementation specifics  →  (same branches)  →  spawn bd issues/epics
+T4  Implementation specifics  →  (same branches)  →  spawn Ergo tasks/epics
 ```
 
 Files:
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Files:
 | T1 | `T1-capabilities-and-principles.md` | **draft — awaiting audit** |
 | T2 | `T2-architecture-and-contracts.md` (+ per-product sections) | not started |
 | T3 | `T3-component-design/{core,playground,firmware,backends}.md` | not started |
-| T4 | `T4-implementation/{core,playground,firmware,backends}.md` → beads | not started |
+| T4 | `T4-implementation/{core,playground,firmware,backends}.md` → Ergo | not started |
 | — | `00-decisions-log.md` | the interview outcomes that seed these tiers |
 | ref | `slp-workshop-firmware.md` | **evolving** — SLP-Workshop: Part I shipped (mode + Jolt / OU-explore gestures), Part II planned (output modes, gate sequences, Manifold config UX) |
 
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ only made *downstream* of a tier when that tier itself got something wrong. So:
 
 1. T0 + T1 are reviewed and approved first (they constrain everything).
 2. Only then is T2 authored; reviewed; approved.
-3. Only then T3; then T4 → beads → execution.
+3. Only then T3; then T4 → Ergo → execution.
 
 If review of a lower tier reveals that an upper tier is wrong, **fix the upper tier first**, then propagate.
 Every tier file ends with a "Traces up to" line citing the tier(s) above it that justify its content.
diff --git a/nisps/ml/training.hpp b/nisps/ml/training.hpp
index 173fbec..f0adea7 100644
--- a/nisps/ml/training.hpp
+++ b/nisps/ml/training.hpp
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@
 // Optimizer choice: this MVP ships SGD only. RMSProp is planned (the legacy
 // firmware uses it for `TrainBatch`) but the playground was using plain SGD
 // until very recently and the XOR-convergence benchmark in the test suite
-// is the clearer target. RMSProp can land as a follow-up — see the bd
-// issue notes. For now `train()` is SGD with optional sample-weight
+// is the clearer target. RMSProp can land as a follow-up — see the Ergo
+// task notes. For now `train()` is SGD with optional sample-weight
 // scaling and gradient clipping.
 
 #pragma once