diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index bebd9c9..59a22cf 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -23,6 +23,55 @@ and CI clones it at HEAD rather than vendoring a copy. That coupling is
 deliberate — the harness carries the spec, and a relay tested against a pinned
 old harness is tested against a pinned old spec.
 
+## Issues and merge requests
+
+Work is tracked in GitLab issues, one per thing, in the repository where the fix
+lands. Four repositories carry this project (see above), so an issue about the
+apps does not belong here just because the relay noticed it.
+
+Cross-project references work and should be used: `paulhitt/flamenet-e2e#1`
+renders as a link from any of the four. Use them rather than restating the other
+issue, so the two never drift.
+
+A branch is named `<issue>-<slug>` — `1-metadata-sealed-rosters`. The merge
+request opens with **`Closes #N`** on its own line, which links the two and shuts
+the issue on merge. Without it the issue stays open after the fix ships and
+somebody re-does the work.
+
+⚠️ `Closes #N` is resolved **in the repository the branch is pushed to**. Getting
+the repository wrong does not error — it silently points at whatever issue holds
+that number there, or at nothing. Check `git remote get-url origin` before you
+commit, not after you push.
+
+### Labels
+
+| label | means |
+|---|---|
+| `accuracy` | A public page or doc claims something the code does not do |
+| `privacy` | Changes what is stored, or what we say is stored |
+| `parity` | One platform has it and the other does not |
+| `unwired` | Built in the engine, not reachable from the UI |
+| `ops` | Deploy, CI, infrastructure |
+| `blocked:apple` | Waiting on App Store review |
+
+`accuracy` outranks the rest. A page that overstates what we protect is worse
+than a missing feature: somebody reads it and decides what to say on this
+network. Fix those first, and fix them in the direction of claiming *less*.
+
+🔴 **`unwired` is not a nice-to-have.** Engine work that no screen reaches
+protects nobody, and it is the failure this project keeps repeating — sealed
+rosters, group names and delivery capabilities all landed in the engine well
+before any UI called them. An issue that only closes half of that is not closed.
+
+### What an issue should carry
+
+The evidence, not the impression. A path and line, a query and its output, a
+`grep` and what it printed. "Groups may still be plaintext" ages badly; `4
+plaintext, 0 sealed` does not, and tells the next person how to re-check it.
+
+Say what "done" is as a checklist, and include the verification step — the thing
+somebody runs to prove it, not just the thing they change.
+
 ## Building and testing
 
 Swift **6.1** — pinned, and pinned to match `Dockerfile`. Not 6.0: postgres-kit