diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aabd3f4..184a4fa 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ Control plane:
 - [`schemas/sourceos.process-provenance.v0.1.schema.json`](schemas/sourceos.process-provenance.v0.1.schema.json)
 - [`schemas/sourceos-event.schema.json`](schemas/sourceos-event.schema.json)
 - [`schemas/sourceos-service.schema.json`](schemas/sourceos-service.schema.json)
-- [`schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json`](schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json)
+- [`schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json`](schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json) — **not runtime-enforced.** Shape-validated only (`tools/validate_json_schemas.py`, `tools/validate_control_plane_examples.py`); `default_decision`/`requires_user_consent`/`audit`/`privacy_impact` are declarative fields nothing in this daemon reads. Real capability gating lives in `src/sourceos_syncd/orchestration_events.py`'s `capability_id`/`effect_class`/`required_policy_outcome`/`approval_mode` model, which this schema does not connect to.
 - [`schemas/sourceos-launch-manifest.schema.json`](schemas/sourceos-launch-manifest.schema.json)
 - [`schemas/sourceos-incident.schema.json`](schemas/sourceos-incident.schema.json)
 
diff --git a/schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json b/schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json
index 4931f3d..c8fddc6 100644
--- a/schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json
+++ b/schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
   "$id": "https://sourceos.dev/schemas/sourceos-capability.schema.json",
   "title": "SourceOS Capability Definition",
+  "$comment": "NOT WIRED TO RUNTIME (verified 2026-08-04). `default_decision`, `requires_user_consent`, `audit`, and `privacy_impact` are declarative only: nothing in this daemon reads them to gate, prompt, or refuse anything. The two consumers that touch this file (tools/validate_json_schemas.py, tools/validate_control_plane_examples.py) check shape/schema_version only. The daemon's REAL capability-gating code is src/sourceos_syncd/orchestration_events.py, which uses a different record shape entirely (capability_id/effect_class/required_policy_outcome/approval_mode) with no connection to this schema. Before adding a fixture with requires_user_consent:true or wiring a reader here, decide: should this schema be unified into orchestration_events.py's real gate, or is it a forward-declared capability catalog that predates the gate it was meant to feed? (declared-unenforced register item #9, 2026-07-29 estate audit)",
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
     "schema_version",