diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index b67a857..13a2c0b 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -82,8 +82,13 @@ These are referenced in `foundry.toml` under `[rpc_endpoints]`.
   returns the deployed address
 - `supportedNetworks()` — returns the list of Rain-supported network names (used
   as foundry RPC config aliases)
-- `isStartBlock(...)` / `findDeployBlock(...)` — binary search a fork's history
-  for the block a contract first appears at
+- `isStartBlock(...)` — reads two adjacent blocks: true when the target has the
+  expected code hash at a block and does not have it at the block before
+- `findDeployBlock(...)` — binary searches a fork's history for a block where
+  the target has the expected code hash and did not have it at the block before.
+  Either one is "the block a contract first appears at" only where that code
+  hash is monotone; against a target that held the hash, lost it and holds it
+  again both answer about an appearance neither can identify
 - `checkResolvedAddresses(...)` — asserts an already-deployed contract holds the
   addresses the deployment expected, on the currently selected fork, via
   consumer-supplied static reads
@@ -92,8 +97,10 @@ These are referenced in `foundry.toml` under `[rpc_endpoints]`.
   is the only point at which such a check means anything: registry bindings are
   mutable, so a pre-deploy check would read a source that can change before the
   constructor that consumes it
-- `deployToNetworks(...)` — forks each network, verifies the factory and
-  dependencies, deploys via Zoltu, verifies address and code hash
+- `deployToNetworks(...)` — forks each network; where the expected address is
+  still empty it verifies the factory and dependencies on that fork, deploys via
+  Zoltu and checks the address; the code hash is checked on every network,
+  deployed here or already there
 - `deployAndBroadcast(...)` — the main entry point: derives the deployer from a
   private key, then `deployToNetworks`
 
@@ -292,8 +299,13 @@ expected addresses, expected code hashes, and dependency lists.
 - **Code hash verification**: Post-deploy bytecode integrity is verified against
   `expectedCodeHash`. The address registry is verified the same way before it is
   read.
-- **Dependency checking**: Before deploying to any network, all dependencies
-  (contract addresses) are verified to have code on-chain.
+- **Dependency checking**: per network, and only where the deploy actually runs.
+  On a network with no code at `expectedAddress`, the Zoltu factory must have
+  code and match `ZOLTU_FACTORY_CODEHASH` and every dependency must have code,
+  all read on that network's own fork immediately before broadcasting. A network
+  that already has the code skips the deploy and the dependency check with it: a
+  contract that is already deployed does not need its dependencies present to
+  stay deployed. There is no all-network pre-flight.
 - **Idempotent deploys**: If code already exists at the expected address,
   deployment is skipped for that network.
 - **Resolve once, verify after**: registry bindings are mutable, so the
diff --git a/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol b/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol
index 85ab1f9..616ec9f 100644
--- a/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol
+++ b/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol
@@ -83,6 +83,15 @@ library LibRainDeploy {
     /// hash at `blockNumber` and does NOT have it at `blockNumber - 1`. At
     /// block 0, only the first condition is checked. The fork is restored to
     /// its original block number after checking.
+    ///
+    /// "First" is only true of a target whose code hash is MONOTONE: once it
+    /// equals `expectedCodeHash` at some block it equals it at every later
+    /// block. This reads two adjacent blocks and nothing else, so on a target
+    /// that held `expectedCodeHash`, lost it and holds it again — a pre-Cancun
+    /// `SELFDESTRUCT` followed by a `CREATE2` redeploy of the same code at the
+    /// same address, say — it answers true at EVERY block where the hash
+    /// reappears, not only the earliest. Monotonicity is the caller's to know:
+    /// two blocks cannot show it.
     /// @param vm The Vm instance for fork manipulation.
     /// @param target The contract address to check.
     /// @param expectedCodeHash The code hash to look for.
@@ -106,8 +115,27 @@ library LibRainDeploy {
     /// searching the fork history. Requires an active fork with archive access
     /// back to `startBlock`. The fork is restored to its original block
     /// number before returning. The target's code hash is verified against the
-    /// expected value before searching. The result is validated via
-    /// `isStartBlock`.
+    /// expected value before searching.
+    ///
+    /// The search REQUIRES the target's code hash to be monotone over
+    /// `[startBlock, block.number]`, in the sense `isStartBlock` describes.
+    /// Against a target that held `expectedCodeHash`, lost it and holds it
+    /// again, the search converges on one of those appearances with no way to
+    /// say which, and the result is meaningless as the subgraph start block it
+    /// is typically used as.
+    ///
+    /// That is the caller's precondition because nothing here can check it, and
+    /// `isStartBlock` least of all. `high` is only ever a block where the code
+    /// hash matches: it starts at the current block, checked above, and
+    /// otherwise takes a `mid` the loop has just read as matching. `low` is
+    /// either `startBlock`, checked above as NOT matching, or one past a `mid`
+    /// the loop has just read as not matching. It cannot still be `startBlock`
+    /// when the loop ends, because that needs `high` down at `startBlock` and
+    /// `high` is only ever a matching block, so where they meet the hash
+    /// matches and did not match at the block before — `isStartBlock`'s exact
+    /// condition, satisfied by construction and satisfied on a non-monotone
+    /// history just the same. Running it on the result would read two more
+    /// archive blocks to agree with itself.
     /// @param vm The Vm instance for fork manipulation.
     /// @param target The contract address to search for.
     /// @param expectedCodeHash The expected code hash of the target contract.
diff --git a/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol b/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol
index b1f8bdb..ef5a42d 100644
--- a/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol
+++ b/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol
@@ -359,7 +359,8 @@ contract LibRainDeployTest is Test {
     }
 
     /// `deployZoltu` MUST deploy a contract via the Zoltu factory and return
-    /// the deterministic address predicted by the factory's nonce.
+    /// the deterministic address the factory derives with `CREATE2` over the
+    /// creation code under a zero salt.
     function testDeployZoltu() external {
         vm.createSelectFork(LibRainDeploy.ARBITRUM_ONE);
         address deployed = this.externalDeployZoltu(type(MockDeployable).creationCode);