diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4e03826..feb75a3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -44,8 +44,6 @@ reforge-seed         # create repos from the manifest, seed the charter
 reforge-kickoff      # file the agenda as issues
 reforge-role security-lead     # one terminal per role …
 reforge-orchestrator           # … or let one agent drive the whole run
-reforge-harvest run-1          # export the run's record (issues, reviews,
-                               # charter tree) as markdown + JSON for triage
 ```
 
 Not on NixOS? The forge is `services.forgejo`, so declarative provisioning is
@@ -75,8 +73,8 @@ the matching `REFORGE_*` variable.
 
 Extracted from the aiolabs machine config where it was first built and run.
 The engine is generic; the aiolabs runs (their real charter/agenda/manifest)
-stay private. Remaining follow-up: Forgejo Actions as a CI gate ahead of
-review (see `docs/architecture.md`).
+stay private. See `docs/reforge.md` for the follow-up ideas (markdown export
+of a run's issues at close; Forgejo Actions as a CI gate ahead of review).
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/docs/reforge.md b/docs/reforge.md
index f2db38d..ecde06e 100644
--- a/docs/reforge.md
+++ b/docs/reforge.md
@@ -135,17 +135,10 @@ open Phase B — that switch is a log-worthy moment of the run.
             human opens Phase B when Phase A's signal is banked
 5. compare  reforge-compare
             iterate 4 ⇄ 5 until every targeted repo is IDENTICAL
-6. harvest  reforge-harvest <run-name> [outdir]
-            (exports every issue, comment, PR and review per repo as
-             markdown + raw JSON, plus the charter tree — GAMEPLAN.md,
-             CONTRACTS.md — so the record is readable outside the forge);
-            commit the export next to the run config, then triage each
-            <repo>.md against the real stack: LIVE / FIXED / NA per finding,
-            still-live findings become real issues; **refine these
-            instruction sources** (this doc, the agent briefs, the agenda,
-            the scripts) with what the run taught — the simulation is meant
-            to improve every iteration, and the harvest is the next run's
-            agenda input
+6. harvest  GAMEPLAN.md PR'd into charter; issues reviewed + triaged against
+            the real stack; **refine these instruction sources** (this doc,
+            the agent briefs, the agenda, the scripts) with what the run
+            taught — the simulation is meant to improve every iteration
 7. close    reforge-reset backup <run-name>
             (or go straight to the next run's reset, which archives too)
 ```
@@ -153,12 +146,6 @@ open Phase B — that switch is a log-worthy moment of the run.
 Archives: `/var/lib/forgejo-sandbox-archive/<name>-<stamp>.tar.gz`; restore
 any of them with `reforge-reset restore <tarball>`.
 
-**Harvest is not optional.** An archive preserves a run; only the harvest
-makes it *act* on the real stack. A run whose findings stay in the tarball
-has produced nothing — the aiolabs run #1 sat unharvested for three months
-with two Critical findings live in deployed forks. Harvest before close,
-every run.
-
 ## Autonomous mode (an agent as orchestrator)
 
 Steps 3–5 (kickoff → rebuild → compare) can be driven by an agent itself
diff --git a/modules/reforge.nix b/modules/reforge.nix
index 5026139..963bb87 100644
--- a/modules/reforge.nix
+++ b/modules/reforge.nix
@@ -49,8 +49,6 @@ let
     inherit tokensDir stateDir;
     configDir = toString cfg.configDir;
     agentsDir = if cfg.agentsDir == null then null else toString cfg.agentsDir;
-    # Seeded stack repos get the same approver whitelist as the working repo.
-    requiredApprovers = cfg.requiredApprovers;
     refsDir = if cfg.refsDir == null then null else toString cfg.refsDir;
   };
 
diff --git a/packages/reforge-scripts.nix b/packages/reforge-scripts.nix
index 25d54de..eb6ca8d 100644
--- a/packages/reforge-scripts.nix
+++ b/packages/reforge-scripts.nix
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
   configDir,
   agentsDir ? null,
   refsDir ? null,
-  requiredApprovers ? [ "security-lead" ],
 }:
 
 let
@@ -89,7 +88,6 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
         --set-default REFORGE_CONFIG_DIR ${lib.escapeShellArg (toString configDir)} \
         --set-default REFORGE_SETTINGS_DIR "$SETTINGS" \
         --set-default REFORGE_AGENTS_DIR "$AGENTS" \
-        --set-default REFORGE_REQUIRED_APPROVERS ${lib.escapeShellArg (lib.concatStringsSep " " requiredApprovers)} \
         ${lib.optionalString (
           refsDir != null
         ) "--set-default REFORGE_REFS_DIR ${lib.escapeShellArg (toString refsDir)}"}
@@ -98,7 +96,7 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = with lib; {
-    description = "reforge lifecycle CLI (seed/reset/compare/smoke/kickoff/role/orchestrator/fetch-targets/harvest)";
+    description = "reforge lifecycle CLI (seed/reset/compare/smoke/kickoff/role/orchestrator/fetch-targets)";
     mainProgram = "reforge-seed";
     license = licenses.mit;
   };
diff --git a/scripts/reforge-harvest.sh b/scripts/reforge-harvest.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 9f2f99b..0000000
--- a/scripts/reforge-harvest.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,193 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Reforge lifecycle step 6 (docs/reforge.md): export a run's full forge
-# record — every issue with its comments, every PR with its reviews and
-# review comments, per repo in the org, plus a tree snapshot of the charter
-# repo (GAMEPLAN.md, CONTRACTS.md, ...) — as plain markdown + raw JSON.
-#
-# The archive tarball (reforge-reset backup) preserves the run; this makes
-# it READABLE outside the forge, so findings can be triaged against the
-# real stack, committed next to the run config, and fed into the next run's
-# agenda. Without this step a run's value stays locked in a root-owned
-# sqlite snapshot.
-#
-#   reforge-harvest [name] [outdir]
-#
-# Defaults: name "run"; outdir $REFORGE_HARVEST_DIR/<name>-<stamp>
-# (REFORGE_HARVEST_DIR defaults to ~/reforge-harvest). Read-only on the
-# forge; safe to re-run at any point in a run.
-#
-# Output layout:
-#   INDEX.md                  counts per repo + what each file is
-#   <repo>.md                 rendered issues (with comments) + PRs (with reviews)
-#   raw/<repo>.issues.json    API objects, one array per repo (issues incl. PRs)
-#   raw/<repo>.pulls.json
-#   raw/<repo>.comments.json  {issue_number -> [comments]}
-#   raw/<repo>.reviews.json   {pr_number -> [reviews with .comments]}
-#   charter-tree/             shallow working tree of the charter repo's main
-set -euo pipefail
-
-FORGE_URL=${REFORGE_FORGE_URL:-http://localhost:3030}
-ORG=${REFORGE_ORG:-sandbox-team}
-ADMIN_USER=${REFORGE_ADMIN_USER:-sandbox-admin}
-TOKENS_DIR=${REFORGE_TOKENS_DIR:-/var/lib/forgejo-sandbox/tokens}
-TOKEN_FILE=${REFORGE_ADMIN_TOKEN_FILE:-$TOKENS_DIR/${ADMIN_USER}.token}
-CHARTER_REPO=${REFORGE_CHARTER_REPO:-charter}
-
-NAME=${1:-run}
-STAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
-OUT=${2:-${REFORGE_HARVEST_DIR:-$HOME/reforge-harvest}/$NAME-$STAMP}
-
-API="$FORGE_URL/api/v1"
-TOKEN=$(cat "$TOKEN_FILE")
-PAGE=50
-
-WORK=$(mktemp -d)
-trap 'rm -rf "$WORK"' EXIT
-RESP="$WORK/resp"
-
-api() { # path -> echoes HTTP code, body in $RESP
-  curl -sS -o "$RESP" -w '%{http_code}' \
-    -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" "$API$1"
-}
-
-# Follow ?page= until a page comes back empty; concatenate arrays.
-api_all() { # path-with-query (no page param) -> JSON array on stdout
-  local path=$1 page=1 sep code
-  case $path in *\?*) sep='&' ;; *) sep='?' ;; esac
-  echo '['
-  local first=1
-  while :; do
-    code=$(api "$path${sep}limit=$PAGE&page=$page")
-    [ "$code" = 200 ] || { echo "harvest: GET $path page $page -> HTTP $code" >&2; cat "$RESP" >&2; exit 1; }
-    local n
-    n=$(jq 'length' <"$RESP")
-    [ "$n" -gt 0 ] || break
-    if [ $first = 1 ]; then first=0; else echo ','; fi
-    jq '.[]' <"$RESP" | jq -s '.[]' | jq -c . | paste -sd, -
-    [ "$n" -lt "$PAGE" ] && break
-    page=$((page + 1))
-  done
-  echo ']'
-}
-
-auth_url() { # name
-  echo "http://$ADMIN_USER:$TOKEN@${FORGE_URL#http://}/$ORG/$1.git"
-}
-
-mkdir -p "$OUT/raw"
-echo "→ reforge harvest '$NAME'  →  $OUT"
-echo "  forge $FORGE_URL  org $ORG"
-echo
-
-api_all "/orgs/$ORG/repos" | jq -r '.[].name' | sort >"$WORK/repos"
-[ -s "$WORK/repos" ] || { echo "harvest: no repos in org $ORG" >&2; exit 1; }
-
-{
-  echo "# Harvest — $NAME"
-  echo
-  echo "Exported $(date -Iseconds) from $FORGE_URL (org \`$ORG\`)."
-  echo "Read-only snapshot of the forge record; the authoritative copy is the"
-  echo "run archive (reforge-reset backup). Raw API objects are under \`raw/\`."
-  echo
-  echo "| repo | issues | open | PRs | merged | file |"
-  echo "|---|---|---|---|---|---|"
-} >"$OUT/INDEX.md"
-
-while read -r repo; do
-  printf -- '-- %-16s' "$repo"
-  issues="$OUT/raw/$repo.issues.json"
-  pulls="$OUT/raw/$repo.pulls.json"
-  comments="$OUT/raw/$repo.comments.json"
-  reviews="$OUT/raw/$repo.reviews.json"
-
-  api_all "/repos/$ORG/$repo/issues?state=all&type=issues" | jq . >"$issues"
-  api_all "/repos/$ORG/$repo/pulls?state=all" | jq . >"$pulls"
-
-  # comments: issue-level comments cover both issues and PR conversation
-  {
-    echo '{'
-    first=1
-    for n in $(jq -r '.[].number' "$issues" "$pulls" | sort -nu); do
-      c=$(api_all "/repos/$ORG/$repo/issues/$n/comments")
-      [ "$(echo "$c" | jq 'length')" -gt 0 ] || continue
-      if [ $first = 1 ]; then first=0; else echo ','; fi
-      printf '"%s": %s' "$n" "$c"
-    done
-    echo '}'
-  } | jq . >"$comments"
-
-  # reviews (+ their inline comments) per PR
-  {
-    echo '{'
-    first=1
-    for n in $(jq -r '.[].number' "$pulls" | sort -n); do
-      r=$(api_all "/repos/$ORG/$repo/pulls/$n/reviews")
-      [ "$(echo "$r" | jq 'length')" -gt 0 ] || continue
-      # attach inline comments to each review
-      r=$(echo "$r" | jq -c '.[]' | while read -r rev; do
-        id=$(echo "$rev" | jq -r .id)
-        rc=$(api_all "/repos/$ORG/$repo/pulls/$n/reviews/$id/comments")
-        echo "$rev" | jq --argjson c "$rc" '. + {comments: $c}'
-      done | jq -s .)
-      if [ $first = 1 ]; then first=0; else echo ','; fi
-      printf '"%s": %s' "$n" "$r"
-    done
-    echo '}'
-  } | jq . >"$reviews"
-
-  # ── render ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-  jq -r --arg repo "$repo" --slurpfile comments "$comments" --slurpfile reviews "$reviews" \
-    --slurpfile pulls "$pulls" '
-    def md(s): (s // "" | gsub("\r"; ""));
-    def who(u): (u.login // "?");
-    def when(t): (t // "" | .[0:16] | gsub("T"; " "));
-    def cmts(n): ($comments[0][n | tostring] // []);
-    def revs(n): ($reviews[0][n | tostring] // []);
-    def render_comments(n):
-      (cmts(n) | if length == 0 then "" else
-        "\n#### Comments\n" + (map("- **" + who(.user) + "** (" + when(.created_at) + "):\n\n  " + (md(.body) | gsub("\n"; "\n  ")) + "\n") | join("\n")) end);
-    def render_reviews(n):
-      (revs(n) | if length == 0 then "" else
-        "\n#### Reviews\n" + (map(
-          "- **" + who(.user) + "** — " + (.state // "?") + " (" + when(.submitted_at) + ")" +
-          (if (md(.body) | length) > 0 then ":\n\n  " + (md(.body) | gsub("\n"; "\n  ")) else "" end) + "\n" +
-          ((.comments // []) | map("  - `" + (.path // "?") + "`: " + (md(.body) | gsub("\n"; " "))) | join("\n")) + "\n"
-        ) | join("\n")) end);
-    def entry(kind):
-      "### " + kind + " #" + (.number | tostring) + " " + .title + "\n\n" +
-      "_" + .state + (if (.pull_request.merged // .merged // false) then ", merged" else "" end) +
-      " · " + who(.user) + " · " + when(.created_at) + "_" +
-      (if (.labels // []) | length > 0 then " · labels: " + ((.labels | map(.name)) | join(", ")) else "" end) + "\n\n" +
-      md(.body) + "\n";
-    "# " + $repo + "\n\n" +
-    "## Issues (" + (length | tostring) + ")\n\n" +
-    (map(entry("Issue") + render_comments(.number) + "\n---\n") | join("\n")) +
-    "\n## Pull requests (" + ($pulls[0] | length | tostring) + ")\n\n" +
-    ($pulls[0] | map(entry("PR") + render_comments(.number) + render_reviews(.number) + "\n---\n") | join("\n"))
-  ' "$issues" >"$OUT/$repo.md"
-
-  ni=$(jq 'length' "$issues"); no=$(jq '[.[] | select(.state=="open")] | length' "$issues")
-  np=$(jq 'length' "$pulls"); nm=$(jq '[.[] | select(.merged==true)] | length' "$pulls")
-  echo "| $repo | $ni | $no | $np | $nm | [$repo.md]($repo.md) |" >>"$OUT/INDEX.md"
-  echo " issues $ni (open $no)  PRs $np (merged $nm)"
-done <"$WORK/repos"
-
-# ── charter tree: the run's synthesized deliverables live as files there ──
-if grep -qx "$CHARTER_REPO" "$WORK/repos"; then
-  if git clone --quiet --depth 1 "$(auth_url "$CHARTER_REPO")" "$OUT/charter-tree" 2>/dev/null; then
-    rm -rf "$OUT/charter-tree/.git"
-    {
-      echo
-      echo "Charter repo tree (main, source-stripped): \`charter-tree/\` —"
-      find "$OUT/charter-tree" -type f | sed "s|$OUT/charter-tree/||" | sort | sed 's/^/  - /'
-    } >>"$OUT/INDEX.md"
-    echo "-- charter tree -> charter-tree/"
-  else
-    echo "-- charter tree: $CHARTER_REPO has no main yet, skipped"
-  fi
-fi
-
-echo
-echo "harvest: $OUT"
-echo "next: triage <repo>.md against the real stack; commit the harvest next to"
-echo "      your run config; carry still-live findings into the next agenda."
diff --git a/scripts/reforge-seed.sh b/scripts/reforge-seed.sh
index e3dc4e1..5e2f08a 100644
--- a/scripts/reforge-seed.sh
+++ b/scripts/reforge-seed.sh
@@ -73,21 +73,12 @@ ensure_repo() { # name description
   fi
 }
 
-# Approver whitelist: the module bakes reforge.requiredApprovers in as
-# REFORGE_REQUIRED_APPROVERS (space-separated); the standalone default
-# matches the module's default. Field name is singular (Forgejo API quirk).
-APPROVERS=${REFORGE_REQUIRED_APPROVERS:-security-lead}
-PROTECTION_JSON=$(jq -cn --arg a "$APPROVERS" \
-  '{branch_name:"main",rule_name:"main",enable_push:false,required_approvals:1,
-    enable_approvals_whitelist:true,
-    approvals_whitelist_username:($a | split(" ") | map(select(length > 0))),
-    block_on_rejected_reviews:true,dismiss_stale_approvals:true}')
-
 protect_main() { # name  (same rule the module puts on the working repo)
   if [ "$(api GET "/repos/$ORG/$1/branch_protections/main")" = 404 ]; then
-    must "$(api POST "/repos/$ORG/$1/branch_protections" "$PROTECTION_JSON")" \
+    must "$(api POST "/repos/$ORG/$1/branch_protections" \
+      '{"branch_name":"main","rule_name":"main","enable_push":false,"required_approvals":1,"enable_approvals_whitelist":true,"approvals_whitelist_username":["security-lead"],"block_on_rejected_reviews":true,"dismiss_stale_approvals":true}')" \
       "protect $ORG/$1 main"
-    echo "  protected main (approvers: $APPROVERS)"
+    echo "  protected main"
   fi
 }