diff --git a/skill-doc/SKILL.md b/skill-doc/SKILL.md
index f0139af..33c3fbb 100644
--- a/skill-doc/SKILL.md
+++ b/skill-doc/SKILL.md
@@ -173,7 +173,10 @@ messages unless `includeMeta: true` is passed; `context()` and `trace()` preserv
 the current causal chain and expose `is_meta` on returned rows.
 
 Pi can preserve a branch that was tried and later superseded as
-`visibility='inactive'`. Default helpers return only `visible` evidence. Pass
+`visibility='inactive'`. Only Pi populates it: other sources either do not
+record supersession in their transcripts or discard it while indexing, so an
+empty inactive result never means nothing was abandoned -- only that this
+source cannot say. Default helpers return only `visible` evidence. Pass
 `includeInactive: true` to `search()`, `context()`, `trace()`, `thread()`,
 `summaries()`, `raw()`, `fileHistory()`, or `failures()` only when the abandoned
 path matters. Every returned message or evidence row is labeled with
diff --git a/skill-doc/references/schema.md b/skill-doc/references/schema.md
index 4f3e087..57a136c 100644
--- a/skill-doc/references/schema.md
+++ b/skill-doc/references/schema.md
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ Core evidence table.
 | `text` | Extracted text, truncated to 10k chars |
 | `content_type` | `text`, `thinking`, `tool_use`, `tool_result`, or `unknown` |
 | `is_meta` | 1 for injected/control-plane messages |
-| `visibility` | `visible` for current evidence, `inactive` for provider-attested superseded history, `hidden` for display-suppressed or transport-only material |
+| `visibility` | `visible` for current evidence, `inactive` for provider-attested superseded history, `hidden` for display-suppressed or transport-only material. Only Pi emits `inactive` |
 | `model` | Assistant model name |
 | `is_sidechain` | Retry/branch marker |
 | `agent_id` | Subagent/workflow agent ID |