diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index b729a8e2..85885f00 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -71,6 +71,16 @@ were name-only across ALL libraries. Fixed; do not regress.
 
 ## Tests
 
+- **THE DOCTRINE — tests are never run against a real/production
+  server.** The dev DB is the test environment, and the invariant every
+  test must uphold is: **leave the testuser experience alone** — its
+  settings, scans, and reading data must be exactly as the suite found
+  them. The helpers exist to enforce this; if a test needs protection
+  the helpers don't provide, EXPAND THE HELPERS rather than hand-rolling
+  (2026-10-21: `setSystemSettingRestored` — snapshot-and-restore for
+  system_settings — exists because a hardcoded ev restore could clobber
+  a deliberate dev bump, and the live dev server obeys that setting on
+  its next poll).
 - Use `setupTestServer()` from `cmd/server/tests/test_helpers_test.go`
   (see the Conventions section below for the pool/cleanup rules).
 - Integration tests run against the SHARED dev database: never write
@@ -223,3 +233,25 @@ of a server bug: stop and flag the user.
   test pools use `max_conns=1`; never create a `pgxpool` per subtest
   (connection exhaustion); use `t.Cleanup()`-based helpers; table-driven
   subtests over duplicate functions.
+7. **Scanner re-extraction is write-after-success** — a failed/empty
+   extraction must NEVER clear scan-derived columns. `updateMediaItem`
+   (generic full-row path) preserves `existing.AudioMetadata` when the
+   new extraction carries no audio payload, and `updateAudioBookItem`
+   refuses empty payloads over populated rows (both guarded 2026-10-21
+   after an ev-gated re-extract NULLed every multi-file audiobook's
+   audio_metadata — books displayed as 1 second long and lost their
+   track manifests). New scan-owned column writes need the same guard.
+8. **templ double-escapes style attribute values** — the codegen wraps
+   style exprs in a sanitizer AND `templ.EscapeString`, so ANY quote
+   character (even inside `templ.SafeCSS`) reaches the DOM as literal
+   `'` text and the CSS never parses (2026-10-21: every book-detail
+   hero backdrop broken + Firefox fetched `/media/&` → 500 spam).
+   Emit quote-free CSS: unquoted `url(...)` tokens via `SafeCSS` +
+   `cssURL()` in book_detail.templ.
+9. **`vp test` runs the vite config** — plugins with build hooks fire
+   in the test context too. `cleanStaleChunks` guards on
+   `produced.size === 0` precisely because a bare sweep deleted every
+   hashed chunk in `web/static` when run under vitest (2026-10-21:
+   `npm run test` gutted the build; every page 404'd its imports).
+   Any future outDir-mutating plugin needs the same "am I a build?"
+   guard.