diff --git a/REBOOT_HANDOFF.md b/REBOOT_HANDOFF.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02b4915
--- /dev/null
+++ b/REBOOT_HANDOFF.md
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# Reboot Handoff
+
+Generated: 2026-05-04 Europe/Zurich
+
+## Current Truth Before Reboot
+
+- Repository: `/Users/oho/GitClone/CodexProjects/BraiinsRatchet`
+- Branch: `master`
+- Latest pushed code commit: `b17c6aa Treat failed watches as instrumentation backoff`
+- Forever engine: intentionally stopped before reboot
+- Active watch: none detected
+- Active manual Braiins exposure: none recorded
+- Latest stored OCEAN sample: `2026-04-29T10:44:08+00:00`
+- Latest stored Braiins sample: `2026-04-29T10:39:07+00:00`
+- Latest sample state: stale
+- Latest report: `reports/run-20260504T075743Z-d828d0.md`
+- Important interpretation: latest zero-sample reports are failed instrumentation, not market evidence
+
+## Why The Engine Was Stopped
+
+The running supervisor process was started before the latest reliability patch. It was still cooling down after zero-sample failed watch reports. That behavior is now fixed in code, but a live Python process does not reload edited code. The safe move before reboot is therefore:
+
+1. Stop the old process.
+2. Reboot.
+3. Start the engine again from the patched code.
+
+## Exact Human Steps After Reboot
+
+Open Terminal and run:
+
+```bash
+cd /Users/oho/GitClone/CodexProjects/BraiinsRatchet
+./scripts/ratchet engine status
+./scripts/ratchet
+./scripts/ratchet engine start
+./scripts/ratchet app
+```
+
+Then stop touching it unless the app explicitly says otherwise.
+
+Expected normal result:
+
+- `engine status` first says not running.
+- `./scripts/ratchet` probably says samples are stale.
+- `engine start` starts the monitor-only forever supervisor.
+- The app should show `ENGINE LIVE`.
+- If Braiins/OCEAN fetching still fails, the patched engine should use short instrumentation retry backoff, not six-hour research cooldown.
+
+## Exact Prompt To Give Codex After Reboot
+
+```text
+Continue the BraiinsRatchet project after reboot.
+First read REBOOT_HANDOFF.md.
+Then run:
+  git status --short
+  ./scripts/ratchet engine status
+  ./scripts/ratchet
+  ./scripts/ratchet app-state
+Tell me the current state in plain English.
+If the engine is stopped and there is no active manual exposure, start it with ./scripts/ratchet engine start.
+Do not place Braiins orders. Do not touch files outside this repo.
+Remember the branch is master, not main.
+```
+
+## Guardrails
+
+- Monitor-only app. No Braiins owner-token actions.
+- No containers or VMs.
+- Modify only inside this repo.
+- Treat runtime reports as evidence artifacts; do not stage them unless explicitly asked.
+- If the computer reboot killed a process, do not recover by guessing. Restart from SQLite state using the commands above.