diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 76b7bb6..939e03a 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -106,9 +106,11 @@ below. You need no Java 21 installed beforehand: Gradle provisions it.
   source set, which is a module; `EngineBoundaryTest` enforces it for every source
   set, tests included. Run it alone with `./gradlew test --tests '*EngineBoundaryTest'`.
 - **The engine pin.** `relixEngineVersion` in `build.gradle` is the one place the
-  engine's version is named. On `develop` it is `1.0.0-SNAPSHOT`, resolved from
-  Central's snapshot repository, which relix-core publishes to on every push to its
-  own `develop`. `checkEnginePin` fails a release build that still pins a snapshot:
+  engine's version is named. On `develop` it is a released engine while one has
+  everything the command needs, and `1.0.0-SNAPSHOT` while it needs engine work that
+  is not yet released, resolved from Central's snapshot repository, which relix-core
+  publishes to on every push to its own `develop`. `checkEnginePin` fails a release
+  build that still pins a snapshot:
   `./gradlew checkEnginePin -PcliVersion=<release version>`.
 - **One module, no library.** The module exports nothing (`ModuleShapeTest`) and
   the build publishes no Maven artifact (`checkNoPublication`).
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index a3e44a3..67fbfdc 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -20,10 +20,11 @@ version = findProperty('cliVersion') ?: '0.1.0-SNAPSHOT'
 
 // The engine pin: the one place the engine's version is named.
 //
-// `develop` tracks the engine's own develop branch, which relix-core publishes to Central's
-// snapshot repository on every push, so that what this command needs reaches it before the
-// next release candidate is cut. A release pins a released engine (checkEnginePin).
-ext.relixEngineVersion = '1.0.0-SNAPSHOT'
+// `develop` pins a released engine while one has everything this command needs. When the
+// command needs engine work that is not yet released, it tracks the engine's own develop
+// branch instead (1.0.0-SNAPSHOT), which relix-core publishes to Central's snapshot
+// repository on every push. A release pins a released engine (checkEnginePin).
+ext.relixEngineVersion = '1.0.0-rc9'
 
 def engineIsSnapshot = relixEngineVersion.endsWith('-SNAPSHOT')