diff --git a/src/crypto/mod.rs b/src/crypto/mod.rs
index afa6496..b7c5624 100644
--- a/src/crypto/mod.rs
+++ b/src/crypto/mod.rs
@@ -183,6 +183,11 @@ pub fn derive_kek(
         KdfId::Argon2id => {
             let p = Params::new(params.m_cost, params.t_cost, params.p_cost, Some(32))
                 .map_err(|_| CryptoError::Kdf)?;
+            // Version::V0x13 and the 32-byte output length (`Some(32)` above) are
+            // pinned to the on-disk format, exactly like KEK_INFO on the HKDF path:
+            // changing either re-derives a different KEK, so every existing Argon2id
+            // slot would stop unwrapping (silent data loss). Bump the format version
+            // deliberately if this ever changes; the argon2id KAT test pins it.
             let a2 = Argon2::new(Algorithm::Argon2id, Version::V0x13, p);
             a2.hash_password_into(ikm, salt, okm.as_mut())
                 .map_err(|_| CryptoError::Kdf)?;
diff --git a/src/page_cache.rs b/src/page_cache.rs
index e81a2dd..01f7f97 100644
--- a/src/page_cache.rs
+++ b/src/page_cache.rs
@@ -955,6 +955,12 @@ impl PageCache {
     /// A checksum mismatch is a fatal corruption error per ARCHITECTURE.md —
     /// `ChecksumMismatch` signals the database is broken, not merely that
     /// the operation failed.
+    ///
+    /// The encrypted cold-load path has the same severity: a `DecryptionFailed`
+    /// from `PageCipher::open` (AEAD tag rejection) is `is_fatal()` — it poisons
+    /// the manager exactly like `ChecksumMismatch`, not an operational error the
+    /// caller can retry. The XXH3 checksum and the AEAD tag are peer integrity
+    /// checks: either failing means the persisted bytes are untrustworthy.
     fn load_page(&mut self, page_id: u64) -> Result<()> {
         self.maybe_evict()?;
 
diff --git a/src/page_io.rs b/src/page_io.rs
index 33b58a1..9fb7a45 100644
--- a/src/page_io.rs
+++ b/src/page_io.rs
@@ -215,6 +215,10 @@ impl PageIo {
     pub fn set_stride(&mut self, stride: usize) {
         self.stride = stride;
         let len = match &mut self.backing {
+            // Infallible by signature (the encrypted-open bootstrap has no Result
+            // to thread into): a seek failure means a broken fd, already fatal under
+            // the single-writer flock. Falling back to 0 makes reads fail closed
+            // (InvalidPageId) instead of computing offsets against a stale count.
             Backing::File { file } => file.seek(SeekFrom::End(0)).unwrap_or(0),
             Backing::Memory { bytes } => bytes.len() as u64,
         };
diff --git a/src/spillway.rs b/src/spillway.rs
index a37013c..bcaf261 100644
--- a/src/spillway.rs
+++ b/src/spillway.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
 //              process and unconditionally discarded.
 //   spill      page_id allocates a slot (or overwrites its existing
 //              one), bytes + per-slot checksum are written.
+//              Writes are deliberately NOT fsynced: spillway content never
+//              crosses a transaction boundary (rebuilt on demand, discarded at
+//              `truncate` on commit/rollback and as crash garbage at `open`), so
+//              a durability barrier would be wasted I/O. The per-slot XXH3 still
+//              guards a torn write; durability is intentionally omitted.
 //   rehydrate  slot is read, checksum verified, bytes returned.
 //   truncate   file shrunk to zero, resident-set index cleared. Called
 //              at commit, rollback, and defrag.
diff --git a/src/superblock/mod.rs b/src/superblock/mod.rs
index 6c99085..9fb117e 100644
--- a/src/superblock/mod.rs
+++ b/src/superblock/mod.rs
@@ -325,6 +325,12 @@ impl Superblock {
     /// this superblock's plaintext identity. The four bootstrap fields that stay
     /// cleartext in both encrypted and plaintext DBs are included; this prevents
     /// transplanting a sealed body from a different DB or a different txn_counter.
+    ///
+    /// These four MUST stay cleartext even in an encrypted DB precisely because
+    /// they are the AAD: slot selection (`max_by_key` on `txn_counter`) and this
+    /// AAD derivation both run BEFORE any DEK is available, so the fields cannot
+    /// live in the DEK-sealed body — the engine must read them to pick the live
+    /// slot and rebuild the AAD before it can open that body.
     pub fn sb_identity_aad(&self) -> [u8; 24] {
         let mut a = [0u8; 24];
         a[0..4].copy_from_slice(&self.magic.to_le_bytes());