diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bfaee33..48ffed7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -214,29 +214,36 @@ time and is never trimmed automatically.
   it stops appearing in recent logs (for example after it leaves the NPM
   ~30-day log-retention window, or once WHOIS subnet consolidation groups it
   into a larger range).
-- The **source of truth** for "all blocked IPs" is the git history of the
-  consolidated blocklist files `reports/app/data/blocklist_ipv4.txt` and
-  `blocklist_ipv6.txt` (these files are git-tracked). After each scan the
-  updated blocklist files should be committed so the history keeps growing.
+- The **source of truth** for "all blocked IPs" is the **SQLite blocklist
+  ledger** (`app.db` → `blocklist_entries` / `blocklist_events`), not git
+  history. Each scan syncs the desired blocklist into the ledger; the router's
+  cumulative state is derived from it. `app/utils/blocklist_history.py` is a
+  read-only fallback only.
 - The sync only ever **adds** entries. The only automatic removals are router
-  entries that were never blocked by the system — i.e. absent from every git
-  version of the blocklist files (manual / rogue entries).
+  entries that were never blocked by the system — i.e. absent from the ledger
+  (manual / rogue entries).
 - To explicitly unblock an IP, remove it manually via the web UI
   (`/blocklist` → remove) or directly on the router; the automated sync will
   not re-add entries that are not part of a scan.
 
+> **Deployment note:** runtime data (blocklists, reports, the DB) is **never
+> committed to git**. Keeping it untracked is what makes `git pull` updates
+> conflict-free — see [`DEPLOYMENT.md`](.github/instructions/DEPLOYMENT.md)
+> and the `deploy/` scripts.
+
 Each consolidated scan with `--update-firewall` also writes a timestamped
 change report to `reports/app/YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss.json`: the number and list
 of entries added / removed (complete-set delta), the full cumulative blocked
-list, and the router sync changes.
+list, and the router sync changes. It also persists a firewall snapshot into
+the `firewall_snapshots` SQLite tables for long-term audit (F001).
 
 ### Report retention
 
 Generated files under `reports/` are pruned automatically after each
 consolidated scan: every subdirectory keeps at most
 `REPORT_RETENTION_MAX_FILES` files (default 10), all newer than
-`REPORT_RETENTION_DAYS` days (default 30). The blocklist source of truth
-(`reports/app/data/blocklist_ipv4.txt` / `blocklist_ipv6.txt`) is always
+`REPORT_RETENTION_DAYS` days (default 30). The blocklist files
+(`reports/app/data/blocklist_ipv4.txt` / `blocklist_ipv6.txt`) are always
 protected and never pruned. Tune via `REPORT_RETENTION_DAYS` /
 `REPORT_RETENTION_MAX_FILES`; `--dry-run` previews the cleanup without
 deleting.
@@ -268,6 +275,35 @@ from the UI — applying changes is an explicit action. The main JSON endpoints
 `/api/firewall/*`, `/api/whitelist`) are also usable directly from a REST
 client.
 
+## Deployment & updating (`git pull`)
+
+The app runs scans continuously (web UI + cron + CLI), and all of it is
+intended to be updated on the server with a plain `git pull`. To make that
+**safe** — i.e. never conflict with a file a scan wrote since the last pull —
+runtime data is strictly **never committed to git**:
+
+- `app/data/*`, `app/reports/*` and the SQLite DB (`app/data/ids.db`) are
+gitignored. The only tracked file under `data/` is the read-only
+`app/data/paloalto/scanner-ips.txt` seed.
+- The Cloudflare `ips-*.txt` whitelist seeds are **not** tracked: they are
+runtime-refreshed downloads and are re-fetched if absent (built-in ranges are
+the fallback).
+- History that must survive — the cumulative blocklist and firewall audit —
+lives in the SQLite store, not in git revisions.
+
+Update a deployed instance with:
+
+```sh
+sudo deploy/deploy.sh
+```
+
+See [`DEPLOYMENT.md`](.github/instructions/DEPLOYMENT.md) for the full plan,
+and `deploy/` for the scripts (`deploy.sh`, `restart-service.sh`,
+`check_runtime_git.sh`, `ids.service` systemd template). The wrapper
+fast-forwards only (`git pull --ff-only`), refuses to run on an unclean tree,
+reinstalls deps if `requirements.txt` changed, applies DB migrations
+(`python -m app.db --migrate`), and restarts the `ids` unit.
+
 ## Output
 
 Each script writes to its own report directory. `app.py` also writes
@@ -318,9 +354,11 @@ reports/
 ```
 
 The current router state (address lists + firewall rules) is also mirrored to
-`data/mikrotik/` on every `--update-firewall` run. Those files are overwritten
-each run and are **git-visible**, so `git diff` shows how the firewall rules
-and address lists change over time.
+`data/mikrotik/` on every `--update-firewall` run as a scratch pointer to the
+latest snapshot. Those files are overwritten each run and are **not** tracked;
+the long-term audit trail is the SQLite `firewall_snapshots` tables plus the
+timestamped reports under `reports/mikrotik/`. `git pull` is therefore never
+blocked by firewall-state files.
 
 ## Detection
 
diff --git a/deploy/check_runtime_git.sh b/deploy/check_runtime_git.sh
index e1c951e..fdd80df 100644
--- a/deploy/check_runtime_git.sh
+++ b/deploy/check_runtime_git.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ fail=0
 #    changes), so unborn commits don't cause false failures.
 allowed="app/data/paloalto/scanner-ips.txt"
 tracked=$(git ls-files app/data app/reports)
-problem=$(printf '%s\n' "$tracked" | grep -v '^'"/\$allowed"'$' || true)
+problem=$(printf '%s\n' "$tracked" | grep -xvF "$allowed" || true)
 if [[ -n "$problem" ]]; then
   echo "FAIL: unexpected tracked files under runtime dirs:" >&2
   echo "$problem" >&2