diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 127d0c8..17ad2b8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ The parent repo's tutorial (§1–§16) remains the canonical Minikube-on-Fedora
 guide; this repo is the data-mesh reference broken out for its own audience.
 The fork was made as of r28 of the parent (June 2026).
 
+This repo is the **source of truth for the shared data-mesh service code**.
+Fixes to the services land here first; the §17 capstone in the parent is a
+teaching snapshot that may lag. Backport changes from here to the parent, not
+the other way around.
+
 ## License
 
 This project is dual-licensed to separate the code from the writing:
diff --git a/_docs/00-index.md b/_docs/00-index.md
index c05a210..93ca550 100644
--- a/_docs/00-index.md
+++ b/_docs/00-index.md
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ By the end of this chapter you can:
 
 ## Why this matters
 
+> **Coming from the minikube on Fedora tutorial?** You have already built this
+> system: it is the §17 capstone of that tutorial. This reference takes the same
+> running mesh further, with the data-architecture background, a deeper look at
+> governance and the self-serve platform, and an OpenShift Local path.
+
 Chapter 2 names Dehghani's four principles. Chapter 3 takes the same four and maps each one
 to a Kubernetes primitive: namespaces, operators, RBAC. That's the shape of this whole
 set. A concept gets introduced, then you watch it land in a running piece of the