diff --git a/packages/extension/AGENTS.md b/packages/extension/AGENTS.md
index f3731841..65f7e9d2 100644
--- a/packages/extension/AGENTS.md
+++ b/packages/extension/AGENTS.md
@@ -2,19 +2,25 @@
 
 ## Identity
 
-You are **Amico** — Amicode's research copilot. You are NOT "opencode":
+You are **Amico** — Amicode's autoresearch copilot. You are NOT "opencode":
 opencode is the engine underneath, **Amicode** is the product, **Amico** is you.
 If asked who or what you are, answer in one line — "I'm Amico — Amicode's
-research copilot" — and never describe yourself as an interactive CLI tool.
-
-You help researchers design and optimize quantum-control pulses, write code,
-and run experiments — without leaving VS Code. You author Julia scripts, run
-them, and the Run Inspector renders the live solve.
+autoresearch copilot" — and never describe yourself as an interactive CLI tool.
+
+You run the research loop first — campaigns, hypotheses, spec gates,
+experiments, mechanical verdicts — plus the dev work that loop needs (issues,
+PRs, skills, fleet ops) — and you adapt to the user's field from their
+recorded state (profile, mounts, memory): their platforms, their prior
+results, their open questions. Your deepest domain is quantum control: you
+synthesize optimal-control pulses with Piccolo (Julia) without leaving VS
+Code — you author a Julia script, run it, and the Run Inspector renders the
+live solve. That is the first domain pack, not the boundary — QEC, other
+physics, anything modelable: the loop is the same.
 
 ## Voice
 
-You're a _friend_ — "Amico" is Italian for it — who's done pulse design with this
-researcher for years. You know the toolchain, the failure modes, the literature.
+You're a _friend_ — "Amico" is Italian for it — who's done research with this
+user for years. You know their toolchain, the failure modes, the literature.
 Sound like it — not a generic assistant.
 
 - **Witty and plucky, never chummy.** Dry, confident, a little cheeky. A clean
diff --git a/packages/extension/package.json b/packages/extension/package.json
index 23f3ac80..14ca2f6c 100644
--- a/packages/extension/package.json
+++ b/packages/extension/package.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "amicode",
   "displayName": "Amicode",
   "description": "Open autonomous research in VS Code \u2014 vaults, fleet, and live solves for quantum control and physical intelligence.",
-  "version": "0.2.5",
+  "version": "0.2.6",
   "publisher": "harmoniqs",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "icon": "media/icon.png",
diff --git a/packages/extension/src/extension.ts b/packages/extension/src/extension.ts
index b46b3e69..c7945224 100644
--- a/packages/extension/src/extension.ts
+++ b/packages/extension/src/extension.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ import { watchSolverMode, applyEntitlementForMode, readSolverModeState } from ".
 import { runSetCloudKeyCommand } from "./cloud_key";
 import { amicodeOpsDir } from "./substrate/vault_store";
 import { registerOnboardingPanel, onOnboardingCancelled, getOnboardingPanel, releaseOnboardingPanel } from "./onboarding_panel";
-import { isModelConfigured, writeWelcomeShown } from "./onboarding_routing";
+import { isModelConfigured } from "./onboarding_routing";
 import { stagePasqalConnector } from "./pasqal_assets";
 import { needsProvision, pasqalVenvDir, provisionPasqalPython } from "./pasqal_python";
 import { createLocalPersonalVault, sanitizeVaultName, suggestVaultName } from "./substrate/vault_setup";
@@ -208,39 +208,6 @@ async function refreshDeviceInspector(channel: vscode.OutputChannel): Promise<vo
  *  second Stop click must not stack a second dialog. */
 const pendingStops = new Set<string>();
 
-/** Create a session and arm it with "Let's begin onboarding." via the server API.
- *  Bypasses the UI model gate (the server resolves its own default model).
- *  Returns the session ID on success, undefined on failure. */
-async function armOnboardingSession(
-  serverUrl: URL,
-  authHeaders: Record<string, string>,
-  projectDir?: string,
-): Promise<string | undefined> {
-  try {
-    const collectionUrl = new URL("/session", serverUrl);
-    if (projectDir) collectionUrl.searchParams.set("directory", projectDir);
-    const createRes = await fetch(collectionUrl.toString(), {
-      method: "POST",
-      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json", ...authHeaders },
-      body: JSON.stringify({ title: "Onboarding" }),
-    });
-    if (!createRes.ok) return undefined;
-    const { id } = (await createRes.json()) as { id?: string };
-    if (!id) return undefined;
-
-    const commandUrl = new URL(`/session/${id}/command`, serverUrl);
-    const commandRes = await fetch(commandUrl.toString(), {
-      method: "POST",
-      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json", ...authHeaders },
-      body: JSON.stringify({ command: "Let's begin onboarding.", arguments: "" }),
-    });
-    if (!commandRes.ok) return undefined;
-    return id;
-  } catch {
-    return undefined;
-  }
-}
-
 export async function activate(ctx: vscode.ExtensionContext): Promise<void> {
   const opencodeChannel = vscode.window.createOutputChannel("Amicode — opencode");
   const runsChannel = vscode.window.createOutputChannel("Amicode — runs");
diff --git a/packages/extension/src/onboarding_webview.ts b/packages/extension/src/onboarding_webview.ts
index 0d3c33cd..e9ae5ddd 100644
--- a/packages/extension/src/onboarding_webview.ts
+++ b/packages/extension/src/onboarding_webview.ts
@@ -929,9 +929,6 @@ window.addEventListener("message", (event) => {
         if (ring) ring.style.animation = "none";
       }
 
-      // Find the inner-most animated group to switch animation
-      const enterGroup = svg.querySelector(".mark-enter") || svg.querySelector(".mark-breathe");
-
       // Switch from idle animations to excited jump
       const breatheGroup = svg.querySelector(".mark-breathe") as HTMLElement;
       if (breatheGroup) {