diff --git a/scripts/smoke-web-app.mjs b/scripts/smoke-web-app.mjs
index 72720427..cd1e9323 100644
--- a/scripts/smoke-web-app.mjs
+++ b/scripts/smoke-web-app.mjs
@@ -44,9 +44,13 @@
  * ── Which engine ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  *
  * `SMOKE_BROWSER` picks the engine (`chromium` — the default — `firefox`, or
- * `webkit`). **CI runs Chromium only.** The other engines are an on-demand tool,
- * not a gate: `SMOKE_BROWSER=firefox npm run smoke:web:engine` before touching
- * the sandbox is cheap and worth doing, but nothing runs it for you (#2086).
+ * `webkit`). Three tiers, deliberately (#2086):
+ *
+ *   - **GitHub CI** runs this smoke in **Chromium** only.
+ *   - **`npm run ci`**, the local pre-push gate, runs it in **Chromium and
+ *     Firefox** — the Firefox pass is `smoke:web:firefox`, and it is the one
+ *     gate step with no GitHub CI counterpart.
+ *   - **WebKit is on demand only**: `SMOKE_BROWSER=webkit npm run smoke:web:app`.
  *
  * Firefox passes. WebKit fails this smoke for reasons nobody has identified and
  * nobody is investigating: it does not reproduce in real Safari, and an isolated
diff --git a/scripts/smoke-web-browser.mjs b/scripts/smoke-web-browser.mjs
index 65cc2f52..04342cf2 100644
--- a/scripts/smoke-web-browser.mjs
+++ b/scripts/smoke-web-browser.mjs
@@ -46,8 +46,9 @@
  * Launching the browser (and resolving Playwright from clients/web, which has
  * its own gotcha — see `lib/headless-browser.mjs`) is delegated to that module,
  * which is also where `SMOKE_BROWSER` picks the engine: `chromium` (the
- * default), `firefox`, or `webkit` (#2086). **CI runs Chromium only**; the other
- * engines are an on-demand tool rather than a gate. This smoke passes in all
+ * default), `firefox`, or `webkit` (#2086). GitHub CI runs this in **Chromium**
+ * only; `npm run ci`, the local pre-push gate, also runs it in **Firefox** via
+ * `smoke:web:firefox`; **WebKit is on demand only**. This smoke passes in all
  * three — it is the two App smokes that fail under WebKit (see their headers).
  *
  * The engine question here is narrower than in the App smokes — this asserts a clean
diff --git a/scripts/smoke-web-elicitation.mjs b/scripts/smoke-web-elicitation.mjs
index 4c485ee0..364ea730 100644
--- a/scripts/smoke-web-elicitation.mjs
+++ b/scripts/smoke-web-elicitation.mjs
@@ -25,9 +25,13 @@
  * proof to a PR); unset, it asserts only.
  *
  * `SMOKE_BROWSER` picks the engine (`chromium` — the default — `firefox`, or
- * `webkit`). **CI runs Chromium only.** The other engines are an on-demand tool,
- * not a gate: `SMOKE_BROWSER=firefox npm run smoke:web:engine` before touching
- * the sandbox is cheap and worth doing, but nothing runs it for you (#2086).
+ * `webkit`). Three tiers, deliberately (#2086):
+ *
+ *   - **GitHub CI** runs this smoke in **Chromium** only.
+ *   - **`npm run ci`**, the local pre-push gate, runs it in **Chromium and
+ *     Firefox** — the Firefox pass is `smoke:web:firefox`, and it is the one
+ *     gate step with no GitHub CI counterpart.
+ *   - **WebKit is on demand only**: `SMOKE_BROWSER=webkit npm run smoke:web:app`.
  *
  * Firefox passes. WebKit fails this smoke for reasons nobody has identified and
  * nobody is investigating: it does not reproduce in real Safari, and an isolated