diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index e5f9d095252..8b140e35c09 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ hermes-agent/
 | `~/.hermes/skills/` | All active skills (bundled + hub-installed + agent-created) |
 | `~/.hermes/memories/` | Persistent memory (MEMORY.md, USER.md) |
 | `~/.hermes/state.db` | SQLite session database |
-| `~/.hermes/sessions/` | JSON session logs |
+| `~/.hermes/sessions/` | Legacy session artifacts (no longer written; state.db is canonical). Holds the gateway routing index (`sessions.json`) and request-dump breadcrumbs. |
 | `~/.hermes/cron/` | Scheduled job data |
 | `~/.hermes/whatsapp/session/` | WhatsApp bridge credentials |
 
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ User message → AIAgent._run_agent_loop()
 
 - **Self-registering tools**: Each tool file calls `registry.register()` at import time. `model_tools.py` triggers discovery by importing all tool modules.
 - **Toolset grouping**: Tools are grouped into toolsets (`web`, `terminal`, `file`, `browser`, etc.) that can be enabled/disabled per platform.
-- **Session persistence**: All conversations are stored in SQLite (`hermes_state.py`) with full-text search and unique session titles. JSON logs go to `~/.hermes/sessions/`.
+- **Session persistence**: All conversations are stored in SQLite (`hermes_state.py`) with full-text search and unique session titles. Per-session JSON snapshots in `~/.hermes/sessions/` were superseded by the SQLite store and are no longer written.
 - **Ephemeral injection**: System prompts and prefill messages are injected at API call time, never persisted to the database or logs.
 - **Provider abstraction**: The agent works with any OpenAI-compatible API. Provider resolution happens at init time (Nous Portal OAuth, OpenRouter API key, or custom endpoint).
 - **Provider routing**: When using OpenRouter, `provider_routing` in config.yaml controls provider selection (sort by throughput/latency/price, allow/ignore specific providers, data retention policies). These are injected as `extra_body.provider` in API requests.
diff --git a/skills/autonomous-ai-agents/hermes-agent/SKILL.md b/skills/autonomous-ai-agents/hermes-agent/SKILL.md
index 63924c81f7d..03d31777fd9 100644
--- a/skills/autonomous-ai-agents/hermes-agent/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/autonomous-ai-agents/hermes-agent/SKILL.md
@@ -336,7 +336,8 @@ The registry of record is `hermes_cli/commands.py` — every consumer
 ~/.hermes/config.yaml       Main configuration
 ~/.hermes/.env              API keys and secrets
 $HERMES_HOME/skills/        Installed skills
-~/.hermes/sessions/         Session transcripts
+~/.hermes/sessions/         Legacy session artifacts (no longer written; state.db is canonical)
+~/.hermes/state.db          Canonical session store (SQLite + FTS5)
 ~/.hermes/logs/             Gateway and error logs
 ~/.hermes/auth.json         OAuth tokens and credential pools
 ~/.hermes/hermes-agent/     Source code (if git-installed)
@@ -867,7 +868,7 @@ hermes config set auxiliary.vision.model <model_name>
 | Env variables | `hermes config env-path` or [Env vars reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/environment-variables) |
 | CLI commands | `hermes --help` or [CLI reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/cli-commands) |
 | Gateway logs | `~/.hermes/logs/gateway.log` |
-| Session files | `~/.hermes/sessions/` or `hermes sessions browse` |
+| Session files | `hermes sessions browse` (reads state.db) |
 | Source code | `~/.hermes/hermes-agent/` |
 
 ---