diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bd590e3..1f9be08 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -141,13 +141,18 @@ scopes never self-confer).
 
 ### campus.audit: API-key auth (#54)
 
-The audit service (`/audit/v1`) is a separate, user-blind deployment
-that does **not** accept OAuth tokens: it authenticates with its own
-API keys (`audit_v1_…`) sent as Bearer credentials. `campus audit` is
-the CLI's only command group using this second credential, stored in
-the same credential store as your OAuth tokens and bound to the audit
-URL it was stored for (per `ENV`/`CAMPUS_ENV` or `CAMPUS_AUDIT_URL`,
-like every other endpoint):
+The audit service is a separate, user-blind deployment with two auth
+lanes. Its versioned API (`/audit/v1`) — everything `campus audit`
+talks to — accepts only the service's own API keys (`audit_v1_…`) sent
+as Bearer credentials, never OAuth tokens or campus accounts. The
+service's web UI has its own, separate gate: campus accounts on the
+server's `AUDIT_ADMINS` list sign in as **superadmins** (they may view
+traces *and* manage keys in the browser), and in development
+environments an audit API key can sign in too. None of that issues CLI
+credentials: `campus audit` is the CLI's only command group using a
+second credential, stored in the same credential store as your OAuth
+tokens and bound to the audit URL it was stored for (per
+`ENV`/`CAMPUS_ENV` or `CAMPUS_AUDIT_URL`, like every other endpoint):
 
 ```bash
 # Store a key: the CAMPUS_AUDIT_API_KEY env var, an interactive prompt
@@ -176,10 +181,20 @@ command has one shape: list envelopes keep their `count`
 bodyless action such as `keys revoke` reports `{"id": …, "revoked":
 true}`.
 
+The service gates everything through two capabilities, and a key earns
+them scope by scope: `traces:read` for trace surfaces (the CLI's
+`traces` commands, and the browser trace viewer via key sign-in),
+`apikeys:write` for key management. A key with `apikeys:write` gains
+no trace access, and a key with `traces:read` gains no key
+management; `apikeys:read` alone is an API/CLI privilege that does not
+admit a browser session. Web superadmins hold both capabilities by
+being on the list.
+
 Two roles use the group:
 
-- **The operator** holds the key with `apikeys:*` scopes (the one
-  seeded from the server's `AUDIT_OPERATOR_API_KEY`) and administers
+- **The operator** holds a key carrying `apikeys:read`/`apikeys:write`
+  — the deployment seeds one from the server's `AUDIT_OPERATOR_API_KEY`
+  env var (with every `traces:*` scope besides) — and administers
   everyone else's keys — mint, inspect, update, rotate, revoke:
 
   ```bash
@@ -216,6 +231,12 @@ Two roles use the group:
   `campus audit keys revoke` (operator) or by letting `--expires-at`
   pass.
 
+  In a development environment the same `traces:read` key also signs
+  into the audit web UI's trace viewer, where the session holds
+  exactly the key's scopes; revoking or re-scoping the key ends the
+  browser session on its next request. That sign-in path does not
+  exist outside development.
+
 ### Dry-run mode
 
 All `client`, `user`, `vault` and `audit` commands accept `--dry-run`.
diff --git a/campus_cli/audit/__init__.py b/campus_cli/audit/__init__.py
index d0194a3..00b089c 100644
--- a/campus_cli/audit/__init__.py
+++ b/campus_cli/audit/__init__.py
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 """campus.audit commands (#54).
 
-The audit service (/audit/v1) is a separate, user-blind deployment
-authenticating with its own API keys (`audit_v1_...`, Bearer) rather
-than OAuth user tokens. The command group mirrors its two
-capabilities: the operator's key lifecycle (campus audit keys) and
-read-only trace queries (campus audit traces), plus login/logout and
-the offline status view over the stored key — the CLI's only
-non-OAuth credential.
+The audit service is a separate, user-blind deployment. Its versioned
+API (/audit/v1) authenticates with its own API keys (`audit_v1_...`,
+Bearer) rather than OAuth user tokens; the service's web UI has a
+separate browser gate (campus#929 superadmins, campus#916
+development-only key sign-in) that issues no CLI credentials. The
+command group maps the API's scope model onto two capabilities: key
+management (apikeys:write; campus audit keys) and trace reading
+(traces:read; campus audit traces), plus login/logout and the offline
+status view over the stored key — the CLI's only non-OAuth credential.
 """
 
 import typer
diff --git a/campus_cli/audit/client.py b/campus_cli/audit/client.py
index 29803e7..575b981 100644
--- a/campus_cli/audit/client.py
+++ b/campus_cli/audit/client.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 """Shared plumbing for campus.audit commands (#54).
 
-The audit service (/audit/v1) authenticates with one of its own API
-keys (`audit_v1_...`) sent as a Bearer token — OAuth user tokens are
-not accepted — so it gets its own credential slot and client here,
-parallel to the OAuth machinery in campus_cli.auth. Like the OAuth
-tokens, the stored key is bound to the service URL it was stored
-against and rejected on a target mismatch.
+The audit service's versioned API (/audit/v1) authenticates with one
+of its own API keys (`audit_v1_...`) sent as a Bearer token — OAuth
+user tokens are not accepted (the service's web UI has a separate
+browser gate, campus#929/#916) — so it gets its own credential slot
+and client here, parallel to the OAuth machinery in campus_cli.auth.
+Like the OAuth tokens, the stored key is bound to the service URL it
+was stored against and rejected on a target mismatch.
 """
 
 import typer
diff --git a/campus_cli/audit/keys.py b/campus_cli/audit/keys.py
index 8e90324..2a07a77 100644
--- a/campus_cli/audit/keys.py
+++ b/campus_cli/audit/keys.py
@@ -3,11 +3,15 @@
 The operator workflow for minting and managing audit API keys, e.g.
 one per student for dev-environment access: `owner_id` is a free-form
 label, conventionally the student's email (organizational only —
-campus.audit is user-blind and self-contained by design), `scopes`
-gate what the key may call (e.g. ["traces:read"]), and key management
-itself requires apikeys:* scopes, held only by the operator key.
-Plaintext key material is shown exactly once, at creation and at
-regeneration (mirroring the server).
+campus.audit is user-blind and self-contained by design), and
+`scopes` gate what the key may call — student keys carry
+["traces:read"]. Managing keys through this API requires apikeys:*
+scopes: the deployment seeds one such operator key from its
+AUDIT_OPERATOR_API_KEY env var, and minting does not validate scopes
+— but apikeys:write is also the web UI's key-management capability
+(campus#929), so hand one out deliberately. Plaintext key material is
+shown exactly once, at creation and at regeneration (mirroring the
+server).
 """
 
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
diff --git a/campus_cli/audit/login.py b/campus_cli/audit/login.py
index 4969d26..4e41f6f 100644
--- a/campus_cli/audit/login.py
+++ b/campus_cli/audit/login.py
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 """campus.audit login/logout/status (#54, #62).
 
-The audit service only accepts its own API keys, so 'campus audit
-login' stores a key from --api-key, CAMPUS_AUDIT_API_KEY, or an
-interactive prompt instead of running the OAuth device flow. The key
-is verified against the service (best-effort, never blocking on
-network errors) and bound to the audit URL it was stored for, like
-OAuth tokens are bound to their auth endpoint. 'status' reports the
-stored key's local state; the audit service has no "who am I"
-endpoint, so it is a purely offline view.
+The audit API (/audit/v1) accepts only the service's own API keys, so
+'campus audit login' stores a key from --api-key, CAMPUS_AUDIT_API_KEY,
+or an interactive prompt instead of running the OAuth device flow.
+(The service's web UI has a separate browser gate — campus#929
+superadmins, campus#916 development-only key sign-in — which issues no
+CLI credentials.) The key is verified against the service (best-effort,
+never blocking on network errors) and bound to the audit URL it was
+stored for, like OAuth tokens are bound to their auth endpoint.
+'status' reports the stored key's local state; the audit service has
+no "who am I" endpoint, so it is a purely offline view.
 """
 
 import json
diff --git a/campus_cli/utils/output.py b/campus_cli/utils/output.py
index 991fb94..5107a10 100644
--- a/campus_cli/utils/output.py
+++ b/campus_cli/utils/output.py
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@
     "",
 ]
 
-# Preamble for campus.audit --dry-run snippets (#54): the audit
-# service authenticates with one of its own API keys, not an OAuth
-# token, so its resource root is built directly.
+# Preamble for campus.audit --dry-run snippets (#54): the audit API
+# (/audit/v1) authenticates with one of its own API keys, not an
+# OAuth token, so its resource root is built directly.
 AUDIT_PYTHON_API_PREAMBLE = [
     "from campus_python import AuditRoot, CampusRequest",
     "",