diff --git a/cmd/review/README.md b/cmd/review/README.md
index 95b24d7..b9e2cbc 100644
--- a/cmd/review/README.md
+++ b/cmd/review/README.md
@@ -1,25 +1,11 @@
 THIS COMMAND is for reviewing applications made to tilde.town. it's for admins to run.
 
-signups land in `/town/signups` as JSON files. This tool iterates over them and
-lets an admin take one of a few actions:
+Signups are read from /town/var/signups/signups.db . Approved signups create rows in /town/var/invites/invites.db .
+
+# verbs in the TUI:
 
 - skip
 - approve
 - reject
 - notate (leave a note for other admins)
 - jump to random signup
-
-some other requirements in no particular order:
-
-- JSON files should be locked when being looked at
-- notation modifies the JSON in place
-- approved signups go to `/town/signups/approved`
-- rejected signups go to `/town/signups/rejected`
-
-I'm not 100% sure yet what approval is going to look like; I want to switch to
-a system where people are emailed about their acceptance and given a code they
-can exchange for an ssh form that lets them pick a username and add a pubkey.
-
-so for now i'm just going to move the files into `/town/signups/approved` while
-i think about that.
-
diff --git a/cmd/signup/README.md b/cmd/signup/README.md
index da4432d..c868dce 100644
--- a/cmd/signup/README.md
+++ b/cmd/signup/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 # town signup
+
 The point of this command is to enable signing up for tilde.town via an ssh connection. It is designed to be run when `join@tilde.town` is SSH'd to.
 
 ## to-dos
@@ -9,21 +10,13 @@ The point of this command is to enable signing up for tilde.town via an ssh conn
   - [x] write answers to disk
   - [x] take out sidebar
   - [x] add /help
-  - [ ] make copy clearer (that you say whatever and *then* type verb)
+  - [x] make copy clearer (that you say whatever and *then* type verb)
   - [x] enter to send
   - [ ] splash screen       - put off
   - [ ] easter egg commands - put off
   - [ ] inactivity timer(?) - put off
-- [ ] review tool
-	- [x] iterate over answers
-	- [ ] accept
-	- [ ] notate
-	- [ ] reject
-	- [ ] send email with directions on key upload
-- [ ] actual account creation
-	- [ ] accept key
-	- [ ] accept username
-	- [ ] create user
+- [x] review tool
+- [x] actual account creation
 - [ ] backlog
 	- [ ] get a manual dump from psql of json
 	- [ ] convert into files in the review directory
diff --git a/cmd/welcome/README.md b/cmd/welcome/README.md
index 3e5423c..8fc5b3f 100644
--- a/cmd/welcome/README.md
+++ b/cmd/welcome/README.md
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ responsible for:
 1. accepting and validating an invite token generated by the `review` command
 2. accepting and validating a new user's username choice (ie enforcing rules and checking for dupes)
 3. accepting and validating a user's email for use in account recovery (defaulting to an email embedded in the invite token)
-4. accepting and validating a display name
-5. accepting and validating a user's public ssh key
+4. accepting and validating a display name (PUT OFF)
+5. Confirming that a user agrees to our CoC
+6. accepting and validating a user's public ssh key
 
 upon receipt of these things a user account is created. if it fails, the user
 is told about the failure and told to email root@tilde.town for guidance; us
@@ -26,10 +27,10 @@ an invite token consists of two pieces that are then base64 encoded. the first p
 something like:
 
 ```
-welcome ALL=(ALL)NOPASSWD:/usr/sbin/adduser,/usr/sbin/usermod,/bin/mkdir,/town/bin/generate_welcome_present.sh,/town/bin/create_keyfile
+welcome ALL=(ALL)NOPASSWD:/usr/sbin/adduser,/usr/sbin/usermod,/town/bin/createkeyfile,/town/bin/generate_welcome_present.sh,/town/bin/registeruser
 ```
 
-though I will likely move welcome_present generation inline to `welcome` itself.
+I'd like to consolidate adduser/usermod calls into a single "createuser" helper. I'd also like to move the welcome present generation into `welcome`. TODO.
 
 ## user creation flow