diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 2734c8b..190683b 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -17,4 +17,24 @@ VITE_API_BASE_URL=
 
 # Optional. Set to 1 to disable auth entirely (DEV ONLY). When set,
 # the backend auto-grants admin access without checking credentials.
-# CYCLONE_AUTH_DISABLED=0
\ No newline at end of file
+# CYCLONE_AUTH_DISABLED=0
+
+# ─── Gainwell / HCPF SFTP credentials (operator convention) ─────────────
+# These mirror what /home/tyler/EDI/scripts/upload_claims.sh exports and
+# what the operator's SFTP client uses. Cyclone's secrets module looks up
+# CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD (or _FILE), not GAINWELL_SFTP_PASS — to bridge:
+#
+#   export CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD="$GAINWELL_SFTP_PASS"
+#
+# or for the daemon, set CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD_FILE to a 0600 file.
+GAINWELL_SFTP_USER=colorado-fts\coxix_prod_11525703
+GAINWELL_SFTP_HOST=mft.gainwelltechnologies.com
+GAINWELL_SFTP_PASS=
+GAINWELL_REMOTE_DIR=/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/ToHPE
+
+# CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD=                 # mirror of GAINWELL_SFTP_PASS
+# CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD_FILE=            # path to a 0600 file containing it
+
+# CYCLONE_SCHEDULER_AUTOSTART=           # 1/true/yes to start the MFT poll loop on API launch
+# CYCLONE_SCHEDULER_POLL_SECONDS=60      # poll interval when autostart is on
+# CYCLONE_TAIL_HEARTBEAT_S=15            # NDJSON stream heartbeat interval
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 479a213..6eee15b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@ build/
 *.swp
 *.swo
 
+# macOS extraction residue (AppleDouble / __MACOSX from unzip on macOS).
+# These are paired with every regular file in an extracted zip — never data.
+__MACOSX/
+._*
+
+# Operator drop zone (untracked working dir; contents are HCPF-delivered
+# inbound files, never source). Use `mkdir -p ingest && touch ingest/.gitkeep`
+# if you want the directory itself in the repo.
+ingest/
+
 # Local config
 .env
 .env.local
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 5421874..8dfdba6 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -137,6 +137,34 @@ Config: `config/payers.yaml` is the on-disk source for providers / payers / clea
 
 Secrets live in the macOS Keychain (via `keyring` + `cyclone.secrets`): SQLCipher key (service `cyclone`, account `cyclone.db.key`), SFTP password, backup passphrase. No secrets on disk in plaintext.
 
+## Production SFTP posture (this box: manual mode)
+
+This host runs in **manual SFTP mode** against Gainwell's MOVEit Transfer MFT at `mft.gainwelltechnologies.com`. The seeded `dzinesco` clearhouse keeps `sftp_block.stub: true`; the operator moves files to/from Gainwell with their SFTP client and drops inbound files into `ingest/` for cyclone to ingest. Do NOT flip `stub` to `false` from this host — see "Auth caveat" below.
+
+### Env var convention
+
+The operator's shell exports the Gainwell creds as `GAINWELL_SFTP_USER`, `GAINWELL_SFTP_PASS`, `GAINWELL_SFTP_HOST`, `GAINWELL_REMOTE_DIR`. Cyclone's `secrets.get_secret()` looks up `CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD` (or `CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD_FILE`) per `secrets._ENV_NAME_FOR`. The two are NOT the same name — bridge them per-call or in your shell rc:
+
+```bash
+export CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD="$GAINWELL_SFTP_PASS"
+```
+
+### Inbound drop zone
+
+`/home/tyler/dev/cyclone/ingest/` is the operator-maintained staging dir for inbound MFT files (999 acks, TA1, 835 remittances, 277CA claim acks). Files here are NOT auto-watched; processing happens via the procedure in `docs/RUNBOOK.md` § "Manual SFTP mode". At time of writing this dir holds ~1500 unprocessed 999 acks + 1 TA1 + 1 835 from early July 2026 — the local ingest flow clears them.
+
+### Auth caveat (do not retry)
+
+Paramiko reaches `MOVEit Transfer SFTP` cleanly (SSH kex completes, MOVEit offers password auth) but `AuthenticationException: Authentication failed` is returned despite the operator confirming the credentials are known-good from another host. Most likely cause: MOVEit Transfer's IP-based access control — this host's public IP `103.14.26.95` is not whitelisted. Repeated auth attempts risk account lockout. Do NOT keep guessing. Resolve by either: (a) whitelisting this IP with Gainwell's MFT admin, or (b) staying in manual mode and moving files via the operator's SFTP client.
+
+### Inbound ingestion paths
+
+The canonical way to write 999/TA1/277CA/835 rows into the DB is `Scheduler.process_inbound_files`, exposed as the CLI `cyclone pull-inbound --date YYYYMMDD` and the HTTP `POST /api/admin/scheduler/pull-inbound`. **There is no `parse-999` / `parse-ta1` / `parse-277ca` CLI command** (CLAUDE.md's "CLI" section above is aspirational on those three). The `parse-837` and `parse-835` CLIs exist but only emit JSON files to `--output-dir`; they do NOT write to the DB. For DB writes, use `pull-inbound` (which dedupes via `processed_inbound_files`).
+
+### Daemon hot-reload
+
+`python -m cyclone serve` runs as root (started by `tini`) and keeps the SFTP block in memory. Flipping `stub` directly in the DB (`store.update_clearhouse(...)`) does NOT auto-reload the daemon's view — either restart the daemon or use `PATCH /api/clearhouse` (which calls `scheduler.reconfigure_scheduler` to hot-reload).
+
 ## Frontend at a glance
 
 `src/` is React 18 + TypeScript + Vite. Routes register in `src/App.tsx` (11 pages, all under a `<Layout>` route wrapper). Pages are pure renderers — every page pairs with a `use<X>` data hook in `src/hooks/` and renders a `<PageHeader>` + a table/list/KPI grid. Drawers (`ClaimDrawer/`, `RemitDrawer/`, plus the new `ProviderDrawer/` and `AckDrawer/`) are mounted by the page and their open/close state is mirrored to the URL via `useDrawerUrlState` so deep-links round-trip. Drill-stack navigation is provided by `<DrillStackProvider>` in `src/components/drill/`.
diff --git a/docs/RUNBOOK.md b/docs/RUNBOOK.md
index c549ae8..1271f43 100644
--- a/docs/RUNBOOK.md
+++ b/docs/RUNBOOK.md
@@ -138,3 +138,110 @@ started without the secret mount), the scheduler surfaces a
 `RuntimeError` at the next tick that names the env var and the
 missing path — this is intentional, so a silent fall-through doesn't
 mask a real misconfiguration.
+
+## Manual SFTP mode (this box's current posture)
+
+Use this when the host's IP isn't whitelisted with Gainwell's MFT, when
+you don't want a daemon polling every minute, or when you prefer to
+drag-drop files with FileZilla / WinSCP. The seeded `dzinesco`
+clearhouse ships in this mode (`sftp_block.stub: true`); no daemon
+changes required.
+
+**Posture.** `SftpClient` reads/writes to local staging instead of
+`mft.gainwelltechnologies.com`:
+
+- Outbound (`write_file`): `./var/sftp/staging/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/ToHPE/`
+- Inbound (`list_inbound`): `./var/sftp/staging/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/FromHPE/`
+
+(Paths are relative to the backend cwd; create the directories if
+absent.)
+
+### Daily flow (manual mode)
+
+1. **Pull inbound from Gainwell** with your SFTP client:
+   `/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/FromHPE/`
+2. **Stage locally** in `./var/sftp/staging/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/FromHPE/`
+   (or, equivalently, drop them in `/home/tyler/dev/cyclone/ingest/`
+   and copy in).
+3. **Process** with `pull-inbound` (writes acks/835s to DB, dedupes
+   via `processed_inbound_files`):
+
+   ```bash
+   cd /home/tyler/dev/cyclone/backend
+   mkdir -p "./var/sftp/staging/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/FromHPE"
+   cp /home/tyler/dev/cyclone/ingest/*.x12 \
+      "./var/sftp/staging/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/FromHPE/"
+   .venv/bin/python -m cyclone pull-inbound --date 20260701
+   .venv/bin/python -m cyclone pull-inbound --date 20260702
+   .venv/bin/python -m cyclone pull-inbound --date 20260703
+   ```
+
+4. **Submit outbound** with `POST /api/clearhouse/submit` (writes
+   serialized 837P files into the stub staging dir; you drag-drop
+   them to your SFTP client's `/CO XIX/PROD/coxix_prod_11525703/ToHPE/`).
+
+### Backfill a backlog
+
+`ingest/` often holds days of unprocessed acks. The copy + per-date
+`pull-inbound` flow above clears it. Files already in
+`processed_inbound_files` are skipped automatically — to re-process,
+delete the row first (`DELETE FROM processed_inbound_files WHERE name = ...`).
+
+### Note on per-file parse CLIs
+
+`parse-837` and `parse-835` exist as CLIs but only emit JSON files to
+`--output-dir`; they do NOT write to the DB. There is no
+`parse-999` / `parse-ta1` / `parse-277ca` CLI in this version of
+cyclone — the canonical 999/TA1/277CA/835 ingestion path is
+`pull-inbound` → `Scheduler.process_inbound_files`. For inspection of
+a single file without DB writes, use the Python API:
+
+```python
+from cyclone.parsers.parse_999 import parse as parse_999
+result = parse_999(open("path.999.x12").read())
+```
+
+### Switching from manual → real (and back)
+
+When this host's IP is whitelisted with Gainwell's MFT admin, the
+SP25 procedure above flips the block. The CLI one-liner:
+
+```bash
+export CYCLONE_SFTP_PASSWORD="$GAINWELL_SFTP_PASS"
+.venv/bin/python -c "
+from cyclone import db, store
+from cyclone.providers import Clearhouse, SftpBlock
+db.init_db()
+ch = store.store.get_clearhouse()
+sb = ch.sftp_block.model_dump()
+sb['stub'] = False
+sb['auth'] = {'password_keychain_account': 'sftp.gainwell.password'}
+new = Clearhouse(
+    id=1, name=ch.name, tpid=ch.tpid,
+    submitter_id_qual=ch.submitter_id_qual,
+    submitter_name=ch.submitter_name,
+    submitter_contact_name=ch.submitter_contact_name,
+    submitter_contact_email=ch.submitter_contact_email,
+    filename_block=ch.filename_block,
+    sftp_block=SftpBlock.model_validate(sb, strict=True),
+    updated_at=ch.updated_at,
+)
+print('updated:', store.store.update_clearhouse(new).sftp_block.stub)
+"
+```
+
+Hot-reload via `PATCH /api/clearhouse` (preferred over direct DB
+write — it also calls `scheduler.reconfigure_scheduler` so the running
+daemon picks up the new block without a restart):
+
+```bash
+curl -s -b cookies.txt http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/clearhouse > /tmp/ch.json
+jq '.sftp_block.stub = false
+    | .sftp_block.auth = {"password_keychain_account": "sftp.gainwell.password"}' \
+   /tmp/ch.json > /tmp/ch-patched.json
+curl -X PATCH http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/clearhouse \
+     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -b cookies.txt \
+     --data @/tmp/ch-patched.json
+```
+
+To revert, set `stub: true` and `auth: {"method": "keychain", "secret_ref": "sftp.gainwell.password"}`.