diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d20a120afc..3e585a3f3d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -172,8 +172,10 @@ docs/superpowers/*
 # with HERMES_INSTALL_DIR=$HERMES_HOME or by older installers): every root-level
 # SQLite store (state.db, kanban.db, response_store.db, ...) with its
 # WAL/SHM/journal sidecars and retired-WAL capture dirs, the legacy transcripts,
-# the cron job store (jobs.json) and executions ledger, gateway lock/pid/state
-# files, cache/spill directories, and the profile's own config/credential/
+# the cron job store (jobs.json), its lock/heartbeat/output files and all three
+# cron SQLite stores (executions/deliveries/notepad, WAL-mode like the root
+# ones), gateway lock/pid/state files and per-launch markers, cache/spill
+# directories, and the profile's own config/credential/
 # memory/profile/pairing roots, the pre-update backups (the very copies a
 # swept state.db is restored from) and the secret vault are Hermes-managed
 # runtime state, never code changes. (`*-snapshots/` above already covers state-snapshots/.)
@@ -189,13 +191,26 @@ docs/superpowers/*
 /gateway/discord_message_recovery.db*
 /sessions/
 /browser-profile/
-/cron/executions.db*
+/cron/*.db
+/cron/*.db-wal
+/cron/*.db-shm
+/cron/*.db-journal
+/cron/*.db.retired-wal-*/
 /cron/jobs.json
+/cron/.jobs.lock
+/cron/ticker_heartbeat
+/cron/output/
 /cron.pid
 /gateway.lock
 /gateway.pid
 /gateway_state.json
+/gateway-starts.log
 /processes.json
+/.update_check
+/.clean_shutdown
+/active_profile
+/.hermes_history
+/slack_tokens.json
 /hook_outputs/
 /hooks/
 /cache/
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_flat_install_state_gitignore.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_flat_install_state_gitignore.py
index 8c6183beb5..188626545d 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_flat_install_state_gitignore.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_flat_install_state_gitignore.py
@@ -38,12 +38,24 @@ FLAT_INSTALL_RUNTIME_STATE = (
     "cron/executions.db",
     "cron/executions.db-wal",
     "cron/executions.db-shm",
+    "cron/deliveries.db",
+    "cron/deliveries.db-wal",
+    "cron/notepad.db",
     "cron/jobs.json",
+    "cron/.jobs.lock",
+    "cron/ticker_heartbeat",
+    "cron/output/job1/2026-09-14T06-00-00.md",
     "cron.pid",
     "gateway.lock",
     "gateway.pid",
     "gateway_state.json",
     "processes.json",
+    "gateway-starts.log",
+    ".update_check",
+    ".clean_shutdown",
+    "active_profile",
+    ".hermes_history",
+    "slack_tokens.json",
     "hook_outputs/2026-09-14_06-00-00/tool.json",
     "hooks/on_session_end.sh",
     "cache/banner_snapshot.json",
diff --git a/website/docs/getting-started/updating.md b/website/docs/getting-started/updating.md
index 8543137cc8..645b623652 100644
--- a/website/docs/getting-started/updating.md
+++ b/website/docs/getting-started/updating.md
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ When the parked branch has **uncommitted changes** (dirty tree), Hermes does **n
 
 When you run `hermes update` in a terminal, Hermes stashes any uncommitted source-tree changes, pulls, then **asks** whether to restore them — exactly as it always has. Nothing changes for interactive updates.
 
-The autostash only ever covers *source-tree* changes. On a **flat install** — where the git checkout root is also `$HERMES_HOME` (for example an install made with `HERMES_INSTALL_DIR=$HERMES_HOME`, or one created by an older installer) — the profile's runtime state (`state.db` and its WAL/SHM sidecars, `state-snapshots/`, `backups/`, `sessions/`, `cron/jobs.json`, `cron/executions.db`, `config.yaml`, `auth.json`, `memories/`, lock/pid files, …) lives inside the checkout as untracked files. Those paths are git-ignored, so the autostash never touches them and the running gateway keeps its database through the update. If you keep other untracked files in a flat install's root, move them out of the checkout or add them to `.git/info/exclude`; anything untracked and not ignored is swept into the autostash like a source edit.
+The autostash only ever covers *source-tree* changes. On a **flat install** — where the git checkout root is also `$HERMES_HOME` (for example an install made with `HERMES_INSTALL_DIR=$HERMES_HOME`, or one created by an older installer) — the profile's runtime state (`state.db` and its WAL/SHM sidecars, `state-snapshots/`, `backups/`, `sessions/`, `cron/jobs.json`, the `cron/*.db` stores, `config.yaml`, `auth.json`, `memories/`, lock/pid files, …) lives inside the checkout as untracked files. Those paths are git-ignored, so the autostash never touches them and the running gateway keeps its database through the update. If you keep other untracked files in a flat install's root, move them out of the checkout or add them to `.git/info/exclude`; anything untracked and not ignored is swept into the autostash like a source edit.
 
 When the update runs **without a terminal** — from the desktop/chat app's "Update" button or a gateway-triggered update — there's no prompt to answer. The `updates.non_interactive_local_changes` setting decides what happens to your stashed changes: