diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index f00339d..3971e7e 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.10.17
+0.10.18
diff --git a/internal/resources/provenance_test.go b/internal/resources/provenance_test.go
index 0e0ce49..0425cd8 100644
--- a/internal/resources/provenance_test.go
+++ b/internal/resources/provenance_test.go
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@ func TestBuildEnvSpecStampsUserProvenance(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("RESOURCE_LIMITS = %q, want cpu=6,memory=24Gi", env["RESOURCE_LIMITS"])
 	}
 	if env["RESOURCE_REQUESTS"] != env["RESOURCE_LIMITS"] {
-		t.Error("requests and limits diverged — Guaranteed QoS is the chart contract")
+		t.Error("requests and limits diverged — BuildEnvSpec writes them equal so a" +
+			" CPU training pod is Guaranteed. (Not \"the chart contract\", as this" +
+			" message said until backend#2872: the chart's derive path writes no cpu" +
+			" limit at all since backend#2418.)")
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/resources/resources.go b/internal/resources/resources.go
index b0f3e6b..e54f9d6 100644
--- a/internal/resources/resources.go
+++ b/internal/resources/resources.go
@@ -8,8 +8,14 @@
 // Grounding (verified against tracebloc/client + client-runtime, 2026-07):
 //   - The machine's capacity is the sum of Ready nodes' Status.Allocatable
 //     (the installer path is single-node, so this is normally one node).
-//   - A training run's ceiling is the jobs-manager env RESOURCE_LIMITS
-//     ("cpu=2,memory=8Gi", requests==limits for Guaranteed QoS). This is the
+//   - A training run's ceiling is the jobs-manager env RESOURCE_LIMITS. This
+//     package writes it equal to RESOURCE_REQUESTS on both dimensions, so a CPU
+//     training pod comes out Guaranteed. Two caveats this comment used to elide
+//     (backend#2872): the built-in fallback is the contract floor
+//     cpu=1,memory=2Gi since backend#2254, not the "cpu=2,memory=8Gi" named
+//     here before; and a GPU pod is BestEffort whatever this writes, because
+//     client-runtime's GPU path sets only nvidia.com/gpu and ephemeral-storage
+//     and neither counts toward QoS (backend#2871). This is the
 //     exact value client-runtime's jobs_manager.py stamps on spawned jobs and
 //     the same value `cluster doctor`'s checkNodeFit already parses — so the two
 //     read it identically (di#358 lesson: a reader must mirror the writer).
@@ -135,7 +141,9 @@ func MachineCapacity(nodes []corev1.Node) Machine {
 
 // ParseTraining reads the per-run ceiling from a jobs-manager env map. It
 // prefers RESOURCE_LIMITS (the true ceiling) and falls back to RESOURCE_REQUESTS
-// (requests==limits by chart contract), then to the chart default so an older
+// (which this package writes equal to the limits; NOT a chart-wide contract --
+// the chart's derive path writes no cpu limit at all since backend#2418,
+// backend#2872), then to the chart default so an older
 // chart without the literal env still reports the effective size. GPU is read
 // from GPU_LIMITS, then GPU_REQUESTS.
 func ParseTraining(env map[string]string) Training {
diff --git a/internal/resources/set.go b/internal/resources/set.go
index bd63545..9dd8095 100644
--- a/internal/resources/set.go
+++ b/internal/resources/set.go
@@ -194,8 +194,15 @@ func MemFloorText() string  { return "2 GiB" }
 const NoGPUEnvValue = ""
 
 // BuildEnvSpec renders a per-run ceiling into the exact chart env the run is
-// stamped with. RESOURCE_REQUESTS == RESOURCE_LIMITS (Guaranteed QoS, the chart
-// contract), both "cpu=X,memory=Y".
+// stamped with. RESOURCE_REQUESTS == RESOURCE_LIMITS, both "cpu=X,memory=Y" --
+// which yields a Guaranteed CPU training pod.
+//
+// NOT "the chart contract", as this said until backend#2872. The chart's own
+// DERIVE path (DERIVE_JOB_ENVELOPE) writes no cpu limit at all since
+// backend#2418, so requests == limits is this package's choice for the explicit
+// envelope, not a chart-wide invariant -- and calling it a contract is what let
+// the claim survive after #2418 falsified it elsewhere. A GPU pod is BestEffort
+// regardless of what is written here (backend#2871).
 //
 // Every dimension is ALWAYS written — never omitted. The apply uses
 // `helm upgrade --reset-then-reuse-values`, which re-applies the release's