diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 625765d..54aebb6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,77 +1,51 @@
-# Weather Tool
+# WeatherTool
 
-Tool for downloading historical and real-time data from weather stations in Latvia. It aggregates and displays data for different time periods, cities, and weather parameters.
+WeatherTool prepares the weather graphics used on air: current temperatures,
+water temperatures, and severe-weather warnings, rendered as fixed-size PNG
+exports ready to drop into a broadcast. It's a large update to the tool
+currently running in production at `laikazinas.lsm.lv`.
 
-## Setup
-Rename `.env-sample` to `.env` and fill in credentials
+## What it does
 
-## Environment boundary
+- Pulls real observation data from LVĢMC (Latvia's national weather
+  service) — current station temperatures, water temperatures, and active
+  warnings — from their public open-data feed.
+- Lets an operator review and, where needed, correct individual values
+  before export, without touching the underlying data.
+- Renders that data onto fixed newsroom map templates and exports
+  broadcast-ready PNGs at the station's required resolutions.
+- Also includes analytical tools (historical station comparisons, a full
+  data archive) for exploring the underlying weather data beyond what goes
+  on air.
 
-- **Windows:** source editing, review, and Git operations only. Do not compile, build, run containers, install project dependencies, or test the application here.
-- **Rocky Linux:** the only development runtime; compile, build, run, seed, and test WeatherTool here.
-- **Ubuntu VPS:** deployment target only. It receives the reviewed release artifact built and verified on Rocky; it is not a development or build host.
+## How it's built
 
-## Run
-```
-docker-compose up --build --no-cache --force-recreate
-```
+A Scala backend (cats-effect, http4s, PostgreSQL) ingests and serves the
+data; a SolidJS frontend is where operators build the graphics. Both are
+described in full under [`docs/`](docs/README.md).
 
-## Web
-[http://0.0.0.0:9090/](http://0.0.0.0:9090/)
+## Status
 
-## nginx proxy config
-```
-server {
-    listen 80;
-    server_name laikazinas.lsm.lv;
+Actively in development. All development, testing, and staging currently
+happens on a single Rocky Linux machine; a temporary public test
+environment for the new version is at `laikapstak.li`, gated behind
+authentication, separate from the live `laikazinas.lsm.lv` service it will
+eventually replace. Continuous integration runs automatically on every
+push via Gitea Actions.
 
-    location / {
-        proxy_pass http://localhost:9090; # Forward requests to the Scala app
-        proxy_http_version 1.1;
-        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
-        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
-        proxy_set_header Host $host;
-        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
-    }
-}
-```
+## Security
 
-## Rocky development runtime
-```
-// 1st terminal
-podman-compose up postgres
+The application has been through an independent security review, with
+findings (including a critical one) found and fixed — see
+[`docs/UPDATE_ROADMAP.md`](docs/UPDATE_ROADMAP.md) for the full history.
+The public test environment sits behind Cloudflare, an authentication
+gate, and a private database with no public port. Deployments are manual,
+checksummed, and smoke-tested before going live — see
+[`docs/VPS_RELEASE_RUNBOOK.md`](docs/VPS_RELEASE_RUNBOOK.md).
 
-// 2nd terminal
-sbt run
+## Getting started
 
-// 3rd terminal
-cd web/
-npm run dev
-```
-
-Run one file
-```sbt "runMain grib.GribParserTest"```
-
-## Backend Tech:
-- scala: cats-effects, http4s, fs2, circe, scalatest
-- postgres
-
-## Frontend Tech:
-- SolidJS
-- Vite
-
-## Fly commands
-```
-// suspend instance
-fly scale count 0
-```
-
-```
-// check display
-fly ssh console
-df -h
-```
-
-```
-fly scale memory 512
-```
+See [`docs/README.md`](docs/README.md) for current status, architecture,
+and the full documentation set, and [`docs/DEVELOPMENT_AND_STAGING.md`](docs/DEVELOPMENT_AND_STAGING.md)
+for exact build, run, and deployment commands. For local setup, copy
+`.env-sample` to `.env` and fill in real values.
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index 36dde84..6c65ddf 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # WeatherTool project documentation
 
-This directory contains the working documentation for the WeatherTool modernization effort. The repository-root `README.md` is preserved as the original project overview; these documents describe the reviewed code, current staging environment, and changes being developed.
+This directory contains the working documentation for the WeatherTool modernization effort. The repository-root `README.md` is a short, non-technical overview for anyone landing on the repo (purpose, status, security posture); these documents describe the reviewed code, current staging environment, and changes being developed in full technical depth.
 
 ## Current status