diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ee30640ea..8853d1fd1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
     "website:test": "cd packages/the-framework.ai/ && echo 'no tests yet'"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@gemstack/skill-branches": "workspace:*",
+    "@gemstack/skill-tickets": "workspace:*",
     "typescript": "^7.0.2"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/skill-tickets/SKILL.md b/packages/skill-tickets/SKILL.md
index c0c8a8e73..eecacca5c 100644
--- a/packages/skill-tickets/SKILL.md
+++ b/packages/skill-tickets/SKILL.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Read and change them with the `tickets` command, a dependency of this repository
 ## Read
 
 ```
-npx tickets list                 every open ticket, as JSON: file, title, summary, priority, topics,
+npx tickets list                 every open ticket, as one JSON array: file, title, summary, priority, topics,
                                  github, date, planned, effort, uncertainty, locked, lockedBy
                                  (priority, topics, github, effort, uncertainty, locked, lockedBy
                                  absent when unset)
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ npx tickets close <file>         once the work is merged: remove the ticket with
                                  `queue done` it
 npx tickets queue add <text> [--priority N] [--ticket <file>]
                                  put an entry on the queue; --priority places it in that section,
-                                 --ticket links it to the ticket and places it by the ticket's
+                                 --ticket makes <text> the label of a link to the ticket (pass the
+                                 label, not a link) and places it by the ticket's
                                  priority (5 when it has none) unless --priority says otherwise;
                                  with neither, it goes at the end of the file
 npx tickets queue done <entry>   remove an entry: one quoted argument, exactly as `npx tickets queue`
diff --git a/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.test.ts b/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.test.ts
index b949bd89a..75a48e7f4 100644
--- a/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.test.ts
+++ b/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ import { nodeGitRunner, DATA_BRANCH } from '@gemstack/agent-data'
 import { runCli, USAGE } from './cli.js'
 
 const git = nodeGitRunner()
+// The command reads AGENT_ID from the real environment, and a daemon sets it for every agent it
+// starts, this test run included: drop it, so only the one test that sets it on purpose sees it.
+delete process.env['AGENT_ID']
 const RETRIED_RM = { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 10 } as const
 
 /** A bare origin with an `agent-data` branch holding two tickets, plus N clones acting as agents. */
diff --git a/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.ts b/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.ts
index 4e2dd29af..8e4e15c64 100644
--- a/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/skill-tickets/src/cli.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import { holderOf } from './holder.js'
 
 export const USAGE = `usage: tickets <command>
 
-  list                               every open ticket, as JSON
+  list                               every open ticket, as one JSON array
   show <file>                        one ticket: its text, its plan, who holds it
   queue                              the queue's open entries, in order of work
   queue add <text> [--priority N] [--ticket <file>]
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index da9316b4d..e6f451ed4 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ importers:
 
   .:
     devDependencies:
+      '@gemstack/skill-branches':
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:packages/skill-branches
+      '@gemstack/skill-tickets':
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:packages/skill-tickets
       typescript:
         specifier: ^7.0.2
         version: 7.0.2