diff --git a/generic.md b/generic.md
index ef2bb33..aaac1d6 100644
--- a/generic.md
+++ b/generic.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Projects are Rust cargo workspaces. The repository root contains:
 ├── <frontend-dir>/         # Vite + React + SWC + TS frontend(s) — see §4
 ├── asset/                  # deployment artifacts (see §6)
 ├── script/                 # deploy.sh and related operational scripts
-└── README.md
+└── readme.md
 ```
 
 ### Crate naming
@@ -482,8 +482,8 @@ This is the environment these apps deploy into. Claude Code should assume it.
 ### Source hosting
 - **New projects are hosted on the self-hosted Gitea instance** at `git.lair.cafe` (or `git.internal` on the WireGuard mesh — both resolve to the same instance). Agentic contributors will usually have MCP access to this Gitea and should prefer it over any public forge when creating repos, issues, or PRs.
 - **Legacy projects** live under various GitHub / GitLab orgs tied to my public username (`grenade`). These will continue to exist but are being migrated to Gitea over time, especially when they come up for a refactor.
-- **When a project has been relocated**, the original public repo should carry a prominent notice at the top of its `README.md` (or a GitHub archival notice) pointing to the new Gitea URL. If you're working in a repo that looks stale or superseded, check for such a notice before assuming it's still the canonical location.
-- Default to `git.lair.cafe` / `git.internal` for new scaffolds. Only push a new project to GitHub/GitLab if there's a specific reason (OSS visibility, CI integration that only the public forge offers, etc.) — and note the reason in the project README.
+- **When a project has been relocated**, the original public repo should carry a prominent notice at the top of its `readme.md` (or a GitHub archival notice) pointing to the new Gitea URL. If you're working in a repo that looks stale or superseded, check for such a notice before assuming it's still the canonical location.
+- Default to `git.lair.cafe` / `git.internal` for new scaffolds. Only push a new project to GitHub/GitLab if there's a specific reason (OSS visibility, CI integration that only the public forge offers, etc.) — and note the reason in the project `readme.md`.
 
 ---
 
@@ -512,8 +512,9 @@ This is the environment these apps deploy into. Claude Code should assume it.
 
 ### Documentation
 - Every public item in library crates has a doc comment.
-- Each crate has a `README.md` or top-level module doc explaining its role in the workspace.
-- The repo `README.md` covers: what the project does, how to build, how to run locally, how to deploy. Point readers to this document for architectural conventions.
+- Each crate has a `readme.md` or top-level module doc explaining its role in the workspace.
+- The repo `readme.md` covers: what the project does, how to build, how to run locally, how to deploy. Point readers to this document for architectural conventions.
+- **Name readme files `readme.md` (lowercase), not `README.md`.** The shouty all-caps spelling is a convention I don't share; filenames aren't where emphasis belongs. Every forge in use (Gitea, GitHub, GitLab) renders `readme.md` as the repo landing page just as readily as `README.md`. Other conventional top-level docs — `license`, `changelog`, `contributing` — follow the same rule: lowercase, no shouting.
 
 ### Commits
 - **Use [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) syntax for every commit.** `type(scope): subject`, with types drawn from the standard set (`feat`, `fix`, `docs`, `refactor`, `test`, `chore`, `build`, `ci`, `perf`, `style`). Scope is the crate, component, or area touched. Subject is imperative and under ~70 characters. A body may follow if the *why* isn't self-evident.
diff --git a/README.md b/readme.md
similarity index 100%
rename from README.md
rename to readme.md