diff --git a/SKILL.md b/SKILL.md
index f82fe5c..90769de 100644
--- a/SKILL.md
+++ b/SKILL.md
@@ -550,9 +550,11 @@ and reconciles the target doc with the Body.
   follow-ups in the mind; "Substrate gaps" in `references/campaign-state.md`
   gives the query and where a new one is admitted.
 - **Never claim an agent's result before its notification arrives.**
-- **Self's own context is the most expensive in the pipeline.** Every
-  notification re-reads all of it. Rotate at about 300k context or at a phase
-  boundary: write a short handoff and ask the operator to `/clear`. A handoff
+- **Self's context is long-lived and mostly cache reads.** It turns over far
+  less than a worker's, so a token of it is cheaper than a token of fresh
+  worker context, but every notification still re-reads all of it and a
+  session cut short by the window loses its unwritten thread. Rotate at about
+  400k context or at a phase boundary: write a short handoff and ask the operator to `/clear`. A handoff
   is named by its area, `HANDOFF-eureka-self-<area>-<date>.md` (for example
   `HANDOFF-eureka-self-eureka-2026-10-09.md`), one per Self area; the campaigns
   an area covers are named inside it, and the next Self reads only its own
diff --git a/references/changelog.md b/references/changelog.md
index b970fdf..4534d3d 100644
--- a/references/changelog.md
+++ b/references/changelog.md
@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@
 
 Record each change to the skill together with the evidence that motivated it.
 
+## 2026-10-12: Self rotates at about 400k
+
+Self, session `self-2026-10-12-eureka`.
+
+Evidence. Operator, 2026-10-12: "I want to raise the Self context threshold by a bit. Sessions are getting cut short, and Self context seems cheaper than any of the worker agents because it doesn't turn over as much".
+
+What changed. The `SKILL.md` rotation bullet moves Self's threshold from about 300k to about 400k and replaces "most expensive in the pipeline" with the actual cost shape: long-lived, mostly cached, re-read on every notification. The worker cap of about 300k is unchanged.
+
 ## 2026-10-11: every campaign in force has an area
 
 Self, session `self-2026-10-11-eureka`.