diff --git a/docs/architecture/decisions/005-at-rest-key-custody.md b/docs/architecture/decisions/005-at-rest-key-custody.md
index 0c05254..66c225c 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/decisions/005-at-rest-key-custody.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/decisions/005-at-rest-key-custody.md
@@ -60,11 +60,12 @@ both ends).
    themselves). The *decrypted plaintext* is the gap: alkvault's
    `decrypt` returns a plain `String`, so from the vault's return to
    the adapter's wrap the plaintext sits in unfenced heap. The
-   adapter owns the wrap (proven in POC-2) — recorded as the family
-   convention pending alkvault taking ownership of it
-   (`Zeroizing<String>` out). This OQ was brought upstream; when
-   alkvault answers, this ADR is amended accordingly (OQ-07 is the
-   tracker and the ask).
+   adapter owns the wrap (proven in POC-2) — **that is the contract on
+   this path**; the vault-side improvement (a `Zeroizing<String>`-out
+   API) is an upstream ask filed in alkvault's own tracker, not an
+   alkssh obligation — when it lands, this ADR's pointer updates as a
+   one-line doc touch (alkssh OQ-07 is closed at the
+   adapter-convention level).
 4. **Failure modes are all fail-closed, with distinct error shapes.**
    Locked vault → no dial (and no server: a host key that can't load
    prevents server construction — verified at bootstrap). Absent
diff --git a/docs/architecture/open-questions.md b/docs/architecture/open-questions.md
index bdf85f4..5f97cc0 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/open-questions.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/open-questions.md
@@ -67,14 +67,12 @@ alkcall trackers have their own OQ spaces).
 - **Status**: resolved
 - **Resolution**: not an alkssh constraint. The crate takes vault handles the assembly injects; whether the assembly runs separate vault instances per role (client keys vs host keys) is assembly policy. ADR-005 records the boundary: vault handle in, key material out, version semantics owned by the vault.
 
-### OQ-07: Is the alkvault `decrypt` plain-`String` zeroization gap closed at the vault or at the adapter?
+### OQ-07: ~~Is the alkvault `decrypt` plain-`String` zeroization gap closed at the vault or at the adapter?~~ — resolved (at this level)
 
 - **Origin**: [poc-2-vault-keys.md](../research/poc-2-vault-keys.md) §2 + OQ seed 1
-- **Status**: open
-- **Priority**: medium
-- **Impacts**: an in-family cross-crate ask (alkvault API change vs alkssh-side convention). Blocks nothing functionally — POC-2 proves the adapter-side `Zeroizing` wrap correct — but decides where the security convention lives for the whole family (alkhttp secrets ride the same `&str`-out surface).
-- **Resolution**: pending. Candidates: alkvault returns `Zeroizing<String>` (family-wide fix, touches a published crate), or the adapter-side wrap is the recorded family convention (ADR-005). Bring to alkvault; if upstream accepts, ADR-005 cites the follow-up; if not, ADR-005 records the adapter obligation as the convention.
-- **Cross-references**: OQ-05, ADR-005
+- **Status**: resolved — the alkssh-level answer is the adapter-side wrap; the vault-side improvement belongs upstream, not here.
+- **Resolution**: **ADR-005 decision 3 is the contract on this path**: the adapter owns a `Zeroizing<String>` wrap at the seam (POC-2-proven; bounds the plaintext from adapter-takeover onward; ssh-key zeroizes the decoded key bytes on drop). The remaining unfenced pre-wrap window is **alkvault's API shape to close** — the ask is filed in alkvault's own tracker (downstream/family-space concern; alkforge and every secrets-bearing crate benefits, not just alkssh). alkssh does not carry it, does not gate on it, and ADR-005 records only the adapter obligation. This tracker entry stays closed; when alkvault ships a `Zeroizing`-out API, ADR-005's reference here updates as a one-line doc touch, nothing else.
+- **Cross-references**: ADR-005 §3, OQ-05
 
 ## Theme D — session-request mapping details