diff --git a/docs/packages/cli.mdx b/docs/packages/cli.mdx
index 092ea058ce5..1c722fea9dc 100644
--- a/docs/packages/cli.mdx
+++ b/docs/packages/cli.mdx
@@ -130,6 +130,22 @@ There, a command that would ask for confirmation, such as `publish` or `upgrade`
 exits 2 instead and names the flag to pass (`--yes`), and spinners print only
 their final line, on stderr.
 
+**`npx` installs before the CLI runs.** The guarantee above starts once the CLI
+is running, and `npx` keeps it: with no terminal, npm skips its
+`Ok to proceed?` prompt, prints a warning, and installs. What `npx` adds is the
+install itself. An unversioned `npx hyperframes` asks the registry for the
+latest release on every run and installs it when it is new there, so two jobs
+that start together can collide in npm's cache (`_cacache` for the fetch,
+`_npx` for the install: `EEXIST` or `ENOTEMPTY`; a retry succeeds), and a new
+release silently changes
+what the same command renders. In scripts and CI, run the `npm run` scripts a
+scaffolded project ships (`npm run render` is `npx --yes hyperframes@X.Y.Z`,
+pinned to the version that created the project), or pin the same way yourself.
+An installed binary (`npm i hyperframes@X.Y.Z`, then
+`node_modules/.bin/hyperframes`, or a global install) skips the fetch
+entirely. Check the render's dimensions and duration with `ffprobe` before
+anything downstream consumes it.
+
 **Exit codes.** `0` means the command succeeded, `1` means it ran and failed, and
 `2` means the command line itself is wrong: an unknown command or flag, or a
 missing or invalid value.
diff --git a/scripts/check-core-skills.mjs b/scripts/check-core-skills.mjs
index 50127b192a2..df383db9e36 100644
--- a/scripts/check-core-skills.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-core-skills.mjs
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ export const CORE_SKILLS = {
   // +128 B for the routing rows to the video rebuilds and to a reference's style, which only trigger when the entry hands them on.
   hyperframes: 7488,
   // +256 B for the `_meta.updateNotice` line: the agent relays it, the person updates.
-  "hyperframes-cli": 7616,
+  // +256 B for the unattended pointer: a job with no TTY runs the wrapper or a pinned `npx --yes`.
+  "hyperframes-cli": 7872,
   "hyperframes-registry": 5312,
   "media-use": 5312,
   figma: 7360,
diff --git a/skills-manifest.json b/skills-manifest.json
index 3f80fefe2c1..0e9dd824b5a 100644
--- a/skills-manifest.json
+++ b/skills-manifest.json
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
       "files": 80
     },
     "hyperframes-cli": {
-      "hash": "d6972257fbc99fc0",
-      "files": 13
+      "hash": "3ff23dfb667d552f",
+      "files": 14
     },
     "hyperframes-registry": {
       "hash": "a032ccc5c7948ac2",
diff --git a/skills/hyperframes-cli/SKILL.md b/skills/hyperframes-cli/SKILL.md
index d7ce8f536e4..1b5d886a406 100644
--- a/skills/hyperframes-cli/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/hyperframes-cli/SKILL.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ description: HyperFrames CLI - scaffold, check frames, edit timelines, preview,
 
 # HyperFrames CLI
 
-Run `npx hyperframes <command>` unless the project gives a wrapper; then use the wrapper. It needs Node.js 22+ and FFmpeg. Every command has `--help`; most take `--json`, and a failure prints `✗ …`, a `Fix:` line and exits non-zero.
+Run `npx hyperframes <command>` unless the project gives a wrapper (`npm run render` and friends); then use the wrapper. A job with no TTY runs the wrapper or `npx --yes hyperframes@X.Y.Z`, never bare `npx hyperframes` (`references/unattended.md`). It needs Node.js 22+ and FFmpeg. Every command has `--help`; most take `--json`, and a failure prints `✗ …`, a `Fix:` line and exits non-zero.
 
 A `--json` result may carry `_meta.updateNotice`: a newer HyperFrames release is out. Pass it to the person once per conversation, in your own words, at a natural pause; updating is theirs to decide.
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ A `--json` result may carry `_meta.updateNotice`: a newer HyperFrames release is
 2. `npx hyperframes check --json` and fix every error. While a lint error remains the layout and contrast audits don't run; "0 samples" means nothing was checked. Contrast failures carry a `suggestedColor`. A finding at a single sample (an entrance in flight) is info; a 3 s+ video with no visible change fails `sweep_static`.
 3. `npx hyperframes snapshot` and read the PNGs (under `.hyperframes/artifacts/snapshots/`): that is how you see the video. With sub-compositions, snapshot a midpoint of every scene; tiny unstyled content or a missing hero is a mount defect (`../hyperframes/references/format.md`).
 4. `npx hyperframes preview --background`, check the URL answers 200, give the person the project URL and wait, unless they asked for the file or for no stops. Passing checks alone is not a reason to render.
-5. Time to render (step 4): `npx hyperframes render --quality looks -o out.mp4` (`draft` while iterating, `delivery` for the final; paid plan: `cloud render --fps <data-fps> --quality high -o out.mp4`). Confirm the file is non-empty and its `ffprobe` duration matches the root `data-duration`, then look at decoded frames.
+5. Time to render (step 4): `npx hyperframes render --quality looks -o out.mp4` (`draft` while iterating, `delivery` for the final; paid plan: `cloud render --fps <data-fps> --quality high -o out.mp4`). Confirm the file is non-empty and `ffprobe` reports the root `data-duration` and the project's `data-width`/`data-height`, then look at decoded frames.
 
 "This element" or the current selection: `npx hyperframes preview --context --json --context-fields selection`; `no-selection` means ask them to click it.
 
diff --git a/skills/hyperframes-cli/references/unattended.md b/skills/hyperframes-cli/references/unattended.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cd9376a3db1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skills/hyperframes-cli/references/unattended.md
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Unattended runs
+
+Scripts, CI and scheduled jobs call the CLI with no TTY. Nothing prompts there: the CLI exits 2 and names the flag (`--yes`) instead of asking, and `npx` skips its own `Ok to proceed?` prompt whenever stdin is not a terminal or CI is detected — it prints a warning and installs. What can still fail is the install itself.
+
+## Bare `npx hyperframes` installs on every cold cache
+
+With no version, `npx` asks the registry for the latest release on every run and installs it under `~/.npm/_npx/<hash>/` when it is not there yet. Two consequences for a job nobody is watching:
+
+- Two runs that start together race in npm's cache (`_cacache` for the fetch, `_npx` for the install). One can fail with `EEXIST` or `ENOTEMPTY` while the other is still writing; a retry succeeds, because by then the install is in place.
+- A new release changes what the same command renders, silently.
+
+## Use the project's scripts, or pin
+
+- A scaffolded project (`hyperframes init`) already ships `npm run dev|check|render|publish`; each is `npx --yes hyperframes@X.Y.Z`, pinned to the version that created the project. Jobs run those.
+- Outside a project, pin the same way: `npx --yes hyperframes@X.Y.Z`. To skip the fetch and the cache race altogether, install once — `npm i hyperframes@X.Y.Z` then `node_modules/.bin/hyperframes <command>`, or `npm i -g hyperframes@X.Y.Z` then `hyperframes <command>`.
+
+Interactive sessions float on purpose: `update` moves an `npx` user to `npx hyperframes@latest`, and the reverse-any-video skill runs `npx -y hyperframes@latest` when the installed CLI is behind. That is a person's call at a terminal. An unattended job pins.
+
+## Verify the output before anything consumes it
+
+Nobody watches an unattended render, so check it the way the loop's step 5 does before it ships downstream: `ffprobe` the file and confirm the dimensions match the project's `data-width`/`data-height` and the duration matches the root `data-duration`.