quest: merge the base only on a conflict or a refused head

assets/CONTEXT.md

@@ -103,7 +103,9 @@ A decision about an open PR never authorizes closing it. Confirm a close as its
 
 Push with an explicit refspec: `git push <remote> refs/heads/<branch>:refs/heads/<branch>`.
 A bare branch name can push to the base branch instead, for example under `push.default=upstream` when the branch tracks it.
-Never rebase or force-push, even a branch only you hold; merge the base instead, and fix any merge conflicts.
+Never rebase or force-push, even a branch only you hold; merge the base instead.
+Merge it only when the branch conflicts with it or a landing step, such as `quest merge` or GitHub's merge queue, refuses the head, and resolve the conflicts in that merge.
+A branch that is only behind its base needs no merge: `quest review` covers only the branch's own change, a merge queue or `quest land` tests each PR on the current base, and every merge reruns CI.
 A PR that another session pushed to in the last hour is theirs: report its events instead of pushing to it.
 Before each push to a branch that already has a PR, confirm the PR is still open: a push after it merges brings the deleted branch back.
 Run the repository's checks locally while the PR is a draft; CI may run only on PRs ready for review.

quest/m0/token-waste/README.md

@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@ Decision prompts, chosen options marked ✅:
 - [Rules load once](/quest/m0/token-waste/rule-loading.md) - skills and rules arrive in the first turn and survive compaction
 - [Coordinators and waits](/quest/m0/token-waste/coordinator-waits.md) - coordinators lean on compaction, children report briefly, and waits block
 - [Epics list no children](/quest/m0/token-waste/child-lists.md) - an epic's children are its directory, so finishing a quest edits no README
-- [Base merges only when needed](/quest/m0/token-waste/base-merges.md) - a branch merges its base on a conflict, not before every queue attempt
 - [Mechanical rules become checks](/quest/m0/token-waste/rule-checks.md) - hooks enforce em dashes, push refspecs, no rebase or force-push, the footer, and `.tmp/`, and their prose leaves the always-loaded rules
 - [quest usage](/quest/m0/token-waste/usage.md) - per quest and PR: which models and efforts worked on it, their tokens and API-equal cost, and how the work went; the epic's re-measure runs it
 - [token-max](/quest/m0/token-waste/token-max.md) - a standalone Rust CLI that replays Claude Code and Codex transcripts against API prices and recommends cache TTL, compaction, and Bash cap settings