diff --git a/docs/guides/quickstart.md b/docs/guides/quickstart.md
index d00e8bf..522b836 100644
--- a/docs/guides/quickstart.md
+++ b/docs/guides/quickstart.md
@@ -1,12 +1,34 @@
-# Quickstart: your first lease in five minutes
+# Quickstart: your first lease
+
+This is the shortest path from zero to a live lease, a refused permit, and an
+auditable ledger. The examples exercise Interlock's admission gate; they do
+not sandbox code outside the gate or stop an action that is already running.
+
+## 0. Install in a supported environment
+
+Interlock requires Python 3.11 or newer, and its build backend requires
+`setuptools>=68`. From a scratch directory, clone the repository, create a
+virtual environment with a supported interpreter, and install the checked-out
+package:
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/marsojuji-cmyk/interlock.git
+cd interlock
+python3 -m venv .venv   # python3 must be 3.11+; use python3.11 etc. if needed
+. .venv/bin/activate
+python -m pip install --upgrade "setuptools>=68"
+python -m pip install .
+```
 
-This is the fastest path from zero to a live lease, a refused permit, and
-an auditable ledger.
+Every Python block below runs in order, as one session, with `python` from
+this activated environment. This guide needs no pytest install.
 
 ## 1. Create the interlock
 
 ```python
-from interlock import Interlock
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from interlock import EStopEngaged, FaultActive, Interlock
 
 ilk = Interlock()
 ```
@@ -20,8 +42,9 @@ You now hold four components: `.leases` (the lease manager), `.estop`
 lease = ilk.grant(resource="docs:write", holder="demo-agent", ttl_seconds=300)
 ```
 
-Authority now exists, and it expires in 300 seconds. Nothing else in the
-system can act on `docs:write` without this lease.
+Authority now exists, and this example lease is short-lived. Nothing else in
+the system can pass the gate for `docs:write` without this lease. Admission
+checks the e-stop, lease state, and resource faults at the time of entry.
 
 ## 3. Exercise it through the gate
 
@@ -31,26 +54,45 @@ with ilk.permit(lease, action="write", target="notes.md"):
 ```
 
 The gate checks, in order: e-stop clear, lease issued by this `Interlock`
-and live, no gating fault on `docs:write`. If any check fails, the context
-manager raises instead of yielding — `EStopEngaged`, `LeaseNotIssued`,
-`LeaseExpired`/`LeaseRevoked`, or `FaultActive`.
+and live, and no gating fault on `docs:write`. If any check fails, the
+context manager raises instead of yielding: `EStopEngaged`,
+`LeaseNotIssued`, `LeaseExpired`/`LeaseRevoked`, or `FaultActive`. The check
+controls admission to the context. It is not an OS sandbox, and it cannot
+interrupt an action that has already started.
 
 ## 4. Watch a fault refuse
 
 ```python
-ilk.faults.report(code="DISK_FULL", severity="major", resource="docs:write")
+fault = ilk.faults.report(
+    code="DISK_FULL", severity="major", resource="docs:write"
+)
+
+try:
+    with ilk.permit(lease, action="write", target="notes.md"):
+        Path("notes.md").write_text("should not be admitted")
+except FaultActive:
+    pass
+else:
+    raise AssertionError("the active fault must refuse admission")
 
+assert fault.id is not None
+ilk.faults.clear(fault.id)
 with ilk.permit(lease, action="write", target="notes.md"):
-    ...  # raises FaultActive — the refusal is appended to the ledger
+    Path("notes.md").write_text("resumed")
 ```
 
-Clear the fault to resume: `ilk.faults.clear(fault.id)`.
+The refused entry is appended to the ledger. Clearing the fault permits a
+new admission; it does not retroactively authorize the refused action.
 
 ## 5. Halt everything, then release
 
 ```python
 ilk.estop.engage("taking a look")
-# every permit now raises EStopEngaged, on every resource
+try:
+    with ilk.permit(lease, action="write", target="notes.md"):
+        raise AssertionError("e-stop must refuse admission")
+except EStopEngaged:
+    pass
 ilk.estop.release()  # deliberate, never automatic
 ```
 
@@ -74,8 +116,8 @@ ilk.ledger.close()
 
 ## Next steps
 
-- `docs/concepts/leases.md` — why authority must decay.
-- `docs/concepts/estop-and-faults.md` — the one halt and the gating bus.
-- `docs/concepts/claims.md` — provenance, review dates, falsifiers.
-- `docs/concepts/ledger.md` — the self-describing run log.
-- `CHARTER.md` — the full design rationale and safety caveats.
+- `docs/concepts/leases.md`: why authority must decay.
+- `docs/concepts/estop-and-faults.md`: the one halt and the gating bus.
+- `docs/concepts/claims.md`: provenance, review dates, falsifiers.
+- `docs/concepts/ledger.md`: the self-describing run log.
+- `CHARTER.md`: the full design rationale and safety caveats.