diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c8841ff..88c8cb7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,21 @@ Recovery cordons are given short 1hr leases. If Ananke cordons a node to repair
 
 The following are notes for future Brad.
 
+## Bring-up dependencies
+
+Ananke should be one of the first things working. It does not need Harbor, Gitea, Longhorn, Grafana, or the apps to be healthy before it starts; those are often the mess it is there to sort out.
+
+It does need:
+
+- an Ananke host that came up on its own: usually `titan-db`, with the `tethys`/`titan-24` peer path as the backup
+- `/etc/ananke/ananke.yaml`, the Ananke SSH key, and enough host config to reach nodes on the Atlas SSH port
+- Kubernetes API access once the control plane is answering; before that it can only do host-side checks
+- Flux CRDs/controllers and the `titan-iac` source once the API is up, because most startup gates are Flux-shaped
+- basic node hygiene that Ananke cannot fake forever: SSH, sudo for managed repairs, sane clocks, and Longhorn host packages like `cryptsetup`, `open-iscsi`, `dmsetup`, and `nfs-common`
+- NUT/UPS access if this is making real shutdown decisions instead of just doing startup recovery
+
+If this is a total bring-up, start Ananke after the host boots and before waiting on applications. If Ananke is not running, Atlas is missing the thing that knows the order of operations.
+
 ## Daily commands
 
 ```bash