diff --git a/.env.d.examples/00_crossref-local.env b/.env.d.examples/00_crossref-local.env
index 00eaaeeaa..b381c40ba 100644
--- a/.env.d.examples/00_crossref-local.env
+++ b/.env.d.examples/00_crossref-local.env
@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ CROSSREF_LOCAL_API_URL=http://localhost:31291
 CROSSREF_LOCAL_HOST=0.0.0.0
 CROSSREF_LOCAL_PORT=31291
 
-# Path to SQLite database (for db mode)
+# Path to the local CrossRef database file (for db mode)
 # CROSSREF_LOCAL_DB=/path/to/crossref.db
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 20d3a496a..8e3334abf 100755
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -147,6 +147,15 @@ local_settings.py
 db.sqlite3
 db.sqlite3-journal
 
+# Embedded database files. These are binary, so `git grep` skips them and a
+# committed one stays invisible until something opens it. Two were already
+# tracked here (a clew runtime store and a legacy example's) before these
+# rules existed; the rules are what stop the next one.
+**/*.sqlite
+**/*.sqlite3
+**/clew.db
+.scitex/clew/runtime/
+
 # Flask stuff:
 instance/
 .webassets-cache
diff --git a/.scitex/clew/runtime/db.sqlite b/.scitex/clew/runtime/db.sqlite
deleted file mode 100644
index e51371676..000000000
Binary files a/.scitex/clew/runtime/db.sqlite and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/docs/sphinx/core_concepts.rst b/docs/sphinx/core_concepts.rst
index 4484557c4..aa77bbd09 100644
--- a/docs/sphinx/core_concepts.rst
+++ b/docs/sphinx/core_concepts.rst
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ The Session Model
 2. **Logging**: All stdout/stderr captured to ``script.log``
 3. **Config injection**: YAML files from ``./config/`` merged and injected
 4. **CLI generation**: Function parameters become ``--flags``
-5. **Provenance**: File hashes recorded to SQLite for reproducibility
+5. **Provenance**: File hashes recorded to the Clew store for reproducibility
 
 .. code-block:: python
 
@@ -124,7 +124,8 @@ Provenance Tracking (Clew)
 --------------------------
 
 Inside ``@stx.session``, every ``stx.io.save`` and ``stx.io.load`` call
-records the file's SHA-256 hash to a local SQLite database. This enables:
+records the file's SHA-256 hash to the Clew provenance store. This
+enables:
 
 - **Verification**: Check if output files have been modified since creation
 - **DAG reconstruction**: Trace which inputs produced which outputs
diff --git a/docs/sphinx/modules/io.rst b/docs/sphinx/modules/io.rst
index 222150bb8..d52fd27ac 100644
--- a/docs/sphinx/modules/io.rst
+++ b/docs/sphinx/modules/io.rst
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ Provenance Tracking
 -------------------
 
 Inside ``@stx.session``, every ``save`` and ``load`` records file hashes
-to a local SQLite database for reproducibility verification.
+to the Clew provenance store for reproducibility verification.
 
 .. code-block:: python
 
diff --git a/examples/_legacy/scitex/clew/multi_parent/scitex/clew.db b/examples/_legacy/scitex/clew/multi_parent/scitex/clew.db
deleted file mode 100644
index 01dc4efe0..000000000
Binary files a/examples/_legacy/scitex/clew/multi_parent/scitex/clew.db and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 93d9f2ea1..1c405ca78 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ web = [
 
 # Clew Module - Hash-based verification for reproducible science (Ariadne's thread)
 # Use: pip install scitex[clew]
-# Note: No extra dependencies - uses only stdlib (sqlite3, hashlib)
+# Note: clew owns its own store; nothing extra is pulled in here.
 clew = ["scitex-clew==0.17.0"]
 
 # Writer Module - Academic paper writing
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_cross_package_imports.py b/tests/integration/test_cross_package_imports.py
index d56e80540..88f7b327f 100755
--- a/tests/integration/test_cross_package_imports.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_cross_package_imports.py
@@ -165,7 +165,6 @@
     "scitex_io._load_modules._pandas",
     "scitex_io._load_modules._pdf",
     "scitex_io._load_modules._pickle",
-    "scitex_io._load_modules._sqlite3",
     "scitex_io._load_modules._torch",
     "scitex_io._load_modules._txt",
     "scitex_io._load_modules._xml",