diff --git a/scarf/scarfTests/ProjectTemplateTests.swift b/scarf/scarfTests/ProjectTemplateTests.swift
index a79a546..c9dae32 100644
--- a/scarf/scarfTests/ProjectTemplateTests.swift
+++ b/scarf/scarfTests/ProjectTemplateTests.swift
@@ -2,6 +2,42 @@ import Testing
 import Foundation
 @testable import scarf
 
+/// Cross-suite serialization lock for tests that touch the real
+/// `~/.hermes/scarf/projects.json`. Swift Testing's `.serialized` trait
+/// only serializes tests WITHIN a suite — multiple suites still run in
+/// parallel. Three suites in this file write to the same file and
+/// previously raced each other silently (saveRegistry used to swallow
+/// write failures); now that saveRegistry throws, the race surfaces.
+///
+/// The lock is acquired by `acquireAndSnapshot()` at the top of each
+/// registry-touching test and released by `restore(_:)` via the test's
+/// `defer`. Asymmetric acquire-in-one-fn / release-in-another looks
+/// unusual but the snapshot/restore pairing is so tight (every test
+/// defers the restore) that it's reliable in practice.
+final class TestRegistryLock: @unchecked Sendable {
+    static let shared = TestRegistryLock()
+    private let lock = NSLock()
+
+    /// Acquire the cross-suite lock and snapshot the registry. Pair
+    /// every call with a `defer { TestRegistryLock.restore(snapshot) }`.
+    static func acquireAndSnapshot() -> Data? {
+        shared.lock.lock()
+        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
+        return try? Data(contentsOf: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
+    }
+
+    /// Restore the registry from snapshot and release the lock.
+    static func restore(_ snapshot: Data?) {
+        defer { shared.lock.unlock() }
+        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
+        if let snapshot {
+            try? snapshot.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
+        } else {
+            try? FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: path)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Exercises the service's ability to unpack, parse, and validate bundles.
 /// Doesn't touch the installer — see `ProjectTemplateInstallerTests` — so
 /// these don't need write access to ~/.hermes.
@@ -351,18 +387,18 @@ import Foundation
     /// Read the raw bytes of the current projects.json so we can restore
     /// it byte-for-byte after the test. `nil` means the file didn't exist
     /// — restore by deleting whatever got created.
+    // Delegates to TestRegistryLock so tests across this suite + the
+    // two other registry-touching suites share one lock. Every
+    // `snapshotRegistry()` call acquires; the paired
+    // `restoreRegistry(_:)` defer releases. Without this, parallel
+    // test runs race on `~/.hermes/scarf/projects.json` writes and
+    // the saveRegistry throw surfaces the collision as a test failure.
     nonisolated private static func snapshotRegistry() -> Data? {
-        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
-        return try? Data(contentsOf: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
+        TestRegistryLock.acquireAndSnapshot()
     }
 
     nonisolated private static func restoreRegistry(_ snapshot: Data?) {
-        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
-        if let snapshot {
-            try? snapshot.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
-        } else {
-            try? FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: path)
-        }
+        TestRegistryLock.restore(snapshot)
     }
 }
 
@@ -476,18 +512,18 @@ import Foundation
     // ProjectTemplateInstallerTests — small helper, not worth a shared
     // fixture file for one more suite).
 
+    // Delegates to TestRegistryLock so tests across this suite + the
+    // two other registry-touching suites share one lock. Every
+    // `snapshotRegistry()` call acquires; the paired
+    // `restoreRegistry(_:)` defer releases. Without this, parallel
+    // test runs race on `~/.hermes/scarf/projects.json` writes and
+    // the saveRegistry throw surfaces the collision as a test failure.
     nonisolated private static func snapshotRegistry() -> Data? {
-        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
-        return try? Data(contentsOf: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
+        TestRegistryLock.acquireAndSnapshot()
     }
 
     nonisolated private static func restoreRegistry(_ snapshot: Data?) {
-        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
-        if let snapshot {
-            try? snapshot.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
-        } else {
-            try? FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: path)
-        }
+        TestRegistryLock.restore(snapshot)
     }
 }
 
@@ -753,18 +789,18 @@ import Foundation
 
     // MARK: - Registry snapshot helpers (dup'd from ProjectTemplateInstallerTests)
 
+    // Delegates to TestRegistryLock so tests across this suite + the
+    // two other registry-touching suites share one lock. Every
+    // `snapshotRegistry()` call acquires; the paired
+    // `restoreRegistry(_:)` defer releases. Without this, parallel
+    // test runs race on `~/.hermes/scarf/projects.json` writes and
+    // the saveRegistry throw surfaces the collision as a test failure.
     nonisolated private static func snapshotRegistry() -> Data? {
-        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
-        return try? Data(contentsOf: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
+        TestRegistryLock.acquireAndSnapshot()
     }
 
     nonisolated private static func restoreRegistry(_ snapshot: Data?) {
-        let path = ServerContext.local.paths.projectsRegistry
-        if let snapshot {
-            try? snapshot.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
-        } else {
-            try? FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: path)
-        }
+        TestRegistryLock.restore(snapshot)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/site-status-checker.scarftemplate b/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/site-status-checker.scarftemplate
index 81d75d1..1846f60 100644
Binary files a/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/site-status-checker.scarftemplate and b/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/site-status-checker.scarftemplate differ
diff --git a/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/staging/dashboard.json b/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/staging/dashboard.json
index 6693994..de2eee0 100644
--- a/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/staging/dashboard.json
+++ b/templates/awizemann/site-status-checker/staging/dashboard.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "version": 1,
   "title": "Site Status",
-  "description": "Daily uptime check for your watched URLs. The stat widgets and list update automatically when the cron job runs.",
+  "description": "Daily uptime check for your watched URLs. The stat widgets and the sites list populate after the first cron run; before that, the list mirrors what the agent last wrote.",
   "theme": { "accent": "green" },
   "sections": [
     {
@@ -40,10 +40,9 @@
       "widgets": [
         {
           "type": "list",
-          "title": "Configured Sites (from sites.txt)",
+          "title": "Watched Sites (populated after first run)",
           "items": [
-            { "text": "https://example.com", "status": "unknown" },
-            { "text": "https://example.org", "status": "unknown" }
+            { "text": "Run the check once to populate — the agent reads your Configuration and fills this list with live status.", "status": "pending" }
           ]
         }
       ]
@@ -56,7 +55,7 @@
           "type": "text",
           "title": "Quick Start",
           "format": "markdown",
-          "content": "**1.** Enable the `[tmpl:awizemann/site-status-checker] Check site status` cron job in the Cron sidebar. It ships paused — nothing runs until you say so.\n\n**2.** Edit `sites.txt` in this project's folder to replace the placeholder URLs with the sites you actually want to watch.\n\n**3.** Ask your agent: *\"Run the site status check now.\"* The dashboard refreshes and a new entry appears at the top of `status-log.md`.\n\n**4.** Daily at 9 AM the cron job fires automatically. Change the schedule in the Cron sidebar if you want a different cadence.\n\nSee `README.md` and `AGENTS.md` in the project root for the full spec."
+          "content": "**1.** Review your configuration — click the **slider icon** (top-right of this dashboard) to open Configuration. The sites you enter there are what the cron job will check.\n\n**2.** Enable the `[tmpl:awizemann/site-status-checker] Check site status` cron job in the Cron sidebar. It ships paused — nothing runs until you say so.\n\n**3.** Ask your agent: *\"Run the site status check now.\"* The Watched Sites list populates, the stat widgets update, and a new entry lands at the top of `status-log.md`.\n\n**4.** Daily at 9 AM the cron job fires automatically. Change the schedule in the Cron sidebar if you want a different cadence.\n\nSee `README.md` and `AGENTS.md` in the project root for the full spec."
         }
       ]
     }
diff --git a/templates/catalog.json b/templates/catalog.json
index d717bbe..59ca326 100644
--- a/templates/catalog.json
+++ b/templates/catalog.json
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
         "name": "Alan Wizemann",
         "url": "https://github.com/awizemann/scarf"
       },
-      "bundleSha256": "ce68cc20cc67fe688a7ddf0638d35dce3247ba7ed234e6f9d99a1ad3964a81e0",
-      "bundleSize": 6797,
+      "bundleSha256": "3274964418b7cb1e4df2980936e16f9afdf3d4e90c91ae76dead6e5065306818",
+      "bundleSize": 6880,
       "category": "monitoring",
       "config": {
         "modelRecommendation": {