diff --git a/hermes_cli/relay_plugin_migrate.py b/hermes_cli/relay_plugin_migrate.py
index 29c0887ee8..f50834ac47 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/relay_plugin_migrate.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/relay_plugin_migrate.py
@@ -129,10 +129,9 @@ def validate_relay_plugin_payload(payload: Mapping[str, Any]) -> list:
     Raises when Relay rejects the document, including by error-level diagnostics."""
     from nemo_relay import plugin
 
-    # Exact: the runtime loads this document as the explicit file, never layered over the
-    # ambient user config that plain validate() would discover.
+    # validate() would layer the payload over the ambient user config; the runtime never does.
     diagnostics = list(plugin.validate_exact(dict(payload))["config"]["diagnostics"])
-    # Relay 0.8 raised on these from initialize(); 0.9's validator reports them instead.
+    # Relay 0.8's initialize() raised on these; 0.9's validator only reports them.
     if errors := [d for d in diagnostics if d.get("level") == "error"]:
         raise ValueError("; ".join(str(d.get("message") or d.get("code") or d) for d in errors))
     return diagnostics
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_relay_runtime_plugins.py b/tests/agent/test_relay_runtime_plugins.py
index a286956971..1683f987b9 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_relay_runtime_plugins.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_relay_runtime_plugins.py
@@ -413,7 +413,6 @@ def test_present_plugins_section_is_validated_even_when_falsey(
             host._plugin_configuration_state
             is relay_runtime._RelayPluginConfigurationState.FAILED
         )
-        # Hermes hands the file to Relay as-is; a falsey section is Relay's to reject.
         assert relay.initialized_from == [str(config)]
         assert "'plugins' must be a table" in caplog.text
         assert "Hermes Relay plugin initialization failed" in caplog.text
@@ -539,7 +538,6 @@ manifest = "plugins/worker/relay-plugin.toml"
 
     assert host_a.managed_execution_enabled()
     assert host_b.managed_execution_enabled()
-    # Static components and [[plugins.dynamic]] travel together as the explicit file.
     assert relay.events == [("plugin.initialize", {})]
     assert relay.initialized_from == [str(config)]
 
@@ -891,8 +889,6 @@ mode = "strict"
 
     assert relay_runtime._configured_plugin_inputs() == config
 
-    # Relay, not Hermes, now reads and validates the [[plugins.dynamic]] records. This
-    # manifest is incomplete for Relay 0.9, and that rejection must fail Hermes open.
     with caplog.at_level("WARNING"):
         host = relay_runtime.RelayRuntime(relay=relay, profile_key="profile")
     try:
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_relay_plugin_migrate.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_relay_plugin_migrate.py
index 7c0c80e654..3e2b7d5def 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_relay_plugin_migrate.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_relay_plugin_migrate.py
@@ -57,8 +57,7 @@ def test_legacy_env_becomes_validated_toml_selected_from_env(profile_env):
     sink = document["components"][0]["config"]["atof"]["sinks"][0]
     assert sink["type"] == "file" and sink["filename"] == "hermes-atof.jsonl"
     assert document["components"][0]["config"]["atif"]["filename_template"] == "trajectory-{session_id}.json"
-    # Relay itself accepts the file Hermes will load at runtime, through the same layer
-    # set the runtime uses: the explicit file, not the ambient user config.
+    # Relay itself accepts the file Hermes will load at runtime.
     report = nemo_relay.plugin.validate({}, additional_plugins_toml=toml_path)
     assert report["config"]["diagnostics"] == []
     # .env now selects the file; the legacy lines survive as comments (not deleted), so the