diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 5eed3ce..0967c8f 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ FROM python:3.13-slim-trixie
 #     -v "$PWD/.vllm-cache":/cache \
 #     -e MODEL_NAME=Hinata vllm:latest
 #
-# The checkpoint mount must contain qsa_kv_scales_swift.json (the FP8 KV scales sidecar).
+# The checkpoint mount must contain qsa_kv_scales.json (the FP8 KV scales sidecar).
 #
 # The build fetches vLLM v0.30.0 and applies patches/ (build.sh step 2; needs network), then compiles
 # every kernel of this tree from source (build.sh: cmake + ninja + nvcc 13.0 from the venv's
diff --git a/README-ID.md b/README-ID.md
index 2d64683..6809fe3 100644
--- a/README-ID.md
+++ b/README-ID.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ satu aliran diukur pada 158-184 tok/s.
 | Python      | 3.13                                                  |
 | Build tools | `cmake` 3.26 atau lebih baru, `ninja`, `cc`, `c++`    |
 
-Checkpoint harus berisi `qsa_kv_scales_swift.json`. File itu menyimpan scale KV
+Checkpoint harus berisi `qsa_kv_scales.json`. File itu menyimpan scale KV
 FP8. Swift 1.5 mengubah `k_proj`/`v_proj`, jadi file scale satu checkpoint tidak
 bekerja untuk checkpoint lain.
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 067bb0e..d271e33 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ differ, this file wins.
 | Python      | 3.13                                                   |
 | Build tools | `cmake` 3.26 or newer, `ninja`, `cc`, `c++`            |
 
-The checkpoint must contain `qsa_kv_scales_swift.json`. That file holds the FP8 KV
+The checkpoint must contain `qsa_kv_scales.json`. That file holds the FP8 KV
 scales. Swift 1.5 changed `k_proj`/`v_proj`, so the scale file of one checkpoint does not
 work for another.
 
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 9fe487c..756e3d7 100755
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 #                            `-` is a vllm argument, so the default checkpoint is kept.
 #   TREE VENV                serving tree and venv (default: ./vllm and ./.venv, built by build.sh)
 #   PORT (8000) HOST (127.0.0.1) MODEL_NAME ("name1 name2 ...", first is the health probe's)
-#   SCALES      KV scale sidecar (default: qsa_kv_scales_swift.json inside the checkpoint)
+#   SCALES      KV scale sidecar, host path (default: $CKPT/qsa_kv_scales.json)
 #   CACHE_ROOT  compile/cudagraph cache (default: .vllm-cache next to this script, on disk)
 #   PLE_HOME    GPU that hosts the PLE offload home (0)
 #   GUARD       bounds-guard telemetry off|warn|raise (warn)
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ export VLLM_E2_PLE_PULL_TRANSPORT=1 VLLM_PLE_OFFLOAD_READY_TIMEOUT=1800
 export VLLM_PLE_OFFLOAD_HOME_DEVICE="${PLE_HOME:-0}"
 export VLLM_HOST_EMBED_TABLE=1
 export VLLM_USE_BREAKABLE_CUDAGRAPH=0
-export VLLM_QSA_KV_SCALES="${SCALES:-$CKPT/qsa_kv_scales_swift.json}"
+export VLLM_QSA_KV_SCALES="${SCALES:-$CKPT/qsa_kv_scales.json}"
 # engine stats line (throughput, KV usage, queue). Set empty to keep vLLM's default.
 export HF_HUB_OFFLINE=1 HF_DATASETS_OFFLINE=1
 # the kernel toggles (the shipped values). These names are the tree's own: envs.py in the
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ export MERLIN_FULL_K=1 MERLIN_QSA_SORT=1 MERLIN_TIE_DET=1 MERLIN_TIE_RECENT=1 ME
 export VLLM_E2_GUARD_MODE="${GUARD:-warn}"
 export VLLM_E2_SIDE_CACHE_LAYOUT=1 VLLM_USE_V2_MODEL_RUNNER=1 VLLM_E2_MAMBA_RETAIN_CHECKPOINT=1
 if [ "${COUNTERS:-0}" = 1 ]; then export MERLIN_TOPK_EXACT_COUNTERS_LOG=30 VLLM_QSA_KV_CLIP_COUNT=300; fi
-[ -f "$VLLM_QSA_KV_SCALES" ] || { echo "scales sidecar missing: $VLLM_QSA_KV_SCALES (FP8 KV would run at scale 1.0)"; exit 1; }
+[ -f "$VLLM_QSA_KV_SCALES" ] || { echo "scales sidecar missing: $VLLM_QSA_KV_SCALES (FP8 KV would run at scale 1.0). Set SCALES=<path> to the sidecar of this model."; exit 1; }
 
 # Compile cache: on disk by default, so it survives a reboot. A cold cache costs ~6 min of kernel
 # compile, and the cache is only ~160 MB, so disk is the right home for it. Keep ONE root per