diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 3104b32..c17001b 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ This is NanoClaw v2, a ground-up rewrite with breaking changes throughout. It ca
 
 **Do this instead:**
 1. Abort the merge: `git merge --abort` (or `git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD` if the merge already completed).
-2. Tell the user, verbatim: *"This is the v2 rewrite — it can't be merged into your existing install. Run `! bash migrate-v2.sh` to migrate instead."*
-3. Wait for the user to confirm before doing anything else. Do not run the migration script yourself — it requires an interactive terminal and must be run by the user with the `!` prefix.
+2. Tell the user, verbatim: *"This is the v2 rewrite — it can't be merged into your existing install. Exit Claude Code (or open a separate terminal) and run `bash migrate-v2.sh` from the shell."*
+3. Wait for the user to confirm before doing anything else. Do not run the migration script yourself — it requires an interactive terminal and cannot be run from within Claude Code.
 
 If you are a fresh install (you ran `git clone`, not `git pull`) and there are no conflicts, ignore this banner and continue below.
 
diff --git a/migrate-v2.sh b/migrate-v2.sh
index dec497f..f06a548 100644
--- a/migrate-v2.sh
+++ b/migrate-v2.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 # Run from the v2 directory:
 #   bash migrate-v2.sh
 #
-# From Claude Code, use the ! prefix so it runs in your terminal:
-#   ! bash migrate-v2.sh
+# If you're in Claude Code, exit first or open a separate terminal.
 #
 # Finds v1 automatically (sibling directory, or $NANOCLAW_V1_PATH).
 # Installs prerequisites (Node, pnpm, deps) via the existing setup.sh
@@ -26,10 +25,10 @@ cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
 if ! [ -t 0 ] || ! [ -t 1 ]; then
   echo "This script requires an interactive terminal."
   echo ""
-  echo "If you're in Claude Code, run it directly with the ! prefix:"
-  echo "  ! bash migrate-v2.sh"
+  echo "If you're in Claude Code, exit first or open a separate terminal,"
+  echo "then run:"
+  echo "  bash migrate-v2.sh"
   echo ""
-  echo "Or run it in a separate terminal session."
   exit 1
 fi