diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 085b93a..e2ac887 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ uv run python examples/demo.py                 # run the demo scenario
 uv run uvicorn mundane.api.app:app --reload    # serve the API; OpenAPI docs at /schema
 ```
 
-The README has the endpoint table and `curl` examples for exercising the API.
+The [API docs](docs/api.rst) have the endpoint table and `curl` examples for exercising the API.
 
 ## Development workflow
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c9ea9de..9de6cc8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-# mundane
+# Mundane, backened
+
+*Part of https://github.com/letsbuilda/mundane*
 
 No dragons. No spells. Just Tuesday.
 
@@ -7,110 +9,3 @@ Two households face off. The engine is a **referee**: a whole game is a fold ove
 current state and then transitions it. Illegal moves are rejected (the state is left untouched), not
 crashed on. The HTTP API is a thin shell that translates requests into engine actions; all the rules
 live in the engine.
-
-The rules and card catalog live in the [`mundane`](https://github.com/letsbuilda/mundane) meta/spec
-repo:
-
-- The rules, in human-readable form:
-  [`game-docs/SPEC.md`](https://github.com/letsbuilda/mundane/blob/main/game-docs/SPEC.md)
-- The card catalog:
-  [`game-docs/CARDS.md`](https://github.com/letsbuilda/mundane/blob/main/game-docs/CARDS.md)
-
-## Layout
-
-```
-src/mundane/
-  engine/        # the game, with no HTTP knowledge
-    state.py       # Card, CardType, Player, StackItem, GameState
-    actions.py     # PlayCard, CastInstant, PassPriority, IllegalAction
-    rules.py       # apply_action + helpers — the one door
-    cards.py       # CARD_LIBRARY (id -> Card) + effect functions
-    serialize.py   # state/action -> JSON-ready data
-    game.py        # Game: state + action log + submit() / export()
-  api/
-    app.py         # Litestar app, in-memory store, exception handler
-    schemas.py     # action JSON (tagged union) -> action dataclasses
-examples/
-  demo.py          # runnable scenario (python examples/demo.py)
-```
-
-## Requirements
-
-- Python **3.14+** and [`uv`](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/).
-- Litestar 3 is still in development; it is tracked from `main` and pinned to a commit SHA in
-  `uv.lock`, so builds are reproducible.
-
-## Setup
-
-```bash
-uv sync --group tests --group dev   # create the venv and install everything
-```
-
-## Run the demo
-
-Watch Steve's house party get shut down by Alex's noise complaint:
-
-```bash
-uv run python examples/demo.py
-```
-
-## Run the API
-
-```bash
-uv run uvicorn mundane.api.app:app --reload
-```
-
-Interactive OpenAPI docs are served at `http://localhost:8000/schema`.
-
-### Endpoints
-
-| Method | Path                       | Purpose                                |
-|--------|----------------------------|----------------------------------------|
-| POST   | `/games`                   | create a game                          |
-| GET    | `/games/{id}`              | read current state                     |
-| POST   | `/games/{id}/actions`      | submit a move (422 if illegal)         |
-| GET    | `/games/{id}/export`       | download the game log + final state    |
-
-### Exercise it
-
-```bash
-# create a game and capture its id
-GID=$(curl -s -X POST localhost:8000/games | python -c 'import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["game_id"])')
-
-# read the current state
-curl -s localhost:8000/games/$GID
-
-# submit a move (the tagged-union body carries a "type" discriminator)
-curl -s -X POST localhost:8000/games/$GID/actions \
-  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
-  -d '{"type": "play_card", "player": 0, "hand_index": 0}'
-
-# an illegal move is rejected with 422; the stored game is unchanged
-curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' -X POST localhost:8000/games/$GID/actions \
-  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
-  -d '{"type": "cast_instant", "player": 1, "hand_index": 9}'
-
-# download the game log (saves to mundane-game-$GID.json)
-curl -s -OJ localhost:8000/games/$GID/export
-```
-
-The action body is a tagged union — every action carries a `type`:
-
-| `type`          | fields                                          |
-|-----------------|-------------------------------------------------|
-| `play_card`     | `player`, `hand_index`                          |
-| `cast_instant`  | `player`, `hand_index`, optional `target_id`    |
-| `pass_priority` | `player`                                        |
-
-### A note on the store
-
-The game store is an **in-memory dict**, so games are **volatile** — they are lost when the process
-restarts. It lives behind a small `GameStore` interface (`create` / `get` / `save`), so swapping it
-for Redis or SQLite later is a localised change. Persistence beyond memory is out of scope for the MVP.
-
-## Develop
-
-```bash
-uv run pytest              # tests
-uv run nox -s lints        # ruff format + ruff check + mypy + ty
-```
diff --git a/docs/api.rst b/docs/api.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..700e6a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/api.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+API
+===
+
+Serve the API locally:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+   uv run uvicorn mundane.api.app:app --reload
+
+Interactive OpenAPI docs are served at ``http://localhost:8000/schema``.
+
+Endpoints
+---------
+
+.. list-table::
+   :header-rows: 1
+
+   * - Method
+     - Path
+     - Purpose
+   * - POST
+     - ``/games``
+     - create a game
+   * - GET
+     - ``/games/{id}``
+     - read current state
+   * - POST
+     - ``/games/{id}/actions``
+     - submit a move (422 if illegal)
+   * - GET
+     - ``/games/{id}/export``
+     - download the game log + final state
+
+Exercise it
+-----------
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+   # create a game and capture its id
+   GID=$(curl -s -X POST localhost:8000/games | python -c 'import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["game_id"])')
+
+   # read the current state
+   curl -s localhost:8000/games/$GID
+
+   # submit a move (the tagged-union body carries a "type" discriminator)
+   curl -s -X POST localhost:8000/games/$GID/actions \
+     -H 'content-type: application/json' \
+     -d '{"type": "play_card", "player": 0, "hand_index": 0}'
+
+   # an illegal move is rejected with 422; the stored game is unchanged
+   curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' -X POST localhost:8000/games/$GID/actions \
+     -H 'content-type: application/json' \
+     -d '{"type": "cast_instant", "player": 1, "hand_index": 9}'
+
+   # download the game log (saves to mundane-game-$GID.json)
+   curl -s -OJ localhost:8000/games/$GID/export
+
+The action body is a tagged union — every action carries a ``type``:
+
+.. list-table::
+   :header-rows: 1
+
+   * - ``type``
+     - fields
+   * - ``play_card``
+     - ``player``, ``hand_index``
+   * - ``cast_instant``
+     - ``player``, ``hand_index``, optional ``target_id``
+   * - ``pass_priority``
+     - ``player``
diff --git a/docs/index.rst b/docs/index.rst
index a262372..4f2f616 100644
--- a/docs/index.rst
+++ b/docs/index.rst
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ The full module reference is generated from the source.
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
 
+   api
    autoapi/index
 
 .. toctree::