Tim Hockin (thockin) · Oct 29, 2026 · Oct 27, 2026 · Oct 27, 2026 · Oct 27, 2026 · Oct 28, 2026
diff --git a/api/ateapi/v1/ateapi.pb.go b/api/ateapi/v1/ateapi.pb.go
diff --git a/api/ateapi/v1/ateapi.proto b/api/ateapi/v1/ateapi.proto
@@ -1279,9 +1279,10 @@ message SnapshotConfig {
   // storage_location is the base object-storage URI snapshots of actors on
   // this version are stored under. If unset, ate-api-server's
   // --snapshot-location is used. Requires the PerTemplateSnapshotLocation preview
-  // gate; ignored without it.
+  // gate.
   //
   // +ate:preview=PerTemplateSnapshotLocation
+  // +k8s:ifDisabled(PerTemplateSnapshotLocation)=+k8s:forbidden
   // +k8s:optional
   // +k8s:maxLength=1024
   // +k8s:customValidation # Validate URI

diff --git a/benchmarking/README.md b/benchmarking/README.md
@@ -12,12 +12,11 @@ scenario ladder, read [observability.md](observability.md).
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
 > Source the environment configuration file (e.g., `source .ate-dev-env.sh`)
-> first so `PROJECT_ID`, `BUCKET_NAME`, etc. are set.
+> first so `PROJECT_ID` etc. are set.
 >
 > **For Local Kind Clusters**: Set `KO_DOCKER_REPO` to the local registry so images are pulled without remote cloud credentials:
 > ```bash
 > export KO_DOCKER_REPO="localhost:5001"
-> export BUCKET_NAME="ate-snapshots"
 > ```
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]

diff --git a/benchmarking/deploy_locust.sh b/benchmarking/deploy_locust.sh
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ usage() {
   echo "  -h|--help               Show this help message"
   echo ""
   echo "Environment:"
-  echo "  PROJECT_ID, BUCKET_NAME, etc. are read from .ate-dev-env.sh by the"
+  echo "  PROJECT_ID etc. are read from .ate-dev-env.sh by the"
   echo "  scripts this wrapper invokes."
 }
 

diff --git a/benchmarking/nighthawk-egress/deploy-traffic-driver.sh b/benchmarking/nighthawk-egress/deploy-traffic-driver.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ EGRESS_POLICY_MANIFEST="${SCRIPT_DIR}/egress-policy.yaml"
 KUBECTL_ATE_BIN="kubectl-ate"
 WAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS=300
 CONTEXT="${KUBECTL_CONTEXT:-}"
-BUCKET_NAME="${BUCKET_NAME:-ate-snapshots}"
 KO_DOCKER_REPO="${KO_DOCKER_REPO:-localhost:5001}"
 
 usage() {
@@ -44,7 +43,6 @@ usage() {
   echo "Options:"
   echo "  --deploy                Deploy the ${ATESPACE}/${TEMPLATE_NAME} worker pool, actor template, and ${ACTOR_NAME} actor (default)"
   echo "  --delete                Delete the ${ACTOR_NAME} actor, template, atespace, and worker pool"
-  echo "  --bucket-name BUCKET    GCS bucket name for actor snapshots (default: \$BUCKET_NAME)"
   echo "  --ko-docker-repo REPO   Container registry for ko image builds (default: \$KO_DOCKER_REPO)"
   echo "  --context CONTEXT       kubectl context to use (default: \$KUBECTL_CONTEXT or current context)"
   echo "  --wait-timeout SECONDS  Timeout waiting for worker pool and golden snapshot readiness (default: ${WAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS})"
@@ -60,13 +58,6 @@ while [[ "$#" -gt 0 ]]; do
     --delete)
       action="delete"
       ;;
-    --bucket-name)
-      shift
-      BUCKET_NAME="$1"
-      ;;
-    --bucket-name=*)
-      BUCKET_NAME="${1#*=}"
-      ;;
     --ko-docker-repo)
       shift
       KO_DOCKER_REPO="$1"
@@ -150,10 +141,6 @@ wait_template_ready() {
 }
 
 deploy() {
-  if [[ -z "${BUCKET_NAME}" ]]; then
-    echo "Error: BUCKET_NAME is not set. Pass --bucket-name or configure .ate-dev-env.sh." >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
   if [[ -z "${KO_DOCKER_REPO}" ]]; then
     echo "Error: KO_DOCKER_REPO is not set. Pass --ko-docker-repo or configure .ate-dev-env.sh." >&2
     exit 1
@@ -181,8 +168,7 @@ deploy() {
   run_kubectl_ate delete actor-template "${TEMPLATE_NAME}" -a "${ATESPACE}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 
   echo "Creating actor template ${ATESPACE}/${TEMPLATE_NAME} from ${MANIFEST}..."
-  sed "s|\${BUCKET_NAME}|${BUCKET_NAME}|g" "${MANIFEST}" \
-    | run_kubectl_ate create actor-template -f -
+  run_kubectl_ate create actor-template -f "${MANIFEST}"
 
   wait_template_ready
 

diff --git a/benchmarking/nighthawk-egress/traffic-driver-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/nighthawk-egress/traffic-driver-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 # Substrate ActorTemplate resource (protojson-shaped ateapi.ActorTemplate,
 # NOT the ate.dev/v1 CRD) for the Nighthawk egress traffic-driver actor.
-# Applied with `kubectl-ate create actor-template -f -` by
+# Applied with `kubectl-ate create actor-template -f` by
 # deploy-traffic-driver.sh; the `nighthawk` atespace must exist.
 #
 # Runs Envoy's `nighthawk_service` gRPC server on port 80 (the default actor
@@ -65,4 +65,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 1073741824 # 1Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/nighthawk/traffic-driver/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh b/benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh
@@ -23,12 +23,6 @@ if [[ -f .ate-dev-env.sh ]]; then
   source .ate-dev-env.sh
 fi
 
-# Ensure BUCKET_NAME is set
-if [[ -z "${BUCKET_NAME:-}" ]]; then
-  echo "Error: BUCKET_NAME environment variable is not set." >&2
-  exit 1
-fi
-
 MANIFEST_DIR="benchmarking/workloads/manifests"
 POOL_MANIFEST="${MANIFEST_DIR}/workloads.yaml.tmpl"
 # Generated sweperf ActorTemplates; see manifests/sweperf/generate_sweperf_templates.py.
@@ -192,8 +186,7 @@ substitute() {
   if [[ -n "${WORKER_MEMORY}" ]]; then
     worker_resources="resources: {requests: {memory: \"${WORKER_MEMORY}\"}, limits: {memory: \"${WORKER_MEMORY}\"}}"
   fi
-  sed -e "s|\${BUCKET_NAME}|${BUCKET_NAME}|g" \
-      -e "s|\${WORKER_COUNT}|${WORKER_COUNT}|g" \
+  sed -e "s|\${WORKER_COUNT}|${WORKER_COUNT}|g" \
       -e "s|\${SANDBOX_CLASS}|${SANDBOX_CLASS}|g" \
       -e "s|\${OTLP_ENDPOINT}|${OTLP_ENDPOINT}|g" \
       -e "s|\${ACTOR_MEMORY}|${ACTOR_MEMORY}|g" \

diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/ate-env-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/ate-env-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -44,4 +44,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: "${ACTOR_MEMORY_BYTES}"
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/ate-env/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-durdir-data-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-durdir-data-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -50,4 +50,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: "${ACTOR_MEMORY_BYTES}"
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_VOLUMES
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/glutton-durdir-data/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-durdir-full-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-durdir-full-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -47,4 +47,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: "${ACTOR_MEMORY_BYTES}"
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/glutton-durdir-full/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-storage-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-storage-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -57,4 +57,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: "${ACTOR_MEMORY_BYTES}"
 snapshotConfig:
   onCommit: SNAPSHOT_CONTENT_SCOPE_FULL
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/glutton-storage/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/glutton-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -59,4 +59,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: "${ACTOR_MEMORY_BYTES}"
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/glutton/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/kernelmem-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/kernelmem-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -37,4 +37,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 8589934592 # 8Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/kernelmem/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sleep-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sleep-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -33,4 +33,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: "${ACTOR_MEMORY_BYTES}"
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/sleep/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-astropy-7336-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-astropy-7336-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 # Generated by benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generate_sweperf_templates.py
 # from sweperf-images.json and sweperf-template.yaml.j2; edit those, not this
-# file. The ${...} values are filled in by benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh.
+# file.
 metadata:
   atespace: benchmark-workloads
   name: sweperf-astropy-7336
@@ -47,4 +47,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 4294967296 # 4Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/sweperf-astropy-7336/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-django-11099-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-django-11099-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 # Generated by benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generate_sweperf_templates.py
 # from sweperf-images.json and sweperf-template.yaml.j2; edit those, not this
-# file. The ${...} values are filled in by benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh.
+# file.
 metadata:
   atespace: benchmark-workloads
   name: sweperf-django-11099
@@ -47,4 +47,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 4294967296 # 4Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/sweperf-django-11099/
diff --git a/...marking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-matplotlib-20826-template.yaml.tmpl b/...marking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-matplotlib-20826-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 # Generated by benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generate_sweperf_templates.py
 # from sweperf-images.json and sweperf-template.yaml.j2; edit those, not this
-# file. The ${...} values are filled in by benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh.
+# file.
 metadata:
   atespace: benchmark-workloads
   name: sweperf-matplotlib-20826
@@ -47,4 +47,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 4294967296 # 4Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/sweperf-matplotlib-20826/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-sphinx-8638-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-sphinx-8638-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 # Generated by benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generate_sweperf_templates.py
 # from sweperf-images.json and sweperf-template.yaml.j2; edit those, not this
-# file. The ${...} values are filled in by benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh.
+# file.
 metadata:
   atespace: benchmark-workloads
   name: sweperf-sphinx-8638
@@ -47,4 +47,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 4294967296 # 4Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/sweperf-sphinx-8638/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-sympy-13647-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generated/sweperf-sympy-13647-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 # Generated by benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generate_sweperf_templates.py
 # from sweperf-images.json and sweperf-template.yaml.j2; edit those, not this
-# file. The ${...} values are filled in by benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh.
+# file.
 metadata:
   atespace: benchmark-workloads
   name: sweperf-sympy-13647
@@ -47,4 +47,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 4294967296 # 4Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/sweperf-sympy-13647/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/sweperf-template.yaml.j2 b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/sweperf-template.yaml.j2
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 # Generated by benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/generate_sweperf_templates.py
 # from sweperf-images.json and sweperf-template.yaml.j2; edit those, not this
-# file. The ${...} values are filled in by benchmarking/workloads/deploy.sh.
+# file.
 metadata:
   atespace: benchmark-workloads
   name: {{ name }}
@@ -47,4 +47,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 4294967296 # 4Gi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/{{ name }}/
diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/test_generate_sweperf_templates.py b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/sweperf/test_generate_sweperf_templates.py
@@ -40,8 +40,6 @@ def test_render_fills_task_values(self):
         self.assertIn("name: sweperf-django-11099", content)
         self.assertIn(f'image: "{PINNED}"', content)
         self.assertIn('value: "15"', content)
-        # deploy.sh fills these, so they must survive rendering.
-        self.assertIn("${BUCKET_NAME}", content)
 
     def test_check_reports_missing_stale_and_orphaned_files(self):
         rendered = gen.render([{"name": n, "image": PINNED, "steps": 1}

diff --git a/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/usermem-template.yaml.tmpl b/benchmarking/workloads/manifests/usermem-template.yaml.tmpl
@@ -35,4 +35,3 @@ resources:
     memoryBytes: 1610612736 # 1536Mi
 snapshotConfig:
   preferredFidelity: SNAPSHOT_FIDELITY_MEMORY
-  storageLocation: gs://${BUCKET_NAME}/benchmark-workloads/usermem/
diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/commands.md b/cmd/ate-setup/commands.md
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ is absent); the other two are flags of the benchmark commands. See
 | `deploy demo sandbox` | An on-demand sandbox actor driven by the sandbox client |
 | `deploy demo multi-template` | Two ActorTemplates sharing one WorkerPool |
 | `deploy demo parking` | Actor parking and unparking on a small WorkerPool |
-| `deploy demo claude-code-multiplex` | Several Claude Code agents multiplexed onto one WorkerPool (requires `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `BUCKET_NAME`, `KO_DOCKER_REPO`) |
+| `deploy demo claude-code-multiplex` | Several Claude Code agents multiplexed onto one WorkerPool (requires `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `KO_DOCKER_REPO`) |
 
 Each has a matching `delete demo NAME`. Demo flags bind
 to the deploy side only; teardown never reads them.

diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/internal/config/config.go b/cmd/ate-setup/internal/config/config.go
@@ -129,14 +129,18 @@ type Config struct {
 	// defaults to the in-cluster URL of the install's ate-idp-server Service.
 	ActorJWTIssuer string
 
-	// BucketName is the snapshot bucket demos are templated with.
+	// BucketName is the object-storage bucket (BUCKET_NAME) passed to install
+	// scripts such as hack/install-microvm-deps.sh. The kind profile also
+	// derives SnapshotLocation from it.
 	BucketName string
 
 	// SnapshotLocation is ate-api-server's --snapshot-location
 	// (SNAPSHOT_LOCATION): the cluster-wide object-storage URI actor snapshots
 	// are stored under. Required unless the PerTemplateSnapshotLocation
 	// preview gate is enabled, which also lets a
-	// template's snapshotConfig.storageLocation override it.
+	// template's snapshotConfig.storageLocation override it. The demos and
+	// benchmarks, and so e2e runs, need it even with the gate, since they do
+	// not set storageLocation.
 	SnapshotLocation string
 
 	// TransferGSAName is the name of the Google service account snapshot

diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/internal/config/setting.go b/cmd/ate-setup/internal/config/setting.go
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ var Registry = []Setting{
 
 	{
 		Key: "storage.bucketName", Env: "BUCKET_NAME", Flag: "storage-bucket-name", Kind: KindString,
-		Usage: "Snapshot bucket the demos are templated with",
+		Usage: "Object-storage bucket passed to install scripts; the kind profile derives --snapshot-location from it",
 	},
 	{
 		Key: "storage.snapshotLocation", Env: "SNAPSHOT_LOCATION", Flag: "snapshot-location", Kind: KindString,

diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/claudemultiplex/claudemultiplex.go b/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/claudemultiplex/claudemultiplex.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func init() {
 	d := &demo{}
 	d.sub = demos.Substrate{
 		DemoName:           "demo-claude-code-multiplex",
-		Short:              "Several Claude Code agents multiplexed onto one WorkerPool (requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, BUCKET_NAME, KO_DOCKER_REPO)",
+		Short:              "Several Claude Code agents multiplexed onto one WorkerPool (requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, KO_DOCKER_REPO)",
 		WorkerPoolManifest: poolManifest,
 		Deployments:        []steps.TemplateRef{{Atespace: atespace, Name: "claude-workerpool"}},
 		Templates:          agentTemplates(),
@@ -85,9 +85,6 @@ func (d *demo) Deploy(ctx context.Context, e *steps.Env) error {
 	if e.Cfg.AnthropicAPIKey == "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY must be set")
 	}
-	if e.Cfg.BucketName == "" {
-		return fmt.Errorf("BUCKET_NAME must be set")
-	}
 	if e.Cfg.KODockerRepo == "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("KO_DOCKER_REPO must be set (see hack/ate-dev-env.sh.example)")
 	}

diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/demotest/demotest.go b/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/demotest/demotest.go
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func Env(t *testing.T) *steps.Env {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Resolve: %v", err)
 	}
-	cfg := &config.Config{Root: root, BucketName: "ate-snapshots"}
+	cfg := &config.Config{Root: root}
 	cfg.SetResolved(r)
 	return &steps.Env{Cfg: cfg}
 }
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ func AssertRenderedActorTemplate(t *testing.T, manifest []byte, want resources.A
 	if got := resources.ActorTemplateRefFromActorTemplate(template); got != want {
 		t.Errorf("manifest names template %s, want %s", got, want)
 	}
+	// The API rejects storageLocation without its preview gate.
+	if got := template.GetSnapshotConfig().GetStorageLocation(); got != "" {
+		t.Errorf("manifest sets storageLocation %q, want none", got)
+	}
 }
 
 // assertNoPlaceholders checks that no non-comment line still contains a

diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/render.go b/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/render.go
@@ -19,10 +19,6 @@ import (
 	"go.ate.dev/substrate/cmd/ate-setup/internal/steps"
 )
 
-// bucketNamePlaceholder is substituted into every demo template with the
-// snapshot bucket for this environment.
-const bucketNamePlaceholder = "BUCKET_NAME"
-
 // ExternalVolumePlaceholders are the optional external-volume hooks in the
 // counter templates. Every path except
 // `deploy demo counter --with-external-volume` drops them, which removes the
@@ -33,13 +29,7 @@ var ExternalVolumePlaceholders = []string{
 	"EXTERNAL_VOLUMES",
 }
 
-// Render expands a demo template with the configured bucket name.
-func Render(e *steps.Env, relPath string, extraValues map[string]string, drop []string) ([]byte, error) {
-	values := map[string]string{
-		bucketNamePlaceholder: e.Cfg.BucketName,
-	}
-	for k, v := range extraValues {
-		values[k] = v
-	}
+// Render expands a demo template with values.
+func Render(e *steps.Env, relPath string, values map[string]string, drop []string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return render.Template(e.Cfg.Path(relPath), values, drop)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/substrate.go b/cmd/ate-setup/internal/demos/substrate.go
@@ -68,10 +68,10 @@ type Substrate struct {
 	// is a cloud-hypervisor cold boot plus a checkpoint, on nested KVM in CI.
 	GoldenTimeout time.Duration
 
-	// RenderValues optionally supplies extra placeholder values at deploy
-	// time, for demos whose manifests need more than ${BUCKET_NAME} (e.g. a
-	// freshly built image digest). Delete renders only the pool manifest, so
-	// deploy-only values may live solely here.
+	// RenderValues optionally supplies placeholder values at deploy time, for
+	// demos whose manifests need them (e.g. a freshly built image digest).
+	// Delete renders only the pool manifest, so deploy-only values may live
+	// solely here.
 	RenderValues func(ctx context.Context, e *steps.Env) (map[string]string, error)
 }
 

diff --git a/cmd/ate-setup/internal/steps/apienv.go b/cmd/ate-setup/internal/steps/apienv.go
@@ -187,7 +187,9 @@ func sharedBootstrapOwnerWarning(bootstrapOwners, namespace string) string {
 // snapshots. It is used whether or not the PerTemplateSnapshotLocation preview
 // gate is enabled; with the gate, an actor template's
 // snapshotConfig.storageLocation overrides it. It may be empty only when the
-// gate is enabled, in which case every template must set its own.
+// gate is enabled. CreateActorTemplate then fails with FailedPrecondition for
+// a template without storageLocation, which includes every demo and
+// benchmark.
 func clusterSnapshotLocation(location string, gates []string) (string, error) {
 	if location != "" {
 		if err := resources.ValidateSnapshotLocation(location); err != nil {