diff --git a/skills/hourlog/SKILL.md b/skills/hourlog/SKILL.md
index 5b5ff4d..e1b0f22 100644
--- a/skills/hourlog/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/hourlog/SKILL.md
@@ -43,13 +43,9 @@ missing step if not.
 python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/scan-activity.py --week last
 ```
 
-Prints a drawn grid: one row per day, one column per project holding
+Prints a markdown table: one row per day, one column per project holding
 `hours · share · active minutes`, then a totals row. That table is the
-deliverable — show it as-is, inside a fenced code block so the terminal
-renderer leaves the borders alone, rather than restating it in prose.
-
-`--markdown` swaps the grid for pipes when the destination renders tables
-itself (a PR body, an issue, a doc).
+deliverable — paste it as-is rather than restating it in prose.
 
 The unit behind it is a 5-minute slot in which at least one message was
 written, deduplicated per project — so a 40-subagent swarm on one project
diff --git a/skills/hourlog/scripts/scan-activity.py b/skills/hourlog/scripts/scan-activity.py
index 1c96b34..0925a0f 100755
--- a/skills/hourlog/scripts/scan-activity.py
+++ b/skills/hourlog/scripts/scan-activity.py
@@ -14,16 +14,11 @@ transcripts on one project counts once, and two projects worked in parallel
 each keep their own slots. Message counts would make one overnight autonomous
 run outweigh a real morning; wall-clock presence does not.
 
-Output is a table: one row per day, one column per project, each cell holding
-suggested hours, share of the day, and the active minutes behind it. The
-suggestion splits a nominal working day by share, in 15-minute steps — active
-minutes are a floor on real work, never a measure of it, so the day's length
-comes from the calendar and only the split between projects comes from the
-sessions. See SKILL.md.
-
-Default rendering is a drawn grid, because a markdown table has no borders of
-its own and terminal renderers vary in whether they draw any. --markdown emits
-pipes instead, for pasting somewhere that does render them.
+Output is one line per project per day: suggested hours, share of the day, and
+the active minutes behind it. The suggestion splits a nominal working day by
+share, in 15-minute steps — active minutes are a floor on real work, never a
+measure of it, so the day's length comes from the calendar and only the split
+between projects comes from the sessions. See SKILL.md.
 """
 import argparse
 import collections
@@ -160,35 +155,17 @@ def fmt_hour_list(hours):
     return ", ".join(out)
 
 
-def widths(rows):
-    return [max(len(r[i]) for r in rows) for i in range(len(rows[0]))]
-
-
-def _cells(row, w, align_right):
-    return "| " + " | ".join(
-        c.rjust(w[i]) if i in align_right else c.ljust(w[i])
-        for i, c in enumerate(row)) + " |"
-
-
-def box_table(rows, align_right=()):
-    """Render rows (first is the header) as a grid with every cell bordered."""
-    w = widths(rows)
-    rule = "+" + "+".join("-" * (n + 2) for n in w) + "+"
-    out = [rule]
-    for row in rows:
-        out += [_cells(row, w, align_right), rule]
-    return "\n".join(out)
-
-
 def md_table(rows, align_right=()):
     """Render rows (first is the header) as a padded markdown table."""
-    w = widths(rows)
+    w = [max(len(r[i]) for r in rows) for i in range(len(rows[0]))]
+    def line(cells):
+        return "| " + " | ".join(
+            c.rjust(w[i]) if i in align_right else c.ljust(w[i])
+            for i, c in enumerate(cells)) + " |"
     sep = "|" + "|".join(
         ("-" * (w[i] + 1) + ":") if i in align_right else ("-" * (w[i] + 2))
         for i in range(len(w))) + "|"
-    return "\n".join(
-        [_cells(rows[0], w, align_right), sep] +
-        [_cells(r, w, align_right) for r in rows[1:]])
+    return "\n".join([line(rows[0]), sep] + [line(r) for r in rows[1:]])
 
 
 def main():
@@ -198,8 +175,6 @@ def main():
     ap.add_argument("--week", choices=["last", "this"])
     ap.add_argument("--config", default=CONFIG)
     ap.add_argument("--json", action="store_true")
-    ap.add_argument("--markdown", action="store_true",
-                    help="pipe table for pasting, instead of a drawn grid")
     a = ap.parse_args()
 
     cfg = load_config(a.config)
@@ -333,13 +308,11 @@ def main():
         rows.append([f"{e['date']} {e['weekday']}"] + cells +
                     [fmt_hours(day_sum) if day_sum else "—", "; ".join(flags)])
 
-    bold = (lambda s: f"**{s}**") if a.markdown else (lambda s: s)
-    rows.append([bold("total")] +
-                [bold(fmt_hours(week[c])) for c in cols] +
-                [bold(fmt_hours(sum(week.values()))), ""])
+    rows.append(["**total**"] +
+                [f"**{fmt_hours(week[c])}**" for c in cols] +
+                [f"**{fmt_hours(sum(week.values()))}**", ""])
     right = set(range(1, len(cols) + 2))
-    render = md_table if a.markdown else box_table
-    print(render(rows, align_right=right))
+    print(md_table(rows, align_right=right))
 
     if unmapped:
         print("\nunmapped paths — add them to the config or the exclude list:")