diff --git a/scripts/README.md b/scripts/README.md
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+This directory contains scripts that:
+
+* Generally do not require access to Django or the database (those are
+  "management commands"), and thus are suitable to run operationally.
+
+* Are useful for managing a production deployment of Zulip (many are
+  also used in a Zulip development environment, though
+  development-only scripts live in `tools/`).
+
+For more details, see
+http://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/directory-structure.html.
+
diff --git a/tools/README.md b/tools/README.md
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+This directory contains scripts that are used in building, managing,
+testing, and other forms of work in a Zulip development environment.
+Note that tools that are also useful in production belong in
+`scripts/` or should be Django management commands.
+
+For more details, see
+http://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/directory-structure.html.
+