diff --git a/terraform/do/database.tf b/terraform/do/database.tf
index 9f26cc9..3573f1d 100644
--- a/terraform/do/database.tf
+++ b/terraform/do/database.tf
@@ -36,19 +36,6 @@ resource "digitalocean_database_user" "app" {
   name       = "quinn_app"
 }
 
-# Dedicated roles for the standalone services (credential separation: the
-# prospector/people services never hold quinn_app's creds). DO managed PG
-# generates each password; surfaced via the sensitive outputs below.
-resource "digitalocean_database_user" "people" {
-  cluster_id = digitalocean_database_cluster.pg.id
-  name       = "people"
-}
-
-resource "digitalocean_database_user" "prospector" {
-  cluster_id = digitalocean_database_cluster.pg.id
-  name       = "prospector"
-}
-
 # Trusted sources = ONLY the backend droplet. This is the hard private boundary:
 # nothing else — not the internet, not vps-0 directly — can open a PG connection.
 resource "digitalocean_database_firewall" "pg" {
diff --git a/terraform/do/outputs.tf b/terraform/do/outputs.tf
index 006df1f..ba65e02 100644
--- a/terraform/do/outputs.tf
+++ b/terraform/do/outputs.tf
@@ -37,18 +37,6 @@ output "pg_databases" {
   value = [for db in digitalocean_database_db.dbs : db.name]
 }
 
-# Standalone-service DB credentials (consumed by the prospector + people service
-# .env on the backend droplet). Sensitive — read via `terraform output -raw`.
-output "people_db_password" {
-  value     = digitalocean_database_user.people.password
-  sensitive = true
-}
-
-output "prospector_db_password" {
-  value     = digitalocean_database_user.prospector.password
-  sensitive = true
-}
-
 output "spaces_bucket_endpoint" {
   description = "S3 endpoint for the media bucket (services use signed URLs)."
   value       = digitalocean_spaces_bucket.media.bucket_domain_name
diff --git a/terraform/do/variables.tf b/terraform/do/variables.tf
index 5e33438..26729b5 100644
--- a/terraform/do/variables.tf
+++ b/terraform/do/variables.tf
@@ -95,9 +95,9 @@ variable "pg_node_count" {
 }
 
 variable "pg_databases" {
-  description = "Logical databases to create on the cluster. quinn/quinn_admin mirror black; people + prospector are the standalone cocottetech services (own-DB-per-service)."
+  description = "Logical databases to create on the cluster (mirrors black's quinn + quinn_admin). Per-service DBs (people, prospector) are owned by their own service-scoped terraform modules that data-source this cluster."
   type        = list(string)
-  default     = ["quinn", "quinn_admin", "people", "prospector"]
+  default     = ["quinn", "quinn_admin"]
 }
 
 ###############################################################################