diff --git a/packages/ui/app-boot/tests/app-boot.spec.ts b/packages/ui/app-boot/tests/app-boot.spec.ts
index 864eaa600e..447b2f5949 100644
--- a/packages/ui/app-boot/tests/app-boot.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/app-boot/tests/app-boot.spec.ts
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ describe('loadLayeredEnv', () => {
     }
   })
 
-  it('reports each layer with its absolute path', () => {
+  it('reports each file value with its absolute path', () => {
     const home = tmp()
     const project = tmp()
     writeFileSync(join(home, '.env'), `${NAMES[1]}=u\n`)
@@ -160,12 +160,8 @@ describe('loadLayeredEnv', () => {
     vi.stubEnv('DSH_HOME', home)
     try {
       const snapshot = loadLayeredEnv(NAME, project, vi.fn())
-      expect(snapshot.layers).toEqual([
-        { source: 'process' },
-        { source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') },
-        { source: 'user-env', path: join(home, '.env') },
-      ])
       expect(snapshot.get(NAMES[1])).toEqual({ value: 'u', source: 'user-env', path: join(home, '.env') })
+      expect(snapshot.get(NAMES[2])).toEqual({ value: 'p', source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') })
       // getFrom is a refusal, not a demotion: an omitted layer is invisible.
       expect(snapshot.getFrom(NAMES[2], ['process', 'user-env'])).toBeUndefined()
     } finally {
@@ -205,10 +201,8 @@ describe('loadLayeredEnv', () => {
     try {
       const snapshot = loadLayeredEnv(NAME, project, warn)
       expect(warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining(`${NAME}: failed to load .env`))
-      expect(snapshot.layers).toEqual([
-        { source: 'process' },
-        { source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') },
-      ])
+      expect(snapshot.get(NAMES[1])).toBeUndefined()
+      expect(snapshot.get(NAMES[2])).toEqual({ value: 'project-only', source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') })
       expect(process.env[NAMES[2]]).toBe('project-only')
     } finally {
       clear()
@@ -227,10 +221,7 @@ describe('loadLayeredEnv', () => {
     try {
       const snapshot = loadLayeredEnv(NAME, project)
       expect(write).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining(`${NAME}: failed to load .env`))
-      expect(snapshot.layers).toEqual([
-        { source: 'process' },
-        { source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') },
-      ])
+      expect(snapshot.get(NAMES[2])).toEqual({ value: 'project-only', source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') })
       expect(process.env[NAMES[2]]).toBe('project-only')
     } finally {
       write.mockRestore()
@@ -251,10 +242,7 @@ describe('loadLayeredEnv', () => {
       // layer is simply absent, and nothing is reported.
       const snapshot = loadLayeredEnv(NAME, project, warn)
       expect(warn).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-      expect(snapshot.layers).toEqual([
-        { source: 'process' },
-        { source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') },
-      ])
+      expect(snapshot.get(NAMES[2])).toEqual({ value: 'project-only', source: 'project-env', path: join(project, '.env') })
     } finally {
       clear()
       vi.unstubAllEnvs()
@@ -269,7 +257,6 @@ describe('loadLayeredEnv', () => {
     vi.stubEnv('APP_BOOT_LAYERED_INHERITED', 'inherited')
     try {
       const snapshot = loadLayeredEnv(NAME, project, vi.fn())
-      expect(snapshot.layers).toEqual([{ source: 'process' }])
       expect(snapshot.get('APP_BOOT_LAYERED_INHERITED')).toEqual({ value: 'inherited', source: 'process' })
     } finally {
       clear()
@@ -287,10 +274,6 @@ describe('loadLayeredEnv', () => {
       // is the more trusted of the two — reading it twice would otherwise
       // put the same path at two different ranks.
       const snapshot = loadLayeredEnv(NAME, both, vi.fn())
-      expect(snapshot.layers).toEqual([
-        { source: 'process' },
-        { source: 'project-env', path: join(both, '.env') },
-      ])
       expect(snapshot.get(NAMES[2])).toEqual({ value: 'one-file', source: 'project-env', path: join(both, '.env') })
     } finally {
       clear()
diff --git a/packages/util/environment/src/index.ts b/packages/util/environment/src/index.ts
index f35e32f9c5..6f051603e6 100644
--- a/packages/util/environment/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/util/environment/src/index.ts
@@ -35,13 +35,6 @@ export interface EnvironmentEntry {
   path?: string
 }
 
-/** One environment layer's identity, for diagnostics. */
-export interface EnvironmentLayer {
-  source: EnvironmentSource
-  /** Absolute path of the file behind this layer; absent for `process`. */
-  path?: string
-}
-
 /**
  * The frozen environment of one launch. Construct through
  * {@link createEnvironmentSnapshot}; nothing mutates it afterwards, so a
@@ -65,8 +58,6 @@ export interface EnvironmentSnapshot {
    * @returns the first matching entry, or `undefined`.
    */
   getFrom(name: string, sources: readonly EnvironmentSource[]): EnvironmentEntry | undefined
-  /** The layers this snapshot was built from, most trusted first. */
-  readonly layers: readonly EnvironmentLayer[]
 }
 
 /**
@@ -121,12 +112,6 @@ export function createEnvironmentSnapshot(layers: readonly EnvironmentLayerInput
   return {
     get: name => getFrom(name, ENVIRONMENT_SOURCES),
     getFrom,
-    layers: ENVIRONMENT_SOURCES
-      .filter(source => bySource.has(source))
-      .map((source): EnvironmentLayer => {
-        const path = bySource.get(source)?.path
-        return { source, ...path === undefined ? {} : { path } }
-      }),
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/util/environment/tests/environment.spec.ts b/packages/util/environment/tests/environment.spec.ts
index 27c7b16e55..7083c9891d 100644
--- a/packages/util/environment/tests/environment.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/util/environment/tests/environment.spec.ts
@@ -28,15 +28,6 @@ describe('createEnvironmentSnapshot', () => {
     expect(layered.getFrom('SHARED', [])).toBeUndefined()
   })
 
-  it('lists its layers in trust order with their paths', () => {
-    expect(layered.layers).toEqual([
-      { source: 'process' },
-      { source: 'project-env', path: '/work/.env' },
-      { source: 'user-env', path: '/home/.dsh/.env' },
-    ])
-    expect(createEnvironmentSnapshot([{ source: 'process', values: {} }]).layers).toEqual([{ source: 'process' }])
-  })
-
   it('copies each layer, so a later mutation of the source object cannot change it', () => {
     const values: Record<string, string> = { KEY: 'first' }
     const snapshot = createEnvironmentSnapshot([{ source: 'process', values }])
@@ -76,7 +67,6 @@ describe('environmentOf', () => {
       // A host that discovered no files has exactly one layer, so the trusted
       // lookups every consumer makes still find what it was launched with.
       expect(snapshot.getFrom('DSH_ENV_SPEC_FALLBACK', ['process', 'user-env'])?.value).toBe('ambient')
-      expect(snapshot.layers).toEqual([{ source: 'process' }])
     } finally {
       vi.unstubAllEnvs()
     }