diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 427f9b6b..e44ef7d9 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: btw
 Title: A Toolkit for Connecting R and Large Language Models
-Version: 1.4.0.9000
+Version: 1.5.0
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Garrick", "Aden-Buie", , "garrick@adenbuie.com", role = c("aut", "cre"),
            comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-7111-0077")),
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Suggests:
     roxygen2,
     RSQLite (>= 2.2.2),
     shiny,
-    shinychat (>= 0.5.0),
+    shinychat (>= 0.4.0),
     testthat (>= 3.0.0),
     tibble,
     usethis
@@ -151,5 +151,3 @@ Collate:
     'utils-shinychat.R'
     'utils.R'
     'zzz.R'
-Remotes:
-    posit-dev/shinychat@rc-v0.5.0
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 74a21644..208ca17c 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# btw (development version)
+# btw 1.5.0
 
 ## New features
 
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
 
 * btw now requires ellmer (>= 0.4.2). The `set_model()` compatibility shim was removed, and `client_get_models()` now delegates to ellmer's `models_list()` generic, replacing a bespoke per-provider dispatch table (#214).
 
+* btw no longer reads the legacy user skills directory used by btw <= 1.2.0 (`skills/` under `tools::R_user_dir("btw", "config")`) (#204).
+
 # btw 1.4.0
 
 ## New features
diff --git a/R/tool-skills.R b/R/tool-skills.R
index 766d340c..c8427cb3 100644
--- a/R/tool-skills.R
+++ b/R/tool-skills.R
@@ -24,9 +24,7 @@ NULL
 #' 2. Skills from currently **attached** R packages — any package with an
 #'    `inst/skills/` directory that is loaded via [library()] or [require()]
 #' 3. User-level skills (`~/.btw/skills`, `~/.config/btw/skills`,
-#'    `tools::R_user_dir("btw")/skills`). For backwards compatibility, the
-#'    legacy `tools::R_user_dir("btw", "config")/skills` path used by briefly
-#'    by btw 1.2.0 is also included at lower priority.
+#'    `tools::R_user_dir("btw")/skills`)
 #' 4. Project-level skills (`.btw/skills/` or `.agents/skills/`)
 #'
 #' The default user-level and project-level directories can be replaced by
@@ -294,55 +292,12 @@ skill_dirs_from_option_or_envvar <- function(option_name, envvar_name) {
 }
 
 default_user_skill_dirs <- function() {
-  # Legacy: btw <= 1.2.0 install target — kept for backwards compatibility only,
-  # never written to by newer versions. Listed first (lowest priority).
-  legacy_skills_dir <- file.path(tools::R_user_dir("btw", "config"), "skills")
-  warn_legacy_skill_dir(legacy_skills_dir)
-
-  # Current user-level skill dirs in increasing priority order
-  current_dirs <- rev(vapply(
+  # User-level skill dirs in increasing priority order.
+  rev(vapply(
     btw_user_dirs(),
     function(d) file.path(d, "skills"),
     character(1)
   ))
-
-  # Combine: legacy first, then current dirs in increasing priority order.
-  # The `%in%` guard in the calling loop prevents re-adding dirs already
-  # present from earlier sources (e.g. attached packages). `unique()` removes
-  # any duplicates within this vector itself before the loop sees them.
-  unique(c(legacy_skills_dir, current_dirs))
-}
-
-warn_legacy_skill_dir <- function(dir) {
-  # Skip in tests, consistent with path_find_user() / find_user_agent_files().
-  # A maintainer's real legacy dir must not inject warnings into the suite.
-  if (identical(Sys.getenv("TESTTHAT"), "true")) {
-    return(invisible())
-  }
-  if (!fs::dir_exists(dir)) {
-    return(invisible())
-  }
-  # Warn on use: only when the legacy dir actually contains a skill.
-  has_skill <- length(fs::dir_ls(
-    dir,
-    recurse = 1,
-    regexp = "/SKILL\\.md$",
-    fail = FALSE
-  )) >
-    0
-  if (!has_skill) {
-    return(invisible())
-  }
-
-  cli::cli_warn(
-    c(
-      "!" = "Skills found in a deprecated location: {.path {dir}}",
-      "i" = "Move them to {.path {fs::path(btw_user_dir_preferred(), 'skills')}}.",
-      "i" = "This location (btw <= 1.2.0) is deprecated and will stop being read in btw 1.5.0."
-    ),
-    .frequency = "once",
-    .frequency_id = "btw_legacy_skills_dir"
-  )
 }
 
 default_project_skill_dirs <- function(project_dir) {
diff --git a/man/btw_tool_skill.Rd b/man/btw_tool_skill.Rd
index 09509027..69b53ce3 100644
--- a/man/btw_tool_skill.Rd
+++ b/man/btw_tool_skill.Rd
@@ -39,9 +39,7 @@ priority (later sources override earlier ones when skill names conflict):
 \item Skills from currently \strong{attached} R packages — any package with an
 \verb{inst/skills/} directory that is loaded via \code{\link[=library]{library()}} or \code{\link[=require]{require()}}
 \item User-level skills (\verb{~/.btw/skills}, \verb{~/.config/btw/skills},
-\code{tools::R_user_dir("btw")/skills}). For backwards compatibility, the
-legacy \code{tools::R_user_dir("btw", "config")/skills} path used by briefly
-by btw 1.2.0 is also included at lower priority.
+\code{tools::R_user_dir("btw")/skills})
 \item Project-level skills (\verb{.btw/skills/} or \verb{.agents/skills/})
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-tool-pkg-src.R b/tests/testthat/test-tool-pkg-src.R
index 31bce955..e73aceab 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-tool-pkg-src.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-tool-pkg-src.R
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # Test btw_tool_pkg_src_list_impl ----------------------------------------------
 
+skip_on_cran()
+
 test_that("btw_tool_pkg_src_list_impl returns exported objects by default", {
   result <- btw_tool_pkg_src_list_impl("tools")
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-tool_skills.R b/tests/testthat/test-tool_skills.R
index b955edfe..17d4ba56 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-tool_skills.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-tool_skills.R
@@ -617,55 +617,9 @@ test_that("find_skill() returns the highest-priority version when skill exists i
   expect_equal(fm$data$description, "High priority version")
 })
 
-# warn_legacy_skill_dir() ---------------------------------------------------
-
-test_that("warn_legacy_skill_dir() warns when legacy dir contains a skill", {
-  withr::local_envvar(TESTTHAT = NA)
-  withr::local_options(rlib_warning_verbosity = "verbose")
-
-  dir <- withr::local_tempdir()
-  skill_dir <- fs::path(dir, "my-skill")
-  fs::dir_create(skill_dir)
-  fs::file_create(fs::path(skill_dir, "SKILL.md"))
-
-  w <- expect_warning(warn_legacy_skill_dir(dir))
-  expect_match(conditionMessage(w), "deprecated location")
-  expect_match(conditionMessage(w), "1.5.0")
-})
-
-test_that("warn_legacy_skill_dir() does not warn when legacy dir is empty", {
-  withr::local_envvar(TESTTHAT = NA)
-  withr::local_options(rlib_warning_verbosity = "verbose")
-
-  dir <- withr::local_tempdir()
-
-  expect_no_warning(warn_legacy_skill_dir(dir))
-})
-
-test_that("warn_legacy_skill_dir() does not warn when legacy dir does not exist", {
-  withr::local_envvar(TESTTHAT = NA)
-  withr::local_options(rlib_warning_verbosity = "verbose")
-
-  dir <- file.path(withr::local_tempdir(), "does-not-exist")
-
-  expect_no_warning(warn_legacy_skill_dir(dir))
-})
-
-test_that("warn_legacy_skill_dir() is guarded off during the test suite", {
-  withr::local_envvar(TESTTHAT = "true")
-  withr::local_options(rlib_warning_verbosity = "verbose")
-
-  dir <- withr::local_tempdir()
-  skill_dir <- fs::path(dir, "my-skill")
-  fs::dir_create(skill_dir)
-  fs::file_create(fs::path(skill_dir, "SKILL.md"))
-
-  expect_no_warning(warn_legacy_skill_dir(dir))
-})
-
 # default_user_skill_dirs() / resolve_user_skill_dir() with distinct home roots
 
-test_that("default_user_skill_dirs() includes R-home skills dirs when home roots differ", {
+test_that("default_user_skill_dirs() preserves current user-dir precedence", {
   profile_dir <- withr::local_tempdir()
   docs_dir <- withr::local_tempdir()
   withr::local_envvar(R_USER_DATA_DIR = withr::local_tempdir())
@@ -678,8 +632,7 @@ test_that("default_user_skill_dirs() includes R-home skills dirs when home roots
 
   dirs <- default_user_skill_dirs()
 
-  expect_true(fs::path(profile_dir, ".btw", "skills") %in% dirs)
-  expect_true(fs::path(docs_dir, ".btw", "skills") %in% dirs)
+  expect_equal(unname(dirs), rev(file.path(btw_user_dirs(), "skills")))
 })
 
 test_that("resolve_user_skill_dir() returns ~/.btw/skills as the default install target", {