diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 0f36115ed..3bccf6ca1 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -453,43 +453,14 @@ EOF
 
 echo "✓ Created /docs command"
 
-# Always update hook (remove old ones pointing to wrong location)
-echo "Setting up automatic updates..."
-
-# Simple hook that just calls the helper script
-HOOK_COMMAND="~/.claude-code-docs/claude-docs-helper.sh hook-check"
-
+# Remove old claude-code-docs hooks (no longer needed - auto_update is throttled)
 if [ -f ~/.claude/settings.json ]; then
-    # Update existing settings.json
-    echo "  Updating Claude settings..."
-    
-    # First remove ALL hooks that contain "claude-code-docs" anywhere in the command
-    # This catches old installations at any path
-    jq '.hooks.PreToolUse = [(.hooks.PreToolUse // [])[] | select(.hooks[0].command | contains("claude-code-docs") | not)]' ~/.claude/settings.json > ~/.claude/settings.json.tmp
-    
-    # Then add our new hook
-    jq --arg cmd "$HOOK_COMMAND" '.hooks.PreToolUse = [(.hooks.PreToolUse // [])[]] + [{"matcher": "Read", "hooks": [{"type": "command", "command": $cmd}]}]' ~/.claude/settings.json.tmp > ~/.claude/settings.json
-    rm -f ~/.claude/settings.json.tmp
-    echo "✓ Updated Claude settings"
-else
-    # Create new settings.json
-    echo "  Creating Claude settings..."
-    jq -n --arg cmd "$HOOK_COMMAND" '{
-        "hooks": {
-            "PreToolUse": [
-                {
-                    "matcher": "Read",
-                    "hooks": [
-                        {
-                            "type": "command",
-                            "command": $cmd
-                        }
-                    ]
-                }
-            ]
-        }
-    }' > ~/.claude/settings.json
-    echo "✓ Created Claude settings"
+    if jq -e '.hooks.PreToolUse[]? | select(.hooks[]?.command | contains("claude-code-docs"))' ~/.claude/settings.json >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "Removing old auto-update hook..."
+        jq '.hooks.PreToolUse = [(.hooks.PreToolUse // [])[] | select(.hooks[0].command | contains("claude-code-docs") | not)]' ~/.claude/settings.json > ~/.claude/settings.json.tmp
+        mv ~/.claude/settings.json.tmp ~/.claude/settings.json
+        echo "✓ Removed old hook from Claude settings"
+    fi
 fi
 
 # Note: Do NOT modify docs_manifest.json - it's tracked by git and would break updates
diff --git a/scripts/claude-docs-helper.sh.template b/scripts/claude-docs-helper.sh.template
index 7c75305fe..901ad06f6 100644
--- a/scripts/claude-docs-helper.sh.template
+++ b/scripts/claude-docs-helper.sh.template
@@ -29,10 +29,17 @@ print_doc_header() {
 }
 
 
-# Function to auto-update docs if needed
+# Function to auto-update docs if needed (throttled to once per 3 hours)
 auto_update() {
+    local last_check="$DOCS_PATH/.last_fetch"
+    local now=$(date +%s)
+    local last=0
+    [[ -f "$last_check" ]] && last=$(cat "$last_check")
+    (( now - last < 10800 )) && return 0
+
     cd "$DOCS_PATH" 2>/dev/null || return 1
-    
+    echo "$now" > "$last_check"
+
     # Get current branch
     local BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "main")
     
@@ -83,7 +90,8 @@ show_freshness() {
         exit 1
     fi
     
-    # Try to sync with GitHub
+    # Force fetch - bypass throttle since user explicitly asked for freshness check
+    rm -f "$DOCS_PATH/.last_fetch"
     auto_update
     local sync_status=$?
     
@@ -130,54 +138,8 @@ read_doc() {
     if [[ -f "$doc_path" ]]; then
         print_doc_header
         
-        # Quick check if we're up to date (0.37s)
-        cd "$DOCS_PATH" 2>/dev/null || exit 1
-        local BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "main")
-        local VERSION=$SCRIPT_VERSION
-        
-        # Do the fetch to check status
-        local COMPARE_BRANCH="$BRANCH"
-        if ! git fetch --quiet origin "$BRANCH" 2>/dev/null; then
-            # Try main if current branch doesn't exist on origin
-            if git fetch --quiet origin main 2>/dev/null; then
-                COMPARE_BRANCH="main"
-            else
-                echo "⚠️  Could not check GitHub for updates - using cached docs (v$VERSION, $BRANCH)"
-                echo ""
-                cat "$doc_path"
-                echo ""
-                echo "📖 Official page: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/$topic"
-                return
-            fi
-        fi
-        
-        local LOCAL=$(git rev-parse HEAD 2>/dev/null)
-        local REMOTE=$(git rev-parse origin/"$COMPARE_BRANCH" 2>/dev/null)
-        local BEHIND=$(git rev-list HEAD..origin/"$COMPARE_BRANCH" --count 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
-        
-        if [[ "$LOCAL" != "$REMOTE" ]] && [[ "$BEHIND" -gt 0 ]]; then
-            # We're behind - safe to update
-            echo "🔄 Updating to latest documentation..."
-            git pull --quiet origin "$COMPARE_BRANCH" 2>&1 | grep -v "Merge made by" || true
-            
-            # Check if installer needs updating
-            local INSTALLER_VERSION=$SCRIPT_VERSION
-            local VERSION_INT=$(echo "$INSTALLER_VERSION" | sed 's/^0\.//' | cut -d. -f1)
+        auto_update
 
-            if [[ $VERSION_INT -ge 3 ]]; then
-                ./install.sh >/dev/null 2>&1
-            fi
-            echo "✅ Updated to latest (v$VERSION, $BRANCH)"
-        else
-            local AHEAD=$(git rev-list origin/"$COMPARE_BRANCH"..HEAD --count 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
-            if [[ "$AHEAD" -gt 0 ]]; then
-                echo "⚠️  Using local development version (v$VERSION, $BRANCH, +$AHEAD commits)"
-            else
-                echo "✅ You have the latest docs (v$VERSION, $BRANCH)"
-            fi
-        fi
-        echo ""
-        
         cat "$doc_path"
         echo ""
         if [[ "$topic" == "changelog" ]]; then
@@ -231,14 +193,6 @@ list_docs() {
     echo "Usage: /docs <topic> or /docs -t to check freshness"
 }
 
-# Function for hook check (auto-update)
-hook_check() {
-    # This is now just a passthrough since auto_update handles everything
-    # Note: We could potentially start a background fetch here for parallelization,
-    # but since git fetch only takes ~0.37s, the complexity isn't worth it
-    exit 0
-}
-
 # Function to show what's new (simplified version)
 whats_new() {
     # Temporarily disable strict error handling for this function
@@ -360,7 +314,7 @@ case "${1:-}" in
         fi
         ;;
     hook-check)
-        hook_check
+        exit 0
         ;;
     uninstall)
         uninstall