diff --git a/auto.def b/auto.def
index 5807c97bb9..b395e66ebe 100644
--- a/auto.def
+++ b/auto.def
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ proc sqlite-check-tcl {} {
   # TODO: document the steps this is taking.
   global srcdir
   msg-result "Checking for a suitable tcl... "
-  proj-assert {proj-opt-truthy tcl}
+  proj-assert [proj-opt-truthy tcl]
   set use_tcl 1
   set with_tclsh [opt-val with-tclsh]
   set with_tcl [opt-val with-tcl]
@@ -635,7 +635,7 @@ proc sqlite-check-tcl {} {
   if {"" eq $with_tclsh && $cfg ne ""} {
     # We have tclConfig.sh but no tclsh. Attempt to locate a tclsh
     # based on info from tclConfig.sh.
-    proj-assert {expr {"" ne [get-define TCL_EXEC_PREFIX]}}
+    proj-assert {"" ne [get-define TCL_EXEC_PREFIX]}
     set with_tclsh [get-define TCL_EXEC_PREFIX]/bin/tclsh[get-define TCL_VERSION]
     if {![file-isexec $with_tclsh]} {
       set with_tclsh2 [get-define TCL_EXEC_PREFIX]/bin/tclsh
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ proc sqlite-check-tcl {} {
     proj-fatal "TCL support was requested but no tclConfig.sh could be found."
   }
   if {"" eq $cfg} {
-    proj-assert {expr {0 == [get-define HAVE_TCL]}}
+    proj-assert {0 == [get-define HAVE_TCL]}
     proj-indented-notice {
       WARNING: Cannot find a usable tclConfig.sh file.  Use
       --with-tcl=DIR to specify a directory where tclConfig.sh can be
@@ -1042,8 +1042,8 @@ proc sqlite-check-line-editing {} {
     set rlInc [join $rlInc]
     define LDFLAGS_READLINE $rlLib
     define CFLAGS_READLINE $rlInc
-    proj-assert {expr {$editLibDef in {HAVE_READLINE HAVE_EDITLINE}}}
-    proj-assert {expr {$editLibName in {readline editline}}}
+    proj-assert {$editLibDef in {HAVE_READLINE HAVE_EDITLINE}}
+    proj-assert {$editLibName in {readline editline}}
     sqlite-add-shell-opt -D${editLibDef}=1
     msg-result "Using $editLibName flags: $rlInc $rlLib"
     # Check whether rl_completion_matches() has a signature we can use
diff --git a/autosetup/proj.tcl b/autosetup/proj.tcl
index 495352e5a9..450f9b4d2f 100644
--- a/autosetup/proj.tcl
+++ b/autosetup/proj.tcl
@@ -77,14 +77,21 @@ proc proj-fatal {msg} {
 ########################################################################
 # @proj-assert script
 #
-# Kind of like a C assert if uplevel (eval) of $script is false,
-# triggers a fatal error.
-proc proj-assert {script} {
+# Kind of like a C assert: if uplevel (eval) of [expr {$script}] is
+# false, a fatal error is triggered. The error message, by default,
+# includes the body of the failed assertion, but if $descr is set then
+# that is used instead.
+proc proj-assert {script {descr ""}} {
   if {1 == [get-env proj-assert 0]} {
-    msg-result [proj-bold "asserting: [string trim $script]"]
+    msg-result [proj-bold "asserting: $script"]
   }
-  if {![uplevel 1 $script]} {
-    proj-fatal "Assertion failed: $script"
+  set x {expr }
+  append x \{ $script \}
+  if {![uplevel 1 $x]} {
+    if {"" eq $descr} {
+      set descr $script
+    }
+    proj-fatal "Assertion failed: $descr"
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/manifest b/manifest
index 309633a1ab..d36672438a 100644
--- a/manifest
+++ b/manifest
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-C Remove\sthree\sunused\sfiles\sfrom\sautosetup/.
-D 2024-11-09T09:19:29.627
+C Simplify\susage\sof\sproj-assert\sby\smaking\sthe\sexpr\sprefix\simplicit.\sAdd\san\soptional\sdescription\sarg\sto\sproj-assert,\sdefaulting\sto\sthe\sbody\sof\sthe\sassertion\sscript.
+D 2024-11-09T10:23:04.469
 F .fossil-settings/empty-dirs dbb81e8fc0401ac46a1491ab34a7f2c7c0452f2f06b54ebb845d024ca8283ef1
 F .fossil-settings/ignore-glob 35175cdfcf539b2318cb04a9901442804be81cd677d8b889fcc9149c21f239ea
 F LICENSE.md e108e1e69ae8e8a59e93c455654b8ac9356a11720d3345df2a4743e9590fb20d
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ F art/icon-80x90.gif 65509ce3e5f86a9cd64fe7fca2d23954199f31fe44c1e09e208c80fb83d
 F art/sqlite370.eps aa97a671332b432a54e1d74ff5e8775be34200c2
 F art/sqlite370.ico af56c1d00fee7cd4753e8631ed60703ed0fc6e90
 F art/sqlite370.jpg d512473dae7e378a67e28ff96a34da7cb331def2
-F auto.def a492afaded87fafe42d8918feea2ecab350255f67ad10aabfde1d24ba4b3abd9
+F auto.def 79e9b88684035320ba6cba53c1d6117320ff9cb937286179d0408fb69716e482
 F autoconf/INSTALL 83e4a25da9fd053c7b3665eaaaf7919707915903
 F autoconf/Makefile.am adedc1324b6a87fdd1265ddd336d2fb7d4f36a0e77b86ea553ae7cc4ea239347
 F autoconf/Makefile.fallback 22fe523eb36dfce31e0f6349f782eb084e86a5620b2b0b4f84a2d6133f53f5ac
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ F autosetup/cc-shared.tcl 4f024e94a47f427ba61de1739f6381ef0080210f9fae89112d5c1d
 F autosetup/cc.tcl c0fcc50ca91deff8741e449ddad05bcd08268bc31177e613a6343bbd1fd3e45f
 F autosetup/jimsh0.c d40e381ea4526a067590e7b91bd4b2efa6d4980d286f908054c647b3df4aee14
 F autosetup/pkg-config.tcl 4e635bf39022ff65e0d5434339dd41503ea48fc53822c9c5bde88b02d3d952ba
-F autosetup/proj.tcl 93e1d99ffa8a75fe2f488605c4d36cb57a75f1500bccc5c5954ae45eb7da89d7
+F autosetup/proj.tcl 6b7939cc1afbef71327c684999278b0a0f71e9c6ad39b7a27b3e79101a0c67de
 F autosetup/system.tcl 51d4be76cd9a9074704b584e5c9cbba616202c8468cf9ba8a4f8294a7ab1dba9
 F configure 9a00b21dfd13757bbfb8d89b30660a89ec1f8f3a79402b8f9f9b6fc475c3303a x
 F contrib/sqlitecon.tcl 210a913ad63f9f991070821e599d600bd913e0ad
@@ -2198,8 +2198,8 @@ F tool/version-info.c 3b36468a90faf1bbd59c65fd0eb66522d9f941eedd364fabccd7227350
 F tool/warnings-clang.sh bbf6a1e685e534c92ec2bfba5b1745f34fb6f0bc2a362850723a9ee87c1b31a7
 F tool/warnings.sh 49a486c5069de041aedcbde4de178293e0463ae9918ecad7539eedf0ec77a139
 F tool/win/sqlite.vsix deb315d026cc8400325c5863eef847784a219a2f
-P 53a71981abf5aaca01e86ff87c3779d7dcc6661c80e1f2bf74515f49993b6a0d
-R 7277c238d4f5631fe2de582f05e930b6
+P 906563a7e07fca81effb31a77ee5d7cdacd4cc6157e16e1139da70c92716869a
+R 80ec48dbf7e84a814515b0c1aedd20af
 U stephan
-Z 343d6685aa510740ee80b7b0b05658f8
+Z 18ce4bb625331a3aaef20d9b98a0b830
 # Remove this line to create a well-formed Fossil manifest.
diff --git a/manifest.uuid b/manifest.uuid
index d17fb6237b..5e89fd1d2c 100644
--- a/manifest.uuid
+++ b/manifest.uuid
@@ -1 +1 @@
-906563a7e07fca81effb31a77ee5d7cdacd4cc6157e16e1139da70c92716869a
+ada7b36c37c59ea02e54462b0eb8b93ff6ab45863edfd67b19f1e1a7bb2f97de