[orchestrator] round 3 review + contracts v4 + composite seam codex + round 4 orders

Review: 5/5 lanes pass, 238/238, tsc clean. Verified live: scram duty-cycling with
tanks covering (zero brownout), shipment stamps, strain fever 0.824. Found 1 real bug
in review: UI BROWNOUT banner fires on covered deficit (topstrip.ts:66) - ordered.

Contracts v4: research (lab kind, setResearch, ResearchState, researched event),
SelectionState protocol (kills __remove sentinel, main.ts owns remove dispatch),
accent?, coolRadius? (spatial cooling), bandwidth.capacity?, save/load hardened,
heat ruled GROSS (net = heat - cool). tsconfig now typechecks data/ (DATA's proof).
Orchestrator patched lab entries into exhaustive kind maps (my breakage, my fix).

Rulings: pathspec-commit rule after 3 shared-index collisions (worktrees = named
escalation); bloom escalator reading accepted; UI ?uidemo + SCREEN boredom approved.

Codex: docs/FKTRY_LORE.md grew §10 THE COMPOSITE SEAM - keying/transparency artifact
family from the Corridor Crew compositing history + our corridorkey-mrp-mlx (which
doubles as a PYXLFK ground-truth artifact factory). DATA transcribes it round 4.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/FKTRY_LORE.md

@@ -411,3 +411,115 @@ your win condition from "make it glitch" to "make it silent," or steal the KDM w
   (also you).
 - Every asset generated gets its element's codex name — this file is the manifest;
   check off against it.
+
+---
+
+## 10. THE COMPOSITE SEAM — keying & transparency artifacts
+
+> Source study: Corridor Crew's history of compositing (Niko Pueringer) + our local
+> `corridorkey-mrp-mlx` (MLX port of CorridorKey, runs in the MODELBEAST flow on the
+> m3ultra). Thesis, and the section's whole physics: **you cannot film transparency.**
+> Alpha does not exist in nature — every era of cinema is a different failed séance
+> for summoning it. In the Bitstream this is literal: ALPHA is the one resource that
+> cannot be mined from any seam. It can only be *computed*, and every computation
+> before the last one lies.
+
+**Geology:** the Composite Seam is not a stratum — it is a vertical FAULT crossing
+every era layer, glittering with half-transparent fossils. Mining near it yields
+subjects fused to backgrounds that were never really there.
+
+### Resources & products
+
+**ALPHA** — *raw transparency, the unfilmable substance.* A shimmering nothing in a
+frame; the rarest resource in the game. Cannot be extracted; only keyer machines emit
+it, each era's keyer emitting a corrupted grade.
+`ASSET (3D + shader): a glass ingot that renders as a checkerboard-transparency hole in the world itself, faint rainbow rim, pedestal casting a shadow the ingot doesn't`
+
+**HARD MATTE** — *reel-era binary alpha.* Silver-halide matte slabs: every pixel all
+or nothing. Razor edges, zero feather; anything soft (hair, smoke, glass) that touches
+one gets guillotined to a hard silhouette. Cheap, brutal, in demand for "woodcut" looks.
+`ASSET (3D): stack of black-and-white film mattes like x-ray plates, silhouettes with surgically hard edges, chemical stain rims, one plate mid-slice through a wisp of smoke`
+
+**BLUE HOLE** — *optical-printer costume dropout.* A patch of SUBJECT gone transparent
+because it dared to be blue. Sold as canned absence; installing one in a product makes
+part of it see-through in a way that reads as a wound.
+`ASSET (3D): a mannequin torso with a clean-edged void where the chest was, world visible through it, faint blue glow licking the hole's rim`
+
+**FRINGE LACE** — *matte lines, bottled.* The bright halo ribbon where layers of film
+were re-exposed slightly misaligned. Harvested off composite edges like dried glue.
+`ASSET (3D): coils of luminous ribbon, each strand a hard bright outline the exact shape of some absent object's edge, wound on an industrial spool`
+
+**GREEN SPILL** — *chroma contamination.* Cousin fluid to CHROMA SLURRY but nastier:
+it doesn't tint what it touches, it makes it PARTIALLY DISAPPEAR (the keyer downstream
+eats whatever it stains). Leaks from every chroma keyer; the OSHA posters are explicit.
+`ASSET (3D): dripping acid-green fluid whose puddles render as半 half-vanished floor, hazmat berm around a keyer machine, splashes eating a crate mid-vanish`
+
+**MIXED PIXEL** — *the purple gel: an unmixable blend.* Foreground and background
+fused into one pixel that belongs to neither — the red gel that filmed purple. Classic
+keyers cannot separate it; the neural keyer eats it for breakfast.
+`ASSET (3D): a jar of pixels each half one color half another, split diagonally, labeled RED (DISPUTED)`
+
+**ROTO CHATTER** — *boiling edges.* Frame-inconsistent cutout outlines, jittering like
+they're being redrawn 24 times a second by a tired artist — because they are. A live
+hazard that infests composite edges; trapped and canned, it sells as nervous energy.
+`ASSET (VFX + 3D can): an outline that never sits still, vibrating polyline crawling around a silhouette; the can has a shaking label`
+
+**SODIUM LIGHT (589nm)** — *the grail wavelength.* Disney's sodium-vapor trick:
+mathematically perfect mattes, hair and glass and gossamer intact — locked behind an
+exclusive prism only one company ever owned. In the Bitstream, The Correction hoards
+the prisms (perfection is their department). A single beam is an endgame reagent.
+`ASSET (3D): a sealed lantern emitting one impossibly pure amber-orange line of light, wavelength etched on the housing, white-glove handling cradle, Correction seal`
+
+**GHOST FEATHER** — *semi-transparency done RIGHT.* Hair strands, motion blur, glass —
+alpha with gradients. The proof-of-mastery product; every era below the neural keyer
+ruins it, so demand never dies.
+`ASSET (3D): a single enormous feather fading from fully solid quill to truly transparent tip, the transition agonizingly smooth, displayed under museum glass`
+
+### Machines
+
+**MATTE BATH** *(reel era)* — chemical tank that binarizes anything: footage in, hard
+mattes out, all softness destroyed (a GHOST FEATHER fed in comes out a HARD MATTE and
+the machine does not apologize). One mistake ruins the whole reel — jams eat inventory.
+`ASSET (3D): open chemical bath with film strips on rollers dipping through, developer-red darkroom lamp, dissolving softness visibly leaving the film as rising fog`
+
+**OPTICAL PRINTER** *(the iron lung)* — a cathedral of bellows and lenses that splits
+footage into R/G/B channel reels and recombines them slightly wrong. Produces
+composites + FRINGE LACE always + BLUE HOLES whenever fed anything blue. Huge
+footprint, gorgeous, mechanical; the codex's most machine-ass machine.
+`ASSET (3D, hero): room-sized brass-and-iron optical printer, three film paths in primary-color light, bellows lungs mid-breath, a fringe of glowing misalignment haloing its output gate`
+
+**CHROMA KEYER** *(stream era)* — digital green screen box: cheap, fast, 30-year-old
+math. Emits ALPHA (consumer grade) + GREEN SPILL, chokes on hair (GHOST FEATHER input
+→ ROTO CHATTER hazard spawn), turns semi-transparent inputs into MIXED PIXELS.
+`ASSET (3D): studio-green cube with a subject-shaped hole punched clean through, green fluid weeping from its seams, sample swatches of failed hair taped to its side`
+
+**ROTO BENCH** — *the grind made flesh.* Manual-labor station that converts ANY
+footage to cutouts — perfectly, eventually — at an atrocious rate (24 frames of pain
+per second of footage). The economic floor under every keyer: when automation fails,
+the bench never does, it just costs your life. Emits ROTO CHATTER while running.
+`ASSET (3D): a hunched drafting desk with a glowing frame-by-frame lightbox, mountain of finished frames on one side, coffee rings fossilized into the wood, a small flickering outline hovering over the current frame`
+
+**NEURAL KEYER** *(endgame)* — the CorridorKey machine: trained on ten thousand
+synthetic ghosts because reality couldn't teach it (you can't film the answer). Pulls
+perfect ALPHA through glass, chainmail, motion-blurred hair; UNMIXES pixels (MIXED
+PIXEL → original colors, recovered); no spill, no fringe, no chatter. The catch is
+pure hardware: it draws 24 VRAM — a bandwidth appetite that dwarfs everything else in
+the game. You don't unlock the neural keyer; you unlock the power plant it demands.
+`ASSET (3D, hero): a monolithic GPU shrine, fans like cathedral rose windows, cables thick as anacondas, projecting a flawless translucent figure above itself; power meter needle buried in the red`
+
+### Hazards
+
+**SPILL FOG** — green contamination cloud around leaky keyers; products crossing it
+gain partial transparency (defect or feature, depending on the commission).
+**EDGE BOIL** — roto chatter infestation: outlines in the area start crawling;
+machines misread their own footprints and mis-deliver until it's trapped.
+
+### PYXLFK / MODELBEAST production note
+
+`corridorkey-mrp-mlx` (gitea.partly.party/monster/corridorkey-mrp-mlx, deployed in the
+MODELBEAST flow on the m3ultra) is a REAL artifact factory for this whole section:
+run the same footage through (a) classic chroma-subtraction math and (b) the neural
+keyer — the difference image is a pixel-perfect, ground-truth-labeled map of spill,
+fringe, and mixed pixels. Degrading the alpha hint synthesizes roto chatter and hard-
+matte binarization with known parameters. Every artifact above is bakeable with a
+recorded recipe, which is the PYXLFK contract: corruption in, sidecar out.

fktry/CONTRACTS.md

@@ -55,3 +55,16 @@ data/*.json ──▶ main.ts loads GameData
 
 Written in your lane NOTES as `CONTRACT REQUEST: <what> — <why>`. The orchestrator
 batches them between rounds. Until granted, work around locally inside your lane.
+
+## v4 notes
+
+- `snapshot.commissionQueue` may alias a live sim array — read-only, never retain
+  across frames (same rule as the snapshot itself, stated here because it looks like
+  a plain array).
+- Selection protocol: UI writes `bus.setSelection(...)`; main.ts derives ghost mode
+  and dispatches `place`/`remove` on click. UI must NOT dispatch `remove` itself.
+  The `'__remove'` def string is a deprecated bridge, deleted in v5.
+- Heat: `heatPerTick` is GROSS; net climb = `heatPerTick − coolPerTick`. A machine
+  whose heatPerTick ≤ its coolPerTick can never overheat — the validator enforces it.
+- Research gating: ids appearing in any `TechDef.unlocks` are locked until researched;
+  ids referenced by no tech are always available.

fktry/MASTERPLAN.md

@@ -37,6 +37,16 @@ codex wins.
 5. Commit with your lane prefix: `[sim] belt merge logic + tests`. One or a few
    focused commits, not one mega-commit. Push.
 
+   **COMMIT HYGIENE (ruled after three round-3 collisions):** five sessions share ONE
+   working tree and ONE git index. `git add -A`, `git add .`, and `git commit -a` are
+   BANNED — they commit whatever other lanes have staged at that instant. Every commit
+   uses an explicit pathspec so the index state of other lanes cannot leak in:
+   `git commit -m "[sim] ..." -- fktry/src/sim fktry/lanes/LANE-SIM.md`
+   (a pathspec commit ignores the staging area for everything outside the paths).
+   Before pushing, `git show --stat HEAD` — if it lists files outside your lane,
+   `git reset --soft HEAD~1` and recommit correctly. If collisions still happen,
+   the next escalation is a git worktree per lane.
+
 ## Hard rules
 
 - **Never edit**: `MASTERPLAN.md`, `CONTRACTS.md`, `src/contracts.ts`, `src/main.ts`,

fktry/lanes/LANE-DATA.md

@@ -25,47 +25,46 @@ REQUESTs.
 
 ---
 
-## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 3 (goal: heat that matters, deeper economy)
+## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 4 (goal: THE COMPOSITE SEAM + research economy)
 
-Round 2 review: the bloom-concentrate grep-before-delete and the fault-injection
+Round 3 review: re-introducing round 2's exact bug to prove the validator catches it
-discipline are exactly the standard. Both your cross-lane asks are RULED:
+is the gold standard — and your "decorative number" lesson is now a contract comment
-**(1) Units: per-second.** `gen`/`draw` are per second, `stored` is
+AND your validator's job forever (heat ruling: gross, net = heat − cool). Verdicts:
-bandwidth-seconds; SIM converts their integration this round — your `bufferCap: 240`
+tsconfig FIXED (`include: ["src", "data"]` — your poisoned-file proof was conclusive).
-= 8 seconds of a 30 deficit, as you intended. **(2) Cooling:** `coolPerTick?` granted
+`accent?` and `coolRadius?` are in v4. SIM exports tuning constants this round —
-in v3 (sim default 0.004); SIM wires it. Your SIM's-test-is-red flag was correct
+retire your hand-copies. The stco/keyring recipe-assignment logic ("made by the
-mid-round and self-resolved at HEAD (their landing fixed it) — the stash-and-rerun
+machine that already owns that knowledge") is exactly how future inventions should
-diagnostic was the right move. Ownership RULING: `data-validate.test.ts` moves to
+argue.
-`data/validate.test.ts` (git mv, yours — vitest picks it up there; `src/sim/**`
-returns fully to SIM).
 
-1. **The validator move** above, first, so the tree is clean.
+1. **THE COMPOSITE SEAM — the codex grew §10** (docs/FKTRY_LORE.md, read it first):
-2. **Heat retune, the headline**: today NOTHING can overheat — every `heatPerTick`
+   keying/transparency artifacts, from "you cannot film transparency". Transcribe it:
-   you authored is below the 0.004 ambient cooling, so heat is decorative. With
+   ALPHA (the unfilmable resource — only keyer machines emit it), HARD MATTE, BLUE
-   `coolPerTick` yours to set per machine: hit SIM's suggested feel — software
+   HOLE, FRINGE LACE, GREEN SPILL, MIXED PIXEL, ROTO CHATTER, GHOST FEATHER, SODIUM
-   decoder throttles after ~10s of continuous load, scrams ~13-15s, full duty cycle
+   LIGHT (589nm, Correction-hoarded reagent — forward canon until M4); machines
-   ~25s; ASIC stays incapable of heat. Show the arithmetic in CANON-DELTA (per-tick
+   MATTE BATH (reel), OPTICAL PRINTER (the iron lung — make its ratios hurt), CHROMA
-   vs per-second — mind the units ruling). Give the hex-splicer a lesser fever.
+   KEYER (stream; leaks green spill, wrecks feathers into chatter), ROTO BENCH (the
-   Coordinate with SIM's reference-factory v3 via NOTES — your numbers decide
+   grind: converts anything, atrociously), NEURAL KEYER (endgame: perfect, and its
-   whether their layout survives.
+   powerDraw should be obscene — the codex says its appetite dwarfs everything;
-3. **Buffer economy check** under the units ruling: is 240 (8s) still your intent
+   research-gate it behind a fortress-adjacent tech). Era-gate the family through
-   now that it's true? One tank should cover one decoder scram — verify against your
+   the tech tree; validator covers everything; CANON-DELTA logs deviations.
-   retuned cycle, adjust, show working.
+2. **Research economy**: author the lab machine (`kind:'lab'` in v4 — name it in
-4. **ASIC COOLER spec'd** in CANON-DELTA (the codex names it, §2 "vented by ASIC
+   codex voice, it's yours to canonize in CANON-DELTA) and audit all 24+ tech costs
-   coolers"): item/machine entry + intended adjacency mechanic, data authored but
+   now that they'll actually be paid: pack production chains must exist and the
-   recipes gated behind a `broadcast`-era tech node — the MECHANIC stays deferred
+   early nodes must be affordable off a first-taste-era factory. Show one worked
-   until SIM builds auras (M4); the data existing first is fine and the validator's
+   cost path (packs/minute vs research demand) in CANON-DELTA.
-   FORWARD_CANON pattern covers it.
+3. **ASIC COOLER activation**: SIM lands `coolRadius` auras this round — give the
-5. **Reel + broadcast era tech nodes**: research costs in analog packs; unlocks
+   cooler its radius + numbers (your spec'd adjacency intent), and make the software
-   field-loom/telecine recipe families you already authored.
+   decoder + cooler pairing the worked example (duty cycle with vs without).
-6. **Muxer + moov brain sub-lines** (§7): `stsz-ledger`, `stco-map`, `stts-metronome`,
+4. **Accent fills**: `accent?` where the first-output derivation is wrong — belts,
-   `stss-keyring` items + assembly recipes converging on a `moov-brain` →
+   buffer tank, uplink, lab, coolers; leave it unset where the derivation is already
-   `mux-container` endgame recipe on the muxer. This is M4's rocket — data lands
+   right (that's the design, not laziness).
-   first, mechanics later. Muxer machine entry if you don't have one.
+5. **Fixture/validator updates**: v4 fields (`accent`, `coolRadius`), the gross-heat
+   rule you already enforce stays, `commissionQueue` v5-hardening — any fixtures you
+   own carry it.
 
-**Definition of done:** validator green from its new home; a software decoder
+**Definition of done:** Composite Seam fully transcribed and reachable through era
-demonstrably overheats in SIM's tests using YOUR numbers (coordinate — their DoD
+tech (validator green, FORWARD_CANON updated); a research path is affordable and
-depends on your retune); CANON-DELTA carries the arithmetic; FORWARD_CANON pruned of
+proven against SIM's real mechanic; cooler pairing arithmetic in CANON-DELTA.
-anything that gained a recipe.
 
 ---
 

fktry/lanes/LANE-RENDER.md

@@ -25,35 +25,37 @@ you never simulate. If motion looks wrong, interpolate better or note it — don
 
 ---
 
-## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 3 (goal: truth-driven states + asset intake readiness)
+## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 4 (goal: v4 protocol, research & aura visuals)
 
-Round 2 review: the corner-cargo catch and the scram-latch bug you found by READING
+Round 3 review: the dead-debug-hook bundle grep and the provenance note were exemplary;
-SIM'S CODE are the reasons this process works. Verdicts: your color deviation is
+your worktree analysis drove the new MASTERPLAN commit rule (pathspec commits — your
-**APPROVED as the ruling** — contracts v3 re-comments `MachineDef.color` as
+option 2, with worktrees as the named escalation). Verdicts: CONTRACT REQUEST 1
-chassis/body, accent stays derived; DATA's values stand; deviating loudly with a
+GRANTED — v4 has the typed selection protocol (`SelectionState`, `setGhost(..., mode)`)
-written rationale was exactly right. Req 2 GRANTED: `EntityState.scrammed` is in v3 —
+and main.ts already passes `mode` on every call (the `'__remove'` def string still
-SIM wires it this round. Req 3 (`BeltItem.side`) DEFERRED until merges matter.
+arrives as a bridge; it dies in v5). `MachineDef.accent?` also landed (your round-2
-`BeltItem.id` is now required, so your fallback path can retire whenever you like.
+wish, UI re-filed it). Era skins verified beautiful.
 
-1. **Scram from truth**: read `EntityState.scrammed`, delete your `SCRAM_RELEASE`
+1. **Ghost migrates to `mode`**: key demolition tint off the 4th arg, ignore the
-   duplication and the desync risk it carried.
+   sentinel def. Keep rendering exactly as shipped otherwise.
-2. **Remove-mode support**: UI ships a REMOVE interaction this round — give it a
+2. **Locked-machine ghost** (research lands this round): a `place` for a locked id is
-   hover treatment (target machine tinted demolition-red, footprint outline) driven
+   silently dropped by the sim — the ghost must telegraph it. Distinct from
-   by a `setGhost`-style call. You own the visual language; coordinate the hook via
+   occupied-red: padlock-amber wash + "era" tell if you can read the tech era from
-   NOTES if `setGhost(null, ...)` isn't expressive enough (I'll widen the contract
+   data cheaply. Coordinate the lock lookup with UI via NOTES (both of you derive it
-   next round if you two need it).
+   from `snapshot.research.unlocked` + tech.json — same rule, CONTRACTS v4 notes).
-3. **Showroom formalized**: promote the devscene showroom row to `?showroom` — every
+3. **Cooler auras**: `coolRadius` machines get a floor-ring (subtle, engineering-
-   machine + every item on plinths, labeled, camera preset. This becomes the QA page
+   drawing vibe, not a buff circle) on hover/ghost AND while placed-and-selected;
-   for MODELBEAST asset drops (which land as `public/assets/models/<asset>.glb`;
+   heat-shimmer suppression inside the ring falls out of sim truth automatically.
-   your hot-swap + normalization + AnimationMixer are already ready — this is the
+4. **Lab visuals**: placeholder with a distinct silhouette (research bench — codex
-   eyeball step).
+   voice pending DATA's machine entry); `accent?` consumed when present (your
-4. **Era-skin groundwork**: registry hook for per-era material variants (§8 era
+   derivation stays fallback).
-   skins) — plumbing only, stream-era default, so eras can land in data without a
+5. **Housekeeping approved from your NEXT list**: splitter lamp can stay timer-driven
-   renderer round.
+   (real round-robin state isn't in the snapshot and doesn't earn a contract field
+   yet); showroom item-hall paging when DATA's catalog next grows (Composite Seam
+   transcription lands ~15 items this round — it will).
 
-**Definition of done:** scram visuals verified against SIM's real latch (no local
+**Definition of done:** remove-tint works with the mode arg (verified with UI's
-constants); showroom screenshotted in NOTES; remove-mode hover demonstrated with
+migrated flow); a locked machine's ghost is legibly "not yet" rather than "broken";
-UI's flow; perf standing rule still met.
+cooler ring reads at a glance; showroom absorbs the new catalog.
 
 ---
 

fktry/lanes/LANE-SCREEN.md

@@ -27,33 +27,37 @@ seed stock — port, don't move).
 
 ---
 
-## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 3 (goal: continuous dread + spatial artifacts)
+## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 4 (goal: second dread axis, boredom, ratification)
 
-Round 2 review: the ringing self-rejection ("sterile, but sharper — it flunked your
+Round 3 review: measuring tremor in *seconds-until-dark* — and getting scale-
-bar and I nearly shipped it") is the exact quality instinct these orders exist to
+invariance for free from the units ruling — is the single most elegant thing in this
-buy. Verdicts: CONTRACT REQUEST GRANTED — `frame(timeMs, snap?)` is in v3 and main.ts
+codebase. The negative-dt landmine catch is exactly why the NOTES exist. Verdicts:
-already passes the snapshot; the un-retained invariant you promised is now a contract
+your capacity PROPOSAL is GRANTED unasked — `bandwidth.capacity?` is in v4 (SIM sums
-comment. Scram-wipe PROPOSAL: APPROVED at 3 frames (~100ms) — you were right, one
+`bufferCap`); your "reserve low vs falling fast" second reading is this round's order.
-frame is a flinch, not a legend. Regional-moiré PROPOSAL: APPROVED as this round's
+Your stalled-factory idea is APPROVED as design. The strain/fever/seizure hierarchy is
-centerpiece.
+canon now — keep future readings inside it.
 
-1. **Signal strain** (your design, now unblocked): continuous dread from the
+1. **Two dreads**: with `capacity` available, split the readings — "seconds left"
-   snapshot — `bandwidth.stored` draining toward zero = rising tremor/desync judder
+   (tremor, as shipped) vs "reserve fraction" (a low-tank pallor/vignette that sits
-   BEFORE the brownout seizure; aggregate entity `heat` = a slow feverish shimmer.
+   there even when draw ≤ gen and nothing is draining). A full tank draining fast vs
-   Keep it subordinate to the corruption ledger: strain is weather, shipments are
+   a near-empty tank coasting should FEEL different; write the one-line design intent
-   climate.
+   for each in NOTES.
-2. **Regional moiré**: grow the lattice from a region instead of full-frame (the
+2. **Boredom** (your proposal): no `shipped` events for a sustained stretch → total
-   codex has it spreading as maze walls) — spatial mask, seeded deterministically,
+   corruption eases back toward clean, slowly, visibly — the factory's work
-   creeping outward with tally. This is the template for future spatial artifacts;
+   literally evaporating off THE SCREEN. Escalation tallies stay (history isn't
-   note the mask approach for reuse.
+   erased; the *display* decays), so production resuming snaps it back fast. Tune
-3. **Scram wipe at 3 frames**, as approved.
+   the decay horizon so a normal jam doesn't read as punishment (minutes, not
-4. **Idle strain baseline**: with zero corruption AND healthy bandwidth, the feed
+   seconds). Test it.
-   stays perfectly sterile — verify strain can't leak into the NOTHING IS WRONG era
+3. **Ratification interruption**: `researched` event → a one-second full-screen
-   (a test pinning params at zero under a healthy snapshot would do it).
+   interruption card on the feed — sterile white, "STANDARD RATIFIED", era name,
+   then the corruption crashes back in. The Correction briefly wins the sky every
+   time the player does science. Deadpan, readable, cheap.
+4. **Fixture hygiene**: `commissionQueue` hardens to required in v5 — update your
+   fixture snapshots this round.
 
-**Definition of done:** strain visible as stored drains (drive it by pausing the
+**Definition of done:** both dread axes verified at the pixel level (your contact-
-reference factory's generators or just feeding a fixture snapshot), regional moiré
+sheet method); boredom decays and snaps back under test; ratification card exactly
-grows rather than switches, wipe readable, budget still <2ms, tests updated.
+N frames with era text; budget still <2ms.
 
 ---
 

fktry/lanes/LANE-SIM.md

@@ -21,39 +21,45 @@ playable through unit tests. You are the lane the other four trust with their li
 
 ---
 
-## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 3 (goal: M2 "PRESSURE" becomes real, M3 groundwork)
+## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 4 (goal: M3 "DEPTH" — research, spatial heat)
 
-Round 2 review: the reference factory turning round 1's deadlock into 1,136 shipped
+Round 3 review: the worst-case power sizing ("a test that passes on a coincidence is
-bricks is exactly what "surplus becomes product" was supposed to mean — outstanding.
+worse than one that fails") and the counter-current bloom discovery are the two best
-Verdicts: `coolPerTick` GRANTED (contracts v3, default 0.004 — your constant becomes
+engineering notes anyone has filed. Verdicts: **heat semantics RULED as you asked** —
-the fallback). `setRecipeAt` GRANTED (your tripwire, defused). `BeltItem.id` HARDENED
+gross, net = heatPerTick − coolPerTick, now a contract comment and a DATA validator
-to required (you asked for it). Throttle-hits-powerGen: KEPT, your reading was right.
+rule. **Bloom loop: the escalator reading is ACCEPTED** — your wafer-bus circle IS the
-The validator-file ownership wart: RULED — it moves to `data/validate.test.ts`, DATA
+mechanic; the codex line stays as lore-poetry. **Git: pathspec commits are now a hard
-executes the move, `src/sim/**` is purely yours again.
+rule in MASTERPLAN** (your option, chosen over worktrees for now — worktrees are the
+escalation if it recurs). save/load hardened in v4 as you offered. commissionQueue
+aliasing documented in CONTRACTS. Your perf-noise honesty is noted — a headless
+benchmark is a good M4 item, not now.
 
-**UNITS RULING (DATA's cross-lane ask):** `gen`/`draw` are bandwidth per SECOND;
+1. **Research v1 — the round's centerpiece.** Contracts v4: `kind:'lab'`,
-`stored` is bandwidth-seconds. Your integration currently charges/drains per tick —
+   `{kind:'setResearch'}`, `snapshot.research` (`ResearchState`), `researched` event.
-divide by `TICKS_PER_SECOND` so a 30-deficit drains 30 stored per second, not per
+   Labs consume science packs from their input toward the active tech's `cost`;
-tick. DATA's `bufferCap: 240` then covers 8s as they intended. Update tests; confirm
+   totals met → `researched`, unlocks apply. Gating rule (in CONTRACTS v4 notes): ids
-the conversion in NOTES so DATA can retune against truth.
+   appearing in any `TechDef.unlocks` are locked — `place`/`setRecipe`/`setRecipeAt`
+   for locked ids are silently dropped; everything unreferenced is free. Multiple
+   labs stack. save/load carries research. Tests incl. a full unlock path against
+   DATA's real tech.json.
+2. **Spatial cooling** — `coolRadius` (v4): a machine with it applies its
+   `coolPerTick` to machines within chebyshev range of its footprint (stacking = sum,
+   cap total cooling at your call, note it). The ASIC COOLER finally means something;
+   DATA activates numbers in coordination.
+3. **Export your tuning constants** (`src/sim/constants.ts`: throttle/restart
+   thresholds, default cooling, etc.) — DATA's tests currently hand-copy them and go
+   stale silently; let them import truth.
+4. **Reference factory v4**: add an anchor-slab overflow tap → uplink so the demo
+   ships slabs (UI's SANITISING + the buyback fiction become visible in `__fktryDemo`
+   without surgery — they had to demolish your assembler to see it). Keep the 20k
+   regression green; a lab + a research run in the reference build would be ideal
+   but is optional if layout pressure fights you.
+5. **Fixture hygiene**: `commissionQueue` hardens to required in v5 — make sure your
+   snapshot literal always carries it (you already publish it live).
 
-1. **Contracts v3 wiring**: `EntityState.scrammed` (RENDER is currently duplicating
+**Definition of done:** research provable end-to-end in tests (place lab → feed packs
-   your 0.5 constant to avoid rendering a lie — kill that), `commissionQueue` on the
+→ unlock → previously-dropped place now succeeds); cooler aura demonstrably extends a
-   snapshot (active first, then upcoming — UI's NEXT IN TRAY is guessing today),
+decoder's duty cycle; constants exported; reference factory ships slabs.
-   `coolPerTick` per machine, `setRecipeAt` command, the units conversion above.
-2. **Save/load**: implement `save()`/`load()` — JSON, deterministic round-trip
-   (test: save at tick N, load into a fresh sim, run both 1,000 ticks, deep-equal).
-3. **Reference factory v3**: heat is about to become real (DATA retunes this round —
-   coordinate via NOTES). Restructure power as ASIC base + software-decoder burst +
-   buffer tank so the layout *survives scram duty-cycles* — DATA warned your three
-   naked decoders will black out in lockstep. Keep the 20k regression green.
-4. **Bloom loop proof**: test that a closed belt circle through a bloom-duplicator
-   accumulates grades (your rank-0 loop acceptance + DATA's grade recipes should
-   compose). This is M3's signature topology — prove it early.
-
-**Definition of done:** all tests green including save/load round-trip and the bloom
-loop; NOTES confirm the units conversion + the retuned reference factory's scram
-survival (ticks of first scram, recovery, melt rate before/after).
 
 ---
 

fktry/lanes/LANE-UI.md

@@ -24,39 +24,43 @@ dispatch Commands via the bus and read state from `update(snap, events)`.
 
 ---
 
-## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 3 (goal: close the interaction loop, verify the pressure UI live)
+## CURRENT ORDERS — Round 4 (goal: research UI, one real bug, protocol migration)
 
-Round 2 review: 57 tests against a 10 minimum, and factoring pure modules instead of
+Round 3 review: `live.test.ts` — booting the real sim against the real DOM — is the
-touching root config when my grant turned out to be vapor — model behavior. About
+best verification asset any lane has produced; the SANITISING machine-swap showed
-that: **happy-dom genuinely is installed now** (verified: `package.json` line 17, and
+exactly the right instinct when an order's premise fails. Verdicts: CONTRACT REQUEST 1
-your 57 tests pass under `--environment happy-dom`). My round-2 "it's installed" was
+GRANTED (v4 `SelectionState` + `setSelection`/`selection` on the bus — main.ts now owns
-wrong and your BLOCKED section caught it — good catch, keep doing that.
+the remove dispatch; see order 2). Request 2 GRANTED (`MachineDef.accent?` — your
-Verdicts: CONTRACT REQUEST 1 GRANTED — `SimSnapshot.commissionQueue` in v3, SIM wires
+derivation becomes the documented fallback, DATA fills the field where it's wrong).
-it this round. Request 2 was already landing as you wrote it (parallel-round race;
+`?uidemo` PROPOSAL APPROVED. Tech-panel skip was right at the time — but it was
-the queue advances at HEAD — I watched PATIO RESURFACING arrive live). REMOVE
+another round-start grep going stale: `tech.json` has 24 nodes at HEAD (DATA landed
-PROPOSAL: APPROVED.
+mid-round again). It's a real order now.
 
-1. **REMOVE**: your design — suggested shape: X hotkey / bar button arms remove mode,
+1. **BUG, found live in review: the BROWNOUT banner lies.** `topstrip.ts:66` keys on
-   hover shows RENDER's demolition tint (they're building it this round — coordinate
+   `out || ratio > 1` — during a covered deficit (tanks draining, sim `brownout:
-   via NOTES), click dispatches `remove`, Esc disarms. Toast in house voice
+   false`, THE SCREEN correctly calm) the panel screams BROWNOUT. That state is
-   ("UNIT RECLAIMED. THE FLOOR REMEMBERS.").
+   *survival*, not failure. Fix: BROWNOUT = the flag only; deficit-with-reserve gets
-2. **NEXT IN TRAY becomes truth**: read `snap.commissionQueue` when present, delete
+   its own amber state (suggest "ON RESERVE · 34s" — `stored/(draw-gen)` is seconds
-   `peekNext` inference the moment SIM lands it (keep fallback until then).
+   left, same math SCREEN uses for dread). Add a test pinning covered-deficit ≠
-3. **DOM render tests**: the two you named as needing a real DOM (chip rendering,
+   brownout.
-   `attach()` binding) plus fax stamp lifecycle — `// @vitest-environment happy-dom`.
+2. **Selection protocol migration**: write via `bus.setSelection(...)`, drop the
-4. **Live pressure verification** (now unblocked): `window.__fktryDemo()` builds
+   `REMOVE_DEF` sentinel export and — important — **delete your own `remove`
-   SIM's reference factory in one call — use it. Verify with your own eyes and
+   dispatch**: main.ts dispatches it on click now (double-fire today is harmless
-   screenshot in NOTES: heat bar + THROTTLING + SCRAM on the software decoders once
+   only because the second one no-ops).
-   DATA's retune lands, SANITISING chip on real anchor shipments, STANDING ORDER
+3. **Research UI, the centerpiece**: `T` opens the tech tree (24 nodes, 5 eras),
-   stamp on a real repeat completion (I verified the stamp renders — you verify the
+   pick → `setResearch`; progress from `snapshot.research` (packs delivered vs
-   full lifecycle).
+   cost); locked machines in the build bar get greyed + padlock + "REQUIRES:
-5. **Stretch, skippable**: read-only tech panel (`T`) rendering `tech.json` as an era
+   <tech>" tooltip (lock rule in CONTRACTS v4 notes); `researched` event → toast in
-   tree marked RESEARCH OFFLINE — research mechanics land in M3, the panel can exist
+   house voice ("STANDARD RATIFIED. NEW CRIMES AVAILABLE.") and the padlocks fall
-   first.
+   off live.
+4. **`?uidemo`** — as approved: boots `__fktryDemo()` after init.
+5. **Accent adoption**: read `accent?` first, your derivation second, kind table
+   third (same precedence as RENDER — one sentence in NOTES confirming you both
+   read it identically).
 
-**Definition of done:** a misplaced machine is mouse-removable; queue peek reads
+**Definition of done:** banner distinguishes RESERVE from BROWNOUT under test; a
-truth; the three DOM tests exist; NOTES carry screenshots of heat/scram/SANITISING
+full research run is verifiable in `live.test.ts` (lock visible → research → unlock
-observed live.
+→ place succeeds); remove mode works through the typed protocol with RENDER's tint.
 
 ---
 

fktry/src/contracts.ts

@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ export type MachineKind =
   | 'splitter'    // 1 in, N out round-robin
   | 'power'       // generates bandwidth
   | 'buffer'      // stores bandwidth smoothness (brownout protection)
-  | 'shipper';    // consumes items => 'shipped' events => THE SCREEN
+  | 'shipper'     // consumes items => 'shipped' events => THE SCREEN
+  | 'lab';        // v4: consumes science packs toward the active research
 
 export interface MachineDef {
   id: string;
@@ -54,9 +55,15 @@ export interface MachineDef {
   color?: string;       // v3 RULING: CHASSIS/BODY color (codex §8 grime); the emissive
                         // accent stays derived from outputs. (Was mislabeled "accent".)
   flavor?: string;      // v2: codex one-liner for the inspector (DATA's material)
-  heatPerTick?: number; // v2: heat while active (the software decoder's whole bit)
+  heatPerTick?: number; // v2: heat while active. v4 RULING: this is GROSS heat — net
+                        // climb = heatPerTick − coolPerTick; a machine whose
+                        // heatPerTick ≤ its coolPerTick can never overheat.
   bufferCap?: number;   // v2: bandwidth storage in bandwidth-SECONDS (see SimSnapshot)
   coolPerTick?: number; // v3: per-machine cooling rate; sim default 0.004
+  accent?: string;      // v4: art-directed emissive accent; fallback stays derived
+                        // from first output item (renderer + UI share the derivation)
+  coolRadius?: number;  // v4: spatial cooling aura in tiles (chebyshev from footprint);
+                        // this machine's coolPerTick also applies to machines in range
 }
 
 export interface TechDef {
@@ -113,20 +120,32 @@ export interface SimSnapshot {
   beltItems: ReadonlyArray<BeltItem>;
   // v3 RULING on units: gen/draw are bandwidth per SECOND; stored is bandwidth-seconds
   // (sim integrates surplus/deficit divided by TICKS_PER_SECOND each tick).
-  bandwidth: { gen: number; draw: number; stored: number; brownout: boolean };
+  // v4: capacity = summed bufferCap of placed tanks (0 if none) — SCREEN's 2nd dread axis.
+  bandwidth: { gen: number; draw: number; stored: number; capacity?: number; brownout: boolean };
   shippedTotal: Record<string, number>;
   activeCommission: string | null;
-  commissionQueue?: string[];       // v3: truth for "next in tray" — active first, then
+  commissionQueue?: string[];       // v3: active first, then upcoming in activation
-                                    // upcoming in activation order (hardens in v4)
+                                    // order. May alias a live array — read-only, never
+                                    // retain. HARDENS IN v5: update fixtures this round.
   commissionProgress: Record<string, number>;
+  research?: ResearchState;         // v4: research progress (hardens in v5)
 }
 
+export interface ResearchState {
+  active: string | null;                 // TechDef.id being researched
+  progress: Record<string, number>;      // packs delivered toward active (itemId -> n)
+  unlocked: string[];                    // completed TechDef.ids
+}
+// v4 gating rule: a machine/recipe id that appears in ANY TechDef.unlocks is locked
+// until that tech completes; ids referenced by no tech are always available.
+
 export type Command =
   | { kind: 'place'; def: string; pos: Vec2; dir: Dir }
   | { kind: 'remove'; pos: Vec2 }
   | { kind: 'rotate'; pos: Vec2 }
   | { kind: 'setRecipe'; entity: number; recipe: string | null }
   | { kind: 'setRecipeAt'; pos: Vec2; recipe: string | null }   // v3: id-free variant
+  | { kind: 'setResearch'; tech: string | null }                // v4: pick the lab target
   | { kind: 'setPaused'; paused: boolean };
 
 export type SimEvent =
@@ -137,7 +156,8 @@ export type SimEvent =
   | { kind: 'placed'; entity: number; def: string; tick: number }
   | { kind: 'removed'; entity: number; def: string; tick: number }
   | { kind: 'commissionDone'; commission: string; tick: number }
-  | { kind: 'scram'; entity: number; on: boolean; tick: number }; // v2: heat shutdown edge
+  | { kind: 'scram'; entity: number; on: boolean; tick: number } // v2: heat shutdown edge
+  | { kind: 'researched'; tech: string; tick: number };          // v4: research complete
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------- module interfaces
 
@@ -147,23 +167,38 @@ export interface Sim {
   tick(): void;                       // advance exactly one tick
   snapshot(): SimSnapshot;            // read-only view; renderer/ui must not mutate
   drainEvents(): SimEvent[];          // events since last drain (main loop fans out)
-  save?(): string;                    // v3: full state as JSON, deterministic round-trip
+  save(): string;                     // v4: HARDENED — full state, deterministic round-trip
-  load?(json: string): void;          // v3: restore a save() blob (hardens in v4)
+  load(json: string): void;           // v4: HARDENED — restore a save() blob
 }
 
+/** v4: the typed selection protocol — kills the '__remove' magic-string sentinel. */
+export type SelectionState =
+  | { mode: 'build'; def: string; dir: Dir }
+  | { mode: 'remove' }
+  | null;
+
 export interface Renderer {
   init(container: HTMLElement, data: GameData): Promise<void>;
   render(snap: SimSnapshot, alpha: number): void;  // alpha: 0..1 interp between ticks
   pickTile(clientX: number, clientY: number): Vec2 | null;
-  setGhost(def: string | null, pos: Vec2 | null, dir: Dir): void;
+  /** v4: mode drives the ghost visual — 'build' = placement preview, 'remove' =
+   * demolition tint. def is null in remove mode. The '__remove' sentinel is deprecated
+   * and main.ts stops sending it in v5. */
+  setGhost(def: string | null, pos: Vec2 | null, dir: Dir, mode?: 'build' | 'remove'): void;
 }
 
 export interface UIBus {
   dispatch(cmd: Command): void;
-  /** current build selection; renderer ghost + click-to-place read this */
+  /** current build selection; renderer ghost + click-to-place read this.
+   * DEPRECATED in v4 (still served): use selection()/setSelection(). */
   selectedBuild(): { def: string; dir: Dir } | null;
   /** v2: world picking, plumbed from the renderer — UI's click-to-inspect */
   pickTile(clientX: number, clientY: number): Vec2 | null;
+  /** v4: typed selection. main.ts owns the state; UI writes via setSelection.
+   * In remove mode main.ts dispatches the `remove` command on click — the UI must
+   * NOT also dispatch it (that was the round-3 double-fire). */
+  selection?(): SelectionState;
+  setSelection?(sel: SelectionState): void;
 }
 
 export interface UI {

fktry/src/main.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * FKTRY main loop — ORCHESTRATOR-OWNED wiring. Lanes do not edit.
  * Fixed-timestep sim (30 tps) + interpolated render + event fan-out.
  */
-import { TICKS_PER_SECOND, type Command, type Dir, type GameData, type UIBus } from './contracts';
+import { TICKS_PER_SECOND, type Command, type Dir, type GameData, type SelectionState, type UIBus } from './contracts';
 import { createSim } from './sim';
 import { createRenderer } from './render';
 import { createUI } from './ui';
@@ -21,11 +21,24 @@ const renderer = createRenderer();
 const ui = createUI();
 const screen = createScreenFX();
 
+// v4 bridge: _sel keeps the legacy {def,dir} shape (including the deprecated
+// '__remove' sentinel) so unmigrated lanes keep working; selection()/setSelection()
+// are the typed protocol. The sentinel path is deleted in v5.
 const bus: UIBus & { _sel: { def: string; dir: Dir } | null } = {
   _sel: null,
   dispatch: (cmd: Command) => sim.enqueue(cmd),
   selectedBuild: () => bus._sel,
   pickTile: (x, y) => renderer.pickTile(x, y),
+  selection: (): SelectionState => {
+    if (!bus._sel) return null;
+    if (bus._sel.def === '__remove') return { mode: 'remove' };
+    return { mode: 'build', def: bus._sel.def, dir: bus._sel.dir };
+  },
+  setSelection: (sel: SelectionState) => {
+    bus._sel = sel === null ? null
+      : sel.mode === 'remove' ? { def: '__remove', dir: 0 as Dir }
+      : { def: sel.def, dir: sel.dir };
+  },
 };
 // LANE-UI sets the build selection through this hook:
 (window as any).__fktryBus = bus;
@@ -39,14 +52,22 @@ async function boot() {
   // click-to-place / hover ghost glue
   const game = document.getElementById('game')!;
   game.addEventListener('pointermove', (e) => {
-    const sel = bus.selectedBuild();
+    const sel = bus.selection!();
-    renderer.setGhost(sel?.def ?? null, renderer.pickTile(e.clientX, e.clientY), sel?.dir ?? 0);
+    const tile = renderer.pickTile(e.clientX, e.clientY);
+    if (sel?.mode === 'remove') {
+      // legacy def string kept alongside the mode until renderers migrate (v5 removes it)
+      renderer.setGhost('__remove', tile, 0, 'remove');
+    } else {
+      renderer.setGhost(sel?.def ?? null, tile, sel?.dir ?? 0, 'build');
+    }
   });
   game.addEventListener('pointerdown', (e) => {
     if (e.button !== 0) return; // pan/context buttons never place
-    const sel = bus.selectedBuild();
+    const sel = bus.selection!();
     const tile = renderer.pickTile(e.clientX, e.clientY);
-    if (sel && tile) sim.enqueue({ kind: 'place', def: sel.def, pos: tile, dir: sel.dir });
+    if (!sel || !tile) return;
+    if (sel.mode === 'remove') sim.enqueue({ kind: 'remove', pos: tile });
+    else sim.enqueue({ kind: 'place', def: sel.def, pos: tile, dir: sel.dir });
   });
 
   const MS_PER_TICK = 1000 / TICKS_PER_SECOND;

fktry/src/render/palette.ts

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ export const BODY_BY_KIND: Record<MachineKind, number> = {
   power: 0x45434f,
   buffer: 0x3a3f48,
   shipper: 0x4a4652,
+  lab: 0x3d3a4e, // research bench chassis (v4 kind; placeholder until art-directed)
 };
 
 /** Fallback accent when a machine runs no recipes (belts, power, shippers). */
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ export const ACCENT_BY_KIND: Record<MachineKind, number> = {
   power: 0xffb03f, // serene LED face
   buffer: 0x7fffd4,
   shipper: 0x3fd4ff, // uplink to THE SCREEN
+  lab: 0xb0a0ff, // research glow (v4 kind; placeholder)
 };
 
 /** Body height in world units. Silhouette differentiation on a flat iso grid. */
@@ -73,6 +75,7 @@ export const HEIGHT_BY_KIND: Record<MachineKind, number> = {
   power: 0.95,
   buffer: 0.7,
   shipper: 1.3,
+  lab: 1.1, // v4 kind; placeholder
 };
 
 export const JAM_AMBER = 0xffa726;

fktry/src/ui/pages.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ const GROUP_OF: Record<MachineKind, string> = {
   crafter: 'REFINE',
   power: 'POWER',
   shipper: 'SHIP',
+  lab: 'RESEARCH', // v4 kind
 };
 
 const GROUP_ORDER = ['EXTRACT', 'LOGISTICS', 'REFINE', 'POWER', 'SHIP'];

fktry/src/ui/palette.ts

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ const ACCENT_BY_KIND: Record<MachineKind, string> = {
   power: '#3fffe0',
   buffer: '#7fb0ff',
   shipper: '#d8ffd8',
+  lab: '#b0a0ff', // v4 kind; placeholder
 };
 
 /** Fallback chassis for machines DATA hasn't art-directed yet. */

fktry/tsconfig.json

@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@
     "lib": ["ES2022", "DOM"],
     "types": ["vite/client"]
   },
-  "include": ["src"]
+  "include": ["src", "data"]
 }