diff --git a/packages/extension/test/session_public_floor.test.ts b/packages/extension/test/session_public_floor.test.ts
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+++ b/packages/extension/test/session_public_floor.test.ts
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+// amicode#826 — the subagent-public floor (ADR-0004 decision 1).
+//
+// The boundary ruling: the `amicode_session` spawn tool + the subagent
+// dispatch infrastructure are PRE-PAY product, never premium. The staging
+// audit found the path clean — the tool registers unconditionally in the
+// opencode plugin (no entitlement gate on the registration), the spawn
+// policy (opencode-plugin/session_spawn.ts) is pure, base worker cards
+// stage complete with zero entitlement, and the `issimo` code gates only the
+// HP solver tier (src/solver_mode.ts) + premium card overlays
+// (src/mode_cards.ts). This file is the ruling's mechanical floor, three
+// layers:
+//
+//   1. the no-entitlement spawn fixture — an EMPTY entitlements config
+//      (present file, zero codes), the tool registers and a spawn executes
+//      end-to-end through a mock engine client, honest counts +
+//      {spawned_by, spawned_depth} metadata stamps (session_spawn_double_
+//      create.test.ts's double patterns, extended to record bodies);
+//   2. the dispatch-through dimension — with the SAME empty config, the
+//      worker base cards stage complete (composing mode_cards_staging.test
+//      .ts's base-alone test, which pins the all-cards half) and a spawned
+//      child is cast through a staged worker card — the dispatch surface is
+//      public end-to-end;
+//   3. the entitlement-freedom guards — the blocklist-grep discipline
+//      (mode_cards.test.ts): the spawn/dispatch staging sources contain no
+//      entitlement/premium reads, so a future entitlement read there goes
+//      RED with a failure message naming the ruling.
+//
+// The audit found the public path COMPLETE — this fixture pins it, it
+// changes no behavior. The MCP-floor refusal (spawn refuses on non-opencode
+// harnesses) is harness coupling, not entitlement gating: out of scope, and
+// the refusal is already honest (amicode_tools_core.ts).
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { readLocalEntitlements } from "../src/scores/entitlements";
+import {
+  PREMIUM_ENTITLEMENT,
+  stageModCards,
+  cardDispatch,
+  validateDispatchTarget,
+} from "../src/mode_cards";
+import type { AmicodeToolContext } from "../src/amicode_tools_core";
+
+process.env.AMICODE_PROBLEMS_DIR = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "amicode-826-"));
+
+const CORE = await import("../src/amicode_tools_core");
+const PLUGIN = await import("../opencode-plugin/amicode_tools");
+
+const HERE = __dirname;
+const EXTENSION_PATH = join(HERE, "..");
+const AGENTS_SRC = join(EXTENSION_PATH, "agents");
+// The overlay fixture the staging tests share — present on purpose: the
+// public floor must hold even with a premium overlay source sitting right
+// there, unreached because the entitlement set is empty.
+const OVERLAY_ROOT = join(HERE, "fixtures", "overlays", "root");
+
+/** An EMPTY entitlements config: the file is PRESENT (a real config dir,
+ * not an absent one) and carries zero codes — the public floor's honest
+ * starting state. Same fixture-dir pattern as mode_cards_staging.test.ts's
+ * entitlement-resolution test. */
+function emptyEntitlementConfig(): string {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "amicode-826-ent-"));
+  writeFileSync(join(dir, "entitlements.toml"), "codes = []\n");
+  return dir;
+}
+
+type EngineVerb = "get" | "create" | "update" | "fork" | "promptAsync";
+type EngineCall = { verb: EngineVerb; body: Record<string, unknown> };
+
+/** Mock engine client — session_spawn_double_create.test.ts's double,
+ * extended to RECORD every call's body so the metadata stamps and honest
+ * counts are asserted directly. Bare payloads (no {data} envelope)
+ * exercise unwrap's passthrough branch. */
+function makeMockEngine(parent?: { metadata?: unknown }) {
+  const calls: EngineCall[] = [];
+  let n = 0;
+  const engine = {
+    session: {
+      get: async () => ({ id: "ses_parent", metadata: parent?.metadata, model: undefined }),
+      create: async (o: { body?: Record<string, unknown> }) => {
+        n += 1;
+        calls.push({ verb: "create", body: o?.body ?? {} });
+        return { id: `ses_child_${n}` };
+      },
+      update: async (o: { body?: Record<string, unknown> }) => {
+        calls.push({ verb: "update", body: o?.body ?? {} });
+        return {};
+      },
+      fork: async (o: { body?: Record<string, unknown> }) => {
+        n += 1;
+        calls.push({ verb: "fork", body: o?.body ?? {} });
+        return { id: `ses_fork_${n}` };
+      },
+      promptAsync: async (o: { body?: Record<string, unknown> }) => {
+        calls.push({ verb: "promptAsync", body: o?.body ?? {} });
+        return {};
+      },
+    },
+  };
+  const by = (v: EngineVerb) => calls.filter((c) => c.verb === v);
+  return { engine, by };
+}
+
+type PluginToolTable = {
+  tool: Record<string, { description: string; execute: (a: any, ctx: any) => Promise<string> }>;
+};
+
+/** The plugin twin, loaded the way opencode loads it — PluginInput.client is
+ * the only thing the spawn path needs, and entitlements are nowhere in it. */
+async function pluginPack(engine: unknown): Promise<PluginToolTable> {
+  return (await PLUGIN.AmicodeTools({ client: engine })) as PluginToolTable;
+}
+
+describe("the no-entitlement spawn fixture (ADR-0004 decision 1, amicode#826)", () => {
+  it("the empty entitlements config resolves to zero codes through the real resolution path", () => {
+    const cfg = emptyEntitlementConfig();
+    const r = readLocalEntitlements(cfg);
+    expect(r.entitlements).toEqual([]);
+    expect(r.error).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(r.entitlements).not.toContain(PREMIUM_ENTITLEMENT);
+  });
+
+  it("the plugin registers amicode_session unconditionally — zero entitlement presence", async () => {
+    const cfg = emptyEntitlementConfig();
+    expect(readLocalEntitlements(cfg).entitlements).toEqual([]); // the floor's state
+    const { engine } = makeMockEngine();
+    const pack = await pluginPack(engine);
+    const def = pack.tool["amicode_session"];
+    expect(def, "amicode_session must register with zero entitlement").toBeDefined();
+    expect(typeof def?.execute).toBe("function");
+    expect(Object.keys(def?.args ?? {})).toEqual([
+      "prompt",
+      "count",
+      "title",
+      "agent",
+      "model",
+      "mode",
+      "force",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("a spawn executes end-to-end under the empty config: one create, one prompt, honest stamps", async () => {
+    const { engine, by } = makeMockEngine();
+    const pack = await pluginPack(engine);
+    const result = await pack.tool["amicode_session"].execute(
+      { prompt: "map the frontier", count: 1, mode: "fresh", force: false },
+      { sessionID: "ses_parent", directory: "/w" },
+    );
+    expect(result).toMatch(/Spawned 1 fresh sessions/);
+    expect(result).toMatch(/ses_child_1/);
+    expect(by("create")).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(by("promptAsync")).toHaveLength(1);
+    const created = by("create")[0]!;
+    expect(created.body.title).toBe("map the frontier"); // default title, flattened prompt
+    expect(created.body.metadata).toEqual({ spawned_by: "ses_parent", spawned_depth: 1 });
+    expect(created.body.agent).toBeUndefined(); // no agent → server default, never an entitlement default
+    const prompted = by("promptAsync")[0]!;
+    expect(
+      (prompted.body.parts as Array<{ type: string; text: string }>)[0]?.text,
+    ).toBe("map the frontier");
+  });
+
+  it("fan-out counts stay honest under the empty config: count=3 creates exactly three children, each stamped", async () => {
+    const { engine, by } = makeMockEngine();
+    const pack = await pluginPack(engine);
+    const result = await pack.tool["amicode_session"].execute(
+      { prompt: "sweep the lattice", count: 3, title: "Lattice sweep" },
+      { sessionID: "ses_parent", directory: "/w" },
+    );
+    expect(result).toMatch(/Spawned 3 fresh sessions/);
+    expect(by("create")).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(by("promptAsync")).toHaveLength(3);
+    const titles = by("create").map((c) => c.body.title);
+    expect(titles).toEqual(["Lattice sweep (1/3)", "Lattice sweep (2/3)", "Lattice sweep (3/3)"]);
+    for (const c of by("create")) {
+      expect(c.body.metadata).toEqual({ spawned_by: "ses_parent", spawned_depth: 1 });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("the depth stamps chain through the empty config: a spawned session's own child gets spawned_depth=2", async () => {
+    const { engine, by } = makeMockEngine({
+      metadata: { spawned_by: "ses_grand", spawned_depth: 1 },
+    });
+    const pack = await pluginPack(engine);
+    const result = await pack.tool["amicode_session"].execute(
+      { prompt: "x", count: 1 },
+      { sessionID: "ses_parent", directory: "/w" },
+    );
+    expect(by("create")).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(by("create")[0]!.body.metadata).toEqual({ spawned_by: "ses_parent", spawned_depth: 2 });
+    expect(result).toMatch(/Spawned 1/);
+  });
+
+  it("the soft depth cap still refuses at depth 2 without force — the cap is policy, never entitlement", async () => {
+    const { engine, by } = makeMockEngine({ metadata: { spawned_depth: 2 } });
+    const pack = await pluginPack(engine);
+    const refused = await pack.tool["amicode_session"].execute(
+      { prompt: "x", count: 1, force: false },
+      { sessionID: "ses_parent", directory: "/w" },
+    );
+    expect(refused).toMatch(/Refused: this session is itself a spawned session/);
+    expect(refused).toMatch(/force=true/);
+    expect(by("create")).toHaveLength(0); // nothing was created — the refusal is a refusal
+  });
+
+  it("fork mode stamps the forked child through session.update (the patch path)", async () => {
+    const { engine, by } = makeMockEngine();
+    const pack = await pluginPack(engine);
+    const result = await pack.tool["amicode_session"].execute(
+      { prompt: "branch here", count: 1, mode: "fork" },
+      { sessionID: "ses_parent", directory: "/w" },
+    );
+    expect(by("fork")).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(by("update")).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(by("update")[0]!.body.metadata).toEqual({ spawned_by: "ses_parent", spawned_depth: 1 });
+    expect(by("promptAsync")).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(result).toMatch(/forked from this session's history/);
+  });
+
+  it("the CORE twin (the one implementation both transports project) spawns identically under the empty config", async () => {
+    const { engine, by } = makeMockEngine();
+    const def = CORE.AMICODE_TOOLS["amicode_session"]!;
+    const ctx: AmicodeToolContext = {
+      engineClient: engine,
+      sessionID: "ses_parent",
+      directory: "/w",
+      carrier: "plugin",
+    };
+    const result = await def.execute({ prompt: "map the frontier", count: 1 }, ctx);
+    expect(by("create")).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(by("create")[0]!.body.metadata).toEqual({ spawned_by: "ses_parent", spawned_depth: 1 });
+    expect(result).toMatch(/Spawned 1 fresh sessions/);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("dispatch through a staged worker base card (the same empty config, amicode#826)", () => {
+  it("the worker cards stage complete with zero entitlement — implementer byte-identical, no overlay fields, no missing-target errors", () => {
+    const cfg = emptyEntitlementConfig();
+    const destDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "amicode-826-stage-"));
+    const r = stageModCards(EXTENSION_PATH, destDir, {
+      entitlementConfigDir: cfg, // the real resolution path over the empty fixture dir
+      overlaySource: OVERLAY_ROOT, // premium overlay source present, unreached
+    });
+    // Composes mode_cards_staging.test.ts's base-alone test (which pins the
+    // all-cards half with injected entitlements); this pins the DISPATCH half
+    // through the real fixture-dir resolution.
+    const staged = readFileSync(join(destDir, "implementer.md"), "utf8");
+    const base = readFileSync(join(AGENTS_SRC, "implementer.md"), "utf8");
+    expect(staged).toBe(base);
+    expect(staged).not.toContain("Model routing, tuned:"); // no overlay fields anywhere
+    const receipt = JSON.parse(readFileSync(r.receiptPath, "utf8"));
+    const rec = receipt.cards.find((c: { card: string }) => c.card === "implementer.md");
+    expect(rec.overlay_id).toBeNull();
+    expect(rec.merged_fields).toEqual([]);
+    expect(r.rejections).toEqual([]); // the dispatch target resolves — no missing-target errors
+    // the staged card's dispatch target stays well-formed (the validator staging enforces)
+    expect(() => validateDispatchTarget("implementer.md", cardDispatch(staged)!)).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it("a spawned child dispatches through the staged worker card with zero entitlement", async () => {
+    const cfg = emptyEntitlementConfig();
+    const destDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "amicode-826-dispatch-"));
+    const staged = stageModCards(EXTENSION_PATH, destDir, {
+      entitlementConfigDir: cfg,
+      overlaySource: OVERLAY_ROOT,
+    });
+    expect(staged.staged).toContain("implementer.md"); // the dispatch surface is staged
+
+    // the spawn: a child cast THROUGH that worker card, under the same empty config
+    const { engine, by } = makeMockEngine();
+    const pack = await pluginPack(engine);
+    const result = await pack.tool["amicode_session"].execute(
+      { prompt: "implement the slice in the worktree", count: 1, agent: "implementer" },
+      { sessionID: "ses_director", directory: "/w" },
+    );
+    expect(result).toMatch(/Spawned 1 fresh sessions/);
+    const created = by("create")[0]!;
+    expect(created.body.agent).toBe("implementer"); // the child is cast as the worker card
+    expect(created.body.metadata).toEqual({ spawned_by: "ses_director", spawned_depth: 1 });
+    const prompted = by("promptAsync")[0]!;
+    expect(prompted.body.agent).toBe("implementer"); // the first turn runs under the same card
+    expect(
+      (prompted.body.parts as Array<{ text: string }>)[0]?.text,
+    ).toBe("implement the slice in the worktree");
+    // and the card it dispatches through is the staged BASE card — complete,
+    // byte-identical to the shipped source, no entitlement anywhere in the path
+    expect(readFileSync(join(destDir, "implementer.md"), "utf8")).toBe(
+      readFileSync(join(AGENTS_SRC, "implementer.md"), "utf8"),
+    );
+  });
+});
+
+// ── the entitlement-freedom guards (the blocklist-grep discipline) ──────────
+//
+// Source-level tripwires over the spawn/dispatch staging sources: if a future
+// change hangs an entitlement or premium read on the spawn path, these go RED
+// with a failure message naming the boundary ruling (ADR-0004 decision 1 /
+// amicode#826). The token list is the fixture of record for this guard and
+// its non-emptiness is asserted first, so the lens can never go vacuous —
+// the same discipline as mode_cards.test.ts's PROPRIETARY_STRINGS.
+const ENTITLEMENT_TOKENS = ["entitlement", "premium", "amicissimo"] as const;
+
+// The guarded sources: the spawn policy (whole file — pure by construction,
+// no imports) and each transport's amicode_session section (tool registration
+// + execute), extracted as the window between the neighboring tool keys so a
+// conditional wrapper around the registration lands in the lens too. The core
+// table is the ONE implementation (#700 A3); the plugin is the transport the
+// ruling's audit named. Entitlement-coupled sources that are SUPPOSED to
+// read entitlements (mode_cards.ts's overlay gate, solver_mode.ts's HP tier)
+// are deliberately NOT here — the ruling splits subagents from those.
+const GUARDED_SOURCES = [
+  {
+    label: "the spawn policy (opencode-plugin/session_spawn.ts)",
+    file: "../opencode-plugin/session_spawn.ts",
+  },
+  {
+    label: "the plugin twin's amicode_session section (opencode-plugin/amicode_tools.ts)",
+    file: "../opencode-plugin/amicode_tools.ts",
+    window: ["amicode_report_fallback:", "amicode_veloce:"] as const,
+  },
+  {
+    label: "the core tool's amicode_session section (src/amicode_tools_core.ts)",
+    file: "../src/amicode_tools_core.ts",
+    window: ["amicode_report_fallback:", "amicode_veloce:"] as const,
+  },
+] as const;
+
+describe("entitlement-freedom guards (ADR-0004 decision 1, amicode#826)", () => {
+  it("the guard's token list is non-empty (the lens can never go vacuous)", () => {
+    // "entitlement" covers readLocalEntitlements / PREMIUM_ENTITLEMENT /
+    // entitlements.toml; "premium" covers PREMIUM_*; "amicissimo" covers the
+    // premium code spelled bare.
+    expect(ENTITLEMENT_TOKENS.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3);
+  });
+
+  it.each([...GUARDED_SOURCES])(
+    "no entitlement/premium read in $label",
+    ({ label, file, window }) => {
+      let text = readFileSync(join(HERE, file), "utf8");
+      if (window) {
+        const start = text.indexOf(window[0]);
+        const end = text.indexOf(window[1]);
+        expect(start, `${label}: tool table restructured — ${window[0]} not found`).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+        expect(end, `${label}: tool table restructured — ${window[1]} not found`).toBeGreaterThan(start);
+        text = text.slice(start, end);
+        expect(
+          text,
+          `${label}: the extracted window must contain the amicode_session section — a vacuous window pins nothing`,
+        ).toContain("amicode_session");
+      }
+      for (const tok of ENTITLEMENT_TOKENS) {
+        expect(
+          text.toLowerCase(),
+          `ADR-0004 decision 1 (amicode#826): the subagent surface is pre-pay product, never premium — ` +
+            `"${tok}" must not appear in ${label}; an entitlement read on the spawn/dispatch path ` +
+            `violates the boundary ruling`,
+        ).not.toContain(tok.toLowerCase());
+      }
+    },
+  );
+});