CB-WP-0048 T02/T03/T04: Configuration replaces Variant in the state

The three-armed enum could not express a configuration carrying two
modules. It does now: --variant h1 expands to problem_stress.flat_any_open
AND attack_relief.self_soothe_ge4, and scoped_plus_attack_soothe plays.

Legacy names alias forever via serde(alias="variant") plus a
scalar-or-map deserialiser. serde(default) alone would have been a silent
migration bug -- every H1/H2 recording would have come back as baseline.
All 26 scenarios pass unchanged; none pins a state hash.

Three things shipped broken first, all caught by gates rather than by
reading:

1. `profile` was in the state hash. with_config(select("ground-darvo-r0"))
   sets profile=Some("baseline") where setup alone leaves None, so two
   states at THE SAME POINT IN ASPECT SPACE hashed differently and a
   replay bundle stopped reproducing its own initial state. Now
   serde(skip): a hash covers what determines play. This was the open
   judgement from T01 and it did not survive contact with the replay path.

2. A YAML parse inside the event loop. rules() -> resolve() -> catalog()
   re-parsed catalog.yaml per rule check; AM-6 fell to 9,345 events/s
   against a 100,000 target. OnceLock, and aspect validation moved to
   where a configuration is BUILT.

   Then I nearly optimised a phantom: 470k still looked like a 3x
   regression against the "~1.7M on bnt-lap001" reference in the gate's
   own message. Making rules() free measured 491k -- this machine's
   ceiling. Before optimising against a reference, measure the ceiling
   with the suspect code removed.

3. The refusal did not fire on the path a player takes.
   `--module problem_deal.pressure_deck` played a full baseline game and
   reported success, because with_config is a builder and fell back to
   the printed rules -- the silent no-op ADR-0022 exists to refuse. Every
   unit test of resolve() passed. The helper was tested and the driver
   was not, which is CB-WP-0033's finding verbatim. The new test asserts
   refusal BY NAME and that no game was played.

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

crates/cb-render-html/src/doc.rs

@@ -1089,7 +1089,10 @@ pub fn document_with_log(
         // not, so a player who ran the default and was told the layout had
         // changed reported "no changes" — correctly, because the baseline
         // is deliberately unchanged and nothing on screen said so.
-        variant = esc(view.variant.id()),
+        // CB-WP-0048: the page names every LIVE MODULE, not one package
+        // id. A configuration is a point in aspect space and can carry
+        // two modules at once; `h2` was never able to say that.
+        variant = esc(&config_label(&view.config)),
         who = match view.viewer {
             Some(p) => format!("{} (their hand only)", seat_name(p)),
             None => "a spectator (no hands)".to_string(),
@@ -1572,6 +1575,19 @@ fn stress_scope_rule_text() -> Option<String> {
     games_ground::edition::stress_scope_rule()
 }
 
+/// Which modules are live, in words (CB-WP-0048, ADR-0022).
+///
+/// The baseline says so by name rather than showing an empty list: "no
+/// modules" and "we could not read the catalog" must not look the same
+/// on a page a player uses to tell one rules set from another.
+fn config_label(c: &games_ground::config::Configuration) -> String {
+    let live = c.active_modules();
+    if live.is_empty() {
+        return c.baseline.clone();
+    }
+    live.join(" + ")
+}
+
 /// The Mode card's printed title, not the Rust variant's name.
 ///
 /// Falls back to the id, which is at least a thing the edition says —

crates/cb-render-html/src/lib.rs

@@ -192,7 +192,10 @@ mod coverage {
         // that could only be satisfied by geometry would have to be
         // OMITTED, and the page would be illegible to `text_of` and to a
         // screen reader alike.
-        ("variant", "ground-darvo-r0"),
+        // The page shows the LIVE modules, or the baseline id when none
+        // are — a player is asking "which rules am I playing", not "what
+        // is every aspect set to". The fixture is the baseline.
+        ("config.baseline", "ground-darvo-r0"),
         // The fixture plays SCN_03, so the token is that card's TITLE.
         // Not "SCN_03": a probe that matches an id would go green
         // against a page showing the id, which is the machine's name for
@@ -211,10 +214,37 @@ mod coverage {
     ];
 
     /// Deliberate omissions, each with a reason.
-    const OMITTED: &[(&str, &str)] = &[(
+    const OMITTED: &[(&str, &str)] = &[
-        "players.*.hand",
+        (
-        "null for a non-viewer seat; the absence is rendered as a count",
+            "players.*.hand",
-    )];
+            "null for a non-viewer seat; the absence is rendered as a count",
+        ),
+        // An aspect sitting at its default IS the printed game, and
+        // naming all four on every page is the wall of rules a player
+        // stops reading — the same reasoning that keeps the GROUND-mode
+        // explanation to the moment a mode is being chosen.
+        //
+        // **A LIVE module is a different matter and is not omitted**:
+        // `the_table_names_every_live_module` asserts it by name, so
+        // this omission covers only the case where there is nothing to
+        // say. The machine-facing `cb-play inspect` prints all four.
+        (
+            "config.modules.problem_stress",
+            "shown only when it differs from the printed rules; see the_table_names_every_live_module",
+        ),
+        (
+            "config.modules.attack_relief",
+            "shown only when it differs from the printed rules; see the_table_names_every_live_module",
+        ),
+        (
+            "config.modules.end_condition",
+            "shown only when it differs from the printed rules; see the_table_names_every_live_module",
+        ),
+        (
+            "config.modules.problem_deal",
+            "shown only when it differs from the printed rules; see the_table_names_every_live_module",
+        ),
+    ];
 
     fn fixture() -> GroundView {
         crate::testfix::view(Some(PlayerId(0)))
@@ -780,6 +810,52 @@ mod gamelog {
         }
     }
 
+    /// **The table names every live module** (CB-WP-0048 T04).
+    ///
+    /// CB-WP-0044's finding, generalised: a rules change the page cannot
+    /// name is reported as "no changes". A configuration can now carry
+    /// two modules at once, so naming one package id would be the wrong
+    /// shape — `h2` could never have said
+    /// `problem_stress.scoped + attack_relief.self_soothe_ge4`.
+    #[test]
+    fn the_table_names_every_live_module() {
+        let combo = games_ground::config::Configuration::select("scoped_plus_attack_soothe")
+            .expect("the catalog ships this profile");
+        let mut v = crate::testfix::view(Some(PlayerId(0)));
+        v.config = combo.clone();
+        let text = crate::text_of(&crate::doc::document(
+            &v,
+            &[],
+            "/c",
+            Some(PlayerId(0)),
+            false,
+        ));
+        for m in combo.active_modules() {
+            assert!(
+                text.contains(&m),
+                "the page does not name the live module {m}"
+            );
+        }
+
+        // And the baseline says so by NAME rather than showing nothing:
+        // "no modules" and "we could not read the catalog" must not look
+        // the same on the line a player uses to tell rules sets apart.
+        let mut base = crate::testfix::view(Some(PlayerId(0)));
+        base.config = games_ground::config::Configuration::default();
+        let plain = crate::text_of(&crate::doc::document(
+            &base,
+            &[],
+            "/c",
+            Some(PlayerId(0)),
+            false,
+        ));
+        assert!(plain.contains("ground-darvo-r0"), "the baseline is unnamed");
+        assert!(
+            !plain.contains("problem_stress."),
+            "the baseline page names a module that is not live"
+        );
+    }
+
     /// **A scope says what it does** (CB-WP-0046).
     ///
     /// CB-WP-0045 shipped the placement and recorded the gap with the
@@ -790,7 +866,7 @@ mod gamelog {
     #[test]
     fn a_scoped_table_says_what_a_scope_does() {
         let mut v = crate::testfix::view(Some(PlayerId(0)));
-        v.variant = games_ground::Variant::H2ScopedProblemStress;
+        v.config = games_ground::Variant::H2ScopedProblemStress.configuration();
         // One card that is not everyone's — the condition for the rule
         // to be worth stating at all.
         if let Some(m) = v.problem_markers.values_mut().next() {

crates/cb-render-html/src/testfix.rs

@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ pub fn view(viewer: Option<PlayerId>) -> GroundView {
             (Pair::new(p2, p3), Relation::Bond),
         ]),
         problems,
-        variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+        config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
         focus: BTreeMap::from([(p1, p3)]),
         selections: BTreeMap::from([
             (

games/ground/src/catalog.rs

@@ -113,8 +113,21 @@ pub struct Catalog {
 /// says so by name rather than returning an empty aspect list.
 pub const SCHEMA: u32 = 2;
 
-/// Parse the vendored catalog.
+/// Parse the vendored catalog. **Parsed once.**
-pub fn catalog() -> Result<Catalog, String> {
+///
+/// This returned an owned `Catalog` and parsed the YAML on every call —
+/// and `GroundState::rules()` calls it per rule check, inside the event
+/// loop. AM-6 throughput fell from ~1.7M events/s to **9,345**, a 180x
+/// regression, and the spec gate caught it the same run.
+///
+/// The catalog is a compile-time constant (`include_str!`), so parsing
+/// it more than once was never doing anything but work.
+pub fn catalog() -> Result<&'static Catalog, String> {
+    static PARSED: std::sync::OnceLock<Result<Catalog, String>> = std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+    PARSED.get_or_init(parse).as_ref().map_err(|e| e.clone())
+}
+
+fn parse() -> Result<Catalog, String> {
     let f: CatalogFile =
         serde_yaml::from_str(CATALOG_YAML).map_err(|e| format!("catalog.yaml: {e}"))?;
     if f.schema_version != SCHEMA {

games/ground/src/config.rs

@@ -36,20 +36,82 @@ use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 /// *resolved*: every aspect the catalog declares has an entry, defaults
 /// filled in, so a recording states the whole point in aspect space
 /// rather than the delta from an assumed origin.
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize)]
 pub struct Configuration {
     /// The content package (ADR-0011), e.g. `ground-darvo-r0`.
     pub baseline: String,
     /// aspect id → module id, resolved.
     pub modules: BTreeMap<String, String>,
-    /// The profile that was asked for, if one was. **Kept for the
+    /// The profile that was asked for, if one was.
-    /// account, never consulted for behaviour** — two runs with the same
+    ///
-    /// modules play identically whether or not a profile named them, and
+    /// **Kept for the account, and deliberately OUT of the state.** Two
-    /// a reader still wants to know what was requested.
+    /// runs with the same modules play identically whether or not a
-    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+    /// profile named them, so a label must not change the state hash.
+    ///
+    /// It was serialised at first, and the replay walk caught it within
+    /// the hour: `with_config(select("ground-darvo-r0"))` sets
+    /// `profile = Some("baseline")` while `setup` alone leaves it
+    /// `None`, so two states at **the same point in aspect space** hashed
+    /// differently and a bundle stopped reproducing its own initial
+    /// state. A hash should cover what determines play; provenance of
+    /// what was *requested* belongs in the recording's manifest, which is
+    /// where a reader can still find it.
+    #[serde(skip)]
     pub profile: Option<String>,
 }
 
+/// **Reads a legacy name as well as a configuration** (ADR-0022 D2).
+///
+/// A recording written before this type serialised `variant: Baseline`
+/// or a catalog id. Deserialising that as "no configuration" would set
+/// every such recording to the baseline — silently right for most of
+/// them and silently *wrong* for any played under H1 or H2, which is the
+/// one failure a migration must not have.
+///
+/// So a scalar is accepted and expanded through the catalog, and a map is
+/// read as itself. Writing is always the map: the legacy spelling is a
+/// thing we can read, not a thing we produce.
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Configuration {
+    fn deserialize<D: serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error> {
+        #[derive(Deserialize)]
+        #[serde(untagged)]
+        enum Wire {
+            Named(String),
+            Full {
+                baseline: String,
+                modules: BTreeMap<String, String>,
+            },
+        }
+        match Wire::deserialize(d)? {
+            Wire::Full { baseline, modules } => Ok(Configuration {
+                baseline,
+                modules,
+                // Not on the wire; see the field's own note.
+                profile: None,
+            }),
+            Wire::Named(name) => Configuration::select_legacy(&name)
+                .map_err(|e| serde::de::Error::custom(format!("configuration {name:?}: {e}"))),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Configuration {
+    /// A legacy `variant` value, as an enum name or a catalog id.
+    ///
+    /// The Rust names are here because they are what `serde` wrote into
+    /// recordings; they are **this repo's** spelling of ground-game's
+    /// ids and have no other home to be read from.
+    pub fn select_legacy(name: &str) -> Result<Self, String> {
+        let id = match name {
+            "Baseline" => "ground-darvo-r0",
+            "H1ProblemStress" => "h1-problem-stress",
+            "H2ScopedProblemStress" => "h2-scoped-problem-stress",
+            other => other,
+        };
+        Configuration::select(id)
+    }
+}
+
 impl Default for Configuration {
     /// The printed game: every aspect at its default module.
     ///
@@ -119,7 +181,7 @@ impl Configuration {
         let mut claimed: BTreeMap<String, String> = BTreeMap::new();
         for id in modules {
             let Some(aspect) = cat.aspect_of(id) else {
-                return Err(unknown_module(&cat, id));
+                return Err(unknown_module(cat, id));
             };
             if let Some(first) = claimed.get(aspect) {
                 return Err(format!(
@@ -130,11 +192,13 @@ impl Configuration {
             claimed.insert(aspect.to_string(), id.clone());
             chosen.insert(aspect.to_string(), id.clone());
         }
-        Ok(Configuration {
+        let c = Configuration {
             baseline: baseline.to_string(),
             modules: chosen,
             profile: None,
-        })
+        };
+        c.validate()?;
+        Ok(c)
     }
 
     /// Build from a named profile.
@@ -212,19 +276,35 @@ impl Configuration {
         out
     }
 
+    /// Every aspect named is one the catalog declares.
+    ///
+    /// Called where a configuration is **built**, not where it is used:
+    /// it cannot change between rule checks, and keeping it out of
+    /// `resolve` is what AM-6 required.
+    pub fn validate(&self) -> Result<(), String> {
+        let cat = crate::catalog::catalog()?;
+        for aspect in self.modules.keys() {
+            if cat.aspect(aspect).is_none() {
+                return Err(format!("{aspect:?} is not an aspect the catalog declares"));
+            }
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// **Identity → behaviour.** The boundary in ADR-0022 D1.
     ///
     /// Refuses, by name and with the reason, any module the catalog has
     /// and this kernel cannot run.
     pub fn resolve(&self) -> Result<Rules, String> {
-        let cat = crate::catalog::catalog()?;
         let mut rules = Rules::default();
-        for (aspect, id) in &self.modules {
+        for id in self.modules.values() {
-            // An aspect the catalog does not declare is not something to
+            // **No catalog lookup in this loop.** `resolve` runs per rule
-            // guess about.
+            // check inside the event loop, and validating that each
-            if cat.aspect(aspect).is_none() {
+            // aspect is declared meant a linear scan of the catalog per
-                return Err(format!("{aspect:?} is not an aspect the catalog declares"));
+            // call. AM-6 measured the cost: throughput fell to 9,345
-            }
+            // events/s against a 100,000 target. Whether an aspect exists
+            // is a property of the CONFIGURATION, checked once where one
+            // is built (`validate`), not once per rule.
             match id.as_str() {
                 "problem_stress.none" => rules.problem_stress = ProblemStress::None,
                 "problem_stress.flat_any_open" => rules.problem_stress = ProblemStress::FlatAnyOpen,
@@ -239,7 +319,7 @@ impl Configuration {
                 // look", and the `other` arm below can then be a real
                 // refusal rather than a shrug.
                 "end_condition.fixed_rounds_5" | "problem_deal.fixed_setup" => {}
-                other => return Err(no_kernel_path(&cat, other)),
+                other => return Err(no_kernel_path(crate::catalog::catalog()?, other)),
             }
         }
         Ok(rules)

games/ground/src/lib.rs

@@ -211,8 +211,20 @@ pub struct GroundState {
     /// diverge silently, and the recording is what every other artifact
     /// rests on. `#[serde(default)]` so every scenario written before
     /// variants existed still loads, as baseline — which is what it was.
-    #[serde(default)]
+    /// Which point in aspect space this game is played at
-    pub variant: Variant,
+    /// ([ADR-0022](../../../decisions/ADR-0022-a-configuration-is-a-point-in-aspect-space.md)).
+    ///
+    /// **Was `variant: Variant`, a three-armed enum** — which could not
+    /// express `problem_stress.scoped` × `attack_relief.self_soothe_ge4`,
+    /// a profile the catalog ships. Not "unimplemented": unrepresentable.
+    ///
+    /// `alias = "variant"` plus `Configuration`'s scalar-or-map
+    /// deserialiser means a recording written before this loads by its
+    /// old name and old spelling. **`serde(default)` alone would have
+    /// been a silent migration bug**: every recording played under H1 or
+    /// H2 would have come back as the baseline.
+    #[serde(default, alias = "variant")]
+    pub config: crate::config::Configuration,
     /// Which of the edition's four Scenarios is on the table
     /// (CB-WP-0047).
     ///
@@ -317,6 +329,16 @@ pub enum Variant {
 }
 
 impl Variant {
+    /// This legacy name as a **configuration** (ADR-0022 D2).
+    ///
+    /// The enum survives as a spelling the maintainer types and every
+    /// recording carries; it is no longer what the kernel branches on.
+    /// Expansion goes through the catalog's own `legacy_experiment_id`,
+    /// so ground-game's mapping has one home.
+    pub fn configuration(self) -> crate::config::Configuration {
+        crate::config::Configuration::select(self.id()).unwrap_or_default()
+    }
+
     /// The catalog's `variant_id`, which is how ground-game names these.
     pub fn id(self) -> &'static str {
         match self {
@@ -350,14 +372,41 @@ impl GroundState {
     /// owners at setup, and `state.variant = v` would leave them
     /// unassigned — a silently wrong game rather than a failing one.
     /// Every driver path goes through here.
-    pub fn with_variant(mut self, variant: Variant) -> Self {
+    pub fn with_variant(self, variant: Variant) -> Self {
-        self.variant = variant;
+        self.with_config(variant.configuration())
-        if variant == Variant::H2ScopedProblemStress {
+    }
-            self.apply_h2_setup();
+
+    /// Select the configuration, and apply whatever its modules need at
+    /// setup (ADR-0022 D3).
+    ///
+    /// **A builder rather than a bare field write.**
+    /// `problem_stress.scoped` assigns Problem owners at setup, and
+    /// `state.config = c` would leave them unassigned — a silently wrong
+    /// game rather than a failing one. That defect had three call sites
+    /// under the old enum; with N aspects it is N times as likely, so
+    /// every driver path goes through here.
+    pub fn with_config(mut self, config: crate::config::Configuration) -> Self {
+        let rules = config.resolve();
+        self.config = config;
+        if let Ok(r) = rules {
+            if r.problem_stress == crate::config::ProblemStress::Scoped {
+                self.apply_h2_setup();
+            }
         }
         self
     }
 
+    /// What this game's configuration means for the kernel.
+    ///
+    /// **Falls back to the printed rules** when the configuration names
+    /// something this kernel cannot run. `setup` and `with_config` are
+    /// where that is refused loudly; by the time a rule is being applied
+    /// the game is already in progress, and a mid-game panic would turn
+    /// a selection error into a crash at an unrelated moment.
+    fn rules(&self) -> crate::config::Rules {
+        self.config.resolve().unwrap_or_default()
+    }
+
     /// H2-SCOPE and H2-OWN, applied to the dealt board.
     ///
     /// Owners go to the **non-global** Problems in **ascending hidden
@@ -1659,7 +1708,9 @@ impl GroundState {
         // The DARVO extra Attack comes through here too, which the delta
         // requires: "DARVO-stage extra Attack uses the same Attack
         // resolution (so it can self-soothe too if Stress >= 4)".
-        if self.variant == Variant::H1ProblemStress && attacker_stress_before >= 4 {
+        if self.rules().attack_relief == crate::config::AttackRelief::SelfSootheGe4
+            && attacker_stress_before >= 4
+        {
             let stress = self.stress_after(attacker, -1);
             events.push(GroundEvent::StressSet {
                 player: attacker,
@@ -1713,7 +1764,7 @@ impl GroundState {
         // ticks only the seats in ITS scope, and `stacking: true` — two
         // open bond Problems hit the network twice, so this accumulates
         // per Problem rather than applying once.
-        if self.variant == Variant::H2ScopedProblemStress {
+        if self.rules().problem_stress == crate::config::ProblemStress::Scoped {
             let mut ticks: BTreeMap<PlayerId, i16> = BTreeMap::new();
             for problem in self.problems.values() {
                 if problem.claimed_by.is_some() {
@@ -1751,7 +1802,7 @@ impl GroundState {
             }
         }
 
-        if self.variant == Variant::H1ProblemStress
+        if self.rules().problem_stress == crate::config::ProblemStress::FlatAnyOpen
             && self.problems.values().any(|p| p.claimed_by.is_none())
         {
             for seat in self.seat_order() {
@@ -2302,7 +2353,7 @@ impl ScenarioGame for GroundState {
             // before the hash is taken, which is the route `mode` uses
             // (`table.rs`) — so a recorded session replays under the
             // variant it was played under.
-            variant: Variant::default(),
+            config: crate::config::Configuration::default(),
             outcome: None,
             seed,
         })
@@ -2437,7 +2488,11 @@ mod tests {
                         seed,
                     )
                     .expect("setup");
-                    assert_eq!(untouched.variant, Variant::Baseline, "the default moved");
+                    assert_eq!(
+                        untouched.config,
+                        crate::config::Configuration::default(),
+                        "the default moved"
+                    );
                     assert_eq!(
                         cb_events::state_hash_hex(&base),
                         cb_events::state_hash_hex(&untouched),
@@ -2472,7 +2527,7 @@ mod tests {
 
             // The wrong way.
             let mut bare = base.clone();
-            bare.variant = Variant::H2ScopedProblemStress;
+            bare.config = Variant::H2ScopedProblemStress.configuration();
             assert!(
                 bare.problems.values().all(|p| p.scope.is_none()),
                 "a bare write should leave scopes unassigned — if it does not, \
@@ -3501,7 +3556,7 @@ mod tests {
             support_responses: BTreeMap::new(),
             darvo_targets: BTreeMap::new(),
             mode: ScoringMode::SharedGround,
-            variant: Variant::Baseline,
+            config: crate::config::Configuration::default(),
             scenario: default_scenario(),
             outcome: None,
             seed: 0,

games/ground/src/view.rs

@@ -46,8 +46,15 @@ pub struct GroundView {
     /// **The page had no way to say this**, so a player could not tell
     /// baseline from H1 from H2 by looking — and reported a variant
     /// change as "no changes" after playing the default.
-    #[serde(default)]
+    /// Which point in aspect space is being played (ADR-0022).
-    pub variant: crate::Variant,
+    ///
+    /// **The page had no way to say this**, so a player could not tell
+    /// baseline from H1 from H2 by looking — and reported a variant
+    /// change as "no changes" after playing the default (CB-WP-0044).
+    /// It carries the whole configuration now, not a single name, so a
+    /// two-module combination is nameable on the table.
+    #[serde(default, alias = "variant")]
+    pub config: crate::config::Configuration,
     /// Which Scenario is on the table (CB-WP-0047).
     ///
     /// The player was told the premise by nothing: the same four boards
@@ -185,7 +192,7 @@ impl Project for GroundState {
             lead: self.lead,
             step: self.step,
             mode: self.mode,
-            variant: self.variant,
+            config: self.config.clone(),
             scenario: self.scenario.clone(),
             players: self
                 .players

tools/cb-play/src/hotseat.rs

@@ -70,6 +70,25 @@ pub struct TrialNote {
     pub text: String,
 }
 
+/// A configuration, as one token for a log line (CB-WP-0048).
+///
+/// **The live modules, or the baseline id when none are.** The trial log
+/// stamps this so a note can be read back knowing which rules produced
+/// it (CB-WP-0046) — and a configuration is now a point in aspect space,
+/// so a single package name would be the wrong shape for a session
+/// carrying two modules.
+///
+/// Dots and commas are kept out: the value rides an HTML-comment marker
+/// attribute and the parser accepts `[A-Za-z0-9._-]`, so modules are
+/// joined with `+`.
+pub fn configuration_stamp(c: &games_ground::config::Configuration) -> String {
+    let live = c.active_modules();
+    if live.is_empty() {
+        return c.baseline.clone();
+    }
+    live.join("+")
+}
+
 /// Where game `n`'s recording goes (ADR-0019 D2).
 ///
 /// **Game 1 keeps the path it was given.** GameDesign §5 documents that
@@ -225,7 +244,7 @@ impl Server {
             state_hash: hash[..12].to_string(),
             text: note.text.clone(),
         });
-        write_trial_log(path, &log, state.variant.id())
+        write_trial_log(path, &log, &configuration_stamp(&state.config))
     }
 
     /// Begin the next game (ADR-0019 D1).
@@ -1290,7 +1309,7 @@ mod tests {
                     mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
                     scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
                     pace: crate::table::Pace::Speed,
-                    variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+                    config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
                 },
                 std::io::Cursor::new(Vec::new()),
                 out,
@@ -1482,7 +1501,7 @@ mod tests {
                     mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
                     scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
                     pace: crate::table::Pace::Speed,
-                    variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+                    config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
                 },
                 std::io::Cursor::new(Vec::new()),
                 out,

tools/cb-play/src/inspect.rs

@@ -137,6 +137,18 @@ fn render_player(id: PlayerId, p: &PlayerView, is_viewer: bool) -> String {
 }
 
 /// One seat's whole picture, from the projection and nothing else.
+/// Every aspect and its module, in catalog order where available.
+fn full_configuration(c: &games_ground::config::Configuration) -> String {
+    let mut parts = vec![format!("baseline={}", c.baseline)];
+    for (aspect, module) in &c.modules {
+        parts.push(format!("{aspect}={module}"));
+    }
+    if let Some(p) = &c.profile {
+        parts.push(format!("profile={p}"));
+    }
+    parts.join(" ")
+}
+
 pub fn render(view: &GroundView) -> String {
     let mut out = String::new();
     out.push_str(&format!(
@@ -146,7 +158,12 @@ pub fn render(view: &GroundView) -> String {
         view.step,
         seat_name(view.lead),
         view.mode,
-        view.variant.id(),
+        // **Every aspect, not only the live ones** (ADR-0022 D3). This is
+        // the machine-facing view — a maintainer diffing two states —
+        // and a recording states the whole point in aspect space rather
+        // than the delta from an assumed origin. The HTML page shows the
+        // live modules, because a player is asking a different question.
+        full_configuration(&view.config),
         // CB-WP-0047: WHICH of the four boards. The id, not the title,
         // because this is the machine-facing view — `cb-play inspect` is
         // read by a maintainer diffing states, where the HTML page is
@@ -502,8 +519,23 @@ mod tests {
         ("mode", "mode BondedCoalitions"),
         // CB-WP-0044: the inspector must say which rules it is replaying,
         // for the same reason the page must.
-        ("variant", "rules ground-darvo-r0"),
         ("scenario", "scenario SCN_"),
+        // One token per aspect, because the probe expands the map and
+        // each aspect must be shown to reach the reader on its own.
+        ("config.baseline", "baseline=ground-darvo-r0"),
+        (
+            "config.modules.problem_stress",
+            "problem_stress=problem_stress.",
+        ),
+        (
+            "config.modules.attack_relief",
+            "attack_relief=attack_relief.",
+        ),
+        (
+            "config.modules.end_condition",
+            "end_condition=end_condition.",
+        ),
+        ("config.modules.problem_deal", "problem_deal=problem_deal."),
         ("viewer", "(you)"),
         ("solution_deck_len", "deck 11"),
         ("solution_discard.*.suit", "discard [Repair, Change]"),
@@ -629,7 +661,7 @@ mod tests {
             ]),
             problems,
             problem_markers: Default::default(),
-            variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+            config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
             focus: BTreeMap::from([(p1, p3)]),
             selections: BTreeMap::from([
                 (
@@ -780,7 +812,7 @@ mod tests {
             mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
             scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
             pace: crate::table::Pace::Speed,
-            variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+            config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
         };
         let mut sink: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
         let summary =

tools/cb-play/src/main.rs

@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ not deal one, so a seed or a seat count would be silently ignored.
 /// can mean, and a flag that is accepted and ignored is worse than one
 /// that is refused.
 enum Mode {
-    Play(Config),
+    // Boxed since CB-WP-0048: `Config` carries a `Configuration`, which
+    // carries the module map, and the enum is otherwise 26 bytes.
+    Play(Box<Config>),
     Inspect {
         source: std::path::PathBuf,
         eyes: inspect::Eyes,
@@ -206,9 +208,25 @@ fn parse_args(argv: &[String]) -> Result<Mode, String> {
                 config.scenario = normalise_scenario(&v)?;
                 i += 2;
             }
-            "--variant" => {
+            // CB-WP-0048: legacy names ALIAS FOREVER (ADR-0022 D2).
+            // 26 recordings name them and the expansion is exact, so
+            // there is nothing to deprecate.
+            "--variant" | "--profile" => {
                 play_flags.push(flag.into());
-                config.variant = value(i, argv, flag)?.parse()?;
+                let v = value(i, argv, flag)?;
+                config.config = games_ground::config::Configuration::select(&v)?;
+                i += 2;
+            }
+            // A module directly, repeatable: one per aspect.
+            "--module" => {
+                play_flags.push(flag.into());
+                let v = value(i, argv, flag)?;
+                let mut live = config.config.active_modules();
+                live.push(v);
+                config.config = games_ground::config::Configuration::from_modules(
+                    &config.config.baseline,
+                    &live,
+                )?;
                 i += 2;
             }
             "--pace" => {
@@ -285,7 +303,7 @@ fn parse_args(argv: &[String]) -> Result<Mode, String> {
             config.players
         ));
     }
-    Ok(Mode::Play(config))
+    Ok(Mode::Play(Box::new(config)))
 }
 
 fn main() {
@@ -381,7 +399,7 @@ mod tests {
                 mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
                 scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
                 pace: table::Pace::Speed,
-                variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+                config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
             };
             let script = "0\n".repeat(400);
             let mut out: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
@@ -429,7 +447,7 @@ mod tests {
                 mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
                 scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
                 pace,
-                variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+                config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
             };
             let script = "0\n".repeat(400);
             let mut out: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
@@ -499,7 +517,7 @@ mod tests {
             mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
             scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
             pace: table::Pace::Speed,
-            variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+            config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
         };
         let mut out: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
         table::play(&config, "0\n".repeat(200).as_bytes(), &mut out).expect("game");
@@ -566,7 +584,7 @@ mod tests {
             mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
             scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
             pace: table::Pace::Speed,
-            variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+            config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
         };
         let mut out: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
         let summary = table::play(&config, "".as_bytes(), &mut out).expect("bot game");
@@ -577,7 +595,7 @@ mod tests {
     /// flag that quietly switched modes could not pass for a play flag.
     fn play_args(list: &[&str]) -> Result<Config, String> {
         match parse_args(&args(list))? {
-            Mode::Play(c) => Ok(c),
+            Mode::Play(c) => Ok(*c),
             Mode::Inspect { .. } => panic!("{list:?} parsed as inspect, not play"),
         }
     }
@@ -631,7 +649,7 @@ mod tests {
             mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
             scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
             pace: table::Pace::Speed,
-            variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+            config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
         };
         let mut out: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
         let summary = table::play(&config, "".as_bytes(), &mut out).expect("game");

tools/cb-play/src/table.rs

@@ -67,7 +67,12 @@ pub struct Config {
     ///
     /// **Unlike `pace`, this changes the game** — outcome, state hash and
     /// recording all move, which is correct: a variant is mechanism.
-    pub variant: games_ground::Variant,
+    /// Which point in aspect space to play (ADR-0022).
+    ///
+    /// **Replaces `variant: Variant`**, which could not express a
+    /// configuration carrying two modules. Legacy names still select one
+    /// (`--variant h2`); `--profile` and `--module` name them directly.
+    pub config: games_ground::config::Configuration,
 }
 
 /// Speed or Interactive (Ornamentation §4).
@@ -113,7 +118,7 @@ impl Default for Config {
             mode: games_ground::ScoringMode::SharedGround,
             scenario: "SCN_01".into(),
             pace: Pace::Speed,
-            variant: games_ground::Variant::Baseline,
+            config: games_ground::config::Configuration::default(),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -417,10 +422,21 @@ fn run_game<'a, R: BufRead + 'a, W: Write + 'a>(
     initial.mode = config.mode;
     // CB-WP-0038: set beside `mode` and before the hash, so a recorded
     // session replays under the variant it was played under.
-    // `with_variant`, never a field write: H2 assigns Problem owners at
+    // `with_config`, never a field write: problem_stress.scoped assigns
+    // Problem owners at
     // setup, and the bare write would leave them unassigned — a silently
     // wrong game rather than a failing one.
-    let initial = initial.with_variant(config.variant);
+    // **Refused here, loudly** (ADR-0022 D1, CB-RES-0010 §5.6).
+    //
+    // `with_config` cannot return an error — it is a builder — so it
+    // falls back to the printed rules for a configuration it cannot
+    // resolve. That is the silent no-op this project calls `inert`, and
+    // `--module problem_deal.pressure_deck` played a full baseline game
+    // and reported success. The unit tests all passed: they called
+    // `resolve()` directly and never the path a player takes, which is
+    // CB-WP-0033's finding in a new place.
+    config.config.resolve()?;
+    let initial = initial.with_config(config.config.clone());
     let initial_json = serde_json::to_value(&initial).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
     let initial_hash = cb_events::state_hash_hex(&initial);
 
@@ -557,3 +573,71 @@ fn run_game<'a, R: BufRead + 'a, W: Write + 'a>(
         end_choice,
     ))
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod config_refusal_tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// **A module with no kernel path is refused by the DRIVER**
+    /// (ADR-0022 D1, CB-WP-0048 T03).
+    ///
+    /// Every unit test of `resolve()` passed while
+    /// `--module problem_deal.pressure_deck` played a full baseline game
+    /// and reported success: `with_config` is a builder, cannot return an
+    /// error, and fell back to the printed rules. **The helper was tested
+    /// and the path a player takes was not** — CB-WP-0033's finding, in a
+    /// new place.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_configuration_the_kernel_cannot_run_stops_the_game() {
+        let Some(module) = games_ground::catalog::catalog().ok().and_then(|c| {
+            c.modules.iter().find_map(|m| {
+                let mut cfg = games_ground::config::Configuration::default();
+                cfg.modules.insert(m.aspect.clone(), m.module_id.clone());
+                cfg.resolve().is_err().then(|| m.module_id.clone())
+            })
+        }) else {
+            // The kernel implements every module the catalog has.
+            return;
+        };
+        let mut config = Config {
+            players: 3,
+            human_seats: vec![],
+            ..Default::default()
+        };
+        config.config = games_ground::config::Configuration::from_modules(
+            "ground-darvo-r0",
+            std::slice::from_ref(&module),
+        )
+        .expect("a catalog module must NAME a configuration");
+
+        let mut sink: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
+        let err = play(&config, "".as_bytes(), &mut sink)
+            .expect_err("a module with no kernel path must stop the game");
+        assert!(
+            err.contains(&module) && err.contains("no kernel path"),
+            "refused, but not by name: {err}"
+        );
+        // **And no game was played.** A refusal that still deals is the
+        // same silent no-op wearing an error message.
+        let out = String::from_utf8_lossy(&sink);
+        assert!(!out.contains("game over"), "the game ran anyway:\n{out}");
+    }
+
+    /// The baseline and a resolvable combination are NOT refused, or the
+    /// check above would pass by refusing everything.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_resolvable_configuration_still_plays() {
+        for name in ["ground-darvo-r0", "h2", "scoped_plus_attack_soothe"] {
+            let mut config = Config {
+                players: 3,
+                human_seats: vec![],
+                ..Default::default()
+            };
+            config.config = games_ground::config::Configuration::select(name)
+                .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("{name}: {e}"));
+            let mut sink: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
+            play(&config, "".as_bytes(), &mut sink)
+                .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("{name} must play: {e}"));
+        }
+    }
+}

workplans/CB-WP-0048-a-configuration-not-a-variant.md

@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ could not express.
 
 ```task
 id: CB-WP-0048-T02
-status: todo
+status: done
 priority: high
 state_hub_task_id: "3232a451-b60a-42f6-8200-b8115d4b35b9"
 ```
@@ -127,11 +127,23 @@ Per ADR-0022 D2, through the catalog's own `legacy_experiment_id`.
 - **the expansion comes from the catalog**, not a table in our source: a
   second copy of ground-game's mapping is F25's shape.
 
+**Done 2026-08-08.** `GroundState.variant: Variant` became
+`config: Configuration`, with `#[serde(alias = "variant")]` plus a
+scalar-or-map deserialiser so a recording written before this loads by
+its old name and old spelling. **`serde(default)` alone would have been a
+silent migration bug**: every recording played under H1 or H2 would have
+come back as the baseline.
+
+All 26 scenarios pass unchanged — none pins a state hash. `--variant h2`,
+`--profile h2` and `--module problem_stress.scoped` all resolve to the
+same point in aspect space, and `--variant h1` expands to **two** modules
+on two aspects, which is the decomposition schema 2 exists for.
+
 ## Task: the resolved configuration is recorded
 
 ```task
 id: CB-WP-0048-T03
-status: todo
+status: done
 priority: high
 state_hub_task_id: "5be13b74-bcc9-4697-96bb-91f1966c760b"
 ```
@@ -147,11 +159,58 @@ logs and panel cells carry the **resolved** module list.
 - **a bare field write cannot leave a module inert** — the H2 defect had
   three call sites and this is the generalisation of it.
 
+**Done 2026-08-08**, and the interesting part is what shipped broken
+first.
+
+### `profile` was in the hash, and it should not have been
+
+The replay walk caught it within the hour: `with_config(select("ground-darvo-r0"))`
+sets `profile = Some("baseline")` while `setup` alone leaves it `None`,
+so **two states at the same point in aspect space hashed differently** and
+a bundle stopped reproducing its own initial state. `profile` is now
+`#[serde(skip)]`. A state hash should cover what determines play;
+provenance of what was *requested* belongs in the recording's manifest.
+
+This was the open judgement flagged when T01 landed. It did not survive
+contact with the replay path, which is the right way for it to have been
+settled.
+
+### A YAML parse inside the event loop
+
+`rules()` called `resolve()` called `catalog()`, which re-parsed
+`catalog.yaml` **per rule check**. AM-6 throughput fell to **9,345
+events/s** against a 100,000 target — a spec gate, caught the same run.
+The catalog is an `include_str!` constant, so parsing it more than once
+was never doing anything but work; it is a `OnceLock` now, and the aspect
+validation moved out of `resolve` to where a configuration is *built*.
+
+**And then I nearly optimised a phantom.** 470k events/s still looked
+like a 3x regression against the *"~1.7M on bnt-lap001"* reference in the
+gate's own message. Making `rules()` free and re-measuring gave **491k**
+— this machine's ceiling. The reference is another machine, and the only
+real regression was the one already fixed. The control is cheap and worth
+naming: **before optimising against a reference, measure the ceiling with
+the suspect code removed.**
+
+### The refusal did not fire on the path a player takes
+
+`--module problem_deal.pressure_deck` **played a full baseline game and
+reported success.** `with_config` is a builder, cannot return an error,
+and fell back to the printed rules — the silent no-op ADR-0022 exists to
+refuse. Every unit test of `resolve()` passed throughout.
+
+**The helper was tested and the driver was not**, which is exactly
+CB-WP-0033's finding: *"the unit test proves the helper; only the
+integration test proves the driver, and the driver was where the data
+loss lived."* The driver resolves before dealing now, and the new test
+asserts both that it refuses **by name** and that **no game was played** —
+a refusal that still deals is the same no-op wearing an error message.
+
 ## Task: the page and the panels speak aspects
 
 ```task
 id: CB-WP-0048-T04
-status: todo
+status: done
 priority: normal
 state_hub_task_id: "ff135f86-2265-4db5-b412-23fcb68df489"
 ```
@@ -164,6 +223,18 @@ state_hub_task_id: "ff135f86-2265-4db5-b412-23fcb68df489"
   reconstructs;
 - **a module nothing measured is reported unmeasured**, not absent.
 
+**Done 2026-08-08.** The page names every live module —
+`attack_relief.self_soothe_ge4 + problem_stress.scoped` where `h2` could
+only ever have said one thing — and names the baseline by id when none
+are live, because "no modules" and "we could not read the catalog" must
+not look the same on the line a player uses to tell rules sets apart.
+
+The four aspects sitting at their defaults are **declared omitted** from
+the player page with a reason: an aspect at its default *is* the printed
+game, and naming all four on every page is the wall of rules a player
+stops reading. `cb-play inspect` prints all four, because a maintainer
+diffing two states is asking a different question (ADR-0022 D3).
+
 ## Not done here
 
 - **No policy reads the configuration.** F27 already records that the