@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ discussions. Do not use that historical baseline to describe the current
 ## nightly-0.23
 
 `nightly-0.23` is the active edition and native-release-tooling line. It has one
-mandatory source/ABI contract, `edition = "2026"`, and deliberately rejects
+mandatory source-semantics epoch, `edition = "2026"`, plus an independently
+resolved target/assurance/ABI/schema profile, and deliberately rejects
 older package, lock, deployment, receipt, builder, and raw entry-witness
 identities rather than migrating them. Treat the line as merge-ready only when
 the edition/profile identity is consistent across compiler, metadata, WASM,
 
@@ -2,18 +2,28 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- Close the 0.23 syntax-audit consistency gaps: canonical type declarations
+  now use comma-terminated fields, syntax-combination gates cover canonical and
+  comma-free compatibility input, checked example mirrors use named `U64_MAX`
+  overflow expressions, and `dev` / `ci` reject regressions. CKB-VM crypto
+  primitive fixtures now place `CSARGv1` through the current
+  `WitnessArgs.input_type` adapter path instead of the retired raw-witness
+  alias.
 - Make `edition = "2026"` the single mandatory CellScript package contract.
-  The resolved edition profile now binds source semantics, target and primitive
-  assurance, entry payload ABI, and group-relative
-  `WitnessArgs.input_type` placement across metadata, cache keys, registry
-  records, `Cell.lock` v2, `Deployed.toml` v2, compile receipts v2, generated
-  builders, native APIs, WASM, LSP, and the playground. Missing or different
-  editions and older persisted schemas are rejected; no migration or
-  compatibility reader is provided. Generated CKB entries also remove the
-  raw-`CSARGv1` witness fallback, so Edition 2026 accepts the payload only
-  inside canonical `WitnessArgs.input_type`. The not-yet-deployed public
-  registry is defined by one current contract: signed entries, the initial
-  database schema, CDN JSON, and the website all require Edition 2026 and the
+  Edition is now explicitly a long-lived source-semantics epoch rather than an
+  annual release or complete ABI bundle. The resolved compatibility profile
+  independently composes source semantics, target, primitive assurance, entry
+  payload and placement ABIs, and metadata schemas under
+  `cellscript-resolved-compatibility-profile-v1`. Metadata schema 57 carries
+  those axes, and their hash remains bound across cache keys, registry records,
+  `Cell.lock` v2, `Deployed.toml` v2, compile receipts v2, generated builders,
+  native APIs, WASM, LSP, and the playground. Missing or different editions
+  and older persisted schemas are rejected; no migration or compatibility
+  reader is provided. Generated CKB entries also remove the raw-`CSARGv1`
+  witness fallback, so placement ABI v2 accepts the payload only inside
+  canonical `WitnessArgs.input_type`. The not-yet-deployed public registry is
+  defined by one current contract: signed entries, the initial database
+  schema, CDN JSON, and the website require both Edition 2026 and the separate
   compatibility-profile hash, with no fallback reader for incomplete entries.
   The generic admin API can no longer manufacture `verified_build` or
   `deployed` claims without an evidence-specific path. See the
 
@@ -734,11 +734,15 @@ deny_ckb_runtime = false
 deny_runtime_obligations = false
 ```
 
-`edition = "2026"` is mandatory and is the only supported edition. It binds
-the source, ABI, metadata, lockfile, deployment, receipt, and builder contract;
-older or missing editions are rejected rather than migrated. Command-line
-flags can tighten policy checks for a build or CI job. The full contract is in
-the [edition policy](docs/CELLSCRIPT_EDITION_POLICY.md).
+`edition = "2026"` is mandatory and is the only supported source-semantics
+edition. The year is a long-lived epoch label, not an annual release cadence.
+Target profile, primitive assurance, metadata schemas, and entry/witness ABIs
+remain independently versioned; the resolved compatibility profile combines
+those axes with the edition and is bound into lock, deployment, receipt,
+registry, and builder identities. Older or missing persisted identities are
+rejected rather than migrated. Command-line flags can tighten policy checks
+for a build or CI job. The full contract is in the
+[edition policy](docs/CELLSCRIPT_EDITION_POLICY.md).
 
 ### Package Workflow
 
 
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 
 **Status**: normative for the 0.23 development line.
 
-CellScript uses an edition as one explicit name for the complete language and
-ABI contract selected by a package. It serves the same organizational purpose
-as a Rust edition, but it also binds CellScript-specific CKB conventions.
+CellScript editions are long-lived source-language semantic epochs. An edition
+answers one question: how should this CellScript source be understood? The year
+in an edition label is an identifier, not an annual release schedule. Edition
+2026 may remain current across multiple compiler release years.
 
 The only supported edition is:
 
@@ -16,69 +17,111 @@ edition = "2026"
 `edition` is mandatory in every package manifest. A missing value or any value
 other than `2026` is an error. The 0.23 line does not provide an edition
 migration command, an implicit alternate edition, or a compatibility parser
-because Edition 2026 is the first CellScript edition contract.
+because Edition 2026 is the first CellScript source-semantics contract.
 
-## What The Edition Selects
+## What The Edition Owns
 
-Edition 2026 resolves one compatibility profile from:
+An edition owns rules that can change the meaning of the same source text:
 
-- source-language semantics;
-- target profile;
-- primitive-assurance mode;
-- entry payload ABI;
-- CKB `WitnessArgs` placement ABI and script-group source.
+- keywords, reserved words, and resolution of syntactic ambiguities;
+- name resolution, scope behavior, and the default prelude;
+- type checking, inference defaults, coercions, and flow/resource rules;
+- desugaring and other source-observable semantics; and
+- edition-specific deprecation diagnostics and migration lints.
 
-For the CKB target, the resolved profile requires:
+Edition 2026 currently identifies those rules as
+`cellscript-source-semantics-2026`. Because it is the first and only edition,
+the frontend has no alternate parser or type-checker branch yet. The edition is
+still carried through package loading and emitted identity so a future
+semantic break cannot be mistaken for the same source contract.
 
-| Contract | Edition 2026 value |
+Additive syntax, diagnostics, formatter improvements, and optimizer changes do
+not require a new edition when existing source keeps its meaning. A new edition
+is justified only when an intentional source-semantic break cannot be handled
+by an additive feature, a warning/deprecation cycle, or an independently
+versioned schema or ABI.
+
+## Independent Compatibility Axes
+
+The edition does **not** own the compiler release, target profile,
+primitive-assurance mode, metadata schemas, or CKB wire ABIs. The compiler
+assembles those independently versioned values with the source edition into a
+resolved compatibility profile:
+
+| Axis | Current 0.23 value |
 |---|---|
+| Source edition | `2026` |
+| Source semantics | `cellscript-source-semantics-2026` |
+| Compiler release | workspace SemVer (`0.x.y`), recorded separately |
+| Target profile | selected independently, normally `ckb` |
+| Primitive assurance | selected independently, or `default` |
 | Payload ABI | `cellscript-entry-witness-v1` (`CSARGv1\0`) |
 | Placement ABI | `cellscript-witnessargs-input-type-v2` |
+| Metadata schemas | metadata 57, source 2, artifact 1, constraints 2 |
+
+The compiler release is recorded next to the profile but is not part of the
+profile itself. A compiler patch may change diagnostics or optimization
+without changing compatibility. Conversely, an urgent wire-ABI or metadata
+fix can advance its own version immediately without waiting for a new calendar
+year or source edition.
+
+For the current CKB placement profile:
+
+| Contract | Value |
+|---|---|
 | Placement field | `WitnessArgs.input_type` |
 | Witness source | `GroupInput#0`, then `GroupOutput#0` |
 | Raw payload alias | rejected |
 
-The resolved profile is emitted in compile metadata and hashed into package,
-registry, lockfile, deployment, receipt, and generated-builder identities.
-Changing one of these choices therefore changes the identity even when source
-text is otherwise identical.
+The resolved profile uses schema
+`cellscript-resolved-compatibility-profile-v1`. It is emitted in compile
+metadata and hashed into package, registry, lockfile, deployment, receipt, and
+generated-builder identities. Changing any constituent axis changes the
+profile identity even when source text and edition stay the same.
 
 ```mermaid
 flowchart LR
-    M["Cell.toml<br/>edition = 2026"] --> R["ResolvedCompatibilityProfile"]
-    T["target_profile + primitive assurance"] --> R
-    R --> C["compiler semantics and codegen"]
-    R --> A["metadata + ABI hash"]
-    R --> P["registry + Cell.lock + Deployed.toml"]
-    R --> B["receipt + generated builder"]
+    E["Source edition<br/>2026"] --> R["ResolvedCompatibilityProfile"]
+    T["target profile"] --> R
+    P["primitive assurance"] --> R
+    W["entry + placement ABI"] --> R
+    S["metadata schemas"] --> R
+    R --> M["compile metadata + profile hash"]
+    M --> I["registry + Cell.lock + Deployed.toml"]
+    M --> B["receipt + generated builder"]
 ```
 
+Registry records therefore retain both `edition` and
+`compatibility_profile_hash`. The former tells source consumers how to read the
+package; the latter commits to the complete compile/build contract. A registry
+consumer must not infer target, primitive, ABI, or metadata versions from the
+edition year.
+
 ## Why `CSARGv1` Still Exists
 
-The edition and `CSARGv1` solve different problems.
+The source edition and `CSARGv1` solve different problems.
 
-- `edition = "2026"` tells the compiler and tooling which complete rule bundle
-  to use before a transaction exists.
-- `CSARGv1\0` identifies the bytes inside `WitnessArgs.input_type` while a CKB
+- `edition = "2026"` selects source-language meaning before a transaction
+  exists.
+- `CSARGv1\0` identifies CellScript positional-argument bytes while a CKB
   Script is executing.
+- `cellscript-witnessargs-input-type-v2` identifies where those bytes are
+  placed and how the script-group witness is selected.
 
-Without the payload magic, arbitrary protocol bytes could be mistaken for
-CellScript positional arguments. Without the edition, tools could agree on the
-same eight magic bytes while disagreeing about placement, source selection, or
-compile semantics. Edition 2026 selects the payload ABI; it does not remove the
-payload's on-wire discriminator.
-
-The old raw placement form—putting `CSARGv1` directly in the witness instead of
-inside a canonical `WitnessArgs.input_type`—is not accepted. It fails closed
-with runtime error `25 entry-witness-abi-invalid`.
+The current compatibility profile combines all three identities. The old raw
+placement form—putting `CSARGv1` directly in the witness instead of inside a
+canonical `WitnessArgs.input_type`—is not accepted. It fails closed with
+runtime error `25 entry-witness-abi-invalid` because the placement ABI says so,
+not because calendar year 2026 intrinsically implies a witness layout.
 
 ## Persisted Format Boundary
 
-Edition 2026 deliberately starts new persisted identities:
+The 0.23 line deliberately starts new persisted identities:
 
 | Surface | Required identity |
 |---|---|
-| Compile metadata | metadata 56, source 2, artifact 1, constraints 2 |
+| Compile metadata | metadata 57, source 2, artifact 1, constraints 2 |
+| Compatibility profile | `cellscript-resolved-compatibility-profile-v1` with every independent axis |
 | `Cell.lock` | version 2 |
 | `Deployed.toml` | version 2 and `cellscript-deployed-v0.23-edition-2026` |
 | Compile receipt | `cellscript-compile-receipt-v2` |
@@ -94,16 +137,22 @@ a package manifest must receive the edition explicitly:
 
 - native metadata-only Rust APIs take `CellScriptEdition`;
 - WASM exports take an edition string and accept only `"2026"`;
-- browser workers pass `"2026"` explicitly;
+- browser workers pass `"2026"` explicitly; and
 - LSP package compilation resolves the nearest package manifest.
 
 `CompileOptions::default()` uses the current edition only for in-memory and
-standalone compiler use. It is not a fallback for a package missing
-`edition`.
+standalone compiler use. It is not a fallback for a package missing `edition`.
+
+## Release And Evolution Requirements
+
+Different axes have different closure requirements:
 
-## Release Requirement
+- source-semantic changes require a new edition plus parser, formatter, type
+  checking, lowering, metadata, LSP, migration diagnostics, docs, and tests;
+- entry or placement ABI changes require a new ABI identity plus codegen,
+  builder, metadata, CKB-VM, `backend`, `dev`, and `ci` evidence;
+- metadata changes require a schema bump plus every reader/validator update;
+- target and primitive changes retain their own profile and gate contracts; and
+- compiler-only compatible improvements use ordinary SemVer releases.
 
-Changes to an edition-owned rule require matching updates to codegen, metadata,
-identity hashes, builders, WASM, documentation, and tests. Because witness
-placement affects generated RISC-V, such a change must pass the `backend` gate
-as well as `dev` and `ci`.
+No edition is created merely because a year or compiler release changed.
@@ -42,10 +42,11 @@ therefore named `place_entry_witness_payload_before_signing`, accepts a lock
 placeholder, validates the `CSARGv1\0` payload magic, and must run before the
 SDK unlock/sign step.
 
-Edition 2026 has no raw-payload compatibility path. The selected group-relative
-witness must be a canonical `WitnessArgs`; a raw `CSARGv1\0` payload, malformed
-table, absent `input_type`, or payload placed in `lock`/`output_type` fails
-closed with runtime error `25 entry-witness-abi-invalid`.
+Placement ABI `cellscript-witnessargs-input-type-v2` has no raw-payload
+compatibility path. The selected group-relative witness must be a canonical
+`WitnessArgs`; a raw `CSARGv1\0` payload, malformed table, absent `input_type`,
+or payload placed in `lock`/`output_type` fails closed with runtime error
+`25 entry-witness-abi-invalid`.
 
 ## Payload Envelope v1
 
@@ -57,10 +58,11 @@ Every parameterized entry payload that has witness-backed arguments starts with:
 
 This is the ASCII magic `CSARGv1\0`.
 
-The magic remains necessary even though Edition 2026 selects this ABI: the
-edition is a compile/tooling rule bundle, while the magic identifies the
-runtime bytes inside `input_type`. It prevents unrelated protocol bytes from
-being decoded as CellScript positional arguments.
+The magic remains necessary even though the resolved compatibility profile
+records this ABI: Edition 2026 identifies source semantics, the placement ABI
+identifies the witness location, and the magic identifies runtime bytes inside
+`input_type`. It prevents unrelated protocol bytes from being decoded as
+CellScript positional arguments.
 
 Wrong magic, missing bytes, malformed Molecule, or unsupported parameter
 placement fails closed with runtime error `25 entry-witness-abi-invalid`.
 
@@ -46,11 +46,13 @@ no Python runtime dependency and reject tracked Python source files.
 
 The 0.23 line also has one edition contract: every package declares
 `edition = "2026"`, and all emitted evidence binds the resolved compatibility
-profile. Missing/non-2026 editions and superseded lock, deployment, receipt,
-builder, or raw-witness placement identities are rejected rather than
-migrated. See
+profile. The edition owns source semantics only; target, primitive assurance,
+metadata schemas, and entry/witness ABIs remain independent profile axes.
+Missing/non-2026 editions and superseded lock, deployment, receipt, builder, or
+raw-witness placement identities are rejected rather than migrated. See
 [`CELLSCRIPT_EDITION_POLICY.md`](CELLSCRIPT_EDITION_POLICY.md). Edition-owned
-ABI changes require the `backend` gate in addition to ordinary `dev` and `ci`
+source changes require complete frontend closure. Independently versioned ABI
+changes require the `backend` gate in addition to ordinary `dev` and `ci`
 coverage.
 
 The `ci` gate also typechecks, tests, and performs a Wrangler dry-run build of