diff --git a/docs/architecture.md b/docs/architecture.md
index fd31bfb..ade7d3d 100644
--- a/docs/architecture.md
+++ b/docs/architecture.md
@@ -67,7 +67,9 @@ before doing expensive work or acquiring a guest.
 `release-clean` resolves VM lanes to `clean` and the physical Mac to `ready`;
 the Mac consumer then requests the stronger `runtime-ready` cleanup contract on
 its lease. `dev-fast` never silently falls back from its declared mapping.
-Every accepted clean or named baseline has a SHA-256 provenance manifest under
-`golden/manifests/`. Provenance binds the selected VM's canonical image and
-provisioning contract. Profiles, retention policy, physical hosts, and other VM
-definitions do not invalidate an unchanged baseline.
+Every accepted clean or named baseline has a SHA-256 fingerprint manifest under
+`golden/manifests/`. The record describes the baseline disk, UEFI state, TPM
+state, and QEMU image metadata; it is not coupled to the mutable controller
+manifest. `doctor` validates the current controller and provisioning contract
+separately, while `doctor --deep` re-hashes accepted clean images when byte-level
+integrity must be re-established.
diff --git a/docs/checkpoints.md b/docs/checkpoints.md
index c703053..fd1cf8a 100644
--- a/docs/checkpoints.md
+++ b/docs/checkpoints.md
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ public snapshot interface.
 
 Test the checkpoint first with an explicit `preflight --baseline NAME`. If it is
 then selected by a shared profile, update `lab-manifest.json` and run `install.sh`
-against the deployed lab. Recapture provenance only when that VM's image or
-provisioning contract changes. Profile-only changes do not invalidate baseline
-provenance. Then run `lab.sh doctor --strict` and the exact consumer/profile
-`lab.sh preflight`.
+against the deployed lab. Recapture its fingerprint only when the checkpoint's
+disk, UEFI, or TPM state changes. Controller, profile, and provisioning-source
+changes do not rewrite or invalidate an unchanged checkpoint record. Validate
+those current inputs with `lab.sh doctor --strict`, then run the exact
+consumer/profile `lab.sh preflight`.
diff --git a/docs/rebuild.md b/docs/rebuild.md
index 1e73a8f..4a83d5f 100644
--- a/docs/rebuild.md
+++ b/docs/rebuild.md
@@ -25,10 +25,11 @@ Capture the controller-owned manifest immediately after accepting a baseline:
 ./lab.sh doctor --strict
 ```
 
-The capture records the whole-manifest hash for diagnostics and a canonical
-hash of the selected VM's image and provisioning contract for validation.
-Changing profiles, retention, hosts, or another VM does not make this baseline
-stale. Changing this VM's contract does.
+The capture records baseline disk, UEFI, TPM, and QEMU image metadata. A
+controller-manifest hash may be retained as capture-time diagnostics, but it is
+not a validity gate: changing controller configuration cannot change the bytes
+of an already captured baseline. `doctor` validates current controller and
+provisioning inputs independently.
 
 `doctor --deep` additionally re-hashes the clean golden disks. Run it after a
 rebuild or suspected storage corruption; routine consumers use `--strict` and
diff --git a/lab.sh b/lab.sh
index c57ff49..cbaea85 100755
--- a/lab.sh
+++ b/lab.sh
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ lease_command() {
   if [[ -n "$lease_signal" && "$result" == 0 ]]; then
     case "$lease_signal" in INT) result=130 ;; TERM) result=143 ;; HUP) result=129 ;; esac
   fi
-  if [[ "$kind" == vm && -n "$cleanup_baseline" && "$result" -ge 128 ]]; then
+  if [[ "$kind" == vm && -n "$cleanup_baseline" ]]; then
     if "$ENGINE" status "$vm" | grep -Eq "^${vm} running "; then
       "$ENGINE" stop "$vm" || result=1
     fi
@@ -717,25 +717,8 @@ tree_digest() {
   done | sha256sum | awk '{print $1}'
 }
 
-provenance_contract_sha() {
-  local vm="$1"
-  python3 - "$MANIFEST" "$vm" <<'PY'
-import hashlib, json, sys
-path, vm = sys.argv[1:]
-with open(path) as handle:
-    manifest = json.load(handle)
-contract = {
-    "schemaVersion": 1,
-    "vm": vm,
-    "vmSpec": manifest["vms"][vm],
-}
-encoded = json.dumps(contract, sort_keys=True, separators=(",", ":")).encode()
-print(hashlib.sha256(encoded).hexdigest())
-PY
-}
-
 provenance_capture_one() {
-  local vm="$1" name="$2" destination disk_sha vars_sha tpm_sha contract_sha
+  local vm="$1" name="$2" destination disk_sha vars_sha tpm_sha
   golden_paths "$vm" "$name"
   [[ -f "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_DISK" ]] || { printf 'Missing golden disk: %s\n' "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_DISK" >&2; return 1; }
   [[ -f "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_VARS" ]] || { printf 'Missing golden UEFI state: %s\n' "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_VARS" >&2; return 1; }
@@ -747,12 +730,11 @@ provenance_capture_one() {
   disk_sha="$(sha256sum "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_DISK" | awk '{print $1}')"
   vars_sha="$(sha256sum "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_VARS" | awk '{print $1}')"
   tpm_sha="$(tree_digest "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_TPM")"
-  contract_sha="$(provenance_contract_sha "$vm")"
   mkdir -p "$LAB_ROOT/golden/manifests"
   destination="$LAB_ROOT/golden/manifests/${vm}-${name}.json"
-  python3 - "$destination" "$vm" "$(distro_name "$vm")" "$name" "$disk_sha" "$vars_sha" "$tpm_sha" "$LAB_VERSION" "$MANIFEST" "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_DISK" "$contract_sha" <<'PY'
+  python3 - "$destination" "$vm" "$(distro_name "$vm")" "$name" "$disk_sha" "$vars_sha" "$tpm_sha" "$LAB_VERSION" "$MANIFEST" "$GOLDEN_CAPTURE_DISK" <<'PY'
 import datetime, hashlib, json, os, subprocess, sys, tempfile
-path, vm, distro, name, disk_sha, vars_sha, tpm_sha, version, config_path, disk_path, contract_sha = sys.argv[1:]
+path, vm, distro, name, disk_sha, vars_sha, tpm_sha, version, config_path, disk_path = sys.argv[1:]
 config_sha = hashlib.sha256(open(config_path, "rb").read()).hexdigest() if os.path.exists(config_path) else None
 qemu_info = json.loads(subprocess.check_output(["qemu-img", "info", "--output=json", disk_path]))
 record = {
@@ -764,7 +746,6 @@ record = {
     "provenance": "captured-current-state",
     "controllerVersion": version,
     "labManifestSha256": config_sha,
-    "provenanceContractSha256": contract_sha,
     "diskSha256": disk_sha,
     "uefiVarsSha256": vars_sha,
     "tpmTreeSha256": tpm_sha,
@@ -804,24 +785,19 @@ provenance_command() {
 
 provenance_metadata_valid() {
   local path="$1" vm="$2" baseline="$3"
-  local contract_sha
-  contract_sha="$(provenance_contract_sha "$vm")"
-  python3 - "$path" "$MANIFEST" "$vm" "$baseline" "$contract_sha" <<'PY'
-import hashlib, json, re, sys
-path, config_path, vm, baseline, contract_sha = sys.argv[1:]
+  python3 - "$path" "$vm" "$baseline" <<'PY'
+import json, re, sys
+path, vm, baseline = sys.argv[1:]
 try:
     with open(path) as handle:
         record = json.load(handle)
-    with open(config_path, "rb") as handle:
-        config_sha = hashlib.sha256(handle.read()).hexdigest()
     assert record["schemaVersion"] == 1
     assert record["vm"] == vm
     assert record["baseline"] == baseline
+    if "labManifestSha256" in record:
+        assert re.fullmatch(r"[0-9a-f]{64}", record["labManifestSha256"])
     if "provenanceContractSha256" in record:
-        assert record["provenanceContractSha256"] == contract_sha
-    else:
-        # Compatibility for provenance captured before contract-scoped hashes.
-        assert record["labManifestSha256"] == config_sha
+        assert re.fullmatch(r"[0-9a-f]{64}", record["provenanceContractSha256"])
     assert re.fullmatch(r"[0-9a-f]{64}", record["diskSha256"])
     assert re.fullmatch(r"[0-9a-f]{64}", record["uefiVarsSha256"])
     assert record["tpmTreeSha256"] == "none" or re.fullmatch(r"[0-9a-f]{64}", record["tpmTreeSha256"])
diff --git a/release-notes.d/baseline-fingerprints-and-lease-cleanup.md b/release-notes.d/baseline-fingerprints-and-lease-cleanup.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d63a8c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-notes.d/baseline-fingerprints-and-lease-cleanup.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+type: fixed
+area: controller
+---
+
+Keep unchanged VM baselines usable when controller configuration changes, and
+honor `--cleanup-baseline` after successful, failed, and interrupted VM leases.
diff --git a/tests/lab_test.sh b/tests/lab_test.sh
index a13db41..510b995 100755
--- a/tests/lab_test.sh
+++ b/tests/lab_test.sh
@@ -36,15 +36,10 @@ python3 - "$test_root/lab-manifest.json" "$test_root/golden/manifests/appimage-d
 import hashlib, json, sys
 with open(sys.argv[1], "rb") as handle:
     config_sha = hashlib.sha256(handle.read()).hexdigest()
-with open(sys.argv[1]) as handle:
-    manifest = json.load(handle)
-contract = {"schemaVersion": 1, "vm": "appimage", "vmSpec": manifest["vms"]["appimage"]}
-contract_sha = hashlib.sha256(json.dumps(contract, sort_keys=True, separators=(",", ":")).encode()).hexdigest()
 record = {
         "schemaVersion": 1,
         "vm": "appimage",
         "labManifestSha256": config_sha,
-        "provenanceContractSha256": contract_sha,
         "diskSha256": "a" * 64,
         "uefiVarsSha256": "b" * 64,
         "tpmTreeSha256": "none",
@@ -59,55 +54,44 @@ PY
   python3 -c 'import json,sys; assert json.load(sys.stdin)["ready"] is True'
 "$test_root/lab.sh" preflight cli release-clean --lanes appimage --json |
   python3 -c 'import json,sys; assert json.load(sys.stdin)["ready"] is True'
-python3 - "$test_root/golden/manifests/appimage-clean.json" <<'PY'
+python3 - "$test_root/lab-manifest.json" <<'PY'
 import json, sys
 path = sys.argv[1]
 with open(path) as handle:
-    record = json.load(handle)
-record.pop("provenanceContractSha256")
+    manifest = json.load(handle)
+manifest["profiles"]["dev-fast"]["deb"] = "desktop-e2e-v4"
 with open(path, "w") as handle:
-    json.dump(record, handle)
+    json.dump(manifest, handle, indent=2, sort_keys=True)
+    handle.write("\n")
 PY
-"$test_root/lab.sh" preflight cli release-clean --lanes appimage --json |
+"$test_root/lab.sh" preflight desktop dev-fast --lanes appimage --json |
   python3 -c 'import json,sys; assert json.load(sys.stdin)["ready"] is True'
-python3 - "$test_root/golden/manifests/appimage-clean.json" "$test_root/golden/manifests/appimage-desktop-e2e-v2.json" <<'PY'
-import json, sys
-path, source = sys.argv[1:]
-with open(path) as handle:
-    record = json.load(handle)
-with open(source) as handle:
-    current = json.load(handle)
-record["provenanceContractSha256"] = current["provenanceContractSha256"]
-with open(path, "w") as handle:
-    json.dump(record, handle)
-PY
 python3 - "$test_root/lab-manifest.json" <<'PY'
 import json, sys
 path = sys.argv[1]
 with open(path) as handle:
     manifest = json.load(handle)
-manifest["profiles"]["dev-fast"]["deb"] = "desktop-e2e-v4"
+manifest["vms"]["appimage"]["memoryMiB"] += 1
 with open(path, "w") as handle:
     json.dump(manifest, handle, indent=2, sort_keys=True)
     handle.write("\n")
 PY
 "$test_root/lab.sh" preflight cli release-clean --lanes appimage --json |
   python3 -c 'import json,sys; assert json.load(sys.stdin)["ready"] is True'
-python3 - "$test_root/lab-manifest.json" <<'PY'
+python3 - "$test_root/golden/manifests/appimage-clean.json" <<'PY'
 import json, sys
 path = sys.argv[1]
 with open(path) as handle:
-    manifest = json.load(handle)
-manifest["vms"]["appimage"]["memoryMiB"] += 1
+    record = json.load(handle)
+record["diskSha256"] = "not-a-digest"
 with open(path, "w") as handle:
-    json.dump(manifest, handle, indent=2, sort_keys=True)
-    handle.write("\n")
+    json.dump(record, handle)
 PY
-if changed_contract_result="$("$test_root/lab.sh" preflight cli release-clean --lanes appimage --json)"; then
-  printf 'VM contract change unexpectedly preserved provenance\n' >&2
+if malformed_fingerprint_result="$("$test_root/lab.sh" preflight cli release-clean --lanes appimage --json)"; then
+  printf 'Malformed baseline fingerprint unexpectedly passed preflight\n' >&2
   exit 1
 fi
-python3 -c 'import json,sys; assert json.load(sys.stdin)["ready"] is False' <<<"$changed_contract_result"
+python3 -c 'import json,sys; assert json.load(sys.stdin)["ready"] is False' <<<"$malformed_fingerprint_result"
 "$test_root/lab.sh" preflight cli release-clean --lanes macos-arm64 --json |
   python3 -c 'import json,sys; assert json.load(sys.stdin)["ready"] is True'
 if "$test_root/lab.sh" start ubuntu >/dev/null 2>&1; then
@@ -116,6 +100,9 @@ if "$test_root/lab.sh" start ubuntu >/dev/null 2>&1; then
 fi
 "$test_root/lab.sh" lease ubuntu test successful -- bash -c 'test "$OMNIDECK_VM_LAB_VM" = appimage'
 [[ ! -e "$test_root/discarded/runs/successful-appimage" ]]
+"$test_root/lab.sh" lease ubuntu test successful-cleanup --cleanup-baseline clean -- true
+grep -Fxq 'reset appimage clean' "$test_root/runtime/fake-actions.log"
+[[ ! -e "$test_root/discarded/runs/successful-cleanup-appimage" ]]
 "$test_root/lab.sh" lease macos test host-successful -- "$test_root/lab.sh" run macos true
 [[ ! -e "$test_root/discarded/runs/host-successful-macos-arm64" ]]
 if "$test_root/lab.sh" lease macos test host-cleanup-failed --cleanup-baseline runtime-ready -- bash -c 'exit 7'; then
@@ -123,10 +110,11 @@ if "$test_root/lab.sh" lease macos test host-cleanup-failed --cleanup-baseline r
   exit 1
 fi
 grep -Fxq 'reset macos-arm64 runtime-ready' "$test_root/runtime/fake-actions.log"
-if "$test_root/lab.sh" lease debian test failed -- bash -c 'exit 9'; then
+if "$test_root/lab.sh" lease debian test failed --cleanup-baseline clean -- bash -c 'exit 9'; then
   printf 'failing leased command unexpectedly succeeded\n' >&2
   exit 1
 fi
+grep -Fxq 'reset deb clean' "$test_root/runtime/fake-actions.log"
 [[ -f "$test_root/discarded/runs/failed-deb/metadata.json" ]]
 
 "$test_root/lab.sh" lease fedora test held -- bash -c 'sleep 2' &