# U2 (marks) landed — one primitive for three mechanisms

_2026-09-21 · booth_

**U2 (marks) landed.** One primitive replacing three
mechanisms. `pick` / `note` / `flag` in one `.marks.json` per booth, one read
path (`marks_for`), one openness predicate (`open_marks`), rendered beside the
artifact on the tile, at full size in the zoom, and in the panel. `flag` and
`note` had no write path at all before this — the selection loop
(`golden-candidates`, `sindra-finalists`, the `pancake-*` ladders) was running
through chat. 242 tests. Details worth carrying: `asks.py` kept `normalize_ask`
and gained `build_answer` (the 2026-09-09 partial-answer semantics preserved by
moving, not rewriting) and LOST its five sidecar-storage functions;
`GET /b/<n>/marks.json` was added because remote sessions polled
`<stem>.answer.json` over HTTP and the sidecar's removal would have taken that
capability with it; `/b/<n>/asks` 308s to `/marks`.