diff --git a/services/h2o-decision-front/README.md b/services/h2o-decision-front/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb41ace
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/h2o-decision-front/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# h2o decision front
+
+The front of the h2o-lightning-4b decision seat on fv-ml1 (seat swap ordered by Prime 2026-10-12, through brokkr).
+`front.py` sits in front of the vendor's **unmodified** `h2o_lightning_shim.py`, which sits in front of stock vLLM
+0.30.0. It adds what the seat contract needs and the vendor stack lacks:
+
+- **Admission** (infra-hermes's `tools/h2o-admission/admission_proxy.py` @ 30f36f2, logic unchanged): count every
+  decision request with h2o's own tokenizer over the shim's own renders, and refuse over 32,000 tokens with 422 + the
+  count. The shim would otherwise trim silently.
+- **The seat's bearer token** on everything but `GET /health`, as intern-decision-serve has.
+- **`/decide` and `/decide/shared` continuity** for albok-nemi's sensitivity judge: intern-decision-serve's own
+  mapping (one Jev `choice` question per decision, calls of at most 16, fields `q`/`q1..qN`), re-keyed into the semif
+  result shape (`results[i].native.probabilities[option id]`). `orderings` other than `none` → 422.
+- **`/health`** with `model: {name, source, revision}`, which the judge stamps into its cache key.
+
+`run.sh` runs the shim (loopback) and the front in one container (`python:3.12-slim`, host network). Stacks copy both
+files into `conf/front/`: `stacks/h2o-eval` (TEMPORARY, GPU 3, :8034) today.
+
+Verified 2026-10-12 1300 on the eval seat: 401 without the token; `/decide/shared` in the judge's shape; a planted
+personal record → `personal` p_yes .911, a neutral note → .056 (n=1 each, smoke test only); 40,088 tokens → 422 with
+the count; `/v1/systemone` passthrough with `_admission` counts; reachable from nh3-dev.
diff --git a/services/h2o-decision-front/front.py b/services/h2o-decision-front/front.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3c04ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/h2o-decision-front/front.py
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""The front of the h2o-lightning-4b decision seat (fv-ml1). Stdlib only.
+
+It sits in front of the UNMODIFIED shipped h2o_lightning_shim.py (which sits in front of stock vLLM 0.30.0) and adds
+the three things the seat contract needs and the vendor stack does not have:
+
+1. ADMISSION (from infra-hermes's tools/h2o-admission/admission_proxy.py @ 30f36f2, logic unchanged): the shim
+   silently head-and-tail-trims state above ~32,000 tokens, so every decision request is counted first with h2o's own
+   tokenizer (vLLM /tokenize over the shim's own per-question renders) and refused with 422 + the count when either the
+   largest prompt or the shim-accounted total (shared head + tails) exceeds FRONT_CAP. Refused, never trimmed.
+2. THE SEAT'S AUTH: a bearer token on everything but GET /health, as intern-decision-serve has (OPEN_PATHS /health).
+3. CONTINUITY for /decide and /decide/shared (semif's surface, albok-nemi's sensitivity judge): each decision becomes
+   one Jev `choice` question exactly as intern-decision-serve builds it ({type: choice, instructions: question,
+   criteria: {option id: description}}), asked through /v1/systemone in calls of at most 16 questions, and re-keyed
+   into the semif result shape the judge reads (results[i].native.probabilities[option id]). orderings other than
+   "none" are refused (422): the judge does its own forward/reverse. /health carries {model: {name, revision}}, which
+   the judge stamps into its cache key.
+
+Env: FRONT_TOKEN (required), FRONT_BIND, FRONT_PORT, FRONT_SHIM (shim URL), FRONT_VLLM (vLLM URL), FRONT_CAP (32000),
+FRONT_SHIM_FILE (vendor shim path, imported for its renderers), FRONT_SERVE_CONFIG, FRONT_MODEL_NAME,
+FRONT_MODEL_SOURCE, FRONT_MODEL_REVISION, FRONT_MAX_DECISIONS (64).
+"""
+import hmac, importlib.util, json, os, sys, time, urllib.error, urllib.request
+from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, ThreadingHTTPServer
+
+TOKEN = os.environ["FRONT_TOKEN"]
+BIND = os.environ.get("FRONT_BIND", "127.0.0.1")
+PORT = int(os.environ.get("FRONT_PORT", "8034"))
+UP = os.environ.get("FRONT_SHIM", "http://127.0.0.1:18191")
+VLLM = os.environ.get("FRONT_VLLM", "http://127.0.0.1:18199")
+CAP = int(os.environ.get("FRONT_CAP", "32000"))
+SHIM_FILE = os.environ.get("FRONT_SHIM_FILE", "/model/h2o_lightning_shim.py")
+SERVE_CONFIG = os.environ.get("FRONT_SERVE_CONFIG", "/model/serve_config.json")
+MODEL = {"name": os.environ.get("FRONT_MODEL_NAME", "h2o-lightning-4b"),
+         "source": os.environ.get("FRONT_MODEL_SOURCE", "h2oai/h2o-lightning-4b"),
+         "revision": os.environ.get("FRONT_MODEL_REVISION", "b43f759b6385d21182f87c3829931ec3d4dfa98a")}
+MAX_DECISIONS = int(os.environ.get("FRONT_MAX_DECISIONS", "64"))
+MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL = 16
+MIN_OPTIONS, MAX_OPTIONS = 2, 16
+
+spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("h2o_shim", SHIM_FILE)
+shim_mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+sys.modules["h2o_shim"] = shim_mod
+spec.loader.exec_module(shim_mod)
+CFG = shim_mod.Contract(json.load(open(SERVE_CONFIG)))
+CFG.max_state_tokens = 10**9   # count the UNTRUNCATED render; the shim's own trim is what admission polices
+
+
+class Refused(Exception):
+    def __init__(self, code, obj):
+        super().__init__(obj)
+        self.code, self.obj = code, obj
+
+
+def sent_tokens(body):
+    """(max tokens of one question's prompt, shim-accounted total = shared head + tails), counted by vLLM's own
+    tokenizer over the shim's own per-question renders (admission_proxy.py @ 30f36f2, unchanged)."""
+    state = body.get("state") or ""
+    if isinstance(state, (dict, list)):
+        state = json.dumps(state)
+    state_txt = shim_mod.render_state(state, CFG.state_compact)
+    all_toks = []
+    for qid, q in body.get("questions", {}).items():
+        prompt_text = CFG.question_prompt(state_txt, q, qid)[0]
+        req = urllib.request.Request(VLLM + "/tokenize",
+            data=json.dumps({"model": CFG.model, "prompt": prompt_text, "add_special_tokens": False}).encode(),
+            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"})
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30) as r:
+            all_toks.append(json.loads(r.read())["tokens"])
+    mx = max(len(t) for t in all_toks)
+    shared = shim_mod.common_prefix_len(all_toks)
+    return mx, shared + sum(len(t) - shared for t in all_toks)
+
+
+def admit(body):
+    try:
+        mx, total = sent_tokens(body)
+    except Refused:
+        raise
+    except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+        raise Refused(502, {"error": f"admission: tokenizer count failed: {type(e).__name__}: {e}"})
+    if mx > CAP or total > CAP:
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"admission: {mx} max-prompt / {total} total tokens against the {CAP}-token seat "
+                                     f"limit; refused, not trimmed", "max_prompt_tokens": mx,
+                            "shim_accounted_total": total, "cap": CAP})
+    return mx, total
+
+
+def post_up(path, obj):
+    req = urllib.request.Request(UP + path, data=json.dumps(obj).encode(), headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+                                 method="POST")
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=300) as r:
+            return r.status, json.loads(r.read())
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        raw = e.read() or b"{}"
+        try:
+            return e.code, json.loads(raw)
+        except ValueError:
+            return e.code, {"error": raw[:300].decode(errors="replace")}
+
+
+def systemone(body):
+    mx, total = admit(body)
+    code, obj = post_up("/v1/systemone", body)
+    if isinstance(obj, dict):
+        obj.setdefault("_admission", {}).update({"max_prompt_tokens": mx, "shim_accounted_total": total, "cap": CAP})
+    return code, obj
+
+
+def check_decision(d, i):
+    if not isinstance(d, dict) or not isinstance(d.get("id"), str) or not isinstance(d.get("question"), str):
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {i}: needs string id and question"})
+    opts = d.get("options")
+    if not isinstance(opts, list) or not MIN_OPTIONS <= len(opts) <= MAX_OPTIONS:
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: options must contain {MIN_OPTIONS}-{MAX_OPTIONS} entries"})
+    if any(not isinstance(o, dict) or not isinstance(o.get("id"), str) or not isinstance(o.get("description"), str)
+           for o in opts):
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: every option needs string id and description"})
+    if len({o["id"] for o in opts}) != len(opts):
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: option ids must be unique"})
+    if d.get("orderings", "none") != "none":
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: orderings {d.get('orderings')!r} is not served by this "
+                                     "seat (h2o); send orderings 'none' and combine on the client"})
+
+
+def decide(state, decisions):
+    """semif /decide/shared on top of /v1/systemone: intern-decision-serve's mapping (one Jev choice question per
+    decision, calls of at most 16, fields q / q1..qN), re-keyed into its result shape."""
+    if not isinstance(decisions, list) or not 1 <= len(decisions) <= MAX_DECISIONS:
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decisions must be a list of 1..{MAX_DECISIONS}"})
+    for i, d in enumerate(decisions):
+        check_decision(d, i)
+    started, results, sizes, tokens = time.perf_counter(), [], [], []
+    for k in range(0, len(decisions), MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL):
+        chunk = decisions[k:k + MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL]
+        fields = ["q"] if len(chunk) == 1 else [f"q{j + 1}" for j in range(len(chunk))]
+        questions = {f: {"type": "choice", "instructions": d["question"],
+                         "criteria": {o["id"]: o["description"] for o in d["options"]}} for f, d in zip(fields, chunk)}
+        code, resp = systemone({"state": state, "questions": questions})
+        if code != 200:
+            raise Refused(code, resp if isinstance(resp, dict) else {"error": str(resp)})
+        sizes.append(len(chunk))
+        tokens.append((resp.get("usage") or {}).get("input_tokens"))
+        for f, d in zip(fields, chunk):
+            answer = (resp.get("answers") or {}).get(f)
+            ids = [o["id"] for o in d["options"]]
+            probs = (answer or {}).get("probabilities") or {}
+            if answer is None or any(i not in probs for i in ids):
+                raise Refused(500, {"error": f"scoring_failed: the model's answer for field {f!r} lacks option ids"})
+            results.append({"id": d["id"], "option_ids": ids, "probabilities": [probs[i] for i in ids],
+                            "top": answer.get("choice"), "confidence": answer.get("confidence"),
+                            "calibration": resp.get("calibration"), "native": answer,
+                            "input_tokens": tokens[-1], "model": MODEL,
+                            "call": {"index": len(sizes) - 1, "field": f, "questions": len(chunk)}})
+    return {"results": results, "timing": {"total_seconds": time.perf_counter() - started, "calls": len(sizes),
+                                           "questions_per_call": sizes, "input_tokens": tokens}}
+
+
+class H(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
+    protocol_version = "HTTP/1.1"
+
+    def log_message(self, fmt, *args):
+        sys.stderr.write("%s - %s\n" % (self.address_string(), fmt % args))
+
+    def _send(self, code, obj):
+        b = json.dumps(obj).encode()
+        self.send_response(code)
+        self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+        self.send_header("Content-Length", str(len(b)))
+        self.end_headers()
+        self.wfile.write(b)
+
+    def _authorized(self):
+        scheme, _, tok = (self.headers.get("Authorization") or "").partition(" ")
+        return scheme.lower() == "bearer" and hmac.compare_digest(tok.strip().encode(), TOKEN.encode())
+
+    def do_GET(self):
+        path = self.path.split("?")[0]
+        if path == "/health":
+            try:
+                with urllib.request.urlopen(UP + "/health", timeout=10) as r:
+                    shim = json.loads(r.read())
+            except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+                return self._send(503, {"status": "unavailable", "model": MODEL, "error": f"shim: {type(e).__name__}"})
+            ok = bool(shim.get("ok"))
+            return self._send(200 if ok else 503, {
+                "status": "ok" if ok else "starting", "model": MODEL, "cap_tokens": CAP, "admission": "refuse, never trim",
+                "endpoints": ["/decide", "/decide/shared", "/v1/systemone"], "max_decisions": MAX_DECISIONS,
+                "max_questions_per_call": MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL, "orderings": ["none"], "backend": shim})
+        if not self._authorized():
+            return self._send(401, {"error": "unauthorized"})
+        if path == "/v1/models":
+            try:
+                with urllib.request.urlopen(UP + "/v1/models", timeout=10) as r:
+                    return self._send(r.status, json.loads(r.read()))
+            except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+                return self._send(e.code, {"error": "upstream"})
+        return self._send(404, {"error": "not found"})
+
+    def do_POST(self):
+        path = self.path.split("?")[0]
+        if not self._authorized():
+            return self._send(401, {"error": "unauthorized"})
+        n = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length", 0) or 0)
+        if n > 4 * 1024 * 1024:
+            return self._send(413, {"error": "body over 4 MiB"})
+        try:
+            body = json.loads(self.rfile.read(n) or b"null")
+        except ValueError:
+            return self._send(422, {"error": "body is not JSON"})
+        if not isinstance(body, dict):
+            return self._send(422, {"error": "body must be a JSON object"})
+        try:
+            if path == "/v1/systemone":
+                return self._send(*systemone(body))
+            if path == "/api/alpha/decisions":
+                admit(body)
+                return self._send(*post_up(path, body))
+            if path == "/decide/shared":
+                return self._send(200, decide(body.get("state"), body.get("decisions")))
+            if path == "/decide":
+                d = {k: body.get(k) for k in ("id", "question", "options", "orderings") if k in body}
+                out = decide(body.get("state"), [d])
+                return self._send(200, {**out["results"][0], "total_seconds": out["timing"]["total_seconds"]})
+        except Refused as r:
+            return self._send(r.code, r.obj)
+        return self._send(404, {"error": "not found"})
+
+
+ThreadingHTTPServer((BIND, PORT), H).serve_forever()
diff --git a/services/h2o-decision-front/run.sh b/services/h2o-decision-front/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a902347
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/h2o-decision-front/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# One container: the unmodified vendor shim on loopback, then the front. If either dies, the container exits and
+# Docker restarts it (restart: unless-stopped). The shim's own SHIM_* env (SHIM_NOUL_FLOOR etc.) passes through.
+set -eu
+python3 /model/h2o_lightning_shim.py --config /model/serve_config.json --vllm "$SHIM_VLLM" \
+  --host 127.0.0.1 --port "$SHIM_PORT" &
+SHIM=$!
+python3 /front/front.py &
+FRONT=$!
+wait -n "$SHIM" "$FRONT" 2>/dev/null || true
+kill "$SHIM" "$FRONT" 2>/dev/null || true
+exit 1
diff --git a/stacks/h2o-eval/README.md b/stacks/h2o-eval/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55a9abb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stacks/h2o-eval/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# h2o-eval (TEMPORARY) — fv-ml1 GPU 3, :8034
+
+h2o-lightning-4b @ b43f759b behind `services/h2o-decision-front` (copied into `conf/front/`), for albok-dev's
+re-validation of Nemi's sensitivity judge before the GPU 1 cutover (Prime 2026-10-12 via brokkr). **Remove right after
+the cutover:** GPU 3 is for transient work only (Scriberr and MIA use it).
+
+- Weights: `/tank/aimodels/h2o-lightning-4b-b43f759b` (copied from the bench kit; model.safetensors sha256
+  `2d51561f221e1549d91bd1c38b3512a1435dd32950d454a9f040f1d4d11497b6`, tokenizer.json `5f9e4d49…`, shim git oid
+  `fee7807e…`, serve_config `5e6fef1c…`: all equal to Hugging Face at b43f759b).
+- vLLM exactly as benched: `--max-model-len 40960 --max-num-seqs 16 --gpu-memory-utilization 0.1506`, vision limits as
+  the vendor's serve.sh; healthy ~3 min after `up` (graph capture), ~14.4 GB on GPU 3.
+- `.env` on the host: `FRONT_TOKEN` = intern-decision's token (= vault `albok/judge-token`).
+- Remove: `cd /opt/docker/compose/h2o-eval && docker compose down` (the weights stay for the GPU 1 seat).
diff --git a/stacks/h2o-eval/compose.yaml b/stacks/h2o-eval/compose.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6136a39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stacks/h2o-eval/compose.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# TEMPORARY h2o-lightning-4b decision seat on fv-ml1 GPU 3 (Prime 2026-10-12 via brokkr: "stand up the h2o copy on
+# gpu 3 if you need to test, it should replace the live seat as soon as possible and keep gpu3 only for transient
+# tasks"). It exists so albok-dev can re-validate Nemi's sensitivity judge on h2o before the GPU 1 cutover; REMOVE it
+# right after the cutover. INC (stacks/intern-decision) keeps serving production on GPU 1 meanwhile.
+# Serving exactly as benched (docs/pfi/decision-sweep-followon-bench-2026-10-12.md, Amendment 1): stock vLLM 0.30.0
+# + the vendor's unmodified shim + the admission front (services/h2o-decision-front, copied into conf/front).
+# Weights: /tank/aimodels/h2o-lightning-4b-b43f759b (hashes match HF at b43f759b; see the stack README).
+name: h2o-eval
+services:
+  vllm:
+    image: vllm/vllm-openai:v0.30.0
+    container_name: h2o-eval-vllm
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    ports:
+      - "127.0.0.1:18199:8000"
+    environment:
+      VLLM_USE_FLASHINFER_SAMPLER: "0"
+    volumes:
+      - /tank/aimodels/h2o-lightning-4b-b43f759b:/model:ro
+      - h2o-eval-vllm-cache:/root/.cache/vllm
+    command: ["--model", "/model", "--served-model-name", "h2oai/h2o-lightning-4b",
+              "--max-model-len", "40960", "--max-num-seqs", "16", "--gpu-memory-utilization", "0.1506",
+              "--limit-mm-per-prompt", "{\"image\": 4, \"video\": 0}",
+              "--mm-processor-kwargs", "{\"max_pixels\": 1605632}"]
+    deploy:
+      resources:
+        reservations:
+          devices:
+            - driver: nvidia
+              device_ids: ["3"]
+              capabilities: [gpu]
+  front:
+    image: python:3.12-slim
+    container_name: h2o-eval-front
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    network_mode: host
+    depends_on: [vllm]
+    env_file: .env
+    environment:
+      SHIM_VLLM: http://127.0.0.1:18199
+      SHIM_PORT: "18191"
+      SHIM_NOUL_FLOOR: "0.801"
+      FRONT_SHIM: http://127.0.0.1:18191
+      FRONT_VLLM: http://127.0.0.1:18199
+      FRONT_BIND: 0.0.0.0
+      FRONT_PORT: "8034"
+      FRONT_CAP: "32000"
+      FRONT_SHIM_FILE: /model/h2o_lightning_shim.py
+      FRONT_SERVE_CONFIG: /model/serve_config.json
+      FRONT_MODEL_REVISION: b43f759b6385d21182f87c3829931ec3d4dfa98a
+    volumes:
+      - /tank/aimodels/h2o-lightning-4b-b43f759b:/model:ro
+      - /opt/docker/conf/h2o-eval/front:/front:ro
+    command: ["bash", "/front/run.sh"]
+volumes:
+  h2o-eval-vllm-cache:
diff --git a/stacks/h2o-eval/conf/front/front.py b/stacks/h2o-eval/conf/front/front.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3c04ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stacks/h2o-eval/conf/front/front.py
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""The front of the h2o-lightning-4b decision seat (fv-ml1). Stdlib only.
+
+It sits in front of the UNMODIFIED shipped h2o_lightning_shim.py (which sits in front of stock vLLM 0.30.0) and adds
+the three things the seat contract needs and the vendor stack does not have:
+
+1. ADMISSION (from infra-hermes's tools/h2o-admission/admission_proxy.py @ 30f36f2, logic unchanged): the shim
+   silently head-and-tail-trims state above ~32,000 tokens, so every decision request is counted first with h2o's own
+   tokenizer (vLLM /tokenize over the shim's own per-question renders) and refused with 422 + the count when either the
+   largest prompt or the shim-accounted total (shared head + tails) exceeds FRONT_CAP. Refused, never trimmed.
+2. THE SEAT'S AUTH: a bearer token on everything but GET /health, as intern-decision-serve has (OPEN_PATHS /health).
+3. CONTINUITY for /decide and /decide/shared (semif's surface, albok-nemi's sensitivity judge): each decision becomes
+   one Jev `choice` question exactly as intern-decision-serve builds it ({type: choice, instructions: question,
+   criteria: {option id: description}}), asked through /v1/systemone in calls of at most 16 questions, and re-keyed
+   into the semif result shape the judge reads (results[i].native.probabilities[option id]). orderings other than
+   "none" are refused (422): the judge does its own forward/reverse. /health carries {model: {name, revision}}, which
+   the judge stamps into its cache key.
+
+Env: FRONT_TOKEN (required), FRONT_BIND, FRONT_PORT, FRONT_SHIM (shim URL), FRONT_VLLM (vLLM URL), FRONT_CAP (32000),
+FRONT_SHIM_FILE (vendor shim path, imported for its renderers), FRONT_SERVE_CONFIG, FRONT_MODEL_NAME,
+FRONT_MODEL_SOURCE, FRONT_MODEL_REVISION, FRONT_MAX_DECISIONS (64).
+"""
+import hmac, importlib.util, json, os, sys, time, urllib.error, urllib.request
+from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, ThreadingHTTPServer
+
+TOKEN = os.environ["FRONT_TOKEN"]
+BIND = os.environ.get("FRONT_BIND", "127.0.0.1")
+PORT = int(os.environ.get("FRONT_PORT", "8034"))
+UP = os.environ.get("FRONT_SHIM", "http://127.0.0.1:18191")
+VLLM = os.environ.get("FRONT_VLLM", "http://127.0.0.1:18199")
+CAP = int(os.environ.get("FRONT_CAP", "32000"))
+SHIM_FILE = os.environ.get("FRONT_SHIM_FILE", "/model/h2o_lightning_shim.py")
+SERVE_CONFIG = os.environ.get("FRONT_SERVE_CONFIG", "/model/serve_config.json")
+MODEL = {"name": os.environ.get("FRONT_MODEL_NAME", "h2o-lightning-4b"),
+         "source": os.environ.get("FRONT_MODEL_SOURCE", "h2oai/h2o-lightning-4b"),
+         "revision": os.environ.get("FRONT_MODEL_REVISION", "b43f759b6385d21182f87c3829931ec3d4dfa98a")}
+MAX_DECISIONS = int(os.environ.get("FRONT_MAX_DECISIONS", "64"))
+MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL = 16
+MIN_OPTIONS, MAX_OPTIONS = 2, 16
+
+spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("h2o_shim", SHIM_FILE)
+shim_mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+sys.modules["h2o_shim"] = shim_mod
+spec.loader.exec_module(shim_mod)
+CFG = shim_mod.Contract(json.load(open(SERVE_CONFIG)))
+CFG.max_state_tokens = 10**9   # count the UNTRUNCATED render; the shim's own trim is what admission polices
+
+
+class Refused(Exception):
+    def __init__(self, code, obj):
+        super().__init__(obj)
+        self.code, self.obj = code, obj
+
+
+def sent_tokens(body):
+    """(max tokens of one question's prompt, shim-accounted total = shared head + tails), counted by vLLM's own
+    tokenizer over the shim's own per-question renders (admission_proxy.py @ 30f36f2, unchanged)."""
+    state = body.get("state") or ""
+    if isinstance(state, (dict, list)):
+        state = json.dumps(state)
+    state_txt = shim_mod.render_state(state, CFG.state_compact)
+    all_toks = []
+    for qid, q in body.get("questions", {}).items():
+        prompt_text = CFG.question_prompt(state_txt, q, qid)[0]
+        req = urllib.request.Request(VLLM + "/tokenize",
+            data=json.dumps({"model": CFG.model, "prompt": prompt_text, "add_special_tokens": False}).encode(),
+            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"})
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30) as r:
+            all_toks.append(json.loads(r.read())["tokens"])
+    mx = max(len(t) for t in all_toks)
+    shared = shim_mod.common_prefix_len(all_toks)
+    return mx, shared + sum(len(t) - shared for t in all_toks)
+
+
+def admit(body):
+    try:
+        mx, total = sent_tokens(body)
+    except Refused:
+        raise
+    except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+        raise Refused(502, {"error": f"admission: tokenizer count failed: {type(e).__name__}: {e}"})
+    if mx > CAP or total > CAP:
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"admission: {mx} max-prompt / {total} total tokens against the {CAP}-token seat "
+                                     f"limit; refused, not trimmed", "max_prompt_tokens": mx,
+                            "shim_accounted_total": total, "cap": CAP})
+    return mx, total
+
+
+def post_up(path, obj):
+    req = urllib.request.Request(UP + path, data=json.dumps(obj).encode(), headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+                                 method="POST")
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=300) as r:
+            return r.status, json.loads(r.read())
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        raw = e.read() or b"{}"
+        try:
+            return e.code, json.loads(raw)
+        except ValueError:
+            return e.code, {"error": raw[:300].decode(errors="replace")}
+
+
+def systemone(body):
+    mx, total = admit(body)
+    code, obj = post_up("/v1/systemone", body)
+    if isinstance(obj, dict):
+        obj.setdefault("_admission", {}).update({"max_prompt_tokens": mx, "shim_accounted_total": total, "cap": CAP})
+    return code, obj
+
+
+def check_decision(d, i):
+    if not isinstance(d, dict) or not isinstance(d.get("id"), str) or not isinstance(d.get("question"), str):
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {i}: needs string id and question"})
+    opts = d.get("options")
+    if not isinstance(opts, list) or not MIN_OPTIONS <= len(opts) <= MAX_OPTIONS:
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: options must contain {MIN_OPTIONS}-{MAX_OPTIONS} entries"})
+    if any(not isinstance(o, dict) or not isinstance(o.get("id"), str) or not isinstance(o.get("description"), str)
+           for o in opts):
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: every option needs string id and description"})
+    if len({o["id"] for o in opts}) != len(opts):
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: option ids must be unique"})
+    if d.get("orderings", "none") != "none":
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decision {d['id']!r}: orderings {d.get('orderings')!r} is not served by this "
+                                     "seat (h2o); send orderings 'none' and combine on the client"})
+
+
+def decide(state, decisions):
+    """semif /decide/shared on top of /v1/systemone: intern-decision-serve's mapping (one Jev choice question per
+    decision, calls of at most 16, fields q / q1..qN), re-keyed into its result shape."""
+    if not isinstance(decisions, list) or not 1 <= len(decisions) <= MAX_DECISIONS:
+        raise Refused(422, {"error": f"decisions must be a list of 1..{MAX_DECISIONS}"})
+    for i, d in enumerate(decisions):
+        check_decision(d, i)
+    started, results, sizes, tokens = time.perf_counter(), [], [], []
+    for k in range(0, len(decisions), MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL):
+        chunk = decisions[k:k + MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL]
+        fields = ["q"] if len(chunk) == 1 else [f"q{j + 1}" for j in range(len(chunk))]
+        questions = {f: {"type": "choice", "instructions": d["question"],
+                         "criteria": {o["id"]: o["description"] for o in d["options"]}} for f, d in zip(fields, chunk)}
+        code, resp = systemone({"state": state, "questions": questions})
+        if code != 200:
+            raise Refused(code, resp if isinstance(resp, dict) else {"error": str(resp)})
+        sizes.append(len(chunk))
+        tokens.append((resp.get("usage") or {}).get("input_tokens"))
+        for f, d in zip(fields, chunk):
+            answer = (resp.get("answers") or {}).get(f)
+            ids = [o["id"] for o in d["options"]]
+            probs = (answer or {}).get("probabilities") or {}
+            if answer is None or any(i not in probs for i in ids):
+                raise Refused(500, {"error": f"scoring_failed: the model's answer for field {f!r} lacks option ids"})
+            results.append({"id": d["id"], "option_ids": ids, "probabilities": [probs[i] for i in ids],
+                            "top": answer.get("choice"), "confidence": answer.get("confidence"),
+                            "calibration": resp.get("calibration"), "native": answer,
+                            "input_tokens": tokens[-1], "model": MODEL,
+                            "call": {"index": len(sizes) - 1, "field": f, "questions": len(chunk)}})
+    return {"results": results, "timing": {"total_seconds": time.perf_counter() - started, "calls": len(sizes),
+                                           "questions_per_call": sizes, "input_tokens": tokens}}
+
+
+class H(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
+    protocol_version = "HTTP/1.1"
+
+    def log_message(self, fmt, *args):
+        sys.stderr.write("%s - %s\n" % (self.address_string(), fmt % args))
+
+    def _send(self, code, obj):
+        b = json.dumps(obj).encode()
+        self.send_response(code)
+        self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+        self.send_header("Content-Length", str(len(b)))
+        self.end_headers()
+        self.wfile.write(b)
+
+    def _authorized(self):
+        scheme, _, tok = (self.headers.get("Authorization") or "").partition(" ")
+        return scheme.lower() == "bearer" and hmac.compare_digest(tok.strip().encode(), TOKEN.encode())
+
+    def do_GET(self):
+        path = self.path.split("?")[0]
+        if path == "/health":
+            try:
+                with urllib.request.urlopen(UP + "/health", timeout=10) as r:
+                    shim = json.loads(r.read())
+            except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+                return self._send(503, {"status": "unavailable", "model": MODEL, "error": f"shim: {type(e).__name__}"})
+            ok = bool(shim.get("ok"))
+            return self._send(200 if ok else 503, {
+                "status": "ok" if ok else "starting", "model": MODEL, "cap_tokens": CAP, "admission": "refuse, never trim",
+                "endpoints": ["/decide", "/decide/shared", "/v1/systemone"], "max_decisions": MAX_DECISIONS,
+                "max_questions_per_call": MAX_QUESTIONS_PER_CALL, "orderings": ["none"], "backend": shim})
+        if not self._authorized():
+            return self._send(401, {"error": "unauthorized"})
+        if path == "/v1/models":
+            try:
+                with urllib.request.urlopen(UP + "/v1/models", timeout=10) as r:
+                    return self._send(r.status, json.loads(r.read()))
+            except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+                return self._send(e.code, {"error": "upstream"})
+        return self._send(404, {"error": "not found"})
+
+    def do_POST(self):
+        path = self.path.split("?")[0]
+        if not self._authorized():
+            return self._send(401, {"error": "unauthorized"})
+        n = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length", 0) or 0)
+        if n > 4 * 1024 * 1024:
+            return self._send(413, {"error": "body over 4 MiB"})
+        try:
+            body = json.loads(self.rfile.read(n) or b"null")
+        except ValueError:
+            return self._send(422, {"error": "body is not JSON"})
+        if not isinstance(body, dict):
+            return self._send(422, {"error": "body must be a JSON object"})
+        try:
+            if path == "/v1/systemone":
+                return self._send(*systemone(body))
+            if path == "/api/alpha/decisions":
+                admit(body)
+                return self._send(*post_up(path, body))
+            if path == "/decide/shared":
+                return self._send(200, decide(body.get("state"), body.get("decisions")))
+            if path == "/decide":
+                d = {k: body.get(k) for k in ("id", "question", "options", "orderings") if k in body}
+                out = decide(body.get("state"), [d])
+                return self._send(200, {**out["results"][0], "total_seconds": out["timing"]["total_seconds"]})
+        except Refused as r:
+            return self._send(r.code, r.obj)
+        return self._send(404, {"error": "not found"})
+
+
+ThreadingHTTPServer((BIND, PORT), H).serve_forever()
diff --git a/stacks/h2o-eval/conf/front/run.sh b/stacks/h2o-eval/conf/front/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a902347
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stacks/h2o-eval/conf/front/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# One container: the unmodified vendor shim on loopback, then the front. If either dies, the container exits and
+# Docker restarts it (restart: unless-stopped). The shim's own SHIM_* env (SHIM_NOUL_FLOOR etc.) passes through.
+set -eu
+python3 /model/h2o_lightning_shim.py --config /model/serve_config.json --vllm "$SHIM_VLLM" \
+  --host 127.0.0.1 --port "$SHIM_PORT" &
+SHIM=$!
+python3 /front/front.py &
+FRONT=$!
+wait -n "$SHIM" "$FRONT" 2>/dev/null || true
+kill "$SHIM" "$FRONT" 2>/dev/null || true
+exit 1