diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 37d3292..6e97a8b 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -4,6 +4,25 @@ Godot 4 game project. Science-fiction rogue-lite: strategy-forward
 mech auto-battler with a light action layer and a nurturing
 base-builder meta.
 
+## Persistent memory
+
+`persistent-memory.md` at the repo root captures durable intent and
+supporting evidence (goals, decisions, foot-gun warnings, in-flight
+state) across context resets. Read it at session start; treat it as
+one input alongside this CLAUDE.md and the auto-memory system, not
+as the single source of truth.
+
+It is a lean **index**: the dated log sections keep each over-threshold
+entry's full body in `persistent-memory.d/<slug>.md`. Pull a detail
+file only when its index line is relevant to your work — never
+bulk-read `persistent-memory.d/`.
+
+When you commit, include any pending `persistent-memory.md` and
+`persistent-memory.d/` updates in the same commit (stage them
+alongside whatever else is being committed). Never leave them as a
+floating uncommitted change while shipping other work — durable memory
+that lags the code defeats its own purpose.
+
 ## Design canon (read before designing anything)
 
 The design documents are canonical and live in the advisor repo,
diff --git a/persistent-memory.d/2026-08-07-freeze-meter-variant.md b/persistent-memory.d/2026-08-07-freeze-meter-variant.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d56e4a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/persistent-memory.d/2026-08-07-freeze-meter-variant.md
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# 2026-08-07 — Freeze charge meter adopted as the card-time playtest variant
+
+**Status: playtest variant, NOT canon.** Ratification into the advisor
+repo's CONCEPT.md is deferred until the operator's falsification-playtest
+verdict — tracked at commit `73f84e7` (whose message records the pending
+state) and the advisor repo's CONCEPT.md § Open questions #0 (the greybox
+work tracker).
+
+## The mechanic
+
+A "Freeze" charge (meter) grows while the hand is closed, drains while
+open. Its level maps to bands, best to worst:
+
+- **FROZEN** (level ≥ 45%): true pause (`SceneTree.paused`).
+- **THAW** (≥ 18%): slow-mo ramping back to full speed as it drains, on
+  an acceleration curve (`thaw_curve` 2.2 — hangs slow, then rushes).
+- **REALTIME** (≥ 10%): hand open, world at full speed.
+- **UNAVAILABLE** (below): the hand will not open at all; a drained-open
+  hand force-closes.
+
+Opening with a full meter buys the whole ladder (~1.65s freeze → ~0.8s
+thaw → ~0.5s realtime at defaults: cap 3.0s, drain 1.0/s, regen 0.4/s).
+Closing the hand spools time back up over `release_thaw_s` (0.5s) instead
+of snapping. All rates/bands are `@export` knobs; M flips live to the
+original unlimited-toggle variant for A/B.
+
+## Why (KB-grounded pressure test, 2026-08-07)
+
+- **Kills a latent dominant strategy**: unlimited freeze made "open the
+  hand as a free tactical pause" always-optimal (Schell: rework rules so
+  a dominant strategy stops being dominant; aligns with CONCEPT.md's
+  anti-dominant-strategy posture). The empty-meter lockout also closes
+  the Space-spam refreeze exploit found during the pressure test.
+- **Tension cycle**: freeze→thaw→realtime is Schell's
+  rising-tension-then-release loop in miniature, inside every hand-open.
+- **Temporal triangularity**: play one card early (safe) vs chain deeper
+  into the thaw (greedy) — stacks with belt-depth pricing post-greybox.
+- **Difficulty/accessibility axis**: meter size / regen / thaw length are
+  one-scalar difficulty knobs that never touch enemy content — can't
+  collide with the invincibility laws. Generous-to-infinite freeze is the
+  accessibility floor.
+- **Honesty note**: the KB surfaced nothing directly on decision timers /
+  time pressure (retrieval miss) — grounding is flow/tension/triangularity/
+  dominant-strategy material, adjacent but not a direct verdict.
+
+## Canon tension to watch in playtest
+
+"Attention is spent ON cards, not during them" (pillar 1, gentlest action
+skill): a tight freeze window would turn the hand into a reflex test. The
+generous default + continuous thaw (never a cliff) is the mitigation; the
+ramp prices dithering and deep chains, not basic use.
+
+## Evidence chain
+
+Pressure test + operator "A for now" directive: session 2026-08-07.
+Implementation: `73f84e7` (meter + bands), `3d2410c` (release ramp +
+thaw curve). Operator early verdict: "that DOES feel very good", "ramp
+feels good too… starting to feel game-like".
diff --git a/persistent-memory.md b/persistent-memory.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..184ccf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/persistent-memory.md
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+# Persistent memory — urm03 (U R M03)
+
+_Last updated: 2026-08-07_
+
+> **Always check for `/tmp/m03-dev-handoff.md`** — if it exists and its
+> `Written:` stamp is under an hour old, read it (it carries the in-flight
+> handoff from the previous session), then delete it. Older than an hour:
+> stale — delete it unread.
+
+## Repo purpose
+
+Implementation repo for **U R M03** (Godot 4.7.1): the strategy-forward
+mech auto-battler rogue-lite. Design canon lives in the advisor repo (see
+CLAUDE.md); this repo builds what canon ratifies. Current mission is the
+greybox falsifier (ROADMAP.md v1) that tests the design's three core bets.
+
+## Tools and conventions
+
+- Smoke gate: `~/bin/godot --headless --path . res://tests/smoke.tscn`
+  (exit 0 pass / 1 fail; run 3x to catch flakes). After adding new
+  scenes/assets, import first: `~/bin/godot --headless --import --path .`
+- New GDScript files: run the headless import BEFORE committing so
+  Godot's `.uid` sidecars land in the SAME commit as their scripts (see
+  Tried and abandoned, 2026-08-07).
+
+## Current state / in-flight
+
+_As of 2026-08-07:_
+
+- **Greybox build COMPLETE** at `1976149`, pushed to gitea (vh/urm03) —
+  all five build capabilities live: arena + positioning-only piloting,
+  auto-fire KINETIC weapon, cards + Freeze-charge meter + thaw/release
+  ramps, KINETIC+HEAT chemistry row with authorship-loud feedback stack
+  (hitstop + hues meeting + `_ph` sting), grunt swarm + self-heating
+  burster. Headless smoke gate green 3/3.
+- **Awaiting the falsification playtest** (ROADMAP capability 6):
+  operator verdicts on the three bets — positioning↔build interaction,
+  card-freeze rhythm, chemistry delight. Early signal on bet 2 is
+  positive: freeze meter + release ramp "feels very good" / "starting to
+  feel game-like" (operator, 2026-08-07). Tuning everywhere still open.
+- Operator hit a pull conflict on the Mac (untracked `.uid` files vs
+  `1976149`) — fix being applied this session; an operator-surfaced
+  issue is expected next.
+- After verdicts: draft the CONCEPT.md canon entries in the advisor repo
+  (freeze-meter ratification + whatever else the playtest settles).
+
+## Recent decisions
+
+- `[2026-08-06]` Greybox discipline: direct implementation + headless
+  smoke gate; contract/heid ceremony skipped — falsifier code's real
+  review is the operator playtest.
+- `[2026-08-07]` Freeze charge meter adopted as the card-time variant
+  for playtest (banded ladder, A/B vs unlimited toggle on M); canon
+  ratification deferred pending playtest verdict — tracked at commit
+  `73f84e7` + advisor repo CONCEPT.md § Open questions #0.
+  → `persistent-memory.d/2026-08-07-freeze-meter-variant.md`
+- `[2026-08-07]` Detonations are symmetric — they damage enemies AND
+  the mech in radius: one grammar on both sides; heat play prices
+  standing close (`1976149`).
+- `[2026-08-06]` Placeholder tag hues: KINETIC pale steel-blue, HEAT
+  orange — canon assigns no tag colors yet (naming/color pass parked
+  post-greybox).
+
+## Tried and abandoned
+
+- `[2026-08-07]` `Engine.time_scale = 0` as the freeze — fake: physics
+  still steps with delta 0 on 4.7 (probed headless), so delta-independent
+  logic (heat thresholds, contact callbacks) kept firing while "frozen".
+  Freeze = `SceneTree.paused` + hand on `PROCESS_MODE_ALWAYS`;
+  `time_scale` only for dilation > 0 (`c340b7b`).
+- `[2026-08-07]` Committing new scripts without their `.uid` sidecars —
+  the Mac editor generated its own untracked copies and the next
+  `git pull` refused to merge over them. Import headless before
+  committing so `.uid` files ride the same commit as their scripts.