diff --git a/conformance/DIVERGENCES.md b/conformance/DIVERGENCES.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b6b71c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conformance/DIVERGENCES.md
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+# DIVERGENCES — where the two parsers disagree
+
+Each entry is a minimized program that one parser accepts and the other
+rejects (JS = the parse phase of `js/mpl.js`; ANTLR = the grammar via
+`./gradlew parseCheck`). Divergences are recorded, never auto-fixed —
+which parser is right is a ratification question for Stage 3. Rulings
+happen in `JUDGMENT_CALLS.md`.
+
+Entries below are appended by `conformance/harness/fuzz.mjs`
+(deterministic: seed and index reproduce the original program), except
+where a different source is noted.
+
+## Divergence (found during C3 corpus construction)
+
+```
+✎ "drop\qme";
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: accepts (prints `dropqme` — an unknown string escape
+  drops the backslash silently)
+- ANTLR grammar: rejects (token recognition error at: '"drop\q')
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 49)
+
+```
+
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_unexpected at 1:1)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 11)
+
+```
+"a\zb"
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: accepts (runs)
+- ANTLR grammar: rejects (1:0: token recognition error at: '"a\z')
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 86)
+
+```
+((f);)
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:5)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 247)
+
+```
+(42;)
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 119)
+
+```
+(a;)
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:3)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 9)
+
+```
+(f∘g)
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:3)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 144)
+
+```
+({"",(a)})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:5)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 456)
+
+```
+({"a b",2})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:8)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 182)
+
+```
+({(007),true})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:8)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 284)
+
+```
+({(1),⊥})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:6)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 276)
+
+```
+({5,"a b"})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 427)
+
+```
+({b:y})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 101)
+
+```
+({c,0.5})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 425)
+
+```
+({g:⊥})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 194)
+
+```
+({x,(5)})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 212)
+
+```
+({y:"hi"})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 25)
+
+```
+({y:0})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 347)
+
+```
+({{},{}})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:5)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 52)
+
+```
+({λ})
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: rejects (err_expect at 1:4)
+- ANTLR grammar: accepts (parses)
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 76)
+
+```
+λ(b):(42)
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: accepts (runs)
+- ANTLR grammar: rejects (1:4: mismatched input ':' expecting {<EOF>, ';', PARALLEL, LEFTARROW, IMPLIES, OR, AND, '=', NEQ, '<', '>', LEQ, GEQ, APPROX, SIM, '+', '-', TIMES, DIV, AST, COMPOSE, DEFINITION, HANDLE, ALLOC, RELEASE, '(', '|', MIDDOT})
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 13)
+
+```
+λ(f):42
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: accepts (runs)
+- ANTLR grammar: rejects (1:4: mismatched input ':' expecting {<EOF>, ';', PARALLEL, LEFTARROW, IMPLIES, OR, AND, '=', NEQ, '<', '>', LEQ, GEQ, APPROX, SIM, '+', '-', TIMES, DIV, AST, COMPOSE, DEFINITION, HANDLE, ALLOC, RELEASE, '(', '|', MIDDOT})
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
+
+## Divergence (fuzz seed 20260709, index 29)
+
+```
+λ(y):f
+```
+
+- JS interpreter: accepts (runs)
+- ANTLR grammar: rejects (1:4: mismatched input ':' expecting {<EOF>, ';', PARALLEL, LEFTARROW, IMPLIES, OR, AND, '=', NEQ, '<', '>', LEQ, GEQ, APPROX, SIM, '+', '-', TIMES, DIV, AST, COMPOSE, DEFINITION, HANDLE, ALLOC, RELEASE, '(', '|', MIDDOT})
+- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)
diff --git a/conformance/harness/fuzz.mjs b/conformance/harness/fuzz.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b56eb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conformance/harness/fuzz.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,325 @@
+// Differential fuzzer: generates bounded, seeded, deterministic M0-core
+// programs and feeds each to both parsers — the JS interpreter's parse
+// phase and the ANTLR grammar via the ParseCheck CLI. Accept/reject
+// disagreements are minimized (greedy unit removal preserving the
+// disagreement) and appended to conformance/DIVERGENCES.md.
+//
+// Divergences are recorded, never auto-fixed: which parser is right is a
+// ratification question (Stage 3), not a fuzzer's call.
+//
+// Usage: node conformance/harness/fuzz.mjs [--seed=N] [--n=N]
+// Defaults: seed 20260709, n 500. Same seed + n → identical stdout, so
+// two consecutive runs diff clean (the DIVERGENCES.md append is
+// deduplicated by repro text and does not affect stdout).
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { runMPL } = require('../../js/mpl.js');
+
+const HERE = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const REPO = path.join(HERE, '..', '..');
+const DIVERGENCES = path.join(HERE, '..', 'DIVERGENCES.md');
+
+const argOf = (name, dflt) => {
+  const a = process.argv.find(x => x.startsWith(`--${name}=`));
+  return a ? Number(a.split('=')[1]) : dflt;
+};
+const SEED = argOf('seed', 20260709);
+const N = argOf('n', 500);
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------- PRNG --
+function mulberry32(seed) {
+  let a = seed >>> 0;
+  return () => {
+    a |= 0; a = (a + 0x6D2B79F5) | 0;
+    let t = Math.imul(a ^ (a >>> 15), 1 | a);
+    t = (t + Math.imul(t ^ (t >>> 7), 61 | t)) ^ t;
+    return ((t ^ (t >>> 14)) >>> 0) / 4294967296;
+  };
+}
+
+// ----------------------------------------------------------- generator --
+// Sticks to the M0-core surface SURFACE.md documents (no records, sets,
+// modules, …) plus "spice" templates probing known-risky syntax edges.
+// ‖ appears only as a parse probe; its semantics stay unpinned (decision 6).
+function makeGen(rng) {
+  const pick = xs => xs[Math.floor(rng() * xs.length)];
+  const ids = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'f', 'g', 'x', 'y'];
+  const nums = ['0', '1', '2', '5', '42', '1.5', '0.5', '007'];
+  const strs = ['"hi"', '"a b"', '"x\\ny"', '"مرحبا"', '""'];
+
+  function atom(d) {
+    const r = rng();
+    if (d <= 0) return r < 0.5 ? pick(nums) : pick(ids);
+    if (r < 0.25) return pick(nums);
+    if (r < 0.35) return pick(strs);
+    if (r < 0.45) return pick(ids);
+    if (r < 0.52) return pick(['true', 'false', '⊥']);
+    if (r < 0.62) return `[${list(d - 1)}]`;
+    if (r < 0.72) return `(${expr(d - 1)})`;
+    if (r < 0.80) return `λ${params()}: ${expr(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.86) return `∀ ${pick(ids)} ∈ [${list(d - 1)}]: ${expr(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.93) return `{${expr(d - 1)}; ${expr(d - 1)}}`;
+    return `${pick(ids)}(${rng() < 0.2 ? '' : list(d - 1)})`;
+  }
+  function params() {
+    const n = rng() < 0.7 ? 1 : 2;
+    const ps = Array.from({ length: n }, () => pick(ids)).join(', ');
+    return rng() < 0.15 ? `${ps} ∈ ℕ` : ps;
+  }
+  function list(d) {
+    const n = Math.floor(rng() * 3);
+    return Array.from({ length: n + 1 }, () => expr(Math.max(0, d))).join(', ');
+  }
+  function expr(d) {
+    if (d <= 0) return atom(0);
+    const r = rng();
+    if (r < 0.30) return `${expr(d - 1)} ${pick(['+', '-', '×', '÷', '/', '∗'])} ${atom(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.42) return `${atom(d - 1)} ${pick(['=', '≠', '<', '>', '≤', '≥'])} ${atom(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.50) return `${atom(d - 1)} ${pick(['∧', '∨'])} ${atom(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.62) return `(${expr(d - 1)} ⟹ ${expr(d - 1)}) | ${atom(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.68) return `✎ ${atom(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.74) return `-${atom(d - 1)}`;
+    if (r < 0.78) return `${pick(ids)} ‖ ${atom(d - 1)}`;
+    return atom(d);
+  }
+  function stmt(d) {
+    const r = rng();
+    if (r < 0.35) return `${pick(ids)} ≜ ${expr(d)};`;
+    if (r < 0.55) return `${pick(ids)} ← ${expr(d)};`;
+    if (r < 0.8) return `✎(${expr(d)});`;
+    return `${expr(d)};`;
+  }
+  // Known-risky syntax edges. Each is plausible M0-core spelling whose
+  // acceptance the two parsers might not agree on.
+  const spice = [
+    d => `(${expr(d)}; ${expr(d)});`,
+    d => `f ≜ λ(${pick(ids)}, ${pick(ids)}): ${expr(d)};`,
+    () => `✎ "a\\${pick(['q', 'w', 'z'])}b";`,
+    () => `✎(1e3);`,
+    d => `✎(${atom(d)} < ${atom(d)} < ${atom(d)});`,
+    () => `✎(f ∘ g);`,
+    d => `a ≜ b ≜ ${expr(d)};`,
+    d => `✎ ✎ ${atom(d)};`,
+    d => `✎(- -${atom(d)});`,
+    () => `f ≜ λ: 1;`,
+    () => ``,
+    d => `✎({${atom(d)}, ${atom(d)}});`,
+    d => `✎({${pick(ids)}: ${atom(d)}});`,
+    () => `✎(\\ast 2 3);`,
+    d => `${expr(d)}`,               // no trailing semicolon
+    d => `;${stmt(d)}`,              // leading semicolon
+    () => `✎ 1;; ✎ 2;`,              // empty statement
+    () => `✎ .5;`,                   // leading-dot number
+    () => `✎ 1.;`,                   // trailing-dot number
+    d => `∀ ${pick(ids)} ∈ ${atom(d)}: ${stmt(d)}`, // stmt as ∀ body
+  ];
+  return function program(idx) {
+    const rBody = () => Array.from({ length: 1 + Math.floor(rng() * 3) },
+      () => stmt(1 + Math.floor(rng() * 2))).join('\n');
+    if (rng() < 0.35) {
+      const s = pick(spice)(1);
+      return rng() < 0.5 ? s : `${rBody()}\n${s}`;
+    }
+    return rBody();
+  };
+}
+
+// --------------------------------------------------------- JS verdict --
+const PARSE_KEYS = new Set(['err_char', 'err_escape', 'err_string',
+  'err_comment', 'err_expect', 'err_unexpected', 'err_def_target',
+  'err_assign_target']);
+
+// accepts=true means "the JS parse phase accepted it" — runtime errors and
+// keyless host crashes happen after parsing and count as accept.
+function jsVerdict(src) {
+  try {
+    runMPL(src, () => {});
+    return { accepts: true, detail: 'runs' };
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e.key && PARSE_KEYS.has(e.key)) {
+      return { accepts: false, detail: `${e.key} at ${e.line}:${e.col}` };
+    }
+    return { accepts: true, detail: e.key ? `runtime ${e.key}` : `host ${e.constructor.name}` };
+  }
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------ ANTLR verdict --
+// ParseCheck is the CLI seam. Invoking it through gradle costs ~1s of JVM
+// and build-system startup per call, which the minimizer cannot afford, so
+// the classpath is resolved once and ParseCheck runs under plain `java`.
+// Falls back to `./gradlew parseCheck` if the classpath cannot be found.
+function resolveParseCheck() {
+  execFileSync('./gradlew', ['-q', 'classes'], { cwd: REPO, stdio: 'ignore' });
+  const classes = path.join(REPO, 'build', 'classes', 'java', 'main');
+  const cache = path.join(os.homedir(), '.gradle', 'caches', 'modules-2',
+    'files-2.1', 'org.antlr', 'antlr4-runtime');
+  let jar = null;
+  if (fs.existsSync(cache) && fs.existsSync(classes)) {
+    const stack = [cache];
+    while (stack.length) {
+      const d = stack.pop();
+      for (const f of fs.readdirSync(d, { withFileTypes: true })) {
+        const p = path.join(d, f.name);
+        if (f.isDirectory()) stack.push(p);
+        else if (f.name.endsWith('.jar') && !f.name.includes('sources')) jar = p;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  if (jar) return files => ['java', ['-cp', `${classes}:${jar}`, 'com.mpl.tools.ParseCheck', ...files]];
+  return files => ['./gradlew', ['-q', 'parseCheck', `--args=${files.join(' ')}`]];
+}
+const parseCheckCmd = resolveParseCheck();
+const antlrCache = new Map();
+
+function antlrVerdicts(programs) {
+  const result = new Array(programs.length);
+  const misses = [];
+  programs.forEach((p, i) => {
+    if (antlrCache.has(p)) result[i] = antlrCache.get(p);
+    else misses.push(i);
+  });
+  if (misses.length) {
+    const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'mplfuzz-'));
+    const files = misses.map((mi, k) => {
+      const f = path.join(dir, `p${String(k).padStart(4, '0')}.mpl`);
+      fs.writeFileSync(f, programs[mi]);
+      return f;
+    });
+    let stdout = '';
+    const [cmd, args] = parseCheckCmd(files);
+    try {
+      stdout = execFileSync(cmd, args, { cwd: REPO, encoding: 'utf8', stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'] });
+    } catch (e) {
+      stdout = e.stdout || '';
+    }
+    const rejected = new Map();
+    for (const line of stdout.split('\n')) {
+      const m = line.match(/p(\d{4})\.mpl:(.*)$/);
+      if (m) rejected.set(Number(m[1]), m[2].trim());
+    }
+    misses.forEach((mi, k) => {
+      const v = rejected.has(k)
+        ? { accepts: false, detail: rejected.get(k) }
+        : { accepts: true, detail: 'parses' };
+      antlrCache.set(programs[mi], v);
+      result[mi] = v;
+    });
+    fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+// -------------------------------------------------------- minimization --
+// Greedy unit removal: units are strings, escape words, identifiers,
+// numbers, or single characters. Each round batch-checks every single-unit
+// deletion and keeps the first candidate that preserves the disagreement.
+const UNIT = /"(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*"|\\[a-zA-Z]+|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*|[0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]+)?|\s+|./gsu;
+
+// One reduction round over an array of parts: try deleting a window of w
+// consecutive parts at every offset (largest w first), batch-checking the
+// survivors; returns the first reduced array that preserves the
+// disagreement, or null when no deletion does.
+function reduceOnce(parts, joiner, wanted) {
+  // All window sizes go into ONE batched ParseCheck call; the largest
+  // window that preserves the disagreement wins.
+  const candidates = [];
+  for (let w = Math.min(8, parts.length - 1); w >= 1; w = Math.floor(w / 2)) {
+    for (let i = 0; i + w <= parts.length; i++) {
+      const cand = parts.slice(0, i).concat(parts.slice(i + w));
+      if (jsVerdict(cand.join(joiner)).accepts === wanted.js) candidates.push({ w, cand });
+    }
+  }
+  if (!candidates.length) return null;
+  const antlr = antlrVerdicts(candidates.map(c => c.cand.join(joiner)));
+  const hit = candidates.findIndex((c, i) => antlr[i].accepts === wanted.antlr);
+  return hit === -1 ? null : candidates[hit].cand;
+}
+
+function minimize(src, wanted) {
+  // Phase 1: whole lines. Phase 2: lexical units.
+  let lines = src.split('\n').filter(l => l.trim() !== '');
+  for (let r = 0; r < 30 && lines.length > 1; r++) {
+    const red = reduceOnce(lines, '\n', wanted);
+    if (!red) break;
+    lines = red;
+  }
+  let units = lines.join('\n').match(UNIT) || [];
+  for (let r = 0; r < 60 && units.length > 1; r++) {
+    const red = reduceOnce(units, '', wanted);
+    if (!red) break;
+    units = red;
+  }
+  return units.join('').trim();
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------- run --
+const rng = mulberry32(SEED);
+const gen = makeGen(rng);
+console.log(`fuzz: seed=${SEED} n=${N}`);
+
+const programs = Array.from({ length: N }, (_, i) => gen(i));
+const js = programs.map(jsVerdict);
+const antlr = antlrVerdicts(programs);
+
+let agreeAccept = 0, agreeReject = 0;
+const divergences = [];
+for (let i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+  if (js[i].accepts === antlr[i].accepts) {
+    js[i].accepts ? agreeAccept++ : agreeReject++;
+    continue;
+  }
+  divergences.push(i);
+}
+console.log(`agreement: ${agreeAccept} both-accept, ${agreeReject} both-reject`);
+console.log(`disagreements: ${divergences.length}`);
+
+// Minimize, dedupe by canonical shape (identifiers, numbers and string
+// bodies normalized — `({b: y})` and `({g: ⊥})` share one root cause),
+// report deterministically.
+const canon = s => s
+  .replace(/"(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*"/g, '"s"')
+  .replace(/\b(?!true\b|false\b)[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*\b/g, 'v')
+  .replace(/[0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]+)?/g, '1')
+  .replace(/\s+/g, ' ');
+const seen = new Set();
+const findings = [];
+for (const i of divergences) {
+  const wanted = { js: js[i].accepts, antlr: antlr[i].accepts };
+  const repro = minimize(programs[i], wanted);
+  const key = `${canon(repro)}|js=${wanted.js}`;
+  if (seen.has(key)) continue;
+  seen.add(key);
+  const [jsV] = [jsVerdict(repro)];
+  const [antlrV] = antlrVerdicts([repro]);
+  findings.push({ repro, index: i, jsV, antlrV });
+}
+findings.sort((a, b) => a.repro < b.repro ? -1 : a.repro > b.repro ? 1 : 0);
+
+for (const f of findings) {
+  console.log('---');
+  console.log(`repro (seed ${SEED}, index ${f.index}):`);
+  console.log(f.repro);
+  console.log(`  js:    ${f.jsV.accepts ? 'ACCEPTS' : 'REJECTS'} (${f.jsV.detail})`);
+  console.log(`  antlr: ${f.antlrV.accepts ? 'ACCEPTS' : 'REJECTS'} (${f.antlrV.detail})`);
+}
+console.log(`${findings.length} unique minimized divergences (recorded in conformance/DIVERGENCES.md)`);
+
+// Append new findings to DIVERGENCES.md (dedup by repro text so reruns are
+// idempotent; stdout above never depends on what was already in the file).
+let doc = fs.existsSync(DIVERGENCES) ? fs.readFileSync(DIVERGENCES, 'utf8') : '';
+let appended = '';
+for (const f of findings) {
+  if (doc.includes('```\n' + f.repro + '\n```')) continue;
+  appended += `\n## Divergence (fuzz seed ${SEED}, index ${f.index})\n\n` +
+    '```\n' + f.repro + '\n```\n\n' +
+    `- JS interpreter: ${f.jsV.accepts ? 'accepts' : 'rejects'} (${f.jsV.detail})\n` +
+    `- ANTLR grammar: ${f.antlrV.accepts ? 'accepts' : 'rejects'} (${f.antlrV.detail})\n` +
+    `- RULING: pending (see JUDGMENT_CALLS.md)\n`;
+}
+if (appended) fs.writeFileSync(DIVERGENCES, doc + appended);