@earendil-works/chord 1.2.0 → 1.3.0

package/docs/guide.md

@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 
 Chord builds applications out of **objects** that live in several processes (a server, workers, browser tabs) and can be **hot reloaded** while they run.
 
-- An **object** is state plus code at an address. It is created on demand and lives while someone holds it.
-- Everyone gets a **handle**, never the object. Handles work the same locally and across processes, and survive reloads.
+- An **object type** is declared by a contract: a name, an input (the object's address) and members. A plugin's
+  **facet** (its code for one host: server, worker, browser) serves object types.
+- An **object** is one instance of an object type: state plus code at an address. It is created on demand and lives
+  while someone references it.
+- Everyone gets a **reference**, never the object. References work the same locally and across processes, and survive reloads.
 - Every object knows its **principal**: an owner and a guest get different objects, with different methods.
 - **State** is observable JSON. Remote viewers get a snapshot followed by deltas.
 - **Hot reload** swaps code while it runs. Work in flight finishes on the code it started with, state is kept, and incompatible changes migrate at a safe point.
@@ -18,7 +21,7 @@ Chord builds applications out of **objects** that live in several processes (a s
 - [Declarations](#declarations)
 - [Activation](#activation)
 - [Principals and variants](#principals-and-variants)
-- [Handles](#handles)
+- [References](#references)
 - [State](#state)
 - [Calls, ctx and roots](#calls-ctx-and-roots)
 - [Lifetime](#lifetime)
@@ -34,7 +37,7 @@ Chord builds applications out of **objects** that live in several processes (a s
 
 ```ts
 import { Type } from "typebox";
-import { cell, createHost, method, remote } from "@earendil-works/chord";
+import { createHost, method, remote } from "@earendil-works/chord";
 
 // contract.ts: shared by provider and consumers
 export const Counter = remote("demo.counter", {
@@ -43,27 +46,26 @@ export const Counter = remote("demo.counter", {
 	variants: {
 		default: {
 			state: { count: Type.Number() },
-			methods: { increment: method(Type.Object({ by: Type.Number() }), Type.Null()) },
+			methods: { increment: method(Type.Object({ by: Type.Number() })) },
 		},
 	},
 });
 
-const host = createHost({ name: "server", principalKey: (p) => p.kind });
+const host = createHost({ name: "server", self: { kind: "server" } });
 
 host.serve(Counter, ({ name }, _principal, self) => {
-	const state = self.state({ count: cell(Type.Number(), 0) });
+	const count = self.state("count", Type.Number(), 0);
 	return {
-		kind: "default",
-		count: state.count,
+		variant: "default",
+		count,
 		increment: async ({ by }, ctx) => {
-			state.count.change(ctx, (n) => n + by);
-			return null;
+			count.change(ctx, (n) => n + by);
 		},
 	};
 });
 
 await host.root(async (ctx) => {
-	const clicks = ctx.get(Counter, { name: "clicks" });  // a handle; held until this root ends
+	const clicks = await ctx.get(Counter, { name: "clicks" });  // ready, with its state; released when this root ends
 	clicks.count.subscribe((n) => console.log("count", n));
 	await clicks.increment({ by: 2 }, ctx);  // logs 0, then 2
 });
@@ -81,6 +83,7 @@ Remote types can be reached from other hosts. Everything that crosses the wire h
 export const Chat = remote("pi.chat", {
 	version: 1,
 	input: Type.Object({ session: Type.String(), conversation: Type.Number() }),
+	host: hostFamily("session:", "session"),  // lives on `session:S1` for `{ session: "S1", … }`
 	variants: {
 		viewer: {
 			state: { view: ConversationViewSchema },
@@ -89,13 +92,26 @@ export const Chat = remote("pi.chat", {
 			state: { view: ConversationViewSchema },
 			methods: {
 				send: method(SendInputSchema, Type.Object({ submissionId: Type.Number() })),
-				stop: method(Type.Null(), Type.Null()),
+				stop: method(),  // no arguments, no result: `chat.stop(ctx)`
 			},
 		},
 	},
 });
 ```
 
+**Where a remote type lives** is part of its contract, so no caller names a host:
+
+- `host: hostNamed("server")`: every object lives on the host named `server`.
+- `host: hostFamily("session:", "session")`: an object lives on `session:` + its input's `session` field, a required
+  string. TypeScript checks the field name against the input.
+
+A `get` normalizes the input (defaults count), resolves the host, and acquires the object here if that is this host,
+otherwise over the link to it. `serve` refuses a type whose placement does not include the serving host, so a misplaced
+type fails at startup or at the reload that adds it. The host that gets a hold checks that its own contract places the
+input on itself, and a relay checks the hold's target against its contract token: a client never chooses where an
+object lives. The placement is part of the description and the fingerprint: moving a type is a breaking change, and
+references to it get `upgrade_required`.
+
 ### Local types
 
 Local types are reachable only inside their host. Their members may be anything: functions, callbacks, native objects. Non-JSON members get opaque or function descriptors.
@@ -147,66 +163,60 @@ host.serve(Index, indexFactory, {
 ## Serving objects
 
 ```ts
-host.serve(Type, (input, principal, self) => behavior, options);
+host.serve(Type, (input, principal, self) => implementation, options);
 ```
 
-- The **factory** runs synchronously. It declares what the object needs and returns its behavior: methods and state members, plus `kind` for remote types. Returning a promise throws.
-- There is one **record** per `(type, input, principal)`. It holds the object's state, resources and holds, and survives reloads. Only the behavior is replaced.
+- The **factory** runs synchronously. It declares what the object needs and returns its implementation: methods and state members, plus `variant` for remote types. Returning a promise throws.
+- There is one **object** per `(type, input, principal)`. It holds the object's state, resources and references, and survives reloads. Only the implementation is replaced.
 - **Options:**
-  - `state: { version, migrate }`: the state version and its migrations (see [Hot reload](#hot-reload));
   - `accepts`: adapters for consumers built against older contract versions;
-  - `linger`: how long to keep the object after the last hold is released;
-  - `eager`: activate when the plugin loads, and keep it for the host's lifetime.
+  - `lifetime`: `"referenced"` (default) creates the object at its first `get` and disposes it after the last reference
+    is released; `"host"` creates it when the plugin loads and keeps it until the host closes (see [Lifetime](#lifetime));
+  - `linger`: how long to keep a referenced object after the last reference is released.
 
 ## Declarations
 
-A reload runs the factory again over the same record. Declarations are matched by **property name**, so the new code's `status` cell is the old code's `status` cell, with its value.
+A reload runs the factory again over the same object. Declarations that keep something across a reload have a **name**: the new code's `status` cell is the old code's `status` cell, with its value. Derivations and tasks hold nothing across a reload and have no name.
 
 ```ts
 host.serve(StatusStore, ({ session }, _host, self) => {
-	const state = self.state({
-		status: cell(StatusSchema, { running: false, tasks: 0 }),
-		errors: cell(Type.Array(Type.String()), []),
-	});
+	const status = self.state("status", StatusSchema, { running: false, tasks: 0 });
+	const errors = self.state("errors", Type.Array(Type.String()), []);
 	const catalog = self.get(Catalog, {});
-	const res = self.resources({
-		db: resource({
-			rev: 1,
-			open: async ({ signal }) => openSqlite(statusPath(session), { signal }),
-			close: async (db) => db.close(),
-		}),
-	});
-	self.listen({
-		catalogChanges: listener(catalog.rows, (rows, ctx) => state.errors.replace(ctx, checkRows(rows))),
-	});
-	self.tasks({
-		flush: async (ctx) => {
-			while (!ctx.signal.aborted) {
-				await sleep(10_000, ctx.signal);
-				await res.db.value.run("INSERT INTO history VALUES (?)", [JSON.stringify(state.status.value)]);
-			}
-		},
+	const db = self.resource("db", {
+		version: 1,
+		open: async ({ signal }) => openSqlite(statusPath(session), { signal }),
+		close: async (db) => db.close(),
 	});
-	const derived = self.derive({
-		summary: derivation([state.status, state.errors], (s, e) => ({ ...s, failing: e.length > 0 })),
+	self.on("catalogChanges", catalog.rows, (rows, ctx) => errors.replace(ctx, checkRows(rows)));
+	self.task(async (ctx) => {
+		while (!ctx.signal.aborted) {
+			await sleep(10_000, ctx.signal);
+			await db.value.run("INSERT INTO history VALUES (?)", [JSON.stringify(status.value)]);
+		}
 	});
-	return { summary: derived.summary, report: reportMethod(state) };
+	const summary = self.derive([status, errors], (s, e) => ({ ...s, failing: e.length > 0 }));
+	return { summary, report: reportMethod(status) };  // exposed state is what the implementation returns
 });
 ```
 
 | Declaration | What it is | On reload |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| `self.state({ name: cell(schema, initial) })` | an observable JSON cell; the schema is required | same cell and value; migrated when the state version is bumped |
-| `self.get(Type, input, { at? })` | a hold on another object; its identity is the address | kept if declared again, otherwise released |
-| `self.resources({ name: resource({ rev, deps?, exclusive?, open, close }) })` | a connection, watch, socket, port | kept; reopened only if `rev` or `deps` change |
-| `self.listen({ name: listener(source, fn) })` or `listener(source, select, fn)` | reacts to a state or resource event | the same subscription, with the new `fn`, as long as the source (resource) and `select` are unchanged |
-| `self.tasks({ name: async (ctx) => ... })` | long-running background work | the old run is aborted through `ctx.signal`, and the new code starts |
-| `self.derive({ name: derivation(sources, fn) })` | live projection of state; `fn` is synchronous | kept; `fn` replaced |
+| `self.state(name, schema, initial \| { init }, { version?, migrate? })` | an observable JSON cell; the schema is required | same cell and value (`init` does not run); migrated when its version rises |
+| `self.get(Type, input, { at? })` | a reference to another object; its identity is the address | kept if declared again, otherwise released |
+| `self.resource(name, { version, deps?, exclusive?, open, close? })` | a connection, watch, socket, port | kept; reopened only if `version`, `deps` or `exclusive` change |
+| `self.on(name, source, handler)` or `self.on(name, source, select, handler)` | reacts to state or to an event source | the same subscription, with the new handler, as long as the source and `select` are unchanged |
+| `self.task(async (ctx) => ...)` | long-running background work | the old run is aborted through `ctx.signal`; the new code starts once it finished (at most `taskStopDeadline`, default 5 s) |
+| `self.derive(sources, fn)` | live projection of state; `fn` is synchronous | a new derivation, computed when the reload commits |
 | `self.register(Registry, { key: value })` | an entry in a registry | replaced at commit |
-| `self.expose(res.name)` | a member backed by a resource (local types) | follows the resource |
+| `self.expose(resource)` | a member backed by a resource (local types) | follows the resource |
+
+Names are strings: declaring one twice in a run fails (`invalid/duplicate`). Each kind has its own names, so a cell and a resource may share one.
 
 A listener keeps its subscription across reloads when it is declared on the same resource (or source) with the same `select`: the same function, or one with the same source text. `select` is not called again, so a source that accepts a single subscriber (a Durable watch) survives reloads, and `select` may wrap the value in a new adapter object. A `select` whose result depends on captured values that change between reloads is not noticed; give such a listener a new name.
 
+**A listener on state reconciles.** A listener on state (a cell, a derivation, a reference's state member) gets the current value when it starts, then every new value. When a reload replaces its source (a derivation is new at every reload), it subscribes again and gets the current value again. Write its handler to bring things in line with the value it gets (set, compare, start or stop what the value says), not to count or append per call. An event source (a resource's events) delivers no current value.
+
 A name you no longer declare is released, closed or stopped, after the old code has finished what it was doing.
 
 **State that must survive a reload lives in cells,** never in closure variables. A closure variable lasts as long as one version of the code.
@@ -215,21 +225,23 @@ A name you no longer declare is released, closed or stopped, after the old code
 // wrong: reset on every reload
 host.serve(Visits, (_, _p, self) => {
 	let visits = 0;
-	return { hit: async (_, ctx) => ++visits };
+	return { hit: async (ctx) => ++visits };
 });
 
 // right
 host.serve(Visits, (_, _p, self) => {
-	const state = self.state({ visits: cell(Type.Number(), 0) });
+	const visits = self.state("visits", Type.Number(), 0);
 	return {
-		hit: async (_, ctx) => {
-			state.visits.change(ctx, (n) => n + 1);
-			return state.visits.value;
+		hit: async (ctx) => {
+			visits.change(ctx, (n) => n + 1);
+			return visits.value;
 		},
 	};
 });
 ```
 
+**Methods** are declared with `method(args?, result?)` in the contract. Without `args` a method takes none: callers write `ref.hit(ctx)` (or `ref.hit()`), and its implementation is `(ctx) => …`. Without `result` it returns nothing: the implementation returns nothing, and callers get `undefined`. `method(undefined, Type.Number())` takes no arguments and returns a number.
+
 ## Activation
 
 The factory is synchronous, but activation isn't. `self.get` and `self.resources` only *declare*; the slow work happens afterwards:
@@ -238,24 +250,23 @@ The factory is synchronous, but activation isn't. `self.get` and `self.resources
 get(Index, { session: "S1" })
  1. run the factory               → declarations
  2. open declared resources        → e.g. connect to SQLite
- 3. wait for declared holds        → dependencies activate first
- 4. live                           → handles become "live"
+ 3. wait for declared refs        → dependencies activate first
+ 4. run the cells' init           → e.g. read the rows into a cell
+ 5. live                           → refs become "live"; listeners and tasks start
 ```
 
 ```ts
 host.serve(Index, ({ session }, _host, self) => {
-	const res = self.resources({
-		db: resource({ rev: 1, open: () => openSqlite(indexPath(session)), close: (db) => db.close() }),
-	});
+	const db = self.resource("db", { version: 1, open: () => openSqlite(indexPath(session)), close: (db) => db.close() });
 	return {
-		search: async ({ query }, ctx) => res.db.value.all("SELECT entryId, text FROM fts WHERE fts MATCH ?", [query]),
+		search: async ({ query }, ctx) => db.value.all("SELECT entryId, text FROM fts WHERE fts MATCH ?", [query]),
 	};
 });
 
 host.serve(Chat, ({ session, conversation }, principal, self) => {
 	const index = self.get(Index, { session });  // a placeholder until Index is live
 	return {
-		kind: "participant",
+		variant: "participant",
 		find: async ({ query }, ctx) => index.search({ query }, ctx),  // only ever runs once Chat (and Index) are live
 		// ...
 	};
@@ -263,79 +274,92 @@ host.serve(Chat, ({ session, conversation }, principal, self) => {
 ```
 
 **Rules:**
-- Inside the factory, never use what you declared: `res.db.value` throws `not_ready`, and calling a handle throws. Use them in methods, listeners and tasks.
+- Inside the factory, never use what you declared: `db.value` and `index.someState.value` throw `not_ready`, and calling a reference throws. Use them in methods, listeners, tasks and `init`.
+- **The object goes live only with its references ready**: live, and (for a remote reference) every state member of its variant hydrated. The same holds for state it forwards or derives from a remote reference it holds some other way: it goes live once that state has its value. A reference that is not ready after the host's `readyTimeout` (default 60 s) fails the activation with `unavailable/ready_timeout`; a reference cycle across hosts ends that way instead of hanging.
 - **Concurrent `get`s** of one address share one activation, so the database opens once.
 - **Failure propagates:** if `openSqlite` throws, `Index` fails, `Chat` fails with that cause, and every waiting `get` rejects. The next `get` tries again.
 - **Abandoned activations:** if everyone releases before activation finishes, the result is disposed.
 
 ### Startup readiness and parent admission
 
-`await host.load(facets)` and `await host.install(facet)` wait for the eager objects they install to become live:
-resources are open, declared holds are live, and registrations are published. All facets in a load are installed
-before activation is awaited, so an eager consumer can use a provider in a later facet. Ordinary lazy objects stay
-lazy unless an eager object holds them. Factory, dependency and resource errors reject startup with the handle's
-activation error; eager failures also reach `onError`. Installation is not rolled back on failure: close the host
+`await host.load(facets)` and `await host.install(facet)` wait for the `lifetime: "host"` objects they install to
+become live: resources are open, declared references are live, and registrations are published. All facets in a load
+are installed before activation is awaited, so a host object can use a provider in a later facet. Referenced objects
+are created only when something references them. Factory, dependency and resource errors reject startup with the
+reference's activation error; host object failures also reach `onError`. Installation is not rolled back on failure: close the host
 when abandoning startup. `install` registers synchronously, so setup/registration errors still throw synchronously.
 
-`await host.ready()` waits for the eager holds present when called, including direct `host.serve(..., { eager })`
-and previously deferred loads. It is an activation barrier, not a continuous health check, a wait for tasks to
-finish, or a remote-state hydration barrier. Later installations require another readiness wait.
+`await host.ready()` waits for the host objects present when called, including direct
+`host.serve(..., { lifetime: "host" })` and previously deferred loads. It is an activation barrier, not a continuous health check, a wait for tasks to
+finish. Later installations require another readiness wait.
 
 A worker may need to open its local Harness and announce control readiness **before** the parent accepts its link.
-An eager reporter waiting for the server's SessionStatus cannot become live before that acceptance. Awaiting the
-whole load before announcing control readiness would deadlock. Defer the whole eager barrier explicitly:
+A host object reporting to the server's SessionStatus cannot become live before that acceptance. Awaiting the
+whole load before announcing control readiness would deadlock. Defer the whole barrier explicitly:
 
 ```ts
-// Connect the upstream link first; its outgoing holds can queue until the parent accepts it.
-await worker.load(workerFacets, { awaitEager: false });  // also supported by install
-const harness = worker.get(Harness, {});
-await harness.ready;                                  // local bootstrap only; no upstream dependency
+// Connect the upstream link first; its outgoing references can queue until the parent accepts it.
+await worker.load(workerFacets, { awaitHostObjects: false });  // also supported by install
+const harness = await worker.get(Harness, {});        // local bootstrap only; no upstream dependency
 announceControlReady();                               // parent can now accept the worker link
-await worker.ready();                                 // full eager readiness, including upstream holds
+await worker.ready();                                 // every host object live, including upstream references
 harness.release();
 ```
 
-`awaitEager: false` still starts and host-holds every eager object; it skips waiting, not activation. There is no
-automatic classification of upstream dependencies. Choose a local bootstrap handle with no upstream dependency,
+`awaitHostObjects: false` still starts every host object; it skips waiting, not activation. There is no
+automatic classification of upstream dependencies. Choose a local bootstrap reference with no upstream dependency,
 connect before loading upstream consumers, and let the parent admit the link before the full barrier. Control
-readiness means admission is possible, not that every eager object is live. Keep worker bootstrap counted as busy
-until the full barrier settles, and report a later failure through the worker's fatal/startup-error path.
+readiness means admission is possible, not that every host object is live. Keep worker bootstrap counted as busy
+until the full barrier settles, and report a later failure through the worker's fatal/startup-error path. Never await a
+reference whose object needs the parent (a remote one, or a local one that holds one) before the parent admits the link.
 
-To hand out a native object a resource opens (a local type's `opaque` member), expose the resource. Handles read its value once the object is live, and `undefined` before:
+To hand out a native object a resource opens (a local type's `opaque` member), expose the resource. References read its value once the object is live, and `undefined` before:
 
 ```ts
 host.serve(Harness, (_, _host, self) => {
-	const res = self.resources({ durable: resource({ rev: 1, open: () => DurableHarness.open(storage), close: (h) => h.close() }) });
-	return { harness: self.expose(res.durable) };  // contract member: harness: opaque<DurableHarness>("pi.durable-harness@1")
+	const durable = self.resource("durable", { version: 1, open: () => DurableHarness.open(storage), close: (h) => h.close() });
+	return { harness: self.expose(durable) };  // contract member: harness: opaque<DurableHarness>("pi.durable-harness@1")
 });
 
-const harness = ctx.get(Harness, {});
-await harness.ready;
+const harness = await ctx.get(Harness, {});
 harness.harness.resume();  // the DurableHarness itself
 ```
 
 ## Principals and variants
 
-The application defines its principals and how they're keyed:
+The application defines its principals and how they're keyed. Chord invents none: the app gives every principal a
+request can act as.
 
 ```ts
 type Principal =
-	| { kind: "owner"; via: "device" | "tunnel" | "relay" }
+	| { kind: "owner"; access: "local" | "relay" }
 	| { kind: "guest"; id: string; name: string; session: string; mode: "view" | "full"; revision: number }
-	| { kind: "worker"; session: string; generation: number };
+	| { kind: "worker"; session: string; generation: number }
+	| { kind: "server" }   // the parent's own requests, as a worker sees them
+	| { kind: "host" };    // a host's own code
 
-const host = createHost({
+const host = createHost<Principal>({
 	name: "server",
-	principalKey: (p: Principal) =>
-		p.kind === "owner" ? `owner@${p.via}` :
+	self: { kind: "host" },
+	principalKey: (p) =>
+		p.kind === "owner" ? `owner:${p.access}` :
 		p.kind === "guest" ? `guest:${p.id}:r${p.revision}` :
-		`worker:${p.session}:${p.generation}`,
+		p.kind === "worker" ? `worker:${p.session}:${p.generation}` :
+		p.kind,
 });
 ```
 
-- There is one record per principal key: two tabs of the owner share an object, and a guest gets its own.
-- Code inside a host acts as the built-in `host` principal, so internal objects are shared.
+- `createHost<Principal>` types every factory's `principal`, `ctx.principal`, routes, `accept` and
+  `invalidatePrincipal` patterns, so code narrows on `kind` without casts. Facet modules say it too:
+  `defineFacet<Principal>((api) => …)` (an app usually exports its own `defineFacet` and `Ctx` aliases). Without a type
+  argument, principals are `unknown`.
+- There is one object per principal key: two tabs of the owner share an object, and a guest gets its own.
+- Code inside a host acts as `self`, so internal objects are shared. A principal with the same key as `self` is the
+  host's own, whichever object carries it.
 - A link stamps the principal of whatever connects to it. Callers can never supply their own.
+- A child host names what its parent's own requests act as: `connect(link, { principal })` (or
+  `upstream: { link, principal }`). Requests the parent relays act as the caller it forwards.
+- A route names what the hosts it resolves act as when they call back: `route(prefix, { …, principal: (name) => … })`.
 
 **A remote factory picks a variant:**
 
@@ -343,101 +367,126 @@ const host = createHost({
 host.serve(Chat, ({ session, conversation }, principal, self) => {
 	if (!canView(principal, session)) throw forbidden();
 	const c = self.get(Conversation, { session, conversation });  // as host: one shared instance
-	if (!canSend(principal)) return { kind: "viewer", view: c.view };
+	if (!canSend(principal)) return { variant: "viewer", view: c.view };
 	const author = authorOf(principal);
 	return {
-		kind: "participant",
+		variant: "participant",
 		view: c.view,
 		send: async (input, ctx) => c.submit(input, author, ctx),
-		stop: async (_, ctx) => {
+		stop: async (ctx) => {
 			await c.stop(author, ctx);
-			return null;
 		},
 	};
 });
 ```
 
 ```ts
-const chat = ctx.get(Chat, { session: "S1", conversation: 1 }, { at: "session:S1" });
-await chat.ready;
-if (chat.kind === "participant") showComposer(chat.send);
+const chat = await ctx.get(Chat, { session: "S1", conversation: 1 });  // on session:S1
+if (chat.variant === "participant") showComposer(chat.send);  // narrows: `send` exists only there
 else showReadOnly();
 ```
 
 **What a variant doesn't do:**
 - **It isn't complete authorization.** Methods still check their arguments: that a submission belongs to this conversation, or a session ID to this principal.
 - **It doesn't cover flags that change while you hold the object.** Those are state, for example `you: { canDraw: boolean }`.
-- **Revocation** is `host.invalidatePrincipal(match)`. It force-disposes matching records, here and over links, and their handles become `gone`. A new `get` runs the factory with the new grants.
+- **Revocation** is `host.invalidatePrincipal(match)`. It force-disposes matching objects, here and over links, and their references become `gone`. A new `get` runs the factory with the new grants.
 
-Local types have no variants. Their only callers are inside the host, acting as `host`. If a local object needs to know who's acting, pass that explicitly, like `author` above.
+Local types have no variants. Their only callers are inside the host, acting as its `self`. If a local object needs to know who's acting, pass that explicitly, like `author` above.
 
-## Handles
+## References
+
+| Where | API | Released |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| a factory | `self.get(Type, input)`: synchronous; the object goes live after it is ready | with the object (or its replaced declaration) |
+| a call | `await ctx.get(Type, input, { state? })` | when the call settles |
+| outside Chord | `await host.get(Type, input, { signal?, state? })` | `ref.release()` |
+| a UI runtime | `host.hold(Type, input)`: synchronous, possibly `loading` | `ref.release()` |
 
 ```ts
-const chat = ctx.get(Chat, input, { at: "session:S1" });
+const chat = await ctx.get(Chat, input);  // ready: live, every state member of its variant hydrated
 chat.status;  // "loading" | "live" | "released" | "gone"
-await chat.ready;  // live, or rejects with the activation error
-chat.kind;  // the current variant
-chat.shape;  // { kind, members, contract }
+chat.variant;  // the current variant; a multi-variant reference narrows on it
+chat.shape;  // { variant, members, contract }
 const send = chat.send;  // a stable function: always dispatches to the current code
-chat.view.value;  // undefined until hydrated (remote: while someone subscribes)
+chat.view.value;  // the current value, typed T
 chat.view.subscribe((v) => render(v));
 chat.onStatus((status, error) => { if (status === "gone") reconnect(error); });
 chat.release();
 ```
 
-- **Calls on a `loading` handle wait** until it's live, respecting `ctx` cancellation and a deadline.
+- **A reference you hold is usable:** an awaited `get` resolves once the object is live and every state member of its variant has its first snapshot, local or remote. It rejects with the activation error (`forbidden`, unreachable, …), with `aborted` (a `ctx.get` whose ctx is aborted or whose call settles first; `host.get`'s `signal`), or with `unavailable/ready_timeout` after the host's `readyTimeout`. Only that reference is released then.
+- **A held reference stays subscribed** to the state of its variant, with or without listeners, until it is released. After a link loss the last values stay readable while it re-holds (status `loading`).
+- **Reading state before the first hydration throws `not_ready`** (a `hold` that is still loading, a member read inside a factory). A member outside the current variant throws `not_in_variant`; an ended reference throws its end (`released`, or the `gone` error). A listener added before the hydration gets its snapshot then.
+- **`state: false`** gives a method-only reference: it receives no state (unless another reference to the same object wants it) and is ready once its object is live.
+- **Calls on a `loading` reference wait** until it's live, respecting `ctx` cancellation and a deadline.
 - A member missing from the current variant rejects with `not_in_variant`.
 - After `release()`, every member rejects with `released`.
-- **`gone`** means the object was forced away while held: revocation, archive, its host dying. Call `get` again, or show "unavailable". `onStatus` reports every status change (`live`, `loading` while a link reconnects, `released`, `gone` with the error), so a UI needn't poll.
-- **A remote state member is hydrated only while subscribed.** When its last subscriber leaves, its `value` goes back to `undefined`, so a later subscriber never sees a stale value: it gets `undefined`, then the current snapshot.
+- **`gone`** means the object was forced away while referenced: revocation, archive, its host dying. Call `get` again, or show "unavailable". `onStatus` reports every status change (`live`, `loading` while a link reconnects, `released`, `gone` with the error), so a UI needn't poll.
+- **References to one remote object share one binding** per host and key (type, normalized input, principal key, contract fingerprint): one hold over the link, one stream per state member, calls over the same hold. Each reference keeps its own status, observers and `release`. With `createHost({ linger: { types: { [typeName]: ms }, cap } })`, a binding whose last reference is released stays held (and hydrated) for `ms`, at most `cap` (default 4) at a time, so taking the reference again costs nothing on the link.
 - **Return values are values.** Anything long-lived you want to share is an object you reach with `get`.
 
 ## State
 
 ```ts
-const state = self.state({ todos: cell(Type.Array(TodoSchema), []) });
+const todos = self.state("todos", Type.Array(TodoSchema), []);
 
-state.todos.change(ctx, (draft) => {
+todos.change(ctx, (draft) => {
 	draft.push({ id: "t1", text: "Write docs", done: false });
 });
-state.todos.change(ctx, (draft) => {
+todos.change(ctx, (draft) => {
 	draft[0].done = true;
 });
-state.todos.replace(ctx, []);
+todos.replace(ctx, []);
 
-state.todos.value;  // immutable
-state.todos.subscribe((value) => render(value));
+todos.value;  // immutable
+todos.subscribe((value) => render(value));
 
 // mirroring an external immutable store: subscribers get a diff, not the whole value
-state.view.replace(ctx, conversation.view);                    // diffs when the new value reuses old containers
-state.view.replace(ctx, rebuilt, { diff: true });              // always diff
+view.replace(ctx, conversation.view);                    // diffs when the new value reuses old containers
+view.replace(ctx, rebuilt, { diff: true });              // always diff
 ```
 
 - A `change` is atomic: one revision, or nothing if the callback throws.
 - `change` only touches the paths you mutate, so fields your code doesn't know about survive. Use `replace` only where your code owns the whole value.
 - Values are immutable. Never mutate what you read or receive.
-- Remote subscribers get a snapshot, then deltas. After a reconnect or a reload they get a `reset` snapshot, and nothing is replayed.
+- Remote references get a snapshot of each state member of their variant, then deltas. After a reconnect or a reload they get a `reset` snapshot, and nothing is replayed.
 - `replace` sends a structural diff when the new value shares containers with the old one (a new revision of the same state), and a single replacement otherwise. `{ diff: true | false }` forces either. The value is the same either way.
-- A behavior may expose another object's state member as its own: `return { kind: "viewer", view: conversation.view }`. It reads `undefined` only while that object is loading, which never happens once this object is live.
+- An implementation may expose another object's state member as its own: `return { variant: "viewer", view: conversation.view }`. The object goes live only once that member has its value, local or remote.
+
+**A cell whose first value comes from a source** declares `{ init }` instead of an initial value:
 
 ```ts
-const derived = self.derive({
-	visible: derivation([catalog.rows], (rows) => rows.filter((r) => visibleTo(principal, r))),
-	openCount: derivation([state.todos], (t) => t.filter((x) => !x.done).length),
-});
+const db = self.resource("db", { version: 1, open: () => openSqlite(path), close: (db) => db.close() });
+const notes = self.state("notes", Type.Array(NoteSchema), { init: () => db.value.all("SELECT * FROM notes") });
+```
+
+`init(ctx)` runs once the resources are open and the references live, before the object goes live, so no method,
+listener, task or subscriber sees a value that did not come from the source. A task that loads the value instead
+starts only after the object is live: a method called in between answers from the placeholder (a note that exists
+reads as unknown), and an async load can overwrite a write made during its `await`. `init` may be async and gets a
+`ctx` to call other objects. The `init`s of one object run in parallel, so one must not read another's cell. A throw or
+an invalid value fails the activation. A reload keeps the cell and its value and does not run `init` again; a cell the
+reload adds runs its `init` while the reload prepares, and a failure refuses the reload.
+
+`init` reads a source the object has anyway. It saves nothing: what must outlive the process is written to that source
+(a database, a file, a Durable document) by the code that changes it.
+
+```ts
+const visible = self.derive([catalog.rows], (rows) => rows.filter((r) => visibleTo(principal, r)));
+const openCount = self.derive([todos], (t) => t.filter((x) => !x.done).length);
 ```
 
-`derivation` functions are synchronous.
+Derivation functions are synchronous. A derivation has no name: every reload makes a new one, computed when the
+reload commits.
 
 ## Calls, ctx and roots
 
-Every method gets `(args, ctx)`. Pass `ctx` on to everything you call:
+Every method gets `(args, ctx)`, or `(ctx)` when it takes no arguments. Pass `ctx` on to everything you call:
 
 ```ts
 send: async (input, ctx) => {
 	ctx.signal.throwIfAborted();
-	const uploads = ctx.get(Uploads, {});  // a hold owned by this call; released when it settles
+	const uploads = await ctx.get(Uploads, {});  // a reference owned by this call; released when it settles
 	const files = await uploads.resolve({ ids: input.uploads }, ctx);
 	return c.submit({ ...input, files }, author, ctx);
 },
@@ -446,57 +495,62 @@ send: async (input, ctx) => {
 A **root** is a short tree of calls, started at ingress:
 - by a link, for a request that arrives without one;
 - by `host.root(fn)`, for timers and scripts;
-- by each event delivered to a `listener`;
+- by each event delivered to a listener (`self.on`);
 - by each Chord call made from a `task` or a Durable phase.
 
-A root runs on the code that was current when it started (its **epoch**), across hosts, until it ends. Keep roots short. Long-running work is a `task`, and long waits are state.
+A root runs on the code that was current when it started (its **code version**), across hosts, until it ends. Keep roots short. Long-running work is a `task`, and long waits are state.
 
 ```ts
 // wrong: holds a root (and its version of the code) open for minutes
-approve: async (_, ctx) => waitForHuman(ctx),
+approve: async (ctx) => waitForHuman(ctx),
 
 // right: record the request as state; the answer is a separate call
 request: async (req, ctx) => {
-	state.pending.change(ctx, (d) => {
+	pending.change(ctx, (d) => {
 		d.push(req);
 	});
-	return null;
 },
 answer: async ({ id, value }, ctx) => {
-	state.pending.change(ctx, (d) => {
+	pending.change(ctx, (d) => {
 		settle(d, id, value);
 	});
-	return null;
 },
 ```
 
 ## Lifetime
 
-An object lives while it's **held**, and every hold has an owner:
+An object lives while it's **referenced**, and every reference has an owner:
 
 | Owner | Acquired with | Released when |
 | --- | --- | --- |
 | another object | `self.get` | that object is disposed, or no longer declares it |
 | a call | `ctx.get` | the call settles |
 | a connection | a remote host's `get` | release, disconnect, revocation |
-| the host | `eager: true` | host shutdown |
+| the host | `lifetime: "host"` | host shutdown (or a reload removing its facet) |
 | UI | `useObject` | unmount |
 
-- **Disposal** runs after the last hold, plus `linger`. Tasks are aborted, listeners removed, resources closed in reverse order (every close runs, and errors are collected), then the object's own holds are released, which can dispose further objects.
-- **A resource's `close` may still use the objects its record holds.** That holds for host shutdown and revocation too: `host.close()` and `invalidatePrincipal` dispose holders before what they hold, and close links last. Bound remote calls in `close` with a signal: a call over a link that is already down waits for a reconnect.
-- **Forced disposal** (revocation, archive) makes handles `gone` at once and aborts in-flight calls.
-- **Holds must not form cycles.** Inside one host this is checked at `get`.
+- **Disposal** runs after the last reference is released, plus `linger`. Tasks are aborted, listeners removed, resources closed in reverse order (every close runs, and errors are collected), then the object's own references are released, which can dispose further objects.
+- **A resource's `close` may still use the objects its object references.** That holds for host shutdown and revocation too: `host.close()` and `invalidatePrincipal` dispose referrers before what they reference, and close links last. Bound remote calls in `close` with a signal: a call over a link that is already down waits for a reconnect.
+- **Forced disposal** (revocation, archive) makes references `gone` at once and aborts in-flight calls.
+- **References must not form cycles.** Inside one host this is checked at `get`.
 
 ```ts
 host.serve(Conversation, conversationFactory, { linger: 30_000 });  // switching back quickly doesn't reopen its watch
+host.serve(Index, indexFactory, { lifetime: "host" });              // one object from load to host shutdown
 ```
 
+**`lifetime: "host"`** is for local types with an empty input (or only defaults): the type has exactly one object,
+created for the host principal when its facet loads. Every `get` reaches that object, whoever asks; a `get` with
+another input is invalid. References others hold do not change its lifetime, and it cannot `linger`. Only such
+objects may register into registries. TypeScript refuses `lifetime: "host"` for a remote type, for an input with a
+required field and together with `linger`; `serve` checks the same at runtime, for callers without types.
+
 ## Registries
 
 ```ts
 export const Routes = defineRegistry<RouteHandler>("http.routes", { conflict: "error" });
 
-// contribute (only from eager objects)
+// contribute (only from `lifetime: "host"` objects)
 host.serve(Downloads, (_, _host, self) => {
 	const blobs = self.get(Blobs, {});
 	self.register(Routes, {
@@ -507,9 +561,9 @@ host.serve(Downloads, (_, _host, self) => {
 		},
 	});
 	return {};
-}, { eager: true });
+}, { lifetime: "host" });
 
-// consume: a request sees the table of its own epoch
+// consume: a request sees the table of its own code version
 server.on("request", (req, res) =>
 	host.root(async (ctx) => {
 		const route = host.registry(Routes).get(`${req.method} ${pathOf(req)}`, ctx);
@@ -518,7 +572,7 @@ server.on("request", (req, res) =>
 );
 ```
 
-- Each epoch has one complete table. A reload never leaves a moment where an entry is missing.
+- Each code version has one complete table. A reload never leaves a moment where an entry is missing.
 - A request that started before a reload keeps using the old table.
 - Order is first-registration order and survives replacement.
 - `conflict: "error"` makes a duplicate key fail the registration (or the reload).
@@ -556,13 +610,13 @@ await host.load([
 
 Built-in plugins are trusted code from this repository and load directly from source.
 
-The facet's `setup` argument is its host, scoped to what a plugin needs: `serve`, `name`, `root(fn)` and `registry(R)`. Code that is not a Chord method, listener or task (Durable tools and hooks, callbacks of native libraries) keeps it to start roots and read registries, instead of reaching for a process-global host:
+The facet's `setup` argument is its host, scoped to what a plugin needs: `serve`, `name`, `root(fn)`, `registry(R)` and `signal`, which aborts once this run of the facet is no longer installed (a reload replaced or removed it, or the reload that loaded it aborted). Code that is not a Chord method, listener or task (Durable tools and hooks, callbacks of native libraries) keeps it to start roots and read registries, instead of reaching for a process-global host:
 
 ```ts
 export default defineFacet((host) => {
 	host.serve(Sessions, sessionsFactory);
 	tools.register("rename_session", (args) =>
-		host.root((ctx) => ctx.get(Sessions, {}, { at: "server" }).rename(args, ctx)),
+		host.root(async (ctx) => (await ctx.get(Sessions, {})).rename(args, ctx)),
 	);
 });
 ```
@@ -576,36 +630,31 @@ await host.reload([new URL("../plugins/chat/worker.ts", import.meta.url)]);  //
 ### What happens
 
 1. **Load** the new modules.
-2. **Prepare:** run the new factories over the existing records, without side effects. Cell writes throw, listeners and tasks don't start, registrations are collected, and changed resources are opened next to the old ones. Contracts are checked against every live consumer. Any failure leaves everything as it was.
-3. **Gate:** only if a state version was bumped or an exclusive resource changes.
+2. **Prepare:** run the new factories over the existing objects, without side effects. Cell writes throw, listeners and tasks don't start, registrations are collected, and changed resources are opened next to the old ones. Contracts are checked against every live consumer. Any failure leaves everything as it was.
+3. **Gate:** only if a cell's version was raised or an exclusive resource changes.
 4. **Commit:** in one synchronous step, install the new code, swap registry tables, restart tasks, rebind listeners, and send `reset` and shape updates to subscribers.
-5. **Retire:** old code keeps running the roots it started. Once they end, it's dropped, along with whatever it alone declared.
+5. **Retire:** old code keeps running the roots it started. Once they end, it's dropped, along with whatever it alone declared. If they are still running when the next reload starts, that reload waits up to `retireDeadline`, then aborts them (their `ctx.signal`) before it closes what only the old code used.
 
 ### Compatible changes: no waiting
 
 Bug fixes, new methods, new cells, new resources and registration changes all switch immediately. A root that started on the old code finishes on it, and new roots get the new code.
 
-### Changing what state looks like or means: bump the state version
+### Changing what state looks like or means: bump the cell's version
 
 ```ts
 // v1: { running, tasks } where tasks counted phases
 // v2: tasks counts tasks, and usage is new
 host.serve(StatusStore, ({ session }, _host, self) => {
-	const state = self.state({ status: cell(StatusV2, { running: false, tasks: 0, usage: emptyUsage() }) });
+	const status = self.state("status", StatusV2, { running: false, tasks: 0, usage: emptyUsage() }, {
+		version: 2,
+		migrate: (old, from) => (from < 2 ? { running: old.running, tasks: 0, usage: emptyUsage() } : old),
+	});
 	return {
-		status: state.status,
+		status,
 		report: async (s, ctx) => {
-			state.status.replace(ctx, s);
-			return null;
+			status.replace(ctx, s);
 		},
 	};
-}, {
-	state: {
-		version: 2,
-		migrate: {
-			status: (old, from) => (from < 2 ? { running: old.running, tasks: 0, usage: emptyUsage() } : old),
-		},
-	},
 });
 ```
 
@@ -617,24 +666,26 @@ At the gate, for each live `StatusStore`:
 
 If the roots inside don't finish within the deadline (5 s), the reload is **aborted** and nothing changes. The error names the blocking roots.
 
-The runtime compares each cell's schema between old and new code:
+The version belongs to the cell (default 1); other cells of the object are not migrated. The runtime compares each
+cell's schema and version between old and new code:
 - unchanged: compatible;
-- changed with a bump: migrate;
-- changed **without** a bump: the reload is refused.
+- version raised: migrate (without `migrate`, the value is kept and must fit the new schema);
+- schema changed **without** a raised version, or a lowered version: the reload is refused.
 
 A change of meaning with an identical schema needs a bump too. Nothing can detect that one for you.
 
 ### Resources
 
 ```ts
-const res = self.resources({
-	db: resource({ rev: 2, open: () => openSqlite(path, { wal: true }), close: (db) => db.close() }),  // rev 1 → 2: reopen
-	port: resource({ rev: 1, exclusive: true, open: () => listen(8787), close: (s) => s.close() }),
-});
+const db = self.resource("db", { version: 2, open: () => openSqlite(path, { wal: true }), close: (db) => db.close() });  // 1 → 2: reopen
+const port = self.resource("port", { version: 1, exclusive: true, open: () => listen(8787), close: (s) => s.close() });
 ```
 
-- A reload doesn't touch a resource unless its `rev` or `deps` change.
-- A changed resource opens next to the old one during prepare.
+- A reload keeps a resource's open value unless its `version`, `deps` or `exclusive` change: `open` doesn't run
+  again. The version is required: a native value has no schema to detect a change. The kept resource still takes the
+  new code's declaration at the commit, so a later `close` is the new one.
+- A changed resource opens next to the old one during prepare. The old one is closed with its own `close` once the
+  old code retires.
 - An `exclusive` resource can't exist twice, so it's swapped at the gate: close the old one, open the new one, and reopen the old one if that fails.
 
 ### Contract changes
@@ -646,10 +697,10 @@ const res = self.resources({
 | Breaking, without an adapter | refused, unless the consumers reload in the same batch |
 | Breaking, version not bumped | refused: "consumer needs member …" |
 
-The host's own **eager bootstrap hold** is a lifecycle pin, not an old-version consumer. When a reload replaces
-its provider, that hold adopts the new contract at commit; it does not require an `accepts` adapter for itself.
-The record, cells and unchanged resources stay alive without reactivation. A refused reload keeps the original
-hold and contract. Other holds (`self.get`, `ctx.get`, `host.get`, peers) still obey the compatibility rules above;
+The host's own **reference to a `lifetime: "host"` object** is a lifecycle pin, not an old-version consumer. When a reload replaces
+its provider, that reference adopts the new contract at commit; it does not require an `accepts` adapter for itself.
+The object, cells and unchanged resources stay alive without reactivation. A refused reload keeps the original
+reference and contract. Other references (`self.get`, `ctx.get`, `host.get`, peers) still obey the compatibility rules above;
 state-version bumps and migrations are still required when stored state changes.
 
 ### Several plugins at once
@@ -662,46 +713,59 @@ On the server, `host.reload(serverFacets, { remote: { "session:": workerFacets }
 
 ```ts
 // server
-const server = createHost({ name: "server", principalKey });
+const server = createHost<Principal>({ name: "server", self: { kind: "host" }, principalKey });
 server.accept(webSocketLink(wss, { principal: (req) => authenticate(req) }));  // stamps owner or guest from cookies
 server.route("session:", {
 	authorize: (principal, host) => canReach(principal, host),  // before resolving or spawning
 	resolve: (host) => workers.ensure(host),  // a link to the worker, spawned if needed
+	principal: (host) => workers.principal(host),  // what the worker acts as when it calls the server
 });
 
 // worker
-const worker = createHost({ name: `session:${id}`, principalKey, upstream: ipcLink(process) });
+const worker = createHost<Principal>({
+	name: `session:${id}`,
+	self: { kind: "host" },
+	principalKey,
+	upstream: { link: ipcLink(process), principal: { kind: "server" } },  // the server's own requests act as this
+});
 
 // anywhere
-const chat = ctx.get(Chat, input, { at: "session:S1" });  // browser → server → worker
-const sessions = self.get(Sessions, {}, { at: "server" });  // worker → server, acting as worker{S1}
+const chat = await ctx.get(Chat, { session: "S1", conversation: 1 });  // browser → server → worker session:S1
+const sessions = self.get(Sessions, {});  // `hostNamed("server")`: worker → server, acting as worker{S1}
 ```
 
 - **The server relays** between its children: worker to worker, and browser to worker.
-- **Disconnects:** when a browser disconnects, exactly the holds it had in workers are released.
+- **Disconnects:** when a browser disconnects, exactly the references it had in workers are released.
 - **Principals across links:**
   - a forwarded principal is accepted only from the parent link;
   - calls an object makes itself act as its host;
   - links ping, and a dead link releases everything held through it.
+- **Client origins:** a hold that comes from a browser carries an opaque id of its connection (`origin`), forwarded by the server when it relays the hold, so a worker can tell its clients apart. A client cannot set it. A disconnect releases that client's holds at once.
+- **Slow peers:** a peer acknowledges what it processed. While a window (`window`, default 256 KiB) of frames is unacknowledged, state waits and is coalesced per member's stream; calls, results and the first snapshots of a new reference are never held back, so a `get` does not wait behind other references' state. Waiting ops are capped per link (`pendingCap`, default four windows): beyond, the oldest streams are replaced by their current value. So under load a result can arrive before the state change it caused: wait for the state you need instead of assuming it is there when the call returns.
 - **Reloads across hosts:** the server coordinates prepare and commit for every host.
-- **Workers that start behind** (spawned after a reload) are caught up to the server's epoch before anything is routed to them. Calls their roots make to the server meanwhile run in the server's current epoch instead of failing `superseded`.
+- **Workers that start behind** (spawned after a reload) are caught up to the server's code version before anything is routed to them. Calls their roots make to the server meanwhile run in the server's current code version instead of failing `superseded`.
+- **Protocol version:** both ends announce the link protocol version in their hello. A peer of another version is not
+  talked to: the link closes, and `onProtocolMismatch` (a `LinkOptions` field of `connect` and `accept`) tells the
+  side that has to load new code. A browser reloads its page instead of reconnecting:
+
+  ```ts
+  host.connect(webSocketLink(socket), { onProtocolMismatch: () => location.reload() });
+  ```
 - **Browsers** don't take part in commits. They learn about new code through shape and `reset` messages, and an incompatible contract makes their calls fail with `upgrade_required`.
 
 ## Durable
 
-A worker's host provides the Durable Harness as an eager local object. A Durable phase isn't a root: it's pinned to its registry snapshot by Durable itself. Each Chord call a hook or tool makes starts a fresh short root.
+A worker's host provides the Durable Harness as a local object of lifetime `"host"`. A Durable phase isn't a root: it's pinned to its registry snapshot by Durable itself. Each Chord call a hook or tool makes starts a fresh short root.
 
 ```ts
 host.serve(Harness, (_, _host, self) => {
-	const res = self.resources({
-		durable: resource({
-			rev: 1,
-			open: () => DurableHarness.open(storage, { models, registry: durableRegistry(host, Extensions) }),  // a reader over the epoch tables
-			close: (h) => h.close(),
-		}),
+	const durable = self.resource("durable", {
+		version: 1,
+		open: () => DurableHarness.open(storage, { models, registry: durableRegistry(host, Extensions) }),  // a reader over the code version tables
+		close: (h) => h.close(),
 	});
-	return { conversation: (id: number) => res.durable.value.conversation(id) };
-}, { eager: true });
+	return { conversation: (id: number) => durable.value.conversation(id) };
+}, { lifetime: "host" });
 
 // a plugin contributes a Durable extension like any registration
 host.serve(Guard, (_, _host, self) => {
@@ -712,7 +776,7 @@ host.serve(Guard, (_, _host, self) => {
 		}),
 	});
 	return {};
-}, { eager: true });
+}, { lifetime: "host" });
 ```
 
 A reload changing the guard: Durable phases already running keep the old snapshot, the next phase uses the new one, and there's never a phase without a guard.
@@ -723,15 +787,15 @@ A reload changing the guard: Durable phases already running keep the old snapsho
 | --- | --- |
 | `forbidden` | The factory or a method refused this principal |
 | `invalid` | Input, arguments or a result failed validation |
-| `not_ready` | A declared resource or handle was used inside a factory |
-| `not_in_variant` | The member doesn't exist in the variant you hold |
-| `released` | The handle was released |
-| `gone` | The object was forced away while held. Call `get` again. |
+| `not_ready` | A declared resource or reference was used inside a factory, or state read before its reference's first hydration |
+| `not_in_variant` | The member doesn't exist in the variant you have |
+| `released` | The reference was released |
+| `gone` | The object was forced away while referenced. Call `get` again. |
 | `contract_mismatch` | The provider's contract doesn't cover the consumer's, and no adapter exists |
 | `upgrade_conflict` | An old root reached an object migrated meanwhile. Retry as a new root. |
-| `superseded` | The root's epoch is no longer available on this host. Retry. |
+| `superseded` | The root's code version is no longer available on this host. Retry. |
 | `upgrade_required` | A browser's contract is outdated. Reload its web facets. |
-| `unavailable` | The target host can't be reached or started |
+| `unavailable` | The target host can't be reached or started; reason `ready_timeout`: a reference was not ready within `readyTimeout` |
 | `aborted` | The call's `ctx` was cancelled |
 
 ## Rules of thumb
@@ -739,11 +803,11 @@ A reload changing the guard: Durable phases already running keep the old snapsho
 | Do | Not |
 | --- | --- |
 | Keep reloadable state in cells | Closure variables (lost on reload) |
-| Bump the state version, with `migrate`, when a cell's shape or meaning changes | Changing a schema without a bump (refused) or a meaning without a bump (silent) |
+| Bump the cell's version, with `migrate`, when a cell's shape or meaning changes | Changing a schema without a bump (refused) or a meaning without a bump (silent) |
 | Bump the contract version on breaking changes; add `accepts` for old consumers | Renaming or removing members at the same version (refused) |
 | Do slow setup in a resource's `open` | Awaiting inside the factory (it's synchronous) |
 | Do side effects in resources, listeners, tasks and registrations | Effects in the factory body (they run during prepare) |
-| Use `ctx.get` inside methods | `self.get` inside methods (a new hold per call) |
+| Use `ctx.get` inside methods | `self.get` inside methods (a new reference per call) |
 | Keep roots short; long waits are state | Awaiting a human inside a method |
 | Check arguments in methods | Treating the variant as all of authorization |
 | Pass `ctx` everywhere | Starting background work with the caller's `ctx` (use a task) |