diff --git a/app/serve-studio.mjs b/app/serve-studio.mjs
index d0ea9eb..917607e 100644
--- a/app/serve-studio.mjs
+++ b/app/serve-studio.mjs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import http from "node:http";
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
-import { RUNTIME_OWNED_VERBS, SUBSTITUTABLE_VERBS, openVocabMap, lookup, verbMatches, resolveApi } from "./verbs.mjs";
+import { RUNTIME_OWNED_VERBS, SUBSTITUTABLE_VERBS, openVocabMap, lookup, verbMatches, matchApi } from "./verbs.mjs";
 
 const HERE = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const ROOT = path.resolve(HERE, "..");
@@ -1042,9 +1042,9 @@ function filesSearch(q) {
 // row matched, bounded by the row that registered it, and handlers receive
 // { searchParams, verb, rest } — never a pathname.
 //
-// ROUTING lives in resolveApi (app/verbs.mjs), the one place a pathname meets
-// this table. handleRequest hands over the raw URL and receives an execute
-// closure; the pathname is OUT OF SCOPE downstream by construction, so "a
+// ROUTING lives in matchApi (app/verbs.mjs), the one place a pathname meets
+// this table. handleRequest hands over the raw URL and receives a table
+// index; the pathname is OUT OF SCOPE downstream by construction, so "a
 // route cannot serve without a row" is a fact about the data flow. See
 // docs/design/routing-data-boundary.md for the load-bearing invariant.
 //
@@ -1217,20 +1217,27 @@ const API_ROUTES = [
 // <<< API ROUTING SURFACE
 
 const handleRequest = async (req, res) => {
-  // THE API FLOW HOLDS NO PATHNAME. Routing happens inside resolveApi (the
+  // THE API FLOW HOLDS NO PATHNAME. Routing happens inside matchApi (the
   // grammar module): this function hands over the raw request URL and receives
-  // either null (not the api namespace) or an execute closure that already
-  // carries its resolved row. Neither `u` nor the namespace prefix exists as a
+  // either null (not the api namespace) or a table INDEX plus request data —
+  // never a closure, never a status. Neither `u` nor the namespace prefix exists as a
   // binding anywhere in this flow — a pathname special-case here is a
   // ReferenceError, not a code-review question. THE ORDERING BELOW IS
   // LOAD-BEARING: the static-flow URL is deliberately constructed AFTER this
   // branch returns, so no code that could see an api request ever holds a
   // pathname. See docs/design/routing-data-boundary.md before "simplifying"
   // either fact away.
-  const api = resolveApi(req.url, `http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}`, API_ROUTES, sendJson);
-  if (api) {
-    try { await api.execute(req, res); }
-    catch (e) { return sendJson(res, 500, { ok: false, error: String(e.message || e) }); }
+  const m = matchApi(req.url, `http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}`, API_ROUTES);
+  if (m) {
+    try {
+      // TABLE MEMBERSHIP IS THE ONLY DOOR TO A HANDLER, and 404 is the only
+      // status the miss branch can have: the resolver returns an index and a
+      // body object — data — never a closure and never a status. See the
+      // resolver-boundary discriminator in test/reserved-verbs.test.mjs.
+      const row = API_ROUTES[m.index];
+      if (row) await row.handler({ searchParams: m.searchParams, verb: row.verb, rest: m.rest }, req, res);
+      else sendJson(res, 404, m.notFound);
+    } catch (e) { return sendJson(res, 500, { ok: false, error: String(e.message || e) }); }
     return;
   }
   const u = new URL(req.url, `http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}`);
diff --git a/app/verbs.mjs b/app/verbs.mjs
index d195842..ee8bfe7 100644
--- a/app/verbs.mjs
+++ b/app/verbs.mjs
@@ -81,31 +81,38 @@ export const isRuntimeOwned = (pathname) =>
 //
 // THE DATA BOUNDARY (PM's ratified criterion, round 5): after the table lookup
 // resolves a row, the raw pathname and the namespace prefix are OUT OF SCOPE
-// for everything downstream. The runtime's api flow never constructs a URL at
-// all — it hands this function the raw request URL and receives back either
-// null (not this namespace) or an `execute` closure. The row branch closes over
-// a request object carrying ONLY { searchParams, verb, rest }; the miss branch
-// closes over the pathname internally for its 404 message. So a pathname
-// special-case cannot be WRITTEN downstream: there is no pathname there to
-// branch on. That is a fact about the data flow, not a claim a guard checks —
-// the guards that remain (the literal fence, the unwritability control) police
-// the residue, which is this function itself: the definition of routing, where
-// any special case must now be written in plain sight and where the
-// routes=[] property test sees it.
+// for everything downstream — the runtime's api flow never constructs a URL at
+// all. AND (round 6, sdk-qa): the path-bearing side holds NO RESPONSE
+// AUTHORITY. The previous shape returned an `execute` closure and took a
+// respond callback, so a resolver-internal special case could mint a 200
+// before the table lookup — the trusted region had moved in here. Now this
+// function returns ONLY DATA:
+//
+//   null                                  — not the api namespace
+//   { index, rest, searchParams }         — a TABLE INDEX, never a handler
+//   { index: -1, notFound }               — a 404 BODY object, never a status
+//
+// The executable is fetched downstream as `routes[m.index]` — table membership
+// is the only door to a handler — and the miss status is HARDCODED 404 at the
+// single dispatch site. A special case written in here cannot mint a closure
+// that runs (unknown fields are inert downstream), cannot mint a success
+// status (there is no status channel), and cannot reach a handler that is not
+// a row. What it CAN still do is the function's charter and its stated
+// residue: return a different DECLARED row's index — a wrong routing decision
+// among enumerated rows, written into the definition of routing where the
+// resolver-boundary discriminator and review see it.
 
 export const API_PREFIX = "/api/";
 
-export function resolveApi(rawUrl, base, routes, respond) {
+export function matchApi(rawUrl, base, routes) {
   const u = new URL(rawUrl, base);
   if (!u.pathname.startsWith(API_PREFIX)) return null;
-  const row = routes.find((r) => verbMatches(r.verb, u.pathname));
-  if (!row) {
-    const pathname = u.pathname;
-    return { execute: (req, res) => respond(res, 404, { ok: false,
-      error: `no such contract route: ${pathname} — see GET /api/contract for capabilities and contract/runtime-api.md for the verb set` }) };
+  const index = routes.findIndex((r) => verbMatches(r.verb, u.pathname));
+  if (index === -1) {
+    return { index: -1, notFound: { ok: false,
+      error: `no such contract route: ${u.pathname} — see GET /api/contract for capabilities and contract/runtime-api.md for the verb set` } };
   }
-  const request = { searchParams: u.searchParams, verb: row.verb, rest: u.pathname.slice(row.verb.length) };
-  return { execute: (req, res) => row.handler(request, req, res) };
+  return { index, rest: u.pathname.slice(routes[index].verb.length), searchParams: u.searchParams };
 }
 
 // ---- the routing surface tripwire ------------------------------------------
diff --git a/docs/design/routing-data-boundary.md b/docs/design/routing-data-boundary.md
index 35c1d2d..145f4a2 100644
--- a/docs/design/routing-data-boundary.md
+++ b/docs/design/routing-data-boundary.md
@@ -11,14 +11,22 @@ prefix are out of scope for everything downstream.** In this codebase that is
 implemented more strongly: the runtime's API flow in `app/serve-studio.mjs`
 never holds a pathname at all.
 
-- Routing happens in exactly one place: `resolveApi()` in `app/verbs.mjs`. It
+- Routing happens in exactly one place: `matchApi()` in `app/verbs.mjs`. It
   receives the raw request URL, constructs the URL object, matches the table,
-  and returns an `execute` closure.
+  and returns **data only**: a table index plus `{ rest, searchParams }`, or
+  `{ index: -1, notFound }` where `notFound` is a 404 *body object*.
+- **The path-bearing side holds no response authority** (round 6, sdk-qa). An
+  earlier shape returned an `execute` closure and took a respond callback — so
+  a resolver-internal special case could mint a 200 before the table lookup.
+  Now the resolver cannot mint a closure that runs (unknown fields are inert
+  downstream), cannot set a status (the miss branch is hardcoded 404 at the
+  dispatch site), and cannot reach a handler that is not a row (the executable
+  is fetched as `API_ROUTES[m.index]` — table membership is the only door).
 - Handlers receive `{ searchParams, verb, rest }` — never a pathname, never a
   URL object. A handler needing path data uses `rest`, which is already scoped
   to its own matched verb.
-- `handleRequest` calls `resolveApi` and executes the result. Neither `u` nor
-  `API_PREFIX` is a binding anywhere in that flow.
+- `handleRequest` calls `matchApi` and dispatches the indexed row. Neither `u`
+  nor `API_PREFIX` is a binding anywhere in that flow.
 - The static-file flow's `const u = new URL(...)` is constructed **after** the
   API branch has returned. That ordering is load-bearing: it is what guarantees
   no code that can see an API request ever holds a pathname.
@@ -60,17 +68,32 @@ to remove it:
   round-4 literal arm and round-5 derived-prefix arm at the top of the API flow
   and asserts each detonates as a `ReferenceError` naming the absent binding —
   and above all, never serves.
-- **Property tests on `resolveApi`**: with `routes=[]` every API path misses;
-  with one route, exactly its matches resolve; the resolved request carries no
-  pathname field.
+- **Resolver-boundary discriminator** (`test/reserved-verbs.test.mjs`): plants
+  special cases *inside* `matchApi` and asserts every response channel is dead —
+  a minted `{ execute }` is inert and never runs, a minted status loses to the
+  hardcoded 404, and nothing a resolver special case does can be enumerated.
+- **Property tests on `matchApi`**: with `routes=[]` every API path misses;
+  with one route, exactly its matches resolve; the match result carries no
+  pathname field and no function-valued field.
 - **The literal fence** (`routingSurfaceViolations`): every textual `/api`
   mention in `serve-studio.mjs` lives inside the marked data-only surface.
 - **Bypass control**: raw arms planted in the static flow demonstrably cannot
   serve API requests (404), in all the spellings sdk-qa used across rounds.
 
+## The stated residue
+
+The resolver's remaining freedom is exactly its charter: choosing which
+declared row a path maps to. A special case written into `matchApi` can
+mis-route a path to a *different declared row's* index — the discriminator pins
+this blast radius (the served response is a declared row's; nothing new is
+enumerated) — but it can never produce a response that is not a declared
+row's. A wrong routing decision must be written into the eight-line definition
+of routing, where review and the `routes=[]` property test see it.
+
 ## If you need to change this
 
-If a future feature genuinely needs path data downstream, extend the resolved
-`request` (e.g., a richer `rest`) inside `resolveApi` — do not reintroduce the
-pathname. If you believe the boundary itself must move, that is a PM-level
-design change: say so in the commit and update this note in the same change.
+If a future feature genuinely needs path data downstream, extend the match
+result (e.g., a richer `rest`) inside `matchApi` — do not reintroduce the
+pathname, and never return a function or a status. If you believe the boundary
+itself must move, that is a PM-level design change: say so in the commit and
+update this note in the same change.
diff --git a/test/reserved-verbs.test.mjs b/test/reserved-verbs.test.mjs
index f57529f..e782915 100644
--- a/test/reserved-verbs.test.mjs
+++ b/test/reserved-verbs.test.mjs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
 import { RUNTIME_OWNED_VERBS, SUBSTITUTABLE_VERBS, openVocabMap, lookup,
-         routingSurfaceViolations, verbMatches, isRuntimeOwned, resolveApi } from "../app/verbs.mjs";
+         routingSurfaceViolations, verbMatches, isRuntimeOwned, matchApi } from "../app/verbs.mjs";
 
 const REPO = path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), "..");
 const read = (...p) => fs.readFileSync(path.join(REPO, ...p), "utf8");
@@ -134,11 +134,11 @@ test("the safe primitive actually resists prototype keys", () => {
 
 // Boot a mutated copy of the runtime and probe it. Shared by the two controls
 // below, which differ only in WHAT they plant.
-async function bootMutated(plantedSrc, probes) {
+async function bootMutated(plantedSrc, probes, file = "serve-studio.mjs") {
   const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "routes-ctl-"));
   fs.cpSync(path.join(REPO, "app"), path.join(dir, "app"), { recursive: true });
   fs.cpSync(path.join(REPO, "fixtures"), path.join(dir, "fixtures"), { recursive: true });
-  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, "app", "serve-studio.mjs"), plantedSrc);
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, "app", file), plantedSrc);
   const port = 9960 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 30);
   const proc = spawn(process.execPath, [path.join(dir, "app", "serve-studio.mjs"), "--port", String(port)],
     { cwd: dir, stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"] });
@@ -147,10 +147,14 @@ async function bootMutated(plantedSrc, probes) {
       try { await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/api/contract`, { cache: "no-store" }); break; }
       catch { await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50)); }
     }
-    const statuses = {};
-    for (const p of probes) statuses[p] = (await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}${p}`, { cache: "no-store" })).status;
+    const statuses = {}, bodies = {};
+    for (const p of probes) {
+      const r = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}${p}`, { cache: "no-store" });
+      statuses[p] = r.status;
+      bodies[p] = await r.text();
+    }
     const c = await (await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/api/contract`, { cache: "no-store" })).json();
-    return { statuses, routes: c.runtime.routes };
+    return { statuses, bodies, routes: c.runtime.routes };
   } finally { proc.kill(); fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true }); }
 }
 
@@ -241,7 +245,7 @@ test("UNWRITABILITY CONTROL: sdk-qa's derived-prefix arm at the ordinary place i
   // naming the missing binding. If either ever boots again, a pathname has
   // been reintroduced into the api flow and the data boundary is gone.
   const src = read("app", "serve-studio.mjs");
-  const ordinary = /const api = resolveApi\(req\.url[^\n]*\n/;
+  const ordinary = /const m = matchApi\(req\.url[^\n]*\n/;
   assert.match(src, ordinary, "the api flow entry moved — re-anchor this control before trusting it");
 
   const plants = [
@@ -289,35 +293,102 @@ test("UNWRITABILITY CONTROL: sdk-qa's derived-prefix arm at the ordinary place i
   }
 });
 
-test("routing is exactly the table: routes=[] misses everything, routes=[X] resolves exactly X", async () => {
+test("routing is exactly the table: routes=[] misses everything, routes=[X] resolves exactly X", () => {
   // The property test the pure function enables — routing asserted against its
   // DEFINITION rather than against source text. A special case smuggled into
-  // resolveApi that does not consult the table would let some path resolve
-  // with an EMPTY table, which is the first assertion here.
+  // matchApi that does not consult the table would let some path resolve with
+  // an EMPTY table, which is the first assertion here.
   const BASE = "http://127.0.0.1:9999";
-  const sent = [];
-  const respond = (res, code, obj) => sent.push({ code, obj });
 
   for (const p of ["/api/focus", "/api/contract", "/api/anything/else", "/api/qa-derived"]) {
-    const decision = resolveApi(p, BASE, [], respond);
-    assert.ok(decision, `routes=[]: '${p}' left the api namespace unclaimed`);
-    decision.execute(null, null);
-    assert.equal(sent.at(-1).code, 404, `routes=[]: '${p}' resolved despite an empty table`);
+    const m = matchApi(p, BASE, []);
+    assert.ok(m, `routes=[]: '${p}' left the api namespace unclaimed`);
+    assert.equal(m.index, -1, `routes=[]: '${p}' resolved despite an empty table`);
+    assert.match(m.notFound.error, /no such contract route/);
   }
-  assert.equal(resolveApi("/not-api", BASE, [], respond), null, "a non-api path was claimed");
+  assert.equal(matchApi("/not-api", BASE, []), null, "a non-api path was claimed");
 
-  let got = null;
-  const X = [{ verb: "/api/export-status/", handler: (request) => { got = request; } }];
-  const hit = resolveApi("/api/export-status/42?a=b", BASE, X, respond);
-  await hit.execute(null, null);
-  assert.equal(got.verb, "/api/export-status/");
-  assert.equal(got.rest, "42", "the prefix remainder is not handed to the handler as rest");
-  assert.equal(got.searchParams.get("a"), "b");
-  assert.equal(got.pathname, undefined,
-    "the resolved request carries a pathname — the data boundary leaks the thing it exists to remove");
-  const miss = resolveApi("/api/export-status", BASE, X, respond);
-  miss.execute(null, null);
-  assert.equal(sent.at(-1).code, 404, "an exact path matched a prefix verb without the trailing slash");
+  const X = [{ verb: "/api/export-status/", handler: () => {} }];
+  const hit = matchApi("/api/export-status/42?a=b", BASE, X);
+  assert.equal(hit.index, 0);
+  assert.equal(hit.rest, "42", "the prefix remainder is not returned as rest");
+  assert.equal(hit.searchParams.get("a"), "b");
+  assert.equal(hit.pathname, undefined,
+    "the match result carries a pathname — the data boundary leaks the thing it exists to remove");
+  assert.equal(matchApi("/api/export-status", BASE, X).index, -1,
+    "an exact path matched a prefix verb without the trailing slash");
+
+  // AND THE RESULT IS DATA, NOT AUTHORITY (round 6): no closure to run, no
+  // status to set. A resolver special case has neither channel.
+  for (const m of [matchApi("/api/focus", BASE, X), matchApi("/api/export-status/1", BASE, X)]) {
+    for (const v of Object.values(m)) {
+      assert.notEqual(typeof v, "function",
+        "matchApi returned a function — the path-bearing side has response authority again");
+    }
+  }
+});
+
+test("RESOLVER-BOUNDARY DISCRIMINATOR: a special case inside matchApi cannot mint a public response", async () => {
+  // sdk-qa round 6: the trusted region had moved into the resolver — it held
+  // the pathname AND a respond callback AND returned executable closures, so a
+  // pre-lookup special case could mint a 200 that appeared in no enumeration
+  // (reproduced on 6fc145b: status 200, minted:true, absent from routes).
+  // Now the resolver returns DATA and this control plants special cases INSIDE
+  // it — at the precise boundary — and asserts each channel is dead:
+  //   closure-mint: an { execute } return is INERT — downstream never calls it;
+  //   status-mint:  there is no status channel — the miss branch is hardcoded
+  //                 404 at the dispatch site, whatever the resolver returns.
+  // The genuine registered routes stay the positive control (every other test
+  // in this file). THE STATED RESIDUE, asserted for exactly what it is: the
+  // resolver can still return a DIFFERENT DECLARED row's index — a wrong
+  // routing decision confined to enumerated rows, which is the routing
+  // definition's charter; what it can never do again is produce a response
+  // that is not a declared row's.
+  const src = read("app", "verbs.mjs");
+  const anchor = "  const index = routes.findIndex((r) => verbMatches(r.verb, u.pathname));";
+  assert.ok(src.includes(anchor), "matchApi's lookup moved — re-anchor this control before trusting it");
+
+  // closure-mint: the round-6 plant, verbatim shape. Must be inert: not 200,
+  // the canary body never served, the path absent from routes.
+  {
+    const planted = src.replace(anchor,
+      '  if (u.pathname === API_PREFIX + "qa-resolver-mint") return { execute: (req, res) => { throw new Error("canary"); }, minted: true };\n' + anchor);
+    assert.notEqual(planted, src, "closure-mint plant did not apply");
+    const { statuses, bodies, routes } = await bootMutated(planted, ["/api/qa-resolver-mint"], "verbs.mjs");
+    assert.notEqual(statuses["/api/qa-resolver-mint"], 200,
+      "a resolver-minted closure SERVED — the path-bearing side has response authority again");
+    assert.ok(!bodies["/api/qa-resolver-mint"].includes("canary"), "the minted closure ran");
+    assert.ok(!routes.some((v) => v.includes("qa-resolver-mint")), "the minted route was enumerated");
+  }
+
+  // status-mint: a crafted miss with a success-shaped body and a code field.
+  // The dispatch site's hardcoded 404 must win.
+  {
+    const planted = src.replace(anchor,
+      '  if (u.pathname === API_PREFIX + "qa-status-mint") return { index: -1, notFound: { ok: true, minted: true }, code: 200 };\n' + anchor);
+    assert.notEqual(planted, src, "status-mint plant did not apply");
+    const { statuses } = await bootMutated(planted, ["/api/qa-status-mint"], "verbs.mjs");
+    assert.equal(statuses["/api/qa-status-mint"], 404,
+      "the resolver set a response status — the miss branch is no longer pinned to 404");
+  }
+
+  // misbind: the stated residue, pinned to its exact blast radius — the
+  // response served is a DECLARED row's (the contract handler's), reported
+  // routes are unchanged, and the misbound path itself is not enumerated.
+  {
+    const src2 = read("app", "serve-studio.mjs");
+    const rows = [...src2.matchAll(/\{ verb: (?:"[^"]+"|CONTRACT_VERB)/g)];
+    const contractIndex = rows.findIndex((m2) => m2[0].includes("CONTRACT_VERB"));
+    assert.ok(contractIndex >= 0, "could not locate the contract row's index in the table");
+    const planted = src.replace(anchor,
+      `  if (u.pathname === API_PREFIX + "qa-misbind") return { index: ${contractIndex}, rest: "", searchParams: u.searchParams };\n` + anchor);
+    assert.notEqual(planted, src, "misbind plant did not apply");
+    const { statuses, bodies, routes } = await bootMutated(planted, ["/api/qa-misbind"], "verbs.mjs");
+    assert.equal(statuses["/api/qa-misbind"], 200, "the misbind residue changed shape — re-derive this control");
+    assert.ok(bodies["/api/qa-misbind"].includes("contractVersion"),
+      "misbind served something that is NOT a declared row's response — a new channel exists");
+    assert.ok(!routes.some((v) => v.includes("qa-misbind")), "the misbound path was enumerated");
+  }
 });
 
 test("the runtime source keeps every /api mention inside the routing surface", () => {