feat: register 18 @output/* schemas, default templates, wrapEnvelope (Phase 1c)

Fixes #75
Merge pull request 'feat: remove cat/schema commands, add list --type, enhance verify (Phase 1b)' (#77 ) from fix/74-remove-cat-schema into main
2026-05-31 15:14:28 +00:00 · 2026-05-31 14:52:36 +00:00 · 2026-05-31 14:41:38 +00:00 · 2026-05-31 13:40:43 +00:00 · 2026-05-31 13:34:43 +00:00 · 2026-05-31 11:43:32 +00:00
22 changed files with 3568 additions and 423 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,413 @@
+name: "e2e-check"
+description: "Docker-isolated E2E testing of json-cas CLI. Preparer builds from scratch, tester runs scenarios, reporter files bugs."
+
+roles:
+  preparer:
+    description: "Spins up Docker container, copies repo, installs, builds, runs unit tests"
+    goal: "You set up a clean Docker environment for E2E testing. Your job is to start a container, install deps, build, lint, run unit tests, and initialize a CAS store. Report any setup failures as bugs."
+    capabilities:
+      - docker
+    procedure: |
+      1. Start a detached container:
+         ```bash
+         docker run -d --name json-cas-e2e \
+           -v "<repoPath>:/src:ro" \
+           -w /workspace \
+           oven/bun:latest \
+           sleep 3600
+         ```
+
+      2. Copy repo and install:
+         ```bash
+         docker exec json-cas-e2e bash -c 'cp -r /src/. /workspace/ && cd /workspace && bun install'
+         ```
+         ✅ exit code 0, no missing peer deps
+
+      3. Build:
+         ```bash
+         docker exec json-cas-e2e bash -c 'cd /workspace && bun run build'
+         ```
+         ✅ exit code 0, no type errors
+
+      4. Lint:
+         ```bash
+         docker exec json-cas-e2e bash -c 'cd /workspace && bun run check'
+         ```
+         ✅ exit code 0
+
+      5. Unit tests:
+         ```bash
+         docker exec json-cas-e2e bash -c 'cd /workspace && bun test'
+         ```
+         ✅ all pass (ignore dist/ false positives)
+
+      6. Init CAS store:
+         ```bash
+         docker exec json-cas-e2e bash -c 'mkdir -p /tmp/cas-test && cd /workspace && bun packages/cli-json-cas/src/index.ts --store /tmp/cas-test init && bun packages/cli-json-cas/src/index.ts --store /tmp/cas-test bootstrap'
+         ```
+
+      **Any failure here is a high-severity bug** — it means a clean environment can't build/run the project.
+
+      Set $status=ready if all steps pass. Set $status=setup_failed with failures list if anything breaks.
+
+    output: "Setup result summary."
+    frontmatter:
+      oneOf:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "ready" }
+            containerName: { type: string }
+            storePath: { type: string }
+            repoPath: { type: string }
+          required: [$status, containerName, storePath, repoPath]
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "setup_failed" }
+            failures:
+              type: array
+              items:
+                type: object
+                properties:
+                  title: { type: string }
+                  command: { type: string }
+                  expected: { type: string }
+                  actual: { type: string }
+                  severity: { type: string }
+                  phase: { type: string }
+                required: [title, command, expected, actual, severity, phase]
+            repoPath: { type: string }
+          required: [$status, failures, repoPath]
+
+  tester:
+    description: "Runs CLI scenarios against the prepared Docker environment"
+    goal: "You are an exploratory QA agent. The Docker container is already running with the project built and a CAS store initialized. Run CLI test scenarios and report bugs."
+    capabilities:
+      - testing
+      - cli
+    procedure: |
+      The container `{{{containerName}}}` is already running with the project built.
+      Store path: `{{{storePath}}}`.
+
+      Run all commands via:
+      ```bash
+      docker exec {{{containerName}}} bash -c 'cd /workspace && bun packages/cli-json-cas/src/index.ts --store {{{storePath}}} <subcommand>'
+      ```
+
+      Define a shorthand in your notes:
+      `CMD="cd /workspace && bun packages/cli-json-cas/src/index.ts --store {{{storePath}}}"`
+
+      ## Phase 1: CAS Core Operations
+
+      1. **bootstrap** — `$CMD bootstrap`
+         Expected: prints meta-schema hash (13-char Base32)
+
+      2. **schema put** — Create `/tmp/test-schema.json` in container, then `$CMD schema put /tmp/test-schema.json`
+         Schema: `{"type":"object","properties":{"name":{"type":"string"},"age":{"type":"number"}},"required":["name"],"additionalProperties":false}`
+         Expected: prints type hash
+
+      3. **schema get** — `$CMD schema get <type-hash>`
+         Expected: returns the schema JSON
+
+      4. **schema list** — `$CMD schema list`
+         Expected: lists registered schemas
+
+      5. **put** — Create data file, `$CMD put <type-hash> /tmp/test-node.json`
+         Data: `{"name":"Alice","age":30}`
+         Expected: prints node hash
+
+      6. **get** — `$CMD get <node-hash>`
+         Expected: returns node JSON
+
+      7. **has (exists)** — `$CMD has <node-hash>`
+         Expected: true
+
+      8. **has (not exists)** — `$CMD has AAAAAAAAAAAAA`
+         Expected: false
+
+      9. **verify** — `$CMD verify <node-hash>`
+         Expected: ok
+
+      10. **refs** — `$CMD refs <node-hash>`
+          Expected: lists refs (may be empty)
+
+      11. **walk** — `$CMD walk <node-hash>`
+          Expected: shows traversal tree
+
+      12. **hash (dry run)** — `$CMD hash <type-hash> /tmp/test-node.json`
+          Expected: same hash as put
+
+      13. **cat** — `$CMD cat <node-hash>`
+          Expected: full node output
+
+      14. **cat --payload** — `$CMD cat <node-hash> --payload`
+          Expected: payload only (no type wrapper)
+
+      ## Phase 2: Schema Validation
+
+      1. **Invalid node** — `$CMD put <type-hash> /tmp/bad-node.json` where bad-node = `{"name":123}`
+         Expected: validation error, non-zero exit
+
+      2. **schema validate** — `$CMD schema validate <node-hash>`
+         Expected: valid for good node
+
+      3. **Non-existent schema** — `$CMD put AAAAAAAAAAAAA /tmp/test-node.json`
+         Expected: error about missing schema
+
+      ## Phase 3: Variable System
+
+      1. **var set** — `$CMD var set myapp/config <node-hash>`
+         Expected: creates variable
+
+      2. **var get** — `$CMD var get myapp/config --schema <type-hash>`
+         Expected: returns variable
+
+      3. **var list** — `$CMD var list`
+         Expected: shows all variables
+
+      4. **var list prefix** — `$CMD var list myapp/`
+         Expected: filtered results
+
+      5. **var set (update)** — Put a second node, `$CMD var set myapp/config <new-hash>`
+         Expected: upsert succeeds
+
+      6. **var tag** — `$CMD var tag myapp/config --schema <type-hash> env:prod important`
+         Expected: adds tag and label
+
+      7. **var list --tag** — `$CMD var list --tag env:prod`
+         Expected: finds tagged variable
+
+      8. **var list --tag (label)** — `$CMD var list --tag important`
+         Expected: finds labeled variable
+
+      9. **var tag remove** — `$CMD var tag myapp/config --schema <type-hash> :important`
+         Expected: removes label
+
+      10. **var delete** — `$CMD var delete myapp/config`
+          Expected: deletes variable
+
+      11. **var get (deleted)** — `$CMD var get myapp/config --schema <type-hash>`
+          Expected: not found error
+
+      ## Phase 4: Template System
+
+      1. **template set** — Create template file, `$CMD template set <type-hash> /tmp/test.liquid`
+         Template: `Name: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}`
+         Expected: success
+
+      2. **template get** — `$CMD template get <type-hash>`
+         Expected: returns template text
+
+      3. **template list** — `$CMD template list`
+         Expected: lists templates
+
+      4. **template delete** — `$CMD template delete <type-hash>`
+         Expected: success
+
+      5. **template get (deleted)** — `$CMD template get <type-hash>`
+         Expected: not found error
+
+      ## Phase 5: Render
+
+      1. Re-register template, then `$CMD render <node-hash>`
+         Expected: rendered output with payload values filled in
+
+      2. **render --resolution** — `$CMD render <node-hash> --resolution 0.5`
+         Expected: different resolution output
+
+      3. **render (bad hash)** — `$CMD render AAAAAAAAAAAAA`
+         Expected: graceful error, non-zero exit
+
+      ## Phase 6: GC
+
+      1. **gc basic** — `$CMD gc`
+         Expected: runs without error
+
+      2. **gc preserves referenced** — Verify `$CMD has <node-hash>` still true
+
+      3. **gc collects orphans** — Put an orphan node (not in any variable), run gc, check it's gone
+
+      ## Phase 7: Edge Cases & Error Handling
+
+      1. `$CMD get AAAAAAAAAAAAA` — non-existent
+      2. `$CMD put <type-hash> /nonexistent/file.json` — missing file
+      3. `$CMD var set "" <hash>` — empty name
+      4. `$CMD var set "bad name!" <hash>` — invalid name chars
+      5. `$CMD schema put /tmp/bad-schema.json` — `{"type":"invalid"}`
+      6. `$CMD` with no subcommand — should show help
+      7. `$CMD --store /nonexistent/path get <hash>` — bad store path
+
+      ## Recording Results
+
+      For each scenario:
+      - ✅ Pass: works as expected
+      - ❌ Fail: unexpected behavior, crash, wrong output
+      - ⚠️ Questionable: works but confusing UX
+
+      Collect all ❌ and ⚠️. For each, record:
+      - Title (concise description)
+      - Command (exact command run)
+      - Expected behavior
+      - Actual behavior (include actual output)
+      - Severity: critical / high / medium / low
+      - Phase: which test phase
+
+      ## CRITICAL: Frontmatter Output Format
+
+      Your response MUST start with YAML frontmatter. The `bugs` field MUST be an array of objects, NOT strings.
+
+      Example of CORRECT frontmatter:
+      ```yaml
+      ---
+      $status: bugs_found
+      containerName: json-cas-e2e
+      repoPath: /path/to/repo
+      bugs:
+        - title: "put does not validate data against schema"
+          command: "json-cas put <hash> bad-data.json"
+          expected: "Validation error, non-zero exit"
+          actual: "Accepted invalid data, exit 0"
+          severity: "high"
+          phase: "Schema Validation"
+      ---
+      ```
+
+      Do NOT write bugs as plain strings like `- some bug description`. Each bug MUST be an object with all 6 fields.
+
+      If all tests pass:
+      ```yaml
+      ---
+      $status: all_passed
+      containerName: json-cas-e2e
+      ---
+      ```
+
+    output: "Summary of all phases with pass/fail counts. Set $status."
+    frontmatter:
+      oneOf:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "bugs_found" }
+            bugs:
+              type: array
+              items:
+                type: object
+                properties:
+                  title: { type: string }
+                  command: { type: string }
+                  expected: { type: string }
+                  actual: { type: string }
+                  severity: { type: string }
+                  phase: { type: string }
+                required: [title, command, expected, actual, severity, phase]
+            containerName: { type: string }
+            repoPath: { type: string }
+          required: [$status, bugs, containerName]
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "all_passed" }
+            containerName: { type: string }
+          required: [$status, containerName]
+
+  reporter:
+    description: "Opens Gitea issues for each bug found by the tester"
+    goal: "You are a bug reporter. You create well-formatted Gitea issues for each bug found during E2E testing."
+    capabilities:
+      - issue-management
+    procedure: |
+      1. Parse the bugs array from the tester's output
+      2. Group bugs by severity (critical first)
+      3. For each bug, create a Gitea issue:
+         ```bash
+         tea issues create -r uncaged/json-cas \
+           -t "[E2E] <title>" \
+           -d "## Bug Report (E2E Check)
+
+         **Phase:** <phase>
+         **Severity:** <severity>
+
+         **Command:**
+         \`\`\`
+         <exact command>
+         \`\`\`
+
+         **Expected:** <expected>
+
+         **Actual:** <actual>
+
+         ---
+         _Reported by e2e-check workflow (Docker isolated)_"
+         ```
+
+         ⚠️ If `tea issues create` fails with long body, use Gitea REST API:
+         ```bash
+         eval "$(cfg env)" && GITEA_TOKEN=$(cfg get GITEA_TOKEN)
+         curl -s -X POST "https://git.shazhou.work/api/v1/repos/uncaged/json-cas/issues" \
+           -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
+           -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+           -d '{"title":"[E2E] ...","body":"..."}'
+         ```
+
+      4. Collect created issue numbers
+
+    output: "List created issues. Set $status."
+    frontmatter:
+      oneOf:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "reported" }
+            issues:
+              type: array
+              items: { type: string }
+          required: [$status, issues]
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "partial" }
+            created: { type: number }
+            failed: { type: number }
+          required: [$status, created, failed]
+
+  cleanup:
+    description: "Stops and removes the Docker container"
+    goal: "You clean up the Docker environment after testing is complete."
+    capabilities:
+      - docker
+    procedure: |
+      Stop and remove the container:
+      ```bash
+      docker stop {{{containerName}}} && docker rm {{{containerName}}}
+      ```
+
+      Verify it's gone:
+      ```bash
+      docker ps -a --filter name={{{containerName}}} --format '{{.Names}}'
+      ```
+      Expected: empty output.
+
+    output: "Cleanup result."
+    frontmatter:
+      oneOf:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "cleaned" }
+          required: [$status]
+        - type: object
+          properties:
+            $status: { const: "cleanup_failed" }
+            error: { type: string }
+          required: [$status, error]
+
+graph:
+  $START:
+    _: { role: "preparer", prompt: "Set up Docker environment for E2E testing. Repo at {{{repoPath}}}." }
+  preparer:
+    ready: { role: "tester", prompt: "Environment ready. Container: {{{containerName}}}, store: {{{storePath}}}. Run all test scenarios." }
+    setup_failed: { role: "reporter", prompt: "Setup failures found. File these as bugs: {{{failures}}}" }
+  tester:
+    all_passed: { role: "cleanup", prompt: "All tests passed. Clean up container {{{containerName}}}." }
+    bugs_found: { role: "reporter", prompt: "File these bugs as Gitea issues: {{{bugs}}}" }
+  reporter:
+    reported: { role: "cleanup", prompt: "Bugs filed: {{{issues}}}. Clean up container {{{containerName}}}." }
+    partial: { role: "cleanup", prompt: "Filed {{{created}}} issues, {{{failed}}} failed. Clean up container {{{containerName}}}." }
+  cleanup:
+    cleaned: { role: "$END", prompt: "E2E check complete. Environment cleaned up." }
+    cleanup_failed: { role: "$END", prompt: "E2E check complete but cleanup failed: {{{error}}}" }
@@ -51,16 +51,19 @@ roles:
    output: "A findings report with per-issue root cause and suggested procedure fixes. Set $status to clean or findings (with report hash)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "clean" }
            summary: { type: string }
          required: [$status, summary]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "findings" }
            report: { type: string }
            targetWorkflow: { type: string }
          required: [$status, report, targetWorkflow]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "wrong_project" }
            workflowName: { type: string }
          required: [$status, workflowName]
@@ -93,12 +96,14 @@ roles:
    output: "A change plan stored in CAS. Set $status to ready (with plan hash and repoPath) or no_action (if findings don't warrant changes)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "ready" }
            plan: { type: string }
            repoPath: { type: string }
          required: [$status, plan, repoPath]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "no_action" }
            reason: { type: string }
          required: [$status, reason]
@@ -128,12 +133,14 @@ roles:
    output: "List all files changed and provide a summary. Set $status to done (with branch/worktree), or failed (with reason)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "done" }
            branch: { type: string }
            worktree: { type: string }
          required: [$status, branch, worktree]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "failed" }
            reason: { type: string }
          required: [$status, reason]
@@ -157,12 +164,14 @@ roles:
    output: "Explain your decision. Set $status to approved (with branch/worktree) or rejected (with comments)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "approved" }
            branch: { type: string }
            worktree: { type: string }
          required: [$status, branch, worktree]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "rejected" }
            comments: { type: string }
            worktree: { type: string }
@@ -191,11 +200,13 @@ roles:
    output: "Include PR URL on success or error log on failure. Set $status to committed (with prUrl) or hook_failed (with error)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "committed" }
            prUrl: { type: string }
          required: [$status, prUrl]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "hook_failed" }
            error: { type: string }
          required: [$status, error]
@@ -26,12 +26,14 @@ roles:
    output: "Output a brief summary of the test spec. Set $status to ready (with plan hash and repoPath) or insufficient_info."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "ready" }
            plan: { type: string }
            repoPath: { type: string }
          required: [$status, plan, repoPath]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "insufficient_info" }
          required: [$status]
  developer:
@@ -67,12 +69,14 @@ roles:
    output: "List all files changed and provide a summary. Set $status to done (with branch/worktree), or failed (with reason)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "done" }
            branch: { type: string }
            worktree: { type: string }
          required: [$status, branch, worktree]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "failed" }
            reason: { type: string }
          required: [$status, reason]
@@ -105,12 +109,14 @@ roles:
    output: "Explain your decision with specific file/line references. Set $status to approved (with branch/worktree) or rejected (with comments)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "approved" }
            branch: { type: string }
            worktree: { type: string }
          required: [$status, branch, worktree]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "rejected" }
            comments: { type: string }
            worktree: { type: string }
@@ -133,16 +139,19 @@ roles:
    output: "Report test results per scenario. Set $status to passed (with branch/worktree), fix_code (with report), or fix_spec (with report)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "passed" }
            branch: { type: string }
            worktree: { type: string }
          required: [$status, branch, worktree]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "fix_code" }
            report: { type: string }
          required: [$status, report]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "fix_spec" }
            report: { type: string }
          required: [$status, report]
@@ -169,11 +178,13 @@ roles:
    output: "Include PR URL on success or error log on failure. Set $status to committed (with prUrl) or hook_failed (with error)."
    frontmatter:
      oneOf:
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "committed" }
            prUrl: { type: string }
          required: [$status, prUrl]
-        - properties:
+        - type: object
+          properties:
            $status: { const: "hook_failed" }
            error: { type: string }
          required: [$status, error]
@@ -0,0 +1,251 @@
+// Bun Snapshot v1, https://bun.sh/docs/test/snapshots
+
+exports[`Phase 1: CAS Core 1.6 get returns node JSON (snapshot) 1`] = `
+{
+  "payload": {
+    "age": 30,
+    "name": "Alice",
+  },
+  "type": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 1: CAS Core 1.9 verify returns ok for valid node 1`] = `"ok"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 1: CAS Core 1.10 refs lists direct references (snapshot) 1`] = `""`;
+
+exports[`Phase 1: CAS Core 1.11 walk shows traversal tree (snapshot) 1`] = `"ERARPP19YJT05"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 2: Schema Validation 2.3 put against non-existent schema hash fails 1`] = `"Schema not found: AAAAAAAAAAAAA"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.1 var set creates variable 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": {
+    "labels": [],
+    "name": "myapp/config",
+    "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+    "tags": {},
+    "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+  },
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.2 var get returns variable 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": {
+    "labels": [],
+    "name": "myapp/config",
+    "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+    "tags": {},
+    "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+  },
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.3 var list shows all variables 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": [
+    {
+      "labels": [],
+      "name": "myapp/config",
+      "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+      "tags": {},
+      "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+    },
+  ],
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.4 var list prefix filters by prefix 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": [
+    {
+      "labels": [],
+      "name": "myapp/config",
+      "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+      "tags": {},
+      "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+    },
+  ],
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.5 var set upsert updates existing variable 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": {
+    "labels": [],
+    "name": "myapp/config",
+    "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+    "tags": {},
+    "value": "F68P1BZ46YDXM",
+  },
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.6 var tag adds kv tag and label 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": {
+    "labels": [
+      "important",
+    ],
+    "name": "myapp/config",
+    "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+    "tags": {
+      "env": "prod",
+    },
+    "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+  },
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.7 var list --tag env:prod filters by kv tag 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": [
+    {
+      "labels": [
+        "important",
+      ],
+      "name": "myapp/config",
+      "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+      "tags": {
+        "env": "prod",
+      },
+      "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+    },
+  ],
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.8 var list --tag important filters by label 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": [
+    {
+      "labels": [
+        "important",
+      ],
+      "name": "myapp/config",
+      "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+      "tags": {
+        "env": "prod",
+      },
+      "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+    },
+  ],
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.9 var tag remove deletes label 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": {
+    "labels": [],
+    "name": "myapp/config",
+    "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+    "tags": {
+      "env": "prod",
+    },
+    "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+  },
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.10 var delete removes variable 1`] = `
+{
+  "type": "E1D32N3GT69Q8",
+  "value": [
+    {
+      "labels": [],
+      "name": "myapp/config",
+      "schema": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+      "tags": {
+        "env": "prod",
+      },
+      "value": "ERARPP19YJT05",
+    },
+  ],
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 3: Variable System 3.11 var get deleted variable returns not found 1`] = `"Error: Variable not found: name=myapp/config, schema=7XX5H51CVD9H0"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 4: Template System 4.1 template set registers template 1`] = `
+"{
+  "schemaHash": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+  "contentHash": "FC8WACA792B6F"
+}"
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 4: Template System 4.2 template get returns template text 1`] = `"Name: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 4: Template System 4.3 template list shows registered templates 1`] = `
+"[
+  {
+    "schemaHash": "7XX5H51CVD9H0",
+    "preview": "Name: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}"
+  }
+]"
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 4: Template System 4.4 template delete removes template 1`] = `
+"{
+  "deleted": true
+}"
+`;
+
+exports[`Phase 4: Template System 4.5 template get deleted template returns not found 1`] = `"Error: Template not found for schema: 7XX5H51CVD9H0"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 5: Render 5.1 render fills payload variables 1`] = `"Hello Alice!"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 5: Render 5.2 render --resolution with different value 1`] = `"Hello Alice!"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 7: Edge Cases 7.1 get non-existent hash errors gracefully 1`] = `"Node not found: AAAAAAAAAAAAA"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 7: Edge Cases 7.3 var set empty name errors 1`] = `"Usage: json-cas var set <name> <hash> [--tag <tag>...]"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 7: Edge Cases 7.4 var set name with invalid chars errors 1`] = `"Error: Invalid variable name "invalid name!": Segment "invalid name!" contains invalid characters (only @, a-z, A-Z, 0-9, ., _, - allowed)"`;
+
+exports[`Phase 7: Edge Cases 7.5 no subcommand shows help text 1`] = `
+"Usage: json-cas [--store <path>] [--json] <command> [args]
+
+Commands:
+  put <type-hash> <file.json>       Store node, print hash
+  get <hash>                        Print node as JSON
+  has <hash>                        Print true/false
+  verify <hash>                     Verify integrity + schema, print ok/corrupted/invalid
+  refs <hash>                       List direct cas_ref edges
+  walk <hash> [--format tree]       Recursive traversal
+  hash <type-hash> <file.json>      Compute hash without storing (dry run)
+  render <hash> [options]           Render node as YAML with resolution decay
+  render --pipe/-p [options]        Render { type, value } from stdin
+  list --type <hash-or-alias>       List all hashes for a given type
+  var set <name> <hash> [--tag <tag>...] Create/update a variable
+  var get <name> --schema <hash>    Get a variable by name + schema
+  var delete <name> [--schema <hash>] Delete variable(s)
+  var list [prefix] [--schema <hash>] [--tag <tag>...] List variables
+  var tag <name> --schema <hash> <operations...> Modify tags/labels
+  template set <schema-hash> <file> | --inline <text> Set template for schema
+  template get <schema-hash>        Get template content as raw text
+  template list                     List all templates
+  template delete <schema-hash>     Delete template for schema
+  gc                                Run garbage collection
+
+Flags:
+  --store <path>      Store directory (default: ~/.uncaged/json-cas)
+  --var-db <path>     Variable database path (default: <store>/variables.db)
+  --json              Compact JSON output
+  --schema <hash>     Schema hash filter for var get/delete/tag/list
+  --tag <tag>         Tag/label (can be repeated): key:value (tag), name (label), :name (delete)
+  --inline <text>     Inline text content for template set
+  --resolution <n>    Initial resolution for render (default: 1.0)
+  --decay <n>         Decay factor for render (default: 0.5)
+  --epsilon <n>       Cutoff threshold for render (default: 0.01)
+  --pipe, -p          Read { type, value } JSON from stdin for render"
+`;
@@ -1,11 +1,36 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
-import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import {
+  mkdirSync,
+  mkdtempSync,
+  readFileSync,
+  rmSync,
+  writeFileSync,
+} from "node:fs";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
+import type { JSONSchema } from "@uncaged/json-cas";
+import { bootstrap, putSchema } from "@uncaged/json-cas";
+import { createFsStore, openStore as openFsStore } from "@uncaged/json-cas-fs";

 const pkgPath = resolve(import.meta.dir, "../package.json");
 const entrypoint = resolve(import.meta.dir, "index.ts");

+/**
+ * Register a schema directly via the library (CLI schema put was removed).
+ * Returns the type hash.
+ */
+async function putSchemaFile(
+  storePath: string,
+  schemaFilePath: string,
+): Promise<string> {
+  const store = await openFsStore(storePath);
+  const schema = JSON.parse(
+    readFileSync(schemaFilePath, "utf-8"),
+  ) as JSONSchema;
+  const hash = await putSchema(store, schema);
+  return hash;
+}
+
 async function runCli(
  args: string[],
  storePath?: string,
@@ -23,6 +48,25 @@ async function runCli(
  return { stdout, stderr, exitCode };
 }

+async function runCliWithStdin(
+  args: string[],
+  storePath: string,
+  stdin: string,
+): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string; exitCode: number }> {
+  const finalArgs = ["bun", entrypoint, "--store", storePath, ...args];
+  const proc = Bun.spawn(finalArgs, {
+    stdout: "pipe",
+    stderr: "pipe",
+    stdin: "pipe",
+  });
+  proc.stdin.write(stdin);
+  proc.stdin.end();
+  const exitCode = await proc.exited;
+  const stdout = await new Response(proc.stdout).text();
+  const stderr = await new Response(proc.stderr).text();
+  return { stdout, stderr, exitCode };
+}
+
 describe("ucas command alias", () => {
  test("T1: ucas bin entry exists in package.json", async () => {
    const pkg = await Bun.file(pkgPath).json();
@@ -109,86 +153,6 @@ async function runCliAlias(...args: string[]): Promise<{
  };
 }

-describe("@ Alias Resolution - schema get", () => {
-  test("ucas schema get @string should work", async () => {
-    await runCliAlias("init"); // Initialize store
-
-    const { stdout, stderr, exitCode } = await runCliAlias(
-      "schema",
-      "get",
-      "@string",
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toBe("");
-    const schema = JSON.parse(stdout);
-    expect(schema).toEqual({ type: "string" });
-  });
-
-  test("ucas schema get @number should work", async () => {
-    await runCliAlias("init");
-
-    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCliAlias("schema", "get", "@number");
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-    const schema = JSON.parse(stdout);
-    expect(schema).toEqual({ type: "number" });
-  });
-
-  test("ucas schema get @object should work", async () => {
-    await runCliAlias("init");
-
-    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCliAlias("schema", "get", "@object");
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-    const schema = JSON.parse(stdout);
-    expect(schema).toEqual({ type: "object" });
-  });
-
-  test("ucas schema get @array should work", async () => {
-    await runCliAlias("init");
-
-    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCliAlias("schema", "get", "@array");
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-    const schema = JSON.parse(stdout);
-    expect(schema).toEqual({ type: "array" });
-  });
-
-  test("ucas schema get @bool should work", async () => {
-    await runCliAlias("init");
-
-    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCliAlias("schema", "get", "@bool");
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-    const schema = JSON.parse(stdout);
-    expect(schema).toEqual({ type: "boolean" });
-  });
-
-  test("ucas schema get @schema should work", async () => {
-    await runCliAlias("init");
-
-    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCliAlias("schema", "get", "@schema");
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-    const schema = JSON.parse(stdout);
-    expect(schema).toHaveProperty("type", "object");
-    expect(schema).toHaveProperty(
-      "description",
-      "json-cas JSON Schema meta-schema",
-    );
-  });
-
-  test("ucas schema get @invalid should fail gracefully", async () => {
-    await runCliAlias("init");
-
-    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCliAlias("schema", "get", "@invalid");
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Schema not found");
-  });
-});
-
 describe("@ Alias Resolution - put", () => {
  test("ucas put @string <file> should resolve alias", async () => {
    await runCliAlias("init");
@@ -287,13 +251,14 @@ describe("ucas render command", () => {
    const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
    try {
      await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
-      const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli(
+      const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
        ["render", "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"],
        tmpStore,
      );
-      // Missing hash renders as cas: reference
-      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-      expect(stdout).toContain("cas:ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ");
+      // Missing hash should exit with error
+      expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+      expect(stderr).toContain("Node not found");
+      expect(stderr).toContain("ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ");
    } finally {
      rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
    }
@@ -315,6 +280,555 @@ describe("ucas render command", () => {
  });
 });

+// ---- Issue #50: Schema Validation in put Command ----
+
+describe("Issue #50: Schema Validation in put", () => {
+  describe("Test Group 1: Valid Data (Regression Tests)", () => {
+    test("T1.1: Valid data matching schema should be accepted", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Create schema with required name property
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+            required: ["name"],
+            additionalProperties: false,
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Create valid payload
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "test" }));
+
+        const { stdout, stderr, exitCode } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toBe("");
+        expect(stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+
+        // Verify node was stored
+        const hash = stdout.trim();
+        const { exitCode: hasExitCode } = await runCli(["has", hash], tmpStore);
+        expect(hasExitCode).toBe(0);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T1.2: Valid data with optional properties should be accepted", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema with optional property
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: {
+              name: { type: "string" },
+              age: { type: "number" },
+            },
+            required: ["name"],
+            additionalProperties: false,
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Payload with only required properties
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "test" }));
+
+        const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+        expect(stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T1.3: Valid data with nested objects should be accepted", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema with nested structure
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: {
+              name: { type: "string" },
+              address: {
+                type: "object",
+                properties: {
+                  street: { type: "string" },
+                  city: { type: "string" },
+                },
+              },
+            },
+            additionalProperties: false,
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Payload with nested structure
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          payloadFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            name: "test",
+            address: { street: "123 Main", city: "NYC" },
+          }),
+        );
+
+        const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+        expect(stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T1.4: Valid data using @ alias for type-hash should be accepted", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify("hello world"));
+
+        const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli(
+          ["put", "@string", payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+        expect(stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("Test Group 2: Type Mismatches (New Validation)", () => {
+    test("T2.1: Wrong property type should be rejected", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema with name as string
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+            required: ["name"],
+            additionalProperties: false,
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Payload with name as number
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({ name: 123 }));
+
+        const { exitCode, stdout, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(1);
+        expect(stdout).toBe("");
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+        expect(stderr).toContain(schemaHash.trim());
+        expect(stderr).toContain(payloadFile);
+
+        // Verify no node was stored
+        const { stdout: hasOutput } = await runCli(
+          ["has", "0000000000000"],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+        expect(hasOutput.trim()).toBe("false");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T2.2: Missing required property should be rejected", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema with required name
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+            required: ["name"],
+            additionalProperties: false,
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Empty payload
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({}));
+
+        const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T2.3: Additional properties when disallowed should be rejected", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema with additionalProperties: false
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+            additionalProperties: false,
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Payload with extra property
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          payloadFile,
+          JSON.stringify({ name: "test", extra: "not allowed" }),
+        );
+
+        const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T2.4: Wrong root type should be rejected", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema expecting array
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "array",
+            items: { type: "string" },
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Payload is an object
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({}));
+
+        const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T2.5: Nested type mismatch should be rejected", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema with nested object
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: {
+              user: {
+                type: "object",
+                properties: {
+                  age: { type: "number" },
+                },
+              },
+            },
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Payload with wrong nested type
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          payloadFile,
+          JSON.stringify({ user: { age: "not a number" } }),
+        );
+
+        const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("Test Group 3: Schema Errors (Edge Cases)", () => {
+    test("T3.1: Non-existent type-hash should fail gracefully", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "test" }));
+
+        const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ", payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Schema not found");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T3.3: Invalid @ alias should fail before validation", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({}));
+
+        const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", "@nonexistent", payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Schema not found");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("Test Group 4: Integration with Existing Features", () => {
+    test("T4.1: Hash command should not validate (dry-run consistency)", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Create schema
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+            required: ["name"],
+            additionalProperties: false,
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Invalid payload
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({ name: 123 }));
+
+        // Hash command should succeed even with invalid data
+        const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli(
+          ["hash", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+        expect(stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T4.2: Validation respects cas_ref format in schemas", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Schema with cas_ref format
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: {
+              ref: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+            },
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        // Valid cas_ref
+        const validFile = join(tmpStore, "valid.json");
+        writeFileSync(validFile, JSON.stringify({ ref: "0000000000000" }));
+
+        const { exitCode: validExitCode } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), validFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+        expect(validExitCode).toBe(0);
+
+        // Invalid cas_ref (wrong length)
+        const invalidFile = join(tmpStore, "invalid.json");
+        writeFileSync(invalidFile, JSON.stringify({ ref: "short" }));
+
+        const { exitCode: invalidExitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), invalidFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+        expect(invalidExitCode).not.toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T4.3: Schema self-validation still works", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        // Valid schema
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+          }),
+        );
+
+        const hash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+        expect(hash).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("Test Group 5: Error Message Quality", () => {
+    test("T5.1: Error message should be helpful", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+            required: ["name"],
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({ name: 123 }));
+
+        const { stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+        expect(stderr).toContain(schemaHash.trim());
+        expect(stderr).toContain(payloadFile);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    test("T5.2: Error should go to stderr, not stdout", async () => {
+      const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+      try {
+        await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+        const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "schema.json");
+        writeFileSync(
+          schemaFile,
+          JSON.stringify({
+            type: "object",
+            properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
+          }),
+        );
+        const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);
+
+        const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "payload.json");
+        writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify({ name: 123 }));
+
+        const { stdout, stderr } = await runCli(
+          ["put", schemaHash.trim(), payloadFile],
+          tmpStore,
+        );
+
+        expect(stdout).toBe("");
+        expect(stderr.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+});
+
 describe("Suite 6: CLI Integration with Templates", () => {
  test("6.1 CLI with Template (Default Parameters)", async () => {
    const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
@@ -331,10 +845,7 @@ describe("Suite 6: CLI Integration with Templates", () => {
          properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
        }),
      );
-      const { stdout: schemaHash } = await runCli(
-        ["schema", "put", schemaFile],
-        tmpStore,
-      );
+      const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);

      // Create node
      const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "node.json");
@@ -395,10 +906,7 @@ describe("Suite 6: CLI Integration with Templates", () => {
          },
        }),
      );
-      const { stdout: schemaHash } = await runCli(
-        ["schema", "put", schemaFile],
-        tmpStore,
-      );
+      const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);

      // Create child node
      const childFile = join(tmpStore, "child.json");
@@ -467,10 +975,7 @@ describe("Suite 6: CLI Integration with Templates", () => {
          properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
        }),
      );
-      const { stdout: schemaHash } = await runCli(
-        ["schema", "put", schemaFile],
-        tmpStore,
-      );
+      const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);

      const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "node.json");
      writeFileSync(nodeFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "Bob" }));
@@ -534,10 +1039,7 @@ describe("Suite 6: CLI Integration with Templates", () => {
          properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
        }),
      );
-      const { stdout: schemaHash } = await runCli(
-        ["schema", "put", schemaFile],
-        tmpStore,
-      );
+      const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);

      const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "node.json");
      writeFileSync(nodeFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "Charlie" }));
@@ -573,10 +1075,7 @@ describe("Suite 6: CLI Integration with Templates", () => {
          properties: { name: { type: "string" } },
        }),
      );
-      const { stdout: schemaHash } = await runCli(
-        ["schema", "put", schemaFile],
-        tmpStore,
-      );
+      const schemaHash = await putSchemaFile(tmpStore, schemaFile);

      const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "node.json");
      writeFileSync(nodeFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "Test" }));
@@ -596,132 +1095,109 @@ describe("Suite 6: CLI Integration with Templates", () => {
      rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
    }
  });
-});

-describe("Store validation - non-existent paths (Issue #55)", () => {
-  test("E2E-55-1: get with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const fakePath = "/nonexistent/path/to/store";
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["get", "AAAAAAAAAAAAA"],
-      fakePath,
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-    expect(stderr).toContain(fakePath);
-    expect(stderr).not.toContain("Node not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-2: has with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const fakePath = `/tmp/nonexistent-store-${Date.now()}`;
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["has", "BBBBBBBBBBBBB"],
-      fakePath,
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-3: verify with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["verify", "CCCCCCCCCCCCC"],
-      "/does/not/exist",
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-4: schema get with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["schema", "get", "@string"],
-      "/fake/path",
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-5: schema list with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["schema", "list"],
-      "/nonexistent/store",
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-6: walk with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["walk", "DDDDDDDDDDDDD"],
-      "/tmp/missing-store",
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-7: cat with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["cat", "EEEEEEEEEEEEE"],
-      "/no/such/dir",
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-8: refs with non-existent store reports store not found", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr } = await runCli(
-      ["refs", "FFFFFFFFFFFFF"],
-      "/nonexistent",
-    );
-
-    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toContain("Store not found");
-  });
-
-  test("E2E-55-9: existing store works normally (regression)", async () => {
+  test("R8: render with non-existent hash exits with error", async () => {
    const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
    try {
      await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
-
-      const payloadFile = join(tmpStore, "test.json");
-      writeFileSync(payloadFile, JSON.stringify("test"));
-
-      const { stdout: hash } = await runCli(
-        ["put", "@string", payloadFile],
+      const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = await runCli(
+        ["render", "AAAAAAAAAAAAA"],
        tmpStore,
      );
-      const { exitCode, stdout, stderr } = await runCli(
-        ["get", hash.trim()],
-        tmpStore,
-      );
-
-      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-      expect(stderr).toBe("");
-      const node = JSON.parse(stdout);
-      expect(node).toHaveProperty("type");
-      expect(node).toHaveProperty("payload", "test");
+      expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+      expect(stderr).toContain("Node not found");
+      expect(stderr).toContain("AAAAAAAAAAAAA");
+      expect(stdout).toBe("");
    } finally {
      rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
    }
  });

-  test("E2E-55-10: init creates directory (should not validate)", async () => {
-    const newStore = join(tmpdir(), `new-store-${Date.now()}`);
+  test("R9: render with valid hash exits successfully", async () => {
+    const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
    try {
-      const { exitCode, stdout, stderr } = await runCli(["init"], newStore);
+      await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+      // Get @string type hash via bootstrap
+      const store = createFsStore(tmpStore);
+      const types = await bootstrap(store);
+      const stringType = types["@string"];
+
+      // Create and store a simple string node
+      const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "test.json");
+      writeFileSync(nodeFile, JSON.stringify("hello world"));
+      const { stdout: nodeHash } = await runCli(
+        ["put", stringType, nodeFile],
+        tmpStore,
+      );
+
+      // Render the valid hash
+      const { exitCode, stdout, stderr } = await runCli(
+        ["render", nodeHash.trim()],
+        tmpStore,
+      );

      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(stdout).toContain("hello world");
      expect(stderr).toBe("");
-      expect(stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
-      const { existsSync } = await import("node:fs");
-      expect(existsSync(newStore)).toBe(true);
+      expect(stdout).not.toContain("Error");
+      expect(stdout).not.toContain("Node not found");
    } finally {
-      rmSync(newStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("R10: render --pipe with valid envelope succeeds", async () => {
+    const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+    try {
+      await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+      // Get @string type hash via bootstrap
+      const store = createFsStore(tmpStore);
+      const types = await bootstrap(store);
+      const stringType = types["@string"];
+
+      // Create envelope and pipe to render
+      const envelope = JSON.stringify({ type: stringType, value: "test" });
+      const { exitCode, stdout, stderr } = await runCliWithStdin(
+        ["render", "--pipe"],
+        tmpStore,
+        envelope,
+      );
+
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(stdout).toContain("test");
+      expect(stderr).toBe("");
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("R11: render --pipe with invalid type hash still renders", async () => {
+    const tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-test-"));
+    try {
+      await runCli(["init"], tmpStore);
+
+      // Use invalid type hash in envelope
+      const envelope = JSON.stringify({
+        type: "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ",
+        value: "test",
+      });
+      const { exitCode, stdout, stderr } = await runCliWithStdin(
+        ["render", "--pipe"],
+        tmpStore,
+        envelope,
+      );
+
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(stdout).toContain("test");
+      expect(stderr).toBe("");
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
    }
  });
 });
+
+// Store validation tests removed - with auto-bootstrap in Phase 1a,
+// stores are automatically created and bootstrapped when opened.
+// Issue #55 validation is no longer applicable.
@@ -0,0 +1,520 @@
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
+
+const entrypoint = resolve(import.meta.dir, "index.ts");
+
+let tmpStore: string;
+let varDbPath: string;
+
+// Shared hashes across phases
+let typeHash: string;
+let nodeHash: string;
+
+beforeAll(() => {
+  tmpStore = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-e2e-"));
+  varDbPath = join(tmpStore, "variables.db");
+});
+
+afterAll(() => {
+  rmSync(tmpStore, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+async function runCli(
+  args: string[],
+): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string; exitCode: number }> {
+  const proc = Bun.spawn(
+    ["bun", entrypoint, "--store", tmpStore, "--var-db", varDbPath, ...args],
+    { stdout: "pipe", stderr: "pipe" },
+  );
+  const exitCode = await proc.exited;
+  const stdout = (await new Response(proc.stdout).text()).trim();
+  const stderr = (await new Response(proc.stderr).text()).trim();
+  return { stdout, stderr, exitCode };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parse JSON and strip volatile fields (timestamp, created, updated)
+ * so snapshots are stable across runs.
+ */
+function stripVolatile(json: string): unknown {
+  const strip = (v: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (Array.isArray(v)) return v.map(strip);
+    if (v !== null && typeof v === "object") {
+      const out: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+      for (const [k, val] of Object.entries(v as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+        if (k === "timestamp" || k === "created" || k === "updated") continue;
+        out[k] = strip(val);
+      }
+      return out;
+    }
+    return v;
+  };
+  return strip(JSON.parse(json));
+}
+
+// ---- Phase 1: CAS Core ----
+
+describe("Phase 1: CAS Core", () => {
+  test("1.1 init + put with @object bootstraps store", async () => {
+    const schemaFile = join(tmpStore, "test-schema.json");
+    writeFileSync(
+      schemaFile,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          age: { type: "number" },
+        },
+        required: ["name"],
+        additionalProperties: false,
+      }),
+    );
+    // Use putSchema via the library to register schema, since CLI schema put is removed
+    const { openStore: openFsStore } = await import("@uncaged/json-cas-fs");
+    const { putSchema } = await import("@uncaged/json-cas");
+    const store = await openFsStore(tmpStore);
+    const hash = await putSchema(
+      store,
+      JSON.parse(readFileSync(schemaFile, "utf-8")),
+    );
+    typeHash = hash;
+    expect(typeHash).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+  });
+
+  test("1.5 put returns node hash", async () => {
+    const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "test-node.json");
+    writeFileSync(nodeFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "Alice", age: 30 }));
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["put", typeHash, nodeFile]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
+    nodeHash = stdout;
+  });
+
+  test("1.6 get returns node JSON (snapshot)", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["get", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("1.7 has returns true for existing node", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["has", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe("true");
+  });
+
+  test("1.8 has returns false for non-existing hash", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["has", "AAAAAAAAAAAAA"]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe("false");
+  });
+
+  test("1.9 verify returns ok for valid node", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["verify", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("1.10 refs lists direct references (snapshot)", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["refs", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("1.11 walk shows traversal tree (snapshot)", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["walk", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("1.12 hash dry-run returns same hash as put", async () => {
+    const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "test-node.json");
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["hash", typeHash, nodeFile]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe(nodeHash);
+  });
+
+  test("1.13 list --type returns nodes of that type", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["list", "--type", typeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toContain(nodeHash);
+  });
+});
+
+// ---- Phase 2: Schema Validation ----
+
+describe("Phase 2: Schema Validation", () => {
+  test("2.1 put {name:123} against string-schema fails with non-zero exit", async () => {
+    const badFile = join(tmpStore, "bad-node.json");
+    writeFileSync(badFile, JSON.stringify({ name: 123 }));
+    const { stdout, stderr, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "put",
+      typeHash,
+      badFile,
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe("");
+    expect(stderr).toContain("Validation failed");
+    expect(stderr).toContain(typeHash);
+    // Do NOT snapshot stderr — it embeds a machine-specific tmp path
+  });
+
+  test("2.2 verify on valid node returns ok (hash + schema)", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["verify", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe("ok");
+  });
+
+  test("2.3 put against non-existent schema hash fails", async () => {
+    const nodeFile = join(tmpStore, "test-node.json");
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "put",
+      "AAAAAAAAAAAAA",
+      nodeFile,
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+});
+
+// ---- Phase 3: Variable System ----
+
+describe("Phase 3: Variable System", () => {
+  test("3.1 var set creates variable", async () => {
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "set",
+      "myapp/config",
+      nodeHash,
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("3.2 var get returns variable", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "get",
+      "myapp/config",
+      "--schema",
+      typeHash,
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+    expect(stdout).toContain(nodeHash);
+  });
+
+  test("3.3 var list shows all variables", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["var", "list"]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+    expect(stdout).toContain("myapp/config");
+  });
+
+  test("3.4 var list prefix filters by prefix", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["var", "list", "myapp/"]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+    expect(stdout).toContain("myapp/config");
+  });
+
+  test("3.5 var set upsert updates existing variable", async () => {
+    const node2File = join(tmpStore, "node2.json");
+    writeFileSync(node2File, JSON.stringify({ name: "Bob", age: 25 }));
+    const { stdout: node2Hash } = await runCli(["put", typeHash, node2File]);
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "set",
+      "myapp/config",
+      node2Hash.trim(),
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+    // Restore original value
+    await runCli(["var", "set", "myapp/config", nodeHash]);
+  });
+
+  test("3.6 var tag adds kv tag and label", async () => {
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "tag",
+      "myapp/config",
+      "--schema",
+      typeHash,
+      "env:prod",
+      "important",
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("3.7 var list --tag env:prod filters by kv tag", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "list",
+      "--tag",
+      "env:prod",
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toContain("myapp/config");
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("3.8 var list --tag important filters by label", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "list",
+      "--tag",
+      "important",
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toContain("myapp/config");
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("3.9 var tag remove deletes label", async () => {
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "tag",
+      "myapp/config",
+      "--schema",
+      typeHash,
+      ":important",
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+    // Verify label is gone
+    const { stdout: listOut } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "list",
+      "--tag",
+      "important",
+    ]);
+    expect(listOut).not.toContain("myapp/config");
+  });
+
+  test("3.10 var delete removes variable", async () => {
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "delete",
+      "myapp/config",
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stripVolatile(stdout)).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("3.11 var get deleted variable returns not found", async () => {
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "get",
+      "myapp/config",
+      "--schema",
+      typeHash,
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+});
+
+// ---- Phase 4: Template System ----
+
+describe("Phase 4: Template System", () => {
+  test("4.1 template set registers template", async () => {
+    const tmplFile = join(tmpStore, "test.liquid");
+    writeFileSync(tmplFile, "Name: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}");
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli([
+      "template",
+      "set",
+      typeHash,
+      tmplFile,
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("4.2 template get returns template text", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["template", "get", typeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe("Name: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}");
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("4.3 template list shows registered templates", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["template", "list"]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toContain(typeHash);
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("4.4 template delete removes template", async () => {
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli(["template", "delete", typeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("4.5 template get deleted template returns not found", async () => {
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli(["template", "get", typeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+});
+
+// ---- Phase 5: Render ----
+
+describe("Phase 5: Render", () => {
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    const tmplFile = join(tmpStore, "render-template.liquid");
+    writeFileSync(tmplFile, "Hello {{ payload.name }}!");
+    await runCli(["template", "set", typeHash, tmplFile]);
+  });
+
+  test("5.1 render fills payload variables", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli(["render", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe("Hello Alice!");
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("5.2 render --resolution with different value", async () => {
+    const { stdout, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "render",
+      nodeHash,
+      "--resolution",
+      "0.5",
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("5.3 render non-existent hash fails with error", async () => {
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli(["render", "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr).toContain("Node not found");
+    expect(stderr).toContain("ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ");
+  });
+});
+
+// ---- Phase 6: GC ----
+
+describe("Phase 6: GC", () => {
+  let gcNodeHash: string;
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    // Create a fresh node for GC tests (independent of shared nodeHash)
+    const gcNodeFile = join(tmpStore, "gc-node.json");
+    writeFileSync(gcNodeFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "GcAlice", age: 30 }));
+    const { stdout } = await runCli(["put", typeHash, gcNodeFile]);
+    gcNodeHash = stdout.trim();
+    // Set a var referencing this node so it survives GC during Phase 6
+    await runCli(["var", "set", "gc-test/ref", gcNodeHash]);
+  });
+
+  test("6.1 gc runs without error", async () => {
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = await runCli(["gc"]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    // Assert structural shape only — exact counts depend on phase history
+    const result = JSON.parse(stdout) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(typeof result.total).toBe("number");
+    expect(typeof result.reachable).toBe("number");
+    expect(typeof result.collected).toBe("number");
+    expect(typeof result.scanned).toBe("number");
+    expect(result.total as number).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(
+      result.reachable as number,
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("6.2 gc preserves node referenced by a var", async () => {
+    const { exitCode } = await runCli(["gc"]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    const { stdout } = await runCli(["has", gcNodeHash]);
+    expect(stdout).toBe("true");
+  });
+
+  test("6.3 gc reclaims orphan node", async () => {
+    const orphanFile = join(tmpStore, "orphan.json");
+    writeFileSync(orphanFile, JSON.stringify({ name: "Orphan", age: 99 }));
+    const { stdout: orphanHashRaw } = await runCli([
+      "put",
+      typeHash,
+      orphanFile,
+    ]);
+    const orphanHash = orphanHashRaw.trim();
+
+    const { stdout: beforeGc } = await runCli(["has", orphanHash]);
+    expect(beforeGc).toBe("true");
+
+    await runCli(["gc"]);
+    const { stdout: afterGc } = await runCli(["has", orphanHash]);
+    expect(afterGc).toBe("false");
+  });
+});
+
+// ---- Phase 7: Edge Cases ----
+
+describe("Phase 7: Edge Cases", () => {
+  test("7.1 get non-existent hash errors gracefully", async () => {
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli(["get", "AAAAAAAAAAAAA"]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("7.2 put with non-existent file errors with ENOENT", async () => {
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "put",
+      typeHash,
+      "/nonexistent/file.json",
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr).toContain("ENOENT");
+  });
+
+  test("7.3 var set empty name errors", async () => {
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli(["var", "set", "", nodeHash]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(stderr).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("7.4 var set name with invalid chars errors", async () => {
+    const { stderr, exitCode } = await runCli([
+      "var",
+      "set",
+      "invalid name!",
+      nodeHash,
+    ]);
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(stderr).toMatchSnapshot();
+  });
+
+  test("7.5 no subcommand shows help text", async () => {
+    const { stdout, stderr, exitCode: _exitCode } = await runCli([]);
+    const combined = stdout + stderr;
+    expect(combined.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(combined).toMatchSnapshot();
+    expect(combined.toLowerCase()).toContain("usage");
+  });
+
+  test("7.6 --store path is a file errors", async () => {
+    const fileAsStore = join(tmpStore, "not-a-directory");
+    writeFileSync(fileAsStore, "test");
+    const proc = Bun.spawn(
+      [
+        "bun",
+        entrypoint,
+        "--store",
+        fileAsStore,
+        "--var-db",
+        varDbPath,
+        "get",
+        "AAAAAAAAAAAAA",
+      ],
+      { stdout: "pipe", stderr: "pipe" },
+    );
+    const exitCode = await proc.exited;
+    const stderr = (await new Response(proc.stderr).text()).trim();
+    expect(exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(stderr).toContain("not a directory");
+  });
+});
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bun

-import { existsSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { existsSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
 import type { Hash, JSONSchema, Store, VariableStore } from "@uncaged/json-cas";
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import {
  verify,
  walk,
 } from "@uncaged/json-cas";
-import { createFsStore } from "@uncaged/json-cas-fs";
+import { openStore as openFsStore } from "@uncaged/json-cas-fs";

 // ---- Argument parsing ----

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ const VALUE_FLAGS = new Set([
  "decay",
  "epsilon",
  "inline",
+  "type",
 ]);

 function parseArgs(argv: string[]): { flags: Flags; positional: string[] } {
@@ -112,26 +113,16 @@ function readJsonFile(file: string): unknown {
 }

 /**
- * Validate that the store directory exists.
- * Dies with a clear error message if not found.
+ * Open the filesystem-backed CAS store.
+ * Automatically creates directory and bootstraps if needed.
 */
-function validateStoreExists(path: string): void {
-  if (!existsSync(path)) {
-    die(`Store not found at ${path}`);
-  }
-}
-
-function openStore(shouldCreate = false): Store {
+async function openStore(): Promise<Store> {
  const fullPath = resolve(storePath);
-  if (!shouldCreate) {
-    validateStoreExists(fullPath);
-  }
-  return createFsStore(fullPath);
+  return await openFsStore(fullPath);
 }

-function openVarStore(): VariableStore {
-  const store = openStore(true);
-  mkdirSync(resolve(storePath), { recursive: true });
+async function openVarStore(): Promise<VariableStore> {
+  const store = await openStore();
  return createVariableStore(resolve(varDbPath), store);
 }

@@ -140,12 +131,9 @@ function openVarStore(): VariableStore {
 * If the input starts with @, resolve it via bootstrap
 * Otherwise, return the hash as-is
 */
-async function resolveTypeHash(
-  typeHashOrAlias: string,
-  shouldCreate = false,
-): Promise<Hash> {
+async function resolveTypeHash(typeHashOrAlias: string): Promise<Hash> {
  if (typeHashOrAlias.startsWith("@")) {
-    const store = openStore(shouldCreate);
+    const store = await openStore();
    const builtinSchemas = await bootstrap(store);
    const resolvedHash = builtinSchemas[typeHashOrAlias];
    if (!resolvedHash) {
@@ -161,7 +149,7 @@ async function resolveTypeHash(
 * This is the type hash used in JSON envelopes
 */
 async function getVariableSchemaHash(): Promise<Hash> {
-  const store = openStore();
+  const store = await openStore();

  // Define the Variable JSON Schema (updated for new model with composite key)
  const variableSchema: JSONSchema = {
@@ -239,78 +227,31 @@ function parseTagsLabels(args: string[]): {

 // ---- Commands ----

-async function cmdInit(): Promise<void> {
-  const dir = resolve(storePath);
-  mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
-  const store = createFsStore(dir);
-  const builtinSchemas = await bootstrap(store);
-  const metaHash = builtinSchemas["@schema"];
-  console.log(metaHash);
-}
-
-async function cmdBootstrap(): Promise<void> {
-  const store = openStore(true);
-  const builtinSchemas = await bootstrap(store);
-  const metaHash = builtinSchemas["@schema"];
-  console.log(metaHash);
-}
-
-async function cmdSchemaPut(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
-  const file = args[0];
-  if (!file) die("Usage: json-cas schema put <file.json>");
-  const schema = readJsonFile(file) as JSONSchema;
-  const store = openStore(true);
-  const hash = await putSchema(store, schema);
-  console.log(hash);
-}
-
-async function cmdSchemaGet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
-  const hashOrAlias = args[0];
-  if (!hashOrAlias) die("Usage: json-cas schema get <type-hash>");
-  const hash = await resolveTypeHash(hashOrAlias);
-  const store = openStore();
-  const schema = getSchema(store, hash);
-  if (schema === null) die(`Schema not found: ${hashOrAlias}`);
-  out(schema);
-}
-
-async function cmdSchemaList(): Promise<void> {
-  const store = openStore();
-  const builtinSchemas = await bootstrap(store);
-  const metaHash = builtinSchemas["@schema"];
-  if (!metaHash) throw new Error("Meta-schema not found");
-  for (const hash of store.listByType(metaHash)) {
-    if (hash === metaHash) continue;
-    const node = store.get(hash);
-    if (node !== null) {
-      const schema = node.payload as JSONSchema;
-      const name =
-        (schema.title as string | undefined) ??
-        (schema.description as string | undefined) ??
-        "(unnamed)";
-      console.log(`${hash}  ${name}`);
-    }
-  }
-}
-
-async function cmdSchemaValidate(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
-  const hash = args[0];
-  if (!hash) die("Usage: json-cas schema validate <hash>");
-  const store = openStore();
-  const node = store.get(hash);
-  if (node === null) die(`Node not found: ${hash}`);
-  const valid = validate(store, node);
-  console.log(valid ? "valid" : "invalid");
-}
-
 async function cmdPut(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const typeHashOrAlias = args[0];
  const file = args[1];
  if (!typeHashOrAlias || !file)
    die("Usage: json-cas put <type-hash> <file.json>");
-  const typeHash = await resolveTypeHash(typeHashOrAlias, true);
+  const typeHash = await resolveTypeHash(typeHashOrAlias);
  const payload = readJsonFile(file);
-  const store = openStore(true);
+  const store = await openStore();
+
+  // Check if schema exists
+  const schema = getSchema(store, typeHash);
+  if (schema === null) {
+    console.error(`Schema not found: ${typeHash}`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  // Validate payload against schema before storing
+  const tempNode = { type: typeHash, payload, timestamp: Date.now() };
+  if (!validate(store, tempNode)) {
+    console.error(
+      `Validation failed: payload in ${file} does not match schema ${typeHash}`,
+    );
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
  const hash = await store.put(typeHash, payload);
  console.log(hash);
 }
@@ -318,7 +259,7 @@ async function cmdPut(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
 async function cmdGet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const hash = args[0];
  if (!hash) die("Usage: json-cas get <hash>");
-  const store = openStore();
+  const store = await openStore();
  const node = store.get(hash);
  if (node === null) die(`Node not found: ${hash}`);
  out(node);
@@ -327,24 +268,29 @@ async function cmdGet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
 async function cmdHas(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const hash = args[0];
  if (!hash) die("Usage: json-cas has <hash>");
-  const store = openStore();
+  const store = await openStore();
  console.log(String(store.has(hash)));
 }

 async function cmdVerify(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const hash = args[0];
  if (!hash) die("Usage: json-cas verify <hash>");
-  const store = openStore();
+  const store = await openStore();
  const node = store.get(hash);
  if (node === null) die(`Node not found: ${hash}`);
  const ok = await verify(hash, node);
-  console.log(ok ? "ok" : "corrupted");
+  if (!ok) {
+    console.log("corrupted");
+  } else {
+    const valid = validate(store, node);
+    console.log(valid ? "ok" : "invalid");
+  }
 }

 async function cmdRefs(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const hash = args[0];
  if (!hash) die("Usage: json-cas refs <hash>");
-  const store = openStore();
+  const store = await openStore();
  const node = store.get(hash);
  if (node === null) die(`Node not found: ${hash}`);
  const refHashes = refs(store, node);
@@ -356,7 +302,7 @@ async function cmdRefs(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
 async function cmdWalk(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const hash = args[0];
  if (!hash) die("Usage: json-cas walk <hash> [--format tree]");
-  const store = openStore();
+  const store = await openStore();
  const format = flags.format;

  if (format === "tree") {
@@ -397,7 +343,7 @@ async function cmdHash(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const file = args[1];
  if (!typeHashOrAlias || !file)
    die("Usage: json-cas hash <type-hash> <file.json>");
-  const typeHash = await resolveTypeHash(typeHashOrAlias, true);
+  const typeHash = await resolveTypeHash(typeHashOrAlias);
  const payload = readJsonFile(file);
  const hash = await computeHash(typeHash, payload);
  console.log(hash);
@@ -417,7 +363,7 @@ async function cmdRender(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    );
  }

-  const store = openStore();
+  const store = await openStore();

  // Parse numeric options
  const resolution =
@@ -492,7 +438,7 @@ async function cmdRender(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
      );
      process.stdout.write(output);
    } else {
-      const varStore = openVarStore();
+      const varStore = await openVarStore();
      const output = await renderAsync(store, hash, {
        resolution,
        decay,
@@ -503,6 +449,9 @@ async function cmdRender(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
      process.stdout.write(output);
    }
  } catch (error) {
+    if (error instanceof CasNodeNotFoundError) {
+      die(`Error: Node not found: ${error.hash}`);
+    }
    if (error instanceof Error) {
      die(error.message);
    }
@@ -510,19 +459,6 @@ async function cmdRender(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  }
 }

-async function cmdCat(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
-  const hash = args[0];
-  if (!hash) die("Usage: json-cas cat <hash>");
-  const store = openStore();
-  const node = store.get(hash);
-  if (node === null) die(`Node not found: ${hash}`);
-  if (flags.payload === true) {
-    out(node.payload);
-  } else {
-    out(node);
-  }
-}
-
 async function cmdVarSet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const name = args[0];
  const value = args[1];
@@ -532,7 +468,7 @@ async function cmdVarSet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    die("Usage: json-cas var set <name> <hash> [--tag <tag>...]");
  }

-  const varStore = openVarStore();
+  const varStore = await openVarStore();

  try {
    // Parse tags/labels from --tag flags
@@ -583,7 +519,7 @@ async function cmdVarGet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    die("Usage: json-cas var get <name> --schema <hash>");
  }

-  const varStore = openVarStore();
+  const varStore = await openVarStore();

  try {
    const variable = varStore.get(name, schema);
@@ -605,7 +541,7 @@ async function cmdVarDelete(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    die("Usage: json-cas var delete <name> [--schema <hash>]");
  }

-  const varStore = openVarStore();
+  const varStore = await openVarStore();

  try {
    if (schema !== undefined) {
@@ -642,7 +578,7 @@ async function cmdVarTag(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    die("Usage: json-cas var tag <name> --schema <hash> <operations...>");
  }

-  const varStore = openVarStore();
+  const varStore = await openVarStore();

  try {
    const { tags, labels, deleteNames } = parseTagsLabels(tagArgs);
@@ -674,7 +610,7 @@ async function cmdVarList(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const schema = flags.schema as string | undefined;
  const tagFlags = flags.tag;

-  const varStore = openVarStore();
+  const varStore = await openVarStore();

  try {
    // Parse tags/labels from --tag flags
@@ -716,8 +652,7 @@ async function cmdTemplateSet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    die("Usage: json-cas template set <schema-hash> <file> | --inline <text>");
  }

-  const store = openStore();
-  mkdirSync(resolve(storePath), { recursive: true });
+  const store = await openStore();
  const varStore = createVariableStore(resolve(varDbPath), store);

  try {
@@ -788,8 +723,7 @@ async function cmdTemplateGet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    die("Usage: json-cas template get <schema-hash>");
  }

-  const store = openStore();
-  mkdirSync(resolve(storePath), { recursive: true });
+  const store = await openStore();
  const varStore = createVariableStore(resolve(varDbPath), store);

  try {
@@ -815,8 +749,7 @@ async function cmdTemplateGet(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
 }

 async function cmdTemplateList(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
-  const store = openStore();
-  mkdirSync(resolve(storePath), { recursive: true });
+  const store = await openStore();
  const varStore = createVariableStore(resolve(varDbPath), store);

  try {
@@ -856,8 +789,7 @@ async function cmdTemplateDelete(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
    die("Usage: json-cas template delete <schema-hash>");
  }

-  const store = openStore();
-  mkdirSync(resolve(storePath), { recursive: true });
+  const store = await openStore();
  const varStore = createVariableStore(resolve(varDbPath), store);

  try {
@@ -877,7 +809,7 @@ async function cmdTemplateDelete(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
 }

 async function cmdGc(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
-  const store = createFsStore(storePath);
+  const store = await openStore();
  const varStore = createVariableStore(varDbPath, store);

  try {
@@ -888,27 +820,32 @@ async function cmdGc(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
  }
 }

+async function cmdList(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
+  const typeFlag = flags.type;
+  if (typeof typeFlag !== "string")
+    die("Usage: json-cas list --type <hash-or-alias>");
+  const typeHash = await resolveTypeHash(typeFlag);
+  const store = await openStore();
+  for (const hash of store.listByType(typeHash)) {
+    console.log(hash);
+  }
+}
+
 function printUsage(): void {
  console.log(`\
 Usage: json-cas [--store <path>] [--json] <command> [args]

 Commands:
-  init                              Create store dir and write bootstrap seed
-  bootstrap                         Write meta-schema seed, print hash
-  schema put <file.json>            Register schema, print type hash
-  schema get <type-hash>            Print schema JSON
-  schema list                       List all schemas (name + hash)
-  schema validate <hash>            Validate node against its schema
  put <type-hash> <file.json>       Store node, print hash
  get <hash>                        Print node as JSON
  has <hash>                        Print true/false
-  verify <hash>                     Verify integrity, print ok/corrupted
+  verify <hash>                     Verify integrity + schema, print ok/corrupted/invalid
  refs <hash>                       List direct cas_ref edges
  walk <hash> [--format tree]       Recursive traversal
  hash <type-hash> <file.json>      Compute hash without storing (dry run)
  render <hash> [options]           Render node as YAML with resolution decay
  render --pipe/-p [options]        Render { type, value } from stdin
-  cat <hash> [--payload]            Output node (--payload for payload only)
+  list --type <hash-or-alias>       List all hashes for a given type
  var set <name> <hash> [--tag <tag>...] Create/update a variable
  var get <name> --schema <hash>    Get a variable by name + schema
  var delete <name> [--schema <hash>] Delete variable(s)
@@ -943,35 +880,6 @@ if (!cmd) {
 }

 switch (cmd) {
-  case "init":
-    await cmdInit();
-    break;
-
-  case "bootstrap":
-    await cmdBootstrap();
-    break;
-
-  case "schema": {
-    const [sub, ...subRest] = rest;
-    switch (sub) {
-      case "put":
-        await cmdSchemaPut(subRest);
-        break;
-      case "get":
-        await cmdSchemaGet(subRest);
-        break;
-      case "list":
-        await cmdSchemaList();
-        break;
-      case "validate":
-        await cmdSchemaValidate(subRest);
-        break;
-      default:
-        die(`Unknown schema subcommand: ${sub ?? "(none)"}`);
-    }
-    break;
-  }
-
  case "put":
    await cmdPut(rest);
    break;
@@ -1004,8 +912,8 @@ switch (cmd) {
    await cmdRender(rest);
    break;

-  case "cat":
-    await cmdCat(rest);
+  case "list":
+    await cmdList(rest);
    break;

  case "var": {
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export { createFsStore } from "./store.js";
+export { createFsStore, openStore } from "./store.js";
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
-import { existsSync, mkdtempSync, readdirSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
+import {
+  existsSync,
+  mkdtempSync,
+  readdirSync,
+  rmSync,
+  writeFileSync,
+} from "node:fs";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import type { CasNode } from "@uncaged/json-cas";
@@ -10,7 +16,7 @@ import {
  verify,
 } from "@uncaged/json-cas";

-import { createFsStore } from "./store.js";
+import { createFsStore, openStore } from "./store.js";

 function makeTmpDir(): string {
  return mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-fs-test-"));
@@ -59,7 +65,7 @@ describe("createFsStore – init and bootstrap", () => {
    const h2 = await bootstrap(store);

    expect(h1).toEqual(h2);
-    expect(store.listByType(h1["@schema"] ?? "")).toHaveLength(6);
+    expect(store.listByType(h1["@schema"] ?? "")).toHaveLength(24);
  });
 });

@@ -312,3 +318,114 @@ describe("createFsStore – verify on disk-loaded nodes", () => {
    }
  });
 });
+
+// ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// openStore – async with auto-bootstrap
+// ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+describe("openStore – async with auto-bootstrap", () => {
+  let dir: string;
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    dir = makeTmpDir();
+  });
+  afterEach(() => {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  test("openStore returns Promise<Store>", async () => {
+    const store = await openStore(dir);
+    expect(store).toBeDefined();
+    expect(typeof store.put).toBe("function");
+    expect(typeof store.get).toBe("function");
+  });
+
+  test("openStore auto-creates directory when it doesn't exist", async () => {
+    const nested = join(dir, "sub", "nested", "store");
+    expect(existsSync(nested)).toBe(false);
+
+    const store = await openStore(nested);
+    expect(existsSync(nested)).toBe(true);
+
+    // Verify store works
+    const typeHash = await computeSelfHash({ name: "t" });
+    const hash = await store.put(typeHash, { x: 1 });
+    expect(store.has(hash)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("openStore works when directory already exists", async () => {
+    // Pre-create the directory
+    const store1 = await openStore(dir);
+    const typeHash = await computeSelfHash({ name: "t" });
+    await store1.put(typeHash, { x: 1 });
+
+    // Open again
+    const store2 = await openStore(dir);
+    expect(store2.listByType(typeHash)).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  test("openStore throws error when path exists but is not a directory", async () => {
+    const filePath = join(dir, "not-a-dir");
+    writeFileSync(filePath, "test");
+
+    await expect(openStore(filePath)).rejects.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  test("openStore auto-bootstraps on first open (empty directory)", async () => {
+    const store = await openStore(dir);
+
+    // Check that bootstrap schemas exist
+    const builtinSchemas = await bootstrap(store);
+    const metaHash = builtinSchemas["@schema"];
+
+    expect(metaHash).toBeDefined();
+    expect(store.has(metaHash as string)).toBe(true);
+
+    // Verify all core schemas exist
+    expect(store.has(builtinSchemas["@string"] as string)).toBe(true);
+    expect(store.has(builtinSchemas["@number"] as string)).toBe(true);
+    expect(store.has(builtinSchemas["@object"] as string)).toBe(true);
+    expect(store.has(builtinSchemas["@array"] as string)).toBe(true);
+    expect(store.has(builtinSchemas["@bool"] as string)).toBe(true);
+    expect(store.has(builtinSchemas["@schema"] as string)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("openStore bootstrap is idempotent on subsequent opens", async () => {
+    const store1 = await openStore(dir);
+    const schemas1 = await bootstrap(store1);
+    const count1 = store1.listAll().length;
+
+    const store2 = await openStore(dir);
+    const schemas2 = await bootstrap(store2);
+    const count2 = store2.listAll().length;
+
+    // Same schemas, same count
+    expect(schemas1).toEqual(schemas2);
+    expect(count1).toBe(count2);
+  });
+
+  test("openStore works on already-bootstrapped store", async () => {
+    // Bootstrap manually first
+    const store1 = createFsStore(dir);
+    const schemas1 = await bootstrap(store1);
+
+    // Open with openStore
+    const store2 = await openStore(dir);
+    const schemas2 = await bootstrap(store2);
+
+    expect(schemas1).toEqual(schemas2);
+  });
+
+  test("openStore auto-bootstraps old store without bootstrap", async () => {
+    // Create a store with some data but no bootstrap
+    const store1 = createFsStore(dir);
+    const typeHash = await computeSelfHash({ name: "custom" });
+    await store1.put(typeHash, { data: "old" });
+
+    // Open with openStore - should auto-bootstrap
+    const store2 = await openStore(dir);
+    const schemas = await bootstrap(store2);
+
+    expect(store2.has(schemas["@schema"] as string)).toBe(true);
+    // Old data still exists
+    expect(store2.listByType(typeHash)).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+});
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
  readdirSync,
  readFileSync,
  renameSync,
+  statSync,
  unlinkSync,
  writeFileSync,
 } from "node:fs";
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ import type { BootstrapCapableStore, CasNode, Hash } from "@uncaged/json-cas";

 import {
  BOOTSTRAP_STORE,
+  bootstrap,
  cborEncode,
  computeHash,
  computeSelfHash,
@@ -219,3 +221,57 @@ export function createFsStore(dir: string): BootstrapCapableStore {

  return store;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Open a filesystem-backed CAS store with automatic directory creation and bootstrap.
+ * This is an async function that:
+ * 1. Creates the directory (with recursive: true) if it doesn't exist
+ * 2. Validates that the path is actually a directory (not a file)
+ * 3. Creates the store
+ * 4. Runs bootstrap (which is idempotent)
+ *
+ * @param dir - The directory path for the store
+ * @returns A Promise resolving to the BootstrapCapableStore
+ * @throws Error if the path exists but is not a directory
+ */
+export async function openStore(dir: string): Promise<BootstrapCapableStore> {
+  // Create directory if it doesn't exist
+  try {
+    mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (error instanceof Error && "code" in error) {
+      const nodeError = error as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+      if (nodeError.code === "EACCES") {
+        throw new Error(`Permission denied: cannot access store at ${dir}`);
+      }
+      if (nodeError.code === "ENOTDIR") {
+        throw new Error(`Path exists but is not a directory: ${dir}`);
+      }
+    }
+    throw error;
+  }
+
+  // Validate that the path is a directory
+  try {
+    const stats = statSync(dir);
+    if (!stats.isDirectory()) {
+      throw new Error(`Path exists but is not a directory: ${dir}`);
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (error instanceof Error && "code" in error) {
+      const nodeError = error as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+      if (nodeError.code === "ENOENT") {
+        throw new Error(`Store not found at ${dir}`);
+      }
+    }
+    throw error;
+  }
+
+  // Create the store
+  const store = createFsStore(dir);
+
+  // Bootstrap (idempotent)
+  await bootstrap(store);
+
+  return store;
+}
@@ -1,18 +1,40 @@
 import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
 import { bootstrap } from "./bootstrap.js";
+import type { JSONSchema } from "./schema.js";
 import { getSchema } from "./schema.js";
 import { createMemoryStore } from "./store.js";

+const OUTPUT_ALIASES = [
+  "@output/put",
+  "@output/get",
+  "@output/has",
+  "@output/hash",
+  "@output/verify",
+  "@output/refs",
+  "@output/walk",
+  "@output/list",
+  "@output/var-set",
+  "@output/var-get",
+  "@output/var-delete",
+  "@output/var-tag",
+  "@output/var-list",
+  "@output/template-set",
+  "@output/template-get",
+  "@output/template-list",
+  "@output/template-delete",
+  "@output/gc",
+] as const;
+
 // ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // Built-in Schema Registration Tests
 // ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 describe("bootstrap - Built-in Schemas", () => {
-  test("should return map of built-in schema aliases to hashes", async () => {
+  test("should return map of 24 built-in schema aliases to hashes", async () => {
    const store = createMemoryStore();
    const builtinSchemas = await bootstrap(store);

-    // Should return object with 6 aliases
+    // Should return object with 6 primitive + 18 output aliases = 24
    expect(builtinSchemas).toHaveProperty("@schema");
    expect(builtinSchemas).toHaveProperty("@string");
    expect(builtinSchemas).toHaveProperty("@number");
@@ -20,6 +42,12 @@ describe("bootstrap - Built-in Schemas", () => {
    expect(builtinSchemas).toHaveProperty("@array");
    expect(builtinSchemas).toHaveProperty("@bool");

+    for (const alias of OUTPUT_ALIASES) {
+      expect(builtinSchemas).toHaveProperty(alias);
+    }
+
+    expect(Object.keys(builtinSchemas)).toHaveLength(24);
+
    // All values should be valid hashes
    for (const [_alias, hash] of Object.entries(builtinSchemas)) {
      expect(typeof hash).toBe("string");
@@ -127,3 +155,164 @@ describe("bootstrap - Built-in Schemas", () => {
    }
  });
 });
+
+// ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// @output/* Schema Registration Tests
+// ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+describe("bootstrap - @output/* Schemas", () => {
+  test("each @output/* schema has a title", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+
+    for (const alias of OUTPUT_ALIASES) {
+      const hash = aliases[alias];
+      if (!hash) throw new Error(`${alias} not found`);
+
+      const schema = getSchema(store, hash) as JSONSchema;
+      expect(schema).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(typeof schema.title).toBe("string");
+      expect((schema.title as string).startsWith("ucas ")).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("@output/put schema describes a cas_ref string", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/put"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/put not found");
+
+    const schema = getSchema(store, hash);
+    expect(schema).toEqual({
+      type: "string",
+      format: "cas_ref",
+      title: "ucas put result",
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/get schema describes object with type, payload, timestamp", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/get"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/get not found");
+
+    const schema = getSchema(store, hash) as JSONSchema;
+    expect(schema.type).toBe("object");
+    expect(schema.title).toBe("ucas get result");
+
+    const props = schema.properties as Record<string, JSONSchema>;
+    expect(props.type).toEqual({ type: "string", format: "cas_ref" });
+    expect(props.payload).toEqual({});
+    expect(props.timestamp).toEqual({ type: "number" });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/has schema describes a boolean", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/has"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/has not found");
+
+    expect(getSchema(store, hash)).toEqual({
+      type: "boolean",
+      title: "ucas has result",
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/verify schema describes enum of ok|corrupted|invalid", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/verify"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/verify not found");
+
+    const schema = getSchema(store, hash);
+    expect(schema).toEqual({
+      type: "string",
+      enum: ["ok", "corrupted", "invalid"],
+      title: "ucas verify result",
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/refs schema describes array of cas_ref strings", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/refs"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/refs not found");
+
+    expect(getSchema(store, hash)).toEqual({
+      type: "array",
+      items: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+      title: "ucas refs result",
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/gc schema describes object with gc stats fields", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/gc"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/gc not found");
+
+    const schema = getSchema(store, hash) as JSONSchema;
+    expect(schema.type).toBe("object");
+    expect(schema.title).toBe("ucas gc result");
+
+    const props = schema.properties as Record<string, JSONSchema>;
+    expect(props.total).toEqual({ type: "number" });
+    expect(props.reachable).toEqual({ type: "number" });
+    expect(props.collected).toEqual({ type: "number" });
+    expect(props.scanned).toEqual({ type: "number" });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/var-set schema describes a Variable object", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/var-set"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/var-set not found");
+
+    const schema = getSchema(store, hash) as JSONSchema;
+    expect(schema.type).toBe("object");
+    expect(schema.title).toBe("ucas var set result");
+
+    const props = schema.properties as Record<string, JSONSchema>;
+    expect(props.name).toEqual({ type: "string" });
+    expect(props.schema).toEqual({ type: "string", format: "cas_ref" });
+    expect(props.value).toEqual({ type: "string", format: "cas_ref" });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/var-list schema describes array of Variable objects", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/var-list"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/var-list not found");
+
+    const schema = getSchema(store, hash) as JSONSchema;
+    expect(schema.type).toBe("array");
+    expect(schema.title).toBe("ucas var list result");
+
+    const items = schema.items as JSONSchema;
+    expect(items.type).toBe("object");
+    const props = items.properties as Record<string, JSONSchema>;
+    expect(props.name).toEqual({ type: "string" });
+  });
+
+  test("@output/template-delete schema describes object with deleted boolean", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    const hash = aliases["@output/template-delete"];
+    if (!hash) throw new Error("@output/template-delete not found");
+
+    expect(getSchema(store, hash)).toEqual({
+      type: "object",
+      properties: { deleted: { type: "boolean" } },
+      title: "ucas template delete result",
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("all @output/* schemas are distinct hashes", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const outputHashes = OUTPUT_ALIASES.map((alias) => aliases[alias]);
+    const uniqueHashes = new Set(outputHashes);
+    expect(uniqueHashes.size).toBe(OUTPUT_ALIASES.length);
+  });
+});
@@ -63,9 +63,168 @@ const BOOTSTRAP_PAYLOAD = {
  },
 } as const;

+const VARIABLE_PROPERTIES = {
+  name: { type: "string" },
+  schema: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+  value: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+  created: { type: "number" },
+  updated: { type: "number" },
+  tags: { type: "object" },
+  labels: { type: "array", items: { type: "string" } },
+} as const;
+
+const OUTPUT_SCHEMAS: ReadonlyArray<
+  readonly [alias: string, schema: Record<string, unknown>]
+> = [
+  [
+    "@output/put",
+    { type: "string", format: "cas_ref", title: "ucas put result" },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/get",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: {
+        type: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+        payload: {},
+        timestamp: { type: "number" },
+      },
+      title: "ucas get result",
+    },
+  ],
+  ["@output/has", { type: "boolean", title: "ucas has result" }],
+  [
+    "@output/hash",
+    { type: "string", format: "cas_ref", title: "ucas hash result" },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/verify",
+    {
+      type: "string",
+      enum: ["ok", "corrupted", "invalid"],
+      title: "ucas verify result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/refs",
+    {
+      type: "array",
+      items: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+      title: "ucas refs result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/walk",
+    {
+      type: "array",
+      items: { type: "string" },
+      title: "ucas walk result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/list",
+    {
+      type: "array",
+      items: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+      title: "ucas list result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-set",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: { ...VARIABLE_PROPERTIES },
+      title: "ucas var set result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-get",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: { ...VARIABLE_PROPERTIES },
+      title: "ucas var get result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-delete",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: { ...VARIABLE_PROPERTIES },
+      title: "ucas var delete result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-tag",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: { ...VARIABLE_PROPERTIES },
+      title: "ucas var tag result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-list",
+    {
+      type: "array",
+      items: { type: "object", properties: { ...VARIABLE_PROPERTIES } },
+      title: "ucas var list result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/template-set",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: {
+        schemaHash: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+        contentHash: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+      },
+      title: "ucas template set result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/template-get",
+    { type: "string", title: "ucas template get result" },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/template-list",
+    {
+      type: "array",
+      items: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          schemaHash: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+          contentHash: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+        },
+      },
+      title: "ucas template list result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/template-delete",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: { deleted: { type: "boolean" } },
+      title: "ucas template delete result",
+    },
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/gc",
+    {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: {
+        total: { type: "number" },
+        reachable: { type: "number" },
+        collected: { type: "number" },
+        scanned: { type: "number" },
+      },
+      title: "ucas gc result",
+    },
+  ],
+];
+
 /**
 * Write the meta-schema seed node into the store and register built-in schemas.
- * The returned object contains aliases for the meta-schema and 5 primitive schemas.
+ * The returned object contains aliases for the meta-schema, 5 primitive schemas,
+ * and 18 @output/* schemas (24 total).
 * Idempotent: calling bootstrap multiple times returns the same hashes.
 */
 export async function bootstrap(store: Store): Promise<Record<string, Hash>> {
@@ -83,8 +242,8 @@ export async function bootstrap(store: Store): Promise<Record<string, Hash>> {
  const arrayHash = await store.put(metaHash, { type: "array" });
  const boolHash = await store.put(metaHash, { type: "boolean" });

-  // 3. Return map of aliases to hashes
-  return {
+  // 3. Register @output/* schemas
+  const aliases: Record<string, Hash> = {
    "@schema": metaHash,
    "@string": stringHash,
    "@number": numberHash,
@@ -92,4 +251,10 @@ export async function bootstrap(store: Store): Promise<Record<string, Hash>> {
    "@array": arrayHash,
    "@bool": boolHash,
  };
+
+  for (const [alias, schema] of OUTPUT_SCHEMAS) {
+    aliases[alias] = await store.put(metaHash, schema);
+  }
+
+  return aliases;
 }
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ describe("bootstrap", () => {
    );
  });

-  test("returns a map with 6 built-in schema aliases", async () => {
+  test("returns a map with 24 built-in schema aliases", async () => {
    const store = createMemoryStore();
    const builtinSchemas = await bootstrap(store);

@@ -280,6 +280,8 @@ describe("bootstrap", () => {
      expect(hash).toHaveLength(13);
      expect(hash).toMatch(/^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{13}$/);
    }
+
+    expect(Object.keys(builtinSchemas)).toHaveLength(24);
  });

  test("meta-schema node is stored and retrievable", async () => {
@@ -316,7 +318,7 @@ describe("bootstrap", () => {
    const h2 = await bootstrap(store);

    expect(h1).toEqual(h2);
-    // All 6 built-in schemas should be typed by the meta-schema
-    expect(store.listByType(h1["@schema"] ?? "")).toHaveLength(6);
+    // All 24 built-in schemas should be typed by the meta-schema
+    expect(store.listByType(h1["@schema"] ?? "")).toHaveLength(24);
  });
 });
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export { cborEncode } from "./cbor.js";
 export { type GcStats, gc } from "./gc.js";
 export { computeHash, computeSelfHash } from "./hash.js";
 export { renderWithTemplate } from "./liquid-render.js";
+export { registerOutputTemplates } from "./output-templates.js";
 export {
  type RenderOptions,
  render,
@@ -34,3 +35,4 @@ export {
  VariableStore,
 } from "./variable-store.js";
 export { verify } from "./verify.js";
+export { wrapEnvelope } from "./wrap-envelope.js";
@@ -1241,3 +1241,609 @@ describe("Suite 8: Performance & Scalability", () => {
    }
  });
 });
+
+describe("Suite 9: E2E Template Variable Rendering (Issue #52)", () => {
+  test("9.1 Direct Property Access - Should Render Empty", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema for person object
+      const personSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          age: { type: "number" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with data
+      const personHash = await store.put(personSchema, {
+        name: "Alice",
+        age: 30,
+      });
+
+      // Register template using direct property access (incorrect syntax)
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Name: {{ name }}, Age: {{ age }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${personSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render - should produce empty values
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, personHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("Name: , Age: ");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.2 Correct Syntax with payload Prefix", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema for person object
+      const personSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          age: { type: "number" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with data
+      const personHash = await store.put(personSchema, {
+        name: "Alice",
+        age: 30,
+      });
+
+      // Register template using correct payload. prefix
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Name: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${personSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render - should produce correct values
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, personHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("Name: Alice, Age: 30");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.3 CLI Render Command - Template Variable Access", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema and node
+      const personSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          age: { type: "number" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      const personHash = await store.put(personSchema, {
+        name: "Bob",
+        age: 25,
+      });
+
+      // Register template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "User: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${personSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // This simulates the CLI flow
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, personHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toContain("User: Bob");
+      expect(output).toContain("Age: 25");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.4 Top-Level Primitive Payload - String", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema for simple string
+      const stringSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+
+      // Create node with string payload
+      const stringHash = await store.put(stringSchema, "Hello World");
+
+      // Register template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Value is: {{ payload }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${stringSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, stringHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("Value is: Hello World");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.5 Top-Level Primitive Payload - Number", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema for number
+      const numberSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "number" });
+
+      // Create node with number payload
+      const numberHash = await store.put(numberSchema, 42);
+
+      // Register template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "The answer is {{ payload }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${numberSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, numberHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("The answer is 42");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.6 Nested Object Property Access", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema for nested object
+      const userSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          user: {
+            type: "object",
+            properties: {
+              name: { type: "string" },
+              address: {
+                type: "object",
+                properties: {
+                  city: { type: "string" },
+                },
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with nested data
+      const userHash = await store.put(userSchema, {
+        user: {
+          name: "Bob",
+          address: {
+            city: "NYC",
+          },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Register template with deep property access
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "User {{ payload.user.name }} lives in {{ payload.user.address.city }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${userSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, userHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("User Bob lives in NYC");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.7 Array Property Access and Iteration", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema with array
+      const tagsSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          tags: {
+            type: "array",
+            items: { type: "string" },
+          },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with array data
+      const tagsHash = await store.put(tagsSchema, {
+        tags: ["javascript", "typescript", "bun"],
+      });
+
+      // Register template with array iteration
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Tags: {% for tag in payload.tags %}{{ tag }}{% unless forloop.last %}, {% endunless %}{% endfor %}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${tagsSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, tagsHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("Tags: javascript, typescript, bun");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.8 Missing Property Access - Graceful Handling", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema
+      const personSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node without age property
+      const personHash = await store.put(personSchema, {
+        name: "Alice",
+      });
+
+      // Register template that references missing property
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Name: {{ payload.name }}, Age: {{ payload.age }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${personSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render - age should be empty
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, personHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("Name: Alice, Age: ");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.9 Null Property Value Rendering", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema allowing null
+      const personSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          email: { type: ["string", "null"] },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with null email
+      const personHash = await store.put(personSchema, {
+        name: "Charlie",
+        email: null,
+      });
+
+      // Register template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Name: {{ payload.name }}, Email: {{ payload.email }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${personSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render - email should be empty
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, personHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("Name: Charlie, Email: ");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.10 Boolean Property Rendering", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema with boolean
+      const userSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          active: { type: "boolean" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with boolean
+      const userHash = await store.put(userSchema, {
+        name: "Dave",
+        active: true,
+      });
+
+      // Register template with conditional
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "User {{ payload.name }} is {% if payload.active %}active{% else %}inactive{% endif %}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${userSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, userHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("User Dave is active");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.11 Zero and Empty String Values", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema
+      const dataSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          count: { type: "number" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with empty string and zero
+      const dataHash = await store.put(dataSchema, {
+        name: "",
+        count: 0,
+      });
+
+      // Register template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Name: '{{ payload.name }}', Count: {{ payload.count }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${dataSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render - zero and empty string should appear
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, dataHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toBe("Name: '', Count: 0");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("9.12 Special Characters in String Values", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create schema
+      const textSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          text: { type: "string" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Create node with special characters
+      const textHash = await store.put(textSchema, {
+        text: 'Hello "World" & <tag>',
+      });
+
+      // Register template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const templateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Text: {{ payload.text }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${textSchema}`, templateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, textHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toContain('Hello "World" & <tag>');
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+});
+
+describe("Suite 10: Context Variable Completeness", () => {
+  test("10.1 Context Propagation in Recursive Renders", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create child schema and node
+      const childSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+        },
+      });
+      const childHash = await store.put(childSchema, { name: "child" });
+
+      // Create parent schema and node
+      const parentSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          name: { type: "string" },
+          child: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+        },
+      });
+      const parentHash = await store.put(parentSchema, {
+        name: "parent",
+        child: childHash,
+      });
+
+      // Register parent template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const parentTemplateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Parent: {{ payload.name }}\n{% render payload.child %}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${parentSchema}`, parentTemplateHash);
+
+      // Register child template that accesses context variables
+      const childTemplateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Child: {{ payload.name }}, Hash: {{ hash }}, Resolution: {{ resolution }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${childSchema}`, childTemplateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, parentHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toContain("Parent: parent");
+      expect(output).toContain("Child: child");
+      expect(output).toContain(`Hash: ${childHash}`);
+      expect(output).toContain("Resolution: 0.5");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("10.2 Context Isolation Between Parent and Child", async () => {
+    const { store, varStore, cleanup } = await createTempVarStore();
+
+    try {
+      // Create child schema and node
+      const childSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          custom: { type: "string" },
+        },
+      });
+      const childHash = await store.put(childSchema, {
+        custom: "child_value",
+      });
+
+      // Create parent schema and node
+      const parentSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          custom: { type: "string" },
+          child: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+        },
+      });
+      const parentHash = await store.put(parentSchema, {
+        custom: "parent_value",
+        child: childHash,
+      });
+
+      // Register parent template
+      const templateSchema = await putSchema(store, { type: "string" });
+      const parentTemplateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Parent custom: {{ payload.custom }}\n{% render payload.child %}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${parentSchema}`, parentTemplateHash);
+
+      // Register child template
+      const childTemplateHash = await store.put(
+        templateSchema,
+        "Child custom: {{ payload.custom }}",
+      );
+      varStore.set(`@ucas/template/text/${childSchema}`, childTemplateHash);
+
+      // Render
+      const output = await renderWithTemplate(store, varStore, parentHash, {
+        resolution: 1.0,
+        decay: 0.5,
+        epsilon: 0.01,
+      });
+
+      expect(output).toContain("Parent custom: parent_value");
+      expect(output).toContain("Child custom: child_value");
+      expect(output).not.toContain("Child custom: parent_value");
+    } finally {
+      varStore.close();
+      await cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { mkdtemp, rm } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { bootstrap } from "./bootstrap.js";
+import { registerOutputTemplates } from "./output-templates.js";
+import { createMemoryStore } from "./store.js";
+import type { Store } from "./types.js";
+import type { VariableStore } from "./variable-store.js";
+import { createVariableStore } from "./variable-store.js";
+
+const OUTPUT_ALIASES = [
+  "@output/put",
+  "@output/get",
+  "@output/has",
+  "@output/hash",
+  "@output/verify",
+  "@output/refs",
+  "@output/walk",
+  "@output/list",
+  "@output/var-set",
+  "@output/var-get",
+  "@output/var-delete",
+  "@output/var-tag",
+  "@output/var-list",
+  "@output/template-set",
+  "@output/template-get",
+  "@output/template-list",
+  "@output/template-delete",
+  "@output/gc",
+] as const;
+
+describe("registerOutputTemplates", () => {
+  let store: Store;
+  let varStore: VariableStore;
+  let tempDir: string;
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    varStore.close();
+    await rm(tempDir, { recursive: true });
+  });
+
+  test("registers a template for every @output/* schema", async () => {
+    tempDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-tmpl-"));
+    store = createMemoryStore();
+    await bootstrap(store);
+    varStore = createVariableStore(join(tempDir, "vars.db"), store);
+
+    const registered = await registerOutputTemplates(store, varStore);
+
+    expect(Object.keys(registered)).toHaveLength(18);
+
+    for (const alias of OUTPUT_ALIASES) {
+      expect(registered).toHaveProperty(alias);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("each template is retrievable via @ucas/template/text/<hash>", async () => {
+    tempDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-tmpl-"));
+    store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    varStore = createVariableStore(join(tempDir, "vars.db"), store);
+
+    await registerOutputTemplates(store, varStore);
+
+    const stringHash = aliases["@string"];
+    if (!stringHash) throw new Error("@string not found");
+
+    for (const alias of OUTPUT_ALIASES) {
+      const schemaHash = aliases[alias];
+      if (!schemaHash) throw new Error(`${alias} not found`);
+
+      const varName = `@ucas/template/text/${schemaHash}`;
+      const variable = varStore.get(varName, stringHash);
+      if (variable === null) throw new Error(`Variable ${varName} not found`);
+
+      const templateNode = store.get(variable.value);
+      if (templateNode === null)
+        throw new Error(`Template node ${variable.value} not found`);
+      expect(typeof templateNode.payload).toBe("string");
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("is idempotent — safe to call multiple times", async () => {
+    tempDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-tmpl-"));
+    store = createMemoryStore();
+    await bootstrap(store);
+    varStore = createVariableStore(join(tempDir, "vars.db"), store);
+
+    const first = await registerOutputTemplates(store, varStore);
+    const second = await registerOutputTemplates(store, varStore);
+
+    expect(first).toEqual(second);
+  });
+
+  test("@output/put template contains payload reference", async () => {
+    tempDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "json-cas-tmpl-"));
+    store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+    varStore = createVariableStore(join(tempDir, "vars.db"), store);
+
+    await registerOutputTemplates(store, varStore);
+
+    const putHash = aliases["@output/put"];
+    if (!putHash) throw new Error("@output/put not found");
+    const stringHash = aliases["@string"];
+    if (!stringHash) throw new Error("@string not found");
+
+    const variable = varStore.get(`@ucas/template/text/${putHash}`, stringHash);
+    if (variable === null)
+      throw new Error("@output/put template variable not found");
+
+    const templateNode = store.get(variable.value);
+    if (templateNode === null) throw new Error("Template node not found");
+    expect(templateNode.payload).toBe("{{ payload }}");
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import { bootstrap } from "./bootstrap.js";
+import type { Hash, Store } from "./types.js";
+import type { VariableStore } from "./variable-store.js";
+
+const DEFAULT_TEMPLATES: ReadonlyArray<
+  readonly [alias: string, template: string]
+> = [
+  ["@output/put", "{{ payload }}"],
+  [
+    "@output/get",
+    "type: {{ payload.type }}\ntimestamp: {{ payload.timestamp }}",
+  ],
+  ["@output/has", "{{ payload }}"],
+  ["@output/hash", "{{ payload }}"],
+  ["@output/verify", "{{ payload }}"],
+  ["@output/refs", "{% for ref in payload %}{{ ref }}\n{% endfor %}"],
+  ["@output/walk", "{% for item in payload %}{{ item }}\n{% endfor %}"],
+  ["@output/list", "{% for item in payload %}{{ item }}\n{% endfor %}"],
+  [
+    "@output/var-set",
+    "name: {{ payload.name }}\nschema: {{ payload.schema }}\nvalue: {{ payload.value }}",
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-get",
+    "name: {{ payload.name }}\nschema: {{ payload.schema }}\nvalue: {{ payload.value }}",
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-delete",
+    "name: {{ payload.name }}\nschema: {{ payload.schema }}\nvalue: {{ payload.value }}",
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-tag",
+    "name: {{ payload.name }}\nschema: {{ payload.schema }}\nvalue: {{ payload.value }}",
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/var-list",
+    "{% for v in payload %}name: {{ v.name }}\nschema: {{ v.schema }}\nvalue: {{ v.value }}\n{% endfor %}",
+  ],
+  [
+    "@output/template-set",
+    "schemaHash: {{ payload.schemaHash }}\ncontentHash: {{ payload.contentHash }}",
+  ],
+  ["@output/template-get", "{{ payload }}"],
+  [
+    "@output/template-list",
+    "{% for t in payload %}schemaHash: {{ t.schemaHash }}\ncontentHash: {{ t.contentHash }}\n{% endfor %}",
+  ],
+  ["@output/template-delete", "deleted: {{ payload.deleted }}"],
+  [
+    "@output/gc",
+    "total: {{ payload.total }}\nreachable: {{ payload.reachable }}\ncollected: {{ payload.collected }}\nscanned: {{ payload.scanned }}",
+  ],
+];
+
+/**
+ * Register default LiquidJS templates for all @output/* schemas.
+ * Each template is stored as a @string CAS node and bound to
+ * the variable `@ucas/template/text/<schema-hash>`.
+ *
+ * Idempotent: safe to call multiple times.
+ */
+export async function registerOutputTemplates(
+  store: Store,
+  varStore: VariableStore,
+): Promise<Record<string, Hash>> {
+  const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+  const stringHash = aliases["@string"];
+  if (stringHash === undefined) {
+    throw new Error("@string schema not found in bootstrap result");
+  }
+
+  const registered: Record<string, Hash> = {};
+
+  for (const [alias, template] of DEFAULT_TEMPLATES) {
+    const schemaHash = aliases[alias];
+    if (schemaHash === undefined) {
+      throw new Error(`Schema alias not found: ${alias}`);
+    }
+
+    const contentHash = await store.put(stringHash, template);
+    const varName = `@ucas/template/text/${schemaHash}`;
+    varStore.set(varName, contentHash);
+    registered[alias] = contentHash;
+  }
+
+  return registered;
+}
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
 import { bootstrap } from "./bootstrap.js";
-import { render, renderDirect } from "./render.js";
+import { render, renderAsync, renderDirect } from "./render.js";
 import { putSchema } from "./schema.js";
 import { createMemoryStore } from "./store.js";
 import type { Hash } from "./types.js";
+import { CasNodeNotFoundError } from "./variable-store.js";

 describe("Suite 1: Basic Rendering (No Nesting)", () => {
  test("1.1 Render Simple Primitives", async () => {
@@ -65,13 +66,14 @@ describe("Suite 1: Basic Rendering (No Nesting)", () => {
    expect(output.trim()).toBe(`cas:${hash}`);
  });

-  test("1.5 Render Non-existent Hash", () => {
+  test("1.5 Render Non-existent Hash Throws Error", () => {
    const store = createMemoryStore();
    const fakeHash = "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" as Hash;

-    // Non-existent node renders as cas: reference
-    const output = render(store, fakeHash);
-    expect(output.trim()).toBe(`cas:${fakeHash}`);
+    // Non-existent root node should throw
+    expect(() => render(store, fakeHash)).toThrow(CasNodeNotFoundError);
+    expect(() => render(store, fakeHash)).toThrow("CAS node not found");
+    expect(() => render(store, fakeHash)).toThrow(fakeHash);
  });
 });

@@ -793,9 +795,10 @@ describe("Suite 6: Schema Integration", () => {

  test("6.5 Schema-less Node (Bootstrap Node)", async () => {
    const store = createMemoryStore();
-    const metaHash = await bootstrap(store);
+    const types = await bootstrap(store);
+    const schemaHash = types["@schema"];

-    const output = render(store, metaHash);
+    const output = render(store, schemaHash);

    // Should render without recursive expansion
    expect(output).toBeTruthy();
@@ -1055,3 +1058,95 @@ describe("Suite 9: renderDirect (in-memory rendering)", () => {
    expect(output).toContain("key: val");
  });
 });
+
+describe("Suite 10: Missing Root Hash Error Handling (Issue #53)", () => {
+  test("10.1 renderAsync() throws CasNodeNotFoundError for missing root hash", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    await bootstrap(store);
+    const fakeHash = "AAAAAAAAAAAAA" as Hash;
+
+    await expect(renderAsync(store, fakeHash)).rejects.toThrow(
+      CasNodeNotFoundError,
+    );
+    await expect(renderAsync(store, fakeHash)).rejects.toThrow(
+      "CAS node not found",
+    );
+    await expect(renderAsync(store, fakeHash)).rejects.toThrow(fakeHash);
+  });
+
+  test("10.2 render() throws CasNodeNotFoundError for missing root hash", () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const fakeHash = "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" as Hash;
+
+    expect(() => render(store, fakeHash)).toThrow(CasNodeNotFoundError);
+    expect(() => render(store, fakeHash)).toThrow("CAS node not found");
+    expect(() => render(store, fakeHash)).toThrow(fakeHash);
+  });
+
+  test("10.3 renderDirect() does NOT throw for non-existent type hash", () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const fakeTypeHash = "0000000000000" as Hash;
+    const output = renderDirect(fakeTypeHash, { key: "value" }, store, null);
+
+    expect(output).toContain("key: value");
+  });
+
+  test("10.4 Missing nested node renders as cas: reference (no error)", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const parentSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: {
+        title: { type: "string" },
+        child: { type: "string", format: "cas_ref" },
+      },
+    });
+
+    const fakeChildHash = "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" as Hash;
+    const parentHash = await store.put(parentSchema, {
+      title: "root",
+      child: fakeChildHash,
+    });
+
+    const output = render(store, parentHash);
+
+    expect(output).toContain("title: root");
+    expect(output).toContain(`cas:${fakeChildHash}`);
+  });
+
+  test("10.5 Resolution below epsilon renders as cas: reference (no error)", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const nodeSchema = await putSchema(store, {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: {
+        level: { type: "number" },
+        next: {
+          anyOf: [{ type: "string", format: "cas_ref" }, { type: "null" }],
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    // Create 3-level chain
+    let currentHash: Hash | null = null;
+    for (let i = 2; i >= 0; i--) {
+      currentHash = await store.put(nodeSchema, {
+        level: i,
+        next: currentHash,
+      });
+    }
+
+    const output = render(store, currentHash as Hash, {
+      resolution: 1.0,
+      decay: 0.1,
+      epsilon: 0.5,
+    });
+
+    // Level 0 should be expanded (resolution = 1.0 > 0.5)
+    expect(output).toContain("level: 0");
+    // Level 1+ should be cas: references (0.1, 0.01 < 0.5)
+    expect(output).toContain("cas:");
+  });
+});
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { renderWithTemplate } from "./liquid-render.js";
 import { collectRefs, getSchema, putSchema, refs } from "./schema.js";
 import type { Hash, Store } from "./types.js";
 import type { VariableStore } from "./variable-store.js";
+import { CasNodeNotFoundError } from "./variable-store.js";

 export type RenderOptions = {
  resolution?: number; // (0, 1], default 1.0
@@ -55,6 +56,11 @@ export function render(
 ): string {
  const { resolution, decay, epsilon } = validateAndExtractOptions(options);

+  // Check if root node exists
+  if (store.get(hash) === null) {
+    throw new CasNodeNotFoundError(hash);
+  }
+
  const visited = new Set<Hash>();
  return renderNode(store, hash, resolution, decay, epsilon, visited);
 }
@@ -70,6 +76,12 @@ export async function renderAsync(
  options?: RenderOptions,
 ): Promise<string> {
  const { resolution, decay, epsilon } = validateAndExtractOptions(options);
+
+  // Check if root node exists
+  if (store.get(hash) === null) {
+    throw new CasNodeNotFoundError(hash);
+  }
+
  const varStore = options?.varStore;

  // If varStore provided, try template rendering first
@@ -36,8 +36,11 @@ export class SchemaMismatchError extends Error {
 }

 export class CasNodeNotFoundError extends Error {
-  constructor(hash: string) {
-    super(`CAS node not found: ${hash}`);
+  constructor(
+    public readonly hash: string,
+    message?: string,
+  ) {
+    super(message ?? `CAS node not found: ${hash}`);
    this.name = "CasNodeNotFoundError";
  }
 }
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { bootstrap } from "./bootstrap.js";
+import { createMemoryStore } from "./store.js";
+import { wrapEnvelope } from "./wrap-envelope.js";
+
+describe("wrapEnvelope", () => {
+  test("resolves @output/put alias and returns envelope", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const envelope = await wrapEnvelope(store, "@output/put", "AAAAAAAAAAAAA");
+
+    expect(envelope.type).toBe(aliases["@output/put"]);
+    expect(envelope.value).toBe("AAAAAAAAAAAAA");
+  });
+
+  test("resolves @output/has alias with boolean value", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const envelope = await wrapEnvelope(store, "@output/has", true);
+
+    expect(envelope.type).toBe(aliases["@output/has"]);
+    expect(envelope.value).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("resolves @output/gc alias with object value", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const gcStats = { total: 100, reachable: 80, collected: 20, scanned: 5 };
+    const envelope = await wrapEnvelope(store, "@output/gc", gcStats);
+
+    expect(envelope.type).toBe(aliases["@output/gc"]);
+    expect(envelope.value).toEqual(gcStats);
+  });
+
+  test("resolves primitive alias @string", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const envelope = await wrapEnvelope(store, "@string", "hello");
+
+    expect(envelope.type).toBe(aliases["@string"]);
+    expect(envelope.value).toBe("hello");
+  });
+
+  test("throws for unknown alias", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    await bootstrap(store);
+
+    await expect(
+      wrapEnvelope(store, "@output/nonexistent", "value"),
+    ).rejects.toThrow("Unknown schema alias: @output/nonexistent");
+  });
+
+  test("is idempotent — same alias returns same type hash", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+
+    const first = await wrapEnvelope(store, "@output/verify", "ok");
+    const second = await wrapEnvelope(store, "@output/verify", "corrupted");
+
+    expect(first.type).toBe(second.type);
+    expect(first.value).toBe("ok");
+    expect(second.value).toBe("corrupted");
+  });
+
+  test("preserves complex object values without mutation", async () => {
+    const store = createMemoryStore();
+    await bootstrap(store);
+
+    const original = {
+      name: "test",
+      schema: "AAAAAAAAAAAAA",
+      value: "BBBBBBBBBBBBB",
+      created: 1000,
+      updated: 2000,
+      tags: { env: "prod" },
+      labels: ["stable"],
+    };
+    const envelope = await wrapEnvelope(store, "@output/var-set", original);
+
+    expect(envelope.value).toEqual(original);
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { bootstrap } from "./bootstrap.js";
+import type { Hash, Store } from "./types.js";
+
+/**
+ * Resolve a schema alias (e.g. "@output/put") to its hash via bootstrap,
+ * then return a typed envelope ready for store.put() or direct rendering.
+ */
+export async function wrapEnvelope(
+  store: Store,
+  schemaAlias: string,
+  value: unknown,
+): Promise<{ type: Hash; value: unknown }> {
+  const aliases = await bootstrap(store);
+  const typeHash = aliases[schemaAlias];
+  if (typeHash === undefined) {
+    throw new Error(`Unknown schema alias: ${schemaAlias}`);
+  }
+  return { type: typeHash, value };
+}
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
xiaoju	0dca8a5521	feat: register 18 @output/* schemas, default templates, wrapEnvelope (Phase 1c) Fixes #75	2026-05-31 15:14:28 +00:00
xiaoju	5aad956c83	Merge pull request 'feat: remove cat/schema commands, add list --type, enhance verify (Phase 1b)' (#77 ) from fix/74-remove-cat-schema into main	2026-05-31 14:52:36 +00:00
xiaoju	038c901f4b	feat: remove cat/schema commands, add list --type, enhance verify (Phase 1b) Fixes #74	2026-05-31 14:41:38 +00:00
xiaoju	f4cf92e128	Merge pull request 'feat: auto-bootstrap CAS store on open (Phase 1a)' (#76 ) from fix/73-auto-bootstrap into main feat: auto-bootstrap CAS store on open (Phase 1a) Fixes #73	2026-05-31 13:40:43 +00:00
xiaoju	c8bf38cb81	feat: auto-bootstrap CAS store on open (Phase 1a) Changes: 1. openStore() now async, auto-creates directory and bootstraps 2. Removed shouldCreate parameter and validateStoreExists() 3. All openStore() calls now awaited 4. Deleted init and bootstrap commands 5. Removed Issue #55 store validation tests (superseded by auto-bootstrap) 6. Enhanced error handling in openStore() for permission/path issues 7. Updated e2e snapshots after fixing missed await in cmdRender Bootstrap is idempotent. Core tests using createMemoryStore() unaffected. Fixes #73 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 13:34:43 +00:00
xingyue	b93d7b229a	Merge pull request 'feat(cli): convert e2e-check scenarios to snapshot fixture tests' (#68 ) from fix/66-e2e-snapshot-tests into main	2026-05-31 11:43:32 +00:00
xingyue	9912013b0a	fix(cli): use dot notation for GC result assertions (Biome lint) Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 19:30:31 +08:00
xingyue	2ed097e207	fix(cli): make e2e snapshots stable across machines and runs - Strip volatile fields (timestamp, created, updated) from JSON before snapshotting using a stripVolatile helper - Remove toMatchSnapshot() from test 2.1 to avoid embedding machine- specific tmp paths in the snapshot; use toContain assertions instead - Replace GC count snapshot with structural shape assertions so counts don't need to match exact phase-history state Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 19:29:25 +08:00
xingyue	b0d5b05457	feat(cli): add e2e snapshot fixture tests for all CLI scenarios Convert 46 e2e-check workflow scenarios to fast bun test snapshot tests. 7 describe phases share a single mkdtempSync store; hashes are deterministic so cross-phase data dependencies work without re-creating data. Closes #66 Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 19:24:17 +08:00
xiaomo	de20cfde53	Merge pull request 'refactor: e2e-check workflow 拆分为 4 角色' (#64 ) from fix/e2e-check-role-split into main	2026-05-31 10:58:50 +00:00
xingyue	9948db77ea	refactor: split e2e-check workflow into 4 roles - preparer: Docker setup, install, build, lint, unit test, init store - tester: pure CLI scenario testing (receives container + store path) - reporter: file Gitea issues (triggered by bugs or setup failures) - cleanup: stop and remove Docker container Also fixes template variable prefix (payload.name vs name).	2026-05-31 18:23:34 +08:00
xiaomo	c60f05f650	Merge pull request 'fix: validate store directory exists before CLI operations' (#63 ) from fix/55-store-path-validation-rebase into main	2026-05-31 09:20:41 +00:00
xiaoju	314b076c05	fix: validate store path before read operations (Fixes #55 ) - Add validateStoreExists() helper to check store directory existence - Modify openStore() to accept shouldCreate parameter (default: false) - Update read commands to validate store exists first - Update write commands (init, put, schema put, hash) to allow creation - Add 10 E2E tests covering all affected commands - Improve error message: "Store not found at <path>" vs "Node not found" Commands that now validate: - get, has, verify, refs, walk, cat - schema get, schema list Commands that still create: - init, put, schema put, hash - var commands (use openVarStore) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 09:19:23 +00:00
xiaomo	664409b94a	Merge pull request 'fix: workflow frontmatter schema 加 type: object' (#56 ) from fix/workflow-frontmatter-schema into main	2026-05-31 09:16:53 +00:00
xingyue	f3f13e6f35	fix: add type: object to all oneOf variants in workflow frontmatter schemas ajv strict mode requires explicit type: object when properties/required are used. All three workflow YAMLs had this missing, causing frontmatter validation to fail with: strict mode: missing type "object" for keyword "required" Also added frontmatter output example in e2e-check.yaml procedure to prevent agents from outputting bugs as plain strings instead of objects.	2026-05-31 17:15:43 +08:00
xiaomo	10c5c8f98e	Merge pull request 'fix: clean error message for invalid schema in schema put command' (#61 ) from fix/54-schema-put-invalid-error into main	2026-05-31 09:15:37 +00:00
xiaomo	d28003779e	Merge pull request 'fix: detect missing root hash in render command' (#60 ) from fix/53-render-missing-hash-error into main	2026-05-31 09:15:35 +00:00
xiaomo	885a8e1147	Merge pull request 'test: add E2E template variable rendering tests' (#59 ) from fix/52-template-variable-rendering into main	2026-05-31 09:15:33 +00:00
xiaomo	f0ffe6b234	Merge pull request 'fix: validate payload against schema in put command' (#57 ) from fix/50-schema-validation into main	2026-05-31 09:15:28 +00:00
xiaoju	fc869cfc99	fix: resolve test failures for issue #53 Applied tester feedback to fix 5 test failures: 1. Updated error message format from "Node not found" to "CAS node not found" for consistency with existing tests in variable-store.test.ts and var.test.ts 2. Fixed CLI tests R9 and R10 to use bootstrap() directly instead of non-existent "types" command. Added imports for bootstrap and createFsStore. 3. Fixed render test 6.5 to pass actual schema Hash instead of entire bootstrap object (Record<string, Hash>) 4. Updated test expectations in render.test.ts (tests 1.5, 10.1, 10.2) to match new error message format All 390 tests now pass. Core functionality verified: - Missing root hash detection working correctly - CLI exits with code 1 on missing hash - Error message includes hash: "CAS node not found: <hash>" - Nested nodes still render as cas: references (preserved behavior) - Resolution decay behavior preserved Fixes #53 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 08:36:19 +00:00
xiaoju	7fd2013ef2	fix: validate payload against schema in put command Add schema validation to the `json-cas put` command to ensure data integrity. The CLI now validates the payload against the specified schema before storing, and exits with a non-zero code and descriptive error message if validation fails. Changes: - Add schema existence check in cmdPut() - Add payload validation before storing - Exit with error code 1 on validation failure - Provide helpful error messages indicating the file and schema - Add comprehensive test suite with 16 test scenarios covering: - Valid data (regression tests) - Type mismatches (new validation) - Schema errors (edge cases) - Integration with existing features - Error message quality The hash command continues to work without validation (dry-run consistency), and schema put continues to use its own validation. Fixes #50 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 08:24:13 +00:00
xiaoju	0b72c9400f	style: apply biome formatting fixes Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 08:21:10 +00:00
xiaoju	eb36c16420	fix: detect missing root hash in render command and exit with error When rendering a non-existent hash, the CLI now exits with code 1 and displays an error message instead of silently outputting "cas:<hash>" with exit code 0. Changes: - Updated CasNodeNotFoundError constructor signature to store hash - Added root hash existence check in render() and renderAsync() - Updated CLI error handling to catch CasNodeNotFoundError - Added comprehensive test suite for missing hash error handling - Updated existing incorrect tests (R2 and test 1.5) The fix distinguishes between: - Root hash (user-requested): Must exist or throw error - Nested hash (during traversal): Renders as cas: reference (existing behavior) - Resolution below epsilon: Renders as cas: reference (existing behavior) Fixes #53 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 08:18:15 +00:00
xiaoju	3c8b16d7b1	fix: clean error message for invalid schema in `schema put` command Fixes #54 The `json-cas schema put` command now catches SchemaValidationError and displays a clean error message instead of showing a raw stack trace. Changes: - Import SchemaValidationError from @uncaged/json-cas - Wrap putSchema() call in try-catch in cmdSchemaPut - Catch SchemaValidationError specifically and call die(e.message) - Add 5 comprehensive tests for invalid schema error handling Test cases: 1. Invalid JSON Schema type value 2. Unknown schema keys 3. Invalid nested schema 4. Non-object root schema 5. Valid schema regression test Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 08:14:23 +00:00
xiaoju	51e81c7b99	test: add E2E template variable rendering tests for issue #52 Add comprehensive test suite (Suite 9 and 10) covering template variable rendering: - Suite 9: E2E Template Variable Rendering (12 tests) - Tests correct {{ payload.* }} syntax vs incorrect direct property access - Tests primitive payloads (string, number) - Tests nested objects, arrays, null values, booleans - Tests edge cases: empty strings, zero values, special characters - Validates CLI integration flow - Suite 10: Context Variable Completeness (2 tests) - Verifies context propagation through recursive renders - Tests context isolation between parent and child nodes All tests pass. Confirms the renderNode function correctly passes node.payload to template context. Issue #52 was user error - templates require {{ payload.name }} syntax, not {{ name }}. Fixes #52 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-31 08:13:36 +00:00