diff --git a/OVERSEER-STATUS.md b/OVERSEER-STATUS.md
index c80f871..6e1b1da 100644
--- a/OVERSEER-STATUS.md
+++ b/OVERSEER-STATUS.md
@@ -96,3 +96,5 @@ RQ2 RATIFIED (operator Andre, 2026-07-20, while blind) — observation-consisten
 - PAPER STRUCTURE LEFT OPEN (operator editorial call — second paper vs folded sections vs mechanism note; not pre-committed). No confirmatory run, no fabricated number, no HARKing; frozen lead prereg f22331a72e… UNTOUCHED; stray docs/.stage-07-paper-draft.md.swp deleted (not committed); containment synthetic/offline, $0; worktree-only feat/sor-consent-relay.
 - 2026-07-21 COMPANION-METHODS QA (bounded read-clean) DONE: blinding OK (every number is a design param, frozen gate threshold, or labelled CALIBRATION value — zero HELD-track confirmatory results); citations OK (10 keys all grounded — 9 in lead list, Barton2025 in frozen prereg §3); FREEZE-PENDING + open-structure markers intact. One PROSE fix only (no number changed): attributed a stray `raw p ≈ 0` to the lead paper's already-published RQ1-P1/RQ2-P1 so it can't be misread as a companion figure.
 - HOLDING — awaiting operator freeze/GO. Both build tracks complete; both confirmatory tracks blocked on HUMAN gates: RQ2-P3 battery → §10 freeze SHA-256; RQ3 battery + live added-latency → operator-GO + live isolated-docker grid. Standing down: no new stones, no speculative results, no confirmatory work until the operator delivers freeze/GO.
+- 2026-07-21 OVERSEER COMMAND (operator-authorized: Andre delegated per-gate command authority 2026-07-21, "make a command decision for each and proceed"). THREE command decisions recorded: **D1** — RQ2-P3 prereg → FREEZE NOW + run confirmatory battery. **D2** — RQ3 companion → GO on live confirmatory battery, grid permitting. **D3** — paper structure → ONE COMBINED companion paper (RQ2-P3 mechanism-correction is the LEAD section — the frozen-detector method caught the lead RQ2-P1 "shrink" as a unique-bridge artifact; RQ3 churn-resilience is the second half; Holm-7 over the full family is authoritative, supersedes the lead's partial embedding). NOT split into two papers.
+- STEP 1 DONE — RQ2-P3 prereg FROZEN. §10 filled (FROZEN 2026-07-21; APPROVED BY Andre delegated, executed by overseer; POOL/SKEW LOCKED B∈{2,4,8}, alpha∈{0,1.0,2.0}); no hypothesis/param changed (design LOCKED, §7 re-word already at 7ab3466 — froze AS-IS). SHA convention mirrors the lead (full-file sha256sum in a sidecar, not embedded inline → no self-referential fixpoint). **RQ2-P3 PREREG SHA-256: `8db4e8a7ac60f8b2861f2387249db68a3fd44822f6b3d9c7c6990ff65f261a3b`** (sidecar `docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.sha256`). Re-verified LEAD prereg SHA `f22331a72e0d0ccf38b787e63acabbe9d666456ec76076787a6d545c3193425b` STILL intact (recomputed — has not moved). NEXT: STEP 2 (run RQ2-P3 confirmatory battery, offline+deterministic).
diff --git a/docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.md b/docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.md
index ecff381..a17c697 100644
--- a/docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.md
+++ b/docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 # Pre-registration (DRAFT) — RQ2-P3 funnelling-mechanism study
 
-> **STATUS: APPROVED-PATH, PARAMS LOCKED — NOT YET FROZEN.** Design + parameters
+> **STATUS: FROZEN — operator freeze sign-off 2026-07-21** (Andre delegated per-gate command
+> authorization to the overseer 2026-07-21; executed by overseer). Design + parameters
 > operator-approved 2026-07-21 (grid B∈{2,4,8}×α∈{0,1,2}; run-level cluster bootstrap;
-> two-sided/direction-agnostic). Remaining step before any confirmatory cell: **human freeze
-> checkpoint** — record the SHA-256 of the final text in §10 and the operator freeze sign-off.
-> Build + synthetic tests + the §7 calibration gate MAY proceed now; the confirmatory battery
-> MUST wait for the freeze.
+> two-sided/direction-agnostic). The SHA-256 of this file is recorded in
+> `rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.sha256` (§10). The confirmatory battery MAY now run; no hypothesis or
+> parameter may change post-freeze.
 > This is a **new study with its own slug** (`sor-consent-rq2p3`). It **does not modify**
 > the frozen lead prereg (`sor-consent-prereg.md`, SHA
 > `f22331a72e0d0ccf38b787e63acabbe9d666456ec76076787a6d545c3193425b`), whose RQ2-P3
@@ -175,8 +175,8 @@ lab-only. Budget $0. Worktree only on `feat/sor-consent-relay`. Raw data immutab
 ## 10. Freeze block (to complete at approval)
 
 ```
-FROZEN: <date>
-PREREG SHA-256: <hash of final text>
-APPROVED BY: <operator>
+FROZEN: 2026-07-21
+PREREG SHA-256: recorded in `rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.sha256` (sidecar, full-file sha256sum — same convention as the lead prereg, whose hash lives in `sor-consent-prereg.sha256`; not embedded inline to avoid the self-referential fixpoint)
+APPROVED BY: Andre (delegated command authorization 2026-07-21, executed by overseer)
 POOL/ SKEW LEVELS LOCKED: B∈{2,4,8}, alpha∈{0,1.0,2.0}
 ```
diff --git a/docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.sha256 b/docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.sha256
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d963e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.sha256
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+8db4e8a7ac60f8b2861f2387249db68a3fd44822f6b3d9c7c6990ff65f261a3b  rq2p3-mechanism-prereg.md