docs(phase5b): self-paced enrollment documentation + website integration contract

- PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md: the full design doc.
- RUNBOOK_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md: operational runbook for /admin -> Programs.
- WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md: the complete contract for the separate website team —
  endpoint, auth, request/response schema, idempotency/retry rules, student matching, minor/
  no-email behavior, error responses, what not to send, local testing, production-secret
  handling. Written to be usable without reading the Platform API source.
- REMOTE_AND_SELF_PACED_ARCHITECTURE.md: closes the self-registration/curriculum-assignment/
  delivery-mode/enrollment-model gaps this doc previously flagged as Phase 5+ scope.
- ENGINEERING_SOP.md: new §15. LAB_ARCHITECTURE.md, PRODUCTION_VALIDATION_CHECKLIST.md,
  README.md, platform/README.md: cross-references and a Phase 5B production-validation section.

README.md

@@ -163,6 +163,14 @@ its core:
   classes from `/admin` (presence, Lab/learning status, help-request queue, announcements,
   guidance-only current-activity) — RootNode owns identity/coordination, an external service
   (Meet/Zoom/Teams/etc.) owns the actual video/voice.
+- Students can now be enrolled in a self-paced program (as of Phase 5B) — "My Programs" on the
+  student dashboard, entitlement enforced server-side (pending/future/expired/cancelled
+  enrollments cannot launch a Lab no matter what the browser sends), completion server-derived
+  from the existing capstone rules. `/admin` gained a Programs area (program authoring, manual
+  enrollment, activate/cancel). A separate, provider-neutral `POST /api/integrations/enrollments`
+  boundary — server-to-server only, no browser session involved — is what the future public
+  `rootnodeacademy.com` website/checkout will call to create these enrollments; see
+  `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` and `docs/WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md`.
 
 **Never publish the raw privileged container** — front it with isolation (that's what the
 Gateway is). The one-container `docker run --privileged -p 7554:80 ...` command above stays
@@ -200,7 +208,7 @@ Key properties of the platform (not this image):
 Production topology and what's built vs. not yet: `docs/LAB_ARCHITECTURE.md`,
 `docs/PHASE1_PLATFORM_FOUNDATION.md`, `docs/PHASE2A_GATEWAY_AND_STUDENT_FLOW.md`,
 `docs/PHASE3A_IDENTITY_AND_INSTRUCTOR_ACCESS.md`, `docs/PHASE3B_LEARNING_AND_ASSESSMENT.md`,
-`docs/PHASE5A_STUDENT_IDENTITY_REMOTE_CLASSROOM.md`.
+`docs/PHASE5A_STUDENT_IDENTITY_REMOTE_CLASSROOM.md`, `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md`.
 
 The production infrastructure package (Proxmox/Ansible/Terraform/firewall/monitoring/backup/CI)
 that runs all of this on real hardware lives in `infra/` — see

docs/ENGINEERING_SOP.md

@@ -357,3 +357,34 @@ Full design: `docs/PHASE5A_STUDENT_IDENTITY_REMOTE_CLASSROOM.md`, plus
   students and confirming zero orphaned data) — both against a live `docker-compose.dev.yml`
   stack, not mocks. The full pre-existing regression suite was re-run given how much shared code
   this phase touched (`server.js`, `admin-routes.js`, `sessions.js`, `rbac.js`).
+
+## 15. Self-Paced Learning & Enrollment Foundation (Phase 5B)
+
+Full design: `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md`, plus
+`docs/RUNBOOK_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` and `docs/WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md`.
+
+- **What it is:** `programs` (a first-class learning product, distinct from curriculum JSON —
+  `curriculum_path` is just what it points at) and `enrollments` (a student's academic access to
+  a program, independent of cohort membership — a self-paced enrollment has no cohort at all).
+  Server-enforced entitlement (`enrollment.deriveEnrollmentAccess`, mirroring `classroom.js`'s
+  derived-not-stored `derivePresence` pattern from Phase 5A) gates a new
+  `POST /api/student/programs/:id/launch` in front of the exact same disposable-Lab sequence
+  `/api/environment/launch` already used (extracted into `environment-view.js` so both share one
+  implementation) — pending/future/expired/cancelled enrollments cannot launch, server-side, not
+  just hidden in the UI. Completion is entirely server-derived from the existing capstone
+  achievement mechanism (Phase 3B, unmodified) and idempotent. A new, separate
+  `POST /api/integrations/enrollments` boundary (its own pre-shared-secret auth, no session
+  cookie involved — same trust-boundary pattern as Gateway↔Provisioner's
+  `PROVISIONER_SHARED_SECRET`) is what the *separate* public website will eventually call;
+  idempotent via a DB unique constraint on the caller's own event id, proven safe under real
+  concurrent duplicate requests, not just sequential retries.
+- **A real bug found and fixed:** `POST /api/progress/record` predated the `wrap()`
+  async-error-handling convention — an unexpected internal error there (a malformed
+  `environment_id`) crashed the entire Platform API process, not just that one request. Fixed
+  (wrapped + input-validated) and regression-tested.
+- **Tested, not just designed:** `platform/test/e2e-phase5b.js` (32 checks) and
+  `infra/scripts/drills/test-phase5b-selfpaced-rehearsal.js` (15 checks) — both against a live
+  stack, including real Lab destroy/reaper-reconciliation/recreate persistence proofs, a full
+  real capstone completion, integration-endpoint concurrency, and a real Platform API restart.
+  Migration safety proven explicitly against a fresh Postgres seeded with realistic pre-5B data
+  (see that doc §14).

docs/LAB_ARCHITECTURE.md

@@ -507,3 +507,15 @@ any of it — the Provisioner, the `environments` state machine, the Lab Host Ro
 Lab lifecycle, and the Platform/Lab-Host VM boundary are all untouched. The classroom dashboard
 reads Lab status the exact same way every other admin view does (`provisioner.listForStudent`,
 the same state enum) rather than inventing a second one.
+
+## Phase 5B: still reused, not modified — a gate in front, not a second Lab
+
+Phase 5B (`docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md`) added self-paced programs/enrollment on top
+of the exact same disposable Lab this document describes — again without changing the
+Provisioner, `environments`, the reaper, or the Lab Host Router at all. A self-paced launch
+(`POST /api/student/programs/:id/launch`) is an entitlement check followed by calling the
+identical launch sequence `/api/environment/launch` always has — verified for real by killing a
+Lab container out-of-band and restarting the Provisioner to trigger its actual
+`reconcileOnStartup` reconciliation path (the same technique Phase 4.1's
+`test-lab-host-loss.js` established), then confirming a self-paced student's academic progress
+is completely unaffected and a fresh Lab boots normally.

docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md

@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+# Phase 5B — Self-Paced Learning & Enrollment Foundation
+
+**Status: PHASE 5B COMPLETE. SELF-PACED LEARNING FOUNDATION COMPLETE. WEBSITE ENROLLMENT BOUNDARY READY.**
+
+Phase 5A gave students real identity and instructors a remote classroom. Phase 5B's job was
+the last piece needed for an authenticated student to be enrolled in a RootNode Academy program
+and complete it entirely on their own — plus the clean, provider-neutral boundary a *separate*
+public website/commerce system will call to create those enrollments later. This phase does
+**not** build that website or any payment processing — see §12.
+
+## 1. The RootNode program ladder
+
+`init_` (ages ~5-10, robotics/block coding), `compile_` (ages ~11-14, ESP32/MicroPython/IoT),
+`root_` (ages ~15-18+, Linux/containers/Kubernetes/DevOps). The existing KubeKosh-derived
+curriculum belongs to `root_`. This phase does not write init_/compile_ curriculum content — it
+makes the platform capable of holding those programs later without another schema change (the
+`programs.family` enum already accepts `init`/`compile`/`root`).
+
+## 2. Programs — a first-class object, not curriculum JSON
+
+`programs` (migration `019_programs.sql`) is the commercial/academic unit a student enrolls in.
+It is deliberately **not** the curriculum file itself — `programs.curriculum_path` just points at
+one (today, always `rootnode-path`, the only curriculum that exists). `program_id` is the slug
+primary key, matching `assessment_definitions`/`cohorts`' existing convention rather than a
+separate id+slug pair. `family` (`init`/`compile`/`root`) and `delivery_mode`
+(`self_paced`/`cohort`/`hybrid`) are both real CHECK-constrained enums, not free text — small,
+stable vocabularies, matching how this codebase already treats `assessment_definitions.type` and
+`hint_policy`. The phase seeds exactly one program: `root-kubernetes-foundations`, wrapping the
+existing RootNode/Kubernetes curriculum and the existing `rootnode-capstone` as its completion
+criterion — no new curriculum content invented.
+
+`programs.version` bumps automatically whenever an edit changes a field an enrollment snapshots
+(`curriculum_path`, `delivery_mode`) — same versioning principle `assessment_definitions`
+already established, so editing a program later never silently changes what an already-enrolled
+student is being held to.
+
+## 3. Enrollments — real academic access, separate from cohorts
+
+`enrollments` (migration `020_enrollments.sql`) represents a student's access to a program:
+`pending → active → completed`, or `pending`/`active → cancelled`. All transitions are
+server-side only (`enrollment.js`) — nothing accepts a client-supplied status. `expired` is
+**derived**, not stored: `deriveEnrollmentAccess(enrollment, now)` is a pure function (matching
+Phase 5A's `classroom.js` `derivePresence` pattern) that computes it from `access_ends_at` at
+read time, so there's no background sweep and nothing to go stale.
+
+A self-paced enrollment has **no cohort at all** — `cohort_enrollments` (Phase 1) is completely
+untouched. A student can hold a cohort enrollment, a self-paced enrollment, and multiple
+historical enrollments simultaneously without any of those concepts colliding; re-enrollment
+after completion/cancellation always creates a new row rather than reviving a historical one (a
+partial unique index enforces at most one `pending`/`active` enrollment per student+program at a
+time — DB-level, not app-level "check then insert").
+
+## 4. Curriculum assignment — the schema Phase 4.1 flagged, now wired
+
+Phase 4.1's `curriculum_assignments` table (schema-ready since Phase 2B, never read by
+anything) is **not** reused as-is — it models cohort/student curriculum assignment
+independent of any commercial concept, which is a different problem than "this enrollment in
+this program uses this curriculum." Instead, `enrollments.curriculum_path` is itself the
+snapshot: set from `programs.curriculum_path` at enrollment time, so a later edit to the
+program never changes what an existing enrollment means. `curriculum_assignments` remains
+exactly as Phase 4.1 left it — still available for a future direct per-student assignment need
+outside the program/enrollment model, not duplicated or removed.
+
+The resolution chain is real: `enrollment.student_id → enrollment.program_id →
+enrollment.curriculum_path → curriculum.loadCurriculumPath() → stages → scenarios`
+(`program-status.js`'s `buildProgramStatus`). Only one curriculum path exists today, so this
+always resolves to `rootnode-path` — the extension point for a second path is
+`enrollments.curriculum_path` itself, already snapshotted per-enrollment.
+
+## 5. Self-paced dashboard and resume — reused, not reinvented
+
+`GET /api/student/programs` returns every enrollment a student holds (never a public catalog —
+no public course browsing exists), each annotated with real access state, progress, and a
+deterministic next activity. The heavy lifting is **entirely existing Phase 3B machinery**:
+`curriculum-rules.js`'s `computeCurriculumState` already returns `current_stage` and each
+stage's `next_scenario` — `program-status.js` just wraps that per-enrollment. "Continue
+Learning" resume is not a guess based on the last page rendered; it's the same rule-driven
+current-stage/next-scenario computation the My Learning tab has used since Phase 3B, now scoped
+per program. Destroying a Lab never touches this — `progress`/`scenario_attempts` live in
+Postgres, completely independent of any container's lifecycle (verified for real, not just
+asserted — see §9).
+
+## 6. Entitlement — enforced server-side, not by hiding a button
+
+`POST /api/student/programs/:enrollmentId/launch` is the only self-paced entry point into a
+Lab. It resolves the enrollment (404 if it isn't the caller's own), calls
+`deriveEnrollmentAccess`, and 403s with a `reason` (`pending_activation` / `not_yet_started` /
+`access_expired` / `cancelled`) if `can_launch` is false — **before** ever touching the
+Provisioner. A pending, future-dated, expired, or cancelled enrollment cannot provision a Lab no
+matter what the browser sends. The existing `POST /api/environment/launch` (cohort/pilot path)
+is completely unchanged — this is a new, additive gate in front of the exact same disposable-Lab
+sequence (`environment-view.js`, extracted from `server.js` so both routes share one
+implementation), not a second kind of Lab.
+
+## 7. Completion — server-derived and idempotent
+
+`enrollment.maybeCompleteEnrollment` checks, for every `active` enrollment whose program has a
+`completion_assessment_id`, whether a matching `capstone_completed` achievement already exists
+(the achievement `recordAssessmentAchievement` already writes when a capstone session finalizes
+— Phase 3B, unmodified). If so, it transitions the enrollment to `completed` — an `UPDATE ...
+WHERE status = 'active'`, so calling it again once already completed is a guaranteed no-op, not
+a duplicate transition or an error. This runs opportunistically on every program-status read
+(`program-status.js`), which means completion is detected on the next read after the qualifying
+event, not pushed instantly — acceptable latency for a status field, and it means there is no
+"mark complete" button anywhere in the frontend to accidentally trust.
+
+## 8. Pacing and availability
+
+`starts_at`/`access_ends_at` are the entire pacing model this phase builds — no drip scheduling,
+no per-lesson unlock dates. `starts_at` in the future: the enrollment is visible
+(`effective_status: 'active'`) but `can_launch: false`, reason `not_yet_started`. `access_ends_at`
+in the past: `effective_status: 'expired'`, prior progress/achievements remain fully visible,
+`can_launch: false`. Both are enforced in `deriveEnrollmentAccess`, called from the same
+server-side gate every launch goes through — never a frontend-only check.
+
+## 9. Real Lab-persistence proof
+
+`platform/test/e2e-phase5b.js` and `infra/scripts/drills/test-phase5b-selfpaced-rehearsal.js`
+both drive this against a real stack: launch a Lab, complete a scenario, destroy the environment
+via the admin API, relaunch, confirm identical progress and resume target; separately, kill the
+Lab container directly (bypassing the Provisioner, exactly the idle reaper's failure mode from
+the Provisioner's point of view) and restart the Provisioner to run its real
+`reconcileOnStartup` reconciliation (the same technique `infra/scripts/drills/
+test-lab-host-loss.js` established in Phase 4.1) before relaunching — progress is identical
+both times.
+
+## 10. Instructor/admin management
+
+`/admin` → Programs: list/create/edit/activate-deactivate (admin/owner only, matching
+`assessment_definitions`' authoring convention — every role can view), per-program enrollment
+list and manual-enroll form, per-enrollment activate/cancel. The existing student detail view
+gained an "Enrolled programs" card (status, delivery mode, progress, last activity).
+
+**RBAC** (`rbac.js`'s new `requireEnrollmentAccess`): owner/admin have global management, as
+everywhere else. A plain instructor may view/manage an enrollment if they created it
+(`enrollments.created_by`) **or** the student shares one of their cohorts — never blanket
+visibility into every self-paced student, since a self-paced enrollment can have no cohort
+relationship at all. Enrollment *creation* stays admin/owner only, matching the existing
+roster-creation precedent (`POST /api/admin/students` is the same restriction).
+
+## 11. The website/commerce integration boundary
+
+`POST /api/integrations/enrollments` — completely separate from student/instructor session
+auth (no cookie is ever read), authenticated by a pre-shared secret header
+(`X-RootNode-Integration-Key`), the exact same trust-boundary pattern this codebase already
+uses for Gateway↔Provisioner (`X-Provisioner-Key`/`PROVISIONER_SHARED_SECRET`), not a new
+scheme. Full contract for the separate website team: `docs/WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md`.
+
+Idempotent by construction: a unique index on `enrollments.external_event_id`, not an
+app-level "check then insert" — proven under real concurrency (three simultaneous identical
+requests produce exactly one enrollment, one `created: true`, two `created: false`) in both the
+permanent suite and manually during development. Student matching is create-or-match by email
+**or** login_identifier (§13's minor/no-email requirement) — reuses Phase 5A's exact
+`students-auth.js` credential-issuing path, not a second account-creation mechanism, and this is
+a trusted server-to-server caller (the website's own verified-payment backend), not a public
+signup form.
+
+## 12. What was deliberately not built (§22)
+
+Stripe/payment processing, checkout UI, the public website itself, public self-registration, a
+Parent Portal or full guardian accounts, email delivery infrastructure, certificates, complex
+drip scheduling, and full init_/compile_ curriculum content. Each is a plausible "while we're in
+here" addition; each was left alone on purpose. Nothing built this phase blocks any of them —
+`enrollments.external_reference`/`metadata` and the create-or-match student resolution are the
+deliberate extension points for a future guardian-purchases-for-minor flow, without inventing a
+fake guardian record now.
+
+## 13. A real bug found and fixed
+
+`POST /api/progress/record` predated the `wrap()` async-error-handling convention (it's a
+Phase 1/2A route, never updated). An unexpected internal error there — including Postgres
+rejecting a malformed `environment_id` — became an unhandled promise rejection that **crashed
+the entire Platform API process**, not just that one request. Found by this phase's own test
+suite. Fixed: the handler is now wrapped like every route added since Phase 3B, plus explicit
+UUID-shape validation so a bad `environment_id` is a clean 400 and never reaches Postgres as a
+type error at all. Regression-tested in `e2e-phase5b.js`.
+
+## 14. Testing
+
+- `platform/test/e2e-phase5b.js` (32 checks): program seed, entitlement gating
+  (pending/future/expired/cancelled), cross-student isolation, real Lab launch/destroy/reaper/
+  recreate persistence, server-derived idempotent completion, the full integration boundary
+  (auth, idempotency, concurrency, unknown/inactive program rejection, minor/no-email path, no
+  card data), RBAC scoping, Phase 5A regression smoke, and a real Platform API restart.
+- `infra/scripts/drills/test-phase5b-selfpaced-rehearsal.js` (15 checks): one continuous
+  realistic story — activation, a simulated website enrollment event, real Lab work, Lab
+  destroy, a new session later, Continue Learning, a fresh Lab, full capstone completion,
+  program moves to Completed, and a second uninvolved student proven unable to reach any of it.
+- Both against a live `docker-compose.dev.yml` stack, real HTTP, real k3s Lab boots.
+- Migration safety proven explicitly: a fresh Postgres taken through Phase 1-5A's migrations
+  only, seeded with realistic pre-5B data (credentialed student, cohort membership, progress,
+  scenario attempts, achievements, classroom history), then 5B's migrations applied — every
+  prior record intact and correctly associated with the same `student_id`; a new enrollment
+  correctly links to that same pre-existing student; running the migration set a second time
+  applies nothing.

docs/PRODUCTION_VALIDATION_CHECKLIST.md

@@ -67,5 +67,20 @@ can prove in advance.
 - [ ] `docs/RUNBOOK_STUDENT_ACCOUNT_LIFECYCLE.md` and `docs/RUNBOOK_REMOTE_CLASSROOM.md`'s steps
       still make sense walked against the real admin portal
 
+## Self-paced enrollment & website integration (Phase 5B — see docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md)
+- [ ] `INTEGRATION_SHARED_SECRET` is set to a real, unique-to-production secret (not the dev
+      value) and is stored only in the Platform API's own server-side environment — never
+      committed, never in any browser-reachable config
+- [ ] The website team's production integration key was delivered out of band (not plaintext
+      email/chat) and is confirmed working with one real, low-stakes test enrollment before go-live
+- [ ] A deliberate `POST /api/integrations/enrollments` call missing/with a wrong key returns a
+      clean `401` against the real production endpoint, not a 500 or an information leak
+- [ ] `GET /metrics`'s `rootnode_enrollments_total`/`rootnode_program_completions_total` labels
+      contain only status/delivery_mode/program_id values — confirm no student_id, email, or
+      external_reference ever appears in a real production scrape
+- [ ] `docs/RUNBOOK_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md`'s steps still make sense walked against the real
+      admin portal, and `docs/WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md` is what the website team
+      actually integrated against (update it if reality drifted during that integration)
+
 Only once every box above is checked against the real server does the deployment graduate from
 "infrastructure package built" to "actually in production."

docs/REMOTE_AND_SELF_PACED_ARCHITECTURE.md

@@ -45,11 +45,12 @@ this flow specifically — see the Phase 4.1 report for the full run results.
 
 ## What's genuinely missing for a real self-paced product (Phase 5, not built here)
 
-1. **No self-registration / public enrollment.** A student row is created only by an instructor
-   (`POST /api/admin/students`, admin/owner RBAC-gated). There is no public "sign up" surface.
-   This is almost certainly the right call to leave alone for now — it's explicitly a Phase 5+
-   product/business decision (course commerce, is it free, who's allowed to enroll), not an
-   infrastructure gap.
+1. **No self-registration / public enrollment surface.** Still true, still deliberate — Phase 5B
+   built the boundary a *separate* public website will call
+   (`POST /api/integrations/enrollments`, see `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` §11 and
+   `docs/WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md`) rather than a public sign-up form here. A student
+   row can now be created automatically by a trusted server-to-server enrollment event, but there
+   is still no browser-facing "sign up" page anywhere in this codebase — that's the website's job.
 
 2. ~~**No real student authentication.**~~ **Closed in Phase 5A.** Students now have real
    credentials (email+password or login-identifier+password, `password_hash`/`scrypt` reusing
@@ -59,25 +60,31 @@ this flow specifically — see the Phase 4.1 report for the full run results.
    /api/login` still works for not-yet-converted pilot rows only; it's rejected (409) the moment
    an account has real credentials or a pending activation token.
 
-3. **`curriculum_assignments.student_id` is schema-ready but unwired.** The table has supported
-   a direct per-student curriculum assignment (independent of any cohort) since Phase 2B
-   (`CONSTRAINT curriculum_assignment_target CHECK (cohort_id IS NOT NULL OR student_id IS NOT
-   NULL)`) — but nothing in the application ever reads or writes that column today; there's only
-   one curriculum path, so nothing has needed to differentiate yet. Not a gap that blocks
-   self-paced delivery now (every student already sees the one path with no gate), but the
-   moment a second curriculum path exists, this is where per-individual assignment lands — the
-   schema was designed for exactly this and doesn't need a migration to support it.
+3. ~~**`curriculum_assignments.student_id` is schema-ready but unwired.**~~ **Addressed
+   differently in Phase 5B.** `curriculum_assignments` itself remains unwired, unchanged — but
+   the real problem it was meant to eventually solve (which curriculum a given student sees) is
+   now solved at the enrollment layer instead: `enrollments.curriculum_path` snapshots
+   `programs.curriculum_path` per enrollment. `curriculum_assignments` is still available for a
+   future direct per-student assignment need outside the program/enrollment model — it wasn't
+   removed, just not the mechanism Phase 5B ended up using. See
+   `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` §4.
 
-4. **No delivery-mode concept anywhere.** In-person, remote, and self-paced sessions aren't
-   distinguished in any data model today, and nothing currently needs them to be — capacity
-   planning, the reaper, and academic records all behave identically regardless of how a student
-   is attending. Worth being aware this is unmodeled, not worth building a taxonomy for before a
-   real product reason exists (YAGNI).
+4. ~~**No delivery-mode concept anywhere.**~~ **Closed in Phase 5B.**
+   `programs.delivery_mode`/`enrollments.delivery_mode` (`self_paced`/`cohort`/`hybrid`) is now
+   a real, snapshotted field. Capacity planning, the reaper, and Lab lifecycle mechanics still
+   behave identically regardless of delivery mode — this only affects how enrollment/entitlement
+   is modeled, not infrastructure.
+
+5. **No self-paced enrollment/entitlement model.** ~~Closed in Phase 5B~~ — see
+   `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` for `programs`/`enrollments`, server-enforced
+   entitlement (pending/future/expired/cancelled), server-derived completion, and the resulting
+   self-paced student dashboard.
 
 ## What Phase 4.1 deliberately did NOT do here
 
 No signup flow, no student password/email auth implementation, no per-student curriculum
 assignment route, no payments, no public course catalog, no held/premium scenario content. All
-explicit non-goals per this phase's authorization. Student authentication (item 2, above) was
-closed in Phase 5A; the rest remain open, unmodeled by design (YAGNI) until a real product
-reason exists.
+explicit non-goals per this phase's authorization. Student authentication (Phase 5A) and the
+self-paced enrollment/entitlement model (Phase 5B) have both since been built; a public
+self-registration *page*, real payment processing, and a Parent/Guardian portal remain
+deliberately out of scope — see `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` §12.

docs/RUNBOOK_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# Runbook: Self-Paced Programs & Enrollment
+
+Covers managing programs and enrollments from `/admin` → Programs. See
+`docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` for the underlying design and
+`docs/WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md` for the separate website-driven path.
+
+**Create a program** (Programs → Create program, admin/owner only):
+
+Program ID is a slug (e.g. `root-linux-fundamentals`) and can't be changed later. Pick a
+family (`init_`/`compile_`/`root_`) and delivery mode. New programs default to
+`curriculum_path: rootnode-path` — the only curriculum content that exists today. A program for
+`init_`/`compile_` can be created now as a placeholder and wired to real content later without a
+schema change; it just won't have real lessons behind it yet.
+
+**Activate/deactivate a program** (Programs → \[program\] → Activate/Deactivate):
+
+An inactive program can't accept new enrollments (admin-manual or via the website integration
+endpoint) but existing enrollments in it are untouched — students already enrolled keep their
+access exactly as it was.
+
+**Manually enroll a student** (Programs → \[program\] → Enroll a student):
+
+Enter the student's ID (find it on the Students tab). Choose `pending` (the default — the
+student sees the enrollment but can't start until you Activate it) or `active` (skip that step).
+Optional start/end dates enforce access windows server-side — a future start date hides Lab
+access until then; an end date cuts off new Lab launches after it while leaving prior progress
+visible.
+
+**Activate a pending enrollment** (Programs → \[program\] → Enrollments table → Activate):
+
+Only needed if you enrolled as `pending`. This is the moment a student actually gains entry.
+
+**Cancel an enrollment** (Programs → \[program\] → Enrollments table → Cancel, or Enrollments
+list on a student's own page):
+
+Immediately blocks new Lab launches. Does not touch the student's progress/achievements/attempt
+history — those are permanent regardless of enrollment status. Cancelling is final for that
+enrollment; if the student should have access again later, enroll them again (a new enrollment
+row) rather than trying to "reactivate" a cancelled one.
+
+**Check a student's enrollment history** (Students → \[student\] → "Enrolled programs" card):
+
+Shows every program the student has ever been enrolled in — pending, active, completed,
+cancelled, expired — with progress and last activity. A plain instructor sees this scoped to
+enrollments they created or that belong to a student sharing one of their cohorts; owner/admin
+see everything.
+
+**A student says "Continue Learning" isn't working / shows the wrong thing:**
+
+1. Check their enrollment status on the Programs or Student page. `pending` → activate it.
+   `expired`/`cancelled` → that's working as intended; enroll them again if they should continue.
+2. If `active` and still stuck, check `/api/admin/students/:id/environment` for a stuck Lab —
+   same troubleshooting as any other Lab issue (`docs/RUNBOOK_STUCK_LAB_CLEANUP.md`). Destroying
+   the Lab never loses their program progress; a fresh launch resumes from the same place.
+
+**A student's completion didn't register:**
+
+Completion is detected the next time their program status is *read* (their dashboard, or an
+admin viewing their enrollment) after they finish the capstone — not pushed instantly. Refresh
+the page or reopen their student detail in `/admin`; if it still doesn't show `completed` after
+that, check `GET /api/achievements` for that student for a `capstone_completed` record matching
+the program's configured capstone — if that's missing, the capstone itself wasn't actually
+finished, not an enrollment bug.

docs/WEBSITE_ENROLLMENT_INTEGRATION.md

@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+# Website → RootNode Academy Enrollment Integration
+
+Audience: whoever builds `rootnodeacademy.com` (marketing, pricing, checkout) and needs to turn
+a successful purchase/signup into a real RootNode Academy student enrollment. This document is
+meant to be enough on its own — you should not need to read the Platform API's source to
+integrate against it.
+
+## Architecture
+
+```
+rootnodeacademy.com (marketing, pricing, checkout — built separately, not in this repo)
+    |
+    | your backend verifies payment/signup with your payment provider
+    v
+your backend calls the RootNode Enrollment API (below) — server-to-server only
+    v
+RootNode Academy Platform API
+    creates/matches a student account
+    creates or reuses (idempotently) an enrollment
+    v
+the student logs in at the RootNode Academy platform and sees their program
+```
+
+**RootNode never talks to your payment provider, and your payment provider never talks to
+RootNode.** Your backend is the only thing that calls this endpoint, after it has already
+confirmed payment (or whatever your enrollment trigger is) on its own. This endpoint knows
+nothing about Stripe, PayPal, or any other provider's object model — it only understands a
+small, generic enrollment event described below.
+
+## The endpoint
+
+```
+POST /api/integrations/enrollments
+```
+
+Reachable at the RootNode Academy platform's public origin (the same host your students'
+browsers already use), via HTTPS in any real deployment. This is the **only** endpoint your
+backend needs.
+
+## Authentication
+
+A pre-shared secret, sent as a header:
+
+```
+X-RootNode-Integration-Key: <the secret>
+```
+
+- This is **not** a student or admin login. It has nothing to do with cookies, sessions, or
+  browser auth of any kind.
+- **The secret must live only in your backend's server-side configuration.** It must never be
+  embedded in any browser-served JavaScript, mobile app bundle, or client-side config — anyone
+  who obtains it can create enrollments.
+- A request with a missing or wrong key gets `401 { "error": "unauthorized" }` and nothing else
+  happens — no student is looked up, nothing is created.
+- RootNode will provide you with the production secret out of band (not over email/chat in
+  plaintext — ask the RootNode team for the current secure-sharing process). Rotate it by
+  asking RootNode to issue a new one; there is no self-service rotation yet.
+
+## Request
+
+```json
+{
+  "event_id": "order_9f8e7d6c5b4a",
+  "source": "website",
+  "program_slug": "root-kubernetes-foundations",
+  "status": "paid",
+  "student": {
+    "email": "[email protected]",
+    "login_identifier": null,
+    "display_name": "Jamie Rivera"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+| Field | Required | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| `event_id` | **yes** | A string, unique per real-world event, from *your* system (an order ID, a payment intent ID — anything stable). This is the idempotency key — see below. Not a RootNode-generated value. |
+| `source` | no | Free text, e.g. `"website"`. Recorded for audit only, defaults to `"integration"` if omitted. |
+| `program_slug` | **yes** | The RootNode program's id, e.g. `"root-kubernetes-foundations"`. Ask RootNode for the current list — there is no public program-catalog endpoint. |
+| `status` | **yes** | One of: `"paid"`, `"active"`, `"confirmed"` (all mean "grant access now") or `"pending"`, `"awaiting_payment"` (means "record the enrollment but don't grant access yet"). This is a small, fixed, provider-neutral vocabulary — translate whatever your payment provider says into one of these five values before calling. Anything else is rejected. |
+| `student.email` | one of email/login_identifier required | The student's own email, if they have one. |
+| `student.login_identifier` | one of email/login_identifier required | Use this instead of/alongside email for a student who doesn't have their own email address (a minor enrolled by a parent/guardian — see below). Any stable, unique string you control — e.g. an internal user ID from your own system works well. |
+| `student.display_name` | no | Shown in the RootNode instructor portal and, once the student logs in, to themselves. Falls back to the email or login_identifier if omitted. |
+
+### What you must NOT send
+
+- No card numbers, CVVs, bank details, or any other payment-card data. This endpoint has no
+  field for it and never will — RootNode never touches payment-card data at all.
+- No raw provider webhook payloads (Stripe event objects, PayPal IPN bodies, etc.) — translate
+  to the shape above first. This endpoint is deliberately provider-neutral.
+- No password. RootNode issues its own credential/activation flow (see "What the student
+  experiences" below) — you cannot set a student's password through this endpoint, and should
+  never try to invent one.
+
+## Response
+
+**Success — a new enrollment was created** (`201`):
+```json
+{ "enrollment_id": "6dd6d898-f895-477f-97d8-1e5ce89c27cd", "student_id": "student-042", "program_id": "root-kubernetes-foundations", "status": "active", "created": true }
+```
+
+**Success — this exact `event_id` was already processed** (`200`, idempotent replay — see below):
+```json
+{ "enrollment_id": "6dd6d898-f895-477f-97d8-1e5ce89c27cd", "student_id": "student-042", "program_id": "root-kubernetes-foundations", "status": "active", "created": false }
+```
+
+**Errors:**
+
+| Status | Body `error` | Meaning |
+|---|---|---|
+| `401` | `unauthorized` | Missing/wrong `X-RootNode-Integration-Key`. |
+| `400` | `event_id is required` | — |
+| `400` | `program_slug is required` | — |
+| `400` | `status must be one of: paid, active, confirmed, pending, awaiting_payment` | — |
+| `400` | `student.email or student.login_identifier is required` | — |
+| `404` | `PROGRAM_NOT_FOUND` | `program_slug` doesn't exist. |
+| `409` | `PROGRAM_INACTIVE` | The program exists but isn't currently open for enrollment. |
+| `500` | `internal_error` | Something unexpected broke server-side. Safe to retry (see below). |
+
+## Idempotency and retries
+
+**`event_id` is the whole mechanism.** Send the exact same `event_id` again (your payment
+provider retried a webhook, your own backend retried a timed-out request, anything) and you get
+back the **same enrollment**, `created: false`, `200` instead of `201` — never a duplicate. This
+is enforced at the database level (a unique constraint), not just "best effort," so it's safe
+under concurrent/parallel retries too, not just sequential ones.
+
+**Retry policy:** on a `5xx` or a network error/timeout, retry with the *same* `event_id`
+(standard exponential backoff is fine — a few attempts over a couple of minutes is plenty). On a
+`4xx`, do not blindly retry — fix the request (see the error table above) or, for `401`, check
+your key.
+
+**Never generate a new `event_id` for a retry of the same real-world event.** Doing so would
+create a second enrollment. Reserve a fresh `event_id` only for a genuinely new enrollment event
+(e.g. a renewal, a second purchase).
+
+## Student matching rules
+
+RootNode looks for an existing student by `email` (case-insensitive) or `login_identifier`
+(exact match), in that priority. If found, that student is enrolled. If not found, a new student
+account is created automatically — this is a trusted server-to-server call from your backend,
+equivalent to an instructor adding a student through the admin portal, not a public signup form.
+
+## Minor / no-email students
+
+RootNode explicitly supports students without their own email address (younger students,
+enrolled by a parent/guardian). Send `student.login_identifier` instead of (or in addition to)
+`email` — any stable string you control, such as an internal account/order reference. You must
+send **at least one** of `email` or `login_identifier`; sending neither is rejected.
+
+There is no guardian/parent account system yet — the enrollment is created directly against the
+student identity you provide. If you need to support "a parent manages multiple children's
+enrollments" as a first-class concept later, talk to the RootNode team before building around a
+workaround; the schema has room for it but it isn't implemented.
+
+## What the student experiences after you call this
+
+If `status` mapped to "active": the student can log in immediately (once RootNode's own
+activation flow — a one-time setup link — reaches them; RootNode does not send that email/link
+for you today, see "Known limitation" below) and sees the program on their dashboard right away.
+If `status` mapped to "pending": the enrollment exists but the student can't start until a
+RootNode instructor activates it — useful if your flow needs a manual review step before access
+is granted.
+
+**Known limitation:** RootNode does not yet send the student's activation email itself. If the
+student is brand new (no prior RootNode account), your integration is responsible for letting
+them know they have access and how to set up their login, until RootNode's own email delivery
+exists. Ask the RootNode team for the current interim process.
+
+## Local/staging testing
+
+Set `INTEGRATION_SHARED_SECRET` in your test environment's config (in local dev,
+`platform/.env`; example dev value used by this repo's own test suite:
+`dev-integration-secret-not-for-production` — never use this value anywhere real). Then:
+
+```bash
+curl -s -X POST http://localhost:4200/api/integrations/enrollments \
+  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+  -H 'X-RootNode-Integration-Key: dev-integration-secret-not-for-production' \
+  -d '{
+    "event_id": "test-order-001",
+    "source": "website",
+    "program_slug": "root-kubernetes-foundations",
+    "status": "paid",
+    "student": { "email": "[email protected]", "display_name": "Test Student" }
+  }'
+```
+
+All example data on this page is fake — do not reuse these values against a real deployment.
+
+## Production secret handling
+
+- The production `X-RootNode-Integration-Key` value must be requested from the RootNode team
+  and stored in your backend's secret manager/environment configuration — never in source
+  control, never in a browser-reachable config, never logged.
+- RootNode's own logs and audit trail never record the secret's value, only that an
+  authenticated call happened (or a `401` if it didn't).

platform/README.md

@@ -7,17 +7,19 @@ entrypoint/Dockerfile unmodified; frontend bundle gained Phase 3B learning UX, s
 - `provisioner/` — Postgres-backed environment registry and lifecycle. Design:
   `docs/LAB_ARCHITECTURE.md`, `docs/PHASE1_PLATFORM_FOUNDATION.md`. Operational reference:
   `provisioner/README.md`.
-- `api/` — the lightweight Platform API: students, cohorts, enrollments, curriculum, detailed
-  scenario attempt telemetry, progressive hints, curriculum completion rules, the exam +
+- `api/` — the lightweight Platform API: students, cohorts and cohort membership, curriculum,
+  detailed scenario attempt telemetry, progressive hints, curriculum completion rules, the exam +
   capstone assessment engine, achievements, per-instructor accounts, persistent student/
   instructor sessions, RBAC, audit logging, real student credentials + remote classrooms
-  (Phase 5A), and the instructor/admin control plane. No k3s, no `--privileged` — this replaced
-  Phase 2A's "identity" instance, which was a full Lab image booting an unused k3s cluster just
-  to serve these APIs. Design:
+  (Phase 5A), and self-paced programs/enrollment + the website integration boundary (Phase 5B),
+  and the instructor/admin control plane. No k3s, no `--privileged` — this replaced Phase 2A's
+  "identity" instance, which was a full Lab image booting an unused k3s cluster just to serve
+  these APIs. Design:
   `docs/PHASE2B_ADMIN_AND_PLATFORM_DATA.md` (split + Postgres migration),
   `docs/PHASE3A_IDENTITY_AND_INSTRUCTOR_ACCESS.md` (sessions, accounts, RBAC, audit),
   `docs/PHASE3B_LEARNING_AND_ASSESSMENT.md` (learning/assessment engine),
-  `docs/PHASE5A_STUDENT_IDENTITY_REMOTE_CLASSROOM.md` (student credentials, remote classroom).
+  `docs/PHASE5A_STUDENT_IDENTITY_REMOTE_CLASSROOM.md` (student credentials, remote classroom),
+  `docs/PHASE5B_SELF_PACED_ENROLLMENT.md` (programs, enrollment, website integration boundary).
   Operational reference: `api/README.md`.
 - `gateway/` — the only student-facing path to a Lab (HTTP + WebSocket proxy, environment-aware
   routing derived from a server-controlled session — not a client-suppliable header/param — and,