diff --git a/docs/plan/oop-vm/03-concurrency-coroutines.md b/docs/plan/oop-vm/03-concurrency-coroutines.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b9f7d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/plan/oop-vm/03-concurrency-coroutines.md
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+# Stackless coroutines — the concurrency contract (fibers, parking, no `async`)
+
+Normative reference for the concurrency iterations (the 8+11 arc and its
+chain). Landed by the arc's stages 1+2 (branch `concurrency-arc`,
+2026-08-20); the mechanism lives in `runtime/src/vm.h` (`wo_fiber`,
+`wo_vm`), `runtime/src/vm.c` (scheduler), `runtime/src/park.c` (I/O
+plane). Shard/actor rules live in the arc spec
+([`2026-08-20-shard-fiber-arc-design.md`](../../superpowers/specs/2026-08-20-shard-fiber-arc-design.md))
+— this doc is the coroutine core plus its seams.
+
+## 1. The model — a coroutine is interpreter state, not a stack
+
+A fiber IS the VM's per-execution state, made per-fiber: one heap
+struct (`wo_fiber`) holding the register window, the frame stack, the
+catch stack, the saved resume pc, and the park descriptor. That is the
+whole coroutine.
+
+**Stackless** means: no native C stack per fiber, ever. The interpreter
+runs every fiber on the one OS thread stack of its shard; suspending a
+fiber never saves a C stack because there is nothing on it — suspension
+exists only at VM boundaries:
+
+- the dispatch loop (reduction budget hits zero), and
+- inside a blocking builtin (the builtin fills the park descriptor and
+  returns to the scheduler).
+
+C code between those boundaries never yields; therefore no
+`makecontext`/`ucontext`, no split stacks, no stack copying, no guard
+pages. Consequences the design buys:
+
+| property | why it follows |
+| --- | --- |
+| spawn is one allocation | a fiber is a calloc'd struct, not an 8 MiB mapping |
+| deterministic replay | suspension points are exact VM instructions, not signal arrival |
+| trivial GC rooting | a fiber's roots are its registers + frames arrays — walkable structs |
+| no FFI hazard | there is no foreign frame that could hold a suspended C stack |
+
+## 2. No `async` keyword — the no-coloring rule
+
+There is ONE function type. The keyword `async` (and `await`) is a
+**permanently rejected surface**, not deferred (story 11's
+out-of-scope). The rule that replaces it:
+
+- **Blocking builtins park instead of block on server shards.** The same
+  `net`/`time` call that blocks the thread in program mode hands its fd
+  or deadline to the shard's I/O plane and parks the calling fiber; the
+  shard serves other fibers meanwhile; the fiber resumes with the
+  result. Same source text, no annotation, no second color of function.
+- **Program mode stays single-fiber and genuinely blocking** — the
+  log-watcher needs nothing more; the parked path is the serving path.
+- Preemption is by **reduction budget**, never signals or safepoint
+  interrupts: the dispatch loop decrements a countdown and parks the
+  fiber at zero. Erlang's shape.
+
+Precedent survey (kernel evidence, BEAM adopted, Go stack copying and
+Tokio coloring rejected):
+[`docs/plan/exploration/fibers/00-fibers.md`](../exploration/fibers/00-fibers.md).
+
+## 3. The fiber state machine
+
+States (`wo_fib_state`): **RUNNABLE → PARKED → RUNNABLE → … → DONE**.
+
+- **RUNNABLE** — on the shard's FIFO run queue (`qhead`/`qtail`,
+  intrusive `next` link). FIFO is the v1 fairness policy; no priorities.
+- **PARKED** — on the parked list (`pnext` link), registered with the
+  I/O plane as one wait (fd readiness or deadline).
+- **DONE** — returned or trapped; reaped.
+
+Fixed points of the machine:
+
+- **Fiber 0 is main**, embedded in the `wo_vm` (never allocated, never
+  reaped before shutdown). Spawned fibers are calloc'd; `nfibers`
+  counts them.
+- **`vm->cur` is the live fiber** — every interpreter access reads
+  through it. One live fiber per shard at any instant.
+- **Trap isolation**: an uncaught trap kills the trapping fiber alone —
+  it unwinds through its own drop maps and goes DONE; the shard and the
+  other fibers continue.
+- **Main-return reap**: when main returns, remaining fibers are
+  unwound (drop maps run — parked fibers die as cleanly as trapped
+  ones) and the program ends.
+- **Actor delivery fibers**: an actor executes messages on a fiber with
+  `fiber->actor` set; one message at a time (the actor guarantee);
+  `cur_msg` is runtime-owned and dropped after the receive call
+  returns. Actor rules beyond delivery are the arc spec's.
+
+## 4. Suspension and resume — the exact protocols
+
+**Reduction budget.** `budget0` reductions per slice (`WO_REDUCTIONS`,
+default 4000). The countdown decrements at loop **BACK-EDGES ONLY,
+after the jump lands** — not at the "same three sites as the GC". The
+distinction is load-bearing: a pre-instruction decrement re-executes
+the jump into the same decrement at budget 1 and livelocks (pinned by
+the deterministic fiber corpus). At zero the fiber re-queues RUNNABLE
+at the FIFO tail and the next fiber runs.
+
+**Parking on an fd** (accept/read/write not ready): the builtin fills
+the park descriptor — `park_fd`, `park_events` (POLLIN/POLLOUT),
+`park_done = 0` — and the plane arms a wait. `park_done = 0` means
+resume **RE-EXECUTES the builtin**: the retry runs the same call now
+that the fd is ready. A partial `net.write`'s progress crosses the
+retry in `park_wr_at` (the write offset) — re-execution continues the
+write, never restarts it.
+
+**Parking on a deadline** (`time.sleep`): `park_fd = -1`,
+`park_deadline` set, the result preset before parking, `park_done = 1`
+— resume **continues PAST the builtin**. `park_ts` must outlive the
+ring submission (the TIMEOUT op reads it asynchronously).
+
+**The I/O plane** (`park.c`): one event loop per shard — parked fibers'
+waits and the shard's inbox eventfd on the SAME loop. io_uring FIRST
+(raw `io_uring_setup`/`io_uring_enter`, POLL_ADD + TIMEOUT at the Linux
+5.4 op floor, libc-only); epoll is the portability fallback behind a
+startup probe (seccomp'd containers routinely deny io_uring), forced
+either way with `WO_IO=uring|epoll` so CI proves both paths on one
+kernel. Note: the epoll fallback here predates the 2026-08-21
+epoll-discard directive for PLANS — the runtime keeps the probe until a
+removal slice says otherwise.
+
+**Stop**: the stop flag interrupting the plane's wait unwinds
+EVERYTHING — every fiber, parked included, through its drop maps; a
+stop is not a trap and cannot be caught.
+
+## 5. Memory and GC seams
+
+- **Roots**: `vm_gc_roots` iterates ALL fibers' registers + frames —
+  parked fibers' frames are roots exactly as the live frame stack is.
+  Nothing live is collected while its only reference sits in a parked
+  fiber.
+- **Drops**: every exit path (return, trap, stop-unwind, main-return
+  reap) runs the same drop maps; ASan-zero-leaks is the standing gate.
+- **Open question** (tracked in story 11): how a parked fiber's borrow
+  state interacts with the shard's GC safepoints — settles with stage 3
+  or the collector's next pass.
+
+## 6. Seams — pointers, not content
+
+| concern | where it is normative |
+| --- | --- |
+| shards, envelopes, ownership-move sends, WO-E221/E222, placement | [arc spec](../../superpowers/specs/2026-08-20-shard-fiber-arc-design.md) + [arc plan deviations](../../superpowers/plans/2026-08-20-shard-fiber-arc.md) |
+| request/response, bounded mailboxes, actor death, timers | [iteration 31](../../stories/language-runtime-database/refine/31-actor-lifecycle.md) — not built yet |
+| the DB actor (stage 3) | [in-progress marker](../../in-progress/2026-08-21-arc-stage-3.md) |
+| builtin ids and their park behavior | [`08-builtin-surface.md`](08-builtin-surface.md) |
+
+## 7. Rejected alternatives — settled, argue against the reason
+
+| rejected | reason |
+| --- | --- |
+| **`async`/`await`, function coloring** | splits the world into two function types and infects every caller; the park-under-blocking-API posture serves the same need with zero surface. Permanent. |
+| **Stackful coroutines (`ucontext`/`makecontext`, per-fiber C stacks)** | pays a stack (or guard-page games) per fiber, breaks the one-allocation spawn, and reintroduces foreign-frame suspension the GC would have to scan blind. |
+| **Go-style segmented/copied stacks** | stack copying needs precise pointer maps for native frames — a moving-stack machinery this VM does not need because fibers never own native frames. |
+| **Signal/safepoint preemption** | signals arrive between ANY two instructions — kills deterministic replay and demands async-signal-safe everything; the reduction budget preempts at exact VM points. |
+| **Per-instruction budget decrement** | measurable dispatch cost for zero fairness gain; back-edges bound every loop already (and the pre-instruction variant livelocks at budget 1). |
diff --git a/docs/plan/oop-vm/README.md b/docs/plan/oop-vm/README.md
index a9fa364..fa8af28 100644
--- a/docs/plan/oop-vm/README.md
+++ b/docs/plan/oop-vm/README.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ The normative contract documents both stacks cite. Landed by their named plan ta
 | `00-wob-format.md` | `.wob` bytecode format (compiler↔VM) | 1 |
 | `01-error-catalog.md` | every `WO-E###` code | 2, grows 3/8 |
 | `02-corpus.md` | how to add conformance fixtures | 3 |
-| `03-shard-actor.md` | shard ownership, mailboxes, send-as-move | 4 |
+| `03-concurrency-coroutines.md` | stackless fibers, park/resume protocols, reduction budget, the no-`async` rule | arc (was plan 4's slot; that plan ✖ discarded 2026-08-21) |
 | `04-db-binding.md` | row format, WAL records, query subset | 5 |
 | `05-http-service.md` | route section, trap→HTTP table, JSON subset | 6 |
 | `06-ui-live.md` | delta frames, subscribe protocol, wo:live | 7 |
diff --git a/docs/stories/language-runtime-database/in-progress/11-fibers.md b/docs/stories/language-runtime-database/in-progress/11-fibers.md
index 086a409..f8df565 100644
--- a/docs/stories/language-runtime-database/in-progress/11-fibers.md
+++ b/docs/stories/language-runtime-database/in-progress/11-fibers.md
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@
 
 ## Info
 
+- Normative contract (added 2026-08-21): stackless coroutine model,
+  park/resume protocols, the no-`async` rule —
+  [`docs/plan/oop-vm/03-concurrency-coroutines.md`](../../../plan/oop-vm/03-concurrency-coroutines.md).
 - Research note: [`docs/plan/exploration/fibers/00-fibers.md`](../../../plan/exploration/fibers/00-fibers.md)
   — kernel's-eye evidence (task_struct costs, CFS collapse at high task
   counts) and the precedent survey (BEAM reductions adopted; Go stack