diff --git a/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/ids.rs b/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/ids.rs
index b6fcd24e49b..26849de831b 100644
--- a/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/ids.rs
+++ b/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/ids.rs
@@ -238,6 +238,18 @@ string_id!(RoutineId, "routine", validate_name_segment);
 // be structurally incapable of smuggling raw backend/error text (an existing
 // invocation/correlation id is carried via `ErrRef::from_uuid(id.as_uuid())`).
 uuid_id!(ErrRef);
+// Slice-C kernel vocabulary (arch-simplification §3/§5.3): opaque handles into
+// durably-stored control-plane records. Each names a record the kernel produced;
+// the model-visible content (what the approver sees, the deny reason, the process
+// summary) is rendered FROM the referenced record through the gate/rendering
+// contract (§5.2.9), never carried inline on the ref. UUID ids for the same
+// structural reason as `ErrRef`: they ride serialized `Blocked`/`Suspension`/
+// verdict values across sanitized boundaries, so free text must be
+// unrepresentable — a kernel record id travels via `from_uuid`/`new`, never as
+// a caller-composed string.
+uuid_id!(GateRef);
+uuid_id!(ProcessRef);
+uuid_id!(DenyRef);
 
 /// Provider-facing tool/function name.
 ///
diff --git a/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/lib.rs b/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/lib.rs
index 91e59918dfa..6b7c087ac38 100644
--- a/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/lib.rs
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ pub mod ingress;
 pub mod invocation;
 pub mod mount;
 pub mod path;
+pub mod resolution;
 pub mod resource;
 pub mod runtime;
 pub mod runtime_policy;
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ pub use ingress::*;
 pub use invocation::*;
 pub use mount::*;
 pub use path::*;
+pub use resolution::*;
 pub use resource::*;
 pub use runtime::*;
 pub use runtime_policy::*;
diff --git a/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/resolution.rs b/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/resolution.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c5e57187e8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ironclaw_host_api/src/resolution.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+//! Slice-C kernel vocabulary — the capability result channels.
+//!
+//! Part of the capability-path result collapse
+//! (`docs/reborn/2026-07-17-architecture-simplification-dto-dyn-local.md` §3,
+//! §5.3). Today a single overloaded ten-variant `CapabilityOutcome`
+//! (`ironclaw_turns`) carries every non-happy path, and a recoverable
+//! `Ok(Failed)` is structurally indistinguishable from a run-terminating `Err`
+//! (§1.2). The target model replaces that with **five distinct channels** — one
+//! per real outcome kind:
+//!
+//! - [`crate::HostFailure`] — infrastructure failure (the `Err` arm; already landed).
+//! - `Outcome` — tool success or recoverable failure (a later slice).
+//! - a terminal `Denied` — model-visible policy denial, **not** re-entrant.
+//! - [`Blocked`] — re-entrant gates (this module).
+//! - [`Suspension`] — parked work (this module).
+//!
+//! and folds them into one `Resolution` (a later slice, once `Outcome` exists).
+//! This module lands the two gate/suspension channels first, additively (§9) —
+//! nothing produces them yet.
+//!
+//! ## Blocked vs. Suspension — the distinction that matters
+//!
+//! Both pause the invocation, but they resume differently:
+//!
+//! - **[`Blocked`]** is a *re-entrant gate*: the call did not run, and once the
+//!   gate is resolved (approval granted, credential supplied, resource freed) the
+//!   invocation re-enters `authorize()` and may run. It is the request asking for
+//!   a decision.
+//! - **[`Suspension`]** is *parked work*: the effect is already in flight (a
+//!   spawned process) or has been handed off (a dependent run, a client-executed
+//!   external tool), and control either continues elsewhere or returns to the API
+//!   client until the awaited thing completes.
+//!
+//! Getting these confused is the #6137 bug class; keeping them separate types
+//! makes the confusion a compile error rather than a runtime mis-route.
+
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+use crate::{GateRef, ProcessRef};
+
+/// A re-entrant gate: the invocation did not run and is waiting on a decision.
+/// Resolving the gate re-enters `authorize()` (§5.3.3: a resolved gate reserves
+/// against *then-current* budget — approval is consent, not an execution
+/// guarantee).
+///
+/// Per §5.3.1, `authorize()` can raise any of these pre-flight; `dispatch()` may
+/// raise **only** [`Blocked::Auth`] (a lane discovers a credential demand only by
+/// calling the thing — an MCP 401, a WASM credential fault). A lane-originated
+/// Approval or Resource gate is a `HostFailure::Permanent`, never a gate,
+/// enforced by conformance test (§11.7).
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+pub enum Blocked {
+    /// Needs human approval before it may run.
+    Approval(GateRef),
+    /// Needs a credential the caller has not supplied (auth gate). The only kind
+    /// `dispatch()` may surface (§5.3.1).
+    Auth(GateRef),
+    /// Needs resource budget currently unavailable.
+    Resource(GateRef),
+}
+
+impl Blocked {
+    /// The handle to the pending gate record, regardless of kind.
+    pub fn gate_ref(&self) -> &GateRef {
+        match self {
+            Blocked::Approval(g) | Blocked::Auth(g) | Blocked::Resource(g) => g,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Stable discriminant (matches the serde tag) for logs/routing.
+    pub fn kind(&self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Blocked::Approval(_) => "approval",
+            Blocked::Auth(_) => "auth",
+            Blocked::Resource(_) => "resource",
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Whether this gate kind may be surfaced by `dispatch()` (only `Auth`,
+    /// §5.3.1). Approval/Resource are authorize-time-only; a dispatch-time one is
+    /// a contract violation.
+    pub fn is_dispatch_time_permitted(&self) -> bool {
+        matches!(self, Blocked::Auth(_))
+    }
+}
+
+/// Parked work: the effect is in flight or handed off, and the invocation
+/// yields until it completes. Unlike [`Blocked`], the call is not waiting for a
+/// decision — it is waiting for a *result*.
+///
+/// `Process` suspends the turn to §11.1 `WaitingProcess`; `DependentRun` awaits a
+/// child run; `ExternalTool` returns control to the API client, which resumes by
+/// submitting the tool output (the host never dispatches it). Note
+/// `SpawnedChildRun` is deliberately **not** here — it is non-suspending
+/// (§5.3 table): the executor appends the child result and continues.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+pub enum Suspension {
+    /// A spawned OS process the turn now waits on.
+    Process(ProcessRef),
+    /// A dependent child run this invocation awaits.
+    DependentRun(GateRef),
+    /// A client-supplied tool the host does not execute; control returns to the
+    /// API client until it submits the output.
+    ExternalTool(GateRef),
+}
+
+impl Suspension {
+    /// Stable discriminant (matches the serde tag) for logs/routing.
+    pub fn kind(&self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Suspension::Process(_) => "process",
+            Suspension::DependentRun(_) => "dependent_run",
+            Suspension::ExternalTool(_) => "external_tool",
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The gate this suspension parks on, when it is gate-shaped
+    /// (`DependentRun`/`ExternalTool`). `Process` suspensions track a process
+    /// record instead — see [`Suspension::process_ref`].
+    pub fn gate_ref(&self) -> Option<&GateRef> {
+        match self {
+            Suspension::DependentRun(gate) | Suspension::ExternalTool(gate) => Some(gate),
+            Suspension::Process(_) => None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The process record this suspension tracks, when it is process-shaped.
+    pub fn process_ref(&self) -> Option<&ProcessRef> {
+        match self {
+            Suspension::Process(process) => Some(process),
+            Suspension::DependentRun(_) | Suspension::ExternalTool(_) => None,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    const GATE_UUID: &str = "01890a5d-ac96-774b-bcce-b302099a8057";
+    const PROC_UUID: &str = "0f0e0d0c-0b0a-4908-8706-050403020100";
+
+    fn gate() -> GateRef {
+        GateRef::parse(GATE_UUID).unwrap()
+    }
+
+    fn proc_ref() -> ProcessRef {
+        ProcessRef::parse(PROC_UUID).unwrap()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn blocked_serde_is_snake_case_tagged_and_roundtrips() {
+        let blocked = Blocked::Approval(gate());
+        let json = serde_json::to_value(&blocked).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(json, serde_json::json!({ "approval": GATE_UUID }));
+        assert_eq!(serde_json::from_value::<Blocked>(json).unwrap(), blocked);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn blocked_kind_matches_serde_tag_and_gate_ref_is_reachable() {
+        for (blocked, tag) in [
+            (Blocked::Approval(gate()), "approval"),
+            (Blocked::Auth(gate()), "auth"),
+            (Blocked::Resource(gate()), "resource"),
+        ] {
+            let wire = serde_json::to_value(&blocked).unwrap();
+            let tag_on_wire = wire.as_object().unwrap().keys().next().unwrap().clone();
+            assert_eq!(blocked.kind(), tag);
+            assert_eq!(tag_on_wire, tag);
+            assert_eq!(blocked.gate_ref(), &gate());
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn only_auth_may_be_surfaced_at_dispatch_time() {
+        // §5.3.1: dispatch() may raise only Blocked::Auth. This pins the contract
+        // the conformance test (§11.7) will enforce against lanes.
+        assert!(Blocked::Auth(gate()).is_dispatch_time_permitted());
+        assert!(!Blocked::Approval(gate()).is_dispatch_time_permitted());
+        assert!(!Blocked::Resource(gate()).is_dispatch_time_permitted());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn suspension_serde_tags_and_kinds_agree() {
+        let process = Suspension::Process(proc_ref());
+        assert_eq!(
+            serde_json::to_value(&process).unwrap(),
+            serde_json::json!({ "process": PROC_UUID })
+        );
+        for (suspension, tag) in [
+            (Suspension::Process(proc_ref()), "process"),
+            (Suspension::DependentRun(gate()), "dependent_run"),
+            (Suspension::ExternalTool(gate()), "external_tool"),
+        ] {
+            let wire = serde_json::to_value(&suspension).unwrap();
+            let tag_on_wire = wire.as_object().unwrap().keys().next().unwrap().clone();
+            assert_eq!(suspension.kind(), tag);
+            assert_eq!(tag_on_wire, tag);
+            // Exactly one of the two accessors answers, matching the shape.
+            assert_eq!(
+                suspension.gate_ref().is_some(),
+                tag != "process",
+                "gate_ref answers iff gate-shaped: {tag}"
+            );
+            assert_eq!(suspension.process_ref().is_some(), tag == "process");
+        }
+    }
+}