diff --git a/test/regtest_smoke.sh b/test/regtest_smoke.sh
index dd01c13..790fc73 100755
--- a/test/regtest_smoke.sh
+++ b/test/regtest_smoke.sh
@@ -1,16 +1,27 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Regtest smoke test for kamado-api.
+# Regtest smoke test for kamado-api — two phases:
 #
-# Validates the full critical path:
-#   ckpool log line → log tailer → aggregator → bitcoind RPC enrichment → /api/blocks
+# Phase 1 (always): log-inject path
+#   Injects a "Solved and confirmed block N" line directly into the ckpool log
+#   and verifies the full tailer → aggregator → bitcoind RPC enrichment → /api/blocks
+#   chain. Quick, no ckpool binary needed.
 #
-# Prerequisites: bitcoind, bitcoin-cli, jq, curl
-# The kamado-api binary is auto-built from source if go is in PATH;
-# alternatively set KAMADO_BIN to point at a pre-built binary.
+# Phase 2 (auto): full stratum path — the complete revenue-critical path
+#   A Python stratum miner connects to ckpool, mines a real diff-1 SHA256d hash
+#   using multiprocessing, submits the winning share, ckpool calls bitcoind
+#   submitblock, logs "Solved and confirmed block N+1", and the kamado-api
+#   tailer propagates it to /api/blocks.
+#   ckpool is auto-built from the pinned source in ckpool/ if not already cached.
+#   Built binary is cached in ~/.cache/kamado-dev/ (keyed on commit hash) so
+#   subsequent runs are instant.
+#
+# Prerequisites: bitcoind, bitcoin-cli, jq, curl, go, python3
+#               + gcc/autoconf/automake/libtool/pkg-config/libzmq-dev for ckpool build
 #
 # Usage:
 #   test/regtest_smoke.sh
 #   KAMADO_BIN=./api/bin/kamado-api test/regtest_smoke.sh
+#   KAMADO_BIN=./api/bin/kamado-api CKPOOL_BIN=/usr/local/bin/ckpool test/regtest_smoke.sh
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
@@ -21,22 +32,27 @@ API_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/../api"
 
 log()  { printf '[smoke] %s\n' "$*"; }
 die()  { printf '[smoke] FAIL: %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
-pass() { printf '[smoke] PASS: %s\n' "$*"; exit 0; }
 
 WORK_DIR=""
 BITCOIN_PID=""
 KAMADO_PID=""
+CKPOOL_PID=""
+MINER_PID=""
+CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP=""
 
 cleanup() {
-    [[ -n "$KAMADO_PID" ]] && kill "$KAMADO_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
-    [[ -n "$BITCOIN_PID" ]] && kill "$BITCOIN_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
-    [[ -n "$WORK_DIR"   ]] && rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"
+    [[ -n "$MINER_PID"          ]] && kill "$MINER_PID"          2>/dev/null || true
+    [[ -n "$CKPOOL_PID"         ]] && kill "$CKPOOL_PID"         2>/dev/null || true
+    [[ -n "$KAMADO_PID"         ]] && kill "$KAMADO_PID"         2>/dev/null || true
+    [[ -n "$BITCOIN_PID"        ]] && kill "$BITCOIN_PID"        2>/dev/null || true
+    [[ -n "$WORK_DIR"           ]] && rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"
+    [[ -n "$CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP"   ]] && rm -rf "$CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP"
 }
 trap cleanup EXIT
 
 # ---- prerequisites ----------------------------------------------------------
 
-for cmd in bitcoind bitcoin-cli jq curl; do
+for cmd in bitcoind bitcoin-cli jq curl python3; do
     command -v "$cmd" >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "required command not found: $cmd"
 done
 
@@ -57,6 +73,340 @@ fi
 
 [[ -n "${WORK_DIR:-}" ]] || WORK_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
 
+# Locate or build ckpool — required for Phase 2.
+# Priority: CKPOOL_BIN env var → PATH → cached build → build from source.
+CKPOOL_AVAILABLE=false
+CKPOOL_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/../ckpool"
+CKPOOL_REPO=$(cat "$CKPOOL_DIR/CKPOOL_REPO" | tr -d '[:space:]')
+CKPOOL_COMMIT=$(cat "$CKPOOL_DIR/CKPOOL_COMMIT" | tr -d '[:space:]')
+# Cache keyed on commit so a pinned-commit bump automatically triggers a rebuild.
+CKPOOL_CACHE="$HOME/.cache/kamado-dev/ckpool-${CKPOOL_COMMIT:0:12}/ckpool"
+
+if [[ -n "${CKPOOL_BIN:-}" ]]; then
+    [[ -x "$CKPOOL_BIN" ]] || die "CKPOOL_BIN=$CKPOOL_BIN is not executable"
+    CKPOOL_AVAILABLE=true
+elif command -v ckpool >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    CKPOOL_BIN=$(command -v ckpool)
+    CKPOOL_AVAILABLE=true
+elif [[ -x "$CKPOOL_CACHE" ]]; then
+    CKPOOL_BIN="$CKPOOL_CACHE"
+    CKPOOL_AVAILABLE=true
+    log "ckpool: using cached build at $CKPOOL_BIN"
+elif command -v gcc autoconf automake libtool pkg-config git >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+     && pkg-config --exists libzmq 2>/dev/null; then
+    log "ckpool: building from source at commit ${CKPOOL_COMMIT:0:12}…"
+    log "  (this takes ~1-2 min; the result is cached for future runs)"
+    CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP=$(mktemp -d)   # cleaned up by the existing cleanup trap
+    git clone --quiet "$CKPOOL_REPO" "$CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP/ckpool" \
+        || die "ckpool: git clone failed"
+    (
+        cd "$CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP/ckpool"
+        git checkout --quiet "$CKPOOL_COMMIT"
+        for patch in "$CKPOOL_DIR/patches/"*.patch; do
+            [[ -f "$patch" ]] || continue
+            log "ckpool: applying $(basename "$patch")"
+            git apply "$patch"
+        done
+        ./autogen.sh >/dev/null 2>&1
+        CFLAGS="-O2 -Wall -pipe" ./configure --quiet --prefix=/usr/local >/dev/null
+        make -j"$(nproc)" >/dev/null
+    ) || die "ckpool: build failed"
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "$CKPOOL_CACHE")"
+    cp "$CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP/ckpool/src/ckpool" "$CKPOOL_CACHE"
+    chmod +x "$CKPOOL_CACHE"
+    rm -rf "$CKPOOL_BUILD_TMP"
+    CKPOOL_BIN="$CKPOOL_CACHE"
+    CKPOOL_AVAILABLE=true
+    log "ckpool: build complete → $CKPOOL_BIN"
+else
+    log "ckpool not found and build prerequisites missing — Phase 2 will be skipped"
+    log "  Missing one or more of: gcc, autoconf, automake, libtool, pkg-config, git, libzmq-dev"
+    log "  Or set CKPOOL_BIN=/path/to/ckpool to skip the build"
+fi
+
+# Write the Python stratum miner — no build step needed; python3 is in PATH (checked above).
+# The miner uses hashlib SHA256 midstate optimization + multiprocessing so it scales linearly
+# with CPU count. Diff-1 requires on average 2^32 ≈ 4.3B hashes; at ~1.5 MH/s per core this
+# takes ~43 minutes on a single core but ~3 minutes on 16 cores.
+STRATUM_MINER="$WORK_DIR/stratum_miner.py"
+cat > "$STRATUM_MINER" << 'PYEOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+ckpool regtest stratum miner.
+
+Field encoding derived from ckpool source (bitcoin.c / stratifier.c):
+  version, ntime, nbits: sent as 8-char big-endian hex of the integer value.
+    → canonical LE header bytes: struct.pack('<I', int(hex_str, 16))
+  prevhash: sent as swap_256(hex2bin(display_hash)) rendered as hex.
+    swap_256 reverses the 8 uint32-word order without byte-swapping each word.
+    This equals: each 4-byte group of the raw SHA256d bytes, byte-reversed.
+    → canonical bytes: b''.join(ph[i:i+4][::-1] for i in range(0,32,4))
+  nonce submission: f'{nonce_int:08x}' (big-endian hex).
+    ckpool does hex2bin → stores → flip_80 → canonical LE nonce. ✓
+  diff-1 check: int.from_bytes(sha256d_bytes, 'little') <= DIFF1.
+    SHA256d output bytes[28..31] must be near-zero for a valid Bitcoin hash.
+    le256todouble() in ckpool reads bytes[24..31] as the most-significant word
+    (little-endian 256-bit), so zeros at the trailing end pass the check.
+    Using 'big' endian finds leading-zero hashes which ckpool rejects (diff≈0).
+"""
+import hashlib, json, os, socket, struct, sys, time
+from multiprocessing import Process, Queue, Event
+
+DIFF1 = int("00000000FFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000", 16)
+
+
+def sha256d(b):
+    return hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(b).digest()).digest()
+
+
+def _mine_worker(h64, h12, start, end, out_q, stop_ev):
+    """Hash nonces [start..end]; put found nonce or None (exhausted) into out_q."""
+    mid = hashlib.sha256()
+    mid.update(h64)
+    payload = bytearray(16)
+    payload[:12] = h12
+    n = start
+    BATCH = 200_000
+    sha256 = hashlib.sha256
+    while n <= end:
+        if stop_ev.is_set():
+            out_q.put(None)
+            return
+        lim = min(n + BATCH, end + 1)
+        while n < lim:
+            h = mid.copy()
+            struct.pack_into('<I', payload, 12, n)
+            h.update(payload)
+            if int.from_bytes(sha256(h.digest()).digest(), 'little') <= DIFF1:
+                out_q.put(n)
+                return
+            n += 1
+    out_q.put(None)
+
+
+def build_header76(ver_hex, prevhash_hex, coinb1, en1_hex, en2, coinb2, branches, ntime_hex, nbits_hex):
+    version  = struct.pack('<I', int(ver_hex, 16))
+    ph       = bytes.fromhex(prevhash_hex)
+    prevhash = b''.join(ph[i:i+4][::-1] for i in range(0, 32, 4))
+    coinbase = bytes.fromhex(coinb1) + bytes.fromhex(en1_hex) + en2 + bytes.fromhex(coinb2)
+    root     = sha256d(coinbase)
+    for br in branches:
+        root = sha256d(root + bytes.fromhex(br))
+    ntime = struct.pack('<I', int(ntime_hex, 16))
+    nbits = struct.pack('<I', int(nbits_hex, 16))
+    return version + prevhash + root + ntime + nbits
+
+
+def main():
+    host, port, user, _log_path = sys.argv[1], int(sys.argv[2]), sys.argv[3], sys.argv[4]
+
+    def log(msg):
+        # stdout is redirected to $MINER_LOG by the shell; no double-write needed
+        print(f'[miner] {msg}', flush=True)
+
+    sock = socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout=30)
+    buf = ''
+    msg_id = 1
+
+    def send(d):
+        sock.sendall((json.dumps(d) + '\n').encode())
+
+    def recv_line(timeout=60):
+        nonlocal buf
+        sock.settimeout(timeout)
+        while '\n' not in buf:
+            chunk = sock.recv(4096).decode(errors='replace')
+            if not chunk:
+                raise EOFError('stratum connection closed')
+            buf += chunk
+        line, buf = buf.split('\n', 1)
+        return json.loads(line)
+
+    # Subscribe
+    send({'id': msg_id, 'method': 'mining.subscribe', 'params': []}); msg_id += 1
+    resp = recv_line()
+    en1_hex = resp['result'][1]
+    en2_size = resp['result'][2]
+    log(f'Subscribed: extranonce1={en1_hex} extranonce2_size={en2_size}')
+
+    # Authorize
+    send({'id': msg_id, 'method': 'mining.authorize', 'params': [user, 'x']}); msg_id += 1
+
+    # Wait for the first mining.notify
+    job = None
+    while job is None:
+        msg = recv_line(timeout=30)
+        method = msg.get('method', '')
+        if method == 'mining.notify':
+            p = msg['params']
+            job = {'id': p[0], 'ph': p[1], 'cb1': p[2], 'cb2': p[3],
+                   'br': p[4], 'ver': p[5], 'nb': p[6], 'nt': p[7]}
+            log(f'Job received: id={job["id"]} ntime={job["nt"]} nbits={job["nb"]}')
+
+    n_proc = min(os.cpu_count() or 4, 16)
+    log(f'Starting miner with {n_proc} worker processes')
+
+    # Benchmark real SHA256d rate before starting workers
+    _bh76 = build_header76(job['ver'], job['ph'], job['cb1'], en1_hex,
+                           (0).to_bytes(en2_size, 'little'), job['cb2'], job['br'], job['nt'], job['nb'])
+    _bh64, _bh12 = _bh76[:64], _bh76[64:76]
+    _bmid = hashlib.sha256(); _bmid.update(_bh64)
+    _bpayload = bytearray(16); _bpayload[:12] = _bh12
+    _bt0 = time.time()
+    for _bn in range(20_000):
+        _bh = _bmid.copy(); struct.pack_into('<I', _bpayload, 12, _bn)
+        _bh.update(_bpayload); hashlib.sha256(_bh.digest()).digest()
+    bench_mhs = 20_000 / (time.time() - _bt0) / 1e6
+    total_mhs = bench_mhs * n_proc
+    expected_s = 4_295_000_000 / (total_mhs * 1e6)
+    log(f'Benchmark: {bench_mhs*1e3:.0f} kH/s per process → {total_mhs:.2f} MH/s total')
+    log(f'Expected solve time: {expected_s:.0f}s average ({expected_s/60:.1f} min)')
+
+    en2_int = 0
+    t0 = time.time()
+    last_log_time = t0
+
+    while True:
+        # Snapshot the job and en2 used to build this round's header.
+        # These must match exactly what we submit to ckpool — if job is
+        # updated mid-round we still submit against the header we actually mined.
+        cur_job = job
+        cur_en2 = en2_int.to_bytes(en2_size, 'little')
+        cur_en2_hex = cur_en2.hex()
+
+        h76 = build_header76(cur_job['ver'], cur_job['ph'], cur_job['cb1'], en1_hex,
+                             cur_en2, cur_job['cb2'], cur_job['br'], cur_job['nt'], cur_job['nb'])
+        h64 = h76[:64]
+        h12 = h76[64:76]
+
+        # Launch n_proc workers, each covering an equal nonce range
+        out_q = Queue()
+        stop_ev = Event()
+        chunk = 0xFFFFFFFF // n_proc
+        procs = []
+        for i in range(n_proc):
+            ns = chunk * i
+            ne = chunk * (i + 1) - 1 if i < n_proc - 1 else 0xFFFFFFFF
+            p = Process(target=_mine_worker,
+                        args=(h64, h12, ns, ne, out_q, stop_ev),
+                        daemon=True)
+            p.start()
+            procs.append(p)
+
+        found_nonce = None
+        exhausted = 0
+        clean_job_arrived = False
+        sock.settimeout(0.3)
+
+        while found_nonce is None and exhausted < n_proc and not clean_job_arrived:
+            now = time.time()
+            if now - last_log_time >= 30:
+                elapsed = now - t0
+                eta = max(0, expected_s - elapsed)
+                log(f'mining: elapsed={elapsed:.0f}s {total_mhs:.1f} MH/s ETA~{eta:.0f}s en2={cur_en2_hex}')
+                last_log_time = now
+
+            # Drain result queue
+            try:
+                while True:
+                    r = out_q.get_nowait()
+                    if r is None:
+                        exhausted += 1
+                    else:
+                        found_nonce = r
+                        break
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
+            if found_nonce is not None:
+                break
+
+            # Poll for new stratum messages
+            try:
+                chunk_data = sock.recv(4096).decode(errors='replace')
+                if chunk_data:
+                    buf += chunk_data
+                while '\n' in buf:
+                    line_str, buf = buf.split('\n', 1)
+                    try:
+                        msg = json.loads(line_str)
+                        if msg.get('method') == 'mining.notify':
+                            pn = msg['params']
+                            new_job = {'id': pn[0], 'ph': pn[1], 'cb1': pn[2], 'cb2': pn[3],
+                                       'br': pn[4], 'ver': pn[5], 'nb': pn[6], 'nt': pn[7]}
+                            log(f'New job: id={new_job["id"]} ntime={new_job["nt"]}')
+                            job = new_job
+                            # Always restart on any new job. ckpool only keeps
+                            # recent workbases (~120s); mining one job for 300s
+                            # guarantees a stale rejection regardless of clean flag.
+                            clean_job_arrived = True
+                    except (json.JSONDecodeError, IndexError):
+                        pass
+            except socket.timeout:
+                pass
+
+        # Stop all workers
+        stop_ev.set()
+        for proc in procs:
+            proc.join(timeout=3)
+            if proc.is_alive():
+                proc.kill()
+
+        if found_nonce is not None:
+            nonce_hex = f'{found_nonce:08x}'
+            full_header = h64 + h12 + struct.pack('<I', found_nonce)
+            computed_hash = sha256d(full_header)
+            hash_int = int.from_bytes(computed_hash, 'little')
+            log(f'Share found! nonce={nonce_hex} job={cur_job["id"]} en2={cur_en2_hex}')
+            log(f'  header80: {full_header.hex()}')
+            log(f'  sha256d:  {computed_hash.hex()}')
+            log(f'  meets_diff1: {hash_int <= DIFF1} (hash={hash_int:#066x} diff1={DIFF1:#066x})')
+            submit_id = msg_id
+            send({'id': submit_id, 'method': 'mining.submit',
+                  'params': [user, cur_job['id'], cur_en2_hex, cur_job['nt'], nonce_hex]})
+            msg_id += 1
+            # Read ckpool's response to learn the exact accept/reject reason
+            sock.settimeout(3)
+            resp_buf = ''
+            try:
+                deadline = time.time() + 3
+                while time.time() < deadline:
+                    chunk = sock.recv(4096).decode(errors='replace')
+                    if not chunk:
+                        break
+                    resp_buf += chunk
+            except socket.timeout:
+                pass
+            for rline in resp_buf.split('\n'):
+                rline = rline.strip()
+                if rline:
+                    log(f'  ckpool→ {rline}')
+                    try:
+                        r = json.loads(rline)
+                        if r.get('id') == submit_id:
+                            if r.get('result') is True:
+                                log('  ACCEPTED ✓')
+                            else:
+                                log(f'  REJECTED: {r.get("error")}')
+                    except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                        pass
+                    buf += rline + '\n'
+            time.sleep(0.5)
+            en2_int += 1
+        elif clean_job_arrived:
+            log(f'Clean job arrived, restarting with job={job["id"]}')
+            en2_int = 0
+        else:
+            # Full nonce space exhausted for this en2; try next
+            en2_int += 1
+            log(f'Nonce space exhausted for en2={cur_en2_hex}')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
+PYEOF
+chmod +x "$STRATUM_MINER"
+
 # ---- configuration ----------------------------------------------------------
 
 BTC_DIR="$WORK_DIR/bitcoin"
@@ -65,13 +415,25 @@ BTC_USER=smoketest
 BTC_PASS=smokepass
 
 KAMADO_PORT=19080           # avoid clashing with a running instance
-CKPOOL_LOG="$WORK_DIR/ckpool.log"
-KAMADO_DB="$WORK_DIR/kamado.db"
-SOCK_DIR="$WORK_DIR/sockets"   # no real ckpool; connect attempts fail gracefully
+STRATUM_PORT=19333          # ckpool stratum port for Phase 2
 
-mkdir -p "$BTC_DIR" "$SOCK_DIR"
+CKPOOL_LOG="$WORK_DIR/ckpool.log"   # kamado-api watches this; Phase 1 writes here
+KAMADO_DB="$WORK_DIR/kamado.db"
+CKPOOL_SOCK_DIR="$WORK_DIR/ckpool-sockets"
+
+mkdir -p "$BTC_DIR" "$CKPOOL_SOCK_DIR"
 touch "$CKPOOL_LOG"
 
+# Kill any stale processes from a previous run that bypassed cleanup (e.g.
+# killed with SIGKILL). Without this they hold the ports, the new processes
+# fail to bind, but the readiness health-checks see the old processes
+# and report "ready" — causing very confusing test failures.
+log "clearing test ports from any prior stale run…"
+for _port in $BTC_RPC_PORT $KAMADO_PORT $STRATUM_PORT; do
+    fuser -k -TERM "${_port}/tcp" 2>/dev/null || true
+done
+sleep 0.5   # give killed processes a moment to release their ports
+
 # Shorthand for bitcoin-cli pointing at the regtest instance.
 cli() {
     bitcoin-cli \
@@ -106,21 +468,21 @@ for i in $(seq 1 30); do
     sleep 1
 done
 $ready || die "bitcoind did not become ready within 30s (see $WORK_DIR/bitcoind.log)"
+kill -0 "$BITCOIN_PID" 2>/dev/null \
+    || die "bitcoind (pid $BITCOIN_PID) is not running — another process may have answered on port $BTC_RPC_PORT"
 log "bitcoind ready (pid $BITCOIN_PID)"
 
-# Create a descriptor wallet and mine enough blocks for coinbase maturity,
-# then mine the one block we'll claim to have "solved".
-log "setting up wallet and generating blocks"
+# Create a descriptor wallet and mine enough blocks for coinbase maturity.
+log "setting up wallet and generating 101 maturity blocks"
 cli createwallet smoke >/dev/null 2>&1 || cli loadwallet smoke >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 MINE_ADDR=$(cli getnewaddress)
-
-# 101 maturity blocks so the wallet's coinbase is spendable, then the
-# target block that we'll inject into the ckpool log.
 cli generatetoaddress 101 "$MINE_ADDR" >/dev/null
+
+# Mine the Phase 1 target block (it exists in bitcoind before we inject the log line).
 BEFORE_HEIGHT=$(cli getblockcount)
 cli generatetoaddress 1 "$MINE_ADDR" >/dev/null
-TARGET_HEIGHT=$((BEFORE_HEIGHT + 1))
-log "target block at height $TARGET_HEIGHT is live in bitcoind"
+P1_HEIGHT=$((BEFORE_HEIGHT + 1))
+log "Phase 1 target block at height $P1_HEIGHT is live in bitcoind"
 
 # ---- start kamado-api -------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -130,7 +492,7 @@ BITCOIN_RPC_URL="http://127.0.0.1:$BTC_RPC_PORT"  \
 BITCOIN_RPC_USER="$BTC_USER"                       \
 BITCOIN_RPC_PASSWORD="$BTC_PASS"                   \
 BITCOIN_ZMQ_BLOCK=""                               \
-CKPOOL_SOCKDIR="$SOCK_DIR"                         \
+CKPOOL_SOCKDIR="$CKPOOL_SOCK_DIR"                  \
 CKPOOL_LOGFILE="$CKPOOL_LOG"                       \
 DB_PATH="$KAMADO_DB"                               \
 POLL_INTERVAL=2s                                   \
@@ -143,59 +505,224 @@ for i in $(seq 1 30); do
     if curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$KAMADO_PORT/api/snapshot" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         ready=true; break
     fi
-    # Bail early if the process died.
     kill -0 "$KAMADO_PID" 2>/dev/null || die "kamado-api exited unexpectedly (see $WORK_DIR/kamado.log)"
     sleep 1
 done
 $ready || die "kamado-api did not become ready within 30s (see $WORK_DIR/kamado.log)"
+kill -0 "$KAMADO_PID" 2>/dev/null \
+    || die "kamado-api (pid $KAMADO_PID) is not running — port $KAMADO_PORT may already be in use"
 log "kamado-api ready (pid $KAMADO_PID)"
 
-# ---- inject the ckpool solve line -------------------------------------------
-#
-# The block is already in bitcoind (generated above), so the tailer's
-# enrichment call (getblockhash → getblock) will succeed immediately.
+# ============================================================
+# Phase 1: basic log injection
+# ============================================================
+log ""
+log "=== Phase 1: log-injection path ==="
 
-log "writing 'Solved and confirmed block $TARGET_HEIGHT' to ckpool log"
-printf 'Solved and confirmed block %d\n' "$TARGET_HEIGHT" >>"$CKPOOL_LOG"
+log "writing 'Solved and confirmed block $P1_HEIGHT' to ckpool log"
+printf 'Solved and confirmed block %d\n' "$P1_HEIGHT" >> "$CKPOOL_LOG"
 
-# ---- wait for the block to appear in /api/blocks ----------------------------
-
-log "polling /api/blocks for height $TARGET_HEIGHT (up to 30s)…"
+log "polling /api/blocks for height $P1_HEIGHT (up to 30s)…"
 found=false
 for i in $(seq 1 30); do
     RESP=$(curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$KAMADO_PORT/api/blocks" 2>/dev/null || echo "[]")
-    if echo "$RESP" | jq -e "any(.[]; .height == $TARGET_HEIGHT)" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    if echo "$RESP" | jq -e "any(.[]; .height == $P1_HEIGHT)" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         found=true; break
     fi
     sleep 1
 done
-
 if ! $found; then
     log "last /api/blocks response: $(curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$KAMADO_PORT/api/blocks" || echo "(unreachable)")"
     log "kamado-api log tail:"
     tail -20 "$WORK_DIR/kamado.log" | sed 's/^/  /'
-    die "block $TARGET_HEIGHT did not appear in /api/blocks within 30s"
+    die "Phase 1: block $P1_HEIGHT did not appear in /api/blocks within 30s"
 fi
 
-# ---- verify enrichment: block must carry a hash from bitcoind ---------------
-
-BLOCK_HASH=$(
+P1_HASH=$(
     curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$KAMADO_PORT/api/blocks" \
-    | jq -r "first(.[] | select(.height == $TARGET_HEIGHT) | .hash // \"\")"
+    | jq -r "first(.[] | select(.height == $P1_HEIGHT) | .hash // \"\")"
 )
-if [[ -z "$BLOCK_HASH" || "$BLOCK_HASH" == "null" ]]; then
-    die "block $TARGET_HEIGHT in /api/blocks but hash enrichment failed (hash=$BLOCK_HASH)"
+[[ -n "$P1_HASH" && "$P1_HASH" != "null" ]] \
+    || die "Phase 1: block $P1_HEIGHT appeared but hash enrichment failed"
+[[ "$P1_HASH" =~ ^[0-9a-f]{64}$ ]] \
+    || die "Phase 1: hash looks wrong: $P1_HASH"
+P1_CANONICAL=$(cli getblockhash "$P1_HEIGHT")
+[[ "$P1_HASH" == "$P1_CANONICAL" ]] \
+    || die "Phase 1: hash mismatch: api=$P1_HASH bitcoind=$P1_CANONICAL"
+
+log "Phase 1 PASS: block $P1_HEIGHT → hash $P1_HASH (matches bitcoind)"
+
+# ============================================================
+# Phase 2: full stratum path (requires ckpool)
+# ============================================================
+if ! $CKPOOL_AVAILABLE; then
+    log ""
+    log "=== Phase 2: SKIPPED (ckpool not available) ==="
+    log "To run Phase 2 set CKPOOL_BIN=<path-to-ckpool-binary>"
+    printf '[smoke] PASS: Phase 1 (log-injection path) verified\n'
+    exit 0
 fi
 
-# Verify the hash looks like a real block hash (64 hex chars).
-if [[ ! "$BLOCK_HASH" =~ ^[0-9a-f]{64}$ ]]; then
-    die "block hash looks wrong: $BLOCK_HASH"
+log ""
+log "=== Phase 2: stratum path ($(basename "$CKPOOL_BIN")) ==="
+
+P2_HEIGHT=$((P1_HEIGHT + 1))    # the block ckpool will mine via stratum
+# Any valid address works; ckpool-solo uses it for the coinbase output.
+POOL_ADDR=$(cli getnewaddress)
+
+# ---- write ckpool.conf ------------------------------------------------------
+# ckpool parses mindiff/startdiff as int64_t. Regtest network difficulty
+# (≈4.65e-10) is clamped to 1 internally, so clients must produce a share
+# with sdiff ≥ 1 for acceptance. Set both to 1 (the minimum meaningful
+# integer value) so ckpool hands out diff-1 work. Expected solve time:
+# ~2^32 hashes per process; at ~1.5 MH/s per Python worker × 8 workers
+# ≈ 360s on average.
+CKPOOL_CONF="$WORK_DIR/ckpool.conf"
+cat > "$CKPOOL_CONF" << CONF_EOF
+{
+    "btcd": [
+        {
+            "url": "127.0.0.1:$BTC_RPC_PORT",
+            "auth": "$BTC_USER",
+            "pass": "$BTC_PASS",
+            "notify": false
+        }
+    ],
+    "btcaddress": "$POOL_ADDR",
+    "btcsig": "/KamadoSmoke/",
+    "blockpoll": 100,
+    "update_interval": 30,
+    "serverurl": ["0.0.0.0:$STRATUM_PORT"],
+    "mindiff": 1,
+    "startdiff": 1,
+    "maxdiff": 0,
+    "logdir": "$WORK_DIR"
+}
+CONF_EOF
+
+# ---- start ckpool -----------------------------------------------------------
+
+log "starting ckpool (stratum port $STRATUM_PORT, logdir $WORK_DIR)"
+"$CKPOOL_BIN" --btcsolo --config "$CKPOOL_CONF" --sockdir "$CKPOOL_SOCK_DIR" \
+    >"$WORK_DIR/ckpool-stderr.log" 2>&1 &
+CKPOOL_PID=$!
+
+log "waiting for ckpool stratum port $STRATUM_PORT…"
+ready=false
+for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+    (exec 3<>/dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/"$STRATUM_PORT" && exec 3>&-) 2>/dev/null \
+        && { ready=true; break; } || true
+    kill -0 "$CKPOOL_PID" 2>/dev/null \
+        || die "ckpool exited unexpectedly (see $WORK_DIR/ckpool-stderr.log)"
+    sleep 1
+done
+$ready || die "ckpool stratum port did not open within 30s (see $WORK_DIR/ckpool-stderr.log)"
+kill -0 "$CKPOOL_PID" 2>/dev/null \
+    || die "ckpool (pid $CKPOOL_PID) is not running — check $WORK_DIR/ckpool-stderr.log"
+log "ckpool ready (pid $CKPOOL_PID)"
+
+# ---- run Python stratum miner in background ---------------------------------
+# ckpool-solo requires the stratum username to be a valid Bitcoin address.
+# The Python miner connects via stratum, receives diff-1 work, and mines real
+# SHA256d hashes across multiple processes until one finds sdiff ≥ 1.
+
+MINER_LOG="$WORK_DIR/miner.log"
+log "launching Python stratum miner for block $P2_HEIGHT…"
+# PYTHONWARNINGS suppresses the "leaked semaphore objects" noise from
+# multiprocessing.resource_tracker when daemon workers are killed mid-run.
+PYTHONWARNINGS=ignore python3 "$STRATUM_MINER" \
+    "127.0.0.1" "$STRATUM_PORT" "$POOL_ADDR" "$MINER_LOG" \
+    >>"$MINER_LOG" 2>&1 &
+MINER_PID=$!
+
+# ---- monitor mining progress until ckpool logs the block solve --------------
+
+log "waiting up to 1800s for ckpool to log 'Solved and confirmed block $P2_HEIGHT'…"
+MINE_START=$(date +%s)
+last_report=0
+solved=false
+for _i in $(seq 1 600); do
+    sleep 3
+
+    if ! kill -0 "$MINER_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+        log "miner log (last 20 lines):"
+        tail -20 "$MINER_LOG" | sed 's/^/  /'
+        die "Phase 2: miner exited before block was solved"
+    fi
+
+    if grep -q "Solved and confirmed block $P2_HEIGHT" "$CKPOOL_LOG" 2>/dev/null; then
+        solved=true
+        break
+    fi
+
+    now=$(date +%s)
+    if (( now - last_report >= 30 )); then
+        last_report=$now
+        elapsed=$(( now - MINE_START ))
+        rate=$(grep -oE '[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)? [kMG]H/s' "$MINER_LOG" 2>/dev/null | tail -1 || true)
+        if [[ -n "$rate" ]]; then
+            rate_val=${rate%% *}
+            rate_unit=${rate##* }
+            eta_s=$(awk -v v="$rate_val" -v u="${rate_unit:0:1}" -v e="$elapsed" \
+                'BEGIN { m=(u=="k")?1000:(u=="M")?1e6:(u=="G")?1e9:1; r=4294967296/(v*m)-e; printf "%.0f", (r>0)?r:0 }')
+            log "  mining: elapsed=${elapsed}s  rate=$rate  ETA~${eta_s}s"
+        else
+            log "  mining: elapsed=${elapsed}s  (hashrate not yet reported)"
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    if (( $(date +%s) - MINE_START >= 1800)); then break; fi
+done
+
+kill "$MINER_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+MINER_PID=""
+
+if ! $solved; then
+    log "miner log (last 30 lines):"
+    tail -30 "$MINER_LOG" | sed 's/^/  /'
+    log "ckpool log (last 20 lines):"
+    tail -20 "$CKPOOL_LOG" | sed 's/^/  /'
+    log "ckpool stderr (last 10 lines):"
+    tail -10 "$WORK_DIR/ckpool-stderr.log" | sed 's/^/  /'
+    die "Phase 2: block $P2_HEIGHT not solved within 1800s"
 fi
 
-# Cross-check: the hash must match what bitcoind says is at that height.
-CANONICAL=$(cli getblockhash "$TARGET_HEIGHT")
-if [[ "$BLOCK_HASH" != "$CANONICAL" ]]; then
-    die "hash mismatch: kamado has $BLOCK_HASH, bitcoind says $CANONICAL"
+log "ckpool logged 'Solved and confirmed block $P2_HEIGHT' ✓"
+
+# ---- wait for block to appear in /api/blocks --------------------------------
+
+log "polling /api/blocks for height $P2_HEIGHT (up to 30s)…"
+found=false
+for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+    RESP=$(curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$KAMADO_PORT/api/blocks" 2>/dev/null || echo "[]")
+    if echo "$RESP" | jq -e "any(.[]; .height == $P2_HEIGHT)" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        found=true; break
+    fi
+    sleep 1
+done
+if ! $found; then
+    log "last /api/blocks response: $(curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$KAMADO_PORT/api/blocks" || echo "(unreachable)")"
+    log "kamado-api log tail:"
+    tail -20 "$WORK_DIR/kamado.log" | sed 's/^/  /'
+    die "Phase 2: block $P2_HEIGHT did not appear in /api/blocks within 30s"
 fi
 
-pass "block $TARGET_HEIGHT → hash $BLOCK_HASH (matches bitcoind canonical)"
+# ---- cross-check hash against bitcoind --------------------------------------
+
+P2_HASH=$(
+    curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$KAMADO_PORT/api/blocks" \
+    | jq -r "first(.[] | select(.height == $P2_HEIGHT) | .hash // \"\")"
+)
+[[ -n "$P2_HASH" && "$P2_HASH" != "null" ]] \
+    || die "Phase 2: block $P2_HEIGHT in /api/blocks but hash enrichment failed"
+[[ "$P2_HASH" =~ ^[0-9a-f]{64}$ ]] \
+    || die "Phase 2: hash looks wrong: $P2_HASH"
+P2_CANONICAL=$(cli getblockhash "$P2_HEIGHT")
+[[ "$P2_HASH" == "$P2_CANONICAL" ]] \
+    || die "Phase 2: hash mismatch: api=$P2_HASH bitcoind=$P2_CANONICAL"
+
+log "Phase 2 PASS: block $P2_HEIGHT → hash $P2_HASH (matches bitcoind)"
+
+# ---- all done ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+printf '[smoke] PASS: Phase 1 (log-injection) + Phase 2 (stratum → submitblock) both verified\n'