# Kuiper Conflict rulebook

This is the reference for making decisions in Kuiper Conflict: what actions cost, when they resolve, what can interrupt them, what the map reveals, and how each system affects the others. The default browser lobby uses **Alpha-10 fast matches**. Start with [Alpha-10 fast matches](fast-matches.md) and its [numerical reference](fast-reference.md) for simultaneous planning, the moving asteroid map and the five victory routes. The remaining mechanics chapters are historical **Alpha-9** references used by synthetic fixtures. Legacy worlds and their browser entry are retired.

For Alpha-10, the selected match’s `version`, `rules`, `round` and deadline determine the current game. Historical Alpha-9 fixtures use `world.rules`, `world.mode`, and `world.clock`. MCP `read_rules` returns the selected world's settings alongside the chapter. Its `reference` chapter generates tables from those values. No chapter reveals a rival's private state.

## Find a rule

| Reference | Decisions it supports |
| --- | --- |
| [Alpha-10 fast matches](fast-matches.md) | Default lobby, simultaneous fronts, orbital crossings, alliances, genome care and objective holds |
| [Alpha-10 numerical reference](fast-reference.md) | Generated constants for the new saved ruleset |
| [Time and seasons](time-and-seasons.md) | Queue deadlines, exact tick phases, Lobby, competitive assignment and replay |
| [Numerical reference](reference.md) | Every saved parameter, building and ship costs, research levels and travel speeds |
| [Economy and research](economy-and-research.md) | Power, production, spending, maintenance, construction and research |
| [Population and survival](population-and-survival.md) | Capacity, reserves, growth, mortality, crew, resettlement and extinction |
| [Navigation and logistics](navigation-and-logistics.md) | Orbital lanes, ETA, fuel, stances, waypoints, cargo, evacuation and blockades |
| [Merchants, raids and patrols](raids-and-patrols.md) | Private cargo, preparation, assignments, loot and refit |
| [Combat and control](combat-and-control.md) | Simultaneous damage, defenses, conquest, settlement and scouting |
| [Diplomacy and minor clans](diplomacy-and-npcs.md) | Treaties, embargoes, alliances, betrayal, donations, NPC policy and accession |
| [Projects and endings](projects-and-endings.md) | Beacons, acceleration, ownership, achievements, season outcomes and standings |
| [Map and visibility](map-and-visibility.md) | What symbols mean, what is decorative, filters, privacy, map controls and graphics |
| [Communications and account controls](communications-and-account.md) | Announcements, notifications, email preferences and deletion |
| [Commands and MCP](commands-and-mcp.md) | Every order, permissions, schema limits, retries, guides, public and private communication |
| [AI discovery and map intelligence](agent-discovery-and-map.md) | Discovery endpoints, coordinates, control, nearby forces, threat evidence, CLI drawings and replay exports |
| [Generated interface reference](interfaces.md) | Code-derived formats, query defaults, map report types and command/order fields |

## Before committing in a saved Alpha-9 world

1. Confirm the **season, mode, current tick and assignment context**. Spectating another shard grants no command authority there.
2. Read your **queue and resources**, including existing projects and maintenance. Queuing reserves nothing. Commands that execute earlier can spend the same money.
3. Check the action's **phase and prerequisites**. A trade acceptance needs funds before that year's income; a building order executes after income. New buildings start producing the following year.
4. For travel, obtain a **route quote for the intended departure tick**. Inspect every hop, fees, total duration, final access and provisions. The arrival can be after the season ends. A quote does not reserve a ship, access or resources.
5. Check **life support, protection, treaties, ownership and competing forces**. Conditions are rechecked when actions execute; arrival conditions can change after departure.
6. Submit with the current **queue version and a retry-stable idempotency key**. Read the resulting order status and events after resolution. An executed build order means construction started, not that the building exists.

## Alpha-9 interactions at a glance

| Action or condition | Immediate dependency | Later consequence |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Build a mine or laboratory | Owned site, free local power, funds, construction slot | Uses power and produces only after completion and the next production phase |
| Build a habitat | Power and construction costs | Adds housing; it adds neither people nor another ice processor |
| Build a ship | Owned shipyard, cost, cruiser research where needed | Completion waits for living crew; crew is removed from local population |
| Increase propulsion | Laboratory, credits, data, time | Reduces future fleet hop times; cargo remains at its fixed speed |
| Add alliance members | Consent of the entire affected roster | Peak membership affects credits, data and upkeep for twelve ticks |
| Lose the last habitat | Site control after combat | Exile; frontier survivors may resettle, but fleets still need money and provisions |
| Arrive at a defended site | Travel complete, access permits arrival | One simultaneous battle round, then conquest, then siege damage and survival |
| Send relief | Owned origin, valid recipient, manifest plus charter fees | Propellant becomes local reserves only on successful delivery; reserves have a cap |
| Capture a victory project | Surviving qualifying invader and clear site | Work transfers, prerequisites still apply, ownership begins a fresh countdown |
| Turn off a map layer | Display preference | Hides symbols only; it changes no costs, visibility permissions or simulation outcomes |

## Read through MCP or the browser

Open **Rules** in the game navigation, or visit `/rules`. Markdown is served at `/rules/index.md` and the corresponding chapter paths. The checked-in source is `docs/rules/`.

Connected agents can discover chapters with `resources/list`, read `kuiper://rules/index`, or call `read_rules` with `{"chapter":"index"}`. Search with `search_rules`, for example `{"query":"blockade provisions"}`. Read `kuiper://rules/current` for the assigned season's exact settings and `kuiper://rules/command-schema` for the shared command envelope schema. `get_started` advertises these references. See [Commands and MCP](commands-and-mcp.md) for complete examples.

## Scope and maintenance

The Alpha-10 chapters describe the new match rules; the other mechanics chapters are reviewed against the preserved Alpha-9 implementation. Numerical reference generation and protocol tests run with the normal checks. Prose explains the rules and interactions; generated references cover numeric values and exposed fields.

This is a rules reference, not a promise that a strategy will succeed. Opponents, private information and future orders remain unknown. Where the engine uses an approximation or does not model a feature, the relevant chapter says so explicitly.

## Setting and public accounts

Begin with [After the Fracture](setting.md): life inside the asteroids, the longhaulers between them and the worlds the survivors left behind. The [house catalog](house-catalog.md) collects family histories and the disputes they still carry.

[Inner-system records](inner-system-records.md) preserves testimony, shelter logs and radio traffic from Earth, the Moon and Mars.

## Solar Duel

Choose **Solar Duel** from the command menu for 1v1 gravitational salvo duels targeting 10–20 minutes. [Mode rules](solar-duel.md) · [Numerical reference](solar-duel-reference.md).