diff --git a/crates/epiphany-testkit/DECISIONS.md b/crates/epiphany-testkit/DECISIONS.md
index fc6e6bb..9cd041f 100644
--- a/crates/epiphany-testkit/DECISIONS.md
+++ b/crates/epiphany-testkit/DECISIONS.md
@@ -317,3 +317,38 @@ specifies a text syntax must not misprint that syntax.
   from its `\setmonofont`, which makes this the house convention rather than a
   new one; the three companions that still enable it have no listing content the
   feature would touch.
+
+### 0.5.0: what starting the implementation found
+
+The grammar could not derive an ordinary pitched note. `value` had **no
+alternative for a sequence**, though `req:textproj:value-projection` clause 5
+required one. Adding it exposed why it had been missing: a sequence whose first
+element is a fieldless variant is *shape-identical* to a struct, and `()` is both
+the empty sequence and the absent option. Both collisions are reachable from the
+first pitched note in any score — `PitchedEvent` carries `articulations` and
+`ornaments` (sequences over the zero-field `ArticulationMark` / `OrnamentMark`)
+beside an optional `DynamicMark`.
+
+**The collision is irreducible without new syntax, and new syntax buys nothing.**
+`req:textproj:strict-parse` already obliges a parser to reject "a duplicate in a
+set-typed field" — which it cannot do without knowing the field is set-typed. A
+parser consults the schema either way. Spending `(seq …)` or `[…]` to remove a
+*shape* ambiguity, while leaving the schema dependency that syntax was meant to
+remove, lengthens every line and simplifies no tool. **User ratified
+schema-directed** (`req:textproj:schema-directed`), so `value` collapses to
+`"(" value* ")"` or a leaf — all that shape can honestly say — and the
+requirement assigns meaning by expected type.
+
+Three consequences, now stated: a struct with no fields is the bare symbol, as a
+fieldless variant is; a **byte string is not a sequence** (where the binary form
+writes a length-prefixed run of bytes — an opaque extension payload, a
+`SoundConfiguration` — the projection writes a byte string, never a list of
+integers); and the grammar's repetitions carry a notation rule, adjacent elements
+separated by exactly one space, without which `"(transpose (" bytes* ") "` spelled
+two targets as one undelimited run of hex.
+
+The checker gained `value_admits_a_bare_list_and_claims_no_shape_it_cannot_distinguish`,
+mutation-verified two ways: restoring the 0.4.0 `value` production, and stripping
+the `schema-directed` citations. A grammar that claims to distinguish a struct
+from a sequence would be lying, so the test asserts the symbol-headed alternative
+is **absent**.
diff --git a/crates/epiphany-testkit/tests/text_projection_grammar.rs b/crates/epiphany-testkit/tests/text_projection_grammar.rs
index 6407daf..aa941e8 100644
--- a/crates/epiphany-testkit/tests/text_projection_grammar.rs
+++ b/crates/epiphany-testkit/tests/text_projection_grammar.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
 //! 4. The escape rule excludes the four codepoints
 //!    `req:textproj:string-escapes` requires a writer to escape — the
 //!    contradiction that 0.4.0 fixed.
+//! 5. `value` admits a bare parenthesised list. Without it the grammar cannot
+//!    derive a sequence, so it cannot derive an ordinary pitched note — the
+//!    omission 0.5.0 fixed. And it must *not* re-introduce a symbol-headed
+//!    struct alternative: shape does not distinguish a struct from a sequence,
+//!    and `req:textproj:schema-directed` says so rather than pretending
+//!    otherwise.
 
 use std::collections::{BTreeSet, VecDeque};
 
@@ -413,6 +419,42 @@ fn the_escape_grammar_agrees_with_the_escape_requirement() {
     );
 }
 
+/// `value` must admit a bare parenthesised list, or the grammar cannot derive any
+/// sequence — a `PitchedEvent`'s `articulations` among them, which makes an
+/// ordinary `insert-event` line underivable. It must equally *not* carry a
+/// symbol-headed struct alternative: a sequence whose first element is a fieldless
+/// variant has exactly that shape, so a grammar claiming to tell them apart would
+/// be lying. `req:textproj:schema-directed` carries the distinction instead.
+#[test]
+fn value_admits_a_bare_list_and_claims_no_shape_it_cannot_distinguish() {
+    let block = uncommented(production_block("value"));
+    let alts: Vec<String> = block
+        .split('|')
+        .map(|a| a.split_whitespace().collect::<Vec<_>>().join(" "))
+        .collect();
+
+    assert!(
+        alts.iter().any(|a| a == "\"(\" value* \")\""),
+        "`value` must admit a bare parenthesised list, else no sequence is \
+         derivable; alternatives were {alts:?}"
+    );
+    assert!(
+        !alts.iter().any(|a| a.contains("symbol \" \" value*")),
+        "`value` must not claim to distinguish a struct from a sequence by shape; \
+         alternatives were {alts:?}"
+    );
+
+    // The requirement that carries the distinction must exist and be cited where
+    // it is relied on: the value rule, the strict-parse rule, and the grammar.
+    assert!(SPEC.contains("\\label{req:textproj:schema-directed}"));
+    let citations = SPEC.matches("req:textproj:schema-directed").count();
+    assert!(
+        citations >= 4,
+        "expected the label plus citations from the value rule, strict parsing \
+         and the grammar; found {citations}"
+    );
+}
+
 /// The mono font must not apply TeX ligatures. `tlig` rewrites `\"` as a right
 /// curly quote and `--` as an en dash, so the grammar -- which delimits terminals
 /// with U+0022 and builds escapes from U+005C -- would render characters other
diff --git a/spec/text_projection.pdf b/spec/text_projection.pdf
index 51e57f5..c6af7fd 100644
Binary files a/spec/text_projection.pdf and b/spec/text_projection.pdf differ
diff --git a/spec/text_projection.tex b/spec/text_projection.tex
index ccccb8d..35cb8d3 100644
--- a/spec/text_projection.tex
+++ b/spec/text_projection.tex
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@
   {\Large\scshape\color{epiphanyslate}Text Projection}\\[6pt]
   {\large\itshape\color{epiphanyslate}A companion to the Core Specification}\\[14pt]
   {\color{epiphanygold}\rule{3in}{0.8pt}}\\[24pt]
-  {\normalsize\color{epiphanyink}Version 0.4.0 --- Derived ordering, and an escape grammar that matches its requirement}\\[4pt]
+  {\normalsize\color{epiphanyink}Version 0.5.0 --- The projection is schema-directed, and the grammar says only what shape can say}\\[4pt]
   {\small\color{epiphanyslate}Normative for the text form it defines}
   \vfill
 \end{titlepage}
@@ -627,6 +627,50 @@ Chapter~5 --- an \texttt{Event}, a \texttt{Pitch}, a \texttt{Region}, a
 states one rule for turning any of them into text, and the shapes stay where they
 are ratified.
 
+\begin{requirement}
+  \label{req:textproj:schema-directed}
+  The projection is \textbf{schema-directed}. At every position a reader knows
+  the type it expects, from the ratified schema and from the position itself,
+  exactly as the binary decoder does. The grammar of
+  Chapter~\ref{ch:grammar} describes the \emph{shape} of the text; it is not a
+  standalone unambiguous language, and a reader \MUSTNOT{} attempt to recover a
+  value's type from its shape.
+
+  Three consequences follow, and a reader resolves each by the type it expects:
+
+  \begin{itemize}
+    \item \texttt{()} is the empty sequence, and it is the absent option.
+    \item A bare symbol is a fieldless variant, and it is a struct with no
+      fields.
+    \item A parenthesised list whose first element is a symbol is a struct, and
+      it is a sequence whose first element is a symbol.
+  \end{itemize}
+\end{requirement}
+
+\begin{rationale}
+  This states what the ratified rules already require rather than adding a new
+  constraint. A struct is \texttt{(<type-name> <field>\ldots)} and a sequence is
+  a parenthesised list of its elements; a sequence whose first element is a
+  fieldless variant is therefore shape-identical to a struct. The collision is
+  \emph{irreducible} without new syntax, and it is reachable from the first
+  pitched note a score contains: a \texttt{PitchedEvent} carries
+  \texttt{articulations} and \texttt{ornaments}, sequences of a zero-field
+  \texttt{ArticulationMark} and \texttt{OrnamentMark}, alongside an optional
+  \texttt{DynamicMark} --- so one \texttt{insert-event} line holds an empty
+  sequence and an absent option, both spelled \texttt{()}, and a two-element
+  sequence spelled like a two-field struct.
+
+  Making the text standalone-unambiguous would buy nothing, because
+  Requirement~\ref{req:textproj:strict-parse} already obliges a parser to reject
+  ``a duplicate in a set-typed field'' --- which it cannot do without knowing that
+  the field is set-typed. The parser consults the schema either way. Spending
+  syntax to remove a shape ambiguity, while leaving the schema dependency it was
+  meant to remove, would make every line longer and no tool simpler.
+
+  The binary form is schema-directed for the same reason and pays the same price:
+  its bytes do not say what they are either.
+\end{rationale}
+
 \begin{requirement}
   \label{req:textproj:value-projection}
   A canonical value is projected thus:
@@ -636,7 +680,9 @@ are ratified.
       the type name is the core specification's name in lower-case
       hyphenated form and the fields appear \emph{positionally}, in the order
       that specification's ratified listing declares them. Field names are not
-      written.
+      written. A struct with \emph{no} fields is the bare symbol
+      \texttt{<type-name>}, as a fieldless variant is; it encodes to no bytes in
+      the binary form and carries no value here.
     \item A \textbf{newtype} --- a struct of exactly one unnamed field ---
       is projected as that field alone, with no wrapper. This mirrors the binary
       form, in which a newtype delegates to its field and adds no bytes.
@@ -648,10 +694,17 @@ are ratified.
     \item A \textbf{sequence}, \textbf{set}, or \textbf{map} is a parenthesised
       list of its elements, \emph{in the order the binary form writes them},
       except where Requirement~\ref{req:textproj:derived-ordering} applies; a
-      map entry is \texttt{(<key> <value>)}. The projection invents no ordering
-      of its own, and a set that the binary form writes strictly increasing is
-      written strictly increasing here
+      map entry is \texttt{(<key> <value>)}. An empty one is \texttt{()}, which
+      Requirement~\ref{req:textproj:schema-directed} distinguishes from an absent
+      option by the expected type. The projection invents no ordering of its own,
+      and a set that the binary form writes strictly increasing is written
+      strictly increasing here
       (Requirement~\ref{req:textproj:strict-parse}).
+
+      A \textbf{byte string} is not a sequence. Where the binary form writes a
+      length-prefixed run of bytes rather than a counted sequence of elements ---
+      an opaque extension payload, a \texttt{SoundConfiguration} --- the
+      projection writes a byte string, not a list of integers.
     \item \textbf{Leaves.} An identifier or hash is a byte string. An integer is
       an integer. A boolean is \texttt{true} or \texttt{false}. Canonical text is
       a quoted string. A rational is \texttt{(ratio <numerator> <denominator>)},
@@ -804,6 +857,10 @@ are ratified.
 
   Accepting non-canonical text and normalizing it \emph{is} accepting it, and
   does not satisfy this requirement.
+
+  Rejecting a duplicate in a set-typed field requires knowing that the field is
+  set-typed. A parser therefore reads the schema
+  (Requirement~\ref{req:textproj:schema-directed}); shape alone never suffices.
 \end{requirement}
 
 \begin{rationale}
@@ -834,6 +891,12 @@ are ratified.
 \label{ch:grammar}
 
 \begin{lstlisting}
+; Notation. X* is zero or more X, X? is zero or one. Within a line, adjacent
+; elements of a repetition are separated by exactly one U+0020, and an empty
+; repetition contributes nothing -- so "(" value* ")" spells () when empty. The
+; line productions below carry their own trailing LF, and are simply
+; concatenated. LF is U+000A. Terminals are quoted; U+XXXX names a codepoint.
+
 projection     ::= header document lineage? profile* extension*
                  canonical-base? blob* envelope*
 
@@ -931,7 +994,10 @@ reassign-entry ::= "(" bytes " " ratio ")"          ; event id, musical position
 
 ; --- Values and leaves.
 
-value          ::= "(" symbol " " value* ")"        ; req:textproj:value-projection
+; A struct, a sequence, a set, a map and an option all have this one shape. The
+; reader tells them apart by the type it expects, never by the shape:
+; req:textproj:schema-directed. Meaning is req:textproj:value-projection.
+value          ::= "(" value* ")"
                | symbol | bytes | integer | bool | string | ratio | option
 option         ::= "()" | "(some " value ")"
 ratio          ::= "(ratio " integer " " integer ")"
@@ -1120,6 +1186,32 @@ absorb it, exactly as the binary decoder does.
   name; the checks it replaced were anchored to a column, and a reflow would have
   silently switched them off. The 0.3.0 claim of a ``machine-checked'' grammar was
   true of one run and of nothing durable. Still no implementation. \\
+    \today & Chapters 3, 5 & 0.5.0 --- Found by starting the implementation: the
+  grammar could not derive an ordinary pitched note.
+
+  \emph{The projection is schema-directed}
+  (\texttt{req:textproj:schema-directed}), and now says so. \texttt{value} had no
+  alternative for a sequence at all, though clause~5 required one; and once
+  added, a sequence whose first element is a fieldless variant is
+  shape-identical to a struct, while \texttt{()} is both the empty sequence and
+  the absent option. Both collisions are reachable from the first pitched note in
+  any score --- \texttt{PitchedEvent} carries \texttt{articulations} and
+  \texttt{ornaments} over zero-field marks, beside an optional
+  \texttt{DynamicMark}. The collision is irreducible without new syntax, and new
+  syntax would buy nothing:
+  \texttt{req:textproj:strict-parse} already obliges a parser to reject a
+  duplicate in a set-typed field, which it cannot do without the schema. So
+  \texttt{value} now collapses to \texttt{"(" value* ")"} or a leaf --- all shape
+  can honestly say --- and the requirement assigns meaning by expected type.
+
+  \emph{Three consequences, stated.} A struct with no fields is the bare symbol,
+  as a fieldless variant is. A byte string is not a sequence: where the binary
+  form writes a length-prefixed run of bytes, so does the projection, never a
+  list of integers. And the grammar's repetitions now carry a notation rule ---
+  adjacent elements are separated by exactly one space --- without which
+  \texttt{"(transpose (" bytes* ") "} spelled two targets as one run of hex.
+
+  Still no implementation; this is what the first day of writing it found. \\
 \bottomrule
 \end{longtable}