diff --git a/docs/research/bast-pivot.md b/docs/research/bast-pivot.md
index 1c154e3..aeb44ba 100644
--- a/docs/research/bast-pivot.md
+++ b/docs/research/bast-pivot.md
@@ -950,7 +950,9 @@ through JSON Schema trees do not.
 4. Update `AlkTypeEngine::compile()` to accept a BAST document + root
    type name
 5. Implement the BAST-native validator (production version, informed
-   by the POC)
+   by the POC). Constructs `AlkTypeError::Validation` via
+   `jsonschema::ValidationError::custom` per [D-BAST-009](#d-bast-009-alktypeerrorvalidation-payload-shape)
+   — the `Validation` variant's payload type is unchanged.
 6. Update `validate_json()` to accept a consumer-provided JSON Schema
    and build a standard `jsonschema::Validator` (no custom keywords)
 7. Update the builder API to produce BAST JSON (public methods unchanged)
@@ -1154,9 +1156,9 @@ Future crates (alktty, tunnels, sftp, git) will use BAST for their
 binary formats. The codegen feature (future) will generate
 readers/writers from BAST documents for these crates.
 
-### OQ-BAST-001: `AlkTypeError::Validation` payload shape (open)
+### D-BAST-009: `AlkTypeError::Validation` payload shape
 
-**Status: open — to be decided at pivot time, not in the POC.**
+**Status: decided.** Keep `Validation(jsonschema::ValidationError<'static>)`.
 
 `AlkTypeError::Validation` currently wraps
 `jsonschema::ValidationError<'static>`. Under the BAST pivot the
@@ -1164,7 +1166,7 @@ readers/writers from BAST documents for these crates.
 the [POC](#poc-result--bast-native-validator) — observation 1), so the
 error payload on that path is constructed via
 `jsonschema::ValidationError::custom` purely to keep the variant's type
-unchanged. There are two options:
+unchanged. The two options were:
 
 1. **Keep `Validation(jsonschema::ValidationError<'static>)`.** Simplest —
    `ValidationError::custom` is public and `'static`, so the bytes path
@@ -1182,9 +1184,28 @@ unchanged. There are two options:
    wants to drop `jsonschema` from the bytes-only path (relates to
    OQ-002).
 
-The POC deferred this — it used option 1 to keep the error type
-unchanged. The decision belongs to the production refactor (Phase 1
-step 5) and should be made before the validator module lands.
+**Rationale for option 1:** The deciding factor is consumer ergonomics
+on the *combined* path. Consumers like alkcall use both `validate_json`
+(channel 0, JSON-RPC) and `validate_bytes` (binary channels) and handle
+`AlkTypeError::Validation` in one place. A single uniform payload type
+means one match arm covers both sources — no `Validation(jsonschema_err)
+vs Validation(string)` branching downstream. Option 2 would force
+`validate_json` to flatten its structured errors (instance path, schema
+path, keyword) to a `String` via `Display` just to match a bytes-path
+shape — the more information-rich path loses data to accommodate the
+less rich one. That is the wrong direction.
+
+The `no_std`/minimal-build angle (OQ-002) that option 2 was meant to
+enable is moot in practice: `validate_json` requires `jsonschema`
+regardless, so a bytes-only `no_std` build already has to give up
+`validate_json` as a separate, larger decision. Dropping the type from
+one error variant does not unlock that build — the dependency is load-
+bearing on the other validation path. The right place to revisit this is
+when/if OQ-002 is actually pursued, not preemptively.
+
+The POC already used option 1 (via `ValidationError::custom`); the
+production refactor (Phase 1 step 5) follows the same construction
+pattern. No semver-relevant change to the `Validation` variant.
 
 ## Risks and Mitigations
 
@@ -1330,13 +1351,12 @@ validator only enforces what the materializer cannot:
 4. **The `AlkTypeError::Validation` variant still wraps
    `jsonschema::ValidationError<'static>`.** The POC uses
    `jsonschema::ValidationError::custom` to construct these so the
-   error type is unchanged. The production version could either keep
-   this (simplest — `ValidationError::custom` is public and
-   `'static`) or introduce a small `Validation(String)` shape to drop
-   the `jsonschema` dependency from the error type. The latter is a
-   public-API change (the `Validation` variant's payload type changes),
-   so it's a semver-relevant decision to make at pivot time, not in the
-   POC.
+   error type is unchanged. This is now the decided shape for the
+   production refactor — see [D-BAST-009](#d-bast-009-alktypeerrorvalidation-payload-shape).
+   The rationale is consumer ergonomics: a single uniform payload type
+   means one match arm covers both `validate_json` and `validate_bytes`
+   errors downstream, and `validate_json`'s structured errors are worth
+   preserving rather than flattening to a `String`.
 
 5. **The materializer and validator share the BAST-walking code
    structure.** Both walk the same `kind`/`fields`/`mapping` tree. The