diff --git a/client/src/lib/eventCalendar.js b/client/src/lib/eventCalendar.js
index fafff21..b2fbe4a 100644
--- a/client/src/lib/eventCalendar.js
+++ b/client/src/lib/eventCalendar.js
@@ -97,3 +97,13 @@ export function statusWord(status, scheduledFor, now = Date.now()) {
   const at = new Date(scheduledFor).getTime()
   return Number.isNaN(at) || at <= now ? 'Did not happen' : 'Cancelled'
 }
+
+// A live run's progress line (MODULE_API 1.12.0), as text. Core accepts two
+// shapes from a module and interprets neither: a count, "Bandits: 3 of 8 left",
+// and a percentage, "The Juggernaut: 62%". Anything else renders nothing.
+export function progressText(line) {
+  if (!line || typeof line.label !== 'string' || !line.label) return ''
+  if (Number.isInteger(line.left) && Number.isInteger(line.of)) return `${line.label}: ${line.left} of ${line.of} left`
+  if (typeof line.percent === 'number') return `${line.label}: ${line.percent}%`
+  return ''
+}
diff --git a/client/src/modules/version.js b/client/src/modules/version.js
index ca9fe7d..a4fdab7 100644
--- a/client/src/modules/version.js
+++ b/client/src/modules/version.js
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 // that the two files can drift, so a test asserts they agree
 // (client/test/moduleRegistry.test.js) rather than trusting a bump to remember
 // both.
+// 1.12.0 — an event action's `progress()`: a live run's public page shows how
+// its steps stand. Server-side registration; the client half is core's own event
+// page rendering the lines. This file bumps for the reason at the top.
 // 1.11.0 — `ctx.events.expired({ kind, ref })` and the ledger's `expired` status
 // (Rust PLAN_FIXES D183): a module may say the game ended a ledgered resource at
 // its own deadline. Server-side only; the run console, which is core's own page,
@@ -78,4 +81,4 @@
 // but the two halves state ONE version: a module declares a single coreApi range
 // and is served one chunk, so a client that claimed 1.0.0 while the server
 // answered 1.1.0 would be two answers to one question.
-export const MODULE_API_VERSION = '1.11.0'
+export const MODULE_API_VERSION = '1.12.0'
diff --git a/client/src/routes/public/EventPage.jsx b/client/src/routes/public/EventPage.jsx
index a401b9c..05df855 100644
--- a/client/src/routes/public/EventPage.jsx
+++ b/client/src/routes/public/EventPage.jsx
@@ -14,13 +14,19 @@
 // branch left a failed load spinning for ever with nothing on screen naming the
 // problem. Order matters, and the order is error first.
 
+import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
 import { useParams, useSearchParams, Link } from 'react-router-dom'
 import PublicLayout from '../../components/PublicLayout.jsx'
 import PageHeader from '../../components/PageHeader.jsx'
 import { Loading, ErrorState, EmptyState } from '../../components/PageState.jsx'
 import { useAsync } from '../../lib/useAsync.js'
 import { api } from '../../api/client.js'
-import { eventDateTime, statusWord } from '../../lib/eventCalendar.js'
+import { eventDateTime, statusWord, progressText } from '../../lib/eventCalendar.js'
+
+// How often a live event's progress lines are read again while the page is open.
+// The server caches each run's answer for five seconds, so this is the reader's
+// cadence, not load on the game.
+const PROGRESS_REFRESH_MS = 15_000
 
 export default function EventPage() {
   const { slug } = useParams()
@@ -28,6 +34,27 @@ export default function EventPage() {
   const run = params.get('run')
   const { loading, error, data } = useAsync(() => api.publicEvent(slug, run), [slug, run])
 
+  // The live occurrence's progress (MODULE_API 1.12.0), re-read on a timer while
+  // it is live. Only the lines are replaced: re-running the page's own fetch
+  // would blank the page to a spinner every fifteen seconds.
+  const [progress, setProgress] = useState(null)
+  const live = Boolean(data && data.event && data.event.live)
+  useEffect(() => {
+    setProgress(null)
+    if (!live) return undefined
+    let active = true
+    const timer = setInterval(() => {
+      api
+        .publicEvent(slug, run)
+        .then((fresh) => active && setProgress(fresh?.event?.current?.progress || []))
+        .catch(() => {})
+    }, PROGRESS_REFRESH_MS)
+    return () => {
+      active = false
+      clearInterval(timer)
+    }
+  }, [slug, run, live])
+
   if (error) {
     return (
       <PublicLayout section="website">
@@ -91,6 +118,16 @@ export default function EventPage() {
                     the event is never published. */}
                 {event.current.phase || 'Under way'}
               </div>
+              {/* How it stands, in the words the steps' modules chose. Core
+                  renders the two shapes it accepts and interprets neither. */}
+              {(progress || event.current.progress || []).map((line, i) => {
+                const text = progressText(line)
+                return text ? (
+                  <div key={i} className="sans" style={{ marginTop: 4 }}>
+                    {text}
+                  </div>
+                ) : null
+              })}
             </>
           ) : event.next ? (
             <>
diff --git a/client/test/eventCalendar.test.js b/client/test/eventCalendar.test.js
index a38f6b7..2703415 100644
--- a/client/test/eventCalendar.test.js
+++ b/client/test/eventCalendar.test.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 import { test } from 'node:test'
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict'
-import { eventTime, eventDateTime, readerDayLabel, statusWord } from '../src/lib/eventCalendar.js'
+import { eventTime, eventDateTime, readerDayLabel, statusWord, progressText } from '../src/lib/eventCalendar.js'
 
 // 2026-09-12T00:00Z is 2026-09-11 20:00 in New York — deliberately an instant
 // whose DATE differs between the two zones, which is what makes the split
@@ -87,3 +87,11 @@ test('the other three words do not depend on the clock at all', () => {
 test('an unreadable instant falls to the past-tense word rather than throwing', () => {
   assert.equal(statusWord('cancelled', 'not a date', NOW), 'Did not happen')
 })
+
+test('a progress line is a count or a percent, and nothing else renders (MODULE_API 1.12.0)', () => {
+  assert.equal(progressText({ label: 'Bandits', left: 3, of: 8 }), 'Bandits: 3 of 8 left')
+  assert.equal(progressText({ label: 'The Juggernaut', percent: 62 }), 'The Juggernaut: 62%')
+  assert.equal(progressText({ label: 'Odd' }), '')
+  assert.equal(progressText({ left: 1, of: 2 }), '')
+  assert.equal(progressText(null), '')
+})
diff --git a/server/engagement-triggers.json b/server/engagement-triggers.json
index 156fa8e..551fad4 100644
--- a/server/engagement-triggers.json
+++ b/server/engagement-triggers.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "_comment": "Generated event-trigger inventory - the authoritative freeze of CORE's engagement contract (docs/website/ENGAGEMENT.md 4.3). Regenerate with `npm run engagement:manifest` in website/server. A renamed variable, a changed type or a widened ceiling breaks stored templates and rules, so the diff here is the review signal. A module ships its own copy in its bundle; this file never contains one.",
-  "moduleApiVersion": "1.11.0",
+  "moduleApiVersion": "1.12.0",
   "triggers": [
     {
       "id": "event.phase.changed",
diff --git a/server/routes.guards.json b/server/routes.guards.json
index 5fcb829..cd96119 100644
--- a/server/routes.guards.json
+++ b/server/routes.guards.json
@@ -2464,9 +2464,10 @@
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/events/:slug",
-      "handlers": 2,
+      "handlers": 3,
       "gates": [
-        "siteMode"
+        "siteMode",
+        "optionalAuth"
       ]
     },
     {
diff --git a/server/src/events/progress.js b/server/src/events/progress.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e572a56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/events/progress.js
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+// ── A live run's progress lines ────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// EVENTS.md §I and MODULE_API 1.12.0. While a run is live, its public page can
+// say how it stands — "Bandits: 3 of 8 left", "The Juggernaut: 62%" — and only
+// the module that carried out a step knows the answer. So an action may declare
+// `progress(envelope)`, and this file asks each step of the run whose action has
+// one.
+//
+// **Core never interprets a line.** It accepts exactly two shapes, a count and a
+// percentage, each with a label, and renders them as text. Core cannot know what
+// a "bandit" is, and does not need to: it knows "label: left of total" and
+// "label: percent", which serve any game, and a UO module could fill them for its
+// own actions without a word of this file changing (D305).
+//
+// **Nothing here may hurt the page that asked.** A public event page is read by
+// anybody, so every failure — a module that throws, answers late, answers
+// nonsense or is uninstalled — is a line that is not shown, and a log line. The
+// page always renders. That is `registerTeamProvider`'s posture rather than
+// `dispatch.js`'s: a missing progress line costs a reader one sentence, and a page
+// that errored would cost them the event.
+//
+// **One answer per run and viewer level, for a few seconds.** A busy page is
+// read by many people at once, and each read reaching the game through a module
+// would turn the audience into load. The module's own caches (Rust's map answer)
+// sit behind this one; this one bounds how often core asks at all.
+
+const registries = require('../modules/registries')
+const stepsDb = require('../model/events/eventRunSteps.db')
+const resourcesDb = require('../model/events/eventRunResources.db')
+const { withDeadline } = require('./dispatch')
+const log = require('../utils/logger')('events')
+
+// The deadline for one `progress()` call. Short, because a reader is waiting on
+// it: the page renders without a late line rather than waiting for it.
+const PROGRESS_BUDGET_MS = 2000
+
+// How long one run's lines are reused for, per viewer.
+const CACHE_MS = 5000
+
+// The bound on a label, in characters. A label is a phrase beside a number.
+const MAX_LABEL = 80
+
+// The bound on lines per run. A run with more Place steps than this has a page
+// that is a list of numbers, and the cap keeps a module bug from becoming a wall.
+const MAX_LINES = 20
+
+// The ledger statuses that still mean "this run's".
+const HELD = new Set(resourcesDb.HELD)
+
+/**
+ * One module answer as a line, or null. Pure and exported: the two shapes are the
+ * contract, and anything else is dropped rather than repaired.
+ */
+function toLine(answer, actionId) {
+  if (answer === null || answer === undefined) return null
+  if (typeof answer !== 'object' || Array.isArray(answer)) {
+    log.warn('event progress is not an object', { action: actionId })
+    return null
+  }
+  const label = typeof answer.label === 'string' ? answer.label.trim() : ''
+  if (!label || label.length > MAX_LABEL) {
+    log.warn('event progress has a bad label', { action: actionId })
+    return null
+  }
+  const hasCount = answer.left !== undefined || answer.of !== undefined
+  const hasPercent = answer.percent !== undefined
+  if (hasCount === hasPercent) {
+    log.warn('event progress must be a count or a percent', { action: actionId })
+    return null
+  }
+  if (hasCount) {
+    const { left, of } = answer
+    if (!Number.isInteger(left) || !Number.isInteger(of) || left < 0 || of < 1 || left > of) {
+      log.warn('event progress has a bad count', { action: actionId })
+      return null
+    }
+    return { label, left, of }
+  }
+  const percent = Number(answer.percent)
+  if (typeof answer.percent !== 'number' || !Number.isFinite(percent) || percent < 0 || percent > 100) {
+    log.warn('event progress has a bad percent', { action: actionId })
+    return null
+  }
+  return { label, percent: Math.round(percent) }
+}
+
+/** run id + viewer key → { at, lines } and { pending } while one is in flight. */
+const cache = new Map()
+
+// A key per reader, so the map is pruned of answers past their window once it
+// grows; an ended run's entries go with them.
+const PRUNE_AT = 1000
+
+function prune(now) {
+  if (cache.size < PRUNE_AT) return
+  for (const [key, entry] of cache) {
+    if (!entry.pending && now() - entry.at >= CACHE_MS) cache.delete(key)
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * The lines one step's action answers, or null. Never throws.
+ */
+async function stepLine(step, run, resources, viewer) {
+  const action = registries.eventAction(step.action_id)
+  if (!action || typeof action.progress !== 'function') return null
+
+  const envelope = {
+    runId: run.id,
+    stepId: step.id,
+    idempotencyKey: step.idempotency_key,
+    scope: run.scope || '',
+    params: step.params || {},
+    // The ledger rows this step made that are still the run's, as the module
+    // wrote them. Core adds nothing a module did not already hold.
+    resources: resources.map((r) => ({ kind: r.kind, ref: r.ref, payload: r.payload })),
+    // Who is reading, as an account id or null. The module decides what its own
+    // visibility settings let that account see, from its own re-read of the row.
+    viewer: { userId: viewer.userId == null ? null : viewer.userId },
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const raw = await withDeadline(() => action.progress(envelope), PROGRESS_BUDGET_MS, action.id)
+    if (raw && raw.__timedOut) {
+      log.warn('event progress timed out', { action: action.id, run: run.id, step: step.id })
+      return null
+    }
+    return toLine(raw, action.id)
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.warn('event progress threw', { action: action.id, run: run.id, step: step.id, message: err.message })
+    return null
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * The progress lines for one live run, in step order. Resolves `[]` when there
+ * is nothing to say or anything went wrong; never rejects.
+ *
+ * `viewer.userId` is the reader's account id or null. The cache is keyed on it
+ * because what a module shows can depend on who is reading.
+ */
+async function forRun(run, { viewer = { userId: null }, now = Date.now } = {}) {
+  if (!run || run.id == null) return []
+  const key = `${run.id}|${viewer.userId == null ? '' : viewer.userId}`
+  const hit = cache.get(key)
+  if (hit && hit.lines && now() - hit.at < CACHE_MS) return hit.lines
+  if (hit && hit.pending) return hit.pending
+  prune(now)
+
+  const pending = (async () => {
+    let lines = []
+    try {
+      const steps = (await stepsDb.listForRun(run.id)).filter((s) => {
+        const action = registries.eventAction(s.action_id)
+        return action && typeof action.progress === 'function'
+      })
+      if (steps.length) {
+        const ledger = (await resourcesDb.forRun(run.id)).filter(
+          (r) => HELD.has(r.status) && r.kind !== resourcesDb.STEP_KIND,
+        )
+        const answers = await Promise.all(
+          steps.map((s) => stepLine(s, run, ledger.filter((r) => String(r.step_id) === String(s.id)), viewer)),
+        )
+        lines = answers.filter(Boolean).slice(0, MAX_LINES)
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      log.warn('event progress could not be read', { run: run.id, message: err.message })
+      lines = []
+    }
+    cache.set(key, { at: now(), lines })
+    return lines
+  })()
+
+  cache.set(key, { ...(hit || {}), pending })
+  try {
+    return await pending
+  } finally {
+    const entry = cache.get(key)
+    if (entry && entry.pending === pending) delete entry.pending
+  }
+}
+
+/** Test seam. */
+function _reset() {
+  cache.clear()
+}
+
+module.exports = { forRun, toLine, PROGRESS_BUDGET_MS, CACHE_MS, MAX_LABEL, MAX_LINES, PRUNE_AT, _reset }
diff --git a/server/src/model/events/eventPublic.model.js b/server/src/model/events/eventPublic.model.js
index 1425b9e..5b5818f 100644
--- a/server/src/model/events/eventPublic.model.js
+++ b/server/src/model/events/eventPublic.model.js
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ const versionsDb = require('./eventVersions.db')
 const participantsDb = require('./eventRunParticipants.db')
 const calendarModel = require('./eventCalendar.model')
 const recurrence = require('../../events/recurrence')
+const progress = require('../../events/progress')
 
 // The public calendar's window when a caller names neither end: a few days BACK
 // through a month out. A visitor arriving at /site/events wants "what is on", and
@@ -289,7 +290,7 @@ const publicOccurrence = (run, spec) => ({
  * turn a stale link in a months-old mail into a dead end rather than a page
  * about the thing the mail was about.
  */
-async function event(slug, { runId = null } = {}) {
+async function event(slug, { runId = null, userId = null } = {}) {
   const definition = await definitionsDb.getPublicBySlug(String(slug || ''))
   if (!definition) return { ok: false, status: 404, errors: ['Not found'] }
 
@@ -339,6 +340,13 @@ async function event(slug, { runId = null } = {}) {
   const specRun = named || live[0] || null
   const spec = specRun ? (await versionsDb.getById(specRun.version_id))?.spec || null : null
 
+  // How the live occurrence stands, in the words its steps' modules chose
+  // (MODULE_API 1.12.0). Only for a live run: a finished one has results, and a
+  // scheduled one has nothing to count yet. `progress.forRun` never rejects and
+  // answers `[]` when nobody has anything to say.
+  const current = live[0] ? publicOccurrence(live[0], spec) : null
+  if (current) current.progress = await progress.forRun(live[0], { viewer: { userId } })
+
   return {
     ok: true,
     status: 200,
@@ -351,7 +359,7 @@ async function event(slug, { runId = null } = {}) {
       timezone: definition.timezone,
       series: series ? { name: series.name, slug: series.slug } : null,
       live: live.length > 0,
-      current: live[0] ? publicOccurrence(live[0], spec) : null,
+      current,
       next: next ? publicOccurrence(next, spec) : null,
       upcoming: upcoming.map((r) => publicOccurrence(r, spec)),
       past: past.map((r) => publicOccurrence(r, spec)),
diff --git a/server/src/modules/registries.js b/server/src/modules/registries.js
index a837ae1..56b1eb4 100644
--- a/server/src/modules/registries.js
+++ b/server/src/modules/registries.js
@@ -435,14 +435,14 @@ async function resolveAudience(id, params = {}) {
 /**
  * Every declaration WITHOUT its callables — what the admin catalog serves.
  *
- * `perform`, `revert`, `reconcile` and `cost` are stripped for the same reason `resolve` is
+ * `perform`, `revert`, `reconcile`, `cost` and `progress` are stripped for the same reason `resolve` is
  * stripped from an audience and `handler` from a slash command: this is the
  * object that leaves the process, and the browser's whole relationship with an
  * action is naming one by id. §F's "a module registers actions server-side and
  * adds no routes for them" is only true if the functions never ride out.
  */
 const allEventActions = () =>
-  [...eventActions.values()].map(({ perform, revert, reconcile, cost, ...rest }) => rest)
+  [...eventActions.values()].map(({ perform, revert, reconcile, cost, progress, ...rest }) => rest)
 
 /** One declaration, callables included. The runner's lookup (Phase 2). */
 const eventAction = (id) => eventActions.get(id) || null
@@ -1041,7 +1041,7 @@ function checkActionParam(actionId, entry, seen) {
 }
 
 /**
- * `registerEventActions([{ id, label, risk, reversible, version, budgetMs, cost, params, perform, revert, reconcile }])`.
+ * `registerEventActions([{ id, label, risk, reversible, version, budgetMs, cost, params, perform, revert, reconcile, progress }])`.
  *
  * A typed verb core may ask a registrant to carry out. Everything decidable from
  * the argument alone is decided here, at the call; the collision — is this id
@@ -1118,6 +1118,12 @@ function checkEventActionShape(entry) {
   if (a.cost !== undefined && typeof a.cost !== 'function') {
     throw new Error(`registerEventActions: ${a.id} cost must be a function of its params`)
   }
+  // 1.12.0, optional: how a live run's step stands, for its public page
+  // (`events/progress.js`). Any action may declare it; an action that ledgers
+  // nothing can still say something about the world it changed.
+  if (a.progress !== undefined && typeof a.progress !== 'function') {
+    throw new Error(`registerEventActions: ${a.id} progress must be a function`)
+  }
 
   const version = a.version === undefined ? 1 : a.version
   if (!Number.isInteger(version) || version < 1) {
@@ -1150,6 +1156,7 @@ function checkEventActionShape(entry) {
     perform: a.perform,
     revert: a.revert || null,
     reconcile: a.reconcile || null,
+    progress: a.progress || null,
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/server/src/modules/version.js b/server/src/modules/version.js
index f8a5b35..eed56fe 100644
--- a/server/src/modules/version.js
+++ b/server/src/modules/version.js
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@
 // Deliberately separate from PROTOCOL_VERSION (which versions the shard wire and
 // has nothing to say about a website module) and from any module's own version.
 
+// 1.12.0 — an event action may declare `progress(envelope)`: how a live run's
+// step stands, for its public page (docs/website/EVENTS.md §I; RunicNPC D304,
+// D305). Core accepts two shapes, `{ label, left, of }` and `{ label, percent }`,
+// puts them in the public run as `progress` and renders them as text it does not
+// interpret. Optional and additive, so minor: Module-uo declares `^1.10.0` and
+// registers no action with it, so its actions and pages are unchanged.
+//
 // 1.11.0 — `ctx.events.expired({ kind, ref })`, and `expired` as a resource
 // ledger status (docs/website/EVENTS.md §L; Rust PLAN_FIXES D183). A game that
 // ends something at its own deadline — a Rust zone erased when its time is up —
@@ -167,6 +174,6 @@
 // an admin action a module performs belongs in core's one audit log, the
 // extension slot needs the user its prefix names, and §2.7 forbids a module
 // reading core's `APP_BASE_URL` for itself. Additions only, so minor.
-const MODULE_API_VERSION = '1.11.0'
+const MODULE_API_VERSION = '1.12.0'
 
 module.exports = { MODULE_API_VERSION }
diff --git a/server/src/router/v1/public/events.controller.js b/server/src/router/v1/public/events.controller.js
index a156300..b7abc13 100644
--- a/server/src/router/v1/public/events.controller.js
+++ b/server/src/router/v1/public/events.controller.js
@@ -50,7 +50,12 @@ async function getEvent(req, res) {
     // string: the model matches it against this definition's own runs and
     // ignores anything else, so a garbage value renders the page rather than an
     // error. See the model's note on why it is not refused.
-    const result = await events.event(req.params.slug, { runId: req.query.run || null })
+    // `userId` is the reader's, when they sent a session (`optionalAuth`): a
+    // module's progress line may show a signed-in reader more than a stranger.
+    const result = await events.event(req.params.slug, {
+      runId: req.query.run || null,
+      userId: req.user && req.user.id != null ? req.user.id : null,
+    })
     return answer(res, result)
   } catch (err) {
     return fail(res, err, 'public event')
diff --git a/server/src/router/v1/public/events.router.js b/server/src/router/v1/public/events.router.js
index 7d451b7..0972975 100644
--- a/server/src/router/v1/public/events.router.js
+++ b/server/src/router/v1/public/events.router.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ const express = require('express')
 
 const ctrl = require('./events.controller')
 const siteMode = require('../../../middleware/siteMode')
+const { optionalAuth } = require('../../../auth/session.middleware')
 
 const eventsRouter = express.Router()
 
@@ -48,12 +49,14 @@ eventsRouter.get(
   '/:slug',
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Events']
   // #swagger.summary = 'One event'
-  // #swagger.description = 'The storyline, the arc it belongs to, what is live, what is next, what happened recently, and a results table once one has been published. A draft, an archived definition and an unlisted one all answer 404, indistinguishable from a slug that never existed. The plan behind the event — phases, steps, actions and their params — is never published; a live run carries the LABEL of the phase it is in and nothing more.'
+  // #swagger.description = 'The storyline, the arc it belongs to, what is live, what is next, what happened recently, and a results table once one has been published. A draft, an archived definition and an unlisted one all answer 404, indistinguishable from a slug that never existed. The plan behind the event — phases, steps, actions and their params — is never published; a live run carries the LABEL of the phase it is in and nothing more, and `progress`: how its steps stand, each line a label with either `left` of `of` or a `percent`, in the words the steps\' modules chose. What a module shows may depend on who is reading, so sending a session is optional and may widen it.'
   // #swagger.parameters['slug'] = { in: 'path', required: true, schema: { type: 'string' }, description: 'The event slug.' }
   // #swagger.parameters['run'] = { in: 'query', required: false, schema: { type: 'string' }, description: 'Which occurrence the results are about — what an announcement\'s link carries, so a mail about last Friday does not open next Friday\'s. A run that does not belong to this event is ignored rather than refused.' }
+  // #swagger.security = [{}, { "cookieAuth": [] }, { "bearerAuth": [] }]
   /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'The event', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/PublicEvent" } } } } */
   /* #swagger.responses[404] = { description: 'No such public event', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/Error" } } } } */
   siteMode,
+  optionalAuth,
   ctrl.getEvent,
 )
 
diff --git a/server/swagger/swagger-output.json b/server/swagger/swagger-output.json
index b1bc629..9e2387d 100644
--- a/server/swagger/swagger-output.json
+++ b/server/swagger/swagger-output.json
@@ -17348,7 +17348,7 @@
           "Public · Events"
         ],
         "summary": "One event",
-        "description": "The storyline, the arc it belongs to, what is live, what is next, what happened recently, and a results table once one has been published. A draft, an archived definition and an unlisted one all answer 404, indistinguishable from a slug that never existed. The plan behind the event — phases, steps, actions and their params — is never published; a live run carries the LABEL of the phase it is in and nothing more.",
+        "description": "The storyline, the arc it belongs to, what is live, what is next, what happened recently, and a results table once one has been published. A draft, an archived definition and an unlisted one all answer 404, indistinguishable from a slug that never existed. The plan behind the event — phases, steps, actions and their params — is never published; a live run carries the LABEL of the phase it is in and nothing more, and `progress`: how its steps stand, each line a label with either `left` of `of` or a `percent`, in the words the steps\\' modules chose. What a module shows may depend on who is reading, so sending a session is optional and may widen it.",
         "parameters": [
           {
             "name": "slug",
@@ -17393,7 +17393,16 @@
           "503": {
             "description": "Service Unavailable"
           }
-        }
+        },
+        "security": [
+          {},
+          {
+            "cookieAuth": []
+          },
+          {
+            "bearerAuth": []
+          }
+        ]
       }
     },
     "/api/v1/public/modules": {
@@ -26751,6 +26760,100 @@
                     "example": true
                   }
                 }
+              },
+              "progress": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "array"
+                  },
+                  "description": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "On the live occurrence only: how its steps stand, in step order, in the words their modules chose (MODULE_API 1.12.0). Each line is a `label` with either `left` of `of` (\"Bandits: 3 of 8 left\") or a `percent` (\"The Juggernaut: 62%\"). Core renders them as text and interprets nothing. Empty when no step has anything to say, or its module did not answer in time."
+                  },
+                  "items": {
+                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/PublicEventProgressLine"
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "PublicEventProgressLine": {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+          "type": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "object"
+          },
+          "description": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "One line of a live run’s progress: a `label` with either `left` of `of`, or a `percent`. Never both."
+          },
+          "properties": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+              "label": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "string"
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "Bandits"
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "left": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "integer"
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "number",
+                    "example": 3
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "of": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "integer"
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "number",
+                    "example": 8
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "percent": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "integer"
+                  },
+                  "minimum": {
+                    "type": "number",
+                    "example": 0
+                  },
+                  "maximum": {
+                    "type": "number",
+                    "example": 100
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "number",
+                    "example": 62
+                  }
+                }
               }
             }
           }
diff --git a/server/swagger/swagger.js b/server/swagger/swagger.js
index 9601cb7..fcb74b2 100644
--- a/server/swagger/swagger.js
+++ b/server/swagger/swagger.js
@@ -1318,6 +1318,23 @@ const doc = {
               'The LABEL of the phase a live run is in, resolved from the version the run pinned. Null unless it is live. The plan behind the event — phases, steps, actions and their params — is never published.',
           },
           resultsPublishedAt: { type: 'string', format: 'date-time', nullable: true },
+          progress: {
+            type: 'array',
+            description:
+              'On the live occurrence only: how its steps stand, in step order, in the words their modules chose (MODULE_API 1.12.0). Each line is a `label` with either `left` of `of` ("Bandits: 3 of 8 left") or a `percent` ("The Juggernaut: 62%"). Core renders them as text and interprets nothing. Empty when no step has anything to say, or its module did not answer in time.',
+            items: { $ref: '#/components/schemas/PublicEventProgressLine' },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      PublicEventProgressLine: {
+        type: 'object',
+        description:
+          'One line of a live run’s progress: a `label` with either `left` of `of`, or a `percent`. Never both.',
+        properties: {
+          label: { type: 'string', example: 'Bandits' },
+          left: { type: 'integer', example: 3 },
+          of: { type: 'integer', example: 8 },
+          percent: { type: 'integer', minimum: 0, maximum: 100, example: 62 },
         },
       },
       PublicEventParticipant: {
diff --git a/server/test/eventActionRegistry.test.js b/server/test/eventActionRegistry.test.js
index 30e0e94..095d9b9 100644
--- a/server/test/eventActionRegistry.test.js
+++ b/server/test/eventActionRegistry.test.js
@@ -187,6 +187,16 @@ test("reversible: 'ledger' without revert() is refused at registration", () => {
   assert.equal(typeof registries.eventAction('demo.thing.do').revert, 'function')
 })
 
+test('progress() is optional, must be a function, and never reaches the catalog (1.12.0)', () => {
+  assert.throws(() => register('demo', [ok({ progress: { label: 'x' } })]), /progress must be a function/)
+  register('demo', [ok({ progress: async () => ({ label: 'Things', left: 1, of: 2 }) })])
+  assert.equal(typeof registries.eventAction('demo.thing.do').progress, 'function')
+  assert.equal(registries.allEventActions().find((a) => a.id === 'demo.thing.do').progress, undefined)
+  registries._reset()
+  register('demo', [ok()])
+  assert.equal(registries.eventAction('demo.thing.do').progress, null)
+})
+
 test('perform() is required and cost must be a function', () => {
   assert.throws(() => register('demo', [ok({ perform: undefined })]), /has no perform\(\)/)
   assert.throws(() => register('demo', [ok({ cost: { 'demo.things': 1 } })]), /cost must be a function/)
diff --git a/server/test/eventModuleContract.test.js b/server/test/eventModuleContract.test.js
index 3d9c496..03210bb 100644
--- a/server/test/eventModuleContract.test.js
+++ b/server/test/eventModuleContract.test.js
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ test('the version a module declares against satisfies ^1.10.0', () => {
   // 1.10.0 loading — Module-uo declares exactly `^1.10.0` — and this is the
   // assertion that says it does. The number itself is pinned in version.js.
   assert.ok(semver.satisfies(MODULE_API_VERSION, '^1.10.0'), MODULE_API_VERSION)
-  assert.equal(MODULE_API_VERSION, '1.11.0')
+  assert.equal(MODULE_API_VERSION, '1.12.0')
 })
 
 test('a module registers actions, budgets, leases and option sources', () => {
diff --git a/server/test/eventProgress.test.js b/server/test/eventProgress.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6dd91d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/test/eventProgress.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+// ── A live run's progress lines (MODULE_API 1.12.0) ────────────────────────
+//
+// `events/progress.js`: core asks each step whose action declares `progress()`
+// how it stands, and publishes two shapes it never interprets. What is worth
+// testing is the contract's edges:
+//
+//   • only the two shapes pass, a count and a percentage, each with a label;
+//     anything else is dropped, never repaired
+//   • a module that throws, answers late or is uninstalled costs a line, not the
+//     page: `forRun` never rejects
+//   • a step is asked with ITS ledger rows only, still held, and the reader's id
+//   • one answer per run and reader for the cache window
+//
+// Stubbed at the `.db` layer and the registry, like `eventPublic.test.js`.
+
+process.env.DB_HOST = '127.0.0.1'
+process.env.DB_PORT = '59999'
+
+const { test, beforeEach, afterEach, after } = require('node:test')
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict')
+
+const progress = require('../src/events/progress')
+const registries = require('../src/modules/registries')
+const stepsDb = require('../src/model/events/eventRunSteps.db')
+const resourcesDb = require('../src/model/events/eventRunResources.db')
+const db = require('../src/utils/db')
+
+after(() => db.close())
+
+const originals = { steps: { ...stepsDb }, resources: { ...resourcesDb } }
+
+let steps
+let ledger
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  registries._reset()
+  progress._reset()
+  steps = []
+  ledger = []
+  stepsDb.listForRun = async () => steps
+  resourcesDb.forRun = async () => ledger
+})
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  Object.assign(stepsDb, originals.steps)
+  Object.assign(resourcesDb, originals.resources)
+  registries._reset()
+  progress._reset()
+})
+
+const register = (entries) => {
+  const api = registries.stage('demo')
+  api.registerEventActions(entries)
+  registries.apply(api.staged)
+}
+
+const action = (over = {}) => ({
+  id: 'demo.npc.place',
+  label: 'Place',
+  risk: 'change',
+  reversible: 'ledger',
+  perform: async () => ({ ok: true }),
+  revert: async () => ({ ok: true }),
+  ...over,
+})
+
+const step = (id, actionId = 'demo.npc.place', params = {}) => ({
+  id,
+  action_id: actionId,
+  params,
+  idempotency_key: `key-${id}`,
+})
+
+const RUN = { id: 7, scope: '' }
+
+test('only a count or a percent, each with a label, is a line', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(progress.toLine({ label: 'Bandits', left: 3, of: 8 }, 'a'), { label: 'Bandits', left: 3, of: 8 })
+  assert.deepEqual(progress.toLine({ label: 'The Juggernaut', percent: 61.6 }, 'a'), { label: 'The Juggernaut', percent: 62 })
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine(null, 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine('3 of 8', 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ left: 3, of: 8 }, 'a'), null, 'no label')
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ label: 'x'.repeat(progress.MAX_LABEL + 1), left: 1, of: 1 }, 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ label: 'Both', left: 1, of: 2, percent: 50 }, 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ label: 'More left than placed', left: 9, of: 8 }, 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ label: 'Nothing placed', left: 0, of: 0 }, 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ label: 'Half', left: 1.5, of: 3 }, 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ label: 'Over', percent: 101 }, 'a'), null)
+  assert.equal(progress.toLine({ label: 'Text', percent: '50' }, 'a'), null)
+  // Extra keys do not ride along: core publishes what it validated.
+  assert.deepEqual(progress.toLine({ label: 'B', left: 0, of: 1, secret: 'x' }, 'a'), { label: 'B', left: 0, of: 1 })
+})
+
+test('each step is asked with its own held rows and the reader, in step order', async () => {
+  const seen = []
+  register([
+    action({
+      progress: async (env) => {
+        seen.push(env)
+        return { label: `Step ${env.stepId}`, left: env.resources.length, of: 2 }
+      },
+    }),
+  ])
+  steps = [step(1), step(2)]
+  ledger = [
+    { step_id: 1, kind: 'npc', ref: 'a', payload: null, status: 'confirmed' },
+    { step_id: 1, kind: 'npc', ref: 'b', payload: null, status: 'reverted' },
+    { step_id: 2, kind: 'npc', ref: 'c', payload: null, status: 'confirmed' },
+    { step_id: 2, kind: 'npc', ref: 'd', payload: null, status: 'pending' },
+    { step_id: 2, kind: resourcesDb.STEP_KIND, ref: '2', payload: null, status: 'confirmed' },
+  ]
+  const lines = await progress.forRun(RUN, { viewer: { userId: 42 } })
+  assert.deepEqual(lines, [
+    { label: 'Step 1', left: 1, of: 2 },
+    { label: 'Step 2', left: 2, of: 2 },
+  ])
+  assert.deepEqual(seen[0].resources, [{ kind: 'npc', ref: 'a', payload: null }])
+  assert.deepEqual(seen[0].viewer, { userId: 42 })
+  assert.equal(seen[0].idempotencyKey, 'key-1')
+})
+
+test('a step whose action has no progress() is not asked, and says nothing', async () => {
+  register([action(), action({ id: 'demo.zone.open', reversible: 'none', revert: undefined })])
+  steps = [step(1), step(2, 'demo.zone.open'), step(3, 'demo.uninstalled.thing')]
+  assert.deepEqual(await progress.forRun(RUN), [])
+})
+
+test('a module that throws, answers late or answers nonsense costs a line, never the page', async () => {
+  register([
+    action({
+      progress: async (env) => {
+        if (env.stepId === 1) throw new Error('sidecar down')
+        if (env.stepId === 2) return new Promise(() => {})
+        if (env.stepId === 3) return { label: 'Bad', left: -1, of: 2 }
+        return { label: 'Good', percent: 40 }
+      },
+    }),
+  ])
+  steps = [step(1), step(2), step(3), step(4)]
+  const started = Date.now()
+  const lines = await progress.forRun(RUN)
+  assert.deepEqual(lines, [{ label: 'Good', percent: 40 }])
+  assert.ok(Date.now() - started < progress.PROGRESS_BUDGET_MS + 1500, 'the deadline held')
+})
+
+test('a database that fails is an empty list, not a rejection', async () => {
+  register([action({ progress: async () => ({ label: 'x', left: 1, of: 1 }) })])
+  stepsDb.listForRun = async () => {
+    throw new Error('pool closed')
+  }
+  assert.deepEqual(await progress.forRun(RUN), [])
+})
+
+test('one answer per run and reader within the window', async () => {
+  let asked = 0
+  register([
+    action({
+      progress: async () => {
+        asked++
+        return { label: 'Bandits', left: 3, of: 8 }
+      },
+    }),
+  ])
+  steps = [step(1)]
+  let t = 1_000_000
+  const now = () => t
+  await progress.forRun(RUN, { now })
+  await progress.forRun(RUN, { now })
+  assert.equal(asked, 1, 'cached for the same reader')
+  await progress.forRun(RUN, { viewer: { userId: 5 }, now })
+  assert.equal(asked, 2, 'a different reader is asked for')
+  t += progress.CACHE_MS
+  await progress.forRun(RUN, { now })
+  assert.equal(asked, 3, 'asked again once the window passed')
+})
diff --git a/server/test/eventPublic.test.js b/server/test/eventPublic.test.js
index f94b2fc..c0437a8 100644
--- a/server/test/eventPublic.test.js
+++ b/server/test/eventPublic.test.js
@@ -343,6 +343,31 @@ test('a live run carries its phase LABEL, and never the spec behind it', async (
   assert.equal(JSON.stringify(page).includes('core.announce'), false)
 })
 
+test('only the live occurrence carries progress, asked for the reader (1.12.0)', async () => {
+  const progress = require('../src/events/progress')
+  const original = progress.forRun
+  const asked = []
+  progress.forRun = async (run, { viewer }) => {
+    asked.push({ run: run.id, viewer })
+    return [{ label: 'Bandits', left: 3, of: 8 }]
+  }
+  try {
+    store.runs[0].status = 'running'
+    const page = await publicModel.event('the-yew-invasion', { userId: 42 })
+    assert.deepEqual(page.event.current.progress, [{ label: 'Bandits', left: 3, of: 8 }])
+    assert.deepEqual(asked, [{ run: 3692, viewer: { userId: 42 } }])
+    for (const o of [...page.event.upcoming, ...page.event.past]) assert.equal(o.progress, undefined)
+
+    store.runs[0].status = 'completed'
+    asked.length = 0
+    const done = await publicModel.event('the-yew-invasion')
+    assert.equal(done.event.current, null)
+    assert.equal(asked.length, 0, 'a finished run is not asked')
+  } finally {
+    progress.forRun = original
+  }
+})
+
 test('a phase the pinned version does not name renders nothing rather than an id', async () => {
   store.runs[0].status = 'running'
   store.runs[0].current_phase = 'a-phase-since-renamed'