diff --git a/infra/build-server/remote-run.sh b/infra/build-server/remote-run.sh
index c0e0c196..7cc7ba43 100755
--- a/infra/build-server/remote-run.sh
+++ b/infra/build-server/remote-run.sh
@@ -208,14 +208,16 @@ if [ "${1:-}" = --self-test-slots ]; then
   # 4b. a run keeps off leased cores: with core 1 leased, a 2-core bounded run on a 2-core box says so (the exclusion line)
   # the lease outlives the fake's slot take and settle (a loaded box took them past 2 s and the first version read no lease)
   ( exec 9>>"$t/locks/core-$(( $(nproc) - 1 ))"; flock 9; sleep 12 ) & sleep 0.5; BR_CORES=2 BR_NICE=10 fake p 1; wait
-  grep -q 'are leased to a measurement; this run keeps to' "$t/p.out" || fail "a run beside a leased core did not exclude it: $(cat "$t/p.out" | tail -3)"
+  # the bounded run leases its own pool cores, so the measurement's core is never among them (the pool line names the set)
+  grep -q 'bounded pool: 2 core(s) leased' "$t/p.out" || fail "a bounded run did not lease its pool cores: $(cat "$t/p.out" | tail -3)"
+  grep -E 'bounded pool' "$t/p.out" | grep -qE "[(,]$(( $(nproc) - 1 ))[,.]" && fail "a bounded run leased the measurement's core"
   # 5. a probing build leaves a busy slot's holder line intact
   fake f 3 & sleep 1.2; fake g 1 & sleep 0.3
   grep -q 'self-test f' "$t/locks/build-0" || fail "the holder line of the busy slot build-0 was lost when another build probed it: '$(cat "$t/locks/build-0")'"
   wait
   # 6. the log carries the job count and the measure flag
   grep -q '"jobs":44' "$t/log/builds.jsonl" && grep -q '"measure":true' "$t/log/builds.jsonl" || fail "builds.jsonl lacks jobs or measure fields"
-  echo "self-test-slots: two concurrent builds 44 each, a lone build 88, a quiet blocks an unbounded build and not a bounded suite, a quiet is refused beside a slot or a lease, a run keeps off leased cores, a probe keeps the holder line, the log carries jobs and measure"; exit 0
+  echo "self-test-slots: two concurrent builds 44 each, a lone build 88, a quiet blocks an unbounded build and not a bounded suite, a quiet is refused beside a slot or a lease, a bounded run leases its pool cores clear of a measurement, a probe keeps the holder line, the log carries jobs and measure"; exit 0
 fi
 
 # One run per worktree directory at a time (6 October 2026, 19:51:09 UK: two runs of one worktree started in the same second;
@@ -408,7 +410,7 @@ keeper_pid=""
 keep_line() {   # <file> <waited>; the keeper also refreshes the file's mtime (a stopped holder's file goes stale) and reaps stopped
   # holders of any lease, quiet or slot after 5 minutes through lease.sh (/srv/builds/_bin/lease reap, one line each in reaped.log)
   local f="$1" w="$2"
-  ( exec {mfd}>&- {fd}>&- 2>/dev/null; [ -n "${WT_FD:-}" ] && exec {WT_FD}>&-; while kill -0 "$BR_PID" 2>/dev/null; do [ -s "$f" ] || holder_line "$w" > "$f" 2>/dev/null; touch "$f" 2>/dev/null
+  ( exec {mfd}>&- {fd}>&- 2>/dev/null; [ -n "${WT_FD:-}" ] && exec {WT_FD}>&-; for pfd in "${pool_fds[@]}"; do exec {pfd}>&-; done; while kill -0 "$BR_PID" 2>/dev/null; do [ -s "$f" ] || holder_line "$w" > "$f" 2>/dev/null; touch "$f" 2>/dev/null
       [ -x /srv/builds/_bin/lease ] && IGNEUM_BUILD_SLOTS_DIR="$SLOTS_DIR" IGNEUM_BUILD_LOG_DIR="$LOG_DIR" /srv/builds/_bin/lease reap >/dev/null 2>&1
       sleep "${BR_KEEP_S:-20}"; done ) &
   keeper_pid=$!
@@ -469,18 +471,42 @@ BR_RUN_LOG="$RUN_LOG_DIR/$BR_HOST-$BR_T0-$BR_PID.log"; export BR_RUN_LOG
 # (since the third slot on build-2, 7 Oct 2026: a bounded run takes the band its SLOT owns, counted from the top: slot 0 the last N
 # cores, slot 1 the N below, slot 2 the N below that, so three bounded runs never share a core; a band below core 0 falls back to
 # the last N)
-# (the project lead, 7 Oct 2026 19:4x BST, both boxes to near max: a bounded run takes the LAST N cores, N = 88 by default, leaving the first 8
-# to the release builds, the seed and the observer processes; with N above half the box the slots share the band, and nice 10 plus
-# the per-slot jobs rule keep two suites fair; a smaller N (IGNEUM_BOUND_CORES) returns to disjoint bands per slot when it fits)
+# The bounded POOL (main, 7 Oct 2026 20:0x BST: with every bounded run taking 88 threads the boxes read load 280 to 350; the ceiling
+# is per BOX, not per job). Cores 8 to 95 (the first 8 reserved for the release builds, the seed and the observers) form one pool of
+# 88 per box; a bounded run leases free cores from it (one flock per core, the same core-<n> files a pinned measurement leases, so
+# measurements and suites share the pool), up to BR_CORES (88 by default, or the caller's --jobs), and never fewer than
+# BR_POOL_MIN (16): when fewer are free it waits in the queue (its wait-<pid> file says so) and takes them as they free; CARGO_BUILD_JOBS
+# becomes the count taken and taskset the set taken. So the sum of bounded threads on a box never passes 88. An unbounded run
+# (nice 0, a gate or a release build) is outside the pool and keeps the full set.
 ncpu=$(nproc); cores_str="0-$((ncpu - 1))"
-if [ "${BR_CORES:-0}" -gt 0 ] && [ "${BR_CORES}" -lt "$ncpu" ]; then
-  band=0; case "${got:-}" in ''|measure) ;; *) band=$got ;; esac
-  lo=$((ncpu - BR_CORES * (band + 1))); [ "$lo" -ge 0 ] || lo=$((ncpu - BR_CORES))
-  cores_str="$lo-$((lo + BR_CORES - 1))"
+pool_fds=(); pool_cores=()
+pool_take() {   # <want> <min>: lease up to <want> free pool cores, at least <min>, waiting up to 2 h; sets pool_cores/pool_fds
+  local want="$1" min="$2" t0 c fd taken
+  t0=$(date +%s)
+  while :; do
+    taken=0; pool_fds=(); pool_cores=()
+    for ((c = ${BR_POOL_RESERVE:-8}; c < ncpu && taken < want; c++)); do
+      exec {fd}>>"$SLOTS_DIR/core-$c"
+      if flock -n "$fd"; then pool_fds+=("$fd"); pool_cores+=("$c"); taken=$((taken + 1)); else exec {fd}>&-; fi
+    done
+    if [ "$taken" -ge "$min" ]; then return 0; fi
+    for fd in "${pool_fds[@]}"; do exec {fd}>&-; done; pool_fds=(); pool_cores=()
+    [ -f "$waitfile" ] || { echo "build-remote: the bounded pool has $taken free core(s) (want $want, at least $min): waiting for the pool" >&2; holder_line "$(( $(date +%s) - BR_T0 ))" > "$waitfile"; }
+    [ $(( $(date +%s) - t0 )) -lt 7200 ] || give_up "the bounded pool"
+    sleep 10
+  done
+}
+if [ "${BR_CORES:-0}" -gt 0 ] && [ "${BR_CORES}" -lt "$ncpu" ] && [ "$got" != measure ]; then
+  want="$BR_CORES"; [ "${BR_JOBS_CAP:-0}" -gt 0 ] && [ "$BR_JOBS_CAP" -lt "$want" ] && want="$BR_JOBS_CAP"   # the class cap, lowered by an explicit --jobs
+  pool_take "$want" "$(( want < ${BR_POOL_MIN:-16} ? want : ${BR_POOL_MIN:-16} ))"
+  rm -f "$waitfile" 2>/dev/null
+  cores_str=$(printf '%s,' "${pool_cores[@]}"); cores_str=${cores_str%,}
+  BR_JOBS=${#pool_cores[@]}; export CARGO_BUILD_JOBS="$BR_JOBS" BR_JOBS
+  echo "build-remote: bounded pool: ${#pool_cores[@]} core(s) leased ($(echo "$cores_str" | cut -c1-60)...), CARGO_BUILD_JOBS=$BR_JOBS" >&2
 fi
 # leased cores (lease.sh: a pinned measurement's core-<n> flocks) are taken out of this run's set; a set that would be empty keeps
 # its cores (the measurement is told by its own lease line); the exclusion is said once
-if [ "$got" != measure ]; then
+if [ "$got" != measure ] && [ "${#pool_cores[@]}" = 0 ]; then
   leased=$(held_cores)
   if [ -n "$leased" ]; then
     kept=$(python3 -c '