diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index b3e7aae..5613b00 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ rather than restate it. Roughly in the order things happen at runtime:
 19. **[process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md) — the process lifecycle.** Built
     (M17): signals over IPC as the one lifecycle vocabulary every process speaks — the
     POSIX.1-1990 words with message delivery instead of stack hijack, the stable
-    `runtime.process` interface, exit reasons, published exit events any stateful
+    `process` module interface, exit reasons, published exit events any stateful
     service can subscribe to (the VFS releasing dead clients' handles), and the two
     iron rules (cleanup is the kernel's job; kill is not a signal).
 20. **[device-manager.md](device-manager.md) — the device manager.** Built (M18,
@@ -114,11 +114,11 @@ Start with the north star:
 - **[zig-self-hosting.md](zig-self-hosting.md) — running Zig on danos.** A design note
   (not built yet) on making danos a real Zig target (`-target x86_64-danos`) and
   eventually running the compiler on it. The key realisation: Zig 0.16 reduces an OS
-  port to **one seam** (`std.os.danos`), so we build `runtime.os` (→ that seam) plus a
-  thin `runtime.fs`, retire the `posix` shim, and follow a phased path to
+  port to **one seam** (`std.os.danos`), so we build an `os` seam module (→ that seam) plus
+  the thin `file-system` module, retire the `posix` shim, and follow a phased path to
   `zig build-exe hello.zig` running on danos — **not** Linux-ABI emulation.
 - **[threading.md](threading.md) — threads, the std-shaped way.** **Built** (M1–M6):
-  `runtime.Thread` mirrors `std.Thread`'s API (spawn/join/detach, Mutex/Condition/
+  the `thread` module's `Thread` mirrors `std.Thread`'s API (spawn/join/detach, Mutex/Condition/
   Semaphore) over a **private** thread ABI — several tasks sharing one address space via
   a `thread_spawn` syscall, futex-backed blocking, address-space refcounting. Why it's the
   native type and not literal `std.Thread` (the [private ABI](syscall.md)), and why
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ addressed as **`system/services/init`** — the repeated leaf resolves away:
 |----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
 | `system/services/init/init.zig`        | `system/services/init` → `/system/services/init` |
 | `system/drivers/ps2-bus/ps2-bus.zig`   | `system/drivers/ps2-bus` → `/system/drivers/ps2-bus` |
-| `library/runtime/runtime.zig`          | `library/runtime` (the `runtime` module)         |
+| `library/device/pci/pci.zig`           | `library/device/pci` (the `pci` module)          |
 
 In **source**, a sub-project is a directory so it can hold many files — the entry is
 `fat/fat.zig`, beside it `fat/engine.zig`, `fat/on-disk.zig`, and so on. When
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ A sub-project's extra files are reached through the module, never as separate pa
 ```
 system/          → /system   danos's own internals (the self-representation)
   boot-handoff.zig             the loader↔kernel contract (the `boot-handoff` module)
-  abi.zig                      the private kernel↔runtime syscall ABI (the `abi` module)
+  abi.zig                      the private kernel↔userspace syscall ABI (the `abi` module)
   parameters.zig  initial-ramdisk.zig   shared contracts
   kernel/                     IPC, memory, scheduling, the VFS root, the private syscall dispatch
     architecture/x86_64/      the `architecture` module (never named by generic code)
@@ -245,10 +245,16 @@ system/          → /system   danos's own internals (the self-representation)
   services/    init/ fat/ device-manager/   system servers → /system/services (fat/ holds
                               fat.zig, engine.zig, on-disk.zig)
 library/         → /lib       libraries, one sub-directory each
-  runtime/                    the danos-native runtime + file API (fs) — the stable application ABI
-  device/                     device code by domain — mmio/ model/ pci/ usb/ acpi/ — each a
-                              shareable data module (device-abi, pci-class, usb-abi/ids,
-                              acpi-ids) plus a logic module (mmio, pci, usb, aml)
+  kernel/                     the danos-native system library (kernel32-style): the syscall
+                              surface split by concern — ipc, memory (heap/dma/shared-memory),
+                              process, time, logging, file-system, thread, service, plus the
+                              system-call stubs and the start/root entry shim
+  device/                     device code by domain — mmio/ model/ pci/ usb/ acpi/ driver/
+                              block/ — each a shareable data module (device-abi, pci-class,
+                              usb-abi/ids, acpi-ids) plus a logic module (mmio, pci, usb, aml,
+                              driver — the device-access + device-manager-hello client)
+  client/                     userspace service clients (display, input) — a program's view of
+                              a service, layered over that service's protocol
   protocol/                   driver↔service wire contracts (vfs block display scanout input
                               power device-manager usb-transfer), one module per directory
 boot/            → /boot      the loaders
@@ -260,11 +266,11 @@ tools/  test/                 host-side build + QEMU test harness
 name. A protocol is the seam between a low-level driver and the higher-level service it
 serves — block ↔ the filesystem, a scanout driver ↔ the compositor — so both sides depend
 on the contract, not on each other, and the contract belongs to neither sub-project. A
-`runtime` client may *wrap* one for application convenience (`runtime.fs` over
-`vfs-protocol`, `runtime.block`, `runtime.display`, `runtime.input`), but the module is the
-boundary and `runtime` re-exports no protocol. A driver's private wire to its *hardware*
-(virtio-gpu's command set) is not a service seam and stays a driver-private file, beside
-the transport that reaches the same device.
+client module may *wrap* one for application convenience (the `file-system` module over
+`vfs-protocol`, and the `block`, `display`, `input` clients over theirs), but the protocol
+module is the boundary — a client re-exports no protocol, it imports it by name. A driver's
+private wire to its *hardware* (virtio-gpu's command set) is not a service seam and stays a
+driver-private file, beside the transport that reaches the same device.
 
 **Device code lives in `library/device/<domain>/`**, grouped by what it is about (pci, usb,
 acpi, and the cross-cutting device model) and split by dependency weight: a data module of
@@ -275,7 +281,7 @@ marshals across the syscall boundary), and nothing with logic or a taxonomy in i
 lone pure-data import is the only edge from `system/kernel/` into `library/`.
 
 There is **no POSIX/C compatibility layer today**: danos programs do file I/O through the
-danos-native `runtime.fs` (open/read/write/list over the VFS). A hand-rolled POSIX shim
+danos-native `file-system` module (open/read/write/list over the VFS). A hand-rolled POSIX shim
 (`library/posix/`) was retired as premature — the real POSIX/C surface will come later
 from the `std.os.danos` seam (and, eventually, musl) when danos becomes a Zig target (see
 [zig-self-hosting.md](zig-self-hosting.md)). When it does, the foreign-ABI naming
@@ -288,7 +294,7 @@ exception in [coding-standards.md](coding-standards.md) applies to that seam.
 | Boot methods (one per way of booting the kernel) | `boot/` — `efi.zig` (UEFI) → `BOOTX64.efi` |
 | Kernel entry, panic, bring-up | `system/kernel/kernel.zig` |
 | Loader↔kernel handoff (`BootInformation`, `Framebuffer`, `MemoryMap`, VM layout) | `system/boot-handoff.zig` |
-| Private kernel↔runtime syscall ABI (`SystemCall`, mmap prot flags, `page_size`) — the runtime speaks it, not apps | `system/abi.zig` |
+| Private kernel↔userspace syscall ABI (`SystemCall`, mmap prot flags, `page_size`) — the system library speaks it, not apps | `system/abi.zig` |
 | Device wire types (`DeviceDescriptor`, `DeviceClass`, …) | `library/device/model/device-abi.zig` |
 | Physical frame allocator | `system/kernel/pmm.zig` |
 | Kernel heap (`std.mem.Allocator`) | `system/kernel/heap.zig` |
@@ -304,7 +310,8 @@ exception in [coding-standards.md](coding-standards.md) applies to that seam.
 | Framebuffer text console (mirrors to serial) | `system/kernel/console.zig` |
 | In-kernel test cases | `system/kernel/tests.zig` |
 | Arch-specific kernel code (`halt`, GDT/IDT/TSS, exception + interrupt stubs, page tables, APIC/IO-APIC/timer, serial, linker script) | `system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/` |
-| danos-native runtime (`runtime`): syscall wrappers, heap, IPC, device access, the file API (`fs`) — the stable application ABI | `library/runtime/` |
+| danos-native system library (kernel32-style): the syscall surface by concern — `ipc`, `memory`, `process`, `time`, `logging`, `file-system`, `thread`, `service` — the stable application ABI | `library/kernel/` |
+| Service clients (a program's view of a service) and device clients | `library/client/` (display, input), `library/device/driver` |
 | System services (init, the `fat` filesystem, the device-manager) | `system/services/` |
 | Device drivers, one sub-project each (`pci-bus`, `ps2-bus`, `usb-xhci-bus` bus drivers) | `system/drivers/` |
 | Build + `run-x86-64` (QEMU/OVMF) + `release-x86-64` (the flashable ISO) | `build.zig` |
diff --git a/docs/coding-standards.md b/docs/coding-standards.md
index 6d35f75..23b3c34 100644
--- a/docs/coding-standards.md
+++ b/docs/coding-standards.md
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ Three, and only three.
 
    **This exception is scoped to a file that *is* a foreign ABI, and nothing else.**
    danos has no such file today: the old `library/posix/` compatibility shim was retired
-   once its callers moved to the danos-native `runtime.fs`, since a hand-rolled POSIX
+   once its callers moved to the danos-native `file_system`, since a hand-rolled POSIX
    layer is premature until danos actually needs it (see
    [zig-self-hosting.md](zig-self-hosting.md)). The exception will apply again to the
    `std.os.danos` seam when danos becomes a real Zig target — that module *is* the C-ABI
@@ -141,8 +141,8 @@ single word or acronym needs no hyphen: `scheduler.zig`, `paging.zig`, `apic.zig
 conventions above — `snake_case` — because it's an identifier, not a filename.)
 
 **A sub-project's entry point repeats its directory's name** — `init/init.zig`,
-`runtime/runtime.zig`, `ps2-bus/ps2-bus.zig` — and the sub-project is addressed by the
-*directory* (`system/services/init`, `library/runtime`), with the repeated leaf
+`pci/pci.zig`, `ps2-bus/ps2-bus.zig` — and the sub-project is addressed by the
+*directory* (`system/services/init`, `library/device/pci`), with the repeated leaf
 resolving away. See the repository-layout section of [README.md](README.md).
 
 ## Named values, not magic numbers
diff --git a/docs/device-manager.md b/docs/device-manager.md
index 8fce9ae..26473e8 100644
--- a/docs/device-manager.md
+++ b/docs/device-manager.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ for drivers.
 How processes stop, reload, and report their deaths is deliberately **not** in this
 document: that is the universal lifecycle every danos process speaks —
 [process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md), signals over IPC and the stable
-`runtime.process` interface. The device manager is that design's first serious
+`process` interface. The device manager is that design's first serious
 customer, not its owner. Its own protocol contains nothing lifecycle-shaped; a
 driver is stopped, health-checked, and buried exactly like any other process.
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ way.
 
 Increments 1–4 are the lifecycle prerequisites and live in
 [process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md) (claim cleanup on death, exit reasons,
-published exit events, signals + `runtime.process`). On top of those:
+published exit events, signals + `process`). On top of those:
 
 5. **device-manager-protocol**: `hello`, supervised spawn with restart policy;
    usb-xhci-bus becomes the first conforming driver.
diff --git a/docs/display.md b/docs/display.md
index a52f835..ca7db33 100644
--- a/docs/display.md
+++ b/docs/display.md
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ rest of the system hasn't had to face:
      ▼   reached by name (ipc_lookup); clients drive it over the display protocol
   ┌────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┐
   drawing clients (v1)                  surface clients (deferred)
-  runtime.display commands:             runtime.display surfaces:
+  display commands:             display surfaces:
     create_layer / configure_layer        shared_memory_create → pass as a capability →
     fill_rect / blit_tile / damage         the compositor maps & composites the
     present                                client-rendered bitmap directly
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ The bring-up sequence mirrors a hardware driver's — it is the
 [`usb-xhci-bus` `initialise`](../system/drivers/usb-xhci-bus/usb-xhci-bus.zig) shape
 (claim → `mmio_map` → run loop) — and the request/reply service shell is the
 [FAT](../system/services/fat/fat.zig) / [input](../system/services/input/input.zig) shape
-([`runtime.service.run`](../library/runtime/service.zig) with a `protocol.zig` of
+([`service.run`](../library/kernel/service.zig) with a `protocol.zig` of
 `extern struct` messages and an `Operation` tag).
 
 **One process, for now.** v1 is a *single* service that both owns the framebuffer and
@@ -222,13 +222,13 @@ pacing on backends that have none (all of them today; see
 [display-v2.md](display-v2.md), "Fenced is not vsync"). Bring-up paths that must put
 pixels on screen synchronously (initialisation, the self-checks) bypass the clock.
 
-## `runtime.display`
+## `display`
 
-Clients speak the protocol through a new [`library/runtime/display.zig`](../library/runtime/runtime.zig),
-the [`runtime.block`](../library/runtime/block.zig) shape (a cached `.display` lookup
+Clients speak the protocol through a new [`library/client/display/display.zig`](../library/client/display/display.zig),
+the [`block`](../library/device/block/block.zig) shape (a cached `.display` lookup
 with a boot-race retry): `display.info()`, a `Layer` handle with `fill` / `blitTile` /
 `damage`, and `present()`. Application code never issues the raw syscalls — it calls the
-runtime, as with every other danos service.
+client module, as with every other danos service.
 
 ## The cursor: a mouse-listener thread feeding the compositor
 
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ thread** beside the compositor loop.
   the compositor — so no lock guards the framebuffer. A parked `next()` leaves its core
   free to halt ([halting.md](halting.md)).
 - **The channel.** A single-slot *latest-value* cell (`CursorChannel`) guarded by a
-  `runtime.Thread.Mutex`: the renderer wants where the cursor *is now*, not a replay of
+  `Thread.Mutex`: the renderer wants where the cursor *is now*, not a replay of
   every delta, so a new position overwrites the old. The listener also **pokes** the
   compositor awake — the main loop is parked in `replyWait`, so the listener posts a
   zero-payload `ipc.send` to the compositor's endpoint, which arrives as a
diff --git a/docs/driver-model.md b/docs/driver-model.md
index 45af635..7f5adef 100644
--- a/docs/driver-model.md
+++ b/docs/driver-model.md
@@ -105,7 +105,9 @@ module outlived it, which is rather the point.) The pattern generalises directly
 
 ```
 library/
-  runtime/          module "runtime" — syscalls, ipc, lifecycle, memory, threads, log, fs
+  kernel/           the system library (kernel32-style): the syscall surface split by concern
+                    — ipc, memory (heap/dma/shared-memory), process, time, logging,
+                    file-system, thread, service, plus system-call stubs + start/root
   device/           device code grouped by domain; each domain splits into a shareable
                     data module (enums/wire types, std-only) and a logic module (mmio/IPC)
     mmio/           module "mmio"    — typed volatile register access + barriers   [M14]
@@ -113,13 +115,16 @@ library/
     pci/            "pci-class" (data) + "pci"             — config/BAR/capability walk (Function)
     usb/            "usb-abi" + "usb-ids" (data) + "usb"   — descriptors, control/interrupt/bulk client
     acpi/           "acpi-ids" (data) + "aml"              — _HID names, the AML interpreter
+    driver/         module "driver"                        — device-access syscalls + device-manager hello
+    block/          module "block"                         — the block-device client (a device type)
+  client/           userspace service clients — display, input (a program's view of a service)
   protocol/         driver <-> service wire contracts, one module per directory
     vfs/ block/ display/ scanout/ input/ power/ device-manager/ usb-transfer/
 
 system/drivers/     one sub-project each → /system/drivers (no `d` suffix)
-  usb-xhci-bus/  HCD + bus driver    imports runtime, usb, mmio, usb-transfer-protocol
-  usb-hid/       class driver        imports runtime, usb, input-protocol
-  virtio-gpu/    scanout driver      imports runtime, pci, mmio, display-/scanout-protocol
+  usb-xhci-bus/  HCD + bus driver    imports usb, mmio, usb-transfer-protocol   (+ kernel modules)
+  usb-hid/       class driver        imports usb, input-protocol                (+ kernel modules)
+  virtio-gpu/    scanout driver      imports pci, mmio, display-/scanout-protocol (+ kernel modules)
 ```
 
 The split by *dependency weight* is what lets the microkernel stay out of device
@@ -134,7 +139,9 @@ private wire to its *hardware* — virtio-gpu's command set — is not that; it
 driver-private file, like the virtio-pci transport beside it.
 
 The build side of this has since landed: [`addUserBinary`](build.zig) injects the
-default modules (`runtime`, `mmio`, `xkeyboard-config`, `acpi-ids`) into every user
+default modules — the library/kernel concern modules (`ipc`, `memory`, `process`, `time`,
+`logging`, `file-system`, `thread`, `service`), the device/service clients (`driver`,
+`block`, `display`, `input`), plus `mmio`, `xkeyboard-config`, `acpi-ids` — into every user
 binary, and per-binary extras — protocol modules, bus logic — are added with
 `programModule(exe).addImport(...)`. That's the *entire* mechanism — Zig modules
 already give you everything else.
@@ -156,10 +163,10 @@ class driver, the device manager, or the kernel may share them freely.
   and a `received_cap` return (r8): an endpoint travels with a message, installed into
   the receiver's handle table (shared, refcount-bumped — a copy, not a move). A full
   table fails `-ENOSPC` and does not half-deliver. This is the "open" primitive — a bus
-  driver mints a per-device endpoint and hands it to a class driver. The runtime exposes
-  `callCap` and `replyWait(..., send_cap)`, and class drivers consume them now: the
-  PS/2 keyboard and mouse drivers attach to ps2-bus this way, and `runtime.usb` /
-  `runtime.input` open their per-device and subscription channels with `callCap`.
+  driver mints a per-device endpoint and hands it to a class driver. The `ipc` module
+  exposes `callCap` and `replyWait(..., send_cap)`, and class drivers consume them now: the
+  PS/2 keyboard and mouse drivers attach to ps2-bus this way, and the `usb` / `input`
+  client modules open their per-device and subscription channels with `callCap`.
 - **M14** — DMA memory + the memory-ordering layer. `/lib/device/mmio` gives drivers typed
   volatile access and `memoryBarrier`/`readMemoryBarrier`/`writeMemoryBarrier` (per-arch); `dma_alloc`/`dma_free` grant
   physically-contiguous, pinned, uncacheable, reclaim-on-teardown buffers with the
diff --git a/docs/drivers.md b/docs/drivers.md
index d91ffe8..922aa87 100644
--- a/docs/drivers.md
+++ b/docs/drivers.md
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ the first DMA driver to protect and test against) and these smaller items:
 Claiming and mapping is half of being a danos driver; the other half is the
 **lifecycle and protocol contract**, and the runtime makes it nearly free:
 
-- Build on `runtime.service.run` — one replyWait loop folding protocol
+- Build on `service.run` — one replyWait loop folding protocol
   requests, signals, and notifications into callbacks. The harness answers the
   universal zero-length ping and turns `terminate` into a clean exit for you
   ([process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md)).
diff --git a/docs/input.md b/docs/input.md
index 4cd53ac..28c3765 100644
--- a/docs/input.md
+++ b/docs/input.md
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ This is the async counterpart of `ipc_call`, and the input service is its first
 - A **subscriber** calls `input.subscribe(mask)` — or a typed helper: `subscribeKeyboard()`,
   `subscribeMouse()`, `subscribeJoystick()` (one class, `next()` returns the decoded event),
   or `subscribeAll()` (every class, `next()` returns a tagged `InputEvent`)
-  ([library/runtime/input.zig](../library/runtime/input.zig)). It creates its own endpoint
+  ([library/client/input/input.zig](../library/client/input/input.zig)). It creates its own endpoint
   and hands it to the service as a **capability** (M13 capability passing — the input
   service is that feature's first real user), along with its `device_mask`. Then it loops on
   `next()`, a `replyWait` on that endpoint returning each pushed event.
diff --git a/docs/ipc.md b/docs/ipc.md
index 3648d4d..117f974 100644
--- a/docs/ipc.md
+++ b/docs/ipc.md
@@ -118,15 +118,15 @@ Three conventions from [process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md) ride the
 notification mechanism:
 
 - **Signals** arrive as notifications on the endpoint a process nominated with
-  `signal_bind` (`runtime.process.bindSignals`): badge = the signal bit plus the
-  coalesced pending mask (`runtime.process.signalsFrom` decodes). Statements,
+  `signal_bind` (`process.bindSignals`): badge = the signal bit plus the
+  coalesced pending mask (`process.signalsFrom` decodes). Statements,
   never questions; no payload, no reply.
-- **One-shot timers** (`timer_bind`, `runtime.system.timerOnce`) land as a
+- **One-shot timers** (`timer_bind`, `time.timerOnce`) land as a
   timer-bit notification — the timed wait: a service arms a deadline and keeps
   serving, instead of blocking in sleep.
 - **The universal ping**: a **zero-length request is the liveness probe**,
   answered with a zero-length reply by the service harness itself
-  (`runtime.service.run`). No protocol's requests start at length zero, so the
+  (`service.run`). No protocol's requests start at length zero, so the
   encoding cannot collide, and a wedged service simply fails to answer — which
   is the diagnosis. Deep health ("can I reach my hardware?") stays a per-service
   protocol message.
diff --git a/docs/logging.md b/docs/logging.md
index 8487306..99c3e43 100644
--- a/docs/logging.md
+++ b/docs/logging.md
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ kernel log.print ─┘                            │
 
 1. **Emit.** A program calls `std.log.info("mounted {s}", .{path})` — the
    runtime's `logFn` (installed for every binary by the root shim,
-   `library/runtime/log.zig`) formats one line and issues one `debug_write`
+   `library/kernel/logging.zig`) formats one line and issues one `debug_write`
    carrying the level. The payload does NOT contain the process's name.
-   `runtime.system.write` remains as the raw/bring-up path (panics, test
+   `logging.write` remains as the raw/bring-up path (panics, test
    fixtures); raw bytes ride the same ring, attributed all the same.
 
 2. **Stamp.** The kernel wraps every payload LINE in a record stamped with the
diff --git a/docs/power.md b/docs/power.md
index 6ef9b10..282f75d 100644
--- a/docs/power.md
+++ b/docs/power.md
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ What subscribers want is not: *the lid closed* means the same thing regardless o
 who noticed. So the surface is **domain-named**. There is a `power-protocol`
 module and a well-known `ServiceId.power = 5`; on x86 the **acpi service**
 registers it, and on ARM a PSCI/mailbox service will register the *same* id.
-Subscribers call `runtime.ipc.lookup(.power)` and never learn which firmware they
+Subscribers call `ipc.lookup(.power)` and never learn which firmware they
 are on — the neutrality the whole [discovery](discovery.md) migration exists to
 preserve, carried one layer up into a running-system surface.
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ notifications, the lifecycle **signals** it can receive (`terminate`), and the
 On a `power_button` event or a `terminate` signal, init:
 
 1. logs that it is shutting down,
-2. runs the standard stop sequence — `runtime.process.stop(child, deadline,
+2. runs the standard stop sequence — `process.stop(child, deadline,
    endpoint)` — over its children **in reverse spawn order**, so the VFS stops
    last (other services may flush through it), each child getting the
    *terminate → deadline → kill* escalation from
diff --git a/docs/process-lifecycle.md b/docs/process-lifecycle.md
index b4095e4..90fa8b9 100644
--- a/docs/process-lifecycle.md
+++ b/docs/process-lifecycle.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ harness are all in — the interface below is as-built. The primitives underneat
 predate this design ([process-management.md](process-management.md):
 spawn, the supervision link, kill, child-exit notifications); this document designs
 the layer above them — the standard vocabulary a danos process speaks about its own
-life, and the stable `runtime.process` interface that carries it. Nothing here is
+life, and the stable `process` interface that carries it. Nothing here is
 device- or driver-specific: a driver, the VFS, and a user application all stop,
 reload, and die the same way. The device manager is simply this design's first
 serious customer ([device-manager.md](device-manager.md)).
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ zombie state or privileged snooping:
    same encoding supervisors already decode, the IRQ-as-IPC pattern once more). The
    subscriber filters for ids it holds state for and releases what the dead client
    held. Correlating is free of bookkeeping: an IPC sender's badge already *is* its
-   task id (`runtime.ipc.Received`), so the id a service has been keying client
+   task id (`ipc.Received`), so the id a service has been keying client
    state by all along is the id the exit event carries.
 
    Subscription, not broadcast-to-everyone: only processes that asked receive
@@ -200,9 +200,9 @@ its clients cleaning up after themselves.** Handle release on client death is th
 service's job, triggered by the published exit event — never by a courtesy
 "closing now" message that a crashed client will never send.
 
-## The stable interface: `runtime.process`
+## The stable interface: `process`
 
-`runtime.process` already owns what a process receives at birth (`Init`, the
+`process` already owns what a process receives at birth (`Init`, the
 argv contract). It grows to own the other end of life.
 
 **The runtime is the stable interface; the numbers are not.** danos applications do
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ callbacks (`on_terminate`, `on_reload`) for programs that want defaults.
 
 ### The service harness
 
-`runtime.service` owns the `replyWait` loop and folds every event source — signals,
+`service` owns the `replyWait` loop and folds every event source — signals,
 child exits, protocol messages — into callbacks, with the vocabulary's defaults:
 `terminate` returns from the loop (clean exit), the common `ping` is answered automatically,
 `reload` is ignored unless overridden. One loop, no locking, nothing reentrant. A
@@ -312,12 +312,12 @@ get POSIX; danos-native programs never pay for it.
    kill a claiming driver, spawn it again, the claim succeeds.
 2. **Exit reason in the death notification** (`ExitReason` above).
 3. **Exit events**: `process_subscribe` in the kernel (bounded subscriber table,
-   publishes on every death), `runtime.process.subscribeExits`; the userspace VFS
+   publishes on every death), `process.subscribeExits`; the userspace VFS
    router was the first subscriber — releasing a dead client's handles was its
    proof test — and the FAT server inherited the role when the router moved into
    the kernel (clients now hold the filesystem server's node ids directly).
 4. **Signals**: `signal_bind` + `process_signal` + the pending mask in the kernel;
-   `runtime.process` grows the interface above; the service harness handles
+   `process` grows the interface above; the service harness handles
    `terminate` and answers the common `ping`; `stop()` for supervisors.
 
 [device-manager.md](device-manager.md) builds directly on all four.
diff --git a/docs/process-management.md b/docs/process-management.md
index d0d5fec..7c0a69b 100644
--- a/docs/process-management.md
+++ b/docs/process-management.md
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ the architecture layer calls up into `tick`.
 - ~~There is no exit status in the notification~~ Closed (M17.2): the kernel
   records how every process ends — exited, a fault class, or killed — before it
   posts the exit notification, and the supervisor reads it with
-  `process_exit_reason` (`runtime.process.exitReason`). This is the input to
+  `process_exit_reason` (`process.exitReason`). This is the input to
   restart policy ([process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md)); an exit *code*
   for the clean case can still ride alongside later.
 - Enumerate writes through the caller's raw pointer under the bring-up trust
diff --git a/docs/sysv.md b/docs/sysv.md
index 20f9d34..414e2d6 100644
--- a/docs/sysv.md
+++ b/docs/sysv.md
@@ -90,9 +90,9 @@ process) instead of silently corrupting the image
 (`buildEntryStack` in `system/kernel/process.zig`); `argv[0]` is always the path
 or initial-ramdisk name the process was spawned as, and `system_spawn`'s optional
 argument blob becomes `argv[1..]`. The runtime's `_start`
-(`library/runtime/start.zig`) hands the block to `rt_start`, which builds a
-`runtime.process.Init` from it and passes that to the program's `main`
-(`pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init)`; a parameterless `main()` is also
+(`library/kernel/start.zig`) hands the block to `rt_start`, which builds a
+`process.Init` from it and passes that to the program's `main`
+(`pub fn main(init: process.Init)`; a parameterless `main()` is also
 accepted). A C runtime's `crt0` would walk
 the identical layout unmodified — that's the compatibility being bought. The
 `args` test proves the round trip.
diff --git a/docs/threading.md b/docs/threading.md
index d8580dd..0bc69a0 100644
--- a/docs/threading.md
+++ b/docs/threading.md
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-# Threading: `runtime.Thread`, a std-shaped API over a private thread ABI
+# Threading: `Thread`, a std-shaped API over a private thread ABI
 
 A note on danos **threads** — several tasks sharing one address space — provided by a
-`runtime.Thread` type that mirrors the shape of Zig's `std.Thread` while keeping every
-kernel entry behind the [runtime](../library/runtime). **Built** (M1–M11, see
+`Thread` type that mirrors the shape of Zig's `std.Thread` while keeping every
+kernel entry behind the [runtime](../library/kernel). **Built** (M1–M11, see
 [threading-plan.md](threading-plan.md)): `spawn`/`join`/`detach`, cross-core parallelism,
 a futex, `Mutex`/`Condition`/`Semaphore`/`RwLock`/`WaitGroup`, `getCurrentId`/`currentCore`,
 per-thread thread-pointer TLS, thread-safe allocation, and a task reaper that reclaims dead
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ treat upstream shapes as "0.16.x."
 A danos service can write
 
 ```zig
-const t = try runtime.Thread.spawn(.{}, worker, .{ctx});
+const t = try Thread.spawn(.{}, worker, .{ctx});
 // ... do other work concurrently ...
 t.join();
 ```
 
-and get real parallelism across cores — with `runtime.Thread.Mutex`,
-`runtime.Thread.Condition`, and `runtime.Thread.Semaphore` available for
+and get real parallelism across cores — with `Thread.Mutex`,
+`Thread.Condition`, and `Thread.Semaphore` available for
 coordination — **without any code path reaching the kernel except through the
 runtime**. The call sites read exactly like `std.Thread`, so the day danos becomes a
 real Zig target (see [self-hosting](#the-self-hosting-endgame)) we swap the
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ implementation underneath, not the API above.
 
 ## Locked decisions (do not relitigate)
 
-- **We build `runtime.Thread`, not literal `std.Thread`.** It mirrors std's *API and
+- **We build `Thread`, not literal `std.Thread`.** It mirrors std's *API and
   features*; the implementation underneath is danos-native. See
   [Why not literal std.Thread](#why-not-literal-stdthread).
 - **Threads are a narrow, opt-in capability — not the default concurrency tool.** The
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ implementation underneath, not the API above.
 - **Per-binary opt-in to multi-threaded codegen.** Only a service that asks for
   threads is built `single_threaded = false`; the rest stay lean and single-threaded.
 - **The thread ABI is private.** New syscalls extend [abi.zig](../system/abi.zig)
-  `SystemCall` and are reached only through `library/runtime` wrappers, exactly like
+  `SystemCall` and are reached only through `library/kernel` wrappers, exactly like
   every other danos syscall ([syscall.md](syscall.md)) — numbers stay renumberable.
 
 ## Why not literal `std.Thread`
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ processes. The isolation boundary stays at process granularity.
 
 ## The API surface (mirrors `std.Thread`)
 
-Lives in `library/runtime/thread.zig`, re-exported as `runtime.Thread`.
+Lives in `library/kernel/thread.zig`, re-exported as `Thread`.
 
 ```zig
 pub const Thread = struct {
@@ -129,14 +129,14 @@ Deviations from `std.Thread`, called out honestly:
   `void`). Return data through shared state or a `Semaphore`/`Condition`, not the
   return.
 - No `getCpuCount()` (a service rarely needs it) and no `Thread.yield()` — `yield`
-  lives in `runtime.system`. Instead `currentCore()` exposes the calling core's dense
+  lives in the `process` module. Instead `currentCore()` exposes the calling core's dense
   index ([smp.md](smp.md)), used to observe genuine cross-core parallelism.
 
 ## Kernel primitives (new private syscalls)
 
 Five core entries extend [abi.zig](../system/abi.zig) `SystemCall` after
 `shared_memory_physical = 36` (plus small helpers `current_core`, `thread_self`, and
-`set_thread_pointer`), each with a `library/runtime` wrapper:
+`set_thread_pointer`), each with a `library/kernel` wrapper:
 
 | Syscall | Signature | Purpose |
 |---|---|---|
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ see the intro). Two scoped pieces, as built:
 A binary opts in by being added with `addThreadedUserBinary` — as `addUserBinary`,
 but the shared implementation builds it `single_threaded = false` — so atomics and
 (later) TLS are real. Threads and atomics are unsound in a `single_threaded` image,
-so a binary must opt in **before** it may call `runtime.Thread.spawn`. Everyone else
+so a binary must opt in **before** it may call `Thread.spawn`. Everyone else
 stays single-threaded and lean.
 
 ## Interaction with the rest of the kernel
@@ -313,9 +313,9 @@ a verifiable gate (`python3 test/qemu_test.py <case>`, asserting serial markers;
 
 Follow [coding-standards.md](coding-standards.md): spell out non-acronym
 abbreviations, kebab-case file names, no `Co-Authored-By` trailers. New syscalls
-extend [abi.zig](../system/abi.zig) `SystemCall` + a `library/runtime` wrapper
-([syscall.md](syscall.md)). `runtime.Thread` is a first-class runtime module, the same
-way `runtime.process` ([process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md)) and `runtime.ipc`
+extend [abi.zig](../system/abi.zig) `SystemCall` + a `library/kernel` wrapper
+([syscall.md](syscall.md)). `Thread` is a first-class runtime module, the same
+way `process` ([process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md)) and `ipc`
 are — user code never names a syscall.
 
 ## Non-goals
@@ -333,8 +333,8 @@ are — user code never names a syscall.
 When danos becomes a real Zig target and we (eventually) add a danos backend to std
 ([zig-self-hosting.md](zig-self-hosting.md)), `std.Thread` can sit *on top of* these
 same kernel primitives — the danos `std.Thread.Impl` would call the very
-`thread_spawn`/`futex_*` wrappers `runtime.Thread` already uses. Because
-`runtime.Thread` was built API-compatible from day one, that transition swaps the
+`thread_spawn`/`futex_*` wrappers `Thread` already uses. Because
+`Thread` was built API-compatible from day one, that transition swaps the
 implementation, not a single call site. Designing to the std shape now is what makes
 the later self-hosting lift cheap.
 
diff --git a/docs/timers.md b/docs/timers.md
index 0f8a0f8..178c045 100644
--- a/docs/timers.md
+++ b/docs/timers.md
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ The kernel's own scheduling timer (the LAPIC, vector 32) is never exposed to use
 programs read the TSC through `clock` and get timed wakeups through `sleep`/`timer_bind`,
 both riding the scheduler tick.
 
-## `runtime.time` — the generic interface
+## `time` — the generic interface
 
-Applications don't call the syscalls directly; they use `runtime.time`
-(`library/runtime/time.zig`), a thin `Instant`/`Duration` layer over them — an ergonomic
+Applications don't call the syscalls directly; they use `time`
+(`library/kernel/time.zig`), a thin `Instant`/`Duration` layer over them — an ergonomic
 front door, not new mechanism.
 
 ```zig
@@ -91,8 +91,9 @@ _ = time.after(endpoint, time.Duration.fromMillis(200));
 - `sleep(d)` wraps `sleep`; `spin(d)` busy-polls `now()` for the sub-millisecond delays
   the millisecond tick can't express; `after(endpoint, d)` wraps `timer_bind`.
 
-The raw wrappers (`system.clock`, `system.sleep`, `system.timerOnce`) stay in
-`library/runtime/system.zig`; `runtime.time` is the layer meant for everyday use.
+The raw wrappers (`clock`, `sleepMillis`, `timerOnce`) and the ergonomic
+`Instant`/`Duration` layer both live in the `time` module
+(`library/kernel/time.zig`); the latter is what everyday code uses.
 
 ## Wall-clock time (not built)
 
@@ -106,10 +107,10 @@ owns covers every current use.
 
 ## Verifying it
 
-`runtime.time`'s `Instant`/`Duration` arithmetic has unit tests that run on the host:
+`time`'s `Instant`/`Duration` arithmetic has unit tests that run on the host:
 
 ```
-$ zig build test        # includes library/runtime/time.zig
+$ zig build test        # includes library/kernel/time.zig
 ```
 
 End to end, the proof the clock is real is that it *advances*: read `now()`, `sleep` a
diff --git a/docs/vdso.md b/docs/vdso.md
index a6c9734..3c4241d 100644
--- a/docs/vdso.md
+++ b/docs/vdso.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # The vDSO — the public system-call boundary
 
 > **Status:** design note, not built. The runtime today issues raw `syscall`
-> instructions from `library/runtime/system-call.zig` using the numbers in
+> instructions from `library/kernel/system-call.zig` using the numbers in
 > `system/abi.zig`. This note designs the layer that replaces that arrangement:
 > a **kernel-supplied, C-ABI entry library** mapped into every process — the
 > only supported way into the kernel — so the raw numbers can stay private,
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ ourselves:
    this mistake: it issued XNU syscalls directly instead of going through
    libSystem, and macOS updates repeatedly broke every Go binary until Go
    switched to the library like everyone else.
-2. **Not everything is Zig.** A Rust or C program can't import the `runtime`
-   module. The public boundary has to be expressible in the one calling
+2. **Not everything is Zig.** A Rust or C program can't import the danos Zig
+   modules. The public boundary has to be expressible in the one calling
    convention every language speaks: the C ABI.
 3. **Randomised syscall numbers** — a hardening option we want open — only
    work if no user binary anywhere knows a number at build time. The binding
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ The public danos ABI then has exactly two layers, neither of which is
 
 | Layer | Contract | Spoken by |
 |-------|----------|-----------|
-| **vDSO** | C-ABI functions, this note | every language's thin shim (`runtime.system` for Zig, a `-sys` crate for Rust, a header for C) |
+| **vDSO** | C-ABI functions, this note | every language's thin shim (the `system-call` module for Zig, a `-sys` crate for Rust, a header for C) |
 | **IPC wire protocols** | byte layouts over `ipc_call` ([vfs-protocol.md](vfs-protocol.md) is the first one documented) | any client that can lay out bytes |
 
-Everything above those — the heap, `runtime.fs`, the service harness — is
+Everything above those — the heap, `file_system`, the service harness — is
 per-language convenience, compiled into each binary from source, exactly as
 today. Nothing about the Zig runtime's shape changes; it just stops being the
 *only* door.
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ convenience, not a requirement.)
 
 The kernel already builds a System V entry block — argc, argv, envp
 terminator, **auxiliary vector** — on every new process's stack
-(`buildEntryStack`, read by `runtime.start`). The vDSO base rides in a new
+(`buildEntryStack`, read by the `start` module). The vDSO base rides in a new
 auxv entry, exactly Linux's `AT_SYSINFO_EHDR` move. No new syscall, no magic
 address, and a language shim finds it the same portable way on every
 architecture.
@@ -183,11 +183,11 @@ second — but the design should never be sold as more than that.
 Phased so every step ships alone (the M-milestone discipline):
 
 1. **The blob + the table.** Build the vDSO, map it at spawn, deliver the
-   base via auxv. `runtime.system-call.zig` binds through the table when the
+   base via auxv. `library/kernel/system-call.zig` binds through the table when the
    auxv entry is present, falls back to raw `syscall` when absent — the whole
    tree keeps booting during the transition.
-2. **Cut the runtime over.** Delete the raw stubs; `runtime` no longer
-   imports the `SystemCall` numbers at all (`abi.zig`'s enum becomes
+2. **Cut the system library over.** Delete the raw stubs; the `system-call`
+   module no longer imports the `SystemCall` numbers at all (`abi.zig`'s enum becomes
    kernel-internal). The QEMU suite passing proves the table carries the
    whole system.
 3. **Enforce + randomise.** Add the `rip`-range check, then per-boot number
diff --git a/docs/vfs-protocol.md b/docs/vfs-protocol.md
index a628d4b..a5ae41f 100644
--- a/docs/vfs-protocol.md
+++ b/docs/vfs-protocol.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # The VFS wire protocol
 
-> **Status:** built and spoken today between `runtime.fs` (the client) and the
+> **Status:** built and spoken today between `file_system` (the client) and the
 > filesystem BACKENDS (the FAT server). The mount router lives in the
 > **kernel** (`system/kernel/vfs.zig`): `fs_resolve` routes a path and either
 > serves it directly (the read-only /system initrd mount, via `fs_node`) or
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ Notes per operation:
   prefix maps a mount into the backend's namespace (fat serves `/mnt/usb`
   from its volume root and `/var` from its `/var` subtree).
 - **rename** — same-directory rename only: the backend compares the old and
-  new parent paths and refuses a mismatch. The client (`runtime.fs`) refuses
+  new parent paths and refuses a mismatch. The client (`file_system`) refuses
   earlier when the two paths resolve to different backend endpoints, but that
   check is coarser than "one mount" — one endpoint can serve several mounts
   (fat serves `/mnt/usb` and `/var`), so a cross-mount rename reaches the