diff --git a/results-loop/fig_kcurves.png b/results-loop/fig_kcurves.png
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Binary files /dev/null and b/results-loop/fig_kcurves.png differ
diff --git a/scripts/fig_kcurves.py b/scripts/fig_kcurves.py
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+++ b/scripts/fig_kcurves.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+"""Small-multiples: pass@1 vs loop depth k, easy (pastel) + hard (dark),
+one panel per regime arm. All on the same 250-item MBPP eval, e400.
+Per-depth cells fall back to log-parsed values until its JSON lands.
+"""
+import json
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import matplotlib
+matplotlib.use("Agg")
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+OUT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "results-loop"
+
+def cells(fname):
+    try:
+        d = json.load(open(OUT / fname))
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        return None
+    out = {}
+    for k, v in d["ks"].items():
+        out[int(k)] = (v["by_label"].get("easy"), v["by_label"].get("hard"))
+    return out
+
+def cells_from_log(logfile):
+    out = {}
+    pat = re.compile(r"k=(\d+): pass@1=[\d.]+  by_label=\{'easy': ([\d.]+), "
+                     r"'hard': ([\d.]+)")
+    try:
+        for line in open(logfile):
+            m = pat.search(line.replace('"', "'"))
+            if m:
+                out[int(m.group(1))] = (float(m.group(2)), float(m.group(3)))
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        pass
+    return out or None
+
+PANELS = [
+    ("untrained α-merge\n(training-free, ρ=0.3)",
+     cells("eval_code_untrained.json"), "#2b6cb0"),
+    ("trained merge\n(fixed A,B · curriculum)",
+     cells("eval_code_trained.json"), "#2b6cb0"),
+    ("unconstrained rec\n(learned A,B · noise h₀ · rand-k) ρ→4.5",
+     cells("eval_code_rec16_partial.json"), "#c53030"),
+    ("Parcae rec\n(ρ<1 enforced · learned B · noise h₀) ρ→0.29",
+     cells("eval_code_parcae16_e400.json"), "#2f855a"),
+    ("per-depth merges\n(time-varying · anchored · curriculum)",
+     cells("eval_code_pd4_e400.json")
+     or cells_from_log("/home/nils/gpuq/spark-gpu0/perdepth_arm.log"),
+     "#805ad5"),
+]
+
+fig, axes = plt.subplots(1, 5, figsize=(15.5, 3.6), sharey=True)
+for ax, (title, kc, dark) in zip(axes, PANELS):
+    ax.grid(True, color="#ececec", lw=0.7)
+    ax.set_axisbelow(True)
+    for s in ("top", "right"):
+        ax.spines[s].set_visible(False)
+    if not kc:
+        ax.set_title(title + "\n(pending)", fontsize=9)
+        continue
+    ks = sorted(kc)
+    xs = range(len(ks))
+    easy = [kc[k][0] for k in ks]
+    hard = [kc[k][1] for k in ks]
+    # pastel = dark color at low alpha via manual blend to white
+    ax.plot(xs, easy, "-o", color=dark, alpha=0.32, lw=2.4, ms=5,
+            label="easy")
+    ax.plot(xs, hard, "-s", color=dark, lw=2.4, ms=5, label="hard")
+    ax.axhline(kc[ks[0]][0], color="#999", lw=0.8, ls=":")
+    ax.axhline(kc[ks[0]][1], color="#999", lw=0.8, ls=":")
+    ax.set_xticks(list(xs))
+    ax.set_xticklabels([str(k) for k in ks], fontsize=8)
+    ax.set_title(title, fontsize=9)
+    ax.set_xlabel("k", fontsize=9)
+    ax.set_ylim(0, 1.02)
+axes[0].set_ylabel("pass@1 (easy pastel / hard dark)")
+axes[0].legend(fontsize=8, frameon=False, loc="center right")
+fig.suptitle("Depth curves by regime — same frozen band, data, and 250-item "
+             "eval; dotted lines = k=0 base levels", fontsize=11, y=1.04)
+fig.tight_layout()
+fig.savefig(OUT / "fig_kcurves.png", dpi=140, facecolor="white",
+            bbox_inches="tight")
+print("wrote", OUT / "fig_kcurves.png")