diff --git a/.trinity/seals/automation_automation::course_access.json b/.trinity/seals/automation_automation::course_access.json
index 4772a25972..5a547384c3 100644
--- a/.trinity/seals/automation_automation::course_access.json
+++ b/.trinity/seals/automation_automation::course_access.json
@@ -1,28 +1,28 @@
 {
-  "built_by": "t27c-bootstrap@0.5.2+d2c8e7d41",
+  "built_by": "t27c-bootstrap@0.5.2+239b4b059",
   "closure": [],
   "config": "gen=c,rust,verilog,zig;tests=zig",
-  "gen_hash_c": "sha256:0724a34f57d23c9924b871a392774c7a19f957876fd60045f6e627e32c4db2f2",
-  "gen_hash_rust": "sha256:52e27f4fece6b2c73d5c1086b3b33a648af434a9451c732d522e742337de6838",
-  "gen_hash_verilog": "sha256:7afb008af0e4a2e5e4ced3e5acf0d2c41b99ea72c7f2090f159c18e4cf8fb82e",
-  "gen_hash_zig": "sha256:6dc8d990374d50fdae0e7ba44161f7c23fe8fbbc3a48a2bbb1b1d0362b3d663f",
+  "gen_hash_c": "sha256:a44fa8733f70d5560f2443f5151341d100273210f6311940e5a3918e04ce6535",
+  "gen_hash_rust": "sha256:9780e1a4766e8590ab9496771900236e1472d8d7b8a8a5938f82b93fb96ca7b2",
+  "gen_hash_verilog": "sha256:d448bc2dfdf9ad7860a499e394bbf3e7946d65072cb60181c719e9c202584716",
+  "gen_hash_zig": "sha256:c6a00ec44d6a4198d10d7d2492f4bd5b7c6964cda26eb72a4366734be029a1b7",
   "module": "automation::course_access",
   "ring": 12,
   "seal_schema": 2,
-  "sealed_at": "2026-10-18T05:03:39Z",
+  "sealed_at": "2026-10-19T03:00:14Z",
   "sealed_by": "t27c-bootstrap@0.5.2",
-  "spec_hash": "sha256:89b4c6d4a9a8f0eb7534d0b9ee98af631cabc474e964e0dcb4b0233afdef09e4",
+  "spec_hash": "sha256:edd87ade1cc387f4e153bf22ce4c51856178377e4b4434e679ba7539ba39b978",
   "spec_path": "specs/automation/course-access.t27",
   "tests": {
     "failed": 0,
     "failing": [],
     "forced": false,
-    "passed": 16,
-    "total": 16,
+    "passed": 18,
+    "total": 18,
     "vacuous": 0
   },
   "toolchain": {
-    "test_runner": "sha256:1982ae948e24d00c5d221ccec12dfce1eb01204b53e37b0f857f93b16d64629d",
+    "test_runner": "sha256:8512b80da533b79289110fca4a65f3336abd7a059ca4b72ea595d5e33ff8ad10",
     "zig": "0.16.0"
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/now/2026-10-19-course-access-v3-every-course-free.md b/docs/now/2026-10-19-course-access-v3-every-course-free.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d0339c314c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/now/2026-10-19-course-access-v3-every-course-free.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# NOW -- course-access VERSION 3: every course free for everyone (2026-10-19)
+
+## specs/automation/course-access.t27 (Closes #10798)
+
+- Why: owner, 2026-10-19 -- "make the courses free for everyone! our task is to grow the language". A course behind the club is a reader the language does not get; the club stays the bot's own subscription for generations.
+- `step_of(opened)` returns `STEP_FREE` for every rung (v2: free for three, then paid). `LADDER_RUNGS` counts the rungs that differ before `step_of` repeats its last: 4 in v2, 1 now.
+- `STEP_BOT`, `STEP_PAID`, `may_open`, `stays_open`, `mint_ok`, `key_days` unchanged: a key already minted keeps opening what it opened. `lesson_event`, `tells_owner`, `may_report` do not depend on the paid rung and are unchanged; `SITE_CHECKOUT` and `CONTENT_HIDDEN` stay false.
+- Tests: the old paid-ladder asserts now assert free; a new loop pins `step_of(n) == STEP_FREE` for n = 0..255 (767 runtime asserts); a new test keeps a held paid key opening a paid step. VERSION 3 with a dated header note and its test.
+- t27c (bootstrap code unchanged since 239b4b059), zig 0.16.0: test-report 18 of 18 pass, 0 vacuous. Negative control: the v2 `step_of` body turns 3 tests red.
+- `scripts/t27-logic.mjs` (999) lowers 9 fns, 0 not; in node `stepOf(1..10)` is all 0. Seal saved.
+- Not here: re-vendoring into 999 render and trinity (`courseLadder.ts`). A course stored on a paid rung under v2 still closes by `stays_open` when the club ends; a host that must keep it open re-rungs it with `step_of`.
diff --git a/specs/automation/course-access.t27 b/specs/automation/course-access.t27
index fa12026837..e61e4b3d3b 100644
--- a/specs/automation/course-access.t27
+++ b/specs/automation/course-access.t27
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-// specs/automation/course-access.t27 -- the ladder to the t27 courses: the reader picks
-// any three courses and they open free, the fourth and every one after it need the paid
-// club; every reader who reaches the bot is filed in the owner's CRM, and the owner is
-// told, live, each step they take.
+// specs/automation/course-access.t27 -- the ladder to the t27 courses: since VERSION 3
+// every course opens free, for every reader, with one press; every reader who reaches
+// the bot is filed in the owner's CRM, and the owner is told, live, each step they take.
 // Host: 999-multibots-telegraf
 //       apps/vibee-editor/render/src/agent/course-access.ts (the key: mint, check; the
 //       learner row; the CRM person, tag and touch; the owner's live message) and the routes in
@@ -18,11 +17,12 @@
 // THE LADDER. The reader chooses which course is which rung: the rungs are steps, not
 //       courses. A step is FREE (one press, nothing asked), BOT (the reader opens the
 //       bot with a course link; the bot hands back a key) or PAID (the bot checks the
-//       club and hands back a key that lives as long as the club does). Rungs past the
-//       fourth stay PAID. A course opened on a free or a bot rung stays open for that
-//       reader; one opened on a paid rung stays open only while he holds a paid key that
-//       has not run out (stays_open): the club is a subscription, not a purchase. The
-//       order is kept in his browser, the keys prove the two steps that need proof.
+//       club and hands back a key that lives as long as the club does). Which step a
+//       rung is, is step_of's; past LADDER_RUNGS it repeats the last. A course opened
+//       on a free or a bot rung stays open for that reader; one opened on a paid rung
+//       stays open only while he holds a paid key that has not run out (stays_open):
+//       the club is a subscription, not a purchase. The order is kept in his browser,
+//       the keys prove the two steps that need proof.
 // THE KEY. Signed by the render with a secret only the render holds; it carries the
 //       step, an opaque learner id and an expiry, never a Telegram id or a name. A BOT
 //       key does not expire; a PAID key expires with the club period it was minted
@@ -56,6 +56,21 @@
 //       one after it PAID. STEP_BOT stays a step the render mints and may_open and
 //       stays_open still honour, so a course already opened with a bot key stays open.
 //       Paying on the site is still not built (SITE_CHECKOUT).
+// VERSION 3, owner, 2026-10-19 -- "make the courses free for everyone! our task is to
+//       grow the language". A course that asks for the club is a reader the language
+//       does not get, so step_of returns FREE for every rung: no course needs the club
+//       or the bot. The club stays the bot's own subscription, for generations; it is no
+//       longer a door to a course. LADDER_RUNGS counts the rungs that differ before
+//       step_of repeats its last one: four in VERSION 2 (free, free, free, paid, then
+//       paid for good), one now (free, then free for good). STEP_BOT and STEP_PAID stay
+//       steps the render mints and may_open, stays_open, mint_ok and key_days still
+//       honour, so a key already minted keeps opening what it opened. What this leaves
+//       to the hosts: a course a reader stored on a paid rung under VERSION 2 is judged
+//       by stays_open with its stored step and closes when his club ends; a host that
+//       must keep it open re-rungs it with step_of. With no rung asking for the bot, a
+//       reader is filed in the CRM and reports lessons only if he opens the bot himself;
+//       the site still sends nothing before that (SENDS_BEFORE_BOT). SITE_CHECKOUT stays
+//       false: there is no checkout, and no course needs one.
 // Claim status: written before any live run; no key has been minted, no reader filed.
 // phi^2 + 1/phi^2 = 3 | TRINITY
 
@@ -64,13 +79,13 @@ module automation::course_access {
     pub const KIND : str = "automation";
     pub const ID : str = "course-access";
     pub const REPO : str = "999-multibots-telegraf";
-    pub const VERSION : u8 = 2;
+    pub const VERSION : u8 = 3;
 
     // ---- The steps ---------------------------------------------------------------------
     pub const STEP_FREE : u8 = 0;
     pub const STEP_BOT : u8 = 1;
     pub const STEP_PAID : u8 = 2;
-    pub const LADDER_RUNGS : u8 = 4;  // free, free, free, paid; every rung after it is paid
+    pub const LADDER_RUNGS : u8 = 1;  // one rung, free; every course after it is free too
     pub const COURSES_KNOWN : u8 = 7;  // the catalog today; the ladder does not depend on it
 
     // ---- The bot link ------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -102,11 +117,9 @@ module automation::course_access {
     pub const RUN_LIVE : bool = false;
 
     // Which step the next course is, given how many this reader has opened already.
-    // No rung is BOT since VERSION 2: the bot step was where readers stopped.
+    // No rung is BOT since VERSION 2 (the bot step was where readers stopped) and no rung
+    // is PAID since VERSION 3: every course is free, to grow the language.
     fn step_of(opened: u8) -> u8 {
-        if opened >= 3 {
-            return STEP_PAID;
-        }
         return STEP_FREE;
     }
 
@@ -231,14 +244,33 @@ module automation::course_access {
         assert(may_open(STEP_BOT, true, false));
     }
 
-    test "the fourth and every one after it need the club" {
-        assert(step_of(3) == STEP_PAID);
-        assert(step_of(4) == STEP_PAID);
-        assert(step_of(6) == STEP_PAID);
-        assert(step_of(200) == STEP_PAID);
+    test "the fourth and every one after it are free too, no club asked" {
+        assert(step_of(3) == STEP_FREE);
+        assert(step_of(4) == STEP_FREE);
+        assert(step_of(6) == STEP_FREE);
+        assert(step_of(200) == STEP_FREE);
+        assert(may_open(step_of(3), false, false));
+        assert(may_open(step_of(200), false, false));
+        assert(step_of(3) != STEP_PAID);
+        assert(LADDER_RUNGS == 1);
+    }
+
+    test "every course is free, for every reader, however many he has opened" {
+        var n : u8 = 0;
+        while (n < 255) {
+            assert(step_of(n) == STEP_FREE);
+            assert(step_of(n) == step_of(LADDER_RUNGS - 1));
+            assert(may_open(step_of(n), false, false));
+            n += 1;
+        }
+        assert(step_of(255) == STEP_FREE);
+        assert(may_open(step_of(255), false, false));
+    }
+
+    test "a paid key a reader already holds still opens a paid step" {
+        assert(!may_open(STEP_PAID, false, false));
         assert(!may_open(STEP_PAID, true, false));
         assert(may_open(STEP_PAID, false, true));
-        assert(LADDER_RUNGS == 4);
     }
 
     test "a club course closes when the club ends, the others stay" {
@@ -327,9 +359,10 @@ module automation::course_access {
     }
 
     test "VERSION says what the header's last note says" {
-        assert(VERSION == 2);
+        assert(VERSION == 3);
         assert(step_of(VERSION) == STEP_FREE);
-        assert(step_of(VERSION + 1) == STEP_PAID);
+        assert(step_of(VERSION + 1) == STEP_FREE);
+        assert(step_of(VERSION + 1) != STEP_PAID);
     }
 }
 // phi^2 + 1/phi^2 = 3 | TRINITY