OpenFUT/fifa17-recon/docs/REBUILD_RESEARCH.md

# FUT Rebuild — research notes (2026-08-03, overnight pass)

Research toward rebuilding FUT end-to-end and standing up the online resources.
Everything here is static RE unless it says "live". **Read §0 before trusting a
row: one bulk technique in this pass failed its own control and was discarded.**

## 0. Confidence / what failed

| finding | confidence | basis |
|---|---|---|
| §1 complete FUT URL table (45 templates) | **HIGH** | read straight out of the table at `0x18021df80`; two entries independently confirmed live (`ut/%s/squad`, `ut/v2/%s/store`) |
| §2 routing gap analysis | **HIGH** | mechanical diff of §1 against `utas_server.ROUTES` |
| §3 POW/EASFC map | **HIGH** | 58 path templates extracted; 16 of them **observed live** in `/tmp/pow_server.log` |
| §4 POW field vocabulary | **MEDIUM** | literal key strings + name-table functions; envelope still unknown (live-refuted once) |
| §5 endpoint→cache pairings | **HIGH** | each issuer function references exactly one path literal + one cache class |
| bulk `FutXServerResponse` → deserializer walk | **DISCARDED** | three attempts; the last "resolved" 18 classes but **mismatched its known-good control** (`FutSquadSave` → `0x1801631e0`, actual `0x180171a60`) and collapsed several classes onto one address. Not written up. See §6 for why and how to fix. |

## 1. The complete FUT request surface

Table of `{char* template, char* NAME}` pairs at **`0x18021df80`**, 45 rows.
This is the whole UTAS API the client can call:

```
ut/%s/auctionhouse            AUCTIONHOUSE    ut/%s/purchased            PURCHASED
ut/%s/clubUser                CLUB_USER       ut/%s/store                STORE
ut/%s/user/list               CLUB_INFO       ut/%s/watchList            WATCHLIST
ut/%s/club                    CLUB            ut/delete/%s/watchList     DELETEWATCHLIST
ut/%s/defid                   DREAM           ut/%s/tradePile            TRADEPILE
ut/%s/squad                   SQUAD           ut/%s/trade                TRADE
ut/delete/%s/squad            DELETE_SQUAD    ut/delete/%s/trade         DELETETRADE
ut/%s/leaderboards/options    LBOPTIONS       ut/%s/marketdata           MARKETDATA
ut/%s/leaderboards            LBDEFAULT       ut/%s/clientdata           CLIENTDATA
ut/%s/activeMessage           PAFPRACTICE     ut/auth                    AUTH
ut/%s                         UT              ut/delete/auth             DELETE_AUTH
ut/%s/user                    USER            ut/%s/phishing             PHISHING
ut/delete/%s/user             DELETEUSER      ut/%s/captcha              CAPTCHA
ut/%s/item                    ITEMS           ut/%s/tfa                  TFA
ut/%s/item/resource           ITEMS_BY_RES    ut/%s/squad/mode           SQUADMODE
ut/delete/%s/item             DELETEITEMS     ut/%s/draft/mode           DRAFT
ut/%s/match                   MATCH           ut/%s/champion             CHAMPIONS
ut/%s/sbs                     SBC             ut/v2/%s/store             V2STORE
ut/%s/tournament              TOURNAMENT      ut/%s/livemessage          LIVEMESSAGE
ut/%s/tournament/user         TOURNAMENTUSER  ut/%s/season               SEASON
ut/delete/%s/tournament/user  TOURNAMENTQUIT  ut/%s/season/user          SEASONUSER
ut/%s/season/%%s/user         SEASONUSER_ALTER
ut/%s/season/%%s/reset        SEASONRESET     ut/%s/season/friendly      FRIENDLYSEASON
```

**`%s` expands to `game/<sku>` (i.e. `game/fifa17`).**

⚠ **A template is not the whole URL.** Callers append suffixes that never appear
in this table — `ut/%s/squad` + `/list` is a real, live-observed endpoint that cost
us a whole debugging cycle (REBUILD_PLAN §10g), and `ut/%s/user` + `/club` is the
club-rename URL. So treat this table as the *base* set and keep watching the log
for suffixed variants.

## 2. Routing gaps (what currently falls through to the catch-all `200 {}`)

15 of the 45 have no route at all:

| template | NAME | why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| `ut/%s/sbs` | SBC | Squad Building Challenges — a whole game mode |
| `ut/%s/champion` | CHAMPIONS | FUT Champions (the hub tile exists) |
| `ut/%s/draft/mode` | DRAFT | FUT Draft |
| `ut/%s/tournament`, `/user`, delete | TOURNAMENT* | offline cups |
| `ut/%s/leaderboards`, `/options` | LB* | leaderboards |
| `ut/%s/livemessage`, `ut/%s/activeMessage` | LIVEMESSAGE/PAFPRACTICE | in-hub messaging |
| `ut/%s/clientdata` | CLIENTDATA | client blob storage |
| `ut/%s/captcha`, `ut/%s/tfa` | CAPTCHA/TFA | anti-bot + 2FA gates |
| `ut/%s` | UT | API root |
| `ut/v2/%s/store` | V2STORE | routed by regex today, but only the bare form |

Also **`ut/%s/match` is only partially routed** — we answer `match/keepalive` and
`match/reset`; the base `MATCH` endpoint (create/destroy, i.e. **where match rewards
are delivered**) falls through. That is the single biggest hole in the core loop:
without it, playing a match awards nothing.

## 3. POW / EASFC — the online layer

See REBUILD_PLAN §11 for the reversed gate. **Live-confirmed working**: the client
honours `FIFA_POW_URL` from the merged client-config store, connects to our server,
and the "servers unreachable" banner disappears without touching `/etc/hosts`.

**16 endpoints observed live**, in call order:
```
POST pow/auth                      GET pow/lvl/user/tiergp/businessunit/tiertp/fifa
GET  pow/healthcheck/system/all    GET pow/lvl/weight/tiergp/businessunit/tiertp/fifa
GET  pow/bank/user/account         GET pow/store/game/fifa17/catalog/list
GET  pow/bank/currency/pow_funds/cap/info
GET  pow/store/game/fifa17/catalog/0/item/list?offset=0&count=49   <-- pager
GET  pow/inventory/item/list       GET pow/store/gift/list
POST pow/user/friends              GET pow/pfyc/user
POST pow/pfyc/user/club            PUT pow/pfyc/user/prefs/shareinfo
GET  pow/mm/game/fifa17/message/list                POST pow/v2/activity
```
`pow/auth` request body (live): `{isReadOnly, sku:"FFA17PCC", clientVersion, nuc,
nucleusPersonaId, nucleusPersonaDisplayName, locale, priorityLevel}` — the client
asserts its own identity, same pattern as UTAS auth.

**Debug facility found:** `POW/POW_FORCE_ERROR`, `POW_FORCE_ERROR_CODE` and
`test-http-status-codes.asp?code=%d` (in `FUN_180066410`) — the client can be told
to synthesise POW HTTP errors. Useful for testing our error paths.

## 4. POW field vocabulary (names certain, envelope not)

Literal key strings in powdll, i.e. names its parsers compare against:

* **level** (name table `FUN_180094700`): `level`, `exp`, `currLevelExpMin`,
  `currLevelExpMax`, `isMaxLevel`, `dailyXpCap`, `currency`
* **bank** (contiguous field table `0x1800c96b8`–`0x1800c9928`): `currencies`,
  `currency`, `currencyName`, `funds`, `fundsBalance`, `fundsCap`, `fundsCapInfo`,
  `fundsEarned`, `accountBalance`, `balance`, `numCurrency`
* **list envelope** (`FUN_180094560`): `numItems`, `numOwnedItems`,
  `numLockedItems`, `numCurrency`
* **catalog item** (`FUN_1800945c0`, 21 fields): `category`, `name`, `description`,
  `type`, `subtype`, `price`, `level`, `isConsumable`, `isPurchased`, `isPromotion`,
  `isGiftable`, `isLocked`, `ownedQuantity`, `maximumQuantity`, `assetPath`,
  `smallAssetPath`, `fccAvailable`, `itemCount`, `itemsTotal`, `itemsOwned`, `error`

**NOT present in powdll** (do not send — they parse as nothing): `personaId`,
`personaName`, `userId`, `sessionId`, `displayName`, `personaList`.

**Open:** the top-level envelope. Serving the level record at the JSON root was
live-tested and ignored (hub still read `LVL: 0/0`). A one-launch probe is armed
(record at root + under `data`/`result`/`content` + as a 1-element array).

## 5. Endpoint → cache-class pairings (powdll)

| endpoint | issuer | cache class |
|---|---|---|
| `pow/lvl/user/tiergp/%s/tiertp/%s` | `FUN_180020250` | `UserLevelCacheData` |
| `pow/bank/user/account` | `FUN_18001aeb0` | `CurrencyCacheData` |
| `pow/nucleus/entitlements` | `FUN_180066410` | — (+ error-injection) |
| `pow/auth` | `FUN_180068dd0` | — (`Post`, `%s/%s`) |
| `pow/healthcheck/system/all` | `FUN_18005cb40` | sets `POWmgr[0x6ac]` 1=on/3=off |

Other cache classes seen, not yet paired: `CatalogListCacheData`,
`CatalogCacheData`, `LevelWeightCacheData`, `FriendsLevelCacheData`,
`CurrencyCapCacheData`, `ChallengeProgressCacheData`.

## 6. Next research steps (in priority order)

1. **`ut/%s/match`** — create/destroy and the reward payload. Biggest core-loop
   hole; without it matches award nothing. Needs the response schema.
2. **Fix the class→deserializer walk.** The three failed attempts assumed MSVC RTTI
   (`TypeDescriptor`→COL→vtable); EA's layout is its own: the class-name literal
   sits *after* the vtable (`FutSquadSave`: vtable `0x18022c560`, name
   `0x18022c61c`), with a descriptor block before it containing 32-bit RVAs and the
   `0x19930522` signature. The reliable path is the one used successfully for the
   squad family: locate the *factory* function first, then its vtable. Do that per
   class rather than by scanning, and **always keep a known-good control in the
   batch** — that control is what caught the bad results here.
3. **POW envelope** — settled by the armed probe on the next launch.
4. **dbdata.dll** — imported and analysed at `/tmp/fifadb/dbproj` (2.6 MB, loose).
   This is the player database: real names/ratings/clubs for the club, market and
   packs, replacing `fut_store.PACK_POOL`'s 18 hand-entered players.
5. **Objectives / Manager Tasks** — the hub tile reads `0/0`; no `FutGetObjectives`
   RTTI string exists, so the feed is something else (possibly `clientdata` or a
   POW challenge endpoint: `pow/chal/user/prog`, `ChallengeProgressCacheData`).

## 7. Core loop IMPLEMENTED — match lifecycle + rewards (2026-08-04)

The `ut/%s/match` hole from §2 is closed. The schemas did **not** need re-reversing:
`ENDPOINT_MAP.md` already carried them at CONFIDENCE: HIGH from an earlier pass —
checking the docs first saved a full reversing cycle, and is worth doing before any
"unrouted endpoint" is treated as unknown.

| verb + path | response class | deser | what we serve |
|---|---|---|---|
| `POST ut/%s/match` | FutCreateMatch | `0x180120380` | `{startDateTime, reportIdEnabled, id}` |
| `PUT ut/%s/match/{id}` | FutMatchReady | none | `{}` |
| `POST ut/%s/match/{id}` | FutPlayGame | none | `{}` (client SENDS the result here) |
| `DELETE ut/%s/match/{id}` | **FutDestroyMatch** | `0x180121b60` | **the rewards** |

`ut/delete/game/<sku>/match/...` is routed too — UTAS tunnels DELETE through a
`/ut/delete/` path prefix (same as trade/watchList/squad).

Reward body — every field a top-level scalar, so zero freeze risk:
`coins`(149) `allCoins`(20) `matchCoins`(436) `seasonCoins`(670)
`tournamentCoins`(809) `boostConis`(96 — EA's typo, exact key)
`participationAward`(529) `qualifiedChampionEventId`(617)
`teamOfTournamentWinner`(776,bool). The nested members `gameModeAward`(310),
`matchCoinMultipliers`(437) and `userData`(877) are deliberately **omitted**:
all three are SKIP-safe, and `userData` is a documented freeze-risk (must be an
object if present), so not sending it is strictly safer.

Verified offline, full lifecycle: create → ready → play(2-1) → destroy gave
`+400 coins`, balance `12600 → 13000`, hub record `0-0-0 → 1-0-0`. Profile then
restored to its pre-test state; 380 contract checks still green.

**Payout amounts are OURS, not reversed** — the server decides. Defaults
win/draw/loss = 400/200/100, tunable via `FUT_MATCH_COINS_WIN|DRAW|LOSS` and
`FUT_MATCH_PARTICIPATION`.

**Known gap:** the *request* shape for PlayGame/DestroyMatch is not reversed — only
the response side is. `_match_result()` probes the plausible spellings
(`goals`/`opponentGoals`, `score`/`opponentScore`, nested `match`/`stats`, textual
`result`) and **falls back to a draw**, the neutral outcome — it credits and records
without inventing a win. Every request body is logged, so the first real in-game
match reveals the true shape and the fallback can be replaced with the actual field.

**Not added to the contract suite:** the loop is inherently mutating (it credits
coins and bumps the record), and that suite is meant to stay read-only. Verified by
hand instead; if it needs regression cover, extract the reward body into a pure
function and unit-test that rather than making the HTTP suite stateful.

## 8. Game-mode gaps implemented (2026-08-04, loop iteration 1)

The remaining 15 unrouted templates from §2 are now routed. Again **no new
reversing was needed** — `ENDPOINT_MAP.md` already carried the schemas. That is
twice in a row; treat "unrouted" as "check the docs" before "reverse it".

| endpoint | class | deser | confidence | body |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `GET /season` | FutSeasonList | `0x180167740` | HIGH | **ARRAY** root of season descriptors |
| `GET /season/user` | FutSeasonLoadData | `0x180131450` | HIGH (switch traced) | `{seasonId, divisionId, round, userPoints, dataVersion, data}` |
| `/season/{id}/reset` | FutResetMatch | `0x18016fd10` | HIGH | `{"reset": true}` |
| `GET /tournament` | FutTournamentList | `0x180169ef0` | MEDIUM | **ARRAY** root |
| `GET /tournament/user` | FutTournamentLoadData | `0x180147cb0` | MEDIUM | `{round, dataVersion, tournamentData}` |
| `GET /leaderboards` | FutGetLBEntries | `0x180144c8d` | MEDIUM | `{"entries": []}` |
| `GET /leaderboards/options` | FutGetLBOptions | `0x18014351c` | MEDIUM | `{category, id, period, view, url}` |
| `POST /champion` | FutChampionsRegistration | `0x18014980d` | MEDIUM | `{}` (no atoms) |
| `GET /champion` | FutGetChampionsTopX | `0x18014a09d` | MEDIUM | `{"entries": []}` |
| `GET /captcha` | FutGetCaptcha | `0x18014e78d` | MEDIUM | `{encodedImg, sequence, sizeBeforeEncode}` |

Plus plain acks now routed instead of falling through: `/tfa`, `/clientdata`,
`/livemessage`, `/activeMessage`, `ut/delete/.../tournament`.

**Gated behind `FUT_MODES=1`, default OFF.** Every one of these is
documented-but-never-live-tested, and both of today's regressions were "serve a new
body the client has never parsed". `FutSeasonList` in particular wants an **array
root** where we currently send `{}` on a boot-adjacent path — precisely the shape
class that busy-loops at `0x1801c7f1a` when wrong. Verified both ways offline:
default is byte-identical `{}` everywhere, `FUT_MODES=1` serves the documented
bodies, 380 checks green in both. `/captcha` is served unconditionally (three
scalars, strictly better than `{}`).

Nested members are omitted throughout — `prizeSet`, `elgReq`, `friendlySeasonHistory`,
tournament `rounds`/`staff`/`kit` are all SKIP-safe and all FREEZE-RISK if wrong.

### Remaining gaps, ranked
1. **POW envelope** — blocks LVL/credits; the armed probe settles it in one launch.
2. **Match request shape** — response side done; the request (score/result) is
   unreversed, `_match_result()` falls back to a draw until a real match is logged.
3. **SBC / Draft** — the only families with NO documented schema. `FutSBC*` and
   `FutGetDraft*` still need a deserializer walk, and all four attempts at a generic
   walk have now failed (see §6.2 — the last one, via factory name-LEAs, got
   `cands=0` because Ghidra creates no references from those LEAs: the name strings
   are not defined data). Next idea: define the strings as data first (or scan
   `.text` for the RIP-relative LEA encoding directly), then re-run the factory walk.
4. **dbdata.dll** — imported at `/tmp/fifadb/dbproj`, untouched: real player names/
   ratings to replace the 18 hand-entered `PACK_POOL` entries.

## 9. Class → deserializer SOLVED: the -4 rule (loop iteration 2)

Six attempts. The fix is one subtraction.

**A response class's name literal is preceded by a 4-BYTE HEADER, and the factory's
`lea r8,[rip+...]` points at THAT header — not at the text.** Ground truth:

```
0x18012170c  LEA R8,[0x18021d690]      <- the factory's reference
0x18021d694  "FutDestroyMatchServerResponse"   <- the string, 4 bytes later
```

Every earlier attempt looked up the string address itself and got **zero
candidates** — which four times looked like "this class has no deserializer" rather
than "my lookup is off by four". Ghidra had the reference all along; the manual
RIP-relative LEA decoding in attempt 5 was unnecessary.

Now `ghidra_env.class_deser(cls)` implements it: `xrefs_to(name-4)` → factory →
the `.rdata` vtable it references → deserializer at slot `+0x08`.

**Reliability, measured:** 3/3 correct whenever it resolves (controls
FutSquadSave `0x180171a60`, FutSquadList `0x180172140`, FutCreateMatch
`0x180120380`), but it produces **false negatives** — FutDestroyMatch and
FutSeasonLoadData resolve to nothing despite having known deserializers. So an
empty result means "unknown", never "no deserializer". Always batch with a control.

### SBC + Draft schemas (11/15 resolved — the last families with no docs)

| class | deser | parsed keys |
|---|---|---|
| `FutGetDraftCurrentState` | `0x180147070` | `roundsInfo`(0x293) + the draft state enum: `CAPTAIN_DRAFT`, `FORMATION_DRAFT`, `PLAYER_DRAFT`, `MANAGER_DRAFT`, `COMPLETED_DRAFT`, `READY_FOR_MATCH`, `READY_FOR_REWARDS`, `PICK_DIFFICULTY`, `INVALID` |
| `FutSBCSubmitChallenge` | `0x180161b00` | `active`(0xa), **`grantedChallengeAwards`**(0x14a) — the SBC reward key |
| `FutGetDraftStats` | `0x1801508c0` | `active`, `draftsCompleted`(0xe2), `scoredGoals`(0x29b) |
| `FutLoadSetTypes` | `0x180154990` | `active`(0xa) |
| `FutSBCLoadCategoryDetails` | `0x18017b2b0` | (no named atoms recovered) |
| `FutSBCSetData`, `FutPickDraftChoice` | `0x1801642c0` | **shared no-op** (`return 1`) → `{}` is complete |
| `FutSBCTagSets`, `FutSBCSaveSquadChallenge`, `FutPickDraftAutoChoice`, `FutPurchaseDraftMode` | various | no atoms → `{}` is complete |

Unresolved (false negatives): `FutGetDraftChoices`, `FutGetDraftAward`,
`FutGetObjectives` (no RTTI string at all — the Manager Tasks feed is something
else), `FutStickerBookSearch`.

**Practical upshot:** most SBC/Draft responses are genuine acks, so the catch-all
`{}` is already *correct* for them — the families were never as blocked as they
looked. The two that carry real data are `FutGetDraftCurrentState` (a state machine)
and `FutSBCSubmitChallenge` (`grantedChallengeAwards`, the SBC payout).

`0x1801642c0` recurring is not a collision: it is the shared no-op deserializer,
the same one FutSquadRename/FutSquadDelete/FutChangeClubName use.

## 10. Traffic-replay coverage audit (loop iteration 3)

`dbdata.dll` was the planned target but is a poor investment: it carries **no table
or column name strings at all** (7,960 identifiers, zero matching player/team/league
or overall/firstname/commonname), so the schema is not in the DLL and extraction
would be a large effort for cosmetic gain. Earlier work got real assetIds from the
*live* InGameDB instead — that remains the cheaper route. Deprioritised.

Instead: extracted every distinct `(method, path)` the client has ever sent across
all sessions in `/tmp/utas_server.log` — **48 pairs** — and diffed them against the
route table. That surfaced **three live paths nobody knew about**, none of which
appear in the request-template table (§1):

```
PUT ut/game/fifa17/clientdata/userHubData        (FUT hub, 20:40 session)
GET ut/game/fifa17/club/stats/consumables        (MY CLUB screen)
GET ut/game/fifa17/club/stats/staff
GET ut/game/fifa17/club/stats/year
```

This is the third time a suffix endpoint has been invisible to static analysis
(`/squad/list`, `/user/club`, now these). **The request-template table is a floor,
not a ceiling — the log is the only ground truth for what the client actually calls.**

### Fixed

**`club/stats/*` was answering with the wrong body.** It fell through to the generic
`/club` route, which returns the FULL 28-item club item list — where the client asked
for stats, and re-sent on every poll. Now routed ahead of `/club` and answered `{}`
(no schema is documented; `{}` is the proven-safe default). `/club` itself unchanged.

**`clientdata/<key>` now persists.** The client PUTs its own hub state; we store the
blob and hand back exactly what it gave us. Zero-risk by construction — we never
synthesise a shape, only echo the client's own bytes. This is also the most plausible
route to the hub's `MANAGER TASKS 0/0` tile persisting, since §9 established there is
**no `FutGetObjectives` class in the binary at all** — the tile state may simply live
in this blob rather than in a server response.

Verified: `PUT` then `GET` round-trips the blob byte-for-byte; `club/stats/*` returns
`{}`; `/club` still returns the item list; 380 checks green. Test blob removed from
the profile afterwards.

## 11. Pre-test regression proof + match unit tests (loop iteration 4)

Before the morning live test, the useful work was proving that everything added
overnight (match loop, game-mode ladder, clientdata, club/stats, POW) did **not**
change what the client sees.

### Regression diff against the last fully-good session

Extracted what we actually SENT during the 20:40 session — the one that was good in
every respect (hub, coins, record, active squad, MY SQUADS: 1, `PUT /squad/0`) — and
replayed every non-mutating request against the current defaults:

```
identical: 19   differing: 0   errors: 0
```

`PUT /squad/0` was re-checked separately against a scratch profile (never the real
save) and still answers `{"id": 0}`. So the morning test starts from a state
byte-identical to the last known-good one, with the new routes reachable only via
their env flags.

This diff is worth re-running after any batch of route changes:
extract `(verb, path) -> response` from a known-good window in
`/tmp/utas_server.log`, replay the GETs, compare prefixes.

### `tools/test_match_rewards.py` — 51 checks, pure

The match loop mutates (credits coins, bumps W/D/L), so it cannot go in the
read-only HTTP contract suite. `destroy_match_body()` is now split out of
`match_route()` as a pure function and tested with no server, no state, no profile:

* **`_match_result()`** — 14 scorelines including nested `match`/`stats` bodies,
  textual `WIN`/`defeat`/`tie`, and the two fallback cases (`{}` and `None` → draw).
  Also pins that **0-0 is a draw WITH a score**, not "no data" — the one case where
  a sloppy truth-test would silently reclassify a real result as unknown.
* **`destroy_match_body()`** — every field scalar (a non-scalar here is the freeze
  class at `0x1801c7f1a`), `allCoins` is the NEW balance, the nested
  `userData`/`gameModeAward`/`matchCoinMultipliers` stay omitted, and — load-bearing —
  the key is EA's misspelled **`boostConis`** (atom 96), not `boostCoins`. A renamed
  key is SKIP'd silently, i.e. the reward would vanish with no error anywhere.

Suites now: `test_fut_contract.py` 380 (live, read-only) + `test_match_rewards.py`
51 (pure). Both green.

## 12. The pack→club hand-off is unverified (loop iteration 5)

Noticed in the save: **12 cards sitting in the PENDING pile** (`profile["purchased"]`)
with 6 packs opened, and `PUT ut/%s/item` (FutMoveCard) fired **zero times** across
every logged session.

**Corrected reading before drawing a conclusion:** all the store traffic in the logs
is `PUT /ut/v2/game/fifa17/store/transaction/0` with body
`{"state":"TRANSACTIONCANCEL"}` — that is the boot-time cancel of a pending
transaction, **not a purchase**. So no pack has been bought in-game in any logged
session, and the 12 pending cards are leftovers from earlier work. The correct
conclusion is therefore **"the pack→club loop is UNVERIFIED", not "it is broken"** —
the evidence does not support the stronger claim.

It remains a real gap: cards from an opened pack only reach the club when the client
sends `PUT ut/%s/item` from the reveal screen's "send to club", and that request has
never been observed. Structurally this is the same shape as the squad blocker — an
assumed client request that may simply never arrive.

### `tools/fut_admin.py` — offline save maintenance

- `--show` (default): full profile summary incl. the pending pile
- `--flush-purchased [-n]`: move pending cards into the club, `-n` = dry run
- `--backup`: timestamped copy

**Safety:** the client desyncs fatally (logout) if a card exists in BOTH the pending
pile and the club (docs/CARD_SYSTEM.md). So the flush **moves, never copies** — it
reuses `Store.move_items()`, which deletes from `purchased` inside the same locked
transaction that appends to `items`, keeping that invariant in exactly one place.
It takes a backup first and must be run with FIFA closed.

**Not run.** Only `--show` and a dry run were executed; the save is untouched
(coins 12600, 28 club items, 12 still pending, no backup file written). Flushing
changes the user's save, so it is their call — and if a live pack-open turns out to
issue `PUT /item` correctly, the flush is unnecessary.

### Live test worth adding to the morning list
Buy a pack in-game and watch `/tmp/utas_server.log` for `PUT /ut/game/fifa17/item`.
If it appears, the loop works and `fut_admin.py` is just a repair tool. If it does
not, the reveal screen is another client-side gate to reverse — and the log will show
what it sends instead.

## 13. Response audit: market schema + unparseable-key sweep (loop iteration 6)

**Market/trade responses are already exact.** The core auction record
(`auctionInfo[]` element, deser `0x18013e410`) documents **12** atoms —
`tradeId`, `itemData`, `tradeState`, `bidState`, `buyNowPrice`, `startingBid`,
`currentBid`, `expires`, `sellerName`, `sellerEstablished`, `watched`,
`coinsProcessed` — and `_auction_record()` serves exactly that set, with the right
types throughout (`expires` as SECONDS not epoch, `sellerName` inside the 30-char
bound, `itemData` an object, the two enums as strings). The list bodies
(`{auctionInfo, credits, total, duplicateItemIdList}`), `FutISStart` (`{id}`) and
`FutISViewTrade` (`{auctionInfo, credits}`) all match too. Nothing to fix.

**Unparseable-key sweep.** Walked every key we serve across 15 endpoints (nested,
to depth 4) and checked each against `fut_atoms.tsv`. Anything absent from that
table can never be read: the key hash misses and it routes to the value-SKIP handler
`0x180135ff0`.

Result — **only 2 inert keys in the entire response surface**:

| key | where | verdict |
|---|---|---|
| `definitionId` | every card item | INERT — not an atom. The live key is `resourceId`. |
| `limitType` | store catalog entry | INERT — not an atom. |

Both are harmless (SKIP'd, no freeze risk) and are kept — other FIFA versions do use
`definitionId`. But `fut_seed.player_item` carried a comment claiming *"some FUT APIs
key on definitionId"*, which is wrong for FIFA 17 and would mislead the next reader
into treating it as load-bearing. Corrected in place, citing the same phantom-key
precedent as `itemDbVersion`/`checkServerDbVersion` in `blaze_responder`.

That 2-out-of-everything ratio is the useful headline: the response surface is clean,
so any remaining live misbehaviour is about *shape/envelope* or *missing endpoints*,
not stray fields.

## 14. Live morning session (2026-08-04) — store fixed, move path unsolved

### 14a. Store "unknown" packs — SOLVED

The store rendered every tile as `unknown` with `0 ITEMS / 0 BRONZE / 0 RARES`.

`"unknown"` is not an error string: `FUN_180133f60` constructs a FUT String with that
literal **unconditionally** — it is the DEFAULT, shown whenever nothing overwrites it.

What overwrites it is **`displayGroup`(0xd9)**, and the structural point is that it is
parsed by the SAME element parser `0x18013af30` **recursively**: a display group is
itself a pack-shaped object carrying the tile's name and aggregate counts. The store
screen renders GROUPS, not raw packs. We never sent `displayGroup`, so the client
built a default group → `unknown` / zeroes.

Fix: every pack now carries a single-entry `displayGroup` array (freeze-risk if
scalar) plus `displayGroupAssetId`(0xda) and `displayGroupUseDefaultImage`(0xdb).

**Two ENDPOINT_MAP corrections** from re-extracting `0x18013af30`:
* It claims `id`/`packType`/`isPremium`/`quantity`/`saleType`/`purchaseLimit`/
  `purchaseCount` are skipped no-ops. **They are all parsed** (0x15c, 0x20f, 0x176,
  0x26b, 0x298, 0x265, 0x261).
* It claims `extPrice.finalPrice`/`originalPrice` take `amount`/`currency`. The inner
  parsers `0x180139070`/`0x18013aae0` read **`externalPriceId`**(0x11a) + `active`;
  our `{"amount":N,"currency":"mtx"}` was discarded wholesale.

### 14b. Quick Sell — was silently free

`Quick Sell All` sends `POST ut/delete/%s/item`, which was UNMAPPED. The catch-all
`{}` is ACCEPTED by the client (no error, session survives) but nothing was credited:
six cards destroyed for 0 coins. Now routed to `quick_sell_route()`, crediting
`discardValue` with a rating-based fallback (600/300/150/50) since seeded cards have
none. Verified: +600 for an 86-rated card.

### 14c. "Send to Club" — UNSOLVED after 7 attempts

`PUT ut/%s/item` moves the cards server-side every time, then the client shows
*"We are sorry but there has been an error connecting to FIFA 17 Ultimate Team"* and
POSTs `ut/delete/auth`. **Eliminated, each by live test:**

| hypothesis | result |
|---|---|
| missing `chemistry`(0x81) | failed without it too |
| unknown keys + no skip handler in `0x180128600` | **RETRACTED, FALSE** -- it has TWO skip handlers, see S16 |
| POW saturating the HTTP layer (109k reqs) | same failure with POW off |
| missing `FUT_RS4_URL_<CALL>` keys | netwatch logged **ZERO** non-loopback dials; 146 were genuinely missing and are now served, but they were not the cause |
| the response body at all | **`{}` fails too** |
| the reveal screen's exit path | **Quick Sell works from the same screen** |

So the move endpoint rejects every possible response while its sibling accepts a bare
`{}`. `"error connecting"` is FIFA's GENERIC FUT-session failure text, not a network
event — do not read it literally (that inference cost two wasted attempts).

**Workaround shipped:** `FUT_PACK_AUTOCLUB=1` (default) deposits pack contents
straight into the club at open time and keeps the pending pile empty, so the client is
never offered a move. Packs are fully usable. `FUT_MOVE_BODY=empty|dreamsquads|full`
switches the response shape for future bisects without a code edit.

**Next idea, untested:** single-card `S` (Send to Club) vs batch `W` (Send All) —
if single works, it is a batch/count issue, a completely different target.

### 14d. Process note

Four of six failed hypotheses were things testable before proposing them. The two
findings that actually moved this forward were the USER's: the screenshot with the
error text, and the Quick Sell result. **Ask for the on-screen text and try the
neighbouring action FIRST** — both were cheaper than any decompile done here.

## 15. SURPRISE FOUR: `ut/%s/squad/mode/draft/state` (2026-08-04, observation session)

Recorded immediately per the session checklist. **A live client request to a URL that is
not in the 45-template table.**

```
[10:35:28] GET /ut/game/fifa17/squad/mode/draft/state
           User-Agent: ProtoHttp 1.3/DS 15.1.2.1.0 (Windows)     <- the real client
[10:35:28]   -> 200 {"id":0,"personaId":...,"squadName":"OpenFUT","formation":"f442",...}
```

The template table holds `ut/%s/squad/mode` (SQUADMODE) and `ut/%s/draft/mode` (DRAFT)
as separate entries. The real endpoint is a **suffixed composition of neither**:
`squad/mode` + `/draft/state`. This is the fourth time a suffix endpoint has been
invisible to the static table (`squad/list`, `user/club`, `club/stats/*`, now this).

### What we answered, and why it is wrong

Our generic `G + r"/squad"` route matched first and returned the **full active-squad
object** (23 slots, nested itemData, the 33-int `custom` string) to an endpoint asking for
DRAFT STATE. Identical bug class to `club/stats/*`, which was found the same way and
returned the entire club inventory to a stats endpoint.

Per §9, `FutGetDraftCurrentState` (deser `0x180147070`) parses `roundsInfo`(0x293) plus a
state enum: `CAPTAIN_DRAFT`, `FORMATION_DRAFT`, `PLAYER_DRAFT`, `MANAGER_DRAFT`,
`COMPLETED_DRAFT`, `READY_FOR_MATCH`, `READY_FOR_REWARDS`, `PICK_DIFFICULTY`, `INVALID`.
Feeding that parser a squad object is a textbook type-mismatch freeze candidate.

### Status

**PROVEN:** the client requested this URL; we answered with a squad object; the game
became unresponsive immediately afterwards. `FIFA17.exe` was still running with **no
crash dump written**, so this was a hang, not an access violation.

**NOT PROVEN:** that the wrong body caused the hang. It is the obvious candidate and the
timing is exact, but no measurement has isolated it. Do not record this as the cause until
something confirms it.

**NOT FIXED.** Observed during an assessment-only session; recorded and left alone
deliberately.

### Also observed this session

`Single Player -> Seasons` raises *"There was a problem communicating with the FIFA
Ultimate Team servers"* **with ZERO requests to any layer** (UTAS, Blaze and POW logs all
show nothing but unrelated pings and one `CensusData::subscribeToCensusDataUpdates`).
Nothing failed because nothing was asked. This is the third time FIFA's error text has
described a network problem that did not happen; the message is a generic client-side
refusal. POW/EASFC was OFF this session and is the leading untested hypothesis for the
gate, disconfirmable in one launch with `FUT_POW=1`.

## 16. RETRACTION: FutMoveCard's "no skip handler" claim was FALSE

**Retracted 2026-08-04.** Sections 14c and the `utas_server.item_route` comment
claimed:

> FutMoveCard `0x180128600` HAS NO SKIP HANDLER. Every other FUT deserializer routes
> an unrecognised key to `FUN_180135ff0`; this one calls it ZERO times. It parses
> exactly two atoms, `itemData` and `dreamSquads`.

**Every part of that is wrong.** Verified on a full decompile:

```
FUN_180135ff0 call sites : 2   (offsets 5006 and 6080)
atoms parsed             : 7   active, dreamSquads, id, itemData, pile, reason, success
```

**Cause of the error:** the decompile was written out as `src[:4000]` and then
searched. The function is **6193 characters**. Both skip-handler call sites and four
of the seven atoms lie beyond the cut. An absence was reported from a truncated
listing.

**Lesson, and it has now cost twice:** this is the same failure mode as the
`Memory.getBytes` bytearray scan that silently returned zero hits. *Never conclude an
absence from a truncated or unverified-length extraction.* Print the length, or
assert the region searched covers the whole function.

**Cost:** the false claim implied "any extra key desyncs this parser", which pointed
the whole investigation at client-side state for seven attempts. The runbook premise
"the deciding factor is client-side state, not the wire" derived from it and was
also wrong.

### The verified schema

`PUT ut/%s/item` is **not** an ack endpoint. It returns per-item VERDICT records:

```json
{"itemData":[{"id": 100000123, "pile": "club", "success": true}]}
```

| atom | key | getter | destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x15c | `id` | INT `0x1801c79d0` | record+0x00 |
| 0x226 | `pile` | STRING `0x1801c7aa0` -> enum `0x180142650` (club=7, purchased=6, trade=5) | record+0x08 |
| 0x2fa | `success` | BOOL `0x1801c7620` | record+0x0c |
| 0x279 | `reason` | STRING; `"Destination Full"` maps to 0xf | record+0x10 |
| 0xe9 | `dreamSquads` | INT array | |
| else | | `FUN_180135ff0` (skip) | |

The completion handler raises `EVENT_CARDS_MOVE_CARD_FAILURE` when the record vector
is **empty** or when `record+0x0c != 1`, and `success` is initialised to `'\0'` at
the top of every element loop. So **every body ever returned reported failure**:
full cards, `+chemistry`, `dreamSquads`-only, and `{}` (zero records, fails the first
guard outright).

Quick sell survives an identical `{}` because its callbacks check only the transport
error code and never read the body. That is the entire asymmetry, and it was on the
wire the whole time.

**Status: necessary condition identified, sufficiency UNTESTED.** Staged behind
`FUT_MOVE_BODY=ack`, default still `empty`. One launch settles it.

---

## 17. SOLVED: "Send to Club" (2026-08-04, one launch)

`FUT_MOVE_BODY=ack`, `FUT_PACK_AUTOCLUB=0`. Bought a bronze pack, opened it, chose
Send to Club. **The session survived.** The five cards persisted into the club pile
and the client carried on to the hub and then into MY CLUB.

```
11:15:42 POST /purchased/items      pack bought, 8400 -> 8000
11:15:43 GET  /purchased/items      5 items in the pending pile
11:15:48 PUT  /item
   req {"itemData":[{"id":100000125,"pile":"club","swap":0,"tradeId":0}, ... x5]}
   res {"itemData":[{"id":100000125,"pile":"club","success":true}, ... x5]}
11:15:49 GET  /user/credits         session alive
11:15:51 GET  /hub                  no error dialog
11:16:05 GET  /club/stats/{staff,year,consumables}
11:16:06 GET  /club?year=2017&type=player&count=11&...   MY CLUB opened
```

**No `ut/delete/auth`.** Every one of the seven previous attempts logged that logout
within a second or two. This run has none. Profile on disk afterwards: 109 items, 86
in the club pile, all five new ids present.

### What this settles

The failure was always the response body. The client was told, by every body this
project ever returned including a bare `{}`, that the move had **failed**, and it
ended the FUT session because that is what `EVENT_CARDS_MOVE_CARD_FAILURE` does. The
"deciding factor is client-side state, not the wire" premise recorded in §14c was
wrong, and §16 explains exactly which truncated decompile produced it.

Both defaults are flipped in `utas_server.py`: `FUT_MOVE_BODY=ack`, and
`FUT_PACK_AUTOCLUB` now defaults **off**.

### New intel: the request shape

Captured for the first time (the client had never successfully reached this path):

```json
{"itemData":[{"id":100000125,"pile":"club","swap":0,"tradeId":0}, ...]}
```

`swap` and `tradeId` accompany `id` and `pile`. We ignore both and the move
succeeded, so neither is load-bearing for a pending-pile-to-club move. `TODO/CONFIRM`
what `swap` means for a squad-slot exchange, where it plausibly is.

### Process note, and it is not a small one

The first attempt at this test produced **no `PUT /item` at all**. `FUT_PACK_AUTOCLUB=1`
had already emptied the pending pile at purchase time, so the reveal screen had
nothing to assign and the client never issued the request. The workaround for the bug
was hiding the bug: it removed the only path that exercises the broken endpoint.

The lesson generalises. A workaround that suppresses a request suppresses the evidence
too. Before testing a fix, check that the configuration still lets the client make the
call the fix is for.

Two self-inflicted incidents in the same session, both worth recording:

- The server was restarted to inject the flag **while FIFA was already running**, and
  the user walked into the FUT hub during the roughly 30-second window with nothing on
  :8099. That produced the exact "error connecting to FIFA 17 Ultimate Team" dialog
  this project has spent weeks chasing, from a plain connection refusal. Restart only
  when the client is at the main menu, and check the log for `ProtoHttp` requests
  before attributing a failure to a response.
- `pgrep -f`/`pkill -f` matched the running shell twice, because the command that ran
  the pattern also contained the literal script name in a later clause. It killed the
  invoking shell before it reached the restart. Split the kill and the start into
  separate commands, or obfuscate every occurrence.