diff --git a/lib/parsers/manifest-yaml.mjs b/lib/parsers/manifest-yaml.mjs
index c5a3903..93d386d 100644
--- a/lib/parsers/manifest-yaml.mjs
+++ b/lib/parsers/manifest-yaml.mjs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ const OPTIONAL_KEYS = [
 const OPTIONAL_BOOLEAN_KEYS = new Set(OPTIONAL_KEYS);
 
 // Optional string-typed manifest keys (v4.1 Step 3 — additive forward-compat).
-// `profile_used`: name of the model profile (economy|balanced|premium|<custom>) the
+// `profile_used`: name of the model profile (economy|balanced|premium|fable|<custom>) the
 //                 step was executed under. Absence is fine (v4.0 manifests have no
 //                 profile concept); presence MUST be a string.
 // Unlike OPTIONAL_BOOLEAN_KEYS, absence is NOT defaulted — the field is simply
diff --git a/lib/profiles/fable.yaml b/lib/profiles/fable.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d69b18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/profiles/fable.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+---
+profile_version: "1.0"
+name: fable
+phase_models:
+  - phase: brief
+    model: fable
+  - phase: research
+    model: fable
+  - phase: plan
+    model: fable
+  - phase: execute
+    model: fable
+  - phase: review
+    model: fable
+  - phase: continue
+    model: fable
+parallel_agents_min: 6
+parallel_agents_max: 8
+external_research_enabled: true
+brief_reviewer_iter_cap: 3
+---
diff --git a/lib/profiles/phase-signal-resolver.mjs b/lib/profiles/phase-signal-resolver.mjs
index 965e560..0292c71 100644
--- a/lib/profiles/phase-signal-resolver.mjs
+++ b/lib/profiles/phase-signal-resolver.mjs
@@ -67,6 +67,11 @@ export function resolvePhaseSignalFromFile(briefPath, phase) {
 }
 
 // CLI shim — mirrors lib/validators/brief-validator.mjs:168 pattern.
+// Footgun guard (v5.9): this shim's `model` output is brief-signal-only — it
+// never consults the profile layer. For command wiring, the composed resolver
+// CLI (`resolver.mjs --resolve-phase-model`, brief > profile > default) is the
+// single resolution source for {effort, model}. Do not re-wire commands/*.md
+// Bash blocks back to this shim.
 if (import.meta.url === `file://${process.argv[1]}`) {
   const args = process.argv.slice(2);
   const getArg = (name) => {
diff --git a/lib/profiles/resolver.mjs b/lib/profiles/resolver.mjs
index 3d17bc1..b2ec44b 100644
--- a/lib/profiles/resolver.mjs
+++ b/lib/profiles/resolver.mjs
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ import { resolvePhaseSignal } from './phase-signal-resolver.mjs';
 
 const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const BUILTIN_PROFILES_DIR = __dirname; // lib/profiles/
-const BUILTIN_NAMES = new Set(['economy', 'balanced', 'premium']);
+const BUILTIN_NAMES = new Set(['economy', 'balanced', 'premium', 'fable']);
 
 /**
  * Resolve the path to a profile file.
@@ -221,7 +221,13 @@ export function validateProfileFile(path, opts = {}) {
  * @param {string|null} briefPath   Absolute or repo-relative path to brief.md, or null
  * @param {string[]|object} argv    Full process.argv array OR parsed flags object
  * @param {object} [env]            Environment-variable record (defaults to process.env)
- * @returns {{model: string, source: 'brief-signal'|'flag'|'env'|'default'}}
+ * @returns {{effort?: string, model: string, source: 'brief-signal'|'flag'|'env'|'default'}}
+ *
+ * `effort` (v5.9 ADDITIVE) is the brief signal's effort passed through when
+ * present — so commands consume ONE coherent {effort, model, source} result
+ * instead of two split CLI calls. Absent when the brief carries no valid
+ * effort signal for the phase (commands default to 'standard' per the
+ * composition rule).
  *
  * Error handling contract:
  *  - Never throws. Any failure (ENOENT on briefPath, malformed YAML, missing
@@ -234,7 +240,10 @@ export function validateProfileFile(path, opts = {}) {
  * directly; commands must inject {resolved model} at Agent-tool spawn sites.
  */
 export function resolvePhaseModel(phase, briefPath, argv, env = process.env) {
-  // Step 1: brief-signal lookup
+  // Step 1: brief-signal lookup. `effort` is captured independently of `model`
+  // so a signal like {effort: high} (no model) still passes effort through
+  // while the model falls to the profile layer.
+  let effort;
   if (typeof briefPath === 'string' && briefPath.length > 0 && existsSync(briefPath)) {
     let fm = null;
     try {
@@ -246,8 +255,11 @@ export function resolvePhaseModel(phase, briefPath, argv, env = process.env) {
     }
     if (fm) {
       const signal = resolvePhaseSignal(fm, phase);
+      if (signal && typeof signal.effort === 'string') effort = signal.effort;
       if (signal && typeof signal.model === 'string' && signal.model.length > 0) {
-        return { model: signal.model, source: 'brief-signal' };
+        return effort !== undefined
+          ? { effort, model: signal.model, source: 'brief-signal' }
+          : { model: signal.model, source: 'brief-signal' };
       }
     }
   }
@@ -278,7 +290,9 @@ export function resolvePhaseModel(phase, briefPath, argv, env = process.env) {
     }
   }
   const model = phaseModels[phase] || 'opus';
-  return { model, source: profile_source };
+  return effort !== undefined
+    ? { effort, model, source: profile_source }
+    : { model, source: profile_source };
 }
 
 // CLI shim — invoked by commands/trek*.md via Bash.
@@ -300,7 +314,8 @@ if (import.meta.url === `file://${process.argv[1]}`) {
     if (args.includes('--json')) {
       process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(r) + '\n');
     } else {
-      process.stdout.write(`model=${r.model} source=${r.source}\n`);
+      const effort = 'effort' in r ? ` effort=${r.effort}` : '';
+      process.stdout.write(`model=${r.model} source=${r.source}${effort}\n`);
     }
     process.exit(0);
   }
diff --git a/tests/validators/profile-validator.test.mjs b/tests/validators/profile-validator.test.mjs
index 7cd3fec..f86d8a0 100644
--- a/tests/validators/profile-validator.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/validators/profile-validator.test.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // tests/validators/profile-validator.test.mjs
-// SC #1, #2, #3: profile-validator validates lib/profiles/{economy,balanced,premium}.yaml
+// SC #1, #2, #3: profile-validator validates lib/profiles/{economy,balanced,premium,fable}.yaml
 // (innebygde profiler) plus rejects invalid models and invalid enum types.
 
 import { test } from 'node:test';
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ import {
 const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const REPO_ROOT = join(__dirname, '..', '..');
 
-// SC #1: alle 3 innebygde profiler grønne
+// SC #1: alle 4 innebygde profiler grønne
 
-for (const profileName of ['economy', 'balanced', 'premium']) {
+for (const profileName of ['economy', 'balanced', 'premium', 'fable']) {
   test(`SC #1: lib/profiles/${profileName}.yaml validates clean`, () => {
     const r = validateProfile(join(REPO_ROOT, 'lib', 'profiles', `${profileName}.yaml`));
     assert.equal(r.valid, true,