diff --git a/clients/python/pyproject.toml b/clients/python/pyproject.toml
index 53e8ec8..2b88ac3 100644
--- a/clients/python/pyproject.toml
+++ b/clients/python/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "agent-eval-rpc"
-version = "0.96.5"
+version = "0.97.0"
 description = "Python RPC client for @tangle-network/agent-eval — judge content against rubrics over HTTP or stdio RPC. Eval logic runs in the Node runtime; this package is a thin wire client."
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
diff --git a/clients/python/src/agent_eval_rpc/__init__.py b/clients/python/src/agent_eval_rpc/__init__.py
index 10ba8e0..bcc76ee 100644
--- a/clients/python/src/agent_eval_rpc/__init__.py
+++ b/clients/python/src/agent_eval_rpc/__init__.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
 try:
     __version__ = version("agent-eval-rpc")
 except PackageNotFoundError:
-    __version__ = "0.96.5"
+    __version__ = "0.97.0"
 
 __all__ = [
     "Client",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c29b1d3..02ec29f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@tangle-network/agent-eval",
-  "version": "0.96.5",
+  "version": "0.97.0",
   "description": "Evaluate and improve AI agents from runs, traces, judges, and feedback. Compare candidates, cluster failures, measure lift, and gate releases.",
   "homepage": "https://github.com/tangle-network/agent-eval#readme",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/src/campaign/types.ts b/src/campaign/types.ts
index 42a2a52..e856717 100644
--- a/src/campaign/types.ts
+++ b/src/campaign/types.ts
@@ -274,6 +274,14 @@ export interface ProposeContext<TFindings = unknown> {
  *  reflective / agentic generators both conform. They are proposers for the
  *  SAME loop, not separate loops. The loop body (`runOptimization`) and the
  *  gated promotion shell (`runImprovementLoop`) are proposer-agnostic.
+ *
+ *  This is THE optimization proposer — every optimizer is a factory
+ *  `xProposer(opts): SurfaceProposer` (`evolutionaryProposer`, `aceProposer`,
+ *  `gepaProposer`, `skillOptProposer`, `traceAnalystProposer`, `haloProposer`,
+ *  `memoryCurationProposer`, `fapoProposer`), all exported from `/campaign` and
+ *  drivable by `selfImprove({ proposer })`. Not to be confused with the
+ *  behavior-fuzzing `MutationProposer` (`fuzz/types`), a scenario generator for
+ *  a different loop.
  */
 export interface SurfaceProposer<TFindings = unknown> {
   kind: string
diff --git a/src/fuzz/fuzz-agent.test.ts b/src/fuzz/fuzz-agent.test.ts
index 020f575..5b6749e 100644
--- a/src/fuzz/fuzz-agent.test.ts
+++ b/src/fuzz/fuzz-agent.test.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,14 @@ import { fuzzAgent } from './fuzz-agent'
 import { composeGates } from './gates'
 import { mutationProposer, noveltyObjective } from './policies'
 import { makeExploreTools } from './tools'
-import type { BehaviorSpace, Cell, Evaluation, Evaluator, ExploreOptions, Proposer } from './types'
+import type {
+  BehaviorSpace,
+  Cell,
+  Evaluation,
+  Evaluator,
+  ExploreOptions,
+  MutationProposer,
+} from './types'
 
 interface Scn {
   id: string
@@ -46,7 +53,7 @@ const seedsFor = (cell: Cell): Scn[] => [
   },
 ]
 
-const proposer: Proposer<Scn> = mutationProposer<Scn>({
+const proposer: MutationProposer<Scn> = mutationProposer<Scn>({
   scenarioId: (s) => s.id,
   mutationsFor: () => [
     {
@@ -163,7 +170,7 @@ describe('fuzzAgent (adversarial preset)', () => {
     // allocation (base's mutation operator runs dry on easy cells, which is
     // legitimate engine behavior, not an allocation skew).
     let n = 0
-    const fresh: Proposer<Scn> = (ctx) =>
+    const fresh: MutationProposer<Scn> = (ctx) =>
       Array.from({ length: ctx.count }, () => {
         n++
         return {
diff --git a/src/fuzz/index.ts b/src/fuzz/index.ts
index 7ccca1d..0a4a5dc 100644
--- a/src/fuzz/index.ts
+++ b/src/fuzz/index.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ export type {
   ExploreEvent,
   ExploreOptions,
   Finding,
+  MutationProposer,
   Objective,
   ObjectiveContext,
   ProposeContext,
diff --git a/src/fuzz/policies.ts b/src/fuzz/policies.ts
index e135b01..994d3ec 100644
--- a/src/fuzz/policies.ts
+++ b/src/fuzz/policies.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /**
  * Shipped policies for the exploration engine.
  *
- * `Proposer` is a plain function type — an agent running a generator skill IS a
- * proposer (`(ctx) => dispatchToSkill(ctx)`), no wrapper needed. `mutationProposer`
+ * `MutationProposer` is a plain function type — an agent running a generator skill
+ * IS a proposer (`(ctx) => dispatchToSkill(ctx)`), no wrapper needed. `mutationProposer`
  * builds the deterministic, LLM-free one from mutation operators. Objectives are
  * interfaces because the engine reads `kind` + `threshold` off them.
  */
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ import type { AdversarialMutation } from '../rl/adversarial'
 import type {
   Cell,
   Evaluation,
+  MutationProposer,
   Objective,
   ObjectiveContext,
   ProposeContext,
-  Proposer,
 } from './types'
 
 const clamp01 = (x: number): number => Math.max(0, Math.min(1, x))
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const clamp01 = (x: number): number => Math.max(0, Math.min(1, x))
 export function mutationProposer<S>(opts: {
   mutationsFor: (cell: Cell) => AdversarialMutation<S>[]
   scenarioId: (s: S) => string
-}): Proposer<S> {
+}): MutationProposer<S> {
   return async (ctx: ProposeContext<S>): Promise<S[]> => {
     const mutations = opts.mutationsFor(ctx.cell)
     const parents = [...ctx.elites, ...ctx.seeds]
diff --git a/src/fuzz/types.ts b/src/fuzz/types.ts
index 5bb9020..b3ad9a8 100644
--- a/src/fuzz/types.ts
+++ b/src/fuzz/types.ts
@@ -86,8 +86,17 @@ export interface ProposeContext<S> {
  * Produces candidate scenarios for a cell. A plain function — `mutationProposer`
  * builds one from mutation operators; an agent running a generator skill IS one
  * (`(ctx) => dispatchToSkill(ctx)`), no wrapper needed.
+ *
+ * Distinct from the optimization `SurfaceProposer` (`campaign/types`): that one
+ * is the proposer in the surface-optimization loop (`runOptimization`); this one
+ * is the scenario generator in the behavior-fuzzing loop. `SurfaceProposer` is
+ * THE optimization proposer.
  */
-export type Proposer<S> = (ctx: ProposeContext<S>) => Promise<S[]> | S[]
+export type MutationProposer<S> = (ctx: ProposeContext<S>) => Promise<S[]> | S[]
+
+/** @deprecated Renamed to `MutationProposer` to disambiguate from the
+ *  optimization `SurfaceProposer`. Kept as an alias for back-compat. */
+export type Proposer<S> = MutationProposer<S>
 
 /**
  * What "interesting" means. `interest` in [0,1]; a candidate is notable (gate-
@@ -249,7 +258,7 @@ export interface ExploreOptions<S> {
   /** The input stratification plan. */
   space: BehaviorSpace
   /** Candidate generator. */
-  proposer: Proposer<S>
+  proposer: MutationProposer<S>
   /** Runs the target → multi-objective `Evaluation`. */
   evaluate: Evaluator<S>
   /** Seed corpus per cell. */