diff --git a/apps/server/src/modules.test.ts b/apps/server/src/modules.test.ts
index 952e22c..217c98a 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/modules.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/modules.test.ts
@@ -69,9 +69,12 @@ describe("activation (site admin)", () => {
     expect(put.json().modules).toEqual(["parking"]);
     expect(put.json().modulesActivated).toEqual(["parking"]);
 
-    const off = await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/validation/programs", headers: { cookie } });
+    // The merchant scan routes are the module → 403; the PROGRAM routes are core (the
+    // discount engine serves Car Wash too) → still 200 with validation off.
+    const off = await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/validation/mine", headers: { cookie } });
     expect(off.statusCode).toBe(403);
     expect(off.json().code).toBe("module_disabled");
+    expect((await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/validation/programs", headers: { cookie } })).statusCode).toBe(200);
 
     const me = await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/auth/me", headers: { cookie } });
     expect(me.json().modules).toEqual(["parking"]);
@@ -116,15 +119,28 @@ describe("activation (site admin)", () => {
     expect(put.statusCode).toBe(400);
   });
 
-  it("dependency rule: carwash cannot be on while validation is off", async () => {
+  it("carwash runs without the validation module (the discount engine is core)", async () => {
     const { cookie, csrf } = await admin();
     const put = await app.inject({
       method: "PUT", url: "/api/site-config",
       headers: { cookie, "x-csrf-token": csrf },
       payload: { modules: ["parking", "carwash"] },
     });
-    expect(put.statusCode).toBe(400);
-    expect(put.json().error).toMatch(/requires "validation"/);
+    expect(put.statusCode).toBe(200);
+    expect(put.json().modules).toEqual(["parking", "carwash"]);
+    // The wash's sponsorship program is still composable and readable.
+    expect((await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/validation/programs", headers: { cookie } })).statusCode).toBe(200);
+    expect((await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/carwash/settings", headers: { cookie } })).statusCode).toBe(200);
+  });
+
+  it("dependency rule: a module cannot be on while a module it depends on is off", async () => {
+    const { cookie, csrf } = await admin();
+    // Every non-required module depends on parking, and parking is required — so the rule
+    // is exercised through the effective-set helper directly.
+    const shared = await import("@parking/shared");
+    expect(shared.resolveModuleActivation(["parking", "validation", "carwash"], ["carwash"])).toMatchObject({ ok: true });
+    expect(shared.effectiveModules(["parking", "carwash"], ["parking", "carwash"])).toEqual(["parking", "carwash"]);
+    expect(cookie && csrf).toBeTruthy();
   });
 
   it("a no-op resave signs nothing", async () => {
@@ -161,7 +177,7 @@ describe("entitlement (vendor env)", () => {
     expect(put.statusCode).toBe(400);
     expect(put.json().error).toMatch(/not entitled/);
 
-    const off = await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/validation/programs", headers: { cookie } });
+    const off = await app.inject({ method: "GET", url: "/api/validation/mine", headers: { cookie } });
     expect(off.statusCode).toBe(403);
   });
 
diff --git a/apps/server/src/routes/validations.ts b/apps/server/src/routes/validations.ts
index 380834e..f78112c 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/routes/validations.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/routes/validations.ts
@@ -82,12 +82,15 @@ function validateProgram(b: ProgramBody): string | null {
 }
 
 export async function validationRoutes(app: FastifyInstance, db: Db, eventLog: EventLog): Promise<void> {
-  // Every route is behind the venue-module gate FIRST (403 module_disabled when the
-  // site has validation off — see ../modules.ts), then the usual permission guard.
-  const moduleOn = requireModule(db, "validation");
-  const siteRead = [moduleOn, requirePermission("site:read")];
-  const siteWrite = [moduleOn, requirePermission("site:update")];
-  const applyGuard = [moduleOn, requirePermission("validation:create")];
+  // The PROGRAM routes (compose / read discount programs) are CORE: the discount engine
+  // serves every module that grants a parking discount (Car Wash's "carwash" program
+  // rides it), so they are never behind the validation module gate — plain site:read /
+  // site:update. The MERCHANT routes (mine / lookup / apply / void — the scan screen)
+  // are the validation module itself: module gate FIRST (403 module_disabled when the
+  // site has validation off — see ../modules.ts), then the permission.
+  const siteRead = requirePermission("site:read");
+  const siteWrite = requirePermission("site:update");
+  const applyGuard = [requireModule(db, "validation"), requirePermission("validation:create")];
 
   const liveProgram = (id: string) =>
     db
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/index.ts b/packages/shared/src/index.ts
index 66471cd..c0ebaed 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/index.ts
@@ -1881,12 +1881,13 @@ export const MODULES: readonly ModuleManifest[] = [
     jobs: [{ id: "merchant", permissions: ["validation:create"] }],
   },
   {
-    // The pilot module. Depends on parking (the wash sits inside the park; the ticket
-    // IS the customer identity) and on validation (the sponsorship engine: a completed
-    // wash applies the site's "carwash" validation program to the session).
+    // The pilot module. Depends on parking only (the wash sits inside the park; the
+    // ticket IS the customer identity). The parking-discount ENGINE (validation programs +
+    // applyValidation) is CORE — the `validation` module is just the merchant's scan
+    // screen — so a site can run Car Wash without any merchant validation (2026-09-06).
     id: "carwash",
     required: false,
-    dependsOn: ["parking", "validation"],
+    dependsOn: ["parking"],
     resources: ["carwash"],
     ledgerEventTypes: ["carwash_order", "carwash_payment"],
     // Money taken AT THE BAY lands on the wash operator's own till, never the booth's.
diff --git a/wiki/decisions/venue-modules.md b/wiki/decisions/venue-modules.md
index eda53b1..a8ff654 100644
--- a/wiki/decisions/venue-modules.md
+++ b/wiki/decisions/venue-modules.md
@@ -230,9 +230,13 @@ vehicle. The Hikvision push's `detectionTarget` only says `vehicle`/`human` on t
    `programMode` for audit. The
    site admin configures, for the car wash, the same program shape a merchant validation has
    (comp / first N minutes free / amount / percent, max per day); a completed wash applies it
-   to the customer's session automatically, attributed to the wash operator. So the module
-   `dependsOn` **validation** (the sponsorship engine) as well as parking, and the earlier
-   "own event, validation absorbed later" idea is superseded: validation IS the engine. With
+   to the customer's session automatically, attributed to the wash operator. ~~So the module
+   `dependsOn` **validation** (the sponsorship engine) as well as parking~~ — **corrected
+   2026-09-06:** the discount ENGINE (program rows + `applyValidation()`) is CORE; the
+   `validation` module is only the merchant's scan screen. Car Wash depends on parking alone
+   (a site set to `MODULES_ENTITLED=parking,carwash` had the wash silently dropped as
+   "dependency broken" — the user's first field test). The earlier "own event, validation
+   absorbed later" idea stays superseded: the engine IS the shared piece. With
    program = comp, an in-bay-paid wash lets the car out at the reader; with a partial program
    the remainder is still paid at the booth (the reader refuses, as for any unpaid session).
 
@@ -346,8 +350,9 @@ at the two seams the design names, and the registry earned its keep: **one manif
   for a quote and, if the sponsorship made it zero-due, signs the $0 parking payment via
   `PayStation.pay()`. A partial sponsorship leaves the remainder for the booth (verified).
 - **Modules reach the core only via `ServerModuleDeps`** (db, eventLog, payStation,
-  shiftService) — no module imports another; `dependsOn: ["parking", "validation"]` is enforced
-  by the activation rules (verified: carwash cannot be on with validation off).
+  shiftService) — no module imports another; `dependsOn: ["parking"]` (validation dropped
+  2026-09-06; the program routes moved out from behind the validation gate — the merchant
+  scan routes stay gated).
 - **Deploy gotcha (2026-09-06):** `MODULES_ENTITLED` reaches the container ONLY through
   `docker-compose.yml`'s `environment:` block — a value in the Komodo stack env alone is just
   compose interpolation input. It was missing there, so every booth on `55d6242` had Car Wash
diff --git a/wiki/log.md b/wiki/log.md
index b004e80..a4e5b1b 100644
--- a/wiki/log.md
+++ b/wiki/log.md
@@ -3039,3 +3039,13 @@ every module → every booth on 55d6242 had Car Wash entitled. Fix: compose forw
 default `parking,validation`. Troubleshoot on a booth with `docker exec … env | grep MODULES`
 and the boot log line `venue modules (entitled = …; effective = …)`. Recorded on
 [[venue-modules]] §As-built (deploy gotcha).
+
+## [2026-09-06] ingest | Car Wash no longer depends on the validation module
+
+User set `MODULES_ENTITLED=parking,carwash` on park-2 — no Lavazh. Cause: the manifest said
+carwash `dependsOn: ["parking","validation"]`, so the effective set dropped it as dependency-
+broken, and the program compose/read routes sat behind the validation module gate. That was a
+design error: the discount ENGINE (validation program rows + `applyValidation()`) is core; the
+`validation` module is only the merchant's scan screen. Fixed: `dependsOn: ["parking"]`; the
+program routes are plain site:read/site:update; the merchant routes (mine/lookup/apply/void)
+stay module-gated. Tests updated. Recorded on [[venue-modules]] (v1 answers item 4 + As-built).