diff --git a/docs/MODULES.md b/docs/MODULES.md
index 2cf3b33..304aeff 100644
--- a/docs/MODULES.md
+++ b/docs/MODULES.md
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ composed and where a given `.ss` fits.
 - **Value model**: `values.ss` (nil/numbers/keywords/symbols), `collections.ss`
   (persistent vec + HAMT map/set), `seq.ss` + `lazy-bridge.ss` (seqs, lazy-seqs),
   `transients.ss`, `records.ss` + `records-interop.ss`.
-- **Native `clojure.core` shims**: `natives-*.ss` (array/coll/meta/misc/num/parity/
-  queue/seq/str/xform), plus `predicates.ss`, `converters.ss`, `printing.ss`.
+- **Native `clojure.core` shims**: `natives-*.ss` (array/coll/format/meta/misc/num/
+  queue/reader/seq/str/transduce), plus `predicates.ss`, `converters.ss`, `printing.ss`.
 - **Vars / namespaces / dynamics**: `vars.ss`, `ns.ss`, `dyn-binding.ss` (the
-  thread-local binding stack), `dynamic-vars.ss` (a few `*…*` constant defaults),
+  thread-local binding stack), `dynamic-var-defaults.ss` (a few `*…*` constant defaults),
   `atoms.ss`, `multimethods.ss`.
 - **Host interop**: `host-class.ss` (class tokens + method dispatch),
   `host-static.ss` (interop registry core) + `host-static-methods.ss` (`Class/member`
diff --git a/host/chez/dynamic-vars.ss b/host/chez/dynamic-var-defaults.ss
similarity index 70%
rename from host/chez/dynamic-vars.ss
rename to host/chez/dynamic-var-defaults.ss
index 6718e39..8fc26ac 100644
--- a/host/chez/dynamic-vars.ss
+++ b/host/chez/dynamic-var-defaults.ss
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
-;; dynamic vars — the handful of clojure.core dynamic vars that aren't emitted into
-;; the prelude. These two are plain constants; *ns* (a namespace object) needs a
-;; value type with get-see-through and map?=false and is tracked separately. Loaded
+;; dynamic-var-defaults.ss — default values for the handful of clojure.core dynamic
+;; vars that aren't emitted into the prelude (*clojure-version*, *assert*, …). Plain
+;; constant def-var!s; *ns* (a namespace object) needs a value type with
+;; get-see-through and map?=false and is tracked separately. The binding-stack
+;; machinery (binding / var-set / thread-bound?) lives in dyn-binding.ss. Loaded
 ;; from rt.ss after the value model + def-var!.
 
 ;; *clojure-version* — a map {:major 1 :minor 11 :incremental 0 :qualifier nil}.
diff --git a/host/chez/natives-format.ss b/host/chez/natives-format.ss
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0334b4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/host/chez/natives-format.ss
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+;; natives-format.ss — a small %-format engine for clojure.core `format` over the
+;; all-flonum number model: %d (integer), %s (str), %f / %.Nf (fixed-point), %x/%X
+;; (hex int), %o (octal), %c (char int), %b (boolean), %% (literal). Enough for the
+;; corpus, not the full Java Formatter spec. Loaded after natives-misc.ss (uses
+;; jolt-str-render-one via converters + jolt-truthy?).
+
+(define (->long x) (exact (truncate x)))
+(define (pad-left s n c) (if (fx>=? (string-length s) n) s (string-append (make-string (fx- n (string-length s)) c) s)))
+(define (fmt-float x prec)
+  (let* ((neg (< x 0)) (ax (abs x))
+         (scale (expt 10 prec))
+         (scaled (round (* (inexact ax) scale)))
+         (i (exact (truncate (/ scaled scale))))
+         (frac (exact (truncate (- scaled (* i scale))))))
+    (string-append (if neg "-" "")
+                   (number->string i)
+                   (if (fx>? prec 0) (string-append "." (pad-left (number->string frac) prec #\0)) ""))))
+(define (jolt-format fmt . args)
+  (let ((out (open-output-string)))
+    (let loop ((i 0) (as args))
+      (if (fx>=? i (string-length fmt))
+          (get-output-string out)
+          (let ((c (string-ref fmt i)))
+            (if (char=? c #\%)
+                ;; parse a directive: %[-][0][width][.prec]conv
+                (let scan ((j (fx+ i 1)) (left #f) (zero #f) (width #f) (prec #f) (seen-dot #f))
+                  (let ((d (string-ref fmt j)))
+                    (cond
+                      ((char=? d #\%) (write-char #\% out) (loop (fx+ j 1) as))
+                      ((and (not seen-dot) (not width) (char=? d #\-))
+                       (scan (fx+ j 1) #t zero width prec seen-dot))
+                      ((and (not seen-dot) (not width) (char=? d #\0))
+                       (scan (fx+ j 1) left #t width prec seen-dot))
+                      ((char=? d #\.) (scan (fx+ j 1) left zero width 0 #t))
+                      ((and (char>=? d #\0) (char<=? d #\9))
+                       (if seen-dot
+                           (scan (fx+ j 1) left zero width (fx+ (fx* (or prec 0) 10) (fx- (char->integer d) 48)) seen-dot)
+                           (scan (fx+ j 1) left zero (fx+ (fx* (or width 0) 10) (fx- (char->integer d) 48)) prec seen-dot)))
+                      (else
+                       (let* ((a (if (null? as) jolt-nil (car as)))
+                              (rest (if (null? as) '() (cdr as)))
+                              (s (case d
+                                   ((#\d) (number->string (->long a)))
+                                   ((#\s) (jolt-str-render-one a))
+                                   ((#\f) (fmt-float a (or prec 6)))
+                                   ((#\x) (number->string (->long a) 16))
+                                   ((#\X) (string-upcase (number->string (->long a) 16)))
+                                   ((#\o) (number->string (->long a) 8))
+                                   ((#\b) (if (jolt-truthy? a) "true" "false"))
+                                   ((#\c) (string (integer->char (->long a))))
+                                   (else (string #\% d))))
+                              ;; pad to width: left-justify with spaces, else right-justify
+                              ;; (zero-pad only a right-justified number).
+                              (s (if (and width (fx<? (string-length s) width))
+                                     (let ((p (fx- width (string-length s))))
+                                       (if left (string-append s (make-string p #\space))
+                                           (string-append (make-string p (if (and zero (memv d '(#\d #\f #\x #\X #\o))) #\0 #\space)) s)))
+                                     s)))
+                         (display s out)
+                         (loop (fx+ j 1) rest))))))
+                (begin (write-char c out) (loop (fx+ i 1) as))))))))
+(def-var! "clojure.core" "format" jolt-format)
diff --git a/host/chez/natives-misc.ss b/host/chez/natives-misc.ss
index f89ba1b..1768ab6 100644
--- a/host/chez/natives-misc.ss
+++ b/host/chez/natives-misc.ss
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-;; misc scalar natives — UUID, format/printf, tagged-literal, bigint.
+;; misc scalar natives — UUID, tagged-literal, bigint, and the hash API. (format /
+;; printf moved to natives-format.ss.)
 ;;
 ;; Loaded after the printers (pr-str of a uuid is #uuid "…") and converters
 ;; (jolt-str-render-one for %s / str of a uuid).
@@ -84,67 +85,6 @@
 (def-var! "clojure.core" "tagged-literal" jolt-tagged-literal)
 ;; tagged-literal? is OVERLAY (reads :jolt/type) — asserted in post-prelude.ss.
 
-;; --- format / printf ---------------------------------------------------------
-;; A small %-format engine over the all-flonum number model: %d (integer), %s
-;; (str), %f / %.Nf (fixed-point), %x/%X (hex int), %o (octal), %c (char int),
-;; %b (boolean), %% (literal). Enough for the corpus; not the full Java spec.
-(define (->long x) (exact (truncate x)))
-(define (pad-left s n c) (if (fx>=? (string-length s) n) s (string-append (make-string (fx- n (string-length s)) c) s)))
-(define (fmt-float x prec)
-  (let* ((neg (< x 0)) (ax (abs x))
-         (scale (expt 10 prec))
-         (scaled (round (* (inexact ax) scale)))
-         (i (exact (truncate (/ scaled scale))))
-         (frac (exact (truncate (- scaled (* i scale))))))
-    (string-append (if neg "-" "")
-                   (number->string i)
-                   (if (fx>? prec 0) (string-append "." (pad-left (number->string frac) prec #\0)) ""))))
-(define (jolt-format fmt . args)
-  (let ((out (open-output-string)))
-    (let loop ((i 0) (as args))
-      (if (fx>=? i (string-length fmt))
-          (get-output-string out)
-          (let ((c (string-ref fmt i)))
-            (if (char=? c #\%)
-                ;; parse a directive: %[-][0][width][.prec]conv
-                (let scan ((j (fx+ i 1)) (left #f) (zero #f) (width #f) (prec #f) (seen-dot #f))
-                  (let ((d (string-ref fmt j)))
-                    (cond
-                      ((char=? d #\%) (write-char #\% out) (loop (fx+ j 1) as))
-                      ((and (not seen-dot) (not width) (char=? d #\-))
-                       (scan (fx+ j 1) #t zero width prec seen-dot))
-                      ((and (not seen-dot) (not width) (char=? d #\0))
-                       (scan (fx+ j 1) left #t width prec seen-dot))
-                      ((char=? d #\.) (scan (fx+ j 1) left zero width 0 #t))
-                      ((and (char>=? d #\0) (char<=? d #\9))
-                       (if seen-dot
-                           (scan (fx+ j 1) left zero width (fx+ (fx* (or prec 0) 10) (fx- (char->integer d) 48)) seen-dot)
-                           (scan (fx+ j 1) left zero (fx+ (fx* (or width 0) 10) (fx- (char->integer d) 48)) prec seen-dot)))
-                      (else
-                       (let* ((a (if (null? as) jolt-nil (car as)))
-                              (rest (if (null? as) '() (cdr as)))
-                              (s (case d
-                                   ((#\d) (number->string (->long a)))
-                                   ((#\s) (jolt-str-render-one a))
-                                   ((#\f) (fmt-float a (or prec 6)))
-                                   ((#\x) (number->string (->long a) 16))
-                                   ((#\X) (string-upcase (number->string (->long a) 16)))
-                                   ((#\o) (number->string (->long a) 8))
-                                   ((#\b) (if (jolt-truthy? a) "true" "false"))
-                                   ((#\c) (string (integer->char (->long a))))
-                                   (else (string #\% d))))
-                              ;; pad to width: left-justify with spaces, else right-justify
-                              ;; (zero-pad only a right-justified number).
-                              (s (if (and width (fx<? (string-length s) width))
-                                     (let ((p (fx- width (string-length s))))
-                                       (if left (string-append s (make-string p #\space))
-                                           (string-append (make-string p (if (and zero (memv d '(#\d #\f #\x #\X #\o))) #\0 #\space)) s)))
-                                     s)))
-                         (display s out)
-                         (loop (fx+ j 1) rest))))))
-                (begin (write-char c out) (loop (fx+ i 1) as))))))))
-(def-var! "clojure.core" "format" jolt-format)
-
 ;; --- hash family (24-bit masked so int? holds) -------------------------------
 ;; The public hash API over jolt-hash (values.ss). hash-ordered/-unordered-coll
 ;; fold the element hashes the way Clojure's IHash mixers do.
diff --git a/host/chez/rt.ss b/host/chez/rt.ss
index d690ec5..8d93e69 100644
--- a/host/chez/rt.ss
+++ b/host/chez/rt.ss
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@
 
 ;; dynamic vars: *clojure-version* / *unchecked-math* constants the host
 ;; binds natively. After collections.ss (jolt-hash-map) + def-var!.
-(load "host/chez/dynamic-vars.ss")
+(load "host/chez/dynamic-var-defaults.ss")
 
 ;; host tables + sorted collections: jolt.host/tagged-table/
 ;; ref-put!/ref-get + the 25-sorted tier's runtime (sorted-map/sorted-set routed
@@ -302,6 +302,10 @@
 ;; in post-prelude.ss.
 (load "host/chez/natives-misc.ss")
 
+;; format / printf: the %-directive engine. After natives-misc.ss + converters.ss
+;; (jolt-str-render-one).
+(load "host/chez/natives-format.ss")
+
 ;; namespaces: the namespace value model — find-ns/ns-name/
 ;; all-ns/the-ns/create-ns/in-ns/ns-publics/ns-map/ns-interns/ns-aliases/resolve/
 ;; find-var/ns-unmap/*ns*, over the var-table + chez-current-ns. Loaded LAST: needs