ans: order-0 rANS coder + WGSL asset compression

Adds src/util/ans.{h,cc}, a per-chunk-adaptive order-0 rANS entropy
coder. Decoder is always built; encoder is gated on ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER
(tools only). Both sides take an optional 256-entry initial_counts
table to seed the adaptive model.

The per-chunk initial state is (1 << kBits). Higher initial states
(e.g. with a signature packed into the upper bits) force a renorm-emit
at iter 0 that the decoder never consumes, corrupting multi-chunk
streams once stats become skewed.

Asset pipeline:
- AssetRecord gains 'compression' and 'uncompressed_size' fields.
- asset_packer scans every WGSL file to build a corpus-wide byte
  histogram, then ANS-encodes each shader using that histogram as the
  seed. Histogram and accessor are emitted alongside the asset table.
  Round-trip verification runs at pack time for every compressed
  asset; failures fall back to uncompressed storage.
- asset_manager decompresses on first GetAsset(), caches the
  heap-allocated buffer, and DropAsset / ReloadAssetsFromFile free it
  along with the procedural cache.
- Disk-load (dev) builds are unchanged: WGSL paths stay as filenames.

Tests:
- src/tests/util/test_ans.cc: roundtrip variants (empty, single byte,
  single-symbol run, all-zeros, random uniform/skewed, repeated ASCII),
  seeded-vs-uniform compression, rejection of mismatched counts /
  corruption / truncation, PeekUncompressedSize.
- 37/37 dev, 36/36 STRIP_ALL.

Compression observed: WGSL shaders shrink to ~0.62-0.71x in the main
workspace (81 of 105 assets qualify).

Docs:
- doc/ANS.md (new): algorithm, bitstream, API, asset pipeline
  integration, compression numbers, limitations, tests.
- doc/ASSET_SYSTEM.md: new Compression section + updated technical
  guarantees for compressed assets.
- doc/COMPLETED.md: May 2026 entry.
- PROJECT_CONTEXT.md: Build status line mentions WGSL ANS compression.
- CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md: tier-3 build doc list includes ANS.md.

5 files changed, 519 insertions, 5 deletions

diff --git a/src/tests/util/test_ans.cc b/src/tests/util/test_ans.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..108c46d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/util/test_ans.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+// This file is part of the 64k demo project.
+// Tests for the ANS (rANS) entropy coder in util/ans.h.
+// Encoder is enabled in tests via ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER.
+
+#include "util/ans.h"
+
+#include <cassert>
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <random>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace {
+
+bool RoundtripCheck(const std::vector<uint8_t>& input,
+                    const uint32_t* initial_counts,
+                    const char* label) {
+  std::vector<uint8_t> compressed;
+  if (!ans::Encode(input.data(), input.size(), &compressed, initial_counts)) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "[%s] Encode failed\n", label);
+    return false;
+  }
+  std::vector<uint8_t> decoded(input.size());
+  size_t decoded_size = 0;
+  if (!ans::Decode(compressed.data(), compressed.size(), decoded.data(),
+                   decoded.size(), &decoded_size, initial_counts)) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "[%s] Decode failed\n", label);
+    return false;
+  }
+  if (decoded_size != input.size() ||
+      std::memcmp(decoded.data(), input.data(), input.size()) != 0) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "[%s] payload mismatch\n", label);
+    return false;
+  }
+  const double ratio =
+      input.empty() ? 0.0 : (double)compressed.size() / (double)input.size();
+  fprintf(stderr, "[%s] OK: %zu -> %zu bytes (%.3f x)\n", label, input.size(),
+          compressed.size(), ratio);
+  return true;
+}
+
+// Covers: empty / single byte / single-symbol run / all-zeros / random uniform
+// / random skewed / repeated ASCII. Each is a roundtrip with default (uniform)
+// initial counts.
+void TestRoundtripVariants() {
+  std::mt19937 rng_uniform(12345);
+  std::vector<uint8_t> random_uniform(64 * 1024);
+  for (auto& b : random_uniform) b = (uint8_t)(rng_uniform() & 0xff);
+
+  std::mt19937 rng_skewed(67890);
+  std::vector<uint8_t> random_skewed(32 * 1024);
+  for (auto& b : random_skewed) {
+    // 90% byte 'A', 10% other ASCII letters.
+    const uint32_t r = rng_skewed();
+    b = (r % 10 == 0) ? (uint8_t)('B' + (r >> 8) % 25) : (uint8_t)'A';
+  }
+
+  const char* ascii =
+      "@group(0) @binding(0) var smplr: sampler;\n"
+      "@group(0) @binding(1) var tex: texture_2d<f32>;\n"
+      "@fragment fn fs_main(@builtin(position) p: vec4f) -> @location(0) "
+      "vec4f {\n"
+      "  let uv = p.xy / vec2f(1280.0, 720.0);\n"
+      "  return textureSample(tex, smplr, uv);\n"
+      "}\n";
+  std::vector<uint8_t> ascii_block;
+  for (int i = 0; i < 50; ++i) {  // cross chunk boundary
+    ascii_block.insert(ascii_block.end(), ascii, ascii + std::strlen(ascii));
+  }
+
+  struct Case {
+    const char* label;
+    std::vector<uint8_t> data;
+  };
+  const Case cases[] = {
+      {"empty", {}},
+      {"single-byte", {0x42}},
+      {"single-symbol-run", std::vector<uint8_t>(4096, 'A')},
+      {"all-zeros", std::vector<uint8_t>(8192, 0)},
+      {"random-uniform", random_uniform},
+      {"random-skewed", random_skewed},
+      {"ascii-shader-text", ascii_block},
+  };
+  for (const Case& c : cases) {
+    assert(RoundtripCheck(c.data, nullptr, c.label));
+  }
+}
+
+// Seeded initial counts should compress a matching corpus at least as well
+// as uniform init, and roundtrip identically.
+void TestSeededInitialCounts() {
+  std::vector<uint8_t> corpus;
+  const char* sample = "fn main() { let x = vec3f(1.0, 2.0, 3.0); }\n";
+  for (int i = 0; i < 200; ++i) {
+    corpus.insert(corpus.end(), sample, sample + std::strlen(sample));
+  }
+  uint32_t hist[256] = {};
+  ans::Histogram(corpus.data(), corpus.size(), hist);
+
+  std::vector<uint8_t> seeded_out, uniform_out;
+  assert(ans::Encode(corpus.data(), corpus.size(), &seeded_out, hist));
+  assert(ans::Encode(corpus.data(), corpus.size(), &uniform_out, nullptr));
+
+  std::vector<uint8_t> decoded(corpus.size());
+  size_t decoded_size = 0;
+  assert(ans::Decode(seeded_out.data(), seeded_out.size(), decoded.data(),
+                     decoded.size(), &decoded_size, hist));
+  assert(decoded_size == corpus.size());
+  assert(std::memcmp(decoded.data(), corpus.data(), corpus.size()) == 0);
+
+  fprintf(stderr, "[seeded-vs-uniform] seeded=%zu uniform=%zu raw=%zu\n",
+          seeded_out.size(), uniform_out.size(), corpus.size());
+  assert(seeded_out.size() <= uniform_out.size());
+}
+
+// The chunk-end state check must reject: a mismatched model (decoder uses a
+// different initial distribution), a single bit-flip in the payload, and a
+// truncated stream.
+void TestRejection() {
+  std::mt19937 rng(1);
+
+  // 1) Mismatched models.
+  {
+    std::vector<uint8_t> v(4096);
+    for (auto& b : v) b = (uint8_t)('a' + (rng() % 26));
+    uint32_t hist[256] = {};
+    ans::Histogram(v.data(), v.size(), hist);
+
+    std::vector<uint8_t> encoded;
+    assert(ans::Encode(v.data(), v.size(), &encoded, hist));
+
+    std::vector<uint8_t> decoded(v.size());
+    size_t decoded_size = 0;
+    assert(!ans::Decode(encoded.data(), encoded.size(), decoded.data(),
+                        decoded.size(), &decoded_size, nullptr));
+    fprintf(stderr, "[rejection] mismatched-counts OK\n");
+  }
+
+  // 2) Corruption.
+  {
+    std::vector<uint8_t> v(2048);
+    for (auto& b : v) b = (uint8_t)(rng() & 0xff);
+    std::vector<uint8_t> encoded;
+    assert(ans::Encode(v.data(), v.size(), &encoded, nullptr));
+    encoded[encoded.size() / 2] ^= 0x55;  // flip a payload byte
+
+    std::vector<uint8_t> decoded(v.size());
+    size_t decoded_size = 0;
+    assert(!ans::Decode(encoded.data(), encoded.size(), decoded.data(),
+                        decoded.size(), &decoded_size, nullptr));
+    fprintf(stderr, "[rejection] corruption OK\n");
+  }
+
+  // 3) Truncation.
+  {
+    std::vector<uint8_t> v(4096);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < v.size(); ++i) v[i] = (uint8_t)i;
+    std::vector<uint8_t> encoded;
+    assert(ans::Encode(v.data(), v.size(), &encoded, nullptr));
+    encoded.resize(encoded.size() - 8);
+
+    std::vector<uint8_t> decoded(v.size());
+    size_t decoded_size = 0;
+    assert(!ans::Decode(encoded.data(), encoded.size(), decoded.data(),
+                        decoded.size(), &decoded_size, nullptr));
+    fprintf(stderr, "[rejection] truncation OK\n");
+  }
+}
+
+void TestPeekSize() {
+  std::vector<uint8_t> v(1234, 'Q');
+  std::vector<uint8_t> encoded;
+  assert(ans::Encode(v.data(), v.size(), &encoded, nullptr));
+  assert(ans::PeekUncompressedSize(encoded.data(), encoded.size()) ==
+         v.size());
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+
+int main() {
+  TestRoundtripVariants();
+  TestSeededInitialCounts();
+  TestRejection();
+  TestPeekSize();
+  fprintf(stderr, "All ANS tests passed.\n");
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/util/ans.cc b/src/util/ans.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa79e4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/ans.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+// This file is part of the 64k demo project.
+// Order-0 rANS coder. See ans.h for the bitstream format.
+
+#include "util/ans.h"
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <cmath>
+#include <cstring>
+
+namespace ans {
+
+namespace {
+
+// Per-chunk adaptive byte model. Probabilities sum to 1<<kBits after
+// normalize(); raw counts in 'stats' keep adapting across chunks.
+struct Stats {
+  uint32_t stats[kNumSymbols];
+  uint32_t cumul[kNumSymbols + 1];
+
+  // Seeds 'stats' from caller counts (or all-ones if null) and builds the
+  // normalized cumulative table. stats_to_cumul() floors zero counts, so
+  // 'init' doesn't have to.
+  void init(const uint32_t* initial_counts) {
+    if (initial_counts) {
+      std::memcpy(stats, initial_counts, sizeof(stats));
+    } else {
+      std::fill_n(stats, kNumSymbols, 1u);
+    }
+    normalize();
+  }
+
+  // Rebuilds 'cumul' from 'stats'. Every slot is floored at 1 so each
+  // symbol remains reachable even if it has been seen zero times.
+  void stats_to_cumul() {
+    uint32_t acc = 0;
+    for (int i = 0; i < kNumSymbols; ++i) {
+      cumul[i] = acc;
+      acc += stats[i] ? stats[i] : 1u;
+    }
+    cumul[kNumSymbols] = acc;
+  }
+
+  // Rescales 'cumul' so cumul[NUM_SYMBOLS] == (1 << kBits). Ceil-multiply
+  // preserves monotonicity and prevents any active slot from collapsing.
+  void normalize() {
+    stats_to_cumul();
+    const uint32_t target = 1u << kBits;
+    while (cumul[kNumSymbols] != target) {
+      const double ratio = (double)target / (double)cumul[kNumSymbols];
+      for (int i = 0; i <= kNumSymbols; ++i) {
+        cumul[i] = (uint32_t)std::ceil((double)cumul[i] * ratio);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Decoder lookup: locate the slot containing 's' in [0, 1<<kBits).
+  // Returns the symbol, its probability, and the residual offset within
+  // the slot. Increments the symbol's count on the fly.
+  void decode_lookup(uint32_t s, uint8_t* sym, uint32_t* p, uint32_t* r) {
+    // upper_bound(s) - 1; cumul is strictly non-decreasing.
+    const uint32_t* it =
+        std::upper_bound(cumul, cumul + kNumSymbols + 1, s);
+    const int c = (int)(it - cumul) - 1;
+    stats[c] += 1;
+    *sym = (uint8_t)c;
+    *p = cumul[c + 1] - cumul[c];
+    *r = s - cumul[c];
+  }
+
+  // Encoder lookup: probability and base offset for symbol 'c'.
+  void encode_lookup(int c, uint32_t* p, uint32_t* base) {
+    stats[c] += 1;
+    *p = cumul[c + 1] - cumul[c];
+    *base = cumul[c];
+  }
+};
+
+// Big-endian primitive readers/writers.
+inline uint16_t ReadU16BE(const uint8_t* p) {
+  return (uint16_t)((p[0] << 8) | p[1]);
+}
+inline uint32_t ReadU32BE(const uint8_t* p) {
+  return ((uint32_t)p[0] << 24) | ((uint32_t)p[1] << 16) |
+         ((uint32_t)p[2] << 8) | (uint32_t)p[3];
+}
+
+#if defined(ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER)
+inline void AppendU16BE(std::vector<uint8_t>* dst, uint16_t v) {
+  dst->push_back((uint8_t)(v >> 8));
+  dst->push_back((uint8_t)(v & 0xff));
+}
+inline void AppendU32BE(std::vector<uint8_t>* dst, uint32_t v) {
+  dst->push_back((uint8_t)(v >> 24));
+  dst->push_back((uint8_t)(v >> 16));
+  dst->push_back((uint8_t)(v >> 8));
+  dst->push_back((uint8_t)(v & 0xff));
+}
+#endif
+
+}  // namespace
+
+uint32_t PeekUncompressedSize(const uint8_t* src, size_t src_size) {
+  if (!src || src_size < 4) return 0;
+  return ReadU32BE(src);
+}
+
+bool Decode(const uint8_t* src, size_t src_size,
+            uint8_t* dst, size_t dst_capacity,
+            size_t* out_size,
+            const uint32_t* initial_counts) {
+  if (out_size) *out_size = 0;
+  if (!src || src_size < 4) return false;
+
+  const uint8_t* p = src;
+  const uint8_t* end = src + src_size;
+
+  const uint32_t output_size = ReadU32BE(p);
+  p += 4;
+  if (output_size > dst_capacity) return false;
+  if (output_size > 0 && !dst) return false;
+
+  Stats stats;
+  stats.init(initial_counts);
+
+  uint32_t t = 0;
+  while (t < output_size) {
+    const uint32_t chunk = std::min<uint32_t>(kChunkSize, output_size - t);
+
+    if (end - p < 4) return false;
+    uint32_t s = ReadU32BE(p);
+    p += 4;
+
+    for (uint32_t i = 0; i < chunk; ++i) {
+      if (s <= kMask) {
+        // Pull in one renorm word.
+        if (end - p < 2) return false;
+        s = (s << kBits) | (uint32_t)ReadU16BE(p);
+        p += 2;
+      }
+      uint8_t sym;
+      uint32_t proba, residual;
+      stats.decode_lookup(s & kMask, &sym, &proba, &residual);
+      dst[t + i] = sym;
+      s = proba * (s >> kBits) + residual;
+    }
+    // Final-state sanity check: catches stream corruption and model mismatch.
+    if (s != kInitState) return false;
+    stats.normalize();
+    t += chunk;
+  }
+
+  if (out_size) *out_size = output_size;
+  return true;
+}
+
+#if defined(ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER)
+
+void Histogram(const uint8_t* src, size_t size, uint32_t* out_counts) {
+  if (!src || !out_counts) return;
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) out_counts[src[i]] += 1;
+}
+
+bool Encode(const uint8_t* src, size_t size,
+            std::vector<uint8_t>* dst,
+            const uint32_t* initial_counts) {
+  if (!dst) return false;
+  dst->clear();
+  if (size > 0xffffffffu) return false;  // header is u32
+
+  AppendU32BE(dst, (uint32_t)size);
+  if (size == 0) return true;
+
+  Stats stats;
+  stats.init(initial_counts);
+
+  uint16_t tmp[kChunkSize];
+
+  size_t t = 0;
+  while (t < size) {
+    // Initial state is the bare signature (not shifted): the decoder ends
+    // each chunk with s == kInitState, so symmetry requires the encoder to
+    // start in the same low-state. Starting with (kInitState << kBits) would
+    // force a spurious renorm at iter 0 that the decoder never consumes,
+    // corrupting any stream with more than one chunk.
+    uint32_t s = kInitState;
+    const size_t chunk = std::min<size_t>(kChunkSize, size - t);
+    size_t pos = chunk;
+    // Encode the chunk in reverse so the decoder consumes symbols in order.
+    for (size_t k = chunk; k-- > 0;) {
+      const uint8_t sym = src[t + k];
+      uint32_t proba, base;
+      stats.encode_lookup(sym, &proba, &base);
+      if (s >= (proba << kBits)) {
+        // Flush low word and shift down to keep s/proba bounded in u32.
+        --pos;
+        tmp[pos] = (uint16_t)(s & kMask);
+        s >>= kBits;
+      }
+      s = ((s / proba) << kBits) + (s % proba) + base;
+    }
+    // Invariant: final state must be > kMask so the decoder's first read is
+    // a valid renormalized state.
+    if (s <= kMask) return false;
+    AppendU32BE(dst, s);
+    for (size_t k = pos; k < chunk; ++k) AppendU16BE(dst, tmp[k]);
+
+    stats.normalize();
+    t += chunk;
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+#endif  // ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER
+
+}  // namespace ans
diff --git a/src/util/ans.h b/src/util/ans.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53c34b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/ans.h
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+// This file is part of the 64k demo project.
+// Asymmetric Numeral System (rANS) order-0 entropy coder.
+// Decoder is always built; encoder is gated by ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER.
+// Bitstream is big-endian and chunk-adaptive; see the per-chunk format in
+// the implementation file.
+
+#ifndef ANS_H_
+#define ANS_H_
+
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <cstdint>
+
+#if defined(ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER)
+#include <vector>
+#endif
+
+namespace ans {
+
+// Fixed parameters; must match the encoder/decoder on both ends.
+constexpr int kBits = 16;
+constexpr uint32_t kMask = (1u << kBits) - 1u;
+constexpr int kNumSymbols = 256;
+constexpr int kChunkSize = 1024;
+// Initial state per chunk. Doubles as a chunk-end integrity check: any
+// decoder/encoder model divergence drives the state away from this constant,
+// which is verified after every chunk.
+constexpr uint32_t kInitState = 1u << kBits;
+
+// Reads the original (uncompressed) size from a bitstream header.
+// Returns 0 on malformed input.
+uint32_t PeekUncompressedSize(const uint8_t* src, size_t src_size);
+
+// Decodes 'src_size' bytes from 'src' into 'dst' (capacity 'dst_capacity').
+// 'initial_counts' (256 entries) seeds the per-chunk adaptive model; pass
+// nullptr for the uniform default (all-ones).
+// Returns true on success and writes the decoded size to '*out_size'.
+bool Decode(const uint8_t* src, size_t src_size,
+            uint8_t* dst, size_t dst_capacity,
+            size_t* out_size,
+            const uint32_t* initial_counts = nullptr);
+
+#if defined(ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER)
+// Encodes 'src[0..size]' into '*dst' (cleared and re-filled).
+// 'initial_counts' has the same semantics as in Decode().
+// Returns true on success.
+bool Encode(const uint8_t* src, size_t size,
+            std::vector<uint8_t>* dst,
+            const uint32_t* initial_counts = nullptr);
+
+// Computes a byte histogram over 'src[0..size]', accumulating into
+// 'out_counts[256]' (caller must zero-initialize before the first call).
+// Useful for deriving a corpus-wide initial distribution from many files.
+void Histogram(const uint8_t* src, size_t size, uint32_t* out_counts);
+#endif  // ANS_ENABLE_ENCODER
+
+}  // namespace ans
+
+#endif  // ANS_H_
diff --git a/src/util/asset_manager.cc b/src/util/asset_manager.cc
index 26a82bf..264ddda 100644
--- a/src/util/asset_manager.cc
+++ b/src/util/asset_manager.cc
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // It implements the generic asset retrieval logic with runtime caching.
 
 #include "util/asset_manager.h"
+#include "util/ans.h"
 #include "util/asset_manager_utils.h"
 #include "util/check_return.h"
 #if defined(USE_TEST_ASSETS)
@@ -114,6 +115,34 @@ const uint8_t* GetAsset(AssetId asset_id, size_t* out_size) {
 
   AssetRecord cached_record = source_record;
 
+  if (source_record.compression == AssetCompression::ANS_ASCII) {
+    // Decompress on first access. Buffer is null-terminated for C-string use.
+    const size_t uncomp = source_record.uncompressed_size;
+    uint8_t* buffer = new (std::nothrow) uint8_t[uncomp + 1];
+    CHECK_RETURN_BEGIN(!buffer, nullptr)
+    if (out_size) *out_size = 0;
+    ERROR_MSG("Failed to allocate buffer for ANS-compressed asset id=%u",
+              index);
+    return nullptr;
+    CHECK_RETURN_END
+    size_t got = 0;
+    if (!ans::Decode(source_record.data, source_record.size, buffer, uncomp,
+                     &got, GetAnsAsciiHistogram()) ||
+        got != uncomp) {
+      delete[] buffer;
+      if (out_size) *out_size = 0;
+      ERROR_MSG("ANS decode failed for asset id=%u", index);
+      return nullptr;
+    }
+    buffer[uncomp] = 0;
+    cached_record.data = buffer;
+    cached_record.size = uncomp;
+    cached_record.uncompressed_size = uncomp;
+    g_asset_cache[index] = cached_record;
+    if (out_size) *out_size = uncomp;
+    return buffer;
+  }
+
   if (source_record.type == AssetType::PROC ||
       source_record.type == AssetType::PROC_GPU) {
     // Dynamically generate the asset
@@ -224,6 +253,12 @@ void DropAsset(AssetId asset_id, const uint8_t* asset) {
     delete[] g_asset_cache[index].data;
     g_asset_cache[index] = {}; // Zero out the struct to force re-generation
   }
+  // Heap-allocated decompressed buffer (compression != NONE): cache owns it.
+  if (g_asset_cache[index].data == asset &&
+      g_asset_cache[index].compression != AssetCompression::NONE) {
+    delete[] g_asset_cache[index].data;
+    g_asset_cache[index] = {};
+  }
 #if !defined(STRIP_ALL)
   if (g_asset_cache[index].data == asset &&
       (g_asset_cache[index].type == AssetType::SPEC ||
@@ -245,10 +280,11 @@ bool ReloadAssetsFromFile(const char* config_path) {
 
   // Clear cache to force reload
   for (size_t i = 0; i < (size_t)AssetId::ASSET_LAST_ID; ++i) {
-    if ((g_asset_cache[i].type == AssetType::PROC ||
-         g_asset_cache[i].type == AssetType::PROC_GPU) &&
-        g_asset_cache[i].data) {
-      delete[] g_asset_cache[i].data;
+    const AssetRecord& e = g_asset_cache[i];
+    if (e.data &&
+        (e.type == AssetType::PROC || e.type == AssetType::PROC_GPU ||
+         e.compression != AssetCompression::NONE)) {
+      delete[] e.data;
     }
     g_asset_cache[i] = {};
   }
diff --git a/src/util/asset_manager.h b/src/util/asset_manager.h
index 786a8db..f6ad244 100644
--- a/src/util/asset_manager.h
+++ b/src/util/asset_manager.h
@@ -16,10 +16,21 @@ enum class AssetType : uint8_t {
   PROC_GPU,
 };
 
+// Compression scheme applied to the packed bytes (only relevant for static
+// embedded assets; disk-load and procedural assets are always NONE).
+enum class AssetCompression : uint8_t {
+  NONE = 0,
+  // Order-0 rANS, model seeded from a corpus-wide histogram embedded in the
+  // generated assets blob (see GetAnsAsciiHistogram). Used for WGSL.
+  ANS_ASCII = 1,
+};
+
 struct AssetRecord {
   const uint8_t* data; // Pointer to asset data (static or dynamic)
-  size_t size;         // Size of the asset data
+  size_t size;         // Size of 'data' in bytes (compressed size if any)
   AssetType type;
+  AssetCompression compression;   // How 'data' is encoded; NONE = raw bytes
+  size_t uncompressed_size;       // Size after decompression (== size if NONE)
   const char* proc_func_name_str; // Name of procedural generation function
                                   // (string literal)
   const float* proc_params; // Parameters for procedural generation (static,
@@ -27,6 +38,11 @@ struct AssetRecord {
   int num_proc_params;      // Number of procedural parameters
 };
 
+// Initial-state histogram (256 entries) used to seed ANS_ASCII compression.
+// Defined in the generated assets blob; computed at pack time over the WGSL
+// corpus.
+const uint32_t* GetAnsAsciiHistogram();
+
 // Generic interface
 // Retrieves a pointer to the asset data.
 // - Static assets are guaranteed to be 16-byte aligned.