diff --git a/core/epistemic_disclosure/__init__.py b/core/epistemic_disclosure/__init__.py
index 39bfa39e..c0379ba9 100644
--- a/core/epistemic_disclosure/__init__.py
+++ b/core/epistemic_disclosure/__init__.py
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ imports ``generate.derivation`` / ``core.reliability_gate``.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from core.epistemic_disclosure.disclosure_claim import (
+    DEFAULT_DISCLOSURE_CLAIM,
+    DisclosureClaim,
+)
 from core.epistemic_disclosure.limitation import (
     PENDING_Q1B_RECLASSIFICATION,
     LimitationAssessment,
@@ -25,7 +29,9 @@ from core.epistemic_disclosure.limitation import (
 )
 
 __all__ = [
+    "DEFAULT_DISCLOSURE_CLAIM",
     "PENDING_Q1B_RECLASSIFICATION",
+    "DisclosureClaim",
     "LimitationAssessment",
     "LimitationKind",
     "ResolutionAction",
diff --git a/core/epistemic_disclosure/disclosure_claim.py b/core/epistemic_disclosure/disclosure_claim.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7451b341
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/epistemic_disclosure/disclosure_claim.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+"""P0-2 — the DisclosureClaim axis (the epistemic claim a served response makes).
+
+A served response carries two ORTHOGONAL governance properties:
+
+  * ``ReachLevel`` (``core/response_governance/policy.py``) — how far PAST
+    fully-grounded fact the response reaches (STRICT < APPROXIMATE < EXTRAPOLATE
+    < CREATIVE).
+  * ``DisclosureClaim`` (here) — the EPISTEMIC CLAIM the response makes about its
+    own truth status.
+
+These are deliberately separate axes. ``verified`` is **not** a reach level — it is
+a claim about *proof state*, not about how far the response speculates. Conflating
+them (e.g. a hypothetical ``ReachLevel.VERIFIED``) would let a proven answer inherit
+an "approximate" surface, or an approximation inherit a "verified" badge. Keeping the
+axes distinct is the architectural commitment behind the Stage-2 lockfile
+(``docs/analysis/stage2-epistemic-disclosure-bus-verified-v1-scoping-2026-06-08.md`` §0).
+
+**Discipline — no claim without a producer** (the spine enforces on itself what it
+enforces on answers). Every member has a real or imminent emitter:
+
+  * ``NONE``          — every response today (the baseline; STRICT + NONE).
+  * ``APPROXIMATE``   — active: the cognition Step-E disclosed estimate
+                        (``estimation_enabled`` / ADR-0206 §5).
+  * ``PROPOSAL_ONLY`` — active: ``teaching/proposals`` emits review-only proposals.
+  * ``VERIFIED``      — the imminent frontier: its producer is Phase 1 (P1-A..),
+                        declared because it is the v1 target the bus is built around.
+
+Two claims are intentionally ABSENT, because nothing can emit them — and the spine
+will not declare a label it cannot earn:
+
+  * ``PROVEN``    — a claim stronger than VERIFIED; no plan to build a producer.
+  * ``ESTIMATED`` — a *future* split of ``APPROXIMATE`` into a distinct
+                    numeric-estimate claim, added ONLY once a real estimator producer
+                    exists. Until then the cognition estimate is ``APPROXIMATE``.
+
+P0-2 ships ONLY the axis + its default. No bus behaviour, no mapping to a disposition
+(that is P0-3 / ServedDisposition). Off-serving: this module imports nothing.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from enum import Enum, unique
+
+
+@unique
+class DisclosureClaim(str, Enum):
+    """The epistemic claim a served surface makes about its own truth status.
+
+    Orthogonal to ``ReachLevel``. ``str``-valued for stable serialization into
+    telemetry / disposition records (the same convention as ``EpistemicState``).
+    """
+
+    NONE = "none"  # no epistemic claim beyond the plain surface (the default)
+    VERIFIED = "verified"  # independently confirmed under a canonical-comparison contract
+    APPROXIMATE = "approximate"  # a disclosed best-estimate from incomplete evidence
+    PROPOSAL_ONLY = "proposal_only"  # offered as a proposal for review, not asserted
+
+
+#: The default claim: a surface asserts nothing about its truth status unless a
+#: producer upgrades it. ``STRICT`` reach + ``NONE`` claim is today's every-response
+#: baseline.
+DEFAULT_DISCLOSURE_CLAIM: DisclosureClaim = DisclosureClaim.NONE
+
+
+__all__ = ["DEFAULT_DISCLOSURE_CLAIM", "DisclosureClaim"]
diff --git a/core/epistemic_disclosure/limitation.py b/core/epistemic_disclosure/limitation.py
index 47191eb0..1df66886 100644
--- a/core/epistemic_disclosure/limitation.py
+++ b/core/epistemic_disclosure/limitation.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class LimitationAssessment:
 #: ``SCOPE_BOUNDARY`` state with a real producer; ``contradiction`` / ``ambiguous``
 #: reuse the ACTIVE states. The refuse/propose kinds share ``UNDETERMINED`` — the
 #: *kind* carries the distinction, the *state* only says "no answer determined".
-_KIND_TO_STATE: dict[str, EpistemicState] = {
+_KIND_TO_STATE: dict[LimitationKind, EpistemicState] = {
     "missing_information": EpistemicState.UNDETERMINED,
     "ambiguous_structure": EpistemicState.AMBIGUOUS,
     "scope_boundary": EpistemicState.SCOPE_BOUNDARY,
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ _KIND_TO_STATE: dict[str, EpistemicState] = {
 #: is ``None`` — it is the ONE action the spine adds that has no terminal yet (Q1/ASK).
 #: This map is the proof that the limitation pass is a consolidating view, not a new
 #: universe: five of six actions already exist as terminals.
-_ACTION_TO_TERMINAL: dict[str, Terminal | None] = {
+_ACTION_TO_TERMINAL: dict[ResolutionAction, Terminal | None] = {
     "answer": Terminal.SOLVED_VERIFIED,
     "emit_proposal": Terminal.PROPOSAL_EMITTED,
     "refuse_known_boundary": Terminal.REFUSED_KNOWN_BOUNDARY,
diff --git a/tests/test_disclosure_claim.py b/tests/test_disclosure_claim.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..09e9a73f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_disclosure_claim.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+"""P0-2 — tests for the DisclosureClaim axis.
+
+Each test guards a specific confusion: that ``verified`` is a reach level, that the
+claim axis is entangled with the resolution-action axis, that a value with no
+producer (``PROVEN``) crept in, or that the default is anything but ``NONE``. None
+passes under the confusion it is written to catch.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import ast
+import pathlib
+from enum import Enum
+from typing import get_args
+
+import core.epistemic_disclosure.disclosure_claim as claim_module
+from core.epistemic_disclosure.disclosure_claim import (
+    DEFAULT_DISCLOSURE_CLAIM,
+    DisclosureClaim,
+)
+from core.epistemic_disclosure.limitation import ResolutionAction
+from core.response_governance.policy import ReachLevel
+
+
+def test_default_claim_is_none():
+    assert DEFAULT_DISCLOSURE_CLAIM is DisclosureClaim.NONE
+
+
+def test_verified_is_not_a_reach_level():
+    """The locked Stage-2 decision: VERIFIED is an epistemic claim, never a reach."""
+    assert not any(level.name == "VERIFIED" for level in ReachLevel)
+    assert "verified" not in {level.value for level in ReachLevel}
+    assert not isinstance(DisclosureClaim.VERIFIED, ReachLevel)
+    assert DisclosureClaim is not ReachLevel
+
+
+def test_disclosure_claim_independent_of_resolution_action():
+    """Orthogonal axes: disjoint value spaces (knowing the action doesn't fix the claim)."""
+    claim_values = {c.value for c in DisclosureClaim}
+    action_values = set(get_args(ResolutionAction))
+    assert claim_values.isdisjoint(action_values)
+
+
+def test_no_proven_claim_without_a_producer():
+    """Discipline: the spine enforces on itself what it enforces on answers."""
+    assert not hasattr(DisclosureClaim, "PROVEN")
+
+
+def test_members_are_exactly_the_approved_four():
+    # Four claims, each with a real or imminent producer. ESTIMATED and PROVEN are
+    # intentionally absent (no producer → no declared label).
+    assert {c.name for c in DisclosureClaim} == {
+        "NONE",
+        "VERIFIED",
+        "APPROXIMATE",
+        "PROPOSAL_ONLY",
+    }
+
+
+def test_estimated_absent_no_claim_without_a_producer():
+    # ESTIMATED is a future split of APPROXIMATE; not declared until a producer exists.
+    assert not hasattr(DisclosureClaim, "ESTIMATED")
+
+
+def test_values_serialize_stably_as_snake_case():
+    for c in DisclosureClaim:
+        assert c.value == c.value.lower()
+        assert " " not in c.value
+        assert "-" not in c.value
+
+
+def test_is_str_enum_for_stable_serialization():
+    assert issubclass(DisclosureClaim, str)
+    assert issubclass(DisclosureClaim, Enum)
+    # str-valued: a member compares/serializes as its value
+    assert DisclosureClaim.VERIFIED == "verified"
+
+
+def test_module_is_off_serving_and_dependency_free():
+    """P0-2 is the bare axis: it imports nothing, so it trivially cannot touch serving."""
+    module_path = claim_module.__file__
+    assert module_path is not None
+    src = pathlib.Path(module_path).read_text()
+    tree = ast.parse(src)
+    from_imports = [n.module or "" for n in ast.walk(tree) if isinstance(n, ast.ImportFrom)]
+    plain_imports = [a.name for n in ast.walk(tree) if isinstance(n, ast.Import) for a in n.names]
+    all_modules = from_imports + plain_imports
+    forbidden = [
+        m for m in all_modules
+        if "generate.derivation" in m or "reliability_gate" in m or m.endswith("verify")
+    ]
+    assert forbidden == []
+    # the only import is the stdlib enum — no project coupling at all (P0-2 is the bare axis)
+    assert all(m in {"", "__future__", "enum"} for m in all_modules), all_modules