diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 81694b5..e65c37b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ curl --unix-socket amduatd.sock http://localhost/v1/meta
 
 Discover the store-backed API contract ref:
 
+```sh
+curl --unix-socket amduatd.sock 'http://localhost/v1/contract?format=ref'
+```
+
+Fetch the contract bytes (JSON):
+
 ```sh
 curl --unix-socket amduatd.sock http://localhost/v1/contract
 ```
@@ -75,7 +81,8 @@ curl --unix-socket amduatd.sock -X POST http://localhost/v1/pel/run \
 ## Current endpoints
 
 - `GET /v1/meta` → `{store_id, encoding_profile_id, hash_id, api_contract_ref}`
-- `GET /v1/contract` → `{ref}` (fetch bytes via `GET /v1/artifacts/{ref}`)
+- `GET /v1/contract` → contract bytes (JSON) (+ `X-Amduat-Contract-Ref` header)
+- `GET /v1/contract?format=ref` → `{ref}`
 - `POST /v1/artifacts`
   - raw bytes: `Content-Type: application/octet-stream` (+ optional `X-Amduat-Type-Tag: 0x...`)
   - artifact framing: `Content-Type: application/vnd.amduat.asl.artifact+v1`
diff --git a/src/amduatd.c b/src/amduatd.c
index 6f46944..3932773 100644
--- a/src/amduatd.c
+++ b/src/amduatd.c
@@ -854,27 +854,93 @@ static bool amduatd_handle_meta(int fd,
 }
 
 static bool amduatd_handle_get_contract(int fd,
+                                       amduat_asl_store_t *store,
+                                       const amduatd_http_req_t *req,
                                        amduat_reference_t api_contract_ref) {
   char *hex = NULL;
-  char json[2048];
-  int n;
+  char format[32];
 
   if (api_contract_ref.hash_id == 0 || api_contract_ref.digest.data == NULL ||
       api_contract_ref.digest.len == 0) {
-    return amduatd_http_send_json(fd, 404, "Not Found", "{\"ref\":null}\n",
-                                 false);
+    return amduatd_http_send_not_found(fd, req);
   }
-  if (!amduat_asl_ref_encode_hex(api_contract_ref, &hex)) {
-    return amduatd_http_send_text(fd, 500, "Internal Server Error",
-                                 "encode error\n", false);
+
+  memset(format, 0, sizeof(format));
+  if (req != NULL &&
+      amduatd_query_param(req->path, "format", format, sizeof(format)) !=
+          NULL &&
+      strcmp(format, "ref") == 0) {
+    char json[2048];
+    int n;
+    if (!amduat_asl_ref_encode_hex(api_contract_ref, &hex)) {
+      return amduatd_http_send_text(fd, 500, "Internal Server Error",
+                                   "encode error\n", false);
+    }
+    n = snprintf(json, sizeof(json), "{\"ref\":\"%s\"}\n", hex);
+    free(hex);
+    if (n <= 0 || (size_t)n >= sizeof(json)) {
+      return amduatd_http_send_text(fd, 500, "Internal Server Error",
+                                   "error\n", false);
+    }
+    return amduatd_http_send_json(fd, 200, "OK", json, false);
   }
-  n = snprintf(json, sizeof(json), "{\"ref\":\"%s\"}\n", hex);
-  free(hex);
-  if (n <= 0 || (size_t)n >= sizeof(json)) {
-    return amduatd_http_send_text(fd, 500, "Internal Server Error", "error\n",
-                                 false);
+
+  {
+    amduat_artifact_t artifact;
+    amduat_asl_store_error_t err;
+
+    memset(&artifact, 0, sizeof(artifact));
+    err = amduat_asl_store_get(store, api_contract_ref, &artifact);
+    if (err == AMDUAT_ASL_STORE_ERR_NOT_FOUND) {
+      return amduatd_http_send_not_found(fd, req);
+    }
+    if (err != AMDUAT_ASL_STORE_OK) {
+      amduat_asl_artifact_free(&artifact);
+      return amduatd_http_send_text(fd, 500, "Internal Server Error",
+                                   "store error\n", false);
+    }
+    if (artifact.bytes.len != 0 && artifact.bytes.data == NULL) {
+      amduat_asl_artifact_free(&artifact);
+      return amduatd_http_send_text(fd, 500, "Internal Server Error",
+                                   "store error\n", false);
+    }
+
+    if (!amduat_asl_ref_encode_hex(api_contract_ref, &hex)) {
+      amduat_asl_artifact_free(&artifact);
+      return amduatd_http_send_text(fd, 500, "Internal Server Error",
+                                   "encode error\n", false);
+    }
+
+    {
+      char hdr[600];
+      int n = snprintf(hdr,
+                       sizeof(hdr),
+                       "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n"
+                       "Content-Length: %zu\r\n"
+                       "Content-Type: application/json\r\n"
+                       "X-Amduat-Contract-Ref: %s\r\n"
+                       "Connection: close\r\n"
+                       "\r\n",
+                       artifact.bytes.len,
+                       hex);
+      free(hex);
+      if (n <= 0 || (size_t)n >= sizeof(hdr)) {
+        amduat_asl_artifact_free(&artifact);
+        return false;
+      }
+      if (!amduatd_write_all(fd, (const uint8_t *)hdr, (size_t)n)) {
+        amduat_asl_artifact_free(&artifact);
+        return false;
+      }
+      if (artifact.bytes.len != 0) {
+        bool ok = amduatd_write_all(fd, artifact.bytes.data, artifact.bytes.len);
+        amduat_asl_artifact_free(&artifact);
+        return ok;
+      }
+      amduat_asl_artifact_free(&artifact);
+      return true;
+    }
   }
-  return amduatd_http_send_json(fd, 200, "OK", json, false);
 }
 
 static bool amduatd_seed_api_contract(amduat_asl_store_t *store,
@@ -1518,7 +1584,7 @@ static bool amduatd_handle_conn(int fd,
     return amduatd_handle_meta(fd, cfg, api_contract_ref, true);
   }
   if (strcmp(req.method, "GET") == 0 && strcmp(no_query, "/v1/contract") == 0) {
-    return amduatd_handle_get_contract(fd, api_contract_ref);
+    return amduatd_handle_get_contract(fd, store, &req, api_contract_ref);
   }
 
   if (strcmp(req.method, "POST") == 0 && strcmp(no_query, "/v1/artifacts") == 0) {