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+# Soak Harness Bring-Up
+
+One-time setup steps before running `tests/soak` against an environment.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+- An invite code exists with 16+ available uses
+- You have psql access to the target DB (or admin SQL access via some other means)
+
+## 1. Flag the invite code as test-seed
+
+Any account registered with a `marks_as_test=TRUE` invite code gets
+`users_v2.is_test_account=TRUE`, which keeps it out of real-user stats.
+
+### Staging
+
+Invite code: `5VC2MCCN` (16 uses, provisioned 2026-04-10).
+
+```sql
+UPDATE invite_codes SET marks_as_test = TRUE WHERE code = '5VC2MCCN';
+SELECT code, max_uses, use_count, marks_as_test FROM invite_codes WHERE code = '5VC2MCCN';
+```
+
+Expected: `marks_as_test | t`.
+
+From your workstation:
+
+```bash
+ssh root@129.212.150.189 \
+  'docker compose -f /opt/golfgame/docker-compose.staging.yml exec -T postgres psql -U postgres -d golfgame' <<'SQL'
+UPDATE invite_codes SET marks_as_test = TRUE WHERE code = '5VC2MCCN';
+SELECT code, max_uses, use_count, marks_as_test FROM invite_codes WHERE code = '5VC2MCCN';
+SQL
+```
+
+### Production
+
+Invite code — to be provisioned when production seeding is needed. Same pattern:
+
+```bash
+ssh root@165.245.152.51 \
+  'docker compose -f /opt/golfgame/docker-compose.prod.yml exec -T postgres psql -U postgres -d golfgame' <<'SQL'
+UPDATE invite_codes SET marks_as_test = TRUE WHERE code = '<PROD_INVITE_CODE>';
+SQL
+```
+
+### Local dev
+
+The local dev environment uses the `SOAKTEST` invite code. Create it once
+(if you wiped the DB since the last run):
+
+```sql
+INSERT INTO invite_codes (code, created_by, expires_at, max_uses, is_active, marks_as_test)
+SELECT 'SOAKTEST', id, NOW() + INTERVAL '10 years', 100, TRUE, TRUE
+FROM users_v2 LIMIT 1
+ON CONFLICT (code) DO UPDATE SET marks_as_test = TRUE;
+```
+
+Note: `created_by` references any existing user (the FK doesn't require admin role).
+If your dev DB has zero users, register one first via the UI or `curl`.
+
+Connection string for local dev:
+
+```bash
+PGPASSWORD=devpassword psql -h localhost -U golf -d golf
+```
+
+## 2. Verify the schema migrations applied
+
+The server-side changes (columns, matview rebuild, stats filter) run automatically
+on server startup via `SCHEMA_SQL` in `server/stores/user_store.py`. After the
+server-side changes deploy, verify against each target environment:
+
+```sql
+-- All four should return matching rows
+\d users_v2           -- look for is_test_account column
+\d invite_codes       -- look for marks_as_test column
+\d leaderboard_overall -- look for is_test_account column
+\di idx_users_test_account
+```
+
+If `leaderboard_overall` doesn't show the new column, the matview rebuild
+didn't run. Check server startup logs for errors around `initialize_schema`.
+
+## 3. Run the harness
+
+Once the harness is built (Tasks 9+ of the implementation plan):
+
+```bash
+cd tests/soak
+npm install
+
+# First run only: seed 16 accounts via the invite code
+TEST_URL=https://staging.adlee.work SOAK_INVITE_CODE=5VC2MCCN npm run seed
+
+# Smoke test against local dev
+TEST_URL=http://localhost:8000 SOAK_INVITE_CODE=SOAKTEST npm run smoke
+
+# Populate staging scoreboard
+TEST_URL=https://staging.adlee.work SOAK_INVITE_CODE=5VC2MCCN npm run soak:populate
+
+# Stress test
+TEST_URL=https://staging.adlee.work SOAK_INVITE_CODE=5VC2MCCN npm run soak:stress
+```
+
+See `tests/soak/README.md` for the full flag reference.
+
+## 4. Verify test account filtering works end-to-end
+
+After a soak run, the soak-seeded accounts should be visible to admins but
+hidden from public stats:
+
+```bash
+# Should return no soak_* usernames (test accounts hidden by default)
+curl -s "https://staging.adlee.work/api/stats/leaderboard?metric=wins" | jq '.entries[] | select(.username | startswith("soak_"))'
+
+# Should return the soak_* accounts when explicitly requested
+curl -s "https://staging.adlee.work/api/stats/leaderboard?metric=wins&include_test=true" | jq '.entries[] | select(.username | startswith("soak_"))'
+```
+
+In the admin panel:
+
+- Users tab shows a `[Test]` badge next to soak accounts
+- Invite codes tab shows `[Test-seed]` next to the flagged code
+- "Include test accounts" checkbox (default checked) toggles visibility