diff --git a/schema/sprite-catalog.schema.json b/schema/sprite-catalog.schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8466153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/schema/sprite-catalog.schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "$id": "https://git.thewichersfamily.com/thethreemagi/sprite-catalog/raw/branch/main/schema/sprite-catalog.schema.json",
+  "title": "Sprite catalog season file",
+  "description": "One file per season. Variants are nested under their base sprite to avoid repeating base_name and row_name; the bot flattens them to one row per variant on load.",
+  "type": "object",
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "required": ["season", "game_mode", "sprites"],
+  "properties": {
+    "season": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "pattern": "^c[0-9]+s[0-9]+$",
+      "description": "Season identifier, e.g. c7s3. Must match the filename stem."
+    },
+    "game_mode": {
+      "$ref": "#/$defs/gameMode",
+      "description": "Default game mode for every sprite in this file. Individual sprites may override it."
+    },
+    "cross_mode_trading": {
+      "type": "boolean",
+      "default": false,
+      "description": "Whether sprites from different game modes may be matched against each other. Defaults to false; leave it false unless the policy is deliberately changed."
+    },
+    "notes": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "description": "Free text. JSON has no comments, so anything you would have written as one goes here."
+    },
+    "sprites": {
+      "type": "array",
+      "minItems": 1,
+      "items": { "$ref": "#/$defs/sprite" }
+    }
+  },
+  "$defs": {
+    "gameMode": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "enum": ["br", "og", "reload", "festival", "rocket_racing", "lego"],
+      "description": "Extend this list rather than inventing values; the bot validates against it."
+    },
+    "status": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "enum": ["unreleased", "released", "hidden"],
+      "description": "unreleased: known but not yet obtainable. released: obtainable and tradeable. hidden: dropped out of matching but retained in inventories, and reversible — most hidden sprites come back."
+    },
+    "sprite": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "additionalProperties": false,
+      "required": ["base_name", "row_name", "variants"],
+      "properties": {
+        "base_name": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "minLength": 1,
+          "description": "The sprite's base name, shared across its variants. Unique within a season."
+        },
+        "row_name": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "minLength": 1,
+          "description": "The collection row this sprite belongs to. Autocomplete matches on this as well as base_name."
+        },
+        "game_mode": {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/gameMode",
+          "description": "Overrides the season-level game_mode for this sprite only."
+        },
+        "notes": { "type": "string" },
+        "variants": {
+          "type": "array",
+          "minItems": 1,
+          "items": { "$ref": "#/$defs/variant" }
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "variant": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "additionalProperties": false,
+      "required": ["variant", "status"],
+      "properties": {
+        "variant": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "minLength": 1,
+          "description": "Variant name, unique within its base sprite. Use \"Default\" when a sprite has only one form."
+        },
+        "status": { "$ref": "#/$defs/status" },
+        "released_at": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "format": "date",
+          "description": "ISO 8601 date. Required in practice once status is released; omit while unreleased."
+        },
+        "max_stack": {
+          "type": "integer",
+          "minimum": 1,
+          "default": 1,
+          "description": "Maximum copies a member can hold. Anything above 1 can enter the give pool as a spare."
+        },
+        "rarity_weight": {
+          "type": "number",
+          "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
+          "description": "Retained for display and analytics only. The matcher does NOT use it — rarity matching was removed deliberately, because value-matching is how selfish players win and the pool starves."
+        },
+        "confirmed": {
+          "type": "boolean",
+          "default": false,
+          "description": "Flips true the first time a real member is recorded owning this variant. Unconfirmed entries are deprioritised in autocomplete and excluded from the coverage metric, since variant lists are assumed-complete guesses until proven."
+        },
+        "notes": { "type": "string" }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}