feat(mod-api): expose developer mode

docs/mod-api-gen2-compat.md

@@ -469,8 +469,10 @@ is warned once per name and the rest of the list still runs. The engine's own
 Gen 1 verbs are **not** seeded on Gold: a row-list verb handed Gold's ctx would
 find no runner on it, so `data.commands` under Gen 2 is the mod verbs alone.
 
-**`mod.save`, `mod.options`, `mod.log`, `mod.assets`, `mod.find`, exports.**
-Generation-agnostic; nothing to adapt.
+**`mod.save`, `mod.options`, `mod.log`, `mod.assets`, `mod.find`,
+`mod.developer`, exports.** Generation-agnostic; nothing to adapt.
+`mod.developer` is the same fixed boot-time boolean on both generations and is
+available while the entry chunk runs.
 
 **`mod.world`.** Same method set, resolved against Gold's world
 (`src/world/gen2/WorldAPI.lua`). Two differences show through and are

docs/modding.md

@@ -695,6 +695,25 @@ hotkeys. Either set `POKEPORT_DEV=1` in the environment or pass
 love . --developer
 ```
 
+Every sandboxed entry chunk receives the same boot decision as the boolean
+`mod.developer`. It is available while the entry file is loading, so a mod can
+keep diagnostic commands, screens, and verbose tracing out of player builds:
+
+```lua
+if mod.developer then
+  mod.commands:register("my_mod:diagnostics", function(ctx)
+    -- open or print this mod's diagnostic view
+  end)
+end
+```
+
+`mod.developer` is a plain boolean snapshot for this boot. It grants no
+permission and exposes neither the process environment nor the loader. In a
+normal player boot it is `false`; `POKEPORT_DEV=1` and `--developer` make it
+`true` through the same engine-owned decision that enables the console and hot
+reload. Use a mod option for player-facing feature toggles rather than treating
+developer mode as configuration.
+
 While developer mode is active:
 
 - `` ` `` (backtick) opens the console overlay — a Lua REPL with `game`,

docs/rfcs/0017-mod-developer-mode.md

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# RFC 0017: Public mod developer-mode signal
+
+## Status
+
+Proposed.
+
+## Motivation
+
+The loader already has one boot-time developer-mode decision. It enables the
+console and hot reload and can be forced in headless tests, but a sandboxed mod
+cannot read it. `mod.commands` can register a diagnostic command but cannot say
+whether the current boot is a developer boot. `mod.exports` only publishes
+values to other mods. `game.ready` fires after entry registration and carries
+only the game. `mod.options` is player configuration, not engine mode, and
+`mod.log` logs unconditionally. The pre-sandbox compatibility
+`os.getenv("POKEPORT_DEV")` deliberately returns `nil`, because the process
+environment is hidden from mods.
+
+The concrete consumer is **Adaptive Trainers**. Its approved Chapter 30 and
+Phase H require trainer, boss, Rival, and League diagnostic views plus
+seed-label tracing to exist only when `POKEPORT_DEV` is active. Without a
+public signal, the mod must either ship those registrations in production,
+misuse a player option, or import loader/Logger internals. All three violate
+the approved observability boundary or the sandbox/public-API policy.
+
+## Decision and plan extended
+
+This implements **D-AT-005: diagnostics and seed tracing are admitted only by
+the engine's developer-mode decision**. The consuming design is tracked in the
+Adaptive Trainers implementation plan,
+[`docs/superpowers/plans/2026-08-14-adaptive-trainers.md`](https://github.com/MaxTomahawk/gen1recomp-adaptive-trainers/blob/main/docs/superpowers/plans/2026-08-14-adaptive-trainers.md),
+Task 9. The engine delta is generic and contains no trainer, balancing,
+diagnostic-layout, seed-label, or Adaptive Trainers policy.
+
+## Exact API delta
+
+Every sandboxed mod object adds one field:
+
+```lua
+mod.developer -- boolean
+```
+
+The loader copies its existing `dev` decision into this field before invoking
+the mod's entry chunk. It is therefore available for load-time registration:
+
+```lua
+if mod.developer then
+  mod.commands:register("my_mod:diagnostics", diagnostics_command)
+end
+```
+
+The value is a plain boolean snapshot, not a loader reference or environment
+facade. `false` is the normal player-build answer. `POKEPORT_DEV=1`, the
+`--developer` command-line path, and the loader's existing injected `opts.dev`
+test seam produce `true` through the same decision that already controls the
+developer console, hot reload, and loader diagnostics. It grants no permission
+and does not expose environment variables. The answer is fixed for the life of
+that loader; changing a field on a mod's own table cannot change engine mode.
+
+The field is generation-independent and has identical semantics on Red, Blue,
+Yellow, Gold, and Silver.
+
+## Migration and compatibility
+
+Existing mods change nothing. `mod.developer` is additive, requires no
+permission, and does not bump the integer mod API. Existing API-v1 and API-v2
+entry chunks receive one extra scalar field and retain all prior fields and
+methods unchanged. No name is removed or shadowed.
+
+With no mods installed, `Loader:_api` is never called, so the delta allocates no
+mod object and changes no data, save, options, event, hook, command, or file.
+With mods installed in a normal boot, the new field is `false` unless an author
+explicitly reads it. Existing registration and logging behavior is unchanged.
+
+An adopting mod should gate developer-only registrations and verbose logging
+directly on `mod.developer`. Player-facing behavior belongs behind
+`mod.options`, not this signal.
+
+## Verification
+
+- `tests/engine/mod_developer_mode_test.lua` loads a real sandboxed mod through
+  the public SDK with developer mode both on and off. It proves the boolean is
+  available during entry execution and that the same source registers its
+  diagnostic command only for the developer load. It also covers the
+  command-line global path and a Gen 2 load.
+- `tests/engine/mod_developer_mode_parity_test.lua` is the separate no-mod
+  parity suite. It proves both developer answers discover no mods, create no
+  files, and leave injected vanilla data unchanged. It also loads an unchanged
+  API-v1 probe and verifies identity, `mod:read`, exports, and options behavior.
+- The full ROM-free engine and modkit tiers remain the compatibility proof for
+  `content.X:register/override/get`, `events:on`, `hooks:wrap`, `mod.log`,
+  `mod:read`, manifest v1 fields, and `pokemon.before_give`.
+
+No registry or schema changes are involved, so generated registry documentation
+is unaffected.
+
+## Deprecation etiquette
+
+Nothing is removed, renamed, superseded, or deprecated.