Protocol: OTA_REQ and OTA_GET_MANIFEST now carry a want_mask bitmap, so a fetcher asks for specific fragments (all on the first request, only the still-missing holes on a retry) instead of a whole block/manifest window. The WANT_MANIFEST and FETCHING retry loops re-ask only on a no-progress tick, so a lost fragment costs one fragment to recover and a re-request can't collide with an in-flight multi-fragment burst on half-duplex radios.
Warm-start (motatool folder-capture only): new OTA_GET_LEAVES/OTA_LEAVES let `ota pull <#> folder validate` bulk-fetch the target's merkle leaves, authenticate them against the manifest root, diff a similar seed build already staged in the destination, and pull DATA over LoRa only for the blocks that differ. Leaves are bitmap-fragmented + no-progress retry-gated like the manifest, capped at OTA_DIFF_MAX_BLOCKS so the want_mask stays a fixed uint16, and the diff runs a bounded batch per loop tick so it never starves the mesh loop. motatool `serve --seed <build.mota>` injects the seed payload into the destination .part on OP_BEGIN.
Route both begin() and reopen() through a pure mota_nrf52_stage_plan() that bottom-aligns a received .mota below the filesystem region (trailer ending at FS_START, where the bootloader scans) and refuses any size that would overrun that ceiling or overlap the running image — the single place the FS/prefs-safe bounds are enforced. Add compile-time static_asserts pinning the flash-layout ordering (app < staging ceiling < bootloader; in-place workspace ends at/below the ceiling) so an inconsistent constant fails the build instead of silently corrupting user prefs. Cover the pure planner in test/test_ota/test_ota_flashplan.cpp.
mikecarper
Valentin Kivachuk Burda