diff --git a/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonMain/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelKey.kt b/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonMain/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelKey.kt
index 3442aee2a..86da23fc2 100644
--- a/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonMain/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelKey.kt
+++ b/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonMain/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelKey.kt
@@ -19,12 +19,21 @@ public data class KernelKey(
     val op: String,
     val operands: List<OperandKey>,
     val placement: Placement = Placement.HOST,
+    /**
+     * Platform capabilities a kernel requires (`vector`, `dotprod`, `i8mm`, `ffm`, …). Empty means
+     * "no special requirement" — the portable kernel. A pack registers its key *with* the
+     * capabilities it needs so a device that lacks them never selects it (§5.2, #920).
+     */
+    val capabilities: Set<String> = emptySet(),
 ) {
     /** Where the operands live — host memory today; a device backend adds its own (PRD non-goal for M1). */
     public enum class Placement { HOST, DEVICE }
 
-    override fun toString(): String =
-        "$op(${operands.joinToString(" × ")})" + if (placement != Placement.HOST) " @${placement.name.lowercase()}" else " @host"
+    override fun toString(): String = buildString {
+        append(op); append('('); append(operands.joinToString(" × ")); append(')')
+        append(" @"); append(placement.name.lowercase())
+        if (capabilities.isNotEmpty()) { append(" ["); append(capabilities.sorted().joinToString(",")); append(']') }
+    }
 
     public companion object {
         /** The key of `matmul(activation, weight)` as the two views describe themselves. */
diff --git a/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonMain/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelPacks.kt b/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonMain/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelPacks.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..173df2ce5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonMain/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelPacks.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+package sk.ainet.backend.api.kernel
+
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.ExperimentalMemoryApi
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.Format
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.Storage
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.TensorView
+import sk.ainet.lang.types.FP32
+
+/**
+ * Wiring between the [KernelProvider] SPI (the platform packs: scalar, Panama/Vector API, native
+ * FFM, JNI/NEON) and the view-keyed [KernelDispatch] (SKEEP-003 §5.2).
+ *
+ * A pack keeps exposing its kernels through `KernelProvider`; this installs them as [ViewKernel]s
+ * under the keys the dispatcher looks up, so the generic path gets the fast kernel instead of the
+ * decoding reference whenever the operands' formats and layouts match what the pack declares.
+ *
+ * **Scope note (SKEEP-003 migration, #1029).** Only the dense FP32 kernel is bridged here. The
+ * packed (Q4_0…Q6_K) SPI kernels take their weight bytes in **block-major** order — the layout
+ * `DefaultCpuOpsBase.transposePackedBlocks` produces — while a packed `TensorView` describes the
+ * canonical row-major block order of the file. That contract is exactly what #973 reports as
+ * unwritten and contradictory across the engine and the converters, and getting it wrong is the
+ * silent-wrong-numbers class of #968/#971. Bridging the packed kernels therefore waits until #973
+ * pins the byte order down; until then the packed fast paths stay on their existing (working)
+ * ladder in `DefaultCpuOps`/`DefaultCpuOpsJvm`, and the registry serves packed operands with the
+ * decoding reference kernel, which is correct for any layout.
+ */
+@ExperimentalMemoryApi
+public object KernelPacks {
+
+    /** Capability marker for a provider that needs an explicit vector unit (Panama, NEON, …). */
+    public const val CAPABILITY_VECTOR: String = "vector"
+
+    /**
+     * Install the kernels of [provider] (default: the best available one) into [KernelDispatch],
+     * plus the always-present reference kernel for dense FP32. Idempotent per provider name.
+     */
+    public fun install(provider: KernelProvider? = KernelRegistry.bestAvailable()) {
+        installReference()
+        val p = provider ?: return
+        if (!p.isAvailable()) return
+        val fp32 = p.matmulFp32() ?: return
+        val dense = OperandKey.contiguous(Format.dense(FP32))
+        // Two keys, one kernel: a weight normally reaches the dispatcher as a *transposed view* of a
+        // contiguous [k, n] buffer — strided by LayoutClass, but exactly what the SPI GEMM's stride
+        // arguments express. A contiguous weight is the [n, k]-in-memory case.
+        val strided = OperandKey(Format.dense(FP32), LayoutClass.STRIDED)
+        KernelDispatch.register(Fp32ViewMatmulKernel(p.name, fp32, KernelKey("matmul", listOf(dense, strided))))
+        KernelDispatch.register(Fp32ViewMatmulKernel(p.name, fp32, KernelKey("matmul", listOf(dense, dense))))
+    }
+
+    /** The reference matmul for dense FP32 — always available, so a key is never unserved. */
+    public fun installReference() {
+        val dense = OperandKey.contiguous(Format.dense(FP32))
+        KernelDispatch.register(ReferenceMatmulKernel(KernelKey("matmul", listOf(dense, dense))))
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * A [ViewKernel] over an SPI [Fp32MatmulKernel]: both operands dense FP32 and contiguous, weight
+ * output-major (`[n, k]`, the shape SKaiNET's dispatch normalises to). Unwraps each view once —
+ * per the Phase-2 spike (#1016) — and calls the pack's strided GEMM.
+ */
+@ExperimentalMemoryApi
+public class Fp32ViewMatmulKernel(
+    providerName: String,
+    private val kernel: Fp32MatmulKernel,
+    override val key: KernelKey,
+) : ViewKernel {
+    override val name: String = "$providerName-fp32"
+
+    override fun run(inputs: List<TensorView>, out: TensorView) {
+        require(inputs.size == 2) { "matmul takes two operands" }
+        val a = inputs[0]; val b = inputs[1]
+        val m = a.shape[0]; val k = a.shape[1]; val n = b.shape[0]
+        require(b.shape[1] == k) { "inner dimensions disagree: [${m}, ${k}] × [${n}, ${b.shape[1]}]" }
+        val aHeap = a.storage as? Storage.Heap ?: return fallback(inputs, out)
+        val bHeap = b.storage as? Storage.Heap ?: return fallback(inputs, out)
+        val oHeap = out.storage as? Storage.Heap ?: return fallback(inputs, out)
+        val aBuf = aHeap.floats ?: return fallback(inputs, out)
+        val bBuf = bHeap.floats ?: return fallback(inputs, out)
+        val oBuf = oHeap.floats ?: return fallback(inputs, out)
+        // The SPI GEMM reads the weight input-major: b[p][j] = bBuf[bOffset + p * bStride + j].
+        // The dispatcher hands us the weight output-major ([n, k]) — which, when it is a transposed
+        // *view* of a contiguous [k, n] buffer, means strides[0] == 1 and strides[1] is that
+        // buffer's row stride. Anything else (a genuinely output-major buffer) would need a gather,
+        // so it goes to the reference kernel instead of being silently mis-indexed.
+        if (b.layout.strides[0] != 1) return fallback(inputs, out)
+        kernel.matmul(
+            a = aBuf, aOffset = aHeap.arrayOffset + a.layout.offsetElements.toInt(), aStride = a.layout.strides[0],
+            b = bBuf, bOffset = bHeap.arrayOffset + b.layout.offsetElements.toInt(), bStride = b.layout.strides[1],
+            out = oBuf, outOffset = oHeap.arrayOffset + out.layout.offsetElements.toInt(), outStride = out.layout.strides[0],
+            m = m, n = n, k = k,
+        )
+    }
+
+    private fun fallback(inputs: List<TensorView>, out: TensorView) {
+        ReferenceMatmulKernel(key).run(inputs, out)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonTest/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelPacksTest.kt b/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonTest/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelPacksTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db84119b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skainet-backends/skainet-backend-api/src/commonTest/kotlin/sk/ainet/backend/api/kernel/KernelPacksTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package sk.ainet.backend.api.kernel
+
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.ExperimentalMemoryApi
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.Format
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.Storage
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.TensorView
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.trace.RecordingTraceSink
+import sk.ainet.lang.memory.trace.TraceEvent
+import sk.ainet.lang.tensor.Shape
+import sk.ainet.lang.types.FP32
+import kotlin.math.abs
+import kotlin.test.AfterTest
+import kotlin.test.Test
+import kotlin.test.assertEquals
+import kotlin.test.assertIs
+import kotlin.test.assertTrue
+
+/** SKEEP-003 §5.2: platform packs register their kernels under view keys; the reference is always present. */
+@OptIn(ExperimentalMemoryApi::class)
+class KernelPacksTest {
+
+    @AfterTest fun cleanup() { KernelDispatch.clearForTesting(); KernelRegistry.clearForTesting() }
+
+    /** A stand-in pack whose FP32 GEMM is a plain triple loop with the SPI's stride contract. */
+    private class FakeProvider(override val name: String = "fake", override val priority: Int = 100) : KernelProvider {
+        var calls = 0
+        override fun isAvailable(): Boolean = true
+        override fun matmulFp32(): Fp32MatmulKernel = object : Fp32MatmulKernel {
+            override fun matmul(
+                a: FloatArray, aOffset: Int, aStride: Int,
+                b: FloatArray, bOffset: Int, bStride: Int,
+                out: FloatArray, outOffset: Int, outStride: Int,
+                m: Int, n: Int, k: Int,
+            ) {
+                calls++
+                for (i in 0 until m) for (j in 0 until n) {
+                    var acc = 0f
+                    for (p in 0 until k) acc += a[aOffset + i * aStride + p] * b[bOffset + p * bStride + j]
+                    out[outOffset + i * outStride + j] = acc
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun view(shape: Shape, values: FloatArray): TensorView =
+        TensorView.dense(Storage.Heap.wrap(values), shape, FP32)
+
+    @Test
+    fun theReferenceKernelIsAlwaysInstalled() {
+        KernelPacks.installReference()
+        val dense = OperandKey.contiguous(Format.dense(FP32))
+        val k = KernelDispatch.find(KernelKey("matmul", listOf(dense, dense)))
+        assertEquals("reference", k?.name)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun aPackKernelServesTheDenseKeyAndAgreesWithTheReference() {
+        val provider = FakeProvider()
+        KernelRegistry.register(provider)
+        KernelPacks.install(provider)
+
+        val a = view(Shape(2, 3), floatArrayOf(1f, 2f, 3f, 4f, 5f, 6f))
+        // the weight as SKaiNET stores it, [k, n] = [3, 2], handed to the dispatcher transposed
+        val wBuf = floatArrayOf(1f, 0.5f, 2f, 1.5f, 3f, 2.5f)
+        val w = view(Shape(3, 2), wBuf).transpose()            // [2, 3] output-major view
+        val out = view(Shape(2, 2), FloatArray(4))
+        val sink = RecordingTraceSink()
+        KernelDispatch.matmul(a, w, out, sink = sink)
+
+        assertTrue(provider.calls > 0, "the pack kernel must have run")
+        assertEquals("fake-fp32", assertIs<TraceEvent.KernelRun>(sink.events().single()).kernel)
+        // reference numbers
+        val expected = FloatArray(4)
+        for (i in 0 until 2) for (j in 0 until 2) {
+            var acc = 0f
+            for (p in 0 until 3) acc += a.get(i, p) * wBuf[p * 2 + j]
+            expected[i * 2 + j] = acc
+        }
+        for (i in expected.indices) assertTrue(abs(out.get(i / 2, i % 2) - expected[i]) < 1e-4f, "element $i: ${out.get(i / 2, i % 2)} vs ${expected[i]}")
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun anOutputMajorWeightFallsBackToTheReferenceInsteadOfBeingMisIndexed() {
+        val provider = FakeProvider()
+        KernelRegistry.register(provider); KernelPacks.install(provider)
+        val a = view(Shape(1, 3), floatArrayOf(1f, 2f, 3f))
+        // a genuinely output-major weight [n, k] (not a transposed view): strides [k, 1]
+        val w = view(Shape(2, 3), floatArrayOf(1f, 2f, 3f, 4f, 5f, 6f))
+        val out = view(Shape(1, 2), FloatArray(2))
+        KernelDispatch.matmul(a, w, out)
+        assertEquals(1f * 1 + 2f * 2 + 3f * 3, out.get(0, 0))   // reference semantics: out = a x wᵀ
+        assertEquals(1f * 4 + 2f * 5 + 3f * 6, out.get(0, 1))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun keysCarryPlatformCapabilities() {
+        val dense = OperandKey.contiguous(Format.dense(FP32))
+        val plain = KernelKey("matmul", listOf(dense, dense))
+        val neon = KernelKey("matmul", listOf(dense, dense), capabilities = setOf("dotprod", KernelPacks.CAPABILITY_VECTOR))
+        assertTrue(plain != neon, "capabilities are part of the key")
+        assertEquals("matmul(Float32/Dense(4B) contiguous × Float32/Dense(4B) contiguous) @host [dotprod,vector]", neon.toString())
+    }
+}