diff --git a/current/CHECKPOINT-COMPILER-API.md b/current/CHECKPOINT-COMPILER-API.md
index 1c9bba05..38b9b133 100644
--- a/current/CHECKPOINT-COMPILER-API.md
+++ b/current/CHECKPOINT-COMPILER-API.md
@@ -325,6 +325,21 @@ when reached (sentinels or accessor fns; see the design doc Risks).
   `List` growth; orthogonal, see `current/CHECKPOINT-METATYPE.md`.)
 
 ## Log
+- **Phase 3 P3.4 step 1 (VM plan) — lowering-time default context; first blocker cleared (2026-06-18).**
+  `materializeDefaultContext` now falls back to a ZEROED `Context` (found by name) when the
+  `__sx_default_context` global is absent — i.e. at LOWERING time, where the global isn't
+  emitted yet. A type-fn that never touches the allocator now runs past context setup; one
+  that allocates reads a null `alloc_fn` (zeroed) → `call_indirect` on the null func-ref
+  bails → legacy fallback (a REAL lowering-time context with the CAllocator thunk func-refs,
+  so allocating type-fns also run on the VM, is a follow-up). **Measurement: the bail moved
+  deeper** — metatype `make_enum` now bails at `const_type` (the `Type`-literal op, unported);
+  `register_type` type-fns bail at the welded write call (declare_type/register_type aren't in
+  `callCompilerFn`). No table mutation happens before either bail (the write fns bail before
+  minting), so parity holds: both gates **697/0**, no crashes. **Next blockers (the "model
+  Type" chunk):** (a) the `const_type` op → a word = `TypeId.index()`; (b) the Type-return
+  bridge (`regToValue` for a `Type`/`.any` word → `.type_tag`); (c) the VM-native write side
+  (declare_type/register_type/pointer_to in `callCompilerFn`) + a real lowering-time context.
+  Only once those land does a type-fn actually run end-to-end on the VM (a HANDLED case).
 - **Phase 3 P3.4 (VM plan) — wire the VM at the LOWERING-time site + measure (2026-06-18).**
   Routed `runComptimeTypeFunc` (the type-fn fold — the THIRD comptime call site) through
   `comptime_vm.tryEval` behind `-Dcomptime-flat`/`SX_COMPTIME_FLAT` with legacy fallback,
diff --git a/src/ir/comptime_vm.zig b/src/ir/comptime_vm.zig
index befa6870..90959383 100644
--- a/src/ir/comptime_vm.zig
+++ b/src/ir/comptime_vm.zig
@@ -334,7 +334,19 @@ pub const Vm = struct {
             if (g.init_val) |iv| try self.layoutConst(table, iv, g.ty, addr);
             return addr;
         }
-        return self.failMsg("comptime VM: no __sx_default_context global to materialize the implicit context");
+        // No `__sx_default_context` global yet — this is the LOWERING-time path
+        // (the global is emitted later, at codegen). Materialize a ZEROED `Context`
+        // of the right size instead: a type-fn that never touches the allocator
+        // ignores it; one that DOES allocate reads a null `alloc_fn` (zeroed) and
+        // `call_indirect` on the null func-ref bails → legacy fallback (which has a
+        // real default context). A real lowering-time context (with the CAllocator
+        // thunk func-refs, so allocating type-fns also run on the VM) is a follow-up.
+        // `internString` of an existing name is idempotent (pool-only, no layout
+        // change) — the same `@constCast` the reader handlers use on the table.
+        const ctx_name = @constCast(table).internString("Context");
+        const ctx_ty = table.findByName(ctx_name) orelse
+            return self.failMsg("comptime VM: no Context type to materialize the implicit context");
+        return self.machine.allocBytes(table.typeSizeBytes(ctx_ty), table.typeAlignBytes(ctx_ty)); // zeroed
     }
 
     /// Lay a static `ConstantValue` of type `ty` into flat memory at `addr` (the