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+# Phase 2: Core Gameplay - Context
+
+**Gathered:** 2026-03-10
+**Status:** Ready for planning
+
+<domain>
+## Phase Boundary
+
+Add scoring system, second paddle (human Player 2 + AI opponent with 3 difficulty levels), and match-end condition. Phase 3 adds real UI screens — Phase 2 delivers a fully playable game using temporary on-canvas UI. No visual effects, power-ups, or menus yet.
+
+</domain>
+
+<decisions>
+## Implementation Decisions
+
+### Mode Activation (temporary — Phase 3 replaces with real screens)
+- Key press at game start: press '1' for Solo vs AI, press '2' for 2-Player local
+- Difficulty selected by key press before match: press '1' for Easy, '2' for Medium, '3' for Hard
+- This temporary selection state lives in GameState (e.g. GameState.mode, GameState.difficulty)
+- Phase 3 wires its mode select screen to set these same GameState values — no refactor needed
+
+### Match End (temporary — Phase 3 replaces with real game-over screen)
+- On-canvas winner text: "Player 1 Wins! Press R to restart" (or "AI Wins!")
+- R key resets state and returns to mode/difficulty key selection
+- Phase 3 replaces this on-canvas message with its game-over screen
+
+### Target Score
+- First to 7 points wins
+- Stored as a constant in GameConfig (WIN_SCORE: 7) for easy tuning later
+
+### Ball Re-serve After Score
+- ~1 second pause to let the score update register visually
+- Ball auto-serves after the pause — no player input required
+- Server direction: alternates or goes to the player who just scored (Claude's discretion)
+
+### AI Strategy
+- Predictive interception: AI calculates the ball's y-position when it reaches the AI's x-position, then moves toward that target
+- Handles wall bounces in the prediction (ball trajectory traced to AI x, accounting for reflections)
+
+### AI Difficulty via Reaction Delay + Speed Cap
+- **Easy**: slow max paddle speed + late reaction start (ball must cross a threshold before AI begins tracking)
+- **Medium**: moderate speed + small reaction delay
+- **Hard**: fast speed + minimal reaction delay — not perfect, still beatable with skill
+- All values stored in GameConfig as named difficulty presets (e.g. AI_EASY, AI_MEDIUM, AI_HARD objects)
+
+### Claude's Discretion
+- Exact speed/delay values per difficulty (tune for feel after initial implementation)
+- How ball serves direction is chosen after scoring
+- Score display typography and positioning (on-canvas, minimal)
+- Whether prediction re-calculates every frame or on a throttled interval
+
+</decisions>
+
+<specifics>
+## Specific Ideas
+
+- No specific requirements — open to standard approaches
+
+</specifics>
+
+<code_context>
+## Existing Code Insights
+
+### Reusable Assets
+- `GameState.paddle1`: has x, y, width, height, speed, color — `paddle2` should mirror this structure
+- `Input.getVerticalInput()`: returns -1/0/1 for Player 1 (W/S) — add `getVerticalInput2()` for Up/Down arrows
+- `Physics.update(deltaTime)`: currently handles ball + paddle1 movement — extend to handle paddle2 (human or AI branch)
+- `GameConfig`: central constants object — add WIN_SCORE and AI difficulty presets here
+- `Renderer.drawRect()` / `Renderer.drawCircle()`: reuse for drawing paddle2, score text, etc.
+
+### Established Patterns
+- Module-object pattern: all new logic goes into existing objects (Physics, GameState, Input) or a new `AI` object
+- `GameLoop.main()` calls `Physics.update()` then `Renderer.*` — AI update should run inside Physics.update or a dedicated AI.update call before rendering
+- Single HTML file — all additions stay in `index.html`
+
+### Integration Points
+- `Physics.update(deltaTime)` is where paddle movement and collision live — Phase 2 adds paddle2 movement (human or AI) here
+- `GameState` needs score fields (score1, score2), match state (playing/paused/gameover), mode, and difficulty
+- `GameLoop.main()` needs a check after Physics.update to detect scoring (ball passes left/right edge) and trigger pause → re-serve cycle
+
+</code_context>
+
+<deferred>
+## Deferred Ideas
+
+- None — discussion stayed within phase scope
+
+</deferred>
+
+---
+
+*Phase: 02-core-gameplay*
+*Context gathered: 2026-03-10*