diff --git a/services/fwmanager/api/BUILD.bazel b/services/fwmanager/api/BUILD.bazel
index e5653a61..7cec74f9 100644
--- a/services/fwmanager/api/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/services/fwmanager/api/BUILD.bazel
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ rust_library(
     name = "fwmanager_api",
     srcs = [
         "src/boot_control.rs",
+        "src/config.rs",
         "src/lib.rs",
     ],
     edition = "2024",
diff --git a/services/fwmanager/api/src/config.rs b/services/fwmanager/api/src/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..43e3ed8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/fwmanager/api/src/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+// Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+//! Schema for the per-board device table. Board device tables
+//! (`target/<board>/devices.rs`) declare the values; no concrete line or
+//! device is named here.
+
+/// What the orchestrator requires before it commits a staged image.
+///
+/// Intentionally exhaustive (not `#[non_exhaustive]`): adding a variant is
+/// a breaking change, so the compiler forces every match on the policy —
+/// in particular the orchestrator's commit decision — to handle the new
+/// variant explicitly instead of falling into a wildcard arm.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum CommitPolicy {
+    /// The device reports it came up.
+    Liveness,
+    /// Liveness plus SPDM re-attestation of the running image.
+    LivenessAndAttestation,
+}
+
+/// How the orchestrator observes a device's boot-progress signal.
+///
+/// Generic over the id type `G` the board's boot monitor uses to read a
+/// boot-complete line, for the same reason `DeviceConfig` is generic over
+/// its reset signal: signal ids are board-specific.
+///
+/// Intentionally exhaustive (not `#[non_exhaustive]`): adding a signal
+/// kind is a breaking change, so every consumer that dispatches on it is
+/// forced to handle the new kind explicitly.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum BootSignal<G> {
+    /// The device raises a boot-complete GPIO line.
+    GpioBootComplete(G),
+    /// The device sends a heartbeat message.
+    Heartbeat,
+    /// The device's MCTP endpoint answers as ready.
+    MctpReady,
+    /// The device answers a firmware version query.
+    VersionQuery,
+}
+
+/// One boot-progress checkpoint: a signal the orchestrator waits for, and
+/// how long it waits.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct BootCheckpoint<G> {
+    /// Names the checkpoint in timeout reports.
+    pub name: &'static str,
+    pub signal: BootSignal<G>,
+    /// How long the orchestrator waits for `signal` before it declares the
+    /// checkpoint — and the device's boot — failed. Expiry is the
+    /// orchestrator's own judgment; hung devices report nothing.
+    pub window: core::time::Duration,
+}
+
+/// One managed downstream device, as declared by the board config.
+///
+/// Generic over the board's reset signal type `R`, which must match the
+/// `ResetId` of the reset controller behind the board's `BootControl`
+/// implementation — the compiler rejects a table whose ids the controller
+/// cannot accept.
+///
+/// Intentionally exhaustive (not `#[non_exhaustive]`): board tables
+/// construct this struct by literal, which the attribute would forbid.
+/// Adding a field is a breaking change that updates every board table.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct DeviceConfig<R, G: 'static> {
+    pub name: &'static str,
+    /// Reset signal id, passed to HalBootControl::new.
+    pub reset_signal: R,
+    /// Boot-progress checkpoints, in the order the device passes them.
+    /// The device counts as booted when the last one is reached; a
+    /// checkpoint whose window expires fails the boot.
+    pub checkpoints: &'static [BootCheckpoint<G>],
+    pub commit_policy: CommitPolicy,
+}
+
+/// Checks a device table. Board configs call this in a const context so a
+/// bad table fails the build.
+pub const fn validate<R, G>(devices: &[DeviceConfig<R, G>]) {
+    let mut i = 0;
+    while i < devices.len() {
+        assert!(!devices[i].name.is_empty(), "device name must not be empty");
+        assert!(
+            !devices[i].checkpoints.is_empty(),
+            "device must declare at least one boot checkpoint"
+        );
+        let mut c = 0;
+        while c < devices[i].checkpoints.len() {
+            assert!(
+                !devices[i].checkpoints[c].name.is_empty(),
+                "checkpoint name must not be empty"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                !devices[i].checkpoints[c].window.is_zero(),
+                "checkpoint window must not be zero"
+            );
+            c += 1;
+        }
+        i += 1;
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use core::time::Duration;
+
+    // Board tables run validate() at compile time, where a rejection is a
+    // build error nobody can assert on. These tests call it at runtime to
+    // prove the reject paths actually fire — a vacuous loop would pass
+    // every `const _` check silently.
+
+    const CHECKPOINT: BootCheckpoint<u8> = BootCheckpoint {
+        name: "boot-complete",
+        signal: BootSignal::GpioBootComplete(0),
+        window: Duration::from_secs(1),
+    };
+
+    const DEVICE: DeviceConfig<u8, u8> = DeviceConfig {
+        name: "dev",
+        reset_signal: 0,
+        checkpoints: &[CHECKPOINT],
+        commit_policy: CommitPolicy::Liveness,
+    };
+
+    #[test]
+    fn accepts_a_valid_table() {
+        validate(&[DEVICE]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "device name must not be empty")]
+    fn rejects_an_empty_device_name() {
+        validate(&[DEVICE, DeviceConfig { name: "", ..DEVICE }]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "at least one boot checkpoint")]
+    fn rejects_an_empty_checkpoint_list() {
+        validate(&[DeviceConfig {
+            checkpoints: &[],
+            ..DEVICE
+        }]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "checkpoint name must not be empty")]
+    fn rejects_an_empty_checkpoint_name() {
+        validate(&[DeviceConfig {
+            checkpoints: &[BootCheckpoint {
+                name: "",
+                ..CHECKPOINT
+            }],
+            ..DEVICE
+        }]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "checkpoint window must not be zero")]
+    fn rejects_a_zero_checkpoint_window() {
+        validate(&[DeviceConfig {
+            checkpoints: &[
+                CHECKPOINT,
+                BootCheckpoint {
+                    window: Duration::ZERO,
+                    ..CHECKPOINT
+                },
+            ],
+            ..DEVICE
+        }]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/services/fwmanager/api/src/lib.rs b/services/fwmanager/api/src/lib.rs
index 8d577b97..72d53ef0 100644
--- a/services/fwmanager/api/src/lib.rs
+++ b/services/fwmanager/api/src/lib.rs
@@ -7,15 +7,18 @@
 //! single managed device's reset without knowing which controller line it
 //! maps to.
 //!
-//! This crate is a dependency-free leaf: it holds only the capability
-//! contracts, and everything depends downward on it. Concrete adapters bind a
-//! trait to a signal source and live in their own crates, so naming a
-//! capability never drags in the stack behind it — the HAL-backed
-//! `HalBootControl` is in `fwmanager-hal-adapters`; other backends implement
-//! the same trait from their own transport crate.
+//! This crate is a dependency-free leaf: it holds the capability contracts
+//! and the schema for the per-board device table, and everything depends
+//! downward on it. Concrete adapters bind a trait to a signal source and
+//! live in their own crates, so naming a capability never drags in the stack
+//! behind it — the HAL-backed `HalBootControl` is in
+//! `fwmanager-hal-adapters`; other backends implement the same trait from
+//! their own transport crate. Config values live in the board device tables
+//! (`target/<board>/devices.rs`).
 
 #![cfg_attr(not(test), no_std)]
 
 mod boot_control;
+pub mod config;
 
 pub use boot_control::BootControl;
diff --git a/target/mock/BUILD.bazel b/target/mock/BUILD.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ddf861bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/mock/BUILD.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+load("@rules_rust//rust:defs.bzl", "rust_library")
+
+package(default_visibility = ["//visibility:public"])
+
+rust_library(
+    name = "devices",
+    srcs = ["devices.rs"],
+    crate_name = "board_devices",
+    edition = "2024",
+    deps = ["//services/fwmanager/api:fwmanager_api"],
+)
diff --git a/target/mock/devices.rs b/target/mock/devices.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ea5b7dfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/mock/devices.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+//! Mock board: a device table exercising every device archetype the
+//! orchestrator manages. Not a real board — consumed by host tests and QEMU
+//! runs until a hardware target declares its own table.
+
+#![no_std]
+
+use core::time::Duration;
+
+use fwmanager_api::config::{BootCheckpoint, BootSignal, CommitPolicy, DeviceConfig};
+
+/// Declaration order is the boot order: the orchestrator releases devices
+/// top to bottom, one at a time.
+///
+/// The mock board's reset controller and boot monitor both address
+/// signals by plain index, so both id types are `u8`.
+pub const MANAGED_DEVICES: &[DeviceConfig<u8, u8>] = &[
+    // Direct-flash SPI device (BMC archetype): the eRoT fronts its flash.
+    // Single checkpoint: it raises a boot-complete GPIO.
+    DeviceConfig {
+        name: "bmc",
+        reset_signal: 7,
+        checkpoints: &[BootCheckpoint {
+            name: "boot-complete",
+            signal: BootSignal::GpioBootComplete(12),
+            window: Duration::from_secs(90),
+        }],
+        commit_policy: CommitPolicy::Liveness,
+    },
+    // PLDM device (NIC archetype): self-updating, SPDM-capable. Two
+    // checkpoints, exercising the multi-checkpoint path.
+    DeviceConfig {
+        name: "nic",
+        reset_signal: 3,
+        checkpoints: &[
+            BootCheckpoint {
+                name: "mctp-ready",
+                signal: BootSignal::MctpReady,
+                window: Duration::from_secs(20),
+            },
+            BootCheckpoint {
+                name: "heartbeat",
+                signal: BootSignal::Heartbeat,
+                window: Duration::from_secs(10),
+            },
+        ],
+        commit_policy: CommitPolicy::LivenessAndAttestation,
+    },
+];
+
+const _: () = fwmanager_api::config::validate(MANAGED_DEVICES);