diff --git a/.scratch/distributed-inference-network/issues/30-manual-route-and-hop-benchmark.md b/.scratch/distributed-inference-network/issues/30-manual-route-and-hop-benchmark.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c664fd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.scratch/distributed-inference-network/issues/30-manual-route-and-hop-benchmark.md
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# US-020 — Manual route selection + hop-penalty benchmarking
+
+## Context
+
+The tracker auto-selects inference routes based on synthetic benchmark scores. To measure
+the real cost of adding hops (latency per node boundary), we need:
+
+1. A way to pin a request to a specific route so we control the variable.
+2. A benchmark endpoint that runs the same prompt through 1-node, 2-node, and 3-node
+   routes and records per-hop latency.
+
+Results are stored to disk. Routing algorithm is **not** changed in this story — this is
+data collection only. The data will inform a future routing optimisation story.
+
+## Design decisions (grilled 2026-07-01)
+
+| Decision | Choice |
+|---|---|
+| Route spec | Optional `route` field in JSON request body (list of node IDs) |
+| Trigger | Explicit only — `POST /v1/benchmark/hop-penalty` endpoint |
+| Auth | Header-presence stub (`Authorization` must be non-empty); real auth in future story |
+| Routing integration | Store data only; routing algorithm unchanged |
+| Persistence | Append to `benchmark_results.json` in tracker working dir; in-memory queryable |
+
+## Acceptance criteria
+
+- `POST /v1/chat/completions` accepts optional `"route": ["<node_id>", ...]` in the
+  request body. If present, the tracker uses those nodes in order instead of auto-selecting.
+  If absent, existing routing is unchanged (no breaking change for unaware clients).
+- Missing or invalid node IDs in `route` return HTTP 400 with a descriptive error.
+- `POST /v1/benchmark/hop-penalty` is auth-gated: requests without a non-empty
+  `Authorization` header return HTTP 401. Body: `{"model": "...", "prompt": "...",
+  "max_new_tokens": 64}`.
+- Benchmark fans out to up to three routes: 1-node (single node covering all layers),
+  2-node (two consecutive shard nodes), 3-node (three nodes) — using whatever is
+  currently registered. Routes with insufficient coverage are skipped, not errored.
+- Response includes per-route breakdown: `total_ms`, `per_hop_ms: [...]`,
+  `tokens_generated`, `route: [node_id, ...]`.
+- Results are appended to `<tracker_working_dir>/benchmark_results.json` (created if
+  absent) as a JSON array. Each entry includes timestamp, model, prompt hash, and the
+  per-route breakdown.
+- `GET /v1/benchmark/results` returns the stored results array. Also auth-gated.
+- Clients that never send `route` or call `/v1/benchmark/*` are completely unaffected.
+- Integration test: send the same prompt via a pinned 1-node route and a pinned 2-node
+  route; assert 2-node result has 2 entries in `per_hop_ms`; assert both records appear
+  in `benchmark_results.json`.
+- `python -m pytest` passes from repo root.
+- Commit only this story's changes.
diff --git a/.scratch/distributed-inference-network/prd.json b/.scratch/distributed-inference-network/prd.json
index 7be1bed..131bdd1 100644
--- a/.scratch/distributed-inference-network/prd.json
+++ b/.scratch/distributed-inference-network/prd.json
@@ -684,10 +684,36 @@
         "US-022"
       ],
       "completionNotes": "_relay_hop() added to torch_server.py. _get_remaining_route returns list[dict]. relay_bridge.py updated with body_base64 support. Tracker injects relay_addr into downstream hop dicts. 157 tests pass."
+    },
+    {
+      "id": "US-030",
+      "title": "30 — Manual route selection + hop-penalty benchmarking",
+      "description": "Two additions to the tracker. (1) Callers can pin an explicit inference route by passing an optional \"route\": [\"<node_id>\", ...] field in the POST /v1/chat/completions body. The tracker uses those nodes in order instead of auto-selecting; clients that omit the field are unaffected. (2) A new privileged POST /v1/benchmark/hop-penalty endpoint runs the same prompt through up to three routes (1-node, 2-node, 3-node) using whatever nodes are registered, records per-hop latency, and appends results to benchmark_results.json in the tracker's working directory. The routing algorithm is not changed — this story is data collection only. Auth is a header-presence stub (non-empty Authorization header required for benchmark endpoints).",
+      "acceptanceCriteria": [
+        "POST /v1/chat/completions accepts optional \"route\": [node_id, ...] in the request body; if present, tracker routes to those nodes in order; if absent, existing auto-routing is unchanged",
+        "Missing or invalid node IDs in route return HTTP 400 with a descriptive error message",
+        "POST /v1/benchmark/hop-penalty requires a non-empty Authorization header; missing/empty returns HTTP 401",
+        "Benchmark body: {\"model\": \"...\", \"prompt\": \"...\", \"max_new_tokens\": 64 (optional)}",
+        "Benchmark fans out to up to 3 routes (1-node, 2-node, 3-node) using currently registered nodes; routes with insufficient coverage are skipped, not errored",
+        "Benchmark response includes per-route entries: {\"route\": [node_id, ...], \"total_ms\": float, \"per_hop_ms\": [float, ...], \"tokens_generated\": int}",
+        "Results appended to <tracker_cwd>/benchmark_results.json (created if absent) as a JSON array; each entry includes ISO timestamp, model, sha256 of prompt, and per-route breakdown",
+        "GET /v1/benchmark/results returns the stored results array; also requires non-empty Authorization header",
+        "Integration test: pin a 1-node route and a 2-node route for the same prompt; assert 2-node result has 2 per_hop_ms entries; assert both records appear in benchmark_results.json",
+        "Clients that never send route or call /v1/benchmark/* are completely unaffected (existing tests pass unchanged)",
+        "python -m pytest passes from repo root",
+        "Commit only this story's changes"
+      ],
+      "priority": 30,
+      "status": "open",
+      "notes": "Source issue: .scratch/distributed-inference-network/issues/30-manual-route-and-hop-benchmark.md. Design decisions grilled 2026-07-01: route via body field, explicit-only benchmark trigger, auth stub, routing algorithm unchanged, persist to JSON file.",
+      "dependsOn": [
+        "US-014",
+        "US-019"
+      ]
     }
   ],
   "metadata": {
-    "updatedAt": "2026-06-29T15:35:00.000Z",
+    "updatedAt": "2026-07-01T00:00:00.000Z",
     "statusVocabulary": {
       "open": "Not started",
       "in-design": "Decisions pending before implementation can begin",