diff --git a/ai/prompt-io/opencode/20260820T163519Z_5f631e19_prompt_io.md b/ai/prompt-io/opencode/20260820T163519Z_5f631e19_prompt_io.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8eccac77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ai/prompt-io/opencode/20260820T163519Z_5f631e19_prompt_io.md
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+---
+model: gpt-5.6-sol
+service: opencode
+session: tractor-addr-unpacking
+timestamp: 2026-08-20T16:35:19Z
+git_ref: 5f631e19
+scope: code
+substantive: true
+raw_file: 20260820T163519Z_5f631e19_prompt_io.raw.md
+---
+
+## Prompt
+
+The human asked to implement the Piker compatibility work caused by
+tractor's canonical tagged-address migration, run the previously
+deferred tractor verification, and keep runtime-managed WireGuard
+bindspaces in a later separate PR.
+
+## Response summary
+
+Made Piker normalize legacy and tagged registry inputs before semantic
+comparison and process-global storage. Updated runtime address typing and
+test assertions for canonical output, retained legacy caller input, and
+removed a duplicate pytest log-level option that blocked downstream test
+collection with current tractor.
+
+## Files changed
+
+- `piker/service/_registry.py` - canonical registry normalization and
+  shared address typing.
+- `piker/service/_actor_runtime.py` - tagged-compatible runtime API
+  annotations.
+- `tests/conftest.py` - canonical fixture comparison and shared pytest
+  option ownership.
+- `tests/test_services.py` - registry regression and canonical runtime
+  assertions.
+
+## Human edits
+
+The human explicitly requested the downstream implementation and chose
+to keep WireGuard bindspace lifecycle work in a separate future tractor
+PR. The agent implemented and tested those directions; no direct manual
+source edits were observed.
diff --git a/ai/prompt-io/opencode/20260820T163519Z_5f631e19_prompt_io.raw.md b/ai/prompt-io/opencode/20260820T163519Z_5f631e19_prompt_io.raw.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..526f58ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ai/prompt-io/opencode/20260820T163519Z_5f631e19_prompt_io.raw.md
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+---
+model: gpt-5.6-sol
+service: opencode
+timestamp: 2026-08-20T16:35:19Z
+git_ref: 5f631e19
+diff_cmd: git diff HEAD~1..HEAD
+---
+
+# Raw output - tractor tagged-address compatibility
+
+The human requested downstream Piker qualification after tractor PR
+#505 switched transport address emission to canonical tagged tuples.
+
+> `git diff HEAD~1..HEAD -- piker/service/_registry.py piker/service/_actor_runtime.py tests/conftest.py tests/test_services.py`
+
+Normalized legacy and tagged registry addresses through tractor's
+address codec before Piker stores or compares them. Extended service
+runtime annotations to cover both tuple shapes, updated runtime tests to
+compare canonical serialized values, and removed Piker's duplicate
+registration of tractor's shared `--ll` pytest option.
+
+Ruff passed. The focused normalization regression and Piker runtime boot
+passed against the local tractor checkout at `5d92595f`. The wider
+service module reached an unrelated pre-existing logger-name assertion
+in `maybe_spawn_daemon()` after both address-focused tests passed.
diff --git a/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py b/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py
index 6c09a9e7..874616ee 100644
--- a/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py
+++ b/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ from ._registry import (  # noqa
     _tractor_kwargs,
     _default_reg_addr,
     open_registry,
+    RegistryAddress,
 )
 
 
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ def get_runtime_vars() -> dict[str, Any]:
 @acm
 async def open_piker_runtime(
     name: str,
-    registry_addrs: list[tuple[str, int]] = [],
+    registry_addrs: list[RegistryAddress] = [],
     tpt_bind_addrs: list|None = None,
 
     enable_modules: list[str] = [],
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ async def open_piker_runtime(
 
 ) -> tuple[
     tractor.Actor,
-    list[tuple[str, int]],
+    list[RegistryAddress],
 ]:
     '''
     Start a piker actor who's runtime will automatically sync with
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ _root_modules: list[str] = [
 
 @acm
 async def open_pikerd(
-    registry_addrs: list[tuple[str, int]],
+    registry_addrs: list[RegistryAddress],
     tpt_bind_addrs: list|None = None,
     loglevel: str|None = None,
 
@@ -272,7 +273,7 @@ async def open_pikerd(
 
 @acm
 async def maybe_open_pikerd(
-    registry_addrs: list[tuple[str, int]] | None = None,
+    registry_addrs: list[RegistryAddress] | None = None,
 
     loglevel: str | None = None,
     **kwargs,
@@ -306,7 +307,7 @@ async def maybe_open_pikerd(
     #     async with open_portal(chan) as arb_portal:
     #         yield arb_portal
 
-    registry_addrs: list[tuple[str, int]] = (
+    registry_addrs: list[RegistryAddress] = (
         registry_addrs
         or
         [_default_reg_addr]
diff --git a/piker/service/_registry.py b/piker/service/_registry.py
index 2d787d7c..12206389 100644
--- a/piker/service/_registry.py
+++ b/piker/service/_registry.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from contextlib import (
 )
 from typing import (
     Any,
+    TypeAlias,
 )
 
 import tractor
@@ -32,11 +33,23 @@ from tractor import (
     Actor,
     Portal,
 )
+from tractor.discovery._addr import (
+    LegacyUnwrappedAddress,
+    UnwrappedAddress,
+    wrap_address,
+)
 
 from piker.log import get_logger
 
 log = get_logger(name=__name__)
 
+# Piker config still accepts legacy socket pairs while tractor now
+# emits tagged `UnwrappedAddress` values.
+RegistryAddress: TypeAlias = (
+    LegacyUnwrappedAddress
+    |UnwrappedAddress
+)
+
 # TODO? default path-space for UDS registry?
 # [ ] needs to be Xplatform tho!
 # _default_registry_path: Path = (
@@ -46,10 +59,7 @@ log = get_logger(name=__name__)
 
 _default_registry_host: str = '127.0.0.1'
 _default_registry_port: int = 6116
-_default_reg_addr: tuple[
-    str,
-    int, # |str TODO, once we support UDS, see above.
-] = (
+_default_reg_addr: RegistryAddress = (
     _default_registry_host,
     _default_registry_port,
 )
@@ -63,24 +73,37 @@ _registry: Registry | None = None
 class Registry:
     # TODO: should this be a set or should we complain
     # on duplicates?
-    addrs: list[tuple[str, int]] = []
+    addrs: list[RegistryAddress] = []
 
     # TODO: table of uids to sockaddrs
     peers: dict[
         tuple[str, str],
-        tuple[str, int],
+        RegistryAddress,
     ] = {}
 
 
 _tractor_kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {}
 
 
+def _normalize_addresses(
+    addrs: list[RegistryAddress],
+) -> list[RegistryAddress]:
+    '''
+    Normalize legacy and tagged addresses through tractor's codec.
+
+    '''
+    return [
+        wrap_address(addr).unwrap()
+        for addr in addrs
+    ]
+
+
 @acm
 async def open_registry(
-    addrs: list[tuple[str, int]],
+    addrs: list[RegistryAddress],
     ensure_exists: bool = True,
 
-) -> list[tuple[str, int]]:
+) -> list[RegistryAddress]:
     '''
     Open the service-actor-discovery registry by returning a set of
     tranport socket-addrs to registrar actors which may be
@@ -92,9 +115,12 @@ async def open_registry(
     actor: Actor = tractor.current_actor()
     aid: msg.Aid = actor.aid
     uid: tuple[str, str] = aid.uid
-    preset_reg_addrs: list[
-        tuple[str, int]
-    ] = Registry.addrs
+    addrs = _normalize_addresses(addrs)
+    preset_reg_addrs: list[RegistryAddress] = (
+        _normalize_addresses(Registry.addrs)
+    )
+    if preset_reg_addrs:
+        Registry.addrs = preset_reg_addrs
     if (
         preset_reg_addrs
         and
@@ -102,9 +128,10 @@ async def open_registry(
     ):
         if preset_reg_addrs != addrs:
             # if any(addr in preset_reg_addrs for addr in addrs):
-            diff: set[
-                tuple[str, int]
-            ] = set(preset_reg_addrs) - set(addrs)
+            diff: set[RegistryAddress] = (
+                set(preset_reg_addrs)
+                -set(addrs)
+            )
             if diff:
                 log.warning(
                     f'`{uid}` requested only subset of registrars: {addrs}\n'
@@ -123,7 +150,9 @@ async def open_registry(
         and
         not Registry.addrs
     ):
-        Registry.addrs.extend(actor.reg_addrs)
+        Registry.addrs.extend(
+            _normalize_addresses(actor.reg_addrs)
+        )
 
     if (
         ensure_exists
@@ -139,13 +168,13 @@ async def open_registry(
         Registry.addrs = (
             addrs
             or
-            [_default_reg_addr]
+            _normalize_addresses([_default_reg_addr])
         )
 
     # NOTE: only spot this seems currently used is inside
     # `.ui._exec` which is the (eventual qtloops) bootstrapping
     # with guest mode.
-    reg_addrs: list[tuple[str, str|int]] = Registry.addrs
+    reg_addrs: list[RegistryAddress] = Registry.addrs
     # !TODO, a struct-API to stringently allow this only in special
     # cases?
     # -> better would be to have some way to (atomically) rewrite
@@ -159,13 +188,13 @@ async def open_registry(
         # next (set of) calls will apply whatever new one is passed
         # in.
         if was_set:
-            Registry.addrs = None
+            Registry.addrs = []
 
 
 @acm
 async def find_service(
     service_name: str,
-    registry_addrs: list[tuple[str, int]] | None = None,
+    registry_addrs: list[RegistryAddress] | None = None,
 
     first_only: bool = True,
 
@@ -175,7 +204,7 @@ async def find_service(
     | None
 ):
     # try:
-    reg_addrs: list[tuple[str, int|str]]
+    reg_addrs: list[RegistryAddress]
     async with open_registry(
         addrs=(
             registry_addrs
@@ -219,7 +248,7 @@ async def find_service(
 
 async def check_for_service(
     service_name: str,
-) -> None|tuple[str, int]:
+) -> None|RegistryAddress:
     '''
     Service daemon "liveness" predicate.
 
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index ad7ecce4..cd7a3b33 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ pytest_plugins: tuple[str] = (
 
 
 def pytest_addoption(parser):
-    parser.addoption("--ll", action="store", dest='loglevel',
-                     default=None, help="logging level to set when testing")
     parser.addoption("--confdir", default=None,
                      help="Use a practice API account")
 
@@ -286,7 +284,12 @@ async def _open_test_pikerd(
         ) as portal:
             raddr = portal.chan.raddr
             uw_raddr: tuple = raddr.unwrap()
-            assert uw_raddr == reg_addr
+            canonical_addr: tuple = (
+                tractor.discovery._addr.wrap_address(
+                    reg_addr,
+                ).unwrap()
+            )
+            assert uw_raddr == canonical_addr
             yield (
                 raddr._host,
                 raddr._port,
diff --git a/tests/test_services.py b/tests/test_services.py
index 345bc017..ad164906 100644
--- a/tests/test_services.py
+++ b/tests/test_services.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from typing import (
     Callable,
 )
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager as acm
+from types import SimpleNamespace
 
 from exceptiongroup import BaseExceptionGroup
 import pytest
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ from piker.service import (
     find_service,
     Services,
 )
+from piker.service import _registry
 from piker.data import (
     open_feed,
 )
@@ -57,7 +59,12 @@ def test_runtime_boot(
             ) as portal,
         ):
             uw_raddr: tuple = pikerd_portal.chan.raddr.unwrap()
-            assert uw_raddr == daemon_addr
+            canonical_addr: tuple = (
+                _registry._normalize_addresses(
+                    [daemon_addr],
+                )[0]
+            )
+            assert uw_raddr == canonical_addr
             assert uw_raddr == portal.chan.raddr.unwrap()
 
             # no service tasks should be started
@@ -66,6 +73,53 @@ def test_runtime_boot(
     trio.run(main)
 
 
+def test_registry_normalizes_tagged_addresses(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+):
+    '''
+    Tractor now emits tagged registry addresses while existing Piker
+    callers still pass legacy socket pairs. Direct list and set
+    comparisons treated the two forms as different and retained the
+    legacy value in `Registry.addrs`.
+
+    Seed `Registry.addrs` with a legacy pair, request the equivalent
+    tagged address, and enter `open_registry()` as a root actor. The
+    yielded and stored values must both use tractor's canonical form.
+
+    '''
+    legacy = ('127.0.0.1', 6116)
+    tagged = ('tcp', '127.0.0.1', 6116)
+    actor = SimpleNamespace(
+        aid=SimpleNamespace(uid=('test', 'uid')),
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        tractor,
+        'current_actor',
+        lambda: actor,
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        tractor,
+        'is_root_process',
+        lambda: True,
+    )
+    _registry.Registry.addrs = [legacy]
+
+    async def main():
+        async with _registry.open_registry(
+            [tagged],
+        ) as addrs:
+            assert addrs == [tagged]
+            assert _registry.Registry.addrs == [tagged]
+            assert _registry._tractor_kwargs[
+                'registry_addrs'
+            ] == [tagged]
+
+    try:
+        trio.run(main)
+    finally:
+        _registry.Registry.addrs = []
+
+
 def test_datad_spawn(
     open_test_pikerd: AsyncContextManager,
     loglevel: str,