diff --git a/.kiro/specs/admin-config-tool/tasks.md b/.kiro/specs/admin-config-tool/tasks.md
index 3f099e76..a6366e42 100644
--- a/.kiro/specs/admin-config-tool/tasks.md
+++ b/.kiro/specs/admin-config-tool/tasks.md
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
   - _Boundary: xcecommon.schema, xcecommon.validation_
   - _Depends: 2.1, 2.2, 1.3_
 
-- [ ] 5.4 (P) Golden-file test config build determinism
+- [x] 5.4 (P) Golden-file test config build determinism
   - Building from a minimal fixture, a full fixture covering all seven file types, and a set of intentionally invalid fixtures each produce the expected result
   - Building the same fixture twice produces byte-identical output and an identical checksum
   - _Requirements: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3_
@@ -158,3 +158,4 @@
 - **4.2**: `deploy-ha.sh` resolves both `xceadmin` (`$SCRIPT_DIR/../xceadmin/.venv/bin/xceadmin`) and the YAML configs source (`$SCRIPT_DIR/../configs`) relative to the script's own location (`$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)`), not the caller's CWD — matches the project's other relative-path scripts and keeps the deploy working regardless of where it's invoked from. `--build-config` is parsed out of `"$@"` before positional-arg assignment so it can appear anywhere in the argument list, not just a fixed position. Verified live against the real `xceadmin` build and `src/configs/`: missing `cluster.bin` auto-builds (8.4), an existing one with no flag is left byte-for-byte untouched — same mtime, same SHA (8.5), and `--build-config` against an existing `cluster.bin` forces a rebuild that reproduces byte-identical content (8.3, confirming 9.1's determinism guarantee holds through this path too).
 - **5.1, 5.2**: Already fully satisfied by task 2.3's `test_mapping.py` and task 2.4's `test_wire.py` respectively — same requirement lists, same acceptance bullets (in-memory-only mapper coverage + the explicit two-field case for 5.1; a fixed known byte sequence + real loopback round-trips for 5.2). No new tests written; would have been pure duplication.
 - **5.3**: Found and fixed a real gap while writing `test_schema_bundling.py` — `xcecommon.validation.validate_yaml()`'s `json.loads(schema_path.read_text())` call (loading the *bundled JSON validation schema itself*, not the operator's YAML) had no error handling, so a corrupted bundled JSON schema crashed with a raw `json.JSONDecodeError` instead of a clean `ValidationError` — the same "crash vs. clean error" class of bug task 2.2 already fixed for `controller.capnp`, just on the JSON-schema side, and not caught by task 2.1 since that task's tests only exercised operator-YAML failure modes, never a corrupted *schema* file. Fixed by wrapping it and raising `ValidationError(..., constraint="schema-corrupted")`, matching the existing missing-schema handling's pattern one function above it. **Gotcha for any future task touching `xcecommon`/`xceadmin` source**: editing a source file does NOT propagate to a running `.venv` until reinstalled — always re-run `xce-build.sh xceadmin` after a source edit before trusting a bare `.venv/bin/python -m pytest` result; a stale venv (especially one left in `release`/pinned mode by a prior profile run) will silently test the *old* code and produce a false failure (or false pass) that looks like a real bug.
+- **5.4**: `tests/fixtures/{minimal,full}/configs/*.yaml` + checked-in `expected.bin` golden files added to `test_config_build.py` (not a new file — design.md's File Structure Plan lists the SAME requirement set for `test_config_build.py` under both 3.1 and 5.4). `full/configs/*.yaml` is a byte-for-byte copy of `src/configs/*.yaml`; its golden SHA (`860cfd4f59ef...`) independently matches the tag `deploy-ha.sh` produced in task 4.2's live verification against the same source files — an unplanned but welcome additional confirmation of Requirement 9's cross-context determinism guarantee. Golden-file tests catch representation drift (bytes change even though decoded content is still semantically correct) that purely structural/decode-based assertions elsewhere in the suite cannot detect; regenerate `expected.bin` deliberately (via `build_cluster_config()`, sanity-checked by decoding it back) whenever a real, intentional field-mapping change lands — never hand-edit the binary.
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/hosts.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/hosts.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d9d57167
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/hosts.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+---
+hosts:
+  - hostname: default
+    type: "x86_64-linux-gnu"
+    model: "x86_64-linux-gnu"
+    max_slot: -1
+    description: "default host"
+    resource:
+      - name: mg
+      - name: maxswap
+        value: 10000
+    sched_stop:
+      - resname: r1m
+        sched: 3.5
+        stop: 4.5
+      - resname: r15s
+        sched: 4.0
+        stop: 10.0
+    dispatch_window:
+      - start_time: "9:00"
+        end_time: "18:00"
+      - start_time: "21:00"
+        end_time: "7:00"
+
+  - hostname: worker2
+    model: "!"
+    type: "!"
+    max_slot: 256
+    resource:
+      - name: gstring
+        value: "This is a G string"
+
+
+hostgroups:
+  - groupname: hg1
+    members:
+      - all
+    exclude_members: [h3]
+    
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/limits.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/limits.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..127312fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/limits.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+---
+limits:
+    # cap total slots for ug1 across the whole cluster
+  - name: ug1_slots
+    users:
+      members:
+        - ug1
+    resname: slots
+    value: 10
+
+    # per-user slot cap inside ug2 (each member gets up to 4, not a shared pool)
+  - name: ug2_slots_per_user
+    users:
+      members:
+        - ug2
+      exclude_members:
+        - user3
+    resname: slots
+    value: 4
+    per_user: true
+
+    # queue-scoped memory cap, percentage of total mem resource
+  - name: night_mem_pct
+    queues:
+      members:
+        - night
+    resname: mem
+    value: 50
+    percent: true
+
+    # host-scoped cap, applied per host in hg1
+  - name: hg1_slots_per_host
+    hosts:
+      members:
+        - hg1
+    resname: slots
+    value: 20
+    per_host: true
+
+    # combined scope: ug1 members on the normal queue
+  - name: ug1_normal_slots
+    users:
+      members:
+        - ug1
+    queues:
+      members:
+        - normal
+    resname: slots
+    value: 8
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/queues.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/queues.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9bafd74c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/queues.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+---
+queues:
+  - name: xce
+    description: "xce queue"
+    priority: 30
+    fairshare:
+      - user: default
+        share: 100
+    hosts:
+      members:
+        - all
+
+  - name: normal
+    description: "normal queue"
+    priority: 40
+    nice: 10
+    fairshare:
+      - user: default
+        share: 100
+    hosts:
+      members:
+        - all
+
+
+  - name: night
+    description: "night queue"
+    priority: 30
+    nice: 10
+    res_req: "mem>1000 rusage[mem=1000]"
+    gpu_req: "num=1:mode=shared:gvendor=NVIDIA:gmodel=A100"
+    fairshare:
+      - user: ug1
+        share: 1000
+      - user: others
+        share: 100
+    cpulimit: 100
+    memlimit: 1000
+    runlimit: 20
+    runtimeest: 30
+    dispatch_window:
+      - start_time: "19:00"
+        end_time: "8:30"
+    run_window:
+      - start_time: "5:19:00"
+        end_time: "1:8:30"
+      - start_time: "20:00"
+        end_time: "8:30"
+    sched_stop:
+      - resname: tmp
+        sched: 2000
+        stop: 1000
+      - resname: res1
+        sched: 1.0
+        stop: 2.5
+    reservation: 100
+    preemption: preemptive
+    backfill: true
+    exclusive: false
+    rerunable: true
+    pre_exec: "/path/to/preexec.sh"
+    post_exec: "/path/to/postexec.sh"
+    job_starter: "/path/to/jobstarter.sh"
+    users:
+      members:
+        - ug1
+        - ug2
+      exclude_members:
+        - user3
+    hosts:
+      members:
+        - hgroup1
+        - hgroup2
+      exclude_members:
+        - host3
+
+  - name: short
+    description: "for short jobs"
+    priority: 45
+    cpulimit: 15
+    fairshare:
+      - user: ug1
+        share: 1000
+      - user: default
+        share: 100
+    reservation: 10
+    preemption: preemptable
+    backfill: true
+    users:
+      members:
+        - ugroup1
+    hosts:
+      members:
+        - hgroup1
+
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/resources.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/resources.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f12b9f82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/resources.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+---
+resources:
+    # built-in: job slot count (consumed by running jobs, decreases as slots fill)
+  - name: slots
+    type: numeric
+    order: decrease
+    consumable: true
+    description: "job slot count (built-in)"
+
+    # built-in: dynamic memory load index reported by workers
+  - name: mem
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 60
+    consumable: false
+    order: decrease
+    description: "available memory in MB (built-in dynamic load index)"
+
+    # built-in host attributes, registered per-worker by
+    # controller/worker.c add_hostattrs_resvals()
+  - name: type
+    type: string
+    description: "host OS/arch type (built-in host attribute)"
+
+  - name: model
+    type: string
+    description: "host hardware model (built-in host attribute)"
+
+  - name: cpuf
+    type: numeric
+    description: "CPU speed factor (built-in host attribute)"
+
+  - name: maxcpus
+    type: numeric
+    description: "max CPU count (built-in host attribute)"
+
+  - name: maxmem
+    type: numeric
+    description: "max memory in MB (built-in host attribute)"
+
+  - name: maxswap
+    type: numeric
+    description: "max swap in MB (built-in host attribute)"
+
+  - name: maxtmp
+    type: numeric
+    description: "max tmp disk space in MB (built-in host attribute)"
+
+  - name: ndisks
+    type: numeric
+    description: "disk count (built-in host attribute)"
+
+    # dynamic hostbased resource, external load index
+  - name: dynres1
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 60
+    order: decrease
+    consumable: true
+    release: true
+    description: "user defined dynamic resource"
+    resourcemap:
+      - location:
+        - default
+       
+      
+    # dynamic share resource, 2 instances
+  - name: dynres2
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 60
+    consumable: false
+    order: decrease
+    description: "user defined dynamic resource"
+    resourcemap:
+      - location:
+        - host1
+        - host2
+      - location:
+        - host5
+        - host6
+
+
+    # static share resource, all host share 100 res.
+  - name: staticres4
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 0
+    consumable: true
+    order: decrease
+    resourcemap:
+      - location:
+        - all
+        value: 100
+
+    # static share resource, host1 and host2 share the 100 res.
+  - name: staticres1
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 0
+    consumable: true
+    order: decrease
+    resourcemap:
+      - value: 100
+        location:
+        - host1
+        - host2
+
+    # static share resource, each of host1 and host2 shares the 100 res.
+  - name: staticres2
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 0
+    consumable: false
+    order: decrease
+    resourcemap: 
+      - value: 100
+        location:
+        - host1
+      - value: 100
+        location:
+        - host2
+  
+    # static hostbased resource. 
+  - name: staticres3
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 0
+    consumable: true
+    order: decrease
+    resourcemap:
+      - value: 100
+        location:
+        - default
+
+  - name: res1
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 0
+    consumable: true
+    order: decrease
+    resourcemap:
+      - location:
+        - all
+        value: 100
+
+  - name: sres1
+    type: numeric
+    interval: 0
+    consumable: true
+    order: decrease
+
+
+    # boolean resource
+  - name: bigmem
+    type: boolean
+    order: na
+    resourcemap:
+      - value: true
+        location:
+        - host1
+      - value: true
+        location:
+        - host2
+      - value: true
+        location:
+        - host3
+
+    # dynamic string resource
+  - name: strres1
+    type: string
+    interval: 60
+    consumable: false
+    order: na
+    description: "string resources"
+    resourcemap:
+      - location:
+        - default
+    
+    # static string resource
+  - name: strres2
+    type: string
+    description: "string resources"
+    resourcemap:
+      - value: v1
+        location:
+        - host1
+      - value: v2
+        location:
+        - host2
+      - value: v3
+        location:
+        - host3
+  - name: host_quota
+    description: quota on each host
+    type: numeric
+    order: decrease
+    consumable: true
+    interval: 0
+    resourcemap:
+      - value: 10
+        location:
+        - default
+
+  - name: gstring
+    description: string resource
+    type: string
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/scaler.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/scaler.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9f904ea1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/scaler.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+scalers:
+    # script-based cloud autoscaler provider
+  - name: aws-asg
+    type: script
+    conf_path: /etc/xce/scalers/aws-asg.conf
+    script_path: /opt/xce/scalers/aws_asg.sh
+    script_option: "--region us-east-1"
+
+    # minimal provider, no conf file or options
+  - name: k8s-pool
+    type: script
+    script_path: /opt/xce/scalers/k8s_pool.sh
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/users.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/users.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b8841ee2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/users.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+#define usergroup share 
+usergroups:
+  - groupname: ug1
+    members:
+      - user1
+      - user2
+
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/xce.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/xce.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..05a0fef2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/configs/xce.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+cluster_name: eda1
+heartbeat_interval: 30
+inactive_heartbeat_count: 3
+fetch_job_interval: 10
+netio_timeout: 30
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/expected.bin b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/expected.bin
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..13aa3878
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/full/expected.bin differ
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/configs/hosts.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/configs/hosts.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..feea3662
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/configs/hosts.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+hosts:
+  - hostname: worker1
+    type: x86_64-linux-gnu
+    max_slot: 8
+hostgroups:
+  - groupname: all_hosts
+    members:
+      - worker1
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/configs/queues.yaml b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/configs/queues.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d091cc35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/configs/queues.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+queues:
+  - name: normal
+    priority: 30
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/expected.bin b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/expected.bin
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d2ac36de
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/xceadmin/tests/fixtures/minimal/expected.bin differ
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/tests/test_config_build.py b/src/xceadmin/tests/test_config_build.py
index 93f850a4..5610c725 100644
--- a/src/xceadmin/tests/test_config_build.py
+++ b/src/xceadmin/tests/test_config_build.py
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 """Golden-file-style build tests for ``xceadmin.build`` (design.md,
-``xceadmin.build``; Requirements 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.9,
-8.3, 8.4).
+``xceadmin.build``; Requirements 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8,
+1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3).
+
+The ``tests/fixtures/minimal`` and ``tests/fixtures/full`` directories
+(task 5.4) each pair a real, schema-valid ``configs/`` input with a
+checked-in ``expected.bin`` -- unlike the dynamic build-then-compare
+tests elsewhere in this file, these catch *unintended representation
+drift*: a future change that is semantically correct (decodes fine,
+right field values) but produces different serialized bytes than
+before would still be a determinism regression (Requirement 9) that
+purely structural assertions would never notice.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -259,3 +268,52 @@ def test_write_output_does_not_print_the_hash_itself(tmp_path, capsys):
 
     captured = capsys.readouterr()
     assert captured.err == ""
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Golden-file determinism (task 5.4)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+FIXTURES_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent / "fixtures"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("fixture_name", ["minimal", "full"])
+def test_golden_fixture_matches_checked_in_expected_bin(fixture_name):
+    fixture_dir = FIXTURES_DIR / fixture_name
+    data = build.build_cluster_config(str(fixture_dir / "configs"))
+    expected = (fixture_dir / "expected.bin").read_bytes()
+
+    assert data == expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("fixture_name", ["minimal", "full"])
+def test_golden_fixture_builds_twice_identically(fixture_name):
+    fixture_dir = FIXTURES_DIR / fixture_name / "configs"
+
+    first = build.build_cluster_config(str(fixture_dir))
+    second = build.build_cluster_config(str(fixture_dir))
+
+    assert first == second
+    assert hashlib.sha256(first).hexdigest() == hashlib.sha256(second).hexdigest()
+
+
+def test_full_golden_fixture_covers_all_seven_file_types():
+    fixture_dir = FIXTURES_DIR / "full" / "configs"
+    present = {p.name for p in fixture_dir.glob("*.yaml")}
+
+    assert present == {
+        "hosts.yaml",
+        "queues.yaml",
+        "resources.yaml",
+        "users.yaml",
+        "limits.yaml",
+        "xce.yaml",
+        "scaler.yaml",
+    }
+
+
+def test_minimal_golden_fixture_covers_hosts_and_queues_only():
+    fixture_dir = FIXTURES_DIR / "minimal" / "configs"
+    present = {p.name for p in fixture_dir.glob("*.yaml")}
+
+    assert present == {"hosts.yaml", "queues.yaml"}