diff --git a/1.0_ROADMAP b/1.0_ROADMAP
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb02c5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1.0_ROADMAP
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+0.0  musl              ✓
+0.1  dwm               ✓
+0.2  Make itself       ✓
+0.3  Git
+0.4  BusyBox
+0.5  Binutils
+0.6  QEMU
+0.7  GDC
+0.8  Linux kernel
+0.9  OpenSSH
+0.9.x Coreutils
+1.0  GCC
diff --git a/source/antelope/build/target.d b/source/antelope/build/target.d
index a6bcf07..669bd54 100644
--- a/source/antelope/build/target.d
+++ b/source/antelope/build/target.d
@@ -17,4 +17,5 @@ struct Target
     string[] prerequisites;        /// Normal prerequisites (trigger rebuild)
     string[] recipe;               /// Shell commands to build this target
     string[] orderOnlyPrereqs;     /// Order-only prerequisites (| — must exist, no rebuild trigger)
+    string stem;                   /// Pattern/suffix rule stem for $* expansion
 }
diff --git a/source/antelope/cli/args.d b/source/antelope/cli/args.d
index d2dc02c..8c5b94b 100644
--- a/source/antelope/cli/args.d
+++ b/source/antelope/cli/args.d
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ module antelope.cli.args;
 
 import std.algorithm.searching : startsWith;
 import std.conv : to;
-import std.string : strip;
+import std.string : strip, indexOf;
 import std.ascii : isDigit;
 
 /// Available subcommands.
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ struct CliConfig
 
     /// Show version (--version).
     bool showVersion;
+
+    /// Variable overrides from the command line (VAR=value style).
+    /// GNU Make passes these with highest precedence.
+    string[string] varOverrides;
 }
 
 // --- Helpers ---
@@ -229,6 +233,16 @@ CliConfig parseArgs(string[] args)
             continue;
         }
 
+        // Variable override: VAR=value (GNU Make command-line var)
+        auto eqPos = indexOf(arg, '=');
+        if (eqPos > 0)
+        {
+            string varName = arg[0 .. eqPos];
+            string varValue = arg[eqPos + 1 .. $];
+            config.varOverrides[varName] = varValue;
+            continue;
+        }
+
         // Everything else is a target
         config.targets ~= arg;
     }
diff --git a/source/antelope/cli/subcommands.d b/source/antelope/cli/subcommands.d
index 8165973..cdd0d2f 100644
--- a/source/antelope/cli/subcommands.d
+++ b/source/antelope/cli/subcommands.d
@@ -117,6 +117,35 @@ int runBuild(CliConfig config)
         env.set("MAKECMDGOALS", config.targets.join(" "));
     }
 
+    // Parse MAKEFLAGS for variable overrides propagated from parent
+    // antelope processes via recursive $(MAKE).  These are serialized
+    // in MAKEFLAGS as "VAR=value" tokens.
+    if (env.hasKey("MAKEFLAGS"))
+    {
+        import std.string : split, indexOf;
+        import std.algorithm : startsWith;
+        auto mkFlags = env.get("MAKEFLAGS");
+        foreach (word; mkFlags.split(" "))
+        {
+            auto eqPos = indexOf(word, '=');
+            if (eqPos > 0 && !word.startsWith("-"))
+            {
+                string varName = word[0 .. eqPos];
+                string varValue = word[eqPos + 1 .. $];
+                config.varOverrides[varName] = varValue;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Apply command-line variable overrides (VAR=value args) BEFORE
+    // Makefile evaluation so they take precedence over Makefile
+    // assignments.  GNU Make semantics: command-line vars beat
+    // everything except `override` directives.
+    foreach (varName, varValue; config.varOverrides)
+    {
+        env.setCmdOverride(varName, varValue);
+    }
+
     // Evaluate AST → populate env + build graph
     auto graph = new DependencyGraph();
 
@@ -229,9 +258,26 @@ int runBuild(CliConfig config)
     {
         if (!graph.hasTarget(targetName))
         {
-            log(LogLevel.normal, "antelope: *** No rule to make target '" ~
-                targetName ~ "'.  Stop.");
-            return 1;
+            // Target not explicitly defined — try to create it from
+            // implicit rules (suffix rules, pattern rules).  Autotools
+            // Makefiles invoke $(MAKE) with targets like "be.gmo" that
+            // are only defined via suffix rules (e.g., .po.gmo:).
+            import antelope.build.target;
+            Target stub;
+            stub.name = targetName;
+            stub.kind = TargetKind.file;
+            graph.addTarget(stub);
+
+            import antelope.evaluator.evaluator : resolveImplicitRules;
+            resolveImplicitRules(*graph, env);
+
+            if (!graph.hasTarget(targetName) ||
+                graph.findTarget(targetName).recipe.length == 0)
+            {
+                log(LogLevel.normal, "antelope: *** No rule to make target '" ~
+                    targetName ~ "'.  Stop.");
+                return 1;
+            }
         }
 
         // Resolve dependencies and check what needs building
@@ -263,7 +309,7 @@ int runBuild(CliConfig config)
                 {
                     // Expand variables in the recipe
                     string expanded = expand(recipeLine, env, t.name,
-                        t.prerequisites);
+                        t.prerequisites, t.stem);
 
                     // Print the command unless silent (@ prefix)
                     import std.string : stripLeft;
diff --git a/source/antelope/compatibility/submake.d b/source/antelope/compatibility/submake.d
index b2dd673..c92c887 100644
--- a/source/antelope/compatibility/submake.d
+++ b/source/antelope/compatibility/submake.d
@@ -40,11 +40,17 @@ struct SubMakeConfig
 ///   -n       — dry run
 ///   -P       — POSIX conformance mode
 ///   -d       — debug output
+///   VAR=val  — command-line variable overrides
 ///
 /// Returns: a space-delimited MAKEFLAGS string, or "" if no flags are active.
 string serializeMakeFlags(CliConfig config)
 {
     string flags;
+
+    // Variable overrides first (parsed back by parseArgs in sub-make)
+    foreach (varName, varValue; config.varOverrides)
+        flags ~= " " ~ varName ~ "=" ~ varValue;
+
     if (config.jobs > 1)
         flags ~= " -j" ~ config.jobs.to!string;
     if (config.dryRun)
diff --git a/source/antelope/evaluator/evaluator.d b/source/antelope/evaluator/evaluator.d
index e755cc7..e21ea6a 100644
--- a/source/antelope/evaluator/evaluator.d
+++ b/source/antelope/evaluator/evaluator.d
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ size_t resolveImplicitRules(ref DependencyGraph graph, Environment* env = null)
             if (prereqSatisfiable(match.resolvedPrereq, graph))
             {
                 tp.recipe = match.rule.recipe;
+                tp.stem = match.stem;  // for $* expansion in recipes
                 if (match.resolvedPrereq.length > 0)
                 {
                     bool alreadyPresent;
@@ -171,9 +172,100 @@ size_t resolveImplicitRules(ref DependencyGraph graph, Environment* env = null)
             if (userMatches.length > 0)
             {
                 auto um = userMatches[$ - 1];
-                resolveUserPatternRule(tp, um, graph, env);
-                resolved++;
-                applied = true;
+                // Skip pattern rules with no recipe — GNU Make treats these
+                // as "cancellation" rules that remove implicit rules rather
+                // than providing new ones.  Applying an empty recipe would
+                // leave the target unresolved (recipe.length==0), causing
+                // infinite re-resolution every pass.
+                if (um.rule.recipe.length > 0)
+                {
+                    resolveUserPatternRule(tp, um, graph, env);
+                    resolved++;
+                    applied = true;
+                }
+            }
+
+            // If still no match, try suffix rules (e.g., .c.o:).
+            // GNU Make suffix rules provide recipes for targets based on
+            // the file extensions of the target and its prerequisites.
+            if (!applied)
+            {
+                import std.string : lastIndexOf;
+                import std.file : exists;
+                auto tDot = lastIndexOf(tp.name, '.');
+                if (tDot >= 0)
+                {
+                    string tSuffix = tp.name[tDot .. $];  // e.g. ".o"
+
+                    // First pass: match against existing prerequisites.
+                    if (tp.prerequisites.length > 0)
+                    {
+                        foreach (prereq; tp.prerequisites)
+                        {
+                            auto pDot = lastIndexOf(prereq, '.');
+                            if (pDot >= 0)
+                            {
+                                string pSuffix = prereq[pDot .. $];
+                                string ruleName = pSuffix ~ tSuffix;
+                                auto sr = graph.findTarget(ruleName);
+                                // Only apply if the source prerequisite actually
+                                // exists on disk (matching GNU Make semantics).
+                                if (sr !is null && sr.recipe.length > 0 && exists(prereq))
+                                {
+                                    tp.recipe = sr.recipe;
+                                    // Stem for $*: everything before the target suffix
+                                    tp.stem = tp.name[0 .. tDot];
+                                    resolved++;
+                                    applied = true;
+                                    break;
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    // Second pass: no existing prereqs — try to discover
+                    // a source file by matching suffix rules.  For target
+                    // "be.gmo", find suffix rules ending in ".gmo" (e.g.,
+                    // ".po.gmo"), construct the source name "be.po", and
+                    // check if it exists on disk.
+                    if (!applied)
+                    {
+                        string stem = tp.name[0 .. tDot];  // e.g. "be"
+                        // Scan all graph targets for suffix rules matching tSuffix
+                        foreach (ref gt; graph.targets)
+                        {
+                            if (gt.name.length > tSuffix.length &&
+                                gt.name[$ - tSuffix.length .. $] == tSuffix &&
+                                gt.name[0] == '.')
+                            {
+                                // gt.name is e.g. ".po.gmo" — source suffix is
+                                // everything before tSuffix: ".po"
+                                string srcSuffix = gt.name[0 .. $ - tSuffix.length];
+                                if (srcSuffix.length == 0 || srcSuffix[0] != '.')
+                                    continue;
+                                string srcFile = stem ~ srcSuffix;  // e.g. "be.po"
+                                if (exists(srcFile) && gt.recipe.length > 0)
+                                {
+                                    tp.recipe = gt.recipe;
+                                    tp.stem = stem;  // for $* expansion
+                                    // Add source as a prerequisite
+                                    bool alreadyPresent;
+                                    foreach (p; tp.prerequisites)
+                                        if (p == srcFile) { alreadyPresent = true; break; }
+                                    if (!alreadyPresent)
+                                    {
+                                        string[] np = [srcFile];
+                                        np ~= tp.prerequisites;
+                                        tp.prerequisites = np;
+                                    }
+                                    resolved++;
+                                    applied = true;
+                                    break;
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
             }
         }
 
@@ -193,6 +285,7 @@ private void resolveUserPatternRule(Target* tp, PatternMatch match,
                                     ref DependencyGraph graph, Environment* env)
 {
     tp.recipe = match.rule.recipe;
+    tp.stem = match.stem;  // for $* expansion in recipes
     // Clear existing prereqs and set from pattern match
     tp.prerequisites = [];
     foreach (prereq; match.resolvedPrereqs)
@@ -337,7 +430,11 @@ private void handleRule(AstNode node, Environment* env, DependencyGraph* graph)
         foreach (ref p; prereqs)
         {
             string expanded = expand(p, env);
-            foreach (word; expanded.split(" "))
+            // Split on ALL whitespace (not just spaces).  Autotools
+            // Makefiles use tab-indented line continuations inside
+            // variable values, so a naive space-split leaves leading
+            // tabs that prevent prerequisite names from matching.
+            foreach (word; expanded.split())
             {
                 if (word.length > 0)
                     expandedPrereqs ~= word;
@@ -387,12 +484,35 @@ private void handleRule(AstNode node, Environment* env, DependencyGraph* graph)
     t.orderOnlyPrereqs = prereqSplit.orderOnly;
     t.recipe = recipe;
 
+    // Materialize missing prerequisites as stub Targets in the graph.
+    // Without this, prerequisites that have no explicit rule (e.g., foo.o
+    // when only "all: foo.o" appears) never become graph targets, so
+    // resolveImplicitRules() can't give them recipes and the dependency
+    // resolver treats them as external/always-satisfied.
+    // Skip pattern prereqs containing '%' — they're templates, not real files.
+    if (graph)
+    {
+        import std.file : exists;
+        import std.string : indexOf;
+        foreach (prereq; prereqSplit.normal ~ prereqSplit.orderOnly)
+        {
+            if (indexOf(prereq, '%') >= 0) continue;  // pattern prereq, not a real file
+            if (!graph.hasTarget(prereq) && !exists(prereq))
+            {
+                Target stub;
+                stub.name = prereq;
+                stub.kind = TargetKind.file;
+                graph.addTarget(stub);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // Handle multi-target rules: when target expands to multiple words,
     // create separate targets for each (same prereqs + recipe).
     import std.string;
     import std.algorithm : filter;
     import std.array : array;
-    auto expandedTargets = targetName.split(" ").filter!(s => s.length > 0).array;
+    auto expandedTargets = targetName.split().filter!(s => s.length > 0).array;
     if (expandedTargets.length > 1)
     {
         foreach (tn; expandedTargets)
@@ -561,7 +681,7 @@ private void handleDirective(AstNode node, Environment* env, DependencyGraph* gr
             import std.string : split;
             VPathEntry entry;
             entry.pattern = pattern;
-            foreach (dir; dirs.split(" "))
+            foreach (dir; dirs.split())
                 if (dir.length > 0) entry.directories ~= dir;
             // Store in env for later use by the resolver
             if (env !is null)
@@ -667,14 +787,21 @@ private void handleInclude(string dirName, string data, ptrdiff_t space,
 {
     if (space < 0) return;
 
-    string rawPath = data[space + 1 .. $].strip;
+    string rawPath = data[space + 1 .. $];
+    // Strip inline comment (# to end of logical line).
+    // Autotools-generated Makefiles append " # am--include-marker"
+    // as a comment after include directives.
+    auto hashPos = indexOf(rawPath, '#');
+    if (hashPos >= 0)
+        rawPath = rawPath[0 .. hashPos];
+    rawPath = rawPath.strip;
     if (rawPath.length == 0) return;
 
     // Expand variable references in the include path (e.g., $(DEP_FILES)
     // commonly expands to "./.deps/a.Po ./.deps/b.Po" in autotools projects).
     import antelope.evaluator.expansion;
     import std.string : split;
-    auto paths = expand(rawPath, env).split(" ");
+    auto paths = expand(rawPath, env).split();
 
     foreach (path; paths)
     {
@@ -812,20 +939,23 @@ unittest
 
     evaluate(root, &env, &graph);
 
-    assert(graph.targets.length == 1,
-           "graph should contain exactly 1 target");
-    assert(graph.targets[0].name == "program",
-           "target name should be 'program', got: " ~ graph.targets[0].name);
-    assert(graph.targets[0].prerequisites.length == 2,
+    // With prerequisite materialization, main.o + util.o become stub targets
+    assert(graph.targets.length == 3,
+           "graph should contain program + 2 prereq stubs");
+    auto prog = graph.findTarget("program");
+    assert(prog !is null, "program should be in the graph");
+    assert(prog.name == "program",
+           "target name should be 'program', got: " ~ prog.name);
+    assert(prog.prerequisites.length == 2,
            "target should have 2 prerequisites, got: " ~
-           to!string(graph.targets[0].prerequisites.length));
-    assert(graph.targets[0].prerequisites[0] == "main.o",
+           to!string(prog.prerequisites.length));
+    assert(prog.prerequisites[0] == "main.o",
            "first prereq should be 'main.o', got: " ~
-           graph.targets[0].prerequisites[0]);
-    assert(graph.targets[0].prerequisites[1] == "util.o",
+           prog.prerequisites[0]);
+    assert(prog.prerequisites[1] == "util.o",
            "second prereq should be 'util.o', got: " ~
-           graph.targets[0].prerequisites[1]);
-    assert(graph.targets[0].recipe.length == 1,
+           prog.prerequisites[1]);
+    assert(prog.recipe.length == 1,
            "target should have 1 recipe line");
 }
 
@@ -1130,9 +1260,11 @@ unittest
 
     assert(env.get("CC") == "gcc");
     assert(env.get("CFLAGS") == "-Wall");
-    assert(graph.targets.length == 2);
-    assert(graph.targets[0].name == "foo.o");
-    assert(graph.targets[1].name == "bar.o");
+    // foo.o: foo.c → foo.c stub, bar.o: → no prereqs
+    assert(graph.targets.length == 3);
+    assert(graph.hasTarget("foo.o"), "foo.o should be in graph");
+    assert(graph.hasTarget("bar.o"), "bar.o should be in graph");
+    assert(graph.hasTarget("foo.c"), "foo.c stub should be in graph");
 }
 
 ///
@@ -1395,13 +1527,15 @@ unittest
     evaluate(root, &env, &graph);
 
     // Target should exist with only real prereqs.
-    // Target should exist with only real prereqs.
-    assert(graph.targets.length == 1);
-    assert(graph.targets[0].prerequisites.length == 2,
+    // dep1.o + dep2.o stubs also materialized.
+    assert(graph.targets.length == 3);
+    auto myprog = graph.findTarget("my_prog");
+    assert(myprog !is null);
+    assert(myprog.prerequisites.length == 2,
            "should have 2 real prereqs, got: " ~
-           graph.targets[0].prerequisites.length.to!string);
-    assert(graph.targets[0].prerequisites[0] == "dep1.o");
-    assert(graph.targets[0].prerequisites[1] == "dep2.o");
+           myprog.prerequisites.length.to!string);
+    assert(myprog.prerequisites[0] == "dep1.o");
+    assert(myprog.prerequisites[1] == "dep2.o");
 
     // Scoped variable should be stored.
     assert(env.getScoped("LDFLAGS", "my_prog") == "-lm",
diff --git a/source/antelope/evaluator/evaluator.d.tmp b/source/antelope/evaluator/evaluator.d.tmp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20d8c7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/antelope/evaluator/evaluator.d.tmp
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# I'll use edit tool instead
diff --git a/source/antelope/evaluator/expansion.d b/source/antelope/evaluator/expansion.d
index 3bbf533..f1bc284 100644
--- a/source/antelope/evaluator/expansion.d
+++ b/source/antelope/evaluator/expansion.d
@@ -770,6 +770,7 @@ bool isBuiltinFunction(string word)
         case "wildcard": case "realpath": case "abspath":
         case "shell": case "error": case "warning": case "info":
         case "foreach": case "call": case "value": case "origin": case "flavor":
+        case "or": case "and":
             return true;
         default:
             return false;
@@ -835,6 +836,8 @@ private bool isSelfExpanding(BuiltinFunction bf)
     switch (bf)
     {
         case BuiltinFunction.foreach_:
+        case BuiltinFunction.or_:
+        case BuiltinFunction.and_:
             return true;
         default:
             return false;
@@ -878,6 +881,8 @@ BuiltinFunction builtinFromName(string name)
         case "value":      return BuiltinFunction.value;
         case "origin":     return BuiltinFunction.origin;
         case "flavor":     return BuiltinFunction.flavor;
+        case "or":         return BuiltinFunction.or_;
+        case "and":        return BuiltinFunction.and_;
         default:           return BuiltinFunction.info;
     }
 }
diff --git a/source/antelope/evaluator/functions.d b/source/antelope/evaluator/functions.d
index 06dcf7a..46e784d 100644
--- a/source/antelope/evaluator/functions.d
+++ b/source/antelope/evaluator/functions.d
@@ -568,6 +568,36 @@ string evaluateFunction(BuiltinFunction func, string[] args, Environment* env =
             if (args.length < 1)
                 return "undefined";
             return env && env.hasKey(args[0]) ? "recursive" : "undefined";
+
+        // --- Logical operators ---
+        case BuiltinFunction.or_:
+            // $(or arg1,arg2,...) — returns the first non-empty argument.
+            // Short-circuit: arguments are not expanded until needed.
+            foreach (arg; args)
+            {
+                // For self-expanding functions, args are raw — expand now.
+                import antelope.evaluator.expansion;
+                string expanded = expand(arg, env);
+                if (expanded.length > 0)
+                    return expanded;
+            }
+            return "";
+
+        case BuiltinFunction.and_:
+            // $(and arg1,arg2,...) — returns empty if any argument is empty,
+            // otherwise returns the last (expanded) argument.
+            {
+                import antelope.evaluator.expansion;
+                string last;
+                foreach (arg; args)
+                {
+                    string expanded = expand(arg, env);
+                    if (expanded.length == 0)
+                        return "";
+                    last = expanded;
+                }
+                return last;
+            }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/source/antelope/parser/functions.d b/source/antelope/parser/functions.d
index ca32ea3..06eac83 100644
--- a/source/antelope/parser/functions.d
+++ b/source/antelope/parser/functions.d
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ enum BuiltinFunction
     value,
     origin,
     flavor,
+    or_,
+    and_,
 }
 
 /// A parsed function call.
diff --git a/source/antelope/parser/lexer.d b/source/antelope/parser/lexer.d
index d1b1f05..ab2b524 100644
--- a/source/antelope/parser/lexer.d
+++ b/source/antelope/parser/lexer.d
@@ -41,12 +41,20 @@ struct Token
 }
 
 /// Returns true if `c` is a valid character inside an identifier.
+///
+/// GNU Make identifiers are extremely permissive — almost any printable
+/// character that isn't a whitespace or operator can appear in variable
+/// names, values, and prerequisite names.  Missing any character here
+/// causes an infinite loop in the lexer (the identifier-accumulation
+/// code breaks without advancing `pos`, so nextToken() returns the same
+/// empty-token forever).
 private static bool isIdentChar(char c)
 {
     import std.ascii : isAlphaNum;
     switch (c)
     {
-        case '-', '_', '.', '/', '+', '?', '%', '*', '~', '\\', '@', '<', '^':
+        case '-', '_', '.', '/', '+', '?', '%', '*', '~', '\\', '@', '<', '^',
+             '\'', '"', '`', '!', '&', '[', ']':
             return true;
         default:
             return isAlphaNum(c);
@@ -274,6 +282,17 @@ struct Lexer
             break;
         }
 
+        // Safety net: if nothing was accumulated (the first character isn't
+        // a valid identifier char and we broke immediately), eat the
+        // unrecognised byte and return it as a single-char identifier.
+        // Without this, the lexer loops forever because `pos` never advances.
+        if (buf.length == 0 && pos < input.length)
+        {
+            buf ~= input[pos];
+            pos++;
+            column++;
+        }
+
         string value = buf.idup;
         return Token(TokenType.identifier, value, startLine, startCol);
     }
diff --git a/source/antelope/parser/parser.d b/source/antelope/parser/parser.d
index e2944e6..9769d18 100644
--- a/source/antelope/parser/parser.d
+++ b/source/antelope/parser/parser.d
@@ -474,19 +474,32 @@ private struct Parser
                 prereq.data = accumulatePrereq();
                 // Merge adjacent tokens into a single prerequisite
                 // when the first token was a $ reference, but stop
-                // at standalone $ refs like $(OBJS) ${LIBS}
+                // at standalone $ refs like $(OBJS) ${LIBS}.
+                // Also stop if identifier text has been merged after
+                // the initial $() — a subsequent $ is a new independent
+                // reference (e.g., "$(srcdir)/foo $(BAR)" should be two
+                // prereqs, not one concatenation).
                 bool startsWithDollar = (prereq.data.length > 0 && prereq.data[0] == '$');
                 if (startsWithDollar)
                 {
+                    bool mergedIdents;
                     while (check(TokenType.identifier) || check(TokenType.dollar))
                     {
                         // Don't merge separate standalone $ refs
                         if (check(TokenType.dollar) && (prereq.data[$-1] == ')' || prereq.data[$-1] == '}'))
                             break;
+                        // Once any identifier has been merged after the $()
+                        // reference (e.g., /POTFILES.in after $(srcdir)),
+                        // subsequent tokens are new independent prereqs.
+                        if (mergedIdents)
+                            break;
                         if (check(TokenType.dollar))
                             prereq.data ~= accumulatePrereq();
                         else
+                        {
                             prereq.data ~= advance().value;
+                            mergedIdents = true;
+                        }
                     }
                 }
                 rule.children ~= prereq;
diff --git a/source/antelope/shell/environment.d b/source/antelope/shell/environment.d
index b7cc11f..332a35f 100644
--- a/source/antelope/shell/environment.d
+++ b/source/antelope/shell/environment.d
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ struct Environment
 {
     private string[string] vars;
     private bool[string] exported;
+    private bool[string] cmdOverride;  // set by command-line VAR=value
     private ScopedVariable[] scopedVars;
 
     /// Get a variable value.
@@ -29,9 +30,22 @@ struct Environment
         return vars.keys;
     }
 
-    /// Set a variable value.
+    /// Set a variable value (Makefile or environment).
+    /// Command-line overrides are NOT overwritten by this method.
     void set(string key, string value)
     {
+        // Command-line overrides have highest precedence —
+        // only `override` directive can change them (not yet implemented).
+        if (key in cmdOverride)
+            return;
+        vars[key] = value;
+    }
+
+    /// Set a command-line variable override (VAR=value on CLI).
+    /// These take precedence over all Makefile assignments.
+    void setCmdOverride(string key, string value)
+    {
+        cmdOverride[key] = true;
         vars[key] = value;
     }