diff --git a/crates/aura-registry/src/lib.rs b/crates/aura-registry/src/lib.rs
index 5d812b6..f067806 100644
--- a/crates/aura-registry/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/aura-registry/src/lib.rs
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ impl From<std::io::Error> for RegistryError {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
-    use aura_core::Timestamp;
-    use aura_engine::{RunManifest, RunMetrics, RunReport};
+    use aura_core::{Scalar, Timestamp};
+    use aura_engine::{RunManifest, RunMetrics, RunReport, SweepFamily, SweepPoint};
 
     fn report_with(total_pips: f64, max_drawdown: f64, flips: u64) -> RunReport {
         RunReport {
@@ -199,4 +199,39 @@ mod tests {
             other => panic!("expected UnknownMetric, got {other:?}"),
         }
     }
+
+    /// `optimize` is `rank_by`'s argmax: over a `SweepFamily` it returns the
+    /// single winning `SweepPoint` — its `params` coordinate AND its `RunReport`
+    /// — chosen by the metric's *fixed* sense of best (`total_pips`
+    /// higher-is-better), and a tie on that metric resolves to the **earliest
+    /// enumeration-order** point, never a later one. The point carried, not just
+    /// its metric, is the property: the caller needs the params that won.
+    #[test]
+    fn optimize_picks_the_max_metric_point_ties_to_earliest() {
+        // A hand-built family in odometer order. Two points tie at the maximal
+        // total_pips (3.0); the EARLIER of the two (index 1, params p=10) must
+        // win, not the later (index 3, params p=30) — that pins the tie rule.
+        let point = |p: f64, pips: f64| SweepPoint {
+            params: vec![Scalar::F64(p)],
+            report: report_with(pips, 0.5, 0),
+        };
+        let family = SweepFamily {
+            points: vec![
+                point(0.0, 1.0),  // 0: also-ran
+                point(10.0, 3.0), // 1: tied max, earliest -> the winner
+                point(20.0, 2.0), // 2: also-ran
+                point(30.0, 3.0), // 3: tied max, but later -> must lose the tie
+            ],
+        };
+
+        let winner = super::optimize(&family, "total_pips").expect("optimize total_pips");
+
+        // the maximal-metric point wins...
+        assert_eq!(winner.report.metrics.total_pips, 3.0);
+        // ...and ties resolve to the earliest enumeration-order point: its params
+        // identify point 1, not point 3.
+        assert_eq!(winner.params, vec![Scalar::F64(10.0)]);
+        // the whole winning point is returned, params AND report together.
+        assert_eq!(winner, family.points[1]);
+    }
 }