diff --git a/quest/m3/README.md b/quest/m3/README.md
index 5933a7569..471e96937 100644
--- a/quest/m3/README.md
+++ b/quest/m3/README.md
@@ -39,3 +39,4 @@ generic std gap is planned here even when moq never calls it.
 - [A map built with BuildHasherDefault](/quest/m3/ts-build-hasher-default.md) - `FxHashMap`-style maps, of `BuildHasherDefault` over a crate's own `Hasher`, translate
 - [Equality of hash maps and sets](/quest/m3/ts-hash-map-eq.md) - `==` of two hash maps or sets translates as std's
 - [A name or an operator argument at its own Rust span](/quest/m3/ts-argument-spans.md) - a `tsc` error on a plain-name or operator argument names that argument's Rust, not the method it is passed to
+- [A string Cow's variant](/quest/m3/ts-cow-str-variant.md) - matching a `Cow<str>`'s `Borrowed` or `Owned`, and `to_mut`'s change of it, translate as std's
diff --git a/quest/m3/ts-cow-str-variant.md b/quest/m3/ts-cow-str-variant.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..206bda79d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quest/m3/ts-cow-str-variant.md
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# [L] A string Cow's variant
+
+## Goal
+
+[rust2-ts](/ts/README.md) translates matching `Cow::Borrowed` and `Cow::Owned` of a
+`Cow<str>`, and `into_owned` and `to_mut` keep std's variant: `to_mut` of a borrowed one
+makes it owned. Differential tests against native Rust observe the variant wherever std
+decides it, including `String::from_utf8_lossy`, which borrows valid input and owns
+replaced text. `Cow::is_borrowed` and `is_owned` are unstable and stay refused.
+
+## Plan
+
+Decided with the maintainer on 2026-11-03: plan this, found while translating
+`from_utf8_lossy` in [#537](https://github.com/moq-dev/rust2/pull/537).
+
+Today a `Cow<str>` is a plain JS string ([#105](https://github.com/moq-dev/rust2/pull/105)),
+so it keeps no variant. Code that reads one is refused with `library::cow_variant`, at a
+match or `if let` of its discriminant (`mir/place.rs` and `mir/rvalue.rs`), at a read of a
+variant's field (`mir/place.rs`), and at `is_borrowed` and `is_owned` (`library.rs`). The
+`reject` fixture's `strs.rs` holds these cases. `to_mut` is the same place and
+`into_owned` the same text, which is right only while nothing reads the variant.
+
+Representation options:
+
+- A wrapper only where some match observes the variant: a whole-program pass finds every
+  `Cow<str>` whose variant some match or field read can see, and only those values become
+  a `{ borrowed, text }`-like object. Every other `Cow<str>` stays a string. It costs
+  nothing where nothing observes, but values flow through generics, fields, collections,
+  and calls, so the pass has to follow each one and refuse where it can't.
+- A wrapper everywhere: every `Cow<str>` is an object. It is simple and uniform, but costs
+  an allocation and an indirection on every use, and changes `Display`, `==`, hashing,
+  keys, `Deref`, and the conversions the plain string gets for free.
+- Others found along the way, such as a variant kept beside the string only in the
+  locals and fields that need it.
+
+Measure each candidate against the plain string on the TS bench (`just ts bench`) and
+on moq's translated codec (`just ts moq`) before choosing. Ask the maintainer if no
+option is free where nothing observes the variant.
+
+`Cow<[T]>` already keeps its variant (`rt.Borrowed`, or a `ByteSlice` against a
+`ByteVec`), which may suggest a shape. The tests belong in the `lang/cows` and `lang/utf8`
+fixtures. The `reject` fixture's `Cow<str>` cases move to them.