diff --git a/lib/datalog/conformance.conf b/lib/datalog/conformance.conf
index a324032b..50ca8310 100644
--- a/lib/datalog/conformance.conf
+++ b/lib/datalog/conformance.conf
@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@ MODE=dict
 PRELOADS=(
   lib/datalog/tokenizer.sx
   lib/datalog/parser.sx
+  lib/datalog/unify.sx
 )
 
 SUITES=(
   "tokenize:lib/datalog/tests/tokenize.sx:(dl-tokenize-tests-run!)"
   "parse:lib/datalog/tests/parse.sx:(dl-parse-tests-run!)"
+  "unify:lib/datalog/tests/unify.sx:(dl-unify-tests-run!)"
 )
diff --git a/lib/datalog/scoreboard.json b/lib/datalog/scoreboard.json
index b6b5c6fa..837e746f 100644
--- a/lib/datalog/scoreboard.json
+++ b/lib/datalog/scoreboard.json
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 {
   "lang": "datalog",
-  "total_passed": 44,
+  "total_passed": 72,
   "total_failed": 0,
-  "total": 44,
+  "total": 72,
   "suites": [
     {"name":"tokenize","passed":26,"failed":0,"total":26},
-    {"name":"parse","passed":18,"failed":0,"total":18}
+    {"name":"parse","passed":18,"failed":0,"total":18},
+    {"name":"unify","passed":28,"failed":0,"total":28}
   ],
-  "generated": "2026-05-07T23:30:07+00:00"
+  "generated": "2026-05-07T23:34:02+00:00"
 }
diff --git a/lib/datalog/scoreboard.md b/lib/datalog/scoreboard.md
index 9cd60338..729e0fa9 100644
--- a/lib/datalog/scoreboard.md
+++ b/lib/datalog/scoreboard.md
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 # datalog scoreboard
 
-**44 / 44 passing** (0 failure(s)).
+**72 / 72 passing** (0 failure(s)).
 
 | Suite | Passed | Total | Status |
 |-------|--------|-------|--------|
 | tokenize | 26 | 26 | ok |
 | parse | 18 | 18 | ok |
+| unify | 28 | 28 | ok |
diff --git a/lib/datalog/tests/unify.sx b/lib/datalog/tests/unify.sx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..873cc655
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/datalog/tests/unify.sx
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+;; lib/datalog/tests/unify.sx — unification + substitution tests.
+
+(define dl-ut-pass 0)
+(define dl-ut-fail 0)
+(define dl-ut-failures (list))
+
+(define
+  dl-ut-deep-equal?
+  (fn
+    (a b)
+    (cond
+      ((and (list? a) (list? b))
+        (and (= (len a) (len b)) (dl-ut-deq-list? a b 0)))
+      ((and (dict? a) (dict? b))
+        (let
+          ((ka (keys a)) (kb (keys b)))
+          (and (= (len ka) (len kb)) (dl-ut-deq-dict? a b ka 0))))
+      ((and (number? a) (number? b)) (= a b))
+      (else (equal? a b)))))
+
+(define
+  dl-ut-deq-list?
+  (fn
+    (a b i)
+    (cond
+      ((>= i (len a)) true)
+      ((not (dl-ut-deep-equal? (nth a i) (nth b i))) false)
+      (else (dl-ut-deq-list? a b (+ i 1))))))
+
+(define
+  dl-ut-deq-dict?
+  (fn
+    (a b ka i)
+    (cond
+      ((>= i (len ka)) true)
+      ((let ((k (nth ka i))) (not (dl-ut-deep-equal? (get a k) (get b k))))
+        false)
+      (else (dl-ut-deq-dict? a b ka (+ i 1))))))
+
+(define
+  dl-ut-test!
+  (fn
+    (name got expected)
+    (if
+      (dl-ut-deep-equal? got expected)
+      (set! dl-ut-pass (+ dl-ut-pass 1))
+      (do
+        (set! dl-ut-fail (+ dl-ut-fail 1))
+        (append!
+          dl-ut-failures
+          (str name "\n    expected: " expected "\n    got:      " got))))))
+
+(define
+  dl-ut-run-all!
+  (fn
+    ()
+    (do
+      (dl-ut-test! "var? uppercase" (dl-var? (quote X)) true)
+      (dl-ut-test! "var? underscore" (dl-var? (quote _foo)) true)
+      (dl-ut-test! "var? lowercase" (dl-var? (quote tom)) false)
+      (dl-ut-test! "var? number" (dl-var? 5) false)
+      (dl-ut-test! "var? string" (dl-var? "hi") false)
+      (dl-ut-test! "var? list" (dl-var? (list 1)) false)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "atom-atom match"
+        (dl-unify (quote tom) (quote tom) (dl-empty-subst))
+        {})
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "atom-atom fail"
+        (dl-unify (quote tom) (quote bob) (dl-empty-subst))
+        nil)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "num-num match"
+        (dl-unify 5 5 (dl-empty-subst))
+        {})
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "num-num fail"
+        (dl-unify 5 6 (dl-empty-subst))
+        nil)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "string match"
+        (dl-unify "hi" "hi" (dl-empty-subst))
+        {})
+      (dl-ut-test! "string fail" (dl-unify "hi" "bye" (dl-empty-subst)) nil)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "var-atom binds"
+        (dl-unify (quote X) (quote tom) (dl-empty-subst))
+        {:X (quote tom)})
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "atom-var binds"
+        (dl-unify (quote tom) (quote X) (dl-empty-subst))
+        {:X (quote tom)})
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "var-var same"
+        (dl-unify (quote X) (quote X) (dl-empty-subst))
+        {})
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "var-var bind"
+        (let
+          ((s (dl-unify (quote X) (quote Y) (dl-empty-subst))))
+          (dl-walk (quote X) s))
+        (quote Y))
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "tuple match"
+        (dl-unify
+          (list (quote parent) (quote X) (quote bob))
+          (list (quote parent) (quote tom) (quote Y))
+          (dl-empty-subst))
+        {:X (quote tom) :Y (quote bob)})
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "tuple arity mismatch"
+        (dl-unify
+          (list (quote p) (quote X))
+          (list (quote p) (quote a) (quote b))
+          (dl-empty-subst))
+        nil)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "tuple head mismatch"
+        (dl-unify
+          (list (quote p) (quote X))
+          (list (quote q) (quote X))
+          (dl-empty-subst))
+        nil)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "walk chain"
+        (let
+          ((s1 (dl-unify (quote X) (quote Y) (dl-empty-subst))))
+          (let
+            ((s2 (dl-unify (quote Y) (quote tom) s1)))
+            (dl-walk (quote X) s2)))
+        (quote tom))
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "apply subst on tuple"
+        (let
+          ((s (dl-bind (quote X) (quote tom) (dl-empty-subst))))
+          (dl-apply-subst (list (quote parent) (quote X) (quote Y)) s))
+        (list (quote parent) (quote tom) (quote Y)))
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "ground? all const"
+        (dl-ground?
+          (list (quote p) (quote tom) 5)
+          (dl-empty-subst))
+        true)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "ground? unbound var"
+        (dl-ground? (list (quote p) (quote X)) (dl-empty-subst))
+        false)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "ground? bound var"
+        (let
+          ((s (dl-bind (quote X) (quote tom) (dl-empty-subst))))
+          (dl-ground? (list (quote p) (quote X)) s))
+        true)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "ground? bare var"
+        (dl-ground? (quote X) (dl-empty-subst))
+        false)
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "vars-of basic"
+        (dl-vars-of
+          (list (quote p) (quote X) (quote tom) (quote Y) (quote X)))
+        (list "X" "Y"))
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "vars-of ground"
+        (dl-vars-of (list (quote p) (quote tom) (quote bob)))
+        (list))
+      (dl-ut-test!
+        "vars-of nested compound"
+        (dl-vars-of
+          (list
+            (quote is)
+            (quote Z)
+            (list (string->symbol "+") (quote X) 1)))
+        (list "Z" "X")))))
+
+(define
+  dl-unify-tests-run!
+  (fn
+    ()
+    (do
+      (set! dl-ut-pass 0)
+      (set! dl-ut-fail 0)
+      (set! dl-ut-failures (list))
+      (dl-ut-run-all!)
+      {:failures dl-ut-failures :total (+ dl-ut-pass dl-ut-fail) :passed dl-ut-pass :failed dl-ut-fail})))
diff --git a/lib/datalog/unify.sx b/lib/datalog/unify.sx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7313a603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/datalog/unify.sx
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+;; lib/datalog/unify.sx — unification + substitution for Datalog terms.
+;;
+;; Term taxonomy (after parsing):
+;;   variable  — SX symbol whose first char is uppercase A–Z or '_'.
+;;   constant  — SX symbol whose first char is lowercase a–z (atom name).
+;;   number    — numeric literal.
+;;   string    — string literal.
+;;   compound  — SX list (functor arg ... arg). In core Datalog these
+;;               only appear as arithmetic expressions (see Phase 4
+;;               safety analysis); compound-against-compound unification
+;;               is supported anyway for completeness.
+;;
+;; Substitutions are immutable dicts keyed by variable name (string).
+;; A failed unification returns nil; success returns the extended subst.
+
+(define dl-empty-subst (fn () {}))
+
+(define
+  dl-var?
+  (fn
+    (term)
+    (and
+      (symbol? term)
+      (let
+        ((name (symbol->string term)))
+        (and
+          (> (len name) 0)
+          (let
+            ((c (slice name 0 1)))
+            (or (and (>= c "A") (<= c "Z")) (= c "_"))))))))
+
+;; Walk: chase variable bindings until we hit a non-variable or an unbound
+;; variable. The result is either a non-variable term or an unbound var.
+(define
+  dl-walk
+  (fn
+    (term subst)
+    (if
+      (dl-var? term)
+      (let
+        ((name (symbol->string term)))
+        (if
+          (and (dict? subst) (has-key? subst name))
+          (dl-walk (get subst name) subst)
+          term))
+      term)))
+
+;; Bind a variable symbol to a value in subst, returning a new subst.
+(define
+  dl-bind
+  (fn (var-sym value subst) (assoc subst (symbol->string var-sym) value)))
+
+(define
+  dl-unify
+  (fn
+    (t1 t2 subst)
+    (if
+      (nil? subst)
+      nil
+      (let
+        ((u1 (dl-walk t1 subst)) (u2 (dl-walk t2 subst)))
+        (cond
+          ((dl-var? u1)
+            (cond
+              ((and (dl-var? u2) (= (symbol->string u1) (symbol->string u2)))
+                subst)
+              (else (dl-bind u1 u2 subst))))
+          ((dl-var? u2) (dl-bind u2 u1 subst))
+          ((and (list? u1) (list? u2))
+            (if
+              (= (len u1) (len u2))
+              (dl-unify-list u1 u2 subst 0)
+              nil))
+          ((and (number? u1) (number? u2)) (if (= u1 u2) subst nil))
+          ((and (string? u1) (string? u2)) (if (= u1 u2) subst nil))
+          ((and (symbol? u1) (symbol? u2))
+            (if (= (symbol->string u1) (symbol->string u2)) subst nil))
+          (else nil))))))
+
+(define
+  dl-unify-list
+  (fn
+    (a b subst i)
+    (cond
+      ((nil? subst) nil)
+      ((>= i (len a)) subst)
+      (else
+        (dl-unify-list
+          a
+          b
+          (dl-unify (nth a i) (nth b i) subst)
+          (+ i 1))))))
+
+;; Apply substitution: walk the term and recurse into lists.
+(define
+  dl-apply-subst
+  (fn
+    (term subst)
+    (let
+      ((w (dl-walk term subst)))
+      (if (list? w) (map (fn (x) (dl-apply-subst x subst)) w) w))))
+
+;; Ground? — true iff no free variables remain after walking.
+(define
+  dl-ground?
+  (fn
+    (term subst)
+    (let
+      ((w (dl-walk term subst)))
+      (cond
+        ((dl-var? w) false)
+        ((list? w) (dl-ground-list? w subst 0))
+        (else true)))))
+
+(define
+  dl-ground-list?
+  (fn
+    (xs subst i)
+    (cond
+      ((>= i (len xs)) true)
+      ((not (dl-ground? (nth xs i) subst)) false)
+      (else (dl-ground-list? xs subst (+ i 1))))))
+
+;; Return the list of variable names appearing in a term (deduped, in
+;; left-to-right order). Useful for safety analysis later.
+(define
+  dl-vars-of
+  (fn (term) (let ((seen (list))) (do (dl-vars-of-aux term seen) seen))))
+
+(define
+  dl-vars-of-aux
+  (fn
+    (term acc)
+    (cond
+      ((dl-var? term)
+        (let
+          ((name (symbol->string term)))
+          (when (not (dl-member? name acc)) (append! acc name))))
+      ((list? term) (dl-vars-of-list term acc 0))
+      (else nil))))
+
+(define
+  dl-vars-of-list
+  (fn
+    (xs acc i)
+    (when
+      (< i (len xs))
+      (do
+        (dl-vars-of-aux (nth xs i) acc)
+        (dl-vars-of-list xs acc (+ i 1))))))
+
+(define
+  dl-member?
+  (fn
+    (x xs)
+    (cond
+      ((= (len xs) 0) false)
+      ((= (first xs) x) true)
+      (else (dl-member? x (rest xs))))))
diff --git a/plans/datalog-on-sx.md b/plans/datalog-on-sx.md
index 784cf0df..68dc785f 100644
--- a/plans/datalog-on-sx.md
+++ b/plans/datalog-on-sx.md
@@ -75,10 +75,12 @@ Key differences from Prolog:
       Conformance harness: `bash lib/datalog/conformance.sh` → 44 / 44 passing.
 
 ### Phase 2 — unification + substitution
-- [ ] Share or port unification from `lib/prolog/` — term walk, occurs check off by default
-- [ ] `dl-unify` `t1` `t2` `subst` → extended subst or nil (no function symbols means simpler)
-- [ ] `dl-ground?` `term` → bool — all variables bound in substitution
-- [ ] Tests: atom/atom, var/atom, var/var, list args
+- [x] Ported (not shared) from `lib/prolog/` — term walk, no occurs check.
+- [x] `dl-unify t1 t2 subst` → extended subst dict, or `nil` on failure.
+- [x] `dl-walk`, `dl-bind`, `dl-apply-subst`, `dl-ground?`, `dl-vars-of`.
+- [x] Substitutions are immutable dicts keyed by variable name (string).
+      Lists/tuples unify element-wise (used for arithmetic compounds too).
+- [x] Tests in `lib/datalog/tests/unify.sx` (28). 72 / 72 conformance.
 
 ### Phase 3 — extensional DB + naive evaluation
 - [ ] EDB: `{:relation-name → set-of-ground-tuples}` using SX sets (Phase 18 of primitives)
@@ -147,6 +149,12 @@ _(none yet)_
 
 _Newest first._
 
+- 2026-05-07 — Phase 2 done. `lib/datalog/unify.sx` (~140 LOC):
+  `dl-var?` (case + underscore), `dl-walk`, `dl-bind`, `dl-unify` (returns
+  extended dict subst or `nil`), `dl-apply-subst`, `dl-ground?`, `dl-vars-of`.
+  Substitutions are immutable dicts; `assoc` builds extended copies. 28
+  unify tests; conformance now 72 / 72.
+
 - 2026-05-07 — Phase 1 done. `lib/datalog/tokenizer.sx` (~190 LOC) emits
   `{:type :value :pos}` tokens; `lib/datalog/parser.sx` (~150 LOC) produces
   `{:head … :body …}` / `{:query …}` clauses, with nested compounds