diff --git a/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/README.md b/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/README.md
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+# Suffix Automaton (SAM)
+
+This exercise implements a Suffix Automaton and small utilities.
+
+## What this provides
+- `suffix_automaton.py`: implementation and helper functions.
+- `examples.py`: run `python examples.py` to see sample outputs.
+- `test_suffix_automaton.py`: unit tests (pytest).
+
+## Algorithms & Problems solvable
+- Check if a string `t` is a substring of `s`
+- Count distinct substrings of `s` (linear time)
+- Longest common substring between `s` and `t`
+- Count number of occurrences of `t` in `s` (using endpos propagation)
+
+## Complexity
+- Construction: O(n) where n = len(s)
+- Queries (contains/occurrences/LCS): O(|t|)
+
+## How to run
+```bash
+python examples.py
+pytest -q
diff --git a/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/examples.py b/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/examples.py
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+# exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/examples.py
+from suffix_automaton import build_from_string
+
+def demo():
+    s = "abracadabra"
+    sam = build_from_string(s)
+    print("Original:", s)
+    print("Contains 'cada'?", sam.contains("cada"))
+    print("Contains 'xyz'?", sam.contains("xyz"))
+    print("Distinct substrings:", sam.count_distinct_substrings())
+    l, substr = sam.longest_common_substring("cadabra")
+    print("LCS with 'cadabra':", l, substr)
+    print("Occurrences of 'abra':", sam.occurrences("abra"))
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    demo()
diff --git a/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/suffix_automaton.py b/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/suffix_automaton.py
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+# exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/suffix_automaton.py
+from collections import defaultdict, deque
+from typing import Dict, List, Tuple
+
+class SuffixAutomaton:
+    """
+    Suffix Automaton (SAM) implementation with utilities:
+      - add_string(s): build SAM for s
+      - contains(t): check if t is a substring of s
+      - count_distinct_substrings(): count distinct substrings of s
+      - longest_common_substring(t): length and one example of LCS with t
+      - occurrences(t): number of occurrences of t in s (requires endpos propagation)
+    Complexity: build O(n), queries O(|t|) generally.
+    """
+
+    class State:
+        __slots__ = ("len", "link", "next", "occ")
+        def __init__(self):
+            self.len = 0
+            self.link = -1
+            self.next: Dict[str,int] = {}
+            self.occ = 0  # for occurrence counting (endpos size)
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.states: List[SuffixAutomaton.State] = []
+        self.last = 0
+        self._init_sam()
+
+    def _init_sam(self):
+        self.states = [SuffixAutomaton.State()]
+        self.states[0].len = 0
+        self.states[0].link = -1
+        self.last = 0
+
+    def sa_extend(self, c: str):
+        """Extend SAM by character c (single char string)."""
+        p = self.last
+        cur = len(self.states)
+        self.states.append(SuffixAutomaton.State())
+        self.states[cur].len = self.states[p].len + 1
+        self.states[cur].occ = 1  # this state corresponds to a new end position
+
+        while p != -1 and c not in self.states[p].next:
+            self.states[p].next[c] = cur
+            p = self.states[p].link
+
+        if p == -1:
+            self.states[cur].link = 0
+        else:
+            q = self.states[p].next[c]
+            if self.states[p].len + 1 == self.states[q].len:
+                self.states[cur].link = q
+            else:
+                # clone
+                clone = len(self.states)
+                self.states.append(SuffixAutomaton.State())
+                self.states[clone].len = self.states[p].len + 1
+                self.states[clone].next = self.states[q].next.copy()
+                self.states[clone].link = self.states[q].link
+                # occ for clone stays 0 (we'll propagate later)
+                while p != -1 and self.states[p].next.get(c) == q:
+                    self.states[p].next[c] = clone
+                    p = self.states[p].link
+                self.states[q].link = self.states[cur].link = clone
+
+        self.last = cur
+
+    def build(self, s: str):
+        """Build SAM for string s."""
+        self._init_sam()
+        for ch in s:
+            self.sa_extend(ch)
+        # After building, we can propagate occurrence counts if desired
+        self._propagate_occurrences()
+
+    def _propagate_occurrences(self):
+        """Propagate endpos counts from longer states to linked states."""
+        # Bucket states by length (counting sort approach)
+        max_len = max(state.len for state in self.states) if self.states else 0
+        buckets = [0] * (max_len + 1)
+        for st in self.states:
+            buckets[st.len] += 1
+        for i in range(1, len(buckets)):
+            buckets[i] += buckets[i - 1]
+        order = [None] * len(self.states)
+        for i in range(len(self.states) - 1, -1, -1):
+            st = self.states[i]
+            buckets[st.len] -= 1
+            order[buckets[st.len]] = i
+        # traverse states from longest to shortest
+        for idx in reversed(order):
+            st = self.states[idx]
+            if st.link != -1:
+                self.states[st.link].occ += st.occ
+
+    def contains(self, t: str) -> bool:
+        """Return True if t is a substring of the built string."""
+        cur = 0
+        for ch in t:
+            if ch not in self.states[cur].next:
+                return False
+            cur = self.states[cur].next[ch]
+        return True
+
+    def count_distinct_substrings(self) -> int:
+        """Number of distinct substrings of the original string."""
+        # sum over states: len[state] - len[link[state]]
+        total = 0
+        for i, st in enumerate(self.states):
+            if st.link != -1:
+                total += st.len - self.states[st.link].len
+            else:
+                total += st.len  # for root, link == -1 contributes len (but root len is 0)
+        # but root len is zero so above still works
+        # standard formula: sum_{v} (len[v] - len[link[v]])
+        total = sum((st.len - (self.states[st.link].len if st.link != -1 else 0)) for st in self.states)
+        return total
+
+    def longest_common_substring(self, t: str) -> Tuple[int, str]:
+        """
+        Find the length and a substring that is the LCS between the built string and t.
+        Returns (length, substring_example).
+        """
+        v = 0
+        l = 0
+        best = 0
+        best_pos = 0  # position in t where best ends
+        for i, ch in enumerate(t):
+            # walk with transitions; if not possible, follow links
+            while v != 0 and ch not in self.states[v].next:
+                v = self.states[v].link
+                l = self.states[v].len if v != -1 else 0
+            if ch in self.states[v].next:
+                v = self.states[v].next[ch]
+                l += 1
+            else:
+                v = 0
+                l = 0
+            if l > best:
+                best = l
+                best_pos = i
+        if best == 0:
+            return 0, ""
+        return best, t[best_pos - best + 1: best_pos + 1]
+
+    def occurrences(self, t: str) -> int:
+        """
+        Return number of occurrences of t in the built string.
+        Requires that _propagate_occurrences was called after build (we call it automatically).
+        """
+        cur = 0
+        for ch in t:
+            if ch not in self.states[cur].next:
+                return 0
+            cur = self.states[cur].next[ch]
+        return self.states[cur].occ
+
+# A minimal CLI-style helper (importable)
+def build_from_string(s: str) -> SuffixAutomaton:
+    sam = SuffixAutomaton()
+    sam.build(s)
+    return sam
diff --git a/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/test_suffix_automaton.py b/exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/test_suffix_automaton.py
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+# exercises/advanced/suffix_automaton/test_suffix_automaton.py
+import pytest
+from suffix_automaton import build_from_string
+
+def test_contains_and_occurrences():
+    s = "ababab"
+    sam = build_from_string(s)
+    assert sam.contains("aba")
+    assert sam.contains("bab")
+    assert not sam.contains("baa")
+    # occurrences: "aba" appears twice in "ababab" (positions 0 and 2)
+    assert sam.occurrences("aba") == 2
+    assert sam.occurrences("ab") == 3
+
+def test_distinct_substrings_small():
+    s = "aaa"
+    sam = build_from_string(s)
+    # substrings: "a", "aa", "aaa" => 3 distinct
+    assert sam.count_distinct_substrings() == 3
+
+def test_lcs_example():
+    s = "abcdxyz"
+    t = "xyzabcd"
+    sam = build_from_string(s)
+    length, substr = sam.longest_common_substring(t)
+    assert length == 4
+    # substring can be "abcd" or "xyz" depending — check length and membership
+    assert len(substr) == length
+    assert substr in s and substr in t
+
+def test_no_common():
+    s = "abc"
+    t = "zzz"
+    sam = build_from_string(s)
+    length, substr = sam.longest_common_substring(t)
+    assert length == 0
+    assert substr == ""