Infinitesimal finite forcibility and step kernels

We characterize infinitesimal finite forcibility for bounded symmetric real kernels. We prove that the graph-density gradients at a kernel span a finite-dimensional space if and only if the kernel is a step kernel. Combined with known finite-forcing results for step kernels, this gives a positive answer to a question of Lovász and Szegedy on whether every infinitesimally finitely forcible kernel is finitely forcible. The proof combines spectral methods with a compression argument based on book graphs.