diff --git a/checks/health/go.mod b/checks/health/go.mod
index f008c287..991582e3 100644
--- a/checks/health/go.mod
+++ b/checks/health/go.mod
@@ -2,4 +2,13 @@ module checks/health
 
 go 1.26.0
 
-require git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261031084708-acbf80ad910a
+require git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261101012031-7cab079e2ec3
+
+require (
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.20.0 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.16 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0 // indirect
+)
diff --git a/checks/health/go.sum b/checks/health/go.sum
index 0989a83d..2252671d 100644
--- a/checks/health/go.sum
+++ b/checks/health/go.sum
@@ -1,2 +1,16 @@
 git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261031084708-acbf80ad910a h1:DcSvfEmdPBKqCg5OmXRNb269EkkPe7BsEp+RykEhkgE=
 git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261031084708-acbf80ad910a/go.mod h1:ouERNpZizzwZ0HLEtAypsY9FR20FyUgUYRni6J7kVCY=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261101012031-7cab079e2ec3 h1:an2f0MLx9OhaDLu5i51OMPBbuGwX+aoTzqOkFLMpVfE=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261101012031-7cab079e2ec3/go.mod h1:ouERNpZizzwZ0HLEtAypsY9FR20FyUgUYRni6J7kVCY=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.20.0 h1:a3C1ke2ohxFymNlb2HWAHjDeKCI90scRskErZkR0ezA=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.20.0/go.mod h1:LUdAzn7YLVvxLpc7y3V1m40wESHTgc1422pwwBSKYuI=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0 h1:vsXoOxjHp/GmPUN+EcI7uOf/uB+iAP+kEsAFNQN0yzA=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0/go.mod h1:y+DZoD1oBOYfZTU681eTUiUjI0vbqYGixNVFHcjHJ0k=
+github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.16 h1:rd5oAuLOb8mnAycB0xleuEBNS1pVVnN0fv/FF34Eypg=
+github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.16/go.mod h1:llLgWoI0o4z/Q57q2R1kHfmocyhGV6VG/U18Glg1Afs=
+github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 h1:5iA8DT8V7q8WK2EScv2padNa/rTESc1KdnPw4TC2paw=
+github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1/go.mod h1:19wcPz3Ph3q0Jbyiqsd0kePYG7A95tJPxeL+1OSON2c=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0 h1:3ZVCjf8Ggz7zneR/EHRVx68Ctf+2pmIMP2UFhh9cC6M=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0/go.mod h1:Fdz0i5U6CoizGwLda9DttjSk6qlZo25zYNtR+ycvuZA=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0 h1:bbX/i/6MgT9BVLM9RT1thmxL04yeTAhbEz4SyadbXoo=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0/go.mod h1:hNLxWAXmnKAxqDtdwIYC4bM9oQPEecfsnNMuSxOs3og=
diff --git a/checks/health/health.go b/checks/health/health.go
index 0797da65..c88b9eff 100644
--- a/checks/health/health.go
+++ b/checks/health/health.go
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 // Package health is the catalogue's count of long-running resources that do not say how they are ready (novox/hq ADR 0240 rule
 // 8), kept in health-undeclared and judged by a test over the real tree (ADR 0529 clauses 2 and 4): it replaces the step of
-// merge-check.sh that read it out of the controller's `module check`. Every manifest is read through mesh-sdk's catalogue
-// package, the one the controller counts with.
+// merge-check.sh that read it out of the controller's `module check`. Every manifest is decoded with mesh-sdk's catalogue
+// package, the one the controller counts with, and judged by nothing here (novox/hq ADR 0578 §3): a resource's `health` is
+// in the manifest itself, not in a template's text.
 package health
 
 import (
@@ -27,7 +28,11 @@ func Count(root string) (int, error) {
 	}
 	n := 0
 	for _, path := range manifests {
-		m, err := catalogue.ReadTreeManifest(root, filepath.Dir(path))
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, err
+		}
+		m, err := catalogue.Decode(raw)
 		if err != nil {
 			return 0, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", path, err)
 		}
diff --git a/checks/health/reads-outside b/checks/health/reads-outside
index f6ce1405..98f5c579 100644
--- a/checks/health/reads-outside
+++ b/checks/health/reads-outside
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 # What these tests read outside their package, as paths from the repository's root (a glob, or a directory read whole;
 # ? before a path whose absence is read). mesh-build-go hashes them into the package's digest, so its verdict is kept
 # until one of them changes (issue 1936). An empty list, or a line matching nothing, keeps nothing.
-# every manifest through mesh-sdk's ReadTreeManifest: the root's predefined keys and each templated module's
-# templates (files/ by default, or the directory its manifest names); and the root's kept count of resources that do not say how they are ready.
+# every manifest, decoded; and the root's kept count of resources that do not say how they are ready.
 modules/*/module.json
-predefined.json
-modules/*/files
-modules/*/templates
 health-undeclared