diff --git a/modules/mesh-vault/README.md b/modules/mesh-vault/README.md
index 27af4c7a5..cd22dca7f 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-vault/README.md
+++ b/modules/mesh-vault/README.md
@@ -257,7 +257,10 @@ runner's `ledgers` are never retired this way. A waiter on `rotated` or `own-rep
 
 `secret_export`, `secret_holders`, `secret_verify` answer as the TypeScript vault's did, and its custody
 ledger (`${dir:ledger}`, the same JSON files) is kept by a pass over the contributions file every minute.
-`secret_handed` and `secret_vault_export` read the vault's own store. None returns a value.
+`secret_handed` and `secret_vault_export` read the vault's own store. None returns a value. `secret_holders` also answers
+`records`: every record the store keeps (a licence's two secrets included), by name, generation, when stored and
+changed, who changed it, origin, length and fingerprint, never the value; a record the vault cannot open stays in the
+list with an `error`.
 
 **The ledger follows ADR 0230.** A contributions file that does not say who is asked for (unreadable, not
 JSON, no `given` list or a null one, or for another requirement) is not "nobody": the pass records nothing,
diff --git a/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences.go b/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences.go
index 6eee48ee2..0079f069f 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences.go
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // LicencePutVerb is the verb that hands a licence's secret to the vault.
@@ -78,3 +80,47 @@ func (v *Vault) LicencePutTake(caller, call, sealed string) (Changed, error) {
 	}
 	return v.keepWith(c.secret, string(value), caller, "", OriginAccepted, keepOptions{generation: c.generation})
 }
+
+// RecordHeld is one record of the vault's store as secret_holders lists it (issue 1409, design 39 parts §12): by name
+// and fingerprint, never the value. For a licence's secret it also says the licence's key and the part.
+type RecordHeld struct {
+	Name        string    `json:"name"`
+	Key         string    `json:"key,omitempty"`
+	Part        string    `json:"part,omitempty"`
+	Generation  int       `json:"generation"`
+	Since       time.Time `json:"since"`
+	Changed     time.Time `json:"changed"`
+	ChangedBy   string    `json:"changedBy"`
+	ChangedVia  string    `json:"changedVia,omitempty"`
+	Origin      string    `json:"origin"`
+	Length      int       `json:"length"`
+	Fingerprint string    `json:"fingerprint"`
+	// Error says why the vault could not open its copy; the record stays in the list.
+	Error string `json:"error,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// RecordsHeld lists every record the store keeps, by name, ordered as the store lists them. The fingerprint is the
+// vault's own of the whole value, as the ledger gives it.
+func (v *Vault) RecordsHeld() ([]RecordHeld, error) {
+	records, err := v.Store.List()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	out := make([]RecordHeld, 0, len(records))
+	for _, r := range records {
+		row := RecordHeld{Name: r.Name, Generation: r.Generation, Since: r.MadeAt, Changed: r.ChangedAt,
+			ChangedBy: r.ChangedBy, ChangedVia: r.ChangedVia, Origin: r.Origin}
+		if rest, ok := strings.CutPrefix(r.Name, "licence."); ok {
+			if i := strings.LastIndex(rest, "."); i > 0 {
+				row.Key, row.Part = rest[:i], rest[i+1:]
+			}
+		}
+		if value, err := openAtRest(r, v); err != nil {
+			row.Error = "the vault could not open its copy: " + err.Error()
+		} else {
+			row.Length, row.Fingerprint = len(value), Fingerprint(value)
+		}
+		out = append(out, row)
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
diff --git a/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences_test.go b/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences_test.go
index 02f8c3357..c0085b49c 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/licences_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/seal"
 )
 
 // putLicence hands one part of a licence to the vault in licence-put's two steps.
@@ -114,3 +117,54 @@ func TestATokenIsGivenOnlyToAMachineABindingNames(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("the manager's grant: %q %v", got, err)
 	}
 }
+
+// issue 1409, design 39 bus-and-switch §20, parts §12: secret_holders lists every record of the store by name and
+// fingerprint, a licence's two secrets with their key and part, a record it cannot open with an error, and no value.
+func TestSecretHoldersListsEveryStoreRecordByNameAndFingerprintNeverTheValue(t *testing.T) {
+	v := newVault(t, nil)
+	const manager = "claude-licence-manager"
+	grant, access := `{"refreshToken":"rt-SECRET-grant"}`, `{"accessToken":"at-SECRET-access"}`
+	for part, value := range map[string]string{LicenceGrant: grant, LicenceAccess: access} {
+		if _, err := putLicence(t, v, manager, "jane_at_example.org", part, 3, value); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	if _, err := v.Put("pair/postgres/gitea", "other-SECRET-value", "the test"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	broken, _, _ := v.Store.Read("pair/postgres/gitea")
+	broken.Name, broken.AtRest = "pair/broken/one", seal.Box{}
+	if err := v.Store.Write(broken); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	got, err := toolNamed(t, definitions(&Env{Vault: v.Vault}), "secret_holders").Run(map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	raw, _ := json.Marshal(got)
+	if strings.Contains(string(raw), "SECRET") {
+		t.Fatalf("the answer holds a value: %s", raw)
+	}
+	m := got.(map[string]any)
+	rows := map[string]RecordHeld{}
+	for _, r := range m["records"].([]RecordHeld) {
+		rows[r.Name] = r
+	}
+	if m["recordsCount"] != 4 || len(rows) != 4 {
+		t.Fatalf("records %v, want 4 (two licence secrets, a pair, a broken one)", rows)
+	}
+	for part, value := range map[string]string{LicenceGrant: grant, LicenceAccess: access} {
+		r := rows["licence.jane_at_example.org."+part]
+		if r.Key != "jane_at_example.org" || r.Part != part || r.Generation != 3 || r.ChangedBy != manager ||
+			r.Origin != OriginAccepted || r.Length != len(value) || r.Fingerprint != Fingerprint(value) || r.Error != "" {
+			t.Errorf("the %s secret's row is %+v", part, r)
+		}
+	}
+	if r := rows["pair/postgres/gitea"]; r.Key != "" || r.Fingerprint != Fingerprint("other-SECRET-value") {
+		t.Errorf("the pair's row is %+v", r)
+	}
+	if r := rows["pair/broken/one"]; r.Error == "" || r.Fingerprint != "" {
+		t.Errorf("a record the vault cannot open must stay listed with an error: %+v", r)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/tools.go b/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/tools.go
index 5e23494bf..ad424f8fa 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/tools.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-vault/cmd/mesh-vault/tools.go
@@ -380,15 +380,32 @@ func definitions(env *Env) []toolDef {
 		{Name: "secret_holders",
 			Description: "Who holds a secret from this vault: each consumer's login, node and module, when it was " +
 				"granted, how many times it has been rotated and when, and the fingerprint of the current value. " +
+				"Also every record the vault's own store keeps (`records`, with `recordsCount`): its name, generation, when " +
+				"it was stored and last changed, who changed it, its origin, its length and its fingerprint, and for a " +
+				"licence's secret (licence.<key>.grant, licence.<key>.access) the key and the part. " +
 				"Fingerprints only — the value is never returned.",
 			run: func(string, map[string]any) (any, error) {
 				enrolments := []EnrolmentHeld{}
+				records := []RecordHeld{}
+				recordsError := ""
 				if env.Vault != nil {
 					enrolments, _ = env.Vault.EnrolmentsHeld()
+					var err error
+					if records, err = env.Vault.RecordsHeld(); err != nil {
+						recordsError = "the vault could not list its store: " + err.Error()
+						records = []RecordHeld{}
+					}
+				}
+				stored := func(m map[string]any) map[string]any {
+					m["records"], m["recordsCount"] = records, len(records)
+					if recordsError != "" {
+						m["recordsError"] = recordsError
+					}
+					return m
 				}
 				if env.Ledger == nil {
-					return map[string]any{"holders": []any{}, "count": 0, "enrolments": enrolments,
-						"error": "the vault has no ledger (MESH_VAULT_LEDGER is not set)"}, nil
+					return stored(map[string]any{"holders": []any{}, "count": 0, "enrolments": enrolments,
+						"error": "the vault has no ledger (MESH_VAULT_LEDGER is not set)"}), nil
 				}
 				var asked []Contribution
 				if env.Receives != "" {
@@ -407,7 +424,7 @@ func definitions(env *Env) []toolDef {
 					}
 					holders = append(holders, row)
 				}
-				return map[string]any{"holders": holders, "count": len(holders), "enrolments": enrolments}, nil
+				return stored(map[string]any{"holders": holders, "count": len(holders), "enrolments": enrolments}), nil
 			}},
 		{Name: "secret_verify",
 			Description: "Check one holder's secret without seeing it: the fingerprint the vault recorded against the " +