diff --git a/modules/brother/README.md b/modules/brother/README.md
index b4a3902a..2b2e661c 100644
--- a/modules/brother/README.md
+++ b/modules/brother/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
-# brother — scan a document, crop it, file it, say so
+# brother — the Brother multifunction device: scan, printer state, admin pages
+
+One module for one device (novox/hq ADR 0467, issue 1453): the scanner and the printer are one machine on the
+network, so one module serves both. It claims two seats, each held once for the mesh: `scanner` (verbs `scan`,
+`status`, `list`) and `printer` (verbs `status`, `settings`; `restart` follows in a later round). It replaces the
+`scan` module of issue 1440 (ADR 0464), which ran on no node and is gone from the catalogue.
+
+## The scanner seat
 
 Built for issue 1440 as novox/hq ADR 0464 decides. It scans the glass of a network scanner (any scanner that
 speaks eSCL, also called AirScan or Mopria), cuts the document out of the lid's white, files it as a one-page PDF
@@ -26,28 +33,54 @@ A scanner that refuses or gives no page files nothing and says nothing on the bu
 |---|---|---|
 | `scanner` | the scanner's eSCL address, such as `http://192.0.2.10/eSCL` (required, trusted) | none |
 | `scan-folder` | the absolute path the PDFs are filed in (required, trusted) | none |
+| `printer` | the printer's host, such as `192.0.2.10`, for its admin page and IPP (required, trusted) | none |
+| `printer-certificate` | the SHA-256 fingerprint of the one certificate the admin page may serve, `AA:BB:...` (required, trusted) | none |
 | `resolution` | dpi asked: 100, 200, 300 or 600 | 300 |
 | `color-mode` | `color` or `gray` | `color` |
 | `crop` | cut the document out of the lid's white | true |
 
 The values reach the code in one file, `settings.json` in the module's state directory, which the mesh writes
-from the config; the code reads it at every call. With `scanner` or `scan-folder` unset, every tool says which and
-writes and asks nothing.
+from the config; the code reads it at every call. With `scanner` or `scan-folder` unset, every scanner verb says which and
+writes and asks nothing; `printer` and `printer-certificate` are the printer verbs' to say.
 
 The scan folder is not a manifest resource: a directory's path cannot take a config value (issue 1441), so the code
 makes it (mode 0755) when it files the first scan.
 
 ## Tools
 
-| tool | does |
+| verb (tool) | does |
 |---|---|
 | `scanner.scan` | scans, crops, files and emits; answers the event's body |
 | `scanner.status` | whether the scanner answers, its state (Idle or Processing) and its document feeder's state; a scanner that does not answer is `answers: false` with why. This is how its health is read: the module has no long-running resource to declare a health check on |
 | `scanner.list` | the newest filed scans, newest first (`limit`, default 20). Read-only |
 
+## The printer seat
+
+| verb (tool) | does |
+|---|---|
+| `printer.status` | without a login: over IPP (`Get-Printer-Attributes`, encoded by hand, on port 631) the state (idle, processing, stopped), the state reasons (such as `toner-low-warning`) and the markers' names, levels (percent; below 0 is unknown) and colours; over eSCL the scanner's state and its feeder's. A part that does not answer is `answers: false` with why. Needs `printer` and `scanner` |
+| `printer.settings` | logs in, reads one admin page, logs out. Argument `page`: a path on the admin site, starting with `/` and ending in `.html` (default `/general/status.html`). Answers the page's title, links (href and text) and forms with their fields (name, type, value, label); a password field's value is never given. Read-only: it sends the login and the logout and nothing else |
+
+### Trust and the password
+
+The admin page is HTTPS with a self-signed certificate. The module verifies no chain: it accepts the one certificate
+whose SHA-256 fingerprint is `printer-certificate` and refuses any other, in the handshake, so no password is sent
+to it; the error names both fingerprints. Get the fingerprint from the device's certificate page, and give it as 32
+upper-case hex pairs joined by colons.
+
+The admin password is the module's own secret `admin-password` (ADR 0467 clause 4; ADR 0283): the operator gives it
+at their desk, the mesh never generates or rotates it, and it reaches the code as the file `BROTHER_ADMIN_PASSWORD`
+names (`${dir:state}/admin-password.secret`). While it is not given, `printer.settings` says that the secret is not
+given and contacts nothing.
+
+The login reads the form each time: the device generates the password field's name, so the code takes the name from
+the form, posts it with the form's hidden fields, and keeps the session cookie. A login is failed when the answer is
+the login page again. The logout follows a logout link or form on the page; a page with none is said in the answer
+(`logout`), and the session is left to expire on the device.
+
 ## The event
 
-`scan.added`, on the wire `mesh.mod.brother.event.scan.added`; a consumer declares `brother.scan.added`. Its body:
+`scan.added`, said by this module, on the wire `mesh.mod.brother.event.scan.added`; a consumer declares `brother.scan.added`. Its body:
 `path`, `node`, `bytes`, `sha256`, `width-mm`, `height-mm`, `resolution` (dpi, as the scanner gave it),
 `color-mode`, `cropped`, `scanned-at` (RFC 3339, UTC).
 
@@ -63,4 +96,7 @@ Each directory or archive this module declares says how it treats a file it did
 ## Tests
 
 The unit tests use the captured answers of a real scanner (`cmd/brother/testdata/escl`, captured 2026-10-20) served
-by a test HTTP server; no test reaches a scanner.
+by a test HTTP server, the captured IPP exchange (`testdata/ipp`) replayed, and the captured login page
+(`testdata/admin/login-page.html`) served by a test TLS server with its own certificate. The pages behind the login
+are synthetic (`testdata/admin/synthetic-*.html`) until round 2 captures the real ones. No test reaches the real
+device.