diff --git a/checks/words/buildagent-allowed b/checks/words/buildagent-allowed
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..916dafcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/checks/words/buildagent-allowed
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# The modules of the catalogue whose texts still name the build agent or the toolchain images, and why (checks/words,
+# buildagent_test.go). One module directory a line, with its reason after a #. It only shrinks.
+modules/mesh-build-go  # build.go:45 says "the build agent's recipe" in a step's description: the asks lane's module (issue 1887), not E6's to edit
diff --git a/checks/words/buildagent_test.go b/checks/words/buildagent_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..febc6e29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/checks/words/buildagent_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// The build agent and the toolchain images are gone (novox/hq ADR 0524 §5, issue 1295 and E6 of milestone R4g): no text a module
+// can show names them. Where the word stands for a reason that is another lane's or still waits for its change, buildagent-allowed
+// names the module's directory with that reason and the date it is dated from; the list only shrinks: a directory on it that no
+// longer names the word is refused, so the line is taken out.
+var gone = []string{"build-agent", "build agent", "toolchain image"}
+
+func allowedModules(t *testing.T) map[string]string {
+	t.Helper()
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile("buildagent-allowed")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	out := map[string]string{}
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(string(raw), "\n") {
+		entry, why, _ := strings.Cut(line, "#")
+		if entry = strings.TrimSpace(entry); entry != "" && !strings.HasPrefix(line, "#") {
+			if strings.TrimSpace(why) == "" {
+				t.Fatalf("%q is allowed without a reason", entry)
+			}
+			out[entry] = strings.TrimSpace(why)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func TestNoTextOfTheCatalogueNamesTheBuildAgentOutsideTheModulesAllowed(t *testing.T) {
+	texts, _, err := collect("../..")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	allowed := allowedModules(t)
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, f := range check(gone, texts) {
+		module := f
+		if rest, ok := strings.CutPrefix(f, "modules/"); ok {
+			module = "modules/" + strings.SplitN(rest, "/", 2)[0]
+		}
+		if _, ok := allowed[module]; ok {
+			seen[module] = true
+			continue
+		}
+		t.Errorf("%s (the build agent and the toolchain images are gone: say what stands in their place)", f)
+	}
+	for module, why := range allowed {
+		if !seen[module] {
+			t.Errorf("buildagent-allowed names %s (%s), which names the word no more: take the line out, so it cannot come back", module, why)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/checks/words/main.go b/checks/words/main.go
index b9bfe776..9db6b1e6 100644
--- a/checks/words/main.go
+++ b/checks/words/main.go
@@ -58,41 +58,7 @@ func run(root string) int {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "words: retired-words lists no word — the check would pass on anything")
 		return 2
 	}
-	var texts []text
-	files := 0
-	err = filepath.WalkDir(filepath.Join(root, "modules"), func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if d.IsDir() {
-			switch d.Name() {
-			case "node_modules", "dist", "vendor", "test", "tests", "testdata", ".git":
-				return filepath.SkipDir
-			}
-			return nil
-		}
-		rel, _ := filepath.Rel(root, path)
-		name := d.Name()
-		var found []text
-		switch {
-		case strings.HasSuffix(name, "_test.go"), strings.Contains(name, ".test."), strings.Contains(name, ".spec."):
-			return nil
-		case strings.HasSuffix(name, ".go"):
-			found, err = goStrings(path, rel)
-		case strings.HasSuffix(name, ".ts"), strings.HasSuffix(name, ".js"), strings.HasSuffix(name, ".mjs"):
-			found, err = scriptStrings(path, rel)
-		case name == "module.json":
-			found, err = jsonStrings(path, rel)
-		default:
-			return nil
-		}
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", rel, err)
-		}
-		files++
-		texts = append(texts, found...)
-		return nil
-	})
+	texts, files, err := collect(root)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "words:", err)
 		return 2
@@ -128,6 +94,47 @@ func run(root string) int {
 	return 0
 }
 
+// collect reads every text a module can show under root: the strings of its own code that is not a test, and every string of
+// its manifests.
+func collect(root string) ([]text, int, error) {
+	var texts []text
+	files := 0
+	err := filepath.WalkDir(filepath.Join(root, "modules"), func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if d.IsDir() {
+			switch d.Name() {
+			case "node_modules", "dist", "vendor", "test", "tests", "testdata", ".git":
+				return filepath.SkipDir
+			}
+			return nil
+		}
+		rel, _ := filepath.Rel(root, path)
+		name := d.Name()
+		var found []text
+		switch {
+		case strings.HasSuffix(name, "_test.go"), strings.Contains(name, ".test."), strings.Contains(name, ".spec."):
+			return nil
+		case strings.HasSuffix(name, ".go"):
+			found, err = goStrings(path, rel)
+		case strings.HasSuffix(name, ".ts"), strings.HasSuffix(name, ".js"), strings.HasSuffix(name, ".mjs"):
+			found, err = scriptStrings(path, rel)
+		case name == "module.json":
+			found, err = jsonStrings(path, rel)
+		default:
+			return nil
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", rel, err)
+		}
+		files++
+		texts = append(texts, found...)
+		return nil
+	})
+	return texts, files, err
+}
+
 // readList reads retired-words: one word or phrase a line; blank lines and lines starting with # are not words.
 func readList(path string) ([]string, error) {
 	f, err := os.Open(path)
diff --git a/modules/claude-code/cmd/claude-code/proposals.go b/modules/claude-code/cmd/claude-code/proposals.go
index dbde6538..9f878b66 100644
--- a/modules/claude-code/cmd/claude-code/proposals.go
+++ b/modules/claude-code/cmd/claude-code/proposals.go
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ func HeardEnd(p Paths, store ProposalStore, w asks.Warrant, now time.Time) (stri
 		return "", nil
 	}
 	// Said to a proposer waiting on it only once the discard is kept: what it reads next is already there (the
-	// flake of the router's refusal test under a loaded build agent, 2026-10-12).
+	// flake of the router's refusal test under a loaded build node, 2026-10-12).
 	tell := func() {
 		endedMu.Lock()
 		ended[w.Ask] = w
diff --git a/modules/dev-tools/README.md b/modules/dev-tools/README.md
index 64eb8d9a..3bf50c27 100644
--- a/modules/dev-tools/README.md
+++ b/modules/dev-tools/README.md
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ Assign it to every node, with the `go` and `nodejs` modules: it requires their p
 | git and jq | `git`, `jq` | package |
 
 All are in the distribution's official repositories, so the node-engine's package manager installs them on any
-node. The versions are the distribution's: the toolchain images that run `mesh/repo-check` stay the judge of a
-pull request, and a local run is the developer's early answer, not the verdict.
+node. The versions are the distribution's: the build modules' toolchains, which the checker runs a pull request's tests with, stay the
+judge of a pull request, and a local run is the developer's early answer, not the verdict.
 
 Nothing else is placed: no file, no service, no environment. A module's own dependencies come from its lock
-file (`go.mod`, `package-lock.json`), as in the toolchain images.
+file (`go.mod`, `package-lock.json`), as in the build modules.
diff --git a/modules/gitea/README.md b/modules/gitea/README.md
index 6e204169..4db08d83 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/README.md
+++ b/modules/gitea/README.md
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ listed repository:
 - one in the organisation is only put right: main's rule narrowed, `mesh/check` required in place of
   `mesh/merge-gate` and `mesh/repo-check`, and every other status already there kept. A main that requires
   `mesh/repo-check` alone (hq's did, until issue 1296) is given `mesh/check` in its place too, since nothing writes
-  `mesh/repo-check` once build-agent is gone (ADR 0527 §2); `mesh/check` is never dropped.
+  `mesh/repo-check` once the merge check's second layer is gone (ADR 0527 §2); `mesh/check` is never dropped.
 
 Every other repository of the organisation whose main requires `mesh/merge-gate` or `mesh/repo-check` has the old statuses swapped
 for `mesh/check`, and only its statuses (issue 1301): the switch reaches every repository the merge gate judged, with
diff --git a/modules/gitea/cmd/repositories/repositories.go b/modules/gitea/cmd/repositories/repositories.go
index d1c8b000..a76ad993 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/cmd/repositories/repositories.go
+++ b/modules/gitea/cmd/repositories/repositories.go
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ const (
 
 // wanted is what a main rule requiring have should require: have with GateStatus and OwnCheckStatus replaced by
 // CheckStatus, every other status kept in its order (ADR 0447 §1). A rule requiring OwnCheckStatus alone, as hq's
-// did, is swapped too: the checker judges hq like any repository and nothing writes OwnCheckStatus once build-agent
-// is gone (ADR 0527 §2, issue 1296). This reads the rule, not a list of names (lead decision L11 of R4e).
+// did, is swapped too: the checker judges hq like any repository and nothing writes OwnCheckStatus once the merge
+// check's second layer is gone (ADR 0527 §2, issue 1296). This reads the rule, not a list of names (lead decision L11 of R4e).
 func wanted(have []string) []string {
 	out := []string{}
 	for _, s := range have {
diff --git a/modules/gitea/provisioner/teams.ts b/modules/gitea/provisioner/teams.ts
index 3183af79..61100be8 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/provisioner/teams.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/provisioner/teams.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // half of the provisioner around it — pure of the forge's address, so it is tested with a stand-in.
 //
 // **Two teams, by what the consumer said it needs** (novox/hq issue 624). A consumer that publishes —
-// the build agent, whose builds publish the SDK and every TypeScript module's packages — joins `packages`:
+// the build modules, whose builds publish the SDK and every TypeScript module's packages — joins `packages`:
 // code read on the org's repositories and write on its packages. A consumer that contributes
 // `{"access": "read"}` joins `readers`: code read and package read, and no write. The lab is the first: it
 // clones branches that are not yet reviewed and runs their code beside its credential, and code that is
diff --git a/modules/lab/tools/runs.ts b/modules/lab/tools/runs.ts
index c65bfb41..a253c069 100644
--- a/modules/lab/tools/runs.ts
+++ b/modules/lab/tools/runs.ts
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ export async function npmRegistry(forge: string, get: typeof fetch = fetch, publ
  * The forge credential a run's clones may present, as a git credential-store line —
  * scheme://user:password@host[:port] — for the forge's own origin, or undefined when the lab holds none.
  *
- * **The mesh's credential for the forge, the way the build agent holds it** (novox/hq issue 624): the lab
+ * **The mesh's credential for the forge, the way the build modules hold it** (novox/hq issue 624): the lab
  * requires the package registry, the forge's provisioner binds it an account (`as`) and seals that
  * account's password, and the forge that answers npm is the forge that hosts the repositories. Private
  * repositories (mesh-tools-go) are cloned with it; public ones clone as before. Written to a file git reads
diff --git a/modules/mesh-issues/README.md b/modules/mesh-issues/README.md
index 581a29b3..803adfc8 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-issues/README.md
+++ b/modules/mesh-issues/README.md
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ what it refuses.
 folders until the import, and hq ADR 0284): a status is one of `open`,
 `diagnosing`, `located`, `fixing`, `resolved`, `wontfix`; `diagnosing` and `fixing` need `by`; `located` needs
 `located-in`; `resolved` is reached only from `fixing` and needs `located-in` and `fixed-by`; a core issue (located in the controller, the node-engine, the tool runner,
-the SDK, or the catalogue's bus, forge or build agent) resolves with `replay` or `replay-none`; `wontfix`
+the SDK, the delivery parts, or the catalogue's bus, forge or build modules) resolves with `replay` or `replay-none`; `wontfix`
 needs a `reason`. A refused change changes nothing and says which rule refused it.
 
 **Who works on it** (hq ADR 0284). A move to `diagnosing` or `fixing` names in `by` the issue's **worker**: who
diff --git a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go
index 50ec850e..b29b45a9 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ func (o Owners) locatedIn(e string) (string, error) {
 
 // core is an owner whose issues are core issues (hq cycle.py, to-be 45): the controller, the node-engine,
 // the tool runner and the console, the SDK, the delivery parts, and the catalogue's bus, forge and build modules
-// (issue 1041; the build agent is gone, ADR 0524 §5).
+// (issue 1041; ADR 0524 §5).
 var core = regexp.MustCompile(`\b(mesh-controller|mesh-host|mesh-tools|mesh-sdk|node-tools|mesh-delivery|` +
 	`mesh-build-(go|node|image)|mesh-catalog\s+modules/(nats|gitea))\b`)
 
diff --git a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/tracker.go b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/tracker.go
index ec5adb20..327506f7 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/tracker.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/tracker.go
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ func cycleRules(is *Issue, from, to string) error {
 		}
 		if IsCore(is.LocatedIn) && is.Replay == "" && is.ReplayNone == "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("issue %d is a core issue (it is located in the controller, the node-engine, the tool "+
-				"runner, the SDK, or the catalogue's bus, forge or build agent): it resolves with replay, the replay's id "+
+				"runner, the SDK, the delivery parts, or the catalogue's bus, forge or build modules): it resolves with replay, the replay's id "+
 				"in mesh-lab's replays register, or replay-none, why no replay is possible (ADR 0237)", is.Number)
 		}
 	case StatusWontfix: