diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 26b5cfc0..0c8e31a7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ modules/mesh-watcher/mesh-watcher
 modules/dnsmasq/dnsmasq
 modules/mesh-delivery/mesh-delivery
 modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/mesh-issues
+modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/mounts
diff --git a/modules/mounts/README.md b/modules/mounts/README.md
index 20aff3ee..65cac223 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/README.md
+++ b/modules/mounts/README.md
@@ -11,15 +11,16 @@ provision `nfs-share`, which `nfs-server` provides on the machine that shares.
 ## What it owns
 
 - The packages `nfs-utils` and `cifs-utils`.
-- `/etc/mesh-mounts/mounts.conf`, placed by the mesh from the assignment: the settings `shares` and
-  `sources`, the binding of `nfs-share` (`from`, the sharing machine, and `at`, where it is reached on
-  the private network), the operator account, and where the module's secret is.
+- `/etc/mesh-mounts/mounts.conf`, placed by the mesh from the assignment: the settings `shares`,
+  and `sources`, the binding of `nfs-share` (`from`, the sharing machine, and `at`, where it is
+  reached on the private network), the operator account, and where the module's secrets are placed.
 - One `.mount` and one `.automount` unit per share or source, in `/etc/systemd/system`, named as
   `systemd-escape --path` names the mount point and opened by the marker
   `# Written by the mesh (module mounts, novox/hq ADR 0263).` A unit file without that marker is not the
   module's: it is never written over, stopped or removed, and the share whose mount point it holds is
   said as not set up.
-- The SMB logins, one file per source in the module's state directory, readable by root only.
+- The SMB logins, one credentials file per source in the module's state directory, readable by root only,
+  written from the source's username and password.
 - `/var/lib/mesh-mounts/from-bus` (the bundle's: what the sharing machine exports) and `/run/mesh-mounts`
   (the processes': what was applied and what was found).
 
@@ -58,53 +59,49 @@ read-write share is mounted hard, so a write is never dropped while the server i
 
 ## Settings
 
-Both are preferences whose default, `none`, mounts nothing (ADR 0262 allows no empty default).
+Both are preferences whose default, `none`, names nothing (ADR 0262 allows no empty default).
 
 - `shares`: space-separated `name=mountpoint`, each optionally `:ro`. The name is the share's on the
   sharing machine; its path there comes from that machine over the bus, never from this setting.
   For example `library=/srv/library downloads=/srv/downloads:ro`.
 - `sources`: space-separated occasional sources, each optionally `:ro`:
-  `name=smb://<host>/<share>@<mountpoint>` or `name=disk:<filesystem uuid>@<mountpoint>`.
-  For example `games=smb://192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games`.
+  `name=smb://[<user>@]<host>/<share>@<mountpoint>` or `name=disk:<filesystem uuid>@<mountpoint>`.
+  For example `games=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games`; the host is a name or an IPv4 address. An SMB
+  source's username is in its entry: it is not a secret (novox/hq ADR 0283). It is percent-decoded, so a device that needs a domain takes it as
+  `WORKGROUP%5Cuser` (for `WORKGROUP\user`), and an `@` in it is written `%40`; it holds no space, comma or
+  `=`. A password never goes in the entry: `user:password@` is refused, saying so and never what was
+  written. An entry that cannot be read whole is said as malformed by its position alone ("entry 2 of sources
+  is malformed: …"), never with its name or anything else it holds.
 
 A mount point is an absolute, plainly written path, not a directory of the system's own (`/etc`, `/usr`,
 `/run`, …). An entry that cannot be read is said, and only that entry is left out.
 
-## The secret
+Both are trusted settings: an agent proposes them (`settings propose mounts … --node <node>`) and the
+operator approves the change on their phone; it is set on that approval and pushed after (ADR 0277).
 
-`smb-credentials` is the module's own secret, issued by an outside party (the device's owner), so the mesh
-never makes one in its place. It holds one login per SMB source, named by the source's name in brackets.
+## The secrets
 
-The operator gives it at the desk with `secret ask <node> mounts smb-credentials` (ADR 0277): a one-line
-prompt opens that shows nothing of what is typed, and the login is typed as one line, the keys
-space-separated after the name:
+Each SMB source's password is its own secret, `smb-password-<source>`: a member of the module's secret
+family `smb-password-*`, issued by an outside party (the device's owner). The mesh never makes a value for
+a member (ADR 0283), so one not given is no file, and the module reads that as not given.
 
-```
-[games] username=… password=…
-```
+The operator gives it at the desk: an agent asks for it with the controller's `secret-ask` verb (or the
+operator runs `secret ask <node> mounts smb-password-<source>`), a prompt opens on that machine's desk that
+shows nothing of what is typed and names the module, the secret and who asked, and the password is typed
+as one line (ADR 0277). It may also be given from a file at the controller's terminal with
+`secret accept <node> mounts smb-password-<source> --from <file>`.
 
-`password=` is last and takes everything after it to the end of the line, so a password may hold spaces
-and `=`; `domain=`, when the device wants one, comes before it. The line is read trimmed, so a password
-does not end with a space; after `password=` it is kept as typed, so it may begin with one. Several
-sources are several such lines, which the prompt cannot take at once: a file can, given with
-`secret accept <node> mounts smb-credentials --from <file>`, holding
-one line per source, or one section per source with one key a line:
+The file is read as one line: one trailing line break is dropped and everything else is kept as typed, so
+a password may hold spaces and `=`. An empty file is not given. A file of more than one line is refused,
+saying so and never what it holds; give it again. No tool answers a password: the options, fstab lines and
+mountinfo the tools read are redacted.
 
-```
-[games]
-username=…
-password=…
-domain=…        (optional)
-```
-
-Both forms give the same login, and a file may mix them. A line the module cannot read is said with the
-form it expected, never with what was typed. A source whose login is missing is not mounted, and is said
-with that remedy. No tool answers a password: the options, fstab lines and mountinfo the tools read are
-redacted.
+A source whose username or password is not given is not mounted. It is said `waiting`, naming the setting
+or the secret it waits for, and the module's health answers *waits* (below).
 
 ## The processes and the bus
 
-- `apply` (root, judged by its unit) writes and removes the unit pairs and the logins, makes a missing
+- `apply` (root, judged by its unit) writes and removes the unit pairs and the credentials files, makes a missing
   mount point, reloads the service manager when anything changed and arms every automount, every 30 s.
 - `watch` (root, judged by `mounts_health`) tries each source without touching its mount point — TCP 2049
   for a node's share, 445 for an SMB source, the device for a disk — and says each one's state.
@@ -144,15 +141,25 @@ And what it never does:
 
 The states: `armed` (the automount waits), `mounted`, `absent` (an occasional source that is not there —
 a state, not a fault), `unreachable` (should be there and is not), `failed` (tried and refused, or not
-set up; `why` says which).
+set up; `why` says which), `waiting` (an SMB source whose username or password the operator has not
+given; `waits` names the setting or the secret).
 
 ## Health
 
+The answer is mesh-sdk's (`go/health`): healthy, unhealthy, or waits (novox/hq ADR 0283).
+
 Unhealthy when a share that should always be there has been unreachable or failed for five minutes ("The
 share library of <machine> is not reachable from this machine since 19:21."), when an automount is not
-armed, when something the settings name cannot be set up (a missing login, a unit file that is not the
-module's), or when `watch` has not looked for two minutes. An occasional source that is absent is
-healthy, and said as not present since when.
+armed, when something the settings name cannot be set up (a unit file that is not the module's, a
+password of more than one line), or when `watch` has not looked for two minutes. An occasional source that
+is absent is healthy, and said as not present since when.
+
+A source waiting for its username or password is not a fault. With nothing else found, the answer is
+*waits*, with one wait per thing not given: the setting `sources` ("the username of the source games, in
+its entry of sources") or the secret `smb-password-games` ("the password of the source games"). The node-engine states the
+resource `waiting`, the controller says it to the operator as needing them, naming the act, and the
+first-node gate does not fail a build for it. Beside a fault, the waits are said and the answer is
+unhealthy.
 
 ## Taking over a hand-written line
 
diff --git a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/apply.go b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/apply.go
index 54e8016d..97cb80da 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/apply.go
+++ b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/apply.go
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/fs"
 	"net"
 	"os"
 	"os/user"
@@ -28,6 +30,8 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/health"
 )
 
 // LookEvery is how often the process looks.
@@ -48,6 +52,9 @@ const (
 	StateAbsent      = "absent"      // an occasional source that is not there: a state, not a fault
 	StateUnreachable = "unreachable" // should be there and is not
 	StateFailed      = "failed"      // tried and refused, or not set up; why says which
+	// StateWaiting is a source that cannot be set up until the operator gives its username or password
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0283): not a fault, said with what it waits for.
+	StateWaiting = "waiting"
 )
 
 // ExportsAnswer is what the bundle left from the sharing machine's `node-nfs-server.exports`.
@@ -74,6 +81,9 @@ type ShareStatus struct {
 	Why        string `json:"why,omitempty"`
 	MountUnit  string `json:"mount_unit,omitempty"`
 	AutoUnit   string `json:"automount_unit,omitempty"`
+	// Waits is what a waiting source waits for: its username in the setting sources, or its secret
+	// smb-password-<source>.
+	Waits []health.Wait `json:"waits,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Status is what one look found.
@@ -272,23 +282,6 @@ func (a *Applier) Look(ctx context.Context) Status {
 		}
 	}
 
-	var creds map[string]SMBCredential
-	needCreds := false
-	for _, s := range cfg.Sources {
-		needCreds = needCreds || s.Kind == "smb"
-	}
-	if needCreds {
-		secret, err := a.M.read(cfg.Secret)
-		if cfg.Secret == "" || err != nil {
-			st.Problems = append(st.Problems, "the module's secret smb-credentials is not on this machine")
-		} else {
-			var p []string
-			creds, p = ParseSMBCredentials(secret)
-			for _, x := range p {
-				st.Problems = append(st.Problems, "smb-credentials: "+x)
-			}
-		}
-	}
 	uid, gid := -1, -1
 	if cfg.Account != "" && a.Lookup != nil {
 		if u, g, err := a.Lookup(cfg.Account); err == nil {
@@ -300,11 +293,22 @@ func (a *Applier) Look(ctx context.Context) Status {
 		case "disk":
 			pairs = append(pairs, DiskPair(s))
 		case "smb":
-			c, ok := creds[s.Name]
-			if !ok || cfg.State == "" {
+			c, waits, why := a.login(cfg, s)
+			switch {
+			case why != "":
+				notSet[s.Name] = ShareStatus{Name: s.Name, Kind: "smb", Occasional: true, Mountpoint: s.Mountpoint, State: StateFailed, Why: why}
+				continue
+			case len(waits) > 0:
+				var gives []string
+				for _, w := range waits {
+					gives = append(gives, w.What+" ("+w.Names()+")")
+				}
+				notSet[s.Name] = ShareStatus{Name: s.Name, Kind: "smb", Occasional: true, Mountpoint: s.Mountpoint, State: StateWaiting,
+					Why: "it waits for the operator to give " + strings.Join(gives, " and "), Waits: waits}
+				continue
+			case cfg.State == "":
 				notSet[s.Name] = ShareStatus{Name: s.Name, Kind: "smb", Occasional: true, Mountpoint: s.Mountpoint, State: StateFailed,
-					Why: fmt.Sprintf("its login is not given: at the desk, `secret ask <node> mounts smb-credentials` and type one line `[%s] username=… password=…`; "+
-						"or put a [%s] section in a file and `secret accept <node> mounts smb-credentials --from <file>`", s.Name, s.Name)}
+					Why: "the module's state directory is not named in its configuration, so no credentials file can be written"}
 				continue
 			}
 			file := filepath.Join(cfg.State, "smb-"+s.Name+".credentials")
@@ -701,3 +705,50 @@ func orInterval(d, otherwise time.Duration) time.Duration {
 	}
 	return otherwise
 }
+
+// login is an SMB source's login, or what it waits for, or why it cannot be read. The password is read as
+// one line from the source's own secret; it is never said, and neither is anything the file holds.
+func (a *Applier) login(cfg Config, s Source) (SMBCredential, []health.Wait, string) {
+	var waits []health.Wait
+	source, user := s.Name, s.User
+	part := "the source " + source
+	if user == "" {
+		waits = append(waits, health.Wait{Part: part, Setting: "sources",
+			What: "the username of the source " + source + ", in its entry of sources"})
+	}
+	// Never a relative path: without the directory the mesh places the passwords in, nothing is read.
+	if !filepath.IsAbs(cfg.Passwords) {
+		return SMBCredential{}, nil, "the module's configuration names no directory for its passwords, so " +
+			PasswordSecret(source) + " cannot be read"
+	}
+	var password string
+	raw, err := a.M.read(PasswordFile(cfg.Passwords, source))
+	switch {
+	case errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist):
+		waits = append(waits, health.Wait{Part: part, Secret: PasswordSecret(source), What: "the password of the source " + source})
+	case err != nil:
+		return SMBCredential{}, nil, "its password " + PasswordSecret(source) + " could not be read: " + bare(err)
+	default:
+		pw, given, perr := ReadPassword(raw)
+		if perr != nil {
+			return SMBCredential{}, nil, "its password " + PasswordSecret(source) + " " + perr.Error() + ": give it again"
+		}
+		if !given {
+			waits = append(waits, health.Wait{Part: part, Secret: PasswordSecret(source), What: "the password of the source " + source})
+		}
+		password = pw
+	}
+	if len(waits) > 0 {
+		return SMBCredential{}, waits, ""
+	}
+	return SMBCredential{Username: user, Password: password}, nil, ""
+}
+
+// bare is an error without the path it names: the reason alone.
+func bare(err error) string {
+	var pe *fs.PathError
+	if errors.As(err, &pe) {
+		return pe.Err.Error()
+	}
+	return err.Error()
+}
diff --git a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/config.go b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/config.go
index bb41c280..b6922e4d 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/config.go
+++ b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/config.go
@@ -6,14 +6,16 @@ package main
 // The mesh renders ConfigFile from the assignment: the settings `shares` and `sources`, and the binding
 // of the provision `nfs-share` (`from`, the machine that shares, and `at`, where it is reached). The
 // long-running process reads it as root and writes the mount units; the bundle reads it as the operator
-// account to read what the sharing machine exports from the bus. Nothing in it is secret: the SMB credentials are the
-// module's own secret, in a file only root reads.
+// account to read what the sharing machine exports from the bus. Nothing in it is secret: an SMB source's username is in its
+// entry of sources, and its password the module's own secret smb-password-<source>, in a file only root reads.
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"net/url"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
+	"unicode"
 )
 
 // Where the module keeps its things. ConfigFile is placed by the mesh; the rest by the module's code.
@@ -41,11 +43,12 @@ type Config struct {
 	// reached on the private network (the binding's `at`).
 	Server string `json:"server,omitempty"`
 	At     string `json:"at,omitempty"`
-	// Secret is the path of the module's own secret `smb-credentials`; State is the module's state
-	// directory, where the per-source credentials files are written.
-	Secret  string `json:"secret,omitempty"`
-	State   string `json:"state,omitempty"`
-	Account string `json:"account,omitempty"`
+	// Passwords is the directory where the mesh places each SMB source's password,
+	// `smb-password-<source>.secret` (ADR 0283); State is the module's state directory, where the
+	// per-source credentials files are written.
+	Passwords string `json:"passwords,omitempty"`
+	State     string `json:"state,omitempty"`
+	Account   string `json:"account,omitempty"`
 	// Node is this machine's name: a share this machine serves itself is never mounted onto it.
 	Node string `json:"node,omitempty"`
 	// Problems are what in the file could not be read; each is said, and its share is left out.
@@ -65,10 +68,13 @@ type Wanted struct {
 
 // Source is one occasional source: a device that is not a node and is not always there.
 type Source struct {
-	Name       string `json:"name"`
-	Kind       string `json:"kind"` // smb or disk
-	Host       string `json:"host,omitempty"`
-	Share      string `json:"share,omitempty"`
+	Name  string `json:"name"`
+	Kind  string `json:"kind"` // smb or disk
+	Host  string `json:"host,omitempty"`
+	Share string `json:"share,omitempty"`
+	// User is an SMB source's username, from its entry (`smb://<user>@<host>/<share>`), percent-decoded;
+	// empty when the entry names none, and the source then waits for it (ADR 0283). Not a secret.
+	User       string `json:"user,omitempty"`
 	UUID       string `json:"uuid,omitempty"`
 	Mountpoint string `json:"mountpoint"`
 	ReadOnly   bool   `json:"read_only"`
@@ -157,49 +163,48 @@ func ParseSources(v string) ([]Source, []string) {
 	var out []Source
 	var problems []string
 	seen := map[string]bool{}
-	for _, e := range entries(v) {
+	// **Nothing an entry holds is said back until the whole entry has read**: an entry may carry a password
+	// where the user goes, in any scheme, and a password with a space or a comma splits it in two, whose
+	// tail may itself look like name=…. A malformed entry is named by its position alone.
+	for i, e := range entries(v) {
 		name, rest, ok := strings.Cut(e, "=")
-		if !ok {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %q is not name=<where>@<mountpoint>", e))
-			continue
-		}
-		if !nameRe.MatchString(name) {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source name %q is not lower-case letters, digits and dashes", name))
+		if !ok || !nameRe.MatchString(name) {
+			problems = append(problems, malformed(i, "it is not name=<where>@<mountpoint>, its name lower-case letters, digits and dashes"))
 			continue
 		}
 		at := strings.LastIndex(rest, "@")
 		if at < 0 {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s names no mount point (…@<mountpoint>)", name))
+			problems = append(problems, malformed(i, "it names no mount point (…@<mountpoint>)"))
 			continue
 		}
 		where, pointRO := rest[:at], rest[at+1:]
 		point, ro := readOnly(pointRO)
-		if err := CheckMountpoint(point); err != nil {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s: %v", name, err))
+		if CheckMountpoint(point) != nil {
+			problems = append(problems, malformed(i, "its mount point is not an absolute, plainly written path outside the system's own directories"))
 			continue
 		}
 		s := Source{Name: name, Mountpoint: point, ReadOnly: ro}
 		switch {
 		case strings.HasPrefix(where, "smb://"):
-			host, share, ok := strings.Cut(strings.TrimPrefix(where, "smb://"), "/")
-			if !ok || !hostRe.MatchString(host) || !shareRe.MatchString(share) {
-				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s: %q is not smb://<host>/<share>", name, where))
+			user, host, share, problem := parseSMB(strings.TrimPrefix(where, "smb://"))
+			if problem != "" {
+				problems = append(problems, malformed(i, problem))
 				continue
 			}
-			s.Kind, s.Host, s.Share = "smb", host, share
+			s.Kind, s.User, s.Host, s.Share = "smb", user, host, share
 		case strings.HasPrefix(where, "disk:"):
 			uuid := strings.TrimPrefix(where, "disk:")
 			if !uuidRe.MatchString(uuid) {
-				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s: %q is not disk:<filesystem uuid>", name, where))
+				problems = append(problems, malformed(i, "it is not disk:<filesystem uuid>"))
 				continue
 			}
 			s.Kind, s.UUID = "disk", uuid
 		default:
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s: %q is neither smb://<host>/<share> nor disk:<uuid>", name, where))
+			problems = append(problems, malformed(i, "it is neither smb://[<user>@]<host>/<share> nor disk:<uuid>"))
 			continue
 		}
 		if seen[name] || seen["@"+point] {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s or its mount point %s is named twice", name, point))
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s or its mount point is named twice", name))
 			continue
 		}
 		seen[name], seen["@"+point] = true, true
@@ -208,6 +213,11 @@ func ParseSources(v string) ([]Source, []string) {
 	return out, problems
 }
 
+// malformed is a problem with the i-th entry of sources, by its position alone: nothing it holds is said.
+func malformed(i int, why string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("entry %d of sources is malformed: %s", i+1, why)
+}
+
 // ParseConfig reads the rendered file: `key=value` lines.
 func ParseConfig(text string) Config {
 	kv := map[string]string{}
@@ -229,7 +239,10 @@ func ParseConfig(text string) Config {
 	c.Sources, p = ParseSources(kv["sources"])
 	c.Problems = append(c.Problems, p...)
 	c.Unreadable = append(c.Unreadable, p...)
-	c.Server, c.At, c.Secret, c.State, c.Account = kv["server"], kv["at"], kv["secret"], kv["state"], kv["account"]
+	c.Server, c.At, c.Passwords, c.State, c.Account = kv["server"], kv["at"], kv["passwords"], kv["state"], kv["account"]
+	if c.Passwords == "" {
+		c.Passwords = c.State
+	}
 	c.Node = kv["node"]
 	if c.At != "" && !hostRe.MatchString(c.At) {
 		c.Problems = append(c.Problems, fmt.Sprintf("the sharing machine's address %q is not a name or an address", c.At))
@@ -242,7 +255,7 @@ func ParseConfig(text string) Config {
 	kept := c.Sources[:0]
 	for _, s := range c.Sources {
 		if other, dup := points[s.Mountpoint]; dup {
-			c.Problems = append(c.Problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s mounts at %s, where the share %s already does", s.Name, s.Mountpoint, other))
+			c.Problems = append(c.Problems, fmt.Sprintf("the source %s mounts where the share %s already does", s.Name, other))
 			continue
 		}
 		kept = append(kept, s)
@@ -263,174 +276,69 @@ func (c Config) ServerNode() string {
 	return first
 }
 
-// SMBCredential is one source's login, from the module's own secret.
+// SMBCredential is one source's login: the username from its entry of `sources`, the password from the
+// source's own secret `smb-password-<source>` (novox/hq ADR 0283).
 type SMBCredential struct {
 	Username string
 	Password string
-	Domain   string
 }
 
-// SMBOneLineForm is the form of a login the operator types at the desk's one-line prompt (`secret ask`,
-// novox/hq ADR 0277), said in every refusal so the operator knows what to type next.
-const SMBOneLineForm = "[<source>] username=… password=…"
+// PasswordSecret is the name of a source's password: a member of the module's secret family
+// `smb-password-*`, given by that full name (`secret ask <node> mounts smb-password-<source>`).
+func PasswordSecret(source string) string { return "smb-password-" + source }
 
-// ParseSMBCredentials reads the secret `smb-credentials`: one login per SMB source, named by its section.
-// A login is one line, as typed at the desk's prompt (ADR 0277), with the source's name in brackets and
-// the keys after it, space-separated:
-//
-//	[name] username=… password=…
-//
-// `password=` is last and takes everything after it to the end of the line, so a password may hold spaces
-// and `=`; `domain=`, when given, comes before it. Or a login is a section of a file, as `secret accept
-// --from <file>` takes it, one key a line:
-//
-//	[name]
-//	username=…
-//	password=…
-//	domain=…        (optional)
-//
-// The two forms give the same login, and a file may mix them. A line is read trimmed, so a password does
-// not end with a space; after `password=` it is kept as typed, so it may begin with one. The values are
-// never answered by any tool; a problem names the line or the section, never a value nor a key the
-// operator typed.
-func ParseSMBCredentials(text string) (map[string]SMBCredential, []string) {
-	out := map[string]SMBCredential{}
-	var problems []string
-	// section is the open section of the file form, whose key=value lines follow; "" is none. A one-line
-	// login closes it, so a key on a later line cannot land in a login given whole.
-	section := ""
-	for i, raw := range strings.Split(text, "\n") {
-		line := strings.TrimSpace(raw)
-		if line == "" || strings.HasPrefix(line, "#") || strings.HasPrefix(line, ";") {
-			continue
-		}
-		if !strings.HasPrefix(line, "[") {
-			if section == "" {
-				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("line %d is outside a [section]: a login is one line as %s, or a [section] with username= and password= lines", i+1, SMBOneLineForm))
-				continue
-			}
-			k, v, ok := strings.Cut(line, "=")
-			if !ok {
-				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("line %d in [%s] is not key=value", i+1, section))
-				continue
-			}
-			c := out[section]
-			if !c.read(k, v) {
-				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("[%s] has a key this module does not read; it reads username, password and domain", section))
-			}
-			out[section] = c
-			continue
-		}
-		// `[` opens a section: the file form when nothing follows the `]` on the line, the one-line form when
-		// the keys do. The name is the first `]`'s, and a source's name holds no `]`, so nothing typed after it
-		// can open or close another section.
-		section = ""
-		name, rest, closed := strings.Cut(line[1:], "]")
-		name = strings.TrimSpace(name)
-		if !closed || !nameRe.MatchString(name) {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("line %d opens no source: the name in brackets is lower-case letters, digits and dashes, as %s", i+1, SMBOneLineForm))
-			continue
-		}
-		if _, dup := out[name]; dup {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("the section [%s] is given twice; the first is kept", name))
-			continue
-		}
-		if strings.TrimSpace(rest) == "" {
-			out[name] = SMBCredential{}
-			section = name
-			continue
-		}
-		// From here the line may be a password typed alone that happens to start like a name, so until it
-		// reads as a login nothing of it is said: not the name, not what follows it.
-		if rest[0] != ' ' && rest[0] != '\t' {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("line %d: the name in brackets is not followed by a space; the one-line form is %s", i+1, SMBOneLineForm))
-			continue
-		}
-		c, ok := readOneLineLogin(rest)
-		if !ok {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("line %d: what follows the name in brackets is not key=value pairs; the one-line form is %s, password last", i+1, SMBOneLineForm))
-			continue
-		}
-		if c.unknownKey {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("[%s] has a key this module does not read; it reads username, password and domain", name))
-		}
-		out[name] = c.SMBCredential
-	}
-	// A login that cannot be used is not answered at all: apply says the source as not set up, rather than
-	// writing a credentials file with a hole in it.
-	for name, c := range out {
-		if c.Username == "" {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("[%s] gives no username; a login is %s", name, SMBOneLineForm))
-			delete(out, name)
-		}
-		if strings.ContainsAny(c.Username+c.Password+c.Domain, "\n") {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("[%s] holds a line break", name))
-			delete(out, name)
-		}
-	}
-	return out, problems
+// PasswordFile is where the mesh places a source's password, in the directory the config names.
+func PasswordFile(dir, source string) string {
+	return filepath.Join(dir, PasswordSecret(source)+".secret")
 }
 
-// read puts one key's value in the login and says whether the key is one this module reads. The key is
-// matched lower-cased and trimmed; a username or domain is trimmed, a password is kept as given.
-func (c *SMBCredential) read(k, v string) bool {
-	switch strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(k)) {
-	case "username", "user":
-		c.Username = strings.TrimSpace(v)
-	case "password", "pass":
-		c.Password = v
-	case "domain":
-		c.Domain = strings.TrimSpace(v)
-	default:
-		return false
+// userRe is a username mount.cifs takes on its own line: no space, no `=`, no line break, nothing that
+// would end the line early.
+var userRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^[^\s=,]{1,64}$`)
+
+// parseSMB reads what follows smb:// in a source's entry: `[<user>@]<host>/<share>`. The user is
+// percent-decoded, so `DOMAIN%5Cuser` or a user holding `@` can be written; a password in its place
+// (`user:pass@`) is refused, and no problem says anything of what was written.
+func parseSMB(body string) (user, host, share, problem string) {
+	const form = "is not smb://[<user>@]<host>/<share>, the host a name or an IPv4 address"
+	if at := strings.LastIndex(body, "@"); at >= 0 {
+		raw := body[:at]
+		body = body[at+1:]
+		switch {
+		case strings.Contains(raw, ":"):
+			return "", "", "", "it carries a password in the URL; a password is given as the secret smb-password-<source>, never in a setting"
+		case strings.Contains(raw, "@"):
+			return "", "", "", "its user holds an @; write it %40"
+		}
+		decoded, err := url.PathUnescape(raw)
+		if err != nil || !userRe.MatchString(decoded) || strings.IndexFunc(decoded, unicode.IsControl) >= 0 {
+			return "", "", "", "its user is not a username without spaces, commas, = or control characters (percent-encode a \\ or an @ in it)"
+		}
+		user = decoded
 	}
-	return true
+	host, share, ok := strings.Cut(body, "/")
+	if !ok || !hostRe.MatchString(host) || !shareRe.MatchString(share) {
+		return "", "", "", form
+	}
+	return user, host, share, ""
 }
 
-// oneLineLogin is a login read from the one-line form, and whether a key in it is one this module does
-// not read (said by the caller; the key itself is never said).
-type oneLineLogin struct {
-	SMBCredential
-	unknownKey bool
-}
-
-// readOneLineLogin reads what follows `[name]` on a line: space-separated key=value pairs, where
-// `password=` takes everything after it to the end of the line and so is last. It is not ok when a
-// word is not key=value: that word is never said, as it may be the password typed without its key.
-func readOneLineLogin(rest string) (oneLineLogin, bool) {
-	var c oneLineLogin
-	for {
-		rest = strings.TrimLeft(rest, " \t")
-		if rest == "" {
-			return c, true
-		}
-		word := rest
-		if sp := strings.IndexAny(rest, " \t"); sp >= 0 {
-			word = rest[:sp]
-		}
-		k, v, ok := strings.Cut(word, "=")
-		key := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(k))
-		if !ok || key == "" {
-			return oneLineLogin{}, false
-		}
-		switch key {
-		case "password", "pass":
-			// To the end of the line: a password may hold spaces and `=`.
-			c.read(key, rest[len(k)+1:])
-			return c, true
-		}
-		if !c.read(key, v) {
-			c.unknownKey = true
-		}
-		rest = rest[len(word):]
+// ReadPassword reads a source's password secret as one line, as typed at the desk's hidden prompt (ADR
+// 0277): one trailing line break is dropped, everything else is kept as typed, so a password may hold
+// spaces and `=`. Empty is not given. A second line is refused: it is said, never what it holds.
+func ReadPassword(text string) (password string, given bool, err error) {
+	text = strings.TrimSuffix(text, "\n")
+	text = strings.TrimSuffix(text, "\r")
+	if text == "" {
+		return "", false, nil
 	}
+	if strings.ContainsAny(text, "\n\r") {
+		return "", true, fmt.Errorf("holds more than one line; a password is one line")
+	}
+	return text, true, nil
 }
 
 // CredentialsFile is a source's credentials in mount.cifs's format.
 func (c SMBCredential) CredentialsFile() string {
-	s := "username=" + c.Username + "\npassword=" + c.Password + "\n"
-	if c.Domain != "" {
-		s += "domain=" + c.Domain + "\n"
-	}
-	return s
+	return "username=" + c.Username + "\npassword=" + c.Password + "\n"
 }
diff --git a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/failed_test.go b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/failed_test.go
index 2b03ae2e..38431990 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/failed_test.go
+++ b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/failed_test.go
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ func TestTheFailureOfTheUnitTheModuleTakesOverIsCleared(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestAMountThatFailedBecauseItsSourceWasAwayIsCleared(t *testing.T) {
 	f := newSystem(t)
-	f.write(ConfigFile, "shares=library=/srv/library\nsources=games=smb://192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\n"+
+	f.write(ConfigFile, "shares=library=/srv/library\nsources=games=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\n"+
 		"server=homeserver\nat=192.0.2.10\nnode=workstation\naccount=operator\n"+
-		"secret=/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-credentials.secret\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n")
+		"passwords=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n")
 	f.write(ExportsFile, exportsAnswer(t, library))
-	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-credentials.secret", "[games]\nusername=root\npassword="+testPassword+"\n")
+	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-password-games.secret", testPassword+"\n")
 	a := f.applier(time.Date(2026, 10, 9, 14, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC))
 	a.Look(context.Background()) // writes and arms both pairs; neither source answers
 	f.calls = nil
diff --git a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/health.go b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/health.go
index cdd5ce0b..e966a293 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/health.go
+++ b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/health.go
@@ -5,20 +5,23 @@ package main
 // Unhealthy when a share that should always be there has been unreachable or failed for five minutes,
 // when an automount is not armed, when something the settings name cannot be set up, or when the
 // process has not looked for two minutes. An occasional source that is absent is healthy: it is said as
-// not present since when, and raises nothing.
+// not present since when, and raises nothing. A source waiting for the operator's username or password is
+// not a fault: when nothing else is found the answer is *waits*, naming each (novox/hq ADR 0283).
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/health"
 )
 
-// Health is the answer the node-engine reads from a tool check.
+// Health is the answer the node-engine reads from a tool check: mesh-sdk's answer (state, healthy, why,
+// waits), with what was found and what was said beside it.
 type Health struct {
-	Healthy bool     `json:"healthy"`
-	Why     string   `json:"why"`
-	Found   []string `json:"found,omitempty"`
-	Said    []string `json:"said,omitempty"`
+	health.Answer
+	Found []string `json:"found,omitempty"`
+	Said  []string `json:"said,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Grace is how long a share may be away before it is a fault; Stale how old the process's look may be.
@@ -38,10 +41,11 @@ func clock(ts string) string {
 // Judge is the health of one status at a moment.
 func Judge(st Status, readErr error, now time.Time) Health {
 	if readErr != nil {
-		return Health{Healthy: false, Why: "The module's process has left no account of this machine's mounts (" + readErr.Error() + ").",
+		return Health{Answer: health.Unhealthy("The module's process has left no account of this machine's mounts (" + readErr.Error() + ")."),
 			Found: []string{"no status"}}
 	}
-	var found, said []string
+	var found, said, waiting []string
+	var waits []health.Wait
 	if looked, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, st.Looked); err != nil || now.Sub(looked) > Stale {
 		found = append(found, fmt.Sprintf("The module's process last looked at %s, more than two minutes ago.", clock(st.Looked)))
 	}
@@ -58,6 +62,10 @@ func Judge(st Status, readErr error, now time.Time) Health {
 		switch s.State {
 		case StateMounted, StateArmed:
 			said = append(said, fmt.Sprintf("%s at %s: %s since %s.", s.Name, s.Mountpoint, s.State, clock(s.Since)))
+		case StateWaiting:
+			waiting = append(waiting, fmt.Sprintf("The source %s at %s is not mounted since %s: %s.", s.Name, s.Mountpoint, clock(s.Since),
+				strings.TrimSuffix(s.Why, ".")))
+			waits = append(waits, s.Waits...)
 		case StateAbsent:
 			said = append(said, fmt.Sprintf("%s at %s: not present since %s.", s.Name, s.Mountpoint, clock(s.Since)))
 		case StateUnreachable:
@@ -73,7 +81,7 @@ func Judge(st Status, readErr error, now time.Time) Health {
 		default:
 			line := fmt.Sprintf("The %s %s at %s cannot be mounted since %s: %s.", map[bool]string{true: "source", false: "share"}[s.Occasional],
 				s.Name, s.Mountpoint, clock(s.Since), strings.TrimSuffix(s.Why, "."))
-			if long || strings.Contains(s.Why, "not armed") || strings.Contains(s.Why, "not the module's") || strings.Contains(s.Why, "not given") {
+			if long || strings.Contains(s.Why, "not armed") || strings.Contains(s.Why, "not the module's") {
 				found = append(found, line)
 			} else {
 				said = append(said, line+" Raised after five minutes.")
@@ -81,13 +89,16 @@ func Judge(st Status, readErr error, now time.Time) Health {
 		}
 	}
 	if len(found) > 0 {
-		return Health{Healthy: false, Why: strings.Join(found, " "), Found: found, Said: said}
+		return Health{Answer: health.Unhealthy(strings.Join(append(found, waiting...), " "), waits...), Found: found, Said: append(said, waiting...)}
+	}
+	if len(waits) > 0 {
+		return Health{Answer: health.Waiting(strings.Join(waiting, " "), waits...), Said: append(said, waiting...)}
 	}
 	why := "Every share this machine is asked to mount is armed or mounted, and every occasional source is armed, mounted or not present."
 	if len(st.Shares) == 0 {
 		why = "This machine is asked to mount nothing."
 	}
-	return Health{Healthy: true, Why: why, Said: said}
+	return Health{Answer: health.Healthy(why), Said: said}
 }
 
 // Health reads the process's last look and judges it.
diff --git a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/manifest_test.go b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/manifest_test.go
index 9676f26f..ea95543a 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/manifest_test.go
+++ b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/manifest_test.go
@@ -82,9 +82,17 @@ func TestTheManifestNamesWhatTheBundleServesAndWhatItNeeds(t *testing.T) {
 	if len(m.State) != 1 || m.State[0]["name"] != SharesState || m.State[0]["per-machine"] != true {
 		t.Errorf("state %v", m.State)
 	}
-	sec := m.OwnSecrets["smb-credentials"]
-	if sec["issued-by"] != "outside" || sec["taken"] != "at-start" || !strings.HasPrefix(sec["path"], "${dir:state}/") {
-		t.Errorf("the SMB logins are an outside party's, given with secret accept: %v", sec)
+	// Each SMB source's password is its own one-line secret, a member of a family the mesh never makes a value
+	// for (novox/hq ADR 0283), placed where the process looks for it.
+	sec := m.OwnSecrets["smb-password-*"]
+	if len(m.OwnSecrets) != 1 || sec["issued-by"] != "outside" || sec["path"] != "${dir:state}/"+PasswordSecret("*")+".secret" {
+		t.Errorf("the SMB passwords are an outside party's, one secret per source: %v", m.OwnSecrets)
+	}
+	if got := PasswordFile("${dir:state}", "games"); got != strings.Replace(sec["path"], "*", "games", 1) {
+		t.Errorf("the process reads %s, the mesh places %s", got, sec["path"])
+	}
+	if _, has := m.Settings["smb-users"]; has || len(m.Settings) != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("an SMB source's username is in its entry of sources, not a setting of its own: %v", m.Settings)
 	}
 	for _, key := range []string{"shares", "sources"} {
 		s := m.Settings[key]
@@ -134,7 +142,7 @@ func TestTheProcessesAreRootAndJudgedByTheirUnitAndTheHealthTool(t *testing.T) {
 	if len(cfg.Problems) != 0 && !strings.Contains(strings.Join(cfg.Problems, " "), "${") {
 		t.Errorf("the config's template reads: %v", cfg.Problems)
 	}
-	for _, want := range []string{"server=${bound:nfs-share:from}", "at=${bound:nfs-share:at}", "secret=${dir:state}/smb-credentials.secret"} {
+	for _, want := range []string{"server=${bound:nfs-share:from}", "at=${bound:nfs-share:at}", "passwords=${dir:state}"} {
 		if !strings.Contains(content, want) {
 			t.Errorf("the config lacks %s", want)
 		}
@@ -142,7 +150,7 @@ func TestTheProcessesAreRootAndJudgedByTheirUnitAndTheHealthTool(t *testing.T) {
 	if byID["bus-dir"]["path"] != BusDir || byID["bus-dir"]["owner"] != "${machine:account}" {
 		t.Errorf("the bundle, as the operator account, writes the bus's answer: %v", byID["bus-dir"])
 	}
-	if strings.Contains(raw, "password") {
+	if strings.Contains(raw, "password=") {
 		t.Error("the manifest holds no password")
 	}
 }
diff --git a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/verbs.go b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/verbs.go
index aadf29bd..12d07c29 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/verbs.go
+++ b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/verbs.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func Verbs(m *Machine) []stdio.Tool {
 	return []stdio.Tool{
 		verb("list", "Every mount point on this machine — its fstab line, its mount and automount units, whether it is "+
 			"mounted now — and every share and occasional source the module is asked to mount, with its state (armed, "+
-			"mounted, absent, unreachable, failed), since when and why. Credentials are never answered. Replaces cat "+
+			"mounted, absent, unreachable, failed, waiting), since when and why; a waiting source names the setting or secret it waits for. Credentials are never answered. Replaces cat "+
 			"/etc/fstab, findmnt and systemctl list-units --type=mount. (r)",
 			map[string]any{"network": map[string]any{"type": "boolean", "description": "only network filesystems (default false)"}},
 			func(a map[string]any) (any, error) {
@@ -142,11 +142,13 @@ func Verbs(m *Machine) []stdio.Tool {
 			}),
 		{
 			Name: "mounts_health",
-			Description: "Whether this machine's shares are healthy, as the module's health check (novox/hq ADR 0263): unhealthy " +
-				"when a share that should always be there has been unreachable or failed for five minutes, an automount is not " +
-				"armed, something the settings name cannot be set up (a missing login, a unit file that is not the module's), or " +
-				"the module's process has not looked for two minutes; with why, one sentence per finding. An occasional source " +
-				"that is absent is healthy, and said as not present since when. (r)",
+			Description: "Whether this machine's shares are healthy, as the module's health check (novox/hq ADR 0263, ADR 0283): " +
+				"unhealthy when a share that should always be there has been unreachable or failed for five minutes, an automount " +
+				"is not armed, something the settings name cannot be set up (a unit file that is not the module's), or the " +
+				"module's process has not looked for two minutes; with why, one sentence per finding. An occasional source that " +
+				"is absent is healthy, and said as not present since when. A source whose username (in its entry of the setting sources) or " +
+				"password (the secret smb-password-<source>) is not given waits for the operator: with nothing else found the " +
+				"answer is waits, naming each, never unhealthy. (r)",
 			Run: func(map[string]any) (any, error) { return m.Health(time.Now()), nil },
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/write_test.go b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/write_test.go
index 9ae35456..ad9dd82c 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/write_test.go
+++ b/modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/write_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/health"
 )
 
 // The secret every test that has one uses; it must never appear in anything the module says.
@@ -147,9 +149,9 @@ func (f *fakeSystem) everything(except ...string) string {
 }
 
 const config = "shares=library=/srv/library downloads=/srv/downloads:ro\n" +
-	"sources=games=smb://192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games usb=disk:1234-ABCD@/mnt/usb\n" +
+	"sources=games=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games usb=disk:1234-ABCD@/mnt/usb\n" +
 	"server=homeserver\nat=192.0.2.10\nnode=workstation\naccount=operator\n" +
-	"secret=/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-credentials.secret\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n"
+	"passwords=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n"
 
 func exportsAnswer(t *testing.T, shares ...ServerShare) string {
 	raw, err := json.Marshal(ExportsAnswer{Server: "homeserver", At: "192.0.2.10", Shares: shares})
@@ -264,7 +266,7 @@ func TestALookWritesArmsAndRemovesOnlyTheModulesOwnUnits(t *testing.T) {
 	f := newSystem(t)
 	f.write(ConfigFile, config)
 	f.write(ExportsFile, exportsAnswer(t, library, downloads))
-	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-credentials.secret", "[games]\nusername=root\npassword="+testPassword+"\n")
+	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-password-games.secret", testPassword+"\n")
 	// The operator's own unit for the downloads' mount point: never written over.
 	f.write(filepath.Join(UnitDir, "srv-downloads.mount"), "[Mount]\nWhat=elsewhere\n")
 	// A pair of the module's whose mount point nothing names any more.
@@ -318,7 +320,7 @@ func TestALookWritesArmsAndRemovesOnlyTheModulesOwnUnits(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("games %+v", states["games"])
 	}
 	// The password is in the secret and in the credentials file, and nowhere else.
-	if strings.Contains(f.everything("smb-credentials.secret", "smb-games.credentials"), testPassword) {
+	if strings.Contains(f.everything("smb-password-games.secret", "smb-games.credentials"), testPassword) {
 		t.Error("the password leaked into a file the module wrote")
 	}
 	raw, _ := json.Marshal(f.machine().Health(now))
@@ -361,26 +363,153 @@ func TestASilentServerRemovesNoMount(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestAMissingLoginIsSaidWithItsRemedyAndTheSourceIsNotMounted(t *testing.T) {
+func TestASourceWithoutItsLoginWaitsForTheOperatorAndIsNotMounted(t *testing.T) {
+	for name, c := range map[string]struct {
+		user, password string
+		writePassword  bool
+		waitsFor       []string
+	}{
+		"no username":            {"", testPassword, true, []string{"setting sources"}},
+		"no password":            {"root@", "", false, []string{"secret smb-password-games"}},
+		"an empty password file": {"root@", "", true, []string{"secret smb-password-games"}},
+		"a line break only":      {"root@", "\n", true, []string{"secret smb-password-games"}},
+		"neither":                {"", "", false, []string{"setting sources", "secret smb-password-games"}},
+	} {
+		f := newSystem(t)
+		f.write(ConfigFile, "sources=games=smb://"+c.user+"192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\npasswords=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n")
+		if c.writePassword {
+			f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-password-games.secret", c.password)
+		}
+		now := time.Now()
+		st := f.applier(now).Look(context.Background())
+		if len(st.Shares) != 1 || st.Shares[0].State != StateWaiting || len(st.Shares[0].Waits) != len(c.waitsFor) {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: shares %+v", name, st.Shares)
+		}
+		for i, w := range st.Shares[0].Waits {
+			if got := strings.TrimPrefix(w.Names(), "the "); got != c.waitsFor[i] || w.Part != "the source games" || w.Check() != nil {
+				t.Errorf("%s: wait %d is %+v, want %s", name, i, w, c.waitsFor[i])
+			}
+		}
+		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(f.root, UnitDir, "mnt-games.mount")); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: a source without its login gets no units", name)
+		}
+		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(f.root, "/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-games.credentials")); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: a source without its login gets no credentials file", name)
+		}
+		h := f.machine().Health(now)
+		raw, _ := json.Marshal(h)
+		if h.State != health.StateWaits || h.Healthy || len(h.Waits) != len(c.waitsFor) || len(h.Found) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("%s: health %s", name, raw)
+		}
+		// What the node-engine reads is a wait it can check: the SDK's reader keeps it a wait.
+		if read, err := health.Read(raw); err != nil || read.State != health.StateWaits {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the engine reads %+v %v", name, read, err)
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(string(raw), testPassword) || strings.Contains(f.everything("smb-password-games.secret"), testPassword) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the password leaked", name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAPasswordIsOneLineKeptAsTyped(t *testing.T) {
+	pw := " a b=c " + testPassword + "=="
+	for text, want := range map[string]string{pw: pw, pw + "\n": pw, pw + "\r\n": pw} {
+		got, given, err := ReadPassword(text)
+		if err != nil || !given || got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%q read as %q %v %v", strings.ReplaceAll(text, testPassword, "<pw>"), strings.ReplaceAll(got, testPassword, "<pw>"), given, err)
+		}
+	}
+	if _, given, err := ReadPassword(""); given || err != nil {
+		t.Error("an empty file is not given")
+	}
+	if _, given, err := ReadPassword(testPassword + "\nsecond\n"); !given || err == nil || strings.Contains(err.Error(), testPassword) {
+		t.Errorf("two lines are refused, saying nothing typed: %v", err)
+	}
 	f := newSystem(t)
-	f.write(ConfigFile, "sources=games=smb://192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\nsecret=/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-credentials.secret\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n")
-	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-credentials.secret", "[other]\nusername=x\npassword="+testPassword+"\n")
+	f.write(ConfigFile, "sources=games=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\npasswords=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n")
+	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-password-games.secret", pw+"\n")
+	f.applier(time.Now()).Look(context.Background())
+	creds := filepath.Join(f.root, "/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-games.credentials")
+	if info, err := os.Stat(creds); err != nil || info.Mode().Perm() != 0o600 {
+		t.Fatalf("the source's login is a file only root reads: %v", err)
+	}
+	if b, _ := os.ReadFile(creds); string(b) != "username=root\npassword="+pw+"\n" {
+		t.Errorf("credentials file %q", strings.ReplaceAll(string(b), testPassword, "<pw>"))
+	}
+	// Two lines: refused as a fault the operator mends by giving it again, the password never said.
+	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-password-games.secret", testPassword+"\nsecond\n")
 	now := time.Now()
 	st := f.applier(now).Look(context.Background())
-	if len(st.Shares) != 1 || st.Shares[0].State != StateFailed ||
-		!strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, "secret accept <node> mounts smb-credentials --from <file>") {
+	if len(st.Shares) != 1 || st.Shares[0].State != StateFailed || !strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, "more than one line") {
 		t.Fatalf("shares %+v", st.Shares)
 	}
-	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(f.root, UnitDir, "mnt-games.mount")); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		t.Error("a source without its login gets no units")
+	raw, _ := json.Marshal(f.machine().Health(now))
+	if strings.Contains(string(raw), testPassword) || strings.Contains(f.everything("smb-password-games.secret", "smb-games.credentials"), testPassword) {
+		t.Error("the password leaked")
 	}
-	h := f.machine().Health(now)
-	if h.Healthy || !strings.Contains(h.Why, "login is not given") || strings.Contains(h.Why, testPassword) {
-		t.Errorf("health %+v", h)
+}
+
+func TestAnSMBSourcesUserIsInItsEntryAndAPasswordThereIsRefusedUnsaid(t *testing.T) {
+	sources, problems := ParseSources("a=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/a b=smb://192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/b " +
+		"c=smb://WORKGROUP%5Cme@nas/Media@/mnt/c d=smb://me%40example@nas/Media@/mnt/d:ro")
+	users := map[string]string{}
+	for _, s := range sources {
+		users[s.Name] = s.User
+		if s.Host == "" || s.Share == "" {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %+v", s.Name, s)
+		}
 	}
-	creds, problems := ParseSMBCredentials("[a]\nusername=u\npassword=" + testPassword + "\nbogus=1\n[b]\npassword=p\n")
-	if creds["a"].Password != testPassword || len(problems) != 2 || strings.Contains(strings.Join(problems, " "), testPassword) {
-		t.Errorf("creds %v problems %q", len(creds), problems)
+	if len(problems) != 0 || users["a"] != "root" || users["b"] != "" || users["c"] != `WORKGROUP\me` || users["d"] != "me@example" {
+		t.Errorf("users %v problems %q", users, problems)
+	}
+	for what, entry := range map[string]string{
+		"a password in the URL":           "e=smb://root:" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"a password with a slash":         "e=smb://root:a/" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"a user with a space, encoded":    "e=smb://a%20" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"a bad percent escape":            "e=smb://%zz" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"no mount point, with a password": "smb://root:" + testPassword + "@nas/Media",
+		"another scheme, upper case":      "e=SMB://root:" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"a cifs URL":                      "e=cifs://root:" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"two @ before the host":           "e=smb://me@example@nas/Media@/mnt/e" + testPassword,
+		"a control character in the user": "e=smb://me%07" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+	} {
+		got, problems := ParseSources(entry)
+		said := strings.Join(problems, " ")
+		if len(got) != 0 || len(problems) != 1 || strings.Contains(said, testPassword) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %+v %q", what, got, said)
+		}
+	}
+	if _, problems := ParseSources("e=smb://root:" + testPassword + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e"); !strings.Contains(problems[0], "smb-password-<source>") {
+		t.Errorf("a password in the URL is said with where it goes: %q", problems)
+	}
+	// A password with a space or a comma splits the entry: neither half, nor a name that is not one, is said.
+	const secret = "SECRETPW"
+	for _, v := range []string{
+		"e=smb://root:SEC RETPW@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"e=smb://root:SEC,RETPW@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"e=SMB://root:" + secret + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"e=cifs://root:" + secret + "@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"SECRET" + "PW=smb://nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		// A password holding '=' and a space, or '=' and a comma: the tail reads like name=… and is still not said.
+		"e=smb://root:sec RETPW=x@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"e=smb://root:sec,RETPW=x@nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+		"e=smb://root:SEC RETPW=smb://nas/Media@/mnt/e",
+	} {
+		_, problems := ParseSources(v)
+		said := strings.Join(problems, " ")
+		if len(problems) == 0 || strings.Contains(strings.ToUpper(said), "RETPW") || strings.Contains(said, "SEC") ||
+			strings.Contains(said, "sec") && !strings.Contains(said, "secret smb-password") {
+			t.Errorf("%q says %q", strings.ReplaceAll(v, "RETPW", "<pw>"), said)
+		}
+		// And nothing of it reaches the status or the health answer.
+		f := newSystem(t)
+		f.write(ConfigFile, "sources="+v+"\npasswords=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n")
+		now := time.Now()
+		f.applier(now).Look(context.Background())
+		raw, _ := json.Marshal(f.machine().Health(now))
+		if strings.Contains(strings.ToUpper(string(raw)), "RETPW") || strings.Contains(strings.ToUpper(f.everything("mounts.conf")), "RETPW") {
+			t.Errorf("%q leaked into the status or the health: %s", strings.ReplaceAll(v, "RETPW", "<pw>"), raw)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -537,7 +666,7 @@ func TestApplyActsAndWatchJudgesAndNeitherDoesTheOthersWork(t *testing.T) {
 	f := newSystem(t)
 	f.write(ConfigFile, config)
 	f.write(ExportsFile, exportsAnswer(t, library, downloads))
-	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-credentials.secret", "[other]\nusername=x\npassword="+testPassword+"\n")
+	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-password-other.secret", testPassword+"\n")
 	f.write(filepath.Join(UnitDir, "srv-downloads.mount"), "[Mount]\nWhat=elsewhere\n")
 	f.reachable["192.0.2.10:2049"] = true
 	now := time.Now()
@@ -573,10 +702,10 @@ func TestApplyActsAndWatchJudgesAndNeitherDoesTheOthersWork(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, s := range st.Shares {
 		states[s.Name] = s.State
 	}
-	if states["library"] != StateArmed || states["downloads"] != StateFailed || states["games"] != StateFailed || states["usb"] != StateAbsent {
+	if states["library"] != StateArmed || states["downloads"] != StateFailed || states["games"] != StateWaiting || states["usb"] != StateAbsent {
 		t.Errorf("watch says how each is: %v", states)
 	}
-	if strings.Contains(f.everything("smb-credentials.secret"), testPassword) {
+	if strings.Contains(f.everything("smb-password-other.secret"), testPassword) {
 		t.Error("the password leaked")
 	}
 }
@@ -588,87 +717,54 @@ func (f *fakeSystem) setUnit(unit string, state map[string]string) {
 	f.units[unit] = state
 }
 
-// The login as typed at the desk's one-line prompt (novox/hq ADR 0277) is the login the file form gives
-// (issue 379): the password is last and runs to the end of the line, with its spaces and its `=`.
-func TestAOneLineLoginIsTheLoginTheFileFormGives(t *testing.T) {
-	pw := "a b=c " + testPassword + "=="
-	file := "[recalbox]\nusername=root\npassword=" + pw + "\ndomain=WORKGROUP\n"
-	line := "[recalbox] username=root domain=WORKGROUP password=" + pw + "\n"
-	fromFile, fileProblems := ParseSMBCredentials(file)
-	fromLine, lineProblems := ParseSMBCredentials(line)
-	want := SMBCredential{Username: "root", Password: pw, Domain: "WORKGROUP"}
-	if len(fileProblems) != 0 || len(lineProblems) != 0 || fromFile["recalbox"] != want || fromLine["recalbox"] != want {
-		t.Fatalf("file %+v %q, line %+v %q", fromFile, fileProblems, fromLine, lineProblems)
+// A wait beside a fault is said and excuses nothing: the answer is unhealthy, naming both (ADR 0283).
+func TestAWaitBesideAFaultIsUnhealthy(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Date(2026, 10, 10, 19, 30, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	at := now.Add(-time.Hour).Format(time.RFC3339)
+	wait := health.Wait{Part: "the source games", Secret: "smb-password-games", What: "the password of the source games"}
+	games := ShareStatus{Name: "games", Kind: "smb", Occasional: true, Mountpoint: "/mnt/games", State: StateWaiting, Since: at,
+		Why: "it waits for the operator to give the password of the source games (the secret smb-password-games)", Waits: []health.Wait{wait}}
+	library := ShareStatus{Name: "library", Kind: "nfs", Mountpoint: "/srv/library", State: StateUnreachable, Since: at, Why: "no answer"}
+
+	h := Judge(Status{Looked: now.Format(time.RFC3339), Server: "homeserver", Shares: []ShareStatus{games, library}}, nil, now)
+	if h.State != health.StateUnhealthy || h.Healthy || len(h.Waits) != 1 || !strings.Contains(h.Why, "library") || !strings.Contains(h.Why, "games") {
+		t.Errorf("a wait beside a fault: %+v", h)
 	}
-	// After `password=` it is kept as typed: a leading space is the password's, in both forms.
-	fromFile, _ = ParseSMBCredentials("[recalbox]\nusername=root\npassword= " + pw + "\n")
-	fromLine, _ = ParseSMBCredentials("[recalbox] username=root password= " + pw + "\n")
-	if fromFile["recalbox"].Password != " "+pw || fromLine["recalbox"] != fromFile["recalbox"] {
-		t.Errorf("a leading space: file %+v, line %+v", fromFile, fromLine)
-	}
-	fromLine, _ = ParseSMBCredentials(line)
-	if fromLine["recalbox"].CredentialsFile() != "username=root\npassword="+pw+"\ndomain=WORKGROUP\n" {
-		t.Errorf("credentials file %q", strings.ReplaceAll(fromLine["recalbox"].CredentialsFile(), pw, "<pw>"))
-	}
-	// Several sources are several lines, in either form, mixed; a `\r` from a terminal is not the password's.
-	mixed := "[recalbox] username=root password=" + pw + "\r\n[nas]\nusername=u\npassword=p\n[usb] user=x pass=y\n"
-	got, problems := ParseSMBCredentials(mixed)
-	if len(problems) != 0 || len(got) != 3 || got["recalbox"].Password != pw || got["nas"].Password != "p" || got["usb"] != (SMBCredential{Username: "x", Password: "y"}) {
-		t.Errorf("mixed %v %q", len(got), problems)
-	}
-	// A one-line login closes the file-form section open before it: a key on the next line lands in no
-	// login, neither the one given whole nor the one that was open.
-	got, problems = ParseSMBCredentials("[nas]\nusername=u\npassword=p\n[recalbox] username=root password=x\nusername=other\n")
-	if got["recalbox"].Username != "root" || got["nas"].Username != "u" || len(problems) != 1 || !strings.Contains(problems[0], "outside a [section]") {
-		t.Errorf("a stray line after a one-line login: %+v %q", got, problems)
+	h = Judge(Status{Looked: now.Format(time.RFC3339), Shares: []ShareStatus{games}}, nil, now)
+	if h.State != health.StateWaits || len(h.Waits) != 1 || len(h.Found) != 0 || !strings.Contains(h.Why, "waits for the operator") {
+		t.Errorf("a wait alone: %+v", h)
 	}
 }
 
-// A line the module cannot read is refused with the form it expected, and nothing typed is said back:
-// not the password, not a word that may be the password typed without its key.
-func TestAMalformedLoginIsRefusedWithTheExpectedFormAndSaysNothingTyped(t *testing.T) {
-	cases := map[string]string{
-		"the password alone, as the prompt invites":  testPassword + "\n",
-		"a line without a section":                   "username=root password=" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"a word that is not key=value":               "[recalbox] root " + testPassword + "\n",
-		"a value without a key":                      "[recalbox] =" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"no space after the name":                    "[recalbox]username=root password=" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"a name that is not a source's":              "[Recal box] username=root password=" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"a bracket never closed":                     "[recalbox username=root password=" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"a password alone that looks like a name":    "[abc-1]" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"no username, line form":                     "[recalbox] password=" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"no username, file form":                     "[recalbox]\npassword=" + testPassword + "\n",
-		"a key this module does not read, file form": "[recalbox]\nusername=root\n" + testPassword + "=1\npassword=x\n",
-		"a key this module does not read, line form": "[recalbox] username=root " + testPassword + "=1 password=x\n",
-		"a section given twice, the second one-line": "[recalbox]\nusername=root\npassword=x\n[recalbox] username=u password=" + testPassword + "\n",
+// A password that exists and cannot be read, and a configuration naming no directory for the passwords, are
+// refused as faults: said without the value and without the path, and nothing is read from a relative path.
+func TestAPasswordThatCannotBeReadIsAFaultSaidWithoutValueOrPath(t *testing.T) {
+	// A directory where the file should be: read fails, and not as "not there" (as root a mode would not stop it).
+	f := newSystem(t)
+	f.write(ConfigFile, "sources=games=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\npasswords=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\nstate=/var/lib/mesh/mounts\n")
+	f.write("/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-password-games.secret/inside", testPassword)
+	st := f.applier(time.Now()).Look(context.Background())
+	if len(st.Shares) != 1 || st.Shares[0].State != StateFailed || !strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, "could not be read") ||
+		strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, "/var/lib") || strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, testPassword) {
+		t.Fatalf("an unreadable password: %+v", st.Shares)
 	}
-	for what, text := range cases {
-		got, problems := ParseSMBCredentials(text)
-		said := strings.Join(problems, " ")
-		if len(problems) == 0 {
-			t.Errorf("%s: not refused: %+v", what, got)
-			continue
+
+	// No passwords= and no state=: the source is not set up, and no relative path is read.
+	for _, cfg := range []string{
+		"sources=games=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\n",
+		"sources=games=smb://root@192.0.2.76/Share@/mnt/games\npasswords=relative/dir\n",
+	} {
+		g := newSystem(t)
+		g.write(ConfigFile, cfg)
+		g.write("smb-password-games.secret", testPassword)
+		g.write("relative/dir/smb-password-games.secret", testPassword)
+		st := g.applier(time.Now()).Look(context.Background())
+		if len(st.Shares) != 1 || st.Shares[0].State != StateFailed || !strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, "names no directory for its passwords") ||
+			strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, testPassword) || strings.Contains(st.Shares[0].Why, "relative") {
+			t.Errorf("%q: %+v", cfg, st.Shares)
 		}
-		if strings.Contains(said, testPassword) || strings.Contains(said, "root") || strings.Contains(said, "abc-1") {
-			t.Errorf("%s: a refusal says what was typed: %q", what, said)
-		}
-		if strings.Contains(what, "does not read") {
-			if !strings.Contains(said, "it reads username, password and domain") || got["recalbox"].Password != "x" {
-				t.Errorf("%s: %q %+v", what, said, got)
-			}
-			continue
-		}
-		if strings.Contains(what, "twice") {
-			if got["recalbox"].Username != "root" || got["recalbox"].Password != "x" {
-				t.Errorf("%s: the first is not kept: %+v", what, got)
-			}
-			continue
-		}
-		if !strings.Contains(said, SMBOneLineForm) {
-			t.Errorf("%s: the refusal does not say the expected form: %q", what, said)
-		}
-		if _, kept := got["recalbox"]; kept {
-			t.Errorf("%s: a refused login is answered: %+v", what, got)
+		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(g.root, "/var/lib/mesh/mounts/smb-games.credentials")); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			t.Errorf("%q: a credentials file was written", cfg)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/modules/mounts/go.mod b/modules/mounts/go.mod
index 9549ae83..76732a34 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/go.mod
+++ b/modules/mounts/go.mod
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ module mounts
 
 go 1.22
 
-require git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.7
+require git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261010191001-33917f91ac3c
diff --git a/modules/mounts/go.sum b/modules/mounts/go.sum
index 017ed9ad..e655124d 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/go.sum
+++ b/modules/mounts/go.sum
@@ -2,3 +2,7 @@ git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.6 h1:9qzdYONYbJdWcu6sxQcq9v1LI0JxcfkiKYkMUzJ
 git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.6/go.mod h1:GFuZUElBZ9A++mxgIKo97aXXo+kV0uJ/UkbhQPPIbrY=
 git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.7 h1:C0sTQmtTiyYH7bnqZb7PusXnqA37gKuT7Nqjn9gG47w=
 git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.7/go.mod h1:GFuZUElBZ9A++mxgIKo97aXXo+kV0uJ/UkbhQPPIbrY=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261010190644-622b6b4f556d h1:BR8uwv4BqyLaBwITuLylrd9DRUnu0D5DjJw0RuQSXbk=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261010190644-622b6b4f556d/go.mod h1:GFuZUElBZ9A++mxgIKo97aXXo+kV0uJ/UkbhQPPIbrY=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261010191001-33917f91ac3c h1:l5onJwoIeH8yE/PjVlEeoPyXBsHp2NQiWLllz2fwX7s=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261010191001-33917f91ac3c/go.mod h1:GFuZUElBZ9A++mxgIKo97aXXo+kV0uJ/UkbhQPPIbrY=
diff --git a/modules/mounts/module.json b/modules/mounts/module.json
index c11f0283..108133c9 100644
--- a/modules/mounts/module.json
+++ b/modules/mounts/module.json
@@ -47,13 +47,12 @@
     "sources": {
       "kind": "preference",
       "default": "none",
-      "why": "a machine has no occasional source until its assignment names one: space-separated name=smb://<host>/<share>@<mountpoint> or name=disk:<uuid>@<mountpoint>, each optionally :ro (hq ADR 0263 rule 6)"
+      "why": "a machine has no occasional source until its assignment names one: space-separated name=smb://[<user>@]<host>/<share>@<mountpoint> or name=disk:<uuid>@<mountpoint>, each optionally :ro (hq ADR 0263 rule 6); an SMB source's username is in its entry, its password the secret smb-password-<name> (hq ADR 0283)"
     }
   },
   "own-secrets": {
-    "smb-credentials": {
-      "path": "${dir:state}/smb-credentials.secret",
-      "taken": "at-start",
+    "smb-password-*": {
+      "path": "${dir:state}/smb-password-*.secret",
       "issued-by": "outside"
     }
   },
@@ -85,7 +84,7 @@
       "type": "file",
       "path": "/etc/mesh-mounts/mounts.conf",
       "mode": "0644",
-      "content": "# Written by the mesh (module mounts, novox/hq ADR 0263) from this machine's assignment: the settings\n# shares and sources, and the binding of nfs-share. Replaced on every push; change the settings, not this.\n# The module's process reads it as root every 30 seconds and writes one .mount and .automount per entry.\nshares=${setting:shares}\nsources=${setting:sources}\nserver=${bound:nfs-share:from}\nat=${bound:nfs-share:at}\naccount=${machine:account}\nnode=${machine:name}\nsecret=${dir:state}/smb-credentials.secret\nstate=${dir:state}\n"
+      "content": "# Written by the mesh (module mounts, novox/hq ADR 0263) from this machine's assignment: the settings\n# shares and sources, and the binding of nfs-share. Replaced on every push; change the settings, not this.\n# The module's process reads it as root every 30 seconds and writes one .mount and .automount per entry.\nshares=${setting:shares}\nsources=${setting:sources}\nserver=${bound:nfs-share:from}\nat=${bound:nfs-share:at}\naccount=${machine:account}\nnode=${machine:name}\npasswords=${dir:state}\nstate=${dir:state}\n"
     },
     {
       "id": "bus-dir-parent",