diff --git a/modules/gitea/client.ts b/modules/gitea/client.ts
index eb3879b1..eb3b8c93 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/client.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/client.ts
@@ -465,6 +465,19 @@ export class GiteaClient {
     return out;
   }
 
+  /** Every status of one context on a commit, newest first, as the forge keeps each one it was given: what tells
+   *  when the check now pending on a head was opened, after a restart (novox/hq issue 456). */
+  async contextHistory(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string, context: string): Promise<HeadCheck[]> {
+    const raw = await this.request<any>(`${repoPath(owner, repo)}/statuses/${commitSegment(sha)}?sort=highestindex&limit=50`);
+    const out: HeadCheck[] = [];
+    for (const s of Array.isArray(raw) ? raw : []) {
+      if (s?.context !== context) continue;
+      out.push({ state: String(s.status ?? s.state ?? ""), description: String(s.description ?? ""),
+        updated_at: String(s.created_at ?? s.updated_at ?? "") });
+    }
+    return out;
+  }
+
   /** A commit's statuses whole, as the forge combines them for a ref (a sha, or the start of one): the commit
    *  it resolved to and every status with its description, link, times and setter (novox/hq ADR 0239). */
   async combinedStatus(owner: string, repo: string, ref: string): Promise<{ sha: string; state: string; statuses: unknown[] }> {
diff --git a/modules/gitea/delivery.ts b/modules/gitea/delivery.ts
index ec667ade..43277a67 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/delivery.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/delivery.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
 
 import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
 import { promisify } from "node:util";
+import type { ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+import type { CommitStatus } from "./client.js";
+import { checkName } from "./guard.js";
 
 /** How a command is run: docker on the forge's machine, or a test's. */
 export type Runner = (file: string, args: string[]) => Promise<{ stdout: string; code: number }>;
@@ -106,3 +109,47 @@ export function deliveryStatus(context: string, state: string, description: stri
   return { state: state as "pending" | "success" | "error" | "failure" | "warning", context, description: d,
     ...(target && /^https?:\/\//.test(target) ? { target_url: target } : {}) };
 }
+
+/** What the status tool writes with: the forge, and the gate writer the merge check's statuses go through. */
+export interface StatusWriters {
+  setCommitStatus(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string, status: CommitStatus): Promise<void>;
+  gates: { rechecked(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string, status: CommitStatus): Promise<void> };
+}
+
+/**
+ * The `gitea_commit_status` tool. **The merge check's pending goes through the module's one writer** (novox/hq issue
+ * 456): a recheck's pending on mesh/merge-gate or mesh/repo-check takes its turn on the head's chain (gate.ts), so an
+ * old run's verdict in flight lands before it and a redelivered one is dropped. Served from the watcher's bundle
+ * (index.ts), the process that holds that writer: each bundle the runtime serves is its own process. The mesh's other
+ * statuses (mesh/delivery, mesh/delivery-group) are written as they were.
+ */
+export function commitStatusTool(writers: StatusWriters): ToolDefinition {
+  return {
+    name: "gitea_commit_status",
+    description: "Set one of the mesh's statuses on a commit (mesh/delivery, mesh/delivery-group): pending, success, error, failure or warning, a short description, and the page it links to. The merge check's statuses (mesh/merge-gate, mesh/repo-check) take pending only — a recheck putting them back until the fresh verdict sets them — on the head's whole sha, in their turn after the check's earlier writes.",
+    input: {
+      owner: { type: "string", description: "the repository owner" },
+      repo: { type: "string", description: "the repository name" },
+      sha: { type: "string", description: "the commit" },
+      context: { type: "string", description: "the status's name, mesh/…" },
+      state: { type: "string", description: "pending | success | error | failure | warning" },
+      description: { type: "string", description: "one line" },
+      target_url: { type: "string", description: "the page it links to (the pull request)" },
+    },
+    run: async (args) => {
+      const owner = checkName("owner", args.owner), repo = checkName("name", args.repo), sha = String(args.sha ?? "");
+      const status = deliveryStatus(String(args.context), String(args.state), String(args.description ?? ""),
+        args.target_url ? String(args.target_url) : undefined);
+      if (mergeCheckContexts.has(status.context)) {
+        // The writer keeps a head by its whole sha, as the forge announced it: a short one would be another head.
+        if (!/^([0-9a-f]{40}|[0-9a-f]{64})$/i.test(sha)) {
+          throw new Error(`${JSON.stringify(args.sha)} is not a head's whole sha: the merge check's status names the head whole. Nothing was sent`);
+        }
+        await writers.gates.rechecked(owner, repo, sha, status);
+      } else {
+        await writers.setCommitStatus(owner, repo, sha, status);
+      }
+      return { set: status };
+    },
+  };
+}
diff --git a/modules/gitea/gate.ts b/modules/gitea/gate.ts
index b636a422..9a19ac72 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/gate.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/gate.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@
 // between its read and its write. So this module is the one writer of mesh/merge-gate, and every write of one head's
 // gate goes through one chain: a verdict is marked the moment it is heard, before it waits its turn, and a "building"
 // still waiting behind or taking its turn after that mark is dropped, never written.
+//
+// **A recheck's pending is written here too** (novox/hq issue 456). mesh-delivery's recheck puts the gate back to
+// pending through the gitea_commit_status tool, which this module serves from the watcher's own bundle so that it
+// reaches this writer: the pending clears the verdict mark, so the new run's "building" is said, and queues behind an
+// old verdict in flight, so that verdict lands first. A verdict is weighed by the ask it answers — the controller's
+// checked.id, `build-<unix nanoseconds>` of when the check was asked — against when the check now pending was opened:
+// an older run's verdict, redelivered after its write failed, is dropped, never written over the pending. After a
+// restart, when the check was opened is read from the forge's own history of the gate.
 
 import { CHECK_CONTEXT, pendingWords } from "./pulls.js";
 import type { CommitStatus } from "./client.js";
@@ -27,15 +35,53 @@ export interface GateForge {
   setCommitStatus(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string, status: CommitStatus): Promise<void>;
   /** The head's mesh/merge-gate, newest: its state and when it was set; undefined when it has none. */
   gateOf(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string): Promise<{ state: string; updated_at?: string } | undefined>;
+  /** The head's mesh/merge-gate statuses, every one the forge keeps, newest first (novox/hq issue 456). */
+  gateHistory(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string): Promise<GateStatus[]>;
+}
+
+/** One status of a head's gate as the forge keeps it: its state, its words, and when it was set. */
+export interface GateStatus {
+  state: string;
+  description?: string;
+  updated_at?: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * When a check was asked, from its id as mesh-controller's link.NewBuildID writes it: `build-<unix nanoseconds>`.
+ * Undefined for an id of any other shape, whose ask time is not known (novox/hq issue 456).
+ */
+export function askedAt(id: string | undefined): number | undefined {
+  const m = /^build-(\d{1,20})$/.exec(String(id ?? ""));
+  if (!m) return undefined;
+  const ms = Number(BigInt(m[1]) / 1_000_000n);
+  return ms > 0 ? ms : undefined;
+}
+
+/**
+ * When the check now pending on a head was opened, from the gate's history, newest first: the newest status, past the
+ * "building" words this writer says only inside an open check, when it is pending; undefined when the gate holds a
+ * verdict, holds nothing, or its time cannot be read (novox/hq issue 456).
+ */
+export function openedAt(history: GateStatus[]): number | undefined {
+  for (const s of history) {
+    if (s.state !== "pending") return undefined;
+    if ((s.description ?? "").startsWith(BUILDING)) continue;
+    const t = Date.parse(s.updated_at ?? "");
+    return Number.isNaN(t) ? undefined : t;
+  }
+  return undefined;
 }
 
 /** How far a build machine's clock may stand behind this one's when a start is weighed against the pending words. */
 const CLOCK_SLACK_MS = 60_000;
 
+/** How the words of a check a machine is running begin. */
+const BUILDING = "building on ";
+
 /** The words of a check a machine is running, in the time the operator reads. */
 export function buildingWords(on: string, at: Date): string {
   const two = (n: number) => String(n).padStart(2, "0");
-  return `building on ${on} since ${two(at.getHours())}:${two(at.getMinutes())}`;
+  return `${BUILDING}${on} since ${two(at.getHours())}:${two(at.getMinutes())}`;
 }
 
 /** Whether a repository as the mesh clones it (`http://forge/novox/hq.git`) is owner/repo. */
@@ -50,6 +96,8 @@ interface Head {
   pendingAt?: number;
   /** A verdict was heard for the head: nothing pending is written after it. */
   verdict: boolean;
+  /** Which verdict set the mark: one dropped in its turn takes the mark back only while it is still its own. */
+  mark?: object;
   /** The chain the head's writes take their turns on. */
   chain: Promise<void>;
 }
@@ -94,12 +142,38 @@ export class GateWriter {
   pending(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string): Promise<void> {
     const h = this.head(owner, repo, sha);
     const at = this.now();
-    h.pendingAt = at.getTime();
-    h.verdict = false;
+    this.opened(h, at);
     return this.said(h, `${owner}/${repo}@${sha.slice(0, 8)}: could not say a check is pending`, () =>
       this.forge.setCommitStatus(owner, repo, sha, { state: "pending", context: CHECK_CONTEXT, description: pendingWords(at) }));
   }
 
+  /** A new check of the head opened now: no verdict heard for it yet, and nothing older than it is its own. */
+  private opened(h: Head, at: Date): void {
+    h.pendingAt = at.getTime();
+    h.verdict = false;
+    h.mark = undefined;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * A recheck's pending, asked through the gitea_commit_status tool (novox/hq issue 456): on mesh/merge-gate it opens
+   * a new check of the head — the verdict mark cleared, so the new run's "building" is said — and takes its turn
+   * after every write already asked for, an old verdict in flight included, so it lands over that verdict. Any
+   * other status of the merge check (mesh/repo-check, which the verdict also writes) takes its turn on the same
+   * chain. A write that fails fails the caller, and the head is as it was before it.
+   */
+  rechecked(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string, status: CommitStatus): Promise<void> {
+    const h = this.head(owner, repo, sha);
+    const write = () => this.forge.setCommitStatus(owner, repo, sha, status);
+    if (status.context !== CHECK_CONTEXT || status.state !== "pending") return this.turn(h, write);
+    const before = { pendingAt: h.pendingAt, verdict: h.verdict, mark: h.mark };
+    const at = this.now();
+    this.opened(h, at);
+    return this.turn(h, write).catch((err) => {
+      if (h.pendingAt === at.getTime() && !h.verdict) Object.assign(h, before);
+      throw err;
+    });
+  }
+
   /**
    * A build machine took an ask of this head: said while no verdict was heard, and only for the check now pending —
    * a start from before the pending words were set (a run before a recheck, the stream's history) is not this check's.
@@ -130,10 +204,46 @@ export class GateWriter {
   /**
    * The verdict: marked at once, so no pending word is written after it, then written in its turn — last. A write
    * that fails fails the caller, so the event is offered again.
+   *
+   * `id` is the ask it answers (checked.id): a verdict of a check asked before the check now pending was opened is
+   * an older run's — redelivered after its write failed, or heard late — and is dropped, never written over the
+   * pending (novox/hq issue 456). When this process opened no check of the head (it restarted since), the opening
+   * is read from the forge's history of the gate in the verdict's turn; a history that cannot be read writes the
+   * verdict, as one with no readable id is: a verdict is never lost to what cannot be weighed.
    */
-  verdict(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string, write: () => Promise<void>): Promise<void> {
+  verdict(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string, write: () => Promise<void>, id?: string): Promise<void> {
     const h = this.head(owner, repo, sha);
+    const asked = askedAt(id);
+    const head = `${owner}/${repo}@${sha.slice(0, 8)}`;
+    if (asked !== undefined && h.pendingAt !== undefined && older(asked, h.pendingAt)) {
+      console.log(`[gitea] ${head}: the verdict of ${id} is an older run's than the check now pending; not written`);
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    }
+    const before = h.verdict;
+    const mark = {};
     h.verdict = true;
-    return this.turn(h, write);
+    h.mark = mark;
+    return this.turn(h, async () => {
+      if (asked !== undefined && h.pendingAt === undefined) {
+        let opened: number | undefined;
+        try {
+          opened = openedAt(await this.forge.gateHistory(owner, repo, sha));
+        } catch (err) {
+          console.error(`[gitea] ${head}: the gate's history could not be read, so the verdict of ${id} is written ` +
+            `unweighed — ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : err}`);
+        }
+        if (opened !== undefined && older(asked, opened)) {
+          if (h.mark === mark) h.verdict = before;
+          console.log(`[gitea] ${head}: the verdict of ${id} is an older run's than the check the forge holds pending; not written`);
+          return;
+        }
+      }
+      await write();
+    });
   }
 }
+
+/** Whether a check asked at `asked` was asked before a check opened at `opened`, past what the clocks may differ by. */
+function older(asked: number, opened: number): boolean {
+  return asked < opened - CLOCK_SLACK_MS;
+}
diff --git a/modules/gitea/index.ts b/modules/gitea/index.ts
index 96d05528..4cbd90fa 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/index.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/index.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 // Consumes node-build-agent.started — a build machine took an ask — and says, on the head a pending check is of,
 // which machine builds it since when (novox/hq issue 446). This module is the one writer of mesh/merge-gate.
 //
+// Serves gitea_commit_status from this bundle, not the tools', so a recheck's pending reaches that one writer
+// (novox/hq issue 456).
+//
 // Every pull request the forge holds is announced, whatever its repository: the controller holds the
 // module graph and decides what is checked — a repository is never asked to opt in.
 //
@@ -29,6 +32,8 @@
 // the forge for an immediacy nobody asked for is not.
 
 import { emit, on } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+import { commitStatusTool } from "./delivery.js";
 import { GiteaClient, movedSince } from "./client.js";
 import { CHECK_CONTEXT, REPO_CHECK_CONTEXT, commentFor, headsToAnnounce, statusesFor, type Announced, type Checked,
   type RepoCheckFacts, reposToLook } from "./pulls.js";
@@ -344,8 +349,17 @@ async function repoCheckFacts(client: GiteaClient, c: Checked, base: string | un
 const gates = new GateWriter({
   setCommitStatus: (owner, repo, sha, status) => (gitea as GiteaClient).setCommitStatus(owner, repo, sha, status),
   gateOf: async (owner, repo, sha) => (await (gitea as GiteaClient).headChecks(owner, repo, sha))[CHECK_CONTEXT],
+  gateHistory: (owner, repo, sha) => (gitea as GiteaClient).contextHistory(owner, repo, sha, CHECK_CONTEXT),
 });
 
+// **The status tool is served here, beside the writer** (novox/hq issue 456): the runtime starts each bundle as its own
+// process, so a recheck's pending written from the tools' bundle bypassed this writer's chain. Without a forge to
+// reach, nothing is served, as the tools' bundle serves nothing then.
+registerModuleTools("gitea", () => (gitea ? [commitStatusTool({
+  setCommitStatus: (owner, repo, sha, status) => (gitea as GiteaClient).setCommitStatus(owner, repo, sha, status),
+  gates,
+})] : []));
+
 // **A build machine took an ask** (the build seat's `started`, novox/hq ADR 0157): said on the head it checks, when
 // the head is an open pull request's this module announced. Any other build — a branch, a merge's — says nothing.
 async function buildStarted(event: { body: unknown }): Promise<void> {
@@ -392,7 +406,10 @@ if (gitea) {
   await on("mesh-controller.checked", (event) => {
     const c = (event.body ?? {}) as Checked;
     // A head's own verdict takes its turn after every write of that head's gate already asked for (gate.ts).
-    if (!c.group && c.owner && c.repo && c.commit) return gates.verdict(c.owner, c.repo, c.commit, () => setVerdict(client, event));
+    // A verdict of a check asked before the one now pending is an older run's, and dropped (novox/hq issue 456).
+    if (!c.group && c.owner && c.repo && c.commit) {
+      return gates.verdict(c.owner, c.repo, c.commit, () => setVerdict(client, event), c.id);
+    }
     return setVerdict(client, event);
   });
   await on("node-build-agent.started", buildStarted);
diff --git a/modules/gitea/test/gate.test.ts b/modules/gitea/test/gate.test.ts
index 1178668c..4567a76f 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/test/gate.test.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/test/gate.test.ts
@@ -18,12 +18,19 @@ const startedOnShanks = { id: "build-1791680941048622697", repository: "http://1
 function aForge() {
   const kept: Record<string, { state: string; description: string; updated_at: string }> = {};
   const written: string[] = [];
+  /** Every mesh/merge-gate status the forge was given, newest first, as gitea keeps each one. */
+  const history: { state: string; description: string; updated_at: string }[] = [];
+  let failNext = 0;
   let hold: Promise<void> | null = null;
   let release = () => {};
   let readHold: Promise<void> | null = null;
   let readRelease = () => {};
   return {
-    kept, written,
+    kept, written, history,
+    /** The next writes fail: a request the forge did not take. */
+    failWrites(n = 1) {
+      failNext = n;
+    },
     /** The next writes wait until released: a request in flight. */
     holdWrites() {
       hold = new Promise<void>((r) => (release = r));
@@ -34,7 +41,12 @@ function aForge() {
     },
     async setCommitStatus(_o: string, _r: string, _sha: string, s: { state: string; context: string; description: string }) {
       if (hold) await hold;
+      if (failNext > 0) {
+        failNext--;
+        throw new Error("the forge answered 502");
+      }
       kept[s.context] = { state: s.state, description: s.description, updated_at: new Date().toISOString() };
+      if (s.context === "mesh/merge-gate") history.unshift(kept[s.context]);
       written.push(`${s.state} ${s.description}`);
     },
     /** Reads answer what the forge held when asked, as late as the reads are held: the answer of a request in flight. */
@@ -50,6 +62,9 @@ function aForge() {
       if (readHold) await readHold;
       return held;
     },
+    async gateHistory(_o: string, _r: string, _sha: string) {
+      return history.map((h) => ({ ...h }));
+    },
   };
 }
 
@@ -138,14 +153,159 @@ test("a start from before the check now pending (a run before a recheck, the str
   await gates.pending("novox", "hq", SHA);
   await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, () =>
     forge.setCommitStatus("novox", "hq", SHA, { state: "failure", context: "mesh/merge-gate", description: "error" }));
-  now = new Date("2026-10-11T01:30:00Z"); // checked again: pending once more
-  await gates.pending("novox", "hq", SHA);
+  now = new Date("2026-10-11T01:30:00Z"); // checked again: the recheck's pending, as the tool writes it (issue 456)
+  await gates.rechecked("novox", "hq", SHA, { state: "pending", context: "mesh/merge-gate", description: "checking again: flaky" });
   assert.equal(await gates.started("novox", "hq", SHA, startedOnShanks), false, "the first run's start");
-  assert.match(forge.kept["mesh/merge-gate"].description, /^waiting in the build queue since /);
+  assert.equal(forge.kept["mesh/merge-gate"].description, "checking again: flaky");
   assert.equal(await gates.started("novox", "hq", SHA, { ...startedOnShanks, at: "2026-10-11T01:31:00Z" }), true,
     "the second run's start");
 });
 
+// **A recheck's pending goes through the one writer** (novox/hq issue 456). mesh-delivery's recheck puts the gate back
+// to pending through the gitea_commit_status tool; before, that write bypassed the head's chain: the first run's
+// verdict mark stayed set, so the new run never said "building", and an old run's verdict could land over the pending.
+
+/** The ask of a check, as the controller's link.NewBuildID names it: when it was asked, in unix nanoseconds. */
+const askOf = (at: string) => `build-${BigInt(Date.parse(at)) * 1_000_000n}`;
+const firstRun = askOf("2026-10-11T01:09:01Z");
+const recheckAt = new Date("2026-10-11T01:30:00Z");
+const secondRun = askOf("2026-10-11T01:30:02Z");
+const checkingAgain = { state: "pending" as const, context: "mesh/merge-gate", description: "checking again: main moved on" };
+const writeOf = (forge: ReturnType<typeof aForge>, state: string, description: string) => () =>
+  forge.setCommitStatus("novox", "hq", SHA, { state, context: "mesh/merge-gate", description });
+const gateOf = (forge: ReturnType<typeof aForge>) =>
+  `${forge.kept["mesh/merge-gate"].state} ${forge.kept["mesh/merge-gate"].description}`;
+
+test("an old run's verdict redelivered after a recheck's pending is not written over it", async () => {
+  const { GateWriter } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  const forge = aForge();
+  let now = announcedAt();
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge, () => now);
+  await gates.pending("novox", "hq", SHA);
+  forge.failWrites(); // the first run's verdict is not taken: the event is offered again
+  await assert.rejects(gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun));
+  now = recheckAt;
+  await gates.rechecked("novox", "hq", SHA, checkingAgain);
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun); // redelivered
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "pending checking again: main moved on", forge.written.join(" | "));
+  // The recheck's own verdict is written.
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "failure", "fail: 0 of 4 compose"), secondRun);
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "failure fail: 0 of 4 compose");
+});
+
+test("an old run's verdict in flight when the recheck comes lands before the recheck's pending", async () => {
+  const { GateWriter } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  const forge = aForge();
+  let now = announcedAt();
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge, () => now);
+  await gates.pending("novox", "hq", SHA);
+  forge.holdWrites(); // the first run's verdict is being written when the recheck comes
+  const verdict = gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun);
+  await new Promise((r) => setImmediate(r));
+  now = recheckAt;
+  const pending = gates.rechecked("novox", "hq", SHA, checkingAgain);
+  forge.release();
+  await Promise.all([verdict, pending]);
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "pending checking again: main moved on", forge.written.join(" | "));
+});
+
+test("a rechecked head says where its new run is: building on which machine", async () => {
+  const { GateWriter, buildingWords } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  const forge = aForge();
+  let now = announcedAt();
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge, () => now);
+  await gates.pending("novox", "hq", SHA);
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun);
+  now = recheckAt;
+  await gates.rechecked("novox", "hq", SHA, checkingAgain);
+  const at = "2026-10-11T01:30:03Z";
+  assert.equal(await gates.started("novox", "hq", SHA, { ...startedOnShanks, id: secondRun, at }), true);
+  assert.equal(forge.kept["mesh/merge-gate"].description, buildingWords("shanks", new Date(at)));
+});
+
+test("the recheck's own verdict is written, even asked a little before the pending by another machine's clock", async () => {
+  const { GateWriter } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  const forge = aForge();
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge, () => recheckAt);
+  await gates.rechecked("novox", "hq", SHA, checkingAgain);
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), askOf("2026-10-11T01:29:30Z"));
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "success pass");
+  // A verdict whose ask cannot be read is written: a verdict is never lost to what cannot be weighed.
+  await gates.rechecked("novox", "hq", SHA, checkingAgain);
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "failure", "fail"), "an id of another shape");
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "failure fail");
+});
+
+test("after a restart, an old run's verdict is weighed against the check the forge's history holds open", async () => {
+  const { GateWriter } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  const forge = aForge();
+  // What the forge kept before this process started: the announcement, the first run's verdict never written,
+  // the recheck's pending, and the second run's "building" over it.
+  forge.history.unshift({ state: "pending", description: "waiting in the build queue since 03:08", updated_at: "2026-10-11T01:08:50Z" });
+  forge.history.unshift({ state: "pending", description: "checking again: main moved on", updated_at: "2026-10-11T01:30:00Z" });
+  forge.history.unshift({ state: "pending", description: "building on shanks since 03:30", updated_at: "2026-10-11T01:30:05Z" });
+  forge.kept["mesh/merge-gate"] = forge.history[0];
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge, announcedAt);
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun);
+  assert.equal(forge.kept["mesh/merge-gate"].description, "building on shanks since 03:30", forge.written.join(" | "));
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "failure", "fail"), secondRun);
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "failure fail");
+});
+
+test("a recheck the forge does not take fails its caller, and the head is as it was", async () => {
+  const { GateWriter } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  const forge = aForge();
+  let now = announcedAt();
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge, () => now);
+  await gates.pending("novox", "hq", SHA);
+  forge.failWrites();
+  await assert.rejects(gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun));
+  now = recheckAt;
+  forge.failWrites();
+  await assert.rejects(gates.rechecked("novox", "hq", SHA, checkingAgain));
+  // The recheck was refused, so its check is not asked: the first run's verdict, offered again, is the head's.
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun);
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "success pass");
+});
+
+test("the status tool writes the merge check's pending through the writer, and the mesh's other statuses as they were", async () => {
+  const { GateWriter } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  const { commitStatusTool } = await import("../delivery.ts");
+  const forge = aForge();
+  const direct: string[] = [];
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge, () => recheckAt);
+  const tool = commitStatusTool({
+    setCommitStatus: async (_o, _r, _sha, s) => void direct.push(`${s.context} ${s.state}`),
+    gates,
+  });
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun);
+  await tool.run({ owner: "novox", repo: "hq", sha: SHA, context: "mesh/merge-gate", state: "pending", description: "checking again: x" });
+  await tool.run({ owner: "novox", repo: "hq", sha: SHA, context: "mesh/repo-check", state: "pending", description: "checking again: x" });
+  await tool.run({ owner: "novox", repo: "hq", sha: SHA, context: "mesh/delivery", state: "success", description: "delivered" });
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "pending checking again: x");
+  assert.equal(forge.kept["mesh/repo-check"].state, "pending");
+  assert.deepEqual(direct, ["mesh/delivery success"]);
+  // The redelivered first run's verdict is the writer's to drop.
+  await gates.verdict("novox", "hq", SHA, writeOf(forge, "success", "pass"), firstRun);
+  assert.equal(gateOf(forge), "pending checking again: x");
+  // A head named short is another head to the writer: refused, nothing sent.
+  await assert.rejects(tool.run({ owner: "novox", repo: "hq", sha: SHA.slice(0, 12), context: "mesh/merge-gate", state: "pending" }),
+    /whole sha/);
+  await assert.rejects(tool.run({ owner: "novox", repo: "hq", sha: SHA, context: "mesh/merge-gate", state: "success" }),
+    /set by its verdict only/);
+});
+
+test("when a check was asked is read from its id; the opening of the check now pending from the gate's history", async () => {
+  const { askedAt, openedAt } = await import("../gate.ts");
+  assert.equal(askedAt("build-1791680941048622697"), Date.parse("2026-10-11T01:09:01.048Z"));
+  assert.equal(askedAt("build-mesh-catalog"), undefined);
+  assert.equal(askedAt(undefined), undefined);
+  assert.equal(openedAt([{ state: "pending", description: "building on ace since 03:31", updated_at: "2026-10-11T01:31:00Z" },
+    { state: "pending", description: "checking again: x", updated_at: "2026-10-11T01:30:00Z" }]), Date.parse("2026-10-11T01:30:00Z"));
+  assert.equal(openedAt([{ state: "success", description: "pass", updated_at: "2026-10-11T01:30:00Z" }]), undefined);
+  assert.equal(openedAt([]), undefined);
+});
+
 test("a head this process did not announce (it restarted) is said only while the forge holds its gate pending", async () => {
   const { GateWriter } = await import("../gate.ts");
   const forge = aForge();
diff --git a/modules/gitea/test/guard.test.ts b/modules/gitea/test/guard.test.ts
index 92aa711b..a9d84830 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/test/guard.test.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/test/guard.test.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import { createServer, type IncomingMessage, type ServerResponse } from "node:ht
 import { GiteaClient } from "../dist/client.js";
 import { ConfiguredToken } from "../dist/token.js";
 import { getGiteaTools } from "../dist/tools/index.js";
+import { commitStatusTool } from "../dist/delivery.js";
+import { GateWriter } from "../dist/gate.js";
 import { judgeApiCall, judgeProtectionChange, ruleCovers, routedPath } from "../dist/guard.js";
 
 interface Sent { method: string; path: string; body: any }
@@ -97,7 +99,13 @@ const server = createServer(async (req, res) => {
 await new Promise<void>((r) => server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", () => r()));
 after(() => new Promise<void>((r) => server.close(() => r())));
 const { port } = server.address() as { port: number };
-const tools = getGiteaTools(new GiteaClient(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}`, new ConfiguredToken("t")));
+const client = new GiteaClient(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}`, new ConfiguredToken("t"));
+// gitea_commit_status is served from the watcher's bundle, beside the merge check's one writer (novox/hq issue 456).
+const tools = [...getGiteaTools(client), commitStatusTool({
+  setCommitStatus: (o, r, sha, s) => client.setCommitStatus(o, r, sha, s),
+  gates: new GateWriter({ setCommitStatus: (o, r, sha, s) => client.setCommitStatus(o, r, sha, s),
+    gateOf: async () => undefined, gateHistory: async () => [] }),
+})];
 const tool = (name: string) => tools.find((t) => t.name === name)!;
 const writes = () => state.sent.map((s) => `${s.method} ${s.path}`);
 
diff --git a/modules/gitea/test/token.test.ts b/modules/gitea/test/token.test.ts
index cd192a8c..3bbfc5e9 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/test/token.test.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/test/token.test.ts
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ test("the tools register once there is a way to a token, and the first call mint
       "gitea_list_branches",
       "gitea_delete_branch",
       "gitea_branch_protection_get", "gitea_branch_protection_set",
-      "gitea_note_append", "gitea_delivery_view", "gitea_commit_statuses", "gitea_open_pulls", "gitea_contains", "gitea_commit_status",
+      "gitea_note_append", "gitea_delivery_view", "gitea_commit_statuses", "gitea_open_pulls", "gitea_contains",
       "gitea_list_labels", "gitea_create_label",
       "gitea_api",
     ],
diff --git a/modules/gitea/tools/index.ts b/modules/gitea/tools/index.ts
index ce5985a3..ede929c7 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/tools/index.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/tools/index.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import { registerModuleTools, type ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
 import { emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
 import { GiteaClient, type BranchProtection } from "../client.js";
-import { appendNote, deliveryStatus, run, viewBody, viewComment } from "../delivery.js";
+import { appendNote, run, viewBody, viewComment } from "../delivery.js";
 import { containedFrom, isCommit, mergeableUnder, newestByContext } from "../checks.js";
 import {
   MERGE_METHODS, Refused, checkName, judgeApiCall, judgeContentsWrite, judgeDelete, judgeProtectionChange, pathSegments, routedPath, sentQuery,
@@ -639,25 +639,8 @@ function allGiteaTools(gitea: GiteaClient): ToolDefinition[] {
         return { commit, in: within, contains, ahead };
       },
     },
-    {
-      name: "gitea_commit_status",
-      description: "Set one of the mesh's statuses on a commit (mesh/delivery, mesh/delivery-group): pending, success, error, failure or warning, a short description, and the page it links to. The merge check's statuses (mesh/merge-gate, mesh/repo-check) take pending only — a recheck putting them back until the fresh verdict sets them.",
-      input: {
-        owner: { type: "string", description: "the repository owner" },
-        repo: { type: "string", description: "the repository name" },
-        sha: { type: "string", description: "the commit" },
-        context: { type: "string", description: "the status's name, mesh/…" },
-        state: { type: "string", description: "pending | success | error | failure | warning" },
-        description: { type: "string", description: "one line" },
-        target_url: { type: "string", description: "the page it links to (the pull request)" },
-      },
-      run: async (args) => {
-        const status = deliveryStatus(String(args.context), String(args.state), String(args.description ?? ""),
-          args.target_url ? String(args.target_url) : undefined);
-        await gitea.setCommitStatus(String(args.owner), String(args.repo), String(args.sha), status);
-        return { set: status };
-      },
-    },
+    // gitea_commit_status is served from the watcher's bundle (index.ts), beside the merge check's one writer
+    // (novox/hq issue 456).
 
     // ---- Labels ----
     {