The packet filter's tools are a bundle the node's runtime serves; its container goes (hq to-be 38 WP4)

nftables drops its container, NET_ADMIN, the container-runtime capability, the runtime base
images, the Dockerfile, and the bus credential and state directory only the container read;
its tools are declared as a TypeScript bundle the toolchain compiles and node-tools loads on
every node, and the iptables package the image used to carry is declared on the host. The
runtime runs as the operator's account, so the tool runs the filter's commands through sudo
without a prompt when it is not root (ADR 0175 §4, to-be 38 WP4), naming sudo's absence or
refusal by how it failed; the filter file is the path the manifest's filtering names, held to
it by a test; a found firewall that is present but will not answer stops a removal rather
than passing for inactive; a legacy tool that is present but fails is said, not swallowed.

modules/build-agent/Dockerfile

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ARG GO_BASE
 ARG ALPINE_BASE
-# builder's own image: the build machine itself, compiled into a container.
+# build-agent's image: the build machine itself, compiled into a container (novox/hq ADR 0190).
 #
 # **The source is not vendored here.** builder's actual code — cmd/mesh-builder, internal/builder,
 # internal/catalogue — lives in the mesh-controller repository, the same control plane it is one

modules/build-agent/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# build-agent
+
+The mesh's build machine as a role every machine can hold (novox/hq ADR 0190). It holds the node seat
+`node-build-agent`: every holder pulls one build at a time from the role's one work queue when it is
+idle, so a tier of many images is built by as many machines as hold the seat and are online, and a
+machine that is off builds nothing and blocks nothing. The controller asks the role, never a machine;
+the outcome names the machine that built it.
+
+What a holding machine needs is what the builder always needed, said here once: a container runtime
+(the socket is mounted), the artifact store and the package registry as provisions, a workspace, and
+the bus credential. The code is `cmd/mesh-builder` in the mesh-controller repository, compiled from
+that repository's main (`build.artifacts[].context`); this module ships the packaging.
+
+Assign it to every machine with a container runtime. It replaces `builder`, the one-holder form of the
+same thing; retire that once this is assigned where it was.

modules/build-agent/module.json

@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 {
-  "module": "builder",
+  "module": "build-agent",
   "version": "1",
+  "slug": "agent",
   "capabilities": [
     "container-runtime"
   ],
   "claims": [
     {
-      "name": "mesh-build-machine",
+      "name": "node-build-agent",
-      "scope": "mesh"
+      "scope": "node"
     }
   ],
   "requires": [
@@ -36,19 +37,19 @@
       "mode": "0700"
     },
     {
-      "id": "builder-env",
+      "id": "agent-env",
       "type": "file",
-      "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/builder.env",
+      "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/build-agent.env",
       "mode": "0600",
       "content": "MESH_BROKER_FILE=/run/mesh/broker\nMESH_NODE=${machine:name}\nMESH_REGISTRY=${bound:artifact-store:at}:${bound:artifact-store:port}\nMESH_PACKAGE_BINDING=/run/mesh/package-registry.json\nMESH_NPM_TOKEN_FILE=/run/mesh/package-registry.secret\nMESH_WORKSPACE=${dir:workspace}\n"
     },
     {
       "id": "server",
       "type": "container",
-      "name": "mesh-builder",
+      "name": "mesh-build-agent",
       "artifact": "server",
       "env-file": [
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/builder.env"
+        "${dir:mesh-state}/build-agent.env"
       ],
       "volumes": [
         "${dir:mesh-state}:/run/mesh:ro",
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@
         "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"
       ],
       "restart-on": [
-        "builder-env"
+        "agent-env"
       ],
       "network": "host"
     }

modules/gitea/module.json

@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@
   "jails": [
     {
       "name": "gitea",
-      "failregex": "^.*Failed authentication attempt for .* from <HOST>(?::\\d+)?\\s*$",
+      "failregex": "^.*Failed authentication attempt for .* from <HOST>(?::\\d+)?\\s*$\n            ^.*Invalid user .* from <HOST> port \\d+\\s*$\n            ^.*User \\S+ from <HOST> not allowed because .*$",
       "jail": "backend = systemd\njournalmatch = CONTAINER_NAME=gitea\nport = http,https,222\nmaxretry = 3\nfindtime = 1d\nbantime = 1d"
     }
   ]

modules/invoicing/module.json

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
       "type": "file",
       "path": "${dir:state}/api.env",
       "mode": "0600",
-      "content": "NODE_ENV=production\nPORT=9000\nMONGO_URL=mongodb://${bound:mongodb-database:as}:${secret:mongodb-database}@${bound:mongodb-database:at}:${bound:mongodb-database:port}/${bound:mongodb-database:as}?authSource=${bound:mongodb-database:as}\nMONGO_DB=${bound:mongodb-database:as}\nMINIO_BUCKET=${bound:s3-bucket:bucket}\nMINIO_ENDPOINT=${bound:s3-bucket:at}\nMINIO_PORT=${bound:s3-bucket:port}\nMINIO_ACCESSKEY=${bound:s3-bucket:as}\nMINIO_SECRET=${secret:s3-bucket}\n"
+      "content": "NODE_ENV=production\nPORT=9000\nMONGO_URL=mongodb://${bound:mongodb-database:as}:${secret:mongodb-database}@${bound:mongodb-database:at}:${bound:mongodb-database:port}/${bound:mongodb-database:as}?authSource=${bound:mongodb-database:as}\nMONGO_DB=${bound:mongodb-database:as}\nMINIO_BUCKET=mesh-novox-invoice\nMINIO_ENDPOINT=${bound:s3-bucket:at}\nMINIO_PORT=${bound:s3-bucket:port}\nMINIO_ACCESSKEY=${bound:s3-bucket:as}\nMINIO_SECRET=${secret:s3-bucket}\n"
     },
     {
       "id": "net",

modules/mesh-console/Dockerfile

@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-# The console (novox/hq ADR 0152, design 34): the mesh's tools for whoever is on a machine, served
-# over MCP on that machine's loopback.
-#
-# **Nothing is compiled here.** The console is the tool runtime's own client — `mesh serve` — which
-# the runtime image already carries beside the runtime it runs modules with. This recipe changes the
-# program the image starts and nothing else, so the console is exactly the client a person can run by
-# hand, started by the mesh instead, on the credential the mesh sealed to the machine.
-#
-# One base, named rather than pinned: the mesh answers with the copy it holds (novox/hq issue 044).
-ARG RUNTIME_BASE
-
-FROM ${RUNTIME_BASE}
-ENTRYPOINT ["node", "dist/mesh.js"]

modules/mesh-console/README.md

@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-# mesh-console
-
-The mesh's tools, on the machine a person sits at, served by a module the mesh assigned there
-(novox/hq [ADR 0152](https://git.novox.be/novox/hq), design 34).
-
-Assign it to a machine and an agent on that machine has the mesh's tools at
-`http://127.0.0.1:<port>/mcp` — MCP over HTTP, `initialize`, `tools/list`, `tools/call`. A person at
-a terminal reaches the same endpoint with `mesh tools --console http://127.0.0.1:<port>` and
-`mesh call <module>.<tool> --console …`, with no credential of their own: the console holds it.
-
-## What it is
-
-The tool runtime's own client, `mesh serve`, started by the mesh on the credential it sealed to the
-machine for `<node>.mesh-console`. The manifest says three things nothing else in the catalogue says
-together:
-
-- `invokes: ["*"]` — it calls every tool on the mesh, and the bus grants exactly that publish side;
-- a listener `from: machine` — loopback only, and the filter opens nothing for it;
-- no `emits`, no `consumes`, no `tools` — nothing on the bus can address it.
-
-**Loopback is the authority boundary.** Whoever can connect is on the machine, and whoever is on the
-machine is the account that owns the mesh there (ADR 0034, ADR 0144). There is no token and no login,
-and `mesh serve` refuses to bind anything but a loopback address.
-
-## What it lists
-
-What the running modules answer: every tool runtime serves a `tools` verb for its module, and the
-console asks the catalogue which modules the mesh holds and each module what it serves. A module that
-did not answer — not assigned, not up, or built before the runtime answered `tools` — is named in the
-list's `_meta.notAnswering` and can still be called by `<module>.<tool>`.
-
-The mesh's own verbs (`status`, `push`, `assign`) are the `mesh-controller` seat's tools under
-ADR 0132 and are not served on the bus yet; they appear here when they are.
-
-## Port
-
-The manifest declares port 4270 and the mesh assigns the machine port as it does for any listener;
-the console binds `127.0.0.1:${port:4270}`. `node show <machine>` says which port a machine was given.

modules/mesh-console/module.json

@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "module": "mesh-console",
-  "version": "1",
-  "slug": "console",
-  "capabilities": [
-    "container-runtime"
-  ],
-  "invokes": [
-    "*"
-  ],
-  "own-secrets": {
-    "broker": "${dir:mesh-state}/broker"
-  },
-  "listens": [
-    {
-      "name": "mcp",
-      "port": 4270,
-      "protocol": "tcp",
-      "from": "machine",
-      "why": "the mesh's tools for whoever is on this machine, over MCP on loopback; the machine's login is the authority (novox/hq ADR 0152)"
-    }
-  ],
-  "resources": [
-    {
-      "id": "mesh-state",
-      "type": "directory",
-      "mode": "0700",
-      "place": "mesh"
-    },
-    {
-      "id": "server",
-      "type": "container",
-      "name": "mesh-console",
-      "network": "host",
-      "args": [
-        "serve"
-      ],
-      "env": {
-        "MESH_BROKER_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker",
-        "MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN": "127.0.0.1:${port:4270}"
-      },
-      "volumes": [
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/broker:/run/secrets/broker:ro"
-      ],
-      "artifact": "runtime"
-    }
-  ],
-  "build": {
-    "on": [
-      {
-        "arg": "RUNTIME_BASE",
-        "module": "mesh-tools",
-        "artifact": "runtime"
-      }
-    ],
-    "artifacts": [
-      {
-        "name": "runtime",
-        "kind": "image",
-        "from": "Dockerfile"
-      }
-    ]
-  }
-}

modules/minio/client.ts

@@ -303,11 +303,21 @@ export class MinioClient {
 
 // --- module-scoped helpers -------------------------------------------------
 
-// **Neither the access key nor the bucket is derived here any more.** `accessKeyFor` minted an id
+/** A deterministic 20-char access key id from a consumer name, so removal needs no stored state:
-// of its own until the mesh took that over (ADR 0048: the login is the mesh's, handed to both
+ *  the provisioner recomputes the same id at teardown that it minted at creation. */
-// ends), and `bucketFor` derived the bucket until the mesh took that over too (ADR 0188: the rule
+export function accessKeyFor(consumer: string): string {
-// is a line of this module's manifest, filled per consumer and delivered to both ends). Both
+  const chars = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789";
-// survived with no callers, which is the state a rule comes back from; they are gone.
+  const digest = createHash("sha256").update(consumer).digest();
+  let out = "";
+  for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) out += chars[digest[i] % chars.length];
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** A DNS-safe bucket name derived from a consumer — the removable identity of its storage. */
+export function bucketFor(consumer: string): string {
+  const name = consumer.toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9-]+/g, "-").replace(/^-+|-+$/g, "").slice(0, 63);
+  return name.length >= 3 ? name : `mesh-${name}`;
+}
 
 function bucketPolicy(bucket: string): string {
   return JSON.stringify({

modules/minio/module.json

@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@
     "s3-bucket": {
       "scheme": "http",
       "region": "eu-west",
-      "port": 9000,
+      "port": 9000
-      "bucket": "${consumer:as:dns}"
     }
   },
   "receives": {

modules/minio/package.json

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "type": "module",
   "private": true,
   "dependencies": {
-    "@novox/mesh-sdk": "^0.1.2"
+    "@novox/mesh-sdk": "^0.1.1"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/node": "^22.0.0",

modules/minio/provisioner/index.ts

@@ -10,24 +10,18 @@
 // **The access key and its secret are the mesh's, not the provisioner's (ADR 0048).** The mesh
 // derives the login (the access-key id) and hands it to both ends, and mints the secret key. minio
 // creates the service account under exactly that access key with exactly that secret — a credential
-// the provisioner invented is one the consumer could never present.
+// the provisioner invented is one the consumer could never present. The bucket is derived from the
-//
+// login, so teardown recomputes it with nothing to persist.
-// **The bucket name is the mesh's too (ADR 0188).** It used to be computed here, from the login,
-// and every consumer transcribed the same rule into its own definition by hand — two copies of
-// one rule with nothing comparing them, and one of three was wrong for months. Now the rule is a
-// line of this module's manifest (`serves.s3-bucket.bucket: ${consumer:as:dns}`), the mesh fills
-// it per consumer, and the same filled value reaches this provisioner and the consumer's own
-// configuration. There is no second computation to disagree with.
 
 import { runProvisioner, type Provision } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/provisioner";
 import { emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
-import { MinioClient } from "../client.js";
+import { MinioClient, bucketFor } from "../client.js";
 
 const minio = MinioClient.fromEnv();
 
 runProvisioner("s3-bucket", {
   async create(p: Provision): Promise<void> {
-    const bucket = bucketNamed(p.derived);
+    const bucket = bucketFor(p.as);
     const accessKeyId = p.as;
 
     if (!(await minio.bucketExists(bucket))) await minio.createBucket(bucket);
@@ -44,8 +38,8 @@ runProvisioner("s3-bucket", {
     });
   },
 
-  async remove(p: { as: string; derived: Readonly<Record<string, unknown>> }): Promise<void> {
+  async remove(p: { as: string }): Promise<void> {
-    const bucket = bucketNamed(p.derived);
+    const bucket = bucketFor(p.as);
 
     // Revoking the key is what cuts the consumer's access. The bucket is emptied-then-dropped only if
     // empty; a bucket that still holds objects is left for an operator rather than erroring on every
@@ -63,28 +57,10 @@ runProvisioner("s3-bucket", {
   // Asked every minute by the harness: whether the backend still holds this consumer exactly as
   // the mesh gave it, so a login lost behind the provisioner's back is made again (novox/hq issue 120).
   async holds(p: Provision): Promise<boolean> {
-    return minio.canReachAs(bucketNamed(p.derived), p.as, p.password);
+    return minio.canReachAs(bucketFor(p.as), p.as, p.password);
   },
 });
 
-/** The bucket the mesh derived for this consumer.
- *
- *  Absent means this module is running against a control plane that does not fill `${consumer:…}`
- *  yet, or a manifest whose `serves` block lost the line. Both are the same mistake from here —
- *  nobody said which bucket — and both are said rather than guessed: a provisioner that fell back
- *  to deriving one would restore the second rule and hide the fault behind a bucket that happens
- *  to be right. */
-function bucketNamed(derived: Readonly<Record<string, unknown>>): string {
-  const bucket = derived.bucket;
-  if (typeof bucket !== "string" || bucket === "") {
-    throw new Error(
-      "the mesh did not say which bucket this consumer gets: minio's manifest must serve " +
-        "`bucket` under s3-bucket (novox/hq ADR 0188)",
-    );
-  }
-  return bucket;
-}
-
 /** Emit best-effort: a broker hiccup is logged and dropped, never allowed to throw back and fail a
  *  bucket that was made. */
 async function announce(type: string, body: unknown): Promise<void> {

modules/nextcloud/module.json

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
       "type": "file",
       "path": "${dir:state}/server.env",
       "mode": "0600",
-      "content": "POSTGRES_HOST=${bound:postgres-database:at}:${bound:postgres-database:port}\nPOSTGRES_DB=${bound:postgres-database:as}\nPOSTGRES_USER=${bound:postgres-database:as}\nPOSTGRES_PASSWORD=${secret:postgres-database}\nNEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_USER=mesh-admin\nNEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_PASSWORD=${secret:admin}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_HOST=${bound:s3-bucket:at}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_PORT=${bound:s3-bucket:port}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_BUCKET=${bound:s3-bucket:bucket}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_KEY=${bound:s3-bucket:as}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_SECRET=${secret:s3-bucket}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_SSL=false\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_USEPATH_STYLE=true\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_REGION=${bound:s3-bucket:region}\n"
+      "content": "POSTGRES_HOST=${bound:postgres-database:at}:${bound:postgres-database:port}\nPOSTGRES_DB=${bound:postgres-database:as}\nPOSTGRES_USER=${bound:postgres-database:as}\nPOSTGRES_PASSWORD=${secret:postgres-database}\nNEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_USER=mesh-admin\nNEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_PASSWORD=${secret:admin}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_HOST=${bound:s3-bucket:at}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_PORT=${bound:s3-bucket:port}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_BUCKET=mesh-novox-ncloud\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_KEY=${bound:s3-bucket:as}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_SECRET=${secret:s3-bucket}\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_SSL=false\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_USEPATH_STYLE=true\nOBJECTSTORE_S3_REGION=${bound:s3-bucket:region}\n"
     },
     {
       "id": "html",

modules/nftables/Dockerfile

@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-# nftables' runtime: the tool runtime, carrying the packet filter's tools and the binaries they speak.
-#
-# Built from this module's own directory and nothing else (novox/hq ADR 0069). Two bases, named in
-# module.json's `build.on`: the image this is compiled in and the image it runs in.
-ARG BUILD_BASE
-ARG RUNTIME_BASE
-
-FROM ${BUILD_BASE} AS build
-WORKDIR /app/modules/nftables
-COPY . .
-RUN node /app/node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc client.ts tools/index.ts \
-      --module NodeNext --moduleResolution NodeNext --target ES2022 --outDir dist
-
-FROM ${RUNTIME_BASE}
-# The filter's own tools: nft for the machine's ruleset and the mesh's table, iptables for the
-# legacy filter and the tables iptables-nft manages — a predecessor's rules live there (ADR 0168).
-# The container runs on the machine's network with NET_ADMIN (ADR 0170), so these act on the
-# machine's packet filter, not on a namespace of their own.
-RUN apt-get update \
-      && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends nftables iptables \
-      && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-COPY --from=build /app/modules/nftables/dist /app/modules/nftables/dist
-ENV MESH_TOOL_MODULES=/app/modules/nftables/dist/tools/index.js

modules/nftables/client.ts

@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@
 // rule set from every module's `listens` and writes it to the filter file (ADR 0045); the module
 // loads it through its own unit. This code reads the filter back as the machine enforces it, reloads
 // the mesh's own table, and removes one thing the mesh did not write when the operator names it
-// (ADR 0168, ADR 0170) — the seat's three verbs, over the machine's own tools.
+// (ADR 0168, ADR 0170) — the seat's three verbs, over the machine's own tools. Root is the module's
+// concern (ADR 0175 §4): the runtime loading this bundle runs as the operator's account (to-be 38
+// WP4), so the commands go through sudo without a prompt where the account is not root.
 
 import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
+import { accessSync, constants } from "node:fs";
+import { delimiter, join } from "node:path";
 import { promisify } from "node:util";
 
 const execFileP = promisify(execFile);
@@ -12,9 +16,54 @@ const execFileP = promisify(execFile);
 /** A command runner, so the acts can be tested without a packet filter. */
 export type Runner = (cmd: string, args: string[]) => Promise<string>;
 
+/** Where the mesh writes this node's filter: the path the manifest's `filtering.into` names. A
+ *  bundle has no environment of its own (to-be 38 WP4), so the path is said here once, and a test
+ *  holds it to the manifest's. */
+export const FILTER_FILE = "/etc/nftables.conf";
+
+/** The command as it is run: as given when this process is root, else through sudo without a
+ *  prompt. The packet filter answers only to root, listing included. */
+export function escalated(cmd: string, args: string[], uid: number | undefined = process.getuid?.()): [string, string[]] {
+  if (uid === 0) return [cmd, args];
+  return ["sudo", ["-n", cmd, ...args]];
+}
+
+/** Whether a tool is on this machine: an executable of that name on the path, or where the
+ *  system keeps its administration. Asked before a tool is run, so "not here" and "refused" are
+ *  never confused — the former is a fact to work around, the latter an error to say. */
+export function installed(tool: string, path: string = process.env.PATH ?? ""): boolean {
+  const dirs = [...path.split(delimiter), "/usr/sbin", "/sbin", "/usr/bin"].filter((d) => d !== "");
+  return dirs.some((dir) => {
+    try {
+      accessSync(join(dir, tool), constants.X_OK);
+      return true;
+    } catch {
+      return false;
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 export const execRunner: Runner = async (cmd, args) => {
-  const { stdout } = await execFileP(cmd, args, { maxBuffer: 16 * 1024 * 1024 });
+  const [program, argv] = escalated(cmd, args);
+  try {
+    const { stdout } = await execFileP(program, argv, { maxBuffer: 16 * 1024 * 1024 });
     return stdout;
+  } catch (err) {
+    // What failed is named by how it failed, not by prose: sudo missing is a spawn error; sudo
+    // refusing speaks on its own stderr line; anything else is the command's own failure.
+    const e = err as { code?: string | number; stderr?: string };
+    if (program === "sudo") {
+      if (e.code === "ENOENT") {
+        throw new Error(`${cmd} needs root, and sudo is not installed here for the runtime's account to escalate with`);
+      }
+      const stderr = String(e.stderr ?? "").trim();
+      if (/^sudo: .*command not found/m.test(stderr)) throw new Error(`${cmd} is not installed here`);
+      if (/^sudo:/m.test(stderr)) {
+        throw new Error(`${cmd} needs root and the runtime's account may not run it without a prompt: ${stderr}`);
+      }
+    }
+    throw err;
+  }
 };
 
 /** The mesh's own tables, which `remove` never touches. */
@@ -34,14 +83,17 @@ export interface Removal {
 export class FirewallClient {
   private readonly run: Runner;
   private readonly filterFile: string;
+  private readonly have: (tool: string) => boolean;
 
-  constructor(run: Runner = execRunner, filterFile: string = process.env.MESH_FILTER_FILE ?? "/etc/nftables.conf") {
+  constructor(run: Runner = execRunner, filterFile: string = FILTER_FILE, have: (tool: string) => boolean = installed) {
     this.run = run;
     this.filterFile = filterFile;
+    this.have = have;
   }
 
-  static fromEnv(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): FirewallClient {
+  /** The filter as this machine has it: its own tools, the mesh's file. */
-    return new FirewallClient(execRunner, env.MESH_FILTER_FILE ?? "/etc/nftables.conf");
+  static onThisMachine(): FirewallClient {
+    return new FirewallClient();
   }
 
   /** The mesh's live table — exactly what the mesh's own filter is dropping and accepting. */
@@ -65,11 +117,14 @@ export class FirewallClient {
     const legacy: Record<string, string> = {};
     if (!table) {
       for (const tool of ["iptables-legacy", "ip6tables-legacy"]) {
+        if (!this.have(tool)) continue; // no legacy tool, nothing to list
         try {
           const out = await this.run(tool, ["-S"]);
           if (out.trim()) legacy[tool] = out;
-        } catch {
+        } catch (err) {
-          // the tool is not here, or the legacy filter is empty: nothing to list
+          // The tool is here and would not answer: said, not swallowed — a listing that silently
+          // leaves out a predecessor's rules reads as "none".
+          legacy[tool] = `error: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`;
         }
       }
     }
@@ -82,14 +137,17 @@ export class FirewallClient {
     return { loaded: this.filterFile, table: await this.ruleset() };
   }
 
-  /** Whether the found front end is in force, whose chains `remove` leaves alone. */
+  /** Whether the found front end is in force, whose chains `remove` leaves alone. Absent, it is
+   *  not; present and not answering, nothing is removed on a guess. */
   private async ufwActive(): Promise<boolean> {
+    if (!this.have("ufw")) return false;
+    let out: string;
     try {
-      const out = await this.run("ufw", ["status"]);
+      out = await this.run("ufw", ["status"]);
-      return /^Status:\s*active/m.test(out);
+    } catch (err) {
-    } catch {
+      throw new Error(`cannot tell whether the found firewall is in force, so nothing of its is removed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`);
-      return false;
     }
+    return /^Status:\s*active/m.test(out);
   }
 
   /** Remove one rule set the mesh did not write, named as the host reports it (ADR 0168). */

modules/nftables/module.json

@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
   "module": "nftables",
   "version": "1",
   "capabilities": [
-    "firewall",
+    "firewall"
-    "container-runtime"
   ],
   "claims": [
     {
@@ -20,17 +19,16 @@
     "into": "/etc/nftables.conf"
   },
   "resources": [
-    {
-      "id": "mesh-state",
-      "type": "directory",
-      "mode": "0700",
-      "place": "mesh"
-    },
     {
       "id": "package",
       "type": "package",
       "package": "nftables"
     },
+    {
+      "id": "legacy-tools",
+      "type": "package",
+      "package": "iptables"
+    },
     {
       "id": "unit",
       "type": "file",
@@ -42,7 +40,7 @@
       "id": "stock-unit-stop",
       "type": "file",
       "path": "/etc/systemd/system/nftables.service.d/mesh.conf",
-      "content": "# The mesh: stopping the stock unit deletes only the mesh's table, never the whole ruleset\n# (novox/hq ADR 0100) \u2014 a flush would take the container runtime's rules and any firewall with it.\n[Service]\nExecStop=\nExecStop=nft delete table inet mesh\n",
+      "content": "# The mesh: stopping the stock unit deletes only the mesh's table, never the whole ruleset\n# (novox/hq ADR 0100) — a flush would take the container runtime's rules and any firewall with it.\n[Service]\nExecStop=\nExecStop=nft delete table inet mesh\n",
       "mode": "0644"
     },
     {
@@ -64,50 +62,20 @@
       "type": "package",
       "package": "ufw",
       "absent": true
-    },
-    {
-      "id": "runtime",
-      "type": "container",
-      "name": "mesh-nftables",
-      "network": "host",
-      "capabilities": [
-        "NET_ADMIN"
-      ],
-      "volumes": [
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/broker:/run/secrets/broker:ro",
-        "/etc/nftables.conf:/etc/nftables.conf:ro"
-      ],
-      "env": {
-        "MESH_BROKER_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker",
-        "MESH_FILTER_FILE": "/etc/nftables.conf"
-      },
-      "artifact": "runtime"
     }
   ],
   "tools": [
     "firewall_rules"
   ],
-  "own-secrets": {
-    "broker": "${dir:mesh-state}/broker"
-  },
   "build": {
-    "on": [
-      {
-        "arg": "BUILD_BASE",
-        "module": "mesh-tools",
-        "artifact": "build"
-      },
-      {
-        "arg": "RUNTIME_BASE",
-        "module": "mesh-tools",
-        "artifact": "runtime"
-      }
-    ],
     "artifacts": [
       {
-        "name": "runtime",
+        "name": "tools",
-        "kind": "image",
+        "kind": "bundle",
-        "from": "Dockerfile"
+        "language": "typescript",
+        "entrypoints": [
+          "tools/index.js"
+        ]
       }
     ]
   }

modules/nftables/package.json

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "type": "module",
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "tsc client.ts tools/index.ts --module NodeNext --moduleResolution NodeNext --target ES2022 --outDir dist",
+    "build": "tsc client.ts tools/index.ts --module NodeNext --moduleResolution NodeNext --target ES2022 --rootDir . --outDir dist",
     "test": "node --test --experimental-strip-types 'test/*.test.ts'"
   },
   "dependencies": {

modules/nftables/test/remove.test.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 // and the same in an iptables-nft table. It refuses what is not the operator's to remove.
 import { test } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-import { FirewallClient, chainsJumpingTo, type Runner } from "../client.ts";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { FILTER_FILE, FirewallClient, chainsJumpingTo, escalated, installed, type Runner } from "../client.ts";
 
 const legacy = [
   "-P INPUT ACCEPT", "-P FORWARD DROP", "-P OUTPUT ACCEPT",
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ function fake(ufwActive = false): { run: Runner; asked: string[] } {
 
 test("a predecessor's chain in the legacy filter loses its jumps, is flushed and deleted", async () => {
   const f = fake();
-  const out = await new FirewallClient(f.run).remove("chain HAL-MESH-ONLY (iptables-legacy)");
+  const out = await new FirewallClient(f.run, undefined, () => true).remove("chain HAL-MESH-ONLY (iptables-legacy)");
   assert.deepEqual(out.did, [
     "iptables-legacy -D DOCKER-USER -i enp6s0 -p tcp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -j HAL-MESH-ONLY",
     "iptables-legacy -F HAL-MESH-ONLY",
@@ -44,27 +45,27 @@ test("a predecessor's chain in the legacy filter loses its jumps, is flushed and
 
 test("the runtime's user chain is emptied back to its one return, never deleted", async () => {
   const f = fake();
-  const out = await new FirewallClient(f.run).remove("chain DOCKER-USER (ip6tables-legacy)");
+  const out = await new FirewallClient(f.run, undefined, () => true).remove("chain DOCKER-USER (ip6tables-legacy)");
   assert.deepEqual(out.did, ["ip6tables-legacy -F DOCKER-USER", "ip6tables-legacy -A DOCKER-USER -j RETURN"]);
-  const nft = await new FirewallClient(fake().run).remove("table ip6 filter, chain DOCKER-USER");
+  const nft = await new FirewallClient(fake().run, undefined, () => true).remove("table ip6 filter, chain DOCKER-USER");
   assert.deepEqual(nft.did, ["ip6tables -F DOCKER-USER", "ip6tables -A DOCKER-USER -j RETURN"]);
 });
 
 test("a chain of the machine's own nftables table goes with the rules that reach it", async () => {
   const f = fake();
-  const out = await new FirewallClient(f.run).remove("table ip6 own, chain deny");
+  const out = await new FirewallClient(f.run, undefined, () => true).remove("table ip6 own, chain deny");
   assert.deepEqual(out.did, ["nft delete rule ip6 own forward handle 7", "nft delete chain ip6 own deny"]);
 });
 
 test("what is not the operator's to remove is refused by name", async () => {
-  const c = new FirewallClient(fake(true).run);
+  const c = new FirewallClient(fake(true).run, undefined, () => true);
   await assert.rejects(c.remove("table inet mesh, chain forward"), /the mesh's own table/);
   await assert.rejects(c.remove("chain DOCKER (iptables-legacy)"), /container runtime's own/);
   await assert.rejects(c.remove("chain FORWARD (iptables-legacy)"), /built in/);
   await assert.rejects(c.remove("chain ufw6-docker-logging-deny (ip6tables-legacy)"), /found firewall, which is in force/);
   await assert.rejects(c.remove("something else"), /not a rule set as the host reports one/);
   // Retired, a front end's leftover is nobody's and goes.
-  const retired = await new FirewallClient(fake(false).run).remove("chain ufw6-docker-logging-deny (ip6tables-legacy)");
+  const retired = await new FirewallClient(fake(false).run, undefined, () => true).remove("chain ufw6-docker-logging-deny (ip6tables-legacy)");
   assert.ok(retired.did.includes("ip6tables-legacy -X ufw6-docker-logging-deny"));
 });
 
@@ -72,3 +73,36 @@ test("which chains jump to a target is read from a listing", () => {
   const listing = "table ip6 own {\n\tchain a {\n\t\tjump deny\n\t}\n\tchain b {\n\t\tgoto deny\n\t}\n\tchain deny {\n\t\tdrop\n\t}\n}\n";
   assert.deepEqual(chainsJumpingTo(listing, "deny"), ["a", "b"]);
 });
+
+test("the filter's commands run as given by root and through sudo without a prompt by anyone else", () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(escalated("nft", ["list", "ruleset"], 0), ["nft", ["list", "ruleset"]]);
+  assert.deepEqual(escalated("nft", ["-f", "/etc/nftables.conf"], 1000), ["sudo", ["-n", "nft", "-f", "/etc/nftables.conf"]]);
+  assert.deepEqual(escalated("iptables-legacy", ["-S"], undefined), ["sudo", ["-n", "iptables-legacy", "-S"]]);
+});
+
+test("the filter file is the one the manifest's filtering names", () => {
+  const manifest = JSON.parse(readFileSync(new URL("../module.json", import.meta.url), "utf8")) as { filtering: { into: string } };
+  assert.equal(FILTER_FILE, manifest.filtering.into);
+});
+
+test("a tool is installed when an executable of its name is on the path, and not otherwise", () => {
+  assert.equal(installed("sh"), true);
+  assert.equal(installed("no-such-tool-of-the-mesh"), false);
+});
+
+test("a found firewall that is absent guards nothing; one that will not answer stops the removal", async () => {
+  // Absent: its leftover chain is nobody's and goes, without asking it.
+  const absent = fake(true);
+  const out = await new FirewallClient(absent.run, undefined, () => false).remove("chain ufw6-docker-logging-deny (ip6tables-legacy)");
+  assert.ok(out.did.includes("ip6tables-legacy -X ufw6-docker-logging-deny"));
+  assert.ok(!absent.asked.some((a) => a.startsWith("ufw ")));
+  // Present and failing — refused by sudo, say — nothing is removed on a guess.
+  const refusing: Runner = async (cmd, args) => {
+    if (cmd === "ufw") throw new Error("ufw needs root and the runtime's account may not run it without a prompt");
+    return fake().run(cmd, args);
+  };
+  await assert.rejects(
+    new FirewallClient(refusing, undefined, () => true).remove("chain ufw6-docker-logging-deny (ip6tables-legacy)"),
+    /cannot tell whether the found firewall is in force/,
+  );
+});

modules/nftables/tools/index.ts

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ export function getFirewallTools(firewall: FirewallClient): ToolDefinition[] {
   ];
 }
 
-const firewall = FirewallClient.fromEnv();
+const firewall = FirewallClient.onThisMachine();
 // The seat's verbs under the seat's name: the runtime serves them on the seat's subjects where this
 // module holds it (ADR 0159, 0160). The module's own under its own.
 registerModuleTools("node-packet-filter", () => getSeatVerbs(firewall));

modules/photos/module.json

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
       "type": "file",
       "path": "${dir:state}/server.env",
       "mode": "0600",
-      "content": "NODE_ENV=production\nPORT=9000\nMONGO_URL=mongodb://${bound:mongodb-database:as}:${secret:mongodb-database}@${bound:mongodb-database:at}:${bound:mongodb-database:port}/${bound:mongodb-database:as}?authSource=admin\nMONGO_DB=${bound:mongodb-database:as}\nMINIO_ENDPOINT=${bound:s3-bucket:at}\nMINIO_PORT=${bound:s3-bucket:port}\nMINIO_BUCKET=${bound:s3-bucket:bucket}\nMINIO_ACCESSKEY=${bound:s3-bucket:as}\nMINIO_SECRET=${secret:s3-bucket}\nMINIO_USE_SSL=false\n"
+      "content": "NODE_ENV=production\nPORT=9000\nMONGO_URL=mongodb://${bound:mongodb-database:as}:${secret:mongodb-database}@${bound:mongodb-database:at}:${bound:mongodb-database:port}/${bound:mongodb-database:as}?authSource=admin\nMONGO_DB=${bound:mongodb-database:as}\nMINIO_ENDPOINT=${bound:s3-bucket:at}\nMINIO_PORT=${bound:s3-bucket:port}\nMINIO_BUCKET=mesh-novox-photos\nMINIO_ACCESSKEY=${bound:s3-bucket:as}\nMINIO_SECRET=${secret:s3-bucket}\nMINIO_USE_SSL=false\n"
     },
     {
       "id": "net",

modules/portainer/Dockerfile

@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-# portainer's runtime: the tool runtime, carrying this module's compiled code.
-#
-# **Built from this module's own directory and nothing else.** The sdk and the tool runtime are in
-# the base images, published like any other artifact — which is what makes this buildable by the
-# mesh from a repository and a path (novox/hq ADR 0069) rather than only on a workstation that
-# happens to have the siblings.
-#
-# Two bases, named rather than pinned (novox/hq issue 044): the image this is COMPILED in and the
-# image it RUNS in — the second must not carry a compiler. Declared in module.json's `build.on`.
-ARG BUILD_BASE
-ARG RUNTIME_BASE
-
-FROM ${BUILD_BASE} AS build
-# Compiled under /app/modules so `@novox/mesh-sdk` resolves upward into the base's own
-# node_modules — the module is compiled against exactly the sdk it will run against. The compiler
-# is invoked by its real path: node_modules/.bin entries are launcher symlinks the base image
-# resolved away.
-WORKDIR /app/modules/portainer
-COPY . .
-RUN node /app/node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc client.ts tools/index.ts \
-      --module NodeNext --moduleResolution NodeNext --target ES2022 --outDir dist
-
-FROM ${RUNTIME_BASE}
-COPY --from=build /app/modules/portainer/dist /app/modules/portainer/dist
-# Every serve-time entrypoint, loaded by the runtime in serve mode: tools and events serve, and a
-# provider's provisioner runs its reconcile loop in the same process, with the broker connected —
-# the convention novox/hq issues 060/061 settled. A container that instead ran only its
-# provisioner (`run`) served no tools and emitted no events; a container that named no command
-# ran no provisioner at all.
-ENV MESH_TOOL_MODULES=/app/modules/portainer/dist/tools/index.js

modules/portainer/client.ts

@@ -1,107 +0,0 @@
-// The Portainer API client — portainer's own code, living in the module (novox/hq ADR 0039).
-// portainer is tools-only: its "events" would really be the underlying containers' lifecycle,
-// which the host owns and emits — so this module reads Portainer's own resources (endpoints,
-// stacks, containers) and exposes them, and stops there.
-
-import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
-
-export interface PortainerEndpoint {
-  id: number;
-  name: string;
-  type: number;
-  url: string;
-  status: number;
-}
-
-export interface PortainerStack {
-  id: number;
-  name: string;
-  type: number;
-  endpointId: number;
-  status: number;
-}
-
-export interface PortainerContainer {
-  id: string;
-  names: string[];
-  image: string;
-  state: string;
-  status: string;
-}
-
-/** The settings-merged config the mesh delivers (novox/hq ADR 0046): { url, apiKey, token, password, user, ... }. */
-function meshConfig(file?: string): Record<string, string> {
-  if (!file) return {};
-  try { return JSON.parse(readFileSync(file, "utf8")) as Record<string, string>; }
-  catch { return {}; }
-}
-
-export class PortainerClient {
-  readonly baseUrl: string;
-
-  constructor(
-    url: string,
-    private readonly token: string,
-  ) {
-    this.baseUrl = url.replace(/\/+$/, "");
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Build from the module's resolved environment. The URL is MESH_PORTAINER_URL (or the local
-   * dashboard port) and the API token is MESH_PORTAINER_TOKEN — an access token minted in
-   * Portainer, sent as X-API-Key. Throws when no token is configured, so a misconfigured module
-   * exposes nothing rather than calling Portainer unauthenticated.
-   */
-  static fromEnv(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): PortainerClient {
-    const cfg = meshConfig(env.MESH_PORTAINER_CONFIG_FILE);
-    const url = cfg.url ?? env.MESH_PORTAINER_URL ?? `https://127.0.0.1:${env.PORTAINER_PORT ?? "9443"}`;
-    const token = cfg.token ?? env.MESH_PORTAINER_TOKEN;
-    if (!token) throw new Error("no Portainer token — set MESH_PORTAINER_TOKEN");
-    return new PortainerClient(url, token);
-  }
-
-  private async get<T>(path: string): Promise<T> {
-    const res = await fetch(`${this.baseUrl}${path}`, { headers: { "X-API-Key": this.token } });
-    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Portainer ${path}: ${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);
-    return res.json() as Promise<T>;
-  }
-
-  /** The environments (endpoints) Portainer manages — each a Docker host or cluster it talks to. */
-  async listEndpoints(): Promise<PortainerEndpoint[]> {
-    const raw = await this.get<any[]>("/api/endpoints");
-    return (raw ?? []).map((e) => ({
-      id: e.Id,
-      name: e.Name,
-      type: e.Type,
-      url: e.URL,
-      status: e.Status,
-    }));
-  }
-
-  /** The stacks (compose/swarm deployments) Portainer knows about. */
-  async listStacks(): Promise<PortainerStack[]> {
-    const raw = await this.get<any[]>("/api/stacks");
-    return (raw ?? []).map((s) => ({
-      id: s.Id,
-      name: s.Name,
-      type: s.Type,
-      endpointId: s.EndpointId,
-      status: s.Status,
-    }));
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The containers on one endpoint, read through Portainer's Docker API proxy. Includes stopped
-   * containers, so the caller sees the whole picture rather than only what is running.
-   */
-  async listContainers(endpointId: number): Promise<PortainerContainer[]> {
-    const raw = await this.get<any[]>(`/api/endpoints/${endpointId}/docker/containers/json?all=1`);
-    return (raw ?? []).map((c) => ({
-      id: c.Id,
-      names: c.Names ?? [],
-      image: c.Image,
-      state: c.State,
-      status: c.Status,
-    }));
-  }
-}

modules/portainer/module.json

@@ -1,114 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "module": "portainer",
-  "version": "1",
-  "slug": "portain",
-  "capabilities": [
-    "container-runtime"
-  ],
-  "listens": [
-    {
-      "name": "web",
-      "port": 9000,
-      "protocol": "tcp",
-      "from": "mesh",
-      "why": "the dashboard over http; its public name is a route grant and the proxy reaches it here"
-    },
-    {
-      "name": "web-tls",
-      "port": 9443,
-      "protocol": "tcp",
-      "from": "mesh",
-      "why": "the same dashboard over its own tls; the runtime sidecar talks to it here"
-    }
-  ],
-  "resources": [
-    {
-      "id": "mesh-state",
-      "type": "directory",
-      "mode": "0700",
-      "place": "mesh"
-    },
-    {
-      "id": "data",
-      "type": "directory",
-      "mode": "0700"
-    },
-    {
-      "id": "server",
-      "type": "container",
-      "name": "portainer",
-      "image": "portainer/portainer-ce@sha256:4d616db18cfeb5dd41a69c0958bc825c84483ea9cde1106eb82a5d26f3bd8b0e",
-      "ports": [
-        "9000",
-        "9443"
-      ],
-      "volumes": [
-        "${dir:data}:/data",
-        "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"
-      ]
-    },
-    {
-      "id": "runtime-config",
-      "type": "file",
-      "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/config.json",
-      "mode": "0600",
-      "content": "{}\n",
-      "merge": "json"
-    },
-    {
-      "id": "runtime",
-      "type": "container",
-      "name": "mesh-portainer",
-      "network": "host",
-      "volumes": [
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/broker:/run/secrets/broker:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/config.json:/run/config/config.json:ro"
-      ],
-      "env": {
-        "MESH_BROKER_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker",
-        "MESH_PORTAINER_URL": "https://127.0.0.1:9443",
-        "MESH_PORTAINER_CONFIG_FILE": "/run/config/config.json"
-      },
-      "restart-on": [
-        "runtime-config"
-      ],
-      "artifact": "runtime"
-    }
-  ],
-  "own-secrets": {
-    "broker": "${dir:mesh-state}/broker"
-  },
-  "build": {
-    "on": [
-      {
-        "arg": "BUILD_BASE",
-        "module": "mesh-tools",
-        "artifact": "build"
-      },
-      {
-        "arg": "RUNTIME_BASE",
-        "module": "mesh-tools",
-        "artifact": "runtime"
-      }
-    ],
-    "artifacts": [
-      {
-        "name": "runtime",
-        "kind": "image",
-        "from": "Dockerfile"
-      }
-    ]
-  },
-  "requires": [
-    "route"
-  ],
-  "contributes": {
-    "route": {
-      "label": "portainer",
-      "endpoint": "web"
-    }
-  },
-  "binds": {
-    "route": "${dir:mesh-state}/route.json"
-  }
-}

modules/portainer/package.json

@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "name": "@novox/module-portainer",
-  "version": "0.1.0",
-  "description": "portainer — container management UI. Its API client and tools live here (novox/hq ADR 0039).",
-  "type": "module",
-  "private": true,
-  "dependencies": {
-    "@novox/mesh-sdk": "^0.1.0"
-  },
-  "devDependencies": {
-    "@types/node": "^22.0.0",
-    "typescript": "^5.6.0"
-  }
-}

modules/portainer/tools/index.ts

@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-// portainer's tools — its own code (novox/hq ADR 0039), importing portainer's own client. They
-// return structured data; the mesh serves them through the sdk's tool harness. portainer is
-// tools-only (no events entrypoint): a container starting or stopping is the host's signal to emit,
-// not Portainer's to re-announce.
-
-import { registerModuleTools, type ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
-import { PortainerClient } from "../client.js";
-
-export function getPortainerTools(portainer: PortainerClient): ToolDefinition[] {
-  return [
-    {
-      name: "portainer_endpoints",
-      description: "List the environments (endpoints) Portainer manages — each a Docker host or cluster.",
-      input: {},
-      run: async () => {
-        const endpoints = await portainer.listEndpoints();
-        return { count: endpoints.length, endpoints };
-      },
-    },
-    {
-      name: "portainer_stacks",
-      description: "List the stacks (compose/swarm deployments) Portainer knows about.",
-      input: {},
-      run: async () => {
-        const stacks = await portainer.listStacks();
-        return { count: stacks.length, stacks };
-      },
-    },
-    {
-      name: "portainer_containers",
-      description: "List the containers on one Portainer endpoint, including stopped ones.",
-      input: { endpoint: { type: "number", description: "the endpoint id (see portainer_endpoints)" } },
-      run: async (args) => {
-        const endpointId = Number(args.endpoint);
-        const containers = await portainer.listContainers(endpointId);
-        return { endpointId, count: containers.length, containers };
-      },
-    },
-  ];
-}
-
-// The tools exist only when a token is configured; without one, portainer contributes none rather
-// than failing the whole runtime.
-registerModuleTools("portainer", (env) => {
-  try {
-    return getPortainerTools(PortainerClient.fromEnv(env));
-  } catch {
-    return [];
-  }
-});

modules/portainer/tsconfig.json

@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "compilerOptions": {
-    "target": "ES2022",
-    "module": "NodeNext",
-    "moduleResolution": "NodeNext",
-    "strict": true,
-    "esModuleInterop": true,
-    "skipLibCheck": true,
-    "noEmit": true
-  },
-  "include": ["client.ts", "tools/index.ts"]
-}

modules/step-ca/module.json

@@ -5,20 +5,12 @@
     "container-runtime"
   ],
   "provides": [
-    {
-      "name": "acme-ca",
-      "scope": "mesh"
-    },
     {
       "name": "internal-acme-ca",
       "scope": "mesh"
     }
   ],
   "serves": {
-    "acme-ca": {
-      "path": "/acme/acme/directory",
-      "roots": "/roots.pem"
-    },
     "internal-acme-ca": {
       "path": "/acme/acme/directory",
       "roots": "/roots.pem"