2026-10-15 08:44:08 +00:00
34 changed files with 1227 additions and 93 deletions
@@ -115,3 +115,57 @@ func TestTheGenesisDocumentIsDeclaredAndIssuedOutside(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	t.Fatal("the build agent has no environment file")
 }
+
+// **The judge cache is the agent's own, beside its workspace and never in it** (novox/hq ADR 0358 §6, issue 704): a
+// directory resource of its own, kept as the agent's data, mounted into the agent at the same path as on the host —
+// the container runtime resolves a judge build's mounts on the host — and handed to the agent as MESH_JUDGE_CACHE.
+func TestTheJudgeCacheIsADirectoryOfItsOwnMountedAtTheSamePath(t *testing.T) {
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile("module.json")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var m struct {
+		Data struct {
+			Own []struct {
+				ID    string `json:"id"`
+				Path  string `json:"path"`
+				Class string `json:"class"`
+			} `json:"own"`
+		} `json:"data"`
+		Resources []struct {
+			ID      string   `json:"id"`
+			Type    string   `json:"type"`
+			Content string   `json:"content"`
+			Volumes []string `json:"volumes"`
+		} `json:"resources"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &m); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	dir, data, env, mounted := false, false, false, false
+	for _, d := range m.Data.Own {
+		if d.ID == "judge-cache" && d.Path == "${dir:judge-cache}" && d.Class == "cache" {
+			data = true
+		}
+	}
+	for _, r := range m.Resources {
+		switch {
+		case r.ID == "judge-cache" && r.Type == "directory":
+			dir = true
+		case r.ID == "agent-env":
+			env = strings.Contains(r.Content, "MESH_JUDGE_CACHE=${dir:judge-cache}\n")
+		case r.ID == "server":
+			for _, v := range r.Volumes {
+				if v == "${dir:judge-cache}:${dir:judge-cache}" {
+					mounted = true
+				}
+				if strings.HasPrefix(v, "${dir:workspace}") && strings.Contains(v, "judge-cache") {
+					t.Errorf("the judge cache is mounted inside the workspace: %s", v)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if !dir || !data || !env || !mounted {
+		t.Fatalf("the judge cache: directory %v, data %v, env %v, mounted at the same path %v", dir, data, env, mounted)
+	}
+}
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@
        "path": "${dir:workspace}",
        "class": "cache",
        "why": "a build's working copy, cloned again for every build"
+      },
+      {
+        "id": "judge-cache",
+        "path": "${dir:judge-cache}",
+        "class": "cache",
+        "why": "the Go cache every merge check's judge is built with and the release-branch judges kept per head; mounted into judge builds only, never into a check's containers (novox/hq ADR 0358 §6)"
      }
    ]
  },
@@ -54,12 +60,17 @@
      "type": "directory",
      "mode": "0700"
    },
+    {
+      "id": "judge-cache",
+      "type": "directory",
+      "mode": "0700"
+    },
    {
      "id": "agent-env",
      "type": "file",
      "path": "${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}:${bound:artifact-store:port}\nMESH_PACKAGE_BINDING=/run/mesh/package-registry.json\nMESH_NPM_TOKEN_FILE=/run/mesh/package-registry.secret\nMESH_GENESIS_PACKAGE_REGISTRY=/run/mesh/genesis-package-registry.json\nMESH_WORKSPACE=${dir:workspace}\n"
+      "content": "MESH_BROKER_FILE=/run/mesh/broker\nMESH_NODE=${machine:name}\nMESH_REGISTRY=${bound:artifact-store:at}:${bound:artifact-store:port}\nMESH_PACKAGE_BINDING=/run/mesh/package-registry.json\nMESH_NPM_TOKEN_FILE=/run/mesh/package-registry.secret\nMESH_GENESIS_PACKAGE_REGISTRY=/run/mesh/genesis-package-registry.json\nMESH_WORKSPACE=${dir:workspace}\nMESH_JUDGE_CACHE=${dir:judge-cache}\n"
    },
    {
      "id": "server",
@@ -72,6 +83,7 @@
      "volumes": [
        "${dir:mesh-state}:/run/mesh:ro",
        "${dir:workspace}:${dir:workspace}",
+        "${dir:judge-cache}:${dir:judge-cache}",
        "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"
      ],
      "restart-on": [
@@ -101,6 +101,92 @@ export interface OpenPull {
  /** The head's statuses by context, the newest of each, with its state (novox/hq issue 438): what tells a check
   *  that started and never answered — pending — from one that answered. */
  checks: Record<string, HeadCheck>;
+  /** The pull request's labels, by name. */
+  labels?: string[];
+  /** Its ready mark (novox/hq issue 722): the label `mesh/ready` and the newest comment "ready at <full head sha>", the
+   *  head a reviewer approved. Absent without the label; `head` empty when the label names no head in a comment. */
+  ready?: ReadyMark;
+}
+
+/** The label that marks a pull request ready to merge at the head a comment names (novox/hq issue 722). */
+export const READY_LABEL = "mesh/ready";
+
+/** A comment that names the head a pull request is marked ready at: "ready at <full sha>", on a line of its own. */
+const READY_AT = /^\s*ready at ([0-9a-f]{40}|[0-9a-f]{64})\b/im;
+
+/** A pull request's ready mark: the head it names, who said it and when, and the label's id, to take it off. */
+export interface ReadyMark {
+  head: string;
+  by?: string;
+  at?: string;
+  label_id: number;
+}
+
+/** **The accounts whose "ready at" comment counts** (novox/hq issue 722): the trusted setting ready-authors, which
+ *  the mesh writes to the file MESH_GITEA_READY_AUTHORS_FILE names as a line `authors=<account> <account> …`. A file
+ *  that cannot be read leaves the mesh's own forge account alone, said; never an empty list read as everyone. */
+export function readyAuthors(file = process.env.MESH_GITEA_READY_AUTHORS_FILE, own = process.env.MESH_GITEA_ADMIN_USER,
+  read: (f: string) => string = (f) => readFileSync(f, "utf8")): string[] {
+  const fallback = own ? [own] : [];
+  if (!file) return fallback;
+  try {
+    const line = read(file).split("\n").find((l) => l.startsWith("authors="));
+    const authors = (line ?? "").slice("authors=".length).split(/[\s,]+/).filter(Boolean);
+    if (authors.length) return authors;
+    console.error(`[gitea] ${file} names no account that may mark a pull request ready; only ${fallback.join(", ") || "none"} may`);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(`[gitea] ${file} cannot be read (${err instanceof Error ? err.message : err}); only ` +
+      `${fallback.join(", ") || "none"} may mark a pull request ready`);
+  }
+  return fallback;
+}
+
+/** One event of an issue's or pull request's timeline, as the forge keeps it, oldest first: a comment, a push to a
+ *  pull request's branch (`pull_push`), a label added (body "1") or taken off (body ""), and the rest. */
+export interface TimelineEvent {
+  id: number;
+  type: string;
+  body: string;
+  created_at?: string;
+  user?: string;
+  label?: { id: number; name: string };
+}
+
+/** The comments that wrote "ready at" without counting, by id: each said once in the log (novox/hq issue 722). */
+const ignoredSaid = new Set<number>();
+
+/** **The ready mark a pull request's timeline makes** (novox/hq issue 722), read in the forge's order — every event is
+ *  one row of one table, numbered as it happened, so the order is exact where times share a second. A "ready at"
+ *  comment counts only when its author is one of the accounts given, and only when it was written after the label
+ *  mesh/ready was last added and after the last push to the pull request's branch: a push or the label taken off
+ *  undoes every mark before it, so a mark older than the latest push never counts, even with the label still on. A
+ *  comment by any other account is ignored, and said once. */
+export function readyMarkOf(labelID: number, events: TimelineEvent[], authors: string[],
+  say: (line: string) => void = (l) => console.error(l)): ReadyMark {
+  const listed = new Set(authors.map((a) => a.toLowerCase()));
+  let labelled = false;
+  let mark: ReadyMark | undefined;
+  for (const e of [...events].sort((x, y) => x.id - y.id)) {
+    if (e.type === "pull_push") {
+      mark = undefined;
+    } else if (e.type === "label" && e.label?.name === READY_LABEL) {
+      labelled = e.body === "1";
+      mark = undefined;
+    } else if (e.type === "comment") {
+      const m = READY_AT.exec(e.body);
+      if (!m) continue;
+      if (!listed.has(String(e.user ?? "").toLowerCase())) {
+        if (!ignoredSaid.has(e.id)) {
+          ignoredSaid.add(e.id);
+          say(`[gitea] a "ready at ${m[1].slice(0, 12)}" comment (${e.id}) by ${e.user ?? "an unknown account"} is ignored: ` +
+            `only ${authors.join(", ") || "no account"} may mark a pull request ready (novox/hq issue 722)`);
+        }
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (labelled) mark = { head: m[1].toLowerCase(), by: e.user, at: e.created_at, label_id: labelID };
+    }
+  }
+  return mark ?? { head: "", label_id: labelID };
 }

 /** One status on a head, the newest of its context: its state, what it said, and when it was set. */
@@ -332,8 +418,9 @@ export class GiteaClient {

  /** The open pull requests of every repository the mesh's account sees, updated since a moment when one is given,
   *  page by page (novox/hq issue 347): each with its repository and its own update time. */
-  async searchOpenPulls(since?: string): Promise<{ owner: string; name: string; number: number; updated_at?: string }[]> {
-    const out: { owner: string; name: string; number: number; updated_at?: string }[] = [];
+  async searchOpenPulls(since?: string): Promise<{ owner: string; name: string; number: number; updated_at?: string;
+    labels?: { id: number; name: string }[] }[]> {
+    const out: { owner: string; name: string; number: number; updated_at?: string; labels?: { id: number; name: string }[] }[] = [];
    for (let page = 1; page <= 20; page++) {
      const qs = new URLSearchParams({ type: "pulls", state: "open", limit: "50", page: String(page) });
      if (since) qs.set("since", since);
@@ -343,7 +430,8 @@ export class GiteaClient {
        const [fo, fn] = String(r.full_name ?? "").split("/");
        const owner = String(r.owner ?? fo ?? "");
        const name = String(r.name ?? fn ?? "");
-        if (owner && name && i?.number) out.push({ owner, name, number: Number(i.number), updated_at: i.updated_at });
+        const labels = (Array.isArray(i?.labels) ? i.labels : []).map((l: any) => ({ id: Number(l?.id ?? 0), name: String(l?.name ?? "") }));
+        if (owner && name && i?.number) out.push({ owner, name, number: Number(i.number), updated_at: i.updated_at, labels });
      }
      if (!found || found.length < 50) break;
    }
@@ -354,7 +442,7 @@ export class GiteaClient {
   *  requires and the contexts its head has a status of, in any state. What mesh-delivery reads to say a pull
   *  request the mesh was never asked to check; asked of the forge, never of what the announcer remembers, so a
   *  fault in the announcer cannot hide itself. Reads only. */
-  async openPulls(): Promise<OpenPull[]> {
+  async openPulls(readyAuthors: string[] = []): Promise<OpenPull[]> {
    const out: OpenPull[] = [];
    const rules = new Map<string, BranchProtection[] | undefined>();
    for (const found of await this.searchOpenPulls()) {
@@ -364,9 +452,14 @@ export class GiteaClient {
      if (!rules.has(full)) rules.set(full, await this.branchProtections(found.owner, found.name).catch(() => undefined));
      const rule = rules.get(full)?.find((p) => (p.rule_name ?? p.branch_name) === (pull.base || "main"));
      const checks = await this.headChecks(found.owner, found.name, pull.head_sha);
+      const labels = found.labels ?? [];
+      // The ready mark (novox/hq issue 722): its timeline is read, whole, only for a pull request that carries the label.
+      const label = labels.find((l) => l.name === READY_LABEL);
+      const ready = label ? readyMarkOf(label.id, await this.timeline(found.owner, found.name, pull.number), readyAuthors)
+        : undefined;
      out.push({ owner: found.owner, repo: found.name, number: pull.number, base: pull.base ?? "", head_sha: pull.head_sha,
        html_url: pull.html_url, required: rule?.enable_status_check ? (rule.status_check_contexts ?? []) : [],
-        statuses: Object.keys(checks), checks });
+        statuses: Object.keys(checks), checks, labels: labels.map((l) => l.name), ...(ready ? { ready } : {}) });
    }
    return out;
  }
@@ -639,6 +732,24 @@ export class GiteaClient {
    return this.requestText(`${repoPath(owner, repo)}/pulls/${index}.diff`);
  }

+  /** **Every event of an issue's or pull request's timeline**, oldest first, page by page (novox/hq issue 722): a long
+   *  thread hides nothing. Bounded at 100 pages of 50; a longer one is said, and its first 5000 events read. */
+  async timeline(owner: string, repo: string, index: number): Promise<TimelineEvent[]> {
+    indexOf(index);
+    const out: TimelineEvent[] = [];
+    for (let page = 1; page <= 100; page++) {
+      const raw = await this.request<any[]>(`${repoPath(owner, repo)}/issues/${index}/timeline?page=${page}&limit=50`);
+      for (const e of raw ?? []) {
+        out.push({ id: Number(e?.id ?? 0), type: String(e?.type ?? ""), body: String(e?.body ?? ""),
+          created_at: e?.created_at, user: e?.user?.login,
+          ...(e?.label ? { label: { id: Number(e.label.id ?? 0), name: String(e.label.name ?? "") } } : {}) });
+      }
+      if (!raw || raw.length < 50) return out;
+    }
+    console.error(`[gitea] ${owner}/${repo}#${index} has more than 5000 timeline events; only the first 5000 are read`);
+    return out;
+  }
+
  /** Every comment on an issue or pull request, oldest first. */
  async listComments(owner: string, repo: string, index: number): Promise<GiteaComment[]> {
    indexOf(index);
@@ -109,6 +109,13 @@
      }
    }
  },
+  "settings": {
+    "ready-authors": {
+      "kind": "preference",
+      "default": "mesh-admin jschoubben",
+      "why": "the forge accounts whose comment \"ready at <full head sha>\" marks a pull request ready for mesh-delivery to merge, separated by spaces: the mesh's own forge account and the operator's (novox/hq issue 722). A comment by any other account is ignored and said in the forge's log. Trusted: who may have a change merged is the operator's word"
+    }
+  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "id": "mesh-state",
@@ -122,6 +129,14 @@
      "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/state",
      "mode": "0700"
    },
+    {
+      "id": "ready-authors",
+      "type": "file",
+      "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/ready-authors",
+      "mode": "0600",
+      "trusted": true,
+      "content": "# The accounts whose \"ready at <sha>\" comment marks a pull request ready (novox/hq issue 722), from the setting\n# ready-authors, written by the mesh. Replaced on every push; change the setting, never this file.\nauthors=${setting:ready-authors}\n"
+    },
    {
      "id": "state",
      "type": "directory",
@@ -207,7 +222,8 @@
      "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/config.json",
      "mode": "0600",
      "content": "{}\n",
-      "merge": "json"
+      "merge": "json",
+      "takes-settings": []
    }
  ],
  "provides": [
@@ -246,7 +262,8 @@
          "MESH_GITEA_ADMIN_USER": "mesh-admin",
          "MESH_GITEA_ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE": "${dir:state}/admin.secret",
          "MESH_GITEA_STATE_DIR": "${dir:runtime-state}",
-          "MESH_RECEIVES": "${dir:grants}/npm.json"
+          "MESH_RECEIVES": "${dir:grants}/npm.json",
+          "MESH_GITEA_READY_AUTHORS_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/ready-authors"
        }
      },
      {
@@ -137,3 +137,120 @@ test("a merged pull request whose branch was deleted is announced with its branc
  assert.equal(headBranchOf({ ref: "refs/pull/7/head" }), "refs/pull/7/head");
  assert.equal(headBranchOf(undefined), undefined);
 });
+
+// **A pull request marked ready says the head it is marked at** (novox/hq issue 722): the label mesh/ready and the
+// newest comment "ready at <full head sha>" by a listed account, written after the label was added and after the last
+// push. Read from the pull request's whole timeline, page by page; without the label nothing is read.
+const head = "c".repeat(40), older = "d".repeat(40);
+const ev = (id: number, type: string, body: string, user = "mesh-admin", label?: { id: number; name: string }) =>
+  ({ id, type, body, user: { login: user }, created_at: `2026-10-14T10:${String(id % 60).padStart(2, "0")}:00Z`,
+     ...(label ? { label } : {}) });
+const readyLabel = { id: 31, name: "mesh/ready" };
+
+function forgeWith(timeline: unknown[]) {
+  const asked: string[] = [];
+  const server = createServer((req, res) => {
+    const url = req.url ?? "";
+    asked.push(url);
+    const send = (v: unknown) => res.end(JSON.stringify(v));
+    if (url.startsWith("/api/v1/repos/issues/search")) {
+      return send(url.includes("page=1") ? [
+        { number: 7, repository: { owner: "novox", name: "hq", full_name: "novox/hq" },
+          labels: [{ id: 31, name: "mesh/ready" }, { id: 2, name: "bug" }] },
+        { number: 8, repository: { owner: "novox", name: "hq", full_name: "novox/hq" }, labels: [] },
+      ] : []);
+    }
+    if (url.startsWith("/api/v1/repos/novox/hq/pulls/7")) {
+      return send({ number: 7, state: "open", base: { ref: "main" }, head: { ref: "x", sha: head }, html_url: "h" });
+    }
+    if (url.startsWith("/api/v1/repos/novox/hq/pulls/8")) {
+      return send({ number: 8, state: "open", base: { ref: "main" }, head: { ref: "y", sha: older }, html_url: "h" });
+    }
+    const t = /\/issues\/7\/timeline\?page=(\d+)&limit=50/.exec(url);
+    if (t) {
+      const page = Number(t[1]);
+      return send(timeline.slice((page - 1) * 50, page * 50));
+    }
+    if (url.includes("/branch_protections")) return send([]);
+    if (url.includes("/status")) return send({ statuses: [] });
+    res.statusCode = 404;
+    res.end("{}");
+  });
+  return { server, asked };
+}
+
+async function readOpen(timeline: unknown[], authors = ["mesh-admin", "jschoubben"]) {
+  const { GiteaClient } = await import("../client.ts");
+  const { server, asked } = forgeWith(timeline);
+  await new Promise<void>((r) => server.listen(0, r));
+  try {
+    const client = new GiteaClient(`http://127.0.0.1:${(server.address() as any).port}`, "t");
+    return { open: await client.openPulls(authors), asked };
+  } finally {
+    server.close();
+  }
+}
+
+test("a pull request's ready mark is read: the label and the head the newest listed ready comment names", async () => {
+  const { open, asked } = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "pull_push", JSON.stringify({ commit_ids: [head] })),
+    ev(2, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(3, "comment", `ready at ${older}`),
+    ev(4, "comment", `Reviewed: approve.\nready at ${head}\n`),
+    ev(5, "comment", "thanks", "jschoubben"),
+  ]);
+  assert.deepEqual(open[0].labels, ["mesh/ready", "bug"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(open[0].ready, { head, by: "mesh-admin", at: "2026-10-14T10:04:00Z", label_id: 31 });
+  assert.equal(open[1].ready, undefined, "no label, no mark");
+  assert.ok(!asked.some((u) => u.includes("/issues/8/")), "no timeline read without the label");
+});
+
+test("a ready comment by an account not listed is ignored, and said", async () => {
+  const { readyMarkOf } = await import("../client.ts");
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const mark = readyMarkOf(31, [
+    ev(1, "pull_push", "{}") as any, ev(2, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel) as any,
+    { ...ev(3, "comment", `ready at ${head}`, "outsider"), user: "outsider" },
+  ].map((e: any) => ({ ...e, user: typeof e.user === "string" ? e.user : e.user.login })), ["mesh-admin"], (l) => said.push(l));
+  assert.equal(mark.head, "", "an outsider's mark counts");
+  assert.equal(said.length, 1);
+  assert.match(said[0], /by outsider is ignored/);
+});
+
+test("a ready comment older than the latest push, or than the label, never counts", async () => {
+  const pushedAfter = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(2, "comment", `ready at ${head}`),
+    ev(3, "pull_push", JSON.stringify({ commit_ids: [head] })),
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(pushedAfter.open[0].ready?.head, "", "a mark written before the latest push counts, the label still on");
+  const beforeLabel = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "pull_push", "{}"),
+    ev(2, "comment", `ready at ${head}`),
+    ev(3, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(beforeLabel.open[0].ready?.head, "", "a mark written before the label was added counts");
+  const takenOff = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(2, "comment", `ready at ${head}`),
+    ev(3, "label", "", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(takenOff.open[0].ready?.head, "", "a mark whose label was taken off since counts");
+});
+
+test("a long thread hides nothing: every page of the timeline is read", async () => {
+  const events: unknown[] = [ev(1, "pull_push", "{}"), ev(2, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(3, "comment", `ready at ${older}`)];
+  for (let id = 4; id < 130; id++) events.push(ev(id, "comment", "a long discussion", "jschoubben"));
+  events.push(ev(130, "comment", `ready at ${head}`, "jschoubben"));
+  const { open, asked } = await readOpen(events);
+  assert.equal(open[0].ready?.head, head, "the newest mark, on the third page, is not read");
+  assert.equal(asked.filter((u) => u.includes("/issues/7/timeline")).length, 3);
+});
+
+test("the accounts that may mark are the setting's, and only the mesh's own when it cannot be read", async () => {
+  const { readyAuthors } = await import("../client.ts");
+  assert.deepEqual(readyAuthors("f", "mesh-admin", () => "# x\nauthors=mesh-admin jschoubben\n"), ["mesh-admin", "jschoubben"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(readyAuthors("f", "mesh-admin", () => { throw new Error("gone"); }), ["mesh-admin"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(readyAuthors("f", "mesh-admin", () => "authors=\n"), ["mesh-admin"]);
+});
@@ -173,3 +173,29 @@ test("a verdict that landed out of date keeps its account on the pull request",
  const bare = lateVerdictComment({ commit: HEAD, trunk: TRUNK.slice(0, 12), verdict: "pass" }, null, words);
  assert.match(bare, /head dfb1415aaaaa merged into trunk a2c2c35bbbbb, pass/);
 });
+
+test("a release branch's move puts every open pull request into it out of date, as a trunk's does (ADR 0358 §5)", async () => {
+  // novox/hq ADR 0358 §5: for a pull request into a release branch, the release branch takes the trunk's place in ADR
+  // 0323 — the check merges the head onto the release branch's head and names it as the trunk commit, so the release
+  // branch's move puts its open verdicts out of date, and leaves those into main alone.
+  const release = "feat/57-config-and-provisioning";
+  const heads: Record<string, string> = { main: TRUNK, [release]: "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" };
+  const pulls = [{ number: 315, base: release, head: "3".repeat(40) }, { number: 1, base: "main", head: "1".repeat(40) }];
+  const { forge, statuses } = aForge(pulls, heads);
+  const gates = new GateWriter(forge);
+  const trunks: Record<string, string> = {};
+  await weighTrunks(forge, gates, trunks, "novox", "mesh-controller");
+
+  heads[release] = MOVED;
+  assert.equal(await weighTrunks(forge, gates, trunks, "novox", "mesh-controller"), true);
+  const s = statuses.get("3".repeat(40))!;
+  assert.equal(s["mesh/merge-gate"].state, "pending");
+  assert.match(s["mesh/merge-gate"].description!, /judged against trunk eeeeeeeeeeee, the trunk is now d28ca95ccccc/);
+  assert.equal(s["mesh/repo-check"].state, "pending");
+  assert.equal(statuses.get("1".repeat(40))!["mesh/merge-gate"].state, "success", "a pull request into main is left");
+  assert.equal(trunks[`novox/mesh-controller:${release}`], MOVED);
+
+  // The merge tool's rule reads the same: a verdict judged against the release branch's old head is not current.
+  assert.equal(verdictAtTrunk({ "mesh/merge-gate": { state: "success",
+    description: "head x merged into trunk eeeeeeeeeeee — pass" } }, MOVED).current, false);
+});
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@

 import { registerModuleTools, type ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
 import { emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
-import { GiteaClient, type BranchProtection } from "../client.js";
+import { GiteaClient, readyAuthors, type BranchProtection } from "../client.js";
 import { appendNote, run, viewBody, viewComment } from "../delivery.js";
 import { containedFrom, isCommit, mergeableUnder, newestByContext } from "../checks.js";
 import {
@@ -514,9 +514,9 @@ function allGiteaTools(gitea: GiteaClient): ToolDefinition[] {
    },
    {
      name: "gitea_open_pulls",
-      description: "Every open pull request of every repository, from the forge itself: its head, its base, the statuses the base's protection requires and the ones its head has, each with its state, description and when it was set. What mesh-delivery reads to say a pull request the mesh was never asked to check (novox/hq issue 347), or whose check started and never answered (issue 438). Reads only.",
+      description: "Every open pull request of every repository, from the forge itself: its head, its base, the statuses the base's protection requires and the ones its head has, each with its state, description and when it was set. What mesh-delivery reads to say a pull request the mesh was never asked to check (novox/hq issue 347), or whose check started and never answered (issue 438), and each pull request's labels and ready mark — the label mesh/ready and the head named by the newest comment \"ready at <full head sha>\" that a listed account (the setting ready-authors) wrote after the label was added and after the last push — which mesh-delivery merges on (issue 722). Reads only.",
      input: {},
-      run: async () => ({ pulls: await gitea.openPulls() }),
+      run: async () => ({ pulls: await gitea.openPulls(readyAuthors()) }),
    },
    {
      name: "gitea_contains",
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+// What the catalogue makes of a build outcome it hears (novox/hq issue 712).
+//
+// Kept apart from index.ts, which subscribes at its top level, so the decision can be tested without a bus.
+
+import type { Made } from "./store.js";
+
+/** What the build seat says when it has built something, and what the control plane replays. */
+export interface Built {
+  module?: string;
+  commit?: string;
+  repository?: string;
+  path?: string;
+  ref?: string;
+  manifest?: unknown;
+  /** What this build published, each pinned as anything else would name it. */
+  made?: Made[];
+  /**
+   * Every artifact this was built on top of, so the edge is derived rather than declared.
+   *
+   * References, not module names: the builder sees a pinned image and cannot see which module
+   * produced it. Turning that into an edge between module-versions is this module's job.
+   */
+  against?: string[];
+  /**
+   * This is history, not news — the mesh re-announcing a build this catalogue was not there for.
+   *
+   * Registered exactly as any other, and announced as nothing. A module that moved months ago is
+   * not something anything should act on now: emitting `upgraded` would have the control plane
+   * decide about a rollout, and `rebuild-needed` would ask for builds of things that are already
+   * current.
+   */
+  replay?: boolean;
+  /** Why the build failed; a failed build made no module-version. */
+  failed?: string;
+  /** A dry run is looked at, never taken in (novox/hq issue 240). */
+  "dry-run"?: boolean;
+  /** A pull request's merge check or a branch tried before one (to-be 45 §9, issue 686): nothing merged. */
+  "check-outcome"?: unknown;
+  check?: unknown;
+  /** The repository's default branch as the build seat read the forge at the build (ADR 0238); empty from a seat older than the rule. */
+  trunk?: string;
+  /** Whether the commit is on `trunk`. */
+  "on-trunk"?: boolean;
+  /** The branches the commit is on. */
+  branches?: string[];
+}
+
+/** The events a build outcome reaches this module on: the build seat's, as it happens, and the control plane's replay. */
+export const BUILD_EVENTS = [
+  // **The build seat that builds now** (novox/hq ADR 0190). Until issue 712 the catalogue heard only the
+  // retired seat below, so every build after the handover reached the graph only through the replay this
+  // module asks for when it starts: a merge built and pushed stayed out of the catalogue until its next start.
+  "node-build-agent.built",
+  // The retired build role, while a machine still serves it (ADR 0190's handover). Goes with the seat row.
+  "mesh-build-machine.built",
+  // What the mesh already held, when this module asks what it missed (novox/hq ADR 0134).
+  "mesh-controller.built-before",
+] as const;
+
+/**
+ * Whether a build outcome is a module-version to place in the graph, and why not when it is not.
+ *
+ * It mirrors two of the rules the controller keeps before it registers a build (mesh-controller
+ * cmd/mesh-controller/main.go `builds.Built`, build.go `publishable`): a merge check, a try and a dry run are
+ * never published, and **only a commit on its repository's trunk is** (ADR 0238) — a branch built through
+ * the `build` verb is checked, never a module's version. Where the seat names no trunk (one older than the
+ * rule) it is placed, as the controller lets it through. A failure made nothing and is passed over too.
+ *
+ * Not mirrored, because the catalogue cannot see what they read: the branch a module follows when it is not
+ * the default one (the controller's `follows`; such a module's builds off the default branch are passed over
+ * here and reach the graph by the replay), ADR 0266's rule that a module registers only from the repository
+ * it is built from, a superseded request, a build in the scratch namespace, one that failed its gate, and a
+ * build whose source is unchanged. Each needs the controller's records. This is safe for what the mesh
+ * sends, which is chosen from the controller's own module table and never from this graph; that the graph
+ * can still hold a build the controller refused under those rules is a follow-up (hq issue 712).
+ */
+export function placeable(body: Built):
+  | { placed: "yes"; module: string; commit: string }
+  | { placed: "no"; why: string; fault: boolean } {
+  if (body["check-outcome"] != null || body.check != null) {
+    return { placed: "no", why: "a merge check or a try: nothing of it merged", fault: false };
+  }
+  if (body["dry-run"]) {
+    return { placed: "no", why: "a dry run is looked at, never taken in", fault: false };
+  }
+  if (body.failed) {
+    return { placed: "no", why: "a failed build made no module-version", fault: false };
+  }
+  if (body.trunk && !body["on-trunk"] && !(body.branches ?? []).includes(body.trunk)) {
+    return { placed: "no", why: `the commit is not on its repository's trunk ${body.trunk}: checked, never published (ADR 0238)`, fault: false };
+  }
+  if (!body.module || !body.commit) {
+    return { placed: "no", why: "it named no module or no commit", fault: true };
+  }
+  return { placed: "yes", module: body.module, commit: body.commit };
+}
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
 // diamond need no special handling, and nothing holds a plan.

 import { on, emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
-import { Graph, type Made } from "./store.js";
+import { Graph } from "./store.js";
+import { BUILD_EVENTS, placeable, type Built } from "./heard.js";

 const graph = Graph.fromEnv();

@@ -21,54 +22,29 @@ const graph = Graph.fromEnv();
 // would block the very apply that brings the overlay up — stopped being true when a step's failure
 // became this module's business and not the machine's (ADR 0136).

-/** What the builder says when it has built something. */
-interface Built {
-  module?: string;
-  commit?: string;
-  repository?: string;
-  path?: string;
-  ref?: string;
-  manifest?: unknown;
-  /** What this build published, each pinned as anything else would name it. */
-  made?: Made[];
-  /**
-   * Every artifact this was built on top of, so the edge is derived rather than declared.
-   *
-   * References, not module names: the builder sees a pinned image and cannot see which module
-   * produced it. Turning that into an edge between module-versions is this module's job.
-   */
-  against?: string[];
-  /**
-   * This is history, not news — the mesh re-announcing a build this catalogue was not there for.
-   *
-   * Registered exactly as any other, and announced as nothing. A module that moved months ago is
-   * not something anything should act on now: emitting `upgraded` would have the control plane
-   * decide about a rollout, and `rebuild-needed` would ask for builds of things that are already
-   * current.
-   */
-  replay?: boolean;
-}
-
 /**
 * What a build means for the graph, wherever it came from.
 *
 * Two emitters say the same thing and neither is a mistake: the build machine says it as it happens,
 * and the control plane says what it already held when this module asks what it missed
 * (novox/hq ADR 0134). A replay is marked as one in its body, so nothing acts on a module that moved
- * months ago — see `replay` above.
+ * months ago — see `replay` in heard.ts.
 */
 const placeTheBuild = async (event: { body: unknown }): Promise<void> => {
  const body = (event.body ?? {}) as Built;
-  if (!body.module || !body.commit) {
-    // Said rather than dropped: a build that announced itself without saying what it built is a
-    // fault in the builder, and a silent discard here would make it look like a missing event.
-    console.error("mesh-catalog: a build event named no module or no commit; ignored", body);
+  const placing = placeable(body);
+  if (placing.placed === "no") {
+    // A check, a try, a dry run and a failure are the build seat's ordinary outcomes: passed over. One
+    // that names no module or commit is a fault in the builder, said rather than dropped, so it does
+    // not look like a missing event.
+    if (placing.fault) console.error(`mesh-catalog: a build event was not placed: ${placing.why}`, body);
    return;
  }
+  const { module, commit } = placing;

  const { upgraded, previous } = await graph.register({
-    module: body.module,
-    commit: body.commit,
+    module,
+    commit,
    repository: body.repository ?? "",
    path: body.path ?? "",
    ref: body.ref ?? "",
@@ -80,7 +56,7 @@ const placeTheBuild = async (event: { body: unknown }): Promise<void> => {
  if (body.replay) return;

  await emit("registered", {
-    module: body.module, commit: body.commit, upgraded,
+    module, commit, upgraded,
  });

  // **A rebuild that changed nothing is not an upgrade.** Announcing it would ripple outward
@@ -88,7 +64,7 @@ const placeTheBuild = async (event: { body: unknown }): Promise<void> => {
  if (!upgraded) return;

  await emit("upgraded", {
-    module: body.module, commit: body.commit, previous,
+    module, commit, previous,
  });

  // What can be built now — stale, and waiting on nothing that is itself stale.
@@ -101,9 +77,9 @@ const placeTheBuild = async (event: { body: unknown }): Promise<void> => {
  }
 };

-// As it happens, and what the mesh already held when this module asked what it missed.
-await on("mesh-build-machine.built", placeTheBuild);
-await on("mesh-controller.built-before", placeTheBuild);
+// As it happens — from the build seat that builds now, and the retired one while it still answers — and
+// what the mesh already held when this module asked what it missed (novox/hq issue 712).
+for (const heard of BUILD_EVENTS) await on(heard, placeTheBuild);

 // **And ask for what was built before this catalogue existed** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/050).
 //
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
    "postgres-database": "${dir:state}/database.secret"
  },
  "consumes": [
+    "node-build-agent.built",
    "mesh-build-machine.built",
    "mesh-controller.built-before"
  ],
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+
+import { BUILD_EVENTS, placeable } from "../heard.js";
+
+// A walk's build as the build seat says it (mesh-controller's link.BuildResult), here mailu's of novox/hq issue 712.
+const walkBuild = {
+  id: "build-1791997333800041716",
+  repository: "http://novox.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git",
+  path: "modules/mailu",
+  ref: "main",
+  on: "shanks",
+  trunk: "main",
+  "on-trunk": true,
+  branches: ["main"],
+  module: "mailu",
+  commit: "e1c8965ddbf1cf9af9cf1eed7a72ae9ffa6d5a87",
+  manifest: { module: "mailu", unhealthy: { severity: "urgent", why: "mail stops" } },
+  made: [{ name: "code", kind: "bundle", reference: "artifact-store://mailu/code/blobs/sha256:d041" }],
+};
+
+test("the catalogue hears the build seat that builds now, not only the retired one (issue 712)", async () => {
+  assert.ok(BUILD_EVENTS.includes("node-build-agent.built"));
+  assert.ok(BUILD_EVENTS.includes("mesh-controller.built-before"));
+  // Subscribing is not enough: the mesh grants and routes only what the manifest consumes.
+  const manifest = JSON.parse(await readFile(new URL("../module.json", import.meta.url), "utf8"));
+  for (const heard of BUILD_EVENTS) assert.ok(manifest.consumes.includes(heard), `${heard} is not consumed`);
+});
+
+test("a walk's build is placed, under its module and commit", () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(placeable(walkBuild), { placed: "yes", module: "mailu", commit: walkBuild.commit });
+  // A walk that took the check's build of the same key says so, and is placed all the same (ADR 0350 §2).
+  assert.equal(placeable({ ...walkBuild, reused: "the check's build" } as never).placed, "yes");
+});
+
+test("a merge check, a try, a dry run and a failure are passed over without a fault", () => {
+  for (const [body, why] of [
+    [{ ...walkBuild, "check-outcome": { verdict: "passed" } }, "merge check"],
+    [{ ...walkBuild, check: { try: true } }, "merge check or a try"],
+    [{ ...walkBuild, "dry-run": true }, "dry run"],
+    [{ ...walkBuild, failed: "exit status 1" }, "failed"],
+  ] as const) {
+    const placing = placeable(body);
+    assert.equal(placing.placed, "no");
+    if (placing.placed === "no") {
+      assert.match(placing.why, new RegExp(why));
+      assert.equal(placing.fault, false);
+    }
+  }
+});
+
+test("an outcome that names no module or commit is said as the builder's fault", () => {
+  const placing = placeable({ repository: walkBuild.repository, commit: walkBuild.commit });
+  assert.equal(placing.placed, "no");
+  if (placing.placed === "no") assert.equal(placing.fault, true);
+});
+
+test("a branch built through the build verb is passed over; a commit on the trunk, or from a seat that names none, is placed (ADR 0238)", () => {
+  const branch = { ...walkBuild, ref: "feature", "on-trunk": false, branches: ["feature"] };
+  const placing = placeable(branch);
+  assert.equal(placing.placed, "no");
+  if (placing.placed === "no") {
+    assert.match(placing.why, /not on its repository's trunk main/);
+    assert.equal(placing.fault, false);
+  }
+  // On the trunk by its branches although the seat did not set on-trunk.
+  assert.equal(placeable({ ...branch, branches: ["feature", "main"] }).placed, "yes");
+  // A seat older than the rule says no trunk: placed, as the controller lets it through.
+  const { trunk, "on-trunk": _on, branches, ...older } = walkBuild;
+  assert.equal(placeable(older).placed, "yes");
+});
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
  "include": [
    "pg.d.ts",
    "store.ts",
+    "heard.ts",
    "index.ts",
    "tools/index.ts",
    "prepare/index.ts"
@@ -396,6 +396,9 @@ type fakeForge struct {
 	// open is what OpenPulls answers; openDown a forge that cannot say.
 	open     []OpenPull
 	openDown bool
+	// merges, comments and unlabels are what was asked of the forge for ready marks (novox/hq issue 722).
+	merges, comments, unlabels []string
+	refuse                     error
 }

 func (f *fakeForge) OpenPulls() ([]OpenPull, error) {
@@ -649,3 +652,25 @@ func aWalk(id, repo, commit string, waits bool) Walk {
 	}
 	return w
 }
+
+// Merge, Comment and Unlabel record what was asked (novox/hq issue 722); Merge answers refuse when set.
+func (f *fakeForge) Merge(owner, repo string, number int, head string) error {
+	f.mu.Lock()
+	defer f.mu.Unlock()
+	f.merges = append(f.merges, fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s#%d@%s", owner, repo, number, head))
+	return f.refuse
+}
+
+func (f *fakeForge) Comment(owner, repo string, number int, body string) error {
+	f.mu.Lock()
+	defer f.mu.Unlock()
+	f.comments = append(f.comments, fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s#%d: %s", owner, repo, number, body))
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (f *fakeForge) Unlabel(owner, repo string, number, label int) error {
+	f.mu.Lock()
+	defer f.mu.Unlock()
+	f.unlabels = append(f.unlabels, fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s#%d-%d", owner, repo, number, label))
+	return nil
+}
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ type Holder struct {
 	leaveRefused map[string]string
 	// tried counts the owed effects Flush tried since this owner started, by how each ended (novox/hq issue 407).
 	tried owedTries
+	// marks are the open pull requests read with a ready mark, by owner/repo#number (novox/hq issue 722, ready.go).
+	marks map[string]*marked
 }

 // owedTries is how many owed effects were tried since this owner started, and when the last was: three numbers
@@ -120,6 +122,7 @@ func (h *Holder) init() {
 	h.askTried = map[string]time.Time{}
 	h.walkAsked = map[string]time.Time{}
 	h.unchecked = map[string]unchecked{}
+	h.marks = map[string]*marked{}
 	h.walks = map[string]seenWalk{}
 	h.orphans = map[string]time.Time{}
 	h.asking = map[string]bool{}
@@ -996,6 +999,12 @@ func (h *Holder) Tick() {
 	for _, ask := range h.leaveStopped() {
 		ask()
 	}
+	h.mu.Lock()
+	asks := h.readyAsks(h.Now())
+	h.mu.Unlock()
+	for _, ask := range asks {
+		ask()
+	}
 }

 // plan works out, under the lock, what to ask; each ask applies its own answer.
@@ -76,8 +76,9 @@ func run(h *Holder, l *listening) {
 					logf("[mesh-delivery] the controller's walks cannot be read: %v", err)
 				}
 			}
-			// Every open pull request, from the forge itself, every five minutes (novox/hq issue 347).
-			if now.Sub(looked) >= 5*time.Minute {
+			// Every open pull request, from the forge itself, every minute (novox/hq issues 347, 722): what says a
+			// head nobody checks, and the ready marks a merge is asked on.
+			if now.Sub(looked) >= time.Minute {
 				looked = now
 				h.SeeOpenPulls()
 			}
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ func TestItClaimsTheDeliverySeatAndFollowsWhatItHandles(t *testing.T) {
 		want = append(want, "seat:"+ControllerSeat+"."+v)
 	}
 	want = append(want, "gitea.gitea_note_append", "gitea.gitea_delivery_view", "gitea.gitea_commit_status",
-		"gitea.gitea_commit_statuses", "gitea.gitea_contains", "gitea.gitea_open_pulls")
+		"gitea.gitea_commit_statuses", "gitea.gitea_contains", "gitea.gitea_open_pulls",
+		// The merge on a ready mark (novox/hq issue 722): the merge tool, a comment, a label taken off.
+		"gitea.gitea_merge_pull_request", "gitea.gitea_add_comment", "gitea.gitea_api")
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(m.Invokes, want) {
 		t.Fatalf("invokes %v, wanted %v", m.Invokes, want)
 	}
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ type Delivery struct {
 	LetGo    time.Time `json:"let_go"`
 	LetGoWhy string    `json:"let_go_why,omitempty"`

+	// Ready is what this owner did with its pull request's ready mark (novox/hq issue 722, ready.go).
+	Ready *ReadyRun `json:"ready,omitempty"`
+
 	Transitions []Transition `json:"transitions,omitempty"`
 	// Owed are the forge's and the bus's effects of its transitions not yet done: said only after the
 	// delivery is kept, retried until done.
@@ -91,6 +91,13 @@ type Forge interface {
 	// OpenPulls is every open pull request, with what its base requires and what its head has (novox/hq issue
 	// 347). Reads only.
 	OpenPulls() ([]OpenPull, error)
+	// Merge asks the forge's merge tool to merge a pull request at the head named (gitea_merge_pull_request, novox/hq
+	// issue 722): the one path every merge takes. Its refusal is the error, in its words.
+	Merge(owner, repo string, number int, head string) error
+	// Comment adds a comment to a pull request.
+	Comment(owner, repo string, number int, body string) error
+	// Unlabel takes a label off a pull request, by the label's id.
+	Unlabel(owner, repo string, number, label int) error
 }

 // ForgeChecks is what the forge says of a commit's checks (the gitea module's gitea_commit_statuses).
@@ -392,6 +399,19 @@ func (f toolForge) Statuses(owner, repo string, number int, commit, base string)
 	return &c, nil
 }

+func (f toolForge) Merge(owner, repo string, number int, head string) error {
+	return f.tool("gitea_merge_pull_request", map[string]any{"owner": owner, "repo": repo, "number": number, "head": head})
+}
+
+func (f toolForge) Comment(owner, repo string, number int, body string) error {
+	return f.tool("gitea_add_comment", map[string]any{"owner": owner, "repo": repo, "number": number, "body": body})
+}
+
+func (f toolForge) Unlabel(owner, repo string, number, label int) error {
+	return f.tool("gitea_api", map[string]any{"method": "DELETE",
+		"path": fmt.Sprintf("/repos/%s/%s/issues/%d/labels/%d", owner, repo, number, label)})
+}
+
 func (f toolForge) OpenPulls() ([]OpenPull, error) {
 	raw, err := f.ask("gitea.gitea_open_pulls", map[string]any{})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// Merge on ready (novox/hq issue 722).
+//
+// The operator, 2026-10-14: "the reviewer task should merge the request or mark the MR as ready to merge in any case".
+// Before, a reviewed pull request with green checks waited until a session called the forge's merge tool, and again
+// after every check the tool asked because the trunk had moved. Now the independent reviewer marks the pull request
+// ready at the head it approved — the forge label `mesh/ready` and a comment "ready at <full head sha>" (approving
+// through the forge is the operator's) — and this owner merges it, through the forge's own merge tool
+// (gitea_merge_pull_request), the one path every merge takes:
+//
+//   - only at the head the mark names, and only while that is the pull request's head: a push after the mark clears
+//     it — the label taken off, and said on the pull request — and the new head needs a mark of its own;
+//   - only when its delivery is ready here: its check passed against its trunk's head. A verdict out of date is judged
+//     again by the merge tool, which asks the check against the trunk's head itself (novox/hq ADR 0323 §5); the merge
+//     is asked again once a minute, and lands on the passing verdict;
+//   - a group member only at its turn in the group's order, and only once the group's composed check passed for its
+//     members' heads as they are;
+//   - a check that failed merges nothing: it is said once on the pull request, and as a stalled line, which the
+//     controller raises as the condition `delivery.<id>.stalled`. So is a mark the merge tool refused for an hour.
+//
+// What this owner does with a mark is kept on the delivery (Ready), said in its log, and the merge's transitions name
+// it as their author.
+
+// ReadyMark is a pull request's ready mark as the forge reads it (the gitea module's gitea_open_pulls): the head the
+// newest "ready at" comment names, who wrote it and when, and the label's id. Head is empty when the label is on and
+// no comment names a head.
+type ReadyMark struct {
+	Head    string `json:"head"`
+	By      string `json:"by,omitempty"`
+	At      string `json:"at,omitempty"`
+	LabelID int    `json:"label_id"`
+}
+
+// ReadyLabel is the label that marks a pull request ready.
+const ReadyLabel = "mesh/ready"
+
+// readyTryEvery is how often a marked head's merge is asked while the merge tool refuses it: a check it asked takes
+// minutes, and a refusal costs the forge a few reads.
+const readyTryEvery = time.Minute
+
+// readyRefusedFor is how long the merge tool may refuse a marked head before it is said as stalled: longer than a
+// check takes (the controller's checkTimeout is 45 minutes), so a check on its way is never said.
+const readyRefusedFor = time.Hour
+
+// ReadyRun is what this owner did with a delivery's ready mark: kept on the delivery and shown whole by `show`.
+type ReadyRun struct {
+	// Head, By and MarkedAt are the mark: the head it names, who marked it, when.
+	Head     string `json:"head"`
+	By       string `json:"by,omitempty"`
+	MarkedAt string `json:"marked_at,omitempty"`
+	// Seen is when this owner first read the mark.
+	Seen time.Time `json:"seen"`
+	// Waits is what the merge waits on, when it waits: a verdict, the group's turn or its composed check.
+	Waits string `json:"waits,omitempty"`
+	// Tries is how many times the merge was asked; LastTry when, and Answer what the merge tool last answered.
+	Tries   int       `json:"tries,omitempty"`
+	LastTry time.Time `json:"last_try"`
+	Answer  string    `json:"answer,omitempty"`
+	// RefusedSince is when the merge tool began refusing it without a break.
+	RefusedSince *time.Time `json:"refused_since,omitempty"`
+	// Merged is when the merge tool merged it.
+	Merged *time.Time `json:"merged,omitempty"`
+	// Failed is why it is not merged and will not be on this head: its check failed. Said once on the pull request.
+	Failed string `json:"failed,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// mergedBy is who a merge this owner made on a ready mark is said to be by, in its transitions.
+func (r *ReadyRun) mergedBy() string {
+	if r == nil || r.Merged == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	by := byOwner + ", on the ready mark at " + shortOf(r.Head, 12)
+	if r.By != "" {
+		by += " by " + r.By
+	}
+	return by
+}
+
+// marked is a pull request read with a ready mark.
+type marked struct {
+	pull OpenPull
+	// cleared is when the mark was cleared, the label taken off: not cleared again within readyTryEvery.
+	cleared time.Time
+}
+
+// pullKey is a pull request as a key: owner/repo#number.
+func pullKey(p OpenPull) string {
+	return strings.ToLower(p.Owner+"/"+p.Repo) + fmt.Sprintf("#%d", p.Number)
+}
+
+// seeMarks keeps the open pull requests that carry a ready mark; under the lock. A pull request no longer open or
+// no longer marked drops out.
+func (h *Holder) seeMarks(open []OpenPull) {
+	seen := map[string]*marked{}
+	for _, p := range open {
+		if p.Ready == nil || p.HeadSHA == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		k := pullKey(p)
+		m := &marked{pull: p}
+		if was := h.marks[k]; was != nil && was.pull.Ready != nil && was.pull.Ready.Head == p.Ready.Head &&
+			was.pull.HeadSHA == p.HeadSHA {
+			m.cleared = was.cleared
+		}
+		seen[k] = m
+	}
+	h.marks = seen
+}
+
+// sameFull is whether a mark names a head: the whole sha, or — read from an older forge module — at least twelve
+// characters of it.
+func sameFull(mark, head string) bool {
+	mark, head = strings.ToLower(mark), strings.ToLower(head)
+	return len(mark) >= 12 && strings.HasPrefix(head, mark)
+}
+
+// readyAsks works out, under the lock, what each ready mark needs: a mark cleared, a merge asked, a failure said.
+// The asking happens outside the lock.
+func (h *Holder) readyAsks(now time.Time) []func() {
+	var asks []func()
+	for k, m := range h.marks {
+		p, mark := m.pull, *m.pull.Ready
+		repository := strings.ToLower(p.Owner + "/" + p.Repo)
+		if !sameFull(mark.Head, p.HeadSHA) {
+			if !m.cleared.IsZero() && now.Sub(m.cleared) < readyTryEvery {
+				continue
+			}
+			m.cleared = now
+			asks = append(asks, h.clearMark(k, p, mark))
+			continue
+		}
+		d := h.deliveries[IDOf(repository, p.HeadSHA)]
+		if d == nil || d.State.Final() || d.MergedAs != "" {
+			continue // not announced yet, or past its merge
+		}
+		if d.Ready == nil || d.Ready.Head != mark.Head {
+			d.Ready = &ReadyRun{Head: mark.Head, By: mark.By, MarkedAt: mark.At, Seen: now}
+			h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s is marked ready at %s by %s: merged once its check passes against its trunk's head",
+				d.ID, shortOf(mark.Head, 12), orNone(mark.By))
+			h.keep(d)
+		}
+		r := d.Ready
+		if r.Merged != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		if d.State == Rejected {
+			if r.Failed == "" {
+				r.Failed = "its check failed"
+				if d.Check != nil {
+					r.Failed += ": " + oneLine(d.Check.Summary)
+					if j := d.Check.Judged(); j != "" {
+						r.Failed += " (" + j + ")"
+					}
+				}
+				r.Waits = ""
+				h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s is marked ready and not merged: %s", d.ID, r.Failed)
+				h.keep(d)
+				asks = append(asks, h.sayOn(d, fmt.Sprintf("mesh-delivery: **not merged.** This pull request is marked "+
+					"ready at %s, and %s. A new head, marked ready once reviewed, or a recheck that passes, merges it.",
+					mark.Head, r.Failed)))
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		r.Failed = ""
+		waits := h.readyWaits(d)
+		if waits != r.Waits {
+			r.Waits = waits
+			if waits != "" {
+				h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s is marked ready and waits: %s", d.ID, waits)
+			}
+			h.keep(d)
+		}
+		if waits != "" || (!r.LastTry.IsZero() && now.Sub(r.LastTry) < readyTryEvery) {
+			continue
+		}
+		r.Tries++
+		r.LastTry = now
+		h.keep(d)
+		asks = append(asks, h.askMerge(d.ID, p, mark.Head))
+	}
+	return asks
+}
+
+// readyWaits is what a marked delivery's merge waits on; empty when it is asked now. A ready delivery is asked; so is
+// a proposed one whose verdict went out of date and whose check nobody asked again — the merge tool asks it.
+func (h *Holder) readyWaits(d *Delivery) string {
+	switch {
+	case d.State == Ready:
+	case d.State == Proposed && d.outOfDate() != "" && d.AskedAgain == nil:
+	case d.State == Proposed && d.AskedAgain != nil:
+		return "its check against the trunk's head is asked and has not answered"
+	default:
+		return "its check has not passed yet (" + string(d.State) + ")"
+	}
+	if d.Group == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return h.groupTurnToMerge(d)
+}
+
+// groupTurnToMerge is why a group member may not merge yet; empty at its turn: the group's composed check passed for
+// its members' heads as they are and is not out of date, and every member before it in the group's order merged.
+func (h *Holder) groupTurnToMerge(d *Delivery) string {
+	g := h.groups[d.Group]
+	if g == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	members := h.membersOf(g)
+	if state, why := GroupState(g, members); state != "ready" && state != "delivering" {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("its group %s is %s: %s", g.ID, state, why)
+	}
+	if c := g.Check; c == nil || (c.Verdict != "pass" && c.Verdict != "warning") || c.OutOfDate != "" ||
+		!sameMembers(c.Commits, commitsOf(members)) {
+		return "its group " + g.ID + "'s composed check has not passed for its members' heads"
+	}
+	if !containsString(g.Order, d.ID) {
+		return "its group " + g.ID + "'s order is not worked out for it yet"
+	}
+	for _, id := range g.Order {
+		if id == d.ID {
+			return ""
+		}
+		if o := h.deliveries[id]; o != nil && o.MergedAs == "" && !o.State.Final() {
+			return "its group " + g.ID + "'s order merges " + id + " first"
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// askMerge asks the forge's merge tool to merge a marked head, and keeps its answer.
+func (h *Holder) askMerge(id string, p OpenPull, head string) func() {
+	return func() {
+		err := h.Forge.Merge(p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number, head)
+		h.mu.Lock()
+		defer h.mu.Unlock()
+		d := h.deliveries[id]
+		if d == nil || d.Ready == nil {
+			return
+		}
+		r, now := d.Ready, h.Now()
+		if err == nil {
+			r.Merged, r.Answer, r.RefusedSince = &now, "merged", nil
+			h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s merged on its ready mark at %s, its check passed against its trunk's head", id,
+				shortOf(head, 12))
+			h.keep(d)
+			return
+		}
+		answer := oneLine(err.Error())
+		if r.RefusedSince == nil {
+			r.RefusedSince = &now
+		}
+		if answer != r.Answer {
+			h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s is marked ready, and the merge tool did not merge it (asked again in %s): %s", id,
+				readyTryEvery, answer)
+		}
+		r.Answer = answer
+		h.keep(d)
+	}
+}
+
+// clearMark takes a mark off a pull request whose head moved after it, and says so on it.
+func (h *Holder) clearMark(k string, p OpenPull, mark ReadyMark) func() {
+	return func() {
+		err := h.Forge.Unlabel(p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number, mark.LabelID)
+		if err == nil {
+			err = h.Forge.Comment(p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number, fmt.Sprintf("mesh-delivery: the ready mark at %s is cleared: "+
+				"the head is now %s, pushed after it. Mark the new head ready once it is reviewed.", mark.Head, p.HeadSHA))
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s's ready mark at %s names an older head than %s, and could not be cleared yet: %v",
+				k, shortOf(mark.Head, 12), shortOf(p.HeadSHA, 12), err)
+			return
+		}
+		h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s's ready mark at %s cleared: its head is now %s", k, shortOf(mark.Head, 12),
+			shortOf(p.HeadSHA, 12))
+		h.mu.Lock()
+		delete(h.marks, k)
+		h.mu.Unlock()
+	}
+}
+
+// sayOn comments on a delivery's pull request.
+func (h *Holder) sayOn(d *Delivery, body string) func() {
+	owner, repo, number, id := d.Owner(), d.Repo(), d.Number, d.ID
+	return func() {
+		if err := h.Forge.Comment(owner, repo, number, body); err != nil {
+			h.Logf("[mesh-delivery] %s: could not say on its pull request: %v", id, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// readyLines are the marked heads that will not merge: a check that failed at once, a merge refused past its bound;
+// as stalled lines, which the controller raises as conditions. Under the lock.
+func (h *Holder) readyLines(now time.Time) []StalledLine {
+	var out []StalledLine
+	for _, d := range h.deliveries {
+		r := d.Ready
+		if r == nil || r.Merged != nil || d.MergedAs != "" || d.State.Final() {
+			continue
+		}
+		switch {
+		case r.Failed != "" && d.State == Rejected:
+			out = append(out, StalledLine{ID: d.ID, Number: d.Number, State: d.State, For: now.Sub(r.Seen).Round(time.Second).String(),
+				Bound: "0s", H2: "none: a new head marked ready, or a recheck that passes — the operator's",
+				Says: fmt.Sprintf("%s#%d is marked ready at %s and not merged: %s", d.Repository, d.Number,
+					shortOf(r.Head, 12), r.Failed)})
+		case r.RefusedSince != nil && now.Sub(*r.RefusedSince) >= readyRefusedFor:
+			out = append(out, StalledLine{ID: d.ID, Number: d.Number, State: d.State,
+				For: now.Sub(*r.RefusedSince).Round(time.Second).String(), Bound: readyRefusedFor.String(),
+				H2: "none: the merge is asked again each minute — the operator's",
+				Says: fmt.Sprintf("%s#%d is marked ready at %s, and the merge tool has refused it since %s: %s", d.Repository,
+					d.Number, shortOf(r.Head, 12), r.RefusedSince.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339), r.Answer)})
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// **A pull request marked ready is merged by this owner** (novox/hq issue 722): before, a reviewed pull request with
+// green checks waited until a session called the merge tool, and again after every check the tool asked because the
+// trunk had moved. Each test below fails on a holder without the ready mark: nothing merged it.
+
+const (
+	readyHead = "1111111111111111111111111111111111111111"
+	pushed    = "2222222222222222222222222222222222222222"
+)
+
+// markedPull is an open pull request as gitea_open_pulls reads it, labelled mesh/ready at the head named.
+func markedPull(repo string, number int, head, markedAt string) OpenPull {
+	owner, name, _ := strings.Cut(repo, "/")
+	return OpenPull{Owner: owner, Repo: name, Number: number, Base: "main", HeadSHA: head, Labels: []string{ReadyLabel},
+		Ready: &ReadyMark{Head: markedAt, By: "reviewer", At: "2026-10-14T19:00:00Z", LabelID: 31}}
+}
+
+func judgedAt(repo string, number int, sha, gate, trunk string) CheckedEvent {
+	c := verdict(repo, number, sha, gate)
+	c.Trunk = trunk
+	return c
+}
+
+func TestAReadyPullRequestMarkedAtItsHeadIsMergedThroughTheMergeTool(t *testing.T) {
+	w := newWorld(t)
+	id := IDOf("novox/app", readyHead)
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "feat/x", "src/a.go"))
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "pass", "t1t1t1t1t1t1"))
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("an unmarked pull request was merged: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	w.forge.open = []OpenPull{markedPull("novox/app", 7, readyHead, readyHead)}
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 1 || w.forge.merges[0] != "novox/app#7@"+readyHead {
+		t.Fatalf("a ready, marked pull request was merged %v; wanted once, at the marked head", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	d := w.delivery(id)
+	if d.Ready == nil || d.Ready.Merged == nil || d.Ready.By != "reviewer" || d.Ready.Tries != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("what was done with the mark is not kept: %+v", d.Ready)
+	}
+	// Its merge's transition names who merged it.
+	w.h.PullMerged(merged("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "m7m7m7m7m7m7"))
+	w.h.WalkMoved(w.ctl.put(aWalk("plan-7", "novox/app", "m7m7m7m7m7m7", true)))
+	w.settleAll()
+	d = w.delivery(id)
+	var last Transition
+	for _, tr := range d.Transitions {
+		if tr.Event == EvMerged {
+			last = tr
+		}
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(last.By, "ready mark at "+readyHead[:12]+" by reviewer") {
+		t.Fatalf("the merge's transition does not name the mark: %+v", last)
+	}
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("merged again: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAPushAfterTheMarkClearsItAndNothingIsMerged(t *testing.T) {
+	w := newWorld(t)
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "feat/x", "src/a.go"))
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/app", 7, pushed, "feat/x", "src/a.go"))
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/app", 7, pushed, "pass", "t1t1t1t1t1t1"))
+	w.forge.open = []OpenPull{markedPull("novox/app", 7, pushed, readyHead)}
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a head pushed after the mark was merged: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	if len(w.forge.unlabels) != 1 || w.forge.unlabels[0] != "novox/app#7-31" {
+		t.Fatalf("the stale mark's label was not taken off: %v", w.forge.unlabels)
+	}
+	if len(w.forge.comments) != 1 || !strings.Contains(w.forge.comments[0], "cleared") ||
+		!strings.Contains(w.forge.comments[0], pushed) {
+		t.Fatalf("the cleared mark is not said on the pull request: %v", w.forge.comments)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMovedTrunkIsJudgedAgainByTheMergeToolAndMergedOnItsVerdict(t *testing.T) {
+	w := newWorld(t)
+	id := IDOf("novox/app", readyHead)
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "feat/x", "src/a.go"))
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "pass", "t1t1t1t1t1t1"))
+	// Another merge moves the trunk: its verdict is out of date, and it goes back to proposed.
+	w.h.PullMerged(merged("novox/app", 9, "9999999999999999", "t2t2t2t2t2t2"))
+	if w.state(id) != Proposed {
+		t.Fatalf("out of date, it is %s", w.state(id))
+	}
+	// The merge tool asks the check against the trunk's head and refuses: nothing merged.
+	w.forge.refuse = errors.New("the forge refused gitea_merge_pull_request: The check of head merged into trunk was asked")
+	w.forge.open = []OpenPull{markedPull("novox/app", 7, readyHead, readyHead)}
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the merge tool was not asked once to judge it again: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	// The tool's ask is the head announced again; it waits for that verdict, asking nothing.
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "feat/x", "src/a.go"))
+	w.later(5 * time.Minute)
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 1 || !strings.Contains(w.delivery(id).Ready.Waits, "asked") {
+		t.Fatalf("asked again while its check was on its way: %v (%+v)", w.forge.merges, w.delivery(id).Ready)
+	}
+	// It passes against the trunk's head: merged, without anyone asking.
+	w.forge.refuse = nil
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "pass", "t2t2t2t2t2t2"))
+	w.settleAll()
+	if w.state(id) != Ready || len(w.forge.merges) != 2 || w.delivery(id).Ready.Merged == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("on its passing verdict it was not merged: %s %v %+v", w.state(id), w.forge.merges, w.delivery(id).Ready)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMarkedHeadWhoseCheckFailedIsNotMergedAndIsSaid(t *testing.T) {
+	w := newWorld(t)
+	id := IDOf("novox/app", readyHead)
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "feat/x", "src/a.go"))
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "fail", "t1t1t1t1t1t1"))
+	w.forge.open = []OpenPull{markedPull("novox/app", 7, readyHead, readyHead)}
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.settleAll()
+	w.later(10 * time.Minute)
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a head whose check failed was merged: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	if len(w.forge.comments) != 1 || !strings.Contains(w.forge.comments[0], "not merged") {
+		t.Fatalf("the failure is not said once on the pull request: %v", w.forge.comments)
+	}
+	lines := w.h.Stalled()
+	if len(lines) != 1 || lines[0].ID != id || lines[0].State != Rejected || !strings.Contains(lines[0].Says, "marked ready") {
+		t.Fatalf("the failure is not a stalled line, which the controller raises as a condition: %+v", lines)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMarkRefusedForAnHourIsSaid(t *testing.T) {
+	w := newWorld(t)
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "feat/x", "src/a.go"))
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/app", 7, readyHead, "pass", "t1t1t1t1t1t1"))
+	w.forge.refuse = errors.New("the forge refused gitea_merge_pull_request: mesh/repo-check is pending")
+	w.forge.open = []OpenPull{markedPull("novox/app", 7, readyHead, readyHead)}
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.settleAll()
+	w.later(30 * time.Second)
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("asked again within the minute: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	w.later(readyRefusedFor)
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("not asked again after a minute: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	if lines := w.h.Stalled(); len(lines) != 1 || !strings.Contains(lines[0].Says, "refused it since") {
+		t.Fatalf("a mark refused for an hour is not said: %+v", lines)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAGroupMergesItsMarkedMembersInOrderOnlyOnceComposed(t *testing.T) {
+	w := newWorld(t)
+	const ctlHead, catHead = "c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1c1", "d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2d2"
+	ctl, cat := IDOf("novox/mesh-controller", ctlHead), IDOf("novox/mesh-catalog", catHead)
+	w.ctl.order = func(ms []Member) Order { return Order{Order: []string{ctl, cat}} }
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/mesh-controller", 1, ctlHead, "feat/x", "internal/a.go"))
+	w.h.PullUpdated(pr("novox/mesh-catalog", 2, catHead, "feat/x", "modules/app/module.json"))
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/mesh-controller", 1, ctlHead, "pass", "t1t1t1t1t1t1"))
+	w.h.Checked(judgedAt("novox/mesh-catalog", 2, catHead, "pass", "t3t3t3t3t3t3"))
+	w.forge.open = []OpenPull{markedPull("novox/mesh-controller", 1, ctlHead, ctlHead),
+		markedPull("novox/mesh-catalog", 2, catHead, catHead)}
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a member merged before its group's composed check passed: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	w.h.Checked(CheckedEvent{Group: "feat/x", ID: "check-1", Verdict: "pass", Summary: "both compose"})
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 1 || w.forge.merges[0] != "novox/mesh-controller#1@"+ctlHead {
+		t.Fatalf("composed, the first member in the group's order was not merged alone: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+	if waits := w.delivery(cat).Ready.Waits; !strings.Contains(waits, "merges "+ctl+" first") {
+		t.Fatalf("the second member does not say it waits its turn: %q", waits)
+	}
+	w.h.PullMerged(merged("novox/mesh-controller", 1, ctlHead, "m1m1m1m1m1m1"))
+	w.settleAll()
+	if len(w.forge.merges) != 2 || w.forge.merges[1] != "novox/mesh-catalog#2@"+catHead {
+		t.Fatalf("after the first member merged, the next was not: %v", w.forge.merges)
+	}
+}
@@ -498,7 +498,12 @@ func Apply(d *Delivery, ev Event, act bool, f Facts) (Transition, error) {
 	if why == "" {
 		why = r.Guard
 	}
-	t := Transition{At: f.Now, From: d.State, To: r.To, Event: ev, Why: why, By: f.By}
+	by := f.By
+	if by == "" && (ev == EvMerged || ev == EvDone) && d.MergedAs != "" {
+		// A merge this owner made on a ready mark names it as its author (novox/hq issue 722).
+		by = d.Ready.mergedBy()
+	}
+	t := Transition{At: f.Now, From: d.State, To: r.To, Event: ev, Why: why, By: by}
 	d.State, d.Since = r.To, f.Now
 	d.Transitions = append(d.Transitions, t)
 	if len(d.Transitions) > keptTransitions {
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ type OpenPull struct {
 	// than that says none: the head is then read by Statuses alone, as before, and a pending check is not told
 	// from an answered one.
 	Checks map[string]HeadCheck `json:"checks,omitempty"`
+	// Labels are its labels by name, and Ready its ready mark, when it carries one (novox/hq issue 722).
+	Labels []string   `json:"labels,omitempty"`
+	Ready  *ReadyMark `json:"ready,omitempty"`
 }

 // HeadCheck is one status on a head as the forge keeps it: pending, success, failure, error or warning.
@@ -201,6 +204,7 @@ func (h *Holder) SeeOpenPulls() {
 		seen[id] = u
 	}
 	h.unchecked = seen
+	h.seeMarks(open)
 }

 // started is whether the head's check started, rather than was never asked: it has any merge check, or a delivery
@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@ func (h *Holder) Stalled() []StalledLine {
 	}
 	out = append(out, h.withChecks(h.uncheckedLines(now))...)
 	out = append(out, h.orphanLines(now)...)
+	out = append(out, h.readyLines(now)...)
 	sort.Slice(out, func(i, j int) bool { return out[i].ID < out[j].ID })
 	return out
 }
@@ -47,7 +47,10 @@
    "gitea.gitea_commit_status",
    "gitea.gitea_commit_statuses",
    "gitea.gitea_contains",
-    "gitea.gitea_open_pulls"
+    "gitea.gitea_open_pulls",
+    "gitea.gitea_merge_pull_request",
+    "gitea.gitea_add_comment",
+    "gitea.gitea_api"
  ],
  "state": [
    "deliveries",
@@ -49,8 +49,9 @@ channel's client and no channel's secret.
  warrant published to the asker alone. A warrant the bus did not take is published again every minute.
 - **What the operator sees when they answer** (issue 372): first, in reply to the answer where it was given,
  that it was recorded and whether its asker was told ("You chose Approve: recorded, and claude-code was
-  told.") — said only once the ask's end is recorded — or, refused, why; then the ask's message edited to how
-  it ended, as its title ("You chose Approve at 13:30 on Telegram · <headline>"), with no answers left on it.
+  told.") — said only once the ask's end is recorded — or, refused, why; then the ask's message edited with no
+  answers left on it: its question whole (headline, summary, points, link, Details), and below it how it ended
+  ("You chose Approve at 13:30 on Telegram.") and who acts on it (issue 714).
  What the asker then did is not said: the asks protocol carries no result back to the router, so the
  message says only that the asker was told and acts on it itself.
 - **An ask never defaults**: at its expiry it ends `expired` and its asker does what it said it would.
@@ -138,8 +139,9 @@ and said in the log). Everything else is the message's note (`asks.Message.Note`
 smaller: who asked and when, with what happens if nobody answers; what each answer does; where else it is answered;
 and the asker's Details (who proposed it, a fingerprint, how to read it whole) — on a kind that proves who answers
 and was given the ask's answers, its Details whole (`asks.Ask.WholeDetails`): every value an approval sets, held to
-the secret rule alone, as the whole words are. Answered, the message is one line —
-"You chose Approve at 16:06 on Telegram · <headline>" — and the router's word on the asker is its note.
+the secret rule alone, as the whole words are. Answered, the message keeps its headline, body and Details, so the
+operator can read back what they answered (issue 714); its note becomes "You chose Approve at 16:06 on Telegram."
+with the router's word on the asker.

 **An ask's values are shown whole where the sender is proven** (hq issue 383). An ask may carry its explanation
 twice: as it is held to the whole content rule, and whole (`asks.Ask.Whole`), its paths and addresses as they
@@ -365,10 +365,12 @@ func TestAnApproveFromTheLinkedAccountIsAWarrantForTheAskerAlone(t *testing.T) {
 		for _, m := range ch.edits {
 			edited = m
 		}
-		// The question's title is how it ended, read at a glance; then what the router knows of the asker (issue 372).
-		if len(edited.Actions) != 0 || edited.Title != "You chose Release at 12:00 on Telegram · Delivery of hq held for 36 hours" ||
-			edited.Body != "" || edited.Note != "Told to mesh-delivery, which acts on it itself." {
-			t.Errorf("%s still offers %q, or does not say how it ended in one line (issue 639): %q / %q / %q", ch.name, labelsOf(edited), edited.Title, edited.Body, edited.Note)
+		// The question stays whole (issue 714); below it, how it ended and what the router knows of the asker
+		// (issue 372).
+		if len(edited.Actions) != 0 || edited.Title != "Delivery of hq held for 36 hours" ||
+			edited.Body != heldAsk(c, "d-1").Explanation ||
+			edited.Note != "You chose Release at 12:00 on Telegram.\nTold to mesh-delivery, which acts on it itself." {
+			t.Errorf("%s still offers %q, or does not keep the question and say how it ended (issue 714): %q / %q / %q", ch.name, labelsOf(edited), edited.Title, edited.Body, edited.Note)
 		}
 	}
 	// The tap is confirmed where it was made, in reply to it, once the warrant stood — and before the question
@@ -624,8 +626,8 @@ func TestAnAskExpiresAndNeverDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, m := range tg.edits {
 		edited = m
 	}
-	if len(edited.Actions) != 0 || !strings.HasPrefix(edited.Title, "No longer answerable: nobody answered in time · Delivery of hq") ||
-		edited.Body != "" || edited.Note != "The delivery stays held." {
+	if len(edited.Actions) != 0 || !strings.HasPrefix(edited.Title, "Delivery of hq") ||
+		edited.Body == "" || edited.Note != "No longer answerable: nobody answered in time.\nThe delivery stays held." {
 		t.Errorf("the copy still offers answers, or does not say how it ended: %+v", edited)
 	}
 }
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func TestAnApprovalIsConfirmedWhereItWasGivenAndThenTheQuestionSaysHowItEnded(t
 	}
 	want := []string{
 		"send You chose Release: recorded, and mesh-delivery was told.",
-		"edit You chose Release at 12:00 on Telegram · Delivery of hq held for 36 hours",
+		"edit Delivery of hq held for 36 hours",
 	}
 	if strings.Join(log, "\n") != strings.Join(want, "\n") {
 		t.Fatalf("the operator saw, in order:\n%s\nwant:\n%s", strings.Join(log, "\n"), strings.Join(want, "\n"))
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ func TestTheConfirmationNeverClaimsWhatDidNotHappen(t *testing.T) {
 		for _, m := range tg.edits {
 			edited = m
 		}
-		if !strings.HasPrefix(edited.Note, "Told to mesh-delivery as soon as the bus takes it") {
+		if !strings.Contains(edited.Note, "\nTold to mesh-delivery as soon as the bus takes it") {
 			t.Errorf("the question claims its asker was told: %q", edited.Note)
 		}
 	})
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ import (
 )

 // novox/hq issue 639: an ask's message reads at a glance on the phone. Its body is the asker's summary and points
-// alone; who asked and when, what each answer does, the expiry and the asker's Details are its note; once answered
-// it is one line with the headline.
+// alone; who asked and when, what each answer does, the expiry and the asker's Details are its note. Once answered
+// it keeps the question whole, so the operator can read back what they answered (issue 714).

 // decisionAsk is the ask for ADR 0343 as the knowledge base composes it now (its glance form).
 func decisionAsk(c *clock) asks.Ask {
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ func TestAnAsksMessageIsItsSummaryWithTheRestInItsNote(t *testing.T) {
 	if n := len(strings.Split(m.Text(), "\n")); n > 9 || len(m.Actions) != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("the message is %d lines offering %s:\n%s", n, labelsOf(m), m.Text())
 	}
-	// Answered, it is one line with the headline; the body is not said again.
+	// Answered, it keeps its headline, summary, points and Details; below them, how it ended and who acts on it;
+	// its buttons are gone (issue 714: the one line issue 639 made left nothing to read back).
 	if out, err := h.Chosen("telegram", choiceOf(ticketFor(m, "Approve"), "42", c.now())); err != nil || out != "chosen" {
 		t.Fatalf("Approve: %q %v", out, err)
 	}
@@ -67,8 +68,9 @@ func TestAnAsksMessageIsItsSummaryWithTheRestInItsNote(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, e := range tg.edits {
 		edited = e
 	}
-	if edited.Title != "You chose Approve at "+asked+" on Telegram · "+a.Headline || edited.Body != "" ||
-		strings.Contains(edited.Note, "What an agent learns") || len(edited.Actions) != 0 {
+	if edited.Title != a.Headline || edited.Body != a.Explanation+"\n"+want[2]+"\n"+want[3] ||
+		edited.Note != "You chose Approve at "+asked+" on Telegram.\nTold to mesh-knowledge, which acts on it itself." ||
+		len(edited.Actions) != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("the answered copy: %q\n%q\n%q", edited.Title, edited.Body, edited.Note)
 	}
 }
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ func (h *Holder) sayOn(r *Record, what, kind string) Message {
 		}
 	}
 	if r.Answered != "" {
-		m = h.answeredWords(r, m)
+		m = h.answeredWords(r, m, kind)
 	}
 	if kind == "" {
 		return m
@@ -910,18 +910,24 @@ func (h *Holder) sayOn(r *Record, what, kind string) Message {
 	return m
 }

-// answeredWords is a message that says what came of its question. An ask's own message is the question
-// itself, so it becomes how it ended and what it was about — "You chose Approve at 13:30 on Telegram ·
-// <headline>" — one line, read at a glance on the phone, where the edit rings nothing (issue 372); the body
-// is not said again (issue 639), and what the router knows of the asker after it is the note. A condition's
-// message keeps its own title, and says it first.
-func (h *Holder) answeredWords(r *Record, m Message) Message {
+// answeredWords is a message that says what came of its question. An ask's own message keeps the question
+// whole — its headline as the title, the asker's summary, points and link as the body, its Details after them —
+// so the operator can read back what they answered (issue 714, which undid issue 639's one line). How it ended
+// ("You chose Approve at 13:30 on Telegram.") and what the router knows of the asker after it are the note,
+// below the question, and its answers are gone (issue 372). A channel that must shorten it cuts the body from
+// its end, the Details first; never the headline or the note. A condition's message keeps its own title, and
+// says how it ended first.
+func (h *Holder) answeredWords(r *Record, m Message, kind string) Message {
 	if r.Origin == "ask" {
-		first, rest, _ := strings.Cut(r.Answered, "\n")
 		headline, _ := wordsOf(r)
-		out := Message{Title: strings.TrimSuffix(first, ".") + " · " + headline, Note: strings.TrimSpace(rest),
+		body := []string{}
+		if b := strings.TrimSpace(m.Body); b != "" {
+			body = append(body, b)
+		}
+		body = append(body, h.answeredDetails(r, kind)...)
+		out := Message{Title: headline, Body: strings.Join(body, "\n"), Note: strings.TrimSpace(r.Answered),
 			Urgent: m.Urgent, Quiet: m.Quiet}
-		if _, ok := Check(out.Text()); ok {
+		if _, ok := Check(out.Title + "\n" + out.Note); ok {
 			return out
 		}
 		// Its headline refused (it is the asker's): the outcome is still said, before what may leave.
@@ -930,6 +936,33 @@ func (h *Holder) answeredWords(r *Record, m Message) Message {
 	return m
 }

+// answeredDetails are an answered ask's Details, line by line, as its open message noted them (issue 714): whole
+// on a kind that proves who answers, a line that may not leave withheld and said so.
+func (h *Holder) answeredDetails(r *Record, kind string) []string {
+	if r.Ask == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	e := h.askOf(r.Ask)
+	if e == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	details, passes := e.rec.Ask.Details, Check
+	if wd := h.wholeDetailsOf(r, kind); wd != "" {
+		details, passes = wd, CheckSecret
+	}
+	var lines []string
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(details), "\n") {
+		if line = strings.TrimSpace(line); line == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if refusal, ok := passes(line); !ok {
+			line = withheldLine(line, refusal, passes)
+		}
+		lines = append(lines, line)
+	}
+	return lines
+}
+
 // wholeWords is a record's message with the ask's whole words in place of its explanation, when they carry no
 // secret's shape once composed; else false, and the message under the whole content rule stands.
 func (h *Holder) wholeWords(r *Record, what, whole string) (Message, bool) {
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func (h *Holder) Preview(key, what string) (map[string]any, error) {
 	asking := h.openAsk(&r) != nil // askOf takes the same lock, so this is asked outside it
 	m, line, refusal, ownWords := h.allowedWords(&r, what, now)
 	if r.Answered != "" {
-		m = h.answeredWords(&r, m)
+		m = h.answeredWords(&r, m, "")
 	}
 	out := map[string]any{
 		"key":   key,
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func TestAReplacedAsksMessageEndsWithIt(t *testing.T) {
 				m, edited = r.m, true
 			}
 		}
-		if !edited || len(m.Actions) != 0 || !strings.Contains(m.Title, "Replaced by a newer question") {
+		if !edited || len(m.Actions) != 0 || !strings.HasPrefix(m.Note, "Replaced by a newer question") {
 			t.Errorf("%s: the replaced ask's message still stands: edited %v, %q %v", ch.name, edited, m.Text(), labelsOf(m))
 		}
 	}
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func TestAnAsksMessageLeftOpenAfterItsAskEndedIsEndedOnTheNextTick(t *testing.T)
 	if got := openAskRecords(h); len(got) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("the message of an ended ask is still open: %v", got)
 	}
-	if m, ok := tg.edits["1"]; !ok || len(m.Actions) != 0 || !strings.Contains(m.Title, "Replaced by a newer question") {
+	if m, ok := tg.edits["1"]; !ok || len(m.Actions) != 0 || !strings.HasPrefix(m.Note, "Replaced by a newer question") {
 		t.Errorf("the leftover's copy was not ended: %v %q %v", ok, m.Text(), labelsOf(m))
 	}
 }
@@ -61,8 +61,7 @@ func TestAnAsksWholeWordsAreShownWhereTheSenderIsProvenAndMaskedElsewhere(t *tes
 	if got := w.of("mesh-controller"); len(got) != 0 || store.asks["mesh-controller.s-1"].State != StateOpen {
 		t.Errorf("the ask was answered: %+v / %s", got, store.asks["mesh-controller.s-1"].State)
 	}
-	// Approved, the message is edited to one line that says so, with the headline; the body is not said again
-	// (issue 639).
+	// Approved, the message keeps its headline and words, and says below them how it ended (issue 714).
 	if out, err := h.Chosen("telegram", choiceOf(ticketFor(phone, "Release"), "42", c.now())); err != nil || out != "chosen" {
 		t.Fatalf("Release: %q %v", out, err)
 	}
@@ -70,8 +69,8 @@ func TestAnAsksWholeWordsAreShownWhereTheSenderIsProvenAndMaskedElsewhere(t *tes
 	if !ok {
 		t.Fatalf("the phone's message was not edited: %+v", tg.edits)
 	}
-	if !strings.HasPrefix(edited.Title, "You chose Release at ") || !strings.HasSuffix(edited.Title, " · Set mounts on shanks?") ||
-		edited.Body != "" || len(edited.Actions) != 0 {
+	if edited.Title != "Set mounts on shanks?" || edited.Body == "" ||
+		!strings.HasPrefix(edited.Note, "You chose Release at ") || len(edited.Actions) != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("the edited message: %q\n%s\nactions %+v", edited.Title, edited.Body, edited.Actions)
 	}
 }
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@ package main
 // formatting", "too much text, no formatting, no summary"). The router's words are shown as given —
 // `exact-render` — and formatted, never reworded:
 //
-//   - the title in bold: the headline, or how an answered ask ended;
+//   - the title in bold: the headline, an answered ask's too (issue 714);
 //   - the body as it is, a line that is a key with its value (as a settings proposal lists them, "+ key: value")
 //     in monospace;
-//   - the note — who asked, what each answer does, the expiry, the asker's details — apart, after a blank line,
+//   - the note — who asked, what each answer does, the expiry, the asker's details; once answered, how it ended
+//     and who acts on it — apart, after a blank line,
 //     in a blockquote Telegram shows collapsed to its first lines, expanded on a tap.
 //
 // Every character Telegram's HTML would read as markup is escaped first, so a message carrying '<' neither
@@ -84,3 +84,20 @@ func TestTheNoteIsEscaped(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("%q", got)
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq issue 714: an answered ask keeps its question whole, with how it ended below it. Over Telegram's bound,
+// the end of the body (the asker's Details) is cut; the headline and the answer are never.
+func TestAnAnsweredAskOverTheBoundKeepsItsHeadlineAndItsAnswer(t *testing.T) {
+	answer := "You chose Approve at 20:03 on Telegram.\nTold to mesh-knowledge, which acts on it itself."
+	m := asks.Message{Handle: "h-714", To: "42", Title: "Fixes reach every machine at once, unchecked",
+		Body: "A fix goes to every machine in one step.\n• No machine goes first\n" + strings.Repeat("Details line. ", 400),
+		Note: answer}
+	s := partsOf(m)
+	if n := len([]rune(s.plain())); n > MaxLength {
+		t.Fatalf("the answered ask is %d characters, over %d", n, MaxLength)
+	}
+	if s.title != m.Title || s.note != answer || !strings.HasPrefix(s.body, "A fix goes to every machine in one step.\n• No machine goes first") ||
+		!strings.HasSuffix(s.body, cutNote) {
+		t.Errorf("the headline, the summary or the answer was cut:\n%s", s.plain())
+	}
+}