diff --git a/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go b/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go
index 0ace1cc..86aea3e 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go
@@ -383,3 +383,67 @@ func TestBeingHeardFromDoesNotChangeWhatANodeOwns(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("after a bare word that the node is here, the mesh believes it owns %v", owned)
 	}
 }
+
+// **A token is claimed, then spent** (novox/hq issue 083). A presenter may claim it again — an
+// enrolment interrupted by a restarting store asks again with the same key — while another is held
+// off until the lease lapses; and it is spent only by the one holding the claim.
+func TestATokenIsClaimedByOnePresenterAndSpentOnlyByIt(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	if _, err := inv.AddNode(ctx, "laptop"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	issued, err := inv.IssueToken(ctx, "laptop", time.Hour)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	node, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a")
+	if err != nil || node.Name != "laptop" {
+		t.Fatalf("a fresh token was not claimed for its node: %v %q", err, node.Name)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the presenter holding the claim could not claim again after an interruption: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-b"); !errors.Is(err, ErrTokenInUse) {
+		t.Fatalf("a second presenter was not held off while the claim is live: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.Spend(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-b"); !errors.Is(err, ErrTokenRefused) {
+		t.Fatalf("a presenter not holding the claim spent the token: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.Spend(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the presenter holding the claim could not spend it: %v", err)
+	}
+	for _, by := range []string{"key-a", "key-b"} {
+		if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, by); !errors.Is(err, ErrTokenRefused) {
+			t.Fatalf("a spent token was claimed again by %s: %v", by, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A claim lapses: a host that gave up and was started over, with keys of its own, is not held off
+// for longer than the lease.
+func TestAClaimThatLapsedCanBeTakenByAnotherPresenter(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	if _, err := inv.AddNode(ctx, "laptop"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	issued, err := inv.IssueToken(ctx, "laptop", time.Hour)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
+		`update enrolment_token set claimed_until = now() - interval '1 second' where secret = $1`,
+		hashSecret(issued.Secret)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-b"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a lapsed claim held off a new presenter: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.Spend(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a"); !errors.Is(err, ErrTokenRefused) {
+		t.Fatalf("the presenter whose claim lapsed could still spend the token: %v", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/inventory/migrations/0028-a-token-is-claimed-before-it-is-spent.sql b/internal/inventory/migrations/0028-a-token-is-claimed-before-it-is-spent.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1cc42c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/inventory/migrations/0028-a-token-is-claimed-before-it-is-spent.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+-- A token is claimed by the enrolment presenting it, and spent only when that enrolment has
+-- written everything it needs (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/083).
+--
+-- Spending came first and the node's keys after, in another database: a store that went away
+-- between the two left a spent token and a node with no key, and the host — which makes new keys
+-- on every attempt — could not try again. The claim holds the token for one presenter for a short
+-- lease, so an attempt that failed part-way can be made again by the same presenter, and a second
+-- presenter cannot interleave with the first.
+
+alter table enrolment_token add column claimed_by text;
+alter table enrolment_token add column claimed_until timestamptz;
diff --git a/internal/inventory/nodes.go b/internal/inventory/nodes.go
index 8cb1ccb..fc4e0b9 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/nodes.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/nodes.go
@@ -212,6 +212,60 @@ var ErrTokenRefused = errors.New("that token cannot be used")
 // The update is the check: one statement that both finds a live token and marks it used, so two
 // simultaneous redemptions of one secret cannot both succeed. Reading first and writing second
 // would leave exactly that gap.
+// ClaimLease is how long a claimed token is held for the one presenter that claimed it. Long
+// enough for an enrolment to be tried again through a store restart; short enough that a host
+// which gave up and was started over, with keys of its own, is not kept waiting long.
+const ClaimLease = 2 * time.Minute
+
+// ErrTokenInUse is a token another presenter holds a claim on right now. Not a refusal: the claim
+// lapses, and asking again after it is the answer.
+var ErrTokenInUse = errors.New("the token is being used by another enrolment")
+
+// Claim takes a token for one presenter — `by`, which names the key presenting it — for the length
+// of a lease, and says which node it enrols. The same presenter may claim it again, as may anyone
+// once the lease has lapsed; nothing is spent until Spend (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/083).
+func (i *Inventory) Claim(ctx context.Context, secret, by string) (Node, error) {
+	var id string
+	err := i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
+		`update enrolment_token set claimed_by = $2, claimed_until = now() + $3::interval
+		  where secret = $1 and redeemed is null and expires > now()
+		    and (claimed_by is null or claimed_by = $2 or claimed_until < now())
+		  returning node`, hashSecret(secret), by, ClaimLease.String()).Scan(&id)
+	if errors.Is(err, pgx.ErrNoRows) {
+		// Unusable, or held by someone else — told apart, because the second passes.
+		var held bool
+		probe := i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
+			`select true from enrolment_token
+			  where secret = $1 and redeemed is null and expires > now()`, hashSecret(secret)).Scan(&held)
+		if probe == nil && held {
+			return Node{}, ErrTokenInUse
+		}
+		return Node{}, ErrTokenRefused
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return Node{}, err
+	}
+	var n Node
+	err = i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
+		`select id, name, created from node where id = $1`, id).Scan(&n.ID, &n.Name, &n.Created)
+	return n, err
+}
+
+// Spend makes a claimed token used, only for the presenter holding the claim. The last write of an
+// enrolment, so a token is spent exactly when the node it enrolled is complete.
+func (i *Inventory) Spend(ctx context.Context, secret, by string) error {
+	tag, err := i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
+		`update enrolment_token set redeemed = now()
+		  where secret = $1 and redeemed is null and claimed_by = $2`, hashSecret(secret), by)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if tag.RowsAffected() == 0 {
+		return ErrTokenRefused
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (i *Inventory) Redeem(ctx context.Context, secret string) (Node, error) {
 	var id string
 	err := i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
diff --git a/internal/link/enrol_claim_test.go b/internal/link/enrol_claim_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf373f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/link/enrol_claim_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package link_test
+
+import (
+	"crypto/ed25519"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// A token another enrolment holds for the moment is "not now", not a refusal: the node asks again
+// with the same request, and nothing is spent (novox/hq issue 083).
+func TestAnEnrolmentMetByAHeldTokenIsAskedToTryAgain(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := inventory.ForTest(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	if _, err := inv.AddNode(ctx, "laptop"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	issued, err := inv.IssueToken(ctx, "laptop", time.Hour)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "another enrolment's key"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	public, _, err := ed25519.GenerateKey(rand.Reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	_, err = link.Enrolment{Inventory: inv}.Enrol(ctx, link.EnrolRequest{
+		Node: "laptop", Secret: issued.Secret, PublicKey: public})
+	if !errors.Is(err, link.ErrTryAgain) {
+		t.Fatalf("an enrolment met by a held token was not asked to try again: %v", err)
+	}
+	// And a token that cannot be used at all is still refused outright.
+	_, err = link.Enrolment{Inventory: inv}.Enrol(ctx, link.EnrolRequest{
+		Node: "laptop", Secret: "not-a-token", PublicKey: public})
+	if err == nil || errors.Is(err, link.ErrTryAgain) {
+		t.Fatalf("a token that cannot be used was not refused outright: %v", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/link/enrolment.go b/internal/link/enrolment.go
index b7975bb..c730404 100644
--- a/internal/link/enrolment.go
+++ b/internal/link/enrolment.go
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/ed25519"
 	"crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
@@ -34,26 +36,35 @@ type Enrolment struct {
 // single statement that both finds and marks it, so two machines racing on one secret produce one
 // winner. Only then is a key recorded — because recording a key for a node whose token turned out
 // to be spent would leave the mesh believing a machine that never had the right to join.
-func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (EnrolReply, error) {
+func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (reply EnrolReply, err error) {
 	secret, public, profile := request.Secret, ed25519.PublicKey(request.PublicKey), request.Profile
 
+	// A store that could not be asked right now, or a token another presenter holds for the
+	// moment, is "not now": the node asks again with the same request (novox/hq issue 083).
+	defer func() {
+		if inventory.Unreachable(err) || errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrTokenInUse) {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("%w: %w", ErrTryAgain, err)
+		}
+	}()
+
 	if len(public) != ed25519.PublicKeySize {
 		return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf("a node presented a %d-byte key, and an identity is %d",
 			len(public), ed25519.PublicKeySize)
 	}
 
-	node, err := e.Inventory.Redeem(ctx, secret)
+	// Claimed, not spent: the token is held for this presenter while the node is written, and
+	// spent only as the last write. The node's identity lives in another database than the
+	// token, so the two cannot be one transaction; a failure between them used to leave a spent
+	// token and a node with no key, which the host — making new keys on every attempt — could not
+	// recover from. Every write below overwrites, so an attempt made again is safe.
+	by := claimant(public)
+	node, err := e.Inventory.Claim(ctx, secret, by)
 	if err != nil {
 		return EnrolReply{}, err
 	}
 
-	// From here the token is gone whatever happens next, so anything that fails leaves a node
-	// record with no live key — which is visible and fixable with a new token, where a spent
-	// token believed to be unspent is neither.
 	if _, err := e.Identity.RecordNodeKey(ctx, node.ID, public); err != nil {
-		return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf(
-			"the token was spent and the key could not be recorded, so %s has no identity and "+
-				"needs a new token: %w", node.Name, err)
+		return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf("%s's key could not be recorded: %w", node.Name, err)
 	}
 
 	key, err := e.Identity.Active(ctx)
@@ -61,7 +72,7 @@ func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (EnrolReply,
 		return EnrolReply{}, err
 	}
 
-	reply := EnrolReply{
+	reply = EnrolReply{
 		Accepted:    true,
 		Node:        node.Name,
 		Queue:       QueueFor(node.Name),
@@ -80,8 +91,7 @@ func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (EnrolReply,
 		}
 		if err := e.Management.CreateNodeAccount(ctx, node.Name, password); err != nil {
 			return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf(
-				"the token was spent and %s's broker password could not be replaced: %w",
-				node.Name, err)
+				"%s's broker password could not be replaced: %w", node.Name, err)
 		}
 		reply.Password = password
 	}
@@ -98,24 +108,27 @@ func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (EnrolReply,
 	if request.ServingKey != "" {
 		if err := e.Identity.RecordServingKey(ctx, node.ID, request.ServingKey); err != nil {
 			return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf(
-				"the token was spent and %s's serving key could not be recorded: %w",
-				node.Name, err)
+				"%s's serving key could not be recorded: %w", node.Name, err)
 		}
 	}
 	if request.SealingKey != "" {
 		if err := e.Inventory.RecordSealingKey(ctx, node.ID, request.SealingKey); err != nil {
 			return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf(
-				"the token was spent and %s's sealing key could not be recorded: %w",
-				node.Name, err)
+				"%s's sealing key could not be recorded: %w", node.Name, err)
 		}
 	}
 	if request.OverlayKey != "" {
 		if err := e.Inventory.RecordOverlayKey(ctx, node.ID, request.OverlayKey); err != nil {
 			return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf(
-				"the token was spent and %s's overlay key could not be recorded: %w", node.Name, err)
+				"%s's overlay key could not be recorded: %w", node.Name, err)
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Spent last, so a token is used exactly when the node it enrolled is complete.
+	if err := e.Inventory.Spend(ctx, secret, by); err != nil {
+		return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf("%s was written and its token could not be spent: %w", node.Name, err)
+	}
+
 	if profile != nil {
 		// Not fatal if it fails. The profile is what the control plane needs in order to decide
 		// what this machine should run, and it is reported again on every connection — so losing
@@ -125,6 +138,12 @@ func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (EnrolReply,
 	return reply, nil
 }
 
+// claimant names the key presenting a token, so a claim can be held for it alone.
+func claimant(public ed25519.PublicKey) string {
+	sum := sha256.Sum256(public)
+	return hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
+}
+
 // freshPassword is the node's own broker credential from enrolment onward.
 func freshPassword() (string, error) {
 	raw := make([]byte, 32)
diff --git a/internal/link/protocol.go b/internal/link/protocol.go
index efac2ca..25e24fa 100644
--- a/internal/link/protocol.go
+++ b/internal/link/protocol.go
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ type EnrolReply struct {
 	// Accepted says whether the node is now known.
 	Accepted bool `json:"accepted"`
 
+	// TryAgain says the mesh cannot answer right now — its store is restarting, or the token is
+	// held for a moment by another enrolment — and the node should ask again with the same
+	// request. Nothing was spent (novox/hq issue 083).
+	TryAgain bool `json:"try_again,omitempty"`
+
 	// Node is the name the mesh has for this machine, which settles any disagreement: the token
 	// was issued for a node record, and that record's name wins over what the machine called
 	// itself.
diff --git a/internal/link/serve.go b/internal/link/serve.go
index a3c7f9c..3c55b8b 100644
--- a/internal/link/serve.go
+++ b/internal/link/serve.go
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ package link
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/envfile"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"time"
@@ -91,7 +94,8 @@ type Upgrader interface {
 	// Upgraded is told which module moved and between which commits. An error is logged and the
 	// message is not requeued: an upgrade the control plane could not act on is not one it will
 	// act on by being handed the same message again, and a poison message on a durable queue
-	// would stop every upgrade behind it.
+	// would stop every upgrade behind it — except the store unreachable for the moment, which is
+	// asked again for a bounded time (novox/hq issue 083).
 	Upgraded(ctx context.Context, u Upgraded) error
 }
 
@@ -332,27 +336,13 @@ func (s *Server) handleReport(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 	}
 	if s.listener != nil {
 		if err := s.listener.Heard(context.Background(), report); err != nil {
-			if errors.Is(err, ErrTryAgain) && s.keepTrying(report) {
-				// Kept, not acknowledged. The node reports an apply once, and a report lost here
-				// is a node the mesh never hears from again: the store restarting under the
-				// adoption that node just applied lost exactly that (novox/hq issue 082).
-				again := s.again
-				if again == 0 {
-					again = TryAgainAfter
-				}
-				s.log.Printf("could not record %s's report yet, and will again in %s: %v", report.Node, again, err)
-				select {
-				case <-ctx.Done():
-				case <-time.After(again):
-				}
-				_ = delivery.Nack(false, true)
+			// Kept, not acknowledged, while the store cannot take it: the node reports an apply
+			// once, and a report lost here is a node the mesh never hears from again — the store
+			// restarting under the adoption that node just applied lost exactly that (issue 082).
+			what := fmt.Sprintf("%s's report of declaration %s", report.Node, report.Declared)
+			if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, what, err) {
 				return
 			}
-			if errors.Is(err, ErrTryAgain) {
-				s.log.Printf("LOST %s's report of declaration %s: the store has not come back in %s, "+
-					"and the control queue cannot wait longer — the node is current but the mesh will "+
-					"read it as unanswered until its next push: %v", report.Node, report.Declared, s.giveUpAfter(), err)
-			}
 			// Said rather than swallowed. A report the mesh heard and failed to write down is a
 			// node whose recovery copy is silently older than it looks.
 			s.log.Printf("could not record %s's report: %v", report.Node, err)
@@ -367,26 +357,58 @@ func (s *Server) handleReport(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 	default:
 		s.log.Printf("%s applied %d resource(s)", report.Node, len(report.Applied))
 	}
-	s.stopTrying(report)
+	s.settled(delivery)
 	_ = delivery.Ack(false)
 }
 
-// keepTrying says whether a report the store could not take is still within the time it may hold
-// the queue, starting that clock on its first failure.
-func (s *Server) keepTrying(r Report) bool {
+// tryLater hands a message the store could not take right now back to the broker, to be asked
+// again after a pause, and says whether it did (novox/hq issues 082, 083).
+//
+// "Right now" is the store unreachable or restarting — ErrTryAgain from a listener, or an error
+// the inventory reads as an outage. Anything else is an answer, and is left to the caller to
+// settle. One message holds its queue at most giveUpAfter: the consumer takes one message at a
+// time, so a message tried again holds everything behind it, and a store that has not come back
+// in that long is not restarting. Past it, the message is let go with a line saying it was lost.
+func (s *Server) tryLater(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery, what string, err error) bool {
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrTryAgain) && !inventory.Unreachable(err) {
+		return false
+	}
+	key := waitingKey(delivery)
 	if s.waiting == nil {
 		s.waiting = map[string]time.Time{}
 	}
-	key := r.Node + " " + r.Declared
 	first, seen := s.waiting[key]
 	if !seen {
-		s.waiting[key] = time.Now()
-		return true
+		first = time.Now()
+		s.waiting[key] = first
 	}
-	return time.Since(first) < s.giveUpAfter()
+	if time.Since(first) >= s.giveUpAfter() {
+		delete(s.waiting, key)
+		s.log.Printf("LOST %s: the store has not come back in %s, and the queue cannot wait longer: %v",
+			what, s.giveUpAfter(), err)
+		return false
+	}
+	again := s.again
+	if again == 0 {
+		again = TryAgainAfter
+	}
+	s.log.Printf("could not keep %s yet, and will again in %s: %v", what, again, err)
+	select {
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+	case <-time.After(again):
+	}
+	_ = delivery.Nack(false, true)
+	return true
 }
 
-func (s *Server) stopTrying(r Report) { delete(s.waiting, r.Node+" "+r.Declared) }
+// settled forgets a message's time spent waiting, once it has been handled either way.
+func (s *Server) settled(delivery amqp.Delivery) { delete(s.waiting, waitingKey(delivery)) }
+
+// waitingKey is a message by its content: the same message handed back is the same key.
+func waitingKey(delivery amqp.Delivery) string {
+	sum := sha256.Sum256(append([]byte(delivery.RoutingKey+"\x00"), delivery.Body...))
+	return hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
+}
 
 func (s *Server) giveUpAfter() time.Duration {
 	if s.giveUp == 0 {
@@ -403,11 +425,18 @@ func (s *Server) handleEnrol(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 		s.log.Printf("an enrolment request could not be read: %v", err)
 	} else {
 		accepted, err := s.enroller.Enrol(ctx, request)
-		if err != nil {
+		switch {
+		case errors.Is(err, ErrTryAgain):
+			// Not a refusal: nothing was spent, and the same request asked again will be
+			// answered. Replied at once rather than held, so the node — which is waiting on
+			// this answer — decides when to ask, and the queue behind it moves (issue 083).
+			reply = EnrolReply{TryAgain: true, Refusal: "the mesh cannot answer right now; ask again"}
+			s.log.Printf("asked %q to enrol again shortly: %v", request.Node, err)
+		case err != nil:
 			// Logged in full here, where an operator can see it; sent back as one refusal, so
 			// that somebody guessing learns nothing from which reason came back.
 			s.log.Printf("refusing enrolment for %q: %v", request.Node, err)
-		} else {
+		default:
 			reply = accepted
 			s.log.Printf("enrolled %s", accepted.Node)
 		}
@@ -465,10 +494,17 @@ func (s *Server) handleBuilt(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 		return
 	}
 	if err := s.recorder.Built(ctx, result); err != nil {
+		// Kept while the store cannot take it: a build result lost here is never announced, and
+		// recording one twice is harmless — the build is kept by its id (issue 083).
+		if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, fmt.Sprintf("a build result from %s", result.On), err) {
+			return
+		}
 		s.log.Printf("cannot keep a build result from %s: %v", result.On, err)
+		s.settled(delivery)
 		_ = delivery.Reject(false)
 		return
 	}
+	s.settled(delivery)
 	switch {
 	case result.Failed != "":
 		s.log.Printf("%s could not build %s", result.On, result.Repository)
@@ -478,26 +514,30 @@ func (s *Server) handleBuilt(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 	_ = delivery.Ack(false)
 }
 
-// upgraded hands one announcement to whatever is following them.
-//
-// **Acknowledged whatever happens.** A failure here is the control plane being unable to act on an
-// upgrade — a machine that cannot be resolved, a broker that will not take a declaration — and
-// none of those get better by being handed the same message again. Requeuing would put a poison
-// message at the head of a durable queue and stop every upgrade behind it, which turns one module
-// nobody can push into a mesh that stops following its own catalogue.
 // catchingUp answers a catalogue that has just started and may have missed builds.
 //
-// Acknowledged before the work, deliberately: a replay that fails is not one that succeeds by
-// being handed the same request again, and the catalogue asks every time it starts. Requeueing a
-// poison request would stop every later catch-up behind it.
+// Acknowledged after the work. A replay that fails for a reason other than the store is not one
+// that succeeds by being handed the same request again, so that is acknowledged and said; but a
+// store that could not be read right now is asked again after a pause, bounded, rather than the
+// request lost until the catalogue next restarts (issue 083).
 func (s *Server) catchingUp(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
-	defer func() { _ = delivery.Ack(false) }()
+	requeued := false
+	defer func() {
+		if !requeued {
+			s.settled(delivery)
+			_ = delivery.Ack(false)
+		}
+	}()
 	if s.replayer == nil {
 		s.log.Printf("a catalogue asked to catch up and this control plane has nothing to replay")
 		return
 	}
 	announcements, err := s.replayer.Announceable(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
+		if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, "a catalogue's request to catch up", err) {
+			requeued = true
+			return
+		}
 		s.log.Printf("a catalogue asked to catch up and the mesh could not read its builds: %v", err)
 		return
 	}
@@ -516,8 +556,22 @@ func (s *Server) catchingUp(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 	s.log.Printf("a catalogue asked to catch up; re-announced %d build(s)", sent)
 }
 
+// upgraded hands one announcement to whatever is following them.
+//
+// **Acknowledged whatever happens, but one thing.** A failure here is usually the control plane
+// being unable to act on an upgrade — a machine that cannot be resolved, a broker that will not
+// take a declaration — and none of those get better by being handed the same message again.
+// Requeuing those would put a poison message at the head of a durable queue and stop every
+// upgrade behind it. The one exception is the store unreachable for the moment, which does get
+// better: that is asked again after a pause, for a bounded time (novox/hq issue 083).
 func (s *Server) upgraded(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
-	defer func() { _ = delivery.Ack(false) }()
+	requeued := false
+	defer func() {
+		if !requeued {
+			s.settled(delivery)
+			_ = delivery.Ack(false)
+		}
+	}()
 	var u Upgraded
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(delivery.Body, &u); err != nil {
 		s.log.Printf("an upgrade announcement could not be read: %v", err)
@@ -528,6 +582,13 @@ func (s *Server) upgraded(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 		return
 	}
 	if err := s.upgrader.Upgraded(ctx, u); err != nil {
+		// A store that could not be read right now is asked again, bounded: acting on an upgrade
+		// twice pushes the same declarations twice, which converges (issue 083). Any other
+		// failure is acknowledged, as before — requeued, it would stop every upgrade behind it.
+		if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, fmt.Sprintf("%s's move to %s", u.Module, short(u.Commit)), err) {
+			requeued = true
+			return
+		}
 		s.log.Printf("%s moved to %s and the mesh could not act on it: %v",
 			u.Module, short(u.Commit), err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/link/store_window_test.go b/internal/link/store_window_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d894335
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/link/store_window_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package link
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"io"
+	"log"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/pgconn"
+	amqp "github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go"
+)
+
+// What a store restarting under an adoption answers with (novox/hq issues 082, 083).
+var restarting = &pgconn.PgError{Code: "57P03", Message: "the database system is starting up"}
+
+type recordsWith struct{ err error }
+
+func (r recordsWith) Built(context.Context, BuildResult) error { return r.err }
+
+type upgradesWith struct{ err error }
+
+func (u upgradesWith) Upgraded(context.Context, Upgraded) error { return u.err }
+
+type replaysWith struct{ err error }
+
+func (r replaysWith) Announceable(context.Context) ([]Announcement, error) { return nil, r.err }
+
+type settledAs struct{ acked, nacked, requeued, rejected bool }
+
+func (a *settledAs) Ack(uint64, bool) error { a.acked = true; return nil }
+func (a *settledAs) Nack(_ uint64, _ bool, requeue bool) error {
+	a.nacked, a.requeued = true, requeue
+	return nil
+}
+func (a *settledAs) Reject(uint64, bool) error { a.rejected = true; return nil }
+
+func a(t *testing.T, to *settledAs, key string, v any) amqp.Delivery {
+	t.Helper()
+	body, err := json.Marshal(v)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return amqp.Delivery{Acknowledger: to, RoutingKey: key, Body: body}
+}
+
+func quietServer() *Server { return &Server{log: log.New(io.Discard, "", 0), again: 1} }
+
+// A build result the store could not take right now is handed back; one it refused is rejected,
+// as before; one it kept is acknowledged.
+func TestABuildResultWaitsOutARestartingStore(t *testing.T) {
+	built := BuildResult{On: "anchor", Repository: "/r", Commit: "abc"}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		what string
+		err  error
+		want func(*settledAs) bool
+	}{
+		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.requeued && !s.acked && !s.rejected }},
+		{"refused", errors.New("no such module"), func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.rejected && !s.nacked }},
+		{"kept", nil, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
+	} {
+		s := quietServer()
+		s.recorder = recordsWith{err: c.err}
+		to := &settledAs{}
+		s.handleBuilt(context.Background(), a(t, to, KeyBuilt, built))
+		if !c.want(to) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: a build result was settled as %+v", c.what, *to)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// An upgrade announcement arriving while the store restarts is asked again; any other failure is
+// acknowledged, so it cannot stop every upgrade behind it.
+func TestAnUpgradeWaitsOutARestartingStoreAndNothingElse(t *testing.T) {
+	moved := Upgraded{Module: "gitea", Commit: "abcdef0123"}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		what string
+		err  error
+		want func(*settledAs) bool
+	}{
+		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.requeued && !s.acked }},
+		{"cannot act", errors.New("anchor cannot be resolved"), func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
+		{"acted", nil, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
+	} {
+		s := quietServer()
+		s.upgrader = upgradesWith{err: c.err}
+		to := &settledAs{}
+		s.upgraded(context.Background(), a(t, to, "upgraded", moved))
+		if !c.want(to) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: an upgrade was settled as %+v", c.what, *to)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A catalogue's request to catch up is acknowledged after the work, and asked again while the
+// store cannot be read — not lost until the catalogue next restarts.
+func TestACatchUpWaitsOutARestartingStore(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		what string
+		err  error
+		want func(*settledAs) bool
+	}{
+		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.requeued && !s.acked }},
+		{"unreadable", errors.New("a build row is malformed"), func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
+		{"nothing to replay", nil, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
+	} {
+		s := quietServer()
+		s.replayer = replaysWith{err: c.err}
+		to := &settledAs{}
+		s.catchingUp(context.Background(), a(t, to, "catch-up", map[string]string{}))
+		if !c.want(to) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: a catch-up request was settled as %+v", c.what, *to)
+		}
+	}
+}