diff --git a/internal/catalogue/setting_into.go b/internal/catalogue/setting_into.go
index f63199f..751f3b1 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/setting_into.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/setting_into.go
@@ -91,19 +91,40 @@ func orNoSettings(layers []Layer) string {
 	return "; set today: " + strings.Join(keys, ", ")
 }
 
-// settingKeysUsedBy is every key a module's files ask for, so a setting that lands in one is not
-// called stray.
+// settingKeysUsedBy is every key a module's files, contributions and served facts ask for, so a
+// setting that lands in one is not called stray.
 func settingKeysUsedBy(m Manifest) map[string]bool {
 	used := map[string]bool{}
+	note := func(s string) {
+		for _, k := range settingsUsed(s) {
+			used[k] = true
+		}
+	}
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
 		if fmt.Sprint(r["type"]) != "file" {
 			continue
 		}
 		if content, ok := r["content"].(string); ok {
-			for _, k := range settingsUsed(content) {
-				used[k] = true
+			note(content)
+		}
+	}
+	inValues := func(values map[string]any) {
+		for _, v := range values {
+			if s, ok := v.(string); ok {
+				note(s)
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	for _, values := range m.Contributes {
+		inValues(values)
+	}
+	for _, locals := range m.ContributesMany {
+		for _, values := range locals {
+			inValues(values)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, values := range m.Serves {
+		inValues(values)
+	}
 	return used
 }
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/settings.go b/internal/catalogue/settings.go
index 7d84980..6ea87ce 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/settings.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/settings.go
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ func Settle(base map[string]any, layers []Layer) (map[string]any, error) {
 // overridden lays settings over a map whose keys are its contract: a contribution, a served fact.
 // Only the keys the map already declares are touched; the rest of a layer is somebody else's
 // business (a file's, another destination's) and is left to reach it there.
+//
+// A declared value may itself be the operator's, `${setting:<key>}` (ADR 0155): a mail provider
+// serves its domain, an identity provider its issuer, and neither is the definition's to state.
+// Filled from the layers after the overrides, and refused by name when nothing sets it — a literal
+// placeholder handed to a consumer is a service configured against a string nobody meant.
 func overridden(base map[string]any, layers []Layer, what string) (map[string]any, error) {
 	kept := make([]Layer, 0, len(layers))
 	for _, layer := range layers {
@@ -110,7 +115,28 @@ func overridden(base map[string]any, layers []Layer, what string) (map[string]an
 		}
 		kept = append(kept, Layer{From: layer.From, Values: values})
 	}
-	return settle(base, kept, nil, what)
+	merged, err := settle(base, kept, nil, what)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	for key, value := range merged {
+		s, ok := value.(string)
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, asked := range settingsUsed(s) {
+			v, set := settingValue(layers, asked)
+			if !set {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+					"%s says ${setting:%s} for %q, and nothing sets %q — an operator's value is the "+
+						"assignment's, never the definition's (novox/hq ADR 0112)%s",
+					what, asked, key, asked, orNoSettings(layers))
+			}
+			s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, "${setting:"+asked+"}", plainly(v))
+		}
+		merged[key] = s
+	}
+	return merged, nil
 }
 
 // settle lays the layers over a module's own values, in order.
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/settings_test.go b/internal/catalogue/settings_test.go
index 2b2a89f..b2cc392 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/settings_test.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/settings_test.go
@@ -213,3 +213,24 @@ func TestContentThatIsNotJSONIsRefusedWhereSomebodyIsLooking(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("a module claiming to merge as JSON shipped something else and was accepted")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestAServedValueMayBeTheOperators(t *testing.T) {
+	// A mail provider serves its domain and an identity provider its issuer; neither is the
+	// definition's to state (ADR 0155). Filled from the layers, refused by name when unset.
+	served, err := Settle(map[string]any{"port": 587, "domain": "${setting:domain}"},
+		[]Layer{{From: "the mesh", Values: map[string]any{"domain": "example.tld"}}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if served["domain"] != "example.tld" {
+		t.Errorf("the operator's value did not fill the served key: %v", served)
+	}
+	_, err = Settle(map[string]any{"domain": "${setting:domain}"}, nil)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `"domain"`) {
+		t.Errorf("a served value nothing sets must be refused by name; got %v", err)
+	}
+	m := Manifest{Module: "mail", Serves: map[string]map[string]any{"smtp": {"domain": "${setting:domain}"}}}
+	if unused := UnusedSettings(m, []Layer{{From: "the mesh", Values: map[string]any{"domain": "x"}}}); len(unused) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("a setting a served fact asks for is not stray: %v", unused)
+	}
+}