diff --git a/internal/broker/broker.go b/internal/broker/broker.go
index 84025ef..51e5c87 100644
--- a/internal/broker/broker.go
+++ b/internal/broker/broker.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/pem"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/envfile"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -40,7 +41,10 @@ var ErrNotConfigured = errors.New("this control plane has not been told about it
 
 // FromEnvironment reads the two settings, if they are there.
 func FromEnvironment() (Broker, error) {
-	address := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(AddressVar))
+	address, err := envfile.Value(AddressVar)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Broker{}, err
+	}
 	path := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(CertificateVar))
 
 	if address == "" && path == "" {
diff --git a/internal/broker/management.go b/internal/broker/management.go
index 684d0a1..cea2a44 100644
--- a/internal/broker/management.go
+++ b/internal/broker/management.go
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/envfile"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
-	"os"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -42,7 +42,10 @@ type Management struct {
 
 // ManagementFromEnvironment reads where the management API is, if it is configured.
 func ManagementFromEnvironment() (*Management, error) {
-	raw := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(ManagementVar))
+	raw, err := envfile.Value(ManagementVar)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	if raw == "" {
 		return nil, ErrNotConfigured
 	}
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/declaration.go b/internal/catalogue/declaration.go
index c6cf0f3..616908c 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/declaration.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/declaration.go
@@ -442,6 +442,10 @@ func (r Resolution) Declaration(with Rendering) ([]map[string]any, error) {
 		// And the machine underneath, which no binding of its own can tell it.
 		thisMachine := machineFacts(r)
 
+		// Which of this module's files carry a secret, for the rule that a container may not read
+		// one of them as its environment without saying so (ADR 0086, issue 041).
+		secretFiles := secretFilesOf(resources)
+
 		for _, unsettled := range resources {
 			resource, err := ApplySettings(unsettled, with.Settings[m.Module])
 			if err != nil {
@@ -451,6 +455,12 @@ func (r Resolution) Declaration(with Rendering) ([]map[string]any, error) {
 			for k, v := range resource {
 				copied[k] = v
 			}
+			if err := refuseSecretsInEnvironment(copied, secretFiles, m.Module); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			// Said in the catalogue, not on the machine: the host parses strictly and knows no
+			// such field, and the reason is for a reader of the manifest.
+			delete(copied, SecretsInEnvironment)
 			// **After settings, and that is the whole reason it is here.** A module's file
 			// content is where a setting lands, so a placeholder may only exist once the setting
 			// has been put in — filling secrets first would look at content that is not yet what
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/secrets_in_environment_test.go b/internal/catalogue/secrets_in_environment_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bbde92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/catalogue/secrets_in_environment_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func aModuleWithAnEnvFileSecret(exception string) Manifest {
+	container := map[string]any{
+		"id": "server", "type": "container", "name": "app", "image": "app@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+		"env-file": []any{"/var/lib/app/server.env"},
+	}
+	if exception != "" {
+		container[SecretsInEnvironment] = exception
+	}
+	return Manifest{
+		Module: "app", Version: "1",
+		OwnSecrets: map[string]string{"token": "/var/lib/app/token.secret"},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{
+			{"id": "env", "type": "file", "path": "/var/lib/app/server.env", "mode": "0600",
+				"content": "APP_TOKEN=${secret:token}\n"},
+			container,
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func declare(t *testing.T, m Manifest) ([]map[string]any, error) {
+	t.Helper()
+	got, err := Resolve(shelf(m), []string{m.Module},
+		Node{Name: "anchor", At: "10.0.0.1", Capabilities: map[string]bool{}}, World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return got.Declaration(Rendering{Needed: map[string]map[string]string{"app": {"token": "SEALED"}}})
+}
+
+// A container that reads a file carrying a secret as its environment is refused, unless it says
+// why — and then the reason stays in the catalogue and never reaches the machine.
+func TestASecretInAnEnvFileIsRefusedUnlessDeclared(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := declare(t, aModuleWithAnEnvFileSecret(""))
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "04-ISSUES/041") {
+		t.Fatalf("an env-file carrying a secret was declared without a word: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	out, err := declare(t, aModuleWithAnEnvFileSecret("the image reads its configuration from the environment only"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, r := range out {
+		if _, leaked := r[SecretsInEnvironment]; leaked {
+			t.Fatalf("the catalogue's reason was sent to the machine: %v", r)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A secret placeholder inside a container's env is refused outright: nothing fills it there.
+func TestASecretInEnvIsAlwaysRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aModuleWithAnEnvFileSecret("said")
+	m.Resources[1]["env"] = map[string]any{"APP_TOKEN": "${secret:token}"}
+	if _, err := declare(t, m); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "never filled into an environment variable") {
+		t.Fatalf("a secret in env was accepted: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// A file with no secret in it is an ordinary env-file and needs no word.
+func TestAnEnvFileWithoutASecretNeedsNothing(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aModuleWithAnEnvFileSecret("")
+	m.Resources[0]["content"] = "APP_MODE=production\n"
+	if _, err := declare(t, m); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/secrets_into_files.go b/internal/catalogue/secrets_into_files.go
index 07ae2c0..f47656c 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/secrets_into_files.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/secrets_into_files.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"sort"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // A credential and a configuration file meeting.
@@ -83,6 +84,70 @@ func sealedFor(m Manifest, needs []Needed, with Rendering) (map[string]string, e
 	return sealed, nil
 }
 
+// SecretsInEnvironment is the key a container carries to say, out loud, that a secret reaches
+// its process through the environment — and why.
+//
+// **A secret reaches a process as a file** (novox/hq ADR 0086). The mesh seals a value to the
+// machine and the host writes it at 0600; a container that then reads it from an env-file hands
+// it to the runtime, which prints it in `docker inspect` and keeps it in the process's /proc entry
+// for anything on the machine that can talk to the runtime (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/041). Some software
+// reads its configuration from the environment and nothing else, and for that this key exists: a
+// reason, on the container, so a reader can tell from the manifest which secrets are exposed that
+// way and which are not. Without it, a container whose env-file carries a secret is refused.
+//
+// Catalogue-level: the host never sees this key.
+const SecretsInEnvironment = "secrets-in-environment"
+
+// refuseSecretsInEnvironment is the check. `secretFiles` is every file of this module whose
+// content names a secret.
+func refuseSecretsInEnvironment(resource map[string]any, secretFiles map[string]bool, module string) error {
+	if fmt.Sprint(resource["type"]) != "container" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	name := fmt.Sprint(resource["name"])
+	if env, ok := resource["env"].(map[string]any); ok {
+		for key, value := range env {
+			if strings.Contains(fmt.Sprint(value), "${secret:") {
+				return fmt.Errorf(
+					"%s's container %s puts ${secret:…} in its env (%s). A secret is never filled into an "+
+						"environment variable: put it in a file the module declares and mount that, or name the "+
+						"file in env-file and say %q why", module, name, key, SecretsInEnvironment)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	reason, _ := resource[SecretsInEnvironment].(string)
+	if strings.TrimSpace(reason) != "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if files, ok := resource["env-file"].([]any); ok {
+		for _, f := range files {
+			if secretFiles[fmt.Sprint(f)] {
+				return fmt.Errorf(
+					"%s's container %s reads %s as an env-file, and that file carries a secret, so the secret "+
+						"reaches the process environment — readable in `docker inspect` and /proc (novox/hq "+
+						"04-ISSUES/041). Mount the secret's file and point the program at it, or, if the program "+
+						"reads only its environment, say so on the container: %q: \"<why>\"",
+					module, name, f, SecretsInEnvironment)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// secretFilesOf is the paths of a module's file resources whose content names a secret.
+func secretFilesOf(resources []map[string]any) map[string]bool {
+	out := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, r := range resources {
+		if fmt.Sprint(r["type"]) != "file" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if content, ok := r["content"].(string); ok && len(secretsUsed(content)) > 0 {
+			out[fmt.Sprint(r["path"])] = true
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 // intoFile gives a file the sealed values its content asks for.
 //
 // A name the module never declared is refused here rather than on the machine. The host would
diff --git a/internal/envfile/envfile.go b/internal/envfile/envfile.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d408b54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/envfile/envfile.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// Package envfile reads a setting that may be a secret from the environment or, preferably, from
+// a file the environment names.
+//
+// **A secret reaches a process as a file** (novox/hq ADR 0086). An environment variable is
+// readable in `docker inspect`, in the process's /proc entry and in whatever composed it; a file
+// the mesh sealed to the machine and the host wrote at 0600 is readable where it is used and
+// nowhere else. So every variable of the control plane's that carries a credential has a `_FILE`
+// twin naming such a file, and the plain form remains only for a control plane a person starts by
+// hand and for the bundle that raises the first one. The store's connections had this shape
+// already (internal/store); this is the same rule for the rest.
+package envfile
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// Value is the setting named by `name`: the content of the file `name_FILE` points at when that
+// is set, else the variable itself. Both set is refused — two sources that could disagree is how
+// a setting silently stops meaning what it says. Neither set is "", nil.
+func Value(name string) (string, error) {
+	plain, hasPlain := os.LookupEnv(name)
+	path, hasFile := os.LookupEnv(name + "_FILE")
+	switch {
+	case hasFile && hasPlain && strings.TrimSpace(plain) != "" && strings.TrimSpace(path) != "":
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("both %s and %s_FILE are set; one of them, not both", name, name)
+	case hasFile && strings.TrimSpace(path) != "":
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(strings.TrimSpace(path))
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("%s_FILE names %s, which cannot be read: %w", name, path, err)
+		}
+		// A file has a line ending and a value does not — trimmed, and only the ending, because a
+		// value may begin or end with a space and still be the value.
+		return strings.TrimRight(string(raw), "\r\n"), nil
+	default:
+		return strings.TrimSpace(plain), nil
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/envfile/envfile_test.go b/internal/envfile/envfile_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8c04e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/envfile/envfile_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package envfile
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestAFileTwinIsPreferredAndOnlyItsLineEndingGoes(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "value")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(" amqp://u:p@h/ \n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Setenv("MESH_X", "")
+	t.Setenv("MESH_X_FILE", path)
+	got, err := Value("MESH_X")
+	if err != nil || got != " amqp://u:p@h/ " {
+		t.Fatalf("got %q, %v", got, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestThePlainVariableStillWorks(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("MESH_Y", " plain ")
+	if got, err := Value("MESH_Y"); err != nil || got != "plain" {
+		t.Fatalf("got %q, %v", got, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBothSetIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "value")
+	_ = os.WriteFile(path, []byte("a"), 0o600)
+	t.Setenv("MESH_Z", "b")
+	t.Setenv("MESH_Z_FILE", path)
+	if _, err := Value("MESH_Z"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("two sources were accepted")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMissingFileIsSaid(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("MESH_W_FILE", filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "absent"))
+	if _, err := Value("MESH_W"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a missing file produced a value")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/link/serve.go b/internal/link/serve.go
index 2d402e7..f0a8ec3 100644
--- a/internal/link/serve.go
+++ b/internal/link/serve.go
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/envfile"
 	"log"
 	"os"
-	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	amqp "github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go"
@@ -107,7 +107,10 @@ func (s *Server) Answers(r Replayer) error {
 
 // Connect opens the control plane's own connection to the broker.
 func Connect(enroller Enroller, listener Listener) (*Server, error) {
-	url := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(AMQPVar))
+	url, err := envfile.Value(AMQPVar)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	if url == "" {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
 			"this control plane has no %s, so it cannot reach its broker. Nodes talk to it over "+