diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/operator.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/operator.go
index af037eb..0bf944d 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/operator.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/operator.go
@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/secrets"
 )
 
@@ -26,9 +29,25 @@ import (
 //	operator key make [--out <file>]    make a keypair: private half to the file, public half printed
 //	operator key set <public>           tell the mesh which key to seal to
 //	operator key show                   the public key, its fingerprint, and what it can recover
-const operatorUsage = "operator key make [--out <file>] | operator key set <public> [--replace] | operator key show"
+const operatorUsage = "operator key make [--out <file>] | operator key set <public> [--replace] | " +
+	"operator key show | operator issue <name> --invokes <tool,tool|*> | operator revoke <name> | " +
+	"operator list"
 
 func operatorCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	if len(args) == 0 {
+		return errors.New(operatorUsage)
+	}
+	// The people who may reach the mesh's tools (design 25 §7). Beside the operator's key because
+	// both answer "who, other than a machine, may do something here" — and a person reading this
+	// command's usage is asking exactly that.
+	switch args[0] {
+	case "issue":
+		return personIssue(ctx, args[1:])
+	case "revoke":
+		return personRevoke(ctx, args[1:])
+	case "list":
+		return personList(ctx)
+	}
 	if len(args) < 2 || args[0] != "key" {
 		return errors.New(operatorUsage)
 	}
@@ -160,3 +179,125 @@ func readPrivateKey(path string) (string, error) {
 	}
 	return strings.TrimSpace(string(raw)), nil
 }
+
+// personIssue gives somebody a credential for the mesh's tools, and prints it once.
+//
+// **Printed, not stored.** The mesh keeps a hash and nothing else, so this is the only moment the
+// credential exists anywhere but on the workstation that will use it — the same contract a token has,
+// and for the same reason: a credential recoverable from the mesh's store has the store's blast
+// radius.
+func personIssue(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	set := flag.NewFlagSet("operator issue", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	invokes := set.String("invokes", "", "the tools this person may call, comma-separated, or * for every one")
+	if err := set.Parse(args); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if set.NArg() != 1 {
+		return errors.New("operator issue <name> --invokes <tool,tool|*>")
+	}
+	name := set.Arg(0)
+	if *invokes == "" {
+		return errors.New(
+			"say what this person may call: --invokes mesh-catalog.catalog_tools,gitea.repo_create, " +
+				"or --invokes '*' for an administrator")
+	}
+	var tools []string
+	for _, t := range strings.Split(*invokes, ",") {
+		if t = strings.TrimSpace(t); t != "" {
+			tools = append(tools, t)
+		}
+	}
+
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+	inv := open.inventory
+
+	if err := inv.RecordPerson(ctx, inventory.Person{Name: name, Invokes: tools}); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// Refused here rather than at the next composition, where it would stop the whole file being
+	// written for everybody. A name that cannot be part of a subject is one the server would read as
+	// a wider permission than anybody granted.
+	if _, err := broker.PermissionsFor(broker.Principal{
+		Kind: broker.KindPerson, Module: name, Invokes: tools, PasswordHash: "x",
+	}); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	user := broker.Principal{Kind: broker.KindPerson, Module: name}.Username()
+	password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: user, Kind: inventory.BusPerson})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	where, err := broker.FromEnvironment()
+	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, broker.ErrNotConfigured) {
+		return err
+	}
+	held, err := json.Marshal(struct {
+		URL         string   `json:"url"`
+		Fingerprint string   `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+		User        string   `json:"user"`
+		Password    string   `json:"password"`
+		Person      string   `json:"person"`
+		Invokes     []string `json:"invokes"`
+	}{
+		URL: "nats://" + where.Address, Fingerprint: where.Fingerprint,
+		User: user, Password: password, Person: name, Invokes: tools,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	fmt.Printf("issued %s, who may call %s\n", name, strings.Join(tools, ", "))
+	fmt.Println("  this is the only time the credential is printed; the mesh keeps a hash")
+	fmt.Println("  it works once the bus has been told, which is the next push to the machine holding mesh-broker")
+	fmt.Println()
+	fmt.Println(string(held))
+	return nil
+}
+
+func personRevoke(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		return errors.New("operator revoke <name>")
+	}
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+
+	if err := open.inventory.ForgetPerson(ctx, args[0]); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// **Revoked at the next composition, not now.** The bus's users are a file, so a credential stops
+	// working when the file no longer names it. Said plainly, because "revoked" that still works for
+	// another minute is worth knowing about.
+	fmt.Printf("%s is forgotten, and their credential stops working at the next composition — "+
+		"push the machine holding mesh-broker to make it so\n", args[0])
+	return nil
+}
+
+func personList(ctx context.Context) error {
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+
+	people, err := open.inventory.People(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(people) == 0 {
+		fmt.Println("nobody but machines reaches this mesh")
+		return nil
+	}
+	for _, p := range people {
+		fmt.Printf("%-20s %s\n", p.Name, strings.Join(p.Invokes, ", "))
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/inventory/busrecords.go b/internal/inventory/busrecords.go
index 955394f..4b29bef 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/busrecords.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/busrecords.go
@@ -80,8 +80,13 @@ func (i *Inventory) BusRecords(ctx context.Context) (broker.Records, error) {
 	}
 	out.Enrolling = enrolling
 
-	// People are not recorded yet: the account model is built (design 25 §7's first item) and
-	// `operator issue` is not, so there is nobody to derive. Left empty rather than guessed at.
+	people, err := i.People(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return broker.Records{}, err
+	}
+	for _, p := range people {
+		out.People[p.Name] = p.Invokes
+	}
 	return out, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/inventory/bususers.go b/internal/inventory/bususers.go
index 780a193..b46a643 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/bususers.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/bususers.go
@@ -163,3 +163,70 @@ func (i *Inventory) SeedBusUser(ctx context.Context, u BusUser, password string)
 		u.Username, u.Kind, u.Node, u.Module, string(hash))
 	return err
 }
+
+// A person who may call the mesh's tools (novox/hq design 25 §7).
+//
+// **Their authority is a list of tools and nothing else.** Not a module: they hold no seat, nothing is
+// addressed to them, nothing is delivered to them, and they have no consumer to acknowledge. What
+// they have is permission to ask.
+
+// Person is somebody who may reach the mesh's tools.
+type Person struct {
+	Name string
+	// Invokes are the tools they may call, each `<module>.<tool>`, or the single entry `*` for an
+	// administrator.
+	Invokes []string
+}
+
+// RecordPerson adds somebody, or changes what they may call.
+//
+// Replacing rather than merging: what a person may call is stated in full, so a change that meant to
+// remove a tool does remove it. A list that could only grow is a permission nobody can take back.
+func (i *Inventory) RecordPerson(ctx context.Context, p Person) error {
+	if p.Name == "" {
+		return errors.New("a person needs a name: it becomes their user on the bus")
+	}
+	if len(p.Invokes) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"%s may call nothing, so there is no reason for them to reach the mesh. Name the tools, "+
+				"or `*` for an administrator", p.Name)
+	}
+	_, err := i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
+		`insert into person (name, invokes) values ($1, $2)
+		 on conflict (name) do update set invokes = excluded.invokes`,
+		p.Name, p.Invokes)
+	return err
+}
+
+// People is everybody who may reach the mesh's tools.
+func (i *Inventory) People(ctx context.Context) ([]Person, error) {
+	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx, `select name, invokes from person order by name`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+	var out []Person
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var p Person
+		if err := rows.Scan(&p.Name, &p.Invokes); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		out = append(out, p)
+	}
+	return out, rows.Err()
+}
+
+// ForgetPerson removes somebody and the credential they were given.
+//
+// **Both, or neither is a revocation.** A person's row gone and their bus user left behind is a
+// credential that still works and that nothing derives, which is the worst of both: it keeps working
+// and nobody can explain why.
+func (i *Inventory) ForgetPerson(ctx context.Context, name string) error {
+	if name == "" {
+		return errors.New("forgetting nobody would forget everybody")
+	}
+	if _, err := i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx, `delete from person where name = $1`, name); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return i.ForgetBusUser(ctx, "person."+name)
+}
diff --git a/internal/inventory/migrations/0034-a-person-may-reach-the-mesh.sql b/internal/inventory/migrations/0034-a-person-may-reach-the-mesh.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83b3082
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/inventory/migrations/0034-a-person-may-reach-the-mesh.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+-- A person who may call the mesh's tools from a workstation.
+--
+-- novox/hq design 25 §7. Everything else that reaches the bus is a machine or a module running on
+-- one; this is the exception the mesh has always had informally — somebody at a terminal — and never
+-- recorded. Until now "the operator" meant whoever held the keys, which is a role and not a record,
+-- so nothing could say who may call what.
+--
+-- **The authority is a list of tools and nothing else.** A person is not a module: they hold no seat,
+-- nothing is addressed to them, nothing is delivered to them, and they have no consumer to
+-- acknowledge. What they have is permission to ask. That is why there is no scope column and no node
+-- column — a person is not on a machine.
+create table person (
+    name    text        primary key,
+    -- The tools this person may invoke, each `<module>.<tool>`, or the single entry `*` for an
+    -- administrator. Stored as given: the permission is derived from it at every composition, so a
+    -- normalised form here would be a second opinion about authority (novox/hq ADR 0043).
+    invokes text[]      not null default '{}',
+    created timestamptz not null default now()
+);
diff --git a/internal/inventory/people_test.go b/internal/inventory/people_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1085d57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/inventory/people_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+package inventory
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+)
+
+// Somebody who may call the mesh's tools, and what the bus makes of them.
+
+// A person's authority is a list of tools, and it becomes exactly that on the bus — nothing on
+// control, nothing on nodes, nothing they could publish as a module.
+func TestAPersonMayCallToolsAndNothingElse(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := ForTest(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	if err := inv.RecordPerson(ctx, Person{Name: "ada",
+		Invokes: []string{"mesh-catalog.catalog_tools"}}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	records, err := inv.BusRecords(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := records.People["ada"]; len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "mesh-catalog.catalog_tools" {
+		t.Fatalf("ada may call %v", got)
+	}
+
+	users, err := broker.Users(records)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var found bool
+	for _, u := range users {
+		if u.Username() != "person.ada" {
+			continue
+		}
+		found = true
+		perms, err := broker.PermissionsFor(u)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if len(perms.Publish) != 1 || perms.Publish[0] != "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.tool.catalog_tools" {
+			t.Errorf("ada may publish %v, which should be the one tool and nothing else", perms.Publish)
+		}
+		for _, s := range perms.Publish {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(s, "mesh.control") || strings.HasPrefix(s, "mesh.node") ||
+				strings.Contains(s, ".event.") {
+				t.Errorf("a person may publish %s — an event would let them claim a module said "+
+					"something, and control is not theirs", s)
+			}
+		}
+		if perms.AllowResponses {
+			t.Error("a person may answer a request, which is impersonating a module on a bus where " +
+				"anyone may serve a tool")
+		}
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Fatal("no bus user was derived for a recorded person")
+	}
+}
+
+// Stating what somebody may call replaces what was there. A list that could only grow is a permission
+// nobody can take back.
+func TestChangingWhatAPersonMayCallRemovesWhatIsNotNamed(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := ForTest(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	if err := inv.RecordPerson(ctx, Person{Name: "ada", Invokes: []string{"a.one", "b.two"}}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.RecordPerson(ctx, Person{Name: "ada", Invokes: []string{"a.one"}}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	people, err := inv.People(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(people) != 1 || len(people[0].Invokes) != 1 || people[0].Invokes[0] != "a.one" {
+		t.Fatalf("ada may call %v; the removed tool is still there", people)
+	}
+}
+
+// Somebody who may call nothing is refused: there is no reason for them to reach the mesh, and an
+// empty list is more likely a mistake than an intention.
+func TestSomebodyWhoMayCallNothingIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := ForTest(t)
+	if err := inv.RecordPerson(context.Background(), Person{Name: "ada"}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("somebody who may call nothing was recorded")
+	}
+}
+
+// Forgetting somebody takes their credential with them. **Both, or it is not a revocation**: a
+// person's row gone and their bus user left behind is a credential that still works and that nothing
+// derives.
+func TestForgettingAPersonTakesTheirCredential(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := ForTest(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	if err := inv.RecordPerson(ctx, Person{Name: "ada", Invokes: []string{"a.one"}}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, BusUser{Username: "person.ada", Kind: BusPerson}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if err := inv.ForgetPerson(ctx, "ada"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, known, err := inv.BusUserHash(ctx, "person.ada"); err != nil || known {
+		t.Fatalf("a forgotten person's credential still works: %v %v", known, err)
+	}
+	records, err := inv.BusRecords(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, still := records.People["ada"]; still {
+		t.Fatal("a forgotten person is still composed into the bus")
+	}
+}