Answer the review of hq issues 348 and 349: gaps, parts, the newest merge in any state

- A reopened fault keeps its gaps: it was there at a send unless the send
  fell in one, so a send that breaks a machine recovered before it still
  fails its gate (A2).
- An undecided part holds only the conditions that name it (A4).
- D2 holds a silent resolver for the next run again, refused or not: a
  burst of refusals is also a restart (A3).
- A late merge is planned at the newest planned merge of its branch in any
  state, not only an open one (A1); merge times to the nanosecond (A5).

cmd/mesh-controller/gate.go

@@ -209,8 +209,9 @@ func judgeHealth(module, component string, m catalogue.Manifest, machine string,
 		return healthNotYet, fmt.Sprintf("%s reported %q", machine, r.Outcome)
 	}
 	// **No new condition about it**: about the machine itself, or naming the module on that machine,
-	// raised since the judging began. The gate's own are not evidence about the build. A fault reopened
-	// since, that began before the send, is not new (Began, novox/hq issue 348).
+	// raised since the judging began. The gate's own are not evidence about the build. A fault that was
+	// there at the send and reopened since is not new; one that had cleared before the send and came back
+	// after it is (OpenAt, novox/hq issue 348).
 	if f.judged {
 		if f.openErr != nil {
 			return healthNotYet, "what is wrong cannot be read, so whether the build made anything wrong is not known: " +
@@ -220,7 +221,7 @@ func judgeHealth(module, component string, m catalogue.Manifest, machine string,
 			// A wait for a person's new login, or for a directory used as found to be handed over, is the module's
 			// reading, not a fault raised since the send: the gate reads it from the statement below (ADR 0254,
 			// novox/hq issue 339).
-			if c.Source == gateProbe || c.Began().Before(since) || c.Kind == kindReloginNeeded || c.Kind == kindUsedAsFound {
+			if c.Source == gateProbe || c.OpenAt(since) || c.Kind == kindReloginNeeded || c.Kind == kindUsedAsFound {
 				continue
 			}
 			onIt := c.Subject.Machine == machine || slices.Contains(c.Subject.Also, machine) ||
@@ -332,7 +333,7 @@ func aboutTheMachine(machine string, moved []string, since time.Time, f gateFact
 		aboutIt := c.Subject.Scope == conditions.ScopeMachine && (c.Subject.ID == machine || c.Subject.Machine == machine ||
 			slices.Contains(c.Subject.Also, machine))
 		// A directory used as found waits for a person, whatever the send did (novox/hq issue 339).
-		if !aboutIt || c.Source == gateProbe || c.Began().Before(since) || c.Kind == kindUsedAsFound {
+		if !aboutIt || c.Source == gateProbe || c.OpenAt(since) || c.Kind == kindUsedAsFound {
 			kept = append(kept, c)
 			continue
 		}

cmd/mesh-controller/issue348_test.go

@@ -1,11 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"errors"
-	"net"
-	"os"
 	"strings"
-	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -95,8 +91,8 @@ func TestReplay348(t *testing.T) {
 	// 11:00:23 — its second look: unhealthy again, the same raising.
 	say(h0.Add(2*time.Minute), networkSaying(namesRefused(link.StateUnhealthy, 2)))
 	again, ok := network()
-	if !ok || !again.Began().Equal(raised.Raised) {
-		t.Fatalf("the same fault was said as one that began at %s (raised first at %s)", again.Began(), raised.Raised)
+	if !ok || !again.Raised.Equal(raised.Raised) || again.Count != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the same raising was not kept: raised %s (first %s), count %d", again.Raised, raised.Raised, again.Count)
 	}
 
 	// The gate on the control node, for a build sent after the fault began.
@@ -116,53 +112,98 @@ func TestReplay348(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// A reopening is the same fault: it began when it was first raised, and the gate reads when it began. The
-// controller that cleared it on an undecided statement — or any clearing and raising within ReopenWithin —
-// no longer makes a fault from before a send into one raised since it.
-func TestAReopenedFaultFromBeforeTheSendIsNotRaisedSinceIt(t *testing.T) {
+// A fault there at the send, cleared and reopened after it, is not raised since the send; one that cleared
+// before the send and came back after it is — a send that breaks a recovered machine fails its gate (review
+// of mesh-controller PR 179, A2). Read through OpenAt, by both of the gate's readings.
+func TestAFaultThatFlappedAfterTheSendIsNotTheSendsAndOneThatRecoveredBeforeItIs(t *testing.T) {
 	since := h0
-	c := conditions.Condition{Key: "machine.anchor.network", Kind: kindMachineNetwork,
-		Subject: conditions.Subject{Scope: conditions.ScopeMachine, ID: "anchor", Machine: "anchor"},
-		Summary: "anchor's network is not healthy", Source: sourceNetwork, Count: 2,
-		First: since.Add(-time.Minute), Raised: since.Add(time.Minute)}
-	f := gateFacts{judged: true, open: []conditions.Condition{c}}
-	if w := aboutTheMachine("anchor", []string{"mesh-controller"}, since, f); w.whole != "" || len(w.on) != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("a fault reopened after the send, first raised before it, held the machine: %+v", w)
+	network := func(first time.Time, gaps ...conditions.Gap) conditions.Condition {
+		raised := since.Add(time.Minute)
+		if len(gaps) > 0 {
+			raised = gaps[len(gaps)-1].Reopened
+		}
+		return conditions.Condition{Key: "machine.anchor.network", Kind: kindMachineNetwork,
+			Subject: conditions.Subject{Scope: conditions.ScopeMachine, ID: "anchor", Machine: "anchor"},
+			Summary: "anchor's network is not healthy", Source: sourceNetwork, First: first, Gaps: gaps, Raised: raised}
 	}
-	// The same raised first after the send is the send's to answer for.
-	c.First = since.Add(30 * time.Second)
-	f.open = []conditions.Condition{c}
-	if w := aboutTheMachine("anchor", []string{"mesh-controller"}, since, f); w.whole == "" {
-		t.Fatalf("a fault that began after the send held nothing: %+v", w)
+	held := func(c conditions.Condition) bool {
+		return aboutTheMachine("anchor", []string{"mesh-controller"}, since, gateFacts{judged: true,
+			open: []conditions.Condition{c}}).whole != ""
 	}
-	// And a module's own: judgeHealth reads it the same way.
+	// The day's case: raised before the send, cleared 8 s after it, reopened 49 s after it.
+	flapped := network(since.Add(-49*time.Second),
+		conditions.Gap{Cleared: since.Add(8 * time.Second), Reopened: since.Add(49 * time.Second)})
+	if held(flapped) {
+		t.Fatal("a fault there at the send, flapping after it, held the machine")
+	}
+	// Recovered before the send, broken again after it: the send's.
+	recovered := network(since.Add(-time.Hour),
+		conditions.Gap{Cleared: since.Add(-30 * time.Second), Reopened: since.Add(20 * time.Second)})
+	if !held(recovered) {
+		t.Fatal("a machine recovered at the send and broken after it passed the gate")
+	}
+	// An older gap, before the send, and the fault there at the send: not the send's.
+	twice := network(since.Add(-time.Hour),
+		conditions.Gap{Cleared: since.Add(-50 * time.Minute), Reopened: since.Add(-45 * time.Minute)},
+		conditions.Gap{Cleared: since.Add(10 * time.Second), Reopened: since.Add(30 * time.Second)})
+	if held(twice) {
+		t.Fatal("a fault there at the send, with an older gap, held the machine")
+	}
+	// Raised after the send, never cleared: the send's.
+	if !held(network(time.Time{})) {
+		t.Fatal("a fault raised after the send held nothing")
+	}
+	// And a module's own, through judgeHealth.
 	at := since.Add(2 * time.Minute)
 	g := gateFacts{judged: true, now: at, reports: map[string]inventory.Reported{"anchor": {Node: "anchor",
 		Outcome: inventory.OutcomeApplied, At: &at, Current: true}}, engines: map[string]string{},
 		served: map[string]served{}, rolledBack: map[string][]lease.Rollback{},
 		open: []conditions.Condition{{Key: "provider.app.anchor.x.failing", Subject: conditions.Subject{
 			Scope: conditions.ScopeProvider, ID: "app.anchor.x", Machine: "anchor"}, Summary: "failing",
-			First: since.Add(-time.Hour), Raised: since.Add(time.Minute)}}}
-	if h, why := judgeHealth("app", "", catalogue.Manifest{Module: "app"}, "anchor", since, g); strings.HasPrefix(why, "raised since it was sent") {
-		t.Fatalf("a module's own fault, reopened after its send and first raised before it: %v (%s)", h, why)
+			First: since.Add(-time.Hour), Raised: since.Add(time.Minute),
+			Gaps: []conditions.Gap{{Cleared: since.Add(5 * time.Second), Reopened: since.Add(time.Minute)}}}}}
+	if _, why := judgeHealth("app", "", catalogue.Manifest{Module: "app"}, "anchor", since, g); strings.HasPrefix(why, "raised since it was sent") {
+		t.Fatalf("a module's own fault there at the send: %s", why)
 	}
-	g.open[0].First = time.Time{}
+	g.open[0].Gaps[0].Cleared = since.Add(-5 * time.Second)
 	if _, why := judgeHealth("app", "", catalogue.Manifest{Module: "app"}, "anchor", since, g); !strings.HasPrefix(why, "raised since it was sent") {
-		t.Fatalf("a module's own fault raised after its send was not counted: %s", why)
+		t.Fatalf("a module's own fault, recovered at the send and back after it, was not counted: %s", why)
 	}
 }
 
-// An undecided statement — unknown or starting — keeps the machine's network conditions; a decided one
-// does not. Pure.
-func TestAnUndecidedStatementKeepsTheMachinesNetworkConditions(t *testing.T) {
+// Only an undecided part holds a condition that names it; a condition about another part clears, and a
+// statement unknown as a whole holds every part (review of PR 179, A4). Pure.
+func TestAnUndecidedPartHoldsOnlyWhatNamesIt(t *testing.T) {
 	f := netFacts(map[string]*inventory.NetworkHealth{
-		"anchor": aNetwork(link.StateUnknown, inventory.NetworkPart{Part: link.PartNames, State: link.StateUnknown, Streak: 1}),
+		"anchor": aNetwork(link.StateUnknown, inventory.NetworkPart{Part: link.PartNames, State: link.StateUnknown, Streak: 1},
+			inventory.NetworkPart{Part: link.PartRoute, State: link.StateHealthy}),
 		"laptop": aNetwork(link.StateHealthy, inventory.NetworkPart{Part: link.PartNames, State: link.StateHealthy}),
-		"spare":  aNetwork(link.StateUnhealthy, noRoute),
+		"spare":  aNetwork(link.StateStarting, inventory.NetworkPart{Part: link.PartTunnel, State: link.StateHealthy}),
+		"other":  aNetwork(link.StateStarting, inventory.NetworkPart{Part: link.PartTunnel, State: link.StateStarting}),
 	})
-	got := undecidedMachines(f)
-	if !got["anchor"] || got["laptop"] || got["spare"] || len(got) != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("undecided: %v", got)
+	u := undecidedParts(f)
+	if !u["anchor"][link.PartNames] || u["anchor"][link.PartRoute] || u["laptop"] != nil || !u["spare"]["*"] ||
+		!u["other"][link.PartTunnel] || u["other"]["*"] {
+		t.Fatalf("undecided: %v", u)
+	}
+	about := func(machine, said string, also ...string) conditions.Condition {
+		return conditions.Condition{Subject: conditions.Subject{Scope: conditions.ScopeMachine, ID: machine,
+			Machine: machine, Also: also}, Evidence: []conditions.Evidence{{Said: said}}}
+	}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		c    conditions.Condition
+		held bool
+	}{
+		{about("anchor", "names since 2026-10-09 10:58:45 UTC: 10.77.0.1 — refused"), true},
+		{about("anchor", "route since 2026-10-09 10:58:45 UTC: no default route"), false},
+		{about("laptop", "names since 2026-10-09 10:58:45 UTC: refused"), false},
+		{about("spare", "route since …: no default route"), true},
+		{about("hub", "anchor: names: refused", "anchor"), true},
+		{about("hub", "anchor: tunnel: no handshake", "anchor"), false},
+	} {
+		if got := heldUndecided(c.c, u); got != c.held {
+			t.Errorf("%s %q held %v, want %v", c.c.Subject.Machine, c.c.Evidence[0].Said, got, c.held)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -178,35 +219,3 @@ func TestAReleaseRollsOutWhatItsTierNames(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("rolling: %v", got)
 	}
 }
-
-// A resolver that refuses every try — nothing listens on its port — is said at once, not held for the
-// next run five minutes later: a refusal is the machine's answer, not a loaded resolver (issue 277).
-func TestAResolverThatRefusesEveryTryIsSaidAtOnce(t *testing.T) {
-	conn, err := net.ListenPacket("udp", "127.0.0.1:0")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	_, port, _ := net.SplitHostPort(conn.LocalAddr().String())
-	_ = conn.Close() // nothing listens there now: every question is refused
-	quickResolvers(t, port)
-	got := askEveryResolver(t.Context(), map[string]string{"anchor.internal": "127.0.0.1"}, anchorOnTheNetwork, "internal")
-	if len(got) != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("%+v", got)
-	}
-	if got[0].Confirm || !strings.Contains(got[0].Said, "refused") {
-		t.Fatalf("a resolver refusing every try was held for the next run: %+v", got[0])
-	}
-}
-
-func TestOnlyARefusalOnEveryTryIsAllRefused(t *testing.T) {
-	refused := &net.OpError{Op: "read", Net: "udp", Err: os.NewSyscallError("read", syscall.ECONNREFUSED)}
-	if !(resolverAsked{errs: []error{refused, refused}}).allRefused() {
-		t.Fatal("refused on every try is not all refused")
-	}
-	if (resolverAsked{errs: []error{refused, errors.New("i/o timeout")}}).allRefused() {
-		t.Fatal("a timeout among the tries is all refused")
-	}
-	if (resolverAsked{answered: true, errs: []error{refused}}).allRefused() || (resolverAsked{}).allRefused() {
-		t.Fatal("an answered question, or one never asked, is all refused")
-	}
-}

cmd/mesh-controller/issue349_test.go

@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@ func TestTwoMergesActedOnInReverseOrderBuildTheNewerCommit(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	at := time.Now().UTC().Add(-20 * time.Minute).Truncate(time.Second)
 	fix := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "a082615bfix",
-		MergedAt: at.Add(2 * time.Minute).Format(time.RFC3339),
+		MergedAt: at.Add(2 * time.Minute).Format(time.RFC3339Nano),
 		Paths:    []string{"modules/gitea/module.json"}, ModuleDirs: []string{"modules/gitea"}, ModuleDirsSaid: true}
 	before := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "8ff8197abefore",
-		MergedAt: at.Format(time.RFC3339),
+		MergedAt: at.Format(time.RFC3339Nano),
 		Paths:    []string{"modules/notes/module.json"}, ModuleDirs: []string{"modules/notes"}, ModuleDirsSaid: true}
 	for _, m := range []link.SourceMoved{fix, before} {
 		if err := (following{open: open}).SourceMoved(ctx, m); err != nil {
@@ -63,8 +63,63 @@ func TestTwoMergesActedOnInReverseOrderBuildTheNewerCommit(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// Pure: the branch's order is the merges', where both plans know it; and a merge older than an open plan
-// of its branch finds it.
+// A late older merge after the newer plan is done (review of PR 179, A1): what it moved is built from the
+// newer commit, and what the newer merge already looked at is not built again at the older one.
+func TestALateMergeAfterTheNewerPlanEndedBuildsTheNewerCommit(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aCatalogueMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	asksWithPaths(t)
+	for _, m := range []string{"gitea", "notes"} {
+		if err := open.inventory.RegisterModule(ctx, catalogue.Manifest{Module: m, Version: "1"},
+			inventory.Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", Seat: "git", Path: "modules/" + m, Ref: "main",
+				BuiltFrom: "c0", Head: "c0"}); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	at := time.Now().UTC().Add(-20 * time.Minute).Truncate(time.Second)
+	fix := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "a082615bfix",
+		MergedAt: at.Add(2*time.Minute + 500*time.Millisecond).Format(time.RFC3339Nano),
+		Paths:    []string{"modules/gitea/module.json"}, ModuleDirs: []string{"modules/gitea"}, ModuleDirsSaid: true}
+	if err := (following{open: open}).SourceMoved(ctx, fix); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	plans, err := open.inventory.OpenPlans(ctx)
+	if err != nil || len(plans) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("%v %v", plans, err)
+	}
+	done := plans[0]
+	done.State = inventory.PlanDone
+	if err := open.inventory.SavePlan(ctx, &done); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got, err := open.inventory.PlanByID(ctx, done.ID); err != nil || !got.Merged.Equal(at.Add(2*time.Minute+500*time.Millisecond)) {
+		t.Fatalf("the merge time kept is %s, not to the nanosecond (%v)", got.Merged, err)
+	}
+	before := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "8ff8197abefore",
+		MergedAt:   at.Format(time.RFC3339Nano),
+		Paths:      []string{"modules/notes/module.json", "modules/gitea/module.json"},
+		ModuleDirs: []string{"modules/notes", "modules/gitea"}, ModuleDirsSaid: true}
+	if err := (following{open: open}).SourceMoved(ctx, before); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	plans, err = open.inventory.OpenPlans(ctx)
+	if err != nil || len(plans) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("open plans after the late merge: %+v %v", plans, err)
+	}
+	p := plans[0]
+	if p.Commit != fix.Commit {
+		t.Fatalf("the late merge was planned at %s, not the newer commit %s", p.Commit, fix.Commit)
+	}
+	if _, has := p.Modules["notes"]; !has {
+		t.Fatalf("what only the late merge moved is not built: %v", p.Modules)
+	}
+	if _, has := p.Modules["gitea"]; has {
+		t.Fatalf("what the newer merge already built is built again: %v", p.Modules)
+	}
+}
+
+// Pure: the branch's order is the merges', where both plans know it; and a later merge of the branch is
+// found in any state, never a release's, another repository's or another branch's.
 func TestTheBranchOrderIsTheMerges(t *testing.T) {
 	t0 := time.Date(2026, 10, 9, 10, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
 	newerMerge := inventory.Plan{ID: "plan-1", Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", Branch: "main", Commit: "a082615b",
@@ -82,12 +137,37 @@ func TestTheBranchOrderIsTheMerges(t *testing.T) {
 	if !earlierOnTheBranch(unknown, olderMerge) {
 		t.Fatal("without a merge time the plans' own order does not stand")
 	}
-	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "8ff8197a", MergedAt: t0.Format(time.RFC3339)}
-	if p, ok := newestOnTheBranch(m, []inventory.Plan{newerMerge}); !ok || p.ID != "plan-1" {
-		t.Fatalf("the newer open plan of the branch was not found: %v %+v", ok, p)
+	same := olderMerge
+	same.Merged = newerMerge.Merged
+	if !earlierOnTheBranch(newerMerge, same) || earlierOnTheBranch(same, newerMerge) {
+		t.Fatal("one merge time: the plans' own order does not stand")
 	}
-	m.Base = "release"
-	if _, ok := newestOnTheBranch(m, []inventory.Plan{newerMerge}); ok {
-		t.Fatal("another branch's plan was taken")
+	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "8ff8197a",
+		MergedAt: t0.Add(500 * time.Millisecond).Format(time.RFC3339Nano)}
+	newerMerge.State = inventory.PlanDone
+	if !laterOnTheBranch(m, newerMerge) {
+		t.Fatal("a later merge of the branch, its plan done, was not found")
+	}
+	for name, change := range map[string]func(p *inventory.Plan, m *link.SourceMoved){
+		"another branch":     func(_ *inventory.Plan, m *link.SourceMoved) { m.Base = "release" },
+		"another repository": func(p *inventory.Plan, _ *link.SourceMoved) { p.Repository = "novox/mesh-controller" },
+		"a release":          func(p *inventory.Plan, _ *link.SourceMoved) { p.Release = &inventory.PlanRelease{} },
+		"no merge time":      func(p *inventory.Plan, _ *link.SourceMoved) { p.Merged = time.Time{} },
+		"the same commit":    func(p *inventory.Plan, m *link.SourceMoved) { m.Commit = p.Commit },
+		"an older merge":     func(p *inventory.Plan, _ *link.SourceMoved) { p.Merged = t0 },
+		"the same moment":    func(p *inventory.Plan, _ *link.SourceMoved) { p.Merged = t0.Add(500 * time.Millisecond) },
+		"an unreadable time": func(_ *inventory.Plan, m *link.SourceMoved) { m.MergedAt = "yesterday" },
+	} {
+		p, mm := newerMerge, m
+		change(&p, &mm)
+		if laterOnTheBranch(mm, p) {
+			t.Errorf("%s was taken as a later merge of the branch", name)
+		}
+	}
+	// To the nanosecond: two merges within a second keep their order.
+	m.MergedAt = t0.Add(time.Minute + 200*time.Millisecond).Format(time.RFC3339Nano)
+	if !laterOnTheBranch(m, inventory.Plan{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", Branch: "main", Commit: "x",
+		Merged: t0.Add(time.Minute + 700*time.Millisecond)}) {
+		t.Fatal("merges within one second lost their order")
 	}
 }

cmd/mesh-controller/machine_network.go

@@ -98,9 +98,9 @@ func judgeNetworks(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, k *conditions.
 			problems = append(problems, err.Error())
 		}
 	}
-	undecided := undecidedMachines(f)
+	undecided := undecidedParts(f)
 	for _, c := range open {
-		if !slices.Contains(networkKinds, c.Kind) || said[c.Key] || undecided[c.Subject.Machine] {
+		if !slices.Contains(networkKinds, c.Kind) || said[c.Key] || heldUndecided(c, undecided) {
 			continue
 		}
 		why := "no machine says it any more"
@@ -117,36 +117,59 @@ func judgeNetworks(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, k *conditions.
 	return nil
 }
 
-// undecidedMachines is every machine whose newest statement has a part not yet judged: starting, or
-// unknown — one look failed and a second decides (novox/hq issue 348). Such a statement does not say a
-// fault is gone, so an open network condition about that machine is kept until a statement decides.
+// undecidedParts is, per machine, every part of its newest statement not yet judged: starting, or unknown
+// — one look failed and a second decides (novox/hq issue 348). Such a part does not say its fault is gone.
+// A statement whose parts are all decided but whose whole is unknown or starting holds every part. Pure.
 //
 // On 2026-10-09 the control node's resolver refused every question from 10:58 to 11:18 UTC. A build of
-// the node-engine sent at 10:59:34 restarted it; its first statement after the restart judged the names
-// once (unknown, "one look failed; a second decides"), and that statement cleared the control node's
-// network condition while its last evidence still said "connection refused". The second look raised it
-// again forty seconds later — after the send — and the gate failed the build for a fault from before it.
-// Pure.
-func undecidedMachines(f networkFacts) map[string]bool {
-	out := map[string]bool{}
+// the node-engine sent at 10:59:34 restarted it; its first statement judged the names once (unknown, "one
+// look failed; a second decides"), and that statement cleared the control node's network condition while
+// its last evidence still said "connection refused". The second look raised it again forty seconds later —
+// after the send — and the gate failed the build for a fault from before it.
+func undecidedParts(f networkFacts) map[string]map[string]bool {
+	out := map[string]map[string]bool{}
 	for m, h := range f.healths {
 		if h.Network == nil {
 			continue
 		}
-		if h.Network.State == link.StateUnknown || h.Network.State == link.StateStarting {
-			out[m] = true
-			continue
-		}
+		parts := map[string]bool{}
 		for _, p := range h.Network.Parts {
 			if p.State == link.StateUnknown || p.State == link.StateStarting {
-				out[m] = true
-				break
+				parts[p.Part] = true
 			}
 		}
+		if len(parts) == 0 && (h.Network.State == link.StateUnknown || h.Network.State == link.StateStarting) {
+			parts["*"] = true
+		}
+		if len(parts) > 0 {
+			out[m] = parts
+		}
 	}
 	return out
 }
 
+// heldUndecided says an open network condition is kept rather than cleared: a part its newest evidence
+// names is undecided in the newest statement of a machine it is about. A condition about other parts
+// clears as before. Pure.
+func heldUndecided(c conditions.Condition, undecided map[string]map[string]bool) bool {
+	said := ""
+	if len(c.Evidence) > 0 {
+		said = c.Evidence[0].Said
+	}
+	for _, m := range append([]string{c.Subject.Machine}, c.Subject.Also...) {
+		parts := undecided[m]
+		if parts["*"] {
+			return true
+		}
+		for part := range parts {
+			if strings.Contains(said, part+" since ") || strings.Contains(said, part+": ") {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // pointed is one machine's failing part that points at another machine.
 type pointed struct {
 	from string

cmd/mesh-controller/probes.go

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
-	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
@@ -217,8 +216,6 @@ func askEveryResolver(ctx context.Context, resolvers map[string]string, places [
 	type verdict struct {
 		wrong, unanswered, said []string
 		asked                   int
-		// refused says every try of every unanswered question was refused (nothing listens there).
-		refused bool
 	}
 	byHolder := map[string]*verdict{}
 	for _, q := range questions {
@@ -235,7 +232,6 @@ func askEveryResolver(ctx context.Context, resolvers map[string]string, places [
 			v.wrong = append(v.wrong, words)
 			v.said = append(v.said, said)
 		default:
-			v.refused = (len(v.unanswered) == 0 || v.refused) && q.asked.allRefused()
 			v.unanswered = append(v.unanswered, words)
 			v.said = append(v.said, said)
 		}
@@ -255,11 +251,12 @@ func askEveryResolver(ctx context.Context, resolvers map[string]string, places [
 			o.Summary = fmt.Sprintf("the mesh's resolver on %s does not answer machine names as it must: %s%s", node,
 				v.wrong[0], andMore(len(v.wrong)-1))
 		} else {
-			// Nothing but silence: held for the next run, which raises it if the resolver is still silent —
-			// unless every try of every question was refused. A refusal is an answer from the machine:
-			// nothing listens there. It is not a loaded resolver slow to answer (issue 277), and holding it
-			// for the next run cost the control node's resolver five minutes on 2026-10-09 (issue 348).
-			o.Confirm = !v.refused
+			// Nothing but silence: held for the next run, which raises it if the resolver is still silent.
+			// Refused on every try too: a few hundred milliseconds of refusals is a resolver restarting as
+			// well as one that stopped, and the two looks a finding needs are this run and the next
+			// (novox/hq issue 348). The machine's own node-engine is the fast detector: its names check
+			// raised the control node's resolver within a minute on 2026-10-09.
+			o.Confirm = true
 			o.Summary = fmt.Sprintf("the mesh's resolver on %s does not answer: %d of the %d question(s) about the "+
 				"machines' names went unanswered, each asked %d times — the first, %s", node, len(v.unanswered), v.asked,
 				resolverTries, v.unanswered[0])
@@ -348,19 +345,6 @@ type resolverAsked struct {
 	errs            []error
 }
 
-// allRefused says every try was refused: the resolver's machine said nothing listens on its port.
-func (a resolverAsked) allRefused() bool {
-	if a.answered || len(a.errs) == 0 {
-		return false
-	}
-	for _, err := range a.errs {
-		if !errors.Is(err, syscall.ECONNREFUSED) {
-			return false
-		}
-	}
-	return true
-}
-
 // askResolverPatiently asks one question until it is answered as right says, at most resolverTries
 // times. A wrong answer is asked again too — a resolver restarting may say NXDOMAIN for a moment — and
 // stands if no try answers rightly.

cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go

@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ func planOfMerge(m link.SourceMoved, moved []string, edges []inventory.Edge) inv
 	for _, name := range set {
 		modules[name] = &inventory.PlanModule{}
 	}
-	merged, _ := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, m.MergedAt)
+	merged, _ := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, m.MergedAt)
 	return inventory.Plan{
 		ID:         fmt.Sprintf("plan-%d", time.Now().UnixNano()),
 		Repository: m.Owner + "/" + m.Repo,
@@ -228,8 +228,8 @@ func planOfMerge(m link.SourceMoved, moved []string, edges []inventory.Edge) inv
 // it — and that later-made plan of the earlier commit superseded the later merge's, and built what it
 // folded in from the commit before the later merge: twice on 2026-10-09, once a security fix. So where
 // both plans know when their merge was made, that decides; only where one does not do the plans' own
-// times. A merge older than an open plan of its branch never reaches here at its own commit: it is
-// planned at the newest open plan's commit, which contains it (newestOnTheBranch).
+// times. A merge older than the newest planned merge of its branch never reaches here at its own commit:
+// it is planned at that merge's commit, which contains it (laterOnTheBranch).
 func supersededBy(newer inventory.Plan, open []inventory.Plan, rollsOut func(string) bool) ([]string, []inventory.Plan) {
 	folded := map[string]bool{}
 	var closed []inventory.Plan
@@ -274,27 +274,18 @@ func earlierOnTheBranch(a, b inventory.Plan) bool {
 	return a.Created.Before(b.Created)
 }
 
-// newestOnTheBranch is the open plan of m's repository and branch whose merge was made after m's, the
-// newest of them; false when none was. Merges into one branch are made one on the other, so that plan's
-// commit contains m's change: m is planned there, and the newest commit of the branch is what is built
-// (novox/hq issue 349). Pure.
-func newestOnTheBranch(m link.SourceMoved, open []inventory.Plan) (inventory.Plan, bool) {
-	merged, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, m.MergedAt)
-	if err != nil {
-		return inventory.Plan{}, false
+// laterOnTheBranch says the plan newest answers a merge into m's branch made after m: then newest's commit
+// contains m's change, and m is planned there, so the newest commit of the branch is what is built (novox/hq
+// issue 349). newest is the newest merge's plan of the branch in any state: a later plan already done
+// built what it moved at its commit, and m planned at its own would build m's dependents back at the older
+// one. Pure.
+func laterOnTheBranch(m link.SourceMoved, newest inventory.Plan) bool {
+	merged, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, m.MergedAt)
+	if err != nil || newest.Release != nil || newest.Commit == m.Commit {
+		return false
 	}
-	var newest inventory.Plan
-	found := false
-	for _, p := range open {
-		if !p.Open() || p.Release != nil || p.Merged.IsZero() || !strings.EqualFold(p.Repository, m.Owner+"/"+m.Repo) ||
-			p.Branch != m.Base || !p.Merged.After(merged) {
-			continue
-		}
-		if !found || p.Merged.After(newest.Merged) {
-			newest, found = p, true
-		}
-	}
-	return newest, found
+	return strings.EqualFold(newest.Repository, m.Owner+"/"+m.Repo) && newest.Branch == m.Base &&
+		newest.Merged.After(merged)
 }
 
 // gates is what the next tier needs running from this one: a module of the tier that a later

cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go

@@ -318,6 +318,21 @@ func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
 		return notNow(err)
 	}
 
+	// **A merge older than the newest planned merge of its branch is planned at that merge's commit**
+	// (novox/hq issue 349): the catch-up acts on a merge the bus did not hand over after the merges that
+	// came after it, and planned at its own commit it built what a later merge had fixed — the forge's
+	// security fix, on 2026-10-09 — from the commit before it, dependents and all. The later commit contains
+	// this merge's change. Planned there, with that merge's time, a module the later merge already looked at
+	// reads as history and is not built again; the rest are built from the newest commit.
+	newest, known, err := inv.NewestMergeOf(ctx, m.Owner+"/"+m.Repo, m.Base)
+	if err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+	if known && laterOnTheBranch(m, newest) {
+		fmt.Printf("  %s/%s %.8s was merged before %.8s (%s, %s): what it moved is built from %.8s, which "+
+			"contains it\n", m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Commit, newest.Commit, newest.ID, newest.State, newest.Commit)
+		m.Commit, m.MergedAt = newest.Commit, newest.Merged.Format(time.RFC3339Nano)
+	}
 	from, packaging, already := mergeCandidates(m, entries, read)
 	if len(from) == 0 && len(packaging) == 0 {
 		// "Already built from it" and "nothing reads it" are different facts, and reading the first
@@ -345,20 +360,6 @@ func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
 				e.Manifest.Module, m.Owner, m.Repo, e.Source.Ref, m.Base)
 		}
 	}
-	// **A merge older than an open plan of its branch is planned at that plan's commit** (novox/hq issue
-	// 349): the catch-up acts on a merge the bus did not hand over after the merges that came after it,
-	// and planned at its own commit it built what the later merge had fixed from the commit before the fix.
-	// The later commit contains this merge's change, so what this merge moved is built from there, and the
-	// plan made here supersedes that one as any newer plan does.
-	if open, err := inv.OpenPlans(ctx); err == nil {
-		if newest, later := newestOnTheBranch(m, open); later {
-			fmt.Printf("  %s/%s %.8s was merged before %.8s, which %s is planning: what it moved is built "+
-				"from %.8s, which contains it\n", m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Commit, newest.Commit, newest.ID, newest.Commit)
-			m.Commit, m.MergedAt = newest.Commit, newest.Merged.Format(time.RFC3339)
-		}
-	} else {
-		return notNow(err)
-	}
 	touched, added, _ := touchedBy(from, entries, m)
 	// **A module the merge deleted is not built** (novox/hq ADR 0236): its manifest is gone, so the build
 	// seat finds nothing saying what it is, and the plan failed on it (`has no module.json at …`) with