diff --git a/cmd/mesh-control/plan.go b/cmd/mesh-control/plan.go
index 56fe989..bc58ff3 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-control/plan.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-control/plan.go
@@ -520,9 +520,25 @@ func grantsFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string) ([]catalogue.Gran
 			// working for ever after its consumer went away.
 			from = ""
 		}
+		// The consumer's identity slug, from its own manifest, carried on the grant so the provider
+		// derives the same login the consumer does (novox/hq ADR 0054). Refused here if it still would
+		// not fit the tightest backend — the mesh chose the name, so the mesh refuses it, with the
+		// remedy a short slug rather than a login a provider silently shortened.
+		slug := ""
+		for _, mm := range plan.Modules {
+			if mm.Module == s.ConsumerModule {
+				slug = mm.Slug
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if from != "" {
+			if err := catalogue.CheckIdentity(s.Consumer, catalogue.IdentitySource(slug, s.ConsumerModule)); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
 		out = append(out, catalogue.Grant{
 			Provision: s.Name, Consumer: s.Consumer, At: onNetwork[s.Consumer],
-			From: from, Values: values, Sealed: s.ForProvider})
+			From: from, Values: values, Slug: slug, Sealed: s.ForProvider})
 	}
 	return out, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/bound_into_files.go b/internal/catalogue/bound_into_files.go
index 7bcd674..614d1da 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/bound_into_files.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/bound_into_files.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func knownFor(m Manifest, needs []Needed, node string) map[string]map[string]str
 			values := map[string]string{
 				"at":   n.At,
 				"from": n.From,
-				"as":   ConsumerIdentity(node, m.Module),
+				"as":   ConsumerIdentity(node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module)),
 			}
 			for key, value := range n.Serves {
 				// The provider's own vocabulary. Rendered plainly: a port is 5432, not 5432.000000,
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/declaration.go b/internal/catalogue/declaration.go
index 3ca4de7..558fc50 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/declaration.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/declaration.go
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ type Grant struct {
 	// Values are what that module contributed — the name it wants, and anything else the
 	// provision's own vocabulary defines.
 	Values map[string]any
+	// Slug is the consumer module's identity slug, if it declared one — carried on the grant so the
+	// provider side derives the same login the consumer does, even across nodes where the consumer's
+	// manifest is not in view (novox/hq ADR 0054). Empty means "use the module name".
+	Slug string
 	// At is where the consuming machine is on the private network, empty if it is not on one.
 	//
 	// Passed in with the grant because it is a fact about another machine, and resolution answers
@@ -293,7 +297,7 @@ func (r Resolution) Declaration(with Rendering) ([]map[string]any, error) {
 				}
 				found = here
 			}
-			file, err := boundFile(*found, m.Binds[to], ConsumerIdentity(r.Node, m.Module))
+			file, err := boundFile(*found, m.Binds[to], ConsumerIdentity(r.Node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module)))
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
@@ -490,7 +494,7 @@ func (r Resolution) contributions(settings SettingsBy, grants []Grant,
 		}
 		out[g.Provision] = append(out[g.Provision], Contribution{
 			From: g.From, Node: g.Consumer, At: g.At, Values: g.Values,
-			As:     ConsumerIdentity(g.Consumer, g.From),
+			As:     ConsumerIdentity(g.Consumer, IdentitySource(g.Slug, g.From)),
 			Secret: grantPath(directories[g.Provision], g.Consumer, g.From),
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/identity.go b/internal/catalogue/identity.go
index dd93ac8..502ee6b 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/identity.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/identity.go
@@ -34,7 +34,18 @@ var identityUnusable = regexp.MustCompile(`[^a-z0-9_]+`)
 // everything else alone. Withdrawal depends on it entirely.
 const IdentityPrefix = "mesh_"
 
-// ConsumerIdentity is what one module on one machine is called, wherever it authenticates.
+// IdentitySource is the name the mesh derives a consumer's identity from: the module's slug when it
+// has declared one, otherwise its name (novox/hq ADR 0054). A module with a name short enough to fit
+// the tightest backend needs no slug; one whose name would overflow declares a short legible one.
+func IdentitySource(slug, name string) string {
+	if slug != "" {
+		return slug
+	}
+	return name
+}
+
+// ConsumerIdentity is what one module on one machine is called, wherever it authenticates. The
+// `module` argument is the identity source — a slug or a name; see IdentitySource.
 //
 // A dot and a dash both become an underscore, so `home-server` and `home.server` would collide —
 // which cannot happen, because a machine has one name and it is either.
@@ -45,24 +56,26 @@ func ConsumerIdentity(node, module string) string {
 	return IdentityPrefix + clean(node) + "_" + clean(module)
 }
 
-// identityLimit is the shortest identifier limit among the systems these names reach:
-// PostgreSQL's NAMEDATALEN - 1.
-const identityLimit = 63
+// identityLimit is the shortest identifier limit among the systems these names reach: an S3 access
+// key's 20 (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/010). PostgreSQL keeps 63 and MinIO 20, so 20 is the one that binds —
+// the comment used to name PostgreSQL and was wrong. A name over it is refused, with the remedy a
+// short slug (ADR 0054), not silently cut to fit.
+const identityLimit = 20
 
-// CheckIdentity refuses a name a provider would silently shorten.
+// CheckIdentity refuses an identity that would not fit the tightest backend a consumer reaches.
 //
-// **Truncation is not an error in PostgreSQL** — a name past the limit is cut to fit and the
-// statement succeeds. Two consumers agreeing for the first 63 bytes would become one login, which
-// is 022 again at a length nobody would think to test. Refused here rather than in each
-// provisioner, because the mesh chose the name and is the only thing that can choose another.
+// **Truncation is not an error in most of these systems** — a name past the limit is cut to fit and
+// the statement succeeds, so two consumers agreeing for the first N bytes would become one login
+// (04-ISSUES/022) — and S3 refuses outright. Refused here, at the mesh, because the mesh chose the
+// name and is the only thing that can choose another. The remedy is a first-class one: give the
+// module a short `slug` (ADR 0054), or shorten the machine's name.
 func CheckIdentity(node, module string) error {
 	got := ConsumerIdentity(node, module)
 	if len(got) <= identityLimit {
 		return nil
 	}
 	return fmt.Errorf(
-		"%s on %s would be identified as %q, which is %d characters and some providers keep %d — "+
-			"another consumer shortened to the same name would share its login. Shorten the "+
-			"machine's name or the module's",
+		"%s on %s is identified as %q, %d characters where a backend (an S3 access key) keeps %d — "+
+			"give the module a shorter `slug` or shorten the machine's name",
 		module, node, got, len(got), identityLimit)
 }
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/identity_test.go b/internal/catalogue/identity_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07e7cef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/catalogue/identity_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import "testing"
+
+// Each test names the decision it defends (novox/hq ADR 0017).
+
+func TestASlugIsPreferredOverTheModuleName(t *testing.T) {
+	// A module that declared a slug is identified by it, so a long name can be made to fit the
+	// tightest backend without a hash (novox/hq ADR 0054).
+	if got := IdentitySource("kc", "keycloak"); got != "kc" {
+		t.Errorf("the slug was not preferred: %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := IdentitySource("", "redis"); got != "redis" {
+		t.Errorf("without a slug, the name should be used: %q", got)
+	}
+	if ConsumerIdentity("anchor", IdentitySource("bkt", "bucketuser")) != "mesh_anchor_bkt" {
+		t.Error("a slug did not shape the identity")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckIdentityFitsTheTightestBackend(t *testing.T) {
+	// 20 is an S3 access key's limit (04-ISSUES/010), and the one that binds. mesh_anchor_keycloak
+	// is exactly 20 and allowed; the un-slugged bucketuser is 22 and refused, with the remedy a slug.
+	if err := CheckIdentity("anchor", "keycloak"); err != nil { // mesh_anchor_keycloak = 20
+		t.Errorf("a 20-character identity was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := CheckIdentity("anchor", "bucketuser"); err == nil { // mesh_anchor_bucketuser = 22
+		t.Error("an over-long identity was accepted")
+	}
+	// But with a slug it fits, and is accepted.
+	if err := CheckIdentity("anchor", IdentitySource("bkt", "bucketuser")); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a slugged identity that fits was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheRefusalNamesTheRemedy(t *testing.T) {
+	err := CheckIdentity("anchor", "bucketuser")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected a refusal")
+	}
+	if !contains(err.Error(), "slug") {
+		t.Errorf("the refusal did not point at the slug as the remedy: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func contains(s, sub string) bool {
+	for i := 0; i+len(sub) <= len(s); i++ {
+		if s[i:i+len(sub)] == sub {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/manifest.go b/internal/catalogue/manifest.go
index 94abd4e..4912d2a 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/manifest.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/manifest.go
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ type Manifest struct {
 	Module  string `json:"module"`
 	Version string `json:"version,omitempty"`
 
+	// Slug is a short identifier the mesh uses in place of the module name when it derives a
+	// consumer's login (novox/hq ADR 0054). Optional: a module with a short name needs none. It
+	// exists because `mesh_<node>_<module>` must fit the tightest backend a consumer reaches — an S3
+	// access key is 20 characters — and a long module name would overflow it. A person choosing
+	// `kc` for keycloak keeps the identity legible where a hash would not.
+	Slug string `json:"slug,omitempty"`
+
 	// Provides are the names other modules may require. A module always provides its own name;
 	// this is for the rest — `zsh` provides `shell`, `xorg` provides `display-server`.
 	Provides []Offer `json:"provides,omitempty"`
@@ -467,6 +474,13 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
 			"%q is not a usable module name: lower-case letters, digits, dashes and dots", m.Module))
 	}
+	// A slug is a short identifier the mesh derives a login from (novox/hq ADR 0054). The same
+	// charset as a name; its length is checked against a backend's limit at assignment, where the
+	// node it joins is known — a slug that is fine on one machine's short name can overflow another's.
+	if m.Slug != "" && !name.MatchString(m.Slug) {
+		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+			"%q is not a usable slug: lower-case letters, digits, dashes and dots", m.Slug))
+	}
 	for _, offer := range m.Provides {
 		p := offer.Name
 		if !name.MatchString(p) {
diff --git a/internal/secrets/seal.go b/internal/secrets/seal.go
index 422c94f..1759880 100644
--- a/internal/secrets/seal.go
+++ b/internal/secrets/seal.go
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ func Make(consumerKey, providerKey string) (Sealed, error) {
 		return Sealed{}, fmt.Errorf("both ends need a sealing key before a secret can be made")
 	}
 
-	value := make([]byte, 32)
+	// 30 bytes, not 32: base64url of 30 is exactly 40 characters, and 40 is the longest secret an
+	// S3 access key accepts (8–40), the tightest of the backends a minted password reaches — the same
+	// "fit the tightest backend" rule ADR 0054 sets for the login, on the secret. 240 bits is ample.
+	value := make([]byte, 30)
 	if _, err := rand.Read(value); err != nil {
 		return Sealed{}, err
 	}