diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/check_here.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/check_here.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb39aad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/check_here.go
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/builder"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// `check-here` is a pull request's merge check run on the machine at hand **exactly as the build seat
+// runs it** (novox/hq issue 283): the same code (builder.Check), the same ask the controller would make of
+// the seat — the gate's modules and judge by the planner's own answer over the facts snapshot, the
+// repositories beside it at the refs the snapshot says the seat clones them at — in the toolchain image
+// the mesh holds, as the user the build seat runs as, against a throwaway store and bus of the versions
+// the mesh runs.
+//
+// **The build seat is the reference.** A merge-check.sh that passed on an agent's machine failed on the
+// seat for three reasons that were each the agent's environment, never the change: a newer Go whose gofmt
+// lays a file out differently, a sibling checkout at the agent's feature branch where the seat had the
+// commit the mesh runs, and a different user. Run here, a check sees what the seat will.
+//
+//	check-here [--tree <checkout>] [--base main] [--registry <artifact store>] [--forge <url of the owner>]
+//	           [--number <n>] [--user uid:gid] [--facts store|<file>] [--keep]
+//
+// The checkout's HEAD is what is checked, and it must be committed: the seat checks a commit, never a
+// working tree.
+func checkHereCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	set := flag.NewFlagSet("check-here", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	tree := set.String("tree", ".", "the change's checkout; its HEAD is checked")
+	base := set.String("base", "main", "the branch the change would merge into")
+	registry := set.String("registry", os.Getenv("MESH_REGISTRY"), "the artifact store holding the facts and the toolchains")
+	forge := set.String("forge", "", "where the repositories beside it are cloned from, as <forge>/<repository>.git; "+
+		"the checkout's origin without its own name when not given")
+	number := set.Int("number", 0, "the pull request's number, when there is one")
+	// The build seat's service runs as root, and its check containers run as the builder does.
+	user := set.String("user", "0:0", "the user the check's containers run as: the build seat's")
+	keep := set.Bool("keep", false, "keep the workspace afterwards")
+	factsFrom := set.String("facts", "store", "the facts snapshot: `store`, the one the artifact store holds — "+
+		"what the seat reads — or a file")
+	if _, err := parseAround(set, args); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if *registry == "" {
+		return errors.New("check-here reads the facts and the toolchains from the artifact store: --registry <host:port> or MESH_REGISTRY")
+	}
+	dir, err := filepath.Abs(*tree)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	git := func(args ...string) (string, error) {
+		cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "git", args...)
+		cmd.Dir = dir
+		out, err := cmd.Output()
+		return strings.TrimSpace(string(out)), err
+	}
+	if dirty, err := git("status", "--porcelain", "--untracked-files=no"); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a checkout: %w", dir, err)
+	} else if dirty != "" {
+		return errors.New("the checkout has changes not committed: the build seat checks a commit, so commit first")
+	}
+	head, err := git("rev-parse", "HEAD")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	origin, err := git("remote", "get-url", "origin")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the checkout has no origin to say which repository it is: %w", err)
+	}
+	owner, repo, prefix := ownerRepoOf(origin)
+	if *forge == "" {
+		*forge = prefix
+	}
+	if _, err := git("fetch", "--quiet", "origin", *base); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot fetch %s to say what the change touches: %w", *base, err)
+	}
+	changedText, err := git("diff", "--name-only", "origin/"+*base+"...HEAD")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	var paths, removed []string
+	for _, p := range strings.Split(changedText, "\n") {
+		if p = strings.TrimSpace(p); p == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		paths = append(paths, p)
+		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, p)); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			removed = append(removed, p)
+		}
+	}
+
+	_ = os.Setenv("MESH_REGISTRY", *registry)
+	f, err := readFacts(ctx, *factsFrom)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the facts snapshot cannot be read: %w", err)
+	}
+	entries, read, edges, err := graphOfFacts(f)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	p := link.PullUpdated{Owner: owner, Repo: repo, Number: *number, Base: *base, Commit: head, Paths: paths,
+		Removed: removed, ModuleDirs: moduleDirsIn(dir, paths), ModuleDirsSaid: true}
+	scope := pullScope(p, entries, read, edges)
+	_, scriptErr := os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, builder.CheckScript))
+	if !scope.gated() && !scope.Mesh {
+		fmt.Printf("%s: %s, and the repository is not the mesh's: the build seat runs nothing for it\n",
+			owner+"/"+repo, noModuleTouched)
+		return nil
+	}
+	if !scope.gated() && scriptErr != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("%s: %s; %s\n", owner+"/"+repo, noModuleTouched, noMergeCheck)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	toolchains := map[string]string{}
+	for language, reference := range f.Versions.Toolchains {
+		toolchains[language] = catalogue.Rerouted(reference, *registry)
+	}
+	if len(toolchains) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("the facts snapshot names no toolchain: it was taken by a controller from before " +
+			"issue 283, and the seat's toolchain cannot be known here")
+	}
+	beside := map[string]builder.Beside{}
+	for d, ref := range f.Beside {
+		from := d
+		if d == "mesh-controller-main" {
+			from = "mesh-controller"
+		}
+		beside[d] = builder.Beside{Repository: strings.TrimSuffix(*forge, "/") + "/" + from + ".git", Ref: ref}
+	}
+	id := fmt.Sprintf("check-here-%d", time.Now().UnixNano())
+	spec := builder.CheckSpec{ID: id, Repository: dir, Ref: head, Owner: owner, Repo: repo, Number: *number,
+		Paths: paths, Beside: beside, Modules: scope.Modules, New: scope.New, Manifests: scope.Manifests,
+		Base: *base, Judge: scope.Judge, Toolchain: toolchains["go"], Toolchains: toolchains, User: *user}
+
+	workspace, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "mesh-check-here-")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if !*keep {
+		defer removeWorkspace(spec.Toolchain, workspace, *user)
+	}
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "checking %s/%s at %.8s as the build seat would, against the facts of %s, in %s\n",
+		owner, repo, head, f.Taken.Format(time.RFC3339), workspace)
+	v, err := builder.Check(ctx, builder.Command, spec, workspace, *registry, builder.GitCredential{},
+		func(step, message string) {
+			if step != "output" {
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  [%s] %s\n", step, message)
+			}
+		})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the check could not run — on the seat an error, never a pass: %w", err)
+	}
+	fmt.Println(v.Report)
+	fmt.Println()
+	fmt.Printf("mesh/merge-gate: %s — %s\n", strings.ToUpper(v.Gate.Verdict), v.Gate.Summary)
+	if v.Repo != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("mesh/repo-check: %s — %s\n", strings.ToUpper(v.Repo.Verdict), v.Repo.Summary)
+	}
+	for _, l := range []*builder.Layer{v.Gate, v.Repo} {
+		if l != nil && l.Verdict != "pass" && l.Verdict != "warning" {
+			return errors.New("the build seat would not pass this change")
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// ownerRepoOf reads owner, repository and the owner's URL from a remote: ssh://git@host:222/novox/mesh-host.git
+// → novox, mesh-host, ssh://git@host:222/novox.
+func ownerRepoOf(remote string) (string, string, string) {
+	trimmed := strings.TrimSuffix(strings.TrimSuffix(remote, "/"), ".git")
+	cut := strings.LastIndexAny(trimmed, "/:")
+	if cut < 0 {
+		return "", trimmed, ""
+	}
+	repo, prefix := trimmed[cut+1:], trimmed[:cut]
+	owner := prefix
+	if at := strings.LastIndexAny(prefix, "/:"); at >= 0 {
+		owner = prefix[at+1:]
+	}
+	return owner, repo, prefix
+}
+
+// removeWorkspace removes what the check left, written as the seat's user: by a container of that user
+// when it is not this one.
+func removeWorkspace(image, workspace, user string) {
+	if image != "" && user != fmt.Sprintf("%d:%d", os.Getuid(), os.Getgid()) {
+		_ = exec.Command("docker", "run", "--rm", "--user", user, "--volume", workspace+":"+workspace, image,
+			"rm", "-rf", workspace+"/check", workspace+"/go-cache", workspace+"/go-modules", workspace+"/git-credentials").Run()
+	}
+	_ = os.RemoveAll(workspace)
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go
index 863625f..478fcea 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go
@@ -241,21 +241,14 @@ func checkRequestFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p link.PullUpdated, scop
 		if err != nil {
 			return link.BuildRequest{}, err
 		}
-		ref := current[e.Manifest.Module].Commit
-		if dir == "mesh-catalog" {
-			// The catalogue the mesh runs is in the snapshot, every manifest as it holds it; its checkout
-			// beside is what tests read its files from, so its main — what the next merge builds from.
-			ref = "main"
-		}
-		beside[dir] = link.CheckedOut{Repository: url, Ref: ref}
+		refs := besideRefs(dir, current[e.Manifest.Module].Commit)
+		beside[dir] = link.CheckedOut{Repository: url, Ref: refs[dir]}
 		if dir == "mesh-controller" {
-			// And its main, for a judge the running controller predates (Phase 5 rolling out).
-			beside["mesh-controller-main"] = link.CheckedOut{Repository: url, Ref: "main"}
-			// And the lab, whose replays of what the mesh runs every check runs; on the same forge.
+			beside["mesh-controller-main"] = link.CheckedOut{Repository: url, Ref: refs["mesh-controller-main"]}
 			if e.Source.Seat != "" {
 				if lab, err := clone(inventory.Source{Seat: e.Source.Seat, Repository: siblingOf(e.Source.Repository,
 					"mesh-lab")}); err == nil {
-					beside["mesh-lab"] = link.CheckedOut{Repository: lab, Ref: "main"}
+					beside["mesh-lab"] = link.CheckedOut{Repository: lab, Ref: refs["mesh-lab"]}
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -273,6 +266,22 @@ func checkRequestFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p link.PullUpdated, scop
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// besideRefs is the ref each repository is cloned at beside a check, by the directory it is found under:
+// a core repository at the commit the mesh runs of the module built from it (`running`) — but the
+// catalogue, whose checkout beside is what tests read its files from, at its main, what the next merge
+// builds from; and beside the controller its main, for a judge the running controller predates, and the
+// lab's main, whose replays every check runs. **One rule, read by the check the controller asks for and by
+// the facts snapshot** (Facts.Beside), so a check run by hand clones what the build seat clones.
+func besideRefs(dir, running string) map[string]string {
+	switch dir {
+	case "mesh-catalog":
+		return map[string]string{dir: "main"}
+	case "mesh-controller":
+		return map[string]string{dir: running, "mesh-controller-main": "main", "mesh-lab": "main"}
+	}
+	return map[string]string{dir: running}
+}
+
 // siblingOf is another repository of the same owner: novox/mesh-controller → novox/mesh-lab.
 func siblingOf(repository, name string) string {
 	if cut := strings.LastIndex(repository, "/"); cut >= 0 {
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/facts.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/facts.go
index 4306df1..4bf271f 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/facts.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/facts.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/artifacts"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/builder"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	snapshot "github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/facts"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
@@ -236,6 +237,28 @@ func gatherFacts(ctx context.Context, open *stores, busVersion string) (snapshot
 		scrub.Site(o.Site)
 	}
 
+	// What a merge check runs in and reads beside it, as the build seat would be asked for it.
+	if held, err := inv.Held(ctx); err == nil {
+		for language, reference := range builder.ToolchainsOf(held) {
+			if f.Versions.Toolchains == nil {
+				f.Versions.Toolchains = map[string]string{}
+			}
+			f.Versions.Toolchains[language] = catalogue.Recorded(reference)
+		}
+	} else {
+		return snapshot.Facts{}, err
+	}
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if dir, core := coreModules[e.Manifest.Module]; core && !e.Provided && e.Source.Repository != "" {
+			for d, ref := range besideRefs(dir, current[e.Manifest.Module].Commit) {
+				if f.Beside == nil {
+					f.Beside = map[string]string{}
+				}
+				f.Beside[d] = ref
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	if c, ok := current["mesh-controller"]; ok {
 		f.Controller.Commit = c.Commit
 	}
@@ -263,6 +286,13 @@ func gatherFacts(ctx context.Context, open *stores, busVersion string) (snapshot
 			return snapshot.Facts{}, err
 		}
 		m.Architecture, m.Kernel = reported.Architecture, reported.Kernel
+		outward, err := inv.OutwardLinksOf(ctx, n.Name)
+		if err != nil {
+			return snapshot.Facts{}, err
+		}
+		for _, l := range outward {
+			m.OutwardLinks = append(m.OutwardLinks, scrub.Text(l))
+		}
 		capabilities, err := inv.Profile(ctx, n.Name)
 		if err != nil {
 			return snapshot.Facts{}, err
@@ -426,7 +456,10 @@ func declarationFacts(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, gens map[s
 	if body, err := declared.Body(); err == nil {
 		d.Digest = fmt.Sprintf("sha256:%x", sha256.Sum256(body))
 	}
-	d.Resources = resourceNames(declared.Resources)
+	// Scrubbed like every other word: a resource is named after the machine a grant is for.
+	for _, r := range resourceNames(declared.Resources) {
+		d.Resources = append(d.Resources, scrub.Text(r))
+	}
 	for module, why := range declared.leftOutWhy {
 		if d.LeftOut == nil {
 			d.LeftOut = map[string]string{}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/main.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/main.go
index 223068d..0309fbd 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/main.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/main.go
@@ -123,6 +123,9 @@ func run() error {
 	// The merge gate: every machine of the snapshot composed with a change (novox/hq to-be 45 §9).
 	case "merge-gate":
 		return mergeGateCommand(ctx, args[1:])
+	// A pull request's merge check run here exactly as the build seat runs it (novox/hq issue 283).
+	case "check-here":
+		return checkHereCommand(ctx, args[1:])
 	case "upgrade":
 		return upgradeCommand(ctx, args[1:])
 	// The bus as a planned step (novox/hq to-be 45 §8, ADR 0236).
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go
index 3100110..9096b11 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5"
 
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/artifacts"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	snapshot "github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/facts"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
@@ -103,9 +104,12 @@ type mergeVerdict struct {
 	Verdict string `json:"verdict"` // pass, warning or fail
 	Summary string `json:"summary"`
 	// Judge is the controller build that judged it, and Facts when the snapshot it judged against was taken.
-	Judge    string            `json:"judge"`
-	Facts    time.Time         `json:"facts"`
-	Failures []string          `json:"failures,omitempty"`
+	Judge    string    `json:"judge"`
+	Facts    time.Time `json:"facts"`
+	Failures []string  `json:"failures,omitempty"`
+	// Errors are what kept the gate from judging: a machine the mesh composes that the gate could not
+	// raise as it is. Any one makes the verdict an error — never a pass (novox/hq issue 282).
+	Errors   []string          `json:"errors,omitempty"`
 	Warnings []string          `json:"warnings,omitempty"`
 	Notes    []string          `json:"notes,omitempty"`
 	Machines []mergeMachine    `json:"machines"`
@@ -182,11 +186,18 @@ func mergeGateCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	out := io.Writer(os.Stdout)
+	stdout := os.Stdout
 	if *asJSON {
 		out = os.Stderr
+		// **The verdict is the only thing on standard output** when it is asked for as JSON: composition
+		// says what it finds as it goes (a bus user without a credential, a module left out) and prints it,
+		// and a line of that before the verdict makes the verdict unreadable — the build seat would read no
+		// verdict at all. What is said goes beside the report.
+		os.Stdout = os.Stderr
 	}
 	v, err := judgeChange(ctx, mergeCheckInput{facts: f, repository: *repository, tree: *tree, changed: splitList(*changed),
 		group: others, admin: *admin, say: out})
+	os.Stdout = stdout
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -201,12 +212,19 @@ func mergeGateCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	} else {
 		fmt.Print(v.Report())
 	}
-	if v.Verdict == "fail" {
+	switch v.Verdict {
+	case "fail":
 		return errMergeGateFailed
+	case "error":
+		return errMergeGateCouldNotJudge
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
+// errMergeGateCouldNotJudge is the gate's own error: the mesh as it is could not be raised, so nothing
+// the change does to it can be seen. Never a pass (novox/hq issue 282).
+var errMergeGateCouldNotJudge = errors.New("the merge gate could not judge the change")
+
 // errMergeGateFailed is the gate's own failure: the verdict says why, so the error says nothing more.
 var errMergeGateFailed = errors.New("the change fails the merge gate")
 
@@ -333,10 +351,12 @@ func judgeChange(ctx context.Context, in mergeCheckInput) (mergeVerdict, error)
 			v.Failures = append(v.Failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s: nothing could be sent to it with this change — %s",
 				gm.Described, firstOr(newOnly(gm.Change.Problems, gm.Base.Problems), gm.Change.Problems)))
 		case !gm.Base.Composes && m.Declaration.Composes:
-			// The mesh composes it and the gate could not raise it as it is: a fact the snapshot does
-			// not carry. Said, and judged by what the change adds.
-			v.Notes = append(v.Notes, fmt.Sprintf("%s composes on the mesh and not as the snapshot raised it: %s — "+
-				"judged by what the change adds", gm.Described, firstOr(gm.Base.Problems, nil)))
+			// **The mesh composes it and the gate could not raise it as it is** (novox/hq issue 282): a fact
+			// the snapshot does not carry, or one the gate does not raise. Then the change is judged against a
+			// machine that is not the mesh's — broken against broken, which passes whatever the change does —
+			// so the gate cannot judge, and says so: an error, never a pass.
+			v.Errors = append(v.Errors, fmt.Sprintf("%s composes on the mesh and not as the gate raised it from the "+
+				"snapshot: %s", gm.Described, firstOr(gm.Base.Problems, nil)))
 			if added := newOnly(gm.Change.Problems, gm.Base.Problems); len(added) > 0 {
 				v.Failures = append(v.Failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the change adds — %s", gm.Described, added[0]))
 			}
@@ -387,10 +407,16 @@ func judgeChange(ctx context.Context, in mergeCheckInput) (mergeVerdict, error)
 
 	sort.Strings(v.Failures)
 	v.Failures = slices.Compact(v.Failures)
+	sort.Strings(v.Errors)
 	switch {
 	case len(v.Failures) > 0:
 		v.Verdict = "fail"
 		v.Summary = fmt.Sprintf("%d problem(s) the change brings; the first: %s", len(v.Failures), v.Failures[0])
+	case len(v.Errors) > 0:
+		v.Verdict = "error"
+		v.Summary = fmt.Sprintf("the mesh as it is could not be raised, so the change cannot be judged against it "+
+			"(%d of %d machines compose on the mesh and not in the gate); the first: %s", len(v.Errors),
+			len(v.Machines), v.Errors[0])
 	case len(v.Warnings) > 0:
 		v.Verdict = "warning"
 		v.Summary = v.Warnings[0]
@@ -423,6 +449,7 @@ func (v mergeVerdict) Report() string {
 		}
 	}
 	list("fails", v.Failures)
+	list("could not judge", v.Errors)
 	list("warns", v.Warnings)
 	if len(v.Modules) > 0 {
 		var changed []string
@@ -961,6 +988,18 @@ func raiseFromFacts(ctx context.Context, open *stores, f snapshot.Facts, shelf m
 				return notes, err
 			}
 		}
+		// The links it faces outside by, which a filter is written around (ADR 0140). A snapshot from a
+		// controller that did not carry them stands in one for a machine the mesh composes: composing, it
+		// had reported them.
+		outward := m.OutwardLinks
+		if len(outward) == 0 && m.Declaration.Composes {
+			outward = []string{"outside0"}
+		}
+		if len(outward) > 0 {
+			if err := inv.RecordOutwardLinks(ctx, node.ID, outward); err != nil {
+				return notes, err
+			}
+		}
 		if m.Account != "" {
 			if err := inv.SetAccount(ctx, m.Name, m.Account, m.AccountHome); err != nil {
 				return notes, err
@@ -994,7 +1033,7 @@ func raiseFromFacts(ctx context.Context, open *stores, f snapshot.Facts, shelf m
 		}
 	}
 	for _, s := range f.Settings {
-		if err := inv.SetSettings(ctx, "", s.Module, s.Values); err != nil {
+		if err := inv.KeepSettings(ctx, "", s.Module, standInPaths(s.Values)); err != nil {
 			notes = append(notes, fmt.Sprintf("the mesh's settings of %s are not kept: %s", s.Module, oneLine(err.Error())))
 		}
 	}
@@ -1006,13 +1045,31 @@ func raiseFromFacts(ctx context.Context, open *stores, f snapshot.Facts, shelf m
 			}
 		}
 		for _, s := range m.Settings {
-			if err := inv.SetSettings(ctx, m.Name, s.Module, s.Values); err != nil {
+			if err := inv.KeepSettings(ctx, m.Name, s.Module, standInPaths(s.Values)); err != nil {
 				notes = append(notes, fmt.Sprintf("%s's settings of %s are not kept: %s", m.Described(), s.Module,
 					oneLine(err.Error())))
 			}
 		}
 		for _, a := range m.Accepted {
 			standIn := fmt.Sprintf("gate-stand-in-%x", sha256.Sum256([]byte(m.Name+a.Module+a.Name+a.Provider+a.Local)))[:40]
+			if a.Provider == "" && a.Name == "broker" {
+				// **The bus credential is an account, not a given value** (novox/hq issue 203): composition asks
+				// whether one was issued for the module, so the raised store mints the account the mesh issued
+				// as well as holding the sealed value — otherwise every machine running a module on the bus
+				// fails to compose, with the change and without, and the gate compares broken to broken.
+				// A credential the mesh still holds for a module that no longer reads one composes nothing,
+				// so it is not raised.
+				if !readsBusCredential(shelf, a.Module) {
+					continue
+				}
+				if _, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Kind: busKindOf(a.Module), Node: m.Name,
+					Module: a.Module, Username: broker.Principal{Kind: broker.KindModule, Node: m.Name,
+						Module: a.Module}.Username()}); err != nil {
+					notes = append(notes, fmt.Sprintf("%s's bus account for %s is not kept: %s", m.Described(),
+						a.Module, oneLine(err.Error())))
+					continue
+				}
+			}
 			var err error
 			if a.Provider == "" {
 				err = inv.AcceptSecretForModule(ctx, m.Name, a.Module, a.Name, standIn)
@@ -1028,6 +1085,64 @@ func raiseFromFacts(ctx context.Context, open *stores, f snapshot.Facts, shelf m
 	return notes, nil
 }
 
+// standInPaths is a settings layer with every value the snapshot withheld where a path stands — an
+// access's or a place's — given a path of its own: a path that reads as a key is withheld by the scrub,
+// and a bare "withheld" is no absolute path, which composition refuses (a machine the mesh composes
+// would not compose as the gate raised it). Each stand-in is distinct, so two withheld places stay two.
+func standInPaths(values map[string]any) map[string]any {
+	out := make(map[string]any, len(values))
+	for k, v := range values {
+		out[k] = v
+	}
+	if accesses, ok := values["accesses"].(map[string]any); ok {
+		kept := make(map[string]any, len(accesses))
+		for name, at := range accesses {
+			if withheldPath(at) {
+				at = "/" + snapshot.Withheld + "/access/" + name
+			}
+			kept[name] = at
+		}
+		out["accesses"] = kept
+	}
+	if places, ok := values["places"].(map[string]any); ok {
+		kept := make(map[string]any, len(places))
+		for name, p := range places {
+			if place, ok := p.(map[string]any); ok && withheldPath(place["path"]) {
+				copied := make(map[string]any, len(place))
+				for k, v := range place {
+					copied[k] = v
+				}
+				copied["path"] = "/" + snapshot.Withheld + "/place/" + name
+				p = copied
+			}
+			kept[name] = p
+		}
+		out["places"] = kept
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// withheldPath is a value the scrub withheld where a path stood: bare, or keeping a path's shape.
+func withheldPath(v any) bool {
+	return v == snapshot.Withheld || v == "/"+snapshot.Withheld
+}
+
+// readsBusCredential is whether a module of the shelf, or one that came with the controller, declares the
+// own secret its bus account is delivered as.
+func readsBusCredential(shelf map[string]catalogue.Manifest, module string) bool {
+	if m, held := shelf[module]; held {
+		_, reads := m.OwnSecrets["broker"]
+		return reads
+	}
+	for _, m := range provided {
+		if m.Module == module {
+			_, reads := m.OwnSecrets["broker"]
+			return reads
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // standInKey is a key a machine could have reported; its private half is never kept.
 func standInKey() (string, error) {
 	k, err := ecdh.X25519().GenerateKey(rand.Reader)
@@ -1057,12 +1172,21 @@ func reachOfChange(f snapshot.Facts, repository string, paths []string, tree str
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	entries, read, edges, err := graphOfFacts(f)
+	if err != nil {
+		return mergeReach{}, err
+	}
+	return reachOfMerge(m, entries, read, edges), nil
+}
+
+// graphOfFacts is the module graph the snapshot carries, as the planner reads it from the store.
+func graphOfFacts(f snapshot.Facts) ([]inventory.Entry, map[string][]inventory.ReadRepository, []inventory.Edge, error) {
 	var entries []inventory.Entry
 	read := map[string][]inventory.ReadRepository{}
 	for _, mod := range f.Modules {
 		var manifest catalogue.Manifest
 		if err := json.Unmarshal(mod.Manifest, &manifest); err != nil {
-			return mergeReach{}, err
+			return nil, nil, nil, err
 		}
 		entries = append(entries, inventory.Entry{Manifest: manifest, Provided: mod.Provided,
 			Source: inventory.Source{Repository: mod.Repository, Path: mod.Path, BuiltFrom: mod.Commit}})
@@ -1074,7 +1198,7 @@ func reachOfChange(f snapshot.Facts, repository string, paths []string, tree str
 	for _, e := range f.Edges {
 		edges = append(edges, inventory.Edge{From: e.From, To: e.To, Kind: e.Kind})
 	}
-	return reachOfMerge(m, entries, read, edges), nil
+	return entries, read, edges, nil
 }
 
 // widthOf is how wide the rebuild of a reach is.
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go
index cb42e03..7874460 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	snapshot "github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/facts"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
@@ -281,3 +282,133 @@ func catalogueMeshWithAnApp(t *testing.T) (snapshot.Facts, map[string]string) {
 	}
 	return f, manifests
 }
+
+// busMesh is aMesh with a module on the bus on the laptop, its account issued as `module issue` issues
+// one: minted, and its credential held as the module's own secret named broker.
+func busMesh(t *testing.T) snapshot.Facts {
+	t.Helper()
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	m, err := catalogue.ParseManifest([]byte(`{"module":"speaker","version":"1",
+		"own-secrets":{"broker":"/var/lib/speaker/broker"}}`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := open.inventory.RegisterModule(ctx, m, inventory.Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog",
+		Path: "modules/speaker", BuiltFrom: "c0ffee"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := assign(ctx, open, "laptop", "speaker"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	user := broker.Principal{Kind: broker.KindModule, Node: "laptop", Module: "speaker"}.Username()
+	password, err := open.inventory.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: user, Kind: inventory.BusModule,
+		Node: "laptop", Module: "speaker"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := open.inventory.AcceptSecretForModule(ctx, "laptop", "speaker", "broker",
+		`{"user":"`+user+`","password":"`+password+`"}`); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	f, err := gatherFacts(ctx, open, "2.11.17")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, mc := range f.Machines {
+		if !mc.Declaration.Composes {
+			t.Fatalf("the mesh itself does not compose: %+v", mc.Declaration)
+		}
+	}
+	return f
+}
+
+// **Issue 282**: every machine running a module on the bus failed to compose in the gate's store, with
+// the change and without — the store held the module's credential and no account for it, which
+// composition refuses (issue 203) — and the gate passed every change, "0 of 4 compose". The account the
+// mesh issued is raised with its credential, so the machine composes in the gate as on the mesh.
+func TestIssue282AModuleOnTheBusComposesInTheGate(t *testing.T) {
+	f := busMesh(t)
+	v := gateJudged(t, f, "")
+	if v.Verdict != "pass" {
+		t.Fatalf("the mesh as it is does not pass:\n%s", v.Report())
+	}
+	for _, m := range v.Machines {
+		if !m.Base.Composes {
+			t.Errorf("%s composes on the mesh and not in the gate: %v", m.Described, m.Base.Problems)
+		}
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(v.Summary, "2 of 2 compose") {
+		t.Errorf("the summary does not say every machine composes: %s", v.Summary)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Issue 282**: a machine the mesh composes that the gate cannot raise as it is leaves the change judged
+// against a machine that is not the mesh's — broken against broken, which passes whatever the change does.
+// That is an error, never a pass.
+func TestIssue282AMachineTheGateCannotRaiseIsAnErrorNeverAPass(t *testing.T) {
+	f := busMesh(t)
+	for i := range f.Machines {
+		// A fact the snapshot does not carry: the module's credential, gone from the laptop's.
+		var kept []snapshot.Accepted
+		for _, a := range f.Machines[i].Accepted {
+			if a.Name != "broker" {
+				kept = append(kept, a)
+			}
+		}
+		f.Machines[i].Accepted = kept
+	}
+	v := gateJudged(t, f, "")
+	if v.Verdict != "error" {
+		t.Fatalf("a gate whose mesh does not compose said %s:\n%s", v.Verdict, v.Report())
+	}
+	if len(v.Errors) != 1 || !strings.Contains(v.Errors[0], "speaker") {
+		t.Errorf("the error does not name what could not be raised: %v", v.Errors)
+	}
+}
+
+// A path the snapshot withheld is given a path of its own where an access or a place needs one: a bare
+// "withheld" is no absolute path, and a machine whose setting composes on the mesh would not in the gate.
+func TestAWithheldPathIsStoodInForByAPath(t *testing.T) {
+	got := standInPaths(map[string]any{
+		"accesses": map[string]any{"races": "withheld", "films": "/media/films", "shows": "/withheld"},
+		"places":   map[string]any{"config": map[string]any{"path": "withheld", "owner": "1000:1000"}},
+		"puid":     1000,
+	})
+	accesses := got["accesses"].(map[string]any)
+	if accesses["races"] == accesses["shows"] || !strings.HasPrefix(accesses["races"].(string), "/") ||
+		!strings.HasPrefix(accesses["shows"].(string), "/") || accesses["films"] != "/media/films" {
+		t.Errorf("accesses: %v", accesses)
+	}
+	place := got["places"].(map[string]any)["config"].(map[string]any)
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(place["path"].(string), "/") || place["owner"] != "1000:1000" || got["puid"] != 1000 {
+		t.Errorf("places: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Issue 283**: a check run by hand clones beside a change what the seat clones — one rule, read by the
+// controller's ask and by the facts — and finds the repository it checks from its origin.
+func TestACheckByHandClonesWhatTheSeatClones(t *testing.T) {
+	for dir, refs := range map[string]map[string]string{
+		"mesh-catalog":    {"mesh-catalog": "main"},
+		"mesh-host":       {"mesh-host": "c0ffee"},
+		"mesh-controller": {"mesh-controller": "c0ffee", "mesh-controller-main": "main", "mesh-lab": "main"},
+	} {
+		got := besideRefs(dir, "c0ffee")
+		for d, ref := range refs {
+			if got[d] != ref {
+				t.Errorf("beside %s, %s is cloned at %q, not %q", dir, d, got[d], ref)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	for owner, want := range map[string][3]string{
+		"ssh://git@git.example:222/novox/mesh-host.git": {"novox", "mesh-host", "ssh://git@git.example:222/novox"},
+		"git@git.example:novox/mesh-tools.git":          {"novox", "mesh-tools", "git@git.example:novox"},
+		"http://git.example/novox/hq":                   {"novox", "hq", "http://git.example/novox"},
+	} {
+		o, r, p := ownerRepoOf(owner)
+		if [3]string{o, r, p} != want {
+			t.Errorf("%s reads as %s %s %s", owner, o, r, p)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/builder/check.go b/internal/builder/check.go
index 28fceba..010610d 100644
--- a/internal/builder/check.go
+++ b/internal/builder/check.go
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ type CheckSpec struct {
 	// Toolchains is every toolchain the mesh holds, by language, for a script that declares another.
 	Toolchain  string
 	Toolchains map[string]string
+	// User is who a check's containers run as, uid:gid: the builder's own when empty — on the build seat,
+	// the user its service runs as. A check run by hand (`mesh-controller check-here`) says the seat's.
+	User string
 	// Group are a delivery group's other heads (novox/hq ADR 0239), each cloned beside this one at its head
 	// and composed with it by the gate as one future state. The repository's own check is not run for a
 	// group: each member's pull request runs its own.
@@ -326,10 +329,18 @@ func Check(ctx context.Context, run Runner, spec CheckSpec, workspace, registry
 	if spec.Toolchain == "" {
 		return CheckVerdict{}, errors.New("the mesh holds no Go toolchain to run a check in")
 	}
+	user := spec.User
+	if user == "" {
+		user = fmt.Sprintf("%d:%d", os.Getuid(), os.Getgid())
+	}
 	in := func(image, dir string, env []string, command ...string) []string {
 		// As the builder itself: what a check writes into the workspace is the builder's to remove.
 		args := []string{"run", "--rm", "--network", "host", "--volume", workspace + ":" + workspace, "--workdir", dir,
-			"--user", fmt.Sprintf("%d:%d", os.Getuid(), os.Getgid()), "--env", "HOME=" + workspace}
+			"--user", user, "--env", "HOME=" + workspace,
+			// The check's own checkouts, whoever cloned them: git in a container of another user than the
+			// one that cloned refuses a repository it does not own ("dubious ownership"), and Go's build
+			// stamps the version from git — a judge that would not build for want of it.
+			"--env", "GIT_CONFIG_COUNT=1", "--env", "GIT_CONFIG_KEY_0=safe.directory", "--env", "GIT_CONFIG_VALUE_0=*"}
 		for _, e := range env {
 			args = append(args, "--env", e)
 		}
@@ -421,7 +432,7 @@ func Check(ctx context.Context, run Runner, spec CheckSpec, workspace, registry
 		case ctx.Err() != nil:
 			return v, ctx.Err()
 		case err != nil:
-			v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "fail", Summary: "its " + CheckScript + " failed: " + lastLine(own.String())}
+			v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "fail", Summary: "its " + CheckScript + " failed: " + whatFailed(own.String())}
 		default:
 			v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "pass", Summary: "its " + CheckScript + " passed"}
 		}
@@ -503,8 +514,14 @@ func gateLayer(ctx context.Context, spec CheckSpec, tree, root, gate, verdictFil
 			Verdict string `json:"verdict"`
 			Summary string `json:"summary"`
 		}
-		if raw, err := os.ReadFile(verdictFile); err == nil && json.Unmarshal(raw, &said) == nil && said.Verdict == "fail" {
-			return "fail", said.Summary
+		if raw, err := os.ReadFile(verdictFile); err == nil && json.Unmarshal(raw, &said) == nil {
+			switch said.Verdict {
+			case "fail":
+				return "fail", said.Summary
+			case "error":
+				// The gate could not raise the mesh as it is (novox/hq issue 282): said in its own words.
+				return "error", said.Summary
+			}
 		}
 		// The gate could not judge: not the change's fault, and never a pass.
 		return "error", "the merge gate could not judge the change: " + lastLine(out.String())
@@ -816,6 +833,33 @@ func (t *tail) String() string {
 	return strings.Join(lines, "\n")
 }
 
+// whatFailed is the line of a failed script's output that says what failed, for the status a pull request
+// shows: the first failing test, the first failing package, the files not formatted — a bare "FAIL" or a
+// file's name said nothing a reader could act on (novox/hq issue 283) — and the last line otherwise.
+func whatFailed(s string) string {
+	lines := strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(s), "\n")
+	for i, line := range lines {
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		if strings.HasPrefix(line, "not gofmt'd:") {
+			var files []string
+			for _, f := range lines[i+1:] {
+				if f = strings.TrimSpace(f); f != "" {
+					files = append(files, f)
+				}
+			}
+			return "not gofmt'd by the toolchain's gofmt: " + strings.Join(files, ", ")
+		}
+	}
+	for _, prefix := range []string{"--- FAIL:", "FAIL\t", "panic:"} {
+		for _, line := range lines {
+			if line = strings.TrimSpace(line); strings.HasPrefix(line, prefix) {
+				return line
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return lastLine(s)
+}
+
 func lastLine(s string) string {
 	lines := strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(s), "\n")
 	return strings.TrimSpace(lines[len(lines)-1])
diff --git a/internal/builder/check_test.go b/internal/builder/check_test.go
index f35e22f..e278f0d 100644
--- a/internal/builder/check_test.go
+++ b/internal/builder/check_test.go
@@ -414,3 +414,18 @@ func TestABuildSaysWhetherItsCommitIsOnTheTrunk(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("a repository with no origin reads as trunk %q, on %v", trunk, on)
 	}
 }
+
+// **Issue 283**: a failed merge-check.sh was said by its last line — a bare "FAIL", or the name of a file
+// gofmt listed — which named nothing a reader could act on. The status says what failed.
+func TestAFailedScriptIsSaidByWhatFailed(t *testing.T) {
+	for out, want := range map[string]string{
+		"not gofmt'd:\ninternal/bootstrap/publish_test.go\n":                                                                 "not gofmt'd by the toolchain's gofmt: internal/bootstrap/publish_test.go",
+		"ok  \tx/a\t1s\n--- FAIL: TestTheInstallersFirstUserList (0.59s)\n    t.go:37: refused\nFAIL\nFAIL\tx/b\t1s\nFAIL\n": "--- FAIL: TestTheInstallersFirstUserList (0.59s)",
+		"ok  \tx/a\t1s\nFAIL\tx/b [build failed]\nFAIL\n":                                                                    "FAIL\tx/b [build failed]",
+		"npm ERR! missing script: typecheck\n":                                                                               "npm ERR! missing script: typecheck",
+	} {
+		if got := whatFailed(out); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%q is said as %q, not %q", out, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/facts/facts.go b/internal/facts/facts.go
index f8a8d7c..ecb5a3c 100644
--- a/internal/facts/facts.go
+++ b/internal/facts/facts.go
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ type Facts struct {
 	// Edges are the build dependencies between modules, as the mesh recorded them — what a merge's
 	// rebuild width is computed from.
 	Edges []Edge `json:"edges,omitempty"`
+	// Beside is the ref each repository is cloned at beside a merge check, by the directory it is found
+	// under — the commits the mesh runs, the catalogue's main — so a check run by hand reads the siblings
+	// the build seat reads (novox/hq issue 283).
+	Beside map[string]string `json:"beside,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Build names one build of a core component.
@@ -78,6 +82,11 @@ type Versions struct {
 	Store string `json:"store,omitempty"`
 	// NodeEngines are the node-engine builds the machines report, each once.
 	NodeEngines []string `json:"node-engines,omitempty"`
+	// Toolchains are the toolchain images a merge check runs in, by language, as the mesh holds them —
+	// with no address: the artifact store the snapshot is read from is where they are pulled from. What
+	// a repository's merge-check.sh runs in on the build seat, and so what it must run in anywhere else
+	// (novox/hq issue 283): two releases of one compiler disagree, down to how gofmt lays out a file.
+	Toolchains map[string]string `json:"toolchains,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Source is a repository the mesh builds from, and the newest commit it built a module of.
@@ -112,6 +121,10 @@ type Machine struct {
 	Public bool   `json:"public,omitempty"`
 	// OnNetwork is whether it has a place on the private network at all.
 	OnNetwork bool `json:"on-network,omitempty"`
+	// OutwardLinks are the links it reported as facing outside it, scrubbed: a machine that reported none
+	// is sent no filter, so a check that raised it without them would compose a machine the mesh does
+	// not (novox/hq ADR 0140).
+	OutwardLinks []string `json:"outward-links,omitempty"`
 	// Adopted is whether the mesh adopted it rather than converged it.
 	Adopted bool `json:"adopted,omitempty"`
 	// Account is the operator's login there (a pseudonym of the same length), and AccountHome where its
diff --git a/internal/facts/facts_test.go b/internal/facts/facts_test.go
index 8f2dc11..56021a9 100644
--- a/internal/facts/facts_test.go
+++ b/internal/facts/facts_test.go
@@ -157,3 +157,18 @@ func TestANewerSnapshotIsRefusedNotHalfRead(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("read %+v, %v", f, err)
 	}
 }
+
+// A path that reads as a key is withheld, and keeps a path's shape: an access or a place must be an
+// absolute path, and a bare word left a machine the mesh composes refused where a check raised it.
+func TestAWithheldPathStaysAPath(t *testing.T) {
+	s := NewScrubber()
+	if got := s.Text("/storage/media/Formula1-Season-2026"); got != "/"+Withheld {
+		t.Errorf("a path reading as a key became %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := s.Text("/storage/media/movies"); got != "/storage/media/movies" {
+		t.Errorf("a plain path became %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := s.Text("Hunter2Hunter2Hunter2Hunter2xx"); got != Withheld {
+		t.Errorf("a key became %q", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/facts/scrub.go b/internal/facts/scrub.go
index d2ac346..2f310ed 100644
--- a/internal/facts/scrub.go
+++ b/internal/facts/scrub.go
@@ -228,7 +228,13 @@ func secretRuns(text string) string {
 			b.WriteString(run)
 			continue
 		}
-		b.WriteString(judgeRun(run))
+		judged := judgeRun(run)
+		// A path withheld keeps a path's shape — an absolute one stays absolute — so a check composing a
+		// place or an access still finds a path where one must be.
+		if judged == Withheld && strings.HasPrefix(run, "/") {
+			judged = "/" + Withheld
+		}
+		b.WriteString(judged)
 	}
 	b.WriteString(text[last:])
 	return b.String()
diff --git a/internal/inventory/catalogue.go b/internal/inventory/catalogue.go
index 274201c..fd56782 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/catalogue.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/catalogue.go
@@ -755,6 +755,18 @@ func profileFrom(raw []byte) ([]Capability, error) {
 // this is a statement of the whole layer, so removing a key is done by leaving it out, which is
 // the only way removing one could work at all.
 func (i *Inventory) SetSettings(ctx context.Context, nodeName, module string, values map[string]any) error {
+	return i.setSettings(ctx, nodeName, module, values, true)
+}
+
+// KeepSettings records a layer the mesh already holds, as it holds it, without judging it alone: for a
+// store raised from the facts snapshot (the merge gate), where the layers arrive one at a time and a
+// mesh-wide layer that needs a machine's own value to compose would be refused before that machine's
+// layer is there — though the mesh keeps both and composes. Composition still judges every layer.
+func (i *Inventory) KeepSettings(ctx context.Context, nodeName, module string, values map[string]any) error {
+	return i.setSettings(ctx, nodeName, module, values, false)
+}
+
+func (i *Inventory) setSettings(ctx context.Context, nodeName, module string, values map[string]any, judge bool) error {
 	raw, err := json.Marshal(values)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -762,8 +774,12 @@ func (i *Inventory) SetSettings(ctx context.Context, nodeName, module string, va
 	// Judged here, against the module's current definition, before it is kept (novox/hq ADR 0163,
 	// rule 6): a setting that cannot compose is refused where it is set, naming the node, the
 	// module, the layer and the key — never stored to refuse the whole machine where it is read.
-	if err := i.judgeSettings(ctx, nodeName, module, values); err != nil {
-		return err
+	if judge {
+		if err := i.judgeSettings(ctx, nodeName, module, values); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	} else if _, err := i.declared(ctx, module); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrNoSuchModule, module)
 	}
 	if nodeName == "" {
 		// A port is a fact about one machine (novox/hq ADR 0100). Refused here, in composition's