diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source.go
index 1a29a790..31504e33 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"regexp"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -206,8 +207,8 @@ type forgeFacts struct {
 	// ID is the forge's own id of the repository: what tells it from one deleted and made again by its name.
 	ID int64
 	// Guarded is whether the branch is protected as a module's trunk must be: no direct push, a merge whitelist naming
-	// the tools' account alone, and no administrator merging past the rule (novox/hq ADR 0534 §6; no required status,
-	// which the forge no longer asks, §1). Why says what is missing when it is not.
+	// the tools' account and no agent's account, and no administrator merging past the rule (novox/hq ADR 0534 §6; no
+	// required status, which the forge no longer asks, §1). Why says what is missing when it is not.
 	Guarded bool
 	Why     string
 }
@@ -362,10 +363,15 @@ func askTheForgeOnce(ctx context.Context, owner, repo, branch string) (forgeFact
 	return facts, nil
 }
 
-// forgeToolsAccount is the forge tools' account, the only one main's merge whitelist names (novox/hq ADR 0398 §2, the
-// gitea module's tools-account.ts TOOLS_ACCOUNT): only mesh-delivery, through the merge tool, lands a commit on a trunk.
+// forgeToolsAccount is the forge tools' account, which main's merge whitelist names for mesh-delivery (novox/hq ADR 0398
+// §2, the gitea module's tools-account.ts TOOLS_ACCOUNT); beside it the whitelist names only people's own logins, the
+// operator's (ADR 0534 §2), never an agent's account.
 const forgeToolsAccount = "mesh-tools"
 
+// isAgentAccount is whether a forge login is a node's agent's account, agent-<node> (novox/hq ADR 0398 §1): one that
+// may never merge into a module's trunk by itself.
+func isAgentAccount(login string) bool { return strings.HasPrefix(login, "agent-") }
+
 // protectionRule is a branch protection rule as the forge's tool summarises it.
 type protectionRule struct {
 	Rule             string   `json:"rule"`
@@ -379,9 +385,10 @@ type protectionRule struct {
 // judgedRule judges the one rule the forge applies to a branch, as the forge picks it: the rule named for the
 // branch, else the first glob rule, in the forge's order, that covers it (gitea's first matching rule). Never a
 // later rule that happens to be stronger: the forge does not read it. A trunk is trusted for who can land a commit on
-// it, not for a status it requires (novox/hq ADR 0534 §6): no push, only the tools' account merges, and no administrator
-// merging past the rule; then only mesh-delivery lands a commit there, through the merge tool, on a passing mesh/check
-// and the operator's Approve (ADR 0534 §4).
+// it, not for a status it requires (novox/hq ADR 0534 §6): no push, a merge whitelist naming the tools' account and
+// beside it only people's own logins, never an agent's, and no administrator merging past the rule; then a commit lands
+// there through mesh-delivery, on a passing mesh/check and the operator's Approve (ADR 0534 §4), or by the operator's
+// own hand at the forge (§2).
 func judgedRule(rules []protectionRule, branch string) forgeFacts {
 	switch r := appliedRule(rules, branch); {
 	case r == nil:
@@ -390,9 +397,12 @@ func judgedRule(rules []protectionRule, branch string) forgeFacts {
 		return forgeFacts{Why: fmt.Sprintf("the rule %s lets a person push to %s directly", r.Rule, branch)}
 	case r.MergeWhitelist == nil || len(r.MergeWhitelist) == 0:
 		return forgeFacts{Why: fmt.Sprintf("the rule %s keeps no merge whitelist naming %s alone for %s", r.Rule, forgeToolsAccount, branch)}
-	case len(r.MergeWhitelist) != 1 || r.MergeWhitelist[0] != forgeToolsAccount:
-		return forgeFacts{Why: fmt.Sprintf("the rule %s lets %s merge into %s, not %s alone", r.Rule,
+	case !slices.Contains(r.MergeWhitelist, forgeToolsAccount):
+		return forgeFacts{Why: fmt.Sprintf("the rule %s lets %s merge into %s, and not %s", r.Rule,
 			strings.Join(r.MergeWhitelist, ", "), branch, forgeToolsAccount)}
+	case slices.ContainsFunc(r.MergeWhitelist, isAgentAccount):
+		return forgeFacts{Why: fmt.Sprintf("the rule %s lets an agent's account merge into %s: %s", r.Rule, branch,
+			strings.Join(r.MergeWhitelist, ", "))}
 	case r.AdminMayOverride:
 		return forgeFacts{Why: fmt.Sprintf("the rule %s lets an administrator merge into %s past it", r.Rule, branch)}
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source_test.go
index 36eafb6c..7a3a7eff 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/build_source_test.go
@@ -120,9 +120,10 @@ func TestTheRuleJudgedIsTheOneTheForgeApplies(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// **A module's trunk is trusted when it takes no push, only the tools' account merges into it, and no administrator
-// merges past its rule** (novox/hq ADR 0534 §6): the forge requires no status to merge (§1), so a rule requiring none is
-// trusted; one with no merge whitelist, another name in it, a push allowed or an administrator's override is not.
+// **A module's trunk is trusted when it takes no push, only the tools' account and people's own logins merge into it,
+// and no administrator merges past its rule** (novox/hq ADR 0534 §2, §6): the forge requires no status to merge (§1), so
+// a rule requiring none is trusted; one with no merge whitelist, no tools' account in it, an agent's account in it, a
+// push allowed or an administrator's override is not.
 func TestATrunkIsTrustedForItsMergersNotForAStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	tools := []string{forgeToolsAccount}
 	for _, c := range []struct {
@@ -135,8 +136,10 @@ func TestATrunkIsTrustedForItsMergersNotForAStatus(t *testing.T) {
 		{"a status required as well", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: tools, RequiredStatuses: []string{"mesh/check"}}, true, ""},
 		{"no merge whitelist", protectionRule{Rule: "main"}, false, "merge whitelist"},
 		{"an empty merge whitelist", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: []string{}}, false, "merge whitelist"},
-		{"another name in the whitelist", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: []string{forgeToolsAccount, "agent-ace"}}, false, "agent-ace"},
-		{"another name alone", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: []string{"agent-ace"}}, false, "agent-ace"},
+		{"the operator's own login beside the tools", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: []string{forgeToolsAccount, "jschoubben"}}, true, ""},
+		{"an agent's account in the whitelist", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: []string{forgeToolsAccount, "agent-ace"}}, false, "agent-ace"},
+		{"an agent's account alone", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: []string{"agent-ace"}}, false, "agent-ace"},
+		{"a person's login without the tools", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: []string{"jschoubben"}}, false, forgeToolsAccount},
 		{"a push allowed", protectionRule{Rule: "main", Push: true, MergeWhitelist: tools}, false, "push"},
 		{"an administrator's override", protectionRule{Rule: "main", MergeWhitelist: tools, AdminMayOverride: true}, false, "administrator"},
 	} {