diff --git a/cmd/mesh-builder/main.go b/cmd/mesh-builder/main.go
index f007913..e22a0ee 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-builder/main.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-builder/main.go
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ func answer(ctx context.Context, publisher builder.Publisher, on, workspace stri
 		v, err = builder.Check(building, builder.Command, checkSpecOf(request), workspace, registry, forgeFrom(), say)
 		if err == nil {
 			result.Check = &link.CheckOutcome{Verdict: v.Verdict, Summary: v.Summary, Report: v.Report,
-				Took: v.Took.Round(time.Second).String()}
+				Took: v.Took.Round(time.Second).String(), Gate: layerOf(v.Gate), RepoCheck: layerOf(v.Repo)}
 		}
 	} else if err == nil {
 		// The package-registry credential is a build input, so it is resolved before the clone: a
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ func answer(ctx context.Context, publisher builder.Publisher, on, workspace stri
 			}
 			result.Against = built.Against
 			result.SourceFingerprint = built.Source
+			result.Trunk, result.OnTrunk, result.Branches = built.Trunk, built.OnTrunk, built.Branches
 			for _, r := range built.Read {
 				result.Read = append(result.Read, link.ReadRepository{Repository: r.Repository, Ref: r.Ref})
 			}
@@ -334,13 +335,22 @@ func checkSpecOf(request link.BuildRequest) builder.CheckSpec {
 	c := request.Check
 	spec := builder.CheckSpec{ID: request.ID, Repository: request.Repository, Ref: request.Ref,
 		Owner: c.Owner, Repo: c.Repo, Number: c.Number, Paths: c.Paths, Beside: map[string]builder.Beside{},
-		Toolchain: builder.ToolchainOf(request.Held)}
+		Modules: c.Modules, New: c.New, Manifests: c.Manifests, Judge: c.Judge, Base: c.Base,
+		Toolchain: builder.ToolchainOf(request.Held), Toolchains: builder.ToolchainsOf(request.Held)}
 	for dir, b := range c.Beside {
 		spec.Beside[dir] = builder.Beside{Repository: b.Repository, Ref: b.Ref}
 	}
 	return spec
 }
 
+// layerOf is one layer of a check as the outcome carries it.
+func layerOf(l *builder.Layer) *link.CheckLayer {
+	if l == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: l.Verdict, Summary: l.Summary, Modules: l.Modules}
+}
+
 // packagesFrom is where a build resolves the mesh's own published packages — the SDK above all
 // (novox/hq ADR 0076, issue 053).
 //
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/build.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/build.go
index 86c460e..54d75cb 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/build.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/build.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/conditions"
 	"os"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -572,6 +573,19 @@ func takeIn(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, result link.BuildResu
 		return manifest, kept, fmt.Errorf("%s built %s (%s), and the mesh does not register it: %w",
 			result.On, result.Repository, short(result.Commit), err)
 	}
+	// **Only a commit on the trunk is published** (novox/hq ADR 0238): a commit off its repository's
+	// default branch — a pull request's head, a feature branch built by hand, a `rebuild` or `replay
+	// --register` of one — is for checking, and is never a module's version; nothing could then send it.
+	// The branch the module already follows is its trunk — never the branch a build was asked at, or a
+	// build of a feature branch by name would make that branch its trunk.
+	follows := ""
+	if was, err := inv.SourceOf(ctx, manifest.Module); err == nil {
+		follows = followedBranch(was.Ref)
+	}
+	if err := publishable(result, follows); err != nil {
+		return manifest, kept, fmt.Errorf("%s built %s (%s), recorded and not registered: %w", result.On,
+			manifest.Module, short(result.Commit), err)
+	}
 	// **A build that failed its gate is never registered again** (novox/hq ADR 0236): an outcome heard
 	// twice, or replayed, would otherwise make the build a rollback put back what the module is again,
 	// and the next push would send it.
@@ -613,6 +627,34 @@ func takeIn(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, result link.BuildResu
 	return manifest, kept, nil
 }
 
+// errOffTheTrunk is a build of a commit off its repository's trunk, which is never published.
+var errOffTheTrunk = errors.New("the commit is not on its repository's trunk: a commit off the trunk is checked, " +
+	"never published (ADR 0238) — merge it, and the merge builds it")
+
+// publishable says whether a build's outcome may become a module's version: its commit on the module's
+// trunk, as the build seat read the forge at the build — the branch the module follows when its source
+// names one, else its repository's default branch. A build seat that could not say — one older than the
+// rule, building its own successor — is let through and said, so the rule can reach the mesh.
+func publishable(result link.BuildResult, follows string) error {
+	if result.Check != nil || result.Checked != nil || result.DryRun {
+		return errors.New("a check or a dry run is never published")
+	}
+	if result.Trunk == "" {
+		fmt.Printf("%s: the build seat did not say whether %s is on its repository's trunk (it predates ADR 0238); "+
+			"registered as before\n", result.ID, short(result.Commit))
+		return nil
+	}
+	trunk := result.Trunk
+	if follows != "" {
+		trunk = follows
+	}
+	on := slices.Contains(result.Branches, trunk) || (trunk == result.Trunk && result.OnTrunk)
+	if !on {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w (%s is not on %s)", errOffTheTrunk, short(result.Commit), trunk)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // buildAndShow builds and prints the manifest without recording anything.
 func buildAndShow(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wait time.Duration) error {
 	repository, err := cloneFrom(ctx, source)
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/changeplan.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/changeplan.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a86688
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/changeplan.go
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// The change plan (novox/hq ADR 0238): **one commit, one plan** — what a change does to the mesh, computed
+// from its diffset (a repository, the branch it merges into, the commit at hand) by the planner, never by
+// a mapping of its own. reachOfMerge answers what moves and what follows it; this adds where each module
+// goes — the deploy plan, machine by machine in the build plan's order — and what is not an ordinary
+// send. A pull request's check posts it with its verdict; the release a merge makes follows the same
+// planner, so the two can be compared.
+
+// policyOf is a module's upgrade policy, as the controller holds it; false when it cannot be read.
+type policyOf func(module string) (inventory.Upgrade, bool)
+
+// changePlanOf is the change plan of a reach: pure, so it is tested without a store.
+func changePlanOf(repository, base, head string, r mergeReach, entries []inventory.Entry, policy policyOf) link.ChangePlan {
+	p := link.ChangePlan{Repository: repository, Base: base, Head: head, Moved: r.Moved(), Dependents: r.Dependents(),
+		New: r.Added, Unread: r.Unread, Tiers: r.Plan.Tiers}
+	byName := map[string]inventory.Entry{}
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		byName[e.Manifest.Module] = e
+	}
+	machines := map[string]*link.MachinePlan{}
+	machine := func(name string) *link.MachinePlan {
+		if machines[name] == nil {
+			machines[name] = &link.MachinePlan{Machine: name}
+		}
+		return machines[name]
+	}
+	for _, tier := range r.Plan.Tiers {
+		for _, name := range tier {
+			e, held := byName[name]
+			if !held {
+				continue
+			}
+			u, known := policy(name)
+			waits := known && !u.RollOut
+			for _, on := range e.On {
+				if waits {
+					machine(on).Waits = append(machine(on).Waits, name)
+				} else {
+					machine(on).Receives = append(machine(on).Receives, name)
+				}
+			}
+			switch {
+			case name == "nats":
+				p.Steps = append(p.Steps, "a planned bus step: the bus is upgraded by `bus upgrade`, never by an ordinary send")
+			case waits && len(e.On) > 0:
+				p.Steps = append(p.Steps, fmt.Sprintf("%s waits for a person: its policy records (%s)", name,
+					orNone(u.From)))
+			}
+			if len(e.Manifest.Provides) > 0 && len(e.On) > 0 {
+				var offers []string
+				for _, o := range e.Manifest.Provides {
+					offers = append(offers, o.Name)
+				}
+				p.Steps = append(p.Steps, fmt.Sprintf("%s provides %s: its consumers are sent again after it",
+					name, strings.Join(offers, ", ")))
+			}
+			if e.Manifest.Data != nil && len(e.On) > 0 {
+				p.Steps = append(p.Steps, fmt.Sprintf("%s keeps data (ADR 0233): what it holds is backed up before it moves", name))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	var names []string
+	for name := range machines {
+		names = append(names, name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	for _, name := range names {
+		p.Machines = append(p.Machines, *machines[name])
+	}
+	p.Summary = summaryOf(p)
+	return p
+}
+
+// summaryOf is a change plan in one line: what it builds, where it goes, and whether the bus moves.
+func summaryOf(p link.ChangePlan) string {
+	if len(p.Moved) == 0 && len(p.New) == 0 {
+		return "builds nothing: the change touches no module of the mesh's graph"
+	}
+	var parts []string
+	what := strings.Join(p.Moved, ", ")
+	if len(p.Dependents) > 0 {
+		what += fmt.Sprintf(" (+%d dependent(s))", len(p.Dependents))
+	}
+	if len(p.New) > 0 {
+		if what != "" {
+			what += ", "
+		}
+		what += "new: " + strings.Join(p.New, ", ")
+	}
+	var to []string
+	for _, m := range p.Machines {
+		if len(m.Receives) > 0 {
+			to = append(to, m.Machine)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(to) > 0 {
+		parts = append(parts, "builds "+what+" → "+strings.Join(to, ", "))
+	} else {
+		parts = append(parts, "builds "+what+", sent nowhere")
+	}
+	bus := "no bus step"
+	for _, s := range p.Steps {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "a planned bus step") {
+			bus = "a bus step"
+		}
+	}
+	parts = append(parts, bus)
+	waiting := 0
+	for _, m := range p.Machines {
+		waiting += len(m.Waits)
+	}
+	if waiting > 0 {
+		parts = append(parts, fmt.Sprintf("%d wait(s) for a person", waiting))
+	}
+	return strings.Join(parts, "; ")
+}
+
+// planText is a change plan as a person reads it, for the pull request's comment.
+func planText(p link.ChangePlan) string {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	fmt.Fprintf(&b, "change plan of %s at %.8s into %s: %s\n", p.Repository, p.Head, p.Base, p.Summary)
+	for i, tier := range p.Tiers {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  tier %d: %s\n", i, strings.Join(tier, ", "))
+	}
+	for _, m := range p.Machines {
+		line := "  " + m.Machine + ": "
+		if len(m.Receives) > 0 {
+			line += "receives " + strings.Join(m.Receives, ", ")
+		}
+		if len(m.Waits) > 0 {
+			if len(m.Receives) > 0 {
+				line += "; "
+			}
+			line += "waits for a person: " + strings.Join(m.Waits, ", ")
+		}
+		b.WriteString(line + "\n")
+	}
+	for _, s := range p.Steps {
+		b.WriteString("  - " + s + "\n")
+	}
+	if len(p.Unread) > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  read by no module's build: %s\n", strings.Join(p.Unread, ", "))
+	}
+	return b.String()
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/changeplan_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/changeplan_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2632b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/changeplan_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// **One commit, one change plan** (novox/hq ADR 0238): the planner's reach, laid out machine by machine in
+// the build plan's order, with what is not an ordinary send said — the bus step, a module that waits for a
+// person, a provider whose consumers follow it.
+func TestAChangePlanSaysWhatEachMachineReceives(t *testing.T) {
+	const catalogue_ = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git"
+	entry := func(name, path string, on ...string) inventory.Entry {
+		e := fromRepo(name, catalogue_, path)
+		e.Source.BuiltFrom = "old"
+		e.On = on
+		return e
+	}
+	nats := entry("nats", "modules/nats", "anchor")
+	nats.Manifest.Provides = []catalogue.Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus"}}
+	gitea := entry("gitea", "modules/gitea", "anchor")
+	held := entry("photos", "modules/photos", "anchor", "laptop")
+	tools := fromRepo("node-tools", "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-tools.git", "node-tools")
+	tools.On = []string{"anchor", "laptop"}
+	entries := []inventory.Entry{nats, gitea, held, tools}
+	edges := []inventory.Edge{{From: "node-tools", To: "nats", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn}}
+	policy := func(module string) (inventory.Upgrade, bool) {
+		if module == "photos" {
+			return inventory.Upgrade{RollOut: false, From: "a person"}, true
+		}
+		return inventory.Upgrade{RollOut: true}, true
+	}
+	plan := func(paths ...string) link.ChangePlan {
+		m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "head", Paths: paths}
+		return changePlanOf("novox/mesh-catalog", "main", "head", reachOfMerge(m, entries, nil, edges), entries, policy)
+	}
+
+	p := plan("modules/gitea/index.ts")
+	if p.Summary != "builds gitea → anchor; no bus step" {
+		t.Errorf("one module's change reads %q", p.Summary)
+	}
+
+	p = plan("modules/nats/Dockerfile", "modules/photos/x.js")
+	if !strings.Contains(p.Summary, "a bus step") || !strings.Contains(p.Summary, "2 wait(s) for a person") ||
+		!strings.Contains(p.Summary, "(+1 dependent(s))") {
+		t.Errorf("the bus and a held module read %q", p.Summary)
+	}
+	got := map[string]string{}
+	for _, m := range p.Machines {
+		got[m.Machine] = strings.Join(m.Receives, ",") + "|" + strings.Join(m.Waits, ",")
+	}
+	// The bus first, what stands on it after: the build plan's order, per machine.
+	if got["anchor"] != "nats,node-tools|photos" || got["laptop"] != "node-tools|photos" {
+		t.Errorf("the deploy plan reads %v", got)
+	}
+	text := strings.Join(p.Steps, "\n")
+	for _, want := range []string{"a planned bus step", "photos waits for a person", "nats provides mesh-bus"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(text, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the steps do not say %q:\n%s", want, text)
+		}
+	}
+
+	p = plan("merge-check.sh")
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(p.Summary, "builds nothing") || len(p.Machines) != 0 || strings.Join(p.Unread, ",") != "merge-check.sh" {
+		t.Errorf("a root file's plan reads %+v", p)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(planText(p), "read by no module's build: merge-check.sh") {
+		t.Errorf("the plan's text does not say why nothing is built:\n%s", planText(p))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/check_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/check_test.go
index 8947901..6754bd1 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/check_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/check_test.go
@@ -92,3 +92,14 @@ func TestRegistrationRefusesADefinitionNamingAnInstallation(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a name declared on purpose passes; got %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// **The controller's own manifest names every verb of its seat** (novox/hq ADR 0132): its tools lagged
+// the seat's verbs for weeks, and `module check` — the gate's first step for a change touching it —
+// refused it. Held here, so a verb added to the table without the manifest fails this repository's
+// own suite rather than its next pull request's gate.
+func TestTheControllersManifestServesEveryVerbOfItsSeat(t *testing.T) {
+	var out strings.Builder
+	if err := moduleCheck([]string{"../../module.json"}, &out); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller's own module.json fails module check: %v\n%s", err, out.String())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go
index 26b6b6a..ee457a6 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/checks.go
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"path"
+	"slices"
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -12,46 +15,170 @@ import (
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
 )
 
-// A pull request's merge check (novox/hq to-be 45 §9): the forge announces a pull request's new head,
-// the controller asks the build seat to check it, and says the verdict as `checked`, which the forge's
-// holder sets as the pull request's status. **Before merge, never after**: every check the mesh had ran
-// after a merge, on a machine.
+// A pull request's merge check (novox/hq to-be 45 §9, ADR 0237 as amended 2026-10-06): the forge
+// announces every pull request's new head, the controller decides what is checked, asks the build seat to
+// check it, and says the verdict as `checked`, which the forge's holder sets as the pull request's
+// statuses. **Before merge, never after**: every check the mesh had ran after a merge, on a machine.
 //
-// What is checked is decided here and run there. Here: whether the mesh builds anything from the
-// repository into that branch — a repository it builds nothing from is not its to judge — and what the
-// check reads beside it: the controller the mesh runs (its judge, for a catalogue change: a manifest
-// that controller cannot read fails, which is version skew caught), the catalogue the mesh holds, the
-// host it runs. There: the repository's own merge-check.sh, or the merge gate alone for a repository
-// that declares none (internal/builder/check.go).
+// **The mesh's module graph decides, not the repository.** The controller holds the graph — every module,
+// the repository and directory it is built from — and maps the pull request's changed paths onto it by
+// the planner's own answer (reachOfMerge, touchedBy — the one place a changed file is mapped onto modules,
+// for the merge handler, the release planner, the merge gate and this check; issue 280): **a changed file
+// touches exactly the modules whose build reads it** — a module's own directory (the whole repository for
+// one built from its root), or a repository its recipe packages. A file no build reads — a script at the
+// root, a README — touches no module. A directory the change adds a module.json in, which the graph does
+// not hold yet (said by the head, issue 278), is a new module and is checked too.
+//
+//   - touches a module: the build seat runs **the gate** — `mesh/merge-gate`, the touched manifests, every
+//     machine composed with the change, the replays — and the repository's own merge-check.sh beside it;
+//   - touches none, in a repository that is the mesh's (it sources a module on some branch, or shares the
+//     core's owner): the gate is a pass that says so — a fact, not a missing check — and the repository's
+//     own merge-check.sh runs as `mesh/repo-check`, a warning when it has none;
+//   - touches none, anywhere else: the gate is a pass that says so, and nothing more is said.
+//
+// What is checked is decided here and run there (internal/builder/check.go).
 
 // checkTimeout is how long one check may run on the build seat. Said here so the ask's watchdog (S6)
 // and the builder agree on what late means.
 const checkTimeout = 45 * time.Minute
 
-// PullUpdated asks for a pull request's merge check.
+// noModuleTouched is the gate's word for a change that touches nothing of the graph.
+const noModuleTouched = "the change touches no module of the mesh's graph"
+
+// noMergeCheck is the repository layer's word for a repository of the mesh with no merge-check.sh.
+const noMergeCheck = "the repository declares no merge-check.sh: none of its own tests run before it merges"
+
+// coreModules are the modules whose repositories are the mesh's core, by the directory a check finds
+// each beside it — and whose owner is the mesh's own.
+var coreModules = map[string]string{"mesh-controller": "mesh-controller", "mesh-host": "mesh-host",
+	"node-tools": "mesh-tools", "nats": "mesh-catalog"}
+
+// checkScope is what a pull request reaches of the mesh's graph, as the planner reckons it.
+type checkScope struct {
+	// Modules are the modules a merge of the change would move itself — built from the repository into
+	// the pull request's base and reading a changed file, or packaging the repository's source — and
+	// Dependents those the plan would build after them; New the directories it adds a module in.
+	Modules    []string
+	Dependents []string
+	New        []string
+	// Manifests are the moved modules' and the new ones' manifests in the change's tree.
+	Manifests []string
+	// Width is how many modules a merge would build, in how many tiers; Unread the changed files no
+	// module's build reads.
+	Width, Tiers int
+	Unread       []string
+	// Mesh says the repository is the mesh's: modules are built from it on some branch, its owner is the
+	// core's, or the change adds a module to it.
+	Mesh bool
+	// Judge is who judges the gate (link.JudgeSelf, link.JudgeValidator, or the running controller).
+	Judge string
+	// From is a module built from the repository, for how the mesh clones it; nil when none is.
+	From *inventory.Entry
+	// Reach is the planner's whole answer, which the change plan is made from.
+	Reach mergeReach
+}
+
+func (s checkScope) gated() bool { return len(s.Modules)+len(s.New) > 0 }
+
+// pullScope is what a pull request reaches: **the planner's own answer** (reachOfMerge), asked as if the
+// head were merged into the base — never a mapping of its own, so a change to what a merge touches
+// changes what is checked with it (novox/hq ADR 0238).
+func pullScope(p link.PullUpdated, entries []inventory.Entry, read map[string][]inventory.ReadRepository,
+	edges []inventory.Edge) checkScope {
+	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: p.Owner, Repo: p.Repo, Base: p.Base, CloneURL: p.CloneURL, Commit: p.Commit,
+		Paths: p.Paths, PathsTruncated: p.PathsTruncated, Removed: p.Removed, ModuleDirs: p.ModuleDirs,
+		ModuleDirsSaid: p.ModuleDirsSaid}
+	r := reachOfMerge(m, entries, read, edges)
+	s := checkScope{Modules: r.Moved(), Dependents: r.Dependents(), New: r.Added, Unread: r.Unread,
+		Width: len(r.Plan.Modules), Tiers: len(r.Plan.Tiers), Reach: r}
+	for _, e := range append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, r.Touched...), r.Deleted...) {
+		s.Manifests = append(s.Manifests, path.Join(strings.Trim(e.Source.Path, "/"), moduleManifestFile))
+		switch e.Manifest.Module {
+		case "mesh-controller":
+			s.Judge = link.JudgeSelf
+		case "mesh-host":
+			if s.Judge == "" {
+				s.Judge = link.JudgeValidator
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	for _, d := range r.Added {
+		s.Manifests = append(s.Manifests, path.Join(d, moduleManifestFile))
+	}
+	sort.Strings(s.Manifests)
+	s.Manifests = slices.Compact(s.Manifests)
+
+	// Whose repository it is, for how it is cloned and whether its own check is the mesh's to run.
+	owners := map[string]bool{}
+	for i, e := range entries {
+		if e.Provided {
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, core := coreModules[e.Manifest.Module]; core {
+			if owner := sourceOwner(e.Source.Repository); owner != "" {
+				owners[owner] = true
+			}
+		}
+		if sameRepository(e.Source.Repository, m) && s.From == nil {
+			s.From = &entries[i]
+		}
+	}
+	s.Mesh = s.From != nil || owners[strings.ToLower(p.Owner)] || s.gated()
+	return s
+}
+
+// sourceOwner is the owner of a recorded repository, a path on the git seat or a URL: novox/mesh-host → novox.
+func sourceOwner(repository string) string {
+	parts := strings.Split(strings.Trim(strings.TrimSuffix(repository, ".git"), "/"), "/")
+	if len(parts) < 2 {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return strings.ToLower(parts[len(parts)-2])
+}
+
+// PullUpdated decides a pull request's merge check, and asks for it when there is something to run.
 func (f following) PullUpdated(ctx context.Context, p link.PullUpdated) error {
 	inv := f.open.inventory
 	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	moved := link.SourceMoved{Owner: p.Owner, Repo: p.Repo, Base: p.Base, CloneURL: p.CloneURL}
-	var from *inventory.Entry
-	for i, e := range entries {
-		if !e.Provided && sourceIs(e.Source, moved) {
-			from = &entries[i]
-			break
-		}
-	}
-	if from == nil {
-		fmt.Printf("%s/%s#%d (%.8s): the mesh builds nothing from it into %s, so it is not the mesh's to check\n",
-			p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number, p.Commit, p.Base)
-		return nil
-	}
-	request, err := checkRequestFor(ctx, f.open, p, *from, entries)
+	read, err := inv.ReadRepositories(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	edges, err := inv.Dependencies(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	scope := pullScope(p, entries, read, edges)
+	// The change plan of the commit at hand (ADR 0238): what a merge of it would build and send, posted
+	// with the verdict whatever the verdict is.
+	plan := changePlanOf(p.Owner+"/"+p.Repo, p.Base, p.Commit, scope.Reach, entries, func(module string) (inventory.Upgrade, bool) {
+		u, err := inv.UpgradeOf(ctx, module)
+		return u, err == nil
+	})
+	fmt.Print(planText(plan))
+	direct := link.Checked{Owner: p.Owner, Repo: p.Repo, Number: p.Number, Commit: p.Commit,
+		ID: link.NewBuildID(time.Now()), Verdict: "pass", Summary: noModuleTouched,
+		Gate: &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: "pass", Summary: noModuleTouched}, Plan: &plan}
+	switch {
+	case !scope.gated() && !scope.Mesh:
+		fmt.Printf("%s/%s#%d (%.8s): %s, and the repository is not the mesh's: said, nothing run\n",
+			p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number, p.Commit, noModuleTouched)
+		sayChecked(ctx, direct)
+		return nil
+	case !scope.gated() && p.MergeCheckSaid && !p.MergeCheck:
+		direct.RepoCheck = &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: "warning", Summary: noMergeCheck}
+		fmt.Printf("%s/%s#%d (%.8s): %s; %s\n", p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number, p.Commit, noModuleTouched, noMergeCheck)
+		sayChecked(ctx, direct)
+		return nil
+	}
+	request, err := checkRequestFor(ctx, f.open, p, scope, entries)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	request.Check.Plan = &plan
 	seat := buildSeatHeld(ctx)
 	ask, err := askOverOn(seat)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -61,14 +188,20 @@ func (f following) PullUpdated(ctx context.Context, p link.PullUpdated) error {
 	if err := ask.Ask(ctx, request); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("%s/%s#%d (%.8s): asked %s to check it before it merges, as %s\n", p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number,
-		p.Commit, seat, request.ID)
+	what := "its own merge-check.sh alone: " + noModuleTouched
+	if scope.gated() {
+		what = fmt.Sprintf("the gate over %s (a merge would build %d module(s) in %d tier(s))",
+			strings.Join(append(append([]string{}, scope.Modules...), prefixedAll("new:", scope.New)...), ", "),
+			scope.Width, scope.Tiers)
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("%s/%s#%d (%.8s): asked %s to check it before it merges — %s — as %s\n", p.Owner, p.Repo, p.Number,
+		p.Commit, seat, what, request.ID)
 	return nil
 }
 
 // checkRequestFor is the ask for one pull request's head: the repository as the mesh clones it, the head,
 // and what is read beside it.
-func checkRequestFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p link.PullUpdated, from inventory.Entry,
+func checkRequestFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p link.PullUpdated, scope checkScope,
 	entries []inventory.Entry) (link.BuildRequest, error) {
 	shelf := map[string]catalogue.Manifest{}
 	for _, e := range entries {
@@ -84,7 +217,12 @@ func checkRequestFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p link.PullUpdated, from
 		}
 		return clonedFromSeat(world, s.Seat, s.Repository)
 	}
-	repository, err := clone(from.Source)
+	// As the mesh clones a module built from it; a repository no module is built from, from the forge.
+	source := inventory.Source{Seat: gitSeat, Repository: p.Owner + "/" + p.Repo}
+	if scope.From != nil {
+		source = scope.From.Source
+	}
+	repository, err := clone(source)
 	if err != nil {
 		return link.BuildRequest{}, err
 	}
@@ -94,10 +232,8 @@ func checkRequestFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p link.PullUpdated, from
 	}
 	// Beside it, at what the mesh runs: each core repository by the module the mesh builds from it.
 	beside := map[string]link.CheckedOut{}
-	byModule := map[string]string{"mesh-controller": "mesh-controller", "mesh-host": "mesh-host",
-		"node-tools": "mesh-tools", "nats": "mesh-catalog"}
 	for _, e := range entries {
-		dir, core := byModule[e.Manifest.Module]
+		dir, core := coreModules[e.Manifest.Module]
 		if !core || e.Provided || e.Source.Repository == "" {
 			continue
 		}
@@ -130,9 +266,10 @@ func checkRequestFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p link.PullUpdated, from
 		Ref:        p.Commit,
 		Held:       heldBy(ctx),
 		Seats:      seatBases(ctx),
-		Source:     sourceOnSeat(from.Source),
+		Source:     sourceOnSeat(source),
 		Check: &link.CheckRequest{Owner: p.Owner, Repo: p.Repo, Number: p.Number, Base: p.Base,
-			Paths: p.Paths, Beside: beside},
+			Paths: p.Paths, Beside: beside, Modules: scope.Modules, Dependents: scope.Dependents, New: scope.New,
+			Manifests: scope.Manifests, Judge: scope.Judge},
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -162,6 +299,12 @@ const maxCheckReport = 60 << 10
 // checked says a merge check's verdict as the controller's `checked`. Nothing is recorded or
 // registered: a check builds nothing (issue 240's rule for a dry run, kept for a check).
 func checked(ctx context.Context, result link.BuildResult) {
+	sayChecked(ctx, checkedOf(result))
+}
+
+// checkedOf is what a check's outcome says: each layer, and an error — never a pass — for a check that
+// could not run.
+func checkedOf(result link.BuildResult) link.Checked {
 	c := link.Checked{ID: result.ID, On: result.On, Commit: result.Ref}
 	if result.Checked != nil {
 		c.Owner, c.Repo, c.Number = result.Checked.Owner, result.Checked.Repo, result.Checked.Number
@@ -169,8 +312,13 @@ func checked(ctx context.Context, result link.BuildResult) {
 	switch {
 	case result.Check != nil:
 		c.Verdict, c.Summary, c.Report = result.Check.Verdict, result.Check.Summary, result.Check.Report
+		c.Gate, c.RepoCheck = result.Check.Gate, result.Check.RepoCheck
+		if c.Gate == nil {
+			// A build seat from before the layers: its verdict is the gate's.
+			c.Gate = &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: c.Verdict, Summary: c.Summary}
+		}
 	case result.Failed != "":
-		// The check could not run: an error, never read as a pass.
+		// The check could not run: an error, never read as a pass — on both layers it was asked for.
 		c.Verdict, c.Summary = "error", "the check could not run: "+firstLine(result.Failed)
 	default:
 		c.Verdict, c.Summary = "error", "the build seat answered the check with no verdict"
@@ -178,11 +326,46 @@ func checked(ctx context.Context, result link.BuildResult) {
 	if c.Verdict == "" {
 		c.Verdict = "error"
 	}
+	if result.Check == nil {
+		c.Gate = &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: c.Verdict, Summary: c.Summary}
+		c.RepoCheck = &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: c.Verdict, Summary: c.Summary}
+	}
+	if result.Checked != nil && c.Gate != nil && len(c.Gate.Modules) == 0 {
+		c.Gate.Modules = append(append([]string{}, result.Checked.Modules...), prefixedAll("new:", result.Checked.New)...)
+	}
+	if result.Checked != nil && c.Gate != nil && len(c.Gate.Dependents) == 0 {
+		c.Gate.Dependents = result.Checked.Dependents
+	}
+	if result.Checked != nil {
+		c.Plan = result.Checked.Plan
+	}
+	for _, l := range []*link.CheckLayer{c.Gate, c.RepoCheck} {
+		if l != nil && l.Verdict == "" {
+			l.Verdict = "error"
+		}
+	}
 	if len(c.Report) > maxCheckReport {
 		c.Report = "…" + c.Report[len(c.Report)-maxCheckReport:]
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("%s: %s/%s#%d at %.8s checked on %s: %s — %s\n", result.ID, c.Owner, c.Repo, c.Number, c.Commit,
-		orSomewhere(c.On), strings.ToUpper(c.Verdict), c.Summary)
+	return c
+}
+
+func prefixedAll(prefix string, items []string) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(items))
+	for _, i := range items {
+		out = append(out, prefix+i)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// sayChecked says a merge check's verdict on the bus, where the forge's holder hears it.
+func sayChecked(ctx context.Context, c link.Checked) {
+	repo := "none"
+	if c.RepoCheck != nil {
+		repo = strings.ToUpper(c.RepoCheck.Verdict) + " — " + c.RepoCheck.Summary
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("%s: %s/%s#%d at %.8s checked on %s: gate %s — %s; repository %s\n", c.ID, c.Owner, c.Repo, c.Number,
+		c.Commit, orSomewhere(c.On), strings.ToUpper(c.Verdict), c.Summary, repo)
 	if checkEvents == nil {
 		return
 	}
@@ -193,6 +376,6 @@ func checked(ctx context.Context, result link.BuildResult) {
 	stating, stop := context.WithTimeout(context.WithoutCancel(ctx), 10*time.Second)
 	defer stop()
 	if err := checkEvents.PublishSeatEvent(stating, link.MeshControllerSeat, link.KeyChecked, body); err != nil {
-		fmt.Printf("%s: the verdict could not be said, so the pull request is not told it: %v\n", result.ID, err)
+		fmt.Printf("%s: the verdict could not be said, so the pull request is not told it: %v\n", c.ID, err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/checks_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/checks_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e0bc94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/checks_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// **The mesh's module graph decides what a pull request's check runs**, not the repository (novox/hq
+// ADR 0237 as amended): a change is mapped onto the graph by the rule a merge is (issue 278), the gate
+// runs when it touches a module — a new one included — and a repository that is the mesh's and touches
+// none still has its own merge-check.sh run.
+func TestThePullRequestIsMappedOntoTheModuleGraph(t *testing.T) {
+	const catalogue = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git"
+	const controller = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-controller.git"
+	const host = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-host.git"
+	photos := fromRepo("photos", "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/photos.git", "")
+	photos.Source.Ref = "nox-mesh"
+	snake := fromRepo("snake", "jschoubben/snake", "")
+	snake.Source.Seat = "git"
+	entries := []inventory.Entry{
+		fromRepo("gitea", catalogue, "modules/gitea"),
+		fromRepo("keycloak", catalogue, "modules/keycloak"),
+		fromRepo("nats", catalogue, "modules/nats"),
+		fromRepo("mesh-controller", controller, ""),
+		fromRepo("mesh-host", host, ""),
+		photos, snake,
+	}
+	pull := func(owner, repo, base string, paths []string, dirs ...string) link.PullUpdated {
+		return link.PullUpdated{Owner: owner, Repo: repo, Base: base, Commit: "abc", Paths: paths,
+			ModuleDirs: dirs, ModuleDirsSaid: true}
+	}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		what                   string
+		p                      link.PullUpdated
+		modules, new, manifest string
+		mesh                   bool
+		judge                  string
+	}{
+		{"one module's own files", pull("novox", "mesh-catalog", "main", []string{"modules/gitea/index.ts"}, "modules/gitea"),
+			"gitea", "", "modules/gitea/module.json", true, ""},
+		{"a file no module's build reads touches no module (issue 280)",
+			pull("novox", "mesh-catalog", "main", []string{"merge-check.sh", "README.md"}), "", "", "", true, ""},
+		{"files the announcer could not list: everything built from it",
+			link.PullUpdated{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "abc", PathsTruncated: true,
+				Paths: []string{"README.md"}}, "gitea,keycloak,nats", "",
+			"modules/gitea/module.json,modules/keycloak/module.json,modules/nats/module.json", true, ""},
+		{"a new module, said by the head", pull("novox", "mesh-catalog", "main",
+			[]string{"modules/newmod/index.ts", "modules/newmod/module.json"}, "modules/newmod"),
+			"", "modules/newmod", "modules/newmod/module.json", true, ""},
+		{"the controller judges itself", pull("novox", "mesh-controller", "main", []string{"cmd/x.go"}),
+			"mesh-controller", "", "module.json", true, "self"},
+		{"the node-engine is judged with its validator", pull("novox", "mesh-host", "main", []string{"validate/v.go"}),
+			"mesh-host", "", "module.json", true, "validator"},
+		{"the core's owner, no module: the mesh's, its own check alone", pull("novox", "hq", "main", []string{"README.md"}),
+			"", "", "", true, ""},
+		{"a branch nothing is built from: the mesh's repository, no module", pull("novox", "photos", "master",
+			[]string{"server/x.js"}), "", "", "", true, ""},
+		{"the branch a module is built from", pull("novox", "photos", "nox-mesh", []string{"server/x.js"}),
+			"photos", "", "module.json", true, ""},
+		{"a repository on the forge's seat", pull("jschoubben", "snake", "main", []string{"index.html"}),
+			"snake", "", "module.json", true, ""},
+		{"a repository of nobody's, touching nothing", pull("someone", "dotfiles", "main", []string{"x"}),
+			"", "", "", false, ""},
+		{"a repository adding a module at its root", pull("someone", "newapp", "main", []string{"module.json", "x.js"}),
+			"", ".", "module.json", true, ""},
+	} {
+		s := pullScope(c.p, entries, nil, nil)
+		got := []string{strings.Join(s.Modules, ","), strings.Join(s.New, ","), strings.Join(s.Manifests, ",")}
+		want := []string{c.modules, c.new, c.manifest}
+		for i, what := range []string{"modules", "new", "manifests"} {
+			if got[i] != want[i] {
+				t.Errorf("%s: %s %q, wanted %q", c.what, what, got[i], want[i])
+			}
+		}
+		if s.Mesh != c.mesh || s.Judge != c.judge {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the mesh's %v judged by %q, wanted %v by %q", c.what, s.Mesh, s.Judge, c.mesh, c.judge)
+		}
+		if s.gated() != (c.modules != "" || c.new != "") {
+			t.Errorf("%s: gated %v", c.what, s.gated())
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A module whose build packages another repository's source is touched by a change to it.
+func TestAPullRequestTouchesWhatPackagesItsRepository(t *testing.T) {
+	entries := []inventory.Entry{fromRepo("node-tools", "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-tools.git", "node-tools")}
+	read := map[string][]inventory.ReadRepository{"node-tools": {{Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-sdk.git"}}}
+	s := pullScope(link.PullUpdated{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-sdk", Base: "main", Commit: "abc", Paths: []string{"go/x.go"}}, entries, read, nil)
+	if strings.Join(s.Modules, ",") != "node-tools" || len(s.Manifests) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a change to what node-tools packages touched %v (manifests %v)", s.Modules, s.Manifests)
+	}
+}
+
+// Each layer is said; a check that could not run is an error on both, never a pass; a build seat from
+// before the layers is read as the gate.
+func TestAChecksLayersAreEachSaidAndAnErrorIsNeverAPass(t *testing.T) {
+	asked := &link.CheckRequest{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Number: 3, Modules: []string{"gitea"}}
+	c := checkedOf(link.BuildResult{ID: "b", Ref: "abc", Checked: asked, Failed: "the facts snapshot cannot be read"})
+	if c.Verdict != "error" || c.Gate == nil || c.Gate.Verdict != "error" || c.RepoCheck == nil || c.RepoCheck.Verdict != "error" {
+		t.Fatalf("a check that could not run said %+v", c)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(c.Gate.Modules, ",") != "gitea" {
+		t.Errorf("the gate names %v", c.Gate.Modules)
+	}
+	c = checkedOf(link.BuildResult{ID: "b", Ref: "abc", Checked: asked, Check: &link.CheckOutcome{Verdict: "warning", Summary: "wide"}})
+	if c.Gate == nil || c.Gate.Verdict != "warning" || c.RepoCheck != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("an outcome without layers said %+v", c)
+	}
+	c = checkedOf(link.BuildResult{ID: "b", Ref: "abc", Checked: asked, Check: &link.CheckOutcome{Verdict: "pass",
+		Gate: &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: "pass"}, RepoCheck: &link.CheckLayer{Verdict: "fail", Summary: "its merge-check.sh failed"}}})
+	if c.RepoCheck.Verdict != "fail" || c.Gate.Verdict != "pass" {
+		t.Fatalf("the layers said %+v / %+v", c.Gate, c.RepoCheck)
+	}
+}
+
+// **The check asks the planner, never a mapping of its own** (novox/hq ADR 0238): what a pull request
+// reaches is reachOfMerge's answer — the same that plans a merge — so a file at the root touches no
+// module in both, and what stands on a touched module is named as its dependents in both.
+func TestAPullRequestReachesWhatAMergeOfItWouldPlan(t *testing.T) {
+	const catalogue = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git"
+	nats := fromRepo("nats", catalogue, "modules/nats")
+	nats.Source.BuiltFrom = "old"
+	gitea := fromRepo("gitea", catalogue, "modules/gitea")
+	gitea.Source.BuiltFrom = "old"
+	tools := fromRepo("node-tools", "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-tools.git", "node-tools")
+	entries := []inventory.Entry{nats, gitea, tools}
+	// node-tools stands on the bus's image; a code edge, so a plan takes it along.
+	edges := []inventory.Edge{{From: "node-tools", To: "nats", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn}}
+	read := map[string][]inventory.ReadRepository{}
+
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		what              string
+		paths             []string
+		moved, dependents string
+		width             int
+		unread            string
+	}{
+		{"a file at the root, read by no build", []string{"merge-check.sh"}, "", "", 0, "merge-check.sh"},
+		{"the bus's own directory", []string{"modules/nats/Dockerfile"}, "nats", "node-tools", 2, ""},
+		{"both, and a README", []string{"modules/gitea/index.ts", "modules/nats/x", "README.md"}, "gitea,nats", "node-tools", 3, "README.md"},
+	} {
+		p := link.PullUpdated{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "head", Paths: c.paths}
+		s := pullScope(p, entries, read, edges)
+		m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Commit: "head", Paths: c.paths}
+		r := reachOfMerge(m, entries, read, edges)
+		if got := strings.Join(s.Modules, ","); got != c.moved || got != strings.Join(r.Moved(), ",") {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the check reaches %q, the planner %v, wanted %q", c.what, got, r.Moved(), c.moved)
+		}
+		if got := strings.Join(s.Dependents, ","); got != c.dependents {
+			t.Errorf("%s: dependents %q, wanted %q", c.what, got, c.dependents)
+		}
+		if s.Width != c.width || s.Width != len(r.Plan.Modules) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: a merge would build %d, the planner says %d, wanted %d", c.what, s.Width, len(r.Plan.Modules), c.width)
+		}
+		if got := strings.Join(s.Unread, ","); got != c.unread {
+			t.Errorf("%s: unread %q, wanted %q", c.what, got, c.unread)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// A repository whose build another module's recipe packages: that module is reached through the
+	// planner's `read`, and what stands on it after it.
+	read["gitea"] = []inventory.ReadRepository{{Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-sdk.git"}}
+	s := pullScope(link.PullUpdated{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-sdk", Base: "main", Commit: "head",
+		Paths: []string{"src/index.ts"}}, entries, read, edges)
+	if strings.Join(s.Modules, ",") != "gitea" || len(s.Manifests) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a change to the source gitea packages reaches %v (manifests %v)", s.Modules, s.Manifests)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Only a commit on the trunk is published** (novox/hq ADR 0238): a build of a commit off its repository's
+// default branch — a pull request's head, a branch built by hand, a rebuild or replay of one — is recorded
+// and never registered, so nothing can send it; a check or a dry run never is either.
+func TestABuildOffTheTrunkIsNeverPublished(t *testing.T) {
+	on := link.BuildResult{ID: "b", Commit: "abc", Trunk: "main", OnTrunk: true}
+	if err := publishable(on, ""); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a build on the trunk was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	off := link.BuildResult{ID: "b", Commit: "abc", Trunk: "main"}
+	if err := publishable(off, ""); !errors.Is(err, errOffTheTrunk) || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "main") {
+		t.Errorf("a build off the trunk was let through: %v", err)
+	}
+	for _, r := range []link.BuildResult{
+		{ID: "c", Trunk: "main", OnTrunk: true, Check: &link.CheckOutcome{Verdict: "pass"}},
+		{ID: "d", Trunk: "main", OnTrunk: true, Checked: &link.CheckRequest{}},
+		{ID: "e", Trunk: "main", OnTrunk: true, DryRun: true},
+	} {
+		if publishable(r, "") == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s, a check or a dry run, was publishable", r.ID)
+		}
+	}
+	// A module that follows a branch other than the default: that branch is its trunk, and the default
+	// is not.
+	follows := link.BuildResult{ID: "g", Commit: "abc", Trunk: "master", Branches: []string{"nox-mesh"}}
+	if err := publishable(follows, "nox-mesh"); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a commit on the branch a module follows was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := publishable(link.BuildResult{ID: "h", Commit: "abc", Trunk: "master", OnTrunk: true,
+		Branches: []string{"master"}}, "nox-mesh"); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a commit on the default but not on the branch the module follows was published")
+	}
+	if err := publishable(link.BuildResult{ID: "i", Commit: "abc", Trunk: "main", Branches: []string{"feat/x"}}, ""); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a feature branch's commit was published")
+	}
+	// A build seat older than the rule says nothing: let through and said, so the rule can reach the mesh.
+	if err := publishable(link.BuildResult{ID: "f", Commit: "abc"}, ""); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a build seat that said nothing was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go
index 2bd68c5..4e6b0fb 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go
@@ -108,9 +108,9 @@ type mergeComposed struct {
 type mergeWidthOf struct {
 	Modules []string `json:"modules"`
 	Tiers   int      `json:"tiers"`
-	// Shared is the changed paths read as shared code: in no directory of a module the mesh holds, so
-	// everything built from the repository is rebuilt for them.
-	Shared []string `json:"shared,omitempty"`
+	// Unread is the changed paths no module's build reads — in no module's directory — which rebuild
+	// nothing (issue 280): said, so a reader sees why a change to them moves no module.
+	Unread []string `json:"unread,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // wideRebuild is how many modules a rebuild may take before the gate says so as a warning.
@@ -206,9 +206,25 @@ func judgeChange(ctx context.Context, in mergeCheckInput) (mergeVerdict, error)
 	}
 	change := base
 	sources := sourcesOfFacts(in.facts)
+	// **What the change moves is the planner's answer** (reachOfMerge, novox/hq ADR 0238), asked of the
+	// snapshot as if the change were merged: the definitions composed with the change are those of the
+	// modules a merge of it would rebuild, and of the modules it adds — not every definition in the tree,
+	// which may differ from what the mesh holds for reasons that are not this change's (a module pinned
+	// at an older commit, a main the mesh has not built yet).
+	var reach *mergeReach
+	if in.repository != "" && len(in.changed) > 0 {
+		r, err := reachOfChange(in.facts, in.repository, in.changed, in.tree)
+		if err != nil {
+			v.Notes = append(v.Notes, "what a merge of the change would rebuild could not be worked out, so every "+
+				"definition in its tree is judged: "+err.Error())
+		} else {
+			reach = &r
+		}
+	}
 	if in.tree != "" {
 		var failures []string
-		change, failures, err = shelfWithChange(base, sources, in.facts, in.repository, in.tree, v.Modules)
+		change, failures, err = shelfWithChange(base, sources, in.facts, in.repository, in.tree, v.Modules,
+			scopeOfReach(reach, in.repository))
 		if err != nil {
 			return v, err
 		}
@@ -306,20 +322,16 @@ func judgeChange(ctx context.Context, in mergeCheckInput) (mergeVerdict, error)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if in.repository != "" && len(in.changed) > 0 {
-		w, err := rebuildWidth(in.facts, in.repository, in.changed, in.tree)
-		if err != nil {
-			v.Notes = append(v.Notes, "the width of the rebuild could not be worked out: "+err.Error())
-		} else {
-			v.Width = &w
-			if len(w.Shared) > 0 && len(w.Modules) > wideRebuild {
-				v.Warnings = append(v.Warnings, fmt.Sprintf("a merge rebuilds %d module(s), because %s read as shared "+
-					"code: in no directory of a module the mesh holds (issue 278)", len(w.Modules),
-					readableList(w.Shared)))
-			} else if len(w.Modules) > wideRebuild {
-				v.Warnings = append(v.Warnings, fmt.Sprintf("a merge rebuilds %d module(s) in %d tier(s)",
-					len(w.Modules), w.Tiers))
-			}
+	if reach != nil {
+		w := widthOf(*reach)
+		v.Width = &w
+		if len(w.Unread) > 0 {
+			v.Notes = append(v.Notes, fmt.Sprintf("%s read by no module's build, and rebuild nothing (issue 280)",
+				readableList(w.Unread)))
+		}
+		if len(w.Modules) > wideRebuild {
+			v.Warnings = append(v.Warnings, fmt.Sprintf("a merge rebuilds %d module(s) in %d tier(s)",
+				len(w.Modules), w.Tiers))
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -443,8 +455,12 @@ var ignoredInTree = map[string]bool{".git": true, "vendor": true, "node_modules"
 // read by this controller's strict parser — the one the mesh runs, for a change to a catalogue — resolved
 // with stand-in builds, and read again as registration reads a built one. A module the repository held
 // and the tree no longer has is removed. Answers the shelf and what the tree itself fails.
+//
+// `scope` is the directories of the modules a merge of the change would rebuild or add, as the planner says
+// (scopeOfReach); a definition elsewhere in the tree is left as the mesh holds it. Nil judges every one.
 func shelfWithChange(base map[string]catalogue.Manifest, sources map[string]inventory.Source, f snapshot.Facts,
-	repository, tree string, moved map[string]string) (map[string]catalogue.Manifest, []string, error) {
+	repository, tree string, moved map[string]string, scope map[string]bool) (map[string]catalogue.Manifest, []string, error) {
+	inScope := func(dir string) bool { return scope == nil || scope[dir] }
 	out := make(map[string]catalogue.Manifest, len(base))
 	for k, m := range base {
 		out[k] = m
@@ -477,16 +493,23 @@ func shelfWithChange(base map[string]catalogue.Manifest, sources map[string]inve
 		}
 		m, err := catalogue.ParseManifest(raw)
 		if err != nil {
-			failures = append(failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the controller judging this (%s) refuses it — %s",
-				orRoot(dir), version, oneLine(err.Error())))
+			if inScope(dir) {
+				failures = append(failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the controller judging this (%s) refuses it — %s",
+					orRoot(dir), version, oneLine(err.Error())))
+			}
 			return nil
 		}
 		if was, twice := found[m.Module]; twice {
-			failures = append(failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s and %s both define %s: two definitions of one module",
-				orRoot(was), orRoot(dir), m.Module))
+			if inScope(dir) || inScope(was) {
+				failures = append(failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s and %s both define %s: two definitions of one module",
+					orRoot(was), orRoot(dir), m.Module))
+			}
 			return nil
 		}
 		found[m.Module] = dir
+		if !inScope(dir) {
+			return nil
+		}
 		if s, held := sources[m.Module]; held && s.Repository != "" && !sameRepository(s.Repository,
 			link.SourceMoved{Owner: ownerOf(repository), Repo: repoOf(repository)}) {
 			failures = append(failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s defines %s, which the mesh builds from %s: two definitions "+
@@ -538,6 +561,9 @@ func shelfWithChange(base map[string]catalogue.Manifest, sources map[string]inve
 		if _, still := found[name]; still {
 			continue
 		}
+		if !inScope(strings.Trim(s.Path, "/")) {
+			continue
+		}
 		delete(out, name)
 		moved[name] = "removed"
 		if on := running[name]; len(on) > 0 {
@@ -961,25 +987,32 @@ func standInKey() (string, error) {
 	return base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(k.PublicKey().Bytes()), nil
 }
 
-// mergeWidth is what a merge of the change would rebuild, computed the way the merge handler computes
-// it, from the modules, sources and edges the snapshot carries.
-func rebuildWidth(f snapshot.Facts, repository string, paths []string, tree string) (mergeWidthOf, error) {
+// reachOfChange is what a merge of the change would move and build — **the planner's own answer**
+// (reachOfMerge), asked of the modules, sources, reads and edges the snapshot carries, never a mapping of
+// the gate's own: what a merge touches and what follows it are decided in one place, so the gate and the
+// plan a merge makes cannot disagree (novox/hq ADR 0238).
+func reachOfChange(f snapshot.Facts, repository string, paths []string, tree string) (mergeReach, error) {
 	owner, repo, found := strings.Cut(repository, "/")
 	if !found {
-		return mergeWidthOf{}, fmt.Errorf("%q is not owner/repository", repository)
+		return mergeReach{}, fmt.Errorf("%q is not owner/repository", repository)
 	}
 	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: owner, Repo: repo, Base: "main", Commit: "gate", Paths: paths}
 	// Which changed directories hold a module, read from the change's tree as the forge's announcer reads
-	// them at the merge commit (issue 278): a file inside one is that module's business, held or not.
+	// them at the head (issue 278): what the planner is told of a module the mesh does not hold yet.
 	if tree != "" {
 		m.ModuleDirs, m.ModuleDirsSaid = moduleDirsIn(tree, paths), true
+		for _, p := range paths {
+			if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(tree, p)); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+				m.Removed = append(m.Removed, p)
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	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 mergeWidthOf{}, err
+			return mergeReach{}, err
 		}
 		entries = append(entries, inventory.Entry{Manifest: manifest, Provided: mod.Provided,
 			Source: inventory.Source{Repository: mod.Repository, Path: mod.Path, BuiltFrom: mod.Commit}})
@@ -991,51 +1024,39 @@ func rebuildWidth(f snapshot.Facts, repository string, paths []string, tree stri
 	for _, e := range f.Edges {
 		edges = append(edges, inventory.Edge{From: e.From, To: e.To, Kind: e.Kind})
 	}
-	var from []inventory.Entry
-	for _, e := range entries {
-		if !e.Provided && sourceIs(e.Source, m) {
-			from = append(from, e)
+	return reachOfMerge(m, entries, read, edges), nil
+}
+
+// widthOf is how wide the rebuild of a reach is.
+func widthOf(r mergeReach) mergeWidthOf {
+	w := mergeWidthOf{Tiers: len(r.Plan.Tiers), Unread: r.Unread}
+	for name := range r.Plan.Modules {
+		w.Modules = append(w.Modules, name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(w.Modules)
+	return w
+}
+
+// scopeOfReach is the directories, in the change's repository, of the modules a reach rebuilds or adds;
+// nil — every definition judged — when there is no reach.
+func scopeOfReach(r *mergeReach, repository string) map[string]bool {
+	if r == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	scope := map[string]bool{}
+	same := link.SourceMoved{Owner: ownerOf(repository), Repo: repoOf(repository)}
+	for _, e := range append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, r.Touched...), r.Deleted...) {
+		if sameRepository(e.Source.Repository, same) {
+			scope[strings.Trim(e.Source.Path, "/")] = true
 		}
 	}
-	touched := whatTheMergeTouched(from, entries, m)
-	var names []string
-	for _, e := range touched {
-		names = append(names, e.Manifest.Module)
-	}
-	for _, e := range entries {
-		if readsFrom(read[e.Manifest.Module], m) && !slices.Contains(names, e.Manifest.Module) {
-			names = append(names, e.Manifest.Module)
+	for _, d := range r.Added {
+		if d == "." {
+			d = ""
 		}
+		scope[d] = true
 	}
-	w := mergeWidthOf{}
-	if len(names) > 0 {
-		p := planOfMerge(m, names, edges)
-		w.Tiers = len(p.Tiers)
-		for name := range p.Modules {
-			w.Modules = append(w.Modules, name)
-		}
-		sort.Strings(w.Modules)
-	}
-	// The paths read as shared: in no directory of a module the mesh holds from this repository.
-	var dirs []string
-	for _, e := range from {
-		if d := strings.Trim(e.Source.Path, "/"); d != "" {
-			dirs = append(dirs, d+"/")
-		}
-	}
-	for _, d := range m.ModuleDirs {
-		dirs = append(dirs, strings.Trim(d, "/")+"/")
-	}
-	for _, p := range paths {
-		inModule := false
-		for _, d := range dirs {
-			inModule = inModule || strings.HasPrefix(p, d)
-		}
-		if !inModule && len(dirs) > 0 {
-			w.Shared = append(w.Shared, p)
-		}
-	}
-	return w, nil
+	return scope
 }
 
 // moduleDirsIn are the directories above the changed paths, never the root, that hold a module.json in
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go
index c5280ee..95fc9b4 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate_test.go
@@ -180,26 +180,32 @@ func TestAModuleAMachineRunsRemovedFromItsSourceFails(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// **Issue 278**: a file of a module nobody holds read as shared code, and the merge rebuilt the
-// catalogue. The gate says how wide a merge's rebuild is, and warns when shared code makes it wide.
+// **Issues 278 and 280**: a file in no held module's directory read as shared code, and a merge rebuilt the
+// catalogue. A file is a module's only by being inside it — no build reads one outside — so it rebuilds
+// nothing, and the gate says why; a merge that does rebuild widely is warned of.
 func TestIssue278AWideRebuildIsSaidBeforeTheMerge(t *testing.T) {
 	f, manifests := catalogueMesh(t)
 	was := wideRebuild
 	wideRebuild = 2
 	t.Cleanup(func() { wideRebuild = was })
-	v := gateJudged(t, f, aTree(t, manifests), "modules/showcase/index.ts")
-	if v.Width == nil || len(v.Width.Modules) < 5 || len(v.Width.Shared) != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("the width reads %+v", v.Width)
+	for _, file := range []string{"modules/showcase/index.ts", "merge-check.sh", "README.md"} {
+		v := gateJudged(t, f, aTree(t, manifests), file)
+		if v.Width == nil || len(v.Width.Modules) != 0 || len(v.Width.Unread) != 1 || v.Verdict != "pass" {
+			t.Fatalf("%s, read by no build, reads %+v, %s", file, v.Width, v.Verdict)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(v.Report(), "read by no module's build") {
+			t.Errorf("why %s rebuilds nothing is not said:\n%s", file, v.Report())
+		}
 	}
-	if v.Verdict != "warning" || !strings.Contains(v.Report(), "shared") {
-		t.Fatalf("a rebuild of everything for one shared file is not said:\n%s", v.Report())
+	v := gateJudged(t, f, aTree(t, manifests), "modules/album/x.ts", "modules/objects/x.go", "modules/resolver/x.go")
+	if v.Width == nil || len(v.Width.Modules) < 3 || v.Verdict != "warning" {
+		t.Fatalf("a rebuild wider than the bound is not warned of: %+v, %s", v.Width, v.Verdict)
 	}
-	// The same file, with the reference module's definition in the tree: its directory is a module, held
-	// or not, and the file is its business alone (the fix of 278, read from the tree as the announcer does).
+	// With the reference module's definition in the tree, its directory is a module, held or not.
 	withShowcase := withEdit(manifests, "showcase", `{"module":"showcase","version":"1"}`)
 	v = gateJudged(t, f, aTree(t, withShowcase), "modules/showcase/index.ts")
-	if v.Width == nil || len(v.Width.Modules) != 0 || len(v.Width.Shared) != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("a file of a module nobody holds still reads as shared: %+v", v.Width)
+	if v.Width == nil || len(v.Width.Modules) != 0 || len(v.Width.Unread) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a file of a module nobody holds reads %+v", v.Width)
 	}
 	v = gateJudged(t, f, aTree(t, manifests), "modules/album/module.json")
 	if v.Width == nil || strings.Join(v.Width.Modules, ",") != "album" || v.Verdict != "pass" {
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/order_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/order_test.go
index 5fe7b12..7c6a901 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/order_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/order_test.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func TestAMergeRebuildsTheModulesItChanged(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{"one module's own files", merge([]string{"modules/gitea/index.ts", "modules/gitea/client.ts"}, false), "gitea"},
 		{"two modules' files", merge([]string{"modules/gitea/index.ts", "modules/keycloak/module.json"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
-		{"a file they share", merge([]string{"tsconfig.json"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
+		{"a file at the root no build reads (issue 280)", merge([]string{"tsconfig.json"}, false), ""},
 		{"a module the mesh does not hold", merge([]string{"modules/plex/index.ts"}, false), ""},
 		{"nothing said about the files", merge(nil, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
 		{"more files than were listed", merge([]string{"modules/gitea/index.ts"}, true), "gitea,keycloak"},
@@ -153,9 +153,9 @@ func TestAMergeRebuildsTheModulesItChanged(t *testing.T) {
 		{"a new module beside a held one", merge([]string{"modules/gitea/x", "modules/newmod/module.json"}, false), "gitea"},
 		{"a new module's other files", merge([]string{"modules/newmod/index.ts", "modules/newmod/module.json"}, false), ""},
 		{"a module removed", merge([]string{"modules/gone/module.json"}, false), ""},
-		{"a directory with no manifest", merge([]string{"modules/lib/x.go"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
-		{"a file directly among the modules", merge([]string{"modules/README.md"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
-		{"the root's files still", merge([]string{"tsconfig.json"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
+		{"a directory with no manifest", merge([]string{"modules/lib/x.go"}, false), ""},
+		{"a file directly among the modules", merge([]string{"modules/README.md"}, false), ""},
+		{"a root file beside a module's", merge([]string{"merge-check.sh", "modules/keycloak/x.ts"}, false), "keycloak"},
 	} {
 		if got := named(whatTheMergeTouched(candidates, known, c.m)); got != c.want {
 			t.Errorf("%s: rebuilt %q, wanted %q", c.what, got, c.want)
@@ -245,12 +245,11 @@ func TestAModuleBuiltAtACommitStillFollowsItsBranch(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// novox/hq issue 278: whether a directory is a module is a fact of the repository at the merge commit,
-// and the announcer says it. A merge touching the code of a module the mesh does not hold — the
+// novox/hq issues 278 and 280: a merge touching the code of a module the mesh does not hold — the
 // catalogue's reference module, whose manifest it left alone — read as shared and rebuilt every module
-// built from the repository (103 of them on 2026-10-06, 88 byte-identical). Said by the announcer, it
-// rebuilds nothing; a directory holding no manifest is shared as before; and an announcer that does not
-// say keeps the old rule.
+// built from the repository (103 of them on 2026-10-06, 88 byte-identical); so did a merge-check.sh added at
+// the root. No build reads a file outside its module's directory, so neither rebuilds anything, said by the
+// announcer or not.
 func TestAChangeInsideAModuleIsThatModulesHeldOrNot(t *testing.T) {
 	const repo = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git"
 	gitea := fromRepo("gitea", repo, "modules/gitea")
@@ -278,12 +277,12 @@ func TestAChangeInsideAModuleIsThatModulesHeldOrNot(t *testing.T) {
 		{"beside a held one's change", merge(append([]string{"modules/gitea/index.ts"}, showcase...),
 			[]string{"modules/gitea", "modules/showcase"}, true), "gitea"},
 		{"deeper inside it", merge([]string{"modules/showcase/daemon/index.ts"}, []string{"modules/showcase"}, true), ""},
-		{"a directory holding no manifest is still shared", merge([]string{"modules/lib/x.go"}, nil, true), "gitea,keycloak"},
+		{"a directory holding no manifest, read by no build", merge([]string{"modules/lib/x.go"}, nil, true), ""},
 		{"one of two files in no module", merge([]string{"modules/showcase/index.ts", "modules/lib/x.go"},
-			[]string{"modules/showcase"}, true), "gitea,keycloak"},
-		{"the root is never a module directory", merge([]string{"tsconfig.json"}, []string{"", "/", "."}, true), "gitea,keycloak"},
-		{"not said: the old rule", merge(showcase, []string{"modules/showcase"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
-		{"an old announcer saying nothing", merge(showcase, nil, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
+			[]string{"modules/showcase"}, true), ""},
+		{"the root is never a module directory", merge([]string{"tsconfig.json"}, []string{"", "/", "."}, true), ""},
+		{"not said: still no build reads it", merge(showcase, []string{"modules/showcase"}, false), ""},
+		{"an old announcer saying nothing", merge(showcase, nil, false), ""},
 		{"a manifest the merge removed, said or not", merge([]string{"modules/gone/module.json", "modules/gone/x.ts"}, nil, true), ""},
 	} {
 		if got := named(whatTheMergeTouched(candidates, known, c.m)); got != c.want {
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go
index 2e3e611..0ad9255 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go
@@ -1357,18 +1357,20 @@ func planWhatIf(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, repository string
 	for _, name := range modules {
 		named[name] = true
 	}
-	for _, e := range entries {
-		switch {
-		case named[e.Manifest.Module]:
-			from = append(from, e)
-		case len(named) == 0 && sourceIs(e.Source, m):
-			from = append(from, e)
-		case readsFrom(read[e.Manifest.Module], m):
-			packaging = append(packaging, e)
-		}
-	}
 	if len(named) == 0 {
-		from = whatTheMergeTouched(from, entries, m)
+		// The changed files: the planner's own answer, as the merge handler, the merge gate and a pull
+		// request's check ask it (novox/hq ADR 0238).
+		r := reachOfMerge(m, entries, read, nil)
+		from, packaging = append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, r.Touched...), r.Deleted...), r.Packaging
+	} else {
+		for _, e := range entries {
+			switch {
+			case named[e.Manifest.Module]:
+				from = append(from, e)
+			case readsFrom(read[e.Manifest.Module], m):
+				packaging = append(packaging, e)
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	moved := append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, from...), packaging...)
 	if len(moved) == 0 {
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go
index b95a59e..5919a00 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
-	"path"
 	"regexp"
+	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -616,71 +616,157 @@ func lastLookAt(entries []inventory.Entry, m link.SourceMoved) time.Time {
 	return newest
 }
 
-// whatTheMergeTouched narrows the modules built from a repository to the ones the merge changed.
-//
-// **A change inside no module's own directory is a change to what they share.** The forge lists the
-// files a merge changed; a module is affected when one of them is inside its own directory, when it
-// is built from the repository's root — everything there is its source — or when some changed file
-// belongs to no module's directory at all, which is how a shared file, a build recipe or a
-// dependency at the root rebuilds everything built from that repository.
-//
-// A change inside *another* module's directory is that module's business and not this one's, even
-// when the mesh does not hold that module: `known` is every module this repository is known to hold,
-// whatever branch it was registered from.
-//
-// **And a module the mesh has never seen is still a module** (novox/hq issue 252). A merge adding a
-// new module to the catalogue repository — `modules/newmod/module.json` and its files — read as a
-// change to shared code, because `modules/newmod` was nobody's known directory, and every module
-// built from the repository was rebuilt and rolled out for a module none of them is. So the
-// directories that hold modules are known too: the parents of the known modules' directories
-// (`modules`, never the root). A changed path `<parent>/<name>/…` belongs to the module at
-// `<parent>/<name>` — held or not — and rebuilds nothing else, **provided it is shown to be a
-// module**: its `module.json` is among the changed files (added, changed, or removed with it). A
-// directory under the same parent whose manifest the merge did not touch may as well be a shared
-// library (`modules/lib`), and that is still read as shared. Rebuilding too much remains the safe
-// direction: the fault this whole path exists for is a mesh that believes it is current and is not
-// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131). A file at the root, or directly in a parent, is shared as it always was.
-//
-// **Whether a directory is a module is a fact of the repository at the merge commit** (novox/hq issue
-// 278), and the announcer now says it: a changed file inside a directory holding a `module.json` there
-// is that module's, whatever the merge did to the manifest; only a file in no such directory is shared.
-// From an announcer that does not say, the rule above stands.
+// whatTheMergeTouched narrows the modules built from a repository to the ones the merge changed: **a
+// changed file touches exactly the modules whose build reads it** (novox/hq issue 280, ADR 0238). It is
+// touchedBy's first answer; touchedBy is the one place the mesh maps a changed file onto its modules.
 func whatTheMergeTouched(candidates, known []inventory.Entry, m link.SourceMoved) []inventory.Entry {
-	// Nothing said about the files, or not all of them said: everything built from it is affected.
-	if len(m.Paths) == 0 || m.PathsTruncated {
-		return candidates
-	}
-	var dirs []string
-	parents := map[string]bool{}
+	touched, _, _ := touchedBy(candidates, known, m)
+	return touched
+}
+
+// touchedBy maps a merge's changed files onto the mesh's modules — **the one place it is done**, for the
+// merge handler, the release planner's what-if, the merge gate and a pull request's check alike (novox/hq
+// ADR 0238), so planning and gating cannot disagree about what a change touches.
+//
+// **A changed file touches exactly the modules whose build reads it.** What a build reads is the module's
+// own directory — the builder clones the repository and builds within that directory alone: the manifest,
+// the recipes, the bundles' sources, the Docker context — or the whole repository for a module built from
+// its root. A second repository a recipe packages (an artifact's `context`) is read too; that is the build
+// record's `read`, answered by readsFrom in mergeCandidates. So a changed file inside a module's directory
+// is that module's; a file in no module's directory — a script at the root, a README, CI configuration —
+// is read by no build and touches nothing: it is answered as `unread`.
+//
+// **It used to be read as shared code**, rebuilding everything built from the repository, on the theory
+// that a root file might be a build input (04-ISSUES/131). No build reads one: the theory cost a rebuild
+// of 103 modules for a merge-check.sh added at the catalogue's root (issue 280), as it had for a module
+// held by no machine (278) and a new module's directory (252), each patched as an exception to a rule that
+// was wrong. Rebuilding too much is not the safe direction when every rebuild is a rollout.
+//
+// `added` is the directories the change holds a module in that no module of this repository is known
+// from — said by the announcer at the head (issue 278), or a module.json among the changed files — `.`
+// for the root: a new module, which a check judges before it merges and a merge does not build.
+//
+// Nothing said about the files, or not all of them said, is still everything: what is not known cannot
+// be narrowed.
+func touchedBy(candidates, known []inventory.Entry, m link.SourceMoved) (touched []inventory.Entry, added, unread []string) {
+	knownDirs := map[string]bool{}
 	for _, e := range known {
-		if e.Source.Path != "" && sameRepository(e.Source.Repository, m) {
-			dir := strings.Trim(e.Source.Path, "/")
-			dirs = append(dirs, dir)
-			if parent := path.Dir(dir); parent != "." && parent != "/" {
-				parents[parent] = true
-			}
+		if !e.Provided && sameRepository(e.Source.Repository, m) {
+			knownDirs[strings.Trim(e.Source.Path, "/")] = true
 		}
 	}
-	changed := map[string]bool{}
-	for _, p := range m.Paths {
-		changed[strings.TrimPrefix(p, "/")] = true
+	newDir := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, d := range saidModuleDirs(m) {
+		if !knownDirs[d] {
+			newDir[d] = true
+		}
 	}
-	modules := saidModuleDirs(m)
 	for _, p := range m.Paths {
-		if insideAny(p, dirs) || inAModuleOfItsOwn(p, parents, changed) || insideAny(p, modules) {
+		p = strings.Trim(p, "/")
+		if p != moduleManifestFile && !strings.HasSuffix(p, "/"+moduleManifestFile) {
 			continue
 		}
-		return candidates
-	}
-	var out []inventory.Entry
-	for _, e := range candidates {
-		if e.Source.Path == "" || anyInside(m.Paths, e.Source.Path) {
-			out = append(out, e)
+		d := strings.TrimSuffix(strings.TrimSuffix(p, moduleManifestFile), "/")
+		if !knownDirs[d] {
+			if d == "" {
+				d = "."
+			}
+			newDir[d] = true
 		}
 	}
+	for d := range newDir {
+		added = append(added, d)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(added)
+
+	if len(m.Paths) == 0 || m.PathsTruncated {
+		return candidates, added, nil
+	}
+	for _, e := range candidates {
+		if strings.Trim(e.Source.Path, "/") == "" || anyInside(m.Paths, e.Source.Path) {
+			touched = append(touched, e)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, p := range m.Paths {
+		read := newDir["."]
+		for _, e := range candidates {
+			read = read || strings.Trim(e.Source.Path, "/") == "" || inside(p, e.Source.Path)
+		}
+		for d := range newDir {
+			read = read || inside(p, d)
+		}
+		if !read {
+			unread = append(unread, p)
+		}
+	}
+	return touched, added, unread
+}
+
+// mergeReach is what a merge of a repository's branch reaches, as the planner reckons it: the planner's
+// one answer, given to the release planner's what-if, the merge gate and a pull request's check (novox/hq
+// ADR 0238). The merge handler acts on the same pieces — mergeCandidates, touchedBy, splitDeleted,
+// planOfMerge — as it goes.
+type mergeReach struct {
+	// Touched are the modules built from the repository and branch whose build reads a changed file, and
+	// Deleted those of them whose manifest the merge removes.
+	Touched, Deleted []inventory.Entry
+	// Packaging are the modules whose build packages source from the repository.
+	Packaging []inventory.Entry
+	// Already counts the modules built from the repository that are built from this very commit.
+	Already int
+	// Added are the directories the change holds a new module in; Unread the changed files no build reads.
+	Added, Unread []string
+	// Plan is what moves and everything that follows it along the catalogue's dependencies, tiered —
+	// what a merge would build. Empty when nothing moves.
+	Plan inventory.Plan
+}
+
+// Moved are the modules the merge moves itself, by name: touched, deleted and packaging.
+func (r mergeReach) Moved() []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, group := range [][]inventory.Entry{r.Touched, r.Deleted, r.Packaging} {
+		for _, e := range group {
+			out = append(out, e.Manifest.Module)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return slices.Compact(out)
+}
+
+// Dependents are the modules the plan builds after the moved ones because they stand on them.
+func (r mergeReach) Dependents() []string {
+	moved := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, name := range r.Moved() {
+		moved[name] = true
+	}
+	var out []string
+	for name := range r.Plan.Modules {
+		if !moved[name] {
+			out = append(out, name)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
 	return out
 }
 
+// reachOfMerge is what a merge of these changed files into this branch would move and build, without
+// acting: the merge handler's own judgement and the release plan's dependency walk.
+func reachOfMerge(m link.SourceMoved, entries []inventory.Entry, read map[string][]inventory.ReadRepository,
+	edges []inventory.Edge) mergeReach {
+	from, packaging, already := mergeCandidates(m, entries, read)
+	touched, added, unread := touchedBy(from, entries, m)
+	kept, deleted := splitDeleted(touched, m)
+	r := mergeReach{Touched: kept, Deleted: deleted, Packaging: packaging, Already: already, Added: added, Unread: unread}
+	var building []string
+	for _, e := range append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, kept...), packaging...) {
+		building = append(building, e.Manifest.Module)
+	}
+	if len(building) > 0 {
+		r.Plan = planOfMerge(m, building, edges)
+	}
+	return r
+}
+
 // saidModuleDirs is the directories the announcer says hold a module at the merge commit (novox/hq
 // issue 278): a changed file in one of them is that module's business and nobody else's — the
 // catalogue's reference module, held by no machine, whose code a merge touched beside its manifest,
@@ -700,28 +786,6 @@ func saidModuleDirs(m link.SourceMoved) []string {
 	return out
 }
 
-// inAModuleOfItsOwn is whether a changed file is inside a module directory the mesh does not know —
-// `<parent>/<name>/…` under a directory known to hold modules, whose `module.json` the same merge
-// changed (novox/hq issue 252). Such a file is that module's business and nobody else's.
-func inAModuleOfItsOwn(p string, parents, changed map[string]bool) bool {
-	p = strings.TrimPrefix(p, "/")
-	for parent := range parents {
-		rest, under := strings.CutPrefix(p, parent+"/")
-		if !under {
-			continue
-		}
-		name, _, inADirectory := strings.Cut(rest, "/")
-		if !inADirectory || name == "" {
-			// A file directly in the parent — `modules/README.md` — is about all of them.
-			continue
-		}
-		if changed[parent+"/"+name+"/module.json"] {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
 // inside is whether a changed file is in a directory: that directory itself, or under it.
 func inside(path, dir string) bool {
 	dir = strings.Trim(dir, "/")
@@ -729,16 +793,6 @@ func inside(path, dir string) bool {
 	return path == dir || strings.HasPrefix(path, dir+"/")
 }
 
-// insideAny is whether a changed file is in any of these directories.
-func insideAny(path string, dirs []string) bool {
-	for _, dir := range dirs {
-		if inside(path, dir) {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
 // anyInside is whether any of these changed files is in a directory.
 func anyInside(paths []string, dir string) bool {
 	for _, p := range paths {
diff --git a/internal/builder/builder.go b/internal/builder/builder.go
index 9dabaa3..0484a40 100644
--- a/internal/builder/builder.go
+++ b/internal/builder/builder.go
@@ -68,6 +68,15 @@ type Result struct {
 	// change to this module (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
 	Read []catalogue.ArtifactContext
 
+	// Trunk is the repository's default branch as the forge holds it at the build, and OnTrunk whether
+	// the commit built is reachable from it (novox/hq ADR 0238): a commit off the trunk is checked,
+	// never published. Trunk empty is "could not be said".
+	Trunk   string
+	OnTrunk bool
+	// Branches are every branch of the forge the commit is on: a module may follow a branch other than
+	// the default, and that branch is its trunk.
+	Branches []string
+
 	// Source is the build's source fingerprint (source.go): what it was made from — the module's tree,
 	// the contexts' trees, the bases and toolchains by digest — hashed. Empty where the source does not
 	// pin the build. Two builds with one fingerprint are one build, whatever digests they made
@@ -144,6 +153,16 @@ func Build(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 	}
 	commit = strings.TrimSpace(commit)
 	say("commit", "%s", short(commit))
+	// **Whether the commit is on the trunk** (novox/hq ADR 0238): only a commit on the repository's own
+	// default branch is published. Read from the clone just made — the forge's own word on which branch
+	// is its default and what it holds now — and said with the outcome, so the controller refuses to
+	// register a build of a commit off it.
+	trunk, onTrunk := trunkOf(ctx, run, tree, commit)
+	branches := branchesHolding(ctx, run, tree, commit)
+	if trunk != "" {
+		say("trunk", "%s is %son %s; on %s", short(commit), map[bool]string{true: "", false: "NOT "}[onTrunk], trunk,
+			orNoBranch(branches))
+	}
 
 	// A module is a repository and a path within it (novox/hq ADR 0069). The ordinary case is an
 	// empty path, meaning the repository's root; a repository holding several modules names each
@@ -250,7 +269,50 @@ func Build(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 		say("source", "no source fingerprint: %s", orNoTree(src.unpinned))
 	}
 	return Result{Manifest: resolved, Commit: commit, Built: built,
-		Against: against(within, manifest, stoodOn), Read: readBy(manifest), Source: fingerprint}, nil
+		Against: against(within, manifest, stoodOn), Read: readBy(manifest), Source: fingerprint,
+		Trunk: trunk, OnTrunk: onTrunk, Branches: branches}, nil
+}
+
+// branchesHolding is every branch of a fresh clone's origin the commit is on, without `origin/`.
+func branchesHolding(ctx context.Context, run Runner, clone, commit string) []string {
+	out, err := run(ctx, clone, "git", "branch", "--remotes", "--format=%(refname:short)", "--contains", commit)
+	if err != nil {
+		// empty-on-error: no branch said is the commit on none, which refuses its registration — never a pass
+		return nil
+	}
+	var branches []string
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(out, "\n") {
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		if b, ok := strings.CutPrefix(line, "origin/"); ok && b != "HEAD" && b != "" {
+			branches = append(branches, b)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(branches)
+	return branches
+}
+
+func orNoBranch(branches []string) string {
+	if len(branches) == 0 {
+		return "no branch"
+	}
+	return strings.Join(branches, ", ")
+}
+
+// trunkOf is a fresh clone's trunk — the branch the forge names its default, as `origin/HEAD` says — and
+// whether a commit is reachable from it. Empty when the clone does not say, which is "not known", never
+// "on it".
+func trunkOf(ctx context.Context, run Runner, clone, commit string) (string, bool) {
+	head, err := run(ctx, clone, "git", "symbolic-ref", "--quiet", "--short", "refs/remotes/origin/HEAD")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", false
+	}
+	remote := strings.TrimSpace(head)
+	trunk := strings.TrimPrefix(remote, "origin/")
+	if trunk == "" || trunk == remote {
+		return "", false
+	}
+	_, err = run(ctx, clone, "git", "merge-base", "--is-ancestor", commit, remote)
+	return trunk, err == nil
 }
 
 // orNoTree is why a build has no source fingerprint, for its log.
diff --git a/internal/builder/check.go b/internal/builder/check.go
index 17a01b4..5857363 100644
--- a/internal/builder/check.go
+++ b/internal/builder/check.go
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 package builder
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"net"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -18,27 +20,40 @@ import (
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/facts"
 )
 
-// A pull request's merge check, run on the build seat (novox/hq to-be 45 §9).
+// A pull request's merge check, run on the build seat (novox/hq to-be 45 §9, ADR 0237).
 //
 // **The build machine already has what a check needs**: the repositories, a container runtime, the
 // artifact store where the controller keeps the facts snapshot, and a Go toolchain. So a check is one
 // more kind of work on the build seat's queue rather than a CI the mesh would have to run beside itself.
 //
+// **Two layers, each its own status on the pull request** (ADR 0237 as amended, 2026-10-06):
+//
+//   - **the gate** (`mesh/merge-gate`) runs when the change touches a module of the mesh's graph — the
+//     controller, which holds the graph, says which (Modules) and which directories it adds a module in
+//     (New). The touched manifests through `module check`; every machine of the facts snapshot composed
+//     with the change and validated by the node-engine's own validator; then mesh-lab's replays. The
+//     judge is the controller the mesh runs — or, for a change to the controller, the change's own
+//     controller, and for a change to the node-engine, the running controller with the change's validator
+//     in place of the one it vendors. The graph decides whether this runs, never the repository.
+//   - **the repository's own check** (`mesh/repo-check`): its merge-check.sh, its unit tests and code
+//     quality, run when present in the toolchain it declares (`# mesh-check-toolchain: go|typescript`
+//     among its first lines; go when it declares none). A repository that reaches the build seat with
+//     none is said as a warning: it is the mesh's, and nothing of its own is tested before it merges.
+//
 // One check:
 //
 //  1. clones the repository at the pull request's head, and beside it the repositories its check
-//     reads — the controller the mesh runs, the catalogue, the host — each at the ref asked;
+//     reads — the controller the mesh runs, the catalogue, the host, the lab — each at the ref asked;
 //  2. reads the facts snapshot the controller keeps, and with it **the versions the mesh runs**: the
 //     store a check's tests stand on is the store's own release, and the bus the bus's;
 //  3. raises a throwaway PostgreSQL and a throwaway bus of those versions, labelled with the ask so a
 //     kill or a crash leaves nothing behind;
-//  4. builds the judge — the controller the mesh runs, or its main while the running one predates the
-//     merge gate — and runs the repository's own merge-check.sh, or the merge gate alone for a
-//     repository that declares none. **In the mesh's Go toolchain, in a container of its own**, never in
-//     the build machine's: a pull request is code nobody has approved yet, and the build machine holds
-//     the container runtime's socket; the check's container holds none, and reaches only the
-//     throwaway store and bus on loopback;
-//  5. answers pass, warning or fail from what ran, and error — never pass — when it could not run.
+//  4. runs the gate, then the repository's script — **each in a toolchain container of its own**, never
+//     in the build machine: a pull request is code nobody has approved yet, and the build machine holds
+//     the container runtime's socket; the check's container holds none, and reaches only the throwaway
+//     store and bus on loopback. Only the replays — mesh-lab's main, reviewed code — get the socket;
+//  5. answers each layer pass, warning or fail from what ran, and error — never pass — when it could
+//     not run.
 
 // CheckSpec is one check, as the controller asks it.
 type CheckSpec struct {
@@ -51,18 +66,40 @@ type CheckSpec struct {
 	Paths      []string
 	// Beside are the repositories cloned next to it, by the directory they are found under.
 	Beside map[string]Beside
+	// Modules are the modules of the mesh's graph the change touches, New the directories it adds a
+	// module in, and Manifests the manifests among them in the change's tree: the gate runs when Modules
+	// or New is not empty.
+	Modules   []string
+	New       []string
+	Manifests []string
+	// Base is the branch the pull request merges into: what the gate compares the change against.
+	Base string
+	// Judge is who judges the gate: "" the controller the mesh runs, "self" the change's own, "validator"
+	// the running one with the change's validator.
+	Judge string
 	// Toolchain is the image a check's Go runs in: the mesh's own Go toolchain, as it holds it.
-	Toolchain string
+	// Toolchains is every toolchain the mesh holds, by language, for a script that declares another.
+	Toolchain  string
+	Toolchains map[string]string
 }
 
+// Gated is whether the change touches the mesh's graph, and so whether the gate runs.
+func (s CheckSpec) Gated() bool { return len(s.Modules)+len(s.New) > 0 }
+
 // ToolchainOf is the Go toolchain image among what the mesh holds, empty when it holds none.
 func ToolchainOf(held map[string]string) string {
+	return ToolchainsOf(held)["go"]
+}
+
+// ToolchainsOf is every toolchain image the mesh holds, by language.
+func ToolchainsOf(held map[string]string) map[string]string {
+	out := map[string]string{}
 	for _, chain := range toolchains {
-		if chain.Language == "go" {
-			return held[chain.Base+"/"+chain.Artifact]
+		if image := held[chain.Base+"/"+chain.Artifact]; image != "" {
+			out[chain.Language] = image
 		}
 	}
-	return ""
+	return out
 }
 
 // Beside is one repository cloned next to the one checked.
@@ -71,15 +108,24 @@ type Beside struct {
 	Ref        string
 }
 
-// CheckVerdict is what came of one check.
+// CheckVerdict is what came of one check. Verdict and Summary are the gate's; Gate and Repo each layer.
 type CheckVerdict struct {
 	Verdict string
 	Summary string
 	Report  string
 	Took    time.Duration
+	Gate    *Layer
+	Repo    *Layer
 }
 
-// CheckScript is what a repository declares its merge check as: run from its root, with the
+// Layer is one layer of a check, judged.
+type Layer struct {
+	Verdict string
+	Summary string
+	Modules []string
+}
+
+// CheckScript is what a repository declares its own merge check as: run from its root, with the
 // environment below.
 const CheckScript = "merge-check.sh"
 
@@ -94,6 +140,7 @@ const (
 	EnvChanged    = "MESH_CHECK_CHANGED"
 	EnvVerdict    = "MESH_CHECK_VERDICT"
 	EnvBeside     = "MESH_CHECK_BESIDE"
+	EnvModules    = "MESH_CHECK_MODULES"
 )
 
 // CheckTimeout bounds one check; a check that runs past it is an error, not a pass.
@@ -102,6 +149,28 @@ var CheckTimeout = 45 * time.Minute
 // reportLines is how much of what a check printed travels in its verdict.
 const reportLines = 200
 
+// noModule is the gate's word for a change that touches nothing of the mesh's graph: a fact, not a
+// missing check, so a pass.
+const noModule = "the change touches no module of the mesh's graph"
+
+// noScript is the repository layer's word for a repository with no merge-check.sh of its own.
+const noScript = "the repository declares no " + CheckScript + ": none of its own tests run before it merges"
+
+// toolchainLine is how a merge-check.sh declares the toolchain it runs in.
+var toolchainLine = regexp.MustCompile(`^#\s*mesh-check-toolchain:\s*([a-z0-9-]+)\s*$`)
+
+// ScriptToolchain is the language a merge-check.sh declares it runs in, among its first twenty lines;
+// go when it declares none.
+func ScriptToolchain(script []byte) string {
+	lines := bufio.NewScanner(bytes.NewReader(script))
+	for i := 0; i < 20 && lines.Scan(); i++ {
+		if m := toolchainLine.FindStringSubmatch(strings.TrimSpace(lines.Text())); m != nil {
+			return m[1]
+		}
+	}
+	return "go"
+}
+
 // Check runs one merge check. An error is that it could not run; the verdict is then "error".
 func Check(ctx context.Context, run Runner, spec CheckSpec, workspace, registry string, forge GitCredential,
 	log Log) (CheckVerdict, error) {
@@ -137,13 +206,24 @@ func Check(ctx context.Context, run Runner, spec CheckSpec, workspace, registry
 		return nil
 	}
 	name := spec.Repo
-	if name == "" {
+	if name == "" || !safeName.MatchString(name) {
 		name = "checked"
 	}
 	say("check", "%s/%s#%d at %s", spec.Owner, spec.Repo, spec.Number, short(spec.Ref))
 	if err := clone(spec.Repository, spec.Ref, name); err != nil {
 		return CheckVerdict{}, err
 	}
+	tree := filepath.Join(root, name)
+	script, scriptErr := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(tree, CheckScript))
+	hasScript := scriptErr == nil
+	gated := spec.Gated()
+	if !gated && !hasScript {
+		// Nothing to run: said, never passed silently.
+		v := CheckVerdict{Verdict: "pass", Summary: noModule, Took: time.Since(began),
+			Gate: &Layer{Verdict: "pass", Summary: noModule}, Repo: &Layer{Verdict: "warning", Summary: noScript}}
+		say("check", "%s; %s", noModule, noScript)
+		return v, nil
+	}
 	for dir, b := range spec.Beside {
 		if dir == name || !safeName.MatchString(dir) {
 			continue
@@ -204,102 +284,358 @@ 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")
 	}
-	inToolchain := func(dir string, env []string, command ...string) []string {
+	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}
 		for _, e := range env {
 			args = append(args, "--env", e)
 		}
-		return append(append(args, spec.Toolchain), command...)
+		return append(append(args, image), command...)
 	}
-
-	// The judge: the controller the mesh runs, or its main while the running one has no merge gate.
-	gate := ""
-	if name != "mesh-controller" {
-		gate, err = judge(ctx, labelled, run, root, inToolchain, say)
-		if err != nil {
-			return CheckVerdict{}, err
-		}
+	inToolchain := func(dir string, env []string, command ...string) []string {
+		return in(spec.Toolchain, dir, env, command...)
 	}
-
-	verdictFile := filepath.Join(root, "verdict.json")
-	env := append([]string{},
-		EnvFacts+"="+factsFile, EnvGate+"="+gate, EnvGateStore+"="+storeURL, EnvTestStore+"="+storeURL,
-		EnvTestBus+"=nats://"+bus, EnvRepository+"="+spec.Owner+"/"+spec.Repo,
-		EnvChanged+"="+strings.Join(spec.Paths, ","), EnvVerdict+"="+verdictFile, EnvBeside+"="+root,
-		"GOCACHE="+filepath.Join(workspace, "go-cache"), "GOMODCACHE="+filepath.Join(workspace, "go-modules"))
-	tree := filepath.Join(root, name)
-	var command []string
-	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(tree, CheckScript)); err == nil {
-		say("check", "running its %s in the mesh's Go toolchain", CheckScript)
-		command = []string{"sh", CheckScript}
-	} else {
-		if gate == "" {
-			return CheckVerdict{}, fmt.Errorf("%s declares no %s and there is no judge to run", name, CheckScript)
-		}
-		say("check", "it declares no %s: the merge gate alone", CheckScript)
-		command = []string{"sh", "-c", `"$MESH_GATE" merge-gate --facts "$MESH_FACTS" --store "$MESH_GATE_POSTGRES" ` +
-			`--repository "$MESH_CHECK_REPOSITORY" --tree . --changed "$MESH_CHECK_CHANGED" --json > "$MESH_CHECK_VERDICT"`}
-	}
-	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "docker", LabelledArgs("docker", inToolchain(tree, env, command...), spec.ID)...)
-	inItsOwnGroup(cmd)
 	var out tail
-	cmd.Stdout, cmd.Stderr = &out, &out
-	runErr := cmd.Run()
+	// running runs one container of the check, its output into the report, in a process group of its own.
+	running := func(args []string) error {
+		cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "docker", LabelledArgs("docker", args, spec.ID)...)
+		inItsOwnGroup(cmd)
+		cmd.Stdout, cmd.Stderr = &out, &out
+		return cmd.Run()
+	}
 
-	// **And the replays of what the mesh runs** (to-be 45 §9, M9): mesh-lab's, from its main — reviewed
-	// code, so given the container runtime the resolver replay raises containers with — against the bus
-	// of the release the mesh runs and the change's own catalogue when the change is to the catalogue.
-	var replayErr error
-	if lab := filepath.Join(root, "mesh-lab", "replays"); runErr == nil && ctx.Err() == nil {
+	// The judge. Its failing to build is the change's fault when the change is the judge or its validator,
+	// and the check's when it is the controller the mesh runs.
+	gate, judgeFault, err := judgeFor(ctx, labelled, run, spec, root, tree, inToolchain, say)
+	if err != nil {
+		return CheckVerdict{}, err
+	}
+	verdictFile := filepath.Join(root, "verdict.json")
+	env := []string{EnvFacts + "=" + factsFile, EnvGate + "=" + gate, EnvGateStore + "=" + storeURL,
+		EnvTestStore + "=" + storeURL, EnvTestBus + "=nats://" + bus, EnvRepository + "=" + spec.Owner + "/" + spec.Repo,
+		EnvChanged + "=" + strings.Join(spec.Paths, ","), EnvBeside + "=" + root,
+		EnvModules + "=" + strings.Join(append(append([]string{}, spec.Modules...), spec.New...), ","),
+		"GOCACHE=" + filepath.Join(workspace, "go-cache"), "GOMODCACHE=" + filepath.Join(workspace, "go-modules")}
+
+	v := CheckVerdict{}
+	modules := append(append([]string{}, spec.Modules...), prefixed("new:", spec.New)...)
+	timedOut := func() bool { return errors.Is(ctx.Err(), context.DeadlineExceeded) }
+
+	// **The gate**, when the graph says the change touches it.
+	if !gated {
+		v.Gate = &Layer{Verdict: "pass", Summary: noModule}
+	} else {
+		v.Gate = &Layer{Modules: modules}
+		switch {
+		case judgeFault != "":
+			v.Gate.Verdict, v.Gate.Summary = "fail", judgeFault
+		default:
+			say("check", "the gate: %d module(s) of the graph touched — %s", len(modules), strings.Join(modules, ", "))
+			fmt.Fprintf(&out, "--- the gate: %s\n", strings.Join(modules, ", "))
+			v.Gate.Verdict, v.Gate.Summary = gateLayer(ctx, spec, tree, root, gate, verdictFile, env, inToolchain,
+				running, &out, bus, workspace, name, say)
+		}
+		if timedOut() {
+			v.Gate.Verdict, v.Gate.Summary = "error", fmt.Sprintf("the check ran past %s and was ended", CheckTimeout)
+		}
+	}
+	if ctx.Err() != nil && !timedOut() {
+		return v, ctx.Err()
+	}
+
+	// **The repository's own check**, in the toolchain it declares.
+	switch {
+	case !hasScript:
+		v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "warning", Summary: noScript}
+	case timedOut():
+		v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "error", Summary: fmt.Sprintf("the check ran past %s before its %s ran", CheckTimeout, CheckScript)}
+	default:
+		language := ScriptToolchain(script)
+		image := spec.Toolchains[language]
+		if language == "go" && image == "" {
+			image = spec.Toolchain
+		}
+		if image == "" {
+			v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "error", Summary: fmt.Sprintf("its %s runs in the %s toolchain, which the mesh does "+
+				"not hold", CheckScript, language)}
+			break
+		}
+		say("check", "running its %s in the mesh's %s toolchain", CheckScript, language)
+		fmt.Fprintf(&out, "--- its %s (%s toolchain)\n", CheckScript, language)
+		var own tail
+		cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "docker", LabelledArgs("docker", in(image, tree, env, "sh", CheckScript), spec.ID)...)
+		inItsOwnGroup(cmd)
+		w := io.MultiWriter(&out, &own)
+		cmd.Stdout, cmd.Stderr = w, w
+		switch err := cmd.Run(); {
+		case timedOut():
+			v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "error", Summary: fmt.Sprintf("its %s ran past %s and was ended", CheckScript, CheckTimeout)}
+		case ctx.Err() != nil:
+			return v, ctx.Err()
+		case err != nil:
+			v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "fail", Summary: "its " + CheckScript + " failed: " + lastLine(own.String())}
+		default:
+			v.Repo = &Layer{Verdict: "pass", Summary: "its " + CheckScript + " passed"}
+		}
+	}
+
+	v.Verdict, v.Summary = v.Gate.Verdict, v.Gate.Summary
+	v.Report, v.Took = out.String(), time.Since(began)
+	say("check", "gate %s — %s; repository %s — %s (%s)", strings.ToUpper(v.Gate.Verdict), v.Gate.Summary,
+		strings.ToUpper(v.Repo.Verdict), v.Repo.Summary, v.Took.Round(time.Second))
+	return v, nil
+}
+
+// gateLayer runs the gate: the touched manifests through `module check`, every machine composed with the
+// change, and the replays of what the mesh runs. It answers the gate's verdict and summary.
+func gateLayer(ctx context.Context, spec CheckSpec, tree, root, gate, verdictFile string, env []string,
+	inToolchain func(string, []string, ...string) []string, running func([]string) error, out *tail, bus, workspace,
+	name string, say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (string, string) {
+	// 1. The manifests the change touches, as the judge reads them: a manifest it cannot read, or one with a
+	// problem the change brings, fails here. **What was already so on the base branch is said and fails
+	// nothing** — the gate's own rule: a module whose manifest the running controller already finds fault
+	// with would otherwise fail every pull request that touches it, for a fault none of them made.
+	var manifests []string
+	for _, m := range spec.Manifests {
+		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(tree, m)); err == nil {
+			manifests = append(manifests, m)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(manifests) > 0 {
+		checked := func(dir string) (string, error) {
+			var own tail
+			cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "docker", LabelledArgs("docker",
+				inToolchain(dir, env, append([]string{gate, "module", "check"}, manifests...)...), spec.ID)...)
+			inItsOwnGroup(cmd)
+			w := io.MultiWriter(out, &own)
+			cmd.Stdout, cmd.Stderr = w, w
+			err := cmd.Run()
+			return own.String(), err
+		}
+		said, err := checked(tree)
+		if err != nil {
+			if ctx.Err() != nil {
+				return "error", "the check was ended during the module check"
+			}
+			// The same manifests as the base branch has them, beside the change.
+			was := ""
+			if spec.Base != "" {
+				base := filepath.Join(root, "base-manifests")
+				for _, m := range manifests {
+					body, err := gitShow(ctx, tree, "origin/"+spec.Base, m)
+					if err != nil {
+						continue // new on this branch: nothing was so before it
+					}
+					if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(filepath.Join(base, m)), 0o755); err == nil {
+						_ = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(base, m), body, 0o644)
+					}
+				}
+				fmt.Fprintf(out, "--- the same manifests on %s\n", spec.Base)
+				if _, err := os.Stat(base); err == nil {
+					was, _ = checked(base)
+				}
+			}
+			brought := newProblems(said, was)
+			if len(brought) > 0 {
+				return "fail", "a manifest the change touches fails the module check: " + brought[0]
+			}
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, "the module check's problems were all so on %s already: said, not the change's\n", spec.Base)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// 2. Every machine composed with the change.
+	if err := running(inToolchain(tree, append(env, EnvVerdict+"="+verdictFile), "sh", "-c",
+		`"$MESH_GATE" merge-gate --facts "$MESH_FACTS" --store "$MESH_GATE_POSTGRES" `+
+			`--repository "$MESH_CHECK_REPOSITORY" --tree . --changed "$MESH_CHECK_CHANGED" --json > "$MESH_CHECK_VERDICT"`)); err != nil {
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
+			return "error", "the check was ended during the merge gate"
+		}
+		var said struct {
+			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
+		}
+		// 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())
+	}
+	var said struct {
+		Verdict string `json:"verdict"`
+		Summary string `json:"summary"`
+	}
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(verdictFile)
+	if err != nil || json.Unmarshal(raw, &said) != nil || said.Verdict == "" {
+		return "error", "the merge gate said no verdict"
+	}
+
+	// 3. **The replays of what the mesh runs** (to-be 45 §9, M9): mesh-lab's, from its main — reviewed code,
+	// so given the container runtime the resolver replay raises containers with — against the bus of the
+	// release the mesh runs and the change's own catalogue when the change is to the catalogue.
+	if lab := filepath.Join(root, "mesh-lab", "replays"); ctx.Err() == nil {
 		if _, err := os.Stat(lab); err == nil {
 			catalogue := filepath.Join(root, "mesh-catalog")
 			if name == "mesh-catalog" {
 				catalogue = tree
 			}
 			say("check", "the replays of what the mesh runs, from mesh-lab")
-			fmt.Fprintln(&out, "--- the replays (mesh-lab replays/)")
+			fmt.Fprintln(out, "--- the replays (mesh-lab replays/)")
 			args := inToolchain(lab, []string{EnvTestBus + "=nats://" + bus, "MESH_REPLAY_CATALOGUE=" + catalogue,
 				"GOCACHE=" + filepath.Join(workspace, "go-cache"), "GOMODCACHE=" + filepath.Join(workspace, "go-modules")},
 				"go", "test", "-count=1", "./...")
-			// The socket goes to the replays alone, never to the change's own script above.
+			// The socket goes to the replays alone, never to the change's own code above.
 			args = append([]string{args[0], "--volume", "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"}, args[1:]...)
-			replays := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "docker", LabelledArgs("docker", args, spec.ID)...)
-			inItsOwnGroup(replays)
-			replays.Stdout, replays.Stderr = &out, &out
-			replayErr = replays.Run()
+			if err := running(args); err != nil {
+				if ctx.Err() != nil {
+					return "error", "the check was ended during the replays"
+				}
+				return "fail", "a replay of a core incident fails with this change: " + lastLine(out.String())
+			}
 		}
 	}
-	v := CheckVerdict{Report: out.String(), Took: time.Since(began)}
-	var gateSaid struct {
-		Verdict string `json:"verdict"`
-		Summary string `json:"summary"`
+	if said.Verdict == "pass" || said.Verdict == "warning" || said.Verdict == "fail" {
+		return said.Verdict, said.Summary
 	}
-	if raw, err := os.ReadFile(verdictFile); err == nil {
-		_ = json.Unmarshal(raw, &gateSaid)
-	}
-	switch {
-	case errors.Is(ctx.Err(), context.DeadlineExceeded):
-		v.Verdict, v.Summary = "error", fmt.Sprintf("the check ran past %s and was ended", CheckTimeout)
-	case ctx.Err() != nil:
-		return v, ctx.Err()
-	case runErr != nil:
-		v.Verdict = "fail"
-		v.Summary = gateSaid.Summary
-		if v.Summary == "" || gateSaid.Verdict != "fail" {
-			v.Summary = "the merge check failed: " + lastLine(out.String())
+	return "error", "the merge gate said " + said.Verdict
+}
+
+// judgeFor builds the judge of a check: the change's own controller (a change to the controller), the
+// running controller built with the change's validator (a change to the node-engine), or the controller
+// the mesh runs. It answers the judge's path; or, when the change makes its own judge unbuildable, why —
+// the change's fault, a failing gate; or an error when the check cannot build a judge at all. A check
+// whose gate does not run builds a judge only to hand its scripts one, and goes on without when it cannot.
+func judgeFor(ctx context.Context, labelled, run Runner, spec CheckSpec, root, tree string,
+	inToolchain func(string, []string, ...string) []string, say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (string, string, error) {
+	gated := spec.Gated()
+	switch spec.Judge {
+	case "self":
+		bin := filepath.Join(root, "bin", "judge-of-itself")
+		if _, err := labelled(ctx, root, "docker", inToolchain(tree,
+			[]string{"CGO_ENABLED=0", "GOFLAGS=-mod=vendor", "GOPROXY=off", "GOCACHE=" + filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(root), "go-cache")},
+			"go", "build", "-o", bin, "./cmd/mesh-controller")...); err != nil {
+			return "", "the change's controller, which judges itself, does not build: " + firstLine(err.Error()), nil
 		}
-	case replayErr != nil:
-		v.Verdict, v.Summary = "fail", "a replay of a core incident fails with this change: "+lastLine(out.String())
-	default:
-		v.Verdict, v.Summary = "pass", "the merge check passed"
-		if gateSaid.Verdict == "warning" || gateSaid.Verdict == "pass" {
-			v.Verdict, v.Summary = gateSaid.Verdict, gateSaid.Summary
+		say("check", "judged by the change's own controller")
+		return bin, "", nil
+	}
+	bin, judgeTree, err := judge(ctx, labelled, run, root, inToolchain, say)
+	if err != nil {
+		if !gated {
+			say("check", "no judge for its script: %v", err)
+			return "", "", nil
+		}
+		return "", "", err
+	}
+	if spec.Judge != "validator" {
+		return bin, "", nil
+	}
+	// The node-engine's change: its validator in place of the one the judge vendors.
+	vendored := filepath.Join(root, judgeTree, "vendor", "github.com", "novox", "mesh-host")
+	for _, pkg := range []string{"validate", filepath.Join("internal", "declaration")} {
+		if err := replaceGoFiles(filepath.Join(tree, pkg), filepath.Join(vendored, pkg)); err != nil {
+			return "", "", fmt.Errorf("the change's validator could not be put in the judge: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
-	say("check", "%s — %s (%s)", strings.ToUpper(v.Verdict), v.Summary, v.Took.Round(time.Second))
-	return v, nil
+	withValidator := filepath.Join(root, "bin", "judge-with-this-validator")
+	if _, err := labelled(ctx, root, "docker", inToolchain(filepath.Join(root, judgeTree),
+		[]string{"CGO_ENABLED=0", "GOFLAGS=-mod=vendor", "GOPROXY=off", "GOCACHE=" + filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(root), "go-cache")},
+		"go", "build", "-o", withValidator, "./cmd/mesh-controller")...); err != nil {
+		return "", "the controller the mesh runs does not build with this change's validator: " + firstLine(err.Error()), nil
+	}
+	say("check", "judged by the controller the mesh runs, with this change's validator")
+	return withValidator, "", nil
+}
+
+// replaceGoFiles puts a package's Go files — never its tests — in place of another copy's.
+func replaceGoFiles(from, into string) error {
+	old, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(into, "*.go"))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	for _, f := range old {
+		if err := os.Remove(f); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(into, 0o755); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	files, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(from, "*.go"))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(files) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s holds no Go files", from)
+	}
+	for _, f := range files {
+		if strings.HasSuffix(f, "_test.go") {
+			continue
+		}
+		body, err := os.ReadFile(f)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(into, filepath.Base(f)), body, 0o644); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// problemLines are the lines of a module check's output that name a problem: not a manifest found ok, not
+// the count, not the closing note.
+func problemLines(s string) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(s, "\n") {
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		switch {
+		case line == "", strings.Contains(line, ": ok"), strings.Contains(line, "problem(s) in"),
+			strings.Contains(line, "manifest(s) checked"):
+			continue
+		}
+		out = append(out, line)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// newProblems are the problems a module check said of the change that it did not say of the base.
+func newProblems(change, base string) []string {
+	was := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, p := range problemLines(base) {
+		was[p] = true
+	}
+	var out []string
+	for _, p := range problemLines(change) {
+		if !was[p] {
+			out = append(out, p)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(out) == 0 && len(problemLines(change)) == 0 {
+		// It failed and named nothing: not readable as already so.
+		out = append(out, lastLine(change))
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// gitShow is a file as a ref has it.
+func gitShow(ctx context.Context, dir, ref, file string) ([]byte, error) {
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "git", "show", ref+":"+filepath.ToSlash(file))
+	cmd.Dir = dir
+	return cmd.Output()
+}
+
+func prefixed(prefix string, items []string) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(items))
+	for _, i := range items {
+		out = append(out, prefix+i)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func firstLine(s string) string {
+	line, _, _ := strings.Cut(strings.TrimSpace(s), "\n")
+	return line
 }
 
 // safeName is a directory a repository beside a check may be cloned under.
@@ -377,9 +713,10 @@ func dialable(ctx context.Context, address string) error {
 }
 
 // judge builds the controller that judges a change: the one the mesh runs, beside the check as
-// mesh-controller — or, when that one predates the merge gate, the controller's main, said.
+// mesh-controller — or, when that one predates the merge gate, the controller's main, said. It answers
+// the binary and the directory it was built from.
 func judge(ctx context.Context, run, plain Runner, root string, inToolchain func(string, []string, ...string) []string,
-	say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (string, error) {
+	say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (string, string, error) {
 	bin := filepath.Join(root, "bin", "mesh-controller")
 	build := func(dir string) error {
 		_, err := run(ctx, root, "docker", inToolchain(filepath.Join(root, dir),
@@ -394,21 +731,21 @@ func judge(ctx context.Context, run, plain Runner, root string, inToolchain func
 	}
 	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(root, "mesh-controller")); err == nil {
 		if err := build("mesh-controller"); err != nil {
-			return "", fmt.Errorf("the controller the mesh runs does not build: %w", err)
+			return "", "", fmt.Errorf("the controller the mesh runs does not build: %w", err)
 		}
 		if hasGate() {
 			say("check", "judged by the controller the mesh runs")
-			return bin, nil
+			return bin, "mesh-controller", nil
 		}
 	}
 	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(root, "mesh-controller-main")); err != nil {
-		return "", errors.New("no controller beside the check to judge it with")
+		return "", "", errors.New("no controller beside the check to judge it with")
 	}
 	if err := build("mesh-controller-main"); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("the controller's main does not build: %w", err)
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("the controller's main does not build: %w", err)
 	}
 	say("check", "judged by the controller's main: the one the mesh runs predates the merge gate")
-	return bin, nil
+	return bin, "mesh-controller-main", nil
 }
 
 // tail keeps the last lines written to it.
diff --git a/internal/builder/check_test.go b/internal/builder/check_test.go
index d3911f1..768c4f4 100644
--- a/internal/builder/check_test.go
+++ b/internal/builder/check_test.go
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ func aCheckedRepository(t *testing.T, files map[string]string) (string, string)
 	}
 	git("init", "--quiet", "-b", "main")
 	for name, body := range files {
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(filepath.Join(dir, name)), 0o755); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
 		if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, name), []byte(body), 0o755); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
@@ -88,28 +91,31 @@ func labelled(id string) []string {
 
 func TestACheckRunsTheRepositorysOwnScriptBesideTheMeshsVersionsAndLeavesNothing(t *testing.T) {
 	registry := checkEnvironment(t)
-	// The script proves what it was given: the facts, a store that answers, a bus that answers, and
-	// writes the gate's verdict where it is told to.
+	// The script proves what it was given: the facts, a store that answers, a bus that answers — and no
+	// container runtime socket.
 	script := `set -e
 test -s "$MESH_FACTS"
 grep -q '"bus": "2.11.17"' "$MESH_FACTS" || grep -q '"bus":"2.11.17"' "$MESH_FACTS"
 case "$MESH_TEST_POSTGRES" in postgres://*127.0.0.1:*) ;; *) echo "no store: $MESH_TEST_POSTGRES"; exit 1;; esac
 case "$MESH_TEST_NATS" in nats://127.0.0.1:*) ;; *) echo "no bus: $MESH_TEST_NATS"; exit 1;; esac
-test "$MESH_CHECK_REPOSITORY" = "novox/mesh-controller"
+test "$MESH_CHECK_REPOSITORY" = "novox/hq"
 test "$MESH_CHECK_CHANGED" = "a.go,b.go"
 test ! -S /var/run/docker.sock || { echo "the check holds the container runtime's socket"; exit 1; }
-echo '{"verdict":"warning","summary":"a merge rebuilds 14 module(s)"}' > "$MESH_CHECK_VERDICT"
 echo checked
 `
 	repo, head := aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{CheckScript: script})
 	id := fmt.Sprintf("check-test-%d", time.Now().UnixNano())
 	v, err := Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: id, Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox",
-		Repo: "mesh-controller", Number: 7, Paths: []string{"a.go", "b.go"}, Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
+		Repo: "hq", Number: 7, Paths: []string{"a.go", "b.go"}, Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	if v.Verdict != "warning" || v.Summary != "a merge rebuilds 14 module(s)" || !strings.Contains(v.Report, "checked") {
-		t.Fatalf("the check answered %+v", v)
+	// Nothing of the graph touched: the gate a pass that says so, the repository's own check run.
+	if v.Gate == nil || v.Gate.Verdict != "pass" || v.Gate.Summary != noModule {
+		t.Errorf("the gate answered %+v", v.Gate)
+	}
+	if v.Repo == nil || v.Repo.Verdict != "pass" || !strings.Contains(v.Report, "checked") {
+		t.Fatalf("the repository's check answered %+v\n%s", v.Repo, v.Report)
 	}
 	if left := labelled(id); len(left) > 0 {
 		t.Errorf("the check left %d container(s) behind", len(left))
@@ -120,12 +126,20 @@ func TestAFailingCheckFailsAndOneThatCannotRunIsNeverAPass(t *testing.T) {
 	registry := checkEnvironment(t)
 	repo, head := aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{CheckScript: "echo 'resource \"x.service\": refused'; exit 3\n"})
 	v, err := Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: fmt.Sprintf("check-fail-%d", time.Now().UnixNano()),
-		Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-controller", Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
+		Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox", Repo: "hq", Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	if v.Verdict != "fail" || !strings.Contains(v.Summary, "refused") {
-		t.Fatalf("a failing script answered %+v", v)
+	if v.Repo == nil || v.Repo.Verdict != "fail" || !strings.Contains(v.Repo.Summary, "refused") {
+		t.Fatalf("a failing script answered %+v", v.Repo)
+	}
+
+	// A script in a toolchain the mesh does not hold: an error, never a pass.
+	repo, head = aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{CheckScript: "# mesh-check-toolchain: cobol\nexit 0\n"})
+	v, err = Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: fmt.Sprintf("check-cobol-%d", time.Now().UnixNano()),
+		Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox", Repo: "hq", Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
+	if err != nil || v.Repo == nil || v.Repo.Verdict != "error" {
+		t.Fatalf("a script in a toolchain nobody holds answered %+v, %v", v.Repo, err)
 	}
 
 	// Past its bound: an error, not a pass.
@@ -134,19 +148,229 @@ func TestAFailingCheckFailsAndOneThatCannotRunIsNeverAPass(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Cleanup(func() { CheckTimeout = was })
 	repo, head = aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{CheckScript: "sleep 120\n"})
 	v, err = Check(context.Background(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: fmt.Sprintf("check-slow-%d", time.Now().UnixNano()),
-		Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-controller", Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
-	if err == nil && v.Verdict == "pass" {
-		t.Fatalf("a check past its bound passed: %+v", v)
-	}
-	if err == nil && v.Verdict != "error" {
-		t.Fatalf("a check past its bound answered %+v", v)
+		Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox", Repo: "hq", Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
+	if err == nil && (v.Repo == nil || v.Repo.Verdict != "error") {
+		t.Fatalf("a check past its bound answered %+v", v.Repo)
 	}
 
 	// No facts: it cannot run, and says so.
 	repo, head = aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{CheckScript: "exit 0\n"})
 	_, err = Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: "check-nofacts", Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox",
-		Repo: "mesh-controller", Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), "127.0.0.1:1", GitCredential{}, nil)
+		Repo: "hq", Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), "127.0.0.1:1", GitCredential{}, nil)
 	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "facts snapshot") {
 		t.Fatalf("a check with no facts said %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// A repository that touches nothing of the graph and has no script of its own runs nothing, and says
+// both: the gate a pass that names why, the repository a warning — never silent.
+func TestACheckWithNothingToRunSaysSo(t *testing.T) {
+	repo, head := aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{"README.md": "x"})
+	v, err := Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: "check-nothing", Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox",
+		Repo: "hq"}, t.TempDir(), "", GitCredential{}, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if v.Gate == nil || v.Gate.Verdict != "pass" || v.Repo == nil || v.Repo.Verdict != "warning" ||
+		!strings.Contains(v.Repo.Summary, CheckScript) {
+		t.Fatalf("a check with nothing to run said %+v / %+v", v.Gate, v.Repo)
+	}
+	// A gated change never takes that path: with no store to read the facts from, it cannot run.
+	_, err = Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: "check-gated", Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox",
+		Repo: "mesh-catalog", Modules: []string{"gitea"}}, t.TempDir(), "", GitCredential{}, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a change touching a module ran nothing and was not refused")
+	}
+}
+
+// A script declares its toolchain among its first lines; go when it declares none.
+func TestAScriptDeclaresItsToolchain(t *testing.T) {
+	for script, want := range map[string]string{
+		"#!/bin/sh\nset -eu\n": "go",
+		"#!/bin/sh\n# mesh-check-toolchain: typescript\nnpm test\n": "typescript",
+		"#!/bin/sh\n#mesh-check-toolchain:go\n":                     "go",
+		"#!/bin/sh\necho '# mesh-check-toolchain: python'\n":        "go",
+	} {
+		if got := ScriptToolchain([]byte(script)); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%q declares %q, read as %q", script, want, got)
+		}
+	}
+	held := map[string]string{"mesh-tools/build": "reg/mesh-tools-build@sha256:a", "mesh-tools-go/build": "reg/go@sha256:b"}
+	chains := ToolchainsOf(held)
+	if chains["typescript"] != "reg/mesh-tools-build@sha256:a" || chains["go"] != "reg/go@sha256:b" || ToolchainOf(held) != chains["go"] {
+		t.Fatalf("the toolchains held read as %v", chains)
+	}
+	if _, held := chains["python"]; held {
+		t.Error("a toolchain the mesh does not hold read as held")
+	}
+}
+
+// A node-engine change's validator is put in place of the one the judge vendors: its Go files, never its tests.
+func TestTheChangesValidatorReplacesTheVendoredOne(t *testing.T) {
+	from, into := t.TempDir(), t.TempDir()
+	for name, body := range map[string]string{"v.go": "package validate // new", "v_test.go": "package validate"} {
+		if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(from, name), []byte(body), 0o644); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(into, "old.go"), []byte("package validate // old"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := replaceGoFiles(from, into); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got, _ := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(into, "*.go"))
+	if len(got) != 1 || filepath.Base(got[0]) != "v.go" {
+		t.Fatalf("the vendored validator holds %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// aJudge is a controller that judges as told: `merge-gate` answers a warning, `module check` refuses a
+// manifest that says it is broken. What the gate layer is tested against without building the real one.
+var aJudge = map[string]string{
+	"go.mod": "module example.org/judge\n\ngo 1.22\n",
+	"cmd/mesh-controller/main.go": `package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	switch {
+	case len(os.Args) == 2 && os.Args[1] == "merge-gate":
+		fmt.Println("usage: merge-gate --facts <file> --store <postgres>")
+		os.Exit(2)
+	case len(os.Args) > 2 && os.Args[1] == "module":
+		for _, m := range os.Args[3:] {
+			body, _ := os.ReadFile(m)
+			if strings.Contains(string(body), "broken") {
+				fmt.Println(m + ": refused, it says it is broken")
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+			fmt.Println(m + ": ok")
+		}
+	case os.Args[1] == "merge-gate":
+		fmt.Println(` + "`" + `{"verdict":"warning","summary":"a merge rebuilds 14 module(s)"}` + "`" + `)
+	}
+}
+`,
+}
+
+func TestTheGateRunsWhenTheGraphIsTouchedBesideTheRepositorysOwnCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	registry := checkEnvironment(t)
+	judgeRepo, judgeHead := aCheckedRepository(t, aJudge)
+	beside := map[string]Beside{"mesh-controller": {Repository: judgeRepo, Ref: judgeHead}}
+	check := func(files map[string]string, judge string) CheckVerdict {
+		t.Helper()
+		repo, head := aCheckedRepository(t, files)
+		id := fmt.Sprintf("check-gate-%d", time.Now().UnixNano())
+		v, err := Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: id, Repository: repo, Ref: head, Owner: "novox",
+			Repo: "mesh-catalog", Number: 9, Paths: []string{"modules/gitea/index.ts"}, Beside: beside,
+			Modules: []string{"gitea"}, Manifests: []string{"modules/gitea/module.json"}, Judge: judge,
+			Toolchain: goToolchain}, t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if left := labelled(id); len(left) > 0 {
+			t.Errorf("the check left %d container(s) behind", len(left))
+		}
+		return v
+	}
+	v := check(map[string]string{"modules/gitea/module.json": `{"module":"gitea"}`, CheckScript: "echo own; exit 0\n"}, "")
+	if v.Gate == nil || v.Gate.Verdict != "warning" || v.Gate.Summary != "a merge rebuilds 14 module(s)" ||
+		strings.Join(v.Gate.Modules, ",") != "gitea" || v.Verdict != "warning" {
+		t.Fatalf("the gate answered %+v\n%s", v.Gate, v.Report)
+	}
+	if v.Repo == nil || v.Repo.Verdict != "pass" {
+		t.Fatalf("its own check answered %+v", v.Repo)
+	}
+
+	v = check(map[string]string{"modules/gitea/module.json": `{"module":"gitea","broken":true}`}, "")
+	if v.Gate.Verdict != "fail" || !strings.Contains(v.Gate.Summary, "module check") || v.Repo.Verdict != "warning" {
+		t.Fatalf("a manifest the judge refuses answered %+v / %+v\n%s", v.Gate, v.Repo, v.Report)
+	}
+
+	// A fault the base branch already had is said and fails nothing; one the change brings fails.
+	repo, _ := aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{"modules/gitea/module.json": `{"module":"gitea","broken":true}`})
+	git := func(args ...string) string {
+		cmd := exec.Command("git", args...)
+		cmd.Dir = repo
+		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME=t", "GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL=t@example.org",
+			"GIT_COMMITTER_NAME=t", "GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL=t@example.org")
+		out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("git %v: %v\n%s", args, err, out)
+		}
+		return strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
+	}
+	git("checkout", "--quiet", "-b", "change")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(repo, "modules/gitea/index.ts"), []byte("x"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	git("add", "-A")
+	git("commit", "--quiet", "-m", "y")
+	id := fmt.Sprintf("check-base-%d", time.Now().UnixNano())
+	v, err := Check(t.Context(), Command, CheckSpec{ID: id, Repository: repo, Ref: git("rev-parse", "HEAD"), Owner: "novox",
+		Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main", Paths: []string{"modules/gitea/index.ts"}, Beside: beside,
+		Modules: []string{"gitea"}, Manifests: []string{"modules/gitea/module.json"}, Toolchain: goToolchain},
+		t.TempDir(), registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if v.Gate.Verdict != "warning" || !strings.Contains(v.Report, "already") {
+		t.Fatalf("a fault the base already had failed the change: %+v\n%s", v.Gate, v.Report)
+	}
+
+	// A change to the controller judges itself: one that does not build fails its own gate.
+	v = check(map[string]string{"go.mod": "module x\n\ngo 1.22\n", "cmd/mesh-controller/main.go": "package main\nfunc main() { nope }\n",
+		"modules/gitea/module.json": "{}"}, "self")
+	if v.Gate.Verdict != "fail" || !strings.Contains(v.Gate.Summary, "does not build") {
+		t.Fatalf("a controller that does not build judged itself %+v", v.Gate)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Only a commit on the trunk is published** (novox/hq ADR 0238): the build seat reads, from the clone it
+// just made, the branch the forge names its default and whether the commit built is on it.
+func TestABuildSaysWhetherItsCommitIsOnTheTrunk(t *testing.T) {
+	repo, onMain := aCheckedRepository(t, map[string]string{"module.json": `{"module":"x","version":"1"}`})
+	git := func(dir string, args ...string) string {
+		cmd := exec.Command("git", args...)
+		cmd.Dir = dir
+		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME=t", "GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL=t@example.org",
+			"GIT_COMMITTER_NAME=t", "GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL=t@example.org")
+		out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("git %v: %v\n%s", args, err, out)
+		}
+		return strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
+	}
+	git(repo, "checkout", "--quiet", "-b", "feature")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(repo, "x"), []byte("x"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	git(repo, "add", "-A")
+	git(repo, "commit", "--quiet", "-m", "off the trunk")
+	offMain := git(repo, "rev-parse", "HEAD")
+	git(repo, "checkout", "--quiet", "main")
+
+	clone := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "clone")
+	git(filepath.Dir(clone), "clone", "--quiet", repo, clone)
+	if trunk, on := trunkOf(t.Context(), Command, clone, onMain); trunk != "main" || !on {
+		t.Errorf("a commit on main reads as on %q: %v", trunk, on)
+	}
+	if trunk, on := trunkOf(t.Context(), Command, clone, offMain); trunk != "main" || on {
+		t.Errorf("a feature branch's commit reads as on %q: %v", trunk, on)
+	}
+	if got := strings.Join(branchesHolding(t.Context(), Command, clone, offMain), ","); got != "feature" {
+		t.Errorf("the feature branch's commit is said to be on %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := strings.Join(branchesHolding(t.Context(), Command, clone, onMain), ","); got != "feature,main" {
+		t.Errorf("main's commit is said to be on %q", got)
+	}
+	// A tree that says no trunk is not known — never read as on it.
+	if trunk, on := trunkOf(t.Context(), Command, repo, onMain); trunk != "" || on {
+		t.Errorf("a repository with no origin reads as trunk %q, on %v", trunk, on)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/link/build.go b/internal/link/build.go
index f0cebbe..ca58beb 100644
--- a/internal/link/build.go
+++ b/internal/link/build.go
@@ -106,8 +106,31 @@ type CheckRequest struct {
 	// controller the mesh runs, the catalogue it holds, the host it runs — keyed by the directory name the
 	// check finds it under.
 	Beside map[string]CheckedOut `json:"beside,omitempty"`
+	// Modules are the modules of the mesh's graph the change touches, and New the directories it adds a
+	// module in that the graph does not hold (novox/hq ADR 0237 as amended): **the graph decides whether
+	// the gate runs**, not the repository. With neither, only the repository's own merge-check.sh runs.
+	Modules []string `json:"modules,omitempty"`
+	New     []string `json:"new,omitempty"`
+	// Dependents are the modules a merge would build after Modules because they stand on them: the
+	// planner's dependency walk, said on the pull request.
+	Dependents []string `json:"dependents,omitempty"`
+	// Plan is the change plan of the commit checked, computed by the controller and echoed with the outcome.
+	Plan *ChangePlan `json:"plan,omitempty"`
+	// Manifests are the touched modules' manifests in the change's tree, by path from its root: what the
+	// gate puts through `module check`.
+	Manifests []string `json:"manifests,omitempty"`
+	// Judge is who judges the gate: empty for the controller the mesh runs; JudgeSelf for a change to
+	// the controller, judged by itself; JudgeValidator for a change to the node-engine, judged by the
+	// running controller built with the change's validator in place of the one it vendors.
+	Judge string `json:"judge,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// Who judges a merge check's gate.
+const (
+	JudgeSelf      = "self"
+	JudgeValidator = "validator"
+)
+
 // CheckedOut is a repository cloned beside a check, at a ref.
 type CheckedOut struct {
 	Repository string `json:"repository"`
@@ -123,6 +146,9 @@ type CheckOutcome struct {
 	Report string `json:"report,omitempty"`
 	// Took is how long it ran.
 	Took string `json:"took,omitempty"`
+	// Gate and RepoCheck are its two layers; Verdict and Summary above are the gate's.
+	Gate      *CheckLayer `json:"gate,omitempty"`
+	RepoCheck *CheckLayer `json:"repo-check,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // SourceOnSeat names a repository by the seat whose holder serves it and its path there.
@@ -179,6 +205,15 @@ type BuildResult struct {
 	// manifest the mesh keeps says nothing about it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
 	Read []ReadRepository `json:"read,omitempty"`
 
+	// Trunk is the repository's default branch at the build, and OnTrunk whether the commit built is on it
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0238): **only a commit on the trunk is published** — the controller refuses to register
+	// a build of one off it. Empty Trunk is a build seat that could not say, or predates the rule.
+	Trunk   string `json:"trunk,omitempty"`
+	OnTrunk bool   `json:"on-trunk,omitempty"`
+	// Branches are every branch the commit is on: the trunk of a module that follows a branch other than
+	// the repository's default is the branch it follows.
+	Branches []string `json:"branches,omitempty"`
+
 	// SourceFingerprint is what the build was made from, hashed (novox/hq issue 280): the module's
 	// tree at the commit, the trees of the contexts it read, its bases and toolchains by digest. Two
 	// builds with one fingerprint are one build, however their digests differ — an image is not
diff --git a/internal/link/events.go b/internal/link/events.go
index a3eb907..d70f62a 100644
--- a/internal/link/events.go
+++ b/internal/link/events.go
@@ -221,6 +221,19 @@ type PullUpdated struct {
 	// Paths are the files the pull request changes; PathsTruncated says there were more.
 	Paths          []string `json:"paths,omitempty"`
 	PathsTruncated bool     `json:"paths_truncated,omitempty"`
+	// Removed are the files among Paths the change deletes: a module whose manifest is among them is one
+	// the merge would remove.
+	Removed []string `json:"removed,omitempty"`
+	// ModuleDirs are the directories above the changed files that hold a `module.json` at the head, read
+	// as the merge announcer reads them at a merge commit (issue 278); ModuleDirsSaid says it looked.
+	// What the controller finds a module the graph does not hold yet with: a directory the change adds a
+	// module.json in is a new module, checked before it merges.
+	ModuleDirs     []string `json:"module_dirs,omitempty"`
+	ModuleDirsSaid bool     `json:"module_dirs_said,omitempty"`
+	// MergeCheck says the head holds a merge-check.sh at its root — the repository's own tests, the
+	// check's second layer; MergeCheckSaid says the announcer looked.
+	MergeCheck     bool `json:"merge_check,omitempty"`
+	MergeCheckSaid bool `json:"merge_check_said,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Checked is a pull request's merge check, judged: what the controller says as `checked`.
@@ -238,6 +251,60 @@ type Checked struct {
 	// ID is the ask, and On the machine that ran it.
 	ID string `json:"id"`
 	On string `json:"on,omitempty"`
+	// Gate and RepoCheck are the check's two layers, each its own status on the pull request (novox/hq
+	// ADR 0237 as amended): the mesh's — the modules of the graph the change touches, every machine
+	// composed with it — as `mesh/merge-gate`, and the repository's own merge-check.sh as
+	// `mesh/repo-check`. Verdict and Summary above are the gate's, for a forge holder that reads no more.
+	// RepoCheck is nil when the repository is not the mesh's and touches nothing of it: nothing is said.
+	Gate      *CheckLayer `json:"gate,omitempty"`
+	RepoCheck *CheckLayer `json:"repo-check,omitempty"`
+	// Plan is the change plan of the commit checked (novox/hq ADR 0238): what a merge of it would build
+	// and send, posted with the verdict.
+	Plan *ChangePlan `json:"plan,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// ChangePlan is what a change does to the mesh, computed from its diffset — a repository, the branch it
+// merges into and the commit at hand — by the planner (novox/hq ADR 0238): **one commit, one plan**, the
+// object a pull request's check posts, the release follows and a person reads.
+type ChangePlan struct {
+	Repository string `json:"repository"`
+	Base       string `json:"base"`
+	Head       string `json:"head"`
+	// Moved are the modules a merge moves itself, Dependents those built after them because they stand
+	// on them, New the directories it adds a module in, and Unread the changed files no build reads.
+	Moved      []string `json:"moved,omitempty"`
+	Dependents []string `json:"dependents,omitempty"`
+	New        []string `json:"new,omitempty"`
+	Unread     []string `json:"unread,omitempty"`
+	// Tiers are the build plan's order: each tier built after the one before.
+	Tiers [][]string `json:"tiers,omitempty"`
+	// Machines are the deploy plan: what each machine is sent, in the build plan's order, and what waits
+	// there for a person.
+	Machines []MachinePlan `json:"machines,omitempty"`
+	// Steps are what is not an ordinary send: a planned bus step, a provider whose consumers are sent again,
+	// a module that waits for a person, a module that keeps data.
+	Steps []string `json:"steps,omitempty"`
+	// Summary is the plan in one line, for a commit status.
+	Summary string `json:"summary"`
+}
+
+// MachinePlan is one machine's part of a change plan.
+type MachinePlan struct {
+	Machine  string   `json:"machine"`
+	Receives []string `json:"receives,omitempty"`
+	Waits    []string `json:"waits,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// CheckLayer is one layer of a merge check, judged.
+type CheckLayer struct {
+	// Verdict is pass, warning, fail or error; error is never a pass.
+	Verdict string `json:"verdict"`
+	Summary string `json:"summary"`
+	// Modules are, for the gate, the modules of the mesh's graph the change touches — `new:<dir>` for a
+	// module the graph does not hold yet; Dependents those a merge would build after them because they
+	// stand on them — the planner's own answer.
+	Modules    []string `json:"modules,omitempty"`
+	Dependents []string `json:"dependents,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type Upgraded struct {
diff --git a/merge-check.sh b/merge-check.sh
index 0062bb5..296fe27 100755
--- a/merge-check.sh
+++ b/merge-check.sh
@@ -1,22 +1,22 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# The merge check of the controller (novox/hq to-be 45 §9), run by the build seat on every pull request
-# before it merges — and by hand: `MESH_FACTS=facts.json MESH_GATE_POSTGRES=… MESH_TEST_POSTGRES=…
-# MESH_TEST_NATS=… sh merge-check.sh`.
+# mesh-check-toolchain: go
 #
-# The build seat clones this repository with the catalogue and the host beside it (the tests read them
-# there), reads the facts snapshot the controller keeps, and raises a throwaway store and bus of the
-# versions the mesh runs; this says what is judged with them:
+# The controller's own check (novox/hq ADR 0237 as amended): the second layer of a pull request's merge
+# check, `mesh/repo-check`, run by the build seat in the mesh's Go toolchain — and by hand:
+# `MESH_TEST_POSTGRES=… sh merge-check.sh`.
+#
+# The gate — every machine composed with this change's controller, which judges itself — is the build
+# seat's first layer (`mesh/merge-gate`), run because the mesh's module graph builds `mesh-controller`
+# from this repository; it is not repeated here. This is the code's own quality and its suite:
 #
 #   1. formatted and vetted;
-#   2. the merge gate, judged by THIS change's controller: every machine of the snapshot composed with
-#      it and validated by the node-engine's own validator, against the mesh as it is;
-#   3. the whole suite, the replays among it, against that store and that bus, one package at a time
-#      because the live tests share one bus's fixed names.
+#   2. the whole suite, packages in parallel, against the throwaway store the build seat raised at the
+#      release the mesh runs; every live test on a bus of its own (internal/testbus), so nothing is
+#      serialised. Under the race detector when the toolchain has a C compiler, and said when it has not.
 #
-# Fails on the first that fails. The gate's verdict is written where MESH_CHECK_VERDICT says, so the
-# pull request is told the gate's own words.
+# Exit 0 is a pass; anything else fails `mesh/repo-check` with the last line printed.
 set -eu
-export GOFLAGS=-mod=vendor GOPROXY=off CGO_ENABLED=0
+export GOFLAGS=-mod=vendor GOPROXY=off
 
 unformatted=$(gofmt -l cmd internal examples)
 if [ -n "$unformatted" ]; then
@@ -24,12 +24,11 @@ if [ -n "$unformatted" ]; then
 	echo "$unformatted"
 	exit 1
 fi
-go vet ./...
+CGO_ENABLED=0 go vet ./...
 
-judge="${MESH_CHECK_BESIDE:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}}/bin/judge"
-go build -o "$judge" ./cmd/mesh-controller
-"$judge" merge-gate --facts "$MESH_FACTS" --store "$MESH_GATE_POSTGRES" \
-	--repository "${MESH_CHECK_REPOSITORY:-novox/mesh-controller}" --tree . \
-	--changed "${MESH_CHECK_CHANGED:-}" --json > "${MESH_CHECK_VERDICT:-/dev/null}"
-
-go test -p 1 -timeout 25m ./...
+if command -v gcc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	CGO_ENABLED=1 go test -race -count=1 -timeout 30m ./...
+else
+	echo "NOT RACE-CHECKED: the toolchain holds no C compiler; the suite runs without the race detector"
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 go test -count=1 -timeout 30m ./...
+fi
diff --git a/mesh-controller b/mesh-controller
index 721ae36..b8fa8cd 100755
Binary files a/mesh-controller and b/mesh-controller differ
diff --git a/module.json b/module.json
index 50b0eb4..27c0402 100644
--- a/module.json
+++ b/module.json
@@ -27,16 +27,43 @@
   "prepares": true,
   "tools": [
     "tools",
+    "calls",
     "status",
     "nodes",
     "node",
     "modules",
     "seats",
     "builds",
+    "plans",
     "plan",
     "assign",
     "unassign",
+    "pin",
+    "unpin",
     "push",
+    "rotate",
+    "issue",
+    "settings",
+    "command",
+    "queue",
+    "cancel",
+    "clear",
+    "rebuild",
+    "replay",
+    "kill",
+    "pause",
+    "resume",
+    "hand-act",
+    "hand-acts",
+    "durations",
+    "conditions",
+    "healers",
+    "doctor",
+    "upgrade",
+    "bus",
+    "retire",
+    "cleanup",
+    "data",
     "build"
   ],
   "resources": [