Send the bus's user list alone before a walk's gate, so a new grant is on the bus when the first machine is judged (issue 490)

A walk left the machine holding the bus out of a gated send whenever a
build waited there for that same gate, so a module's new health tool was
refused by the bus on its first machine and the gate could not pass. The
grants step sends that machine its declaration with every build kept,
before the first machine's send; plans and the change plan say it.

cmd/mesh-controller/changeplan.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -28,6 +29,14 @@ func changePlanOf(repository, base, head string, r mergeReach, entries []invento
 	for _, e := range entries {
 		byName[e.Manifest.Module] = e
 	}
+	// The machine holding the bus, whose declaration carries every module's grants (novox/hq issue 490).
+	holder := ""
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if e.Manifest.BusUsers != "" && e.Manifest.ClaimsSeat(catalogue.BrokerSeat) && len(e.On) > 0 {
+			holder = e.On[0]
+		}
+	}
+	var granting []string
 	machines := map[string]*link.MachinePlan{}
 	machine := func(name string) *link.MachinePlan {
 		if machines[name] == nil {
@@ -50,6 +59,10 @@ func changePlanOf(repository, base, head string, r mergeReach, entries []invento
 					machine(on).Receives = append(machine(on).Receives, name)
 				}
 			}
+			if !waits && holder != "" && !(len(e.On) == 1 && e.On[0] == holder) && len(e.On) > 0 &&
+				!slices.Contains(granting, name) {
+				granting = append(granting, name)
+			}
 			switch {
 			case (name == "nats" || catalogue.ProvidesBus(e.Manifest)) && len(e.On) > 0:
 				// Said before the merge (novox/hq issue 336): a new bus build holds every send to the bus's machine
@@ -76,6 +89,13 @@ func changePlanOf(repository, base, head string, r mergeReach, entries []invento
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	if len(granting) > 0 {
+		// Said before the merge (novox/hq issue 490): what the walk does when the change alters the bus's
+		// user list. Whether it does is known only once the builds are registered, so it is said as a rule.
+		p.Steps = append(p.Steps, fmt.Sprintf("%s: if this changes what the bus's user list says (a new tool, "+
+			"subject or user), %s is sent that list alone, every build there kept, before %s is judged on its first "+
+			"machine", grantsStepWord, holder, strings.Join(granting, ", ")))
+	}
 	var names []string
 	for name := range machines {
 		names = append(names, name)
@@ -88,6 +108,10 @@ func changePlanOf(repository, base, head string, r mergeReach, entries []invento
 	return p
 }
 
+// grantsStepWord names the grants step (novox/hq issue 490): the bus's user list sent alone to the machine
+// holding the bus ahead of a walk's gate. Not the bus step, which replaces the bus itself.
+const grantsStepWord = "grants step"
+
 // busUpgradeNeeded is how a change plan says that merging it holds the bus's machine for a person's step.
 const busUpgradeNeeded = "merging this needs a person's bus upgrade"
 

cmd/mesh-controller/gate.go

@@ -1353,6 +1353,10 @@ func gateLine(g *inventory.PlanGate) string {
 	if g.Rollback != "" {
 		line += "; " + g.Rollback
 	}
+	// Before the send it judges (novox/hq issue 490).
+	if said := grantsSaid(g.Grants); said != "" {
+		line += "; " + said
+	}
 	return line
 }
 

cmd/mesh-controller/grants_step_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// The grants reach the bus before the gate (novox/hq issue 490).
+//
+// On 2026-10-11 a merge gave restic, assigned to every machine, a new health tool. Its walk sent restic to
+// its first machine and judged it there; that machine's node-engine asked the new tool and the bus refused
+// it, because the grant was in the bus's user list, which only the machine holding the bus carries — and
+// that machine runs restic too, so it was left out of the send while restic's new build waited there for
+// the very gate that could not pass. A person pushed it by hand, carrying restic's new build there unjudged.
+
+// aSend is one send the walk made: to which machines, and whether every build there was kept.
+type aSend struct {
+	names    []string
+	keepsAll bool
+	judged   []string
+}
+
+// sendsRecorded replaces the walk's send and the reading of the bus's user list for one test: the machine
+// holding the bus is novox, and its list is behind as behind says.
+func sendsRecorded(t *testing.T, holder string, behind bool, refuse error) *[]aSend {
+	t.Helper()
+	var sends []aSend
+	wasSend, wasBehind := sendRollout, brokerBehindOf
+	t.Cleanup(func() { sendRollout, brokerBehindOf = wasSend, wasBehind })
+	brokerBehindOf = func(_ context.Context, _ *stores, names []string) (string, bool, error) {
+		if slices.Contains(names, holder) {
+			return holder, false, nil
+		}
+		return holder, behind, nil
+	}
+	sendRollout = func(ctx context.Context, _ *stores, names []string) ([]string, error) {
+		s := aSend{names: append([]string(nil), names...), keepsAll: everyBuildKept(ctx)}
+		for n := range scopeOf(ctx).judged {
+			s.judged = append(s.judged, n)
+		}
+		sends = append(sends, s)
+		if refuse != nil && s.keepsAll {
+			return nil, refuse
+		}
+		return names, nil
+	}
+	return &sends
+}
+
+// The restic shape: a new tool on a module on every machine, its first machine ace, the bus on novox.
+func TestAWalkSendsTheGrantsToTheBusBeforeTheFirstMachineIsJudged(t *testing.T) {
+	sends := sendsRecorded(t, "novox", true, nil)
+	sent, grants, err := sendJudged(t.Context(), nil, "ace")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(*sends) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the walk made %d send(s), want the grants step and then the first machine: %+v", len(*sends), *sends)
+	}
+	first, then := (*sends)[0], (*sends)[1]
+	if strings.Join(first.names, ",") != "novox" || !first.keepsAll || len(first.judged) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("the first send is %+v, want novox alone, every build there kept, judging nothing", first)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(then.names, ",") != "ace" || then.keepsAll || strings.Join(then.judged, ",") != "ace" {
+		t.Errorf("the second send is %+v, want ace, judged", then)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(sent, ",") != "ace" {
+		t.Errorf("the gate's machines are %v, want ace alone: the bus's machine is not judged", sent)
+	}
+	if grants == nil || grants.Node != "novox" || grants.At == nil || grants.Failed != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("the gate keeps %+v as its grants step", grants)
+	}
+	line := gateLine(&inventory.PlanGate{Machines: sent, Grants: grants})
+	if !strings.Contains(line, "grants step: novox sent the bus's user list first, its builds kept") {
+		t.Errorf("plans says the gate as %q", line)
+	}
+}
+
+// Nothing more when there is nothing to carry: the list unchanged, or the first machine holds the bus.
+func TestAWalkTakesNoGrantsStepWhenTheListIsAlreadyThere(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		name   string
+		node   string
+		behind bool
+	}{{"the list unchanged", "ace", false}, {"the first machine holds the bus", "novox", true}} {
+		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			sends := sendsRecorded(t, "novox", c.behind, nil)
+			_, grants, err := sendJudged(t.Context(), nil, c.node)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if len(*sends) != 1 || (*sends)[0].keepsAll || grants != nil {
+				t.Errorf("the walk made %+v with grants %+v, want the judged send alone", *sends, grants)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// A grants step that cannot be sent is said on the gate, and the walk goes on as it did before.
+func TestAGrantsStepThatFailsIsSaidAndTheSendGoesOn(t *testing.T) {
+	sends := sendsRecorded(t, "novox", true, errors.New("a bus upgrade waits for a person"))
+	sent, grants, err := sendJudged(t.Context(), nil, "ace")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(sent, ",") != "ace" || len(*sends) != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("the walk made %+v", *sends)
+	}
+	if grants == nil || grants.Failed == "" || grants.At != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the gate keeps %+v", grants)
+	}
+	if line := gateLine(&inventory.PlanGate{Machines: sent, Grants: grants}); !strings.Contains(line,
+		"grants step to novox FAILED, sent without it: a bus upgrade waits for a person") {
+		t.Errorf("plans says the gate as %q", line)
+	}
+}
+
+// The grants step moves no build, so no gate's refusal holds it back: it is never read for moves.
+func TestTheGrantsStepIsNotHeldForTheBuildsItKeeps(t *testing.T) {
+	names, err := ungatedIn(keepingEveryBuild(t.Context()), nil, []string{"novox"}, "")
+	if err != nil || strings.Join(names, ",") != "novox" {
+		t.Errorf("the grants step's send reads %v, %v", names, err)
+	}
+}
+
+// The delivery plan says the step before the merge.
+func TestAChangePlanSaysTheGrantsStep(t *testing.T) {
+	const catalogue_ = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git"
+	entry := func(name string, on ...string) inventory.Entry {
+		e := fromRepo(name, catalogue_, "modules/"+name)
+		e.Source.BuiltFrom = "old"
+		e.On = on
+		return e
+	}
+	nats := entry("nats", "novox")
+	nats.Manifest.BusUsers = "/etc/nats/users.conf"
+	nats.Manifest.Claims = []catalogue.Claim{{Name: catalogue.BrokerSeat, Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh}}
+	restic := entry("restic", "ace", "novox", "shanks")
+	only := entry("bus-tools", "novox")
+	entries := []inventory.Entry{nats, restic, only}
+	rollsOut := func(string) (inventory.Upgrade, bool) { 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, nil), entries, rollsOut)
+	}
+
+	text := planText(plan("modules/restic/module.json"))
+	if !strings.Contains(text, "grants step: if this changes what the bus's user list says (a new tool, subject or "+
+		"user), novox is sent that list alone, every build there kept, before restic is judged on its first machine") {
+		t.Errorf("the change plan does not say the grants step:\n%s", text)
+	}
+	// A module only on the bus's machine goes there with the list in its own send: no step of its own.
+	if text := planText(plan("modules/bus-tools/module.json")); strings.Contains(text, "grants step") {
+		t.Errorf("a module on the bus's machine alone reads:\n%s", text)
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/issue352_test.go

@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func TestAPlansFirstSendWaitsForAReleaseJudgingTheModuleThere(t *testing.T) {
 	b := aBacklog(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
 	advancePlans(ctx, b.open) // the release judges app c2 on anchor
-	_, _, err := gatedSend(ctx, b.open, "anchor", []inventory.CarriedMove{{Module: "app", Node: "anchor", From: "c2", To: "c3", Build: "build-app-c3"}})
+	_, _, _, err := gatedSend(ctx, b.open, "anchor", []inventory.CarriedMove{{Module: "app", Node: "anchor", From: "c2", To: "c3", Build: "build-app-c3"}})
 	if !errors.Is(err, errWalkedElsewhere) || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "release-") {
 		t.Fatalf("a newer build of a judged module was sent under the release's gate: %v", err)
 	}

cmd/mesh-controller/recorded_kept.go

@@ -61,20 +61,52 @@ func keptExcept(ctx context.Context) (map[string]bool, bool) {
 	return skip, on
 }
 
+type keepEveryBuildKey struct{}
+
+// keepingEveryBuild is a context whose sends compose every module — recorded or rolling out — at the build
+// its machine was last sent (novox/hq issue 490): the grants step, which sends the machine holding the bus
+// its new user list and nothing of any module's new code. That code waits there for a gate like any other
+// move; the list must not, or the first machine's gate is judged against a bus that refuses what the change
+// newly grants.
+func keepingEveryBuild(ctx context.Context) context.Context {
+	return context.WithValue(ctx, keepEveryBuildKey{}, true)
+}
+
+// everyBuildKept is whether this context keeps every module at the build its machine runs.
+func everyBuildKept(ctx context.Context) bool {
+	on, _ := ctx.Value(keepEveryBuildKey{}).(bool)
+	return on
+}
+
 // recordedKept is, for a send under keepingRecorded, every recorded module the machine was last sent a
 // build of that the mesh's build is not identical to: module → the commit it keeps. Nil when the context
 // keeps nothing, or when what the machine was last sent is not known (it is then held whole elsewhere —
 // ADR 0221).
+//
+// Under keepingEveryBuild, every module the machine was sent is kept, whatever its policy (novox/hq issue
+// 490), and a machine whose last send is not known refuses the send: there is nothing to keep it at, and
+// composing the mesh's builds would be the very move the grants step must not make.
 func recordedKept(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string) (map[string]string, error) {
+	every := everyBuildKept(ctx)
 	skip, on := keptExcept(ctx)
-	if !on {
+	if !on && !every {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
+	if every {
+		skip = nil
+	}
 	inv := open.inventory
 	sent, known, err := inv.SentBuilds(ctx, node)
-	if err != nil || !known {
+	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if !known {
+		if every {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("what %s was last sent is not known, so the bus's user list cannot be sent "+
+				"there alone with every build kept (novox/hq issue 490)", node)
+		}
+		return nil, nil
+	}
 	current, err := inv.CurrentBuilds(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -83,7 +115,7 @@ func recordedKept(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string) (map[string]st
 	out := map[string]string{}
 	for m, was := range sent {
 		now, held := current[m]
-		if !held || now.RollOut || skip[m] || was == "" || sameCommit(was, now.Commit) {
+		if !held || (now.RollOut && !every) || skip[m] || was == "" || sameCommit(was, now.Commit) {
 			continue
 		}
 		if f == nil {
@@ -118,6 +150,10 @@ func keepRecorded(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, shelf map[stri
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		if !found && everyBuildKept(ctx) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s runs %s's build %s, which the build records no longer hold: the bus's user "+
+				"list cannot be sent there alone with it kept (novox/hq issue 490)", node, m, short(kept[m]))
+		}
 		if !found {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s records rather than rolls out, and %s runs its build %s, which the build "+
 				"records no longer hold: this send cannot keep it and does not move it — `push %s` sends the new "+

cmd/mesh-controller/release.go

@@ -239,6 +239,11 @@ var machineMoves = func(ctx context.Context, open *stores, f moveFacts, node str
 // ungatedIn refuses a send whose machines would move a build no gate has seen, outside its scope: the
 // machines named, and why; the machine holding the bus, added only for its user list, is left instead.
 func ungatedIn(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string, addedHolder string) ([]string, error) {
+	// The grants step moves no build: every module is composed at the build its machine runs (novox/hq
+	// issue 490), so there is nothing here for a gate to judge.
+	if everyBuildKept(ctx) {
+		return names, nil
+	}
 	scope := scopeOf(ctx)
 	if scope.person {
 		return names, nil
@@ -283,15 +288,18 @@ func ungatedIn(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string, addedHolder st
 // owns are the moves the send exists for — every module of a plan's tier whose first machine this is, in
 // one send (novox/hq issue 281): a send carries the machine's whole declaration (ADR 0221), so a send per
 // module was the same declaration sent again and again, each one setting aside the one before.
-func gatedSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, owns []inventory.CarriedMove) ([]inventory.CarriedMove, []string, error) {
+//
+// And the grants step first, when the send changes what the bus's user list must say (novox/hq issue 490):
+// answered for the gate to keep, nil when there was none.
+func gatedSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, owns []inventory.CarriedMove) ([]inventory.CarriedMove, []string, *inventory.GrantsStep, error) {
 	inv := open.inventory
 	f, err := readMoveFacts(ctx, inv)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, err
+		return nil, nil, nil, err
 	}
 	moves, err := machineMoves(ctx, open, f, node, true)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, err
+		return nil, nil, nil, err
 	}
 	own := func(module string) bool {
 		return slices.ContainsFunc(owns, func(o inventory.CarriedMove) bool { return o.Module == module })
@@ -301,7 +309,7 @@ func gatedSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, owns []inventory.
 			continue
 		}
 		if id := f.walkedBy(mv.Module, node, mv.To); id != "" {
-			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s's build %s waits on %s, which %s is walking", errWalkedElsewhere,
+			return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s's build %s waits on %s, which %s is walking", errWalkedElsewhere,
 				mv.Module, short(mv.To), node, id)
 		}
 	}
@@ -309,7 +317,7 @@ func gatedSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, owns []inventory.
 	// plan, or a release, on this machine is not crossed with a newer build; this send waits for its gate.
 	for _, o := range owns {
 		if id := f.walkedBy(o.Module, node, o.To); id != "" {
-			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s's build %s waits on %s, which %s is walking", errWalkedElsewhere,
+			return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s's build %s waits on %s, which %s is walking", errWalkedElsewhere,
 				o.Module, short(o.To), node, id)
 		}
 	}
@@ -323,22 +331,22 @@ func gatedSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, owns []inventory.
 		}
 	}
 	if len(moves) == 0 && len(owns) == 0 {
-		return nil, nil, nil
+		return nil, nil, nil, nil
 	}
 	for i := range moves {
 		if moves[i].Build == "" {
 			if moves[i].Build, err = inv.BuildOf(ctx, moves[i].Module, moves[i].To); err != nil {
-				return nil, nil, err
+				return nil, nil, nil, err
 			}
 		}
 	}
 	sort.Slice(moves, func(i, j int) bool { return moves[i].Module < moves[j].Module })
 	sayRecreations(ctx, open, moves)
-	sent, err := sendRollout(withScope(ctx, sendScope{judged: map[string]bool{node: true}}), open, []string{node})
+	sent, grants, err := sendJudged(ctx, open, node)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, err
+		return nil, nil, nil, err
 	}
-	return moves, sent, nil
+	return moves, sent, grants, nil
 }
 
 // passCarried keeps a pass as the verdict of every build the gate judged beside its own module.
@@ -674,7 +682,7 @@ func advanceRelease(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan) (bool,
 				r.Next++
 				continue
 			}
-			moves, sent, err := gatedSend(ctx, open, node, nil)
+			moves, sent, grants, err := gatedSend(ctx, open, node, nil)
 			if errors.Is(err, errWalkedElsewhere) {
 				note := fmt.Sprintf("waiting before %s: %v", node, err)
 				changed := p.Note != note
@@ -689,8 +697,12 @@ func advanceRelease(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan) (bool,
 				r.Next++
 				continue
 			}
-			r.Gate = &inventory.PlanGate{Machines: sent, Since: &now, Carried: moves, Sent: sentNow(ctx, open.inventory, sent)}
+			r.Gate = &inventory.PlanGate{Machines: sent, Since: &now, Carried: moves, Sent: sentNow(ctx, open.inventory, sent),
+				Grants: grants}
 			p.Note = fmt.Sprintf("sent %s %d build(s) that waited for a gate; judging them there", node, len(moves))
+			if said := grantsSaid(grants); said != "" {
+				p.Note += "; " + said
+			}
 			if said := recreationsSaid(moves); said != "" {
 				p.Note += "; " + said
 			}
@@ -916,3 +928,65 @@ func recreationsSaid(moves []inventory.CarriedMove) string {
 	}
 	return strings.Join(said, "; ")
 }
+
+// The grants step (novox/hq issue 490).
+//
+// The bus's user list — every module's grants, composed mesh-wide from the catalogue — travels only in the
+// declaration of the machine holding the bus. A send to any other machine that changed it put that machine
+// first (issue 249), unless a build waited there for a gate: then ungatedIn left it out, and said so. On
+// 2026-10-11 a merge gave restic a new health tool; its walk sent restic to its first machine and judged it
+// there, the machine's node-engine asked the tool and the bus refused it ("this host's grant does not name
+// …"), because the machine holding the bus also runs restic, whose new build waited for that very gate. The
+// gate could not pass; a person pushed the bus's machine by hand, which carried restic's new build there
+// unjudged.
+//
+// So before a gated send, when the user list composed now is not the one the machine holding the bus was
+// last sent, that machine is sent its declaration with **every build kept at the one it runs**: the new
+// list, and nothing of any module's new code. Said on the gate (`plans`), and, when it cannot be sent, said
+// with why and passed over: the send goes on as it did before, and its gate says what it finds.
+
+// brokerBehindOf is brokerBehind: a variable so a test of the walk needs no store.
+var brokerBehindOf = brokerBehind
+
+// grantsStep sends the machine holding the bus its user list alone, ahead of a gated send to node, when the
+// list changed; answers what it did, or nil when there was nothing to send.
+func grantsStep(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string) *inventory.GrantsStep {
+	holder, behind, err := brokerBehindOf(ctx, open, []string{node})
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("grants step before %s: whether the bus's user list changed could not be read: %v\n", node, err)
+		return &inventory.GrantsStep{Node: "the machine holding the bus", Failed: err.Error()}
+	}
+	if holder == "" || holder == node || !behind {
+		// No bus with a user list, the gate's own machine holds it (its send carries the list first), or the
+		// list is the one already sent.
+		return nil
+	}
+	if _, err := sendRollout(keepingEveryBuild(withScope(ctx, sendScope{})), open, []string{holder}); err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("grants step: the bus's user list could not be sent to %s ahead of %s, which is sent without "+
+			"it — the bus may refuse what the send newly grants: %v\n", holder, node, err)
+		return &inventory.GrantsStep{Node: holder, Failed: err.Error()}
+	}
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	fmt.Printf("grants step: %s sent the bus's user list alone, every build there kept, before %s is judged\n",
+		holder, node)
+	return &inventory.GrantsStep{Node: holder, At: &now}
+}
+
+// sendJudged is a gated send's sends: the grants step when the user list changed, then the machine judged.
+func sendJudged(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string) ([]string, *inventory.GrantsStep, error) {
+	grants := grantsStep(ctx, open, node)
+	sent, err := sendRollout(withScope(ctx, sendScope{judged: map[string]bool{node: true}}), open, []string{node})
+	return sent, grants, err
+}
+
+// grantsSaid is a grants step as `plans` and a walk's note say it.
+func grantsSaid(g *inventory.GrantsStep) string {
+	switch {
+	case g == nil:
+		return ""
+	case g.Failed != "":
+		return fmt.Sprintf(grantsStepWord+" to %s FAILED, sent without it: %s", g.Node, g.Failed)
+	default:
+		return fmt.Sprintf(grantsStepWord+": %s sent the bus's user list first, its builds kept", g.Node)
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go

@@ -971,7 +971,7 @@ func firstSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan, node string
 	}
 	// A gated send (ADR 0236): everything waiting on the machine goes with the tier, and the gate judges
 	// all of it there.
-	carried, sent, err := gatedSend(ctx, open, node, owns)
+	carried, sent, grants, err := gatedSend(ctx, open, node, owns)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -992,6 +992,7 @@ func firstSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan, node string
 		s.GatedBy = ""
 		if m == lead {
 			s.Gate.Carried = carried
+			s.Gate.Grants = grants
 		} else {
 			s.GatedBy = lead
 		}
@@ -1001,6 +1002,10 @@ func firstSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan, node string
 		strings.Join(sent, ", "))
 	fmt.Printf("%s: tier %d built; sent %d module(s) to %s first in one send (%s), the rest once its gate passes\n",
 		p.ID, p.Tier, len(modules), strings.Join(sent, ", "), strings.Join(modules, ", "))
+	// The grants step taken before it (novox/hq issue 490), said with it.
+	if said := grantsSaid(grants); said != "" {
+		p.Note += "; " + said
+	}
 	// What the send recreates, said with it (novox/hq ADR 0245).
 	if said := recreationsSaid(carried); said != "" {
 		p.Note += "; " + said

internal/inventory/plans.go

@@ -305,6 +305,18 @@ type PlanGate struct {
 	// Readings are the judging's readings with their times (novox/hq ADR 0282 decision 6): every reading that
 	// counted a pass, and the first that did not after one that did. At most maxReadings, the newest kept.
 	Readings []GateReading `json:"readings,omitempty"`
+	// Grants is the grants step taken before this gate's send (novox/hq issue 490): the bus's user list sent
+	// alone to the machine holding the bus, every build there kept, so what the send newly grants is on the
+	// bus before the gate judges it. Nil when the list did not change, or the gate's machine holds the bus.
+	Grants *GrantsStep `json:"grants,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// GrantsStep is the bus's user list sent to the machine holding the bus ahead of a gated send (novox/hq
+// issue 490): to which machine, when, and, when it could not be sent, why — the send went on without it.
+type GrantsStep struct {
+	Node   string     `json:"node"`
+	At     *time.Time `json:"at,omitempty"`
+	Failed string     `json:"failed,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // GateReading is one reading of a first-node gate.