while-stopped names the container as the machine knows it (hq ADR 0189)

A module names its own resources locally; a declaration names them under the
module. restart-on and reload-on are rewritten for exactly that reason and
while-stopped was not, so the store's step said it held "store" still while
the machine's container is "distribution.store".

The host refuses a declaration naming a container it does not have — whole.
So novox took nothing at all, on every push, from 04:15 until this. The
machine was never damaged: refusing whole is what kept it serving.

Both sides' tests passed throughout. The controller's read manifests, the
host's read hand-written declarations with bare ids, and nothing composed one
and judged the result. That test now exists.

Dockerfile

@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
-ARG GO_BASE=golang:1.25-alpine
-# The control plane's image.
+# The Go it builds with, pinned here because genesis builds this file with no arguments (novox/hq
+# issue 223) — the Makefile passes the same digest. A tag older than go.mod asks for is how
+# `make image` broke once before (issue 146).
+ARG GO_BASE=golang@sha256:8ac98ca534ac3f51e1f420a1dd2c15e74c75cfa0f23f3ad27eb5d7236c349a0c
+# The control plane's image — for genesis and the lab only. The mesh runs the controller as a Go
+# bundle the host starts as a process (module.json; novox/hq issue 213), and builds no image of it.
+# Genesis builds this file and raises it as the container the process replaces on the first push
+# (mesh-host internal/bootstrap, novox/hq issue 223).
 #
 # novox/hq ADR 0006: this image is pinned by digest in the bundle the host carries, fetched on a
 # machine where no mesh exists yet, and run before there is anything to check it against. So it

Makefile

@@ -27,17 +27,21 @@ build:
 IMAGE ?= mesh-controller:$(VERSION)
 DEV_TAG ?= mesh-controller:development
 
-# The base the module declares, read from the manifest rather than written here twice.
+# The Go base the image is built on.
 #
 # **`make image` was broken and stayed broken**, because the Dockerfile's fallback base was a Go
 # older than go.mod asks for: every build died at `go mod download` with "go.mod requires go >=
 # 1.26.0", and the pipeline never saw it because the pipeline passes the declared base in. Anybody
 # building the image by hand hit it and had to find the digest themselves (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/146,
 # what it cost).
-GO_BASE ?= $(shell python3 -c "import json;print(next(o['image'] for o in json.load(open('module.json'))['build']['on'] if o['arg']=='GO_BASE'))" 2>/dev/null)
+#
+# **Pinned here since the manifest stopped building an image** (novox/hq issue 213): the mesh builds
+# the controller as a Go bundle with its own toolchain, and only `make image` — genesis and the lab —
+# still needs a Go base. The digest is the one the manifest declared until then.
+GO_BASE ?= golang@sha256:8ac98ca534ac3f51e1f420a1dd2c15e74c75cfa0f23f3ad27eb5d7236c349a0c
 
 image:
-	@test -n "$(GO_BASE)" || { echo "module.json declares no GO_BASE; pass GO_BASE=<image> or fix the manifest"; exit 1; }
+	@test -n "$(GO_BASE)" || { echo "no GO_BASE; pass GO_BASE=<image>"; exit 1; }
 	docker build --build-arg GO_BASE=$(GO_BASE) --build-arg VERSION=$(VERSION) -t $(IMAGE) -t $(DEV_TAG) .
 	@echo
 	@docker image inspect $(IMAGE) --format 'built {{.RepoTags}}  {{.Size}} bytes'
@@ -48,7 +52,7 @@ BUILDER_IMAGE ?= mesh-builder:$(VERSION)
 BUILDER_DEV_TAG ?= mesh-builder:development
 
 builder-image:
-	@test -n "$(GO_BASE)" || { echo "module.json declares no GO_BASE; pass GO_BASE=<image> or fix the manifest"; exit 1; }
+	@test -n "$(GO_BASE)" || { echo "no GO_BASE; pass GO_BASE=<image>"; exit 1; }
 	docker build --build-arg GO_BASE=$(GO_BASE) -f cmd/mesh-builder/Dockerfile -t $(BUILDER_IMAGE) -t $(BUILDER_DEV_TAG) .
 	@echo
 	@docker image inspect $(BUILDER_IMAGE) --format 'built {{.RepoTags}}  {{.Size}} bytes'

README.md

@@ -193,6 +193,13 @@ passes every check that only looks at the message.
 
 ## The image
 
+**The mesh no longer runs the controller from it** (novox/hq issue 213). The module declares a Go
+bundle, `controller`, which the host on the controller's machine unpacks and runs as the process
+`mesh-controller` under the account of the same name (ADR 0188 §1, §3). The image stays for what
+still runs a container of the controller: genesis, which raises the first controller from it and
+installs the module from its manifest (mesh-host `internal/bootstrap`), and the lab. Neither is the
+mesh's own build any more — `make image` builds it.
+
 `FROM scratch`, holding one statically linked binary and nothing else — no shell, no package
 manager, no libc, no CA certificates.
 

cmd/mesh-controller/addresses_test.go

@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func TestTheRegistryTrustAndEveryImageFollowThePortTheNodeGaveTheStore(t *testin
 //
 // Composed from the control plane's own manifest against a real inventory: the store's module is
 // given 6852 on this node the way genesis or an operator gives it, and the control plane's
-// container is told so beside the sealed connection genesis wrote.
+// process is told so beside the sealed connection genesis wrote.
 func TestTheControlPlaneIsToldWhereTheNodePutTheStoreAndTheBroker(t *testing.T) {
 	open := aMesh(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
@@ -157,8 +157,8 @@ func TestTheControlPlaneIsToldWhereTheNodePutTheStoreAndTheBroker(t *testing.T)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	control, err := withSeatPorts(m).Resolve([]catalogue.Built{{Name: "server", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactImage,
-		Reference: "registry.example/control@" + aDigest}})
+	control, err := withSeatPorts(m).Resolve([]catalogue.Built{{Name: "controller", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: "https://registry.example/mesh-controller/controller.tar.gz", Digest: aDigest}})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -200,12 +200,12 @@ func TestTheControlPlaneIsToldWhereTheNodePutTheStoreAndTheBroker(t *testing.T)
 
 	var env map[string]any
 	for _, r := range composed(t, open, "anchor").Resources {
-		if r["id"] == "mesh-controller.server" {
+		if r["id"] == "mesh-controller.controller" {
 			env, _ = r["env"].(map[string]any)
 		}
 	}
 	if env == nil {
-		t.Fatal("the control plane's container is not in its own node's declaration")
+		t.Fatal("the control plane's process is not in its own node's declaration")
 	}
 	for key, want := range map[string]string{
 		"MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_PORT": "6852",
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ func withSeatPorts(m catalogue.Manifest) catalogue.Manifest {
 	out := m
 	out.Resources = nil
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
-		if r["type"] != "container" {
+		if r["type"] != "container" && r["type"] != "process" {
 			out.Resources = append(out.Resources, r)
 			continue
 		}

cmd/mesh-controller/build.go

@@ -148,6 +148,11 @@ func buildFrom(result link.BuildResult) inventory.Build {
 		// rebuild the graph rather than a list of names.
 		Path: result.Path,
 	}
+	// When it was asked, which is what orders it against another build of the same module
+	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219) — not when it was heard.
+	if asked, ok := link.BuildAskedAt(result.ID); ok {
+		kept.Asked = asked
+	}
 	for _, ref := range result.Against {
 		kept.Against = append(kept.Against, catalogue.Recorded(ref))
 	}
@@ -409,7 +414,7 @@ func buildOne(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wait ti
 	// Correlated by something the control plane makes, not by the module's name: two builds of one
 	// module can be in flight, and the second answer is not the first one's.
 	request := link.BuildRequest{
-		ID:         fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", "build", time.Now().UnixNano()),
+		ID:         link.NewBuildID(time.Now()),
 		Repository: repository,
 		Path:       path,
 		Ref:        ref,
@@ -526,17 +531,37 @@ func takeIn(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, result link.BuildResu
 		BuiltFrom: result.Commit, Head: result.Commit,
 		// What it stood on, so registration can judge a built manifest's base (to-be 38 WP2.4).
 		Against: kept.Against,
+		// When it was asked, so an older request heard later does not replace a newer one
+		// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219).
+		Asked: kept.Asked,
 	}
 	if result.Source != nil && result.Source.Seat != "" {
 		recorded.Repository, recorded.Seat = result.Source.Repository, result.Source.Seat
 	}
+	// **A build at a commit does not change the branch a module follows** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/215):
+	// the commit is built and recorded as what it was built from, and the module keeps following
+	// what it followed before — the repository's default branch for one new to the catalogue.
+	if followedBranch(result.Ref) == "" && result.Ref != "" {
+		recorded.Ref = ""
+		if was, err := inv.SourceOf(ctx, manifest.Module); err == nil {
+			recorded.Ref = followedBranch(was.Ref)
+		}
+	}
 	if err := namesNoInstallation(manifest); err != nil {
 		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)
 	}
 	if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, manifest, recorded); err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrSuperseded) {
+			return manifest, kept, fmt.Errorf("%s built %s (%s), recorded and not registered: %w",
+				result.On, manifest.Module, short(result.Commit), err)
+		}
 		return manifest, kept, err
 	}
+	// The keep set just moved, and new bytes just landed (novox/hq ADR 0189). Asked here rather
+	// than on a timer of its own: this is the only moment either is true. Never fatal — the build
+	// worked and the module is registered.
+	collect(ctx, inv)
 	return manifest, kept, nil
 }
 
@@ -564,7 +589,7 @@ func buildAndShow(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wai
 	defer ask.Close()
 
 	result, err := ask.Submit(ctx, link.BuildRequest{
-		ID:         fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", "build", time.Now().UnixNano()),
+		ID:         link.NewBuildID(time.Now()),
 		Repository: repository, Path: path, Ref: ref,
 		Held: heldBy(ctx), Seats: seatBases(ctx),
 	}, wait)

cmd/mesh-controller/build_test.go

@@ -2,9 +2,12 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
 )
 
@@ -63,3 +66,87 @@ func TestABuildHeardIsRecordedAndRegistered(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a failure is said in the builder's words: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/215: a build asked at a commit is recorded as built from that commit, and the
+// module keeps following the branch it followed — a new one, the default branch.
+func TestABuildAtACommitKeepsTheBranchTheModuleFollows(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	manifest, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{"module": "unifi", "version": "1"})
+	result := func(id, ref, commit string) link.BuildResult {
+		return link.BuildResult{ID: id, Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git",
+			Path: "modules/unifi", Ref: ref, On: "anchor", Commit: commit, Manifest: manifest,
+			Source: &link.SourceOnSeat{Seat: "git", Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog"}}
+	}
+	if _, _, err := takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, result("b-1", "main", "1111111aaaa")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, _, err := takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, result("b-2", "9c97a8a", "9c97a8a1d2c3")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	src, err := open.inventory.SourceOf(ctx, "unifi")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if src.Ref != "main" || src.BuiltFrom != "9c97a8a1d2c3" {
+		t.Errorf("after a build at a commit the module follows %q, built from %q; want main, 9c97a8a1d2c3", src.Ref, src.BuiltFrom)
+	}
+
+	// One new to the catalogue, first built at a commit, follows the default branch.
+	other, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{"module": "letta", "version": "1"})
+	r := result("b-3", "deadbeef", "deadbeefcafe")
+	r.Manifest, r.Path = other, "modules/letta"
+	if _, _, err := takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, r); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if src, _ := open.inventory.SourceOf(ctx, "letta"); src.Ref != "" {
+		t.Errorf("a module first built at a commit follows %q, want the default branch", src.Ref)
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219: an older request heard after a newer one is recorded and not registered,
+// so a push sends what the newer request built.
+func TestAnOlderBuildHeardLaterDoesNotReplaceTheNewer(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	older := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 21, 33, 45, 0, time.UTC)
+	newer := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 21, 51, 57, 0, time.UTC)
+	result := func(asked time.Time, image string) link.BuildResult {
+		manifest, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{"module": "postgres", "version": image})
+		return link.BuildResult{ID: link.NewBuildID(asked), Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git",
+			Path: "modules/postgres", Ref: "main", On: "anchor", Commit: "efff5415", Manifest: manifest,
+			Source: &link.SourceOnSeat{Seat: "git", Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog"}}
+	}
+	if _, _, err := takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, result(newer, "4bcd5f73")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	_, _, err := takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, result(older, "0ab07fa9"))
+	if !errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrSuperseded) {
+		t.Fatalf("the older request's outcome was taken in as current: %v", err)
+	}
+	shelf, err := open.inventory.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := shelf["postgres"].Version; got != "4bcd5f73" {
+		t.Errorf("postgres is %q; want the newer request's 4bcd5f73", got)
+	}
+	if builds, _ := open.inventory.Builds(ctx, "postgres", 5); len(builds) != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("the late build was not recorded: %v", builds)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestABuildIDSaysWhenItWasAsked(t *testing.T) {
+	at := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 21, 51, 57, 392539762, time.UTC)
+	if got, ok := link.BuildAskedAt(link.NewBuildID(at)); !ok || !got.Equal(at) {
+		t.Errorf("read back %v %v; want %v", got, ok, at)
+	}
+	if got, ok := link.BuildAskedAt("build-1791064317392539762"); !ok || got.Format(time.TimeOnly) != "21:51:57" {
+		t.Errorf("the incident's id reads as %v %v", got, ok)
+	}
+	for _, id := range []string{"b-1", "build-2", "build-", "build-x", ""} {
+		if _, ok := link.BuildAskedAt(id); ok {
+			t.Errorf("%q read as a request time", id)
+		}
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/check.go

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 )
@@ -90,6 +91,17 @@ func moduleCheck(paths []string, out io.Writer) error {
 		if len(m.Invokes) > 0 {
 			fmt.Fprintf(out, ", invokes %s", joinInvokes(m.Invokes))
 		}
+		// The state it keeps and reads (novox/hq ADR 0201), so a reviewer sees what lands on the bus.
+		if len(m.State) > 0 {
+			kept := make([]string, 0, len(m.State))
+			for _, s := range m.State {
+				kept = append(kept, s.Name)
+			}
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, ", keeps state %s", strings.Join(kept, ", "))
+		}
+		if len(m.Reads) > 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, ", reads %s", strings.Join(m.Reads, ", "))
+		}
 		fmt.Fprintln(out)
 	}
 	if failed > 0 {

cmd/mesh-controller/collect.go

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/artifacts"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// Letting the artifact store go of what the mesh no longer keeps (novox/hq ADR 0189, issue 108).
+//
+// **Run where the records change.** A build is the moment new bytes landed in the store and the
+// moment the keep set moved, so it is the moment to say what may go — and it needs no timer of
+// its own. Reclaiming the bytes is the store's own nightly step; this only decides.
+//
+// Never fatal to a build. The build succeeded, the module is registered, and a store that could
+// not be reached is a thing to say rather than a reason to undo any of that. The next build asks
+// again, and the references it could not collect are still uncollected, so nothing is lost by
+// having failed.
+
+// collect asks the store to let go of everything the mesh made and no longer keeps, and records
+// what it let go of. Says what it did and what it could not; returns nothing, because nothing
+// upstream should branch on it.
+func collect(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) {
+	references, err := inv.ToCollect(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "could not work out what the artifact store may let go of: %v\n", err)
+		return
+	}
+	if len(references) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "could not read the catalogue to find the artifact store: %v\n", err)
+		return
+	}
+	// As the mesh reaches it from the network. Empty means the store is not on the network — on a
+	// mesh being raised it is not yet, and there the store holds one build of anything and has
+	// nothing to collect.
+	address, err := artifactStoreAddress(ctx, inv, shelf, "")
+	if err != nil || address == "" {
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "could not find the artifact store to collect from: %v\n", err)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	// **Bounded, because this runs inside somebody's build.** The first sweep of a mesh that has
+	// never collected has the whole history to get through, and a person waiting on `build` should
+	// not pay for it. Two bounds, and what is left over is simply offered again next time —
+	// builds are frequent, and the point is that the store stops growing, not that it empties
+	// tonight.
+	within, stop := context.WithTimeout(ctx, sweepBudget)
+	defer stop()
+	store := artifacts.Store{Address: address}
+
+	var done []string
+	var left int
+	for i, reference := range references {
+		if i >= mostPerSweep || within.Err() != nil {
+			left = len(references) - i
+			break
+		}
+		err := store.LetGo(within, reference)
+		if err == nil || errors.Is(err, artifacts.Gone) {
+			// Gone is the outcome wanted, already true. Recorded so the next sweep does not ask
+			// again for ever.
+			done = append(done, reference)
+			continue
+		}
+		// **Stopped at the first refusal, not pushed through.** A store that refuses one refuses
+		// all of them — deletion disabled, the store down, the network gone — so going on would
+		// be a hundred identical failures and a hundred identical log lines in front of whoever
+		// was building something.
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "the artifact store kept %s, so nothing more was asked of it: %v\n",
+			reference, err)
+		left = len(references) - i
+		break
+	}
+
+	if len(done) > 0 {
+		// Recorded outside `within`: the deletions happened, and losing the record of them because
+		// the sweep ran out of budget would mean asking about them again for ever.
+		if err := inv.MarkCollected(ctx, done); err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "the store let go of %d artifact(s) and the record of it did not keep: %v\n",
+				len(done), err)
+			return
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "the artifact store let go of %d artifact(s) the mesh no longer keeps\n",
+			len(done))
+	}
+	if left > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%d more to collect; the next build asks again\n", left)
+	}
+}
+
+// mostPerSweep is how many artifacts one sweep will ask about. Enough that a mesh building
+// several times a day converges within days of this landing; small enough that no single build
+// waits on the whole backlog.
+const mostPerSweep = 200
+
+// sweepBudget is the longest a sweep will keep a build waiting.
+const sweepBudget = 60 * time.Second

cmd/mesh-controller/issue_204_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// A declaration composed earlier is numbered lower than one composed later, whatever order the two
+// are sent in (novox/hq issue 204). The number used to be taken at send time, after composing, so a
+// declaration composed before an assignment changed and sent after a newer one carried the higher
+// number — and the machine, which refuses a lower number, took the older content as the mesh's
+// newest word. Taken before the composition reads anything, the order of numbers is the order of
+// compositions, and the host's refusal does what it is for.
+func TestADeclarationComposedEarlierIsNumberedLowerWhateverOrderItIsSent(t *testing.T) {
+	allot := numbered()
+	var composed []string
+	compose := func(stamp string) func(string) (sendable, error) {
+		return func(node string) (sendable, error) {
+			composed = append(composed, stamp)
+			return sendable{Resources: []map[string]any{{"id": node + "." + stamp}}}, nil
+		}
+	}
+	// Composed first — before an assignment changed — and sent last.
+	stale, _ := composeEach([]string{"anchor"}, allot, compose("before"))
+	// Composed after the change, sent first.
+	fresh, _ := composeEach([]string{"anchor"}, allot, compose("after"))
+
+	if stale[0].declared.Sequence != 1 || fresh[0].declared.Sequence != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the numbers do not follow the compositions: before=%d after=%d",
+			stale[0].declared.Sequence, fresh[0].declared.Sequence)
+	}
+	// Sent in the other order, the numbers do not change — so the machine that has applied the
+	// fresh one (2) refuses the stale one (1) when it arrives late.
+	if !(stale[0].declared.Sequence < fresh[0].declared.Sequence) {
+		t.Fatal("a declaration composed earlier must carry the lower number, however late it is sent")
+	}
+	if len(composed) != 2 || composed[0] != "before" {
+		t.Fatalf("compositions happened in an unexpected order: %v", composed)
+	}
+}
+
+// The number is taken before the first read of the composition, not after it: an allotter that
+// fails leaves nothing composed for that machine, and the others are still composed.
+func TestTheNumberIsTakenBeforeComposingAndItsFailureIsARefusal(t *testing.T) {
+	calls := 0
+	allot := func(node string) (int64, error) {
+		if node == "anchor" {
+			return 0, context.DeadlineExceeded
+		}
+		return 7, nil
+	}
+	sending, refusals := composeEach([]string{"anchor", "laptop"}, allot, func(node string) (sendable, error) {
+		calls++
+		if node == "anchor" {
+			t.Fatal("anchor was composed although its number could not be taken")
+		}
+		return sendable{}, nil
+	})
+	if calls != 1 || len(sending) != 1 || sending[0].node != "laptop" || sending[0].declared.Sequence != 7 {
+		t.Fatalf("laptop should be composed with its number and anchor refused: %v / %v", sending, refusals)
+	}
+	if len(refusals) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("anchor's failed number should be a refusal naming it: %v", refusals)
+	}
+}
+
+// What was sent is written down even when the sender's context is already cancelled (issue 204): a
+// controller replaced mid-send had told the machine and never recorded it, so status read "applied,
+// current" over a machine that had just been sent something else.
+func TestASendIsRecordedEvenWhenTheSenderIsBeingCancelled(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := inventory.ForTest(t)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
+	if _, err := inv.AddNode(ctx, "anchor"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	cancel() // the sender is going away: its context is cancelled between the send and the record
+	body := []byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[]}`)
+	digest, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, "anchor", body)
+	if err != nil {
+		// NodeByName on the cancelled context may itself refuse; the record must still be possible
+		// through the detached context, so look the node up again on a live one.
+		t.Fatalf("recording a send after cancellation failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	outstanding, err := inv.Outstanding(t.Context(), "anchor")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if outstanding != digest || digest != digestOf(body) {
+		t.Fatalf("the send was not recorded: outstanding %q, sent %q", outstanding, digest)
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/main.go

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
@@ -253,25 +254,34 @@ func parseAround(set *flag.FlagSet, args []string) ([]string, error) {
 // became of a build nobody was watching.
 func (b builds) Built(ctx context.Context, result link.BuildResult) error {
 	manifest, _, err := takeIn(ctx, b.inv, result)
+	// When it was asked, so a plan takes as its outcome only a build asked for it or after it
+	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). Zero when the id does not say.
+	asked, _ := link.BuildAskedAt(result.ID)
 	switch {
 	case err != nil && result.Failed != "":
 		fmt.Printf("%s: %v\n", result.ID, err)
 		if result.Module != "" {
-			planBuilt(ctx, b.open, result.Module, result.Commit, result.Failed)
+			planBuilt(ctx, b.open, result.Module, result.Commit, result.Failed, asked)
 		} else {
 			planFailedBuild(ctx, b.open, result)
 		}
 		return nil
+	case errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrSuperseded):
+		// Not a failure: the module is already at what a later request built. A plan that asked
+		// before that later request is answered by it; one that asked after it ignores this.
+		fmt.Printf("%s: %v\n", result.ID, err)
+		planBuilt(ctx, b.open, manifest.Module, result.Commit, "", asked)
+		return nil
 	case err != nil:
 		fmt.Printf("%s: heard and recorded, and not registered: %v\n", result.ID, err)
 		if manifest.Module != "" {
-			planBuilt(ctx, b.open, manifest.Module, result.Commit, err.Error())
+			planBuilt(ctx, b.open, manifest.Module, result.Commit, err.Error(), asked)
 		}
 		return nil
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("%s: %s %s registered, built on %s from %s\n",
 		result.ID, manifest.Module, manifest.Version, result.On, short(result.Commit))
 	saysWhenThePolicyActs(ctx, b.inv, manifest.Module)
-	planBuilt(ctx, b.open, manifest.Module, result.Commit, "")
+	planBuilt(ctx, b.open, manifest.Module, result.Commit, "", asked)
 	return nil
 }

cmd/mesh-controller/modules.go

@@ -147,6 +147,40 @@ func moduleCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		// **The same list, for something other than a person** (novox/hq ADR 0195): what each module
+		// is, where it runs, whether it is current, and what it says of itself.
+		if len(args) > 1 && args[1] == "--json" {
+			type listed struct {
+				Module   string `json:"module"`
+				Version  string `json:"version"`
+				Built    string `json:"built,omitempty"`
+				Head     string `json:"head,omitempty"`
+				Current  bool   `json:"current"`
+				Provided bool   `json:"provided,omitempty"`
+				// Tools says whether the module answers tools anywhere it runs: a list of its own,
+				// a bundle the runtime serves, or a seat's verbs it claims (novox/hq ADR 0197) —
+				// what the console checks the bus's answers against.
+				Tools        bool     `json:"tools"`
+				On           []string `json:"on"`
+				Provides     []string `json:"provides,omitempty"`
+				Requires     []string `json:"requires,omitempty"`
+				Claims       []string `json:"claims,omitempty"`
+				Capabilities []string `json:"capabilities,omitempty"`
+			}
+			out := make([]listed, 0, len(entries))
+			for _, e := range entries {
+				m := e.Manifest
+				l := listed{Module: m.Module, Version: m.Version, Built: e.Source.BuiltFrom, Head: e.Source.Head,
+					Current: e.Provided || e.Source.Repository == "" || e.Source.Current(), Provided: e.Provided,
+					On: append([]string{}, e.On...), Provides: m.Offers(), Requires: m.Requires,
+					Capabilities: m.Capabilities, Tools: declaresTools(m)}
+				for _, c := range m.Claims {
+					l.Claims = append(l.Claims, c.At()+"/"+c.Name)
+				}
+				out = append(out, l)
+			}
+			return printJSON(out)
+		}
 		if len(entries) == 0 {
 			fmt.Println("this mesh knows about no modules yet")
 			return nil
@@ -733,3 +767,23 @@ func claimsFor(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue.Manife
 	}
 	return out, nil
 }
+
+// declaresTools is whether a module answers tools wherever it runs (novox/hq ADR 0197): it names
+// tools of its own, its build delivers a bundle the node's runtime serves, or it claims a seat
+// whose verbs it serves. A module with none is never expected to announce anything.
+func declaresTools(m catalogue.Manifest) bool {
+	if len(m.Tools) > 0 {
+		return true
+	}
+	for _, b := range m.Bundles {
+		if len(b.Loads) > 0 {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	for _, c := range m.Claims {
+		if len(c.Serves) > 0 {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/network_test.go

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"os"
+	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -265,6 +266,12 @@ func TestTheResolverIsToldEveryMachineOnTheNetworkAndToldAgainWhenOneLeaves(t *t
 	if _, err := assign(ctx, open, "anchor", "dnsmasq"); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	// Its bus credential, as assigning issues it where the bus is reachable (novox/hq issue 203):
+	// no bus is known to this test, so it is minted here, or composing refuses the placeholder.
+	if _, err := open.inventory.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{
+		Username: "anchor.dnsmasq", Kind: inventory.BusModule, Node: "anchor", Module: "dnsmasq"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
 	zones := func() string {
 		t.Helper()
 		for _, r := range composed(t, open, "anchor").Resources {
@@ -303,3 +310,28 @@ func TestTheResolverIsToldEveryMachineOnTheNetworkAndToldAgainWhenOneLeaves(t *t
 		t.Fatalf("a machine that left the network is still a wildcard, or the one that stayed is not:\n%s", after)
 	}
 }
+
+// The roster is the machines and nothing else (novox/hq ADR 0191): each node's internal domain covers
+// every route on it, and a node's public domains are public DNS's. A routed name in `.Names` was a
+// private answer for a public name, handed by a resolver serving a LAN to a phone that could not use it.
+func TestTheRosterNamesOnlyTheMachines(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	gens, err := generators(ctx, open)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, node := range []string{"anchor", "laptop"} {
+		plan, settings, err := planFor(ctx, open, node)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		with, _, err := renderingFor(ctx, open, node, plan, settings, gens, Reading)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(with.Names, with.Machines) {
+			t.Fatalf("%s's roster names more than the machines:\n names    %v\n machines %v", node, with.Names, with.Machines)
+		}
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
@@ -44,6 +45,21 @@ func nodeCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		// **The same list, for something other than a person** — the console's discovery reads it
+		// (novox/hq ADR 0195), and a reader that parses a printed column breaks when it is reworded.
+		if len(args) > 1 && args[1] == "--json" {
+			type listed struct {
+				Name  string `json:"name"`
+				Heard string `json:"heard"`
+				Mode  string `json:"mode"`
+				ID    string `json:"id"`
+			}
+			out := make([]listed, 0, len(nodes))
+			for _, n := range nodes {
+				out = append(out, listed{Name: n.Name, Heard: heardFrom(n), Mode: modeOf(n), ID: n.ID})
+			}
+			return printJSON(out)
+		}
 		if len(nodes) == 0 {
 			// Said rather than printed as nothing: an empty list and a failed read must never
 			// look the same, and this command answering "none" is only honest because getting
@@ -500,3 +516,13 @@ func orNotReported(s string) string {
 	}
 	return s
 }
+
+// printJSON prints a value as indented JSON, the shape every `--json` answers in.
+func printJSON(v any) error {
+	body, err := json.MarshalIndent(v, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	fmt.Println(string(body))
+	return nil
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/order_test.go

@@ -211,3 +211,27 @@ func TestWhatAHandedOverModuleRecordsAboutItsSource(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/215: a module once built at a commit still follows its branch — a merge into it
+// matches the module, and a plan re-asks the branch, not the old commit.
+func TestAModuleBuiltAtACommitStillFollowsItsBranch(t *testing.T) {
+	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main"}
+	pinned := inventory.Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", Seat: "git", Ref: "9c97a8a"}
+	if !sourceIs(pinned, m) {
+		t.Error("a module whose record names a commit is left out of a merge into its branch")
+	}
+	full := inventory.Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", Seat: "git", Ref: "9c97a8a1d2c3b4a5f60718293a4b5c6d7e8f9012"}
+	if !sourceIs(full, m) {
+		t.Error("a full commit hash is read as a branch")
+	}
+	if got := followedBranch("9c97a8a"); got != "" {
+		t.Errorf("a plan would re-ask the old commit %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := followedBranch("release"); got != "release" {
+		t.Errorf("a branch is not followed as named: %q", got)
+	}
+	// A module that follows another branch is still not this merge's.
+	if sourceIs(inventory.Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", Seat: "git", Ref: "release"}, m) {
+		t.Error("a module following another branch was matched")
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go

@@ -645,23 +645,17 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 		}
 	}
 
-	// And every routed name → the node that serves it (novox/hq ADR 0066). Alongside the
-	// `<node>.internal` names above, so a container — or an internal ACME validator — resolves a
-	// routed name to the proxy that serves it, mesh-wide. The mesh publishes the names it was told
-	// to serve and knows nothing about what they mean.
-	// Kept apart from the machines, because a fact about the machines must not be handed the names
-	// the mesh merely serves (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/111).
+	// **The roster is the machines and nothing else** (novox/hq ADR 0191). Each node has one internal
+	// domain, `<node>.internal`, and every route on it is a name under that domain (ADR 0151), which
+	// the resolver answers with one wildcard per machine — so no route needs a line of its own. A
+	// node's public domains are the operator's and public DNS answers them; the mesh gives no private
+	// answer for any of them. The roster once carried every routed name, public ones included, and a
+	// resolver that also serves a LAN handed a phone a tunnel address for the mail server.
+	// `.Names` and `.Machines` stay two fields so a module's template keeps rendering (issue 111).
 	machines := make(map[string]string, len(names))
 	for name, at := range names {
 		machines[name] = at
 	}
-	routes, err := routeNamesInTheMesh(ctx, open)
-	if err != nil {
-		return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
-	}
-	for name, at := range routes {
-		names[name] = at
-	}
 
 	// **The bus is never public** (novox/hq ADR 0169). It was a foundation port — widened from the
 	// broker's own `from: mesh` to from-anywhere on the broker's host, so a machine could enrol
@@ -740,76 +734,6 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 	}, record, nil
 }
 
-// routeNamesInTheMesh is every routed name and the address of the node that serves it (novox/hq
-// ADR 0066).
-//
-// **Mesh-wide, so any container resolves any routed name to its proxy** — including an internal
-// ACME validator, which cannot complete a challenge for a name it cannot reach. A routed name is
-// composed on the consumer's node (from its label and that node's public domain) and served by the
-// node answering the consumer's route requirement; this gathers both.
-//
-// It reads route names off resolutions rather than a table because there is no table: a route is a
-// contribution, computed from what each node runs. Name-agnostic — a contribution counts as a
-// routed name only because it carried a label the mesh composed, never because the mesh knows what
-// "route" means. A node that does not resolve is skipped, so one machine's broken set does not cost
-// the rest their names.
-//
-// **A node that could not be READ is a different matter and is raised.** Skipping one states, to
-// every machine at once, that its names do not exist — and since the roster is part of every
-// container's identity, that withdraws them and replaces every container (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/152,
-// 151). So every failure here says which machine and which read, because the alternative is a
-// mesh-wide refusal with nothing named in it.
-func routeNamesInTheMesh(ctx context.Context, open *stores) (map[string]string, error) {
-	inv := open.inventory
-	places, err := inv.Overlays(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("where the machines are cannot be read: %w", err)
-	}
-	address := map[string]string{}
-	for _, p := range places {
-		if strings.TrimSpace(p.Address) != "" {
-			address[p.Name] = p.Address
-		}
-	}
-
-	nodes, err := inv.Nodes(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("which machines the mesh has cannot be read: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// Every machine's resolution first, then the names across them at once: which node serves a
-	// name is a question about the graph — the consumer on one machine, the provider on another —
-	// and answered wrongly by looking at one contribution at a time (novox/hq issue 178).
-	plans := map[string]catalogue.Resolution{}
-	settings := map[string]catalogue.SettingsBy{}
-	for _, n := range nodes {
-		plan, layers, err := planFor(ctx, open, n.Name)
-		switch {
-		case unresolvable(err):
-			// Their set does not compose, so they serve no names. Passed over, so one machine's
-			// broken set does not cost the rest theirs.
-			continue
-		case err != nil:
-			// The mesh could not be asked. Returning the roster without this machine's names would
-			// state that they do not exist — to every machine, and indistinguishably from the
-			// operator having withdrawn them (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/152).
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("the names %s serves cannot be read: %w", n.Name, err)
-		}
-		plans[n.Name], settings[n.Name] = plan, layers
-	}
-	served, err := catalogue.NamesServed(plans, settings)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	out := map[string]string{}
-	for name, node := range served {
-		if at := address[node]; at != "" {
-			out[name] = at
-		}
-	}
-	return out, nil
-}
-
 // certificateFor is what the mesh certifies about one machine's internal name.
 //
 // It reaches across two contexts and reads neither one's store from the other: `inventory` knows

cmd/mesh-controller/plans_one_at_a_time_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 213: for the moment a machine hands its controller over, the container and the
+// process both run the plan timer on one store. Only the one holding the plans moves them; the other
+// leaves them alone, and moves them once they are let go.
+func TestAControllerLeavesThePlansToTheOneHoldingThem(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	// Every tier done: the next step is the plan's last, and needs nothing but the store.
+	plan := inventory.Plan{ID: "plan-213", Repository: "r", Commit: "abc", Created: now, Updated: now,
+		State: inventory.PlanRolling, Tier: 1, Tiers: [][]string{{"app"}},
+		Modules: map[string]*inventory.PlanModule{"app": {State: "built"}}}
+	if err := open.inventory.SavePlan(ctx, plan); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// The other controller: its own connections to the same store, holding the plans.
+	other, err := inventory.Open(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(other.Close)
+	release, err := other.HoldPlans(ctx, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(release) // before the close above: a pool waits for a connection still held
+
+	advancePlans(ctx, open)
+	if p, err := open.inventory.PlanByID(ctx, "plan-213"); err != nil || !p.Open() {
+		t.Fatalf("a controller moved a plan another held: %+v %v", p, err)
+	}
+
+	release()
+	advancePlans(ctx, open)
+	if p, err := open.inventory.PlanByID(ctx, "plan-213"); err != nil || p.State != inventory.PlanDone {
+		t.Fatalf("the plan did not move once it was let go: %+v %v", p, err)
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/push.go

@@ -151,6 +151,12 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	defer stopServing()
+	// And says so on the bus (novox/hq ADR 0197): what it serves, as the NATS services protocol asks.
+	stopAnnouncing, err := bus.Announce(seatAnnouncement(handlers), log.New(os.Stdout, "", log.LstdFlags))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer stopAnnouncing()
 
 	return server.Serve(ctx)
 }
@@ -205,6 +211,12 @@ func declare(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, node, raw, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	// Written down like every other send (novox/hq issue 204): a declaration a person sent by hand
+	// is still what the machine was last told, and status must not read it as current for the one
+	// the mesh would compose.
+	if _, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, node, raw); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	fmt.Printf("sent %s a signed declaration (%d bytes)\n", node, len(raw))
 	return nil
 }
@@ -348,7 +360,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	sending, refusals := composeEach(asked, func(node string) (sendable, error) {
+	sending, refusals := composeEach(asked, allotting(held, inv), func(node string) (sendable, error) {
 		plan, settings, err := planFor(held, open, node)
 		if err != nil {
 			return sendable{}, err
@@ -370,12 +382,8 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	sentDigest := map[string]string{}
 	defer release()
 	for _, s := range sending {
-		// Numbered under the hold, one higher than the last, before the body exists — the number is
-		// inside the signed bytes, so a replayed older declaration cannot borrow a newer one's
-		// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107).
-		if err := number(ctx, inv, &s); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+		// The number is inside the signed bytes, so a replayed older declaration cannot borrow a
+		// newer one's (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107); it was taken when the composition began (issue 204).
 		body, err := s.declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -385,14 +393,10 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		}
 		// After it is away, not before. A digest recorded for something that failed to send would
 		// make the machine look current for a declaration it never received.
-		record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
+		digest, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, s.node, body)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		digest := digestOf(body)
-		if err := inv.RecordSent(ctx, record.ID, digest); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 		sentDigest[s.node] = digest
 		fmt.Printf("sent %s %d resource(s)\n", s.node, len(s.declared.Resources))
 	}
@@ -476,11 +480,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 						15*time.Second); err != nil {
 						return err
 					}
-					record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
-					if err != nil {
-						return err
-					}
-					if err := inv.RecordSent(ctx, record.ID, digestOf(body)); err != nil {
+					if _, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, s.node, body); err != nil {
 						return err
 					}
 					fmt.Printf("sent %s %d resource(s)\n", s.node, len(s.declared.Resources))
@@ -569,17 +569,31 @@ type readyNode struct {
 //
 // The all-or-nothing rule is kept where it means something — sendTo, which rotates a credential
 // across two machines that must agree — and dropped here, where it never did.
-func composeEach(names []string,
+func composeEach(names []string, allot func(node string) (int64, error),
 	compose func(node string) (sendable, error)) ([]readyNode, []string) {
 
 	var sending []readyNode
 	var refusals []string
 	for _, name := range names {
+		// **Numbered before it is composed, not before it is sent** (novox/hq issue 204). The
+		// number says where this declaration stands against every other the mesh composed for the
+		// machine, and the host refuses one lower than the last it applied. Taken at send time, as
+		// it was, a declaration composed a minute ago — before an assignment changed — went out with
+		// a number higher than one composed after the change and sent before it, and the machine
+		// took the older content as the newer word: on 2026-10-02 a runtime assigned and applied on
+		// two machines was undone two seconds later by exactly that. Taken here, before the first
+		// read, what was composed earlier is numbered lower whatever order the sends happen in.
+		seq, err := allot(name)
+		if err != nil {
+			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
+			continue
+		}
 		declared, err := compose(name)
 		if err != nil {
 			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
 			continue
 		}
+		declared.Sequence = seq
 		if len(declared.Resources) == 0 {
 			// Sent, not skipped (novox/hq issue 127). A node whose declaration composes to
 			// nothing may have HELD something before — the broker opening a placement gave it,
@@ -607,13 +621,10 @@ func sendRound(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string,
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer release()
-	sending, refused := composeEach(names, func(node string) (sendable, error) {
+	sending, refused := composeEach(names, allotting(held, open.inventory), func(node string) (sendable, error) {
 		return compose(held, node)
 	})
 	for _, s := range sending {
-		if err := number(ctx, open.inventory, &s); err != nil {
-			return refused, err
-		}
 		body, err := s.declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return refused, err
@@ -670,6 +681,12 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 	var sending []readyNode
 	var refusals []string
 	for _, name := range names {
+		// Numbered before composing, for the reason composeEach gives (novox/hq issue 204).
+		seq, err := allot(ctx, inv, name)
+		if err != nil {
+			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
+			continue
+		}
 		plan, settings, err := planFor(ctx, open, name)
 		if err != nil {
 			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
@@ -681,6 +698,7 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
 			continue
 		}
+		declared.Sequence = seq
 		reportLeftOut(name, declared)
 		sending = append(sending, readyNode{name, declared})
 	}
@@ -696,9 +714,6 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 	defer server.Close()
 
 	for _, s := range sending {
-		if err := number(ctx, inv, &s); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 		body, err := s.declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -706,11 +721,7 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 		if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err := inv.RecordSent(ctx, record.ID, digestOf(body)); err != nil {
+		if _, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, s.node, body); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		fmt.Printf("  sent %s %d resource(s)\n", s.node, len(s.declared.Resources))
@@ -887,6 +898,21 @@ func raiseTheBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, address string)
 	if err := broker.RaiseSeats(js, inventory.MeshSeats(), holders); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	// Every module's state (novox/hq ADR 0201), from the catalogue: a bucket exists from
+	// registration, so a module reading one may watch it before its owner runs anywhere. One that
+	// nothing declares any more is said and kept — what it holds is data.
+	buckets, err := inv.DeclaredBuckets(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	undeclared, err := broker.RaiseBuckets(js, buckets)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(undeclared) > 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("the bus holds state nothing declares any more, kept because it is data: %s — "+
+			"removing it is a person's act\n", strings.Join(undeclared, ", "))
+	}
 	// And how every module hears what it consumes. Derived from the same records the user list is
 	// composed from, so a module the mesh grants a consumer's subjects has that consumer waiting.
 	// Done on every raise, not only when a credential is issued: every module moved onto this bus
@@ -910,8 +936,8 @@ func raiseTheBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, address string)
 		}
 		hearing++
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("the bus at %s has its streams, %d machine(s) can hear a declaration, and %d module(s) "+
-		"can hear what they consume\n", broker.BareAddress(address), len(names), hearing)
+	fmt.Printf("the bus at %s has its streams, %d machine(s) can hear a declaration, %d module(s) "+
+		"can hear what they consume, and %d bucket(s) of state\n", broker.BareAddress(address), len(names), hearing, len(buckets))
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -951,15 +977,38 @@ func seatHolders(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) (map[string]brok
 }
 
 // number gives one send the next sequence for its node (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107).
-func number(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, s *readyNode) error {
-	record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
+// allotting is allot over one inventory, in the shape composeEach takes.
+func allotting(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) func(node string) (int64, error) {
+	return func(node string) (int64, error) { return allot(ctx, inv, node) }
+}
+
+// allot takes the next sequence for a machine — the number its next declaration carries.
+func allot(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node string) (int64, error) {
+	record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, node)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return 0, err
 	}
-	seq, err := inv.NextSequence(ctx, record.ID)
+	return inv.NextSequence(ctx, record.ID)
+}
+
+// recordSent writes down what a machine was just sent, and returns the digest.
+//
+// **On a context that outlives the caller's** (novox/hq issue 204). The record is written after the
+// declaration is away, so a send that failed is never recorded as current — and a controller being
+// replaced mid-send had its context cancelled between the two, so the machine was told and the mesh
+// never wrote it down: status read "applied, current" over a machine that had just been sent
+// something else. What was sent was sent; the record of it must not depend on the sender living
+// another second. Bounded, so a store that is away does not hold a dying process open for ever.
+func recordSent(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node string, body []byte) (string, error) {
+	kept, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.WithoutCancel(ctx), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	record, err := inv.NodeByName(kept, node)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return "", err
 	}
-	s.declared.Sequence = seq
-	return nil
+	digest := digestOf(body)
+	if err := inv.RecordSent(kept, record.ID, digest); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return digest, nil
 }

cmd/mesh-controller/push_test.go

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import (
 // the wrong machine no longer refuses the whole node), applied one level up.
 func TestOneUnresolvableNodeStillLetsTheRestBeSent(t *testing.T) {
 	sending, refusals := composeEach(
-		[]string{"anchor", "home-server", "laptop"},
+		[]string{"anchor", "home-server", "laptop"}, numbered(),
 		func(node string) (sendable, error) {
 			if node == "anchor" {
 				return sendable{}, errors.New(`nothing provides "acme-ca", wanted by route-proxy`)
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func TestOneUnresolvableNodeStillLetsTheRestBeSent(t *testing.T) {
 // (novox/hq issue 127): it may have held something before, and only sending the empty
 // declaration tells it to drop what the mesh owned. It is never a refusal.
 func TestAnEmptyDeclarationIsSentSoTheNodeDropsWhatItHeld(t *testing.T) {
-	sending, refusals := composeEach([]string{"spare"},
+	sending, refusals := composeEach([]string{"spare"}, numbered(),
 		func(string) (sendable, error) { return sendable{}, nil })
 	if len(sending) != 1 || len(refusals) != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("an empty declaration must be sent, not skipped or refused: %v / %v", sending, refusals)
@@ -74,3 +74,9 @@ func TestASkippedMachineIsStillAnError(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// numbered is an allotter for tests: one higher per call, as the inventory's is per machine.
+func numbered() func(string) (int64, error) {
+	var n int64
+	return func(string) (int64, error) { n++; return n, nil }
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
@@ -272,7 +273,8 @@ func askTier(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, p *inventory.Plan) e
 		}
 		source := buildSource{Repository: e.Source.Repository, Seat: e.Source.Seat}
 		fmt.Printf("  tier %d: ", p.Tier)
-		if err := buildOne(ctx, source, e.Source.Path, e.Source.Ref, 0); err != nil {
+		// The branch it follows, never a commit a build once named (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/215).
+		if err := buildOne(ctx, source, e.Source.Path, followedBranch(e.Source.Ref), 0); err != nil {
 			state.State = "failed"
 			state.Why = err.Error()
 			p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
@@ -287,8 +289,23 @@ func askTier(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, p *inventory.Plan) e
 
 // planBuilt marks a module built (or failed) in every open plan whose current tier holds it, and
 // advances what that completes. Called from the daemon's take-in of every outcome.
-func planBuilt(ctx context.Context, open *stores, module, commit, failed string) {
+//
+// **Only a build asked at or after the plan's ask is its outcome** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). Two
+// plans a few minutes apart both ask for a module; the earlier plan's build, finishing late, is not
+// the later plan's answer — it stood on the bases from before the later plan's merge, and taking it
+// would send machines, and the next tier, what the later merge replaced. asked is zero when the
+// build's request time is not known, and such an outcome is taken as before.
+func planBuilt(ctx context.Context, open *stores, module, commit, failed string, asked time.Time) {
 	inv := open.inventory
+	// One controller works the plans at a time (novox/hq issue 213); an outcome waits its turn rather
+	// than write over what the holder is about to save. Not taken, it is still in the build records,
+	// which the holder settles the plan from (issue 214).
+	release, err := inv.HoldPlans(ctx, true)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("plans: %s's outcome is left to the build records: %v\n", module, err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer release()
 	plans, err := inv.OpenPlans(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("plans: cannot read them: %v\n", err)
@@ -314,6 +331,9 @@ func planBuilt(ctx context.Context, open *stores, module, commit, failed string)
 			state = &inventory.PlanModule{}
 			p.Modules[module] = state
 		}
+		if askedBefore(asked, state.AskedAt) {
+			continue
+		}
 		if failed != "" {
 			state.State = "failed"
 			state.Why = failed
@@ -332,13 +352,30 @@ func planBuilt(ctx context.Context, open *stores, module, commit, failed string)
 			fmt.Printf("%s: %s; the tiers after it are not asked\n", p.ID, p.Note)
 		}
 	}
-	advancePlans(ctx, open)
+	advanceHeld(ctx, open)
 }
 
 // advancePlans moves every open plan as far as the facts allow: a tier whose modules are all built
 // and whose gates are applied gives way to the next; the last tier done is the plan done. Called
 // after every outcome and on a timer, so a plan waiting on a machine's report moves when it comes.
+//
+// **One controller at a time** (novox/hq issue 213). A plan is read, changed and saved whole; two
+// controllers — the old and the new while a machine hands its controller over — would each ask a
+// tier the other had just asked. Taken without waiting: whoever holds the plans is moving them.
 func advancePlans(ctx context.Context, open *stores) {
+	release, err := open.inventory.HoldPlans(ctx, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		if !errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrPlansBusy) {
+			fmt.Printf("plans: cannot hold them: %v\n", err)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	defer release()
+	advanceHeld(ctx, open)
+}
+
+// advanceHeld is advancePlans for a caller already holding the plans.
+func advanceHeld(ctx context.Context, open *stores) {
 	inv := open.inventory
 	plans, err := inv.OpenPlans(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -399,6 +436,24 @@ func advanceOnce(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan,
 		}
 		return true, nil
 	}
+	// **Asked: settle from the build records first** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/214). An outcome is taken
+	// in by whichever controller hears it, and a merge to the controller's own repository replaces
+	// the controller in its first tier: the build that produced the new one is recorded, and the
+	// plan never hears it. The record is the fact; a build recorded after the ask is that tier's
+	// outcome, whoever was listening.
+	recorded := map[string][]inventory.Build{}
+	for _, m := range tier {
+		if s := p.Modules[m]; s != nil && s.State == "asked" {
+			builds, err := inv.Builds(ctx, m, 5)
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			recorded[m] = builds
+		}
+	}
+	if settleFromRecords(p, tier, recorded) {
+		return true, nil
+	}
 	// Asked: wait for every build.
 	var latest time.Time
 	for _, m := range tier {
@@ -530,7 +585,8 @@ func planFailedBuild(ctx context.Context, open *stores, result link.BuildResult)
 	}
 	for _, e := range entries {
 		if repositoryMatches(e.Source.Repository, result.Repository) && e.Source.Path == result.Path {
-			planBuilt(ctx, open, e.Manifest.Module, result.Commit, result.Failed)
+			asked, _ := link.BuildAskedAt(result.ID)
+			planBuilt(ctx, open, e.Manifest.Module, result.Commit, result.Failed, asked)
 			return
 		}
 	}
@@ -647,6 +703,19 @@ func plansCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		}
 		p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
 		p.Note = "stopped by hand at tier " + fmt.Sprint(p.Tier)
+		release, err := inv.HoldPlans(ctx, true)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		defer release()
+		if p, err = inv.PlanByID(ctx, positionals[1]); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if !p.Open() {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s is already %s", p.ID, p.State)
+		}
+		p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
+		p.Note = "stopped by hand at tier " + fmt.Sprint(p.Tier)
 		if err := inv.SavePlan(ctx, p); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -755,3 +824,52 @@ func splitList(s string) []string {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// settleFromRecords marks every module of the tier still `asked` built — or failed — from a build
+// recorded after it was asked, and says whether it changed anything (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/214).
+// Newest first, as Builds answers: the first record after the ask is the outcome of that ask.
+func settleFromRecords(p *inventory.Plan, tier []string, recorded map[string][]inventory.Build) bool {
+	changed := false
+	for _, m := range tier {
+		s := p.Modules[m]
+		if s == nil || s.State != "asked" || s.AskedAt == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		var outcome *inventory.Build
+		for i := range recorded[m] {
+			b := recorded[m][i]
+			if b.At.Before(*s.AskedAt) {
+				break
+			}
+			// Recorded after the ask and asked before it: an earlier ask's late outcome, not this
+			// one's (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219).
+			if askedBefore(b.Asked, s.AskedAt) {
+				continue
+			}
+			outcome = &b
+		}
+		if outcome == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		at := outcome.At
+		if outcome.Worked() {
+			s.State = "built"
+			s.BuiltAt = &at
+			s.Commit = outcome.Commit
+		} else {
+			s.State = "failed"
+			s.Why = outcome.Failed
+			p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
+			p.Note = fmt.Sprintf("%s failed to build in tier %d", m, p.Tier)
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("%s: %s settled from the build records as %s (%s)\n", p.ID, m, s.State, outcome.ID)
+		changed = true
+	}
+	return changed
+}
+
+// askedBefore is whether a build asked at asked was asked before a plan asked for its module — and
+// so is not that plan's outcome (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). False when either time is not known.
+func askedBefore(asked time.Time, planAsked *time.Time) bool {
+	return !asked.IsZero() && planAsked != nil && asked.Before(*planAsked)
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan_test.go

@@ -115,3 +115,69 @@ func TestACycleIsOneLastTierAndSaidSo(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a cycle should be one tier of two, said: %v", tiers)
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/211: a merge moving the toolchain and a bundle compiled in it builds the
+// bundle a tier after the toolchain, not beside it.
+func TestABundleIsPlannedAfterTheToolchainItIsCompiledIn(t *testing.T) {
+	edges := []inventory.Edge{{From: "node-tools", To: "mesh-tools", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn}}
+	p := planOfMerge(link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-tools", Commit: "abc"},
+		[]string{"mesh-tools", "node-tools"}, edges)
+	if len(p.Tiers) != 2 || p.Tiers[0][0] != "mesh-tools" || p.Tiers[1][0] != "node-tools" {
+		t.Fatalf("the toolchain, then the bundle: %v", p.Tiers)
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/214: a plan whose build outcome was recorded while no controller followed it —
+// the controller rebuilding itself — settles from the build records instead of waiting for ever.
+func TestAPlanSettlesAnAskedBuildFromTheRecords(t *testing.T) {
+	asked := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 19, 20, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	p := inventory.Plan{ID: "plan-1", Tiers: [][]string{{"mesh-controller", "builder"}, {"route-proxy"}},
+		Modules: map[string]*inventory.PlanModule{
+			"mesh-controller": {State: "asked", AskedAt: &asked},
+			"builder":         {State: "asked", AskedAt: &asked},
+		}}
+	records := map[string][]inventory.Build{
+		// Newest first, as Builds answers: the build after the ask is the outcome.
+		"mesh-controller": {
+			{ID: "build-2", Commit: "2ebbb799", At: asked.Add(4 * time.Minute)},
+			{ID: "build-1", Commit: "06ea2168", At: asked.Add(-10 * time.Minute)},
+		},
+		// Only a build from before the ask: not this ask's outcome.
+		"builder": {{ID: "build-0", Commit: "06ea2168", At: asked.Add(-time.Hour)}},
+	}
+	if !settleFromRecords(&p, p.Tiers[0], records) {
+		t.Fatal("nothing settled, though the controller's build is recorded after the ask")
+	}
+	if s := p.Modules["mesh-controller"]; s.State != "built" || s.Commit != "2ebbb799" || s.BuiltAt == nil {
+		t.Errorf("the controller's ask is %+v, want built from 2ebbb799", s)
+	}
+	if s := p.Modules["builder"]; s.State != "asked" {
+		t.Errorf("an ask with no record after it was settled: %+v", s)
+	}
+
+	// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219: a build recorded after the ask but asked before it — an earlier
+	// plan's late outcome — is not this ask's, built or failed.
+	r := inventory.Plan{ID: "plan-3", Tiers: [][]string{{"postgres"}},
+		Modules: map[string]*inventory.PlanModule{"postgres": {State: "asked", AskedAt: &asked}}}
+	late := map[string][]inventory.Build{"postgres": {
+		{ID: "build-old", Commit: "efff5415", Asked: asked.Add(-18 * time.Minute), At: asked.Add(12 * time.Minute)},
+	}}
+	if settleFromRecords(&r, r.Tiers[0], late) || r.Modules["postgres"].State != "asked" {
+		t.Errorf("an earlier ask's late outcome settled this ask: %+v", r.Modules["postgres"])
+	}
+	// Newest heard first: the earlier ask's late outcome, then this ask's own, heard before it.
+	late["postgres"] = append(late["postgres"], inventory.Build{ID: "build-mine", Commit: "4bcd5f73",
+		Asked: asked.Add(time.Second), At: asked.Add(5 * time.Minute)})
+	if !settleFromRecords(&r, r.Tiers[0], late) || r.Modules["postgres"].State != "built" ||
+		r.Modules["postgres"].Commit != "4bcd5f73" {
+		t.Errorf("this ask's own outcome, heard before the earlier ask's, did not settle it: %+v", r.Modules["postgres"])
+	}
+
+	// A failure recorded after the ask fails the plan, as hearing it would have.
+	q := inventory.Plan{ID: "plan-2", Tiers: [][]string{{"x"}},
+		Modules: map[string]*inventory.PlanModule{"x": {State: "asked", AskedAt: &asked}}}
+	settleFromRecords(&q, q.Tiers[0], map[string][]inventory.Build{"x": {{ID: "b", Failed: "no", At: asked.Add(time.Minute)}}})
+	if q.State != inventory.PlanFailed || q.Modules["x"].State != "failed" {
+		t.Errorf("a recorded failure did not fail the plan: %+v %+v", q, q.Modules["x"])
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/roster_failure_test.go

@@ -2,13 +2,12 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 // A node's own set failing to compose, and the mesh being unable to answer at all, are different
 // things, and only the first may be passed over when something is gathered across every machine
-// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/152). These pin that distinction where the three gatherers rely on it.
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/152). These pin that distinction where the gatherers rely on it.
 
 func TestASetThatDoesNotComposeIsMarkedAsTheNodesOwnProblem(t *testing.T) {
 	open := aMesh(t)
@@ -45,55 +44,3 @@ func TestAStoreThatCannotBeReadIsNotANodeThatDoesNotCompose(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a question the mesh could not answer was read as a node that runs nothing: %v", err)
 	}
 }
-
-func TestOneIncoherentNodeDoesNotCostTheRestTheirNames(t *testing.T) {
-	open := aMesh(t)
-	one, two := rivals()
-	register(t, open, one)
-	register(t, open, two)
-	for _, m := range []string{one.Module, two.Module} {
-		if _, err := open.inventory.Assign(t.Context(), "laptop", m); err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-	}
-
-	// laptop cannot compose. That is laptop's problem and nobody else's: the roster is still
-	// answerable, and anchor keeps whatever it serves.
-	if _, err := routeNamesInTheMesh(t.Context(), open); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("one node's broken set cost the whole mesh its roster: %v", err)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestARosterIsNeverReturnedWithNamesItCouldNotRead(t *testing.T) {
-	open := aMesh(t)
-
-	stopped, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
-	cancel()
-
-	names, err := routeNamesInTheMesh(stopped, open)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("a roster was composed from a store that could not be read: %v", names)
-	}
-	// The failure must be raised, not turned into an absence. A roster missing a machine's names
-	// is indistinguishable, on every machine that receives it, from the operator withdrawing them —
-	// and because the roster is part of every container's identity, it replaces all of them.
-	if names != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("a partial roster was returned beside the error: %v", names)
-	}
-}
-
-// Kept so the reason survives the next person reading it: the message the gatherer raises must say
-// which machine could not be read, or the operator is left with a mesh-wide failure and no name.
-func TestTheRaisedFailureNamesTheMachineItCouldNotRead(t *testing.T) {
-	open := aMesh(t)
-	stopped, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
-	cancel()
-
-	_, err := routeNamesInTheMesh(stopped, open)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("no failure was raised")
-	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "cannot be read") {
-		t.Fatalf("the failure does not say the mesh could not be read: %v", err)
-	}
-}

cmd/mesh-controller/seatverbs.go

@@ -6,8 +6,10 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/micro"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
@@ -66,14 +68,14 @@ func argvFor(verb string, args map[string]any) ([]string, error) {
 	case "status":
 		return []string{"status", "--json"}, nil
 	case "nodes":
-		return []string{"node", "list"}, nil
+		return []string{"node", "list", "--json"}, nil
 	case "node":
 		if err := need("node"); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		return []string{"node", "show", str("node")}, nil
 	case "modules":
-		return []string{"module", "list"}, nil
+		return []string{"module", "list", "--json"}, nil
 	case "seats":
 		return []string{"seats", "--json"}, nil
 	case "builds":
@@ -379,3 +381,46 @@ func splitCommandLine(line string) ([]string, error) {
 	}
 	return words, nil
 }
+
+// seatAnnouncement is what the controller says it serves on the bus (novox/hq ADR 0197): the
+// mesh-controller seat, one endpoint per verb it answers, each with the seat's own description and
+// argument schema — the same facts `tools` answers from the records, as NATS's services format.
+func seatAnnouncement(handlers map[string]link.ToolHandler) micro.Info {
+	about := map[string]catalogue.Verb{}
+	for _, s := range catalogue.SeatsWithAProtocol() {
+		if s.Name == catalogue.ControllerSeatName {
+			for _, v := range s.Serves {
+				about[v.Name] = v
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	verbs := make([]string, 0, len(handlers))
+	for verb := range handlers {
+		verbs = append(verbs, verb)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(verbs)
+	var endpoints []micro.EndpointInfo
+	for _, verb := range verbs {
+		schema, _ := json.Marshal(about[verb].Input)
+		// The same shape every tool runtime announces in (node-tools' announce package): the name is
+		// `<seat>__<verb>`, as the protocol's characters allow; the metadata is what identifies it.
+		endpoints = append(endpoints, micro.EndpointInfo{
+			Name:       catalogue.ControllerSeatName + "__" + verb,
+			Subject:    link.SeatToolSubject(catalogue.ControllerSeatName, verb),
+			QueueGroup: "seat." + catalogue.ControllerSeatName,
+			Metadata: map[string]string{
+				"kind": "seat", "module": catalogue.ControllerSeatName, "tool": verb,
+				"seat": catalogue.ControllerSeatName, "scope": "mesh", "interchangeable": "false",
+				"description": about[verb].Description, "schema": string(schema),
+			},
+		})
+	}
+	return micro.Info{
+		ServiceIdentity: micro.ServiceIdentity{
+			Name: catalogue.ControllerSeatName, ID: "controller", Version: "0.1.0",
+			Metadata: map[string]string{"seat": catalogue.ControllerSeatName, "scope": "mesh"},
+		},
+		Description: "the mesh's own verbs, answered by the holder of the mesh-controller seat",
+		Endpoints:   endpoints,
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/seatverbs_test.go

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -249,3 +251,48 @@ func TestARowAheadOfThisBuildIsServedAnyway(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0195: the console's discovery reads the machines and the modules; they answer as JSON,
+// as status and seats do, so nothing parses a printed column.
+func TestTheNodesAndModulesVerbsAnswerAsJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	for verb, want := range map[string]string{"nodes": "[node list --json]", "modules": "[module list --json]"} {
+		argv, err := argvFor(verb, map[string]any{})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if fmt.Sprint(argv) != want {
+			t.Errorf("%s runs %v, want %s", verb, argv, want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0197: the controller announces exactly the verbs it serves, each on the subject and
+// queue it serves it on, with the seat's own description and schema, in NATS's services format.
+func TestTheControllerAnnouncesTheVerbsItServes(t *testing.T) {
+	handlers, _, err := seatToolHandlers()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	info := seatAnnouncement(handlers)
+	if info.Name != catalogue.ControllerSeatName || info.ID == "" || info.Version == "" {
+		t.Fatalf("the service is not named for the seat: %+v", info.ServiceIdentity)
+	}
+	if len(info.Endpoints) != len(handlers) {
+		t.Fatalf("%d endpoints announced for %d verbs served", len(info.Endpoints), len(handlers))
+	}
+	for _, e := range info.Endpoints {
+		verb := e.Metadata["tool"]
+		if _, served := handlers[verb]; !served || e.Name != catalogue.ControllerSeatName+"__"+verb {
+			t.Errorf("%s (%s) is announced and not served under that name", e.Name, verb)
+		}
+		if e.Metadata["kind"] != "seat" || e.Metadata["seat"] != catalogue.ControllerSeatName {
+			t.Errorf("%s is not announced as the seat's verb: %v", e.Name, e.Metadata)
+		}
+		if e.Subject != link.SeatToolSubject(catalogue.ControllerSeatName, verb) || e.QueueGroup != "seat."+catalogue.ControllerSeatName {
+			t.Errorf("%s is announced on %s/%s, not where it is served", e.Name, e.Subject, e.QueueGroup)
+		}
+		if e.Metadata["description"] == "" || e.Metadata["schema"] == "" || e.Metadata["scope"] != "mesh" {
+			t.Errorf("%s is announced without its description, schema or scope: %v", e.Name, e.Metadata)
+		}
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -283,6 +284,14 @@ func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
 	if isHistory(m.MergedAt, lastLookAt(entries, m)) {
 		packaging = nil
 	}
+	// Said, never silent (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/215): a module built from this repository that follows
+	// another branch is not part of this merge, and whoever is waiting for its change should read why.
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if sameRepository(e.Source.Repository, m) && !sourceIs(e.Source, m) {
+			fmt.Printf("  %s is built from %s/%s and follows %s, not %s; this merge leaves it out\n",
+				e.Manifest.Module, m.Owner, m.Repo, e.Source.Ref, m.Base)
+		}
+	}
 	touched := whatTheMergeTouched(from, entries, m)
 	for _, e := range touched {
 		if err := inv.SourceMoved(ctx, e.Manifest.Module, m.Commit); err != nil {
@@ -306,6 +315,13 @@ func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
 	for _, e := range moved {
 		movedNames = append(movedNames, e.Manifest.Module)
 	}
+	// Written and its first tier asked as one act on the plans (novox/hq issue 213): a timer on
+	// another controller reading it between the two would ask the tier again.
+	release, err := inv.HoldPlans(ctx, true)
+	if err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+	defer release()
 	plan := planOfMerge(m, movedNames, edges)
 	if hasCycle(plan.Tiers, edges) {
 		fmt.Printf("  the last tier depends on itself: %s — built together, in no order\n",
@@ -345,7 +361,24 @@ func sourceIs(s inventory.Source, m link.SourceMoved) bool {
 	if !sameRepository(s.Repository, m) {
 		return false
 	}
-	return s.Ref == "" || s.Ref == m.Base
+	ref := followedBranch(s.Ref)
+	return ref == "" || ref == m.Base
+}
+
+// commitRef is a ref that names a commit rather than a branch: what `build --ref <commit>` asks for.
+var commitRef = regexp.MustCompile(`^[0-9a-f]{7,40}$`)
+
+// followedBranch is the branch a recorded ref means a module follows (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/215). **A
+// commit is never a branch to follow.** A build asked at a commit — to try one, or to pin it during a
+// fix — recorded that commit as the module's ref; every merge after it then failed to match the
+// module, its plan left it out without saying so, and every plan that rebuilt it asked for that same
+// old commit again. A commit recorded so is read as the repository's default branch, which is what
+// the module followed before it; a branch is followed as named.
+func followedBranch(ref string) string {
+	if commitRef.MatchString(strings.TrimSpace(ref)) {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return ref
 }
 
 // sameRepository is whether a recorded repository is the one a merge names, in either spelling it

examples/route-proxy/forwarded_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"net/url"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A backend behind the proxy learns the client used TLS and which name it asked for, so the addresses
+// it writes into its own pages are the ones a client can use (2026-10-03: a forge's Go import tag
+// named an http clone URL, and Go refused the module path).
+func TestABackendIsToldTheRequestWasHTTPSAndForWhichName(t *testing.T) {
+	var proto, host, fwdHost, fwdFor string
+	backend := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		proto, host, fwdHost, fwdFor = r.Header.Get("X-Forwarded-Proto"), r.Host, r.Header.Get("X-Forwarded-Host"), r.Header.Get("X-Forwarded-For")
+	}))
+	defer backend.Close()
+	where, _ := url.Parse(backend.URL)
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "https://git.example.org/novox/mesh-sdk/go?go-get=1", nil)
+	req.TLS = &tls.ConnectionState{}
+	req.Host = "git.example.org"
+	req.RemoteAddr = "192.0.2.7:51000"
+	towards(where).ServeHTTP(httptest.NewRecorder(), req)
+	if proto != "https" || fwdHost != "git.example.org" || host != "git.example.org" || fwdFor != "192.0.2.7" {
+		t.Errorf("the backend was told proto=%q host=%q forwarded-host=%q for=%q", proto, host, fwdHost, fwdFor)
+	}
+}

examples/route-proxy/main.go

@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ func (t *table) set(routes map[string][]rule, public map[string]bool) {
 				log.Printf("route %s points at %q, which is not a URL: %v", host, r.target, err)
 				continue
 			}
-			r.to = httputil.NewSingleHostReverseProxy(where)
+			r.to = towards(where)
 			if r.insecure {
 				r.to.Transport = &http.Transport{TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true}}
 			}
@@ -1060,3 +1060,17 @@ func asPort(v any) (int, bool) {
 	}
 	return 0, false
 }
+
+// towards proxies to one backend and tells it what the client asked: **X-Forwarded-Proto, -Host and
+// -For**, set from the request this proxy received. A backend that builds its own addresses — a forge
+// writing its clone URL into a page, a login redirect — otherwise sees the plain HTTP hop from this
+// proxy and writes `http://`, though every client reached it over TLS: Go refused the forge's module
+// path for exactly that on 2026-10-03, its import tag naming an http clone URL.
+// The standard library's NewSingleHostReverseProxy sets only X-Forwarded-For.
+func towards(where *url.URL) *httputil.ReverseProxy {
+	return &httputil.ReverseProxy{Rewrite: func(pr *httputil.ProxyRequest) {
+		pr.SetURL(where)
+		pr.Out.Host = pr.In.Host
+		pr.SetXForwarded()
+	}}
+}

internal/artifacts/store.go

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// Package artifacts speaks to the mesh's artifact store over its own door.
+//
+// Only what the mesh needs that nothing else does: letting go of something it put there
+// (novox/hq ADR 0189, issue 108). Pushing is the builder's, through the container runtime; reading
+// is every machine's, through its runtime. This is the one operation that belongs to the thing
+// holding the records, because it is the only one that is a decision rather than a transfer.
+package artifacts
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// Store is the artifact store at an address, as this machine reaches it.
+type Store struct {
+	// Address is `host:port` — the store as the caller reaches it now, composed and never
+	// recorded (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/102).
+	Address string
+	// HTTP is the client used; nil is a client with a modest timeout.
+	HTTP *http.Client
+}
+
+// Gone is the answer when the store does not hold it: the outcome wanted, already true.
+var Gone = fmt.Errorf("the store does not hold it")
+
+// LetGo asks the store to drop one artifact the mesh recorded making.
+//
+// Takes a reference as the mesh records it — `artifact-store://<module>/<artifact>@sha256:…` for
+// an image, `…/blobs/sha256:…` for an archive — because that is the identity every record uses,
+// and composes the address here at the moment of use.
+//
+// Returns Gone when the store answers that it does not have it. That is not a failure: the sweep
+// wants the artifact absent, and it is. It is distinguished from success only so a caller can say
+// which of the two happened.
+func (s Store) LetGo(ctx context.Context, reference string) error {
+	path, kept := catalogue.InArtifactStore(reference)
+	if !kept {
+		// Nothing the mesh put in its own store. Refused rather than attempted: composing a
+		// delete for a reference of unknown shape is how a sweep reaches something that is not
+		// the mesh's.
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a reference into the mesh's artifact store", reference)
+	}
+	if s.Address == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("this mesh has no artifact store on its network to ask about %s", reference)
+	}
+	repository, kind, digest, err := split(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	url := "http://" + s.Address + "/v2/" + repository + "/" + kind + "/" + digest
+
+	request, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodDelete, url, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	client := s.HTTP
+	if client == nil {
+		client = &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second}
+	}
+	response, err := client.Do(request)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer response.Body.Close()
+	switch response.StatusCode {
+	case http.StatusAccepted, http.StatusOK, http.StatusNoContent:
+		return nil
+	case http.StatusNotFound:
+		return Gone
+	case http.StatusMethodNotAllowed:
+		// The registry was started without deletion enabled. Said plainly, because the remedy is
+		// a setting on the store's module and not anything about this artifact.
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"the artifact store refuses deletion: its server was started without it enabled "+
+				"(REGISTRY_STORAGE_DELETE_ENABLED), so nothing can be collected until the store "+
+				"module is applied again (novox/hq ADR 0189). Asking about %s", reference)
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("the artifact store answered %s for %s", response.Status, reference)
+	}
+}
+
+// split reads a recorded path into the repository, which endpoint names the thing, and the digest.
+//
+// Two shapes, which are the two the mesh records: `<repository>@sha256:<hex>` is a manifest, and
+// `<repository>/blobs/sha256:<hex>` is a blob.
+func split(path string) (repository, kind, digest string, err error) {
+	if before, after, ok := strings.Cut(path, "@sha256:"); ok {
+		return before, "manifests", "sha256:" + after, nil
+	}
+	if before, after, ok := strings.Cut(path, "/blobs/sha256:"); ok {
+		return before, "blobs", "sha256:" + after, nil
+	}
+	return "", "", "", fmt.Errorf("%q names nothing the store holds by digest", path)
+}

internal/artifacts/store_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package artifacts
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// Asking the store to let go of what the mesh no longer keeps (novox/hq ADR 0189, issue 108).
+//
+// A fake store records what it was asked to delete, so what is asserted is the mesh's decision
+// and the shape of the request — not the registry's behaviour, which is the registry's to test.
+
+func fakeStore(t *testing.T, answer int) (Store, *[]string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	var asked []string
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if r.Method != http.MethodDelete {
+			t.Errorf("the store was asked %s %s; collecting is a delete", r.Method, r.URL.Path)
+		}
+		asked = append(asked, r.URL.Path)
+		w.WriteHeader(answer)
+	}))
+	t.Cleanup(server.Close)
+	return Store{Address: strings.TrimPrefix(server.URL, "http://")}, &asked
+}
+
+func TestAnImageAndAnArchiveAreAskedForAtTheirOwnEndpoints(t *testing.T) {
+	// The two shapes the mesh records: a manifest by digest, and a blob by digest. They are
+	// different endpoints, and asking at the wrong one answers 404 — which this would then
+	// record as collected, leaving the bytes on disk for ever while the record says otherwise.
+	store, asked := fakeStore(t, http.StatusAccepted)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	image := catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme + "web/app@sha256:abc123"
+	archive := catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme + "web/config/blobs/sha256:def456"
+	if err := store.LetGo(ctx, image); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := store.LetGo(ctx, archive); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	want := []string{"/v2/web/app/manifests/sha256:abc123", "/v2/web/config/blobs/sha256:def456"}
+	if len(*asked) != 2 || (*asked)[0] != want[0] || (*asked)[1] != want[1] {
+		t.Fatalf("the store was asked %v; want %v", *asked, want)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAStoreThatDoesNotHaveItAnswersGone(t *testing.T) {
+	// The outcome wanted, already true. Told apart from success only so the sweep can say which
+	// happened; both are recorded, because retrying for ever is the thing to avoid.
+	store, _ := fakeStore(t, http.StatusNotFound)
+	err := store.LetGo(context.Background(), catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme+"web/app@sha256:abc123")
+	if !errors.Is(err, Gone) {
+		t.Fatalf("a store that does not hold it answered %v, want Gone", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAStoreWithDeletionOffSaysSoAndNamesTheRemedy(t *testing.T) {
+	// The registry answers 405 when it was started without deletion enabled. The remedy is a
+	// setting on the store's module, and saying "405" would send somebody to the wrong place.
+	store, _ := fakeStore(t, http.StatusMethodNotAllowed)
+	err := store.LetGo(context.Background(), catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme+"web/app@sha256:abc123")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a store that refuses deletion was read as success")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "REGISTRY_STORAGE_DELETE_ENABLED") {
+		t.Fatalf("the refusal does not name the remedy: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAReferenceThatIsNotTheMeshsOwnIsNeverAsked(t *testing.T) {
+	// The whole safety of the sweep is that it names only what the mesh recorded putting there.
+	// A reference of another shape — a vendor's image, a package version — is refused rather
+	// than composed into a delete somewhere that is not the mesh's store.
+	store, asked := fakeStore(t, http.StatusAccepted)
+	for _, reference := range []string{
+		"docker.io/library/registry@sha256:abc123",
+		"registry@sha256:abc123",
+		"1.4.2",
+	} {
+		if err := store.LetGo(context.Background(), reference); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s was asked about; it is not a reference into the mesh's store", reference)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(*asked) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the store was asked about %v", *asked)
+	}
+}

internal/broker/jetstream.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package broker
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"crypto/x509"
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/jetstream"
 )
 
 // The JetStream side of the controller: the one place the mesh's streams and consumers are
@@ -235,14 +237,22 @@ func (j *JetStream) EnsureConsumer(c Consumer) error {
 				return fmt.Errorf("asking about stream %s to re-make consumer %s: %w", c.Stream, c.Name, err)
 			}
 			if info.Config.Retention != nats.WorkQueuePolicy {
-				j.note("consumer %s on %s is %s and should be %s; not re-made, because %s keeps its history "+
-					"and a re-made consumer replays what this one acknowledged (novox/hq issue 156). Re-make it by hand",
-					c.Name, c.Stream, shape(havePush), shape(wantPush), c.Stream)
-				return nil
-			}
+				// **A stream that keeps its history is re-made from now on, never from the start.**
+				// Left for a hand, the hand re-makes it with the server's default — everything the
+				// stream holds — which on 2026-10-03 replayed every build ask since 1 October and
+				// re-registered nine modules from the past (novox/hq issue 207). What this consumer
+				// had not yet acknowledged is lost with it, and said: on a history stream that is
+				// the smaller cost, and the asks in flight are visible to whoever asked.
+				j.note("consumer %s on %s changes from %s to %s delivery on a stream that keeps its history: "+
+					"re-made to deliver from now on, so nothing this one acknowledged comes back (novox/hq issue "+
+					"207); %d ask(s) it had not acknowledged are not carried over and must be asked again",
+					c.Name, c.Stream, shape(havePush), shape(wantPush), have.NumPending+uint64(have.NumAckPending))
+				want.DeliverPolicy = nats.DeliverNewPolicy
+			} else {
 				j.note("consumer %s on %s changes from %s to %s delivery: re-made where it left off, nothing "+
 					"acknowledged comes back and nothing pending is lost (novox/hq issue 206); a holder bound to "+
 					"the old shape binds again", c.Name, c.Stream, shape(havePush), shape(wantPush))
+			}
 			if err := j.js.DeleteConsumer(c.Stream, c.Name); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("re-making consumer %s on %s as %s: %w", c.Name, c.Stream, shape(wantPush), err)
 			}
@@ -308,3 +318,50 @@ func retentionOf(r Retention) nats.RetentionPolicy {
 		return nats.LimitsPolicy
 	}
 }
+
+// EnsureBucket creates a module's bucket if it is absent and brings its options to match if it is
+// present (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+//
+// **An update, never a delete and recreate**, for the reason a stream is updated: recreating
+// discards what the bucket holds, and what a module's state holds is data. The mesh's caps are
+// asserted with the owner's options, so a bucket made by hand converges to them.
+func (j *JetStream) EnsureBucket(b Bucket) error {
+	history := b.History
+	if history == 0 {
+		history = 1
+	}
+	js, err := jetstream.New(j.conn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	if _, err := js.CreateOrUpdateKeyValue(ctx, jetstream.KeyValueConfig{
+		Bucket:       b.Bucket(),
+		Description:  b.Why(),
+		History:      uint8(history),
+		TTL:          time.Duration(b.TTLSeconds) * time.Second,
+		MaxValueSize: StateMaxValueBytes,
+		MaxBytes:     StateMaxBytes,
+		Storage:      jetstream.FileStorage,
+	}); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("asserting bucket %s: %w", b.Bucket(), err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// BucketNames is every key-value bucket on the server, the mesh's and anybody else's.
+func (j *JetStream) BucketNames() ([]string, error) {
+	js, err := jetstream.New(j.conn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	lister := js.KeyValueStoreNames(ctx)
+	var out []string
+	for name := range lister.Name() {
+		out = append(out, name)
+	}
+	return out, lister.Error()
+}

internal/broker/membership.go

@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ type Membership struct {
 	// module that must tell the mesh from the world, the route proxy serving an internal name, reads
 	// it here rather than keeping a definition of its own.
 	Mesh []string `json:"mesh,omitempty"`
+	// State is every bucket this module's code may reach, by the name it uses for each, and whether
+	// it may write it (novox/hq ADR 0201): the runtime answers a bundle's state verbs from this list
+	// and refuses, with the reason, what is not on it — the bus enforces only the union over every
+	// module on the machine.
+	State []StateIssued `json:"state,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Served is one address a tool is answered on.
@@ -103,6 +108,7 @@ func MembershipFor(node string, d Declared, where Placements) Membership {
 			m.Seats = append(m.Seats, SeatServed{Seat: s.Name, Verb: verb, Subject: seatToolSubject(s, verb, node)})
 		}
 	}
+	m.State = stateIssuedFor(d)
 	if len(d.Invokes) > 0 {
 		m.Reaches = map[string][]string{}
 		for _, t := range d.Invokes {

internal/broker/nats.go

@@ -103,6 +103,12 @@ type Principal struct {
 	// permission and nothing beside it.
 	Invokes []string
 
+	// State is the local names of the state this principal's module keeps, and Reads the state of
+	// others it reads as `<module>.<name>` (novox/hq ADR 0201): a bucket each, kept by the owner's
+	// instances and read by whoever declares it.
+	State []string
+	Reads []string
+
 	// PasswordHash is the bcrypt hash the mesh minted. The plaintext is sealed to the principal
 	// and never appears here: this file is written to a node's disk and read by a server, and a
 	// secret that can be read from a configuration file is a secret with a wider blast radius
@@ -236,6 +242,8 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 		// which this package mirrors rather than reads, and a verb the seat does not declare is a
 		// subject nothing publishes.
 		sub = append(sub, "mesh.seat."+ControllerSeat+".tool.>")
+		// And says so (novox/hq ADR 0197): it answers discovery for the seat it serves.
+		sub = append(sub, announcing(ControllerSeat)...)
 
 		// The two events it reacts to, and its ack subject on the stream they arrive from
 		// (streams.go). **Each named, not a pattern**: `mesh.mod.*.event.>` would make the
@@ -271,6 +279,9 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 			return Permissions{}, err
 		}
 		pub = append(pub, invoked...)
+		// And may ask what answers (novox/hq ADR 0197): a question every service answers about
+		// itself, its replies to the asker's own inbox.
+		pub = append(pub, discovering()...)
 
 	case KindEnrolment:
 		// A leaked token is useless for anything but enrolling: it cannot read a declaration, hear
@@ -327,6 +338,15 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 		// away — no other principal may subscribe this namespace, and a caller's authority is
 		// still granted per tool, by name, on the publish side.
 		sub = append(sub, own+".tool.>")
+		// It says what it serves (novox/hq ADR 0197): discovery for its own name and every seat it
+		// holds a verb of, answered by the runtime that serves them.
+		announced := []string{p.Module}
+		for _, s := range p.Holds {
+			if len(s.Serves) > 0 {
+				announced = append(announced, s.Name)
+			}
+		}
+		sub = append(sub, announcing(announced...)...)
 		// Its own membership (ADR 0160): the one subject a runtime derives for itself, read
 		// directly from the stream and followed live. Nothing else's.
 		sub = append(sub, MembershipSubject(p.Node, p.Module))
@@ -407,17 +427,26 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 			}
 		}
 
+		// 5. Its state, and the state of others it reads (novox/hq ADR 0201): every one read and
+		//    watched, its own written too.
+		pub = append(pub, stateGrants(p.Module, p.State, p.Reads)...)
+
 	case KindNodeTools:
 		// **One process serves what every module on the machine would have served for itself**
 		// (novox/hq ADR 0175). Each carried module's whole tool namespace — the same grant that
 		// module's own principal has, for the same reason: the tools a module serves are what its
 		// code answers, and a list here would be a second copy of it. Each held seat's verbs on
 		// this node, as the holder's own principal would be granted them.
+		var serves []string
 		for _, d := range p.Carries {
 			if !safeSubject.MatchString(d.Module) {
 				return Permissions{}, fmt.Errorf(
 					"%q cannot be part of a subject: a permission is a subject pattern, and this would widen it", d.Module)
 			}
+			serves = append(serves, d.Module)
+			for _, s := range d.Holds {
+				serves = append(serves, s.Name)
+			}
 			own := "mesh.mod." + d.Module
 			sub = append(sub, own+".tool.>")
 			// A tool that emits an event is the module's code and emits under the module's name
@@ -444,8 +473,37 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 			return Permissions{}, err
 		}
 		pub = append(pub, invoked...)
-		// Nothing about consumers: it consumes nothing. A module's reactions to events are its
-		// own long-lived process, which ADR 0175 leaves where it is; what moves here is tools.
+		// It says what it serves and may ask what answers (novox/hq ADR 0197): the runtime answers
+		// discovery for each module and seat it carries, and the console it is asks the bus.
+		// One service per runtime process, named for the runtime: the bus lets a principal answer each
+		// request once, so the runtime announces everything it carries under its own name.
+		sub = append(sub, announcing(append([]string{RuntimeModule}, serves...)...)...)
+		pub = append(pub, discovering()...)
+		// **And it consumes for the modules it carries** (novox/hq ADR 0198, which changes ADR 0175's
+		// "it consumes nothing"): a module's long-running code is a bundle this runtime launches, and
+		// the runtime is its bus — it reads the module's own durable consumer and acknowledges what
+		// the module's code took. Exactly the grants the module's own principal has for that consumer,
+		// on its name and no other's: asking about it, pulling from it, acknowledging it. The
+		// consumer is still the controller's to make, from the module's own principal.
+		for _, d := range p.Carries {
+			own := Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: p.Node, Module: d.Module, Emits: d.Emits,
+				Consumes: d.Consumes, Serves: d.Serves, Holds: d.Holds, Uses: d.Uses, Watches: d.Watches}
+			if _, consumes := ConsumerFor(own); !consumes {
+				continue
+			}
+			stream, durable := consumerStream(own), consumerDurable(own)
+			pub = append(pub,
+				"$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO."+stream+"."+durable,
+				"$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT."+stream+"."+durable,
+				"$JS.ACK."+stream+"."+durable+".>")
+		}
+		// **And it keeps and reads state for the modules it carries** (novox/hq ADR 0201): the union
+		// of what each may do with a bucket — an owner's write, a reader's read. That one module's code
+		// does not write another's bucket through it is the runtime's to keep, from the membership
+		// each assignment is issued, as it keeps each module's events under that module's own name.
+		for _, d := range p.Carries {
+			pub = append(pub, stateGrants(d.Module, stateNames(d.State), d.Reads)...)
+		}
 		sub = unique(sub)
 		pub = unique(pub)
 	}
@@ -765,3 +823,25 @@ func invokedSubjects(invokes []string) ([]string, error) {
 	}
 	return out, nil
 }
+
+// announcing is what a principal that serves tools subscribes to answer the NATS services
+// protocol's discovery (novox/hq ADR 0197): the questions asked of every service, and those asked of
+// each name it serves — its own and no other's, so it cannot answer for a service it is not.
+func announcing(names ...string) []string {
+	out := []string{"$SRV.PING", "$SRV.INFO", "$SRV.STATS"}
+	for _, n := range names {
+		if !safeSubject.MatchString(n) {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, verb := range []string{"PING", "INFO", "STATS"} {
+			out = append(out, "$SRV."+verb+"."+n, "$SRV."+verb+"."+n+".>")
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// discovering is what a principal publishes to ask what answers (novox/hq ADR 0197): the services
+// protocol's discovery requests, whose replies come to its own inbox.
+func discovering() []string {
+	return []string{"$SRV.PING", "$SRV.PING.>", "$SRV.INFO", "$SRV.INFO.>"}
+}

internal/broker/nats_test.go

@@ -233,7 +233,9 @@ func TestAPersonReachesNothingButTools(t *testing.T) {
 	perms, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindPerson, Module: "jo",
 		Invokes: []string{"*"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
 	for _, p := range perms.Publish {
-		if !strings.Contains(p, ".tool.") {
+		// A tool call, or asking what answers (novox/hq ADR 0197) — a question every service
+		// answers about itself, which claims nothing and controls nothing.
+		if !strings.Contains(p, ".tool.") && !strings.HasPrefix(p, "$SRV.") {
 			t.Errorf("a person may publish %q, which is not a tool call", p)
 		}
 	}
@@ -376,7 +378,7 @@ func TestAModulePullsItsOwnConsumerAndNoOthers(t *testing.T) {
 // their tools (novox/hq ADR 0175): every carried module's tool namespace, every held seat's verbs
 // on this node, every module's membership on this node, and a call to anything. Nothing it
 // consumes, because it reacts to nothing.
-func TestTheRuntimeServesTheUnionAndConsumesNothing(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheRuntimeServesTheUnionAndConsumesForItsModules(t *testing.T) {
 	filter := Seat{Name: "node-packet-filter", Scope: "node", Serves: []string{"rules", "reload"}}
 	p := Principal{Kind: KindNodeTools, Node: "anchor", Module: RuntimeModule, Carries: []Declared{
 		{Module: "nftables", Holds: []Seat{filter}, Serves: []string{"firewall_rules"}},
@@ -406,31 +408,46 @@ func TestTheRuntimeServesTheUnionAndConsumesNothing(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("the runtime may not publish %s: %v", want, perms.Publish)
 		}
 	}
-	// Nothing of what a carried module consumes, and no consumer of its own to ack.
-	for _, s := range perms.Subscribe {
-		if strings.Contains(s, ".event.") || strings.HasPrefix(s, "_DELIVER.") {
-			t.Errorf("the runtime was granted a delivery it has no consumer for: %s", s)
+	// It reads the consumer of every carried module that consumes — that module's, by its name, as
+	// the module's own principal could (novox/hq ADR 0198) — and of no module that consumes nothing.
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		"$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.EVENTS.anchor_zsh",
+		"$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.EVENTS.anchor_zsh",
+		"$JS.ACK.EVENTS.anchor_zsh.>",
+	} {
+		if !contains(perms.Publish, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the runtime may not read zsh's consumer: %s missing from %v", want, perms.Publish)
 		}
 	}
 	for _, s := range perms.Publish {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "$JS.ACK.") || strings.Contains(s, "CONSUMER") {
-			t.Errorf("the runtime was granted a consumer's subject and has no consumer: %s", s)
+		if (strings.HasPrefix(s, "$JS.ACK.") || strings.Contains(s, "CONSUMER")) && !strings.Contains(s, "anchor_zsh") {
+			t.Errorf("the runtime was granted a consumer no carried module of it consumes on: %s", s)
+		}
+	}
+	// It pulls; nothing is pushed to it, and it subscribes no event subject directly.
+	for _, s := range perms.Subscribe {
+		if strings.Contains(s, ".event.") || strings.HasPrefix(s, "_DELIVER.") {
+			t.Errorf("the runtime was granted a delivery: %s", s)
 		}
 	}
 	if !perms.AllowResponses {
 		t.Error("the runtime answers what it is asked, and may not reply")
 	}
 	if _, needed := ConsumerFor(p); needed {
-		t.Error("a consumer would be made for the runtime, which consumes nothing")
+		t.Error("a consumer would be made for the runtime itself; it reads its modules' consumers, never one of its own")
 	}
-	// Each subject once: the file is read as the mesh's authority model.
+	// Each subject once in each list: the file is read as the mesh's authority model. One subject may
+	// stand in both — the runtime answers discovery on `$SRV.INFO` and, as the console, asks it
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0197) — because subscribing and publishing are two different grants.
+	for _, list := range [][]string{perms.Subscribe, perms.Publish} {
 		seen := map[string]bool{}
-	for _, s := range append(append([]string{}, perms.Subscribe...), perms.Publish...) {
+		for _, s := range list {
 			if seen[s] {
 				t.Errorf("%s is granted twice", s)
 			}
 			seen[s] = true
 		}
+	}
 }
 
 func contains(list []string, want string) bool {

internal/broker/state.go

@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+package broker
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// A module's state on the bus (novox/hq ADR 0201, design 32 §4, design 25 §3).
+//
+// A module names the state it keeps (`state`) and the state of others it reads (`reads`), and each
+// is a key-value bucket: the server's own last-per-subject stream with direct reads, delete markers
+// and watches, which is the state relationship the mesh already uses for declarations, opened to
+// modules. The controller creates every bucket from the catalogue — from registration, like a
+// seat's stream, so a reader may watch before the owner runs anywhere — and no module can.
+//
+// Pure, like everything else in this package that decides what the bus holds; jetstream.go is the
+// part that asks a server.
+
+// The mesh's caps on a bucket, the same for every module: a value is a piece of state, not a file,
+// and a bucket that grew without bound would be one module filling the bus's disk for everyone.
+const (
+	StateMaxValueBytes = 256 * 1024
+	StateMaxBytes      = 64 * 1024 * 1024
+)
+
+// A Bucket is one module's declared state as the bus holds it.
+type Bucket struct {
+	Module string
+	Name   string
+	// History is how many values a key keeps; zero is one.
+	History int
+	// TTLSeconds is how long a value lives; zero is until replaced or deleted.
+	TTLSeconds int
+}
+
+// BucketName is the bucket a module's state lives in: the module and the local name joined by an
+// underscore, which neither may contain, so two modules can never derive one bucket.
+func BucketName(module, name string) string { return module + "_" + name }
+
+// Bucket is this bucket's name on the bus.
+func (b Bucket) Bucket() string { return BucketName(b.Module, b.Name) }
+
+// Why is carried into the server's description of the bucket, so somebody reading the server's
+// own state finds whose it is and why it is kept.
+func (b Bucket) Why() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s's state %q (novox/hq ADR 0201): its current value per key, written by %s, "+
+		"read by whatever declares it reads it; kept when %s is unassigned, because it is data",
+		b.Module, b.Name, b.Module, b.Module)
+}
+
+// bucketOfRead is the bucket a read names, `<module>.<name>`, or false when it names none.
+func bucketOfRead(read string) (string, bool) {
+	at := strings.LastIndex(read, ".")
+	if at <= 0 || at == len(read)-1 {
+		return "", false
+	}
+	module, name := read[:at], read[at+1:]
+	if !safeSubject.MatchString(module) || !safeSubject.MatchString(name) {
+		return "", false
+	}
+	return BucketName(module, name), true
+}
+
+// stateGrants is what a principal publishes to reach the state its modules keep and read: for every
+// bucket, binding to it, reading a key directly, and an ordered consumer for listing and watching,
+// created and deleted on the bucket's own stream, with its flow control answered; for a bucket an
+// owner keeps, writing under the bucket's own subjects too.
+//
+// **Measured against a running server, 2026-10-04** (novox/hq research 024), and each one is there
+// because leaving it out failed: without STREAM.INFO nothing binds; without DIRECT.GET nothing is
+// read; without CONSUMER.CREATE no key is listed and nothing is watched; without CONSUMER.DELETE a
+// watch cannot be stopped and lingers on the server. A write outside these is refused by the server
+// — and reaches the writer as a timeout, not a refusal, which is why the runtime refuses first.
+func stateGrants(module string, keeps []string, reads []string) []string {
+	var out []string
+	read := func(bucket string) {
+		stream := "KV_" + bucket
+		out = append(out,
+			"$JS.API.STREAM.INFO."+stream,
+			"$JS.API.DIRECT.GET."+stream+".>",
+			"$JS.API.CONSUMER.CREATE."+stream+".>",
+			"$JS.API.CONSUMER.DELETE."+stream+".>",
+			"$JS.FC."+stream+".>")
+	}
+	for _, name := range keeps {
+		if !safeSubject.MatchString(name) {
+			continue
+		}
+		bucket := BucketName(module, name)
+		read(bucket)
+		out = append(out, "$KV."+bucket+".>")
+	}
+	for _, r := range reads {
+		if bucket, ok := bucketOfRead(r); ok {
+			read(bucket)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// StateIssued is one bucket an assignment may reach, by the name its module uses for it: its own
+// state by the local name, another's as `<module>.<name>` (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+type StateIssued struct {
+	Name   string `json:"name"`
+	Bucket string `json:"bucket"`
+	Writes bool   `json:"writes,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// stateIssuedFor is every bucket a module's code may reach, as its membership lists them.
+func stateIssuedFor(d Declared) []StateIssued {
+	var out []StateIssued
+	for _, b := range d.State {
+		out = append(out, StateIssued{Name: b.Name, Bucket: BucketName(d.Module, b.Name), Writes: true})
+	}
+	for _, r := range d.Reads {
+		if bucket, ok := bucketOfRead(r); ok {
+			out = append(out, StateIssued{Name: r, Bucket: bucket})
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// stateNames is the local names of a module's own buckets.
+func stateNames(buckets []Bucket) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(buckets))
+	for _, b := range buckets {
+		out = append(out, b.Name)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// A BucketAsserter is the part of a JetStream connection bucket assertion needs.
+type BucketAsserter interface {
+	// EnsureBucket creates the bucket if absent and brings its options to match if present, never
+	// discarding what it holds.
+	EnsureBucket(b Bucket) error
+	// BucketNames is every key-value bucket on the server.
+	BucketNames() ([]string, error)
+}
+
+// RaiseBuckets asserts every declared bucket and answers the buckets on the server that nothing
+// declares any more.
+//
+// **Those are reported, never removed** (novox/hq ADR 0201, ADR 0030): what a module stored is
+// data, and a manifest edited, a module renamed or a catalogue entry dropped is an ordinary day's
+// work that must not take data with it. Removing one is a person's act.
+func RaiseBuckets(a BucketAsserter, buckets []Bucket) (undeclared []string, err error) {
+	sorted := append([]Bucket(nil), buckets...)
+	sort.Slice(sorted, func(i, j int) bool { return sorted[i].Bucket() < sorted[j].Bucket() })
+	declared := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, b := range sorted {
+		if err := a.EnsureBucket(b); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("asserting %s's state %q: %w", b.Module, b.Name, err)
+		}
+		declared[b.Bucket()] = true
+	}
+	names, err := a.BucketNames()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("listing the bus's state: %w", err)
+	}
+	for _, n := range names {
+		if !declared[n] {
+			undeclared = append(undeclared, n)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(undeclared)
+	return undeclared, nil
+}

internal/broker/state_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+package broker
+
+import (
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+)
+
+// The grants measured against a running server (novox/hq research 024): an owner reads and writes
+// its bucket, a reader only reads, and neither reaches any other bucket.
+func TestAnOwnerWritesItsStateAndAReaderOnlyReads(t *testing.T) {
+	owner, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "claude-code",
+		State: []string{"servers"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, s := range []string{
+		"$KV.claude-code_servers.>",
+		"$JS.API.STREAM.INFO.KV_claude-code_servers",
+		"$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.KV_claude-code_servers.>",
+		"$JS.API.CONSUMER.CREATE.KV_claude-code_servers.>",
+		"$JS.API.CONSUMER.DELETE.KV_claude-code_servers.>",
+		"$JS.FC.KV_claude-code_servers.>",
+	} {
+		has(t, owner.Publish, s)
+	}
+	hasNot(t, owner.Publish, "$KV.>")
+	hasNot(t, owner.Publish, "$JS.API.>")
+
+	reader, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "console",
+		Reads: []string{"claude-code.servers"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, reader.Publish, "$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.KV_claude-code_servers.>")
+	has(t, reader.Publish, "$JS.API.CONSUMER.CREATE.KV_claude-code_servers.>")
+	hasNot(t, reader.Publish, "$KV.claude-code_servers.>")
+	for _, s := range reader.Subscribe {
+		if s == "$KV.claude-code_servers.>" {
+			t.Fatalf("a reader subscribes the bucket's subjects directly: %v", reader.Subscribe)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// One runtime carries every module on its machine, so its grant is the union: the owner's write
+// where an owner is carried, a read where only a reader is.
+func TestTheRuntimeKeepsAndReadsStateForItsModules(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindNodeTools, Node: "one", Module: RuntimeModule,
+		Carries: []Declared{
+			{Module: "claude-code", State: []Bucket{{Module: "claude-code", Name: "servers"}},
+				Reads: []string{"licence-manager.bindings"}},
+			{Module: "audit"},
+		}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "$KV.claude-code_servers.>")
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.KV_licence-manager_bindings.>")
+	hasNot(t, perms.Publish, "$KV.licence-manager_bindings.>")
+}
+
+// A module with no state is granted nothing of any bucket — the composition of every module that
+// existed before this is unchanged.
+func TestAModuleWithNoStateReachesNoBucket(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "billing",
+		Emits: []string{"order.placed"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, s := range perms.Publish {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "$KV.") || strings.HasPrefix(s, "$JS.FC.") || strings.Contains(s, ".KV_") {
+			t.Fatalf("granted %q without declaring state", s)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A read that names no bucket grants nothing rather than something that happens to parse.
+func TestAReadThatNamesNoBucketGrantsNothing(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := stateGrants("a", nil, []string{"nodot", "x.", ".y", "a.b>"}); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("granted %v for reads that name no bucket", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// The membership lists every bucket the module's code may reach, by the name the module uses for
+// it, and whether it may write it — the list the runtime refuses from.
+func TestAMembershipListsTheStateItsModuleMayReach(t *testing.T) {
+	m := MembershipFor("one", Declared{Module: "claude-code",
+		State: []Bucket{{Module: "claude-code", Name: "servers"}},
+		Reads: []string{"licence-manager.bindings"}}, Placements{})
+	want := []StateIssued{
+		{Name: "servers", Bucket: "claude-code_servers", Writes: true},
+		{Name: "licence-manager.bindings", Bucket: "licence-manager_bindings"},
+	}
+	if !slices.Equal(m.State, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("issued %+v, want %+v", m.State, want)
+	}
+	if none := MembershipFor("one", Declared{Module: "audit"}, Placements{}); none.State != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a module with no state was issued %+v", none.State)
+	}
+}
+
+type buckets struct {
+	ensured []string
+	on      []string
+}
+
+func (b *buckets) EnsureBucket(x Bucket) error {
+	b.ensured = append(b.ensured, x.Bucket())
+	return nil
+}
+func (b *buckets) BucketNames() ([]string, error) { return b.on, nil }
+
+// Every declared bucket is asserted; one on the server that nothing declares is said, not removed.
+func TestRaisingStateReportsWhatNothingDeclares(t *testing.T) {
+	b := &buckets{on: []string{"claude-code_servers", "gone_old", "ours_by_hand"}}
+	undeclared, err := RaiseBuckets(b, []Bucket{{Module: "claude-code", Name: "servers"}, {Module: "a", Name: "b"}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !slices.Equal(b.ensured, []string{"a_b", "claude-code_servers"}) {
+		t.Fatalf("asserted %v", b.ensured)
+	}
+	if !slices.Equal(undeclared, []string{"gone_old", "ours_by_hand"}) {
+		t.Fatalf("reported %v", undeclared)
+	}
+}
+
+// Against a real server: a bucket is created with the owner's options and the mesh's caps,
+// asserting it again changes nothing and keeps what it holds, and a changed option is brought to
+// match in place.
+func TestABucketIsAssertedInPlace(t *testing.T) {
+	js := aLiveBus(t)
+	b := Bucket{Module: "statetest", Name: "servers"}
+	if _, err := RaiseBuckets(js, []Bucket{b}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a real server refused a module's bucket: %v", err)
+	}
+	kv, err := js.Context().KeyValue(b.Bucket())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := kv.Put("all.one", []byte(`{"kept":true}`)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	b.History = 3
+	if _, err := RaiseBuckets(js, []Bucket{b}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("asserting the bucket again failed, so a restart would: %v", err)
+	}
+	got, err := kv.Get("all.one")
+	if err != nil || string(got.Value()) != `{"kept":true}` {
+		t.Fatalf("asserting again lost what the bucket held: %v %v", got, err)
+	}
+	status, err := kv.Status()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if status.History() != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("history is %d, the owner declared 3", status.History())
+	}
+	if s, ok := status.(*nats.KeyValueBucketStatus); ok {
+		if c := s.StreamInfo().Config; c.MaxMsgSize != StateMaxValueBytes || c.MaxBytes != StateMaxBytes {
+			t.Fatalf("the mesh's caps are not on the bucket: value %d, bucket %d", c.MaxMsgSize, c.MaxBytes)
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/broker/testdata/composed.conf

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ accounts {
     users = [
       { user: "controller", password: "$2a$11$cccccccccccccccccccccc", permissions: {
         publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.CONTROL.controller.>", "$JS.ACK.EVENTS.controller.>", "$JS.API.>", "_INBOX.enrol.>", "mesh.assignment.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.mod.*.tool.>", "mesh.node.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.accept.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.event.applied", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.event.built-before", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.event.refused", "mesh.seat.node-build-agent.accept.>"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["$JS.API.>", "_DELIVER.controller", "_DELIVER.controller.>", "_INBOX.controller.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.mod.gitea.event.pull.merged", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.catching-up", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.upgraded", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.event.built", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool.>", "mesh.seat.node-build-agent.event.built"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["$JS.API.>", "$SRV.INFO", "$SRV.INFO.mesh-controller", "$SRV.INFO.mesh-controller.>", "$SRV.PING", "$SRV.PING.mesh-controller", "$SRV.PING.mesh-controller.>", "$SRV.STATS", "$SRV.STATS.mesh-controller", "$SRV.STATS.mesh-controller.>", "_DELIVER.controller", "_DELIVER.controller.>", "_INBOX.controller.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.mod.gitea.event.pull.merged", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.catching-up", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.upgraded", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.event.built", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool.>", "mesh.seat.node-build-agent.event.built"] }
         allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
       } }
       { user: "enrol.one", password: "$2a$11$eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee", permissions: {
@@ -38,17 +38,17 @@ accounts {
       } }
       { user: "one.telegram", password: "$2a$11$tttttttttttttttttttttt", permissions: {
         publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.one_telegram.>", "$JS.ACK.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.EVENTS.one_telegram", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.EVENTS.one_telegram", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker", "$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.ASSIGNMENTS.mesh.assignment.one.telegram", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.delivered", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.failed"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.one.telegram.>", "mesh.assignment.one.telegram", "mesh.mod.telegram.tool.>", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["$SRV.INFO", "$SRV.INFO.telegram", "$SRV.INFO.telegram.>", "$SRV.PING", "$SRV.PING.telegram", "$SRV.PING.telegram.>", "$SRV.STATS", "$SRV.STATS.telegram", "$SRV.STATS.telegram.>", "_INBOX.one.telegram.>", "mesh.assignment.one.telegram", "mesh.mod.telegram.tool.>", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
         allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
       } }
       { user: "two.audit", password: "$2a$11$aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", permissions: {
         publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_audit.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.EVENTS.two_audit", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.EVENTS.two_audit", "$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.ASSIGNMENTS.mesh.assignment.two.audit"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.two.audit.>", "mesh.assignment.two.audit", "mesh.mod.audit.tool.>", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["$SRV.INFO", "$SRV.INFO.audit", "$SRV.INFO.audit.>", "$SRV.PING", "$SRV.PING.audit", "$SRV.PING.audit.>", "$SRV.STATS", "$SRV.STATS.audit", "$SRV.STATS.audit.>", "_INBOX.two.audit.>", "mesh.assignment.two.audit", "mesh.mod.audit.tool.>", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed"] }
         allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
       } }
       { user: "two.shop", password: "$2a$11$ssssssssssssssssssssss", permissions: {
         publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_shop.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.EVENTS.two_shop", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.EVENTS.two_shop", "$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.ASSIGNMENTS.mesh.assignment.two.shop", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.two.shop.>", "mesh.assignment.two.shop", "mesh.mod.shop.tool.>"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["$SRV.INFO", "$SRV.INFO.shop", "$SRV.INFO.shop.>", "$SRV.PING", "$SRV.PING.shop", "$SRV.PING.shop.>", "$SRV.STATS", "$SRV.STATS.shop", "$SRV.STATS.shop.>", "_INBOX.two.shop.>", "mesh.assignment.two.shop", "mesh.mod.shop.tool.>"] }
         allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
       } }
     ]

internal/broker/users.go

@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ type Declared struct {
 	Watches []Seat
 	// Invokes are the tools it calls, `<module>.<tool>` or `*` (novox/hq ADR 0152).
 	Invokes []string
+	// State is the state it keeps, each a bucket its instances write (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+	State []Bucket
+	// Reads are other modules' state it reads, each `<module>.<name>` (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+	Reads []string
 }
 
 // Records is what composing a user list needs to know about the mesh, and nothing more.
@@ -81,6 +85,7 @@ func Users(r Records) ([]Principal, error) {
 				Kind: KindModule, Node: node, Module: d.Module,
 				Emits: d.Emits, Consumes: d.Consumes, Serves: d.Serves,
 				Holds: d.Holds, Uses: d.Uses, Watches: d.Watches, Invokes: d.Invokes,
+				State: stateNames(d.State), Reads: d.Reads,
 			})
 		}
 		if runtimeHere {

internal/broker/worker_type_change_test.go

@@ -108,9 +108,10 @@ func TestAWorkerOfTheWrongTypeIsRemadeOnAWorkQueueAndAPullThenBinds(t *testing.T
 	}
 }
 
-// On a stream that keeps its history, a worker of the wrong type is said and left: re-making it would
-// replay what it acknowledged (novox/hq issue 156), and that is a person's call.
-func TestAWorkerOfTheWrongTypeOnAHistoryStreamIsLeftAndSaid(t *testing.T) {
+// On a stream that keeps its history, a worker of the wrong type is re-made to deliver from now on:
+// re-making it from the start would replay what it acknowledged (novox/hq issue 156), and leaving it
+// for a hand re-made it exactly that way on 2026-10-03 (issue 207).
+func TestAWorkerOfTheWrongTypeOnAHistoryStreamIsRemadeFromNowOn(t *testing.T) {
 	url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS")
 	if url == "" {
 		t.Skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset")
@@ -132,6 +133,12 @@ func TestAWorkerOfTheWrongTypeOnAHistoryStreamIsLeftAndSaid(t *testing.T) {
 	}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	// History the old consumer would have acknowledged long ago, and must not come back.
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		if _, err := js.js.Publish("mesh.t.event.old", []byte("old")); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
 	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(Consumer{Name: worker, Stream: stream, Filters: []string{filter}, AckWaitSeconds: 60}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -139,7 +146,22 @@ func TestAWorkerOfTheWrongTypeOnAHistoryStreamIsLeftAndSaid(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	if have.Config.DeliverSubject == "" {
-		t.Fatal("a history stream's consumer was re-made, which replays what it acknowledged")
+	if have.Config.DeliverSubject != "" {
+		t.Fatal("a history stream's consumer of the wrong type was left as it was")
+	}
+	if have.Config.DeliverPolicy != nats.DeliverNewPolicy || have.NumPending != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("re-made consumer delivers %v with %d pending; it must deliver from now on with nothing of the past", have.Config.DeliverPolicy, have.NumPending)
+	}
+	// And what arrives from now on is delivered.
+	if _, err := js.js.Publish("mesh.t.event.new", []byte("new")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	sub, err := js.js.PullSubscribe(filter, worker, nats.Bind(stream, worker))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got, err := sub.Fetch(1, nats.MaxWait(3*time.Second))
+	if err != nil || len(got) != 1 || string(got[0].Data) != "new" {
+		t.Fatalf("the re-made consumer delivered %v, %v; want the one new message", got, err)
 	}
 }

internal/builder/builder.go

@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ func Build(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 		sort.Slice(artifacts, func(i, j int) bool { return artifacts[i].Name < artifacts[j].Name })
 		for _, a := range artifacts {
 			say("artifact", "%s (%s%s) — starting", a.Name, a.Kind, langSuffix(a))
-			made, err := one(ctx, run, publish, manifest.Module, within, workspace, commit, credentials, a, args, held, npmrcPath, seatBases, say)
+			made, err := one(ctx, run, publish, manifest.Module, within, workspace, commit, credentials, a, args, held, npmrcPath, npmrc, seatBases, say)
 			if err != nil {
 				say("artifact", "%s FAILED: %v", a.Name, err)
 				return Result{}, err
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ func wantsPackages(manifest catalogue.Manifest, within string) bool {
 
 func one(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 	module, tree, workspace, commit, credentials string, a catalogue.Artifact, args []string,
-	held map[string]string, npmrc string, seats map[string]string,
+	held map[string]string, npmrc string, registry Npmrc, seats map[string]string,
 	say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (catalogue.Built, error) {
 
 	switch a.Kind {
@@ -582,11 +582,28 @@ func one(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 					"holds no copy of it. Build %s first",
 				module, a.Name, chain.Language, chain.Base, chain.Artifact, chain.Base)
 		}
+		// The module's own packages first, where the compiler and the bundler resolve them from
+		// (dependencies.go); nothing at all for a module whose package.json names only the SDK.
+		if err := installOwn(ctx, run, tree, chain, base, registry, say); err != nil {
+			return catalogue.Built{}, fmt.Errorf("%s: %s: %w", module, a.Name, err)
+		}
 		say("bundle", "compiling %s in %s's toolchain", a.Language, chain.Base)
 		compiled, err := compile(ctx, run, tree, chain, base, a)
 		if err != nil {
 			return catalogue.Built{}, fmt.Errorf("%s: compiling %s failed: %w", module, a.Name, err)
 		}
+		// **Every entrypoint the runtime may serve is executable** (novox/hq ADR 0193). The runtime
+		// knows no language; for one that runs through an interpreter the build writes the launcher.
+		launchers, err := writeLaunchers(compiled, chain, a)
+		if err != nil {
+			return catalogue.Built{}, fmt.Errorf("%s: writing %s's launchers failed: %w", module, a.Name, err)
+		}
+		if chain.Bundler != "" {
+			say("bundle", "bundling each entrypoint into one file")
+			if compiled, err = bundled(ctx, run, tree, chain, base, a, launchers); err != nil {
+				return catalogue.Built{}, fmt.Errorf("%s: bundling %s failed: %w", module, a.Name, err)
+			}
+		}
 		say("bundle", "compiled, packing")
 		body, err := pack(compiled)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -598,7 +615,7 @@ func one(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 		if err != nil {
 			return catalogue.Built{}, err
 		}
-		return catalogue.Built{Name: a.Name, Kind: a.Kind, Reference: where, Digest: digest}, nil
+		return catalogue.Built{Name: a.Name, Kind: a.Kind, Reference: where, Digest: digest, Launchers: launchers}, nil
 
 	case catalogue.ArtifactPackage:
 		// Built and published on a public base, to the mesh's package registry, by version
@@ -968,7 +985,7 @@ func compile(ctx context.Context, run Runner, tree string, chain Toolchain,
 	if _, err := run(ctx, tree, "docker", invocation...); err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	if chain.Dependencies != "" {
+	if chain.Dependencies != "" && chain.Bundler == "" {
 		// **What the bundle runs with, from the image it was compiled in** (Toolchain.Dependencies).
 		// A second run in the same image rather than a shell wrapped around the compiler: the
 		// compile line stays a plain command a reader can run by hand, and the copy is one more
@@ -1165,6 +1182,9 @@ func readBy(manifest catalogue.Manifest) []catalogue.ArtifactContext {
 // binaryName is what a compiled bundle's executable is called: what the artifact says, or the name of
 // the package it is built from, which is what a compiler would have chosen anyway.
 func binaryName(a catalogue.Artifact) string {
+	if name := catalogue.BinaryOf(a); name != "" {
+		return name
+	}
 	if name := strings.TrimSpace(a.Binary); name != "" {
 		return name
 	}
@@ -1173,3 +1193,137 @@ func binaryName(a catalogue.Artifact) string {
 	}
 	return a.Name
 }
+
+// launcherSuffix is what a TypeScript entrypoint's launcher is called beside it: index.js is
+// started as index.serve.mjs (novox/hq ADR 0193). An ES module by its own extension, whatever the
+// bundle's package.json says.
+const launcherSuffix = ".serve.mjs"
+
+// writeLaunchers writes, beside every entrypoint of a TypeScript bundle, an executable that
+// imports the entrypoint and serves what it registered over MCP on stdio — through the bundle's
+// own copy of the SDK, so registering and serving meet in one registry (novox/hq ADR 0193). Its
+// answer is each entrypoint's launcher, by entrypoint, relative to the bundle's root; nothing for
+// a language whose build is already executable.
+func writeLaunchers(root string, chain Toolchain, a catalogue.Artifact) (map[string]string, error) {
+	if chain.Language != "typescript" {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	out := map[string]string{}
+	for _, entry := range a.Entrypoints {
+		if !strings.HasSuffix(entry, ".js") {
+			continue
+		}
+		launcher := strings.TrimSuffix(entry, ".js") + launcherSuffix
+		body := "#!/usr/bin/env node\n" +
+			"// Written by the mesh's builder (novox/hq ADR 0193): serve what " + entry + " registers,\n" +
+			"// over MCP on stdio, as the module the node's runtime names in MESH_SERVED_MODULE.\n" +
+			"import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from \"@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio\";\n" +
+			"await import(\"./" + filepath.Base(entry) + "\");\n" +
+			"await serveRegisteredOverStdio();\n"
+		path := filepath.Join(root, filepath.FromSlash(launcher))
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(path), 0o755); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(body), 0o755); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		// WriteFile honours the umask; the mode a machine unpacks is the one packed, so it is set.
+		if err := os.Chmod(path, 0o755); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		out[entry] = launcher
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// bundledSuffix is where a bundle's one-file output is written, beside what the compiler wrote.
+const bundledSuffix = ".bundled"
+
+// bundled makes every entrypoint and every launcher of a compiled bundle ONE file, in the toolchain
+// image's bundler, and answers the directory to pack (novox/hq ADR 0193).
+//
+// **What a launched bundle runs is what it imports, and nothing else.** Every served bundle is its
+// own process, so it carries its own copy of the SDK and its own dependencies inlined — the
+// toolchain's whole node_modules no longer travels in every bundle. An entrypoint a process runs by
+// name (`node daemon/index.js`) is bundled in place under its own name; a launcher keeps its name
+// and its first line, and stays executable. A package the bundler cannot inline is named by the
+// artifact (`external`), kept as an import, and only then is the toolchain's runtime directory
+// copied beside the files. CommonJS inlined into an ES module still finds `require`.
+func bundled(ctx context.Context, run Runner, tree string, chain Toolchain, base string,
+	a catalogue.Artifact, launchers map[string]string) (string, error) {
+	const within = "/app/modules/module"
+	out, final := Out(a.Name), Out(a.Name)+bundledSuffix
+	if err := os.RemoveAll(filepath.Join(tree, final)); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(tree, final), 0o755); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	common := []string{"--bundle", "--platform=node", "--format=esm", "--target=node22",
+		"--outbase=" + out, "--outdir=" + final, "--log-level=warning",
+		"--banner:js=import { createRequire as __meshRequire } from 'node:module'; const require = __meshRequire(import.meta.url);"}
+	for _, x := range a.External {
+		common = append(common, "--external:"+x)
+	}
+	var plain []string
+	for _, e := range a.Entrypoints {
+		if strings.HasSuffix(e, ".js") {
+			plain = append(plain, out+"/"+e)
+		}
+	}
+	var launch []string
+	for _, l := range sortedValues(launchers) {
+		launch = append(launch, out+"/"+l)
+	}
+	// Refused by name in an image that predates the bundler, as the dependencies copy is: a bundle
+	// packed without it would carry nothing it imports. Run as itself: npm installs esbuild's native
+	// binary in place of its script, which `node` cannot run.
+	guard := `test -x "$0" || { echo "the toolchain image carries no bundler at $0: it predates one-file bundles, rebuild mesh-tools first" >&2; exit 1; }; exec "$0" "$@"`
+	step := func(entries []string, extra ...string) error {
+		if len(entries) == 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+		invocation := []string{"run", "--rm", "--volume", tree + ":" + within, "--workdir", within, base,
+			"sh", "-c", guard, chain.Bundler}
+		invocation = append(invocation, entries...)
+		invocation = append(invocation, common...)
+		invocation = append(invocation, extra...)
+		_, err := run(ctx, tree, "docker", invocation...)
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := step(plain); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if err := step(launch, "--out-extension:.js=.mjs"); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	// Plain `.js` output is an ES module; said once, as the runtime directory used to say it.
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(tree, final, "package.json"), []byte(`{"type":"module","private":true}`+"\n"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	for _, l := range launchers {
+		path := filepath.Join(tree, final, filepath.FromSlash(l))
+		if _, err := os.Stat(path); err == nil {
+			if err := os.Chmod(path, 0o755); err != nil {
+				return "", err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if len(a.External) > 0 && chain.Dependencies != "" {
+		copying := []string{"run", "--rm", "--volume", tree + ":" + within, "--workdir", within, base,
+			"sh", "-c", `cp -a "$0/node_modules" "$1/"`, chain.Dependencies, final}
+		if _, err := run(ctx, tree, "docker", copying...); err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("copying the packages %s keeps external: %w", a.Name, err)
+		}
+	}
+	return filepath.Join(tree, final), nil
+}
+
+func sortedValues(m map[string]string) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(m))
+	for _, v := range m {
+		out = append(out, v)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}

internal/builder/bundle_test.go

@@ -83,25 +83,49 @@ func TestABundleIsCompiledAndPackedWithNoDockerfile(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("the bundle was not pinned: %v", got.Manifest.Resources[0])
 	}
 
-	// **And what it runs with, from the image it was compiled in** (novox/hq to-be 38 WP3). A
-	// second run in the same toolchain image copies the toolchain's runtime directory — the
-	// `"type": "module"` package.json and the pruned node_modules — into the output's root, and
-	// refuses by name when the image carries none rather than packing a bundle that starts nowhere.
-	var copied string
+	// **One file per entrypoint and launcher, in the toolchain's bundler** (novox/hq ADR 0193). A
+	// second run in the same toolchain image bundles each into the artifact's bundled output, the SDK
+	// inlined, refusing by name in an image that predates the bundler; and the toolchain's
+	// node_modules is no longer copied into a bundle that keeps nothing external.
+	var bundling []string
 	for _, line := range r.ran {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(line, "docker run") && strings.Contains(line, "/app/runtime") {
-			copied = line
+		if strings.HasPrefix(line, "docker run") && strings.Contains(line, "esbuild") {
+			bundling = append(bundling, line)
 		}
 	}
-	if copied == "" {
-		t.Fatalf("the bundle's dependencies were not copied in after the compile:\n%s", strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"))
+	if len(bundling) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("want one bundling run for the entrypoints and one for the launchers:\n%s", strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"))
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(copied, "mesh-tools/build@sha256:") || !strings.Contains(copied, "predates") ||
-		!strings.Contains(copied, Out("code")) {
-		t.Fatalf("the copy does not run in the same toolchain, refuse an older image by name, or land in the artifact's output: %s", copied)
+	for _, want := range []string{"mesh-tools/build@sha256:", "predates one-file bundles", "--bundle", "--format=esm",
+		"--platform=node", "--outdir=" + Out("code") + ".bundled", Out("code") + "/index.js"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(bundling[0], want) {
+			t.Errorf("the entrypoints' bundling lacks %q: %s", want, bundling[0])
 		}
-	if strings.Index(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "--outDir") > strings.Index(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "/app/runtime") {
-		t.Fatal("the dependencies were copied before the compile wrote its output")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(bundling[1], Out("code")+"/index.serve.mjs") || !strings.Contains(bundling[1], "--out-extension:.js=.mjs") {
+		t.Errorf("the launcher is not bundled under its own name: %s", bundling[1])
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "/app/runtime") {
+		t.Errorf("the toolchain's node_modules was copied into a bundle that keeps nothing external:\n%s", strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"))
+	}
+	if strings.Index(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "--outDir") > strings.Index(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "esbuild") {
+		t.Fatal("the bundler ran before the compile wrote its output")
+	}
+}
+
+// A bundle naming packages it keeps external is bundled with them as imports, and carries the
+// toolchain's node_modules for them — the one case it still does.
+func TestABundleKeepingAPackageExternalCarriesTheToolchainsModules(t *testing.T) {
+	manifest := strings.Replace(aBundle, `"entrypoints":["index.js"]`, `"entrypoints":["index.js"],"external":["sharp"]`, 1)
+	r, workspace := aRepository(t, manifest, map[string]string{"index.ts": "console.log(1)"})
+	held := map[string]string{"mesh-tools/build": "registry.invalid/mesh-tools/build@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("b", 64)}
+	if _, err := Build(context.Background(), compiling{r}.run, r,
+		"https://forge.invalid/greeter.git", "", "", workspace, held, Npmrc{}, GitCredential{}, nil); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	all := strings.Join(r.ran, "\n")
+	if !strings.Contains(all, "--external:sharp") || !strings.Contains(all, "/app/runtime") {
+		t.Errorf("an external package was not kept as an import with the toolchain's modules beside it:\n%s", all)
 	}
 }
 

internal/builder/dependencies.go

@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+package builder
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// A module's own packages, installed before its bundle is compiled, so the bundler inlines them.
+//
+// **A bundle could only import what the toolchain happened to carry.** The compiler and the bundler
+// resolve an import by walking up from the module's source: the module's own directory first, then
+// the toolchain image's node_modules. Nothing ever put anything in the first, so a module needing a
+// database driver (`pg`, `mongodb`, `mssql`) could not be a bundle at all, and kept a container whose
+// recipe installed it by hand (novox/hq ADR 0198 §4: "the backend's own driver inside the bundle").
+// Now the module's `package.json` says what it depends on, as any Node package does, and the build
+// installs exactly that into the module's own directory before compiling.
+//
+// **The SDK the toolchain carries is the one a bundle is built with, whatever the module says**
+// (novox/hq issue 212: the toolchain is rebuilt on every SDK release and every bundle after it). A
+// module's `package.json` names `@novox/mesh-sdk` with a range — it has to, to type-check on a
+// workstation — and installing that range would shadow the toolchain's copy for this module alone:
+// one module compiled against an older SDK than its neighbours, chosen by a caret nobody re-reads.
+// So the SDK is taken out of what is installed (and never fetched), and any copy something else
+// pulls in is removed afterwards; every import of it resolves past the module's node_modules to the
+// toolchain's. A module therefore cannot pin a different SDK, by design: the toolchain is the pin.
+//
+// **Correctness before speed.** Every build installs afresh into a fresh clone, from the lockfile
+// when the module has one (`npm ci`, exact) and from its ranges otherwise; nothing installed is kept
+// between builds. What is shared is npm's own download cache, a named volume, which is
+// content-addressed and verified by integrity on every read — it saves the network, never the
+// install. Install scripts do not run: the build node runs nobody's postinstall, and what a script
+// would build natively could not be inlined into one file anyway.
+
+// sdkPackage is the package a TypeScript bundle's launcher serves through, and the one package a
+// module's own dependencies never supply (above).
+const sdkPackage = "@novox/mesh-sdk"
+
+// npmCache is the named volume npm's download cache lives in across builds on one build node.
+const npmCache = "mesh-builder-npm-cache"
+
+// ownDependencies is what a module's package.json depends on beyond the SDK, sorted; nothing when
+// the module has no package.json or depends on nothing else — which builds exactly as before.
+func ownDependencies(tree string) ([]string, error) {
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(tree, "package.json"))
+	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var p struct {
+		Dependencies map[string]string `json:"dependencies"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &p); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the module's package.json is not JSON: %w", err)
+	}
+	var names []string
+	for name := range p.Dependencies {
+		if name != sdkPackage {
+			names = append(names, name)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	return names, nil
+}
+
+// installSteps is the script run inside the toolchain image, from the module's own directory ($0).
+// It works in a scratch copy so the module's package.json and lockfile are never rewritten, takes
+// the SDK out of what is installed, installs production dependencies only, removes any copy of the
+// SDK something pulled in, and puts the result at the module's node_modules.
+const installSteps = `set -e
+work="$(mktemp -d)"
+cp "$0/package.json" "$work/"
+if [ -f "$0/package-lock.json" ]; then cp "$0/package-lock.json" "$work/"; fi
+cd "$work"
+node -e '
+const fs = require("fs"), sdk = process.argv[1];
+const p = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("package.json", "utf8"));
+for (const k of ["dependencies", "peerDependencies", "optionalDependencies"]) if (p[k]) delete p[k][sdk];
+delete p.devDependencies; delete p.scripts;
+fs.writeFileSync("package.json", JSON.stringify(p));
+' "$1"
+shift
+if [ -f package-lock.json ]; then
+  npm ci --omit=dev --omit=peer --ignore-scripts --no-audit --no-fund "$@"
+else
+  npm install --omit=dev --omit=peer --ignore-scripts --no-audit --no-fund --no-package-lock "$@"
+fi
+find node_modules -depth -type d -path "*/node_modules/@novox/mesh-sdk" -exec rm -rf {} +
+rm -rf "$0/node_modules"
+cp -a node_modules "$0/node_modules"
+`
+
+// installOwn installs a TypeScript module's own production dependencies into its directory, in the
+// toolchain image, before the compile — or does nothing at all for a module that has none.
+func installOwn(ctx context.Context, run Runner, tree string, chain Toolchain, base string,
+	registry Npmrc, say func(step, format string, args ...any)) error {
+	if chain.Language != "typescript" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	deps, err := ownDependencies(tree)
+	if err != nil || len(deps) == 0 {
+		return err
+	}
+	scoped := strings.TrimSpace(registry.Scope)
+	if !registry.Enabled() {
+		// **No registry, no scoped package.** Without the mesh's registry a scoped name resolves on
+		// the public one, where anybody may have published it: a dependency that installs is not
+		// the dependency the module meant.
+		for _, d := range deps {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(d, "@novox/") {
+				return fmt.Errorf("the module depends on %s, and this build knows no package registry "+
+					"for its scope; it would resolve from the public registry, which is not where the "+
+					"mesh publishes it", d)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	const within = "/app/modules/module"
+	invocation := []string{"run", "--rm",
+		"--volume", tree + ":" + within,
+		"--volume", npmCache + ":/root/.npm",
+		"--workdir", within}
+	var flags []string
+	if registry.Enabled() {
+		// The registry is reached where the binding says it is, which may be this machine's own
+		// loopback — the reason an image build that resolves packages runs on the host network too.
+		invocation = append(invocation, "--network", "host")
+		reg := strings.TrimSpace(registry.Registry)
+		if !strings.HasSuffix(reg, "/") {
+			reg += "/"
+		}
+		flags = append(flags, "--"+scoped+":registry="+reg)
+	}
+	invocation = append(invocation, base, "sh", "-c", installSteps, within, sdkPackage)
+	invocation = append(invocation, flags...)
+	say("bundle", "installing the module's own packages: %s", strings.Join(deps, ", "))
+	if _, err := run(ctx, tree, "docker", invocation...); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("installing the module's own packages (%s): %w", strings.Join(deps, ", "), err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}

internal/builder/dependencies_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package builder
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A module's own packages (dependencies.go): installed into its own directory, in the toolchain,
+// before the compile, so the bundler inlines them — the SDK always the toolchain's.
+
+func buildWithPackageJSON(t *testing.T, pkg string, extra map[string]string, registry Npmrc) (*recorded, error) {
+	t.Helper()
+	files := map[string]string{"index.ts": "console.log(1)"}
+	if pkg != "" {
+		files["package.json"] = pkg
+	}
+	for k, v := range extra {
+		files[k] = v
+	}
+	r, workspace := aRepository(t, aBundle, files)
+	held := map[string]string{"mesh-tools/build": "registry.invalid/mesh-tools/build@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("b", 64)}
+	_, err := Build(context.Background(), compiling{r}.run, r,
+		"https://forge.invalid/greeter.git", "", "", workspace, held, registry, GitCredential{}, nil)
+	return r, err
+}
+
+func installs(r *recorded) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, line := range r.ran {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(line, "docker run") && strings.Contains(line, "npm ci") {
+			out = append(out, line)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func compileIndex(r *recorded) int {
+	for i, line := range r.ran {
+		if strings.Contains(line, "--outDir") {
+			return i
+		}
+	}
+	return -1
+}
+
+func TestAModulesOwnPackagesAreInstalledInTheToolchainBeforeTheCompile(t *testing.T) {
+	r, err := buildWithPackageJSON(t, `{"type":"module","dependencies":{"@novox/mesh-sdk":"^0.1.0","pg":"^8"},"devDependencies":{"typescript":"^5"}}`,
+		nil, Npmrc{Scope: "@novox", Registry: "https://forge.invalid/api/packages/novox/npm"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got := installs(r)
+	if len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("want one install of the module's own packages:\n%s", strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"))
+	}
+	line := got[0]
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		"mesh-tools/build@sha256:",       // in the toolchain image
+		":/app/modules/module",           // into the module's own directory
+		"--workdir /app/modules/module",  //
+		npmCache + ":/root/.npm",         // npm's verified download cache, and only that
+		"--omit=dev", "--ignore-scripts", // production packages, no build-node scripts
+		"npm ci", "npm install", "--no-package-lock", // the lockfile when there is one, else the ranges
+		"--@novox:registry=https://forge.invalid/api/packages/novox/npm/", // the scope from the mesh's registry
+		"--network host",
+		"@novox/mesh-sdk", // named, to be taken out of what is installed
+	} {
+		if !strings.Contains(line, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the install lacks %q:\n%s", want, line)
+		}
+	}
+	// The SDK is the toolchain's: never installed from the module's range, and any copy removed.
+	if !strings.Contains(line, `delete p[k][sdk]`) || !strings.Contains(line, `-path "*/node_modules/@novox/mesh-sdk" -exec rm -rf`) {
+		t.Errorf("the module's own SDK range could shadow the toolchain's SDK:\n%s", line)
+	}
+	if i, c := strings.Index(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "npm ci"), compileIndex(r); c < 0 ||
+		i > strings.Index(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "--outDir") {
+		t.Fatalf("the install did not run before the compile:\n%s", strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"))
+	}
+}
+
+// **A module with nothing beyond the SDK builds exactly as before**: the same commands, no install.
+func TestAModuleDependingOnlyOnTheSDKBuildsExactlyAsBefore(t *testing.T) {
+	without, err := buildWithPackageJSON(t, "", nil, Npmrc{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, pkg := range []string{
+		`{"type":"module","dependencies":{"@novox/mesh-sdk":"^0.1.0"},"devDependencies":{"typescript":"^5"}}`,
+		`{"type":"module"}`,
+	} {
+		with, err := buildWithPackageJSON(t, pkg, map[string]string{"package-lock.json": "{}"}, Npmrc{Scope: "@novox", Registry: "https://forge.invalid/npm/"})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(strings.Join(with.ran, "\n"), "npm ") {
+			t.Fatalf("a module depending on nothing but the SDK ran npm:\n%s", strings.Join(with.ran, "\n"))
+		}
+		if len(with.ran) != len(without.ran) {
+			t.Fatalf("a module depending only on the SDK built differently from one with no package.json:\n%s\n---\n%s",
+				strings.Join(with.ran, "\n"), strings.Join(without.ran, "\n"))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Without the mesh's registry a scoped package would resolve on the public one: refused by name.
+func TestAScopedPackageWithNoRegistryIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	r, err := buildWithPackageJSON(t, `{"dependencies":{"@novox/mesh-sdk":"^0.1.0","@novox/other":"^1"}}`, nil, Npmrc{})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "@novox/other") {
+		t.Fatalf("a scoped package was installed with no registry for its scope: %v", err)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(strings.Join(r.ran, "\n"), "--outDir") {
+		t.Fatal("the compile ran after the refusal")
+	}
+	// A public package installs without one, from the public registry and nothing else.
+	r, err = buildWithPackageJSON(t, `{"dependencies":{"mssql":"^11"}}`, nil, Npmrc{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := installs(r); len(got) != 1 || strings.Contains(got[0], ":registry=") || strings.Contains(got[0], "--network host") {
+		t.Fatalf("a public package's install: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnUnreadablePackageJSONIsRefusedByName(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := buildWithPackageJSON(t, `{"dependencies":`, nil, Npmrc{})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "package.json") {
+		t.Fatalf("a broken package.json was not refused by name: %v", err)
+	}
+}

internal/builder/launchers_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package builder
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0193: every entrypoint the runtime may serve is executable, and the runtime knows no
+// language — so a TypeScript bundle carries a launcher beside each entrypoint.
+func TestATypeScriptBundleCarriesAnExecutableLauncherBesideEachEntrypoint(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	chain, err := ToolchainFor("typescript")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got, err := writeLaunchers(root, chain, catalogue.Artifact{Name: "tools", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactBundle,
+		Language: "typescript", Entrypoints: []string{"tools/index.js", "index.js"}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got["tools/index.js"] != "tools/index.serve.mjs" || got["index.js"] != "index.serve.mjs" {
+		t.Fatalf("launchers: %v", got)
+	}
+	path := filepath.Join(root, "tools", "index.serve.mjs")
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if info.Mode().Perm() != 0o755 {
+		t.Errorf("the launcher is %v, not executable 0755", info.Mode().Perm())
+	}
+	body, _ := os.ReadFile(path)
+	for _, want := range []string{"#!/usr/bin/env node\n", `from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio"`, `await import("./index.js")`, "serveRegisteredOverStdio()"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(string(body), want) {
+			t.Errorf("the launcher lacks %q:\n%s", want, body)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// A compiled language's build is executable already: no launcher.
+	goChain, _ := ToolchainFor("go")
+	none, err := writeLaunchers(t.TempDir(), goChain, catalogue.Artifact{Name: "tools", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactBundle, Language: "go"})
+	if err != nil || len(none) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("a Go bundle was given launchers: %v %v", none, err)
+	}
+}

internal/builder/standing_on_test.go

@@ -200,3 +200,23 @@ func TestWhatABuildReadIsTheRepositoriesItsRecipesName(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("a module whose recipes name no other repository read one")
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/212: a toolchain stands on the SDK's published package, and is built with the
+// exact version the mesh published — an argument that changes when the SDK does, so a rebuild after
+// a release never reuses an install of the version before it.
+func TestAPackageTheMeshPublishedIsPassedByItsExactVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	manifest := catalogue.Manifest{
+		Module: "mesh-tools",
+		Build: &catalogue.Build{
+			On: []catalogue.BuildsOn{{Arg: "MESH_SDK", Module: "mesh-sdk", Artifact: "lib"}},
+		},
+	}
+	held := map[string]string{"mesh-sdk/lib": "@novox/mesh-sdk@0.1.6"}
+	args, resolved, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, held, noMirror)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if fmt.Sprint(args) != "[--build-arg MESH_SDK=@novox/mesh-sdk@0.1.6]" || fmt.Sprint(resolved) != "[@novox/mesh-sdk@0.1.6]" {
+		t.Errorf("the package was passed as %v, recorded as %v", args, resolved)
+	}
+}

internal/builder/toolchain.go

@@ -67,13 +67,23 @@ type Toolchain struct {
 	// `package.json` saying `"type": "module"` — Node reads a bare `.js` as CommonJS otherwise, so a
 	// bundle with its dependencies and without that line still fails to start — and the pruned,
 	// production-only node_modules the runtime itself ships with: the SDK's and the runtime's
-	// dependencies, and nothing module-specific yet (novox/hq ADR 0188 §5: a skeleton; a module's
-	// own npm dependencies are a later step). Empty for a language whose bundle carries its own —
+	// dependencies, and nothing module-specific (a module's own npm dependencies are installed into
+	// its own directory before the compile and inlined by the bundler: dependencies.go). Empty for a
+	// language whose bundle carries its own —
 	// a Go binary is static, a Python bundle is installed with its dependencies.
 	//
 	// A toolchain image without the directory fails the build by name rather than packing a bundle
 	// that starts nowhere: the image predates this and must be rebuilt first.
+	//
+	// *Since the bundler (below):* copied only for a bundle that names packages it keeps external,
+	// which cannot be inlined; a bundle with none carries no node_modules at all.
 	Dependencies string
+	// Bundler is the bundler inside the toolchain image that makes each compiled entrypoint and each
+	// launcher ONE self-contained file (novox/hq ADR 0193): every served bundle is its own process
+	// now, so each carries its own copy of what it imports — the SDK included — and nothing else.
+	// A bundle shrinks from the toolchain's whole node_modules to the code it runs. Empty for a
+	// language whose build is already one file.
+	Bundler string
 	// SystemStamp is the variable this language's linker fills with the artifact's declared system,
 	// for a language whose binaries are pinned to one at link time (novox/hq ADR 0005).
 	//
@@ -139,6 +149,7 @@ var toolchains = []Toolchain{
 		Unit:         UnitSources,
 		SourceExt:    ".ts",
 		Dependencies: "/app/runtime",
+		Bundler:      "/app/node_modules/esbuild/bin/esbuild",
 	},
 	{
 		Language: "go",

internal/catalogue/a_service_process_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 213 (ADR 0188 §1, §3): a module's own Go service is a bundle the host runs as a
+// process, not an image. Each test holds one thing that had to change in the composer for the
+// controller to be declared that way.
+
+const aServiceDigest = "sha256:dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd"
+
+// aServiceModule is the controller's shape in miniature: it answers tools of its own, its code is a
+// Go bundle a process runs as an account it declares, its secrets belong to that account, it
+// prepares its state, and its process replaces the container it used to run as.
+func aServiceModule(t *testing.T) Manifest {
+	t.Helper()
+	raw := `{
+	  "module": "svc", "version": "1", "tools": ["status"], "prepares": true,
+	  "own-secrets": {"store": "${dir:state}/store"},
+	  "secrets-owner": "svc",
+	  "resources": [
+	    {"id": "state", "type": "directory", "mode": "0700", "place": "mesh", "owner": "svc"},
+	    {"id": "service", "type": "process", "name": "svc", "artifact": "code",
+	     "run": ["./svc", "serve"], "user": "svc", "replaces": ["server"],
+	     "env": {"SVC_STORE_FILE": "${dir:state}/store", "SVC_STORE_PORT": "${seat:mesh-store:5432}"}},
+	    {"id": "account", "type": "user", "name": "svc", "shell": "/usr/bin/nologin", "home": "/var/lib/svc"}
+	  ],
+	  "build": {"artifacts": [{"name": "code", "kind": "bundle", "language": "go", "system": "arch",
+	    "from": "cmd/svc", "binary": "svc"}]}
+	}`
+	m, err := ParseManifest([]byte(raw))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the service's manifest is refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	resolved, err := m.Resolve([]Built{{Name: "code", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "svc/code@" + aServiceDigest, Digest: aServiceDigest}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return resolved
+}
+
+func composeTheService(t *testing.T, with Rendering) []map[string]any {
+	t.Helper()
+	with.Needed = map[string]map[string]string{"svc": {"store": "sealed-store"}}
+	with.ArtifactStore = "anchor.internal:5100"
+	out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{aServiceModule(t)}}.Declaration(with)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the service does not compose: %v", err)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func indexOf(out []map[string]any, id string) int {
+	for i, r := range out {
+		if r["id"] == id {
+			return i
+		}
+	}
+	return -1
+}
+
+// A module that declares tools has every bundle served by the node's runtime unless it says
+// otherwise — and the controller declares the verbs it answers as tools. Its service bundle is run
+// by its own process; launched a second time by the runtime it would be a second controller
+// pretending to be an MCP server.
+func TestABundleItsOwnProcessRunsIsNotServedByTheRuntime(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aServiceModule(t)
+	if len(m.Bundles) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the service's bundle was not kept: %+v", m.Bundles)
+	}
+	if loads := m.Bundles[0].Loads; len(loads) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the runtime would launch the service's own bundle as tools: %v", loads)
+	}
+	// And a bundle no resource runs still is served, as a module declaring tools always had it.
+	tools := Manifest{Module: "t", Version: "1", Tools: []string{"x"},
+		Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "go",
+			System: "arch", From: "cmd/t"}}}}
+	resolved, err := tools.Resolve([]Built{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "t/tools@" + aServiceDigest, Digest: aServiceDigest}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if loads := resolved.Bundles[0].Loads; len(loads) != 1 || loads[0] != "t" {
+		t.Fatalf("a tools bundle nothing runs is no longer served: %v", loads)
+	}
+}
+
+// The account is created before anything is given to it. Its secrets are mesh-computed and so
+// placed before the module's own resources; given to a user the machine did not have yet, they were
+// refused on the first apply and the process started without them.
+func TestAModulesAccountComesBeforeWhatBelongsToIt(t *testing.T) {
+	out := composeTheService(t, Rendering{})
+	account, secret := indexOf(out, "svc.account"), indexOf(out, "svc."+NeedID("store"))
+	if account < 0 || secret < 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the account or the secret is missing: %v", out)
+	}
+	if account > secret {
+		t.Fatalf("the secret owned by svc is written before svc exists: account at %d, secret at %d",
+			account, secret)
+	}
+	if owner := out[secret]["owner"]; owner != "svc" {
+		t.Errorf("the secret belongs to %v, not the account its process runs as", owner)
+	}
+}
+
+// The process is the module's program; its preparation is the same program asked to prepare, as a
+// step before it — with the same account and environment, and handing nothing over.
+func TestAProcessIsPreparedByItsOwnProgram(t *testing.T) {
+	out := composeTheService(t, Rendering{})
+	step, process := indexOf(out, "svc.service-prepare"), indexOf(out, "svc.service")
+	if step < 0 || process < 0 || step > process {
+		t.Fatalf("the preparation is not a step before the process (%d, %d): %v", step, process, out)
+	}
+	s := out[step]
+	if s["type"] != "process" || s["run-once"] != true || s["name"] != "svc-prepare" {
+		t.Errorf("the preparation is not a run-once process: %v", s)
+	}
+	if run, _ := json.Marshal(s["run"]); string(run) != `["./svc","prepare"]` {
+		t.Errorf("the preparation runs %s", run)
+	}
+	if s["user"] != "svc" || s["source"] != out[process]["source"] {
+		t.Errorf("the preparation does not run the same bundle as the same account: %v", s)
+	}
+	if env, _ := s["env"].(map[string]any); env["SVC_STORE_FILE"] == nil {
+		t.Errorf("the preparation is not given the process's environment: %v", s["env"])
+	}
+	if _, has := s["replaces"]; has {
+		t.Errorf("the preparation would hand over what the process replaces: %v", s)
+	}
+	if _, has := s["args"]; has {
+		t.Errorf("the preparation carries a container's args: %v", s)
+	}
+}
+
+// What the process replaces is named as the host recorded it, `<module>.<id>`; unprefixed, the host
+// matches nothing and removes the container first, as before.
+func TestWhatAProcessReplacesIsNamedAsTheHostRecordedIt(t *testing.T) {
+	out := composeTheService(t, Rendering{})
+	p := out[indexOf(out, "svc.service")]
+	if got, _ := json.Marshal(p["replaces"]); string(got) != `["svc.server"]` {
+		t.Fatalf("the process replaces %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWhatReplacesMayNameIsRefusedNearItsAuthor(t *testing.T) {
+	for what, resource := range map[string]string{
+		"a container":        `{"id":"c","type":"container","name":"c","image":"x@` + aServiceDigest + `","replaces":["old"]}`,
+		"a step":             `{"id":"p","type":"process","name":"p","run":["./p"],"run-once":true,"replaces":["old"]}`,
+		"something declared": `{"id":"p","type":"process","name":"p","run":["./p"],"replaces":["p"]}`,
+		"another module's":   `{"id":"p","type":"process","name":"p","run":["./p"],"replaces":["other.old"]}`,
+		"not a list":         `{"id":"p","type":"process","name":"p","run":["./p"],"replaces":"old"}`,
+	} {
+		raw := `{"module":"m","version":"1","resources":[` + resource + `]}`
+		if _, err := ParseManifest([]byte(raw)); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "replace") {
+			t.Errorf("replaces on %s was accepted: %v", what, err)
+		}
+	}
+	ok := `{"module":"m","version":"1","resources":[{"id":"p","type":"process","name":"p","run":["./p"],"replaces":["old"]}]}`
+	if _, err := ParseManifest([]byte(ok)); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a process replacing what its module no longer declares was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/bound_into_files.go

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func boundUsed(content string) [][2]string {
 // Three facts the mesh states about any provision, plus whatever the provider said it serves. A
 // module may not reach a binding it does not have — the same boundary as a secret, for the same
 // reason.
-func knownFor(m Manifest, needs []Needed, node string) map[string]map[string]string {
+func knownFor(m Manifest, needs []Needed, node string) (map[string]map[string]string, error) {
 	out := map[string]map[string]string{}
 	for _, want := range m.Wants() {
 		for i := range needs {
@@ -54,12 +54,20 @@ func knownFor(m Manifest, needs []Needed, node string) map[string]map[string]str
 			if n.Name != want || n.For != m.Module {
 				continue
 			}
+			as := ConsumerIdentity(node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module))
 			values := map[string]string{
 				"at":   n.At,
 				"from": n.From,
-				"as":   ConsumerIdentity(node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module)),
+				"as":   as,
 			}
-			for key, value := range n.Serves {
+			// What the provider derives for this consumer rather than for all of them
+			// (novox/hq ADR 0201). Filled here, the one place a provision and the module
+			// requiring it are both in hand.
+			served, err := ServedTo(n.Serves, as)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s requires %s: %w", m.Module, want, err)
+			}
+			for key, value := range served {
 				// The provider's own vocabulary. Rendered plainly: a port is 5432, not 5432.000000,
 				// which is what a float would write and what a connection string would refuse.
 				values[key] = plainly(value)
@@ -67,7 +75,7 @@ func knownFor(m Manifest, needs []Needed, node string) map[string]map[string]str
 			out[want] = values
 		}
 	}
-	return out
+	return out, nil
 }
 
 // withOwnNames adds a module's own composed names to what it may name from one binding:

internal/catalogue/build.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package catalogue
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"path"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ type Built struct {
 	Reference string
 	// Digest is "sha256:<hex>", for an archive. An image reference already ends in one.
 	Digest string
+	// Launchers are, for a bundle in an interpreted language, the executable the build wrote beside
+	// each entrypoint, by entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193): what the node's runtime starts to serve it.
+	Launchers map[string]string
 }
 
 // Resolve fills a manifest's resources in from what was built.
@@ -73,6 +77,7 @@ func (m Manifest) Resolve(built []Built) (Manifest, error) {
 	// build compare equal.
 	out.Bundles = nil
 	if m.Build != nil {
+		run := runByAResource(m)
 		for _, a := range m.Build.Artifacts {
 			if a.Kind != ArtifactBundle {
 				continue
@@ -80,9 +85,20 @@ func (m Manifest) Resolve(built []Built) (Manifest, error) {
 			made := by[a.Name]
 			// What the runtime loads: what the artifact said, else every entrypoint of a module
 			// that declares tools, else nothing (the field's own rule; see Artifact.Loads).
+			//
+			// **Never, unasked, a bundle one of the module's own resources runs** (novox/hq issue 213).
+			// A process the host runs is the module's service, not its tools: the controller declares
+			// the verbs it answers as `tools` and serves them itself, and its bundle would otherwise
+			// have been launched a second time by the node's runtime, as an MCP child it is not.
 			loads := append([]string(nil), a.Loads...)
-			if a.Loads == nil && len(m.Tools) > 0 {
+			if a.Loads == nil && len(m.Tools) > 0 && !run[a.Name] {
 				loads = append([]string(nil), a.Entrypoints...)
+				// A bundle compiled to a binary has no entrypoints: the binary is what it is, and what
+				// the runtime starts to serve it (novox/hq ADR 0193). So a Go tools bundle is served
+				// as Go — the runtime execs it — exactly as a TypeScript one is through its launcher.
+				if bin := BinaryOf(a); bin != "" {
+					loads = []string{bin}
+				}
 			}
 			// **Kept, never routed** (ADR 0155): the builder publishes to the store at the address
 			// it reached it by, and a manifest carrying that address names an installation —
@@ -92,7 +108,8 @@ func (m Manifest) Resolve(built []Built) (Manifest, error) {
 			out.Bundles = append(out.Bundles, Bundle{
 				Name: a.Name, Source: Recorded(made.Reference), Digest: made.Digest,
 				Language: a.Language, Entrypoints: append([]string(nil), a.Entrypoints...),
-				Loads: loads,
+				Loads: loads, Env: copyWords(a.Env), Launchers: copyWords(made.Launchers),
+				Binary: BinaryOf(a),
 			})
 		}
 		sort.Slice(out.Bundles, func(i, j int) bool { return out.Bundles[i].Name < out.Bundles[j].Name })
@@ -203,6 +220,17 @@ func (b *Build) problems(module string) []string {
 		// A bundle's source is the module's own directory by definition, and what it needs to say
 		// is which compiler — because the mesh chooses that, and cannot choose for a module that
 		// has not said.
+		if len(a.External) > 0 && (a.Kind != ArtifactBundle || a.Language != "typescript") {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s: %q names packages it keeps external, and only a TypeScript bundle is bundled into "+
+					"one file with some kept out (novox/hq ADR 0193)", module, a.Name))
+		}
+		if len(a.Env) > 0 && a.Kind != ArtifactBundle {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s: %q is a %q and says what it is given (env). Only a bundle the node's runtime "+
+					"serves is given words (novox/hq ADR 0192); a container says its own environment",
+				module, a.Name, a.Kind))
+		}
 		if a.Kind == ArtifactBundle || a.Kind == ArtifactPackage {
 			// **Except for a language that compiles to a binary, where it names which one**
 			// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/142). A bundle in an interpreted language is the module's own
@@ -222,6 +250,7 @@ func (b *Build) problems(module string) []string {
 					"%s: %q is a bundle and says no language, so nothing can choose a compiler "+
 						"for it", module, a.Name))
 			}
+			problems = append(problems, bundleEnvProblems(module, a)...)
 			// What the runtime loads is among what was compiled (ADR 0175): a name here that is
 			// not an entrypoint is a file the bundle does not contain, and the runtime would
 			// fail to import it on every machine rather than here.
@@ -230,6 +259,11 @@ func (b *Build) problems(module string) []string {
 				for _, e := range a.Entrypoints {
 					found = found || e == load
 				}
+				// A bundle compiled to a binary is one executable: the runtime loads that or nothing
+				// (novox/hq ADR 0193).
+				if bin := BinaryOf(a); bin != "" {
+					found = load == bin
+				}
 				if !found {
 					problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
 						"%s: %q says the runtime loads %q, which is not among its entrypoints — "+
@@ -360,3 +394,104 @@ func versionOf(digest string) string {
 	}
 	return hex
 }
+
+// bundleEnvWords are the words the runtime sets for itself; a bundle that named one would be
+// telling the runtime what it is, which is the mesh's to say (novox/hq ADR 0192).
+var bundleEnvWords = map[string]bool{
+	RuntimeToolModules: true, RuntimeBrokerFile: true, RuntimeOperatorAccount: true,
+	RuntimeOperatorHome: true, RuntimeToolEnv: true,
+}
+
+// bundleEnvProblems says what is wrong with what a bundle says it is given (novox/hq ADR 0192):
+// a value is a path or a constant written with the references a container's environment may use
+// for a place or a port, and never a secret's content or another module's binding — a secret
+// reaches a tool as a file whose path is named.
+func bundleEnvProblems(module string, a Artifact) []string {
+	if len(a.Env) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	var problems []string
+	for _, word := range sortedKeys(a.Env) {
+		value := a.Env[word]
+		if bundleEnvWords[word] {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s: %q gives itself %s, which the node's runtime sets for itself; a bundle is "+
+					"given its own words beside the runtime's, never in place of them (novox/hq ADR 0192)",
+				module, a.Name, word))
+		}
+		rest := ofPort.ReplaceAllString(dirRef.ReplaceAllString(value, ""), "")
+		if strings.Contains(rest, "${") {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s: %q gives %s the value %q. A bundle's word is a path or a constant, written with "+
+					"${dir:…} and ${port:…} only; a secret reaches a tool as a file the mesh places, "+
+					"named by its path, never as its content (novox/hq ADR 0192)",
+				module, a.Name, word, value))
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}
+
+func copyWords(in map[string]string) map[string]string {
+	if len(in) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := make(map[string]string, len(in))
+	for k, v := range in {
+		out[k] = v
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// BinaryOf is what a bundle compiled to a binary is called once built: what the artifact names, else
+// the package it is built from, else the artifact's own name (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/142). Empty for a
+// language that does not compile to one. The builder writes the binary under this name, and the
+// composer runs it by it, so both ask here.
+func BinaryOf(a Artifact) string {
+	if !compilesToABinary(a.Language) {
+		return ""
+	}
+	if name := strings.TrimSpace(a.Binary); name != "" {
+		return name
+	}
+	if from := strings.Trim(a.From, "./"); from != "" {
+		return path.Base(from)
+	}
+	return a.Name
+}
+
+// runByAResource is the artifacts one of a module's own resources names — a process that runs it,
+// a step, an archive that unpacks it — by name.
+func runByAResource(m Manifest) map[string]bool {
+	named := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, r := range m.Resources {
+		if a, ok := r["artifact"].(string); ok && a != "" {
+			named[a] = true
+		}
+	}
+	return named
+}
+
+// undeliveredBundles says which of a module's bundles nothing would ever put on a machine (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/216). A bundle reaches a machine three ways: the node's runtime serves it (it says
+// `loads`, or its module declares `tools`), a resource names it (a process, a step, an archive), or
+// it is the runtime itself. One reached by none of them was built, recorded and pushed as success,
+// and was simply absent — seven modules' tools went missing that way on 2026-10-03. Refused here,
+// naming the field that would deliver it.
+func undeliveredBundles(m Manifest) []string {
+	if m.Build == nil || m.Module == RuntimeModule {
+		return nil
+	}
+	named := runByAResource(m)
+	var problems []string
+	for _, a := range m.Build.Artifacts {
+		if a.Kind != ArtifactBundle || named[a.Name] || len(a.Loads) > 0 || len(m.Tools) > 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+			"%s: the bundle %q would be built and never reach a machine: nothing loads it, runs it or "+
+				"unpacks it. A tools bundle says `loads` (the entrypoints the node's runtime serves) or its "+
+				"module lists its `tools`; a daemon or a step is a resource naming it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/216)",
+			m.Module, a.Name))
+	}
+	return problems
+}

internal/catalogue/consumer_into_serves.go

@@ -0,0 +1,311 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// What a provider derives for one consumer, said once in the provider's definition and delivered
+// to both ends (novox/hq ADR 0201, issue 124).
+//
+// A `serves` block is otherwise literal: the same values for every consumer. Where the provider
+// *names the resource* — a bucket, a database, a vhost — the name is derived from who is asking,
+// and before this the mesh had no channel for it. The provider recomputed it in its own code and
+// every consumer transcribed it into its own definition by hand, which is a copy of somebody
+// else's rule kept in agreement by nobody. One of three transcriptions was wrong for months.
+//
+// **The mesh learns no protocol here; it spells its own name in an alphabet it already knows.**
+// The only fact a served value may name is the identity the mesh itself minted for the consumer,
+// in one of two alphabets: as it was minted, and as a DNS label. Everything a provider wants
+// around it — a prefix, a suffix, a separator — it writes around the placeholder, because a
+// served value is a string.
+
+// consumerFact is `${consumer:<fact>}` or `${consumer:<fact>:<alphabet>}`.
+var consumerFact = regexp.MustCompile(`\$\{consumer:([a-z][a-z0-9-]*)(?::([a-z][a-z0-9-]*))?\}`)
+
+// consumerFacts are what a served value may name about the consumer it is being derived for.
+// One entry, deliberately: the identity is the one thing about a consumer the mesh itself chose,
+// so it is the one thing the mesh can hand to a provider without either end guessing.
+var consumerFacts = []string{"as"}
+
+// consumerAlphabets are the ways the mesh will write that identity. `dns` is the mesh's own
+// identifier with its separator written `-` instead of `_` — the whole of the difference between
+// the alphabet the mesh mints in and the one buckets, vhosts and hostnames accept.
+var consumerAlphabets = []string{"dns"}
+
+// ServedTo fills a provider's served values for one consumer.
+//
+// `as` is the identity the mesh minted for that consumer — the same string it is told to present
+// as a login. Values with no placeholder are returned exactly as they were, and a block with no
+// placeholder at all is returned unchanged, so this costs nothing for the providers that derive
+// nothing.
+//
+// Only strings carry placeholders. A number, a boolean or a nested object is a value the provider
+// stated outright, and is left alone.
+func ServedTo(serves map[string]any, as string) (map[string]any, error) {
+	if len(serves) == 0 {
+		return serves, nil
+	}
+	var out map[string]any
+	for _, key := range sortedAnyKeys(serves) {
+		text, ok := serves[key].(string)
+		if !ok || !strings.Contains(text, "${consumer:") {
+			continue
+		}
+		filled, err := consumerInto(text, as)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("the value served as %q: %w", key, err)
+		}
+		if out == nil {
+			// Copied only once something actually changes: the caller's map is the manifest's,
+			// and a provider that derives nothing must not have it rewritten underneath it.
+			out = make(map[string]any, len(serves))
+			for k, v := range serves {
+				out[k] = v
+			}
+		}
+		out[key] = filled
+	}
+	if out == nil {
+		return serves, nil
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// consumerInto replaces every `${consumer:…}` in one value.
+//
+// **A fact or an alphabet the mesh does not have is refused, not left standing.** Written through,
+// the literal `${consumer:as}` would reach a configuration file and be read as a bucket name,
+// failing somewhere that names neither the module nor the mesh — the same reasoning `${bound:…}`
+// is refused by (boundInto).
+func consumerInto(value, as string) (string, error) {
+	var failed error
+	out := consumerFact.ReplaceAllStringFunc(value, func(match string) string {
+		parts := consumerFact.FindStringSubmatch(match)
+		fact, alphabet := parts[1], parts[2]
+		if fact != "as" {
+			if failed == nil {
+				failed = fmt.Errorf(
+					"says %s, and the mesh states %s about a consumer", match, orNothing(consumerFacts))
+			}
+			return match
+		}
+		switch alphabet {
+		case "":
+			return as
+		case "dns":
+			return asDNSLabel(as)
+		default:
+			if failed == nil {
+				failed = fmt.Errorf(
+					"says %s, and the mesh writes an identity as %s", match, orNothing(consumerAlphabets))
+			}
+			return match
+		}
+	})
+	if failed != nil {
+		return "", failed
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// asDNSLabel writes a minted identity as a DNS label.
+//
+// The mesh's identities are already lower-case letters, digits and `_` (ConsumerIdentity), and
+// already short enough for the tightest backend they reach (CheckIdentity, twenty characters). So
+// this is the separator and nothing else — no lower-casing of what is already lower case, no
+// truncation to a limit the identity is already inside, no padding of a name that is already long
+// enough. Each of those would be the mesh guessing at a rule it has not been given.
+func asDNSLabel(as string) string {
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(as, "_", "-")
+}
+
+// CheckServes refuses a `serves` block that names a consumer fact or an alphabet the mesh does not
+// have, when the definition is parsed rather than when a consumer is resolved.
+//
+// A provision nobody consumes yet still has its rule read: a definition that would be refused the
+// first time somebody required it is a definition that is wrong now.
+func CheckServes(m Manifest) []string {
+	var problems []string
+	for _, provision := range sortedServes(m.Serves) {
+		for _, key := range sortedAnyKeys(m.Serves[provision]) {
+			text, ok := m.Serves[provision][key].(string)
+			if !ok {
+				continue
+			}
+			// A probe identity, because what is checked is the shape of the statement and not
+			// what any consumer is called.
+			if _, err := consumerInto(text, "mesh_node_module"); err != nil {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s serves %s, and the value it serves as %q %s", m.Module, provision, key, err))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}
+
+func sortedServes(serves map[string]map[string]any) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(serves))
+	for k := range serves {
+		out = append(out, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+func sortedAnyKeys(values map[string]any) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(values))
+	for k := range values {
+		out = append(out, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// derivedFor is what the provider on this machine derives for one consumer of one provision
+// (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+//
+// Settled first, then derived: an operator may set a prefix on what the provider serves and the
+// mesh still fills the consumer's half of it ([ADR 0174]). Only the keys that actually name the
+// consumer are returned — the rest of a `serves` block is the same for every consumer and is
+// already in the provider's own definition, so repeating it here would be a second copy to go
+// stale.
+//
+// The first module in the resolved order that says it serves the provision answers, which is the
+// choice servedOnThisMachine makes for the consumer's half. Nothing serving it on this machine is
+// not an error: a contribution can reach a machine whose provider is a record or an adapter, and
+// then there is nothing derived to tell.
+func (r Resolution) derivedFor(provision, as, consumer, local string, settings SettingsBy) (map[string]any, error) {
+	for _, m := range r.Modules {
+		serves, said := m.Serves[provision]
+		if !said {
+			continue
+		}
+		var names map[string]any
+		for key, value := range serves {
+			if text, ok := value.(string); ok && strings.Contains(text, "${consumer:") {
+				if names == nil {
+					names = map[string]any{}
+				}
+				names[key] = value
+			}
+		}
+		if names == nil {
+			return nil, nil
+		}
+		// **A consumer that keeps several holders of this provision is refused** — this is issue
+		// 124's own failure one case to the side, and it would be just as quiet.
+		//
+		// Each holder gets its own login, `…_<local>` (ADR 0094), and a provider derives from the
+		// login, so it would make one resource per holder. The consumer's side has no such
+		// dimension: one binding file per provision, one `${bound:<provision>:<key>}`, both
+		// derived from the un-suffixed identity. So the provider would create the holder's
+		// resource and the consumer would be configured against a name nothing made — it would
+		// authenticate successfully and be refused on every object, which reads like a credential
+		// fault and is not one.
+		//
+		// Lifting this means giving the consumer's side a local dimension. That is a decision,
+		// not an omission, and until it is taken the mesh says so rather than guessing.
+		if local != "" {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+				"%s keeps several holders of %s (this one is %q), and %s derives %s for each "+
+					"consumer from the login the mesh minted. Each holder has its own login, and a "+
+					"consumer is told one value per requirement — so the two ends would name "+
+					"different things and nothing would compare them (novox/hq ADR 0201)",
+				consumer, local, provision, m.Module, orNothing(sortedAnyKeys(names)))
+		}
+		settled, err := Settle(names, settings[m.Module])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s serving %s: %w", m.Module, provision, err)
+		}
+		derived, err := ServedTo(settled, as)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s serving %s to %s: %w", m.Module, provision, as, err)
+		}
+		return derived, nil
+	}
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+// notTranscribed refuses a consumer's file that writes out the value its provider derives for it,
+// instead of asking for it (novox/hq ADR 0201, issue 124).
+//
+// **What would have caught the one wrong instance.** The object store's three consumers each wrote
+// their bucket into their own configuration by hand. One of them named a predecessor's bucket, and
+// nothing compared it to what the provider would actually create: the module would have
+// authenticated successfully and been refused on every object, which reads like a credential fault
+// and is not one. It looked authoritative for months.
+//
+// The test is exact and costs one string search: a definition whose file already contains the
+// value the mesh is about to derive for it has written down somebody else's rule. It cannot be a
+// coincidence — a derived value carries the identity the mesh minted for this very consumer on
+// this very machine, which nothing else would spell out — and it cannot be checked afterwards,
+// because after substitution every consumer's file contains it legitimately.
+//
+// Only values that actually name the consumer are judged. A provider that serves a constant under
+// the same key serves the same constant to everyone, and a consumer repeating it is redundant
+// rather than wrong.
+func notTranscribed(resource map[string]any, known map[string]map[string]string, module string) error {
+	if fmt.Sprint(resource["type"]) != "file" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	content, ok := resource["content"].(string)
+	if !ok || content == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	for _, provision := range sortedKnown(known) {
+		values := known[provision]
+		identity := values["as"]
+		if identity == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, key := range sortedStringKeys(values) {
+			if key == "as" {
+				// The login is not derived from itself, and a consumer that must present it in a
+				// connection string legitimately has it from `${bound:…}` — which is what it will
+				// be after substitution, so this would judge the substitution, not the module.
+				continue
+			}
+			value := values[key]
+			if value == "" || !namesTheConsumer(value, identity) {
+				continue
+			}
+			if !strings.Contains(content, value) {
+				continue
+			}
+			return fmt.Errorf(
+				"%s writes %q into %v, and that is exactly what %s derives for it — a definition "+
+					"keeping its own copy of somebody else's naming rule is one that can disagree "+
+					"with it, silently. Say ${bound:%s:%s} and be told",
+				module, value, resource["id"], provision, provision, key)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// namesTheConsumer is whether a derived value was built from this consumer's identity — in the
+// alphabet it was minted in, or as a DNS label. A value that does not contain it was not derived
+// from it, whatever else it may be.
+func namesTheConsumer(value, identity string) bool {
+	return strings.Contains(value, identity) || strings.Contains(value, asDNSLabel(identity))
+}
+
+func sortedKnown(known map[string]map[string]string) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(known))
+	for k := range known {
+		out = append(out, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+func sortedStringKeys(values map[string]string) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(values))
+	for k := range values {
+		out = append(out, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}

internal/catalogue/controller_is_a_process_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 213: the controller is a Go program and was the one piece of the mesh's own Go
+// code still shipped as an image (ADR 0188 §1). Its own manifest, composed for the machine that runs
+// it, is a Go bundle run by the host as a process — and no container.
+func TestTheControllerIsAProcessAndNoContainer(t *testing.T) {
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile("../../module.json")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller's own manifest does not parse:\n%v", err)
+	}
+	if m.Build == nil || len(m.Build.Artifacts) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller builds %+v; it is one bundle", m.Build)
+	}
+	a := m.Build.Artifacts[0]
+	if a.Kind != ArtifactBundle || a.Language != "go" || a.System == "" || BinaryOf(a) != "mesh-controller" {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller's artifact is %+v, not a Go bundle naming its system and binary", a)
+	}
+	for _, c := range m.Capabilities {
+		if c == "container-runtime" {
+			t.Error("the controller still requires a container runtime on its machine")
+		}
+	}
+
+	digest := "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("c", 64)
+	control, err := m.Resolve([]Built{{Name: a.Name, Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "mesh-controller/" + a.Name + "@" + digest, Digest: digest}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// The node's runtime does not launch it: it serves its seat's verbs itself.
+	if loads := control.Bundles[0].Loads; len(loads) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("the node's runtime would launch the controller as a tools bundle: %v", loads)
+	}
+
+	needed := map[string]map[string]string{"mesh-controller": {}}
+	for name := range m.OwnSecrets {
+		needed["mesh-controller"][name] = "sealed-" + name
+	}
+	out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{control}}.Declaration(Rendering{
+		Needed: needed, ArtifactStore: "anchor.internal:5100",
+		Seats: map[string]map[int]int{"mesh-store": {5432: 6852}},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller does not compose: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var process, step map[string]any
+	account, firstSecret := -1, -1
+	for i, r := range out {
+		switch {
+		case r["type"] == "container":
+			t.Errorf("the controller's declaration still runs a container: %v", r)
+		case r["id"] == "mesh-controller.controller":
+			process = r
+		case r["id"] == "mesh-controller.controller-prepare":
+			step = r
+			if process != nil {
+				t.Error("the controller's preparation is placed after the process it prepares for")
+			}
+		case r["type"] == "user" && r["name"] == "mesh-controller":
+			account = i
+		case strings.HasPrefix(fmt.Sprint(r["id"]), "mesh-controller.needs-") && firstSecret < 0:
+			firstSecret = i
+		}
+	}
+	if process == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller's process is not in its declaration: %v", out)
+	}
+	if run, _ := json.Marshal(process["run"]); string(run) != `["./mesh-controller","serve"]` {
+		t.Errorf("the controller is run as %s, not its own bundle's binary", run)
+	}
+	if process["source"] != "anchor.internal:5100/mesh-controller/"+a.Name+"@"+digest || process["digest"] != digest {
+		t.Errorf("the controller's bundle is fetched from %v (%v)", process["source"], process["digest"])
+	}
+	// The user: an account the host declares, which owns what the process reads.
+	if process["user"] != "mesh-controller" || account < 0 {
+		t.Errorf("the controller runs as %v, and the account declared is at %d", process["user"], account)
+	}
+	if firstSecret >= 0 && account > firstSecret {
+		t.Error("the controller's secrets are written before the account they belong to exists")
+	}
+	for _, r := range out {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(fmt.Sprint(r["id"]), "mesh-controller.needs-") && r["owner"] != "mesh-controller" {
+			t.Errorf("%v belongs to %v, which the controller's process cannot read", r["id"], r["owner"])
+		}
+	}
+	if dir := fileNamed(out, "mesh-controller.mesh-state"); dir == nil || dir["owner"] != "mesh-controller" {
+		t.Errorf("the controller's state directory is not its account's to enter: %v", dir)
+	}
+	// Each mount became a path the process reads: nothing it is told is a path inside a container.
+	state := fmt.Sprint(fileNamed(out, "mesh-controller.mesh-state")["path"])
+	env, _ := process["env"].(map[string]any)
+	for key, value := range env {
+		v := fmt.Sprint(value)
+		if strings.HasPrefix(v, "/run/secrets") || strings.HasPrefix(v, "/broker-tls") {
+			t.Errorf("%s=%s is a path inside the container the controller no longer runs in", key, v)
+		}
+		if strings.HasSuffix(key, "_FILE") && !strings.HasPrefix(v, state+"/") {
+			t.Errorf("%s=%s is not one of the files the mesh places for it", key, v)
+		}
+	}
+	if env["MESH_BROKER_CERTIFICATE"] != "/var/lib/mesh-broker-tls/tls.crt" {
+		t.Errorf("the controller reads the broker's certificate from %v", env["MESH_BROKER_CERTIFICATE"])
+	}
+	if env["MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_PORT"] != "6852" {
+		t.Errorf("the controller is told the store is on %v; the node put it on 6852", env["MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_PORT"])
+	}
+	// The handover: the container it ran as goes only once this is running.
+	if got, _ := json.Marshal(process["replaces"]); string(got) != `["mesh-controller.server"]` {
+		t.Errorf("the controller's process replaces %s, not the container it ran as", got)
+	}
+	// And its state is prepared first, by the same program as the same account.
+	if step == nil || step["run-once"] != true || step["user"] != "mesh-controller" {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller's preparation is %v", step)
+	}
+	if run, _ := json.Marshal(step["run"]); string(run) != `["./mesh-controller","prepare"]` {
+		t.Errorf("the controller's preparation runs %s", run)
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/declaration.go

@@ -645,7 +645,16 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
-			file, err := boundFile(*found, m.Binds[to], ConsumerIdentity(r.Node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module)), own)
+			as := ConsumerIdentity(r.Node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module))
+			// What the provider derives for THIS consumer, filled here where the consumer is
+			// known (novox/hq ADR 0201). The same fill knownFor does below, so the binding file
+			// and the module's `${bound:…}` substitutions cannot say different things.
+			told := *found
+			told.Serves, err = ServedTo(told.Serves, as)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is told about %s: %w", m.Module, to, err)
+			}
+			file, err := boundFile(told, m.Binds[to], as, own)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
@@ -693,7 +702,15 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 
 		// Now, and not before: a module whose resources are computed replaces them wholesale, and
 		// merging earlier would throw away the files it still needs.
-		resources = append(append([]map[string]any{}, first...), resources...)
+		//
+		// **Except the module's own accounts, which go before even those** (novox/hq issue 213). What
+		// the mesh computes may belong to one: a module whose code runs as an account it declares has
+		// its secrets written owned by that account, and a file given to a user the machine does not
+		// have yet fails — so on the first apply the secrets were refused, the process started without
+		// them, and the second apply healed it, which is the fault the paragraph above describes.
+		// An account depends on nothing the mesh computes.
+		accounts, rest := accountsFirst(resources)
+		resources = append(append(accounts, first...), rest...)
 
 		// No container is given the mesh's names (novox/hq ADR 0148). It used to be: every
 		// container got the whole roster as `--add-host` entries at creation, and a name that
@@ -711,7 +728,10 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		// And what its bindings say, for the half of a connection that is not secret.
-		known := knownFor(m, r.Needs, r.Node)
+		known, err := knownFor(m, r.Needs, r.Node)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 		// A requirement answered on this same machine is not in r.Needs — its binding file is
 		// written from `here` (above) — and so `${bound:…}` could not name it, though the file
 		// beside it said the same facts. Filled from the same answer, so the two cannot disagree.
@@ -728,7 +748,11 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 			}
 			local := *answered
 			local.For = m.Module
-			for provision, values := range knownFor(m, []Needed{local}, r.Node) {
+			here, err := knownFor(m, []Needed{local}, r.Node)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			for provision, values := range here {
 				known[provision] = values
 			}
 		}
@@ -753,6 +777,17 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 		// And the machine underneath, which no binding of its own can tell it.
 		thisMachine := machineFacts(r, with.Names, with.MeshRange)
 
+		// **A definition that already holds the answer transcribed it** (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+		// Judged over what the module itself declares, and before anything is substituted: the
+		// mesh's own generated files — the binding, the contributions — legitimately carry the
+		// derived value, and after substitution so does every consumer's file, so this is the one
+		// moment the two can be told apart.
+		for _, own := range m.Resources {
+			if err := notTranscribed(own, known, m.Module); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+
 		// Which of this module's files carry a secret, for the rule that a container may not read
 		// one of them as its environment without saying so (ADR 0086, issue 041).
 		secretFiles := secretFilesOf(resources)
@@ -872,6 +907,21 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 			if renamed := reflectsRenamed(m.Module, resource["reload-on"]); renamed != nil {
 				copied["reload-on"] = renamed
 			}
+			// And which of its module's containers a scheduled step holds still (novox/hq ADR 0189).
+			// **The loudest of the three when it is missed.** An unprefixed `restart-on` matches
+			// nothing and a service quietly never restarts; an unprefixed `while-stopped` names a
+			// container the declaration does not contain, and the host refuses the whole
+			// declaration — so the machine takes nothing at all, for every push, until this is
+			// right. That is what it did on the control node (2026-10-04).
+			if renamed := reflectsRenamed(m.Module, resource[WhileStopped]); renamed != nil {
+				copied[WhileStopped] = renamed
+			}
+			// And what a process replaces (novox/hq issue 213): a resource of this module's that it
+			// no longer declares, named as the host recorded it, or the host hands nothing over and
+			// removes it first.
+			if renamed := reflectsRenamed(m.Module, resource["replaces"]); renamed != nil {
+				copied["replaces"] = renamed
+			}
 			// **What reads one of this module's own secrets is restarted when it changes** (novox/hq
 			// issue 203, issue 206). A credential is re-issued by the mesh, and a container that
 			// mounted the old file keeps the old one open: the build machine ran for an hour on a
@@ -921,6 +971,30 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 		}
 		owner[fmt.Sprint(process["id"])] = RuntimeModule
 		out = append(out, process)
+		// What each module's bundles are given is read as the account the runtime runs as.
+		words := map[string]map[string]string{}
+		for _, m := range r.Modules {
+			w, err := bundleWords(m, with)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			words[m.Module] = w
+		}
+		// And a file a module's words name is one the runtime is restarted for when it changes.
+		if named := givenTo(out, owner, words, r.Account); len(named) > 0 {
+			restarts, _ := process["restart-on"].([]any)
+			seen := map[string]bool{}
+			for _, id := range restarts {
+				seen[fmt.Sprint(id)] = true
+			}
+			for _, id := range named {
+				if !seen[id] {
+					restarts = append(restarts, id)
+					seen[id] = true
+				}
+			}
+			process["restart-on"] = restarts
+		}
 	}
 	if with.Adopted {
 		// First, before anything a module declares: what the mesh needs reachable, then its guard.
@@ -1137,6 +1211,19 @@ type Contribution struct {
 	// requirement's name — everything providing `reverse-proxy` understands the same shape, which
 	// is what makes swapping one for another cost nothing.
 	Values map[string]any `json:"values"`
+	// Derived is what this provider's own definition said it derives for this consumer, already
+	// derived (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+	//
+	// **The provider is told, rather than recomputing it.** A served value may name the consumer's
+	// identity — a bucket named for who is asking, a database prefixed with it — and before this
+	// the rule lived twice: once in the provisioner's code, once transcribed into every consumer's
+	// definition. The mesh fills the provider's own statement here and delivers the same filled
+	// value to the consumer, so the two cannot disagree: there is no second computation to
+	// disagree with.
+	//
+	// Only the keys that are per-consumer. The rest of what the provider serves is the same for
+	// everyone and is in its own definition, where it already is.
+	Derived map[string]any `json:"derived,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // grantPath is where one consumer's sealed credential lands on the providing machine.
@@ -1228,12 +1315,17 @@ func (r Resolution) contributions(settings SettingsBy, grants []Grant,
 			// told about it and withdraws the login on its next pass.
 			continue
 		}
+		as := holderAs(ConsumerIdentity(g.Consumer, IdentitySource(g.Slug, g.From)), g.Local)
+		derived, err := r.derivedFor(g.Provision, as, g.From, g.Local, settings)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 		out[g.Provision] = append(out[g.Provision], Contribution{
-			From: g.From, Node: g.Consumer, At: g.At, Values: g.Values,
+			From: g.From, Node: g.Consumer, At: g.At, Values: g.Values, Derived: derived,
 			// One holder per local name: the identity the consumer is known by, and the local name
 			// after it where the module keeps several (ADR 0094). Not a login any backend checks —
 			// a secret is not a login — so the identity limit does not apply to the suffix.
-			As:     holderAs(ConsumerIdentity(g.Consumer, IdentitySource(g.Slug, g.From)), g.Local),
+			As:     as,
 			Secret: grantPath(directories[g.Provision], g.Consumer, holderAs(g.From, g.Local)),
 		})
 		if granted[g.Provision] == nil {
@@ -1986,12 +2078,18 @@ func preparationTarget(m Manifest) string {
 		return ""
 	}
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
-		if fmt.Sprint(r["type"]) != "container" || !ownArtifact(r, m.Module) {
+		// A container, or a process the host runs from a bundle the module built (novox/hq issue
+		// 213): the same program in the same context, hosted as a unit rather than a container.
+		kind := fmt.Sprint(r["type"])
+		if (kind != "container" && kind != "process") || !ownArtifact(r, m.Module) {
 			continue
 		}
 		if once, _ := r["run-once"].(bool); once {
 			continue
 		}
+		if r["schedule"] != nil {
+			continue
+		}
 		return fmt.Sprint(r["id"])
 	}
 	return ""
@@ -2005,7 +2103,10 @@ func ownArtifact(resource map[string]any, module string) bool {
 		return true
 	}
 	image, _ := resource["image"].(string)
-	return strings.HasPrefix(image, ArtifactStoreScheme+module+"/")
+	// A process or an archive carries what was built as its source (novox/hq issue 213).
+	source, _ := resource["source"].(string)
+	return strings.HasPrefix(image, ArtifactStoreScheme+module+"/") ||
+		strings.HasPrefix(source, ArtifactStoreScheme+module+"/")
 }
 
 // prepared is the module's own resource as the step that prepares its state: the same image, the same
@@ -2027,7 +2128,19 @@ func prepared(from map[string]any) map[string]any {
 	step["id"] = fmt.Sprint(from["id"]) + "-prepare"
 	step["name"] = fmt.Sprint(from["name"]) + "-prepare"
 	step["run-once"] = true
+	if fmt.Sprint(from["type"]) == "process" {
+		// A process says its whole command: the program, then its arguments. The step is the same
+		// program asked to prepare (novox/hq issue 213). It replaces nothing — what the process
+		// replaces is handed over to the process, never to the step that runs before it — and a
+		// step is not restarted, it runs again when what it reads changed, which `restart-on` says.
+		run := stringsIn(from["run"])
+		if len(run) > 0 {
+			step["run"] = []any{run[0], PreparationArgument}
+		}
+		delete(step, "replaces")
+	} else {
 		step["args"] = []any{PreparationArgument}
+	}
 	delete(step, "ports")
 	delete(step, "ip")
 	delete(step, "schedule")
@@ -2172,3 +2285,16 @@ func withRestartOn(have any, add []string) []any {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// accountsFirst splits a module's resources into its accounts and everything else, each in the order
+// written.
+func accountsFirst(resources []map[string]any) (accounts, rest []map[string]any) {
+	for _, r := range resources {
+		if fmt.Sprint(r["type"]) == "user" {
+			accounts = append(accounts, r)
+			continue
+		}
+		rest = append(rest, r)
+	}
+	return accounts, rest
+}

internal/catalogue/derived_for_consumer_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,343 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// What a provider derives for each consumer, said once and delivered to both ends
+// (novox/hq ADR 0201, issue 124).
+//
+// The failure these are written against: the object store's provisioner derived each consumer's
+// bucket from the login the mesh minted, in its own code, and the mesh had no channel to tell the
+// consumer which bucket that was — so all three consumers wrote the answer into their own
+// definitions by hand. Two were right. One named a predecessor's bucket and would have
+// authenticated successfully and been refused on every object. Each of them also named the
+// machine the module happens to run on, which a definition may not do.
+
+// store is an object store in the shape minio has: it serves a region and a port to everyone, and
+// a bucket named for whoever is asking.
+func store() Manifest {
+	return Manifest{
+		Module: "store", Version: "1",
+		Provides: FromAnywhere("s3-bucket"),
+		Listens:  []Listening{{Port: 9000, Protocol: "tcp", From: FromMesh}},
+		Serves: map[string]map[string]any{"s3-bucket": {
+			"region": "eu-west",
+			"bucket": "${consumer:as:dns}",
+		}},
+		Receives: map[string]string{"s3-bucket": "/var/lib/store/grants/mesh.json"},
+		Grants:   map[string]string{"s3-bucket": "/var/lib/store/grants"},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{{
+			"id": "server", "type": "container", "name": "store", "ports": []any{"9000"},
+		}},
+	}
+}
+
+// files is a consumer that writes the bucket into its own configuration — which is the thing it
+// could not do before, and had to transcribe.
+func files() Manifest {
+	return Manifest{
+		Module: "files", Version: "1", Slug: "files",
+		Requires: []string{"s3-bucket"},
+		Binds:    map[string]string{"s3-bucket": "/var/lib/files/store.json"},
+		Secrets:  map[string]string{"s3-bucket": "/var/lib/files/store.secret"},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{{
+			"id": "env", "type": "file", "path": "/var/lib/files/env", "mode": "0600",
+			"content": "BUCKET=${bound:s3-bucket:bucket}\nREGION=${bound:s3-bucket:region}\n",
+		}},
+	}
+}
+
+// pics is a second consumer of the same provider on the same machine: two derivations, neither
+// the other's.
+func pics() Manifest {
+	return Manifest{
+		Module: "pics", Version: "1", Slug: "pics",
+		Requires: []string{"s3-bucket"},
+		Binds:    map[string]string{"s3-bucket": "/var/lib/pics/store.json"},
+		Secrets:  map[string]string{"s3-bucket": "/var/lib/pics/store.secret"},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{{
+			"id": "env", "type": "file", "path": "/var/lib/pics/env", "mode": "0600",
+			"content": "BUCKET=${bound:s3-bucket:bucket}\n",
+		}},
+	}
+}
+
+// The three places the derived value lands must agree, because agreeing is the whole point: the
+// consumer's own file, the binding it reads as JSON, and the provider's contributions entry.
+func TestADerivedValueReachesBothEndsAndAgrees(t *testing.T) {
+	r, err := Resolve(shelf(store(), files()), []string{"store", "files"}, reachable(), World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{Grants: []Grant{{
+		Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "files", Slug: "files",
+		Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk",
+	}}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// The mesh minted this identity for the consumer; the bucket is that identity as a DNS label.
+	// Derived here with the mesh's own function, so the test cannot agree with a wrong rule.
+	as := ConsumerIdentity("workstation", IdentitySource("files", "files"))
+	want := strings.ReplaceAll(as, "_", "-")
+	if want == as || !strings.Contains(as, "_") {
+		t.Fatalf("the mesh's identity %q has no separator to rewrite; this test proves nothing", as)
+	}
+
+	env := fileNamed(out, "files.env")
+	if env == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the consumer was given no file: %v", out)
+	}
+	if got := env["content"].(string); !strings.Contains(got, "BUCKET="+want+"\n") {
+		t.Errorf("the consumer's own file was not told the bucket:\n%s\nwant BUCKET=%s", got, want)
+	}
+
+	binding := fileNamed(out, "files.bound-s3-bucket")
+	if binding == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the consumer was given no binding: %v", out)
+	}
+	var said struct {
+		Serves map[string]any `json:"serves"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(binding["content"].(string)), &said); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if said.Serves["bucket"] != want {
+		t.Errorf("the binding says the bucket is %q, want %q", said.Serves["bucket"], want)
+	}
+	// And what is the same for everybody is still the same for everybody.
+	if said.Serves["region"] != "eu-west" {
+		t.Errorf("the binding lost what the provider serves to all: %v", said.Serves)
+	}
+
+	given := storeGrants(t, out)
+	if len(given) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the provider was told about %d consumer(s): %v", len(given), given)
+	}
+	if given[0].Derived["bucket"] != want {
+		t.Errorf("the provider was told the bucket is %v, and the consumer was told %q — "+
+			"the two ends disagree, which is the whole failure", given[0].Derived["bucket"], want)
+	}
+	// Only the per-consumer half. The region is the same for everyone and is already in the
+	// provider's own definition; repeating it here would be a copy to go stale.
+	if _, carried := given[0].Derived["region"]; carried {
+		t.Errorf("the provider was handed back what it already says for everyone: %v", given[0].Derived)
+	}
+}
+
+// Two consumers of one provider on one machine get two buckets, and neither gets the other's.
+func TestTwoConsumersOfOneProviderGetTheirOwnDerivation(t *testing.T) {
+	r, err := Resolve(shelf(store(), files(), pics()),
+		[]string{"store", "files", "pics"}, reachable(), World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{Grants: []Grant{
+		{Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "files", Slug: "files",
+			Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk"},
+		{Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "pics", Slug: "pics",
+			Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk"},
+	}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	forFiles := strings.ReplaceAll(ConsumerIdentity("workstation", IdentitySource("files", "files")), "_", "-")
+	forPics := strings.ReplaceAll(ConsumerIdentity("workstation", IdentitySource("pics", "pics")), "_", "-")
+	if forFiles == forPics {
+		t.Fatal("the two consumers were given the same identity; this test proves nothing")
+	}
+	if got := fileNamed(out, "files.env")["content"].(string); !strings.Contains(got, "BUCKET="+forFiles+"\n") {
+		t.Errorf("files was not given its own bucket:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	if got := fileNamed(out, "pics.env")["content"].(string); !strings.Contains(got, "BUCKET="+forPics+"\n") {
+		t.Errorf("pics was not given its own bucket:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	var buckets []any
+	for _, g := range storeGrants(t, out) {
+		buckets = append(buckets, g.Derived["bucket"])
+	}
+	if len(buckets) != 2 || buckets[0] == buckets[1] {
+		t.Errorf("the provider was told %v; it must be told one bucket per consumer", buckets)
+	}
+}
+
+// An operator may still set what the provider serves, and the mesh still derives the rest: the
+// setting is laid on first, then the consumer's half is filled.
+func TestASettingComposesWithADerivedValue(t *testing.T) {
+	r, err := Resolve(shelf(store(), files()), []string{"store", "files"}, reachable(), World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{
+		Settings: SettingsBy{"store": {{From: "the operator",
+			Values: map[string]any{"bucket": "team-${consumer:as:dns}"}}}},
+		Grants: []Grant{{Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "files", Slug: "files",
+			Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk"}},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	want := "team-" + strings.ReplaceAll(ConsumerIdentity("workstation", IdentitySource("files", "files")), "_", "-")
+	if got := fileNamed(out, "files.env")["content"].(string); !strings.Contains(got, "BUCKET="+want+"\n") {
+		t.Errorf("the operator's prefix did not survive the derivation:\n%s\nwant BUCKET=%s", got, want)
+	}
+	if given := storeGrants(t, out); given[0].Derived["bucket"] != want {
+		t.Errorf("the provider was told %v, the consumer %q", given[0].Derived["bucket"], want)
+	}
+}
+
+// A fact or an alphabet the mesh does not have is refused where the definition is, not where a
+// consumer happens to be resolved — and the refusal says what may be said instead.
+func TestAServedValueNamingSomethingTheMeshDoesNotHaveIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range []struct{ value, says string }{
+		{"${consumer:node}", "as"},
+		{"${consumer:as:punycode}", "dns"},
+	} {
+		m := store()
+		m.Serves["s3-bucket"]["bucket"] = c.value
+		raw, err := json.Marshal(m)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		_, err = ParseManifest(raw)
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s was accepted", c.value)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.value) {
+			t.Errorf("the refusal of %s does not quote it: %v", c.value, err)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.says) {
+			t.Errorf("the refusal of %s does not say what may be said (%q): %v", c.value, c.says, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// `dns` is checked against an identity the mesh actually mints, not an invented string.
+func TestTheDNSAlphabetIsTheMintedIdentityWithItsSeparatorRewritten(t *testing.T) {
+	as := ConsumerIdentity("anchor", IdentitySource("ncloud", "nextcloud"))
+	if err := CheckIdentity("anchor", IdentitySource("ncloud", "nextcloud")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the mesh would not mint this identity at all: %v", err)
+	}
+	label := asDNSLabel(as)
+	if strings.Contains(label, "_") {
+		t.Errorf("%q is not a DNS label", label)
+	}
+	if strings.ReplaceAll(label, "-", "_") != as {
+		t.Errorf("%q is not %q with its separator rewritten", label, as)
+	}
+}
+
+// The check that would have caught the one wrong instance: a consumer that writes the derived
+// value into its own definition instead of asking for it is refused, whether it transcribed the
+// right answer or a predecessor's.
+func TestAConsumerThatTranscribesWhatItsProviderDerivesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	as := ConsumerIdentity("workstation", IdentitySource("files", "files"))
+	transcribed := strings.ReplaceAll(as, "_", "-")
+
+	m := files()
+	m.Resources = []map[string]any{{
+		"id": "env", "type": "file", "path": "/var/lib/files/env", "mode": "0600",
+		// Exactly what the provider will create — correct today, and a copy of a rule that is
+		// not this module's.
+		"content": "BUCKET=" + transcribed + "\n",
+	}}
+	r, err := Resolve(shelf(store(), m), []string{"store", "files"}, reachable(), World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	_, err = r.Declaration(Rendering{Grants: []Grant{{
+		Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "files", Slug: "files",
+		Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk",
+	}}})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a definition holding its own copy of the provider's naming rule was accepted")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "${bound:s3-bucket:bucket}") {
+		t.Errorf("the refusal does not say what to write instead: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// And a constant the provider serves to everyone is not a transcription: repeating it is
+	// redundant, not wrong, and refusing it would be the mesh policing style.
+	m.Resources = []map[string]any{{
+		"id": "env", "type": "file", "path": "/var/lib/files/env", "mode": "0600",
+		"content": "REGION=eu-west\n",
+	}}
+	r, err = Resolve(shelf(store(), m), []string{"store", "files"}, reachable(), World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{Grants: []Grant{{
+		Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "files", Slug: "files",
+		Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk",
+	}}}); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a value the provider serves to everyone was judged a transcription: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func storeGrants(t *testing.T, out []map[string]any) []Contribution {
+	t.Helper()
+	for _, r := range out {
+		if r["path"] != "/var/lib/store/grants/mesh.json" {
+			continue
+		}
+		var parsed struct {
+			Given []Contribution `json:"given"`
+		}
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(r["content"].(string)), &parsed); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return parsed.Given
+	}
+	t.Fatalf("the provider was given no contributions file: %v", out)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// A consumer that keeps SEVERAL holders of one provision is refused, rather than told one thing
+// while its provider is told another.
+//
+// **This is issue 124's own failure, one case to the side.** The mesh gives each holder its own
+// login — `mesh_node_mod_<local>` (ADR 0094) — and the provider derives from the login, so it
+// would make one resource per holder. The consumer's side has no such dimension: there is one
+// binding file per provision and one `${bound:<provision>:<key>}`, both derived from the
+// un-suffixed identity. So the provider would create `…-mod-cold` and the consumer would be
+// configured against `…-mod`: it would authenticate successfully and be refused on every object,
+// which is exactly the fault this whole record exists to end.
+//
+// Refused, loudly, at the one place that can see both halves. Lifting it means giving the
+// consumer's side a local dimension, which is a decision and not an omission.
+func TestAConsumerWithSeveralHoldersOfADerivingProviderIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	m := files()
+	// Two holders of the one provision, the shape ADR 0094 gives a module that keeps several.
+	m.Secrets = nil
+	m.SecretsMany = map[string]map[string]string{"s3-bucket": {
+		"hot":  "/var/lib/files/hot.secret",
+		"cold": "/var/lib/files/cold.secret",
+	}}
+	m.Resources = []map[string]any{{
+		"id": "env", "type": "file", "path": "/var/lib/files/env", "mode": "0600",
+		"content": "BUCKET=${bound:s3-bucket:bucket}\n",
+	}}
+	r, err := Resolve(shelf(store(), m), []string{"store", "files"}, reachable(), World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	_, err = r.Declaration(Rendering{Grants: []Grant{
+		{Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "files", Slug: "files",
+			Local: "hot", Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk"},
+		{Provision: "s3-bucket", Consumer: "workstation", From: "files", Slug: "files",
+			Local: "cold", Values: map[string]any{}, Sealed: "c2VhbGVk"},
+	}})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a consumer with several holders of a deriving provider was accepted; " +
+			"its two ends would have disagreed in silence")
+	}
+	for _, want := range []string{"files", "s3-bucket", "bucket"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
+			t.Errorf("the refusal does not name %q: %v", want, err)
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/foundation_manifests_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package catalogue
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
@@ -170,7 +171,7 @@ func TestTheForgeHoldsTheNpmAndGitSeats(t *testing.T) {
 // **And the forge's own address follows it**, composed from the manifest in the catalogue beside
 // this checkout (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/088).
 //
-// The forge is reached a third way that neither test above covers: by its own sidecar, over the
+// The forge is reached a third way that neither test above covers: by its own code, over the
 // machine's loopback, told where to go in its environment. The `2999:3000` mapping that lets the
 // forge go on binding 3000 does nothing for a caller dialling the machine — so a literal there is
 // wrong on every node whose assignment differs, and wrong for a second reason on a node given the
@@ -178,13 +179,13 @@ func TestTheForgeHoldsTheNpmAndGitSeats(t *testing.T) {
 // in an `env` at all is a declaration, not a manifest.
 func TestTheForgesOwnAddressFollowsThePortTheNodeGaveIt(t *testing.T) {
 	forge, err := catalogueManifest(t, "gitea").Resolve([]Built{{
-		Name: "runtime", Kind: ArtifactImage,
-		Reference: "registry.example/gitea-runtime@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+		Name: "code", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/code/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest,
 	}})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the forge's manifest does not resolve against its own build: %v", err)
 	}
-	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{forge}, Needs: []Needed{
+	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{forge, theRuntime(t)}, Needs: []Needed{
 		{Name: "postgres-database", For: "gitea", From: "anchor", At: "127.0.0.1",
 			Serves: map[string]any{"port": float64(5432)}, Sealed: "sealed-db"},
 		{Name: "route", For: "gitea", From: "anchor"},
@@ -194,8 +195,8 @@ func TestTheForgesOwnAddressFollowsThePortTheNodeGaveIt(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// The number this node was given for the forge — the one the machine it is about to run on
 	// already publishes.
-	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{
-		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{"gitea": {"broker": "sealed-broker"}},
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{ArtifactStore: "anchor.internal:5101",
+		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{RuntimeModule: {"broker": "sealed-broker"}},
 		Given:  map[string]map[int]int{"gitea": {3000: 2999}},
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -210,14 +211,19 @@ func TestTheForgesOwnAddressFollowsThePortTheNodeGaveIt(t *testing.T) {
 	if published := fmt.Sprint(server["ports"]); !strings.Contains(published, "2999:3000") {
 		t.Fatalf("the forge is not published on the port this node gave it: %v", server["ports"])
 	}
-	runtime := fileNamed(out, "gitea.runtime")
+	// The forge's own code runs in the node's runtime (novox/hq ADR 0198), given its words there.
+	runtime := fileNamed(out, RuntimeModule+"."+RuntimeProcessID())
 	if runtime == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("the forge's sidecar is not in the declaration: %v", out)
+		t.Fatalf("the node's runtime is not in the declaration: %v", ids(out))
 	}
-	env, _ := runtime["env"].(map[string]any)
-	if env["MESH_GITEA_URL"] != "http://127.0.0.1:2999" {
-		t.Fatalf("the forge's sidecar dials %v while the machine publishes the forge on 2999 — "+
-			"whatever reads it dials a dead port", env["MESH_GITEA_URL"])
+	env, _ := runtime["env"].(map[string]string)
+	var given map[string]map[string]string
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(env[RuntimeToolEnv]), &given); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the runtime's %s is not JSON: %q", RuntimeToolEnv, env[RuntimeToolEnv])
+	}
+	if given["gitea"]["MESH_GITEA_URL"] != "http://127.0.0.1:2999" {
+		t.Fatalf("the forge's code dials %v while the machine publishes the forge on 2999 — "+
+			"whatever reads it dials a dead port", given["gitea"]["MESH_GITEA_URL"])
 	}
 }
 
@@ -229,13 +235,13 @@ func declaredGiteaSsh(t *testing.T, given map[int]int) map[string]any {
 	t.Helper()
 	forge := catalogueManifest(t, "gitea")
 	resolved, err := forge.Resolve([]Built{{
-		Name: "runtime", Kind: ArtifactImage,
-		Reference: "registry.example/gitea-runtime@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+		Name: "code", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/code/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest,
 	}})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the forge's manifest does not resolve against its own build: %v", err)
 	}
-	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{resolved}, Needs: []Needed{
+	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{resolved, theRuntime(t)}, Needs: []Needed{
 		{Name: "postgres-database", For: "gitea", From: "anchor", At: "127.0.0.1",
 			Serves: map[string]any{"port": float64(5432)}, Sealed: "sealed-db"},
 		{Name: "route", For: "gitea", From: "anchor"},
@@ -246,8 +252,8 @@ func declaredGiteaSsh(t *testing.T, given map[int]int) map[string]any {
 	for k, v := range given {
 		givenPorts[k] = v
 	}
-	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{
-		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{"gitea": {"broker": "sealed-broker"}},
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{ArtifactStore: "anchor.internal:5101",
+		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{RuntimeModule: {"broker": "sealed-broker"}},
 		Ports:  map[string]map[int]int{"gitea": givenPorts},
 		Given:  map[string]map[int]int{"gitea": given},
 	})

internal/catalogue/genesis_image_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"regexp"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 223: genesis raises the controller as a container built from this repository's own
+// Dockerfile, with no build arguments — the manifest no longer builds an image, so nothing passes a
+// base in. The Dockerfile's own default must therefore be a Go that builds this module, pinned by
+// digest, and the replacement the manifest's process names must be the container genesis raises.
+func TestGenesisCanBuildTheControllersImageAsItStands(t *testing.T) {
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile("../../Dockerfile")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)^ARG GO_BASE=golang@sha256:[0-9a-f]{64}$`).Match(raw) {
+		t.Fatal("the Dockerfile's default Go base is not pinned by digest; genesis builds it with no arguments")
+	}
+	makefile, err := os.ReadFile("../../Makefile")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	pin := regexp.MustCompile(`golang@sha256:[0-9a-f]{64}`)
+	if string(pin.Find(raw)) != string(pin.Find(makefile)) {
+		t.Errorf("the Dockerfile and the Makefile build on different Go: %s, %s", pin.Find(raw), pin.Find(makefile))
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/manifest.go

@@ -325,6 +325,15 @@ type Manifest struct {
 	// person's account (design 25 §7) already had the same shape.
 	Invokes []string `json:"invokes,omitempty"`
 
+	// State is the current state this module keeps on the bus, by local name: each a key-value
+	// bucket the controller creates, which every instance of the module writes and reads
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0201). Not history — that is an event — and never a secret, sealed or not.
+	State []StateDeclaration `json:"state,omitempty"`
+
+	// Reads are other modules' state this module reads and watches, each `<module>.<name>`
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0201). Read-only: only the owner's instances write.
+	Reads []string `json:"reads,omitempty"`
+
 	// Capabilities the machine must have. A different field from Requires because the remedy
 	// differs: a missing module can be assigned, and a missing capability means the wrong
 	// machine.
@@ -602,6 +611,14 @@ type Bundle struct {
 	// every entrypoint for a module declaring tools that said nothing. Empty for a bundle that is
 	// run rather than loaded.
 	Loads []string `json:"loads,omitempty"`
+	// Env is what the artifact said it is given (ADR 0192), as written; composed per machine.
+	Env map[string]string `json:"env,omitempty"`
+	// Launchers are the executables the build wrote beside its entrypoints, by entrypoint (novox/hq
+	// ADR 0193). A bundle built before them has none, and is served as it was built.
+	Launchers map[string]string `json:"launchers,omitempty"`
+	// Binary is the executable a bundle compiled to a binary is, at its root (novox/hq ADR 0193):
+	// what runs it, where an interpreted bundle names an interpreter and an entrypoint.
+	Binary string `json:"binary,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Build says how to produce this module's artifacts from its source.
@@ -748,6 +765,16 @@ type Artifact struct {
 	// module's tools and nothing else is the ordinary case and should not have to say the same
 	// list twice. A module declaring no tools has nothing the runtime loads, whatever it compiles.
 	Loads []string `json:"loads,omitempty"`
+
+	// External are packages a TypeScript bundle keeps as imports rather than inlining — a native
+	// addon, a package that reads its own files — and so carries the toolchain's node_modules for
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0193). Absent for nearly every bundle, which is then one file per entrypoint.
+	External []string `json:"external,omitempty"`
+
+	// Env is what a tools bundle is given on a machine (novox/hq ADR 0192): words and their values,
+	// paths and constants composed with ${dir:…} and ${port:…} exactly as a container's environment
+	// is, never a secret's content. The node's runtime hands it to this bundle and to no other.
+	Env map[string]string `json:"env,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Kinds an artifact may be.
@@ -1298,6 +1325,8 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 	// module whose event names are wrong installs, starts, connects and reacts to nothing, with
 	// every log line saying it is fine (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/127).
 	problems = append(problems, EventProblems(m)...)
+	// And what it may call its state, and whose it may read (state.go, novox/hq ADR 0201).
+	problems = append(problems, StateProblems(m)...)
 	wellFormed := true
 	for _, c := range m.Claims {
 		if !name.MatchString(c.Name) {
@@ -1360,6 +1389,7 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 		}
 	}
 	problems = append(problems, m.Build.problems(m.Module)...)
+	problems = append(problems, undeliveredBundles(m)...)
 	// **What provides the artifact store cannot be delivered through it** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/029).
 	//
 	// Building publishes to the store, and the builder will not start without one. So a module
@@ -1409,6 +1439,10 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 				"%s serves %q to whoever requires it, and does not provide it", m.Module, to))
 		}
 	}
+	// A served value may be derived for the consumer it is served to (novox/hq ADR 0201). Read
+	// here, where the definition is, rather than when somebody first requires it: a rule that
+	// would be refused at the first consumer is wrong from the moment it is written.
+	problems = append(problems, CheckServes(m)...)
 	for to, where := range m.Binds {
 		if !placedOrAbsolute(where) {
 			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
@@ -1496,6 +1530,53 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 				"program that reads what the mesh delivered and reconciles",
 			m.Module, r["id"]))
 	}
+	// **What a process replaces is something the module no longer declares** (novox/hq issue 213).
+	// The host keeps it running until the process is, then removes it: so it is named by the id the
+	// module used to give it, it is never a resource the module still declares — that would be
+	// applied and removed by one declaration — and only a process that stays up has anything to
+	// hand over to. Said here, near the author, as the host would refuse it far away.
+	ids := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, r := range m.Resources {
+		ids[fmt.Sprint(r["id"])] = true
+	}
+	for _, r := range m.Resources {
+		raw, present := r["replaces"]
+		if !present {
+			continue
+		}
+		if fmt.Sprint(r["type"]) != "process" {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s: %v says what it replaces, and only a process does", m.Module, r["id"]))
+			continue
+		}
+		if once, _ := r["run-once"].(bool); once || r["schedule"] != nil {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s: %v replaces something and runs once or on a schedule — only a process that stays "+
+					"up is there a moment later to hand over to", m.Module, r["id"]))
+		}
+		list, ok := raw.([]any)
+		if !ok {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s: %v replaces %v; replaces is a list of the ids this module no longer declares",
+				m.Module, r["id"], raw))
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, item := range list {
+			id, ok := item.(string)
+			switch {
+			case !ok || strings.TrimSpace(id) == "":
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s: %v replaces %v, which is not an id", m.Module, r["id"], item))
+			case strings.Contains(id, "."):
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s: %v replaces %q; a process replaces only a resource of its own module, named "+
+						"by its own id", m.Module, r["id"], id))
+			case ids[id]:
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s: %v replaces %q, which this module still declares", m.Module, r["id"], id))
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	// **A module that prepares its state must have code the mesh can run** (novox/hq ADR 0135). The
 	// preparation is the module's own program in its preparation mode, so it is derived from the
 	// resource that runs that program — and a module declaring none has asked for something the mesh
@@ -1503,7 +1584,7 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 	// quietly prepares nothing.
 	if m.Prepares && preparationTarget(m) == "" {
 		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
-			"%s says it prepares its state, and declares no container running an artifact it built — "+
+			"%s says it prepares its state, and declares no container or process running an artifact it built — "+
 				"the preparation is this module's own program, so there has to be one for the mesh to "+
 				"run it in", m.Module))
 	}
@@ -1556,6 +1637,13 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 				}
 			}
 		}
+		// **A scheduled step may hold this module's own containers still while it runs**
+		// (novox/hq ADR 0189). What the host judges is the declaration it receives — whether each
+		// id is a container placed on that machine; what belongs here is what only the definition
+		// shows: that the ids are this module's, that they are containers, and that the step is
+		// scheduled. A module naming a neighbour's container would be a module that can stop the
+		// mesh, and the manifest is where that is visible.
+		problems = append(problems, whileStoppedProblems(m, r, hasSchedule(r))...)
 	}
 	for name, own := range m.OwnSecrets {
 		if !placedOrAbsolute(own.Path) {
@@ -2087,3 +2175,71 @@ func (o OwnSecrets) Paths() map[string]string {
 // InstancesInterchangeable is the one value of a definition's `instances`: the module is the same
 // on every machine, so any instance may answer for the module.
 const InstancesInterchangeable = "interchangeable"
+
+// WhileStopped is the resource key naming the containers a scheduled step holds still while it
+// runs (novox/hq ADR 0189). Carried to the host unchanged, like `schedule`.
+const WhileStopped = "while-stopped"
+
+// hasSchedule is whether a resource declares a cadence, as a string.
+func hasSchedule(r map[string]any) bool {
+	s, _ := r["schedule"].(string)
+	return s != ""
+}
+
+// whileStoppedProblems judges one container's maintenance window against its own definition
+// (novox/hq ADR 0189).
+//
+// Three things the manifest is the only place to see: that the step is scheduled (a one-time
+// offline job says *before* rather than *instead of* — at apply the host already has a window,
+// because the declaration is applied in order and a run-once step gates what follows); that every
+// id it names is **this module's own** container; and that it does not name itself.
+//
+// The host checks the fourth — that the container is actually placed on that machine — because
+// that is a fact about the declaration and not about the definition.
+func whileStoppedProblems(m Manifest, r map[string]any, scheduled bool) []string {
+	raw, present := r[WhileStopped]
+	if !present {
+		return nil
+	}
+	ids, ok := raw.([]any)
+	if !ok {
+		return []string{fmt.Sprintf(
+			"%s declares %s on %v as a %T; it is a list of this module's container ids",
+			m.Module, WhileStopped, r["id"], raw)}
+	}
+	var problems []string
+	if len(ids) > 0 && !scheduled {
+		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+			"%s declares %s on %v, which has no schedule. A maintenance window is for a recurring "+
+				"step: at apply the mesh already has one, because a run-once step gates what is "+
+				"declared after it (novox/hq ADR 0189)", m.Module, WhileStopped, r["id"]))
+	}
+	containers := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, own := range m.Resources {
+		if fmt.Sprint(own["type"]) == "container" {
+			containers[fmt.Sprint(own["id"])] = true
+		}
+	}
+	for _, each := range ids {
+		id, ok := each.(string)
+		if !ok {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s declares %s on %v naming a %T; each entry is a container's id",
+				m.Module, WhileStopped, r["id"], each))
+			continue
+		}
+		if id == fmt.Sprint(r["id"]) {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s declares %s on %v naming itself", m.Module, WhileStopped, r["id"]))
+			continue
+		}
+		if !containers[id] {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s declares %s on %v naming %q, which is not a container this module declares. "+
+					"A step may hold still its own module's containers and nobody else's — one "+
+					"that could quiesce a neighbour could stop the mesh",
+				m.Module, WhileStopped, r["id"], id))
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}

internal/catalogue/names_served.go

@@ -1,124 +0,0 @@
-package catalogue
-
-import (
-	"sort"
-	"strings"
-)
-
-// Which machine serves each routed name (novox/hq ADR 0066, issue 178).
-//
-// A routed name is a label the mesh composed for a consumer's endpoint, and it is *served* by the
-// provider that answers requests for it — the proxy the consumer's route reaches. The same name is
-// composed into every labelled contribution the consumer makes, because a provider that must know
-// the consumer's public name (an identity provider composing a redirect) is told it the same way
-// (04-ISSUES/122). Attributing the name to whichever of those providers a map happened to yield
-// last sent a public name to the identity provider's machine on one plan and to the proxy's on the
-// next (forge issue 227), and the whole names region flipped with it.
-//
-// **The terminus serves the name.** Among the providers a name reaches, the one that serves it is
-// the one that is not itself routed: a provider that contributes a labelled name of its own to some
-// requirement is published through another provider, and is a consumer of names, not their end.
-// Name-agnostic — nothing here knows what "route" means — and structural: it reads the graph the
-// modules declared. Deterministic: names, requirements and nodes are walked in order, so two
-// plans of one mesh yield one region.
-
-// NamesServed is every routed name across the mesh and the node that serves it, from every node's
-// resolution and settings. A name several termini claim goes to the first node in name order, so
-// the answer is stable; a name nothing terminal claims is left out.
-func NamesServed(plans map[string]Resolution, settings map[string]SettingsBy) (map[string]string, error) {
-	nodes := make([]string, 0, len(plans))
-	for n := range plans {
-		nodes = append(nodes, n)
-	}
-	sort.Strings(nodes)
-
-	out := map[string]string{}
-	for _, node := range nodes {
-		plan := plans[node]
-		all, err := plan.contributions(settings[node], nil, nil)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		requirements := make([]string, 0, len(all))
-		for to := range all {
-			requirements = append(requirements, to)
-		}
-		sort.Strings(requirements)
-		for _, to := range requirements {
-			for _, given := range all[to] {
-				if given.Node != "" {
-					// Said from another machine; that machine's own resolution carries it.
-					continue
-				}
-				// A routed name, and only that: a contribution the mesh composed a name for from a
-				// label it was given. A grant that happens to carry a `name` of its own — a database
-				// name — carries no label and is left alone.
-				if _, labelled := given.Values["label"]; !labelled {
-					continue
-				}
-				name, _ := given.Values["name"].(string)
-				if name == "" {
-					continue
-				}
-				serving := servingNodeOf(plan, to, given.From, node)
-				if !servesNames(plans[serving], to) {
-					continue
-				}
-				name = strings.ToLower(name)
-				if held, taken := out[name]; !taken || serving < held {
-					out[name] = serving
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return out, nil
-}
-
-// servingNodeOf is the node answering one consumer's requirement: whoever the plan needs it from,
-// or this same node when the provider is beside the consumer.
-func servingNodeOf(plan Resolution, requirement, consumer, self string) string {
-	for _, need := range plan.Needs {
-		if need.Name == requirement && need.For == consumer && need.From != "" {
-			return need.From
-		}
-	}
-	return self
-}
-
-// servesNames says whether the module providing a requirement on a node is a terminus: it is not
-// itself published under a labelled name through some other provider. A node whose plan is not
-// known (it did not resolve) serves nothing.
-func servesNames(plan Resolution, requirement string) bool {
-	for _, m := range plan.Modules {
-		if !offers(m, requirement) {
-			continue
-		}
-		return !contributesALabel(m)
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
-func offers(m Manifest, requirement string) bool {
-	for _, o := range m.Offers() {
-		if o == requirement {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
-func contributesALabel(m Manifest) bool {
-	for _, values := range m.Contributes {
-		if _, labelled := values["label"]; labelled {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	for _, locals := range m.ContributesMany {
-		for _, values := range locals {
-			if _, labelled := values["label"]; labelled {
-				return true
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}

internal/catalogue/names_served_test.go

@@ -1,99 +0,0 @@
-package catalogue
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-)
-
-// The mesh of forge issue 227 (novox/hq issue 178): a dashboard on the home server contributes its
-// label to the route its proxy serves AND to the identity provider on the control node, which must
-// know the dashboard's public name to compose a redirect. Both contributions carry the composed
-// name; only the proxy serves it.
-func twoNodesOneName(t *testing.T) (map[string]Resolution, map[string]SettingsBy) {
-	t.Helper()
-	catalogue := shelf(
-		Manifest{Module: "route-adapter", Version: "1", Provides: Offers("route"),
-			Serves: map[string]map[string]any{"route": {}}, Receives: map[string]string{"route": "/etc/adapter/mesh.json"}},
-		Manifest{Module: "route-proxy", Version: "1", Provides: Offers("route"),
-			Serves: map[string]map[string]any{"route": {}}, Receives: map[string]string{"route": "/etc/proxy/mesh.json"}},
-		Manifest{Module: "keycloak", Version: "1", Provides: FromAnywhere("oidc-client"),
-			Serves:   map[string]map[string]any{"oidc-client": {"token-path": "/token"}},
-			Receives: map[string]string{"oidc-client": "/etc/keycloak/clients.json"},
-			Listens:  []Listening{{Port: 8080, From: FromMesh, Why: "the login page"}},
-			// Published through the proxy itself: the identity provider is routed, not a router.
-			Contributes: map[string]map[string]any{"route": {"label": "login", "endpoint": "web", "port": 8080}}},
-		Manifest{Module: "grafana", Version: "1",
-			Listens: []Listening{{Port: 3000, From: FromMesh, Why: "dashboards"}},
-			Contributes: map[string]map[string]any{
-				"route":       {"label": "grafana", "endpoint": "web", "port": 3000},
-				"oidc-client": {"label": "grafana", "endpoint": "web", "port": 3000, "callback": "/login"},
-			}},
-	)
-	home := withDomain("home.example")
-	home.Name, home.At = "home-server", "home-server.internal"
-	control := withDomain("control.example")
-	control.Name, control.At = "anchor", "anchor.internal"
-
-	onHome, err := Resolve(catalogue, []string{"grafana", "route-adapter"}, home, World{
-		Offered: map[string][]Provider{"oidc-client": {{Node: "anchor", At: "anchor.internal", Module: "keycloak"}}},
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	onControl, err := Resolve(catalogue, []string{"keycloak", "route-proxy"}, control, World{})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	return map[string]Resolution{"home-server": onHome, "anchor": onControl},
-		map[string]SettingsBy{"home-server": {}, "anchor": {}}
-}
-
-func TestANameResolvesToTheNodeWhoseProxyServesIt(t *testing.T) {
-	plans, settings := twoNodesOneName(t)
-	// Many times, because the fault was map order: one plan said one node, the next the other.
-	for i := 0; i < 25; i++ {
-		served, err := NamesServed(plans, settings)
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-		if served["grafana.home.example"] != "home-server" {
-			t.Fatalf("run %d: the dashboard's name is served by %q, and its proxy is on the home server: %v",
-				i, served["grafana.home.example"], served)
-		}
-		if served["login.control.example"] != "anchor" {
-			t.Fatalf("run %d: the identity provider's own name is served by its proxy on the control node: %v", i, served)
-		}
-		if _, leaked := served["grafana.control.example"]; leaked {
-			t.Fatalf("a name composed for the identity provider's benefit is not one it serves: %v", served)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-// A module that is routed several times names each route (ADR 0094's sibling for contributes);
-// every one of them is a name the mesh must resolve, and none reached the names region before.
-func TestEveryRouteOfAModuleWithSeveralIsANameServed(t *testing.T) {
-	catalogue := shelf(
-		Manifest{Module: "route-proxy", Version: "1", Provides: Offers("route"),
-			Serves: map[string]map[string]any{"route": {}}, Receives: map[string]string{"route": "/etc/proxy/mesh.json"}},
-		Manifest{Module: "photos", Version: "1",
-			Listens: []Listening{{Port: 8102, From: FromMesh, Why: "web"}, {Port: 9102, From: FromMesh, Why: "api"}},
-			ContributesMany: map[string]map[string]map[string]any{"route": {
-				"site": {"label": "photos", "endpoint": "web", "port": 8102},
-				"api":  {"label": "photos-api", "endpoint": "api", "port": 9102},
-			}}},
-	)
-	node := withDomain("control.example")
-	node.Name, node.At = "anchor", "anchor.internal"
-	plan, err := Resolve(catalogue, []string{"photos", "route-proxy"}, node, World{})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	served, err := NamesServed(map[string]Resolution{"anchor": plan}, map[string]SettingsBy{"anchor": {}})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	for _, name := range []string{"photos.control.example", "photos-api.control.example"} {
-		if served[name] != "anchor" {
-			t.Fatalf("%s is not served by its proxy: %v", name, served)
-		}
-	}
-}

internal/catalogue/port_into.go

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import (
 //
 // So a module asks. `${port:8080}` is "the machine-side port you gave me for the 8080 I said I
 // listen on", and the module writes that where it would otherwise have written a literal — in a
-// file's content, or in a value of a container's `env`.
+// file's content, or in a value of a container's or a process's `env`.
 //
 // **The environment is filled by the control plane, exactly as a bound value is.** A port is not
 // secret — the mesh holds it in the clear — so there is nothing for the host to be the only
@@ -64,7 +64,12 @@ func portsUsed(content string) []int {
 }
 
 // portInto replaces a resource's ${port:…} placeholders with what this machine assigned — in a
-// file's content, and in a value of a container's environment.
+// file's content, and in a value of a container's or a process's environment.
+//
+// **A process's environment is a container's** (novox/hq to-be 38 WP4c). A module's code moving out
+// of its container becomes a process on the machine and still has to be told what the container
+// was told; filled for one kind and not the other, the literal reached the process and was read as
+// a port, and the modules that moved first wrote their run-once steps a 0600 env file instead.
 //
 // A port the module did not say it listens on is refused, for the same reason a binding's unknown
 // key is: the module is asking about something it never declared, and the answer would be a guess.
@@ -84,7 +89,7 @@ func portInto(resource map[string]any, module string, listens []Listening, with
 		}
 		resource["content"] = filled
 
-	case "container":
+	case "container", "process":
 		env, ok := resource["env"].(map[string]any)
 		if !ok {
 			return nil
@@ -106,8 +111,8 @@ func portInto(resource map[string]any, module string, listens []Listening, with
 				continue
 			}
 			value, err := portsFilledInto(written,
-				fmt.Sprintf("%s's container %s sets %s to something that",
-					module, resource["name"], key), module, listens, with)
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s's %s %s sets %s to something that",
+					module, resource["type"], resource["name"], key), module, listens, with)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}

internal/catalogue/process_env_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// **A process's environment is composed as a container's is** (novox/hq to-be 38 WP4c).
+//
+// A module's code moving out of its container becomes a process on the machine, and what its
+// container's environment asked for — the port this machine gave the module, the place it put the
+// module's directory — it still has to be told. Filled for a container and not for a process, the
+// literal `${port:8080}` reached the process as its environment and was read as a port; the modules
+// that moved first wrote their run-once steps an env file instead.
+func processModule(env map[string]any) Manifest {
+	return Manifest{
+		Module:  "showcase",
+		Listens: []Listening{{Port: 8080, From: FromMesh}},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{
+			{"id": "data", "type": "directory", "mode": "0700"},
+			{"id": "setup", "type": "process", "name": "showcase-setup", "run-once": true,
+				"run": []any{"/usr/bin/showcase", "setup"}, "env": env},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAProcessIsToldItsPortAndItsPlaceInItsEnvironment(t *testing.T) {
+	env := map[string]any{
+		"SHOWCASE_URL":  "http://127.0.0.1:${port:8080}",
+		"SHOWCASE_DATA": "${dir:data}/objects",
+		"SHOWCASE_DB":   "127.0.0.1:${seat:mesh-store:5432}",
+		"GREETING":      "hello",
+	}
+	out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{processModule(env)}}.Declaration(Rendering{
+		Ports: map[string]map[int]int{"showcase": {8080: 21000}},
+		Seats: map[string]map[int]int{"mesh-store": {5432: 6852}},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a process asking for its port and its place does not compose: %v", err)
+	}
+	setup := fileNamed(out, "showcase.setup")
+	if setup == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the process is not in the declaration: %v", out)
+	}
+	got, _ := setup["env"].(map[string]any)
+	for key, want := range map[string]string{
+		"SHOWCASE_URL":  "http://127.0.0.1:21000",
+		"SHOWCASE_DATA": "/var/lib/showcase/data/objects",
+		"SHOWCASE_DB":   "127.0.0.1:6852",
+		"GREETING":      "hello",
+	} {
+		if got[key] != want {
+			t.Errorf("the process is told %s=%v, want %q", key, got[key], want)
+		}
+	}
+	if env["SHOWCASE_URL"] != "http://127.0.0.1:${port:8080}" {
+		t.Fatalf("composing for one machine edited the module's own manifest: %v", env)
+	}
+}
+
+// An unknown reference in a process's environment is refused as a container's is, naming the
+// process and the variable — left alone, it would reach the machine as a literal.
+func TestAProcessAskingAboutAnUndeclaredPortIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	env := map[string]any{"SHOWCASE_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:${port:9999}"}
+	_, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{processModule(env)}}.Declaration(Rendering{})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a process was told a port its module never said it listens on")
+	}
+	for _, said := range []string{"showcase-setup", "SHOWCASE_URL", "${port:9999}", "8080"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), said) {
+			t.Errorf("the refusal does not say %q: %v", said, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	env = map[string]any{"SHOWCASE_DATA": "${dir:date}/objects"}
+	if _, err := (Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{processModule(env)}}).Declaration(Rendering{}); err == nil ||
+		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), "${dir:date}") {
+		t.Fatalf("a process naming no directory of its module was not refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/roster.go

@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ import (
 
 // A RosterFile is a file the mesh renders from the roster of machines, in the format the module
 // gives as a Go text/template. The template sees a rosterView: `.Node` (this machine's bare name),
-// `.Suffix` (what its mesh name ends in), and two sets of `{Name, FQDN, Address}` — `.Names`, every
-// name the mesh serves, and `.Machines`, only the nodes of the mesh. Which set a template ranges is
-// how the hq issue 111 distinction is drawn: a container's hosts wants every name; a resolver told
-// the suffix is its own wants only the machines.
+// `.Suffix` (what its mesh name ends in), and two sets of `{Name, FQDN, Address}` — `.Names` and
+// `.Machines`. Both are the nodes of the mesh: routed names were once in `.Names` too, and are not
+// since every route became a name under its node's internal domain (novox/hq ADR 0191) — the hq
+// issue 111 distinction is kept as two fields so the templates that range either keep rendering.
 type RosterFile struct {
 	// Path is where on the machine the rendered file goes. Absolute, or it is refused here rather
 	// than discovered as a daemon that reads nothing.

internal/catalogue/runtime.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package catalogue
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -82,6 +83,11 @@ const (
 	RuntimeBrokerFile      = "MESH_BROKER_FILE"
 	RuntimeOperatorAccount = "MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT"
 	RuntimeOperatorHome    = "MESH_OPERATOR_HOME"
+	// RuntimeToolEnv is every served module's composed environment, as JSON (novox/hq ADR 0192):
+	// {"<module>": {"<word>": "<value>"}}. The runtime takes it at start, removes it from its own
+	// environment and hands each module's words to that module's bundles alone. In the unit, so a
+	// change to any module's words changes the process and restarts it.
+	RuntimeToolEnv = "MESH_TOOL_ENV"
 )
 
 // interpreterFor is how a bundle in a language is run: the program the host's unit starts, with the
@@ -123,6 +129,12 @@ func (r Resolution) runtimeProcess(with Rendering) (map[string]any, error) {
 			RuntimeModule, r.Node, len(runtime.Bundles))
 	}
 	bundle := runtime.Bundles[0]
+	// What runs it (novox/hq ADR 0193): a runtime compiled to a binary runs itself, from its own
+	// unpacked bundle; an interpreted one is its language's interpreter and its one entrypoint.
+	var run []any
+	if bundle.Binary != "" {
+		run = []any{"./" + bundle.Binary}
+	} else {
 		if len(bundle.Entrypoints) != 1 {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf(
 				"%s's bundle %q names %d entrypoint(s); the runtime is run from one, so the module "+
@@ -132,6 +144,8 @@ func (r Resolution) runtimeProcess(with Rendering) (map[string]any, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		run = []any{interpreter, bundle.Entrypoints[0]}
+	}
 	credential, declared := runtime.OwnSecrets["broker"]
 	if !declared {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
@@ -146,15 +160,28 @@ func (r Resolution) runtimeProcess(with Rendering) (map[string]any, error) {
 	// would be told to load files that were never delivered.
 	var served []string
 	var restartOn []string
+	given := map[string]map[string]string{}
 	for _, m := range r.Modules {
 		if with.Adopted && m.Filtering != nil {
 			continue
 		}
+		words, err := bundleWords(m, with)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if len(words) > 0 {
+			given[m.Module] = words
+		}
 		for _, b := range m.Bundles {
 			if len(b.Loads) == 0 {
 				continue
 			}
 			for _, load := range b.Loads {
+				// What the runtime starts: the launcher the build wrote beside the entrypoint, where
+				// it wrote one (ADR 0193); the entrypoint itself for a build from before them.
+				if launcher, has := b.Launchers[load]; has {
+					load = launcher
+				}
 				served = append(served, m.Module+"="+BundlePath(m.Module, b.Name)+"/"+load)
 			}
 			restartOn = append(restartOn, m.Module+"."+BundleID(b.Name))
@@ -168,10 +195,18 @@ func (r Resolution) runtimeProcess(with Rendering) (map[string]any, error) {
 		RuntimeToolModules: strings.Join(served, ","),
 		RuntimeBrokerFile:  credential.Path,
 	}
+	if len(given) > 0 {
+		// Marshalled from maps, whose keys encoding/json sorts: the same words, the same unit.
+		body, err := json.Marshal(given)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		env[RuntimeToolEnv] = string(body)
+	}
 	process := map[string]any{
 		"id": RuntimeModule + "." + RuntimeProcessID(), "type": "process", "name": RuntimeModule,
 		"source": bundle.Source, "digest": bundle.Digest,
-		"run":        []any{interpreter, bundle.Entrypoints[0]},
+		"run":        run,
 		"env":        env,
 		"restart-on": toAny(restartOn),
 	}
@@ -249,3 +284,82 @@ func ToolContainerOnTheRuntime(m Manifest, against []string) string {
 			"now (novox/hq ADR 0175, to-be 38); declare the tools as a bundle and drop the container",
 		m.Module, RuntimeImageModule, RuntimeImageArtifact, RuntimeModule)
 }
+
+// bundleWords is what one module's tools bundles are given on this machine (novox/hq ADR 0192):
+// each loaded bundle's env, its ${dir:…} resolved to where this machine places the module's
+// directories and its ${port:…} to the port this machine gave it — the same resolution a
+// container's environment gets. Two bundles of one module naming one word differently is refused:
+// the runtime hands a module's words to all its bundles.
+func bundleWords(m Manifest, with Rendering) (map[string]string, error) {
+	var out map[string]string
+	dirs := dirsFor(m, with)
+	for _, b := range m.Bundles {
+		if len(b.Loads) == 0 || len(b.Env) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, word := range sortedKeys(b.Env) {
+			value, err := dirFill(b.Env[word], dirs, m.Module)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if value, err = portsFilledInto(value, m.Module+"'s bundle "+b.Name+" ("+word+")", m.Module, m.Listens, with); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if out == nil {
+				out = map[string]string{}
+			}
+			if was, had := out[word]; had && was != value {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s's bundles give %s two values (%q, %q); a module's words are "+
+					"handed to all its bundles, so they agree (novox/hq ADR 0192)", m.Module, word, was, value)
+			}
+			out[word] = value
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// givenTo makes what a bundle's words name readable by the account the runtime runs as (novox/hq
+// ADR 0192): every file and directory of the module whose path a word names, or that holds one,
+// is owned by the account — a tool reads its configuration and its secret as the account, and a
+// root-owned 0600 file or a 0700 directory is one it cannot. Only where it says no owner already:
+// a module that named one knew why. Nothing on a machine with no account, where the runtime is root.
+//
+// It answers the files a word names exactly: what a tool reads, whose change the runtime must be
+// restarted for, as the container the tools came from was restarted when its configuration changed.
+func givenTo(out []map[string]any, owner map[string]string, words map[string]map[string]string, account string) []string {
+	var named []string
+	if len(words) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	for _, resource := range out {
+		module := owner[fmt.Sprint(resource["id"])]
+		mine := words[module]
+		if len(mine) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		kind := fmt.Sprint(resource["type"])
+		if kind != "file" && kind != "directory" {
+			continue
+		}
+		path, _ := resource["path"].(string)
+		if path == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, value := range mine {
+			if kind == "file" && value == path {
+				named = append(named, fmt.Sprint(resource["id"]))
+			}
+		}
+		if _, said := resource["owner"]; said || account == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, value := range mine {
+			if value == path || strings.HasPrefix(value, strings.TrimRight(path, "/")+"/") {
+				resource["owner"] = account
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(named)
+	return named
+}

internal/catalogue/runtime_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package catalogue
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -210,3 +211,249 @@ func TestTheMachineRunsOneRuntimeLoadingEveryDeliveredBundle(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	})
 }
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0192: a tools bundle says what it is given; the composer resolves it per machine as
+// a container's environment, hands it to the runtime as the module's words, and makes what the
+// words name readable by the account the runtime runs as.
+func TestABundleIsGivenItsWordsResolvedForThisMachine(t *testing.T) {
+	with := Rendering{ArtifactStore: "anchor.internal:5101",
+		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{
+			RuntimeModule: {"broker": "sealed-credential"},
+			"dash":        {"token": "sealed-token"},
+		}}
+	dash := Manifest{Module: "dash", Version: "1", Tools: []string{"status"},
+		Listens:    []Listening{{Name: "web", Port: 3000, Protocol: "tcp"}},
+		OwnSecrets: OwnSecrets{"token": {Path: "${dir:mesh-state}/token"}},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{
+			{"id": "mesh-state", "type": "directory", "mode": "0700", "place": "mesh"},
+			{"id": "config", "type": "file", "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/config.json", "mode": "0600", "content": "{}\n"},
+			{"id": "unrelated", "type": "file", "path": "/etc/dash.conf", "content": "x\n"},
+		},
+		Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "typescript",
+			Entrypoints: []string{"tools/index.js"},
+			Env: map[string]string{
+				"DASH_CONFIG_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/config.json",
+				"DASH_TOKEN_FILE":  "${dir:mesh-state}/token",
+				"DASH_URL":         "http://127.0.0.1:${port:3000}",
+				"DASH_ADMIN":       "mesh-admin",
+			}}}}}
+	if problems := dash.Build.problems(dash.Module); len(problems) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a bundle's words written with ${dir:…} and ${port:…} were refused: %v", problems)
+	}
+	dash, err := dash.Resolve([]Built{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "dash/tools/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	other := aToolsModule(t, "nftables", "tools/index.js")
+
+	out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Account: "ops", Modules: []Manifest{dash, other, theRuntime(t)}}.Declaration(with)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	dir := fileNamed(out, "dash.mesh-state")
+	if dir == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("no directory: %v", ids(out))
+	}
+	at := fmt.Sprint(dir["path"])
+	process := fileNamed(out, RuntimeModule+"."+RuntimeProcessID())
+	env := process["env"].(map[string]string)
+	var given map[string]map[string]string
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(env[RuntimeToolEnv]), &given); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the runtime's %s is not JSON: %q", RuntimeToolEnv, env[RuntimeToolEnv])
+	}
+	want := map[string]string{
+		"DASH_CONFIG_FILE": at + "/config.json",
+		"DASH_TOKEN_FILE":  at + "/token",
+		"DASH_URL":         "http://127.0.0.1:3000",
+		"DASH_ADMIN":       "mesh-admin",
+	}
+	if fmt.Sprint(given["dash"]) != fmt.Sprint(want) {
+		t.Errorf("dash is given %v, want %v", given["dash"], want)
+	}
+	if _, has := given["nftables"]; has {
+		t.Errorf("a module that declares no words was given some: %v", given)
+	}
+	// What the words name is the account's to read; nothing else of the module's is touched.
+	for _, id := range []string{"dash.mesh-state", "dash.config", "dash." + NeedID("token")} {
+		if r := fileNamed(out, id); r == nil || r["owner"] != "ops" {
+			t.Errorf("%s is not the account's to read: %v", id, r)
+		}
+	}
+	if r := fileNamed(out, "dash.unrelated"); r == nil || r["owner"] != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a file no word names was given an owner: %v", r)
+	}
+	// A file a word names restarts the runtime when it changes, as it restarted the tool container.
+	restarts := fmt.Sprint(process["restart-on"])
+	for _, want := range []string{"dash.config", "dash." + NeedID("token")} {
+		if !strings.Contains(restarts, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the runtime is not restarted when %s changes: %s", want, restarts)
+		}
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(restarts, "dash.unrelated") || strings.Contains(restarts, "dash.mesh-state") {
+		t.Errorf("the runtime restarts for something no word names as a file: %s", restarts)
+	}
+
+	t.Run("on a machine with no account the runtime is root and nothing is re-owned", func(t *testing.T) {
+		out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{dash, theRuntime(t)}}.Declaration(with)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if r := fileNamed(out, "dash.config"); r["owner"] != nil {
+			t.Errorf("re-owned with no account: %v", r)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a change to a module's words changes the runtime's process", func(t *testing.T) {
+		changed := dash
+		changed.Bundles = append([]Bundle(nil), dash.Bundles...)
+		changed.Bundles[0].Env = map[string]string{"DASH_ADMIN": "somebody-else"}
+		out2, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Account: "ops", Modules: []Manifest{changed, theRuntime(t)}}.Declaration(with)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if fmt.Sprint(fileNamed(out2, RuntimeModule+"."+RuntimeProcessID())["env"]) == fmt.Sprint(env) {
+			t.Error("the runtime's process is the same after a module's words changed, so it would not restart")
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func TestABundlesWordsAreRefusedWhenTheyAreNotPathsOrConstants(t *testing.T) {
+	m := Manifest{Module: "dash", Version: "1", Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{
+		{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "typescript", Entrypoints: []string{"tools/index.js"},
+			Env: map[string]string{"DASH_TOKEN": "${secret:token}", RuntimeBrokerFile: "/x", "DASH_PEER": "${bound:db:url}"}},
+		{Name: "runtime", Kind: ArtifactImage, From: "Dockerfile", Env: map[string]string{"X": "y"}},
+	}}}
+	said := strings.Join(m.Build.problems(m.Module), "\n")
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		`"tools" gives DASH_TOKEN the value "${secret:token}"`,
+		`"tools" gives DASH_PEER the value "${bound:db:url}"`,
+		`"tools" gives itself ` + RuntimeBrokerFile,
+		`"runtime" is a "image" and says what it is given`,
+	} {
+		if !strings.Contains(said, want) {
+			t.Errorf("not refused: %s\nsaid:\n%s", want, said)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0193: the runtime is told the launcher a build wrote, and the entrypoint itself for a
+// build from before launchers — so the move needs no flag day.
+func TestTheRuntimeStartsTheLauncherWhereTheBuildWroteOne(t *testing.T) {
+	with := Rendering{ArtifactStore: "anchor.internal:5101",
+		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{RuntimeModule: {"broker": "sealed-credential"}}}
+	launched := Manifest{Module: "dash", Version: "1", Tools: []string{"status"},
+		Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "typescript",
+			Entrypoints: []string{"tools/index.js"}}}}}
+	launched, err := launched.Resolve([]Built{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "dash/tools/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest,
+		Launchers: map[string]string{"tools/index.js": "tools/index.serve.mjs"}}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	older := aToolsModule(t, "nftables", "tools/index.js")
+	out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Account: "ops", Modules: []Manifest{launched, older, theRuntime(t)}}.Declaration(with)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	env := fileNamed(out, RuntimeModule+"."+RuntimeProcessID())["env"].(map[string]string)
+	want := "dash=" + BundleRoot + "/dash/tools/tools/index.serve.mjs,nftables=" + BundleRoot + "/nftables/tools/tools/index.js"
+	if env[RuntimeToolModules] != want {
+		t.Errorf("the runtime is told %q, want %q", env[RuntimeToolModules], want)
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0193: a runtime compiled to a binary runs itself from its own unpacked bundle.
+func TestARuntimeCompiledToABinaryRunsItself(t *testing.T) {
+	with := Rendering{ArtifactStore: "anchor.internal:5101",
+		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{RuntimeModule: {"broker": "sealed-credential"}}}
+	goRuntime := Manifest{Module: RuntimeModule, Version: "1",
+		OwnSecrets: OwnSecrets{"broker": {Path: "/var/lib/mesh/" + RuntimeModule + "/broker"}},
+		Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{{Name: "runtime", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "go",
+			System: "arch", From: "cmd/node-tools"}}}}
+	goRuntime, err := goRuntime.Resolve([]Built{{Name: "runtime", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + RuntimeModule + "/runtime/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Account: "ops", Modules: []Manifest{aToolsModule(t, "nftables", "tools/index.js"), goRuntime}}.Declaration(with)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	process := fileNamed(out, RuntimeModule+"."+RuntimeProcessID())
+	if fmt.Sprint(process["run"]) != "[./node-tools]" {
+		t.Errorf("a Go runtime is run as %v, want its own binary", process["run"])
+	}
+	env := process["env"].(map[string]string)
+	if env[RuntimeToolModules] == "" || process["user"] != "ops" {
+		t.Errorf("the Go runtime is not told what to serve or whose it is: %v %v", env, process["user"])
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/216: a bundle nothing loads, runs or unpacks is refused at registration; saying
+// `loads`, listing `tools`, or a resource naming it admits it.
+func TestABundleNothingDeliversIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	base := func() Manifest {
+		return Manifest{Module: "baserow", Version: "1", Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{
+			{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "typescript", Entrypoints: []string{"tools/index.js"}}}}}
+	}
+	if p := undeliveredBundles(base()); len(p) != 1 || !strings.Contains(p[0], "never reach a machine") {
+		t.Fatalf("a bundle nothing delivers was admitted: %v", p)
+	}
+	loads := base()
+	loads.Build.Artifacts[0].Loads = []string{"tools/index.js"}
+	tools := base()
+	tools.Tools = []string{"baserow_list_rows"}
+	run := base()
+	run.Resources = []map[string]any{{"id": "daemon", "type": "process", "artifact": "tools", "run": []any{"node", "tools/index.js"}}}
+	runtime := base()
+	runtime.Module = RuntimeModule
+	for name, m := range map[string]Manifest{"loads": loads, "tools": tools, "a process": run, "the runtime": runtime} {
+		if p := undeliveredBundles(m); len(p) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("a bundle delivered by %s was refused: %v", name, p)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0193: a Go tools bundle is served — its binary is what the runtime starts, delivered
+// like any tools bundle, named to the runtime where a TypeScript bundle names its launcher.
+func TestAGoToolsBundleIsServedByItsBinary(t *testing.T) {
+	with := Rendering{ArtifactStore: "anchor.internal:5101",
+		Needed: map[string]map[string]string{RuntimeModule: {"broker": "sealed-credential"}}}
+	lamp := Manifest{Module: "lamp", Version: "1", Tools: []string{"on"},
+		Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "go",
+			System: "arch", From: "cmd/lamp-tools"}}}}
+	if p := lamp.Build.problems("lamp"); len(p) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a Go tools bundle was refused: %v", p)
+	}
+	lamp, err := lamp.Resolve([]Built{{Name: "tools", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "lamp/tools/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if fmt.Sprint(lamp.Bundles[0].Loads) != "[lamp-tools]" {
+		t.Fatalf("the runtime loads %v from a Go bundle, want its binary", lamp.Bundles[0].Loads)
+	}
+	out, err := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Account: "ops", Modules: []Manifest{lamp, theRuntime(t)}}.Declaration(with)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if fileNamed(out, "lamp."+BundleID("tools")) == nil {
+		t.Errorf("the Go bundle is not delivered: %v", ids(out))
+	}
+	env := fileNamed(out, RuntimeModule+"."+RuntimeProcessID())["env"].(map[string]string)
+	if env[RuntimeToolModules] != "lamp="+BundlePath("lamp", "tools")+"/lamp-tools" {
+		t.Errorf("the runtime is told %q, want the binary", env[RuntimeToolModules])
+	}
+
+	// An artifact may say it explicitly; naming anything but the binary is refused.
+	said := Manifest{Module: "lamp", Version: "1", Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{{Name: "tools",
+		Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "go", System: "arch", Binary: "lamp", Loads: []string{"lamp"}}}}}
+	if p := said.Build.problems("lamp"); len(p) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("loads naming the binary was refused: %v", p)
+	}
+	said.Build.Artifacts[0].Loads = []string{"tools/index.js"}
+	if p := said.Build.problems("lamp"); len(p) == 0 {
+		t.Error("a Go bundle loading a file it does not contain was admitted")
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/seat_into.go

@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ import (
 var ofSeat = regexp.MustCompile(`\$\{seat:([a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*):([0-9]+)\}`)
 
 // seatInto replaces a resource's ${seat:…} placeholders with where this machine put each seat's
-// holder — in a file's content, and in a value of a container's environment. The same two places
-// portInto fills, for the same reason: they are where a process reads a number from.
+// holder — in a file's content, and in a value of a container's or a process's environment. The
+// same places portInto fills, for the same reason: they are where a program reads a number from.
 func seatInto(resource map[string]any, module string, with Rendering) error {
 	switch fmt.Sprint(resource["type"]) {
 	case "file":
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func seatInto(resource map[string]any, module string, with Rendering) error {
 		}
 		resource["content"] = filled
 
-	case "container":
+	case "container", "process":
 		env, ok := resource["env"].(map[string]any)
 		if !ok {
 			return nil
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ func seatInto(resource map[string]any, module string, with Rendering) error {
 				continue
 			}
 			value, err := seatsFilledInto(written,
-				fmt.Sprintf("%s's container %s sets %s to something that",
-					module, resource["name"], key), with)
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s's %s %s sets %s to something that",
+					module, resource["type"], resource["name"], key), with)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}

internal/catalogue/seat_into_test.go

@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func TestTheControlPlanesOwnAddressesFollowTheNodesPorts(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	// The manifest itself names them now; withSeatPorts is a no-op on it, and this holds it so.
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
-		if r["type"] != "container" {
+		if r["type"] != "process" {
 			continue
 		}
 		env, _ := r["env"].(map[string]any)
@@ -113,8 +113,9 @@ func TestTheControlPlanesOwnAddressesFollowTheNodesPorts(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	m = withSeatPorts(m)
 	control, err := m.Resolve([]Built{{
-		Name: "server", Kind: ArtifactImage,
-		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "mesh-controller/server@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("c", 64),
+		Name: "controller", Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+		Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "mesh-controller/controller@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("c", 64),
+		Digest:    "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("c", 64),
 	}})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -135,9 +136,9 @@ func TestTheControlPlanesOwnAddressesFollowTheNodesPorts(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the control plane does not compose: %v", err)
 	}
-	server := fileNamed(out, "mesh-controller.server")
+	server := fileNamed(out, "mesh-controller.controller")
 	if server == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("the control plane's container is not in the declaration: %v", out)
+		t.Fatalf("the control plane's process is not in the declaration: %v", out)
 	}
 	env, _ := server["env"].(map[string]any)
 	for key, want := range map[string]string{
@@ -151,8 +152,8 @@ func TestTheControlPlanesOwnAddressesFollowTheNodesPorts(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("the control plane is told %s=%v; the node put it on %s", key, env[key], want)
 		}
 	}
-	if got := server["image"]; got != "anchor.internal:5100/mesh-controller/server@sha256:"+strings.Repeat("c", 64) {
-		t.Errorf("the control plane's own image is %v, not routed through the store", got)
+	if got := server["source"]; got != "anchor.internal:5100/mesh-controller/controller@sha256:"+strings.Repeat("c", 64) {
+		t.Errorf("the control plane's own bundle is fetched from %v, not routed through the store", got)
 	}
 
 	// And on a mesh where the foundation is where genesis raised it, nothing is added.
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ func TestTheControlPlanesOwnAddressesFollowTheNodesPorts(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	env, _ = fileNamed(out, "mesh-controller.server")["env"].(map[string]any)
+	env, _ = fileNamed(out, "mesh-controller.controller")["env"].(map[string]any)
 	if env["MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_PORT"] != "" {
 		t.Errorf("with no settings, the control plane is told %v", env)
 	}
@@ -186,7 +187,7 @@ func withSeatPorts(m Manifest) Manifest {
 	out := m
 	out.Resources = nil
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
-		if r["type"] != "container" {
+		if r["type"] != "container" && r["type"] != "process" {
 			out.Resources = append(out.Resources, r)
 			continue
 		}

internal/catalogue/seats_declared.go

@@ -215,6 +215,13 @@ func CatalogueProblems(shelf Shelf) []string {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	// A read of a module's state that module does not keep (novox/hq ADR 0201) — said only where the
+	// owner is on the shelf, as a consumer may be installed before its emitter.
+	var manifests []Manifest
+	for _, module := range shelfOrder(shelf) {
+		manifests = append(manifests, shelf[module])
+	}
+	problems = append(problems, StateReadsNothingDeclares(manifests)...)
 	sort.Strings(problems)
 	return problems
 }

internal/catalogue/state.go

@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// What a module may call its state, and whose state it may ask to read (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+//
+// A module names its state **locally** — `servers`, never a bucket or a subject — and another
+// module's as `<module>.<name>`, the way a consumed event names its emitter (design 32 §1). The
+// mesh derives the bucket from the two names, so the module and the local name must each be one
+// token: the bucket joins them with an underscore, which neither may contain, so two modules can
+// never derive one bucket.
+
+// stateName is one local name of a module's state: lower-case, no dot, no underscore.
+var stateName = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$`)
+
+// The mesh's caps on what a module may ask of a bucket's history.
+const (
+	// StateMostHistory is the most past values a key may keep. The server's own limit.
+	StateMostHistory = 64
+)
+
+// StateDeclaration is one bucket a module owns: its local name, and the options that are the
+// owner's to choose, as a seat chooses how long its backlog survives (design 32 §3).
+type StateDeclaration struct {
+	Name string `json:"name"`
+	// History is how many values a key keeps, the current one included; zero is one.
+	History int `json:"history,omitempty"`
+	// TTLSeconds is how long a value lives once written; zero is until it is replaced or deleted.
+	TTLSeconds int `json:"ttl-seconds,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON reads a bucket as its bare name, or as {name, history, ttl-seconds}.
+func (s *StateDeclaration) UnmarshalJSON(raw []byte) error {
+	trimmed := bytes.TrimSpace(raw)
+	if len(trimmed) > 0 && trimmed[0] == '"' {
+		return json.Unmarshal(trimmed, &s.Name)
+	}
+	type plain StateDeclaration
+	var full plain
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(trimmed))
+	dec.DisallowUnknownFields()
+	if err := dec.Decode(&full); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("a state is either a name or {name, history, ttl-seconds}: %w", err)
+	}
+	*s = StateDeclaration(full)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// MarshalJSON writes back the short form when there is nothing else to say.
+func (s StateDeclaration) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	if s.History == 0 && s.TTLSeconds == 0 {
+		return json.Marshal(s.Name)
+	}
+	type plain StateDeclaration
+	return json.Marshal(plain(s))
+}
+
+// ReadState splits a read into the owning module and the local name, or says why it is not one.
+func ReadState(read string) (module, local string, err error) {
+	at := strings.LastIndex(read, ".")
+	if at <= 0 || at == len(read)-1 {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("%q does not name a module and its state: a read is <module>.<name>", read)
+	}
+	module, local = read[:at], read[at+1:]
+	if !stateName.MatchString(module) {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("%q cannot own state: a module whose state is read is one plain name", module)
+	}
+	if !stateName.MatchString(local) {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("%q is not a state name: lower-case letters, digits and hyphens", local)
+	}
+	return module, local, nil
+}
+
+// StateProblems is what is wrong with a manifest's state and reads.
+//
+// Refused at registration, because a bucket name the bus cannot hold is a module that installs,
+// starts, and is refused on its first write with a reason about a bucket nobody named.
+func StateProblems(m Manifest) []string {
+	var problems []string
+	if len(m.State) > 0 && !stateName.MatchString(m.Module) {
+		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+			"%s keeps state, and a module's name is part of its buckets' names, which take one plain "+
+				"name — no dot (novox/hq ADR 0201)", m.Module))
+	}
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, s := range m.State {
+		switch {
+		case !stateName.MatchString(s.Name):
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s keeps state %q: a state is named locally — lower-case letters, digits and hyphens, "+
+					"no dot and no underscore; the mesh derives the bucket (novox/hq ADR 0201)", m.Module, s.Name))
+		case seen[s.Name]:
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s keeps state %q twice", m.Module, s.Name))
+		}
+		seen[s.Name] = true
+		if s.History < 0 || s.History > StateMostHistory {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s keeps %d values of %q; a key keeps between 1 and %d", m.Module, s.History, s.Name, StateMostHistory))
+		}
+		if s.TTLSeconds < 0 {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s gives %q a negative lifetime", m.Module, s.Name))
+		}
+	}
+	for _, r := range m.Reads {
+		module, _, err := ReadState(r)
+		if err != nil {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s reads %v", m.Module, err))
+			continue
+		}
+		if module == m.Module {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s reads %q, which is its own state: a module reads and writes what it keeps already", m.Module, r))
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}
+
+// StateReadsNothingDeclares is every read across a catalogue whose owner is present and declares no
+// such state. An absent owner says nothing — a module may be installed long before the one whose
+// state it reads, as a consumer may before its emitter (design 32 §1).
+func StateReadsNothingDeclares(manifests []Manifest) []string {
+	declared := map[string]map[string]bool{}
+	for _, m := range manifests {
+		own := map[string]bool{}
+		for _, s := range m.State {
+			own[s.Name] = true
+		}
+		declared[m.Module] = own
+	}
+	var problems []string
+	for _, m := range manifests {
+		for _, r := range m.Reads {
+			module, local, err := ReadState(r)
+			if err != nil {
+				continue
+			}
+			if own, present := declared[module]; present && !own[local] {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s reads %q, and %s keeps no state called %q", m.Module, r, module, local))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}

internal/catalogue/state_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A module declares the state it keeps and the state it reads (novox/hq ADR 0201), a bucket by its
+// bare name or with the owner's options.
+func TestAManifestMaySayWhatStateItKeepsAndReads(t *testing.T) {
+	m, err := ParseManifest([]byte(`{"module":"claude-code","version":"1",` +
+		`"state":["servers",{"name":"seen","history":5,"ttl-seconds":3600}],` +
+		`"reads":["licence-manager.bindings"]}`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(m.State) != 2 || m.State[0].Name != "servers" || m.State[1].History != 5 || m.State[1].TTLSeconds != 3600 {
+		t.Fatalf("state not read: %+v", m.State)
+	}
+	if len(m.Reads) != 1 || m.Reads[0] != "licence-manager.bindings" {
+		t.Fatalf("reads not read: %v", m.Reads)
+	}
+	// Written back as it came in: the short form where nothing else is said.
+	out, _ := json.Marshal(m.State)
+	if string(out) != `["servers",{"name":"seen","history":5,"ttl-seconds":3600}]` {
+		t.Fatalf("written back as %s", out)
+	}
+}
+
+// A name the bus could not hold, or that would let two modules derive one bucket, is refused at
+// registration in the manifest's words.
+func TestAStateNameIsLocalAndOneToken(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range []struct{ manifest, says string }{
+		{`{"module":"a","version":"1","state":["mesh.servers"]}`, `keeps state "mesh.servers": a state is named locally`},
+		{`{"module":"a","version":"1","state":["my_servers"]}`, `keeps state "my_servers"`},
+		{`{"module":"a","version":"1","state":["s","s"]}`, `keeps state "s" twice`},
+		{`{"module":"a","version":"1","state":[{"name":"s","history":65}]}`, `a key keeps between 1 and 64`},
+		{`{"module":"a.b","version":"1","state":["s"]}`, `no dot`},
+		{`{"module":"a","version":"1","reads":["bindings"]}`, `a read is <module>.<name>`},
+		{`{"module":"a","version":"1","reads":["a.s"]}`, `which is its own state`},
+		{`{"module":"a","version":"1","state":[{"name":"s","shared":true}]}`, `{name, history, ttl-seconds}`},
+	} {
+		_, err := ParseManifest([]byte(c.manifest))
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s was accepted", c.manifest)
+			continue
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.says) {
+			t.Errorf("%s refused for the wrong reason: %v", c.manifest, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A read whose owner is present must name a state that owner keeps; an absent owner says nothing,
+// because a module may be installed before the one whose state it reads.
+func TestAReadNamesStateItsOwnerKeeps(t *testing.T) {
+	owner := Manifest{Module: "licence-manager", State: []StateDeclaration{{Name: "bindings"}}}
+	good := Manifest{Module: "claude-code", Reads: []string{"licence-manager.bindings", "absent.anything"}}
+	bad := Manifest{Module: "other", Reads: []string{"licence-manager.tokens"}}
+	if p := StateReadsNothingDeclares([]Manifest{owner, good}); len(p) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a read of declared state was refused: %v", p)
+	}
+	p := StateReadsNothingDeclares([]Manifest{owner, bad})
+	if len(p) != 1 || !strings.Contains(p[0], `licence-manager keeps no state called "tokens"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("a read of state nobody keeps was not named: %v", p)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Across the whole catalogue**: every state name is local, and every read whose owner is present
+// names state that owner keeps.
+func TestEveryManifestsStateIsLocalAndEveryReadIsKept(t *testing.T) {
+	manifests := theCatalogue(t)
+	var problems []string
+	for _, m := range manifests {
+		problems = append(problems, StateProblems(m)...)
+	}
+	problems = append(problems, StateReadsNothingDeclares(manifests)...)
+	if len(problems) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the catalogue's state is not what ADR 0201 says:\n  %s", strings.Join(problems, "\n  "))
+	}
+}
+
+// `module check` says it too: the cross-catalogue pass names a read nothing on the shelf keeps.
+func TestTheCataloguePassNamesAReadItsOwnerDoesNotKeep(t *testing.T) {
+	shelf := Shelf{
+		"licence-manager": {Module: "licence-manager", State: []StateDeclaration{{Name: "bindings"}}},
+		"claude-code":     {Module: "claude-code", Reads: []string{"licence-manager.tokens"}},
+	}
+	problems := CatalogueProblems(shelf)
+	if len(problems) != 1 || !strings.Contains(problems[0], `keeps no state called "tokens"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("the catalogue pass said %v", problems)
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/while_stopped_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A scheduled step may hold its module's own containers still while it runs (novox/hq ADR 0189).
+//
+// The host judges what it receives — whether each id is a container on that machine. What the
+// definition is the only place to see is judged here, near whoever wrote it.
+
+func aStoreManifest(step map[string]any) []byte {
+	m := map[string]any{
+		"module": "distribution", "version": "1",
+		"resources": []any{
+			map[string]any{"id": "store", "type": "container", "name": "mesh-registry",
+				"image": "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64)},
+			step,
+		},
+	}
+	raw, _ := json.Marshal(m)
+	return raw
+}
+
+func TestAMaintenanceWindowOnItsOwnModulesContainerIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := aStoreManifest(map[string]any{
+		"id": "collect", "type": "container", "name": "mesh-registry-collect",
+		"image":    "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+		"schedule": "30 3 * * *", "while-stopped": []any{"store"},
+	})
+	if _, err := ParseManifest(raw); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a step holding its own module's container still was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMaintenanceWindowIsRefusedWhereTheDefinitionShowsItCannotMean(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		name string
+		step map[string]any
+		says string
+	}{
+		{
+			"on a step with no schedule",
+			map[string]any{"id": "collect", "type": "container", "name": "c",
+				"image":         "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+				"while-stopped": []any{"store"}},
+			"gates what is declared after it",
+		},
+		{
+			"on a run-once step, which already has order",
+			map[string]any{"id": "collect", "type": "container", "name": "c",
+				"image":    "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+				"run-once": true, "while-stopped": []any{"store"}},
+			"A maintenance window is for a recurring step",
+		},
+		{
+			"naming a container this module does not declare",
+			map[string]any{"id": "collect", "type": "container", "name": "c",
+				"image":    "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+				"schedule": "30 3 * * *", "while-stopped": []any{"the-broker"}},
+			"could quiesce a neighbour could stop the mesh",
+		},
+		{
+			"naming itself",
+			map[string]any{"id": "collect", "type": "container", "name": "c",
+				"image":    "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+				"schedule": "30 3 * * *", "while-stopped": []any{"collect"}},
+			"naming itself",
+		},
+		{
+			"written as something that is not a list",
+			map[string]any{"id": "collect", "type": "container", "name": "c",
+				"image":    "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+				"schedule": "30 3 * * *", "while-stopped": "store"},
+			"a list of this module's container ids",
+		},
+	} {
+		_, err := ParseManifest(aStoreManifest(c.step))
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s was accepted", c.name)
+			continue
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.says) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the refusal does not say %q:\n%v", c.name, c.says, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A composed declaration names the step's held containers the way the machine knows them.
+//
+// **The gap that let a bug through to the control node.** The manifest says `while-stopped:
+// ["store"]`, because a module names its own resources locally; the declaration a machine
+// receives calls that container `distribution.store`, because every resource is composed under
+// its module. `restart-on` and `reload-on` are rewritten for exactly this reason, and
+// `while-stopped` was not — so the host found no container by that id and refused the whole
+// declaration, every push, until it was fixed.
+//
+// It passed every test on both sides: the controller's tests read manifests, the host's read
+// hand-written declarations with bare ids. Only composing one and judging the result catches it.
+func TestAComposedWindowNamesTheContainerAsTheMachineKnowsIt(t *testing.T) {
+	store := Manifest{
+		Module: "distribution", Version: "1",
+		Provides: FromAnywhere("artifact-store"),
+		Listens:  []Listening{{Port: 5000, Protocol: "tcp", From: FromMesh}},
+		Serves:   map[string]map[string]any{"artifact-store": {"port": 5000}},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{
+			{"id": "store", "type": "container", "name": "mesh-registry",
+				"image": "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64), "ports": []any{"5000"}},
+			{"id": "collect", "type": "container", "name": "mesh-registry-collect",
+				"image":    "registry@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+				"schedule": "30 3 * * *", WhileStopped: []any{"store"}},
+		},
+	}
+	r, err := Resolve(shelf(store), []string{"distribution"}, reachable(), World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	collect := fileNamed(out, "distribution.collect")
+	if collect == nil {
+		for _, res := range out {
+			if res["id"] == "distribution.collect" {
+				collect = res
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if collect == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the step was not composed at all: %v", out)
+	}
+	held, _ := collect[WhileStopped].([]any)
+	if len(held) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the composed step holds %v still; want one container", collect[WhileStopped])
+	}
+	if got := fmt.Sprint(held[0]); got != "distribution.store" {
+		t.Fatalf("the composed step says it holds %q still, and the machine's container is "+
+			"called %q — the host refuses a declaration naming a container it does not have, "+
+			"whole, so the machine would take nothing at all", got, "distribution.store")
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/builds.go

@@ -42,9 +42,29 @@ type Build struct {
 	// Failed is the builder's own words, empty when it worked.
 	Failed string
 	Made   []Artifact
+	// Asked is when the build was requested, zero when that is not known (an id of another shape,
+	// or a build recorded before the mesh kept it). **What orders one build of a module against
+	// another** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219): builds in flight together finish in any order, and the
+	// one asked last stood on the newest bases.
+	Asked time.Time
+	// At is when the outcome was recorded — when it finished, not when it was asked.
 	At time.Time
 }
 
+// AskedOrAt is when the build was asked, or when it was recorded when that is not known — the
+// order the mesh had before it kept the request time.
+func (b Build) AskedOrAt() time.Time {
+	if !b.Asked.IsZero() {
+		return b.Asked
+	}
+	return b.At
+}
+
+// newestRequestFirst is the ordering every "what a module currently is" question uses: the newest
+// request wins, whenever it finished (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). A build whose request time is not
+// known is placed at the moment it was recorded, which is the rule that held before.
+const newestRequestFirst = `coalesce(asked, at) desc, at desc`
+
 // ReadRepository is a repository a build read source from besides the module's own.
 type ReadRepository struct {
 	Repository string `json:"repository"`
@@ -83,13 +103,17 @@ func (i *Inventory) RecordBuild(ctx context.Context, b Build) error {
 	if b.Module != "" {
 		module = &b.Module
 	}
+	var asked *time.Time
+	if !b.Asked.IsZero() {
+		asked = &b.Asked
+	}
 	_, err = i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
 		`insert into build (id, repository, ref, module, commit_hash, built_on, failed, made,
-		                    source_path, manifest, built_against, built_contexts)
-		 values ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10, $11, $12)
+		                    source_path, manifest, built_against, built_contexts, asked)
+		 values ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10, $11, $12, $13)
 		 on conflict (id) do nothing`,
 		b.ID, b.Repository, b.Ref, module, b.Commit, b.On, b.Failed, made,
-		b.Path, manifestOrNil(b.Manifest), against, read)
+		b.Path, manifestOrNil(b.Manifest), against, read, asked)
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -102,11 +126,11 @@ func (i *Inventory) Builds(ctx context.Context, module string, limit int) ([]Bui
 	if limit <= 0 {
 		limit = 20
 	}
-	query := `select id, repository, ref, coalesce(module,''), commit_hash, built_on, failed, made, at
+	query := `select id, repository, ref, coalesce(module,''), commit_hash, built_on, failed, made, asked, at
 	          from build order by at desc limit $1`
 	args := []any{limit}
 	if module != "" {
-		query = `select id, repository, ref, coalesce(module,''), commit_hash, built_on, failed, made, at
+		query = `select id, repository, ref, coalesce(module,''), commit_hash, built_on, failed, made, asked, at
 		         from build where module = $2 order by at desc limit $1`
 		args = append(args, module)
 	}
@@ -121,10 +145,14 @@ func (i *Inventory) Builds(ctx context.Context, module string, limit int) ([]Bui
 	for rows.Next() {
 		var b Build
 		var made []byte
+		var asked *time.Time
 		if err := rows.Scan(&b.ID, &b.Repository, &b.Ref, &b.Module, &b.Commit,
-			&b.On, &b.Failed, &made, &b.At); err != nil {
+			&b.On, &b.Failed, &made, &asked, &b.At); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		if asked != nil {
+			b.Asked = *asked
+		}
 		if err := json.Unmarshal(made, &b.Made); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -135,8 +163,9 @@ func (i *Inventory) Builds(ctx context.Context, module string, limit int) ([]Bui
 
 // Held is every artifact this mesh has built, keyed "<module>/<artifact>".
 //
-// **The newest successful build of each module wins**, which is the same rule the rest of the mesh
-// uses for what a module currently is. A module rebuilt to something broken and then rebuilt again
+// **The successful build of each module asked last wins**, which is the same rule the rest of the
+// mesh uses for what a module currently is — asked last, not finished last (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/219): an older request that finishes later stood on older bases. A module rebuilt to something broken and then rebuilt again
 // is at the second one; a module whose last build failed is at the last one that worked, because a
 // failure published nothing and the thing it published before is still what exists.
 //
@@ -147,7 +176,7 @@ func (i *Inventory) Held(ctx context.Context) (map[string]string, error) {
 		`select distinct on (module) module, made
 		   from build
 		  where module is not null and module <> '' and failed = ''
-		  order by module, at desc`)
+		  order by module, `+newestRequestFirst)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -185,7 +214,7 @@ func (i *Inventory) BuiltAgainst(ctx context.Context) (map[string][]string, erro
 		`select distinct on (module) module, built_against
 		   from build
 		  where module is not null and module <> '' and failed = ''
-		  order by module, at desc`)
+		  order by module, `+newestRequestFirst)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -223,7 +252,7 @@ func (i *Inventory) ReadRepositories(ctx context.Context) (map[string][]ReadRepo
 		`select distinct on (module) module, built_contexts
 		   from build
 		  where module is not null and module <> '' and failed = ''
-		  order by module, at desc`)
+		  order by module, `+newestRequestFirst)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -274,7 +303,7 @@ func manifestOrNil(raw []byte) any {
 // follows when it decides whether to announce at all.
 //
 // One row per module and commit: a module built twice at the same commit is one fact, and the
-// latest row is the one whose artifacts are current.
+// row asked last is the one whose artifacts are current (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219).
 func (i *Inventory) Announceable(ctx context.Context) ([]Build, error) {
 	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
 		`select distinct on (module, commit_hash)
@@ -282,7 +311,7 @@ func (i *Inventory) Announceable(ctx context.Context) ([]Build, error) {
 		        source_path, manifest, built_against, at
 		   from build
 		  where failed = '' and module is not null and module <> '' and commit_hash <> ''
-		  order by module, commit_hash, at desc`)
+		  order by module, commit_hash, `+newestRequestFirst)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}

internal/inventory/busrecords.go

@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ func (i *Inventory) BusRecords(ctx context.Context) (broker.Records, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Who holds each seat held once for the mesh, where the mesh recorded it (novox/hq issue 218).
+	holdings, err := i.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return broker.Records{}, fmt.Errorf("cannot read who holds the mesh's seats: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	out := broker.Records{Assigned: map[string][]broker.Declared{}, People: map[string][]string{},
 		Interchangeable: map[string]bool{}}
 	for _, n := range nodes {
@@ -72,7 +78,9 @@ func (i *Inventory) BusRecords(ctx context.Context) (broker.Records, error) {
 					"%s is assigned to %s and is not in the catalogue, so what it may say cannot "+
 						"be derived", module, n.Name)
 			}
-			out.Assigned[n.Name] = append(out.Assigned[n.Name], declaredFor(m, seats))
+			d := declaredFor(m, seats)
+			d.Holds = heldHere(d.Holds, holdings, n.Name, module)
+			out.Assigned[n.Name] = append(out.Assigned[n.Name], d)
 			if m.Instances == catalogue.InstancesInterchangeable {
 				out.Interchangeable[m.Module] = true
 			}
@@ -124,6 +132,9 @@ func declaredFor(m catalogue.Manifest, seats map[string]catalogue.SeatDeclaratio
 		Serves: m.Tools,
 		// And what it calls (novox/hq ADR 0152) — the console's `*`, nothing else's.
 		Invokes: m.Invokes,
+		// And the state it keeps and reads (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+		State: bucketsOf(m),
+		Reads: m.Reads,
 	}
 	for _, c := range m.Claims {
 		// Every seat with a protocol, the mesh's own included. One that says only who does a job is
@@ -140,6 +151,30 @@ func declaredFor(m catalogue.Manifest, seats map[string]catalogue.SeatDeclaratio
 	return d
 }
 
+// bucketsOf is the state a module keeps, as the bus holds it.
+func bucketsOf(m catalogue.Manifest) []broker.Bucket {
+	var out []broker.Bucket
+	for _, s := range m.State {
+		out = append(out, broker.Bucket{Module: m.Module, Name: s.Name, History: s.History, TTLSeconds: s.TTLSeconds})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeclaredBuckets is every bucket the catalogue declares, registered modules assigned or not: a
+// bucket exists from registration, like a seat's stream, so a module reading it may watch before its
+// owner runs anywhere (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+func (i *Inventory) DeclaredBuckets(ctx context.Context) ([]broker.Bucket, error) {
+	declared, err := i.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot read the catalogue: %w", err)
+	}
+	var out []broker.Bucket
+	for _, m := range declared {
+		out = append(out, bucketsOf(m)...)
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
 func asSeat(s catalogue.SeatDeclaration) broker.Seat {
 	return broker.Seat{Name: s.Name, Scope: s.Scope, Accepts: s.Accepts, Emits: s.Emits,
 		Serves: catalogue.VerbNames(s.Serves)}
@@ -183,3 +218,33 @@ func (i *Inventory) NodesWithALiveToken(ctx context.Context) ([]string, error) {
 	}
 	return out, rows.Err()
 }
+
+// heldHere keeps of what a module claims only the seats it holds on this machine (novox/hq issue 218).
+// A seat held once per machine is held by every assignment that claims it. A seat held once for the
+// mesh is held by one assignment: where the mesh recorded who holds it, a claim on any other machine
+// grants nothing and issues nothing — or the module would serve the role's verbs from a machine that
+// is not the role's, and a question to the mesh's store would be answered from the wrong database. A
+// mesh seat with no holder on record is left as it was derived.
+func heldHere(claimed []broker.Seat, holdings []catalogue.Held, node, module string) []broker.Seat {
+	recorded := map[string][]catalogue.Held{}
+	for _, h := range holdings {
+		if h.Scope == catalogue.ScopeMesh {
+			recorded[h.Claim] = append(recorded[h.Claim], h)
+		}
+	}
+	var out []broker.Seat
+	for _, s := range claimed {
+		holders, onRecord := recorded[s.Name]
+		if s.Scope != catalogue.ScopeMesh || !onRecord {
+			out = append(out, s)
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, h := range holders {
+			if h.Node == node && h.Module == module {
+				out = append(out, s)
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}

internal/inventory/catalogue.go

@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ import (
 // ErrNoSuchModule is what the mesh says about a module it has never been told about.
 var ErrNoSuchModule = errors.New("no module of that name")
 
+// ErrSuperseded is a registration from a build asked before the one the module is already at
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). The build is recorded; what the module is does not change.
+var ErrSuperseded = errors.New("a build asked later is already what the module is")
+
 // ErrStillAssigned is why a module cannot be forgotten.
 //
 // Its own error because it is not a fault: it means a machine is running that module now, and
@@ -47,6 +51,10 @@ type Source struct {
 	// itself no longer carries its build (novox/hq to-be 38 WP2.4). Empty for a manifest handed over
 	// by hand, which carries its `build.on` itself.
 	Against []string
+	// Asked is when the build this manifest came from was requested (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). Zero
+	// is a manifest handed over by hand, or a build whose request time is not known: either is
+	// taken as asked at the moment it is registered.
+	Asked time.Time
 }
 
 // Current reports whether what the mesh holds is what the source last had.
@@ -70,11 +78,12 @@ func (i *Inventory) RegisterModule(ctx context.Context, m catalogue.Manifest, fr
 	// (novox/hq ADR 0175, to-be 38 WP2.4): a module serving its tools from a container built on the
 	// runtime's image. Refused at registration, by name, for a module that is new to the catalogue
 	// or that was registered in another shape — the mechanism that keeps the old pattern from
-	// returning by habit. **Not refused for a module already registered in that shape**: the
-	// catalogue holds some thirty of them the day the runtime arrives, each moves to a bundle in
-	// its own change (to-be 38 WP4 onward), and a gate that refused every rebuild of every unmoved
-	// module in the meantime would stop the whole pipeline to make a point the record already makes.
-	// Before the runtime exists the pattern is accepted as it always was.
+	// returning by habit. Before the runtime exists the pattern is accepted as it always was.
+	//
+	// *Since 2026-10-04 (to-be 38 WP4b's last step):* refused for **every** module. While some
+	// thirty modules still stood in that shape, one already registered so was rebuilt without
+	// complaint, so the pipeline kept running while each moved; every module has moved since, and
+	// the exception would only let one move back.
 	if m.Module != catalogue.RuntimeModule {
 		if why := catalogue.ToolContainerOnTheRuntime(m, from.Against); why != "" {
 			runtime, err := i.hasModule(ctx, catalogue.RuntimeModule)
@@ -82,28 +91,32 @@ func (i *Inventory) RegisterModule(ctx context.Context, m catalogue.Manifest, fr
 				return err
 			}
 			if runtime {
-				already, err := i.registeredInThatShape(ctx, m.Module)
-				if err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-				if !already {
 				return fmt.Errorf("%s is not registered: %s", m.Module, why)
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	}
 	raw, err := json.Marshal(m)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	asked := from.Asked
+	if asked.IsZero() {
+		asked = time.Now()
+	}
+
 	// A module registered without provenance keeps whatever it had. Handing over a manifest by
 	// hand is a legitimate way to fix something in a hurry, and it should not silently erase the
 	// record of where the module normally comes from — which is the only thing that would say,
 	// afterwards, that the machine is running something nobody can rebuild.
-	_, err = i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
-		`insert into module (name, manifest, version, source, source_path, source_seat, ref, built_from, source_head)
-		 values ($1, $2, nullif($3,''), nullif($4,''), $7, $8, nullif($5,''), nullif($6,''), nullif($6,''))
+	//
+	// **An older request never replaces a newer one** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). Builds of one
+	// module in flight together finish in any order, and each stood on the bases the mesh held when
+	// it was asked; the one asked later is what the module is, whichever is heard last. An outcome
+	// of an earlier request is kept in the build records and changes nothing here.
+	tag, err := i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
+		`insert into module (name, manifest, version, source, source_path, source_seat, ref, built_from, source_head, built_asked)
+		 values ($1, $2, nullif($3,''), nullif($4,''), $7, $8, nullif($5,''), nullif($6,''), nullif($6,''), $9)
 		 on conflict (name) do update set
 		     manifest   = excluded.manifest,
 		     version    = excluded.version,
@@ -115,29 +128,23 @@ func (i *Inventory) RegisterModule(ctx context.Context, m catalogue.Manifest, fr
 		                        else excluded.source_seat end,
 		     ref        = coalesce(excluded.ref, module.ref),
 		     built_from = coalesce(excluded.built_from, module.built_from),
-		     source_head = coalesce(excluded.built_from, module.source_head)`,
-		m.Module, raw, m.Version, from.Repository, from.Ref, from.BuiltFrom, from.Path, from.Seat)
+		     source_head = coalesce(excluded.built_from, module.source_head),
+		     built_asked = excluded.built_asked
+		 where module.built_asked is null or module.built_asked <= excluded.built_asked`,
+		m.Module, raw, m.Version, from.Repository, from.Ref, from.BuiltFrom, from.Path, from.Seat, asked)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
-}
-
-// registeredInThatShape is whether the catalogue already holds this module as a tools container on
-// the runtime's image — judged from the manifest it holds and what that module's newest build stood
-// on, the same two things the gate judges a new registration by. False for a module the catalogue
-// does not hold.
-func (i *Inventory) registeredInThatShape(ctx context.Context, name string) (bool, error) {
-	held, err := i.Catalogue(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return false, err
 	}
-	stored, has := held[name]
-	if !has {
-		return false, nil
+	if tag.RowsAffected() == 0 {
+		var current time.Time
+		if err := i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
+			`select built_asked from module where name = $1`, m.Module).Scan(&current); err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
-	against, err := i.BuiltAgainst(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return false, err
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %s is at a build asked %s, and this one was asked %s",
+			ErrSuperseded, m.Module, current.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339), asked.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339))
 	}
-	return catalogue.ToolContainerOnTheRuntime(stored, against[name]) != "", nil
+	return nil
 }
 
 // hasModule is whether the catalogue holds a module of that name.

internal/inventory/catalogue_test.go

@@ -688,9 +688,9 @@ func TestRegisteringWithoutProvenanceKeepsTheSeat(t *testing.T) {
 
 // Once the node's tool runtime is in the catalogue, a module serving its tools from a container
 // built on the runtime's image is refused at registration, naming the record (novox/hq ADR 0175,
-// to-be 38 WP2.4) — for a module new to the catalogue or one that had moved away from it; a module
-// already standing in that shape is rebuilt as before, so the catalogue's pipeline keeps running
-// while each moves (WP3's amendment). Before the runtime, it is accepted as it always was — so a
+// to-be 38 WP2.4) — for every module, since every module has moved (WP4b's last step; WP3's
+// amendment let one already standing in that shape be rebuilt while each moved). Before the
+// runtime, it is accepted as it always was — so a
 // mesh converts in the order the design says and nothing is refused before there is anything to
 // move to.
 func TestAToolContainerIsRefusedOnceTheRuntimeIsRegistered(t *testing.T) {
@@ -715,11 +715,11 @@ func TestAToolContainerIsRefusedOnceTheRuntimeIsRegistered(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	// **A module already registered in that shape is rebuilt without complaint** (to-be 38 WP2.4 as
-	// amended by WP3): some thirty of them stand the day the runtime arrives, and each moves in its
-	// own change. The gate is against the pattern spreading, not against the pipeline running.
-	if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, filter, Source{Repository: "/r", Against: stoodOn}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("a rebuild of a module that already had the pattern was refused: %v", err)
+	// **A module already registered in that shape is refused too** (WP4b's last step): every module
+	// has moved, and a rebuild in the old shape is one moving back.
+	if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, filter, Source{Repository: "/r", Against: stoodOn}); err == nil ||
+		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), "ADR 0175") {
+		t.Fatalf("a rebuild of a module in the old pattern was registered beside the runtime: %v", err)
 	}
 	// A module new to the catalogue in that shape is refused, naming the record.
 	newcomer := filter

internal/inventory/collection.go

@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+package inventory
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// What the artifact store keeps, and what it may let go (novox/hq ADR 0189, issue 108).
+//
+// The store has never collected anything: every build pushes another layer set and nothing has
+// ever removed one. The registry's own answer — collect what no tag names — is wrong here, because
+// the mesh pushes each artifact under one moving tag and pins machines by digest, so every build
+// but the newest is untagged and some machine may still be running it.
+//
+// **So the mesh decides, from its own records, and it never has to look in the store to do it.**
+// It has never put anything there it did not record, which means every digest it could remove is
+// already in a build row. A digest the mesh did not record making is therefore never named here —
+// not as a safety margin but as the rule restated, and it is what keeps the sweep away from the
+// images genesis pushed before any record existed (04-ISSUES/102, F4).
+
+// KeptBuilds is how many successful builds of each module keep their artifacts, counting the
+// newest. The newest is what the mesh hands a machine now; the four behind it are how far back a
+// release that turns out wrong can be taken.
+const KeptBuilds = 5
+
+// ToCollect is every artifact the mesh made, no longer keeps, and has not already collected.
+//
+// Three reasons an artifact stays, and nothing else is a reason:
+//
+//   - **a definition names it** — the reference appears in a module's recorded manifest, which is
+//     what the mesh would hand a machine now. No age limit: this is the floor;
+//   - **the mesh can still go back to it** — it is an artifact of one of the KeptBuilds most
+//     recent successful builds of its module;
+//   - it was already collected, in which case there is nothing left to do.
+//
+// Returned in a stated order so two runs over the same records ask for the same things in the
+// same sequence, which is what makes a failed sweep safe to simply run again.
+func (i *Inventory) ToCollect(ctx context.Context) ([]string, error) {
+	keep, err := i.keptReferences(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
+		// Every artifact of every successful build, oldest first, minus what has already been
+		// collected. A failed build published nothing, so it names nothing to remove.
+		`select b.made
+		   from build b
+		  where b.failed = '' and b.module is not null and b.module <> ''
+		  order by b.at asc, b.id asc`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+
+	collected, err := i.alreadyCollected(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	var out []string
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var raw []byte
+		if err := rows.Scan(&raw); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		var made []Artifact
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &made); err != nil {
+			// One unreadable record must not stop the rest being collected — and an artifact this
+			// row named is simply not offered, which errs toward keeping.
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, a := range made {
+			if a.Reference == "" || keep[a.Reference] || collected[a.Reference] || seen[a.Reference] {
+				continue
+			}
+			seen[a.Reference] = true
+			out = append(out, a.Reference)
+		}
+	}
+	return out, rows.Err()
+}
+
+// keptReferences is every artifact reference the mesh still keeps, for either of the two reasons.
+func (i *Inventory) keptReferences(ctx context.Context) (map[string]bool, error) {
+	keep := map[string]bool{}
+
+	// **Whatever a definition the mesh holds names.** Read as text rather than by walking the
+	// resource shapes: a reference may be a container's image, a bundle's source, or a field some
+	// later kind of resource grows, and what matters is only whether the mesh could hand this
+	// string to a machine. A manifest that mentions it is a manifest that might.
+	manifests, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx, `select manifest::text from module where manifest is not null`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer manifests.Close()
+	var named []string
+	for manifests.Next() {
+		var text string
+		if err := manifests.Scan(&text); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		named = append(named, text)
+	}
+	if err := manifests.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// The KeptBuilds most recent successful builds of each module, whole.
+	recent, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
+		`select made from (
+		    select made, row_number() over (partition by module order by at desc, id desc) as back
+		      from build
+		     where failed = '' and module is not null and module <> ''
+		 ) ranked where back <= $1`, KeptBuilds)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer recent.Close()
+	for recent.Next() {
+		var raw []byte
+		if err := recent.Scan(&raw); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		var made []Artifact
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &made); err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, a := range made {
+			if a.Reference != "" {
+				keep[a.Reference] = true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if err := recent.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// And anything a manifest mentions. Done after the recent set so the scan runs over the
+	// candidates rather than over every reference ever recorded: a manifest holds a reference
+	// composed with the store's address or kept bare, so the search is for the digest within it.
+	if len(named) > 0 {
+		all, err := i.everyReferenceMade(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		for _, reference := range all {
+			if keep[reference] {
+				continue
+			}
+			digest := digestIn(reference)
+			if digest == "" {
+				// Not something the store holds by digest; nothing here can speak for it, so it
+				// is kept rather than guessed about.
+				keep[reference] = true
+				continue
+			}
+			for _, text := range named {
+				if strings.Contains(text, digest) {
+					keep[reference] = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return keep, nil
+}
+
+// everyReferenceMade is every artifact reference any successful build recorded.
+func (i *Inventory) everyReferenceMade(ctx context.Context) ([]string, error) {
+	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
+		`select made from build where failed = '' and module is not null and module <> ''`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	var out []string
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var raw []byte
+		if err := rows.Scan(&raw); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		var made []Artifact
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &made); err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, a := range made {
+			if a.Reference == "" || seen[a.Reference] {
+				continue
+			}
+			seen[a.Reference] = true
+			out = append(out, a.Reference)
+		}
+	}
+	return out, rows.Err()
+}
+
+// digestIn is the `sha256:<hex>` a reference names, empty when it names none.
+func digestIn(reference string) string {
+	for _, marker := range []string{"@sha256:", "/sha256:"} {
+		if _, after, ok := strings.Cut(reference, marker); ok {
+			return "sha256:" + after
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// alreadyCollected is what the store has already been asked to let go.
+func (i *Inventory) alreadyCollected(ctx context.Context) (map[string]bool, error) {
+	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx, `select reference from artifact_collected`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+	out := map[string]bool{}
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var reference string
+		if err := rows.Scan(&reference); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		out[reference] = true
+	}
+	return out, rows.Err()
+}
+
+// MarkCollected records that the store no longer holds these.
+//
+// **A store that answered "not found" is recorded too.** The outcome wanted is that the artifact
+// is gone, and it is; retrying it every sweep for ever is the failure this table exists to
+// prevent. Only a store that could not be reached, or refused, leaves a reference unmarked — and
+// then the next sweep asks again, which is what should happen.
+func (i *Inventory) MarkCollected(ctx context.Context, references []string) error {
+	for _, reference := range references {
+		if _, err := i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
+			`insert into artifact_collected (reference) values ($1) on conflict (reference) do nothing`,
+			reference); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}

internal/inventory/collection_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+package inventory
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// What the store keeps, and what it may let go (novox/hq ADR 0189, issue 108).
+//
+// The store has collected nothing since it was raised, and the registry's own answer — collect
+// what no tag names — would delete images machines are running, because the mesh pushes under one
+// moving tag and pins by digest. So the rule is the mesh's, read from its own records, and these
+// are the three reasons an artifact stays and the one reason it goes.
+
+// ref is an artifact reference as the mesh records one.
+func ref(module, artifact string, n int) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%s/%s@sha256:%064x", catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme, module, artifact, n)
+}
+
+// built records one successful build of a module publishing one image.
+func built(t *testing.T, inv *Inventory, id, module string, n int) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	reference := ref(module, "app", n)
+	b := aBuild(id, module, "")
+	b.Made = []Artifact{{Name: "app", Kind: "image", Reference: reference}}
+	if err := inv.RecordBuild(context.Background(), b); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return reference
+}
+
+func TestTheStoreKeepsTheRecentBuildsAndLetsGoOfTheRest(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	// Eight builds of one module, oldest first. Five are kept — the newest, and the four a
+	// release that turns out wrong can be taken back to.
+	var made []string
+	for i := 1; i <= 8; i++ {
+		made = append(made, built(t, inv, fmt.Sprintf("b%02d", i), "web", i))
+	}
+
+	go_, err := inv.ToCollect(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	want := made[:3] // the three oldest
+	if len(go_) != len(want) {
+		t.Fatalf("offered %v to collect; want the %d oldest of %d", go_, len(want), len(made))
+	}
+	for i := range want {
+		if go_[i] != want[i] {
+			t.Fatalf("offered %v; want %v — and in that order, so a failed sweep is safe to run again",
+				go_, want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestADefinitionNamingAnArtifactKeepsItHoweverOldItIs(t *testing.T) {
+	// The floor: no age limit. A module recorded at an older commit still names what the mesh
+	// would hand a machine now, and that is what must not be collected out from under it.
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	var made []string
+	for i := 1; i <= 8; i++ {
+		made = append(made, built(t, inv, fmt.Sprintf("b%02d", i), "web", i))
+	}
+	oldest := made[0]
+
+	// A definition the mesh holds, whose container runs that oldest image.
+	m := catalogue.Manifest{Module: "web", Version: "1", Resources: []map[string]any{{
+		"id": "app", "type": "container", "name": "web", "image": oldest,
+	}}}
+	if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, m, Source{Repository: "https://forge.invalid/web.git"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	go_, err := inv.ToCollect(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, reference := range go_ {
+		if reference == oldest {
+			t.Fatalf("the mesh offered to collect %s, which a definition it holds names", oldest)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(go_) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("offered %v; want the two oldest that nothing names", go_)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWhatHasBeenCollectedIsNotOfferedAgain(t *testing.T) {
+	// Without this the sweep reissues a delete for every artifact it has ever collected, every
+	// time it runs, for ever — a number of requests that grows with the mesh's whole history.
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	for i := 1; i <= 7; i++ {
+		built(t, inv, fmt.Sprintf("b%02d", i), "web", i)
+	}
+	first, err := inv.ToCollect(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(first) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("offered %v, want two", first)
+	}
+	if err := inv.MarkCollected(ctx, first); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	again, err := inv.ToCollect(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(again) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("offered %v again after collecting it", again)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAFailedBuildNamesNothingToCollectAndEachModuleIsCountedOnItsOwn(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	// A failed build published nothing, so it is neither kept nor collected — and it must not
+	// count against the module's five.
+	for i := 1; i <= 6; i++ {
+		built(t, inv, fmt.Sprintf("w%02d", i), "web", i)
+	}
+	if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, aBuild("w99", "web", "the recipe would not build")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// And a second module with three builds keeps all three: five each, not five between them.
+	for i := 1; i <= 3; i++ {
+		built(t, inv, fmt.Sprintf("d%02d", i), "db", 100+i)
+	}
+
+	go_, err := inv.ToCollect(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(go_) != 1 || go_[0] != ref("web", "app", 1) {
+		t.Fatalf("offered %v; want only web's oldest — db's three are all within its five", go_)
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/dependencies.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/builder"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 )
 
@@ -96,6 +97,21 @@ func dependenciesOf(entries []Entry, against map[string][]string, read map[strin
 					add(name, on.Module, EdgeDeclared)
 				}
 			}
+			// **A bundle stands on the toolchain it is compiled in** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/211). A
+			// manifest names its toolchain by language, not in `build.on`, so the edge was implicit
+			// and a merge that moved the toolchain and a bundle together built both in one tier —
+			// the bundle against the toolchain as it was, recorded as built from the new commit. Read
+			// from the manifest, so it holds before any build has recorded what it stood on; and a
+			// toolchain that moves rebuilds every bundle compiled in it, which is what a toolchain
+			// carrying a bundle's dependencies requires.
+			for _, a := range e.Manifest.Build.Artifacts {
+				if a.Kind != catalogue.ArtifactBundle {
+					continue
+				}
+				if chain, err := builder.ToolchainFor(a.Language); err == nil {
+					add(name, chain.Base, EdgeStandsOn)
+				}
+			}
 		}
 		for _, ref := range against[name] {
 			if rest, ok := strings.CutPrefix(ref, catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme); ok {

internal/inventory/dependencies_test.go

@@ -62,3 +62,61 @@ func TestDependenciesAreOneRelationWithTheirKinds(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/211: a bundle stands on the toolchain it is compiled in, so a merge moving both
+// builds the toolchain first — read from the manifest, before any build recorded it.
+func TestABundleStandsOnTheToolchainItIsCompiledIn(t *testing.T) {
+	entries := []Entry{
+		{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "mesh-tools"}, Source: Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-tools"}},
+		{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "mesh-tools-go"}, Source: Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-tools-go"}},
+		{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "node-tools", Build: &catalogue.Build{Artifacts: []catalogue.Artifact{
+			{Name: "runtime", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactBundle, Language: "go", System: "arch", From: "cmd/node-tools"}}}},
+			Source: Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-tools"}},
+		{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "nftables", Build: &catalogue.Build{Artifacts: []catalogue.Artifact{
+			{Name: "tools", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactBundle, Language: "typescript", Entrypoints: []string{"tools/index.js"}}}}},
+			Source: Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog"}},
+		{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "photos", Build: &catalogue.Build{Artifacts: []catalogue.Artifact{
+			{Name: "server", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactImage, From: "Dockerfile"}}}},
+			Source: Source{Repository: "novox/photos"}},
+	}
+	edges := dependenciesOf(entries, nil, nil)
+	has := func(from, to string) bool {
+		for _, e := range edges {
+			if e.From == from && e.To == to && e.Kind == EdgeStandsOn {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+		return false
+	}
+	if !has("nftables", "mesh-tools") {
+		t.Errorf("a TypeScript bundle does not stand on the TypeScript toolchain: %v", edges)
+	}
+	if !has("node-tools", "mesh-tools-go") {
+		t.Errorf("a Go bundle does not stand on the Go toolchain: %v", edges)
+	}
+	for _, e := range edges {
+		if e.From == "photos" && e.Kind == EdgeStandsOn {
+			t.Errorf("an image stands on a toolchain it is not compiled in: %v", e)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/212: a toolchain standing on the SDK's package is planned after the SDK, so a
+// release of the SDK rebuilds the toolchain, and every bundle compiled in it after that.
+func TestAToolchainStandingOnTheSDKFollowsIt(t *testing.T) {
+	entries := []Entry{
+		{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "mesh-sdk"}},
+		{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "mesh-tools", Build: &catalogue.Build{
+			On: []catalogue.BuildsOn{{Arg: "MESH_SDK", Module: "mesh-sdk", Artifact: "lib"}}}}},
+	}
+	edges := dependenciesOf(entries, nil, nil)
+	found := false
+	for _, e := range edges {
+		if e.From == "mesh-tools" && e.To == "mesh-sdk" {
+			found = true
+		}
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Errorf("no edge from the toolchain to the SDK: %v", edges)
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/heldhere_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package inventory
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 218: a seat held once for the mesh is granted and issued only to the holder on record;
+// a node seat to every machine's claimant; a mesh seat with no holder on record as derived.
+func TestOnlyTheRecordedHolderHoldsAMeshSeat(t *testing.T) {
+	claimed := []broker.Seat{
+		{Name: "mesh-store", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh},
+		{Name: "node-packet-filter", Scope: catalogue.ScopeNode},
+		{Name: "unrecorded", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh},
+	}
+	holdings := []catalogue.Held{{Claim: "mesh-store", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh, Node: "control", Module: "postgres"}}
+	names := func(ss []broker.Seat) (out []string) {
+		for _, s := range ss {
+			out = append(out, s.Name)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	if got := names(heldHere(claimed, holdings, "control", "postgres")); len(got) != 3 {
+		t.Errorf("the holder lost a seat: %v", got)
+	}
+	got := names(heldHere(claimed, holdings, "other", "postgres"))
+	if len(got) != 2 || got[0] != "node-packet-filter" || got[1] != "unrecorded" {
+		t.Errorf("a claimant on another machine holds %v; want the node seat and the unrecorded one, not the store", got)
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/hold.go

@@ -87,3 +87,62 @@ func (i *Inventory) tryHold(ctx context.Context, sorted []string) (func(), strin
 	}
 	return release, "", nil
 }
+
+// ErrPlansBusy is the plans held by another act — on a machine replacing its controller, the other
+// controller — for longer than a caller waits, or at all for one that does not wait.
+var ErrPlansBusy = errors.New("another controller is working the plans")
+
+// HoldPlans makes working the plans one act at a time, across every controller on the store
+// (novox/hq issue 213). A plan is read, changed and written whole; two controllers doing that at
+// once — the old and the new for the moment a machine hands its controller over, or a controller
+// and a person's `plans stop` — each act on what the other has not saved yet: a tier asked twice,
+// an outcome written over. A session-level advisory lock on one connection, released by the
+// returned function and by the session ending, so a controller that dies holding it holds nothing.
+//
+// wait false gives ErrPlansBusy at once when another holds them — the timer's way: the holder is
+// moving the plans already. wait true looks again every HoldPoll for up to HoldWaitFor — an
+// outcome's or a merge's way, which must be written.
+func (i *Inventory) HoldPlans(ctx context.Context, wait bool) (func(), error) {
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(HoldWaitFor)
+	for {
+		release, took, err := i.tryLock(ctx, "mesh-plans")
+		if err != nil || took {
+			return release, err
+		}
+		if !wait || time.Now().After(deadline) {
+			return nil, ErrPlansBusy
+		}
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return nil, ctx.Err()
+		case <-time.After(HoldPoll):
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// tryLock takes one named advisory lock on a connection of its own, or gives the connection back.
+func (i *Inventory) tryLock(ctx context.Context, key string) (func(), bool, error) {
+	conn, err := i.store.Pool().Acquire(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, false, err
+	}
+	var once sync.Once
+	release := func() {
+		once.Do(func() {
+			if _, err := conn.Exec(context.WithoutCancel(ctx), `select pg_advisory_unlock_all()`); err != nil {
+				_ = conn.Conn().Close(context.WithoutCancel(ctx))
+			}
+			conn.Release()
+		})
+	}
+	var took bool
+	if err := conn.QueryRow(ctx, `select pg_try_advisory_lock(hashtext($1)::bigint)`, key).Scan(&took); err != nil {
+		release()
+		return nil, false, err
+	}
+	if !took {
+		release()
+		return nil, false, nil
+	}
+	return release, true, nil
+}

internal/inventory/hold_plans_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package inventory
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 213: while a machine hands its controller over from the container to the process,
+// two controllers run on one store for a moment. Working the plans is one act at a time across them.
+func TestThePlansAreWorkedByOneControllerAtATime(t *testing.T) {
+	first := ForTest(t)
+	// A second controller: its own connections to the same store.
+	second, err := Open(t.Context())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(second.Close)
+
+	release, err := first.HoldPlans(t.Context(), false)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the plans could not be held when nobody held them: %v", err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(release) // a pool closing waits for a connection still held; release is idempotent
+	if _, err := second.HoldPlans(t.Context(), false); !errors.Is(err, ErrPlansBusy) {
+		t.Fatalf("a second controller held the plans while the first did: %v", err)
+	}
+	// A waiter gets them once they are let go.
+	was := HoldPoll
+	HoldPoll = 10 * time.Millisecond
+	defer func() { HoldPoll = was }()
+	go func() { time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond); release() }()
+	again, err := second.HoldPlans(t.Context(), true)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a waiting controller never got the plans once they were let go: %v", err)
+	}
+	again()
+}

internal/inventory/migrations/0055-an-older-build-never-replaces-a-newer.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+-- A build is ordered by when it was asked, not when it finished (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219).
+--
+-- Two builds of one module can be in flight together — two merge plans a few minutes apart, each
+-- asking for everything standing on what it changed — and they finish in any order. Each build
+-- stands on the bases the mesh held when it was *asked*, so the one asked later is the newer one.
+-- The mesh ordered builds by `at`, which is when the outcome was recorded, and registered whatever
+-- it heard last: an older request that took longer replaced a newer one as what the module is, and
+-- the next push sent machines an image built on a base the mesh had already replaced.
+--
+-- `build.asked` is when the build was requested, read from the correlation id the controller wrote
+-- (`build-<unix nanoseconds>`). Nullable: an id of any other shape says no request time, and such a
+-- build is placed where it was recorded, which is the order the mesh had before this.
+alter table build add column asked timestamptz;
+
+update build
+   set asked = to_timestamp((substring(id from '^build-([0-9]{19})$'))::numeric / 1000000000)
+ where id ~ '^build-[0-9]{19}$';
+
+-- `module.built_asked` is when the build the module's registered manifest came from was asked, so
+-- a later-heard outcome of an earlier request is recorded and not registered. A manifest handed over
+-- by hand is a request made when it is handed over. Null for a module registered before this was
+-- kept: its next registration, whichever it is, sets it.
+alter table module add column built_asked timestamptz;

internal/inventory/migrations/0056-what-the-store-no-longer-keeps.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+-- What the artifact store no longer keeps (novox/hq ADR 0189, issue 108).
+--
+-- The mesh removes from its store only what it put there and can account for: every digest it
+-- could remove is already in a build record, so the sweep reads its own records rather than
+-- enumerating the store. What it does not get from those records is whether it has already
+-- removed something -- `build.made` says what that build published, for ever, which is history
+-- and not an index of what is on disk.
+--
+-- Without this the sweep would reissue a delete for every artifact it has ever collected, every
+-- time it runs, and each one would answer 404 -- a number of requests that grows with the mesh's
+-- whole history and never shrinks.
+--
+-- Keyed by the reference as the mesh records it (`artifact-store://<module>/<artifact>@sha256:…`),
+-- because that is the identity the record uses everywhere else. Not a foreign key to build: two
+-- builds can publish the same digest (the same source built twice produces the same bytes), and
+-- what is collected is the artifact, not the attempt that made it.
+create table artifact_collected (
+    reference text        primary key,
+
+    -- When the store answered. Kept so a reader of an old build record can tell "this artifact is
+    -- gone" from "this artifact was never there", which are different kinds of surprise.
+    at        timestamptz not null default now()
+);

internal/inventory/older_build_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+package inventory
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219: two builds of one module in flight together, the one asked first heard
+// last. The newer request stood on the newer base; the older one's late outcome is recorded and is
+// not what the module is.
+
+func postgresBuild(id string, asked time.Time, image string) Build {
+	b := aBuild(id, "postgres", "")
+	b.Asked = asked
+	b.Against = []string{"mesh-tools/runtime@sha256:" + id}
+	b.Made = []Artifact{{Name: "server", Kind: "image", Reference: "postgres@sha256:" + image}}
+	return b
+}
+
+func TestAnOlderRequestFinishingLaterIsNotWhatTheModuleHolds(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	older := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 21, 33, 45, 0, time.UTC)
+	newer := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 21, 51, 57, 0, time.UTC)
+
+	// The newer request finishes first, the older one last — recorded in that order.
+	if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, postgresBuild("newer", newer, "4bcd5f73")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, postgresBuild("older", older, "0ab07fa9")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	held, err := inv.Held(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := held["postgres/server"]; got != "postgres@sha256:4bcd5f73" {
+		t.Errorf("postgres holds %q; want the newer request's image 4bcd5f73", got)
+	}
+	against, err := inv.BuiltAgainst(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := against["postgres"]; len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "mesh-tools/runtime@sha256:newer" {
+		t.Errorf("postgres stands on %v; want what the newer request stood on", got)
+	}
+
+	// Both are still recorded, the late one first as what happened lately.
+	builds, err := inv.Builds(ctx, "postgres", 5)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(builds) != 2 || builds[0].ID != "older" || !builds[0].Asked.Equal(older) {
+		t.Fatalf("both builds, newest heard first, with when they were asked: %+v", builds)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestABuildWithNoKnownRequestTimeIsOrderedByWhenItWasRecorded(t *testing.T) {
+	// What the mesh did before it kept the request time, so a row from before still answers.
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	for _, id := range []string{"first", "second"} {
+		b := aBuild(id, "shell", "")
+		b.Made = []Artifact{{Name: "config", Kind: "archive", Reference: "…/" + id}}
+		if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, b); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	held, err := inv.Held(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := held["shell/config"]; got != "…/second" {
+		t.Errorf("shell holds %q; want the one recorded last", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestARegistrationFromAnOlderRequestDoesNotReplaceANewerOne(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	older := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 21, 33, 45, 0, time.UTC)
+	newer := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 21, 51, 57, 0, time.UTC)
+	from := func(asked time.Time) Source {
+		return Source{Repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", Seat: "git", Path: "modules/postgres",
+			BuiltFrom: "efff5415", Asked: asked}
+	}
+
+	if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, catalogue.Manifest{Module: "postgres", Version: "fixed"}, from(newer)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, catalogue.Manifest{Module: "postgres", Version: "stale"}, from(older))
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrSuperseded) {
+		t.Fatalf("an older request's registration was not refused as superseded: %v", err)
+	}
+	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := shelf["postgres"].Version; got != "fixed" {
+		t.Fatalf("postgres is %q; want the newer request's manifest", got)
+	}
+
+	// A later request, and a manifest handed over by hand — asked when it is handed over — both
+	// replace it as before.
+	if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, catalogue.Manifest{Module: "postgres", Version: "later"},
+		from(newer.Add(time.Minute))); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, catalogue.Manifest{Module: "postgres", Version: "by-hand"}, Source{}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if shelf, _ := inv.Catalogue(ctx); shelf["postgres"].Version != "by-hand" {
+		t.Fatalf("postgres is %q; want the manifest handed over by hand", shelf["postgres"].Version)
+	}
+	src, err := inv.SourceOf(ctx, "postgres")
+	if err != nil || src.Repository != "novox/mesh-catalog" {
+		t.Fatalf("a hand registration erased the provenance: %+v %v", src, err)
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/people_test.go

@@ -44,8 +44,15 @@ func TestAPersonMayCallToolsAndNothingElse(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 		// The one tool, both ways it is addressed (novox/hq ADR 0159): to whichever instance
 		// answers, and to the instance on one machine. Nothing else.
-		if len(perms.Publish) != 2 || perms.Publish[0] != "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.tool.catalog_tools" ||
-			perms.Publish[1] != "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.tool.catalog_tools.*" {
+		// And asking what answers (novox/hq ADR 0197), which claims nothing and calls nothing.
+		var tools []string
+		for _, s := range perms.Publish {
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(s, "$SRV.") {
+				tools = append(tools, s)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(tools) != 2 || tools[0] != "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.tool.catalog_tools" ||
+			tools[1] != "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.tool.catalog_tools.*" {
 			t.Errorf("ada may publish %v, which should be the one tool, both ways addressed, and nothing else", perms.Publish)
 		}
 		for _, s := range perms.Publish {

internal/link/announce.go

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package link
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/micro"
+)
+
+// What answers announces itself (novox/hq ADR 0197). A holder that serves a seat's verbs answers the
+// NATS services protocol's discovery — `$SRV.PING` and `$SRV.INFO`, and each by its service's name
+// and instance — with exactly what it serves, in NATS's own format, so the console and the standard
+// `nats micro` commands learn what exists from what answers rather than from a roster.
+
+// DiscoverySubjects are where one service instance is asked to say what it is.
+func DiscoverySubjects(name, id string) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, verb := range []string{"PING", "INFO", "STATS"} {
+		out = append(out, "$SRV."+verb, "$SRV."+verb+"."+name, "$SRV."+verb+"."+name+"."+id)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// Announce answers discovery for one service until stopped. The answer is fixed at the call: a holder
+// whose verbs change announces again. Every instance answers, so there is no queue group.
+func (b OverNATS) Announce(info micro.Info, logger *log.Logger) (func(), error) {
+	info.Type = micro.InfoResponseType
+	infoBody, err := json.Marshal(info)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	pingBody, err := json.Marshal(micro.Ping{ServiceIdentity: info.ServiceIdentity, Type: micro.PingResponseType})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	// Statistics the protocol asks for; the controller keeps none per verb, so it answers its
+	// identity and its endpoints with nothing counted — an honest zero, not a refusal.
+	stats := micro.Stats{ServiceIdentity: info.ServiceIdentity, Type: micro.StatsResponseType}
+	for _, e := range info.Endpoints {
+		stats.Endpoints = append(stats.Endpoints, &micro.EndpointStats{Name: e.Name, Subject: e.Subject, QueueGroup: e.QueueGroup})
+	}
+	statsBody, err := json.Marshal(stats)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var subs []*nats.Subscription
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	stop := func() {
+		close(done)
+		for _, s := range subs {
+			_ = s.Unsubscribe()
+		}
+	}
+	for _, subject := range DiscoverySubjects(info.Name, info.ID) {
+		subject := subject
+		body := infoBody
+		switch {
+		case len(subject) >= 9 && subject[:9] == "$SRV.PING":
+			body = pingBody
+		case len(subject) >= 10 && subject[:10] == "$SRV.STATS":
+			body = statsBody
+		}
+		bind := func() (*nats.Subscription, error) {
+			return b.Conn.Subscribe(subject, func(msg *nats.Msg) {
+				if err := msg.Respond(body); err != nil && logger != nil {
+					logger.Printf("%s: could not answer: %v", subject, err)
+				}
+			})
+		}
+		sub, err := bind()
+		if err != nil {
+			stop()
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("announcing %s on %s: %w", info.Name, subject, err)
+		}
+		subs = append(subs, sub)
+		go keepBound(sub, bind, subject, done, logger)
+	}
+	return stop, nil
+}

internal/link/build.go

@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ package link
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // Asking a machine to build a module, and hearing what came out.
@@ -17,6 +20,32 @@ import (
 // holds no opinion about what they contain, and a host that also built things would be a host
 // with a container runtime requirement and a git dependency (novox/hq ADR 0005).
 
+// NewBuildID is the correlation for a build asked at that moment: `build-<unix nanoseconds>`.
+//
+// **The id carries when the build was asked, and that is read back** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/219). Builds
+// of one module can be in flight together and finish in any order; what a module currently is must
+// be the newest *request's* outcome, not the last one heard, and the id is the one thing every
+// outcome echoes whichever builder answered it. One place writes the shape and one reads it.
+func NewBuildID(asked time.Time) string {
+	return "build-" + strconv.FormatInt(asked.UnixNano(), 10)
+}
+
+// BuildAskedAt is when the build with this id was asked, as NewBuildID wrote it. False for an id
+// of any other shape — one written before this was read, or by hand — whose request time the mesh
+// does not know.
+func BuildAskedAt(id string) (time.Time, bool) {
+	digits, ok := strings.CutPrefix(id, "build-")
+	if !ok || digits == "" {
+		return time.Time{}, false
+	}
+	nanos, err := strconv.ParseInt(digits, 10, 64)
+	// A number too small to be a moment this mesh could have asked at is a name, not a time.
+	if err != nil || nanos < time.Date(2020, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC).UnixNano() {
+		return time.Time{}, false
+	}
+	return time.Unix(0, nanos).UTC(), true
+}
+
 // BuildRequest is one module to build.
 type BuildRequest struct {
 	// ID correlates the answer with the asking. Not the module name: two builds of one module can

internal/link/builds_nats.go

@@ -193,9 +193,15 @@ func (m *natsMachine) Take(ctx context.Context, do func(context.Context, Build))
 		// machine with nothing to build, and is asked again.
 		fetched, err := sub.Fetch(1, nats.Context(ctx))
 		switch {
-		case errors.Is(err, context.Canceled), errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded):
+		case ctx.Err() != nil:
+			// Ours ended: the machine is being stopped.
 			return nil
-		case errors.Is(err, nats.ErrTimeout):
+		case errors.Is(err, context.Canceled), errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded), errors.Is(err, nats.ErrTimeout):
+			// **An empty queue, not the end.** A fetch on a context without a deadline waits the
+			// client's own while and then says the deadline passed — the client's, not ours. Read
+			// as "stop", every idle build machine exited clean every half minute and was started
+			// again by its supervisor, which looked like a crash loop with nothing in the log to
+			// say why (2026-10-03, the first build agents). Asked again.
 			continue
 		case err != nil:
 			if sub.IsValid() {

internal/link/receive_nats.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -78,10 +79,15 @@ func (n *natsInbound) Receive(ctx context.Context, act func(context.Context, Con
 	// than creating one here: the consumer is an object with a configuration — ack policy, ack
 	// wait, redelivery — and a client that creates its own would be a second opinion about it.
 	control := make(chan *nats.Msg, Prefetch)
-	said, err := js.ChanSubscribe("", control, nats.Bind("CONTROL", broker.ControllerName))
+	said, err := standingBy(ctx, log.Default(), "CONTROL", func() (*nats.Subscription, error) {
+		return js.ChanSubscribe("", control, nats.Bind("CONTROL", broker.ControllerName))
+	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("subscribing to what nodes say: %w", err)
 	}
+	if said == nil {
+		return nil // stopped while standing by
+	}
 	defer func() { _ = said.Unsubscribe() }()
 
 	// Heartbeats, on core NATS and off any stream (design 25 §3). Their own subscription because
@@ -97,10 +103,15 @@ func (n *natsInbound) Receive(ctx context.Context, act func(context.Context, Con
 	var events chan *nats.Msg
 	if len(n.follows) > 0 {
 		events = make(chan *nats.Msg, Prefetch)
-		followed, err := js.ChanSubscribe("", events, nats.Bind("EVENTS", broker.ControllerName))
+		followed, err := standingBy(ctx, log.Default(), "EVENTS", func() (*nats.Subscription, error) {
+			return js.ChanSubscribe("", events, nats.Bind("EVENTS", broker.ControllerName))
+		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("subscribing to what the catalogue says: %w", err)
 		}
+		if followed == nil {
+			return nil
+		}
 		defer func() { _ = followed.Unsubscribe() }()
 	}
 
@@ -324,3 +335,44 @@ func (m *natsControl) forget() {
 type replyAddressed struct {
 	ReplyTo string `json:"reply_to,omitempty"`
 }
+
+// StandbyPoll is how often a controller standing by looks again for its consumers. A variable so a
+// test need not wait.
+var StandbyPoll = 2 * time.Second
+
+// standingBy binds one of the controller's consumers, waiting while another controller holds it.
+//
+// **Two controllers, one consumer** (novox/hq issue 213). The controller's consumers are push
+// consumers with no delivery group, so the server lets one subscription bind each — on purpose:
+// two would each act on every message (issue 146). When a machine hands its controller over from
+// the container to the process, the host starts the process first and removes the container only
+// once the process is up; the process then finds the consumers bound. Exiting on that would never
+// be up, so the container would never go. It stands by instead — the seat's verbs are already
+// served from a queue group, and the plans wait on their lock — and binds as soon as the other lets
+// go. Nil and no error is ctx ending while it waited.
+func standingBy(ctx context.Context, logger interface{ Printf(string, ...any) }, stream string,
+	bind func() (*nats.Subscription, error)) (*nats.Subscription, error) {
+	said := false
+	for {
+		sub, err := bind()
+		if err == nil {
+			if said {
+				logger.Printf("took the controller's consumer on %s: the controller that held it let go", stream)
+			}
+			return sub, nil
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "already bound") {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if !said {
+			logger.Printf("another controller holds the controller's consumer on %s; standing by "+
+				"until it lets go", stream)
+			said = true
+		}
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return nil, nil
+		case <-time.After(StandbyPoll):
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/link/standby_nats_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package link
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 213: while a machine hands its controller over, the new controller (the process)
+// is started while the old one (the container) still holds the controller's consumers. It must not
+// exit — the host would read that as a replacement that did not come up and never remove the
+// container — and must not act on what the old one is handed. It stands by, and takes the consumers
+// when the old one lets go.
+func TestNatsASecondControllerStandsByAndTakesOverWhenTheFirstLetsGo(t *testing.T) {
+	js := aBus(t)
+	was := StandbyPoll
+	StandbyPoll = 50 * time.Millisecond
+	defer func() { StandbyPoll = was }()
+
+	old := &counted{}
+	_, stopOld := servingOn(t, js, old)
+	eventually(t, "the first controller binding its consumer", func() bool {
+		info, err := js.Context().ConsumerInfo("CONTROL", broker.ControllerName)
+		return err == nil && info.PushBound
+	})
+
+	// The new one, on a connection of its own as the process would have.
+	second, err := broker.Dial(os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(second.Close)
+	fresh := &counted{}
+	s := &Server{inbound: Nats(second), bus: OverNATS{Conn: second.Conn(), JS: second.Context()},
+		listener: fresh, log: quiet()}
+	ctx, stopNew := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer stopNew()
+	ended := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() { ended <- s.Serve(ctx) }()
+
+	select {
+	case err := <-ended:
+		t.Fatalf("the second controller stopped instead of standing by: %v", err)
+	case <-time.After(500 * time.Millisecond):
+	}
+
+	report := func(declared string) {
+		body, _ := json.Marshal(Report{Node: "anchor", Declared: declared, Applied: []string{"store"}})
+		if _, err := js.Context().Publish(ReportSubject("anchor"), body); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	report("d1")
+	eventually(t, "the holding controller hearing the report", func() bool { return old.count() == 1 })
+	if fresh.count() != 0 {
+		t.Fatal("the controller standing by acted on a report the holder was handed")
+	}
+
+	stopOld()
+	report("d2")
+	eventually(t, "the second controller taking over once the first let go", func() bool { return fresh.count() == 1 })
+	if old.count() != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("the first controller heard %d reports", old.count())
+	}
+}

internal/overlay/generator.go

@@ -169,10 +169,9 @@ func (g *Generator) Graph() Graph { return g.graph }
 //
 //   - No floor: no header, no localhost, no `127.0.1.1` — those are the machine's, above the region.
 //   - A machine's own line is marked, and its mesh name resolves to its mesh address, not loopback.
-//   - `.Names` is every name the mesh serves (issue 111), so anything on the machine reaching a
-//     routed name through its resolver finds the machine serving it; machines with no address yet
-//     are already left out of the set. A routed name is one alias, itself — a machine has a bare
-//     name beside its full one, a routed name has nothing beside it (issue 157).
+//   - `.Names` is the machines (novox/hq ADR 0191): a route's internal name is under its node's
+//     internal domain and the resolver answers it by wildcard, and a public name is public DNS's.
+//     Machines with no address yet are already left out of the set.
 const hostsTemplate = "# The mesh's names. This region is replaced whenever a machine joins or leaves.\n" +
 	"{{range .Names}}{{.Address}}\t{{.FQDN}}{{if ne .Name .FQDN}}\t{{.Name}}{{end}}{{if eq .Name $.Node}}\t# this machine{{end}}\n{{end}}"
 

internal/store/manifest_test.go

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func TestTheManifestsOwnPlaceholderUnfilledLeavesTheStoreWhereTheFileSays(t *tes
 	}
 	var written string
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
-		if r.Type == "container" {
+		if r.Type == "process" {
 			written = r.Env["MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_PORT"]
 		}
 	}

module.json

@@ -2,9 +2,6 @@
   "module": "mesh-controller",
   "version": "1",
   "slug": "control",
-  "capabilities": [
-    "container-runtime"
-  ],
   "claims": [
     {
       "name": "mesh-controller",
@@ -26,7 +23,7 @@
     "broker-address": "${dir:mesh-state}/broker-address",
     "bus": "${dir:mesh-state}/bus"
   },
-  "secrets-owner": "65534:65534",
+  "secrets-owner": "mesh-controller",
   "prepares": true,
   "tools": [
     "tools",
@@ -43,62 +40,58 @@
     "build"
   ],
   "resources": [
+    {
+      "id": "account",
+      "type": "user",
+      "name": "mesh-controller",
+      "shell": "/usr/bin/nologin",
+      "home": "/var/lib/mesh-controller"
+    },
     {
       "id": "mesh-state",
       "type": "directory",
       "mode": "0700",
-      "place": "mesh"
+      "place": "mesh",
+      "owner": "mesh-controller"
     },
     {
-      "id": "server",
-      "type": "container",
+      "id": "controller",
+      "type": "process",
       "name": "mesh-controller",
-      "network": "host",
-      "args": [
+      "artifact": "controller",
+      "run": [
+        "./mesh-controller",
         "serve"
       ],
+      "user": "mesh-controller",
       "env": {
-        "MESH_BROKER_CERTIFICATE": "/broker-tls/tls.crt",
-        "MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_FILE": "/run/secrets/inventory",
-        "MESH_STORE_IDENTITY_FILE": "/run/secrets/identity",
-        "MESH_STORE_LICENCES_FILE": "/run/secrets/licences",
-        "MESH_BROKER_MANAGEMENT_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker-management",
-        "MESH_BROKER_ADDRESS_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker-address",
+        "MESH_BROKER_CERTIFICATE": "/var/lib/mesh-broker-tls/tls.crt",
+        "MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/inventory",
+        "MESH_STORE_IDENTITY_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/identity",
+        "MESH_STORE_LICENCES_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/licences",
+        "MESH_BROKER_MANAGEMENT_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/broker-management",
+        "MESH_BROKER_ADDRESS_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/broker-address",
         "MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_PORT": "${seat:mesh-store:5432}",
         "MESH_STORE_IDENTITY_PORT": "${seat:mesh-store:5432}",
         "MESH_STORE_LICENCES_PORT": "${seat:mesh-store:5432}",
         "MESH_BROKER_MANAGEMENT_PORT": "${seat:mesh-broker:15672}",
         "MESH_BROKER_ADDRESS_PORT": "${seat:mesh-broker:5671}",
-        "MESH_BUS_NATS_FILE": "/run/secrets/bus"
+        "MESH_BUS_NATS_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/bus"
       },
-      "volumes": [
-        "/var/lib/mesh-broker-tls:/broker-tls:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/inventory:/run/secrets/inventory:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/identity:/run/secrets/identity:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/licences:/run/secrets/licences:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/broker:/run/secrets/broker:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/bus:/run/secrets/bus:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/broker-management:/run/secrets/broker-management:ro",
-        "${dir:mesh-state}/broker-address:/run/secrets/broker-address:ro"
-      ],
-      "artifact": "server",
-      "restart-on": [
-        "control-env"
+      "replaces": [
+        "server"
       ]
     }
   ],
   "build": {
     "artifacts": [
       {
-        "name": "server",
-        "kind": "image",
-        "from": "Dockerfile"
-      }
-    ],
-    "on": [
-      {
-        "arg": "GO_BASE",
-        "image": "golang@sha256:8ac98ca534ac3f51e1f420a1dd2c15e74c75cfa0f23f3ad27eb5d7236c349a0c"
+        "name": "controller",
+        "kind": "bundle",
+        "language": "go",
+        "system": "arch",
+        "from": "cmd/mesh-controller",
+        "binary": "mesh-controller"
       }
     ]
   }