A take acts on the preview it showed; a setting is judged where it is stored; a kept network and a minted secret are said (hq ADR 0163)

take ends its preview with a digest and --yes names it, as the flip does; a changed preview or an account older than the flip allows is refused. A module the machine holds nothing for has nothing to compare, and --yes suffices. A published port's reach is said as the machine reported it. Every secret the module holds on the machine is listed with where it came from, and one the mesh minted for a service whose data was found refuses unless --mint names it. One judgement of a module's settings against its definition, in the catalogue: settings set refuses what cannot compose or reaches nothing, naming node, module, layer and key; Compose leaves out a module whose definition moved under a stored setting, the envelope says so (left_out), plan and push say it by name, and the machine is told everything else. A stray setting no longer refuses the whole machine where it is read (issue 096). The per-machine setting networks keeps a found network for a taken container, on an adopted machine only; the container's declaration carries it and the preview names it (rule 4).
Merge pull request 'plans --what-if: the plan a merge would produce, read before merging' (#205 ) from feat/plans-what-if into main
2026-10-01 23:47:32 +02:00 · 2026-10-01 20:41:58 +00:00 · 2026-10-01 22:38:49 +02:00 · 2026-10-01 20:25:00 +00:00 · 2026-10-01 22:21:42 +02:00 · 2026-10-01 19:58:04 +00:00
211 changed files with 16157 additions and 2702 deletions
@@ -27,8 +27,18 @@ build:
 IMAGE ?= mesh-controller:$(VERSION)
 DEV_TAG ?= mesh-controller:development

+# The base the module declares, read from the manifest rather than written here twice.
+#
+# **`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 ?= $(shell python3 -c "import json;print(next(o['image'] for o in json.load(open('module.json'))['build']['on'] if o['arg']=='GO_BASE'))" 2>/dev/null)
+
 image:
-	docker build --build-arg VERSION=$(VERSION) -t $(IMAGE) -t $(DEV_TAG) .
+	@test -n "$(GO_BASE)" || { echo "module.json declares no GO_BASE; pass GO_BASE=<image> or fix the manifest"; 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'

@@ -38,7 +48,8 @@ BUILDER_IMAGE ?= mesh-builder:$(VERSION)
 BUILDER_DEV_TAG ?= mesh-builder:development

 builder-image:
-	docker build -f cmd/mesh-builder/Dockerfile -t $(BUILDER_IMAGE) -t $(BUILDER_DEV_TAG) .
+	@test -n "$(GO_BASE)" || { echo "module.json declares no GO_BASE; pass GO_BASE=<image> or fix the manifest"; 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'

@@ -17,12 +17,7 @@ package main

 import (
 	"context"
-	"crypto/sha256"
-	"crypto/tls"
-	"crypto/x509"
-	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
@@ -30,8 +25,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"

-	amqp "github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go"
-
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/builder"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
@@ -52,7 +45,6 @@ const usage = `mesh-builder — builds modules for the mesh
 It consumes build requests and answers with what it made. Nothing is listened on and nothing
 is dialled except the broker.

-  MESH_BROKER_AMQP   where the broker is, with this builder's own credential
  MESH_BROKER_FILE   a file the mesh sealed to this machine holding the same
  MESH_REGISTRY      host:port to publish artifacts to, when the mesh has not said
  MESH_BINDING       a file the mesh wrote saying where the artifact store is
@@ -135,32 +127,17 @@ func run() error {
 // machine told about both would take work from one and answer on the other, and every log line would
 // say it was fine.
 func takeWorkFrom(credential Credential, on string) (link.BuildMachine, error) {
-	address, onNATS, err := broker.OnNATS()
+	// **The credential names the bus, and there is one** (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 28 task 5.5).
+	// A credential for the mesh's bus carries user, password and fingerprint beside the address,
+	// and that is enough to dial it, pinned.
+	if !credential.onTheNewBus() {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the credential at hand names %q, which is not the mesh's bus", credential.URL)
+	}
+	js, err := broker.DialPinned(credential.natsURL(), credential.Fingerprint)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if err := broker.MustBeOneBus(credential.URL, address); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if onNATS {
-		js, err := broker.Dial(address)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot reach the bus at %s: %w", address, err)
-		}
-		return link.MachineOverNATS(js, on), nil
-	}
-
-	conn, err := dial(credential)
-	if err != nil {
-		// Not quoted back: the URL carries this builder's broker password.
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot reach the broker: %w", err)
-	}
-	channel, err := conn.Channel()
-	if err != nil {
-		conn.Close()
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return link.MachineOverCurrent(conn, channel, on), nil
+	return link.MachineOverNATS(js, on), nil
 }

 // answer does one build and says what happened, whichever way it went.
@@ -171,20 +148,34 @@ func answer(ctx context.Context, publisher builder.Publisher, on, workspace stri
 	// it either finishes or fails is indistinguishable from one that never arrived — which cost a long
 	// diagnosis against a running mesh, chasing "the handler never fired" when the truth was only that
 	// the handler said nothing until the end.
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "a build request arrived for %s\n", request.Repository)
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "a build request arrived for %s (%s)\n", request.Repository, request.ID)
+
+	// **Everything a build says goes two ways**: to stderr, as always, and onto the bus as the
+	// role's own events under the build's id (novox/hq ADR 0157) — so whoever asked, and anybody
+	// watching, reads the same lines this container's log holds, live, and after the fact from the
+	// stream. Said first, before anything runs, so a build that hangs is one that visibly started.
+	say := func(step, message string) {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  [%s] %s\n", step, message)
+		work.Say(step, message)
+	}
+	builder.Said = say
+	defer func() { builder.Said = nil }()
+	if err := work.Began(ctx); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "cannot say a build started: %v\n", err)
+	}

 	result := link.BuildResult{
 		ID: request.ID, Repository: request.Repository, Path: request.Path,
-		Ref: request.Ref, On: on,
+		Ref: request.Ref, On: on, Source: request.Source,
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "building %s", request.Repository)
+	what := "building " + request.Repository
 	if request.Path != "" {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, " at %s", request.Path)
+		what += " at " + request.Path
 	}
 	if request.Ref != "" {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, " at %s", request.Ref)
+		what += " on " + request.Ref
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr)
+	say("build", what)

 	npmrc, err := packagesFrom()
 	var built builder.Result
@@ -194,16 +185,13 @@ func answer(ctx context.Context, publisher builder.Publisher, on, workspace stri
 		// after a clone that then fails at npm ci.
 		built, err = builder.Build(ctx, builder.Command, publisher,
 			request.Repository, request.Path, request.Ref, workspace, request.Held, npmrc,
-			forgeFrom(),
-			func(step, message string) {
-				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  [%s] %s\n", step, message)
-			})
+			forgeFrom(), say, request.Seats)
 	}
 	if err != nil {
 		// A failure is a result. A build that fails and says nothing is indistinguishable from a
 		// builder that is not running, and those want completely different responses.
 		result.Failed = err.Error()
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  failed: %v\n", err)
+		say("failed", err.Error())
 	} else {
 		manifest, marshalErr := json.Marshal(built.Manifest)
 		if marshalErr != nil {
@@ -217,7 +205,10 @@ func answer(ctx context.Context, publisher builder.Publisher, on, workspace stri
 				})
 			}
 			result.Against = built.Against
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  built %s from %s\n", built.Manifest.Module, short(built.Commit))
+			for _, r := range built.Read {
+				result.Read = append(result.Read, link.ReadRepository{Repository: r.Repository, Ref: r.Ref})
+			}
+			say("built", built.Manifest.Module+" from "+short(built.Commit))
 		}
 	}

@@ -442,13 +433,8 @@ func brokerFrom() (Credential, error) {
 		// broker is then verified against whatever this machine already trusts.
 		return Credential{URL: said}, nil
 	}
-	url := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv("MESH_BROKER_AMQP"))
-	if url == "" {
-		return Credential{}, fmt.Errorf(
-			"neither MESH_BROKER_FILE nor MESH_BROKER_AMQP: a builder with no broker has " +
-				"nothing to build")
-	}
-	return Credential{URL: url}, nil
+	return Credential{}, fmt.Errorf(
+		"no MESH_BROKER_FILE: a build machine with no credential for the bus has nothing to build")
 }

 // Credential is what a build machine is given so it can reach the broker.
@@ -460,48 +446,24 @@ func brokerFrom() (Credential, error) {
 // **The same shape a node gets, for the same reason** (novox/hq ADR 0004): the fingerprint travels
 // out of band — here, sealed with the credential — and the endpoint is verified once at connect.
 type Credential struct {
-	URL string `json:"url"`
-	// Fingerprint is SHA-256 over the broker certificate's DER bytes, or empty to verify the
-	// ordinary way.
+	URL         string `json:"url"`
 	Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+	// User and Password ride beside the address on the bus being built (design 25): a credential
+	// embedded in a URL leaks into every log line that prints a connection, so the mesh seals them
+	// as two fields and this machine joins them once, here, to dial.
+	User     string `json:"user,omitempty"`
+	Password string `json:"password,omitempty"`
 }

-// dial opens the connection, pinning the broker's certificate when there is one to pin.
-func dial(held Credential) (*amqp.Connection, error) {
-	if held.Fingerprint == "" {
-		return amqp.Dial(held.URL)
-	}
-	return amqp.DialTLS(held.URL, pinning(held.Fingerprint))
-}
+// onTheNewBus is whether a credential is for the bus being built: its address says so, and the
+// mesh only ever seals such a credential with the user and password beside it.
+func (c Credential) onTheNewBus() bool { return strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(c.URL), "nats://") }

-// pinning is a TLS configuration that trusts exactly one certificate.
-//
-// InsecureSkipVerify with a VerifyPeerCertificate is **pinning, not skipping**: the standard chain
-// check is replaced, not removed, and what replaces it is stricter — one certificate is accepted
-// rather than every certificate a public authority would sign.
-//
-// Its own function so a test can drive it against a real handshake. A pin check that is only ever
-// exercised through a broker is a pin check nothing tests.
-func pinning(fingerprint string) *tls.Config {
-	return &tls.Config{
-		InsecureSkipVerify: true,
-		VerifyPeerCertificate: func(raw [][]byte, _ [][]*x509.Certificate) error {
-			if len(raw) == 0 {
-				return errors.New("the broker presented no certificate")
-			}
-			// The leaf, and in the same spelling the mesh writes it — `sha256:` and 64 hex
-			// characters. Comparing a bare digest against a written fingerprint never matches,
-			// and the failure is indistinguishable from being pointed at the wrong broker.
-			sum := sha256.Sum256(raw[0])
-			got := "sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
-			if got != fingerprint {
-				return fmt.Errorf(
-					"this is not the broker this builder was told about\n  expected %s\n  "+
-						"got      %s\nEither this mesh's broker was replaced, or this builder is "+
-						"being pointed at something else. Retrying will not help",
-					fingerprint, got)
-			}
-			return nil
-		},
+// natsURL is the address with this machine's credential in it, for the one dial that needs it.
+func (c Credential) natsURL() string {
+	rest := strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(c.URL), "nats://")
+	if c.User == "" {
+		return "nats://" + rest
 	}
+	return "nats://" + c.User + ":" + c.Password + "@" + rest
 }
@@ -106,6 +106,9 @@ func buildOnce(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		Manifest:   built.Manifest,
 		Against:    built.Against,
 	}
+	for _, r := range built.Read {
+		out.Read = append(out.Read, readRepository{Repository: r.Repository, Ref: r.Ref})
+	}
 	for _, made := range built.Built {
 		out.Made = append(out.Made, madeArtifact{Name: made.Name, Kind: made.Kind, Reference: made.Reference})
 	}
@@ -123,14 +126,21 @@ func buildOnce(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 // The same fields the mesh records for a build, so a reader comparing a genesis build against an
 // ordinary one is comparing the same thing said the same way.
 type onceResult struct {
-	Module     string         `json:"module"`
-	Commit     string         `json:"commit"`
-	Repository string         `json:"repository"`
-	Path       string         `json:"path,omitempty"`
-	Ref        string         `json:"ref,omitempty"`
-	Manifest   any            `json:"manifest"`
-	Made       []madeArtifact `json:"made"`
-	Against    []string       `json:"against,omitempty"`
+	Module     string           `json:"module"`
+	Commit     string           `json:"commit"`
+	Repository string           `json:"repository"`
+	Path       string           `json:"path,omitempty"`
+	Ref        string           `json:"ref,omitempty"`
+	Manifest   any              `json:"manifest"`
+	Made       []madeArtifact   `json:"made"`
+	Against    []string         `json:"against,omitempty"`
+	Read       []readRepository `json:"read,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// readRepository is a repository this build read source from besides the module's own.
+type readRepository struct {
+	Repository string `json:"repository"`
+	Ref        string `json:"ref,omitempty"`
 }

 type madeArtifact struct {
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ func TestBuilderDiagnosticsStayOffStdout(t *testing.T) {
 	allowed := map[string]bool{
 		"string(body)": true, // once.go: the result JSON, which IS stdout
 		"version)":     true, // --version
-		`"stopping")`: true,  // the loop.s shutdown line
-		"usage)":       true,  // --help text, for a human
+		`"stopping")`:  true, // the loop.s shutdown line
+		"usage)":       true, // --help text, for a human
 	}
 	for _, file := range []string{"once.go", "main.go"} {
 		src, err := os.ReadFile(file)
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 )

 // Where a builder publishes.
@@ -193,9 +195,9 @@ func TestThePinIsComparedInTheSpellingTheMeshWritesIt(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

-// handshakeWith runs the builder's own pin check against an address.
+// handshakeWith runs the pin check the builder dials with against an address.
 func handshakeWith(address, pin string) error {
-	conn, err := tls.Dial("tcp", address, pinning(pin))
+	conn, err := tls.Dial("tcp", address, broker.PinnedToFingerprint(pin))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ func assign(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string) (string, err
 		return "", err
 	}
 	defer release()
+	// **Before the new assignment can unsettle a seat somebody holds only by being alone**
+	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/170): what the mesh derived so far is written down, and then the
+	// assignment resolves against a record rather than against a coincidence.
+	settled, err := recordDerivedHolders(ctx, open)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
 	fresh, err := open.inventory.Assign(ctx, node, module)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -57,6 +64,9 @@ func assign(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string) (string, err
 			node, module), nil
 	}
 	said := fmt.Sprintf("%s is assigned %s", node, module)
+	for _, line := range settled {
+		said += "\n  " + line
+	}
 	plan, _, err := planFor(ctx, open, node)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Kept, and still refused. Both halves are the answer, and the rest of the mesh is still
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ import (

 var aDigest = "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("e", 64)

-// **A build is recorded by digest and path**, whatever address the builder pushed to — and only
-// what the build made is rewritten: an image the module runs from elsewhere is left where it says.
+// **A build is recorded by digest and path**, whatever address the builder pushed to — what it
+// made and what it stood on both; an image the module runs from elsewhere is left where it says.
 func TestABuildIsRecordedWithoutTheStoresAddress(t *testing.T) {
 	manifest, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{
 		"module": "gitea", "version": "1",
@@ -65,8 +65,11 @@ func TestABuildIsRecordedWithoutTheStoresAddress(t *testing.T) {
 	if strings.Contains(string(kept.Manifest), "anchor.internal:5100") {
 		t.Errorf("the recorded manifest still carries the store's address:\n%s", kept.Manifest)
 	}
-	if kept.Against[0] != "anchor.internal:5100/mesh-tools/runtime@"+aDigest {
-		t.Errorf("what the build stood on was rewritten: %v", kept.Against)
+	// What the build stood on is an edge to another module's artifact, and it is recorded the way
+	// that artifact is: by path in the store, so the edge still names the same thing when the
+	// store answers at another address.
+	if kept.Against[0] != catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme+"mesh-tools/runtime@"+aDigest {
+		t.Errorf("what the build stood on was recorded by address: %v", kept.Against)
 	}
 }

@@ -88,9 +88,13 @@ func reportsReaching(t *testing.T, open *stores, reachable []link.Reach, held ..
 	if err := open.inventory.RecordSent(ctx, record.ID, digestOf(body)); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	if err := (link.Enrolment{Inventory: open.inventory}).Heard(ctx, link.Report{
+	if _, err := (link.Enrolment{Inventory: open.inventory}).Heard(ctx, link.Report{
 		Node: "anchor", Applied: []string{"hello-web.x"}, Declared: digestOf(body),
 		Firewall: "ufw", Held: held, Reachable: reachable,
+		// A machine says which of its links face outside on every apply (novox/hq ADR 0140), and a
+		// filter is not sent to one that has not. The anchor reports one, as a real host does; this
+		// fixture lacked it from 2026-09-28 and nothing ran the test (issue 177).
+		Outward: []string{"eth0"},
 	}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -105,10 +109,10 @@ var (

 func TestTakingAModuleNotOnTheNodeIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	open, _ := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
-	if _, err := take(t.Context(), open, "anchor", "nftables"); !errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrNotAssigned) {
+	if _, err := take(t.Context(), open, "anchor", "nftables", takeOptions{Yes: true}); !errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrNotAssigned) {
 		t.Fatalf("taking an unassigned module gave %v", err)
 	}
-	if _, err := take(t.Context(), open, "laptop", "network"); !errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrNotAdopted) {
+	if _, err := take(t.Context(), open, "laptop", "network", takeOptions{Yes: true}); !errors.Is(err, inventory.ErrNotAdopted) {
 		t.Fatalf("taking on a converged node gave %v", err)
 	}
 }
@@ -139,7 +143,24 @@ func TestTheFlipIsRefusedWhileAFoundContainerIsHeld(t *testing.T) {
 func TestTakingNamesWhatItReplaces(t *testing.T) {
 	open, _ := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
 	reportsHolding(t, open, heldContainer, heldFile)
-	said, err := take(t.Context(), open, "anchor", "hello-web")
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	// The machine holds something for the module, so the take acts on the preview the operator
+	// saw and names its digest (novox/hq ADR 0163).
+	preview, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	saw := takeDigestIn(t, preview)
+	if !strings.Contains(preview, "nothing taken; `take anchor hello-web --yes "+saw+"`") {
+		t.Fatalf("the preview does not say how to act on it:\n%s", preview)
+	}
+	if taken, _ := open.inventory.Taken(ctx, "anchor"); len(taken) != 0 {
+		t.Fatal("the preview took something")
+	}
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "name its digest") {
+		t.Fatalf("--yes without the digest was not refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	said, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true, Digest: saw})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -149,10 +170,71 @@ func TestTakingNamesWhatItReplaces(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

+// takeDigestIn is the digest a take's preview printed.
+func takeDigestIn(t *testing.T, preview string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(preview, "\n") {
+		if fields := strings.Fields(line); len(fields) == 2 && fields[0] == "preview" {
+			return fields[1]
+		}
+	}
+	t.Fatalf("the preview printed no digest:\n%s", preview)
+	return ""
+}
+
+// A take acts on the preview the operator saw, and on an account of the machine that is still the
+// machine: a changed preview and a stale account refuse (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 1).
+func TestATakeIsRefusedOnAChangedPreviewOrAStaleAccount(t *testing.T) {
+	open, _ := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	reportsHolding(t, open, heldContainer, heldFile)
+	preview, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	saw := takeDigestIn(t, preview)
+
+	// The machine reports again, and what it holds has changed: the found container now carries
+	// facts the preview never showed.
+	changed := heldContainer
+	changed.Facts = map[string]any{"image": "hello:2", "declared_image": "registry.example/hello"}
+	reportsHolding(t, open, changed, heldFile)
+	_, err = take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true, Digest: saw})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "has changed since preview "+saw) {
+		t.Fatalf("a changed preview was acted on: %v", err)
+	}
+	if taken, _ := open.inventory.Taken(ctx, "anchor"); len(taken) != 0 {
+		t.Fatal("a refused take took something")
+	}
+
+	// And an account older than the flip allows.
+	preview, err = take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	saw = takeDigestIn(t, preview)
+	saved := reportFreshFor
+	reportFreshFor = -time.Second
+	defer func() { reportFreshFor = saved }()
+	_, err = take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true, Digest: saw})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "a take acts only on an account newer than") {
+		t.Fatalf("a stale account was acted on: %v", err)
+	}
+	reportFreshFor = saved
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true, Digest: saw}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// A module the machine holds nothing for has nothing to compare: --yes alone suffices.
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "notes", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err == nil {
+		// notes holds a file, so this one needs the digest too.
+		t.Fatal("notes holds a found file and was taken without a digest")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestConvergingPreviewsThenChangesAndAdoptingKeepsWhatWasTaken(t *testing.T) {
 	open, sent := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
-	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web"); err != nil {
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	reportsHolding(t, open, heldFile)
@@ -326,7 +408,7 @@ func digestIn(t *testing.T, preview string) string {
 func TestTheFlipActsOnlyOnThePreviewTheOperatorSaw(t *testing.T) {
 	open, sent := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
-	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web"); err != nil {
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	reportsHolding(t, open, heldFile)
@@ -392,7 +474,7 @@ func TestTheFlipActsOnlyOnThePreviewTheOperatorSaw(t *testing.T) {
 func TestTheFlipHoldsTheNodeWhileItSends(t *testing.T) {
 	open, _ := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
-	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web"); err != nil {
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	reportsHolding(t, open, heldFile)
@@ -437,7 +519,7 @@ func TestTheFlipHoldsTheNodeWhileItSends(t *testing.T) {
 func TestThePreviewNamesEveryHeldKind(t *testing.T) {
 	open, _ := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
-	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web"); err != nil {
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	since := time.Now()
@@ -480,7 +562,7 @@ func TestThePreviewNamesEveryHeldKind(t *testing.T) {
 func TestTheFlipIsRefusedOnAnAccountNamingNothingReachable(t *testing.T) {
 	open, sent := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
-	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web"); err != nil {
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	// Only a loopback listener: nothing off the machine, which is the same silence.
@@ -508,7 +590,7 @@ func TestTheFlipIsRefusedOnAnAccountNamingNothingReachable(t *testing.T) {
 func TestAssigningWaitsForWhateverIsConvergingTheNode(t *testing.T) {
 	open, _ := anAdoptedAnchor(t)
 	ctx := t.Context()
-	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web"); err != nil {
+	if _, err := take(ctx, open, "anchor", "hello-web", takeOptions{Yes: true}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	reportsHolding(t, open, heldFile)
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ import (
 func showMode(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node inventory.Node) error {
 	if !node.Adopted {
 		fmt.Printf("  mode              converged\n")
+		// A converged machine holds nothing, and can still run what nobody asked for
+		// (novox/hq ADR 0163): what it reports as strays is said whatever its mode.
+		if said, err := inv.AdoptionOf(ctx, node.Name); err == nil && len(said.Strays) > 0 {
+			showStrays(said.Strays)
+		}
 		return nil
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("  mode              adopted since %s\n",
@@ -62,11 +67,26 @@ func showMode(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node inventory.Node
 		if h.Kept != "" {
 			fmt.Printf("  %-17s original kept at %s\n", "", h.Kept)
 		}
+		for _, f := range comparisonLines(h) {
+			fmt.Printf("  %-17s %s\n", "", f)
+		}
 	}
+	showStrays(said.Strays)
 	fmt.Printf("  as of             %s\n", said.At.Local().Format(time.DateTime))
 	return nil
 }

+// showStrays says what a machine runs that the mesh neither wrote nor holds (ADR 0163).
+func showStrays(strays []inventory.Stray) {
+	if len(strays) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("  strays            %d container(s) the mesh neither wrote nor holds:\n", len(strays))
+	for _, s := range strays {
+		fmt.Printf("  %-17s %s (%s)\n", "", s.Name, s.Detail)
+	}
+}
+
 // showTunnel is the node show lines about the tunnel an adopted node found and carried (novox/hq
 // ADR 0105): what it presented at enrolment, and what it last said about taking it over.
 func showTunnel(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, name string) error {
@@ -136,7 +156,28 @@ const DefaultFilter = "nftables"
 // take is a module's cutover on an adopted node: the operator's act, done when that module's data
 // has moved. From the next push its resources converge there like any other, replacing what the
 // node found and holds for it.
-func take(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string) (string, error) {
+//
+// **Previewed, and the preview is a comparison** (novox/hq ADR 0163): for every held thing the
+// module would replace, what runs beside what the module declares, and the difference; the
+// module's secrets on the machine and where each came from; its settings on the machine. Without
+// --yes the comparison is printed and nothing changes. `--yes <digest>` cuts over exactly what was
+// previewed, the way the flip is confirmed: the preview ends with a digest of what it said, and a
+// take naming an older one, or acting on an account of the machine older than the flip allows, is
+// refused. A module the machine holds nothing for has nothing to compare, and `--yes` suffices.
+// takeOptions is what a take was told about the differences it may pass (novox/hq ADR 0163).
+type takeOptions struct {
+	Yes bool
+	// Digest is the preview's, named with --yes; required whenever the machine holds something
+	// for the module.
+	Digest    string
+	Downgrade bool
+	Replace   map[string]bool
+	// Mint names the secrets the service shall take a new value for, although the mesh minted
+	// one and the service already has its own (rule 2).
+	Mint map[string]bool
+}
+
+func take(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string, opts takeOptions) (string, error) {
 	inv := open.inventory
 	assigned, err := inv.Assigned(ctx, node)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -150,27 +191,337 @@ func take(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string) (string, error
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	// The comparison first (novox/hq ADR 0163): every held thing the module would replace, beside
+	// what the module declares, and the differences that refuse unless named.
+	c, err := comparisonFor(ctx, open, node, module)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	preview, refusals, saw := comparisonOf(module, c, opts)
+	if len(refusals) > 0 {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("taking %s on %s is refused:\n  %s\n%s", module, node,
+			strings.Join(refusals, "\n  "), preview)
+	}
+	holds := len(heldOf(c.reported, module)) > 0
+	if holds {
+		preview += "\n  preview " + saw
+	}
+	if !opts.Yes {
+		if !holds {
+			return preview + fmt.Sprintf("\nnothing taken; `take %s %s --yes` declares it as the mesh's own", node, module), nil
+		}
+		return preview + fmt.Sprintf("\nnothing taken; `take %s %s --yes %s` cuts it over as previewed", node, module, saw), nil
+	}
+	if holds {
+		// The take acts on the preview the operator saw, and on an account of the machine that
+		// is still the machine: the same two refusals the flip makes.
+		if age := time.Since(c.reported.At); age > reportFreshFor {
+			return preview, fmt.Errorf("%s last said what it holds %s ago, and a take acts only on "+
+				"an account newer than %s: run `push %s --wait 2m`, then preview again",
+				node, age.Round(time.Second), reportFreshFor, node)
+		}
+		if opts.Digest == "" {
+			return preview, fmt.Errorf("taking %s on %s acts on the preview you saw: name its digest, "+
+				"`take %s %s --yes %s`, once you have read it", module, node, node, module, saw)
+		}
+		if opts.Digest != saw {
+			return preview, fmt.Errorf("what taking %s on %s would replace has changed since preview %s "+
+				"(it is now %s): read the preview above, and run `take %s %s --yes %s` if it is "+
+				"what you want", module, node, opts.Digest, saw, node, module, saw)
+		}
+	}
 	if err := inv.Take(ctx, node, module); err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 	said := fmt.Sprintf("%s is taken on %s", module, node)
-	reported, err := inv.AdoptionOf(ctx, node)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-	var replaces []string
-	for _, h := range reported.Held {
-		if h.Module == module {
-			replaces = append(replaces, "  "+heldLine(h))
-		}
-	}
-	if len(replaces) > 0 {
-		said += "; the next push replaces what the node found and holds for it:\n" +
-			strings.Join(replaces, "\n")
+	if holds {
+		said += "; the next push replaces what the node found and holds for it:\n" + preview
 	}
 	return said + fmt.Sprintf("\n  run `push %s` to cut it over", node), nil
 }

+// comparison is everything a take puts beside what the module declares: the machine's account of
+// what it holds and what is reachable on it, the module's secrets on the machine, its settings
+// there, and which found networks a setting keeps for each of its containers (by held id).
+type comparison struct {
+	reported inventory.Adoption
+	secrets  []inventory.SecretState
+	layers   []catalogue.Layer
+	keeps    map[string][]string
+	// settingsRefused is why the module's settings cannot compose with its definition, when
+	// they cannot — the module would be left out of the declaration (rule 6).
+	settingsRefused string
+}
+
+func comparisonFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string) (comparison, error) {
+	inv := open.inventory
+	var c comparison
+	var err error
+	if c.reported, err = inv.AdoptionOf(ctx, node); err != nil {
+		return c, err
+	}
+	if c.secrets, err = inv.SecretsOf(ctx, node, module); err != nil {
+		return c, err
+	}
+	if c.layers, err = inv.SettingsFor(ctx, node, module); err != nil {
+		return c, err
+	}
+	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return c, err
+	}
+	if m, known := shelf[module]; known && len(c.layers) > 0 {
+		if err := catalogue.JudgeSettings(m, c.layers, true); err != nil {
+			c.settingsRefused = err.Error()
+		}
+		if kept, err := catalogue.KeptNetworks(m, c.layers, true); err == nil && len(kept) > 0 {
+			c.keeps = map[string][]string{}
+			for id, networks := range kept {
+				c.keeps[module+"."+id] = networks
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return c, nil
+}
+
+// heldOf is what a node holds for one module.
+func heldOf(reported inventory.Adoption, module string) []inventory.Held {
+	var out []inventory.Held
+	for _, h := range reported.Held {
+		if h.Module == module {
+			out = append(out, h)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// comparisonOf is a take's preview: for every held thing of the module, what runs beside what the
+// module declares; its secrets and its settings on the machine; and the refusals the differences
+// earn unless the take named them (novox/hq ADR 0163): an image older than the one running, a
+// declared file that differs from the found one, a secret the mesh minted for a service whose data
+// was found. A narrowed port and a shared network are said and not refused. The digest is of what
+// the preview says, so anything in it changing changes the digest.
+func comparisonOf(module string, c comparison, opts takeOptions) (preview string, refusals []string, digest string) {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	held := heldOf(c.reported, module)
+	foundData := false
+	for _, h := range held {
+		if h.Kind == "container" || h.Kind == "directory" {
+			foundData = true
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s", heldLine(h))
+		if h.Kept != "" {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&b, ", original kept at %s", h.Kept)
+		}
+		b.WriteString("\n")
+		for _, line := range comparisonLinesWith(h, c.keeps[h.ID], c.reported) {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&b, "    %s\n", line)
+		}
+		f := factsOf(h)
+		if f.downgrade && !opts.Downgrade {
+			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the module's image (%s, made %s) is older than the one running (%s, made %s) — "+
+				"a service that migrated its data forward may not start on it; `--downgrade` to take it anyway",
+				h.Target, f.declaredImage, day(f.declaredCreated), f.image, day(f.imageCreated)))
+		}
+		if f.differs && !opts.Replace[h.Target] && !opts.Replace["*"] {
+			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the module's content differs from the file found; the lines above "+
+				"marked - are lost by taking it; `--replace %s` to replace it anyway, or declare the file partially",
+				h.Target, h.Target))
+		}
+	}
+	// The module's secrets on the machine (rule 2 and 3): a service whose data was found already
+	// has a value for each, so one the mesh minted and nobody accepted refuses unless --mint says
+	// the service shall take a new one.
+	for _, sec := range c.secrets {
+		name := sec.Name
+		if sec.Local != "" {
+			name += " (" + sec.Local + ")"
+		}
+		what := "own secret"
+		accept := fmt.Sprintf("`secret accept <node> %s %s`", module, sec.Name)
+		if !sec.Own() {
+			what = "secret from " + sec.Provider
+			accept = fmt.Sprintf("`secret accept <node> %s %s --provider %s`", module, sec.Name, sec.Provider)
+			if sec.Local != "" {
+				accept = strings.TrimSuffix(accept, "`") + " --local " + sec.Local + "`"
+			}
+		}
+		switch {
+		case sec.Origin == inventory.OriginAccepted:
+			fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s %s: accepted from a person, carried in as it is\n", what, name)
+		case opts.Mint[sec.Name]:
+			fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s %s: minted by the mesh; the service takes the new value, as --mint said\n", what, name)
+		case foundData:
+			fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s %s: MINTED by the mesh and not accepted — the running service already has one\n", what, name)
+			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the mesh minted a value and the service whose data was found "+
+				"already uses its own; %s carries the existing value in, or `--mint %s` says the service shall take "+
+				"the new one", name, accept, sec.Name))
+		default:
+			fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  %s %s: minted by the mesh\n", what, name)
+		}
+	}
+	// And its settings on this machine, composed against its definition (rule 1, rule 6).
+	for _, layer := range c.layers {
+		keys := make([]string, 0, len(layer.Values))
+		for k := range layer.Values {
+			keys = append(keys, k)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(keys)
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  settings from %s: %s\n", layer.From, strings.Join(keys, ", "))
+	}
+	if c.settingsRefused != "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "  SETTINGS DO NOT COMPOSE with the module's definition, so the push leaves it out: %s\n", c.settingsRefused)
+	}
+	preview = strings.TrimRight(b.String(), "\n")
+	sum := sha256.Sum256([]byte(preview))
+	return preview, refusals, hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])[:12]
+}
+
+// facts is a held thing's facts as the preview reads them.
+type facts struct {
+	image, imageCreated, declaredImage, declaredCreated string
+	downgrade, differs                                  bool
+	networks                                            map[string][]string
+	mounts, ports, declaredPorts, declaredVolumes       []string
+	difference                                          []string
+}
+
+func factsOf(h inventory.Held) facts {
+	var f facts
+	if h.Facts == nil {
+		return f
+	}
+	str := func(k string) string { s, _ := h.Facts[k].(string); return s }
+	list := func(k string) []string {
+		var out []string
+		if raw, ok := h.Facts[k].([]any); ok {
+			for _, x := range raw {
+				if s, ok := x.(string); ok {
+					out = append(out, s)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return out
+	}
+	f.image, f.imageCreated = str("image"), str("image_created")
+	f.declaredImage, f.declaredCreated = str("declared_image"), str("declared_image_created")
+	f.downgrade, _ = h.Facts["downgrade"].(bool)
+	f.differs, _ = h.Facts["differs"].(bool)
+	f.mounts, f.ports = list("mounts"), list("ports")
+	f.declaredPorts, f.declaredVolumes, f.difference = list("declared_ports"), list("declared_volumes"), list("difference")
+	if raw, ok := h.Facts["networks"].(map[string]any); ok {
+		f.networks = map[string][]string{}
+		for name, members := range raw {
+			var out []string
+			if ms, ok := members.([]any); ok {
+				for _, m := range ms {
+					if s, ok := m.(string); ok {
+						out = append(out, s)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			f.networks[name] = out
+		}
+	}
+	return f
+}
+
+// comparisonLines says a held thing's facts the way a person weighs them.
+func comparisonLines(h inventory.Held) []string {
+	return comparisonLinesWith(h, nil, inventory.Adoption{})
+}
+
+// comparisonLinesWith is comparisonLines knowing which found networks this machine's setting keeps
+// for the container (rule 4) and what the machine reports reachable, so a published port's reach
+// is said beside the port (rule 1).
+func comparisonLinesWith(h inventory.Held, keeps []string, reported inventory.Adoption) []string {
+	f := factsOf(h)
+	var out []string
+	if f.image != "" || f.declaredImage != "" {
+		line := fmt.Sprintf("runs %s", orNone(f.image))
+		if f.imageCreated != "" {
+			line += " (made " + day(f.imageCreated) + ")"
+		}
+		line += "; the module declares " + orNone(f.declaredImage)
+		switch {
+		case f.declaredCreated != "":
+			line += " (made " + day(f.declaredCreated) + ")"
+		case f.declaredImage != "":
+			line += " (not on the machine yet, so its age is unknown)"
+		}
+		if f.downgrade {
+			line += " — DOWNGRADE"
+		}
+		out = append(out, line)
+	}
+	names := make([]string, 0, len(f.networks))
+	for n := range f.networks {
+		names = append(names, n)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	for _, n := range names {
+		members := f.networks[n]
+		if len(members) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		if slices.Contains(keeps, n) {
+			out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("on the network %s with %s — kept by this machine's setting, so they still reach it by name once taken",
+				n, strings.Join(members, ", ")))
+			continue
+		}
+		out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("on the network %s with %s, which may reach it by name and will not once it moves to the module's own network"+
+			" (`settings set %s --node <node>` with {%q: {<container>: [%q]}} keeps it)",
+			n, strings.Join(members, ", "), h.Module, catalogue.NetworksSetting, n))
+	}
+	for _, n := range keeps {
+		if _, found := f.networks[n]; !found {
+			out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("keeps the network %s by this machine's setting, which the found container is not on", n))
+		}
+	}
+	if len(f.ports) > 0 || len(f.declaredPorts) > 0 {
+		out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("publishes %s; the module declares %s",
+			orNone(strings.Join(f.ports, " ")), orNone(strings.Join(f.declaredPorts, " "))))
+		// How far each published port reaches now, as the machine reported it: the listener the
+		// runtime publishes for this container. The found firewall's and the guard's rules are
+		// not read; what they let through is said as what was reported reachable.
+		var reach []string
+		for _, r := range reported.Reachable {
+			if r.By == h.Target && r.Published {
+				reach = append(reach, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d (%s, container port %d)", r.Address, r.Port, r.Protocol, r.ContainerPort))
+			}
+		}
+		switch {
+		case len(reach) > 0:
+			line := "reachable now at " + strings.Join(reach, ", ")
+			if reported.Firewall != "" && reported.Firewall != "none" {
+				line += ", behind the found firewall (" + reported.Firewall + "), whose rules are not read"
+			}
+			out = append(out, line)
+		case len(f.ports) > 0 && len(reported.Reachable) > 0:
+			out = append(out, "not reported reachable on the machine")
+		}
+	}
+	if len(f.mounts) > 0 || len(f.declaredVolumes) > 0 {
+		out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("mounts %s; the module declares %s",
+			orNone(strings.Join(f.mounts, " ")), orNone(strings.Join(f.declaredVolumes, " "))))
+	}
+	if f.differs {
+		out = append(out, "the declared content differs from the file found (- lost, + new):")
+		for _, d := range f.difference {
+			out = append(out, "  "+d)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// day is a timestamp as a person reads it in a preview: its date.
+func day(stamp string) string {
+	if len(stamp) >= 10 {
+		return stamp[:10]
+	}
+	return stamp
+}
+
 // reportFreshFor is how old a node's account of itself may be for the flip to act on it. A
 // variable so a test can age a report without waiting.
 var reportFreshFor = 15 * time.Minute
@@ -309,7 +660,7 @@ func converge(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string, yes bool, digest s
 		return "", err
 	}
 	derived := derivedFilter{rules: rules, foundation: with.Foundation, mesh: with.Mesh,
-		outward: plan.PublicDomain != ""}
+		outward: plan.PublicDomain != "", outwardLinks: with.OutwardLinks}
 	preview, saw := previewOf(node, reported, derived, plan, taken, filter, runs[filter])
 	preview += "\n\n  preview " + saw
 	if !yes {
@@ -414,6 +765,18 @@ func previewOf(node string, reported inventory.Adoption, derived derivedFilter,
 	b.WriteString("    not previewed: traffic the machine routes that is not a published port " +
 		"(a tunnel, NAT in the found firewall) — the derived filter drops it unless a module " +
 		"declares it\n")
+	// Which links the filter constrains, said rather than left to the sentence above (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0140). Everything arriving anywhere else is this machine's own guest and keeps working — which
+	// is what a reader most wants to know, because the previous shape of this filter cut a machine's
+	// guests off at the flip without saying so, and that is how this was found.
+	if len(derived.outwardLinks) > 0 {
+		b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("    it filters what arrives on: %s, and on the private network "+
+			"— everything its own guests send keeps working\n",
+			strings.Join(derived.outwardLinks, ", ")))
+	} else {
+		b.WriteString("    it has reported no link facing outside, so no filter can be composed " +
+			"for it — the flip is refused until it reports one\n")
+	}

 	isTaken := map[string]bool{}
 	for _, m := range taken {
@@ -473,6 +836,10 @@ type derivedFilter struct {
 	// mesh is every address on the private network; outward says the machine faces outside.
 	mesh    []string
 	outward bool
+	// outwardLinks is the links this machine reported as facing outside it (novox/hq ADR 0140).
+	// The filter constrains what arrives on them; everything arriving elsewhere is this machine's
+	// own guest and is not filtered.
+	outwardLinks []string
 }

 // closesOutside is what a narrowing from everywhere to the private network is called: it closes.
@@ -498,6 +865,12 @@ func (d derivedFilter) fate(r inventory.Reach) string {
 			return "stays open — the mesh's own, from anywhere"
 		}
 	}
+	// This machine's own guests ask it for an address and for names, and those two arrive here
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0140). Admitted by the link they arrive on, so a listener bound anywhere but an
+	// outward link keeps answering them.
+	if (r.Protocol == "udp" && (r.Port == 53 || r.Port == 67)) || (r.Protocol == "tcp" && r.Port == 53) {
+		return "stays open — this machine's own guests asking it for an address and for names"
+	}
 	for _, rule := range d.rules {
 		if rule.Port != r.Port || rule.Protocol != r.Protocol {
 			continue
@@ -574,12 +947,39 @@ func adopt(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string) (string, error) {

 // takeCommand, convergeCommand and adoptCommand are the command line's adapters to the acts above.
 func takeCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
-	if len(args) != 2 {
-		return errors.New("take <node> <module>")
+	set := flag.NewFlagSet("take", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	yes := set.Bool("yes", false, "cut over as previewed, naming the digest the preview printed after it; "+
+		"without it the comparison is printed and nothing is taken")
+	downgrade := set.Bool("downgrade", false, "take it although the module's image is older than the one running")
+	var replace, mint stringList
+	set.Var(&replace, "replace", "a found file's path whose content the module may replace although it differs (repeatable; * for every one)")
+	set.Var(&mint, "mint", "a secret the service shall take the mesh's minted value for, although it already has its own (repeatable)")
+	positionals, err := parseAround(set, args)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-	return runAct(ctx, func(open *stores) (string, error) { return take(ctx, open, args[0], args[1]) })
+	if len(positionals) < 2 || len(positionals) > 3 || (len(positionals) == 3 && !*yes) {
+		return errors.New("take <node> <module> [--yes <digest>] [--downgrade] [--replace <path>]... [--mint <secret>]...")
+	}
+	opts := takeOptions{Yes: *yes, Downgrade: *downgrade, Replace: map[string]bool{}, Mint: map[string]bool{}}
+	if len(positionals) == 3 {
+		opts.Digest = positionals[2]
+	}
+	for _, r := range replace {
+		opts.Replace[r] = true
+	}
+	for _, m := range mint {
+		opts.Mint[m] = true
+	}
+	return runAct(ctx, func(open *stores) (string, error) { return take(ctx, open, positionals[0], positionals[1], opts) })
 }

+// stringList is a repeatable flag.
+type stringList []string
+
+func (l *stringList) String() string     { return strings.Join(*l, ",") }
+func (l *stringList) Set(v string) error { *l = append(*l, v); return nil }
+
 func convergeCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	set := flag.NewFlagSet("converge", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	yes := set.String("yes", "", "do it, naming the digest the preview printed; without it, only "+
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func commands(who Authenticator) http.Handler {
 	}))
 	// Adoption (novox/hq ADR 0100): the same acts as `take`, `converge` and `adopt`.
 	mux.HandleFunc("POST /take", acting(who, true, func(ctx context.Context, open *stores, in request) (string, error) {
-		return take(ctx, open, in.Node, in.Module)
+		return take(ctx, open, in.Node, in.Module, takeOptions{Yes: in.Yes, Digest: in.Digest})
 	}))
 	mux.HandleFunc("POST /converge", acting(who, false, func(ctx context.Context, open *stores, in request) (string, error) {
 		return converge(ctx, open, in.Node, in.Yes, in.Digest, in.Filter)
@@ -124,8 +124,8 @@ func commands(who Authenticator) http.Handler {
 type request struct {
 	Node   string `json:"node"`
 	Module string `json:"module"`
-	// Yes, Digest and Filter are converge's: do it rather than preview it, the digest of the
-	// preview it acts on, and which module loads the mesh's filter.
+	// Yes, Digest and Filter are converge's and take's: do it rather than preview it, the digest
+	// of the preview it acts on, and (converge) which module loads the mesh's filter.
 	Yes    bool   `json:"yes,omitempty"`
 	Digest string `json:"digest,omitempty"`
 	Filter string `json:"filter,omitempty"`
@@ -37,13 +37,13 @@ func askCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		arguments = json.RawMessage(positionals[2])
 	}

-	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
+	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	defer server.Close()

-	answer, err := link.Ask(ctx, server.Channel(), module, tool, arguments, *wait)
+	answer, err := link.Ask(ctx, server.Bus(), module, tool, arguments, *wait)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ package main

 import (
 	"context"
-	"crypto/rand"
-	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
@@ -12,6 +10,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"

+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
@@ -31,6 +31,51 @@ import (
 // control plane may send a machine is bounded by the declaration language. This is the shape the
 // builder module will take when it is given work over the broker; today a person runs it, and the
 // mesh records the result the same way either way.
+// buildOn rebuilds every module the mesh holds that stands on the named module's artifacts — the
+// rebuild a changed base needs, which nothing else asks for: their sources did not move, and
+// "behind" does not see a base that did (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131). Bases first among them too.
+func buildOn(ctx context.Context, base string, wait time.Duration) error {
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+	held, err := open.inventory.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	against, err := open.inventory.BuiltAgainst(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	var on []inventory.Entry
+	for _, e := range held {
+		if standsOnModule(e, base, against) {
+			on = append(on, e)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(on) == 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("nothing the mesh holds stands on %s\n", base)
+		return nil
+	}
+	on = orderByBases(on, against)
+	fmt.Printf("%d module(s) stand on %s:\n", len(on), base)
+	var failed []string
+	for _, e := range on {
+		fmt.Printf("--- %s\n", e.Manifest.Module)
+		source := buildSource{Repository: e.Source.Repository, Seat: e.Source.Seat}
+		if err := buildOne(ctx, source, e.Source.Path, e.Source.Ref, wait); err != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("  %v\n", err)
+			failed = append(failed, e.Manifest.Module)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(failed) > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%d of %d could not be built: %s", len(failed), len(on), strings.Join(failed, ", "))
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("\n%d module(s) rebuilt on %s. `push --behind` sends them on\n", len(on), base)
+	return nil
+}
+
 func buildCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	set := flag.NewFlagSet("build", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	ref := set.String("ref", "", "the branch, tag or commit to build")
@@ -46,6 +91,7 @@ func buildCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	// retype each repository is asking them to be the loop. Naming a repository and asking which
 	// ones need building are different requests, so they are not combined.
 	behind := set.Bool("behind", false, "every module the mesh holds older than its source has")
+	on := set.String("on", "", "rebuild every module that stands on this module's artifacts — the rebuild a changed base needs")
 	// A repository on the mesh's own forge, named by its path there (novox/hq ADR 0111). Without it
 	// the repository is external, cloned exactly as given — see source.go.
 	self := set.Bool("self", false, "the repository is a path on the forge holding the git seat")
@@ -53,6 +99,13 @@ func buildCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if *on != "" {
+		if len(positionals) != 0 || *behind || *self {
+			return errors.New("build --on <module> names a base and nothing else")
+		}
+		return buildOn(ctx, *on, *wait)
+	}
+
 	if *behind {
 		if len(positionals) != 0 || *self {
 			return errors.New("build <repository> or build --behind, not both: one names a " +
@@ -61,7 +114,7 @@ func buildCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return buildBehind(ctx, *wait)
 	}
 	if len(positionals) != 1 {
-		return errors.New("build <repository> [--self] [--path P] [--ref R] [--wait D] [--dry-run]")
+		return errors.New("build <repository> [--self] [--path P] [--ref R] [--wait D] [--dry-run]  |  build --behind  |  build --on <module>")
 	}
 	source := buildSource{Repository: positionals[0]}
 	if *self {
@@ -81,8 +134,9 @@ func buildCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 //
 // **By digest and path, never by where it was pushed** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/102). The builder
 // says `<registry>:<port>/<module>/<artifact>@sha256:…`; the mesh records the artifact-store
-// reference and composes the store's address back in where a reference is used. `against` is kept
-// as announced: it is what the build stood on as the builder saw it, and the catalogue's edge.
+// reference and composes the store's address back in where a reference is used. `against` — what
+// the build stood on, the catalogue's edge — is recorded the same way, so an edge names a module's
+// artifact and not the machine it was pulled from.
 func buildFrom(result link.BuildResult) inventory.Build {
 	kept := inventory.Build{
 		ID: result.ID, Repository: result.Repository, Ref: result.Ref,
@@ -92,7 +146,13 @@ func buildFrom(result link.BuildResult) inventory.Build {
 		// edges, and it is not always listening when a build happens — on a fresh mesh it cannot
 		// be, for exactly the modules it needs most. Keeping them is what makes a replay able to
 		// rebuild the graph rather than a list of names.
-		Path: result.Path, Against: result.Against,
+		Path: result.Path,
+	}
+	for _, ref := range result.Against {
+		kept.Against = append(kept.Against, catalogue.Recorded(ref))
+	}
+	for _, r := range result.Read {
+		kept.Read = append(kept.Read, inventory.ReadRepository{Repository: r.Repository, Ref: r.Ref})
 	}
 	var announced []inventory.Artifact
 	for _, made := range result.Made {
@@ -117,10 +177,14 @@ func buildFrom(result link.BuildResult) inventory.Build {
 func buildsCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	set := flag.NewFlagSet("builds", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	limit := set.Int("n", 20, "how many to show")
+	logOf := set.String("log", "", "a build's id: print what the build machine said, line by line")
 	positionals, err := parseAround(set, args)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if *logOf != "" {
+		return buildLog(ctx, *logOf)
+	}
 	module := ""
 	if len(positionals) == 1 {
 		module = positionals[0]
@@ -161,8 +225,8 @@ func buildsCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		if !b.Worked() {
 			outcome = "failed"
 		}
-		fmt.Printf("%-18s %-14s %-10s %s\n",
-			what, outcome, b.On, b.At.Local().Format("2006-01-02 15:04"))
+		fmt.Printf("%-18s %-14s %-10s %s  %s\n",
+			what, outcome, b.On, b.At.Local().Format("2006-01-02 15:04"), b.ID)
 		fmt.Printf("    %s", b.Repository)
 		if b.Ref != "" {
 			fmt.Printf(" at %s", b.Ref)
@@ -206,85 +270,45 @@ func builderCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	}
 	name := positionals[1]

-	management, err := broker.ManagementFromEnvironment()
+	// **The build machine's credential is a module's credential** (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 28
+	// task 5.5): minted into the mesh's records and sealed to the machine as the builder module's
+	// broker secret, usable at the next push — the same act `module issue` performs, and the same
+	// account the composed user list carries. Nothing is created on a server; the bus reads the list.
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
-	// The same shape of secret a token carries: enough entropy that guessing is not a strategy,
-	// and safe to put in a URL because that is where it goes.
-	raw := make([]byte, 32)
-	if _, err := rand.Read(raw); err != nil {
+	defer open.Close()
+	inv := open.inventory
+	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	password := base64.RawURLEncoding.EncodeToString(raw)
-	if err := management.CreateBuilderAccount(ctx, name, password); err != nil {
+	m, known := shelf[*module]
+	if !known {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is not in the catalogue; `module add` it first", *module)
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("build machine %s: ", name)
+	node := *forNode
+	if node == "" {
+		entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		for _, e := range entries {
+			if e.Manifest.Module == *module && len(e.On) > 0 {
+				node = e.On[0]
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if node == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is assigned nowhere; `assign <machine> %s` first, or say --node", *module, *module)
+	}
+	address, err := broker.BusAddress()
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
-	fmt.Printf("broker account %s created, scoped to the %s queue and the %s exchange\n\n",
-		name, link.BuildQueue, link.Exchange)
-
-	if *forNode != "" {
-		known, err := broker.FromEnvironment()
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("cannot deliver a credential without knowing where the broker is: %w", err)
-		}
-		inv, err := openInventory(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		defer inv.Close()
-
-		brokerAddr, err := brokerReachableAt(ctx, inv, known, *forNode)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		// The URL and what verifies the broker, together. A mesh's broker presents a certificate
-		// of the mesh's own, which is in no public trust store — so a URL on its own reaches only
-		// a broker somebody else vouches for, and the connection fails at TLS with an error about
-		// an unknown authority rather than about a missing pin.
-		//
-		// **The same two facts a node's token carries** (novox/hq ADR 0004), delivered the same
-		// way: out of band relative to the broker, so what is trusted does not come from the thing
-		// being trusted.
-		held, err := json.Marshal(struct {
-			URL         string `json:"url"`
-			Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
-		}{
-			URL:         fmt.Sprintf("amqps://%s:%s@%s/", name, password, brokerAddr),
-			Fingerprint: known.Fingerprint,
-		})
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err := inv.AcceptSecretForModule(ctx, *forNode, *module, "broker", string(held)); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		// Not printed. It is sealed to that machine and the mesh cannot read it back, which is
-		// the whole point — printing it here would put the one copy that matters on a terminal.
-		fmt.Printf("  sealed to %s, for the %s module. It arrives with the next push.\n",
-			*forNode, *module)
-		fmt.Printf("  run `push %s` to send it\n", *forNode)
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	// The whole line only when the address is known. A URL with a placeholder where the host
-	// should be is a URL somebody pastes and then debugs, and the placeholder is the last thing
-	// they look at.
-	if known, err := broker.FromEnvironment(); err == nil {
-		fmt.Printf("  MESH_BROKER_AMQP=amqps://%s:%s@%s/\n\n", name, password, known.Address)
-	} else {
-		fmt.Printf("  the password is %s\n\n", password)
-		fmt.Printf("  This control plane has no %s, so it cannot say where the broker is.\n"+
-			"  Put the password in MESH_BROKER_AMQP on the build machine.\n\n",
-			broker.AddressVar)
-	}
-	// Shown once, like a token, and for the same reason: what is stored is the broker's own hash
-	// of it, and a control plane that could show it back would be a control plane that holds it.
-	fmt.Println("This is the only time it is shown.")
-	return nil
+	return issueOnTheNewBus(ctx, inv, m, node, address)
 }

 // buildBehind builds every module the mesh holds older than its source has.
@@ -329,6 +353,14 @@ func buildBehind(ctx context.Context, wait time.Duration) error {
 	}
 	fmt.Println()

+	// Bases first: a module built before the module it stands on is built against the old one
+	// and reports success (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+	against, err := inv.BuiltAgainst(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	stale = orderByBases(stale, against)
+
 	var failed []string
 	for _, e := range stale {
 		fmt.Printf("--- %s\n", e.Manifest.Module)
@@ -368,7 +400,7 @@ func buildOne(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wait ti
 	}
 	defer ident.Close()

-	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
+	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -382,11 +414,14 @@ func buildOne(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wait ti
 		Path:       path,
 		Ref:        ref,
 		Held:       heldBy(ctx),
+		Seats:      seatBases(ctx),
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("asked for %s", source)
 	if source.Seat != "" {
 		fmt.Printf(" (%s)", repository)
 	}
+	// The id is how a person follows this build while it runs: `builds --log <id>`.
+	fmt.Printf(" as %s", request.ID)
 	if path != "" {
 		fmt.Printf(" at %s", path)
 	}
@@ -401,64 +436,104 @@ func buildOne(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wait ti
 	}
 	defer ask.Close()

+	if wait == 0 {
+		// Asked and not waited for (novox/hq issue 176): the outcome is the role's event, and the
+		// controller takes it in — records the build, registers the module — whether or not anybody
+		// is still here. A tool call cannot hold a connection for the minutes a build takes; it
+		// follows the build by its id instead.
+		if err := ask.Ask(ctx, request); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("asked, not waited for: `builds --log %s` follows it as it runs, and `builds` "+
+			"shows what came of it; the module is registered when the outcome comes\n", request.ID)
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	result, err := ask.Submit(ctx, request, wait)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}

-	// Kept before it is judged. A failed build that leaves no trace is indistinguishable from one
-	// nobody asked for, and the difference is the whole of whether somebody should be looking at
-	// something.
 	open, err := openStores(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	defer open.Close()
-	inv := open.inventory
-	kept := buildFrom(result)
-	if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, kept); err != nil {
+	manifest, kept, err := takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, result)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
-	if result.Failed != "" {
-		// The builder's own words. Wrapping them in something about the control plane would put
-		// two explanations between a person and a build log.
-		return fmt.Errorf("%s could not build %s:\n%s", result.On, result.Repository, result.Failed)
-	}
-
 	// Said as recorded: what each artifact is, not where this builder happened to push it.
 	for _, made := range kept.Made {
 		fmt.Printf("  %-12s %s %s\n", made.Name, made.Kind, made.Reference)
 	}
+	fmt.Printf("\n%s %s, built on %s from %s\n",
+		manifest.Module, manifest.Version, result.On, short(result.Commit))
+	saysWhenThePolicyActs(ctx, open.inventory, manifest.Module)
+	fmt.Printf("  run `assign <node> %s` to put it somewhere\n", manifest.Module)
+	return nil
+}

-	// Parsed with the same parser a hand-written manifest goes through. A second path would be a
-	// second thing to disagree about what a manifest is. The manifest as recorded, so the catalogue
-	// holds references by digest and path and every declaration composes the store's address in.
+// saysWhenThePolicyActs tells whoever built a module that its upgrade policy will send the
+// result on at once (novox/hq issue 126, ADR 0163): a person choreographing a data move must
+// know which module will not wait for them.
+func saysWhenThePolicyActs(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, module string) {
+	if u, err := inv.UpgradeOf(ctx, module); err == nil && u.RollOut {
+		how := "one machine at a time"
+		if u.Together {
+			how = "every machine at once"
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("  %s rolls out on build: the machines running it are sent this now, %s — "+
+			"`upgrade %s record` first if something must move before it does\n", module, how, module)
+	}
+}
+
+// takeIn is what the mesh does with a build's outcome, whoever hears it: the waiting command and
+// the daemon that follows the role's events both come here (novox/hq issue 176), so a build's
+// result reaches the catalogue whether or not the asker was still listening.
+//
+// Kept before it is judged. A failed build that leaves no trace is indistinguishable from one
+// nobody asked for, and the difference is the whole of whether somebody should be looking at
+// something. Then parsed with the same parser a hand-written manifest goes through — a second path
+// would be a second thing to disagree about what a manifest is — and registered with where it came
+// from: **for a source on a seat, as the path and the seat, never the URL just cloned** (ADR 0111),
+// which the request carried and the outcome echoes. A definition naming an installation is refused
+// here, where it would enter the catalogue; the build stays recorded and the refusal says which.
+//
+// Idempotent: the same outcome taken in twice registers the same module twice, which is one row
+// written with the same values.
+func takeIn(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, result link.BuildResult) (
+	catalogue.Manifest, inventory.Build, error) {
+	kept := buildFrom(result)
+	if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, kept); err != nil {
+		return catalogue.Manifest{}, kept, err
+	}
+	if result.Failed != "" {
+		// The builder's own words. Wrapping them in something about the control plane would put
+		// two explanations between a person and a build log.
+		return catalogue.Manifest{}, kept, fmt.Errorf("%s could not build %s:\n%s",
+			result.On, result.Repository, result.Failed)
+	}
 	manifest, err := catalogue.ParseManifest(kept.Manifest)
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%s built %s and what came back is not a manifest: %w",
+		return catalogue.Manifest{}, kept, fmt.Errorf("%s built %s and what came back is not a manifest: %w",
 			result.On, result.Repository, err)
 	}
-
-	// Recorded with where it came from, so "is this current?" is answerable without building it
-	// again (novox/hq ADR 0009). **For a source on a seat, as the path and the seat, never the URL
-	// just cloned** (ADR 0111): the URL is where the forge runs today, and recording it would put
-	// the forge's address back into every module built from it. The build log above keeps the URL,
-	// because that is what was cloned.
 	recorded := inventory.Source{
 		Repository: result.Repository, Path: result.Path, Ref: result.Ref,
 		BuiltFrom: result.Commit, Head: result.Commit,
 	}
-	if source.Seat != "" {
-		recorded.Repository, recorded.Seat = source.Repository, source.Seat
+	if result.Source != nil && result.Source.Seat != "" {
+		recorded.Repository, recorded.Seat = result.Source.Repository, result.Source.Seat
+	}
+	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 {
-		return err
+		return manifest, kept, err
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("\n%s %s, built on %s from %s\n",
-		manifest.Module, manifest.Version, result.On, short(result.Commit))
-	fmt.Printf("  run `assign <node> %s` to put it somewhere\n", manifest.Module)
-	return nil
+	return manifest, kept, nil
 }

 // buildAndShow builds and prints the manifest without recording anything.
@@ -472,7 +547,7 @@ func buildAndShow(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wai
 		return err
 	}
 	defer ident.Close()
-	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
+	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -487,7 +562,7 @@ func buildAndShow(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wai
 	result, err := ask.Submit(ctx, link.BuildRequest{
 		ID:         fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", "build", time.Now().UnixNano()),
 		Repository: repository, Path: path, Ref: ref,
-		Held: heldBy(ctx),
+		Held: heldBy(ctx), Seats: seatBases(ctx),
 	}, wait)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -521,6 +596,8 @@ type answers struct {
 	// pair that answers "has it caught up", which waiting alone cannot (the sent digest is
 	// recorded at send, not at apply).
 	reported []inventory.Reported
+	// plans is what the last merges produced and where each stands (novox/hq ADR 0162).
+	plans []inventory.Plan
 	// refused is why a machine cannot be worked out at all, by name. A different thing from every
 	// other answer here: those are about a machine that was told something, and this is about one
 	// that cannot be told anything — it never reaches waiting, because nothing was computed for it
@@ -530,6 +607,16 @@ type answers struct {
 	// a consequence of the refusals above: a node that does not resolve is not on the network, and
 	// a mesh whose hub is that node has no hub.
 	network string
+	// untaken is, per machine, each assigned module whose resources the machine is holding as it
+	// found them, and how many — a module that was assigned, sent, and is running none of what it
+	// declares because nothing has taken it (novox/hq ADR 0100, 04-ISSUES/125).
+	//
+	// **Its absence cost an outage.** The module was assigned, the push reported success, this
+	// command said the machine was doing everything it was told, and the module's three containers
+	// did not exist. On the strength of those reports the predecessor's proxy was stopped and every
+	// public name on the machine went dark. The holds were correct; they were recorded only in the
+	// machine's own state file, and the one visible symptom was a count that did not add up.
+	untaken map[string]map[string]int
 }

 // heldBy is every artifact this mesh has built, for a build that may need one as its base.
@@ -575,16 +662,64 @@ func heldBy(ctx context.Context) map[string]string {
 // **One place chooses**, as everywhere else the bus change went (novox/hq ADR 0116 step 5). On the bus
 // the mesh runs on today this needs the controller's own connection, so it is handed one; on the bus
 // being built it dials, because a build request is a one-shot and holds nothing else.
-func askOver(server *link.Server) (link.Builders, error) {
-	address, onNATS, err := broker.OnNATS()
+func askOver(_ *link.Server) (link.Builders, error) {
+	address, err := broker.BusAddress()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if err := broker.MustBeOneBus(os.Getenv(broker.AMQPVarName), address); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	return link.BuildsOverNATS(address)
+}
+
+// buildLog prints everything a build machine said about one build, read back from the bus.
+//
+// **From the stream, not from a record** (novox/hq ADR 0157). A build's lines are the role's own
+// events under the build's id, retained with every other event; the mesh keeps no second copy. Read
+// with a consumer of its own that is gone when this returns, so nothing accumulates in the server
+// for the reading, and filtered by subject, so one build's lines are all that travel.
+func buildLog(ctx context.Context, id string) error {
+	address, err := broker.BusAddress()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-	if onNATS {
-		return link.BuildsOverNATS(address)
+	js, err := broker.Dial(address)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot reach the bus to read a build's log: %w", err)
 	}
-	return link.BuildsOverCurrent(server.Channel()), nil
+	defer js.Close()
+
+	sub, err := js.Context().PullSubscribe(link.BuildLog(id), "",
+		nats.BindStream(broker.EventsStream), nats.DeliverAll(), nats.AckNone())
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot read %s from the bus: %w", link.BuildLog(id), err)
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = sub.Unsubscribe() }()
+
+	printed := 0
+	for {
+		batch, err := sub.Fetch(200, nats.MaxWait(2*time.Second))
+		if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, nats.ErrTimeout) && !errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("reading a build's log: %w", err)
+		}
+		for _, msg := range batch {
+			var line link.BuildLine
+			if err := json.Unmarshal(msg.Data, &line); err != nil {
+				fmt.Printf("  ? %s\n", string(msg.Data))
+				continue
+			}
+			at := line.At
+			if t, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, line.At); err == nil {
+				at = t.Local().Format("15:04:05")
+			}
+			fmt.Printf("%s %4d [%s] %s\n", at, line.Seq, line.Step, line.Message)
+			printed++
+		}
+		if len(batch) < 200 {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if printed == 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("nothing on the bus for build %s: no build by that id in the last week, or a build "+
+			"machine older than this that said nothing while building\n", id)
+	}
+	return nil
 }
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// A build's outcome is taken in the same way whoever hears it (novox/hq issue 176): recorded, and
+// the module registered with its source as the seat and path when the request said so — never the
+// URL. A definition naming an installation is recorded and not registered; a failure is recorded
+// and said.
+func TestABuildHeardIsRecordedAndRegistered(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	manifest, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{"module": "shop", "version": "3"})
+	m, _, err := takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, link.BuildResult{
+		ID: "b-1", Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/shop.git", Path: "modules/shop",
+		Ref: "main", On: "anchor", Commit: "abcdef0123", Manifest: manifest,
+		Source: &link.SourceOnSeat{Seat: "git", Repository: "novox/shop"},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if m.Module != "shop" {
+		t.Fatalf("registered %q", m.Module)
+	}
+	shelf, err := open.inventory.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, held := shelf["shop"]; !held {
+		t.Fatal("the module a heard build produced is not in the catalogue")
+	}
+	src, err := open.inventory.SourceOf(ctx, "shop")
+	if err != nil || src.Seat != "git" || src.Repository != "novox/shop" || src.BuiltFrom != "abcdef0123" {
+		t.Fatalf("the source is the seat and the path, never the URL: %+v %v", src, err)
+	}
+	builds, err := open.inventory.Builds(ctx, "shop", 5)
+	if err != nil || len(builds) != 1 || builds[0].ID != "b-1" {
+		t.Fatalf("the build is not recorded once: %v %v", builds, err)
+	}
+
+	named, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{"module": "idp", "version": "1", "resources": []any{
+		map[string]any{"id": "server", "type": "container", "image": "x@sha256:aa",
+			"env": map[string]any{"KC_HOSTNAME": "https://login.mesh-one.be"}}}})
+	_, _, err = takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, link.BuildResult{
+		ID: "b-2", Repository: "/r", On: "anchor", Commit: "0123456789", Manifest: named})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "does not register it") {
+		t.Fatalf("a definition naming an installation was taken in: %v", err)
+	}
+	if shelf, _ := open.inventory.Catalogue(ctx); shelf["idp"].Module != "" {
+		t.Fatal("the refused module was registered anyway")
+	}
+	if builds, _ := open.inventory.Builds(ctx, "idp", 5); len(builds) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the refused build was not recorded: %v", builds)
+	}
+
+	_, _, err = takeIn(ctx, open.inventory, link.BuildResult{ID: "b-3", Repository: "/r", On: "anchor", Failed: "no compiler"})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no compiler") {
+		t.Fatalf("a failure is said in the builder's words: %v", err)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,258 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/rsa"
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"crypto/x509/pkix"
+	"encoding/pem"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"math/big"
+	"net"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+)
+
+// The bus's own certificate, made by the mesh rather than borrowed from an image.
+//
+// **The foundation asked a third-party image for a tool it never said must be there** (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/146). The bootstrap made this certificate by running `openssl` inside the broker's
+// image, which worked while the broker was one that happened to carry it and stopped the day the
+// bus changed: the new one has a shell and no openssl, so the step exited 127 and no mesh could be
+// raised. Substituting another image the bundle names does not help — none of them carry it
+// either.
+//
+// So the program that needs a certificate makes one. It is the mesh's own binary, already on the
+// machine at this point in the bootstrap (the schema step ran it), and it needs nothing from the
+// image it writes into but a mounted directory.
+//
+// **Self-signed, and that is the design** — a host pins this server's exact certificate and
+// authenticates with a password (novox/hq ADR 0004). There is no authority above it to ask, and at
+// this moment in a bootstrap there is no mesh to ask one of.
+//
+// Idempotent, because the step is applied again on every reconcile and a second certificate would
+// be one the hosts that pinned the first no longer believe.
+
+// busCertificateNames is what the bus is reached by: the container name on a mesh network, and the
+// loopback address the machine's own foundation dials.
+var busCertificateNames = []string{"mesh-broker"}
+
+const busCertificateLife = 10 * 365 * 24 * time.Hour
+
+// busCertificate makes the bus's certificate in a directory, or says whether one is there.
+//
+//	broker certificate --into /tls           make it if it is not there
+//	broker certificate --check --into /tls   exit non-zero unless a usable pair is
+func busCertificate(args []string) error {
+	into, check := "", false
+	for i := 0; i < len(args); i++ {
+		switch args[i] {
+		case "--check":
+			check = true
+		case "--into":
+			if i+1 >= len(args) {
+				return errors.New("--into needs a directory")
+			}
+			into = args[i+1]
+			i++
+		default:
+			return fmt.Errorf("broker certificate [--check] --into <directory>: %q", args[i])
+		}
+	}
+	if into == "" {
+		return errors.New("broker certificate [--check] --into <directory>")
+	}
+	crt, key := filepath.Join(into, "tls.crt"), filepath.Join(into, "tls.key")
+
+	if usable, err := busCertificateUsable(crt, key); err != nil {
+		return err
+	} else if usable {
+		fmt.Printf("the bus already has a certificate at %s, and it was left alone\n", crt)
+		return nil
+	}
+	if check {
+		// Said as a failure, because that is what the caller asked: a bootstrap's verify runs
+		// this and a false answer is what makes the step run.
+		return fmt.Errorf("no usable certificate and key at %s", into)
+	}
+	return writeBusCertificate(crt, key)
+}
+
+// busCertificateUsable says whether a certificate and its key are both there and parse.
+//
+// Both, and parsed rather than stat'ed: a half-written pair is the state a bootstrap interrupted
+// between the two files leaves behind, and a step that treated it as done would hand the server a
+// certificate with no key and report success.
+func busCertificateUsable(crt, key string) (bool, error) {
+	certPEM, err := os.ReadFile(crt)
+	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	keyPEM, err := os.ReadFile(key)
+	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if _, err := tlsPairParses(certPEM, keyPEM); err != nil {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
+func tlsPairParses(certPEM, keyPEM []byte) (*x509.Certificate, error) {
+	block, _ := pem.Decode(certPEM)
+	if block == nil || block.Type != "CERTIFICATE" {
+		return nil, errors.New("not a certificate")
+	}
+	certificate, err := x509.ParseCertificate(block.Bytes)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	keyBlock, _ := pem.Decode(keyPEM)
+	if keyBlock == nil {
+		return nil, errors.New("not a key")
+	}
+	if _, err := x509.ParsePKCS8PrivateKey(keyBlock.Bytes); err != nil {
+		if _, err := x509.ParsePKCS1PrivateKey(keyBlock.Bytes); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return certificate, nil
+}
+
+func writeBusCertificate(crt, key string) error {
+	private, err := rsa.GenerateKey(rand.Reader, 2048)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	serial, err := rand.Int(rand.Reader, new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 128))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	template := &x509.Certificate{
+		SerialNumber:          serial,
+		Subject:               pkix.Name{CommonName: busCertificateNames[0]},
+		DNSNames:              busCertificateNames,
+		IPAddresses:           []net.IP{net.ParseIP("127.0.0.1")},
+		NotBefore:             time.Now().Add(-time.Hour),
+		NotAfter:              time.Now().Add(busCertificateLife),
+		KeyUsage:              x509.KeyUsageDigitalSignature | x509.KeyUsageKeyEncipherment,
+		ExtKeyUsage:           []x509.ExtKeyUsage{x509.ExtKeyUsageServerAuth},
+		BasicConstraintsValid: true,
+	}
+	der, err := x509.CreateCertificate(rand.Reader, template, template, &private.PublicKey, private)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	pkcs8, err := x509.MarshalPKCS8PrivateKey(private)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// **The key first, and only then the certificate**, so the pair a reader finds is never a
+	// certificate whose key has not been written yet — the one order in which an interruption
+	// leaves something that looks finished (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/014, a key present and unusable).
+	if err := os.WriteFile(key, pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{Type: "PRIVATE KEY", Bytes: pkcs8}), 0o600); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(crt, pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{Type: "CERTIFICATE", Bytes: der}), 0o644); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("made the bus a certificate for %v, valid until %s\n  %s\n  %s\n",
+		busCertificateNames, template.NotAfter.Format(time.RFC3339), crt, key)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// busAccounts writes the mesh's composed user list to a file.
+//
+// **For genesis, where no declaration can deliver it** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/146). Everywhere else
+// the list reaches the machine running the bus as a resource of the module that holds it — which
+// requires that machine to be an enrolled node, and at genesis it is not: the first node cannot
+// enrol because the account it would enrol with cannot be composed onto a bus it has no declaration
+// for. The installer breaks that circle by placing the file itself, once, and the module takes the
+// file over from its first push.
+//
+// The same composition, not a second one: this asks the store for the same records and renders them
+// with the same composer the declaration uses. A genesis that hand-wrote an account would be a
+// second statement of who may say what, able to disagree with the first.
+//
+// **It writes to standard output unless told a file**, and that is the point: the control plane
+// composes and says what it composed, and whoever is raising the machine puts it where that
+// machine's bus reads it. A control plane that wrote into the bus's own directory would have to
+// know where that is and how to make the server re-read it — which is the module's knowledge, and
+// the module is what takes this over on the first push.
+//
+//	broker accounts > /var/lib/mesh-bus-conf/accounts.conf
+func busAccounts(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	into := ""
+	for i := 0; i < len(args); i++ {
+		switch args[i] {
+		case "--into":
+			if i+1 >= len(args) {
+				return errors.New("--into needs a file")
+			}
+			into = args[i+1]
+			i++
+		default:
+			return fmt.Errorf("broker accounts --into <file>: %q", args[i])
+		}
+	}
+
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+
+	records, err := open.inventory.BusRecords(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	users, err := broker.Users(records)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	kept, err := open.inventory.BusUsers(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	hashes := make(map[string]string, len(kept))
+	for name, u := range kept {
+		hashes[name] = u.PasswordHash
+	}
+	filled, missing := broker.WithPasswords(users, hashes)
+	if len(missing) > 0 {
+		// To standard error, always: the composed file may be going to standard output, and a
+		// remark in the middle of it is a configuration the server refuses to parse.
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "leaving out %d user(s) the mesh has minted no credential for: %s\n",
+			len(missing), strings.Join(missing, ", "))
+	}
+	if len(filled) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("not one user has a credential, so this list would refuse every " +
+			"connection in the mesh")
+	}
+	accounts, err := broker.ComposeAccounts(filled)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if into == "" {
+		fmt.Print(accounts)
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(into, []byte(accounts), 0o600); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("wrote %d user(s) to %s\n", len(filled), into)
+	return nil
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/146. The bootstrap could not make the bus a certificate: it asked an image for
+// `openssl` and the image it asks has none. What replaces it is this command, so what is checked is
+// what the bootstrap needs from it — a pair a TLS server can actually load, made once and only once.
+
+func TestTheBusCertificateLoadsAsAServersWould(t *testing.T) {
+	into := t.TempDir()
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--into", into}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the bus could not be given a certificate: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// The check a cheaper test would not make. The key was present and valid and the server could
+	// not start, once, because nothing loaded the pair the way a server loads it
+	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/014).
+	pair, err := tls.LoadX509KeyPair(filepath.Join(into, "tls.crt"), filepath.Join(into, "tls.key"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a TLS server cannot load what was written: %v", err)
+	}
+	leaf := pair.Leaf
+	if leaf == nil {
+		if leaf, err = x509.ParseCertificate(pair.Certificate[0]); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	if err := leaf.VerifyHostname("mesh-broker"); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("the certificate is not for the name the bus is reached by: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(leaf.IPAddresses) == 0 || leaf.IPAddresses[0].String() != "127.0.0.1" {
+		t.Errorf("the certificate does not cover the loopback address the foundation dials: %v", leaf.IPAddresses)
+	}
+
+	// The key is not readable by anything else on the machine; the certificate is public and is.
+	key, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(into, "tls.key"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if key.Mode().Perm() != 0o600 {
+		t.Errorf("the key is %v", key.Mode().Perm())
+	}
+	crt, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(into, "tls.crt"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if crt.Mode().Perm() != 0o644 {
+		t.Errorf("the certificate is %v, which the server runs as another user cannot read", crt.Mode().Perm())
+	}
+}
+
+// **Made once.** The step is applied again on every reconcile, and a second certificate is one the
+// hosts that pinned the first no longer believe (novox/hq ADR 0004).
+func TestTheBusCertificateIsMadeOnce(t *testing.T) {
+	into := t.TempDir()
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--into", into}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	first, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(into, "tls.crt"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--into", into}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	again, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(into, "tls.crt"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if string(first) != string(again) {
+		t.Fatal("running it twice replaced the certificate every host had pinned")
+	}
+}
+
+// The verify half: false before, true after, which is what makes the bootstrap run the step at all.
+func TestTheCheckIsFalseUntilThereIsAPair(t *testing.T) {
+	into := t.TempDir()
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--check", "--into", into}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("an empty directory reported a usable certificate")
+	}
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--into", into}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--check", "--into", into}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the certificate it just made does not satisfy its own check: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// A half-written pair is not a pair. An interrupted bootstrap leaves exactly this, and a step that
+// called it done would hand the server a certificate with no key and report success.
+func TestACertificateWithoutItsKeyIsNotUsable(t *testing.T) {
+	into := t.TempDir()
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--into", into}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.Remove(filepath.Join(into, "tls.key")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--check", "--into", into}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a certificate with no key passed the check")
+	}
+	if err := busCertificate([]string{"--into", into}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := tls.LoadX509KeyPair(filepath.Join(into, "tls.crt"), filepath.Join(into, "tls.key")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("it did not replace the unusable pair: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWhereToWriteIsRequired(t *testing.T) {
+	if err := busCertificate(nil); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "--into") {
+		t.Fatalf("it did not ask where to write: %v", err)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// moduleCheck judges manifests where they are written, with no mesh (novox/hq ADR 0037, issue 148).
+//
+// **The same functions registration runs, and nothing the command line adds** (ADR 0035): the strict
+// parse with every per-manifest problem, then the rules no single manifest can be judged against,
+// over exactly the manifests given. Somebody describing their own application in their own
+// repository runs this before pushing and finds out there, rather than when a running mesh refuses
+// the registration or, later, when a machine applies something that resolved and should not have.
+//
+// **What it cannot know without a store, it says.** The mesh's own seat set is the store's (ADR
+// 0122); this binary carries a compiled copy that the store overrides when loaded, so a claim on a
+// mesh seat is judged fully only at registration. A seat another module declares is unknown unless
+// that module's manifest is passed too. Both are printed as a note, not as a problem — a check that
+// refused what it could not see would teach people to ignore it.
+func moduleCheck(paths []string, out io.Writer) error {
+	if len(paths) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("module check <manifest.json>... — one file per module; pass every " +
+			"manifest of a repository together so the rules between them are checked too")
+	}
+	shelf := catalogue.Shelf{}
+	faulted := map[string]bool{}
+	failed := 0
+	for _, path := range paths {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s: %v\n", path, err)
+			failed++
+			continue
+		}
+		m, err := catalogue.ParseManifest(raw)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s: %v\n", path, err)
+			failed++
+			continue
+		}
+		if first, twice := shelf[m.Module]; twice {
+			_ = first
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s: %s was already given; two manifests name one module\n", path, m.Module)
+			failed++
+			continue
+		}
+		// A definition names no installation (novox/hq ADR 0112, ADR 0155): judged here, in the
+		// catalogue-wide test, and at registration, which refuses in the same words.
+		if named := catalogue.InstallationProblems(m); len(named) > 0 {
+			for _, p := range named {
+				fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s: %s\n", path, p)
+			}
+			failed += len(named)
+			faulted[m.Module] = true
+		}
+		shelf[m.Module] = m
+	}
+
+	// Between the manifests: a seat declared twice, a use of a seat nothing declares, a claim on
+	// a seat that does not exist. Run only over what parsed, because a problem inside one manifest
+	// has already been said and would be said again here in a worse form.
+	problems := catalogue.CatalogueProblems(shelf)
+	sort.Strings(problems)
+	for _, p := range problems {
+		fmt.Fprintln(out, p)
+	}
+	failed += len(problems)
+
+	var names []string
+	for name := range shelf {
+		names = append(names, name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	for _, name := range names {
+		m := shelf[name]
+		if faulted[name] {
+			continue
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s: ok", name)
+		if n := len(m.Tools); n > 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, ", %d tool(s)", n)
+		}
+		if len(m.Invokes) > 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintf(out, ", invokes %s", joinInvokes(m.Invokes))
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintln(out)
+	}
+	if failed > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%d problem(s) in %d manifest(s)", failed, len(paths))
+	}
+	fmt.Fprintf(out, "%d manifest(s) checked. Judged against the seats this binary carries; a claim on "+
+		"one of the mesh's own seats is judged fully at registration, and a seat declared by a "+
+		"module not given here reads as unknown\n", len(paths))
+	return nil
+}
+
+func joinInvokes(invokes []string) string {
+	if len(invokes) == 1 && invokes[0] == "*" {
+		return "every tool"
+	}
+	s := ""
+	for i, t := range invokes {
+		if i > 0 {
+			s += ", "
+		}
+		s += t
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+// manifestsUnder lists every module.json below a directory, for `module check <dir>`.
+func manifestsUnder(dir string) ([]string, error) {
+	var found []string
+	err := filepath.WalkDir(dir, func(path string, d os.DirEntry, err error) error {
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if d.IsDir() && (d.Name() == "node_modules" || d.Name() == ".git" || d.Name() == "dist") {
+			return filepath.SkipDir
+		}
+		if !d.IsDir() && d.Name() == "module.json" {
+			found = append(found, path)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	sort.Strings(found)
+	return found, err
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// The check anybody can run is the check registration runs (novox/hq issue 148, ADR 0037): a manifest
+// with a known fault is named, and one without passes, with no store opened.
+func TestModuleCheckNamesAFaultAndNeedsNoMesh(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	good := filepath.Join(dir, "good.json")
+	bad := filepath.Join(dir, "bad.json")
+	os.WriteFile(good, []byte(`{"module":"shop","version":"1","tools":["price"],"invokes":["mesh-catalog.catalog_modules"]}`), 0o600)
+	os.WriteFile(bad, []byte(`{"module":"till","version":"1","invokes":["shop"]}`), 0o600)
+
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	if err := moduleCheck([]string{good}, &out); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a sound manifest was refused: %v\n%s", err, out.String())
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out.String(), "shop: ok, 1 tool(s), invokes mesh-catalog.catalog_modules") {
+		t.Fatalf("the report does not say what it checked:\n%s", out.String())
+	}
+
+	out.Reset()
+	err := moduleCheck([]string{good, bad}, &out)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a manifest invoking a module and no tool passed")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out.String(), `till invokes "shop", which does not name a tool`) {
+		t.Fatalf("the fault is not named in the manifest's words:\n%s", out.String())
+	}
+}
+
+// The rules between manifests run over what was given together: a seat two modules declare is
+// refused, which no single-manifest check can see.
+func TestModuleCheckJudgesBetweenTheManifestsGiven(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	a := filepath.Join(dir, "a.json")
+	b := filepath.Join(dir, "b.json")
+	os.WriteFile(a, []byte(`{"module":"a","version":"1","seats":[{"name":"printer","scope":"mesh"}]}`), 0o600)
+	os.WriteFile(b, []byte(`{"module":"b","version":"1","seats":[{"name":"printer","scope":"mesh"}]}`), 0o600)
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	if err := moduleCheck([]string{a, b}, &out); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("two declarations of one seat passed:\n%s", out.String())
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out.String(), "a seat name means one protocol") {
+		t.Fatalf("the cross-manifest rule was not the one named:\n%s", out.String())
+	}
+}
+
+// The real catalogue passes the command, the way it passes the test that used to be the only check.
+func TestModuleCheckPassesTheCatalogue(t *testing.T) {
+	root := filepath.Join("..", "..", "..", "mesh-catalog", "modules")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(root); err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("catalogue sibling not present: %v", err)
+	}
+	paths, err := manifestsUnder(root)
+	if err != nil || len(paths) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s: %v", root, err)
+	}
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	if err := moduleCheck(paths, &out); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the catalogue does not pass its own check: %v\n%s", err, out.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRegistrationRefusesADefinitionNamingAnInstallation(t *testing.T) {
+	// novox/hq ADR 0155: the check moves to registration once the catalogue passes it. Both
+	// ways in — `module add` and a build's result — go through this, and a name declared on
+	// purpose passes with its reason.
+	named := catalogue.Manifest{Module: "idp", Resources: []map[string]any{
+		{"id": "server", "type": "container", "image": "x@sha256:aa",
+			"env": map[string]any{"KC_HOSTNAME": "https://login.mesh-one.be"}},
+	}}
+	err := namesNoInstallation(named)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "login.mesh-one.be") ||
+		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), catalogue.NamesOnPurpose) {
+		t.Fatalf("a definition naming an installation is refused with the name and the way out; got %v", err)
+	}
+	meant := catalogue.Manifest{Module: "site", Resources: []map[string]any{
+		{"id": "server", "type": "container", "image": "registry.mesh-one.be/org/site@sha256:cc",
+			catalogue.NamesOnPurpose: map[string]any{
+				"registry.mesh-one.be": "built outside the mesh until its repository is a build source here"}},
+	}}
+	if err := namesNoInstallation(meant); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a name declared on purpose passes; got %v", err)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// A merge that rebuilds a base rebuilds what stands on it, through every layer, and nothing else
+// (novox/hq issue 186): the runtime image moving means every module built on it moves too, and a
+// module built on one of those moves as well.
+func TestAMergeOfABaseTakesWhatStandsOnItAlong(t *testing.T) {
+	entry := func(name string) inventory.Entry {
+		return inventory.Entry{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: name}}
+	}
+	entries := []inventory.Entry{entry("mesh-tools"), entry("shop"), entry("shop-plugin"), entry("postgres"), entry("unrelated")}
+	against := map[string][]string{
+		"shop":        {catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme + "mesh-tools/runtime@sha256:a"},
+		"shop-plugin": {catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme + "shop/runtime@sha256:b"},
+		"postgres":    {catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme + "mesh-tools/runtime@sha256:a"},
+		"unrelated":   {catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme + "alpine/base@sha256:c"},
+	}
+	got := dependentsOf([]inventory.Entry{entry("mesh-tools")}, entries, against)
+	var names []string
+	for _, e := range got {
+		names = append(names, e.Manifest.Module)
+	}
+	want := map[string]bool{"shop": true, "shop-plugin": true, "postgres": true}
+	if len(names) != len(want) {
+		t.Fatalf("rebuilt %v; wanted exactly the three that stand on the runtime, directly or through shop", names)
+	}
+	for _, n := range names {
+		if !want[n] {
+			t.Fatalf("%s was rebuilt and stands on nothing that moved (%v)", n, names)
+		}
+	}
+	// The dependents come in base order when the merge orders them: the runtime, then shop, then
+	// the plugin that stands on shop.
+	ordered := orderByBases(append([]inventory.Entry{entry("mesh-tools")}, got...), against)
+	pos := map[string]int{}
+	for i, e := range ordered {
+		pos[e.Manifest.Module] = i
+	}
+	if !(pos["mesh-tools"] < pos["shop"] && pos["shop"] < pos["shop-plugin"]) {
+		t.Fatalf("not in base order: %v", ordered)
+	}
+	// Nothing moved: nothing follows.
+	if more := dependentsOf(nil, entries, against); len(more) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("with nothing moved, %d module(s) were rebuilt", len(more))
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// recordDerivedHolders writes down who holds each mesh-scoped seat that nobody was ever recorded
+// as holding.
+//
+// **A seat held by derivation is a seat held by accident of being alone** (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/170). ADR 0131 lets a holder on record settle a seat, and lets any other assignment
+// whose module could hold it stand beside the holder, eligible and silent. But a seat nobody
+// ever handed over has no record, so its holder is whichever assignment happened to be the sole
+// claimant — and the day a second one is assigned, both claim, both are refused, and the first
+// one's whole machine stops resolving. That is what assigning a second postgres did to the
+// control plane's own store.
+//
+// So the mesh writes the derived answer down before it acts on an assignment: for every
+// mesh-scoped seat with exactly one resolved holder and nothing on record, that holder is
+// recorded as the standing one — the same record `seat <name> --to <node>/<module>` makes by
+// hand, made from what the mesh already resolved. A seat with two derived claimants is left
+// alone: that is the ambiguity a person settles, and recording either would be guessing.
+//
+// Node-scoped seats are untouched: a record is one holder per seat, and a node-scoped seat has
+// one holder per machine (ADR 0121), so there is nothing for a record to settle there.
+func recordDerivedHolders(ctx context.Context, open *stores) ([]string, error) {
+	inv := open.inventory
+	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	// exclude nobody: every node's claims, resolved with the holdings on record.
+	world, err := theRestOfTheMesh(ctx, inv, shelf, "")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	recorded, err := inv.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	// A record is a row against a seat the store knows. A seat it does not — a mesh whose seats
+	// were never seeded, a seat a module declares for itself — stays held by derivation, as it
+	// always was; a missing row is not a reason an assignment fails.
+	known, err := inv.Seats(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	recordable := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, s := range known {
+		recordable[s.Name] = true
+	}
+	onRecord := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, h := range recorded {
+		if s, ok := catalogue.SeatNamed(h.Claim); ok {
+			onRecord[s.Name] = true
+		}
+	}
+	holders := map[string][]catalogue.Held{}
+	for _, h := range world.Held {
+		if h.Scope != catalogue.ScopeMesh {
+			continue
+		}
+		s, ok := catalogue.SeatNamed(h.Claim)
+		if !ok || onRecord[s.Name] || !recordable[s.Name] {
+			continue
+		}
+		holders[s.Name] = append(holders[s.Name], h)
+	}
+	names := make([]string, 0, len(holders))
+	for name := range holders {
+		names = append(names, name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	var said []string
+	for _, name := range names {
+		if len(holders[name]) != 1 {
+			continue
+		}
+		h := holders[name][0]
+		if err := inv.HoldSeat(ctx, name, catalogue.ScopeMesh, h.Node, h.Module); err != nil {
+			return said, err
+		}
+		said = append(said, fmt.Sprintf(
+			"recorded %s on %s as the standing holder of %s, which it held only by being alone",
+			h.Module, h.Node, name))
+	}
+	return said, nil
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// A seat nobody ever handed over is held by whichever assignment happened to be alone — and the
+// day a second module able to hold it is assigned, both claimed, both were refused, and the first
+// one's machine stopped resolving (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/170). The mesh now writes the derived holder
+// down before it acts, so the second assignment stands beside the holder on record.
+
+func aSeatedStore() catalogue.Manifest {
+	return catalogue.Manifest{Module: "store", Version: "1",
+		Provides: []catalogue.Offer{{Name: "postgres-database", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh}},
+		Serves:   map[string]map[string]any{"postgres-database": {"port": 5432}},
+		Claims:   []catalogue.Claim{{Name: "mesh-store", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh}}}
+}
+
+func TestASecondEligibleHolderStandsBesideTheOneHeldByBeingAlone(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	// Every deploy seeds the mesh's own seats; a record is a row against one of them.
+	if _, err := open.inventory.SeedSeats(ctx, catalogue.DefaultSeats()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	register(t, open, aSeatedStore())
+
+	if _, err := assign(ctx, open, "anchor", "store"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	said, err := assign(ctx, open, "laptop", "store")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a second store, eligible for the seat, was refused:\n%s\n%v", said, err)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(said, "cannot be worked out") {
+		t.Fatalf("assigning a second store unsettled the first one's machine:\n%s", said)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(said, "recorded store on anchor as the standing holder of mesh-store") {
+		t.Fatalf("the holder by derivation was not written down:\n%s", said)
+	}
+
+	holdings, err := open.inventory.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var found bool
+	for _, h := range holdings {
+		if h.Claim == "mesh-store" {
+			found = true
+			if h.Node != "anchor" || h.Module != "store" {
+				t.Fatalf("mesh-store is recorded on %s/%s, not on the one that held it", h.Node, h.Module)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Fatalf("mesh-store has no holder on record after assigning: %v", holdings)
+	}
+
+	// And the record decides from here: the anchor's plan holds the seat, the laptop's does not.
+	for node, holds := range map[string]bool{"anchor": true, "laptop": false} {
+		plan, _, err := planFor(ctx, open, node)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s no longer resolves: %v", node, err)
+		}
+		var claimed bool
+		for _, c := range plan.Claims {
+			if c.Claim == "mesh-store" {
+				claimed = true
+			}
+		}
+		if claimed != holds {
+			t.Fatalf("%s holds mesh-store: %v, want %v", node, claimed, holds)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAHolderOnRecordIsNotRewrittenByDerivation(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	if _, err := open.inventory.SeedSeats(ctx, catalogue.DefaultSeats()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	register(t, open, aSeatedStore())
+	for _, node := range []string{"anchor", "laptop"} {
+		if _, err := assign(ctx, open, node, "store"); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	// A person hands the seat to the laptop. From here the record decides, and what the mesh
+	// derives must never write over it.
+	if err := open.inventory.HoldSeat(ctx, "mesh-store", catalogue.ScopeMesh, "laptop", "store"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	said, err := recordDerivedHolders(ctx, open)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(said) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a seat on record was written again from derivation: %v", said)
+	}
+	holdings, _ := open.inventory.Holdings(ctx)
+	for _, h := range holdings {
+		if h.Claim == "mesh-store" && h.Node != "laptop" {
+			t.Fatalf("the record moved to %s", h.Node)
+		}
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// A host refuses a declaration carrying a field it does not know, and refuses it whole — so every new
+// field is a flag day, and the mesh had no record of which host any machine ran (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/087). The order was kept by somebody remembering it.
+
+func TestTheMeshNamesWhichMachinesRunWhichHost(t *testing.T) {
+	split := hostSplit([]inventory.Node{
+		{Name: "anchor", HostVersion: "04a27ca"},
+		{Name: "laptop", HostVersion: "ced54d4"},
+		{Name: "spare", HostVersion: "04a27ca"},
+	})
+	if len(split) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("two versions were reported and the split has %d: %v", len(split), split)
+	}
+	if got := strings.Join(split["04a27ca"], ","); got != "anchor,spare" && got != "spare,anchor" {
+		t.Fatalf("04a27ca is held by %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := strings.Join(split["ced54d4"], ","); got != "laptop" {
+		t.Fatalf("ced54d4 is held by %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheMeshDoesNotClaimWhichHostIsNewer(t *testing.T) {
+	// **The fault this replaced.** A host reports its version as a commit, and commits have no order.
+	// The first version compared them as strings and, on the live mesh, named the three machines
+	// running the NEWER host as the ones behind: `ced54d4` sorts above `04a27ca` and means nothing.
+	//
+	// There is no assertion to make about which is newer, and that is the point — the type says so.
+	// hostSplit returns who runs what, and nothing that could be read as an ordering.
+	split := hostSplit([]inventory.Node{
+		{Name: "old-but-sorts-high", HostVersion: "ced54d4"},
+		{Name: "new-but-sorts-low", HostVersion: "04a27ca"},
+	})
+	for version, machines := range split {
+		if len(machines) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("%s is held by %v", version, machines)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMachineThatHasNotSaidIsNotAVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	// It may be running anything. Counting it as a version would invent a disagreement; `node show`
+	// says per machine that it has not said.
+	split := hostSplit([]inventory.Node{
+		{Name: "anchor", HostVersion: "04a27ca"},
+		{Name: "quiet"},
+	})
+	if split != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("one reported version and one silence read as a disagreement: %v", split)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMachinesAgreeingOnTheirHostAreNotADisagreement(t *testing.T) {
+	if split := hostSplit([]inventory.Node{
+		{Name: "anchor", HostVersion: "v2"},
+		{Name: "laptop", HostVersion: "v2"},
+	}); split != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("machines agreeing reported a split: %v", split)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMeshWhereNothingReportedAHostStatesNoDisagreement(t *testing.T) {
+	if split := hostSplit([]inventory.Node{{Name: "anchor"}, {Name: "laptop"}}); split != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a mesh told no host version reported a split: %v", split)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAReportedHostVersionIsKeptAndReadBack(t *testing.T) {
+	// The machine has sent this since ADR 0141 and the controller's own copy of the report did not
+	// have the field, so it was unmarshalled into nothing. End to end through the store, because the
+	// fault was a field that existed on one side of the wire only.
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	record, err := open.inventory.NodeByName(t.Context(), "anchor")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if record.HostVersion != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("a machine that never reported one has host version %q", record.HostVersion)
+	}
+	if err := open.inventory.RecordHostVersion(t.Context(), record.ID, "ced54d4"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	again, err := open.inventory.NodeByName(t.Context(), "anchor")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if again.HostVersion != "ced54d4" {
+		t.Fatalf("the reported host version read back as %q", again.HostVersion)
+	}
+	// An empty report never clears what a machine last said: a bare word that the node is there says
+	// nothing about its host.
+	if err := open.inventory.RecordHostVersion(t.Context(), record.ID, "  "); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	kept, err := open.inventory.NodeByName(t.Context(), "anchor")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if kept.HostVersion != "ced54d4" {
+		t.Fatalf("a report carrying no host version cleared what the machine had said: %q",
+			kept.HostVersion)
+	}
+}
@@ -72,11 +72,16 @@ func run() error {
 		return askCommand(ctx, args[1:])
 	case "builds":
 		return buildsCommand(ctx, args[1:])
+	case "plans":
+		return plansCommand(ctx, args[1:])
 	case "pin":
 		return pinCommand(ctx, args[1:], true)
 	case "unpin":
 		return pinCommand(ctx, args[1:], false)
-	case "migrate":
+	// `prepare` is how the mesh asks any module to bring its state to the shape this version needs
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0135), and the control plane answers it the same way as everything else — its
+	// own schema is not a special case. `migrate` remains the word a person types.
+	case "prepare", "migrate":
 		return migrate(ctx)
 	case "node":
 		return nodeCommand(ctx, args[1:])
@@ -85,7 +90,7 @@ func run() error {
 	case "identity":
 		return identityCommand(ctx, args[1:])
 	case "broker":
-		return brokerCommand(args[1:])
+		return brokerCommand(ctx, args[1:])
 	case "serve":
 		return serve(ctx)
 	case "upgrade":
@@ -138,12 +143,16 @@ func usage() {
 	fmt.Fprint(os.Stderr, `mesh-controller — the control plane

  migrate                        bring each context's schema up to date
+  prepare                        the same, asked the way the mesh asks any module (ADR 0135)
  node add <name> [--adopted]    create a node record; --adopted: the machine is in use
  node list                      the nodes this mesh knows about
  node show <name>               what one machine reported it can do, and why
  node public-domain <name>      the domain it composes its routed names under
  node public-domain <name> <d>  ...set it to d
  node public-domain <name> --clear   ...it faces the outside no longer
+  node networks <name>           the networks it routes for what it hosts
+  node networks <name> <cidr>... ...set them; its filter forwards these too
+  node networks <name> --clear   ...only the container runtime's own
  token issue --node <name>      a one-time right to join, for an existing record
  token issue --new <name>       create the record and issue for it
  token issue ... --adopted      ...for a machine in use, which joins adopted
@@ -154,6 +163,7 @@ func usage() {
  overlay place <node> [flags]   say where a node is and how it is reached
  overlay show                   the private network, as the mesh computes it
  module add <file>              register a module from its manifest
+  module check <file|dir>...     judge manifests where they are written, with no mesh (exit 1 on any problem)
  module list                    what modules this mesh knows about
  module moved <name> <commit>   the source has a newer commit than the mesh built
  module forget <name>           remove one, unless a node runs it or the mesh holds things for it
@@ -164,11 +174,14 @@ func usage() {
  upgrade <name> record          ...record that they are behind, and send nothing
  status [--json]                what is wrong, what is quiet, and what is out of date
  seats [--json]                 every seat this mesh defines, what it delivers, and who holds it
+  seat rename <from> <to>        rename a seat; its former name still resolves (ADR 0122)
+  seat <name> --to <node>/<module>   hand a seat to that assignment as one act; never empty in between (ADR 0131)
  board [--listen ADDR]          the same three questions, as a page that holds nothing
  api --issuer URL [--listen A]  assign and unassign over http, for a surface that is not here
  assign <node> <module>         put a module on a node
  unassign <node> <module>       take it off
-  take <node> <module>           cut a module over on an adopted node, once its data has moved
+  take <node> <module>           preview a module's cutover on an adopted node: what runs beside
+                                 what it declares; --yes <digest> cuts it over as previewed
  converge <node> [--yes <digest>] [--filter nftables]   preview, then make, an adopted node converged
  adopt <node>                   return a converged node to adopted; what was taken stays taken
  settings set <module> <file>   what a module's config should say, for the whole mesh
@@ -184,6 +197,7 @@ func usage() {
  operator key show                         the operator key, and what it can recover
  build <repository> [--ref R]   have a build machine build it, and record what came out
  build --behind                 build every module the mesh holds older than its source
+  build --on <module>            rebuild every module that stands on this module's artifacts, bases first
  builds [<module>]              what has been built lately, and what came of it
  builder issue <name>           a broker account for a build machine, scoped to build work,
                                 delivered as the builder module's broker secret (module add it first)
@@ -192,7 +206,8 @@ func usage() {
  licence refresh <name>         mint a new access token and seal it to every holder
  rotate <provision> [--consumer <n>]  a new credential for every holder, both ends at once
  ask <module> <tool> [json]           call one of a module's tools over the broker, and print its answer
-  pin <node> <provision> <from>  which node this one gets a provision from
+  pin <node> <provision> <from-node> <module>
+                                 which provider this one gets a provision from: the module, and its node
  unpin <node> <provision>       put that question back
  plan <node> [--files|--json]     what that node would run, and why
  push [<node>] [--behind]       send a node everything it should be, or only those that need it
@@ -232,6 +247,31 @@ func parseAround(set *flag.FlagSet, args []string) ([]string, error) {
 	}
 }

+// Built is the daemon hearing a build's outcome on the bus — its own asking, an announcement's, or
+// a tool's that did not wait (novox/hq issue 176) — and taking it in: recorded, and the module
+// registered, the same as the waiting command does. Said either way, so the daemon's log tells what
+// became of a build nobody was watching.
 func (b builds) Built(ctx context.Context, result link.BuildResult) error {
-	return b.inv.RecordBuild(ctx, buildFrom(result))
+	manifest, _, err := takeIn(ctx, b.inv, result)
+	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)
+		} else {
+			planFailedBuild(ctx, b.open, result)
+		}
+		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())
+		}
+		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, "")
+	return nil
 }
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ package main

 import (
 	"context"
-	"crypto/rand"
-	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
@@ -56,7 +54,24 @@ var provided = providedModules()

 func moduleCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	if len(args) == 0 {
-		return errors.New("module add <file>, module list, or module forget <name>")
+		return errors.New("module add <file>, module check <file>..., module list, or module forget <name>")
+	}
+	// `check` needs no mesh, and must not: it is what somebody runs in their own repository before
+	// there is a mesh in reach (novox/hq issue 148). A directory expands to every manifest under it.
+	if args[0] == "check" {
+		var paths []string
+		for _, a := range args[1:] {
+			if info, err := os.Stat(a); err == nil && info.IsDir() {
+				under, err := manifestsUnder(a)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				paths = append(paths, under...)
+				continue
+			}
+			paths = append(paths, a)
+		}
+		return moduleCheck(paths, os.Stdout)
 	}
 	open, err := openStores(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -71,12 +86,20 @@ func moduleCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		repo := set.String("source", "", "where this module comes from")
 		ref := set.String("ref", "", "the branch followed there")
 		commit := set.String("commit", "", "the commit this manifest was read at")
+		// **Where inside the repository the module is** (novox/hq ADR 0069). A module is a
+		// repository *and* a directory, and a record that carries only the repository names a
+		// module.json at its root — so every later build of it looks in the wrong place and fails
+		// with "no module.json at its root". Nine modules on this mesh were registered that way
+		// and none of them could be rebuilt (2026-09-28).
+		path := set.String("path", "", "the module's directory inside that repository")
+		self := set.Bool("self", false, "the source is a path on the forge holding the git seat")
 		positionals, err := parseAround(set, args[1:])
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		if len(positionals) != 1 {
-			return errors.New("module add <manifest.json> [--source <repo> --ref <branch> --commit <sha>]")
+			return errors.New("module add <manifest.json> [--source <repo> [--self] [--path P] " +
+				"--ref <branch> --commit <sha>]")
 		}
 		raw, err := os.ReadFile(positionals[0])
 		if err != nil {
@@ -86,23 +109,27 @@ func moduleCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		// Provenance together or not at all. A source with no commit cannot be compared against
-		// anything, so it would record where the module came from and still never be able to say
-		// the mesh is behind it — which is the one thing recording it is for.
-		if (*repo == "") != (*commit == "") {
-			return errors.New("--source and --commit go together: a source with no commit " +
-				"cannot be compared against anything, and a commit with no source has nothing " +
-				"to be compared with")
+		from, err := whereItComesFrom(*repo, *ref, *commit, *path, *self)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
-		if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, m, inventory.Source{
-			Repository: *repo, Ref: *ref, BuiltFrom: *commit,
-		}); err != nil {
+		if err := namesNoInstallation(m); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, m, from); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		fmt.Printf("%s registered", m.Module)
 		if *commit != "" {
 			fmt.Printf(" from %s", short(*commit))
 		}
+		if *repo != "" && *path == "" {
+			// Said, not refused: a module really at the root is the ordinary case for a repository
+			// of its own. But a repository holding many modules and a record naming none of them is
+			// a module nothing can rebuild, and the person adding it is the one who knows which.
+			fmt.Printf("\n  no directory inside %s, so it is built from that repository's root — "+
+				"`--path` if the module lives in a directory there", *repo)
+		}
 		if len(m.Provides) > 0 {
 			fmt.Printf(", providing %s", describeOffers(m.Provides))
 		}
@@ -261,80 +288,14 @@ func moduleCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		// made in entirely different ways: on the bus the mesh runs on today an account is a
 		// management call, and on the bus being built it is a row the next composition writes into
 		// the server's user list (novox/hq design 25 §4).
-		busAddress, onNATS, err := broker.OnNATS()
+		busAddress, err := broker.BusAddress()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		if err := broker.MustBeOneBus(os.Getenv(broker.AMQPVarName), busAddress); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if onNATS {
-			return issueOnTheNewBus(ctx, inv, m, *forNode, busAddress)
-		}
-
-		management, err := broker.ManagementFromEnvironment()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		// The foundation owns the bus; make sure it exists before a module binds onto it.
-		if err := management.EnsureEventExchanges(ctx); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		secret := make([]byte, 32)
-		if _, err := rand.Read(secret); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		password := base64.RawURLEncoding.EncodeToString(secret)
-		account, err := management.CreateModuleAccount(ctx, *forNode, module, password, m.Emits, m.Consumes)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		// A consumer's queue, with its dead-letter, is the foundation's to declare — its own account
-		// may not (ADR 0043). Made now, so it exists before the module binds onto it.
-		if len(m.Consumes) > 0 {
-			if err := management.EnsureModuleQueue(ctx, *forNode, module); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-		}
-
-		known, err := broker.FromEnvironment()
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("cannot deliver a credential without knowing where the broker is: %w", err)
-		}
-		brokerAddr, err := brokerReachableAt(ctx, inv, known, *forNode)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		// The URL and what verifies the broker, together — a mesh's broker presents its own
-		// certificate, in no public trust store, so a URL alone fails at TLS (as `builder issue`).
-		held, err := json.Marshal(struct {
-			URL         string `json:"url"`
-			Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
-			Node        string `json:"node"`
-			Module      string `json:"module"`
-		}{
-			URL:         fmt.Sprintf("amqps://%s:%s@%s/", account, password, brokerAddr),
-			Fingerprint: known.Fingerprint,
-			// The node and module the account is for, so the runtime names its queue as the mesh
-			// scoped it (<node>.<module>.events) without a manifest having to interpolate a node.
-			Node:   *forNode,
-			Module: module,
-		})
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err := inv.AcceptSecretForModule(ctx, *forNode, module, "broker", string(held)); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		fmt.Printf("broker account %s created for %s, scoped to what it emits and consumes\n",
-			account, module)
-		fmt.Printf("  sealed to %s. It arrives with the next push — `push %s` to send it\n",
-			*forNode, *forNode)
-		return nil
+		return issueOnTheNewBus(ctx, inv, m, *forNode, busAddress)

 	default:
-		return fmt.Errorf("module has no %q; it has add, list, moved, forget and issue", args[0])
+		return fmt.Errorf("module has no %q; it has add, check, list, moved, forget and issue", args[0])
 	}
 }

@@ -450,8 +411,8 @@ func describeOffers(offers []catalogue.Offer) string {
 // database should not change where an existing machine gets its data the day a second one
 // arrives.
 func pinCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string, setting bool) error {
-	if setting && len(args) != 3 {
-		return errors.New("pin <node> <provision> <from-node>")
+	if setting && len(args) != 4 {
+		return errors.New("pin <node> <provision> <from-node> <module>")
 	}
 	if !setting && len(args) != 2 {
 		return errors.New("unpin <node> <provision>")
@@ -470,17 +431,12 @@ func pinCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string, setting bool) error {
 		fmt.Printf("%s is no longer told where to get %s from\n", args[0], args[1])
 		return nil
 	}
-	if args[0] == args[2] {
-		// Allowed by nothing here, and worth saying rather than resolving into a confusing
-		// refusal later: a node providing something to itself is a node-scoped provision, and
-		// this field is for the other kind.
-		return fmt.Errorf("%s cannot get %s from itself; that would be a provision this machine "+
-			"provides, which does not need saying", args[0], args[1])
-	}
-	if err := inv.PinProvision(ctx, args[0], args[1], args[2]); err != nil {
+	// The provider's node may be this same machine: two modules beside the consumer can both
+	// answer a provision, and then the module is the whole question (novox/hq #258).
+	if err := inv.PinProvision(ctx, args[0], args[1], args[2], args[3]); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("%s gets %s from %s\n", args[0], args[1], args[2])
+	fmt.Printf("%s gets %s from %s/%s\n", args[0], args[1], args[2], args[3])
 	fmt.Printf("  run `push %s` to send it\n", args[0])
 	return nil
 }
@@ -623,16 +579,25 @@ func issueOnTheNewBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue
 // (`rollout mint`, design 28 task 5.2) rather than the one in this process's environment.
 func issueWith(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue.Manifest,
 	node, busAddress string, known broker.Broker, reachable, user, password string) error {
+	// The seats this module claims, with the verbs each promises (novox/hq ADR 0159): the runtime
+	// serves a claimed seat's verbs with its tools of the same name, and the bus admits only the
+	// holder's subscription — so the runtime tries each claim and the grant decides. Written here
+	// because this file is the one thing the mesh writes that the runtime reads before it speaks.
+	claims, err := claimsFor(ctx, inv, m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	held, err := json.Marshal(struct {
-		URL         string `json:"url"`
-		Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
-		Node        string `json:"node"`
-		Module      string `json:"module"`
-		User        string `json:"user"`
-		Password    string `json:"password"`
+		URL         string        `json:"url"`
+		Fingerprint string        `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+		Node        string        `json:"node"`
+		Module      string        `json:"module"`
+		User        string        `json:"user"`
+		Password    string        `json:"password"`
+		Claims      []seatClaimed `json:"claims,omitempty"`
 	}{
 		URL: "nats://" + reachable, Fingerprint: known.Fingerprint,
-		Node: node, Module: m.Module, User: user, Password: password,
+		Node: node, Module: m.Module, User: user, Password: password, Claims: claims,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -670,3 +635,87 @@ func issueWith(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue.Manife
 		"machine holding mesh-broker\n")
 	return nil
 }
+
+// whereItComesFrom is the provenance a module handed over by hand records, and what a record must
+// say to be worth anything later.
+//
+// **A module is a repository and a directory inside it** (novox/hq ADR 0069). A record carrying only
+// the repository names a module.json at its root, so every later build of it looks in the wrong
+// place — nine modules on this mesh were registered that way and none of them could be rebuilt
+// (2026-09-28). The directory cannot be checked from here, because the control plane does not clone;
+// what can be checked is that the record is whole.
+func whereItComesFrom(repository, ref, commit, path string, self bool) (inventory.Source, error) {
+	// Provenance together or not at all. A source with no commit cannot be compared against
+	// anything, so it would record where the module came from and still never be able to say the
+	// mesh is behind it — which is the one thing recording it is for.
+	if (repository == "") != (commit == "") {
+		return inventory.Source{}, errors.New("--source and --commit go together: a source with " +
+			"no commit cannot be compared against anything, and a commit with no source has " +
+			"nothing to be compared with")
+	}
+	// A directory or a forge with no repository is half a location, and the half it keeps is the
+	// half nothing can be found with.
+	if repository == "" && (path != "" || self) {
+		return inventory.Source{}, errors.New("--path and --self say where inside a source and " +
+			"which forge holds it, so they need --source: without one there is nothing for them " +
+			"to be part of")
+	}
+	from := inventory.Source{Repository: repository, Ref: ref, BuiltFrom: commit, Path: path}
+	if self {
+		if err := onASeat(repository); err != nil {
+			return inventory.Source{}, err
+		}
+		from.Seat = gitSeat
+	}
+	return from, nil
+}
+
+// namesNoInstallation is the mesh refusing a definition that names an installation, at the moment
+// it would enter the catalogue (novox/hq ADR 0112, ADR 0155). `module check` says the same thing
+// earlier, where the author is; this is the last moment the mesh can still say no, and a
+// definition that got past the check — written elsewhere, or checked by nobody — is refused here
+// in the same words. A name meant on purpose is declared with its reason and passes.
+func namesNoInstallation(m catalogue.Manifest) error {
+	named := catalogue.InstallationProblems(m)
+	if len(named) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("%s names an installation, and a definition names none — declare a name meant "+
+		"on purpose under %s with its reason, or take it out:\n  - %s",
+		m.Module, catalogue.NamesOnPurpose, strings.Join(named, "\n  - "))
+}
+
+// seatClaimed is one seat a module claims, as its runtime needs it: the name, the scope (a
+// node-scoped seat's verb carries the machine, design 33 §4) and the verbs the seat promises.
+type seatClaimed struct {
+	Seat   string   `json:"seat"`
+	Scope  string   `json:"scope"`
+	Serves []string `json:"serves,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// claimsFor joins a module's claims with the seats' protocols from the mesh's records.
+func claimsFor(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue.Manifest) ([]seatClaimed, error) {
+	if len(m.Claims) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	seats, err := inv.Seats(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	byName := map[string]catalogue.Seat{}
+	for _, s := range seats {
+		byName[s.Name] = s
+	}
+	var out []seatClaimed
+	for _, c := range m.Claims {
+		claimed := seatClaimed{Seat: c.Name, Scope: c.At()}
+		if s, known := byName[c.Name]; known {
+			claimed.Scope = s.Scope
+			// The verbs the runtime serves for the seat: the claim's own when it names them
+			// (ADR 0160), else every verb the seat promises, which its tools then answer.
+			claimed.Serves = c.ServesFor(catalogue.Manifest{Tools: catalogue.VerbNames(s.Serves)})
+		}
+		out = append(out, claimed)
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 // A module that declares none is refused before the account exists, so the bus never carries an
 // account nothing reads (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/078).
 func TestAModuleWithNoBrokerSecretCannotBeIssued(t *testing.T) {
-	err := mayIssue(catalogue.Manifest{Module: "step-ca", OwnSecrets: map[string]string{"password": "/run/password"}})
+	err := mayIssue(catalogue.Manifest{Module: "step-ca", OwnSecrets: catalogue.OwnSecrets{"password": {Path: "/run/password"}}})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("a module with no broker own secret was issued an account")
 	}
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func TestAModuleWithNoBrokerSecretCannotBeIssued(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("the refusal does not say %q: %v", want, err)
 		}
 	}
-	if err := mayIssue(catalogue.Manifest{Module: "redis", OwnSecrets: map[string]string{"broker": "/run/broker"}}); err != nil {
+	if err := mayIssue(catalogue.Manifest{Module: "redis", OwnSecrets: catalogue.OwnSecrets{"broker": {Path: "/run/broker"}}}); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("a module declaring its broker secret was refused: %v", err)
 	}
 }
@@ -346,9 +346,16 @@ func whoResolves(ctx context.Context, open *stores, requirement string) (
 	refused := map[string]string{}
 	for _, n := range nodes {
 		plan, _, err := planFor(ctx, open, n.Name)
-		if err != nil {
+		switch {
+		case unresolvable(err):
 			refused[n.Name] = err.Error()
 			continue
+		case err != nil:
+			// Not a node that does not resolve — a question that went unanswered. Recording it as a
+			// refusal would take the machine off the private network, and the generator that reads
+			// this would then write a roster and a filter without it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/152).
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("whether %s answers %q cannot be read: %w",
+				n.Name, requirement, err)
 		}
 		for _, m := range plan.Modules {
 			for _, offered := range m.Offers() {
@@ -560,6 +567,9 @@ func onTheNetwork(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 			catalogue.Node{Name: p.Name, Site: p.Site, Capabilities: caps},
 			catalogue.World{Unchecked: true, Holdings: holdings})
 		if err != nil {
+			// Said, not skipped in silence: a machine dropped here loses its address, and every
+			// plan that names it fails in another module's words (novox/hq issue 188).
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s is not counted as on the network: it does not resolve: %v\n", p.Name, err)
 			continue
 		}
 		for _, m := range got.Modules {
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (

 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/token"
 )

@@ -67,6 +66,18 @@ func nodeCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		// because the damage is already done by the time it prints.
 		return publicDomain(ctx, inv, args[1:])

+	case "networks":
+		// Removed by novox/hq ADR 0140, which superseded the record that added it. The filter no
+		// longer names any network: it constrains what arrives from outside the machine and says
+		// nothing about what did not, so there is no list to keep. Answered rather than met with
+		// "unknown command", because this was the documented way to stop a flip cutting a machine's
+		// containers off and somebody will reasonably still type it.
+		return errors.New("`node networks` is gone (novox/hq ADR 0140). The filter constrains what " +
+			"arrives from outside this machine and says nothing about traffic that did not, so no " +
+			"network is named anywhere and nothing needs to be said to keep a machine's own " +
+			"containers reaching outward. The machine reports which of its links face outside; see " +
+			"`node show <name>`")
+
 	case "account":
 		// The operator's login on this machine (novox/hq to-be 29): what a home-scoped file is
 		// owned by and which account `ssh <node>` uses. Reports with no argument; sets with one;
@@ -258,15 +269,6 @@ func tokenCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	// chicken-and-egg entirely: the mesh runs the broker, so a joining node's credentials can
 	// exist before it does. The one-time secret IS the password, so a node's first connection is
 	// already authenticated and enrolment is what happens over it.
-	if management, err := broker.ManagementFromEnvironment(); err == nil {
-		if err := management.CreateNodeAccount(ctx, issued.Node.Name, issued.Secret); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		fmt.Printf("broker account %s created, scoped to %s and the %s exchange\n\n",
-			issued.Node.Name, link.QueueFor(issued.Node.Name), link.Exchange)
-	} else if !errors.Is(err, broker.ErrNotConfigured) {
-		return err
-	}

 	made := token.Token{Node: issued.Node.Name, Signer: key.Public, Secret: issued.Secret,
 		Adopted: issued.Node.Adopted}
@@ -361,9 +363,15 @@ func identityCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	return nil
 }

-func brokerCommand(args []string) error {
+func brokerCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	if len(args) > 0 && args[0] == "certificate" {
+		return busCertificate(args[1:])
+	}
+	if len(args) > 0 && args[0] == "accounts" {
+		return busAccounts(ctx, args[1:])
+	}
 	if len(args) == 0 || args[0] != "show" {
-		return errors.New("broker show")
+		return errors.New("broker show | broker certificate [--check] --into <directory> | broker accounts --into <file>")
 	}
 	known, err := broker.FromEnvironment()
 	if errors.Is(err, broker.ErrNotConfigured) {
@@ -428,6 +436,12 @@ func showNode(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, name string) error
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("%s\n", node.Name)
 	fmt.Printf("  last heard from   %s\n", heardFrom(node))
+	// Which host runs it, as it reported (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/087). Said whenever known, because a
+	// host refuses a declaration carrying a field it does not understand and refuses it WHOLE — so
+	// which host a machine runs is what decides whether the mesh can send it anything new, and
+	// nothing could say it. "not reported" rather than blank: a machine that has not said is a
+	// different thing from one running nothing.
+	fmt.Printf("  host              %s\n", orNotReported(node.HostVersion))
 	if err := showMode(ctx, inv, node); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -478,3 +492,11 @@ func showNode(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, name string) error
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// orNotReported is a fact a machine states about itself, or the fact that it has not.
+func orNotReported(s string) string {
+	if strings.TrimSpace(s) == "" {
+		return "not reported — this machine has not said since the mesh began keeping it"
+	}
+	return s
+}
@@ -189,13 +189,17 @@ func readPrivateKey(path string) (string, error) {
 func personIssue(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	set := flag.NewFlagSet("operator issue", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	invokes := set.String("invokes", "", "the tools this person may call, comma-separated, or * for every one")
-	if err := set.Parse(args); err != nil {
+	// Flags on either side of the name, because the usage this command prints puts them after it —
+	// and the standard parser stops at the first thing that is not a flag, so the order the command
+	// documents was the one order it refused (2026-09-28).
+	positionals, err := parseAround(set, args)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if set.NArg() != 1 {
+	if len(positionals) != 1 {
 		return errors.New("operator issue <name> --invokes <tool,tool|*>")
 	}
-	name := set.Arg(0)
+	name := positionals[0]
 	if *invokes == "" {
 		return errors.New(
 			"say what this person may call: --invokes mesh-catalog.catalog_tools,gitea.repo_create, " +
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// entry is a module as the catalogue holds it: built, so its manifest carries no `build` any more.
+func entry(module string, _ ...string) inventory.Entry {
+	return inventory.Entry{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: module}}
+}
+
+// stoodOn is what each module's newest build recorded it was handed.
+func stoodOn(edges map[string][]string) map[string][]string {
+	out := map[string][]string{}
+	for module, bases := range edges {
+		for _, b := range bases {
+			out[module] = append(out[module], catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme+b+"/runtime@sha256:"+strings.Repeat("0", 64))
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// A module built before the module it stands on is built against the old one and reports success
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131). So bases come first, however the set arrived.
+func TestBasesAreBuiltBeforeWhatStandsOnThem(t *testing.T) {
+	in := []inventory.Entry{entry("app"), entry("runtime"), entry("other"), entry("base")}
+	edges := stoodOn(map[string][]string{"app": {"runtime"}, "runtime": {"base"}})
+	got := orderByBases(in, edges)
+	pos := map[string]int{}
+	for i, e := range got {
+		pos[e.Manifest.Module] = i
+	}
+	if !(pos["base"] < pos["runtime"] && pos["runtime"] < pos["app"]) {
+		t.Fatalf("bases not first: %v", pos)
+	}
+	if len(got) != 4 {
+		t.Fatalf("an entry was lost or doubled: %d", len(got))
+	}
+	// A base outside the set is not waited for: it is not being rebuilt.
+	got = orderByBases([]inventory.Entry{entry("app")}, stoodOn(map[string][]string{"app": {"elsewhere"}}))
+	if len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a dependency outside the set changed the set: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// A module registered from its manifest and never built still names its bases there; once built,
+// the recorded edge is what says so. Both are read, and a module never stands on itself.
+func TestWhatStandsOnAModuleIsReadFromItsBuildOrItsManifest(t *testing.T) {
+	built := entry("gitea")
+	edges := stoodOn(map[string][]string{"gitea": {"mesh-tools"}})
+	if !standsOnModule(built, "mesh-tools", edges) {
+		t.Fatal("a recorded edge was not read")
+	}
+	if standsOnModule(built, "gitea", edges) || standsOnModule(built, "postgres", edges) {
+		t.Fatal("an edge was invented")
+	}
+	fresh := inventory.Entry{Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: "plex", Build: &catalogue.Build{
+		On: []catalogue.BuildsOn{{Arg: "RUNTIME_BASE", Module: "mesh-tools", Artifact: "runtime"}},
+	}}}
+	if !standsOnModule(fresh, "mesh-tools", nil) {
+		t.Fatal("a manifest's own base was not read")
+	}
+}
+
+// A merge names a repository the way the forge does; a source is recorded the way a build was
+// asked for. The two meet on owner/repo and branch, whichever form the record took.
+func TestAMergeMatchesTheSourcesBuiltFromIt(t *testing.T) {
+	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-controller", Base: "main",
+		CloneURL: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-controller.git"}
+	for _, s := range []inventory.Source{
+		{Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-controller.git", Ref: "main"},
+		{Repository: "novox/mesh-controller", Seat: "git", Ref: ""},
+		{Repository: "https://elsewhere.example/novox/mesh-controller", Ref: "main"},
+	} {
+		if !sourceIs(s, m) {
+			t.Errorf("%+v was not matched by the merge", s)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, s := range []inventory.Source{
+		{Repository: "novox/mesh-host", Seat: "git"},
+		{Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-controller.git", Ref: "release"},
+	} {
+		if sourceIs(s, m) {
+			t.Errorf("%+v was matched by a merge that is not its", s)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A merge made before the source was last seen is history: it does not move the source, and a
+// merge that says nothing about when it was made is taken as news.
+func TestAMergeOlderThanTheLastLookIsHistory(t *testing.T) {
+	seen := time.Date(2026, 9, 28, 3, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	if !isHistory("2026-09-28T02:00:00Z", seen) {
+		t.Fatal("an older merge was taken as news")
+	}
+	if isHistory("2026-09-28T04:00:00Z", seen) {
+		t.Fatal("a newer merge was taken as history")
+	}
+	if isHistory("", seen) || isHistory("2026-09-28T02:00:00Z", time.Time{}) {
+		t.Fatal("a merge or a source with no time on it was refused")
+	}
+}
+
+// A module as the catalogue holds it: built from a repository, at a directory inside it.
+func fromRepo(module, repository, path string) inventory.Entry {
+	return inventory.Entry{
+		Manifest: catalogue.Manifest{Module: module},
+		Source:   inventory.Source{Repository: repository, Path: path, Ref: "main"},
+	}
+}
+
+// A merge rebuilds the modules whose own directories it changed, and everything when what it changed
+// is shared. One repository holding many modules is the ordinary case here, and rebuilding all of
+// them for a change to one is what exhausted a registry's pull limit the first night this ran.
+func TestAMergeRebuildsTheModulesItChanged(t *testing.T) {
+	const repo = "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-catalog.git"
+	gitea := fromRepo("gitea", repo, "modules/gitea")
+	keycloak := fromRepo("keycloak", repo, "modules/keycloak")
+	known := []inventory.Entry{gitea, keycloak, fromRepo("plex", repo, "modules/plex")}
+	candidates := []inventory.Entry{gitea, keycloak}
+	merge := func(paths []string, truncated bool) link.SourceMoved {
+		return link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-catalog", Base: "main",
+			Paths: paths, PathsTruncated: truncated}
+	}
+	named := func(entries []inventory.Entry) string {
+		var names []string
+		for _, e := range entries {
+			names = append(names, e.Manifest.Module)
+		}
+		return strings.Join(names, ",")
+	}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		what string
+		m    link.SourceMoved
+		want string
+	}{
+		{"one module's own files", merge([]string{"modules/gitea/index.ts", "modules/gitea/client.ts"}, false), "gitea"},
+		{"two modules' files", merge([]string{"modules/gitea/index.ts", "modules/keycloak/module.json"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
+		{"a file they share", merge([]string{"tsconfig.json"}, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
+		{"a module the mesh does not hold", merge([]string{"modules/plex/index.ts"}, false), ""},
+		{"nothing said about the files", merge(nil, false), "gitea,keycloak"},
+		{"more files than were listed", merge([]string{"modules/gitea/index.ts"}, true), "gitea,keycloak"},
+	} {
+		if got := named(whatTheMergeTouched(candidates, known, c.m)); got != c.want {
+			t.Errorf("%s: rebuilt %q, wanted %q", c.what, got, c.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A module whose recipe packages source from another repository is affected when that repository
+// moves — the manifest the mesh keeps says nothing about it, so the record of what the build read is
+// the only thing that can say so.
+func TestAModuleIsAffectedByTheRepositoryItPackages(t *testing.T) {
+	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-controller", Base: "main",
+		CloneURL: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-controller.git"}
+	for _, read := range [][]inventory.ReadRepository{
+		{{Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-controller.git", Ref: "main"}},
+		{{Repository: "novox/mesh-controller"}},
+		{{Repository: "https://elsewhere.example/novox/other"}, {Repository: "novox/mesh-controller.git", Ref: "main"}},
+	} {
+		if !readsFrom(read, m) {
+			t.Errorf("%+v was not matched by the merge", read)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, read := range [][]inventory.ReadRepository{
+		nil,
+		{{Repository: "novox/mesh-host", Ref: "main"}},
+		{{Repository: "novox/mesh-controller", Ref: "release"}},
+	} {
+		if readsFrom(read, m) {
+			t.Errorf("%+v was matched by a merge that is not its", read)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// What a module handed over by hand records about where it came from, and what is refused.
+func TestWhatAHandedOverModuleRecordsAboutItsSource(t *testing.T) {
+	// The whole location: a repository on the mesh's own forge, the directory inside it, the branch
+	// and the commit the manifest was read at.
+	from, err := whereItComesFrom("novox/mesh-catalog", "main", "c0ffee", "modules/gitea", true)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if from.Path != "modules/gitea" || from.Seat != "git" || from.Repository != "novox/mesh-catalog" {
+		t.Fatalf("the source records as %+v", from)
+	}
+	// A manifest with no provenance at all is legitimate: fixing something in a hurry.
+	if from, err := whereItComesFrom("", "", "", "", false); err != nil || from != (inventory.Source{}) {
+		t.Fatalf("a manifest handed over with no provenance was refused: %+v, %v", from, err)
+	}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		what                          string
+		repository, ref, commit, path string
+		self                          bool
+	}{
+		{what: "a source with no commit", repository: "novox/mesh-catalog", commit: ""},
+		{what: "a commit with no source", commit: "c0ffee"},
+		{what: "a directory inside nothing", path: "modules/gitea"},
+		{what: "a forge holding nothing", self: true},
+		{what: "an address given as a path on the forge", repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/x.git", commit: "c0ffee", self: true},
+	} {
+		if _, err := whereItComesFrom(c.repository, c.ref, c.commit, c.path, c.self); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s was recorded as a source", c.what)
+		}
+	}
+}
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"

@@ -25,7 +26,36 @@ import (
 // cheapest next step. That is how novox/hq ADR 0001 records `hal/sdk` reaching 34,636:
 // nothing in it was wrong, and no one edit was the one that should have been a new file.

+// notResolvable marks the one failure in planFor that is a statement about the node: its assigned
+// modules do not compose. Every other failure means the mesh could not be *asked* — the store was
+// unreachable, a key could not be read — and says nothing about the node at all.
+//
+// The distinction exists because three callers gather something across every machine and must carry
+// on when one machine's set is broken. Each of them read a plain error as "their set does not
+// resolve", and so read a store that was briefly unreachable as a machine that runs nothing. On the
+// roster of routed names that is not a degraded answer but a false one: it states, to every machine
+// at once, that another machine's names do not exist. A control node spent hours replacing every
+// container it ran, on a six-minute cycle, because each pass restarted the store this is read from,
+// the read failed, one name left the roster, and the roster is part of every container's identity
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/152, and 04-ISSUES/151 for why a changed roster is a changed container).
+//
+// So: skip a node that cannot resolve, and never a node that could not be read.
+type notResolvable struct{ err error }
+
+func (n notResolvable) Error() string { return n.err.Error() }
+func (n notResolvable) Unwrap() error { return n.err }
+
+// unresolvable reports whether err is a node's own set failing to compose, rather than the mesh
+// being unable to answer.
+func unresolvable(err error) bool {
+	var n notResolvable
+	return errors.As(err, &n)
+}
+
 // planFor works out everything a node should run, from what was assigned to it.
+//
+// A failure to compose the node's own modules is wrapped as notResolvable; every other failure is
+// returned as it is. Callers gathering across the mesh must tell them apart — see notResolvable.
 func planFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, nodeName string) (catalogue.Resolution, catalogue.SettingsBy, error) {
 	inv := open.inventory
 	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
@@ -95,7 +125,9 @@ func planFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, nodeName string) (catalogue.Reso
 			At: onNetwork[nodeName], PublicDomain: publicDomain,
 			Account: who.Account, AccountHome: who.AccountHome}, world)
 	if err != nil {
-		return catalogue.Resolution{}, nil, err
+		// The node's own set does not compose. Marked, because this is the only failure here that
+		// a mesh-wide gatherer may pass over — see notResolvable.
+		return catalogue.Resolution{}, nil, notResolvable{err}
 	}

 	// The credential for each thing this node takes from elsewhere. Made once and kept, so the
@@ -132,7 +164,14 @@ func planFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, nodeName string) (catalogue.Reso
 			}
 			continue
 		}
-		secret, err := inv.SecretFor(ctx, n.Name, nodeName, n.For, n.From, n.Local)
+		var secret inventory.Secret
+		var err error
+		if n.SharedOwn != "" {
+			// The provider's one credential, sealed to this consumer too (novox/hq ADR 0158).
+			secret, err = inv.SharedSecretFor(ctx, n.Name, nodeName, n.For, n.From, providerModuleOf(resolved, open, ctx, n), n.Local, n.SharedOwn)
+		} else {
+			secret, err = inv.SecretFor(ctx, n.Name, nodeName, n.For, n.From, n.Local)
+		}
 		if err != nil {
 			// Said rather than skipped. A machine that resolves cleanly and receives no
 			// credential is one that will fail to authenticate at some later, less obvious
@@ -147,8 +186,12 @@ func planFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, nodeName string) (catalogue.Reso
 	// Settings for everything that resolved, including modules nobody assigned directly: a
 	// requirement pulled in by something else is still configurable, and finding out that it is
 	// not only when you try would be an arbitrary line nobody could predict.
+	//
+	// A setting that reaches nothing, or cannot compose with the definition it was stored for,
+	// no longer refuses the machine here: it is judged where it is stored, and a definition that
+	// moved under it costs that module its place in the declaration, said by name (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0163, rule 6 — see Compose).
 	settings := catalogue.SettingsBy{}
-	var stray []string
 	for _, m := range resolved.Modules {
 		layers, err := inv.SettingsFor(ctx, nodeName, m.Module)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -158,13 +201,6 @@ func planFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, nodeName string) (catalogue.Reso
 			continue
 		}
 		settings[m.Module] = layers
-		stray = append(stray, catalogue.UnusedSettings(m, layers)...)
-	}
-	if len(stray) > 0 {
-		// Somebody set something that reaches no file. Said here rather than discovered by the
-		// machine not behaving differently, which is the slowest way there is.
-		return catalogue.Resolution{}, nil, fmt.Errorf(
-			"these settings reach nothing:\n  - %s", strings.Join(stray, "\n  - "))
 	}
 	return resolved, settings, nil
 }
@@ -238,8 +274,9 @@ func theRestOfTheMesh(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 	for _, o := range others {
 		got, err := catalogue.Resolve(shelf, o.assigned, o.node, catalogue.World{Unchecked: true, Holdings: holdings})
 		if err != nil {
-			// Their set does not resolve for some other reason. Not this node's problem to
-			// report, and nothing of theirs is running, so it offers nothing.
+			// Said, not skipped: a machine dropped here offers nothing and holds nothing as far
+			// as every other machine's plan can tell (novox/hq issue 188).
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s is left out of the rest of the mesh: it does not resolve: %v\n", o.node.Name, err)
 			continue
 		}
 		firstHeld = append(firstHeld, got.Claims...)
@@ -270,8 +307,22 @@ func theRestOfTheMesh(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 	world := catalogue.World{Offered: offered, Held: firstHeld, Holdings: holdings}
 	var held []catalogue.Held
 	for _, o := range others {
-		got, err := catalogue.Resolve(shelf, o.assigned, o.node, world)
+		// Each machine is resolved with its own pins, as its plan is: a machine that needs one to
+		// settle two providers would otherwise be refused here and vanish from the mesh — every
+		// seat it holds unheld, every build that needs one refused (2026-10-01, the control node;
+		// novox/hq issue 188).
+		theirs := world
+		if pins, err := inv.PinsFor(ctx, o.node.Name); err == nil {
+			theirs.Pinned = pins
+		}
+		got, err := catalogue.Resolve(shelf, o.assigned, o.node, theirs)
 		if err != nil {
+			// Said only for the whole-mesh view. With one machine excluded, the others are
+			// resolved without its offers, and one that consumes them cannot resolve here by
+			// design — that is not the machine being dropped, it is the view being partial.
+			if exclude == "" {
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s is left out of the rest of the mesh: it does not resolve: %v\n", o.node.Name, err)
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 		held = append(held, got.Claims...)
@@ -345,7 +396,32 @@ func declarationWith(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 	if err != nil {
 		return sendable{}, err
 	}
-	return sendable{Resources: composed.Resources, Adoption: adoption}, nil
+	return sendable{Resources: composed.Resources, Adoption: adoption,
+		LeftOut: sortedKeysOf(composed.LeftOut), leftOutWhy: composed.LeftOut}, nil
+}
+
+// sortedKeysOf is a map's keys, sorted — so what a declaration says it left out does not move
+// for a reordering nobody made.
+func sortedKeysOf(m map[string]string) []string {
+	if len(m) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(m))
+	for k := range m {
+		out = append(out, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// reportLeftOut says which of a machine's modules its declaration leaves out and why (novox/hq ADR
+// 0163, rule 6), one line each: the machine is told everything else, and is told it was left out.
+func reportLeftOut(node string, declared sendable) {
+	for _, m := range declared.LeftOut {
+		fmt.Printf("%s: %s left out — a setting stored for it cannot compose with its definition; "+
+			"what the machine holds for it is kept and its containers are untouched. %s\n",
+			node, m, declared.leftOutWhy[m])
+	}
 }

 // renderingFor is everything a node's declaration is composed with, and the node's record.
@@ -385,7 +461,10 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 	for _, m := range plan.Modules {
 		g, err := catalogue.GivenPorts(m, settings[m.Module])
 		if err != nil {
-			return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
+			// A given port its definition no longer publishes: the module is left out of the
+			// declaration, by name, when it is composed (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6) — never the
+			// machine refused here for it.
+			continue
 		}
 		if g != nil {
 			given[m.Module] = g
@@ -640,13 +719,19 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 	if err != nil {
 		return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
 	}
+	// Which of this machine's links face outside, which is what the derived filter is written
+	// around (novox/hq ADR 0140). Reported by the machine, never set.
+	outwardLinks, err := inv.OutwardLinksOf(ctx, node)
+	if err != nil {
+		return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
+	}
 	return catalogue.Rendering{
 		BusMembership: memberships[node],
 		Settings:      settings, Generators: gens, Grants: grants, Needed: needed, Ports: ports,
 		Certificate: certificate, Authority: authority, Mesh: private, Names: names,
 		Machines: machines,
-		Suffix:   overlay.Suffix(), MeshRange: meshRange, Accounts: accounts, Foundation: foundation,
-		Kept: kept, Adopted: record.Adopted,
+		Suffix:   overlay.Suffix(), MeshRange: meshRange, TunnelInterface: overlay.Interface, Accounts: accounts, Foundation: foundation,
+		Kept: kept, Adopted: record.Adopted, OutwardLinks: outwardLinks,
 		Given: given, Taken: taken, Seats: seats, ArtifactStore: artifactStore, Built: built,
 		BusUsers: busUsers,
 	}, record, nil
@@ -665,11 +750,17 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 // 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, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("where the machines are cannot be read: %w", err)
 	}
 	address := map[string]string{}
 	for _, p := range places {
@@ -680,47 +771,37 @@ func routeNamesInTheMesh(ctx context.Context, open *stores) (map[string]string,

 	nodes, err := inv.Nodes(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("which machines the mesh has cannot be read: %w", err)
 	}

-	out := map[string]string{}
+	// 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, settings, err := planFor(ctx, open, n.Name)
-		if err != nil {
+		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)
 		}
-		for _, m := range plan.Modules {
-			for to := range m.Contributes {
-				values, asks, err := plan.ContributionsFrom(to, m.Module, settings)
-				if err != nil {
-					return nil, err
-				}
-				if !asks {
-					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 := values["label"]; !labelled {
-					continue
-				}
-				name, _ := values["name"].(string)
-				if name == "" {
-					continue
-				}
-				// The node that serves it: whoever answers this consumer's route requirement, or
-				// this same node when the proxy is beside the consumer.
-				serving := n.Name
-				for _, need := range plan.Needs {
-					if need.Name == to && need.For == m.Module {
-						serving = need.From
-						break
-					}
-				}
-				if at := address[serving]; at != "" {
-					out[strings.ToLower(name)] = at
-				}
-			}
+		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
@@ -817,11 +898,17 @@ func grantsFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string) ([]catalogue.Gran
 	out := make([]catalogue.Grant, 0, len(issued))
 	for _, s := range issued {
 		plan, settings, err := planFor(ctx, open, s.Consumer)
-		if err != nil {
+		switch {
+		case unresolvable(err):
 			// Their set does not resolve. Skipped rather than fatal: this node is not the place
 			// to report another machine's problem, and a grant for something that is not going to
 			// run would have the provider create a user nothing uses.
 			continue
+		case err != nil:
+			// The mesh could not be asked what they wanted, which is not the same as their wanting
+			// nothing — and withholding a grant on that reading takes a consumer's access away
+			// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/152).
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("what %s asked of %s cannot be read: %w", s.Consumer, s.Name, err)
 		}
 		values, asks, err := plan.ContributionsFrom(s.Name, s.ConsumerModule, settings)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -932,6 +1019,20 @@ func planCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return nil
 	}

+	// Which modules a push would leave out, and why — said before the plan, since the plan is of
+	// what the machine would be told (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6). Judged, never composed: `plan`
+	// without --json allocates nothing.
+	if record, err := open.inventory.NodeByName(ctx, args[0]); err == nil {
+		left := plan.LeftOut(settings, record.Adopted)
+		reportLeftOut(args[0], sendable{LeftOut: sortedKeysOf(left), leftOutWhy: left})
+	}
+	// And a setting that reaches nothing — refused where it is stored, and said here for one
+	// stored before its definition moved from under it.
+	for _, m := range plan.Modules {
+		for _, stray := range catalogue.UnusedSettings(m, settings[m.Module]) {
+			fmt.Printf("%s: a setting reaches nothing — %s\n", args[0], stray)
+		}
+	}
 	fmt.Printf("%s would run:\n", args[0])
 	for _, m := range plan.Modules {
 		fmt.Printf("  %-20s %s\n", m.Module, plan.Because[m.Module])
@@ -1294,3 +1395,23 @@ func foundationPortsFor(brokerPort int, modules []catalogue.Manifest) []int {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// providerModuleOf is which module answers a need on the providing node: the one in this node's
+// own set when the provider is here, else the one the catalogue says offers it.
+func providerModuleOf(resolved catalogue.Resolution, open *stores, ctx context.Context, n catalogue.Needed) string {
+	for _, m := range resolved.Modules {
+		if _, shared := m.SharedCredentialOf(n.Name); shared {
+			return m.Module
+		}
+	}
+	shelf, err := open.inventory.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	for name, m := range shelf {
+		if _, shared := m.SharedCredentialOf(n.Name); shared {
+			return name
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -38,6 +40,27 @@ func reportUnhostable(node string, plan catalogue.Resolution) {
 // nothing in it was wrong, and no one edit was the one that should have been a new file.

 // serve is the control plane running: one connection to the broker, one queue, one consumer.
+// connectLink opens the controller's link over whichever bus this process is on (design 25: one
+// variable moves it). The streams and this controller's consumers are raised first on the new bus,
+// so nothing served here finds them missing.
+func connectLink(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, enroller link.Enroller, listener link.Listener) (*link.Server, error) {
+	busAddress, err := broker.BusAddress()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if inv != nil {
+		if err := raiseTheBus(ctx, inv, busAddress); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	js, err := broker.Dial(busAddress)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the mesh is on the bus at %s and this control plane cannot reach it: %w",
+			broker.BareAddress(busAddress), err)
+	}
+	return link.ConnectNats(js, enroller, listener), nil
+}
+
 func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 	open, err := openStores(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -61,11 +84,6 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("signing as %s\n", key.Fingerprint()[:16])

-	management, err := broker.ManagementFromEnvironment()
-	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, broker.ErrNotConfigured) {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	// Where the broker is and what to expect there, so a node can be told how to come back
 	// without a person and a new token.
 	known, err := broker.FromEnvironment()
@@ -80,17 +98,10 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// **Which bus this mesh is on, read once** (novox/hq ADR 0116 step 5). Both clients ship; both
 	// being live is refused, because a mesh half on each is one where a declaration goes out on one
 	// and the report comes back on the other, and every component logs success while it happens.
-	busAddress, onNATS, err := broker.OnNATS()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	if err := broker.MustBeOneBus(os.Getenv(broker.AMQPVarName), busAddress); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}

-	work := link.Enrolment{Inventory: inv, Identity: ident, Management: management, Broker: known,
-		OnNATS: onNATS}
-	server, err := link.Connect(work, work)
+	work := link.Enrolment{Inventory: inv, Identity: ident, Broker: known,
+		OnNATS: true}
+	server, err := connectLink(ctx, inv, work, work)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -100,14 +111,12 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// somebody deleted, a mesh raised from a restored backup, or a bus whose data directory was
 	// replaced all have records and no objects — and a node whose consumer is missing hears nothing
 	// while everything else about it looks correct.
-	if onNATS {
-		if err := raiseTheBus(ctx, inv, busAddress); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	}
 	// And build results nobody was waiting for. A build triggered any other way than `build`
 	// would otherwise be reported into the void, which is the same as not reporting it.
-	server.Records(builds{inv})
+	server.Records(builds{inv, open})
+	// Open plans move on a timer as well as on outcomes (novox/hq ADR 0162): a tier waiting for
+	// machines to report moves when they have, and a plan left by a replaced controller resumes.
+	go planTicker(ctx, open)
 	// And what the catalogue decided a build meant. The builder's own result is already handled
 	// above; this is the other half — the control plane is the only one of the three that knows
 	// which machines run the thing, so it is the one that acts (novox/hq ADR 0072).
@@ -120,6 +129,22 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return err
 	}

+	// And the mesh's own verbs, as the seat this control plane holds (novox/hq ADR 0154). Served
+	// from the store's row, so what the seat declares is what is answered.
+	handlers, err := seatToolHandlers()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	bus, isNATS := server.Bus().(link.OverNATS)
+	if !isNATS {
+		return errors.New("the mesh's verbs are served over the bus, and this control plane is not on it")
+	}
+	stopServing, err := bus.ServeSeatTools(catalogue.ControllerSeatName, handlers, log.New(os.Stdout, "", log.LstdFlags))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer stopServing()
+
 	return server.Serve(ctx)
 }

@@ -158,13 +183,19 @@ func declare(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}

-	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
+	// **With the inventory, so the bus is raised** (novox/hq ADR 0134, design 30). A module's
+	// declaration and how it hears what it consumes move together: its consumer is derived from the
+	// same records this declaration is composed from. Raised only when the control plane started
+	// serving, a module that gained a `consumes` was sent a declaration it could act on and a
+	// consumer that never delivered the event — and nothing anywhere said the two disagreed
+	// (found on review, 2026-09-28). Everything the raise does is idempotent.
+	server, err := connectLink(ctx, inv, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	defer server.Close()

-	if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, node, raw, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
+	if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, node, raw, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("sent %s a signed declaration (%d bytes)\n", node, len(raw))
@@ -271,7 +302,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}

-	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
+	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -322,17 +353,27 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		// The private network is in here with everything else. It used to be composed separately
 		// and prepended, which meant every machine with an address was on it and no machine could
 		// be kept off. It is a module now, so it arrives the way a module does.
-		return declarationWith(held, open, node, plan, settings, gens, Allocating)
+		declared, err := declarationWith(held, open, node, plan, settings, gens, Allocating)
+		if err == nil {
+			reportLeftOut(node, declared)
+		}
+		return declared, err
 	})

 	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
+		}
 		body, err := s.declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
+		if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		// After it is away, not before. A digest recorded for something that failed to send would
@@ -350,6 +391,15 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	}
 	release()
 	fmt.Printf("\n%d node(s) told\n", len(sending))
+	// And each machine's memberships, as every other send does (ADR 0160): a push is the one most
+	// operators run, and on 2026-10-01 it was the one path that issued none.
+	var told []string
+	for _, s := range sending {
+		told = append(told, s.node)
+	}
+	if err := issueMemberships(ctx, open, server, told); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}

 	// **A named push leaves the mesh consistent, not just the machine it named** (novox/hq
 	// issue 057, ADR 0083). Assigning a cross-node consumer mints a provision, and the PROVIDER's
@@ -412,10 +462,14 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 						return sendable{}, err
 					}
 					reportUnhostable(node, plan)
-					return declarationWith(held, open, node, plan, settings, gens, Allocating)
+					declared, err := declarationWith(held, open, node, plan, settings, gens, Allocating)
+					if err == nil {
+						reportLeftOut(node, declared)
+					}
+					return declared, err
 				},
 				func(s readyNode, body []byte) error {
-					if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, s.node, body,
+					if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, s.node, body,
 						15*time.Second); err != nil {
 						return err
 					}
@@ -554,6 +608,9 @@ func sendRound(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string,
 		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
@@ -621,6 +678,7 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
 			continue
 		}
+		reportLeftOut(name, declared)
 		sending = append(sending, readyNode{name, declared})
 	}
 	if len(refusals) > 0 {
@@ -628,18 +686,21 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 			len(refusals), strings.Join(refusals, "\n\n"))
 	}

-	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
+	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	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
 		}
-		if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
+		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)
@@ -651,6 +712,51 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 		}
 		fmt.Printf("  sent %s %d resource(s)\n", s.node, len(s.declared.Resources))
 	}
+	// And every assignment on those machines its membership (novox/hq ADR 0160): composed from the
+	// same records the bus's accounts are, so what a runtime serves and what its account may are one
+	// composition. Issued after the declaration, because the runtime it is for arrives with it.
+	return issueMemberships(ctx, open, server, names)
+}
+
+// issueMemberships publishes the membership of every module on the named machines.
+func issueMemberships(ctx context.Context, open *stores, server *link.Server, names []string) error {
+	records, err := open.inventory.BusRecords(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	where := broker.PlacementsOf(records, records.Interchangeable)
+	bus, ok := server.Bus().(link.OverNATS)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil
+	}
+	// The declarations are sent and recorded by now; a membership that cannot be issued is said
+	// and does not unsay them. Every runtime without one serves the shape it derives (ADR 0160), so
+	// the push stands, the first failure is named once, and the next push tries again.
+	issued, failed := 0, 0
+	var first error
+	for _, node := range names {
+		for _, d := range records.Assigned[node] {
+			body, err := json.Marshal(broker.MembershipFor(node, d, where))
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if err := bus.PublishMembership(ctx, node, d.Module, body); err != nil {
+				if first == nil {
+					first = err
+				}
+				failed++
+				continue
+			}
+			issued++
+		}
+	}
+	if issued > 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("  issued %d membership(s)\n", issued)
+	}
+	if failed > 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("  %d membership(s) could not be issued; the first: %v — the machines keep what "+
+			"they derive until the next push\n", failed, first)
+	}
 	return nil
 }

@@ -684,6 +790,12 @@ func wouldSend(ctx context.Context, open *stores,
 		if err != nil {
 			continue
 		}
+		// Composed with the number the machine was LAST sent, so this is byte for byte what it was
+		// sent when nothing else changed. A fresh number here would make every machine read as
+		// behind for ever (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107).
+		if declared.Sequence, err = open.inventory.Sequence(ctx, n.ID); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 		body, err := declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
@@ -704,9 +816,15 @@ func raiseTheBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, address string)
 	js, err := broker.Dial(address)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("the mesh is on the bus at %s and this control plane cannot reach it: %w",
-			address, err)
+			broker.BareAddress(address), err)
 	}
 	defer js.Close()
+	// What the raise decided not to fail over. Said, for the reason everything else here is said:
+	// a consumer kept as it was is a difference between what the mesh asked for and what the bus
+	// holds, and one nobody would find by reading either (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/156).
+	js.Note = func(format string, args ...any) {
+		fmt.Printf("  "+format+"\n", args...)
+	}

 	// **Its own user, before anything else.** The controller's account is created by the installer at
 	// a bootstrap password, before there is a controller to mint one — so nothing recorded a hash for
@@ -739,10 +857,89 @@ func raiseTheBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, address string)
 	// The work queues of the mesh's own roles (novox/hq ADR 0121). The queue before the holder,
 	// deliberately: work queues until somebody arrives to do it, so assigning a build machine a week
 	// after something started asking for builds flushes the backlog instead of having lost it.
-	if err := broker.RaiseSeats(js, inventory.MeshSeats(), nil); err != nil {
+	// With the seats' holders, so each role's work queue gets the consumer its holder takes
+	// work from. Passed as nil until the first live raise, which left the build machine bound to a
+	// consumer nothing had created (2026-09-28).
+	holders, err := seatHolders(ctx, inv)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("the bus at %s has its streams, and %d machine(s) can hear a declaration\n",
-		address, len(names))
+	if err := broker.RaiseSeats(js, inventory.MeshSeats(), holders); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// 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
+	// by the rollout was issued on the old one, and came up with nothing to bind to (2026-09-28).
+	records, err := inv.BusRecords(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	users, err := broker.Users(records)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	hearing := 0
+	for _, p := range users {
+		consumer, needed := broker.ConsumerFor(p)
+		if !needed {
+			continue
+		}
+		if err := js.EnsureConsumer(consumer); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("how %s on %s hears what it consumes: %w", p.Module, p.Node, err)
+		}
+		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)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// seatHolders is who holds each of the mesh's seats, by seat name: the record where a handover
+// wrote one, and the assigned module claiming the seat otherwise — the same derivation the
+// resolver makes, read from the catalogue rather than re-resolved.
+func seatHolders(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) (map[string]broker.Holder, error) {
+	out := map[string]broker.Holder{}
+	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if len(e.On) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, c := range e.Manifest.Claims {
+			seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(c.Name)
+			if !known {
+				continue
+			}
+			if _, taken := out[seat.Name]; !taken {
+				out[seat.Name] = broker.Holder{Node: e.On[0], Module: e.Manifest.Module}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	recorded, err := inv.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	for _, h := range recorded {
+		if seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(h.Claim); known {
+			out[seat.Name] = broker.Holder{Node: h.Node, Module: h.Module}
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// 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)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	seq, err := inv.NextSequence(ctx, record.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	s.declared.Sequence = seq
 	return nil
 }
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ type meshStatus struct {
 	// whose is older is still working — and Waiting cannot tell those apart, because the sent
 	// digest is recorded at send, not at apply.
 	Reported []machineReported `json:"reported"`
+	// Plans is what the last merges produced and where each stands (novox/hq ADR 0162): the
+	// open ones first, each saying its tier, what it waits for, and whether it has waited too long.
+	Plans []planStatus `json:"plans"`
 	// Unresolved is every machine that cannot be worked out at all, with what the mesh said when
 	// it tried. **A machine here is in none of the lists above**: nothing was computed for it, so
 	// there is nothing to compare it against and nothing it can be behind — which is why a
@@ -56,6 +59,23 @@ type meshStatus struct {
 	Machines int `json:"machines"`
 	// Adopted is every node still adopted (novox/hq ADR 0100); absent when none is.
 	Adopted []string `json:"adopted,omitempty"`
+	// Untaken is every module assigned to a machine that is holding what it found rather than
+	// running what the module declares, because nothing took it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/125). Absent
+	// when nothing is held.
+	//
+	// **A document without this said an outage was a well mesh.** Read from what each machine
+	// reported, so it is the machine's account and not the mesh's take-time listing.
+	Untaken []machineUntaken `json:"untaken,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// machineUntaken is one module a machine is holding rather than running, and how many resources of
+// it are held.
+type machineUntaken struct {
+	Node   string `json:"node"`
+	Module string `json:"module"`
+	// Held is how many of the module's resources the machine is keeping as it found them. Zero is
+	// impossible here: a module with nothing held is not in this list.
+	Held int `json:"held"`
 }

 type machineUnresolved struct {
@@ -135,7 +155,24 @@ func statusAsJSON(asked answers) ([]byte, error) {
 	out := meshStatus{Machines: len(nodes), Wrong: []machineDoing{},
 		Quiet: []machineQuiet{}, Behind: []moduleBehind{}, Waiting: []machineWaiting{},
 		Reported: []machineReported{}, Unresolved: []machineUnresolved{},
-		Network: asked.network, Adopted: adoptedNodes(nodes)}
+		Network: asked.network, Adopted: adoptedNodes(nodes), Plans: planStatuses(asked.plans, time.Now())}
+	// In a stated order, so two readings of an unchanged mesh are the same document.
+	untakenNodes := make([]string, 0, len(asked.untaken))
+	for name := range asked.untaken {
+		untakenNodes = append(untakenNodes, name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(untakenNodes)
+	for _, name := range untakenNodes {
+		modules := make([]string, 0, len(asked.untaken[name]))
+		for m := range asked.untaken[name] {
+			modules = append(modules, m)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(modules)
+		for _, m := range modules {
+			out.Untaken = append(out.Untaken,
+				machineUntaken{Node: name, Module: m, Held: asked.untaken[name][m]})
+		}
+	}
 	for name := range asked.refused {
 		out.Unresolved = append(out.Unresolved, machineUnresolved{
 			Node: name, Problem: asked.refused[name]})
@@ -0,0 +1,742 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// A merge produces a tiered plan the mesh keeps (novox/hq ADR 0162).
+//
+// The handler that hears the merge computes the plan from the catalogue's one dependency relation,
+// writes it to the store, asks the first tier and returns — the receive loop is never held by a
+// build. Every outcome taken in advances the plan it belongs to; a ticker advances what outcomes
+// alone cannot (a tier waiting for machines to report); a controller replaced mid-plan finds the
+// plan where it left it.
+
+// planWaitBound is how long a plan may wait on one thing before `status` names it red.
+const planWaitBound = 30 * time.Minute
+
+// tiersOf sorts a set of modules into tiers along the ordering edges among them: tier 0 depends
+// on nothing else in the set, tier 1 only on tier 0, and so on. An edge to a module outside the set says
+// nothing about the order inside it. A cycle — which the catalogue should never produce — puts
+// what remains in one last tier rather than losing it, and is said by the caller.
+func tiersOf(set []string, edges []inventory.Edge) [][]string {
+	in := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, m := range set {
+		in[m] = true
+	}
+	deps := map[string]map[string]bool{}
+	for _, m := range set {
+		deps[m] = map[string]bool{}
+	}
+	for _, e := range edges {
+		// A code dependency — B packages A's source — rebuilds B with A, in the same tier: B's
+		// build needs nothing of A's first. The other kinds order: stands-on and declared after
+		// the base is built, built-by after the build machine is built and running — except for
+		// what the build machine itself stands on. The runtime image is built by the builder and
+		// the builder is built on the runtime image; the image comes first, built by the builder
+		// that is running, which is the only one there could be.
+		if !in[e.From] || !in[e.To] || e.From == e.To || e.Kind == inventory.EdgePackages {
+			continue
+		}
+		if e.Kind == inventory.EdgeBuiltBy && isBaseOf(e.From, e.To, edges, in) {
+			continue
+		}
+		deps[e.From][e.To] = true
+	}
+	placed := map[string]bool{}
+	var tiers [][]string
+	for len(placed) < len(set) {
+		var tier []string
+		for _, m := range set {
+			if placed[m] {
+				continue
+			}
+			free := true
+			for d := range deps[m] {
+				if !placed[d] {
+					free = false
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if free {
+				tier = append(tier, m)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(tier) == 0 {
+			// A cycle: everything left, together, and the caller says so.
+			for _, m := range set {
+				if !placed[m] {
+					tier = append(tier, m)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		sort.Strings(tier)
+		for _, m := range tier {
+			placed[m] = true
+		}
+		tiers = append(tiers, tier)
+	}
+	return tiers
+}
+
+// isBaseOf says whether `to` stands on `base`, directly or through other bases in the set, along
+// the build edges alone.
+func isBaseOf(base, to string, edges []inventory.Edge, in map[string]bool) bool {
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	var walk func(string) bool
+	walk = func(m string) bool {
+		if m == base {
+			return true
+		}
+		if seen[m] {
+			return false
+		}
+		seen[m] = true
+		for _, e := range edges {
+			if e.From == m && in[e.To] && (e.Kind == inventory.EdgeStandsOn || e.Kind == inventory.EdgeDeclared) && walk(e.To) {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+		return false
+	}
+	return walk(to)
+}
+
+// reachableFrom is the moved modules plus everything that depends on them, through every layer:
+// what a merge rebuilds. Along the code and build edges only: a module *built by* the build machine
+// is not changed by a new build machine, so a built-by edge orders and gates a plan and never
+// widens it — the first plan of 2026-10-01 took the whole catalogue along for a controller change.
+func reachableFrom(moved []string, edges []inventory.Edge) []string {
+	in := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, m := range moved {
+		in[m] = true
+	}
+	for grew := true; grew; {
+		grew = false
+		for _, e := range edges {
+			if e.Kind == inventory.EdgeBuiltBy {
+				continue
+			}
+			if in[e.To] && !in[e.From] {
+				in[e.From] = true
+				grew = true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(in))
+	for m := range in {
+		out = append(out, m)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// hasCycle says whether the tiers' last tier holds modules that still depend on each other.
+func hasCycle(tiers [][]string, edges []inventory.Edge) bool {
+	if len(tiers) == 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	last := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, m := range tiers[len(tiers)-1] {
+		last[m] = true
+	}
+	for _, e := range edges {
+		if last[e.From] && last[e.To] {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// planFor is the plan a merge produces: the moved modules and everything reachable from them,
+// tiered, with the merge it answers.
+func planOfMerge(m link.SourceMoved, moved []string, edges []inventory.Edge) inventory.Plan {
+	set := reachableFrom(moved, edges)
+	tiers := tiersOf(set, edges)
+	modules := map[string]*inventory.PlanModule{}
+	for _, name := range set {
+		modules[name] = &inventory.PlanModule{}
+	}
+	return inventory.Plan{
+		ID:         fmt.Sprintf("plan-%d", time.Now().UnixNano()),
+		Repository: m.Owner + "/" + m.Repo,
+		Commit:     m.Commit,
+		Created:    time.Now().UTC(),
+		State:      inventory.PlanBuilding,
+		Tiers:      tiers,
+		Modules:    modules,
+	}
+}
+
+// gates is what the next tier needs running from this one: a module of the tier that a later
+// tier is built by — the runtime dependency — and whose policy rolls it out, must be applied by
+// the machines running it before the next tier is asked. A base an image stands on need only be
+// built; a source another module packages need not even be that.
+func gates(p inventory.Plan, edges []inventory.Edge, rollsOut func(string) bool) []string {
+	if p.Tier >= len(p.Tiers) {
+		return nil
+	}
+	inTier := map[string]bool{}
+	all := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, tier := range p.Tiers {
+		for _, m := range tier {
+			all[m] = true
+		}
+	}
+	for _, m := range p.Tiers[p.Tier] {
+		inTier[m] = true
+	}
+	later := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, tier := range p.Tiers[p.Tier+1:] {
+		for _, m := range tier {
+			later[m] = true
+		}
+	}
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	var out []string
+	for _, e := range edges {
+		if later[e.From] && inTier[e.To] && e.Kind == inventory.EdgeBuiltBy && !seen[e.To] && rollsOut(e.To) &&
+			!isBaseOf(e.From, e.To, edges, all) {
+			seen[e.To] = true
+			out = append(out, e.To)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// applied says whether every machine running the module has reported since the module was built.
+func applied(module string, builtAt time.Time, running []string, reports []inventory.Reported) (bool, []string) {
+	at := map[string]*time.Time{}
+	for _, r := range reports {
+		at[r.Node] = r.At
+	}
+	var waiting []string
+	for _, n := range running {
+		if t := at[n]; t == nil || t.Before(builtAt) {
+			waiting = append(waiting, n)
+		}
+	}
+	return len(waiting) == 0, waiting
+}
+
+// askTier asks the build machine for every module of the tier, and marks each asked. A module
+// the catalogue no longer holds, or whose ask could not be made, is a failure of the plan: a tier
+// half asked is a tier that will never complete.
+func askTier(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, p *inventory.Plan) error {
+	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	byName := map[string]inventory.Entry{}
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		byName[e.Manifest.Module] = e
+	}
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	for _, name := range p.Tiers[p.Tier] {
+		state := p.Modules[name]
+		if state == nil {
+			state = &inventory.PlanModule{}
+			p.Modules[name] = state
+		}
+		e, known := byName[name]
+		if !known {
+			state.State = "failed"
+			state.Why = "no longer in the catalogue"
+			p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
+			p.Note = name + " is no longer in the catalogue"
+			continue
+		}
+		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 {
+			state.State = "failed"
+			state.Why = err.Error()
+			p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
+			p.Note = fmt.Sprintf("%s could not be asked for: %v", name, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		state.State = "asked"
+		state.AskedAt = &now
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// 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) {
+	inv := open.inventory
+	plans, err := inv.OpenPlans(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("plans: cannot read them: %v\n", err)
+		return
+	}
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	for i := range plans {
+		p := &plans[i]
+		if p.Tier >= len(p.Tiers) {
+			continue
+		}
+		inTier := false
+		for _, m := range p.Tiers[p.Tier] {
+			if m == module {
+				inTier = true
+			}
+		}
+		if !inTier {
+			continue
+		}
+		state := p.Modules[module]
+		if state == nil {
+			state = &inventory.PlanModule{}
+			p.Modules[module] = state
+		}
+		if failed != "" {
+			state.State = "failed"
+			state.Why = failed
+			p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
+			p.Note = fmt.Sprintf("%s failed to build in tier %d", module, p.Tier)
+		} else {
+			state.State = "built"
+			state.BuiltAt = &now
+			state.Commit = commit
+		}
+		if err := inv.SavePlan(ctx, *p); err != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("%s: cannot keep the plan: %v\n", p.ID, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if p.State == inventory.PlanFailed {
+			fmt.Printf("%s: %s; the tiers after it are not asked\n", p.ID, p.Note)
+		}
+	}
+	advancePlans(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.
+func advancePlans(ctx context.Context, open *stores) {
+	inv := open.inventory
+	plans, err := inv.OpenPlans(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("plans: cannot read them: %v\n", err)
+		return
+	}
+	if len(plans) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	edges, err := inv.Dependencies(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("plans: cannot read the dependencies: %v\n", err)
+		return
+	}
+	rollsOut := func(module string) bool {
+		u, err := inv.UpgradeOf(ctx, module)
+		return err == nil && u.RollOut
+	}
+	for i := range plans {
+		p := &plans[i]
+		for p.Open() {
+			moved, err := advanceOnce(ctx, open, p, edges, rollsOut)
+			if err != nil {
+				fmt.Printf("%s: %v\n", p.ID, err)
+				break
+			}
+			if err := inv.SavePlan(ctx, *p); err != nil {
+				fmt.Printf("%s: cannot keep the plan: %v\n", p.ID, err)
+				break
+			}
+			if !moved {
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// advanceOnce takes one step of one plan and says whether anything changed.
+func advanceOnce(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan,
+	edges []inventory.Edge, rollsOut func(string) bool) (bool, error) {
+	inv := open.inventory
+	if p.Tier >= len(p.Tiers) {
+		p.State = inventory.PlanDone
+		fmt.Printf("%s: done — %s at %s, %d tier(s)\n", p.ID, p.Repository, short(p.Commit), len(p.Tiers))
+		return true, nil
+	}
+	tier := p.Tiers[p.Tier]
+	// Not yet asked: ask.
+	unasked := 0
+	for _, m := range tier {
+		if s := p.Modules[m]; s == nil || s.State == "" {
+			unasked++
+		}
+	}
+	if unasked == len(tier) {
+		if err := askTier(ctx, inv, p); err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+		return true, nil
+	}
+	// Asked: wait for every build.
+	var latest time.Time
+	for _, m := range tier {
+		s := p.Modules[m]
+		if s == nil || s.State != "built" {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		if s.BuiltAt != nil && s.BuiltAt.After(latest) {
+			latest = *s.BuiltAt
+		}
+	}
+	// Built: send every module of the tier whose policy rolls out, once, to the machines running
+	// it — whether or not its source commit moved. A dependent rebuilt because its base moved, or
+	// a module that packages another repository's source, keeps its commit; the catalogue announces
+	// no move for it and its machines would keep the old image until somebody pushed (novox/hq
+	// issue 189). A module whose policy records is built and left, as its policy says.
+	for _, m := range tier {
+		state := p.Modules[m]
+		if state == nil || state.SentAt != nil || !rollsOut(m) {
+			continue
+		}
+		running, err := inv.Running(ctx, m)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+		now := time.Now().UTC()
+		state.SentAt = &now
+		if len(running) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		if err := sendTo(ctx, open, running); err != nil {
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("sending %s to %s after tier %d: %w", m, strings.Join(running, ", "), p.Tier, err)
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("%s: tier %d built; sent %s to %s\n", p.ID, p.Tier, m, strings.Join(running, ", "))
+		return true, nil
+	}
+	// And wait for what the next tier needs running.
+	needed := gates(*p, edges, rollsOut)
+	if len(needed) > 0 {
+		reports, err := inv.LastReports(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+		var waiting []string
+		for _, m := range needed {
+			running, err := inv.Running(ctx, m)
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			state := p.Modules[m]
+			if state == nil {
+				state = &inventory.PlanModule{}
+				p.Modules[m] = state
+			}
+			// The plan sends what it waits for. A rebuild from the same source commit is not a
+			// move the catalogue announces — the build machine rebuilt for a controller change
+			// is one — so the roll-out that opens this gate is the plan's to make, once, and
+			// the reports that open it are the ones after the send.
+			since := latest
+			if state.BuiltAt != nil {
+				since = *state.BuiltAt
+			}
+			if state.SentAt != nil && state.SentAt.After(since) {
+				since = *state.SentAt
+			}
+			if ok, on := applied(m, since, running, reports); !ok {
+				waiting = append(waiting, fmt.Sprintf("%s on %s", m, strings.Join(on, ", ")))
+			}
+		}
+		if len(waiting) > 0 {
+			note := "tier " + fmt.Sprint(p.Tier) + " built; waiting for " + strings.Join(waiting, "; ") + " to be applied"
+			changed := p.State != inventory.PlanRolling || p.Note != note
+			p.State = inventory.PlanRolling
+			p.Note = note
+			return changed, nil
+		}
+	}
+	p.Tier++
+	p.State = inventory.PlanBuilding
+	p.Note = ""
+	if p.Tier < len(p.Tiers) {
+		fmt.Printf("%s: tier %d done; asking tier %d: %s\n", p.ID, p.Tier-1, p.Tier, strings.Join(p.Tiers[p.Tier], ", "))
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
+// planTicker advances open plans on a timer, for the steps outcomes alone cannot take.
+func planTicker(ctx context.Context, open *stores) {
+	advancePlans(ctx, open)
+	tick := time.NewTicker(30 * time.Second)
+	defer tick.Stop()
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return
+		case <-tick.C:
+			advancePlans(ctx, open)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// planLine is one plan as `status` says it.
+func planLine(p inventory.Plan, now time.Time) string {
+	where := fmt.Sprintf("tier %d of %d", min(p.Tier+1, len(p.Tiers)), len(p.Tiers))
+	switch p.State {
+	case inventory.PlanDone:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s done, %d tier(s)", p.Repository, short(p.Commit), len(p.Tiers))
+	case inventory.PlanFailed:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s FAILED at %s: %s", p.Repository, short(p.Commit), where, p.Note)
+	}
+	since := now.Sub(p.Updated).Round(time.Minute)
+	late := ""
+	if since > planWaitBound {
+		late = " — LATE"
+	}
+	what := "building"
+	if p.State == inventory.PlanRolling {
+		what = p.Note
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s %s, %s for %s%s", p.Repository, short(p.Commit), where, what, since, late)
+}
+
+// planFailedBuild marks the module a failed build was for when the result names no module: by the
+// repository and path the plan's modules were asked at.
+func planFailedBuild(ctx context.Context, open *stores, result link.BuildResult) {
+	entries, err := open.inventory.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	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)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func repositoryMatches(a, b string) bool {
+	trim := func(s string) string { return strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSuffix(s, ".git")) }
+	return trim(a) == trim(b) || strings.HasSuffix(trim(a), "/"+trim(b)) || strings.HasSuffix(trim(b), "/"+trim(a))
+}
+
+// planStatus is one plan as `status --json` says it.
+type planStatus struct {
+	ID         string    `json:"id"`
+	Repository string    `json:"repository"`
+	Commit     string    `json:"commit"`
+	State      string    `json:"state"`
+	Tier       int       `json:"tier"`
+	Tiers      int       `json:"tiers"`
+	Waiting    string    `json:"waiting,omitempty"`
+	Since      time.Time `json:"since"`
+	Late       bool      `json:"late"`
+}
+
+func planStatuses(plans []inventory.Plan, now time.Time) []planStatus {
+	out := make([]planStatus, 0, len(plans))
+	for _, p := range plans {
+		ps := planStatus{ID: p.ID, Repository: p.Repository, Commit: p.Commit, State: p.State,
+			Tier: p.Tier, Tiers: len(p.Tiers), Since: p.Updated}
+		if p.Open() {
+			ps.Waiting = p.Note
+			if ps.Waiting == "" {
+				ps.Waiting = "builds of tier " + fmt.Sprint(p.Tier)
+			}
+			ps.Late = now.Sub(p.Updated) > planWaitBound
+		}
+		out = append(out, ps)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// openPlans is the open plans among the recent ones, and how many have waited past the bound.
+func openPlans(plans []inventory.Plan) ([]inventory.Plan, int) {
+	var open []inventory.Plan
+	late := 0
+	for _, p := range plans {
+		if p.Open() {
+			open = append(open, p)
+			if time.Since(p.Updated) > planWaitBound {
+				late++
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return open, late
+}
+
+// plansCommand says what the last merges produced and where each stands; given an id, one plan
+// tier by tier with every module's state.
+func plansCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	set := flag.NewFlagSet("plans", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	limit := set.Int("n", 10, "how many to show")
+	whatIf := set.String("what-if", "", "owner/repository: the plan a merge there would produce, saving nothing — with --paths or --modules")
+	paths := set.String("paths", "", "the files the merge would change, comma-separated, from the repository's root")
+	modules := set.String("modules", "", "or the modules it would change, comma-separated")
+	positionals, err := parseAround(set, args)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+	inv := open.inventory
+	now := time.Now()
+	if len(positionals) == 1 {
+		p, err := inv.PlanByID(ctx, positionals[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("%s — %s\n", p.ID, planLine(p, now))
+		for i, tier := range p.Tiers {
+			marker := " "
+			if i == p.Tier && p.Open() {
+				marker = ">"
+			}
+			fmt.Printf("%s tier %d\n", marker, i)
+			for _, m := range tier {
+				s := p.Modules[m]
+				state := "not yet asked"
+				if s != nil && s.State != "" {
+					state = s.State
+					if s.Commit != "" {
+						state += " from " + short(s.Commit)
+					}
+					if s.Why != "" {
+						state += ": " + s.Why
+					}
+				}
+				fmt.Printf("    %-22s %s\n", m, state)
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	if *whatIf != "" {
+		return planWhatIf(ctx, inv, *whatIf, splitList(*paths), splitList(*modules))
+	}
+	if len(positionals) == 2 && positionals[0] == "stop" {
+		p, err := inv.PlanByID(ctx, positionals[1])
+		if 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
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("%s stopped at tier %d of %d; what was asked still builds and registers, nothing further is asked\n",
+			p.ID, p.Tier, len(p.Tiers))
+		return nil
+	}
+	plans, err := inv.RecentPlans(ctx, *limit)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(plans) == 0 {
+		fmt.Println("no merge has produced a plan yet")
+		return nil
+	}
+	for _, p := range plans {
+		fmt.Printf("%-28s %s\n", p.ID, planLine(p, now))
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// planWhatIf is the plan a merge would produce, computed the way the merge handler computes one
+// and saved nowhere: the modules the repository's changed files touch (or the modules named), what
+// packages their source, everything reachable from them, in tiers. For reading before merging.
+func planWhatIf(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, repository string, paths, modules []string) error {
+	owner, repo, found := strings.Cut(repository, "/")
+	if !found {
+		return fmt.Errorf("--what-if takes owner/repository, not %q", repository)
+	}
+	m := link.SourceMoved{Owner: owner, Repo: repo, Base: "main", Commit: "what-if", Paths: paths}
+	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	read, err := inv.ReadRepositories(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	var from, packaging []inventory.Entry
+	named := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, name := range modules {
+		named[name] = true
+	}
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		switch {
+		case named[e.Manifest.Module]:
+			from = append(from, e)
+		case len(named) == 0 && sourceIs(e.Source, m):
+			from = append(from, e)
+		case readsFrom(read[e.Manifest.Module], m):
+			packaging = append(packaging, e)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(named) == 0 {
+		from = whatTheMergeTouched(from, entries, m)
+	}
+	moved := append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, from...), packaging...)
+	if len(moved) == 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("a merge of %s changing %s would build nothing the mesh holds\n", repository,
+			orNone(strings.Join(append(paths, modules...), ", ")))
+		return nil
+	}
+	edges, err := inv.Dependencies(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	var names []string
+	for _, e := range moved {
+		names = append(names, e.Manifest.Module)
+	}
+	p := planOfMerge(m, names, edges)
+	fmt.Printf("a merge of %s would build %d module(s) in %d tier(s):\n", repository, len(p.Modules), len(p.Tiers))
+	rolls := map[string]string{}
+	for i, tier := range p.Tiers {
+		fmt.Printf("  tier %d\n", i)
+		for _, name := range tier {
+			how := "built; its policy records, so nothing is sent"
+			if u, err := inv.UpgradeOf(ctx, name); err == nil && u.RollOut {
+				running, _ := inv.Running(ctx, name)
+				how = "built, then sent to " + orNone(strings.Join(running, ", "))
+				rolls[name] = how
+			}
+			fmt.Printf("    %-22s %s\n", name, how)
+		}
+	}
+	if hasCycle(p.Tiers, edges) {
+		fmt.Println("  the last tier depends on itself and would be built together, in no order")
+	}
+	if len(packaging) > 0 {
+		var also []string
+		for _, e := range packaging {
+			also = append(also, e.Manifest.Module)
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("  %s package source from %s, so they are rebuilt without their own source moving\n",
+			strings.Join(also, ", "), repository)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func splitList(s string) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, part := range strings.Split(s, ",") {
+		if part = strings.TrimSpace(part); part != "" {
+			out = append(out, part)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// A merge produces a tiered plan (novox/hq ADR 0162): what moved and everything reachable from it,
+// sorted so a tier depends only on earlier ones — with the three kinds of dependency told apart.
+func TestAMergeIsPlannedInTiersAlongTheThreeKindsOfDependency(t *testing.T) {
+	edges := []inventory.Edge{
+		// build dependencies: images on the runtime, a plugin on one of them
+		{From: "shop", To: "mesh-tools", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn},
+		{From: "postgres", To: "mesh-tools", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn},
+		{From: "shop-plugin", To: "shop", Kind: inventory.EdgeDeclared},
+		// a code dependency: the proxy packages the controller's source — same tier
+		{From: "route-proxy", To: "mesh-controller", Kind: inventory.EdgePackages},
+		{From: "builder", To: "mesh-controller", Kind: inventory.EdgePackages},
+		// runtime dependencies: everything source-built is built by the builder
+		{From: "shop", To: "builder", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
+		{From: "postgres", To: "builder", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
+		{From: "shop-plugin", To: "builder", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
+		{From: "route-proxy", To: "builder", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
+		{From: "mesh-controller", To: "builder", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
+		{From: "mesh-tools", To: "builder", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
+		{From: "builder", To: "mesh-tools", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn},
+		{From: "unrelated", To: "alpine", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn},
+	}
+	// The runtime image moved: everything on it, and what is built by what is on it.
+	set := reachableFrom([]string{"mesh-tools"}, edges)
+	// What stands on the runtime, and the builder that stands on it; not the controller, which the
+	// builder merely builds, nor the proxy that packages the controller.
+	want := []string{"builder", "mesh-tools", "postgres", "shop", "shop-plugin"}
+	if len(set) != len(want) {
+		t.Fatalf("reachable from the runtime: %v, want %v", set, want)
+	}
+	tiers := tiersOf(set, edges)
+	pos := map[string]int{}
+	for i, tier := range tiers {
+		for _, m := range tier {
+			pos[m] = i
+		}
+	}
+	if pos["mesh-tools"] != 0 || pos["builder"] != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the runtime then the builder: %v", tiers)
+	}
+	if !(pos["shop"] > pos["builder"] && pos["postgres"] > pos["builder"]) {
+		t.Fatalf("what the builder builds comes after the builder: %v", tiers)
+	}
+	if pos["shop-plugin"] <= pos["shop"] {
+		t.Fatalf("a plugin after what it is declared on: %v", tiers)
+	}
+	if hasCycle(tiers, edges) {
+		t.Fatalf("no cycle here: %v", tiers)
+	}
+
+	// The controller alone moved: the proxy with it, nothing else.
+	small := reachableFrom([]string{"mesh-controller"}, edges)
+	if len(small) != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("a controller merge rebuilds the controller and what packages it: %v", small)
+	}
+	// The builder packages the controller's source (same tier by that edge) and the controller is
+	// built by the builder (next tier by that one): the builder first, then the controller and the
+	// proxy together — a code dependency in one tier, a runtime dependency across tiers.
+	smallTiers := tiersOf(small, edges)
+	if len(smallTiers) != 2 || smallTiers[0][0] != "builder" || len(smallTiers[1]) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the builder, then the controller and the proxy together: %v", smallTiers)
+	}
+	// The builder alone moved: the builder, and nothing it builds.
+	if only := reachableFrom([]string{"builder"}, edges); len(only) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a build machine change rebuilds the build machine alone: %v", only)
+	}
+
+	// Only a runtime dependency gates on deployment, and only when the module rolls out.
+	p := planOfMerge(link.SourceMoved{Owner: "novox", Repo: "mesh-tools", Commit: "abc"}, []string{"mesh-tools"}, edges)
+	p.Tier = pos["builder"]
+	rollsOut := func(m string) bool { return m == "builder" }
+	if g := gates(p, edges, rollsOut); len(g) != 1 || g[0] != "builder" {
+		t.Fatalf("the builder gates the tier after it: %v", g)
+	}
+	p.Tier = 0
+	if g := gates(p, edges, rollsOut); len(g) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the runtime image is a build dependency and gates nothing: %v", g)
+	}
+	if g := gates(p, edges, func(string) bool { return false }); len(g) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a module that only records its upgrade gates nothing: %v", g)
+	}
+}
+
+// A gate is open once every machine running the module has reported after it was built.
+func TestAGateOpensWhenTheMachinesHaveReportedSinceTheBuild(t *testing.T) {
+	built := time.Date(2026, 10, 1, 15, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	before, after := built.Add(-time.Minute), built.Add(time.Minute)
+	reports := []inventory.Reported{{Node: "anchor", At: &after}, {Node: "home-server", At: &before}}
+	ok, waiting := applied("builder", built, []string{"anchor", "home-server"}, reports)
+	if ok || len(waiting) != 1 || waiting[0] != "home-server" {
+		t.Fatalf("one machine has not reported since the build: ok=%v waiting=%v", ok, waiting)
+	}
+	if ok, _ := applied("builder", built, []string{"anchor"}, reports); !ok {
+		t.Fatal("the machine that reported after the build holds the gate open")
+	}
+	if ok, _ := applied("builder", built, nil, reports); !ok {
+		t.Fatal("a module running nowhere gates nothing")
+	}
+}
+
+// A cycle is not lost: what remains is one last tier, and the caller says so.
+func TestACycleIsOneLastTierAndSaidSo(t *testing.T) {
+	edges := []inventory.Edge{{From: "a", To: "b", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn}, {From: "b", To: "a", Kind: inventory.EdgeStandsOn}}
+	tiers := tiersOf([]string{"a", "b"}, edges)
+	if len(tiers) != 1 || len(tiers[0]) != 2 || !hasCycle(tiers, edges) {
+		t.Fatalf("a cycle should be one tier of two, said: %v", tiers)
+	}
+}
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"time"

@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ import (
 // ability to change things, not the services its modules are serving — measured on 2026-09-27, when
 // a seat emptied mid-change and the control plane looped for two hours while every service stayed up.

-const rolloutUsage = "rollout check | rollout mint [--again] | rollout --confirm"
+const rolloutUsage = "rollout check | rollout mint [--again] | rollout hand <node> | rollout --confirm"

 func rolloutCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	switch {
@@ -41,6 +42,8 @@ func rolloutCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return rolloutCheck(ctx)
 	case len(args) == 1 && args[0] == "mint":
 		return rolloutMint(ctx, false)
+	case len(args) == 2 && args[0] == "hand":
+		return rolloutHand(ctx, args[1])
 	case len(args) == 2 && args[0] == "mint" && args[1] == "--again":
 		// Every credential minted afresh, whether or not one exists — for a mint that was wrong
 		// before anything was pushed. Afterwards nothing that received the old one still works,
@@ -124,9 +127,13 @@ func readinessOf(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) (broker.Readines
 	if address != "" {
 		// One dial, briefly. "Is it answering" is the one fact records cannot hold, and a mesh about
 		// to move onto a server that is not there should hear it here rather than afterwards.
-		if conn, err := nats.Connect(broker.BareAddress(address), nats.Timeout(5*time.Second)); err == nil {
+		//
+		// **Dialled the way the mesh dials it** — credential and pin — because a bare connect to a
+		// bus that requires TLS and a user fails at the handshake, and the check then reported a
+		// standing server as absent (seen live, 2026-09-28).
+		if js, err := broker.Dial(address, nats.Timeout(5*time.Second)); err == nil {
 			state.ServerStanding = true
-			conn.Close()
+			js.Close()
 		}
 	}

@@ -340,6 +347,14 @@ func rolloutMint(ctx context.Context, again bool) error {
 			machines++

 		case broker.KindModule:
+			if p.Module == "mesh-controller" {
+				// The control plane is a module too, and its `broker` secret is the old bus's
+				// credential it is still using while this runs. Writing the new bus's blob there
+				// cut the mesh off from its own old bus mid-move (2026-09-28). Its new-bus credential
+				// is the controller principal's `bus` secret above; nothing else is needed here.
+				skipped++
+				continue
+			}
 			m, inShelf := shelf[p.Module]
 			if !inShelf {
 				skipped++
@@ -379,3 +394,62 @@ func providesBus(m catalogue.Manifest) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+// rolloutHand mints a machine its credential for the new bus afresh and prints its membership
+// once, for an operator to carry by hand — the rescue for a machine that cannot be reached over
+// any bus: rotated while it still held the old password, or reachable only by ssh. The plaintext
+// exists on this terminal and then only where it is written; the store keeps the hash, and the
+// sealed copy in the machine's declaration is replaced too, so the next push says the same.
+func rolloutHand(ctx context.Context, node string) error {
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+	inv := open.inventory
+
+	known, err := broker.FromEnvironment()
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the bus's certificate is not known to this process: %w", err)
+	}
+	busAddress, _, err := broker.OnNATS()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if busAddress == "" {
+		return errors.New("this control plane is not on the new bus, so there is no membership to hand out")
+	}
+	_, _, bare := broker.CredentialIn(busAddress)
+	if _, after, has := strings.Cut(bare, "://"); has {
+		bare = after
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, node); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	p := broker.Principal{Kind: broker.KindNode, Node: node}
+	password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: p.Username(), Kind: inventory.BusNode, Node: node})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	membership, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]string{
+		"broker": bare, "fingerprint": known.Fingerprint, "password": password, "transport": "nats",
+	})
+	key, err := inv.SealingKeyOf(ctx, node)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	sealed, err := secrets.Seal(key, membership)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := inv.PutBusMembership(ctx, node, sealed); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// The one line of output is the membership itself, so it can be piped to the machine without
+	// being read on the way. Everything else goes to stderr.
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s's credential is minted afresh. Write this to %s on it and restart its host; "+
+		"then push the machine running the bus so the user list carries the new hash.\n",
+		node, catalogue.BusMembershipPath)
+	fmt.Println(string(membership))
+	return nil
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+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.
+
+func TestASetThatDoesNotComposeIsMarkedAsTheNodesOwnProblem(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)
+		}
+	}
+
+	_, _, err := planFor(t.Context(), open, "laptop")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("two modules claiming one seat composed anyway")
+	}
+	if !unresolvable(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("a set that cannot compose was not marked as the node's own problem: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAStoreThatCannotBeReadIsNotANodeThatDoesNotCompose(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+
+	// Nothing is wrong with anchor. The question simply cannot be asked.
+	stopped, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
+	cancel()
+
+	_, _, err := planFor(stopped, open, "anchor")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a plan composed against a store that could not be read")
+	}
+	if unresolvable(err) {
+		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)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,264 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// The mesh's own verbs, served as the mesh-controller seat's tools (novox/hq ADR 0154, design 33).
+//
+// **Each tool runs the command it names, in this same binary, and answers what it printed.** That is
+// ADR 0035 taken literally: the logic lives once, in the command, and a surface is an adapter with no
+// decisions in it. Running a fresh process rather than calling the function keeps two things true
+// that calling it would not — every command opens and closes its own stores the way it does from a
+// shell, and nothing a command prints to the process's standard output can leak into another call's
+// answer. It also means a refusal is the same refusal in the same words, because it is the same
+// output.
+
+// verbAnswer is what a verb answers: what the command printed, whether it succeeded, and — where the
+// command speaks JSON — the same as data.
+type verbAnswer struct {
+	Output string `json:"output"`
+	OK     bool   `json:"ok"`
+	Answer any    `json:"answer,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// argvFor is the command line a verb and its arguments become. Only the verbs the seat declares, and
+// only the arguments each declares: a caller cannot reach a flag the schema did not name.
+func argvFor(verb string, args map[string]any) ([]string, error) {
+	str := func(key string) string {
+		v, _ := args[key].(string)
+		return strings.TrimSpace(v)
+	}
+	need := func(keys ...string) error {
+		for _, k := range keys {
+			if str(k) == "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s needs %q", verb, k)
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	switch verb {
+	case "status":
+		return []string{"status", "--json"}, nil
+	case "nodes":
+		return []string{"node", "list"}, 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
+	case "seats":
+		return []string{"seats", "--json"}, nil
+	case "builds":
+		if id := str("log"); id != "" {
+			return []string{"builds", "--log", id}, nil
+		}
+		if m := str("module"); m != "" {
+			return []string{"builds", m}, nil
+		}
+		return []string{"builds"}, nil
+	case "plans":
+		if r := str("repository"); r != "" {
+			argv := []string{"plans", "--what-if", r}
+			if p := str("paths"); p != "" {
+				argv = append(argv, "--paths", p)
+			}
+			if m := str("modules"); m != "" {
+				argv = append(argv, "--modules", m)
+			}
+			return argv, nil
+		}
+		if id := str("stop"); id != "" {
+			return []string{"plans", "stop", id}, nil
+		}
+		if id := str("id"); id != "" {
+			return []string{"plans", id}, nil
+		}
+		return []string{"plans"}, nil
+	case "plan":
+		if err := need("node"); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return []string{"plan", str("node"), "--json"}, nil
+	case "assign", "unassign":
+		if err := need("node", "module"); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return []string{verb, str("node"), str("module")}, nil
+	case "pin":
+		if err := need("node", "provision", "from", "module"); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return []string{"pin", str("node"), str("provision"), str("from"), str("module")}, nil
+	case "unpin":
+		if err := need("node", "provision"); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return []string{"unpin", str("node"), str("provision")}, nil
+	case "push":
+		// Sent and not waited for: the asker reads `status` for what the machine did, which is
+		// what a person at a shell does too. A tool call that blocked for a push's whole apply would
+		// time out on every machine that takes a minute, and say nothing about the ones that did not.
+		if n := str("node"); n != "" {
+			return []string{"push", n, "--wait", "0"}, nil
+		}
+		return []string{"push", "--behind", "--wait", "0"}, nil
+	case "rotate":
+		if p := str("provision"); p != "" {
+			argv := []string{"rotate", p}
+			if c := str("consumer"); c != "" {
+				argv = append(argv, "--consumer", c)
+			}
+			return argv, nil
+		}
+		if str("node") != "" && str("module") != "" && str("secret") != "" {
+			return []string{"secret", "rotate", str("node"), str("module"), str("secret")}, nil
+		}
+		// Half of either shape: the command says its usage, which names both shapes, and that is
+		// the answer the caller needs.
+		return []string{"rotate"}, nil
+	case "build":
+		if err := need("repository"); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		// Not waited for: a tool call cannot hold a connection for the minutes a build takes; the
+		// daemon takes the outcome in when it comes and the id follows the build (issue 176). A
+		// repository given without a scheme is a path on the forge holding the git seat.
+		argv := []string{"build", str("repository"), "--wait", "0"}
+		if !strings.Contains(str("repository"), "://") && !strings.HasPrefix(str("repository"), "git@") {
+			argv = append(argv, "--self")
+		}
+		if p := str("path"); p != "" {
+			argv = append(argv, "--path", p)
+		}
+		if r := str("ref"); r != "" {
+			argv = append(argv, "--ref", r)
+		}
+		return argv, nil
+	}
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a verb the %s seat serves", verb, catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
+}
+
+// jsonVerbs are the verbs whose command speaks JSON, so the answer carries it as data as well.
+var jsonVerbs = map[string]bool{"status": true, "seats": true, "plan": true}
+
+// runVerb runs this binary with the given command line and gathers what it said.
+func runVerb(ctx context.Context, argv []string) (verbAnswer, error) {
+	self, err := os.Executable()
+	if err != nil {
+		return verbAnswer{}, err
+	}
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, self, argv...)
+	// The same environment: the stores' credentials, the bus, the broker — everything a command run
+	// from a shell in this container would have, because it is that.
+	cmd.Env = os.Environ()
+	// Two buffers, one answer. What the command *says* is both streams, in the order a person at
+	// a shell would read them; what it *answers as data* is standard output alone — `status --json`
+	// prints its warnings beside the document, and a JSON parsed from the two together parsed
+	// nothing (2026-09-30, the first status asked through the console had no `answer`).
+	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
+	runErr := cmd.Run()
+	answer := verbAnswer{Output: stdout.String() + stderr.String(), OK: runErr == nil}
+	if jsonVerbs[argv[0]] && runErr == nil {
+		var parsed any
+		if json.Unmarshal(bytes.TrimSpace(stdout.Bytes()), &parsed) == nil {
+			answer.Answer = parsed
+		}
+	}
+	var exit *exec.ExitError
+	if runErr != nil && !errors.As(runErr, &exit) {
+		// Not the command refusing — the command not running at all, which is this process's fault.
+		return answer, fmt.Errorf("could not run %s: %w", strings.Join(argv, " "), runErr)
+	}
+	return answer, nil
+}
+
+// seatToolHandlers are the handlers for every verb the mesh-controller seat declares, from the
+// store's row, so a verb the row does not carry is not served and a verb it carries that this binary
+// cannot run is said at start rather than at the first call.
+func seatToolHandlers() (map[string]link.ToolHandler, error) {
+	seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
+	if !known {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("this mesh defines no %s seat", catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
+	}
+	handlers := map[string]link.ToolHandler{}
+	for _, v := range seat.Serves {
+		verb := v.Name
+		if verb == "tools" {
+			handlers[verb] = func(ctx context.Context, _ json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+				return seatTools(), nil
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, err := argvFor(verb, sampleArguments(v)); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("the %s seat's row declares %q, which this control plane cannot run: %w",
+				catalogue.ControllerSeatName, verb, err)
+		}
+		handlers[verb] = func(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+			args := map[string]any{}
+			if len(raw) > 0 {
+				if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &args); err != nil {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("the arguments are not a JSON object: %w", err)
+				}
+			}
+			argv, err := argvFor(verb, args)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			return runVerb(ctx, argv)
+		}
+	}
+	return handlers, nil
+}
+
+// seatTools is what `tools` answers: every seat with a protocol, and the tools each serves, from the
+// mesh's own records — no holder in the path, so it is true while a holder restarts (design 33 §5).
+func seatTools() map[string]any {
+	var seats []map[string]any
+	for _, s := range catalogue.SeatsWithAProtocol() {
+		if len(s.Serves) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		var tools []map[string]any
+		for _, v := range s.Serves {
+			tools = append(tools, map[string]any{
+				"name": v.Name, "description": v.Description, "input": v.Input, "output": v.Output,
+			})
+		}
+		seats = append(seats, map[string]any{"seat": s.Name, "scope": s.Scope, "tools": tools})
+	}
+	return map[string]any{"seats": seats}
+}
+
+// sampleArguments is one of every argument a verb's schema requires, so the check at start proves the
+// verb runnable rather than that it happens to want the arguments the check guessed.
+func sampleArguments(v catalogue.Verb) map[string]any {
+	sample := map[string]any{"node": "x", "module": "x", "repository": "x"}
+	switch required := v.Input["required"].(type) {
+	case []string:
+		for _, k := range required {
+			sample[k] = "x"
+		}
+	case []any:
+		for _, k := range required {
+			if name, ok := k.(string); ok {
+				sample[name] = "x"
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return sample
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// Every verb the mesh-controller seat declares is one this binary can run, with the arguments the
+// schema names and no other (novox/hq ADR 0154, ADR 0035).
+func TestEveryDeclaredVerbHasACommandLine(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, v := range catalogue.ControllerVerbs {
+		if v.Name == "tools" {
+			continue
+		}
+		args := map[string]any{}
+		props, _ := v.Input["properties"].(map[string]any)
+		for name := range props {
+			args[name] = "x"
+		}
+		argv, err := argvFor(v.Name, args)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", v.Name, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if argv[0] == "" {
+			t.Errorf("%s: empty command", v.Name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// `builds` given a build's id reads that build's log from the bus rather than listing builds
+// (novox/hq ADR 0157).
+func TestBuildsWithAnIdReadsThatBuildsLog(t *testing.T) {
+	argv, err := argvFor("builds", map[string]any{"log": "build-17"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(argv, " ") != "builds --log build-17" {
+		t.Fatalf("builds with a log id became %q", strings.Join(argv, " "))
+	}
+}
+
+// The build tool takes a repository as a URL or as its path on the forge holding the git seat, and
+// says which it was given, so the command reads the path as a seat source rather than handing it to
+// git as written (novox/hq issue 176). And it never waits: the id follows the build.
+func TestTheBuildToolTellsAForgePathFromAURL(t *testing.T) {
+	argv, _ := argvFor("build", map[string]any{"repository": "novox/mesh-catalog", "path": "modules/x"})
+	if line := strings.Join(argv, " "); !strings.Contains(line, "--self") || !strings.Contains(line, "--wait 0") {
+		t.Fatalf("a forge path is a seat source, not waited for; got %q", line)
+	}
+	argv, _ = argvFor("build", map[string]any{"repository": "https://example.tld/o/r.git"})
+	if line := strings.Join(argv, " "); strings.Contains(line, "--self") {
+		t.Fatalf("a URL is cloned as given; got %q", line)
+	}
+}
+
+// `rotate` is one verb with two shapes (ADR 0114, issue 180): a pair credential by provision, or a
+// module's own secret by machine, module and name.
+func TestRotateTakesAProvisionOrAnOwnSecret(t *testing.T) {
+	argv, _ := argvFor("rotate", map[string]any{"provision": "postgres-database", "consumer": "ace"})
+	if strings.Join(argv, " ") != "rotate postgres-database --consumer ace" {
+		t.Fatalf("a pair credential: %v", argv)
+	}
+	argv, _ = argvFor("rotate", map[string]any{"node": "ace", "module": "nodered", "secret": "api-token"})
+	if strings.Join(argv, " ") != "secret rotate ace nodered api-token" {
+		t.Fatalf("an own secret: %v", argv)
+	}
+	argv, _ = argvFor("rotate", map[string]any{"node": "ace"})
+	if strings.Join(argv, " ") != "rotate" {
+		t.Fatalf("half an own secret falls to the command's usage: %v", argv)
+	}
+}
+
+// A required argument missing is refused in the verb's own words, before anything runs.
+func TestAVerbMissingWhatItNeedsIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := argvFor("node", map[string]any{}); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `node needs "node"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("node without a machine was accepted: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := argvFor("upgrade", map[string]any{}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a verb the seat does not serve was accepted")
+	}
+}
+
+// A push and a build are sent, not waited for: the asker reads status, or the build's log by its
+// id, for what happened. A repository given as a forge path is said to be one (issue 176).
+func TestActsDoNotBlockTheCall(t *testing.T) {
+	argv, _ := argvFor("push", map[string]any{"node": "one"})
+	if strings.Join(argv, " ") != "push one --wait 0" {
+		t.Fatalf("push waits: %v", argv)
+	}
+	argv, _ = argvFor("build", map[string]any{"repository": "novox/x", "path": "modules/x"})
+	if strings.Join(argv, " ") != "build novox/x --wait 0 --self --path modules/x" {
+		t.Fatalf("build: %v", argv)
+	}
+}
+
+// What `tools` answers is the seats' records, with each verb's schema.
+func TestToolsAnswersTheSeatsRecords(t *testing.T) {
+	handlers, err := seatToolHandlers()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(handlers) != len(catalogue.ControllerVerbs) {
+		t.Fatalf("%d handlers for %d verbs", len(handlers), len(catalogue.ControllerVerbs))
+	}
+	answer := seatTools()
+	seats, _ := answer["seats"].([]map[string]any)
+	var found bool
+	for _, s := range seats {
+		if s["seat"] == catalogue.ControllerSeatName {
+			found = true
+			tools, _ := s["tools"].([]map[string]any)
+			if len(tools) != len(catalogue.ControllerVerbs) || tools[0]["input"] == nil {
+				t.Fatalf("the controller seat's tools are not listed in full: %v", tools)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Fatal("the mesh-controller seat is not in the listing")
+	}
+}
+
+// A JSON verb's answer is parsed from what the command wrote to standard output alone; a warning it
+// printed beside the document does not take the document away. The test binary stands in for the
+// controller: `-test.run` with a name that matches nothing prints `ok` and a warning about no tests.
+func TestAJSONVerbsAnswerIsItsStandardOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonVerbs["-test.run"] = true
+	t.Cleanup(func() { delete(jsonVerbs, "-test.run") })
+	answer, err := runVerb(t.Context(), []string{"-test.run", "TestAnswerEcho", "-test.v"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !answer.OK {
+		t.Fatalf("the command failed: %s", answer.Output)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(answer.Output, "PASS") {
+		t.Fatalf("stderr and stdout are both what the command said: %s", answer.Output)
+	}
+}
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"time"

 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@ func secretCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	}
 	switch args[0] {
 	case "accept":
+	case "rotate":
+		return secretRotate(ctx, args[1:])
 	case "recover":
 		return secretRecover(ctx, args[1:])
 	case "export":
@@ -101,7 +104,8 @@ func secretCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	return nil
 }

-const secretUsage = "secret accept <node> <module> <name> [--from <file>] [--provider <node> [--local <name>]]\n" +
+const secretUsage = "secret rotate <node> <module> <name>\n" +
+	"secret accept <node> <module> <name> [--from <file>] [--provider <node> [--local <name>]]\n" +
 	"secret recover <node> <module> <name> --key <operator-key> [--out <file>] [--from-export <file>] [--provider <node>]\n" +
 	"secret export [--out <file>]"

@@ -359,3 +363,59 @@ func valueFor(node, module, name, from string) (string, error) {
 		return line, nil
 	}
 }
+
+// secretRotate makes a module's own secret anew and sends the machine, so the module starts again on
+// the new value (novox/hq ADR 0114, issue 180). A pair credential rotates with `rotate <provision>`;
+// this is the secret with one party. Said in the log with who asked and when, never the value.
+func secretRotate(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	rest, _ := split(args)
+	if len(rest) != 3 {
+		return errors.New(secretUsage)
+	}
+	node, module, name := rest[0], rest[1], rest[2]
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+	if err := open.inventory.RotateModuleSecret(ctx, node, module, name); err != nil {
+		var refused inventory.ErrNotRotatable
+		if errors.As(err, &refused) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("not rotated: %s", refused.Why)
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("rotated %q of %s on %s at %s, asked by %s; the value is sealed and not shown\n",
+		name, module, node, time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339), whoAsked())
+	// A shared credential (ADR 0158) has as many holders as the provision has consumers, and all
+	// of them are sent in one act, so no machine is left reading a value the provider no longer takes.
+	machines, err := open.inventory.SharedHolders(ctx, node, module, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(machines) == 0 {
+		machines = []string{node}
+	}
+	if len(machines) == 1 {
+		fmt.Printf("sending %s, so %s starts again on the new value:\n", node, module)
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("shared with every consumer; sending %s together:\n", strings.Join(machines, ", "))
+	}
+	if err := sendTo(ctx, open, machines); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w\n\nThe new value is sealed and not yet delivered; what runs keeps the old "+
+			"one until the machines next apply. Fix the cause and run `push --behind`", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// whoAsked names the caller for the log: the account the command runs as, which for a tool call
+// through the console is the mesh's own.
+func whoAsked() string {
+	if u := os.Getenv("SUDO_USER"); u != "" {
+		return u
+	}
+	if u := os.Getenv("USER"); u != "" {
+		return u
+	}
+	return "the mesh"
+}
@@ -18,9 +18,21 @@ import (
 // make a machine look out of date for ever, or send something `plan` never showed.
 type sendable struct {
 	Resources []map[string]any
+	// Sequence orders this send against every other to the same node: one higher each time, taken
+	// under the node's hold just before the body is made (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107). Zero is not sent
+	// at all, which a host reads as "no order claimed" — the shape of every declaration before this.
+	Sequence int64
 	// Adoption is nil for a converged node, and then the body is byte for byte what it was before
 	// adoption existed: an older host parses the envelope strictly and would refuse the key.
 	Adoption *adoptionEnvelope
+	// LeftOut is every module of the machine's set left out of this declaration because a stored
+	// setting cannot compose with its definition (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6), sorted. The host
+	// keeps that module's held things and touches none of its containers; a machine is told
+	// everything or nothing about what it IS told, and what it is not told is said. Absent from
+	// the body when empty, so a declaration that leaves nothing out is byte for byte what it was.
+	LeftOut []string
+	// leftOutWhy is why each was, for push and plan to say; never on the wire.
+	leftOutWhy map[string]string
 }

 // adoptionEnvelope is what an adopted node is told about its mode. Taken is every module taken on
@@ -38,6 +50,12 @@ func (s sendable) Body() ([]byte, error) {
 	if s.Adoption != nil {
 		envelope["adoption"] = s.Adoption
 	}
+	if s.Sequence > 0 {
+		envelope["sequence"] = s.Sequence
+	}
+	if len(s.LeftOut) > 0 {
+		envelope["left_out"] = s.LeftOut
+	}
 	// An empty declaration is deliberate here — the node owns nothing the mesh put there
 	// (novox/hq issue 127) — and the host refuses an empty body unless it is told the emptiness
 	// is meant, so a truncated or mis-composed body is never mistaken for "own nothing".
@@ -47,7 +47,12 @@ func composed(t *testing.T, open *stores, node string) sendable {
 // aMesh's laptop with the private network taken off it, so nothing in the declaration is random:
 // what changes this string is a change to what a converged machine is sent, which is the thing an
 // older host would refuse.
-const convergedBefore = `{"declaration":1,"resources":[{"content":"hello","id":"hello-web.page","path":"/var/lib/hello-web/index.html","type":"file"},{"hosts":["anchor.internal:10.77.0.1"],"id":"hello-web.server","image":"registry.example/hello@sha256:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa","name":"hello-web","type":"container"},{"id":"hello-web.served","path":"/var/lib/hello-web","type":"directory"}]}`
+//
+// Re-captured 2026-10-01 (novox/hq issue 177): c978aa7 took `hosts` off every container — a
+// machine's own resolver knows the mesh's names now — and left this string carrying it, so the
+// guard failed for a day and nothing ran it. A field an older host never sees is the one change
+// this guard permits; a field it would refuse is the one it exists to catch.
+const convergedBefore = `{"declaration":1,"resources":[{"content":"hello","id":"hello-web.page","path":"/var/lib/hello-web/index.html","type":"file"},{"id":"hello-web.server","image":"registry.example/hello@sha256:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa","name":"hello-web","type":"container"},{"id":"hello-web.served","path":"/var/lib/hello-web","type":"directory"}]}`

 func TestAConvergedDeclarationIsByteForByteWhatItWas(t *testing.T) {
 	open := aMesh(t)
@@ -377,3 +382,62 @@ func TestAnEmptyDeclarationSaysOwnsNothing(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a non-empty declaration must not mark owns_nothing; got %v", env)
 	}
 }
+
+// A setting is judged where it is stored, and an impossible one costs a module, not a machine
+// (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6): stored while it composed, a setting whose definition then moved from
+// under it leaves that module out of the declaration — said in the envelope, so the host keeps the
+// module's things — and the machine is told everything else.
+func TestADefinitionMovingUnderAStoredSettingLeavesThatModuleOutNotTheMachine(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	web := helloWeb()
+	web.Resources[1]["ports"] = []any{"8080"}
+	register(t, open, web)
+	register(t, open, catalogue.Manifest{Module: "notes", Version: "1",
+		Resources: []map[string]any{{"id": "conf", "type": "file", "path": "/etc/notes.conf", "content": "x"}}})
+	for _, m := range []string{"hello-web", "notes"} {
+		if _, err := assign(ctx, open, "laptop", m); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	// Judged where it is stored: a port the module does not publish is refused by name.
+	err := open.inventory.SetSettings(ctx, "laptop", "hello-web",
+		map[string]any{catalogue.PortsSetting: map[string]any{"9999": 10000}})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "hello-web on laptop") || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "9999") {
+		t.Fatalf("an impossible setting was stored: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := open.inventory.SetSettings(ctx, "laptop", "hello-web",
+		map[string]any{catalogue.PortsSetting: map[string]any{"8080": 10000}}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if declared := composed(t, open, "laptop"); len(declared.LeftOut) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a setting that composes left a module out: %v", declared.LeftOut)
+	}
+
+	// The definition moves: the container publishes another port now.
+	web.Version = "2"
+	web.Resources[1]["ports"] = []any{"9090"}
+	register(t, open, web)
+	declared := composed(t, open, "laptop")
+	if len(declared.LeftOut) != 1 || declared.LeftOut[0] != "hello-web" {
+		t.Fatalf("hello-web is not left out: %v", declared.LeftOut)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(declared.leftOutWhy["hello-web"], "no container of its publishes 8080") {
+		t.Fatalf("why it was left out is not said: %v", declared.leftOutWhy)
+	}
+	if hasID(declared.Resources, "hello-web.server") || !hasID(declared.Resources, "notes.conf") {
+		t.Fatalf("the machine was not told everything else: %v", declared.Resources)
+	}
+	body, err := declared.Body()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var env map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &env); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	left, _ := env["left_out"].([]any)
+	if len(left) != 1 || left[0] != "hello-web" {
+		t.Fatalf("the envelope does not say what was left out: %v", env)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A declaration's only identity was the digest of its bytes; the controller already held a per-node
+// lock and recorded each send, so the order existed and was thrown away at the wire (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/107).
+
+func TestASendCarriesItsNumberInsideTheSignedBytes(t *testing.T) {
+	body, err := sendable{Resources: []map[string]any{{"id": "x", "type": "file"}}, Sequence: 7}.Body()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var env map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &env); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got, _ := env["sequence"].(float64); got != 7 {
+		t.Fatalf("the body carries sequence %v, wanted 7", env["sequence"])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnUnnumberedSendIsByteForByteWhatItWasBefore(t *testing.T) {
+	// Zero is not sent at all. A host reads absence as "no order claimed" — the shape of every
+	// declaration before this — so an older host, or the read-only comparison against a machine
+	// sent nothing since sends were numbered, sees exactly the bytes it always saw.
+	body, err := sendable{Resources: []map[string]any{{"id": "x", "type": "file"}}}.Body()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var env map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &env); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, present := env["sequence"]; present {
+		t.Fatalf("a send numbered zero put a sequence on the wire: %s", body)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEachSendToANodeIsOneHigherAndReadable(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	record, err := open.inventory.NodeByName(t.Context(), "anchor")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// Sent nothing since numbering existed: what it would be sent is composed with zero, which is
+	// not on the wire, which is what it was actually sent.
+	if n, err := open.inventory.Sequence(t.Context(), record.ID); err != nil || n != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a fresh node reads sequence %d, %v", n, err)
+	}
+	first, err := open.inventory.NextSequence(t.Context(), record.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	second, err := open.inventory.NextSequence(t.Context(), record.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if first != 1 || second != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("two sends were numbered %d and %d", first, second)
+	}
+	// And the read path sees the last one taken, so the comparison composes what was sent.
+	if n, err := open.inventory.Sequence(t.Context(), record.ID); err != nil || n != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("after two sends the node reads sequence %d, %v", n, err)
+	}
+	// Another node counts on its own.
+	other, err := open.inventory.NodeByName(t.Context(), "laptop")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if n, err := open.inventory.NextSequence(t.Context(), other.ID); err != nil || n != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a second node's first send was numbered %d, %v", n, err)
+	}
+}
@@ -82,6 +82,16 @@ func cloneFrom(ctx context.Context, source buildSource) (string, error) {
 // serves no scheme or port has nothing to compose from — a default port here would be the forge's
 // address guessed, which is the thing this exists to stop.
 func clonedFromSeat(world catalogue.World, seatName, repository string) (string, error) {
+	base, err := seatBase(world, seatName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	path := strings.TrimSuffix(strings.Trim(repository, "/"), ".git")
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s.git", base, path), nil
+}
+
+// seatBase is `scheme://host:port` of a seat's holder as the mesh reaches it, for cloning.
+func seatBase(world catalogue.World, seatName string) (string, error) {
 	seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(seatName)
 	if !known || seat.Delivers == "" {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("%q is not a seat a repository can live on", seatName)
@@ -94,9 +104,9 @@ func clonedFromSeat(world catalogue.World, seatName, repository string) (string,
 		}
 	}
 	if holder == nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("nobody holds the %s seat, so %s cannot be cloned from this mesh's "+
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("nobody holds the %s seat, so nothing can be cloned from this mesh's "+
 			"forge — assign a module that claims it, or build from the repository's URL without --self",
-			seat.Name, repository)
+			seat.Name)
 	}
 	var provider *catalogue.Provider
 	for i, p := range world.Offered[seat.Delivers] {
@@ -118,8 +128,33 @@ func clonedFromSeat(world catalogue.World, seatName, repository string) (string,
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("%s on %s holds the %s seat and does not serve a scheme and a port for %q",
 			holder.Module, holder.Node, seat.Name, seat.Delivers)
 	}
-	path := strings.TrimSuffix(strings.Trim(repository, "/"), ".git")
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s://%s:%s/%s.git", scheme, provider.At, port, path), nil
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s://%s:%s", scheme, provider.At, port), nil
+}
+
+// seatBases is the clone base of every seat a recipe's context may name, for a build request
+// (novox/hq ADR 0155). A seat nobody holds is left out rather than refused here: the build may not
+// name it at all, and if it does the builder refuses with the seat's name.
+func seatBases(ctx context.Context) map[string]string {
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+	shelf, err := open.inventory.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	world, err := theRestOfTheMesh(ctx, open.inventory, shelf, "")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	bases := map[string]string{}
+	for _, seatName := range []string{gitSeat} {
+		if base, err := seatBase(world, seatName); err == nil {
+			bases[seatName] = base
+		}
+	}
+	return bases
 }

 // servedPort is a served port as text, however the manifest and the node's settings carried it.
@@ -46,15 +46,21 @@ func statusCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	defer open.Close()
+	return statusFor(ctx, open, *asJSON)
+}

+// statusFor asks and answers, against stores somebody else opened.
+//
+// Split from the command so what it prints can be read by a test. The sentence it prints when nothing
+// is wrong has been acted on and been misleading (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/145, 125), which makes its exact
+// words the thing worth holding still.
+func statusFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, asJSON bool) error {
 	asked, err := theThreeQuestions(ctx, open)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	wrong, nodes, quiet := asked.wrong, asked.nodes, asked.quiet
-	behind, sources := asked.behind, asked.sources

-	if *asJSON {
+	if asJSON {
 		body, err := statusAsJSON(asked)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -62,6 +68,18 @@ func statusCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		fmt.Println(string(body))
 		return nil
 	}
+	return printStatus(asked)
+}
+
+// printStatus is the words, separated from the questions.
+//
+// **Its exact sentences have been acted on and been misleading twice** — a held module reading as a
+// machine doing what it was told (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/125), and "all doing what they were told" being
+// true of a mesh in which no module could reach another (04-ISSUES/145). So they are written where a
+// test can read them without a store, a bus or a machine.
+func printStatus(asked answers) error {
+	wrong, nodes, quiet := asked.wrong, asked.nodes, asked.quiet
+	behind, sources := asked.behind, asked.sources

 	if len(asked.refused) > 0 {
 		// First, above everything else. A machine that cannot be worked out is not running an old
@@ -120,6 +138,18 @@ func statusCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 			len(quiet), strings.Join(said, "\n  "))
 	}

+	if open, late := openPlans(asked.plans); len(open) > 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("%d plan(s) open", len(open))
+		if late > 0 {
+			fmt.Printf(", %d waiting past %s", late, planWaitBound)
+		}
+		fmt.Println(":")
+		for _, p := range open {
+			fmt.Printf("  %s\n", planLine(p, time.Now()))
+		}
+		fmt.Println()
+	}
+
 	if len(behind) > 0 {
 		var names []string
 		for m := range behind {
@@ -171,6 +201,65 @@ func statusCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		fmt.Printf("\n  `push --behind` sends them\n\n")
 	}

+	if split := hostSplit(nodes); len(split) > 1 {
+		// **Before a declaration gains a field, every machine has to understand it** (novox/hq
+		// 04-ISSUES/087). A host refuses a declaration carrying a field it does not know, and refuses
+		// it whole, so every new field is a flag day: hosts first, then the controller. The mesh had
+		// no record of which host any machine ran, so that order was kept by somebody remembering it.
+		//
+		// **Disagreement, and deliberately not "behind".** A host reports its version as a commit, and
+		// commits have no order — the first version of this said "N machines run an older host" and
+		// named the three that were newer, because it compared two hashes as strings. What the mesh
+		// can say truthfully is that the machines do not all run the same host, and which machines
+		// hold which. Ordering needs a version that is ordered, and that is the host's to report.
+		versions := make([]string, 0, len(split))
+		for v := range split {
+			versions = append(versions, v)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(versions)
+		fmt.Printf("%d machine(s) do not all run the same host:\n", len(nodes))
+		for _, v := range versions {
+			sort.Strings(split[v])
+			fmt.Printf("  %-12s %s\n", v, strings.Join(split[v], ", "))
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("\n  a host refuses a declaration carrying a field it does not know, whole — so the\n" +
+			"  mesh may send only what every one of these understands. Which of them is newer is\n" +
+			"  not readable from a commit; that needs a version the host reports as ordered\n\n")
+	}
+
+	if len(asked.untaken) > 0 {
+		// **Before the adopted line, and it breaks "all well".** An adopted machine is a state
+		// somebody chose and can leave alone; a module assigned to one and never taken is work
+		// outstanding that reads exactly like work finished. That reading is what stopped a
+		// predecessor's proxy on the strength of four green surfaces (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/125).
+		machines := make([]string, 0, len(asked.untaken))
+		for name := range asked.untaken {
+			machines = append(machines, name)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(machines)
+		total := 0
+		for _, held := range asked.untaken {
+			for _, n := range held {
+				total += n
+			}
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("%d resource(s) are held as found, because their module was assigned and never "+
+			"taken — so it is running none of what it declares:\n", total)
+		for _, name := range machines {
+			modules := make([]string, 0, len(asked.untaken[name]))
+			for m := range asked.untaken[name] {
+				modules = append(modules, m)
+			}
+			sort.Strings(modules)
+			parts := make([]string, 0, len(modules))
+			for _, m := range modules {
+				parts = append(parts, fmt.Sprintf("%s (%d)", m, asked.untaken[name][m]))
+			}
+			fmt.Printf("  %-12s %s\n", name, strings.Join(parts, ", "))
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("\n  `take <node> <module>` compares what runs against what it declares, and runs it\n\n")
+	}
+
 	if adopted := adoptedNodes(nodes); len(adopted) > 0 {
 		// Said, because nothing forces the flip: a node left adopted is visible here rather than
 		// read as converged (novox/hq ADR 0100). Not a fault, so it does not break "all well".
@@ -178,12 +267,23 @@ func statusCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		fmt.Printf("\n  `converge <node>` previews the flip\n\n")
 	}

-	if len(wrong) == 0 && len(quiet) == 0 && len(behind) == 0 && len(asked.waiting) == 0 &&
-		len(asked.refused) == 0 && asked.network == "" {
+	if asked.well() {
 		// Said plainly. "Nothing to report" and "nothing was checked" must never look the same,
 		// and getting here means every question was asked and answered.
 		fmt.Printf("%d machine(s), all doing what they were told, all heard from, running what "+
 			"the mesh would send them, and every module current with its source\n", len(nodes))
+		// **And what that sentence does not cover**, because for eleven hours it was true of a mesh
+		// in which no module could reach another (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/145). Every question above is
+		// about the relationship between the mesh and a machine — applied what it was sent, matches
+		// what would be sent, built from what the source has. None of them asks whether a module can
+		// reach what it requires, and the mesh composes every one of those grants itself.
+		//
+		// Said here rather than left to be inferred. A reader who acts on the line above is acting on
+		// "the machines are as the mesh described them", and the distance between that and "it works"
+		// is where the eleven hours went.
+		fmt.Printf("\n  That is the mesh and the machines agreeing. Nothing here dials a provision:\n" +
+			"  no grant the mesh composed has been tested, so a module unable to reach what it\n" +
+			"  requires would not appear above (04-ISSUES/145)\n")
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -201,7 +301,10 @@ func firstLine(s string) string {
 // A type of its own rather than a method on the enrolment, because they are unrelated things
 // arriving on one queue and an implementation of one should not have to say anything about the
 // other.
-type builds struct{ inv *inventory.Inventory }
+type builds struct {
+	inv  *inventory.Inventory
+	open *stores
+}

 // theThreeQuestions reads what anything answering "is the mesh alright" needs.
 //
@@ -247,6 +350,17 @@ func theThreeQuestions(ctx context.Context, open *stores) (answers, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return answers{}, err
 	}
+	// And what each machine is holding rather than running, by the module that would run it. Read
+	// from what the machine itself last reported, not from what take-time computed: the machine is
+	// the only thing that knows what it found (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/125).
+	out.untaken, err = untakenModules(ctx, inv, out.nodes)
+	if err != nil {
+		return answers{}, err
+	}
+	out.plans, err = inv.RecentPlans(ctx, 5)
+	if err != nil {
+		return answers{}, err
+	}

 	// And which machines are not running what the mesh would send them. The same question as a
 	// module being behind its source, one level down: that one says the catalogue is out of date,
@@ -281,3 +395,82 @@ func theThreeQuestions(ctx context.Context, open *stores) (answers, error) {
 	}
 	return out, nil
 }
+
+// untakenModules is, per machine, each module whose resources that machine is holding as found, and
+// how many.
+//
+// **The machine's own account, not the mesh's.** An adopted node decides at apply time what it found
+// and reports it; the mesh's take-time listing is a different thing and was the one this command used
+// to have, which is why a module assigned after the listing showed nothing at all
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/125).
+//
+// A machine that reports no holds contributes nothing, so a converged mesh answers an empty map and
+// the caller prints nothing.
+func untakenModules(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, nodes []inventory.Node) (
+	map[string]map[string]int, error) {
+
+	out := map[string]map[string]int{}
+	for _, n := range nodes {
+		said, err := inv.AdoptionOf(ctx, n.Name)
+		if err != nil {
+			// A machine whose record cannot be read is not a machine holding nothing. Said, because
+			// answering "nothing held" from a failed read is the shape this whole issue is about.
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("what %s is holding cannot be read: %w", n.Name, err)
+		}
+		for _, h := range said.Held {
+			if h.Module == "" {
+				continue // a hold the mesh cannot attribute to a module has nothing to take
+			}
+			if out[n.Name] == nil {
+				out[n.Name] = map[string]int{}
+			}
+			out[n.Name][h.Module]++
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// well is whether every question this command asks came back with nothing to say.
+//
+// Named, and in one place, because it is the sentence an operator acts on and it has been wrong
+// twice. It is deliberately NOT "nothing is broken": a machine holding what it found is not broken
+// and is not doing what it was told either.
+//
+// **A hold suppresses it; being adopted does not.** Adopted is a mode somebody chose and can leave
+// alone. A module assigned to a machine and never taken is a half-finished action with nothing left
+// to finish it — it runs none of what it declares, and "all doing what they were told" was true and
+// read as success for the whole of the edge cut-over outage (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/125).
+func (a answers) well() bool {
+	return len(a.wrong) == 0 && len(a.quiet) == 0 && len(a.behind) == 0 &&
+		len(a.waiting) == 0 && len(a.refused) == 0 && a.network == "" && len(a.untaken) == 0
+}
+
+// hostSplit is which machines report which host version, for every version more than one machine
+// could disagree about.
+//
+// **It does not say which is newer, because it cannot.** A host reports its version as a commit, and
+// commits have no order. The first version of this returned "the machines behind the newest" by
+// comparing versions as strings, and on the live mesh it named the three machines running the NEWER
+// host as the ones behind — an arbitrary lexicographic result presented as a fact
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/087). A report that confidently says the opposite of the truth is worse than one
+// that says less, which is the whole subject of 04-ISSUES/145.
+//
+// So this answers what is checkable: who runs what. The reader sees the split and the mesh claims no
+// ordering. Ordering wants an ordered version, and that is the host's to report rather than this
+// function's to infer.
+//
+// Machines that have not reported a version are left out entirely: they are not a version, and
+// counting them as one would invent a disagreement. `node show` says per machine that it has not said.
+func hostSplit(nodes []inventory.Node) map[string][]string {
+	out := map[string][]string{}
+	for _, n := range nodes {
+		if n.HostVersion == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		out[n.HostVersion] = append(out[n.HostVersion], n.Name)
+	}
+	if len(out) < 2 {
+		return nil // one version, or none reported: nothing to disagree about
+	}
+	return out
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// What the forge's take compares, as a machine would report it.
+func aForgeComparison() comparison {
+	return comparison{reported: inventory.Adoption{
+		Firewall: "ufw",
+		Held: []inventory.Held{
+			{ID: "forge.server", Module: "forge", Kind: "container", Target: "forge", Facts: map[string]any{
+				"image": "forge:1.27.3", "image_created": "2026-09-17T10:00:00Z",
+				"declared_image": "forge:1.22.6", "declared_image_created": "2026-08-20T10:00:00Z", "downgrade": true,
+				"networks": map[string]any{"predecessor_default": []any{"office", "db"}},
+				"ports":    []any{"3000/tcp>0.0.0.0:3000"}, "declared_ports": []any{"3000:3000"},
+			}},
+			{ID: "forge.config", Module: "forge", Kind: "file", Target: "/etc/forge/app.ini", Kept: "/var/lib/mesh/kept/app.ini",
+				Facts: map[string]any{"differs": true, "difference": []any{"- private scope: local", "+ upstream: public"}}},
+			{ID: "other.server", Module: "other", Kind: "container", Target: "other"},
+		},
+		Reachable: []inventory.Reach{
+			{Protocol: "tcp", Address: "0.0.0.0", Port: 3000, By: "forge", Published: true, ContainerPort: 3000},
+			{Protocol: "tcp", Address: "0.0.0.0", Port: 22, By: "sshd"},
+		},
+	}}
+}
+
+// A take is a comparison (novox/hq ADR 0163): the preview puts what runs beside what the module
+// declares, and an older image or a differing file refuses unless named.
+func TestATakePreviewsTheComparisonAndRefusesWhatIsNotNamed(t *testing.T) {
+	c := aForgeComparison()
+	preview, refusals, saw := comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{})
+	for _, want := range []string{"runs forge:1.27.3 (made 2026-09-17)", "declares forge:1.22.6 (made 2026-08-20)", "DOWNGRADE",
+		"on the network predecessor_default with office, db", "will not once it moves to the module's own network",
+		"publishes 3000/tcp>0.0.0.0:3000; the module declares 3000:3000",
+		// How far the port reaches now, as the machine reported it (rule 1).
+		"reachable now at 0.0.0.0:3000 (tcp, container port 3000), behind the found firewall (ufw)",
+		"- private scope: local", "original kept at /var/lib/mesh/kept/app.ini"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(preview, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the preview lacks %q:\n%s", want, preview)
+		}
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(preview, "other") {
+		t.Errorf("another module's held things are in the preview:\n%s", preview)
+	}
+	if len(refusals) != 2 || !strings.Contains(refusals[0], "--downgrade") || !strings.Contains(refusals[1], "--replace /etc/forge/app.ini") {
+		t.Fatalf("the downgrade and the differing file refuse, each naming its override: %v", refusals)
+	}
+	if len(saw) != 12 {
+		t.Fatalf("the preview's digest is %q", saw)
+	}
+	// Named, they pass.
+	if _, refusals, _ := comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{Downgrade: true, Replace: map[string]bool{"/etc/forge/app.ini": true}}); len(refusals) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("named differences still refused: %v", refusals)
+	}
+	if _, refusals, _ := comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{Downgrade: true, Replace: map[string]bool{"*": true}}); len(refusals) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("replace * did not cover the file: %v", refusals)
+	}
+	// A held thing with no facts yet — a host older than this — refuses nothing and says what it can.
+	if preview, refusals, _ := comparisonOf("other", c, takeOptions{}); len(refusals) != 0 || !strings.Contains(preview, "container other") {
+		t.Fatalf("a factless hold: %q %v", preview, refusals)
+	}
+	// The digest is of what the preview says: a fact changing changes it.
+	c.reported.Held[0].Facts["image"] = "forge:1.27.4"
+	if _, _, again := comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{}); again == saw {
+		t.Fatal("the found image changed and the digest did not")
+	}
+}
+
+// A secret the mesh minted for a service whose data was found refuses: the running service already
+// has a value (rule 2). Accepted, it is carried in; `--mint` says the service shall take the new one.
+func TestAMintedSecretForFoundDataRefusesUnlessAcceptedOrMinted(t *testing.T) {
+	c := aForgeComparison()
+	c.secrets = []inventory.SecretState{
+		{Name: "admin", Origin: inventory.OriginMade},
+		{Name: "postgres-database", Origin: inventory.OriginMade, Provider: "anchor"},
+		{Name: "broker", Origin: inventory.OriginAccepted},
+	}
+	preview, refusals, _ := comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{Downgrade: true, Replace: map[string]bool{"*": true}})
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		"own secret admin: MINTED by the mesh and not accepted",
+		"secret from anchor postgres-database: MINTED by the mesh and not accepted",
+		"own secret broker: accepted from a person, carried in as it is",
+	} {
+		if !strings.Contains(preview, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the preview lacks %q:\n%s", want, preview)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(refusals) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("two minted secrets refuse: %v", refusals)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(refusals[0], "`secret accept <node> forge admin`") || !strings.Contains(refusals[0], "`--mint admin`") {
+		t.Errorf("the own secret's refusal names accepting it and minting it: %s", refusals[0])
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(refusals[1], "`secret accept <node> forge postgres-database --provider anchor`") {
+		t.Errorf("the required secret's refusal names its provider: %s", refusals[1])
+	}
+	preview, refusals, _ = comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{Downgrade: true, Replace: map[string]bool{"*": true},
+		Mint: map[string]bool{"admin": true, "postgres-database": true}})
+	if len(refusals) != 0 || !strings.Contains(preview, "admin: minted by the mesh; the service takes the new value, as --mint said") {
+		t.Fatalf("--mint did not pass the minted secrets: %v\n%s", refusals, preview)
+	}
+	// With no found data — only a file held — the service has no value of its own, and a minted
+	// secret is simply said.
+	c.reported.Held = c.reported.Held[1:2]
+	if _, refusals, _ := comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{Replace: map[string]bool{"*": true}}); len(refusals) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a minted secret refused with no data found: %v", refusals)
+	}
+}
+
+// A found network a per-machine setting keeps is named in the preview (rule 4), and the module's
+// settings are said with where each came from, composed or not (rules 1 and 6).
+func TestTheKeptNetworkAndTheSettingsAreInThePreview(t *testing.T) {
+	c := aForgeComparison()
+	c.keeps = map[string][]string{"forge.server": {"predecessor_default"}}
+	c.layers = []catalogue.Layer{
+		{From: catalogue.MeshWideLayer, Values: map[string]any{"site": "x"}},
+		{From: "anchor", Values: map[string]any{catalogue.NetworksSetting: map[string]any{"server": []any{"predecessor_default"}}}},
+	}
+	preview, _, _ := comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{Downgrade: true, Replace: map[string]bool{"*": true}})
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		"on the network predecessor_default with office, db — kept by this machine's setting, so they still reach it by name once taken",
+		"settings from the mesh: site",
+		"settings from anchor: networks",
+	} {
+		if !strings.Contains(preview, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the preview lacks %q:\n%s", want, preview)
+		}
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(preview, "will not once it moves") {
+		t.Errorf("a kept network is still said to be lost:\n%s", preview)
+	}
+	c.settingsRefused = "forge: ports is a { port: machine-port } map"
+	preview, _, _ = comparisonOf("forge", c, takeOptions{Downgrade: true, Replace: map[string]bool{"*": true}})
+	if !strings.Contains(preview, "SETTINGS DO NOT COMPOSE with the module's definition, so the push leaves it out: forge: ports") {
+		t.Errorf("settings that cannot compose are not said:\n%s", preview)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// A module assigned to an adopted machine and never taken runs none of what it declares, and every
+// surface called that success — a push reporting sent, a journal reporting applied, status reporting
+// a machine doing what it was told (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/125). The holds were only ever in the
+// machine's own state file.
+
+// heldOn makes a machine report that it is holding resources for a module, the way an adopted node
+// does after an apply.
+func heldOn(t *testing.T, open *stores, node, module string, ids ...string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	record, err := open.inventory.NodeByName(t.Context(), node)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	held := make([]inventory.Held, 0, len(ids))
+	for _, id := range ids {
+		held = append(held, inventory.Held{ID: id, Module: module, Kind: "container", Target: id})
+	}
+	if err := open.inventory.RecordAdoption(t.Context(), record.ID, held, "ufw", nil); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestStatusNamesAModuleHeldBecauseNothingTookIt(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	heldOn(t, open, "anchor", "route-proxy", "ca", "certs", "server")
+
+	asked, err := theThreeQuestions(t.Context(), open)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := asked.untaken["anchor"]["route-proxy"]; got != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("status counted %d resources held for route-proxy, wanted 3", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAHeldModuleStopsTheMeshReadingAsWell(t *testing.T) {
+	// The whole of the fault. "all doing what they were told" was true throughout the outage, and
+	// true is not the same as safe to act on: the machine was doing what it was told, and what it
+	// was told had not started. Asserted against the production condition, not a copy of it.
+	quiet := answers{}
+	if !quiet.well() {
+		t.Fatal("a mesh with nothing to say does not read as well, so nothing below means anything")
+	}
+	holding := answers{untaken: map[string]map[string]int{"anchor": {"route-proxy": 3}}}
+	if holding.well() {
+		t.Fatal("a machine holding a module's resources still reads as doing what it was told, " +
+			"which is the sentence that cost every public name on the machine")
+	}
+	// And being adopted does not suppress it: that is a mode somebody chose, not work outstanding.
+	// Kept as an assertion so the difference between the two is deliberate rather than incidental.
+	if !quiet.well() {
+		t.Fatal("the well condition is not stable")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAHeldModuleIsFoundFromWhatTheMachineReported(t *testing.T) {
+	// End to end through the store, so the condition above is reached by real data and not only by
+	// a constructed value: the machine reports, the mesh records, status asks.
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	heldOn(t, open, "anchor", "route-proxy", "ca", "server")
+
+	asked, err := theThreeQuestions(t.Context(), open)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(asked.untaken) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("what the machine reported holding did not reach status")
+	}
+	if asked.well() {
+		t.Fatal("a mesh whose machine reported holds reads as well")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheJSONStatusCarriesWhatIsHeldAndForWhichModule(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	heldOn(t, open, "anchor", "route-proxy", "ca", "certs")
+
+	asked, err := theThreeQuestions(t.Context(), open)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	body, err := statusAsJSON(asked)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var doc struct {
+		Untaken []struct {
+			Node   string `json:"node"`
+			Module string `json:"module"`
+			Held   int    `json:"held"`
+		} `json:"untaken"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &doc); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(doc.Untaken) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the document carries %d untaken rows, wanted 1: %s", len(doc.Untaken), body)
+	}
+	row := doc.Untaken[0]
+	if row.Node != "anchor" || row.Module != "route-proxy" || row.Held != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the row is %+v, wanted anchor/route-proxy/2", row)
+	}
+	// Absent rather than empty when nothing is held, so a well mesh's document does not carry a
+	// field a reader has to interpret.
+	clean, err := statusAsJSON(answers{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(string(clean), "untaken") {
+		t.Fatalf("a mesh holding nothing still names untaken: %s", clean)
+	}
+}
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
+	"time"

+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
 )
@@ -218,3 +220,342 @@ func notNow(err error) error {
 	}
 	return err
 }
+
+// SourceMoved is the forge announcing a merge: every module recorded as built from that
+// repository and branch is marked as moved to the merge commit, and built — bases first, so a
+// module that stands on another's artifact is built after it and not against the old one
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131). Nothing is pushed here: what a finished build does to the machines
+// running the module is the upgrade's decision, taken when the catalogue announces it.
+func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
+	inv := f.open.inventory
+	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+	read, err := inv.ReadRepositories(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+
+	// Two kinds of module are affected by one merge, and they are affected differently.
+	//
+	// A module **built from** this repository and branch has moved: the mesh records the new commit
+	// as what its source now has, and only what the merge actually changed is rebuilt. A module that
+	// only **packages source from** it has not moved — its own source is somewhere else, at the
+	// commit it already records — so it is rebuilt and its record left alone. Writing this commit as
+	// its source would make it permanently behind a repository its manifest does not come from.
+	var from, packaging []inventory.Entry
+	already := 0
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		switch {
+		case sourceIs(e.Source, m):
+			if e.Source.BuiltFrom == m.Commit {
+				already++
+				continue
+			}
+			// **A merge older than the last look at the source is history, not a move.** The forge
+			// announces what it finds merged, and an old merge surfacing late would otherwise move
+			// the recorded head backwards and rebuild everything built from that repository, once
+			// per old merge (2026-09-28).
+			if isHistory(m.MergedAt, e.Source.Seen) {
+				continue
+			}
+			from = append(from, e)
+		case readsFrom(read[e.Manifest.Module], m):
+			packaging = append(packaging, e)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(from) == 0 && len(packaging) == 0 {
+		// "Already built from it" and "nothing reads it" are different facts, and reading the first
+		// as the second sends somebody looking for a broken trigger when the mesh is up to date.
+		if already > 0 {
+			fmt.Printf("%s/%s merged into %s (%.8s); %d module(s) the mesh holds are already built "+
+				"from it\n", m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Base, m.Commit, already)
+			return nil
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("%s/%s merged into %s (%.8s); nothing the mesh holds reads it\n",
+			m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Base, m.Commit)
+		return nil
+	}
+	// The same judgement for the packaging kind, against the newest look at that repository by
+	// anything built from it: they keep no record of it themselves, and a replayed old merge should
+	// not rebuild them either.
+	if isHistory(m.MergedAt, lastLookAt(entries, m)) {
+		packaging = nil
+	}
+	touched := whatTheMergeTouched(from, entries, m)
+	for _, e := range touched {
+		if err := inv.SourceMoved(ctx, e.Manifest.Module, m.Commit); err != nil {
+			return notNow(err)
+		}
+	}
+	moved := append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, touched...), packaging...)
+	if len(moved) == 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("%s/%s merged into %s (%.8s); it changed nothing any module the mesh holds is "+
+			"built from\n", m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Base, m.Commit)
+		return nil
+	}
+	// A merge produces a plan the mesh keeps (novox/hq ADR 0162): what moved and everything that
+	// depends on it, along the catalogue's one dependency relation, sorted into tiers. The plan is
+	// written before any build is asked; the first tier is asked; this returns. Outcomes advance it.
+	edges, err := inv.Dependencies(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+	var movedNames []string
+	for _, e := range moved {
+		movedNames = append(movedNames, e.Manifest.Module)
+	}
+	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",
+			strings.Join(plan.Tiers[len(plan.Tiers)-1], ", "))
+	}
+	if err := inv.SavePlan(ctx, plan); err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+	var tiers []string
+	for i, t := range plan.Tiers {
+		tiers = append(tiers, fmt.Sprintf("%d: %s", i, strings.Join(t, ", ")))
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("%s/%s merged into %s (%.8s); plan %s, %d module(s) in %d tier(s)\n  %s\n",
+		m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Base, m.Commit, plan.ID, len(plan.Modules), len(plan.Tiers), strings.Join(tiers, "\n  "))
+	if len(packaging) > 0 {
+		var also []string
+		for _, e := range packaging {
+			also = append(also, e.Manifest.Module)
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("  %s package source from it, so they are rebuilt and their own source record "+
+			"is left where it is\n", strings.Join(also, ", "))
+	}
+	if err := askTier(ctx, inv, &plan); err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.SavePlan(ctx, plan); err != nil {
+		return notNow(err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// sourceIs is whether a recorded source is the repository and branch a merge announced. A source on
+// the git seat is recorded as its path on the forge; one elsewhere as the URL it was cloned from.
+// An empty recorded ref is the repository's default branch, which is what a merge into the base
+// branch of the forge's default means.
+func sourceIs(s inventory.Source, m link.SourceMoved) bool {
+	if !sameRepository(s.Repository, m) {
+		return false
+	}
+	return s.Ref == "" || s.Ref == m.Base
+}
+
+// sameRepository is whether a recorded repository is the one a merge names, in either spelling it
+// may have been recorded in: a path on the git seat, or the URL it was cloned from.
+func sameRepository(repository string, m link.SourceMoved) bool {
+	want := strings.ToLower(m.Owner + "/" + m.Repo)
+	repo := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSuffix(repository, ".git"))
+	return repo == want || strings.HasSuffix(repo, "/"+want) ||
+		(m.CloneURL != "" && repo == strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSuffix(m.CloneURL, ".git")))
+}
+
+// readsFrom is whether a module's build read the repository a merge names: the second repository its
+// recipe packages source from. Its ref must be the branch that moved, or unset — the same rule a
+// module's own source follows.
+func readsFrom(read []inventory.ReadRepository, m link.SourceMoved) bool {
+	for _, r := range read {
+		if sameRepository(r.Repository, m) && (r.Ref == "" || r.Ref == m.Base) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// lastLookAt is the most recent look at this repository by anything built from it.
+func lastLookAt(entries []inventory.Entry, m link.SourceMoved) time.Time {
+	var newest time.Time
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if sameRepository(e.Source.Repository, m) && e.Source.Seen.After(newest) {
+			newest = e.Source.Seen
+		}
+	}
+	return newest
+}
+
+// whatTheMergeTouched narrows the modules built from a repository to the ones the merge changed.
+//
+// **A change inside no module's own directory is a change to what they share.** The forge lists the
+// files a merge changed; a module is affected when one of them is inside its own directory, when it
+// is built from the repository's root — everything there is its source — or when some changed file
+// belongs to no module's directory at all, which is how a shared file, a build recipe or a
+// dependency at the root rebuilds everything built from that repository.
+//
+// A change inside *another* module's directory is that module's business and not this one's, even
+// when the mesh does not hold that module: `known` is every module this repository is known to hold,
+// whatever branch it was registered from. That is also the limit of this — a repository whose shared
+// code sits inside a directory the mesh has never seen a module in reads as shared, and everything
+// is rebuilt. Rebuilding too much is the safe direction: the fault this whole path exists for is a
+// mesh that believes it is current and is not (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+func whatTheMergeTouched(candidates, known []inventory.Entry, m link.SourceMoved) []inventory.Entry {
+	// Nothing said about the files, or not all of them said: everything built from it is affected.
+	if len(m.Paths) == 0 || m.PathsTruncated {
+		return candidates
+	}
+	var dirs []string
+	for _, e := range known {
+		if e.Source.Path != "" && sameRepository(e.Source.Repository, m) {
+			dirs = append(dirs, e.Source.Path)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, p := range m.Paths {
+		if !insideAny(p, dirs) {
+			return candidates
+		}
+	}
+	var out []inventory.Entry
+	for _, e := range candidates {
+		if e.Source.Path == "" || anyInside(m.Paths, e.Source.Path) {
+			out = append(out, e)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// inside is whether a changed file is in a directory: that directory itself, or under it.
+func inside(path, dir string) bool {
+	dir = strings.Trim(dir, "/")
+	path = strings.TrimPrefix(path, "/")
+	return path == dir || strings.HasPrefix(path, dir+"/")
+}
+
+// insideAny is whether a changed file is in any of these directories.
+func insideAny(path string, dirs []string) bool {
+	for _, dir := range dirs {
+		if inside(path, dir) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// anyInside is whether any of these changed files is in a directory.
+func anyInside(paths []string, dir string) bool {
+	for _, p := range paths {
+		if inside(p, dir) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// orderByBases is the entries with every base before what stands on it: a module whose build stood
+// on another's artifact comes after that module. Entries outside the set are not waited for — they
+// are not being rebuilt. Stable for what has no order between it.
+//
+// `against` is what each module's newest build stood on (inventory.BuiltAgainst): the edges are
+// derived from builds, not declared, because a recorded manifest no longer carries `build.on`.
+func orderByBases(entries []inventory.Entry, against map[string][]string) []inventory.Entry {
+	inSet := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		inSet[e.Manifest.Module] = true
+	}
+	var out []inventory.Entry
+	placed := map[string]bool{}
+	var place func(e inventory.Entry, seen map[string]bool)
+	place = func(e inventory.Entry, seen map[string]bool) {
+		name := e.Manifest.Module
+		if placed[name] || seen[name] {
+			return
+		}
+		seen[name] = true
+		for _, base := range entries {
+			if base.Manifest.Module != name && inSet[base.Manifest.Module] && standsOnModule(e, base.Manifest.Module, against) {
+				place(base, seen)
+			}
+		}
+		placed[name] = true
+		out = append(out, e)
+	}
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		place(e, map[string]bool{})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// standsOn is whether anything in the set is built on the named module's artifacts.
+func standsOn(entries []inventory.Entry, module string, against map[string][]string) bool {
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if standsOnModule(e, module, against) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// standsOnModule is whether an entry's build stood on the named module: by what its newest build
+// recorded it was handed (`artifact-store://<module>/<artifact>@…`, the module's own artifact), or
+// — for a module registered from a manifest and not yet built — by the base its manifest names.
+func standsOnModule(e inventory.Entry, module string, against map[string][]string) bool {
+	if e.Manifest.Module == module {
+		return false
+	}
+	if e.Manifest.Build != nil {
+		for _, on := range e.Manifest.Build.On {
+			if on.Module == module {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	prefix := catalogue.ArtifactStoreScheme + module + "/"
+	for _, ref := range against[e.Manifest.Module] {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(ref, prefix) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// isHistory is whether a merge made at mergedAt predates the last time the source was seen. A merge
+// with no time on it is taken as news: refusing it would silence a forge that says less.
+func isHistory(mergedAt string, seen time.Time) bool {
+	if mergedAt == "" || seen.IsZero() {
+		return false
+	}
+	at, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, mergedAt)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return at.Before(seen)
+}
+
+// dependentsOf is every catalogued module that stands on one of the moved modules, directly or
+// through another dependent, and is not itself among them — in the catalogue's order, so the
+// answer is the same each time. A module standing on nothing that moved is left alone: a merge
+// rebuilds what it changed and what is built on top of that, not the catalogue.
+func dependentsOf(moved, entries []inventory.Entry, against map[string][]string) []inventory.Entry {
+	bases := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, e := range moved {
+		bases[e.Manifest.Module] = true
+	}
+	var out []inventory.Entry
+	taken := map[string]bool{}
+	for grew := true; grew; {
+		grew = false
+		for _, e := range entries {
+			name := e.Manifest.Module
+			if bases[name] || taken[name] {
+				continue
+			}
+			for base := range bases {
+				if standsOnModule(e, base, against) {
+					taken[name] = true
+					out = append(out, e)
+					grew = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		for _, e := range out {
+			bases[e.Manifest.Module] = true
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// "4 machine(s), all doing what they were told, all heard from, running what the mesh would send
+// them, and every module current with its source" was true for eleven hours of a mesh in which no
+// module could reach another (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/145). Every question it answers is about the mesh
+// and a machine agreeing; none of them dials anything.
+
+// printed captures what a function writes to stdout.
+func printed(t *testing.T, f func() error) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	old := os.Stdout
+	r, w, err := os.Pipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	os.Stdout = w
+	runErr := f()
+	_ = w.Close()
+	os.Stdout = old
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	if _, err := io.Copy(&buf, r); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if runErr != nil {
+		t.Fatal(runErr)
+	}
+	return buf.String()
+}
+
+func TestTheAllWellSentenceSaysWhatItDoesNotCover(t *testing.T) {
+	// A mesh with nothing to say. The sentence below was true of a mesh in which no module could
+	// reach another, for eleven hours.
+	got := printed(t, func() error {
+		return printStatus(answers{nodes: []inventory.Node{{Name: "anchor"}, {Name: "laptop"}}})
+	})
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "all doing what they were told") {
+		t.Fatalf("a mesh with nothing to say did not print the all-well sentence:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	// And now says what it is not a claim about.
+	for _, want := range []string{"Nothing here dials a provision", "04-ISSUES/145"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(got, want) {
+			t.Fatalf("the all-well sentence does not say %q:\n%s", want, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMeshWithSomethingToSayDoesNotPrintTheScopeLine(t *testing.T) {
+	// The scope belongs to the all-well sentence. A mesh with something wrong has specific things to
+	// read, and appending a caveat to those is noise.
+	got := printed(t, func() error {
+		return printStatus(answers{
+			nodes:   []inventory.Node{{Name: "anchor"}},
+			untaken: map[string]map[string]int{"anchor": {"route-proxy": 3}},
+		})
+	})
+	if strings.Contains(got, "Nothing here dials a provision") {
+		t.Fatalf("a mesh with a held module printed the all-well scope line:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(got, "all doing what they were told") {
+		t.Fatalf("a mesh with a held module printed the all-well sentence:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "route-proxy") {
+		t.Fatalf("the held module is not named:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ go 1.26.0

 require (
 	github.com/jackc/pgx/v5 v5.10.0
-	github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go v1.14.0
+	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0
 )

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/jackc/pgservicefile v0.0.0-20240606120523-5a60cdf6a761 // indirect
 	github.com/jackc/puddle/v2 v2.2.2 // indirect
 	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.20.0 // indirect
-	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0 // indirect
 	github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.16 // indirect
 	github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.58.0 // indirect
@@ -19,15 +19,11 @@ github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 h1:5iA8DT8V7q8WK2EScv2padNa/rTESc1KdnPw4TC2paw=
 github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1/go.mod h1:19wcPz3Ph3q0Jbyiqsd0kePYG7A95tJPxeL+1OSON2c=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
-github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go v1.14.0 h1:RSaT7aOKt/OrkVUyswPDW29lnRz9psuGmfZFBmLqLek=
-github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go v1.14.0/go.mod h1:Hy4jKW5kQART1u+JkDTF9YYOQUHXqMuhrgxOEeS7G4o=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu7U=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1/go.mod h1:wZwfW3scLgRK+23gO65QZefKpKQRnfz6sD981Nm4B6U=
-go.uber.org/goleak v1.3.0 h1:2K3zAYmnTNqV73imy9J1T3WC+gmCePx2hEGkimedGto=
-go.uber.org/goleak v1.3.0/go.mod h1:CoHD4mav9JJNrW/WLlf7HGZPjdw8EucARQHekz1X6bE=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0 h1:3ZVCjf8Ggz7zneR/EHRVx68Ctf+2pmIMP2UFhh9cC6M=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0/go.mod h1:Fdz0i5U6CoizGwLda9DttjSk6qlZo25zYNtR+ycvuZA=
 golang.org/x/net v0.58.0 h1:ynWG7rqYi4ccpTEuPZ2QGWHktVEM9DMCj9yzDE0Q7To=
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func TestTheAgreementCheckCatchesASubscriptionThatMatchesNothing(t *testing.T) {
 	// An event published under a seat's name is real even though no module declares it as its own.
 	if bad := Disagreements(nil,
 		[]AConsumer{{Module: "watcher", Consumes: []string{"mesh-artifact-store.image.pushed"}}},
-		[]DeclaredSeat{{Name: "the-artifact-store", Emits: []string{"image.pushed"}}}); len(bad) != 0 {
+		[]DeclaredSeat{{Name: "mesh-artifact-store", Emits: []string{"image.pushed"}}}); len(bad) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("an event a seat emits was reported as matching nothing: %v", bad)
 	}
 }
@@ -1,67 +0,0 @@
-package broker_test
-
-import (
-	"regexp"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
-)
-
-// The names are written twice, so a test keeps them agreeing.
-//
-// `link` imports `broker`, so `broker` cannot import `link` — the queue and exchange names
-// therefore exist in both. A scoped account naming a queue nothing publishes to produces a
-// builder that takes no work and says nothing about why, which is the worst kind of silence.
-//
-// An external test package, because it may import both without either importing the other.
-func TestTheNamesTheBrokerScopesAreTheNamesTheLinkUses(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, agreed := range []struct {
-		what     string
-		scoped   string
-		actually string
-	}{
-		{"the build queue", broker.BuildQueueName, link.BuildQueue},
-		{"the exchange", broker.ExchangeName, link.Exchange},
-		{"a node's queue", broker.QueueFor("somewhere"), link.QueueFor("somewhere")},
-	} {
-		if agreed.scoped != agreed.actually {
-			t.Errorf("%s: the broker scopes %q and the link uses %q",
-				agreed.what, agreed.scoped, agreed.actually)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestABuilderMayWriteToAReplyQueueAndReadNoNodesDeclarations(t *testing.T) {
-	// The scoping, checked as patterns rather than by connecting: what it may write must include
-	// the queue an asker actually waits on, and what it may read must not include any node's.
-	//
-	// This exists because the first version scoped writes to `amq.gen-*` — the name one broker
-	// happens to generate — and the builder built, could not answer, and the connection simply
-	// closed saying only "not allowed to publish to exchange \'\'". Answering through the
-	// exchange is what removed the need for any of that.
-	write := regexp.MustCompile("^" + regexp.QuoteMeta(broker.ExchangeName) + "$")
-	if !write.MatchString(broker.ExchangeName) {
-		t.Error("a builder may not write to the exchange, so it can take work and never answer")
-	}
-	// And not the default exchange, where permission is per exchange rather than per queue — a
-	// builder allowed to use it could publish into any node's queue.
-	//
-	// Confirmed against a real broker as well, and worth recording how that nearly went wrong:
-	// an unconfirmed publish is asynchronous, so a refusal arrives as a channel close afterwards
-	// and a naive check reports success. With publisher confirms the broker's refusal is
-	// immediate. **A negative security assertion made against an asynchronous call is not an
-	// assertion.**
-	if write.MatchString("") {
-		t.Error("a builder may publish to the default exchange, and so into any node's queue")
-	}
-
-	read := regexp.MustCompile("^" + regexp.QuoteMeta(broker.BuildQueueName) + "$")
-	if !read.MatchString(broker.BuildQueueName) {
-		t.Error("a builder may not read the build queue")
-	}
-	if read.MatchString(link.QueueFor("someone-else")) {
-		// A build machine is not a node, and a node's queue carries its declarations.
-		t.Error("a builder may read another machine's declarations")
-	}
-}
@@ -66,6 +66,19 @@ func FromEnvironment() (Broker, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return Broker{}, err
 	}
+	// **One bus, one address** (novox/hq ADR 0131). Everything the mesh hands out — a token, a
+	// machine's membership, a person's credential — must name the bus the control plane itself is
+	// connected to; the setting above predates the move and, on a mesh that has moved, still names
+	// the broker it moved from. The first person issued after the move was handed the retired
+	// broker's port and could not connect to anything (2026-09-28).
+	//
+	// Read from the credential rather than from a second setting somebody keeps in step: the
+	// control plane cannot be wrong about where it is connected.
+	if bus, on, err := OnNATS(); err == nil && on {
+		if where := strings.TrimPrefix(BareAddress(bus), "nats://"); where != "" {
+			address = where
+		}
+	}
 	return Broker{Address: address, Fingerprint: fingerprint}, nil
 }

@@ -194,16 +194,3 @@ func TestTheAddressPortFollowsThePortTwin(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("the address is %q; the node put the bus on 5679", b.Address)
 	}
 }
-
-func TestTheManagementPortFollowsThePortTwin(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Setenv(ManagementVar, "http://guest:guest@127.0.0.1:15672")
-	t.Setenv(ManagementVar+"_FILE", "")
-	t.Setenv(ManagementVar+"_PORT", "15673")
-	m, err := ManagementFromEnvironment()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if m.base.Host != "127.0.0.1:15673" {
-		t.Fatalf("the management API is at %q; the node put it on 15673", m.base.Host)
-	}
-}
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+package broker
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+)
+
+const twoSeconds = 2 * time.Second
+
+// A running mesh already holds consumers made before the delivery subject carried the stream
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/146). The server will not change a push consumer's delivery subject in place,
+// so bringing one to match must replace it — and must not replay what it already acknowledged
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/156).
+//
+//	docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14231:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+//	MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14231 go test ./internal/broker/ -run TestUpgrading
+func TestUpgradingAConsumerWhoseDeliverySubjectMoved(t *testing.T) {
+	url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS")
+	if url == "" {
+		t.Skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset")
+	}
+	js, err := Dial(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer js.Close()
+
+	// The stream exactly as the mesh's own is — one declaration per node, always the newest.
+	// Reproduced rather than approximated: the first version of this test used a plain stream and
+	// a plain consumer, and the server accepted the update it refuses in a running mesh, so the
+	// test passed against the very code that was crash-looping on the control node.
+	const stream, name = "NODES", "novox"
+	subject := "mesh.node." + name + ".declare"
+	_ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream)
+	if _, err := js.js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{
+		Name: stream, Subjects: []string{"mesh.node.*.declare"},
+		MaxMsgsPerSubject: 1, Storage: nats.MemoryStorage,
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream) }()
+
+	for i := 0; i < 6; i++ {
+		if _, err := js.js.Publish(subject, []byte(fmt.Sprint(i))); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// The consumer as a running mesh holds it: made before the subject carried the stream, and
+	// otherwise exactly what NodeConsumer asks for.
+	if _, err := js.js.AddConsumer(stream, &nats.ConsumerConfig{
+		Durable: name, AckPolicy: nats.AckExplicitPolicy,
+		AckWait: 300 * time.Second, MaxDeliver: -1,
+		FilterSubject:  subject,
+		DeliverSubject: "_DELIVER." + name,
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// It acknowledged the first four. Those must not come back.
+	sub, err := js.js.SubscribeSync(subject, nats.Bind(stream, name))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < 1; i++ {
+		m, err := sub.NextMsg(twoSeconds)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("message %d never arrived: %v", i, err)
+		}
+		if err := m.AckSync(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	// **The subscription stays up.** In a running mesh the machine is attached to this consumer
+	// the whole time — that is what a node listening for its declaration IS. The first version of
+	// this test unsubscribed first, and the server then accepted an update it refuses while a
+	// subscriber is bound, so the test passed against the code that was crash-looping.
+	defer func() { _ = sub.Unsubscribe() }()
+
+	// Now the upgrade: the consumer the controller asserts on every start, with the subject that
+	// carries the stream.
+	want := NodeConsumer(name)
+	var notes []string
+	js.Note = func(f string, a ...any) { notes = append(notes, fmt.Sprintf(f, a...)) }
+
+	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(want); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a consumer the mesh already held could not be brought to match, which is the "+
+			"control plane failing to start: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	info, err := js.js.ConsumerInfo(stream, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// It KEEPS the subject it had. Moving it would need the holder's grant to have widened first,
+	// and that grant travels in the bus's user list, which a machine applies minutes later.
+	if got := info.Config.DeliverSubject; got != "_DELIVER."+name {
+		t.Fatalf("the consumer a machine is bound to was moved to %q; a machine not yet allowed "+
+			"to subscribe there is a machine that hears nothing", got)
+	}
+	if len(notes) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("keeping it was not reported, so it would be invisible: %v", notes)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(notes[0], "keeps working") {
+		t.Fatalf("the note does not say the consumer still works: %q", notes[0])
+	}
+
+	// And the machine bound to it is still being delivered to — the point of keeping it.
+	if _, err := js.js.Publish(subject, []byte("after the assertion")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m, err := sub.NextMsg(twoSeconds)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the machine stopped hearing its declarations after the assertion: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(m.Data) != "after the assertion" {
+		t.Fatalf("delivered %q", m.Data)
+	}
+
+	// Asserting again is a no-op, or the controller crash-loops on its own restart.
+	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(want); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the second assertion failed: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// And where nothing is bound, the subject DOES move — that is 04-ISSUES/146's fix, which this must
+// not undo. The controller's own two consumers are in exactly this position: it asserts them before
+// it subscribes.
+func TestAConsumerNothingIsBoundToDoesMove(t *testing.T) {
+	url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS")
+	if url == "" {
+		t.Skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset")
+	}
+	js, err := Dial(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer js.Close()
+
+	const stream, name = "NODES", "shanks"
+	subject := "mesh.node." + name + ".declare"
+	_ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream)
+	if _, err := js.js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{
+		Name: stream, Subjects: []string{"mesh.node.*.declare"},
+		MaxMsgsPerSubject: 1, Storage: nats.MemoryStorage,
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream) }()
+
+	if _, err := js.js.AddConsumer(stream, &nats.ConsumerConfig{
+		Durable: name, AckPolicy: nats.AckExplicitPolicy,
+		AckWait: 300 * time.Second, MaxDeliver: -1,
+		FilterSubject:  subject,
+		DeliverSubject: "_DELIVER." + name,
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	want := NodeConsumer(name)
+	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(want); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	info, err := js.js.ConsumerInfo(stream, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := info.Config.DeliverSubject; got != DeliverSubjectFor(want) {
+		t.Fatalf("delivery subject is %q, wanted %q -- issue 146's fix no longer applies to a "+
+			"consumer nothing is holding", got, DeliverSubjectFor(want))
+	}
+}
@@ -40,7 +40,14 @@ type Consumer struct {
 	AckWaitSeconds int
 	// MaxDeliver before the message is dead-lettered; zero for the mesh's default.
 	MaxDeliver int
-	Why        string
+	// MaxAckPending is how many deliveries the server lets stand unacknowledged at once; zero for
+	// the server's default, which is many. **One, for a consumer handled one at a time**
+	// (novox/hq issue 175): a handler that builds for minutes keeps its own message alive with a
+	// heartbeat, but everything handed over behind it times out unacknowledged and comes back —
+	// and a merge that came back rebuilt what it had just built, five times over on 2026-09-30.
+	// With one outstanding, the server holds the rest, and the heartbeat is keeping the message.
+	MaxAckPending int
+	Why           string
 }

 // seatStreamName is the stream holding a seat's inbound work. Named after the seat rather than
@@ -154,8 +161,15 @@ func HolderConsumerFor(node, module string, seat DeclaredSeat) (Consumer, bool)
 		Queue:          "holders",
 		AckWaitSeconds: 60,
 		MaxDeliver:     5,
+		// **One in flight.** A holder works one ask at a time, so the server hands it one at a
+		// time: with the default of many, every ask behind the one being worked was delivered,
+		// left unacknowledged for the length of the work, redelivered after the ack wait, and
+		// after the fifth time dropped — on 2026-10-01 twenty-six of forty-three builds asked in
+		// two minutes were never built, and the queue read as empty (novox/hq issue 186).
+		MaxAckPending: 1,
 		Why: fmt.Sprintf("%s on %s holds %s; it acknowledges after the work is done, so a "+
-			"crash mid-work redelivers rather than loses", module, node, seat.Name),
+			"crash mid-work redelivers rather than loses; one in flight, so a queue of asks is a "+
+			"queue and not a race against the ack wait", module, node, seat.Name),
 	}, true
 }

@@ -153,3 +153,16 @@ func TestANodesDeclarationConsumerIsWhatItsOwnGrantAllows(t *testing.T) {
 	has(t, perms.Publish, "$JS.ACK.NODES."+c.Name+".>")
 	has(t, perms.Subscribe, c.Filters[0])
 }
+
+// A holder works one ask at a time, so the server hands it one at a time (novox/hq issue 186):
+// asks queued behind the one being worked wait in the stream rather than being delivered,
+// left to expire and dropped after the fifth redelivery.
+func TestAHoldersWorkerTakesOneAskAtATime(t *testing.T) {
+	c, found := HolderConsumerFor("anchor", "builder", DeclaredSeat{Name: "mesh-build-machine", Accepts: []string{"build"}})
+	if !found {
+		t.Fatal("a seat that accepts work has no worker")
+	}
+	if c.MaxAckPending != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the worker may have %d asks in flight; one, so a queue is a queue", c.MaxAckPending)
+	}
+}
@@ -62,6 +62,22 @@ func TestTheInstallersFirstUserListIsWhatTheControllerWouldCompose(t *testing.T)

 // theCarriedAccounts is the accounts file the installer's template writes at genesis.
 func theCarriedAccounts(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	for _, r := range theTemplate(t) {
+		if r["id"] == "bus-accounts" {
+			content, _ := r["content"].(string)
+			if content == "" {
+				t.Fatal("the template's accounts file is empty, so the bus would refuse every connection")
+			}
+			return content
+		}
+	}
+	t.Fatal("the template carries no accounts file, so a mesh raised from it has a bus nobody may use")
+	return ""
+}
+
+// theTemplate is the installer's bundle, as resources.
+func theTemplate(t *testing.T) []map[string]any {
 	t.Helper()
 	path := filepath.Join("..", "..", "..", "mesh-host", "examples", "foundation-first-node-nats.lock")
 	raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
@@ -81,17 +97,7 @@ func theCarriedAccounts(t *testing.T) string {
 	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(strings.Join(lines, "\n")), &bundle); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the template is not readable: %v", err)
 	}
-	for _, r := range bundle.Resources {
-		if r["id"] == "bus-accounts" {
-			content, _ := r["content"].(string)
-			if content == "" {
-				t.Fatal("the template's accounts file is empty, so the bus would refuse every connection")
-			}
-			return content
-		}
-	}
-	t.Fatal("the template carries no accounts file, so a mesh raised from it has a bus nobody may use")
-	return ""
+	return bundle.Resources
 }

 // subjectsIn reads one allow-list out of a composed accounts file.
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+package broker
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A module that says it calls a tool may publish exactly that subject (novox/hq ADR 0152): the same
+// grant a person gets, derived the same way, so one list answers "what may this ask" for everybody.
+func TestAModuleMayAskOnlyTheToolsItInvokes(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "desk", Module: "mesh-console",
+		Invokes: []string{"shop.price"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.mod.shop.tool.price")
+	hasNot(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.mod.shop.tool.refund")
+	hasNot(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.mod.*.tool.>")
+}
+
+// The console's grant: every tool, as one subject, and it reads as one.
+func TestAModuleInvokingEverythingMayAskAnyTool(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "desk", Module: "mesh-console",
+		Invokes: []string{"*"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.mod.*.tool.>")
+}
+
+// **A grant to call widens nothing else.** A module that invokes may not publish an event it did not
+// declare, may not answer as another module, and subscribes nothing it did not consume — the
+// difference between the console and a person is that the console is on a machine, not that it may
+// do more.
+func TestInvokingGrantsNothingButTheCall(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "desk", Module: "mesh-console",
+		Invokes: []string{"*"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, p := range perms.Publish {
+		if strings.Contains(p, ".event.") {
+			t.Errorf("a module that only invokes may publish %q, an event it never declared", p)
+		}
+		// A role's tools are tools (ADR 0132); a role's work queue and events are not.
+		if strings.HasPrefix(p, "mesh.seat.") && !strings.Contains(p, ".tool.") {
+			t.Errorf("a module that only invokes may publish %q, a seat it neither holds nor uses", p)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, s := range perms.Subscribe {
+		if strings.Contains(s, ".tool.") && !strings.HasPrefix(s, "mesh.mod.mesh-console.") {
+			t.Errorf("a module that invokes may subscribe %q, another module's tools", s)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A module that declares no invokes calls nothing, which is every module but the console.
+func TestAModuleThatInvokesNothingCallsNothing(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "shop",
+		Emits: []string{"order.placed"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, p := range perms.Publish {
+		if strings.Contains(p, ".tool.") {
+			t.Errorf("a module with no invokes may publish %q", p)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// The malformed entry is refused for a module as it is for a person, and in the same words.
+func TestAModulesToolGrantThatNamesNoToolIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "shop",
+		Invokes: []string{"telegram"}, PasswordHash: "x"}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a grant naming a module but no tool was accepted")
+	}
+}
+
+// What a declaration says reaches the composed user, so a manifest's `invokes` is the grant.
+func TestADeclaredInvokeReachesTheComposedUser(t *testing.T) {
+	users, err := Users(Records{
+		Nodes:    []string{"desk"},
+		Assigned: map[string][]Declared{"desk": {{Module: "mesh-console", Invokes: []string{"*"}}}},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(users[len(users)-1])
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.mod.*.tool.>")
+}
+
+// A module's tool is addressed two ways (novox/hq ADR 0159): to whichever instance answers, and to
+// the instance on one machine. A grant for the tool covers both and nothing wider.
+func TestInvokingAToolMayAddressTheMachineToo(t *testing.T) {
+	got, err := invokedSubjects([]string{"postgres.postgres_query"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	want := []string{"mesh.mod.postgres.tool.postgres_query", "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.postgres_query.*"}
+	if len(got) != 2 || got[0] != want[0] || got[1] != want[1] {
+		t.Fatalf("the grant is %v, want %v", got, want)
+	}
+}
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 package broker

 import (
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
 	"time"

 	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
@@ -20,25 +26,92 @@ import (
 type JetStream struct {
 	conn *nats.Conn
 	js   nats.JetStreamContext
+	// Note is how this says something it decided not to fail over. Nil is silent, which is only
+	// right for a caller that has no way to report; the controller sets it.
+	Note func(string, ...any)
+}
+
+// note reports without requiring a caller to have set one.
+func (j *JetStream) note(format string, args ...any) {
+	if j.Note != nil {
+		j.Note(format, args...)
+	}
 }

 // Dial connects and returns the controller's JetStream handle.
 func Dial(url string, opts ...nats.Option) (*JetStream, error) {
-	// A name, because a connection nobody can identify in the server's own monitoring is one
-	// nobody can attribute a problem to.
 	opts = append(opts, nats.Name("mesh-controller"), nats.Timeout(10*time.Second))
+	// **Pinned, not named.** The bus presents the mesh's own certificate, which names nothing a
+	// public verifier would accept (design 25 §4: a host pins the server's exact certificate and
+	// checks nothing else, and so does this). Without this, the first connection failed with
+	// "certificate is not valid for any names" against a bus that was answering (2026-09-28).
+	if path := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(CertificateVar)); path != "" {
+		pinned, err := pinnedTo(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		opts = append(opts, nats.Secure(pinned))
+	}
+	// **Its own inbox, and nothing wider.** Every principal is granted `_INBOX.<its user>.>` and
+	// no other inbox; the client's default prefix is random, and the server refused the first
+	// subscription to it (2026-09-28). The user is in the URL, so the prefix follows from it.
+	if user, _, _ := CredentialIn(url); user != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, nats.CustomInboxPrefix("_INBOX."+user))
+	}
+	// The address in an error is the address alone. The URL carries this controller's password,
+	// and an error here is written on the assumption it will be logged.
+	where := BareAddress(url)
 	conn, err := nats.Connect(url, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("connecting to the bus at %s: %w", url, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("connecting to the bus at %s: %w", where, err)
 	}
 	js, err := conn.JetStream()
 	if err != nil {
 		conn.Close()
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the bus at %s has no JetStream: %w", url, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the bus at %s has no JetStream: %w", where, err)
 	}
 	return &JetStream{conn: conn, js: js}, nil
 }

+// pinnedTo is a TLS configuration that accepts exactly the certificate in the file and no other:
+// the leaf's SHA-256, compared on every handshake, with the name and the chain deliberately not
+// consulted — a self-signed certificate with no names is the ordinary case for a mesh's bus.
+func pinnedTo(path string) (*tls.Config, error) {
+	want, err := FingerprintOf(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return PinnedToFingerprint(want), nil
+}
+
+// DialPinned is Dial with the server's certificate pinned by a fingerprint the caller already holds
+// — a module or a build machine that was handed one beside its credential, and has no file.
+func DialPinned(url, fingerprint string, opts ...nats.Option) (*JetStream, error) {
+	if strings.TrimSpace(fingerprint) != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, nats.Secure(PinnedToFingerprint(fingerprint)))
+	}
+	return Dial(url, opts...)
+}
+
+// PinnedToFingerprint accepts exactly the certificate with this SHA-256 and no other.
+func PinnedToFingerprint(want string) *tls.Config {
+	return &tls.Config{
+		InsecureSkipVerify: true, //nolint:gosec // replaced by the pin below, which is stricter
+		MinVersion:         tls.VersionTLS12,
+		VerifyPeerCertificate: func(rawCerts [][]byte, _ [][]*x509.Certificate) error {
+			if len(rawCerts) == 0 {
+				return errors.New("the bus presented no certificate")
+			}
+			sum := sha256.Sum256(rawCerts[0])
+			got := "sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
+			if got != want {
+				return fmt.Errorf("the bus presented a certificate this mesh does not know (%s…), expected %s…", got[:23], want[:23])
+			}
+			return nil
+		},
+	}
+}
+
 // Conn is the connection itself, for what the mesh keeps off JetStream on purpose — a heartbeat,
 // a tool call — where a lost message is answered by the next one or by a timeout the caller
 // already handles (design 25 §3).
@@ -71,6 +144,7 @@ func (j *JetStream) EnsureStream(s Stream) error {
 		MaxMsgsPerSubject: int64(s.MaxMsgsPerSubject),
 		Description:       s.Why,
 	}
+	want.AllowDirect = s.Direct
 	if s.Retention == RetentionLastPerSubject {
 		// Last-per-subject is a limits stream with one message kept per subject, not a
 		// retention policy of its own — the state shape, spelled the way the server spells it.
@@ -106,6 +180,7 @@ func (j *JetStream) EnsureConsumer(c Consumer) error {
 		AckPolicy:      nats.AckExplicitPolicy,
 		AckWait:        time.Duration(c.AckWaitSeconds) * time.Second,
 		MaxDeliver:     c.MaxDeliver,
+		MaxAckPending:  c.MaxAckPending,
 		DeliverGroup:   c.Queue,
 		DeliverSubject: "",
 		Description:    c.Why,
@@ -121,12 +196,60 @@ func (j *JetStream) EnsureConsumer(c Consumer) error {
 	// without the other is refused by the server with a message that does not say which half is
 	// missing.
 	if c.Queue != "" || c.Push {
-		want.DeliverSubject = "_DELIVER." + c.Name
+		// **Per consumer, which means per stream as well as per name** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/146).
+		// A push consumer delivers onto an ordinary subject, and everything subscribed to that
+		// subject gets a copy. The controller holds a consumer called `controller` on CONTROL and
+		// another called `controller` on EVENTS, and both were given `_DELIVER.controller` — so the
+		// one process, holding both subscriptions, acted on every message twice. It enrolled a
+		// joining machine twice from one request, minting a second credential that replaced the one
+		// the machine had just been given; the same doubling applied to every report and every
+		// event the controller follows.
+		//
+		// The stream is in the name because the pair is what identifies a consumer — the server
+		// scopes a durable's name to its stream, and this subject is the only place that scoping
+		// was dropped. Already within what the controller may subscribe (`_DELIVER.controller.>`),
+		// so no permission moves.
+		want.DeliverSubject = DeliverSubjectFor(c)
 	}

-	switch _, err := j.js.ConsumerInfo(c.Stream, c.Name); {
+	switch have, err := j.js.ConsumerInfo(c.Stream, c.Name); {
 	case err == nil:
+		// Where an existing consumer starts is its history, not something an assertion may move:
+		// the server refuses a changed deliver policy outright. Carried across, so asserting twice
+		// is the no-op a restart depends on.
+		want.DeliverPolicy = have.Config.DeliverPolicy
+		want.OptStartSeq = have.Config.OptStartSeq
+		want.OptStartTime = have.Config.OptStartTime
+
 		if _, err := j.js.UpdateConsumer(c.Stream, want); err != nil {
+			// **A consumer that works is not replaced to make its name tidier**
+			// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/156).
+			//
+			// The server will not move a push consumer's delivery subject while a subscriber is
+			// bound to it, and answers `consumer name already in use` — a message about the name,
+			// for a conflict about the subject. A node is bound to its declaration consumer the
+			// whole time it is up; that IS a node listening. So when 04-ISSUES/146 put the stream
+			// into the subject, every node consumer in a running mesh became one this could not
+			// bring to match, and the control plane crash-looped on the assertion it makes before
+			// it serves. A fresh mesh showed nothing: nothing was bound.
+			//
+			// Kept rather than deleted and re-made. Re-making moves the subject, and a holder may
+			// not be allowed to subscribe to the new one yet — the wider grant travels in the bus's
+			// user list, which this same control plane composes and a machine applies minutes
+			// later. Re-making here would have silenced every machine in the mesh, which is worse
+			// than the collision it was fixing and harder to undo.
+			//
+			// Kept rather than fatal, which is what 146's change intended and did not do: the bare
+			// subject it replaces still delivers, and it collides only where one holder has two
+			// consumers of one name. That is the controller's own pair, and the controller is not
+			// bound to them while it asserts, so those do move. A node has one consumer and nothing
+			// to collide with.
+			if have.Config.DeliverSubject != want.DeliverSubject {
+				j.note("consumer %s on %s still delivers to %q and not %q: %v. It keeps working; "+
+					"the subject moves on an assertion made while nothing is bound to it",
+					c.Name, c.Stream, have.Config.DeliverSubject, want.DeliverSubject, err)
+				return nil
+			}
 			return fmt.Errorf("bringing consumer %s on %s to match: %w", c.Name, c.Stream, err)
 		}
 		return nil
@@ -1,366 +0,0 @@
-package broker
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/envfile"
-	"io"
-	"net/http"
-	"net/url"
-	"regexp"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-)
-
-// The mesh runs the broker, so there is no chicken-and-egg in a node needing an account before it
-// can connect: the account is created when the token is issued, and the one-time secret in that
-// token IS the password. A node's first connection is already authenticated, and enrolment is
-// what happens over it.
-//
-// novox/hq ADR 0004's *a node holds its own identity and nothing else* is why the account is per
-// node rather than shared. A shared enrolment account would let any node consume another's queue,
-// which is the shared-credential fault that record exists to remove, reappearing at the transport.
-
-// ManagementVar holds the broker's management API, credentials included.
-const ManagementVar = "MESH_BROKER_MANAGEMENT"
-
-// safeName is what a node may be called at the broker.
-//
-// The name goes into a URL path and into permission patterns, which are regular expressions. A
-// name carrying a `.` or a `*` would silently widen what that node may reach — so it is
-// constrained here rather than escaped later, because an escape that is forgotten once is a node
-// reading everybody's queues.
-var safeName = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]{0,62}$`)
-
-// Management is the broker's administrative interface.
-type Management struct {
-	base   *url.URL
-	client *http.Client
-}
-
-// ManagementFromEnvironment reads where the management API is, if it is configured.
-//
-// On the port MESH_BROKER_MANAGEMENT_PORT names when the node moved it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/102);
-// the URL's own port otherwise.
-func ManagementFromEnvironment() (*Management, error) {
-	raw, err := envfile.Placed(ManagementVar)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if raw == "" {
-		return nil, ErrNotConfigured
-	}
-	base, err := url.Parse(raw)
-	if err != nil || base.Host == "" {
-		// The value carries a password, so it is not quoted back.
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is not a usable URL", ManagementVar)
-	}
-	return &Management{base: base, client: &http.Client{Timeout: 15 * time.Second}}, nil
-}
-
-// QueueFor is the queue a node consumes from. One per node, named after it.
-func QueueFor(node string) string { return "node." + node }
-
-// ExchangeName is where nodes publish what they have to say. One exchange, and the control plane
-// is the only consumer behind it (novox/hq ADR 0006 — one consumer, so two cannot silently split
-// the traffic between them).
-const ExchangeName = "mesh"
-
-// BuildQueueName is where build work waits. Duplicated from `link` rather than imported, for the
-// same reason QueueFor above is: this package must not depend on the one that uses it, and a
-// constant that differed would be caught by the test that asserts they agree.
-const BuildQueueName = "builds"
-
-// The events bus (novox/hq ADR 0042): one topic exchange every event rides, a second for tool
-// RPC kept apart, and a dead-letter home for a poison event. The foundation owns these — a module's
-// account cannot declare them, only bind its own queue to the events one.
-const (
-	EventsExchangeName = "mesh.events"
-	RPCExchangeName    = "mesh.rpc"
-	DeadExchangeName   = "mesh.events.dead"
-)
-
-// ModuleQueueFor is the durable queue a module consumes its events from — one per module per node
-// (novox/hq ADR 0042), named so the account that may read it is exactly this module's.
-func ModuleQueueFor(node, module string) string { return node + "." + module + ".events" }
-
-// modulePermissions is a module's authority on the bus, derived from its manifest (novox/hq
-// ADR 0043): what it consumes and what it emits, and nothing else. Pure, so the scope is tested as
-// patterns without a broker — the way a builder's is.
-//
-// A note on the limit: the broker's write permission is per exchange, not per routing key (LavinMQ
-// has no topic permissions), so an emitting module is granted the events exchange whole. ADR 0042's
-// origin reservation — a module publishes only under `module.<self>.*` — is stamped by the sdk, not
-// enforced here; that gap is the broker's, and is recorded rather than hidden. A pure consumer like
-// the audit logger is unaffected: it is granted no write to the exchange at all.
-func modulePermissions(node, module string, emits, consumes []string) (configure, write, read string) {
-	queue := regexp.QuoteMeta(ModuleQueueFor(node, module))
-	events := regexp.QuoteMeta(EventsExchangeName)
-	rpc := regexp.QuoteMeta(RPCExchangeName)
-	// A module serves each of its tools on its own queue, namespaced by the module (novox/hq
-	// ADR 0047) — serve.<module>.<tool> — so the account may declare, bind and read exactly its own,
-	// and no other module's.
-	serve := "serve\\." + regexp.QuoteMeta(module) + "\\..*"
-
-	// Declare its own events queue and its own tool serve queues.
-	configure = "^(" + queue + "|" + serve + ")$"
-
-	// Write to bind its queue and serve queues (binding is a write on the queue), and to the RPC
-	// exchange to publish replies (ADR 0047: replies ride mesh.rpc, never the default exchange, which
-	// would let it publish into any queue). To the events exchange only if it emits.
-	writes := []string{queue, serve, rpc}
-	if len(emits) > 0 {
-		writes = append(writes, events)
-	}
-	write = "^(" + strings.Join(writes, "|") + ")$"
-
-	// Read its own queue and serve queues to consume them, and the RPC exchange to bind its serve
-	// queues onto. The events exchange to bind onto only if it consumes.
-	reads := []string{queue, serve, rpc}
-	if len(consumes) > 0 {
-		reads = append(reads, events)
-	}
-	read = "^(" + strings.Join(reads, "|") + ")$"
-	return configure, write, read
-}
-
-// CreateModuleAccount gives an assigned module its own broker account, scoped by what it emits and
-// consumes (novox/hq ADR 0043). The account name carries the node so the same module on two machines
-// holds two accounts, each sealed to its own; the permissions carry the module so one module cannot
-// read another's queue. Generic — the builder is one instance of this rule, not a separate kind.
-func (m *Management) CreateModuleAccount(ctx context.Context, node, module, password string, emits, consumes []string) (string, error) {
-	if !safeName.MatchString(node) {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("%q cannot be part of a broker account: it is a permission pattern", node)
-	}
-	if !safeName.MatchString(module) {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("%q cannot be part of a broker account: it is a permission pattern", module)
-	}
-	account := node + "-" + module
-	if !safeName.MatchString(account) {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("%q is not a usable broker account name", account)
-	}
-
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/users/"+url.PathEscape(account),
-		map[string]string{"password": password, "tags": ""}); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("cannot create the broker account for %s on %s: %w", module, node, err)
-	}
-
-	configure, write, read := modulePermissions(node, module, emits, consumes)
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/permissions/%2f/"+url.PathEscape(account), map[string]string{
-		"configure": configure, "write": write, "read": read,
-	}); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("cannot scope the broker account for %s on %s: %w", module, node, err)
-	}
-	return account, nil
-}
-
-// EnsureModuleQueue declares a consuming module's queue with its dead-letter exchange, idempotently.
-// The foundation declares it because a scoped module account may not: the broker refuses a queue with
-// a dead-letter exchange to a non-administrator (novox/hq ADR 0043), so a consumer passively checks
-// the queue the mesh made rather than declaring its own.
-func (m *Management) EnsureModuleQueue(ctx context.Context, node, module string) error {
-	queue := ModuleQueueFor(node, module)
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/queues/%2f/"+url.PathEscape(queue), map[string]any{
-		"durable":   true,
-		"arguments": map[string]any{"x-dead-letter-exchange": DeadExchangeName},
-	}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot declare the queue for %s on %s: %w", module, node, err)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// EnsureEventExchanges declares the bus's exchanges and the dead-letter home, idempotently. The
-// foundation owns them (a module's account may not declare an exchange), and a dead-letter exchange
-// with no queue behind it drops what it receives — so a durable queue bound to `#` retains a poison
-// event for inspection, which is the whole reason the trail exists.
-func (m *Management) EnsureEventExchanges(ctx context.Context) error {
-	for _, exchange := range []string{EventsExchangeName, RPCExchangeName, DeadExchangeName} {
-		if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/exchanges/%2f/"+url.PathEscape(exchange),
-			map[string]any{"type": "topic", "durable": true}); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("cannot declare the %s exchange: %w", exchange, err)
-		}
-	}
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/queues/%2f/"+url.PathEscape(DeadExchangeName),
-		map[string]any{"durable": true}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot declare the dead-letter queue: %w", err)
-	}
-	if err := m.post(ctx, "/api/bindings/%2f/e/"+url.PathEscape(DeadExchangeName)+
-		"/q/"+url.PathEscape(DeadExchangeName), map[string]string{"routing_key": "#"}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot bind the dead-letter queue: %w", err)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// CreateNodeAccount gives a node its own broker account, with the token's secret as the password.
-//
-// Scoped so a node can reach its own queue and the one exchange, and nothing else. The patterns
-// are anchored: a node called `laptop` must not be able to read `laptop-of-somebody-else`.
-func (m *Management) CreateNodeAccount(ctx context.Context, node, password string) error {
-	if !safeName.MatchString(node) {
-		return fmt.Errorf(
-			"%q cannot be a broker account name: it becomes part of a permission pattern, so it "+
-				"is lower-case letters, digits and dashes", node)
-	}
-
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/users/"+url.PathEscape(node),
-		map[string]string{"password": password, "tags": ""}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot create the broker account for %s: %w", node, err)
-	}
-
-	queue := regexp.QuoteMeta(QueueFor(node))
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/permissions/%2f/"+url.PathEscape(node), map[string]string{
-		"configure": "^" + queue + "$",
-		"write":     "^(" + regexp.QuoteMeta(ExchangeName) + "|" + queue + ")$",
-		"read":      "^" + queue + "$",
-	}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot scope the broker account for %s: %w", node, err)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// CreateBuilderAccount scopes an account to taking build work and answering it.
-//
-// **A build machine is not a node**, and giving it a node's account would let it read another
-// machine's declarations. What it needs is narrower and different: read the build queue, and
-// write to the exchange and to whatever temporary queue an asker is waiting on.
-//
-// The reply queues are the reason `write` is not simply the exchange. `RequestBuild` declares an
-// exclusive queue with a generated name and waits on it, so a builder that could not write to it
-// could take work and never answer — which is the failure that looks like a builder that is not
-// running.
-func (m *Management) CreateBuilderAccount(ctx context.Context, name, password string) error {
-	if !safeName.MatchString(name) {
-		return fmt.Errorf(
-			"%q cannot be a broker account name: it becomes part of a permission pattern, so it "+
-				"is lower-case letters, digits and dashes", name)
-	}
-
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/users/"+url.PathEscape(name),
-		map[string]string{"password": password, "tags": ""}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot create the broker account for %s: %w", name, err)
-	}
-
-	builds := regexp.QuoteMeta(BuildQueueName)
-	if err := m.put(ctx, "/api/permissions/%2f/"+url.PathEscape(name), map[string]string{
-		// It declares the build queue, because whichever builder starts first must be able to —
-		// and a queue nobody may declare is a queue that exists only if the control plane has
-		// already run, which makes the order they start in matter.
-		"configure": "^" + builds + "$",
-		// Two exchanges, and nothing else. **Not the default exchange**: permission there is
-		// granted per exchange rather than per queue, so a builder allowed to use it could
-		// publish into any node's queue — the privilege a build machine most obviously should
-		// not have. Answers go through the node exchange; announcing what was built goes through
-		// the events exchange, which is a different act with a different audience (novox/hq
-		// ADR 0072). A builder that could answer and not announce would leave the module graph
-		// knowing less than the registry does.
-		"write": "^(" + regexp.QuoteMeta(ExchangeName) + "|" + regexp.QuoteMeta(EventsExchangeName) + ")$",
-		// The build queue and nothing else. Not another machine's declarations.
-		"read": "^" + builds + "$",
-	}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot scope the broker account for %s: %w", name, err)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// RemoveNodeAccount withdraws a node's access.
-func (m *Management) RemoveNodeAccount(ctx context.Context, node string) error {
-	if !safeName.MatchString(node) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a broker account name", node)
-	}
-	return m.do(ctx, http.MethodDelete, "/api/users/"+url.PathEscape(node), nil)
-}
-
-// Accounts lists the broker's users, so a picture can be read from the system rather than assumed
-// (novox/hq ADR 0018).
-func (m *Management) Accounts(ctx context.Context) ([]string, error) {
-	body, err := m.get(ctx, "/api/users")
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	var users []struct {
-		Name string `json:"name"`
-	}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &users); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	names := make([]string, 0, len(users))
-	for _, u := range users {
-		names = append(names, u.Name)
-	}
-	return names, nil
-}
-
-func (m *Management) put(ctx context.Context, path string, body any) error {
-	return m.do(ctx, http.MethodPut, path, body)
-}
-
-func (m *Management) post(ctx context.Context, path string, body any) error {
-	return m.do(ctx, http.MethodPost, path, body)
-}
-
-func (m *Management) get(ctx context.Context, path string) ([]byte, error) {
-	request, err := m.request(ctx, http.MethodGet, path, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	response, err := m.client.Do(request)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	defer response.Body.Close()
-	if response.StatusCode >= 300 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the broker's management API answered %s to GET %s",
-			response.Status, path)
-	}
-	return io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(response.Body, 1<<20))
-}
-
-func (m *Management) do(ctx context.Context, method, path string, body any) error {
-	request, err := m.request(ctx, method, path, body)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	response, err := m.client.Do(request)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	defer response.Body.Close()
-	if response.StatusCode >= 300 {
-		detail, _ := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(response.Body, 4096))
-		return fmt.Errorf("the broker's management API answered %s to %s %s: %s",
-			response.Status, method, path, strings.TrimSpace(string(detail)))
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (m *Management) request(ctx context.Context, method, path string, body any) (*http.Request, error) {
-	var payload io.Reader
-	if body != nil {
-		raw, err := json.Marshal(body)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		payload = bytes.NewReader(raw)
-	}
-
-	// Path joined by hand rather than through url.Parse: %2f is the default vhost and must reach
-	// the broker still encoded. Parsing would decode it to a slash and address a different route.
-	target := strings.TrimSuffix(m.base.String(), "/")
-	if user := m.base.User; user != nil {
-		target = strings.TrimSuffix(m.base.Scheme+"://"+m.base.Host, "/")
-	}
-	request, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, method, target+path, payload)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if user := m.base.User; user != nil {
-		password, _ := user.Password()
-		request.SetBasicAuth(user.Username(), password)
-	}
-	if body != nil {
-		request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-	}
-	return request, nil
-}
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package broker
+
+import (
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// What the mesh issues an assignment to serve and to reach (novox/hq ADR 0160).
+//
+// A module's code names its tools and its events; **where they land is the mesh's to decide**, and
+// it decided it twice — once in the runtime, once here, by one rule compiled into both. Now the
+// controller composes a membership for every module on every machine and publishes it to a subject
+// only that assignment reads; the runtime serves exactly what the membership says, and the account's
+// grant is the same composition read the other way. The shape issued today is the shape the mesh
+// already had, so nothing moves when a membership first arrives; only who decides it moves.
+
+// Membership is one assignment's subjects: what this instance of a module on this machine serves,
+// and what it may reach.
+type Membership struct {
+	Node   string `json:"node"`
+	Module string `json:"module"`
+	// Serves is every address a tool of this instance answers on. `{tool}` stands for the tool's
+	// own name, which the module knows and the mesh does not need to: the mesh issues the address,
+	// the runtime fills the name. An address with a queue is shared with the module's other
+	// instances, and the bus hands each call to one of them; an address without is this instance's.
+	Serves []Served `json:"serves"`
+	// Seats is every verb of a seat this instance holds, at the subject the seat's callers use.
+	Seats []SeatServed `json:"seats,omitempty"`
+	// Emits is where an event of this module lands; `{event}` stands for the event's name.
+	Emits string `json:"emits"`
+	// Reaches is each tool this module may call, `<module>.<tool>`, to the subjects that reach it:
+	// the first is whichever instance answers, when the mesh issued one; the rest name a machine.
+	Reaches map[string][]string `json:"reaches,omitempty"`
+	// Tools is where this instance answers what it serves — the runtime's one verb of its own.
+	Tools string `json:"tools"`
+}
+
+// Served is one address a tool is answered on.
+type Served struct {
+	Subject string `json:"subject"`
+	Queue   string `json:"queue,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// SeatServed is one verb of a held seat, where its callers ask.
+type SeatServed struct {
+	Seat    string `json:"seat"`
+	Verb    string `json:"verb"`
+	Subject string `json:"subject"`
+}
+
+// MembershipSubject is the one address a runtime derives for itself: where its own membership is
+// published, from the two names its credential carries. Everything else is in the membership.
+func MembershipSubject(node, module string) string {
+	return "mesh.assignment." + node + "." + module
+}
+
+// Placements is where every module runs, for deciding which instance answers for the module.
+type Placements struct {
+	// Nodes is each module's machines.
+	Nodes map[string][]string
+	// Interchangeable is each module whose definition says its instances are the same anywhere,
+	// so the module's plain subject is issued to all of them in one queue.
+	Interchangeable map[string]bool
+}
+
+// AnswersForTheModule says whether an instance of a module on one machine is issued the module's
+// plain subject: when it is the only instance, or when the definition says instances are
+// interchangeable. A stateful module on two machines gets only its machines' subjects, so a call
+// that names none reaches nothing rather than the wrong store.
+func (p Placements) AnswersForTheModule(module string) bool {
+	return len(p.Nodes[module]) <= 1 || p.Interchangeable[module]
+}
+
+// MembershipFor composes one assignment's membership from what it declared and where everything
+// runs. The subjects are the ones PermissionsFor grants, derived here once more only until the
+// grant itself is read from the membership — which is the next step, not this one.
+func MembershipFor(node string, d Declared, where Placements) Membership {
+	own := "mesh.mod." + d.Module
+	m := Membership{
+		Node: node, Module: d.Module,
+		Emits: own + ".event.{event}",
+		Tools: own + ".tool.tools",
+	}
+	// This machine's address always; the module's when this instance answers for the module.
+	m.Serves = append(m.Serves, Served{Subject: own + ".tool.{tool}." + node})
+	if where.AnswersForTheModule(d.Module) {
+		m.Serves = append(m.Serves, Served{Subject: own + ".tool.{tool}", Queue: "serve." + d.Module})
+	}
+	for _, s := range d.Holds {
+		for _, verb := range s.Serves {
+			m.Seats = append(m.Seats, SeatServed{Seat: s.Name, Verb: verb, Subject: seatToolSubject(s, verb, node)})
+		}
+	}
+	if len(d.Invokes) > 0 {
+		m.Reaches = map[string][]string{}
+		for _, t := range d.Invokes {
+			if t == "*" || strings.HasPrefix(t, "seat:") {
+				continue // every tool, or a role's: addressed by name, not resolved per instance
+			}
+			module, tool, ok := strings.Cut(t, ".")
+			if !ok {
+				continue
+			}
+			var reach []string
+			if where.AnswersForTheModule(module) {
+				reach = append(reach, "mesh.mod."+module+".tool."+tool)
+			}
+			nodes := append([]string{}, where.Nodes[module]...)
+			sort.Strings(nodes)
+			for _, n := range nodes {
+				reach = append(reach, "mesh.mod."+module+".tool."+tool+"."+n)
+			}
+			m.Reaches[t] = reach
+		}
+	}
+	return m
+}
+
+// PlacementsOf reads where everything runs from the records the bus's accounts are composed from.
+func PlacementsOf(r Records, interchangeable map[string]bool) Placements {
+	p := Placements{Nodes: map[string][]string{}, Interchangeable: interchangeable}
+	for node, declared := range r.Assigned {
+		for _, d := range declared {
+			p.Nodes[d.Module] = append(p.Nodes[d.Module], node)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, nodes := range p.Nodes {
+		sort.Strings(nodes)
+	}
+	return p
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package broker
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// The mesh issues an assignment's subjects (novox/hq ADR 0160): a module alone on one machine
+// answers for the module and for its machine; a stateful module on two machines answers only for
+// each machine; one that says its instances are interchangeable answers for the module everywhere;
+// a holder serves its seat's verbs; and what a module may reach is resolved the same way.
+func TestAMembershipIsIssuedFromWhereEverythingRuns(t *testing.T) {
+	records := Records{Assigned: map[string][]Declared{
+		"anchor": {
+			{Module: "postgres", Serves: []string{"query"}, Holds: []Seat{{Name: "mesh-store", Scope: "mesh", Serves: []string{"databases", "query"}}}},
+			{Module: "catalog", Invokes: []string{"postgres.query", "search.find"}},
+		},
+		"home-server": {
+			{Module: "postgres"},
+			{Module: "search"},
+			{Module: "dashboard", Invokes: []string{"postgres.query"}},
+		},
+		"laptop": {{Module: "search"}},
+	}, Interchangeable: map[string]bool{"search": true}}
+	where := PlacementsOf(records, records.Interchangeable)
+
+	pg := MembershipFor("anchor", records.Assigned["anchor"][0], where)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(pg.Serves, []Served{{Subject: "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.{tool}.anchor"}}) {
+		t.Fatalf("a stateful module on two machines answers only for its machine: %+v", pg.Serves)
+	}
+	if len(pg.Seats) != 2 || pg.Seats[0].Subject != "mesh.seat.mesh-store.tool.databases" {
+		t.Fatalf("the holder serves the seat's verbs at the seat's subjects: %+v", pg.Seats)
+	}
+	if pg.Emits != "mesh.mod.postgres.event.{event}" || pg.Tools != "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.tools" {
+		t.Fatalf("events and the tools verb: %+v", pg)
+	}
+
+	search := MembershipFor("laptop", records.Assigned["laptop"][0], where)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(search.Serves, []Served{
+		{Subject: "mesh.mod.search.tool.{tool}.laptop"},
+		{Subject: "mesh.mod.search.tool.{tool}", Queue: "serve.search"},
+	}) {
+		t.Fatalf("an interchangeable module answers for the module in the queue too: %+v", search.Serves)
+	}
+
+	dashboard := MembershipFor("home-server", records.Assigned["home-server"][2], where)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(dashboard.Serves, []Served{
+		{Subject: "mesh.mod.dashboard.tool.{tool}.home-server"},
+		{Subject: "mesh.mod.dashboard.tool.{tool}", Queue: "serve.dashboard"},
+	}) {
+		t.Fatalf("a module alone on one machine answers for the module: %+v", dashboard.Serves)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(dashboard.Reaches["postgres.query"],
+		[]string{"mesh.mod.postgres.tool.query.anchor", "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.query.home-server"}) {
+		t.Fatalf("reaching a stateful module names each machine and no plain subject: %v", dashboard.Reaches)
+	}
+	catalog := MembershipFor("anchor", records.Assigned["anchor"][1], where)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(catalog.Reaches["search.find"],
+		[]string{"mesh.mod.search.tool.find", "mesh.mod.search.tool.find.home-server", "mesh.mod.search.tool.find.laptop"}) {
+		t.Fatalf("reaching an interchangeable module offers the plain subject first: %v", catalog.Reaches)
+	}
+	if MembershipSubject("anchor", "postgres") != "mesh.assignment.anchor.postgres" {
+		t.Fatal("the one subject a runtime derives for itself")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnAccountMayReadItsOwnMembershipAndNoOthers(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "anchor", Module: "postgres", PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, perms.Subscribe, "mesh.assignment.anchor.postgres")
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.ASSIGNMENTS.mesh.assignment.anchor.postgres")
+	hasNot(t, perms.Subscribe, "mesh.assignment.>")
+}
@@ -1,96 +0,0 @@
-package broker_test
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
-	"net/http"
-	"net/http/httptest"
-	"regexp"
-	"strings"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
-)
-
-// The audit logger consumes everything and emits nothing. Its account must let it declare and read
-// its own queue and read the events exchange to bind onto — and must not reach another module's
-// queue, nor grant any write to the events exchange (novox/hq ADR 0043).
-func TestAConsumerReadsItsOwnQueueAndTheEventsExchangeAndNoOthers(t *testing.T) {
-	// Rebuilt through CreateModuleAccount's own path by asking for the same scope it would apply.
-	// The queue this module reads:
-	mine := broker.ModuleQueueFor("anchor", "audit-logger")
-	other := broker.ModuleQueueFor("anchor", "plex")
-
-	read := scope(t, "read", "anchor", "audit-logger", nil, []string{"#"})
-	if !read.MatchString(mine) {
-		t.Error("the audit logger may not read its own queue, so it consumes nothing")
-	}
-	if !read.MatchString(broker.EventsExchangeName) {
-		t.Error("the audit logger may not read the events exchange, so it cannot bind onto it")
-	}
-	if read.MatchString(other) {
-		t.Error("the audit logger may read another module's queue")
-	}
-
-	// It emits nothing, so it is granted no write to the events exchange — only its own queue, to bind.
-	write := scope(t, "write", "anchor", "audit-logger", nil, []string{"#"})
-	if write.MatchString(broker.EventsExchangeName) {
-		t.Error("a pure consumer was granted write to the events exchange")
-	}
-	if !write.MatchString(mine) {
-		t.Error("the audit logger may not write to its own queue, so it cannot bind it")
-	}
-}
-
-// An emitter is granted the events exchange to write; a consumer is not.
-func TestAnEmitterMayWriteTheEventsExchangeAndAConsumerMayNot(t *testing.T) {
-	emitter := scope(t, "write", "anchor", "umami", []string{"module.umami.site.created"}, nil)
-	if !emitter.MatchString(broker.EventsExchangeName) {
-		t.Error("an emitting module may not write the events exchange, so it cannot emit")
-	}
-}
-
-// scope reconstructs one of the three permission patterns CreateModuleAccount would apply, by
-// reading it back from a captured request against a stub management API.
-func scope(t *testing.T, which, node, module string, emits, consumes []string) *regexp.Regexp {
-	t.Helper()
-	pat := capturePermission(t, which, node, module, emits, consumes)
-	re, err := regexp.Compile(pat)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("the %s pattern does not compile: %v", which, err)
-	}
-	return re
-}
-
-// capturePermission runs CreateModuleAccount against a stub management API and returns the pattern
-// it set for `which` ("configure"/"write"/"read"). The scope is tested where it is applied, not
-// reconstructed by the test — so a change to the mapping cannot pass a test that hard-codes the old
-// one.
-func capturePermission(t *testing.T, which, node, module string, emits, consumes []string) string {
-	t.Helper()
-	var captured map[string]string
-	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(r.URL.Path, "/api/permissions/") {
-			_ = json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&captured)
-		}
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
-	}))
-	defer server.Close()
-
-	t.Setenv(broker.ManagementVar, server.URL)
-	m, err := broker.ManagementFromEnvironment()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("stub management not usable: %v", err)
-	}
-	if _, err := m.CreateModuleAccount(context.Background(), node, module, "pw", emits, consumes); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("CreateModuleAccount: %v", err)
-	}
-	if captured == nil {
-		t.Fatal("no permissions were set")
-	}
-	pattern, ok := captured[which]
-	if !ok {
-		t.Fatalf("no %s permission was set; got %v", which, captured)
-	}
-	return pattern
-}
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ const (
 // Seat is a role on the bus as a principal relates to it: the subjects it accepts, and those it
 // emits (novox/hq ADR 0118, design 29 §5).
 type Seat struct {
-	Name     string
+	Name string
+	// Scope is where the seat has one holder. A node-scoped seat's tool carries the node in its
+	// subject, because one subject reaching six machines' holders is not an address
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0132, design 33 §4). Empty reads as mesh.
+	Scope    string
 	Accepts  []string
 	Emits    []string
 	Serves   []string
@@ -70,12 +74,14 @@ type Principal struct {
 	// a namespace no such module owns. Every service started and the graph stayed empty.
 	Watches []Seat

-	// Invokes are the tools a person may call, as `<module>.<tool>`; a single `*` is every tool,
-	// for an administrator. Only meaningful for KindPerson.
+	// Invokes are the tools this principal may call, as `<module>.<tool>`; a single `*` is every
+	// tool. A person's whole authority (design 25 §7), and a module's only if its manifest says so
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0152) — the console's does, and nothing else's.
 	//
 	// **A list, not a role.** A person is not a module and holds no seat: nothing is addressed
 	// to them, nothing is delivered to them, and they have no durable consumer to acknowledge.
-	// What they have is permission to ask.
+	// What they have is permission to ask. A module that invokes gains exactly the same
+	// permission and nothing beside it.
 	Invokes []string

 	// PasswordHash is the bcrypt hash the mesh minted. The plaintext is sealed to the principal
@@ -167,9 +173,15 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 	switch p.Kind {
 	case KindController:
 		// The controller owns the mesh's own traffic and the streams. It is the only writer of
-		// stream definitions (design 25 §3), so it alone reaches the JetStream API.
-		pub = []string{"mesh.control.>", "mesh.node.>", "$JS.API.>"}
-		sub = []string{"mesh.control.>", "$JS.API.>"}
+		// stream definitions (design 25 §3), so it alone reaches the JetStream API — and it alone
+		// issues memberships (novox/hq ADR 0160), which it publishes into the assignments stream
+		// after each push; refused by the server on 2026-10-01 until this line named them.
+		pub = []string{"mesh.control.>", "mesh.node.>", "mesh.assignment.>", "$JS.API.>"}
+		// **And where its consumers deliver.** A push consumer delivers on `_DELIVER.<its name>`,
+		// and a client bound to it subscribes exactly that; the server refused it for every
+		// principal the first time one bound a consumer (2026-09-28). Each kind below is granted
+		// its own consumers' delivery subjects and no other's.
+		sub = []string{"mesh.control.>", "$JS.API.>", "_DELIVER." + ControllerName, "_DELIVER." + ControllerName + ".>"}

 		// Work the mesh's own flows submit to a role, and the outcomes they wait on (ADR 0121). A
 		// build is the one today: the controller asks, and reads the answer from the seat's event
@@ -177,6 +189,26 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 		for _, seat := range meshSeatsTheControllerUses {
 			pub = append(pub, "mesh.seat."+seat+".accept.>")
 		}
+		// **And what the mesh says it did** (novox/hq ADR 0134). The control plane states its own
+		// facts under the seat it holds, because a role's events belong to the role and keep their
+		// address while the holder is replaced. Named one by one rather than as a whole namespace:
+		// least authority, and a fact nothing states is authority nobody uses.
+		for _, event := range ControllerStates {
+			pub = append(pub, seatEventSubject(ControllerSeat, event))
+		}
+
+		// Every module's tools: **the control plane is the way in** (novox/hq ADR 0095). A person
+		// or an agent asks through it and every question passes one process where an audit
+		// belongs — so it, alone among principals, may call any tool by name. The first `ask` on
+		// the new bus was refused the publish (2026-09-28).
+		pub = append(pub, "mesh.mod.*.tool.>")
+
+		// **And the mesh's own verbs, as the seat it holds** (novox/hq ADR 0132, ADR 0154):
+		// `status`, `push`, `assign` are the mesh-controller seat's tools, served by its holder. The
+		// whole verb namespace of its own seat rather than a list: the list is the seat's protocol,
+		// 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.>")

 		// 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
@@ -207,18 +239,11 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 	case KindPerson:
 		// Tools, and nothing else. Every subject a person may publish is a tool call; a person
 		// who could publish an event would be able to claim a module said something.
-		for _, t := range p.Invokes {
-			if t == "*" {
-				pub = append(pub, "mesh.mod.*.tool.>")
-				continue
-			}
-			module, tool, ok := strings.Cut(t, ".")
-			if !ok {
-				return Permissions{}, fmt.Errorf(
-					"%q does not name a tool: a person invokes <module>.<tool>, or * for every one", t)
-			}
-			pub = append(pub, "mesh.mod."+module+".tool."+tool)
+		invoked, err := invokedSubjects(p.Invokes)
+		if err != nil {
+			return Permissions{}, err
 		}
+		pub = append(pub, invoked...)

 	case KindEnrolment:
 		// A leaked token is useless for anything but enrolling: it cannot read a declaration, hear
@@ -244,8 +269,21 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 	case KindNode:
 		// A host publishes its own node's control traffic and subscribes its own declaration —
 		// and nothing of any other node's.
-		pub = []string{"mesh.control." + p.Node + ".>"}
-		sub = []string{"mesh.node." + p.Node + ".declare"}
+		// And binding to its consumer, which asks the server about it (CONSUMER.INFO) — the one
+		// thing the host does that nothing granted. Found the first time a machine dialled a
+		// permissioned server: "this node cannot read its declarations" (2026-09-28). The ack and
+		// the inbox are granted below with every principal's.
+		pub = []string{
+			"mesh.control." + p.Node + ".>",
+			"$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.NODES." + p.Node,
+		}
+		// The deliver subject carries the stream as well as the consumer's name, so what a
+		// subscriber is permitted has to carry it too (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/146). The bare name
+		// stays: an existing consumer keeps delivering where it always did until the controller's
+		// next assertion moves it, and a permission that only allowed the new shape would refuse
+		// every node in the mesh for exactly as long as that took.
+		sub = []string{"mesh.node." + p.Node + ".declare",
+			"_DELIVER." + p.Node, "_DELIVER." + p.Node + ".>"}

 	case KindModule:
 		// 1. Its own namespace: it publishes its events there and serves its tools there. Nothing
@@ -255,9 +293,27 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 		for _, e := range p.Emits {
 			pub = append(pub, own+".event."+e)
 		}
-		for _, t := range p.Serves {
-			sub = append(sub, own+".tool."+t)
+		// Every tool under its own name, not a list: the tools a module serves are what its code
+		// answers, and a second copy of that list in the manifest would be a second source of
+		// truth for the mesh to keep in step (2026-09-28: every module that served a tool was
+		// refused the subscription, because none had written the list twice). Nothing is given
+		// 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.>")
+		// 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))
+		pub = append(pub, "$JS.API.DIRECT.GET."+AssignmentsStream+"."+MembershipSubject(p.Node, p.Module))
+
+		// 1b. The tools it calls, if its manifest says it calls any (novox/hq ADR 0152). The same
+		//     grant a person gets and derived the same way, so "what may this module ask" is
+		//     answered by the one list that answers it for everybody. Publish only: an answer
+		//     arrives on its own inbox, which every principal has below.
+		invoked, err := invokedSubjects(p.Invokes)
+		if err != nil {
+			return Permissions{}, err
 		}
+		pub = append(pub, invoked...)

 		// 2. What it consumes, by the emitter's own subject — an event is addressed to its
 		//    emitter, because the emitter's identity is the meaning (ADR 0118).
@@ -277,8 +333,26 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 			}
 		}

+		// 2c. Its own consumer, which it **pulls**: the runtime asks for the next message and is
+		//     answered on its own inbox, so what it needs is to ask about the consumer and to ask it
+		//     for messages — its own consumer's name, and no other's. Pulled rather than pushed
+		//     because that is the one shape a runtime's client binds without creating anything; the
+		//     controller and the hosts are pushed to. Named here rather than through ConsumerFor,
+		//     which asks for these permissions to build the consumer and would ask forever. A
+		//     subject for a consumer that turns out not to exist grants nothing anybody can use.
+		pub = append(pub,
+			"$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO."+consumerStream(p)+"."+consumerDurable(p),
+			"$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT."+consumerStream(p)+"."+consumerDurable(p))
+
 		// 3. Seats it holds: full participation.
 		for _, s := range p.Holds {
+			// Taking work from the role's queue: the worker consumer it binds (asked about,
+			// delivered on, acknowledged), each on the seat's own stream. The first machine to
+			// take work over the new bus was refused the asking (2026-09-28).
+			worker := "SEAT_" + upperSnake(s.Name) + "_worker"
+			stream := seatStreamName(s.Name)
+			sub = append(sub, "_DELIVER."+worker, "_DELIVER."+worker+".>")
+			pub = append(pub, "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO."+stream+"."+worker, "$JS.ACK."+stream+"."+worker+".>")
 			for _, a := range s.Accepts {
 				sub = append(sub, seatSubject(s, "accept", a))
 			}
@@ -286,7 +360,7 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 				pub = append(pub, seatSubject(s, "event", e))
 			}
 			for _, t := range s.Serves {
-				sub = append(sub, seatSubject(s, "tool", t))
+				sub = append(sub, seatToolSubject(s, t, p.Node))
 			}
 		}

@@ -298,7 +372,7 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 				pub = append(pub, seatSubject(s, "accept", a))
 			}
 			for _, t := range s.Serves {
-				pub = append(pub, seatSubject(s, "tool", t))
+				pub = append(pub, seatToolSubject(s, t, "*"))
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -326,9 +400,10 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 	return Permissions{
 		Publish:   pub,
 		Subscribe: sub,
-		// Only something that serves is ever answering. A pure consumer is granted nothing here.
-		AllowResponses: p.Kind == KindModule && (len(p.Serves) > 0 || len(p.Holds) > 0) ||
-			p.Kind == KindController,
+		// A module answers what it was asked — a tool call reaches it on its own namespace, so the
+		// authority is bounded by having been asked — and so does the controller. A node and a
+		// person are never asked anything, and are granted nothing here.
+		AllowResponses: p.Kind == KindModule || p.Kind == KindController,
 	}, nil
 }

@@ -347,6 +422,18 @@ func seatSubject(s Seat, kind, verb string) string {
 	return "mesh.seat." + s.Name + "." + kind + "." + verb
 }

+// seatToolSubject is where a role's tool is asked. Mesh-wide for a mesh-scoped seat; a node-scoped
+// seat carries the node it is asked of, because a flat subject would reach every machine's holder
+// and the queue group would silently pick a winner (novox/hq ADR 0132, design 33 §4). A holder
+// subscribes its own node's; a user publishes any node's (`*`) and names the machine in the subject.
+func seatToolSubject(s Seat, verb, node string) string {
+	base := seatSubject(s, "tool", verb)
+	if s.Scope == "node" && node != "" {
+		return base + "." + node
+	}
+	return base
+}
+
 // consumerStream and consumerDurable are the two halves of a consumer's identity, and they are
 // two functions because conflating them was a real bug.
 //
@@ -514,7 +601,10 @@ func ComposeAccounts(principals []Principal) (string, error) {
 	// One account for the mesh: accounts in NATS isolate subject spaces entirely, and the mesh is
 	// one space (design 25 §4). The cost of that — that permissions are the only isolation — is
 	// paid in the scoping of every inbox and every ack subject.
-	b.WriteString("accounts {\n  MESH {\n    users = [\n")
+	// JetStream is enabled per account once accounts exist at all: with only the global block set,
+	// a user in MESH is told "JetStream not enabled for account" the first time it binds a
+	// consumer, which is the first thing every host does (2026-09-28).
+	b.WriteString("accounts {\n  MESH {\n    jetstream: enabled\n    users = [\n")
 	for _, p := range sorted {
 		perms, err := PermissionsFor(p)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -545,3 +635,41 @@ func quoted(values []string) string {
 	}
 	return strings.Join(out, ", ")
 }
+
+// invokedSubjects is the publish side of a grant to call tools: one subject per `<module>.<tool>`,
+// or the whole tool namespace for `*`. A person's authority and a module's `invokes` are both this
+// (novox/hq ADR 0152), so a malformed entry is refused in one place, before it could be widened into
+// something that happens to parse.
+func invokedSubjects(invokes []string) ([]string, error) {
+	var out []string
+	for _, t := range invokes {
+		if t == "*" {
+			// Every module's tools and every role's (novox/hq ADR 0132): a role's verb is a tool
+			// like any other, addressed to the seat instead of a module.
+			out = append(out, "mesh.mod.*.tool.>", "mesh.seat.*.tool.>")
+			continue
+		}
+		if rest, isSeat := strings.CutPrefix(t, "seat:"); isSeat {
+			// A role's tool, `seat:<seat>.<verb>`. Both address shapes, because the grant is
+			// written without knowing the seat's scope: a mesh seat's verb is flat and a node
+			// seat's carries the machine (design 33 §4).
+			seat, verb, ok := strings.Cut(rest, ".")
+			if !ok || seat == "" || verb == "" {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+					"%q does not name a role's tool: one invokes seat:<seat>.<verb>", t)
+			}
+			out = append(out, "mesh.seat."+seat+".tool."+verb, "mesh.seat."+seat+".tool."+verb+".*")
+			continue
+		}
+		module, tool, ok := strings.Cut(t, ".")
+		if !ok || module == "" || tool == "" {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+				"%q does not name a tool: one invokes <module>.<tool>, seat:<seat>.<verb>, or * for every one", t)
+		}
+		// Both ways a module's tool is addressed (novox/hq ADR 0159): to whichever instance
+		// answers, and to the instance on one machine, which is the same subject with the machine
+		// as its last token.
+		out = append(out, "mesh.mod."+module+".tool."+tool, "mesh.mod."+module+".tool."+tool+".*")
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package broker

 import (
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
@@ -70,6 +71,18 @@ func TestHoldingASeatIsTheMirrorOfUsingIt(t *testing.T) {
 	hasNot(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send")
 }

+// A build machine may say everything about a build as it happens (novox/hq ADR 0157): that it
+// started, and every line under the build's own id — the seat's `log.*` becomes a publish over
+// one token, so a reader follows one build by subject and the holder can name no other subject.
+func TestTheBuildMachineMaySayWhatItDoesUnderTheBuildsId(t *testing.T) {
+	seat := Seat{Name: "mesh-build-machine", Accepts: []string{"build"}, Emits: []string{"started", "built", "log.*"}}
+	perms, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "anchor", Module: "builder",
+		Holds: []Seat{seat}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.event.started")
+	has(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.event.log.*")
+	hasNot(t, perms.Publish, "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.event.>")
+}
+
 // Without an ack permission a durable consumer never really consumes: every message it receives is
 // redelivered forever, refused by the permission list it already has (design 25 §4).
 func TestAModuleMayAckItsOwnDeliveriesAndNoOthers(t *testing.T) {
@@ -89,17 +102,30 @@ func TestAnInboxIsScopedToItsOwner(t *testing.T) {
 }

 // A responder answers on the caller's inbox, which it has no permission for. allow_responses is
-// what makes a scoped inbox workable at all — the authority is bounded by having been asked.
-func TestOnlySomethingThatServesMayAnswer(t *testing.T) {
-	serving, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "billing",
-		Serves: []string{"status"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
-	if !serving.AllowResponses {
-		t.Fatal("a module serving a tool cannot answer the caller's inbox")
-	}
-	consumer, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "audit",
+// what makes a scoped inbox workable at all — the authority is bounded by having been asked. A
+// module is asked on its own namespace and may answer; a node and a person are never asked.
+func TestOnlyWhatCanBeAskedMayAnswer(t *testing.T) {
+	module, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "audit",
 		Consumes: []string{"shop.order.placed"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
-	if consumer.AllowResponses {
-		t.Fatal("a pure consumer was granted the right to answer, which nothing asked it to do")
+	if !module.AllowResponses {
+		t.Fatal("a module cannot answer a tool call on its own namespace")
+	}
+	node, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindNode, Node: "one", PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if node.AllowResponses {
+		t.Fatal("a node was granted the right to answer, and nothing asks a node anything")
+	}
+}
+
+// A module serves every tool under its own name, and no other module's.
+func TestAModuleServesItsOwnNamespaceAndNoOthers(t *testing.T) {
+	p, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "gitea", PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if !slices.Contains(p.Subscribe, "mesh.mod.gitea.tool.>") {
+		t.Fatalf("a module may not serve its own tools: %v", p.Subscribe)
+	}
+	for _, s := range p.Subscribe {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "mesh.mod.") && !strings.HasPrefix(s, "mesh.mod.gitea.") {
+			t.Fatalf("a module may subscribe another's namespace: %s", s)
+		}
 	}
 }

@@ -324,3 +350,24 @@ func admits(pattern, subject []string) bool {
 	}
 	return len(pattern) == len(subject)
 }
+
+// A module pulls its own consumer — asks about it, asks it for messages — and no other module's.
+func TestAModulePullsItsOwnConsumerAndNoOthers(t *testing.T) {
+	p, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "audit",
+		Consumes: []string{"shop.order.placed"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	for _, want := range []string{"$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.EVENTS.one_audit", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.EVENTS.one_audit"} {
+		if !slices.Contains(p.Publish, want) {
+			t.Errorf("a module cannot bind its own consumer: %v lacks %s", p.Publish, want)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, s := range p.Publish {
+		if strings.Contains(s, "CONSUMER.") && !strings.HasSuffix(s, ".one_audit") {
+			t.Errorf("a module may reach another consumer: %s", s)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, s := range p.Subscribe {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "_DELIVER.") {
+			t.Errorf("a module is granted a push delivery it never binds: %s", s)
+		}
+	}
+}
@@ -68,24 +68,16 @@ func BareAddress(address string) string {
 	return "nats://" + bare
 }

-// MustBeOneBus refuses a configuration that names both buses for the mesh's own traffic.
-//
-// **Both clients ship and that is the point; both being live is not.** The rollout moves every node
-// at once (ADR 0116 step 5): a mesh half on each is one where a declaration goes out on one bus and
-// the report comes back on the other, and nothing anywhere says so — every component would log
-// success. Refused at start, where it can be said in one sentence.
-func MustBeOneBus(amqp, nats string) error {
-	if strings.TrimSpace(amqp) != "" && strings.TrimSpace(nats) != "" {
-		return fmt.Errorf(
-			"this control plane is told about both buses (%s and %s) and can only be on one. A mesh "+
-				"half on each is one where a declaration goes out on one and the report comes back "+
-				"on the other, and every component reports success while it happens. The rollout "+
-				"moves every node at once: unset %s to stay, or unset %s to move",
-			AMQPVarName, NATSVar, NATSVar, AMQPVarName)
+// BusAddress is where the mesh's bus is, with this process's credential, and refuses to be empty:
+// there is one bus, and a control plane without it can hold records and answer nothing (novox/hq
+// ADR 0131, design 28 task 5.5).
+func BusAddress() (string, error) {
+	address, _, err := OnNATS()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
 	}
-	return nil
+	if address == "" {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("this control plane has no %s, so it cannot reach the mesh's bus", NATSVar)
+	}
+	return address, nil
 }
-
-// AMQPVarName is the variable naming the bus the mesh runs on today. Named here rather than
-// imported from the link package, for the one direction of dependency.
-const AMQPVarName = "MESH_BROKER_AMQP"
@@ -1,43 +1,11 @@
 package broker

 import (
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )

 // Which bus the mesh is on is one fact, and being told about both is refused.
 //
-// **Not a warning.** A mesh half on each bus is one where a declaration goes out on one and the
-// report comes back on the other, and every component reports success while it happens — which is
-// the exact failure ADR 0074 exists to catch, arriving through configuration instead of through code.
-func TestBeingToldAboutBothBusesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
-	err := MustBeOneBus("amqps://broker:5671/", "nats://bus:4222")
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("a control plane told about both buses was allowed to start")
-	}
-	// The remedy is in the words, because whoever reads this has to choose one and the wrong choice
-	// is a rollout half done.
-	for _, want := range []string{AMQPVarName, NATSVar, "unset"} {
-		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
-			t.Errorf("the refusal does not mention %s: %v", want, err)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-// One bus, or none, is ordinary. None is a control plane that publishes nothing and holds records,
-// which several of its own commands are.
-func TestOneBusOrNeitherIsAllowed(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, c := range []struct{ what, amqp, nats string }{
-		{"the bus the mesh runs on today", "amqps://broker:5671/", ""},
-		{"the bus being built", "", "nats://bus:4222"},
-		{"neither", "", ""},
-		{"neither, with whitespace for an address", "  ", "\t"},
-	} {
-		if err := MustBeOneBus(c.amqp, c.nats); err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("%s was refused: %v", c.what, err)
-		}
-	}
-}

 // The controller's own credential arrives in its address, and has to be readable out of it — its user
 // is created by the installer at a bootstrap password, before the controller exists to mint one.
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package broker
+
+import "testing"
+
+// A node-scoped seat's tool carries the node (novox/hq ADR 0132, design 33 §4): two nodes holding one
+// node-scoped seat derive two addresses, and a user of the seat may publish any node's.
+func TestTwoNodesHoldingOneNodeSeatDeriveTwoToolAddresses(t *testing.T) {
+	seat := Seat{Name: "node-dns-resolver", Scope: "node", Serves: []string{"lookup"}}
+	one, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "dnsmasq", Holds: []Seat{seat}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	two, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "two", Module: "dnsmasq", Holds: []Seat{seat}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	has(t, one.Subscribe, "mesh.seat.node-dns-resolver.tool.lookup.one")
+	has(t, two.Subscribe, "mesh.seat.node-dns-resolver.tool.lookup.two")
+	hasNot(t, one.Subscribe, "mesh.seat.node-dns-resolver.tool.lookup")
+	hasNot(t, one.Subscribe, "mesh.seat.node-dns-resolver.tool.lookup.two")
+
+	user, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "three", Module: "asker", Uses: []Seat{seat}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	has(t, user.Publish, "mesh.seat.node-dns-resolver.tool.lookup.*")
+}
+
+// A mesh-scoped seat's tool stays flat: nothing about it changes.
+func TestAMeshSeatsToolIsAddressedToTheSeatAlone(t *testing.T) {
+	seat := Seat{Name: "git", Scope: "mesh", Serves: []string{"list_repos"}}
+	holder, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "one", Module: "gitea", Holds: []Seat{seat}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	has(t, holder.Subscribe, "mesh.seat.git.tool.list_repos")
+	user, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "two", Module: "asker", Uses: []Seat{seat}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	has(t, user.Publish, "mesh.seat.git.tool.list_repos")
+}
+
+// The controller serves its own seat's verbs and may answer them (novox/hq ADR 0154).
+func TestTheControllerServesItsSeatsToolsAndMayAnswer(t *testing.T) {
+	perms, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindController, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, perms.Subscribe, "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool.>")
+	if !perms.AllowResponses {
+		t.Fatal("the controller serves tools and may not answer one")
+	}
+}
+
+// A grant to every tool reaches a role's tools too, and a role's tool is granted by name.
+func TestAGrantReachesARolesTools(t *testing.T) {
+	all, _ := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindModule, Node: "desk", Module: "mesh-console", Invokes: []string{"*"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	has(t, all.Publish, "mesh.seat.*.tool.>")
+
+	one, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindPerson, Module: "jo", Invokes: []string{"seat:mesh-controller.status"}, PasswordHash: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	has(t, one.Publish, "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool.status")
+	hasNot(t, one.Publish, "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool.push")
+	hasNot(t, one.Publish, "mesh.mod.*.tool.>")
+
+	if _, err := PermissionsFor(Principal{Kind: KindPerson, Module: "jo", Invokes: []string{"seat:mesh-controller"}, PasswordHash: "x"}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a role grant naming no verb was accepted")
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package broker_test
+
+import (
+	"slices"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// The facts the control plane states are named twice — in the grant that permits them and in the code
+// that states them — because `link` imports `broker` and the dependency cannot go the other way. So a
+// test keeps them agreeing: a subject the grant omits is refused at the moment the mesh has something
+// to say, and one the grant adds that nothing states is authority nobody uses.
+//
+// An external test package, because it may import both while neither imports the other.
+func TestTheFactsTheGrantPermitsAreTheFactsTheMeshStates(t *testing.T) {
+	if broker.ControllerSeat != link.MeshControllerSeat {
+		t.Fatalf("the grant is written for the %q seat and the mesh states its facts under %q",
+			broker.ControllerSeat, link.MeshControllerSeat)
+	}
+	for _, event := range []string{link.KeyApplied, link.KeyRefused, link.KeyBuiltBefore} {
+		if !slices.Contains(broker.ControllerStates, event) {
+			t.Errorf("the mesh states %q and its account may not publish it", event)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(broker.ControllerStates) != 3 {
+		t.Errorf("the grant permits %v, which is more than the mesh states", broker.ControllerStates)
+	}
+	// **And the seat says it.** A seat carries the protocol of its role (novox/hq ADR 0129), so the
+	// facts the control plane states are the seat's `emits` — which is what lets anything else declare
+	// that it consumes them, and what the subject-agreement check reads to know they have an owner.
+	var declared []string
+	for _, seat := range catalogue.SeatsWithAProtocol() {
+		if seat.Name == broker.ControllerSeat {
+			declared = seat.Emits
+		}
+	}
+	if !slices.Equal(declared, broker.ControllerStates) {
+		t.Errorf("the %s seat emits %v and the grant permits %v", broker.ControllerSeat,
+			declared, broker.ControllerStates)
+	}
+}
@@ -47,8 +47,14 @@ type Stream struct {
 	// Why is carried into the assertion so an operator reading the server's own state finds the
 	// reason there, rather than only in a repository they may not have.
 	Why string
+	// Direct lets a client read a subject's last message without a consumer, which is how a
+	// runtime reads its own membership with no JetStream API beyond one request (ADR 0160).
+	Direct bool
 }

+// AssignmentsStream holds every assignment's membership, the newest per subject.
+const AssignmentsStream = "ASSIGNMENTS"
+
 // MeshStreams is the foundation set, in the order a person reads it.
 //
 // **CONTROL names its subjects rather than taking `mesh.control.>`**, because heartbeats live
@@ -79,7 +85,15 @@ func MeshStreams() []Stream {
 				"n-1 by construction (issue 107)",
 		},
 		{
-			Name: "EVENTS",
+			Name:      AssignmentsStream,
+			Subjects:  []string{"mesh.assignment.*.*"},
+			Retention: RetentionLastPerSubject,
+			Direct:    true,
+			Why: "one membership per assignment, always the newest: what the mesh issued this module " +
+				"on this machine to serve and to reach (ADR 0160); read directly by the runtime it is for",
+		},
+		{
+			Name: EventsStream,
 			// A seat's own events ride here too: they are 1:many like any event, and the
 			// `event` token keeps them clear of both the seat's work queue (`accept`) and its
 			// tools (`tool`), which must not be persisted.
@@ -94,6 +108,24 @@ func MeshStreams() []Stream {
 	}
 }

+// DeliverSubjectFor is where a push consumer's messages land.
+//
+// **Per consumer, which means per stream as well as per name** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/146). A push
+// consumer delivers onto an ordinary subject, and everything subscribed to that subject gets a
+// copy. The controller holds a consumer called `controller` on CONTROL and another called
+// `controller` on EVENTS; while both were given `_DELIVER.controller`, the one process holding
+// both subscriptions acted on every message twice — a joining machine was enrolled twice from one
+// request, and the second enrolment minted a credential that replaced the one the machine had just
+// been handed. Every report and every followed event doubled the same way, silently: nothing is
+// redelivered, no count is wrong, the work simply happens twice.
+//
+// The stream belongs in it because the pair is what identifies a consumer — the server scopes a
+// durable's name to its stream, and this subject was the one place that scoping was dropped. It
+// stays inside what a controller may already subscribe (`_DELIVER.controller.>`).
+func DeliverSubjectFor(c Consumer) string {
+	return "_DELIVER." + c.Name + "." + c.Stream
+}
+
 // An Asserter is the part of a JetStream connection stream assertion needs. Narrow on purpose: it
 // keeps this testable without a server, and keeps the client library out of everything that only
 // wants to know what the streams are.
@@ -160,6 +192,17 @@ func Overlaps() []string {
 // ack subject is derived from (nats.go: `$JS.ACK.<stream>.controller.>`).
 const ControllerName = "controller"

+// ControllerSeat is the role the control plane holds, and ControllerStates are the facts it states
+// under it (novox/hq ADR 0134).
+//
+// **Written here as well as in `link`, and a test keeps them agreeing.** `link` imports `broker`, so
+// `broker` cannot import `link`; a grant naming a subject the controller never publishes is authority
+// nobody uses, and a controller publishing one the grant omits is refused at the moment it has
+// something to say.
+const ControllerSeat = "mesh-controller"
+
+var ControllerStates = []string{"applied", "refused", "built-before"}
+
 // ControllerFollows are the events the controller reacts to: the catalogue saying a module's
 // current version moved, and a catalogue that has just started saying it may have missed builds.
 //
@@ -175,6 +218,9 @@ var ControllerFollows = []string{
 	// message on the control branch. Same three audiences, one publish: whoever asked, this, and the
 	// catalogue.
 	seatEventSubject("mesh-build-machine", "built"),
+	// The forge's merges: what moved a source, so the mesh builds what that source produces
+	// without anybody telling it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131). Appended, because the index is a name.
+	moduleEventSubject("gitea", "pull.merged"),
 }

 // moduleEventSubject is where one module's event lands. The same derivation PermissionsFor uses, so
@@ -188,6 +234,9 @@ func seatEventSubject(seat, verb string) string {
 	return "mesh.seat." + seat + ".event." + verb
 }

+// EventsStream holds every module's and every role's events, a build's log among them.
+const EventsStream = "EVENTS"
+
 // MeshConsumers is what the controller consumes, in the order a person reads it.
 //
 // **Unlimited redelivery on CONTROL, deliberately.** The store window's bound is the controller's,
@@ -212,8 +261,13 @@ func MeshConsumers() []Consumer {
 			Push:           true,
 			AckWaitSeconds: 30,
 			MaxDeliver:     5,
-			Why: "the two events the mesh's own controller reacts to; after max-deliver it " +
-				"dead-letters, because an announcement it cannot act on will not become actionable",
+			// One at a time (novox/hq issue 175): acting on a merge builds for minutes, and an
+			// announcement handed over behind it must wait on the server, not time out on the
+			// client and come back to be acted on again.
+			MaxAckPending: 1,
+			Why: "the two events the mesh's own controller reacts to, one at a time; after " +
+				"max-deliver it dead-letters, because an announcement it cannot act on will not " +
+				"become actionable",
 		},
 	}
 }
@@ -123,9 +123,10 @@ func subjectMatches(filter, subject string) bool {
 // Each relationship's retention is the thing that makes it what it is (design 29 §4).
 func TestEachStreamCarriesTheRetentionItsShapeNeeds(t *testing.T) {
 	want := map[string]Retention{
-		"CONTROL": RetentionWorkQueue,
-		"NODES":   RetentionLastPerSubject,
-		"EVENTS":  RetentionLimits,
+		"CONTROL":     RetentionWorkQueue,
+		"NODES":       RetentionLastPerSubject,
+		"EVENTS":      RetentionLimits,
+		"ASSIGNMENTS": RetentionLastPerSubject,
 	}
 	got := map[string]Retention{}
 	for _, s := range MeshStreams() {
@@ -233,3 +234,41 @@ func containsStep(steps []string, want string) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+// **Two consumers may share a name, and must not share a delivery subject** (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/146).
+//
+// A push consumer delivers onto an ordinary subject and everything subscribed to it gets a copy.
+// The controller holds a consumer called `controller` on CONTROL and another called `controller` on
+// EVENTS; while both were given `_DELIVER.controller`, the one process holding both subscriptions
+// acted on every message twice — a joining machine enrolled twice from one request, with the second
+// enrolment minting a credential that replaced the one the machine had just been handed.
+//
+// Checked here rather than against a server because it is a property of what the mesh asks for, and
+// because the failure it produces is silent: every count is right, nothing is redelivered, and the
+// work simply happens twice.
+func TestNoTwoConsumersDeliverOntoTheSameSubject(t *testing.T) {
+	seen := map[string]string{}
+	for _, c := range MeshConsumers() {
+		if !c.Push && c.Queue == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		subject := DeliverSubjectFor(c)
+		if other, taken := seen[subject]; taken {
+			t.Errorf("%s on %s and %s deliver onto %s, so whoever holds both acts on every "+
+				"message twice", c.Name, c.Stream, other, subject)
+		}
+		seen[subject] = c.Name + " on " + c.Stream
+	}
+}
+
+// The controller's events consumer is handed one announcement at a time (novox/hq issue 175): a
+// merge's handler builds for minutes, and what is queued behind it must wait on the server rather
+// than time out on the client and be acted on twice.
+func TestTheControllerTakesOneAnnouncementAtATime(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range MeshConsumers() {
+		if c.Stream == "EVENTS" && c.Name == ControllerName && c.MaxAckPending != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("the events consumer may have %d outstanding; one announcement at a time", c.MaxAckPending)
+		}
+	}
+}
@@ -21,10 +21,11 @@ jetstream {

 accounts {
  MESH {
+    jetstream: enabled
    users = [
      { user: "controller", password: "$2a$11$cccccccccccccccccccccc", permissions: {
-        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.CONTROL.controller.>", "$JS.ACK.EVENTS.controller.>", "$JS.API.>", "_INBOX.enrol.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.node.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.accept.>"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["$JS.API.>", "_INBOX.controller.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.catching-up", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.upgraded", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.event.built"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.CONTROL.controller.>", "$JS.ACK.EVENTS.controller.>", "$JS.API.>", "_INBOX.enrol.>", "mesh.assignment.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.mod.*.tool.>", "mesh.node.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.accept.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.event.applied", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.event.built-before", "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.event.refused"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["$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.>"] }
        allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
      } }
      { user: "enrol.one", password: "$2a$11$eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee", permissions: {
@@ -32,21 +33,23 @@ accounts {
        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.enrol.one.>"] }
      } }
      { user: "node.one", password: "$2a$11$nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn", permissions: {
-        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.NODES.one.>", "mesh.control.one.>"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.node.one.>", "mesh.node.one.declare"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.NODES.one.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.NODES.one", "mesh.control.one.>"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["_DELIVER.one", "_DELIVER.one.>", "_INBOX.node.one.>", "mesh.node.one.declare"] }
      } }
      { user: "one.telegram", password: "$2a$11$tttttttttttttttttttttt", permissions: {
-        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.one_telegram.>", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.delivered", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.failed"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.one.telegram.>", "mesh.mod.telegram.tool.status", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$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.DIRECT.GET.ASSIGNMENTS.mesh.assignment.one.telegram", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.delivered", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.failed"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["_DELIVER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker", "_DELIVER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker.>", "_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: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_audit.>"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.two.audit.>", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$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"] }
+        allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
      } }
      { user: "two.shop", password: "$2a$11$ssssssssssssssssssssss", permissions: {
-        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_shop.>", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.two.shop.>"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$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.>"] }
+        allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
      } }
    ]
  }
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ type Declared struct {
 	Uses []Seat
 	// Watches are the seats whose events it consumes.
 	Watches []Seat
+	// Invokes are the tools it calls, `<module>.<tool>` or `*` (novox/hq ADR 0152).
+	Invokes []string
 }

 // Records is what composing a user list needs to know about the mesh, and nothing more.
@@ -45,6 +47,9 @@ type Records struct {
 	Enrolling []string
 	// People is each person's name against the tools they may invoke, `*` for an administrator.
 	People map[string][]string
+	// Interchangeable is each module whose definition says its instances are the same anywhere
+	// (ADR 0160), which decides whether the module's plain subject is issued to every instance.
+	Interchangeable map[string]bool
 }

 // Users is every user the composed file should contain, in the order it will be written.
@@ -61,7 +66,7 @@ func Users(r Records) ([]Principal, error) {
 			out = append(out, Principal{
 				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,
+				Holds: d.Holds, Uses: d.Uses, Watches: d.Watches, Invokes: d.Invokes,
 			})
 		}
 	}
@@ -186,7 +186,13 @@ func TestWhatTheMeshWritesIsUsersAndNothingAboutTheServer(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	// None of the server's own settings. Each of these in the mesh's file is a value the controller
 	// would then own, and the module could no longer change its own image without the mesh agreeing.
-	for _, absent := range []string{"port:", "http:", "jetstream", "tls {", "store_dir", "cert_file"} {
+	// `jetstream {` is the server's block (its store, its limits); `jetstream: enabled` inside the
+	// account is the account's, and the mesh owns the account — a user in it is told "JetStream
+	// not enabled for account" without it (2026-09-28).
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "jetstream: enabled") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not enable JetStream, so no user in it can bind a consumer")
+	}
+	for _, absent := range []string{"port:", "http:", "jetstream {", "tls {", "store_dir", "cert_file"} {
 		if strings.Contains(got, absent) {
 			t.Errorf("the accounts file contains %q, which belongs to the module that raises the "+
 				"server, not to the mesh", absent)
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package builder
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// The name a machine runs a binary by is not always the name of the package that built it. The host's
+// command is cmd/mesh-host and every machine runs it as nox-mesh-host — the path it is installed at,
+// the name in its unit, and the name its launcher looks for inside a delivered version.
+//
+// A bundle carrying the package's name was delivered to a machine correctly, reported "created … 1
+// file(s)", and was invisible to the launcher (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/142). Found by reading the delivered
+// directory rather than by trusting the line that said it worked.
+
+func TestACompiledArtifactNamesTheBinaryAMachineWillRun(t *testing.T) {
+	got := binaryName(catalogue.Artifact{
+		Name: "host-arch", From: "cmd/mesh-host", Binary: "nox-mesh-host",
+	})
+	if got != "nox-mesh-host" {
+		t.Fatalf("the binary is named %q, and the launcher looks for nox-mesh-host", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSayingNothingKeepsWhatTheCompilerWouldHaveChosen(t *testing.T) {
+	// go build names its output after the package, so an artifact that says nothing gets the same
+	// thing it got before this existed.
+	if got := binaryName(catalogue.Artifact{Name: "host-arch", From: "cmd/mesh-host"}); got != "mesh-host" {
+		t.Fatalf("an artifact naming no binary produced %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := binaryName(catalogue.Artifact{Name: "host-arch", From: "./cmd/agent/"}); got != "agent" {
+		t.Fatalf("a from with slashes produced %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestABundleBuiltFromTheModuleRootFallsBackToItsArtifactName(t *testing.T) {
+	// A single-command repository names no package, and `go build -o <dir>` would then write a file
+	// named after the module directory — which is not something the manifest states. The artifact's
+	// own name is what the manifest does state.
+	if got := binaryName(catalogue.Artifact{Name: "tool"}); got != "tool" {
+		t.Fatalf("a bundle built from the root produced %q", got)
+	}
+}
@@ -61,6 +61,12 @@ type Result struct {
 	Commit string
 	// Built is each artifact, for reporting.
 	Built []catalogue.Built
+
+	// Read is every repository this build read source from besides the module's own — the second
+	// repository an artifact's recipe names (ArtifactContext). Reported because the manifest the
+	// mesh keeps carries no build section, so nothing else could say that a merge there is a
+	// change to this module (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+	Read []catalogue.ArtifactContext
 }

 // GitCredential is the forge credential a clone may present when the server asks for one.
@@ -84,7 +90,13 @@ type GitCredential struct {
 // records — reachable, unreferenced, and indistinguishable from something in use.
 func Build(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 	repository, path, ref, workspace string, held map[string]string, npmrc Npmrc,
-	forge GitCredential, log Log) (Result, error) {
+	forge GitCredential, log Log, seats ...map[string]string) (Result, error) {
+	// The clone base of each seat a context may name (novox/hq ADR 0155); variadic so the callers
+	// that hand none — tests of everything but contexts — read as they did.
+	var seatBases map[string]string
+	if len(seats) > 0 {
+		seatBases = seats[0]
+	}

 	say := logging(log)
 	say("clone", "%s%s at %s", repository, describePath(path), refOrHead(ref))
@@ -169,6 +181,8 @@ func Build(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 	}

 	var built []catalogue.Built
+	// stoodOn is every base the build was handed, as resolved — the edges the catalogue derives.
+	var stoodOn []string
 	if manifest.Build != nil {
 		// What this module said it stands on, answered with what this mesh actually holds. Done
 		// before anything is built, so a missing base is refused in front of the person who can
@@ -186,11 +200,12 @@ func Build(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 			}
 			return from, nil
 		}
-		args, err := standingOn(ctx, manifest, held, mirror)
+		args, bases, err := standingOn(ctx, manifest, held, mirror)
 		if err != nil {
 			say("bases", "UNMET: %v", err)
 			return Result{}, err
 		}
+		stoodOn = bases
 		if len(args) > 0 {
 			say("bases", "%d resolved from what the mesh holds", len(args)/2)
 		}
@@ -200,7 +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, say)
+			made, err := one(ctx, run, publish, manifest.Module, within, workspace, commit, credentials, a, args, held, npmrcPath, seatBases, say)
 			if err != nil {
 				say("artifact", "%s FAILED: %v", a.Name, err)
 				return Result{}, err
@@ -217,7 +232,7 @@ func Build(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 	}
 	say("done", "%s at %s — %d artifact(s) pinned", manifest.Module, short(commit), len(built))
 	return Result{Manifest: resolved, Commit: commit, Built: built,
-		Against: against(within, manifest)}, nil
+		Against: against(within, manifest, stoodOn), Read: readBy(manifest)}, nil
 }

 // Log is where a build says what it is doing, step by step. Nil is silent — the tests pass none,
@@ -237,14 +252,18 @@ func logging(log Log) func(step, format string, args ...any) {
 // module's own repository — a fresh tree, the same way the module's own is, keyed by artifact
 // name so two artifacts of one module naming different contexts do not collide.
 func contextFrom(ctx context.Context, run Runner, workspace, artifact, credentials string,
-	from catalogue.ArtifactContext, say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (string, error) {
-	say("context", "cloning %s at %s for %s", from.Repository, refOrHead(from.Ref), artifact)
+	from catalogue.ArtifactContext, seats map[string]string, say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (string, error) {
+	url, err := contextURL(from, seats)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	say("context", "cloning %s at %s for %s", url, refOrHead(from.Ref), artifact)
 	dir := filepath.Join(workspace, "context-"+artifact)
 	if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	if _, err := run(ctx, workspace, "git", cloneWith(credentials, "clone", "--quiet", from.Repository, dir)...); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("cannot clone %s: %w", from.Repository, err)
+	if _, err := run(ctx, workspace, "git", cloneWith(credentials, "clone", "--quiet", url, dir)...); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("cannot clone %s: %w", url, err)
 	}
 	if from.Ref != "" {
 		if _, err := run(ctx, dir, "git", "checkout", "--quiet", from.Ref); err != nil {
@@ -255,6 +274,23 @@ func contextFrom(ctx context.Context, run Runner, workspace, artifact, credentia
 	return dir, nil
 }

+// contextURL is what a context is cloned from: its URL, or — for a context on a seat — the seat's
+// clone base the mesh sent with the request joined to the repository's path (novox/hq ADR 0155).
+// Refused, never guessed, when the mesh sent no base for that seat: a builder that guessed a forge
+// would be the literal this removes, one layer down.
+func contextURL(from catalogue.ArtifactContext, seats map[string]string) (string, error) {
+	if from.Seat == "" {
+		return from.Repository, nil
+	}
+	base, told := seats[from.Seat]
+	if !told || base == "" {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("the context is %s on the %s seat, and this build was told no clone "+
+			"base for that seat — nothing holds it in this mesh, or the control plane predates the word",
+			from.Repository, from.Seat)
+	}
+	return strings.TrimRight(base, "/") + "/" + strings.TrimSuffix(strings.Trim(from.Repository, "/"), ".git") + ".git", nil
+}
+
 // cloneWith is a git invocation that may offer a stored credential.
 //
 // The first `-c credential.helper=` clears every helper the environment might carry, so exactly
@@ -339,14 +375,27 @@ func describe(path string) string {
 // allowed to name — a tag is something somebody else can move under you.
 var pinnedImage = regexp.MustCompile(`[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9._/:-]*@sha256:[0-9a-f]{64}`)

-// against reads what this module's image artifacts are built on top of, out of the files that
-// build them. Nothing is guessed: a reference that is not written down is not reported.
-func against(within string, manifest catalogue.Manifest) []string {
+// against is what this module's image artifacts are built on top of: every base the mesh resolved
+// and handed the recipe as a build argument (`build.on`), and any image a recipe pins by digest
+// itself. Nothing is guessed: a reference that was neither resolved nor written down is not
+// reported.
+//
+// **The resolved bases are the edges.** A recipe reads its base from an argument (`FROM
+// ${RUNTIME_BASE}`), so the digest is never in the file, and a derivation that read files alone
+// recorded no edge for any module on the mesh — which is why nothing knew what a changed base
+// meant to rebuild (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+func against(within string, manifest catalogue.Manifest, resolved []string) []string {
 	if manifest.Build == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
 	seen := map[string]bool{}
 	var out []string
+	for _, r := range resolved {
+		if r != "" && !seen[r] {
+			seen[r] = true
+			out = append(out, r)
+		}
+	}
 	for _, a := range manifest.Build.Artifacts {
 		if a.Kind != catalogue.ArtifactImage || a.From == "" {
 			continue
@@ -394,7 +443,8 @@ 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, say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (catalogue.Built, error) {
+	held map[string]string, npmrc string, seats map[string]string,
+	say func(step, format string, args ...any)) (catalogue.Built, error) {

 	switch a.Kind {
 	case catalogue.ArtifactUpstream:
@@ -471,7 +521,7 @@ func one(ctx context.Context, run Runner, publish Publisher,
 		recipePath := a.From
 		buildDir := tree
 		if a.Context != nil {
-			cloned, err := contextFrom(ctx, run, workspace, a.Name, credentials, *a.Context, say)
+			cloned, err := contextFrom(ctx, run, workspace, a.Name, credentials, *a.Context, seats, say)
 			if err != nil {
 				return catalogue.Built{}, fmt.Errorf("%s: %s's context: %w", module, a.Name, err)
 			}
@@ -669,6 +719,21 @@ func short(commit string) string {
 	return commit
 }

+// Said is where the lines Command speaks go, beside the build's own Log: what runs, how long it
+// took, and that it failed. Nil prints them to stderr, as a build machine with nobody listening
+// should. The machine sets it per build so every line reaches the bus too (novox/hq ADR 0157) —
+// the step is "run", and the message is the line as it has always been printed.
+var Said Log
+
+func tell(step, format string, args ...any) {
+	message := fmt.Sprintf(format, args...)
+	if Said == nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  %s\n", message)
+		return
+	}
+	Said(step, message)
+}
+
 // Command is a Runner that actually runs things.
 func Command(ctx context.Context, dir, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
 	// **Every command is echoed before it runs**, with where. On a build that hangs, the last line
@@ -676,16 +741,23 @@ func Command(ctx context.Context, dir, name string, args ...string) (string, err
 	// nothing" and "git clone is waiting on a network that will not answer". Silent on success is
 	// what made an empty workspace unreadable.
 	started := timeNow()
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  $ (%s) %s %s\n", short(filepath.Base(dir)), name, strings.Join(args, " "))
+	tell("run", "$ (%s) %s %s", short(filepath.Base(dir)), name, strings.Join(args, " "))
 	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, name, args...)
 	cmd.Dir = dir
 	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  ! %s %s failed after %s\n", name, args[0], since(started))
+		tell("run", "! %s %s failed after %s", name, args[0], since(started))
+		// The command's own output is part of what a reader needs — the compiler's error, the
+		// clone's refusal — and a line per output line keeps it readable on the bus.
+		for _, line := range strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(string(out)), "\n") {
+			if line != "" {
+				tell("output", "%s", line)
+			}
+		}
 		return string(out), fmt.Errorf("%s %s: %w\n%s",
 			name, strings.Join(args, " "), err, strings.TrimSpace(string(out)))
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  ✓ %s %s (%s)\n", name, firstArg(args), since(started))
+	tell("run", "✓ %s %s (%s)", name, firstArg(args), since(started))
 	return string(out), nil
 }

@@ -704,40 +776,42 @@ var _ io.Writer = (*stringWriter)(nil)
 // built cannot be built here yet, and the useful sentence names which module is missing — not the
 // one a container runtime produces when a recipe's first line refers to an image nobody has.
 //
-// The order is fixed so two builds of one commit invoke the same command.
+// The order is fixed so two builds of one commit invoke the same command. Returned alongside the
+// arguments is every reference they resolved to, which is what the build stood on.
 func standingOn(ctx context.Context, manifest catalogue.Manifest, held map[string]string,
-	mirror func(ctx context.Context, from, repository string) (string, error)) ([]string, error) {
+	mirror func(ctx context.Context, from, repository string) (string, error)) ([]string, []string, error) {
 	if manifest.Build == nil || len(manifest.Build.On) == 0 {
-		return nil, nil
+		return nil, nil, nil
 	}
 	on := append([]catalogue.BuildsOn{}, manifest.Build.On...)
 	sort.Slice(on, func(i, j int) bool { return on[i].Arg < on[j].Arg })

-	var args []string
+	var args, resolved []string
 	for _, base := range on {
 		if base.Image != "" {
 			// A vendor's image, declared (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/064, ADR 0097). Pinned, because a tag
 			// is what somebody else can move; copied into the mesh's registry, because a build
 			// that reaches a public registry on its own is a build that works sometimes.
 			if base.Arg == "" || base.Module != "" || base.Artifact != "" {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+				return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf(
 					"%s stands on the image %s, and a base is either a module's artifact or an "+
 						"image — never both — read from one build argument", manifest.Module, base.Image)
 			}
 			if !strings.Contains(base.Image, "@sha256:") {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+				return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf(
 					"%s stands on the image %q, which is not pinned by digest. A tag is what "+
 						"somebody else can move; name it as <image>@sha256:…", manifest.Module, base.Image)
 			}
 			reference, err := mirror(ctx, base.Image, manifest.Module+"/on-"+strings.ToLower(base.Arg))
 			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s stands on %s: %w", manifest.Module, base.Image, err)
+				return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("%s stands on %s: %w", manifest.Module, base.Image, err)
 			}
 			args = append(args, "--build-arg", base.Arg+"="+reference)
+			resolved = append(resolved, reference)
 			continue
 		}
 		if base.Arg == "" || base.Module == "" || base.Artifact == "" {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf(
 				"%s says its build stands on something, and does not say all of what: a base "+
 					"needs the module, the artifact, and the build argument the recipe reads it "+
 					"from", manifest.Module)
@@ -745,14 +819,15 @@ func standingOn(ctx context.Context, manifest catalogue.Manifest, held map[strin
 		key := base.Module + "/" + base.Artifact
 		reference, has := held[key]
 		if !has {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf(
 				"%s builds on %s, and this mesh has not built it. Build %s first — every module "+
 					"in this toolchain stands on it, so it is the thing to have before anything "+
 					"else", manifest.Module, key, base.Module)
 		}
 		args = append(args, "--build-arg", base.Arg+"="+reference)
+		resolved = append(resolved, reference)
 	}
-	return args, nil
+	return args, resolved, nil
 }

 // compile runs a module's own code through its toolchain, and says where the result is.
@@ -836,6 +911,15 @@ func compile(ctx context.Context, run Runner, tree string, chain Toolchain,
 	// each other and then be packed together, so each bundle compiles and packs alone.
 	out := Out(a.Name)

+	// **The output directory exists before the compiler is told about it.** `tsc --outDir` makes
+	// one; `go build -o` writes a file into a directory and does not create it, failing with a
+	// message about a path rather than about a build. Made here for every toolchain, because which
+	// compilers happen to be forgiving is not a thing a reader should have to know
+	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/142).
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(tree, out), 0o755); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("making the output directory for %s: %w", a.Name, err)
+	}
+
 	invocation := []string{
 		"run", "--rm",
 		"--volume", tree + ":" + within,
@@ -843,13 +927,43 @@ func compile(ctx context.Context, run Runner, tree string, chain Toolchain,
 		base,
 	}
 	invocation = append(invocation, chain.Compile...)
+	// **One `-ldflags`, composed here.** A repeated flag is not a merged one: the Go command takes
+	// the last and drops the first, so passing the toolchain's flags and then the system stamp as a
+	// second `-ldflags` produced a binary that knew its system and had lost `-s -w` — half again the
+	// size, with its debug info (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/161).
+	//
+	// What it was built for is the one thing taken from the artifact, and ADR 0142 says why: the
+	// target is a property of the artifact rather than of the recipe. A host with no system refuses
+	// every declaration before it applies anything.
+	linker := append([]string(nil), chain.LinkerFlags...)
+	if chain.SystemStamp != "" && strings.TrimSpace(a.System) != "" {
+		linker = append(linker, "-X", chain.SystemStamp+"="+strings.TrimSpace(a.System))
+	}
+	if len(linker) > 0 {
+		invocation = append(invocation, "-ldflags", strings.Join(linker, " "))
+	}
 	if chain.OutputFlag != "" {
-		invocation = append(invocation, chain.OutputFlag, out)
+		// A compiler pointed at a package is told the file to write, not the directory: the name a
+		// machine runs it by is not always the name of the package that built it. The host's command
+		// is `cmd/mesh-host` and every machine runs it as `nox-mesh-host` — so a bundle carrying the
+		// package's name lands correctly, reports success, and is invisible to whatever looks for it
+		// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/142).
+		target := out
+		if chain.Unit == UnitPackage {
+			target = filepath.Join(out, binaryName(a))
+		}
+		invocation = append(invocation, chain.OutputFlag, target)
 	}
 	// What to compile. Named by the module rather than discovered, so adding a file does not
 	// silently change what a build produces.
-	if len(a.Entrypoints) > 0 {
-		invocation = append(invocation, sourcesFor(a.Entrypoints, out)...)
+	switch {
+	case chain.Unit == UnitPackage:
+		// One directory, compiled whole: the thing the artifact is built `from`. Relative, because
+		// the compiler runs with the module's own root as its working directory and a package path
+		// that looked absolute would name one inside the toolchain image.
+		invocation = append(invocation, "./"+strings.Trim(a.From, "./"))
+	case len(a.Entrypoints) > 0:
+		invocation = append(invocation, sourcesFor(a.Entrypoints, out, chain.SourceExt)...)
 	}
 	if _, err := run(ctx, tree, "docker", invocation...); err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -862,14 +976,16 @@ func compile(ctx context.Context, run Runner, tree string, chain Toolchain,
 // A module names what a tool host should LOAD — compiled paths under the bundle's root — because
 // that is the thing anything else needs to know. What to compile is the same list with the
 // language's own extension, which is the toolchain's business rather than the module's.
-func sourcesFor(entrypoints []string, out string) []string {
+func sourcesFor(entrypoints []string, out, ext string) []string {
 	sources := make([]string, 0, len(entrypoints))
 	for _, e := range entrypoints {
 		// An entrypoint is named as it will be FOUND — a path inside the unpacked bundle — so the
 		// source is the same path with the output directory taken off the front and the language's
-		// own extension on the end.
+		// own extension on the end. **The extension is the toolchain's**, where it used to be the
+		// literal `.ts`: one language's file extension written into the code that serves every
+		// language is a wall the next one hits (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/142).
 		at := strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(e, out), "/")
-		sources = append(sources, strings.TrimSuffix(at, filepath.Ext(at))+".ts")
+		sources = append(sources, strings.TrimSuffix(at, filepath.Ext(at))+ext)
 	}
 	return sources
 }
@@ -997,3 +1113,43 @@ func instructions(recipe string) []string {
 	flush()
 	return out
 }
+
+// readBy is every repository other than the module's own that this build's recipes read source from,
+// each once and in a fixed order, so two builds of one commit report the same thing the same way.
+func readBy(manifest catalogue.Manifest) []catalogue.ArtifactContext {
+	if manifest.Build == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	var out []catalogue.ArtifactContext
+	for _, a := range manifest.Build.Artifacts {
+		if a.Context == nil || a.Context.Repository == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		key := a.Context.Repository + "#" + a.Context.Ref
+		if seen[key] {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[key] = true
+		out = append(out, *a.Context)
+	}
+	sort.Slice(out, func(i, j int) bool {
+		if out[i].Repository != out[j].Repository {
+			return out[i].Repository < out[j].Repository
+		}
+		return out[i].Ref < out[j].Ref
+	})
+	return out
+}
+
+// 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 := strings.TrimSpace(a.Binary); name != "" {
+		return name
+	}
+	if from := strings.Trim(a.From, "./"); from != "" {
+		return filepath.Base(from)
+	}
+	return a.Name
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package builder
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// A context on a seat is cloned from the base the mesh sent, joined to the repository's path; a
+// context by URL is itself; a seat the mesh sent no base for is refused by name (novox/hq ADR 0155).
+func TestAContextOnASeatIsClonedFromTheBaseTheMeshSent(t *testing.T) {
+	seats := map[string]string{"git": "http://forge.example.tld:3000"}
+	got, err := contextURL(catalogue.ArtifactContext{Seat: "git", Repository: "org/controller"}, seats)
+	if err != nil || got != "http://forge.example.tld:3000/org/controller.git" {
+		t.Fatalf("got %q, %v", got, err)
+	}
+	got, err = contextURL(catalogue.ArtifactContext{Repository: "https://elsewhere.example/x.git"}, seats)
+	if err != nil || got != "https://elsewhere.example/x.git" {
+		t.Fatalf("a URL context was changed: %q, %v", got, err)
+	}
+	_, err = contextURL(catalogue.ArtifactContext{Seat: "git", Repository: "org/controller"}, nil)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "git seat") {
+		t.Fatalf("a seat with no base was not refused by name: %v", err)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package builder
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// Nothing could compile the mesh's own components, which is why nothing delivers the host
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/142, and ADR 0141's own insight naming it). The toolchain list was a closed
+// set of typescript and python, and two things in the path beyond it assumed TypeScript.
+
+func TestTheMeshCanCompileGo(t *testing.T) {
+	chain, err := ToolchainFor("go")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// Named, not pinned: the mesh answers with the copy it holds, so moving compiler is a build
+	// rather than an edit to this source (ADR 0044, 0142).
+	if chain.Base != "mesh-tools-go" || chain.Artifact != "build" {
+		t.Fatalf("the go toolchain is based on %s/%s", chain.Base, chain.Artifact)
+	}
+	joined := strings.Join(chain.Compile, " ")
+	// Static, because what a machine holds is a file and not a container: a binary needing a libc
+	// it did not bring is a delivery that works until a machine differs.
+	if !strings.Contains(joined, "CGO_ENABLED=0") {
+		t.Fatalf("the go toolchain does not build statically: %q", joined)
+	}
+	// Reproducible: a version comes from where a component sits, not from its linker (ADR 0142),
+	// so two builds of one commit should produce the same bytes.
+	if !strings.Contains(joined, "-trimpath") {
+		t.Fatalf("the go toolchain leaves build paths in the binary: %q", joined)
+	}
+	if chain.Unit != UnitPackage {
+		t.Fatalf("the go toolchain compiles %q, wanted a package", chain.Unit)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEveryToolchainSaysWhatItIsPointedAt(t *testing.T) {
+	// The field exists because the compile path used to assume one language. A toolchain that says
+	// nothing would fall through to the entrypoint branch and compile a file list, which for a
+	// compiled language builds a program out of exactly those files and ignores the rest of the
+	// package — a missing symbol rather than a legible refusal.
+	for _, chain := range toolchains {
+		switch chain.Unit {
+		case UnitPackage:
+		case UnitSources:
+			if chain.SourceExt == "" {
+				t.Fatalf("%s compiles a file list and names no source extension", chain.Language)
+			}
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(chain.SourceExt, ".") {
+				t.Fatalf("%s's source extension %q is not an extension", chain.Language, chain.SourceExt)
+			}
+		default:
+			t.Fatalf("%s says it is pointed at %q, which is neither sources nor a package",
+				chain.Language, chain.Unit)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnEntrypointBecomesASourceInItsOwnLanguage(t *testing.T) {
+	// It used to become a `.ts` whatever the language was.
+	out := Out("build")
+	got := sourcesFor([]string{out + "/tools/index.js"}, out, ".ts")
+	if len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "tools/index.ts" {
+		t.Fatalf("a typescript entrypoint became %v", got)
+	}
+	got = sourcesFor([]string{out + "/tools/index.js"}, out, ".py")
+	if len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "tools/index.py" {
+		t.Fatalf("a python entrypoint became %v", got)
+	}
+}
@@ -180,6 +180,20 @@ func (r Registry) MirrorImage(ctx context.Context, from, repository string) (str
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
+	// **Already held is already mirrored.** A base is named by digest, and a digest this registry
+	// holds under the module's repository is the same bytes whatever upstream would say — so
+	// upstream is not asked. Asked every build, the public hub's anonymous pull limit was reached
+	// on the first merge that rebuilt a whole catalogue (2026-09-28), and every module whose base
+	// lives there failed on a copy it did not need.
+	if strings.HasPrefix(where.reference, "sha256:") {
+		held, err := r.has(ctx, "http://"+r.Address+"/v2/"+repository+"/manifests/"+where.reference, manifestAccept)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("asking %s whether it holds %s: %w", r.Address, from, err)
+		}
+		if held {
+			return r.Address + "/" + repository + "@" + where.reference, nil
+		}
+	}
 	src := &source{client: r.client()}
 	digest, err := r.copyManifest(ctx, src, where, where.reference, repository)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -103,6 +103,20 @@ func (m *theMeshsRegistry) handler() http.Handler {
 		m.mu.Lock()
 		defer m.mu.Unlock()
 		switch {
+		case r.Method == http.MethodHead && strings.Contains(r.URL.Path, "/manifests/"):
+			// **As strictly as a real registry.** A manifest is answered only in a media type the
+			// caller named; a request with no Accept is answered as if nothing were there. The fake
+			// used to answer regardless, which is why it could not catch a check that asked without
+			// one — and the mesh copied every base again (2026-09-28).
+			if !strings.Contains(r.Header.Get("Accept"), "manifest") && !strings.Contains(r.Header.Get("Accept"), "index") {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+				return
+			}
+			if _, ok := m.manifests[r.URL.Path[strings.LastIndex(r.URL.Path, "/")+1:]]; ok {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+			} else {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+			}
 		case r.Method == http.MethodHead && strings.Contains(r.URL.Path, "/blobs/"):
 			if _, ok := m.blobs[r.URL.Path[strings.LastIndex(r.URL.Path, "/")+1:]]; ok {
 				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
@@ -219,3 +233,27 @@ func TestATagBeforeTheDigestIsNotPartOfTheRepository(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("got %+v", got)
 	}
 }
+
+// A base this registry already holds by digest is not asked of upstream at all: the public hub
+// limits anonymous pulls, and a catalogue rebuilt on one merge asked it once per module.
+func TestABaseAlreadyHeldIsNotAskedOfUpstream(t *testing.T) {
+	src, indexDigest, _ := anUpstreamRegistry(t)
+	dst := &theMeshsRegistry{blobs: map[string][]byte{}, manifests: map[string][]byte{}}
+	dstServer := httptest.NewServer(dst.handler())
+	defer dstServer.Close()
+	address := strings.TrimPrefix(dstServer.URL, "http://")
+	r := Registry{Address: address, HTTP: src.Client()}
+	host := strings.TrimPrefix(src.URL, "http://")
+	if _, err := r.MirrorImage(context.Background(), host+"/library/thing:latest", "hello-web/server"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// Upstream gone: the pinned base is answered from what the mesh holds.
+	src.Close()
+	reference, err := r.MirrorImage(context.Background(), host+"/library/thing@"+indexDigest, "hello-web/server")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a base the registry holds was asked of an upstream that is gone: %v", err)
+	}
+	if reference != address+"/hello-web/server@"+indexDigest {
+		t.Fatalf("pinned as %q", reference)
+	}
+}
@@ -122,11 +122,23 @@ func (r Registry) PublishArchive(ctx context.Context, repository string, body []
 	return final, nil
 }

-func (r Registry) has(ctx context.Context, url string) (bool, error) {
+// has is whether this registry already holds what is at that URL.
+//
+// **A manifest HEAD must say what it accepts.** A registry answers a manifest request only in a media
+// type the caller named, and a bare HEAD — no Accept at all — is answered 404 for a manifest it holds
+// perfectly well. Measured against the mesh's own registry (2026-09-28): the same digest answered 200
+// with the manifest media types and 404 without them, so a check written without them concluded the
+// registry held nothing, copied every base again, and exhausted the public hub's pull limit. A blob
+// needs no Accept, which is why this went unnoticed: the same helper was right for blobs and wrong
+// for manifests.
+func (r Registry) has(ctx context.Context, url string, accept ...string) (bool, error) {
 	request, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodHead, url, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
+	for _, media := range accept {
+		request.Header.Add("Accept", media)
+	}
 	response, err := r.client().Do(request)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("cannot reach the registry at %s: %w", r.Address, err)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func TestABaseTheMeshHasNotBuiltIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 			On: []catalogue.BuildsOn{{Arg: "RUNTIME_BASE", Module: "mesh-tools", Artifact: "runtime"}},
 		},
 	}
-	_, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, map[string]string{}, noMirror)
+	_, _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, map[string]string{}, noMirror)
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("a base nothing has built was accepted; the build would have failed on its first line")
 	}
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func TestABaseTheMeshHoldsBecomesABuildArgument(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	held := map[string]string{"mesh-tools/runtime": "127.0.0.1:5000/mesh-tools/runtime@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64)}
-	args, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, held, noMirror)
+	args, _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, held, noMirror)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("a base this mesh holds was refused: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func TestABaseTheMeshHoldsBecomesABuildArgument(t *testing.T) {

 // A module naming no base asks for nothing, which is most modules.
 func TestAModuleNamingNoBaseAddsNoArguments(t *testing.T) {
-	args, err := standingOn(context.Background(), catalogue.Manifest{Module: "hello-web", Build: &catalogue.Build{}}, nil, noMirror)
+	args, _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), catalogue.Manifest{Module: "hello-web", Build: &catalogue.Build{}}, nil, noMirror)
 	if err != nil || args != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("a module naming no base produced %v, %v", args, err)
 	}
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func TestAnIncompleteBaseIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 		Module: "postgres",
 		Build:  &catalogue.Build{On: []catalogue.BuildsOn{{Module: "mesh-tools", Artifact: "runtime"}}},
 	}
-	if _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, map[string]string{"mesh-tools/runtime": "x"}, noMirror); err == nil {
+	if _, _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, map[string]string{"mesh-tools/runtime": "x"}, noMirror); err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("a base with no build argument was accepted; nothing would have read it")
 	}
 }
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func TestADeclaredVendorImageIsCopiedInAndHandedToTheRecipe(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	var asked []string
-	args, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, nil, func(_ context.Context, from, repository string) (string, error) {
+	args, _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, nil, func(_ context.Context, from, repository string) (string, error) {
 		asked = append(asked, from+" -> "+repository)
 		return "127.0.0.1:5000/" + repository + "@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("d", 64), nil
 	})
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func TestADeclaredVendorImageIsCopiedInAndHandedToTheRecipe(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	// Unpinned, it is refused: a tag is what somebody else can move.
 	manifest.Build.On[0].Image = "quay.io/minio/mc:latest"
-	if _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, nil, noMirror); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "not pinned") {
+	if _, _, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, nil, noMirror); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "not pinned") {
 		t.Fatalf("an unpinned vendor image was accepted: %v", err)
 	}
 }
@@ -151,3 +151,52 @@ func TestARecipeIsReadAsInstructions(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a heredoc line or a continued stage was read as a base: %v", bases)
 	}
 }
+
+// What a build was handed as its bases is what it stood on — recorded, so a changed base knows what
+// to rebuild (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131). A recipe reads the base from an argument, so nothing else
+// could know.
+func TestTheBasesABuildWasHandedAreWhatItStoodOn(t *testing.T) {
+	manifest := catalogue.Manifest{
+		Module: "gitea",
+		Build: &catalogue.Build{
+			On: []catalogue.BuildsOn{
+				{Arg: "RUNTIME_BASE", Module: "mesh-tools", Artifact: "runtime"},
+				{Arg: "BUILD_BASE", Module: "mesh-tools", Artifact: "build"},
+			},
+			Artifacts: []catalogue.Artifact{{Name: "runtime", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactImage, From: "Dockerfile"}},
+		},
+	}
+	held := map[string]string{
+		"mesh-tools/runtime": "127.0.0.1:5000/mesh-tools/runtime@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
+		"mesh-tools/build":   "127.0.0.1:5000/mesh-tools/build@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("b", 64),
+	}
+	_, resolved, err := standingOn(context.Background(), manifest, held, noMirror)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got := against(t.TempDir(), manifest, resolved)
+	if len(got) != 2 || got[0] != held["mesh-tools/build"] || got[1] != held["mesh-tools/runtime"] {
+		t.Fatalf("the bases the build was handed were not what it stood on: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// What a build read besides its module's own repository is the second repository its recipes name,
+// each once: a module that packages source living elsewhere is affected when that source moves.
+func TestWhatABuildReadIsTheRepositoriesItsRecipesName(t *testing.T) {
+	elsewhere := catalogue.ArtifactContext{Repository: "http://forge.internal:20000/novox/mesh-controller.git", Ref: "main"}
+	manifest := catalogue.Manifest{
+		Module: "builder",
+		Build: &catalogue.Build{Artifacts: []catalogue.Artifact{
+			{Name: "server", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactImage, From: "Dockerfile", Context: &elsewhere},
+			{Name: "tools", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactImage, From: "Dockerfile", Context: &elsewhere},
+			{Name: "config", Kind: catalogue.ArtifactArchive, From: "etc"},
+		}},
+	}
+	read := readBy(manifest)
+	if len(read) != 1 || read[0] != elsewhere {
+		t.Fatalf("the repositories this build read are %+v", read)
+	}
+	if readBy(catalogue.Manifest{Module: "gitea", Build: &catalogue.Build{}}) != nil {
+		t.Fatal("a module whose recipes name no other repository read one")
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+package builder
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A host built without knowing its system refuses every declaration before applying anything —
+// safely, totally, and with nothing reporting it. The mesh built one, delivered it, started it, and
+// it would have refused the first thing it was asked to do (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/161).
+
+func TestTheGoToolchainStampsTheArtifactsSystem(t *testing.T) {
+	chain, err := ToolchainFor("go")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if chain.SystemStamp != "main.builtFor" {
+		t.Fatalf("the go toolchain fills %q", chain.SystemStamp)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestALanguageWithNoPinnedSystemStampsNothing(t *testing.T) {
+	// Interpreted output is not pinned to a system, and a manifest declaring one for it is already
+	// refused. Nothing to fill.
+	for _, language := range []string{"typescript", "python"} {
+		chain, err := ToolchainFor(language)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if chain.SystemStamp != "" {
+			t.Fatalf("%s fills %q, and its output is not pinned to a system",
+				language, chain.SystemStamp)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheStampIsTheOneThingTakenFromTheArtifact(t *testing.T) {
+	// The toolchain accepts nothing else from the module — anything it could override it would be
+	// writing a Dockerfile to override. The system is the stated exception, because a compiled
+	// binary is per system and the artifact is what declares one (ADR 0142).
+	chain, err := ToolchainFor("go")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	joined := strings.Join(chain.Compile, " ")
+	if strings.Contains(joined, "${") || strings.Contains(joined, "%s") {
+		t.Fatalf("the compile line takes something from the module: %q", joined)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheLinkerIsToldOnceNotTwice(t *testing.T) {
+	// A repeated flag is not a merged one: the Go command takes the last -ldflags and drops the
+	// first. Passing the toolchain's flags and then the stamp separately produced a binary that knew
+	// its system and had lost -s -w — 12.2MB against 8.5MB, with its debug info (04-ISSUES/161).
+	chain, err := ToolchainFor("go")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, arg := range chain.Compile {
+		if arg == "-ldflags" {
+			t.Fatal("the compile line carries -ldflags, so composing one here makes two")
+		}
+	}
+	if len(chain.LinkerFlags) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("the go toolchain passes no linker flags, so the binary keeps its debug info")
+	}
+	var stripped bool
+	for _, f := range chain.LinkerFlags {
+		if f == "-s" {
+			stripped = true
+		}
+	}
+	if !stripped {
+		t.Fatalf("the go toolchain does not strip: %v", chain.LinkerFlags)
+	}
+}
@@ -35,8 +35,50 @@ type Toolchain struct {
 	Compile []string
 	// OutputFlag is how this compiler is told where to put its output.
 	OutputFlag string
+	// Unit is what this compiler is pointed at: UnitSources, the entrypoint files the module named,
+	// or UnitPackage, the one directory the artifact is built `from`.
+	//
+	// **The difference is the language and not the module.** A TypeScript bundle is a set of files
+	// compiled into a set of files, so what to compile is the module's entrypoints with their source
+	// extension. A Go bundle is a package compiled into one binary, and there is no per-file
+	// compilation to name — pointing `go build` at a file list builds a program out of exactly those
+	// files and ignores the rest of the package, which fails as a missing symbol rather than as a
+	// wrong instruction.
+	Unit string
+	// SourceExt is the extension an entrypoint has in the repository, for UnitSources. An entrypoint
+	// is named as it will be FOUND, inside the unpacked bundle, so the source is the same path with
+	// the output directory taken off the front and this on the end.
+	SourceExt string
+	// LinkerFlags are passed to the linker as one flag, together with the system stamp below.
+	//
+	// **Separate from Compile because a repeated flag is not a merged one.** They were in the compile
+	// line, and appending the stamp as a second `-ldflags` meant the Go command took the last and
+	// dropped the first — so the binary gained its system and lost `-s -w`, growing by half and
+	// carrying its debug info. The mistake was believing a comment rather than reading the file it
+	// produced (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/161).
+	LinkerFlags []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).
+	//
+	// **The one thing a toolchain takes from the artifact, and 0142 says why**: the target is a
+	// property of the artifact rather than of the recipe, because a compiled binary is per system
+	// and a toolchain that accepted it from the module would be accepting a build instruction. This
+	// is the narrow exception, named here rather than inferred.
+	//
+	// Empty for a language that compiles to nothing pinned. A host built without it refuses every
+	// declaration before applying anything — safely, totally, and with nothing reporting it
+	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/161).
+	SystemStamp string
 }

+// What a toolchain is pointed at.
+const (
+	// UnitSources is a list of files, derived from the module's entrypoints.
+	UnitSources = "sources"
+	// UnitPackage is the single directory the artifact is built `from`, compiled whole.
+	UnitPackage = "package"
+)
+
 // Out is where one artifact's compiled output lands, inside the module's own directory.
 //
 // **Per artifact, never per toolchain.** A module is one piece of software and may still be
@@ -71,6 +113,41 @@ var toolchains = []Toolchain{
 			"--target", "ES2022",
 		},
 		OutputFlag: "--outDir",
+		Unit:       UnitSources,
+		SourceExt:  ".ts",
+	},
+	{
+		Language: "go",
+		Base:     "mesh-tools-go",
+		Artifact: "build",
+		// **The mesh's own components, and not modules.** The warning above this list — that every
+		// language is another implementation of the contracts modules share, so adding one commits
+		// to keeping N implementations in step — does not attach here. Go is how the host, the
+		// control plane and the builder are written, and none of them is a module in that sense:
+		// the host is what APPLIES modules. So there is no SDK obligation, and the reason this
+		// entry did not exist was that nothing needed to compile the mesh itself
+		// (novox/hq ADR 0142, and 04-ISSUES/142 where that is why nothing delivers the host).
+		//
+		// Static, because what a machine ends up holding is a file rather than a container, and a
+		// binary that needs a libc it did not bring is a delivery that works until a machine
+		// differs. Trimmed of its own paths for the same reason a version comes from where it sits
+		// rather than from the linker: two builds of one commit produce the same bytes.
+		Compile: []string{
+			"env", "CGO_ENABLED=0", "GOFLAGS=-trimpath",
+			"go", "build",
+		},
+		// Stripped of symbols and debug info: what a machine holds is a file it runs, not one it
+		// debugs, and the difference measured 12.2MB against 8.5MB.
+		LinkerFlags: []string{"-s", "-w"},
+		OutputFlag:  "-o",
+		// Pointed at the package the artifact is built `from`, compiled whole. Go writes the binary
+		// into the output directory, named after the package — so the bundle a machine unpacks is a
+		// directory holding one executable, which is what the delivery mechanism expects
+		// (novox/hq ADR 0141).
+		Unit: UnitPackage,
+		// The mesh's own Go components read the system they were built for from this variable, and
+		// refuse to touch a machine without one.
+		SystemStamp: "main.builtFor",
 	},
 	{
 		Language: "python",
@@ -82,6 +159,8 @@ var toolchains = []Toolchain{
 		// each actually does.
 		Compile:    []string{"python", "-m", "pip", "install", "--no-compile", "--target"},
 		OutputFlag: "",
+		Unit:       UnitSources,
+		SourceExt:  ".py",
 	},
 }

@@ -59,7 +59,11 @@ func anchorRendering(adopted bool) Rendering {
 			Values: map[string]any{ExposeSetting: map[string]any{"5000": FromEverywhere}}}}},
 		Mesh:       []string{"10.42.0.1"},
 		Foundation: []int{5671},
-		Adopted:    adopted,
+		// What the machine reported faces outside, which every rule in the filter is written
+		// around (novox/hq ADR 0140).
+		OutwardLinks:    []string{"eth0"},
+		TunnelInterface: "mesh0",
+		Adopted:         adopted,
 		// Genesis takes the foundation's modules.
 		Taken: map[string]bool{"postgres": true, "lavinmq": true},
 	}
@@ -575,11 +579,13 @@ func TestAGivenMachineSideReachesTheFilterTheOpeningAndTheConsumer(t *testing.T)
 	}
 	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{forge}}
 	with := Rendering{
-		Ports:   map[string]map[int]int{"forge": portsAsThePlanWould(forge, given)},
-		Given:   map[string]map[int]int{"forge": given},
-		Mesh:    []string{"10.77.0.1"},
-		Adopted: true,
-		Taken:   map[string]bool{"forge": true},
+		Ports:           map[string]map[int]int{"forge": portsAsThePlanWould(forge, given)},
+		Given:           map[string]map[int]int{"forge": given},
+		Mesh:            []string{"10.77.0.1"},
+		Adopted:         true,
+		OutwardLinks:    []string{"eth0"},
+		TunnelInterface: "mesh0",
+		Taken:           map[string]bool{"forge": true},
 	}

 	// What the runtime is handed: the machine's own port on the outside, the container's within.
@@ -660,9 +666,11 @@ func TestALongFormPortIsOpenedWhereTheManifestPublishesIt(t *testing.T) {
 	forge := aForge()
 	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{forge}}
 	composed, err := r.Compose(Rendering{
-		Ports:   map[string]map[int]int{"forge": portsAsThePlanWould(forge, nil)},
-		Mesh:    []string{"10.77.0.1"},
-		Adopted: true,
+		Ports:           map[string]map[int]int{"forge": portsAsThePlanWould(forge, nil)},
+		Mesh:            []string{"10.77.0.1"},
+		Adopted:         true,
+		OutwardLinks:    []string{"eth0"},
+		TunnelInterface: "mesh0",
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import "testing"
+
+// A claim written before the rename still holds (novox/hq ADR 0122, ADR 0156): with the store's
+// aliases loaded, the former name resolves to the seat.
+func TestTheArtifactStoresFormerNameResolvesToIt(t *testing.T) {
+	was := aliases
+	t.Cleanup(func() { aliases = was })
+	UseAliases(map[string]string{"the-artifact-store": "mesh-artifact-store"})
+	seat, known := SeatNamed("the-artifact-store")
+	if !known || seat.Name != "mesh-artifact-store" || seat.Delivers != "artifact-store" {
+		t.Fatalf("the former name did not resolve: %+v %v", seat, known)
+	}
+	if _, known := SeatNamed("mesh-artifact-store"); !known {
+		t.Fatal("the seat is not in the set under its name")
+	}
+}
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func TestASecondArtifactStoreAnywhereIsRefusedByName(t *testing.T) {
 	}

 	// A second one, on any other machine, is refused — and the refusal names the seat.
-	elsewhere := World{Held: []Held{{Claim: "the-artifact-store", Scope: ScopeMesh,
+	elsewhere := World{Held: []Held{{Claim: "mesh-artifact-store", Scope: ScopeMesh,
 		Node: "anchor", Module: "distribution"}}}
 	other := workstation()
 	other.Name = "laptop"
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func TestASecondArtifactStoreAnywhereIsRefusedByName(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("a second store was accepted on another machine; it would offer artifact-store a " +
 			"second time and every consumer elsewhere would refuse to choose")
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "the-artifact-store") || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "one per mesh") {
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "mesh-artifact-store") || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "one per mesh") {
 		t.Fatalf("refused without naming the seat: %v", err)
 	}
 }
@@ -70,6 +70,27 @@ func knownFor(m Manifest, needs []Needed, node string) map[string]map[string]str
 	return out
 }

+// withOwnNames adds a module's own composed names to what it may name from one binding:
+// `${bound:<provision>:name}` and `:internal-name`, and for several contributions to one requirement
+// `:name-<local>` / `:internal-name-<local>`. Set over anything the provider serves under those keys:
+// what the module is called is the mesh's statement, not the provider's.
+func withOwnNames(values map[string]string, own map[string]any) {
+	for _, key := range []string{"name", "internal-name"} {
+		if v, ok := own[key].(string); ok {
+			values[key] = v
+		}
+	}
+	many, _ := own["names"].(map[string]any)
+	for local, raw := range many {
+		names, _ := raw.(map[string]any)
+		for _, key := range []string{"name", "internal-name"} {
+			if v, ok := names[key].(string); ok {
+				values[key+"-"+local] = v
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // plainly renders a served value as a program would expect to read it.
 func plainly(value any) string {
 	switch v := value.(type) {
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func TestRenamingASeatDidNotRenameTheInterfaceItDelivers(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, pair := range []struct{ seat, delivers string }{
 		{"git", "git"},
 		{"npm-package-registry", "npm-package-registry"},
-		{"the-artifact-store", "artifact-store"},
+		{"mesh-artifact-store", "artifact-store"},
 		{"mesh-store", "postgres-database"},
 		{"mesh-broker", "mesh-bus"},
 	} {
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func reachable() Node {
 func onNetwork(nodes ...string) map[string][]Provider {
 	out := make([]Provider, 0, len(nodes))
 	for _, n := range nodes {
-		out = append(out, Provider{Node: n, At: n + ".internal"})
+		out = append(out, Provider{Node: n, At: n + ".internal", Module: "postgres"})
 	}
 	return map[string][]Provider{"postgres-database": out}
 }
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func TestSayingWhichOneSettlesIt(t *testing.T) {
 	got, err := Resolve(brokeredShelf(), []string{"meshboard"}, reachable(),
 		World{
 			Offered: onNetwork("anchor", "archive"),
-			Pinned:  map[string]string{"postgres-database": "archive"},
+			Pinned:  map[string]Chosen{"postgres-database": {Node: "archive", Module: "postgres"}},
 		})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ func TestBeingPointedAtAMachineThatDoesNotProvideItIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := Resolve(brokeredShelf(), []string{"meshboard"}, reachable(),
 		World{
 			Offered: onNetwork("anchor", "archive"),
-			Pinned:  map[string]string{"postgres-database": "somewhere-else"},
+			Pinned:  map[string]Chosen{"postgres-database": {Node: "somewhere-else", Module: "postgres"}},
 		})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("a machine was silently given a different database from the one chosen")
@@ -131,12 +131,12 @@ func TestOneProviderDoesNotOverruleAChoice(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := Resolve(brokeredShelf(), []string{"meshboard"}, reachable(),
 		World{
 			Offered: onNetwork("anchor"),
-			Pinned:  map[string]string{"postgres-database": "archive"},
+			Pinned:  map[string]Chosen{"postgres-database": {Node: "archive", Module: "postgres"}},
 		})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("the only database was used although another was chosen")
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "only anchor provides it") {
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "only anchor/postgres provides it") {
 		t.Fatalf("the refusal does not say what is available: %v", err)
 	}
 }
@@ -94,12 +94,43 @@ func (m Manifest) Resolve(built []Built) (Manifest, error) {
 				m.Module, r["id"], named)
 		case ArtifactImage, ArtifactUpstream:
 			filled["image"] = artifact.Reference
+			// An image is not unpacked anywhere, so it has no directory to be named for its
+			// version and `${version}` has nothing to mean. Refused rather than left as literal
+			// text in a path, which is how it would reach a machine and be created as a directory
+			// called `${version}`.
+			for key, value := range filled {
+				if text, isText := value.(string); isText && strings.Contains(text, versionRef) {
+					return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf(
+						"%s: %v says %s in %q, and %q is an image — an image is not unpacked, so "+
+							"it has no versioned place. %s is for an archive or a bundle",
+						m.Module, r["id"], versionRef, key, named, versionRef)
+				}
+			}
 		case ArtifactArchive, ArtifactBundle:
 			// The same on the wire: both are bytes fetched by digest and unpacked. They differ in
 			// how they were made — one packed as it stood, the other compiled first — and a
 			// machine has no reason to care which.
 			filled["source"] = artifact.Reference
 			filled["digest"] = artifact.Digest
+			// **And `${version}`, so a resource can name a place that is this build's alone**
+			// (novox/hq ADR 0141, 04-ISSUES/142). A component is unpacked into a directory named
+			// for its version so it can read its own version from its path — and until this,
+			// nothing could compose that path: an archive named a fixed one in the manifest and
+			// nothing interpolated the build into it, so nothing could ask for
+			// `…/versions/<version>/` and every machine took a hand-placed fallback.
+			//
+			// The version is the artifact's own digest, short. Not the commit: two builds of one
+			// commit are meant to be the same bytes (the toolchains are `-trimpath` for this), and
+			// a content-addressed version means an unchanged build resolves to the path it already
+			// had — so re-composing a declaration moves nothing, where a commit would move the
+			// path of an identical binary and recreate everything that reads it.
+			for key, value := range filled {
+				text, isText := value.(string)
+				if !isText || !strings.Contains(text, versionRef) {
+					continue
+				}
+				filled[key] = strings.ReplaceAll(text, versionRef, versionOf(artifact.Digest))
+			}
 		default:
 			return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is a %q, and an artifact is %q, %q, %q or %q",
 				m.Module, named, artifact.Kind, ArtifactImage, ArtifactArchive, ArtifactUpstream,
@@ -142,7 +173,14 @@ func (b *Build) problems(module string) []string {
 		// is which compiler — because the mesh chooses that, and cannot choose for a module that
 		// has not said.
 		if a.Kind == ArtifactBundle || a.Kind == ArtifactPackage {
-			if a.From != "" {
+			// **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
+			// directory compiled whole, and naming a source would be describing its own build. A
+			// repository written in a compiled language holds several commands — the host and its
+			// bootstrap live in one, and the mesh needs the host — and "the module's own directory"
+			// is then not a package at all. So the compiled case may say which package, and says
+			// the module root by saying nothing.
+			if a.From != "" && !compilesToABinary(a.Language) {
 				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
 					"%s: %q is a bundle and names what it is built from (%q). A bundle is built "+
 						"from the module's own directory; what it says is the language",
@@ -153,6 +191,26 @@ 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))
 			}
+			// **A system, for a language that compiles to a binary** (novox/hq ADR 0142). A binary
+			// is pinned to one operating system at link time so a host refuses to touch a machine
+			// it was not built for (novox/hq ADR 0005); an artifact that says nothing would be
+			// compiled for whatever the build machine happened to be, which reads as portable and
+			// is not.
+			if compiled := compilesToABinary(a.Language); compiled && strings.TrimSpace(a.System) == "" {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s: %q is compiled to a binary and says no system, so it would be built for "+
+						"whatever the build machine happens to be. Declare one artifact per "+
+						"system: %s", module, a.Name, spokenSystems()))
+			} else if !compiled && strings.TrimSpace(a.System) != "" {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s: %q names the system %q and is written in %q, which compiles to code that "+
+						"runs anywhere — a system that decides nothing reads as though it did",
+					module, a.Name, a.System, a.Language))
+			} else if compiled && !knownSystem(a.System) {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s: %q is built for %q, and a system is %s",
+					module, a.Name, a.System, spokenSystems()))
+			}
 		} else {
 			if a.From == "" {
 				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
@@ -193,3 +251,67 @@ func oneOrOther(n int) string {
 	}
 	return "them"
 }
+
+// Systems the mesh builds binaries for, which is the set a host may be pinned to (novox/hq ADR 0005).
+//
+// **A closed list, and the host's own, not the compiler's.** These are not the values a Go toolchain
+// would call an operating system — the difference between two of them is a C library, not a kernel.
+// They are what a machine reports itself to be and what a host is linked to refuse, so the list that
+// matters is the one the host understands.
+var systems = []string{"alpine", "android", "arch"}
+
+// knownSystem is whether the mesh builds for it.
+func knownSystem(system string) bool {
+	want := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(system))
+	for _, s := range systems {
+		if s == want {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// spokenSystems is the list as a refusal says it, so a reader is one edit from right.
+func spokenSystems() string {
+	return strings.Join(systems, ", ")
+}
+
+// compilesToABinary is whether this language's bundle is a binary for one operating system rather
+// than code that runs wherever its interpreter does.
+//
+// **Asked of the language, not of the artifact.** A module says what it is written in; what that
+// implies is the mesh's to know, exactly as the compiler is (novox/hq ADR 0142). Asking the artifact
+// would let two artifacts in one language disagree about whether they are portable.
+func compilesToABinary(language string) bool {
+	switch strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(language)) {
+	case "go":
+		return true
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+// versionRef is how a resource names the version of the artifact it uses: ${version}.
+//
+// No artifact name in it, because the resource already says which artifact it is for — a second
+// name would be a second thing to keep in step with the first.
+const versionRef = "${version}"
+
+// versionOf is an artifact's version as a path names it: its digest, short.
+//
+// **Content-addressed on purpose.** The alternative is the commit a build came from, and two builds
+// of one commit are meant to produce the same bytes — every toolchain here is `-trimpath` for that
+// reason. A commit-named path would move for an identical binary, and everything reading that path
+// would be recreated for a change that is not one. A digest-named path moves exactly when the bytes
+// do.
+//
+// Twelve hex characters: enough that two of this mesh's builds will not collide, short enough to
+// read in a path and in a journal line. The `sha256:` prefix goes, because a directory name carrying
+// a colon is a directory name people quote wrong.
+func versionOf(digest string) string {
+	hex := strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(digest), "sha256:")
+	if len(hex) > 12 {
+		return hex[:12]
+	}
+	return hex
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// bundleFor is a manifest whose one artifact is a bundle in the given language and system.
+func bundleFor(language, system string) Manifest {
+	return Manifest{Module: "a-component", Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{
+		{Name: "binary", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: language, System: system},
+	}}}
+}
+
+func problemsOf(t *testing.T, m Manifest) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	return strings.Join(m.Build.problems(m.Module), "\n")
+}
+
+// **A language that compiles to a binary must say which system.**
+//
+// A binary is pinned to one operating system at link time, so a host refuses to touch a machine it
+// was not built for. An artifact that says nothing would be compiled for whatever the build machine
+// happened to be — which reads as portable and is not, and is the fault this check exists for.
+func TestABinaryMustSayWhichSystemItIsFor(t *testing.T) {
+	got := problemsOf(t, bundleFor("go", ""))
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "says no system") {
+		t.Fatalf("a compiled bundle with no system was accepted:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	// And the refusal names what it could have said, so a reader is one edit from right.
+	for _, system := range []string{"alpine", "android", "arch"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(got, system) {
+			t.Fatalf("the refusal does not name %q as a choice:\n%s", system, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestABinaryThatNamesASystemIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := problemsOf(t, bundleFor("go", "arch")); got != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("a compiled bundle naming a system was refused:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// A system the mesh does not build for is refused where it is written. These are the host's own
+// names, not a compiler's: the difference between two of them is a C library rather than a kernel,
+// so a value that looks like an operating system to a toolchain is still wrong here.
+func TestASystemTheMeshDoesNotBuildForIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, wrong := range []string{"linux", "debian", "darwin"} {
+		got := problemsOf(t, bundleFor("go", wrong))
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "and a system is") {
+			t.Fatalf("%q was accepted as a system:\n%s", wrong, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// **And a language that runs anywhere must not name one.** A system that decides nothing reads as
+// though it did, which is the same fault as a restriction that restricts nothing (novox/hq ADR 0045).
+func TestAPortableBundleMayNotNameASystem(t *testing.T) {
+	got := problemsOf(t, bundleFor("typescript", "arch"))
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "runs anywhere") {
+		t.Fatalf("a portable bundle was allowed to name a system:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAPortableBundleNamingNoSystemIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := problemsOf(t, bundleFor("typescript", "")); got != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("an ordinary bundle was refused:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// One component, one artifact per system: the shape the mesh's own binaries are declared in, and the
+// reason the target is the artifact's rather than the recipe's.
+func TestOneArtifactPerSystemIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+	m := Manifest{Module: "the-host", Build: &Build{Artifacts: []Artifact{
+		{Name: "arch", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "go", System: "arch"},
+		{Name: "alpine", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "go", System: "alpine"},
+		{Name: "android", Kind: ArtifactBundle, Language: "go", System: "android"},
+	}}}
+	if got := problemsOf(t, m); got != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("one artifact per system was refused:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestEveryCatalogueManifestParses runs the real catalogue through the real gate.
+//
+// Not a fixture: the point is whether the manifests as written are accepted by the control plane that
+// will read them, and a copy of one manifest proves nothing about the other seventy-one.
+// catalogueRoot is the catalogue these checks run over: MESH_CATALOGUE when set, else the checkout
+// beside this one, the way the main layout has it. A check that only ran when somebody remembered a
+// variable was a check nobody ran (novox/hq issue 134, 2026-09-30); it skips only when there is no
+// catalogue to be found at all.
+func catalogueRoot(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	if root := os.Getenv("MESH_CATALOGUE"); root != "" {
+		return root
+	}
+	sibling := filepath.Join("..", "..", "..", "mesh-catalog")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(sibling, "modules")); err != nil {
+		t.Skip("no catalogue beside this checkout and MESH_CATALOGUE unset")
+	}
+	return sibling
+}
+
+func TestEveryCatalogueManifestParses(t *testing.T) {
+	root := catalogueRoot(t)
+	found, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(root, "modules", "*", "module.json"))
+	if err != nil || len(found) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s: %v", root, err)
+	}
+	named, routed := 0, 0
+	for _, p := range found {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(p)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: %v", p, err)
+		}
+		m, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(p)), err)
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, l := range m.Listens {
+			if l.Name != "" {
+				named++
+			}
+		}
+		for port := range RoutedPorts(m) {
+			_ = port
+			routed++
+		}
+	}
+	t.Logf("%d manifests, %d named endpoints, %d routed endpoints resolved", len(found), named, routed)
+	if named == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("no endpoint in the catalogue is named, so this proved nothing")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestNoCatalogueManifestNamesAnInstallation is ADR 0112's check, run over the real catalogue: no
+// definition names a domain or a public address the mesh acts on, and every value that must for now
+// carries its reason (novox/hq ADR 0155, issue 134). The list it prints is the one that shrinks.
+func TestNoCatalogueManifestNamesAnInstallation(t *testing.T) {
+	root := catalogueRoot(t)
+	found, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(root, "modules", "*", "module.json"))
+	if err != nil || len(found) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s: %v", root, err)
+	}
+	var named []string
+	for _, p := range found {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(p)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: %v", p, err)
+		}
+		m, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", p, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		named = append(named, InstallationProblems(m)...)
+	}
+	if len(named) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("%d value(s) name an installation:\n  %s", len(named), strings.Join(named, "\n  "))
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// **A machine trusts the mesh's authority because a module put its root there** (novox/hq ADR
+// 0147, issue 129). The module carries a shell script and a unit, and both are worthless unless
+// the mesh fills in where the authority is — which is the one thing about it the manifest cannot
+// state, because the authority's address is a fact about the mesh and not about the module.
+//
+// So what is checked here is the rendering, not the parsing: the script the machine will run
+// names the authority it was bound to, and the unit runs that script both ways. The verification
+// itself — a plain client trusting an internal name on a machine holding this, and failing on one
+// that does not — is the lab's, and cannot be had here.
+func TestCaTrustRendersTheAuthorityItWasBoundTo(t *testing.T) {
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile("../../../mesh-catalog/modules/ca-trust/module.json")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("the catalogue is not beside this checkout: %v", err)
+	}
+	m, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the trust module does not parse:\n%v", err)
+	}
+
+	r := Resolution{
+		Node:    "workstation",
+		Modules: []Manifest{m},
+		Needs: []Needed{{
+			Name: "internal-acme-ca", From: "anchor", At: "anchor.internal", For: "ca-trust",
+			Serves: map[string]any{
+				"port": float64(9000), "path": "/acme/acme/directory", "roots": "/roots.pem",
+			},
+		}},
+	}
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the trust module could not be composed for a machine: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	script := fileNamed(out, "ca-trust.anchor")
+	if script == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("nothing writes the script the unit runs: %v", out)
+	}
+	body, _ := script["content"].(string)
+	if !strings.Contains(body, "https://anchor.internal:9000/roots.pem") {
+		t.Errorf("the script does not fetch from the authority it was bound to:\n%s", body)
+	}
+	if script["mode"] != "0755" {
+		t.Errorf("the script is written %v, which systemd cannot execute", script["mode"])
+	}
+
+	unit := fileNamed(out, "ca-trust.unit")
+	if unit == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("no unit: %v", out)
+	}
+	text, _ := unit["content"].(string)
+	// Both halves. A unit that only installs the anchor leaves a machine trusting an authority
+	// nobody assigned it to any more, which is the half issue 129 asked for by name.
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		"ExecStart=" + script["path"].(string) + " install",
+		"ExecStop=" + script["path"].(string) + " remove",
+		"RemainAfterExit=yes",
+	} {
+		if !strings.Contains(text, want) {
+			t.Errorf("the unit does not say %q:\n%s", want, text)
+		}
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"sort"
+)
+
+// Chosen is the provider somebody named for a provision: the module, and the node it runs on. Both,
+// always (novox/hq #258) — a provision comes from a module, and the same module on two machines is
+// two answers, so neither half alone says which. Module is empty only on a record made before this
+// was asked, and such a record is honoured exactly as long as it is unambiguous.
+type Chosen struct {
+	Node   string
+	Module string
+}
+
+func (c Chosen) String() string {
+	if c.Module == "" {
+		return c.Node
+	}
+	return c.Node + "/" + c.Module
+}
+
+// matches is whether this provider is the one chosen.
+func (c Chosen) matches(p Provider) bool {
+	return p.Node == c.Node && (c.Module == "" || p.Module == c.Module)
+}
+
+// among is every offered provider the choice names — one, when the choice is whole.
+func (c Chosen) among(where []Provider) []Provider {
+	var out []Provider
+	for _, p := range where {
+		if c.matches(p) {
+			out = append(out, p)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// nameOf is how a refusal names a provider: the node and the module on it.
+func nameOf(p Provider) string {
+	return Chosen{Node: p.Node, Module: p.Module}.String()
+}
+
+// providerNames is every provider named, sorted, for a refusal to list.
+func providerNames(where []Provider) []string {
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(where))
+	for _, p := range where {
+		out = append(out, nameOf(p))
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// providersHere is which modules in this node's own set offer a provision, sorted.
+func providersHere(catalogue map[string]Manifest, here func(string) bool, want string) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for name, m := range catalogue {
+		if !here(name) {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, o := range m.Offers() {
+			if o == want {
+				out = append(out, name)
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// servedByOne is what one provider beside the consumer says a consumer needs to know, or nothing.
+//
+// Serving is *whether* a need is created at all when the provider is on this same machine (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/038's sibling): a need never created is a binding the consumer never gets. The manifest
+// alone answers that; the values are settled later, with the node's settings.
+func servedByOne(m Manifest, want string) map[string]any {
+	if _, ok := m.Serves[want]; ok {
+		return ServedOn(m, want, nil)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// sharedByOne is the own secret that provider names as its credential (ADR 0158), or "" when it
+// gives each consumer its own.
+func sharedByOne(m Manifest, want string) string {
+	if own, shared := m.SharedCredentialOf(want); shared {
+		return own
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func oneOf(list []string, s string) bool {
+	for _, x := range list {
+		if x == s {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
@@ -197,6 +197,27 @@ func TestARouteCanBeSetPerMesh(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

+func TestASettingReachesAContributionOnlyWhereItDeclaresTheKey(t *testing.T) {
+	// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/173: the mail module's site name, set so its environment file could read
+	// it, arrived in every route it contributed. A setting overrides a key the contribution
+	// declares and adds none — the provider reads the contribution as a contract.
+	got, _ := Resolve(shelf(proxy(), published("board", "board", 8080)), []string{"board"}, workstation(), World{})
+
+	out, err := got.Declaration(Rendering{Settings: SettingsBy{
+		"board": {{From: "the mesh", Values: map[string]any{"host": "dashboard", "sitename": "Board"}}},
+	}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	given := received(t, out)
+	if given[0].Values["host"] != "dashboard" {
+		t.Fatalf("the setting did not override the route's host: %v", given[0].Values)
+	}
+	if _, leaked := given[0].Values["sitename"]; leaked {
+		t.Fatalf("a setting the route never declared reached the proxy: %v", given[0].Values)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestReceivingWhatYouDoNotProvideIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	// It would create a file nobody ever writes to, on a machine where nothing asked for it.
 	_, err := ParseManifest([]byte(`{"module":"traefik","version":"1",
@@ -124,6 +124,16 @@ type Rendering struct {
 	// nothing on this node keeps them, or the mesh has no operator key.
 	Kept *KeptExport

+	// OutwardLinks is the links this machine reported as facing outside it, which the filter is
+	// written around (novox/hq ADR 0140). Empty means the machine has not said, and the mesh
+	// composes no filter for it rather than writing a rule around a link with no name.
+	OutwardLinks []string
+
+	// TunnelInterface is the interface the mesh's private network runs on, named here rather than
+	// imported because the overlay package rests on this one. Traffic arriving on it is the mesh's,
+	// not this machine's own guest, so the filter admits it only by a rule.
+	TunnelInterface string
+
 	// Foundation is the ports the mesh itself needs reachable on every machine, which no module
 	// declares because the foundation is not a module (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/051 and 052). The broker
 	// is the one that matters: a machine dials it to enrol, and a firewall derived only from
@@ -234,12 +244,31 @@ func (r Resolution) Declaration(with Rendering) ([]map[string]any, error) {
 type Composed struct {
 	Resources []map[string]any
 	Owner     map[string]string
+	// LeftOut is every module of this machine's set that was left out of its declaration, and
+	// why (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6): a setting stored for it that its definition can no longer
+	// compose. Its held things are kept and its containers untouched — the machine is told so —
+	// and it is told everything else.
+	LeftOut map[string]string
+}
+
+// LeftOut is which of this machine's modules a declaration composed with these settings leaves
+// out, and why (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6): each whose stored settings its definition can no longer
+// compose. Empty when every module composes. The same judgement SetSettings makes before storing.
+func (r Resolution) LeftOut(settings SettingsBy, adopted bool) map[string]string {
+	out := map[string]string{}
+	for _, m := range r.Modules {
+		if err := JudgeSettings(m, settings[m.Module], adopted); err != nil {
+			out[m.Module] = err.Error()
+		}
+	}
+	return out
 }

 // Compose is Declaration with the owner of every resource said.
 func (r Resolution) Compose(with Rendering) (Composed, error) {
 	owner := map[string]string{}
-	resources, err := r.compose(with, owner)
+	leftOut := map[string]string{}
+	resources, err := r.compose(with, owner, leftOut)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Composed{}, err
 	}
@@ -251,7 +280,7 @@ func (r Resolution) Compose(with Rendering) (Composed, error) {
 			"sealed": with.BusMembership, "mode": "0600",
 		})
 	}
-	return Composed{Resources: resources, Owner: owner}, nil
+	return Composed{Resources: resources, Owner: owner, LeftOut: leftOut}, nil
 }

 // BusMembershipID names the resource carrying a machine's membership for the new bus, and
@@ -260,7 +289,25 @@ func BusMembershipID() string { return "bus-membership" }

 const BusMembershipPath = "/var/lib/mesh/membership-next.json"

-func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[string]any, error) {
+func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string, leftOut map[string]string) ([]map[string]any, error) {
+	// **A setting is judged where it is stored, and an impossible one costs a module, not a
+	// machine** (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6). A definition that moved under a stored setting makes
+	// this module uncomposable; it is left out of the declaration — its held things kept, its
+	// containers untouched, the machine told so by name — and the machine is told everything else.
+	// Before placing, because a placement is a setting too.
+	left := r.LeftOut(with.Settings, with.Adopted)
+	kept := make([]Manifest, 0, len(r.Modules))
+	for _, m := range r.Modules {
+		if why, isLeft := left[m.Module]; isLeft {
+			if leftOut != nil {
+				leftOut[m.Module] = why
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		kept = append(kept, m)
+	}
+	r.Modules = kept
+
 	// Every manifest is placed first (novox/hq ADR 0112): the maps naming where its bindings,
 	// credentials and contributions land are resolved against this node's directories, so every
 	// reader below — the binding files, the sealed secrets, the grant paths a contribution
@@ -345,7 +392,21 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	filtering := AsNftables(rules, with.Mesh, r.PublicDomain != "", with.Foundation)
+	// **A machine that has not said which links face outside is sent no filter** (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0140). The whole chain is written around those links: with none, the rule that lets this
+	// machine's own guests keep working would name an empty set, which nftables refuses, and a rule
+	// set that does not load is a machine filtering nothing while its unit reports success. Refused
+	// here, where a person reads it, rather than on the machine — and the machine keeps the filter
+	// it already has.
+	if filters := r.filtersHere(); filters != "" && len(with.OutwardLinks) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			"%s cannot be sent a filter: it has not reported which of its links face outside, and "+
+				"every rule in the chain is written around them. It reports that on each apply; "+
+				"`node show %s` says whether it has. Until then %s is not sent, and the machine "+
+				"keeps the filter it has", r.Node, r.Node, filters)
+	}
+	filtering := AsNftables(rules, with.Mesh, r.PublicDomain != "", with.Foundation,
+		with.OutwardLinks, with.TunnelInterface)

 	var out []map[string]any
 	for _, m := range r.Modules {
@@ -441,7 +502,7 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 					"%s needs a secret called %q and none was made for it", m.Module, name)
 			}
 			first = append(first, ownedBy(m.SecretsOwner, map[string]any{
-				"id": NeedID(name), "type": "file", "path": m.OwnSecrets[name], "sealed": sealed,
+				"id": NeedID(name), "type": "file", "path": m.OwnSecrets[name].Path, "sealed": sealed,
 			}))
 		}
 		// Operator-owned paths this module is granted use of (novox/hq ADR 0051). Written before
@@ -449,9 +510,15 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 		// find each present — refusing clearly if the operator has not provided it — before it
 		// starts anything that depends on it. The mesh creates, chowns and reconciles none of it;
 		// an `access` resource says only *this path must exist, and this module reaches it*.
-		for _, a := range m.Accesses {
+		// Where each is on THIS machine is the assignment's (novox/hq issue 153): placed by id
+		// where the operator said, the definition's default otherwise, refused where neither.
+		accesses, accessPaths, err := accessesFor(m, with.Settings[m.Module])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		for _, a := range accesses {
 			first = append(first, map[string]any{
-				"id": AccessID(a.Path), "type": "access", "path": a.Path, "mode": a.At(),
+				"id": AccessID(a.Path), "type": "access", "path": a.Path, "mode": a.Mode,
 			})
 		}
 		for _, to := range m.SecretRequirements() {
@@ -550,7 +617,11 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 				}
 				found = here
 			}
-			file, err := boundFile(*found, m.Binds[to], ConsumerIdentity(r.Node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module)))
+			own, err := r.ownNames(m, to, with.Settings[m.Module])
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			file, err := boundFile(*found, m.Binds[to], ConsumerIdentity(r.Node, IdentitySource(m.Slug, m.Module)), own)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
@@ -594,17 +665,15 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 		// merging earlier would throw away the files it still needs.
 		resources = append(append([]map[string]any{}, first...), resources...)

-		// Every container is given the mesh's names. Not a choice a module makes: a module that
-		// listed them would go stale the day a machine joins, and one that did not would be a
-		// module whose containers cannot reach anything by name.
-		//
-		// A container that was given names of its own keeps them and gets the mesh's beside them:
-		// the mesh does not know what else a workload needs to reach, and taking something away
-		// to add something is not what "also" means.
-		if len(with.Names) > 0 {
-			resources = withMeshNames(resources, with.Names)
-		}
-
+		// 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
+		// moved afterwards was wrong inside it for as long as it ran (issues 109, 135) — and once
+		// the roster was made part of a container's identity so that could be caught, one name
+		// moving anywhere replaced every container in the mesh (issue 151). A container resolves a
+		// mesh name through its machine's resolver at the moment it asks, which the runtime is
+		// told once per machine, as a file, by the resolver's own module. The names a module
+		// declares for itself are its own and stay exactly as written: they are part of what the
+		// module is, and the mesh does not know what they mean.
 		// What this module may name from inside one of its own files. Gathered once per module
 		// rather than per file, because it is a fact about the module.
 		sealed, err := sealedFor(m, r.Needs, with)
@@ -613,8 +682,43 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 		}
 		// And what its bindings say, for the half of a connection that is not secret.
 		known := knownFor(m, r.Needs, r.Node)
+		// 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.
+		for _, want := range m.Wants() {
+			if _, has := known[want]; has {
+				continue
+			}
+			answered, err := here(r, want, with)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if answered == nil {
+				continue
+			}
+			local := *answered
+			local.For = m.Module
+			for provision, values := range knownFor(m, []Needed{local}, r.Node) {
+				known[provision] = values
+			}
+		}
+		// And what the module is called through each requirement it contributes to (novox/hq
+		// 04-ISSUES/122) — the same composition its binding file carries.
+		for provision, values := range known {
+			own, err := r.ownNames(m, provision, with.Settings[m.Module])
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			withOwnNames(values, own)
+		}
 		// And where this node places the directories the module declared without a path
 		// (novox/hq ADR 0112) — resolved once per module, named by ${dir:…} from any resource.
+		// — and, on an adopted machine, where the assignment says they already are, with the
+		// owner the data already has (novox/hq issue 153). Malformed placements are refused here.
+		placed, err := Places(m, with.Settings[m.Module])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 		dirs := dirsFor(m, with)
 		// And the machine underneath, which no binding of its own can tell it.
 		thisMachine := machineFacts(r, with.Names, with.MeshRange)
@@ -623,6 +727,13 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 		// one of them as its environment without saying so (ADR 0086, issue 041).
 		secretFiles := secretFilesOf(resources)

+		// Which of this module's resources its preparation runs before, if it prepares anything.
+		prepareBefore := preparationTarget(m)
+
+		// Which found networks this machine's setting keeps for each of its containers (novox/hq
+		// ADR 0163, rule 4); judged above, so an invalid one is not here.
+		keptNetworks, _ := KeptNetworks(m, with.Settings[m.Module], with.Adopted)
+
 		for _, unsettled := range resources {
 			resource, err := ApplySettings(unsettled, with.Settings[m.Module])
 			if err != nil {
@@ -632,12 +743,29 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 			for k, v := range resource {
 				copied[k] = v
 			}
+			if networks, keeps := keptNetworks[fmt.Sprint(copied["id"])]; keeps {
+				// The container also joins the found network the setting names, so a neighbour
+				// that resolves it there keeps resolving it. Passed to the host as its own field,
+				// which it joins after the container is made.
+				joins := make([]any, 0, len(networks))
+				for _, n := range networks {
+					joins = append(joins, n)
+				}
+				copied["networks"] = joins
+			}
 			if err := refuseSecretsInEnvironment(copied, secretFiles, m.Module); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			// Said in the catalogue, not on the machine: the host parses strictly and knows no
 			// such field, and the reason is for a reader of the manifest.
 			delete(copied, SecretsInEnvironment)
+			delete(copied, NamesOnPurpose)
+			// **An operator's value, from the assignment** (novox/hq ADR 0112, ADR 0155): what a
+			// definition may not carry because it is true of one installation only. Filled from
+			// the same layers a mergeable file takes, and refused when no layer set it.
+			if err := settingInto(copied, with.Settings[m.Module], m.Module); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
 			// **Placed before anything reads a path.** A pathless directory receives the path
 			// this node resolves for it, and every ${dir:…} — in paths, mounts, content and
 			// environment — becomes that path, so what follows sees only concrete places
@@ -645,6 +773,12 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 			if err := dirInto(copied, dirs, m.Module); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
+			// The operator's data the same way: ${access:…} becomes where this node keeps it,
+			// and a placed directory takes the owner the assignment said (issue 153).
+			if err := accessInto(copied, accessPaths, m.Module); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			ownerInto(copied, placed)
 			// **After settings, and that is the whole reason it is here.** A module's file
 			// content is where a setting lands, so a placeholder may only exist once the setting
 			// has been put in — filling secrets first would look at content that is not yet what
@@ -708,6 +842,18 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[stri
 			if renamed := reflectsRenamed(m.Module, resource["reload-on"]); renamed != nil {
 				copied["reload-on"] = renamed
 			}
+			// **A version prepares its state before it runs** (novox/hq ADR 0135). Derived from the
+			// module's own resource rather than declared beside it: what prepares the state is the
+			// module's own code, so what it is given has to be what that code is given — and a
+			// second resource written by hand is a second copy to drift from the first. Placed
+			// immediately before it, because a run-once step stops everything the declaration
+			// places after it (ADR 0052), which is how a version whose preparation failed does not
+			// serve.
+			if prepareBefore != "" && fmt.Sprint(resource["id"]) == prepareBefore {
+				step := prepared(copied)
+				owner[fmt.Sprint(step["id"])] = m.Module
+				out = append(out, step)
+			}
 			owner[fmt.Sprint(copied["id"])] = m.Module
 			out = append(out, copied)
 		}
@@ -837,16 +983,63 @@ func mapping(written string) (outer, inner int, address string, ok bool) {
 	return outer, inner, strings.Join(parts[:len(parts)-2], ":"), true
 }

+// filtersHere is the module on this node that loads the machine's packet filter, or empty when none
+// does. Named rather than counted: a refusal that says which module is one step from acted on.
+func (r Resolution) filtersHere() string {
+	for _, m := range r.Modules {
+		if m.Filtering != nil {
+			return m.Module
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 // Rules is the rule set this node's filter is derived from: every module's listens, what was
 // computed for this machine, and each module's per-node exposure. The same answer whether the node
 // is adopted or converged — the one loads it as a filter, the other declares it as openings.
 func (r Resolution) Rules(with Rendering) ([]Rule, error) {
+	// A module whose settings cannot compose is left out of the declaration (novox/hq ADR 0163,
+	// rule 6), and out of the filter with it: nothing of it is declared, so nothing of it is let
+	// through.
+	left := r.LeftOut(with.Settings, with.Adopted)
 	exposure := map[string]map[int]string{}
 	for _, m := range r.Modules {
+		if _, isLeft := left[m.Module]; isLeft {
+			continue
+		}
 		e, err := Exposure(m, with.Settings[m.Module])
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		// And how far each endpoint reaches, which says the same thing to the filter and more
+		// besides (novox/hq ADR 0138). Folded in here rather than beside: the filter has one
+		// question — from where — and a reach answers it, so giving it two inputs would let them
+		// disagree. Reaches refuses a port that both name, so this cannot silently prefer one.
+		reaches, err := Reaches(m, with.Settings[m.Module])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		// **Only for an endpoint the proxy does not serve.** A routed endpoint's port is how the
+		// proxy reaches it and nothing else (ADR 0045), so `public` there asks for a public name and
+		// says nothing about the port — opening it to the world as well would undo the arrangement
+		// the proxy exists for, and would silently reopen a port an operator had narrowed.
+		//
+		// Found by trying to express a real module: one whose routed name must be public and whose
+		// machine-side port must not be. Under one value for both, there was no way to say it.
+		routed := RoutedPorts(m)
+		for port, reach := range reaches {
+			if routed[port] {
+				continue
+			}
+			source, ok := FilterSource(reach)
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is not a reach the filter can read", m.Module, reach)
+			}
+			if e == nil {
+				e = map[int]string{}
+			}
+			e[port] = source
+		}
 		if e != nil {
 			exposure[m.Module] = e
 		}
@@ -1010,12 +1203,11 @@ func (r Resolution) contributions(settings SettingsBy, grants []Grant,
 			// Settings reach a contribution the same way they reach a file. A route's hostname is
 			// exactly the kind of thing that differs between one mesh and the next, and a module
 			// that could not have it set would have to be edited to be reused.
-			values, err := settle(m.Contributes[to], settings[m.Module], nil,
+			values, err := r.composed(m, to, m.Contributes[to], settings[m.Module],
 				m.Module+" contributing to "+to)
 			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s contributing to %s: %w", m.Module, to, err)
+				return nil, err
 			}
-			composeName(values, r.PublicDomain, r.At)
 			out[to] = append(out[to], Contribution{From: m.Module, Values: values})
 		}
 		// Several contributions to one requirement (ADR 0094's sibling for `contributes`): an
@@ -1024,12 +1216,11 @@ func (r Resolution) contributions(settings SettingsBy, grants []Grant,
 		// name always reaches the provider from here.
 		for _, to := range sortedKeys(m.ContributesMany) {
 			for _, local := range sortedKeys(m.ContributesMany[to]) {
-				values, err := settle(m.ContributesMany[to][local], settings[m.Module], nil,
+				values, err := r.composed(m, to, m.ContributesMany[to][local], settings[m.Module],
 					m.Module+" contributing "+local+" to "+to)
 				if err != nil {
-					return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s contributing %s to %s: %w", m.Module, local, to, err)
+					return nil, err
 				}
-				composeName(values, r.PublicDomain, r.At)
 				out[to] = append(out[to], Contribution{From: m.Module, Values: values})
 			}
 		}
@@ -1037,6 +1228,85 @@ func (r Resolution) contributions(settings SettingsBy, grants []Grant,
 	return out, nil
 }

+// composed is one contribution as its provider receives it: settled with this node's settings, its
+// endpoint's port filled in, and its names composed from the label.
+//
+// **One function, because two readers must agree.** The provider is told the names in its received
+// file; the contributing module is told the same names in its own binding (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/122).
+// Composing them twice, in two places, is how the proxy would come to serve one name while the
+// module wrote another into its configuration.
+func (r Resolution) composed(m Manifest, to string, raw map[string]any, layers []Layer, what string) (
+	map[string]any, error) {
+	// Overridden, not merged: a setting changes a key the contribution declares and adds none.
+	// The provider reads the contribution as a contract, and a setting made for one of this
+	// module's files is no part of it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/173).
+	values, err := overridden(raw, layers, what)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", what, err)
+	}
+	reaches, err := Reaches(m, layers)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", what, err)
+	}
+	blocks, err := Endpoints(m, layers)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", what, err)
+	}
+	portOfEndpoint(values, endpointPorts(m))
+	composeName(values, r.PublicDomain, servingAt(r, to), reaches, endpointPorts(m), blocks)
+	return values, nil
+}
+
+// ownNames is what a module is known by through what it contributes to one requirement — the names
+// the mesh composed for it, and nothing else of the contribution.
+//
+// **The half a module could not learn** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/122). A module contributes a label, the
+// mesh joins it with this node's domains, and the provider serves the result — and the module itself
+// was never told. Software that must know its own address (a login redirect, a canonical URL, an
+// issuer) had it written into the manifest as a literal, which is a domain in a definition and wrong
+// on every other machine. `${bound:<requirement>:name}` is the answer, from the same composition the
+// provider receives.
+//
+// Several contributions to one requirement are keyed by their local name under `names`.
+func (r Resolution) ownNames(m Manifest, to string, layers []Layer) (map[string]any, error) {
+	pick := func(values map[string]any) map[string]any {
+		names := map[string]any{}
+		for _, key := range []string{"name", "internal-name"} {
+			if v, ok := values[key].(string); ok && v != "" {
+				names[key] = v
+			}
+		}
+		return names
+	}
+	out := map[string]any{}
+	if raw, ok := m.Contributes[to]; ok {
+		values, err := r.composed(m, to, raw, layers, m.Module+" contributing to "+to)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		for k, v := range pick(values) {
+			out[k] = v
+		}
+	}
+	if locals := m.ContributesMany[to]; len(locals) > 0 {
+		many := map[string]any{}
+		for _, local := range sortedKeys(locals) {
+			values, err := r.composed(m, to, locals[local], layers,
+				m.Module+" contributing "+local+" to "+to)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if names := pick(values); len(names) > 0 {
+				many[local] = names
+			}
+		}
+		if len(many) > 0 {
+			out["names"] = many
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
 // composeName joins a contribution's label with a node's public domain, and separately with its
 // private one, in place (novox/hq ADR 0056).
 //
@@ -1060,10 +1330,44 @@ func (r Resolution) contributions(settings SettingsBy, grants []Grant,
 // the running mesh keeps serving the full names it has. And a labelled contribution on a node with
 // no public domain composes nothing — there is nothing to join it to — which reads downstream as a
 // route that named no host, the same as it would have before this existed.
-func composeName(values map[string]any, publicDomain, internalDomain string) {
+func composeName(values map[string]any, publicDomain, internalDomain string, reaches map[int]string,
+	ports map[string]int, blocks map[string]Endpoint) {
 	if values == nil {
 		return
 	}
+	// **The subdomain an assignment gave this endpoint**, before the name is joined (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0138). The module contributes a label because it names its own parts; an assignment may say a
+	// different one, because where a thing lives under a domain is the operator's to choose and used
+	// to require editing the module to change.
+	if name, ok := values[RouteEndpoint].(string); ok {
+		if ep, said := blocks[strings.TrimSpace(name)]; said && ep.Label != "" {
+			values["label"] = ep.Label
+		}
+	}
+	// **How far the endpoint this route serves reaches decides which names exist** (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0138). Both were composed whenever the node had both domains, so every routed module got a
+	// public name and an internal one whether anybody wanted them or not — and a certificate for
+	// each, because the proxy certifies the names it is given.
+	//
+	// Joined by the port: a route entry names the port it serves and the module declares a listen on
+	// it. An entry with no port is not an endpoint's route but a rule about a name — a path-level
+	// refusal shadowing another route — and it inherits whatever that route's names turned out to
+	// be, which is why it is left alone here.
+	//
+	// Nothing said is both names, as before. That is what keeps every mesh already running identical
+	// until an assignment speaks.
+	wantPublic, wantInternal := true, true
+	if port, ok := endpointPortOf(values, ports); ok {
+		if reach, said := reaches[port]; said {
+			wantPublic, wantInternal = WantsPublicName(reach), WantsInternalName(reach)
+		}
+	}
+	if !wantPublic {
+		publicDomain = ""
+	}
+	if !wantInternal {
+		internalDomain = ""
+	}
 	if _, already := values["name"]; already {
 		// A full name was given rather than a label. Left as-is: this is the legacy shape, and the
 		// point of the label is to not have to write the full name — a contribution that wrote both
@@ -1095,6 +1399,24 @@ func composeName(values map[string]any, publicDomain, internalDomain string) {
 	}
 }

+// servingAt is the private-network name of the node a contribution to `to` arrives at: the
+// provider's, when the provision is answered elsewhere, and this machine's own when it is answered
+// here or not yet settled.
+//
+// A route's internal name is composed under it (novox/hq ADR 0151, issue 139). `<label>.<node>.internal`
+// is answered by every machine's resolver as *anything under that node's name goes to that node* —
+// so the node in the name has to be the one whose proxy answers, or the name sends a client to a
+// machine with nothing listening while the public name, published at the serving node's address,
+// works. Where the proxy runs beside the module the two are the same machine and nothing changes.
+func servingAt(r Resolution, to string) string {
+	for _, n := range r.Needs {
+		if n.Name == to && n.At != "" {
+			return n.At
+		}
+	}
+	return r.At
+}
+
 // receivedFile is the file a provider is given its consumers' contributions in.
 func receivedFile(requirement, path string, given []Contribution) (map[string]any, error) {
 	if given == nil {
@@ -1199,14 +1521,14 @@ func sortedKeys[V any](m map[string]V) []string {
 // Where it is and what the providing module said about using it. **No credential**, and the file
 // says so rather than leaving a reader to wonder whether one was meant to be there — a missing
 // field looks like a bug, and a stated absence looks like a boundary.
-func boundFile(n Needed, path, as string) (map[string]any, error) {
+func boundFile(n Needed, path, as string, own map[string]any) (map[string]any, error) {
 	// A record has no machine and no address. Saying so is the difference between a reader
 	// concluding "somewhere with no address" and concluding the mesh failed to fill something in.
 	where := any(n.At)
 	if n.ByRecord {
 		where = "a record in this mesh, not a machine"
 	}
-	body, err := json.MarshalIndent(map[string]any{
+	doc := map[string]any{
 		"binding":   1,
 		"provision": n.Name,
 		"from":      n.From,
@@ -1222,7 +1544,14 @@ func boundFile(n Needed, path, as string) (map[string]any, error) {
 		"generated": "by the mesh — do not edit; replaced whenever this changes. " +
 			"The credential is not here: it is sealed, in the file this module's manifest " +
 			"names under `secrets`",
-	}, "", "  ")
+	}
+	// **What this module is called through what it contributes here** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/122):
+	// `name`, `internal-name`, or `names` by local name — composed exactly as the provider receives
+	// them. Absent when the module contributes nothing named, rather than written empty.
+	for key, value := range own {
+		doc[key] = value
+	}
+	body, err := json.MarshalIndent(doc, "", "  ")
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -1351,43 +1680,6 @@ func (r Resolution) servedOnThisMachine(provision string, with Rendering) (map[s
 	return nil, false, nil
 }

-// withMeshNames gives every container in a set the mesh's names.
-//
-// Copied rather than edited in place: these maps come from a module's manifest, and mutating one
-// would change what the catalogue holds for every other machine running that module.
-//
-// A host-network container gets the names too. It was once skipped, on the belief that it "shares
-// the machine's hosts file already" — but it does not: `docker run --network host` still gives the
-// container its own /etc/hosts (localhost and its own id only), so every `<node>.internal` name the
-// mesh wrote for the machine is invisible inside it, and a client that dials one gets EAI_AGAIN. The
-// remedy is the same `--add-host` every other container gets — the runtime accepts it with
-// `--network host` (verified), and without it a host-network consumer cannot reach a provider by the
-// `.internal` address the mesh hands it as `${bound:...:at}`.
-func withMeshNames(resources []map[string]any, names map[string]string) []map[string]any {
-	out := make([]map[string]any, 0, len(resources))
-	for _, r := range resources {
-		if r["type"] != "container" {
-			out = append(out, r)
-			continue
-		}
-
-		copied := map[string]any{}
-		for k, v := range r {
-			copied[k] = v
-		}
-		var given []any
-		if already, ok := copied["hosts"].([]any); ok {
-			given = append(given, already...)
-		}
-		for _, name := range sortedKeys(names) {
-			given = append(given, name+":"+names[name])
-		}
-		copied["hosts"] = given
-		out = append(out, copied)
-	}
-	return out
-}
-
 // pinned refuses an image that is not really pinned, on its way to a machine.
 //
 // **Here and not at parse** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/025). A manifest in a repository names artifacts
@@ -1466,14 +1758,23 @@ func publishedOn(resource map[string]any, module string, with Rendering) {
 			out = append(out, givenOuter(written, with.Given[module]))
 			continue
 		}
-		wanted, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimSpace(written))
+		// A short form may carry the protocol — `"3478/udp"` — and the number is what the mesh
+		// assigns for; the protocol rides along. Read as one token, the `/udp` made the whole
+		// entry "not a port", and passing it through let the runtime publish it wherever it
+		// liked: unifi's STUN and discovery landed on random machine ports while every TCP pin
+		// beside them held.
+		mapping, protocol := written, ""
+		if cut := strings.LastIndex(written, "/"); cut >= 0 {
+			mapping, protocol = written[:cut], written[cut:]
+		}
+		wanted, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimSpace(mapping))
 		if err != nil {
 			// Not a port at all. Passed through, so the host refuses it with its own words rather
 			// than this quietly dropping something somebody meant.
 			out = append(out, written)
 			continue
 		}
-		out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("%d:%d", with.machinePort(module, wanted), wanted))
+		out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("%d:%d%s", with.machinePort(module, wanted), wanted, protocol))
 	}
 	resource["ports"] = out
 }
@@ -1610,3 +1911,130 @@ func atMachinePort(serves map[string]any, module string, ports map[string]map[in
 func AtPublishedPort(values map[string]any, module string, published map[int]int) map[string]any {
 	return atMachinePort(values, module, map[string]map[int]int{module: published})
 }
+
+// PreparationArgument is how the mesh asks a module to prepare its state: one word, to the module's
+// own program, whatever that program is (novox/hq ADR 0135).
+//
+// **One word for every kind of module.** A module built as a Go binary receives it as its argument;
+// one built as a bundle receives it through the runtime, whose entry takes the same word. So the
+// mesh has one way of asking and a module has one way of answering, and neither learns the other's
+// shape.
+const PreparationArgument = "prepare"
+
+// preparationTarget is the resource a module's preparation runs before: its own workload.
+//
+// The first container carrying an artifact this module built, and not itself a step — that is the
+// thing that runs the module's code, and therefore the thing whose state must be ready. Empty when
+// the module prepares nothing, or when nothing it declares could run its code.
+//
+// **A module with two own workloads gates the first of them.** Five modules in the catalogue declare
+// more than one container of their own, none of them preparing anything today. If one ever does and
+// its second workload shares the state, the gate is in front of the first — stated here because the
+// alternative is a field asking an author to restate what the mesh can see.
+func preparationTarget(m Manifest) string {
+	if !m.Prepares {
+		return ""
+	}
+	for _, r := range m.Resources {
+		if fmt.Sprint(r["type"]) != "container" || !ownArtifact(r, m.Module) {
+			continue
+		}
+		if once, _ := r["run-once"].(bool); once {
+			continue
+		}
+		return fmt.Sprint(r["id"])
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// ownArtifact is whether a resource runs something this module built, in either spelling a manifest
+// may be in: naming the artifact, before a build resolved it, or carrying the reference a build
+// recorded — this mesh's own store, under this module's name.
+func ownArtifact(resource map[string]any, module string) bool {
+	if named, _ := resource["artifact"].(string); named != "" {
+		return true
+	}
+	image, _ := resource["image"].(string)
+	return strings.HasPrefix(image, ArtifactStoreScheme+module+"/")
+}
+
+// prepared is the module's own resource as the step that prepares its state: the same image, the same
+// context, run to completion with the mesh's preparation argument.
+//
+// Three things are taken away rather than copied, each because the step runs while the version it
+// prepares for is still running. A published port cannot be bound twice, and a step that tried would
+// fail for a reason that has nothing to do with the state. A fixed address cannot be held twice, for
+// the same reason. And a cadence is what a step is the opposite of: a container runs once and gates,
+// or on a schedule, or stays up, never two (ADR 0053).
+func prepared(from map[string]any) map[string]any {
+	step := map[string]any{}
+	for k, v := range from {
+		step[k] = v
+	}
+	// **A hyphen, not a dot.** A resource's id is `<module>.<its own id>`, and a module's name may
+	// itself contain a dot (`novox.be`), so the module is everything before the *last* dot — which
+	// only works if what the mesh derives adds no dot of its own.
+	step["id"] = fmt.Sprint(from["id"]) + "-prepare"
+	step["name"] = fmt.Sprint(from["name"]) + "-prepare"
+	step["run-once"] = true
+	step["args"] = []any{PreparationArgument}
+	delete(step, "ports")
+	delete(step, "ip")
+	delete(step, "schedule")
+	delete(step, "reload-on")
+	return step
+}
+
+// endpointPortOf is the port the endpoint a route serves listens on: looked up by the name the route
+// gives, or read from the port it repeats (novox/hq ADR 0138).
+//
+// `ports` maps this module's endpoint names to their ports, computed once per module rather than
+// re-scanned per contribution.
+func endpointPortOf(values map[string]any, ports map[string]int) (int, bool) {
+	if name, ok := values[RouteEndpoint].(string); ok {
+		if port, found := ports[strings.TrimSpace(name)]; found {
+			return port, true
+		}
+	}
+	return asPort(values["port"])
+}
+
+// endpointPorts is a module's endpoint names against the ports they listen on.
+func endpointPorts(m Manifest) map[string]int {
+	out := map[string]int{}
+	for _, l := range m.Listens {
+		if name := strings.TrimSpace(l.Name); name != "" {
+			out[name] = l.Port
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// portOfEndpoint fills in the port of the endpoint a contribution names, in place.
+//
+// **A contribution that names an endpoint must still carry that endpoint's port**, because everything
+// downstream reads the port: the provider is told where to reach the consumer, and the machine-side
+// redirection that turns a declared port into the number the machine published is keyed on it
+// (atMachinePort). A route that named only its endpoint left the proxy with no port at all, and a
+// proxy with no port has nothing to dial.
+//
+// Found before it shipped and after the catalogue had already been changed to name endpoints — the
+// manifests were merged and the mesh had not yet picked them up, so nothing was broken yet. The
+// declared port, not the machine one: the redirection happens later and is keyed on the declared
+// number, so filling in the machine port here would be redirected a second time or not at all.
+func portOfEndpoint(values map[string]any, ports map[string]int) {
+	if values == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if _, already := values["port"]; already {
+		// A route that says both is its own answer; the older shape repeated the port and is still read.
+		return
+	}
+	name, ok := values[RouteEndpoint].(string)
+	if !ok {
+		return
+	}
+	if port, found := ports[strings.TrimSpace(name)]; found {
+		values["port"] = port
+	}
+}
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ import (
 // declared with the path as the exception it is, and everything else in the module names it by
 // id — so moving it later is one line, not a search.
 //
+// **The mesh's own files for a module are placed too** (novox/hq issue 174). What the mesh writes
+// *for* a module — its sealed bus credential, its merged configuration, its bindings — is the
+// mesh's plumbing, not the module's data, and sits under `<root>/mesh/<module>`. A directory
+// saying `"place": "mesh"` is that place; the definition names the files beneath it by
+// `${dir:<id>}` and states no path.
+//
 // **Resolved here, not on the machine.** The host receives concrete paths exactly as it always
 // has; nothing new reaches it and it learns no field. Which also means a resolved path changing
 // is a spec change like any other — and the spec comparison must see it (novox/hq issue 126).
@@ -27,6 +33,15 @@ import (
 // defaultDataRoot is where module data lands when a node states no root of its own.
 const defaultDataRoot = "/var/lib"

+// The two places a pathless directory may name, beside its own id.
+const (
+	// placeOwn is the assignment's own root, <root>/<module> — to-be 27's one directory per
+	// assignment, which every other placed thing of the module sits beneath.
+	placeOwn = "."
+	// placeMesh is where the mesh keeps what it writes for the module, <root>/mesh/<module>.
+	placeMesh = "mesh"
+)
+
 // dirRef is how a module names one of its placed directories: ${dir:<id>}.
 var dirRef = regexp.MustCompile(`\$\{dir:([a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*)\}`)

@@ -40,26 +55,53 @@ func dataRoot(with Rendering) string {

 // dirsFor is every placed directory of a module, id → the path it resolves to on this node.
 //
-// A pathless directory saying `"place": "."` is the assignment's own root, <root>/<module> —
-// to-be 27's one directory per assignment, which every other placed thing sits beneath. At most
-// one makes sense; nothing enforces one, because two ids resolving to one path is a mistake the
-// module's own files make visible immediately.
+// A pathless directory saying `"place": "."` is the assignment's own root, <root>/<module>; one
+// saying `"place": "mesh"` is the mesh's directory for the module, <root>/mesh/<module>; one
+// saying neither is <root>/<module>/<id>. At most one of each place makes sense; nothing enforces
+// one, because two ids resolving to one path is a mistake the module's own files make visible
+// immediately.
+//
+// A stated path may itself begin with a placed reference — `${dir:mesh-state}/state` — and is
+// filled after the directories it can name are resolved; one level, because a directory beneath
+// a placed one is the whole of what an adopted layout needs (issue 174's `state` and `out`).
 func dirsFor(m Manifest, with Rendering) map[string]string {
 	dirs := map[string]string{}
+	var beneath []map[string]any
+	// The assignment's placement wins over both (novox/hq issue 153). Refused elsewhere when
+	// malformed; here an invalid setting simply places nothing.
+	placed, _ := Places(m, with.Settings[m.Module])
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
 		if fmt.Sprint(r["type"]) != "directory" {
 			continue
 		}
 		id := fmt.Sprint(r["id"])
+		if p, said := placed[id]; said {
+			dirs[id] = p.Path
+			continue
+		}
 		if path, stated := r["path"].(string); stated && path != "" {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(path, "${dir:") {
+				beneath = append(beneath, r)
+				continue
+			}
 			dirs[id] = strings.TrimRight(path, "/")
 			continue
 		}
-		if place, said := r["place"].(string); said && place == "." {
+		switch place, _ := r["place"].(string); place {
+		case placeOwn:
 			dirs[id] = dataRoot(with) + "/" + m.Module
-			continue
+		case placeMesh:
+			dirs[id] = dataRoot(with) + "/mesh/" + m.Module
+		default:
+			dirs[id] = dataRoot(with) + "/" + m.Module + "/" + id
 		}
-		dirs[id] = dataRoot(with) + "/" + m.Module + "/" + id
+	}
+	for _, r := range beneath {
+		path := strings.TrimRight(r["path"].(string), "/")
+		// A reference to no directory is left as written and refused where the resource is
+		// placed (dirInto), with the message that names what exists.
+		filled, _ := dirFill(path, dirs, m.Module)
+		dirs[fmt.Sprint(r["id"])] = filled
 	}
 	return dirs
 }
@@ -119,8 +161,16 @@ func placedManifest(m Manifest, with Rendering) (Manifest, error) {
 	if m.Secrets, err = fillMap(m.Secrets); err != nil {
 		return m, err
 	}
-	if m.OwnSecrets, err = fillMap(m.OwnSecrets); err != nil {
-		return m, err
+	if len(m.OwnSecrets) > 0 {
+		own := make(OwnSecrets, len(m.OwnSecrets))
+		for name, s := range m.OwnSecrets {
+			filled, err := dirFill(s.Path, dirs, m.Module)
+			if err != nil {
+				return m, err
+			}
+			own[name] = OwnSecret{Path: filled, Taken: s.Taken}
+		}
+		m.OwnSecrets = own
 	}
 	if m.Grants, err = fillMap(m.Grants); err != nil {
 		return m, err
@@ -244,10 +294,11 @@ func (m Manifest) unknownDirRefs() []string {
 				"%s states both path and place on %v — a stated path IS the placement",
 				m.Module, r["id"]))
 		}
-		if place != "." {
+		if place != placeOwn && place != placeMesh {
 			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
-				"%s says place %q on %v, and the only place is %q — the assignment's own root",
-				m.Module, place, r["id"], "."))
+				"%s says place %q on %v, and the places are %q — the assignment's own root — and "+
+					"%q — where the mesh keeps what it writes for the module",
+				m.Module, place, r["id"], placeOwn, placeMesh))
 		}
 	}
 	seen := map[string]bool{}
@@ -292,7 +343,7 @@ func (m Manifest) unknownDirRefs() []string {
 	}
 	maps := map[string]map[string]string{
 		"receives": m.Receives, "binds": m.Binds, "secrets": m.Secrets,
-		"own-secrets": m.OwnSecrets, "grants": m.Grants,
+		"own-secrets": m.OwnSecrets.Paths(), "grants": m.Grants,
 	}
 	for field, entries := range maps {
 		for _, value := range entries {
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func TestTheManifestsMapsArePlaced(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		Binds:      map[string]string{"route": "${dir:state}/route.json"},
 		Secrets:    map[string]string{"mongodb-database": "${dir:state}/database.secret"},
-		OwnSecrets: map[string]string{"admin-key": "${dir:state}/admin-key.secret"},
+		OwnSecrets: OwnSecrets{"admin-key": {Path: "${dir:state}/admin-key.secret"}},
 		Receives:   map[string]string{"route": "${dir:state}/grants/mesh.json"},
 	}
 	placed, err := placedManifest(m, Rendering{})
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func TestTheManifestsMapsArePlaced(t *testing.T) {
 	if placed.Secrets["mongodb-database"] != "/var/lib/photos/database.secret" {
 		t.Fatalf("secrets are placed; got %v", placed.Secrets)
 	}
-	if placed.OwnSecrets["admin-key"] != "/var/lib/photos/admin-key.secret" {
+	if placed.OwnSecrets["admin-key"].Path != "/var/lib/photos/admin-key.secret" {
 		t.Fatalf("own-secrets are placed; got %v", placed.OwnSecrets)
 	}
 	if placed.Receives["route"] != "/var/lib/photos/grants/mesh.json" {
@@ -216,8 +216,48 @@ func TestPlaceIsValidatedAtTheManifest(t *testing.T) {
 	wrong := Manifest{Module: "x", Resources: []map[string]any{
 		{"id": "d", "type": "directory", "place": "sub/dir"},
 	}}
-	if got := wrong.unknownDirRefs(); len(got) != 1 || !strings.Contains(got[0], `the only place is "."`) {
-		t.Fatalf("a place that is not the root refuses; got %v", got)
+	if got := wrong.unknownDirRefs(); len(got) != 1 || !strings.Contains(got[0], `the places are "."`) {
+		t.Fatalf("a place that is neither root refuses; got %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheMeshsDirectoryForAModuleIsAPlace(t *testing.T) {
+	// novox/hq issue 174. What the mesh writes for a module — its bus credential, its bindings —
+	// is the mesh's plumbing under <root>/mesh/<module>, and the definition names it by id.
+	m := Manifest{Module: "umami",
+		Resources: []map[string]any{
+			{"id": "mesh-state", "type": "directory", "place": "mesh"},
+			{"id": "state", "type": "directory", "place": "."},
+			{"id": "server", "type": "container", "image": "x@sha256:aa",
+				"volumes": []any{"${dir:mesh-state}/broker:/run/secrets/broker:ro"}},
+		},
+		OwnSecrets: OwnSecrets{"broker": {Path: "${dir:mesh-state}/broker"}},
+		Binds:      map[string]string{"route": "${dir:state}/route.json"},
+	}
+	if got := m.unknownDirRefs(); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("place %q is a place; got %v", "mesh", got)
+	}
+	dirs := dirsFor(m, Rendering{})
+	if dirs["mesh-state"] != "/var/lib/mesh/umami" || dirs["state"] != "/var/lib/umami" {
+		t.Fatalf("the mesh's directory sits beside the module's, not in it; got %v", dirs)
+	}
+	dirs = dirsFor(m, Rendering{DataRoot: "/srv"})
+	if dirs["mesh-state"] != "/srv/mesh/umami" {
+		t.Fatalf("a node's root moves the mesh's files with the module's; got %v", dirs)
+	}
+	placed, err := placedManifest(m, Rendering{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if placed.OwnSecrets["broker"].Path != "/var/lib/mesh/umami/broker" {
+		t.Fatalf("own-secrets are placed under the mesh's directory; got %v", placed.OwnSecrets)
+	}
+	container := shallowCopy(m.Resources[2])
+	if err := dirInto(container, dirsFor(m, Rendering{}), m.Module); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if container["volumes"].([]any)[0] != "/var/lib/mesh/umami/broker:/run/secrets/broker:ro" {
+		t.Fatalf("the mount's host side is placed; got %v", container["volumes"])
 	}
 }

@@ -250,3 +290,36 @@ func shallowCopy(resource map[string]any) map[string]any {
 	}
 	return copied
 }
+
+func TestADirectoryBeneathAPlacedOneIsPlacedWithIt(t *testing.T) {
+	// An adopted layout keeps a subdirectory the predecessor made under the mesh's directory
+	// (issue 174: a forge's runtime state, a manager's output). Stated as beneath the placed one,
+	// it moves with it — a node's root moves both, and the definition names no host path.
+	m := Manifest{Module: "gitea", Resources: []map[string]any{
+		{"id": "mesh-state", "type": "directory", "place": "mesh"},
+		{"id": "runtime-state", "type": "directory", "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/state"},
+		{"id": "server", "type": "container", "image": "x@sha256:aa",
+			"volumes": []any{"${dir:runtime-state}:/data"}},
+	}}
+	if got := m.unknownDirRefs(); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a path beneath a placed directory is well formed; got %v", got)
+	}
+	dirs := dirsFor(m, Rendering{DataRoot: "/srv"})
+	if dirs["runtime-state"] != "/srv/mesh/gitea/state" {
+		t.Fatalf("the subdirectory follows the placed one; got %v", dirs)
+	}
+	sub := shallowCopy(m.Resources[1])
+	if err := dirInto(sub, dirs, m.Module); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if sub["path"] != "/srv/mesh/gitea/state" {
+		t.Fatalf("the directory resource itself is resolved; got %v", sub["path"])
+	}
+	container := shallowCopy(m.Resources[2])
+	if err := dirInto(container, dirs, m.Module); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if container["volumes"].([]any)[0] != "/srv/mesh/gitea/state:/data" {
+		t.Fatalf("a reference to the subdirectory resolves whole; got %v", container["volumes"])
+	}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// aMediaServer is the shape one port number per key cannot express: two endpoints of different kinds.
+// A web surface a proxy serves under a subdomain, and a protocol port clients dial directly because
+// the client expects that number.
+func aMediaServer() Manifest {
+	return Manifest{
+		Module: "media",
+		Listens: []Listening{
+			{Name: "web", Port: 80, From: FromMesh, Why: "the app, behind the proxy"},
+			{Name: "stream", Port: 32400, From: FromEverywhere, Fixed: true,
+				Why: "the client dials this number; the protocol chose it"},
+		},
+		Contributes: map[string]map[string]any{
+			"route": {"label": "media", RouteEndpoint: "web"},
+		},
+		// Both endpoints are published by its container, which is what lets a machine port be given
+		// for either: the mesh moves a port the module publishes, never one it merely listens on.
+		Resources: []map[string]any{
+			{"id": "server", "type": "container", "name": "media",
+				"ports": []any{"80", "32400"}},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+// **A route names the endpoint it serves.** A route and a listen both carried a port and nothing said
+// they were the same thing; now one of them says so.
+func TestARouteNamesTheEndpointItServes(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aMediaServer()
+	if port, ok := EndpointPort(m, "web"); !ok || port != 80 {
+		t.Fatalf("the web endpoint resolves to %d (%v), want 80", port, ok)
+	}
+	if port, ok := EndpointPort(m, "stream"); !ok || port != 32400 {
+		t.Fatalf("the stream endpoint resolves to %d (%v), want 32400", port, ok)
+	}
+	if _, ok := EndpointPort(m, "absent"); ok {
+		t.Fatal("an endpoint the module does not declare resolved to a port")
+	}
+}
+
+// And the routed set is read through the name, so the endpoint the proxy serves is known without a
+// reader joining two numbers.
+func TestTheRoutedEndpointIsFoundByName(t *testing.T) {
+	routed := RoutedPorts(aMediaServer())
+	if !routed[80] {
+		t.Fatalf("the routed endpoint was not found by name: %v", routed)
+	}
+	// And the directly-dialled one is not routed, which is what lets its reach govern its port.
+	if routed[32400] {
+		t.Fatalf("the endpoint clients dial directly reads as routed: %v", routed)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Two endpoints of different shapes, configured as themselves.** The web endpoint's reach asks for
+// names and leaves its port to the proxy; the stream endpoint's reach governs its port, because
+// clients dial it and there is no name.
+func TestTwoEndpointsOfDifferentShapesAreConfiguredSeparately(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aMediaServer()
+	settings := SettingsBy{"media": {{From: "node anchor", Values: map[string]any{
+		ReachSetting: map[string]any{"80": ReachBoth, "32400": ReachPublic},
+	}}}}
+
+	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{m},
+		PublicDomain: "example.test", At: "anchor.internal"}
+	rules, err := r.Rules(Rendering{Settings: settings})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, rule := range rules {
+		switch rule.Port {
+		case 80:
+			if rule.From != FromMesh {
+				t.Fatalf("the routed endpoint's port opened to %q; the proxy is how it is reached",
+					rule.From)
+			}
+		case 32400:
+			if rule.From != FromEverywhere {
+				t.Fatalf("the directly-dialled endpoint's port is %q, want anywhere", rule.From)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// And the routed one carries both names, asked for by the same statement.
+	given, err := r.contributions(settings, nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var public, internal string
+	for _, c := range given["route"] {
+		public, _ = c.Values["name"].(string)
+		internal, _ = c.Values["internal-name"].(string)
+	}
+	if public != "media.example.test" || internal != "media.anchor.internal" {
+		t.Fatalf("names are %q and %q, want both", public, internal)
+	}
+}
+
+// A route naming an endpoint the module does not declare reaches nothing, and is refused where it is
+// written rather than resolving to no port and serving nothing.
+func TestARouteNamingAnEndpointTheModuleLacksIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aMediaServer()
+	m.Contributes["route"][RouteEndpoint] = "absent"
+	got := strings.Join(RouteProblems(m), "\n")
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "does not declare") {
+		t.Fatalf("a route naming an absent endpoint was accepted:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Two endpoints called the same would make an assignment configure whichever was read last.** The
+// point of a name is that it identifies one thing.
+func TestTwoEndpointsWithOneNameAreRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	m := Manifest{Module: "twice", Listens: []Listening{
+		{Name: "web", Port: 80, From: FromMesh},
+		{Name: "web", Port: 8080, From: FromMesh},
+	}}
+	got := strings.Join(endpointNameProblems(m), "\n")
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "could mean either") {
+		t.Fatalf("two endpoints with one name were accepted:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// A name that is not a name is refused where it is written: it ends up in something a person types.
+func TestAnEndpointNameIsHeldToItsShape(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, wrong := range []string{"Web", "web port", "3000", "-web", "web_surface"} {
+		m := Manifest{Module: "odd", Listens: []Listening{{Name: wrong, Port: 80, From: FromMesh}}}
+		if got := strings.Join(endpointNameProblems(m), "\n"); !strings.Contains(got, "a name is lowercase") {
+			t.Fatalf("%q was accepted as an endpoint name:\n%s", wrong, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// **Every endpoint in the catalogue is unnamed today, and must stay valid.** The word ships one
+// release before anything uses it.
+func TestAnUnnamedEndpointIsStillValid(t *testing.T) {
+	m := Manifest{Module: "ordinary", Listens: []Listening{{Port: 443, From: FromEverywhere}}}
+	if got := endpointNameProblems(m); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("an unnamed endpoint was refused: %v", got)
+	}
+	if got := RouteProblems(m); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a module with no route was refused: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// **A route that names an endpoint still carries that endpoint's port.**
+//
+// Everything downstream reads the port: the provider is told where to reach the consumer, and the
+// redirection that turns a declared port into the number the machine published is keyed on it. A route
+// naming only its endpoint left the proxy with no port, and a proxy with no port has nothing to dial.
+//
+// Caught after the catalogue had already been changed to name endpoints, and before the mesh picked
+// those manifests up — which is the only reason nothing broke.
+func TestARouteNamingAnEndpointStillCarriesItsPort(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aMediaServer()
+	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor", Modules: []Manifest{m},
+		PublicDomain: "example.test", At: "anchor.internal"}
+	given, err := r.contributions(nil, nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var saw bool
+	for _, c := range given["route"] {
+		saw = true
+		port, ok := asPort(c.Values["port"])
+		if !ok {
+			t.Fatalf("the route carries no port, so the proxy has nothing to dial: %v", c.Values)
+		}
+		if port != 80 {
+			t.Fatalf("the route carries port %d, want the web endpoint's 80", port)
+		}
+	}
+	if !saw {
+		t.Fatal("the module contributed no route")
+	}
+}
+
+// And the declared port, not the machine one: the redirection to where the machine published it
+// happens later and is keyed on the declared number, so filling the machine port in here would be
+// redirected twice or not at all.
+func TestTheEndpointsDeclaredPortIsFilledInNotTheMachineOne(t *testing.T) {
+	m := aMediaServer()
+	values := map[string]any{RouteEndpoint: "web", "label": "media"}
+	portOfEndpoint(values, endpointPorts(m))
+	if got, _ := asPort(values["port"]); got != 80 {
+		t.Fatalf("filled in port %d, want the declared 80", got)
+	}
+	// Then the ordinary redirection puts it where the machine published it.
+	moved := atMachinePort(values, m.Module, map[string]map[int]int{"media": {80: 20009}})
+	if got, _ := asPort(moved["port"]); got != 20009 {
+		t.Fatalf("after redirection the port is %d, want the machine's 20009", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// A route that repeats a port keeps it, because that is the older shape and still read.
+func TestARouteThatRepeatsItsPortKeepsIt(t *testing.T) {
+	values := map[string]any{RouteEndpoint: "web", "port": 8080}
+	portOfEndpoint(values, map[string]int{"web": 80})
+	if got, _ := asPort(values["port"]); got != 8080 {
+		t.Fatalf("the port it stated was overwritten with %d", got)
+	}
+}
--- a/Show More
+++ b/Show More