The mint finds the bus on the hub

The map of who is where on the private network lists the machines placed around
the hub, not the hub — and the control node is the hub, and runs the new bus.
Found on the first live run: refused for having no address. The address every
machine already dials the current bus at is the same machine, so that host with
the new port is what they are told.

cmd/mesh-controller/modules.go

@@ -614,6 +614,15 @@ func issueOnTheNewBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	return issueWith(ctx, inv, m, node, busAddress, known, reachable, user, password)
+}
+
+// issueWith is the delivery half: the minted password sealed to the machine as the module's broker
+// secret, and the module's consumer created where the bus can be reached. Split from the minting
+// so the move can issue every module against a bus whose address it worked out itself
+// (`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 {
 	held, err := json.Marshal(struct {
 		URL         string `json:"url"`
 		Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
@@ -639,14 +648,19 @@ func issueOnTheNewBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue
 		Kind: broker.KindModule, Node: node, Module: m.Module,
 		Emits: m.Emits, Consumes: m.Consumes, Serves: m.Tools,
 	}); needed {
-		js, err := broker.Dial(busAddress)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("the credential is minted and the mesh cannot reach the bus to create "+
-				"how %s hears what it consumes: %w", m.Module, err)
-		}
-		defer js.Close()
-		if err := js.EnsureConsumer(consumer); err != nil {
-			return err
+		if busAddress == "" {
+			fmt.Printf("  %s consumes; its consumer is created when the bus is reachable (`push`, then "+
+				"`rollout mint` again is harmless)\n", m.Module)
+		} else {
+			js, err := broker.Dial(busAddress)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("the credential is minted and the mesh cannot reach the bus to create "+
+					"how %s hears what it consumes: %w", m.Module, err)
+			}
+			defer js.Close()
+			if err := js.EnsureConsumer(consumer); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 		}
 	}
 

cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go

@@ -185,6 +185,15 @@ func theRestOfTheMesh(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 
 	// Every node, not only the placed ones. A machine that was never put on the private network
 	// still runs modules, still holds claims, and still offers whatever it offers.
+	// **Who holds each seat on record, before anything is resolved** (novox/hq ADR 0131). Both
+	// passes below need it: without it, the assignment standing beside a seat's holder — the next
+	// holder, waiting for the handover — is refused as a second holder, and its node's whole set
+	// with it.
+	holdings, err := inv.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return catalogue.World{}, err
+	}
+
 	nodes, err := inv.Nodes(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return catalogue.World{}, err
@@ -227,7 +236,7 @@ func theRestOfTheMesh(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 	offered := map[string][]catalogue.Provider{}
 	var firstHeld []catalogue.Held
 	for _, o := range others {
-		got, err := catalogue.Resolve(shelf, o.assigned, o.node, catalogue.World{Unchecked: true})
+		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.
@@ -258,7 +267,7 @@ func theRestOfTheMesh(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 	// with several providers (novox/hq ADR 0110), so a node consuming one resolves only once the
 	// holder is known. Without them its set is refused here, and a refused node's own claims drop
 	// out of what the mesh holds — so a second holder of one of its seats would pass unrefused.
-	world := catalogue.World{Offered: offered, Held: firstHeld}
+	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)
@@ -627,8 +636,13 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 	if err != nil {
 		return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
 	}
+	memberships, err := inv.BusMemberships(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
+	}
 	return catalogue.Rendering{
-		Settings: settings, Generators: gens, Grants: grants, Needed: needed, Ports: ports,
+		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,

cmd/mesh-controller/rollout.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/secrets"
 )
 
 // Moving the mesh's own traffic to the bus being built (novox/hq ADR 0116 step 5).
@@ -25,18 +27,20 @@ import (
 // against a mesh that is serving. It answers from records: what is missing, and what would happen.
 // `rollout` itself refuses unless the check is clean.
 //
-// **The old broker is not switched off by this.** It stays an ordinary provider of `amqp` for whatever
-// else uses it — on this installation, a whole automation layer that has nothing to do with the mesh
-// ([ADR 0119](../../02-DECISIONS/0119-amqp-is-a-provision-not-the-bus.md)). Only the mesh's own
-// traffic moves, which is why this is survivable at all: what breaks if it goes wrong is the mesh's
-// ability to change things, not the services its modules are serving.
+// **The old broker goes with the move, and goes last** (novox/hq ADR 0131): AMQP is not a provision,
+// so once every machine reports on the new bus its module is unassigned. Only the mesh's own traffic
+// is what moves, which is why this is survivable at all: what breaks if it goes wrong is the mesh's
+// 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 --confirm"
+const rolloutUsage = "rollout check | rollout mint | rollout --confirm"
 
 func rolloutCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	switch {
 	case len(args) == 1 && args[0] == "check":
 		return rolloutCheck(ctx)
+	case len(args) == 1 && args[0] == "mint":
+		return rolloutMint(ctx)
 	case len(args) == 1 && args[0] == "--confirm":
 		return errors.New(
 			"the rollout itself is not built yet: `rollout check` answers whether it could run, and " +
@@ -105,7 +109,6 @@ func readinessOf(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) (broker.Readines
 		ModuleCredentialled: map[string]bool{},
 		// The old broker keeps its other clients on this installation, and saying so is how the plan
 		// stops reading as a retirement.
-		OldBusHasOtherClients: true,
 	}
 
 	address, _, err := broker.OnNATS()
@@ -191,3 +194,174 @@ func wasSentTheUserList(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node stri
 // notReadyOf is the readiness reasoning, named here so a test can reach it without the command's
 // printing. The reasoning itself is the broker package's, where it is pure.
 func notReadyOf(state broker.Readiness) []string { return broker.NotReady(state) }
+
+// rolloutMint gives every principal the new bus will have a credential it does not yet have, and
+// puts each where its owner reads it (novox/hq design 28, task 5.2): a machine's as a membership
+// sealed into its declaration, a module's as its broker secret, the control plane's own as its
+// `bus` secret. Idempotent: what already has a hash is left alone, so running it again is harmless.
+//
+// **Before anything moves, and it is what makes moving possible.** A machine moved without a
+// credential cannot come back, and afterwards there is no bus to tell it anything over — which is
+// why `rollout check` refuses until this has run. The bus's address is worked out here, from where
+// the module that provides it is assigned, rather than read from this process's environment: this
+// process is still on the old bus when this runs, and must be.
+func rolloutMint(ctx context.Context) 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, and every membership "+
+			"must carry its fingerprint: %w", err)
+	}
+	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	var busNode, controllerNode string
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		switch {
+		case e.Manifest.ClaimsSeat("mesh-broker") && providesBus(e.Manifest) && len(e.On) > 0:
+			busNode = e.On[0]
+		case e.Manifest.Module == "mesh-controller" && len(e.On) > 0:
+			controllerNode = e.On[0]
+		}
+	}
+	if busNode == "" {
+		return errors.New("no assigned module provides mesh-bus and claims mesh-broker, so there is no " +
+			"bus to mint credentials for — register and assign it first")
+	}
+	onNetwork, err := whereEveryoneIs(ctx, inv, shelf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	busHost := onNetwork[busNode]
+	if busHost == "" {
+		// **The hub is not in that map.** The machine that took over the tunnel is where the current
+		// bus already answers, and every machine dials it at the address the mesh handed them — so
+		// when the new bus runs on the same machine, that address is the one to tell them, with the
+		// new port. Found live: the control node is the hub, and the map lists the machines placed
+		// around it.
+		host := strings.TrimSpace(broker.BareAddress(known.Address))
+		if i := strings.LastIndex(host, ":"); i > 0 && !strings.Contains(host[i:], "]") {
+			host = host[:i]
+		}
+		if host == "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s runs the new bus and has no address on the private network, and the "+
+				"current bus's address is unknown too, so no machine could be told where it is", busNode)
+		}
+		busHost = host
+	}
+	busAddress := busHost + ":4222"
+
+	records, err := inv.BusRecords(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	users, err := broker.Users(records)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	kept, err := inv.BusUsers(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	hashes := make(map[string]string, len(kept))
+	for name, u := range kept {
+		hashes[name] = u.PasswordHash
+	}
+	_, missing := broker.WithPasswords(users, hashes)
+	wanted := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, m := range missing {
+		wanted[m] = true
+	}
+
+	var machines, modules, skipped int
+	for _, p := range users {
+		if !wanted[p.Username()] {
+			continue
+		}
+		switch p.Kind {
+		case broker.KindController:
+			if controllerNode == "" {
+				return errors.New("the control plane is not assigned anywhere, so its credential has nowhere to go")
+			}
+			password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: p.Username(), Kind: inventory.BusController})
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			url := "nats://" + p.Username() + ":" + password + "@" + busAddress
+			if err := inv.AcceptSecretForModule(ctx, controllerNode, "mesh-controller", "bus", url); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("the control plane's credential is minted and could not be sealed to %s: %w", controllerNode, err)
+			}
+			fmt.Printf("control plane: credential minted, sealed to %s as its `bus` secret\n", controllerNode)
+
+		case broker.KindNode:
+			password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: p.Username(), Kind: inventory.BusNode, Node: p.Node})
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			membership, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]string{
+				"broker": busAddress, "fingerprint": known.Fingerprint, "password": password, "transport": "nats",
+			})
+			key, err := inv.SealingKeyOf(ctx, p.Node)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s has no sealing key, so its membership cannot be sealed to it: %w", p.Node, err)
+			}
+			sealed, err := secrets.Seal(key, membership)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if err := inv.PutBusMembership(ctx, p.Node, sealed); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			machines++
+
+		case broker.KindModule:
+			m, inShelf := shelf[p.Module]
+			if !inShelf {
+				skipped++
+				continue
+			}
+			if _, reads := m.OwnSecrets["broker"]; !reads {
+				fmt.Printf("  %s on %s speaks on the bus but declares no `broker` secret to receive a credential in; skipped\n", p.Module, p.Node)
+				skipped++
+				continue
+			}
+			password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: p.Username(), Kind: inventory.BusModule, Node: p.Node, Module: p.Module})
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if err := issueWith(ctx, inv, m, p.Node, "", known, busAddress, p.Username(), password); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			modules++
+
+		default:
+			skipped++
+		}
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("minted for %d machine(s) and %d module runtime(s); %d skipped; the bus is at %s\n",
+		machines, modules, skipped, busAddress)
+	fmt.Println("  each machine's membership and each module's credential arrive with the next push of its machine;")
+	fmt.Println("  push the machine running the bus first, so the bus stands with its user list before anything dials it")
+	return nil
+}
+
+// providesBus is whether a manifest provides the mesh's bus.
+func providesBus(m catalogue.Manifest) bool {
+	for _, o := range m.Provides {
+		if o.Name == "mesh-bus" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/seats.go

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"text/tabwriter"
@@ -85,7 +86,8 @@ func seatsHeld(seats []catalogue.Seat, held []catalogue.Held) ([]seatRow, []cata
 	return rows, outside
 }
 
-// seatCommand changes the set — the whole point of it being data (novox/hq ADR 0122).
+// seatCommand changes the set — the whole point of it being data (novox/hq ADR 0122) — and, since
+// ADR 0131, changes who holds a seat.
 func seatCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	if len(args) == 3 && args[0] == "rename" {
 		from, to := args[1], args[2]
@@ -101,7 +103,101 @@ func seatCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 			"re-registered or frozen (novox/hq ADR 0122)\n", from, to)
 		return nil
 	}
-	return fmt.Errorf("seat rename <from> <to>")
+	if len(args) == 3 && args[1] == "--to" {
+		return handOver(ctx, args[0], args[2])
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("seat rename <from> <to>  |  seat <name> --to <node>/<module>")
+}
+
+// handOver makes one assignment the holder of a seat, as one act, so the seat is never without a
+// holder in between (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 28 task 5.3). The control plane finds its own bus
+// through one of these seats; the day it was left empty mid-change is why this exists.
+//
+// Everything that could make the new holder wrong is refused here, before the row is written: the
+// seat must exist, the assignment must exist, and the module must be able to hold the seat —
+// claim it at its scope and provide what it delivers, judged against the store's row. What is
+// **not** checked is whether the module is running yet: that is what `push` confirms afterwards,
+// and refusing to record a handover to a module the node has not started would make the handover
+// impossible to do before the switch instead of as the switch.
+func handOver(ctx context.Context, seatName, to string) error {
+	nodeName, module, ok := strings.Cut(to, "/")
+	if !ok || nodeName == "" || module == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the new holder is named <node>/<module>, not %q", to)
+	}
+	open, err := openStores(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer open.Close()
+	inv := open.inventory
+
+	seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(seatName)
+	if !known {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a seat this mesh defines — `seats` lists them", seatName)
+	}
+	assigned, err := inv.Assigned(ctx, nodeName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if !slices.Contains(assigned, module) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is not assigned to %s, so it cannot hold anything there — "+
+			"`assign %s %s` first", module, nodeName, nodeName, module)
+	}
+	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	var m *catalogue.Manifest
+	for i := range entries {
+		if entries[i].Manifest.Module == module {
+			m = &entries[i].Manifest
+		}
+	}
+	if m == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is assigned but not in the catalogue, which should not happen", module)
+	}
+	var was string
+	holdings, err := inv.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	for _, h := range holdings {
+		if hs, ok := catalogue.SeatNamed(h.Claim); ok && hs.Name == seat.Name {
+			was = h.Node
+		}
+	}
+
+	// **Recording who already holds the seat is not making a new holder, and is not judged like
+	// one.** On a mesh that predates the record, the first handover has to begin by writing down
+	// the standing holder — otherwise the next holder cannot be assigned beside it, because two
+	// eligible claimants with nothing on record are refused. That standing holder may no longer
+	// satisfy what the seat delivers (the row moved under it, on purpose, as ADR 0131's first step),
+	// and it holds regardless: derivation never read that column. So when nothing is on record and
+	// the named assignment is the one holding by derivation, only the claim itself is checked here.
+	// Every *change* of holder is judged in full.
+	claimsIt := false
+	for _, c := range m.Claims {
+		if cs, ok := catalogue.SeatNamed(c.Name); ok && cs.Name == seat.Name && c.At() == seat.Scope {
+			claimsIt = true
+		}
+	}
+	if was == "" && claimsIt {
+		fmt.Printf("nothing was on record for %s; recording %s on %s as its standing holder\n",
+			seat.Name, module, nodeName)
+	} else if err := catalogue.CanHold(*m, seat); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s cannot hold %s: %w", module, seat.Name, err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.HoldSeat(ctx, seat.Name, seat.Scope, nodeName, module); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("%s is held by %s on %s\n", seat.Name, module, nodeName)
+	if was != "" && was != nodeName {
+		fmt.Printf("  `push %s` and `push %s` send both machines what changed\n", was, nodeName)
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("  `push %s` sends the machine what changed; every other machine that reads the "+
+			"seat is re-declared by `push --behind`\n", nodeName)
+	}
+	return nil
 }
 
 func seatsCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {

go.sum

@@ -28,24 +28,14 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu
 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 v0.55.0 h1:+KWHjbgOaAQ66dh/YlkZKHlz9ZUlq61AFirAR9ntP8M=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.55.0/go.mod h1:uq0V9dE/fzQuJtbnL+2EhWOE63vo164FY8xqEnV9xis=
 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 v0.57.0 h1:K5+3DljvIuDG9/Jv9rvyMywYNFCQ9RSUY6OOTTkT+tE=
-golang.org/x/net v0.57.0/go.mod h1:KpXc8iv+r3XplLAG/f7Jsf9RPszJzdR0f58q9vGOuEU=
 golang.org/x/net v0.58.0 h1:ynWG7rqYi4ccpTEuPZ2QGWHktVEM9DMCj9yzDE0Q7To=
 golang.org/x/net v0.58.0/go.mod h1:YwCddHnFlT7eLQqVprV19OnhLGtc5xOKgE0RyqgfWAU=
-golang.org/x/sync v0.22.0 h1:SZjpbeLmrCk4xhRSZFNZW5gFUeCeFgjekvI/+gfScek=
-golang.org/x/sync v0.22.0/go.mod h1:9xrNwdLfx4jkKbNva9FpL6vEN7evnE43NNNJQ2LF3+0=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.23.0 h1:KameEIfc1IkluZyXWLn39Wd4tURc6GbCiISGiZm2bQk=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.23.0/go.mod h1:sUUOizhqBxiL6pEWpqNLUiaJn1ShEbZ6BBqskPbjZm0=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.47.0 h1:o7XGOvZQCADBQQ4Y7VNq2dRWQR7JmOUW8Kxx4ZsNgWs=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.47.0/go.mod h1:4GL1E5IUh+htKOUEOaiffhrAeqysfVGipDYzABqnCmw=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0 h1:bbX/i/6MgT9BVLM9RT1thmxL04yeTAhbEz4SyadbXoo=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0/go.mod h1:hNLxWAXmnKAxqDtdwIYC4bM9oQPEecfsnNMuSxOs3og=
-golang.org/x/text v0.41.0 h1:vz/seA0lnX87Othu2f/0L24RcgrXD9/YFTSuGjj3rH8=
-golang.org/x/text v0.41.0/go.mod h1:jvf1O8ajNzZqhSrQBPbutR/EB83Cc0CFrezNQIwbb5M=
 golang.org/x/text v0.42.0 h1:JbOZXgfeCPU9gacVtYliJqOhD+zhrEqK4LfdpmlUZqI=
 golang.org/x/text v0.42.0/go.mod h1:ojzP1Z+2QtioaF8DTtO8K5q7JWVVYwZKenzujK0Zd0E=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=

internal/broker/readiness.go

@@ -35,10 +35,6 @@ type Readiness struct {
 	Modules []string
 	// ModuleCredentialled is which of those has one.
 	ModuleCredentialled map[string]bool
-	// StillOnTheOldBus is whether anything of the mesh's own still needs the bus it is leaving —
-	// which is not a reason to stop, because that broker stays as an ordinary provider of `amqp`
-	// (ADR 0119). Recorded so nobody reads the move as a retirement.
-	OldBusHasOtherClients bool
 }
 
 // NotReady is every reason this mesh cannot move its bus yet, in the order somebody would fix them.
@@ -120,10 +116,11 @@ func WhatMoves(r Readiness) []string {
 		out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("move %d module runtime(s), and confirm each answers",
 			len(r.Modules)))
 	}
-	if r.OldBusHasOtherClients {
-		out = append(out, "leave the old broker running: it stays an ordinary provider of `amqp` for "+
-			"whatever else uses it (ADR 0119), and this move is not its retirement")
-	}
+	// **The old broker goes, and it goes last** (novox/hq ADR 0131). AMQP is not a provision, so once
+	// every machine reports on the new bus nothing of the mesh is left speaking to it, and its module
+	// is unassigned. Said as a step so nobody reads the move as leaving a second bus behind.
+	out = append(out, "then unassign the old broker's module: AMQP is not a provision (ADR 0131), and "+
+		"once every machine reports on the new bus nothing of the mesh speaks to it")
 	return out
 }
 

internal/broker/readiness_test.go

@@ -79,9 +79,8 @@ func TestEachThingMissingNamesItsOwnRemedy(t *testing.T) {
 
 // What the move would do is written out rather than summarised, because this is the one step with
 // nothing to inspect afterwards — so reading it is the last chance to disagree.
-func TestWhatMovesNamesEveryMachineAndSaysTheOldBrokerStays(t *testing.T) {
+func TestWhatMovesNamesEveryMachineAndEndsWithTheOldBrokerGoing(t *testing.T) {
 	r := aMeshReadyToMove()
-	r.OldBusHasOtherClients = true
 	steps := strings.Join(WhatMoves(r), "\n")
 
 	for _, want := range []string{"anchor", "laptop", "user list", "module runtime"} {
@@ -89,9 +88,11 @@ func TestWhatMovesNamesEveryMachineAndSaysTheOldBrokerStays(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("the plan does not mention %q:\n%s", want, steps)
 		}
 	}
-	// Said explicitly, so nobody reads the move as switching the old broker off — it stays serving
-	// whatever else uses it, and that is a decision already taken.
-	if !strings.Contains(steps, "not its retirement") {
-		t.Errorf("the plan does not say the old broker stays:\n%s", steps)
+	// Said explicitly, and last: AMQP is not a provision (novox/hq ADR 0131), so the move ends with
+	// the old broker's module unassigned, not left behind as a second bus. An earlier version of this
+	// test pinned the opposite, under a record 0131 superseded.
+	lines := WhatMoves(r)
+	if last := lines[len(lines)-1]; !strings.Contains(last, "unassign the old broker") {
+		t.Errorf("the plan does not end with the old broker going:\n%s", steps)
 	}
 }

internal/catalogue/amqp_is_not_a_provision_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// **The word does not come back through a manifest** (novox/hq ADR 0131). A module that wants
+// messaging wants the mesh's bus, reached through the sdk and named by the `mesh-broker` seat. Naming
+// the old wire protocol asks for the one server being retired, so both directions are refused at the
+// parser — this is judged from the manifest alone, no store needed.
+
+func TestAManifestProvidingAmqpIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := []byte(`{"module":"old-broker","version":"1","provides":[{"name":"amqp","scope":"mesh"}]}`)
+	_, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `provides "amqp", which is not a provision`) {
+		t.Fatalf("a module providing amqp was not refused, or not for the reason: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAManifestRequiringAmqpIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := []byte(`{"module":"forwarder","version":"1","requires":["amqp"]}`)
+	_, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `requires "amqp", which is not a provision`) {
+		t.Fatalf("a module requiring amqp was not refused, or not for the reason: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// And the catalogue as checked out beside this repository names it nowhere — the three modules that
+// did are removed under design 28 task 5.4, not converted.
+func TestNoCatalogueManifestNamesAmqp(t *testing.T) {
+	modules, err := filepath.Glob("../../../mesh-catalog/modules/*/module.json")
+	if err != nil || len(modules) == 0 {
+		t.Skip("the catalogue is not checked out beside this repository")
+	}
+	for _, path := range modules {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(string(raw), `"amqp"`) {
+			t.Errorf("%s names amqp, which is not a provision (novox/hq ADR 0131)",
+				filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(path)))
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/broker_seat_test.go

@@ -46,23 +46,9 @@ func TestTheSeatRefusesADifferentBusToo(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// The old broker no longer claims the seat: it is an ordinary provider of `amqp`
-// (novox/hq ADR 0119), so it can sit on the same mesh as the bus without contending for it.
-func TestTheAmqpBrokerDoesNotContendForTheSeat(t *testing.T) {
-	lavinmq := catalogueManifest(t, "lavinmq")
-	for _, c := range lavinmq.Claims {
-		if c.Name == "mesh-broker" {
-			t.Fatal("the amqp broker still claims mesh-broker; it is a provider, not foundation")
-		}
-	}
-	busHeld := World{Held: []Held{{Claim: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh,
-		Node: "anchor", Module: "nats"}}}
-	other := workstation()
-	other.Name = "laptop"
-	if _, err := Resolve(shelf(lavinmq), []string{"lavinmq"}, other, busHeld); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("the amqp broker was refused beside the mesh bus: %v", err)
-	}
-}
+// The old broker is gone from the catalogue (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 28 task 5.4), so it is no
+// longer a fixture here. That two eligible holders stand beside each other with one on record is
+// pinned in holdings_test.go against manifests this package owns.
 
 // **A seat and the interface it delivers are different names, and renaming one must not rename
 // the other** (novox/hq ADR 0118). This nearly went wrong: the seats were renamed to the `mesh-*`

internal/catalogue/declaration.go

@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ type Rendering struct {
 	// **Only the users, never the server's own settings**: those are the module's, in its image and
 	// its mounts (Manifest.BusUsers).
 	BusUsers string
+	// BusMembership is this machine's membership for the bus the mesh is moving to, sealed to it
+	// (design 28, task 5.2). Empty for a machine not being moved. Written as a file the host reads
+	// after the declaration has applied, so the bus it names is standing before the machine leaves
+	// the one it is on.
+	BusMembership string
 
 	// MeshRange is the private network's CIDR (the range node addresses are allocated from), for a
 	// module that must name the whole mesh rather than one machine — an intrusion filter that must
@@ -238,9 +243,23 @@ func (r Resolution) Compose(with Rendering) (Composed, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return Composed{}, err
 	}
+	if with.BusMembership != "" {
+		// The machine's own, not any module's: how it reaches the mesh from now on. Sealed like a
+		// secret and placed where the host looks for exactly this (design 28, task 5.2).
+		resources = append(resources, map[string]any{
+			"id": BusMembershipID(), "type": "file", "path": BusMembershipPath,
+			"sealed": with.BusMembership, "mode": "0600",
+		})
+	}
 	return Composed{Resources: resources, Owner: owner}, nil
 }
 
+// BusMembershipID names the resource carrying a machine's membership for the new bus, and
+// BusMembershipPath is where the host reads it — the same constant on both sides.
+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) {
 	// 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

internal/catalogue/foundation_manifests_test.go

@@ -28,8 +28,10 @@ func TestTheStoreAndTheBrokerSayWhatTheMeshGuards(t *testing.T) {
 	if got := catalogueManifest(t, "postgres").Guards; !reflect.DeepEqual(got, []int{5432}) {
 		t.Errorf("postgres guards %v; the store's port must be refused from outside", got)
 	}
-	if got := catalogueManifest(t, "lavinmq").Guards; !reflect.DeepEqual(got, []int{15672}) {
-		t.Errorf("lavinmq guards %v; the management port must be refused from outside", got)
+	// The bus's monitoring port, not its client port: a node reaches the bus, nobody outside
+	// reads its state (novox/hq ADR 0131 — the broker that guarded 15672 has left the catalogue).
+	if got := catalogueManifest(t, "nats").Guards; !reflect.DeepEqual(got, []int{8222}) {
+		t.Errorf("nats guards %v; the monitoring port must be refused from outside", got)
 	}
 }
 

internal/catalogue/holdings_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// **A seat's holder on record settles who holds it, and lets the next holder stand beside the
+// current one** (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 28 task 5.3). Until the record existed, two assignments
+// whose modules both claimed a seat were refused outright — which left no way to hand a seat over
+// without a moment where nobody held it, and the control plane finds its own bus through one of
+// these seats. That moment was the outage of 2026-09-27.
+
+func busSeatDelivering(t *testing.T, delivers string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	was := Seats()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { UseSeats(was) })
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: delivers, Decision: "test"}})
+}
+
+func oldBroker() Manifest {
+	return Manifest{Module: "old-broker", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
+}
+
+func newBroker() Manifest {
+	return Manifest{Module: "new-broker", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
+}
+
+// Nothing on record: exactly the old rule. One claimant holds; two are refused.
+func TestWithNoHolderOnRecordTheSoleClaimantHoldsAndTwoAreRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	busSeatDelivering(t, "mesh-bus")
+	node := Node{Name: "anchor"}
+
+	held, problems := checkClaims([]Manifest{oldBroker()}, node, nil, nil)
+	if len(problems) != 0 || len(held) != 1 || held[0].Module != "old-broker" {
+		t.Fatalf("a sole claimant did not hold the seat: held=%v problems=%v", held, problems)
+	}
+	_, problems = checkClaims([]Manifest{oldBroker(), newBroker()}, node, nil, nil)
+	if len(problems) != 1 || !strings.Contains(problems[0], "both claim") {
+		t.Fatalf("two claimants with nothing on record were not refused: %v", problems)
+	}
+}
+
+// With a holder on record, the other eligible assignment is silent: not refused, and not holding.
+func TestTheHolderOnRecordHoldsAndTheOtherClaimantStandsBesideIt(t *testing.T) {
+	busSeatDelivering(t, "mesh-bus")
+	node := Node{Name: "anchor"}
+	record := []Held{{Claim: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Node: "anchor", Module: "new-broker"}}
+
+	held, problems := checkClaims([]Manifest{oldBroker(), newBroker()}, node, nil, record)
+	if len(problems) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the assignment beside the holder was refused: %v", problems)
+	}
+	if len(held) != 1 || held[0].Module != "new-broker" {
+		t.Fatalf("the holder on record is not the one holding: %v", held)
+	}
+}
+
+// The record names a node too: an eligible module on another machine holds nothing, and its
+// machine's set still resolves.
+func TestAHolderOnRecordElsewhereLeavesThisMachinesClaimantSilent(t *testing.T) {
+	busSeatDelivering(t, "mesh-bus")
+	record := []Held{{Claim: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Node: "anchor", Module: "new-broker"}}
+
+	held, problems := checkClaims([]Manifest{oldBroker()}, Node{Name: "laptop"}, nil, record)
+	if len(problems) != 0 || len(held) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a claimant elsewhere than the recorded holder was not simply silent: held=%v problems=%v",
+			held, problems)
+	}
+}
+
+// A record naming a seat's former name still applies to it after a rename (ADR 0122).
+func TestAHolderRecordedUnderAFormerNameStillHolds(t *testing.T) {
+	busSeatDelivering(t, "mesh-bus")
+	wasAliases := aliases
+	t.Cleanup(func() { UseAliases(wasAliases) })
+	UseAliases(map[string]string{"the-broker": "mesh-broker"})
+	record := []Held{{Claim: "the-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Node: "anchor", Module: "new-broker"}}
+
+	held, problems := checkClaims([]Manifest{oldBroker(), newBroker()}, Node{Name: "anchor"}, nil, record)
+	if len(problems) != 0 || len(held) != 1 || held[0].Module != "new-broker" {
+		t.Fatalf("a record under the former name did not settle the seat: held=%v problems=%v", held, problems)
+	}
+}
+
+// CanHold is the one judgement registration and the handover share, against the store's row.
+func TestCanHoldJudgesClaimScopeAndWhatTheSeatDelivers(t *testing.T) {
+	busSeatDelivering(t, "mesh-bus")
+	seat, _ := SeatNamed("mesh-broker")
+
+	if err := CanHold(newBroker(), seat); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a module that claims the seat and provides what it delivers was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	noClaim := Manifest{Module: "quiet", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
+	if err := CanHold(noClaim, seat); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "does not claim") {
+		t.Fatalf("a module that never claimed the seat was allowed to hold it: %v", err)
+	}
+	wrongScope := newBroker()
+	wrongScope.Claims[0].Scope = ScopeNode
+	if err := CanHold(wrongScope, seat); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "scope") {
+		t.Fatalf("a claim at the wrong scope was allowed: %v", err)
+	}
+	cannotAnswer := Manifest{Module: "amqp-only", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "amqp", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
+	if err := CanHold(cannotAnswer, seat); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `does not provide "mesh-bus"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("a holder that cannot answer for the seat was allowed: %v", err)
+	}
+	// And the judgement follows the store's row, not a compiled copy.
+	busSeatDelivering(t, "amqp")
+	seat, _ = SeatNamed("mesh-broker")
+	if err := CanHold(cannotAnswer, seat); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("with the row saying amqp, an amqp provider was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// A machine being moved is handed its membership for the new bus as a sealed file in its own
+// declaration — the machine's, not any module's (design 28, task 5.2).
+func TestAMembershipForTheNewBusIsComposedAsASealedFile(t *testing.T) {
+	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor"}
+	got, err := r.Compose(Rendering{BusMembership: "sealed-blob"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var found map[string]any
+	for _, res := range got.Resources {
+		if res["id"] == BusMembershipID() {
+			found = res
+		}
+	}
+	if found == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("no membership resource in %v", got.Resources)
+	}
+	if found["path"] != BusMembershipPath || found["sealed"] != "sealed-blob" || found["mode"] != "0600" {
+		t.Fatalf("the membership is not a sealed 0600 file where the host reads it: %v", found)
+	}
+	// And a machine not being moved is handed nothing.
+	got, _ = r.Compose(Rendering{})
+	for _, res := range got.Resources {
+		if res["id"] == BusMembershipID() {
+			t.Fatal("a machine with no membership on record was handed one")
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/manifest.go

@@ -1027,6 +1027,28 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
 			"%q is not a usable slug: lower-case letters, digits, dashes and dots", m.Slug))
 	}
+	// **`amqp` is not a provision, and not a requirement** (novox/hq ADR 0131). A module that wants
+	// messaging wants the mesh's bus — it emits and consumes through the sdk, which the mesh hands the
+	// bus with the module's own credential — and the bus is whatever holds `mesh-broker`, spoken in
+	// whatever that holder speaks. Naming the old wire protocol asks for a specific server, and the
+	// only one that could answer is the one being retired. Refused here so the word cannot come back
+	// through a manifest.
+	for _, offer := range m.Provides {
+		if offer.Name == "amqp" {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s provides %q, which is not a provision: the mesh's bus is whatever holds "+
+					"mesh-broker, and a module provides mesh-bus to be it (novox/hq ADR 0131)",
+				m.Module, offer.Name))
+		}
+	}
+	for _, r := range m.Requires {
+		if r == "amqp" {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s requires %q, which is not a provision: a module reaches the mesh's bus through "+
+					"the sdk, and depends on the mesh-broker seat, not on a protocol (novox/hq ADR 0131)",
+				m.Module, r))
+		}
+	}
 	for _, offer := range m.Provides {
 		p := offer.Name
 		if !name.MatchString(p) {

internal/catalogue/resolve.go

@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ type Node struct {
 type World struct {
 	// Held is the claims already taken, for the scopes wider than one node.
 	Held []Held
+	// Holdings is every seat whose holder is **on record** (novox/hq ADR 0131): the one assignment
+	// that holds it, chosen by a handover. A seat absent here is held by derivation — the sole
+	// eligible assignment — as it always was. Present, it decides, and any other assignment whose
+	// module could hold the seat is eligible and silent rather than refused.
+	Holdings []Held
 	// Offered is what other nodes provide at mesh scope, and everything needed to use it.
 	Offered map[string][]Provider
 	// Pinned is which node this machine was told to get a provision from, by name. Only consulted
@@ -557,7 +562,7 @@ func Resolve(catalogue map[string]Manifest, assigned []string, node Node, world
 	}
 
 	problems = append(problems, checkCapabilities(resolution.Modules, node)...)
-	claims, claimProblems := checkClaims(resolution.Modules, node, elsewhere)
+	claims, claimProblems := checkClaims(resolution.Modules, node, elsewhere, world.Holdings)
 	problems = append(problems, claimProblems...)
 	problems = append(problems, checkResources(resolution.Modules)...)
 	resolution.Claims = claims
@@ -650,14 +655,35 @@ func checkCapabilities(modules []Manifest, node Node) []string {
 //
 // Within this node's own set, and against what is already held elsewhere for the wider scopes. A
 // claim at mesh scope is the same idea as the mesh's one hub, said once instead of hard-coded.
-func checkClaims(modules []Manifest, node Node, elsewhere []Held) ([]Held, []string) {
+func checkClaims(modules []Manifest, node Node, elsewhere []Held, holdings []Held) ([]Held, []string) {
 	var problems []string
 	var held []Held
 
+	// onRecord is the recorded holder of a seat, if a handover ever named one.
+	onRecord := func(claim, scope string) (Held, bool) {
+		for _, h := range holdings {
+			hs, ok := SeatNamed(h.Claim)
+			cs, cok := SeatNamed(claim)
+			if ok && cok && hs.Name == cs.Name && h.Scope == scope {
+				return h, true
+			}
+		}
+		return Held{}, false
+	}
+
 	byScope := map[string]map[string]string{} // scope → claim → module
 	for _, m := range modules {
 		for _, c := range m.Claims {
 			scope := c.At()
+			// **A recorded holder settles it before any counting.** An assignment that could hold
+			// the seat but is not the one on record is eligible, and that is all: it is not a second
+			// holder, so it is not refused, and it does not hold (novox/hq ADR 0131). This is what
+			// lets the next holder stand beside the current one until the seat is handed over.
+			if rec, recorded := onRecord(c.Name, scope); recorded {
+				if rec.Node != node.Name || rec.Module != m.Module {
+					continue
+				}
+			}
 			if byScope[scope] == nil {
 				byScope[scope] = map[string]string{}
 			}

internal/catalogue/seats.go

@@ -184,17 +184,17 @@ func claimProblems(m Manifest) []string {
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range m.Claims {
-		if seat, known := SeatNamed(c.Name); known {
-			if c.At() != seat.Scope {
-				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
-					"%s claims %s at scope %q, and %s is a %s seat",
-					m.Module, c.Name, c.At(), c.Name, seat.Scope))
-			}
-			if seat.Delivers != "" && !providesAt(m, seat.Delivers, seat.Scope) {
-				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
-					"%s claims %s, whose holder answers for %q, and %s does not provide %q at %s scope",
-					m.Module, c.Name, seat.Delivers, m.Module, seat.Delivers, seat.Scope))
-			}
+		if _, known := SeatNamed(c.Name); known {
+			// **A seat's scope and what it delivers are not judged here** (novox/hq ADR 0122).
+			// This function runs wherever a manifest is parsed, and one of those places is the
+			// build machine, which has no store: there, `SeatNamed` answers from the set the
+			// binary shipped with, so a build would be refused for disagreeing with a compiled
+			// copy of data the control plane owns. Exactly that happened — a holder of the bus
+			// seat was refused for not providing what a stale compiled row said the seat
+			// delivered, while the store's own row said otherwise.
+			//
+			// Both checks moved to CatalogueProblems, which only ever runs in the control plane,
+			// after UseSeats has replaced the set with the store's.
 			continue
 		}
 		if isSystemSeatName(c.Name) {
@@ -222,6 +222,31 @@ func claimProblems(m Manifest) []string {
 	return problems
 }
 
+// CanHold is why a module could not hold a seat, or nothing: its definition must claim the seat at
+// the seat's scope, and provide what the seat delivers, if it delivers anything. The seat is the
+// store's row, so this is judged only where the store's set is loaded — at registration and in the
+// handover command (novox/hq ADR 0131), never in the parser.
+func CanHold(m Manifest, seat Seat) error {
+	var claimed *Claim
+	for i := range m.Claims {
+		if hs, ok := SeatNamed(m.Claims[i].Name); ok && hs.Name == seat.Name {
+			claimed = &m.Claims[i]
+		}
+	}
+	if claimed == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s does not claim %s", m.Module, seat.Name)
+	}
+	if claimed.At() != seat.Scope {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s claims %s at scope %q, and %s is a %s seat",
+			m.Module, seat.Name, claimed.At(), seat.Name, seat.Scope)
+	}
+	if seat.Delivers != "" && !providesAt(m, seat.Delivers, seat.Scope) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s claims %s, whose holder answers for %q, and %s does not provide %q at %s scope",
+			m.Module, seat.Name, seat.Delivers, m.Module, seat.Delivers, seat.Scope)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func providesAt(m Manifest, provision, scope string) bool {
 	for _, o := range m.Provides {
 		if o.Name == provision && o.At() == scope {

internal/catalogue/seats_declared.go

@@ -190,7 +190,15 @@ func CatalogueProblems(shelf Shelf) []string {
 			}
 			s, isModuleSeat := declared[c.Name]
 			if !isModuleSeat {
-				continue // a mesh seat: already judged by claimProblems
+				// **A mesh seat is judged here and nowhere else** (novox/hq ADR 0122): the set is
+				// the store's, and this is the only place that runs with the store's set loaded.
+				// The parser cannot do it — it also runs on the build machine, against whatever
+				// set that binary was compiled with.
+				seat, _ := SeatNamed(c.Name)
+				if err := CanHold(m, seat); err != nil {
+					problems = append(problems, err.Error())
+				}
+				continue
 			}
 			if c.At() != s.At() {
 				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(

internal/catalogue/seats_declared_test.go

@@ -91,7 +91,10 @@ func TestAClaimMustMatchTheDeclaredScope(t *testing.T) {
 
 // The mesh's own seats still work, and are not shadowed by the derived half.
 func TestTheMeshsOwnSeatsAreStillClaimable(t *testing.T) {
-	m := Manifest{Module: "nats", Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
+	// It delivers the bus, so its holder provides the bus — the rule this check now enforces.
+	m := Manifest{Module: "nats",
+		Provides: []Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims:   []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
 	if got := problemsFor(t, Shelf{"nats": m}); got != "" {
 		t.Fatalf("a mesh seat was refused by the derived check: %s", got)
 	}
@@ -106,3 +109,38 @@ func TestTheProblemsAreStable(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("unstable:\n%s\n%s", first, second)
 	}
 }
+
+// **A build machine has no store, so it may not judge a seat.** The set is data the control plane
+// owns (novox/hq ADR 0122), and `ParseManifest` runs on the build machine too, against whatever set
+// that binary was compiled with. When the two disagreed, a valid holder of the bus seat was refused
+// mid-rollout — the compiled row said the seat delivered one provision, the store's row said
+// another, and the build failed on the copy rather than the truth. The parser judges the manifest;
+// the seat set judges the claim, where it is loaded.
+func TestTheParserDoesNotJudgeWhatOnlyTheStoreKnows(t *testing.T) {
+	was := Seats()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { UseSeats(was) })
+
+	// A store whose bus seat delivers something this module does provide.
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "mesh-bus", Decision: "test"}})
+	raw := []byte(`{"module":"a-bus","version":"1",` +
+		`"provides":[{"name":"mesh-bus","scope":"mesh"}],` +
+		`"claims":[{"name":"mesh-broker","scope":"mesh"}]}`)
+
+	m, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the parser refused a claim only the seat set can judge: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := CatalogueProblems(Shelf{m.Module: m}); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a holder that provides what the store says the seat delivers was refused: %v", got)
+	}
+
+	// And with the store saying the seat delivers something else, registration is what refuses it.
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "other-bus", Decision: "test"}})
+	if _, err := ParseManifest(raw); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the parser judged it the second time: %v", err)
+	}
+	got := strings.Join(CatalogueProblems(Shelf{m.Module: m}), "; ")
+	if !strings.Contains(got, `does not provide "other-bus"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("registration did not refuse a holder that cannot answer for the seat: %q", got)
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/seats_test.go

@@ -138,26 +138,32 @@ func TestAModuleDefinesAndClaimsItsOwnSeat(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// **At registration, not in the parser** (novox/hq ADR 0122): a seat's scope is a property of the
+// set, the set is the store's, and the parser also runs on a build machine that has no store.
 func TestASeatClaimedAtAnotherScopeIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
-	_, err := ParseManifest(claimed(`[{"name":"npm-package-registry","scope":"node"}]`))
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("a mesh seat was held per node")
+	m, err := ParseManifest(claimed(`[{"name":"npm-package-registry","scope":"node"}]`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the parser judged a scope it reads from data it may not have: %v", err)
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "mesh seat") {
-		t.Fatalf("the refusal does not say which scope the seat is: %v", err)
+	got := strings.Join(CatalogueProblems(Shelf{m.Module: m}), "; ")
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "mesh seat") {
+		t.Fatalf("the refusal does not say which scope the seat is: %q", got)
 	}
 }
 
 func TestADeliveringSeatIsOnlyHeldByAModuleThatProvides(t *testing.T) {
 	// Holding it makes the module the mesh's answer for the provision. A module that cannot answer
 	// would be the answer anyway, and every consumer would be sent to it.
+	// And refused at registration, where the seat set is the store's: what a seat delivers is
+	// data, so a compiled copy of it may not be what refuses a build (novox/hq ADR 0122).
 	raw := []byte(`{"module":"thing","version":"1","claims":[{"name":"git","scope":"mesh"}]}`)
-	_, err := ParseManifest(raw)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("a module holding the git seat need not provide git")
+	m, err := ParseManifest(raw)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the parser judged what a seat delivers: %v", err)
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `does not provide "git"`) {
-		t.Fatalf("the refusal does not say what is missing: %v", err)
+	got := strings.Join(CatalogueProblems(Shelf{m.Module: m}), "; ")
+	if !strings.Contains(got, `does not provide "git"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("the refusal does not say what is missing: %q", got)
 	}
 }
 

internal/inventory/bususers.go

@@ -230,3 +230,35 @@ func (i *Inventory) ForgetPerson(ctx context.Context, name string) error {
 	}
 	return i.ForgetBusUser(ctx, "person."+name)
 }
+
+// PutBusMembership records a machine's membership for the new bus, sealed to it (design 28, 5.2).
+// Replaces any earlier one: a machine has one membership per bus, and re-minting is re-telling.
+func (i *Inventory) PutBusMembership(ctx context.Context, nodeName, sealed string) error {
+	node, err := i.NodeByName(ctx, nodeName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	_, err = i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
+		`insert into bus_membership (node, sealed) values ($1, $2)
+		 on conflict (node) do update set sealed = excluded.sealed, since = now()`, node.ID, sealed)
+	return err
+}
+
+// BusMemberships is every machine's sealed membership for the new bus, by node name.
+func (i *Inventory) BusMemberships(ctx context.Context) (map[string]string, error) {
+	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
+		`select n.name, b.sealed from bus_membership b join node n on n.id = b.node`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+	out := map[string]string{}
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var name, sealed string
+		if err := rows.Scan(&name, &sealed); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		out[name] = sealed
+	}
+	return out, rows.Err()
+}

internal/inventory/holdings_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+package inventory
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+)
+
+// A seat's holder is a row, changed as one act (novox/hq ADR 0131). What these pin is the shape of
+// that row's life: it needs an assignment to point at, it is replaced rather than added to, and it
+// goes when the assignment does — so a seat never points at something that is not running anywhere.
+
+func twoBrokersOnTwoNodes(t *testing.T) (*Inventory, context.Context) {
+	t.Helper()
+	old := catalogue.Manifest{Module: "old-broker", Version: "1",
+		Provides: []catalogue.Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims:   []catalogue.Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh}}}
+	new := catalogue.Manifest{Module: "new-broker", Version: "1",
+		Provides: []catalogue.Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims:   []catalogue.Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: catalogue.ScopeMesh}}}
+	inv, ctx := aMeshWith(t, old, new)
+	// The holding references the seat's row, which `migrate` seeds on a real mesh.
+	if _, err := inv.SeedSeats(ctx, catalogue.DefaultSeats()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, n := range []string{"anchor", "laptop"} {
+		if _, err := inv.AddNode(ctx, n); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.Assign(ctx, "anchor", "old-broker"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := inv.Assign(ctx, "laptop", "new-broker"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return inv, ctx
+}
+
+func TestAHandoverIsOneRowReplacedNotOneAdded(t *testing.T) {
+	inv, ctx := twoBrokersOnTwoNodes(t)
+
+	if err := inv.HoldSeat(ctx, "mesh-broker", catalogue.ScopeMesh, "anchor", "old-broker"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.HoldSeat(ctx, "mesh-broker", catalogue.ScopeMesh, "laptop", "new-broker"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	held, err := inv.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(held) != 1 || held[0].Node != "laptop" || held[0].Module != "new-broker" || held[0].Scope != catalogue.ScopeMesh {
+		t.Fatalf("after a handover the seat is not held by exactly the new holder: %+v", held)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestASeatCannotBeHandedToSomethingNotAssigned(t *testing.T) {
+	inv, ctx := twoBrokersOnTwoNodes(t)
+	// new-broker is assigned to laptop, not anchor.
+	if err := inv.HoldSeat(ctx, "mesh-broker", catalogue.ScopeMesh, "anchor", "new-broker"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a seat was handed to a module not assigned where it was named")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestUnassigningTheHolderTakesTheHoldingWithIt(t *testing.T) {
+	inv, ctx := twoBrokersOnTwoNodes(t)
+	if err := inv.HoldSeat(ctx, "mesh-broker", catalogue.ScopeMesh, "laptop", "new-broker"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.Unassign(ctx, "laptop", "new-broker"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	held, err := inv.Holdings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(held) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the holding outlived the assignment it pointed at: %+v", held)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMachinesMembershipIsOneRowReplacedAndGoesWithTheMachine(t *testing.T) {
+	inv, ctx := twoBrokersOnTwoNodes(t)
+	if err := inv.PutBusMembership(ctx, "anchor", "first"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.PutBusMembership(ctx, "anchor", "second"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got, err := inv.BusMemberships(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got["anchor"] != "second" || len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a re-told membership did not replace the first: %v", got)
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/migrations/0039-a-seat-is-held-by-one-assignment-on-record.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+-- A seat's holder is a recorded fact, not a derivation (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 26).
+--
+-- Until this, "which assignment holds the seat" was derived: the module that is assigned and
+-- claims the seat holds it, and a second eligible assignment was refused at resolution. That has no
+-- way to hand a seat from one holder to the next without a moment where nothing holds it — and the
+-- control plane finds its own bus through one of these seats, so that moment was an outage
+-- (2026-09-27). Now the holder is one row here, changed by `seat <name> --to <node>/<module>` as one
+-- act, and other assignments whose module could hold the seat are simply eligible and silent.
+--
+-- No row means what it always meant: the sole eligible assignment holds the seat, and two eligible
+-- ones are refused. So a mesh that has never handed a seat over behaves exactly as before, and the
+-- row appears the first time somebody does.
+--
+-- The seat is referenced by name because claims still are (0034); the rename cascades here so a
+-- handed-over seat survives being renamed. The holder is the assignment itself, so unassigning it
+-- takes the holding with it and the seat falls back to derivation rather than pointing at nothing.
+create table seat_holding (
+  seat   text        primary key references seat(name) on update cascade on delete cascade,
+  scope  text        not null,
+  node   uuid        not null,
+  module text        not null,
+  since  timestamptz not null default now(),
+  foreign key (node, module) references assignment(node, module) on delete cascade
+);

internal/inventory/migrations/0040-the-broker-seat-delivers-the-bus.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+-- The bus seat's holder answers for the mesh's bus, not for a wire protocol (novox/hq ADR 0131).
+--
+-- The row said `amqp`, which is the protocol the old broker spoke, and so only that broker could hold
+-- the seat that names the mesh's bus — while the module that will carry the bus could not. The seat
+-- delivers `mesh-bus`; whichever module provides that may hold it, and today that is one module.
+--
+-- Safe under the current holder: the control plane composes its own bus address through the seat by
+-- name, and the overview derives holders by name. Only registration and provision-to-seat resolution
+-- read this column. So the row changes, the current holder keeps holding by derivation, the next one
+-- can register its claim, and the handover (0039) moves the seat when both are running. What must
+-- not happen in between is re-registering the current holder — registration would now refuse it.
+update seat set delivers = 'mesh-bus' where name = 'mesh-broker' and delivers = 'amqp';

internal/inventory/migrations/0041-a-machine-is-told-its-membership-for-the-new-bus.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+-- A machine already enrolled is moved to the new bus by being told its membership for it
+-- (novox/hq design 28, task 5.2). Until this, a membership — bus address, fingerprint, password,
+-- transport — existed only in the enrolment reply, and nothing could hand one to a machine that
+-- had already joined. The row is the membership sealed to that machine, composed into its
+-- declaration as a file it reads after applying; the plaintext exists once, at minting, and then
+-- only on the machine. One per node: the mesh moves to one bus.
+create table bus_membership (
+  node   uuid        primary key references node(id) on delete cascade,
+  sealed text        not null,
+  since  timestamptz not null default now()
+);

internal/inventory/seats.go

@@ -106,3 +106,44 @@ func (i *Inventory) RenameSeat(ctx context.Context, from, to string) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// HoldSeat records that one assignment holds a seat, replacing whoever held it — as one write, so
+// the seat is never without a holder in between (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 28 task 5.3). The
+// assignment must exist; the store refuses otherwise, and that refusal is the right one: a seat
+// cannot be handed to something that is not running anywhere.
+func (i *Inventory) HoldSeat(ctx context.Context, seat, scope, nodeName, module string) error {
+	node, err := i.NodeByName(ctx, nodeName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	_, err = i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
+		`insert into seat_holding (seat, scope, node, module) values ($1, $2, $3, $4)
+		 on conflict (seat) do update set scope = excluded.scope, node = excluded.node,
+		   module = excluded.module, since = now()`,
+		seat, scope, node.ID, module)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("recording %s on %s as the holder of %s: %w", module, nodeName, seat, err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Holdings is every seat whose holder is on record, as the resolver reads it. A seat with no row here
+// is held by derivation, exactly as before the table existed.
+func (i *Inventory) Holdings(ctx context.Context) ([]catalogue.Held, error) {
+	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
+		`select h.seat, h.scope, n.name, h.module, coalesce(n.site, '')
+		   from seat_holding h join node n on n.id = h.node order by h.seat`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+	var out []catalogue.Held
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var h catalogue.Held
+		if err := rows.Scan(&h.Claim, &h.Scope, &h.Node, &h.Module, &h.Site); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		out = append(out, h)
+	}
+	return out, rows.Err()
+}

module.json

@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@
     "licences": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/licences",
     "broker": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker",
     "broker-management": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-management",
-    "broker-address": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-address"
+    "broker-address": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-address",
+    "bus": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/bus"
   },
   "secrets-owner": "65534:65534",
   "resources": [
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@
     "on": [
       {
         "arg": "GO_BASE",
-        "image": "golang@sha256:1ae0735f00daffa3aaf1363a5184c0d2dc55c78e3db4ec70241cdac97bf84b59"
+        "image": "golang@sha256:8ac98ca534ac3f51e1f420a1dd2c15e74c75cfa0f23f3ad27eb5d7236c349a0c"
       }
     ]
   }