Merge pull request 'node show cites ADR 0180 for a removed front end (hq ADR 0186)' (#224) from fix/a-ban-list-never-holds-a-neighbour into main

Another session took 0175 while that record was in review; the line printed on every converged
machine was pointing at an unrelated decision.

cmd/mesh-controller/adoption.go

@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func showFiltering(f inventory.Filtering, adopted bool) {
 		case fw.Active:
 			fmt.Printf("  found firewall    %s is ACTIVE on this converged machine; the next apply retires it again\n", fw.Kind)
 		case fw.RetiredBy == "removed":
-			fmt.Printf("  found firewall    %s, removed: the mesh's filter is what filters this machine (novox/hq ADR 0175)\n", fw.Kind)
+			fmt.Printf("  found firewall    %s, removed: the mesh's filter is what filters this machine (novox/hq ADR 0180)\n", fw.Kind)
 		case fw.RetiredBy == inventory.FilterMesh || fw.RetiredBy == "mesh":
 			fmt.Printf("  found firewall    %s, retired by the mesh; its configuration stays on disk\n", fw.Kind)
 		case fw.RetiredBy != "":

cmd/mesh-controller/push.go

@@ -131,10 +131,17 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	// 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()
+	handlers, behind, err := seatToolHandlers()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if len(behind) > 0 {
+		// Said once, loudly, and then served anyway (novox/hq ADR 0185): the mesh keeps answering
+		// while whatever put an older control plane here is undone.
+		fmt.Printf("this control plane is behind the %s row: it cannot run %s. "+
+			"Those answer the reason when called; everything else is served as usual\n",
+			catalogue.ControllerSeatName, strings.Join(behind, ", "))
+	}
 	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")

cmd/mesh-controller/seatverbs.go

@@ -48,6 +48,21 @@ func argvFor(verb string, args map[string]any) ([]string, error) {
 		return nil
 	}
 	switch verb {
+	case "command":
+		// The generic verb: the command line as given, split as a shell would split it, with
+		// nothing added — the named verbs add flags a caller cannot reach; this one is the whole
+		// binary and says so in its description (novox/hq ADR 0154, 0175).
+		if err := need("command"); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		argv, err := splitCommandLine(str("command"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if len(argv) == 0 {
+			return nil, errors.New("command names no command")
+		}
+		return argv, nil
 	case "status":
 		return []string{"status", "--json"}, nil
 	case "nodes":
@@ -215,13 +230,15 @@ func runVerb(ctx context.Context, argv []string) (verbAnswer, error) {
 }
 
 // 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) {
+// store's row, so a verb the row does not carry is not served. A verb it carries that this binary
+// cannot run is named at start and answers the reason when called — never a refusal to serve, which
+// would take the whole control plane down for one word (novox/hq ADR 0185).
+func seatToolHandlers() (map[string]link.ToolHandler, []string, error) {
 	seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
 	if !known {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("this mesh defines no %s seat", catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("this mesh defines no %s seat", catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
 	}
+	var behind []string
 	handlers := map[string]link.ToolHandler{}
 	for _, v := range seat.Serves {
 		verb := v.Name
@@ -232,8 +249,27 @@ func seatToolHandlers() (map[string]link.ToolHandler, error) {
 			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)
+			// **A row ahead of this binary is not a reason to go silent.**
+			//
+			// The row is the store's and a control plane follows it (novox/hq ADR 0154), so a verb
+			// this build does not know means the row was widened by a newer one — the ordinary
+			// state of a roll-out, and of a push that put an older control plane back. Refusing to
+			// serve at all made that transient fatal: on 2026-10-02 one unknown verb took the whole
+			// mesh off the bus for ten minutes, and the way back was a human running the binary by
+			// hand, because the thing that would have repaired it is the thing that was down
+			// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/201, ADR 0185).
+			//
+			// So the verbs this binary knows are served, and this one answers the reason instead of
+			// nothing: a caller gets a sentence naming the fault, and everything else keeps working
+			// — including the push that replaces this binary with the one whose verb it is.
+			behind = append(behind, verb)
+			reason := err
+			handlers[verb] = func(context.Context, json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is in this mesh's %s row and the control plane running "+
+					"here cannot run it: %w. It is a verb of a newer build; this one is behind",
+					verb, catalogue.ControllerSeatName, reason)
+			}
+			continue
 		}
 		handlers[verb] = func(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
 			args := map[string]any{}
@@ -249,7 +285,7 @@ func seatToolHandlers() (map[string]link.ToolHandler, error) {
 			return runVerb(ctx, argv)
 		}
 	}
-	return handlers, nil
+	return handlers, behind, nil
 }
 
 // seatTools is what `tools` answers: every seat with a protocol, and the tools each serves, from the
@@ -289,3 +325,57 @@ func sampleArguments(v catalogue.Verb) map[string]any {
 	}
 	return sample
 }
+
+// splitCommandLine splits a command line into words the way a POSIX shell does for the simple
+// cases a controller command needs: spaces separate, single or double quotes group, a backslash
+// escapes the next character inside double quotes or outside any. No expansion of anything.
+func splitCommandLine(line string) ([]string, error) {
+	var words []string
+	var cur strings.Builder
+	inWord := false
+	quote := rune(0)
+	runes := []rune(line)
+	for i := 0; i < len(runes); i++ {
+		r := runes[i]
+		switch {
+		case quote == '\'':
+			if r == '\'' {
+				quote = 0
+			} else {
+				cur.WriteRune(r)
+			}
+		case quote == '"':
+			if r == '"' {
+				quote = 0
+			} else if r == '\\' && i+1 < len(runes) {
+				i++
+				cur.WriteRune(runes[i])
+			} else {
+				cur.WriteRune(r)
+			}
+		case r == '\'' || r == '"':
+			quote = r
+			inWord = true
+		case r == '\\' && i+1 < len(runes):
+			i++
+			cur.WriteRune(runes[i])
+			inWord = true
+		case r == ' ' || r == '\t' || r == '\n':
+			if inWord {
+				words = append(words, cur.String())
+				cur.Reset()
+				inWord = false
+			}
+		default:
+			cur.WriteRune(r)
+			inWord = true
+		}
+	}
+	if quote != 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("command has an unclosed %c quote", quote)
+	}
+	if inWord {
+		words = append(words, cur.String())
+	}
+	return words, nil
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/seatverbs_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -130,10 +131,13 @@ func TestActsDoNotBlockTheCall(t *testing.T) {
 
 // What `tools` answers is the seats' records, with each verb's schema.
 func TestToolsAnswersTheSeatsRecords(t *testing.T) {
-	handlers, err := seatToolHandlers()
+	handlers, behind, err := seatToolHandlers()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	if len(behind) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("this build cannot run %v of its own seat's verbs", behind)
+	}
 	if len(handlers) != len(catalogue.ControllerVerbs) {
 		t.Fatalf("%d handlers for %d verbs", len(handlers), len(catalogue.ControllerVerbs))
 	}
@@ -171,3 +175,77 @@ func TestAJSONVerbsAnswerIsItsStandardOutput(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("stderr and stdout are both what the command said: %s", answer.Output)
 	}
 }
+
+// `command` is the generic verb: the command line as given, split as a shell would, nothing added —
+// so an operator's `node account g14 jochen` is one call through the console rather than a shell on
+// the control node (novox/hq ADR 0154, ADR 0175).
+func TestCommandRunsTheLineAsGiven(t *testing.T) {
+	argv, err := argvFor("command", map[string]any{"command": "node account g14 jochen"})
+	if err != nil || strings.Join(argv, " ") != "node account g14 jochen" {
+		t.Fatalf("a plain line: %v %v", argv, err)
+	}
+	argv, err = argvFor("command", map[string]any{"command": `settings set dnsmasq '{"a": "b c"}' --node ace`})
+	if err != nil || len(argv) != 6 || argv[3] != `{"a": "b c"}` {
+		t.Fatalf("a quoted word stays one word: %q %v", argv, err)
+	}
+	argv, err = argvFor("command", map[string]any{"command": `node add "the box" --adopted`})
+	if err != nil || len(argv) != 4 || argv[2] != "the box" {
+		t.Fatalf("double quotes group: %q %v", argv, err)
+	}
+	if _, err := argvFor("command", map[string]any{"command": "   "}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("an empty line was accepted")
+	}
+	if _, err := argvFor("command", map[string]any{"command": `node "unclosed`}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("an unclosed quote was accepted")
+	}
+}
+
+// A verb in the row that this binary cannot run does not take the control plane off the bus: the
+// rest are served, the unknown one answers the reason, and the start-up names it (novox/hq ADR
+// 0185). One unknown word cost the mesh ten minutes of silence on 2026-10-02, recoverable only by
+// a person running the binary by hand — the push that would have repaired it needs the control
+// plane that was down.
+func TestARowAheadOfThisBuildIsServedAnyway(t *testing.T) {
+	seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
+	if !known {
+		t.Fatal("no controller seat")
+	}
+	// The row as a newer control plane would have written it: every verb this build knows, and one
+	// it does not.
+	widened := seat
+	widened.Serves = append(append([]catalogue.Verb{}, seat.Serves...),
+		catalogue.Verb{Name: "teleport", Description: "a verb from a build that does not exist yet"})
+	rows := catalogue.DefaultSeats()
+	for i := range rows {
+		if rows[i].Name == catalogue.ControllerSeatName {
+			rows[i] = widened
+		}
+	}
+	catalogue.UseSeats(rows)
+	t.Cleanup(func() { catalogue.UseSeats(catalogue.DefaultSeats()) })
+
+	handlers, behind, err := seatToolHandlers()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a row with one unknown verb refused to serve at all: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(behind) != 1 || behind[0] != "teleport" {
+		t.Fatalf("the verbs this build cannot run were reported as %v", behind)
+	}
+	if len(handlers) != len(widened.Serves) {
+		t.Fatalf("%d handlers for %d verbs in the row", len(handlers), len(widened.Serves))
+	}
+	for _, known := range []string{"status", "nodes", "push"} {
+		if handlers[known] == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s is not served although this build knows it", known)
+		}
+	}
+	_, err = handlers["teleport"](context.Background(), nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("the unknown verb answered as though it had run")
+	}
+	for _, want := range []string{"teleport", "cannot run it", "behind"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
+			t.Errorf("the answer does not say %q: %v", want, err)
+		}
+	}
+}

examples/route-proxy/main.go

@@ -732,6 +732,11 @@ func handler(held *table) http.Handler {
 			// And since a host may now be routed only on some paths, those are a third thing:
 			// saying "no route for this name" while listing that very name as served is a
 			// contradiction an operator would have to disbelieve the proxy to get past.
+			// **Said in the log as well as to the client.** A name this mesh does not serve, asked
+			// for from outside, is what a scanner does, and the machine's intrusion prevention reads
+			// this proxy's log for exactly that line (novox/hq ADR 0179): the address last, as the
+			// jail's filter expects it.
+			log.Printf("refused: no route for %q, asked from %s", r.Host, r.RemoteAddr)
 			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
 			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
 			if !hidden && held.routed(r.Host) {

internal/catalogue/machine_into_files.go

@@ -102,8 +102,11 @@ func accountHomeOf(account, home string) string {
 func machineInto(resource map[string]any, facts map[string]string, module string) error {
 	// Content, and now the path and owner too: a module that writes into a person's home names it
 	// with ${machine:account-home} and ${machine:account}, which it cannot know until assigned
-	// (novox/hq to-be 29), the same reason its content names ${machine:address}.
-	for _, field := range []string{"path", "owner", "content"} {
+	// (novox/hq to-be 29), the same reason its content names ${machine:address}. And the name a
+	// `user` shape sets the login shell of, and the user a user-scoped unit or a process runs as:
+	// the shell module makes the operator's account its holder's login shell, and the desktop's
+	// watchers run as that account (novox/hq ADR 0176, ADR 0177) — neither can name the person.
+	for _, field := range []string{"path", "owner", "content", "name", "user"} {
 		s, ok := resource[field].(string)
 		if !ok {
 			continue

internal/catalogue/manifest.go

@@ -1667,6 +1667,7 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 	problems = append(problems, m.undeclaredMounts()...)
 	problems = append(problems, m.unknownDirRefs()...)
 	problems = append(problems, m.unknownAccessRefs()...)
+	problems = append(problems, m.jailProblems()...)
 
 	for i, r := range m.Resources {
 		id, _ := r["id"].(string)
@@ -1773,6 +1774,44 @@ var facilitiesOf = map[string][]string{
 	"virtualisation": {"/var/lib/incus/unix.socket"},
 }
 
+// jailProblems is every jail this module declares that the machine's intrusion prevention would
+// refuse (novox/hq ADR 0179).
+//
+// **Because one bad pattern stops every jail, not its own.** fail2ban expands `<HOST>` into a named
+// capture group, so a pattern naming it twice is a duplicate group name, and the daemon refuses the
+// whole configuration and exits — the machine keeps no bans at all, for any jail, including the one
+// watching its ssh. Caught live on the control node the day this was built, where a proxy's pattern
+// matched two shapes of refusal in one line. A pattern matches one shape; several shapes are several
+// patterns, one per line, as fail2ban's own filters are written.
+func (m Manifest) jailProblems() []string {
+	var problems []string
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, j := range m.Jails {
+		switch {
+		case strings.TrimSpace(j.Name) == "":
+			problems = append(problems, m.Module+" declares a jail with no name")
+		case seen[j.Name]:
+			problems = append(problems, m.Module+" declares two jails called "+strconv.Quote(j.Name))
+		}
+		seen[j.Name] = true
+		if strings.TrimSpace(j.Failregex) == "" {
+			problems = append(problems, m.Module+"'s jail "+strconv.Quote(j.Name)+" says nothing a failed attempt looks like")
+		}
+		for _, line := range strings.Split(j.Failregex, "\n") {
+			if strings.TrimSpace(line) == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+			if n := strings.Count(line, "<HOST>"); n > 1 {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's jail %s names <HOST> %d times in one pattern; "+
+					"fail2ban reads it as one capture group and refuses the whole configuration, so the machine "+
+					"keeps no bans at all — write one pattern per shape, each naming <HOST> once",
+					m.Module, strconv.Quote(j.Name), n))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}
+
 // undeclaredMounts is every bind-mount source no declaration covers — see the check above.
 func (m Manifest) undeclaredMounts() []string {
 	declared := map[string]bool{}

internal/catalogue/operators_machine_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A `user` shape and a user-scoped unit name the operator account the way a home file does
+// (novox/hq ADR 0176, ADR 0177): with ${machine:account}, resolved when the module is assigned.
+func TestAUserShapeAndAUserScopedUnitNameTheAccount(t *testing.T) {
+	facts := map[string]string{"account": "ops", "account-home": "/home/ops"}
+	login := map[string]any{"type": "user", "id": "login", "name": "${machine:account}", "shell": "/usr/bin/zsh"}
+	if err := machineInto(login, facts, "zsh"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if login["name"] != "ops" {
+		t.Fatalf("the user shape did not learn the account: %v", login["name"])
+	}
+	watcher := map[string]any{"type": "service", "id": "watcher", "unit": "i3-reload-watcher.service",
+		"scope": "user", "user": "${machine:account}"}
+	if err := machineInto(watcher, facts, "i3"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if watcher["user"] != "ops" {
+		t.Fatalf("the user-scoped unit did not learn the account: %v", watcher["user"])
+	}
+	// A machine with no operator account refuses rather than writing the literal.
+	err := machineInto(map[string]any{"type": "user", "id": "login", "name": "${machine:account}"},
+		map[string]string{"address": "10.0.0.1"}, "zsh")
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "${machine:account}") {
+		t.Fatalf("a user shape on a machine with no account was not refused by name: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// The service manager is a seat of the mesh's own with the unit verbs as its contract (novox/hq
+// ADR 0177): every verb described, with a schema, taking a scope.
+func TestTheServiceManagerSeatServesTheUnitVerbs(t *testing.T) {
+	seat, ok := SeatNamed("node-service-manager")
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("node-service-manager is not a seat the mesh defines")
+	}
+	if seat.Scope != ScopeNode {
+		t.Fatalf("the service manager is a role each machine has once, and the seat is %s-scoped", seat.Scope)
+	}
+	want := []string{"units", "status", "start", "stop", "restart", "enable", "disable", "journal"}
+	var got []string
+	for _, v := range seat.Serves {
+		got = append(got, v.Name)
+		if v.Description == "" || v.Input == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s is promised without a description or a schema", v.Name)
+		}
+		props, _ := v.Input["properties"].(map[string]any)
+		if _, has := props["scope"]; !has {
+			t.Fatalf("%s takes no scope, and a user unit could not be asked for", v.Name)
+		}
+	}
+	if strings.Join(got, ",") != strings.Join(want, ",") {
+		t.Fatalf("the seat serves %v, not %v", got, want)
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/seats.go

@@ -99,7 +99,23 @@ var defaultSeats = []Seat{
 	{Name: "mesh-build-machine", Scope: ScopeMesh,
 		Accepts: []string{"build"}, Emits: []string{"started", "built", "log.*"}, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0121"},
 	{Name: "node-dns-resolver", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0121"},
-	{Name: "node-intrusion-prevention", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0121"},
+	// The intrusion prevention's verbs (novox/hq ADR 0179): what a person asks a machine's ban list
+	// whatever keeps it — who is banned and why, ban one address, let one go. Every holder serves all
+	// four; the jails themselves are composed from the modules the machine runs (to-be 31).
+	{Name: "node-intrusion-prevention", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0121",
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "status", Description: "Every jail on this machine with how many it is watching and " +
+				"holding now, and the totals since the jail started; one jail's detail when named.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"jail": "one jail (optional)"}, nil)},
+			{Name: "banned", Description: "Every address banned on this machine right now, with the jail " +
+				"that holds it and when the ban ends.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"jail": "one jail (optional)"}, nil)},
+			{Name: "ban", Description: "Ban one address in one jail now, for the jail's ban time — an " +
+				"operator's act on the live ban list, which the mesh never writes itself.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"ip": "the address", "jail": "the jail to hold it"}, []string{"ip", "jail"})},
+			{Name: "unban", Description: "Let one address go, from one jail or from every jail when none is named.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"ip": "the address", "jail": "one jail (optional)"}, []string{"ip"})},
+		}},
 	// The packet filter's verbs (novox/hq ADR 0170): what a person asks a machine's filter whatever
 	// filter answers — the rules as enforced, reload the mesh's own, remove one thing the mesh did
 	// not write. Every holder serves all three; what differs by filter is the holder's own tools.
@@ -119,6 +135,12 @@ var defaultSeats = []Seat{
 				"active found firewall's chains. An operator's act, by name, never a flush.",
 				Input: schema(map[string]string{"where": "the rule set, as `node show` lists it"}, []string{"where"})},
 		}},
+	// The machine's service manager (novox/hq ADR 0177). The host applies every declared unit,
+	// system or user scope; the holder answers questions and operator acts about them, each verb
+	// taking the unit and an optional scope. The holder runs nothing of its own: its verbs are
+	// served by the node tools runtime (ADR 0175).
+	{Name: "node-service-manager", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0177",
+		Serves: serviceManagerVerbs()},
 	// Deferred (novox/hq ADR 0121): renaming to mesh-private-network is a scope + server/client
 	// model change, not a rename, so it stays until that is built.
 	{Name: "the-private-network", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0110"},
@@ -392,3 +414,36 @@ func SeatsWithAProtocol() []Seat {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// serviceManagerVerbs is the contract every holder of node-service-manager serves (novox/hq ADR
+// 0177): the units on the machine in both scopes, read and acted on by name. Every verb takes an
+// optional scope — "system" when absent, "user" for the operator account's own manager — so a
+// caller asks for a user unit the way it asks for a system one.
+func serviceManagerVerbs() []Verb {
+	scoped := func(more map[string]string, required []string) map[string]any {
+		props := map[string]string{"scope": "\"system\" (the default) or \"user\": the operator account's own manager"}
+		for k, v := range more {
+			props[k] = v
+		}
+		return schema(props, required)
+	}
+	unit := map[string]string{"unit": "the unit's name, as the service manager knows it"}
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "units", Description: "The units the service manager knows in a scope, each with its load, active and sub state; narrowed to a pattern when asked.",
+			Input: scoped(map[string]string{"pattern": "a glob the unit's name must match (optional)"}, nil)},
+		{Name: "status", Description: "One unit as the service manager sees it now: its states, whether it starts at boot, its main process, and whether the mesh declares it.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"})},
+		{Name: "start", Description: "Start one unit. For a unit the mesh declares, the answer says the host will restore what its declaration says at the next apply.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"})},
+		{Name: "stop", Description: "Stop one unit; for a mesh-declared unit the answer says the host will restore its declared state.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"})},
+		{Name: "restart", Description: "Restart one unit.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"})},
+		{Name: "enable", Description: "Make one unit start at boot (or at the account's login, in user scope).",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"})},
+		{Name: "disable", Description: "Stop one unit starting at boot (or at login, in user scope).",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"})},
+		{Name: "journal", Description: "The last lines of one unit's journal.",
+			Input: scoped(map[string]string{"unit": unit["unit"], "lines": "how many lines from the end (default 100)"}, []string{"unit"})},
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/seats_test.go

@@ -44,8 +44,9 @@ func TestTheSeatsAreAClosedSetAndEachNamesItsDecision(t *testing.T) {
 			delivered[s.Delivers] = s.Name
 		}
 	}
-	if len(Seats()) != 15 {
-		t.Errorf("the mesh defines %d seats rather than 14; the set is closed, so a change here is "+
+	// Sixteen since node-service-manager (novox/hq ADR 0177).
+	if len(Seats()) != 16 {
+		t.Errorf("the mesh defines %d seats rather than 16; the set is closed, so a change here is "+
 			"a decision (novox/hq ADR 0110): %s", len(Seats()), seatNames())
 	}
 }

internal/catalogue/verbs.go

@@ -145,6 +145,13 @@ var ControllerVerbs = []Verb{
 			"node":   "one machine; the whole mesh when absent",
 			"clear":  "\"true\" to remove the layer instead of setting it",
 		}, []string{"module"})},
+	{Name: "command", Description: "Run one command line of the controller's own, as you would type it at its " +
+		"shell — `node account g14 jochen`, `node show ace`, `module list` — and answer what it printed. The " +
+		"generic verb beside the named ones (novox/hq ADR 0154): everything the binary can do, without a verb " +
+		"per command. Any node may call any tool (ADR 0175), so nothing is held back here.",
+		Input: schema(map[string]string{
+			"command": "the command line, as the controller's binary takes it; quotes group a word with spaces",
+		}, []string{"command"})},
 	{Name: "build", Description: "Have the build machine build a repository. Answers at once with the build's id: " +
 		"`builds` with that id follows it line by line, and the module is registered when the outcome comes.",
 		Input: schema(map[string]string{