Work slower than the window says so, and one address is the bus's

Three faults the mesh's own logs showed this morning. A handler that outlives the acknowledgement
window was handed its message again while it was still working: acting on a merge builds modules,
minutes against a thirty-second window, so one merge ran the whole catalogue five times over. The
transport now says the work is in progress while it runs, which is where the window belongs.

Everything the mesh hands out — a token, a membership, a person's credential — took its address
from the enrolment setting, which 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. There is one bus, and
its address is the one the control plane is connected to.

And `operator issue` documented an argument order its parser refused.

cmd/mesh-builder/main.go

@@ -194,6 +194,9 @@ func answer(ctx context.Context, publisher builder.Publisher, on, workspace stri
 				})
 			}
 			result.Against = built.Against
+			for _, r := range built.Read {
+				result.Read = append(result.Read, link.ReadRepository{Repository: r.Repository, Ref: r.Ref})
+			}
 			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  built %s from %s\n", built.Manifest.Module, short(built.Commit))
 		}
 	}

cmd/mesh-builder/once.go

@@ -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 {

cmd/mesh-controller/build.go

@@ -149,6 +149,9 @@ func buildFrom(result link.BuildResult) inventory.Build {
 	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 {
 		announced = append(announced, inventory.Artifact{

cmd/mesh-controller/modules.go

@@ -69,12 +69,20 @@ 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 {
@@ -84,23 +92,24 @@ 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 := 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))
 		}
@@ -602,3 +611,37 @@ 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
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/operator.go

@@ -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, " +

cmd/mesh-controller/order_test.go

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
@@ -90,3 +91,122 @@ func TestAMergeMatchesTheSourcesBuiltFromIt(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// 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)
+		}
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/push.go

@@ -753,8 +753,31 @@ func raiseTheBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, address string)
 	if err := broker.RaiseSeats(js, inventory.MeshSeats(), holders); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("the bus at %s has its streams, and %d machine(s) can hear a declaration\n",
-		broker.BareAddress(address), len(names))
+	// 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
 }
 

cmd/mesh-controller/rollout.go

@@ -127,9 +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()
 		}
 	}
 

cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go

@@ -232,22 +232,67 @@ func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return notNow(err)
 	}
-	var moved []inventory.Entry
+	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 {
-		if !sourceIs(e.Source, m) {
-			continue
+		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 e.Source.BuiltFrom == m.Commit {
-			continue
+	}
+	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(moved, e)
 	}
+	moved := append(append([]inventory.Entry{}, touched...), packaging...)
 	if len(moved) == 0 {
-		fmt.Printf("%s/%s merged into %s (%.8s); nothing the mesh holds is built from it\n",
-			m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Base, m.Commit)
+		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
 	}
 	against, err := inv.BuiltAgainst(ctx)
@@ -261,6 +306,14 @@ func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("%s/%s merged into %s (%.8s); building %s\n",
 		m.Owner, m.Repo, m.Base, m.Commit, strings.Join(names, ", "))
+	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, ", "))
+	}
 	var failed []string
 	for _, e := range ordered {
 		source := buildSource{Repository: e.Source.Repository, Seat: e.Source.Seat}
@@ -286,16 +339,110 @@ func (f following) SourceMoved(ctx context.Context, m link.SourceMoved) error {
 // 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 {
-	want := strings.ToLower(m.Owner + "/" + m.Repo)
-	repo := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSuffix(s.Repository, ".git"))
-	matches := repo == want || strings.HasSuffix(repo, "/"+want) ||
-		(m.CloneURL != "" && strings.EqualFold(strings.TrimSuffix(s.Repository, ".git"), strings.TrimSuffix(m.CloneURL, ".git")))
-	if !matches {
+	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.
@@ -362,3 +509,16 @@ func standsOnModule(e inventory.Entry, module string, against map[string][]strin
 	}
 	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)
+}

internal/broker/broker.go

@@ -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
 }
 

internal/broker/nats.go

@@ -181,6 +181,11 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 		for _, seat := range meshSeatsTheControllerUses {
 			pub = append(pub, "mesh.seat."+seat+".accept.>")
 		}
+		// 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.>")
 
 		// 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
@@ -266,9 +271,13 @@ 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.>")
 
 		// 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).
@@ -288,11 +297,18 @@ 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.
-		// Its consumer's name, not ConsumerFor: that 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.
-		sub = append(sub, "_DELIVER."+consumerDurable(p))
 		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
@@ -348,9 +364,10 @@ 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
 }
 

internal/broker/nats_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package broker
 
 import (
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
@@ -89,17 +90,30 @@ 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 +338,24 @@ 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)
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/broker/testdata/composed.conf

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ accounts {
     jetstream: enabled
     users = [
       { user: "controller", password: "$2a$11$cccccccccccccccccccccc", permissions: {
-        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.CONTROL.controller.>", "$JS.ACK.EVENTS.controller.>", "$JS.API.>", "_INBOX.enrol.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.node.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.accept.>"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.CONTROL.controller.>", "$JS.ACK.EVENTS.controller.>", "$JS.API.>", "_INBOX.enrol.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.mod.*.tool.>", "mesh.node.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.accept.>"] }
         subscribe: { allow: ["$JS.API.>", "_DELIVER.controller", "_DELIVER.controller.>", "_INBOX.controller.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.mod.gitea.event.pull.merged", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.catching-up", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.event.upgraded", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.event.built"] }
         allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
       } }
@@ -37,17 +37,19 @@ accounts {
         subscribe: { allow: ["_DELIVER.one", "_INBOX.node.one.>", "mesh.node.one.declare"] }
       } }
       { user: "one.telegram", password: "$2a$11$tttttttttttttttttttttt", permissions: {
-        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.one_telegram.>", "$JS.ACK.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.delivered", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.failed"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_DELIVER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker", "_DELIVER.one_telegram", "_INBOX.one.telegram.>", "mesh.mod.telegram.tool.status", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$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", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.delivered", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.event.failed"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["_DELIVER.SEAT_TELEGRAM_SENDER_worker", "_INBOX.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: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_audit.>"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_DELIVER.two_audit", "_INBOX.two.audit.>", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_audit.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.EVENTS.two_audit", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.EVENTS.two_audit"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.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: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_shop.>", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
-        subscribe: { allow: ["_DELIVER.two_shop", "_INBOX.two.shop.>"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.EVENTS.two_shop.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.EVENTS.two_shop", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.MSG.NEXT.EVENTS.two_shop", "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed", "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.two.shop.>", "mesh.mod.shop.tool.>"] }
+        allow_responses: { max: 1, ttl: "1m" }
       } }
     ]
   }

internal/builder/builder.go

@@ -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.
@@ -220,7 +226,7 @@ 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, stoodOn)}, 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,
@@ -1016,3 +1022,31 @@ 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
+}

internal/builder/mirror.go

@@ -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)
+		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 {

internal/builder/mirror_test.go

@@ -103,6 +103,12 @@ 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/"):
+			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 +225,27 @@ 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)
+	}
+}

internal/builder/standing_on_test.go

@@ -179,3 +179,24 @@ func TestTheBasesABuildWasHandedAreWhatItStoodOn(t *testing.T) {
 		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")
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/builds.go

@@ -36,12 +36,21 @@ type Build struct {
 	// Against is every artifact this build stood on, as references rather than module names —
 	// what makes a build edge derived rather than declared (ADR 0009).
 	Against []string
+	// Read is every repository this build read source from besides the module's own (novox/hq
+	// 04-ISSUES/131), at the ref it read.
+	Read []ReadRepository
 	// Failed is the builder's own words, empty when it worked.
 	Failed string
 	Made   []Artifact
 	At     time.Time
 }
 
+// ReadRepository is a repository a build read source from besides the module's own.
+type ReadRepository struct {
+	Repository string `json:"repository"`
+	Ref        string `json:"ref,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // Artifact is one thing a build published.
 type Artifact struct {
 	Name      string `json:"name"`
@@ -66,17 +75,21 @@ func (i *Inventory) RecordBuild(ctx context.Context, b Build) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	read, err := json.Marshal(b.Read)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	var module *string
 	if b.Module != "" {
 		module = &b.Module
 	}
 	_, err = i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
 		`insert into build (id, repository, ref, module, commit_hash, built_on, failed, made,
-		                    source_path, manifest, built_against)
-		 values ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10, $11)
+		                    source_path, manifest, built_against, built_contexts)
+		 values ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10, $11, $12)
 		 on conflict (id) do nothing`,
 		b.ID, b.Repository, b.Ref, module, b.Commit, b.On, b.Failed, made,
-		b.Path, manifestOrNil(b.Manifest), against)
+		b.Path, manifestOrNil(b.Manifest), against, read)
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -199,6 +212,44 @@ func (i *Inventory) BuiltAgainst(ctx context.Context) (map[string][]string, erro
 	return against, rows.Err()
 }
 
+// ReadRepositories is what each module's newest successful build read source from besides its own
+// repository, by module name.
+//
+// The mirror of BuiltAgainst, and derived the same way and for the same reason: a merge into a
+// repository a module only packages is a change to that module, and the manifest the mesh keeps
+// carries nothing that would say so (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+func (i *Inventory) ReadRepositories(ctx context.Context) (map[string][]ReadRepository, error) {
+	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
+		`select distinct on (module) module, built_contexts
+		   from build
+		  where module is not null and module <> '' and failed = ''
+		  order by module, at desc`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+
+	read := map[string][]ReadRepository{}
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var module string
+		var raw []byte
+		if err := rows.Scan(&module, &raw); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if len(raw) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		var of []ReadRepository
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &of); err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		if len(of) > 0 {
+			read[module] = of
+		}
+	}
+	return read, rows.Err()
+}
+
 // manifestOrNil keeps the difference between "declared nothing" and "predates this being kept".
 //
 // A build recorded before the mesh kept manifests has no manifest, and that is not the same as one

internal/inventory/builds_test.go

@@ -136,3 +136,36 @@ func ids(builds []Build) []string {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// What a build read besides its module's own repository comes back for the newest build of each
+// module, and only for builds that worked. Nothing recorded is absent rather than empty, which is how
+// a build made before the mesh kept this is told from one that read nothing (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+func TestWhatABuildReadComesBackForTheNewestBuildOfEachModule(t *testing.T) {
+	inv := fresh(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	older := aBuild("older", "builder", "")
+	older.Read = []ReadRepository{{Repository: "novox/mesh-controller", Ref: "release"}}
+	newer := aBuild("newer", "builder", "")
+	newer.Read = []ReadRepository{{Repository: "novox/mesh-controller", Ref: "main"}}
+	plain := aBuild("plain", "gitea", "")
+	failed := aBuild("failed", "route-proxy", "cannot clone")
+	failed.Read = []ReadRepository{{Repository: "novox/mesh-controller", Ref: "main"}}
+	for _, b := range []Build{older, newer, plain, failed} {
+		if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, b); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	read, err := inv.ReadRepositories(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(read["builder"]) != 1 || read["builder"][0].Ref != "main" {
+		t.Fatalf("the newest build's reading is %+v", read["builder"])
+	}
+	if _, has := read["gitea"]; has {
+		t.Fatalf("a build that read nothing but its own repository reads as %+v", read["gitea"])
+	}
+	if _, has := read["route-proxy"]; has {
+		t.Fatal("a failed build's reading was kept as what that module reads")
+	}
+}

internal/inventory/busrecords_test.go

@@ -86,9 +86,11 @@ func TestAnAssignedModuleBecomesAUserWithWhatItDeclared(t *testing.T) {
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
+		// Its tools are every one under its own name — the list in the manifest is a person's
+		// vocabulary for asking, not the module's permission to answer.
 		if !granted(perms.Publish, "mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed") ||
 			!granted(perms.Publish, "mesh.seat.telegram-sender.accept.send") ||
-			!granted(perms.Subscribe, "mesh.mod.shop.tool.price") {
+			!granted(perms.Subscribe, "mesh.mod.shop.tool.>") {
 			t.Fatalf("one.shop's authority is not what it declared: %+v", perms)
 		}
 	}

internal/inventory/catalogue.go

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
@@ -38,6 +39,9 @@ type Source struct {
 	BuiltFrom string
 	// Head is the newest commit the source is known to have.
 	Head string
+	// Seen is when the source was last looked at — by a build, by hand, or by the forge saying it
+	// moved. What a late report of an older move is judged against.
+	Seen time.Time
 }
 
 // Current reports whether what the mesh holds is what the source last had.
@@ -936,12 +940,13 @@ func (i *Inventory) Catalogued(ctx context.Context) ([]Entry, error) {
 		`select m.name, m.manifest,
 		        coalesce(m.source, ''), m.source_path, m.source_seat, coalesce(m.ref, ''),
 		        coalesce(m.built_from, ''), coalesce(m.source_head, ''),
+		        coalesce(m.source_seen, to_timestamp(0)),
 		        coalesce(array_agg(n.name order by n.name) filter (where n.name is not null), '{}')
 		 from module m
 		 left join assignment a on a.module = m.name
 		 left join node n on n.id = a.node
 		 group by m.name, m.manifest, m.source, m.source_path, m.source_seat, m.ref, m.built_from,
-		          m.source_head
+		          m.source_head, m.source_seen
 		 order by m.name`)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -955,9 +960,12 @@ func (i *Inventory) Catalogued(ctx context.Context) ([]Entry, error) {
 		var source Source
 		var on []string
 		if err := rows.Scan(&name, &raw, &source.Repository, &source.Path, &source.Seat, &source.Ref,
-			&source.BuiltFrom, &source.Head, &on); err != nil {
+			&source.BuiltFrom, &source.Head, &source.Seen, &on); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		if source.Seen.Unix() == 0 {
+			source.Seen = time.Time{}
+		}
 		var m catalogue.Manifest
 		if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &m); err != nil {
 			return nil, err

internal/inventory/migrations/0042-a-build-says-which-repositories-it-read.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+-- A build says which repositories it read, so a merge can find everything it affects.
+--
+-- A module is built from the one repository the mesh records — where its module.json lives — and some
+-- modules' recipes reach into a second for the source they package: the packaging and the source are
+-- allowed to live apart (catalogue's ArtifactContext). That second repository is named in the manifest
+-- the build read, and the manifest the mesh *keeps* carries no build section, so nothing on the mesh
+-- could say that a merge into the other repository is a change to this module at all. Two modules are
+-- built from the control plane's own repository, and neither had ever been rebuilt when it moved
+-- (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+--
+-- Nullable, like the two derived columns beside it: null is a build recorded before the mesh kept
+-- this, which is not the same as a build that read nothing but its module's own repository.
+alter table build add column built_contexts jsonb;

internal/link/build.go

@@ -88,10 +88,23 @@ type BuildResult struct {
 	// (novox/hq ADR 0009). The catalogue turns these into edges; nothing else need care.
 	Against []string `json:"against,omitempty"`
 
+	// Read is every repository this build read source from besides the module's own. A module whose
+	// recipe packages source that lives elsewhere is affected when that repository moves, and the
+	// manifest the mesh keeps says nothing about it (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/131).
+	Read []ReadRepository `json:"read,omitempty"`
+
 	// Failed is why, when it did.
 	Failed string `json:"failed,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// ReadRepository is a repository a build read source from besides the module's own, at the branch,
+// tag or commit it read. Spelled here as well as in the catalogue and the inventory, for the reason
+// MadeArtifact is: one direction of dependency.
+type ReadRepository struct {
+	Repository string `json:"repository"`
+	Ref        string `json:"ref,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // MadeArtifact is one thing a build produced, as a person would want it reported.
 type MadeArtifact struct {
 	Name      string `json:"name"`

internal/link/events.go

@@ -128,6 +128,18 @@ type SourceMoved struct {
 	Commit   string `json:"merge_commit_sha"`
 	CloneURL string `json:"clone_url"`
 	HTMLURL  string `json:"html_url"`
+	// MergedAt is when the forge merged it, RFC 3339. What decides whether this is news.
+	MergedAt string `json:"merged_at"`
+
+	// Paths are the files the merge changed, from the repository's root. Empty means the forge said
+	// nothing about them, and every module built from the repository is treated as affected.
+	Paths []string `json:"paths,omitempty"`
+
+	// PathsTruncated says the merge changed more files than the forge was asked to list, so Paths is
+	// a beginning rather than the whole change — and again, everything is treated as affected. Said
+	// rather than inferred from a round number, because "this is all of it" and "this is as much as
+	// I asked for" are the difference between rebuilding a module and leaving it stale.
+	PathsTruncated bool `json:"paths_truncated,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type Upgraded struct {

internal/link/receive_nats.go

@@ -154,10 +154,47 @@ func (n *natsInbound) deliver(ctx context.Context, act func(context.Context, Con
 			m.seq = meta.Sequence.Stream
 			m.delivered = meta.NumDelivered
 		}
+		// **Work that outlives the acknowledgement window says so while it runs.**
+		//
+		// The bus waits a fixed time to be told a message was taken, and then hands it to whoever
+		// consumes next — which is right for a consumer that died and wrong for one that is busy.
+		// Acting on a merge builds every module the merge changed: minutes of work against a
+		// thirty-second window. So the same merge was handed over again while the first build was
+		// still running, and again after that — on 2026-09-28 one merge ran the mesh's whole
+		// catalogue five times over and exhausted a public registry's pull limit.
+		//
+		// Here rather than in each handler, because the window belongs to the transport and every
+		// handler would otherwise have to remember it. It changes nothing about a handler that
+		// dies: a message is kept alive only while this goroutine is, so a controller that stops
+		// stops saying so, and the bus redelivers exactly as it should.
+		working := make(chan struct{})
+		defer close(working)
+		go stillWorking(msg, working)
 	}
 	act(ctx, m)
 }
 
+// heartbeatWhileWorking is how often a handler still running tells the bus so — comfortably inside
+// the shortest acknowledgement window the mesh gives any of its consumers.
+const heartbeatWhileWorking = 10 * time.Second
+
+// stillWorking keeps one message alive until the work on it returns.
+//
+// An error is not worth reporting: what the bus does when it is not told is redeliver, which is
+// exactly what happens if this fails, and the handler's own outcome is the thing worth logging.
+func stillWorking(msg *nats.Msg, done <-chan struct{}) {
+	tick := time.NewTicker(heartbeatWhileWorking)
+	defer tick.Stop()
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-done:
+			return
+		case <-tick.C:
+			_ = msg.InProgress()
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // kindOfSubject is how this transport's addressing becomes what the mesh calls a message.
 //
 // By subject, which is the only thing the server enforces: a body claiming to be a report does not

internal/link/receive_nats_test.go

@@ -395,3 +395,60 @@ func TestEverySubjectTheControllerFollowsDecodesToAKind(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("a subject nobody follows decoded to a kind")
 	}
 }
+
+// **A handler slower than the acknowledgement window is not handed its message again.**
+//
+// The bus waits a fixed time to be told a message was taken and then redelivers, which is right for
+// a consumer that died and wrong for one that is busy. Acting on a merge builds modules — minutes
+// against a thirty-second window — and the same merge was handed over five times while the first
+// build was still running (2026-09-28). Here the window is two seconds and the work takes six.
+func TestNatsWorkSlowerThanTheWindowIsNotHandedOverAgain(t *testing.T) {
+	js := aBus(t)
+	// The controller's own consumer, with a window short enough to outlive in a test.
+	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(broker.Consumer{
+		Name: broker.ControllerName, Stream: "CONTROL", Push: true, AckWaitSeconds: 2,
+		Why: "a window short enough to outlive in a test",
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	handled := 0
+	slow := make(chan struct{})
+	s, stop := servingOn(t, js, nil)
+	defer stop()
+	s.listener = slowly{func() {
+		mu.Lock()
+		handled++
+		first := handled == 1
+		mu.Unlock()
+		if first {
+			time.Sleep(6 * time.Second)
+			close(slow)
+		}
+	}}
+
+	body, err := json.Marshal(Report{Node: "anchor", Declared: "d1", Applied: []string{"store"}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := js.Context().Publish(ReportSubject("anchor"), body); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	select {
+	case <-slow:
+	case <-time.After(30 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("the slow work never finished")
+	}
+	// A moment for a redelivery to arrive, if the bus were going to send one.
+	time.Sleep(3 * time.Second)
+	mu.Lock()
+	defer mu.Unlock()
+	if handled != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("one report was handled %d times, so slow work is run again while it is running", handled)
+	}
+}
+
+// slowly is a listener that runs whatever it was given.
+type slowly struct{ work func() }
+
+func (s slowly) Heard(context.Context, Report) error { s.work(); return nil }