A declaration is numbered when it is composed, and a send is recorded even by a sender being replaced (hq issue 204)

On 2026-10-02 a runtime assigned and applied on two machines was undone two seconds later by a
declaration that had the assignments of a minute earlier. Every path composes from the records at
compose time and holds the machines it sends — but the number went on at SEND time, after
composing, so a declaration composed before an assignment changed and sent after a newer one
carried the higher number, and the host, which rightly refuses a lower number, took the older
content as the mesh's newest word. The record of that send was never written either: it is written
after the declaration is away, on the sender's context, and the controller sending it was being
replaced in that very second — status read "applied, current" over a machine just told otherwise.

Now the number is taken before the composition reads anything, in every path, so what was composed
earlier is numbered lower however late it goes out and the host's refusal does what it is for; and
what was sent is written down on a context that outlives the sender, bounded, so a dying controller
still records what it told a machine. The `declare` command — a declaration a person sends by hand —
records its send too. Proven: compositions in one order and sends in the other keep the numbers in
composition order; a send is recorded after the sender's context is cancelled.

cmd/mesh-controller/acts.go

@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -68,13 +67,6 @@ func assign(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string) (string, err
 	for _, line := range settled {
 		said += "\n  " + line
 	}
-	// Its bus credential, in the same act (novox/hq issue 203): an assignment pushed before its
-	// credential exists delivers a process that cannot authenticate and crash-loops until somebody
-	// runs a second verb and a second push. Issued here when the module speaks on the bus and has
-	// no credential yet; kept when it has one, so re-assigning rotates nothing.
-	if line := issueOnAssign(ctx, open, node, module); line != "" {
-		said += "\n  " + line
-	}
 	plan, _, err := planFor(ctx, open, node)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Kept, and still refused. Both halves are the answer, and the rest of the mesh is still
@@ -160,33 +152,3 @@ func blockedElsewhere(ctx context.Context, open *stores, except string) string {
 	out.WriteString("\nThis may or may not be what just changed — it is what is true now.")
 	return out.String()
 }
-
-// issueOnAssign gives a newly assigned module its bus credential, the way `module issue` does, and
-// says what it did in one line. Nothing for a module that declares no broker secret; nothing for one
-// whose user is already minted (a credential is rotated on purpose, never by re-assigning); and when
-// the bus cannot be reached from here, the line names the verb and the push that would refuse the
-// module until it is run — never a silent placeholder (novox/hq issue 203).
-func issueOnAssign(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node, module string) string {
-	inv := open.inventory
-	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return ""
-	}
-	m, known := shelf[module]
-	if !known || mayIssue(m) != nil {
-		return ""
-	}
-	user := broker.Principal{Kind: broker.KindModule, Node: node, Module: module}.Username()
-	if _, minted, err := inv.BusUserHash(ctx, user); err != nil || minted {
-		return ""
-	}
-	busAddress, err := broker.BusAddress()
-	if err == nil {
-		err = issueOnTheNewBus(ctx, inv, m, node, busAddress)
-	}
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Sprintf("its bus credential is not issued (%v): `module issue %s --node %s` first — "+
-			"`push %s` refuses to send %s until it is", err, module, node, node, module)
-	}
-	return fmt.Sprintf("its bus credential is issued and sealed to %s, and arrives with the push", node)
-}

cmd/mesh-controller/addresses_test.go

@@ -175,12 +175,6 @@ func TestTheControlPlaneIsToldWhereTheNodePutTheStoreAndTheBroker(t *testing.T)
 		Guards: []int{15672},
 		Resources: []map[string]any{{"id": "server", "type": "container", "name": "mesh-broker",
 			"ports": []any{"5671:5671", "5672:5672", "127.0.0.1:15672:15672"}, "image": "mq@" + aDigest}}})
-	// The control plane's own bus user is the installer's, seeded at genesis before the controller
-	// runs (SeedBusUser); without it a push now refuses the credential nobody issued (issue 203).
-	if err := open.inventory.SeedBusUser(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: "anchor.mesh-controller",
-		Kind: inventory.BusController, Node: "anchor", Module: "mesh-controller"}, "bootstrap"); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
 	if _, err := assign(ctx, open, "anchor", "mesh-controller"); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}

cmd/mesh-controller/credential_on_assign_test.go

@@ -1,90 +0,0 @@
-package main
-
-import (
-	"strings"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
-)
-
-// A fresh assignment is pushed before its credential exists (novox/hq issue 203): `assign` recorded
-// the module, `push` sealed a random own secret where the bus credential belongs, and the process
-// crash-looped until a person ran `module issue` and pushed again. Now assigning a module that speaks
-// on the bus issues its credential in the same act — or, when the bus cannot be reached from here,
-// says which verb to run — and a push never seals a placeholder in a credential's place.
-
-func aTalker() catalogue.Manifest {
-	return catalogue.Manifest{Module: "talker", Version: "1",
-		OwnSecrets: catalogue.OwnSecrets{"broker": {Path: "/var/lib/mesh/talker/broker"}},
-		Resources: []map[string]any{
-			{"id": "state", "type": "directory", "path": "/var/lib/mesh/talker", "mode": "0700"},
-		}}
-}
-
-func TestAssigningAModuleThatSpeaksOnTheBusNamesItsCredential(t *testing.T) {
-	open := aMesh(t)
-	ctx := t.Context()
-	register(t, open, aTalker())
-
-	// No bus is known to this process, so the credential cannot be issued here: the assignment
-	// stands and says exactly what must happen before a push — never silently.
-	said, err := assign(ctx, open, "laptop", "talker")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !strings.Contains(said, "module issue talker --node laptop") {
-		t.Fatalf("an assignment whose credential could not be issued does not name the verb:\n%s", said)
-	}
-
-	// And the push refuses to send it, naming the same verb, rather than sealing a placeholder.
-	plan, settings, err := planFor(ctx, open, "laptop")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	_, err = declarationFor(ctx, open, "laptop", plan, settings)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("a push sealed a placeholder where talker's bus credential belongs")
-	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "module issue talker --node laptop") || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "issue 203") {
-		t.Fatalf("the refusal does not say what to run: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// Once the user is minted, the push goes on to the credential the mesh sealed, and re-assigning
-	// does not mint again: a credential rotates on purpose, never by habit.
-	if _, err := open.inventory.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{
-		Username: "laptop.talker", Kind: inventory.BusModule, Node: "laptop", Module: "talker"}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	hash, _, err := open.inventory.BusUserHash(ctx, "laptop.talker")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	said, err = assign(ctx, open, "laptop", "talker")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if strings.Contains(said, "module issue") {
-		t.Fatalf("a module with a minted credential was told to issue one:\n%s", said)
-	}
-	again, _, err := open.inventory.BusUserHash(ctx, "laptop.talker")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if again != hash {
-		t.Fatal("re-assigning rotated the credential")
-	}
-}
-
-// A module that declares no broker secret is left alone: nothing to issue, nothing said.
-func TestAssigningAModuleThatDoesNotSpeakSaysNothingOfCredentials(t *testing.T) {
-	open := aMesh(t)
-	register(t, open, helloWeb())
-	said, err := assign(t.Context(), open, "laptop", "hello-web")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if strings.Contains(said, "credential") {
-		t.Fatalf("a module without a broker secret was told about credentials:\n%s", said)
-	}
-}

cmd/mesh-controller/issue_204_test.go

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

cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go

@@ -533,23 +533,6 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 			var sealed string
 			var err error
 			if choosing == Allocating {
-				// **The broker credential is never invented here** (novox/hq issue 203). Every other
-				// own secret is the mesh's to make — a password nobody else knows — but this one
-				// is an account on the bus, minted by `module issue` and sealed by it; a push that
-				// made a random one would deliver a file the process cannot read and report the
-				// machine applied. Refused by name, with the verb.
-				if name == "broker" {
-					user := broker.Principal{Kind: broker.KindModule, Node: node, Module: m.Module}.Username()
-					if _, minted, err := inv.BusUserHash(ctx, user); err != nil {
-						return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
-					} else if !minted {
-						return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, fmt.Errorf(
-							"%s on %s has no bus credential: nothing was issued for %s, and a push "+
-								"would seal a placeholder its process cannot read (novox/hq issue 203). "+
-								"`module issue %s --node %s`, then push again",
-							m.Module, node, user, m.Module, node)
-					}
-				}
 				sealed, err = inv.SecretForModule(ctx, node, m.Module, name)
 			} else {
 				var held bool

cmd/mesh-controller/push.go

@@ -205,6 +205,12 @@ func declare(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, node, raw, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	// Written down like every other send (novox/hq issue 204): a declaration a person sent by hand
+	// is still what the machine was last told, and status must not read it as current for the one
+	// the mesh would compose.
+	if _, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, node, raw); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	fmt.Printf("sent %s a signed declaration (%d bytes)\n", node, len(raw))
 	return nil
 }
@@ -348,7 +354,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	sending, refusals := composeEach(asked, func(node string) (sendable, error) {
+	sending, refusals := composeEach(asked, allotting(held, inv), func(node string) (sendable, error) {
 		plan, settings, err := planFor(held, open, node)
 		if err != nil {
 			return sendable{}, err
@@ -370,12 +376,8 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	sentDigest := map[string]string{}
 	defer release()
 	for _, s := range sending {
-		// Numbered under the hold, one higher than the last, before the body exists — the number is
-		// inside the signed bytes, so a replayed older declaration cannot borrow a newer one's
-		// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107).
-		if err := number(ctx, inv, &s); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+		// The number is inside the signed bytes, so a replayed older declaration cannot borrow a
+		// newer one's (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107); it was taken when the composition began (issue 204).
 		body, err := s.declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -385,14 +387,10 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		}
 		// After it is away, not before. A digest recorded for something that failed to send would
 		// make the machine look current for a declaration it never received.
-		record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
+		digest, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, s.node, body)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		digest := digestOf(body)
-		if err := inv.RecordSent(ctx, record.ID, digest); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 		sentDigest[s.node] = digest
 		fmt.Printf("sent %s %d resource(s)\n", s.node, len(s.declared.Resources))
 	}
@@ -476,11 +474,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 						15*time.Second); err != nil {
 						return err
 					}
-					record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
-					if err != nil {
-						return err
-					}
-					if err := inv.RecordSent(ctx, record.ID, digestOf(body)); err != nil {
+					if _, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, s.node, body); err != nil {
 						return err
 					}
 					fmt.Printf("sent %s %d resource(s)\n", s.node, len(s.declared.Resources))
@@ -569,17 +563,31 @@ type readyNode struct {
 //
 // The all-or-nothing rule is kept where it means something — sendTo, which rotates a credential
 // across two machines that must agree — and dropped here, where it never did.
-func composeEach(names []string,
+func composeEach(names []string, allot func(node string) (int64, error),
 	compose func(node string) (sendable, error)) ([]readyNode, []string) {
 
 	var sending []readyNode
 	var refusals []string
 	for _, name := range names {
+		// **Numbered before it is composed, not before it is sent** (novox/hq issue 204). The
+		// number says where this declaration stands against every other the mesh composed for the
+		// machine, and the host refuses one lower than the last it applied. Taken at send time, as
+		// it was, a declaration composed a minute ago — before an assignment changed — went out with
+		// a number higher than one composed after the change and sent before it, and the machine
+		// took the older content as the newer word: on 2026-10-02 a runtime assigned and applied on
+		// two machines was undone two seconds later by exactly that. Taken here, before the first
+		// read, what was composed earlier is numbered lower whatever order the sends happen in.
+		seq, err := allot(name)
+		if err != nil {
+			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
+			continue
+		}
 		declared, err := compose(name)
 		if err != nil {
 			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
 			continue
 		}
+		declared.Sequence = seq
 		if len(declared.Resources) == 0 {
 			// Sent, not skipped (novox/hq issue 127). A node whose declaration composes to
 			// nothing may have HELD something before — the broker opening a placement gave it,
@@ -607,13 +615,10 @@ func sendRound(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string,
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer release()
-	sending, refused := composeEach(names, func(node string) (sendable, error) {
+	sending, refused := composeEach(names, allotting(held, open.inventory), func(node string) (sendable, error) {
 		return compose(held, node)
 	})
 	for _, s := range sending {
-		if err := number(ctx, open.inventory, &s); err != nil {
-			return refused, err
-		}
 		body, err := s.declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return refused, err
@@ -670,6 +675,12 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 	var sending []readyNode
 	var refusals []string
 	for _, name := range names {
+		// Numbered before composing, for the reason composeEach gives (novox/hq issue 204).
+		seq, err := allot(ctx, inv, name)
+		if err != nil {
+			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
+			continue
+		}
 		plan, settings, err := planFor(ctx, open, name)
 		if err != nil {
 			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
@@ -681,6 +692,7 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 			refusals = append(refusals, fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%v", name, err))
 			continue
 		}
+		declared.Sequence = seq
 		reportLeftOut(name, declared)
 		sending = append(sending, readyNode{name, declared})
 	}
@@ -696,9 +708,6 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 	defer server.Close()
 
 	for _, s := range sending {
-		if err := number(ctx, inv, &s); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 		body, err := s.declared.Body()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -706,11 +715,7 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 		if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err := inv.RecordSent(ctx, record.ID, digestOf(body)); err != nil {
+		if _, err := recordSent(ctx, inv, s.node, body); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		fmt.Printf("  sent %s %d resource(s)\n", s.node, len(s.declared.Resources))
@@ -951,15 +956,38 @@ func seatHolders(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) (map[string]brok
 }
 
 // number gives one send the next sequence for its node (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/107).
-func number(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, s *readyNode) error {
-	record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
+// allotting is allot over one inventory, in the shape composeEach takes.
+func allotting(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory) func(node string) (int64, error) {
+	return func(node string) (int64, error) { return allot(ctx, inv, node) }
+}
+
+// allot takes the next sequence for a machine — the number its next declaration carries.
+func allot(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node string) (int64, error) {
+	record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, node)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return 0, err
 	}
-	seq, err := inv.NextSequence(ctx, record.ID)
+	return inv.NextSequence(ctx, record.ID)
+}
+
+// recordSent writes down what a machine was just sent, and returns the digest.
+//
+// **On a context that outlives the caller's** (novox/hq issue 204). The record is written after the
+// declaration is away, so a send that failed is never recorded as current — and a controller being
+// replaced mid-send had its context cancelled between the two, so the machine was told and the mesh
+// never wrote it down: status read "applied, current" over a machine that had just been sent
+// something else. What was sent was sent; the record of it must not depend on the sender living
+// another second. Bounded, so a store that is away does not hold a dying process open for ever.
+func recordSent(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node string, body []byte) (string, error) {
+	kept, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.WithoutCancel(ctx), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	record, err := inv.NodeByName(kept, node)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return "", err
 	}
-	s.declared.Sequence = seq
-	return nil
+	digest := digestOf(body)
+	if err := inv.RecordSent(kept, record.ID, digest); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return digest, nil
 }

cmd/mesh-controller/push_test.go

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

cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go

@@ -36,29 +36,17 @@ func tiersOf(set []string, edges []inventory.Edge) [][]string {
 	for _, m := range set {
 		deps[m] = map[string]bool{}
 	}
-	// The build seat's holders follow the controller that defines their worker (EdgeWorkerOf,
-	// novox/hq issue 206), so the built-by edge from that controller to such a holder yields: the
-	// controller is built by whichever build machine is running, as the runtime image always was.
-	worker := map[string]map[string]bool{}
-	for _, e := range edges {
-		if e.Kind == inventory.EdgeWorkerOf && in[e.From] && in[e.To] {
-			if worker[e.To] == nil {
-				worker[e.To] = map[string]bool{}
-			}
-			worker[e.To][e.From] = true
-		}
-	}
 	for _, e := range edges {
 		// A code dependency — B packages A's source — rebuilds B with A, in the same tier: B's
 		// build needs nothing of A's first. The other kinds order: stands-on and declared after
 		// the base is built, built-by after the build machine is built and running — except for
-		// what the build machine itself stands on, and for the controller whose worker the build
-		// machine binds. The runtime image is built by the builder and the builder is built on the
-		// runtime image; the image comes first, built by the builder that is running.
+		// what the build machine itself stands on. The runtime image is built by the builder and
+		// the builder is built on the runtime image; the image comes first, built by the builder
+		// that is running, which is the only one there could be.
 		if !in[e.From] || !in[e.To] || e.From == e.To || e.Kind == inventory.EdgePackages {
 			continue
 		}
-		if e.Kind == inventory.EdgeBuiltBy && (isBaseOf(e.From, e.To, edges, in) || worker[e.From][e.To]) {
+		if e.Kind == inventory.EdgeBuiltBy && isBaseOf(e.From, e.To, edges, in) {
 			continue
 		}
 		deps[e.From][e.To] = true
@@ -134,10 +122,7 @@ func reachableFrom(moved []string, edges []inventory.Edge) []string {
 	for grew := true; grew; {
 		grew = false
 		for _, e := range edges {
-			// Built-by and worker-of order a plan; neither widens it. A new build machine changes
-			// nothing it builds, and a new controller changes nothing about the holder it orders —
-			// what packages the controller's source is already a code edge.
-			if e.Kind == inventory.EdgeBuiltBy || e.Kind == inventory.EdgeWorkerOf {
+			if e.Kind == inventory.EdgeBuiltBy {
 				continue
 			}
 			if in[e.To] && !in[e.From] {

cmd/mesh-controller/worker_order_test.go

@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-package main
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
-)
-
-// The holder of the build seat follows the controller that defines its worker (novox/hq issue 206).
-// On 2026-10-03 a plan put the build machine in tier 0 and the controller in tier 1; the new build
-// machine could not bind the worker the old controller had defined, and nothing could build the
-// controller that would have redefined it. The built-by edge from the controller to its build
-// machine yields to that order: the controller is built by whichever build machine is running.
-func TestTheBuildSeatsHolderFollowsTheControllerThatDefinesItsWorker(t *testing.T) {
-	edges := []inventory.Edge{
-		{From: "build-agent", To: "mesh-controller", Kind: inventory.EdgePackages},
-		{From: "build-agent", To: "mesh-controller", Kind: inventory.EdgeWorkerOf},
-		{From: "mesh-controller", To: "build-agent", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
-		{From: "route-proxy", To: "mesh-controller", Kind: inventory.EdgePackages},
-		{From: "route-proxy", To: "build-agent", Kind: inventory.EdgeBuiltBy},
-	}
-	set := reachableFrom([]string{"mesh-controller"}, edges)
-	if len(set) != 3 {
-		t.Fatalf("the controller, what packages it, and nothing more: %v", set)
-	}
-	tiers := tiersOf(set, edges)
-	pos := map[string]int{}
-	for i, tier := range tiers {
-		for _, m := range tier {
-			pos[m] = i
-		}
-	}
-	if pos["mesh-controller"] != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("the controller first, built by the build machine that is running: %v", tiers)
-	}
-	if pos["build-agent"] <= pos["mesh-controller"] {
-		t.Fatalf("the build machine after the controller that defines its worker: %v", tiers)
-	}
-	if pos["route-proxy"] <= pos["build-agent"] {
-		t.Fatalf("what the build machine builds comes after it: %v", tiers)
-	}
-	if hasCycle(tiers, edges) {
-		t.Fatalf("no cycle here: %v", tiers)
-	}
-}

internal/broker/jetstream.go

@@ -214,43 +214,6 @@ func (j *JetStream) EnsureConsumer(c Consumer) error {
 
 	switch have, err := j.js.ConsumerInfo(c.Stream, c.Name); {
 	case err == nil:
-		// **The controller owns the worker's shape, type included** (novox/hq issue 206). A holder
-		// built for a pull worker cannot bind a push one — `cannot pull subscribe to push based
-		// consumer` — and on 2026-10-03 the build machine rolled before the controller that would
-		// have redefined its worker, restarted on that for an hour, and nothing could build the
-		// controller that would have ended it. The server cannot change a consumer's type in place,
-		// so one of the wrong type is re-made: on a work queue nothing is lost, because what was
-		// acknowledged is gone from the stream and what was not is delivered again from the start.
-		// On any other stream a re-made consumer would replay what this one acknowledged (issue
-		// 156), so there it is said and left, and the person re-makes it knowing the cost.
-		if havePush, wantPush := have.Config.DeliverSubject != "", want.DeliverSubject != ""; havePush != wantPush {
-			shape := func(push bool) string {
-				if push {
-					return "push"
-				}
-				return "pull"
-			}
-			info, err := j.js.StreamInfo(c.Stream)
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("asking about stream %s to re-make consumer %s: %w", c.Stream, c.Name, err)
-			}
-			if info.Config.Retention != nats.WorkQueuePolicy {
-				j.note("consumer %s on %s is %s and should be %s; not re-made, because %s keeps its history "+
-					"and a re-made consumer replays what this one acknowledged (novox/hq issue 156). Re-make it by hand",
-					c.Name, c.Stream, shape(havePush), shape(wantPush), c.Stream)
-				return nil
-			}
-			j.note("consumer %s on %s changes from %s to %s delivery: re-made where it left off, nothing "+
-				"acknowledged comes back and nothing pending is lost (novox/hq issue 206); a holder bound to "+
-				"the old shape binds again", c.Name, c.Stream, shape(havePush), shape(wantPush))
-			if err := j.js.DeleteConsumer(c.Stream, c.Name); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("re-making consumer %s on %s as %s: %w", c.Name, c.Stream, shape(wantPush), err)
-			}
-			if _, err := j.js.AddConsumer(c.Stream, want); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("re-making consumer %s on %s as %s: %w", c.Name, c.Stream, shape(wantPush), err)
-			}
-			return nil
-		}
 		// Where an existing consumer starts is its history, not something an assertion may move:
 		// the server refuses a changed deliver policy outright. Carried across, so asserting twice
 		// is the no-op a restart depends on.

internal/broker/worker_type_change_test.go

@@ -1,145 +0,0 @@
-package broker
-
-import (
-	"os"
-	"testing"
-	"time"
-
-	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
-)
-
-// A seat's worker that changed from push to pull delivery strands a holder built for the new shape
-// (novox/hq issue 206): the server refuses a pull subscription on a push consumer, and the controller
-// that would redefine it was the build that nobody could take. The controller owns the worker's
-// shape, type included: on a work queue it re-makes one of the wrong type, losing nothing, and a
-// pull subscription then binds and takes what was pending.
-//
-//	docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14231:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
-//	MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14231 go test ./internal/broker/ -run TestAWorker
-func TestAWorkerOfTheWrongTypeIsRemadeOnAWorkQueueAndAPullThenBinds(t *testing.T) {
-	url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS")
-	if url == "" {
-		t.Skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset")
-	}
-	js, err := Dial(url)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer js.Close()
-
-	const stream, worker, filter = "SEAT_T_SHELF", "SEAT_T_SHELF_worker", "mesh.seat.t-shelf.accept.>"
-	_ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream)
-	if _, err := js.js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{
-		Name: stream, Subjects: []string{filter}, Retention: nats.WorkQueuePolicy, Storage: nats.MemoryStorage,
-	}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer func() { _ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream) }()
-
-	// The worker as the previous controller defined it: push, in a queue group.
-	if _, err := js.js.AddConsumer(stream, &nats.ConsumerConfig{
-		Durable: worker, AckPolicy: nats.AckExplicitPolicy, AckWait: 60 * time.Second, MaxDeliver: 5,
-		FilterSubject: filter, DeliverSubject: "_DELIVER." + worker, DeliverGroup: "holders",
-	}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	for _, body := range []string{"one", "two", "three"} {
-		if _, err := js.js.Publish("mesh.seat.t-shelf.accept.build", []byte(body)); err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-	}
-	// The old holder took and acknowledged the first ask, then went away.
-	old, err := js.js.QueueSubscribeSync(filter, "holders", nats.Bind(stream, worker))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	m, err := old.NextMsg(twoSeconds)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if string(m.Data) != "one" {
-		t.Fatalf("the first ask is %q", m.Data)
-	}
-	if err := m.AckSync(); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if err := old.Unsubscribe(); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// The new controller asserts the worker as the mesh derives it now: pull.
-	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(Consumer{
-		Name: worker, Stream: stream, Filters: []string{filter}, AckWaitSeconds: 60, MaxDeliver: 5,
-		Why: "the test's worker",
-	}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	have, err := js.js.ConsumerInfo(stream, worker)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if have.Config.DeliverSubject != "" || have.Config.DeliverGroup != "" {
-		t.Fatalf("the worker is still push: %+v", have.Config)
-	}
-
-	// A holder built for the new shape binds, and takes exactly what the old one left.
-	sub, err := js.js.PullSubscribe(filter, worker, nats.Bind(stream, worker), nats.ManualAck())
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("a pull subscription does not bind the re-made worker: %v", err)
-	}
-	got, err := sub.Fetch(3, nats.MaxWait(twoSeconds))
-	if err != nil && len(got) == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("nothing pending was delivered: %v", err)
-	}
-	var bodies []string
-	for _, g := range got {
-		bodies = append(bodies, string(g.Data))
-		_ = g.Ack()
-	}
-	if len(bodies) != 2 || bodies[0] != "two" || bodies[1] != "three" {
-		t.Fatalf("the pending asks after the acknowledged one, in order: %v", bodies)
-	}
-
-	// Asserted again, the pull worker is the no-op a restart depends on.
-	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(Consumer{
-		Name: worker, Stream: stream, Filters: []string{filter}, AckWaitSeconds: 60, MaxDeliver: 5,
-	}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-}
-
-// On a stream that keeps its history, a worker of the wrong type is said and left: re-making it would
-// replay what it acknowledged (novox/hq issue 156), and that is a person's call.
-func TestAWorkerOfTheWrongTypeOnAHistoryStreamIsLeftAndSaid(t *testing.T) {
-	url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS")
-	if url == "" {
-		t.Skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset")
-	}
-	js, err := Dial(url)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer js.Close()
-	const stream, worker, filter = "EVENTS_T", "EVENTS_T_reader", "mesh.t.event.>"
-	_ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream)
-	if _, err := js.js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{Name: stream, Subjects: []string{filter}, Storage: nats.MemoryStorage}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer func() { _ = js.js.DeleteStream(stream) }()
-	if _, err := js.js.AddConsumer(stream, &nats.ConsumerConfig{
-		Durable: worker, AckPolicy: nats.AckExplicitPolicy, AckWait: 60 * time.Second,
-		FilterSubject: filter, DeliverSubject: "_DELIVER." + worker,
-	}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if err := js.EnsureConsumer(Consumer{Name: worker, Stream: stream, Filters: []string{filter}, AckWaitSeconds: 60}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	have, err := js.js.ConsumerInfo(stream, worker)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if have.Config.DeliverSubject == "" {
-		t.Fatal("a history stream's consumer was re-made, which replays what it acknowledged")
-	}
-}

internal/catalogue/declaration.go

@@ -872,15 +872,6 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 			if renamed := reflectsRenamed(m.Module, resource["reload-on"]); renamed != nil {
 				copied["reload-on"] = renamed
 			}
-			// **What reads one of this module's own secrets is restarted when it changes** (novox/hq
-			// issue 203, issue 206). A credential is re-issued by the mesh, and a container that
-			// mounted the old file keeps the old one open: the build machine ran for an hour on a
-			// credential the mesh had replaced, because its manifest restarted it on its
-			// environment file and nobody had thought to name the credential too. Composed here so
-			// no manifest has to say it, for a container or a daemon that names the secret's path.
-			if reads := secretsReadBy(copied, m); len(reads) > 0 {
-				copied["restart-on"] = withRestartOn(copied["restart-on"], reads)
-			}
 			// **A version prepares its state before it runs** (novox/hq ADR 0135). Derived from the
 			// module's own resource rather than declared beside it: what prepares the state is the
 			// module's own code, so what it is given has to be what that code is given — and a
@@ -2088,87 +2079,3 @@ func portOfEndpoint(values map[string]any, ports map[string]int) {
 		values["port"] = port
 	}
 }
-
-// secretsReadBy is the file resources of this module's own secrets that a container or a daemon reads
-// — named in its volumes, its environment or its env-files by the secret's placed path — as
-// restart-on ids. Nothing for other shapes, and nothing for a scheduled or run-once process, which
-// the host refuses a restart-on for (it runs again anyway, and reads the file afresh).
-func secretsReadBy(resource map[string]any, m Manifest) []string {
-	kind := fmt.Sprint(resource["type"])
-	if kind != "container" && kind != "process" {
-		return nil
-	}
-	if resource["schedule"] != nil || resource["run-once"] == true {
-		return nil
-	}
-	var mentioned []string
-	for _, key := range []string{"volumes", "env", "env-file"} {
-		mentioned = append(mentioned, stringsIn(resource[key])...)
-	}
-	var out []string
-	for _, name := range sortedKeys(m.OwnSecrets) {
-		path := m.OwnSecrets[name].Path
-		if path == "" {
-			continue
-		}
-		for _, s := range mentioned {
-			// A volume is `source:destination[:mode]`; an env value or an env-file is the path itself.
-			if s == path || strings.HasPrefix(s, path+":") {
-				out = append(out, m.Module+"."+NeedID(name))
-				break
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return out
-}
-
-// stringsIn is every string in a list or a map's values; nothing for anything else.
-func stringsIn(v any) []string {
-	switch x := v.(type) {
-	case []any:
-		var out []string
-		for _, item := range x {
-			if s, ok := item.(string); ok {
-				out = append(out, s)
-			}
-		}
-		return out
-	case []string:
-		return x
-	case map[string]any:
-		var out []string
-		for _, k := range sortedKeys(x) {
-			if s, ok := x[k].(string); ok {
-				out = append(out, s)
-			}
-		}
-		return out
-	case map[string]string:
-		var out []string
-		for _, k := range sortedKeys(x) {
-			out = append(out, x[k])
-		}
-		return out
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// withRestartOn is a resource's restart-on list with these ids added once each.
-func withRestartOn(have any, add []string) []any {
-	var out []any
-	seen := map[string]bool{}
-	for _, id := range reflectsRenamed("", have) {
-		s := fmt.Sprint(id)
-		if !seen[s] {
-			seen[s] = true
-			out = append(out, s)
-		}
-	}
-	for _, id := range add {
-		if !seen[id] {
-			seen[id] = true
-			out = append(out, id)
-		}
-	}
-	return out
-}

internal/catalogue/secret_restart_test.go

@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-package catalogue
-
-import (
-	"reflect"
-	"strings"
-	"testing"
-)
-
-// What reads one of a module's own secrets is restarted when the secret changes (novox/hq issue 203,
-// issue 206): the build machine kept an hour-old credential open because its manifest restarted it
-// on its environment file alone. Composed, so a manifest need not say it; a scheduled process is
-// left alone, because the host refuses a restart-on for one and it reads the file afresh each run.
-func TestAContainerReadingAnOwnSecretIsRestartedWhenItChanges(t *testing.T) {
-	m := Manifest{Module: "agent", Version: "1",
-		OwnSecrets: OwnSecrets{"broker": {Path: "/var/lib/mesh/agent/broker"}},
-		Resources: []map[string]any{
-			{"id": "mesh-state", "type": "directory", "path": "/var/lib/mesh/agent", "mode": "0700"},
-			{"id": "settings", "type": "file", "path": "/var/lib/mesh/agent/agent.env", "mode": "0600", "content": "A=1\n"},
-			{"id": "server", "type": "container", "name": "agent", "network": "host",
-				"image":      "registry.example/agent@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
-				"volumes":    []any{"/var/lib/mesh/agent:/run/mesh:ro", "/var/lib/mesh/agent/broker:/run/mesh/broker:ro"},
-				"env-file":   []any{"/var/lib/mesh/agent/agent.env"},
-				"restart-on": []any{"settings"}},
-			{"id": "nightly", "type": "container", "name": "agent-nightly", "schedule": "0 3 * * *",
-				"image":   "registry.example/agent@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64),
-				"volumes": []any{"/var/lib/mesh/agent/broker:/run/mesh/broker:ro"}},
-			{"id": "other", "type": "container", "name": "agent-other",
-				"image": "registry.example/agent@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64)},
-		}}
-	got, err := Resolve(shelf(m), []string{m.Module},
-		Node{Name: "anchor", At: "10.0.0.1", Capabilities: map[string]bool{"container-runtime": true}}, World{})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	out, err := got.Declaration(Rendering{Needed: map[string]map[string]string{"agent": {"broker": "SEALED"}}})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	by := map[string]map[string]any{}
-	for _, r := range out {
-		by[r["id"].(string)] = r
-	}
-	if want := []any{"agent.settings", "agent.needs-broker"}; !reflect.DeepEqual(by["agent.server"]["restart-on"], want) {
-		t.Fatalf("the server reads the credential and is not restarted on it: %v", by["agent.server"]["restart-on"])
-	}
-	if _, has := by["agent.nightly"]["restart-on"]; has {
-		t.Fatalf("a scheduled container was given a restart-on, which the host refuses: %v", by["agent.nightly"]["restart-on"])
-	}
-	if _, has := by["agent.other"]["restart-on"]; has {
-		t.Fatalf("a container that reads no secret was given one to restart on: %v", by["agent.other"]["restart-on"])
-	}
-}

internal/inventory/dependencies.go

@@ -18,17 +18,8 @@ const (
 	EdgeBuiltBy = "built-by"
 	// EdgeDeclared: the manifest's own `build.on`.
 	EdgeDeclared = "declared"
-	// EdgeWorkerOf: the module holds the build seat, whose worker the control plane defines
-	// (novox/hq issue 206). The one place a *running* order enters the graph: a build machine rolled
-	// before the controller that redefines its worker cannot bind it, and nothing can then build the
-	// controller that would end that — so the holder of the build seat follows the controller, and
-	// the controller is built by whichever build machine is running, as it always was.
-	EdgeWorkerOf = "worker-of"
 )
 
-// TheControlPlane is the module that defines every seat's worker on the bus.
-const TheControlPlane = "mesh-controller"
-
 // Edge is one dependency: From depends on To, in the way Kind says.
 type Edge struct {
 	From string `json:"from"`
@@ -115,13 +106,6 @@ func dependenciesOf(entries []Entry, against map[string][]string, read map[strin
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	if known[TheControlPlane] {
-		for _, b := range builders {
-			if b != TheControlPlane {
-				add(b, TheControlPlane, EdgeWorkerOf)
-			}
-		}
-	}
 	sort.Slice(out, func(a, b int) bool {
 		if out[a].From != out[b].From {
 			return out[a].From < out[b].From