The two seat commands appear in the usage text

Both existed and neither was listed: rename since ADR 0122, the handover since
ADR 0131. Found by asking the running binary for help and seeing only the list.

cmd/mesh-controller/ask.go

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func askCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		arguments = json.RawMessage(positionals[2])
 	}
 
-	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
+	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}

cmd/mesh-controller/build.go

@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ func buildOne(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wait ti
 	}
 	defer ident.Close()
 
-	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
+	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ func buildAndShow(ctx context.Context, source buildSource, path, ref string, wai
 		return err
 	}
 	defer ident.Close()
-	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
+	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}

cmd/mesh-controller/main.go

@@ -164,6 +164,8 @@ func usage() {
   upgrade <name> record          ...record that they are behind, and send nothing
   status [--json]                what is wrong, what is quiet, and what is out of date
   seats [--json]                 every seat this mesh defines, what it delivers, and who holds it
+  seat rename <from> <to>        rename a seat; its former name still resolves (ADR 0122)
+  seat <name> --to <node>/<module>   hand a seat to that assignment as one act; never empty in between (ADR 0131)
   board [--listen ADDR]          the same three questions, as a page that holds nothing
   api --issuer URL [--listen A]  assign and unassign over http, for a surface that is not here
   assign <node> <module>         put a module on a node

cmd/mesh-controller/modules.go

@@ -614,15 +614,6 @@ func issueOnTheNewBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return issueWith(ctx, inv, m, node, busAddress, known, reachable, user, password)
-}
-
-// issueWith is the delivery half: the minted password sealed to the machine as the module's broker
-// secret, and the module's consumer created where the bus can be reached. Split from the minting
-// so the move can issue every module against a bus whose address it worked out itself
-// (`rollout mint`, design 28 task 5.2) rather than the one in this process's environment.
-func issueWith(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue.Manifest,
-	node, busAddress string, known broker.Broker, reachable, user, password string) error {
 	held, err := json.Marshal(struct {
 		URL         string `json:"url"`
 		Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
@@ -648,19 +639,14 @@ func issueWith(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, m catalogue.Manife
 		Kind: broker.KindModule, Node: node, Module: m.Module,
 		Emits: m.Emits, Consumes: m.Consumes, Serves: m.Tools,
 	}); needed {
-		if busAddress == "" {
+		js, err := broker.Dial(busAddress)
-			fmt.Printf("  %s consumes; its consumer is created when the bus is reachable (`push`, then "+
+		if err != nil {
-				"`rollout mint` again is harmless)\n", m.Module)
+			return fmt.Errorf("the credential is minted and the mesh cannot reach the bus to create "+
-		} else {
+				"how %s hears what it consumes: %w", m.Module, err)
-			js, err := broker.Dial(busAddress)
+		}
-			if err != nil {
+		defer js.Close()
-				return fmt.Errorf("the credential is minted and the mesh cannot reach the bus to create "+
+		if err := js.EnsureConsumer(consumer); err != nil {
-					"how %s hears what it consumes: %w", m.Module, err)
+			return err
-			}
-			defer js.Close()
-			if err := js.EnsureConsumer(consumer); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
 		}
 	}
 

cmd/mesh-controller/network.go

@@ -537,15 +537,6 @@ func onTheNetwork(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	// **With the seat holders on record**, or a machine running the next holder of a seat beside
-	// the current one resolves as two holders, is refused, and drops out of the map — taking the
-	// address every other machine composes for what it offers (novox/hq ADR 0131). Found live:
-	// the control node vanished from the private network the moment the new bus was assigned
-	// beside the old one.
-	holdings, err := inv.Holdings(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
 	var out []inventory.Overlay
 	for _, p := range places {
 		if p.Address == "" {
@@ -558,7 +549,7 @@ func onTheNetwork(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory,
 		caps, _ := inv.ProfileOf(ctx, p.Name)
 		got, err := catalogue.Resolve(shelf, assigned,
 			catalogue.Node{Name: p.Name, Site: p.Site, Capabilities: caps},
-			catalogue.World{Unchecked: true, Holdings: holdings})
+			catalogue.World{Unchecked: true})
 		if err != nil {
 			continue
 		}

cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go

@@ -636,13 +636,8 @@ func renderingFor(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 	if err != nil {
 		return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
 	}
-	memberships, err := inv.BusMemberships(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return catalogue.Rendering{}, inventory.Node{}, err
-	}
 	return catalogue.Rendering{
-		BusMembership: memberships[node],
+		Settings: settings, Generators: gens, Grants: grants, Needed: needed, Ports: ports,
-		Settings:      settings, Generators: gens, Grants: grants, Needed: needed, Ports: ports,
 		Certificate: certificate, Authority: authority, Mesh: private, Names: names,
 		Machines: machines,
 		Suffix:   overlay.Suffix(), MeshRange: meshRange, Accounts: accounts, Foundation: foundation,

cmd/mesh-controller/push.go

@@ -38,33 +38,6 @@ func reportUnhostable(node string, plan catalogue.Resolution) {
 // nothing in it was wrong, and no one edit was the one that should have been a new file.
 
 // serve is the control plane running: one connection to the broker, one queue, one consumer.
-// connectLink opens the controller's link over whichever bus this process is on (design 25: one
-// variable moves it). The streams and this controller's consumers are raised first on the new bus,
-// so nothing served here finds them missing.
-func connectLink(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, enroller link.Enroller, listener link.Listener) (*link.Server, error) {
-	busAddress, onNATS, err := broker.OnNATS()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if err := broker.MustBeOneBus(os.Getenv(broker.AMQPVarName), busAddress); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if !onNATS {
-		return link.Connect(enroller, listener)
-	}
-	if inv != nil {
-		if err := raiseTheBus(ctx, inv, busAddress); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-	}
-	js, err := broker.Dial(busAddress)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the mesh is on the bus at %s and this control plane cannot reach it: %w",
-			broker.BareAddress(busAddress), err)
-	}
-	return link.ConnectNats(js, enroller, listener), nil
-}
-
 func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 	open, err := openStores(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -117,7 +90,7 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	work := link.Enrolment{Inventory: inv, Identity: ident, Management: management, Broker: known,
 		OnNATS: onNATS}
-	server, err := connectLink(ctx, inv, work, work)
+	server, err := link.Connect(work, work)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -127,6 +100,11 @@ func serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// somebody deleted, a mesh raised from a restored backup, or a bus whose data directory was
 	// replaced all have records and no objects — and a node whose consumer is missing hears nothing
 	// while everything else about it looks correct.
+	if onNATS {
+		if err := raiseTheBus(ctx, inv, busAddress); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
 	// And build results nobody was waiting for. A build triggered any other way than `build`
 	// would otherwise be reported into the void, which is the same as not reporting it.
 	server.Records(builds{inv})
@@ -180,13 +158,13 @@ func declare(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
+	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	defer server.Close()
 
-	if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, node, raw, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
+	if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, node, raw, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("sent %s a signed declaration (%d bytes)\n", node, len(raw))
@@ -293,7 +271,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
+	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -354,7 +332,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
+		if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		// After it is away, not before. A digest recorded for something that failed to send would
@@ -437,7 +415,7 @@ func pushCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 					return declarationWith(held, open, node, plan, settings, gens, Allocating)
 				},
 				func(s readyNode, body []byte) error {
-					if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, s.node, body,
+					if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, s.node, body,
 						15*time.Second); err != nil {
 						return err
 					}
@@ -650,7 +628,7 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 			len(refusals), strings.Join(refusals, "\n\n"))
 	}
 
-	server, err := connectLink(ctx, nil, nil, nil)
+	server, err := link.Connect(nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -661,7 +639,7 @@ func sendTo(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		if err := link.Declare(ctx, server.Bus(), ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
+		if err := link.Declare(ctx, link.OverCurrent{Channel: server.Channel()}, ident, s.node, body, 15*time.Second); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		record, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, s.node)
@@ -726,7 +704,7 @@ func raiseTheBus(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, address string)
 	js, err := broker.Dial(address)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("the mesh is on the bus at %s and this control plane cannot reach it: %w",
-			broker.BareAddress(address), err)
+			address, err)
 	}
 	defer js.Close()
 

cmd/mesh-controller/rollout.go

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
@@ -13,7 +12,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/secrets"
 )
 
 // Moving the mesh's own traffic to the bus being built (novox/hq ADR 0116 step 5).
@@ -33,19 +31,12 @@ import (
 // ability to change things, not the services its modules are serving — measured on 2026-09-27, when
 // a seat emptied mid-change and the control plane looped for two hours while every service stayed up.
 
-const rolloutUsage = "rollout check | rollout mint [--again] | rollout --confirm"
+const rolloutUsage = "rollout check | rollout --confirm"
 
 func rolloutCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	switch {
 	case len(args) == 1 && args[0] == "check":
 		return rolloutCheck(ctx)
-	case len(args) == 1 && args[0] == "mint":
-		return rolloutMint(ctx, false)
-	case len(args) == 2 && args[0] == "mint" && args[1] == "--again":
-		// Every credential minted afresh, whether or not one exists — for a mint that was wrong
-		// before anything was pushed. Afterwards nothing that received the old one still works,
-		// which is fine exactly when nothing received it.
-		return rolloutMint(ctx, true)
 	case len(args) == 1 && args[0] == "--confirm":
 		return errors.New(
 			"the rollout itself is not built yet: `rollout check` answers whether it could run, and " +
@@ -199,191 +190,3 @@ func wasSentTheUserList(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, node stri
 // notReadyOf is the readiness reasoning, named here so a test can reach it without the command's
 // printing. The reasoning itself is the broker package's, where it is pure.
 func notReadyOf(state broker.Readiness) []string { return broker.NotReady(state) }
-
-// rolloutMint gives every principal the new bus will have a credential it does not yet have, and
-// puts each where its owner reads it (novox/hq design 28, task 5.2): a machine's as a membership
-// sealed into its declaration, a module's as its broker secret, the control plane's own as its
-// `bus` secret. Idempotent: what already has a hash is left alone, so running it again is harmless.
-//
-// **Before anything moves, and it is what makes moving possible.** A machine moved without a
-// credential cannot come back, and afterwards there is no bus to tell it anything over — which is
-// why `rollout check` refuses until this has run. The bus's address is worked out here, from where
-// the module that provides it is assigned, rather than read from this process's environment: this
-// process is still on the old bus when this runs, and must be.
-func rolloutMint(ctx context.Context, again bool) error {
-	open, err := openStores(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	defer open.Close()
-	inv := open.inventory
-
-	known, err := broker.FromEnvironment()
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("the bus's certificate is not known to this process, and every membership "+
-			"must carry its fingerprint: %w", err)
-	}
-	shelf, err := inv.Catalogue(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	entries, err := inv.Catalogued(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	var busNode, controllerNode string
-	for _, e := range entries {
-		switch {
-		case e.Manifest.ClaimsSeat("mesh-broker") && providesBus(e.Manifest) && len(e.On) > 0:
-			busNode = e.On[0]
-		case e.Manifest.Module == "mesh-controller" && len(e.On) > 0:
-			controllerNode = e.On[0]
-		}
-	}
-	if busNode == "" {
-		return errors.New("no assigned module provides mesh-bus and claims mesh-broker, so there is no " +
-			"bus to mint credentials for — register and assign it first")
-	}
-	onNetwork, err := whereEveryoneIs(ctx, inv, shelf)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	busHost := onNetwork[busNode]
-	if busHost == "" {
-		// **The hub is not in that map.** The machine that took over the tunnel is where the current
-		// bus already answers, and every machine dials it at the address the mesh handed them — so
-		// when the new bus runs on the same machine, that address is the one to tell them, with the
-		// new port. Found live: the control node is the hub, and the map lists the machines placed
-		// around it.
-		// The host alone: no scheme (BareAddress adds one where none was, which is the wrong
-		// direction here — every URL built below adds its own) and no port.
-		_, _, host := broker.CredentialIn(known.Address)
-		if host == "" {
-			host = known.Address
-		}
-		if _, after, hasScheme := strings.Cut(host, "://"); hasScheme {
-			host = after
-		}
-		host = strings.TrimSpace(host)
-		if i := strings.LastIndex(host, ":"); i > 0 && !strings.Contains(host[i:], "]") {
-			host = host[:i]
-		}
-		if host == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s runs the new bus and has no address on the private network, and the "+
-				"current bus's address is unknown too, so no machine could be told where it is", busNode)
-		}
-		busHost = host
-	}
-	busAddress := busHost + ":4222"
-
-	records, err := inv.BusRecords(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	users, err := broker.Users(records)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	kept, err := inv.BusUsers(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	hashes := make(map[string]string, len(kept))
-	for name, u := range kept {
-		hashes[name] = u.PasswordHash
-	}
-	_, missing := broker.WithPasswords(users, hashes)
-	wanted := map[string]bool{}
-	for _, m := range missing {
-		wanted[m] = true
-	}
-
-	var machines, modules, skipped int
-	for _, p := range users {
-		if !again && !wanted[p.Username()] {
-			continue
-		}
-		switch p.Kind {
-		case broker.KindController:
-			if controllerNode == "" {
-				return errors.New("the control plane is not assigned anywhere, so its credential has nowhere to go")
-			}
-			password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: p.Username(), Kind: inventory.BusController})
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			url := "nats://" + p.Username() + ":" + password + "@" + busAddress
-			if err := inv.AcceptSecretForModule(ctx, controllerNode, "mesh-controller", "bus", url); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("the control plane's credential is minted and could not be sealed to %s: %w", controllerNode, err)
-			}
-			fmt.Printf("control plane: credential minted, sealed to %s as its `bus` secret\n", controllerNode)
-
-		case broker.KindNode:
-			password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: p.Username(), Kind: inventory.BusNode, Node: p.Node})
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			membership, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]string{
-				"broker": busAddress, "fingerprint": known.Fingerprint, "password": password, "transport": "nats",
-			})
-			key, err := inv.SealingKeyOf(ctx, p.Node)
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("%s has no sealing key, so its membership cannot be sealed to it: %w", p.Node, err)
-			}
-			sealed, err := secrets.Seal(key, membership)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			if err := inv.PutBusMembership(ctx, p.Node, sealed); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			machines++
-
-		case broker.KindModule:
-			if p.Module == "mesh-controller" {
-				// The control plane is a module too, and its `broker` secret is the old bus's
-				// credential it is still using while this runs. Writing the new bus's blob there
-				// cut the mesh off from its own old bus mid-move (2026-09-28). Its new-bus credential
-				// is the controller principal's `bus` secret above; nothing else is needed here.
-				skipped++
-				continue
-			}
-			m, inShelf := shelf[p.Module]
-			if !inShelf {
-				skipped++
-				continue
-			}
-			if _, reads := m.OwnSecrets["broker"]; !reads {
-				fmt.Printf("  %s on %s speaks on the bus but declares no `broker` secret to receive a credential in; skipped\n", p.Module, p.Node)
-				skipped++
-				continue
-			}
-			password, err := inv.MintBusPassword(ctx, inventory.BusUser{Username: p.Username(), Kind: inventory.BusModule, Node: p.Node, Module: p.Module})
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			if err := issueWith(ctx, inv, m, p.Node, "", known, busAddress, p.Username(), password); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			modules++
-
-		default:
-			skipped++
-		}
-	}
-	fmt.Printf("minted for %d machine(s) and %d module runtime(s); %d skipped; the bus is at %s\n",
-		machines, modules, skipped, busAddress)
-	fmt.Println("  each machine's membership and each module's credential arrive with the next push of its machine;")
-	fmt.Println("  push the machine running the bus first, so the bus stands with its user list before anything dials it")
-	return nil
-}
-
-// providesBus is whether a manifest provides the mesh's bus.
-func providesBus(m catalogue.Manifest) bool {
-	for _, o := range m.Provides {
-		if o.Name == "mesh-bus" {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}

internal/broker/jetstream.go

@@ -1,14 +1,8 @@
 package broker
 
 import (
-	"crypto/sha256"
-	"crypto/tls"
-	"crypto/x509"
-	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
-	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
@@ -30,64 +24,21 @@ type JetStream struct {
 
 // Dial connects and returns the controller's JetStream handle.
 func Dial(url string, opts ...nats.Option) (*JetStream, error) {
+	// A name, because a connection nobody can identify in the server's own monitoring is one
+	// nobody can attribute a problem to.
 	opts = append(opts, nats.Name("mesh-controller"), nats.Timeout(10*time.Second))
-	// **Pinned, not named.** The bus presents the mesh's own certificate, which names nothing a
-	// public verifier would accept (design 25 §4: a host pins the server's exact certificate and
-	// checks nothing else, and so does this). Without this, the first connection failed with
-	// "certificate is not valid for any names" against a bus that was answering (2026-09-28).
-	if path := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(CertificateVar)); path != "" {
-		pinned, err := pinnedTo(path)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		opts = append(opts, nats.Secure(pinned))
-	}
-	// **Its own inbox, and nothing wider.** Every principal is granted `_INBOX.<its user>.>` and
-	// no other inbox; the client's default prefix is random, and the server refused the first
-	// subscription to it (2026-09-28). The user is in the URL, so the prefix follows from it.
-	if user, _, _ := CredentialIn(url); user != "" {
-		opts = append(opts, nats.CustomInboxPrefix("_INBOX."+user))
-	}
-	// The address in an error is the address alone. The URL carries this controller's password,
-	// and an error here is written on the assumption it will be logged.
-	where := BareAddress(url)
 	conn, err := nats.Connect(url, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("connecting to the bus at %s: %w", where, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("connecting to the bus at %s: %w", url, err)
 	}
 	js, err := conn.JetStream()
 	if err != nil {
 		conn.Close()
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the bus at %s has no JetStream: %w", where, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the bus at %s has no JetStream: %w", url, err)
 	}
 	return &JetStream{conn: conn, js: js}, nil
 }
 
-// pinnedTo is a TLS configuration that accepts exactly the certificate in the file and no other:
-// the leaf's SHA-256, compared on every handshake, with the name and the chain deliberately not
-// consulted — a self-signed certificate with no names is the ordinary case for a mesh's bus.
-func pinnedTo(path string) (*tls.Config, error) {
-	want, err := FingerprintOf(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return &tls.Config{
-		InsecureSkipVerify: true, //nolint:gosec // replaced by the pin below, which is stricter
-		MinVersion:         tls.VersionTLS12,
-		VerifyPeerCertificate: func(rawCerts [][]byte, _ [][]*x509.Certificate) error {
-			if len(rawCerts) == 0 {
-				return errors.New("the bus presented no certificate")
-			}
-			sum := sha256.Sum256(rawCerts[0])
-			got := "sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
-			if got != want {
-				return fmt.Errorf("the bus presented a certificate this mesh does not know (%s…), expected %s…", got[:23], want[:23])
-			}
-			return nil
-		},
-	}, nil
-}
-
 // Conn is the connection itself, for what the mesh keeps off JetStream on purpose — a heartbeat,
 // a tool call — where a lost message is answered by the next one or by a timeout the caller
 // already handles (design 25 §3).

internal/broker/nats.go

@@ -244,14 +244,7 @@ func PermissionsFor(p Principal) (Permissions, error) {
 	case KindNode:
 		// A host publishes its own node's control traffic and subscribes its own declaration —
 		// and nothing of any other node's.
-		// And binding to its consumer, which asks the server about it (CONSUMER.INFO) — the one
+		pub = []string{"mesh.control." + p.Node + ".>"}
-		// thing the host does that nothing granted. Found the first time a machine dialled a
-		// permissioned server: "this node cannot read its declarations" (2026-09-28). The ack and
-		// the inbox are granted below with every principal's.
-		pub = []string{
-			"mesh.control." + p.Node + ".>",
-			"$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.NODES." + p.Node,
-		}
 		sub = []string{"mesh.node." + p.Node + ".declare"}
 
 	case KindModule:
@@ -521,10 +514,7 @@ func ComposeAccounts(principals []Principal) (string, error) {
 	// One account for the mesh: accounts in NATS isolate subject spaces entirely, and the mesh is
 	// one space (design 25 §4). The cost of that — that permissions are the only isolation — is
 	// paid in the scoping of every inbox and every ack subject.
-	// JetStream is enabled per account once accounts exist at all: with only the global block set,
+	b.WriteString("accounts {\n  MESH {\n    users = [\n")
-	// a user in MESH is told "JetStream not enabled for account" the first time it binds a
-	// consumer, which is the first thing every host does (2026-09-28).
-	b.WriteString("accounts {\n  MESH {\n    jetstream: enabled\n    users = [\n")
 	for _, p := range sorted {
 		perms, err := PermissionsFor(p)
 		if err != nil {

internal/broker/testdata/composed.conf

@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ jetstream {
 
 accounts {
   MESH {
-    jetstream: enabled
     users = [
       { user: "controller", password: "$2a$11$cccccccccccccccccccccc", permissions: {
         publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.CONTROL.controller.>", "$JS.ACK.EVENTS.controller.>", "$JS.API.>", "_INBOX.enrol.>", "mesh.control.>", "mesh.node.>", "mesh.seat.mesh-build-machine.accept.>"] }
@@ -33,7 +32,7 @@ accounts {
         subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.enrol.one.>"] }
       } }
       { user: "node.one", password: "$2a$11$nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn", permissions: {
-        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.NODES.one.>", "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO.NODES.one", "mesh.control.one.>"] }
+        publish: { allow: ["$JS.ACK.NODES.one.>", "mesh.control.one.>"] }
         subscribe: { allow: ["_INBOX.node.one.>", "mesh.node.one.declare"] }
       } }
       { user: "one.telegram", password: "$2a$11$tttttttttttttttttttttt", permissions: {

internal/broker/users_test.go

@@ -186,13 +186,7 @@ func TestWhatTheMeshWritesIsUsersAndNothingAboutTheServer(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	// None of the server's own settings. Each of these in the mesh's file is a value the controller
 	// would then own, and the module could no longer change its own image without the mesh agreeing.
-	// `jetstream {` is the server's block (its store, its limits); `jetstream: enabled` inside the
+	for _, absent := range []string{"port:", "http:", "jetstream", "tls {", "store_dir", "cert_file"} {
-	// account is the account's, and the mesh owns the account — a user in it is told "JetStream
-	// not enabled for account" without it (2026-09-28).
-	if !strings.Contains(got, "jetstream: enabled") {
-		t.Errorf("the account does not enable JetStream, so no user in it can bind a consumer")
-	}
-	for _, absent := range []string{"port:", "http:", "jetstream {", "tls {", "store_dir", "cert_file"} {
 		if strings.Contains(got, absent) {
 			t.Errorf("the accounts file contains %q, which belongs to the module that raises the "+
 				"server, not to the mesh", absent)

internal/catalogue/declaration.go

@@ -103,11 +103,6 @@ type Rendering struct {
 	// **Only the users, never the server's own settings**: those are the module's, in its image and
 	// its mounts (Manifest.BusUsers).
 	BusUsers string
-	// BusMembership is this machine's membership for the bus the mesh is moving to, sealed to it
-	// (design 28, task 5.2). Empty for a machine not being moved. Written as a file the host reads
-	// after the declaration has applied, so the bus it names is standing before the machine leaves
-	// the one it is on.
-	BusMembership string
 
 	// MeshRange is the private network's CIDR (the range node addresses are allocated from), for a
 	// module that must name the whole mesh rather than one machine — an intrusion filter that must
@@ -243,23 +238,9 @@ func (r Resolution) Compose(with Rendering) (Composed, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return Composed{}, err
 	}
-	if with.BusMembership != "" {
-		// The machine's own, not any module's: how it reaches the mesh from now on. Sealed like a
-		// secret and placed where the host looks for exactly this (design 28, task 5.2).
-		resources = append(resources, map[string]any{
-			"id": BusMembershipID(), "type": "file", "path": BusMembershipPath,
-			"sealed": with.BusMembership, "mode": "0600",
-		})
-	}
 	return Composed{Resources: resources, Owner: owner}, nil
 }
 
-// BusMembershipID names the resource carrying a machine's membership for the new bus, and
-// BusMembershipPath is where the host reads it — the same constant on both sides.
-func BusMembershipID() string { return "bus-membership" }
-
-const BusMembershipPath = "/var/lib/mesh/membership-next.json"
-
 func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string) ([]map[string]any, error) {
 	// Every manifest is placed first (novox/hq ADR 0112): the maps naming where its bindings,
 	// credentials and contributions land are resolved against this node's directories, so every

internal/catalogue/holdings_test.go

@@ -114,32 +114,3 @@ func TestCanHoldJudgesClaimScopeAndWhatTheSeatDelivers(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("with the row saying amqp, an amqp provider was refused: %v", err)
 	}
 }
-
-// A machine being moved is handed its membership for the new bus as a sealed file in its own
-// declaration — the machine's, not any module's (design 28, task 5.2).
-func TestAMembershipForTheNewBusIsComposedAsASealedFile(t *testing.T) {
-	r := Resolution{Node: "anchor"}
-	got, err := r.Compose(Rendering{BusMembership: "sealed-blob"})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	var found map[string]any
-	for _, res := range got.Resources {
-		if res["id"] == BusMembershipID() {
-			found = res
-		}
-	}
-	if found == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("no membership resource in %v", got.Resources)
-	}
-	if found["path"] != BusMembershipPath || found["sealed"] != "sealed-blob" || found["mode"] != "0600" {
-		t.Fatalf("the membership is not a sealed 0600 file where the host reads it: %v", found)
-	}
-	// And a machine not being moved is handed nothing.
-	got, _ = r.Compose(Rendering{})
-	for _, res := range got.Resources {
-		if res["id"] == BusMembershipID() {
-			t.Fatal("a machine with no membership on record was handed one")
-		}
-	}
-}

internal/inventory/bususers.go

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

internal/inventory/holdings_test.go

@@ -80,20 +80,3 @@ func TestUnassigningTheHolderTakesTheHoldingWithIt(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("the holding outlived the assignment it pointed at: %+v", held)
 	}
 }
-
-func TestAMachinesMembershipIsOneRowReplacedAndGoesWithTheMachine(t *testing.T) {
-	inv, ctx := twoBrokersOnTwoNodes(t)
-	if err := inv.PutBusMembership(ctx, "anchor", "first"); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if err := inv.PutBusMembership(ctx, "anchor", "second"); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	got, err := inv.BusMemberships(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if got["anchor"] != "second" || len(got) != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("a re-told membership did not replace the first: %v", got)
-	}
-}

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

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

internal/link/bus_nats.go

@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-package link
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"fmt"
-	"time"
-
-	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
-
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
-)
-
-// OverNats is the controller's outbound on the bus being built: the same three acts the other
-// transport has, on the subjects the permissions were derived for (design 25). A declaration is a
-// JetStream publish into NODES, where the node's own consumer waits for it; an event is announced on
-// the subject its name derives to; a tool is asked by request and reply on the module's tool subject.
-type OverNats struct{ JS *broker.JetStream }
-
-// declareSubject is where one node's declaration lands — the NODES stream's subject for it, and the
-// only subject that node's consumer delivers. The host subscribes exactly this.
-func declareSubject(node string) string { return "mesh.node." + node + ".declare" }
-
-func (b OverNats) PublishDeclaration(ctx context.Context, node string, body []byte) error {
-	publish, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 15*time.Second)
-	defer cancel()
-	if _, err := b.JS.Context().Publish(declareSubject(node), body, nats.Context(publish)); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("declaring to %s: %w", node, err)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (b OverNats) PublishEvent(ctx context.Context, key, source, node string, body []byte) error {
-	// The key is the subject: the controller's own events are named in full, and what a module
-	// emits is derived before it reaches here. Headers carry the envelope the other transport put
-	// in message properties (ADR 0042), so a consumer reads who and when without the payload.
-	msg := nats.NewMsg(key)
-	msg.Data = body
-	msg.Header.Set("x-source", source)
-	msg.Header.Set("x-node", node)
-	msg.Header.Set("x-time", time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339Nano))
-	if err := b.JS.Conn().PublishMsg(msg); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("announcing %s: %w", key, err)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (b OverNats) AskTool(ctx context.Context, module, tool string, args []byte, timeout time.Duration) ([]byte, error) {
-	ask, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, timeout)
-	defer cancel()
-	reply, err := b.JS.Conn().RequestWithContext(ask, "mesh.mod."+module+".tool."+tool, args)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("asking %s.%s: %w", module, tool, err)
-	}
-	return reply.Data, nil
-}
-
-// ConnectNats is Connect for the bus being built: the controller's inbound and outbound over one
-// JetStream connection the caller has already raised the streams on. Nothing is declared here —
-// the streams and the controller's consumers are asserted by Raise, before anything is served.
-func ConnectNats(js *broker.JetStream, enroller Enroller, listener Listener) *Server {
-	return &Server{
-		inbound:  Nats(js),
-		bus:      OverNats{JS: js},
-		js:       js,
-		enroller: enroller,
-		listener: listener,
-		log:      newLog(),
-	}
-}
-
-// Bus is the controller's outbound, whichever transport it connected over. Callers that send a
-// declaration or ask a tool use this rather than the channel, which one transport does not have.
-func (s *Server) Bus() Bus { return s.bus }

internal/link/serve.go

@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"time"
@@ -71,7 +70,6 @@ type Server struct {
 	bus     Bus
 	conn    *amqp.Connection
 	channel *amqp.Channel
-	js      *broker.JetStream
 
 	enroller Enroller
 	listener Listener
@@ -182,12 +180,10 @@ func Connect(enroller Enroller, listener Listener) (*Server, error) {
 		channel:  channel,
 		enroller: enroller,
 		listener: listener,
-		log:      newLog(),
+		log:      log.New(os.Stdout, "", log.LstdFlags),
 	}, nil
 }
 
-func newLog() *log.Logger { return log.New(os.Stdout, "", log.LstdFlags) }
-
 // Channel is the controller's channel, for the command line's own publishing.
 func (s *Server) Channel() *amqp.Channel { return s.channel }
 
@@ -201,9 +197,6 @@ func (s *Server) Close() {
 	if s.conn != nil {
 		_ = s.conn.Close()
 	}
-	if s.js != nil {
-		s.js.Close()
-	}
 }
 
 // Serve acts on what arrives until the context ends.

module.json

@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@
     "licences": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/licences",
     "broker": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker",
     "broker-management": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-management",
-    "broker-address": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-address",
+    "broker-address": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-address"
-    "bus": "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/bus"
   },
   "secrets-owner": "65534:65534",
   "resources": [
@@ -47,14 +46,15 @@
         "MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_FILE": "/run/secrets/inventory",
         "MESH_STORE_IDENTITY_FILE": "/run/secrets/identity",
         "MESH_STORE_LICENCES_FILE": "/run/secrets/licences",
+        "MESH_BROKER_AMQP_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker",
         "MESH_BROKER_MANAGEMENT_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker-management",
         "MESH_BROKER_ADDRESS_FILE": "/run/secrets/broker-address",
         "MESH_STORE_INVENTORY_PORT": "${seat:mesh-store:5432}",
         "MESH_STORE_IDENTITY_PORT": "${seat:mesh-store:5432}",
         "MESH_STORE_LICENCES_PORT": "${seat:mesh-store:5432}",
+        "MESH_BROKER_AMQP_PORT": "${seat:mesh-broker:5672}",
         "MESH_BROKER_MANAGEMENT_PORT": "${seat:mesh-broker:15672}",
-        "MESH_BROKER_ADDRESS_PORT": "${seat:mesh-broker:5671}",
+        "MESH_BROKER_ADDRESS_PORT": "${seat:mesh-broker:5671}"
-        "MESH_BUS_NATS_FILE": "/run/secrets/bus"
       },
       "volumes": [
         "/var/lib/mesh-broker-tls:/broker-tls:ro",
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@
         "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/identity:/run/secrets/identity:ro",
         "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/licences:/run/secrets/licences:ro",
         "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker:/run/secrets/broker:ro",
-        "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/bus:/run/secrets/bus:ro",
         "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-management:/run/secrets/broker-management:ro",
         "/var/lib/mesh/mesh-controller/broker-address:/run/secrets/broker-address:ro"
       ],