From 863db82737abd82a3cb754d9db797acf7e3cb78e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jochen <jschoubben@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 02:13:56 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] The controller's last-heard word for a machine comes from
 the watchman's presence in nodes, node, status and the watchdogs (issue 1183,
 AC1, AC2)

---
 cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go       | 120 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go  |  97 +++++++++++++++++++
 cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go            |  22 +----
 cmd/mesh-controller/status.go           |  11 +--
 cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go      |  11 +--
 cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go |   6 +-
 6 files changed, 228 insertions(+), 39 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go
 create mode 100644 cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go

diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c5cb57d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// Last heard (novox/hq ADR 0433 §3, issue 1183): one answer to when the controller last heard a machine, read from the
+// watchman's presence. The alive message that used to keep last_seen fresh is gone; a report, which is rare, is the
+// answer only where presence has no key for the machine.
+
+// presenceReader reads presence.<node>'s entry for each node; a node without an entry is left out.
+type presenceReader func(ctx context.Context, nodes []string) (map[string]presenceEntry, error)
+
+// lastHeard is when a machine was last heard: now when presence says it is online, the entry's time when it says offline
+// (the time it went), and the machine's last report only when presence has no entry for it. Zero is never heard.
+func lastHeard(report time.Time, entry *presenceEntry, now time.Time) time.Time {
+	switch {
+	case entry == nil:
+		return report
+	case entry.Online:
+		return now
+	default:
+		return entry.At
+	}
+}
+
+// nodesHeard returns the nodes with their last-heard time (LastSeen) as lastHeard says it. Unreadable presence is
+// returned as an error with the nodes unchanged, so a caller says it and shows the reports.
+func nodesHeard(ctx context.Context, nodes []inventory.Node, read presenceReader, now time.Time) ([]inventory.Node, error) {
+	names := make([]string, len(nodes))
+	for i, n := range nodes {
+		names[i] = n.Name
+	}
+	entries, err := read(ctx, names)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nodes, fmt.Errorf("what the watchman says of the machines' presence cannot be read: %w", err)
+	}
+	out := make([]inventory.Node, len(nodes))
+	for i, n := range nodes {
+		var entry *presenceEntry
+		if e, ok := entries[n.Name]; ok {
+			entry = &e
+		}
+		n.LastSeen = lastHeard(n.LastSeen, entry, now)
+		out[i] = n
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// heardNodes is every node, read with its last-heard time from the watchman's presence over a connection of its own. A bus
+// that cannot be reached is said on standard error and the reports stand, which reads a machine as quiet rather than well.
+func (h *stores) heardNodes(ctx context.Context) ([]inventory.Node, error) {
+	nodes, err := h.inventory.Nodes(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return h.withPresence(ctx, nodes), nil
+}
+
+// heardNode is one node, read the same way.
+func (h *stores) heardNode(ctx context.Context, name string) (inventory.Node, error) {
+	n, err := h.inventory.NodeByName(ctx, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return n, err
+	}
+	return h.withPresence(ctx, []inventory.Node{n})[0], nil
+}
+
+func (h *stores) withPresence(ctx context.Context, nodes []inventory.Node) []inventory.Node {
+	address, err := broker.BusAddress()
+	var js *broker.JetStream
+	if err == nil {
+		js, err = broker.Dial(address)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "what the watchman says of the machines' presence cannot be read: %v\n", err)
+		return nodes
+	}
+	defer js.Close()
+	read := func(ctx context.Context, names []string) (map[string]presenceEntry, error) {
+		return readPresence(ctx, js.Conn(), names)
+	}
+	heard, err := nodesHeard(ctx, nodes, read, time.Now())
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+	}
+	return heard
+}
+
+// heardFromAt says when a node was last heard from, in a form somebody can act on.
+//
+// "never" and "an hour ago" are different answers and are kept different. A node that has never spoken did not finish
+// joining; a node last heard from an hour ago is running an hour-old picture of the mesh.
+func heardFromAt(n inventory.Node, now time.Time) string {
+	if n.LastSeen.IsZero() {
+		return "never spoken"
+	}
+	if silent := now.Sub(n.LastSeen); silent > SilentFor {
+		return "out of touch " + roughly(silent)
+	}
+	return "here"
+}
+
+// notHeardLately is the nodes never heard from or not within the hour: different from failing, for a machine that says
+// nothing may be new, switched off or unreachable, and none of those is a machine that tried and could not.
+func notHeardLately(nodes []inventory.Node, now time.Time) []inventory.Node {
+	var out []inventory.Node
+	for _, n := range nodes {
+		if n.LastSeen.IsZero() || now.Sub(n.LastSeen) > time.Hour {
+			out = append(out, n)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..187a2b9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// aPresenceFake is the watchman's presence bucket as a reader sees it.
+func aPresenceFake(entries map[string]presenceEntry, err error) presenceReader {
+	return func(_ context.Context, _ []string) (map[string]presenceEntry, error) { return entries, err }
+}
+
+// 1183/AC1: one function says when a machine was last heard: online is now, offline is the entry's time, and only where
+// presence has no key, the last report.
+func TestLastHeardIsPresenceThenTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
+	now := time.Now()
+	report := now.Add(-time.Hour)
+	if got := lastHeard(report, nil, now); !got.Equal(report) {
+		t.Fatalf("no presence key: last heard is %v, want the report %v", got, report)
+	}
+	if got := lastHeard(report, &presenceEntry{Online: true, At: now.Add(-9 * time.Hour)}, now); !got.Equal(now) {
+		t.Fatalf("online: last heard is %v, want now", got)
+	}
+	offlineAt := now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)
+	if got := lastHeard(now.Add(-time.Minute), &presenceEntry{At: offlineAt}, now); !got.Equal(offlineAt) {
+		t.Fatalf("offline: last heard is %v, want the entry's time %v, not a report's", got, offlineAt)
+	}
+	if got := lastHeard(time.Time{}, nil, now); !got.IsZero() {
+		t.Fatalf("never heard and no key: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// The machines facts, the nodes list, node and status all take that one function.
+func TestEveryReaderOfLastHeardTakesPresence(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
+	now := time.Now()
+	m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute), every: time.Minute}
+	applyPresence(&m, nil, &presenceEntry{At: now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)}, now)
+	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)) {
+		t.Fatalf("machine facts take a report over the offline entry: %v", m.lastHeard)
+	}
+}
+
+func twoNodes(now time.Time) []inventory.Node {
+	return []inventory.Node{
+		{Name: "anchor", LastSeen: now.Add(-time.Hour)},
+		{Name: "laptop", LastSeen: now.Add(-30 * time.Second)},
+		{Name: "fresh"},
+	}
+}
+
+// 1183/AC2: a machine online by presence whose last report is an hour old reads here, is not quiet and is not silent; one
+// offline for 4 minutes reads out of touch.
+func TestOnlineByPresenceReadsHereWhateverTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC2
+	now := time.Now()
+	read := aPresenceFake(map[string]presenceEntry{
+		"anchor": {Online: true, At: now.Add(-6 * time.Hour)},
+		"laptop": {Online: false, At: now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)},
+	}, nil)
+	nodes, err := nodesHeard(context.Background(), twoNodes(now), read, now)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(nodes[0], now); got != "here" {
+		t.Errorf("anchor online with an hour-old report reads %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(nodes[1], now); got != "out of touch 4m" {
+		t.Errorf("laptop offline 4 minutes reads %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(nodes[2], now); got != "never spoken" {
+		t.Errorf("a machine with no key and no report reads %q", got)
+	}
+	quiet := notHeardLately(nodes, now)
+	if len(quiet) != 1 || quiet[0].Name != "fresh" {
+		t.Errorf("quiet is %+v: an online machine is not quiet, and a machine offline 4 minutes is not quiet yet", quiet)
+	}
+	f := &machineFacts{name: "anchor", lastHeard: nodes[0].LastSeen, every: time.Minute}
+	if f.silent(now) {
+		t.Errorf("a machine online by presence is silent")
+	}
+}
+
+// Unreadable presence is said, and the report stands as it was.
+func TestUnreadablePresenceLeavesTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
+	now := time.Now()
+	nodes, err := nodesHeard(context.Background(), twoNodes(now), aPresenceFake(nil, errors.New("no bus")), now)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no bus") {
+		t.Fatalf("an unreadable presence is not said: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !nodes[0].LastSeen.Equal(now.Add(-time.Hour)) {
+		t.Fatalf("the report was replaced: %v", nodes[0].LastSeen)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go
index a297e7b3..8d8e19ec 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func nodeCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return addNode(ctx, inv, args[1:])
 
 	case "list":
-		nodes, err := inv.Nodes(ctx)
+		nodes, err := open.heardNodes(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -755,22 +755,8 @@ func consumerReset(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// heardFrom says when a node was last heard from, in a form somebody can act on.
-//
-// "never" and "an hour ago" are different answers and are kept different. A node that has never
-// spoken did not finish joining; a node last heard from an hour ago is running an hour-old
-// picture of the mesh.
-func heardFrom(n inventory.Node) string {
-	silent, ever := n.Silent()
-	switch {
-	case !ever:
-		return "never spoken"
-	case silent > SilentFor:
-		return "out of touch " + roughly(silent)
-	default:
-		return "here"
-	}
-}
+// heardFrom is heardFromAt for now.
+func heardFrom(n inventory.Node) string { return heardFromAt(n, time.Now()) }
 
 // roughly is a duration a person reads rather than parses.
 func roughly(d time.Duration) string {
@@ -795,7 +781,7 @@ func roughly(d time.Duration) string {
 // assignment carries `card1-DP-1`, and a person composing settings for that machine needs it.
 func showNode(ctx context.Context, stored *stores, name string) error {
 	inv := stored.inventory
-	node, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, name)
+	node, err := stored.heardNode(ctx, name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go
index 01cf7f98..2a103cdc 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go
@@ -414,18 +414,11 @@ func theThreeQuestions(ctx context.Context, open *stores) (answers, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return answers{}, err
 	}
-	out.nodes, err = inv.Nodes(ctx)
+	out.nodes, err = open.heardNodes(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return answers{}, err
 	}
-	for _, n := range out.nodes {
-		// Never heard from, or not lately. Different from failing: a machine that says nothing
-		// may be new, switched off, or unreachable, and none of those is a machine that tried
-		// and could not.
-		if n.LastSeen.IsZero() || time.Since(n.LastSeen) > time.Hour {
-			out.quiet = append(out.quiet, n)
-		}
-	}
+	out.quiet = notHeardLately(out.nodes, time.Now())
 	out.behind, err = inv.Behind(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return answers{}, err
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
index e97a02df..bdab8e5b 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ type presenceEntry struct {
 }
 
 // applyPresence sets what the watchman says of a machine: the verdict of its stuck presence key (nil when there is none).
-// A presence entry that says online counts the machine as heard now; otherwise last heard is the later of the store's
-// last_seen and the entry's time (the time it went offline).
+// Last heard is lastHeard's: now when online, the entry's time when offline, the store's last report only without an entry.
 func applyPresence(m *machineFacts, stuck *sdkdelivery.Stuck, entry *presenceEntry, now time.Time) {
 	switch {
 	case stuck == nil:
@@ -54,13 +53,7 @@ func applyPresence(m *machineFacts, stuck *sdkdelivery.Stuck, entry *presenceEnt
 	default:
 		m.presence = presenceSilent
 	}
-	switch {
-	case entry == nil:
-	case entry.Online:
-		m.lastHeard = now
-	case entry.At.After(m.lastHeard):
-		m.lastHeard = entry.At
-	}
+	m.lastHeard = lastHeard(m.lastHeard, entry, now)
 }
 
 // silent says the machine is silent: the watchman's verdict where it gave one, else the heartbeat rule. A machine never
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
index aab335ea..a48305ff 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func TestAStuckPresenceKeyIsTheSilentVerdict(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC2
 	}
 }
 
-// 1156/AC3: with a presence entry that says offline, last heard is the later of last_seen and the entry's time; with none,
+// 1156/AC3: with a presence entry that says offline, last heard is the entry's time (1183/AC1); with none,
 // last_seen. An entry that says online counts as heard now: the watchman writes it only when it changes, so its time is
 // when the machine connected, and a machine online for hours with no stuck key is not silent, whatever last_seen says.
 func TestLastHeardFollowsThePresenceEntry(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC3
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ func TestLastHeardFollowsThePresenceEntry(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC3
 	}
 	m = machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute), every: time.Minute}
 	applyPresence(&m, nil, &presenceEntry{Online: false, At: now.Add(-time.Hour)}, now)
-	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-time.Minute)) {
-		t.Fatalf("an older entry replaced a newer last_seen: %v", m.lastHeard)
+	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-time.Hour)) {
+		t.Fatalf("an offline entry's time is last heard, not a report: %v", m.lastHeard)
 	}
 	for _, lastSeen := range []time.Duration{10 * time.Second, 5 * time.Hour} {
 		m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-lastSeen), every: time.Minute}
-- 
2.54.0


From 19e3eac74658e40c6db4e6311a9bc786c05d8d77 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jochen <jschoubben@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 02:16:21 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] The controller no longer subscribes to the alive message:
 HostBeats, its handler, the heartbeat-gap duration and a fixed silent bound
 (issue 1183, AC3, AC4, AC5)

---
 cmd/mesh-controller/durations.go              |  4 +-
 cmd/mesh-controller/handacts_test.go          |  6 +-
 .../last_heard_integration_test.go            | 82 +++++++++++++++++++
 cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go        | 19 ++++-
 cmd/mesh-controller/signals.go                |  6 +-
 cmd/mesh-controller/signals_test.go           |  2 +-
 cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go            |  2 +-
 .../stuck_probe_integration_test.go           |  2 +-
 cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go       |  8 +-
 cmd/mesh-controller/watchdogs.go              |  7 +-
 internal/catalogue/verbs.go                   |  4 +-
 internal/inventory/durations.go               | 20 +----
 internal/inventory/durations_test.go          | 19 -----
 internal/inventory/heartbeat_gap_gone_test.go | 12 +++
 internal/link/bus.go                          | 10 +--
 internal/link/contracts.go                    |  2 -
 internal/link/contracts_test.go               | 16 +++-
 internal/link/enrolment.go                    |  9 +-
 internal/link/protocol.go                     | 14 ----
 internal/link/receive.go                      |  1 -
 internal/link/receive_nats.go                 | 10 +--
 .../link/receive_nats_integration_test.go     | 25 ++++--
 internal/link/receive_nats_test.go            |  3 -
 internal/link/serve.go                        | 28 +------
 internal/link/stale_report_test.go            | 12 ---
 internal/link/watched.go                      | 11 +--
 26 files changed, 174 insertions(+), 160 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_integration_test.go
 create mode 100644 internal/inventory/heartbeat_gap_gone_test.go

diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/durations.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/durations.go
index bb7e5454..36afadc7 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/durations.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/durations.go
@@ -72,8 +72,6 @@ func summarise(ds []inventory.Duration) []durationSummary {
 		switch k.kind {
 		case inventory.DurationApply:
 			s.Suggests = "S2 bound max(2m, 3×last apply) ≈ " + round(max(2*time.Minute, 3*at(0.9))) + " at the p90"
-		case inventory.DurationHeartbeatGap:
-			s.Suggests = "S1 bound 3×interval ≈ " + round(3*at(0.5))
 		}
 		out = append(out, s)
 	}
@@ -138,7 +136,7 @@ func durationsCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 	if len(summary) == 0 {
-		fmt.Printf("nothing measured in the last %d day(s): the serving controller records apply, heartbeat-gap, "+
+		fmt.Printf("nothing measured in the last %d day(s): the serving controller records apply, "+
 			"plan-tier and build durations as it hears them\n", *days)
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/handacts_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/handacts_test.go
index e51398eb..19d5a4f5 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/handacts_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/handacts_test.go
@@ -77,15 +77,11 @@ func TestDurationsAreSummarisedPerSubject(t *testing.T) {
 		ds = append(ds, inventory.Duration{Kind: inventory.DurationApply, Subject: "anchor",
 			Took: time.Duration(i) * time.Second})
 	}
-	ds = append(ds, inventory.Duration{Kind: inventory.DurationHeartbeatGap, Subject: "anchor", Took: time.Minute})
 	got := summarise(ds)
-	if len(got) != 2 || got[0].Kind != inventory.DurationApply || got[0].Count != 10 ||
+	if len(got) != 1 || got[0].Kind != inventory.DurationApply || got[0].Count != 10 ||
 		got[0].Max != "10s" || got[0].Median != "5s" || got[0].P90 != "9s" {
 		t.Fatalf("%+v", got)
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(got[1].Suggests, "3m0s") {
-		t.Fatalf("a minute between words suggests %q", got[1].Suggests)
-	}
 }
 
 // **A drill has its own verb** — `hand-act drill`, the seat's `drill` — and `hand-act record` refuses
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_integration_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_integration_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a1207e80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_integration_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+//go:build integration
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	sdkdelivery "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/jetstream"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/testbus"
+)
+
+// 1183/AC5: with the watchman's presence bucket holding a node online and no alive message ever sent, the node reads here
+// in `nodes` four minutes later by the controller's clock, however old its last report; and an alive message still sent
+// by a node-engine is published to the same bus without error and changes nothing.
+func TestAnOnlineNodeReadsHereWithNoAliveMessage(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC5
+	js, err := broker.Dial(testbus.URL(t))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(js.Close)
+	if _, err := broker.RaiseBuckets(js, []broker.Bucket{
+		{Module: sdkdelivery.WatchmanModule, Name: "presence", History: sdkdelivery.PresenceHistory},
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	api, err := jetstream.New(js.Conn())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	kv, err := api.KeyValue(ctx, sdkdelivery.PresenceBucket)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	put := func(node string, online bool) {
+		t.Helper()
+		key, err := sdkdelivery.PresenceNodeKey(node)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		body, err := sdkdelivery.EncodePresence(sdkdelivery.Presence{Online: online})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if _, err := kv.Put(ctx, key, body); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	put("ace", true)
+	put("laptop", false)
+	// A node-engine still sending its alive message: harmless.
+	if err := js.Conn().Publish("mesh.control.ace.alive", []byte(`{"node":"ace"}`)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("an alive message could not be published: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := js.Conn().Flush(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	later := time.Now().Add(4 * time.Minute)
+	nodes := []inventory.Node{{Name: "ace", LastSeen: time.Now().Add(-time.Hour)},
+		{Name: "laptop", LastSeen: time.Now().Add(-time.Hour)}}
+	read := func(ctx context.Context, names []string) (map[string]presenceEntry, error) {
+		return readPresence(ctx, js.Conn(), names)
+	}
+	heard, err := nodesHeard(ctx, nodes, read, later)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(heard[0], later); got != "here" {
+		t.Fatalf("a node online by presence reads %q four minutes later", got)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(heard[1], later); got == "here" {
+		t.Fatalf("a node offline by presence reads %q", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go
index 187a2b9f..3b926010 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func TestLastHeardIsPresenceThenTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
 // The machines facts, the nodes list, node and status all take that one function.
 func TestEveryReaderOfLastHeardTakesPresence(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
 	now := time.Now()
-	m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute), every: time.Minute}
+	m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute)}
 	applyPresence(&m, nil, &presenceEntry{At: now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)}, now)
 	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)) {
 		t.Fatalf("machine facts take a report over the offline entry: %v", m.lastHeard)
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func TestOnlineByPresenceReadsHereWhateverTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC2
 	if len(quiet) != 1 || quiet[0].Name != "fresh" {
 		t.Errorf("quiet is %+v: an online machine is not quiet, and a machine offline 4 minutes is not quiet yet", quiet)
 	}
-	f := &machineFacts{name: "anchor", lastHeard: nodes[0].LastSeen, every: time.Minute}
+	f := &machineFacts{name: "anchor", lastHeard: nodes[0].LastSeen}
 	if f.silent(now) {
 		t.Errorf("a machine online by presence is silent")
 	}
@@ -95,3 +95,18 @@ func TestUnreadablePresenceLeavesTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
 		t.Fatalf("the report was replaced: %v", nodes[0].LastSeen)
 	}
 }
+
+// 1183/AC4: where the watchman gives no verdict a machine is silent after a fixed three minutes, whatever interval a
+// node-engine once said.
+func TestTheSilentBoundIsFixed(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC4
+	now := time.Now()
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		ago  time.Duration
+		want bool
+	}{{179 * time.Second, false}, {181 * time.Second, true}} {
+		m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-c.ago)}
+		if got := m.silent(now); got != c.want {
+			t.Errorf("heard %v ago: silent %v, want %v", c.ago, got, c.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/signals.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/signals.go
index 43ac6d41..c311efb4 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/signals.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/signals.go
@@ -318,6 +318,10 @@ func ago(d time.Duration) string {
 	return d.Round(time.Minute).String()
 }
 
+// silentBound is how long a machine may go unheard, where the watchman gives no verdict: three of the intervals nodes have
+// always used, fixed now that no machine says its own (issue 1183).
+const silentBound = heartbeatsMissed * heartbeatEvery
+
 // heartbeatBound is a machine's S1 or S11 bound from the interval it says.
 func heartbeatBound(every time.Duration) time.Duration {
 	if every <= 0 {
@@ -333,7 +337,7 @@ func watchHeartbeats(f *signalFacts) []conditions.Observation {
 			// Never heard is a machine that has not joined, which status says; asleep is not lost.
 			continue
 		}
-		bound := heartbeatBound(m.every)
+		bound := silentBound
 		silent := f.now.Sub(m.lastHeard)
 		if !m.silent(f.now) {
 			continue
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/signals_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/signals_test.go
index efa2ae7e..3fc0561c 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/signals_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/signals_test.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import (
 func calm(now time.Time) *signalFacts {
 	return &signalFacts{now: now, started: now.Add(-time.Hour), host: "anchor", toolsHeardFrom: now.Add(-time.Hour),
 		machines: []machineFacts{{name: "anchor", control: true, lastHeard: now.Add(-10 * time.Second),
-			every: time.Minute, sentAt: now.Add(-time.Hour), reportedCurrent: true, reportedAt: now.Add(-59 * time.Minute),
+			sentAt: now.Add(-time.Hour), reportedCurrent: true, reportedAt: now.Add(-59 * time.Minute),
 			lastApply: 20 * time.Second, tools: true, toolsHeard: now.Add(-10 * time.Second), toolsEvery: time.Minute}},
 		plans: []planFacts{{id: "plan-1", repository: "novox/app", commit: "c0ffee00", tier: 0, tiers: 2,
 			entered: now.Add(-time.Minute), bound: 30 * time.Minute, waiting: "building"}},
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
index bdab8e5b..db373b05 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func (m machineFacts) silent(now time.Time) bool {
 	case presenceHeard:
 		return false
 	}
-	return !m.lastHeard.IsZero() && now.Sub(m.lastHeard) > heartbeatBound(m.every)
+	return !m.lastHeard.IsZero() && now.Sub(m.lastHeard) > silentBound
 }
 
 // stuckObservations are the conditions of what stopped moving: one for each key not moved, in the delivery scope, kind
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_integration_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_integration_test.go
index acf070c8..d29b9add 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_integration_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_integration_test.go
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func TestAStuckKeyWrittenAndThenMovedRaisesAndClearsACondition(t *testing.T) { /
 	if got, err := probeStuck(ctx, d); err != nil || len(got) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("a stuck key written as moved: %+v %v", got, err)
 	}
-	machines = []machineFacts{{name: "ace", lastHeard: time.Now().Add(-time.Hour), every: time.Minute}}
+	machines = []machineFacts{{name: "ace", lastHeard: time.Now().Add(-time.Hour)}}
 	if err := withPresence(ctx, js.Conn(), machines, time.Now()); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
index a48305ff..4b61a713 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func TestEachStuckKeyThatHasNotMovedIsAConditionOfTheDeliveryScope(t *testing.T)
 }
 
 func aMachineHeardAt(now time.Time, ago time.Duration) machineFacts {
-	return machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-ago), every: time.Minute}
+	return machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-ago)}
 }
 
 // 1156/AC2: a node's stuck presence key not moved makes the machine silent, unless it sleeps; moved, it is heard; no
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func TestAStuckPresenceKeyIsTheSilentVerdict(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC2
 func TestLastHeardFollowsThePresenceEntry(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC3
 	now := time.Now()
 	seen := now.Add(-time.Hour)
-	m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: seen, every: time.Minute}
+	m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: seen}
 	applyPresence(&m, nil, nil, now)
 	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(seen) {
 		t.Fatalf("with no presence entry last heard is %v, want last_seen %v", m.lastHeard, seen)
@@ -107,13 +107,13 @@ func TestLastHeardFollowsThePresenceEntry(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC3
 	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(offlineAt) {
 		t.Fatalf("offline since %v: last heard is %v", offlineAt, m.lastHeard)
 	}
-	m = machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute), every: time.Minute}
+	m = machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute)}
 	applyPresence(&m, nil, &presenceEntry{Online: false, At: now.Add(-time.Hour)}, now)
 	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-time.Hour)) {
 		t.Fatalf("an offline entry's time is last heard, not a report: %v", m.lastHeard)
 	}
 	for _, lastSeen := range []time.Duration{10 * time.Second, 5 * time.Hour} {
-		m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-lastSeen), every: time.Minute}
+		m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-lastSeen)}
 		applyPresence(&m, nil, &presenceEntry{Online: true, At: now.Add(-6 * time.Hour)}, now)
 		if m.silent(now) {
 			t.Fatalf("a machine online since hours ago (last_seen %v ago) with no stuck key is silent", lastSeen)
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/watchdogs.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/watchdogs.go
index ce29a2f1..3ec0ff1c 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/watchdogs.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/watchdogs.go
@@ -142,9 +142,7 @@ type machineFacts struct {
 	control bool
 	// lastHeard is the store's last word from it, any word; zero when never.
 	lastHeard time.Time
-	// every is the heartbeat interval it said; zero when it said none.
-	every time.Duration
-	power link.PowerState
+	power     link.PowerState
 	// sentAt is when it was last sent a declaration; reportedCurrent whether it has reported that one.
 	sentAt          time.Time
 	reportedCurrent bool
@@ -457,9 +455,6 @@ func (w *watchdogs) gatherMachines(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory
 	for _, n := range nodes {
 		m := machineFacts{name: n.Name, control: slices.Contains(control, n.Name), lastHeard: n.LastSeen,
 			lastApply: lastApply[n.Name], tools: slices.Contains(tooled, n.Name)}
-		if beat, ok := link.HostBeats.Of(n.Name); ok {
-			m.every = beat.Every
-		}
 		if beat, ok := link.ToolsBeats.Of(n.Name); ok {
 			m.toolsHeard, m.toolsEvery = beat.At, beat.Every
 		}
diff --git a/internal/catalogue/verbs.go b/internal/catalogue/verbs.go
index cd4c2d9c..aa470807 100644
--- a/internal/catalogue/verbs.go
+++ b/internal/catalogue/verbs.go
@@ -450,11 +450,11 @@ var ControllerVerbs = []Verb{
 		"recorded — who, why and the cause of each, and which causes repeat: each repeat is a healer the mesh lacks.",
 		Input: schema(map[string]string{"days": "how many days back (default 14)"}, nil)},
 	{Name: "durations", Description: "How long things take, as the controller measured them: a send to its machine's " +
-		"report (apply), a machine's silence between words (heartbeat-gap), a plan's tier, a build, and each phase of an " +
+		"report (apply), a plan's tier, a build, and each phase of an " +
 		"ended walk per class (walk-phase, novox/hq ADR 0282) — per machine, repository, module or class/phase, with " +
 		"median, p90 and max. What the core's bounds are set from (novox/hq to-be 45 Phase 0).",
 		Input: schema(map[string]string{
-			"kind": "one kind: apply, heartbeat-gap, plan-tier, build or walk-phase; every kind when absent",
+			"kind": "one kind: apply, plan-tier, build or walk-phase; every kind when absent",
 			"days": "how many days back (default 14)",
 		}, nil)},
 	// What is wrong, and the self-check (novox/hq to-be 45 §2, §4).
diff --git a/internal/inventory/durations.go b/internal/inventory/durations.go
index 5be4b96f..5611cef8 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/durations.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/durations.go
@@ -9,10 +9,9 @@ import (
 
 // The kinds of duration recorded.
 const (
-	DurationApply        = "apply"
-	DurationHeartbeatGap = "heartbeat-gap"
-	DurationPlanTier     = "plan-tier"
-	DurationBuild        = "build"
+	DurationApply    = "apply"
+	DurationPlanTier = "plan-tier"
+	DurationBuild    = "build"
 	// DurationWalkPhase is one phase of an ended walk, per class (novox/hq ADR 0282 decision 6): subject
 	// "<class>/<phase>", and "<class>/total" for its merge to every machine running it.
 	DurationWalkPhase = "walk-phase"
@@ -27,7 +26,7 @@ const (
 const ApplyBusy = "busy"
 
 // DurationKinds are every kind, in the order `durations` shows them.
-var DurationKinds = []string{DurationApply, DurationHeartbeatGap, DurationPlanTier, DurationBuild, DurationWalkPhase,
+var DurationKinds = []string{DurationApply, DurationPlanTier, DurationBuild, DurationWalkPhase,
 	DurationBusy}
 
 // DurationsKeptFor is how long a duration is kept: long enough to set a bound from, and to correct it
@@ -94,17 +93,6 @@ func (i *Inventory) RecordBusyDuration(ctx context.Context, node, declared strin
 	return err
 }
 
-// RecordHeartbeatGap measures the silence before a machine's word: from the last word heard before
-// it, which the caller read before recording this one.
-func (i *Inventory) RecordHeartbeatGap(ctx context.Context, node string, before time.Time) error {
-	if before.IsZero() {
-		return nil
-	}
-	now := time.Now()
-	return i.RecordDuration(ctx, Duration{Kind: DurationHeartbeatGap, Subject: node, Node: node,
-		Ref: before.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339Nano), Started: before, Took: now.Sub(before)})
-}
-
 // Durations is every measurement of a kind since a moment, oldest first; every kind when kind is empty.
 func (i *Inventory) Durations(ctx context.Context, kind string, since time.Time) ([]Duration, error) {
 	rows, err := i.store.Pool().Query(ctx,
diff --git a/internal/inventory/durations_test.go b/internal/inventory/durations_test.go
index 356618f5..639866dc 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/durations_test.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/durations_test.go
@@ -44,25 +44,6 @@ func TestAnApplyIsMeasuredOncePerSend(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// A machine's silence is the time since its last word, once per word.
-func TestASilenceIsMeasuredFromTheLastWord(t *testing.T) {
-	inv := ForTest(t)
-	ctx := t.Context()
-	before := time.Now().Add(-90 * time.Second)
-	for range 2 {
-		if err := inv.RecordHeartbeatGap(ctx, "anchor", before); err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-	}
-	if err := inv.RecordHeartbeatGap(ctx, "anchor", time.Time{}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	ds, err := inv.Durations(ctx, DurationHeartbeatGap, time.Now().Add(-time.Hour))
-	if err != nil || len(ds) != 1 || ds[0].Took < 90*time.Second || ds[0].Took > 2*time.Minute {
-		t.Fatalf("%v %+v", err, ds)
-	}
-}
-
 // A plan's tier is measured when the plan leaves it — moving on, or ending — and only then.
 func TestAPlansTierIsMeasuredWhenItIsLeft(t *testing.T) {
 	inv := ForTest(t)
diff --git a/internal/inventory/heartbeat_gap_gone_test.go b/internal/inventory/heartbeat_gap_gone_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1fcce32c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/inventory/heartbeat_gap_gone_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package inventory
+
+import "testing"
+
+// 1183/AC3: the heartbeat-gap duration is no kind the mesh measures.
+func TestNoHeartbeatGapIsMeasured(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC3
+	for _, k := range DurationKinds {
+		if k == "heartbeat-gap" {
+			t.Fatalf("%s is still a kind of duration: %v", k, DurationKinds)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/link/bus.go b/internal/link/bus.go
index fb32ab03..fdb38c23 100644
--- a/internal/link/bus.go
+++ b/internal/link/bus.go
@@ -67,17 +67,12 @@ const (
 	// BuiltSubject is where a build's outcome lands, for results nobody was waiting for.
 	BuiltSubject = "mesh.control.built"
 
-	// AliveSubjects is every node's heartbeat. Core NATS, never a stream: a lost heartbeat is the
-	// next heartbeat, and a stream of them is the mesh's least valuable message competing for
-	// retention with its most valuable (design 25 §3).
-	AliveSubjects = "mesh.control.*.alive"
-
 	// ToolsAliveSubjects is every machine's node tools saying they are there (novox/hq to-be 45 §3,
 	// S11): core NATS like the host's, for the same reason.
 	ToolsAliveSubjects = "mesh.control.*.tools-alive"
 
 	// HealthSubjects is every machine's health statement between its reports (novox/hq ADR 0240): core
-	// NATS like the heartbeat, because a statement lost is said again within a minute while anything is
+	// NATS like the node tools' heartbeat, because a statement lost is said again within a minute while anything is
 	// not healthy, and the next report carries it whatever happens.
 	HealthSubjects = "mesh.control.*.health"
 )
@@ -89,9 +84,6 @@ func HealthSubject(node string) string { return "mesh.control." + node + ".healt
 // message the store-window guarantee is about (ADR 0083).
 func ReportSubject(node string) string { return "mesh.control." + node + ".report" }
 
-// AliveSubject is one node's heartbeat.
-func AliveSubject(node string) string { return "mesh.control." + node + ".alive" }
-
 // ToolsAliveSubject is one machine's node tools' heartbeat.
 func ToolsAliveSubject(node string) string { return "mesh.control." + node + ".tools-alive" }
 
diff --git a/internal/link/contracts.go b/internal/link/contracts.go
index d5b7aff8..3e3f4752 100644
--- a/internal/link/contracts.go
+++ b/internal/link/contracts.go
@@ -32,8 +32,6 @@ var Contracts = map[string]Contract{
 	KindSourceMoved: {Ordered: "by the merge's commit against what was built from it: a merge already acted on " +
 		"or older than the last look is history, not a second plan (issues 250, 266)",
 		Tests: []string{"TestAMergeOlderThanTheLastLookIsHistory", "TestAMergeMatchesTheSourcesBuiltFromIt"}},
-	KindHeartbeat: {Unordered: "a word that the machine is there: the newest heard is the newest said, and one " +
-		"lost is the next one"},
 	KindToolsHeartbeat: {Unordered: "a word that the node tools are there, as a machine's heartbeat"},
 	KindHealth: {Ordered: "by the time the node-engine looked (`at`, on the machine's clock): a statement older " +
 		"than the one kept for that machine is refused, so an event arriving after a newer report does not undo it " +
diff --git a/internal/link/contracts_test.go b/internal/link/contracts_test.go
index 4fde2f1c..b05e2c0c 100644
--- a/internal/link/contracts_test.go
+++ b/internal/link/contracts_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import (
 // exists (novox/hq to-be 45 Phase 2, ADR 0227 rule 2).
 func TestEveryConsumedKindHasAContract(t *testing.T) {
 	// What the controller can be handed, from the subjects it is granted and the ones it derives.
-	subjects := []string{EnrolSubject, BuiltSubject, ReportSubject("anchor"), AliveSubject("anchor"),
+	subjects := []string{EnrolSubject, BuiltSubject, ReportSubject("anchor"),
 		ToolsAliveSubject("anchor"), HealthSubject("anchor"), "mesh.mod.postgres.event.provisioner.failing"}
 	subjects = append(subjects, broker.ControllerFollows...)
 	subjects = append(subjects, broker.ControllerHears...)
@@ -83,3 +83,17 @@ func TestEveryConsumedKindHasAContract(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// 1183/AC3: the controller no longer takes the node-engine's alive message: its subject is no kind, so nothing is
+// subscribed to it and nothing hears it. The tool runner's tools-alive stays.
+func TestTheAliveMessageIsNoKindTheControllerHears(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC3
+	if kind, known := kindOfSubject("mesh.control.anchor.alive"); known {
+		t.Fatalf("the controller still takes the alive message as %s", kind)
+	}
+	if kind, known := kindOfSubject(ToolsAliveSubject("anchor")); !known || kind != KindToolsHeartbeat {
+		t.Fatalf("the tool runner's tools-alive is %q, %v", kind, known)
+	}
+	if _, ok := Contracts["heartbeat"]; ok {
+		t.Fatal("a contract still names the alive message")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/link/enrolment.go b/internal/link/enrolment.go
index f9b6ee84..845d9c01 100644
--- a/internal/link/enrolment.go
+++ b/internal/link/enrolment.go
@@ -384,9 +384,8 @@ func (e Enrolment) Heard(ctx context.Context, report Report) (news bool, err err
 	}
 
 	// A bare word that a node is there is not an account of what the machine did or holds: it
-	// moves last_seen and touches nothing else. This arrives every minute (link.AliveEvery),
-	// while a real report is rare, so recording it as one would overwrite the node's last real
-	// apply with an empty one — wiping the declaration digest that decides whether the node is
+	// moves last_seen and touches nothing else. Recording one as a report would overwrite the
+	// node's last real apply with an empty one — wiping the declaration digest that decides whether the node is
 	// current, the carried ports a push assigns around, and the clean-or-failed outcome — and a
 	// node that had just caught up would read as behind within the minute. The alive path calls
 	// this with only a node name; a real report always carries an account (something applied, or
@@ -394,10 +393,6 @@ func (e Enrolment) Heard(ctx context.Context, report Report) (news bool, err err
 	if report.Applied == nil && report.Refused == "" && len(report.Failed) == 0 {
 		if report.Superseded != "" {
 			log.Printf("%s set aside declaration %s for the newer %s", report.Node, report.Declared, report.Superseded)
-		} else if err := e.Inventory.RecordHeartbeatGap(ctx, report.Node, node.LastSeen); err != nil {
-			// The silence before this word, which the machine-silent bound will be set from (novox/hq
-			// to-be 45 Phase 0). A measurement lost is said and costs the report nothing.
-			log.Printf("the silence before %s's word could not be recorded: %v", report.Node, err)
 		}
 		return false, e.Inventory.Seen(ctx, node.ID)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/link/protocol.go b/internal/link/protocol.go
index 0687ee60..92177745 100644
--- a/internal/link/protocol.go
+++ b/internal/link/protocol.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ const ControlQueue = "control"
 const (
 	KeyEnrol  = "enrol"
 	KeyReport = "report"
-	KeyAlive  = "alive"
 )
 
 // QueueFor is the queue a node consumes from — the only one it may read.
@@ -134,19 +133,6 @@ type Signed struct {
 	Signature   []byte `json:"signature"`
 }
 
-// Alive is a node saying nothing except that it is there.
-//
-// How long a node has been out of touch is a fact only the mesh can hold — nobody else is
-// watching — and without it a node running last month's assignments looks exactly like one that
-// is current.
-type Alive struct {
-	Node string `json:"node"`
-	// IntervalSeconds is how often the node says it is there (novox/hq to-be 45 §3, S1): the
-	// watchdog's bound is three of them. Zero from a host older than that, which is read as the
-	// interval hosts have always used.
-	IntervalSeconds int `json:"interval_seconds,omitempty"`
-}
-
 // ToolsAlive is a machine's node tools saying they are there (novox/hq to-be 45 §3, S11): the
 // runtime every module's tools and every held seat's verbs are served by. Its own word, apart from the
 // host's, because a host heard and a runtime gone is a machine nobody can ask anything.
diff --git a/internal/link/receive.go b/internal/link/receive.go
index 1585dc20..30e053cf 100644
--- a/internal/link/receive.go
+++ b/internal/link/receive.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 const (
 	KindEnrolment = "enrolment"
 	KindReport    = "report"
-	KindHeartbeat = "heartbeat"
 	// KindToolsHeartbeat is a machine's node tools saying they are there (novox/hq to-be 45 S11).
 	KindToolsHeartbeat = "tools-heartbeat"
 	// KindHealth is a machine's statement of its long-running resources' health (novox/hq ADR 0240).
diff --git a/internal/link/receive_nats.go b/internal/link/receive_nats.go
index 26c32238..31d6cc00 100644
--- a/internal/link/receive_nats.go
+++ b/internal/link/receive_nats.go
@@ -114,12 +114,8 @@ func (n *natsInbound) Receive(ctx context.Context, act func(context.Context, Con
 	// Heartbeats, on core NATS and off any stream (design 25 §3). Their own subscription because
 	// they are their own guarantee: a lost one is the next one.
 	beats := make(chan *nats.Msg, Prefetch)
-	alive, err := conn.ChanSubscribe(AliveSubjects, beats)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("subscribing to heartbeats: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer func() { _ = alive.Unsubscribe() }()
-	// And each machine's node tools, on the same channel: as cheap, and lost the same way.
+	// Each machine's node tools, as cheap and lost the same way. The node-engine's alive message is not subscribed to: a
+	// machine's last word is the watchman's presence (novox/hq ADR 0433 §3, issue 1183).
 	toolsAlive, err := conn.ChanSubscribe(ToolsAliveSubjects, beats)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("subscribing to the node tools' heartbeats: %w", err)
@@ -283,8 +279,6 @@ func kindOfSubject(subject string) (string, bool) {
 		switch rest {
 		case "report":
 			return KindReport, true
-		case "alive":
-			return KindHeartbeat, true
 		case "tools-alive":
 			return KindToolsHeartbeat, true
 		case "health":
diff --git a/internal/link/receive_nats_integration_test.go b/internal/link/receive_nats_integration_test.go
index 7806ef70..59c89e1d 100644
--- a/internal/link/receive_nats_integration_test.go
+++ b/internal/link/receive_nats_integration_test.go
@@ -157,24 +157,31 @@ func TestNatsAnEnrolmentIsAnsweredOnTheAddressInItsPayload(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestNatsAHeartbeatIsHeardAndNothingIsKept(t *testing.T) {
+// 1183/AC3, AC5: a node-engine still sending its alive message is harmless: it errors nothing, nothing is recorded and
+// nothing is persisted; the tool runner's tools-alive is still heard.
+func TestNatsAnAliveMessageIsHarmlessAndToolsAliveIsStillHeard(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC3
 	js := aBus(t)
 	store := &counted{}
 	_, stop := servingOn(t, js, store)
 	defer stop()
 
-	// Given time to subscribe: a core subscription that is not yet up misses what is published,
-	// which is the guarantee a heartbeat has and not a fault.
-	eventually(t, "the heartbeat subscription coming up", func() bool {
-		body, _ := json.Marshal(Alive{Node: "anchor"})
-		_ = js.Conn().Publish(AliveSubject("anchor"), body)
+	// Given time to subscribe: a core subscription that is not yet up misses what is published.
+	eventually(t, "the tools-alive subscription coming up", func() bool {
+		if err := js.Conn().Publish("mesh.control.anchor.alive", []byte(`{"node":"anchor"}`)); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("an alive message could not be published: %v", err)
+		}
+		body, _ := json.Marshal(ToolsAlive{Node: "anchor"})
+		_ = js.Conn().Publish(ToolsAliveSubject("anchor"), body)
 		_ = js.Conn().Flush()
-		return store.count() >= 1
+		_, heard := ToolsBeats.Of("anchor")
+		return heard
 	})
+	if n := store.count(); n != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("an alive message was recorded %d time(s)", n)
+	}
 	info, err := js.Context().StreamInfo("CONTROL")
 	if err != nil || info.State.Msgs != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("a heartbeat was persisted, and the mesh's least valuable message now competes "+
-			"for retention with its most valuable: %+v, %v", info, err)
+		t.Fatalf("an alive message was persisted: %+v, %v", info, err)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/link/receive_nats_test.go b/internal/link/receive_nats_test.go
index 382bceac..0f7d9ce3 100644
--- a/internal/link/receive_nats_test.go
+++ b/internal/link/receive_nats_test.go
@@ -125,9 +125,6 @@ type enrolsAs struct{ reply EnrolReply }
 
 func (e enrolsAs) Enrol(context.Context, EnrolRequest) (EnrolReply, error) { return e.reply, nil }
 
-// A heartbeat is core NATS: it reaches the controller and nothing is persisted, so the stream the
-// reports live in stays empty.
-
 // The two events the controller follows arrive over one durable consumer with two filters, and it
 // can acknowledge them.
 //
diff --git a/internal/link/serve.go b/internal/link/serve.go
index 819b5648..3eaabcfe 100644
--- a/internal/link/serve.go
+++ b/internal/link/serve.go
@@ -205,8 +205,8 @@ func (s *Server) Close() {
 
 // Serve acts on what arrives until the context ends.
 func (s *Server) Serve(ctx context.Context) error {
-	s.log.Printf("consuming what nodes say: %s, %s, %s, %s",
-		KindEnrolment, KindReport, KindHeartbeat, KindBuilt)
+	s.log.Printf("consuming what nodes say: %s, %s, %s",
+		KindEnrolment, KindReport, KindBuilt)
 	if s.upgrader != nil {
 		s.log.Printf("following %s", KindModuleMoved)
 	}
@@ -226,8 +226,6 @@ func (s *Server) act(ctx context.Context, m Control) {
 		s.enrolling(ctx, m)
 	case KindReport:
 		s.reported(ctx, m)
-	case KindHeartbeat:
-		s.heartbeat(m)
 	case KindToolsHeartbeat:
 		s.toolsHeartbeat(m)
 	case KindHealth:
@@ -324,28 +322,6 @@ func (s *Server) outstanding(ctx context.Context, node string) string {
 	return digest
 }
 
-// heartbeat records that a node was heard from, and nothing else.
-//
-// Deliberately silent: a node saying it is there every minute would fill the log with the ordinary
-// case, and a log where the ordinary case is loud is a log nobody reads. Not held for the store
-// either — the next heartbeat is a minute away, and a heartbeat kept for two minutes to be written
-// late says nothing the one after it will not say better.
-func (s *Server) heartbeat(m Control) {
-	var alive Alive
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(m.Body(), &alive); err != nil || alive.Node == "" {
-		_ = m.Drop()
-		return
-	}
-	// The interval it says, for the watchdog's bound (novox/hq to-be 45 S1).
-	HostBeats.Heard(alive.Node, time.Now(), time.Duration(alive.IntervalSeconds)*time.Second, "")
-	if s.listener != nil {
-		if _, err := s.listener.Heard(context.Background(), Report{Node: alive.Node}); err != nil {
-			s.log.Printf("could not record that %s is here: %v", alive.Node, err)
-		}
-	}
-	_ = m.Took()
-}
-
 // toolsHeartbeat records that a machine's node tools were heard from (novox/hq to-be 45 S11), and
 // nothing else: in this process's memory, for the watchdog — the next one is a minute away.
 func (s *Server) toolsHeartbeat(m Control) {
diff --git a/internal/link/stale_report_test.go b/internal/link/stale_report_test.go
index dcf69fb3..cf9f303b 100644
--- a/internal/link/stale_report_test.go
+++ b/internal/link/stale_report_test.go
@@ -121,15 +121,3 @@ func TestAReportCarryingWhatOnlyTheNodeKnowsIsActedOnHoweverOldItIs(t *testing.T
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// A heartbeat is not held for the store: the next one is a minute away, and one kept for two
-// minutes to be written late says nothing the one after it will not say better.
-func TestAHeartbeatIsNotHeldForTheStore(t *testing.T) {
-	s, in := serving()
-	s.listener = heardWith{err: errors.Join(ErrTryAgain, errors.New("starting up"))}
-	to := &settled{}
-	s.act(context.Background(), in.sends(t, to, KindHeartbeat, Alive{Node: "anchor"}))
-	if !to.acked || len(in.held) != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("a heartbeat was held for the store: %+v, %d held", *to, len(in.held))
-	}
-}
diff --git a/internal/link/watched.go b/internal/link/watched.go
index f21206bb..38bb8e5c 100644
--- a/internal/link/watched.go
+++ b/internal/link/watched.go
@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ import (
 //
 // **In memory, on purpose.** A heartbeat is the least valuable message the mesh sends — the next one
 // is a minute away — and what a watchdog needs of it is the newest moment and the interval it said.
-// A machine's last word is kept in the store as well (`last_seen`), which is what S1 reads; these are
-// what the store does not keep: the interval, the node tools' word, and when the event loop last took
+// What the store does not keep: the node tools' word and its interval, and when the event loop last took
 // a message.
 
 // Beat is one emitter's newest heartbeat.
@@ -43,11 +42,9 @@ type Beats struct {
 // NewBeats is an empty record, started now.
 func NewBeats() *Beats { return &Beats{started: time.Now(), heard: map[string]Beat{}} }
 
-// HostBeats are the node-engines' heartbeats (S1); ToolsBeats the node tools' (S11).
-var (
-	HostBeats  = NewBeats()
-	ToolsBeats = NewBeats()
-)
+// ToolsBeats are the node tools' heartbeats (S11). The node-engine's alive message is not heard: a machine's last word is
+// the watchman's presence (novox/hq ADR 0433 §3).
+var ToolsBeats = NewBeats()
 
 // Heard records one heartbeat.
 func (b *Beats) Heard(node string, at time.Time, every time.Duration, version string) {
-- 
2.54.0