package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"errors"
	"fmt"
	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/micro"
	"io"
	"os"
	"os/exec"
	"slices"
	"sort"
	"strings"

	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
)

// The mesh's own verbs, served as the mesh-controller seat's tools (novox/hq ADR 0154, design 33).
//
// **Each tool runs the command it names, in this same binary, and answers what it printed.** That is
// ADR 0035 taken literally: the logic lives once, in the command, and a surface is an adapter with no
// decisions in it. Running a fresh process rather than calling the function keeps two things true
// that calling it would not — every command opens and closes its own stores the way it does from a
// shell, and nothing a command prints to the process's standard output can leak into another call's
// answer. It also means a refusal is the same refusal in the same words, because it is the same
// output.

// verbKey carries the verb a call is for, to the process it runs.
type verbKey struct{}

// verbAnswer is what a verb answers: what the command printed, whether it succeeded, and — where the
// command speaks JSON — the same as data.
type verbAnswer struct {
	Output string `json:"output"`
	OK     bool   `json:"ok"`
	Answer any    `json:"answer,omitempty"`
}

// argvFor is the command line a verb and its arguments become. Only the verbs the seat declares, and
// only the arguments each declares: a caller cannot reach a flag the schema did not name.
//
// **Nothing a caller sends is passed over** (novox/hq issue 244). An argument the verb does not
// declare is refused, naming it; a switch that is not "true" or "false" is refused; and an argument
// the verb declares but did not use for the command line it composed — given beside another that
// wins, or half of a shape — is refused too. On 2026-10-05 a push naming one machine reached the
// verb without the machine and ran as a push of every machine behind; a verb that answers "I did
// not take that" would have stopped it before anything was sent.
func argvFor(verb string, args map[string]any) ([]string, error) {
	a, err := readArguments(verb, args)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	argv, err := a.commandLine()
	if err == nil {
		err = terminalOnly(argv)
	}
	if len(a.misread) > 0 {
		// The table and the command line disagree: the verb reads an argument no caller can see
		// in its schema, so no caller could ever pass it.
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s reads %s, which its schema does not declare — this build's verb "+
			"table and its command lines disagree", verb, quoteAll(a.misread))
	}
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	if unused := a.unused(); len(unused) > 0 {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s did not use %s together with %s, and an argument a verb would pass over "+
			"is refused: nothing was done", verb, quoteAll(unused), quoteAll(a.usedGiven()))
	}
	return argv, nil
}

// verbArguments are one call's arguments, checked against the verb's schema, and which of them the
// command line was composed from.
type verbArguments struct {
	verb     string
	given    map[string]string
	used     map[string]bool
	declared map[string]bool
	misread  []string // arguments the command line read that the schema does not declare: a bug here
}

// controllerVerb is this binary's own definition of a verb: what it runs is what it declares, so the
// arguments are checked against the table compiled beside argvFor, not a row a newer or older build
// wrote.
func controllerVerb(name string) (catalogue.Verb, bool) {
	for _, v := range catalogue.ControllerVerbs {
		if v.Name == name {
			return v, true
		}
	}
	return catalogue.Verb{}, false
}

// declaredArguments are a schema's properties, and which of them are switches.
func declaredArguments(v catalogue.Verb) (names []string, switches map[string]bool) {
	switches = map[string]bool{}
	props, _ := v.Input["properties"].(map[string]any)
	for name, p := range props {
		names = append(names, name)
		desc, _ := p.(map[string]any)
		switch enum := desc["enum"].(type) {
		case []string:
			switches[name] = len(enum) == 2 && enum[0] == "true" && enum[1] == "false"
		case []any:
			switches[name] = len(enum) == 2 && enum[0] == "true" && enum[1] == "false"
		}
	}
	sort.Strings(names)
	return names, switches
}

// isList says a verb's argument is declared a list of text (catalogue's listed): given as a JSON array, it is
// read as its items joined by commas, as the same argument given as one text would be.
func isList(v catalogue.Verb, name string) bool {
	props, _ := v.Input["properties"].(map[string]any)
	p, _ := props[name].(map[string]any)
	return p != nil && p["type"] == "array"
}

// readArguments refuses what the verb does not take, before anything is composed.
func readArguments(verb string, args map[string]any) (*verbArguments, error) {
	v, known := controllerVerb(verb)
	if !known {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a verb the %s seat serves", verb, catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
	}
	names, switches := declaredArguments(v)
	declared := map[string]bool{}
	for _, n := range names {
		declared[n] = true
	}
	takes := "none"
	if len(names) > 0 {
		takes = quoteAll(names)
	}
	a := &verbArguments{verb: verb, given: map[string]string{}, used: map[string]bool{}, declared: declared}
	keys := make([]string, 0, len(args))
	for k := range args {
		keys = append(keys, k)
	}
	sort.Strings(keys)
	for _, k := range keys {
		if !declared[k] {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s takes no argument %q — it takes %s; nothing was done", verb, k, takes)
		}
		var value string
		switch x := args[k].(type) {
		case nil:
			continue
		case string:
			value = strings.TrimSpace(x)
		case bool:
			if !switches[k] {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is text, not true or false", verb, k)
			}
			value = fmt.Sprint(x)
		case []any:
			if !isList(v, k) {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is text, and was given a list", verb, k)
			}
			items := make([]string, 0, len(x))
			for _, item := range x {
				text, ok := item.(string)
				if !ok || strings.TrimSpace(text) == "" || strings.Contains(text, ",") {
					return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is a list of names, and holds %v", verb, k, item)
				}
				items = append(items, strings.TrimSpace(text))
			}
			value = strings.Join(items, ",")
		default:
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is text, and was given %T", verb, k, x)
		}
		if switches[k] {
			switch value {
			case "true":
			case "false", "":
				continue // said and off: the same as not given, and nothing passed over
			default:
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is \"true\" or \"false\", not %q", verb, k, value)
			}
		}
		if value != "" {
			a.given[k] = value
		}
	}
	return a, nil
}

// str is one argument's value, marked as used.
func (a *verbArguments) str(key string) string {
	if !a.declared[key] {
		a.misread = append(a.misread, key)
	}
	a.used[key] = true
	return a.given[key]
}

// on is a switch, marked as used.
func (a *verbArguments) on(key string) bool { return a.str(key) == "true" }

// need refuses a call missing a required argument, in the verb's own words.
func (a *verbArguments) need(keys ...string) error {
	for _, k := range keys {
		if a.str(k) == "" {
			return fmt.Errorf("%s needs %q", a.verb, k)
		}
	}
	return nil
}

// unused are the arguments given that the command line was not composed from.
func (a *verbArguments) unused() []string {
	var out []string
	for k := range a.given {
		if !a.used[k] {
			out = append(out, k)
		}
	}
	sort.Strings(out)
	return out
}

func (a *verbArguments) usedGiven() []string {
	var out []string
	for k := range a.given {
		if a.used[k] {
			out = append(out, k)
		}
	}
	sort.Strings(out)
	if len(out) == 0 {
		return []string{"nothing"}
	}
	return out
}

func quoteAll(xs []string) string {
	q := make([]string, len(xs))
	for i, x := range xs {
		if x == "nothing" {
			q[i] = x
			continue
		}
		q[i] = fmt.Sprintf("%q", x)
	}
	return strings.Join(q, ", ")
}

// refusedAsTheGenericCommand is what the generic `command` verb refuses of a command line, and so what every
// line asked through a verb's route refuses: the `command` verb's, and an ordinary line from mesh-cli (novox/hq ADR
// 0272 §4). One function, so the two routes cannot drift apart.
func refusedAsTheGenericCommand(argv []string) error {
	if len(argv) == 0 {
		return errors.New("command names no command")
	}
	// A layer is written through the settings verb, never the generic one (novox/hq issue 339): the
	// settings verb is where what a verb may not set is refused, and one route is one set of words.
	// The command refuses places and accesses through any verb as well; this says so before it runs.
	if argv[0] == "settings" && slices.ContainsFunc(argv[1:], func(w string) bool { return w == "set" || w == "clear" }) {
		return &heldAtTheTerminal{msg: "settings are set and cleared through the settings verb, not the " +
			"generic command; and places and accesses only at the controller's terminal (novox/hq issue 339). " +
			"Nothing was done"}
	}
	// The generic verb only reads (novox/hq ADR 0266): what writes has a named verb that composes its own
	// line, or is the operator's at the controller's terminal.
	if err := commandReads(argv); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	// The generic verb is no way round the hand-act log (novox/hq to-be 45 §7): a repair through
	// it says why, as it would through its own verb.
	if repair := repairingCommand(argv); repair != "" && !slices.ContainsFunc(argv, isWhyFlag) {
		return fmt.Errorf("%s is a repair done by hand, and says why: add --why <text> to the command "+
			"line (recorded in the hand-act log). Nothing was done", repair)
	}
	return nil
}

// commandLine composes the command. Every argument it reads is one it uses: a branch that reads an
// argument and then drops it would pass it over, which is what the check after it exists to refuse.
func (a *verbArguments) commandLine() ([]string, error) {
	verb, str, on, need := a.verb, a.str, a.on, a.need
	switch verb {
	case "command":
		// The generic verb: the command line as given, split as a shell would split it, with
		// nothing added — the named verbs add flags a caller cannot reach; this one is the whole
		// binary and says so in its description (novox/hq ADR 0154, 0175).
		if err := need("command"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv, err := splitCommandLine(str("command"))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		if err := refusedAsTheGenericCommand(argv); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "tools":
		return nil, errors.New("tools is answered from the records, not by a command")
	case "dead-letters":
		return nil, errors.New("dead-letters is answered by the serving controller, on its own connection, not by a command")
	case "root-free":
		return nil, errors.New("root-free is judged by the serving controller, on its own connection, not by a command")
	case "status":
		return []string{"status", "--json"}, nil
	case "nodes":
		return []string{"node", "list", "--json"}, nil
	case "node":
		if err := need("node"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"node", "show", str("node")}, nil
	case "modules":
		return []string{"module", "list", "--json"}, nil
	case "seats":
		return []string{"seats", "--json"}, nil
	case "builds":
		if id := str("log"); id != "" {
			return []string{"builds", "--log", id}, nil
		}
		argv := []string{"builds"}
		if n := str("limit"); n != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "-n", n)
		}
		if m := str("module"); m != "" {
			argv = append(argv, m)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "plans":
		if r := str("repository"); r != "" {
			argv := []string{"plans", "--what-if", r}
			if p := str("paths"); p != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--paths", p)
			}
			if m := str("modules"); m != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--modules", m)
			}
			if d := str("module-dirs"); d != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--module-dirs", d)
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		for _, act := range []string{"stop", "close", "retry", "go"} {
			if id := str(act); id != "" {
				argv := []string{"plans", act, id}
				if act == "retry" {
					return argv, nil
				}
				// Ending a plan by hand says why (novox/hq to-be 45 §7); the command refuses it without.
				if w := str("why"); w != "" {
					argv = append(argv, "--why", w)
				}
				if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
					argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
				}
				return argv, nil
			}
		}
		if id := str("id"); id != "" {
			return []string{"plans", id}, nil
		}
		argv := []string{"plans"}
		if n := str("limit"); n != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "-n", n)
		}
		return argv, nil
	// The delivery's owner's verbs (novox/hq ADR 0239).
	case "delivery-plan":
		if err := need("repository", "paths"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv := []string{"delivery", "plan", "--repository", str("repository"), "--paths", str("paths")}
		for _, flag := range []string{"head", "base", "module-dirs", "removed"} {
			if v := str(flag); v != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--"+flag, v)
			}
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "delivery-order":
		if err := need("members"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"delivery", "order", "--members", str("members")}, nil
	case "delivery-check":
		if err := need("members"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		if g := str("group"); g != "" {
			return []string{"delivery", "check", "--group", g, "--members", str("members")}, nil
		}
		return []string{"delivery", "check", "--members", str("members")}, nil
	case "deliver":
		if err := need("plan"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv := []string{"delivery", "go", str("plan"), "--by", catalogue.DeliverySeat}
		if w := str("why"); w != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--why", w)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "delivery-stop":
		if err := need("plan", "why"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv := []string{"delivery", "stop", str("plan"), "--why", str("why")}
		if b := str("by"); b != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--by", catalogue.DeliverySeat+" for "+b)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "delivery-walks":
		argv := []string{"delivery", "walks"}
		if id := str("plan"); id != "" {
			return append(argv, "--plan", id), nil
		}
		if n := str("limit"); n != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "-n", n)
		}
		return argv, nil
	// The build queue (novox/hq ADR 0219).
	case "queue":
		return []string{"queue"}, nil
	case "cancel", "kill":
		if err := need("id"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{verb, str("id")}, nil
	case "clear":
		if on("dead") {
			return []string{"clear", "--dead"}, nil
		}
		return []string{"clear"}, nil
	case "rebuild":
		if err := need("what"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"rebuild", str("what")}, nil
	case "replay":
		if err := need("id"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv := []string{"replay", str("id")}
		if on("register") {
			argv = append(argv, "--register")
		}
		if on("older") {
			argv = append(argv, "--older")
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "pause", "resume":
		if n := str("node"); n != "" {
			return []string{verb, n}, nil
		}
		return []string{verb}, nil
	case "plan":
		if err := need("node"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		if on("files") {
			return []string{"plan", str("node"), "--files"}, nil
		}
		// What a push would change there (novox/hq ADR 0217); diff with files is passed over, and so refused.
		if on("diff") {
			return []string{"plan", str("node"), "--diff"}, nil
		}
		return []string{"plan", str("node"), "--json"}, nil
	case "assign", "unassign":
		if err := need("node", "module"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		// Several modules comma-separated, judged as one act (novox/hq ADR 0207): the holders of
		// the seats that apply resources depend on each other and go on together.
		argv := append([]string{verb, str("node")}, splitModules(str("module"))...)
		// A module known and not built: its build asked for, the assignment pending on it (novox/hq
		// issue 325). unassign declares no build, so a call giving it is refused before this.
		if verb == "assign" && on("build") {
			argv = append(argv, "--build")
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "pin":
		if err := need("node", "provision", "from", "module"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"pin", str("node"), str("provision"), str("from"), str("module")}, nil
	case "unpin":
		if err := need("node", "provision"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"unpin", str("node"), str("provision")}, nil
	case "push":
		// Sent and not waited for: the asker reads `status` for what the machine did, which is
		// what a person at a shell does too. A tool call that blocked for a push's whole apply would
		// time out on every machine that takes a minute, and say nothing about the ones that did not.
		// A push through the seat is a push by hand, and says why (novox/hq to-be 45 §7).
		if err := need("why"); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: a push by hand is a repair, recorded in the hand-act log with why", err)
		}
		why := []string{"--why", str("why")}
		if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
			why = append(why, "--cause", c)
		}
		if n := str("node"); n != "" {
			// behind is not read here: given with a machine, it is refused as passed over — naming
			// a machine and asking for every machine behind are two requests, and guessing one
			// would push a machine nobody named, or not push one somebody did.
			argv := []string{"push", n, "--wait", "0"}
			// A running module's data moving is sent only when said, per module (novox/hq ADR 0217).
			if m := str("move"); m != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--move", m)
			}
			return append(argv, why...), nil
		}
		// No machine: the whole mesh, whether or not behind said so. The command's answer says it
		// first, so a caller who meant one machine reads that it was not one. move is not read: a
		// machine whose data would move is held and named, and sent by a push that names it.
		on("behind")
		return append([]string{"push", "--behind", "--wait", "0"}, why...), nil
	case "hand-act":
		if err := need("what", "why", "cause"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv := []string{"hand-act", "record", str("what"), "--why", str("why"), "--cause", str("cause")}
		if c := str("condition"); c != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--condition", c)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "drill":
		if err := need("what", "why"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv := []string{"hand-act", "drill", str("what"), "--why", str("why")}
		if c := str("condition"); c != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--condition", c)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "hand-acts":
		argv := []string{"hand-acts", "--json"}
		if d := str("days"); d != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--days", d)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "healers":
		argv := []string{"healers", "--json"}
		if d := str("days"); d != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--days", d)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "durations":
		argv := []string{"durations", "--json"}
		if k := str("kind"); k != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--kind", k)
		}
		if d := str("days"); d != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--days", d)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "conditions":
		// One verb, four shapes, as `plans` (novox/hq to-be 45 §2): a silence, one condition, the
		// history, or the open ones filtered.
		if key := str("silence"); key != "" {
			if err := need("for", "why"); err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
			argv := []string{"conditions", "silence", key, "--for", str("for"), "--why", str("why")}
			if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		if on("history") {
			argv := []string{"conditions", "history", "--json"}
			if d := str("days"); d != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--days", d)
			}
			if k := str("key"); k != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--key", k)
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		if k := str("key"); k != "" {
			return []string{"conditions", "show", k, "--json"}, nil
		}
		argv := []string{"conditions", "--json"}
		for _, filter := range []string{"scope", "severity", "machine"} {
			if v := str(filter); v != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--"+filter, v)
			}
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "retire":
		answer := str("answer")
		if answer == "" {
			return []string{"retire", "--json"}, nil
		}
		if answer != "approve" && answer != "reject" {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("retire answers approve or reject, not %q", answer)
		}
		if err := need("node", "module", "why"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		argv := []string{"retire", answer, str("node"), str("module"), "--why", str("why")}
		if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "cleanup":
		consumer, older := str("consumer"), str("older-than")
		switch {
		case consumer != "" && older != "":
			return nil, errors.New("cleanup deletes one consumer or those older than some days, not both")
		case consumer != "":
			if err := need("node", "module", "why"); err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
			argv := []string{"cleanup", "delete", str("node"), str("module"), consumer, "--why", str("why")}
			if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
			}
			return argv, nil
		case older != "":
			if err := need("why"); err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
			argv := []string{"cleanup", "delete", "--older-than", older, "--why", str("why")}
			if on("confirm") {
				argv = append(argv, "--confirm")
			}
			if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		return []string{"cleanup", "list", "--json"}, nil
	// novox/hq ADR 0251.
	case "artifacts":
		argv := []string{"artifacts", "--json"}
		if r := str("repository"); r != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--repository", r)
		}
		if on("collected") {
			argv = append(argv, "--collected")
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "collect":
		argv := []string{"collect", "--json"}
		if m := str("most"); m != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--most", m)
		}
		why := str("why")
		if !on("confirm") {
			if why != "" {
				return nil, errors.New("collect takes why only with confirm: without confirm it is a dry run, " +
					"and a reason for nothing would be recorded nowhere. Nothing was done")
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		if err := need("why"); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: letting go of artifacts is a hand act, which says why. Nothing was done", err)
		}
		return append(argv, "--confirm", "--why", why), nil
	case "images":
		if err := need("node"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"images", str("node"), "--json"}, nil
	case "mirrors":
		// novox/hq ADR 0257.
		argv := []string{"mirrors", "--json"}
		record := str("record")
		why := str("why")
		if record == "" {
			if on("confirm") || why != "" {
				return nil, errors.New("mirrors takes confirm and why only with record: there is nothing " +
					"else it records. Nothing was done")
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		argv = append(argv, "--record", record)
		if !on("confirm") {
			if why != "" {
				return nil, errors.New("mirrors takes why only with confirm: without confirm it is a dry run, " +
					"and a reason for nothing would be recorded nowhere. Nothing was done")
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		if err := need("why"); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: recording a copy as the mesh's is a hand act, which says why. Nothing was done", err)
		}
		return append(argv, "--confirm", "--why", why), nil
	case "data":
		argv := []string{"data", "--json"}
		if m := str("machine"); m != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--machine", m)
		}
		if on("retired") {
			argv = append(argv, "--retired")
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "upgrade":
		if on("backlog") {
			return []string{"upgrade", "backlog"}, nil
		}
		if on("release-backlog") {
			argv := []string{"upgrade", "release-backlog", "--why", str("why")}
			if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		m, policy := str("module"), str("policy")
		if m == "" {
			if policy != "" {
				return nil, errors.New("upgrade takes a policy only for a module")
			}
			return []string{"upgrade"}, nil
		}
		argv := []string{"upgrade", m}
		if policy != "" {
			argv = append(argv, policy)
			if on("together") {
				argv = append(argv, "--together")
			}
			if w := str("why"); w != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--why", w)
			}
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "bus":
		if !on("upgrade") {
			return []string{"bus"}, nil
		}
		argv := []string{"bus", "upgrade", "--why", str("why")}
		if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
		}
		if on("reversible") {
			argv = append(argv, "--reversible")
		}
		if on("irreversible") {
			argv = append(argv, "--irreversible")
		}
		if w := str("snapshot-taken"); w != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--snapshot-taken", w)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "doctor":
		which := 0
		argv := []string{"doctor"}
		for _, sub := range []string{"run", "probes", "signals"} {
			if on(sub) {
				which++
				argv = append(argv, sub)
			}
		}
		if which > 1 {
			return nil, errors.New("doctor answers one of run, probes or signals at a time")
		}
		if p := str("probe"); p != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--probe", p)
		}
		return append(argv, "--json"), nil
	case "give":
		if err := need("node", "module", "secret", "at"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"secret", "accept", str("node"), str("module"), str("secret"), "--at-desk", str("at")}, nil
	case "rotate":
		if p := str("provision"); p != "" {
			argv := []string{"rotate", p}
			if c := str("consumer"); c != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--consumer", c)
			}
			// With a provision, module narrows to one consuming module (novox/hq issue 268); node
			// and secret stay the other shape's, and are refused as passed over.
			if m := str("module"); m != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--module", m)
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		_, node := a.given["node"]
		_, module := a.given["module"]
		_, secret := a.given["secret"]
		if node || module || secret {
			if err := need("node", "module", "secret"); err != nil {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: a module's own secret is named by node, module and secret together", err)
			}
			argv := []string{"secret", "rotate", str("node"), str("module"), str("secret")}
			// Why, recorded in the hand-act log (novox/hq ADR 0228); a cause only beside a why.
			if w := str("why"); w != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--why", w)
				if c := str("cause"); c != "" {
					argv = append(argv, "--cause", c)
				}
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		// Neither shape: the command says its usage, which names both, and that is the answer the
		// caller needs.
		return []string{"rotate"}, nil
	case "token":
		// `token issue` at a shell (novox/hq ADR 0169). Exactly one of node or new; the command
		// refuses both or neither in its own words.
		argv := []string{"token", "issue"}
		if n := str("node"); n != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--node", n)
		}
		if n := str("new"); n != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--new", n)
		}
		if k := str("overlay_key"); k != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--overlay-key", k)
		}
		if d := str("for"); d != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--for", d)
		}
		if str("adopted") == "true" {
			argv = append(argv, "--adopted")
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "settings":
		// Every module's preferences, their defaults and each machine's value (novox/hq ADR 0262):
		// the one interface for them, so no module builds a settings tool of its own. Asked for by
		// name, or by naming no module, since a layer is always some module's.
		if str("module") == "" && str("values") != "" {
			return nil, errors.New("settings: a module is needed to set values; name it with module")
		}
		if str("module") == "" && on("clear") {
			return nil, errors.New("settings: a module is needed to clear a layer; name it with module")
		}
		if list := str("list"); list != "" || str("module") == "" {
			if list != "" && list != "preferences" {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("settings lists %q only; %q is not a listing", "preferences", list)
			}
			argv := []string{"settings", "preferences"}
			if m := str("module"); m != "" {
				argv = append(argv, m)
			}
			if n := str("node"); n != "" {
				argv = append(argv, "--node", n)
			}
			return argv, nil
		}
		// `settings set|clear` at a shell (novox/hq issue 198). The values travel as an argument
		// because a tool has no file to hand the command; the command reads either.
		if err := need("module"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		var argv []string
		switch {
		case on("clear"):
			argv = []string{"settings", "clear", str("module")}
		case str("values") != "":
			argv = []string{"settings", "set", str("module"), str("values")}
			// What a set removes is refused unless meant (novox/hq ADR 0217).
			if on("replace") {
				argv = append(argv, "--replace")
			}
		default:
			// Neither values nor clear: the layer as it stands, which is what a caller reads before
			// replacing it (novox/hq ADR 0217) — and with history, the layers it replaced.
			argv = []string{"settings", "show", str("module")}
			if on("history") {
				argv = append(argv, "--history")
			}
		}
		if n := str("node"); n != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--node", n)
		}
		return argv, nil
	case "issue":
		// The same act as `module issue` at a shell (novox/hq design 25 §4): the account is minted
		// into the mesh's records and delivered at the machine's next push, which is the caller's to
		// ask for — so the mesh is never pushed as a side effect of a credential.
		if err := need("node", "module"); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		return []string{"module", "issue", str("module"), "--node", str("node")}, nil
	case "build":
		// The command's three shapes (`build --on`, `build --behind`, `build <repository>`), one per
		// call: each branch reads only its own argument, so another given beside it is refused as
		// passed over rather than dropped. Asked and not waited for, the same as a single build.
		if b := str("on"); b != "" {
			return []string{"build", "--on", b, "--wait", "0"}, nil
		}
		if on("behind") {
			return []string{"build", "--behind", "--wait", "0"}, nil
		}
		if a.given["repository"] == "" {
			// No shape named: the command says its usage, which names all three — the answer the
			// caller needs, and the same as `rotate` given neither of its shapes.
			return []string{"build"}, nil
		}
		// Not waited for: a tool call cannot hold a connection for the minutes a build takes; the
		// daemon takes the outcome in when it comes and the id follows the build (issue 176). A
		// repository given without a scheme is a path on the forge holding the git seat.
		argv := []string{"build", str("repository"), "--wait", "0"}
		if !strings.Contains(str("repository"), "://") && !strings.HasPrefix(str("repository"), "git@") {
			argv = append(argv, "--self")
		}
		if p := str("path"); p != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--path", p)
		}
		if r := str("ref"); r != "" {
			argv = append(argv, "--ref", r)
		}
		return argv, nil
	}
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is a verb of the %s seat's table that this binary has no command line for",
		verb, catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
}

// jsonVerbs are the verbs whose command speaks JSON, so the answer carries it as data as well.
var jsonVerbs = map[string]bool{"status": true, "seats": true, "plan": true, "collection": true,
	"hand-acts": true, "durations": true, "conditions": true, "doctor": true, "retire": true, "cleanup": true, "data": true,
	// What the records say the registries may keep (novox/hq ADR 0251).
	"artifacts": true, "collect": true, "images": true, "mirrors": true,
	// The delivery's owner's verbs answer JSON where they read (plan, order, check, walks) — novox/hq ADR 0239.
	"delivery": true}

// overviewVerbs are the JSON verbs whose answer is said once, as data, and not again as the text the
// command printed: the overviews, which grow with the mesh (novox/hq issue 314). Every reader of theirs
// reads `answer` first.
var overviewVerbs = map[string]bool{"status": true, "conditions": true, "doctor": true}

// repairingCommand names a command line that repairs by hand, and so says why: a push, a plan stopped
// or closed, a consumer re-made (novox/hq to-be 45 §7). Empty for any other.
func repairingCommand(argv []string) string {
	switch {
	case argv[0] == "push":
		return "push"
	case argv[0] == "plans" && len(argv) > 1 && (argv[1] == "stop" || argv[1] == "close" || argv[1] == "go"):
		return "plans " + argv[1]
	case argv[0] == "broker" && len(argv) > 1 && argv[1] == "consumer-reset":
		return "broker consumer-reset"
	case argv[0] == "hand-act" && len(argv) > 1 && argv[1] == "drill":
		return "hand-act drill"
	case argv[0] == "hand-act":
		return "hand-act record"
	case argv[0] == "conditions" && len(argv) > 1 && argv[1] == "silence":
		return "conditions silence"
	case argv[0] == "retire" && len(argv) > 1 && (argv[1] == "approve" || argv[1] == "reject"):
		return "retire " + argv[1]
	case argv[0] == "cleanup" && len(argv) > 1 && argv[1] == "delete":
		return "cleanup delete"
	case argv[0] == "collect" && slices.Contains(argv, "--confirm"):
		return "collect"
	case argv[0] == "mirrors" && slices.Contains(argv, "--confirm"):
		return "mirrors"
	}
	return ""
}

func isWhyFlag(word string) bool {
	return word == "--why" || word == "-why" || strings.HasPrefix(word, "--why=") || strings.HasPrefix(word, "-why=")
}

// commandEnvironment is the environment of a command line this controller runs for someone: its own — the
// stores' credentials, the bus, the broker, everything a command run from a shell beside it would have, because it
// is that — with who asked, and how it came.
//
// **terminal** is said, never inferred (novox/hq ADR 0272): only a line mesh-cli asked as the controller's terminal
// passes true. Its line has no `MESH_VERB`, not the served mark ADR 0266 puts on everything the serving controller
// starts, and the terminal's mark (cliTerminalVar), so startedAtTheTerminal reads yes. Every other line names its
// verb, and is stripped of the terminal's mark whatever this process's environment holds.
func commandEnvironment(caller, verb string, terminal bool) []string {
	env := make([]string, 0, len(os.Environ())+3)
	for _, kv := range os.Environ() {
		if strings.HasPrefix(kv, verbVar+"=") || strings.HasPrefix(kv, link.CallerVar+"=") ||
			strings.HasPrefix(kv, cliTerminalVar+"=") || (terminal && strings.HasPrefix(kv, servedVar+"=")) {
			continue
		}
		env = append(env, kv)
	}
	env = append(env, link.CallerVar+"="+caller)
	if terminal {
		return append(env, cliTerminalVar+"=1")
	}
	return append(env, verbVar+"="+verb)
}

// runVerb runs this binary with the given command line and gathers what it said.
//
// **This binary is the image this process runs, never the file at the path it started from**
// (novox/hq issue 289): the node-engine's witness moves a running build aside when it places the next
// one, into a directory only it may enter, and deletes it once the next is proved — while this process
// may still be serving. A verb run from the path then failed with "permission denied" for the seconds
// the old controller still answered. selfCommand runs what this process is running, wherever its file
// went; a verb it still cannot start is refused as a handover, which the caller asks again.
func runVerb(ctx context.Context, argv []string) (verbAnswer, error) {
	if handingOver.Load() {
		return verbAnswer{}, fmt.Errorf("%w: this controller is stopping and runs no new command", link.ErrHandingOver)
	}
	cmd := selfCommand(ctx, argv)
	// And who asked, so an act it does by hand is recorded as theirs (novox/hq to-be 45 §7).
	caller := link.CallerIn(ctx)
	if caller == "" {
		caller = "a seat call whose caller the bus did not name"
	}
	// And which verb, so the connection it dials says so in the bus's list (novox/hq issue 327).
	verb, _ := ctx.Value(verbKey{}).(string)
	if verb == "" {
		verb = argv[0]
	}
	cmd.Env = commandEnvironment(caller+", through the "+catalogue.ControllerSeatName+" seat", verb, false)
	// Two buffers, one answer. What the command *says* is both streams, in the order a person at
	// a shell would read them; what it *answers as data* is standard output alone — `status --json`
	// prints its warnings beside the document, and a JSON parsed from the two together parsed
	// nothing (2026-09-30, the first status asked through the console had no `answer`).
	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
	runErr := cmd.Run()
	answer := answerOf(argv, stdout.Bytes(), stderr.String(), runErr == nil)
	var exit *exec.ExitError
	if runErr != nil && !errors.As(runErr, &exit) {
		// Not the command refusing — the command not running at all, which is this process's fault.
		if errors.Is(runErr, os.ErrPermission) || errors.Is(runErr, os.ErrNotExist) {
			// Its own image unreachable: a build replaced under a process that has not yet stopped.
			// Refused as a handover, so the caller asks the controller that follows.
			return answer, fmt.Errorf("%w: could not run %s from this controller's own build: %v",
				link.ErrHandingOver, strings.Join(argv, " "), runErr)
		}
		return answer, fmt.Errorf("could not run %s: %w", strings.Join(argv, " "), runErr)
	}
	return answer, nil
}

// answerOf is what a command said, as a verb answers it: both streams as text, and standard output as data
// where the command speaks JSON.
func answerOf(argv []string, stdout []byte, stderr string, ok bool) verbAnswer {
	answer := verbAnswer{Output: string(stdout) + stderr, OK: ok}
	if jsonVerbs[argv[0]] && ok {
		var parsed any
		if json.Unmarshal(bytes.TrimSpace(stdout), &parsed) == nil {
			answer.Answer = parsed
			if overviewVerbs[argv[0]] {
				// Once, as data: the same document again as text doubled an answer that already
				// outgrew one message of the bus (novox/hq issue 314).
				answer.Output = stderr + "its answer, as data, is `answer`\n"
			}
		}
	}
	return answer
}

// readHere answers a verb that only reads the bus in the serving controller itself, on its own connection
// and keeper (novox/hq issue 327): the same command, writing to the answer rather than to a process's
// output, so the answer is the one the command prints. False for any other command line, which runs as a
// command of its own. Every `conditions` call — the operator's channel reads it at least once a minute —
// was a process that dialled the bus, logged in and left.
func readHere(ctx context.Context, argv []string) (verbAnswer, bool) {
	var read func(context.Context, []string, io.Writer) error
	args := argv[1:]
	// Each where this process holds what it reads: the serving keeper, the hand-act log's connection, the
	// serving connection.
	switch argv[0] {
	case "conditions":
		sub := "list"
		if len(args) > 0 && !strings.HasPrefix(args[0], "-") {
			sub, args = args[0], args[1:]
		}
		if conditionsFrom != nil {
			read = map[string]func(context.Context, []string, io.Writer) error{
				"list": listConditions, "show": showCondition, "history": conditionHistory}[sub]
		}
	case "hand-acts":
		if handActConn != nil || servingBus.Load() != nil {
			read = listHandActs
		}
	case "queue":
		if servingBus.Load() != nil {
			read = listQueue
		}
	}
	if read == nil {
		return verbAnswer{}, false
	}
	var out bytes.Buffer
	stderr := ""
	err := read(ctx, args, &out)
	if err != nil {
		// As the command says it when it fails (main).
		stderr = "mesh-controller: " + err.Error() + "\n"
	}
	return answerOf(argv, out.Bytes(), stderr, err == nil), true
}

// seatToolHandlers are the handlers for every verb the mesh-controller seat declares, from the
// store's row, so a verb the row does not carry is not served. A verb it carries that this binary
// cannot run is named at start and answers the reason when called — never a refusal to serve, which
// would take the whole control plane down for one word (novox/hq ADR 0185).
func seatToolHandlers() (map[string]link.ToolHandler, []string, error) {
	seat, known := catalogue.SeatNamed(catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
	if !known {
		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("this mesh defines no %s seat", catalogue.ControllerSeatName)
	}
	var behind []string
	handlers := map[string]link.ToolHandler{}
	for _, v := range seat.Serves {
		verb := v.Name
		if inProcess[verb] {
			handlers[verb] = func(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
				args := map[string]any{}
				if len(bytes.TrimSpace(raw)) > 0 {
					if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &args); err != nil {
						return nil, fmt.Errorf("the arguments are not a JSON object: %w", err)
					}
				}
				// Refused like any verb's: what a verb does not take is not ignored.
				a, err := readArguments(verb, args)
				if err != nil {
					return nil, err
				}
				if verb == "calls" {
					return callsAnswer(link.Calls, a.given["call"])
				}
				if verb == "dead-letters" {
					return deadLettersAnswer(ctx, a)
				}
				if verb == "root-free" {
					return rootFreeAnswer(ctx, a.given["machines"], rootClock())
				}
				if verb == "doctor" {
					// From the serving controller, which runs the self-check and hears the signals
					// (novox/hq to-be 45 §4): the last verdict at once, or a run now.
					argv, err := a.commandLine()
					if err != nil {
						return nil, err
					}
					sub := ""
					if len(argv) > 2 && !strings.HasPrefix(argv[1], "-") {
						sub = argv[1]
					}
					return doctorAnswer(ctx, sub, a.given["probe"])
				}
				return seatTools(), nil
			}
			continue
		}
		var policy *heldAtTheTerminal
		if _, err := argvFor(verb, sampleArguments(v)); err != nil && !errors.As(err, &policy) {
			// **A row ahead of this binary is not a reason to go silent.**
			//
			// The row is the store's and a control plane follows it (novox/hq ADR 0154), so a verb
			// this build does not know means the row was widened by a newer one — the ordinary
			// state of a roll-out, and of a push that put an older control plane back. Refusing to
			// serve at all made that transient fatal: on 2026-10-02 one unknown verb took the whole
			// mesh off the bus for ten minutes, and the way back was a human running the binary by
			// hand, because the thing that would have repaired it is the thing that was down
			// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/201, ADR 0185).
			//
			// So the verbs this binary knows are served, and this one answers the reason instead of
			// nothing: a caller gets a sentence naming the fault, and everything else keeps working
			// — including the push that replaces this binary with the one whose verb it is.
			behind = append(behind, verb)
			reason := err
			handlers[verb] = func(context.Context, json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is in this mesh's %s row and the control plane running "+
					"here cannot run it: %w. It is a verb of a newer build; this one is behind",
					verb, catalogue.ControllerSeatName, reason)
			}
			continue
		}
		handlers[verb] = func(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
			args := map[string]any{}
			if len(raw) > 0 {
				if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &args); err != nil {
					return nil, fmt.Errorf("the arguments are not a JSON object: %w", err)
				}
			}
			argv, err := argvFor(verb, args)
			if err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
			ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, verbKey{}, verb)
			if verb == "status" && statusFrom != nil {
				// At once, from the summary the serving controller keeps (novox/hq to-be 45 Phase 0).
				return statusFrom.answer(ctx)
			}
			if !readingVerbs[verb] && !(verb == "plans" && !actsOnAPlan(args)) {
				// Whatever it did, `status` is composed again once it has.
				defer statusFrom.nudge()
			}
			if answer, read := readHere(ctx, argv); read {
				return answer, nil
			}
			if answersFirst(argv) {
				// Before anything is sent: a push sends the bus's own machine first, and a broker
				// reloading its user list forgets the answer it was about to permit (novox/hq issue 265).
				link.Acknowledge(ctx)
			}
			return runVerb(ctx, argv)
		}
	}
	return handlers, behind, nil
}

// actsOnAPlan is `plans` asked to stop, close or retry one rather than to show them.
func actsOnAPlan(args map[string]any) bool {
	for _, act := range []string{"stop", "close", "retry"} {
		if v, _ := args[act].(string); strings.TrimSpace(v) != "" {
			return true
		}
	}
	return false
}

// inProcess are the verbs answered by this process rather than by a command it runs: `tools` from
// the records, `calls` from what this process served.
var inProcess = map[string]bool{"tools": true, "calls": true, "doctor": true,
	// What a consumer gave up on, read and changed on the serving controller's own connection (novox/hq
	// issue 330).
	"dead-letters": true,
	// Whether a machine is root-free, judged live on the serving controller's store and connection (novox/hq ADR
	// 0259 §8): the router asks it before an approval.
	"root-free": true}

// answersFirst is a command line whose caller is answered before it runs: a push, by its verb or
// through `command`. A push sends the machine holding the bus first when its user list changed, the
// broker reloads, and a reload forgets every answer the bus was about to permit — so an answer
// waiting for the push to end was refused, every time the list had changed (novox/hq issue 265).
func answersFirst(argv []string) bool {
	return len(argv) > 0 && argv[0] == "push"
}

// callsAnswer is what `calls` answers: the kept calls, newest first, without their answers — or
// one call whole. Kept on the bus, so a call a controller before this one served is answered too
// (novox/hq to-be 45 §6); where the bus cannot be read, what this process served is answered and
// the reason said beside it.
func callsAnswer(log *link.CallLog, id string) (any, error) {
	if id != "" {
		c, ok, err := log.Shown(id)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("call %s is not in this controller's memory, and the calls kept on the "+
				"bus could not be read: %w", id, err)
		}
		if !ok {
			if log.IsDurable() {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("no call %s is kept: the bus keeps the last %d calls, or %s, and this "+
					"is not among them — `calls` lists them", id, broker.KeptCallsDurably, broker.CallsKeptFor)
			}
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("no call %s is kept here: calls are kept by the controller that "+
				"answered them, the last %d, and not across a restart — `calls` lists them", id, link.KeptCalls)
		}
		return c, nil
	}
	recent, err := log.Recent()
	for i := range recent {
		recent[i].Answer = nil
	}
	answer := map[string]any{"calls": recent, "note": "newest first; `calls` with a call's id gives its whole answer"}
	if log.IsDurable() {
		answer["kept"] = fmt.Sprintf("the last %d calls, or %s, on the bus — across a restart of the controller",
			broker.KeptCallsDurably, broker.CallsKeptFor)
	} else {
		answer["kept"] = fmt.Sprintf("the last %d calls this controller served, in its memory only", link.KeptCalls)
	}
	if err != nil {
		answer["unread"] = err.Error()
	}
	return answer, nil
}

// seatTools is what `tools` answers: every seat with a protocol, and the tools each serves, from the
// mesh's own records — no holder in the path, so it is true while a holder restarts (design 33 §5).
func seatTools() map[string]any {
	var seats []map[string]any
	for _, s := range catalogue.SeatsWithAProtocol() {
		if len(s.Serves) == 0 {
			continue
		}
		var tools []map[string]any
		for _, v := range s.Serves {
			tool := map[string]any{
				"name": v.Name, "description": v.Description, "input": v.Input, "output": v.Output,
			}
			// What the verb is the mesh's way to do (novox/hq ADR 0245): read by the console's search and
			// the agent's instructions.
			if len(v.Replaces) > 0 {
				tool["replaces"] = v.Replaces
			}
			tools = append(tools, tool)
		}
		seats = append(seats, map[string]any{"seat": s.Name, "scope": s.Scope, "tools": tools})
	}
	return map[string]any{"seats": seats}
}

// sampleArguments is one of every argument a verb's schema requires, so the check at start proves the
// verb runnable rather than that it happens to want the arguments the check guessed — and nothing
// more, since an argument a verb does not declare is refused.
func sampleArguments(v catalogue.Verb) map[string]any {
	sample := map[string]any{}
	switch required := v.Input["required"].(type) {
	case []string:
		for _, k := range required {
			sample[k] = "x"
		}
	case []any:
		for _, k := range required {
			if name, ok := k.(string); ok {
				sample[name] = "x"
			}
		}
	}
	return sample
}

// splitCommandLine splits a command line into words the way a POSIX shell does for the simple
// cases a controller command needs: spaces separate, single or double quotes group, a backslash
// escapes the next character inside double quotes or outside any. No expansion of anything.
func splitCommandLine(line string) ([]string, error) {
	var words []string
	var cur strings.Builder
	inWord := false
	quote := rune(0)
	runes := []rune(line)
	for i := 0; i < len(runes); i++ {
		r := runes[i]
		switch {
		case quote == '\'':
			if r == '\'' {
				quote = 0
			} else {
				cur.WriteRune(r)
			}
		case quote == '"':
			if r == '"' {
				quote = 0
			} else if r == '\\' && i+1 < len(runes) {
				i++
				cur.WriteRune(runes[i])
			} else {
				cur.WriteRune(r)
			}
		case r == '\'' || r == '"':
			quote = r
			inWord = true
		case r == '\\' && i+1 < len(runes):
			i++
			cur.WriteRune(runes[i])
			inWord = true
		case r == ' ' || r == '\t' || r == '\n':
			if inWord {
				words = append(words, cur.String())
				cur.Reset()
				inWord = false
			}
		default:
			cur.WriteRune(r)
			inWord = true
		}
	}
	if quote != 0 {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("command has an unclosed %c quote", quote)
	}
	if inWord {
		words = append(words, cur.String())
	}
	return words, nil
}

// seatAnnouncement is what the controller says it serves on the bus (novox/hq ADR 0197): the
// mesh-controller seat, one endpoint per verb it answers, each with the seat's own description and
// argument schema — the same facts `tools` answers from the records, as NATS's services format.
func seatAnnouncement(handlers map[string]link.ToolHandler) micro.Info {
	about := map[string]catalogue.Verb{}
	for _, s := range catalogue.SeatsWithAProtocol() {
		if s.Name == catalogue.ControllerSeatName {
			for _, v := range s.Serves {
				about[v.Name] = v
			}
		}
	}
	verbs := make([]string, 0, len(handlers))
	for verb := range handlers {
		verbs = append(verbs, verb)
	}
	sort.Strings(verbs)
	var endpoints []micro.EndpointInfo
	for _, verb := range verbs {
		schema, _ := json.Marshal(about[verb].Input)
		// The same shape every tool runtime announces in (node-tools' announce package): the name is
		// `<seat>__<verb>`, as the protocol's characters allow; the metadata is what identifies it.
		endpoints = append(endpoints, micro.EndpointInfo{
			Name:       catalogue.ControllerSeatName + "__" + verb,
			Subject:    link.SeatToolSubject(catalogue.ControllerSeatName, verb),
			QueueGroup: "seat." + catalogue.ControllerSeatName,
			Metadata: map[string]string{
				"kind": "seat", "module": catalogue.ControllerSeatName, "tool": verb,
				"seat": catalogue.ControllerSeatName, "scope": "mesh", "interchangeable": "false",
				"description": about[verb].Description, "schema": string(schema),
			},
		})
	}
	return micro.Info{
		ServiceIdentity: micro.ServiceIdentity{
			Name: catalogue.ControllerSeatName, ID: "controller", Version: "0.1.0",
			Metadata: map[string]string{"seat": catalogue.ControllerSeatName, "scope": "mesh"},
		},
		Description: "the mesh's own verbs, answered by the holder of the mesh-controller seat",
		Endpoints:   endpoints,
	}
}

// nodeReads are the `node` subcommands a verb may run: the ones that only read.
var nodeReads = map[string]bool{"list": true, "show": true}

// flagsOnly says a command line's rest names no subcommand: empty, or beginning with a flag. For a command
// with no subcommands every word is a flag, its value or a name it reads.
func flagsOnly(rest []string) bool { return len(rest) == 0 || strings.HasPrefix(rest[0], "-") }

// subIn says the rest begins with one of these subcommands.
func subIn(rest []string, subs ...string) bool {
	return len(rest) > 0 && slices.Contains(subs, rest[0])
}

// commandReadForms are the command lines the generic `command` verb may run (novox/hq ADR 0266): **an allow
// list of the ones that only read**, judged command by command. Anything else — every command that writes a
// record, sends, builds, issues an account or a token, sets a key, accepts, rotates, recovers or exports a
// secret — is refused, and a command added later is refused until it is judged a read. Writing has its named
// verbs, which compose their own lines and are judged by terminalOnly; the rest is the operator's at the
// controller's terminal.
var commandReadForms = map[string]func(rest []string) bool{
	"status": flagsOnly, "version": flagsOnly, "help": flagsOnly, "seats": flagsOnly, "healers": flagsOnly,
	"hand-acts": flagsOnly, "durations": flagsOnly, "collection": flagsOnly, "images": flagsOnly,
	"artifacts": flagsOnly, "data": flagsOnly, "builds": flagsOnly, "queue": flagsOnly,
	// `plan <node>` previews a node's declaration; it sends nothing.
	"plan": func([]string) bool { return true },
	// `plans` lists and `plans <id>` shows one; `plans stop|close|go` acts.
	// Judged on every word, not the first: a flag before the subcommand (`plans --json go <id>`) still acts.
	"plans": func(r []string) bool {
		return !slices.ContainsFunc(r, func(w string) bool { return slices.Contains(plansActs, w) })
	},
	// `doctor` answers the last run, `probes` and `signals` describe; `doctor run` runs.
	"doctor":     func(r []string) bool { return flagsOnly(r) || subIn(r, "probes", "signals") },
	"conditions": func(r []string) bool { return flagsOnly(r) || subIn(r, "list", "show", "history") },
	"node":       func(r []string) bool { return subIn(r, "list", "show") },
	"module":     func(r []string) bool { return subIn(r, "list") },
	"settings":   func(r []string) bool { return subIn(r, "show", "preferences") },
	"retire":     func(r []string) bool { return subIn(r, "list") },
	"cleanup":    func(r []string) bool { return subIn(r, "list") },
	"delivery":   func(r []string) bool { return subIn(r, "plan", "walks") },
	// `bus` alone says the bus's step; `bus upgrade` takes one.
	"bus": func(r []string) bool { return len(r) == 0 },
	// `mirrors` lists; --record and --confirm keep a mirror.
	"mirrors": func(r []string) bool {
		return flagsOnly(r) && !slices.ContainsFunc(r, func(w string) bool {
			return w == "--record" || w == "-record" || strings.HasPrefix(w, "--record=") || strings.HasPrefix(w, "-record=") ||
				w == "--confirm" || w == "-confirm" || strings.HasPrefix(w, "--confirm=")
		})
	},
}

// plansActs are the `plans` subcommands that act on a walk; no other word of a plans line is one of them.
var plansActs = []string{"go", "stop", "close", "retry"}

// heldAtTheTerminal is a refusal of policy (novox/hq ADR 0266): the verb is known and served, and this line is
// the operator's at the controller's terminal. Never read as a verb this binary is behind on.
type heldAtTheTerminal struct{ msg string }

func (e *heldAtTheTerminal) Error() string { return e.msg }

func terminalRefusal(format string, args ...any) error {
	return &heldAtTheTerminal{fmt.Sprintf(format, args...)}
}

// commandReads refuses a line the generic verb may not run, saying what it may.
func commandReads(argv []string) error {
	if read, ok := commandReadForms[argv[0]]; ok && read(argv[1:]) {
		return nil
	}
	return terminalRefusal("%q is not a reading command, and the generic command verb only reads (novox/hq ADR 0266): "+
		"whoever may call a verb includes agents, and a line that writes, issues, sets a key or reveals a secret "+
		"would be theirs to run. Use the named verb for it, or run it at the controller's terminal. The verb may "+
		"run: %s. Nothing was done", strings.Join(argv, " "), commandReadNames())
}

func commandReadNames() string {
	names := make([]string, 0, len(commandReadForms))
	for n := range commandReadForms {
		names = append(names, n)
	}
	sort.Strings(names)
	return strings.Join(names, ", ") + " (each in its reading forms)"
}

// terminalOnlyCommands are the commands no verb runs, whatever composed them (novox/hq ADR 0266): they set
// the operator's key, issue a credential or a token that is answered to the caller, or accept, recover or
// export a secret. Their answers or effects hand whoever calls them what the runtime's account holds.
var terminalOnlyCommands = map[string]string{
	"operator": "the operator's key and credential",
	"identity": "the mesh's identity keys",
	"token":    "a token a machine joins with, answered to the caller",
	"broker":   "the bus's accounts",
	"api":      "the controller's API keys",
	"licence":  "the licences' secrets",
}

// givenAtTheDesk is exactly the line the `give` verb composes, and nothing beside it: `secret accept <node>
// <module> <secret> --at-desk <machine>`, with no other word — no value, no file, no provider.
func givenAtTheDesk(argv []string) bool {
	if len(argv) != 7 || argv[0] != "secret" || argv[1] != "accept" || argv[5] != "--at-desk" {
		return false
	}
	for _, w := range argv[2:5] {
		if w == "" || strings.HasPrefix(w, "-") {
			return false
		}
	}
	return argv[6] != "" && !strings.HasPrefix(argv[6], "-")
}

// terminalOnly refuses, through any verb, a command that is the operator's at the controller's terminal
// alone (novox/hq ADR 0266). **Every `node` subcommand that is not a read**: `node account` and
// `node agent-account` above all. Whoever may call a verb includes agents, and an agent that named itself
// the operator account, or cleared the agent account, would have the next send grant it root through the
// sudo module's rule. An allow list, so a subcommand added later is refused until it is judged a read.
func terminalOnly(argv []string) error {
	if len(argv) == 0 {
		return nil
	}
	if what, kept := terminalOnlyCommands[argv[0]]; kept {
		return terminalRefusal("%s is run at the controller's terminal only, never through a verb: it holds %s, and "+
			"whoever may call a verb includes agents (novox/hq ADR 0266). Nothing was done", argv[0], what)
	}
	// Of a secret's commands only rotation, which seals the new value to the machine that uses it, and the
	// `give` verb's own line: an own secret typed by the operator into the desk's hidden prompt, sealed to this
	// call and then to the module's machine, so no value travels in the verb or its answer (hq ADR 0259 §10).
	if argv[0] == "secret" && (len(argv) < 2 || argv[1] != "rotate") && !givenAtTheDesk(argv) {
		return terminalRefusal("secret %s is run at the controller's terminal only, never through a verb: accepting, "+
			"recovering or exporting a secret hands it to whoever asks, and that includes agents (novox/hq ADR "+
			"0266). Nothing was done", strings.Join(argv[1:], " "))
	}
	if argv[0] != "node" {
		return nil
	}
	if len(argv) > 1 && nodeReads[argv[1]] {
		return nil
	}
	sub := "node"
	if len(argv) > 1 {
		sub += " " + argv[1]
	}
	return terminalRefusal("%s is run at the controller's terminal only, never through a verb: a node's accounts "+
		"decide who may become root on it (novox/hq ADR 0266). A verb may run node list and node show. "+
		"Nothing was done", sub)
}