diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass.go
index b3982c86..4dfc33e8 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass.go
@@ -605,46 +605,70 @@ func (p *passer) lift(ctx context.Context, module, fp string) {
 	}
 }
 
-// staleAsk says whether the hold, restore or record ask at key (read as the SDK reads it) is about something the trunk has left
-// behind: a module no longer on the trunk, a fingerprint that is no longer the module's trunk fingerprint, or a composition the
-// controller no longer composes for the node at that fingerprint. A backup ask and an ask of another kind are never stale here.
-// A module of the trunk whose fingerprint is not read yet, and a composition not read yet, are not stale: nothing known is
+// staleAsk says why the hold, restore or record ask at key (read as the SDK reads it) is about something the trunk has left
+// behind, or "" when it is not: a module no longer on the trunk, a fingerprint that is no longer the module's trunk fingerprint,
+// or, for a record ask, a composition the module's node no longer waits on. A backup ask and an ask of another kind are never
+// stale here. A module of the trunk whose fingerprint is not read yet, and a have not read yet, are not stale: nothing known is
 // nothing taken away.
-func (p *passer) staleAsk(key string, trunk map[string]meshcatalog.ModulesByModuleValue) bool {
+func (p *passer) staleAsk(key string, trunk map[string]meshcatalog.ModulesByModuleValue) string {
 	k, err := asks.ParseAnyAskKey(key)
 	if err != nil {
-		return false
+		return ""
 	}
 	switch k.Kind {
 	case asks.AskKindHold, asks.AskKindRestore:
 		m, on := trunk[k.Module]
-		return !on || (m.Fp2 != "" && m.Fp2 != k.FP)
+		if !on {
+			return "its module is no longer on the trunk"
+		}
+		if m.Fp2 != "" && m.Fp2 != k.FP {
+			return "its fingerprint is no longer the trunk's " + m.Fp2
+		}
 	case asks.AskKindRecord:
 		m, on := trunk[k.Module]
 		if !on {
-			return true
+			return "its module is no longer on the trunk"
 		}
-		// A node that composes its own asks about its own composition, which its have names as the one it waits on (yeses): that
-		// ask stands while the have waits on it, whatever the controller composes (issue 774, 2026-10-31: novox's asks of
-		// postgres, keycloak and mongodb were taken away and made again under a new id every pass, so no answer could count).
-		if hkey, err := nodeengineclient.HaveKey(k.Node, k.Module); err == nil {
-			if h, err := nodeengineclient.DecodeHave(p.w.value(buckets.Have, hkey)); err == nil && h.Phase == nodeengineclient.PhaseWaitingYes && h.Waits == k.Composed {
-				return false
+		if m.Fp2 == "" {
+			return ""
+		}
+		// The ask is about the composition its module's have waits on (ADR 0547 §3): the node composes its own, and the digest of
+		// its whole composition (the node's own have) is not a module's. A have that is mid-move (backing up, applying, checking,
+		// failed or held) leaves the ask where it is, for the ask was raised for a have that waited and a have is read mid-move
+		// on the way to its next wait (issue 1966: nats on novox, asked, taken away and written again at each pass).
+		hkey, err := nodeengineclient.HaveKey(k.Node, k.Module)
+		if err != nil {
+			return ""
+		}
+		h, err := nodeengineclient.DecodeHave(p.w.value(buckets.Have, hkey))
+		if err != nil {
+			return ""
+		}
+		switch h.Phase {
+		case nodeengineclient.PhaseWaitingYes:
+			if h.Waits != k.Composed {
+				return "its node waits for a yes on the composition " + h.Waits + ", not this one"
 			}
-		}
-		// The assigner asks about a composition at more than the trunk fingerprint: a node held back by the rules is asked about the
-		// revised composition of the fingerprint it runs (ADR 0545), and a node's first want at the older fingerprint it runs. So a
-		// record ask is stale only when its digest is the composition of none of the fingerprints the node can still want (the
-		// trunk's, its want's, its have's), and only when every one of them is read.
-		for _, fp := range p.fingerprintsOf(k.Node, k.Module, m.Fp2) {
-			d, ok := p.w.composed(k.Node, k.Module, fp)
-			if !ok || d.Digest == k.Composed {
-				return false
+		case nodeengineclient.PhaseRunning:
+			// A yes given and not yet written into the want is the operator's answer: the ask stays until the want names it, for the
+			// answer counts only while its ask is there (answeredWith), and taken away first the yes was never read.
+			if p.answeredWith(key, assign.OptionYes) && !p.yesWritten(k) {
+				return ""
 			}
+			return "its node runs " + h.Fp + " and waits for no yes"
 		}
-		return len(p.fingerprintsOf(k.Node, k.Module, m.Fp2)) > 0
 	}
-	return false
+	return ""
+}
+
+// yesWritten says whether the want of the record ask's module on its node names the composition the ask is about as allowed.
+func (p *passer) yesWritten(k asks.AskKey) bool {
+	key, err := mwc.WantKey(k.Node, k.Module)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	w, err := mwc.DecodeWant(p.w.value(buckets.Wants, key))
+	return err == nil && w.Yes == k.Composed
 }
 
 // fingerprintsOf are the fingerprints a node may still want of module: the trunk's, the one its want names and the one its have
@@ -678,7 +702,7 @@ func (p *passer) staleAsks(ctx context.Context, trunk map[string]meshcatalog.Mod
 		return
 	}
 	for key := range p.w.read(buckets.Asks) {
-		if p.staleAsk(key, trunk) {
+		if why := p.staleAsk(key, trunk); why != "" {
 			// The condition is cleared first and the ask goes only once that was said: the ask is what brings this key back at the
 			// next pass, so a clear that failed once is made again, with no state of its own (issue 1906, note 29).
 			k, kerr := asks.ParseAnyAskKey(key)
@@ -686,7 +710,7 @@ func (p *passer) staleAsks(ctx context.Context, trunk map[string]meshcatalog.Mod
 			if held && !p.clearHeld(k.Module, k.FP) {
 				continue
 			}
-			p.logf("the ask %s is about a fingerprint or composition the trunk has left behind and is taken away", key)
+			p.logf("the ask %s is about a fingerprint or composition the trunk has left behind and is taken away: %s", key, why)
 			p.remove(ctx, buckets.Asks, key)
 			// The held record stays: it is the memory that this fingerprint failed (ADR 0408 §4), and a revert returns the trunk to
 			// exactly it. Only the condition, which would else ask for an answer that can no longer be given, is cleared, and it is
@@ -748,7 +772,8 @@ func (p *passer) restoreAsk(ctx context.Context, module, node, fp string) {
 		return
 	}
 	words := p.heldHold(module, fp, nil).Words
-	a := assign.RestoreAsk(key, node, module, fp, words, time.Now())
+	now := p.clock()
+	a := assign.RestoreAsk(key, node, module, fp, words, assign.AskingSeconds(now), now)
 	p.put(ctx, buckets.Asks, key, func() ([]byte, error) { return assign.EncodeAsk(key, a) })
 }
 
@@ -790,7 +815,8 @@ func (p *passer) recordAsk(ctx context.Context, module, fp string, need assign.R
 	if err != nil || p.w.has(buckets.Asks, key) {
 		return
 	}
-	a := assign.RecordAsk(key, need.Node, module, fp, need, time.Now())
+	now := p.clock()
+	a := assign.RecordAsk(key, need.Node, module, fp, need, assign.AskingSeconds(now), now)
 	p.put(ctx, buckets.Asks, key, func() ([]byte, error) { return assign.EncodeAsk(key, a) })
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass_test.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass_test.go
index ee81b744..58843772 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/cmd/mesh-delivery-assigner/pass_test.go
@@ -807,9 +807,9 @@ func TestAsksOfAFingerprintTheTrunkLeftBehindAreTakenAway(t *testing.T) {
 				case asks.AskKindHold:
 					a = assign.HoldAsk(key, k.Module, k.FP, "novox", "w", 1, time.Now())
 				case asks.AskKindRestore:
-					a = assign.RestoreAsk(key, k.Node, k.Module, k.FP, "w", time.Now())
+					a = assign.RestoreAsk(key, k.Node, k.Module, k.FP, "w", 2, time.Now())
 				case asks.AskKindRecord:
-					a = assign.RecordAsk(key, k.Node, k.Module, fpNew, assign.RecordNeed{Node: k.Node, Digest: k.Composed}, time.Now())
+					a = assign.RecordAsk(key, k.Node, k.Module, fpNew, assign.RecordNeed{Node: k.Node, Digest: k.Composed}, 2, time.Now())
 				default:
 					a = assign.BackupAsk(key, k.Node, k.Module, k.FP, digOld, "w", 2, time.Now())
 				}
@@ -820,9 +820,15 @@ func TestAsksOfAFingerprintTheTrunkLeftBehindAreTakenAway(t *testing.T) {
 				asksKV.values[key] = v
 				p.w.put(buckets.Asks, key, v)
 			}
-			placeOn(t, p.w, "novox", "web") // a placed node composes its own: the digest its have names
+			placeOn(t, p.w, "novox", "web") // a placed node composes its own: its module's have waits on a composition
 			if !c.noDigit {
-				composes(t, p.w, "novox", digNew)
+				hkey, _ := nodeengineclient.HaveKey("novox", "web")
+				raw, err := nodeengineclient.EncodeHave(nodeengine.HaveByNodeModuleValue{Fp: fpOld, Phase: nodeengineclient.PhaseWaitingYes,
+					Health: nodeengineclient.HealthOK, Judgement: "moves-data", Detail: "d", Waits: digNew})
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				p.w.put(buckets.Have, hkey, raw)
 			}
 			heldOld, _ := mwc.HeldKey("web", fpOld)
 			wantsKV.values[heldOld] = []byte("x")
@@ -1210,3 +1216,110 @@ func mustAskID(a asks.Ask) string {
 func presenceValue(online bool) ([]byte, error) {
 	return json.Marshal(wdc.NodePresence{V: 1, Online: online})
 }
+
+// Issue 1966 (nats on novox): a yes given for a record ask was lost because the same pass took the ask away as stale before the
+// want named the yes, and an ask taken away and written again was never asked again because it carried the id the router kept.
+// Given a record ask of a placed node, then (a) a have mid-move, or running with the operator's yes unwritten, leaves the ask,
+// and a yes written into the want lets it go; and (b) a record, restore or hold ask written again after it was taken away has
+// another id, so the teller asks it again.
+func TestARecordAskIsNotTakenAwayBeforeItsYesIsWrittenAndIsAskedAgainWhenWrittenAgain(t *testing.T) {
+	fp := meshcatalogclient.SourcePrefix2 + strings.Repeat("a", 64)
+	dig, other := "sha256:"+strings.Repeat("e", 64), "sha256:"+strings.Repeat("f", 64)
+	trunk := map[string]meshcatalog.ModulesByModuleValue{"web": {Fp2: fp, Manifest: "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("1", 64), Repository: "novox/web", Commit: strings.Repeat("1", 40), Path: meshcatalogclient.RootPath}}
+	rkey, _ := asks.RecordAskKey("novox", "web", dig)
+	haveOf := func(phase, waits string) nodeengine.HaveByNodeModuleValue {
+		h := nodeengine.HaveByNodeModuleValue{Fp: fp, Phase: phase, Health: nodeengineclient.HealthOK}
+		if phase == nodeengineclient.PhaseWaitingYes {
+			h.Judgement, h.Detail, h.Waits = assign.JudgedMovesData, "d", waits
+		}
+		return h
+	}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		name   string
+		have   nodeengine.HaveByNodeModuleValue
+		yes    bool   // the operator's yes is written under the ask
+		wanted string // the want's yes
+		gone   bool
+	}{
+		{"waiting for a yes on it", haveOf(nodeengineclient.PhaseWaitingYes, dig), false, "", false},
+		{"waiting for a yes on another composition", haveOf(nodeengineclient.PhaseWaitingYes, other), false, "", true},
+		{"mid-move (applying)", haveOf(nodeengineclient.PhaseApplying, ""), false, "", false},
+		{"running, never answered", haveOf(nodeengineclient.PhaseRunning, ""), false, "", true},
+		{"running, the yes given and not in the want", haveOf(nodeengineclient.PhaseRunning, ""), true, "", false},
+		{"running, the yes written into the want", haveOf(nodeengineclient.PhaseRunning, ""), true, dig, true},
+	} {
+		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			asksKV, wantsKV := &memKV{values: map[string][]byte{}}, &memKV{values: map[string][]byte{}}
+			p := newPasser(kvSet{buckets.Asks: asksKV, buckets.Wants: wantsKV}, time.Now())
+			placeOn(t, p.w, "novox", "web")
+			composes(t, p.w, "novox", "sha256:"+strings.Repeat("9", 64)) // the whole node's composition is never a module's
+			a := assign.RecordAsk(rkey, "novox", "web", fp, assign.RecordNeed{Node: "novox", Digest: dig}, 2, time.Now())
+			v, err := assign.EncodeAsk(rkey, a)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			asksKV.values[rkey] = v
+			p.w.put(buckets.Asks, rkey, v)
+			hkey, _ := nodeengineclient.HaveKey("novox", "web")
+			raw, err := nodeengineclient.EncodeHave(c.have)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			p.w.put(buckets.Have, hkey, raw)
+			if c.yes {
+				body, _ := mdc.EncodeAnswer(mdc.Answer{Option: assign.OptionYes, Warrant: mustAskID(a) + "@2026-11-09T10:34:48Z", Words: "yes"})
+				p.w.put(buckets.Answers, rkey, body)
+			}
+			if c.wanted != "" {
+				wkey, _ := mwc.WantKey("novox", "web")
+				w, _ := mwc.EncodeWant(mwc.Want{Fp: fp, Self: true, Yes: c.wanted})
+				p.w.put(buckets.Wants, wkey, w)
+			}
+			p.staleAsks(context.Background(), trunk)
+			if _, there := asksKV.values[rkey]; there == c.gone {
+				t.Errorf("the ask is left in the bucket = %v, want %v", there, !c.gone)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+	t.Run("a key written again after it was taken away has another id", func(t *testing.T) {
+		rec := func(p *passer) string {
+			p.recordAsk(context.Background(), "web", fp, assign.RecordNeed{Node: "novox", Digest: dig})
+			return readAskID(t, p, rkey)
+		}
+		rest, _ := asks.RestoreAskKey("novox", "web", fp)
+		restore := func(p *passer) string {
+			p.restoreAsk(context.Background(), "web", "novox", fp)
+			return readAskID(t, p, rest)
+		}
+		hold, _ := asks.HoldAskKey("web", fp)
+		holdIt := func(p *passer) string {
+			p.holdAsk(context.Background(), "web", fp, &mwc.Held{Node: "novox", Words: "w"})
+			return readAskID(t, p, hold)
+		}
+		for name, c := range map[string]struct {
+			write func(*passer) string
+			key   string
+		}{"record": {rec, rkey}, "restore": {restore, rest}, "hold": {holdIt, hold}} {
+			at := time.Now()
+			asksKV := &memKV{values: map[string][]byte{}}
+			p := newPasser(kvSet{buckets.Asks: asksKV, buckets.Wants: &memKV{values: map[string][]byte{}}}, at)
+			first := c.write(p)
+			p.remove(context.Background(), buckets.Asks, c.key)
+			p.now = func() time.Time { return at.Add(time.Minute) }
+			if again := c.write(p); again == first {
+				t.Errorf("%s: the ask written again carries the id %s the router kept, so it is never asked again", name, first)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+// readAskID is the router id of the ask at key in the pass's asks.
+func readAskID(t *testing.T, p *passer, key string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	d, err := decodeAsk(key, p.w.value(buckets.Asks, key))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("%s: %v", key, err)
+	}
+	return d.Ask.ID
+}
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks.go
index 2587a5ae..66d2b601 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks.go
@@ -45,11 +45,13 @@ const (
 )
 
 // RestoreAsk is the ask about a module holding data whose fingerprint failed its health check on a node (ADR 0429 §6): it is
-// not set back by itself, since a set-back would lose the writes made since. words is the check's words. Restore sets the
+// not set back by itself, since a set-back would lose the writes made since. words is the check's words. asking is the writing's
+// number (AskingSeconds): an ask taken away as stale and written again is another asking under an id of its own, since the
+// router drops a second ask under an id it keeps and the teller took the first back (issue 1966). Restore sets the
 // node back to the last healthy fingerprint and loses the newer writes; leaving it stopped keeps the data as it is.
-func RestoreAsk(key, node, module, fp, words string, now time.Time) asks.Ask {
-	return assignerAsk(0, oc.Ask{
-		ID:       meshdeliveryclient.AskingID(key, 0),
+func RestoreAsk(key, node, module, fp, words string, asking int, now time.Time) asks.Ask {
+	return assignerAsk(asking, oc.Ask{
+		ID:       meshdeliveryclient.AskingID(key, asking),
 		Headline: fmt.Sprintf("%s failed its health check on %s", module, node),
 		Explanation: fmt.Sprintf("%s holds data, and its health check failed on %s at %s: %s. Setting it back to the version that ran healthy "+
 			"would lose the writes made since; leaving it stopped keeps the data as it is.", module, node, short(fp), words),
@@ -160,15 +162,17 @@ const (
 
 // RecordAsk is the ask about a move of a module of policy record on node to the composition with the digest, judged by the
 // controller to recreate a container, to move data, or not to be judgeable (ADR 0539 §14). The want names the composition only
-// after the answer yes. The way the move was judged is in the ask.
-func RecordAsk(key, node, module, fp string, need RecordNeed, now time.Time) asks.Ask {
+// after the answer yes. The way the move was judged is in the ask. asking is the writing's number (AskingSeconds), so a key taken
+// away as stale and written again is asked again under a new id (issue 1966: nats on novox was asked once, taken back and never
+// asked again, for the rewritten key carried the id the router already kept).
+func RecordAsk(key, node, module, fp string, need RecordNeed, asking int, now time.Time) asks.Ask {
 	what := map[Judgement]string{
 		JudgedRecreates: "recreates a container",
 		JudgedMovesData: "moves the module's data",
 		JudgedCannot:    "cannot be judged: " + need.Words,
 	}[need.Judgement]
-	return assignerAsk(0, oc.Ask{
-		ID:       meshdeliveryclient.AskingID(key, 0),
+	return assignerAsk(asking, oc.Ask{
+		ID:       meshdeliveryclient.AskingID(key, asking),
 		Headline: fmt.Sprintf("%s waits for your yes on %s", module, node),
 		Explanation: fmt.Sprintf("%s is recorded: a person takes each of its moves. The next one on %s (version %s) %s. "+
 			"The node is told to apply it only after you say yes.", module, node, short(fp), what),
@@ -183,6 +187,10 @@ func RecordAsk(key, node, module, fp string, need RecordNeed, now time.Time) ask
 	})
 }
 
+// AskingSeconds is the number of an asking written at now: its time in seconds, as a hold's and an assignments' ask are numbered
+// (never below 2, which AskingID needs for an id of its own). A key written again after it was taken away is another asking.
+func AskingSeconds(now time.Time) int { return max(int(now.Unix()), 2) }
+
 // NextBackupAsking is the number of the asking that follows the one numbered after (a negative number: none yet). Numbers 0 and 1
 // give one id (meshdeliveryclient.AskingID), so the first asking is 0 and the next 2.
 func NextBackupAsking(after int) int {
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks_test.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks_test.go
index 9624858b..f88004df 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-assigner/internal/assign/asks_test.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func theRestoreAskIsValid(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	now := time.Now()
-	a := RestoreAsk(key, "ace", "mail", fNew, "connection refused", now)
+	a := RestoreAsk(key, "ace", "mail", fNew, "connection refused", 2, now)
 	if err := occ.Check(mustAsk(t, a), now); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("the router refuses the ask: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ func TestTheRecordAndBackupAsksAreValid(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	r := RecordAsk(rkey, "ace", "mail", fNew, RecordNeed{Node: "ace", Digest: "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("b", 64), Judgement: JudgedCannot, Words: "the composition it runs is gone"}, now)
+	r := RecordAsk(rkey, "ace", "mail", fNew, RecordNeed{Node: "ace", Digest: "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("b", 64), Judgement: JudgedCannot, Words: "the composition it runs is gone"}, 2, now)
 	bkey, err := asks.BackupAskKey("ace", "mail", fNew)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)