diff --git a/internal/apply/apply.go b/internal/apply/apply.go
index 6bdb549..aced7bd 100644
--- a/internal/apply/apply.go
+++ b/internal/apply/apply.go
@@ -364,6 +364,7 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 		// flushed. A failure here fails the service too — the mesh's interface is not started on a
 		// port the found one still holds.
 		stoppedFound := false
+		tookAt := -1
 		if svc, ok := resource.(*declaration.Service); ok && svc.TakesOver != nil {
 			var outcome Outcome
 			var facts TakenTunnel
@@ -388,8 +389,11 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 				log(fmt.Sprintf("  failed %s (%s): %v", svc.Identity(), svc.Unit, err))
 				continue
 			}
+			tookAt = len(report.Outcomes)
 			report.Outcomes = append(report.Outcomes, outcome)
-			log(fmt.Sprintf("  held %s (%s): %s", outcome.ID, outcome.Target, outcome.Detail))
+			if outcome.Action == "held" {
+				log(fmt.Sprintf("  held %s (%s): %s", outcome.ID, outcome.Target, outcome.Detail))
+			}
 		}
 
 		was, _ := known.Find(resource.Identity())
@@ -510,6 +514,16 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 			// The found interface is down and the mesh's is up in its place: the tunnel changed
 			// hands (novox/hq ADR 0105). Read from the machine, not assumed.
 			report.Tunnel.State = tunnelState(ctx, sys, svc.TakesOver.Unit, svc.Unit, run)
+			// And once a peer has handshaken with it, the take is proven and the found
+			// configuration is retired — here, after the mesh's service applied, so in the apply
+			// of the take itself only if a peer is already through; otherwise a later apply
+			// retires it (novox/hq ADR 0119). What it did replaces what the take said of the file.
+			if o, did := retireFound(ctx, svc, d, &known, run, keep, report.Tunnel, time.Now().UTC()); did {
+				if tookAt >= 0 {
+					report.Outcomes[tookAt] = o
+				}
+				log(fmt.Sprintf("  %s %s (%s): %s", o.Action, o.ID, o.Target, o.Detail))
+			}
 		}
 		report.Outcomes = append(report.Outcomes, outcome)
 		if outcome.Action != "unchanged" {
diff --git a/internal/apply/hold_test.go b/internal/apply/hold_test.go
index 850f254..5f67996 100644
--- a/internal/apply/hold_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/hold_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ type machine struct {
 	asked      []string
 	// wgUp is what `wg show interfaces` answers: the tunnels up on the machine.
 	wgUp string
+	// handshakes is what `wg show <interface> latest-handshakes` answers, and handshakesFail the
+	// error it fails with instead — a machine with no `wg`, say (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+	handshakes     string
+	handshakesFail error
 
 	// units are service units by name, as systemd would report them; volumes are the runtime's
 	// named volumes.
@@ -101,6 +105,9 @@ func (m *machine) run(_ context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, e
 		return m.systemctl(args)
 	}
 	if name == "wg" {
+		if len(args) > 0 && args[len(args)-1] == "latest-handshakes" {
+			return m.handshakes, m.handshakesFail
+		}
 		return m.wgUp, nil
 	}
 	if name == "getent" {
diff --git a/internal/apply/plan.go b/internal/apply/plan.go
index 1937617..475a34c 100644
--- a/internal/apply/plan.go
+++ b/internal/apply/plan.go
@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ func Plan(d *declaration.Declaration, known store.State, origin string) []Step {
 	for _, r := range d.Resources {
 		declared[r.Identity()] = true
 	}
+	// The found tunnel's configuration is held under an id of its own, declared for as long as the
+	// service taking it over is — as ApplyKeeping counts it, or a plan would forget a hold the
+	// apply keeps (novox/hq ADR 0105).
+	if svc := takesOver(d); svc != nil {
+		declared[takeOverID(svc)] = true
+	}
 	rec := known.Firewall
 	ufw := rec != nil && rec.Kind == string(firewall.UFW)
 
@@ -136,7 +142,12 @@ func Plan(d *declaration.Declaration, known store.State, origin string) []Step {
 	}
 	steps = append(steps, orphans...)
 	for _, r := range rest {
-		steps = append(steps, planned(r, d, known))
+		step := planned(r, d, known)
+		if svc, ok := r.(*declaration.Service); ok && svc.TakesOver != nil && d.Adoption != nil && step.Verb != "hold" {
+			// The take comes before the service that replaces the tunnel, as it does in the apply.
+			steps = append(steps, plannedTake(svc, known))
+		}
+		steps = append(steps, step)
 	}
 
 	// Only a declaration from the mesh converges a node; a bundle or a file never retires the
@@ -239,6 +250,31 @@ func planned(r declaration.Resource, d *declaration.Declaration, known store.Sta
 	return step
 }
 
+// plannedTake is what the take of a found tunnel would do to its configuration (novox/hq ADR 0105,
+// ADR 0119): kept as found while the take is not proven, and retired — removed from where its unit
+// reads it, its original staying kept — by the first apply that finds the mesh's interface up in
+// its place with a peer handshaken. Whether that is this apply is read from the machine, which a
+// plan does not do, so it says when rather than whether. One the mesh retired already is said as
+// retired: nothing brings it back.
+func plannedTake(svc *declaration.Service, known store.State) Step {
+	t := svc.TakesOver
+	step := Step{Verb: "hold", Type: string(declaration.TypeFile), ID: takeOverID(svc), Target: t.Config}
+	if r, ok := known.RetiredAt(t.Config); ok {
+		step.Verb = "check"
+		step.Why = "retired once the take of " + t.Interface + " was proven; its original stays at " + r.Kept +
+			" and the mesh never brings it back"
+		return step
+	}
+	step.Why = "the configuration of the tunnel " + t.Interface + ", kept as found while " + svc.Unit +
+		" takes it over (" + t.Unit + " stopped and disabled, never flushed); retired — removed from " +
+		t.Config + ", its original staying kept — once the take is proven by a peer handshaking on " +
+		strings.TrimPrefix(svc.Unit, "wg-quick@")
+	if h, ok := known.HeldAt(takeOverID(svc)); ok && h.Kept != "" {
+		step.Why += "; the original is at " + h.Kept
+	}
+	return step
+}
+
 // readsChanged is which of the files a container was created reading the apply will hand it
 // changed — the same comparison applyContainer makes (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103), settled from the
 // declaration and the record alone.
diff --git a/internal/apply/takeover.go b/internal/apply/takeover.go
index 359412c..0669746 100644
--- a/internal/apply/takeover.go
+++ b/internal/apply/takeover.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -27,6 +28,16 @@ import (
 // Every apply, not once: a found unit somebody starts again would take the port back from the
 // mesh's interface, so it is stopped again and said so. That is the one place an adopted node
 // undoes something done by hand, and it is because the tunnel is the mesh's now.
+//
+// **Until the take is proven, and then the found configuration is retired** (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+// Keeping it on disk was the caution the take needed: if the mesh's interface does not come up,
+// the found unit is started again and the peers never notice. That caution is spent once the
+// tunnel is taken — the found unit down and disabled, the mesh's interface up — and a peer has
+// handshaken with the mesh's interface. From then on a configuration nothing maintains, one
+// command away from raising a second way onto the network, is not a rollback path but a door
+// nobody watches. So it is removed from where its unit reads it; its original, kept before
+// anything happened to it (ADR 0100), stays kept; and the hold on it ends. A take never proven
+// keeps it, and says so — a broken take is visible, not silently retired.
 
 // TakenTunnel is what an apply says about a tunnel it took over, for the node's report.
 type TakenTunnel struct {
@@ -36,7 +47,9 @@ type TakenTunnel struct {
 	Peers     int
 	// State is "not-taken" (the found interface still up, the mesh's not), "taken" (the found one
 	// down and disabled, the mesh's up with its key) or "down" (the found one down and the mesh's
-	// not up: the peers reach nothing). Note is what this apply did about it.
+	// not up: the peers reach nothing). Note is what this apply did about it — and, for a taken
+	// tunnel, whether the take is proven and its found configuration retired (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+	// Kept is where the found configuration's original is, retired or not.
 	State string
 	Note  string
 	Kept  string
@@ -84,14 +97,53 @@ func takeOver(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, svc *declaration.Service,
 
 	// 1. The configuration, kept like any held file. A synthetic file resource stands for it, so
 	//    the same code keeps its original, digests it and notices it changing.
+	//
+	//    **Unless it was retired** (novox/hq ADR 0119): the take was proven and the mesh removed
+	//    it, so there is nothing to hold and nothing missing — only where its original is, which
+	//    the retirement recorded. A hold still standing is let go: that is what retiring it meant.
+	//
+	//    **One that comes back is held again on its FIRST original** — the one kept before anything
+	//    happened to it (ADR 0100), never whatever was put back — and retired again by the first
+	//    apply that finds the take still proven, keeping what came back only if it differs from
+	//    what is already kept. Put back by hand while the private network is assigned, it is not a
+	//    rollback: that means unassigning the private network first, and the note says so.
 	file := &declaration.File{ID: id, Type: declaration.TypeFile, Path: t.Config}
-	was, already := known.HeldAt(id)
-	out, held, err := hold(ctx, sys, file, module, was, already,
-		"the configuration of the tunnel "+t.Interface+", taken over by "+svc.Unit, run, keep, now)
-	if err != nil {
-		return begin(file), facts, false, fmt.Errorf("keeping the found tunnel's configuration: %w", err)
+	var held store.Held
+	retired, wasRetired := known.RetiredAt(t.Config)
+	cameBack := wasRetired && present(t.Config)
+	switch {
+	case wasRetired && !cameBack:
+		known.Release(id)
+		held = store.Held{Kept: retired.Kept}
+		out = begin(file)
+		out.Action = "unchanged"
+		facts.Note = "the found configuration " + t.Config + " was retired once the take was proven; " +
+			"its original is kept at " + retired.Kept + " and the mesh never brings it back"
+	default:
+		was, already := known.HeldAt(id)
+		why := "the configuration of the tunnel " + t.Interface + ", taken over by " + svc.Unit
+		if cameBack && !already {
+			digest := retired.Digest
+			if digest == "" {
+				if raw, err := os.ReadFile(retired.Kept); err == nil {
+					digest = digestOf(string(raw))
+				}
+			}
+			was = store.Held{ID: id, Module: module, Kind: string(declaration.TypeFile), Target: t.Config,
+				Since: now, Why: why, Kept: retired.Kept, Digest: digest}
+			already = true
+		}
+		out, held, err = hold(ctx, sys, file, module, was, already, why, run, keep, now)
+		if err != nil {
+			return begin(file), facts, false, fmt.Errorf("keeping the found tunnel's configuration: %w", err)
+		}
+		known.RecordHeld(held)
+		if cameBack {
+			facts.Note = "the found configuration " + t.Config + " came back after it was retired; while the " +
+				"private network is assigned the mesh retires it again, so rolling back to the found tunnel " +
+				"means unassigning the private network first"
+		}
 	}
-	known.RecordHeld(held)
 	facts.Kept = held.Kept
 	// What the file says, for the report: from the machine, or from the kept original when the
 	// machine's copy is gone. The private key stays in the file; nothing here keeps it.
@@ -185,6 +237,13 @@ func takeOver(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, svc *declaration.Service,
 	}
 
 	out.Detail = "the tunnel " + t.Interface + "'s configuration, kept as found"
+	switch {
+	case cameBack:
+		out.Detail = "the tunnel " + t.Interface + "'s configuration, back after it was retired; held until " +
+			"it is retired again"
+	case wasRetired:
+		out.Detail = "the tunnel " + t.Interface + "'s configuration, retired once the take was proven"
+	}
 	if held.Kept != "" {
 		out.Detail += " (original at " + held.Kept + ")"
 	}
@@ -335,6 +394,175 @@ func restoreFound(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, unit string, run Runne
 	facts.Note += "; " + unit + " was started again, so the machine has the tunnel it had"
 }
 
+// wireguardDir is where a found tunnel's configuration may be retired from: wg-quick's own, and
+// nowhere else. A variable so a test can hand in a directory.
+var wireguardDir = tunnel.ConfigDir
+
+// retireFound removes the found tunnel's configuration from where its unit reads it, once the take
+// is proven, and ends the hold on it (novox/hq ADR 0119). Asked after the mesh's service applied
+// and the tunnel reads as taken; retired says whether this apply retired it, and out is then what
+// replaces the take's outcome for the configuration.
+//
+// **Proven is taken and a handshake.** Taken alone — the found unit down and disabled, the mesh's
+// interface up — says the mesh's interface exists, not that any peer reaches it: an interface up
+// with the wrong key is taken and carries nothing. A peer that has completed a handshake with it
+// has checked its key, so that is the proof, asked of the kernel through `wg`. Any handshake counts,
+// however old: a change to the mesh's configuration restarts its unit, which recreates the
+// interface and resets its counters, so a time that is there at all was made by this interface.
+// Anything short of one — no peer yet, every time zero, `wg` missing or failing — keeps the file,
+// and the account says which: a take that never proves itself is visible rather than silently
+// retired.
+//
+// **Only what the take names, and only wg-quick's own file.** Nothing is removed unless the path
+// is exactly `<wireguard dir>/<found interface>.conf`, is not a path the mesh itself writes, and is
+// a file rather than a link: removing a link would leave the key-bearing file it points at where it
+// is, a retirement in name only, so that one is said and left to a person.
+//
+// **The original must still be kept.** It is the record of what the predecessor was and a
+// person's only way back (ADR 0100); a kept copy that has gone missing is said, and the file is
+// not removed, since removing it then would lose the only copy. What is on disk now, if it differs
+// from the first original and from what was kept at the last retirement, is kept too before it
+// goes — by content, so the first original is never overwritten and a file that keeps coming back
+// the same keeps nothing more.
+//
+// The found unit is left disabled; without its configuration it cannot raise the interface, so
+// every later apply's check of it finds nothing to do. Nothing here ever writes the file back.
+func retireFound(ctx context.Context, svc *declaration.Service, d *declaration.Declaration, known *store.State,
+	run Runner, keep Keep, facts *TakenTunnel, now time.Time) (out Outcome, retired bool) {
+	t := svc.TakesOver
+	id := takeOverID(svc)
+	if facts.State != Taken {
+		return out, false
+	}
+	held, isHeld := known.HeldAt(id)
+	if !isHeld {
+		// Retired already (takeOver let any hold go and said so), or never held: nothing to do.
+		return out, false
+	}
+	say := func(note string) {
+		if facts.Note != "" {
+			facts.Note += "; "
+		}
+		facts.Note += note
+	}
+	notRetired := func(why string) (Outcome, bool) {
+		say("the found configuration " + t.Config + " is not retired: " + why)
+		return Outcome{}, false
+	}
+	mesh := strings.TrimPrefix(svc.Unit, "wg-quick@")
+	peers, err := tunnel.Handshaken(ctx, tunnel.Runner(run), mesh)
+	if err != nil {
+		say("taken, not yet proven: " + err.Error() + "; the found configuration " + t.Config + " is kept")
+		return out, false
+	}
+	if peers == 0 {
+		say("taken, not yet proven: no peer has handshaken on " + mesh + "; the found configuration " +
+			t.Config + " is kept")
+		return out, false
+	}
+	proven := fmt.Sprintf("proven: %d peer(s) handshaken on %s", peers, mesh)
+	say(proven)
+
+	// What may be removed at all.
+	if want := filepath.Join(wireguardDir, t.Interface+".conf"); t.Config != want {
+		return notRetired("only " + want + ", the found interface's own wg-quick configuration, is ever " +
+			"retired by the mesh, and the take names " + t.Config)
+	}
+	if known.Recorded(string(declaration.TypeFile), t.Config) || declaresFile(d, t.Config) {
+		return notRetired("it is a path the mesh itself writes")
+	}
+	if info, err := os.Lstat(t.Config); err == nil && info.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink != 0 {
+		target, _ := os.Readlink(t.Config)
+		return notRetired("it is a link to " + target + "; removing the link would leave the key-bearing file " +
+			"it points at, so it must be retired by hand — both are kept")
+	}
+
+	// The kept original, read back — not just named in a record.
+	if held.Kept == "" {
+		return notRetired("no original of it was kept, so removing it would leave no record of what the " +
+			"predecessor was")
+	}
+	original, err := os.ReadFile(held.Kept)
+	if err != nil || (held.Digest != "" && digestOf(string(original)) != held.Digest) {
+		why := "is missing"
+		if err == nil {
+			why = "no longer holds what was found"
+		} else if !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+			why = "cannot be read (" + err.Error() + ")"
+		}
+		return notRetired("its kept original " + held.Kept + " " + why + ", so removing it would lose the only copy")
+	}
+
+	before, cameBack := known.RetiredAt(t.Config)
+	record := store.Retired{ID: id, Path: t.Config, Kept: held.Kept, Digest: digestOf(string(original)), At: now}
+	if cameBack {
+		// The first original stays the record's, and so does what the last retirement kept.
+		record.Extra, record.ExtraDigest, record.Again = before.Extra, before.ExtraDigest, before.Again+1
+	}
+	newCopy := ""
+	gone := !present(t.Config)
+	if !gone {
+		current, err := os.ReadFile(t.Config)
+		if err != nil {
+			return notRetired("it cannot be read (" + err.Error() + ")")
+		}
+		if sum := digestOf(string(current)); sum != record.Digest && sum != record.ExtraDigest {
+			if keep == nil {
+				return notRetired("it holds something other than its kept original and this host has nowhere " +
+					"to keep it")
+			}
+			where, err := keep(t.Config, current, 0o600)
+			if err != nil {
+				return notRetired("keeping what it holds now failed (" + err.Error() + ")")
+			}
+			record.Extra, record.ExtraDigest, newCopy = where, sum, where
+		}
+		if err := os.Remove(t.Config); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+			return notRetired("removing it failed (" + err.Error() + ")")
+		}
+		if present(t.Config) {
+			return notRetired("it is still there after it was removed")
+		}
+	}
+
+	known.RecordRetired(record)
+	known.Release(id)
+	facts.Kept = held.Kept
+	copied := ""
+	if newCopy != "" {
+		copied = "; what it held, which differed from the original, is kept at " + newCopy
+	}
+	out = Outcome{ID: id, Type: string(declaration.TypeFile), Target: t.Config, Action: "removed"}
+	switch {
+	case cameBack:
+		say("the found configuration came back and was retired again — its original still kept at " +
+			held.Kept + copied + "; rolling back to the found tunnel means unassigning the private network first")
+		out.Detail = "the found configuration came back and was retired again; original kept at " + held.Kept + copied
+	default:
+		say("the found configuration " + t.Config + " is retired — its original kept at " + held.Kept + copied +
+			", " + t.Unit + " left disabled, and the mesh never brings it back")
+		out.Detail = "retired: the take of " + t.Interface + " is " + proven + "; original kept at " + held.Kept + copied
+	}
+	if gone {
+		// Already gone — removed by something other than the mesh, or by an apply whose record was
+		// never saved. Nothing removed here; the hold ends all the same.
+		out.Action = "unchanged"
+		out.Detail = "retired: the take of " + t.Interface + " is " + proven + " and " + t.Config +
+			" was already gone; original kept at " + held.Kept
+	}
+	return out, true
+}
+
+// declaresFile is whether a declaration writes a file at a path.
+func declaresFile(d *declaration.Declaration, path string) bool {
+	for _, r := range d.Resources {
+		if f, ok := r.(*declaration.File); ok && filepath.Clean(f.Path) == filepath.Clean(path) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // takesOver is the service in a declaration that takes over a tunnel, if any: one per node, since
 // a machine has one private network.
 func takesOver(d *declaration.Declaration) *declaration.Service {
diff --git a/internal/apply/takeover_test.go b/internal/apply/takeover_test.go
index 18fde16..8b6c24e 100644
--- a/internal/apply/takeover_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/takeover_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/ecdh"
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"encoding/base64"
+	"errors"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -65,6 +66,10 @@ func aHubInUse(t *testing.T) (dir, config, mesh, keyFile string, m *machine) {
 		"wg-quick@mesh0": {active: "inactive", enabled: "disabled", fragment: "/usr/lib/systemd/system/wg-quick@.service"},
 	}}
 	takeoverRecheck = 0
+	// The found configuration lives in this test's own wireguard directory (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+	was := wireguardDir
+	wireguardDir = dir
+	t.Cleanup(func() { wireguardDir = was })
 	return dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m
 }
 
@@ -77,7 +82,10 @@ func TestTheFoundTunnelIsStoppedNeverFlushedAndItsConfigurationKept(t *testing.T
 		t.Fatalf("the found unit was not stopped and disabled: %+v", u)
 	}
 	for _, asked := range m.asked {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(asked, "wg ") && !strings.HasPrefix(asked, "wg show interfaces") {
+		// Only ever asked about: which interfaces are up, and whether a peer has handshaken with
+		// the mesh's own (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+		if strings.HasPrefix(asked, "wg ") && !strings.HasPrefix(asked, "wg show interfaces") &&
+			asked != "wg show mesh0 latest-handshakes" {
 			t.Errorf("the found interface was touched with %q; it is stopped, never flushed", asked)
 		}
 		if strings.HasPrefix(asked, "wg-quick") || strings.Contains(asked, "peer remove") {
@@ -254,3 +262,454 @@ func TestATakeoverIsRefusedOnAConvergedDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a takeover on a converged node was accepted: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0119: once the take is proven — taken, and a peer handshaken on the mesh's
+// interface — the found configuration is removed from where its unit reads it, its original stays
+// kept and the hold on it ends. Never before, and never brought back.
+
+const takesOverID = "mesh-wireguard.overlay-up.takes-over"
+
+// handshaken is `wg show mesh0 latest-handshakes` with one of the two peers through.
+const handshaken = "PEER-A=\t1790000000\nPEER-B=\t0\n"
+
+func TestAProvenTakeRetiresTheFoundConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1"), store.State{}, m, dir)
+
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("a proven take left the found configuration where its unit reads it: %v", err)
+	}
+	retired, ok := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if !ok || retired.Kept == "" || retired.ID != takesOverID {
+		t.Fatalf("the retirement was not recorded: %+v", state.Retired)
+	}
+	if kept, _ := os.ReadFile(retired.Kept); string(kept) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatalf("the kept original did not survive the retirement: %q", kept)
+	}
+	if _, held := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); held {
+		t.Error("the hold on the found configuration did not end with its retirement")
+	}
+	if u := m.units["wg-quick@wg0"]; u.active != "inactive" || u.enabled != "disabled" {
+		t.Errorf("the found unit is not left down and disabled: %+v", u)
+	}
+	if report.Tunnel == nil || report.Tunnel.State != Taken || report.Tunnel.Kept != retired.Kept ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "proven: 1 peer(s) handshaken on mesh0") ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "is retired") {
+		t.Fatalf("the account does not say the take is proven and the configuration retired: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); o.Action != "removed" || !strings.Contains(o.Detail, "retired") {
+		t.Errorf("the retirement is not what the apply says it did to the file: %+v", o)
+	}
+	// And the account still carries what was found, read from the kept original.
+	if report.Tunnel.Port != 51900 || report.Tunnel.Peers != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("the account lost what the tunnel was: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestATakeNotProvenKeepsTheFoundConfigurationAndSaysSo(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]struct {
+		handshakes string
+		fail       error
+		says       string
+	}{
+		"no peer at all":          {"", nil, "no peer has handshaken on mesh0"},
+		"every handshake at zero": {"PEER-A=\t0\nPEER-B=\t0\n", nil, "no peer has handshaken on mesh0"},
+		"wg is not there":         {"", errors.New(`exec: "wg": executable file not found in $PATH`), "executable file not found"},
+		"the answer is nonsense":  {"unable to access interface\n", nil, "not a peer and a time"},
+	}
+	for name, c := range cases {
+		dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+		m.handshakes, m.handshakesFail = c.handshakes, c.fail
+		d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+		report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+
+		if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: a take not proven lost the found configuration", name)
+		}
+		if _, held := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !held {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the hold ended although the take is not proven", name)
+		}
+		if _, retired := state.RetiredAt(config); retired {
+			t.Errorf("%s: recorded as retired", name)
+		}
+		if report.Tunnel == nil || report.Tunnel.State != Taken ||
+			!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "taken, not yet proven") ||
+			!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, c.says) || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "is kept") {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the account does not say the take is not proven and why: %+v", name, report.Tunnel)
+		}
+
+		// A later apply that finds a peer through retires it: the take itself need not be the one.
+		m.handshakes, m.handshakesFail = handshaken, nil
+		_, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+		if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the apply after the take was proven kept the found configuration", name)
+		}
+		if _, retired := state.RetiredAt(config); !retired {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the later retirement was not recorded", name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAFoundConfigurationWhoseKeptOriginalIsMissingIsNotRetired(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	held, _ := state.HeldAt(takesOverID)
+	if err := os.Remove(held.Kept); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("the found configuration was removed with no kept original left of it")
+	}
+	if _, still := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !still {
+		t.Error("the hold ended although nothing was retired")
+	}
+	if _, retired := state.RetiredAt(config); retired {
+		t.Error("recorded as retired")
+	}
+	if report.Tunnel == nil || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "is not retired") ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, held.Kept+" is missing") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not say the kept original is missing: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAFoundConfigurationRewrittenSinceItWasFoundIsKeptAgainBeforeItGoes(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	rewritten := foundConf + "\n[Peer]\nPublicKey = PEER-C=\nAllowedIPs = 192.0.2.4/32\n"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(config, []byte(rewritten), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	_, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatal("a proven take kept a rewritten configuration")
+	}
+	retired, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if first, _ := os.ReadFile(retired.Kept); string(first) != foundConf {
+		t.Errorf("the first original was overwritten: %q", first)
+	}
+	kept, _ := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(dir, "kept", "*-wg0.conf"))
+	var found bool
+	for _, k := range kept {
+		if got, _ := os.ReadFile(k); string(got) == rewritten {
+			found = true
+		}
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Errorf("what the file held when it was retired was not kept: %v", kept)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestARetiredTakeIsSteadyAndItsFoundUnitFindsNothingToDo(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	retired, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+
+	// wg-quick@wg0 with no configuration: inactive, and disabled — the check of it every apply
+	// makes must find nothing to do and fail on nothing.
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, again := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if report.Changed() {
+		t.Errorf("an apply after the retirement moved the machine: %+v", report.Outcomes)
+	}
+	if m.did("systemctl stop wg-quick@wg0") || m.did("systemctl start wg-quick@wg0") {
+		t.Errorf("the retired tunnel's unit was acted on: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Error("the found configuration came back")
+	}
+	if _, held := again.HeldAt(takesOverID); held {
+		t.Error("a retired configuration is held again")
+	}
+	if r, ok := again.RetiredAt(config); !ok || r != retired {
+		t.Errorf("the retirement was not kept as it was: %+v", again.Retired)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); o.Action != "unchanged" || !strings.Contains(o.Detail, "retired") {
+		t.Errorf("the retired configuration is not said as retired: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if report.Tunnel == nil || report.Tunnel.State != Taken || report.Tunnel.Kept != retired.Kept ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "retired") || report.Tunnel.Port != 51900 {
+		t.Errorf("the account of a retired take does not say so: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+
+	// Enabled at boot again by a person: disabled again, as any take does, and still no error.
+	m.units["wg-quick@wg0"].enabled = "enabled"
+	_, _ = applyAdopted(t, d, again, m, dir)
+	if m.units["wg-quick@wg0"].enabled != "disabled" {
+		t.Error("the found unit enabled again by hand was left to start at boot")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestUndeclaringThePrivateNetworkAfterRetirementBringsNothingBack(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+
+	// The private network unassigned: only something else is declared.
+	other := adopted(t, `{"taken":[],"untaken":{}}`,
+		`{"id":"other.file","type":"file","path":"`+filepath.Join(dir, "other.conf")+`","content":"x\n"}`)
+	m.asked = nil
+	_, after := applyAdopted(t, other, state, m, dir)
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatal("undeclaring the private network brought the found configuration back")
+	}
+	if m.did("systemctl start wg-quick@wg0") || m.did("systemctl enable wg-quick@wg0") {
+		t.Errorf("undeclaring the private network started the found tunnel: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	if _, ok := after.RetiredAt(config); !ok {
+		t.Error("the retirement was forgotten with the private network")
+	}
+
+	// Assigned again, it finds the configuration retired rather than missing, and raises the
+	// mesh's interface.
+	report, _ := applyAdopted(t, d, after, m, dir)
+	if report.Tunnel == nil || report.Tunnel.State != Taken {
+		t.Errorf("the private network assigned again did not take the tunnel: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Error("assigning the private network again brought the found configuration back")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAPlanSaysTheFoundConfigurationIsRetiredWhenTheTakeIsProven(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+
+	plan := Plan(d, store.State{}, store.OriginDeclared)
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	if got, want := strings.Join(ids(plan), " "), strings.Join(outcomeIDs(report), " "); got != want {
+		t.Errorf("the plan said %q and the apply did %q", got, want)
+	}
+	var take Step
+	for _, s := range plan {
+		if s.ID == takesOverID {
+			take = s
+		}
+	}
+	if take.Verb != "hold" || take.Target != config || !strings.Contains(take.Why, "retired — removed from "+config) ||
+		!strings.Contains(take.Why, "handshaking on mesh0") {
+		t.Errorf("the plan does not say the found configuration is retired once proven: %+v", take)
+	}
+	// Held and still declared: never planned as forgotten.
+	if strings.Contains(verbs(Plan(d, state, store.OriginDeclared)), "forget "+takesOverID) {
+		t.Error("the plan forgets a hold the apply keeps")
+	}
+
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	_, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	for _, s := range Plan(d, state, store.OriginDeclared) {
+		if s.ID == takesOverID && (s.Verb != "check" || !strings.Contains(s.Why, "retired once the take")) {
+			t.Errorf("a retired configuration is planned as %+v", s)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// keptCopies is every copy kept of the found configuration.
+func keptCopies(t *testing.T, dir string) []string {
+	t.Helper()
+	kept, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(dir, "kept", "*-wg0.conf"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return kept
+}
+
+func TestAConfigurationPutBackIsRetiredAgainOnItsFirstOriginalAndSettles(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	first, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+
+	// Put back by hand with the original, while no peer is through yet: held on the first
+	// original, and the account says what a rollback takes.
+	write(t, config, foundConf)
+	m.handshakes = ""
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if held, ok := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !ok || held.Kept != first.Kept {
+		t.Fatalf("what came back is not held on the first original: %+v", held)
+	}
+	if report.Tunnel == nil || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "came back after it was retired") ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "unassigning the private network first") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not say a rollback means unassigning the private network: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+
+	// Proven: retired again, nothing more kept, said once.
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	again, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) || again.Kept != first.Kept || again.Extra != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("put back as it was, it was not retired again on the first original: %+v", again)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); o.Action != "removed" ||
+		!strings.HasPrefix(o.Detail, "the found configuration came back and was retired again") ||
+		strings.Contains(o.Detail, "differed") {
+		t.Errorf("the second retirement is not said as one: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "unassigning the private network first") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not say what a rollback takes: %q", report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+	if n := len(keptCopies(t, dir)); n != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("%d copies kept of one content", n)
+	}
+	if report, _ := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir); report.Changed() {
+		t.Errorf("a steady machine moved after the second retirement: %+v", report.Outcomes)
+	}
+
+	// Put back with something else: that is kept beside the first original, which stays the record's.
+	other := strings.Replace(foundConf, "PEER-B=", "PEER-Z=", 1)
+	write(t, config, other)
+	report, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	third, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if third.Kept != first.Kept || third.Extra == "" || third.Extra == first.Kept {
+		t.Fatalf("other content was not kept apart from the first original: %+v", third)
+	}
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(third.Extra); string(got) != other {
+		t.Errorf("the extra copy does not hold what was put back: %q", got)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); !strings.Contains(o.Detail, third.Extra) ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, third.Extra) {
+		t.Errorf("where the extra copy is was not said: %+v / %q", o, report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+
+	// And the same other content again: nothing more kept, the record as it was.
+	write(t, config, other)
+	report, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	fourth, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if fourth.Kept != first.Kept || fourth.Extra != third.Extra || len(keptCopies(t, dir)) != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("the same content put back again grew the copies: %+v, %v", fourth, keptCopies(t, dir))
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); strings.Contains(o.Detail, "differed") {
+		t.Errorf("a copy already kept was said as new: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if report, _ := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir); report.Changed() {
+		t.Errorf("a steady machine moved: %+v", report.Outcomes)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOnlyWgQuicksOwnConfigurationIsRetired(t *testing.T) {
+	// Not under the wireguard directory.
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	wireguardDir = filepath.Join(dir, "elsewhere")
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1"), store.State{}, m, dir)
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("a configuration outside wg-quick's directory was removed")
+	}
+	if _, held := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !held || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "is not retired: only ") {
+		t.Errorf("the refusal is not said, or the hold ended: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+
+	// A path the mesh itself writes.
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m = aHubInUse(t)
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	known := store.State{}
+	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "bundle.wg0", Type: "file", Target: config, Origin: store.OriginCarried})
+	report, _ = applyAdopted(t, aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1"), known, m, dir)
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("a path the mesh writes was retired")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "a path the mesh itself writes") {
+		t.Errorf("the refusal is not said: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAFoundConfigurationThatIsALinkIsKeptAndLeftToAPerson(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	target := filepath.Join(dir, "predecessor", "hub.conf")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(target), 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	write(t, target, foundConf)
+	if err := os.Remove(config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.Symlink(target, config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1"), store.State{}, m, dir)
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("the link was removed, leaving the key-bearing file it points at")
+	}
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(target); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("the file the link points at was touched")
+	}
+	held, ok := state.HeldAt(takesOverID)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("the hold ended")
+	}
+	if kept, _ := os.ReadFile(held.Kept); string(kept) != foundConf {
+		t.Errorf("what was kept is not what the link points at: %q", kept)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "is a link to "+target) || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "by hand") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not say the link must be retired by hand: %q", report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestARetirementWhoseRecordWasNeverSavedIsRecordedByTheNextApply(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	held, _ := state.HeldAt(takesOverID)
+	// An apply removed the file and stopped before its state was saved.
+	if err := os.Remove(config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if r, ok := state.RetiredAt(config); !ok || r.Kept != held.Kept {
+		t.Fatalf("the retirement was not recorded: %+v", state.Retired)
+	}
+	if _, still := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); still {
+		t.Error("the hold did not end")
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); o.Action != "unchanged" || !strings.Contains(o.Detail, "already gone") {
+		t.Errorf("a file already gone is not said as such: %+v", o)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestARemovalThatFailsKeepsTheFileAndTheHold(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Geteuid() == 0 {
+		t.Skip("root removes from a directory it may not write to")
+	}
+	dir, _, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	wg := filepath.Join(dir, "wireguard")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(wg, 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	config := filepath.Join(wg, "wg0.conf")
+	write(t, config, foundConf)
+	wireguardDir = wg
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+
+	if err := os.Chmod(wg, 0o500); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = os.Chmod(wg, 0o700) })
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("the found configuration is gone although it could not be removed")
+	}
+	if _, held := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !held {
+		t.Error("the hold ended although nothing was retired")
+	}
+	if _, retired := state.RetiredAt(config); retired {
+		t.Error("recorded as retired")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "removing it failed") || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "permission denied") {
+		t.Errorf("the failed removal is not said: %q", report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/declaration/declaration.go b/internal/declaration/declaration.go
index 5cc738f..d0c6e63 100644
--- a/internal/declaration/declaration.go
+++ b/internal/declaration/declaration.go
@@ -706,9 +706,10 @@ type Service struct {
 
 	// TakesOver names the found tunnel this service replaces (novox/hq ADR 0105): before this unit
 	// is started, the named unit is stopped and disabled — never flushed — and its configuration
-	// file is kept like any held file. Only on an adopted node, and only said by the controller,
-	// which knows the found tunnel's key is this node's own: without that, starting this unit on
-	// the found one's port would drop every peer's packets.
+	// file is kept like any held file — until the take is proven by a peer's handshake, and then
+	// retired, its original staying kept (novox/hq ADR 0119). Only on an adopted node, and only
+	// said by the controller, which knows the found tunnel's key is this node's own: without that,
+	// starting this unit on the found one's port would drop every peer's packets.
 	TakesOver *TakeOver `json:"takes-over,omitempty"`
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/store/store.go b/internal/store/store.go
index 71485a0..7306725 100644
--- a/internal/store/store.go
+++ b/internal/store/store.go
@@ -170,6 +170,40 @@ type State struct {
 	// the bundle carried in the binary is not applied again: what genesis applied was rewritten
 	// for this machine, and the mesh has said more since (novox/hq issue 104).
 	Genesis *Genesis `json:"genesis,omitempty"`
+
+	// Retired is each found tunnel configuration the mesh removed from where its unit reads it,
+	// once the private network's take of that tunnel was proven (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+	//
+	// **Not a hold, and never released with one.** The hold on the found configuration ends at the
+	// retirement — what it held for has been replaced, and the node stops reporting it — so without
+	// this the next apply would find no hold and no file and read the take as one whose
+	// configuration vanished before it could be kept. It is kept whether or not the private
+	// network stays declared: undeclaring brings nothing back (ADR 0118), and a private network
+	// assigned again finds the tunnel's configuration retired rather than missing.
+	Retired []Retired `json:"retired,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Retired is a found configuration the mesh removed once what replaced it was proven (novox/hq
+// ADR 0119): where it was, under which hold it had been kept, and where its original still is.
+type Retired struct {
+	ID   string `json:"id"`
+	Path string `json:"path"`
+	// Kept is the original as found (novox/hq ADR 0100) — the record of what the predecessor was,
+	// and a person's way back if one is ever wanted. The mesh never copies it back. It is the FIRST
+	// original, and stays so however often the file comes back: a retirement repeated never moves
+	// it. Digest is what it holds.
+	Kept   string `json:"kept"`
+	Digest string `json:"digest,omitempty"`
+	// Extra is where what was at the path when it was last retired is kept, when that differed from
+	// the first original — rewritten since it was found, or put back with other content — and
+	// ExtraDigest what it holds. One copy per distinct content: a file that comes back as it was
+	// last retired keeps nothing more.
+	Extra       string    `json:"extra,omitempty"`
+	ExtraDigest string    `json:"extra_digest,omitempty"`
+	At          time.Time `json:"at"`
+	// Again is how many times the configuration came back after it was retired, and was retired
+	// again (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+	Again int `json:"again,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Modes a node can be in (novox/hq ADR 0100).
@@ -312,6 +346,27 @@ func (s *State) Release(id string) {
 	}
 }
 
+// RetiredAt returns the retirement of the found configuration at a path, if the mesh retired one.
+func (s State) RetiredAt(path string) (Retired, bool) {
+	for _, r := range s.Retired {
+		if r.Path == path {
+			return r, true
+		}
+	}
+	return Retired{}, false
+}
+
+// RecordRetired adds or replaces the retirement of the configuration at one path.
+func (s *State) RecordRetired(r Retired) {
+	for i, existing := range s.Retired {
+		if existing.Path == r.Path {
+			s.Retired[i] = r
+			return
+		}
+	}
+	s.Retired = append(s.Retired, r)
+}
+
 // Find returns what was applied under an identity.
 func (s State) Find(id string) (Applied, bool) {
 	for _, r := range s.Resources {
diff --git a/internal/tunnel/tunnel.go b/internal/tunnel/tunnel.go
index 9e1793d..5590304 100644
--- a/internal/tunnel/tunnel.go
+++ b/internal/tunnel/tunnel.go
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 //
 // On an adopted node that is the hub, the mesh's interface is raised with the found interface's
 // private key, on its port, with its address and range, and every peer it had. The found interface
-// is stopped, never flushed; its configuration stays on disk. What this package does is the
+// is stopped, never flushed; its configuration stays on disk until the take is proven — a peer
+// has handshaken with the mesh's interface — and is then retired (novox/hq ADR 0119). What this
+// package does is the
 // reading: which interface is there, what its file says, and what of that travels to the mesh —
 // everything but the private key, which becomes the node's own overlay key and is stored the way
 // that key is stored.
@@ -151,6 +153,47 @@ func Find(ctx context.Context, run Runner, named string) (Found, error) {
 	return found, nil
 }
 
+// Handshaken is how many peers of an interface have completed a handshake with it: the proof that
+// the interface carries the tunnel, rather than merely being up (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+//
+// Asked of the running interface, since a handshake is a fact about the kernel's tunnel that no
+// file records. A question that cannot be asked — no `wg` on the machine, no such interface, a
+// permission refused — is an error and never a zero: "no peer has handshaken" retires nothing
+// either, but it is a different thing to tell a person.
+func Handshaken(ctx context.Context, run Runner, iface string) (int, error) {
+	out, err := run(ctx, "wg", "show", iface, "latest-handshakes")
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot ask %s which peers have handshaken: %w", iface, err)
+	}
+	return ParseHandshakes(out)
+}
+
+// ParseHandshakes reads `wg show <interface> latest-handshakes`: one line per peer, its public key
+// and the Unix time of its latest handshake, tab-separated — zero for a peer that never has. What
+// is counted is the peers with a time. A line that is not a key and a time is refused rather than
+// skipped: output this does not understand is not evidence of anything.
+func ParseHandshakes(out string) (int, error) {
+	n := 0
+	for i, line := range strings.Split(out, "\n") {
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		if line == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		fields := strings.Fields(line)
+		if len(fields) != 2 {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("line %d of the handshakes is not a peer and a time: %q", i+1, line)
+		}
+		at, err := strconv.ParseInt(fields[1], 10, 64)
+		if err != nil || at < 0 {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("line %d of the handshakes does not end in a time: %q", i+1, line)
+		}
+		if at > 0 {
+			n++
+		}
+	}
+	return n, nil
+}
+
 func orNone(names []string) string {
 	if len(names) == 0 {
 		return "none"
diff --git a/internal/tunnel/tunnel_test.go b/internal/tunnel/tunnel_test.go
index 19d73b3..c35ca4b 100644
--- a/internal/tunnel/tunnel_test.go
+++ b/internal/tunnel/tunnel_test.go
@@ -194,3 +194,49 @@ func TestAFoundTunnelReadsItsMTU(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a config with no MTU must leave it zero; got %d", f2.MTU)
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0119: a take is proven by a handshake on the mesh's interface, read from `wg show
+// <interface> latest-handshakes` — as wg prints it, a key and a Unix time per peer, zero for never.
+func TestAHandshakeIsAPeerWithATime(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]struct {
+		out  string
+		want int
+	}{
+		"two peers, one handshaken": {"PEER-A=\t1790000000\nPEER-B=\t0\n", 1},
+		"every peer handshaken":     {"PEER-A=\t1790000000\nPEER-B=\t1790000042\n", 2},
+		"no peer ever":              {"PEER-A=\t0\nPEER-B=\t0\n", 0},
+		"an interface with no peer": {"", 0},
+		"spaces, a trailing line":   {"PEER-A=   1790000000\n\n", 1},
+	}
+	for name, c := range cases {
+		got, err := ParseHandshakes(c.out)
+		if err != nil || got != c.want {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %d peer(s) handshaken (%v), want %d", name, got, err, c.want)
+		}
+	}
+	// Output that is not a key and a time is not evidence of anything, and not a zero either.
+	for _, nonsense := range []string{"PEER-A=\n", "PEER-A=\tyesterday\n", "PEER-A=\t-1\n", "a b c\n"} {
+		if _, err := ParseHandshakes(nonsense); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%q was read as handshakes", nonsense)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHandshakesThatCannotBeAskedAreAnErrorNotAZero(t *testing.T) {
+	var asked string
+	ok := func(_ context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
+		asked = name + " " + strings.Join(args, " ")
+		return "PEER-A=\t1790000000\n", nil
+	}
+	if n, err := Handshaken(context.Background(), ok, "mesh0"); err != nil || n != 1 ||
+		asked != "wg show mesh0 latest-handshakes" {
+		t.Fatalf("asked %q and read %d (%v)", asked, n, err)
+	}
+	missing := func(context.Context, string, ...string) (string, error) {
+		return "", errors.New(`exec: "wg": executable file not found in $PATH`)
+	}
+	if _, err := Handshaken(context.Background(), missing, "mesh0"); err == nil ||
+		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), "mesh0") {
+		t.Fatalf("a machine with no wg was read as one with no handshake: %v", err)
+	}
+}