diff --git a/internal/apply/apply.go b/internal/apply/apply.go
index ba07b42..586fa07 100644
--- a/internal/apply/apply.go
+++ b/internal/apply/apply.go
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ type Outcome struct {
 	wrote string
 	// into is what a file written into held before the mesh's keys (novox/hq ADR 0102).
 	into *store.Into
+	// reads is, for a container, the digest of each file it was created reading, by path — so
+	// the next apply can say which one changed (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103).
+	reads map[string]string
 }
 
 // Report is what an apply did, in the order it did it.
@@ -266,9 +269,16 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 	// machine reports success, and what is inside is using a credential the mesh has replaced
 	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/045). Folding these into the container's spec makes the comparison a
 	// standing one instead.
-	declares := map[string]string{}
+	//
+	// And what each file a container reads at creation holds — its env-files and what is mounted
+	// into it — by the digest this host recorded when it wrote the file, read from `known` as it
+	// stands when the container is reached, so a file rewritten earlier in this same apply is
+	// already the new one (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103). That needs the file applied before the
+	// container, which is the declared order; a container declared ahead of its file sees the
+	// change one apply late, and never misses it.
+	in := inputs{declares: map[string]string{}, known: &known}
 	for _, resource := range d.Resources {
-		declares[resource.Identity()] = declaredDigest(resource)
+		in.declares[resource.Identity()] = declaredDigest(resource)
 	}
 
 	// Everything is attempted, and every failure is reported.
@@ -340,7 +350,7 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 				!known.Recorded(string(declaration.TypeFile), f.Path) {
 				keepFound = keep
 			}
-			outcome, err = applyOne(ctx, sys, resource, run, changed, declares, was, unseal, keepFound)
+			outcome, err = applyOne(ctx, sys, resource, run, changed, in, was, unseal, keepFound)
 		}
 		if err != nil {
 			failed := &Error{Resource: resource.Identity(), Err: err, Done: report}
@@ -386,6 +396,7 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 			Target: outcome.Target, AppliedAt: time.Now().UTC(),
 			Wrote: outcome.wrote,
 			Into:  outcome.into,
+			Reads: outcome.reads,
 			Holds: holds(resource),
 		})
 		// Its module has been taken, and what was held for it is now the mesh's.
@@ -396,7 +407,14 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 		report.Outcomes = append(report.Outcomes, outcome)
 		if outcome.Action != "unchanged" {
 			changed[resource.Identity()] = true
-			log(fmt.Sprintf("  %s %s (%s)", outcome.Action, outcome.ID, outcome.Target))
+			// With the detail, when there is one: "updated app" says a container was replaced;
+			// which file made that happen is what somebody reading the log at the time needs
+			// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103).
+			line := fmt.Sprintf("  %s %s (%s)", outcome.Action, outcome.ID, outcome.Target)
+			if outcome.Detail != "" {
+				line += ": " + outcome.Detail
+			}
+			log(line)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -440,7 +458,7 @@ const guardPrefix = declaration.AdoptionPrefix + "guard"
 type Unseal func(sealed string) ([]byte, error)
 
 func applyOne(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, r declaration.Resource, run Runner,
-	changed map[string]bool, declares map[string]string, previous store.Applied,
+	changed map[string]bool, in inputs, previous store.Applied,
 	unseal Unseal, keepFound Keep) (Outcome, error) {
 	switch res := r.(type) {
 	case *declaration.Directory:
@@ -452,7 +470,7 @@ func applyOne(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, r declaration.Resource, ru
 	case *declaration.Package:
 		return applyPackage(ctx, sys, res, run)
 	case *declaration.Container:
-		return applyContainer(ctx, res, run, changed, declares, previous)
+		return applyContainer(ctx, res, run, changed, in, previous)
 	case *declaration.User:
 		return applyUser(ctx, sys, res, run)
 	case *declaration.Archive:
@@ -1129,9 +1147,96 @@ const (
 	idLabel   = "mesh-host.id"
 )
 
+// inputs is what a container takes in when it is created beyond its own declaration: what each
+// resource it names under restart-on currently declares, and what the files it reads hold.
+type inputs struct {
+	// declares is each resource's declared digest, by id (declaredDigest).
+	declares map[string]string
+	// known is the node's state as it stands when the container is reached — so a file applied
+	// earlier in the same pass is already its new self. Nil where nothing was written: a test,
+	// or a scheduled fire, which reads no file at creation.
+	known *store.State
+}
+
+// fileDigest is what a file the container reads holds, by digest.
+//
+// **What this host wrote when it has a record of writing it, and what is on disk when it has
+// not.** The record is preferred because it is what the host means by the file: a seed created
+// once digests as the seed, not as whatever the service has grown in it, and a file written into
+// digests as the mesh's keys, not the machine's (novox/hq ADR 0102). A file the host never wrote
+// — an env-file a predecessor left, the superuser secret genesis writes before any declaration
+// names it — is read, so the digest is the same one the host records when it later writes the
+// same bytes there, and adopting a running store in place stays a reconcile rather than a
+// recreate (bootstrap phase three; genesis writes the value with no line ending for exactly this
+// reason). Empty when there is nothing readable there: the runtime refuses an absent env-file
+// itself, with a better message than this could give.
+func (in inputs) fileDigest(path string) string {
+	if in.known != nil {
+		if f, recorded := in.known.At(string(declaration.TypeFile), path); recorded {
+			return f.Wrote
+		}
+	}
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil || !info.Mode().IsRegular() {
+		return ""
+	}
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return digestOf(string(content))
+}
+
+// reads is every file a running container takes in when it is created, by path and digest
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103).
+//
+//   - every env-file: the runtime reads it once, at create, and `docker restart` hands the
+//     container the same environment it had.
+//   - a file bind-mounted into it, DIRECTLY, by its content: a secret, a credential file.
+//
+// **A directory bind-mounted into it is not looked inside**, not even for the files this host
+// wrote there. What a service reads out of a mounted directory, and when, is the service's
+// business: the route proxy re-reads its routes file live and would be recreated on every route
+// change; a provisioner sidecar polls what it receives every few seconds and would be killed
+// mid-reconcile on every grant. A module whose container does read such a file once, at start,
+// says so with restart-on — that is what the field is for, and it stays the opt-in.
+//
+// A step is not here either: a run-once or scheduled container reads its files when it runs, and
+// runs fresh each time. Only a container that stays running holds what it read.
+func (in inputs) reads(r *declaration.Container) map[string]string {
+	if r.RunOnce || r.Schedule != "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := map[string]string{}
+	for _, path := range r.EnvFile {
+		out[path] = in.fileDigest(path)
+	}
+	for _, v := range r.Volumes {
+		src := mountSource(v)
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(src, "/") {
+			continue // a named volume: the runtime's, holding data
+		}
+		// fileDigest is empty for a directory, and for anything else that is not a regular file.
+		if digest := in.fileDigest(src); digest != "" {
+			out[src] = digest
+		}
+	}
+	if len(out) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 // containerSpec is the identity of a declared container: everything that, if changed, means
 // the running container is no longer what was asked for.
-func containerSpec(r *declaration.Container, declares map[string]string) string {
+func containerSpec(r *declaration.Container, in inputs) string {
+	return containerSpecReading(r, in.declares, in.reads(r))
+}
+
+// containerSpecReading is containerSpec with what the container reads already read — so an
+// applier that also records those digests reads each file once, and the label and the record
+// cannot disagree about a file that moved between two reads.
+func containerSpecReading(r *declaration.Container, declares, reads map[string]string) string {
 	keys := make([]string, 0, len(r.Env))
 	for k := range r.Env {
 		keys = append(keys, k)
@@ -1171,6 +1276,15 @@ func containerSpec(r *declaration.Container, declares map[string]string) string
 	for _, id := range depends {
 		b.WriteString("reads " + id + "=" + declares[id] + "\n")
 	}
+	// And what the files it reads at creation hold — not only their paths, which `volume` and the
+	// env-file arguments already name. The spec named the env-file's path and not its content,
+	// so the host rewrote two environment files with the store's new port and left both
+	// containers running with the old one, healthy-looking, until they answered 502 (novox/hq
+	// 04-ISSUES/103). Added only when there is something read, so a container that reads nothing
+	// keeps the digest it had.
+	for _, path := range sortedKeys(reads) {
+		b.WriteString("file " + path + "=" + reads[path] + "\n")
+	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%x", sha256.Sum256([]byte(b.String())))
 }
 
@@ -1236,9 +1350,12 @@ func applyNetwork(ctx context.Context, r *declaration.Network, run Runner) (Outc
 }
 
 func applyContainer(ctx context.Context, r *declaration.Container, run Runner,
-	changed map[string]bool, declares map[string]string, previous store.Applied) (Outcome, error) {
+	changed map[string]bool, in inputs, previous store.Applied) (Outcome, error) {
 	out := begin(r)
-	want := containerSpec(r, declares)
+	// Read once, so the spec and the record agree on what was read even if a file moves under them.
+	reads := in.reads(r)
+	want := containerSpecReading(r, in.declares, reads)
+	out.reads = reads
 
 	cri, err := containerRuntime(ctx, run)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1279,8 +1396,42 @@ func applyContainer(ctx context.Context, r *declaration.Container, run Runner,
 	// already has.
 	reasons := restartedBy(r.RestartOn, changed)
 
+	// What this container was created reading, as last recorded. By its declared id first, and by
+	// its NAME when that id has no record: the bundle's `store` becomes the postgres module's
+	// `postgres.server`, the same container under a new id, and a file change on the day it is
+	// adopted is a real change with a real record — under the old id.
+	wasReading := previous.Reads
+	if previous.ID == "" && in.known != nil {
+		if byName, ok := in.known.At(string(declaration.TypeContainer), r.Name); ok {
+			wasReading = byName.Reads
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Which of the files it reads no longer hold what it was created reading. The spec label says
+	// only that SOMETHING moved; the record of what was read says what — and that is the line a
+	// person needs when a service went stale without a word (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103).
+	var changedFiles []string
+	for _, path := range sortedKeys(wasReading) {
+		if now, still := reads[path]; still && now != wasReading[path] {
+			changedFiles = append(changedFiles, path)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// **A container labelled before the host folded in what it reads is accepted, not recreated.**
+	//
+	// Its label is the spec without the file lines. Recreating every such container on the first
+	// apply after the host upgraded would be a restart storm across the mesh in declaration order —
+	// the store first, under everything that uses it. So a label that matches the spec as it used
+	// to be computed is taken as current: what it reads is recorded now, and from the next apply
+	// on a changed file is caught by that record; the label itself is rewritten at the next
+	// genuine recreate. The trade-off, stated: a container that was ALREADY stale when the host
+	// upgraded — created against a file that has since changed — is not caught by this, and could
+	// not be by the alternative either, which recreates it without knowing whether it needed to.
+	legacy := len(reads) > 0 && before.Spec == containerSpecReading(r, in.declares, nil) &&
+		(wasReading == nil || sameReads(wasReading, reads))
+
 	switch {
-	case existed && before.Spec == want && before.Running && len(reasons) == 0:
+	case existed && (before.Spec == want || legacy) && before.Running && len(reasons) == 0:
 		out.Action = "unchanged"
 		return out, nil
 	case existed:
@@ -1340,9 +1491,15 @@ func applyContainer(ctx context.Context, r *declaration.Container, run Runner,
 	out.Action = "created"
 	if existed {
 		out.Action = "updated"
-		if len(reasons) > 0 {
+		switch {
+		case len(changedFiles) > 0:
+			out.Detail = "recreated: " + strings.Join(changedFiles, ", ") + " changed"
+			if len(reasons) > 0 {
+				out.Detail += "; and to pick up " + strings.Join(reasons, ", ")
+			}
+		case len(reasons) > 0:
 			out.Detail = "recreated to pick up " + strings.Join(reasons, ", ")
-		} else {
+		default:
 			out.Detail = "replaced; a container's configuration is fixed when it is created"
 		}
 	}
@@ -1510,6 +1667,20 @@ func restartedBy(restartOn []string, changed map[string]bool) []string {
 	return which
 }
 
+// sameReads is whether two records of what a container reads name the same files holding the
+// same content — a file added, dropped or changed makes them differ.
+func sameReads(a, b map[string]string) bool {
+	if len(a) != len(b) {
+		return false
+	}
+	for path, digest := range a {
+		if b[path] != digest {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 func sortedKeys(m map[string]string) []string {
 	keys := make([]string, 0, len(m))
 	for k := range m {
diff --git a/internal/apply/apply_test.go b/internal/apply/apply_test.go
index ba5c5aa..fea616b 100644
--- a/internal/apply/apply_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/apply_test.go
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ func TestAContainerWhoseDeclarationChangedIsReplaced(t *testing.T) {
 	d := parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"store","type":"container","name":"store","image":"`+pinned+`","env":{"PGDATA":"/data"}}
 	]}`)
-	want := containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), nil)
+	want := containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), inputs{})
 
 	var removed, created bool
 	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@ func TestAContainerThatMatchesIsLeftAlone(t *testing.T) {
 	d := parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"store","type":"container","name":"store","image":"`+pinned+`","env":{"PGDATA":"/data"}}
 	]}`)
-	spec := containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), nil)
+	spec := containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), inputs{})
 
 	var touched bool
 	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
@@ -748,8 +748,8 @@ func TestAContainerIsRecreatedWhenARestartOnResourceChanged(t *testing.T) {
 	// what a container reads is part of what it is, so the old content yields a different spec.
 	was := map[string]string{"config": declaredDigest(&declaration.File{Content: "{\"token\":\"old\"}\n"})}
 	now := map[string]string{"config": declaredDigest(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.File))}
-	stale := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), was)
-	fresh := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), now)
+	stale := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), inputs{declares: was})
+	fresh := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), inputs{declares: now})
 
 	var removed, created bool
 	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
@@ -1538,8 +1538,8 @@ func TestAContainerStaleFromAnEarlierApplyIsReplaced(t *testing.T) {
 	// The container was created when the file said something else.
 	was := map[string]string{"env": declaredDigest(&declaration.File{Content: "PASSWORD=old\n"})}
 	now := map[string]string{"env": declaredDigest(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.File))}
-	stale := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), was)
-	fresh := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), now)
+	stale := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), inputs{declares: was})
+	fresh := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), inputs{declares: now})
 
 	var removed, created bool
 	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
diff --git a/internal/apply/plan.go b/internal/apply/plan.go
index ced96cc..07205bd 100644
--- a/internal/apply/plan.go
+++ b/internal/apply/plan.go
@@ -191,10 +191,68 @@ func planned(r declaration.Resource, d *declaration.Declaration, known store.Sta
 		step.Verb, step.Why = "update", "the declaration changed since this host applied it"
 		return step
 	}
+	if c, ok := r.(*declaration.Container); ok {
+		if changed := readsChanged(c, d, known, was.Reads); len(changed) > 0 {
+			step.Verb = "update"
+			step.Why = "recreated: " + strings.Join(changed, ", ") + " changed since it was created"
+			return step
+		}
+	}
 	step.Verb, step.Why = "check", "recorded here; corrected if this machine drifted from it"
 	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.
+//
+// A file's digest is what this apply will record for it: a plain file declared here, by its
+// declared content; otherwise what this host last wrote there, under any id. A file neither
+// declares nor records — an env-file a predecessor left — is read by the apply from the machine,
+// which a plan does not do, so it stays a check. A container with no record of what it read was
+// labelled before the host kept that record and is accepted as it is, so it is a check too.
+func readsChanged(c *declaration.Container, d *declaration.Declaration, known store.State,
+	wasReading map[string]string) []string {
+	if len(wasReading) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	willWrite := map[string]string{}
+	for _, r := range d.Resources {
+		if f, ok := r.(*declaration.File); ok {
+			if want := wouldWrite(f); want != "" {
+				willWrite[f.Path] = want
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// Only what it still reads: a file it was created reading and no longer names is a changed
+	// declaration, not a changed file.
+	stillReads := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, path := range c.EnvFile {
+		stillReads[path] = true
+	}
+	for _, v := range c.Volumes {
+		if src := mountSource(v); strings.HasPrefix(src, "/") {
+			stillReads[src] = true
+		}
+	}
+	var changed []string
+	for _, path := range sortedKeys(wasReading) {
+		if !stillReads[path] {
+			continue
+		}
+		now, settled := willWrite[path]
+		if !settled {
+			if f, recorded := known.At(string(declaration.TypeFile), path); recorded {
+				now, settled = f.Wrote, true
+			}
+		}
+		if settled && now != wasReading[path] {
+			changed = append(changed, path)
+		}
+	}
+	return changed
+}
+
 // wouldWrite is the digest a plain file would be recorded under, or empty where only the apply
 // can know: a sealed file, one with secrets in it, one written into, one carrying bytes.
 func wouldWrite(r declaration.Resource) string {
diff --git a/internal/apply/plan_test.go b/internal/apply/plan_test.go
index 768230a..4f8f7ce 100644
--- a/internal/apply/plan_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/plan_test.go
@@ -225,3 +225,39 @@ func TestAResourceRunInAHeldContainerIsPlannedAsItIsApplied(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("planned %q", got)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestAPlanSaysAContainerIsRecreatedWhenAFileItReadsChanged(t *testing.T) {
+	// The apply recreates a container when the content of a file it reads at creation changed
+	// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103); the plan says so from the record alone — what the container was
+	// created reading, against what this apply will write. And a container recorded before the
+	// host kept that record is accepted, so it is a check, not an update.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	env := filepath.Join(dir, "forge.env")
+	declare := func(port string) *declaration.Declaration {
+		return trusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+		  {"id":"forge.env","type":"file","path":"`+env+`","content":"DATABASE_PORT=`+port+`\n"},
+		  {"id":"forge.server","type":"container","name":"forge","image":"`+pinned+`","env-file":["`+env+`"]}]}`)
+	}
+	created := digestOf("DATABASE_PORT=5432\n")
+	known := store.State{}
+	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "forge.env", Type: "file", Target: env, Wrote: created})
+	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "forge.server", Type: "container", Target: "forge",
+		Reads: map[string]string{env: created}})
+
+	if got := verbs(Plan(declare("5432"), known, store.OriginCarried)); got != "check forge.env, check forge.server" {
+		t.Errorf("nothing changed and the plan says %q", got)
+	}
+	steps := Plan(declare("5433"), known, store.OriginCarried)
+	if got := verbs(steps); got != "update forge.env, update forge.server" {
+		t.Fatalf("the env-file changes and the plan says %q", got)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(steps[1].Why, env+" changed") {
+		t.Errorf("the plan does not say which file: %+v", steps[1])
+	}
+
+	// No record of what it read: labelled by an earlier host, accepted as it is.
+	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "forge.server", Type: "container", Target: "forge"})
+	if got := verbs(Plan(declare("5433"), known, store.OriginCarried)); got != "update forge.env, check forge.server" {
+		t.Errorf("a container with no record of what it read is planned as %q", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/apply/reads_test.go b/internal/apply/reads_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be2d8fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apply/reads_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,316 @@
+package apply
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/declaration"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/store"
+)
+
+// Defends novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103: a container is recreated when the CONTENT of a file it reads at
+// creation changes, not only when its path does. A container takes its env-file and its mounted
+// files in once, when it is created; `docker restart` hands it the same environment again, so
+// only a recreate carries a rewritten file into the process.
+//
+// The runtime here is the `machine` fake: it keeps the spec label the host gave a container and
+// hands it back on inspect, so the comparison under test is the one the host really makes,
+// against what it really wrote — not against a spec a test imagined.
+
+func applyCarried(t *testing.T, d *declaration.Declaration, known store.State, m *machine,
+	log func(string)) (Report, store.State) {
+	t.Helper()
+	report, state, err := Apply(context.Background(), archHost(t), d, known, store.OriginCarried, m.run, log, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("apply failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	return report, state
+}
+
+func TestAContainerIsRecreatedWhenItsEnvFileChanged(t *testing.T) {
+	// The night of the issue: the store was given a new port, the host rewrote the forge's
+	// environment file with it — and left the forge running with the old one.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	env := filepath.Join(dir, "forge.env")
+	declare := func(port string) *declaration.Declaration {
+		return parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+		  {"id":"forge.env","type":"file","path":"`+env+`","content":"DATABASE_PORT=`+port+`\n","mode":"0600"},
+		  {"id":"forge.server","type":"container","name":"forge","image":"`+pinned+`","env-file":["`+env+`"]}
+		]}`)
+	}
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{}}
+	var logged []string
+	log := func(line string) { logged = append(logged, line) }
+
+	report, state := applyCarried(t, declare("5432"), store.State{}, m, log)
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "forge.server"); o.Action != "created" {
+		t.Fatalf("the container was not created: %+v", report.Outcomes)
+	}
+
+	// The store moved. The file is rewritten in this apply, before the container is reached, and
+	// the container must follow it in the same pass.
+	m.asked, logged = nil, nil
+	report, state = applyCarried(t, declare("5433"), state, m, log)
+	if !m.removed("forge") || !m.did("docker run") {
+		t.Fatalf("the container kept running with the old environment after its env-file changed: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	o := outcomeOf(report, "forge.server")
+	if o.Action != "updated" || o.Detail != "recreated: "+env+" changed" {
+		t.Errorf("the recreate did not say which file changed: %+v", o)
+	}
+	var said bool
+	for _, line := range logged {
+		if strings.Contains(line, "updated forge.server") && strings.Contains(line, "recreated: "+env+" changed") {
+			said = true
+		}
+	}
+	if !said {
+		t.Errorf("the log did not say which file made the container recreate: %q", logged)
+	}
+
+	// And with nothing moved, it is left alone: content is part of the identity, not a tripwire.
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, _ = applyCarried(t, declare("5433"), state, m, log)
+	if m.did("docker rm") || m.did("docker run") || report.Changed() {
+		t.Errorf("a container whose env-file did not change was recreated: %v %+v", m.asked, report.Outcomes)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnEnvFileTheHostDidNotWriteIsStillReadForWhatItHolds(t *testing.T) {
+	// The host has no record of this file — a predecessor left it, or something else on the
+	// machine maintains it — and the container still reads it once. Its content is read from the
+	// disk, so a change is a recreate exactly as for a file the host wrote.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	env := filepath.Join(dir, "app.env")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(env, []byte("TOKEN=old\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d := parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+	  {"id":"app.server","type":"container","name":"app","image":"`+pinned+`","env-file":["`+env+`"]}
+	]}`)
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{}}
+	_, state := applyCarried(t, d, store.State{}, m, nil)
+
+	if err := os.WriteFile(env, []byte("TOKEN=new\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, _ := applyCarried(t, d, state, m, nil)
+	if !m.removed("app") || !m.did("docker run") {
+		t.Fatalf("a container reading an env-file the host did not write was not recreated when it changed: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "app.server"); o.Detail != "recreated: "+env+" changed" {
+		t.Errorf("the recreate did not name the file: %+v", o)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAContainerIsRecreatedWhenAMountedSecretChanged(t *testing.T) {
+	// A rotated credential has the same shape as a moved port: the host writes the file the
+	// container mounts, and the process holds the value it was created with.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	secret := filepath.Join(dir, "db.secret")
+	declare := func(value string) *declaration.Declaration {
+		return parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+		  {"id":"app.secret","type":"file","path":"`+secret+`","content":"`+value+`","mode":"0600"},
+		  {"id":"app.server","type":"container","name":"app","image":"`+pinned+`",
+		   "volumes":["`+secret+`:/run/secrets/db:ro"]}
+		]}`)
+	}
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{}}
+	_, state := applyCarried(t, declare("hunter2"), store.State{}, m, nil)
+
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, _ := applyCarried(t, declare("correct-horse-battery-staple"), state, m, nil)
+	if !m.removed("app") || !m.did("docker run") {
+		t.Fatalf("the container kept the secret it was created with after the mounted file changed: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "app.server"); o.Action != "updated" || o.Detail != "recreated: "+secret+" changed" {
+		t.Errorf("the recreate did not say which file changed: %+v", o)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMountedDirectoryIsNotLookedInside(t *testing.T) {
+	// A bind-mounted directory is not part of what a container is — not the data the service
+	// grows in it, and not the files the host itself writes there either. Whether a service reads
+	// a file under its directory once at start or watches it live is the service's business: the
+	// route proxy re-reads its routes live, a provisioner sidecar polls what it receives every few
+	// seconds, and recreating either for a file the host rewrote would kill them for nothing. A
+	// module whose container does read such a file once says so with restart-on, which stays the
+	// opt-in.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	state := filepath.Join(dir, "state")
+	config := filepath.Join(state, "config.toml")
+	declare := func(level, restartOn string) *declaration.Declaration {
+		return parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+		  {"id":"app.state","type":"directory","path":"`+state+`"},
+		  {"id":"app.config","type":"file","path":"`+config+`","content":"level = \"`+level+`\"\n"},
+		  {"id":"app.server","type":"container","name":"app","image":"`+pinned+`",
+		   "volumes":["`+state+`:/var/lib/app"]`+restartOn+`}
+		]}`)
+	}
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{}}
+	_, known := applyCarried(t, declare("info", ""), store.State{}, m, nil)
+
+	// The service grows its data in the directory it was given.
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(state, "app.db"), []byte("rows"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(state, "cache"), 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(state, "cache", "index"), []byte("entries"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, known := applyCarried(t, declare("info", ""), known, m, nil)
+	if m.did("docker rm") || m.did("docker run") || report.Changed() {
+		t.Errorf("a container was recreated for data its service wrote in a mounted directory: %v %+v",
+			m.asked, report.Outcomes)
+	}
+
+	// The host rewrites its own file under the same directory: still not a reason. The container
+	// did not name it.
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, known = applyCarried(t, declare("debug", ""), known, m, nil)
+	if m.did("docker rm") || m.did("docker run") {
+		t.Errorf("a container was recreated for a file under a mounted directory it did not name: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "app.config"); o.Action != "updated" {
+		t.Fatalf("the config was not rewritten: %+v", o)
+	}
+
+	// Naming it is what makes it a reason, as before this change.
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, _ = applyCarried(t, declare("trace", `,"restart-on":["app.config"]`), known, m, nil)
+	if !m.removed("app") || !m.did("docker run") {
+		t.Fatalf("a container naming a rewritten file under its mount was not recreated: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "app.server"); !strings.Contains(o.Detail, "app.config") {
+		t.Errorf("the recreate did not name why: %+v", o)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAContainerLabelledBeforeTheHostReadItsFilesIsAcceptedNotRecreated(t *testing.T) {
+	// The first apply after the host upgrades finds every container carrying a label computed
+	// without the file lines. Recreating them all would be a restart storm across the mesh in
+	// declaration order, the store first. A label that matches the spec as it used to be computed
+	// is accepted: what the container reads is recorded now, and from then on a change is caught.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	env := filepath.Join(dir, "forge.env")
+	declare := func(port string) *declaration.Declaration {
+		return parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+		  {"id":"forge.env","type":"file","path":"`+env+`","content":"DATABASE_PORT=`+port+`\n","mode":"0600"},
+		  {"id":"forge.server","type":"container","name":"forge","image":"`+pinned+`","env-file":["`+env+`"]}
+		]}`)
+	}
+	// The machine as the previous host left it: the file written and recorded, the container up
+	// under the label that host computed — the spec with nothing about the file's content.
+	if err := os.WriteFile(env, []byte("DATABASE_PORT=5432\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d := declare("5432")
+	legacy := containerSpecReading(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), nil, nil)
+	known := store.State{}
+	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "forge.env", Type: "file", Origin: store.OriginCarried, Target: env,
+		Wrote: digestOf("DATABASE_PORT=5432\n")})
+	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "forge.server", Type: "container", Origin: store.OriginCarried, Target: "forge"})
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{"forge": {id: "made-by-host", running: true, spec: legacy}}}
+
+	report, known := applyCarried(t, d, known, m, nil)
+	if m.did("docker rm") || m.did("docker run") || report.Changed() {
+		t.Fatalf("a container labelled by the previous host was recreated on upgrade: %v %+v", m.asked, report.Outcomes)
+	}
+	if got, _ := known.Find("forge.server"); got.Reads[env] != digestOf("DATABASE_PORT=5432\n") {
+		t.Fatalf("what the accepted container reads was not recorded: %+v", got)
+	}
+	// Accepted stays accepted: the next pass with nothing moved is quiet too.
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, known = applyCarried(t, d, known, m, nil)
+	if m.did("docker rm") || m.did("docker run") || report.Changed() {
+		t.Fatalf("an accepted container was recreated on the pass after: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+
+	// And a change to the file is caught from the record, and the label is renewed.
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, _ = applyCarried(t, declare("5433"), known, m, nil)
+	if !m.removed("forge") || !m.did("docker run") {
+		t.Fatalf("an accepted container was not recreated when its env-file changed: %v", m.asked)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "forge.server"); o.Detail != "recreated: "+env+" changed" {
+		t.Errorf("the recreate did not name the file: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if m.containers["forge"].spec == legacy {
+		t.Error("the recreated container still carries the legacy label")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAContainerAdoptedUnderANewIdStillSaysWhichFileChanged(t *testing.T) {
+	// The bundle's `store` becomes the postgres module's `postgres.server`: the same container by
+	// name, under a new id with no record of its own. A file change on that day is a real change,
+	// and the record of what it read is under the old id — by name, it is found.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	env := filepath.Join(dir, "store.env")
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{}}
+	raised := parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+	  {"id":"env","type":"file","path":"`+env+`","content":"PORT=5432\n","mode":"0600"},
+	  {"id":"store","type":"container","name":"mesh-store","image":"`+pinned+`","env-file":["`+env+`"]}
+	]}`)
+	_, known := applyCarried(t, raised, store.State{}, m, nil)
+
+	adopted := parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+	  {"id":"postgres.env","type":"file","path":"`+env+`","content":"PORT=5433\n","mode":"0600"},
+	  {"id":"postgres.server","type":"container","name":"mesh-store","image":"`+pinned+`","env-file":["`+env+`"]}
+	]}`)
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, _, err := Apply(context.Background(), archHost(t), adopted, known, store.OriginDeclared, m.run, nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "postgres.server"); o.Action != "updated" || o.Detail != "recreated: "+env+" changed" {
+		t.Errorf("a container adopted under a new id did not say which file changed: %+v", o)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAHeldContainerIsNotRecreatedByAChangedHeldFile(t *testing.T) {
+	// On an adopted node the predecessor's container and the file it reads are both held as
+	// found (novox/hq ADR 0100). The predecessor rewriting its own file is reported on the file
+	// — and is nothing to recreate the container for: it is not the host's to recreate.
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	env := filepath.Join(dir, "hello.env")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(env, []byte("PORT=5432\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{
+		"hello-web": {id: "predecessor-id", running: true},
+	}}
+	d := adopted(t, untaken("hello-web.env", "hello-web.server"),
+		`{"id":"hello-web.env","type":"file","path":"`+env+`","content":"PORT=5433\n","mode":"0600"},
+		 {"id":"hello-web.server","type":"container","name":"hello-web","image":"`+pinned+`","env-file":["`+env+`"]}`)
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	if outcomeOf(report, "hello-web.env").Action != "held" || outcomeOf(report, "hello-web.server").Action != "held" {
+		t.Fatalf("the predecessor's file and container were not held: %+v", report.Outcomes)
+	}
+
+	if err := os.WriteFile(env, []byte("PORT=5434\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m.asked = nil
+	report, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	for _, a := range m.asked {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(a, "docker run") || strings.HasPrefix(a, "docker rm") {
+			t.Fatalf("a held container was acted on because a held file changed: %s", a)
+		}
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "hello-web.server"); o.Action != "held" {
+		t.Errorf("the container is no longer held: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if h, _ := state.HeldAt("hello-web.env"); h.Changed != "rewritten" {
+		t.Errorf("the predecessor's rewrite was not reported on the file: %+v", h)
+	}
+	if h, _ := state.HeldAt("hello-web.server"); h.Changed != "" {
+		t.Errorf("a file change was charged to the container: %+v", h)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/apply/runonce_test.go b/internal/apply/runonce_test.go
index e728e7b..16b3919 100644
--- a/internal/apply/runonce_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/runonce_test.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func TestARunOnceStepIsRunToCompletionNotLeftRunning(t *testing.T) {
 	if !ok {
 		t.Fatal("a completed run-once step was not recorded")
 	}
-	if applied.Wrote != containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), nil) {
+	if applied.Wrote != containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), inputs{}) {
 		t.Errorf("the run-once record is not the declaration's digest: %q", applied.Wrote)
 	}
 }
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ func TestARunOnceStepAlreadyCompletedIsNotReRun(t *testing.T) {
 	d := parseTrusted(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"seed","type":"container","name":"seed","image":"`+pinned+`","run-once":true}
 	]}`)
-	want := containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), nil)
+	want := containerSpec(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container), inputs{})
 
 	var ran bool
 	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ func TestARunOnceStepRunsAgainWhenWhatItReadsChanged(t *testing.T) {
 	was := map[string]string{"env": declaredDigest(&declaration.File{Content: "ACME_ROOTS=https://10.0.0.1/roots.pem\n"})}
 	known := store.State{}
 	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "trust", Type: "container", Origin: store.OriginCarried, Target: "trust",
-		Wrote: containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), was)})
+		Wrote: containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), inputs{declares: was})})
 
 	var ran bool
 	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ func TestARunOnceStepRunsAgainWhenWhatItReadsChanged(t *testing.T) {
 	settled := store.State{}
 	settled.Record(store.Applied{ID: "env", Type: "file", Origin: store.OriginCarried, Target: env, Wrote: now["env"]})
 	settled.Record(store.Applied{ID: "trust", Type: "container", Origin: store.OriginCarried, Target: "trust",
-		Wrote: containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), now)})
+		Wrote: containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), inputs{declares: now})})
 	if _, _, err := Apply(context.Background(), archHost(t), d, settled, store.OriginCarried, run, nil, nil); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("re-apply failed: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ func TestAContainerNamingARunOnceStepIsRecreatedWhenItRan(t *testing.T) {
 	  {"id":"server","type":"container","name":"server","image":"`+pinned+`","restart-on":["trust"]}
 	]}`)
 	declares := map[string]string{"trust": declaredDigest(d.Resources[0].(*declaration.Container))}
-	spec := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), declares)
+	spec := containerSpec(d.Resources[1].(*declaration.Container), inputs{declares: declares})
 
 	var removed, created bool
 	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
diff --git a/internal/apply/schedule.go b/internal/apply/schedule.go
index ccede49..6c80de1 100644
--- a/internal/apply/schedule.go
+++ b/internal/apply/schedule.go
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ func (s *Scheduler) Sync(d *declaration.Declaration, held map[string]bool) {
 		// Nothing to read: a scheduled container may not declare restart-on — it runs to completion
 		// on its cadence rather than staying running to be restarted — so its identity cannot
 		// depend on another resource's content and there is nothing to pass.
-		spec := containerSpec(c, nil)
+		spec := containerSpec(c, inputs{})
 		if existing := s.jobs[c.Identity()]; existing != nil && existing.spec == spec {
 			// Unchanged: keep where it is in its cadence, refresh the declaration pointer only.
 			existing.container = c
diff --git a/internal/bootstrap/adopt_in_place_test.go b/internal/bootstrap/adopt_in_place_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9814cf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/bootstrap/adopt_in_place_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+package bootstrap
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/apply"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/declaration"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/store"
+)
+
+// Defends phase three's premise (phase3.go): the store genesis raised is adopted by the postgres
+// module IN PLACE — same name, same image, same spec — so the applier reconciles it and never
+// recreates the mesh's memory with the temporary control plane connected to it.
+//
+// The host folds a mounted file's content into the container's spec (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103), so
+// this now depends on a byte: the superuser file genesis writes and mounts must be the same bytes
+// the module later declares. The module's value is what `secret accept` took — the operator's
+// file with its line ending removed and nothing else (mesh-control, asSupplied). Reproduced before
+// it was fixed: genesis wrote `value\n`, the module wrote `value`, and the store was recreated
+// during install.
+
+// labelled is a runtime that keeps the spec label the host gives a container and hands it back.
+type labelled struct {
+	spec    map[string]string
+	created []string
+	removed []string
+}
+
+func (l *labelled) run(_ context.Context, _ string, args ...string) (string, error) {
+	switch args[0] {
+	case "info":
+		return "27.0\n", nil
+	case "inspect":
+		spec, ok := l.spec[args[len(args)-1]]
+		if !ok {
+			return "", errors.New("no such container")
+		}
+		return "true\t" + spec + "\n", nil
+	case "rm":
+		l.removed = append(l.removed, args[len(args)-1])
+		delete(l.spec, args[len(args)-1])
+	case "run":
+		var name, spec string
+		for i, a := range args {
+			if a == "--name" {
+				name = args[i+1]
+			}
+			if a == "--label" && strings.HasPrefix(args[i+1], "mesh-host.spec=") {
+				spec = strings.TrimPrefix(args[i+1], "mesh-host.spec=")
+			}
+		}
+		l.spec[name] = spec
+		l.created = append(l.created, name)
+		return "made\n", nil
+	}
+	return "", nil
+}
+
+func TestTheStoreGenesisRaisedIsAdoptedInPlaceNotRecreated(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	secret := filepath.Join(dir, "superuser.secret")
+
+	// The bytes genesis really writes — the code path, not a fixture that agrees with it.
+	if _, made, err := keptOrMade(secret, false); err != nil || !made {
+		t.Fatalf("genesis did not make the superuser secret: made=%v err=%v", made, err)
+	}
+	onDisk, err := os.ReadFile(secret)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	image := "docker.io/library/postgres@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("ab", 32)
+	mounts := `"volumes":["mesh-store-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data","` + secret + `:` + storeSuperuserMount + `:ro"]`
+
+	// The foundation's store, as the produced bundle raises it (RewriteRoot): the file mounted,
+	// declared by nothing — genesis wrote it before there was a declaration to name it.
+	raise, err := declaration.ParseTrusted([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+	  {"id":"` + StoreID + `","type":"container","name":"mesh-store","image":"` + image + `",
+	   "env":{"POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE":"` + storeSuperuserMount + `"},` + mounts + `}
+	]}`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	runtime := &labelled{spec: map[string]string{}}
+	_, known, err := apply.Apply(context.Background(), arch(t), raise, store.State{}, store.OriginCarried,
+		runtime.run, nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("raising the foundation's store: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(runtime.created) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the store was not raised once: %v", runtime.created)
+	}
+
+	// The postgres module's declaration of the same store: the superuser file as `secret accept`
+	// took it in — its line ending removed and nothing else — then the same container.
+	accepted := strings.TrimRight(string(onDisk), "\r\n")
+	adopt, err := declaration.ParseTrusted([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
+	  {"id":"postgres.superuser","type":"file","path":"` + secret + `","content":"` + accepted + `","mode":"0600"},
+	  {"id":"postgres.server","type":"container","name":"mesh-store","image":"` + image + `",
+	   "env":{"POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE":"` + storeSuperuserMount + `"},` + mounts + `}
+	]}`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	runtime.created, runtime.removed = nil, nil
+	report, _, err := apply.Apply(context.Background(), arch(t), adopt, known, store.OriginDeclared,
+		runtime.run, nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("adopting the store: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(runtime.removed) > 0 || len(runtime.created) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the module's declaration recreated the store genesis raised (removed %v, created %v): "+
+			"the file genesis mounted and the file the module declares are not the same bytes",
+			runtime.removed, runtime.created)
+	}
+	for _, o := range report.Outcomes {
+		if o.ID == "postgres.server" && o.Action != "unchanged" {
+			t.Errorf("the store was not adopted in place: %+v", o)
+		}
+		if o.ID == "postgres.superuser" && o.Action != "unchanged" {
+			t.Errorf("the module rewrote the superuser file genesis wrote: %+v", o)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/bootstrap/rootsecrets.go b/internal/bootstrap/rootsecrets.go
index 06a81f2..4b5ec7c 100644
--- a/internal/bootstrap/rootsecrets.go
+++ b/internal/bootstrap/rootsecrets.go
@@ -102,8 +102,16 @@ func keptOrMade(path string, dryRun bool) (value string, made bool, err error) {
 	}
 	// Written whole and renamed into place, at 0600, owned by whoever runs the installer — root,
 	// which is also who the host runs as when it later writes the sealed copy here.
+	//
+	// **The value alone, no line ending.** The module that adopts the store declares this same
+	// file, and what it declares is the value as `secret accept` took it — its line ending gone,
+	// by design. The host folds a mounted file's content into the container's spec (novox/hq
+	// 04-ISSUES/103), so a genesis that wrote `value\n` here would raise a store whose label
+	// digests one byte more than the module's file, and phase three would RECREATE the store it
+	// meant to adopt in place, with the temporary control plane connected to it. readCredentialFile
+	// tolerates either ending, so a file an earlier genesis wrote still reads.
 	tmp := path + ".genesis"
-	if err := os.WriteFile(tmp, []byte(value+"\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+	if err := os.WriteFile(tmp, []byte(value), 0o600); err != nil {
 		return "", false, err
 	}
 	if err := os.Rename(tmp, path); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/declaration/declaration.go b/internal/declaration/declaration.go
index c0bc7af..d7e877d 100644
--- a/internal/declaration/declaration.go
+++ b/internal/declaration/declaration.go
@@ -782,12 +782,17 @@ type Container struct {
 	// RestartOn names resources whose change means this container must be recreated — the same
 	// field a service has, for the same reason (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/009). A container reads a
 	// mounted file once at start; a changed file leaves the running process holding the old value,
-	// while every check passes because the file on disk is right. The container's spec — image,
-	// env, volumes — does not include a mounted file's *content*, so a settings change that
-	// re-renders that file is invisible to the ordinary spec diff. This closes that: the host
-	// recreates the container when one of these resources changed this pass, even if the spec
-	// matches. On a run-once step it means *run again*: a step that fetches a fact from a provider
-	// names the binding it reads, and is run again when the provider moved (novox/hq ADR 0099).
+	// while every check passes because the file on disk is right. The host recreates the container
+	// when one of these resources changed this pass, even if the spec matches.
+	//
+	// What a running container reads at creation — its env-files, and a file mounted into it
+	// directly — is part of its spec by content since novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103, and needs no naming
+	// here. A directory mounted into it is NOT looked inside, not even for files the host wrote
+	// there: whether a service reads such a file once or watches it live is the service's, and
+	// RestartOn is how a module says "once, at start" — a config the host renders under the
+	// module's state directory, a step whose result it consumes. On a run-once step it means *run
+	// again*: a step that fetches a fact from a provider names the binding it reads, and is run
+	// again when the provider moved (novox/hq ADR 0099).
 	RestartOn []string `json:"restart-on,omitempty"`
 
 	// RunOnce marks a container the host runs to completion rather than leaves running: a step,
diff --git a/internal/store/store.go b/internal/store/store.go
index 70bec77..eb8264d 100644
--- a/internal/store/store.go
+++ b/internal/store/store.go
@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ type Applied struct {
 	// each of the mesh's keys held before it set them, which of them were absent, and whether the
 	// file itself was — so undeclaring it gives the machine back exactly what it had.
 	Into *Into `json:"into,omitempty"`
+
+	// Reads is, for a container, the digest of each file it was created reading — its env-files
+	// and the files mounted into it — by path (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/103).
+	//
+	// A container takes those in once, when it is created, and the digest of the whole is in the
+	// container's spec label; this is the same information kept per file, so that when the spec
+	// no longer matches the host can say WHICH file changed rather than only that something did.
+	Reads map[string]string `json:"reads,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Into is what a file written into held before the mesh's keys.
@@ -200,6 +208,28 @@ func (s State) Recorded(kind, target string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// At returns what this host has a record of putting at a target of this kind, under any id and of
+// any origin — Recorded, with the record.
+//
+// By target rather than by id because the id a thing was declared under may change while the thing
+// does not: the bundle's `store` becomes a module's `postgres.server` for the same container, and
+// the file that container reads is the same file under either id. Both ids may then hold a record
+// for the one target — the bundle's is never removed by the mesh's declaration — and the most
+// recently applied is the one that says what is there now.
+func (s State) At(kind, target string) (Applied, bool) {
+	var latest Applied
+	found := false
+	for _, r := range s.Resources {
+		if r.Type != kind || r.Target != target {
+			continue
+		}
+		if !found || r.AppliedAt.After(latest.AppliedAt) {
+			latest, found = r, true
+		}
+	}
+	return latest, found
+}
+
 // HeldAt returns what is held under a resource id.
 func (s State) HeldAt(id string) (Held, bool) {
 	for _, h := range s.Held {