diff --git a/cmd/mesh-host/no_check_script_test.go b/cmd/mesh-host/no_check_script_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9861c80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-host/no_check_script_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// The checker runs gofmt, go vet and both test levels by Go's convention, and the build module starts the bus the
+// integration level needs (novox/hq ADR 0529): no script of the repository's own runs beside them.
+func TestTheRepositoryHoldsNoCheckScript(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join("..", "..", "merge-check.sh")); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("merge-check.sh is back: the checker's levels run the tests")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-host/vaultbox_nats_test.go b/cmd/mesh-host/vaultbox_nats_test.go
index ddb83c6..719040c 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-host/vaultbox_nats_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-host/vaultbox_nats_test.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package main
 // Issue 755's proof on a real bus (novox/hq ADR 0349 §16): a core credential the vault sealed to this machine crosses
 // the bus inside the declaration, which the controller carries and cannot open, and this engine opens it with its
 // sealing key and writes the value. A listener on every subject keeps every byte that crossed; the value is never
-// among them. Run against the throwaway bus merge-check.sh starts (MESH_TEST_NATS).
+// among them. Run against the throwaway bus the build module starts for the integration level (MESH_TEST_NATS).
 
 import (
 	"context"
diff --git a/merge-check.sh b/merge-check.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 14c2060..0000000
--- a/merge-check.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# mesh-check-toolchain: go
-#
-# The node-engine's own check (novox/hq ADR 0237 as amended): the second layer of a pull request's merge
-# check, `mesh/repo-check`, run by the build seat in the mesh's Go toolchain — and by hand.
-#
-# The gate — the controller the mesh runs, built with THIS change's validator in place of the one it
-# vendors, composing and validating every machine of the facts snapshot — is the build seat's first layer
-# (`mesh/merge-gate`), run because the mesh's module graph builds `mesh-host` from this repository and
-# judged so because it does. It is not repeated here. This is the code's own quality and its suite:
-# formatted, vetted, and every test, under the race detector when the toolchain has a C compiler.
-#
-# Exit 0 is a pass; anything else fails `mesh/repo-check` with the last line printed.
-set -eu
-
-unformatted=$(gofmt -l .)
-if [ -n "$unformatted" ]; then
-	echo "not gofmt'd:"
-	echo "$unformatted"
-	exit 1
-fi
-CGO_ENABLED=0 go vet ./...
-
-# **The tests that need a real bus** (MESH_TEST_NATS) run against a throwaway nats-server with JetStream when
-# the toolchain holds one, so the link the node-engine dials is tested as it is used (hq issue 331: every
-# unit test used fake links, and the real one could not ask a tool). Said when it cannot: a skipped test
-# is not a passed one. A caller that sets MESH_TEST_NATS keeps its own bus.
-if [ -z "${MESH_TEST_NATS:-}" ]; then
-	if command -v nats-server >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-		bus_dir=$(mktemp -d)
-		bus_port=$((20000 + $$ % 20000))
-		nats-server -js -a 127.0.0.1 -p "$bus_port" -sd "$bus_dir" >"$bus_dir/log" 2>&1 &
-		bus_pid=$!
-		trap 'kill "$bus_pid" 2>/dev/null || true; rm -rf "$bus_dir"' EXIT
-		up=0
-		for _ in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10; do
-			if grep -q "Server is ready" "$bus_dir/log"; then
-				up=1
-				break
-			fi
-			sleep 0.5
-		done
-		if [ "$up" -ne 1 ]; then
-			echo "the throwaway nats-server did not start:"
-			cat "$bus_dir/log"
-			exit 1
-		fi
-		export MESH_TEST_NATS="nats://127.0.0.1:$bus_port"
-	else
-		echo "NOT RUN AGAINST A BUS: the toolchain holds no nats-server; the tests that need one are skipped"
-	fi
-fi
-
-if command -v gcc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-	CGO_ENABLED=1 go test -tags integration -race -count=1 ./...
-else
-	echo "NOT RACE-CHECKED: the toolchain holds no C compiler; the suite runs without the race detector"
-	CGO_ENABLED=0 go test -tags integration -count=1 ./...
-fi