Hand a moved module by its manifest, its build and the machine, never by the vault's reading of its plan, so a node with no plan yet makes the plan that hands it (issue 1966)

The vault judged a module handed only when its assignment already carried a handing plan, and the node-engine followed
that word: a module with no plan was composed the old way, refused for a key only the provider's helper answers
(forge-account's ssh_alias), and so never got its plan. resolution.Handing is now the manifest, its build and the
machine alone; the vault's word is read only to say where the two disagree. A refusal of a file or an own secret the
provisioner's client should fill now says "handed module not handed" and why, never only the keys a binding lacks or a
secret to make.

Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JG73KJNrH5EgFXMKKYSrig

cmd/mesh-host/nodeagent.go

@@ -509,6 +509,12 @@ func nodeAgent(ctx context.Context, opts options, signer ed25519.PublicKey, trus
 			// composes its own (issue 774).
 			Applied:  appliedStoreFor(opts.state),
 			Inactive: inactiveIn(&liveness.Exec{Run: liveness.Runner(opts.run()), System: builtFor}, heldBy(apply.WindowsIn(filepath.Dir(opts.state)))),
+			Held: func() map[string]string {
+				if c := composerNow.Load(); c != nil {
+					return c.LastHeld()
+				}
+				return nil
+			},
 			Revisions: func(ctx context.Context, key string) ([]agent.Update, error) {
 				got, err := session.KVHistory(ctx, composedBucket, key)
 				if err != nil {

go.mod

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/novox/mesh-host
 go 1.26.0
 
 require (
-	git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261103155154-cf5812101b0b
+	git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261103221822-85ba0a9a70d8
 	github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.11.17
 	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0

go.sum

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261103155154-cf5812101b0b h1:UPkJqQj+1y6WraOxDidkrokNjA25jxmCk+zIRkujjMc=
-git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261103155154-cf5812101b0b/go.mod h1:ouERNpZizzwZ0HLEtAypsY9FR20FyUgUYRni6J7kVCY=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261103221822-85ba0a9a70d8 h1:XEbIVImp6yGjA91rp0iZBoDdL5KfamjOuDLwWvqh0hc=
+git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go v0.1.14-0.20261103221822-85ba0a9a70d8/go.mod h1:ouERNpZizzwZ0HLEtAypsY9FR20FyUgUYRni6J7kVCY=
 github.com/antithesishq/antithesis-sdk-go v0.7.0-default-no-op h1:Z/MZK75wC/NSrkgqeNIa7jexam9uWzhLmFTSCPI/kn0=
 github.com/antithesishq/antithesis-sdk-go v0.7.0-default-no-op/go.mod h1:FQyySiasQQM8735Ddel3MRojmy4dA1IqCeyJ5jmPMbI=
 github.com/google/go-tpm v0.9.8 h1:slArAR9Ft+1ybZu0lBwpSmpwhRXaa85hWtMinMyRAWo=

internal/agent/agent.go

@@ -136,6 +136,9 @@ type Env struct {
 	// Revisions are a composition key's revisions the bucket keeps, oldest first; nil reads none. The composition a want
 	// names is taken from them when a newer one replaced it under the same key (ADR 0539 clause 1).
 	Revisions func(ctx context.Context, key string) ([]Update, error)
+	// Held is what the node's composer held in its last pass, each module with why, as the verb composition shows it
+	// for the node's own (issue 774); nil says nothing.
+	Held func() map[string]string
 	// Settled is told a module's apply or removal that succeeded, once what runs holds it (Everything), outside the
 	// agent's lock: the declaration the node applies now names what that composition names, its filled files among
 	// them. The node-engine's filling tells the provisioner's client then to fill again what it refused (mesh-host

internal/agent/agent_test.go

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/declaration"
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
 )
 
@@ -1312,6 +1313,7 @@ func TestTheNodesOwnCompositionIsAppliedWhenItDiffersAndARecordMoveWaitsForAYes(
 		defer historyMu.Unlock()
 		history[key] = append(history[key], Update{Key: key, Value: raw, Revision: uint64(len(history[key]) + 1)})
 	}
+	b.env.Held = func() map[string]string { return map[string]string{"mesh-build-go": "its binding is unset"} }
 	stop := b.run()
 	defer stop()
 	unsigned := func(module, fp string, rs ...json.RawMessage) (string, []byte, string) {
@@ -1493,6 +1495,16 @@ func TestTheNodesOwnCompositionIsAppliedWhenItDiffersAndARecordMoveWaitsForAYes(
 	if _, err := b.ag.Composition(context.Background(), "db", "sha256:"+strings.Repeat("0", 64), false); err == nil {
 		t.Error("a digest no revision has was answered")
 	}
+	// Issue 774 (ace, 2026-11-04 01:29): the node's own revision shows its own fields, the provisioner client's account
+	// and the adoption among them, and what the composer's last pass held.
+	ownKey, ownRaw, ownDig := encodedAs(t, delivery.Composed{Node: node, Own: delivery.NodeOwn{Provisioner: "mesh-provisioner-client",
+		Adoption: &declaration.Adoption{Taken: []string{"web"}}}}, func() string { k, _ := delivery.ComposedNodeKey(node); return k }())
+	keep(ownKey, ownRaw)
+	if view, err := b.ag.Composition(context.Background(), NodeModule, ownDig, false); err != nil || view.Own == nil ||
+		view.Own.Provisioner != "mesh-provisioner-client" || view.Own.Adoption == nil || view.Own.Adoption.Taken[0] != "web" ||
+		view.Own.Held["mesh-build-go"] == "" {
+		t.Errorf("the node's own composition reads %+v %+v (%v)", view, view.Own, err)
+	}
 	// novox/hq ADR 0593 §6: the engine publishes each composition with its plan in its composition state; the verb reads
 	// that revision by the digest its have and want name, its resources' (the plan left out of the digest).
 	planned, _ := delivery.DecodeComposed(draw)

internal/agent/composition.go

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/declaration"
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/judge"
 )
@@ -32,6 +33,26 @@ type CompositionView struct {
 	Judged JudgedView `json:"judged"`
 	// Diff is every resource that differs from what runs, when asked.
 	Diff []judge.ResourceChange `json:"diff,omitempty"`
+	// Own is, of the node's own composition (module node), its own fields beside what runs names (issue 774: ace's
+	// own composition dropped the provisioner client's account, and nothing read could show it).
+	Own *OwnView `json:"own,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// OwnView is the node's own fields of a composition (delivery.NodeOwn) beside what runs of them, and what the node's
+// composer held in its last pass.
+type OwnView struct {
+	// Provisioner is the account the provisioner's client runs as, as the revision read names it; RunsProvisioner as
+	// what runs names it. Empty: the declaration names none, and every filled write is refused.
+	Provisioner     string `json:"provisioner_account"`
+	RunsProvisioner string `json:"runs_provisioner_account,omitempty"`
+	// Adoption is the revision's adoption: the node adopted, and which of its modules are taken; nil for a converged node.
+	Adoption *declaration.Adoption `json:"adoption,omitempty"`
+	// Identities, Groups and Libraries count what the revision names of each.
+	Identities int `json:"identities,omitempty"`
+	Groups     int `json:"groups,omitempty"`
+	Libraries  int `json:"libraries,omitempty"`
+	// Held is each module the node's composer held in its last pass, with why.
+	Held map[string]string `json:"held,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // WantView is a want as the verb shows it.
@@ -171,6 +192,17 @@ func (a *Agent) Composition(ctx context.Context, module, digest string, diff boo
 		}
 		view.Runs = rv
 	}
+	if module == NodeModule {
+		o := read.C.Own
+		view.Own = &OwnView{Provisioner: o.Provisioner, Adoption: o.Adoption, Identities: len(o.Identities), Groups: len(o.Groups),
+			Libraries: len(o.Libraries)}
+		if running != nil {
+			view.Own.RunsProvisioner = running.Own.Provisioner
+		}
+		if a.env.Held != nil {
+			view.Own.Held = a.env.Held()
+		}
+	}
 	j := judge.JudgeMove(running, read.C)
 	view.Judged = JudgedView{Judgement: string(j.Judgement), Words: j.Words}
 	if a.env.SelfComposed && a.env.Policy != nil && module != NodeModule && (!w.Present || w.Want.Yes != read.Dig) {

internal/compose/composed.go

@@ -63,6 +63,15 @@ func CompositionsIn(in Input, node string, fps map[string]string, mode Mode) (ou
 	return compositions(in, node, fps, mode, false)
 }
 
+// Folds says whether a module the node runs inside its own composition (inOwn, Node.InOwn) is folded there at the
+// fingerprint fp it is composed at: only at no fingerprint of the new form. At one (src2:) it has a composition of its
+// own, composed from its build, so every reader of a build (frombus) takes the build in exactly where this says it is
+// not folded (issue 1585: nats on novox, folded by the reader and composed at src2: here, refused for its server
+// artifact no build had published).
+func Folds(inOwn bool, fp string) bool {
+	return inOwn && !strings.HasPrefix(fp, delivery.SourcePrefix2)
+}
+
 func compositions(in Input, node string, fps map[string]string, mode Mode, applied bool) (out map[string]delivery.Composed, skipped, stood []string, err error) {
 	reading := in
 	reading.Nodes = append([]Node(nil), in.Nodes...)
@@ -84,7 +93,7 @@ func compositions(in Input, node string, fps map[string]string, mode Mode, appli
 	// The private network's module is built by nobody: no fingerprint of the new form ever names it.
 	inOwn[overlay.Name] = true
 	folds := func(module string) bool {
-		return module != "" && inOwn[module] && !strings.HasPrefix(fps[module], delivery.SourcePrefix2)
+		return module != "" && Folds(inOwn[module], fps[module])
 	}
 	if !found {
 		return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("compose: the mesh has no node %q", node)

internal/compose/frombus/answer_rows_test.go

@@ -191,6 +191,28 @@ func answerNamesEveryRefusalAndLeavesAnOldBuildToTheNode(t *testing.T) {
 		!strings.Contains(held["spiegel"], "spiegel has not been built for this mesh") {
 		t.Errorf("composed spiegel without what runs: %v %v, want spiegel held alone", err, held)
 	}
+	// Issue 1585 (nats on novox, met twice): wanted at a build of the new form, a module in InOwn is no longer folded
+	// (compose.Folds), so its build is taken in and it composes with its image, never from the indexer's manifest as
+	// "not built for this mesh".
+	{
+		bb := mk("lemurs", overlay.Name, "spiegel")
+		bp := bb.placements["n1"]
+		bp.Decided.Endpoint = "n1.example:51820"
+		bb.placements["n1"] = bp
+		sp := bb.modules["spiegel"]
+		sp.FP2 = fp("3")
+		bb.modules["spiegel"] = sp
+		image := "registry.example:5100/spiegel/site@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("7", 64)
+		bb.builds["spiegel "+sp.FP2] = &delivery.BuilderBuild{State: delivery.BuildDone, Manifest: sp.Manifest,
+			Artifacts: []delivery.BuiltArtifact{{Name: "site", Kind: "upstream", Reference: image, Digest: "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("7", 64)}}}
+		read, err := ComposingInput(ctx, bb, Mesh{}, Scope{Node: "n1", InOwn: []string{"spiegel"}},
+			map[string]string{"lemurs": fp("e"), "spiegel": sp.FP2})
+		raw, _ := json.Marshal(read.Catalogue["spiegel"])
+		if err != nil || read.ComposedHow.Held["spiegel"] != "" || !strings.Contains(string(raw), strings.Repeat("7", 64)) {
+			t.Errorf("spiegel in InOwn wanted at %s: %v, held %v, read as %s; want its build's image", sp.FP2, err,
+				read.ComposedHow, raw)
+		}
+	}
 
 	// (C) Issue 1126, C5: what the others read of a module carried as it runs is what runs, never its stub's: the filter
 	// opens the machine port its running container publishes (de-spiegel's 20005 on novox, not its software's 8080; a

internal/compose/frombus/frombus.go

@@ -98,9 +98,10 @@ type SignersReader interface {
 
 // HandedReader is a Reader that also says, of the composing node's modules, which the vault judged handed to the
 // provisioner when it answered OwnSecrets (the vault's `own`, its `handed`: catalogue.AssignmentHands of the plan in
-// each module's assignment). The node's composition then hands exactly those (compose.Node.Handed, issue 774), so the
-// vault and the node never judge one module two ways. Nil, or a Reader without it (a vault older than the field),
-// composes by the manifest and the machine, as before.
+// each module's assignment). Never the rule: the node hands by the manifest, its build and the machine
+// (resolution.Handing, issue 1966), and the plans it composes are what the vault reads next; the vault's word is said
+// where the two disagree (resolution.VaultDisagrees). Nil, or a Reader without it (a vault older than the field), says
+// nothing.
 type HandedReader interface {
 	Handed(ctx context.Context, node string) map[string]bool
 }
@@ -234,6 +235,7 @@ func input(ctx context.Context, r Reader, mesh Mesh, s Scope, refuse func(module
 	}
 	in, err := b.finish(ctx, r, r.Build, mesh, s, b.in, refuse, wanted)
 	if err == nil {
+		runningProvisioner(&in, s.Node, s.Running)
 		// What runs is kept while a manifest does not yet say what shared code no longer infers (ADR 0601 §4).
 		for _, k := range keepWhatRuns(&in, s.Node, s.Running) {
 			if s.Kept != nil {
@@ -876,7 +878,7 @@ func fromBuilds(ctx context.Context, r Reader, build func(ctx context.Context, m
 	keptAt := maps.Clone(s.KeptAt)
 	for _, pm := range p.Modules {
 		if m, ok := modules[pm.Module]; ok && m.FP2 != "" && wanted[pm.Module] != "" && wanted[pm.Module] != m.FP2 &&
-			keptAt[pm.Module] == "" && !slices.Contains(s.InOwn, pm.Module) {
+			keptAt[pm.Module] == "" && !compose.Folds(slices.Contains(s.InOwn, pm.Module), wanted[pm.Module]) {
 			if keptAt == nil {
 				keptAt = map[string]string{}
 			}
@@ -891,9 +893,10 @@ func fromBuilds(ctx context.Context, r Reader, build func(ctx context.Context, m
 	}
 	for _, pm := range p.Modules {
 		m, ok := modules[pm.Module]
-		if !ok || m.FP2 == "" || keptAt[pm.Module] != "" || slices.Contains(s.InOwn, pm.Module) {
-			// A module it runs inside its own composition is composed there as before: no build of the new form is what
-			// it runs (Scope.InOwn).
+		if !ok || m.FP2 == "" || keptAt[pm.Module] != "" || compose.Folds(slices.Contains(s.InOwn, pm.Module), wanted[pm.Module]) {
+			// A module it runs inside its own composition is composed there as before while it is folded: no build of the
+			// new form is what it runs (Scope.InOwn). Wanted at a build of the new form it is no longer folded (compose.Folds,
+			// the composition's own rule), so its build is taken in (issue 1585).
 			continue
 		}
 		if _, refused := in.Refused[pm.Module]; refused {
@@ -1230,3 +1233,38 @@ func withoutHeldData(in compose.Input, node string) compose.Input {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// runningProvisioner names, on node, the account its provisioner client runs as now (compose.Node.RunningProvisioner): the
+// account its own composition as it runs names, else the user of the running process of the module that runs the client.
+func runningProvisioner(in *compose.Input, node string, running []delivery.Composed) {
+	account := ""
+	for _, c := range running {
+		if c.Module == "" && c.Own.Provisioner != "" {
+			account = c.Own.Provisioner
+		}
+	}
+	for _, c := range running {
+		if account != "" {
+			break
+		}
+		man, ok := in.Catalogue[c.Module]
+		if c.Module == "" || !ok || !man.ClaimsSeat(compose.NodeProvisionerSeat) {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, raw := range c.Resources {
+			var r struct {
+				Type string `json:"type"`
+				User string `json:"user"`
+			}
+			if json.Unmarshal(raw, &r) == nil && r.Type == "process" && r.User != "" && r.User != "root" {
+				account = r.User
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	for i := range in.Nodes {
+		if in.Nodes[i].Name == node {
+			in.Nodes[i].RunningProvisioner = account
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/compose/frombus/frombustest/frombustest_test.go

@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ package frombustest
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"reflect"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -204,6 +206,92 @@ func TestTheProvisionedMeshHandsAPlanWithItsProvision(t *testing.T) {
 	if fetched-archives != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("restic's archive was read %d times over two compositions, want once", fetched-archives)
 	}
+
+	// Issue 774 (ace, 2026-11-04 01:29): the provisioner client held as its stub (its build not done, so the node keeps
+	// running what it runs) keeps the account the node's own composition names, and restic stays handed to it with its
+	// plan; without it every filled write was refused and no module was handed.
+	if b, err = Provisioned(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	fps, ownKey := FPs(), ""
+	ownKey, _ = delivery.ComposedNodeKey(Node)
+	resticKey, _ := delivery.ComposedKey(Node, "restic", fps["restic"])
+	before, _, _, err := frombus.Compose(context.Background(), b, frombus.Mesh{}, frombus.Scope{Node: Node}, fps)
+	account := before[ownKey].Own.Provisioner
+	if err != nil || account == "" || len(before[resticKey].Filled) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the node composes with its client: account %q, restic's filled files %v: %v", account, before[resticKey].Filled, err)
+	}
+	var running []delivery.Composed
+	for _, c := range before {
+		running = append(running, c)
+	}
+	for _, row := range []struct {
+		own, placed bool // the account read from the running own composition, else the client's running process; the client placed
+		userless    bool // the client placed and not held, its process naming no user: it composes no account
+		// filledHeld holds every module with a filled file (restic, its build not done) and not the client: the node still
+		// names the account (issue 774, ace 2026-11-04: its build modules and ssh-client held, no filled file, no account)
+		filledHeld bool
+	}{{true, true, false, false}, {false, true, false, false}, {true, false, false, false}, {false, false, false, false},
+		{true, true, true, false}, {true, true, false, true}} {
+		own := row.own
+		runs := running
+		if !own { // what runs names no account of its own: the client's running process says it
+			runs = nil
+			for _, c := range running {
+				if c.Module == "" {
+					c.Own.Provisioner = ""
+				}
+				runs = append(runs, c)
+			}
+		}
+		bb, err := Provisioned()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		want := account
+		if row.userless {
+			// placed and not held, composing no account of its own: no stale account is kept from what runs
+			mod := bb.Module["mesh-provisioner-client"]
+			var m map[string]any
+			if err := json.Unmarshal(bb.Manifests[mod.Manifest], &m); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			for _, r := range m["resources"].([]any) {
+				delete(r.(map[string]any), "user")
+			}
+			raw, _ := json.Marshal(m)
+			mod.Manifest = delivery.ManifestDigest(raw)
+			bb.Module["mesh-provisioner-client"], bb.Manifests[mod.Manifest] = mod, raw
+			built := *bb.Builds["mesh-provisioner-client "+fps["mesh-provisioner-client"]]
+			built.Manifest = mod.Manifest
+			bb.Builds["mesh-provisioner-client "+fps["mesh-provisioner-client"]] = &built
+			want = ""
+		} else if row.filledHeld {
+			bb.Builds["restic "+fps["restic"]] = &delivery.BuilderBuild{State: delivery.BuildBuilding}
+		} else if row.placed {
+			// held: its build not done while it runs
+			bb.Builds["mesh-provisioner-client "+fps["mesh-provisioner-client"]] = &delivery.BuilderBuild{State: delivery.BuildBuilding}
+		} else {
+			// taken out of the node's placement while what runs still names it: the account goes with it, never kept stale
+			p := bb.Placement[Node]
+			p.Modules = slices.DeleteFunc(slices.Clone(p.Modules), func(m delivery.PlacedModule) bool { return m.Module == "mesh-provisioner-client" })
+			bb.Placement[Node] = p
+			want = ""
+		}
+		after, _, held, err := frombus.Compose(context.Background(), bb, frombus.Mesh{}, frombus.Scope{Node: Node, Running: runs}, fps)
+		if _, isHeld := held["mesh-provisioner-client"]; err != nil || isHeld != (row.placed && !row.userless && !row.filledHeld) {
+			t.Fatalf("%+v: held %v: %v", row, held, err)
+		}
+		if got := after[ownKey].Own.Provisioner; got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%+v: the node's own names %q, want %q", row, got, want)
+		}
+		if _, resticHeld := held["restic"]; row.filledHeld && !resticHeld {
+			t.Errorf("%+v: restic held %v", row, resticHeld)
+		}
+		if row.placed && !row.userless && !row.filledHeld && !reflect.DeepEqual(after[resticKey].Filled, before[resticKey].Filled) {
+			t.Errorf("%+v: restic's filled files %v, want %v", row, after[resticKey].Filled, before[resticKey].Filled)
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 // statesOf is the bus b as a module's read states hold it.

internal/compose/input.go

@@ -159,8 +159,9 @@ type Node struct {
 	// Assigned is the modules assigned to it, in the order the controller reads them (inv.Assigned).
 	Assigned []string
 	// Handed is, by module, whether the vault judged it handed to the provisioner when it answered this node's own
-	// secrets (catalogue.AssignmentHands of the plan in its assignment): the node's own composition hands exactly those
-	// (catalogue.Rendering.Assigned, issue 774). Nil where the vault said nothing of it, as for the controller.
+	// secrets (catalogue.AssignmentHands of the plan in its assignment). Never the rule (resolution.Handing, issue 1966):
+	// read only to say where the vault and this composition disagree (resolution.VaultDisagrees). Nil where the vault said
+	// nothing of it, as for the controller.
 	Handed map[string]bool
 	// Capabilities are the ones present on it (inv.ProfileOf).
 	Capabilities map[string]bool
@@ -224,6 +225,11 @@ type Node struct {
 	// so it is left to the node: Compositions composes it as a stub (Stub) and carries its resources as they run, each
 	// after the resource it runs after (issue 1126). Nil composes every folded module from its manifest, as before.
 	RunsOwn *delivery.Composed
+	// RunningProvisioner is the account the provisioner's client runs as on this node now, read from what runs (its own
+	// composition's provisioner account, else the user of the provisioner client's running process), empty when nothing
+	// says it. A client held as its stub this pass composes no process, so the node keeps this account and its handing
+	// (provisionerAccount; issue 774: ace, 2026-11-04 01:29, every filled write refused and postgres's consumers unhanded).
+	RunningProvisioner string
 	// Held is the modules refused alone on this node, each composed as what runs of it (Carried, in Kept; its Stub when
 	// nothing of it runs) so the rest is composed (novox/hq issue 1126): none of a held module's own composition is in what
 	// Compositions answers, so the node keeps what it last applied of it; one whose resources the node's own runs

internal/compose/input_held.go

@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package compose
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"sort"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
+)
+
+// What an input says of its held modules on the wire (issue 774, the group check of feat/l3-final 278aa5f0ccbe). A held
+// module stands in the input as its stub (Stub), and the stub's mark (catalogue.Manifest.Stubbed) is no field of a
+// manifest's JSON: an input a node-engine sent the check's sandbox lost it, so the sandbox read node-tools, held by its
+// manifest's verdict, as a tool runner with no bundle and refused every module of ace, g14 and shanks for "its build
+// produced 0 bundle(s)" instead of naming the verdict. So the input carries the mark itself, by module, for its catalogue
+// and for each node's kept manifests, and a reader marks each again. An input from a node-engine before the mark (no
+// Held) is read by its contract: a module Refused names stands in Catalogue as its stub.
+
+// heldMarks are the modules an input holds as their stubs: those of its catalogue, and those each node keeps, by node.
+type heldMarks struct {
+	Catalogue []string            `json:",omitempty"`
+	Kept      map[string][]string `json:",omitempty"`
+}
+
+// inputFields is Input without its JSON methods.
+type inputFields Input
+
+// inputWire is an input as it crosses the bus: its fields, and the modules it holds as their stubs.
+type inputWire struct {
+	inputFields
+	Held *heldMarks `json:",omitempty"`
+}
+
+// MarshalJSON writes the input with the modules it holds as their stubs named beside it (heldMarks).
+func (in Input) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	w := inputWire{inputFields: inputFields(in)}
+	marks := heldMarks{Catalogue: stubbedOf(in.Catalogue)}
+	for _, n := range in.Nodes {
+		if kept := stubbedOf(n.Kept); len(kept) > 0 {
+			if marks.Kept == nil {
+				marks.Kept = map[string][]string{}
+			}
+			marks.Kept[n.Name] = kept
+		}
+	}
+	if len(marks.Catalogue) > 0 || len(marks.Kept) > 0 {
+		w.Held = &marks
+	}
+	return json.Marshal(w)
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON reads an input and marks again each module it holds as its stub: those it names held, and, by the
+// input's contract, every module Refused names that its catalogue holds.
+func (in *Input) UnmarshalJSON(raw []byte) error {
+	var w inputWire
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &w); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	*in = Input(w.inputFields)
+	held := map[string]bool{}
+	for m := range in.Refused {
+		held[m] = true
+	}
+	if w.Held != nil {
+		for _, m := range w.Held.Catalogue {
+			held[m] = true
+		}
+	}
+	for m := range held {
+		if man, ok := in.Catalogue[m]; ok {
+			man.Stubbed = true
+			in.Catalogue[m] = man
+		}
+	}
+	if w.Held != nil {
+		for i := range in.Nodes {
+			for _, m := range w.Held.Kept[in.Nodes[i].Name] {
+				if man, ok := in.Nodes[i].Kept[m]; ok {
+					man.Stubbed = true
+					in.Nodes[i].Kept[m] = man
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// stubbedOf is each module of manifests held as its stub, sorted.
+func stubbedOf(manifests map[string]catalogue.Manifest) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for name, m := range manifests {
+		if m.Stubbed {
+			out = append(out, name)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}

internal/compose/node.go

@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ func (d Declared) Body() ([]byte, error) {
 	}
 	if len(d.Filled) > 0 {
 		envelope["filled_files"] = d.Filled
+	}
+	// The provisioner client's account is the node's, named whenever a client runs here, filled files or not: a node
+	// whose every filled-file module is held this pass names none of its files, and still keeps them, so the client's
+	// writes of them must be accepted (issue 774, ace 2026-11-04: its build modules and ssh-client held, no account).
+	if d.Provisioner != "" {
 		envelope["provisioner_account"] = d.Provisioner
 	}
 	// An empty declaration is deliberate: the node owns nothing the mesh put there (novox/hq issue 127), and the host refuses an
@@ -202,9 +207,7 @@ func (c *composer) declaration(nodeName string, mode Mode) (Declared, error) {
 		Filled: composed.Filled, LocalNetwork: resolution.LocalNetworkPorts(rules, with.LocalNetworks),
 		CoreBoxesWanted: rendered.CoreBoxesWanted, Said: rendered.Said,
 		Sequence: node.Sequence, Epoch: node.Epoch, Generation: node.Generation}
-	if len(composed.Filled) > 0 {
-		out.Provisioner = with.Provisioner
-	}
+	out.Provisioner = with.Provisioner
 	// A handed module only pulled in by another keeps what requires it, for its value of its own in the assignments mirror (issue 765).
 	for module := range composed.Plans {
 		if by := resolution.RequiredBy(plan, module); by != "" {

internal/compose/rendering.go

@@ -74,6 +74,12 @@ func (c *composer) places(nodeName string, resolved Resolved) (Placed, error) {
 	// not sent the field they would refuse.
 	r.Hands = takesHanded(node)
 	r.Provisioner = provisionerAccount(plan)
+	if r.Provisioner == "" && provisionerHeld(plan) {
+		// The provisioner's client is placed here and held this pass (its stub, or carried as it runs, composes no process
+		// of its own): it keeps running as it runs, so the account it runs as stays named, and every module stays handed
+		// to it. A client not held that composes no account, or none placed, names none: no stale account is kept.
+		r.Provisioner = node.RunningProvisioner
+	}
 	r.Assigned = node.Handed
 	r.ReadsHealth = node.Stated && node.Contract >= ReadinessContract
 	r.JudgesRoot = node.Stated && node.Contract >= RootContract
@@ -190,6 +196,21 @@ func provisionerAccount(plan catalogue.Resolution) string {
 	return ""
 }
 
+// provisionerHeld says the plan places a module claiming the provisioner client's seat on the machine that this pass
+// holds (its stand-in: Stub, or Carried as it runs), which composes none of the client's process.
+func provisionerHeld(plan catalogue.Resolution) bool {
+	for _, m := range plan.Modules {
+		if m.Stubbed && m.ClaimsSeat(NodeProvisionerSeat) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// RunsTheProvisionerClient says a module runs its machine's provisioner client (runsTheProvisionerClient), for a reader
+// of what runs.
+func RunsTheProvisionerClient(m catalogue.Manifest) bool { return runsTheProvisionerClient(m) }
+
 // runsTheProvisionerClient says a module runs its machine's provisioner client: it claims the seat and declares the own
 // secret that account is delivered in.
 func runsTheProvisionerClient(m catalogue.Manifest) bool {

internal/compose/resolution/bound_into_files.go

@@ -102,7 +102,13 @@ func plainly(value any) string {
 // **An optional requirement left absent takes the default its placeholder names** (novox/hq ADR
 // 0330 §4), and one that names none is refused rather than rendered empty. The module check refuses
 // that already; this is the same rule where the file is made, for a manifest registered before it.
-func boundInto(resource map[string]any, known map[string]map[string]string, module string, absent map[string]bool) error {
+//
+// **A key the binding does not say is refused with why the node-engine fills the file** (issue 1966): filledHere
+// (notHandedWhy). What a provider's helper answers reaches only a handed module's files, which the provisioner's client
+// fills; a file the client should fill (handedFile) refused here is a handed module not handed, and says so, never only
+// the keys it lacks.
+func boundInto(resource map[string]any, known map[string]map[string]string, module string, absent map[string]bool,
+	handedFile bool, filledHere string) error {
 	if fmt.Sprint(resource["type"]) != "file" {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -135,10 +141,16 @@ func boundInto(resource map[string]any, known map[string]map[string]string, modu
 			return token
 		}
 		value, said := values[key]
+		if !said && handedFile {
+			refused = fmt.Errorf(
+				"handed module not handed: %s asks its %s binding for %q, which only the provisioner's client fills, "+
+					"and %s (issue 1966)", module, provision, key, filledHere)
+			return token
+		}
 		if !said {
 			refused = fmt.Errorf(
-				"%s asks its %s binding for %q, and what answers it says %s",
-				module, provision, key, orNothing(namesOfKeys(values)))
+				"%s asks its %s binding for %q, and what answers it says %s (%s)",
+				module, provision, key, orNothing(namesOfKeys(values)), filledHere)
 			return token
 		}
 		return value

internal/compose/resolution/declaration.go

@@ -415,6 +415,11 @@ func resolutionCompose(r mcat.Resolution, with mcat.Rendering, owner map[string]
 				// family's member (ADR 0283), so the module reads its absence as not given.
 				continue
 			}
+			if why := VaultDisagrees(with, m); sealed == "" && why != "" {
+				// The vault left it out of what it answered this node, its plan handing it: never a secret to make.
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("handed module not handed: %s needs its own secret %q, which the vault answers "+
+					"its provisioner's client alone, %s (issue 1966)", m.Module, name, why)
+			}
 			if sealed == "" {
 				// Declared and not made. Refused rather than skipped: a module whose own
 				// credential is silently absent starts, fails to authenticate, and the reason is
@@ -912,7 +917,8 @@ func resolutionCompose(r mcat.Resolution, with mcat.Rendering, owner map[string]
 			// **Substituted here, not on the machine.** A bound value is not secret — the mesh
 			// holds it in the clear — so there is nothing for the host to be the only witness of,
 			// and sending it already filled in means the host learns no new field.
-			if err := boundInto(copied, known, m.Module, absent); err != nil {
+			filledHere, handedFile := notHandedWhy(with, m, unsettled)
+			if err := boundInto(copied, known, m.Module, absent, handedFile, filledHere); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			// And what the module could not have written: the machine it turned out to be

internal/compose/resolution/handed.go

@@ -96,22 +96,74 @@ func renderingHanding(with mcat.Rendering, m mcat.Manifest) bool {
 }
 
 // Handing is whether a machine composed with this rendering hands the module to the provisioner, its files and
-// its own secrets (design 57 P6, V4): a moved module there, assigned or only pulled in by another (issue 765), on a
-// machine that can take it. The controller makes and seals none of such a module's secrets for that machine: its
-// client asks the vault.
+// its own secrets (design 57 P6, V4): a moved module there whose build kept what the client fills from
+// (catalogue.Handed, written by Resolve), assigned or only pulled in by another (issue 765), on a machine that can take
+// it (its node-engine writes a filled file on the client's word, and the client's account is named). The controller
+// makes and seals none of such a module's secrets for that machine: its client asks the vault.
 //
-// **Where the vault judged the module, its word is the rule** (Rendering.Assigned, issue 774): the vault leaves a
-// module's own secrets out of `own` exactly when the plan in its assignment hands it (AssignmentHands), so a node
-// composing itself hands exactly those, whatever its own reading of the manifest and the machine says. On 2026-10-31
-// postgres on novox was held: its plan handed its secrets, the vault answered none of them, and the node, judging by
-// the manifest and the machine, composed them itself and refused for want of `reader`. Two readers, one rule.
+// **The manifest, its build and the machine are the rule, never the plan** (issue 1966). The plan in a module's
+// assignment is what a node's last composition made of it; when the vault's reading of it (Rendering.Assigned) was the
+// rule, a module with no plan yet was judged not handed, composed the old way, refused there (its files ask the
+// provider's helper for what only the helper answers), and so never got the plan that would hand it: on 2026-11-04
+// ace's three build modules and ssh-client, and shanks's mesh-build-image and ssh-client. The vault's word follows the
+// plans this rule makes, one composition later, and is read only to say where the two disagree (VaultDisagrees).
 func Handing(with mcat.Rendering, m mcat.Manifest) bool {
-	if hands, judged := with.Assigned[m.Module]; judged {
-		return hands
-	}
 	return m.Moved && m.Handed != nil && with.Hands && with.Provisioner != ""
 }
 
+// machineWhy is why a machine does not take a moved module's handed files, "" where it does.
+func machineWhy(with mcat.Rendering) string {
+	switch {
+	case !with.Hands:
+		return "this machine's node-engine has not stated that it writes a filled file on the provisioner client's word"
+	case with.Provisioner == "":
+		return "this machine's declaration names no account the provisioner's client runs as"
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// VaultDisagrees says why this composition does not hand a module the vault judged handed (Rendering.Assigned: the plan
+// in its assignment hands it, so the vault left its own secrets out of what it answered this node), "" where they agree
+// or the vault said nothing of it. Said where one of those secrets is then missing, as a handed module not handed, never
+// as a secret to make (issue 1966).
+func VaultDisagrees(with mcat.Rendering, m mcat.Manifest) string {
+	if !with.Assigned[m.Module] || Handing(with, m) {
+		return ""
+	}
+	switch {
+	case !m.Moved:
+		return "the vault judged it handed by its plan, and it is not moved"
+	case m.Handed == nil:
+		return "the vault judged it handed by its plan, and its build kept no templates"
+	}
+	return "the vault judged it handed by its plan, and " + machineWhy(with)
+}
+
+// notHandedWhy says why a file of this module is composed here, filled by the node-engine, rather than by the
+// provisioner's client: the module is not moved, its build kept nothing to hand, the machine cannot take it, its build
+// kept no template for this file, or the file merges the layers' settings (begin). Said where a placeholder only a
+// handed file can name is refused (boundInto); handedFile is whether the module's manifest and build hand this file, so
+// that a refusal of it is a handed module not handed.
+func notHandedWhy(with mcat.Rendering, m mcat.Manifest, r map[string]any) (why string, handedFile bool) {
+	id := fmt.Sprint(r["id"])
+	switch {
+	case !m.Moved:
+		return m.Module + " is not moved, so its node-engine fills its files", false
+	case m.Handed == nil:
+		return m.Module + " is moved and its build kept no templates, so its node-engine fills its files", false
+	}
+	if _, kept := m.Handed.Templates[id]; !kept {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("its build kept no template for %s, so its node-engine fills that file", id), false
+	}
+	if mergesFile(r) {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s merges the layers' settings, which its node-engine does (issue 831)", id), false
+	}
+	if why := machineWhy(with); why != "" {
+		return why, true
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("its build kept a template for %s and this composition filled it itself", id), true
+}
+
 // requiredByWords begins why a module only pulled in by another is on a machine (Resolution.Because): `required by
 // <module>`.
 const requiredByWords = "required by "

internal/compose/resolution/handed_bound_test.go

@@ -113,9 +113,10 @@ func TestAHandedModulesLocalCredentialsOfTheVaultAreNamedByLocalInItsPlan(t *tes
 
 // **Issue 969: a key its provider serves only at run time.** A moved module's file may name `${bound:…}` of a
 // provision whose provider tells it at run time (ssh-client's known_host of the forge). Where the machine takes
-// handed files the client fills it and the module composes; where it does not the controller must fill it from what
-// the provider serves statically, cannot, and refuses it with the very words an unmarked module is refused with
-// (ADR 0349 §17: the old way, byte for byte).
+// handed files the client fills it and the module composes, whatever the vault judged of a plan not made yet (issue
+// 1966); where it does not the node-engine must fill it from what the provider serves statically, cannot, and refuses
+// it as a handed module not handed, saying why the machine does not take it (issue 1966), where an unmarked module is
+// refused with the keys the binding says and that it is not moved.
 func TestAHandedModuleNamingARunTimeBoundKeyComposesOnlyWhereItIsHanded(t *testing.T) {
 	text := "Host ${bound:postgres-database:at}\n  KnownHost ${bound:postgres-database:known_host}\n"
 	moved := strings.Replace(botMoved(), `"own-secrets":{"token":"${dir:state}/token"}`,
@@ -130,17 +131,30 @@ func TestAHandedModuleNamingARunTimeBoundKeyComposesOnlyWhereItIsHanded(t *testi
 		t.Fatalf("handed, the module is filled by the client and the controller names nothing: %v %s", c.Filled, got)
 	}
 
-	for name, with := range map[string]mcat.Rendering{
-		"an engine that does not take a filled file alone": {Provisioner: "mesh-provisioner-client", ArtifactStore: "store:5000"},
-		"no provisioner client on the machine":             {Hands: true, ArtifactStore: "store:5000"},
+	// Issue 1966: the vault judged it not handed (no plan yet); it is handed all the same.
+	noPlan := handingTo("store:5000")
+	noPlan.Assigned = map[string]bool{"bot": false}
+	if c, err := Compose(withDatabase(t, moved, text, true), noPlan); err != nil || len(c.Filled) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("with no plan yet, the module is not handed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	for name, with := range map[string]struct {
+		with mcat.Rendering
+		why  string
+	}{
+		"an engine that does not take a filled file alone": {mcat.Rendering{Provisioner: "mesh-provisioner-client", ArtifactStore: "store:5000"},
+			"has not stated that it writes a filled file"},
+		"no provisioner client on the machine": {mcat.Rendering{Hands: true, ArtifactStore: "store:5000"},
+			"names no account the provisioner's client runs as"},
 	} {
-		_, err := Compose(withDatabase(t, moved, text, true), sealedForBot(with))
-		if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `asks its postgres-database binding for "known_host"`) {
-			t.Fatalf("%s: the key is not refused: %v", name, err)
+		_, err := Compose(withDatabase(t, moved, text, true), sealedForBot(with.with))
+		if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `handed module not handed: bot asks its postgres-database binding for "known_host"`) ||
+			!strings.Contains(err.Error(), with.why) {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: the key is not refused as a handed module not handed: %v", name, err)
 		}
-		_, before := Compose(withDatabase(t, unmoved, text, false), sealedForBot(with))
-		if before == nil || before.Error() != err.Error() {
-			t.Fatalf("%s: refused otherwise than the unmarked module: %v / %v", name, err, before)
+		_, before := Compose(withDatabase(t, unmoved, text, false), sealedForBot(with.with))
+		if before == nil || !strings.Contains(before.Error(), `bot asks its postgres-database binding for "known_host", and what answers it says "as", "at" or "from" (bot is not moved`) {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: the unmarked module is refused %v", name, before)
 		}
 	}
 }

internal/compose/resolution/handed_secrets_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package resolution
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -60,14 +61,25 @@ func TestAHandedModulesSecretsAreNamedAndNoValueIsSealed(t *testing.T) {
 	if want := []mcat.PlanSecret{{Name: "token", Path: path}}; !reflect.DeepEqual(c.Plans["bot"].Secrets, want) {
 		t.Fatalf("the plan names secrets %+v, want %+v", c.Plans["bot"].Secrets, want)
 	}
-	// Issue 774 (postgres on novox, 2026-10-31): where the vault judged it handed, its secrets are the vault's even on a
-	// machine the node reads as not taking a filled file, and nothing is refused for a value the vault never answers.
-	judged, err := Compose(r, mcat.Rendering{ArtifactStore: "store:5000", Assigned: map[string]bool{"bot": true}})
+	// Issue 1966 (ace, 2026-11-04): the vault judged it not handed, its assignment carrying no plan yet; the manifest,
+	// its build and the machine hand it all the same, so the plan that would hand it is made.
+	withoutPlan := handingTo("store:5000")
+	withoutPlan.Assigned = map[string]bool{"bot": false}
+	first, err := Compose(r, withoutPlan)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("a module the vault judged handed is refused: %v", err)
+		t.Fatalf("a module the vault judged not handed, with no plan yet, is refused: %v", err)
 	}
-	if want := []mcat.PlanSecret{{Name: "token", Path: path}}; !reflect.DeepEqual(judged.Plans["bot"].Secrets, want) {
-		t.Errorf("judged handed by the vault, the plan names secrets %+v, want %+v", judged.Plans["bot"].Secrets, want)
+	if want := []mcat.PlanSecret{{Name: "token", Path: path}}; !reflect.DeepEqual(first.Plans["bot"].Secrets, want) {
+		t.Errorf("with no plan yet, the plan names secrets %+v, want %+v", first.Plans["bot"].Secrets, want)
+	}
+	// Issue 774 (postgres on novox, 2026-10-31), as issue 1966 leaves it: where the vault judged it handed and the machine
+	// cannot take it, the vault answered none of its secrets, and the refusal says a handed module is not handed, never
+	// a secret to make.
+	_, err = Compose(r, mcat.Rendering{ArtifactStore: "store:5000", Assigned: map[string]bool{"bot": true}})
+	var notMade *NotMadeError
+	if err == nil || errors.As(err, &notMade) || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "handed module not handed: bot needs its own secret \"token\"") ||
+		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), "has not stated that it writes a filled file") {
+		t.Errorf("judged handed by the vault on a machine that cannot take it, the composition says %v", err)
 	}
 	// A process naming the token's file still restarts when its client writes it.
 	for _, res := range c.Resources {

internal/composer/composer.go

@@ -150,6 +150,14 @@ func runCase(r Request, c Case, depth string) (CaseVerdict, error) {
 	for name, m := range base.Catalogue {
 		shelf[name] = m
 	}
+	// A module the input's node-engine holds as refused (compose.Input.Refused: its verdict, or bytes that do not decode) is
+	// held here as there, and its read says why, whatever the case's own verdicts: the check then names the cause the node
+	// holds it for, never a pass the node would not compose, nor a rule about its stub (issue 774, group check 278aa5f0ccbe).
+	for name, why := range base.Refused {
+		if read, carried := cv.Manifests[name]; carried && read.Accepted {
+			cv.Manifests[name] = ManifestRead{Refused: "its node-engine holds it: " + why}
+		}
+	}
 	in.Catalogue = shelf
 	in.Nodes = slices.Clone(in.Nodes)
 	in.Holdings = slices.Clone(in.Holdings)

internal/composer/composer_test.go

@@ -179,6 +179,47 @@ func TestARequestItCannotRunIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("a module the node-engine holds too: %+v", m)
 		}
 	})
+	// Issue 774 (the group check of feat/l3-final 278aa5f0ccbe): a tool runner its node-engine holds by its manifest's
+	// verdict is sent as its stub, and the input says it holds it: the sandbox composes the node with it held, never refuses
+	// it for its stub's missing bundle. An input from an engine before the mark is read by Refused alone, the same way.
+	t.Run("a refused tool runner the engine sends as its stub", func(t *testing.T) {
+		raw := `{"module": "runner", "version": "1", "tool-runner": true, ` +
+			`"build": {"artifacts": [{"name": "runtime", "kind": "bundle", "language": "go", "from": "cmd/runner", "binary": "runner"}]}}`
+		man, err := catalogue.Decode([]byte(raw))
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		in := compose.Input{Catalogue: map[string]catalogue.Manifest{"runner": compose.Stub(man)},
+			Refused: map[string]string{"runner": "the indexer's judge refused the manifest of runner"},
+			Nodes:   []compose.Node{{Name: "a", Assigned: []string{"runner"}}}}
+		wire, err := json.Marshal(in)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		var back compose.Input
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(wire, &back); err != nil || !back.Catalogue["runner"].Stubbed || !strings.Contains(string(wire), `"Held"`) {
+			t.Fatalf("the input's held mark across the wire: %s, %v", wire, err)
+		}
+		older := strings.Replace(string(wire), `"Held":{"Catalogue":["runner"]}`, `"Unsaid":null`, 1)
+		for name, sent := range map[string]string{"with the mark": string(wire), "from an engine before it": older} {
+			var r Request
+			r = Request{V: Version, Machines: []string{"a"}, Depth: DepthCompose,
+				Cases: []Case{{Name: "change", Manifests: map[string]Manifest{"runner": {Raw: json.RawMessage(raw)}}}}}
+			if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(sent), &r.Input); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			v, err := Run(r)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if m := v.Cases[0].Machines["a"]; !m.Composes || strings.Contains(m.Reason, "bundle") {
+				t.Errorf("%s: the node with its tool runner held: %+v", name, m)
+			}
+			if read := v.Cases[0].Manifests["runner"]; read.Accepted || !strings.Contains(read.Refused, "the indexer's judge refused the manifest of runner") {
+				t.Errorf("%s: the runner's read names not why its node-engine holds it: %+v", name, read)
+			}
+		}
+	})
 	v, err := Run(Request{V: Version, Cases: []Case{{Name: "only-read", Manifests: map[string]Manifest{"demo": {Raw: json.RawMessage(demo)}}}}})
 	if err != nil || len(v.Cases) != 1 || !v.Cases[0].Manifests["demo"].Accepted || v.Cases[0].Machines != nil || v.SDK == "" {
 		t.Fatalf("a request with no machines: %+v, %v", v, err)

internal/link/have_test.go

@@ -270,7 +270,8 @@ func TestTheNodeKeyCarriesTheNodesFacts(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	wantRecord := delivery.NodeRecord{V: delivery.Version, Node: "n1", TunnelKey: "tk", SealingKey: "sk", ServingKey: "pk",
 		Certificate: "cert", Trusts: keys.Trusts, Capabilities: []string{"apt", "systemd"}, OutwardLinks: []string{"eth0"}, NetworksSaid: true,
-		Networks: []catalogue.AttachedNetwork{{Link: "eth0", Network: "192.0.2.0/24"}}, Contract: NodeKeyContract}
+		Networks: []catalogue.AttachedNetwork{{Link: "eth0", Network: "192.0.2.0/24"}}, Contract: NodeKeyContract,
+		ManifestReads: catalogue.ManifestReads()} // what it reads of a manifest: its contract's (ADR 0614 §4)
 	if !delivery.SameNodeRecord(*got.Record, wantRecord) {
 		t.Errorf("record = %+v, want %+v", *got.Record, wantRecord)
 	}

internal/link/record.go

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package link
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"sort"
+	"sync"
 
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
@@ -27,6 +28,11 @@ type RecordKeys struct {
 	Trusts []string
 }
 
+// manifestReads is what this engine reads of a manifest (novox/hq ADR 0614 §4): the reader capabilities of the mesh-sdk it
+// is built with, stated in its record so the assigner moves a want only to an engine that reads its manifest. Computed
+// once: it is the build's, and never changes while it runs.
+var manifestReads = sync.OnceValue(catalogue.ManifestReads)
+
 // recordOf is the node's record from one facts report and its keys; nil for a report that carries no profile (one that
 // says nothing of the machine, such as a rekey), so the record last written stands.
 func recordOf(node string, r Report, keys RecordKeys) *delivery.NodeRecord {
@@ -47,7 +53,8 @@ func recordOf(node string, r Report, keys RecordKeys) *delivery.NodeRecord {
 		return nil
 	}
 	rec := &delivery.NodeRecord{V: delivery.Version, Node: node, TunnelKey: keys.TunnelKey, SealingKey: keys.SealingKey,
-		ServingKey: keys.ServingKey, Certificate: keys.Certificate, Authority: keys.Authority, Trusts: keys.Trusts}
+		ServingKey: keys.ServingKey, Certificate: keys.Certificate, Authority: keys.Authority, Trusts: keys.Trusts,
+		ManifestReads: manifestReads()}
 	for _, c := range p.Capabilities {
 		if c.Present && c.Name != "" {
 			rec.Capabilities = append(rec.Capabilities, c.Name)

internal/selfcompose/selfcompose.go

@@ -218,6 +218,13 @@ type Pass struct {
 	Earlier bool `json:"earlier,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// LastHeld is what the last pass held, each module with why; nil before a pass or when it held none.
+func (c *Composer) LastHeld() map[string]string {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	return maps.Clone(c.last.Held)
+}
+
 // askedWithin is how recent a pass answers an ask of the verb compose without a new one: the first wait after a seat
 // that did not answer (laterAgain's first).
 var askedWithin = 5 * time.Second
@@ -915,6 +922,13 @@ func (c *Composer) compose(ctx context.Context) []agent.Update {
 	}
 	c.paid()
 	pass.Held = held
+	// The provisioner client's account the node runs with, dropped by this pass, is said: every filled write is refused
+	// under a declaration that names none (filling.JudgeAccount), and no module is handed to it (issue 774, ace,
+	// 2026-11-04 01:29). A placed client keeps its account while it is held (compose.Node.RunningProvisioner).
+	if was, now := ownProvisioner(running), ownProvisioner(mapValues(compositions)); was != "" && now == "" && nodeWanted {
+		c.sayOnceEach(fmt.Sprintf("the node's own composition names no provisioner client's account, where what runs names %s: "+
+			"once applied, every filled write is refused and no module is handed to the provisioner", was))
+	}
 	// A module refused alone is held: it keeps what it runs, its have says why, and every other module is applied (issue
 	// 1126: one module's refusal froze the whole node).
 	done := c.waiting("the agent marking each held module's have")
@@ -1699,3 +1713,21 @@ func (c *Composer) ComposedToday(ctx context.Context, module, fp string) (string
 	}
 	return "", false
 }
+
+// ownProvisioner is the provisioner client's account the node's own composition among cs names, or "".
+func ownProvisioner(cs []delivery.Composed) string {
+	for _, c := range cs {
+		if c.Module == "" {
+			return c.Own.Provisioner
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func mapValues(m map[string]delivery.Composed) []delivery.Composed {
+	out := make([]delivery.Composed, 0, len(m))
+	for _, k := range slices.Sorted(maps.Keys(m)) {
+		out = append(out, m[k])
+	}
+	return out
+}

packaging/operator_keys_test.go

@@ -75,6 +75,13 @@ func TestTheManifestConsumesTheBackupEvent(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	// ADR 0614 §4: the node-engine's own manifest uses only words every running engine reads (the baseline, what an engine
+	// stating none is read as), so its new build is never held for a word only it reads.
+	if needs, err := catalogue.ManifestNeeds(raw); err != nil || len(needs) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the manifest's needs: %v, %v", needs, err)
+	} else if missing := catalogue.MissingManifestReads(needs, nil); len(missing) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("the manifest needs %v, which an engine stating nothing does not read: its new build would be held", missing)
+	}
 	// 774 (the alert table): the state health, one key per node, the node's own health report, kept until
 	// written again (no TTL: a node that stops writing keeps its last word, which the watchman reads with its time).
 	// ADR 0577 clause 1: and the state data, one key per module placed on the node that declares data items, kept until