diff --git a/scenarios/route-forwarding.yml b/scenarios/route-forwarding.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae25cb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scenarios/route-forwarding.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# One machine that becomes a mesh and is then assigned the route-proxy provider and a hello-web
+# consumer — the bed that proves route-forwarding end to end (novox/hq ADR 0007,
+# 08-connectivity §3 Exposure).
+#
+# **A route is a grant.** hello-web `requires: route` and contributes the name it wants and the port
+# it listens on; route-proxy `provides: route`, is given every consumer as a file the mesh writes
+# (`receives.route`), and forwards by the request's `Host` header to where the mesh says that
+# consumer is. The sharp point this bed proves, straight from 08-connectivity §3's "Checked in the
+# lab": a request to the consumer's name, sent to the proxy, reaches the workload and returns the
+# workload's own answer — then unassigning the consumer withdraws the route and the same request
+# stops working (the proxy replaces its table rather than merging).
+#
+# This bed proves the ROUTE-FORWARDING half over plain HTTP. The public-ACME/TLS half — ordering a
+# publicly-trusted certificate and answering an HTTP-01 challenge at the name — is proven separately
+# by certificates.test.ts against a real ACME server (Pebble), driving the same proxy binary.
+#
+#   MESH_LAB_HOST_BINARY=.../mesh-host   MESH_LAB_BUNDLE=.../examples/substrate-first-node.lock
+#   scripts/build-route-proxy-image.sh builds mesh-route-proxy:development into the local daemon
+#   (from mesh-control/examples/route-proxy, via mesh-catalog/modules/route-proxy/Dockerfile).
+#   alpine:latest must be in the local daemon — hello-web's backend is a bare alpine that serves a
+#   fixed page over a busybox nc loop. Both images are stocked and served by digest.
+scenario: route-forwarding
+
+segments:
+  hosting:
+    kind: public
+    cidr: [192.0.2.0/24]
+
+machines:
+  anchor:
+    at: { segment: hosting, address: [192.0.2.10] }
+    inbound: allow
+    memory: 3GiB
+    cpus: 2
+
+images:
+  # The first-node substrate: store, broker, control.
+  - postgres:17-alpine
+  - cloudamqp/lavinmq:latest
+  - mesh-control:development
+  # The route-proxy's image, built from the canonical Go proxy in mesh-control by
+  # scripts/build-route-proxy-image.sh, and hello-web's backend, a bare alpine nc loop.
+  - mesh-route-proxy:development
+  - alpine:latest
+
+place:
+  # Only the host — neither module carries a mesh-runtime. Both service images are served by the
+  # scenario's registry and pulled by the host, not placed inside the machine.
+  all: [host]
diff --git a/scripts/build-route-proxy-image.sh b/scripts/build-route-proxy-image.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..ef5985e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-route-proxy-image.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Build the route-proxy module's runtime image: the reference reverse proxy (novox/hq
+# 08-connectivity §3), compiled from its canonical Go source in mesh-control into a container the
+# lab can stock and serve by digest.
+#
+# Unlike the TypeScript modules (built by build-module-runtime.sh into a node tool runtime), the
+# proxy is a Go program. The module ships only the packaging — a Dockerfile in mesh-catalog whose
+# build context is the mesh-control repository root — and this script runs that build into the local
+# docker daemon, which a scenario's registry then stocks and serves by digest.
+#
+#   build-route-proxy-image.sh
+#   -> tags mesh-route-proxy:development in the local daemon
+set -euo pipefail
+
+HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"; ROOT="$(cd "$HERE/.." && pwd)"
+MESH_CONTROL="${MESH_CONTROL:-$ROOT/mesh-control}"
+MESH_CATALOG="${MESH_CATALOG:-$ROOT/mesh-catalog}"
+TAG="${ROUTE_PROXY_TAG:-mesh-route-proxy:development}"
+DOCKERFILE="$MESH_CATALOG/modules/route-proxy/Dockerfile"
+
+[ -f "$DOCKERFILE" ] || { echo "no Dockerfile at $DOCKERFILE" >&2; exit 1; }
+[ -f "$MESH_CONTROL/examples/route-proxy/main.go" ] || {
+  echo "no proxy source at $MESH_CONTROL/examples/route-proxy" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+# Context is the mesh-control repository root: the proxy compiles against that module's go.mod and
+# its examples/route-proxy package.
+docker build -f "$DOCKERFILE" -t "$TAG" "$MESH_CONTROL"
+echo "built $TAG (from $MESH_CONTROL/examples/route-proxy)"
diff --git a/test/integration/route-forwarding.test.ts b/test/integration/route-forwarding.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b5573f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/route-forwarding.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,285 @@
+/**
+ * The mesh assigns the route-proxy provider and a hello-web consumer, and a request to the
+ * consumer's name — sent to the proxy — is forwarded to the workload and returns the workload's own
+ * answer. Then the consumer is unassigned and the same request stops working. This is the
+ * route-forwarding half of exposure, mesh-driven end to end (novox/hq ADR 0007, 08-connectivity
+ * §3), with nothing hand-written.
+ *
+ * **A route is a grant.** hello-web `requires: route` and contributes `{name, port}`; route-proxy
+ * `provides: route`, and the *mesh* writes it the contributions file (`receives.route`) — the test
+ * places nothing. The proxy reads that file as $ROUTES and forwards by the `Host` header to
+ * `http://<at>:<port>`, where `at` is where the mesh says the consumer is (empty here — co-located —
+ * so 127.0.0.1, the published backend port). The two claims this bed proves, straight from
+ * 08-connectivity §3's "Checked in the lab":
+ *
+ *   - a request to the consumer's name reaches the workload across the proxy and returns its answer;
+ *   - unassigning the module withdraws the route and the same request stops working — the proxy
+ *     replaces its table rather than merging, so a name whose module left is no longer served.
+ *
+ * route-proxy carries no broker account, no own-secrets and no provisioner: it neither mints a
+ * credential nor emits an event, it only reads the file the mesh writes. So `module add` → `assign`
+ * → ONE `push` is the whole sequence for each of the two modules, with no `module issue` (as
+ * schedule-tick and the run-once bed established for a module that needs no scoped account).
+ *
+ * This bed proves ROUTE-FORWARDING over plain HTTP. The public-ACME/TLS half — ordering a
+ * publicly-trusted certificate and answering an HTTP-01 challenge at the name — is proven separately
+ * by certificates.test.ts, which drives the same proxy binary against a real ACME server (Pebble).
+ *
+ *   MESH_LAB_HOST_BINARY=.../mesh-host   MESH_LAB_BUNDLE=.../examples/substrate-first-node.lock
+ *   scripts/build-route-proxy-image.sh builds mesh-route-proxy:development into the local daemon;
+ *   scenarios/route-forwarding.yml stocks it and alpine:latest, and serves both by digest.
+ */
+
+import { test, before, after } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { existsSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { loadScenario } from "../../src/declaration/parse.ts";
+import { raise } from "../../src/lifecycle/raise.ts";
+import { destroy, exec } from "../../src/lifecycle/operate.ts";
+import { hostBinaryPath, HOST_PATH } from "../../src/lifecycle/place.ts";
+import { labIsUsable, destroyAll } from "./harness.ts";
+
+const capability = await labIsUsable();
+const binary = hostBinaryPath();
+const bundle = process.env["MESH_LAB_BUNDLE"] ?? "";
+
+const skip = !capability.usable
+  ? `lab not usable: ${capability.why}`
+  : !binary || !existsSync(binary)
+    ? "MESH_LAB_HOST_BINARY is not set to a built mesh-host"
+    : !bundle || !existsSync(bundle)
+      ? "MESH_LAB_BUNDLE is not set to a substrate bundle (mesh-host examples/)"
+      : false;
+
+const SCENARIO = "route-forwarding";
+const MACHINE = "anchor";
+const NAME = "hello.example";
+const PAGE = "hello from hello-web, routed by the mesh";
+
+let instanceId = "";
+let stocked: string[] = [];
+
+function quote(s: string): string {
+  return `'${s.replaceAll("'", `'\\''`)}'`;
+}
+
+async function on(command: string, timeoutMs?: number): Promise<{ out: string; ok: boolean }> {
+  const { stdout } = await exec(instanceId, MACHINE, [
+    "sh", "-c", `exec 2>&1\n${command}\necho "__exit=$?"`,
+  ], timeoutMs);
+  const marker = stdout.lastIndexOf("__exit=");
+  if (marker < 0) return { out: stdout, ok: false };
+  return { out: stdout.slice(0, marker), ok: stdout.slice(marker + 7).trim() === "0" };
+}
+
+async function must(command: string, timeoutMs?: number): Promise<string> {
+  const { out, ok } = await on(command, timeoutMs);
+  if (!ok) throw new Error(`${MACHINE}: ${command}\n${out}`);
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** The control plane, a container on the node. */
+async function mesh(command: string, timeoutMs?: number): Promise<string> {
+  return must(`docker exec mesh-control /mesh-control ${command}`, timeoutMs);
+}
+
+/** The pinned reference for one of the scenario's images, by repository. */
+function pinned(repository: string): string {
+  const found = stocked.find((r) => r.slice(r.indexOf("/") + 1, r.indexOf("@")) === repository);
+  assert.ok(found, `the scenario stocks no ${repository}; it serves ${stocked.join(", ")}`);
+  return found;
+}
+
+/** The substrate bundle, its image references pointed at this scenario's own registry. */
+function bundleFor(images: string[]): string {
+  let text = readFileSync(bundle, "utf8");
+  for (const ref of images) {
+    const repository = ref.slice(ref.indexOf("/") + 1, ref.indexOf("@"));
+    const escaped = repository.replaceAll("/", "\\/").replaceAll(".", "\\.");
+    text = text.replaceAll(new RegExp(`[A-Za-z0-9_.:-]+\\/${escaped}@sha256:[0-9a-f]+`, "g"), ref);
+  }
+  return text;
+}
+
+function tokenFrom(said: string): string {
+  const found = said.split("\n").map((l) => l.trim()).find((l) => l.length > 100 && !l.includes(" "));
+  assert.ok(found, `no token in:\n${said}`);
+  return found;
+}
+
+async function settled(withinMs = 600_000): Promise<void> {
+  const until = Date.now() + withinMs;
+  let last = "";
+  while (Date.now() < until) {
+    const asked = await on(`docker exec mesh-control /mesh-control status --json`);
+    if (asked.ok) {
+      try {
+        const state = JSON.parse(asked.out) as {
+          wrong: { node: string; outcome: string }[];
+          waiting: { node: string }[];
+          reported: { node: string; outcome: string; current: boolean }[];
+        };
+        const bad = state.wrong.find((w) => w.node === MACHINE);
+        if (bad) throw new Error(`${MACHINE} did not apply what it was sent: ${bad.outcome}\n${asked.out}`);
+        const word = state.reported.find((r) => r.node === MACHINE);
+        if (!state.waiting.some((w) => w.node === MACHINE) && word?.outcome === "applied" && word.current) return;
+        last = asked.out;
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (err instanceof Error && err.message.includes("did not apply")) throw err;
+        last = asked.out;
+      }
+    }
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 5000));
+  }
+  throw new Error(`${MACHINE} never caught up within ${Math.round(withinMs / 1000)}s. Last:\n${last}`);
+}
+
+/** A request to the proxy carrying the consumer's public name. The proxy binds :80 on the machine's
+ *  own network (network: host), so it is reached at 127.0.0.1 from inside the machine. */
+async function throughProxy(host: string): Promise<{ out: string; ok: boolean }> {
+  return on(`curl -s --max-time 5 -H ${quote(`Host: ${host}`)} http://127.0.0.1/`);
+}
+
+before(async () => {
+  if (skip) return;
+
+  const raised = await raise(loadScenario(`scenarios/${SCENARIO}.yml`), {
+    onProgress: (m) => console.log(`raise: ${m}`),
+  });
+  instanceId = raised.instanceId;
+  stocked = raised.images;
+
+  // Raise the substrate — store, broker, control — from the bundle.
+  await must(`cat > /tmp/substrate.lock <<'MESHBUNDLE'\n${bundleFor(raised.images)}\nMESHBUNDLE`);
+  await must(`${HOST_PATH} apply /tmp/substrate.lock`, 600_000);
+  const up = await must(`docker ps --format '{{.Names}}'`);
+  for (const c of ["mesh-store", "mesh-broker", "mesh-control"]) {
+    assert.match(up, new RegExp(c), `the substrate did not raise ${c}:\n${up}`);
+  }
+
+  // The node joins its own mesh, so it is a node the mesh can assign to, and the host runs so it
+  // applies what it is pushed.
+  await mesh(`node add ${MACHINE}`);
+  const token = tokenFrom(await mesh(`token issue --node ${MACHINE}`));
+  await must(`${HOST_PATH} enrol --token ${quote(token)}`);
+  await must(`nohup ${HOST_PATH} run > /var/log/mesh-host.log 2>&1 & sleep 3`);
+}, { timeout: 1_800_000 });
+
+after(async () => {
+  if (instanceId) await destroy(instanceId);
+  await destroyAll(`${SCENARIO}-`);
+}, { timeout: 600_000 });
+
+test("the mesh routes a public name through the proxy to the consumer, and withdraws it on unassign", {
+  skip, timeout: 1_500_000,
+}, async () => {
+  // The PROVIDER: route-proxy in the plain-HTTP shape — provides `route`, is given every consumer as
+  // the file at receives.route, forwards by Host. No TLS here (that is certificates.test.ts); the
+  // image is pinned to what this scenario serves by digest.
+  const proxyManifest = JSON.stringify({
+    module: "route-proxy",
+    version: "1",
+    capabilities: ["container-runtime"],
+    provides: [{ name: "route", scope: "mesh" }],
+    serves: { route: {} },
+    receives: { route: "/var/lib/route-proxy/routes/mesh.json" },
+    listens: [{ port: 80, protocol: "tcp", from: "anywhere", why: "public HTTP; the route-forwarding front door" }],
+    resources: [
+      { id: "state", type: "directory", path: "/var/lib/route-proxy", mode: "0700" },
+      { id: "routes-dir", type: "directory", path: "/var/lib/route-proxy/routes", mode: "0700" },
+      {
+        id: "server", type: "container", name: "route-proxy",
+        image: pinned("mesh-route-proxy"), network: "host",
+        volumes: ["/var/lib/route-proxy/routes:/routes:ro"],
+        env: { ROUTES: "/routes/mesh.json", LISTEN: ":80" },
+      },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  // The CONSUMER: hello-web requires `route` and contributes the name it wants and the port it
+  // listens on. It runs no code of the mesh's — a bare alpine serving a fixed page over a busybox nc
+  // loop stands in for a web service. `contributes` is what makes it *ask*: the grant forms from it.
+  const webManifest = JSON.stringify({
+    module: "hello-web",
+    version: "1",
+    capabilities: ["container-runtime"],
+    requires: ["route"],
+    contributes: { route: { name: NAME, port: 8080 } },
+    binds: { route: "/var/lib/hello-web/route.json" },
+    listens: [{ port: 8080, protocol: "tcp", from: "mesh", why: "the demo page; only the proxy reaches it" }],
+    resources: [
+      { id: "state", type: "directory", path: "/var/lib/hello-web", mode: "0700" },
+      { id: "page", type: "file", path: "/var/lib/hello-web/index.html", mode: "0644", content: `${PAGE}\n` },
+      { id: "net", type: "network", name: "hello-web" },
+      {
+        id: "server", type: "container", name: "hello-web",
+        image: pinned("alpine"), network: "hello-web", ports: ["8080:8080"],
+        volumes: ["/var/lib/hello-web/index.html:/www/index.html:ro"],
+        args: ["sh", "-c",
+          "while true; do { printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\\r\\nContent-Type: text/plain\\r\\nConnection: close\\r\\n\\r\\n'; cat /www/index.html; } | nc -l -p 8080; done"],
+      },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  await must(`printf %s ${quote(proxyManifest)} > /tmp/route-proxy.json && docker cp /tmp/route-proxy.json mesh-control:/route-proxy.json`);
+  await mesh("module add /route-proxy.json");
+  // No `module issue`: route-proxy has no broker account and no own-secret to mint. `assign` resolves
+  // its plan and the provider is matchable by a consumer's route from that alone.
+  await mesh(`assign ${MACHINE} route-proxy`);
+
+  await must(`printf %s ${quote(webManifest)} > /tmp/hello-web.json && docker cp /tmp/hello-web.json mesh-control:/hello-web.json`);
+  await mesh("module add /hello-web.json");
+  await mesh(`assign ${MACHINE} hello-web`);
+
+  await mesh(`push ${MACHINE}`);
+  await settled();
+
+  // The mesh matched the two and wrote route-proxy its contributions file — the test wrote nothing.
+  const routes = await must(`cat /var/lib/route-proxy/routes/mesh.json`);
+  assert.match(routes, new RegExp(NAME.replace(/\./g, "\\.")),
+    `the mesh did not write route-proxy the route for ${NAME}:\n${routes}`);
+  assert.match(routes, /"port": *8080/, `the route did not carry the consumer's port:\n${routes}`);
+
+  // --- THE PROOF: a request to the name, sent to the proxy, returns the workload's own answer ------
+  // The proxy polls its routes file every couple of seconds and the backend takes a moment to bind,
+  // so this is retried. It is the exact shape of 08-connectivity §3's lab check.
+  let served = { out: "", ok: false };
+  const untilServed = Date.now() + 120_000;
+  while (Date.now() < untilServed) {
+    served = await throughProxy(NAME);
+    if (served.ok && served.out.includes(PAGE)) break;
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 3000));
+  }
+  assert.ok(served.out.includes(PAGE),
+    `the name ${NAME} was never routed to the workload:\n${served.out}\n` +
+      `---routes---\n${routes}\n` +
+      `---proxy log---\n${(await on(`docker logs route-proxy 2>&1 | tail -20`)).out}\n` +
+      `---host log---\n${(await on(`tail -40 /var/log/mesh-host.log`)).out}`);
+
+  // --- a name the proxy does not serve is refused by name, not with a bare 404 --------------------
+  const unknown = await throughProxy("nobody-asked-for-this.example");
+  assert.doesNotMatch(unknown.out, new RegExp(PAGE),
+    `an unrouted name reached the workload:\n${unknown.out}`);
+  assert.match(unknown.out, /no route for/,
+    `the proxy did not name what it serves for an unknown host:\n${unknown.out}`);
+
+  // --- WITHDRAWAL: unassigning the consumer removes the route, and the same request stops working --
+  // The file the proxy is given is the whole truth about who has a route, so the proxy replaces its
+  // table rather than merging — a name whose module left is no longer served (08-connectivity §3).
+  await mesh(`unassign ${MACHINE} hello-web`);
+  await mesh(`push ${MACHINE}`);
+  await settled();
+
+  let gone = { out: "", ok: false };
+  const untilGone = Date.now() + 60_000;
+  while (Date.now() < untilGone) {
+    gone = await throughProxy(NAME);
+    if (!gone.out.includes(PAGE)) break;
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 3000));
+  }
+  assert.doesNotMatch(gone.out, new RegExp(PAGE),
+    `the route outlived the module that asked for it — withdrawal did not take:\n${gone.out}\n` +
+      `---routes---\n${(await on(`cat /var/lib/route-proxy/routes/mesh.json`)).out}`);
+  assert.match(gone.out, /no route for/,
+    `after withdrawal the proxy did not report ${NAME} as unserved:\n${gone.out}`);
+});