diff --git a/go/stdio.go b/go/stdio.go
index 85f4eae..f1e8425 100644
--- a/go/stdio.go
+++ b/go/stdio.go
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ type channel struct {
 	listeners []listener
 	// subscribed numbers the listeners, so one whose subscribe failed is the one removed.
 	subscribed int
+	// heartbeats are this bundle's hooks on its consumer's heartbeat (OnHeartbeat).
+	heartbeats []func(Heartbeat)
 	// watches are this bundle's state watches by the id each was asked with (ADR 0201).
 	watches map[string]*follower[StateChange]
 	// provisioned are this bundle's watches of its values, by the id each was asked with (provision.go).
@@ -300,6 +302,22 @@ func ServeOn(name string, tools []Tool, in io.Reader, out io.Writer) error {
 				}
 				c.say(map[string]any{"id": id, "result": map[string]any{}})
 			}(id, *p.Envelope, matching)
+		case HeartbeatMethod:
+			// The runtime's word on this module's consumer while no event arrives (OnHeartbeat): handed to every
+			// hook beside the loop, and answered at once when it was asked with an id.
+			var hb Heartbeat
+			_ = json.Unmarshal(m.Params, &hb)
+			c.mu.Lock()
+			hooks := append([]func(Heartbeat){}, c.heartbeats...)
+			c.mu.Unlock()
+			go func() {
+				for _, h := range hooks {
+					h(hb)
+				}
+			}()
+			if id != nil {
+				c.say(map[string]any{"id": id, "result": map[string]any{}})
+			}
 		case "mesh/state":
 			// One change to a state this bundle watches (ADR 0201), named by the watch's id: taken into the watch's
 			// follower in the order it came and answered at once, so a slow handler never counts against the runtime's
@@ -473,6 +491,33 @@ func Subscribe(pattern string, handle func(Envelope) error) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+// HeartbeatMethod is what the runtime sends a bundle that subscribed, for its module's consumer: at each of the bus's
+// idle heartbeats while no event arrives, and once with Missed when the bus's heartbeat stopped arriving.
+const HeartbeatMethod = "mesh/heartbeat"
+
+// Heartbeat is the runtime's word on the module's consumer between events: it is bound and the bus says so (At), or
+// the bus's heartbeat stopped arriving (Missed, with Why), so a subscription's silence is told from a quiet source.
+type Heartbeat struct {
+	At     time.Time `json:"at"`
+	Missed bool      `json:"missed,omitempty"`
+	Why    string    `json:"why,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// OnHeartbeat hands every heartbeat of this module's consumer to hook, beside the loop (two may arrive out of order:
+// compare At): a
+// bundle that marks a source silent past a bound clears the mark on a heartbeat that is not Missed, and sets it at once
+// on one that is. Call it once Serve runs, as Subscribe.
+func OnHeartbeat(hook func(Heartbeat)) error {
+	c, err := live()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	c.heartbeats = append(c.heartbeats, hook)
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Ask calls a tool on the mesh as this bundle's module, through the runtime (ADR 0198), and returns
 // its result as JSON. The key is `<module>.<tool>` or `seat:<seat>.<verb>`, with `@<node>` for one machine's, as the
 // runtime calls it; a malformed key is refused here, before the runtime is asked (calladdress; novox/hq issue 774).
diff --git a/go/stdio_test.go b/go/stdio_test.go
index 78d64a0..258c5c4 100644
--- a/go/stdio_test.go
+++ b/go/stdio_test.go
@@ -171,10 +171,14 @@ func TestARefusedSubscribeLeavesNoHandlerBehind(t *testing.T) {
 	var mu sync.Mutex
 	handled := 0
 	subscribed := make(chan error, 2)
+	beats := make(chan Heartbeat, 2)
 	go func() {
 		_ = ServeOn("", []Tool{{Name: "start", Run: func(map[string]any) (any, error) {
 			go func() {
 				for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+					if i == 0 {
+						_ = OnHeartbeat(func(hb Heartbeat) { beats <- hb })
+					}
 					err := Subscribe("*.download.completed", func(Envelope) error {
 						mu.Lock()
 						handled++
@@ -238,6 +242,28 @@ func TestARefusedSubscribeLeavesNoHandlerBehind(t *testing.T) {
 			break
 		}
 	}
+	// The consumer's heartbeat between events reaches the bundle's hook: a notification, and one asked with an id,
+	// which is answered.
+	send(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": HeartbeatMethod, "params": map[string]any{"at": "2026-11-04T13:00:00Z"}})
+	send(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 10, "method": HeartbeatMethod, "params": map[string]any{"at": "2026-11-04T13:00:05Z",
+		"missed": true, "why": "no heartbeat from the bus for 10s"}})
+	for {
+		if r := next(); r["id"] == float64(10) {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	got := map[bool]Heartbeat{}
+	for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+		select {
+		case hb := <-beats:
+			got[hb.Missed] = hb
+		case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
+			t.Fatal("a heartbeat did not reach the hook")
+		}
+	}
+	if got[false].At.IsZero() || got[true].Why == "" {
+		t.Errorf("the hook was handed %v", got)
+	}
 	_ = inW.Close()
 	mu.Lock()
 	defer mu.Unlock()