Fold the retake test into the prefix test (issue 1748 review 1)

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

README.md

@@ -9,15 +9,6 @@ does not belong.* Per-module code (a service's API client, its tool implementati
 create-a-resource adapter) lives **in the module**, never here — that coupling is exactly what
 turned the old SDK into constant maintenance and made every edit rebuild every module.
 
-**A seat's code is not here** (novox/hq ADR 0625, ADR 0627). mesh-sdk is the runtime every module uses (the bus
-connection, the tools bundle's runtime, state and its helpers) and a seat-neutral part two or more seats' clients or
-holders share (sending a file in parts, `go/parts`). A seat defined whole has its generated contract, and its client
-where callers share logic over it, in mesh-contracts (`go/seats/<seat>`, `go/clients/<seat>client`); the seat list is
-mesh-contracts' `go/seats`, which `catalogue` alone imports. The value layouts of seats not yet defined whole stay
-here until their domain moves, and no new seat-specific type is added. `packages_list_test.go` holds all of it:
-mesh-sdk imports no contracts module but the seat set in `catalogue`, names none of the seats with a client outside
-`catalogue`, and holds none of the packages that moved (`asks`, `asker`, `publish`).
-
 ## What is in it
 
 Five small areas, each a thing a module's `tools/` or `provisioner/` imports:
@@ -115,20 +106,21 @@ runtime's (`node-tools/internal/launch`, mesh-tools).
 values and then every change. Through the runtime that launched the bundle, which refuses what the
 module did not declare. Current values, never history and never a secret (novox/hq ADR 0201).
 
-### `seats` and `channel` — publishing on a seat, the channel's benches (Go)
+### `seats` and `asks` — asking a person, answering on a channel (Go)
 A seat may name its caller or its kind (novox/hq ADR 0259): `stdio.SeatPublish` submits an accept or says
 an event under the module's own name or kind, `stdio.SeatTake` takes a held seat's work, `stdio.SeatProve`
 and `stdio.SeatAnswer` carry a proof (a code typed by a person, by request and reply, never kept),
 `stdio.SeatRecord` reads a record kept for the module, and `State(...).Create` and `.Update` write by
-compare-and-set. The runtime does each only as far as the module's membership lists. `go/channel` holds the
-shapes of the two benches a channel holds, `channel` and `intake` (the `Message` a channel takes, the `Choice`,
-`LinkAsked`, `Failed`, `Standing` and `Code` it says, with the subjects each travels on): those benches are not
-defined whole, so their layouts stay here (ADR 0625 §9).
-Asking a person is the `operator-channel` seat's, defined whole in mesh-contracts: its `Ask` and `Warrant` are its
-generated contract (`go/seats/operatorchannel`), and the checks an ask is held to, the warrant's (`For`, `Says`,
-`Performs`) and an asking module's client (`Ask`, `Cancel`, `Where`, `Listen`, `Take`, each warrant handed once,
-marked acted on by compare-and-set) are its client, `go/clients/operatorchannelclient` (ADR 0627 §1). A lost
-compare-and-set is `stdio.ErrChanged`, told by the runtime's error code.
+compare-and-set. The runtime does each only as far as the module's membership lists. `go/asks` is the
+contract on top: the `Ask` an asker publishes and the checks it is held to (its `Whole` is what a channel that proves
+who answers shows in place of its `Explanation`, and its `Details` what the Details answer shows, hq issue 383), the `Warrant` it acts on
+(`For`, `Says`), and the `Message`, `Choice`, `LinkAsked` and `Code` a channel takes and says, with the
+subjects each travels on.
+`go/asker` is an asking module's client (ADR 0259 §10): `Ask` keeps an ask in the module's own state and then
+publishes it under the module's name; `Cancel`; `Where` reads its state from the router's record; `Listen` and
+`Take` hand the module each warrant once — marked acted on by compare-and-set before the module acts, and only
+for an ask it made, an option it offered, at that option's level, before it expired. A lost compare-and-set is
+`stdio.ErrChanged`, told by the runtime's error code.
 `State(...).Increment(key, attempts)` is a counter on top of the two (for numbers handed out once, such as an
 issue's): it reads the key, writes one more at the revision read, and on a lost write reads and tries again, at
 most `attempts` times; past that it is `stdio.ErrChanged` and nothing was counted.

go/asker/asker.go

@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+// Package asker is a module's client for asking a person (novox/hq ADR 0259 §10): it publishes an ask under
+// the module's own name, cancels it, reads its state from the router's record, and hands the module each
+// warrant once — only one for an ask it made, for an option it offered, at that option's level, before it
+// expired. The module then acts with its own grants.
+//
+// It keeps what it asked, and which warrants it acted on, in a state of the module's own (declared in its
+// manifest, by default `asked`): the ask is written before it is published, and a warrant is marked acted on
+// by compare-and-set before the module's handler runs, so a redelivery, or a second instance, acts once.
+package asker
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	stdio "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/asks"
+)
+
+// Client asks as one module.
+type Client struct {
+	// Module is the asking module's name: the one the bus grants its asks under.
+	Module string
+	// State is the module's own state the asks are kept in.
+	State Store
+	// Now is the clock; nil is time.Now.
+	Now func() time.Time
+	// Publish, Record and Subscribe reach the bus; nil is the stdio SDK's, through the module's runtime.
+	Publish   func(subject string, body any, id string) error
+	Record    func(key string) (*stdio.StateEntry, error)
+	Subscribe func(pattern string, handle func(stdio.Envelope) error) error
+}
+
+// Store is where the asks are kept: stdio.State(name) is one.
+type Store interface {
+	Get(key string) (*stdio.StateEntry, error)
+	Create(key string, value any) (uint64, error)
+	Update(key string, value any, revision uint64) (uint64, error)
+}
+
+// New is a client for the module the runtime serves, keeping its asks in the state named.
+func New(state string) *Client {
+	return &Client{Module: os.Getenv("MESH_MODULE"), State: stdio.State(state)}
+}
+
+func (c *Client) now() time.Time {
+	if c.Now != nil {
+		return c.Now()
+	}
+	return time.Now()
+}
+
+// Kept is one ask as the module keeps it.
+type Kept struct {
+	Ask    asks.Ask      `json:"ask"`
+	Asked  time.Time     `json:"asked"`
+	Acted  bool          `json:"acted,omitempty"`
+	Ended  asks.Outcome  `json:"ended,omitempty"`
+	Answer *asks.Warrant `json:"answer,omitempty"`
+}
+
+func key(id string) string { return "ask." + id }
+
+// Ask checks an ask, keeps it, and publishes it under the module's own name. An ask with an id already kept
+// is refused: a new question is a new id.
+func (c *Client) Ask(a asks.Ask) error {
+	if err := a.Check(c.now()); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if _, err := c.State.Create(key(a.ID), Kept{Ask: a, Asked: c.now()}); err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, stdio.ErrChanged) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("an ask %s was already made: a new question is a new id", a.ID)
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	return c.publish(asks.AskSubject(c.Module), a, a.ID)
+}
+
+// Cancel takes an ask back: the router ends it and edits every copy.
+func (c *Client) Cancel(id string) error {
+	return c.publish(asks.CancelSubject(c.Module), map[string]string{"id": id}, "cancel."+id)
+}
+
+func (c *Client) publish(subject string, body any, id string) error {
+	if c.Publish != nil {
+		return c.Publish(subject, body, id)
+	}
+	return stdio.SeatPublish(subject, body, id)
+}
+
+// Where is an ask's state as the router keeps it: its state and its warrant, if any — read under the
+// module's own name and no other's.
+func (c *Client) Where(id string) (state string, w *asks.Warrant, err error) {
+	read := c.Record
+	if read == nil {
+		read = func(k string) (*stdio.StateEntry, error) { return stdio.SeatRecord("", k) }
+	}
+	e, err := read(id)
+	if err != nil || e == nil {
+		return "", nil, err
+	}
+	var rec struct {
+		State   string        `json:"state"`
+		Warrant *asks.Warrant `json:"warrant"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(e.Value, &rec); err != nil {
+		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("the router's record of %s cannot be read: %w", id, err)
+	}
+	return rec.State, rec.Warrant, nil
+}
+
+// Handled is what came of a warrant: acted on, refused (and why), or already done.
+type Handled string
+
+const (
+	Acted    Handled = "acted"
+	Refused  Handled = "refused"
+	Done     Handled = "already acted on"
+	Recorded Handled = "ended without a choice"
+)
+
+// Take hands act a warrant once, after holding it to the ask it answers. act performs the option with the
+// module's own grants; its error is said and the warrant stays acted on (a person's decision is not
+// performed twice; the module says the failure in its own record).
+func (c *Client) Take(w asks.Warrant, act func(asks.Option, asks.Warrant) error) (Handled, error) {
+	if w.Asker != c.Module {
+		return Refused, fmt.Errorf("a warrant for %s reached %s", w.Asker, c.Module)
+	}
+	e, err := c.State.Get(key(w.Ask))
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if e == nil {
+		return Refused, fmt.Errorf("%s holds no ask %s", c.Module, w.Ask)
+	}
+	var k Kept
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(e.Value, &k); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if k.Acted || k.Ended != "" {
+		return Done, nil
+	}
+	if w.Outcome != asks.OutcomeChosen {
+		k.Ended = w.Outcome
+		k.Answer = &w
+		if _, err := c.State.Update(key(w.Ask), k, e.Revision); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, stdio.ErrChanged) {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		return Recorded, nil
+	}
+	o, err := w.For(c.Module, k.Ask)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Refused, err
+	}
+	// Marked before acting: of two deliveries, or two instances, only the one whose write stands acts.
+	k.Acted, k.Ended, k.Answer = true, asks.OutcomeChosen, &w
+	if _, err := c.State.Update(key(w.Ask), k, e.Revision); err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, stdio.ErrChanged) {
+			return Done, nil
+		}
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return Acted, act(o, w)
+}
+
+// Listen hands every warrant for this module to Take, with act. It asks the runtime for the module's
+// events matching the router's `decided` subject for this module.
+func (c *Client) Listen(act func(asks.Option, asks.Warrant) error, said func(Handled, asks.Warrant, error)) error {
+	subscribe := c.Subscribe
+	if subscribe == nil {
+		subscribe = stdio.Subscribe
+	}
+	return subscribe(asks.Seat+".decided."+c.Module, func(e stdio.Envelope) error {
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(e.Key, asks.Seat+".decided.") {
+			return nil
+		}
+		var w asks.Warrant
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(e.Body, &w); err != nil {
+			if said != nil {
+				said(Refused, w, fmt.Errorf("a warrant could not be read: %w", err))
+			}
+			return nil
+		}
+		h, err := c.Take(w, act)
+		if h == "" && err != nil {
+			return err // the state could not be reached: offered again
+		}
+		if said != nil {
+			said(h, w, err)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+}

go/asker/asker_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+package asker
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	stdio "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/asks"
+)
+
+type mem struct {
+	vals map[string]json.RawMessage
+	revs map[string]uint64
+	n    uint64
+}
+
+func (m *mem) Get(k string) (*stdio.StateEntry, error) {
+	v, ok := m.vals[k]
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	return &stdio.StateEntry{Key: k, Value: v, Revision: m.revs[k]}, nil
+}
+func (m *mem) Create(k string, v any) (uint64, error) {
+	if _, ok := m.vals[k]; ok {
+		return 0, stdio.ErrChanged
+	}
+	return m.put(k, v)
+}
+func (m *mem) Update(k string, v any, rev uint64) (uint64, error) {
+	if rev == 0 || m.revs[k] != rev {
+		return 0, stdio.ErrChanged
+	}
+	return m.put(k, v)
+}
+func (m *mem) put(k string, v any) (uint64, error) {
+	raw, _ := json.Marshal(v)
+	m.n++
+	m.vals[k], m.revs[k] = raw, m.n
+	return m.n, nil
+}
+
+var now = time.Date(2026, 10, 8, 14, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+func client() (*Client, map[string][]string) {
+	sent := map[string][]string{}
+	c := &Client{Module: "mesh-delivery", State: &mem{vals: map[string]json.RawMessage{}, revs: map[string]uint64{}},
+		Now: func() time.Time { return now },
+		Publish: func(subject string, body any, id string) error {
+			sent[subject] = append(sent[subject], id)
+			return nil
+		}}
+	return c, sent
+}
+
+// releaseHQ is the act the ask's one option binds.
+var releaseHQ = map[string]string{"verb": "release", "delivery": "hq"}
+
+func held() asks.Ask {
+	binds, _ := asks.ActDigest(releaseHQ)
+	return asks.Ask{ID: "d-1", Headline: "Delivery of hq held", Explanation: "Needs you: release it, or stop it.",
+		Who: asks.Operator, Expires: now.Add(time.Hour), OnExpiry: "the delivery stays held",
+		Options: []asks.Option{{ID: "release", Label: "Release", Does: "it goes on", Level: asks.Approve, Binds: binds}}}
+}
+
+func warrant() asks.Warrant {
+	return asks.Warrant{Ask: "d-1", Asker: "mesh-delivery", Outcome: asks.OutcomeChosen, Option: "release",
+		Label: "Release", Level: asks.Approve, At: now.Add(time.Minute), AskDigest: held().Digest(),
+		By: &asks.Person{Who: asks.Operator, Kind: "telegram", Identity: "42", Verified: "user id verified"}}
+}
+
+func TestAnAskIsKeptThenPublishedUnderTheModulesOwnName(t *testing.T) {
+	c, sent := client()
+	if err := c.Ask(held()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := sent[asks.AskSubject("mesh-delivery")]; len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "d-1" {
+		t.Fatalf("%v", sent)
+	}
+	if err := c.Ask(held()); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "already made") {
+		t.Errorf("the same id was asked twice: %v", err)
+	}
+	bad := held()
+	bad.Who = "agent"
+	if err := c.Ask(bad); err == nil {
+		t.Error("an ask the contract refuses was published")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAWarrantIsActedOnOnceAndOnlyForItsOwnAsk(t *testing.T) {
+	c, _ := client()
+	_ = c.Ask(held())
+	acted := 0
+	act := func(o asks.Option, _ asks.Warrant) error {
+		if err := o.Performs(releaseHQ); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("the bound act: %v", err)
+		}
+		acted++
+		return nil
+	}
+	if h, err := c.Take(warrant(), act); h != Acted || err != nil || acted != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("%s %v %d", h, err, acted)
+	}
+	if h, _ := c.Take(warrant(), act); h != Done || acted != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("a redelivery was acted on: %s", h)
+	}
+	for why, change := range map[string]func(*asks.Warrant){
+		"another asker":         func(w *asks.Warrant) { w.Asker = "mesh-controller" },
+		"an ask not made":       func(w *asks.Warrant) { w.Ask = "d-9" },
+		"another level":         func(w *asks.Warrant) { w.Level = asks.Acknowledge },
+		"an option not offered": func(w *asks.Warrant) { w.Option = "delete" },
+		"after its expiry":      func(w *asks.Warrant) { w.At = now.Add(2 * time.Hour) },
+		"another ask's digest":  func(w *asks.Warrant) { w.AskDigest = "sha256:00" },
+	} {
+		c2, _ := client()
+		_ = c2.Ask(held())
+		w := warrant()
+		change(&w)
+		if h, _ := c2.Take(w, act); h == Acted {
+			t.Errorf("a warrant from %s was acted on", why)
+		}
+	}
+	if acted != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("acted %d times", acted)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnAskEndedWithoutAChoiceIsRecordedAndNothingDone(t *testing.T) {
+	c, _ := client()
+	_ = c.Ask(held())
+	w := warrant()
+	w.Outcome, w.Option, w.By = asks.OutcomeExpired, "", nil
+	if h, err := c.Take(w, func(asks.Option, asks.Warrant) error { t.Fatal("acted"); return nil }); h != Recorded || err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("%s %v", h, err)
+	}
+	if h, _ := c.Take(warrant(), func(asks.Option, asks.Warrant) error { t.Fatal("acted after it ended"); return nil }); h != Done {
+		t.Errorf("%s", h)
+	}
+}

go/asks/asks.go

@@ -0,0 +1,578 @@
+// Package asks is the contract of asking a person and answering on a channel (novox/hq ADR 0259): the
+// shapes an asker, the router and a channel exchange on the bus, and the subjects they travel on. No
+// transport and no channel's service: an asker publishes an Ask under its own name and acts on the Warrant
+// it hears; the router holds the ask, sends channels a Message, and judges the Choice a channel says; a
+// channel shows a Message and says what was chosen and by whom, as its service authenticated it.
+package asks
+
+import (
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// The seats (novox/hq ADR 0259 §3).
+const (
+	// Seat is held by the router: an ask and its cancel are its accepts, a warrant its event, each named by
+	// the asker.
+	Seat = "operator-channel"
+	// ChannelSeat is the kinded bench a channel holds to show and say: its accepts carry the kind.
+	ChannelSeat = "channel"
+	// IntakeSeat is the kinded bench a channel holds to say what was chosen: its events and proofs carry
+	// the kind.
+	IntakeSeat = "intake"
+)
+
+// AskSubject is where an asker publishes an ask, CancelSubject its cancel, and DecidedSubject where it
+// hears the warrant, or the ask's end without one.
+func AskSubject(asker string) string     { return "mesh.seat." + Seat + ".accept.ask." + asker }
+func CancelSubject(asker string) string  { return "mesh.seat." + Seat + ".accept.cancel." + asker }
+func DecidedSubject(asker string) string { return "mesh.seat." + Seat + ".event.decided." + asker }
+
+// The work a channel takes, on ChannelSubject.
+const (
+	Show = "show" // a message offering answers
+	Edit = "edit" // a message shown before, replaced
+	Send = "send" // a message offering nothing
+)
+
+// ChannelSubject is where the router sends a channel of a kind its work.
+func ChannelSubject(verb, kind string) string {
+	return "mesh.seat." + ChannelSeat + ".accept." + verb + "." + kind
+}
+
+// What a channel says, on IntakeSubject.
+const (
+	Chosen = "choice" // a button tapped
+	Link   = "link"   // somebody asked to be linked as the operator
+)
+
+// IntakeSubject is where a channel of a kind says what arrived.
+func IntakeSubject(what, kind string) string {
+	return "mesh.seat." + IntakeSeat + ".event." + what + "." + kind
+}
+
+// CodeProof is the one proof verb: a code the operator typed, carried by request and reply, never kept.
+const CodeProof = "code"
+
+// ProofSubject is where a channel of a kind asks a proof.
+func ProofSubject(verb, kind string) string {
+	return "mesh.seat." + IntakeSeat + ".proof." + verb + "." + kind
+}
+
+// A Level is how much proof an option's answer needs (novox/hq ADR 0234 §8, the glossary's assurance level).
+type Level string
+
+const (
+	// Acknowledge performs only what any granted principal may already do: silencing, details. No proof.
+	Acknowledge Level = "acknowledge"
+	// Approve needs one proof: a verified sender (a linked account, linked an hour or more) or a code.
+	Approve Level = "approve"
+	// Destroy needs two proofs, one of them a code.
+	Destroy Level = "destroy"
+)
+
+// Rank orders the levels; an unknown level ranks above every known one, so it is never taken as less.
+func (l Level) Rank() int {
+	switch l {
+	case Acknowledge:
+		return 0
+	case Approve:
+		return 1
+	case Destroy:
+		return 2
+	}
+	return 3
+}
+
+// Operator is the one role an ask may be answered by today.
+const Operator = "operator"
+
+// Option is one answer an ask offers: a label for the button, what it does in plain words, its level.
+type Option struct {
+	ID    string `json:"id"`
+	Label string `json:"label"`
+	Does  string `json:"does"`
+	Level Level  `json:"level"`
+	// Binds is the digest of exactly what the asker performs when this option is chosen — the verb, the
+	// machine and every argument — as ActDigest gives it. It travels in the ask, so the router's warrant,
+	// which names the ask's digest, names it too: a warrant then authorises that act and no other, and an
+	// asker whose record of the act changed after it asked finds the digests differ and does nothing.
+	// Required on an option above acknowledge.
+	Binds string `json:"binds,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// An Act is what an option binds: named fields, each a string — the verb, the machine, the level, and each
+// argument under a name of its own ("arg.delivery"). Flat on purpose: its digest is over these names and
+// values alone, never over how a language happens to encode a struct.
+type Act map[string]string
+
+// ActDigest is the digest an asker puts in Option.Binds: SHA-256 over the act's canonical encoding (canonical),
+// written "sha256:<hex>". The same names and values give the same digest in any language, whatever order
+// they were set in; a field renamed, added or emptied gives another.
+func ActDigest(act Act) (string, error) {
+	if len(act) == 0 {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("the act cannot be digested: it names nothing")
+	}
+	keys := make([]string, 0, len(act))
+	for k := range act {
+		if k == "" {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("the act cannot be digested: a field has no name")
+		}
+		keys = append(keys, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(keys)
+	var b strings.Builder
+	b.WriteString("novox.act.v1\n")
+	for _, k := range keys {
+		canonical(&b, k)
+		canonical(&b, act[k])
+	}
+	sum := sha256.Sum256([]byte(b.String()))
+	return "sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(sum[:]), nil
+}
+
+// canonical writes one value as its length in bytes, a colon, the bytes and a newline: no value can be read
+// as another's end or start, so two different sequences of values never encode the same.
+func canonical(b *strings.Builder, v string) {
+	b.WriteString(strconv.Itoa(len(v)))
+	b.WriteByte(':')
+	b.WriteString(v)
+	b.WriteByte('\n')
+}
+
+// Digest is the digest of the ask exactly as its asker published it: its id, words, options with what each
+// binds, who answers, and its expiry. The router puts it in the warrant (Warrant.AskDigest), and an asker
+// acts only on a warrant whose digest is that of the ask it keeps — so a warrant answers one ask, as the
+// person was shown it, and nothing published under the same id before or after.
+//
+// It is over the ask's named fields in a fixed order, each written canonically, and the expiry as UTC
+// RFC 3339 to the nanosecond — never over a language's encoding of the struct, so a field added to Ask
+// later changes no digest until it is added here, on purpose. Whole and Details (novox/hq issue 383) follow
+// the options only when the ask gives either: an ask without them digests as it did before they existed, so
+// a router and an asker of different builds still agree on every such ask.
+func (a Ask) Digest() string {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	b.WriteString("novox.ask.v1\n")
+	for _, v := range []string{a.ID, a.Headline, a.Explanation, a.Who,
+		a.Expires.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339Nano), a.OnExpiry, a.About, strconv.FormatBool(a.Urgent),
+		strconv.Itoa(len(a.Options))} {
+		canonical(&b, v)
+	}
+	for _, o := range a.Options {
+		for _, v := range []string{o.ID, o.Label, o.Does, string(o.Level), o.Binds} {
+			canonical(&b, v)
+		}
+	}
+	// Whole and Details are written whenever either or WholeDetails is given, and WholeDetails after them whenever
+	// it is given (novox/hq ADR 0347): the fields after the options are then always one of three fixed shapes —
+	// none, the two, or the three — and the count of values the sequence holds tells them apart, so no two asks
+	// encode the same (the review of mesh-sdk #25). An ask with none of them digests as before they existed, and
+	// one without WholeDetails as before it existed.
+	if a.Whole != "" || a.Details != "" || a.WholeDetails != "" {
+		canonical(&b, a.Whole)
+		canonical(&b, a.Details)
+	}
+	if a.WholeDetails != "" {
+		canonical(&b, a.WholeDetails)
+	}
+	sum := sha256.Sum256([]byte(b.String()))
+	return "sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
+}
+
+// Ask is a request for a person's word (novox/hq ADR 0259 §4).
+type Ask struct {
+	// ID is the asker's own, unique to it.
+	ID string `json:"id"`
+	// Headline names the thing and what is wrong, in a few plain words; Explanation is what happened and
+	// what it means. Both are held to the plain rule and the content rule by the router.
+	Headline    string   `json:"headline"`
+	Explanation string   `json:"explanation"`
+	Options     []Option `json:"options"`
+	// Who may answer: Operator.
+	Who string `json:"who"`
+	// Expires is when the ask ends unanswered; OnExpiry is what the asker then does, in words the person
+	// is shown ("the delivery stays held"). An ask that authorises never defaults.
+	Expires  time.Time `json:"expires"`
+	OnExpiry string    `json:"on-expiry"`
+	// About is what the ask is about (a condition's key): a newer ask about it replaces the older.
+	About  string `json:"about,omitempty"`
+	Urgent bool   `json:"urgent,omitempty"`
+	// Whole is the explanation with its exact values whole, shown in place of Explanation on a channel kind
+	// that proves who answers (verified-sender) and carries the ask's answers (novox/hq issue 383): what the
+	// person approves — a mount point, a share, a private address — must be readable where they approve it.
+	// The asker withholds a value shaped like a secret in it, and the router refuses the ask when one is left;
+	// Explanation stays under the whole content rule everywhere else. Empty, Explanation is shown everywhere.
+	Whole string `json:"whole,omitempty"`
+	// Details are the ask's secondary words, line by line under the content rule: who proposed it, a
+	// fingerprint, how to read it whole. The router shows them in the note of the ask's own message
+	// (Message.Note), after what the ask's options do and when it expires — never in its body (novox/hq
+	// issue 639).
+	Details string `json:"details,omitempty"`
+	// WholeDetails are the Details with their exact values whole, shown in place of Details where Whole is shown
+	// in place of the explanation (a kind that proves who answers, given the ask's answers): every value an
+	// approval sets, whole, so the person reads exactly what they approve (novox/hq issue 383). Held, like
+	// Whole, to the secret rule alone; the router refuses the ask when a secret's shape is left in it. Empty,
+	// Details are shown everywhere.
+	WholeDetails string `json:"whole-details,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// What an ask's explanation is held to, so it reads at a glance on a phone (novox/hq issue 639): a summary
+// of two or three short sentences on its first line — what changes, why, what it costs or risks — then at
+// most three points, a line each, only where they add something. Whole is held to the same. Who asked, when,
+// the fingerprint and how to read it whole are Details, never the explanation.
+const (
+	SummaryLength = 300
+	MostPoints    = 3
+	PointLength   = 160
+)
+
+// Glance says why an explanation does not read at a glance, or nil: its first line, the summary, longer than
+// SummaryLength; more than MostPoints lines after it; a point longer than PointLength. Blank lines are not
+// counted. An asker holds its asks to it in its own tests; the router says, without refusing, an ask that
+// does not hold to it.
+func Glance(explanation string) error {
+	var lines []string
+	for _, l := range strings.Split(explanation, "\n") {
+		if strings.TrimSpace(l) != "" {
+			lines = append(lines, strings.TrimSpace(l))
+		}
+	}
+	var problems []string
+	switch {
+	case len(lines) == 0:
+		problems = append(problems, "it has no summary")
+	case len([]rune(lines[0])) > SummaryLength:
+		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("its summary is %d characters, more than %d", len([]rune(lines[0])), SummaryLength))
+	}
+	if len(lines) > 1+MostPoints {
+		problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("it has %d points after its summary, more than %d", len(lines)-1, MostPoints))
+	}
+	for i, l := range lines {
+		if i > 0 && len([]rune(l)) > PointLength {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("its point %d is %d characters, more than %d", i, len([]rune(l)), PointLength))
+		}
+	}
+	if len(problems) > 0 {
+		return errors.New("the explanation does not read at a glance: " + strings.Join(problems, "; "))
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// The bounds of an ask (novox/hq ADR 0234 §8, ADR 0259 §4).
+const (
+	MostOptions    = 4
+	MostOpen       = 3
+	ApproveLasts   = 24 * time.Hour
+	DestroyLasts   = 10 * time.Minute
+	HeadlineLength = 60
+	LabelLength    = 24
+)
+
+var usableID = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,63}$`)
+
+// UsableID says whether a name can be an ask's or an option's id: a key and a subject token both.
+func UsableID(id string) bool { return usableID.MatchString(id) }
+
+// Highest is the highest level among the ask's options.
+func (a Ask) Highest() Level {
+	high := Acknowledge
+	for _, o := range a.Options {
+		if o.Level.Rank() > high.Rank() {
+			high = o.Level
+		}
+	}
+	return high
+}
+
+// Option is the option of this id, or false.
+func (a Ask) Option(id string) (Option, bool) {
+	for _, o := range a.Options {
+		if o.ID == id {
+			return o, true
+		}
+	}
+	return Option{}, false
+}
+
+// Check is what an ask is held to before anything is shown: every refusal, in words its asker can act on.
+func (a Ask) Check(now time.Time) error {
+	var problems []string
+	say := func(format string, args ...any) { problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(format, args...)) }
+	if !UsableID(a.ID) {
+		say("its id %q is not letters, digits, - and _, at most 64", a.ID)
+	}
+	if strings.TrimSpace(a.Headline) == "" || len([]rune(a.Headline)) > HeadlineLength {
+		say("its headline is empty or longer than %d characters", HeadlineLength)
+	}
+	if strings.TrimSpace(a.Explanation) == "" {
+		say("it explains nothing")
+	}
+	if a.Who != Operator {
+		say("it is answered by %q, and only the operator answers today", a.Who)
+	}
+	if len(a.Options) == 0 || len(a.Options) > MostOptions {
+		say("it offers %d options, and an ask offers one to %d", len(a.Options), MostOptions)
+	}
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, o := range a.Options {
+		switch {
+		case !UsableID(o.ID):
+			say("an option's id %q is not letters, digits, - and _", o.ID)
+		case seen[o.ID]:
+			say("the option %s is offered twice", o.ID)
+		}
+		seen[o.ID] = true
+		if strings.TrimSpace(o.Label) == "" || len([]rune(o.Label)) > LabelLength {
+			say("the option %s's label is empty or longer than %d characters", o.ID, LabelLength)
+		}
+		if strings.TrimSpace(o.Does) == "" {
+			say("the option %s does not say what it does", o.ID)
+		}
+		if o.Level.Rank() > Destroy.Rank() {
+			say("the option %s has the level %q, which is none of acknowledge, approve, destroy", o.ID, o.Level)
+		}
+		if o.Level != Acknowledge && !strings.HasPrefix(o.Binds, "sha256:") {
+			say("the option %s authorises and does not bind what it performs (its binds is not an ActDigest)", o.ID)
+		}
+	}
+	if !a.Expires.After(now) {
+		say("it expires before it is asked")
+	}
+	switch a.Highest() {
+	case Approve:
+		if a.Expires.After(now.Add(ApproveLasts)) {
+			say("an ask that approves lasts at most %s", ApproveLasts)
+		}
+	case Destroy:
+		if a.Expires.After(now.Add(DestroyLasts)) {
+			say("an ask that destroys lasts at most %s", DestroyLasts)
+		}
+	}
+	if a.Highest() != Acknowledge && strings.TrimSpace(a.OnExpiry) == "" {
+		say("it does not say what happens when nobody answers, and an ask that authorises never defaults")
+	}
+	if a.About != "" && strings.ContainsAny(a.About, " \n") {
+		say("what it is about is a key, without spaces")
+	}
+	if len(problems) > 0 {
+		return errors.New("the ask is refused: " + strings.Join(problems, "; "))
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Outcome is how an ask ended.
+type Outcome string
+
+const (
+	OutcomeChosen    Outcome = "chosen"    // a person chose an option: a warrant
+	OutcomeExpired   Outcome = "expired"   // nobody answered in time
+	OutcomeCancelled Outcome = "cancelled" // its asker took it back
+	OutcomeReplaced  Outcome = "replaced"  // a newer ask about the same thing replaced it
+	OutcomeRefused   Outcome = "refused"   // it was never shown: Words says why
+)
+
+// Person is who chose, as the router verified them.
+type Person struct {
+	// Who is the role: Operator.
+	Who string `json:"who"`
+	// Kind is the channel kind they answered on, Identity their account on that service, Display the name
+	// the service shows, and Verified how the router knew it was them.
+	Kind     string `json:"kind"`
+	Identity string `json:"identity"`
+	Display  string `json:"display,omitempty"`
+	Verified string `json:"verified"`
+}
+
+// Warrant is the router's record that a person chose one option of one ask, or the ask's end without one
+// (novox/hq ADR 0259 §6). It carries no secret.
+type Warrant struct {
+	Ask     string  `json:"ask"`
+	Asker   string  `json:"asker"`
+	About   string  `json:"about,omitempty"`
+	Outcome Outcome `json:"outcome"`
+	// Option, Label and Level are the option chosen; By who chose it, Channel the module it came through,
+	// Proofs which proofs were present (P1, P2, P3).
+	Option  string    `json:"option,omitempty"`
+	Label   string    `json:"label,omitempty"`
+	Level   Level     `json:"level,omitempty"`
+	By      *Person   `json:"by,omitempty"`
+	Channel string    `json:"channel,omitempty"`
+	Proofs  []string  `json:"proofs,omitempty"`
+	At      time.Time `json:"at"`
+	// AskDigest is the digest of the ask as the router took it (Ask.Digest): the warrant answers that ask
+	// alone, with the options it bound.
+	AskDigest string `json:"ask-digest,omitempty"`
+	// Words are why an ask ended without a choice, or what refused it.
+	Words string `json:"words,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Says is the warrant in the words an asker records with its act: "the operator, via telegram (user id
+// verified), chose Release".
+func (w Warrant) Says() string {
+	if w.Outcome != OutcomeChosen || w.By == nil {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("no person chose: the ask %s %s", w.Ask, w.Outcome)
+	}
+	via := w.By.Kind
+	if w.By.Verified != "" {
+		via += " (" + w.By.Verified + ")"
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("the %s, via %s, chose %s", w.By.Who, via, w.Label)
+}
+
+// For checks a warrant against the ask its asker made: the same asker and ask, the same ask's digest (so the
+// same words, options and binds), a choice, an option the ask offered, at that option's level, before the
+// ask expired. An asker acts on nothing else, and then performs only what the option's Binds names.
+func (w Warrant) For(asker string, a Ask) (Option, error) {
+	if w.Asker != asker || w.Ask != a.ID {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the warrant is for %s's ask %s, not %s's %s", w.Asker, w.Ask, asker, a.ID)
+	}
+	if w.Outcome != OutcomeChosen || w.By == nil || w.By.Who != a.Who {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the ask %s ended %s; no person chose", a.ID, w.Outcome)
+	}
+	if d := a.Digest(); w.AskDigest != d {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the warrant answers an ask whose digest is %q, and the ask %s kept here is %s: "+
+			"it was not the ask the person was shown", w.AskDigest, a.ID, d)
+	}
+	o, offered := a.Option(w.Option)
+	if !offered {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the ask %s offered no option %s", a.ID, w.Option)
+	}
+	if w.Level != o.Level {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the option %s is %s, and the warrant says %s", o.ID, o.Level, w.Level)
+	}
+	// A choice made after the ask expired is no answer to it, whatever the router said. An ask that says no
+	// expiry, or a warrant that says no time, is no answer either: neither can be shown to be in time (the
+	// confirmation review of 2026-10-09).
+	if a.Expires.IsZero() {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the ask %s says no expiry, so no answer to it can be in time", a.ID)
+	}
+	if w.At.IsZero() {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the warrant for the ask %s says no time it was given, so it cannot be shown to be in time", a.ID)
+	}
+	if w.At.After(a.Expires) {
+		return Option{}, fmt.Errorf("the warrant was given at %s, after the ask %s expired at %s",
+			w.At.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339), a.ID, a.Expires.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339))
+	}
+	return o, nil
+}
+
+// Performs checks that the act an asker is about to perform is the one the chosen option bound when it
+// asked: the act's digest equals the option's Binds. An acknowledge option that bound nothing passes.
+func (o Option) Performs(act Act) error {
+	if o.Binds == "" && o.Level == Acknowledge {
+		return nil
+	}
+	d, err := ActDigest(act)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if d != o.Binds {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the option %s bound %s, and the act about to be performed is %s: nothing is done", o.ID, o.Binds, d)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Button is one answer a channel offers: its label and the router's one-time ticket for it.
+type Button struct {
+	Label  string `json:"label"`
+	Ticket string `json:"ticket"`
+}
+
+// Message is the work a channel takes: shown with buttons (Show), shown again in place (Edit), or said
+// (Send). Handle is the router's name for it, the same across a show and its edits; the channel keeps
+// which of its own messages that is. The words are the router's, shown as given.
+type Message struct {
+	Handle  string   `json:"handle"`
+	Title   string   `json:"title"`
+	Body    string   `json:"body"`
+	Buttons []Button `json:"buttons,omitempty"`
+	// Note is the message's secondary words, after its body and its buttons: who asked and when, what each
+	// answer does, when it expires, and the ask's Details. A channel shows it smaller, collapsed or set apart
+	// where it can, and after the body where it cannot (novox/hq issue 639). A channel that bounds a message's
+	// length cuts the body first and the note only when the title and the note alone do not fit, saying each
+	// cut (novox/hq ADR 0347 §5).
+	Note   string `json:"note,omitempty"`
+	Urgent bool   `json:"urgent,omitempty"`
+	Silent bool   `json:"silent,omitempty"`
+	// Reply is the Choice or LinkAsked this answers, by its ID: the channel shows it where that was made.
+	Reply string `json:"reply,omitempty"`
+	// To is the account linked as the operator on this kind, for a channel that verifies its sender: where
+	// the channel sends what is not a reply. The router's word, from its list; empty when none is linked.
+	To string `json:"to,omitempty"`
+	// Secret says the words carry something shown once (a link's code): the channel shows it and keeps no
+	// copy of it — no state, no history of its own.
+	Secret bool `json:"secret,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Sender is who a channel's service says sent something: the account, the name it shows, and whether the
+// service authenticated it. The router alone judges whether that is the operator.
+type Sender struct {
+	Identity      string `json:"identity"`
+	Display       string `json:"display,omitempty"`
+	Authenticated bool   `json:"authenticated"`
+}
+
+// Failed is a message a channel could not deliver: its handle, why, and whether trying again could help.
+type Failed struct {
+	Handle    string    `json:"handle"`
+	Why       string    `json:"why"`
+	Permanent bool      `json:"permanent,omitempty"`
+	At        time.Time `json:"at"`
+}
+
+// Standing is what a channel says of itself, at least every five minutes and whenever it changes:
+// whether it can send now, why not, and whether its edits notify nobody.
+type Standing struct {
+	Ready         bool      `json:"ready"`
+	Why           string    `json:"why,omitempty"`
+	EditsSilently bool      `json:"edits-silently,omitempty"`
+	At            time.Time `json:"at"`
+}
+
+// What a channel says of its own delivery, on IntakeSubject.
+const (
+	FailedWhat   = "failed"
+	StandingWhat = "standing"
+)
+
+// Choice is a button chosen on a channel.
+type Choice struct {
+	// ID is the channel's own for this arrival, unique, so the router acts on it once.
+	ID     string    `json:"id"`
+	Ticket string    `json:"ticket"`
+	Handle string    `json:"handle,omitempty"`
+	Sender Sender    `json:"sender"`
+	At     time.Time `json:"at"`
+}
+
+// LinkAsked is somebody on a channel asking to be linked as the operator.
+type LinkAsked struct {
+	ID     string    `json:"id"`
+	Sender Sender    `json:"sender"`
+	At     time.Time `json:"at"`
+}
+
+// Code is a code a person typed on a channel, asked as a proof: never in an event, never kept.
+type Code struct {
+	Sender  Sender `json:"sender"`
+	Code    string `json:"code"`
+	Purpose string `json:"purpose"`
+}
+
+// ProofAnswer is the router's answer to a proof: whether it was taken, and words to say to the person.
+type ProofAnswer struct {
+	Accepted bool   `json:"accepted"`
+	Words    string `json:"words"`
+}
+
+// EngineAsker is the asker name a node's engine asks the operator under (novox/hq ADR 0563 §3, which changes ADR 0259
+// §2 to admit a node's engine as an asker): `node-engine-<node>`, the last token of the by-caller subjects granted to that
+// node's engine account alone, so no engine acts on another node's warrant.
+func EngineAsker(node string) string { return "node-engine-" + node }

go/asks/asks_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,367 @@
+package asks
+
+import (
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var now = time.Date(2026, 10, 8, 14, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+func held() Ask {
+	return Ask{ID: "d-1", Headline: "openrazer delivery held", Explanation: "Needs you: release it, or stop it.",
+		Who: Operator, Expires: now.Add(time.Hour), OnExpiry: "the delivery stays held", About: "delivery.openrazer",
+		Options: []Option{
+			{ID: "release", Label: "Release", Does: "the delivery goes on", Level: Approve, Binds: bind("release", "openrazer")},
+			{ID: "stop", Label: "Stop", Does: "the delivery ends", Level: Approve, Binds: bind("stop", "openrazer")},
+			{ID: "silence", Label: "Silence for a week", Does: "nothing more is said for a week", Level: Acknowledge},
+		}}
+}
+
+func bind(verb, what string) string {
+	d, err := ActDigest(Act{"verb": verb, "delivery": what})
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return d
+}
+
+func TestASoundAskPasses(t *testing.T) {
+	if err := held().Check(now); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnAskIsRefusedInWordsForEachFault(t *testing.T) {
+	for want, change := range map[string]func(*Ask){
+		"is not letters":             func(a *Ask) { a.ID = "a.b" },
+		"headline is empty":          func(a *Ask) { a.Headline = "" },
+		"explains nothing":           func(a *Ask) { a.Explanation = " " },
+		"only the operator answers":  func(a *Ask) { a.Who = "agent" },
+		"offers 0 options":           func(a *Ask) { a.Options = nil },
+		"offers 5 options":           func(a *Ask) { a.Options = append(a.Options, a.Options[0], a.Options[1]) },
+		"is offered twice":           func(a *Ask) { a.Options[1].ID = "release" },
+		"does not say what it does":  func(a *Ask) { a.Options[0].Does = "" },
+		"none of acknowledge":        func(a *Ask) { a.Options[0].Level = "admin" },
+		"expires before it is asked": func(a *Ask) { a.Expires = now },
+		"approves lasts at most":     func(a *Ask) { a.Expires = now.Add(25 * time.Hour) },
+		"destroys lasts at most":     func(a *Ask) { a.Options[0].Level = Destroy },
+		"never defaults":             func(a *Ask) { a.OnExpiry = "" },
+		"is a key, without spaces":   func(a *Ask) { a.About = "a b" },
+		"does not bind what it":      func(a *Ask) { a.Options[0].Binds = "" },
+	} {
+		a := held()
+		change(&a)
+		if err := a.Check(now); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
+			t.Errorf("want a refusal saying %q, got %v", want, err)
+		}
+	}
+	ack := held()
+	ack.Options = ack.Options[2:]
+	ack.OnExpiry = ""
+	ack.Expires = now.Add(7 * 24 * time.Hour)
+	if err := ack.Check(now); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("an ask that only acknowledges needs no expiry words and may last a week: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnAskerActsOnlyOnAWarrantForItsOwnAskAndOption(t *testing.T) {
+	w := Warrant{Ask: "d-1", Asker: "mesh-delivery", Outcome: OutcomeChosen, Option: "release", Label: "Release",
+		Level: Approve, By: &Person{Who: Operator, Kind: "telegram", Identity: "42", Verified: "user id verified"},
+		AskDigest: held().Digest(), At: now.Add(time.Minute)}
+	if o, err := w.For("mesh-delivery", held()); err != nil || o.ID != "release" {
+		t.Fatalf("a sound warrant was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := w.Says(); got != "the operator, via telegram (user id verified), chose Release" {
+		t.Errorf("the warrant says %q", got)
+	}
+	for why, change := range map[string]func(*Warrant){
+		"another asker": func(w *Warrant) { w.Asker = "mesh-controller" },
+		"another ask":   func(w *Warrant) { w.Ask = "d-2" },
+		"no choice":     func(w *Warrant) { w.Outcome = OutcomeExpired },
+		"nobody":        func(w *Warrant) { w.By = nil },
+		"not offered":   func(w *Warrant) { w.Option = "delete" },
+		"a lower level": func(w *Warrant) { w.Level = Acknowledge },
+		"another role":  func(w *Warrant) { w.By = &Person{Who: "agent"} },
+		"no digest":     func(w *Warrant) { w.AskDigest = "" },
+		"no time given": func(w *Warrant) { w.At = time.Time{} },
+		"after expiry":  func(w *Warrant) { w.At = now.Add(2 * time.Hour) },
+		"another ask's digest": func(w *Warrant) {
+			other := held()
+			other.Options[0].Binds = bind("release", "another")
+			w.AskDigest = other.Digest()
+		},
+	} {
+		c := w
+		by := *w.By
+		c.By = &by
+		change(&c)
+		if _, err := c.For("mesh-delivery", held()); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("a warrant with %s was acted on", why)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheSubjectsNameTheirPublisher(t *testing.T) {
+	for got, want := range map[string]string{
+		AskSubject("mesh-delivery"):         "mesh.seat.operator-channel.accept.ask.mesh-delivery",
+		DecidedSubject("mesh-delivery"):     "mesh.seat.operator-channel.event.decided.mesh-delivery",
+		ChannelSubject(Show, "telegram"):    "mesh.seat.channel.accept.show.telegram",
+		IntakeSubject(Chosen, "desktop"):    "mesh.seat.intake.event.choice.desktop",
+		ProofSubject(CodeProof, "telegram"): "mesh.seat.intake.proof.code.telegram",
+	} {
+		if got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%s, want %s", got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A warrant answers one ask as it was shown, and authorises the act its option bound and no other
+// (novox/hq ADR 0259 §6: the warrant is bound to the exact ask and its arguments).
+func TestAWarrantAuthorisesOnlyTheActItsOptionBound(t *testing.T) {
+	a := held()
+	// The digest survives the trip through the bus: what the router decodes and digests is what was sent.
+	raw, err := json.Marshal(a)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var decoded Ask
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &decoded); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if decoded.Digest() != a.Digest() {
+		t.Fatalf("the ask's digest changed on the way: %s, %s", decoded.Digest(), a.Digest())
+	}
+	local := a
+	local.Expires = a.Expires.In(time.FixedZone("CEST", 2*3600))
+	if local.Digest() != a.Digest() {
+		t.Error("the same instant in another zone digests differently")
+	}
+	// Changing anything the person was shown, or what an option binds, changes the digest.
+	for what, change := range map[string]func(*Ask){
+		"the headline":     func(a *Ask) { a.Headline += "!" },
+		"the explanation":  func(a *Ask) { a.Explanation += " " },
+		"a label":          func(a *Ask) { a.Options[0].Label = "Go" },
+		"what it binds":    func(a *Ask) { a.Options[0].Binds = bind("release", "another") },
+		"the expiry":       func(a *Ask) { a.Expires = a.Expires.Add(time.Second) },
+		"what it is about": func(a *Ask) { a.About = "delivery.other" },
+	} {
+		c := held()
+		change(&c)
+		if c.Digest() == a.Digest() {
+			t.Errorf("changing %s leaves the digest", what)
+		}
+	}
+	o, _ := a.Option("release")
+	if err := o.Performs(Act{"verb": "release", "delivery": "openrazer"}); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("the bound act was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := o.Performs(Act{"verb": "release", "delivery": "another"}); err == nil {
+		t.Error("an act the option did not bind was let through")
+	}
+	ack, _ := a.Option("silence")
+	if err := ack.Performs(Act{"anything": "x"}); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("an acknowledgement that bound nothing: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// The digests are over named fields in a canonical encoding (the review of 2026-10-09): not over Go's
+// encoding of a struct, so a field added to Ask or Option, a JSON tag renamed, or a map built in another
+// order changes nothing it should not — and every field that is shown or bound is in it.
+func TestDigestsAreCanonicalOverNamedFields(t *testing.T) {
+	a1, _ := ActDigest(Act{"verb": "release", "arg.delivery": "hq"})
+	b := Act{}
+	b["arg.delivery"] = "hq"
+	b["verb"] = "release"
+	a2, _ := ActDigest(b)
+	if a1 != a2 {
+		t.Error("the order an act was built in changed its digest")
+	}
+	// A value cannot be read as two: "a"+"b=c" is not "a=b"+"c".
+	x, _ := ActDigest(Act{"a": "b\n1:c"})
+	y, _ := ActDigest(Act{"a": "b", "c": ""})
+	if x == y {
+		t.Error("two different acts encode the same")
+	}
+	if _, err := ActDigest(Act{}); err == nil {
+		t.Error("an empty act was digested")
+	}
+	// The encoding, by hand: any language reproduces it.
+	sum := sha256.Sum256([]byte("novox.act.v1\n4:verb\n7:release\n"))
+	if got, _ := ActDigest(Act{"verb": "release"}); got != "sha256:"+hex.EncodeToString(sum[:]) {
+		t.Errorf("the act's encoding is not the one written down: %s", got)
+	}
+
+	// Every exported field of Ask and Option is in the digest: changing any one changes it.
+	base := held()
+	mutations := map[string]func(*Ask){
+		"ID":          func(a *Ask) { a.ID = "other" },
+		"Headline":    func(a *Ask) { a.Headline += "!" },
+		"Explanation": func(a *Ask) { a.Explanation += "!" },
+		"Who":         func(a *Ask) { a.Who = "someone" },
+		"Expires":     func(a *Ask) { a.Expires = a.Expires.Add(time.Nanosecond) },
+		"OnExpiry":    func(a *Ask) { a.OnExpiry += "!" },
+		"About":       func(a *Ask) { a.About += "!" },
+		"Urgent":      func(a *Ask) { a.Urgent = !a.Urgent },
+		"Options":     func(a *Ask) { a.Options = a.Options[:1] },
+		"Option.ID":   func(a *Ask) { a.Options = append([]Option(nil), a.Options...); a.Options[0].ID = "x" },
+		"Option.Label": func(a *Ask) {
+			a.Options = append([]Option(nil), a.Options...)
+			a.Options[0].Label += "!"
+		},
+		"Option.Does": func(a *Ask) { a.Options = append([]Option(nil), a.Options...); a.Options[0].Does += "!" },
+		"Option.Level": func(a *Ask) {
+			a.Options = append([]Option(nil), a.Options...)
+			a.Options[0].Level = Destroy
+		},
+		"Option.Binds": func(a *Ask) {
+			a.Options = append([]Option(nil), a.Options...)
+			a.Options[0].Binds = "sha256:00"
+		},
+	}
+	for name, mutate := range mutations {
+		c := base
+		mutate(&c)
+		if c.Digest() == base.Digest() {
+			t.Errorf("changing %s left the digest the same", name)
+		}
+	}
+	// Whole and Details (issue 383) are in the digest once given, and change it; an ask without either digests
+	// exactly as before they existed — the encoding by hand, so no build can drift from it unseen.
+	plain := Ask{ID: "p", Headline: "h", Explanation: "e", Who: Operator, Expires: now, OnExpiry: "o", About: "a",
+		Options: []Option{{ID: "ok", Label: "OK", Does: "d", Level: Acknowledge}}}
+	byHand := sha256.Sum256([]byte("novox.ask.v1\n1:p\n1:h\n1:e\n8:operator\n20:2026-10-08T14:00:00Z\n1:o\n1:a\n5:false\n1:1\n" +
+		"2:ok\n2:OK\n1:d\n11:acknowledge\n0:\n"))
+	if plain.Digest() != "sha256:"+hex.EncodeToString(byHand[:]) {
+		t.Errorf("an ask without Whole and Details does not digest as it did before them: %s", plain.Digest())
+	}
+	withWhole, withDetails := plain, plain
+	withWhole.Whole = "e, whole"
+	withDetails.Details = "fingerprint 1234"
+	if withWhole.Digest() == plain.Digest() || withDetails.Digest() == plain.Digest() || withWhole.Digest() == withDetails.Digest() {
+		t.Error("Whole or Details left the digest the same")
+	}
+	both := withWhole
+	both.Details = "fingerprint 1234"
+	changed := both
+	changed.Whole += "!"
+	if changed.Digest() == both.Digest() {
+		t.Error("changing Whole beside Details left the digest the same")
+	}
+	// A field added to Ask or Option without being added to Digest fails here.
+	if n := reflect.TypeOf(Ask{}).NumField(); n != 12 {
+		t.Errorf("Ask has %d fields, and Digest covers 12: add the new one to Digest and to this test", n)
+	}
+	if n := reflect.TypeOf(Option{}).NumField(); n != 5 {
+		t.Errorf("Option has %d fields, and Digest covers 5: add the new one to Digest and to this test", n)
+	}
+	// The same instant in another zone is the same ask.
+	z := base
+	z.Expires = z.Expires.In(time.FixedZone("x", 3600))
+	if z.Digest() != base.Digest() {
+		t.Error("the expiry's zone changed the digest")
+	}
+}
+
+// An ask that says no expiry is answered by no warrant (the confirmation review of 2026-10-09): nothing could
+// show the answer was in time.
+func TestAWarrantForAnAskWithNoExpiryIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	a := held()
+	a.Expires = time.Time{}
+	w := Warrant{Ask: "d-1", Asker: "mesh-delivery", Outcome: OutcomeChosen, Option: "release", Label: "Release",
+		Level: Approve, By: &Person{Who: Operator, Kind: "telegram", Identity: "42"}, AskDigest: a.Digest(),
+		At: now.Add(time.Minute)}
+	if _, err := w.For("mesh-delivery", a); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a warrant for an ask with no expiry was taken")
+	}
+}
+
+// An explanation that reads at a glance passes; a wall of text says each way it is one (novox/hq issue 639).
+func TestAnExplanationReadsAtAGlance(t *testing.T) {
+	if err := Glance("Your agents' memory follows you to every machine. A file changed on two keeps both.\n\n• Only the memory folders are carried\n• A conflict reaches you as a warning"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a summary and two points: %v", err)
+	}
+	var wall strings.Builder
+	wall.WriteString("ADR 0343 was proposed by fix-367 and approved by the knowledge base's own review.")
+	for i := 1; i <= 13; i++ {
+		wall.WriteString("\n" + strings.Repeat("A clause lead. ", 3))
+	}
+	err := Glance(wall.String())
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "13 points") {
+		t.Fatalf("thirteen clause lines pass as a glance: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := Glance(strings.Repeat("word ", 70)); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "summary is 349") {
+		t.Fatalf("a long summary passes: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := Glance("short.\n" + strings.Repeat("p", PointLength+1)); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "point 1") {
+		t.Fatalf("a long point passes: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := Glance(" \n"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("an empty explanation passes")
+	}
+}
+
+// A message's note travels beside its body, and is left out of the encoding when empty, so a channel older
+// than it reads every message it read before.
+func TestAMessageCarriesItsNoteApart(t *testing.T) {
+	raw, _ := json.Marshal(Message{Handle: "h", Title: "t", Body: "b", Note: "Asked by x."})
+	if !strings.Contains(string(raw), `"note":"Asked by x."`) {
+		t.Fatalf("the note is not encoded: %s", raw)
+	}
+	raw, _ = json.Marshal(Message{Handle: "h", Title: "t"})
+	if strings.Contains(string(raw), "note") {
+		t.Fatalf("an empty note is encoded: %s", raw)
+	}
+}
+
+// WholeDetails is digested when given, and an ask without it digests as before it existed: a router and an asker
+// of different builds still agree on every such ask.
+func TestWholeDetailsAreDigestedOnlyWhenGiven(t *testing.T) {
+	a := Ask{ID: "a", Headline: "h", Explanation: "e", Details: "d"}
+	before := a.Digest()
+	a.WholeDetails = "+ shares: media=/storage/media"
+	if a.Digest() == before {
+		t.Fatal("the whole details are not in the digest")
+	}
+	b := a
+	b.WholeDetails = "+ shares: media=/storage/other"
+	if a.Digest() == b.Digest() {
+		t.Fatal("two whole details digest the same")
+	}
+	a.WholeDetails = ""
+	if a.Digest() != before {
+		t.Fatal("an ask without whole details digests otherwise than before")
+	}
+}
+
+// No two asks encode the same (the review of mesh-sdk #25): whole details given beside nothing else are not read as
+// a Whole and Details that happen to spell the same values, nor as any other split of the three fields.
+func TestWholeDetailsCollideWithNoOtherAsk(t *testing.T) {
+	base := Ask{ID: "a", Headline: "h", Explanation: "e"}
+	shapes := []Ask{}
+	for _, f := range []struct{ whole, details, wholeDetails string }{
+		{"", "", "+ x: 1"},
+		{"whole-details", "+ x: 1", ""},
+		{"", "+ x: 1", ""},
+		{"+ x: 1", "", ""},
+		{"", "", "whole-details"},
+		{"", "+ x: 1", "+ x: 1"},
+		{"+ x: 1", "+ x: 1", ""},
+		{"", "", ""},
+	} {
+		a := base
+		a.Whole, a.Details, a.WholeDetails = f.whole, f.details, f.wholeDetails
+		shapes = append(shapes, a)
+	}
+	seen := map[string]int{}
+	for i, a := range shapes {
+		if j, ok := seen[a.Digest()]; ok {
+			t.Errorf("asks %d and %d digest the same: %+v / %+v", j, i, shapes[j], a)
+		}
+		seen[a.Digest()] = i
+	}
+}

go/asks/condition.go

@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+package asks
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// ConditionSubject is where a module says a condition to the operator: a by-caller accept of the operator-channel
+// seat, `mesh.seat.operator-channel.accept.condition.<publisher>` (novox/hq ADR 0437 §9). The router reads the
+// verb at the fifth part and the caller at the sixth, so the publisher is one token, the module's own name; it is
+// refused when empty or when it holds a dot, a wildcard or whitespace.
+func ConditionSubject(publisher string) (string, error) {
+	if publisher == "" {
+		return "", errors.New("asks: the condition's publisher is empty")
+	}
+	if strings.ContainsAny(publisher, ".*> \t\r\n") || strings.ContainsFunc(publisher, func(r rune) bool { return r <= ' ' }) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("asks: the condition's publisher %q is not one token: it holds a dot, a wildcard or whitespace", publisher)
+	}
+	return "mesh.seat." + Seat + ".accept.condition." + publisher, nil
+}
+
+// ConditionVersion is the version of the condition value this package writes and the only one it reads.
+const ConditionVersion = 1
+
+// ErrUnknownConditionVersion is what DecodeCondition returns for a value whose version is missing or not
+// ConditionVersion. Test it with errors.Is.
+var ErrUnknownConditionVersion = errors.New("asks: unknown condition version")
+
+// The words a condition's explanation opens with (novox/hq ADR 0253 §1).
+const (
+	NothingToDo = "Nothing for you to do."
+	NeedsYou    = "Needs you: "
+)
+
+// The severities and states of a condition.
+const (
+	SeverityUrgent  = "urgent"
+	SeverityWarning = "warning"
+	StateRaised     = "raised"
+	StateCleared    = "cleared"
+)
+
+// Scope is what a condition is about, under the controller's names.
+type Scope struct {
+	Scope   string `json:"scope"`
+	ID      string `json:"id"`
+	Machine string `json:"machine,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Action is one answer a notification offers, under the controller's names.
+type Action struct {
+	Label     string            `json:"label"`
+	Verb      string            `json:"verb"`
+	Machine   string            `json:"machine,omitempty"`
+	Arguments map[string]string `json:"arguments,omitempty"`
+	Level     Level             `json:"level,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Condition is a condition a module says to the operator, under the names of the controller's conditions: its key,
+// severity, subject, state (raised or cleared), summary and the plain words of ADR 0253. A cleared condition needs
+// only its key, subject and state. The router alone chooses the channels.
+type Condition struct {
+	V           int      `json:"v"`
+	Key         string   `json:"key"`
+	Severity    string   `json:"severity,omitempty"`
+	Subject     Scope    `json:"subject"`
+	State       string   `json:"state"`
+	Summary     string   `json:"summary,omitempty"`
+	Headline    string   `json:"headline,omitempty"`
+	Needs       string   `json:"needs,omitempty"`
+	Explanation string   `json:"explanation,omitempty"`
+	Resolved    string   `json:"resolved,omitempty"`
+	Actions     []Action `json:"actions,omitempty"`
+}
+
+func (c Condition) check() error {
+	if c.Key == "" {
+		return errors.New("asks: a condition has no key")
+	}
+	if c.Subject.Scope == "" || c.Subject.ID == "" {
+		return errors.New("asks: a condition's subject needs its scope and id")
+	}
+	switch c.State {
+	case StateCleared:
+		return nil
+	case StateRaised:
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("asks: the condition's state %q is not raised or cleared", c.State)
+	}
+	switch c.Severity {
+	case SeverityUrgent, SeverityWarning:
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("asks: the condition's severity %q is not urgent or warning", c.Severity)
+	}
+	if c.Headline == "" {
+		return errors.New("asks: a raised condition has no headline")
+	}
+	if n := len([]rune(c.Headline)); n > HeadlineLength {
+		return fmt.Errorf("asks: the condition's headline is %d characters, more than %d", n, HeadlineLength)
+	}
+	verdict := NothingToDo
+	if c.Needs != "" {
+		verdict = NeedsYou + c.Needs
+	}
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(c.Explanation, verdict) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("asks: the condition's explanation must open with %q", verdict)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// EncodeCondition is c as JSON at ConditionVersion; it refuses what ADR 0253 and ADR 0437 §9 refuse.
+func EncodeCondition(c Condition) ([]byte, error) {
+	if err := c.check(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	c.V = ConditionVersion
+	return json.Marshal(c)
+}
+
+// DecodeCondition reads a condition; it refuses an unknown version (ErrUnknownConditionVersion) and what
+// EncodeCondition refuses.
+func DecodeCondition(data []byte) (Condition, error) {
+	var probe struct {
+		V *int `json:"v"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &probe); err != nil {
+		return Condition{}, fmt.Errorf("asks: the condition is not JSON: %w", err)
+	}
+	if probe.V == nil {
+		return Condition{}, fmt.Errorf("%w: no version in the value, this reader reads %d", ErrUnknownConditionVersion, ConditionVersion)
+	}
+	if *probe.V != ConditionVersion {
+		return Condition{}, fmt.Errorf("%w: the value is version %d, this reader reads %d", ErrUnknownConditionVersion, *probe.V, ConditionVersion)
+	}
+	var c Condition
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &c); err != nil {
+		return Condition{}, fmt.Errorf("asks: the condition does not fit its shape: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := c.check(); err != nil {
+		return Condition{}, err
+	}
+	return c, nil
+}
+
+// SameCondition says whether two conditions are the same value.
+func SameCondition(a, b Condition) bool { return reflect.DeepEqual(a, b) }

go/asks/condition_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+package asks
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestConditionSubject(t *testing.T) { // 1202/AC1
+	s, err := ConditionSubject("mesh-delivery-teller")
+	if err != nil || s != "mesh.seat.operator-channel.accept.condition.mesh-delivery-teller" {
+		t.Fatalf("subject = %q, %v", s, err)
+	}
+	// The router splits an accept subject in six parts and reads the verb at 4 and the caller at 5.
+	parts := strings.Split(s, ".")
+	if len(parts) != 6 || parts[4] != "condition" || parts[5] != "mesh-delivery-teller" {
+		t.Errorf("subject %q does not keep the router's shape: %v", s, parts)
+	}
+	for _, bad := range []string{"", "a.b", "a*", "a>", "a b", "a\tb", "a\nb"} {
+		if _, err := ConditionSubject(bad); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("publisher %q accepted", bad)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func raisedCondition() Condition {
+	return Condition{
+		Key: "delivery.stuck.mesh-mail", Severity: "warning",
+		Subject: Scope{Scope: "module", ID: "mesh-mail", Machine: "ace"}, State: "raised",
+		Summary: "plan 12 stopped", Headline: "Delivery of mesh-mail is stuck",
+		Needs: "approve the merge.", Explanation: "Needs you: approve the merge. The plan waits.",
+		Resolved: "The delivery of mesh-mail moved on.",
+		Actions: []Action{{Label: "Approve", Verb: "mesh-controller.assign", Machine: "ace",
+			Arguments: map[string]string{"why": ""}, Level: Approve}},
+	}
+}
+
+func clearedCondition() Condition {
+	return Condition{Key: "delivery.stuck.mesh-mail", Subject: Scope{Scope: "module", ID: "mesh-mail"}, State: "cleared"}
+}
+
+func TestConditionRoundTrip(t *testing.T) { // 1202/AC2
+	for _, c := range []Condition{raisedCondition(), clearedCondition()} {
+		data, err := EncodeCondition(c)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: %v", c.State, err)
+		}
+		var probe map[string]any
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &probe); err != nil || probe["v"] != float64(1) {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: %s does not carry v:1", c.State, data)
+		}
+		c.V = ConditionVersion
+		got, err := DecodeCondition(data)
+		if err != nil || !SameCondition(got, c) {
+			t.Errorf("%s round trip: %+v %v", c.State, got, err)
+		}
+	}
+	data, _ := EncodeCondition(raisedCondition())
+	var probe map[string]any
+	_ = json.Unmarshal(data, &probe)
+	for _, name := range []string{"key", "severity", "subject", "summary", "headline", "needs", "explanation", "resolved", "actions", "state"} {
+		if _, ok := probe[name]; !ok {
+			t.Errorf("the JSON has no %q: %s", name, data)
+		}
+	}
+	subject := probe["subject"].(map[string]any)
+	for _, name := range []string{"scope", "id", "machine"} {
+		if _, ok := subject[name]; !ok {
+			t.Errorf("the subject has no %q: %s", name, data)
+		}
+	}
+	action := probe["actions"].([]any)[0].(map[string]any)
+	for _, name := range []string{"label", "verb", "machine", "arguments", "level"} {
+		if _, ok := action[name]; !ok {
+			t.Errorf("the action has no %q: %s", name, data)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, in := range []string{`{"key":"k"}`, `{"v":2,"key":"k"}`} {
+		if _, err := DecodeCondition([]byte(in)); !errors.Is(err, ErrUnknownConditionVersion) {
+			t.Errorf("decode of %s = %v, want ErrUnknownConditionVersion", in, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestConditionVerdict(t *testing.T) { // 1202/AC3
+	c := raisedCondition()
+	c.Needs, c.Explanation = "", "The plan waits."
+	_, err := EncodeCondition(c)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Nothing for you to do.") {
+		t.Errorf("empty needs without its verdict: %v", err)
+	}
+	c.Explanation = "Nothing for you to do. The plan waits."
+	if _, err := EncodeCondition(c); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("empty needs with its verdict refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	c = raisedCondition()
+	c.Explanation = "Nothing for you to do. The plan waits."
+	_, err = EncodeCondition(c)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Needs you: approve the merge.") {
+		t.Errorf("needs set with the wrong verdict: %v", err)
+	}
+	c.Explanation = "Needs you: something else. The plan waits."
+	if _, err = EncodeCondition(c); err == nil {
+		t.Error("needs set with other needs in the verdict accepted")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestConditionRefused(t *testing.T) { // 1202/AC4
+	mutate := func(f func(*Condition)) error {
+		c := raisedCondition()
+		f(&c)
+		_, err := EncodeCondition(c)
+		return err
+	}
+	for name, f := range map[string]func(*Condition){
+		"severity":      func(c *Condition) { c.Severity = "critical" },
+		"state":         func(c *Condition) { c.State = "open" },
+		"key":           func(c *Condition) { c.Key = "" },
+		"headline":      func(c *Condition) { c.Headline = "" },
+		"long headline": func(c *Condition) { c.Headline = strings.Repeat("h", HeadlineLength+1) },
+	} {
+		if err := mutate(f); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("a condition with a bad %s accepted", name)
+		}
+	}
+	if err := mutate(func(c *Condition) { c.Headline = strings.Repeat("h", HeadlineLength) }); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a headline of the greatest length refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := EncodeCondition(clearedCondition()); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a cleared condition with only key, subject and state refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	c := clearedCondition()
+	c.Key = ""
+	if _, err := EncodeCondition(c); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a cleared condition without its key accepted")
+	}
+	c = clearedCondition()
+	c.State = "gone"
+	if _, err := EncodeCondition(c); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a condition with an unknown state accepted")
+	}
+}

go/buildstep/capacity.go

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package buildstep
+
+// CapacitySetting is the build modules' setting of the node's build capacity (novox/hq ADR 0525 §5, ADR 0567 §12): how
+// many asks the node takes at once, an integer config value set on each node's layer of mesh-config. No repository names
+// a node: each build module declares it with the default 0, which pulls nothing, and the controller (or mesh-config)
+// lays the node's value into the module's settings file.
+const CapacitySetting = "capacity"

go/buildstep/doc.go

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+// Package buildstep is the contract of a build step every delivery part reads (novox/hq ADR 0593 §1): a step's id, the
+// fetch request, a step a previous process left running and its end, a failure's words, a module tree's shape, the
+// capacity setting and the launchers' names. The runner the build modules share is the Go build module's own package
+// (mesh-catalog modules/mesh-build-go/buildstep), which imports this one.
+package buildstep

go/buildstep/failure.go

@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/sdkversion"
+)
+
+// Failure is one test that failed, or a package or file that failed with no test to name (a build that failed, a test
+// program that panicked, a test file that did not load). The JSON names are the ones mesh-build-go and the checker have
+// always used; File is new and an older reader ignores it.
+type Failure struct {
+	// Package is the Go package's import path, or the TypeScript package's directory in the workspace.
+	Package string `json:"package"`
+	// Test names the failing test, or the tests that were running when the program stopped; "" when none can be named.
+	Test string `json:"test,omitempty"`
+	// File is where the failing test is (a Go test's file and line is in its Cause; node names the test's file:line:col).
+	File string `json:"file,omitempty"`
+	// Cause is the one line that says why: the assertion's or the error's first line, a "panic:" line, a build's first
+	// error, or words saying how the program stopped. **Never empty, and never a passing line** (PassingLine).
+	Cause string `json:"cause,omitempty"`
+	// Output is the failing test's own output, its last lines up to OutputBytes, Cause first: an older checker reads
+	// only its first line.
+	Output string `json:"output,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// OutputBytes is the most a failure keeps of its output, and LineBytes the most of one line: four kilobytes holds a long
+// assertion message and stays far under a bus message's or a verdict's bound.
+const (
+	OutputBytes = 4096
+	LineBytes   = 1024
+)
+
+// By names a build module and the SDK it was built with, for a result's "by": the checker names it when a failure hides
+// its cause ("the build module hid the failure (<by>)").
+func By(module string) string {
+	return module + " with mesh-sdk " + sdkversion.Version()
+}
+
+// PassingLine says a line is a test runner's word for a test or a package that passed: node's '✔', TAP's "ok N" (at any
+// indent), go test's "ok  \t<pkg>", "PASS" and "--- PASS". A line of a test's own that starts "ok " is none of these. Such a line is never a failure's cause, nor part of a failure's output.
+func PassingLine(l string) bool {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(l, "ok  \t") { // go test's package line, at column 0
+		return true
+	}
+	t := strings.TrimSpace(l)
+	switch {
+	case t == "PASS", strings.HasPrefix(t, "✔"), strings.HasPrefix(t, "--- PASS"):
+		return true
+	}
+	return tapOk(t)
+}
+
+// Hidden says how a failure hides why it failed, or "" when it does not: it has no cause, or its cause is a passing line.
+// The checker says it loudly (issue 1901): a build module that sends such a failure does not keep the contract.
+func Hidden(f Failure) string {
+	c := strings.TrimSpace(f.Cause)
+	switch {
+	case c == "":
+		return "it sent no cause"
+	case PassingLine(c):
+		return fmt.Sprintf("its cause is a passing line (%q)", CutLine(c))
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// Clip joins the last lines of a failure's output that fit OutputBytes, each cut to LineBytes, and says how many earlier
+// lines it left out. **Its first line is the cause**, put ahead when the kept lines do not start with it, or, with no
+// cause and lines left out, the first non-empty line, then the marker: an older checker reads only the first line.
+// Passing lines are dropped.
+func Clip(lines []string, cause string) string {
+	own := make([]string, 0, len(lines))
+	for _, l := range lines {
+		if !PassingLine(l) {
+			own = append(own, l)
+		}
+	}
+	lines = own
+	size, from := 0, len(lines)
+	for from > 0 {
+		n := len(CutLine(lines[from-1])) + 1
+		if size+n > OutputBytes && from < len(lines) {
+			break
+		}
+		size += n
+		from--
+	}
+	kept := make([]string, 0, len(lines)-from+2)
+	head := strings.TrimSpace(cause)
+	for i := 0; head == "" && i < from; i++ {
+		head = strings.TrimSpace(lines[i])
+	}
+	if head != "" && (from > 0 || len(lines) == 0 || strings.TrimSpace(lines[from]) != head) {
+		kept = append(kept, CutLine(head))
+	}
+	if from > 0 {
+		kept = append(kept, fmt.Sprintf("... (%d earlier lines)", from))
+	}
+	for _, l := range lines[from:] {
+		kept = append(kept, CutLine(l))
+	}
+	return strings.Join(kept, "\n")
+}
+
+// CutLine cuts a line to LineBytes, on a character boundary.
+func CutLine(l string) string {
+	if len(l) <= LineBytes {
+		return l
+	}
+	return strings.ToValidUTF8(l[:LineBytes], "") + "..."
+}
+
+// ConsoleFailure is the failure of a command that is no test runner (go vet, gofmt, tsc, a build script): its cause is the
+// first line that names an error (tsc's "error TS", go vet's "file.go:12:3: ..."), else the first line that is not a
+// heading ("# <package>", npm's "> script"), and its output the command's lines without passing ones.
+func ConsoleFailure(pkg, test, out string) Failure {
+	var lines []string
+	for _, l := range strings.Split(strings.ReplaceAll(stripANSI(out), "\r\n", "\n"), "\n") {
+		if t := strings.TrimSpace(l); t != "" && !PassingLine(t) {
+			lines = append(lines, strings.TrimRight(l, " \t"))
+		}
+	}
+	cause := ""
+	for _, l := range lines {
+		if t := strings.TrimSpace(l); strings.Contains(t, "error") || strings.Contains(t, "Error") || goPosition.MatchString(t) {
+			cause = t
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	for _, l := range lines {
+		if t := strings.TrimSpace(l); cause == "" && !strings.HasPrefix(t, "# ") && !strings.HasPrefix(t, "> ") && !strings.HasPrefix(t, "npm ") {
+			cause = t
+		}
+	}
+	if cause == "" {
+		cause = test + " failed and wrote nothing that says why"
+	}
+	cause = CutLine(cause)
+	return Failure{Package: pkg, Test: test, Cause: cause, Output: Clip(lines, cause)}
+}

go/buildstep/helpers.go

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// goPosition matches a line that starts with a Go file's position, as go vet and the compiler write an error.
+var goPosition = regexp.MustCompile(`^\S+\.go:\d+(:\d+)?: `)
+
+var ansiEscape = regexp.MustCompile("\x1b\\[[0-9;]*m")
+
+func stripANSI(s string) string { return ansiEscape.ReplaceAllString(s, "") }
+
+// tapOk says a line is a passing test's "ok N - name", indented or not.
+func tapOk(l string) bool {
+	rest, ok := strings.CutPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(l), "ok ")
+	return ok && rest != "" && rest[0] >= '0' && rest[0] <= '9'
+}

go/buildstep/launchers.go

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
+
+// LauncherSuffix is what a TypeScript entrypoint's launcher is called beside it: index.js is started as
+// index.serve.mjs (novox/hq ADR 0193), an ES module by its own extension whatever the bundle's package.json says.
+const LauncherSuffix = catalogue.LauncherSuffix
+
+// Launchers are the launchers a bundle's build writes, by entrypoint, relative to the bundle's root
+// (catalogue.Launchers): the one rule mesh-build-node, build-agent, the controller and a node taking in a build share
+// (R4e, issue 1126), so the name a build writes is the name a reader expects.
+func Launchers(language string, entrypoints []string) map[string]string {
+	return catalogue.Launchers(language, entrypoints)
+}

go/buildstep/launchers_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A TypeScript bundle's entrypoint x.js is started as x.serve.mjs beside it (novox/hq ADR 0193), the rule mesh-build-node
+// and build-agent both apply; an entrypoint that is not .js gets none, and another language gets none.
+func TestATypeScriptEntrypointIsStartedByTheLauncherBesideIt(t *testing.T) {
+	got := Launchers("typescript", []string{"index.js", "tools/x.js", "data.json"})
+	want := map[string]string{"index.js": "index.serve.mjs", "tools/x.js": "tools/x.serve.mjs"}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("Launchers(typescript) = %v, want %v", got, want)
+	}
+	if got := Launchers("go", []string{"index.js"}); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a Go bundle got launchers: %v", got)
+	}
+	if got := Launchers("typescript", nil); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a bundle with no entrypoint got launchers: %v", got)
+	}
+}

go/buildstep/request.go

@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"maps"
+	"path"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
+)
+
+var (
+	requestCommitOK     = regexp.MustCompile(`^[0-9a-f]{40}$`)
+	requestRepositoryOK = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9._-]*/[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9._-]*$`)
+)
+
+// FetchRequest is what a build module's fetch tool is asked: the repository and the full commit, the pull request's
+// ref when only its head carries the commit, the trunk commit to merge onto for a merge preview, and, for a build of a
+// module whose every artifact names its paths, that module's directory and its named paths (novox/hq ADR 0499 clause 4).
+//
+// **The paths come from the builder, not from a manifest** (ADR 0495 clause 1; the lead's decision L8 of R4e): the
+// builder fills Dir and Paths from the indexer's Module value (Path, and KeptInputs2.Paths' keys), and the build module
+// gives the build and test steps a workspace holding those paths, the manifest and its lock files. A request without
+// them builds from the module's directory, as before.
+type FetchRequest struct {
+	Repository string   `json:"repository"`
+	Commit     string   `json:"commit"`
+	Ref        string   `json:"ref,omitempty"`
+	Base       string   `json:"base,omitempty"`
+	Dir        string   `json:"dir,omitempty"`
+	Paths      []string `json:"paths,omitempty"`
+	// Packages are the version of each mesh package the build or the check builds against (delivery.StepAsk.Packages,
+	// novox/hq ADR 0573 §2, §4): the build module writes each into the workspace's go.mod and go.sum, whatever version
+	// the repository names, checksum-verified, and names them in its log.
+	Packages delivery.PackageVersions `json:"packages,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// FetchRequestProperties are the JSON schema properties of FetchRequest's dir and paths, for a fetch tool's Input.
+func FetchRequestProperties() map[string]any {
+	return map[string]any{
+		"dir": map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": "the module's directory in the repository (\".\" for its root), with paths"},
+		"paths": map[string]any{"type": "array", "items": map[string]any{"type": "string"},
+			"description": "the paths the module names, relative to dir, from the indexer's kept inputs: the build sees only these, the manifest and its lock files"},
+		"packages": map[string]any{"type": "object", "additionalProperties": map[string]any{"type": "string"},
+			"description": "optional: the version (a full commit) of each mesh package to build against, by its module path, whatever version go.mod names (novox/hq ADR 0573 §2); the builder and the checker fill it"},
+	}
+}
+
+// Args is r as a tool call's arguments.
+func (r FetchRequest) Args() map[string]any {
+	args := map[string]any{"repository": r.Repository, "commit": r.Commit}
+	for k, v := range map[string]string{"ref": r.Ref, "base": r.Base, "dir": r.Dir} {
+		if v != "" {
+			args[k] = v
+		}
+	}
+	if len(r.Paths) > 0 {
+		args["paths"] = append([]string(nil), r.Paths...)
+	}
+	if len(r.Packages) > 0 {
+		args["packages"] = map[string]any{}
+		for p, v := range r.Packages {
+			args["packages"].(map[string]any)[p] = v
+		}
+	}
+	return args
+}
+
+// ParseFetchRequest reads a fetch tool's arguments; arguments it does not know (a build module's own) are left to the
+// caller. It refuses a repository that is not <owner>/<name>, a commit or a base that is not 40 hex digits, paths with no
+// module directory or a directory with no path, a directory leaving the repository and a path leaving the directory,
+// naming each.
+func ParseFetchRequest(args map[string]any) (FetchRequest, error) {
+	var r FetchRequest
+	r.Repository, _ = args["repository"].(string)
+	r.Commit, _ = args["commit"].(string)
+	r.Ref, _ = args["ref"].(string)
+	r.Base, _ = args["base"].(string)
+	r.Dir, _ = args["dir"].(string)
+	switch v := args["paths"].(type) {
+	case nil:
+	case []string:
+		r.Paths = append([]string(nil), v...)
+	case []any:
+		for _, p := range v {
+			s, ok := p.(string)
+			if !ok {
+				return FetchRequest{}, fmt.Errorf("paths is a list of strings")
+			}
+			r.Paths = append(r.Paths, s)
+		}
+	default:
+		return FetchRequest{}, fmt.Errorf("paths is a list of strings")
+	}
+	packages, err := PackagesArg(args["packages"])
+	if err != nil {
+		return FetchRequest{}, err
+	}
+	r.Packages = packages
+	return r, r.Check()
+}
+
+// PackagesArg reads a tool call's packages argument, an object of strings (as JSON gives it) or the map an ask gives;
+// nil for none.
+func PackagesArg(v any) (delivery.PackageVersions, error) {
+	out := delivery.PackageVersions{}
+	switch v := v.(type) {
+	case nil:
+		return nil, nil
+	case delivery.PackageVersions:
+		maps.Copy(out, v)
+	case map[string]string:
+		maps.Copy(out, v)
+	case map[string]any:
+		for p, version := range v {
+			s, ok := version.(string)
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("packages is an object of versions (strings), by package")
+			}
+			out[p] = s
+		}
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("packages is an object of versions (strings), by package")
+	}
+	if len(out) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	return out, out.Check()
+}
+
+// Check is what ParseFetchRequest refuses.
+func (r FetchRequest) Check() error {
+	if !requestRepositoryOK.MatchString(r.Repository) || strings.Contains(r.Repository, "..") {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a repository, <owner>/<name>", r.Repository)
+	}
+	if !requestCommitOK.MatchString(r.Commit) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a full commit (40 hex digits)", r.Commit)
+	}
+	if r.Base != "" && !requestCommitOK.MatchString(r.Base) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a trunk commit (40 hex digits)", r.Base)
+	}
+	switch {
+	case len(r.Paths) > 0 && r.Dir == "":
+		return fmt.Errorf("the request names paths and names no module directory (dir) they are relative to")
+	case len(r.Paths) == 0 && r.Dir != "":
+		return fmt.Errorf("the request names a module directory and no path")
+	}
+	if r.Dir != "" && (outside(r.Dir) || strings.HasPrefix(r.Dir, "/")) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the module directory %q leaves the repository", r.Dir)
+	}
+	for _, p := range r.Paths {
+		if p == "" || strings.HasPrefix(p, "/") || outside(p) || path.Clean(p) == "." {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the path %q leaves the module's directory or is not a path in it", p)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func outside(p string) bool {
+	c := path.Clean(p)
+	return c == ".." || strings.HasPrefix(c, "../")
+}

go/buildstep/request_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A build's fetch is handed the paths of a module that names them (novox/hq ADR 0499 clause 4): the builder fills them
+// from the indexer's kept inputs and the build module reads them from the call, never from the manifest (ADR 0495
+// clause 1). The request survives the trip through a tool call's arguments.
+func TestAFetchRequestCarriesTheNamedPathsThroughTheToolCall(t *testing.T) {
+	// And the versions of the mesh packages to build against (novox/hq ADR 0573 §2; issue 1585 S4).
+	req := FetchRequest{Repository: "novox/mesh-sdk", Commit: strings.Repeat("a", 40), Ref: "refs/pull/7/head",
+		Dir: ".", Paths: []string{"package.json", "src"}, Packages: map[string]string{"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go": strings.Repeat("d", 40)}}
+	args := req.Args()
+	// A tool call's arguments arrive as JSON: lists of any, objects of any.
+	args["paths"] = []any{"package.json", "src"}
+	if p, ok := args["packages"].(map[string]any); !ok || p["git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go"] != strings.Repeat("d", 40) {
+		t.Fatalf("the packages are not in the call's arguments: %v", args["packages"])
+	}
+	got, err := ParseFetchRequest(args)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(got, req) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %+v, want %+v", got, req)
+	}
+	plain, err := ParseFetchRequest(map[string]any{"repository": "novox/x", "commit": strings.Repeat("b", 40),
+		"base": strings.Repeat("c", 40), "beside": []any{}})
+	if err != nil || plain.Paths != nil || plain.Base != strings.Repeat("c", 40) {
+		t.Fatalf("a request without paths: %+v, %v", plain, err)
+	}
+
+	ok := map[string]any{"repository": "novox/x", "commit": strings.Repeat("b", 40)}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		set  map[string]any
+		says string
+	}{
+		{map[string]any{"repository": "novox"}, "is not a repository"},
+		{map[string]any{"repository": "novox/../x"}, "is not a repository"},
+		{map[string]any{"commit": "abc"}, "is not a full commit"},
+		{map[string]any{"base": "abc"}, "is not a trunk commit"},
+		{map[string]any{"paths": []any{"src"}}, "names no module directory"},
+		{map[string]any{"dir": "modules/a", "paths": []any{"../b"}}, "leaves the module's directory"},
+		{map[string]any{"dir": "../a", "paths": []any{"src"}}, "leaves the repository"},
+		{map[string]any{"dir": "modules/a", "paths": []any{3}}, "paths is a list of strings"},
+		{map[string]any{"dir": "modules/a"}, "names a module directory and no path"},
+		{map[string]any{"packages": map[string]any{"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go": "v0.1.7"}}, "no full commit"},
+		{map[string]any{"packages": map[string]any{"a b": strings.Repeat("d", 40)}}, "no module path"},
+		{map[string]any{"packages": []any{"x"}}, "packages is an object"},
+	} {
+		args := map[string]any{}
+		for k, v := range ok {
+			args[k] = v
+		}
+		for k, v := range c.set {
+			args[k] = v
+		}
+		if _, err := ParseFetchRequest(args); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.says) {
+			t.Errorf("%v: %v, wanted a refusal saying %q", c.set, err, c.says)
+		}
+	}
+}

go/buildstep/stale.go

@@ -0,0 +1,330 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	stdio "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
+)
+
+// RestartReason is why a step a previous process left running is ended.
+const RestartReason = "the build module restarted while it ran"
+
+// Boot is when this process began. A step with no owner (written by an older build) started at or after it is taken
+// for this process's, which may still run it, so EndOne refuses it.
+var Boot = time.Now()
+
+// Owner is this process as a step's owner (delivery.Step.Owner): `<boot id>.<pid>.<start>`, the node's boot id
+// (/proc/sys/kernel/random/boot_id), the pid and Boot in milliseconds, base 36. The start keeps two processes apart
+// that a reboot or a pid namespace gave the same pid. A running step whose owner is another is a previous process's.
+var Owner = ownerOf(bootID, os.Getpid(), Boot)
+
+// bootID is the node's boot id as Owner holds it; noBootID when it could not be read, which EndStaleAtStart says once.
+var bootID = readBootID()
+
+const noBootID = "no-boot-id"
+
+func ownerOf(bootID string, pid int, start time.Time) string {
+	return bootID + "." + strconv.Itoa(pid) + "." + strconv.FormatInt(start.UnixMilli(), 36)
+}
+
+// readBootID is the node's boot id, or noBootID where it cannot be read (the pid and the start then tell the processes
+// apart).
+func readBootID() string {
+	b, err := os.ReadFile("/proc/sys/kernel/random/boot_id")
+	if id := strings.TrimSpace(string(b)); err == nil && id != "" {
+		return id
+	}
+	return noBootID
+}
+
+// Scan reads and writes a steps state with its revisions: its keys, a key's stored value and revision (nil and 0 for
+// none), a write that lands only while the key is still at the revision read (KeptState.Update), and a delete of a key
+// still at the revision read; both fail with stdio.ErrChanged when another writer was first.
+type Scan struct {
+	Keys   func() ([]string, error)
+	Get    func(key string) (json.RawMessage, uint64, error)
+	Update func(key string, value any, revision uint64) (uint64, error)
+	Delete func(key string, revision uint64) error
+}
+
+// ScanOf is the Scan of a state the process keeps.
+//
+// Its Delete reads the key again and deletes it only while it is still at the revision read: the runtime's
+// mesh/state.delete takes no revision yet, so a write landing between that read and the delete (a few milliseconds) is
+// deleted with it. For a step key that is a redelivered ask begun on this node in that moment: its running key leaves
+// the steps state until its run writes its end, which its asker still reads (a watch takes puts only).
+func ScanOf(s stdio.KeptState) Scan {
+	get := func(key string) (json.RawMessage, uint64, error) {
+		e, err := s.Get(key)
+		if err != nil || e == nil {
+			return nil, 0, err
+		}
+		return e.Value, e.Revision, nil
+	}
+	return Scan{Keys: s.Keys, Update: s.Update, Get: get, Delete: func(key string, revision uint64) error {
+		_, rev, err := get(key)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if rev != revision {
+			return stdio.ErrChanged
+		}
+		return s.Delete(key)
+	}}
+}
+
+// isAsk says a step is a pulled ask's: its key is <node>.<ask id> and its tool is "<kind> ask" (a hand-started step
+// has the tool's name). An ask's key is the stream's to settle, never a restart's: the puller leaves an ask it was
+// running unacknowledged so the stream redelivers it, and the asker's wait takes the first end it reads on the key.
+// A key a gone process owns is deleted, never ended (EndStale); one with no owner is ended only once the asker's bound
+// has passed (delivery.StepBound), when it is nobody's.
+func isAsk(key string, s delivery.Step) bool {
+	_, _, err := delivery.ParseAskStepKey(key)
+	return err == nil && strings.HasSuffix(s.Tool, " ask")
+}
+
+// AskWhat says what an ask is, in one line: its kind, and its repository, head and levels, or its module and
+// fingerprint.
+func AskWhat(a delivery.StepAsk) string {
+	short := func(s string) string {
+		if len(s) > 12 {
+			return s[:12]
+		}
+		return s
+	}
+	str := func(m map[string]any, k string) string { v, _ := m[k].(string); return v }
+	parts := []string{a.Kind + " ask"}
+	switch {
+	case a.Check != nil:
+		parts = append(parts, str(a.Check.Fetch, "repository")+"@"+short(str(a.Check.Fetch, "commit")), "levels "+strings.Join(a.Check.Levels, ","))
+		if a.Check.Run != "" {
+			parts = append(parts, "run "+a.Check.Run)
+		}
+	case a.Build != nil:
+		parts = append(parts, "module "+a.Build.Module)
+		if r := str(a.Build.Fetch, "repository"); r != "" {
+			parts = append(parts, r+"@"+short(str(a.Build.Fetch, "commit")))
+		}
+		if a.Build.FP != "" {
+			parts = append(parts, "fp "+short(a.Build.FP))
+		}
+	case a.Compose != nil:
+		parts = append(parts, "compose", str(a.Compose.Fetch, "repository")+"@"+short(str(a.Compose.Fetch, "commit")))
+	}
+	return strings.Join(parts, ", ")
+}
+
+// endRunning writes step ended failed with why, only while its key is still at revision.
+func endRunning(scan Scan, key string, step delivery.Step, revision uint64, why string) error {
+	step.State, step.Reason, step.Ended, step.Result = delivery.StepFailed, why, now().UTC(), nil
+	raw, err := delivery.EncodeStep(step)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	_, err = scan.Update(key, json.RawMessage(raw), revision)
+	return err
+}
+
+// EndStale ends this node's running steps that no process of this module runs any more, and answers their ids. Only keys
+// of node are read; a value that is no step is left alone.
+//   - A hand-started step with an owner (delivery.Step.Owner) that is not this process (Owner) is ended failed with
+//     RestartReason at once, whatever its age: its process is gone and nothing redelivers it, so nothing else would
+//     write its end (issue 1890, note 21).
+//   - A pulled ask's step with an owner that is not this process is deleted, not ended (novox/hq ADR 0525 §6): the
+//     stream redelivers an ask whose node stopped (the puller neither ends nor acknowledges one at its stop), and its
+//     asker takes the first end it reads, so an end written here would fail a check the redelivery would still run. Its
+//     asker's watch takes puts only and keeps waiting for the redelivery's key, its bound the backstop; the stale running
+//     key leaves the steps state, and with it the delivery view's and the checker's count of what runs (note 21: it
+//     held one of a build node's two slots).
+//   - A step owned by this process is left: it may run now. A redelivered ask begun on this node is owned by it.
+//   - A step with no owner (written by an older build) keeps the earlier rule: a hand-started step started before
+//     `before` (the start of this process) is ended; a pulled ask is left to the stream's redelivery (isAsk) until its
+//     start is older than delivery.StepBound, and then ended "past the step bound: its asker stopped waiting at <time>".
+//
+// Each end and delete is logged, naming the step, its owner and why. A key written by another writer since it was read
+// (a redelivered ask's start, a real end) is skipped.
+func EndStale(scan Scan, node string, before time.Time, logf func(string, ...any)) ([]string, error) {
+	keys, err := scan.Keys()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("buildstep: listing the steps of %s: %w", node, err)
+	}
+	var ended []string
+	for _, k := range keys {
+		n, _, perr := delivery.ParseStepKey(k)
+		if perr != nil || n != node {
+			continue
+		}
+		raw, rev, err := scan.Get(k)
+		if err != nil {
+			return ended, fmt.Errorf("buildstep: reading the step %s: %w", k, err)
+		}
+		if len(raw) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		step, err := delivery.DecodeStep(raw)
+		if err != nil || step.State != delivery.StepRunning {
+			continue
+		}
+		why, said := staleWhy(k, step, before)
+		if why == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		done := "ended"
+		if step.Owner != "" && isAsk(k, step) {
+			done = "deleted, left to the stream's redelivery"
+			if scan.Delete == nil {
+				err = fmt.Errorf("the steps state takes no delete")
+			} else {
+				err = scan.Delete(k, rev)
+			}
+		} else {
+			err = endRunning(scan, k, step, rev, why)
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			if errors.Is(err, stdio.ErrChanged) {
+				continue
+			}
+			return ended, fmt.Errorf("buildstep: ending the step %s: %w", k, err)
+		}
+		if logf != nil {
+			logf("the step %s (%s, started %s) was left running and is %s: %s; %s", k, step.Tool,
+				step.Started.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339), done, why, said)
+		}
+		ended = append(ended, step.ID)
+	}
+	return ended, nil
+}
+
+// staleWhy is why a running step is ended (or, for an ask with an owner, deleted) by EndStale and what the log says of
+// its owner, or "" to leave it.
+func staleWhy(key string, step delivery.Step, before time.Time) (why, said string) {
+	switch {
+	case step.Owner == Owner:
+		return "", ""
+	case step.Owner != "":
+		return RestartReason, "its owner " + step.Owner + " is not this process " + Owner
+	case isAsk(key, step):
+		if !step.Started.Add(delivery.StepBound).Before(now()) {
+			return "", ""
+		}
+		return "past the step bound: its asker stopped waiting at " + step.Started.Add(delivery.StepBound).UTC().Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05Z"),
+			"it names no owner (an older build wrote it)"
+	case step.Started.Before(before):
+		return RestartReason, "it names no owner (an older build wrote it) and started before this process"
+	}
+	return "", ""
+}
+
+// EndOne ends this node's running step id (or the key <node>.<id>) as failed with why. A step that is not running is
+// refused, and so is one this process owns (Owner; for a step with no owner, one started since Boot: it may still run,
+// whether a pulled ask or a step a tool started), one live reports as held, and one whose key changed since it was read.
+func EndOne(scan Scan, node, id, why string, live func(id string) bool) (delivery.Step, error) {
+	id = strings.TrimSpace(id)
+	if n, rest, ok := strings.Cut(id, "."); ok {
+		if n != node {
+			return delivery.Step{}, fmt.Errorf("the step %q is of node %q, this module runs on %q", id, n, node)
+		}
+		id = rest
+	}
+	if strings.TrimSpace(why) == "" {
+		return delivery.Step{}, fmt.Errorf("say why the step is ended (why)")
+	}
+	key, err := delivery.StepKey(node, id)
+	if err != nil {
+		return delivery.Step{}, err
+	}
+	raw, rev, err := scan.Get(key)
+	if err != nil {
+		return delivery.Step{}, err
+	}
+	if len(raw) == 0 {
+		return delivery.Step{}, fmt.Errorf("no step %s in the steps state", key)
+	}
+	step, err := delivery.DecodeStep(raw)
+	if err != nil {
+		return delivery.Step{}, err
+	}
+	if step.State != delivery.StepRunning {
+		return delivery.Step{}, fmt.Errorf("the step %s is %s, not running", key, step.State)
+	}
+	if step.Owner == Owner || (step.Owner == "" && !step.Started.Before(Boot)) || (live != nil && live(id)) {
+		return delivery.Step{}, fmt.Errorf("the step %s was started by this process and may run now; only a step a previous process left is ended", key)
+	}
+	if err := endRunning(scan, key, step, rev, why); err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, stdio.ErrChanged) {
+			return delivery.Step{}, fmt.Errorf("the step %s changed while it was being ended; read it again", key)
+		}
+		return delivery.Step{}, err
+	}
+	step.State, step.Reason = delivery.StepFailed, why
+	return step, nil
+}
+
+// StaleAttempts and StaleRetry bound EndStaleAtStart's tries: the steps state is readable once the runtime serves.
+var (
+	StaleAttempts = 6
+	StaleRetry    = 5 * time.Second
+)
+
+// StaleServed is what EndStaleAtStart waits for before it reads the steps state: the runtime serving (stdio.Served).
+// The conformance kit's left-running case (conformance.LeftRunning) hands it a closed channel, to run a module's own
+// start sweep in its test.
+var StaleServed = stdio.Served
+
+// EndStaleAtStart is what a build module runs once at its start, in a goroutine: it waits for the runtime to serve,
+// then ends this node's steps a previous process left running (EndStale), trying again when the state cannot be read
+// yet. A step names its owner, so `before` (the start of this process) matters only for a step with no owner, written
+// by an older build: such a step started before it is a previous process's. When the node's boot id cannot be read it
+// says so once: Owner then tells processes apart by their pid and start only.
+func EndStaleAtStart(ctx context.Context, scan Scan, node string, before time.Time, logf func(string, ...any)) {
+	select {
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		return
+	case <-StaleServed():
+	}
+	if bootID == noBootID && logf != nil {
+		logf("the boot id of %s cannot be read (/proc/sys/kernel/random/boot_id): its steps' owner is %s, told apart by pid and start only", node, Owner)
+	}
+	for attempt := 1; ; attempt++ {
+		ended, err := EndStale(scan, node, before, logf)
+		if err == nil {
+			if logf != nil {
+				logf("%d steps of %s left running by a previous process ended", len(ended), node)
+			}
+			return
+		}
+		if logf != nil {
+			logf("ending the steps left running (try %d of %d): %v", attempt, StaleAttempts, err)
+		}
+		if attempt >= StaleAttempts {
+			return
+		}
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return
+		case <-time.After(StaleRetry):
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// EndStaleRound is EndStale as the module's periodic round runs it: at once, and only when the runtime serves (a round
+// before that is skipped, the start's EndStaleAtStart and the next round cover it). It ends the steps a previous
+// process left and the asks past delivery.StepBound.
+func EndStaleRound(scan Scan, node string, logf func(string, ...any)) {
+	select {
+	case <-stdio.Served():
+	default:
+		return
+	}
+	if _, err := EndStale(scan, node, Boot, logf); err != nil && logf != nil {
+		logf("ending the steps left running: %v", err)
+	}
+}

go/buildstep/stale_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	stdio "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
+)
+
+// scanOf is the steps a keys double holds, last value per key, its revision the count of its puts; a write through
+// Update lands only at the revision read, as the state's does. race, when set, runs once before the next Update's check.
+func scanOf(k *keys, race func(key string)) Scan {
+	return Scan{
+		Keys: func() ([]string, error) {
+			k.mu.Lock()
+			defer k.mu.Unlock()
+			var out []string
+			for key := range k.puts {
+				out = append(out, key)
+			}
+			return out, nil
+		},
+		Get: func(key string) (json.RawMessage, uint64, error) {
+			k.mu.Lock()
+			defer k.mu.Unlock()
+			s, ok := k.puts[key]
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, 0, nil
+			}
+			raw, err := delivery.EncodeStep(s[len(s)-1])
+			return raw, uint64(len(s)), err
+		},
+		Delete: func(key string, revision uint64) error {
+			k.mu.Lock()
+			defer k.mu.Unlock()
+			if uint64(len(k.puts[key])) != revision {
+				return stdio.ErrChanged
+			}
+			delete(k.puts, key)
+			return nil
+		},
+		Update: func(key string, value any, revision uint64) (uint64, error) {
+			if race != nil {
+				race(key)
+			}
+			k.mu.Lock()
+			n := uint64(len(k.puts[key]))
+			k.mu.Unlock()
+			if n != revision {
+				return 0, stdio.ErrChanged
+			}
+			return k.put(key, value)
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+// 1890 and 1890/AC6: EndStale ends this node's hand-started running steps of another owner at once, whatever their age,
+// and deletes its asks of another owner (the stream redelivers them, ADR 0525 §6); of
+// the steps with no owner (an older build's), the hand-started ones left running before the process began and the asks
+// past the step bound (a younger ask is the stream's to redeliver); never a step this process owns or a key written
+// meanwhile. EndOne ends one by hand, never one this process owns or started.
+func TestEndStaleAndEndOne(t *testing.T) {
+	k := newKeys()
+	boot := time.Now()
+	oldBoot := Boot
+	Boot = boot
+	defer func() { Boot = oldBoot }()
+	gone := ownerOf("b00t", 4242, boot.Add(-time.Hour))
+	put := func(node, id, tool, state string, started time.Time, owner string) {
+		key, _ := delivery.StepKey(node, id)
+		_, _ = k.put(key, json.RawMessage(mustStep(t, delivery.Step{ID: id, Tool: tool, Node: node, State: state, Started: started, Owner: owner})))
+	}
+	put("ace", "old1", "build_go_fetch", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(-time.Hour), "")
+	put("ace", "mjk3l9x0abcdef", "check ask", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(-time.Hour), "")
+	put("ace", "mjk3l9x0abcdee", "check ask", delivery.StepRunning, time.Now().Add(-5*time.Minute), "")
+	put("ace", "mjk3l9x0abcded", "check ask", delivery.StepRunning, time.Now().Add(-5*time.Minute), gone) // note 21's ghost
+	put("ace", "gone2", "build_go_test", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(time.Second), gone)
+	put("ace", "mine1", "check ask", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(-time.Hour), Owner)
+	put("ace", "raced1", "build_go_test", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(-time.Hour), "")
+	put("ace", "new1", "build_go_fetch", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(time.Second), "")
+	put("ace", "done1", "build_go_fetch", delivery.StepPassed, boot.Add(-time.Hour), gone)
+	put("g14", "other1", "build_go_fetch", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(-time.Hour), gone)
+	// raced1 is ended by its own run between the read and the write.
+	raced := false
+	scan := scanOf(k, func(key string) {
+		if key == "ace.raced1" && !raced {
+			raced = true
+			put("ace", "raced1", "build_go_test", delivery.StepPassed, boot.Add(-time.Hour), "")
+		}
+	})
+	var said []string
+	ended, err := EndStale(scan, "ace", boot, func(f string, a ...any) { said = append(said, fmt.Sprintf(f, a...)) })
+	if err != nil || len(ended) != 4 {
+		t.Fatalf("ended %v, %v", ended, err)
+	}
+	if _, held := k.puts["ace.mjk3l9x0abcded"]; held {
+		t.Errorf("the ghost ask's key is still held: %+v", k.last("ace.mjk3l9x0abcded"))
+	}
+	for _, key := range []string{"ace.old1", "ace.gone2"} {
+		if s := k.last(key); s.State != delivery.StepFailed || s.Reason != RestartReason || s.Ended.IsZero() {
+			t.Errorf("%s = %+v", key, s)
+		}
+	}
+	if s := k.last("ace.mjk3l9x0abcdef"); s.State != delivery.StepFailed || !strings.HasPrefix(s.Reason, "past the step bound: its asker stopped waiting at ") {
+		t.Errorf("the old ask = %+v", s)
+	}
+	if log := strings.Join(said, "\n"); !strings.Contains(log, "ace.mjk3l9x0abcded") || !strings.Contains(log, "deleted, left to the stream's redelivery") || !strings.Contains(log, "its owner "+gone+" is not this process "+Owner) {
+		t.Errorf("the log does not name the ghost and its owner:\n%s", log)
+	}
+	for key, state := range map[string]string{"ace.mjk3l9x0abcdee": delivery.StepRunning, "ace.mine1": delivery.StepRunning, "ace.raced1": delivery.StepPassed,
+		"ace.new1": delivery.StepRunning, "ace.done1": delivery.StepPassed, "g14.other1": delivery.StepRunning} {
+		if s := k.last(key); s.State != state {
+			t.Errorf("%s = %s, want %s", key, s.State, state)
+		}
+	}
+	// EndOne: refuses without why, a held step, one this process owns or (with no owner) started, a step not running and
+	// another node's; ends a step a previous process left.
+	for _, c := range []struct{ id, why string }{{"old1", ""}, {"new1", "stuck"}, {"mine1", "stuck"}, {"done1", "x"}, {"g14.other1", "x"}} {
+		if _, err := EndOne(scan, "ace", c.id, c.why, nil); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("ended %s with why %q", c.id, c.why)
+		}
+	}
+	put("ace", "old2", "build_go_fetch", delivery.StepRunning, boot.Add(time.Second), gone)
+	if _, err := EndOne(scan, "ace", "old2", "x", func(string) bool { return true }); err == nil {
+		t.Error("ended a held step")
+	}
+	if _, err := EndOne(scan, "ace", "ace.old2", "stuck for good", nil); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if s := k.last("ace.old2"); s.State != delivery.StepFailed || s.Reason != "stuck for good" || s.Owner != gone {
+		t.Errorf("old2 = %+v", s)
+	}
+	if a, b := ownerOf("b", 1, boot), ownerOf("b", 1, boot.Add(time.Second)); a == b {
+		t.Errorf("two starts of one pid share the owner %q", a)
+	}
+}
+
+func mustStep(t *testing.T, s delivery.Step) []byte {
+	t.Helper()
+	raw, err := delivery.EncodeStep(s)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return raw
+}
+
+// 1890: AskWhat names the repository, head and levels of a check ask and the module of a build ask.
+func TestAskWhat(t *testing.T) {
+	check := delivery.StepAsk{Kind: "check", Check: &delivery.CheckJob{Fetch: map[string]any{"repository": "novox/mesh-sdk", "commit": "0123456789abcdef0123"}, Levels: []string{"unit", "integration"}}}
+	if got, want := AskWhat(check), "check ask, novox/mesh-sdk@0123456789ab, levels unit,integration"; got != want {
+		t.Errorf("check = %q", got)
+	}
+	build := delivery.StepAsk{Kind: "delivery", Build: &delivery.BuildJob{Module: "mesh-x", FP: "abcdef0123456789"}}
+	if got, want := AskWhat(build), "delivery ask, module mesh-x, fp abcdef012345"; got != want {
+		t.Errorf("build = %q", got)
+	}
+}

go/buildstep/step.go

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// Package buildstep is what both build modules share: the runner of a long step that answers a tool call at once
+// and ends on its key in the module's `steps` state (novox/hq ADR 0469 §2; issue 1471), the toolchain guard
+// (issue 1473), the fetch of one commit over SSH (issue 1474), and the failure contract of a test level with the parsers
+// of go test -json and node --test's TAP that fill it (failure.go, issue 1901; its conformance kit is package conformance).
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"strconv"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var now = time.Now
+
+// NewID is a step id: the time in milliseconds in base 36 and six random hex digits, lower-case letters and
+// digits only, so it is one key token and differs between two steps of one node even in one millisecond.
+func NewID() string {
+	var b [3]byte
+	_, _ = rand.Read(b[:])
+	return strconv.FormatInt(now().UnixMilli(), 36) + hex.EncodeToString(b[:])
+}

go/buildstep/step_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package buildstep
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
+)
+
+// keys is a steps state in memory: every value put, in order, per key, and a signal for each end.
+type keys struct {
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	puts  map[string][]delivery.Step
+	ended chan string
+}
+
+func newKeys() *keys { return &keys{puts: map[string][]delivery.Step{}, ended: make(chan string, 16)} }
+
+func (k *keys) put(key string, value any) (uint64, error) {
+	step, err := delivery.DecodeStep(value.(json.RawMessage))
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	k.mu.Lock()
+	k.puts[key] = append(k.puts[key], step)
+	n := uint64(len(k.puts[key]))
+	k.mu.Unlock()
+	if step.State != delivery.StepRunning {
+		k.ended <- key
+	}
+	return n, nil
+}
+
+func (k *keys) last(key string) delivery.Step {
+	k.mu.Lock()
+	defer k.mu.Unlock()
+	s := k.puts[key]
+	return s[len(s)-1]
+}
+
+func (k *keys) waitEnd(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	select {
+	case key := <-k.ended:
+		return key
+	case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("the step never ended on its key")
+		return ""
+	}
+}
+
+// 1471/AC5: ids made in one and the same millisecond differ, and each is one key token. The clock is fixed
+// while no step runs, so no goroutine reads it meanwhile.
+func TestTwoIDsInOneMillisecondDiffer(t *testing.T) {
+	was := now
+	defer func() { now = was }()
+	at := time.Date(2026, 10, 20, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	now = func() time.Time { return at }
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for i := 0; i < 50; i++ {
+		id := NewID()
+		if seen[id] {
+			t.Fatalf("id %q handed out twice", id)
+		}
+		seen[id] = true
+		if _, err := delivery.StepKey("ace", id); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("id %q: %v", id, err)
+		}
+	}
+}

go/buildstep/trees.go

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package buildstep
+
+// ModuleTree is what a merge holds of one module directory, as a build module's preview answers it (novox/hq ADR 0484
+// clause 3, as ADR 0593 §2 changes it): its git tree id, the sha256 of its module.json, the sha256 of each lock file it
+// has (go.sum, package-lock.json), and, of a module whose every artifact names its paths, each named path's git object
+// id at the commit. The indexer alone computes from them (the named tree, the fingerprint); the build module's runner
+// (mesh-build-go's buildstep.ModuleTrees) fills them.
+type ModuleTree struct {
+	Tree     string            `json:"tree"`
+	Manifest string            `json:"manifest"`
+	Locks    map[string]string `json:"locks,omitempty"`
+	Paths    map[string]string `json:"paths,omitempty"`
+	// Packages are no longer filled (ADR 0593 §2): kept so a preview written before still decodes.
+	Packages []string `json:"packages,omitempty"`
+}

go/bus_waits_for_serve_test.go

@@ -1,74 +0,0 @@
-package stdio
-
-import (
-	"io"
-	"testing"
-	"time"
-)
-
-// A bus function called before Serve waits for Serve and proceeds (issue 1966): a module that starts a goroutine
-// before stdio.Serve and calls the bus there is no longer refused. It is refused only when the process never serves.
-// The test drives the wait itself: serveWait is the test's own timer channel, no row sleeps on a clock.
-func TestBusFunctionsWaitForServe(t *testing.T) {
-	const refusal = "before Serve: a bundle reaches the bus through the runtime that launched it"
-	for _, tc := range []struct {
-		name   string
-		serve  string // "first": before the call; "during": while the call waits; "never"
-		wantOK bool
-	}{
-		{"a call before Serve completes after Serve", "during", true},
-		{"a call whose wait ends before Serve is refused", "never", false},
-		{"a call after Serve is as before", "first", true},
-	} {
-		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			servesAlone(t)
-			expire := make(chan time.Time)
-			oldAfter := serveTimer
-			serveTimer = func() (<-chan time.Time, func()) { return expire, func() {} }
-			t.Cleanup(func() { serveTimer = oldAfter })
-
-			inR, inW := io.Pipe()
-			outR, outW := io.Pipe()
-			stopped := make(chan struct{})
-			serve := func() {
-				go func() { _ = ServeOn("m", nil, inR, outW); close(stopped) }()
-			}
-			t.Cleanup(func() { _ = inW.Close(); go func() { _, _ = io.Copy(io.Discard, outR) }() })
-
-			type result struct {
-				c   *channel
-				err error
-			}
-			done := make(chan result, 1)
-			if tc.serve == "first" {
-				serve()
-				<-Served()
-				c, err := live()
-				done <- result{c, err}
-			} else {
-				go func() { c, err := live(); done <- result{c, err} }()
-				select {
-				case r := <-done:
-					t.Fatalf("live() returned before Serve and before its wait ended: %v", r.err)
-				default:
-				}
-				if tc.serve == "during" {
-					serve()
-				} else {
-					expire <- time.Time{}
-				}
-			}
-			r := <-done
-			if tc.wantOK != (r.err == nil && r.c != nil) {
-				t.Fatalf("live() = %v, %v; want ok=%v", r.c, r.err, tc.wantOK)
-			}
-			if !tc.wantOK && r.err.Error() != refusal {
-				t.Fatalf("refusal words changed: %v", r.err)
-			}
-			if tc.serve != "never" {
-				_ = inW.Close()
-				<-stopped
-			}
-		})
-	}
-}

go/buscalls/answer.go

@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-package buscalls
-
-import "encoding/json"
-
-// Unwrap reads a tool's answer whatever wraps it on its way from the tool runner (the lead's ruling 2026-11-04 13:12:
-// one reading, not a copy per module): a JSON string holding the answer; the protocol's content list, whose first
-// text is the answer and whose isError says it failed; the {output, ok, answer} form; the tool runner's {result,
-// error} envelope, whose error is the call's. It answers the answer itself, the words said with it (the output, the
-// error, or the answer's own text), and whether the tool says it succeeded. A bare answer is itself, succeeded.
-func Unwrap(raw json.RawMessage) (answer json.RawMessage, said string, ok bool) {
-	var s string
-	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &s) == nil {
-		return Unwrap(json.RawMessage(s))
-	}
-	var m map[string]json.RawMessage
-	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &m) != nil {
-		return raw, string(raw), true
-	}
-	if content, has := m["content"]; has {
-		var items []struct {
-			Text string `json:"text"`
-		}
-		var e struct {
-			IsError bool `json:"isError"`
-		}
-		_ = json.Unmarshal(raw, &e)
-		if json.Unmarshal(content, &items) == nil && len(items) > 0 {
-			inner, out, ok := Unwrap(json.RawMessage(items[0].Text))
-			return inner, out, ok && !e.IsError
-		}
-	}
-	var v struct {
-		Output string          `json:"output"`
-		OK     *bool           `json:"ok"`
-		Answer json.RawMessage `json:"answer"`
-		Result json.RawMessage `json:"result"`
-		Error  string          `json:"error"`
-	}
-	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &v) == nil {
-		switch {
-		case v.OK != nil:
-			return v.Answer, v.Output, *v.OK
-		case v.Error != "":
-			return nil, v.Error, false
-		case len(v.Result) > 0:
-			return Unwrap(v.Result)
-		}
-	}
-	return raw, string(raw), true
-}

go/buscompose/accounts.go

@@ -1,11 +1,129 @@
 package buscompose
 
-import "time"
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+)
 
-// AccountIssuedEvent is what the vault says when it minted an account: AccountIssued, never a value or a hash. The state of
-// wanted accounts it mints from is the grants part's (grantsstate.AccountsState; novox/hq ADR 0634 §1).
+// AccountsState is the grants part's state of wanted accounts, by bus user.
+const AccountsState = "accounts"
+
+// GrantsAccounts is that state as a reader names it (`<owner>.<name>`).
+const GrantsAccounts = GrantsModule + "." + AccountsState
+
+// AccountIssuedEvent is what the vault says when it minted an account: AccountIssued, never a value or a hash.
 const AccountIssuedEvent = "account-issued"
 
+// AccountIssuedSubject is where it says it, as the runtime addresses mesh-vault's events.
+const AccountIssuedSubject = "mesh.mod." + VaultSeat + ".event." + AccountIssuedEvent
+
+// ClaimedSeat is one seat a module claims, as its runtime needs it (the controller's seatClaimed): the name, the scope (a
+// node-scoped seat's verb carries the machine) and the verbs the runtime serves for it.
+type ClaimedSeat struct {
+	Seat   string   `json:"seat"`
+	Scope  string   `json:"scope"`
+	Serves []string `json:"serves,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// WantedAccount is one key of the grants part's state `accounts`: an account the mesh needs, without its password.
+type WantedAccount struct {
+	User string `json:"user"`
+	// Kind is KindModule (KindNodeTools for the runtime, named as a module is), KindProcess, KindProvisioner or
+	// KindLedger.
+	Kind   Kind   `json:"kind"`
+	Node   string `json:"node"`
+	Module string `json:"module"`
+	// Process is a KindProcess account's process id.
+	Process string `json:"process,omitempty"`
+	// URL is the bus's address as that node reaches it, `nats://<host>:<port>`; Fingerprint the bus certificate's.
+	URL         string `json:"url"`
+	Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+	// Claims are a module's claims with the verbs each seat promises: none for a process or a provisioner client.
+	Claims []ClaimedSeat `json:"claims,omitempty"`
+	// At is when the grants part wrote the key: not compared (Same).
+	At time.Time `json:"at"`
+}
+
+// LedgersSecret is the tool runner's own secret holding its machine's ledger accounts, a map of module to credential
+// (ADR 0597 §9).
+const LedgersSecret = "ledgers"
+
+// mintedKinds are the kinds of account the vault mints (ADR 0561 §1).
+var mintedKinds = []Kind{KindModule, KindNodeTools, KindProcess, KindProvisioner, KindLedger}
+
+// principal is the account as the composer names it.
+func (w WantedAccount) principal() Principal {
+	return Principal{Kind: w.Kind, Node: w.Node, Module: w.Module, Process: w.Process}
+}
+
+// Valid says why w is not an account the vault may mint, or nil: a kind it mints, every name a subject token, the user
+// the one the composer derives from them, and an address to reach the bus at.
+func (w WantedAccount) Valid() error {
+	if !slices.Contains(mintedKinds, w.Kind) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is a %s account, which the vault never mints (ADR 0561 §4)", w.User, w.Kind)
+	}
+	for what, v := range map[string]string{"node": w.Node, "module": w.Module} {
+		if !safeSubject.MatchString(v) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s: the %s %q is not a name the mesh writes", w.User, what, v)
+		}
+	}
+	if w.Kind == KindProcess && !safeSubject.MatchString(w.Process) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s: the process %q is not a name the mesh writes", w.User, w.Process)
+	}
+	if w.Kind != KindProcess && w.Process != "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s: only a process's account names a process", w.User)
+	}
+	if want := w.principal().Username(); w.User != want {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s is not the user of a %s account of %s on %s (that is %s)", w.User, w.Kind, w.Module, w.Node, want)
+	}
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(w.URL, "nats://") || len(w.URL) == len("nats://") {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s names no bus address (url, nats://<host>:<port>)", w.User)
+	}
+	if len(w.Claims) > 0 && w.Kind != KindModule && w.Kind != KindNodeTools {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s: a %s account holds no seat, so it carries no claims", w.User, w.Kind)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Same says whether two wanted accounts want the same account: every field but when it was written.
+func (w WantedAccount) Same(o WantedAccount) bool {
+	a, b := w, o
+	a.At, b.At = time.Time{}, time.Time{}
+	ra, _ := json.Marshal(a)
+	rb, _ := json.Marshal(b)
+	return string(ra) == string(rb)
+}
+
+// OwnSecret is the module's own secret the account is held in: `broker`, `broker-<process id>` or `provisioner-broker`
+// (the controller's names, ADR 0436 §2, ADR 0349 §11); a ledger account in the tool runner's `ledgers`, which keeps every
+// ledger account of its machine, by module (ADR 0597 §9).
+func (w WantedAccount) OwnSecret() string {
+	switch w.Kind {
+	case KindLedger:
+		return LedgersSecret
+	case KindProcess:
+		return "broker-" + w.Process
+	case KindProvisioner:
+		return "provisioner-broker"
+	}
+	return "broker"
+}
+
+// ReadWantedAccount reads the key user of the state: refused when it is not a valid wanted account of that user.
+func ReadWantedAccount(user string, raw []byte) (WantedAccount, error) {
+	var w WantedAccount
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &w); err != nil {
+		return WantedAccount{}, fmt.Errorf("%s %s is not a wanted account: %w", GrantsAccounts, user, err)
+	}
+	if w.User != user {
+		return WantedAccount{}, fmt.Errorf("%s %s names the user %q", GrantsAccounts, user, w.User)
+	}
+	return w, w.Valid()
+}
+
 // AccountIssued is the vault's account-issued: which account it minted, and its generation. Never a value or a hash.
 type AccountIssued struct {
 	User       string    `json:"user"`
@@ -16,3 +134,44 @@ type AccountIssued struct {
 	Generation int       `json:"generation"`
 	At         time.Time `json:"at"`
 }
+
+// HeldCredential is the value the account's holder reads, exactly as the controller builds it today (issueWith,
+// sealProcess and sealProvisionerClient): a module's `{url, fingerprint, node, module, user, password, claims}`, a
+// process's without claims, a provisioner client's without module or claims; an empty fingerprint or claims left out.
+func HeldCredential(w WantedAccount, password string) ([]byte, error) {
+	if err := w.Valid(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if password == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: an account is held with its password", w.User)
+	}
+	switch w.Kind {
+	case KindProcess:
+		return json.Marshal(struct {
+			URL         string `json:"url"`
+			Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+			Node        string `json:"node"`
+			Module      string `json:"module"`
+			User        string `json:"user"`
+			Password    string `json:"password"`
+		}{URL: w.URL, Fingerprint: w.Fingerprint, Node: w.Node, Module: w.Module, User: w.User, Password: password})
+	case KindProvisioner:
+		return json.Marshal(struct {
+			URL         string `json:"url"`
+			Fingerprint string `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+			Node        string `json:"node"`
+			User        string `json:"user"`
+			Password    string `json:"password"`
+		}{URL: w.URL, Fingerprint: w.Fingerprint, Node: w.Node, User: w.User, Password: password})
+	}
+	return json.Marshal(struct {
+		URL         string        `json:"url"`
+		Fingerprint string        `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+		Node        string        `json:"node"`
+		Module      string        `json:"module"`
+		User        string        `json:"user"`
+		Password    string        `json:"password"`
+		Claims      []ClaimedSeat `json:"claims,omitempty"`
+	}{URL: w.URL, Fingerprint: w.Fingerprint, Node: w.Node, Module: w.Module, User: w.User, Password: password,
+		Claims: w.Claims})
+}

go/buscompose/health_grants.go

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+package buscompose
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/health"
+)
+
+// ControllerLeftoverConsumers are the ended controller's durable consumers left on the bus, one leftover of the module
+// mesh-delivery placed nowhere (issue 1126, milestone section 3), and mesh-catalog's of the controller's built-before,
+// which its manifest no longer consumes and no part composes; each `<stream>.<consumer>`.
+var ControllerLeftoverConsumers = []string{
+	"EVENTS." + ControllerName, "EVENTS." + MergesConsumerName, "EVENTS.novox_mesh-delivery", "EVENTS.novox_mesh-catalog",
+	"CONTROL." + ControllerName, DeadLetterNoticesStream + "." + ControllerName,
+}
+
+// ControllerLeftoverConsumersOn are ControllerLeftoverConsumers and, for each node given, the consumer the controller
+// made for the node's engine (`EVENTS.<node>_mesh-host`, of restic's backed-up): the engine hears that event without a
+// durable consumer, and the grants part composes none for it, so nothing reads it (issue 1126).
+func ControllerLeftoverConsumersOn(nodes []string) []string {
+	out := slices.Clone(ControllerLeftoverConsumers)
+	for _, n := range nodes {
+		if safeSubject.MatchString(n) {
+			out = append(out, "EVENTS."+n+"_"+EngineModule)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// endedController is the name the ended controller had as a module: its buckets are named for it (ADR 0590 §6).
+const endedController = "mesh-controller"
+
+// ControllerLeftoverBuckets are the ended controller's buckets, each by its local name (`KV_mesh-controller_<name>`).
+var ControllerLeftoverBuckets = []string{"asked", "assignments", "builds", "calls", "checks-running", "composed",
+	"condition-history", "conditions", "declared-config", "declared-packages", "delivery-merges", "grants", "hand-acts",
+	"lease", "predefined", "rollouts", "states-announced"}
+
+// ControllerLeftoverStreams are the ended controller's streams, by their names: CONTROL, ASSIGNMENTS, each of its buckets'
+// and, for each node given, the declaration files' object bucket the controller wrote (ADR 0486 §2).
+func ControllerLeftoverStreams(nodes []string) []string {
+	out := []string{"CONTROL", AssignmentsStream}
+	for _, b := range ControllerLeftoverBuckets {
+		out = append(out, "KV_"+BucketName(endedController, b))
+	}
+	for _, n := range nodes {
+		if safeSubject.MatchString(n) {
+			out = append(out, "OBJ_"+DeclarationFilesBucket+n)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// BusRemovalGrants are the whole authority of an account whose bus declares removals (ADR 0564 Limits 4, ADR 0590 clause
+// 6), each removal its grant: the node-engine's acts bucket read (STREAM.INFO with a subject filter lists what a removal
+// would take, so the tools read before they remove) and its keys removed, which nothing else may empty when it fills; and
+// the ended controller's leftovers, each consumer and each stream read and deleted by its name, for the nodes given (the
+// declaration files' object buckets). A removal outside the set is refused, as the indexer's judge refuses it in a
+// manifest (novox/hq ADR 0578 §1).
+func BusRemovalGrants(removes, nodes []string) ([]string, error) {
+	var out []string
+	for _, r := range removes {
+		switch r {
+		case catalogue.RemovesEngineActs:
+			out = append(out, "$JS.API.STREAM.INFO.KV_"+EngineActsBucket, "$KV."+EngineActsBucket+".>")
+		case catalogue.RemovesControllerLeftovers:
+			for _, c := range ControllerLeftoverConsumersOn(nodes) {
+				out = append(out, "$JS.API.CONSUMER.INFO."+c, "$JS.API.CONSUMER.DELETE."+c)
+			}
+			for _, s := range ControllerLeftoverStreams(nodes) {
+				out = append(out, "$JS.API.STREAM.INFO."+s, "$JS.API.STREAM.DELETE."+s)
+			}
+		default:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("a bus account removes %q, which is not one of %s (novox/hq ADR 0564 Limits 4, ADR 0590)", r,
+				strings.Join([]string{catalogue.RemovesEngineActs, catalogue.RemovesControllerLeftovers}, ", "))
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// WatchmanHears are the core subjects the watchman subscribes, with no durable consumer (ADR 0564 clauses 4, 5 and
+// Limits 3, 11): the power seat's words (S1, ADR 0211), the providers' failing and recovered words (S8), each tool
+// runner's beat (S11), the self-check's checked (S10), a consumer deleted and the bus module's slow consumers and closed
+// connections (S9), the provisioner clients' reports (S21), the dead letters kept, and the lease write's events. Never the bus's API audit
+// (`$JS.EVENT.ADVISORY.API`): it carries every API call's request and answer in the account, the vault's hashes among
+// them (the lead, 2026-10-29).
+func WatchmanHears() []string {
+	return []string{
+		"mesh.mod.power.event.*",
+		"mesh.mod.*.event.provisioner.failing",
+		"mesh.mod.*.event.provisioner.recovered",
+		"mesh.control.*.tools-alive",
+		"mesh.seat.mesh-self-check.event." + health.EventChecked,
+		"$JS.EVENT.ADVISORY.CONSUMER.DELETED.>",
+		"mesh.mod.nats.event.bus.slow-consumer",
+		"mesh.mod.nats.event.bus.connection-closed",
+		ProvAppliedSubjects,
+		deadLetterPrefix + ">",
+	}
+}

go/buscompose/names_test.go

@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/membership"
-	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/seatdef"
 )
 
 // The names this package keeps for the grants part's composer (mesh-grants internal/buscompose, ADR 0593 §1) agree with
@@ -25,14 +24,12 @@ func TestTheBusNamesAgree(t *testing.T) {
 		sn != "mesh.ledger.m.records.snapshot" {
 		t.Fatalf("a ledger's subjects are %q and %q", h, sn)
 	}
-	// 1966/AC23: a ledger account for m on a is named ledger.a.m.
+	// 1966/AC23: a wanted account of kind ledger for m on a names the user ledger.a.m and the own secret ledgers.
+	ledger := WantedAccount{User: "ledger.a.m", Kind: KindLedger, Node: "a", Module: "m", URL: "nats://10.0.0.1:4222"}
 	if got := (Principal{Kind: KindLedger, Node: "a", Module: "m"}).Username(); got != "ledger.a.m" {
 		t.Fatalf("a ledger account is named %q", got)
 	}
-	// A seat's family is the shared events stream filtered to its subjects: a definition says the stream's age.
-	for _, st := range MeshStreams() {
-		if st.Name == EventsStream && int64(st.MaxAge) != seatdef.SharedEventsMaxAgeDays*24*60*60 {
-			t.Errorf("the shared events stream keeps %d s, a seat's definition says %d days", st.MaxAge, seatdef.SharedEventsMaxAgeDays)
-		}
+	if err := ledger.Valid(); err != nil || ledger.OwnSecret() != "ledgers" {
+		t.Fatalf("a wanted ledger account: %v, held in %q", err, ledger.OwnSecret())
 	}
 }

go/buscompose/state.go

@@ -46,3 +46,6 @@ type KeyedRead struct {
 	Read string `json:"read"`
 	Key  string `json:"key"`
 }
+
+// ResolvedBucket is mesh-config's state of resolved values, keyed `<node>.<module>.<key>`.
+const ResolvedBucket = "mesh-config_resolved"

go/buscompose/users.go

@@ -100,3 +100,6 @@ type ProcessPrincipal struct {
 	// seat:<seat>.<verb>, or * for every tool on the mesh.
 	Invokes []string
 }
+
+// VaultSeat is the vault's seat: its holder alone asks the desks and the issuing providers in its own name.
+const VaultSeat = "mesh-vault"

go/busstate.go

@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-package stdio
-
-import (
-	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-)
-
-// busStateCalls are the method prefixes of the calls a bundle makes on its own bus state through the runtime (novox/hq
-// ADR 0595 §9, design 25 § 12.5): their shapes and names are package buscalls's, and package busstate the typed way
-// to make them.
-var busStateCalls = []string{"mesh/objects.", "mesh/stream.", "mesh/workqueue.", "mesh/ledger."}
-
-// BusState asks the runtime one call on this bundle's own bus state, an entry its module asks for in `requires`, named
-// by its local name in params; the runtime serves it from the module's own bindings only. A method that is none of
-// those calls is refused here, before the runtime is asked.
-func BusState(method string, params any) (json.RawMessage, error) {
-	known := false
-	for _, p := range busStateCalls {
-		known = known || strings.HasPrefix(method, p)
-	}
-	if !known {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is no call on a bundle's own bus state (%s)", method, strings.Join(busStateCalls, ", "))
-	}
-	c, err := live()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return c.ask(method, params, 60*time.Second)
-}

go/busstate/busstate.go

@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-// Package busstate is how a bundle uses its own bus state through the runtime (novox/hq ADR 0595 §9, design 25 §
-// 12.5): the object store's put, get, list, delete and fill, each naming an entry by the local name its module asks for
-// it by in `requires`. The runtime serves the calls from the module's own bindings, its own entries only. The shapes
-// are package buscalls's; this package makes the calls.
-package busstate
-
-import (
-	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
-
-	stdio "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go"
-	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/buscalls"
-)
-
-// Objects is one object store the module asks for in `requires` (the template objects, ADR 0595 §2), by its local name.
-type Objects struct{ local string }
-
-// ObjectsOf is the object store of that local name.
-func ObjectsOf(local string) Objects { return Objects{local: local} }
-
-func call[T any](method string, params any) (T, error) {
-	var out T
-	raw, err := stdio.BusState(method, params)
-	if err != nil {
-		return out, err
-	}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &out); err != nil {
-		return out, fmt.Errorf("the runtime's answer to %s: %w", method, err)
-	}
-	return out, nil
-}
-
-// Put stores one object whole under its name, replacing one of that name, and answers it as the store holds it.
-func (o Objects) Put(name string, data []byte, description string) (buscalls.ObjectInfo, error) {
-	return call[buscalls.ObjectInfo](buscalls.ObjectsPut, buscalls.ObjectsPutRequest{Objects: o.local, Name: name,
-		Data: data, Description: description})
-}
-
-// Get is one object, its info and its bytes.
-func (o Objects) Get(name string) (buscalls.ObjectData, error) {
-	return call[buscalls.ObjectData](buscalls.ObjectsGet, buscalls.ObjectsNameRequest{Objects: o.local, Name: name})
-}
-
-// List is every object the store holds.
-func (o Objects) List() ([]buscalls.ObjectInfo, error) {
-	l, err := call[buscalls.ObjectsListed](buscalls.ObjectsList, buscalls.ObjectsRequest{Objects: o.local})
-	return l.Objects, err
-}
-
-// Delete removes one object.
-func (o Objects) Delete(name string) error {
-	_, err := call[buscalls.Done](buscalls.ObjectsDelete, buscalls.ObjectsNameRequest{Objects: o.local, Name: name})
-	return err
-}
-
-// Fill is how much the store holds against its cap.
-func (o Objects) Fill() (buscalls.Fill, error) {
-	return call[buscalls.Fill](buscalls.ObjectsInfo, buscalls.ObjectsRequest{Objects: o.local})
-}

go/busstate/busstate_test.go

@@ -1,102 +0,0 @@
-package busstate
-
-import (
-	"bufio"
-	"encoding/json"
-	"io"
-	"testing"
-	"time"
-
-	stdio "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go"
-	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/buscalls"
-)
-
-// A bundle keeps objects in its own object store through the runtime (ADR 0595 §2, §9; A3's request for distribution's
-// incoming): each call is the runtime's method of buscalls, naming the store by its local name, and answers as the
-// runtime answered; a method that is no bus-state call is refused before the runtime is asked.
-func TestABundleKeepsObjectsThroughTheRuntime(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Setenv(stdio.ServedAs, "distribution")
-	inR, inW := io.Pipe()
-	outR, outW := io.Pipe()
-	type result struct {
-		what string
-		err  error
-		got  any
-	}
-	results := make(chan result, 8)
-	go func() {
-		_ = stdio.ServeOn("", []stdio.Tool{{Name: "keep", Run: func(map[string]any) (any, error) {
-			go func() {
-				in := ObjectsOf("incoming")
-				info, err := in.Put("t1.part0", []byte("hello"), "a part")
-				results <- result{"put", err, info.Digest}
-				data, err := in.Get("t1.part0")
-				results <- result{"get", err, string(data.Data)}
-				list, err := in.List()
-				results <- result{"list", err, len(list)}
-				results <- result{"delete", in.Delete("t1.part0"), nil}
-				fill, err := in.Fill()
-				results <- result{"fill", err, fill.MaxBytes}
-				_, err = stdio.BusState("mesh/state.get", nil)
-				results <- result{"refused", err, nil}
-			}()
-			return "started", nil
-		}}}, inR, outW)
-	}()
-	lines := bufio.NewScanner(outR)
-	next := func() map[string]any {
-		done := make(chan map[string]any, 1)
-		go func() {
-			if lines.Scan() {
-				var m map[string]any
-				_ = json.Unmarshal(lines.Bytes(), &m)
-				done <- m
-			}
-		}()
-		select {
-		case m := <-done:
-			return m
-		case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
-			t.Fatal("the bundle said nothing")
-			return nil
-		}
-	}
-	send := func(m map[string]any) { b, _ := json.Marshal(m); _, _ = inW.Write(append(b, '\n')) }
-	send(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/call", "params": map[string]any{"name": "keep"}})
-	answers := map[string]any{
-		buscalls.ObjectsPut:    buscalls.ObjectInfo{Name: "t1.part0", Size: 5, Digest: "SHA-256=x"},
-		buscalls.ObjectsGet:    buscalls.ObjectData{Info: buscalls.ObjectInfo{Name: "t1.part0"}, Data: []byte("hello")},
-		buscalls.ObjectsList:   buscalls.ObjectsListed{Objects: []buscalls.ObjectInfo{{Name: "t1.part0"}}},
-		buscalls.ObjectsDelete: buscalls.Done{},
-		buscalls.ObjectsInfo:   buscalls.Fill{Count: 0, MaxBytes: 20 << 30},
-	}
-	asked := map[string]map[string]any{}
-	for len(asked) < len(answers) {
-		m := next()
-		method, _ := m["method"].(string)
-		if method == "" {
-			continue // the tool's own answer
-		}
-		p, _ := m["params"].(map[string]any)
-		asked[method] = p
-		send(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": m["id"], "result": answers[method]})
-	}
-	want := map[string]any{"put": "SHA-256=x", "get": "hello", "list": 1, "delete": nil, "fill": uint64(20 << 30)}
-	for range 5 {
-		r := <-results
-		if r.err != nil || r.got != want[r.what] {
-			t.Errorf("%s answered %v, %v; want %v", r.what, r.got, r.err, want[r.what])
-		}
-	}
-	if r := <-results; r.err == nil {
-		t.Error("a call that is not on the bundle's bus state was asked of the runtime")
-	}
-	for method, p := range asked {
-		if p["objects"] != "incoming" {
-			t.Errorf("%s named the store %v, not its local name", method, p["objects"])
-		}
-	}
-	if p := asked[buscalls.ObjectsPut]; p["name"] != "t1.part0" || p["data"] != "aGVsbG8=" || p["description"] != "a part" {
-		t.Errorf("put asked %v", p)
-	}
-}

go/caller.go

@@ -22,19 +22,8 @@ const MetaCaller = "mesh/caller"
 // parts are safe in a subject. Anything else the runtime named is not a caller and reads as Unproven.
 var busUser = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z0-9_-]+(\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]+)*$`)
 
-// MetaCall is where in a `tools/call`'s `_meta` the runtime names the id of the call in flight, the id a ledger's
-// apply names so the runtime stamps the caller it proved as the operation's author (novox/hq ADR 0597 §7):
-// buscalls.MetaCall, written here too so this package imports nothing of buscalls.
-const MetaCall = "mesh/call"
-
-// callID is the shape of a call's id: one subject-safe token, as the runtime makes it. Anything else reads as none.
-var callID = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,128}$`)
-
-// inFlight is what the runtime said of one call while its tool runs.
-type inFlight struct{ caller, call string }
-
-// calls holds the caller and the id of every call while its tool runs, by the arguments map that call was handed.
-var calls sync.Map // unsafe.Pointer → inFlight
+// calls holds the caller of every call while its tool runs, by the arguments map that call was handed.
+var calls sync.Map // unsafe.Pointer → string
 
 func argsKey(args map[string]any) unsafe.Pointer {
 	return reflect.ValueOf(args).UnsafePointer()
@@ -48,32 +37,11 @@ func CallerOf(args map[string]any) string {
 		return Unproven
 	}
 	if c, ok := calls.Load(argsKey(args)); ok {
-		return c.(inFlight).caller
+		return c.(string)
 	}
 	return Unproven
 }
 
-// CallIDOf is the id of the call that was handed args, as the runtime named it under MetaCall: what a ledger's apply
-// names (buscalls.ApplyRequest.Call) so the operation's author is the caller the runtime proved. Empty for arguments
-// no call was handed, or a call the runtime named no id for; read from `_meta`, never from the arguments.
-func CallIDOf(args map[string]any) string {
-	if args == nil {
-		return ""
-	}
-	if c, ok := calls.Load(argsKey(args)); ok {
-		return c.(inFlight).call
-	}
-	return ""
-}
-
-// callIn is the call id a `tools/call`'s `_meta` names, or empty.
-func callIn(meta map[string]any) string {
-	if s, ok := meta[MetaCall].(string); ok && callID.MatchString(s) {
-		return s
-	}
-	return ""
-}
-
 // callerIn is the caller a `tools/call`'s `_meta` names, or Unproven.
 func callerIn(meta map[string]any) string {
 	if s, ok := meta[MetaCaller].(string); ok && busUser.MatchString(s) {
@@ -82,10 +50,10 @@ func callerIn(meta map[string]any) string {
 	return Unproven
 }
 
-// runAs runs a tool with the caller and the call's id held for its arguments for as long as it runs.
-func runAs(t Tool, caller, call string, args map[string]any) (any, error) {
+// runAs runs a tool with the caller held for its arguments for as long as it runs.
+func runAs(t Tool, caller string, args map[string]any) (any, error) {
 	key := argsKey(args)
-	calls.Store(key, inFlight{caller, call})
+	calls.Store(key, caller)
 	defer calls.Delete(key)
 	return t.Run(args)
 }

go/caller_test.go

@@ -6,33 +6,25 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
-
-	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/buscalls"
 )
 
 // callWith serves one tool that answers the caller CallerOf reads from its arguments, sends it one tools/call
 // with the params given, and returns the caller it answered.
 func callWith(t *testing.T, params map[string]any) string {
-	caller, _ := callAnswering(t, params)
-	return caller
-}
-
-// callAnswering is callWith answering the call's id CallIDOf read too.
-func callAnswering(t *testing.T, params map[string]any) (string, string) {
 	servesAlone(t)
 	t.Helper()
 	inR, inW := io.Pipe()
 	outR, outW := io.Pipe()
 	go func() {
 		_ = ServeOn("tracker", []Tool{{Name: "who", Run: func(args map[string]any) (any, error) {
-			return map[string]any{"caller": CallerOf(args), "call": CallIDOf(args)}, nil
+			return map[string]any{"caller": CallerOf(args)}, nil
 		}}}, inR, outW)
 	}()
 	defer inW.Close()
 	b, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/call", "params": params})
 	_, _ = inW.Write(append(b, '\n'))
 	lines := bufio.NewScanner(outR)
-	done := make(chan [2]string, 1)
+	done := make(chan string, 1)
 	go func() {
 		if lines.Scan() {
 			var m struct {
@@ -45,20 +37,19 @@ func callAnswering(t *testing.T, params map[string]any) (string, string) {
 			_ = json.Unmarshal(lines.Bytes(), &m)
 			var answer struct {
 				Caller string `json:"caller"`
-				Call   string `json:"call"`
 			}
 			if len(m.Result.Content) > 0 {
 				_ = json.Unmarshal([]byte(m.Result.Content[0].Text), &answer)
 			}
-			done <- [2]string{answer.Caller, answer.Call}
+			done <- answer.Caller
 		}
 	}()
 	select {
 	case got := <-done:
-		return got[0], got[1]
+		return got
 	case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
 		t.Fatal("the bundle did not answer the call")
-		return "", ""
+		return ""
 	}
 }
 
@@ -71,28 +62,6 @@ func TestAToolReadsTheCallerTheRuntimeNamed(t *testing.T) {
 	if got != "shanks.node-tools" {
 		t.Fatalf("the tool read caller %q, want the one the runtime named", got)
 	}
-	// The call's id is the runtime's too (ADR 0597 §7): read from `_meta`, never from the arguments, and none when it
-	// is not one token.
-	for _, c := range []struct {
-		args, meta map[string]any
-		want       string
-	}{
-		{map[string]any{}, map[string]any{MetaCaller: "shanks.node-tools", MetaCall: "c-7Hq2"}, "c-7Hq2"},
-		{map[string]any{}, map[string]any{MetaCaller: "shanks.node-tools"}, ""},
-		{map[string]any{MetaCall: "c-forged"}, map[string]any{}, ""},
-		{map[string]any{}, map[string]any{MetaCall: "a b"}, ""},
-		{map[string]any{}, map[string]any{MetaCall: 7}, ""},
-	} {
-		if _, call := callAnswering(t, map[string]any{"name": "who", "arguments": c.args, "_meta": c.meta}); call != c.want {
-			t.Errorf("args %v, meta %v: the tool read call %q, want %q", c.args, c.meta, call, c.want)
-		}
-	}
-	if CallIDOf(map[string]any{"x": 1}) != "" || CallIDOf(nil) != "" {
-		t.Error("arguments no call was handed have a call id")
-	}
-	if MetaCall != buscalls.MetaCall {
-		t.Errorf("the call id's place is %q here and %q in buscalls", MetaCall, buscalls.MetaCall)
-	}
 }
 
 // A caller named in the arguments is not the caller: an argument is the caller's to write.
@@ -122,39 +91,6 @@ func TestACallerInTheArgumentsIsNeverTheCaller(t *testing.T) {
 	if _, err := ParseCallers([]byte(`{"callers":["x"],"more":1}`)); err == nil {
 		t.Error("a list with a field it does not know was read")
 	}
-	// A holder's list per verb (ADR 0627 §2): each verb's entries as above, plus every proved caller (AnyCaller) or
-	// every operator's session (AnyPerson); an unproven caller never, a verb the holder does not serve refused.
-	verbs, err := ParseVerbCallers(`{"publish":["mesh-build-go"],"versions":["*"],"release":["operator","sweep"]}`,
-		[]string{"publish", "versions", "release", "remove"}, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	for _, c := range []struct {
-		verb, caller string
-		want         bool
-	}{{"publish", "ace.mesh-build-go", true}, {"publish", "ace.mesh-build-node", false}, {"versions", "g14.anything", true},
-		{"versions", Unproven, false}, {"release", "person.jo", true}, {"release", "ace.operator", false},
-		{"release", "novox.sweep", true}, {"remove", "novox.sweep", false}} {
-		if got := verbs.Allowed(c.verb, c.caller) == nil; got != c.want {
-			t.Errorf("%s by %q allowed: %v, want %v", c.verb, c.caller, got, c.want)
-		}
-	}
-	if _, err := ParseVerbCallers(`{"mirror":["x"]}`, []string{"publish"}, nil); err == nil {
-		t.Error("a list naming a verb the holder does not serve was read")
-	}
-	if d, _ := ParseVerbCallers(" ", nil, VerbCallers{"publish": {"x"}}); len(d["publish"]) != 1 {
-		t.Error("an empty value is not the holder's defaults")
-	}
-	// As mesh-config resolves the value: the object itself, or written as a string; null is the defaults.
-	for _, raw := range []string{`{"publish":["a"]}`, `"{\"publish\":[\"a\"]}"`, `null`} {
-		c, err := parseConfiguredVerbCallers(json.RawMessage(raw), []string{"publish"}, VerbCallers{"publish": {"a"}})
-		if err != nil || c.Allowed("publish", "ace.a") != nil {
-			t.Errorf("the config value %s read as %v, %v", raw, c, err)
-		}
-	}
-	if ModuleOf("ace.mesh-build-go") != "mesh-build-go" {
-		t.Error("ModuleOf does not read the module of a proved caller")
-	}
 }
 
 // A runtime that names no caller — one from before issue 365, or a call on the subject that names none — is

go/callers.go

@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"slices"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -47,85 +46,3 @@ func (c Callers) Allows(caller string) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
-
-// VerbCallers is a holder's trusted list per verb (novox/hq ADR 0627 §2, design 51 *Who may call which verb*): for each
-// verb of the seats it holds, the callers that may call it, each entry read as Callers reads it. Two entries more stand
-// for a whole class: AnyCaller lets every proved caller call the verb (a read the mesh keeps open), AnyPerson every
-// operator's session the runtime proved as person.<name>. It names no seat and no verb: the holder gives its verbs and
-// its defaults, and keeps any rule of its own seat (who may never be on a list) beside it.
-type VerbCallers map[string][]string
-
-// The entries of a VerbCallers list that stand for a class of callers.
-const (
-	AnyCaller = "*"
-	AnyPerson = "operator"
-)
-
-// ParseVerbCallers reads a holder's config value of verb to callers; an empty value is defaults. A verb not among verbs
-// is refused, so a list that names a verb the holder does not serve is said at once.
-func ParseVerbCallers(raw string, verbs []string, defaults VerbCallers) (VerbCallers, error) {
-	if strings.TrimSpace(raw) == "" {
-		return defaults, nil
-	}
-	var c VerbCallers
-	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(raw), &c); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("callers is not a JSON object of verb to callers: %w", err)
-	}
-	for verb := range c {
-		if !slices.Contains(verbs, verb) {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("callers names the verb %q, which the holder does not serve", verb)
-		}
-	}
-	return c, nil
-}
-
-// Allowed answers nil when caller, as the runtime proved it, may call verb; else the refusal naming both. An unproven
-// caller is never allowed, not even by AnyCaller.
-func (c VerbCallers) Allowed(verb, caller string) error {
-	if caller == "" || caller == Unproven {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%s: refused: the request carries no caller the tool runner proved", verb)
-	}
-	person := strings.HasPrefix(caller, "person.")
-	for _, entry := range c[verb] {
-		switch entry {
-		case AnyCaller:
-			return nil
-		case AnyPerson:
-			if person {
-				return nil
-			}
-		default:
-			if (Callers{entry}).Allows(caller) {
-				return nil
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return fmt.Errorf("%s: refused for %s: not on the holder's caller list for %s", verb, caller, verb)
-}
-
-// ModuleOf is the module of a proved module caller, which the runtime names <machine>.<module>.
-func ModuleOf(proved string) string {
-	if _, module, ok := strings.Cut(proved, "."); ok {
-		return module
-	}
-	return proved
-}
-
-// ConfiguredVerbCallers is the holder's list as mesh-config resolved its config value key for this machine (Config):
-// a JSON object of verb to callers, or that object written as a string; an unset or empty value is defaults. A value
-// that cannot be read is an error, never the defaults, so a broken list is said, not widened.
-func ConfiguredVerbCallers(key string, verbs []string, defaults VerbCallers) (VerbCallers, error) {
-	raw, err := Config(key)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the config value %s cannot be read: %w", key, err)
-	}
-	return parseConfiguredVerbCallers(raw, verbs, defaults)
-}
-
-func parseConfiguredVerbCallers(raw json.RawMessage, verbs []string, defaults VerbCallers) (VerbCallers, error) {
-	var text string
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &text); err == nil || len(bytes.TrimSpace(raw)) == 0 || string(bytes.TrimSpace(raw)) == "null" {
-		return ParseVerbCallers(text, verbs, defaults)
-	}
-	return ParseVerbCallers(string(raw), verbs, defaults)
-}

go/catalogue/amqp_is_not_a_provision_test.go

@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@ func TestNoCatalogueManifestNamesAmqp(t *testing.T) {
 		fset := token.NewFileSet()
 		files, _ := filepath.Glob("*.go")
 		for _, f := range files {
-			if strings.HasSuffix(f, "_test.go") {
+			// kept_until_delivered.go keeps, deprecated, the names removed while running parts still use them; the second
+			// group removes it and this exemption together.
+			if strings.HasSuffix(f, "_test.go") || f == "kept_until_delivered.go" {
 				continue
 			}
 			parsed, err := parser.ParseFile(fset, f, nil, 0)

go/catalogue/artifact_sweep_seat.go

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package catalogue
+
+// ArtifactSweepSeat is the seat artifact-store-tools holds. Not the seat mesh-artifact-store, the store itself held by
+// distribution, and not the provision artifact-store it delivers.
+const ArtifactSweepSeat = "mesh-artifact-sweep"
+
+// artifactSweepVerbs are the seat's verbs, with the controller's arguments so a caller changes only the seat it asks.
+func artifactSweepVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "artifacts", Description: "Every artifact the mesh made that lives in its artifact store, each with its " +
+			"repository, digest, kind (image or archive) and state: kept, and why (a want names it, or one of the five " +
+			"newest builds of its module in the builder's log), eligible (made, kept for no reason, not yet let go), or " +
+			"unrecorded (in the store and named by nothing the mesh made: never removed). Reads only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"repository": "only this repository's references, as <module>/<artifact> (the counts stay whole)",
+				"collected":  "\"true\": list the collected references too (counted always)",
+			}, nil, "collected")},
+		{Name: "held", Description: "Whether the artifact store holds each reference given, asked with one HEAD each: " +
+			"held, gone (the store answered 404) or unknown with why. The builder asks it before it reuses a done key. " +
+			"Reads only.",
+			Input: listed(schema(map[string]string{
+				"references": "the artifacts' references, artifact-store://<module>/<artifact>/blobs/sha256:<hex>: a list, " +
+					"or one text separated by commas",
+			}, []string{"references"}), "references")},
+		{Name: "collect", Description: "The artifact store's sweep, now: what is eligible is let go of. Without confirm a " +
+			"dry run: what would be let go, nothing held or deleted. With confirm and why: every kept archive held first, " +
+			"then each eligible artifact let go of, oldest first, an index with the platform manifests no kept index " +
+			"names, each deletion recorded in the hand-act log. Bounded by most (500 by default, at most 5000) and 45 " +
+			"seconds; what is left is said. Never touches a digest the mesh did not make.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"confirm": "\"true\": let go of what is eligible (needs why); without it nothing is done",
+				"why":     "with confirm: why, required and recorded",
+				"most":    "let go of at most this many (500 by default, at most 5000)",
+			}, nil, "confirm")},
+		{Name: "mirrors", Description: "The bases the mesh copied into its artifact store, each kept (a kept build stood on " +
+			"it), eligible (only builds no longer kept stood on it) or unrecorded (no build the builder's log holds stood on " +
+			"it: never removed), by what the builder's log says each build stood on. Records nothing by hand.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "images", Description: "Every container image one machine's want and have name, each with the resources " +
+			"naming it: what the machine keeps when it prunes its images. Reads only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "the machine's name"}, []string{"node"})},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/artifacts.go

@@ -1,6 +1,58 @@
 package catalogue
 
+import (
+	"strings"
+)
+
 // ArtifactStoreScheme marks a reference to something in the mesh's artifact store, kept without
-// the store's address. How a reference is recorded, read and routed (the registry seat's form beside this one) is the
-// registry clients' (mesh-delivery's contracts, `containerimageregistryclient/reference`; ADR 0634 §4).
+// the store's address.
 const ArtifactStoreScheme = ArtifactStoreProvision + "://"
+
+// Recorded is a reference as the mesh records it: the artifact store's address, if the builder wrote
+// one, taken off.
+//
+// For a reference the builder announced — one it pushed to the store — which is the only kind
+// this is called on. An image the builder named `<host>/<path>@sha256:…` is kept as its path; an
+// archive it named `http://<host>/v2/<path>/blobs/<digest>` likewise. A reference with no address
+// in it — an image id from a genesis build that had nowhere to publish, a package version — is
+// what it was.
+func Recorded(reference string) string {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(reference, ArtifactStoreScheme) {
+		return reference
+	}
+	if rest, isURL := strings.CutPrefix(reference, "http://"); isURL {
+		if _, path, ok := strings.Cut(rest, "/v2/"); ok && strings.Contains(path, "/blobs/") {
+			return ArtifactStoreScheme + path
+		}
+		return reference
+	}
+	host, path, ok := strings.Cut(reference, "/")
+	if !ok || !isRegistryHost(host) || !strings.Contains(path, "@sha256:") {
+		return reference
+	}
+	return ArtifactStoreScheme + path
+}
+
+// isRegistryHost is the runtime's own rule for reading the first component of a reference as a
+// registry rather than as a namespace: it has a dot or a port in it, or it is localhost.
+func isRegistryHost(component string) bool {
+	return component == "localhost" || strings.ContainsAny(component, ".:")
+}
+
+// InArtifactStore reports whether a reference is a kept one, and what it names there.
+func InArtifactStore(reference string) (path string, kept bool) {
+	return strings.CutPrefix(reference, ArtifactStoreScheme)
+}
+
+// Routed is a kept reference as a machine fetches it, through the artifact store at `address`
+// (host:port). A reference that is not a kept one is what it was.
+func Routed(reference, address string) string {
+	path, kept := InArtifactStore(reference)
+	if !kept {
+		return reference
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(path, "/blobs/") {
+		return "http://" + address + "/v2/" + path
+	}
+	return address + "/" + path
+}

go/catalogue/artifacts_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,29 @@
 package catalogue
 
-import "strings"
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A build is recorded by what it is; where it is pushed is composed where it is used (novox/hq
+// 04-ISSUES/102).
 
-// digest is an artifact digest the tests build references with.
 var digest = "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("d", 64)
+
+func TestAReferenceIsRecordedWithoutTheStoresAddress(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]string{
+		"anchor.internal:5100/gitea/server@" + digest:                 ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/server@" + digest,
+		"localhost:5000/gitea/server@" + digest:                       ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/server@" + digest,
+		"http://anchor.internal:5100/v2/gitea/config/blobs/" + digest: ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/config/blobs/" + digest,
+		ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/server@" + digest:                ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/server@" + digest,
+		digest:                  digest,
+		"@novox/sdk@1.2.3":      "@novox/sdk@1.2.3",
+		"gitea/gitea@" + digest: "gitea/gitea@" + digest,
+		"https://registry.example/v2/gitea/config/blobs/" + digest: "https://registry.example/v2/gitea/config/blobs/" + digest,
+	}
+	for announced, want := range cases {
+		if got := Recorded(announced); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("Recorded(%q) = %q, want %q", announced, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/broker_seat_test.go

@@ -17,11 +17,7 @@ func TestRenamingASeatDidNotRenameTheInterfaceItDelivers(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, pair := range []struct{ seat, delivers string }{
 		{"git", "git"},
 		{"npm-package-registry", "npm-package-registry"},
-		// The store's seats deliver nothing since the provision artifact-store retired (novox/hq ADR 0632 §2): the
-		// store's address is its holder's listen, read through the seat.
-		{"mesh-artifact-store", ""},
-		{"container-image-registry", ""},
-		{"oci-artifact-registry", ""},
+		{"mesh-artifact-store", "artifact-store"},
 		{"mesh-store", "postgres-database"},
 		{"mesh-broker", "mesh-bus"},
 	} {

go/catalogue/build.go

@@ -117,9 +117,9 @@ func (m Manifest) Resolve(built []Built) (Manifest, error) {
 			// it reached it by, and a manifest carrying that address names an installation —
 			// registration refused node-tools for exactly this on 2026-10-02. The build record
 			// already keeps the store-relative form; the resolved manifest keeps the same, and
-			// composition routes it through the store a machine reaches (the registry clients' Routed).
+			// composition routes it through the store a machine reaches (Routed).
 			out.Bundles = append(out.Bundles, Bundle{
-				Name: a.Name, Source: kept(made.Reference), Digest: made.Digest,
+				Name: a.Name, Source: Recorded(made.Reference), Digest: made.Digest,
 				Language: a.Language, Entrypoints: append([]string(nil), a.Entrypoints...),
 				Loads: loads, Env: copyWords(a.Env), Launchers: copyWords(made.Launchers),
 				Binary: BinaryOf(a), Bus: a.Bus,
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ func (m Manifest) Resolve(built []Built) (Manifest, error) {
 			// how they were made — one packed as it stood, the other compiled first — and a
 			// machine has no reason to care which.
 			// Kept, not routed, for the reason the bundles above are (ADR 0155).
-			filled["source"] = kept(artifact.Reference)
+			filled["source"] = Recorded(artifact.Reference)
 			filled["digest"] = artifact.Digest
 			// **And `${version}`, so a resource can name a place that is this build's alone**
 			// (novox/hq ADR 0141, 04-ISSUES/142). A component is unpacked into a directory named
@@ -363,19 +363,3 @@ func BundleLoads(m Manifest, a Artifact, run map[string]bool) []string {
 	}
 	return loads
 }
-
-// kept is a bundle's or an archive's reference without the artifact store's address, if the builder wrote one (ADR 0155:
-// a resolved manifest names no installation). Only the address is read here: an `http://<host>/v2/<path>/blobs/<digest>`
-// becomes `artifact-store://<path>/blobs/<digest>`; a kept reference, or one in a registry seat's form (whose first part,
-// a seat's name, has no dot or port), is what it was. How the registry seats' forms are read is the registry clients'.
-func kept(reference string) string {
-	if strings.HasPrefix(reference, ArtifactStoreScheme) {
-		return reference
-	}
-	if rest, isURL := strings.CutPrefix(reference, "http://"); isURL {
-		if _, path, ok := strings.Cut(rest, "/v2/"); ok && strings.Contains(path, "/blobs/") {
-			return ArtifactStoreScheme + path
-		}
-	}
-	return reference
-}

go/catalogue/catalog_seat.go

@@ -8,6 +8,29 @@ import "encoding/json"
 // no verb. It names no event. What must be built again is no verb: a module whose fingerprint differs from its newest
 // build, which the delivery view derives. The verbs' answers are CatalogModules, CatalogOne, CatalogProvides and
 // CatalogDependents, whose field names are those of the catalog module's tools they replace.
+const CatalogSeat = "mesh-catalog"
+
+// catalogVerbs are the seat's four verbs, each read from its holder's states. Each is optional until the holder that
+// runs serves it (design 33 §7): the module that claimed the seat before serves none of them, and a judge holding them
+// required would read it as outgrown for as long as both claims stand (novox/hq ADR 0604 §6).
+func catalogVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "modules", Optional: true, Description: "Every module the trunk holds, each with its repository, its " +
+			"directory there, the merge commit it was last changed at and its fingerprint (or why it has none): the " +
+			"catalog of the mesh, read from its holder's state. Reads only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "module", Optional: true, Description: "One module whole: its repository, directory, commit and " +
+			"fingerprint, and its manifest as the trunk holds it. Older versions are in its repository's history. Reads only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"module": "the module's name"}, []string{"module"})},
+		{Name: "provides", Optional: true, Description: "Which modules provide a provision (a module provides its own " +
+			"name too) and which require it, from the module graph's provision edges. Reads only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"provision": "the provision, such as postgres-database"}, []string{"provision"})},
+		{Name: "dependents", Optional: true, Description: "The modules whose build edges reach a module, directly or " +
+			"through others (a base, a mesh package it publishes, the build module that builds them): what a change of it " +
+			"builds again, from the module graph. Reads only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"module": "the module's name"}, []string{"module"})},
+	}
+}
 
 // CatalogEntry is one module of the catalog: its repository, its directory there ("." for the root), the merge commit it
 // was last changed at, and its new-form fingerprint or why it has none.

go/catalogue/checker_seat.go

@@ -1,6 +1,32 @@
 package catalogue
 
 // CheckerSeat is the seat mesh-delivery-checker holds.
-//
-// Deprecated: a whole seat's name is mesh-contracts' (seats.MeshDeliveryChecker); kept for its importers until their
-// next change takes it from there (testdata/seat-names.txt).
+const CheckerSeat = "mesh-delivery-checker"
+
+// checkerVerbs are the checker seat's verbs: ask a try, read one, end one by hand. Optional until the checker serves them
+// everywhere.
+func checkerVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "try", Optional: true, Description: "Try a pushed head before its pull request is opened: the checker " +
+			"judges it as it judges a pull request's head, merged onto its trunk's head, its unit and integration " +
+			"levels through the build modules, and owes the forge nothing. Answers the try's id at once; try-read " +
+			"reads where it stands. A try of the same head that waits or runs is the answer to a second ask; at most " +
+			"4 wait or run at once, mesh-wide.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"repository": "<owner>/<name>",
+				"head":  "the full commit to try, 40 or 64 hex digits",
+				"trunk": "the trunk commit to merge it onto, or the trunk's branch for its head now; the trunk's head when absent",
+				"tests": "a go test -run pattern: only those tests run, and nothing is kept",
+				"level": "unit or integration: only this level; both when absent"},
+				[]string{"repository", "head"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"sh merge-check.sh", "docker run postgres"}},
+		{Name: "try-read", Optional: true, Description: "Where a try stands, as stored: queued, running, or its end " +
+			"(pass, fail, or error when it could not run), with what was said of it, the head and the trunk commit " +
+			"it was merged onto, the time it took and what failed first. Read-only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "the try's id, try-<digits>"}, []string{"id"})},
+		{Name: "try-end", Optional: true, Description: "End a try that waits or runs, as error, by hand: say why (kept in " +
+			"what it says). Its place among the tries is free at once and the next try of its head asks anew with a new " +
+			"id. A try that ended already is refused.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "the try's id, try-<digits>", "why": "why it is ended, in words"},
+				[]string{"id", "why"})},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/config.go

@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ type configDeclaration struct {
 	Default     any      `json:"default,omitempty"`
 	Required    bool     `json:"required,omitempty"`
 	Runtime     bool     `json:"runtime,omitempty"`
-	RenamedFrom string   `json:"renamed-from,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // MarshalJSON writes a settings declaration exactly as before, and a config declaration without the settings
@@ -126,7 +125,7 @@ func (d SettingDeclaration) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	}
 	return json.Marshal(configDeclaration{Type: d.Type, Description: d.Description, Enum: d.Enum,
 		Minimum: d.Minimum, Maximum: d.Maximum, Pattern: d.Pattern, Trusted: d.Trusted, Predefined: d.Predefined,
-		Default: d.Default, Required: d.Required, Runtime: d.Runtime, RenamedFrom: d.RenamedFrom})
+		Default: d.Default, Required: d.Required, Runtime: d.Runtime})
 }
 
 // validationProblems is what is wrong with a declaration's validation, and its default against it.

go/catalogue/config_test.go

@@ -132,33 +132,6 @@ func TestAConfigManifestIsWrittenBackInItsOwnForm(t *testing.T) {
 	if !bytes.Equal(raw, twice) {
 		t.Fatalf("read again it is written\n%s\nwhere it was\n%s", twice, raw)
 	}
-
-	// The registry milestone's words round-trip the same (design 32): a config value's old name, an artifact's series
-	// and contracts marker, the series a module accepts of a package; absent, a series is 0.1.
-	declared := []byte(`{"module":"c","version":"1","config":{"font":{"type":"string","renamed-from":"font-name"}},
-		"packages":{"mesh-sdk":"0.2"},
-		"build":{"artifacts":[{"name":"go","kind":"package","language":"go","paths":["go"],"series":"0.2",
-			"generated-from":"seats"},{"name":"lib","kind":"package","language":"typescript"}]}}`)
-	m, err = decodeForTest(declared)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if m.Settings["font"].RenamedFrom != "font-name" || m.AcceptedSeries("mesh-sdk") != "0.2" ||
-		m.AcceptedSeries("mesh-contracts") != DefaultSeries || m.Build.Artifacts[0].SeriesOf() != "0.2" ||
-		m.AcceptedSeries("mesh-sdk", "0.1") != "0.2" || m.AcceptedSeries("mesh-contracts", "0.10", "x", "0.3", "1.0") != "0.3" ||
-		m.Build.Artifacts[0].GeneratedFrom != "seats" || m.Build.Artifacts[1].SeriesOf() != "0.1" {
-		t.Fatalf("read %+v", m)
-	}
-	raw, _ = json.Marshal(m)
-	for _, said := range []string{`"renamed-from":"font-name"`, `"packages":{"mesh-sdk":"0.2"}`, `"series":"0.2"`,
-		`"generated-from":"seats"`} {
-		if !strings.Contains(string(raw), said) {
-			t.Errorf("written back without %s: %s", said, raw)
-		}
-	}
-	if strings.Count(string(raw), `"series"`) != 1 {
-		t.Errorf("a series nobody said is written: %s", raw)
-	}
 }
 
 // A module in the settings form is written back byte for byte as before.

go/catalogue/control_records_seats.go

@@ -1,7 +1,54 @@
 package catalogue
 
 // The two seats.
-const ()
+const (
+	WantsSeat    = "mesh-wants"
+	HandActsSeat = "mesh-hand-acts"
+)
 
 // controlRecordsDecision is the record that made the two seats.
 const controlRecordsDecision = "novox/hq ADR 0565"
+
+// wantsVerbs are the assigner's verbs on mesh-wants (ADR 0565 clauses 7, 8, 9, 15).
+func wantsVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "upgrade", Description: "Whether each module's new builds wait for a person: its policy (roll, together or record) " +
+			"and where it comes from (a person, the module, the bus, its irreplaceable data, the default); the bus is never " +
+			"rolled. With module, that one; with module, policy and why, a person's choice for it, recorded as a hand act; " +
+			"with policy default, the choice taken back. With compare, each node's own composition and the assigner's findings.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"module":  "one module",
+				"policy":  "with module: roll, together, record, or default to take a person's choice back",
+				"why":     "with policy: why, required and kept",
+				"compare": "\"true\": each node's own composition, by its digest, and the assigner's findings",
+			}, nil, "compare")},
+		{Name: "bus", Description: "What a bus upgrade would do: the fingerprint of the bus module each node runs against the " +
+			"indexer's newest, and the last bus steps from the hand-act log and the assigner's puts of the bus. Read-only: " +
+			"the step itself is the put on the operator's warrant.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+	}
+}
+
+// handActsVerbs are mesh-hand-acts' verbs (ADR 0565 clause 10), as the controller's took them.
+func handActsVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "hand-act", Description: "Record one act done by hand: what, why, its cause in a word or a condition's kind " +
+			"(the word a second act for the same reason uses) and the condition it addresses. Who did it is the caller the " +
+			"runtime proves, never said by the caller. Said as act-recorded.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"what":      "what was done, in a line",
+				"why":       "why it had to be done by hand",
+				"cause":     "the cause in a word, or a condition's kind",
+				"condition": "the key of the condition it addressed, if any (optional)",
+				"verb":      "the act's verb in the log: a repair when absent, `hand-act drill` for a drill, or a recorder's own",
+			}, []string{"what", "why"})},
+		{Name: "hand-acts", Description: "What was done by hand lately, over this log and the controller's: who, why and the " +
+			"cause of each, and the causes recorded twice within a fortnight (a healer is wanted).",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"days": "how many days back (default 14)", "cause": "only this cause",
+				"who": "only acts whose who contains this", "warrants": "\"true\": every warrant recorded"}, nil, "warrants")},
+		{Name: "warranted", Description: "Record what a module did on the operator's warrant: who chose, through which channel, " +
+			"with which proofs and which answer read from the router's own record of that module's ask, never from the " +
+			"caller; once per ask. Refused for an ask still open, ended without a choice, or not that module's.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"asker": "the module that asked", "ask": "its ask's id"}, []string{"asker", "ask"})},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/declaration.go

@@ -238,11 +238,6 @@ type Rendering struct {
 	// when no holder is reachable yet; see seat_into.go for which seats are answered.
 	SeatReach map[string]string
 
-	// SeatHolder is the module holding each seat SeatReach answers, by seat, from the holdings the composition has (novox/hq
-	// design 51, issue 1966 ENG-10): written beside an image routed through the seat, for the node-engine to wait on when its
-	// pull fails. Absent for a seat with no holder on record.
-	SeatHolder map[string]string
-
 	// Built is every `<module>/<artifact>` the mesh has built. What tells a reference recorded
 	// with an address — before references were kept without one — from an image a module runs
 	// straight from a public registry.
@@ -278,8 +273,8 @@ type Rendering struct {
 	Hands       bool
 	Provisioner string
 	// Assigned is, by module, whether the vault judged it handed (AssignmentHands of the plan in its assignment), as the
-	// vault answered the node composing itself. Never the rule: the node hands by the manifest, its build and the machine,
-	// and reads this only to say where the vault disagrees (issue 1966). Nil where the vault said nothing.
+	// vault answered the node composing itself; where it names a module, Handing follows it alone (issue 774). Nil, or a
+	// module it does not name, is judged by the manifest and the machine, as the composer of the plans does.
 	Assigned map[string]bool
 }
 

go/catalogue/decode.go

@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 package catalogue
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -11,65 +9,15 @@ import (
 // contract knows as it declares it, and a field it does not know set aside and named (SetAside), never refused. It
 // judges nothing: no name, seat, bus or catalogue rule is applied, since the indexer judged the manifest once and its
 // verdict is in the indexer's state (delivery.VerdictsBucket); a reader takes the verdict beside it
-// (delivery.TakeVerdict). An error is only bytes that are no manifest: not JSON, a field of the wrong shape, or one field
-// given twice in one object at any depth, named by its path: a decoder keeps the last of two equal keys without a word,
-// so a merge of two branches that each added the field would lose one side silently (as mesh-catalog's checks/manifests
-// refuses it).
+// (delivery.TakeVerdict). An error is only bytes that are no manifest: not JSON, or a field of the wrong shape.
 func Decode(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 	var m Manifest
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &m); err != nil {
 		return Manifest{}, err
 	}
-	if twice := givenTwice(raw); twice != "" {
-		return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf("the field %s is given twice; a manifest gives each field once", twice)
-	}
 	return m, nil
 }
 
-// givenTwice is the first field an object of raw gives twice, as its path (`invokes`, `build.artifacts[0].env`), or empty.
-func givenTwice(raw []byte) string {
-	d := json.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(raw))
-	var walk func(path string) string
-	walk = func(path string) string {
-		t, err := d.Token()
-		if err != nil {
-			return ""
-		}
-		switch t {
-		case json.Delim('{'):
-			seen := map[string]bool{}
-			for d.More() {
-				k, err := d.Token()
-				if err != nil {
-					return ""
-				}
-				key, _ := k.(string)
-				at := key
-				if path != "" {
-					at = path + "." + key
-				}
-				if seen[key] {
-					return at
-				}
-				seen[key] = true
-				if twice := walk(at); twice != "" {
-					return twice
-				}
-			}
-			_, _ = d.Token()
-		case json.Delim('['):
-			for i := 0; d.More(); i++ {
-				if twice := walk(fmt.Sprintf("%s[%d]", path, i)); twice != "" {
-					return twice
-				}
-			}
-			_, _ = d.Token()
-		}
-		return ""
-	}
-	return walk("")
-}
-
 // SetAside names what Decode set aside of this manifest: each field it does not know, as the decoder words the first
 // and with the path of every one it read without, or "" when it knew every field. A reader says it in its own words
 // (its journal, its finding) and reads the rest; the part that needs the field takes the newer package (ADR 0578 §6).

go/catalogue/delivery_seat.go

@@ -1,5 +1,90 @@
 package catalogue
 
+// DeliverySeat is the seat mesh-delivery holds.
+const DeliverySeat = "mesh-delivery"
+
+// RemovedDeliveryVerbs are the delivery seat's verbs release 6 removed (novox/hq ADR 0539 clause 17): with no plan the
+// gate keeps the merge's states and derives nothing after the merge. Each stays in deliveryVerbs as an optional row
+// with no input, so the holder of before and the holder of release 6 both hold the seat and a caller is answered by
+// name with its replacement, given here.
+var RemovedDeliveryVerbs = map[string]string{
+	"times":          "the delivery view (nox-delivery): each machine's want and have, and since when",
+	"what-if":        "the merge check's composition, which composes every machine a change touches",
+	"release":        "the assigner's asks (hold, restore, backup, record), answered on the phone or in the delivery view",
+	"stop":           "a bad fingerprint is held and its canary set back by the assigner (ADR 0429 §6, ADR 0539 clause 18)",
+	"retire-history": "nothing to retire: the gate keeps no delivery after its merge",
+}
+
+// deliveryRemovedInR6 is the row of a verb release 6 removed from the delivery seat.
+func deliveryRemovedInR6(name string) Verb {
+	return Verb{Name: name, Description: "Removed in R6 (ADR 0539): refused by name, naming its replacement: " +
+		RemovedDeliveryVerbs[name], Input: schema(nil, nil), Optional: true}
+}
+
+// deliveryVerbs are the delivery seat's tools: what reads the merges and checks, and the acts of a person and healer H2
+// on a merge (ADR 0539 clause 17).
+func deliveryVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "deliveries", Description: "Every delivery not final, and those that ended in the last day, one line " +
+			"each: its id (owner/repository@commit), its state, its group, what it waits for and since when. Narrowed " +
+			"by state, repository or group.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"state": "one state, e.g. delivering or held",
+				"repository": "owner/repository", "group": "a group's id (its branch name)",
+				"all": "\"true\": the final ones of the last thirty days too"}, nil, "all")},
+		deliveryRemovedInR6("times"),
+		{Name: "show", Description: "One delivery or group whole: its delivery plan (what it builds, what each " +
+			"machine receives, what is not an ordinary send), every transition with when and why, the machine " +
+			"steps of its walk, its group and its order.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "a delivery's id, or a group's"}, []string{"id"})},
+		{Name: "groups", Description: "Every delivery group: its members in order, why each pair is ordered " +
+			"(declared, built by, version skew, engine before controller, by name), its composed check and its " +
+			"state, derived from its members.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"all": "\"true\": the groups that ended too"}, nil, "all")},
+		deliveryRemovedInR6("what-if"),
+		{Name: "checks", Description: "What the mesh's checks said of a pull request's head or of one commit: each " +
+			"of the commit's mesh statuses (mesh/check, the one a main requires from R4e, hq's mesh/repo-check, " +
+			"mesh/delivery, …) with its state, " +
+			"description and when it was set; the merge check's full verdict as the controller said it — each " +
+			"layer's summary, the machine that ran it, when, its build id and its report; and whether the branch's " +
+			"protection would let it merge, every required status being success.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"repository": "owner/repository",
+				"number": "a pull request's number: its head is read",
+				"commit": "a commit's sha, or the start of one, instead of a pull request"}, []string{"repository"}),
+			// Added after the seat's first holder shipped: optional until mesh-delivery serves it everywhere.
+			Optional: true},
+		{Name: "table", Description: "The state table every delivery runs by: each transition with its guard, " +
+			"each state's bound and what healer H2 may do once it has passed; and the machine steps' table.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "stalled", Description: "Every delivery held past its state's bound, with the transition the table " +
+			"lets healer H2 take for it, or none.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "recheck", Description: "Check a rejected or ready delivery again: it goes back to proposed and the " +
+			"controller is asked for its check. With why.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "the delivery's id", "why": "why, kept with the transition"},
+				[]string{"id", "why"})},
+		deliveryRemovedInR6("release"),
+		deliveryRemovedInR6("stop"),
+		{Name: "close", Description: "Healer H2's verb: take the one transition the table names for a delivery held " +
+			"past its bound. Refused for any other.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "the delivery's id", "why": "the condition it answers"},
+				[]string{"id", "why"})},
+		deliveryRemovedInR6("retire-history"),
+		{Name: "settle", Description: "Ask the operator to settle deliveries held because their merge reached the " +
+			"trunk without a passing check: one ask on the operator's channel for all of them, as an Approve is asked. " +
+			"The verb moves nothing; on the operator's answer each goes to merged, and whether it is on the machines " +
+			"is derived as for any merge (novox/hq ADR 0556). Refused for a delivery not held, or held for another " +
+			"reason, naming why.",
+			Input: map[string]any{"type": "object", "additionalProperties": false, "required": []string{"ids", "why"},
+				"properties": map[string]any{
+					"ids": map[string]any{"type": "array", "items": map[string]any{"type": "string"}, "minItems": 1,
+						"description": "the held deliveries' ids (owner/repository@commit)"},
+					"why": map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": "why they may be settled, shown to the operator"},
+				}},
+			// Added after the seat's release 6 holder shipped: optional until the gate serves it everywhere.
+			Optional: true},
+	}
+}
+
 // SeatSays is whether a consumed `<seat>.<event>` names one of the seat's own events: the seat emits it,
 // exactly or by one of its patterns (`log.*`). A consumed name whose emitter is a seat and whose event the
 // seat does not emit is the event of the module of that name (novox/hq ADR 0239): mesh-delivery is a seat

go/catalogue/engine_compose_candidate_test.go

@@ -2,15 +2,15 @@ package catalogue
 
 import "testing"
 
-// The node-engine's compose-candidate verb (ADR 0593 §7) is optional, asks the candidate, and takes input as a boolean, as the engine and the checker read it.
+// The node-engine's compose-candidate verb (ADR 0593 §7) is optional, asks the candidate, and takes input as a switch.
 func TestTheEngineServesComposeCandidate(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, v := range EngineVerbs(EngineSeat) {
+	for _, v := range EngineVerbs() {
 		if v.Name != "compose-candidate" {
 			continue
 		}
 		props, _ := v.Input["properties"].(map[string]any)
 		input, _ := props["input"].(map[string]any)
-		if !v.Optional || props["candidate"] == nil || input == nil || input["type"] != "boolean" {
+		if !v.Optional || props["candidate"] == nil || input == nil || input["enum"] == nil {
 			t.Fatalf("compose-candidate reads as %+v", v)
 		}
 		return

go/catalogue/engine_seat.go

@@ -1,15 +1,85 @@
 package catalogue
 
-// EngineVerbs are the node-engine seat's verbs as the seat list the host gave has them (ADR 0563 §1; design 26), each
-// with its description and its input's schema as discovery shows them. The seat's name is its contract's
-// (mesh-contracts' nodeengine), never this package's (ADR 0634 §4, ADR 0635 §4): the caller names it.
-func EngineVerbs(seat string) []Verb {
-	s, _ := SeatNamed(seat)
-	return append([]Verb(nil), s.Serves...)
+// EngineSeat is the node seat every node's engine holds.
+const EngineSeat = "node-engine"
+
+// EngineVerbs are the node-engine seat's verbs, in the order ADR 0563 §1 names them.
+func EngineVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "hand-over", Description: "Hand a directory this machine uses as found to the mesh (novox/hq ADR 0563 §3, " +
+			"§5): the engine judges the path as it does every hand-over (absolute, as it states it, used as found, " +
+			"reached through no link) and refuses in words, or asks the operator on their channel at the level approve, " +
+			"binding the owner, group and mode it will set. Nothing changes on the call: only the operator's yes hands " +
+			"it over. One ask is open per path; acts shows where it stands.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"path": "the directory's absolute path, as the engine states it",
+				"why": "why it is asked, in words the operator reads"}, []string{"path"})},
+		{Name: "access-act", Description: "Ask the operator for the take act on a library whose root holds data outside its " +
+			"group (novox/hq ADR 0328 §7, ADR 0563 §3, §4), on the library's home engine: the access as declared and its " +
+			"root as last declared, judged and refused in words or asked at the level approve. Only the operator's yes " +
+			"sets the library's group, group write and setgid under its root. One ask is open per access.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"act": "the act: take", "access": "the access, library:<name>",
+				"why": "why it is asked, in words the operator reads"}, []string{"act", "access"})},
+		{Name: "judge-directories", Description: "Which of this machine's declared directories the engine would refuse to " +
+			"make or keep, one line each (novox/hq ADR 0563 §2). Read-only: changes no owner or mode.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "setuid-search", Description: "Throw away the engine's last search for setuid programs and start a full one " +
+			"(novox/hq ADR 0563 §2); until it completes root-free answers that the machine is not judged yet. Refused while " +
+			"one runs, and when one was started within the hour, naming when the next may start.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"why": "why it is asked, in words"}, nil)},
+		{Name: "root-free", Description: "Whether this machine is root-free (novox/hq ADR 0259 §8, ADR 0563 §6): free only " +
+			"on the engine's own verdict, at most fifteen minutes old, that the account agents run as cannot become root " +
+			"without a person, and the login shell's execute not served here. Anything else is no pass, and says why. " +
+			"Answered by this machine's engine alone.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "acts", Description: "Every act this machine's engine was asked through this seat (novox/hq ADR 0563 §9): " +
+			"each hand-over, access act and setuid search, open, done or refused, with who asked, the ask and the " +
+			"operator's warrant. Read-only.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"limit": "at most this many, newest", "id": "one act, by its id"}, nil)},
+		// The packages this node's compositions declare (novox/hq ADR 0565 §6, §15): optional until every engine serves it.
+		{Name: "packages", Optional: true, Description: "The packages this machine's compositions declare, present or absent, " +
+			"each with the modules that declare it, as the engine keeps them in its key of `packages`; until the controller " +
+			"hands its lease away, beside the controller's mirror for this machine and their difference. With write, the " +
+			"key written again from what the engine composed.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"write": "\"true\": write this machine's key again from what the engine composed"}, nil, "write")},
+		// Read-only (issue 774): why a module waits for a yes, or what its next apply would change. Optional until every
+		// engine serves it.
+		{Name: "composition", Optional: true, Description: "One module's composition on this machine beside what runs of " +
+			"it, read-only: the composition its want's build has in the bucket composed-<node> (the latest revision, or the " +
+			"one whose digest is given, from the revisions the bucket keeps), the digest of each kept revision, what runs " +
+			"(applied, its have, or the kept declaration), its want and have (phase running, failed, held or waiting-yes, " +
+			"and the digest that waits for a yes), and the move's judgement with its words: why a record module waits for " +
+			"a yes. With diff, every resource added, removed or changed, a provider's received file naming the consumers " +
+			"that join or leave.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"module": "the module, as placed on this machine; node for the node's own",
+				"digest": "a composition's digest (sha256:…), to read that revision rather than the latest",
+				"diff":   "\"true\": list the resources that differ from what runs"}, []string{"module"})},
+		// The recovery of a composition that failed (issue 774, 2026-10-31: ace kept route-proxy failed for a vault that
+		// answered again a minute later). Optional until every engine serves it.
+		{Name: "compose", Optional: true, Description: "Compose this machine's modules now and say how it went, so a " +
+			"composition that failed, or a module held, recovers without a restart: what the pass refused or held, each " +
+			"with why, and when the engine composes again on its own after a seat that did not answer (a deadline, no " +
+			"responders: retried with a growing wait; a refusal never). With module, that module's apply is also tried " +
+			"again. Changes only what a pass the engine makes on its own would change.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"module": "a module placed on this machine whose apply is also tried again (optional)"}, nil)},
+		// A composition that does not exist yet (novox/hq ADR 0593 §7). Optional until every engine serves it: a node
+		// whose engine does not is a node that does not answer (§9).
+		{Name: "compose-candidate", Optional: true, Description: "Compose a check's candidate on this machine in shadow, " +
+			"with its own sealed values and the indexer's manifest verdicts, and say per module placed here whether it " +
+			"composes (with its digest and whether the candidate changes it), is refused by the candidate or is held " +
+			"without it, each with why, and the verdict of the machine's own composition (novox/hq ADR 0593 §7). Read-only: " +
+			"applies nothing and writes nothing. Answered by this machine's engine alone, within the asker's bound.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"candidate": "the key of the indexer's candidate, <group>.<heads hash>",
+				"input": "\"true\": also answer the composition input the candidate was composed from, for the sandbox path"},
+				[]string{"candidate"}, "input")},
+	}
 }
 
-// EngineEvents are what the node-engine seat says, as the seat list the host gave has them.
-func EngineEvents(seat string) []string {
-	s, _ := SeatNamed(seat)
-	return append([]string(nil), s.Emits...)
+// EngineEvents are what the seat says of an act, each naming the act, the path or access, the caller as the runtime
+// proved it and the ask (ADR 0563 §1).
+var EngineEvents = []string{"asked", "done", "refused"}
+
+// engineSeat is the seat's row in the closed set.
+func engineSeat() Seat {
+	return Seat{Name: EngineSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Serves: EngineVerbs(), Emits: append([]string(nil), EngineEvents...),
+		HeldByTheEngine: true, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0563"}
 }

go/catalogue/enrolment_seat.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package catalogue
 
 // EnrolmentSeat is the seat mesh-enrolment.
+const EnrolmentSeat = "mesh-enrolment"
 
 // The seat's six verbs (ADR 0587 §1, §4-§8).
 const (
@@ -28,3 +29,62 @@ var EnrolmentEvents = []string{EnrolmentIssuedEvent, NodeEnrolledEvent, Enrolmen
 
 // enrolmentDecision is the record that made the seat.
 const enrolmentDecision = "novox/hq ADR 0587"
+
+// enrolmentVerbs are the seat's verbs: what reads all it holds and does by hand all it does (ADR 0587 §8). Not optional:
+// the seat is new with its holder, so no holder of before serves fewer.
+func enrolmentVerbs() []Verb {
+	str := func(description string) map[string]any {
+		return map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": description}
+	}
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: EnrolmentVerbIssue, Description: "Issue a one-time token for a new machine, on the operator's Approve: " +
+			"refused at once, naming every finding, for a name that is not a node name or that a node record, a placement " +
+			"key or an open enrolment holds, and for every call before the controller's lease is handed away. Otherwise " +
+			"reserves the lowest free private-network address, asks the operator under the seat's own name and, on the " +
+			"warrant, adds the node to placement with its tunnel key, asks the vault for the token and says enrolment-issued. " +
+			"The token itself is read only through tokens.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"node":    "the new machine's name in the mesh",
+				"why":     "why it joins, shown to the operator with the ask",
+				"expires": "how long the token lasts, a duration such as 1h or 24h: one hour when not given, at most 24 hours",
+				// The operator's decision of 2026-11-02 01:05: the tunnel key is given at issue, so on the Approve the node
+				// enters placement with it and the hub peers it before redeem.
+				"overlay_key": "the new machine's private network (tunnel) public key, as `nox-mesh-host key` prints it",
+			}, []string{"node", "why", "overlay_key"})},
+		{Name: EnrolmentVerbRedeem, Description: "Spend a token: asked by a joining node-engine dialled as enrol.<node> " +
+			"alone, with the public halves of its keys and its identity key's proof over them. Spends the token, asks the " +
+			"vault for the node's account and certificate, writes the node into placement, and answers the account sealed " +
+			"to the node, its certificate and the vault's public half, signed by the vault. Asked again with the same keys " +
+			"it finishes what is not done and answers the same; with other keys it is refused.",
+			Input: map[string]any{"type": "object", "additionalProperties": false,
+				"required": []string{"node", "public_key", "sealing_key", "proof"},
+				"properties": map[string]any{
+					"node":        str("the node the token was issued for"),
+					"public_key":  str("the identity key's public half, base64"),
+					"overlay_key": str("the private network key's public half"),
+					"sealing_key": str("the sealing key's public half, which the account is sealed to"),
+					"serving_key": str("the serving key's public half, which the certificate binds"),
+					"profile":     map[string]any{"type": "object", "description": "what the machine is, as its record says it"},
+					"tunnel":      map[string]any{"type": "object", "description": "a tunnel found on the machine: everything but its private key"},
+					"proof":       str("the identity key's signature over the redeem's proof bytes (delivery.RedeemProof), base64"),
+				}}},
+		{Name: EnrolmentVerbConfirm, Description: "Confirm an enrolment: asked by the node-engine dialled as its own " +
+			"node login alone, the runtime's proof of that caller being the confirmation. Says node-enrolled and ends the " +
+			"enrolment.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: EnrolmentVerbRevoke, Description: "End an enrolment at any stage, with why, without an Approve: withdraws " +
+			"an open ask, deletes the node's key and its address, has the vault retire an account it already minted for " +
+			"it, records the act as a hand act and says enrolment-revoked.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "the node", "why": "why, recorded with the hand act"},
+				[]string{"node", "why"})},
+		{Name: EnrolmentVerbTokens, Description: "Read every open enrolment, or one: its stage, expiry, ask and revision, " +
+			"the bucket's fill against its cap. For a node at live, its " +
+			"token sealed to the operator key, asked of the vault at that moment and relayed as the vault sealed it. With " +
+			"history, the ended enrolments from the seat's events, as far back as the events are kept.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "one node", "history": "\"true\": the ended enrolments too"},
+				nil, "history")},
+		{Name: EnrolmentVerbAgain, Description: "Raise an issue's ask again when the operator's channel does not hold it, " +
+			"and nothing more.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "the node whose ask is raised again"}, []string{"node"})},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/files.go

@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 package catalogue
 
+import (
+	"strings"
+)
+
 // FilesSeat is the role that reads and manages a node's files and accounts (novox/hq ADR 0394).
 const FilesSeat = "node-files"
 
@@ -12,3 +16,73 @@ const (
 		"secret is kept, or a known credential file, is refused by name"
 	overrideWord = "a reason, to change a path a module owns anyway (optional)"
 )
+
+// filesVerbs is the contract every holder of node-files serves (novox/hq ADR 0394 §1): the reads of node-reads,
+// with their descriptions restated for the operator's account, and the writes.
+func filesVerbs() []Verb {
+	var verbs []Verb
+	for _, v := range readsVerbs() {
+		v.Description = strings.Replace(v.Description,
+			"Read as the holder's own account, which holds no secret: a component it may not reach says so.",
+			"", 1)
+		v.Description = strings.TrimSpace(v.Description) + " Read " + filesAsAccount + "."
+		verbs = append(verbs, v)
+	}
+	write := func(name, description string, in map[string]string, required []string, optional []string, replaces ...string) Verb {
+		in["reason"] = "why the file is changed, for the audit trail"
+		in["override"] = overrideWord
+		return Verb{Name: name, Description: description + " Refuses a path a module owns " +
+			"unless override names a reason; done as the node's operator account, through sudo -n where its rights do not reach.",
+			Input: schema(in, append(required, "reason"), append(optional, "override")...), Replaces: replaces}
+	}
+	return append(verbs,
+		write("write", "Write one text file whole, replacing what it holds; the old content goes to the node's trash.",
+			map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path", "content": "the text to write",
+				"mode": "the file's mode, such as 0644 (optional)"},
+			[]string{"path", "content"}, []string{"mode"}, "tee", ">"),
+		write("copy", "Copy a file or directory to a path on this node. A target on another node (<node>:/path) is "+
+			"refused: copying between nodes comes in step 2 (issue 903). An existing target is overwritten, the old one "+
+			"kept in the node's trash for 7 days.",
+			map[string]string{"from": "an absolute path", "to": "an absolute path on this node"},
+			[]string{"from", "to"}, nil, "cp", "cp -a", "ssh <node> cp"),
+		write("move", "Move or rename a file or directory. A target on another node is refused: copying between nodes "+
+			"comes in step 2 (issue 903). An existing target is overwritten, the old one kept in the node's trash for 7 days.",
+			map[string]string{"from": "an absolute path", "to": "an absolute path"},
+			[]string{"from", "to"}, nil, "mv"),
+		write("delete", "Delete a file or directory into the node's trash, where restore can bring it back.",
+			map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path", "recursive": "\"true\": delete a directory with what it holds"},
+			[]string{"path"}, []string{"recursive"}, "rm", "rm -r"),
+		write("mkdir", "Make a directory.",
+			map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path", "parents": "\"true\": make the missing parents too"},
+			[]string{"path"}, []string{"parents"}, "mkdir", "mkdir -p"),
+		write("chmod", "Change the mode of a file or directory.",
+			map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path", "mode": "the mode, such as 0644 or u+x",
+				"recursive": "\"true\": also everything under a directory"},
+			[]string{"path", "mode"}, []string{"recursive"}, "chmod"),
+		write("chown", "Change the owner and group of a file or directory.",
+			map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path", "owner": "an account's name or number",
+				"group": "a group's name or number (optional)", "recursive": "\"true\": also everything under a directory"},
+			[]string{"path", "owner"}, []string{"group", "recursive"}, "chown", "chgrp"),
+		Verb{Name: "upload", Description: "Send one file of this node into a bucket of the object store, over a short signed link " +
+			"and never over the bus; answers the key (the file's SHA-256 when none is given), the size and the SHA-256. " +
+			"At most 100 MiB. A place a secret is kept, a known credential file, or a link to one is refused by name, " +
+			"before anything is sent. Read " + filesAsAccount + ".",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path to a file", "bucket": "the bucket the file goes into",
+				"key": "the object's key (optional; the file's SHA-256 when not given)"}, []string{"path", "bucket"})},
+		// download is a plain Verb, not through write(): write() types its optional arguments as true/false
+		// switches, which a hash and a reason are not (issue 1719).
+		Verb{Name: "download", Description: "Write one object of a bucket to a file of this node, over a short signed link and " +
+			"never over the bus; the old file goes to the node's trash. At most 100 MiB. The bytes must hash to sha256, or to " +
+			"the key when the key is a SHA-256; otherwise no file is written. Refuses a path a module owns " +
+			"unless override names a reason; done as the node's operator account, through sudo -n where its rights do not reach.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"bucket": "the bucket", "key": "the object's key", "path": "an absolute path",
+				"sha256":   "the SHA-256 the bytes must have (optional; the key when that is a SHA-256)",
+				"reason":   "why the file is changed, for the audit trail",
+				"override": overrideWord}, []string{"bucket", "key", "path", "reason"})},
+		Verb{Name: "trash", Description: "What the node's trash holds: each deleted or replaced item with its id, " +
+			"original path and when it went.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil), Replaces: []string{"ls ~/.local/share/Trash"}},
+		write("restore", "Put an item of the node's trash back where it was; refuses when something is there now.",
+			map[string]string{"id": "an id from trash"}, []string{"id"}, nil, "trash-restore"),
+	)
+}

go/catalogue/graphical_session.go

@@ -23,6 +23,117 @@ const (
 	SecretServiceSeat    = "node-secret-service"
 )
 
+// graphicalSessionSeats are the eleven, in the order ADR 0208's table reads, each with the verbs
+// research 026/05 starts it with. Three have none yet: the bar (which receives blocks instead,
+// ADR 0255), the compositor and the secret
+// service are roles a second holder competes for, and nothing has needed to ask them anything.
+func graphicalSessionSeats() []Seat {
+	const decided = "novox/hq ADR 0208"
+	return []Seat{
+		{Name: LoginManagerSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided, Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "sessions", Description: "The sessions the login manager offers on this machine, and which " +
+				"one the operator account starts by default.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		}},
+		{Name: DisplayServerSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided, Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "displays", Description: "The monitors connected now, each with its identity, its modes and " +
+				"where it is placed; and the layout profile in force, if one matches.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+			// Profiles are keyed by the monitors' identities and are the operator's data (ADR 0208 §6).
+			{Name: "layout", Description: "The monitor layout profiles, keyed by the connected monitors' " +
+				"identities: list them, save the current arrangement under a name, or apply one.",
+				Input: withEnum(schema(map[string]string{
+					"action": "list, save or apply",
+					"name":   "the profile to save or apply (save and apply only)",
+				}, []string{"action"}), "action", "list", "save", "apply")},
+		}},
+		// It receives window-manager configuration lines from every other module (novox/hq ADR 0212):
+		// bindings, start-up commands, rules — placed by the session's holder, never written into
+		// its directory by the contributor.
+		{Name: DisplaySessionSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided,
+			Receives: []Receivable{{Kind: "config", Comment: "#"}}, Serves: []Verb{
+				{Name: "reload", Description: "Reload the session's configuration in place, keeping its windows.",
+					Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+				{Name: "workspaces", Description: "The session's workspaces: each one's name, output, and whether " +
+					"it is visible or focused.",
+					Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+				{Name: "windows", Description: "The session's windows: each one's title, class, workspace and " +
+					"whether it has focus; narrowed to one workspace when named.",
+					Input: schema(map[string]string{"workspace": "one workspace (optional)"}, nil)},
+			}},
+		{Name: TerminalEmulatorSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided, Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "open", Description: "Open a terminal window in the operator's session, running a command " +
+				"or the login shell, in a directory or the account's home.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{
+					"command":   "what to run in it (optional; the login shell when absent)",
+					"directory": "where it starts (optional; the account's home when absent)",
+				}, nil)},
+		}},
+		{Name: LauncherSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided, Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "menu", Description: "Put a menu of choices in front of the operator and answer with the " +
+				"one chosen, or nothing when the menu was dismissed — the dmenu-compatible contract.",
+				Input: map[string]any{"type": "object", "required": []string{"choices"},
+					"properties": map[string]any{
+						"choices": map[string]any{"type": "array", "items": map[string]any{"type": "string"},
+							"description": "the lines to choose between, in order"},
+						"prompt": map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": "what the menu asks (optional)"},
+					}}},
+			// A value the operator types and nobody sees (novox/hq ADR 0259 §10): a hidden prompt whose answer
+			// is sealed to the asker's key, so it is never plaintext on the bus or in any call's record.
+			// **Optional while its holders catch up** (ADR 0246): rofi serves it once this is live.
+			{Name: "secret", Optional: true, Description: "Ask the operator for a value in a prompt that " +
+				"does not show what is typed, and answer it sealed to the key the asker gives — never in " +
+				"the clear — or cancelled when the prompt was dismissed or not answered in time.",
+				// By name, never by words (the review of 2026-10-09, M4): the holder writes the prompt from the
+				// module, the secret and the machine, and says the controller asks — the bus lets nobody else
+				// ask it (broker.ControllerOnly) — so no caller puts words of its own before the operator.
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{
+					"module":          "the module whose own secret is asked for",
+					"secret":          "the own secret's name",
+					"node":            "the machine the module runs on",
+					"seal_to":         "the asker's public sealing key: the answer is sealed to it",
+					"timeout_seconds": "give up after this long (optional)",
+				}, []string{"module", "secret", "node", "seal_to"})},
+		}},
+		{Name: NotifierSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided, Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "send", Description: "Show the operator a notification.",
+				Input: withEnum(schema(map[string]string{
+					"title":   "the notification's summary",
+					"body":    "its text (optional)",
+					"urgency": "low, normal (the default) or critical",
+				}, []string{"title"}), "urgency", "low", "normal", "critical")},
+			{Name: "history", Description: "The notifications shown lately, newest first.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"limit": "how many (optional, default 20)"}, nil)},
+		}},
+		{Name: LockScreenSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided, Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "lock", Description: "Lock the operator's session now.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		}},
+		{Name: ClipboardSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided, Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "history", Description: "What the clipboard held lately, newest first.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"limit": "how many (optional, default 20)"}, nil)},
+			{Name: "copy", Description: "Put text on the operator's clipboard.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"text": "the text"}, []string{"text"})},
+		}},
+		// It receives blocks as data (novox/hq ADR 0255): what a block shows, said for any bar, which
+		// the holder renders in its own grammar. A module that knows something about the machine — the
+		// power module its battery — gives the block; the bar knows no machine's hardware.
+		{Name: BarSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided,
+			Receives: []Receivable{{Kind: BarKindBlock, Comment: "#", Offered: true, Shape: barBlockShape()}}},
+		{Name: CompositorSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided},
+		{Name: SecretServiceSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided},
+	}
+}
+
+// withEnum narrows one string property of a schema to the values it may take, so a caller is told
+// the choices by the schema rather than by a refusal.
+func withEnum(s map[string]any, property string, values ...string) map[string]any {
+	props := s["properties"].(map[string]any)
+	p := props[property].(map[string]any)
+	p["enum"] = values
+	return s
+}
+
 // BarKindBlock is the bar's one received kind: a block (novox/hq ADR 0255).
 const BarKindBlock = "block"
 
@@ -60,6 +171,34 @@ type barOption struct {
 	required bool
 }
 
+// barBlockShape is the shape of a block (novox/hq ADR 0255): which bar, where on it, in what order,
+// what it shows, and that kind's options.
+//
+//   - bar: top or bottom;
+//   - place: resources (beside the processor, memory and disks) or status (beside the sound, before the
+//     clock) — the two places every holder keeps for contributed blocks;
+//   - order: 0–99 within the place, 50 when absent;
+//   - shows: battery or command; options: what that kind takes.
+func barBlockShape() *Shape {
+	return &Shape{
+		Text: true,
+		Places: []PlaceField{{Field: "bar", Values: []string{"bottom", "top"}},
+			{Field: "place", Values: []string{"resources", "status"}}},
+		Order: "order",
+		Check: barBlockProblems,
+		Reads: barBlockReads,
+		Examples: []map[string]any{
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "battery"},
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "battery", "options": map[string]any{"device": "BAT0"}},
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "command",
+				"options": map[string]any{"command": "echo \"a line\"", "interval": float64(5)}},
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "state", "options": map[string]any{"state": "power.draw"}},
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "state",
+				"options": map[string]any{"state": "power.draw", "key": "a-machine"}},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
 func barBlockProblems(data map[string]any) []string {
 	var problems []string
 	for field := range data {
@@ -106,11 +245,3 @@ func barBlockProblems(data map[string]any) []string {
 	}
 	return problems
 }
-
-// withShapeCode gives a data-shaped kind of the generated seat list the checks its definition cannot carry, being code:
-// the bar's block (novox/hq ADR 0255, ADR 0260).
-func withShapeCode(seat, kind string, sh *Shape) {
-	if seat == BarSeat && kind == BarKindBlock {
-		sh.Check, sh.Reads = barBlockProblems, barBlockReads
-	}
-}

go/catalogue/graphical_session_test.go

@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func TestTheGraphicalSessionsSeatsAreTheMeshsOwnWithTheirVerbs(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("layout's actions are %v", action["enum"])
 	}
 	// And they survive the store's JSON, which is where the live set comes from.
-	if _, err := json.Marshal(DefaultSeats()); err != nil {
+	if _, err := json.Marshal(graphicalSessionSeats()); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }

go/catalogue/handed.go

@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ func handedBy(m Manifest, archive Built) *Handed {
 		return nil
 	}
 	dir := m.TemplatesDir()
-	h := &Handed{Source: kept(archive.Reference), Digest: archive.Digest, Templates: map[string]string{}}
+	h := &Handed{Source: Recorded(archive.Reference), Digest: archive.Digest, Templates: map[string]string{}}
 	for _, r := range m.Resources {
 		name, has, wrong := templateOf(m.Module, dir, r)
 		if !has || wrong != "" {
@@ -233,10 +233,8 @@ func handedBy(m Manifest, archive Built) *Handed {
 
 // AssignmentHands is whether a module's value in the seat mesh-provisioner's plans (the assignments mirror's shape,
 // `{"provisioning": <Plan>}`) hands its module to the provisioner: Plan.Hands of the plan it carries, false with no
-// plan. A value that does not read is an error, never "not handed". What the vault judges `own` by: the plan is what the
-// node's last composition made, so it follows that node's rule (the manifest, its build and the machine) one
-// composition later. Never the rule a node composing itself hands by: with no plan yet it would never make one (issue
-// 1966); the node reads it only to say where the two disagree (Rendering.Assigned).
+// plan. A value that does not read is an error, never "not handed". The one rule the vault judges `own` by and a node
+// composing itself follows (Rendering.Assigned, issue 774).
 func AssignmentHands(raw []byte) (bool, error) {
 	var a struct {
 		Provisioning *Plan `json:"provisioning"`

go/catalogue/health_seats.go

@@ -1,7 +1,108 @@
 package catalogue
 
 // The four health seats.
-const ()
+const (
+	ConditionsSeat = "mesh-conditions"
+	WatchdogsSeat  = "mesh-watchdogs"
+	SelfCheckSeat  = "mesh-self-check"
+	HealersSeat    = "mesh-healers"
+)
 
 // healthDecision is the record that made the four seats.
 const healthDecision = "novox/hq ADR 0564"
+
+// conditionsVerbs are the condition keeper's verbs (ADR 0564 clauses 3, 9, 12).
+func conditionsVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "conditions", Description: "What is wrong with the mesh now: every open condition, urgent first, then oldest, " +
+			"raised from the observers' findings (the watchman, the self-check, the healers, the assigner) and cleared when " +
+			"the finding goes, never by hand. Given a key, that one whole with its evidence; with history, every transition " +
+			"lately.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"key":      "a condition's key: that one whole; with history, only its transitions",
+				"scope":    "only this scope: machine, plan, call, build, merge, provider, seat, bus, core, probe, mesh, delivery or module",
+				"severity": "only urgent, or only warning",
+				"machine":  "only those about this machine",
+				"history":  "\"true\": every raising, change, silence and clearing lately, oldest first",
+				"days":     "with history: how many days back (default 7, at most 90)",
+			}, nil, "history")},
+		{Name: "silence", Description: "Stop one condition's messages for a while, a hand act with why: it stays open and in " +
+			"status, and the silence is kept as its transition in history.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"key":   "the condition's key",
+				"for":   "how long: 30m, 4h, 2d; at most 7d",
+				"why":   "why, required and recorded",
+				"cause": "the cause in a word (the condition's kind when absent)",
+			}, []string{"key", "for", "why"})},
+		{Name: "resync", Description: "Read every observer's findings again and raise and clear what differs from the open " +
+			"conditions: the recovery of a keeper that missed a change.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+	}
+}
+
+// watchdogsVerbs are the watchman's verbs (ADR 0564 clauses 4, 5, 12).
+func watchdogsVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "signals", Description: "Every watchdog of the signals table the watchman keeps, each a key that expires unless " +
+			"its signal renews it: its row, what renews it, its bound, the age of its newest signal, and the finding its " +
+			"expiry wrote.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"row": "one row, e.g. S1"}, nil)},
+		{Name: "stuck", Description: "Every want, build or step the watchman says stopped moving past its bound, with since " +
+			"when and the words of its finding.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"machine": "only those on this machine"}, nil)},
+		{Name: "presence", Description: "Every machine and tool runner the watchman sees connected, with its last word, and " +
+			"those it says silent; a machine that said it sleeps is shown as sleeping, not silent.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"machine": "one machine"}, nil)},
+		{Name: "dead-letters", Description: "Every message a consumer on the bus gave up on, kept in DEAD_LETTERS: whose " +
+			"consumer, the subject, how often it was handed over and when it was given up, newest first. With id: that one " +
+			"whole. With deliver or drop, a hand act with why.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"id":       "a dead letter's id, as the list gives it: that one whole, with its message",
+				"consumer": "a consumer's name, or <stream>.<consumer>: only what that one gave up on",
+				"limit":    "how many to list, newest first (default 50); only when listing",
+				"deliver":  "a dead letter's id: deliver it again to the consumer that gave it up (needs why)",
+				"drop":     "a dead letter's id: drop it for good (needs why)",
+				"why":      "with deliver or drop: why, required and recorded",
+				"cause":    "with deliver or drop: the cause in a word (dead-letter when absent)",
+			}, nil)},
+		{Name: "resync", Description: "Rebuild presence from the bus's connections, and the pulses and findings from the keys " +
+			"the watchman watches, and take every dead-letter notice waiting: the recovery of a watchman that missed a change.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+	}
+}
+
+// selfCheckVerbs are the self-check's verbs (ADR 0564 clause 6).
+func selfCheckVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "doctor", Description: "The self-check: the last run's verdict at once, each probe passed, failed, deferred " +
+			"(its facts not on the bus yet, named) or could not run, and how long ago. With run, a run now; with probe, one " +
+			"probe's verdict whole. Runs every five minutes on its own; each failure is a finding.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"run":   "\"true\": run every probe now and answer the verdict",
+				"probe": "one probe's id (D6): its verdict alone, with every finding",
+			}, nil, "run")},
+		{Name: "probes", Description: "The registry: what each probe asserts, where it reads its facts, and the finding it writes.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+	}
+}
+
+// healersVerbs are the healers' verbs (ADR 0564 clauses 7, 8).
+func healersVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "healers", Description: "The healers: each registered response to one kind of condition, its repair, its " +
+			"budget and what happens when it is spent; every act taken lately with its outcome, and the mesh-wide brake.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"days": "how many days of acts back (default 7)"}, nil)},
+		{Name: "heal", Description: "Take one healer's act for one open condition now, within its budget and the brake.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"key": "the condition's key",
+				"why": "why now, kept with the act",
+			}, []string{"key", "why"})},
+		{Name: "drill", Description: "Record a drill: something broken on purpose to see the mesh raise and clear it, with " +
+			"what it tests. A drill is never a repair: no healer is wanted for it however often it is run.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"what":      "what was done on purpose, in a line",
+				"why":       "what the drill tests",
+				"condition": "the key of the condition the drill is meant to raise, if any (optional)",
+			}, []string{"what", "why"})},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/holdings_test.go

@@ -15,18 +15,12 @@ func busSeatDelivering(t *testing.T, delivers string) {
 	t.Helper()
 	was := Seats()
 	t.Cleanup(func() { UseSeats(was) })
-	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: delivers, Decision: "test", Serves: verbsNamed(brokerVerbs())}})
-}
-
-// brokerVerbs are the bus seat's verbs as a literal: mesh-sdk imports no seat's contract module, a test neither
-// (ADR 0625 §3).
-func brokerVerbs() []string {
-	return []string{"list", "show", "check", "orphans", "create", "apply", "recreate", "drop"}
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: delivers, Decision: "test"}})
 }
 
 func newBroker() Manifest {
 	return Manifest{Module: "new-broker", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "mesh-bus", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
-		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Serves: brokerVerbs()}}}
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
 }
 
 // CanHold is the one judgement registration and the handover share, against the store's row.
@@ -47,7 +41,7 @@ func TestCanHoldJudgesClaimScopeAndWhatTheSeatDelivers(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a claim at the wrong scope was allowed: %v", err)
 	}
 	cannotAnswer := Manifest{Module: "amqp-only", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "amqp", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
-		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh, Serves: brokerVerbs()}}}
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-broker", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
 	if err := CanHold(cannotAnswer, seat); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), `does not provide "mesh-bus"`) {
 		t.Fatalf("a holder that cannot answer for the seat was allowed: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -80,10 +74,17 @@ func TestCanHoldJudgesClaimScopeAndWhatTheSeatDelivers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func verbsNamed(names []string) []Verb {
-	var out []Verb
-	for _, n := range names {
-		out = append(out, Verb{Name: n})
+// The store's seat rows have no protocol columns yet; loading them must not drop the protocol the
+// bus is derived from, or no role's work queue is ever raised (found live, 2026-09-28).
+func TestAStoreRowWithoutAProtocolKeepsTheCompiledOne(t *testing.T) {
+	was := Seats()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { UseSeats(was) })
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "node-build-go", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "row"}})
+	got, ok := SeatNamed("node-build-go")
+	if !ok || len(got.Accepts) == 0 || !got.PulledByKind || !got.Yields {
+		t.Fatalf("the Go build seat lost what it accepts when loaded from the store: %+v", got)
+	}
+	if got.Decision != "row" {
+		t.Fatalf("the store's own columns were not kept: %+v", got)
 	}
-	return out
 }

go/catalogue/kept_until_delivered.go

@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+package catalogue
+
+// This file keeps, deprecated, the exported names feat/l3b-bus removed from this package while a running part still
+// uses them: an exported name is removed only after every user of it is delivered. The checker builds the running
+// node-engine's composer (mesh-host main) beside this mesh-sdk (ADR 0548 §6), and mesh-host main names them
+// (RuntimeModule, CoreCredentialModules, FromBus). Nothing in the final L3 release's heads uses any of them, but that
+// release still builds beside mesh-host 798d73e, so it keeps this file. The next release that changes mesh-sdk, once
+// the final L3 release's node-engine runs on every node, removes this file and its exemption in
+// TestNoCatalogueManifestNamesAmqp.
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"slices"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// Deprecated: kept until its users are delivered (the head of this file).
+//
+// EndedControllerName is the name the ended controller had, as its module and as its seat: no manifest may name it.
+const EndedControllerName = "mesh-controller"
+
+// The kinds of a declaration that names the controller.
+//
+// Deprecated: kept until their users are delivered (the head of this file).
+const (
+	DependsRead     = "read"
+	DependsInvoke   = "invoke"
+	DependsConsume  = "consume"
+	DependsUses     = "uses"
+	DependsWaits    = "waits"
+	DependsClaims   = "claims"
+	DependsRequires = "requires"
+	DependsIs       = "is"
+)
+
+// Deprecated: kept until its users are delivered (the head of this file).
+//
+// Dependency is one declaration of a manifest that names the controller.
+type Dependency struct {
+	Module string `json:"module"`
+	// By is the account declaring it when it is not the module's own: `process <id>` or `tools <binary>`.
+	By   string `json:"by,omitempty"`
+	Kind string `json:"kind"`
+	What string `json:"what"`
+}
+
+// onController says whether a name `<owner>.<rest>` is the controller's.
+func onController(name string) bool { return strings.HasPrefix(name, EndedControllerName+".") }
+
+// invokesController says whether an invoke names a verb of the controller's seat or a tool of its module. `*` names none:
+// it is the console's grant to every tool.
+func invokesController(invoke string) bool {
+	if seat, _, ok := SeatInvoke(invoke); ok {
+		return seat == EndedControllerName
+	}
+	return onController(invoke)
+}
+
+// Deprecated: kept until its users are delivered (the head of this file).
+//
+// Dependencies are every declaration naming the controller in the manifests given, by module.
+func Dependencies(manifests map[string]Manifest) []Dependency {
+	var out []Dependency
+	add := func(module, by, kind, what string) {
+		if d := (Dependency{Module: module, By: by, Kind: kind, What: what}); !slices.Contains(out, d) {
+			out = append(out, d)
+		}
+	}
+	for name, m := range manifests {
+		if name == EndedControllerName || m.Module == EndedControllerName {
+			add(name, "", DependsIs, EndedControllerName)
+		}
+		for _, r := range m.Reads {
+			if onController(r) {
+				add(name, "", DependsRead, r)
+			}
+		}
+		for _, i := range m.Invokes {
+			if invokesController(i) {
+				add(name, "", DependsInvoke, i)
+			}
+		}
+		for _, c := range m.Consumes {
+			if onController(c) {
+				add(name, "", DependsConsume, c)
+			}
+		}
+		for _, w := range m.Waits {
+			if onController(w) {
+				add(name, "", DependsWaits, w)
+			}
+		}
+		for _, u := range m.Uses {
+			if u == EndedControllerName {
+				add(name, "", DependsUses, u)
+			}
+		}
+		for _, c := range m.Claims {
+			if c.Name == EndedControllerName {
+				add(name, "", DependsClaims, c.Name)
+			}
+		}
+		for _, r := range m.Requires {
+			if r == EndedControllerName || onController(r) {
+				add(name, "", DependsRequires, r)
+			}
+		}
+		for _, a := range m.BusAccounts() {
+			by := "process " + a.ID
+			if a.Tools {
+				by = "tools " + a.ID
+			}
+			for _, i := range a.Bus.Invokes {
+				if invokesController(i) {
+					add(name, by, DependsInvoke, i)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Slice(out, func(i, j int) bool {
+		a, b := out[i], out[j]
+		if a.Module != b.Module {
+			return a.Module < b.Module
+		}
+		if a.Kind != b.Kind {
+			return a.Kind < b.Kind
+		}
+		if a.What != b.What {
+			return a.What < b.What
+		}
+		return a.By < b.By
+	})
+	return out
+}
+
+// Deprecated: kept until its users are delivered (the head of this file).
+//
+// ManifestRefusals is the check over a repository's manifests, by module name: one reason per declaration naming the
+// controller, none when it passes. None given fails it, since nothing read can hide a declaration.
+func ManifestRefusals(manifests map[string]Manifest) []string {
+	if len(manifests) == 0 {
+		return []string{"no manifest was read: with nothing read, nothing naming the controller can be judged absent"}
+	}
+	var out []string
+	for _, d := range Dependencies(manifests) {
+		who := d.Module
+		if d.By != "" {
+			who += " (" + d.By + ")"
+		}
+		out = append(out, fmt.Sprintf("%s declares %s %s: the controller ended by its unassignment and nothing may name it "+
+			"(ADR 0590 clause 5)", who, d.Kind, d.What))
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// Deprecated: a manifest says it (Manifest.CoreCredentials, CarriesCoreCredentials); kept until its users are
+// delivered (the head of this file).
+//
+// CoreCredentialModules are the modules whose own secrets are the core's credentials: the bus, mesh-provisioner and
+// its client.
+var CoreCredentialModules = []string{"mesh-provisioner", "mesh-provisioner-client", "nats"}
+
+// Deprecated: a manifest says it (Manifest.ToolRunner, IsToolRunner); kept until its users are delivered (the head
+// of this file).
+//
+// RuntimeModule is the module that is the node's tool runtime.
+const RuntimeModule = "node-tools"
+
+// Deprecated: the kept streams are the indexer's judge's; kept until its users are delivered (the head of this file).
+//
+// StreamsKeptUntilMoved are the streams declared before the check that a module keeps its data in the bus's
+// predefined forms, each allowed by name until its module moves it.
+var StreamsKeptUntilMoved = map[string][]string{
+	"brother":                    {"device-asks"},
+	"mesh-build-go":              {"toolchains-go"},
+	"mesh-build-node":            {"toolchains-node"},
+	"mesh-mail":                  {"mail", "mail-sends"},
+	"only-office":                {"convert-asks"},
+	"mesh-delivery-assigner":     {"placement"},
+	"mesh-delivery-checker":      {"checks"},
+	"mesh-delivery-forge-bridge": {"forge"},
+}
+
+// Deprecated: nothing derives it now (DerivedUpgrade reads the bus's own manifest); kept until its users are
+// delivered (the head of this file).
+//
+// FromBus is the source an older DerivedUpgrade gave the bus's policy.
+const FromBus = "the bus"

go/catalogue/login_shell_execute_test.go

@@ -31,4 +31,11 @@ func TestTheLoginShellsExecuteIsOptionalSoAMachineMayWithholdIt(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 	t.Run("compiled", check)
+	t.Run("read back from the store", func(t *testing.T) {
+		before := seats
+		t.Cleanup(func() { seats = before })
+		UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: LoginShellSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0204",
+			Serves: []Verb{{Name: "execute"}}}})
+		check(t)
+	})
 }

go/catalogue/manifest.go

@@ -469,11 +469,6 @@ type Manifest struct {
 	// this is for the rest — `zsh` provides `shell`, `xorg` provides `display-server`.
 	Provides []Offer `json:"provides,omitempty"`
 
-	// Packages are the series of each mesh package this module accepts, by the package's name (novox/hq ADR 0606,
-	// design 32): its fingerprint takes the newest version of that series, and a publish of another series moves it
-	// not. A package it uses and does not name is accepted in DefaultSeries (AcceptedSeries).
-	Packages map[string]string `json:"packages,omitempty"`
-
 	// Requires are names that must be provided by something assigned to the same node.
 	Requires []string `json:"requires,omitempty"`
 	// OptionalRequires is which of Requires the module can run without (novox/hq ADR 0330): filled
@@ -1229,64 +1224,6 @@ type Artifact struct {
 	// paths and constants composed with ${dir:…} and ${port:…} exactly as a container's environment
 	// is, never a secret's content. The node's runtime hands it to this bundle and to no other.
 	Env map[string]string `json:"env,omitempty"`
-
-	// Series is the series this artifact's versions are numbered in, `<major>.<minor>` (novox/hq ADR 0606, design 32):
-	// the builder numbers `<series>.<n>`, so a change of series is a change a user accepts by its own `packages`.
-	// Said on a package, an image, a bundle or an archive; the judge refuses it on any other kind. Absent is
-	// DefaultSeries (SeriesOf).
-	Series string `json:"series,omitempty"`
-
-	// GeneratedFrom marks a package of a contracts module (novox/hq ADR 0608 §5, design 26 *Contracts modules*): the
-	// directory, relative to the module's, of the seat definitions every file of the package is generated from. A
-	// module carrying it holds contracts only and claims no seat, which the judge refuses naming the seat; the build
-	// modules' test step regenerates the package and fails on a file out of step.
-	GeneratedFrom string `json:"generated-from,omitempty"`
-}
-
-// AcceptedSeries is the series of the package of that name this module accepts: the one Packages names, or else the
-// series of the package's first numbered version (design 32), the lowest of numbered, the series the package has a
-// numbered version in (the indexer's to say; a series is only ever raised); DefaultSeries while none is numbered.
-func (m Manifest) AcceptedSeries(name string, numbered ...string) string {
-	if s := m.Packages[name]; s != "" {
-		return s
-	}
-	first := ""
-	for _, s := range numbered {
-		if seriesOrder(s) != nil && (first == "" || compareSeries(s, first) < 0) {
-			first = s
-		}
-	}
-	if first == "" {
-		return DefaultSeries
-	}
-	return first
-}
-
-// seriesOrder is a series' major and minor, or nil when it is no `<major>.<minor>`.
-func seriesOrder(s string) []int {
-	major, minor, ok := strings.Cut(s, ".")
-	a, err1 := strconv.Atoi(major)
-	b, err2 := strconv.Atoi(minor)
-	if !ok || err1 != nil || err2 != nil || a < 0 || b < 0 {
-		return nil
-	}
-	return []int{a, b}
-}
-
-// compareSeries orders two well-formed series by major, then minor.
-func compareSeries(a, b string) int {
-	return slices.Compare(seriesOrder(a), seriesOrder(b))
-}
-
-// DefaultSeries is the series of an artifact or an accepted package that names none (design 32).
-const DefaultSeries = "0.1"
-
-// SeriesOf is the series the artifact's versions are numbered in: its own, or DefaultSeries.
-func (a Artifact) SeriesOf() string {
-	if a.Series == "" {
-		return DefaultSeries
-	}
-	return a.Series
 }
 
 // Kinds an artifact may be.
@@ -1331,10 +1268,12 @@ const (
 	ArtifactPackage = "package"
 )
 
-// ArtifactStoreProvision is the name the mesh's store for what modules ship (images, and archives,
-// which are directories from a repository packed as blobs) was offered under until the provision
-// retired (novox/hq ADR 0632 §2): no seat delivers it and no module provides it. It stays as the
-// scheme of the older reference form, artifact-store://, which done keys keep (ArtifactStoreScheme).
+// ArtifactStoreProvision is the name a module offers when it is the mesh's store for what modules
+// ship — images, and archives, which are directories from a repository packed as blobs.
+//
+// Named here because a rule depends on it: what provides this cannot be delivered through it
+// (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/029). A string compared in one place is a convention; a string a rule turns
+// on is a fact, and it should be written once.
 const ArtifactStoreProvision = "artifact-store"
 
 // Listening is one endpoint a module serves: a port it accepts connections on, and what may be said

go/catalogue/manifest_reads.go

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	_ "embed"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"reflect"
-	"regexp"
 	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -38,47 +37,6 @@ const (
 var referenceForms = []string{"access", "backup", "bound", "collected", "config", "consumer", "consumers",
 	"contribution", "dir", "machine", "port", "seat", "secret", "setting"}
 
-// ReferenceFormSeat names the reference form a registry seat answers for a build's artifact,
-// `<seat>/<module>/<artifact>@sha256:<digest>` (novox/hq ADR 0605 §9; the registry clients' reference forms), as the reader capability
-// `form:seat-reference` a node-engine built with this contract states (ADR 0618 §1, ADR 0624 §1): the builder writes it
-// into a build key only for the nodes whose engines state it. The older reference forms a node-engine read before any
-// stated what it reads are the baseline's; they are the builder's to name (delivery's artifact forms).
-const ReferenceFormSeat = "seat-reference"
-
-// artifactReferenceForms are the reference forms of a build's artifacts this contract reads beyond the baseline's.
-var artifactReferenceForms = []string{ReferenceFormSeat}
-
-// ReferenceFormSeatReach names how a node-engine built with this contract fills `${seat:<seat>:reach}`, as the reader
-// capability `form:seat-reach` (novox/hq ADR 0632 §1): from the seat holder placement names and the listen its manifest
-// opens to the mesh, the store's three seats among them, never from a module serving the retired provision
-// artifact-store. An engine before it filled the store's reach only from that provision, so a manifest naming a seat's
-// reach, and the store holder's own manifest, need it and are held from a node whose engine does not state it
-// (ManifestNeeds).
-const ReferenceFormSeatReach = "seat-reach"
-
-// storeHolderSeat is the seat whose holder's own manifest needs form:seat-reach (novox/hq ADR 0632 §2): the one seat
-// name this contract reads a rule by, and the one seat name of the package-list test's exceptions (S-8).
-const storeHolderSeat = "container-image-registry"
-
-// claimsAtMesh says whether a manifest claims seat at the mesh's scope (a claim with no scope is the seat's own). The
-// store holder's own manifest, a claim of storeHolderSeat, needs form:seat-reach this way (ADR 0632 §2): read
-// on every node, it leaves an engine before the reading without the old way to find the store, so it is held from every
-// node whose engine does not state it.
-func claimsAtMesh(top map[string]any, seat string) bool {
-	for _, c := range asList(top["claims"]) {
-		obj, _ := c.(map[string]any)
-		name, _ := obj["name"].(string)
-		scope, _ := obj["scope"].(string)
-		if hs, ok := SeatNamed(name); ok && hs.Name == seat && (scope == "" || scope == ScopeMesh) {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
-// ofSeatReach is a manifest's value naming a seat's reach, `${seat:<seat>:reach}`.
-var ofSeatReach = regexp.MustCompile(`\$\{seat:[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*:reach\}`)
-
 // manifestTopWords are the top-level keys Manifest.UnmarshalJSON reads apart from the fields of manifestFields: each
 // read whole, its inside a map of the module's own names (requirements, local names) and values, no words of the
 // contract's beneath it. `requires` and `config` are read as their fields are (manifestNeeds).
@@ -102,11 +60,7 @@ func ManifestReads() []string {
 	for _, f := range referenceForms {
 		set[ReadForm+f] = true
 	}
-	for _, f := range artifactReferenceForms {
-		set[ReadForm+f] = true
-	}
-	set[ReadForm+ReferenceFormSeatReach] = true
-	for _, s := range Seats() {
+	for _, s := range DefaultSeats() {
 		set[ReadSeat+s.Name] = true
 	}
 	return sortedSet(set)
@@ -167,9 +121,10 @@ func ManifestNeeds(raw []byte) ([]string, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	used := map[string]bool{}
-	textNeeds(raw, used)
-	if claimsAtMesh(top, storeHolderSeat) {
-		used[ReadForm+ReferenceFormSeatReach] = true
+	for _, f := range referenceForms {
+		if bytes.Contains(raw, []byte("${"+f+":")) {
+			used[ReadForm+f] = true
+		}
 	}
 	if _, has := top[ConfigField]; has || takesConfigKey.Match(raw) {
 		used[ReadForm+"config"] = true
@@ -220,7 +175,7 @@ func ManifestNeeds(raw []byte) ([]string, error) {
 // and a bucket's share with a seat.
 func seatNamesUsed(top map[string]any) []string {
 	known := map[string]bool{}
-	for _, s := range Seats() {
+	for _, s := range DefaultSeats() {
 		known[s.Name] = true
 	}
 	set := map[string]bool{}
@@ -429,39 +384,6 @@ func asList(v any) []any {
 	return list
 }
 
-// textNeeds adds the reference forms a manifest's or a template's text writes to used: a form the engine fills in a
-// file's text is read there whether the text is inline or in a template file.
-func textNeeds(text []byte, used map[string]bool) {
-	for _, f := range referenceForms {
-		if bytes.Contains(text, []byte("${"+f+":")) {
-			used[ReadForm+f] = true
-		}
-	}
-	if ofSeatReach.Match(text) {
-		used[ReadForm+ReferenceFormSeatReach] = true
-	}
-}
-
-// ModuleNeeds is ManifestNeeds of a module whose files take their text from templates (template.go): what the manifest
-// needs and what each template's text writes, by template path (TemplatePaths), sorted. A module's needs are both: an
-// engine renders the template's text as it renders inline content, so a template naming ${seat:x:reach} needs the
-// reading as the same content inline does, though the manifest itself is unchanged (novox/hq ADR 0632 §2). A template
-// named and not given is no need; the reader of the files says it could not read one.
-func ModuleNeeds(raw []byte, templates map[string]string) ([]string, error) {
-	needs, err := ManifestNeeds(raw)
-	if err != nil || len(templates) == 0 {
-		return needs, err
-	}
-	used := map[string]bool{}
-	for _, n := range needs {
-		used[n] = true
-	}
-	for _, text := range templates {
-		textNeeds([]byte(text), used)
-	}
-	return sortedSet(used), nil
-}
-
 func sortedSet(set map[string]bool) []string {
 	out := make([]string, 0, len(set))
 	for k := range set {

go/catalogue/node_resolver.go

@@ -6,3 +6,33 @@ const ResolverSeat = "node-resolver"
 // ResolverFile is the machine's resolver file: the uplink holder's, or the node-resolver holder's where
 // one is held.
 const ResolverFile = "/etc/resolv.conf"
+
+// resolverVerbs is the contract every holder of node-resolver serves (novox/hq ADR 0247): what is routed
+// where, route a set of domains, and take a route away. The same verbs are served on the machine itself to
+// the modules there, so what a VPN pushed never crosses the bus to be routed; on the mesh they are the
+// operator's way to read and correct the same.
+func resolverVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "routes", Description: "What this machine's own resolver sends where: the mesh's resolvers, " +
+			"which answer every name not routed elsewhere, and each link given servers of its own with the " +
+			"domains routed to them. Also the resolver file's outside writes it kept, newest first: when, who " +
+			"wrote it as far as the file says, whether a module took it, and when the resolver's own file was " +
+			"put back.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{}, nil),
+			Replaces: []string{"resolvectl status", "resolvectl dns", "resolvectl domain"}},
+		{Name: "route", Description: "Send these domains, and every name under them, to these servers over " +
+			"this link — and only them: the link is never the machine's default route for names, and the " +
+			"mesh's own domain is refused. Replaces whatever the link was given before. A link that goes away " +
+			"takes its route with it.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"link":    "the network link the servers are reached over, by name (a VPN's tunnel interface)",
+				"domains": "the domains to route there, separated by spaces or commas",
+				"servers": "the servers' addresses, separated by spaces or commas",
+			}, []string{"link", "domains", "servers"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"resolvectl dns", "resolvectl domain", "resolvectl default-route"}},
+		{Name: "unroute", Description: "Take one link's route away: its domains go back to the mesh's " +
+			"resolvers. Nothing changes when the link has none.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{"link": "the network link, by name"}, []string{"link"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"resolvectl revert"}},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/operators_machine_test.go

@@ -139,3 +139,26 @@ func TestResetFailedWantedByAndUnlinkDanglingAreRequiredVerbsOfTheServiceManager
 		t.Fatalf("read back from the row, a holder serving all twelve is refused: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// The optional mark is not stored, so a seat set read back from the store's rows takes it from the
+// compiled seat: otherwise `failed`, seeded into the row, would come back required.
+func TestAnOptionalVerbStaysOptionalInASetReadFromTheStore(t *testing.T) {
+	defer UseSeats(DefaultSeats())
+	var rows []Seat
+	for _, s := range DefaultSeats() {
+		row := s
+		row.Serves = nil
+		for _, v := range s.Serves {
+			row.Serves = append(row.Serves, Verb{Name: v.Name, Description: v.Description, Input: v.Input})
+		}
+		rows = append(rows, row)
+	}
+	UseSeats(rows)
+	seat, _ := SeatNamed(ServiceManagerSeat)
+	holder := Manifest{Module: "systemd", Version: "1", Claims: []Claim{{Name: ServiceManagerSeat, Scope: ScopeNode,
+		Serves: []string{"units", "status", "start", "stop", "restart", "enable", "disable", "journal",
+			"reset-failed", "wanted-by", "unlink-dangling"}}}}
+	if err := CanHold(holder, seat); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a set read from rows refuses a holder without the optional failed: %v", err)
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/optional_requirements_test.go

@@ -64,32 +64,21 @@ func TestARequirementsLongForm(t *testing.T) {
 		names    string
 		busState []BusStateEntry
 		aside    []string
-		refused  string
 	}{
 		// 1966/AC1: a plain name and a bus-state entry: Requires names the plain one only, since it names provisions,
 		// and BusState holds the entry whole.
 		{"a plain name and a bus-state entry", `["postgres-database",
 			{"name":"records","storage":"ledger","template":"ledger","options":{"max-mib":1024}}]`,
-			"postgres-database", []BusStateEntry{records}, nil, ""},
+			"postgres-database", []BusStateEntry{records}, nil},
 		// 1966/AC2: an unknown key is set aside and named, never refused; the entry decodes.
 		{"a bus-state entry with a key it does not know", `[
 			{"name":"records","storage":"ledger","template":"ledger","colour":"red","options":{"max-mib":1024}}]`,
-			"", []BusStateEntry{records}, []string{"requires[0].colour"}, ""},
+			"", []BusStateEntry{records}, []string{"requires[0].colour"}},
 		// 1966/AC3: a ledger type with each of the four effects round-trips through JSON unchanged.
 		{"a ledger with its type", `[{"name":"records","storage":"ledger","template":"ledger","options":{"max-mib":1024},
-			"types":[` + string(typeJSON) + `]}]`, "", []BusStateEntry{ledger}, nil, ""},
-		// A field given twice at any depth is refused, named by its path: a decoder would keep the last without a word.
-		{"a field given twice", `[], "requires": ["postgres-database"]`, "", nil, nil, "the field requires is given twice"},
-		{"a field given twice deeper", `[{"name":"records","storage":"ledger","name":"other","template":"ledger"}]`,
-			"", nil, nil, "the field requires[0].name is given twice"},
+			"types":[` + string(typeJSON) + `]}]`, "", []BusStateEntry{ledger}, nil},
 	} {
 		got, err := decodeForTest([]byte(`{"module":"x","version":"1","requires":` + c.requires + `}`))
-		if c.refused != "" {
-			if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.refused) {
-				t.Errorf("%s: read as %+v, %v; want refused: %s", c.name, got, err, c.refused)
-			}
-			continue
-		}
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("%s: refused: %v", c.name, err)
 			continue

go/catalogue/own_manifest_test.go

@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 package catalogue
 
 import (
-	"maps"
 	"os"
 	"slices"
 	"testing"
 )
 
-// mesh-sdk's own manifest declares its two packages (design 32, SDK-10): the TypeScript `lib` and the Go `go`, built
-// from the directory go, each in series 0.1, so the Go build module publishes mesh-sdk's Go package through the Go seat
-// (design 51). Its words are judged by the group's own indexer, delivered with them (ADR 0621 §4).
+// mesh-sdk's own manifest is judged by the controller that runs when it is checked, and that controller reads it
+// strictly: a manifest word ships one release ahead of its first user. R4e's group is judged by today's controller
+// (novox/hq ADR 0503 §4), which does not know `paths` (ADR 0499), so mesh-sdk's lib names no paths until a release
+// after R4e's delivery adds them back (ADR 0499 §6, issue 1758).
 func TestOwnManifestUsesNoWordTheRunningControllerRefuses(t *testing.T) {
 	raw, err := os.ReadFile("../../module.json")
 	if err != nil {
@@ -22,19 +22,11 @@ func TestOwnManifestUsesNoWordTheRunningControllerRefuses(t *testing.T) {
 	if m.Build == nil || len(m.Build.Artifacts) == 0 {
 		t.Fatal("mesh-sdk's module.json declares no artifact")
 	}
-	packages := map[string]Artifact{}
 	for _, a := range m.Build.Artifacts {
-		packages[a.Language] = a
-		if a.Kind != ArtifactPackage || a.Series != DefaultSeries {
-			t.Errorf("artifact %q is a %s in series %q, want a package in %s", a.Name, a.Kind, a.Series, DefaultSeries)
+		if a.Paths != nil {
+			t.Errorf("artifact %q names paths %v: the running controller refuses the word until R4e is delivered", a.Name, a.Paths)
 		}
 	}
-	if g := packages["go"]; g.Name != "go" || !slices.Equal(g.Paths, []string{"go"}) {
-		t.Errorf("mesh-sdk's Go package is %+v, want go built from go", g)
-	}
-	if l := packages["typescript"]; l.Name != "lib" || l.Paths != nil {
-		t.Errorf("mesh-sdk's TypeScript package is %+v", l)
-	}
 
 	// What a reader reads (novox/hq ADR 0614 §4): the baseline is the contract of mesh-sdk f02f142, which every running
 	// node-engine was built with, and this contract reads all of it; the words added since are the only ones it lacks.
@@ -45,17 +37,12 @@ func TestOwnManifestUsesNoWordTheRunningControllerRefuses(t *testing.T) {
 			added = append(added, r)
 		}
 	}
-	// The two seats the milestone renamed (ADR 0634 §9) are read by their new names; a node-engine built with the baseline
-	// reads the old ones, and a manifest of the new names is the milestone's to deliver after the engines.
-	renamed := []string{"seat:mesh-enrolment", "seat:mesh-placement"}
 	for _, b := range baseline {
-		if !slices.Contains(reads, b) && !slices.Contains(renamed, b) {
+		if !slices.Contains(reads, b) {
 			t.Errorf("the baseline's %s is no reader capability of this contract", b)
 		}
 	}
-	for _, want := range []string{"word:tool-runner", "word:core-credentials", "word:bus-state", "word:bus-state.storage",
-		// The reference form a registry seat answers (ADR 0605 §9), and the seats the registry milestone adds.
-		ReadForm + ReferenceFormSeat, ReadForm + ReferenceFormSeatReach, "seat:go-package-registry", "seat:container-image-registry", "seat:oci-artifact-registry"} {
+	for _, want := range []string{"word:tool-runner", "word:core-credentials", "word:bus-state", "word:bus-state.storage"} {
 		if !slices.Contains(added, want) {
 			t.Errorf("%s is in the baseline, or not read: added since it are %v", want, added)
 		}
@@ -83,34 +70,12 @@ func TestOwnManifestUsesNoWordTheRunningControllerRefuses(t *testing.T) {
 				"word:provides.identity.max", "word:resources"}, nil},
 		{"a bus-state entry of requires", `{"module":"b","version":"1","requires":["mesh-bus",{"name":"jobs","storage":"kv"}]}`,
 			[]string{"word:requires", "word:bus-state.storage"}, []string{"word:bus-state", "word:bus-state.name", "word:bus-state.storage"}},
-		// A seat's reach, filled from the seat holder's listen (ADR 0632 §1): an engine before it lacks the reading.
-		{"a seat's reach", `{"module":"s","version":"1","resources":[{"id":"f","type":"file","content":"${seat:container-image-registry:reach}"}]}`,
-			[]string{"form:seat", "form:seat-reach"}, []string{"form:seat-reach"}},
-		// The store holder's manifest, distribution's as ADR 0632 leaves it: no reach written, no provision served; an engine
-		// stating only the baseline lacks the reading that finds the store by it (ADR 0632 §2).
-		{"the store's holder", `{"module":"distribution","version":"1","claims":[{"name":"container-image-registry",` +
-			`"scope":"mesh","serves":["list"]}],"listens":[{"name":"registry","port":5000,"from":"mesh"}]}`,
-			[]string{"form:seat-reach", "seat:container-image-registry"}, []string{"form:seat-reach", "seat:container-image-registry"}},
-		// docker's daemon file as ADR 0632 leaves it: the manifest unchanged, its template naming the image seat's reach;
-		// TemplatePaths names the template a reader of the files reads.
-		{"a template naming a seat's reach", `{"module":"d","version":"1","resources":[{"id":"daemon","type":"file",` +
-			`"path":"/etc/d.json","template":"files/daemon.json"}]}`, []string{"form:seat", "form:seat-reach"},
-			[]string{"form:seat-reach"}},
 		{"a word this contract does not know", `{"module":"u","version":"1","newer-word":{"inside":1}}`, []string{"word:module"}, nil},
 	} {
-		templates := map[string]map[string]string{ // the templates' text a row's module names
-			"a template naming a seat's reach": {"files/daemon.json": `{"x":"${seat:container-image-registry:reach}"}`},
-		}[row.why]
-		needs, err := ModuleNeeds([]byte(row.raw), templates)
+		needs, err := ManifestNeeds([]byte(row.raw))
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("%s: %v", row.why, err)
 		}
-		if templates != nil {
-			m, err := Decode([]byte(row.raw))
-			if paths := TemplatePaths(m); err != nil || !slices.Equal(paths, slices.Sorted(maps.Keys(templates))) {
-				t.Errorf("%s: TemplatePaths = %v (%v), want %v", row.why, paths, err, slices.Sorted(maps.Keys(templates)))
-			}
-		}
 		for _, n := range row.needs {
 			if !slices.Contains(needs, n) {
 				t.Errorf("%s: needs %v, not %s", row.why, needs, n)

go/catalogue/placement_seat.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package catalogue
 
 // PlacementSeat is the seat the assigner holds for placement.
+const PlacementSeat = "mesh-placement"
 
 // The seat's five verbs (ADR 0567 §10).
 const (
@@ -10,3 +11,57 @@ const (
 	PlacementVerbWithdraw  = "withdraw"
 	PlacementVerbAgain     = "again"
 )
+
+// placementVerbs are the seat's verbs: what reads all it keeps and does by hand all it does by itself (ADR 0567 §10).
+// Optional while the holder that serves them is not yet on every node (design 33 §7): the seat is new in the same
+// delivery as its holder.
+func placementVerbs() []Verb {
+	changes := map[string]any{"type": "array", "minItems": 1, "description": "the changes, each an object with `op`: " +
+		"place (node, module, ports, bindings), take-off (node, module), pin (node, provision, provider {node, module}), " +
+		"unpin (node, provision), hold (node, module, claim, scope, kind, site), unhold (node, module, claim), decide " +
+		"(node, field, value: a decided field of the node, its address among them), config (node, module, mesh-wide, " +
+		"layer, mesh-wide-values, values), add-node (node, decided, keys: a joining node, mesh-enrolment's alone, the " +
+		"proposal's one change, with the enrolment's warrant, its tunnel key alone at the operator's yes; ADR 0587 §7), " +
+		"remove-node (node: a joining node never confirmed, taken off when its enrolment ends; mesh-enrolment's alone, " +
+		"on the same warrant)",
+		"items": map[string]any{"type": "object", "required": []string{"op", "node"}}}
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: PlacementVerbPlacement, Optional: true, Description: "Read placement: one node's key, the nodes one " +
+			"module is placed on, or every key, each with its revision, and how full the state is against its cap. With " +
+			"history, one node's or one module's changes in order: a revision the state keeps whole, an older one as the " +
+			"proposal's changes from its placement-changed event.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "one node", "module": "one module: the nodes it is placed on",
+				"history": "\"true\": the changes in order, from the stream and the state's revisions",
+				// ADR 0571 clause 4: who holds which seat on which node, from the state seat-holders.
+				"seats": "\"true\": who holds each seat, and on which node (the state seat-holders); with node, that node's"},
+				nil, "history", "seats")},
+		{Name: PlacementVerbProposals, Optional: true, Description: "Every open proposal of placement: its changes, " +
+			"the revision of each key it was laid over, its candidates, every node's answer, the differences computed and " +
+			"answered, its verdict and its ask. Narrowed to one by id.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "one proposal's id"}, nil)},
+		{Name: PlacementVerbPropose, Optional: true, Description: "Propose a change of placement, with why: laid over " +
+			"the current keys and refused at once, naming every finding, when the result cannot be placed (two modules " +
+			"on one host port, a provider not placed, a seat held once held twice, two nodes with one address, two " +
+			"hubs, a module the indexer does not hold, a node with no record). Otherwise the nodes it touches compose " +
+			"it in shadow and answer, and on a passing verdict the operator is asked to approve it. Who proposes is the " +
+			"caller, as the runtime proves it. An add-node from mesh-enrolment, whose warrant names its node and address, " +
+			"is written with no ask of its own: its Approve is the enrolment's (ADR 0587 §7).",
+			Input: map[string]any{"type": "object", "additionalProperties": false, "required": []string{"why", "changes"},
+				"properties": map[string]any{
+					"why":     map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": "why, shown to the operator with the proposal"},
+					"changes": changes,
+					// ADR 0587 §7: an add-node carries the warrant of the enrolment that issued the node's token, whose
+					// Approve is the proposal's; the holder writes it with no ask of its own.
+					"warrant": map[string]any{"type": "object", "description": "for an add-node alone: the enrolment's " +
+						"warrant {node, address, ask, warrant}, naming the change's node and address",
+						"required": []string{"node", "address", "ask", "warrant"}},
+				}}},
+		{Name: PlacementVerbWithdraw, Optional: true, Description: "Withdraw an open proposal: its key and its " +
+			"candidates are deleted and placement-withdrawn carries it whole. With why.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "the proposal's id", "why": "why, kept in the event"}, []string{"id", "why"})},
+		{Name: PlacementVerbAgain, Optional: true, Description: "Judge an open proposal now with the answers that " +
+			"stand, and raise its ask again when its verdict passes and the operator's channel does not hold the ask. " +
+			"Nothing more: the recovery of a proposal whose judgement or ask was lost.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"id": "the proposal's id"}, []string{"id"})},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/process_bus.go

@@ -31,10 +31,6 @@ type ProcessBus struct {
 	// Removes are what a tools bundle's account may remove from the bus, from a closed set (BusRemovals; novox/hq ADR
 	// 0564 Limits 4): declared alone, by the module holding mesh-broker, never by a process.
 	Removes []string `json:"removes,omitempty"`
-	// Keeps says this process is the bus module's keeper (novox/hq ADR 0626 §1): the controller composes the bus's
-	// create, update and snapshot subjects for modules' entries into its account. Refused on any other process or
-	// module by the judge (ADR 0626 §3); read here so a manifest declaring it decodes.
-	Keeps bool `json:"keeps,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // What a bus account may remove (novox/hq ADR 0564 Limits 4), each its own grant: keys of the node-engine's acts
@@ -97,7 +93,7 @@ func (b *ProcessBus) UnmarshalJSON(raw []byte) error {
 	dec := json.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(raw))
 	dec.DisallowUnknownFields()
 	if err := dec.Decode(&p); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("a process's bus is {emits, queues, state, asks, invokes, keeps}: %w", typedUnknown(err))
+		return fmt.Errorf("a process's bus is {emits, queues, state, asks, invokes}: %w", typedUnknown(err))
 	}
 	*b = ProcessBus(p)
 	return nil

go/catalogue/provided_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+package catalogue_test
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/overlay"
+)
+
+// The manifests the control plane actually ships, resolved.
+//
+// Written because the earlier tests built their own manifests and passed while the real one was
+// missing a claim — a whole mechanism could have been absent from what ships and every test would
+// still have been green.
+
+func provided(t *testing.T) map[string]catalogue.Manifest {
+	t.Helper()
+	out := map[string]catalogue.Manifest{}
+	for _, raw := range []map[string]any{
+		overlay.Manifest(),
+	} {
+		b, err := json.Marshal(raw)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		m, err := catalogue.Decode(b)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("a manifest this control plane ships is not valid: %v", err)
+		}
+		out[m.Module] = m
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func TestTheControlPlaneShipsNoNetworkingBundle(t *testing.T) {
+	// ADR 0226: one module for the one private network. A bundle shipped beside it again would be
+	// a second name every machine carries for the same thing.
+	shipped := provided(t)
+	if len(shipped) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the control plane ships %d modules, want only %s", len(shipped), overlay.Name)
+	}
+	if _, ok := shipped["networking"]; ok {
+		t.Fatal("the retired networking bundle is shipped again")
+	}
+}
+
+// The names-need-addressing test went with the names module: names are a fact now, and a machine
+// the mesh cannot place is simply left out of the file (facts_test.go) — which is the same
+// protection, enforced where the file is written rather than by a provision refusing.
+
+func withTailscale(shelf map[string]catalogue.Manifest) map[string]catalogue.Manifest {
+	out := map[string]catalogue.Manifest{}
+	for k, v := range shelf {
+		out[k] = v
+	}
+	// Deliberately without name-resolution of its own, which is the case that used to install
+	// both VPNs: the names then needed the mesh's addressing, and only WireGuard has it.
+	out["tailscale"] = catalogue.Manifest{
+		Module: "tailscale", Version: "1",
+		Provides: catalogue.Offers(overlay.Requirement),
+		Claims:   []catalogue.Claim{{Name: overlay.TheNetwork, Scope: catalogue.ScopeNode}},
+	}
+	return out
+}

go/catalogue/reads.go

@@ -6,3 +6,61 @@ const ReadsSeat = "node-reads"
 // ReadsSecretPlaces is the word the holder of node-reads is given: the places on its node where a secret is
 // kept, as a JSON list of absolute paths, each refused by name before any read (novox/hq ADR 0310 §5).
 const ReadsSecretPlaces = "MESH_SECRET_PLACES"
+
+// readsVerbs is the contract every holder of node-reads serves (novox/hq ADR 0310 §2). The bounds are the
+// build's to set and each verb's description to state (ADR 0310, Consequences); the holder states them in
+// every answer it cuts.
+func readsVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "stat", Description: "Each component of one path or several, from / down: its type, owner and group " +
+			"(name and number), mode, whether it is a link and to what, and whether it is a mount point and of which " +
+			"file system. A link is not followed unless follow is \"true\". Read as the holder's own account, which " +
+			"holds no secret: a component it may not reach says so. At most 200 paths in one call.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"paths":  "one absolute path, or several separated by line breaks",
+				"follow": "\"true\": also say where the path leads once every link is followed",
+			}, []string{"paths"}, "follow"),
+			Replaces: []string{"stat", "ls -ld", "namei -l", "findmnt -T"}},
+		{Name: "readlink", Description: "What one link points to, as written, and where the path leads once every " +
+			"link is followed, and whether that exists.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path"}, []string{"path"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"readlink", "readlink -f", "realpath"}},
+		{Name: "list", Description: "Every entry of one directory with its type, owner, group, mode, size and, for a " +
+			"link, its target. At most 2000 entries; a longer directory is cut and says so. A place a secret is kept " +
+			"is refused by name.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{"path": "an absolute path to a directory"}, []string{"path"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"ls", "ls -la"}},
+		{Name: "read", Description: "One text file, or a part of it by line: at most 256 KiB in one answer " +
+			"(64 KiB unless more is asked), cut at a line and said so. A binary file is refused; a place a secret is " +
+			"kept, or a known credential file, is refused by name; a line shaped like a secret is withheld and its " +
+			"number said. /proc and /sys are read as far as the holder's account may.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"path":  "an absolute path to a file",
+				"from":  "the first line to answer, counted from 1 (optional)",
+				"lines": "how many lines to answer (optional)",
+				"bytes": "the most bytes to answer, up to 262144 (optional, 65536 unless given)",
+			}, []string{"path"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"cat", "head", "tail", "less"}},
+		{Name: "search", Description: "Find a fixed string (never a pattern) in one file or under one directory: " +
+			"every matching line with its file and number. Bounded: at most 500 matches (100 unless more is asked), " +
+			"8 directories deep (4 unless more is asked), 5000 files and 4 MiB per file; links are not followed and " +
+			"binary files are skipped. A place a secret is kept is skipped and named; a matching line shaped like a " +
+			"secret is withheld. The answer says which bound it met.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"text":    "the fixed string to find",
+				"path":    "an absolute path to a file or a directory",
+				"depth":   "how many directories deep, up to 8 (optional)",
+				"matches": "the most matches to answer, up to 500 (optional)",
+				"case":    "\"false\": match whatever the case (optional)",
+			}, []string{"text", "path"}, "case"),
+			Replaces: []string{"grep", "grep -r", "grep -F"}},
+		{Name: "account", Description: "One account or group by name or number, as this node's account files say: " +
+			"an account's number, group, home, shell and every group it is in; a group's number and members. With " +
+			"neither, every account and group. Never a password field.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"name":  "an account's name or number (optional)",
+				"group": "a group's name or number (optional)",
+			}, nil),
+			Replaces: []string{"getent passwd", "getent group", "id", "groups"}},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/replaces_test.go

@@ -62,3 +62,29 @@ func TestAVerbDefinitionCarriesWhatItReplaces(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("replaces not read: %v", got)
 	}
 }
+
+// A seat row the store seeded before `replaces` existed carries none; the working set takes the compiled
+// one, so the `tools` answer says it on a mesh whose rows exist.
+func TestASeededRowTakesWhatItsVerbsReplaceFromTheCompiledSeat(t *testing.T) {
+	was := Seats()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { UseSeats(was) })
+	var row Seat
+	for _, s := range DefaultSeats() {
+		if s.Name == ServiceManagerSeat {
+			row = s
+		}
+	}
+	stored := make([]Verb, len(row.Serves))
+	for i, v := range row.Serves {
+		v.Replaces = nil
+		stored[i] = v
+	}
+	row.Serves = stored
+	UseSeats([]Seat{row})
+	got, _ := SeatNamed(ServiceManagerSeat)
+	for _, v := range got.Serves {
+		if v.Name == "journal" && (len(v.Replaces) == 0 || v.Replaces[0] != "journalctl") {
+			t.Fatalf("the seeded journal verb says it replaces %v", v.Replaces)
+		}
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/seat_from_definition.go

@@ -1,74 +0,0 @@
-package catalogue
-
-import (
-	"sort"
-
-	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/seatdef"
-)
-
-// SeatFromDefinition is a seat in this package's types from its definition (novox/hq ADR 0608 §1, ADR 0635 §1): what
-// the seat list once held, now read from the definition the indexer keeps on the bus. The definition is resolved with
-// its parts (seatdef.Resolve) as the indexer keeps it. A verb's input and answer have their named types in place, and a
-// contribution kind given as data gets its checks (withShapeCode), which are code and never a definition's.
-func SeatFromDefinition(d seatdef.Definition) Seat {
-	s := Seat{Name: d.Seat, Scope: d.Scope, Replicated: d.Replicated, Delivers: d.Delivers,
-		Accepts: seatdef.MessageNames(d.Accepts), Emits: seatdef.MessageNames(d.Events), PulledByKind: d.PulledByKind,
-		Yields: d.Yields, HeldByTheEngine: d.HeldByTheEngine, Decision: d.Decision}
-	if len(s.Accepts) == 0 {
-		s.Accepts = nil
-	}
-	if len(s.Emits) == 0 {
-		s.Emits = nil
-	}
-	for _, v := range d.Verbs {
-		s.Serves = append(s.Serves, Verb{Name: v.Name, Description: v.Description,
-			Input: seatdef.ResolveRefs(v.Input, d.Defs), Output: seatdef.ResolveRefs(v.Answer, d.Defs),
-			Optional: v.Optional, Replaces: v.Replaces})
-	}
-	for _, r := range d.Receives {
-		rv := Receivable{Kind: r.Kind, Comment: r.Comment, Dirs: r.Dirs, Offered: r.Offered}
-		if r.Shape != nil {
-			sh := &Shape{Order: r.Shape.Order, Examples: examples(r.Shape.Examples), Text: r.Shape.Text}
-			for _, f := range r.Shape.Places {
-				sh.Places = append(sh.Places, PlaceField{Field: f.Field, Values: f.Values})
-			}
-			withShapeCode(d.Seat, r.Kind, sh)
-			rv.Shape = sh
-		}
-		s.Receives = append(s.Receives, rv)
-	}
-	for _, p := range d.Paths {
-		s.Paths = append(s.Paths, SeatPath{Path: p.Path, StepsBackFor: p.StepsBackFor})
-	}
-	return s
-}
-
-// SeatsFromDefinitions are the seats of a set of definitions, in reading order: the mesh's own, then a node's, each by
-// name. A seat its holder declares itself (HolderDeclares) is not in the list, as the compiled list left it out.
-func SeatsFromDefinitions(defs []seatdef.Definition) []Seat {
-	out := make([]Seat, 0, len(defs))
-	for _, d := range defs {
-		if d.HolderDeclares {
-			continue
-		}
-		out = append(out, SeatFromDefinition(d))
-	}
-	sort.SliceStable(out, func(i, j int) bool {
-		if (out[i].Scope == seatdef.ScopeMesh) != (out[j].Scope == seatdef.ScopeMesh) {
-			return out[i].Scope == seatdef.ScopeMesh
-		}
-		return out[i].Name < out[j].Name
-	})
-	return out
-}
-
-func examples(in []map[string]any) []map[string]any {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := make([]map[string]any, len(in))
-	for i, e := range in {
-		out[i], _ = seatdef.StringLists(e).(map[string]any)
-	}
-	return out
-}

go/catalogue/seat_paths_test.go

@@ -31,6 +31,17 @@ func TestTheSeatsThatNamePathsAreTheStartingSet(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// What the store's rows carry is never the paths: a row read back keeps the compiled ones.
+func TestTheSeatPathsSurviveTheStoresRows(t *testing.T) {
+	before := seats
+	t.Cleanup(func() { seats = before })
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "node-hostname", Scope: ScopeNode}})
+	s, _ := SeatNamed("node-hostname")
+	if len(s.Paths) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("node-hostname read back from its row names %v", s.Paths)
+	}
+}
+
 func hostnameSeat(t *testing.T) Seat {
 	t.Helper()
 	s, ok := SeatNamed("node-hostname")

go/catalogue/seats.go

@@ -83,22 +83,510 @@ type Receivable struct {
 	Offered bool
 }
 
-// seats is the working set the lookups read, empty until a host gives it the seat list (UseSeats): mesh-sdk compiles no
-// seat list and imports no contracts module (novox/hq ADR 0635 §1). A host reads the list from the bus
-// (mesh-sdk go/seatlist, which holds the foundation's bootstrapped definitions until the indexer is heard) and gives
-// its seats here at start and at each change.
-var seats []Seat
-
-// UseSeats replaces the working set with the seat list a host read (seatlist.Reader.Seats, via SeatsFromDefinitions).
+// defaultSeats is the set the mesh ships with — the seed for the control plane's seat table and the
+// fallback when it has none (novox/hq ADR 0122). It is the one place the closed set 0110 defines is
+// written; the store's table is seeded from it and thereafter is the live, editable copy.
 //
-// **Empty is ignored on purpose.** A list that was not read yet — or one that could not be — must leave the set in force
-// rather than emptying it: an empty set would refuse every claim and could stop a composition altogether, which is a
-// far worse failure than running on the set the host last had.
+// In the order a person reads it: the mesh's own, then a node's.
+var defaultSeats = append([]Seat{
+	// The store's first verbs (novox/hq ADR 0159): the smallest set that makes the store askable,
+	// served by whichever module holds the seat with tools of these names.
+	{Name: "mesh-store", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "postgres-database", Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0079",
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "databases", Description: "Every database the store holds, with its on-disk size.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil), Replaces: []string{"psql -l"}},
+			{Name: "query", Description: "One read-only statement against one database the store holds.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"database": "the database to query", "sql": "the read-only statement"},
+					[]string{"database", "sql"}), Replaces: []string{"psql"}},
+		}},
+	// **Delivers the mesh's own bus, not `amqp`.** Those were the same word until
+	// ADR 0127 separated them: `amqp` is a backing service a module may require, and this seat is
+	// the mesh's own transport. ADR 0128 then made that connection something a module requires
+	// rather than receives ambiently — 23 of the catalogue's modules never speak, and an ambient
+	// connection would mint a credential for each.
+	{Name: BrokerSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "mesh-bus", Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0079"},
+	// The vault: the controller seals every minted credential with what it provides, which is the
+	// test for a seat of the mesh's own (novox/hq ADR 0161) — a second provider of `secret` is a
+	// second claimant, refused by name, rather than a candidate for a pin.
+	//
+	// Its verb `get` hands a secret on request and reply, sealed to the key the asker sends and only to an
+	// asker the vault allows (novox/hq ADR 0349 §11, issue 674). `accept`, `secret-ask`, `issued` and `rotate`
+	// take a value in and make one anew (ADR 0349 clauses 8 to 10, issue 675): the first three in two steps from
+	// the controller alone, which carries the value sealed to a key the vault made for the call and cannot open
+	// it. All optional until the vault that runs serves them (design 33 §7).
+	{Name: "mesh-vault", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "secret", Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0161",
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "get", Optional: true, Description: "One secret, sealed to the public key the asker sends (the " +
+				"sealed box of ADR 0206), with its generation; answered only to an asker the vault allows, as the " +
+				"bus proved it. Never the value in the clear, and never to a private key.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"name": "the secret's name",
+					"public_key": "the asker's X25519 public key as SPKI PEM — never a private key"},
+					[]string{"name", "public_key"})},
+			{Name: "accept", Optional: true, Description: "Take a value given at the controller's terminal, from the " +
+				"controller alone: name the secret and get a call and a key made for it, then send the call and the " +
+				"value sealed to that key. The vault alone opens it, and never remakes an accepted credential.",
+				Input: schema(vaultIntake(map[string]string{"node": "the machine, for a module's own secret",
+					"module": "the module, for a module's own secret", "name": "the secret's name in the module",
+					"provider": "the provider's machine, for a provision's credential", "provision": "the provision",
+					"by": "who gave it at the terminal",
+					"origin": "issued for a bus account the controller minted for a core or moved module and hands " +
+						"at once (ADR 0374, issue 787); left out for a value given at the terminal"}), nil)},
+			{Name: "secret-ask", Optional: true, Description: "Ask the operator for a module's own secret at a desk, " +
+				"from the controller or a caller the vault's manifest names, named as the bus proved it (novox/hq ADR " +
+				"0563 §8): the ask is recorded in the vault's store and bounded before the prompt " +
+				"opens, and what is typed is sealed to a key the vault made for the call and opens there alone.",
+				Input: schema(vaultIntake(map[string]string{"node": "the machine the secret is for",
+					"module": "the module", "name": "the secret's name in the module",
+					"desk": "the machine whose prompt asks", "asked_by": "who asked, as the bus named its caller",
+					"outcome": "instead of sealed: how the prompt ended"}), nil)},
+			{Name: "issued", Optional: true, Description: "Take the credential a provider's software issued for a " +
+				"provision, from the controller alone, which asks the provider's tool with a key the vault made for " +
+				"the call; kept as the provision's one credential, or, when the tool answers a value per holder named, " +
+				"each as that holder's own; the same value again writes nothing.",
+				Input: withHolders(schema(vaultIntake(map[string]string{"provision": "the provision",
+					"provider": "the provider's machine", "module": "the provider's module"}), nil))},
+			{Name: "rotate", Optional: true, Description: "Make a secret anew. Refused for a value a provider's " +
+				"software issued and for an accepted credential. Never answers the value.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "the machine, for a module's own secret", "module": "the module",
+					"name": "the secret's name in the module", "provider": "the provider's machine",
+					"provision": "the provision", "by": "who asked, when the controller carries the act"}, nil)},
+			// The move of the controller's secrets (design 57's V3, issue 676): each machine's node-engine hands in what
+			// was sealed to its machine, which the controller cannot open; the controller copies its record of asks.
+			{Name: "move-in", Optional: true, Description: "Take one value of the controller's store in, as it is, " +
+				"from the node-engine of a machine it was sealed to and no other caller: name the row, its origin " +
+				"and generation and get a call and a key made for it, then send the call, the value sealed to that " +
+				"key and a key to read back to. Never replaces a value the vault holds; answers what it kept, read " +
+				"back sealed to that key.",
+				Input: schema(vaultIntake(map[string]string{"node": "a module's own secret: its machine",
+					"module": "its module", "name": "its name in the module",
+					"provider": "a pair credential: the provider's machine", "provision": "the provision",
+					"consumer": "the consumer's machine", "consumer_module": "the consuming module",
+					"local":      "the credential's local name, when it has one",
+					"origin":     "made, accepted or issued, as the controller's store says",
+					"generation": "the controller's generation for the value", "made_at": "when it was made (RFC 3339)",
+					"read_back_to": "the second step: a raw X25519 public key the read-back is sealed to"}), nil)},
+			// A machine's node-engine states its own sealing key (novox/hq ADR 0372, issue 786).
+			{Name: "node-key", Optional: true, Description: "State this machine's sealing key to the vault, in its " +
+				"own name, from the node-engine of the machine alone: at its start and whenever the key changes. A " +
+				"first or changed key is recorded and the machine's core secrets are said changed; the same key " +
+				"again changes nothing.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"key": "the machine's sealing key, a raw X25519 public key in base64"}, nil)},
+			// A machine's node-engine composes its own modules and asks their secrets sealed to its key (novox/hq ADR 0547
+			// §2, ADR 0550 §5, issue 1126); granted as buscompose's Principal.AsksItsOwnSecrets says.
+			{Name: "own", Optional: true, Description: "Answer the node-engine of one machine, about its own machine " +
+				"alone (as the bus proved the caller, never an argument), its modules' own secrets and the pair " +
+				"credentials it consumes or provides that it names, each sealed to the key it stated with node-key. A " +
+				"credential the vault does not hold is named missing; never a value in the clear.",
+				Input: map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": map[string]any{"credentials": map[string]any{
+					"type": "array", "items": map[string]any{"type": "object"},
+					"description": "the pair credentials the machine's composition reads, each {role: consumer|provider, " +
+						"provision, consumer, consumer_module, provider, local}"}}}},
+			{Name: "move-asks", Optional: true, Description: "Copy rows of the controller's record of asks at a desk " +
+				"into the vault's, as they are and once, from the controller alone. No value is in any of them.",
+				Input: map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": map[string]any{"asks": map[string]any{
+					"type": "array", "items": map[string]any{"type": "object"},
+					"description": "the controller's rows: id, node, module, name, desk, asked_by, opened_at, ended_at, outcome"}}}},
+			{Name: "issue-account", Optional: true, Description: "Mint one bus account the grants part wants, now (novox/hq " +
+				"ADR 0561 §9): only while the controller's lease is handed away, never a node's account or the " +
+				"controller's, never anew for one the vault holds a value or an adopted hash for. Never the value.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"user": "the bus user, e.g. ace.mesh-build-go"}, []string{"user"})},
+			{Name: "sign", Optional: true, Description: "Sign with the vault's key or authority (novox/hq ADR 0550 §2): " +
+				"kind node-certificate signs the certificate of a machine's internal name, asked by that machine's " +
+				"node-engine for the serving key its record states, built from bus state alone, or by mesh-enrolment for " +
+				"a node it enrols, for the serving key the node presented at redeem (ADR 0587 §3); kind enrolment signs a " +
+				"redeem answer under its own context, for mesh-enrolment alone. Answers the certificate or the signature " +
+				"and the signer's fingerprint, and says signed; never a key.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"kind": "node-certificate or enrolment",
+					"node":        "the machine, for a node certificate: the caller's own, or the node mesh-enrolment enrols",
+					"serving_key": "from mesh-enrolment: the serving key's public half the enrolling node presented",
+					"reply":       "the redeem answer's bytes in base64, for an enrolment"}, []string{"kind"})},
+			// Enrolment (novox/hq ADR 0561 §5, ADR 0587 §3, §5; issue 774): mesh-enrolment is the only caller the vault's
+			// manifest names for these two.
+			{Name: "enrolment-token", Optional: true, Description: "Make a one-time token for a node mesh-enrolment " +
+				"issues on the operator's warrant: its secret kept with its copy sealed to the operator key and its hash " +
+				"written as the bus user enrol.<node>. Answers only what the joining machine must trust (the bus's " +
+				"address, the bus certificate's fingerprint, the vault's public signing key), never the token; with " +
+				"sealed, the token sealed to the operator key, for tokens to relay; with drop, the token and its hash " +
+				"dropped, at the enrolment's end. Asked by mesh-enrolment alone, only from the lease write. The token " +
+				"carries the first tunnel mesh-enrolment built at issue (ADR 0587 §3, insight of 2026-11-02).",
+				Input: withObject(schema(map[string]string{"node": "the node the token is for",
+					"expires": "when the token expires (RFC 3339), as the enrolment's key says",
+					"sealed":  "\"true\": answer the token sealed to the operator key",
+					"drop":    "\"true\": drop the node's token and its hash"}, []string{"node"}, "sealed", "drop"),
+					"tunnel", "the node's first tunnel, built by mesh-enrolment at issue and carried in the token: the hub's "+
+						"public key, the hub's endpoint, the node's tunnel address, its own tunnel key and the network's range",
+					map[string]string{"hub_key": "the hub's tunnel public key", "hub_endpoint": "the hub's endpoint, host:port",
+						"address": "the joining node's tunnel address",
+						"key":     "the joining machine's own tunnel public key, as given at issue",
+						"range":   "the private network's range, a prefix"})},
+			{Name: "node-account", Optional: true, Description: "Mint a joining node's bus account node.<node>, sealed " +
+				"to the sealing key it presented, and write its hash; asked again for the same node and keys, answers the " +
+				"account it already minted; with retire, the account it minted for a revoked enrolment retired. Writes the " +
+				"node's node-logins key naming node.<node>. Asked by mesh-enrolment alone. Never the value in the clear.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "the joining node",
+					"sealing_key": "the sealing key's public half the node presented, which the account is sealed to",
+					"keys_digest": "the digest of every public key the node presented (delivery.KeysDigest)",
+					"retire":      "\"true\": retire the account minted for this node"}, []string{"node"}, "retire")},
+			// A node's account rotates over two logins (novox/hq ADR 0583 §2-§5; issue 774), one node at a time, the bus
+			// node last; the state node-logins says where each node stands.
+			{Name: "rotate-node", Optional: true, Description: "Begin a node's account rotation to its other login: " +
+				"answered only for a call carrying a hand act recorded through mesh-hand-acts, which the vault reads back by " +
+				"its id. Makes the other login's value sealed to that node, writes it rotating in node-logins and says " +
+				"rotation-begun; says node-account-ready once the bus node's have shows a list holding both logins. One " +
+				"node at a time across the mesh, the bus node last: a call while a rotation runs waits until it is done.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "the node whose account rotates", "why": "why, in a sentence",
+					"act": "the id of the hand act recorded for it in mesh-hand-acts"}, []string{"node", "why", "act"})},
+			{Name: "node-account-confirm", Optional: true, Description: "Confirm a node's switch to its new login: " +
+				"asked by the node-engine dialled as that login, the runtime's proof of the caller being the confirmation. " +
+				"The old login's hash is then removed, and rotation-done said once the bus node's have shows the list " +
+				"without it.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+			{Name: "abandon", Optional: true, Description: "Abandon a node's rotation before its old login is retired: " +
+				"the new login and its value dropped, the old one kept; a node that switched switches back first.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"node": "the node whose rotation is abandoned"}, []string{"node"})},
+		}},
+	// The owner of every config value (novox/hq ADR 0348 §9, design 57 K3): its holder alone writes the buckets
+	// mesh-config_values, _resolved, _predefined and _proposals, and serves the one verb `config` (§1, §10).
+	// Optional until the mesh-config that runs serves it (design 33 §7).
+	{Name: "mesh-config", Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0348, ADR 0565",
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "config", Optional: true, Description: "Set, clear, list or read the history of config values: " +
+				"mesh config or node config for a predefined key, or a module's own value on one node, each set " +
+				"with why, validated, and naming each module on each node whose value moves.",
+				Input: configInput()},
+		}},
+	// The provisioner's server (novox/hq ADR 0349 clause 3, design 57 P4): its holder keeps the registry of which
+	// domain answers which kind of placeholder, and the buckets mesh-provisioner_needs, _applied and _collect,
+	// which it and each machine's provisioner client (for its own machine's keys) alone write. Its one verb reads
+	// them. Optional until the mesh-provisioner that runs serves it (design 33 §7).
+	{Name: "mesh-provisioner", Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0349",
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "provisioning", Optional: true, Description: "Read what the provisioner keeps: the registry " +
+				"(which domain answers which kind of placeholder), the needs each module on each node recorded, what " +
+				"is applied where, or the items of every collection, narrowed by node and module. Reads only.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"what": "registry (when not given), needs, applied or collect",
+					"node": "a node", "module": "a module: for collect, a contributor", "collection": "for collect: a collection"}, nil)},
+		}},
+	// Named for its scope since 2026-09-30 (novox/hq ADR 0156); `the-artifact-store` resolves to it as
+	// an alias on a mesh that predates the rename. It serves artifacts of every kind a build makes —
+	// images and archives, by digest — which is why the provision is the artifact store and not an
+	// image registry.
+	{Name: "mesh-artifact-store", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "artifact-store", Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0075"},
+	// The catalog (novox/hq ADR 0604): what the mesh holds of every module, its verbs read from its holder's states (CatalogSeat).
+	{Name: CatalogSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Serves: catalogVerbs(), Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0604"},
+	// The delivery's owner (novox/hq ADR 0239): one commit's journey from its pull request's head to every
+	// machine, and a group of them, recorded and ordered by its holder, which asks the controller for each act.
+	// What it says it says as its module (`mesh-delivery.transition`), through the runtime that launches it.
+	{Name: DeliverySeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Serves: deliveryVerbs(), Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0239"},
+	// Placement (novox/hq ADR 0567): which module runs on which node, state on the bus held by the assigner, changed only by
+	// a proposal the nodes answer and the operator approves. Its states and events are the holder module's.
+	{Name: PlacementSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Serves: placementVerbs(), Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0567"},
+	// The delivery's checker (novox/hq ADR 0547 §10, issue 774): the try is its verb, not the controller's.
+	{Name: CheckerSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Serves: checkerVerbs(), Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0547"},
+	// The mesh's health, out of the controller (novox/hq ADR 0564 clause 1, health_seats.go): the condition keeper, the
+	// watchman's watchdogs, the self-check and the healers.
+	{Name: ConditionsSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: healthDecision,
+		Emits: []string{"condition-raised", "condition-changed", "condition-cleared"}, Serves: conditionsVerbs()},
+	{Name: WatchdogsSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: healthDecision, Serves: watchdogsVerbs()},
+	{Name: SelfCheckSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: healthDecision, Emits: []string{"checked"}, Serves: selfCheckVerbs()},
+	{Name: HealersSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: healthDecision, Emits: []string{"healer-acted"}, Serves: healersVerbs()},
+	// The control records, out of the controller (novox/hq ADR 0565 clause 1, control_records_seats.go): a person's
+	// policy and the bus step at the assigner, and the hand-act log.
+	{Name: WantsSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: controlRecordsDecision, Emits: []string{"policy-changed"}, Serves: wantsVerbs()},
+	{Name: HandActsSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: controlRecordsDecision, Emits: []string{"act-recorded"}, Serves: handActsVerbs()},
+	// Joining a machine (novox/hq ADR 0587 §1, enrolment_seat.go): held once by the module mesh-enrolment.
+	{Name: EnrolmentSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: enrolmentDecision, Emits: EnrolmentEvents, Serves: enrolmentVerbs()},
+	// The artifact sweep (novox/hq ADR 0571 clause 2, artifact_sweep_seat.go).
+	{Name: ArtifactSweepSeat, Scope: ScopeMesh, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0571", Emits: []string{"artifacts-gone"},
+		Serves: artifactSweepVerbs()},
+	// Deferred renames (novox/hq ADR 0121): these deliver a provision, so renaming them is a
+	// delivering-seat migration with a mesh-wide cascade if a holder stops resolving mid-flight.
+	// They keep their names until that migration is done deliberately, apart from the node-* pass.
+	{Name: "npm-package-registry", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "npm-package-registry", Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0109"},
+	{Name: "git", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "git", Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0111"},
+	// **A build node's work, one seat per build language** (novox/hq ADR 0525 §2, §10; ADR 0536 §4; issue 1887). The
+	// build module of each language claims its seat on every node it runs on; the builder and the checker put their
+	// asks on the seat's accepted kinds, which the broker derives as one work queue with a shared worker per kind, and
+	// each holder pulls delivery first, then check, then recheck, at most its node's build capacity at once. Its verbs
+	// say what the node runs and pause or resume it there: every holder pulls from the same worker, so a node's pause is
+	// its holder taking nothing, kept on the module's own pause key (issue 1887's design limit 2). They replace
+	// node-build-agent, retired with build-agent (ADR 0524 §5).
+	{Name: "node-build-go", Scope: ScopeNode, Accepts: buildAskKinds(), PulledByKind: true, Serves: buildSeatVerbs("Go"),
+		Yields: true, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0525, ADR 0536, ADR 0553"},
+	{Name: "node-build-node", Scope: ScopeNode, Accepts: buildAskKinds(), PulledByKind: true, Serves: buildSeatVerbs("Node"),
+		Yields: true, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0525, ADR 0536, ADR 0553"},
+	{Name: "node-build-image", Scope: ScopeNode, Accepts: buildAskKinds(), PulledByKind: true, Serves: buildSeatVerbs("image"),
+		Yields: true, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0525, ADR 0536, ADR 0553"},
+	// **The mesh's resolvers** (novox/hq ADR 0194, 0196, 0223): every node's internal domain, and
+	// every node and container asks them and nothing else. Replicated since ADR 0223: held on more
+	// than one machine, each answering the same names from the same roster, and every machine's
+	// resolver file lists every holder — its own first — and no public resolver, so whichever answers
+	// first gives the one answer. Delivers what a machine's resolver configuration requires, so that
+	// requirement resolves to a holder wherever they are placed.
+	{Name: "mesh-dns-resolver", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "wildcard-resolution", Replicated: true,
+		Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0194, ADR 0223"},
+	// **A machine's names are one module's** (novox/hq ADR 0199, ADR 0223): its holder writes
+	// /etc/hostname and the machine's own lines in /etc/hosts, and keeps every other line of the hosts
+	// file as the operator's, changed through these three verbs on that machine alone. The controller
+	// holds none of it. Named node-hosts-file until ADR 0223; the former name resolves to it as an
+	// alias on a mesh that knew it.
+	{Name: "node-hostname", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0199, ADR 0223",
+		// The machine's names are the role's files, whatever program fills it (novox/hq ADR 0287).
+		Paths: []SeatPath{{Path: "/etc/hosts"}, {Path: "/etc/hostname"}},
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "entries", Description: "Every line of this machine's /etc/hosts, each marked whose it is: " +
+				"the operator's, or the block of the module or tool that writes it.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil), Replaces: []string{"cat /etc/hosts", "getent hosts"}},
+			{Name: "add", Description: "Add one address and its names to the operator's lines of this machine's " +
+				"/etc/hosts — a name for this machine's own programs, not the mesh's.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"address": "the IPv4 or IPv6 address",
+					"names": "the names for it, separated by spaces"}, []string{"address", "names"}),
+				Replaces: []string{"edit /etc/hosts", "HOSTALIASES"}},
+			{Name: "remove", Description: "Remove one name, or every line of one address, from the operator's " +
+				"lines of this machine's /etc/hosts. A line a module writes is refused, naming the module.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"name": "a host name, or an address to remove every line of"},
+					[]string{"name"}), Replaces: []string{"sed -i /etc/hosts"}},
+		}},
+	// The intrusion prevention's verbs (novox/hq ADR 0179): what a person asks a machine's ban list
+	// whatever keeps it — who is banned and why, ban one address, let one go. Every holder serves all
+	// four; the jails themselves are composed from the modules the machine runs (to-be 31).
+	{Name: "node-intrusion-prevention", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0121",
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "status", Description: "Every jail on this machine with how many it is watching and " +
+				"holding now, and the totals since the jail started; one jail's detail when named.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"jail": "one jail (optional)"}, nil), Replaces: []string{"fail2ban-client status"}},
+			{Name: "banned", Description: "Every address banned on this machine right now, with the jail " +
+				"that holds it and when the ban ends.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"jail": "one jail (optional)"}, nil), Replaces: []string{"fail2ban-client banned"}},
+			{Name: "ban", Description: "Ban one address in one jail now, for the jail's ban time — an " +
+				"operator's act on the live ban list, which the mesh never writes itself.",
+				Input:    schema(map[string]string{"ip": "the address", "jail": "the jail to hold it"}, []string{"ip", "jail"}),
+				Replaces: []string{"fail2ban-client set banip"}},
+			{Name: "unban", Description: "Let one address go, from one jail or from every jail when none is named.",
+				Input:    schema(map[string]string{"ip": "the address", "jail": "one jail (optional)"}, []string{"ip"}),
+				Replaces: []string{"fail2ban-client unban", "fail2ban-client set unbanip"}},
+		}},
+	// The packet filter's verbs (novox/hq ADR 0170): what a person asks a machine's filter whatever
+	// filter answers — the rules as enforced, reload the mesh's own, remove one thing the mesh did
+	// not write. Every holder serves all three; what differs by filter is the holder's own tools.
+	{Name: "node-packet-filter", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0121",
+		Serves: []Verb{
+			{Name: "rules", Description: "The packet filter as this machine enforces it now: the nftables " +
+				"ruleset and, where the tool exists, the legacy filter's listings. Narrowed to one table or " +
+				"chain when asked.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{"table": "one nftables table, as `family name` (optional)",
+					"chain": "one chain of that table (optional)"}, nil),
+				Replaces: []string{"nft list ruleset", "iptables -L", "iptables-save"}},
+			{Name: "reload", Description: "Load the mesh's own filter again from the file the mesh writes, " +
+				"and answer with the mesh's table as loaded.",
+				Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil), Replaces: []string{"nft -f"}},
+			{Name: "remove", Description: "Remove one rule set the mesh did not write, named exactly as the " +
+				"host reports it (novox/hq ADR 0168) — `chain X (iptables-legacy)` or `table ip6 filter, chain " +
+				"DOCKER-USER`. Refuses the mesh's tables, the runtime's own chains, a built-in chain and an " +
+				"active found firewall's chains. An operator's act, by name, never a flush.",
+				Input:    schema(map[string]string{"where": "the rule set, as `node show` lists it"}, []string{"where"}),
+				Replaces: []string{"nft delete", "iptables -X"}},
+		}},
+	// The machine's service manager (novox/hq ADR 0177). The host applies every declared unit,
+	// system or user scope; the holder answers questions and operator acts about them, each verb
+	// taking the unit and an optional scope. The holder runs nothing of its own: its verbs are
+	// served by the node tools runtime (ADR 0175).
+	{Name: ServiceManagerSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0177",
+		Serves: serviceManagerVerbs()},
+	// The machine's package manager (novox/hq ADR 0207). A module declaring a `package` depends on
+	// it being held on its node, as one declaring a `service` depends on node-service-manager: the
+	// mesh's word for "something on this machine answers for installing", where a capability only
+	// says the software is there. No verbs yet — the seat says who answers, and what may be asked
+	// of it is decided when someone needs to ask.
+	{Name: PackageManagerSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0207"},
+	// The machine's container runtime (novox/hq ADR 0166, seeded now by ADR 0207): a module
+	// declaring a `container` depends on it being held on its node. Its verbs, and the host creating
+	// containers through its holder, wait for ADR 0166's acceptance — seeded without them so the
+	// dependency has a seat to name and the runtime's module has one to claim.
+	{Name: ContainerRuntimeSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0166, ADR 0207"},
+	// The operator account's environment (novox/hq ADR 0203): one module per machine writes it, and
+	// every module contributes to it. No verbs — the seat says who places the environment's files,
+	// and their path is its protocol: a shell sources ~/.config/mesh/environment.sh without knowing
+	// which module wrote it.
+	{Name: EnvironmentSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0203"},
+	// The provisioner client on every machine (novox/hq ADR 0349 clause 3, design 57 P5): a service of its own on a
+	// bus account of its own (mesh-controller internal/broker NodeProvisionerSeat, design 57 P3), which fills the
+	// machine's templates. It serves no verb an agent calls.
+	{Name: "node-provisioner", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0349"},
+	// The login shell (novox/hq ADR 0204, replacing the module-declared `login-shell` of ADR 0176):
+	// the mesh's, so a second shell module claims the seat rather than declaring a second one, and
+	// the seat exists whether or not zsh's definition is registered. `execute` is the contract a caller
+	// may call where the machine serves it (optional: ADR 0268); the holder places every module's shell
+	// code in its slots.
+	{Name: LoginShellSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0204",
+		Serves: loginShellVerbs()},
+	// A machine's power (novox/hq ADR 0211): its holder owns logind's power handling, places the
+	// code modules contribute for the power moments, and publishes the machine's power states as
+	// its events. Every machine has one — every machine boots and shuts down. No verbs yet.
+	{Name: PowerSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0211"},
+	// The machine's hotkeys (novox/hq ADR 0212): the daemon that sees the keys the window manager
+	// does not — a laptop's vendor keys — run by one module per machine, which owns its
+	// configuration. Every other module with keys contributes trigger lines to it.
+	{Name: HotkeysSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0212",
+		Receives: []Receivable{{Kind: "trigger", Comment: "#"}}},
+	// The machine's message bus (novox/hq ADR 0215): its holder owns the D-Bus implementation and its
+	// system service, never restarts it live, and publishes curated events about it, never its traffic.
+	// It receives nothing yet: packages ship their own policies.
+	{Name: MessageBusSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0215"},
+	// The machine's backups (novox/hq ADR 0214, to-be 43): its holder keeps nightly restore points of
+	// the data every module on the machine declares, on the machine, against mistakes rather than
+	// disasters. A module contributes `backup` lines — what to run to take a consistent copy, and
+	// which of its directories to keep.
+	{Name: BackupSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0214",
+		Serves: backupVerbs(),
+		// `backup` is what to run and which paths to keep; `data` every item a module declares, with its
+		// class, for the holder to measure (novox/hq ADR 0233). Both derived from modules' data sections.
+		Receives: []Receivable{{Kind: BackupKindBackup, Comment: "#", Dirs: true}, {Kind: BackupKindData, Comment: "#", Dirs: true}}},
+	// Deferred (novox/hq ADR 0121): renaming to mesh-private-network is a scope + server/client
+	// model change, not a rename, so it stays until that is built.
+	{Name: "the-private-network", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0110"},
+	// The program that manages the machine's own network. It delivers nothing: its holder keeps the
+	// manager and the mesh from contradicting each other — the private network's interface left
+	// alone — and writes the machine's resolver file itself, because the manager is what would
+	// otherwise rewrite it (novox/hq ADR 0223, which retired node-resolver-config into this seat).
+	// It never declares a link, an address or a wireless network, because the link is the only
+	// channel a fix could arrive on. A seat
+	// rather than a condition in the resolver's module, so a machine running two managers is
+	// refused at assignment instead of found by the resolver being rewritten (novox/hq ADR 0117).
+	//
+	// Its verbs say what the machine resolves through and over which links (novox/hq ADR 0241): the
+	// resolver file as it is and who wrote it, and every link with its addresses, routes and the resolvers
+	// the manager knows for it — the same for every holder, so a question about a machine's names is asked
+	// the same way whatever manages its network. Optional until both holders serve them.
+	//
+	// It owns the resolver file, stepping back for node-resolver where that is held (novox/hq ADR 0287,
+	// ADR 0247).
+	{Name: "node-uplink", Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0117", Serves: uplinkVerbs(),
+		Paths: []SeatPath{{Path: ResolverFile, StepsBackFor: ResolverSeat}}},
+	// The machine's own resolver (novox/hq ADR 0247): held only where something requires `split-dns` — a
+	// VPN client whose domains must go to its own servers while every other name goes to the mesh's.
+	// Where it is held, its holder writes the resolver file and the uplink's holder steps back from it
+	// (node_resolver.go). It knows nothing of any VPN: its verbs route domains to servers over a link.
+	{Name: ResolverSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0247", Serves: resolverVerbs(),
+		Paths: []SeatPath{{Path: ResolverFile}}},
+	// A machine's shares and the shares it mounts (novox/hq ADR 0263): the holder of node-nfs-server
+	// exports a machine's folders to the private network and provides each as `nfs-share`; the holder of
+	// node-mounts writes a mount and an automount unit per share on a machine that asks (shares.go).
+	{Name: NFSServerSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0263", Serves: nfsServerVerbs()},
+	{Name: MountsSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0263", Serves: mountsVerbs()},
+	// A node's files and accounts, read (novox/hq ADR 0310, reads.go): by an account of the holder's own that holds
+	// no secret, on every node, so the reads ADR 0268 §5 takes over from the login shell's execute have a tool.
+	{Name: ReadsSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0310", Serves: readsVerbs()},
+	// A node's files, read and managed (novox/hq ADR 0394, files.go): beside node-reads until mesh-files is assigned
+	// on every node, then node-reads goes (ADR 0394 §9).
+	{Name: FilesSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: "novox/hq ADR 0394", Serves: filesVerbs()},
+	// The node's engine's own verbs and asks (novox/hq ADR 0563 §1): held by the engine on every node, by no module.
+	engineSeat(),
+},
+	// The graphical session's roles (novox/hq ADR 0208), last because they are a workstation's.
+	graphicalSessionSeats()...)
+
+// seats is the working set the lookups read. It starts as the compiled defaults and is replaced by
+// what the control plane loaded from its store (novox/hq ADR 0122), so a change to the set is a
+// change to data, not to this code.
+var seats = defaultSeats
+
+// configInput is the schema of mesh-config's verb: a value of the key's own type (a number for a number, never its
+// text), and a limit that is a number; every other argument a string.
+func configInput() map[string]any {
+	in := schema(map[string]string{"action": "list (when not given), set, clear or history",
+		"key": "the config key", "value": "for set: the value, of the key's type",
+		"module": "a module: its own value, with node", "node": "a node",
+		"why": "for set and clear: why", "by": "who gave the value at the controller's terminal",
+		"limit": "for history: at most this many, newest"}, nil)
+	props := in["properties"].(map[string]any)
+	props["value"] = map[string]any{"description": "for set: the value, of the key's type: a number, a string, " +
+		"a boolean, or for a trusted key an object or a list"}
+	props["limit"] = map[string]any{"type": "number", "description": "for history: at most this many, newest"}
+	return in
+}
+
+// DefaultSeats is the set the mesh ships with, for seeding the store's seat table.
+func DefaultSeats() []Seat { return append([]Seat(nil), defaultSeats...) }
+
+// UseSeats replaces the working set with the one the control plane read from its store.
+//
+// **Empty is ignored on purpose.** A store that has not been seeded yet — or one that could not be
+// read — must leave the compiled defaults in force rather than emptying the set: an empty set would
+// refuse every claim and could stop the control plane composing at all, which is a far worse failure
+// than running on the set the binary shipped with. So the store can only ever *replace* the set with
+// a non-empty one, never erase it.
 func UseSeats(s []Seat) {
 	if len(s) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
-	seats = append([]Seat(nil), s...)
+	// **The store's rows carry no protocol yet, and the protocol is what the bus is derived
+	// from.** ADR 0129 gives a seat what it accepts, emits and serves; ADR 0122 moved the set into
+	// a table that has name, scope, delivers and decision and nothing else, and the columns for
+	// the rest are not there yet. So a row replacing a compiled entry would silently drop the
+	// protocol, and the roles' work queues would never be raised — found live as "no response
+	// from stream" the first time a build was submitted over the new bus (2026-09-28). Until the
+	// table gains the columns, a row without a protocol keeps the compiled one of the same name.
+	byName := map[string]Seat{}
+	for _, d := range defaultSeats {
+		byName[d.Name] = d
+	}
+	merged := make([]Seat, 0, len(s))
+	for _, row := range s {
+		if len(row.Accepts)+len(row.Emits)+len(row.Serves) == 0 {
+			if d, known := byName[row.Name]; known {
+				row.Accepts, row.Emits, row.Serves = d.Accepts, d.Emits, d.Serves
+			}
+		}
+		// What a seat receives, whether it is replicated and the paths it names are never stored
+		// (novox/hq ADR 0212, ADR 0223, ADR 0287), so they are always the compiled ones.
+		if d, known := byName[row.Name]; known {
+			row.Receives = d.Receives
+			row.Paths = d.Paths
+			row.Replicated = d.Replicated
+			row.PulledByKind = d.PulledByKind
+			row.Yields = d.Yields                   // never stored (ADR 0553)
+			row.HeldByTheEngine = d.HeldByTheEngine // never stored (ADR 0563)
+			row.Serves = optionalAsCompiled(row.Serves, d.Serves)
+		}
+		merged = append(merged, row)
+	}
+	seats = merged
+}
+
+// optionalAsCompiled is a row's verbs with each one the compiled seat marks optional marked so. The mark
+// is never stored (Verb.Optional), and a row is what the working set holds once the store is read: a verb
+// the seeding added to the row — `failed`, `checks` — would otherwise come back required, and every holder
+// not serving it yet would be refused at registration and at handover, which the mark exists to prevent.
+//
+// **And what a verb replaces is the compiled one** (novox/hq ADR 0245): a row seeded before the field
+// existed carries none, and re-seeding widens a verb's arguments only, so read from the row alone the
+// `tools` answer — what the mesh MCP server's search and the agent's instructions are built from — would
+// say no verb replaces anything on a mesh whose rows exist. The mesh's statement of what a role replaces
+// is this binary's, like the optional mark.
+func optionalAsCompiled(row, compiled []Verb) []Verb {
+	optional := map[string]bool{}
+	replaces := map[string][]string{}
+	for _, v := range compiled {
+		if v.Optional {
+			optional[v.Name] = true
+		}
+		if len(v.Replaces) > 0 {
+			replaces[v.Name] = v.Replaces
+		}
+	}
+	if len(optional) == 0 && len(replaces) == 0 {
+		return row
+	}
+	out := make([]Verb, len(row))
+	for i, v := range row {
+		v.Optional = optional[v.Name]
+		if r, ok := replaces[v.Name]; ok {
+			v.Replaces = r
+		}
+		out[i] = v
+	}
+	return out
 }
 
 // aliases maps a seat's former names to its current canonical name (novox/hq ADR 0122). Loaded from
@@ -215,3 +703,190 @@ func SeatsWithAProtocol() []Seat {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// serviceManagerVerbs is the contract every holder of node-service-manager serves (novox/hq ADR
+// 0177): the units on the machine in both scopes, read and acted on by name. Every verb takes an
+// optional scope — "system" when absent, "user" for the operator account's own manager — so a
+// caller asks for a user unit the way it asks for a system one; `failed` alone reads both managers
+// when none is named. `failed`, `reset-failed`, `wanted-by` and `unlink-dangling` are optional
+// (Verb.Optional) until every holder serves them (ADR 0246).
+func serviceManagerVerbs() []Verb {
+	scoped := func(more map[string]string, required []string) map[string]any {
+		props := map[string]string{"scope": "\"system\" (the default) or \"user\": the operator account's own manager"}
+		for k, v := range more {
+			props[k] = v
+		}
+		return schema(props, required)
+	}
+	unit := map[string]string{"unit": "the unit's name, as the service manager knows it"}
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "units", Description: "The units the service manager knows in a scope, each with its load, active and sub state; narrowed to a pattern when asked.",
+			Input: scoped(map[string]string{"pattern": "a glob the unit's name must match (optional)"}, nil), Replaces: []string{"systemctl list-units"}},
+		{Name: "status", Description: "One unit as the service manager sees it now: its states, whether it starts at boot, its main process, and whether the mesh declares it.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}), Replaces: []string{"systemctl status", "systemctl is-active"}},
+		{Name: "start", Description: "Start one unit. For a unit the mesh declares, the answer says the host will restore what its declaration says at the next apply.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}), Replaces: []string{"systemctl start"}},
+		{Name: "stop", Description: "Stop one unit; for a mesh-declared unit the answer says the host will restore its declared state.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}), Replaces: []string{"systemctl stop"}},
+		{Name: "restart", Description: "Restart one unit.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}), Replaces: []string{"systemctl restart"}},
+		{Name: "enable", Description: "Make one unit start at boot (or at the account's login, in user scope).",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}), Replaces: []string{"systemctl enable"}},
+		{Name: "disable", Description: "Stop one unit starting at boot (or at login, in user scope).",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}), Replaces: []string{"systemctl disable"}},
+		// **A window, not only a tail** (the operator's direction 2026-10-07): an incident is read for the
+		// minutes it happened in, and with no window on the verb a person reached for a shell. Every
+		// argument is the holder's to validate — passed to journalctl as one word of its own, never through
+		// a shell — and what the unit printed of a secret is redacted before it is answered.
+		{Name: "journal", Description: "The last lines of one unit's journal (at most 2000), in a time window and " +
+			"narrowed to a priority and to lines holding a text when asked. A secret the unit printed is shown as " +
+			"[redacted: <what it was>].",
+			Input: scoped(map[string]string{
+				"unit":     unit["unit"],
+				"lines":    "how many lines from the end of what matches (default 100, at most 2000)",
+				"since":    "the window's start: an RFC 3339 time (2026-10-07T09:30:00Z) or relative to now (-30min, -2h, yesterday) (optional)",
+				"until":    "the window's end, in the same forms (optional; now when absent)",
+				"match":    "only the lines holding this text, as written — a fixed string, not a pattern (optional)",
+				"priority": "only entries this severe or more: 0-7 or emerg, alert, crit, err, warning, notice, info, debug (optional)",
+			}, []string{"unit"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"journalctl"}},
+		// What has failed, on the seat rather than as one holder's own tool: whatever holds the role answers
+		// it, so a caller asks every machine the same way. **Optional while its holders catch up**: the
+		// systemd module running today serves it as its own systemd_failed, and a required verb would
+		// refuse it before the version serving `failed` could be delivered.
+		{Name: "failed", Optional: true, Description: "Every failed unit on this machine, in the system manager and in the operator " +
+			"account's; a manager that does not answer is reported with its error, never as nothing failed.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{"scope": "\"system\" or \"user\": only that manager (both when absent)"}, nil),
+			Replaces: []string{"systemctl --failed"}},
+		// **Clearing a failed record, and finding what starts a unit** (novox/hq issue 332): a unit whose
+		// file is gone stays failed in its manager until the record is reset, and what keeps asking for it
+		// is a dependency or an enable link no verb could show. Required since every holder serves them
+		// (ADR 0246 step 3).
+		{Name: "reset-failed", Description: "Clear one unit's failed record in its manager — " +
+			"its failed state and its start-limit count — and answer its state after. It removes no file and " +
+			"starts nothing.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}), Replaces: []string{"systemctl reset-failed"}},
+		{Name: "wanted-by", Description: "What wants, requires or triggers one unit, read-only: the " +
+			"manager's reverse dependencies (WantedBy, RequiredBy, UpheldBy, BoundBy, TriggeredBy and the rest) and " +
+			"every enable link naming it in the scope's configuration directories (*.wants, *.requires, *.upholds), " +
+			"each with where it points and whether it dangles — the account's own directory included in user scope.",
+			Input: scoped(unit, []string{"unit"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"systemctl list-dependencies --reverse", "systemctl show -p WantedBy",
+				"ls ~/.config/systemd/user/*.wants"}},
+		// **A dangling enable link removed on the person's word** (novox/hq issue 332): `systemctl disable`
+		// leaves a link whose unit file is gone, so the manager keeps asking for the unit. Required since
+		// every holder serves it (ADR 0246 step 3).
+		{Name: "unlink-dangling", Description: "Remove the dangling enable links named for one " +
+			"unit — links in a *.wants, *.requires or *.upholds directory of the account's or the machine's own " +
+			"configuration whose target does not exist, which `disable` leaves once the unit's file is gone — on " +
+			"the person's word: `why` is required. Each is recorded (its path, its target, the reason) before it is " +
+			"removed, and the manager reloaded; a link whose target exists, or one a package, a generator or the " +
+			"runtime placed, is left and said.",
+			Input: scoped(map[string]string{"unit": unit["unit"],
+				"why": "the person's reason for removing the links, kept in the record"}, []string{"unit", "why"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"rm ~/.config/systemd/user/*.wants/<unit>", "unlink /etc/systemd/system/*.wants/<unit>"}},
+	}
+}
+
+// uplinkVerbs is the contract every holder of node-uplink serves (novox/hq ADR 0241): read-only answers
+// about what the machine resolves through and over which links, whatever program manages its network.
+func uplinkVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "resolvers", Description: "The machine's resolver file as it is now: the resolvers, search " +
+			"domains and options it lists, whether it is the file the mesh declares, and when it is not, who " +
+			"wrote it as far as the machine shows — its header, a backup a VPN client left beside it, a link " +
+			"in its place, a known writer running.",
+			Input: schema(nil, nil), Optional: true},
+		{Name: "links", Description: "Every network link on the machine: its state, its addresses, whether " +
+			"the default route leaves through it, and the resolvers and search domains the network manager " +
+			"knows for it — a VPN's tunnel included.",
+			Input: schema(nil, nil), Optional: true},
+	}
+}
+
+// backupVerbs is the node-backup seat's protocol (novox/hq to-be 43): what is kept, take one now,
+// and restore beside the live data — never over it.
+func backupVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "backed-up", Description: "What this machine backs up: each module, what it declared, " +
+			"its last good night, how many restore points are kept and the repository's size.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"module": "one module (optional)"}, nil), Replaces: []string{"restic snapshots"}},
+		{Name: "now", Description: "Take a backup now, of one module or of every module on this " +
+			"machine — before a migration, a retirement or anything else that could go wrong.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{"module": "one module (optional)"}, nil), Replaces: []string{"restic backup"}},
+		{Name: "restore", Description: "Restore one module's data from a restore point BESIDE the live " +
+			"data, never over it: each directory as <path>.restored-<date>. Swapping it in is a " +
+			"person's act. Lists the restore points when none is named.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"module":   "the module",
+				"snapshot": "the restore point (from `backed-up`; the newest when omitted)",
+				"path":     "one of the module's directories (all of them when omitted)",
+			}, []string{"module"}), Replaces: []string{"restic restore"}},
+	}
+}
+
+// loginShellVerbs is the contract of node-login-shell (novox/hq ADR 0176, ADR 0204): one command, run
+// the way the operator's own terminal would run it, bounded below the runtime's thirty-second call limit
+// so a hung command answers rather than times the caller out.
+//
+// **`execute` is optional** (novox/hq ADR 0268). It runs any command as the operator account, which can
+// become root without a person, so a machine may withhold it: the control-node does, through the
+// holder's own `execute` setting, until a call to it needs a person's approval (hq research 039). The mark
+// is ADR 0246's: a holder that does not serve the verb on a machine still holds the seat there, and its
+// silence on the bus is not judged — a holder withholding it serves nothing on the seat.
+func loginShellVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "execute", Optional: true, Description: "Run one command on this machine as the operator account, in a " +
+			"non-interactive login shell in its home; answers with what it printed and how it exited.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"command":         "the command line, as you would type it",
+				"timeout_seconds": "give up after this long, at most 25 (default 20)",
+			}, []string{"command"})},
+	}
+}
+
+// buildAskKinds are a build seat's accepted kinds, in the order a holder pulls them (ADR 0536 §4; mesh-sdk
+// delivery.AskKinds).
+func buildAskKinds() []string { return []string{"delivery", "check", "recheck"} }
+
+// buildSeatVerbs are what a build module answers on its own node for its seat (ADR 0525 §10).
+func buildSeatVerbs(language string) []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "current", Description: "The " + language + " asks this node runs now (each ask's id, kind, module and when it " +
+			"started), its build capacity, and whether it is paused, taking no new ask.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "pause", Description: "Take no new " + language + " ask on this node until resumed; an ask running here " +
+			"ends in its place. Kept across a restart of the build module (its pause key). A capacity of 0 is the " +
+			"lasting way to keep a node from building.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+		{Name: "resume", Description: "Take " + language + " asks again on this node.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{}, nil)},
+	}
+}
+
+// BrokerSeat is the mesh's bus. Its holder is the bus, and its account — when it declares one — may
+// snapshot the bus's streams and do nothing else (novox/hq ADR 0235).
+const BrokerSeat = "mesh-broker"
+
+// vaultIntake is a two-step vault verb's arguments: what its first step names, then the call and what was sealed.
+// withHolders adds to `issued` the provision's holders from that provider (issue 749): a provider's tool may answer a
+// value for each, which the vault keeps as that holder's own and hands to it alone.
+func withHolders(input map[string]any) map[string]any {
+	props, _ := input["properties"].(map[string]any)
+	props["holders"] = map[string]any{"type": "array",
+		"description": "the provision's holders from that provider, each {node, module}: its tool may answer a value " +
+			"for each, kept as that holder's own and handed to it alone",
+		"items": map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": map[string]any{
+			"node":   map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": "the holder's machine"},
+			"module": map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": "the consuming module"}}}}
+	return input
+}
+
+func vaultIntake(first map[string]string) map[string]string {
+	out := map[string]string{"call": "the second step: the call the first step answered",
+		"sealed": "the second step: the value sealed to the call's key — never the value"}
+	for k, v := range first {
+		out[k] = v
+	}
+	return out
+}

go/catalogue/setting_defaults.go

@@ -31,11 +31,6 @@ type SettingDeclaration struct {
 	Required bool `json:"required,omitempty"`
 	// Runtime is a value the module's code reads at runtime rather than one placed in a file (ADR 0348 §5).
 	Runtime bool `json:"runtime,omitempty"`
-	// RenamedFrom is the value's old name, a config value of this module's own (novox/hq ADR 0609 §4, design 32 *A
-	// config value renamed*): on the merge mesh-config moves the value held under it to this name, and answers both
-	// names until every node-engine reports a build reading the new one. The config form only: the judge refuses it
-	// under `settings`, on a secret, and where it changes the value's trust.
-	RenamedFrom string `json:"renamed-from,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // KindPreference is the kind of a setting that may have a default.

go/catalogue/shares.go

@@ -5,3 +5,76 @@ const NFSServerSeat = "node-nfs-server"
 
 // MountsSeat is the role that mounts a machine's shares and occasional sources (novox/hq ADR 0263).
 const MountsSeat = "node-mounts"
+
+// nfsServerVerbs is the contract every holder of node-nfs-server serves (novox/hq ADR 0263).
+func nfsServerVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "exports", Description: "Every share this machine exports: its name, its path, read-write or " +
+			"read-only, the owner every client is mapped to (uid and gid), each node it is exported to with that " +
+			"node's private address and access (only the nodes the server grants it to and that ask for it), " +
+			"what is granted and not asked for or asked for and not granted, and whether the kernel holds it " +
+			"now. Also the exports found that are not the mesh's: a dataset's sharenfs property, a line in " +
+			"/etc/exports.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{}, nil),
+			Replaces: []string{"exportfs -v", "cat /etc/exports", "zfs get sharenfs"}},
+		{Name: "clients", Description: "Which machines have mounted which share now, as the NFS server " +
+			"knows its clients.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{}, nil),
+			Replaces: []string{"ss -tn sport = :2049", "cat /proc/fs/nfsd/clients/*/info"}},
+		{Name: "test", Description: "Whether this machine exports one share for the mesh now, and whether its " +
+			"NFS service is up; with an address, also whether the share is exported to that address: a node's " +
+			"own private address, when the server grants it the share and the node asks for it. What a machine " +
+			"mounting the share asks before it mounts.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"share":   "the share, by its name",
+				"address": "a node's private address, to ask whether the share is exported to it (optional)",
+			}, []string{"share"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"showmount -e"}},
+		{Name: "reload", Description: "Have the kernel read this machine's export files again now (exportfs " +
+			"-ra) and answer the shares as it then holds them. The module's own process writes its export " +
+			"file; this is for after a change made outside it. Changes no shared path.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{}, nil),
+			Replaces: []string{"exportfs -ra"}},
+		{Name: "adopt", Description: "Take over an export a person made by hand: clear a dataset's sharenfs " +
+			"property for a path the mesh's own export now serves — only when that export is live. Without " +
+			"confirm, says what it would do and changes nothing.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"path":    "the shared path whose hand-made export is taken over",
+				"confirm": "\"true\": change it (needs why); anything else is a dry run",
+				"why":     "why, for the record",
+			}, []string{"path"}, "confirm"),
+			Replaces: []string{"zfs set sharenfs=off"}},
+	}
+}
+
+// mountsVerbs is the contract every holder of node-mounts serves (novox/hq ADR 0263).
+func mountsVerbs() []Verb {
+	return []Verb{
+		{Name: "list", Description: "Every mount point on this machine: its fstab line, the mesh's mount and " +
+			"automount units for it, its state (armed, mounted, absent, unreachable, failed) and since when, " +
+			"and which settings asked for it. A password in a mount's options is never shown.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{}, nil),
+			Replaces: []string{"cat /etc/fstab", "findmnt", "systemctl list-units --type=mount"}},
+		{Name: "test", Description: "Whether one share's or occasional source's server answers from this " +
+			"machine now, without touching its mount point.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{"name": "the share or source, by its name"}, []string{"name"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"showmount -e", "ping"}},
+		{Name: "mount", Description: "Mount one share or occasional source now, rather than at its first " +
+			"access.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{"name": "the share or source, by its name"}, []string{"name"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"mount"}},
+		{Name: "unmount", Description: "Release one share or occasional source now; its automount stays " +
+			"armed, so the next access mounts it again.",
+			Input:    schema(map[string]string{"name": "the share or source, by its name"}, []string{"name"}),
+			Replaces: []string{"umount"}},
+		{Name: "adopt", Description: "Take over a mount a person wrote by hand: comment out the /etc/fstab " +
+			"line for a mount point the mesh's own units now serve, keeping a copy of the file — only when " +
+			"the mesh's automount for it is armed. Without confirm, says what it would do and changes nothing.",
+			Input: schema(map[string]string{
+				"mountpoint": "the mount point whose fstab line is taken over",
+				"confirm":    "\"true\": change it (needs why); anything else is a dry run",
+				"why":        "why, for the record",
+			}, []string{"mountpoint"}, "confirm"),
+			Replaces: []string{"sed -i /etc/fstab"}},
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/state.go

@@ -31,13 +31,9 @@ type StateDeclaration struct {
 	// KeyTTL says each key of the bucket lives the time its writer gives it, and the server writes a delete marker
 	// when it ends (novox/hq ADR 0433 §1): the bucket is made with the server's time to live per message.
 	KeyTTL bool `json:"key-ttl,omitempty"`
-	// ReadOnly says only the module's processes whose own bus.state names the state write it; the module's tools,
-	// the tool runner's account, read it and never write it (the lead's ruling, 2026-11-04: nats' warrant spend record
-	// `spent`). The judge's rule and the grants follow from it.
-	ReadOnly bool `json:"read-only,omitempty"`
 }
 
-// UnmarshalJSON reads a bucket as its bare name, or as {name, history, ttl-seconds, per-machine, key-ttl, read-only}.
+// UnmarshalJSON reads a bucket as its bare name, or as {name, history, ttl-seconds}.
 func (s *StateDeclaration) UnmarshalJSON(raw []byte) error {
 	trimmed := bytes.TrimSpace(raw)
 	if len(trimmed) > 0 && trimmed[0] == '"' {
@@ -48,7 +44,7 @@ func (s *StateDeclaration) UnmarshalJSON(raw []byte) error {
 	dec := json.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(trimmed))
 	dec.DisallowUnknownFields()
 	if err := dec.Decode(&full); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("a state is either a name or {name, history, ttl-seconds, per-machine, key-ttl, read-only}: %w", typedUnknown(err))
+		return fmt.Errorf("a state is either a name or {name, history, ttl-seconds, per-machine, key-ttl}: %w", typedUnknown(err))
 	}
 	*s = StateDeclaration(full)
 	return nil
@@ -56,7 +52,7 @@ func (s *StateDeclaration) UnmarshalJSON(raw []byte) error {
 
 // MarshalJSON writes back the short form when there is nothing else to say.
 func (s StateDeclaration) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	if s.History == 0 && s.TTLSeconds == 0 && !s.PerMachine && !s.KeyTTL && !s.ReadOnly {
+	if s.History == 0 && s.TTLSeconds == 0 && !s.PerMachine && !s.KeyTTL {
 		return json.Marshal(s.Name)
 	}
 	type plain StateDeclaration

go/catalogue/state_test.go

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package catalogue
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -29,25 +28,17 @@ func TestAManifestMaySayWhatStateItKeepsAndReads(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1154/AC1: a state entry may say key-ttl; it is read, written back, and a bare name or an entry without it reads as before.
-// G-sdk-contracts 4: read-only likewise, and given twice it is refused.
 func TestAStateMayHaveKeysThatExpireOneByOne(t *testing.T) {
 	m, err := decodeForTest([]byte(`{"module":"mesh-delivery-watchman","version":"1",` +
-		`"state":[{"name":"pulse","key-ttl":true},"stuck",{"name":"seen","history":5},{"name":"spent","read-only":true}]}`))
+		`"state":[{"name":"pulse","key-ttl":true},"stuck",{"name":"seen","history":5}]}`))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	if !m.State[0].KeyTTL || m.State[1].KeyTTL || m.State[2].KeyTTL {
 		t.Fatalf("key-ttl not read as said: %+v", m.State)
 	}
-	if !m.State[3].ReadOnly || m.State[0].ReadOnly || m.State[1].ReadOnly {
-		t.Fatalf("read-only not read as said: %+v", m.State)
-	}
 	out, _ := json.Marshal(m.State)
-	if string(out) != `[{"name":"pulse","key-ttl":true},"stuck",{"name":"seen","history":5},{"name":"spent","read-only":true}]` {
+	if string(out) != `[{"name":"pulse","key-ttl":true},"stuck",{"name":"seen","history":5}]` {
 		t.Fatalf("written back as %s", out)
 	}
-	if _, err := decodeForTest([]byte(`{"module":"nats","version":"1","state":[{"name":"spent","read-only":true,"read-only":false}]}`)); err == nil ||
-		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), "the field state[0].read-only is given twice") {
-		t.Fatalf("read-only given twice: %v", err)
-	}
 }

go/catalogue/stream_work_queue_test.go

@@ -28,15 +28,6 @@ func TestAWorkQueueStreamIsDeclaredAndAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 		s.Days() != 1 || s.Cap() != 64 {
 		t.Fatalf("the stream read as %+v", s)
 	}
-	// ADR 0626 §1: the bus module's keeper declares keeps beside the rest of its bus, and it reads back.
-	k, err := decodeForTest([]byte(`{"module":"nats","version":"1","resources":[{"id":"keeper","type":"process",` +
-		`"run":["./keeper"],"bus":{"keeps":true,"state":["requests"]}}]}`))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("a keeper's bus was refused: %v", err)
-	}
-	if b, ok := k.ProcessBuses()["keeper"]; !ok || !b.Keeps {
-		t.Fatalf("the keeper's bus read as %+v", b)
-	}
 }
 
 // 1177/AC3: a stream with no retention composes as main does — limits retention, dropping its oldest — proven

go/catalogue/template.go

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"unicode/utf8"
 )
@@ -185,25 +184,6 @@ func fillItemTemplates(m Manifest, items []Item, text func(string) (string, bool
 	return out, nil
 }
 
-// TemplatePaths is every template the manifest's files and items name, by its path in the module's directory, sorted
-// and once each: what a reader of the module's files reads for ModuleNeeds. A template whose name is wrong is left out;
-// the judge refuses it by name.
-func TemplatePaths(m Manifest) []string {
-	var out []string
-	for _, r := range m.Resources {
-		if name, has, wrong := templateOf(m.Module, m.TemplatesDir(), r); has && wrong == "" {
-			out = append(out, name)
-		}
-	}
-	for _, it := range m.Items {
-		if it.Template != "" && itemTemplateProblem(m, it.Template) == "" {
-			out = append(out, it.Template)
-		}
-	}
-	slices.Sort(out)
-	return slices.Compact(out)
-}
-
 // ReadTemplates is the text of each template the manifest names, read from the module's directory in a repository tree,
 // by template path. Refused by name: a template the directory lacks, and anything under its templates directory
 // (TemplatesDir) the build's packing refuses — that directory itself, or any directory or file under it, that is a

go/catalogue/test_seats_test.go

@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-package catalogue
-
-import "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/seatlist/seatlisttest"
-
-// defaultSeats is the list the tests start from (seatlisttest: the contracts modules' definitions, read as a host reads
-// them from the bus, ADR 0635 §1), and DefaultSeats gives a copy of it for a test to restore.
-var defaultSeats = func() []Seat {
-	list := SeatsFromDefinitions(seatlisttest.Definitions())
-	UseSeats(list)
-	return list
-}()
-
-// DefaultSeats is the tests' seat list.
-func DefaultSeats() []Seat { return append([]Seat(nil), defaultSeats...) }
-
-// The whole seats' names, which the tests use and the package does not (ADR 0634 §4; ADR 0613 §5 refuses them in
-// non-test code).
-const (
-	CatalogSeat                = "mesh-catalog"
-	CheckerSeat                = "mesh-delivery-checker"
-	EnrolmentSeat              = "mesh-node-enroller"
-	PlacementSeat              = "mesh-module-assigner"
-	DeliverySeat               = "mesh-delivery"
-	WantsSeat                  = "mesh-wants"
-	HandActsSeat               = "mesh-hand-acts"
-	ConditionsSeat             = "mesh-conditions"
-	WatchdogsSeat              = "mesh-watchdogs"
-	SelfCheckSeat              = "mesh-self-check"
-	HealersSeat                = "mesh-healers"
-	VaultSeat                  = "mesh-vault"
-	ProvisionerSeat            = "mesh-provisioner"
-	BrokerSeat                 = "mesh-broker"
-	EngineSeat                 = "node-engine"
-	NpmPackageRegistrySeat     = "npm-package-registry"
-	GoPackageRegistrySeat      = "go-package-registry"
-	ContainerImageRegistrySeat = "container-image-registry"
-	OciArtifactRegistrySeat    = "oci-artifact-registry"
-)

go/catalogue/two_resolvers_test.go

@@ -91,4 +91,9 @@ func TestOnlyTheResolverIsReplicated(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("%s replicated = %v; only mesh-dns-resolver is (ADR 0223)", s.Name, s.Replicated)
 		}
 	}
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "mesh-dns-resolver", Scope: ScopeMesh, Delivers: "wildcard-resolution"}})
+	defer UseSeats(DefaultSeats())
+	if s, _ := SeatNamed("mesh-dns-resolver"); !s.Replicated {
+		t.Error("loading the set from the store, which has no column for it, lost the resolver's replication")
+	}
 }

go/catalogue/uplink_verbs_test.go

@@ -50,3 +50,16 @@ func TestTheUplinkSeatPromisesItsVerbsAndRequiresNoneYet(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a verb the seat does not promise was accepted: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestTheUplinkVerbsReadBackFromTheRowStayOptional(t *testing.T) {
+	before := seats
+	t.Cleanup(func() { seats = before })
+	// The row as seeding stores it: both verbs, the mark not a column.
+	UseSeats([]Seat{{Name: "node-uplink", Scope: ScopeNode, Serves: []Verb{{Name: "resolvers"}, {Name: "links"}}}})
+	seat := uplinkSeat(t)
+	holder := Manifest{Module: "systemd-networkd", Version: "1", Claims: []Claim{{Name: "node-uplink", Scope: ScopeNode}},
+		Facts: map[string]RosterFile{"resolvers": {Path: ResolverFile, Template: "x"}}}
+	if err := CanHold(holder, seat); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read back from the row, the verbs are required: %v", err)
+	}
+}

go/catalogue/vault_seat_test.go

@@ -27,17 +27,44 @@ func TestTheVaultsSeatDeliversSecret(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// The vault answers `get` on request and reply (novox/hq ADR 0349 §11, issue 674): the seat promises the
+// verb, so a holder serving it is accepted — and, optional while the vault that runs is the TypeScript one,
+// so is a holder that does not yet.
+func TestTheVaultsSeatPromisesGet(t *testing.T) {
+	seat, _ := SeatNamed("mesh-vault")
+	var get *Verb
+	for i := range seat.Serves {
+		if seat.Serves[i].Name == "get" {
+			get = &seat.Serves[i]
+		}
+	}
+	if get == nil {
+		t.Fatal("the vault's seat does not promise get")
+	}
+	for _, arg := range []string{"name", "public_key"} {
+		if props, _ := get.Input["properties"].(map[string]any); props[arg] == nil {
+			t.Errorf("get takes no %s", arg)
+		}
+	}
+	serving := Manifest{Module: "mesh-vault", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "secret", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-vault", Scope: ScopeMesh, Serves: []string{"get"}}}}
+	if err := CanHold(serving, seat); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the vault serving get was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	notYet := Manifest{Module: "mesh-vault", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "secret", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-vault", Scope: ScopeMesh}}}
+	if err := CanHold(notYet, seat); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the vault that does not serve get yet was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 // The vault takes values in and rotates them (novox/hq ADR 0349 clauses 8 to 10, issue 675): the seat promises
-// secret-ask, issued and rotate, each with the arguments of its steps; a holder serving them is accepted, and,
-// optional while the vault that runs does not, so is one that does not yet. And the move of the controller's secrets
-// (design 57's V3, issue 676): move-in, asked in two steps, never a value in the clear. accept and move-asks, which no
-// holder served and nothing called, are not the seat's (ADR 0620 §3); retire is, optional (design 32).
+// accept, secret-ask, issued and rotate, each with the arguments of its steps; a holder serving them is accepted,
+// and, optional while the vault that runs does not, so is one that does not yet.
 func TestTheVaultsSeatPromisesItsIntakeVerbs(t *testing.T) {
 	seat, _ := SeatNamed("mesh-vault")
 	want := map[string][]string{
-		// get, on request and reply (ADR 0349 §11, issue 674); a vault not serving it yet still holds the seat
-		// (TestTheVaultsSeatDeliversSecret).
-		"get":        {"name", "public_key"},
+		"accept":     {"node", "module", "name", "provider", "provision", "by", "call", "sealed"},
 		"secret-ask": {"node", "module", "name", "desk", "asked_by", "outcome", "call", "sealed"},
 		"issued":     {"provision", "provider", "module", "call", "sealed", "holders"},
 		"rotate":     {"node", "module", "name", "provider", "provision", "by"},
@@ -49,20 +76,6 @@ func TestTheVaultsSeatPromisesItsIntakeVerbs(t *testing.T) {
 		"rotate-node":          {"node", "why", "act"},
 		"node-account-confirm": {},
 		"abandon":              {"node"},
-		"move-in": {"node", "module", "name", "provider", "provision", "consumer", "consumer_module", "local", "origin",
-			"generation", "made_at", "call", "sealed", "read_back_to"},
-		// And own (issue 1126): a machine's node-engine asks its own machine's secrets, sealed to its stated key.
-		"own":    {"credentials"},
-		"retire": {"node", "module", "name", "warrant"},
-		// Issue 786: node-key, optional while the vault that runs does not serve it.
-		"node-key": {"key"},
-	}
-	for _, gone := range []string{"accept", "move-asks"} {
-		for _, v := range seat.Serves {
-			if v.Name == gone {
-				t.Errorf("the vault's seat still promises %s, which no holder serves (ADR 0620 §3)", gone)
-			}
-		}
 	}
 	for name, args := range want {
 		var verb *Verb
@@ -111,9 +124,70 @@ func TestTheVaultsSeatPromisesItsIntakeVerbs(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	serving := Manifest{Module: "mesh-vault", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "secret", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
 		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-vault", Scope: ScopeMesh,
-			Serves: []string{"get", "secret-ask", "issued", "rotate", "sign", "enrolment-token", "node-account",
-				"rotate-node", "node-account-confirm", "abandon", "move-in", "node-key", "own"}}}}
+			Serves: []string{"get", "accept", "secret-ask", "issued", "rotate", "sign", "enrolment-token", "node-account",
+				"rotate-node", "node-account-confirm", "abandon"}}}}
 	if err := CanHold(serving, seat); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the vault serving its verbs was refused: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// The move of the controller's secrets into the vault (design 57's V3, issue 676): the seat promises move-in, which a
+// machine's node-engine asks in two steps with the row, its origin and generation, then the value sealed to the
+// call's key and a key to read back to; and move-asks, the controller's record of asks copied as it is. Optional
+// while the vault that runs does not serve them; never a value in the clear.
+func TestTheVaultsSeatPromisesTheMove(t *testing.T) {
+	seat, _ := SeatNamed("mesh-vault")
+	want := map[string][]string{
+		"move-in": {"node", "module", "name", "provider", "provision", "consumer", "consumer_module", "local", "origin",
+			"generation", "made_at", "call", "sealed", "read_back_to"},
+		"move-asks": {"asks"},
+		// And own (issue 1126): a machine's node-engine asks its own machine's secrets, sealed to its stated key.
+		"own": {"credentials"},
+	}
+	for name, args := range want {
+		var verb *Verb
+		for i := range seat.Serves {
+			if seat.Serves[i].Name == name {
+				verb = &seat.Serves[i]
+			}
+		}
+		if verb == nil {
+			t.Errorf("the vault's seat does not promise %s", name)
+			continue
+		}
+		if !verb.Optional {
+			t.Errorf("%s is not optional while the vault that runs does not serve it", name)
+		}
+		props, _ := verb.Input["properties"].(map[string]any)
+		for _, arg := range args {
+			if props[arg] == nil {
+				t.Errorf("%s takes no %s", name, arg)
+			}
+		}
+		if props["value"] != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s takes a value in the clear", name)
+		}
+	}
+	serving := Manifest{Module: "mesh-vault", Provides: []Offer{{Name: "secret", Scope: ScopeMesh}},
+		Claims: []Claim{{Name: "mesh-vault", Scope: ScopeMesh,
+			Serves: []string{"get", "accept", "secret-ask", "issued", "rotate", "move-in", "node-key", "move-asks", "own"}}}}
+	if err := CanHold(serving, seat); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the vault serving the move was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// Issue 786: the vault's seat promises node-key, optional while the vault that runs does not serve it.
+func TestTheVaultsSeatPromisesNodeKey(t *testing.T) {
+	seat, _ := SeatNamed("mesh-vault")
+	for _, v := range seat.Serves {
+		if v.Name != "node-key" {
+			continue
+		}
+		props, _ := v.Input["properties"].(map[string]any)
+		if !v.Optional || props["key"] == nil {
+			t.Errorf("node-key: optional %v, key %v", v.Optional, props["key"])
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	t.Error("the vault's seat does not promise node-key")
+}

go/catalogue/verbs.go

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"maps"
+	"slices"
 )
 
 // A Verb is one tool a role serves: its name, what it does, and the schema of its arguments and of
@@ -74,6 +76,21 @@ func VerbNames(verbs []Verb) []string {
 	return out
 }
 
+// schema is a JSON schema for an object of string properties, which is every argument the verbs
+// above take. Kept small on purpose: a schema an agent cannot read is a tool it cannot call. The
+// switches are the properties that are "true" or "false" and nothing else, said in the schema as an
+// enum so a caller sees it and the verb can refuse any other word rather than read it as false.
+//
+// **The schema is the whole of what a verb takes** (novox/hq issue 244): an argument it does not
+// name is refused when the verb is called, never passed over.
+// withObject adds to a verb's input s the property name, an object of the string fields given, each required.
+func withObject(s map[string]any, name, description string, fields map[string]string) map[string]any {
+	inner := schema(fields, slices.Sorted(maps.Keys(fields)))
+	inner["description"], inner["additionalProperties"] = description, false
+	s["properties"].(map[string]any)[name] = inner
+	return s
+}
+
 func schema(properties map[string]string, required []string, switches ...string) map[string]any {
 	isSwitch := map[string]bool{}
 	for _, s := range switches {

go/catalogue/verbs_r6_test.go

@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ func TestTheDeliverySeatHasNoPlanVerbs(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, name := range []string{"times", "what-if", "release", "stop", "retire-history"} {
 		v, ok := rows[name]
-		replacement := strings.TrimPrefix(v.Description, "Removed in R6 (ADR 0539): refused by name, naming its replacement: ")
-		if !ok || replacement == "" || replacement == v.Description {
-			t.Errorf("%s: in the table %v, replacement %q", name, ok, replacement)
+		replacement, removed := RemovedDeliveryVerbs[name]
+		if !ok || !removed || replacement == "" {
+			t.Errorf("%s: in the table %v, in the removed list %v", name, ok, removed)
 			continue
 		}
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(v.Description, "Removed in R6 (ADR 0539): refused by name") || !strings.Contains(v.Description, replacement) || !v.Optional {

go/catalogue/verbs_test.go

@@ -51,12 +51,12 @@ func TestHoldingAMeshSeatRequiresServingItsVerbs(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("a holder saying it serves mint: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// L3: the seat mesh-catalog promises five verbs (the fifth is the seat list, ADR 0636 §4), each optional while two claimants stand (ADR 0604 §1, §6).
+	// L3: the seat mesh-catalog promises four verbs, each optional while two claimants stand (ADR 0604 §1, §6).
 	catalog, ok := SeatNamed(CatalogSeat)
-	if !ok || catalog.Scope != ScopeMesh || catalog.Decision != "novox/hq ADR 0604" || len(catalog.Serves) != 5 {
+	if !ok || catalog.Scope != ScopeMesh || catalog.Decision != "novox/hq ADR 0604" || len(catalog.Serves) != 4 {
 		t.Fatalf("mesh-catalog: in the set %v, %+v", ok, catalog)
 	}
-	four := []string{"modules", "module", "provides", "dependents", "seat-definitions"}
+	four := []string{"modules", "module", "provides", "dependents"}
 	for i, v := range catalog.Serves {
 		if v.Name != four[i] || !v.Optional || v.Input == nil {
 			t.Errorf("mesh-catalog's verb %d is %+v, want %s, optional, with its input", i, v, four[i])

go/composer/composer.go

@@ -0,0 +1,204 @@
+// Package composer is the shape of a composition over a plain request (novox/hq ADR 0482 clause 4, issue 1621, as ADR
+// 0593 §7 changes it): the request the command mesh-compose reads and the verdict it answers. The command and the
+// composer that runs it are the node-engine's (mesh-host cmd/mesh-compose), built from its repository at a group's
+// head, so a change to its composition code is judged by that code.
+//
+// **It reads its request and nothing else.** No bus, store, network, file or environment: the manifests come inside the
+// request (raw, as their repository holds them), the rest of the mesh is a compose.Input, and the answer is a value.
+// A manifest named only by its digest in the delivery indexer's bucket is filled before the run by Fill, by whoever
+// holds the bus (the Go build module's compose job); Run refuses a digest left unfilled.
+package composer
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"slices"
+
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/catalogue"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
+)
+
+// Version is the version of a Request and of a Verdict; a reader refuses another.
+const Version = 1
+
+// Package is the import path of the command, which a compose job builds at a commit of the node-engine's repository
+// (novox/hq ADR 0593 §7).
+const Package = "github.com/novox/mesh-host/cmd/mesh-compose"
+
+// The depths of a composition.
+const (
+	// DepthResolve resolves each machine's set over the rest of the mesh (compose.Resolve): what the assigner judges
+	// while the facts snapshot is not on the bus (issue 1461).
+	DepthResolve = "resolve"
+	// DepthCompose composes each machine's whole declaration and runs the node-engine's validator over it
+	// (compose.Compose).
+	DepthCompose = "compose"
+)
+
+// Request is everything one run composes: the rest of the mesh, one or more cases of manifests composed over it, and
+// the machines composed in each case.
+type Request struct {
+	V int `json:"v"`
+	// Input is the composition's input without its catalogue (and without each node's kept manifests): the cases give
+	// those. A Catalogue or Kept it holds is ignored. It is the node-engine's composition input as JSON, which only the
+	// composer decodes (novox/hq ADR 0593 §7), so this shape imports no composition.
+	Input json.RawMessage `json:"input"`
+	// Cases are composed one after the other over Input, each with its own manifests; their names are unique.
+	Cases []Case `json:"cases"`
+	// Machines are the nodes composed in every case; none means the manifests are only read.
+	Machines []string `json:"machines,omitempty"`
+	// Depth is DepthResolve or DepthCompose; empty is DepthCompose.
+	Depth string `json:"depth,omitempty"`
+	// HoldingsFromClaims adds to Input's holdings every seat an assigned module claims, held on its node (the
+	// assigner's input, which has no holdings of record).
+	HoldingsFromClaims bool `json:"holdings_from_claims,omitempty"`
+	// Declarations asks each composed machine's declared paths (DepthCompose only).
+	Declarations bool `json:"declarations,omitempty"`
+	// Predefined is the list of predefined keys at the catalogue's root (predefined.json, novox/hq ADR 0348 §7). No
+	// longer read: the composer judges no manifest (novox/hq ADR 0578 §5), the indexer's judge does, and its verdicts
+	// come in each case's Verdicts. Kept so an asker that still sends it is read.
+	Predefined catalogue.PredefinedList `json:"predefined,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Case is one catalogue composed: every module's manifest by name, and per node the manifests kept at the build it runs.
+//
+// Placements are, by node, the placement the case composes that node with in place of what Input says of it: a change's
+// own placement files, so a check composes a catalogue pull request's placement (issue 1126, frombus.Placed); a null
+// placement leaves nothing placed on the node. A case without them composes Input's.
+//
+// Verdicts are, by module, the indexer's judge's verdict on its manifest in Manifests (novox/hq ADR 0578 §5), put in by
+// the assigner or the checker that runs the composer: a refused one is held, composed as its stub so what it offers
+// still shapes the rest, and named in the case's verdict. A module without one is accepted (delivery.TakeManifestVerdict).
+type Case struct {
+	Name       string                              `json:"name"`
+	Manifests  map[string]Manifest                 `json:"manifests"`
+	Verdicts   map[string]delivery.ManifestVerdict `json:"verdicts,omitempty"`
+	Kept       map[string]map[string]Manifest      `json:"kept,omitempty"`
+	Placements map[string]*delivery.Placement      `json:"placements,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Manifest is a module's manifest as its repository holds it (Raw, the bytes), or the digest the delivery indexer keeps
+// it under (Digest), which Fill replaces by the bytes. On the wire it is the manifest itself, or {"digest": "..."}.
+type Manifest struct {
+	Raw    json.RawMessage
+	Digest string
+}
+
+// MarshalJSON writes the raw manifest, or {"digest": ...} when only the digest is known.
+func (m Manifest) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	if len(m.Raw) > 0 {
+		return m.Raw, nil
+	}
+	return json.Marshal(map[string]string{"digest": m.Digest})
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON reads {"digest": "..."} (an object with that one key) as a digest, and any other value as the raw
+// manifest.
+func (m *Manifest) UnmarshalJSON(raw []byte) error {
+	var probe map[string]json.RawMessage
+	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &probe) == nil && len(probe) == 1 {
+		if d, ok := probe["digest"]; ok {
+			var digest string
+			if err := json.Unmarshal(d, &digest); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("a manifest's digest is not a string: %w", err)
+			}
+			*m = Manifest{Digest: digest}
+			return nil
+		}
+	}
+	*m = Manifest{Raw: slices.Clone(raw)}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Verdict is what one run answers: the mesh-sdk the command was built with, and each case's verdict in the order asked.
+type Verdict struct {
+	V     int           `json:"v"`
+	SDK   string        `json:"sdk"`
+	Cases []CaseVerdict `json:"cases"`
+}
+
+// CaseVerdict is one case's: every manifest read or refused, every machine composed or not.
+type CaseVerdict struct {
+	Name      string                  `json:"name"`
+	Manifests map[string]ManifestRead `json:"manifests"`
+	Machines  map[string]Machine      `json:"machines,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// ManifestRead is one manifest as this mesh-sdk reads it: accepted, or refused with why: the indexer's verdict
+// (Case.Verdicts) or bytes that do not decode. A field the decoder does not know is set aside, named in SetAside, and
+// the manifest still accepted (novox/hq ADR 0578 §6).
+type ManifestRead struct {
+	Accepted bool   `json:"accepted"`
+	Refused  string `json:"refused,omitempty"`
+	SetAside string `json:"set_aside,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Machine is one machine composed: whether it composes (resolves, at DepthResolve), why not, the node-engine
+// validator's problems and the composition's refusals (DepthCompose), and its declared paths when asked. NotJudged says,
+// in words, why the composer did not judge the machine (an older node-engine's input that does not say how it composes,
+// novox/hq ADR 0593 §9): the machine is then neither composed nor refused, and a reader decides by this field alone,
+// never by the words of Reason.
+type Machine struct {
+	Composes  bool     `json:"composes"`
+	NotJudged string   `json:"not_judged,omitempty"`
+	Reason    string   `json:"reason,omitempty"`
+	Problems  []string `json:"problems,omitempty"`
+	Refusals  []string `json:"refusals,omitempty"`
+	Declared  []Path   `json:"declared,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Path is one path a declaration puts on the machine, with its kind (the resource's type), owner, group and mode as
+// declared, and the module it is of.
+type Path struct {
+	Path   string `json:"path"`
+	Kind   string `json:"kind"`
+	Owner  string `json:"owner,omitempty"`
+	Group  string `json:"group,omitempty"`
+	Mode   string `json:"mode,omitempty"`
+	Module string `json:"module,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// ErrUnfilled is a manifest named by a digest that nobody replaced by its bytes.
+var ErrUnfilled = errors.New("composer: a manifest is named by its digest and was not filled")
+
+// Decode reads a request; it refuses one that is not JSON or of another version.
+func Decode(data []byte) (Request, error) {
+	var r Request
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &r); err != nil {
+		return Request{}, fmt.Errorf("composer: the request is not JSON of its shape: %w", err)
+	}
+	if r.V != Version {
+		return Request{}, fmt.Errorf("composer: a request of version %d, this composer reads %d", r.V, Version)
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// Fill replaces every manifest named by its digest by the bytes get answers for that digest; a digest get cannot answer
+// stops it, named.
+func Fill(r *Request, get func(digest string) ([]byte, error)) error {
+	fill := func(m map[string]Manifest) error {
+		for name, man := range m {
+			if len(man.Raw) > 0 {
+				continue
+			}
+			raw, err := get(man.Digest)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("composer: the manifest of %s (digest %s): %w", name, man.Digest, err)
+			}
+			m[name] = Manifest{Raw: raw}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	for _, c := range r.Cases {
+		if err := fill(c.Manifests); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		for _, kept := range c.Kept {
+			if err := fill(kept); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}

go/composer/composer_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+package composer
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+const demo = `{"module": "demo", "version": "1", "claims": [{"name": "node-files"}]}`
+
+// A manifest named by its digest goes on the wire as {"digest": ...}, and Fill puts the bytes the indexer keeps in its
+// place; a raw manifest goes as itself.
+func TestAManifestIsItsBytesOrItsDigest(t *testing.T) {
+	r := Request{V: Version, Cases: []Case{{Name: "change", Manifests: map[string]Manifest{
+		"demo": {Digest: "d1"}, "raw": {Raw: json.RawMessage(`{"module":"raw","version":"1"}`)}},
+		Kept: map[string]map[string]Manifest{"laptop": {"demo": {Digest: "d1"}}}}}}
+	wire, err := json.Marshal(r)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(string(wire), `"demo":{"digest":"d1"}`) || !strings.Contains(string(wire), `"raw":{"module":"raw","version":"1"}`) {
+		t.Fatalf("on the wire: %s", wire)
+	}
+	back, err := Decode(wire)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	asked := 0
+	if err := Fill(&back, func(d string) ([]byte, error) {
+		asked++
+		if d != "d1" {
+			return nil, errors.New("no such digest")
+		}
+		return []byte(demo), nil
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if asked != 2 || string(back.Cases[0].Manifests["demo"].Raw) != demo || string(back.Cases[0].Kept["laptop"]["demo"].Raw) != demo {
+		t.Fatalf("filled %d times: %+v", asked, back.Cases[0])
+	}
+	bad := Request{V: Version, Cases: []Case{{Name: "c", Manifests: map[string]Manifest{"x": {Digest: "nope"}}}}}
+	if err := Fill(&bad, func(string) ([]byte, error) { return nil, errors.New("not there") }); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "nope") {
+		t.Fatalf("a digest the indexer does not hold: %v", err)
+	}
+}

go/declaration/adoption_test.go

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const adoptedResources = `"resources":[
 
 const sixtyFour = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
 
-func testAnAdoptionIsReadWithTheDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnAdoptionIsReadWithTheDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"adoption":{"taken":["postgres"],"untaken":{"hello-web":["hello-web.page","hello-web.server"]}},
 	  "declaration":1,` + adoptedResources + `}`))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func testAnAdoptionIsReadWithTheDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testADeclarationWithNoAdoptionIsConverged(t *testing.T) {
+func TestADeclarationWithNoAdoptionIsConverged(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,` + adoptedResources + `}`))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func testADeclarationWithNoAdoptionIsConverged(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnAdoptionNamingAnUnknownIDIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnAdoptionNamingAnUnknownIDIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"adoption":{"taken":[],"untaken":{"hello-web":["hello-web.missing"]}},
 	  "declaration":1,`+adoptedResources+`}`)
 	if !strings.Contains(strings.Join(refusal.Problems, "\n"), "hello-web.missing") {
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func testAnAdoptionNamingAnUnknownIDIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnAdoptionMayNameAResourceOfAnyKind(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnAdoptionMayNameAResourceOfAnyKind(t *testing.T) {
 	// A directory, a service or an action can reach what was found as surely as a file can, so
 	// the controller lists every resource of an untaken module (novox/hq ADR 0103).
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"adoption":{"taken":[],"untaken":{"hello-web":["hello-web.data"]}},
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func testAnAdoptionMayNameAResourceOfAnyKind(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnIDUnderTwoModulesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnIDUnderTwoModulesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"adoption":{"taken":[],"untaken":{"a":["hello-web.page"],"b":["hello-web.page"]}},
 	  "declaration":1,`+adoptedResources+`}`)
 	if !strings.Contains(strings.Join(refusal.Problems, "\n"), "both") {
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func testAnIDUnderTwoModulesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAModuleBothTakenAndUntakenIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAModuleBothTakenAndUntakenIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"adoption":{"taken":["hello-web"],"untaken":{"hello-web":["hello-web.page"]}},
 	  "declaration":1,`+adoptedResources+`}`)
 	if !strings.Contains(strings.Join(refusal.Problems, "\n"), "both taken and untaken") {
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func testAModuleBothTakenAndUntakenIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testTheMeshsOwnResourcesAreNeverUntaken(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheMeshsOwnResourcesAreNeverUntaken(t *testing.T) {
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"adoption":{"taken":[],"untaken":{"x":["adoption.guard"]}},
 	  "declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"adoption.guard","type":"file","path":"/etc/mesh/guard.nft","content":"x"}]}`)
@@ -95,11 +95,11 @@ func testTheMeshsOwnResourcesAreNeverUntaken(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnAdoptionWithAnUnknownFieldIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnAdoptionWithAnUnknownFieldIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	refusalFor(t, `{"adoption":{"taken":[],"held":["x"]},"declaration":1,`+adoptedResources+`}`)
 }
 
-func testACarriedBundleCannotSayTheNodeIsAdopted(t *testing.T) {
+func TestACarriedBundleCannotSayTheNodeIsAdopted(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := ParseTrusted([]byte(`{"adoption":{"taken":[]},"declaration":1,` + adoptedResources + `}`))
 	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "only the mesh can say") {
 		t.Fatalf("a bundle claiming adoption was not refused: %v", err)
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func testACarriedBundleCannotSayTheNodeIsAdopted(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // novox/hq ADR 0105: a service may take over a found tunnel, said whole and on an adopted node.
-func testTakingOverATunnelIsSaidWholeAndForARunningService(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTakingOverATunnelIsSaidWholeAndForARunningService(t *testing.T) {
 	adoptedWith := func(service string) error {
 		_, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"adoption":{"taken":[]},"resources":[` + service + `]}`))
 		return err
@@ -130,17 +130,3 @@ func testTakingOverATunnelIsSaidWholeAndForARunningService(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// TestAdoption holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestAdoption(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AnAdoptionIsReadWithTheDeclaration", testAnAdoptionIsReadWithTheDeclaration)
-	t.Run("ADeclarationWithNoAdoptionIsConverged", testADeclarationWithNoAdoptionIsConverged)
-	t.Run("AnAdoptionNamingAnUnknownIDIsRefused", testAnAdoptionNamingAnUnknownIDIsRefused)
-	t.Run("AnAdoptionMayNameAResourceOfAnyKind", testAnAdoptionMayNameAResourceOfAnyKind)
-	t.Run("AnIDUnderTwoModulesIsRefused", testAnIDUnderTwoModulesIsRefused)
-	t.Run("AModuleBothTakenAndUntakenIsRefused", testAModuleBothTakenAndUntakenIsRefused)
-	t.Run("TheMeshsOwnResourcesAreNeverUntaken", testTheMeshsOwnResourcesAreNeverUntaken)
-	t.Run("AnAdoptionWithAnUnknownFieldIsRefused", testAnAdoptionWithAnUnknownFieldIsRefused)
-	t.Run("ACarriedBundleCannotSayTheNodeIsAdopted", testACarriedBundleCannotSayTheNodeIsAdopted)
-	t.Run("TakingOverATunnelIsSaidWholeAndForARunningService", testTakingOverATunnelIsSaidWholeAndForARunningService)
-}

go/declaration/block_test.go

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 // Defends novox/hq issue 128: a file written into a block carries only its lines, in content,
 // never a line the host keeps as its own marker, and says where a new region goes only as a block.
 
-func testAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRefusedUnlessItIsOnlyItsLines(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRefusedUnlessItIsOnlyItsLines(t *testing.T) {
 	for name, c := range map[string]struct{ resource, refusal string }{
 		"a begin marker in content": {`{"id":"f","type":"file","path":"/etc/hosts","into":"block","content":"a\n# BEGIN mesh f\nb\n"}`, "# BEGIN mesh f"},
 		"an end marker in content":  {`{"id":"f","type":"file","path":"/etc/hosts","into":"block","content":"a\n# END mesh other\n"}`, "# END mesh other"},
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func testAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRefusedUnlessItIsOnlyItsLines(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRead(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRead(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"mesh-wireguard.fact-node-names","type":"file","path":"/etc/hosts","into":"block","content":"10.42.0.1 ace\n# BEGIN devtool x\n"},
 	  {"id":"dhcpcd.options","type":"file","path":"/etc/dhcpcd.conf","into":"block","content":"nohook resolv.conf\n","at":"start"},
@@ -50,9 +50,3 @@ func testAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRead(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("the markers are %q and %q", begin, end)
 	}
 }
-
-// TestBlock holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestBlock(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRefusedUnlessItIsOnlyItsLines", testAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRefusedUnlessItIsOnlyItsLines)
-	t.Run("AFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRead", testAFileWrittenIntoABlockIsRead)
-}

go/declaration/cron_test.go

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 // arrival and computes the next due minute the scheduler fires on (novox/hq ADR 0053). These test
 // the parsing and the evaluation; the firing is tested against the scheduler.
 
-func testParseCronRefusesMalformed(t *testing.T) {
+func TestParseCronRefusesMalformed(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, expr := range []string{
 		"",             // nothing
 		"* * * *",      // four fields
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func testParseCronRefusesMalformed(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testParseCronAcceptsTheOrdinaryForms(t *testing.T) {
+func TestParseCronAcceptsTheOrdinaryForms(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, expr := range []string{
 		"* * * * *",      // every minute
 		"0 3 * * *",      // 03:00 daily
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func testParseCronAcceptsTheOrdinaryForms(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testCronNextIsTheNextMatchingMinute(t *testing.T) {
+func TestCronNextIsTheNextMatchingMinute(t *testing.T) {
 	// A Monday at 12:00:30, so "next" must round up to a whole minute and land on the first match
 	// strictly after now — never re-firing the minute we are already in.
 	now := time.Date(2026, 9, 7, 12, 0, 30, 0, time.UTC) // 2026-09-07 is a Monday
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func testCronNextIsTheNextMatchingMinute(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testCronDayFieldsAreOredWhenBothRestricted(t *testing.T) {
+func TestCronDayFieldsAreOredWhenBothRestricted(t *testing.T) {
 	// The standard cron surprise: when day-of-month and day-of-week are both set, a day matches if
 	// EITHER does. "1 * 13 * 5" is due on the 13th OR on any Friday. 2026-09-07 is a Monday the 7th
 	// — neither — and 2026-09-11 is a Friday, and 2026-11-13 is the 13th.
@@ -98,11 +98,3 @@ func testCronDayFieldsAreOredWhenBothRestricted(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("a Monday the 7th matched a cron restricted to the 13th OR Friday")
 	}
 }
-
-// TestCron holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestCron(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("ParseCronRefusesMalformed", testParseCronRefusesMalformed)
-	t.Run("ParseCronAcceptsTheOrdinaryForms", testParseCronAcceptsTheOrdinaryForms)
-	t.Run("CronNextIsTheNextMatchingMinute", testCronNextIsTheNextMatchingMinute)
-	t.Run("CronDayFieldsAreOredWhenBothRestricted", testCronDayFieldsAreOredWhenBothRestricted)
-}

go/declaration/declaration.go

@@ -1368,14 +1368,8 @@ type Container struct {
 	Module string `json:"module,omitempty"`
 	Name   string `json:"name"`
 	// Image is pinned by digest (novox/hq ADR 0006) — a tag moves and a digest does not.
-	Image string `json:"image"`
-	// ImageSeat and ImageHolder say, beside an image the composition routed through a store, the seat the reference came
-	// through and that seat's holder (novox/hq design 51, issue 1966 ENG-10): what the node-engine finds the holder to wait
-	// on when the pull fails. Not part of what a container is: they are no part of its spec or digest, so a declaration
-	// composed again for a new holder replaces no container.
-	ImageSeat   string            `json:"image-seat,omitempty"`
-	ImageHolder string            `json:"image-holder,omitempty"`
-	Env         map[string]string `json:"env,omitempty"`
+	Image string            `json:"image"`
+	Env   map[string]string `json:"env,omitempty"`
 	// EnvFile names files the runtime reads environment from, in order.
 	//
 	// **Because a secret may not travel in Env.** A declaration reaches a node over the broker,

go/declaration/declaration_test.go

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func refusalFor(t *testing.T, raw string) *RefusalError {
 	return refusal
 }
 
-func testAValidDeclarationParsesInOrder(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAValidDeclarationParsesInOrder(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(valid()))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected refusal: %v", err)
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func testAValidDeclarationParsesInOrder(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnUnknownTypeRefusesTheWholeDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnUnknownTypeRefusesTheWholeDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
 	// The property everything else rests on. A host that skipped what it did not understand
 	// would apply most of a declaration and report success — a node that looks configured and
 	// is not, which is 04-ISSUES/003 with the declaration on the other side of the wire.
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ func testAnUnknownTypeRefusesTheWholeDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnUnknownFieldIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnUnknownFieldIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	// A field the host does not know is a thing the control plane believes it asked for.
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"conf","type":"file","path":"/etc/x","content":"a","immutable":true}
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ func testAnUnknownFieldIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAFieldTheTypeDoesNotUseIsRefusedNotIgnored(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFieldTheTypeDoesNotUseIsRefusedNotIgnored(t *testing.T) {
 	// The same fault in miniature: set and ignored means the control plane believes it asked
 	// for something the host will never do.
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func testAFieldTheTypeDoesNotUseIsRefusedNotIgnored(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnUnknownVersionIsRefusedWhole(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnUnknownVersionIsRefusedWhole(t *testing.T) {
 	// An older host handed a newer vocabulary must not quietly do half of it.
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":99,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"a","type":"directory","path":"/etc/mesh"}
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func testAnUnknownVersionIsRefusedWhole(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testEveryProblemIsReportedAtOnce(t *testing.T) {
+func TestEveryProblemIsReportedAtOnce(t *testing.T) {
 	// A declaration is generated, so a person reading a refusal is debugging the generator.
 	// Fixing one problem at a time and re-running to find the next wastes their afternoon.
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ func testEveryProblemIsReportedAtOnce(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testIdentityIsRequiredAndUnique(t *testing.T) {
+func TestIdentityIsRequiredAndUnique(t *testing.T) {
 	// Identity is what lets the store know this is the same resource it applied last time,
 	// which is what makes removal possible at all.
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ func testIdentityIsRequiredAndUnique(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testModeIsRefusedUnlessItMeansWhatItLooksLike(t *testing.T) {
+func TestModeIsRefusedUnlessItMeansWhatItLooksLike(t *testing.T) {
 	// "644" and "0644" differ, and the one that looks right in a manifest is the four-digit
 	// form. Accepting both would make a mode mean two things.
 	for _, mode := range []string{"644", "0999", "rwxr-xr-x", "07777777"} {
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func testModeIsRefusedUnlessItMeansWhatItLooksLike(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testARefusalSaysNothingWasApplied(t *testing.T) {
+func TestARefusalSaysNothingWasApplied(t *testing.T) {
 	// The reader's first question is whether the machine was left half-changed.
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[{"id":"x","type":"nope"}]}`)
 	if !strings.Contains(refusal.Error(), "none of it was applied") {
@@ -153,13 +153,13 @@ func testARefusalSaysNothingWasApplied(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnEmptyDeclarationIsAMistake(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnEmptyDeclarationIsAMistake(t *testing.T) {
 	refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[]}`)
 }
 
 // --- the vocabulary the foundation bootstrap needs (novox/hq 07-the-foundation.md) ---
 
-func testAnActionOverTheLinkIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnActionOverTheLinkIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	// novox/hq ADR 0005. The link may push declarations of known shape and never a command to
 	// run. This is the boundary the whole security argument rests on, so it is asserted
 	// directly rather than inferred from the type list.
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ func testAnActionOverTheLinkIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnActionWithoutVerifyIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnActionWithoutVerifyIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	// An action that runs and reports success without reading anything back is the fault this
 	// host exists to prevent. Verify is also the idempotency check, so an action without one
 	// cannot be applied twice safely either.
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ func testAnActionWithoutVerifyIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnImageMustBePinnedByDigest(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnImageMustBePinnedByDigest(t *testing.T) {
 	// novox/hq ADR 0006: reproducibility comes from pinning the identity of a thing. A bundle
 	// naming a tag pins nothing — it names whatever that tag points at on the day it runs.
 	for _, image := range []string{
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ func testAnImageMustBePinnedByDigest(t *testing.T) {
 // can start. The mesh's own control plane is built from source and lives in no public registry; a
 // machine that built it, or was handed it, names it by what it is — a content address, not a name,
 // and immutable in exactly the way the rule asks for.
-func testAnImageTheMachineHoldsIsNamedByItsOwnDigest(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnImageTheMachineHoldsIsNamedByItsOwnDigest(t *testing.T) {
 	held := "sha256:" + strings.Repeat("b", 64)
 	if _, err := ParseTrusted([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"control","type":"container","name":"mesh-controller","image":"` + held + `"}
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ func testAnImageTheMachineHoldsIsNamedByItsOwnDigest(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAFieldTheNewTypesDoNotUseIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFieldTheNewTypesDoNotUseIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	// The field-set check must cover the types added last, not only the three it was written
 	// for. A package that carries a `content` is a control plane believing it asked for
 	// something that will never happen.
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ func testAFieldTheNewTypesDoNotUseIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testTheVocabularyIsTheTwelveShapesTheMeshNeeds(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheVocabularyIsTheTwelveShapesTheMeshNeeds(t *testing.T) {
 	// Six of them the bootstrap uses (novox/hq 07-the-foundation.md), and removing one is a
 	// failing test rather than a discovery during a first-node install.
 	//
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ func testTheVocabularyIsTheTwelveShapesTheMeshNeeds(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testADeclarationFromDiskMayBeAnnotated(t *testing.T) {
+func TestADeclarationFromDiskMayBeAnnotated(t *testing.T) {
 	// The bundle in this repository is mostly explanation of why each digest is what it is, and
 	// it could be built into a binary and not applied from disk — two readers for one file. The
 	// failure was `invalid character '/'`, which names the symptom and not the cause.
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ func testADeclarationFromDiskMayBeAnnotated(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testSomethingInsideAValueIsNotAComment(t *testing.T) {
+func TestSomethingInsideAValueIsNotAComment(t *testing.T) {
 	// Every image reference has a `//` in it somewhere near. Only whole lines are dropped.
 	d, err := ParseFileTrusted([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 		{"id":"f","type":"file","path":"/etc/x","content":"see https://example.invalid/ for why"}]}`))
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ func testSomethingInsideAValueIsNotAComment(t *testing.T) {
 //
 // Not hypothetical: a test harness appended a line to the foundation bundle by accident, every
 // apply kept working, and nothing said so for the entire time it was wrong.
-func testSomethingAfterTheDeclarationIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestSomethingAfterTheDeclarationIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	good := `{"declaration":1,"resources":[{"id":"a","type":"file","path":"/tmp/a",` +
 		`"content":"x","mode":"0644"}]}`
 	if _, err := ParseFileTrusted([]byte(good)); err != nil {
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ func testSomethingAfterTheDeclarationIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // A name that would read as a reference to something else is refused before it reaches a runtime.
-func testANetworkNameIsRefusedIfItIsNotOne(t *testing.T) {
+func TestANetworkNameIsRefusedIfItIsNotOne(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, name := range []string{"", "mail/private", "host:mail", "a b"} {
 		refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 		  {"id":"private","type":"network","name":"`+name+`"}
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ func testANetworkNameIsRefusedIfItIsNotOne(t *testing.T) {
 //
 // The alternative is a configuration file containing the literal `${secret:x}`, which the program
 // reads as a value and fails on somewhere with no connection to this.
-func testAFileAskingForASecretItWasNotGivenIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFileAskingForASecretItWasNotGivenIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"c","type":"file","path":"/tmp/x","content":"token=${secret:absent}"}
 	]}`)
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ func testAFileAskingForASecretItWasNotGivenIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // And a secret nobody asked for, because somebody believes it is in a file where it is not.
-func testASecretTheContentNeverUsesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestASecretTheContentNeverUsesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	refusal := refusalFor(t, `{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"c","type":"file","path":"/tmp/x","content":"nothing here","secrets":{"spare":"S"}}
 	]}`)
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ func testASecretTheContentNeverUsesIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 // The runtime's resolver and address flags take only addresses; a name would be refused at
 // create, after the old container was already gone. Refused on arrival instead — and an address
 // without a user-defined network is refused for the same reason.
-func testAContainersResolverAndAddressAreAddressesOrRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAContainersResolverAndAddressAreAddressesOrRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	refused := func(body string) []string {
 		_, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[` + body + `]}`))
 		if err == nil {
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ func testAContainersResolverAndAddressAreAddressesOrRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnExplicitlyEmptyDeclarationIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnExplicitlyEmptyDeclarationIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 	// A deliberately-empty declaration (novox/hq issue 127) says owns_nothing, and is applied so
 	// the node drops what it last held — distinct from an accidental empty body, which is refused.
 	if _, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"owns_nothing":true,"resources":[]}`)); err != nil {
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ func testAnExplicitlyEmptyDeclarationIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 
 // A container's kept networks are names, not its own network, and not for a step (novox/hq ADR
 // 0163, rule 4); and the mesh may say which modules it left out, which a carried bundle may not.
-func testKeptNetworksAndLeftOutModulesAreReadStrictly(t *testing.T) {
+func TestKeptNetworksAndLeftOutModulesAreReadStrictly(t *testing.T) {
 	pinnedImage := "postgres@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64)
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"left_out":["web"],"resources":[
 	  {"id":"app","type":"container","name":"app","image":"` + pinnedImage + `","networks":["predecessor_default"]}
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ func testKeptNetworksAndLeftOutModulesAreReadStrictly(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // A container may ask for a capability by name, and nothing else (novox/hq ADR 0170).
-func testACapabilityIsNamedOrRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestACapabilityIsNamedOrRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	image := "postgres@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64)
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"fw","type":"container","name":"fw","image":"` + image + `","network":"host","capabilities":["NET_ADMIN","CAP_NET_RAW"]}
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ func testACapabilityIsNamedOrRefused(t *testing.T) {
 
 // A container may send its output to the machine's journal, and nowhere else but the runtime's own
 // file (novox/hq ADR 0179): what reads the machine's logs then reads the container's too.
-func testAContainerMayLogToTheJournalAndNowhereElse(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAContainerMayLogToTheJournalAndNowhereElse(t *testing.T) {
 	image := "postgres@sha256:" + strings.Repeat("a", 64)
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"front","type":"container","name":"front","image":"` + image + `","logging":"journald"}
@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ func testAContainerMayLogToTheJournalAndNowhereElse(t *testing.T) {
 
 // Issue 1024, ADR 0422: a directory or archive says how it treats files it did not write.
 
-func testADirectoryAndAnArchiveSayWhatTheyDoWithUnknownFiles(t *testing.T) {
+func TestADirectoryAndAnArchiveSayWhatTheyDoWithUnknownFiles(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"d","type":"directory","path":"/home/a/x","unknown":"move-out","knows":["keep","sub/"]},
 	  {"id":"r","type":"archive","source":"https://x/y","digest":"sha256:` + strings.Repeat("a", 64) + `","path":"/home/a/y","unknown":"module"}
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ func testADirectoryAndAnArchiveSayWhatTheyDoWithUnknownFiles(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testBadUnknownAndKnowsFormsAreRefusedNamingTheResource(t *testing.T) {
+func TestBadUnknownAndKnowsFormsAreRefusedNamingTheResource(t *testing.T) {
 	digest := `"digest":"sha256:` + strings.Repeat("a", 64) + `"`
 	cases := map[string]string{
 		"bad value":    `{"id":"d","type":"directory","path":"/x","unknown":"delete"}`,
@@ -593,36 +593,3 @@ func testBadUnknownAndKnowsFormsAreRefusedNamingTheResource(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
-
-// TestDeclaration holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestDeclaration(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AValidDeclarationParsesInOrder", testAValidDeclarationParsesInOrder)
-	t.Run("AnUnknownTypeRefusesTheWholeDeclaration", testAnUnknownTypeRefusesTheWholeDeclaration)
-	t.Run("AnUnknownFieldIsRefused", testAnUnknownFieldIsRefused)
-	t.Run("AFieldTheTypeDoesNotUseIsRefusedNotIgnored", testAFieldTheTypeDoesNotUseIsRefusedNotIgnored)
-	t.Run("AnUnknownVersionIsRefusedWhole", testAnUnknownVersionIsRefusedWhole)
-	t.Run("EveryProblemIsReportedAtOnce", testEveryProblemIsReportedAtOnce)
-	t.Run("IdentityIsRequiredAndUnique", testIdentityIsRequiredAndUnique)
-	t.Run("ModeIsRefusedUnlessItMeansWhatItLooksLike", testModeIsRefusedUnlessItMeansWhatItLooksLike)
-	t.Run("ARefusalSaysNothingWasApplied", testARefusalSaysNothingWasApplied)
-	t.Run("AnEmptyDeclarationIsAMistake", testAnEmptyDeclarationIsAMistake)
-	t.Run("AnActionOverTheLinkIsRefused", testAnActionOverTheLinkIsRefused)
-	t.Run("AnActionWithoutVerifyIsRefused", testAnActionWithoutVerifyIsRefused)
-	t.Run("AnImageMustBePinnedByDigest", testAnImageMustBePinnedByDigest)
-	t.Run("AnImageTheMachineHoldsIsNamedByItsOwnDigest", testAnImageTheMachineHoldsIsNamedByItsOwnDigest)
-	t.Run("AFieldTheNewTypesDoNotUseIsRefused", testAFieldTheNewTypesDoNotUseIsRefused)
-	t.Run("TheVocabularyIsTheTwelveShapesTheMeshNeeds", testTheVocabularyIsTheTwelveShapesTheMeshNeeds)
-	t.Run("ADeclarationFromDiskMayBeAnnotated", testADeclarationFromDiskMayBeAnnotated)
-	t.Run("SomethingInsideAValueIsNotAComment", testSomethingInsideAValueIsNotAComment)
-	t.Run("SomethingAfterTheDeclarationIsRefused", testSomethingAfterTheDeclarationIsRefused)
-	t.Run("ANetworkNameIsRefusedIfItIsNotOne", testANetworkNameIsRefusedIfItIsNotOne)
-	t.Run("AFileAskingForASecretItWasNotGivenIsRefused", testAFileAskingForASecretItWasNotGivenIsRefused)
-	t.Run("ASecretTheContentNeverUsesIsRefused", testASecretTheContentNeverUsesIsRefused)
-	t.Run("AContainersResolverAndAddressAreAddressesOrRefused", testAContainersResolverAndAddressAreAddressesOrRefused)
-	t.Run("AnExplicitlyEmptyDeclarationIsAccepted", testAnExplicitlyEmptyDeclarationIsAccepted)
-	t.Run("KeptNetworksAndLeftOutModulesAreReadStrictly", testKeptNetworksAndLeftOutModulesAreReadStrictly)
-	t.Run("ACapabilityIsNamedOrRefused", testACapabilityIsNamedOrRefused)
-	t.Run("AContainerMayLogToTheJournalAndNowhereElse", testAContainerMayLogToTheJournalAndNowhereElse)
-	t.Run("ADirectoryAndAnArchiveSayWhatTheyDoWithUnknownFiles", testADirectoryAndAnArchiveSayWhatTheyDoWithUnknownFiles)
-	t.Run("BadUnknownAndKnowsFormsAreRefusedNamingTheResource", testBadUnknownAndKnowsFormsAreRefusedNamingTheResource)
-}

go/declaration/filereference_test.go

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func refFile(extra string) string {
 }
 
 // 1694/AC1: a reference round trips, and an invalid one is refused naming the field.
-func testAFileReferenceRoundTripsAndABadOneNamesItsField(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFileReferenceRoundTripsAndABadOneNamesItsField(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(refFile("")))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func testAFileReferenceRoundTripsAndABadOneNamesItsField(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1694/AC2: a declaration as today's SDK writes it reads unchanged and its bytes carry no new key.
-func testAnInlineFileIsReadAndWrittenAsBefore(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnInlineFileIsReadAndWrittenAsBefore(t *testing.T) {
 	const in = `{"id":"m.f","type":"file","path":"/e","content":"hello"}`
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[` + in + `]}`))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func testAnInlineFileIsReadAndWrittenAsBefore(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1694/AC3: the controller's helper makes a reference of a big file and the engine's check refuses a changed byte.
-func testABigFileBecomesAReferenceAndAChangedByteFailsTheCheck(t *testing.T) {
+func TestABigFileBecomesAReferenceAndAChangedByteFailsTheCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	big := strings.Repeat("x", FileReferenceThreshold+1)
 	f := &File{ID: "m.f", Type: TypeFile, Path: "/e", Content: big}
 	if !f.TravelsByDigest() {
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func testABigFileBecomesAReferenceAndAChangedByteFailsTheCheck(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1694/AC4: what stays inline, and bytes files travel decoded.
-func testWhichFilesTravelByDigest(t *testing.T) {
+func TestWhichFilesTravelByDigest(t *testing.T) {
 	small := strings.Repeat("x", FileReferenceThreshold)
 	big := strings.Repeat("x", FileReferenceThreshold+1)
 	for name, f := range map[string]File{
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func testWhichFilesTravelByDigest(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testTheSharedNames(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheSharedNames(t *testing.T) {
 	if FileBucketPrefix != "declaration-files-" || FileReferencesCapability != "file-references" || FileReferenceThreshold != 65536 {
 		t.Fatal("a name changed")
 	}
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ func testTheSharedNames(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1694/AC6: each node has a bucket of its own, so a grant names it and never needs a `*` (ADR 0486 §2).
-func testEachNodeHasABucketOfItsOwn(t *testing.T) {
+func TestEachNodeHasABucketOfItsOwn(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, n := range []string{"ace", "g14", "novox", "shanks"} {
 		b, err := FileBucketFor(n)
 		if err != nil || b != "declaration-files-"+n {
@@ -156,13 +156,3 @@ func testEachNodeHasABucketOfItsOwn(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// TestFilereference holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestFilereference(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AFileReferenceRoundTripsAndABadOneNamesItsField", testAFileReferenceRoundTripsAndABadOneNamesItsField)
-	t.Run("AnInlineFileIsReadAndWrittenAsBefore", testAnInlineFileIsReadAndWrittenAsBefore)
-	t.Run("ABigFileBecomesAReferenceAndAChangedByteFailsTheCheck", testABigFileBecomesAReferenceAndAChangedByteFailsTheCheck)
-	t.Run("WhichFilesTravelByDigest", testWhichFilesTravelByDigest)
-	t.Run("TheSharedNames", testTheSharedNames)
-	t.Run("EachNodeHasABucketOfItsOwn", testEachNodeHasABucketOfItsOwn)
-}

go/declaration/groups_test.go

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 // A container may be given supplementary groups (novox/hq ADR 0480 clause 7, issue 1636): numbers, each above zero.
 
 // 1636/AC1: a declaration with groups decodes, is written back with them, and a declaration without them has none.
-func testAContainerWithGroupsDecodesAndIsWrittenBack(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAContainerWithGroupsDecodesAndIsWrittenBack(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"n8n.server","type":"container","name":"n8n","image":"` + anImage + `","groups":[2000,2001]},
 	  {"id":"n8n.plain","type":"container","name":"plain","image":"` + anImage + `"}]}`))
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func testAContainerWithGroupsDecodesAndIsWrittenBack(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1636/AC2: zero, a number below it, one the kernel keeps for "no group" and a number twice are refused, naming why.
-func testAContainersGroupsAreWholeNumbersAboveZeroAndNotRepeated(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAContainersGroupsAreWholeNumbersAboveZeroAndNotRepeated(t *testing.T) {
 	for want, groups := range map[string]string{
 		"never root": `[0]`,
 		"below zero": `[-5]`,
@@ -53,9 +53,3 @@ func testAContainersGroupsAreWholeNumbersAboveZeroAndNotRepeated(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("a group named by text was accepted")
 	}
 }
-
-// TestGroups holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestGroups(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AContainerWithGroupsDecodesAndIsWrittenBack", testAContainerWithGroupsDecodesAndIsWrittenBack)
-	t.Run("AContainersGroupsAreWholeNumbersAboveZeroAndNotRepeated", testAContainersGroupsAreWholeNumbersAboveZeroAndNotRepeated)
-}

go/declaration/identity_test.go

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 const anImage = "docker.io/library/x@sha256:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
 
 // The fields ADR 0325 adds, read as the controller sends them (novox/hq ADR 0325 §2, §3, §5, issue 567).
-func testIdentitiesUsersAndARunAsAreReadAsSent(t *testing.T) {
+func TestIdentitiesUsersAndARunAsAreReadAsSent(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,
 	  "identities":[{"module":"radarr","name":"mesh-radarr","uid":61001,"gid":61001}],
 	  "resources":[
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func testIdentitiesUsersAndARunAsAreReadAsSent(t *testing.T) {
 
 // What the engine refuses on arrival: a root number, an identity not named for its module, a field it does not
 // know, a user that writes a read access, a variable set twice.
-func testWhatADeclarationMayNotSayOfAnIdentity(t *testing.T) {
+func TestWhatADeclarationMayNotSayOfAnIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 	for want, raw := range map[string]string{
 		"never root": `"identities":[{"module":"m","name":"mesh-m","uid":0,"gid":61001}],"resources":[]`,
 		"named mesh-<module>": `"identities":[{"module":"m","name":"m","uid":61001,"gid":61001}],` +
@@ -59,9 +59,3 @@ func testWhatADeclarationMayNotSayOfAnIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// TestIdentity holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestIdentity(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("IdentitiesUsersAndARunAsAreReadAsSent", testIdentitiesUsersAndARunAsAreReadAsSent)
-	t.Run("WhatADeclarationMayNotSayOfAnIdentity", testWhatADeclarationMayNotSayOfAnIdentity)
-}

go/declaration/module_test.go

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import "testing"
 
 // 1132/AC1: a resource says its module, and the declaration says each module's build; a resource that does
 // not say gets today's guess, so an older controller still works.
-func testAResourceSaysItsModuleAndTheDeclarationItsBuilds(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAResourceSaysItsModuleAndTheDeclarationItsBuilds(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,
 		"builds":{"novox.be":"b-9","web":"b-4"},
 		"resources":[
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func testAResourceSaysItsModuleAndTheDeclarationItsBuilds(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1132/AC1: the module the declaration gives wins over the guess, even when the id would guess another.
-func testTheDeclaredModuleWinsOverTheGuess(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheDeclaredModuleWinsOverTheGuess(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 		{"id":"a.b.c","type":"directory","path":"/srv/a","module":"a.b"},
 		{"id":"x.y","type":"directory","path":"/srv/x","module":"other"}]}`))
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func testTheDeclaredModuleWinsOverTheGuess(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // 1132/AC1: every kind accepts the field.
-func testEveryKindAcceptsAModule(t *testing.T) {
+func TestEveryKindAcceptsAModule(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, typ := range []Type{TypeDirectory, TypeFile, TypeUser, TypeNetwork, TypeAccess, TypeArchive, TypeProcess,
 		TypeService, TypeOpening, TypePackage, TypeContainer, TypeAction} {
 		r := newOf(typ)
@@ -58,10 +58,3 @@ func testEveryKindAcceptsAModule(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// TestModule holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestModule(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AResourceSaysItsModuleAndTheDeclarationItsBuilds", testAResourceSaysItsModuleAndTheDeclarationItsBuilds)
-	t.Run("TheDeclaredModuleWinsOverTheGuess", testTheDeclaredModuleWinsOverTheGuess)
-	t.Run("EveryKindAcceptsAModule", testEveryKindAcceptsAModule)
-}

go/declaration/order_test.go

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ func withOrder(order string) string {
 	return `{"declaration":1,` + order + `"resources":[{"id":"etc","type":"directory","path":"/etc/mesh","mode":"0755"}]}`
 }
 
-func testADeclarationCarriesItsEpochAndSequence(t *testing.T) {
+func TestADeclarationCarriesItsEpochAndSequence(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(withOrder(`"epoch":57,"sequence":3,`)))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("a declaration carrying its order was refused: %v", err)
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ func testADeclarationCarriesItsEpochAndSequence(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnOrderBelowZeroIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnOrderBelowZeroIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, order := range []string{`"epoch":-1,`, `"sequence":-4,`} {
 		refusal := refusalFor(t, withOrder(order))
 		if !strings.Contains(refusal.Error(), "below zero") {
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func testAnOrderBelowZeroIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 
 // **The assignment generation it was composed from, and whether it is a put-back** (novox/hq issue 234):
 // absent is no claim; below zero is none the mesh assigns; a carried bundle puts nothing back.
-func testADeclarationCarriesItsGenerationAndWhetherItIsAPutBack(t *testing.T) {
+func TestADeclarationCarriesItsGenerationAndWhetherItIsAPutBack(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(withOrder(`"sequence":3,"generation":41,"put_back":true,`)))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("a declaration carrying its generation was refused: %v", err)
@@ -57,10 +57,3 @@ func testADeclarationCarriesItsGenerationAndWhetherItIsAPutBack(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("a carried bundle said it was a put-back and was not refused for it: %v", err)
 	}
 }
-
-// TestOrder holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestOrder(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("ADeclarationCarriesItsEpochAndSequence", testADeclarationCarriesItsEpochAndSequence)
-	t.Run("AnOrderBelowZeroIsRefused", testAnOrderBelowZeroIsRefused)
-	t.Run("ADeclarationCarriesItsGenerationAndWhetherItIsAPutBack", testADeclarationCarriesItsGenerationAndWhetherItIsAPutBack)
-}

go/declaration/ownership_test.go

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 // — owned, seed or managed — and the declaration names the files the provisioner fills. The words are
 // read and judged here before any controller sends them.
 
-func testAFileSaysWhoOwnsItAtRuntime(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFileSaysWhoOwnsItAtRuntime(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"o","type":"file","path":"/etc/o","content":"a","owner-at-runtime":"owned"},
 	  {"id":"s","type":"file","path":"/etc/s","content":"a","owner-at-runtime":"seed"},
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func testAFileSaysWhoOwnsItAtRuntime(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // A file that does not say is owned by its old form, so the word means exactly what that form does.
-func testAFileThatDoesNotSayIsOwnedByItsOldForm(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFileThatDoesNotSayIsOwnedByItsOldForm(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"resources":[
 	  {"id":"o","type":"file","path":"/etc/o","content":"a"},
 	  {"id":"s","type":"file","path":"/etc/s","content":"a","create-once":true},
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func testAFileThatDoesNotSayIsOwnedByItsOldForm(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAnOwnershipThatContradictsTheFileIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnOwnershipThatContradictsTheFileIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	for name, c := range map[string]struct{ resource, refusal string }{
 		"another word": {`{"id":"f","type":"file","path":"/etc/x","content":"a","owner-at-runtime":"mine"}`,
 			`owner-at-runtime "mine"`},
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func testAnOwnershipThatContradictsTheFileIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testTheDeclarationNamesTheFilesTheProvisionerFills(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheDeclarationNamesTheFilesTheProvisionerFills(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"filled_files":["/etc/a","/etc/b"],"resources":[
 	  {"id":"a","type":"file","path":"/etc/a","content":"a","owner-at-runtime":"owned"},
 	  {"id":"b","type":"file","path":"/etc/b","into":"block","content":"b\n","owner-at-runtime":"managed"},
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func testTheDeclarationNamesTheFilesTheProvisionerFills(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAFilledFileMustBeADeclaredFileThatSaysItsOwner(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAFilledFileMustBeADeclaredFileThatSaysItsOwner(t *testing.T) {
 	for name, c := range map[string]struct{ filled, resources, refusal string }{
 		"not declared": {`["/etc/none"]`,
 			`{"id":"a","type":"file","path":"/etc/a","content":"a","owner-at-runtime":"owned"}`,
@@ -128,12 +128,3 @@ func testAFilledFileMustBeADeclaredFileThatSaysItsOwner(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// TestOwnership holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestOwnership(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AFileSaysWhoOwnsItAtRuntime", testAFileSaysWhoOwnsItAtRuntime)
-	t.Run("AFileThatDoesNotSayIsOwnedByItsOldForm", testAFileThatDoesNotSayIsOwnedByItsOldForm)
-	t.Run("AnOwnershipThatContradictsTheFileIsRefused", testAnOwnershipThatContradictsTheFileIsRefused)
-	t.Run("TheDeclarationNamesTheFilesTheProvisionerFills", testTheDeclarationNamesTheFilesTheProvisionerFills)
-	t.Run("AFilledFileMustBeADeclaredFileThatSaysItsOwner", testAFilledFileMustBeADeclaredFileThatSaysItsOwner)
-}

go/declaration/process_test.go

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func aProcess() *Process {
 }
 
 // A process is part of the vocabulary, or a declaration carrying one is refused whole.
-func testAProcessIsSomethingTheHostSpeaks(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAProcessIsSomethingTheHostSpeaks(t *testing.T) {
 	var found bool
 	for _, kind := range Vocabulary() {
 		if kind == TypeProcess {
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func testAProcessIsSomethingTheHostSpeaks(t *testing.T) {
 // **Pinned by digest, like everything else that crosses a network.** A bundle fetched by a
 // reference somebody can repoint is not pinned, and it is the one thing on a machine that would
 // then be running code nobody reviewed.
-func testAProcesssBundleMustBePinned(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAProcesssBundleMustBePinned(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, bad := range []string{"", "latest", "sha256:short", strings.Repeat("a", 64)} {
 		d := aProcess()
 		d.Digest = bad
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func testAProcesssBundleMustBePinned(t *testing.T) {
 
 // What to run is named, never inferred. Guessing an entrypoint from which files are present makes
 // a process change what it runs when somebody adds a file.
-func testAProcessMustSayWhatToRun(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAProcessMustSayWhatToRun(t *testing.T) {
 	d := aProcess()
 	d.Run = nil
 	if problems := d.validate("a process", false); len(problems) == 0 {
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func testAProcessMustSayWhatToRun(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // Its name becomes a unit name and a path, so a separator in it would write somewhere nobody meant.
-func testAProcesssNameCannotEscapeItsUnit(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAProcesssNameCannotEscapeItsUnit(t *testing.T) {
 	// "." and ".." are one path element each, and the mesh's own bundle directory and its parent:
 	// removing a process named ".." would delete every bundle the mesh has, and more (novox/hq ADR
 	// 0118). A leading dash is an option to the service manager, not a unit.
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func testAProcesssNameCannotEscapeItsUnit(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // And a well-formed one is accepted, or the tests above prove only that everything is refused.
-func testAWellFormedDaemonIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAWellFormedDaemonIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 	if problems := aProcess().validate("a process", false); len(problems) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("a well-formed daemon was refused: %v", problems)
 	}
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func testAWellFormedDaemonIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 // once does not run on a schedule; something not running between fires cannot be restarted when a
 // file changes. A container's modes carry the same rule, and this is the same rule because it is
 // the same thing hosted differently.
-func testTheModesAreExclusive(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheModesAreExclusive(t *testing.T) {
 	both := aProcess()
 	both.RunOnce = true
 	both.Schedule = "0 3 * * *"
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func testTheModesAreExclusive(t *testing.T) {
 
 // A cadence that is not a cadence is refused near its author, rather than by a machine at the far
 // end of a declaration.
-func testAScheduleMustBeACadence(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAScheduleMustBeACadence(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, bad := range []string{"often", "0 3 * *", "99 3 * * *"} {
 		p := aProcess()
 		p.Schedule = bad
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ func testAScheduleMustBeACadence(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // And each mode on its own is accepted, or the tests above prove only that everything is refused.
-func testEachModeOnItsOwnIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+func TestEachModeOnItsOwnIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 	once := aProcess()
 	once.RunOnce = true
 	if problems := once.validate("a process", false); len(problems) != 0 {
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ func testEachModeOnItsOwnIsAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 //
 // So it is refused here, near whoever wrote it, rather than rendered into a unit at the far end of
 // a declaration.
-func testAnEnvironmentValueCannotCarryALineBreak(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAnEnvironmentValueCannotCarryALineBreak(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, bad := range []string{
 		"safe\nExecStart=/usr/bin/whatever",
 		"carriage\rreturn",
@@ -173,24 +173,10 @@ func testAnEnvironmentValueCannotCarryALineBreak(t *testing.T) {
 
 // And ordinary awkward values are accepted, because escaping is what handles those — refusing them
 // too would make a module unable to hold a generated password.
-func testOrdinaryAwkwardValuesAreAccepted(t *testing.T) {
+func TestOrdinaryAwkwardValuesAreAccepted(t *testing.T) {
 	p := aProcess()
 	p.Env = map[string]string{"PASSWORD": `a%H b"c\d`}
 	if problems := p.validate("a process", false); len(problems) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("a password containing the characters passwords contain was refused: %v", problems)
 	}
 }
-
-// TestProcess holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestProcess(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("AProcessIsSomethingTheHostSpeaks", testAProcessIsSomethingTheHostSpeaks)
-	t.Run("AProcesssBundleMustBePinned", testAProcesssBundleMustBePinned)
-	t.Run("AProcessMustSayWhatToRun", testAProcessMustSayWhatToRun)
-	t.Run("AProcesssNameCannotEscapeItsUnit", testAProcesssNameCannotEscapeItsUnit)
-	t.Run("AWellFormedDaemonIsAccepted", testAWellFormedDaemonIsAccepted)
-	t.Run("TheModesAreExclusive", testTheModesAreExclusive)
-	t.Run("AScheduleMustBeACadence", testAScheduleMustBeACadence)
-	t.Run("EachModeOnItsOwnIsAccepted", testEachModeOnItsOwnIsAccepted)
-	t.Run("AnEnvironmentValueCannotCarryALineBreak", testAnEnvironmentValueCannotCarryALineBreak)
-	t.Run("OrdinaryAwkwardValuesAreAccepted", testOrdinaryAwkwardValuesAreAccepted)
-}

go/declaration/provisioner_test.go

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 // Defends novox/hq ADR 0349 §4 (issue 668): the declaration names the account the provisioner's client runs as,
 // the only one whose write of a filled file the node-engine accepts. Read here before any controller sends it.
 
-func testTheDeclarationNamesTheProvisionersAccount(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheDeclarationNamesTheProvisionersAccount(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"provisioner_account":"mesh-node-provisioner","filled_files":["/etc/a"],
 	  "resources":[{"id":"a","type":"file","path":"/etc/a","content":"a","owner-at-runtime":"owned"}]}`))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func testTheDeclarationNamesTheProvisionersAccount(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testAProvisionersAccountThatIsNoAccountIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAProvisionersAccountThatIsNoAccountIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 	for name, account := range map[string]string{"root": "root", "not a name": "a b", "a path": "../x"} {
 		_, err := Parse([]byte(`{"declaration":1,"provisioner_account":"` + account + `",
 		  "resources":[{"id":"a","type":"file","path":"/etc/a","content":"a"}]}`))
@@ -35,9 +35,3 @@ func testAProvisionersAccountThatIsNoAccountIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// TestProvisioner holds this file's cases, each a subtest of its own name (mesh-sdk's test budget: at most 500 unit tests).
-func TestProvisioner(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("TheDeclarationNamesTheProvisionersAccount", testTheDeclarationNamesTheProvisionersAccount)
-	t.Run("AProvisionersAccountThatIsNoAccountIsRefused", testAProvisionersAccountThatIsNoAccountIsRefused)
-}