diff --git a/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go b/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go
index 425d96d..ba6cd8b 100644
--- a/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go
+++ b/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/wire"
 )
 
-// RequestTimeout is how long a call waits for its answer — what modules already expect.
+// RequestTimeout is how long a call waits for its answer — what modules already expect. The
+// controller answers its verbs well inside it (its AnswerWithin, ten seconds), with a call id while a
+// verb still runs, so a caller is never left guessing past this (novox/hq issue 265).
 const RequestTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 
 const assignmentsStream = "ASSIGNMENTS"
diff --git a/node-tools/internal/console/client.go b/node-tools/internal/console/client.go
index c350495..2cc3e08 100644
--- a/node-tools/internal/console/client.go
+++ b/node-tools/internal/console/client.go
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ var (
 	timedOut = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)timeout`)
 )
 
+// controllerSeat is the seat whose holder keeps what came of every call (novox/hq issue 265).
+const controllerSeat = "mesh-controller"
+
 // whyItFailed says why a call failed, so the remedy is in the words.
 func whyItFailed(key string, err error) string {
 	if err == nil {
@@ -135,8 +138,18 @@ func whyItFailed(key string, err error) string {
 		return "this account may not call " + key + ". What it may call was fixed when it was issued — a " +
 			"person's by `operator issue`, the console's by its manifest."
 	case timedOut.MatchString(msg):
-		return key + " did not answer in time. Something is serving it, so this is the tool being slow " +
-			"rather than absent."
+		// **A timeout is not a failure** (novox/hq issue 265). Something took the call, so it may
+		// still be running and may already have done what was asked: a push said this while it pushed.
+		said := key + " did not answer within " + bus.RequestTimeout.String() + ". That is not a failure: " +
+			"something is serving it, so it may still be running and may already have done what was " +
+			"asked — check before repeating a call that changes the mesh."
+		if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(key, "seat:"), controllerSeat+".") {
+			// The controller answers every call within seconds, with an id while it runs, so silence
+			// from it is an answer lost on the way — which it keeps.
+			said += " The controller answers every call within seconds, so its answer was lost on the " +
+				"way; " + controllerSeat + ".calls lists its recent calls and what came of each."
+		}
+		return said
 	}
 	return key + " failed: " + msg
 }
diff --git a/node-tools/internal/console/refusal_test.go b/node-tools/internal/console/refusal_test.go
index 4078c51..6e6a87d 100644
--- a/node-tools/internal/console/refusal_test.go
+++ b/node-tools/internal/console/refusal_test.go
@@ -20,3 +20,18 @@ func TestARefusalIsSaidOnlyForTheBussOwn(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// **A timeout says it is not a failure** (novox/hq issue 265): a push that outlasted the wait had
+// pushed, and the caller read "did not answer in time". And from the controller, where its answer is.
+func TestATimeoutIsNotAFailure(t *testing.T) {
+	got := whyItFailed("seat:mesh-controller.push", errors.New("timeout"))
+	for _, want := range []string{"not a failure", "may already have done", "mesh-controller.calls"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(got, want) {
+			t.Errorf("a controller timeout does not say %q: %s", want, got)
+		}
+	}
+	if other := whyItFailed("novox/postgres.postgres_list_databases", errors.New("timeout")); !strings.Contains(other, "not a failure") ||
+		strings.Contains(other, "calls") {
+		t.Errorf("a module's timeout: %s", other)
+	}
+}