diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..311b62d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+{
+  "name": "@novox/mesh-tools",
+  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "lockfileVersion": 3,
+  "requires": true,
+  "packages": {
+    "": {
+      "name": "@novox/mesh-tools",
+      "version": "0.1.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@novox/mesh-sdk": "^0.1.0",
+        "nats": "^2.29.0"
+      },
+      "bin": {
+        "mesh": "dist/mesh.js",
+        "mesh-tools": "dist/main.js"
+      },
+      "devDependencies": {
+        "@types/node": "^22.20.1",
+        "typescript": "^5.9.3"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/@novox/mesh-sdk": {
+      "version": "0.1.1"
+    },
+    "node_modules/@types/node": {
+      "version": "22.20.1",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "undici-types": "~6.21.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/nats": {
+      "version": "2.29.3",
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "nkeys.js": "1.1.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">= 14.0.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/nkeys.js": {
+      "version": "1.1.0",
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "tweetnacl": "1.0.3"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=10.0.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/tweetnacl": {
+      "version": "1.0.3",
+      "license": "Unlicense"
+    },
+    "node_modules/typescript": {
+      "version": "5.9.3",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "bin": {
+        "tsc": "bin/tsc",
+        "tsserver": "bin/tsserver"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=14.17"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/undici-types": {
+      "version": "6.21.0",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT"
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6e420bb..9831df0 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,11 +14,9 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@novox/mesh-sdk": "^0.1.0",
-    "amqplib": "^0.10.9",
     "nats": "^2.29.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "@types/amqplib": "^0.10.8",
     "@types/node": "^22.20.1",
     "typescript": "^5.9.3"
   }
diff --git a/src/broker-amqp.ts b/src/broker-amqp.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 9b8db7c..0000000
--- a/src/broker-amqp.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,422 +0,0 @@
-// A concrete AMQP implementation of the sdk's Broker contract, over the mesh broker
-// (novox/hq ADR 0001). The sdk deliberately keeps this out — it defines the interface; the runtime
-// provides the binding — so a broker-client change never rebuilds the modules. This is where the
-// ADR 0042 wire shape lives: the two exchanges, persistent events, per-consumer durable queues,
-// prefetch, dead-letter — none of which a module ever sees.
-
-import amqp from "amqplib";
-import * as tls from "node:tls";
-import { randomUUID, createHash } from "node:crypto";
-import type { Broker, Envelope, EventHeaders } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
-
-// Two topic exchanges, kept apart on purpose (ADR 0042): tool invocations are request/reply and are
-// not events, so an audit sink subscribing to `#` on the events exchange sees module, mesh and node
-// events — never the RPC traffic.
-const RPC_EXCHANGE = "mesh.rpc";
-const EVENTS_EXCHANGE = "mesh.events";
-// Where an event rejected past its redelivery limit is set aside for inspection.
-const DEAD_EXCHANGE = "mesh.events.dead";
-// Bound in-flight events so one slow consumer can't pull the whole backlog into memory (ADR 0042).
-const EVENT_PREFETCH = 32;
-
-interface Reply {
-  result?: unknown;
-  error?: string;
-}
-
-/** The broker presented a certificate whose fingerprint is not the one the mesh pinned. A distinct
- *  type rather than a message to grep, so a caller deciding "wait or refuse" (serve mode's patient
- *  reconnect, novox/hq issue 058) tells this apart from an absent broker by `instanceof`, not by a
- *  prose string that a later reword would silently turn back into an infinite retry against an
- *  impostor. */
-export class PinMismatchError extends Error {}
-
-/**
- * Why a broker connection failed in a way no amount of waiting will fix — or null when it is worth
- * retrying. Serve mode's patient reconnect (novox/hq issue 058) uses this to tell a permanent
- * fault from a broker that is merely not up yet. Three failures are permanent:
- *
- *   - the certificate does not match the pin — an impostor does not become the broker by being
- *     asked again (typed, so a reworded message cannot silently turn this back into a retry);
- *   - the broker URL is not a URL — a malformed address never parses on the next try;
- *   - the broker answered and refused the login — a wrong or revoked credential, not an absent
- *     broker, and it will refuse the next attempt identically.
- *
- * Everything else — connection refused, timeout, DNS not resolving yet — is the overlay still
- * coming up, and is retried.
- */
-export function fatalBrokerReason(err: unknown): string | null {
-  if (err instanceof PinMismatchError) return "the broker's certificate does not match the pin";
-  const e = err as { code?: unknown; message?: unknown };
-  const code = typeof e?.code === "string" ? e.code : "";
-  const message = typeof e?.message === "string" ? e.message : String(err);
-  if (code === "ERR_INVALID_URL" || /invalid url/i.test(message)) {
-    return `the broker URL is not a URL (${message})`;
-  }
-  if (/access[-_ ]?refused|login was refused|handshake terminated|\b403\b/i.test(message)) {
-    return `the broker refused the login (${message})`;
-  }
-  return null;
-}
-
-/** A broker credential as the mesh delivers it (novox/hq ADR 0043): an amqps URL, the fingerprint
- *  of the certificate the broker must present, and the node and module the account is scoped to (so
- *  the runtime names its queue as the mesh did). A plain string is a bootstrap URL. */
-export interface Credential {
-  url: string;
-  fingerprint?: string;
-  node?: string;
-  module?: string;
-}
-
-/**
- * Connect to the mesh broker and return a Broker. `close()` tears both channel and connection down.
- *
- * A scoped module (novox/hq ADR 0043) passes `assumeExchanges: true`: its account may not declare
- * an exchange, and the foundation already owns them, so it declares only its own queue. A credential
- * carrying a fingerprint is dialled over amqps, pinned to exactly that certificate.
- */
-export async function connectAmqp(
-  target: string | Credential,
-  opts: { assumeExchanges?: boolean } = {},
-): Promise<Broker> {
-  const cred: Credential = typeof target === "string" ? { url: target } : target;
-  // This module's own name, for turning a local event name into this bus's routing key. From the
-  // credential where the mesh issued one, and from the environment for an ad-hoc client that has no
-  // credential of its own — the same two places subscribe already looks.
-  const self = cred.module ?? process.env.MESH_MODULE ?? "";
-  const conn = cred.fingerprint
-    ? await amqp.connect(cred.url, await pinnedOptions(cred.url, cred.fingerprint))
-    : await amqp.connect(cred.url);
-
-  // A confirm channel, so an event publish awaits the broker's ack: a publish the broker never
-  // accepted (it was mid-restart, the connection dropped) fails the emit rather than vanishing —
-  // at-least-once starts at the emitter, not only the consumer (ADR 0042).
-  const ch = await conn.createConfirmChannel();
-
-  // The foundation owns the exchanges (ADR 0043). A bootstrap/admin connection declares them; a
-  // scoped module assumes they exist and never tries — its account could not, and the dead-letter
-  // queue behind the exchange is the foundation's to keep, not a module's.
-  if (!opts.assumeExchanges) {
-    await ch.assertExchange(RPC_EXCHANGE, "topic", { durable: true });
-    await ch.assertExchange(EVENTS_EXCHANGE, "topic", { durable: true });
-    await ch.assertExchange(DEAD_EXCHANGE, "topic", { durable: true });
-    await ch.assertQueue(DEAD_EXCHANGE, { durable: true });
-    await ch.bindQueue(DEAD_EXCHANGE, DEAD_EXCHANGE, "#");
-  }
-
-  await ch.prefetch(EVENT_PREFETCH);
-
-  // Request/reply is set up lazily: a consumer-only module (the audit logger) never calls a tool,
-  // and its scoped account may not declare the exclusive reply queue this would otherwise need.
-  const pending = new Map<string, (r: Reply) => void>();
-  let replyQueue: string | undefined;
-  async function ensureReply(): Promise<string> {
-    if (replyQueue) return replyQueue;
-    const { queue } = await ch.assertQueue("", { exclusive: true });
-    // Replies come back through the RPC exchange keyed by this queue's own name, not the default
-    // exchange (novox/hq ADR 0047): a serving module's scoped account may write to mesh.rpc but not
-    // the default exchange, which would let it publish into any queue on the broker.
-    await ch.bindQueue(queue, RPC_EXCHANGE, queue);
-    replyQueue = queue;
-    await ch.consume(
-      queue,
-      (msg) => {
-        if (!msg) return;
-        const resolve = pending.get(msg.properties.correlationId);
-        if (resolve) {
-          pending.delete(msg.properties.correlationId);
-          resolve(JSON.parse(msg.content.toString()) as Reply);
-        }
-      },
-      { noAck: true },
-    );
-    return queue;
-  }
-
-  // One durable event queue per consumer (ADR 0042: <node>.<module>.events), with many bindings and
-  // a single consumer that fans out to the handlers whose pattern matches. AMQP delivers a message
-  // once however many bindings match, so the local match is what keeps a two-pattern module from
-  // running the wrong handler.
-  type EventSub = { pattern: string; handler: (env: Envelope<unknown>) => Promise<void> };
-  const eventSubs: EventSub[] = [];
-  let eventQueue: string | undefined;
-  let eventConsumerTag: string | undefined;
-
-  async function dispatchEvent(msg: amqp.ConsumeMessage): Promise<void> {
-    const key = localKeyFor(msg.fields.routingKey);
-    let env: Envelope<unknown>;
-    try {
-      env = toEnvelope(msg);
-    } catch {
-      // An undecodable body will never decode on redelivery — dead-letter it at once rather than
-      // wedge the queue or loop. Decoding sits before the handler try on purpose: a poison message
-      // is a different failure from a handler that threw, and gets no retry.
-      ch.nack(msg, false, false);
-      return;
-    }
-    try {
-      for (const s of eventSubs) {
-        if (topicMatches(s.pattern, key)) await s.handler(env);
-      }
-      ch.ack(msg);
-    } catch {
-      // First handler failure: requeue once. A second (already redelivered) dead-letters it, so a
-      // poison event is set aside rather than looping forever or vanishing (ADR 0042). Redelivery
-      // re-runs every matching handler, so a consumer must be idempotent — which the ADR requires.
-      ch.nack(msg, false, !msg.fields.redelivered);
-    }
-  }
-
-  return {
-    async request<Req, Res>(key: string, body: Req): Promise<Res> {
-      const reply = await ensureReply();
-      const id = randomUUID();
-      const answered = new Promise<Res>((resolve, reject) => {
-        const timer = setTimeout(() => {
-          if (pending.delete(id)) reject(new Error(`request ${key} timed out`));
-        }, 30_000);
-        pending.set(id, (r) => {
-          clearTimeout(timer);
-          if (r.error) reject(new Error(r.error));
-          else resolve(r.result as Res);
-        });
-      });
-      ch.publish(RPC_EXCHANGE, key, Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(body)), {
-        correlationId: id,
-        replyTo: reply,
-      });
-      return answered;
-    },
-
-    async handle<Req, Res>(key: string, handler: (body: Req) => Promise<Res>): Promise<() => void> {
-      // A durable, shared serve queue (ADR 0042): several runtimes serving one tool key compete for
-      // invocations rather than each answering the same call.
-      const { queue } = await ch.assertQueue(`serve.${key}`, { durable: true });
-      await ch.bindQueue(queue, RPC_EXCHANGE, key);
-      const consumer = await ch.consume(queue, (msg) => {
-        if (!msg) return;
-        void (async () => {
-          let reply: Reply;
-          try {
-            reply = { result: await handler(JSON.parse(msg.content.toString()) as Req) };
-          } catch (err) {
-            reply = { error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err) };
-          }
-          if (msg.properties.replyTo) {
-            // Reply through the RPC exchange, keyed by the caller's reply-queue name, so a scoped
-            // account answers with write on mesh.rpc alone — never the default exchange (ADR 0047).
-            ch.publish(RPC_EXCHANGE, msg.properties.replyTo, Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(reply)), {
-              correlationId: msg.properties.correlationId,
-            });
-          }
-          ch.ack(msg);
-        })();
-      });
-      return () => void ch.cancel(consumer.consumerTag);
-    },
-
-    async publish<T>(env: Envelope<T>): Promise<void> {
-      const headers = env.headers ?? ({} as EventHeaders);
-      // Events are persistent (delivery-mode 2): an audit trail that loses events on a broker
-      // restart is not one (ADR 0042). Metadata rides as headers; the body is only the payload.
-      // The publish is awaited to the broker's confirm — an unaccepted publish rejects here.
-      await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-        ch.publish(
-          EVENTS_EXCHANGE,
-          routingKeyFor(env.key, self),
-          Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(env.body)),
-          {
-            persistent: true,
-            contentType:
-              typeof headers["content-type"] === "string" ? headers["content-type"] : "application/json",
-            messageId: headers["x-event-id"],
-            headers: { ...headers },
-          },
-          (err) => (err ? reject(err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err))) : resolve()),
-        );
-      });
-    },
-
-    async subscribe<T>(pattern: string, handler: (env: Envelope<T>) => Promise<void>): Promise<() => void> {
-      const node = process.env.MESH_NODE;
-      const mod = process.env.MESH_MODULE;
-
-      // A module we can name gets its ADR 0042 durable queue; an anonymous subscriber (a test, an
-      // ad-hoc listener) gets a transient exclusive one that dies with the connection.
-      if (node && mod) {
-        if (!eventQueue) {
-          const name = `${node}.${mod}.events`;
-          if (opts.assumeExchanges) {
-            // The mesh pre-declared this queue with its dead-letter when it issued the account: a
-            // scoped account may not declare a dead-lettered queue itself (the broker refuses that
-            // to a non-administrator). Passively check it is there, then bind and consume.
-            await ch.checkQueue(name);
-          } else {
-            await ch.assertQueue(name, { durable: true, deadLetterExchange: DEAD_EXCHANGE });
-          }
-          eventQueue = name;
-        }
-        await ch.bindQueue(eventQueue, EVENTS_EXCHANGE, bindingFor(pattern));
-        const sub: EventSub = { pattern, handler: handler as EventSub["handler"] };
-        eventSubs.push(sub);
-        if (!eventConsumerTag) {
-          const consumer = await ch.consume(eventQueue, (msg) => {
-            if (msg) void dispatchEvent(msg);
-          });
-          eventConsumerTag = consumer.consumerTag;
-        }
-        return () => {
-          const i = eventSubs.indexOf(sub);
-          if (i >= 0) eventSubs.splice(i, 1);
-        };
-      }
-
-      const { queue } = await ch.assertQueue("", { exclusive: true });
-      await ch.bindQueue(queue, EVENTS_EXCHANGE, bindingFor(pattern));
-      const consumer = await ch.consume(queue, (msg) => {
-        if (!msg) return;
-        void (async () => {
-          let env: Envelope<T>;
-          try {
-            env = toEnvelope<T>(msg);
-          } catch {
-            ch.nack(msg, false, false); // undecodable — drop, never retry
-            return;
-          }
-          try {
-            await handler(env);
-            ch.ack(msg);
-          } catch {
-            ch.nack(msg, false, !msg.fields.redelivered);
-          }
-        })();
-      });
-      return () => void ch.cancel(consumer.consumerTag);
-    },
-
-    async close(): Promise<void> {
-      await ch.close();
-      await conn.close();
-    },
-  };
-}
-
-/** Normalise a certificate fingerprint to bare lower-case hex, dropping an `sha256:` prefix and
- *  any colon grouping, so two spellings of the same fingerprint compare equal. */
-function normalizeFingerprint(fingerprint: string): string {
-  return fingerprint.replace(/^sha256:/i, "").replace(/:/g, "").toLowerCase();
-}
-
-/**
- * Socket options that pin the broker to exactly the certificate whose fingerprint the mesh
- * delivered (novox/hq ADR 0043, as the builder does). Done in two phases so a credential never
- * reaches an impostor: first a bare TLS connection that sends nothing fetches the certificate and
- * the fingerprint is checked; only then does the real connection trust *that* certificate as its
- * own authority, so the AMQP login flows solely to the broker that proved it holds the pinned key.
- * Node's `checkServerIdentity` does not run under `rejectUnauthorized: false`, so a one-phase
- * "connect then check" would have already sent the password to whoever answered.
- */
-async function pinnedOptions(rawUrl: string, fingerprint: string): Promise<tls.ConnectionOptions> {
-  const url = new URL(rawUrl);
-  const host = url.hostname;
-  const port = url.port ? Number(url.port) : 5671;
-
-  const certificate = await new Promise<tls.DetailedPeerCertificate>((resolve, reject) => {
-    const socket = tls.connect({ host, port, servername: host, rejectUnauthorized: false }, () => {
-      const peer = socket.getPeerCertificate(true);
-      socket.destroy();
-      if (!peer || !peer.raw) reject(new Error("the broker presented no certificate to pin"));
-      else resolve(peer);
-    });
-    socket.setTimeout(15_000, () => {
-      socket.destroy();
-      reject(new Error("timed out fetching the broker's certificate"));
-    });
-    socket.on("error", reject);
-  });
-
-  const seen = createHash("sha256").update(certificate.raw).digest("hex");
-  if (seen !== normalizeFingerprint(fingerprint)) {
-    throw new PinMismatchError(
-      `the broker's certificate (sha256:${seen}) does not match the pinned ${fingerprint} — refusing`,
-    );
-  }
-
-  const pem =
-    "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n" +
-    (certificate.raw.toString("base64").match(/.{1,64}/g) ?? []).join("\n") +
-    "\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n";
-  // Trust that one certificate and nothing else; the mesh's own name is not in any public store,
-  // so identity is the pin, not the hostname — checkServerIdentity is satisfied deliberately.
-  return { ca: [pem], checkServerIdentity: () => undefined };
-}
-
-/** Read a broker message back into an Envelope: string headers, contentType folded in, body parsed. */
-function toEnvelope<T>(msg: amqp.ConsumeMessage): Envelope<T> {
-  const raw = msg.properties.headers ?? {};
-  const headers: Record<string, string> = {};
-  for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(raw)) {
-    if (v == null) continue;
-    headers[k] = typeof v === "string" ? v : String(v);
-  }
-  if (!headers["content-type"] && msg.properties.contentType) {
-    headers["content-type"] = msg.properties.contentType;
-  }
-  return {
-    key: msg.fields.routingKey,
-    node: headers["x-node"] ?? "",
-    body: JSON.parse(msg.content.toString()) as T,
-    headers: headers as EventHeaders,
-  };
-}
-
-/** AMQP topic matching: `*` matches one word, `#` zero or more. Used to fan a shared queue's
- *  deliveries out to the handlers whose pattern actually matches the routing key. */
-export function topicMatches(pattern: string, key: string): boolean {
-  return matchFrom(pattern.split("."), 0, key.split("."), 0);
-}
-
-function matchFrom(p: string[], pi: number, k: string[], ki: number): boolean {
-  while (pi < p.length) {
-    const tok = p[pi];
-    // `**` is the mesh's wildcard for the rest of a name; `#` is this bus's, accepted so a pattern
-    // written either way behaves the same while both buses ship (novox/hq design 29 §1).
-    if (tok === "#" || tok === "**") {
-      if (pi === p.length - 1) return true; // trailing # swallows the rest, including nothing
-      for (let skip = ki; skip <= k.length; skip++) {
-        if (matchFrom(p, pi + 1, k, skip)) return true;
-      }
-      return false;
-    }
-    if (ki >= k.length) return false;
-    if (tok !== "*" && tok !== k[ki]) return false;
-    pi++;
-    ki++;
-  }
-  return ki === k.length;
-}
-
-/** This bus spells an event as a routing key that repeats the emitter's name: `module.<emitter>.<event>`.
- *  A module names its events locally and the mesh derives where they land (novox/hq design 29 §1), so
- *  the mapping lives here rather than in every module.
- *
- *  **Why it exists at all.** Until 04-ISSUES/127 every module passed the routing key itself, which
- *  worked on this bus and derived into a namespace nobody owns on the one being built. Converting the
- *  modules to local names without this would have broken the mesh that is actually running. */
-export function routingKeyFor(key: string, self: string): string {
-  return key.startsWith("module.") ? key : `module.${self}.${key}`;
-}
-
-/** A local pattern as this bus's binding. `**` is the mesh's wildcard for the rest of a name; here
- *  that is `#`, and on the bus being built it is `>`. Neither spelling appears in a manifest. */
-export function bindingFor(pattern: string): string {
-  const here = pattern.split(".").map((part) => (part === "**" ? "#" : part)).join(".");
-  if (here === "#") return "#";
-  return here.startsWith("module.") ? here : `module.${here}`;
-}
-
-/** A routing key as the local name a handler and a manifest both use: the emitter and the event. */
-export function localKeyFor(routingKey: string): string {
-  return routingKey.startsWith("module.") ? routingKey.slice("module.".length) : routingKey;
-}
diff --git a/src/broker-nats.ts b/src/broker-nats.ts
index f6f4ff7..148715c 100644
--- a/src/broker-nats.ts
+++ b/src/broker-nats.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 // correct.
 
 import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
+import net from "node:net";
 import tls from "node:tls";
 import { connect as natsConnect, headers as natsHeaders, StringCodec, type JsMsg, type Subscription } from "nats";
 import type { Broker, Envelope, EventHeaders } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
@@ -307,16 +308,32 @@ function normalizeFingerprint(fingerprint: string): string {
 async function pinnedTls(rawUrl: string, fingerprint: string): Promise<{ ca: string }> {
   const url = new URL(rawUrl.includes("://") ? rawUrl : `nats://${rawUrl}`);
   const port = url.port ? Number(url.port) : 4222;
+  // **The bus speaks first, in the clear.** A NATS server sends its INFO line before TLS begins,
+  // and only then expects the client to start the handshake; a raw TLS connect to that port reads
+  // the INFO line as a TLS record and fails with "wrong version number" — which is what every
+  // module met the first time it dialled the bus being built (2026-09-28). So: connect, wait for
+  // INFO, then start TLS on the same socket, and read the certificate the server presents.
   const certificate = await new Promise<tls.DetailedPeerCertificate>((resolve, reject) => {
-    const socket = tls.connect(
-      { host: url.hostname, port, rejectUnauthorized: false, servername: url.hostname },
-      () => {
-        const peer = socket.getPeerCertificate(true);
-        socket.end();
-        resolve(peer);
-      },
-    );
-    socket.on("error", reject);
+    const plain = net.connect({ host: url.hostname, port }, () => {});
+    let seenInfo = false;
+    let buffered = "";
+    plain.on("error", reject);
+    plain.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      if (seenInfo) return;
+      buffered += chunk.toString("utf8");
+      if (!buffered.includes("\r\n")) return;
+      seenInfo = true;
+      plain.removeAllListeners("data");
+      const secure = tls.connect(
+        { socket: plain, rejectUnauthorized: false, servername: url.hostname },
+        () => {
+          const peer = secure.getPeerCertificate(true);
+          secure.end();
+          resolve(peer);
+        },
+      );
+      secure.on("error", reject);
+    });
   });
   const seen = createHash("sha256").update(certificate.raw).digest("hex");
   if (seen !== normalizeFingerprint(fingerprint)) {
diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 21f609f..e128825 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@
 
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
-import { connectAmqp, fatalBrokerReason as fatalAmqpReason } from "./broker-amqp.js";
-import { connectNats, fatalBrokerReason as fatalNatsReason } from "./broker-nats.js";
-import type { Credential } from "./broker-amqp.js";
+import { connectNats, fatalBrokerReason as fatalNatsReason, type Credential } from "./broker-nats.js";
 import { runTools } from "./runtime.js";
 import { invokeTool } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
 import { useBroker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
@@ -39,7 +37,7 @@ import { emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
 // fatalBrokerReasonFor is the reason a connection failure is final rather than "not yet", for
 // whichever bus this runtime is on — each transport knows its own refusals.
 function fatalBrokerReasonFor(err: unknown): string | null {
-  return fatalNatsReason(err) ?? fatalAmqpReason(err);
+  return fatalNatsReason(err);
 }
 
 async function connectBroker(): Promise<Broker> {
@@ -66,10 +64,8 @@ async function connectBroker(): Promise<Broker> {
     // nothing else in its environment changed (design 25; novox/hq design 28 task 5.2). The scheme
     // is enough to know which bus to speak; a runtime that always dialled the old one would keep
     // serving and answer nobody.
-    if (credential.url.startsWith("nats://")) {
-      return connectNats(credential);
-    }
-    return connectAmqp(credential, { assumeExchanges: true });
+    // One bus (novox/hq ADR 0131, design 28 task 5.5): the credential names it, and it is this.
+    return connectNats(credential);
   }
   const url = process.env.MESH_BROKER_URL;
   if (!url) {
@@ -78,7 +74,7 @@ async function connectBroker(): Promise<Broker> {
     );
     process.exit(1);
   }
-  return connectAmqp(url);
+  return connectNats({ url });
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/amqp.test.ts b/test/amqp.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index b20be06..0000000
--- a/test/amqp.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-import { test } from "node:test";
-import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-
-import { registerModuleTools, resetTools, invokeTool } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
-import { connectAmqp } from "../dist/broker-amqp.js";
-import { runTools } from "../dist/runtime.js";
-
-// Requires a real broker at $MESH_BROKER_URL. The test harness spins LavinMQ (the mesh's broker)
-// and points this at it; skipped if it is not set, never failed for the environment.
-const url = process.env.MESH_BROKER_URL;
-
-test("a module's tool serves and is invoked over a real AMQP broker", { skip: !url }, async () => {
-  resetTools();
-
-  // A module registers a real tool, exactly as umami does.
-  registerModuleTools("demo", () => [
-    {
-      name: "greet",
-      description: "return a greeting",
-      input: { who: { type: "string" } },
-      run: async (args) => ({ hello: String(args.who), from: "the tool runtime" }),
-    },
-  ]);
-
-  // The runtime binds the broker and serves the module (no module entrypoints to import here — the
-  // tool is registered in-process — but this is the exact runtime that serves on a node).
-  const serverBroker = await connectAmqp(url!);
-  const stop = await runTools({ broker: serverBroker, moduleEntrypoints: [] });
-
-  // A separate connection — a caller, like mesh-controller's command API — invokes over the broker,
-  // by module and tool (novox/hq ADR 0047: served on serve.demo.greet, invoked as demo.greet).
-  const caller = await connectAmqp(url!);
-  const result = (await invokeTool(caller, "demo", "greet", { who: "mesh" })) as { hello: string };
-  assert.equal(result.hello, "mesh");
-
-  stop();
-  await caller.close();
-  await serverBroker.close();
-});
diff --git a/test/events-wire.test.ts b/test/events-wire.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 6cceeb4..0000000
--- a/test/events-wire.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,142 +0,0 @@
-import { test } from "node:test";
-import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-import amqp from "amqplib";
-
-import { connectAmqp } from "../dist/broker-amqp.js";
-import { useBroker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
-import { emit, on, type Event } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
-
-// Binding conformance: does the mesh-tools AMQP *adapter* honour the ADR 0042 wire contract —
-// headers on the wire, a body that is only the payload, persistent messages, a durable per-consumer
-// queue, dead-letter, poison handling? This tests the adapter in isolation, against a disposable
-// broker that stands in for the one the mesh hosts (ADR 0001). It is NOT an event test of the mesh:
-// that lives in a full lab scenario where the mesh raises the broker as foundation. Requires
-// $MESH_BROKER_URL (a throwaway broker); skipped, never failed, when it is not set.
-const url = process.env.MESH_BROKER_URL;
-
-test("an event rides the wire with ADR 0042 headers and a body that is only the payload", { skip: !url }, async () => {
-  const sub = await connectAmqp(url!);
-  const pub = await connectAmqp(url!);
-
-  // The consumer's identity names its durable queue (<node>.<module>.events).
-  process.env.MESH_NODE = "lab";
-  process.env.MESH_MODULE = "audit-logger";
-  useBroker(() => sub);
-  const got: Event[] = [];
-  await on("#", async (e) => void got.push(e));
-  await delay(200); // let the binding settle before publishing
-
-  // The emitter is a different module on the same node.
-  process.env.MESH_MODULE = "umami";
-  useBroker(() => pub);
-  await emit("module.umami.site.created", { domain: "my-app" }, { causationId: "cmd-1" });
-
-  await waitFor(() => got.length > 0, 4000);
-  const e = got[0];
-  assert.equal(e.type, "module.umami.site.created");
-  assert.equal(e.source, "umami"); // x-source — read from a header, not the body
-  assert.equal(e.node, "lab"); // x-node
-  assert.ok(e.id, "x-event-id present"); // the handle a consumer dedups on
-  assert.equal(e.causationId, "cmd-1"); // x-causation-id round-trips
-  assert.match(e.at, /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T/); // x-time, RFC-3339
-  assert.deepEqual(e.body, { domain: "my-app" }); // provenance never leaked into the body
-
-  // The durable per-consumer queue exists and is bound — a passive assert throws if it does not.
-  const probe = await amqp.connect(url!);
-  const pch = await probe.createChannel();
-  await pch.checkQueue("lab.audit-logger.events");
-  await probe.close();
-
-  await sub.close();
-  await pub.close();
-  delete process.env.MESH_NODE;
-  delete process.env.MESH_MODULE;
-});
-
-test("a handler that keeps failing dead-letters the event past the redelivery limit", { skip: !url }, async () => {
-  const module = `flaky-${Date.now()}`;
-  const c = await connectAmqp(url!);
-  process.env.MESH_NODE = "lab";
-  process.env.MESH_MODULE = module;
-  useBroker(() => c);
-
-  let attempts = 0;
-  await on("module.test.boom", async () => {
-    attempts++;
-    throw new Error("boom");
-  });
-  await delay(200);
-
-  await emit("module.test.boom", { n: 1 });
-
-  // First delivery requeues once; the redelivered copy is dead-lettered — two attempts, then it
-  // leaves the consumer queue for good.
-  await waitFor(() => attempts >= 2, 5000);
-  await delay(300);
-  assert.equal(attempts, 2, "attempted twice, not looping forever");
-
-  // The poison event is retained on the dead-letter queue for inspection, not vanished.
-  const probe = await amqp.connect(url!);
-  const pch = await probe.createChannel();
-  const dead = await pch.get("mesh.events.dead", { noAck: true });
-  assert.ok(dead, "the rejected event is on mesh.events.dead");
-  assert.equal((dead as amqp.GetMessage).fields.routingKey, "module.test.boom");
-  await probe.close();
-
-  await c.close();
-  delete process.env.MESH_NODE;
-  delete process.env.MESH_MODULE;
-});
-
-test("an undecodable event body is dead-lettered, not looped and not silently swallowed", { skip: !url }, async () => {
-  const module = `poison-${Date.now()}`;
-  const c = await connectAmqp(url!);
-  process.env.MESH_NODE = "lab";
-  process.env.MESH_MODULE = module;
-  useBroker(() => c);
-
-  // Drain any earlier dead events so the assert below sees only this test's.
-  const drain = await amqp.connect(url!);
-  const dch = await drain.createChannel();
-  await dch.purgeQueue("mesh.events.dead");
-
-  let handlerRuns = 0;
-  await on("module.poison.raw", async () => void handlerRuns++);
-  await delay(200);
-
-  // Publish a body that is not JSON straight onto the events exchange — a malformed emitter. A
-  // confirm channel, waited on, so the broker has the message before the connection closes.
-  const raw = await amqp.connect(url!);
-  const rch = await raw.createConfirmChannel();
-  rch.publish("mesh.events", "module.poison.raw", Buffer.from("this is not json{"), {
-    persistent: true,
-    headers: { "x-event-id": "poison-1", "x-source": "bad", "x-node": "lab" },
-  });
-  await rch.waitForConfirms();
-  await raw.close();
-
-  // The handler never ran (the body never decoded), and the message is on the dead queue — set
-  // aside for inspection, not stuck redelivering forever.
-  await delay(600);
-  assert.equal(handlerRuns, 0, "a body that never decodes never reaches the handler");
-  const dead = await dch.get("mesh.events.dead", { noAck: true });
-  assert.ok(dead, "the poison event is retained on mesh.events.dead");
-  assert.equal((dead as amqp.GetMessage).fields.routingKey, "module.poison.raw");
-  await drain.close();
-
-  await c.close();
-  delete process.env.MESH_NODE;
-  delete process.env.MESH_MODULE;
-});
-
-function delay(ms: number): Promise<void> {
-  return new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, ms));
-}
-
-async function waitFor(cond: () => boolean, ms: number): Promise<void> {
-  const start = Date.now();
-  while (!cond()) {
-    if (Date.now() - start > ms) throw new Error("condition not met in time");
-    await delay(25);
-  }
-}
diff --git a/test/patient-connect.test.ts b/test/patient-connect.test.ts
index ff8db7f..a2a687c 100644
--- a/test/patient-connect.test.ts
+++ b/test/patient-connect.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { test } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-import { fatalBrokerReason, PinMismatchError } from "../src/broker-amqp.ts";
+import { fatalBrokerReason, PinMismatchError } from "../src/broker-nats.ts";
 
 // novox/hq issue 058 (and its review): serve mode retries a broker that is not up yet, but must
 // give up at once on a failure waiting cannot fix — otherwise a permanent fault loops for ever
@@ -31,11 +31,8 @@ test("a malformed broker URL is fatal — it never parses on the next try", () =
 });
 
 test("a refused login is fatal — a wrong or revoked credential, not an absent broker", () => {
-  for (const msg of [
-    "Handshake terminated by server: 403 (ACCESS-REFUSED) with message \"ACCESS_REFUSED - Login was refused\"",
-    "Login was refused using authentication mechanism PLAIN",
-    "ACCESS_REFUSED",
-  ]) {
+  // The bus refuses a login in its own words; each is final, because the next try says the same.
+  for (const msg of ["Authorization Violation", "nats: user authentication expired", "Permissions Violation for Subscription to \"x\""]) {
     assert.notEqual(fatalBrokerReason(new Error(msg)), null, `should be fatal: ${msg}`);
   }
 });
diff --git a/test/wire-unchanged.test.ts b/test/wire-unchanged.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 2d80144..0000000
--- a/test/wire-unchanged.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,68 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * **The old bus's wire is byte-identical after the rename, and this is the test that lets the change
- * be merged to a running mesh.**
- *
- * Every module's event names were converted from the old bus's routing keys to local names
- * (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/127), and the old bus's client maps them back. If that mapping is wrong
- * anywhere, a live mesh's events stop being delivered — silently, because a binding that matches
- * nothing is not an error.
- *
- * So this pins the mapping against the literal routing keys the mesh used before, taken from the
- * manifests as they were. It needs no bus: it is about a string.
- */
-import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-import { test } from "node:test";
-
-import { routingKeyFor, bindingFor, localKeyFor, topicMatches } from "../dist/broker-amqp.js";
-
-test("a converted emit produces the routing key the mesh published before", () => {
-  // left: what the module's code says now. right: what went on the wire before, unchanged.
-  const same: [string, string, string][] = [
-    ["plex", "playback.started", "module.plex.playback.started"],
-    ["sonarr", "download.completed", "module.sonarr.download.completed"],
-    ["builder", "built", "module.builder.built"],
-    ["mesh-catalog", "upgraded", "module.mesh-catalog.upgraded"],
-    ["keycloak", "user.created", "module.keycloak.user.created"],
-    ["mesh-vault", "secret.rotated", "module.mesh-vault.secret.rotated"],
-  ];
-  for (const [self, local, before] of same) {
-    assert.equal(routingKeyFor(local, self), before, `${self} emitting ${local}`);
-  }
-});
-
-test("a converted subscription binds what it bound before", () => {
-  const same: [string, string][] = [
-    ["builder.built", "module.builder.built"],
-    ["*.download.completed", "module.*.download.completed"],
-    ["*.usage.*", "module.*.usage.*"],
-    // The audit logger's "everything": `#` on this bus, and it must stay `#`.
-    ["**", "#"],
-  ];
-  for (const [declared, before] of same) {
-    assert.equal(bindingFor(declared), before, `consuming ${declared}`);
-  }
-});
-
-test("a handler still matches what the bus delivers", () => {
-  // The key a handler is given is the local one now, and the pattern it compares against is local
-  // too — so the pair must still meet for every case the mesh actually has.
-  const pairs: [string, string][] = [
-    ["builder.built", "module.builder.built"],
-    ["*.download.completed", "module.sonarr.download.completed"],
-    ["*.usage.*", "module.anthropic-consumer.usage.session"],
-    ["**", "module.anything.at.all"],
-  ];
-  for (const [pattern, delivered] of pairs) {
-    assert.ok(
-      topicMatches(pattern, localKeyFor(delivered)),
-      `${pattern} no longer matches ${delivered}, so a running module would stop reacting`,
-    );
-  }
-});
-
-test("a routing key already in the old form is left alone", () => {
-  // Belt for the transition: anything not yet converted still goes out as it did, so a module built
-  // from an older manifest keeps working beside one built from a current manifest.
-  assert.equal(routingKeyFor("module.plex.playback.started", "plex"), "module.plex.playback.started");
-  assert.equal(bindingFor("module.builder.built"), "module.builder.built");
-});