diff --git a/node-tools/cmd/node-tools/main.go b/node-tools/cmd/node-tools/main.go
index a52242d..8a851bd 100644
--- a/node-tools/cmd/node-tools/main.go
+++ b/node-tools/cmd/node-tools/main.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/alive"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/console"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/runtime"
@@ -54,6 +55,12 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("node-tools: %v", err)
 	}
+	// And says it is there (novox/hq to-be 45 S11): the machine's runtime, on its machine's name. A
+	// runtime on another credential — a module's own, in a test — is not the machine's.
+	stopSaying := func() {}
+	if cred.Module == runtimeModule && cred.Node != "" {
+		stopSaying = alive.Keep(conn, cred.Node, alive.Every, log.Printf)
+	}
 
 	listen := os.Getenv("MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN")
 	if listen == "" && cred.Module == runtimeModule {
@@ -76,6 +83,7 @@ func main() {
 	signals := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
 	signal.Notify(signals, syscall.SIGTERM, syscall.SIGINT)
 	<-signals
+	stopSaying()
 	stop()
 	if up != nil {
 		_ = up.Close()
diff --git a/node-tools/internal/alive/alive.go b/node-tools/internal/alive/alive.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f333457
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node-tools/internal/alive/alive.go
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+// Package alive is the node tools saying they are there (novox/hq to-be 45 §3, S11).
+//
+// **A machine heard and its runtime gone is a machine nobody can ask anything.** The node-engine says
+// every minute that the machine is there; nothing said whether the runtime serving every module's
+// tools and every held seat's verbs was. Now it says so too, on its own subject, every interval, with
+// the interval — the controller's watchdog raises `tools-silent` after three missed — and its build.
+// Core NATS, kept by nobody, as the host's heartbeat: a lost one is the next one.
+package alive
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"runtime/debug"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// Every is how often the runtime says it is there.
+const Every = 60 * time.Second
+
+// Subject is where one machine's node tools say it.
+func Subject(node string) string { return "mesh.control." + node + ".tools-alive" }
+
+// Beat is what is said: the machine, the interval, and the build.
+type Beat struct {
+	Node            string `json:"node"`
+	IntervalSeconds int    `json:"interval_seconds"`
+	Version         string `json:"version,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Sayer publishes one message, kept by nobody.
+type Sayer interface {
+	Say(subject string, body []byte) error
+}
+
+// Version is this build's commit, as the toolchain stamped it; empty when it did not.
+func Version() string {
+	info, ok := debug.ReadBuildInfo()
+	if !ok {
+		return ""
+	}
+	for _, s := range info.Settings {
+		if s.Key == "vcs.revision" {
+			return s.Value
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// Keep says the runtime is there now and every interval until the returned function is called. A
+// heartbeat that cannot be said is logged when that starts and when it stops — not every minute.
+func Keep(bus Sayer, node string, every time.Duration, logf func(string, ...any)) func() {
+	body, _ := json.Marshal(Beat{Node: node, IntervalSeconds: int(every / time.Second), Version: Version()})
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	var once sync.Once
+	go func() {
+		failing := ""
+		tick := time.NewTicker(every)
+		defer tick.Stop()
+		for {
+			why := ""
+			if err := bus.Say(Subject(node), body); err != nil {
+				why = err.Error()
+			}
+			if why != failing {
+				if why != "" {
+					logf("node-tools: could not say this runtime is there — the mesh will call it silent: %s", why)
+				} else {
+					logf("node-tools: says again that this runtime is there")
+				}
+				failing = why
+			}
+			select {
+			case <-done:
+				return
+			case <-tick.C:
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+	return func() { once.Do(func() { close(done) }) }
+}
diff --git a/node-tools/internal/alive/alive_test.go b/node-tools/internal/alive/alive_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7cd680
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node-tools/internal/alive/alive_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+package alive
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+type said struct {
+	mu   sync.Mutex
+	subs []string
+	body [][]byte
+	fail error
+}
+
+func (s *said) Say(subject string, body []byte) error {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	if s.fail != nil {
+		return s.fail
+	}
+	s.subs, s.body = append(s.subs, subject), append(s.body, body)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (s *said) count() int {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	return len(s.subs)
+}
+
+// **The runtime says it is there at once and every interval, as its machine, with the interval**: the
+// controller's bound is three of them (to-be 45 S11).
+func TestTheRuntimeSaysItIsThereEveryInterval(t *testing.T) {
+	s := &said{}
+	stop := Keep(s, "anchor", 20*time.Millisecond, t.Logf)
+	time.Sleep(70 * time.Millisecond)
+	stop()
+	stop()
+	if n := s.count(); n < 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("said %d times in three intervals", n)
+	}
+	var beat Beat
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(s.body[0], &beat); err != nil || beat.Node != "anchor" || beat.IntervalSeconds != 0 ||
+		s.subs[0] != "mesh.control.anchor.tools-alive" {
+		t.Fatalf("%s on %s: %v", s.body[0], s.subs[0], err)
+	}
+	n := s.count()
+	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+	if s.count() != n {
+		t.Fatal("said after it was stopped")
+	}
+}
+
+// **A heartbeat the bus will not take is said once, and again when it is taken**: not a line a minute.
+func TestAHeartbeatThatCannotBeSaidIsLoggedOnce(t *testing.T) {
+	s := &said{fail: errors.New("permissions violation")}
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	var lines []string
+	stop := Keep(s, "anchor", 10*time.Millisecond, func(f string, a ...any) {
+		mu.Lock()
+		lines = append(lines, f)
+		mu.Unlock()
+	})
+	time.Sleep(60 * time.Millisecond)
+	stop()
+	mu.Lock()
+	defer mu.Unlock()
+	if len(lines) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("logged %d lines for one failure", len(lines))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go b/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go
index ba6cd8b..64f543d 100644
--- a/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go
+++ b/node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go
@@ -628,6 +628,9 @@ func (c *Conn) PublishAs(module string, env Envelope) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+// Say publishes one message on core NATS, kept by nobody: a heartbeat, whose loss is the next one.
+func (c *Conn) Say(subject string, body []byte) error { return c.nc.Publish(subject, body) }
+
 // ServedOn is where a served module's tool is answered right now: the membership's subjects when
 // issued, the derived shape otherwise — what Handle subscribes, for what announces it (ADR 0197).
 func (c *Conn) ServedOn(module, tool string) []Served { return c.servedOn(module, tool) }