Merge pull request 'Ask a seat once more when the controller refused as handing over (hq issue 289)' (#20) from fix/a-verb-survives-the-handover into main

A controller being replaced refuses a call it cannot serve, marked retry:
handing-over; the one after it answers the same call.

.gitignore

@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 node_modules/
 dist/
+.mesh-build/

Dockerfile

@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-# Three stages, two published images: the one modules are COMPILED in, and the one they RUN in.
+ARG NODE_BASE=node:22-bookworm-slim
+# The mesh-tools module: the two images every TypeScript module is COMPILED in and may RUN in. The
+# runtime itself ships as the node-tools module's bundle (node-tools/, novox/hq ADR 0175, to-be 38
+# WP3); these images are the toolchain for TypeScript bundles and the base a module's own service
+# may still be built on. They are no longer how tools reach a node.
 #
 # **They were the same image, and that was a mistake.** A module's recipe starts from this and
 # invokes the compiler out of it, so the compiler had to be here — and because the same image was
@@ -13,41 +17,64 @@
 # docker may carry no buildx.
 
 # ---- deps: node_modules resolved from the mesh's registry, credential and all ----------------
-FROM node:22-bookworm-slim AS deps
+FROM ${NODE_BASE} AS deps
 RUN apt-get update \
       && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends git ca-certificates \
       && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 WORKDIR /app
-COPY package.json ./
+COPY node-tools/package.json ./
 # The builder writes .npmrc into the build context; it authenticates to the mesh's package registry
 # for the @novox scope, which is where @novox/mesh-sdk resolves. This stage is not published, so the
 # credential travels no further than here. Development dependencies included: the compiler is one.
 COPY .npmrc ./.npmrc
 RUN npm install --no-audit --no-fund
+# **The SDK this image carries is the one the mesh last published** (novox/hq issue 212). The range in
+# package.json is resolved once and the layer above is cached, so a release reached no toolchain until
+# that file changed. The exact version arrives as a build argument from the SDK module's published
+# package (module.json `build.on`), so a new release is a new argument, this layer runs again — and
+# the planner orders this module after the SDK, so a release rebuilds the toolchain and, after it,
+# every bundle compiled in it (issue 211).
+ARG MESH_SDK=@novox/mesh-sdk@latest
+RUN npm install --no-audit --no-fund "${MESH_SDK}"
 
-# ---- toolchain: what a module is compiled in, WITHOUT the credential --------------------------
-FROM node:22-bookworm-slim AS toolchain
+# ---- compiling: the runtime's own code built, WITHOUT the credential -------------------------
+FROM ${NODE_BASE} AS compiling
 WORKDIR /app
-COPY package.json ./
+COPY node-tools/package.json ./
 # The resolved libraries, but not the .npmrc that resolved them.
 COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
-# The toolkit arrives compiled. It used to arrive as sources, and this compiled it by hand — the
-# hook that builds it on install was running all along, and the result was then packed out of the
-# package, because with no explicit file list npm falls back to .gitignore and that ignores the
-# build output. Fixed where it belonged, in the toolkit.
-COPY tsconfig.json ./
-COPY src ./src
+COPY node-tools/tsconfig.json ./
+COPY node-tools/src ./src
 RUN npm run build
 
-# ---- what the running image needs, and nothing else -------------------------------------------
+# ---- what a running bundle needs, and nothing else -------------------------------------------
 # Its own stage so the toolchain image keeps its build tools while the runtime image does not.
-FROM toolchain AS lean
+FROM compiling AS lean
 RUN npm prune --omit=dev
 
-# ---- runtime: what a module runs in -----------------------------------------------------------
-FROM node:22-bookworm-slim AS runtime
+# ---- toolchain: what a TypeScript bundle is compiled in ---------------------------------------
+# The compiler, and esbuild (a development dependency) at /app/node_modules/esbuild: the builder
+# bundles every entrypoint and launcher into one file with it (novox/hq ADR 0193), so a bundle
+# carries what it imports and not this image's node_modules.
+# Beside the compiler, at /app/runtime, what every TypeScript bundle runs with: the production
+# dependencies the SDK and the runtime need, and a package.json saying the compiled files are ES
+# modules. The builder copies this directory whole into a compiled bundle (novox/hq ADR 0188 §5),
+# so a bundle unpacked on a machine starts — a `.js` without that package.json is read as
+# CommonJS, and an import of `nats` without node_modules beside it resolves to nothing.
+FROM compiling AS toolchain
+COPY --from=lean /app/node_modules /app/runtime/node_modules
+RUN printf '{"type":"module","private":true}\n' > /app/runtime/package.json
+# **git, because a pull request's merge check runs in this image too** (novox/hq ADR 0237): a repository's
+# own merge-check.sh that declares this toolchain runs here, and a suite that reads a repository's history
+# (the lab's last-run record) ran into "spawnSync git ENOENT". Nothing compiled here calls it.
+RUN apt-get update \
+      && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends git \
+      && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# ---- runtime: what a module's own service may run in ------------------------------------------
+FROM ${NODE_BASE} AS runtime
 WORKDIR /app
-COPY package.json ./
+COPY node-tools/package.json ./
 COPY --from=lean /app/node_modules ./node_modules
-COPY --from=toolchain /app/dist ./dist
+COPY --from=compiling /app/dist ./dist
 ENTRYPOINT ["node", "dist/main.js"]

README.md

@@ -1,32 +1,88 @@
 # mesh-tools
 
-The Novox Mesh **tool runtime** — the per-node process that makes a module's tools actually serve.
+Two modules in one repository (novox/hq ADR 0069), one piece of software:
 
-A module ships its tools (built on [`@novox/mesh-sdk`](https://git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk)); this
-runtime is what loads them and puts them on the mesh. It:
+- **`node-tools`** (`node-tools/`) — the node's **tool runtime** as a module (ADR 0175, to-be 38
+  WP3): one process per machine the host runs from this bundle, serving every assigned module's tools
+  and every held seat's verbs on the bus, and answering MCP on the machine's loopback — the console
+  (design 34). The code, its tests and the `mesh` client all live there.
+- **`mesh-tools`** (this directory) — the two images TypeScript bundles are compiled in and a module's
+  own *service* may still run in. Built from the same code; no longer how tools reach a node.
 
-1. connects the mesh broker (novox/hq ADR 0001) — a concrete AMQP implementation of the sdk's
-   `Broker` contract;
-2. imports the assigned modules' compiled tool entrypoints, each of which registers its tools as it
-   loads;
-3. serves them through the sdk's `serveTools` harness, answering `tools.invoke` over the broker.
+The runtime:
+
+1. connects the mesh bus on the node's credential — a concrete implementation of the sdk's `Broker`
+   contract;
+2. reads one membership per module it serves — what the mesh issued that module on this machine
+   (ADR 0160): where its tools are answered, which seats it holds — and follows each live;
+3. imports each module's compiled tool entrypoints, each of which registers its tools as it loads,
+   guarded: a bundle that throws is named, in the log and in what `tools` answers for its module,
+   and the others serve;
+4. serves every module's tools on that module's subjects and every held seat's verbs on the seat's.
+
+A bundle that is not plain JavaScript — a Go or Rust binary, a Python script, or a JavaScript file
+marked executable — is **launched** rather than imported (novox/hq ADR 0188): the runtime starts it
+as a child with its own environment and speaks MCP over stdio to it, `tools/list` once and
+`tools/call` per call. A tool it lists as `<seat>.<verb>` is the seat's implementation. A child that
+exits is named in the log and started again on its next call. So a tools bundle may be written in
+any language; the mesh's SDK for each is the stdio loop and nothing more (`node-tools/src/launch.ts`
+is the runtime's side of it).
 
 Everything hard — dispatch, collection, duplicate-name safety — is the sdk's. This is the thin
-wrapper that binds the broker and loads the modules. Keeping the AMQP client here, out of the sdk,
-is deliberate: a broker-client change never rebuilds a module (ADR 0039).
+wrapper that binds the bus and loads the modules. Keeping the bus client here, out of the sdk, is
+deliberate: a bus-client change never rebuilds a module (ADR 0039). The runtime is module-agnostic:
+it knows bundles and subjects, nothing of what any module does. A tool that needs root escalates
+itself — root is the module's concern, not the runtime's.
 
 ## Running it
 
 ```
-MESH_BROKER_URL     amqp://…              the mesh broker
-MESH_TOOL_MODULES   /a/tools/index.js,…   the assigned modules' compiled tool entrypoints
+MESH_BROKER_FILE        the node's sealed credential, as the mesh delivered it
+MESH_TOOL_MODULES       alpha=/…/alpha/tools/index.js,beta=/…/beta/dist/index.js,…
+                        the modules to serve and their compiled entrypoints; several entries may
+                        name one module. A bare path is an entrypoint of the credential's own module
+                        — the one-module form a per-module container still sets.
+MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT   whose machine this is, and MESH_OPERATOR_HOME where their home is; set by
+                        the mesh when the node has an account, read by tools from their environment
+MESH_BROKER_URL         a plain URL instead of the credential, for the bootstrap case
 ```
 
-`node dist/main.js`, or the container (`Dockerfile`). On a node the host resolves both variables
-and starts it like any other supervised workload.
+`node dist/main.js`. On a node the controller composes the variables and the host supervises the
+process like any other host-side workload (novox/hq to-be 38). As `node-tools` the same process is
+the console: MCP on `127.0.0.1:4270` (or `MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN`). The container (`Dockerfile`) is how
+a module's own *service* may still be built; it is no longer how tools reach a node.
+
+## `mesh` — the tools for whoever is on a machine
+
+The same package carries the client (novox/hq design 25 §7, design 34): `mesh tools`, `mesh call
+<module>.<tool> [json]`, `mesh mcp` (an MCP server over stdio for a program a person starts) and
+`mesh serve` (the **console**: MCP over HTTP on a machine's loopback, started by the mesh as the
+`mesh-console` module on the credential in `MESH_BROKER_FILE` — novox/hq ADR 0152). `mesh serve`
+refuses to bind anything but loopback. With `--console <url>`, `tools` and `call` go through a console
+already on the machine and need no credential.
+
+The console announces six tools and reaches everything else by address (novox/hq ADR 0195):
+`mesh_overview` (the mesh's seats and machines), `mesh_machine` (one machine's seats and modules),
+`mesh_search` (a tool by words), `mesh_describe` (one tool's arguments), `mesh_call` (call one by
+address) and `mesh_runtimes` (which runtimes answered discovery: per runtime its machine, how long its
+answer took, its size in bytes, how many modules and tools it announced, whether it was shortened to
+fit the bus, when it was last heard — and who was expected and not heard).
+
+Discovery asks the bus (ADR 0197): every runtime answers the NATS services protocol's `$SRV.PING` and
+`$SRV.INFO` with what it serves at that moment, and the console reads where the controller's records
+place each module. The console waits at least 750 ms, and up to 5 s for every runtime that answered
+PING to send what it serves — a large runtime's answer crossing the bus to a broker on another machine
+can arrive well after the rest. A runtime that said it is there and did not say what it serves, or
+that answered earlier and not now, is named: the console never calls a module missing, or on another
+machine, while a runtime that might serve it was not heard. A runtime whose answer outgrows the bus
+announces first-line descriptions, then none, and says so. A module may not name a tool of its own
+`tools`; the runtime refuses it at load.
 
 ## Verified
 
-`npm test` stands up LavinMQ (the mesh's broker) and proves the whole path over real AMQP: the
-runtime serves a registered tool, a separate connection invokes it by name and gets the result, and
-an unknown tool is refused over the wire.
+`npm test` runs against a real NATS server with JetStream (`MESH_TEST_NATS`, see any test's header
+for the one-line `docker run`) and proves the whole path over the wire: the runtime serves a
+registered tool, a separate connection invokes it by name and gets the result, an unknown tool is
+refused, a runtime serves exactly the subjects it is issued and re-serves on a new membership, and
+the node's runtime serves three modules' bundles on one credential — one of them broken, named and
+not fatal — with every seat verb answering where the membership put it.

dlxprobe.mjs

@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-import amqp from "amqplib";
-
-const PORT = process.argv[2];
-const MPORT = process.argv[3];
-const B = `http://127.0.0.1:${MPORT}`;
-const AUTH = "Basic " + Buffer.from("guest:guest").toString("base64");
-
-async function api(method, path, body) {
-  const r = await fetch(B + path, {
-    method,
-    headers: { "content-type": "application/json", authorization: AUTH },
-    body: body ? JSON.stringify(body) : undefined,
-  });
-  if (r.status >= 300 && r.status !== 404) throw new Error(`${method} ${path} -> ${r.status}`);
-}
-
-await api("PUT", "/api/exchanges/%2f/mesh.events.dead", { type: "topic", durable: true });
-await api("PUT", "/api/users/al", { password: "s", tags: "" });
-
-const Q = "anchor.al.events";
-const D = "mesh.events.dead";
-const q = Q.replace(/\./g, "\\.");
-const d = D.replace(/\./g, "\\.");
-
-// configure, write, read patterns per grant on the dead exchange
-const combos = {
-  "none":            { configure: `^${q}$`,          write: `^${q}$`,          read: `^${q}$` },
-  "read-dead":       { configure: `^${q}$`,          write: `^${q}$`,          read: `^(${q}|${d})$` },
-  "write-dead":      { configure: `^${q}$`,          write: `^(${q}|${d})$`,   read: `^${q}$` },
-  "configure-dead":  { configure: `^(${q}|${d})$`,   write: `^${q}$`,          read: `^${q}$` },
-  "read+write-dead": { configure: `^${q}$`,          write: `^(${q}|${d})$`,   read: `^(${q}|${d})$` },
-};
-
-let i = 0;
-for (const [label, perms] of Object.entries(combos)) {
-  await api("PUT", "/api/permissions/%2f/al", perms);
-  const queue = `${Q}.${i++}`; // fresh each time
-  try {
-    const c = await amqp.connect(`amqp://al:s@127.0.0.1:${PORT}/`);
-    const ch = await c.createChannel();
-    ch.on("error", () => {});
-    await ch.assertQueue(queue, { durable: true, deadLetterExchange: D });
-    console.log(`${label}: declare-with-DLX OK`);
-    await c.close();
-  } catch (e) {
-    console.log(`${label}: FAIL - ${String(e.message).slice(0, 70)}`);
-  }
-}

merge-check.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# mesh-check-toolchain: go
+#
+# The tool runtime's own check (novox/hq ADR 0237 as amended): the second layer of a pull request's merge
+# check, `mesh/repo-check`, run by the build seat in the mesh's Go toolchain — and by hand.
+#
+# The gate — every machine of the facts snapshot composed with this change — is the build seat's first
+# layer (`mesh/merge-gate`), run because the mesh's module graph builds node-tools and mesh-tools from
+# here. This is the code's own: node-tools (Go) formatted, vetted and its suite, every test on a bus of its
+# own at the release the mesh runs (internal/meshtest), packages in parallel, under the race detector when
+# the toolchain has a C compiler.
+#
+# **Said, never passed silently**: the runtime's and the console's tests launch TypeScript and Python
+# bundles that import the mesh's own package (@novox/mesh-sdk), which comes from the package registry — and
+# a check of code nobody has approved is given no credential for it. Where node and that package are not
+# present those two packages are not tested here, and the TypeScript in node-tools/src neither.
+set -eu
+cd node-tools
+
+unformatted=$(gofmt -l cmd internal)
+if [ -n "$unformatted" ]; then
+	echo "not gofmt'd:"
+	echo "$unformatted"
+	exit 1
+fi
+CGO_ENABLED=0 go vet ./...
+
+packages=$(go list ./...)
+bundleless=""
+if ! command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1 || [ ! -d node_modules/@novox/mesh-sdk ]; then
+	echo "NOT TESTED HERE: internal/runtime and internal/console launch bundles that need node and @novox/mesh-sdk"
+	packages=$(printf '%s\n' "$packages" | grep -v -e '/internal/runtime$' -e '/internal/console$')
+	# What of the console launches no bundle runs anyway: how an address resolves (novox/hq issue 287).
+	bundleless='^TestASeatAndAModuleOfOneNameAreEachReached$'
+fi
+if command -v gcc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	CGO_ENABLED=1 go test -race -count=1 $packages
+else
+	echo "NOT RACE-CHECKED: the toolchain holds no C compiler; the suite runs without the race detector"
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 go test -count=1 $packages
+fi
+if [ -n "$bundleless" ]; then
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 go test -count=1 -run "$bundleless" ./internal/console
+fi
+echo "NOT TESTED HERE: node-tools/src (TypeScript) needs @novox/mesh-sdk from the package registry"

module.json

@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@
         "from": "Dockerfile",
         "target": "runtime"
       }
+    ],
+    "on": [
+      {
+        "arg": "NODE_BASE",
+        "image": "node@sha256:48e4b67d85f87bd551df43704e24d252f56cc5f8e9718841aace50f19948f0f9"
+      },
+      {
+        "arg": "MESH_SDK",
+        "module": "mesh-sdk",
+        "artifact": "lib"
+      }
     ]
   },
   "resources": []

node-tools/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# node-tools
+
+The node's tool runtime as a module (novox/hq ADR 0175, to-be 38 WP3). Assigned to a machine, it is
+one process the host runs from this bundle, as the operator's account: it serves every assigned
+module's tools and every held seat's verbs on the bus, and answers MCP on the machine's loopback —
+the console (design 34). The controller composes the process (which bundles to load, where the
+credential is, whose machine it is); this manifest says only what the machine must have for it: the
+interpreter, a place for the credential, the loopback port, and leave to call every tool.
+
+The code is the `mesh-tools` package in this directory; the module at the repository root,
+`mesh-tools`, builds the images TypeScript bundles are compiled in. See the repository README.

node-tools/cmd/node-tools/main.go

@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+// node-tools — the node's tool runtime, in Go (novox/hq ADR 0175, ADR 0193; to-be 38 WP4d).
+//
+// One process per machine: it connects to the bus on the node's credential, launches every assigned
+// module's tools bundle and serves its tools and its seats' verbs; as the node-tools module — or
+// wherever MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN says — it is also the console, MCP over HTTP on loopback.
+//
+//	MESH_BROKER_FILE       the credential the mesh sealed to this machine for the runtime
+//	MESH_TOOL_MODULES      <module>=<entrypoint>,… the bundles to launch
+//	MESH_TOOL_ENV          {"<module>": {"<word>": "<value>"}} what each is given (ADR 0192)
+//	MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT  whose machine this is, and MESH_OPERATOR_HOME their home
+//	MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN    where the console listens, overriding 127.0.0.1:4270
+package main
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"math/rand/v2"
+	"os"
+	"os/signal"
+	"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"
+)
+
+// runtimeModule is the module that is the node's tool runtime; on its credential, serving is also
+// the console.
+const runtimeModule = "node-tools"
+
+// consoleListen is where the console listens when nothing says otherwise.
+const consoleListen = "127.0.0.1:4270"
+
+func main() {
+	log.SetFlags(0)
+	if len(os.Args) > 1 && os.Args[1] != "serve" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "node-tools: %q is not a mode; this runtime serves (novox/hq ADR 0193)\n", os.Args[1])
+		os.Exit(2)
+	}
+	cred := credential()
+	conn := connectPatiently(cred)
+
+	served, err := runtime.ServedModulesFrom(os.Getenv(runtime.ToolModules), cred.Module)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("node-tools: %v", err)
+	}
+	envs, err := runtime.TakeToolEnvs()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("node-tools: %v", err)
+	}
+	stop, err := runtime.Run(conn, served, envs, log.Printf)
+	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 {
+		listen = consoleListen
+	}
+	var up *console.Listening
+	if listen != "" {
+		node := cred.Node
+		if node == "" {
+			node = "?"
+		}
+		who := node + "." + cred.Module
+		up, err = console.Serve(console.NewSurface(conn, who), listen)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("node-tools: %v", err)
+		}
+		log.Printf("mesh console listening on http://%s/mcp as %s", up.Address, who)
+	}
+
+	signals := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	signal.Notify(signals, syscall.SIGTERM, syscall.SIGINT)
+	<-signals
+	stopSaying()
+	stop()
+	if up != nil {
+		_ = up.Close()
+	}
+	conn.Close()
+}
+
+// credential reads the credential the mesh delivered; a missing or unreadable one is a fault of
+// configuration, said and final.
+func credential() bus.Credential {
+	file := os.Getenv("MESH_BROKER_FILE")
+	if file == "" {
+		if url := os.Getenv("MESH_BROKER_URL"); url != "" {
+			return bus.Credential{URL: url, Module: runtimeModule}
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "node-tools: set MESH_BROKER_FILE (a sealed credential) or MESH_BROKER_URL — there is no broker to reach")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(file)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "node-tools: cannot read the broker credential at %s: %v\n", file, err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	var cred bus.Credential
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &cred); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "node-tools: cannot read the broker credential at %s: %v\n", file, err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	if cred.URL == "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "node-tools: %s carries no url — it is not a broker credential\n", file)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	return cred
+}
+
+// connectPatiently retries while the bus is merely not reachable yet — the normal case at startup —
+// and gives up at once on what waiting cannot fix (issue 058).
+func connectPatiently(cred bus.Credential) *bus.Conn {
+	for delay := 2 * time.Second; ; delay = min(delay*2, 30*time.Second) {
+		conn, err := bus.Connect(cred)
+		if err == nil {
+			return conn
+		}
+		if fatal := bus.Fatal(err); fatal != "" {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "node-tools: %s — waiting will not fix this; giving up\n", fatal)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		wait := delay + time.Duration(rand.IntN(1000))*time.Millisecond
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "node-tools: the broker is not reachable yet (%v); retrying in %ds\n", err, int(wait.Round(time.Second)/time.Second))
+		time.Sleep(wait)
+	}
+}

node-tools/go.mod

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+module github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools
+
+go 1.26.0
+
+require (
+	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0
+)
+
+require (
+	github.com/antithesishq/antithesis-sdk-go v0.7.0-default-no-op // indirect
+	github.com/google/go-tpm v0.9.8 // indirect
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.20.0 // indirect
+	github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.4 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.8.1 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.11.17 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.16 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 // indirect
+	go.uber.org/automaxprocs v1.6.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/time v0.15.0 // indirect
+)

node-tools/go.sum

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+github.com/antithesishq/antithesis-sdk-go v0.7.0-default-no-op h1:Z/MZK75wC/NSrkgqeNIa7jexam9uWzhLmFTSCPI/kn0=
+github.com/antithesishq/antithesis-sdk-go v0.7.0-default-no-op/go.mod h1:FQyySiasQQM8735Ddel3MRojmy4dA1IqCeyJ5jmPMbI=
+github.com/google/go-tpm v0.9.8 h1:slArAR9Ft+1ybZu0lBwpSmpwhRXaa85hWtMinMyRAWo=
+github.com/google/go-tpm v0.9.8/go.mod h1:h9jEsEECg7gtLis0upRBQU+GhYVH6jMjrFxI8u6bVUY=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.20.0 h1:a3C1ke2ohxFymNlb2HWAHjDeKCI90scRskErZkR0ezA=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.20.0/go.mod h1:LUdAzn7YLVvxLpc7y3V1m40wESHTgc1422pwwBSKYuI=
+github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.4 h1:asJizugGgchQod2ja9NJlGOWq4s7KsAWr5XUc9Clgl4=
+github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.4/go.mod h1:GGYsuwP/fPD6Y9hMiXuapVvlIUEhFhMTh0rxU3ik1LQ=
+github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.8.1 h1:V0xpGuD/N8Mi+fQNDynXohVvp7ZztevW5io8CUWlPmU=
+github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.8.1/go.mod h1:nWnOEEiVMiKHQpnAy4eXlizVEtSfzacZ1Q43LIRavZg=
+github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.11.17 h1:GKEghcFK6A+aFx11Yf1LjgLC3txAwvyhnYzhBIQZA8I=
+github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.11.17/go.mod h1:B1sFVz4StNosQ903ak4N1G01Fl/9f8e06mXpFIE2K24=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0 h1:vsXoOxjHp/GmPUN+EcI7uOf/uB+iAP+kEsAFNQN0yzA=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.54.0/go.mod h1:y+DZoD1oBOYfZTU681eTUiUjI0vbqYGixNVFHcjHJ0k=
+github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.16 h1:rd5oAuLOb8mnAycB0xleuEBNS1pVVnN0fv/FF34Eypg=
+github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.16/go.mod h1:llLgWoI0o4z/Q57q2R1kHfmocyhGV6VG/U18Glg1Afs=
+github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 h1:5iA8DT8V7q8WK2EScv2padNa/rTESc1KdnPw4TC2paw=
+github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1/go.mod h1:19wcPz3Ph3q0Jbyiqsd0kePYG7A95tJPxeL+1OSON2c=
+go.uber.org/automaxprocs v1.6.0 h1:O3y2/QNTOdbF+e/dpXNNW7Rx2hZ4sTIPyybbxyNqTUs=
+go.uber.org/automaxprocs v1.6.0/go.mod h1:ifeIMSnPZuznNm6jmdzmU3/bfk01Fe2fotchwEFJ8r8=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0 h1:3ZVCjf8Ggz7zneR/EHRVx68Ctf+2pmIMP2UFhh9cC6M=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.57.0/go.mod h1:Fdz0i5U6CoizGwLda9DttjSk6qlZo25zYNtR+ycvuZA=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.21.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0 h1:bbX/i/6MgT9BVLM9RT1thmxL04yeTAhbEz4SyadbXoo=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.48.0/go.mod h1:hNLxWAXmnKAxqDtdwIYC4bM9oQPEecfsnNMuSxOs3og=
+golang.org/x/time v0.15.0 h1:bbrp8t3bGUeFOx08pvsMYRTCVSMk89u4tKbNOZbp88U=
+golang.org/x/time v0.15.0/go.mod h1:Y4YMaQmXwGQZoFaVFk4YpCt4FLQMYKZe9oeV/f4MSno=

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) }) }
+}

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))
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/announce/announce.go

@@ -0,0 +1,379 @@
+// Package announce answers the NATS services protocol's discovery for what a runtime serves, and
+// gathers the answers (novox/hq ADR 0197).
+//
+// A runtime does not re-serve its tools through a services library: serving is unchanged. It answers
+// `$SRV.PING`, `$SRV.INFO` and `$SRV.STATS` — and the same followed by its service name, and by its
+// name and id — in the format NATS's own tools read, with what it is serving at the moment it is
+// asked. One service per runtime process: the bus admits one reply per request from each responder,
+// so a runtime serving many modules and seats answers once, one endpoint per tool per subject, and
+// says in each endpoint's metadata which module, seat, scope and machine it is.
+package announce
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/micro"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+)
+
+// Version is the announced service version (semver, as the protocol requires).
+const Version = "0.1.0"
+
+// Window is how long the console gathers discovery answers at the least: every instance answers one
+// request, and how many will is what is being found out.
+var Window = 750 * time.Millisecond
+
+// Patience is how long the console waits, at the most, for the full answer of a service that has
+// said it is there. **A fixed window lost the largest runtime** (2026-10-05): the laptop's answer —
+// 48 modules, 341 endpoints, 164 kB — went up to the broker on another machine and back, arrived
+// last every time (a median of 365 ms, one in 25 after 813 ms on a quiet link, later still while the
+// runtime re-served), and when it missed the 750 ms window the console said its modules ran nowhere.
+// A PING answer is a hundred bytes and arrives at once, so who is there is known early; what each
+// serves is waited for until it arrives or this passes, and a service that never sends it is named.
+var Patience = 5 * time.Second
+
+// Shortened is the service metadata key a runtime sets when its announcement was cut to fit the bus.
+const Shortened = "shortened"
+
+// Kinds of endpoint.
+const (
+	KindTool = "tool" // a module's own tool
+	KindSeat = "seat" // a seat's verb, served by the module holding it
+)
+
+// Endpoint is one tool served on one subject, as it is announced.
+type Endpoint struct {
+	Kind            string
+	Module          string // the module whose code answers
+	Tool            string // the tool's or the verb's name
+	Seat            string // for a seat's verb
+	Scope           string // "mesh" or "node", for a seat's verb
+	Node            string
+	Description     string
+	Schema          json.RawMessage
+	Interchangeable bool
+	Subject         string
+	Queue           string
+}
+
+// Name is the endpoint's name as the protocol allows it — letters, digits, `-` and `_` — the
+// prefix and the tool joined by `__`; the metadata, not the name, is what identifies it.
+func (e Endpoint) Name() string {
+	prefix := e.Module
+	if e.Kind == KindSeat {
+		prefix = e.Seat
+	}
+	return clean(prefix) + "__" + clean(e.Tool)
+}
+
+func clean(s string) string {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	for _, r := range s {
+		if r == '-' || r == '_' || (r >= 'a' && r <= 'z') || (r >= 'A' && r <= 'Z') || (r >= '0' && r <= '9') {
+			b.WriteRune(r)
+		} else {
+			b.WriteRune('_')
+		}
+	}
+	return b.String()
+}
+
+func (e Endpoint) info() micro.EndpointInfo {
+	md := map[string]string{
+		"kind": e.Kind, "module": e.Module, "tool": e.Tool, "node": e.Node,
+		"description": e.Description, "interchangeable": boolWord(e.Interchangeable),
+	}
+	// **A seat's verb carries its schema; a module's tool does not.** Every tool's schema, once per
+	// subject it answers on, made a runtime's one answer outgrow the bus's largest message (1 MiB) once
+	// machines served a couple of hundred tools — and the answer that cannot be sent is silence: the
+	// machine vanished from discovery (2026-10-04). A module's tool's schema is asked of the runtime that
+	// serves it when a person describes it (its `tools` verb); a seat's verbs are few, and a seat has no
+	// `tools` verb of its own to ask.
+	if e.Kind == KindSeat {
+		schema := strings.TrimSpace(string(e.Schema))
+		if schema == "" || schema == "null" {
+			schema = "{}"
+		}
+		md["schema"] = schema
+	}
+	if e.Kind == KindSeat {
+		md["seat"] = e.Seat
+		md["scope"] = e.Scope
+	}
+	return micro.EndpointInfo{Name: e.Name(), Subject: e.Subject, QueueGroup: e.Queue, Metadata: md}
+}
+
+func boolWord(b bool) string {
+	if b {
+		return "true"
+	}
+	return "false"
+}
+
+// Service is who answers: the runtime's name, its instance, and a word about it.
+type Service struct {
+	Name        string
+	ID          string
+	Description string
+	Metadata    map[string]string
+}
+
+func (s Service) identity() micro.ServiceIdentity {
+	md := s.Metadata
+	if md == nil {
+		md = map[string]string{}
+	}
+	return micro.ServiceIdentity{Name: s.Name, ID: s.ID, Version: Version, Metadata: md}
+}
+
+// Info is the info_response for these endpoints.
+func Info(s Service, endpoints []Endpoint) micro.Info {
+	out := micro.Info{ServiceIdentity: s.identity(), Type: micro.InfoResponseType,
+		Description: s.Description, Endpoints: []micro.EndpointInfo{}}
+	for _, e := range endpoints {
+		out.Endpoints = append(out.Endpoints, e.info())
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// Serve answers discovery for one service until stopped, asking `current` for its endpoints each
+// time — so what is announced is what is served now, re-served memberships included.
+func Serve(conn *bus.Conn, s Service, current func() []Endpoint) (func(), error) {
+	started := time.Now().UTC()
+	answer := func(subject string, _ []byte) []byte {
+		parts := strings.Split(subject, ".")
+		if len(parts) < 2 || parts[0] != "$SRV" {
+			return nil
+		}
+		if len(parts) >= 3 && parts[2] != s.Name {
+			return nil // another service's
+		}
+		if len(parts) >= 4 && parts[3] != s.ID {
+			return nil // another instance's
+		}
+		var v any
+		switch parts[1] {
+		case "PING":
+			v = micro.Ping{ServiceIdentity: s.identity(), Type: micro.PingResponseType}
+		case "INFO":
+			v = Info(s, current())
+		case "STATS":
+			st := micro.Stats{ServiceIdentity: s.identity(), Type: micro.StatsResponseType, Started: started,
+				Endpoints: []*micro.EndpointStats{}}
+			for _, e := range current() {
+				st.Endpoints = append(st.Endpoints, &micro.EndpointStats{Name: e.Name(), Subject: e.Subject, QueueGroup: e.Queue})
+			}
+			v = st
+		default:
+			return nil
+		}
+		body, err := json.Marshal(v)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+		// Too large for the bus is no answer at all, and was silent: shorten every description to its
+		// first line and say so, rather than vanish; still too large, leave descriptions out.
+		if limit := conn.MaxPayload(); limit > 0 && int64(len(body)) > limit {
+			if info, ok := v.(micro.Info); ok {
+				body = shorten(conn.Logf, info, body, limit)
+			}
+		}
+		return body
+	}
+	var stops []func()
+	for _, verb := range []string{"PING", "INFO", "STATS"} {
+		// Exactly the questions asked of every service and of this one by name and instance — what the
+		// grants allow (novox/hq ADR 0197). A wildcard is refused by the bus.
+		for _, subject := range []string{"$SRV." + verb, "$SRV." + verb + "." + s.Name, "$SRV." + verb + "." + s.Name + "." + s.ID} {
+			stop, err := conn.Raw(subject, answer)
+			if err != nil {
+				for _, st := range stops {
+					st()
+				}
+				return func() {}, err
+			}
+			stops = append(stops, stop)
+		}
+	}
+	return func() {
+		for _, st := range stops {
+			st()
+		}
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// shorten is an info_response cut to fit the bus: descriptions to their first line, then none, the
+// service's metadata saying which (so discovery can tell a person what it was given).
+func shorten(logf func(string, ...any), info micro.Info, body []byte, limit int64) []byte {
+	md := map[string]string{}
+	for k, v := range info.Metadata {
+		md[k] = v
+	}
+	info.Metadata = md
+	for _, step := range []string{"descriptions cut to their first line", "descriptions left out"} {
+		for i := range info.Endpoints {
+			e := info.Endpoints[i].Metadata
+			if step == "descriptions left out" {
+				delete(e, "description")
+			} else {
+				e["description"] = firstLine(e["description"])
+			}
+		}
+		md[Shortened] = step
+		shorter, err := json.Marshal(info)
+		if err != nil {
+			return body
+		}
+		logf("[mesh-tools] what this runtime serves is %d bytes, beyond the bus's %d; announced with %s (%d bytes)",
+			len(body), limit, step, len(shorter))
+		if int64(len(shorter)) <= limit {
+			return shorter
+		}
+		body = shorter
+	}
+	return body
+}
+
+// Heard is one service instance's answer to discovery: what it serves, how long it took to arrive,
+// and how large it was.
+type Heard struct {
+	Info      micro.Info
+	Took      time.Duration
+	Bytes     int
+	Shortened string // why its descriptions are not whole, or ""
+}
+
+// Machine is the machine an instance runs on: its metadata's, or the one its endpoints name.
+func (h Heard) Machine() string {
+	if n := h.Info.Metadata["node"]; n != "" {
+		return n
+	}
+	for _, e := range h.Info.Endpoints {
+		if n := e.Metadata["node"]; n != "" {
+			return n
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// Instance names one service instance.
+type Instance struct {
+	Name    string
+	ID      string
+	Machine string
+}
+
+// Discovery is what one round of discovery heard, and who said it was there but did not say what it
+// serves in time.
+type Discovery struct {
+	At     time.Time
+	Waited time.Duration
+	Heard  []Heard
+	Silent []Instance
+}
+
+// Gather asks every service on the bus who it is and what it serves, and waits at least the window
+// and at most the patience: until every instance that answered PING has answered INFO. An answer
+// that is not the protocol's is skipped.
+func Gather(conn *bus.Conn) (Discovery, error) {
+	start := time.Now()
+	d := Discovery{At: start.UTC()}
+	pings, stopPings, err := conn.Collect("$SRV.PING", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return d, err
+	}
+	defer stopPings()
+	infos, stopInfos, err := conn.Collect("$SRV.INFO", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return d, err
+	}
+	defer stopInfos()
+
+	type key struct{ name, id string }
+	pinged := map[key]int{}
+	answered := map[key]int{}
+	where := map[key]string{}
+	var order []key
+	complete := func() bool {
+		for k, n := range pinged {
+			if answered[k] < n {
+				return false
+			}
+		}
+		return true
+	}
+	least := time.NewTimer(Window)
+	defer least.Stop()
+	most := time.NewTimer(Patience)
+	defer most.Stop()
+	windowOver := false
+	for {
+		select {
+		case a := <-pings:
+			var p micro.Ping
+			if json.Unmarshal(a.Data, &p) != nil || p.Type != micro.PingResponseType {
+				continue
+			}
+			k := key{p.Name, p.ID}
+			if _, seen := pinged[k]; !seen {
+				order = append(order, k)
+			}
+			pinged[k]++
+			if where[k] == "" {
+				where[k] = p.Metadata["node"]
+			}
+		case a := <-infos:
+			var i micro.Info
+			if json.Unmarshal(a.Data, &i) != nil || i.Type != micro.InfoResponseType {
+				continue
+			}
+			answered[key{i.Name, i.ID}]++
+			d.Heard = append(d.Heard, Heard{Info: i, Took: a.At.Sub(start), Bytes: len(a.Data), Shortened: i.Metadata[Shortened]})
+		case <-least.C:
+			windowOver = true
+		case <-most.C:
+			d.Waited = time.Since(start)
+			for _, k := range order {
+				if answered[k] < pinged[k] {
+					d.Silent = append(d.Silent, Instance{Name: k.name, ID: k.id, Machine: where[k]})
+				}
+			}
+			return d, nil
+		}
+		if windowOver && complete() {
+			d.Waited = time.Since(start)
+			return d, nil
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Endpoints reads an info_response's endpoints back into what they announce.
+func Endpoints(i micro.Info) []Endpoint {
+	var out []Endpoint
+	for _, e := range i.Endpoints {
+		md := e.Metadata
+		out = append(out, Endpoint{
+			Kind: md["kind"], Module: md["module"], Tool: md["tool"], Seat: md["seat"], Scope: md["scope"],
+			Node: md["node"], Description: md["description"], Schema: json.RawMessage(md["schema"]),
+			Interchangeable: md["interchangeable"] == "true", Subject: e.Subject, Queue: e.QueueGroup,
+		})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// firstLine is a description's first sentence or line, at most 160 characters.
+func firstLine(s string) string {
+	if i := strings.IndexAny(s, "\n"); i >= 0 {
+		s = s[:i]
+	}
+	if i := strings.Index(s, ". "); i >= 0 {
+		s = s[:i+1]
+	}
+	if len(s) > 160 {
+		s = s[:157] + "..."
+	}
+	return s
+}

node-tools/internal/announce/announce_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package announce
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// What a machine serves fits the bus's largest message (1 MiB) with room to spare at several hundred
+// tools: a module's tool is announced without its schema, which made a machine with ~200 tools outgrow it
+// and vanish from discovery (2026-10-04). A seat's verb keeps its schema.
+func TestAMachinesAnnouncementFitsTheBusAtSeveralHundredTools(t *testing.T) {
+	schema := json.RawMessage(`{"type":"object","properties":{` + strings.Repeat(`"field_with_a_long_name":{"type":"string","description":"a description of what this argument means, long enough to matter"},`, 12) + `"last":{"type":"string"}}}`)
+	description := strings.Repeat("A tool that does something useful, described at the length the catalogue's tools are. ", 3)
+	var endpoints []Endpoint
+	for i := 0; i < 400; i++ {
+		for _, subject := range []string{fmt.Sprintf("mesh.mod.m%d.tool.t", i), fmt.Sprintf("mesh.mod.m%d.tool.t.laptop", i)} {
+			endpoints = append(endpoints, Endpoint{Kind: KindTool, Module: fmt.Sprintf("m%d", i), Tool: "t", Node: "laptop",
+				Description: description, Schema: schema, Subject: subject})
+		}
+	}
+	endpoints = append(endpoints, Endpoint{Kind: KindSeat, Module: "m0", Tool: "verb", Seat: "a-seat", Scope: "mesh",
+		Description: "a verb", Schema: schema, Subject: "mesh.seat.a-seat.tool.verb"})
+	body, err := json.Marshal(Info(Service{Name: "node-tools", ID: "laptop"}, endpoints))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(body) > 1<<20 {
+		t.Fatalf("400 tools announce %d bytes, beyond the bus's 1 MiB", len(body))
+	}
+	t.Logf("400 tools on two subjects each announce %d bytes", len(body))
+	back := Endpoints(Info(Service{Name: "node-tools", ID: "laptop"}, endpoints))
+	if len(back[0].Schema) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a module's tool still carries its schema: %s", back[0].Schema)
+	}
+	if seat := back[len(back)-1]; !strings.Contains(string(seat.Schema), "field_with_a_long_name") {
+		t.Fatalf("a seat's verb lost its schema: %s", seat.Schema)
+	}
+	withSchemas := 0
+	for range endpoints {
+		withSchemas += len(schema) * 2 // escaped inside a string
+	}
+	t.Logf("with every schema it would have been over %d bytes", len(body)+withSchemas)
+}
+
+func TestFirstLineShortensADescription(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := firstLine("One thing. And more after it."); got != "One thing." {
+		t.Fatalf("%q", got)
+	}
+	if got := firstLine(strings.Repeat("x", 300)); len(got) != 160 {
+		t.Fatalf("%d", len(got))
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/announce/gather_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+package announce
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/micro"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+)
+
+func connect(t *testing.T, module, node string) *bus.Conn {
+	t.Helper()
+	c, err := bus.Connect(bus.Credential{URL: mt.URL(t), Module: module, Node: node})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	c.Logf = func(string, ...any) {}
+	t.Cleanup(c.Close)
+	return c
+}
+
+// lagging answers PING at once and INFO after `lag` — or never, with a negative lag: a runtime whose
+// one large answer is slow to cross the bus, as the laptop's was (2026-10-05).
+func lagging(t *testing.T, conn *bus.Conn, s Service, lag time.Duration, endpoints []Endpoint) {
+	t.Helper()
+	ping, _ := json.Marshal(micro.Ping{ServiceIdentity: s.identity(), Type: micro.PingResponseType})
+	stop, err := conn.Raw("$SRV.PING", func(string, []byte) []byte { return ping })
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	stop, err = conn.Raw("$SRV.INFO", func(string, []byte) []byte {
+		if lag < 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+		time.Sleep(lag)
+		body, _ := json.Marshal(Info(s, endpoints))
+		return body
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	conn.Flush()
+}
+
+// A runtime whose answer arrives after the window is waited for, because it said it was there; one
+// that never says what it serves is named, not dropped. With the fixed 750 ms window the laptop's
+// modules were said to run nowhere whenever its answer was late (2026-10-05).
+func TestDiscoveryWaitsForEveryRuntimeThatSaidItIsThere(t *testing.T) {
+	was := Patience
+	Patience = 2500 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { Patience = was })
+
+	fast := connect(t, "node-tools", "desk")
+	stopFast, err := Serve(fast, Service{Name: "node-tools", ID: "desk", Metadata: map[string]string{"node": "desk"}}, func() []Endpoint {
+		return []Endpoint{{Kind: KindTool, Module: "alpha", Tool: "one", Node: "desk", Subject: "mesh.mod.alpha.tool.one.desk"}}
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stopFast)
+	fast.Flush()
+	slow := connect(t, "node-tools", "laptop")
+	lagging(t, slow, Service{Name: "node-tools", ID: "laptop", Metadata: map[string]string{"node": "laptop"}}, Window+400*time.Millisecond,
+		[]Endpoint{{Kind: KindTool, Module: "slack", Tool: "slack_check", Node: "laptop", Subject: "mesh.mod.slack.tool.slack_check.laptop"}})
+	mute := connect(t, "node-tools", "sleeper")
+	lagging(t, mute, Service{Name: "node-tools", ID: "sleeper", Metadata: map[string]string{"node": "sleeper"}}, -1, nil)
+
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "desk")
+	start := time.Now()
+	d, err := Gather(asker)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	took := time.Since(start)
+
+	heard := map[string]Heard{}
+	for _, h := range d.Heard {
+		heard[h.Info.ID] = h
+	}
+	if h, ok := heard["laptop"]; !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("the slow runtime was not heard: %+v", d.Heard)
+	} else if h.Took <= Window || h.Machine() != "laptop" || h.Bytes == 0 {
+		t.Errorf("the slow runtime's answer: took %s (window %s), machine %q, %d bytes", h.Took, Window, h.Machine(), h.Bytes)
+	}
+	if _, ok := heard["desk"]; !ok {
+		t.Errorf("the fast runtime was not heard: %+v", d.Heard)
+	}
+	if len(d.Silent) != 1 || d.Silent[0].ID != "sleeper" || d.Silent[0].Machine != "sleeper" {
+		t.Errorf("the runtime that never said what it serves is not named: %+v", d.Silent)
+	}
+	if took < Patience || took > Patience+time.Second {
+		t.Errorf("waited %s with a silent runtime; patience is %s", took, Patience)
+	}
+}
+
+// With nobody slow, discovery takes the window and no longer.
+func TestDiscoveryDoesNotWaitWhenEveryoneAnswered(t *testing.T) {
+	fast := connect(t, "node-tools", "desk")
+	stop, err := Serve(fast, Service{Name: "node-tools", ID: "desk"}, func() []Endpoint { return nil })
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	fast.Flush()
+	start := time.Now()
+	d, err := Gather(connect(t, "console", "desk"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if took := time.Since(start); took > Window+500*time.Millisecond || len(d.Silent) != 0 || len(d.Heard) == 0 {
+		t.Errorf("took %s, heard %d, silent %+v", took, len(d.Heard), d.Silent)
+	}
+}
+
+// Too large even with first lines, descriptions are left out — and the answer says which, without
+// touching the service's own metadata.
+func TestAnAnswerTooLargeIsShortenedUntilItFits(t *testing.T) {
+	long := strings.Repeat("A sentence that is long. ", 20)
+	var endpoints []Endpoint
+	for i := 0; i < 50; i++ {
+		endpoints = append(endpoints, Endpoint{Kind: KindTool, Module: "m", Tool: "t" + strings.Repeat("x", i), Node: "laptop",
+			Description: long, Subject: "mesh.mod.m.tool.t"})
+	}
+	own := map[string]string{"node": "laptop"}
+	info := Info(Service{Name: "node-tools", ID: "laptop", Metadata: own}, endpoints)
+	full, _ := json.Marshal(info)
+	firstLines := 0
+	for range endpoints {
+		firstLines += len(firstLine(long))
+	}
+	limit := int64(len(full) - len(long)*len(endpoints) + firstLines/2) // first lines alone do not fit
+	var said []string
+	got := shorten(func(f string, a ...any) { said = append(said, f) }, info, full, limit)
+	if int64(len(got)) > limit {
+		t.Fatalf("still %d bytes, beyond %d", len(got), limit)
+	}
+	var back micro.Info
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(got, &back); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if back.Metadata[Shortened] != "descriptions left out" || back.Metadata["node"] != "laptop" {
+		t.Errorf("metadata: %v", back.Metadata)
+	}
+	if _, has := own[Shortened]; has {
+		t.Error("the service's own metadata was changed")
+	}
+	if len(said) != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("each step is said: %v", said)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/bus/bus.go

@@ -0,0 +1,899 @@
+// Package bus is the node runtime's connection to the mesh bus, on NATS (novox/hq design 25, design
+// 29, ADR 0160, ADR 0175). It is the Go port of node-tools' broker-nats.ts, and speaks the same
+// wire: the same subjects, the same JSON request and reply bodies, the same event headers.
+//
+//	mesh.mod.<module>.event.<type>   an event a module emits
+//	mesh.mod.<module>.tool.<tool>    a tool a module serves
+//	mesh.seat.<seat>.tool.<verb>     a role's verb, answered by whoever holds the seat
+package bus
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/jetstream"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/wire"
+)
+
+// 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"
+
+// Credential is a broker credential as the mesh delivers it (novox/hq ADR 0120).
+type Credential struct {
+	URL         string  `json:"url"`
+	Fingerprint string  `json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+	Node        string  `json:"node,omitempty"`
+	Module      string  `json:"module,omitempty"`
+	User        string  `json:"user,omitempty"`
+	Password    string  `json:"password,omitempty"`
+	Claims      []Claim `json:"claims,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Claim is a seat a module claims, with the verbs it promises (novox/hq ADR 0159).
+type Claim struct {
+	Seat   string   `json:"seat"`
+	Scope  string   `json:"scope,omitempty"`
+	Serves []string `json:"serves,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Membership is what the mesh issued one assignment (novox/hq ADR 0160).
+type Membership struct {
+	Node    string              `json:"node"`
+	Module  string              `json:"module"`
+	Serves  []Served            `json:"serves"`
+	Seats   []SeatVerb          `json:"seats,omitempty"`
+	Emits   string              `json:"emits"`
+	Reaches map[string][]string `json:"reaches,omitempty"`
+	Tools   string              `json:"tools"`
+	// State is every bucket the module's code may reach, by the name it uses (novox/hq ADR 0201).
+	State []StateIssued `json:"state,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Served is an address a tool is answered on; `{tool}` stands for the tool's name.
+type Served struct {
+	Subject string `json:"subject"`
+	Queue   string `json:"queue,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// SeatVerb is one verb of a seat a module holds, where it is answered.
+type SeatVerb struct {
+	Seat    string `json:"seat"`
+	Verb    string `json:"verb"`
+	Subject string `json:"subject"`
+}
+
+// Envelope is an event as a module emits it: the body is the payload, the metadata rides as headers
+// (novox/hq ADR 0042).
+type Envelope struct {
+	Key     string            `json:"key"`
+	Node    string            `json:"node,omitempty"`
+	Body    json.RawMessage   `json:"body"`
+	Headers map[string]string `json:"headers,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Answered is a call's result and the machine that gave it (novox/hq ADR 0159).
+type Answered struct {
+	Result json.RawMessage
+	Node   string
+}
+
+// Handler answers one request body.
+type Handler func(body json.RawMessage) (any, error)
+
+// ErrPin is a bus whose certificate is not the one the mesh pinned: final, never retried.
+var ErrPin = errors.New("the bus's certificate does not match the pin")
+
+// Fatal is why a connection failure is final rather than "not yet", or "" when waiting may fix it —
+// the same classification the TypeScript runtime makes.
+func Fatal(err error) string {
+	if err == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	msg := err.Error()
+	if errors.Is(err, ErrPin) || strings.Contains(msg, ErrPin.Error()) {
+		return "the bus's certificate does not match the pin"
+	}
+	if regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)invalid url|no servers available for connection: .*url`).MatchString(msg) ||
+		strings.Contains(msg, "nats: invalid url") {
+		return "the bus address is not a usable URL"
+	}
+	if regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)authorization violation|user authentication expired|permissions violation`).MatchString(msg) {
+		return "the bus refused this account"
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func normalizeFingerprint(f string) string {
+	f = strings.TrimSpace(f)
+	if len(f) > 7 && strings.EqualFold(f[:7], "sha256:") {
+		f = f[7:]
+	}
+	return strings.ToLower(strings.ReplaceAll(f, ":", ""))
+}
+
+// pinned accepts exactly the certificate with this SHA-256 and no other. The pin is the only check:
+// the bus's certificate names the seat, not the address a machine dials it by.
+func pinned(want string) *tls.Config {
+	want = normalizeFingerprint(want)
+	return &tls.Config{
+		InsecureSkipVerify: true, //nolint:gosec // replaced by the pin, which is stricter
+		MinVersion:         tls.VersionTLS12,
+		VerifyPeerCertificate: func(raw [][]byte, _ [][]*x509.Certificate) error {
+			if len(raw) == 0 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%w: it presented none", ErrPin)
+			}
+			sum := sha256.Sum256(raw[0])
+			if got := hex.EncodeToString(sum[:]); got != want {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%w: it presented %s, not the pinned %s", ErrPin, got, want)
+			}
+			return nil
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+// Conn is the runtime's connection: the module it is, the memberships it follows, the subjects it
+// answers.
+type Conn struct {
+	nc     *nats.Conn
+	js     nats.JetStreamContext
+	self   string
+	node   string
+	cred   Credential
+	mu     sync.Mutex
+	issued map[string]*Membership // module → membership; present with nil = followed, none issued
+	onNew  []func(Membership)
+	subs   []*nats.Subscription
+	Logf   func(format string, args ...any)
+	// answering is every subject this runtime answers on, so a subscription the bus refused can be
+	// asked for again (novox/hq issue 222).
+	answering map[string]*answered
+	// RetryAfter is how long after a refusal a subscription is asked for again, by attempt; past the
+	// last, it is given up and said. A variable so a test need not wait minutes.
+	RetryAfter []time.Duration
+}
+
+// answered is one subject the runtime answers on: what to subscribe again with, and how often it was
+// refused.
+type answered struct {
+	subject, queue string
+	cb             nats.MsgHandler
+	sub            *nats.Subscription
+	refusals       int
+	stopped        bool
+}
+
+// retryAfter is the default wait before each new attempt: a push sends the bus's user list in the
+// same breath as the machine that needs it, and the bus reloads it a moment later — five minutes
+// covers a slow push, and a grant that never comes is said and left.
+var retryAfter = []time.Duration{2 * time.Second, 5 * time.Second, 10 * time.Second, 20 * time.Second,
+	30 * time.Second, 60 * time.Second, 60 * time.Second, 120 * time.Second}
+
+var (
+	refusedSubject = regexp.MustCompile(`Subscription to "(\S+)"`)
+	refusedQueue   = regexp.MustCompile(`using queue "(\S+)"`)
+)
+
+func answeringKey(subject, queue string) string { return subject + "\x00" + queue }
+
+// refused is the bus saying no to a subscription. **Asked again, not given up** (novox/hq issue 222):
+// what an account may answer is the bus's user list, written on the bus's machine, and a push that
+// assigns a module somewhere sends that machine and the bus's in the same breath — the runtime can
+// subscribe in the moment before the bus has reloaded. Refused once, the subscription stayed dead
+// until some later membership happened to re-serve it, and the module ran unreachable meanwhile.
+func (c *Conn) refused(err error) {
+	if !errors.Is(err, nats.ErrPermissionViolation) {
+		return
+	}
+	m := refusedSubject.FindStringSubmatch(err.Error())
+	if len(m) < 2 {
+		return
+	}
+	queue := ""
+	if q := refusedQueue.FindStringSubmatch(err.Error()); len(q) >= 2 {
+		queue = q[1]
+	}
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	a := c.answering[answeringKey(m[1], queue)]
+	if a == nil || a.stopped {
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		return
+	}
+	waits := c.RetryAfter
+	if waits == nil {
+		waits = retryAfter
+	}
+	if a.refusals >= len(waits) {
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		c.Logf("[mesh-tools] the bus still refuses %s after %d attempts; not served here until the mesh issues it again", a.subject, a.refusals)
+		return
+	}
+	wait := waits[a.refusals]
+	a.refusals++
+	attempt := a.refusals
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+	c.Logf("[mesh-tools] the bus refused %s; asking again in %s (attempt %d)", a.subject, wait, attempt)
+	time.AfterFunc(wait, func() {
+		c.mu.Lock()
+		defer c.mu.Unlock()
+		if a.stopped {
+			return
+		}
+		if a.sub != nil {
+			_ = a.sub.Unsubscribe()
+		}
+		var sub *nats.Subscription
+		var err error
+		if a.queue != "" {
+			sub, err = c.nc.QueueSubscribe(a.subject, a.queue, a.cb)
+		} else {
+			sub, err = c.nc.Subscribe(a.subject, a.cb)
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			c.Logf("[mesh-tools] asking again for %s failed: %v", a.subject, err)
+			return
+		}
+		a.sub = sub
+		c.subs = append(c.subs, sub)
+	})
+}
+
+// Connect dials the bus as the credential's module. A module's subjects come from its credential,
+// never from its calls (ADR 0074).
+func Connect(cred Credential) (*Conn, error) {
+	if cred.Module == "" {
+		return nil, errors.New("a broker credential with no module: the runtime derives its subjects " +
+			"from the account the mesh issued, and cannot guess which module it is")
+	}
+	node := cred.Node
+	if node == "" {
+		node = "?"
+	}
+	var c *Conn
+	opts := []nats.Option{
+		nats.Name(node + "." + cred.Module),
+		nats.ErrorHandler(func(_ *nats.Conn, _ *nats.Subscription, err error) {
+			if c != nil {
+				c.refused(err)
+			}
+		}),
+		// Reconnect forever: the bus restarting is an upgrade, not a reason to exit.
+		nats.MaxReconnects(-1),
+	}
+	if cred.User != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, nats.UserInfo(cred.User, cred.Password),
+			// Its own inbox: every user's inbox is private to it (design 25 §4).
+			nats.CustomInboxPrefix("_INBOX."+cred.User))
+	}
+	if strings.TrimSpace(cred.Fingerprint) != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, nats.Secure(pinned(cred.Fingerprint)))
+	}
+	nc, err := nats.Connect(cred.URL, opts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	js, err := nc.JetStream()
+	if err != nil {
+		nc.Close()
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	c = &Conn{nc: nc, js: js, self: cred.Module, node: cred.Node, cred: cred,
+		issued: map[string]*Membership{}, Logf: log.Printf, answering: map[string]*answered{}}
+	c.Follow(cred.Module)
+	return c, nil
+}
+
+// Module is what this connection is.
+func (c *Conn) Module() string { return c.self }
+
+// Node is the machine this connection's account is scoped to.
+func (c *Conn) Node() string { return c.node }
+
+// Credential is what this connection was opened with.
+func (c *Conn) Credential() Credential { return c.cred }
+
+// MembershipSubject is the one address a runtime derives for an assignment (ADR 0160).
+func MembershipSubject(node, module string) string {
+	return "mesh.assignment." + node + "." + module
+}
+
+// Follow reads a module's membership on this machine once and follows it live, so its tools are
+// served where the mesh issued them (ADR 0175).
+func (c *Conn) Follow(module string) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	if c.node == "" {
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		return
+	}
+	if _, has := c.issued[module]; has {
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		return
+	}
+	c.issued[module] = nil
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+	subject := MembershipSubject(c.node, module)
+	// The subject-addressed direct get: the one address the mesh grants this account on the
+	// stream's API.
+	if got, err := c.nc.Request("$JS.API.DIRECT.GET."+assignmentsStream+"."+subject, nil, 5*time.Second); err == nil {
+		if got.Header.Get("Status") == "" && len(got.Data) > 0 {
+			var m Membership
+			if json.Unmarshal(got.Data, &m) == nil {
+				c.mu.Lock()
+				c.issued[module] = &m
+				c.mu.Unlock()
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if c.Membership(module) == nil {
+		c.Logf("[mesh-tools] no membership issued for %s on %s yet; serving the derived shape until one arrives", module, c.node)
+	}
+	sub, err := c.nc.Subscribe(subject, func(msg *nats.Msg) {
+		var m Membership
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(msg.Data, &m); err != nil {
+			c.Logf("[mesh-tools] a membership arrived that is not one: %v", err)
+			return
+		}
+		c.mu.Lock()
+		c.issued[module] = &m
+		handlers := append([]func(Membership){}, c.onNew...)
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		c.Logf("[mesh-tools] %s on %s was issued a new membership; re-serving on it", module, c.node)
+		for _, h := range handlers {
+			h(m)
+		}
+		_ = c.nc.Flush()
+	})
+	if err == nil {
+		c.track(sub)
+	}
+}
+
+// Membership is what the mesh issued a module here, or nil when nothing has been issued.
+func (c *Conn) Membership(module string) *Membership {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	return c.issued[module]
+}
+
+// Following says whether this connection follows a module's membership.
+func (c *Conn) Following(module string) bool {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	_, has := c.issued[module]
+	return has
+}
+
+// Serving is every module whose membership this connection follows.
+func (c *Conn) Serving() []string {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(c.issued))
+	for m := range c.issued {
+		out = append(out, m)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// OnMembership is called with every new membership any followed module is issued.
+func (c *Conn) OnMembership(h func(Membership)) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	c.onNew = append(c.onNew, h)
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (c *Conn) track(s *nats.Subscription) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	c.subs = append(c.subs, s)
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+}
+
+// servedOn is where a served module's tool is answered: its membership's subjects when issued, the
+// derived shape otherwise (the shape the mesh issues on day one).
+func (c *Conn) servedOn(module, tool string) []Served {
+	if m := c.Membership(module); m != nil {
+		out := make([]Served, 0, len(m.Serves)+1)
+		for _, s := range m.Serves {
+			out = append(out, Served{Subject: strings.ReplaceAll(s.Subject, "{tool}", tool), Queue: s.Queue})
+		}
+		if tool == "tools" && m.Tools != "" {
+			found := false
+			for _, s := range out {
+				found = found || s.Subject == m.Tools
+			}
+			if !found {
+				out = append([]Served{{Subject: m.Tools, Queue: "serve." + module}}, out...)
+			}
+		}
+		return out
+	}
+	base := "mesh.mod." + module + ".tool." + tool
+	out := []Served{{Subject: base, Queue: "serve." + module}}
+	if c.node != "" {
+		out = append(out, Served{Subject: base + "." + c.node})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+type reply struct {
+	Result any    `json:"result,omitempty"`
+	Error  string `json:"error,omitempty"`
+	Node   string `json:"node,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// answerOn answers one subject with one handler, and says which machine answered (ADR 0159).
+func (c *Conn) answerOn(subject, queue string, h Handler) (func(), error) {
+	cb := func(msg *nats.Msg) {
+		go func() {
+			var r reply
+			result, err := h(json.RawMessage(msg.Data))
+			if err != nil {
+				r.Error = err.Error()
+			} else {
+				r.Result = nullable(result)
+			}
+			r.Node = c.node
+			body, _ := wire.Marshal(r)
+			_ = msg.Respond(body)
+		}()
+	}
+	var sub *nats.Subscription
+	var err error
+	if queue != "" {
+		sub, err = c.nc.QueueSubscribe(subject, queue, cb)
+	} else {
+		sub, err = c.nc.Subscribe(subject, cb)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return func() {}, err
+	}
+	c.track(sub)
+	a := &answered{subject: subject, queue: queue, cb: cb, sub: sub}
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	c.answering[answeringKey(subject, queue)] = a
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+	return func() {
+		c.mu.Lock()
+		a.stopped = true
+		if c.answering[answeringKey(subject, queue)] == a {
+			delete(c.answering, answeringKey(subject, queue))
+		}
+		current := a.sub
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		_ = current.Unsubscribe()
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// nullable keeps a nil result as JSON null rather than dropping the key: the TypeScript reply always
+// carries `result` when the handler did not throw.
+func nullable(v any) any {
+	if v == nil {
+		return json.RawMessage("null")
+	}
+	return v
+}
+
+// HandleSubject answers a subject outright: a seat's verb where the mesh issued it.
+func (c *Conn) HandleSubject(subject string, h Handler) (func(), error) {
+	return c.answerOn(subject, "", h)
+}
+
+// Handle serves `<module>.<tool>` where the mesh issued that module, and follows its membership:
+// when a new one arrives, it serves where it now says and stops where it no longer does.
+func (c *Conn) Handle(key string, h Handler) (func(), error) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(key, "seat:") {
+		subject, err := ToolSubject(key, c.self)
+		if err != nil {
+			return func() {}, err
+		}
+		return c.answerOn(subject, "", h)
+	}
+	module, tool := c.self, key
+	if dot := strings.Index(key, "."); dot >= 0 {
+		module, tool = key[:dot], key[dot+1:]
+	}
+	if module != c.self && !c.Following(module) {
+		return func() {}, fmt.Errorf("%s cannot serve %s: a module serves its own tools, and a runtime "+
+			"those of the modules it follows", c.self, key)
+	}
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	var stops []func()
+	serve := func() {
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		for _, s := range stops {
+			s()
+		}
+		stops = nil
+		for _, s := range c.servedOn(module, tool) {
+			if stop, err := c.answerOn(s.Subject, s.Queue, h); err == nil {
+				stops = append(stops, stop)
+			} else {
+				c.Logf("[mesh-tools] cannot serve %s on %s: %v", key, s.Subject, err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	serve()
+	c.OnMembership(func(m Membership) {
+		if m.Module == module {
+			serve()
+		}
+	})
+	return func() {
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		for _, s := range stops {
+			s()
+		}
+		stops = nil
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// reachedAt is where a call by key goes: a subject this connection's own membership says it
+// reaches — the machine's when named — else the derived shape.
+func (c *Conn) reachedAt(key string) (string, error) {
+	name, wanted, _ := strings.Cut(key, "@")
+	if m := c.Membership(c.self); m != nil {
+		if reach := m.Reaches[name]; len(reach) > 0 {
+			if wanted == "" {
+				return reach[0], nil
+			}
+			for _, s := range reach {
+				if strings.HasSuffix(s, "."+wanted) {
+					return s, nil
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return ToolSubject(key, c.self)
+}
+
+// Ask calls a tool by key — or on a subject the mesh listed for it — and learns which machine
+// answered. Core request/reply: a tool call is never persisted (design 25 §3).
+func (c *Conn) Ask(key string, body any, on string) (Answered, error) {
+	subject := on
+	if subject == "" {
+		s, err := c.reachedAt(key)
+		if err != nil {
+			return Answered{}, err
+		}
+		subject = s
+	}
+	data, err := wire.Marshal(body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Answered{}, err
+	}
+	answered, handingOver, err := c.askOnce(subject, data)
+	if !handingOver {
+		return answered, err
+	}
+	// **Refused because the controller is handing over: asked once more** (novox/hq issue 289). The
+	// controller being replaced did nothing and said so; the one after it answers the same call. Once:
+	// a second refusal is a controller that is not coming back, and the caller is told.
+	time.Sleep(HandoverPause)
+	answered, again, err := c.askOnce(subject, data)
+	if err != nil && again {
+		return Answered{}, fmt.Errorf("asked twice, %s apart, and both times refused as a handover: %w", HandoverPause, err)
+	}
+	return answered, err
+}
+
+// HandoverPause is how long a call refused as a handover waits before it is asked once more: the
+// supervisor's restart of the controller, which stops the one being replaced and starts the next. A
+// variable so a test need not wait.
+var HandoverPause = 3 * time.Second
+
+// RetryHandingOver is the mark the controller puts on a call it refused because it is being replaced
+// (mesh-controller internal/link, `"retry": "handing-over"`).
+const RetryHandingOver = "handing-over"
+
+// askOnce asks once, and says whether the answer was a refusal marked to be asked again.
+func (c *Conn) askOnce(subject string, data []byte) (Answered, bool, error) {
+	msg, err := c.nc.Request(subject, data, RequestTimeout)
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, nats.ErrNoResponders) {
+			return Answered{}, false, errors.New("503 no responders")
+		}
+		if errors.Is(err, nats.ErrTimeout) {
+			return Answered{}, false, errors.New("timeout")
+		}
+		return Answered{}, false, err
+	}
+	var r struct {
+		Result json.RawMessage `json:"result"`
+		Error  string          `json:"error"`
+		Node   string          `json:"node"`
+		Retry  string          `json:"retry"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(msg.Data, &r); err != nil {
+		return Answered{}, false, err
+	}
+	if r.Error != "" {
+		return Answered{}, r.Retry == RetryHandingOver, errors.New(r.Error)
+	}
+	return Answered{Result: r.Result, Node: r.Node}, false, nil
+}
+
+// PublishAs emits an event as a module: published into JetStream and awaited, de-duplicated by its
+// own id (ADR 0042). The body is the payload; the metadata rides as headers.
+func (c *Conn) PublishAs(module string, env Envelope) error {
+	msg := nats.NewMsg("mesh.mod." + module + ".event." + env.Key)
+	for k, v := range env.Headers {
+		msg.Header.Set(k, v)
+	}
+	if env.Headers["content-type"] == "" {
+		msg.Header.Set("content-type", "application/json")
+	}
+	if env.Node != "" {
+		msg.Header.Set("x-node", env.Node)
+	}
+	body := env.Body
+	if len(body) == 0 {
+		body = json.RawMessage("null")
+	}
+	msg.Data = body
+	var opts []nats.PubOpt
+	if id := env.Headers["x-event-id"]; id != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, nats.MsgId(id))
+	}
+	_, err := c.js.PublishMsg(msg, opts...)
+	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) }
+
+// Raw answers one subject with a function of the request, not a tool's reply envelope: the NATS
+// services protocol's discovery subjects answer in their own format (novox/hq ADR 0197). A nil
+// answer is no reply — the request was for another service.
+func (c *Conn) Raw(subject string, answer func(subject string, data []byte) []byte) (func(), error) {
+	sub, err := c.nc.Subscribe(subject, func(msg *nats.Msg) {
+		if body := answer(msg.Subject, msg.Data); body != nil {
+			// Said, never dropped: an answer the bus will not carry was silence before (2026-10-04).
+			if err := msg.Respond(body); err != nil {
+				c.Logf("[mesh-tools] could not answer %s (%d bytes): %v", msg.Subject, len(body), err)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return func() {}, err
+	}
+	c.track(sub)
+	return func() { _ = sub.Unsubscribe() }, nil
+}
+
+// Arrival is one answer to a request, and when it arrived.
+type Arrival struct {
+	Data []byte
+	At   time.Time
+}
+
+// Collect publishes one request and hands every answer to the channel as it arrives, until stopped:
+// for a caller that decides for itself when it has heard enough — discovery waits for every service
+// that said it is there, not for a fixed moment (2026-10-05). Answers beyond what the caller has
+// taken are kept up to the channel's room; an empty answer is no answer.
+func (c *Conn) Collect(subject string, body []byte) (<-chan Arrival, func(), error) {
+	inbox := c.nc.NewRespInbox()
+	out := make(chan Arrival, 1024)
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	stopped := false
+	sub, err := c.nc.Subscribe(inbox, func(msg *nats.Msg) {
+		if len(msg.Data) == 0 {
+			return
+		}
+		a := Arrival{Data: msg.Data, At: time.Now()}
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		if stopped {
+			return
+		}
+		select {
+		case out <- a:
+		default:
+			c.Logf("[mesh-tools] more answers to %s than are kept; one (%d bytes) dropped", subject, len(msg.Data))
+		}
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, func() {}, err
+	}
+	stop := func() {
+		_ = sub.Unsubscribe()
+		mu.Lock()
+		stopped = true
+		mu.Unlock()
+	}
+	if err := c.nc.PublishRequest(subject, inbox, body); err != nil {
+		stop()
+		return nil, func() {}, err
+	}
+	return out, stop, nil
+}
+
+// MaxPayload is the largest message the bus carries, as the server told this connection.
+func (c *Conn) MaxPayload() int64 { return c.nc.MaxPayload() }
+
+// Flush waits until the bus has every subscription made so far, so what is served is answerable
+// when this returns.
+func (c *Conn) Flush() { _ = c.nc.Flush() }
+
+// Close unsubscribes everything and drains, so an in-flight reply is finished rather than dropped.
+func (c *Conn) Close() {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	subs := c.subs
+	c.subs = nil
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+	for _, s := range subs {
+		_ = s.Unsubscribe()
+	}
+	_ = c.nc.Drain()
+}
+
+// ToolSubject is a tool's subject. A bare name is this module's own; `<module>.<tool>` another's;
+// `seat:<seat>.<verb>` a role's, with `@<node>` for a node-scoped seat (design 33 §4).
+func ToolSubject(key, self string) (string, error) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(key, "seat:") {
+		rest := strings.TrimPrefix(key, "seat:")
+		dot := strings.Index(rest, ".")
+		if dot < 0 {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("%q names a seat and no verb: seat:<seat>.<verb>", key)
+		}
+		seat := rest[:dot]
+		verb, node, _ := strings.Cut(rest[dot+1:], "@")
+		if node != "" {
+			return "mesh.seat." + seat + ".tool." + verb + "." + node, nil
+		}
+		return "mesh.seat." + seat + ".tool." + verb, nil
+	}
+	name, node, _ := strings.Cut(key, "@")
+	var base string
+	if dot := strings.Index(name, "."); dot < 0 {
+		base = "mesh.mod." + self + ".tool." + name
+	} else {
+		base = "mesh.mod." + name[:dot] + ".tool." + name[dot+1:]
+	}
+	if node != "" {
+		return base + "." + node, nil
+	}
+	return base, nil
+}
+
+// SeatToolSubject is a seat's verb as its holder serves it: flat for a mesh seat, carrying the
+// machine for a node-scoped one.
+func SeatToolSubject(seat, verb, scope, node string) string {
+	base := "mesh.seat." + seat + ".tool." + verb
+	if scope == "node" && node != "" {
+		return base + "." + node
+	}
+	return base
+}
+
+// AskAs calls a tool on a module's behalf (novox/hq ADR 0198): a bare key is that module's own tool,
+// `<module>.<tool>` another's, `seat:<seat>.<verb>[@<node>]` a role's — resolved through what the
+// mesh issued that module to reach, as its own runtime resolved it, else the derived shape.
+func (c *Conn) AskAs(module, key string, body any) (Answered, error) {
+	name, wanted, _ := strings.Cut(key, "@")
+	subject := ""
+	if m := c.Membership(module); m != nil {
+		if reach := m.Reaches[name]; len(reach) > 0 {
+			subject = reach[0]
+			if wanted != "" {
+				subject = ""
+				for _, s := range reach {
+					if strings.HasSuffix(s, "."+wanted) {
+						subject = s
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if subject == "" {
+		s, err := ToolSubject(key, module)
+		if err != nil {
+			return Answered{}, err
+		}
+		subject = s
+	}
+	return c.Ask(key, body, subject)
+}
+
+// EventsStream is where every module's events land, and ConsumerOf the durable consumer the
+// controller makes for a module on a machine: the same names the module's own runtime bound
+// (node-tools/src/broker-nats.ts), so moving the module into the node's runtime neither loses an
+// event nor sees one twice.
+const EventsStream = "EVENTS"
+
+// ConsumerOf is a module's durable consumer on a machine: `<node>_<module>`.
+func ConsumerOf(node, module string) string {
+	if node == "" {
+		node = "?"
+	}
+	return node + "_" + module
+}
+
+// NakDelay is how long an event a handler failed waits before it is offered again: a transient cause
+// gets another attempt, a permanent one exhausts the consumer's max-deliver rather than spinning.
+var NakDelay = 5 * time.Second
+
+// ConsumeAs reads a module's durable consumer and hands each event to deliver (novox/hq ADR 0198):
+// acknowledged when deliver returns nil, negatively acknowledged after NakDelay when it returns an
+// error, terminated when it is not an event at all. The consumer is the controller's to create; this
+// binds to it and never makes one. Runs until stopped.
+func (c *Conn) ConsumeAs(module string, deliver func(Envelope) error) (func(), error) {
+	durable := ConsumerOf(c.node, module)
+	js, err := jetstream.New(c.nc)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	// Bound by name, never created and never matched against a subject: the consumer and its
+	// filters are the controller's (design 29 §3), exactly as the module's own runtime bound it.
+	consumer, err := js.Consumer(ctx, EventsStream, durable)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("binding %s's consumer %s: %w", module, durable, err)
+	}
+	reading, err := consumer.Consume(func(msg jetstream.Msg) {
+		env, ok := envelopeOf(msg.Subject(), msg.Headers(), msg.Data())
+		if !ok {
+			// Unparseable: redelivering bytes no version of a handler can read is a loop.
+			_ = msg.Term()
+			return
+		}
+		if err := deliver(env); err != nil {
+			_ = msg.NakWithDelay(NakDelay)
+			return
+		}
+		_ = msg.Ack()
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("reading %s's consumer %s: %w", module, durable, err)
+	}
+	var once sync.Once
+	return func() { once.Do(reading.Stop) }, nil
+}
+
+// envelopeOf rebuilds the envelope a module sees from a delivered event: its key is the emitter and
+// the event, recovered from the subject; its metadata rides as headers (novox/hq ADR 0042).
+func envelopeOf(subject string, header nats.Header, data []byte) (Envelope, bool) {
+	if !json.Valid(data) {
+		return Envelope{}, false
+	}
+	headers := map[string]string{}
+	for k := range header {
+		headers[k] = header.Get(k)
+	}
+	return Envelope{Key: keyOf(subject), Node: headers["x-node"], Body: json.RawMessage(data), Headers: headers}, true
+}
+
+// keyOf is the key a module sees for an event subject: `mesh.mod.<emitter>.event.<event>` is
+// `<emitter>.<event>` — the vocabulary its manifest names what it consumes in.
+func keyOf(subject string) string {
+	before, event, found := strings.Cut(subject, ".event.")
+	if !found {
+		return subject
+	}
+	parts := strings.Split(before, ".")
+	if emitter := parts[len(parts)-1]; emitter != "" {
+		return emitter + "." + event
+	}
+	return event
+}

node-tools/internal/bus/bus_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package bus
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestSubjectsAreTheOnesTheTypeScriptRuntimeUses(t *testing.T) {
+	for key, want := range map[string]string{
+		"status":                      "mesh.mod.self.tool.status",
+		"alpha.one":                   "mesh.mod.alpha.tool.one",
+		"alpha.one@anchor":            "mesh.mod.alpha.tool.one.anchor",
+		"seat:node-shelf.list":        "mesh.seat.node-shelf.tool.list",
+		"seat:node-shelf.list@anchor": "mesh.seat.node-shelf.tool.list.anchor",
+	} {
+		if got, err := ToolSubject(key, "self"); err != nil || got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %s %v, want %s", key, got, err, want)
+		}
+	}
+	if _, err := ToolSubject("seat:nothing", "self"); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a seat with no verb was accepted")
+	}
+	if SeatToolSubject("s", "v", "node", "n") != "mesh.seat.s.tool.v.n" || SeatToolSubject("s", "v", "mesh", "n") != "mesh.seat.s.tool.v" {
+		t.Error("seat subjects")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAFingerprintIsReadHoweverItIsWritten(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, f := range []string{"sha256:AB:CD:ef", "abcdef", "ABCDEF", "SHA256:abcdef"} {
+		if got := normalizeFingerprint(f); got != "abcdef" {
+			t.Errorf("%s → %s", f, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWhatWaitingCannotFixIsFinal(t *testing.T) {
+	for err, want := range map[error]string{
+		fmt.Errorf("x509: %w: it presented aa", ErrPin):                   "the bus's certificate does not match the pin",
+		errors.New("nats: Authorization Violation"):                       "the bus refused this account",
+		errors.New("nats: invalid url"):                                   "the bus address is not a usable URL",
+		errors.New("dial tcp 10.0.0.1:4222: connect: connection refused"): "",
+	} {
+		if got := Fatal(err); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%v → %q, want %q", err, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/bus/handover_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+package bus_test
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+)
+
+// **A call the controller refused because it is handing over is asked once more** (novox/hq issue 289):
+// the controller being replaced did nothing and marked its refusal, and the one after it answers. A
+// refusal not so marked is final, and a second handover refusal is said, not asked a third time.
+func TestAHandoverRefusalIsAskedOnceMore(t *testing.T) {
+	was := bus.HandoverPause
+	bus.HandoverPause = 10 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { bus.HandoverPause = was })
+
+	url := meshtest.URL(t)
+	seat, err := nats.Connect(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer seat.Close()
+	c, err := bus.Connect(bus.Credential{URL: url, Module: "console", Node: "anchor"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer c.Close()
+
+	serve := func(t *testing.T, verb string, answers ...map[string]any) *atomic.Int32 {
+		t.Helper()
+		var asked atomic.Int32
+		sub, err := seat.Subscribe(bus.SeatToolSubject("mesh-controller", verb, "", ""), func(m *nats.Msg) {
+			n := int(asked.Add(1)) - 1
+			if n >= len(answers) {
+				n = len(answers) - 1
+			}
+			body, _ := json.Marshal(answers[n])
+			_ = m.Respond(body)
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Cleanup(func() { _ = sub.Unsubscribe() })
+		_ = seat.Flush()
+		return &asked
+	}
+	handingOver := map[string]any{"error": "the controller is handing over to the next one; nothing was done, ask again",
+		"retry": bus.RetryHandingOver}
+
+	asked := serve(t, "rotate", handingOver, map[string]any{"result": "rotated"})
+	got, err := c.Ask("seat:mesh-controller.rotate", map[string]any{}, "")
+	if err != nil || string(got.Result) != `"rotated"` || asked.Load() != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("after a handover refusal: %s %v, asked %d times", got.Result, err, asked.Load())
+	}
+
+	asked = serve(t, "push", map[string]any{"error": "refused for its own reason"})
+	if _, err := c.Ask("seat:mesh-controller.push", map[string]any{}, ""); err == nil || asked.Load() != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("an unmarked refusal was asked again: %v, asked %d times", err, asked.Load())
+	}
+
+	asked = serve(t, "status", handingOver)
+	_, err = c.Ask("seat:mesh-controller.status", map[string]any{}, "")
+	if err == nil || asked.Load() != 2 || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "both times refused as a handover") {
+		t.Fatalf("two handover refusals: %v, asked %d times", err, asked.Load())
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/bus/refused_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+package bus
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 222: a subscription the bus refused is asked for again. A push sends the machine
+// that needs a grant and the bus's machine together; the runtime may subscribe the moment before the
+// bus reloads, and a refusal must not leave the module unreachable until some later membership.
+func TestARefusedSubscriptionIsAskedForAgain(t *testing.T) {
+	url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS")
+	if url == "" {
+		t.Skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset")
+	}
+	c, err := Connect(Credential{URL: url, Module: "alpha", Node: "anchor"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer c.Close()
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	var said []string
+	c.Logf = func(f string, a ...any) { mu.Lock(); said = append(said, fmt.Sprintf(f, a...)); mu.Unlock() }
+	c.RetryAfter = []time.Duration{50 * time.Millisecond, 50 * time.Millisecond}
+
+	subject := "mesh.mod.alpha.tool.ping.anchor"
+	stop, err := c.answerOn(subject, "", func(json.RawMessage) (any, error) { return "pong", nil })
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	first := c.answering[answeringKey(subject, "")].sub
+
+	// What the bus says when the grant is not there yet.
+	c.refused(fmt.Errorf("%w: Permissions Violation for Subscription to %q", nats.ErrPermissionViolation, subject))
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second)
+	for {
+		c.mu.Lock()
+		again := c.answering[answeringKey(subject, "")].sub
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		if again != first {
+			break
+		}
+		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
+			t.Fatal("the refused subscription was not asked for again")
+		}
+		time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	asker, err := nats.Connect(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer asker.Close()
+	reply, err := asker.Request(subject, []byte("{}"), 2*time.Second)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the subject asked for again does not answer: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(string(reply.Data), "pong") {
+		t.Fatalf("the subject asked for again answered %s", reply.Data)
+	}
+
+	// Past its attempts it is given up, and said.
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		c.refused(fmt.Errorf("%w: Permissions Violation for Subscription to %q", nats.ErrPermissionViolation, subject))
+		time.Sleep(80 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	mu.Lock()
+	gaveUp := strings.Contains(strings.Join(said, "\n"), "still refuses "+subject)
+	mu.Unlock()
+	if !gaveUp {
+		t.Errorf("never gave up on a subject that stays refused:\n%s", strings.Join(said, "\n"))
+	}
+
+	// A subject the runtime stopped answering is not asked for again.
+	stop()
+	c.refused(fmt.Errorf("%w: Permissions Violation for Subscription to %q", nats.ErrPermissionViolation, subject))
+	if _, still := c.answering[answeringKey(subject, "")]; still {
+		t.Error("a stopped subject is still tracked")
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/bus/state.go

@@ -0,0 +1,357 @@
+package bus
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/jetstream"
+)
+
+// A module's state on the bus (novox/hq ADR 0201): key-value buckets the controller creates from what
+// the module declared, and issues to each assignment in its membership by the name the module uses —
+// its own state by the local name, another module's as `<module>.<name>`.
+//
+// **The runtime keeps each module to its own buckets.** One account per machine carries every module
+// on it, so the bus enforces only the union; and a write the bus refuses reaches the writer as a
+// timeout, not a refusal (measured, novox/hq research 024). So what a module may reach is decided here,
+// from its membership, and refused with the reason before anything is sent.
+
+// StateIssued is one bucket an assignment may reach (ADR 0201).
+type StateIssued struct {
+	Name   string `json:"name"`
+	Bucket string `json:"bucket"`
+	Writes bool   `json:"writes,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// StateEntry is one key's current value.
+type StateEntry struct {
+	Key      string          `json:"key"`
+	Value    json.RawMessage `json:"value"`
+	Revision uint64          `json:"revision"`
+}
+
+// StateChange is one change a watch delivers: a key put or deleted.
+type StateChange struct {
+	State    string          `json:"state"`
+	Key      string          `json:"key"`
+	Op       string          `json:"op"`
+	Value    json.RawMessage `json:"value,omitempty"`
+	Revision uint64          `json:"revision"`
+	// Current is true for a value that was there when the watch began, false for a change since.
+	Current bool `json:"current"`
+}
+
+// StateTimeout bounds one state operation on the bus.
+var StateTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+
+// stateKey is a key the bus can hold: letters, digits and `-/_=.`, no leading or trailing dot. A
+// module's convention for naming a machine in a key (`all.<server>`, `<machine>.<server>`) fits it.
+var stateKey = regexp.MustCompile(`^[-/_=a-zA-Z0-9]+(\.[-/_=a-zA-Z0-9]+)*$`)
+
+// issuedState is the bucket a module may reach by a name, and whether it may write it — or the reason
+// it may not reach it at all.
+func (c *Conn) issuedState(module, name string) (StateIssued, error) {
+	m := c.Membership(module)
+	if m == nil {
+		return StateIssued{}, fmt.Errorf("%s has no membership issued on %s yet, so no state of it is reachable "+
+			"until the mesh issues one (novox/hq ADR 0201)", module, c.node)
+	}
+	var names []string
+	for _, s := range m.State {
+		if s.Name == name {
+			return s, nil
+		}
+		names = append(names, s.Name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	issued := "none"
+	if len(names) > 0 {
+		issued = strings.Join(names, ", ")
+	}
+	return StateIssued{}, fmt.Errorf("%s keeps and reads no state called %q: it declares what it keeps under "+
+		"`state` and what it reads under `reads` as <module>.<name>, and was issued: %s (novox/hq ADR 0201)",
+		module, name, issued)
+}
+
+func (c *Conn) bucket(ctx context.Context, s StateIssued) (jetstream.KeyValue, error) {
+	js, err := jetstream.New(c.nc)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	kv, err := js.KeyValue(ctx, s.Bucket)
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, jetstream.ErrBucketNotFound) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("the state %q is issued and its bucket is not on the bus yet: the controller "+
+				"creates it from the catalogue on its next raise", s.Name)
+		}
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return kv, nil
+}
+
+func checkKey(key string) error {
+	if !stateKey.MatchString(key) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a key the bus can hold: letters, digits and -/_=, in dot-separated "+
+			"names", key)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// StateGet is one key's current value, or nil when it has none.
+func (c *Conn) StateGet(module, name, key string) (*StateEntry, error) {
+	s, err := c.issuedState(module, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if err := checkKey(key); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), StateTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	kv, err := c.bucket(ctx, s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	e, err := kv.Get(ctx, key)
+	if errors.Is(err, jetstream.ErrKeyNotFound) {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &StateEntry{Key: e.Key(), Value: valueOf(e.Value()), Revision: e.Revision()}, nil
+}
+
+// StatePut writes one key, as the module, where the module keeps the state. It answers the revision.
+func (c *Conn) StatePut(module, name, key string, value json.RawMessage) (uint64, error) {
+	s, err := c.writable(module, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	if err := checkKey(key); err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	if len(value) == 0 || !json.Valid(value) {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("a state value is JSON")
+	}
+	if field := credentialField(value); field != "" {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("%s's %s.%s carries a field %q, which names a credential: no secret is kept in state, "+
+			"sealed or not — a bucket is a stream, and a machine joining a year later reads it whole. Name the "+
+			"secret and fetch it on request/reply (novox/hq ADR 0201, design 32 §10)", module, name, key, field)
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), StateTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	kv, err := c.bucket(ctx, s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	return kv.Put(ctx, key, value)
+}
+
+// StateDelete removes one key, as the module, where the module keeps the state. A key that was not
+// there is not an error: what is asked for is that it is gone.
+func (c *Conn) StateDelete(module, name, key string) error {
+	s, err := c.writable(module, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := checkKey(key); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), StateTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	kv, err := c.bucket(ctx, s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return kv.Delete(ctx, key)
+}
+
+// StateKeys is every key with a current value, sorted.
+func (c *Conn) StateKeys(module, name string) ([]string, error) {
+	s, err := c.issuedState(module, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), StateTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	kv, err := c.bucket(ctx, s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	lister, err := kv.ListKeys(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = lister.Stop() }()
+	keys := []string{}
+	for k := range lister.Keys() {
+		keys = append(keys, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(keys)
+	return keys, nil
+}
+
+func (c *Conn) writable(module, name string) (StateIssued, error) {
+	s, err := c.issuedState(module, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return s, err
+	}
+	if !s.Writes {
+		owner := name
+		if dot := strings.LastIndex(name, "."); dot > 0 {
+			owner = name[:dot]
+		}
+		return s, fmt.Errorf("%s reads %s and does not keep it: only %s's own instances write it (novox/hq ADR 0201)",
+			module, name, owner)
+	}
+	return s, nil
+}
+
+// StateWatch hands deliver the current value of every key matching the pattern — none that is
+// deleted — and then every change, in order (ADR 0201). It returns once the current values are
+// delivered; deliver is called from one goroutine, one change at a time, and an error from it is said
+// and the watch goes on: state is not a queue, and the next change, or the next start, reads it again.
+// The pattern is a key, with `*` for one name and `**` for the rest; empty is every key.
+func (c *Conn) StateWatch(module, name, pattern string, deliver func(StateChange) error) (stop func(), err error) {
+	s, err := c.issuedState(module, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	filter := ">"
+	if pattern != "" {
+		parts := strings.Split(pattern, ".")
+		for i, p := range parts {
+			if p == "**" {
+				if i != len(parts)-1 {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q: `**` stands for the rest of a key, so it comes last", pattern)
+				}
+				parts[i] = ">"
+				continue
+			}
+			if p != "*" && !stateKey.MatchString(p) {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a key pattern: names, `*` for one and `**` for the rest", pattern)
+			}
+		}
+		filter = strings.Join(parts, ".")
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), StateTimeout)
+	kv, err := c.bucket(ctx, s)
+	cancel()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	watching, stopWatching := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	w, err := kv.Watch(watching, filter)
+	if err != nil {
+		stopWatching()
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var once sync.Once
+	stop = func() {
+		once.Do(func() {
+			_ = w.Stop()
+			stopWatching()
+		})
+	}
+	current := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		initial := true
+		for e := range w.Updates() {
+			if e == nil {
+				// The end of what was there when the watch began.
+				if initial {
+					initial = false
+					close(current)
+				}
+				continue
+			}
+			change := StateChange{State: name, Key: e.Key(), Revision: e.Revision(), Current: initial}
+			switch e.Operation() {
+			case jetstream.KeyValuePut:
+				change.Op = "put"
+				change.Value = valueOf(e.Value())
+			default:
+				// A deletion among the current values is a key that is not there: not handed over
+				// (measured, research 024 — the server sends its marker among the initial values).
+				if initial {
+					continue
+				}
+				change.Op = "delete"
+			}
+			if err := deliver(change); err != nil {
+				c.Logf("[mesh-tools] %s did not take %s %s of %s: %v; its next change, or its next start, reads it again",
+					module, change.Op, change.Key, name, err)
+			}
+		}
+		if initial {
+			close(current)
+		}
+	}()
+	select {
+	case <-current:
+		return stop, nil
+	case <-time.After(StateTimeout):
+		stop()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the current values of %s did not arrive in %s", name, StateTimeout)
+	}
+}
+
+func valueOf(raw []byte) json.RawMessage {
+	if len(raw) == 0 || !json.Valid(raw) {
+		b, _ := json.Marshal(string(raw))
+		return b
+	}
+	return json.RawMessage(raw)
+}
+
+// credentialEndings are the ends of a field name that say its value is a credential. A guard against
+// the ordinary mistake, not a determined one: a sealed value is plain text to anything inspecting it,
+// so the rule is checked where it can be and said to be partial (ADR 0201).
+var credentialEndings = []string{"password", "passwd", "secret", "token", "credential", "credentials",
+	"authorization", "apikey", "privatekey", "accesskey", "cookie"}
+
+// credentialField is the first field anywhere in a JSON value whose name says it is a credential, or "".
+func credentialField(value json.RawMessage) string {
+	var v any
+	if json.Unmarshal(value, &v) != nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	var walk func(any) string
+	walk = func(v any) string {
+		switch t := v.(type) {
+		case map[string]any:
+			keys := make([]string, 0, len(t))
+			for k := range t {
+				keys = append(keys, k)
+			}
+			sort.Strings(keys)
+			for _, k := range keys {
+				norm := strings.NewReplacer("-", "", "_", "", " ", "").Replace(strings.ToLower(k))
+				for _, end := range credentialEndings {
+					if strings.HasSuffix(norm, end) {
+						return k
+					}
+				}
+				if found := walk(t[k]); found != "" {
+					return found
+				}
+			}
+		case []any:
+			for _, x := range t {
+				if found := walk(x); found != "" {
+					return found
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return ""
+	}
+	return walk(v)
+}

node-tools/internal/bus/state_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package bus
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A value naming a credential anywhere in it is found (novox/hq ADR 0201) — the guard against the
+// ordinary mistake — and a value that only mentions tokens as a count is not.
+func TestACredentialNamedFieldIsFoundAnywhereInAValue(t *testing.T) {
+	for value, want := range map[string]string{
+		`{"url":"http://x","headers":{"Authorization":"Bearer s"}}`: "Authorization",
+		`[{"name":"a","env":{"API_KEY":"s"}}]`:                      "API_KEY",
+		`{"refresh_token":"s"}`:                                     "refresh_token",
+		`{"clientSecret":"s"}`:                                      "clientSecret",
+		`{"maxTokens":4096,"name":"a","generation":3}`:              "",
+		`"just a string"`:                                           "",
+	} {
+		if got := credentialField(json.RawMessage(value)); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("%s: found %q, want %q", value, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/console/address.go

@@ -0,0 +1,953 @@
+package console
+
+// The mesh's tools found by address, not announced whole (novox/hq ADR 0195, to-be 34 §3a).
+//
+// The console announces six tools — five to find and call, and mesh_runtimes to say which runtimes
+// discovery heard. Everything the mesh answers is reached through them by one address per layer:
+//
+//	<seat>.<verb>              a seat held once for the mesh — its holder answers
+//	<node>/<seat>.<verb>       a seat held once per machine — that machine's holder answers
+//	<node>/<module>.<tool>     a module assigned to a machine — that assignment answers
+//	<module>.<tool>            also, for a module whose instances are interchangeable (ADR 0160)
+//
+// A module that is not interchangeable is called with its machine or refused, naming the machines
+// it runs on: "whichever answers" is no answer for state a machine holds.
+//
+// Every discovery verb asks the mesh when it is called — kept a few seconds at most, never for a
+// session — so a tool that arrived a minute ago is found without the client reconnecting.
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/announce"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+)
+
+// IndexKept is how long what the mesh answered is kept before it is asked again: long enough that
+// one agent turn's search, describe and call ask once, short enough that nothing goes stale.
+var IndexKept = 5 * time.Second
+
+// The six tools the console announces. Names of the API's kind — letters, digits, `_`, `-`.
+const (
+	verbOverview = "mesh_overview"
+	verbMachine  = "mesh_machine"
+	verbSearch   = "mesh_search"
+	verbDescribe = "mesh_describe"
+	verbCall     = "mesh_call"
+	verbRuntimes = "mesh_runtimes"
+)
+
+// searchCap is how many matches a search answers before it says how many more there were.
+const searchCap = 25
+
+const grammar = "Addresses: `<seat>.<verb>` for a seat held once for the mesh (e.g. `mesh-controller.nodes`); " +
+	"`<node>/<seat>.<verb>` for a seat every machine holds (e.g. `ace/node-packet-filter.rules`); " +
+	"`<node>/<module>.<tool>` for a module on one machine (e.g. `novox/postgres.postgres_list_databases`); " +
+	"and `<module>.<tool>` also for a module whose instances are interchangeable."
+
+// discovery is the six tools as tools/list announces them.
+func discovery() []map[string]any {
+	str := func(desc string) map[string]any { return map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": desc} }
+	obj := func(props map[string]any, required ...string) map[string]any {
+		s := map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": props}
+		if len(required) > 0 {
+			s["required"] = required
+		}
+		return s
+	}
+	return []map[string]any{
+		{"name": verbOverview, "inputSchema": obj(map[string]any{}),
+			"description": "The mesh at a glance: the seats it holds once for the whole mesh with their verbs, the seats " +
+				"every machine holds, and its machines. Start here, then `mesh_machine` for one machine. " + grammar},
+		{"name": verbMachine, "inputSchema": obj(map[string]any{"node": str("the machine, as mesh_overview names it")}, "node"),
+			"description": "One machine: the seats it holds with their verbs, and the modules assigned to it with their tools — " +
+				"each with the address to describe or call it by. " + grammar},
+		{"name": verbSearch, "inputSchema": obj(map[string]any{"query": str("words to find in tool names and descriptions, e.g. `postgres databases`")}, "query"),
+			"description": "Find tools anywhere in the mesh by words: every match's address and a line of what it does, across the " +
+				"mesh's seats, the machines' seats and every module on every machine. " + grammar},
+		{"name": verbDescribe, "inputSchema": obj(map[string]any{"address": str("the tool's address")}, "address"),
+			"description": "What one tool does and the arguments it takes, as a JSON schema. The machine is in the address, " +
+				"never an argument. " + grammar},
+		{"name": verbCall, "inputSchema": obj(map[string]any{
+			"address":   str("the tool's address"),
+			"arguments": map[string]any{"type": "object", "description": "the tool's arguments, as mesh_describe gives its schema"},
+		}, "address"),
+			"description": "Call one tool by its address with its arguments; the answer says which machine gave it. " + grammar},
+		{"name": verbRuntimes, "inputSchema": obj(map[string]any{}),
+			"description": "Which runtimes answered discovery, asked now: for each, its machine, how long its answer took to " +
+				"arrive, its size in bytes, how many modules and tools it announced, whether it was shortened to fit the " +
+				"bus, and when it was last heard — and every runtime or machine expected that was not heard. Read-only; " +
+				"for when an address is said to be missing or on another machine."},
+	}
+}
+
+func isDiscovery(name string) bool {
+	switch name {
+	case verbOverview, verbMachine, verbSearch, verbDescribe, verbCall, verbRuntimes:
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// seatInfo is a seat as the mesh's records define it, and who holds it where.
+type seatInfo struct {
+	Seat    string
+	Scope   string // "mesh" or "node"
+	Verbs   []Tool
+	Holders []holder
+}
+
+type holder struct {
+	Module string `json:"module"`
+	Node   string `json:"node"`
+}
+
+// moduleInfo is a module that answers tools: where it runs, whether any instance will do, and its
+// tools as one of its instances described them.
+type moduleInfo struct {
+	Module          string
+	On              []string
+	Interchangeable bool
+	Tools           []Tool
+}
+
+// index is what the mesh answered about itself, at one moment.
+type index struct {
+	Seats        []seatInfo
+	Machines     []string
+	Modules      map[string]*moduleInfo
+	NotAnswering []string
+	Listing      *Listing // the flat catalogue the call path resolves subjects with
+	Discovery    announce.Discovery
+	// Recorded is where the controller's records place each module that declares tools.
+	Recorded map[string][]string
+	// Unheard is every runtime whose answer this index lacks: it said it was there and did not say
+	// what it serves in time, or it answered before and not now. An address it might answer is never
+	// called missing while it is here (2026-10-05).
+	Unheard []unheard
+}
+
+// unheard is one runtime discovery did not hear in full, and why.
+type unheard struct {
+	Runtime string `json:"runtime"`
+	Machine string `json:"machine,omitempty"`
+	Why     string `json:"why"`
+}
+
+// unheardOn is what is unheard on one machine; with no machine, everything unheard.
+func (x *index) unheardOn(node string) []unheard {
+	var out []unheard
+	for _, u := range x.Unheard {
+		if node == "" || u.Machine == node || u.Machine == "" {
+			out = append(out, u)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// sayUnheard is the unheard, as a sentence's end.
+func sayUnheard(us []unheard) string {
+	var parts []string
+	for _, u := range us {
+		who := u.Runtime
+		if u.Machine != "" {
+			who += " on " + u.Machine
+		}
+		parts = append(parts, who+" ("+u.Why+")")
+	}
+	return strings.Join(parts, "; ")
+}
+
+func (x *index) seat(name string) *seatInfo {
+	for i := range x.Seats {
+		if x.Seats[i].Seat == name {
+			return &x.Seats[i]
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func findTool(tools []Tool, name string) *Tool {
+	for i := range tools {
+		if tools[i].Name == name {
+			return &tools[i]
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// controllerOutput is a controller seat verb's answer: the command's printed output.
+func controllerOutput(conn *bus.Conn, verb string) (string, error) {
+	got, err := conn.Ask("seat:mesh-controller."+verb, map[string]any{}, "")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	var r struct {
+		Output string `json:"output"`
+		OK     *bool  `json:"ok"`
+	}
+	if json.Unmarshal(got.Result, &r) != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("mesh-controller.%s answered something that is not its output", verb)
+	}
+	if r.OK != nil && !*r.OK {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("mesh-controller.%s: %s", verb, strings.TrimSpace(r.Output))
+	}
+	return r.Output, nil
+}
+
+// jsonIn is the JSON document a command printed, after any lines it said first: a seat verb runs
+// the controller's command, and a command may warn before it answers.
+func jsonIn(output string) string {
+	t := strings.TrimSpace(output)
+	if strings.HasPrefix(t, "{") || strings.HasPrefix(t, "[") {
+		return t
+	}
+	for _, open := range []string{"\n{", "\n["} {
+		if i := strings.Index(output, open); i >= 0 {
+			return strings.TrimSpace(output[i+1:])
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// recordedModule is a module as the controller's records hold it (`module list --json`): where the
+// mesh assigned it, and whether it declares tools — what should announce itself, and where.
+type recordedModule struct {
+	Module string   `json:"module"`
+	On     []string `json:"on"`
+	Tools  bool     `json:"tools"`
+}
+
+// recordedMachine is a machine as the controller's records hold it (`node list --json`).
+type recordedMachine struct {
+	Name string `json:"name"`
+}
+
+// indexOn asks the mesh what it holds (novox/hq ADR 0197): what answers, from every runtime's own
+// announcement on the bus — one `$SRV.INFO` request — and what should, from the controller's records
+// read as JSON. Nothing is inferred from a roster and nothing is parsed from print.
+func indexOn(conn *bus.Conn) (*index, error) {
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	var nodesOut, modulesOut string
+	wg.Add(2)
+	go func() { defer wg.Done(); nodesOut, _ = controllerOutput(conn, "nodes") }()
+	go func() { defer wg.Done(); modulesOut, _ = controllerOutput(conn, "modules") }()
+	d, err := announce.Gather(conn)
+	wg.Wait()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var endpoints []announce.Endpoint
+	for _, h := range d.Heard {
+		endpoints = append(endpoints, announce.Endpoints(h.Info)...)
+	}
+	x, announced, machines := indexOfEndpoints(endpoints)
+	l := x.Listing
+	x.Discovery = d
+	for _, s := range d.Silent {
+		x.Unheard = append(x.Unheard, unheard{Runtime: s.Name, Machine: s.Machine,
+			Why: fmt.Sprintf("it answered PING; what it serves did not arrive within %s", announce.Patience)})
+	}
+
+	// What should have answered: every assignment of a module that declares tools. Silence is named;
+	// a module with no tools is never a name here.
+	var recorded []recordedModule
+	if json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonIn(modulesOut)), &recorded) == nil {
+		for _, m := range recorded {
+			if !m.Tools {
+				continue
+			}
+			x.Recorded[m.Module] = append([]string{}, m.On...)
+			for _, n := range m.On {
+				// A holder of a seat held once for the mesh announces no machine — the seat is the mesh's,
+				// not a machine's — so what it announced without one answers for wherever it is assigned.
+				if !announced[m.Module][n] && !announced[m.Module][""] {
+					l.NotAnswering = append(l.NotAnswering, m.Module+" on "+n)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		l.NotAnswering = append(l.NotAnswering, "mesh-controller (its records of the modules did not answer, so what is missing cannot be said)")
+	}
+	for _, u := range x.Unheard {
+		l.NotAnswering = append(l.NotAnswering, "the runtime "+sayUnheard([]unheard{u}))
+	}
+	sort.Strings(l.NotAnswering)
+	x.NotAnswering = l.NotAnswering
+
+	var known []recordedMachine
+	if json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonIn(nodesOut)), &known) == nil {
+		for _, n := range known {
+			if n.Name != "" {
+				machines[n.Name] = true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	for n := range machines {
+		x.Machines = append(x.Machines, n)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(x.Machines)
+	return x, nil
+}
+
+func containsHolder(hs []holder, h holder) bool {
+	for _, x := range hs {
+		if x == h {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func (s *Surface) index() (*index, error) { return s.indexAsked(false) }
+
+// indexAsked is what the mesh answered, asked again when `fresh` or when the kept answer is old.
+func (s *Surface) indexAsked(fresh bool) (*index, error) {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	if !fresh && s.idx != nil && time.Since(s.idxAt) <= IndexKept {
+		x := s.idx
+		s.mu.Unlock()
+		return x, nil
+	}
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+	x, err := indexOn(s.conn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	s.remember(x)
+	s.idx, s.idxAt = x, time.Now()
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+	return x, nil
+}
+
+// indexOfEndpoints is what the announced endpoints say: every seat with its verbs and holders, every
+// module with its tools and machines, the flat listing, and which module announced on which machine.
+func indexOfEndpoints(endpoints []announce.Endpoint) (*index, map[string]map[string]bool, map[string]bool) {
+	l := &Listing{Tools: []Tool{}, NotAnswering: []string{}}
+	x := &index{Modules: map[string]*moduleInfo{}, Listing: l, Recorded: map[string][]string{}}
+	announced := map[string]map[string]bool{} // module → node → announced something
+	seats := map[string]*seatInfo{}
+	// <module>.<tool>, or seat:<seat>.<verb>, → index in l.Tools. **Apart**, because a seat and a module may
+	// share a name — mesh-delivery is the delivery's seat and the module holding it (novox/hq ADR 0239), and
+	// the module answers the seat's verbs with tools of the same names: in one namespace the module's tool
+	// took the key first, and the seat was listed with no verb at all (novox/hq issue 287).
+	toolAt := map[string]int{}
+	machines := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, e := range endpoints {
+		if e.Node != "" {
+			machines[e.Node] = true
+		}
+		if announced[e.Module] == nil {
+			announced[e.Module] = map[string]bool{}
+		}
+		announced[e.Module][e.Node] = true
+		switch e.Kind {
+		case announce.KindSeat:
+			st := seats[e.Seat]
+			if st == nil {
+				st = &seatInfo{Seat: e.Seat, Scope: e.Scope}
+				seats[e.Seat] = st
+			}
+			if st.Scope != "node" && e.Scope == "node" {
+				st.Scope = "node"
+			}
+			h := holder{Module: e.Module, Node: e.Node}
+			if !containsHolder(st.Holders, h) {
+				st.Holders = append(st.Holders, h)
+			}
+			key := "seat:" + e.Seat + "." + e.Tool
+			if _, have := toolAt[key]; !have {
+				toolAt[key] = len(l.Tools)
+				t := Tool{Module: e.Seat, Name: e.Tool, Description: e.Description, Input: e.Schema, Seat: true, Scope: st.Scope}
+				l.Tools = append(l.Tools, t)
+				st.Verbs = append(st.Verbs, t)
+			}
+		case announce.KindTool:
+			m := x.Modules[e.Module]
+			if m == nil {
+				m = &moduleInfo{Module: e.Module}
+				x.Modules[e.Module] = m
+			}
+			if e.Node != "" && !contains(m.On, e.Node) {
+				m.On = append(m.On, e.Node)
+			}
+			m.Interchangeable = m.Interchangeable || e.Interchangeable
+			key := e.Module + "." + e.Tool
+			i, have := toolAt[key]
+			if !have {
+				i = len(l.Tools)
+				toolAt[key] = i
+				l.Tools = append(l.Tools, Tool{Module: e.Module, Name: e.Tool, Description: e.Description, Input: e.Schema})
+			}
+			if !contains(l.Tools[i].Subjects, e.Subject) {
+				l.Tools[i].Subjects = append(l.Tools[i].Subjects, e.Subject)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// A tool's subjects as a call looks them up: the plain one any instance answers first, then each
+	// machine's.
+	for i := range l.Tools {
+		t := &l.Tools[i]
+		if t.Seat {
+			continue
+		}
+		plain := "mesh.mod." + t.Module + ".tool." + t.Name
+		sort.SliceStable(t.Subjects, func(a, b int) bool {
+			if (t.Subjects[a] == plain) != (t.Subjects[b] == plain) {
+				return t.Subjects[a] == plain
+			}
+			return t.Subjects[a] < t.Subjects[b]
+		})
+	}
+	for _, t := range l.Tools {
+		if !t.Seat {
+			x.Modules[t.Module].Tools = append(x.Modules[t.Module].Tools, t)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, m := range x.Modules {
+		sort.Strings(m.On)
+	}
+	for _, st := range seats {
+		sort.Slice(st.Holders, func(a, b int) bool { return st.Holders[a].Node < st.Holders[b].Node })
+		x.Seats = append(x.Seats, *st)
+	}
+	sort.Slice(x.Seats, func(i, j int) bool { return x.Seats[i].Seat < x.Seats[j].Seat })
+	sort.SliceStable(l.Tools, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return l.Tools[i].Module+"."+l.Tools[i].Name < l.Tools[j].Module+"."+l.Tools[j].Name
+	})
+	return x, announced, machines
+}
+
+// target is what an address resolves to.
+type target struct {
+	Address string
+	Key     string // the call key the existing path takes: seat:<s>.<v>[@node] or <m>.<t>[@node]
+	Name    string // <seat>.<verb> or <module>.<tool>, for the listing's subject lookup
+	Node    string
+	Tool    Tool
+	Seat    bool
+}
+
+// resolve turns an address into exactly one target, or says why it cannot.
+func resolve(x *index, address string) (target, error) {
+	address = strings.TrimSpace(address)
+	node, rest, hasNode := strings.Cut(address, "/")
+	if !hasNode {
+		rest, node = address, ""
+	}
+	dot := strings.Index(rest, ".")
+	if dot <= 0 || dot == len(rest)-1 || strings.Contains(rest, "/") {
+		return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%q is not an address. %s", address, grammar)
+	}
+	prefix, name := rest[:dot], rest[dot+1:]
+
+	s := x.seat(prefix)
+	if s != nil && x.Modules[prefix] != nil && findTool(x.Modules[prefix].Tools, name) != nil {
+		// **A seat and a module of one name** (novox/hq issue 287): mesh-delivery is the delivery's seat and
+		// the module holding it. The module's tool is meant when the seat has no such verb, or when a machine
+		// is named for a seat held once for the mesh — `<node>/<module>.<tool>` is a module on one machine.
+		if findTool(s.Verbs, name) == nil || (node != "" && s.Scope != "node") {
+			s = nil
+		}
+	}
+	if s != nil {
+		verb := findTool(s.Verbs, name)
+		if verb == nil {
+			if len(s.Verbs) == 0 {
+				return target{}, fmt.Errorf("the seat %s has no verb %s: its holder announced none", prefix, name)
+			}
+			return target{}, fmt.Errorf("the seat %s has no verb %s; it has %s", prefix, name, toolNames(s.Verbs))
+		}
+		if s.Scope == "node" {
+			if node == "" {
+				return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%s is held once per machine: write <node>/%s — it is held on %s",
+					prefix, rest, orNobody(nodesOf(s.Holders)))
+			}
+			return target{Address: node + "/" + rest, Key: "seat:" + rest + "@" + node, Name: rest, Node: node, Tool: *verb, Seat: true}, nil
+		}
+		if node != "" {
+			return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%s is held once for the whole mesh: write %s, without a machine", prefix, rest)
+		}
+		return target{Address: rest, Key: "seat:" + rest, Name: rest, Tool: *verb, Seat: true}, nil
+	}
+
+	m := x.Modules[prefix]
+	if m == nil {
+		if on := x.Recorded[prefix]; len(on) > 0 {
+			why := "it did not announce itself on the bus"
+			if us := x.unheardOnAny(on); len(us) > 0 {
+				why = "discovery did not hear in full from " + sayUnheard(us)
+			}
+			return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%s is assigned to %s in the mesh's records, but nothing that answered discovery serves it: %s. "+
+				"Ask again in a moment; mesh_runtimes shows which runtimes answered", prefix, strings.Join(on, ", "), why)
+		}
+		if len(x.Unheard) > 0 {
+			return target{}, fmt.Errorf("nothing that answered discovery is called %s, but not every runtime answered: %s — "+
+				"%s may be theirs. Ask again in a moment; mesh_runtimes shows which runtimes answered", prefix, sayUnheard(x.Unheard), prefix)
+		}
+		return target{}, fmt.Errorf("nothing in the mesh is called %s: no seat, and no module that answers tools. "+
+			"mesh_search finds a tool by words", prefix)
+	}
+	tool := findTool(m.Tools, name)
+	if tool == nil {
+		return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%s has no tool %s; it has %s", prefix, name, toolNames(m.Tools))
+	}
+	if node == "" {
+		if !m.Interchangeable {
+			return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%s keeps state on each machine it runs on, so a call names the machine: "+
+				"write <node>/%s — it runs on %s", prefix, rest, orNobody(m.On))
+		}
+		return target{Address: rest, Key: rest, Name: rest, Tool: *tool}, nil
+	}
+	if len(m.On) > 0 && !contains(m.On, node) {
+		if us := x.unheardOn(node); len(us) > 0 || contains(x.Recorded[prefix], node) {
+			why := "it did not announce itself there"
+			if len(us) > 0 {
+				why = "discovery did not hear in full from " + sayUnheard(us)
+			}
+			return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%s on %s did not answer discovery: %s. It was heard on %s. "+
+				"Ask again in a moment; mesh_runtimes shows which runtimes answered", prefix, node, why, orNobody(m.On))
+		}
+		return target{}, fmt.Errorf("%s does not run on %s; it runs on %s", prefix, node, orNobody(m.On))
+	}
+	return target{Address: node + "/" + rest, Key: rest + "@" + node, Name: rest, Node: node, Tool: *tool}, nil
+}
+
+// unheardOnAny is what is unheard on any of these machines.
+func (x *index) unheardOnAny(nodes []string) []unheard {
+	var out []unheard
+	for _, u := range x.Unheard {
+		if u.Machine == "" || contains(nodes, u.Machine) {
+			out = append(out, u)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func contains(xs []string, s string) bool {
+	for _, x := range xs {
+		if x == s {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func toolNames(ts []Tool) string {
+	names := make([]string, 0, len(ts))
+	for _, t := range ts {
+		names = append(names, t.Name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	return strings.Join(names, ", ")
+}
+
+func nodesOf(hs []holder) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, h := range hs {
+		if h.Node != "" && !contains(out, h.Node) {
+			out = append(out, h.Node)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+func orNobody(nodes []string) string {
+	if len(nodes) == 0 {
+		return "no machine the mesh knows of"
+	}
+	return strings.Join(nodes, ", ")
+}
+
+// firstLine is a description's first line, for a list.
+func firstLine(s string) string {
+	s = strings.TrimSpace(s)
+	if i := strings.IndexAny(s, "\n"); i >= 0 {
+		s = s[:i]
+	}
+	if len(s) > 160 {
+		s = s[:157] + "…"
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+// schemaAsPassed is a tool's schema as an agent passes it at this address. Where the address names
+// the machine, `node` is taken out: the machine is in the address. Where it does not — a seat held
+// once for the mesh, or an interchangeable module — `node` is the tool's own argument, and is kept.
+//
+// **Taking it out everywhere made the mesh's own verbs lie** (novox/hq issue 244): the controller's
+// `push`, `plan`, `assign`, `pin` and `settings` take the machine they act on as `node`, and were
+// described without it — `push` as taking nothing at all, so a push naming one machine arrived as a
+// push of every machine behind.
+func schemaAsPassed(t target) map[string]any {
+	if t.Node == "" {
+		return asSchema(t.Tool.Input)
+	}
+	return schemaWithoutNode(t.Tool.Input)
+}
+
+// argumentsAsSent are a call's arguments as the tool at this address receives them, or why the call
+// is refused. **Nothing given is dropped without a word** (novox/hq issue 244):
+//   - where the address names the machine, a `node` naming the same machine is redundant and taken
+//     out; one naming another machine is refused — which of the two was meant is not guessed;
+//   - where it does not, `node` is the tool's own argument and goes to it like any other;
+//   - a seat's schema is the mesh's record of the verb, so an argument a seat's verb does not
+//     declare is refused here, naming it, rather than sent to be passed over.
+func argumentsAsSent(t target, given map[string]any) (map[string]any, error) {
+	args := map[string]any{}
+	for k, v := range given {
+		args[k] = v
+	}
+	if n, has := args["node"]; has && t.Node != "" {
+		if named, _ := n.(string); strings.TrimSpace(named) != t.Node {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s names the machine %s in its address and %v in its arguments: say it once, in the address",
+				t.Address, t.Node, n)
+		}
+		delete(args, "node")
+	}
+	if !t.Seat {
+		return args, nil
+	}
+	declared := map[string]bool{}
+	var names []string
+	if p, ok := schemaAsPassed(t)["properties"].(map[string]any); ok {
+		for k := range p {
+			declared[k] = true
+			names = append(names, k)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	var strangers []string
+	for k := range args {
+		if !declared[k] {
+			strangers = append(strangers, k)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(strangers) > 0 {
+		sort.Strings(strangers)
+		takes := "nothing"
+		if len(names) > 0 {
+			takes = strings.Join(names, ", ")
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s takes no argument %s — it takes %s (mesh_describe %s); nothing was sent",
+			t.Address, strings.Join(strangers, ", "), takes, t.Address)
+	}
+	return args, nil
+}
+
+// schemaWithoutNode is a tool's schema with `node` taken out, for an address that names the machine.
+func schemaWithoutNode(raw json.RawMessage) map[string]any {
+	schema := asSchema(raw)
+	out := map[string]any{}
+	for k, v := range schema {
+		out[k] = v
+	}
+	if p, ok := schema["properties"].(map[string]any); ok {
+		props := map[string]any{}
+		for k, v := range p {
+			if k != "node" {
+				props[k] = v
+			}
+		}
+		out["properties"] = props
+	}
+	if r, ok := schema["required"].([]any); ok {
+		var keep []any
+		for _, k := range r {
+			if k != "node" {
+				keep = append(keep, k)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(keep) == 0 {
+			delete(out, "required")
+		} else {
+			out["required"] = keep
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// answerText is a discovery verb's answer as MCP content: JSON, indented.
+func answerText(v any) map[string]any {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	enc := json.NewEncoder(&b)
+	enc.SetEscapeHTML(false) // `<node>/…` is read by an agent, not embedded in a page
+	enc.SetIndent("", "  ")
+	_ = enc.Encode(v)
+	return map[string]any{"content": []map[string]any{{"type": "text", "text": strings.TrimRight(b.String(), "\n")}}}
+}
+
+func failure(text string) map[string]any {
+	return map[string]any{"content": []map[string]any{{"type": "text", "text": text}}, "isError": true}
+}
+
+// discover answers one of the discovery verbs.
+func (s *Surface) discover(name string, args map[string]any) map[string]any {
+	if name == verbRuntimes {
+		return s.runtimesAnswer()
+	}
+	x, err := s.index()
+	if err != nil {
+		return failure("the mesh's discovery failed: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	str := func(k string) string { v, _ := args[k].(string); return strings.TrimSpace(v) }
+
+	switch name {
+	case verbOverview:
+		type verbLine struct {
+			Address     string `json:"address"`
+			Description string `json:"description"`
+		}
+		var mesh, node []map[string]any
+		for _, st := range x.Seats {
+			var verbs []verbLine
+			for _, v := range st.Verbs {
+				addr := st.Seat + "." + v.Name
+				if st.Scope == "node" {
+					addr = "<node>/" + addr
+				}
+				verbs = append(verbs, verbLine{addr, firstLine(v.Description)})
+			}
+			entry := map[string]any{"seat": st.Seat, "verbs": verbs}
+			if st.Scope == "node" {
+				entry["held on"] = nodesOf(st.Holders)
+				node = append(node, entry)
+			} else {
+				if h := nodesOf(st.Holders); len(h) > 0 {
+					entry["held on"] = h
+				}
+				mesh = append(mesh, entry)
+			}
+		}
+		modules := 0
+		tools := 0
+		for _, m := range x.Modules {
+			modules++
+			tools += len(m.Tools)
+		}
+		return answerText(map[string]any{
+			"seats of the mesh":   mesh,
+			"seats every machine": node,
+			"machines":            x.Machines,
+			"modules with tools":  fmt.Sprintf("%d modules, %d tools — mesh_machine lists a machine's, mesh_search finds one", modules, tools),
+			"not answering":       x.NotAnswering,
+		})
+
+	case verbMachine:
+		node := str("node")
+		if node == "" {
+			return failure("mesh_machine needs `node`: one of " + orNobody(x.Machines))
+		}
+		if !contains(x.Machines, node) {
+			return failure(fmt.Sprintf("the mesh knows no machine %q; it has %s", node, orNobody(x.Machines)))
+		}
+		var seats []map[string]any
+		for _, st := range x.Seats {
+			if st.Scope != "node" || !contains(nodesOf(st.Holders), node) {
+				continue
+			}
+			var verbs []string
+			for _, v := range st.Verbs {
+				verbs = append(verbs, node+"/"+st.Seat+"."+v.Name)
+			}
+			var by string
+			for _, h := range st.Holders {
+				if h.Node == node {
+					by = h.Module
+				}
+			}
+			seats = append(seats, map[string]any{"seat": st.Seat, "held by": by, "verbs": verbs})
+		}
+		var modules []map[string]any
+		names := make([]string, 0, len(x.Modules))
+		for n := range x.Modules {
+			names = append(names, n)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(names)
+		for _, n := range names {
+			m := x.Modules[n]
+			if !contains(m.On, node) {
+				continue
+			}
+			var tools []map[string]string
+			for _, t := range m.Tools {
+				tools = append(tools, map[string]string{"address": node + "/" + m.Module + "." + t.Name, "does": firstLine(t.Description)})
+			}
+			entry := map[string]any{"module": m.Module, "tools": tools}
+			if m.Interchangeable {
+				entry["interchangeable"] = "any instance answers <module>.<tool> as well"
+			}
+			modules = append(modules, entry)
+		}
+		out := map[string]any{"machine": node, "seats": seats, "modules": modules}
+		if seats == nil {
+			out["seats"] = []map[string]any{}
+		}
+		if modules == nil {
+			out["modules"] = []map[string]any{}
+		}
+		if us := x.unheardOn(node); len(us) > 0 {
+			out["incomplete"] = "discovery did not hear in full from " + sayUnheard(us) +
+				"; what is listed may be missing what it serves. Ask again in a moment; mesh_runtimes shows which runtimes answered"
+		}
+		return answerText(out)
+
+	case verbSearch:
+		query := strings.ToLower(str("query"))
+		if query == "" {
+			return failure("mesh_search needs `query`: words to find, e.g. `postgres databases`")
+		}
+		words := strings.Fields(query)
+		type hit struct {
+			Address string `json:"address"`
+			Does    string `json:"does"`
+			Also    string `json:"also,omitempty"`
+		}
+		var hits []hit
+		matches := func(parts ...string) bool {
+			hay := strings.ToLower(strings.Join(parts, " "))
+			for _, w := range words {
+				if !strings.Contains(hay, w) {
+					return false
+				}
+			}
+			return true
+		}
+		for _, st := range x.Seats {
+			for _, v := range st.Verbs {
+				if !matches(st.Seat, v.Name, v.Description) {
+					continue
+				}
+				if st.Scope == "node" {
+					on := nodesOf(st.Holders)
+					first := "<node>"
+					also := ""
+					if len(on) > 0 {
+						first = on[0]
+						if len(on) > 1 {
+							also = "also on " + strings.Join(on[1:], ", ")
+						}
+					}
+					hits = append(hits, hit{first + "/" + st.Seat + "." + v.Name, firstLine(v.Description), also})
+				} else {
+					hits = append(hits, hit{st.Seat + "." + v.Name, firstLine(v.Description), ""})
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		names := make([]string, 0, len(x.Modules))
+		for n := range x.Modules {
+			names = append(names, n)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(names)
+		for _, n := range names {
+			m := x.Modules[n]
+			for _, t := range m.Tools {
+				if !matches(m.Module, t.Name, t.Description) {
+					continue
+				}
+				switch {
+				case m.Interchangeable:
+					hits = append(hits, hit{m.Module + "." + t.Name, firstLine(t.Description), "any instance; on " + orNobody(m.On)})
+				case len(m.On) == 0:
+					hits = append(hits, hit{"<node>/" + m.Module + "." + t.Name, firstLine(t.Description), "the mesh places it on no machine"})
+				default:
+					also := ""
+					if len(m.On) > 1 {
+						also = "also on " + strings.Join(m.On[1:], ", ")
+					}
+					hits = append(hits, hit{m.On[0] + "/" + m.Module + "." + t.Name, firstLine(t.Description), also})
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		out := map[string]any{"matches": hits}
+		if len(hits) > searchCap {
+			out["matches"] = hits[:searchCap]
+			out["more"] = fmt.Sprintf("%d more; narrow the words", len(hits)-searchCap)
+		}
+		if len(hits) == 0 {
+			out["matches"] = []hit{}
+			out["hint"] = "nothing matched every word; try fewer words, or mesh_overview and mesh_machine to browse"
+		}
+		if len(x.Unheard) > 0 {
+			out["incomplete"] = "discovery did not hear in full from " + sayUnheard(x.Unheard) +
+				"; what they serve is not searched. mesh_runtimes shows which runtimes answered"
+		}
+		return answerText(out)
+
+	case verbDescribe:
+		t, err := resolve(x, str("address"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return failure(err.Error())
+		}
+		if !t.Seat && len(t.Tool.Input) == 0 {
+			// Discovery carries a seat's schema, not a module tool's: asked of the runtime serving it.
+			t.Tool.Input = inputOf(s.conn, t.Tool.Module, t.Tool.Name)
+		}
+		description := t.Tool.Description
+		if description == "" {
+			description = t.Name
+		}
+		return answerText(map[string]any{"address": t.Address, "description": description,
+			"arguments": schemaAsPassed(t)})
+
+	case verbCall:
+		t, err := resolve(x, str("address"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return failure(err.Error())
+		}
+		given, _ := args["arguments"].(map[string]any)
+		callArgs, err := argumentsAsSent(t, given)
+		if err != nil {
+			return failure(err.Error())
+		}
+		var got bus.Answered
+		if t.Seat {
+			got, err = s.conn.Ask(t.Key, callArgs, "")
+		} else {
+			got, err = callTool(s.conn, t.Key, callArgs, nil, x.Listing)
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			return failure(whyItFailed(t.Address, err))
+		}
+		content := []map[string]any{{"type": "text", "text": pretty(got.Result)}}
+		if got.Node != "" {
+			content = append(content, map[string]any{"type": "text", "text": "answered by " + got.Node})
+		}
+		return map[string]any{"content": content}
+	}
+	return failure("no discovery verb " + name)
+}
+
+// inputOf is a module tool's input schema, asked of a runtime that serves the module — its `tools` verb,
+// answered on the module's plain subject by any instance — because discovery no longer carries it: every
+// tool's schema made a machine's one discovery answer outgrow the bus (2026-10-04). Nil when nothing
+// answers, which describes the tool as taking nothing rather than failing the description.
+func inputOf(conn *bus.Conn, module, tool string) json.RawMessage {
+	got, err := conn.Ask(module+".tools", map[string]any{}, "")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	var answer struct {
+		Tools []struct {
+			Name  string          `json:"name"`
+			Input json.RawMessage `json:"input"`
+		} `json:"tools"`
+	}
+	if json.Unmarshal(got.Result, &answer) != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	for _, t := range answer.Tools {
+		if t.Name == tool {
+			return t.Input
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}

node-tools/internal/console/address_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/announce"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/runtime"
+)
+
+// text is a tool result's first text, and whether it was an error.
+func text(t *testing.T, reply map[string]any) (string, bool) {
+	t.Helper()
+	result, ok := reply["result"].(map[string]any)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("no result: %v", reply)
+	}
+	content := result["content"].([]any)
+	isErr, _ := result["isError"].(bool)
+	var parts []string
+	for _, c := range content {
+		parts = append(parts, c.(map[string]any)["text"].(string))
+	}
+	return strings.Join(parts, "\n"), isErr
+}
+
+func call(t *testing.T, endpoint, tool string, args map[string]any) (string, bool) {
+	t.Helper()
+	body, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 9, "method": "tools/call",
+		"params": map[string]any{"name": tool, "arguments": args}})
+	return text(t, post(t, endpoint, string(body)))
+}
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0195: the console announces six tools, and everything the mesh answers is reached
+// through them by one address per layer.
+func TestTheMeshsToolsAreFoundByAddress(t *testing.T) {
+	was := IndexKept
+	IndexKept = 0 // every discovery asks the mesh, so a module arriving mid-test is found
+	t.Cleanup(func() { IndexKept = was })
+
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	// alpha: interchangeable (the mesh issued it a plain subject); beta: state on its machine, holds
+	// the node-shelf seat there.
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("alpha", "desk", true, nil))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("beta", "desk", false, map[string][]string{"node-shelf": {"list", "clear"}}))
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "desk")
+	stop, err := runtime.Run(nodeTools, []runtime.Served{
+		{Module: "alpha", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")}},
+		{Module: "beta", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("many-beta.serve.mjs")}},
+	}, nil, (&mt.Logs{}).Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stop()
+
+	// Nothing may be asked for a roster or a module's `tools` any more (ADR 0197): counted.
+	var asked atomic.Int32
+	watcher := connect(t, "watcher", "")
+	for _, subject := range []string{"mesh.mod.*.tool.tools", "mesh.mod.*.tool.tools.*", "mesh.mod.mesh-catalog.>"} {
+		stop, err := watcher.Raw(subject, func(string, []byte) []byte { asked.Add(1); return nil })
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Cleanup(stop)
+	}
+
+	// The controller: its records as JSON, as its seat verbs answer them, and its own seat's verbs
+	// announced on the bus like every runtime's.
+	controller := connect(t, "mesh-controller", "bench")
+	out := func(s string) map[string]any { return map[string]any{"output": s, "ok": true} }
+	serve := func(verb string, answer func() any) {
+		stop, err := controller.HandleSubject("mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool."+verb, func(json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+			return answer(), nil
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Cleanup(stop)
+	}
+	serve("nodes", func() any {
+		return out("the bus's user list leaves out 2 user(s)\n" +
+			`[{"name":"bench","heard":"3m ago","mode":"converged","id":"1f2e"},{"name":"desk","heard":"here","mode":"converged","id":"9a8b"}]`)
+	})
+	var gammaOn atomic.Value
+	gammaOn.Store("[]")
+	serve("modules", func() any {
+		return out(fmt.Sprintf(`[{"module":"alpha","on":["desk"],"tools":true},{"module":"beta","on":["desk"],"tools":true},`+
+			`{"module":"gamma","on":%s,"tools":true},{"module":"delta","on":["desk"],"tools":false},`+
+			`{"module":"epsilon","on":["bench"],"tools":true},{"module":"mesh-controller","on":["bench"],"tools":true}]`, gammaOn.Load().(string)))
+	})
+	stopAnn, err := announce.Serve(controller, announce.Service{Name: "mesh-controller", ID: "bench"}, func() []announce.Endpoint {
+		return []announce.Endpoint{{Kind: announce.KindSeat, Module: "mesh-controller", Seat: "mesh-controller", Scope: "mesh",
+			// As the live controller announces: a mesh seat's holder names no machine.
+			Tool: "nodes", Node: "", Description: "Every machine the mesh knows.", Schema: json.RawMessage(`{}`),
+			Subject: "mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool.nodes"}}
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stopAnn)
+	controller.Flush()
+	watcher.Flush()
+
+	up, err := Serve(NewSurface(nodeTools, "desk.node-tools"), "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer up.Close()
+	endpoint := "http://" + up.Address + "/mcp"
+
+	// Six tools, nothing else.
+	listed := post(t, endpoint, `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/list"}`)["result"].(map[string]any)
+	var names []string
+	for _, x := range listed["tools"].([]any) {
+		name := x.(map[string]any)["name"].(string)
+		names = append(names, name)
+		for _, r := range name {
+			if !(r >= 'a' && r <= 'z' || r >= 'A' && r <= 'Z' || r >= '0' && r <= '9' || r == '_' || r == '-') || len(name) > 64 {
+				t.Errorf("%q is not a name the API takes", name)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if got := strings.Join(names, ","); got != "mesh_overview,mesh_machine,mesh_search,mesh_describe,mesh_call,mesh_runtimes" {
+		t.Errorf("announced %s", got)
+	}
+
+	// The overview names the mesh's seats, the machines' seats and the machines.
+	overview, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_overview", nil)
+	if isErr || !strings.Contains(overview, "mesh-controller.nodes") || !strings.Contains(overview, "<node>/node-shelf.list") ||
+		!strings.Contains(overview, `"bench"`) || !strings.Contains(overview, `"desk"`) {
+		t.Errorf("overview: %s", overview)
+	}
+	// Silence is named only where tools should have answered: epsilon declares tools on bench and
+	// nothing there announced it; delta declares none and is never a name.
+	if strings.Contains(overview, "mesh-controller on bench") {
+		t.Errorf("a mesh seat's holder that announced no machine is called silent on its machine:\n%s", overview)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(overview, "epsilon on bench") || strings.Contains(overview, "delta") {
+		t.Errorf("not answering: %s", overview)
+	}
+	machine, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_machine", map[string]any{"node": "desk"})
+	if isErr || !strings.Contains(machine, "desk/node-shelf.list") || !strings.Contains(machine, "desk/beta.three") ||
+		!strings.Contains(machine, "desk/alpha.one") {
+		t.Errorf("machine: %s", machine)
+	}
+
+	// A mesh seat, a node seat, an assignment and an interchangeable module, each by address.
+	if got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": "mesh-controller.nodes"}); isErr || !strings.Contains(got, "converged") {
+		t.Errorf("mesh seat: %s", got)
+	}
+	if got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": "desk/node-shelf.list"}); isErr || !strings.Contains(got, `"a"`) {
+		t.Errorf("node seat: %s", got)
+	}
+	if got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": "desk/beta.three"}); isErr ||
+		!strings.Contains(got, `"beta": 3`) || !strings.Contains(got, "answered by desk") {
+		t.Errorf("assignment: %s", got)
+	}
+	if got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": "alpha.one"}); isErr || !strings.Contains(got, `"alpha": 1`) {
+		t.Errorf("interchangeable module: %s", got)
+	}
+
+	// Refused, by name, where the address does not say enough or says the wrong thing.
+	for address, want := range map[string]string{
+		"beta.three":                 "keeps state on each machine it runs on, so a call names the machine: write <node>/beta.three — it runs on desk",
+		"node-shelf.list":            "held once per machine: write <node>/node-shelf.list — it is held on desk",
+		"desk/mesh-controller.nodes": "held once for the whole mesh",
+		"bench/beta.three":           "beta does not run on bench; it runs on desk",
+		"nonsense":                   "is not an address",
+	} {
+		got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": address})
+		if !isErr || !strings.Contains(got, want) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %s (want %q)", address, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Discovery itself asked nothing but the bus.
+	if n := asked.Load(); n != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("discovery asked a roster or a module's tools %d time(s); it asks the bus", n)
+	}
+
+	// Described without `node`: the address carries the machine.
+	described, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_describe", map[string]any{"address": "desk/beta.three"})
+	if isErr || strings.Contains(described, `"node"`) || !strings.Contains(described, `"address": "desk/beta.three"`) {
+		t.Errorf("describe: %s", described)
+	}
+	// Its schema, which discovery no longer carries for a module's tool, asked of the runtime serving it.
+	if !strings.Contains(described, `"verbose"`) {
+		t.Errorf("describe lost the tool's arguments: %s", described)
+	}
+
+	// Search finds across the layers; a module that starts serving after the first answer is found.
+	if got, _ := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_search", map[string]any{"query": "shelf"}); !strings.Contains(got, "desk/node-shelf.list") {
+		t.Errorf("search a node seat: %s", got)
+	}
+	if got, _ := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_search", map[string]any{"query": "gamma"}); strings.Contains(got, "gamma.given") {
+		t.Fatalf("gamma was found before it served: %s", got)
+	}
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("gamma", "desk", false, nil))
+	gammaOn.Store(`["desk"]`)
+	late := connect(t, "node-tools", "desk")
+	stopLate, err := runtime.Run(late, []runtime.Served{{Module: "gamma", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("env-gamma.serve.mjs")}}},
+		nil, (&mt.Logs{}).Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stopLate()
+	var found string
+	for i := 0; i < 30; i++ {
+		found, _ = call(t, endpoint, "mesh_search", map[string]any{"query": "gamma given"})
+		if strings.Contains(found, "desk/gamma.given") {
+			break
+		}
+		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(found, "desk/gamma.given") {
+		t.Errorf("a module that arrived later was not found: %s", found)
+	}
+
+	// Only describing a module's tool asks its runtime — once, for the schema discovery no longer carries
+	// (2026-10-04: every tool's schema made a machine's discovery answer outgrow the bus).
+	if n := asked.Load(); n != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("asked a module's tools %d time(s); describing one tool asks once, and discovery never", n)
+	}
+
+	// The old names still answer, unannounced.
+	if got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "alpha.one", nil); isErr || !strings.Contains(got, `"alpha": 1`) {
+		t.Errorf("an old name: %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheControllersRecordsAreReadAsJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := jsonIn("a warning printed first\n[{\"name\":\"ace\"}]"); got != `[{"name":"ace"}]` {
+		t.Errorf("an array after a warning: %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := jsonIn(`{"seats":[]}`); got != `{"seats":[]}` {
+		t.Errorf("an object: %q", got)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/console/client.go

@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+)
+
+// Tool is a tool as its module — or, for a role's tool, the mesh's records — describes it.
+type Tool struct {
+	Module      string
+	Name        string
+	Description string
+	Input       json.RawMessage
+	Seat        bool
+	Scope       string
+	Subjects    []string
+}
+
+// Listing is what the mesh could say about its tools; silence is named, never dropped (design 34 §3).
+type Listing struct {
+	Tools        []Tool
+	NotAnswering []string
+}
+
+// Seats is the seats and their verbs, so `<seat>.<verb>` resolves to the role.
+type Seats map[string]map[string]bool
+
+func seatsIn(l *Listing) Seats {
+	out := Seats{}
+	for _, t := range l.Tools {
+		if !t.Seat {
+			continue
+		}
+		if out[t.Module] == nil {
+			out[t.Module] = map[string]bool{}
+		}
+		out[t.Module][t.Name] = true
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// toolKey is the key a call uses: a role's when the prefix is a seat declaring that verb.
+func toolKey(name string, seats Seats) string {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(name, "seat:") {
+		return name
+	}
+	dot := strings.Index(name, ".")
+	if dot < 0 {
+		return name
+	}
+	if seats[name[:dot]][name[dot+1:]] {
+		return "seat:" + name
+	}
+	return name
+}
+
+// toolsOn is the flat catalogue (MESH_CONSOLE_FLAT=1): what announced itself on the bus, every
+// tool and seat verb, and the assignments with tools that did not (novox/hq ADR 0197).
+func toolsOn(conn *bus.Conn) (*Listing, error) {
+	x, err := indexOn(conn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return x.Listing, nil
+}
+
+// callTool calls `<module>.<tool>[@<node>]`, on the subject the listing names for it when it names one.
+func callTool(conn *bus.Conn, key string, args any, seats Seats, l *Listing) (bus.Answered, error) {
+	name, node, _ := strings.Cut(key, "@")
+	if !strings.Contains(name, ".") {
+		return bus.Answered{}, fmt.Errorf("%q does not name a tool: write <module>.<tool>, as `mesh tools` lists "+
+			"them, or <module>.<tool>@<node> for the instance on one machine", key)
+	}
+	resolved := toolKey(name, seats)
+	if node != "" {
+		resolved += "@" + node
+	}
+	return conn.Ask(resolved, args, subjectListed(name, node, l))
+}
+
+func subjectListed(name, node string, l *Listing) string {
+	if l == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	dot := strings.Index(name, ".")
+	module, tool := name[:dot], name[dot+1:]
+	for _, t := range l.Tools {
+		if t.Module == module && t.Name == tool && !t.Seat {
+			if len(t.Subjects) == 0 {
+				return ""
+			}
+			if node == "" {
+				return t.Subjects[0]
+			}
+			for _, s := range t.Subjects {
+				if strings.HasSuffix(s, "."+node) {
+					return s
+				}
+			}
+			return ""
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+var (
+	noResponders = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)no responders|503`)
+	// The bus's own two refusals, by their whole phrase. "authorization" alone also matched a tool's own
+	// answer that merely mentions the word — the runtime refusing a state value with an Authorization
+	// header (novox/hq ADR 0201) read as "this account may not call", which sent the reader the wrong way.
+	refused  = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)permissions violation|authorization violation`)
+	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 {
+		err = errors.New("failed")
+	}
+	msg := err.Error()
+	switch {
+	case noResponders.MatchString(msg):
+		extra := ""
+		if strings.HasPrefix(key, "seat:") {
+			extra = ", or nothing holds that seat"
+		}
+		return "nothing serves " + key + ". The module may not be assigned to any machine, or it is down" +
+			extra + " — `mesh tools` lists what answered."
+	case refused.MatchString(msg):
+		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):
+		// **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
+}

node-tools/internal/console/console_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/runtime"
+)
+
+func connect(t *testing.T, module, node string) *bus.Conn {
+	t.Helper()
+	c, err := bus.Connect(bus.Credential{URL: mt.URL(t), Module: module, Node: node})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	c.Logf = func(string, ...any) {}
+	t.Cleanup(c.Close)
+	return c
+}
+
+func post(t *testing.T, endpoint string, body string) map[string]any {
+	t.Helper()
+	res, err := http.Post(endpoint, "application/json", bytes.NewBufferString(body))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer res.Body.Close()
+	raw, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
+	var out map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &out); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("%d %s", res.StatusCode, raw)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// As node-tools, the runtime serves the bundles and is the console on loopback: the listing is what
+// the modules and the mesh's records answered, and a call reaches the module on the machine named.
+func TestTheConsoleListsAndCallsOverHTTP(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("alpha", "desk", true, nil))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("beta", "desk", false, map[string][]string{"node-shelf": {"list", "clear"}}))
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "desk")
+	stop, err := runtime.Run(nodeTools, []runtime.Served{
+		{Module: "alpha", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")}},
+		{Module: "beta", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("many-beta.serve.mjs")}},
+	}, nil, (&mt.Logs{}).Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stop()
+
+	// The controller's records (ADR 0197): ghost declares tools on desk and nothing announces it.
+	controller := connect(t, "mesh-controller", "")
+	stopSeat, _ := controller.HandleSubject("mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool.modules", func(json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+		return map[string]any{"ok": true, "output": `[{"module":"alpha","on":["desk"],"tools":true},` +
+			`{"module":"beta","on":["desk"],"tools":true},{"module":"ghost","on":["desk"],"tools":true}]`}, nil
+	})
+	defer stopSeat()
+	controller.Flush()
+
+	flat := NewSurface(nodeTools, "desk.node-tools")
+	flat.Flat = true // the whole catalogue, as before ADR 0195: still reachable, no longer announced
+	up, err := Serve(flat, "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer up.Close()
+	endpoint := "http://" + up.Address + "/mcp"
+
+	init := post(t, endpoint, `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-03-26","capabilities":{}}}`)
+	if !strings.Contains(init["result"].(map[string]any)["instructions"].(string), "reached as desk.node-tools") {
+		t.Errorf("initialize: %v", init)
+	}
+	listed := post(t, endpoint, `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/list"}`)["result"].(map[string]any)
+	var names []string
+	for _, x := range listed["tools"].([]any) {
+		names = append(names, x.(map[string]any)["name"].(string))
+	}
+	if got := strings.Join(names, ","); got != "alpha.one,alpha.two,beta.five,beta.four,beta.three,node-shelf.clear,node-shelf.list" {
+		t.Errorf("listed %s", got)
+	}
+	if got := listed["_meta"].(map[string]any)["notAnswering"]; len(got.([]any)) != 1 || got.([]any)[0] != "ghost on desk" {
+		t.Errorf("not answering: %v", got)
+	}
+	for _, x := range listed["tools"].([]any) {
+		tool := x.(map[string]any)
+		if tool["name"] == "node-shelf.list" {
+			schema := tool["inputSchema"].(map[string]any)
+			if req, _ := schema["required"].([]any); len(req) != 1 || req[0] != "node" {
+				t.Errorf("a node seat's verb does not require node: %v", schema)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	called := post(t, endpoint, `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"alpha.one","arguments":{"node":"desk"}}}`)
+	content := called["result"].(map[string]any)["content"].([]any)
+	var got map[string]any
+	_ = json.Unmarshal([]byte(content[0].(map[string]any)["text"].(string)), &got)
+	if got["alpha"] != float64(1) || content[1].(map[string]any)["text"] != "answered by desk" {
+		t.Errorf("called: %v", called)
+	}
+	seat := post(t, endpoint, `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":4,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"node-shelf.list","arguments":{"node":"desk"}}}`)
+	if text := seat["result"].(map[string]any)["content"].([]any)[0].(map[string]any)["text"].(string); !strings.Contains(text, `"a"`) {
+		t.Errorf("seat verb: %v", seat)
+	}
+	refused := post(t, endpoint, `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":5,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"node-shelf.list","arguments":{}}}`)
+	if refused["error"] == nil {
+		t.Errorf("a node seat's verb was called without its machine: %v", refused)
+	}
+	absent := post(t, endpoint, `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":6,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"ghost.boo","arguments":{}}}`)
+	result := absent["result"].(map[string]any)
+	if result["isError"] != true || !strings.Contains(result["content"].([]any)[0].(map[string]any)["text"].(string), "nothing serves ghost.boo") {
+		t.Errorf("an absent tool: %v", absent)
+	}
+	res, err := http.Post(endpoint, "application/json", strings.NewReader(`{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"notifications/initialized"}`))
+	if err != nil || res.StatusCode != 202 {
+		t.Errorf("a notification: %v %v", res, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheConsoleListensOnLoopbackAndNowhereElse(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := Serve(NewSurface(nil, "x"), "0.0.0.0:0"); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "loopback and nowhere else") {
+		t.Errorf("a non-loopback console was not refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/console/http.go

@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/wire"
+)
+
+// bodyLimit is the most a request body may be.
+const bodyLimit = 1 << 20
+
+var loopback = map[string]bool{"127.0.0.1": true, "::1": true, "localhost": true, "[::1]": true}
+
+// Listening is a console that listens: where, with the port the machine gave, and how to stop it.
+type Listening struct {
+	Address string
+	Close   func() error
+}
+
+// Serve listens on host:port, refused unless the host is loopback — said before binding, so a
+// console that would open to a network is a startup failure (ADR 0152).
+func Serve(s *Surface, listen string) (*Listening, error) {
+	at := strings.LastIndex(listen, ":")
+	if at < 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is not host:port", listen)
+	}
+	host, portText := listen[:at], listen[at+1:]
+	if !loopback[host] {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(`the console listens on loopback and nowhere else (novox/hq ADR 0152): %q is not this `+
+			"machine's own address — whoever is on the machine owns the mesh there, and nobody else may reach this", host)
+	}
+	port, err := strconv.Atoi(portText)
+	if err != nil || port < 0 || port > 65535 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a port", portText)
+	}
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", net.JoinHostPort(strings.Trim(host, "[]"), portText))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	server := &http.Server{Handler: http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { route(w, r, s) })}
+	go func() { _ = server.Serve(ln) }()
+	bound := ln.Addr().(*net.TCPAddr).Port
+	return &Listening{Address: host + ":" + strconv.Itoa(bound), Close: func() error { return server.Shutdown(context.Background()) }}, nil
+}
+
+func route(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, s *Surface) {
+	switch r.URL.Path {
+	case "/":
+		w.Header().Set("content-type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
+		_, _ = io.WriteString(w, "the mesh's console: MCP over HTTP at POST /mcp (novox/hq design 34)\n")
+		return
+	case "/mcp":
+	default:
+		writeJSON(w, 404, map[string]any{"error": "the console serves /mcp and nothing else"})
+		return
+	}
+	switch r.Method {
+	case http.MethodPost:
+	case http.MethodDelete:
+		w.WriteHeader(204) // no session to end
+		return
+	default:
+		w.Header().Set("allow", "POST, DELETE")
+		w.WriteHeader(405)
+		return
+	}
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(r.Body, bodyLimit+1))
+	if err != nil || len(body) > bodyLimit {
+		if err == nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("the request is larger than %d bytes", bodyLimit)
+		}
+		writeJSON(w, 413, map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": nil, "error": map[string]any{"code": -32600, "message": err.Error()}})
+		return
+	}
+	trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(string(body))
+	if strings.HasPrefix(trimmed, "[") {
+		var batch []Request
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &batch); err != nil {
+			writeJSON(w, 400, map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": nil, "error": map[string]any{"code": -32700, "message": "the body is not JSON"}})
+			return
+		}
+		replies := []*Reply{}
+		for _, req := range batch {
+			if reply := s.Handle(req); reply != nil {
+				replies = append(replies, reply)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(replies) == 0 {
+			w.WriteHeader(202)
+			return
+		}
+		writeJSON(w, 200, replies)
+		return
+	}
+	var req Request
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &req); err != nil {
+		writeJSON(w, 400, map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": nil, "error": map[string]any{"code": -32700, "message": "the body is not JSON"}})
+		return
+	}
+	reply := s.Handle(req)
+	if reply == nil {
+		w.WriteHeader(202)
+		return
+	}
+	writeJSON(w, 200, reply)
+}
+
+func writeJSON(w http.ResponseWriter, status int, body any) {
+	text, err := wire.Marshal(body)
+	if err != nil {
+		text, _ = json.Marshal(map[string]any{"error": errors.New("unencodable answer").Error()})
+	}
+	w.Header().Set("content-type", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
+	w.Header().Set("content-length", strconv.Itoa(len(text)))
+	w.WriteHeader(status)
+	_, _ = w.Write(text)
+}

node-tools/internal/console/mcp.go

@@ -0,0 +1,329 @@
+// Package console is the mesh's tools as an MCP server on a machine's loopback (novox/hq design 34,
+// ADR 0152, ADR 0175 §6): the Go port of node-tools' http.ts, mcp.ts and client.ts. A thin adapter:
+// every tool listed is one a module answered for, the schema is the module's, the answer the module's.
+package console
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+)
+
+// Protocol is the MCP version spoken to an agent host.
+const Protocol = "2025-03-26"
+
+// ListingKept is how long a fetched tool list is kept before the modules are asked again.
+var ListingKept = 30 * time.Second
+
+// Request is one JSON-RPC message from a host.
+type Request struct {
+	JSONRPC string          `json:"jsonrpc"`
+	ID      json.RawMessage `json:"id,omitempty"`
+	Method  string          `json:"method"`
+	Params  json.RawMessage `json:"params,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Reply is one JSON-RPC answer.
+type Reply struct {
+	JSONRPC string          `json:"jsonrpc"`
+	ID      json.RawMessage `json:"id"`
+	Result  any             `json:"result,omitempty"`
+	Error   *RPCError       `json:"error,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// RPCError is a protocol-level refusal.
+type RPCError struct {
+	Code    int    `json:"code"`
+	Message string `json:"message"`
+}
+
+// Surface answers MCP requests over one bus connection, as one account.
+type Surface struct {
+	conn  *bus.Conn
+	who   string
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	known *Listing
+	at    time.Time
+	idx   *index
+	idxAt time.Time
+	// runtimes is every runtime discovery has heard, as it last heard it (mesh_runtimes).
+	runtimes map[string]*runtimeSeen
+	// Flat announces the whole catalogue, as the console did before ADR 0195: for a person reading
+	// it or a client that wants it. Off by default; MESH_CONSOLE_FLAT=1 turns it on.
+	Flat bool
+}
+
+// NewSurface is the surface over a connection, as `who`.
+func NewSurface(conn *bus.Conn, who string) *Surface {
+	return &Surface{conn: conn, who: who, Flat: os.Getenv("MESH_CONSOLE_FLAT") == "1"}
+}
+
+func (s *Surface) listing() (*Listing, error) {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	if s.known != nil && time.Since(s.at) <= ListingKept {
+		l := s.known
+		s.mu.Unlock()
+		return l, nil
+	}
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+	l, err := toolsOn(s.conn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	s.known, s.at = l, time.Now()
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+	return l, nil
+}
+
+func isNotification(id json.RawMessage) bool {
+	t := strings.TrimSpace(string(id))
+	return t == "" || t == "null"
+}
+
+func answer(id json.RawMessage, result any) *Reply {
+	return &Reply{JSONRPC: "2.0", ID: idOrNull(id), Result: result}
+}
+
+func refuse(id json.RawMessage, code int, message string) *Reply {
+	return &Reply{JSONRPC: "2.0", ID: idOrNull(id), Error: &RPCError{Code: code, Message: message}}
+}
+
+func idOrNull(id json.RawMessage) json.RawMessage {
+	if isNotification(id) {
+		return json.RawMessage("null")
+	}
+	return id
+}
+
+// Handle answers one request; nil for a notification, which expects none.
+func (s *Surface) Handle(r Request) *Reply {
+	notification := isNotification(r.ID)
+	switch r.Method {
+	case "initialize":
+		return answer(r.ID, map[string]any{
+			"protocolVersion": Protocol,
+			"capabilities":    map[string]any{"tools": map[string]any{}},
+			"serverInfo":      map[string]any{"name": "mesh", "version": "1"},
+			"instructions":    s.instructions(),
+		})
+	case "notifications/initialized":
+		return nil
+	case "ping":
+		if notification {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return answer(r.ID, map[string]any{})
+	case "tools/list":
+		if !s.Flat {
+			return answer(r.ID, map[string]any{"tools": discovery()})
+		}
+		l, err := s.listing()
+		if err != nil {
+			return refuse(r.ID, -32603, "the mesh's discovery failed: "+err.Error())
+		}
+		tools := make([]map[string]any, 0, len(l.Tools))
+		inputs := map[string]map[string]json.RawMessage{} // module → tool → input, asked once per module
+		for i, t := range l.Tools {
+			if !t.Seat && len(t.Input) == 0 {
+				if inputs[t.Module] == nil {
+					inputs[t.Module] = toolInputs(s.conn, t.Module)
+				}
+				l.Tools[i].Input = inputs[t.Module][t.Name]
+				t = l.Tools[i]
+			}
+			var schema map[string]any
+			switch {
+			case t.Seat && t.Scope != "node":
+				schema = asSchema(t.Input)
+			case t.Seat:
+				schema = withNode(asSchema(t.Input), "the machine whose seat answers; required, the seat is held once per machine", true)
+			default:
+				schema = withNode(asSchema(t.Input), "", false)
+			}
+			description := t.Description
+			if description == "" {
+				description = t.Name + ", served by " + t.Module
+			}
+			tools = append(tools, map[string]any{"name": t.Module + "." + t.Name, "description": description, "inputSchema": schema})
+		}
+		return answer(r.ID, map[string]any{"tools": tools, "_meta": map[string]any{"notAnswering": l.NotAnswering}})
+	case "tools/call":
+		var p struct {
+			Name      string         `json:"name"`
+			Arguments map[string]any `json:"arguments"`
+		}
+		_ = json.Unmarshal(r.Params, &p)
+		if isDiscovery(p.Name) {
+			if p.Arguments == nil {
+				p.Arguments = map[string]any{}
+			}
+			return answer(r.ID, s.discover(p.Name, p.Arguments))
+		}
+		args := map[string]any{}
+		for k, v := range p.Arguments {
+			args[k] = v
+		}
+		l, _ := s.listing()
+		var roles Seats
+		if l != nil {
+			roles = seatsIn(l)
+		}
+		bare, _, _ := strings.Cut(p.Name, "@")
+		isSeatVerb := roles != nil && strings.HasPrefix(toolKey(bare, roles), "seat:")
+		nodeScoped := false
+		if isSeatVerb && l != nil {
+			for _, t := range l.Tools {
+				if t.Seat && t.Scope == "node" && t.Module+"."+t.Name == bare {
+					nodeScoped = true
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		takesNode := !isSeatVerb || nodeScoped
+		node := ""
+		if takesNode {
+			if n, ok := args["node"].(string); ok {
+				node = n
+			}
+			delete(args, "node")
+		}
+		if nodeScoped && node == "" && !strings.Contains(p.Name, "@") {
+			return refuse(r.ID, -32602, p.Name+" is a machine's seat's verb: name the machine with `node`")
+		}
+		name := p.Name
+		if node != "" && !strings.Contains(p.Name, "@") {
+			name = p.Name + "@" + node
+		}
+		got, err := callTool(s.conn, name, args, roles, l)
+		if err != nil {
+			return answer(r.ID, map[string]any{
+				"content": []map[string]any{{"type": "text", "text": whyItFailed(name, err)}},
+				"isError": true,
+			})
+		}
+		content := []map[string]any{{"type": "text", "text": pretty(got.Result)}}
+		if got.Node != "" {
+			content = append(content, map[string]any{"type": "text", "text": "answered by " + got.Node})
+		}
+		return answer(r.ID, map[string]any{"content": content})
+	}
+	if notification {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return refuse(r.ID, -32601, "mesh's MCP surface has no "+r.Method)
+}
+
+// pretty is a module's answer as JSON text, indented as JSON.stringify(result, null, 2) writes it.
+func pretty(raw json.RawMessage) string {
+	if len(raw) == 0 {
+		return "null"
+	}
+	var v any
+	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &v) != nil {
+		return string(raw)
+	}
+	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(v, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return string(raw)
+	}
+	return strings.NewReplacer(`<`, "<", `>`, ">", `&`, "&").Replace(string(b))
+}
+
+// asSchema is a module's declared input as a JSON schema: wrapped when it is a bare map of
+// properties, passed through when it is a schema, empty when nothing was declared.
+func asSchema(raw json.RawMessage) map[string]any {
+	var given map[string]any
+	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &given) != nil || given == nil {
+		return map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": map[string]any{}}
+	}
+	if given["type"] == "object" {
+		return given
+	}
+	if _, has := given["properties"]; has {
+		return given
+	}
+	if len(given) == 0 {
+		return map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": map[string]any{}}
+	}
+	return map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": given}
+}
+
+// withNode adds the optional — or, for a node seat, required — `node` argument (ADR 0159).
+func withNode(schema map[string]any, description string, required bool) map[string]any {
+	properties := map[string]any{}
+	if p, ok := schema["properties"].(map[string]any); ok {
+		for k, v := range p {
+			properties[k] = v
+		}
+	}
+	if _, has := properties["node"]; !has {
+		if description == "" {
+			description = "the machine to ask, when this module runs on several; else whichever answers, and the answer says which"
+		}
+		properties["node"] = map[string]any{"type": "string", "description": description}
+	}
+	out := map[string]any{}
+	for k, v := range schema {
+		out[k] = v
+	}
+	out["type"] = "object"
+	out["properties"] = properties
+	if required {
+		have := []any{}
+		if r, ok := schema["required"].([]any); ok {
+			have = r
+		}
+		hasNode := false
+		for _, x := range have {
+			hasNode = hasNode || x == "node"
+		}
+		if !hasNode {
+			have = append(have, "node")
+		}
+		out["required"] = have
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// instructions is what an agent host is told about this surface when it connects.
+func (s *Surface) instructions() string {
+	if s.Flat {
+		return "These are the tools of a Novox mesh, reached as " + s.who + ". Every call goes to the module " +
+			"that serves it; what may be called was fixed when this account was issued, so a " +
+			"refusal means the account, not the tool. The list is what the running modules " +
+			"answered, plus every role's tools from the mesh's records — the mesh's own verbs " +
+			"(mesh-controller.status, .push, .assign …) among them; a module that did not answer " +
+			"is named in the list's _meta and can still be called by <module>.<tool>."
+	}
+	return "The tools of a Novox mesh, reached as " + s.who + ", found by address rather than listed " +
+		"whole (novox/hq ADR 0195). mesh_overview shows the mesh's seats and machines; mesh_machine one " +
+		"machine's seats and modules; mesh_search finds a tool by words; mesh_describe gives one tool's " +
+		"arguments; mesh_call calls it; mesh_runtimes says which machines' runtimes answered discovery, how fast " +
+		"and how much — ask it when an address is said to be missing or on another machine. " + grammar + " What may be called was fixed when this account " +
+		"was issued, so a refusal means the account, not the tool."
+}
+
+// toolInputs is every tool's input schema of one module, asked of a runtime that serves it.
+func toolInputs(conn *bus.Conn, module string) map[string]json.RawMessage {
+	out := map[string]json.RawMessage{}
+	got, err := conn.Ask(module+".tools", map[string]any{}, "")
+	if err != nil {
+		return out
+	}
+	var answer struct {
+		Tools []struct {
+			Name  string          `json:"name"`
+			Input json.RawMessage `json:"input"`
+		} `json:"tools"`
+	}
+	if json.Unmarshal(got.Result, &answer) == nil {
+		for _, t := range answer.Tools {
+			out[t.Name] = t.Input
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}

node-tools/internal/console/node_argument_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 244: `node` is taken out only where the address names the machine. A seat held once
+// for the mesh takes the machine it acts on as `node`, and is described and called with it — on
+// 2026-10-05 the controller's push was described as taking nothing, and a push naming one machine
+// ran as a push of every machine behind.
+func TestAMeshSeatsNodeIsItsOwnArgument(t *testing.T) {
+	push := Tool{Module: "mesh-controller", Name: "push", Seat: true, Scope: "mesh",
+		Input: json.RawMessage(`{"type":"object","properties":{"node":{"type":"string"},"behind":{"type":"string"}}}`)}
+	mesh := target{Address: "mesh-controller.push", Tool: push, Seat: true}
+
+	props := schemaAsPassed(mesh)["properties"].(map[string]any)
+	if _, has := props["node"]; !has {
+		t.Fatalf("a mesh seat's verb was described without its node: %v", props)
+	}
+	sent, err := argumentsAsSent(mesh, map[string]any{"node": "g1"})
+	if err != nil || sent["node"] != "g1" {
+		t.Fatalf("a mesh seat's verb was called without the machine it was given: %v %v", sent, err)
+	}
+
+	// An argument the seat's verb does not declare is refused, naming it, never sent to be dropped.
+	if _, err := argumentsAsSent(mesh, map[string]any{"machine": "g1"}); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "machine") {
+		t.Fatalf("an undeclared argument was sent: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// A machine's seat: the address names the machine, so `node` is out of the schema; given the same
+	// machine again it is taken out, given another it is refused.
+	shelf := Tool{Module: "node-shelf", Name: "list", Seat: true, Scope: "node",
+		Input: json.RawMessage(`{"type":"object","properties":{"limit":{"type":"string"}}}`)}
+	onDesk := target{Address: "desk/node-shelf.list", Node: "desk", Tool: shelf, Seat: true}
+	if _, has := schemaAsPassed(onDesk)["properties"].(map[string]any)["node"]; has {
+		t.Fatal("a machine's seat was described with a node the address already names")
+	}
+	if sent, err := argumentsAsSent(onDesk, map[string]any{"node": "desk", "limit": "3"}); err != nil || sent["node"] != nil || sent["limit"] != "3" {
+		t.Fatalf("the same machine named twice: %v %v", sent, err)
+	}
+	if _, err := argumentsAsSent(onDesk, map[string]any{"node": "bench"}); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "bench") {
+		t.Fatalf("another machine in the arguments than in the address was dropped: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// A module's tool is its own: what it takes beyond node is the module's to judge.
+	beta := target{Address: "desk/beta.three", Node: "desk", Tool: Tool{Module: "beta", Name: "three"}}
+	if sent, err := argumentsAsSent(beta, map[string]any{"node": "desk", "verbose": true}); err != nil || sent["verbose"] != true || sent["node"] != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a module's tool: %v %v", sent, err)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/console/one_name_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/announce"
+)
+
+// **Issue 287**: mesh-delivery is the delivery's seat, held once for the mesh, and the module holding it,
+// which answers the seat's verbs with tools of the same names and has tools of its own. Discovery put the
+// module's tool and the seat's verb under one key, so the seat was listed with no verb; and every address
+// with the name resolved to the seat — `mesh-delivery.deliveries` and `novox/mesh-delivery.delivery_status`
+// alike were refused, the seat's verbs and the module's tools both out of reach.
+func TestASeatAndAModuleOfOneNameAreEachReached(t *testing.T) {
+	var endpoints []announce.Endpoint
+	for _, tool := range []string{"deliveries", "delivery_status"} {
+		endpoints = append(endpoints, announce.Endpoint{Kind: announce.KindTool, Module: "mesh-delivery", Tool: tool,
+			Node: "anchor", Subject: "mesh.mod.mesh-delivery.tool." + tool + ".anchor"})
+	}
+	for _, verb := range []string{"deliveries", "stalled"} {
+		endpoints = append(endpoints, announce.Endpoint{Kind: announce.KindSeat, Module: "mesh-delivery", Seat: "mesh-delivery",
+			Tool: verb, Scope: "mesh", Subject: "mesh.seat.mesh-delivery.tool." + verb})
+	}
+	x, _, _ := indexOfEndpoints(endpoints)
+
+	s := x.seat("mesh-delivery")
+	if s == nil || len(s.Verbs) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the seat is listed with verbs %v, not its two", s)
+	}
+	if m := x.Modules["mesh-delivery"]; m == nil || len(m.Tools) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the module is listed with tools %v, not its two", m)
+	}
+
+	for address, want := range map[string]struct {
+		seat bool
+		key  string
+	}{
+		"mesh-delivery.deliveries":             {true, "seat:mesh-delivery.deliveries"},
+		"mesh-delivery.stalled":                {true, "seat:mesh-delivery.stalled"},
+		"anchor/mesh-delivery.delivery_status": {false, "mesh-delivery.delivery_status@anchor"},
+		"anchor/mesh-delivery.deliveries":      {false, "mesh-delivery.deliveries@anchor"},
+	} {
+		got, err := resolve(x, address)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", address, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if got.Seat != want.seat || got.Key != want.key {
+			t.Errorf("%s resolves to %+v, not the %s", address, got, want.key)
+		}
+	}
+	// A module tool of the name without a machine: the module keeps state on its machine, so it says so.
+	if _, err := resolve(x, "mesh-delivery.delivery_status"); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "<node>/") {
+		t.Errorf("the module's tool without a machine: %v", err)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/console/refusal_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A refusal is said only for the bus's own refusals; a tool's answer that mentions authorization is the
+// tool's answer, not the account's.
+func TestARefusalIsSaidOnlyForTheBussOwn(t *testing.T) {
+	for msg, refusal := range map[string]bool{
+		`nats: Permissions Violation for Publish to "mesh.mod.x.tool.y"`:                        true,
+		"nats: Authorization Violation":                                                         true,
+		`claude-code's servers.all.x carries a field "Authorization", which names a credential`: false,
+	} {
+		got := strings.HasPrefix(whyItFailed("x.y", errors.New(msg)), "this account may not call")
+		if got != refusal {
+			t.Errorf("%q read as a refusal: %v, want %v", msg, got, refusal)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// **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)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/console/runtimes.go

@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+package console
+
+// What discovery heard from each runtime (2026-10-05): the console said a module ran nowhere when the
+// largest runtime's answer arrived after the window closed, and nothing showed that it had. Every
+// round of discovery is remembered per runtime, so a runtime heard before and not now is named, and
+// `mesh_runtimes` says who answered, how fast and how much.
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/announce"
+)
+
+// RuntimeForgotten is how long a runtime heard once is expected again: within it, its silence is said
+// wherever an address it might answer is asked for; after it, it is listed only by mesh_runtimes.
+var RuntimeForgotten = 15 * time.Minute
+
+// runtimeSeen is one runtime instance as discovery last heard it.
+type runtimeSeen struct {
+	Name      string
+	ID        string
+	Machine   string
+	LastHeard time.Time
+	Took      time.Duration
+	Bytes     int
+	Modules   int
+	Tools     int
+	SeatVerbs int
+	Shortened string
+	Answered  bool   // in the latest round
+	Why       string // why not, when it did not
+}
+
+func runtimeKey(name, id string) string { return name + "/" + id }
+
+// seenOf is what one answer announced, counted.
+func seenOf(h announce.Heard, at time.Time) *runtimeSeen {
+	modules := map[string]bool{}
+	tools := map[string]bool{}
+	verbs := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, e := range announce.Endpoints(h.Info) {
+		switch e.Kind {
+		case announce.KindTool:
+			modules[e.Module] = true
+			tools[e.Module+"."+e.Tool] = true
+		case announce.KindSeat:
+			verbs[e.Seat+"."+e.Tool] = true
+		}
+	}
+	return &runtimeSeen{Name: h.Info.Name, ID: h.Info.ID, Machine: h.Machine(), LastHeard: at, Took: h.Took,
+		Bytes: h.Bytes, Modules: len(modules), Tools: len(tools), SeatVerbs: len(verbs), Shortened: h.Shortened, Answered: true}
+}
+
+// remember records a round of discovery and adds to the index every runtime heard lately that did not
+// answer this time. Called with s.mu held.
+func (s *Surface) remember(x *index) {
+	if s.runtimes == nil {
+		s.runtimes = map[string]*runtimeSeen{}
+	}
+	at := x.Discovery.At
+	if at.IsZero() {
+		at = time.Now().UTC()
+	}
+	heard := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, h := range x.Discovery.Heard {
+		k := runtimeKey(h.Info.Name, h.Info.ID)
+		seen := seenOf(h, at)
+		if heard[k] {
+			// Two instances under one name and id: both counted, the slower answer's time kept.
+			prev := s.runtimes[k]
+			seen.Modules += prev.Modules
+			seen.Tools += prev.Tools
+			seen.SeatVerbs += prev.SeatVerbs
+			seen.Bytes += prev.Bytes
+			if prev.Took > seen.Took {
+				seen.Took = prev.Took
+			}
+		}
+		heard[k] = true
+		s.runtimes[k] = seen
+	}
+	// A runtime restarted answers under a new instance id: the old one is gone, not silent, and saying
+	// it was missed would hide nothing but cry wolf after every restart.
+	now := map[string]bool{}
+	for k := range heard {
+		now[s.runtimes[k].Name+"@"+s.runtimes[k].Machine] = true
+	}
+	for k, r := range s.runtimes {
+		if !heard[k] && r.Machine != "" && now[r.Name+"@"+r.Machine] {
+			delete(s.runtimes, k)
+		}
+	}
+	silent := map[string]string{}
+	for _, u := range x.Discovery.Silent {
+		silent[runtimeKey(u.Name, u.ID)] = fmt.Sprintf("it answered PING; what it serves did not arrive within %s", announce.Patience)
+	}
+	for k, r := range s.runtimes {
+		if heard[k] {
+			continue
+		}
+		r.Answered = false
+		if why, ok := silent[k]; ok {
+			r.Why = why
+			continue // already in the index's unheard
+		}
+		r.Why = "it did not answer this round of discovery"
+		if time.Since(r.LastHeard) <= RuntimeForgotten {
+			x.Unheard = append(x.Unheard, unheard{Runtime: r.Name, Machine: r.Machine,
+				Why: fmt.Sprintf("it answered discovery %s ago, not now", time.Since(r.LastHeard).Round(time.Second))})
+		}
+	}
+	for _, u := range x.Discovery.Silent {
+		k := runtimeKey(u.Name, u.ID)
+		if _, known := s.runtimes[k]; !known {
+			s.runtimes[k] = &runtimeSeen{Name: u.Name, ID: u.ID, Machine: u.Machine, Why: silent[k]}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// runtimesAnswer is mesh_runtimes: discovery asked now, and every runtime as it was heard.
+func (s *Surface) runtimesAnswer() map[string]any {
+	x, err := s.indexAsked(true)
+	if err != nil {
+		return failure("the mesh's discovery failed: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	var all []runtimeSeen
+	for _, r := range s.runtimes {
+		all = append(all, *r)
+	}
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+	sort.Slice(all, func(i, j int) bool {
+		if all[i].Machine != all[j].Machine {
+			return all[i].Machine < all[j].Machine
+		}
+		return runtimeKey(all[i].Name, all[i].ID) < runtimeKey(all[j].Name, all[j].ID)
+	})
+	now := time.Now()
+	var answered, notHeard []map[string]any
+	onMachine := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, r := range all {
+		entry := map[string]any{"runtime": r.Name, "instance": r.ID}
+		if r.Machine != "" {
+			entry["machine"] = r.Machine
+		}
+		if !r.LastHeard.IsZero() {
+			entry["last heard"] = r.LastHeard.Format(time.RFC3339)
+			entry["last heard, ago"] = now.Sub(r.LastHeard).Round(time.Second).String()
+			entry["took"] = r.Took.Round(time.Millisecond).String()
+			entry["bytes"] = r.Bytes
+			entry["modules"] = r.Modules
+			entry["tools"] = r.Tools
+			entry["seat verbs"] = r.SeatVerbs
+			entry["shortened"] = r.Shortened != ""
+			if r.Shortened != "" {
+				entry["shortened, how"] = r.Shortened
+			}
+		}
+		if r.Answered {
+			onMachine[r.Machine] = true
+			answered = append(answered, entry)
+		} else {
+			entry["why"] = r.Why
+			if r.LastHeard.IsZero() {
+				entry["last heard"] = "never in full, since this console started"
+			}
+			notHeard = append(notHeard, entry)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, m := range x.Machines {
+		if !onMachine[m] && !machineListed(notHeard, m) {
+			notHeard = append(notHeard, map[string]any{"machine": m,
+				"why": "the mesh knows this machine and no runtime on it has answered discovery since this console started"})
+		}
+	}
+	if answered == nil {
+		answered = []map[string]any{}
+	}
+	if notHeard == nil {
+		notHeard = []map[string]any{}
+	}
+	return answerText(map[string]any{
+		"asked":     x.Discovery.At.Format(time.RFC3339),
+		"waited":    x.Discovery.Waited.Round(time.Millisecond).String(),
+		"window":    fmt.Sprintf("at least %s; up to %s for a runtime that answered PING", announce.Window, announce.Patience),
+		"answered":  answered,
+		"not heard": notHeard,
+	})
+}
+
+func machineListed(entries []map[string]any, machine string) bool {
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if e["machine"] == machine {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}

node-tools/internal/console/runtimes_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/micro"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/announce"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+)
+
+// slowRuntime answers PING at once and INFO after `lag`, or never with a negative lag.
+func slowRuntime(t *testing.T, conn *bus.Conn, node string, lag time.Duration, endpoints []announce.Endpoint) {
+	t.Helper()
+	id := micro.ServiceIdentity{Name: "node-tools", ID: node, Version: announce.Version, Metadata: map[string]string{"node": node}}
+	ping, _ := json.Marshal(micro.Ping{ServiceIdentity: id, Type: micro.PingResponseType})
+	stop, err := conn.Raw("$SRV.PING", func(string, []byte) []byte { return ping })
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	stop, err = conn.Raw("$SRV.INFO", func(string, []byte) []byte {
+		if lag < 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+		time.Sleep(lag)
+		body, _ := json.Marshal(announce.Info(announce.Service{Name: id.Name, ID: id.ID, Metadata: id.Metadata}, endpoints))
+		return body
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	conn.Flush()
+}
+
+// The laptop's symptom (2026-10-05), reproduced: its runtime's one large answer reached the console
+// after the 750 ms window, and the console said its modules ran nowhere — "nothing in the mesh is
+// called slack" — or ran only on another machine. Now a runtime that said it is there is waited for,
+// one that never says what it serves is named wherever an address it might answer is asked for, and
+// mesh_runtimes shows who answered, how fast and how much.
+func TestARuntimeThatAnswersLateIsFoundAndOneThatNeverDoesIsNamed(t *testing.T) {
+	keptWas, patienceWas := IndexKept, announce.Patience
+	// Kept for the test: one round of discovery answers every question but mesh_runtimes, which asks anew.
+	IndexKept, announce.Patience = time.Minute, 2500*time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { IndexKept, announce.Patience = keptWas, patienceWas })
+	mt.New(t)
+
+	laptop := connect(t, "node-tools", "laptop")
+	stopTool, err := laptop.HandleSubject("mesh.mod.slack.tool.slack_check.laptop", func(json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+		return map[string]any{"ok": true}, nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stopTool)
+	slowRuntime(t, laptop, "laptop", announce.Window+400*time.Millisecond, []announce.Endpoint{
+		{Kind: announce.KindTool, Module: "slack", Tool: "slack_check", Node: "laptop", Description: "Is Slack started once?",
+			Subject: "mesh.mod.slack.tool.slack_check.laptop"},
+		{Kind: announce.KindTool, Module: "nextcloud-client", Tool: "nextcloud_check", Node: "laptop",
+			Subject: "mesh.mod.nextcloud-client.tool.nextcloud_check.laptop"},
+	})
+	sleeper := connect(t, "node-tools", "sleeper")
+	slowRuntime(t, sleeper, "sleeper", -1, nil)
+	desktop := connect(t, "node-tools", "desktop")
+	slowRuntime(t, desktop, "desktop", 0, []announce.Endpoint{
+		{Kind: announce.KindTool, Module: "nextcloud-client", Tool: "nextcloud_check", Node: "desktop",
+			Subject: "mesh.mod.nextcloud-client.tool.nextcloud_check.desktop"},
+	})
+
+	controller := connect(t, "mesh-controller", "bench")
+	for verb, output := range map[string]string{
+		"nodes": `[{"name":"laptop"},{"name":"sleeper"},{"name":"desktop"},{"name":"bench"}]`,
+		"modules": `[{"module":"slack","on":["laptop"],"tools":true},{"module":"nap","on":["sleeper"],"tools":true},` +
+			`{"module":"nextcloud-client","on":["laptop","desktop","sleeper"],"tools":true}]`,
+	} {
+		output := output
+		stop, err := controller.HandleSubject("mesh.seat.mesh-controller.tool."+verb, func(json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+			return map[string]any{"output": output, "ok": true}, nil
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Cleanup(stop)
+	}
+	controller.Flush()
+
+	console := connect(t, "node-tools", "laptop-console")
+	up, err := Serve(NewSurface(console, "laptop.node-tools"), "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer up.Close()
+	endpoint := "http://" + up.Address + "/mcp"
+
+	// The late answer is waited for: the laptop's module is found and called.
+	if got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": "laptop/slack.slack_check"}); isErr || !strings.Contains(got, `"ok": true`) {
+		t.Errorf("a late runtime's module: %s", got)
+	}
+	if got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": "laptop/nextcloud-client.nextcloud_check"}); isErr && strings.Contains(got, "does not run on laptop") {
+		t.Errorf("a late runtime's module was said to run elsewhere: %s", got)
+	}
+	machine, _ := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_machine", map[string]any{"node": "laptop"})
+	if !strings.Contains(machine, "laptop/slack.slack_check") {
+		t.Errorf("the late runtime's machine lists nothing: %s", machine)
+	}
+
+	// The silent one is named, never called missing.
+	for address, want := range map[string]string{
+		"sleeper/nap.doze":                         "nap is assigned to sleeper in the mesh's records, but nothing that answered discovery serves it: discovery did not hear in full from node-tools on sleeper (it answered PING",
+		"sleeper/nextcloud-client.nextcloud_check": "nextcloud-client on sleeper did not answer discovery: discovery did not hear in full from node-tools on sleeper",
+	} {
+		got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_call", map[string]any{"address": address})
+		if !isErr || !strings.Contains(got, want) || strings.Contains(got, "nothing in the mesh is called") || strings.Contains(got, "does not run on") {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %s\nwant %q", address, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+	machine, _ = call(t, endpoint, "mesh_machine", map[string]any{"node": "sleeper"})
+	if !strings.Contains(machine, `"incomplete"`) || !strings.Contains(machine, `"modules": []`) {
+		t.Errorf("a machine whose runtime did not answer: %s", machine)
+	}
+	overview, _ := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_overview", nil)
+	if !strings.Contains(overview, "the runtime node-tools on sleeper") {
+		t.Errorf("overview does not name the silent runtime: %s", overview)
+	}
+
+	// mesh_runtimes: who answered, how fast, how much; who did not.
+	got, isErr := call(t, endpoint, "mesh_runtimes", nil)
+	if isErr {
+		t.Fatal(got)
+	}
+	var report struct {
+		Answered []map[string]any `json:"answered"`
+		NotHeard []map[string]any `json:"not heard"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(got), &report); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("%v: %s", err, got)
+	}
+	var lap map[string]any
+	for _, r := range report.Answered {
+		if r["machine"] == "laptop" {
+			lap = r
+		}
+	}
+	if lap == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the laptop's runtime is not listed as answering: %s", got)
+	}
+	took, _ := time.ParseDuration(lap["took"].(string))
+	if took < announce.Window || lap["bytes"].(float64) <= 0 || lap["modules"].(float64) != 2 || lap["tools"].(float64) != 2 ||
+		lap["shortened"] != false || lap["last heard"] == nil {
+		t.Errorf("the laptop's runtime: %v", lap)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, `"machine": "sleeper"`) || !strings.Contains(got, "answered PING") {
+		t.Errorf("the silent runtime is not listed: %s", got)
+	}
+	silent := false
+	for _, r := range report.NotHeard {
+		silent = silent || r["machine"] == "sleeper"
+	}
+	if !silent {
+		t.Errorf("sleeper is not among the not heard: %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// A runtime heard once and silent now is named in the answers about its machine.
+func TestARuntimeHeardBeforeAndNotNowIsNamed(t *testing.T) {
+	s := &Surface{}
+	before := &index{Modules: map[string]*moduleInfo{}, Recorded: map[string][]string{}, Discovery: announce.Discovery{At: time.Now().UTC(),
+		Heard: []announce.Heard{{Info: micro.Info{ServiceIdentity: micro.ServiceIdentity{Name: "node-tools", ID: "laptop",
+			Metadata: map[string]string{"node": "laptop"}}}, Took: 300 * time.Millisecond, Bytes: 1000}}}}
+	s.remember(before)
+	now := &index{Modules: map[string]*moduleInfo{"nextcloud-client": {Module: "nextcloud-client", On: []string{"desktop"},
+		Tools: []Tool{{Module: "nextcloud-client", Name: "nextcloud_check"}}}}, Recorded: map[string][]string{},
+		Discovery: announce.Discovery{At: time.Now().UTC()}}
+	s.remember(now)
+	if len(now.Unheard) != 1 || now.Unheard[0].Machine != "laptop" {
+		t.Fatalf("unheard: %+v", now.Unheard)
+	}
+	_, err := resolve(now, "laptop/nextcloud-client.nextcloud_check")
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "nextcloud-client on laptop did not answer discovery") ||
+		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), "answered discovery") {
+		t.Errorf("%v", err)
+	}
+	_, err = resolve(now, "laptop/slack.slack_check")
+	if err == nil || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "nothing in the mesh is called") || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "slack may be theirs") {
+		t.Errorf("%v", err)
+	}
+	// Nobody unheard: the plain answers stand.
+	quiet := &index{Modules: now.Modules, Recorded: map[string][]string{}}
+	if _, err := resolve(quiet, "laptop/nextcloud-client.nextcloud_check"); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "does not run on laptop; it runs on desktop") {
+		t.Errorf("%v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := resolve(quiet, "laptop/slack.slack_check"); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "nothing in the mesh is called slack") {
+		t.Errorf("%v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// A runtime restarted answers under a new instance id; its old instance is gone, not unheard.
+func TestARestartedRuntimeIsNotNamedUnheard(t *testing.T) {
+	heard := func(id string) *index {
+		return &index{Modules: map[string]*moduleInfo{}, Recorded: map[string][]string{}, Discovery: announce.Discovery{At: time.Now().UTC(),
+			Heard: []announce.Heard{{Info: micro.Info{ServiceIdentity: micro.ServiceIdentity{Name: "node-tools", ID: id,
+				Metadata: map[string]string{"node": "laptop"}}}}}}}
+	}
+	s := &Surface{}
+	s.remember(heard("before-restart"))
+	after := heard("after-restart")
+	s.remember(after)
+	if len(after.Unheard) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("a restarted runtime was named unheard: %+v", after.Unheard)
+	}
+	if len(s.runtimes) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("the old instance is still kept: %d runtimes", len(s.runtimes))
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/launch/event_answer_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package launch
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// A bundle that answers `mesh/event` as $ANSWER says: an error, a result, or an answer with neither.
+const answeringBundle = `#!/bin/sh
+while IFS= read -r line; do
+  id=$(printf '%s' "$line" | sed -n 's/.*"id":\([0-9]*\)[,}].*/\1/p')
+  case "$line" in
+    *'"method":"initialize"'*) printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"result":{}}\n' "$id" ;;
+    *'"method":"tools/list"'*)
+      printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"result":{"tools":[]}}\n' "$id"
+      printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"s1","method":"mesh/subscribe","params":{"pattern":"#"}}\n' ;;
+    *'"method":"mesh/event"'*)
+      case "$ANSWER" in
+        error) printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"error":{"code":-32000,"message":"Unexpected end of JSON input"}}\n' "$id" ;;
+        result) printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s,"result":{}}\n' "$id" ;;
+        bare) printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%s}\n' "$id" ;;
+      esac ;;
+  esac
+done
+`
+
+type subscribing struct {
+	mu      sync.Mutex
+	deliver func(json.RawMessage) error
+}
+
+func (b *subscribing) Publish(json.RawMessage) error                          { return nil }
+func (b *subscribing) Ask(json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error)           { return nil, nil }
+func (b *subscribing) State(string, json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error) { return nil, nil }
+func (b *subscribing) Watch(json.RawMessage, func(json.RawMessage) error) (func(), error) {
+	return func() {}, nil
+}
+func (b *subscribing) Subscribe(d func(json.RawMessage) error) error {
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	defer b.mu.Unlock()
+	b.deliver = d
+	return nil
+}
+
+func deliverTo(t *testing.T, answer string) error {
+	t.Helper()
+	entry := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "bundle")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(entry, []byte(answeringBundle), 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	b := &subscribing{}
+	l, err := Start("plex", entry, append(os.Environ(), "ANSWER="+answer), b, t.Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(l.Stop)
+	for i := 0; ; i++ {
+		b.mu.Lock()
+		d := b.deliver
+		b.mu.Unlock()
+		if d != nil {
+			return d(json.RawMessage(`{"key":"radarr.download.completed","body":{"title":"x"}}`))
+		}
+		if i > 100 {
+			t.Fatal("the bundle never subscribed")
+		}
+		time.Sleep(20 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+}
+
+// An event is taken by any answer that is not an error, and not taken by an error, which reaches the
+// runtime as the bundle's own words — not as something the runtime failed to read (hq issue 276).
+func TestAnEventIsTakenByAnyAnswerThatIsNotAnError(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, answer := range []string{"result", "bare"} {
+		if err := deliverTo(t, answer); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("an answer %q did not take the event: %v", answer, err)
+		}
+	}
+	err := deliverTo(t, "error")
+	var refused *Refused
+	if !errors.As(err, &refused) || refused.Method != "mesh/event" || refused.Message != "Unexpected end of JSON input" {
+		t.Fatalf("an error answer was not the bundle's refusal of mesh/event: %#v", err)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/launch/launch.go

@@ -0,0 +1,563 @@
+// Package launch starts a bundle the runtime serves and speaks MCP over stdio to it (novox/hq ADR
+// 0188, ADR 0193): `initialize`, `tools/list` once, `tools/call` per call. A Go binary, a Python
+// script and a Node launcher are the same thing here: an executable that answers those. The runtime
+// knows no language; it starts the path it is given.
+package launch
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"syscall"
+	"time"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/wire"
+)
+
+// Protocol is the MCP version spoken to a bundle.
+const Protocol = "2025-03-26"
+
+// How long a child has for its handshake, and a call before the caller is told it is slow.
+var (
+	HandshakeTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+	CallTimeout      = 30 * time.Second
+)
+
+// Tool is one tool a launched bundle listed, and how to call it.
+type Tool struct {
+	Name        string
+	Description string
+	Input       json.RawMessage
+	Run         func(args json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error)
+}
+
+// Registration is the tools a bundle listed under one name: its module's, or a seat's.
+type Registration struct {
+	Module string
+	Tools  []Tool
+}
+
+// Bus is what a launched bundle reaches the mesh through (novox/hq ADR 0193, ADR 0198): the runtime
+// publishes, asks and subscribes on the module's behalf. Subscribe is asked each time the module's
+// code subscribes; the runtime binds the module's consumer once and calls deliver for every event,
+// acknowledging it on the bus when deliver returns nil.
+//
+// State and Watch reach the module's state (novox/hq ADR 0201): State answers `get`, `put`, `delete`
+// and `keys`; Watch hands deliver the current values and then every change, and returns once the
+// current values are delivered — the watch is the child's, and stops when the child does.
+type Bus interface {
+	Publish(params json.RawMessage) error
+	Ask(params json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error)
+	Subscribe(deliver func(envelope json.RawMessage) error) error
+	State(verb string, params json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error)
+	Watch(params json.RawMessage, deliver func(change json.RawMessage) error) (stop func(), err error)
+}
+
+// EventTimeout bounds how long a bundle has to handle one event before it is offered again.
+var EventTimeout = 2 * time.Minute
+
+// Refused is a bundle's error answer to what the runtime asked it: the bundle's own words, as opposed
+// to the runtime not reaching it (not running, exited, no answer in time). For `mesh/event` it is the
+// one way a bundle says it did not take an event: any answer that is not an error — `{}`, `null`, no
+// result at all — takes it (mesh-sdk, "Taking an event"; novox/hq issue 276).
+type Refused struct {
+	Method  string
+	Message string
+}
+
+func (r *Refused) Error() string { return r.Message }
+
+// Restart backoff: a bundle that exits is started again at once, then after growing pauses while it
+// keeps exiting, back to at once once it has run a while.
+var (
+	RestartFirst  = 500 * time.Millisecond
+	RestartMost   = 30 * time.Second
+	RestartSettle = time.Minute
+)
+
+// Launched is a running bundle: what it registered, and how to stop it.
+type Launched struct {
+	Registrations []Registration
+	Stop          func()
+}
+
+// Executable says whether an entrypoint can be started: a bundle the runtime serves is executable,
+// and one that is not was not built to be served (ADR 0193).
+func Executable(path string) bool {
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil || info.IsDir() {
+		return false
+	}
+	return info.Mode().Perm()&0o111 != 0
+}
+
+type message struct {
+	JSONRPC string          `json:"jsonrpc,omitempty"`
+	ID      json.RawMessage `json:"id,omitempty"`
+	Method  string          `json:"method,omitempty"`
+	Params  json.RawMessage `json:"params,omitempty"`
+	Result  json.RawMessage `json:"result,omitempty"`
+	Error   *struct {
+		Code    int    `json:"code"`
+		Message string `json:"message"`
+	} `json:"error,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type child struct {
+	cmd     *exec.Cmd
+	stdin   io.WriteCloser
+	writeMu sync.Mutex
+	mu      sync.Mutex
+	pending map[int64]chan message
+	next    int64
+	dead    chan struct{}
+	why     error
+	// watches are the state watches this child asked for, stopped when it exits (ADR 0201): a child
+	// that starts again watches again, as its code runs again.
+	watches []func()
+}
+
+func (c *child) write(m any) error {
+	b, err := wire.Marshal(m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	c.writeMu.Lock()
+	defer c.writeMu.Unlock()
+	_, err = c.stdin.Write(append(b, '\n'))
+	return err
+}
+
+var stackLine = regexp.MustCompile(`^\s+at\s`)
+
+// Start launches one bundle and learns its tools. It fails when the child cannot be started or does
+// not complete the handshake. A child that exits later is started again on its next call.
+func Start(module, entry string, env []string, mesh Bus, logf func(string, ...any)) (*Launched, error) {
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	var current *child
+	// The child that last subscribed is the one events are handed to: a restarted child subscribes
+	// again as its code is imported, and from then on the module's events are its.
+	var subscriber *child
+	stopped := false
+	deliver := func(envelope json.RawMessage) error {
+		mu.Lock()
+		c := subscriber
+		mu.Unlock()
+		if c == nil {
+			return errors.New(module + "'s bundle is not running to take its events")
+		}
+		// Taken unless the answer is an error; what a result says is not read (see Refused).
+		_, err := c.ask(module, "mesh/event", map[string]any{"envelope": envelope}, EventTimeout)
+		return err
+	}
+	var restart func(after time.Duration)
+	var startedAt time.Time
+	pause := RestartFirst
+
+	start := func() (*child, error) {
+		cmd := exec.Command(entry)
+		cmd.Env = env
+		stdin, err := cmd.StdinPipe()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		stdout, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		stderr, err := cmd.StderrPipe()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		c := &child{cmd: cmd, stdin: stdin, pending: map[int64]chan message{}, next: 1, dead: make(chan struct{})}
+		var lastSaid string
+		var saidMu sync.Mutex
+		stderrDone := make(chan struct{})
+		go func() {
+			defer close(stderrDone)
+			scan := bufio.NewScanner(stderr)
+			scan.Buffer(make([]byte, 64*1024), 1<<20)
+			for scan.Scan() {
+				line := scan.Text()
+				if strings.TrimSpace(line) == "" {
+					continue
+				}
+				logf("[%s] %s", module, line)
+				if !stackLine.MatchString(line) && !strings.HasPrefix(line, "Node.js v") {
+					saidMu.Lock()
+					lastSaid = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+					saidMu.Unlock()
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+		go func() {
+			scan := bufio.NewScanner(stdout)
+			scan.Buffer(make([]byte, 64*1024), 16<<20)
+			for scan.Scan() {
+				line := strings.TrimSpace(scan.Text())
+				if line == "" {
+					continue
+				}
+				var m message
+				if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(line), &m); err != nil {
+					if len(line) > 120 {
+						line = line[:120]
+					}
+					logf("[mesh-tools] %s's bundle said something that is not a reply: %s", module, line)
+					continue
+				}
+				// The bundle asks the runtime (ADR 0193, ADR 0198): to emit, to call a tool, to hand it the
+				// module's events. Each on the module's behalf, answered when done; nothing else.
+				if m.Method != "" {
+					go func(m message) {
+						var result any = map[string]any{}
+						var err error
+						switch m.Method {
+						case "mesh/publish":
+							err = mesh.Publish(m.Params)
+						case "mesh/ask":
+							var asked json.RawMessage
+							if asked, err = mesh.Ask(m.Params); err == nil {
+								result = asked
+							}
+						case "mesh/subscribe":
+							mu.Lock()
+							subscriber = c
+							mu.Unlock()
+							err = mesh.Subscribe(deliver)
+						case "mesh/state.get", "mesh/state.put", "mesh/state.delete", "mesh/state.keys":
+							var answered json.RawMessage
+							if answered, err = mesh.State(strings.TrimPrefix(m.Method, "mesh/state."), m.Params); err == nil {
+								result = answered
+							}
+						case "mesh/state.watch":
+							// Each change is asked of this child, in order, naming the watch it is for by
+							// the id the child asked it with — two watches of one state are two handlers;
+							// the watch is answered once the current values have been handed over, so a
+							// bundle that awaits it has the whole of the state before it goes on (ADR 0201).
+							var stop func()
+							watch := m.ID
+							stop, err = mesh.Watch(m.Params, func(change json.RawMessage) error {
+								_, err := c.ask(module, "mesh/state", map[string]any{"watch": watch, "change": change}, EventTimeout)
+								return err
+							})
+							if err == nil {
+								c.mu.Lock()
+								if c.why != nil {
+									c.mu.Unlock()
+									stop()
+								} else {
+									c.watches = append(c.watches, stop)
+									c.mu.Unlock()
+								}
+							}
+						default:
+							if len(m.ID) > 0 {
+								_ = c.write(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": m.ID,
+									"error": map[string]any{"code": -32601, "message": "the runtime answers no " + m.Method + " from a bundle"}})
+							}
+							return
+						}
+						if len(m.ID) == 0 {
+							return
+						}
+						if err != nil {
+							_ = c.write(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": m.ID,
+								"error": map[string]any{"code": -32000, "message": err.Error()}})
+							return
+						}
+						_ = c.write(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": m.ID, "result": result})
+					}(m)
+					continue
+				}
+				var id int64
+				if json.Unmarshal(m.ID, &id) != nil {
+					continue
+				}
+				c.mu.Lock()
+				ch := c.pending[id]
+				delete(c.pending, id)
+				c.mu.Unlock()
+				if ch != nil {
+					ch <- m
+				}
+			}
+			<-stderrDone
+			err := cmd.Wait()
+			code := "0"
+			if exit := (*exec.ExitError)(nil); errors.As(err, &exit) {
+				if status, ok := exit.Sys().(syscall.WaitStatus); ok && status.Signaled() {
+					code = unix.SignalName(status.Signal())
+				} else {
+					code = fmt.Sprint(exit.ExitCode())
+				}
+			}
+			saidMu.Lock()
+			why := fmt.Sprintf("%s's bundle exited (%s)", module, code)
+			if lastSaid != "" {
+				why += ": " + lastSaid
+			}
+			saidMu.Unlock()
+			c.mu.Lock()
+			c.why = errors.New(why)
+			watches := c.watches
+			c.watches = nil
+			c.mu.Unlock()
+			for _, stop := range watches {
+				stop()
+			}
+			close(c.dead)
+			mu.Lock()
+			// Only a child that was serving is brought back; one that died in its own handshake was
+			// never accepted, and whoever started it was told why.
+			wasServing := current == c
+			if current == c {
+				current = nil
+			}
+			if subscriber == c {
+				subscriber = nil
+			}
+			wasStopped := stopped
+			// Started again at once if it ran a while; after a growing pause while it keeps exiting.
+			wait := RestartFirst
+			if time.Since(startedAt) < RestartSettle {
+				wait = pause
+				if pause *= 2; pause > RestartMost {
+					pause = RestartMost
+				}
+			} else {
+				pause = RestartFirst
+			}
+			mu.Unlock()
+			if !wasStopped && wasServing {
+				// Every bundle stays up (ADR 0198): code that runs long — a handler, a provisioner —
+				// is not waiting for a call to bring it back, and a tool bundle back early costs nothing.
+				logf("[mesh-tools] %s; started again in %s", why, wait.Round(100*time.Millisecond))
+				restart(wait)
+			}
+		}()
+		if _, err := c.ask(module, "initialize", map[string]any{"protocolVersion": Protocol, "capabilities": map[string]any{},
+			"clientInfo": map[string]any{"name": "node-tools", "version": "1"}}, HandshakeTimeout); err != nil {
+			_ = cmd.Process.Kill()
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		_ = c.write(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "notifications/initialized"})
+		return c, nil
+	}
+
+	asking := func(method string, params any, timeout time.Duration) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+		mu.Lock()
+		c := current
+		mu.Unlock()
+		if c == nil {
+			fresh, err := start()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			mu.Lock()
+			if current == nil {
+				current = fresh
+				startedAt = time.Now()
+			} else {
+				_ = fresh.cmd.Process.Signal(syscall.SIGTERM)
+				fresh = current
+			}
+			c = fresh
+			mu.Unlock()
+		}
+		return c.ask(module, method, params, timeout)
+	}
+
+	restart = func(after time.Duration) {
+		go func() {
+			time.Sleep(after)
+			mu.Lock()
+			if stopped || current != nil {
+				mu.Unlock()
+				return
+			}
+			mu.Unlock()
+			fresh, err := start()
+			mu.Lock()
+			defer mu.Unlock()
+			if err != nil {
+				if !stopped {
+					wait := pause
+					if pause *= 2; pause > RestartMost {
+						pause = RestartMost
+					}
+					logf("[mesh-tools] %s's bundle did not start again: %v; trying in %s", module, err, wait)
+					go restart(wait)
+				}
+				return
+			}
+			if stopped {
+				_ = fresh.cmd.Process.Signal(syscall.SIGTERM)
+				return
+			}
+			if current == nil {
+				current = fresh
+				startedAt = time.Now()
+			} else {
+				_ = fresh.cmd.Process.Signal(syscall.SIGTERM)
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
+	first, err := start()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	mu.Lock()
+	current = first
+	startedAt = time.Now()
+	mu.Unlock()
+
+	raw, err := asking("tools/list", map[string]any{}, HandshakeTimeout)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var listed struct {
+		Tools []struct {
+			Name        string          `json:"name"`
+			Description string          `json:"description"`
+			InputSchema json.RawMessage `json:"inputSchema"`
+		} `json:"tools"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &listed); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s's bundle listed its tools in a shape that is not MCP's: %w", module, err)
+	}
+	order := []string{}
+	groups := map[string][]Tool{}
+	for _, t := range listed.Tools {
+		under, name := module, t.Name
+		if dot := strings.Index(t.Name, "."); dot >= 0 {
+			under, name = t.Name[:dot], t.Name[dot+1:]
+		}
+		full := t.Name
+		input := t.InputSchema
+		if len(input) == 0 || string(input) == "null" {
+			input = json.RawMessage("{}")
+		}
+		tool := Tool{Name: name, Description: t.Description, Input: input,
+			Run: func(args json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+				if len(args) == 0 || string(args) == "null" {
+					args = json.RawMessage("{}")
+				}
+				res, err := asking("tools/call", map[string]any{"name": full, "arguments": args}, CallTimeout)
+				if err != nil {
+					return nil, err
+				}
+				var called struct {
+					Content []struct {
+						Type string `json:"type"`
+						Text string `json:"text"`
+					} `json:"content"`
+					IsError bool `json:"isError"`
+				}
+				_ = json.Unmarshal(res, &called)
+				text := ""
+				for _, c := range called.Content {
+					if c.Type == "text" {
+						text = c.Text
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				if called.IsError {
+					if text == "" {
+						text = module + "." + full + " failed"
+					}
+					return nil, errors.New(text)
+				}
+				// The bundle's answer is JSON as text; handed back as the value it encodes.
+				if json.Valid([]byte(text)) && text != "" {
+					return json.RawMessage(text), nil
+				}
+				b, _ := json.Marshal(text)
+				return b, nil
+			}}
+		if _, seen := groups[under]; !seen {
+			order = append(order, under)
+		}
+		groups[under] = append(groups[under], tool)
+	}
+	out := &Launched{Stop: func() {
+		mu.Lock()
+		stopped = true
+		c := current
+		current = nil
+		mu.Unlock()
+		if c != nil && c.cmd.Process != nil {
+			_ = c.cmd.Process.Signal(syscall.SIGTERM)
+		}
+	}}
+	for _, under := range order {
+		out.Registrations = append(out.Registrations, Registration{Module: under, Tools: groups[under]})
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+func (c *child) ask(module, method string, params any, timeout time.Duration) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	if c.why != nil {
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		return nil, c.why
+	}
+	id := c.next
+	c.next++
+	ch := make(chan message, 1)
+	c.pending[id] = ch
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+	if err := c.write(map[string]any{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": id, "method": method, "params": params}); err != nil {
+		c.mu.Lock()
+		delete(c.pending, id)
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		select {
+		case <-c.dead:
+			return nil, c.deathReason()
+		case <-time.After(100 * time.Millisecond):
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	timer := time.NewTimer(timeout)
+	defer timer.Stop()
+	select {
+	case m := <-ch:
+		if m.Error != nil {
+			msg := m.Error.Message
+			if msg == "" {
+				msg = "the bundle refused the request"
+			}
+			return nil, &Refused{Method: method, Message: msg}
+		}
+		return m.Result, nil
+	case <-c.dead:
+		return nil, c.deathReason()
+	case <-timer.C:
+		c.mu.Lock()
+		delete(c.pending, id)
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s's bundle did not answer %s in %ds", module, method, int(timeout/time.Second))
+	}
+}
+
+func (c *child) deathReason() error {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	if c.why != nil {
+		return c.why
+	}
+	return errors.New("the bundle exited")
+}

node-tools/internal/meshtest/meshtest.go

@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+// Package meshtest raises what the controller would, for tests against a real bus: the ASSIGNMENTS
+// and EVENTS streams, memberships issued by hand, and a fixture's path.
+//
+// **Every test has a bus of its own** (novox/hq ADR 0237, the controller's internal/testbus): a server
+// linked in at the release go.mod pins — the release the mesh runs, held so by a test beside this one —
+// started for the one test and gone after it. The packages shared one bus and had to run one at a time:
+// each test raised the streams afresh, and the console discovers every runtime that announces itself on
+// the bus (ADR 0197), so a runtime from another package's test was, correctly, found. Now the suite runs
+// as Go runs it, in parallel and under the race detector. A person may still point a run at a bus of
+// their own with MESH_TEST_NATS_EXTERNAL=1 and MESH_TEST_NATS; then the run is theirs to serialise.
+package meshtest
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2/server"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+)
+
+// Version is the release of the server the tests run.
+const Version = server.VERSION
+
+// URL is the bus of this test alone: started at its first ask, the same one at every ask after — a test
+// that dials twice, or hands the address to the code it tests, reaches one bus — and shut down when the
+// test ends.
+func URL(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	if os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS_EXTERNAL") == "1" {
+		if url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS"); url != "" {
+			return url
+		}
+		t.Fatal("MESH_TEST_NATS_EXTERNAL=1 and MESH_TEST_NATS names no bus")
+	}
+	if url, ok := buses.Load(t); ok {
+		return url.(string)
+	}
+	opts := &server.Options{Host: "127.0.0.1", Port: server.RANDOM_PORT, JetStream: true, StoreDir: t.TempDir(),
+		NoLog: true, NoSigs: true}
+	s, err := server.NewServer(opts)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a bus for this test could not be made: %v", err)
+	}
+	go s.Start()
+	if !s.ReadyForConnections(30 * time.Second) {
+		s.Shutdown()
+		t.Fatal("a bus for this test did not come up within 30s")
+	}
+	url := s.ClientURL()
+	buses.Store(t, url)
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		buses.Delete(t)
+		s.Shutdown()
+		s.WaitForShutdown()
+	})
+	return url
+}
+
+// buses are the running tests' buses, by test.
+var buses sync.Map
+
+// Mesh is the controller's job, done by hand.
+type Mesh struct {
+	nc *nats.Conn
+	js nats.JetStreamContext
+}
+
+// New raises the streams afresh.
+func New(t *testing.T) *Mesh {
+	t.Helper()
+	nc, err := nats.Connect(URL(t))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	js, _ := nc.JetStream()
+	for _, s := range []string{"ASSIGNMENTS", "EVENTS"} {
+		_ = js.DeleteStream(s)
+	}
+	if _, err := js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{Name: "ASSIGNMENTS", Subjects: []string{"mesh.assignment.>"},
+		MaxMsgsPerSubject: 1, AllowDirect: true}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{Name: "EVENTS", Subjects: []string{"mesh.mod.*.event.>"}}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(nc.Close)
+	return &Mesh{nc: nc, js: js}
+}
+
+// Issue publishes a membership.
+func (m *Mesh) Issue(t *testing.T, mem bus.Membership) {
+	t.Helper()
+	body, _ := json.Marshal(mem)
+	if _, err := m.js.Publish(bus.MembershipSubject(mem.Node, mem.Module), body); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+// NextEvent is the subject the next event under a pattern lands on.
+func (m *Mesh) NextEvent(t *testing.T, pattern string) <-chan string {
+	t.Helper()
+	ch := make(chan string, 1)
+	sub, err := m.nc.Subscribe(pattern, func(msg *nats.Msg) {
+		select {
+		case ch <- msg.Subject:
+		default:
+		}
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = sub.Unsubscribe() })
+	_ = m.nc.Flush()
+	return ch
+}
+
+// MembershipOf is a membership as the controller issues one on a machine.
+func MembershipOf(module, node string, plain bool, seats map[string][]string) bus.Membership {
+	own := "mesh.mod." + module
+	serves := []bus.Served{{Subject: own + ".tool.{tool}." + node}}
+	if plain {
+		serves = append(serves, bus.Served{Subject: own + ".tool.{tool}", Queue: "serve." + module})
+	}
+	var verbs []bus.SeatVerb
+	for seat, vs := range seats {
+		for _, v := range vs {
+			verbs = append(verbs, bus.SeatVerb{Seat: seat, Verb: v, Subject: "mesh.seat." + seat + ".tool." + v + "." + node})
+		}
+	}
+	return bus.Membership{Node: node, Module: module, Serves: serves, Seats: verbs,
+		Emits: own + ".event.{event}", Tools: own + ".tool.tools"}
+}
+
+// Fixture is a path in node-tools/test/fixtures, which these tests share with the TypeScript ones.
+func Fixture(name string) string {
+	_, here, _, _ := runtime.Caller(0)
+	return filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(here), "..", "..", "test", "fixtures", name)
+}
+
+// Until retries while the bus answers "no responders" — something not yet served.
+func Until(t *testing.T, try func() error) {
+	t.Helper()
+	var err error
+	for i := 0; i < 50; i++ {
+		if err = try(); err == nil {
+			return
+		}
+		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	t.Fatal(err)
+}
+
+// Logs collects what the runtime says.
+type Logs struct{ lines []string }
+
+// Logf is a logger that keeps the lines.
+func (l *Logs) Logf(format string, args ...any) {
+	l.lines = append(l.lines, sprintf(format, args...))
+}
+
+// Has says whether a line contains every fragment.
+func (l *Logs) Has(fragments ...string) bool {
+	for _, line := range l.lines {
+		all := true
+		for _, f := range fragments {
+			all = all && strings.Contains(line, f)
+		}
+		if all {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// All is every line.
+func (l *Logs) All() string { return strings.Join(l.lines, "\n") }
+
+// Consumer makes a module's durable consumer on a machine as the controller does: pull, on the
+// EVENTS stream, filtered to what the module consumes, with a short ack wait so a test sees a
+// redelivery in seconds rather than the mesh's minutes.
+func (m *Mesh) Consumer(t *testing.T, node, module string, filters []string, ackWait time.Duration) {
+	t.Helper()
+	cfg := &nats.ConsumerConfig{Durable: node + "_" + module, AckPolicy: nats.AckExplicitPolicy,
+		AckWait: ackWait, MaxDeliver: 10, DeliverPolicy: nats.DeliverNewPolicy}
+	if len(filters) == 1 {
+		cfg.FilterSubject = filters[0]
+	} else {
+		cfg.FilterSubjects = filters
+	}
+	if _, err := m.js.AddConsumer("EVENTS", cfg); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+// Emit publishes an event as a module would, into the EVENTS stream.
+func (m *Mesh) Emit(t *testing.T, subject string, body any) {
+	t.Helper()
+	data, _ := json.Marshal(body)
+	if _, err := m.js.Publish(subject, data); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+// Pending is what a module's consumer still holds: delivered and not acknowledged, and not yet
+// delivered.
+func (m *Mesh) Pending(t *testing.T, node, module string) (ackPending, notDelivered uint64) {
+	t.Helper()
+	info, err := m.js.ConsumerInfo("EVENTS", node+"_"+module)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return uint64(info.NumAckPending), info.NumPending
+}
+
+// Bucket makes a module's state afresh as the controller does from the catalogue (novox/hq ADR 0201),
+// and answers it for writing what is there before a bundle starts.
+func (m *Mesh) Bucket(t *testing.T, name string) nats.KeyValue {
+	t.Helper()
+	_ = m.js.DeleteKeyValue(name)
+	kv, err := m.js.CreateKeyValue(&nats.KeyValueConfig{Bucket: name, History: 1, MaxValueSize: 256 * 1024})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return kv
+}

node-tools/internal/meshtest/meshtest_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package meshtest
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// **The bus the tests run is the bus the mesh runs** (novox/hq ADR 0227 rule 9, ADR 0237): the server linked
+// into the tests is held to the release the catalogue's bus image is — read from beside this checkout, as
+// the build seat clones it for a merge check — and, given the facts snapshot, to the release the mesh's bus
+// server says it runs. A bus upgrade moves the catalogue's pin; this then fails until go.mod's moves with it.
+func TestTheBusTheTestsRunIsTheBusTheMeshRuns(t *testing.T) {
+	beside := os.Getenv("MESH_CHECK_BESIDE")
+	if beside == "" {
+		beside = filepath.Join("..", "..", "..", "..")
+	}
+	dockerfile := filepath.Join(beside, "mesh-catalog", "modules", "nats", "Dockerfile")
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(dockerfile)
+	switch {
+	case err == nil:
+		pinned := regexp.MustCompile(`upstream: nats ([0-9.]+)-alpine`).FindSubmatch(raw)
+		if pinned == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s says no release its digest is", dockerfile)
+		}
+		if string(pinned[1]) != Version {
+			t.Errorf("the tests run bus %s and the catalogue's bus image is %s: move go.mod's nats-server pin with the image",
+				Version, pinned[1])
+		}
+	case os.IsNotExist(err):
+		t.Logf("the catalogue is not beside this checkout, so its bus image is not compared")
+	default:
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	path := os.Getenv("MESH_FACTS")
+	if path == "" {
+		t.Logf("no MESH_FACTS: the bus the mesh runs is compared in a merge check, which has it")
+		return
+	}
+	body, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var f struct {
+		Taken    string `json:"taken"`
+		Versions struct {
+			Bus string `json:"bus"`
+		} `json:"versions"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &f); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if f.Versions.Bus != "" && strings.TrimPrefix(f.Versions.Bus, "v") != Version {
+		t.Errorf("the tests run bus %s and the mesh's bus runs %s (facts of %s)", Version, f.Versions.Bus, f.Taken)
+	}
+}
+
+// Each test is given a bus of its own, and the same one at every ask.
+func TestEachTestHasABusOfItsOwn(t *testing.T) {
+	var first string
+	t.Run("one", func(t *testing.T) {
+		first = URL(t)
+		if URL(t) != first {
+			t.Fatal("two buses for one test")
+		}
+	})
+	t.Run("two", func(t *testing.T) {
+		if URL(t) == first {
+			t.Fatal("two tests were given one bus")
+		}
+	})
+}

node-tools/internal/meshtest/sprintf.go

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package meshtest
+
+import "fmt"
+
+func sprintf(format string, args ...any) string { return fmt.Sprintf(format, args...) }

node-tools/internal/runtime/announce_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+package runtime
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go/micro"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+)
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0197: what a runtime serves, it announces — the NATS services protocol's discovery,
+// read here with NATS's own types, each endpoint a subject actually served — and the announcement
+// follows a re-issued membership.
+func TestTheRuntimeAnnouncesWhatItServesInTheServicesProtocol(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("alpha", "anchor", false, nil))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("beta", "anchor", false, map[string][]string{"node-shelf": {"list", "clear"}}))
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{
+		{"alpha", []string{mt.Fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")}},
+		{"beta", []string{mt.Fixture("many-beta.serve.mjs")}},
+	}, nil, (&mt.Logs{}).Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stop()
+
+	nc, err := nats.Connect(mt.URL(t))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer nc.Close()
+	info := func() micro.Info {
+		t.Helper()
+		msg, err := nc.Request("$SRV.INFO.node-tools.anchor", nil, 2*time.Second)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		var i micro.Info
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(msg.Data, &i); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return i
+	}
+	subjects := func(i micro.Info) string {
+		var out []string
+		for _, e := range i.Endpoints {
+			out = append(out, e.Subject+"|"+e.QueueGroup+"|"+e.Metadata["kind"]+"|"+e.Metadata["module"]+"|"+e.Metadata["seat"]+"|"+e.Metadata["scope"]+"|"+e.Metadata["interchangeable"])
+		}
+		sort.Strings(out)
+		return strings.Join(out, "\n")
+	}
+
+	got := info()
+	if got.Type != micro.InfoResponseType || got.Name != "node-tools" || got.ID != "anchor" || got.Version == "" {
+		t.Errorf("identity: %+v", got.ServiceIdentity)
+	}
+	want := strings.Join([]string{
+		"mesh.mod.alpha.tool.one.anchor||tool|alpha|||false",
+		"mesh.mod.alpha.tool.two.anchor||tool|alpha|||false",
+		"mesh.mod.beta.tool.five.anchor||tool|beta|||false",
+		"mesh.mod.beta.tool.four.anchor||tool|beta|||false",
+		"mesh.mod.beta.tool.three.anchor||tool|beta|||false",
+		"mesh.seat.node-shelf.tool.clear.anchor||seat|beta|node-shelf|node|false",
+		"mesh.seat.node-shelf.tool.list.anchor||seat|beta|node-shelf|node|false",
+	}, "\n")
+	if s := subjects(got); s != want {
+		t.Errorf("announced:\n%s\nwant:\n%s", s, want)
+	}
+	for _, e := range got.Endpoints {
+		if e.Metadata["node"] != "anchor" || e.Metadata["description"] == "" {
+			t.Errorf("endpoint metadata: %+v", e)
+		}
+		// A seat's verb carries its schema; a module's tool does not — it outgrew the bus (2026-10-04).
+		_, hasSchema := e.Metadata["schema"]
+		if e.Metadata["kind"] == "seat" && !json.Valid([]byte(e.Metadata["schema"])) {
+			t.Errorf("a seat's verb without a schema: %+v", e)
+		}
+		if e.Metadata["kind"] == "tool" && hasSchema {
+			t.Errorf("a module's tool still announces its schema: %+v", e)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Every subject announced is answered.
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	for _, e := range got.Endpoints {
+		if _, err := asker.Ask("", map[string]any{}, e.Subject); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("announced %s and does not answer it: %v", e.Subject, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// PING answers with the same identity, and a request for another service is not answered.
+	if msg, err := nc.Request("$SRV.PING", nil, 2*time.Second); err != nil || !strings.Contains(string(msg.Data), micro.PingResponseType) {
+		t.Errorf("ping: %v %v", msg, err)
+	}
+	if _, err := nc.Request("$SRV.INFO.somebody-else", nil, 300*time.Millisecond); err == nil {
+		t.Error("answered a request for another service")
+	}
+
+	// alpha is re-issued a plain subject: the announcement says so, and says it is interchangeable.
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("alpha", "anchor", true, nil))
+	var after string
+	for i := 0; i < 40; i++ {
+		after = subjects(info())
+		if strings.Contains(after, "mesh.mod.alpha.tool.one|serve.alpha|tool|alpha|||true") {
+			break
+		}
+		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(after, "mesh.mod.alpha.tool.one|serve.alpha|tool|alpha|||true") ||
+		!strings.Contains(after, "mesh.mod.alpha.tool.one.anchor||tool|alpha|||true") {
+		t.Errorf("after a re-issued membership:\n%s", after)
+	}
+	_ = bus.Served{}
+}

node-tools/internal/runtime/events_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+package runtime
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/launch"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+)
+
+// A logger safe to write from the runtime's goroutines.
+type lines struct {
+	mu sync.Mutex
+	l  []string
+}
+
+func (s *lines) logf(format string, args ...any) {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	s.l = append(s.l, strings.TrimSpace(sprintf(format, args...)))
+}
+
+func (s *lines) all() string {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	return strings.Join(s.l, "\n")
+}
+
+func sprintf(format string, args ...any) string { return fmtSprintf(format, args...) }
+
+func countLines(t *testing.T, path, want string) int {
+	t.Helper()
+	b, _ := os.ReadFile(path)
+	n := 0
+	for _, l := range strings.Split(string(b), "\n") {
+		if l == want {
+			n++
+		}
+	}
+	return n
+}
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0198: a module's long-running code is launched by the node's runtime, and the runtime
+// is its bus — it binds the module's own consumer, hands each event to the bundle, and acknowledges it
+// only when the bundle has taken it; one the bundle failed or died on is offered again.
+func TestTheRuntimeHandsAModulesEventsToItsBundleAndAcknowledgesThemOnlyWhenTaken(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	restore := bus.NakDelay
+	bus.NakDelay = 300 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { bus.NakDelay = restore })
+	firstPause := launch.RestartFirst
+	launch.RestartFirst = 100 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { launch.RestartFirst = firstPause })
+
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("watcher", "anchor", false, nil))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("beta", "anchor", true, nil))
+	// The controller's consumer for the module, as its own runtime bound it: anchor_watcher on EVENTS.
+	mesh.Consumer(t, "anchor", "watcher", []string{"mesh.mod.alpha.event.>"}, 2*time.Second)
+
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	log := filepath.Join(dir, "watch.log")
+	said := &lines{}
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{
+		{Module: "watcher", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("watcher.serve.mjs")}},
+		{Module: "beta", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("many-beta.serve.mjs")}},
+	}, map[string]map[string]string{"watcher": {"WATCH_LOG": log}}, said.logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	if !strings.Contains(said.all(), "watcher's events arrive on its consumer anchor_watcher") {
+		t.Fatalf("the module's consumer was not bound:\n%s", said.all())
+	}
+
+	// Handled once, acknowledged once.
+	mesh.Emit(t, "mesh.mod.alpha.event.happened", map[string]any{"n": 1})
+	mt.Until(t, func() error {
+		if countLines(t, log, "handled 1") != 1 {
+			return errorf("event 1 not handled yet")
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	// The handler fails the first time: not acknowledged, offered again, then handled.
+	mesh.Emit(t, "mesh.mod.alpha.event.happened", map[string]any{"n": 2, "fail": true})
+	// The bundle dies on the first offer: not acknowledged, the bundle is started again and the
+	// event is offered again once its ack wait has passed.
+	mesh.Emit(t, "mesh.mod.alpha.event.happened", map[string]any{"n": 3, "die": true})
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(20 * time.Second)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		if countLines(t, log, "handled 2") == 1 && countLines(t, log, "handled 3") == 1 {
+			break
+		}
+		time.Sleep(200 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	if countLines(t, log, "handled 2") != 1 || countLines(t, log, "handled 3") != 1 {
+		b, _ := os.ReadFile(log)
+		t.Fatalf("a failed or interrupted event was not offered again and handled once:\n%s\nruntime:\n%s", b, said.all())
+	}
+	if countLines(t, log, "started") < 2 {
+		t.Errorf("the bundle that died was not started again: %s", said.all())
+	}
+	mt.Until(t, func() error {
+		ack, notYet := mesh.Pending(t, "anchor", "watcher")
+		if ack != 0 || notYet != 0 {
+			return errorf("still pending: %d unacknowledged, %d undelivered", ack, notYet)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	if countLines(t, log, "handled 1") != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("event 1 was handled more than once")
+	}
+
+	// A tool asks another module's tool through the runtime, as the module.
+	got, err := call(t, asker, "watcher.relay@anchor", map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"beta":3}`)
+}
+
+// A long-running bundle that exits is started again, without waiting for a call (ADR 0198).
+func TestALongRunningBundleThatExitsIsStartedAgain(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	firstPause := launch.RestartFirst
+	launch.RestartFirst = 100 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { launch.RestartFirst = firstPause })
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("flaky", "anchor", false, nil))
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	log := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "flaky.log")
+	said := &lines{}
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{{Module: "flaky", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("flaky.serve.mjs")}}},
+		map[string]map[string]string{"flaky": {"FLAKY_LOG": log}}, said.logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	mt.Until(t, func() error {
+		if countLines(t, log, "started") < 3 {
+			return errorf("started %d time(s)", countLines(t, log, "started"))
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	if !strings.Contains(said.all(), "flaky's bundle exited (3)") || !strings.Contains(said.all(), "started again in") {
+		t.Errorf("the restart was not said:\n%s", said.all())
+	}
+}
+
+func fmtSprintf(format string, args ...any) string { return fmt.Sprintf(format, args...) }
+func errorf(format string, args ...any) error      { return fmt.Errorf(format, args...) }

node-tools/internal/runtime/runtime.go

@@ -0,0 +1,668 @@
+// Package runtime is the node's tool runtime (novox/hq ADR 0175, ADR 0193), the Go port of
+// node-tools' runtime.ts in its launch-only form: it launches every assigned module's bundle,
+// serves each module's tools on that module's subjects and each held seat's verbs on the seat's,
+// and answers for every module the verb that says what it serves. It imports nothing and knows no
+// language.
+package runtime
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/announce"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/launch"
+)
+
+// ToolsVerb is the verb every module's runtime answers for it (ADR 0152): its tools, from the code
+// that answers them.
+const ToolsVerb = "tools"
+
+// Words the mesh sets for the runtime (ADR 0175, ADR 0192).
+const (
+	ToolModules     = "MESH_TOOL_MODULES"
+	ToolEnv         = "MESH_TOOL_ENV"
+	OperatorAccount = "MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT"
+	OperatorHome    = "MESH_OPERATOR_HOME"
+)
+
+// Served is one module this runtime serves and its entrypoints.
+type Served struct {
+	Module      string
+	Entrypoints []string
+}
+
+// ToolsAnswer is what `tools` answers for one module.
+type ToolsAnswer struct {
+	Module string       `json:"module"`
+	Tools  []ListedTool `json:"tools"`
+	Failed string       `json:"failed,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// ListedTool is one tool as a module's `tools` answer lists it.
+type ListedTool struct {
+	Name        string          `json:"name"`
+	Description string          `json:"description"`
+	Input       json.RawMessage `json:"input"`
+	Subjects    []string        `json:"subjects,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// ServedModulesFrom reads MESH_TOOL_MODULES: `<module>=<entrypoint>` entries, comma-separated, several
+// per module. The one-module form — a bare path, or the runtime's own module — is the per-module
+// containers' (to-be 38 WP4c) and refused here: the node's runtime imports nothing.
+func ServedModulesFrom(spec, own string) ([]Served, error) {
+	order := []string{}
+	by := map[string][]string{}
+	for _, raw := range strings.Split(spec, ",") {
+		entry := strings.TrimSpace(raw)
+		if entry == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		module, path, ok := strings.Cut(entry, "=")
+		module, path = strings.TrimSpace(module), strings.TrimSpace(path)
+		if !ok || module == "" || path == "" || module == own {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %q is not <module>=<entrypoint> of another module; the node's "+
+				"runtime launches the bundles it is given and imports nothing (novox/hq ADR 0193)", ToolModules, entry)
+		}
+		if _, seen := by[module]; !seen {
+			order = append(order, module)
+		}
+		by[module] = append(by[module], path)
+	}
+	out := make([]Served, 0, len(order))
+	for _, m := range order {
+		out = append(out, Served{Module: m, Entrypoints: by[m]})
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// TakeToolEnvs reads the composed environments (ADR 0192) and removes them from the process's, so no
+// bundle finds another's there.
+func TakeToolEnvs() (map[string]map[string]string, error) {
+	raw := os.Getenv(ToolEnv)
+	os.Unsetenv(ToolEnv)
+	out := map[string]map[string]string{}
+	if raw == "" {
+		return out, nil
+	}
+	var parsed map[string]map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(raw), &parsed); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(`%s is not JSON of the shape {"<module>": {"<word>": "<value>"}}: %w`, ToolEnv, err)
+	}
+	for module, words := range parsed {
+		own := map[string]string{}
+		for k, v := range words {
+			if s, ok := v.(string); ok {
+				own[k] = s
+			} else {
+				b, _ := json.Marshal(v)
+				own[k] = string(b)
+			}
+		}
+		out[module] = own
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+type registration struct {
+	module string // the module's own name, or a seat's
+	owner  string // the module whose bundle made it
+	tools  []launch.Tool
+}
+
+// Run launches, binds and serves. It answers a stop function.
+func Run(conn *bus.Conn, served []Served, envs map[string]map[string]string, logf func(string, ...any)) (func(), error) {
+	if account := os.Getenv(OperatorAccount); account != "" {
+		home := ""
+		if h := os.Getenv(OperatorHome); h != "" {
+			home = " (home " + h + ")"
+		}
+		logf("[mesh-tools] the operator's account here is %s%s", account, home)
+	}
+	modules := make([]string, 0, len(served))
+	isServed := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, s := range served {
+		modules = append(modules, s.Module)
+		isServed[s.Module] = true
+		conn.Follow(s.Module)
+	}
+	node := conn.Node()
+
+	base := os.Environ()
+	envFor := func(module string) []string {
+		words := map[string]string{}
+		for _, kv := range base {
+			if k, v, ok := strings.Cut(kv, "="); ok && k != ToolEnv {
+				words[k] = v
+			}
+		}
+		for k, v := range envs[module] {
+			words[k] = v
+		}
+		words["MESH_SERVED_MODULE"] = module
+		words["MESH_MODULE"] = module
+		if node != "" {
+			words["MESH_NODE"] = node
+		}
+		out := make([]string, 0, len(words))
+		for k, v := range words {
+			out = append(out, k+"="+v)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(out)
+		return out
+	}
+
+	// The module's events, for every child of it that subscribes (ADR 0198): one consumer per module,
+	// bound the first time any of its children subscribes, each event handed to every child that did.
+	events := &consumers{conn: conn, logf: logf, of: map[string]*moduleEvents{}}
+
+	failed := map[string]string{}
+	var registrations []registration
+	var stops []func()
+	for _, s := range served {
+		for _, entry := range s.Entrypoints {
+			path, _ := filepath.Abs(entry)
+			module := s.Module
+			fail := func(why string) {
+				failed[module] = why
+				logf("[mesh-tools] %s's bundle %s failed to load: %s; its tools are not served here", module, entry, why)
+			}
+			if !launch.Executable(path) {
+				fail(path + " is not executable; a bundle the runtime serves is started, never imported, and its build makes it executable (novox/hq ADR 0193)")
+				continue
+			}
+			child, err := launch.Start(module, path, envFor(module), events.forModule(module), logf)
+			if err != nil {
+				fail(err.Error())
+				continue
+			}
+			stops = append(stops, child.Stop)
+			for _, r := range child.Registrations {
+				registrations = append(registrations, registration{module: r.Module, owner: module, tools: r.Tools})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	claimed := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, m := range modules {
+		if mem := conn.Membership(m); mem != nil {
+			for _, s := range mem.Seats {
+				claimed[s.Seat] = true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	var own []registration
+	for _, r := range registrations {
+		switch {
+		case isServed[r.module]:
+			own = append(own, r)
+		case claimed[r.module]:
+		default:
+			logf(`[mesh-tools] %s registers tools under "%s", which is neither a module served here nor a seat one of them claims; not served until the mesh issues the claim`, r.owner, r.module)
+		}
+	}
+	stopAll := func() {
+		events.stopAll()
+		for i := len(stops) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
+			stops[i]()
+		}
+	}
+	for _, r := range own {
+		seen := map[string]bool{}
+		for _, t := range r.tools {
+			if t.Name == ToolsVerb {
+				stopAll()
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf(`%s names a tool "%s", which is the verb the runtime answers for every module with what it serves (novox/hq ADR 0152) — refused, rename it`, r.module, ToolsVerb)
+			}
+			if seen[t.Name] {
+				stopAll()
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s exposes two tools named %s — refused", r.module, t.Name)
+			}
+			seen[t.Name] = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	var names []string
+	byModule := map[string][]launch.Tool{}
+	for _, r := range own {
+		for _, t := range r.tools {
+			t := t
+			stop, err := conn.Handle(r.module+"."+t.Name, func(body json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+				return t.Run(argsOf(body))
+			})
+			if err != nil {
+				logf("[mesh-tools] cannot serve %s.%s: %v", r.module, t.Name, err)
+				continue
+			}
+			names = append(names, r.module+"."+t.Name)
+			stops = append(stops, stop)
+		}
+		byModule[r.module] = append(byModule[r.module], r.tools...)
+	}
+	for _, module := range modules {
+		module := module
+		tools := byModule[module]
+		why := failed[module]
+		if len(tools) == 0 && why == "" {
+			continue // a pure-events module: silent, as it always was
+		}
+		stop, err := conn.Handle(module+"."+ToolsVerb, func(json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+			answer := ToolsAnswer{Module: module, Tools: []ListedTool{}, Failed: why}
+			for _, t := range tools {
+				answer.Tools = append(answer.Tools, ListedTool{Name: t.Name, Description: t.Description,
+					Input: t.Input, Subjects: subjectsOf(conn, module, t.Name)})
+			}
+			return answer, nil
+		})
+		if err == nil {
+			stops = append(stops, stop)
+		}
+	}
+
+	failedNames := make([]string, 0, len(failed))
+	for _, m := range modules {
+		if _, f := failed[m]; f {
+			failedNames = append(failedNames, m)
+		}
+	}
+	line := fmt.Sprintf("[mesh-tools] serving %d tool(s) for %d module(s): %s", len(names), len(modules), orNone(names))
+	if len(failedNames) > 0 {
+		line += fmt.Sprintf("; not serving %s, whose bundle(s) failed to load", strings.Join(failedNames, ", "))
+	}
+	logf("%s", line)
+	stops = append(stops, serveSeats(conn, modules, registrations, logf))
+
+	// **What it serves, it announces** (novox/hq ADR 0197): the NATS services protocol's discovery,
+	// answered with what is served at the moment it is asked — re-served memberships included.
+	announced, err := announce.Serve(conn, announce.Service{
+		Name: conn.Module(), ID: instanceOf(conn),
+		Description: "the mesh's tool runtime on " + node + ": every assigned module's tools and the seats they hold",
+		Metadata:    map[string]string{"node": node},
+	}, func() []announce.Endpoint { return endpointsOf(conn, own, registrations, modules) })
+	if err != nil {
+		logf("[mesh-tools] cannot announce what it serves: %v", err)
+	} else {
+		stops = append(stops, announced)
+	}
+	conn.Flush()
+	return stopAll, nil
+}
+
+// instanceOf is this runtime's instance on the bus: its machine, which is what tells two instances of
+// one service apart; the connection's module where it has no machine.
+func instanceOf(conn *bus.Conn) string {
+	if n := conn.Node(); n != "" {
+		return n
+	}
+	return conn.Module()
+}
+
+// endpointsOf is everything this runtime serves now: each served module's tools on every subject the
+// mesh issued for them, and each held seat's verbs on the seat's subject (ADR 0197).
+func endpointsOf(conn *bus.Conn, own []registration, registrations []registration, modules []string) []announce.Endpoint {
+	node := conn.Node()
+	var out []announce.Endpoint
+	for _, r := range own {
+		for _, t := range r.tools {
+			served := conn.ServedOn(r.module, t.Name)
+			interchangeable := false
+			for _, s := range served {
+				interchangeable = interchangeable || s.Subject == "mesh.mod."+r.module+".tool."+t.Name
+			}
+			for _, s := range served {
+				out = append(out, announce.Endpoint{Kind: announce.KindTool, Module: r.module, Tool: t.Name,
+					Node: node, Description: t.Description, Schema: t.Input, Interchangeable: interchangeable,
+					Subject: s.Subject, Queue: s.Queue})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	impl := map[string]map[string]launch.Tool{}
+	for _, r := range registrations {
+		if impl[r.module] == nil {
+			impl[r.module] = map[string]launch.Tool{}
+		}
+		for _, t := range r.tools {
+			impl[r.module][t.Name] = t
+		}
+	}
+	have := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, module := range modules {
+		m := conn.Membership(module)
+		if m == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, v := range m.Seats {
+			t, ok := impl[v.Seat][v.Verb]
+			if !ok || have[v.Subject] {
+				continue
+			}
+			have[v.Subject] = true
+			scope := "mesh"
+			if node != "" && strings.HasSuffix(v.Subject, "."+node) {
+				scope = "node"
+			}
+			out = append(out, announce.Endpoint{Kind: announce.KindSeat, Module: module, Tool: v.Verb, Seat: v.Seat,
+				Scope: scope, Node: node, Description: t.Description, Schema: t.Input, Subject: v.Subject})
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func orNone(names []string) string {
+	if len(names) == 0 {
+		return "(none)"
+	}
+	return strings.Join(names, ", ")
+}
+
+// argsOf is a call's arguments as the tool receives them: an object, `{}` for none.
+func argsOf(body json.RawMessage) json.RawMessage {
+	trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(string(body))
+	if trimmed == "" || trimmed == "null" {
+		return json.RawMessage("{}")
+	}
+	return body
+}
+
+// subjectsOf is where a tool is answered as the mesh issued it: the plain subject first, then this
+// machine's; nothing before a membership is issued.
+func subjectsOf(conn *bus.Conn, module, tool string) []string {
+	m := conn.Membership(module)
+	if m == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	var plain, mine []string
+	for _, s := range m.Serves {
+		subject := strings.ReplaceAll(s.Subject, "{tool}", tool)
+		if s.Queue != "" {
+			plain = append(plain, subject)
+		} else {
+			mine = append(mine, subject)
+		}
+	}
+	return append(plain, mine...)
+}
+
+// serveSeats serves every verb of every seat a served module holds, where the mesh issued it, by
+// the tool of the same name registered under the seat's name (ADR 0159, 0160) — and serves again
+// whenever a membership changes. Whether this machine holds the seat is the bus's to decide.
+func serveSeats(conn *bus.Conn, modules []string, registrations []registration, logf func(string, ...any)) func() {
+	impl := map[string]map[string]launch.Tool{}
+	for _, r := range registrations {
+		if impl[r.module] == nil {
+			impl[r.module] = map[string]launch.Tool{}
+		}
+		for _, t := range r.tools {
+			impl[r.module][t.Name] = t
+		}
+	}
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	var stops []func()
+	serve := func() {
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		for _, s := range stops {
+			s()
+		}
+		stops = nil
+		have := map[string]bool{}
+		for _, module := range modules {
+			m := conn.Membership(module)
+			if m == nil {
+				continue
+			}
+			for _, v := range m.Seats {
+				if have[v.Subject] {
+					continue
+				}
+				have[v.Subject] = true
+				t, ok := impl[v.Seat][v.Verb]
+				if !ok {
+					logf("[mesh-tools] %s claims %s and implements no %s, which that seat promises; not served", module, v.Seat, v.Verb)
+					continue
+				}
+				stop, err := conn.HandleSubject(v.Subject, func(body json.RawMessage) (any, error) {
+					return t.Run(argsOf(body))
+				})
+				if err != nil {
+					logf("[mesh-tools] cannot serve %s's %s on %s: %v", v.Seat, v.Verb, v.Subject, err)
+					continue
+				}
+				stops = append(stops, stop)
+				logf("[mesh-tools] serving %s's %s on %s, admitted where %s holds the seat", v.Seat, v.Verb, v.Subject, module)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	serve()
+	conn.OnMembership(func(bus.Membership) { go func() { serve(); conn.Flush() }() })
+	return func() {
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		for _, s := range stops {
+			s()
+		}
+		stops = nil
+	}
+}
+
+// consumers holds, per module the runtime serves, the one durable consumer its events arrive on and
+// the children its events are handed to (novox/hq ADR 0198).
+type consumers struct {
+	conn *bus.Conn
+	logf func(string, ...any)
+	mu   sync.Mutex
+	of   map[string]*moduleEvents
+}
+
+type moduleEvents struct {
+	stop     func()
+	delivers []*func(json.RawMessage) error
+}
+
+// stopAll unbinds every module's consumer.
+func (c *consumers) stopAll() {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	for _, m := range c.of {
+		if m.stop != nil {
+			m.stop()
+		}
+	}
+	c.of = map[string]*moduleEvents{}
+}
+
+// forModule is the bus one launched bundle of a module reaches the mesh through.
+func (c *consumers) forModule(module string) launch.Bus {
+	return &moduleBus{all: c, module: module}
+}
+
+type moduleBus struct {
+	all     *consumers
+	module  string
+	mu      sync.Mutex
+	deliver *func(json.RawMessage) error
+}
+
+// Publish emits an event as the module (ADR 0193).
+func (b *moduleBus) Publish(params json.RawMessage) error {
+	var env bus.Envelope
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(params, &env); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("not an event envelope: %w", err)
+	}
+	return b.all.conn.PublishAs(b.module, env)
+}
+
+// Ask calls a tool as the module: `{key, body}`, answered with the tool's result (ADR 0198).
+func (b *moduleBus) Ask(params json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+	var asked struct {
+		Key  string          `json:"key"`
+		Body json.RawMessage `json:"body"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(params, &asked); err != nil || asked.Key == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("mesh/ask names no tool: {key, body}")
+	}
+	body := any(asked.Body)
+	if len(asked.Body) == 0 {
+		body = map[string]any{}
+	}
+	answered, err := b.all.conn.AskAs(b.module, asked.Key, body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if len(answered.Result) == 0 {
+		return json.RawMessage("null"), nil
+	}
+	return answered.Result, nil
+}
+
+// Subscribe hands this bundle the module's events. The consumer is bound once per module; each of
+// the module's children that subscribed is handed every event, and the event is acknowledged only
+// when all of them took it — one consumer split between two readers would give each half.
+func (b *moduleBus) Subscribe(deliver func(json.RawMessage) error) error {
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	if b.deliver == nil {
+		d := deliver
+		b.deliver = &d
+	} else {
+		*b.deliver = deliver
+	}
+	mine := b.deliver
+	b.mu.Unlock()
+
+	c := b.all
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	m := c.of[b.module]
+	if m == nil {
+		m = &moduleEvents{}
+		c.of[b.module] = m
+	}
+	listed := false
+	for _, d := range m.delivers {
+		if d == mine {
+			listed = true
+		}
+	}
+	if !listed {
+		m.delivers = append(m.delivers, mine)
+	}
+	if m.stop != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	module := b.module
+	stop, err := c.conn.ConsumeAs(module, func(env bus.Envelope) error {
+		raw, err := json.Marshal(env)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		c.mu.Lock()
+		targets := append([]*func(json.RawMessage) error(nil), c.of[module].delivers...)
+		c.mu.Unlock()
+		for _, d := range targets {
+			if err := (*d)(raw); err != nil {
+				c.logf("[mesh-tools] %s did not take %s%s: %s; offered again in %s", module, env.Key,
+					eventRef(env), whyNotTaken(err), bus.NakDelay)
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	m.stop = stop
+	c.logf("[mesh-tools] %s's events arrive on its consumer %s", module, bus.ConsumerOf(c.conn.Node(), module))
+	return nil
+}
+
+// whyNotTaken says why a bundle did not take an event, so the line names who failed: the module's
+// handler, in its own words — an error it answered — or the runtime not reaching it. A bundle's
+// handler error read bare ("Unexpected end of JSON input") looked like the runtime's (issue 276).
+func whyNotTaken(err error) string {
+	var refused *launch.Refused
+	if errors.As(err, &refused) {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("its handler answered an error, in its own words: %q (an event is taken by any answer that is not an error)", refused.Message)
+	}
+	return err.Error()
+}
+
+// eventRef names the event a line is about by its id, when it has one, so its offers can be told
+// apart from another event's.
+func eventRef(env bus.Envelope) string {
+	if id := env.Headers["x-event-id"]; id != "" {
+		return " (event " + id + ")"
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// stateAsked is what a bundle names when it reaches its state (ADR 0201): the state by the name its
+// module uses, a key, and for a put the value.
+type stateAsked struct {
+	State string          `json:"state"`
+	Key   string          `json:"key"`
+	Value json.RawMessage `json:"value"`
+}
+
+// State answers a bundle's `get`, `put`, `delete` and `keys` on its module's state (ADR 0201). The
+// runtime refuses, with the reason, a state the module was not issued and a write to one it only reads.
+func (b *moduleBus) State(verb string, params json.RawMessage) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+	var asked stateAsked
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(params, &asked); err != nil || asked.State == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("mesh/state.%s names no state: {state, key, value}", verb)
+	}
+	conn := b.all.conn
+	var answer any
+	switch verb {
+	case "get":
+		entry, err := conn.StateGet(b.module, asked.State, asked.Key)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if entry == nil {
+			return json.RawMessage("null"), nil
+		}
+		answer = entry
+	case "put":
+		revision, err := conn.StatePut(b.module, asked.State, asked.Key, asked.Value)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		answer = map[string]any{"revision": revision}
+	case "delete":
+		if err := conn.StateDelete(b.module, asked.State, asked.Key); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		answer = map[string]any{}
+	case "keys":
+		keys, err := conn.StateKeys(b.module, asked.State)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		answer = keys
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the runtime answers no mesh/state.%s", verb)
+	}
+	return json.Marshal(answer)
+}
+
+// Watch hands a bundle its module's state as it is and as it changes (ADR 0201): `{state, key}`, the
+// key a pattern with `*` and `**`, empty for every key.
+func (b *moduleBus) Watch(params json.RawMessage, deliver func(json.RawMessage) error) (func(), error) {
+	var asked stateAsked
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(params, &asked); err != nil || asked.State == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("mesh/state.watch names no state: {state, key}")
+	}
+	return b.all.conn.StateWatch(b.module, asked.State, asked.Key, func(change bus.StateChange) error {
+		raw, err := json.Marshal(change)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		return deliver(raw)
+	})
+}

node-tools/internal/runtime/runtime_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,268 @@
+package runtime
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/launch"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+)
+
+func connect(t *testing.T, module, node string) *bus.Conn {
+	t.Helper()
+	c, err := bus.Connect(bus.Credential{URL: mt.URL(t), Module: module, Node: node})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	c.Logf = func(string, ...any) {}
+	t.Cleanup(c.Close)
+	return c
+}
+
+func call(t *testing.T, asker *bus.Conn, key string, args any) (string, error) {
+	t.Helper()
+	got, err := asker.Ask(key, args, "")
+	return string(got.Result), err
+}
+
+func same(t *testing.T, got, want string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	var a, b any
+	if json.Unmarshal([]byte(got), &a) != nil || json.Unmarshal([]byte(want), &b) != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("not JSON: got %s want %s", got, want)
+	}
+	ga, _ := json.Marshal(a)
+	gb, _ := json.Marshal(b)
+	if string(ga) != string(gb) {
+		t.Errorf("got %s, want %s", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+// The node's runtime serves five modules' bundles on one credential — two TypeScript, one broken,
+// one Python, one written against the protocol — and follows a re-issued membership (ADR 0175, 0193).
+func TestTheNodesRuntimeServesFiveModulesAndFollowsAReissuedMembership(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("alpha", "anchor", true, nil))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("beta", "anchor", false, map[string][]string{"node-shelf": {"list", "clear"}}))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("gamma", "anchor", false, nil))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("delta", "anchor", false, map[string][]string{"node-lamp": {"on"}}))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("epsilon", "anchor", false, nil))
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	logs := &mt.Logs{}
+	t.Setenv("MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT", "somebody")
+	t.Setenv("MESH_OPERATOR_HOME", "/home/somebody")
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{
+		{"alpha", []string{mt.Fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")}},
+		{"beta", []string{mt.Fixture("many-beta.serve.mjs")}},
+		{"gamma", []string{mt.Fixture("many-broken.serve.mjs")}},
+		{"delta", []string{mt.Fixture("many-delta.py")}},
+		{"epsilon", []string{mt.Fixture("many-epsilon.mjs")}},
+	}, nil, logs.Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stop()
+	if !logs.Has("the operator's account here is somebody (home /home/somebody)") {
+		t.Errorf("the operator was not said:\n%s", logs.All())
+	}
+	if !logs.Has("gamma's bundle", "many-broken.serve.mjs failed to load: gamma's bundle exited (1): Error: gamma's bundle cannot find its client; its tools are not served here") {
+		t.Errorf("the broken bundle was not named with its own words:\n%s", logs.All())
+	}
+	if !logs.Has("serving 8 tool(s) for 5 module(s): alpha.one, alpha.two, beta.three, beta.four, beta.five, delta.greet, delta.die, epsilon.seven; not serving gamma") {
+		t.Errorf("not serving what it should:\n%s", logs.All())
+	}
+
+	for key, want := range map[string]string{
+		"alpha.one": `{"alpha":1}`, "alpha.one@anchor": `{"alpha":1}`, "beta.three@anchor": `{"beta":3}`,
+		"beta.four@anchor": `{"beta":4}`, "beta.five@anchor": `{"beta":5}`,
+		"seat:node-shelf.list@anchor": `{"shelf":["a","b"]}`, "seat:node-shelf.clear@anchor": `{"cleared":true}`,
+		"seat:node-lamp.on@anchor": `{"on":true,"language":"python"}`, "epsilon.seven@anchor": `{"epsilon":7,"via":"stdio"}`,
+	} {
+		got, err := call(t, asker, key, map[string]any{})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", key, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		same(t, got, want)
+	}
+	if _, err := call(t, asker, "beta.three", map[string]any{}); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no responders") {
+		t.Errorf("beta was not issued the plain subject, and answered on it: %v", err)
+	}
+	got, err := call(t, asker, "delta.greet@anchor", map[string]any{"who": "mesh"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"greeting":"hello mesh","language":"python"}`)
+
+	// A launched tool that emits does so as its module, through the runtime.
+	landed := mesh.NextEvent(t, "mesh.mod.*.event.>")
+	got, err = call(t, asker, "alpha.two", map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"alpha":2}`)
+	select {
+	case subject := <-landed:
+		if subject != "mesh.mod.alpha.event.happened" {
+			t.Errorf("the event landed on %s", subject)
+		}
+	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		t.Error("the event never landed")
+	}
+
+	// A bundle that dies mid-call is said, and started again on its next call.
+	if _, err := call(t, asker, "delta.die@anchor", map[string]any{}); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a bundle that died answered")
+	}
+	got, err = call(t, asker, "delta.greet@anchor", map[string]any{"who": "again"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("not started again: %v", err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"greeting":"hello again","language":"python"}`)
+
+	// `tools` answers for each, and why gamma serves nothing.
+	gamma, err := call(t, asker, "gamma.tools@anchor", map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, gamma, `{"module":"gamma","tools":[],"failed":"gamma's bundle exited (1): Error: gamma's bundle cannot find its client"}`)
+	beta, _ := call(t, asker, "beta.tools@anchor", map[string]any{})
+	var answer ToolsAnswer
+	_ = json.Unmarshal([]byte(beta), &answer)
+	if len(answer.Tools) != 3 || answer.Tools[0].Name != "three" || strings.Join(answer.Tools[0].Subjects, ",") != "mesh.mod.beta.tool.three.anchor" {
+		t.Errorf("beta's tools answer: %s", beta)
+	}
+
+	// Re-issued mid-run, now answering for the module anywhere: served without a restart.
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("beta", "anchor", true, map[string][]string{"node-shelf": {"list", "clear"}}))
+	mt.Until(t, func() error { _, err := call(t, asker, "beta.three", map[string]any{}); return err })
+	got, err = call(t, asker, "seat:node-shelf.list@anchor", map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"shelf":["a","b"]}`)
+}
+
+// Each bundle is given its own environment and none of another's (ADR 0192), and the composed
+// environments are not left in the runtime's.
+func TestEachBundleIsGivenItsOwnEnvironment(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	for _, m := range []string{"gamma", "delta", "zeta"} {
+		mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf(m, "anchor", false, nil))
+	}
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	t.Setenv("MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT", "somebody")
+	t.Setenv(ToolEnv, `{"gamma":{"GAMMA_CONFIG_FILE":"/var/lib/mesh/gamma/config.json"},"delta":{"DELTA_TOKEN_FILE":"/var/lib/mesh/delta/token"},"zeta":{"ZETA_URL":"http://127.0.0.1:3000"}}`)
+	envs, err := TakeToolEnvs()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, left := os.LookupEnv(ToolEnv); left {
+		t.Error("the composed environments were left in the runtime's")
+	}
+	logs := &mt.Logs{}
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{
+		{"gamma", []string{mt.Fixture("env-gamma.serve.mjs")}},
+		{"delta", []string{mt.Fixture("env-delta.serve.mjs")}},
+		{"zeta", []string{mt.Fixture("env-zeta.mjs")}},
+	}, envs, logs.Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stop()
+	for key, want := range map[string]string{
+		"gamma.given@anchor": `{"mine":"/var/lib/mesh/gamma/config.json","theirs":null,"runtime":"somebody","composed":null}`,
+		"delta.given@anchor": `{"mine":"/var/lib/mesh/delta/token","theirs":null}`,
+		"zeta.given@anchor":  `{"mine":"http://127.0.0.1:3000","theirs":null,"composed":null}`,
+	} {
+		got, err := call(t, asker, key, map[string]any{})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: %v\n%s", key, err, logs.All())
+		}
+		same(t, got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+// An entrypoint that is not executable is refused by name, and the others serve (ADR 0193).
+func TestAnEntrypointThatIsNotExecutableIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("alpha", "anchor", false, nil))
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("plain", "anchor", false, nil))
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	logs := &mt.Logs{}
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{
+		{"alpha", []string{mt.Fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")}},
+		{"plain", []string{mt.Fixture("many-alpha.mjs")}},
+	}, nil, logs.Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stop()
+	if !logs.Has("plain's bundle", "many-alpha.mjs failed to load:", "is not executable; a bundle the runtime serves is started, never imported") {
+		t.Errorf("the non-executable entrypoint was not refused by name:\n%s", logs.All())
+	}
+	got, err := call(t, asker, "alpha.one@anchor", map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"alpha":1}`)
+}
+
+// A launched bundle is told the module it serves, so its seat's verbs stay the seat's (ADR 0193).
+func TestALaunchedBundleRegisteringItsSeatFirstServesTheSeat(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	mesh.Issue(t, mt.MembershipOf("theta", "anchor", false, map[string][]string{"node-shelf": {"list"}}))
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{{"theta", []string{mt.Fixture("served-seat-first.mjs")}}},
+		map[string]map[string]string{"theta": {"THETA_WORD": "given"}}, (&mt.Logs{}).Logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer stop()
+	got, err := call(t, asker, "theta.own@anchor", map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"theta":"given"}`)
+	got, err = call(t, asker, "seat:node-shelf.list@anchor", map[string]any{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `{"shelf":["x"]}`)
+}
+
+func TestToolModulesNamesOtherModulesOnly(t *testing.T) {
+	got, err := ServedModulesFrom(" alpha=/a/tools/index.serve.mjs, beta=/b/one, beta=/b/two ", "node-tools")
+	if err != nil || len(got) != 2 || got[1].Module != "beta" || len(got[1].Entrypoints) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("%v %v", got, err)
+	}
+	for _, bad := range []string{"/mine/index.js", "node-tools=/own.js", "=/x"} {
+		if _, err := ServedModulesFrom(bad, "node-tools"); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%q was accepted", bad)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A line about an event a bundle did not take says who failed: the handler in its own words, or the
+// runtime not reaching it (hq issue 276).
+func TestAnUntakenEventSaysWhoFailed(t *testing.T) {
+	handler := whyNotTaken(&launch.Refused{Method: "mesh/event", Message: "Unexpected end of JSON input"})
+	if !strings.Contains(handler, `its handler answered an error, in its own words: "Unexpected end of JSON input"`) {
+		t.Errorf("a handler's error is not said as the handler's: %s", handler)
+	}
+	if got := whyNotTaken(errors.New("plex's bundle did not answer mesh/event in 120s")); got != "plex's bundle did not answer mesh/event in 120s" {
+		t.Errorf("the runtime's own failure is not said as it is: %s", got)
+	}
+	if got := eventRef(bus.Envelope{Headers: map[string]string{"x-event-id": "e1"}}); got != " (event e1)" {
+		t.Errorf("the event is not named by its id: %q", got)
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/runtime/state_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+package runtime
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/bus"
+	mt "github.com/novox/mesh-tools/node-tools/internal/meshtest"
+)
+
+// novox/hq ADR 0201: a module keeps its current state in buckets it declares, and its code reaches
+// them through the runtime. The owner's instances write and read; a reader only reads; a watch hands
+// the current values — none that is deleted — and then every change; the runtime refuses, with the
+// reason, what the module was not issued, a write to state it only reads, and a value naming a
+// credential.
+func TestABundleKeepsAndWatchesItsStateThroughTheRuntime(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	kv := mesh.Bucket(t, "keeper_servers")
+	// What was there before anything started: one value, and one key since deleted.
+	if _, err := kv.Put("all.one", []byte(`{"url":"http://one"}`)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := kv.Put("all.gone", []byte(`{}`)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := kv.Delete("all.gone"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	keeper := mt.MembershipOf("keeper", "anchor", false, nil)
+	keeper.State = []bus.StateIssued{{Name: "servers", Bucket: "keeper_servers", Writes: true}}
+	peeker := mt.MembershipOf("peeker", "anchor", false, nil)
+	peeker.State = []bus.StateIssued{{Name: "keeper.servers", Bucket: "keeper_servers"}}
+	mesh.Issue(t, keeper)
+	mesh.Issue(t, peeker)
+
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	keeperLog, peekerLog := filepath.Join(dir, "keeper.log"), filepath.Join(dir, "peeker.log")
+	said := &lines{}
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{
+		{Module: "keeper", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("state-keeper.mjs")}},
+		{Module: "peeker", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("state-keeper.mjs")}},
+	}, map[string]map[string]string{
+		"keeper": {"STATE_NAME": "servers", "STATE_LOG": keeperLog},
+		"peeker": {"STATE_NAME": "keeper.servers", "STATE_LOG": peekerLog},
+	}, said.logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+
+	// Both read the whole current state at start: the value, not the deleted key, then the end of it.
+	for _, log := range []string{keeperLog, peekerLog} {
+		waitFor(t, log, "current")
+		lines := read(t, log)
+		if lines[0] != `was put all.one {"url":"http://one"}` || lines[1] != "current" || strings.Contains(strings.Join(lines, "\n"), "all.gone") {
+			t.Fatalf("the current state was not handed over as it is:\n%s\nruntime:\n%s", strings.Join(lines, "\n"), said.all())
+		}
+	}
+
+	// The owner writes; every watch sees the change.
+	got, err := call(t, asker, "keeper.put@anchor", map[string]any{"state": "servers", "key": "anchor.two", "value": map[string]any{"url": "http://two"}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, `"revision"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("a put answered %s", got)
+	}
+	waitFor(t, keeperLog, `now put anchor.two {"url":"http://two"}`)
+	waitFor(t, peekerLog, `now put anchor.two {"url":"http://two"}`)
+
+	// Get and keys, by the owner and by the reader.
+	got, err = call(t, asker, "peeker.get@anchor", map[string]any{"state": "keeper.servers", "key": "anchor.two"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, `"value":{"url":"http://two"}`) {
+		t.Fatalf("the reader's get answered %s", got)
+	}
+	got, err = call(t, asker, "peeker.get@anchor", map[string]any{"state": "keeper.servers", "key": "nothing.here"})
+	if err != nil || got != "null" {
+		t.Fatalf("a key with no value answered %s, %v", got, err)
+	}
+	got, err = call(t, asker, "keeper.keys@anchor", map[string]any{"state": "servers"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	same(t, got, `["all.one","anchor.two"]`)
+
+	// Refused, with the reason, before anything is sent.
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		key, why string
+		args     map[string]any
+	}{
+		{"peeker.put@anchor", "peeker reads keeper.servers and does not keep it",
+			map[string]any{"state": "keeper.servers", "key": "x", "value": 1}},
+		{"keeper.get@anchor", `keeper keeps and reads no state called "other"`,
+			map[string]any{"state": "other", "key": "x"}},
+		{"keeper.put@anchor", `carries a field "accessToken", which names a credential`,
+			map[string]any{"state": "servers", "key": "x", "value": map[string]any{"headers": map[string]any{"accessToken": "s"}}}},
+		{"keeper.put@anchor", "is not a key the bus can hold",
+			map[string]any{"state": "servers", "key": "a..b", "value": 1}},
+	} {
+		if _, err := call(t, asker, c.key, c.args); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.why) {
+			t.Errorf("%s %v: want refused for %q, got %v", c.key, c.args, c.why, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// A delete reaches every watch.
+	if _, err := call(t, asker, "keeper.del@anchor", map[string]any{"state": "servers", "key": "all.one"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	waitFor(t, peekerLog, "now delete all.one")
+	waitFor(t, keeperLog, "now delete all.one")
+}
+
+func read(t *testing.T, path string) []string {
+	t.Helper()
+	b, _ := os.ReadFile(path)
+	return strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(string(b)), "\n")
+}
+
+func waitFor(t *testing.T, path, line string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	mt.Until(t, func() error {
+		for _, l := range read(t, path) {
+			if l == line {
+				return nil
+			}
+		}
+		return errorf("%s has no %q yet: %s", filepath.Base(path), line, strings.Join(read(t, path), " | "))
+	})
+}
+
+// The TypeScript SDK against the runtime (ADR 0201): two watches of one state, each handed only its
+// own changes, the current values handled before the module's import goes on.
+func TestTheSDKsStateReachesTheRuntime(t *testing.T) {
+	mesh := mt.New(t)
+	kv := mesh.Bucket(t, "sdkkeeper_servers")
+	if _, err := kv.Put("all.one", []byte(`{"url":"http://one"}`)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m := mt.MembershipOf("sdkkeeper", "anchor", false, nil)
+	m.State = []bus.StateIssued{{Name: "servers", Bucket: "sdkkeeper_servers", Writes: true}}
+	mesh.Issue(t, m)
+	nodeTools := connect(t, "node-tools", "anchor")
+	asker := connect(t, "console", "workstation")
+	log := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "sdk.log")
+	said := &lines{}
+	stop, err := Run(nodeTools, []Served{{Module: "sdkkeeper", Entrypoints: []string{mt.Fixture("state-sdk.serve.mjs")}}},
+		map[string]map[string]string{"sdkkeeper": {"STATE_LOG": log}}, said.logf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("%v\n%s", err, said.all())
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(stop)
+	waitFor(t, log, "current")
+	if got := strings.Join(read(t, log), " | "); got != "was put all.one | current" {
+		t.Fatalf("the import went on with %q", got)
+	}
+	if _, err := call(t, asker, "sdkkeeper.register@anchor", map[string]any{"key": "anchor.two", "url": "http://two"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	waitFor(t, log, "now put anchor.two")
+	waitFor(t, log, "narrow put anchor.two")
+	if _, err := call(t, asker, "sdkkeeper.register@anchor", map[string]any{"key": "all.three", "url": "http://three"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	waitFor(t, log, "now put all.three")
+	for _, l := range read(t, log) {
+		if l == "narrow put all.three" {
+			t.Fatalf("a narrowed watch was handed a key outside it: %s", strings.Join(read(t, log), " | "))
+		}
+	}
+}

node-tools/internal/wire/wire.go

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// Package wire is JSON as the TypeScript runtime writes it: no HTML escaping of <, > and &.
+package wire
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+)
+
+// Marshal encodes v the way JSON.stringify does, without a trailing newline.
+func Marshal(v any) ([]byte, error) {
+	var b bytes.Buffer
+	enc := json.NewEncoder(&b)
+	enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
+	if err := enc.Encode(v); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return bytes.TrimRight(b.Bytes(), "\n"), nil
+}

node-tools/module.json

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+{
+  "module": "node-tools",
+  "version": "1",
+  "slug": "node-tools",
+  "invokes": [
+    "*"
+  ],
+  "provides": [
+    {
+      "name": "mcp-endpoint",
+      "scope": "node"
+    }
+  ],
+  "serves": {
+    "mcp-endpoint": {
+      "port": 4270
+    }
+  },
+  "own-secrets": {
+    "broker": "${dir:mesh-state}/broker"
+  },
+  "listens": [
+    {
+      "name": "mcp",
+      "port": 4270,
+      "protocol": "tcp",
+      "from": "machine",
+      "why": "the mesh's tools for whoever is on this machine, over MCP on loopback; the machine's login is the authority (novox/hq ADR 0152, 0175)"
+    }
+  ],
+  "resources": [
+    {
+      "id": "mesh-state",
+      "type": "directory",
+      "mode": "0755",
+      "place": "mesh"
+    },
+    {
+      "id": "interpreter",
+      "type": "package",
+      "package": "nodejs"
+    }
+  ],
+  "build": {
+    "artifacts": [
+      {
+        "name": "runtime",
+        "kind": "bundle",
+        "language": "go",
+        "system": "arch",
+        "from": "cmd/node-tools",
+        "binary": "node-tools"
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}

node-tools/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"
+    }
+  }
+}

node-tools/package.json

@@ -4,19 +4,21 @@
   "description": "The Novox Mesh tool runtime \u2014 binds the mesh broker and serves the assigned modules' tools.",
   "type": "module",
   "bin": {
-    "mesh-tools": "./dist/main.js"
+    "mesh-tools": "./dist/main.js",
+    "mesh": "./dist/mesh.js"
   },
   "scripts": {
     "build": "tsc",
-    "test": "node --test --experimental-strip-types 'test/*.test.ts'"
+    "pretest": "tsc",
+    "test": "node --test --test-concurrency=1 --experimental-strip-types 'test/*.test.ts'"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "@novox/mesh-sdk": "^0.1.0",
-    "amqplib": "^0.10.9"
+    "@novox/mesh-sdk": "^0.1.6",
+    "nats": "^2.29.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "@types/amqplib": "^0.10.8",
     "@types/node": "^22.20.1",
-    "typescript": "^5.9.3"
+    "typescript": "^5.9.3",
+    "esbuild": "^0.25.0"
   }
 }

node-tools/src/announce.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+// What a runtime serves, it announces (novox/hq ADR 0197): the NATS services protocol's discovery —
+// `$SRV.PING`, `$SRV.INFO`, `$SRV.STATS`, and the same followed by the service's name and its id —
+// answered in the io.nats.micro.v1 format with what is served at the moment of the request. Serving is
+// unchanged; this only says what is served. One service per runtime process, because the bus admits
+// one reply per request from each responder: one endpoint per tool per subject, its metadata saying
+// which module, seat, scope and machine it is. The same shape the Go runtime answers.
+
+import { StringCodec } from "nats";
+import { asSchema } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+import type { ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+import type { RuntimeBroker } from "./broker-nats.js";
+
+const sc = StringCodec();
+
+export const VERSION = "0.1.0";
+export const INFO_RESPONSE = "io.nats.micro.v1.info_response";
+export const PING_RESPONSE = "io.nats.micro.v1.ping_response";
+export const STATS_RESPONSE = "io.nats.micro.v1.stats_response";
+
+/** One tool served on one subject, as announced. */
+export interface Endpoint {
+  kind: "tool" | "seat";
+  module: string;
+  tool: string;
+  seat?: string;
+  scope?: "mesh" | "node";
+  node: string;
+  description: string;
+  schema: unknown;
+  interchangeable: boolean;
+  subject: string;
+  queue?: string;
+}
+
+/** A seat's verb as the runtime serves it, with the definition that answers it. */
+export interface ServedSeatVerb {
+  seat: string;
+  verb: string;
+  subject: string;
+  holder: string;
+  tool: ToolDefinition;
+}
+
+export interface Service {
+  name: string;
+  id: string;
+  description: string;
+  metadata: Record<string, string>;
+}
+
+/** The endpoint's name as the protocol allows it; the metadata, not the name, identifies it. */
+function nameOf(e: Endpoint): string {
+  const clean = (s: string) => s.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9_-]/g, "_");
+  return `${clean(e.kind === "seat" ? e.seat ?? "" : e.module)}__${clean(e.tool)}`;
+}
+
+/** The info_response for these endpoints. */
+export function info(s: Service, endpoints: Endpoint[]): Record<string, unknown> {
+  return {
+    name: s.name, id: s.id, version: VERSION, metadata: s.metadata, type: INFO_RESPONSE, description: s.description,
+    endpoints: endpoints.map((e) => {
+      const metadata: Record<string, string> = {
+        kind: e.kind, module: e.module, tool: e.tool, node: e.node, description: e.description,
+        schema: JSON.stringify(e.schema ?? {}), interchangeable: e.interchangeable ? "true" : "false",
+      };
+      if (e.kind === "seat") {
+        metadata.seat = e.seat ?? "";
+        metadata.scope = e.scope ?? "mesh";
+      }
+      return { name: nameOf(e), subject: e.subject, queue_group: e.queue ?? "", metadata };
+    }),
+  };
+}
+
+/** Everything served now: each module's tools on every subject issued for them, and each held
+ *  seat's verbs on the seat's subject. */
+export function endpointsOf(
+  broker: RuntimeBroker,
+  own: { module: string; tools: ToolDefinition[] }[],
+  seats: ServedSeatVerb[],
+): Endpoint[] {
+  const node = broker.node ?? "";
+  const out: Endpoint[] = [];
+  for (const { module, tools } of own) {
+    for (const t of tools) {
+      const served = broker.servedOn ? broker.servedOn(module, t.name) : [];
+      const interchangeable = served.some((s) => s.subject === `mesh.mod.${module}.tool.${t.name}`);
+      for (const s of served) {
+        out.push({ kind: "tool", module, tool: t.name, node, description: t.description, schema: asSchema(t.input),
+          interchangeable, subject: s.subject, queue: s.queue });
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  for (const v of seats) {
+    out.push({ kind: "seat", module: v.holder, tool: v.verb, seat: v.seat,
+      scope: node && v.subject.endsWith(`.${node}`) ? "node" : "mesh", node, description: v.tool.description,
+      schema: asSchema(v.tool.input), interchangeable: false, subject: v.subject });
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** Answer discovery for one service until stopped. */
+export function announce(broker: RuntimeBroker, s: Service, current: () => Endpoint[]): () => void {
+  const started = new Date().toISOString();
+  const identity = { name: s.name, id: s.id, version: VERSION, metadata: s.metadata };
+  const answer = (subject: string): Uint8Array | undefined => {
+    const parts = subject.split(".");
+    if (parts[0] !== "$SRV" || parts.length < 2) return undefined;
+    if (parts.length >= 3 && parts[2] !== s.name) return undefined; // another service's
+    if (parts.length >= 4 && parts[3] !== s.id) return undefined; // another instance's
+    let v: unknown;
+    switch (parts[1]) {
+      case "PING":
+        v = { ...identity, type: PING_RESPONSE };
+        break;
+      case "INFO":
+        v = info(s, current());
+        break;
+      case "STATS":
+        v = { ...identity, type: STATS_RESPONSE, started, endpoints: current().map((e) => ({
+          name: nameOf(e), subject: e.subject, queue_group: e.queue ?? "", num_requests: 0, num_errors: 0,
+          last_error: "", processing_time: 0, average_processing_time: 0 })) };
+        break;
+      default:
+        return undefined;
+    }
+    return sc.encode(JSON.stringify(v));
+  };
+  const stops: (() => void)[] = [];
+  // Exactly the questions asked of every service and of this one by name and instance — what the
+  // grants allow (novox/hq ADR 0197). A wildcard is refused by the bus, and a refused subscription
+  // ends a runtime: on 2026-10-03 it crash-looped every container that announced itself.
+  for (const verb of ["PING", "INFO", "STATS"]) {
+    for (const subject of [`$SRV.${verb}`, `$SRV.${verb}.${s.name}`, `$SRV.${verb}.${s.name}.${s.id}`]) {
+      stops.push(broker.raw!(subject, (subj) => answer(subj)));
+    }
+  }
+  return () => stops.forEach((stop) => stop());
+}

node-tools/src/broker-nats.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,677 @@
+// The tool runtime's broker client, on NATS.
+//
+// **The sdk's contract does not change** (novox/hq ADR 0106, ADR 0039): a module is written
+// against `request`, `handle`, `publish`, `subscribe`, `close`, and the runtime implements them.
+// That is why a module built before any of this runs on the new runtime without a rebuild, and
+// why the sdk's own diff for the whole bus change is three comments.
+//
+// Underneath, everything is a subject and durability is JetStream (novox/hq design 25,
+// design 29).
+//
+//   mesh.mod.<module>.event.<type>   an event this module emits
+//   mesh.mod.<module>.tool.<tool>    a tool this module serves
+//   mesh.seat.<seat>.accept.<verb>   work submitted to a role
+//
+// The module never writes one of those: it names its events and tools locally and the mesh
+// derives the subject (design 29 §1), so reorganising the subject space leaves every module
+// correct.
+
+import { AsyncLocalStorage } from "node:async_hooks";
+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, type TlsOptions } from "nats";
+import type { Broker, Envelope, EventHeaders } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+
+const sc = StringCodec();
+
+/** Requests wait this long for an answer before failing. Unchanged from what modules already
+ *  expect, so a module's timeout handling is not something the bus quietly redefines. */
+const REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS = 30_000;
+
+export class PinMismatchError extends Error {}
+
+/** A broker credential as the mesh delivers it (novox/hq ADR 0120): the bus's address, the
+ *  fingerprint of the certificate it must present, and the node and module the account is scoped
+ *  to — the runtime derives its subjects from those rather than being told them. */
+export interface Credential {
+  url: string;
+  fingerprint?: string;
+  node?: string;
+  module?: string;
+  user?: string;
+  password?: string;
+  /** The seats this module claims, with the verbs each promises (novox/hq ADR 0159). The runtime
+   *  serves each claimed seat's verbs with its tools of the same name; the bus admits only the
+   *  holder's subscription, so claiming and not holding costs a refused subscription and nothing else. */
+  claims?: { seat: string; scope?: string; serves?: string[] }[];
+}
+
+/**
+ * What the mesh issued this assignment (novox/hq ADR 0160): where its tools are served, in which
+ * queue, the verbs of the seats it holds, where its events land, what it may reach. Read from the
+ * ASSIGNMENTS stream at `mesh.assignment.<node>.<module>` — the one subject a runtime derives for
+ * itself — and followed live. Absent for a mesh older than the membership, and then the runtime
+ * serves the shape it always derived, and says so.
+ */
+export interface Membership {
+  node: string;
+  module: string;
+  /** Addresses a tool is answered on; `{tool}` stands for the tool's name. */
+  serves: { subject: string; queue?: string }[];
+  seats?: { seat: string; verb: string; subject: string }[];
+  emits: string;
+  reaches?: Record<string, string[]>;
+  tools: string;
+}
+
+/** What a tool call answers: the module's own result, and which machine answered it
+ *  (novox/hq ADR 0159) — a module on several machines is otherwise an answer from nowhere. */
+export interface Answered<Res> {
+  result: Res;
+  node?: string;
+}
+
+/** The bus as the runtime sees it: the sdk's contract, and the few things only the runtime needs —
+ *  an answer that says which machine gave it, serving a subject that is not a module's own tool
+ *  (a seat's verb), and following the memberships of the modules it serves beside its own. */
+export interface RuntimeBroker extends Broker {
+  /** Call a tool by key, or — when `on` names a subject the mesh listed for it (ADR 0160) — there. */
+  ask<Req, Res>(key: string, body: Req, on?: string): Promise<Answered<Res>>;
+  handleSubject<Req, Res>(subject: string, handler: (body: Req) => Promise<Res>): Promise<() => void>;
+  /**
+   * Serve another module's tools from this connection: read its membership on this machine and
+   * follow it, so `handle("<module>.<tool>")` is served where the mesh issued that module (novox/hq
+   * ADR 0175: one runtime per node, every assigned module's tools). The account must be allowed
+   * to read that membership and to subscribe its subjects — the node's is; a module's own is not,
+   * and is refused by the bus, not here.
+   */
+  follow(module: string): Promise<void>;
+  /** What the mesh issued this assignment — this module's when none is named — or undefined when
+   *  nothing has been issued yet. */
+  membership(module?: string): Membership | undefined;
+  /** Called when the mesh issues a new membership to any module this connection follows; the
+   *  runtime re-serves on it. The membership says which module it is for. */
+  onMembership(handler: (m: Membership) => void): void;
+  /** The modules whose memberships this connection follows: its own and every one `follow` added. */
+  serving(): string[];
+  /** The module this connection is: what its credential named, and what a bare key serves as. */
+  readonly module: string;
+  /** Where a served module's tool is answered right now (ADR 0197: what it serves, it announces). */
+  servedOn?(module: string, tool: string): { subject: string; queue?: string }[];
+  /** Answer a subject in a format of its own, not a tool's reply envelope — the NATS services
+   *  protocol's discovery (novox/hq ADR 0197). An undefined answer is no reply. */
+  raw?(subject: string, answer: (subject: string, data: Uint8Array) => Uint8Array | undefined): () => void;
+  /** The machine this connection serves on, when its credential names one. */
+  readonly node?: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Which module's tool is at work on this connection, when one is (novox/hq ADR 0175). One runtime
+ * carries many modules' tools, and an event a tool emits must land on the emitting *module's*
+ * subject, not the runtime's — so the runtime runs each tool inside this store, and `publish`
+ * reads the module from it. Outside a tool the connection's own module stands.
+ */
+export const atWork = new AsyncLocalStorage<{ module: string }>();
+
+const ASSIGNMENTS_STREAM = "ASSIGNMENTS";
+
+/** The one address a runtime derives for itself (ADR 0160). */
+export function membershipSubject(node: string, module: string): string {
+  return `mesh.assignment.${node}.${module}`;
+}
+
+/** Whether a connection failure is worth retrying, or is a fact about this configuration that
+ *  retrying cannot change. The runtime's supervisor asks this and does not need to know what it
+ *  is connected to. */
+export function fatalBrokerReason(err: unknown): string | null {
+  if (err instanceof PinMismatchError) return "the bus's certificate does not match the pin";
+  const e = err as { code?: string; message?: string };
+  const message = typeof e?.message === "string" ? e.message : String(err);
+  if (e?.code === "ERR_INVALID_URL" || /invalid url/i.test(message)) {
+    return "the bus address is not a usable URL";
+  }
+  if (/authorization violation|user authentication expired|permissions violation/i.test(message)) {
+    return "the bus refused this account";
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Connect to the mesh bus and return a Broker.
+ *
+ * **A module's subjects come from its credential, not from its calls.** `node` and `module` name
+ * the account the mesh issued, and every subject this client publishes or subscribes is derived
+ * from them — so a module cannot name another's namespace even by mistake, and what it emits
+ * matches what the mesh authorised (ADR 0074's identity rule).
+ */
+export async function connectNats(
+  target: string | Credential,
+  opts: { module?: string } = {},
+): Promise<RuntimeBroker> {
+  const cred: Credential = typeof target === "string" ? { url: target } : target;
+  const self = cred.module ?? opts.module;
+  if (!self) {
+    throw new Error(
+      "a broker credential with no module: the runtime derives its subjects from the account " +
+        "the mesh issued, and cannot guess which module it is",
+    );
+  }
+
+  const conn = await natsConnect({
+    servers: cred.url,
+    user: cred.user,
+    pass: cred.password,
+    name: `${cred.node ?? "?"}.${self}`,
+    tls: cred.fingerprint ? await pinnedTls(cred.url, cred.fingerprint) : undefined,
+    // Its own inbox, not a random one: every user's inbox is private to it (design 25 §4), and the
+    // grant names `_INBOX.<user>.>` — a reply space the client invented would be refused, and with
+    // it every pull for the next message and every answer to a tool call.
+    inboxPrefix: cred.user ? `_INBOX.${cred.user}` : undefined,
+    // Reconnect forever: the bus being restarted is an upgrade, not a reason for every module on
+    // the mesh to exit. `close()` stays the only thing that ends the connection.
+    maxReconnectAttempts: -1,
+  });
+  const js = conn.jetstream();
+
+  const subs: Subscription[] = [];
+  // Every registration, and the one reader that dispatches to them. A module has one durable
+  // consumer; the loop belongs to the connection rather than to a subscription.
+  const listeners: { pattern: string; handler: (env: Envelope<unknown>) => Promise<void> }[] = [];
+  let reading: Awaited<ReturnType<Awaited<ReturnType<typeof js.consumers.get>>["consume"]>> | undefined;
+  let closed = false;
+
+  const node = cred.node;
+
+  // The memberships, one per module this connection serves, each read once and followed. A
+  // module's own runtime follows one, its own; the node's runtime follows one per assigned module
+  // (novox/hq ADR 0175) — the same subject shape, the same stream, read as many times as there are
+  // modules, and nothing on the bus learns a new shape for it. A direct get is one request on the
+  // stream's API, which is the whole of what an account may ask JetStream for a subject it is
+  // granted; a 404 is a mesh that has not issued one, which is a fact to say and not an error to
+  // retry.
+  const issued = new Map<string, Membership | undefined>();
+  const issuedHandlers: ((m: Membership) => void)[] = [];
+  const follow = async (module: string): Promise<void> => {
+    if (!node || issued.has(module)) return;
+    issued.set(module, undefined);
+    const subjectOfTheirs = membershipSubject(node, module);
+    try {
+      // The subject-addressed form of a direct get — the stream, then the subject, nothing in
+      // the body — because that is the one address the mesh grants this account on the
+      // stream's API; the body form asks the stream's root, which it may not.
+      const got = await conn.request(`$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.${ASSIGNMENTS_STREAM}.${subjectOfTheirs}`,
+        new Uint8Array(0), { timeout: 5_000 });
+      const status = got.headers?.code ?? 0;
+      if (status === 0 && got.data.length > 0) {
+        issued.set(module, JSON.parse(sc.decode(got.data)) as Membership);
+      }
+    } catch {
+      // Not readable here: an older mesh, a stream not yet asserted, or no grant. Said below.
+    }
+    if (!issued.get(module)) {
+      console.log(`[mesh-tools] no membership issued for ${module} on ${node} yet; serving the derived shape until one arrives`);
+    }
+    try {
+      const live = conn.subscribe(subjectOfTheirs);
+      subs.push(live);
+      void (async () => {
+        for await (const msg of live) {
+          try {
+            const m = JSON.parse(sc.decode(msg.data)) as Membership;
+            issued.set(module, m);
+            console.log(`[mesh-tools] ${module} on ${node} was issued a new membership; re-serving on it`);
+            for (const h of issuedHandlers) h(m);
+          } catch (err) {
+            console.log(`[mesh-tools] a membership arrived that is not one: ${err}`);
+          }
+        }
+      })();
+    } catch {
+      // A subscription this account may not make is a mesh older than the membership.
+    }
+  };
+  await follow(self);
+
+  /** The subjects a tool of a served module is served on: from that module's membership when
+   *  issued, derived otherwise (the shape the mesh issues on day one, so the two agree). */
+  const servedOn = (module: string, tool: string): { subject: string; queue?: string }[] => {
+    const m = issued.get(module);
+    if (m) {
+      const out = m.serves.map((s) => ({ subject: s.subject.replace("{tool}", tool), queue: s.queue }));
+      // The verb that lists what this module serves is answered on the mesh's plain address for it
+      // whatever the placement — one answer suffices, so a queue — and on this machine's beside it.
+      if (tool === "tools" && m.tools && !out.some((s) => s.subject === m.tools)) {
+        out.unshift({ subject: m.tools, queue: `serve.${module}` });
+      }
+      return out;
+    }
+    const base = `mesh.mod.${module}.tool.${tool}`;
+    const out: { subject: string; queue?: string }[] = [{ subject: base, queue: `serve.${module}` }];
+    if (node) out.push({ subject: `${base}.${node}` });
+    return out;
+  };
+
+  /** Where a call by key goes: a subject this connection's own membership says it reaches, when it
+   *  says one — the machine's when named — else the derived shape. */
+  const reachedAt = (key: string): string => {
+    const [name, wanted] = key.split("@", 2);
+    const reach = issued.get(self)?.reaches?.[name];
+    if (reach && reach.length > 0) {
+      if (wanted) {
+        const at = reach.find((s) => s.endsWith(`.${wanted}`));
+        if (at) return at;
+      } else {
+        return reach[0];
+      }
+    }
+    return toolSubject(key, self);
+  };
+
+  /** Answer one subject with one handler, and say which machine answered (novox/hq ADR 0159). */
+  const answerOn = <Req, Res>(
+    subject: string,
+    queue: string | undefined,
+    handler: (body: Req) => Promise<Res>,
+  ): (() => void) => {
+    const sub = conn.subscribe(subject, queue ? { queue } : {});
+    subs.push(sub);
+    void (async () => {
+      // **A refused subscription is said, never fatal** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/218, as 217 for the
+      // announcements). The grants are the mesh's word on what this account may answer; a subject
+      // they leave out — a seat claimed here and held elsewhere — costs that subject, never the
+      // module's other tools, its handlers and its provisioning. Unhandled, the refusal ended the
+      // process and a module's runtime crash-looped on 2026-10-04.
+      try {
+        for await (const msg of sub) {
+          let reply: { result?: Res; error?: string; node?: string };
+          try {
+            reply = { result: await handler(JSON.parse(sc.decode(msg.data)) as Req) };
+          } catch (err) {
+            // The caller is told, rather than left to time out: a handler that threw is a
+            // different failure from a tool nobody serves, and only one of them is worth retrying.
+            reply = { error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err) };
+          }
+          if (node) reply.node = node;
+          msg.respond(sc.encode(JSON.stringify(reply)));
+        }
+      } catch (err) {
+        console.log(`[mesh-tools] the bus refused ${subject}: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}; ` +
+          "not served here, and the rest serves on");
+      }
+    })();
+    return () => sub.unsubscribe();
+  };
+
+  /**
+   * Ask one question and await one answer, with the machine that gave it.
+   *
+   * Core NATS request/reply, not JetStream: a tool call must never be persisted (design 25 §3),
+   * and a lost one is a timeout the caller already handles. The reply travels on the inbox the
+   * request carries, which the responder may answer because its account has `allow_responses`
+   * — one reply to a message it actually received, and nothing wider.
+   */
+  const ask = async <Req, Res>(key: string, body: Req, on?: string): Promise<Answered<Res>> => {
+    const msg = await conn.request(on ?? reachedAt(key), sc.encode(JSON.stringify(body)), {
+      timeout: REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS,
+    });
+    const reply = JSON.parse(sc.decode(msg.data)) as { result?: Res; error?: string; node?: string };
+    if (reply.error) throw new Error(reply.error);
+    return { result: reply.result as Res, node: reply.node };
+  };
+
+  return {
+    async request<Req, Res>(key: string, body: Req): Promise<Res> {
+      return (await ask<Req, Res>(key, body)).result;
+    },
+
+    ask,
+
+    /**
+     * Answer a question, two ways (novox/hq ADR 0159): on the module's subject in a queue group,
+     * so several machines may serve one tool and exactly one of them answers each call; and on the
+     * same subject with this machine as its last token, so a caller that names the machine reaches
+     * this instance and no other. A runtime that does not know its machine serves only the first,
+     * which is how it always behaved.
+     */
+    async handle<Req, Res>(key: string, handler: (body: Req) => Promise<Res>): Promise<() => void> {
+      // A seat's verb named outright is served on the seat's subject as given, for a holder that
+      // knows its role without a membership; everything else is a served module's own tool, served
+      // where the mesh issued that module (ADR 0160). A key naming a module this connection does
+      // not follow is not served here at all: a module serves its own tools, and the node's
+      // runtime those of the modules it was given (ADR 0175) — never a stranger's.
+      if (key.startsWith("seat:")) {
+        const stop = answerOn(toolSubject(key, self), undefined, handler);
+        return () => stop();
+      }
+      const dot = key.indexOf(".");
+      const module = dot < 0 ? self : key.slice(0, dot);
+      if (!issued.has(module) && module !== self) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `${self} cannot serve ${key}: a module serves its own tools, and a runtime those of the ` +
+            "modules it follows",
+        );
+      }
+      const tool = dot < 0 ? key : key.slice(dot + 1);
+      let stops = servedOn(module, tool).map((s) => answerOn(s.subject, s.queue, handler));
+      // When that module's new membership arrives, serve where it now says and stop serving where
+      // it no longer does.
+      issuedHandlers.push((m) => {
+        if (m.module !== module) return;
+        stops.forEach((stop) => stop());
+        stops = servedOn(module, tool).map((s) => answerOn(s.subject, s.queue, handler));
+      });
+      return () => stops.forEach((stop) => stop());
+    },
+
+    module: self,
+    node,
+    servedOn,
+    raw(subject: string, answer: (subject: string, data: Uint8Array) => Uint8Array | undefined): () => void {
+      const sub = conn.subscribe(subject);
+      subs.push(sub);
+      void (async () => {
+        // **A refusal here is said, never fatal** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/217). This serves discovery —
+        // what the runtime says about itself — not the work; a bus that refuses it costs the mesh
+        // seeing this runtime, not the runtime's tools and handlers. Unhandled, the refusal ended the
+        // process and every per-module container crash-looped on 2026-10-03.
+        try {
+          for await (const msg of sub) {
+            const body = answer(msg.subject, msg.data);
+            if (body) msg.respond(body);
+          }
+        } catch (err) {
+          console.log(`[mesh-tools] the bus refused ${subject}: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}; ` +
+            "discovery will not see this runtime there, and it serves on");
+        }
+      })();
+      return () => sub.unsubscribe();
+    },
+    follow,
+    serving: () => [...issued.keys()],
+    membership: (module?: string) => issued.get(module ?? self),
+    onMembership: (handler: (m: Membership) => void) => {
+      issuedHandlers.push(handler);
+    },
+
+    async handleSubject<Req, Res>(subject: string, handler: (body: Req) => Promise<Res>): Promise<() => void> {
+      return answerOn(subject, undefined, handler);
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Emit an event.
+     *
+     * Published into JetStream and awaited, so a publish the bus never accepted fails the emit
+     * rather than vanishing — at-least-once starts at the emitter, not only the consumer
+     * (ADR 0042).
+     *
+     * `msgID` is the event's own id, so a redelivery after a crash between publishing and
+     * acknowledging is de-duplicated by the server inside its window rather than seen twice.
+     */
+    async publish<T>(env: Envelope<T>): Promise<void> {
+      // **The body is the payload and the metadata rides as headers** (ADR 0042). That shape
+      // is what the conformance suite pins: an implementation that nested the whole envelope in
+      // the body would pass every one of its own tests and agree with nobody.
+      const meta = (env.headers ?? {}) as Record<string, string>;
+      const h = natsHeaders();
+      for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(meta)) {
+        if (v != null) h.set(k, String(v));
+      }
+      if (!meta["content-type"]) h.set("content-type", "application/json");
+      if (env.node) h.set("x-node", env.node);
+
+      // The emitting module's subject: the tool at work's when a served module's tool emits from
+      // the node's runtime (ADR 0175), this connection's own otherwise.
+      await js.publish(eventSubject(env.key, atWork.getStore()?.module ?? self), sc.encode(JSON.stringify(env.body)), {
+        headers: h,
+        // De-duplicated by the server inside its window, so a redelivery after a crash between
+        // publishing and acknowledging is not seen twice. Only the emitter can make this id.
+        msgID: meta["x-event-id"],
+      });
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * React to events.
+     *
+     * The durable consumer is the **controller's** to create, from what this module declared it
+     * consumes (design 29 §3) — this binds to it and never creates one. A runtime that created
+     * its own would be a module deciding its own delivery semantics, and its account cannot
+     * reach the JetStream API to do it anyway.
+     *
+     * **One consumer, one loop, however many patterns a module registers.** A module has exactly one
+     * durable consumer, so two loops reading it would each take half the messages — and a loop that
+     * received one its own pattern does not match acknowledges it, which is the right answer for a
+     * filter wider than anything registered and silent loss when it is another handler's. Every
+     * registration is therefore dispatched from one reader, and a message is acknowledged once every
+     * handler it is for has taken it.
+     */
+    async subscribe<T>(
+      pattern: string,
+      handler: (env: Envelope<T>) => Promise<void>,
+    ): Promise<() => void> {
+      const listener = { pattern, handler: handler as (env: Envelope<unknown>) => Promise<void> };
+      listeners.push(listener);
+      if (!reading) {
+        const durable = `${cred.node ?? "?"}_${self}`;
+        const consumer = await js.consumers.get("EVENTS", durable);
+        const messages = await consumer.consume();
+        reading = messages;
+        void (async () => {
+          for await (const msg of messages) {
+            await deliver(msg, listeners);
+          }
+        })();
+      }
+      return () => {
+        const at = listeners.indexOf(listener);
+        if (at >= 0) listeners.splice(at, 1);
+        if (listeners.length === 0 && reading) {
+          void reading.close();
+          reading = undefined;
+        }
+      };
+    },
+
+    async close(): Promise<void> {
+      if (closed) return;
+      closed = true;
+      for (const sub of subs) sub.unsubscribe();
+      // Drain rather than close: an in-flight reply is finished instead of dropped, which for a
+      // tool call is the difference between an answer and an unexplained timeout at the caller.
+      await conn.drain();
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Deliver one event to every handler it is for, acknowledging only once each has taken it.
+ *
+ * Several registrations share one durable consumer, so matching happens here rather than by having
+ * each registration read the stream: two readers of one consumer would split it between them, and a
+ * message that reached the wrong one would be acknowledged as not-for-me and lost.
+ */
+async function deliver(
+  msg: JsMsg,
+  listeners: { pattern: string; handler: (env: Envelope<unknown>) => Promise<void> }[],
+): Promise<void> {
+  let env: Envelope<unknown>;
+  try {
+    env = toEnvelope<unknown>(msg);
+  } catch {
+    // Unparseable: acknowledge it. Redelivering a message no version of this code can read is
+    // an infinite loop, and the stream's dead-letter is for handlers that fail, not for bytes
+    // that were never an envelope.
+    msg.term();
+    return;
+  }
+  const forThis = listeners.filter((l) => topicMatches(l.pattern, env.key));
+  if (forThis.length === 0) {
+    // The consumer's filters are the controller's, derived from what the module declared it
+    // consumes, and may be wider than anything it registered a handler for. Acknowledge it, or it
+    // would be redelivered until it expired.
+    msg.ack();
+    return;
+  }
+  try {
+    for (const l of forThis) await l.handler(env);
+    msg.ack();
+  } catch {
+    // Negative-acknowledge with a delay, so a handler failing on a transient cause gets another
+    // attempt, and one failing permanently exhausts max-deliver and dead-letters rather than
+    // spinning. The consumer's limits are the controller's; this only says "not done".
+    msg.nak(5_000);
+  }
+}
+
+/** Rebuild the envelope a module sees, from the subject, the headers and the payload — the
+ *  mirror of publish, and the reason both live beside each other. */
+function toEnvelope<T>(msg: JsMsg): Envelope<T> {
+  const headers: Record<string, string> = {};
+  if (msg.headers) {
+    for (const k of msg.headers.keys()) headers[k] = msg.headers.get(k);
+  }
+  return {
+    // The event's own key, recovered from the subject: `mesh.mod.<module>.event.<key>`. The
+    // module never sees the subject, only the key it declared.
+    key: keyFromSubject(msg.subject),
+    node: headers["x-node"] ?? "",
+    body: JSON.parse(sc.decode(msg.data)) as T,
+    headers: headers as EventHeaders,
+  };
+}
+
+/** The event key a module sees: the emitter and the event, which is exactly how its manifest names
+ *  what it consumes (novox/hq design 29 §1, 04-ISSUES/127).
+ *
+ *  **One vocabulary for the declaration and the handler.** This returned the event name alone, so a
+ *  manifest declaring `consumes: builder.built` produced a handler pattern that could never match
+ *  the key it was compared against — and a module consuming the same event from two emitters could
+ *  not tell them apart except by reading a header. The subject already carries the emitter; naming it
+ *  here makes a mismatch between manifest and code a typo rather than a category error. */
+function keyFromSubject(subject: string): string {
+  const marker = ".event.";
+  const at = subject.indexOf(marker);
+  if (at < 0) return subject;
+  const event = subject.slice(at + marker.length);
+  // `mesh.mod.<emitter>.event.…` — the emitter is the token before the marker.
+  const before = subject.slice(0, at).split(".");
+  const emitter = before[before.length - 1];
+  return emitter ? `${emitter}.${event}` : event;
+}
+
+/** A module's own event subject. Derived, never taken from the caller: the module names its
+ *  event and the mesh decides where it lands (design 29 §1). */
+function eventSubject(type: string, self: string): string {
+  return `mesh.mod.${self}.event.${type}`;
+}
+
+/** A tool's subject. A bare name is this module's own tool; `<module>.<tool>` addresses
+ *  another's, which is how a request reaches a module that is not this one; `seat:<seat>.<verb>`
+ *  addresses a role's tool, answered by whoever holds the seat (novox/hq ADR 0132) — with
+ *  `seat:<seat>.<verb>@<node>` for a node-scoped seat, whose tool carries the machine (design 33 §4). */
+function toolSubject(key: string, self: string): string {
+  if (key.startsWith("seat:")) {
+    const rest = key.slice("seat:".length);
+    const dot = rest.indexOf(".");
+    if (dot < 0) throw new Error(`"${key}" names a seat and no verb: seat:<seat>.<verb>`);
+    const seat = rest.slice(0, dot);
+    const [verb, node] = rest.slice(dot + 1).split("@", 2);
+    return node ? `mesh.seat.${seat}.tool.${verb}.${node}` : `mesh.seat.${seat}.tool.${verb}`;
+  }
+  // `<module>.<tool>@<node>` names the machine (novox/hq ADR 0159): the same subject with the
+  // machine as its last token, which is what that instance serves beside the queue.
+  const [name, node] = key.split("@", 2);
+  const dot = name.indexOf(".");
+  const base = dot < 0
+    ? `mesh.mod.${self}.tool.${name}`
+    : `mesh.mod.${name.slice(0, dot)}.tool.${name.slice(dot + 1)}`;
+  return node ? `${base}.${node}` : base;
+}
+
+/** A seat's verb, as its holder serves it: flat for a mesh seat, carrying the machine for a
+ *  node-scoped one (design 33 §4) — the same shape the controller grants. */
+export function seatToolSubject(seat: string, verb: string, scope: string | undefined, node: string | undefined): string {
+  const base = `mesh.seat.${seat}.tool.${verb}`;
+  return scope === "node" && node ? `${base}.${node}` : base;
+}
+
+function normalizeFingerprint(fingerprint: string): string {
+  return fingerprint.replace(/^sha256:/i, "").replace(/:/g, "").toLowerCase();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Dial once to see the certificate, and refuse unless it is exactly the one the mesh pinned.
+ * A certificate authority is not consulted: the mesh issued this and knows its fingerprint,
+ * which is stronger than trusting whoever a machine's trust store happens to contain.
+ *
+ * **The pin is the only check.** What comes back is handed to the client as its TLS options, and
+ * the client's transport spreads them into Node's own `tls.connect` — so the pinned certificate
+ * is the one authority the handshake accepts, and the hostname check beside it is replaced with
+ * one that always passes. Pinning the exact certificate makes verifying its name redundant, and
+ * the bus's certificate names the seat (`mesh-broker`), not the address a machine happens to
+ * dial it by: every module on the mesh met "does not match certificate's altnames" the first time
+ * it reached the handshake (2026-09-28).
+ */
+async function pinnedTls(rawUrl: string, fingerprint: string): Promise<TlsOptions> {
+  const url = new URL(rawUrl.includes("://") ? rawUrl : `nats://${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 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)) {
+    throw new PinMismatchError(
+      `the bus at ${url.hostname}:${port} presented ${seen}, not the pinned ${normalizeFingerprint(fingerprint)}`,
+    );
+  }
+  const pem = `-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n${certificate.raw.toString("base64").replace(/(.{64})/g, "$1\n")}\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n`;
+  // Node's option, not the client's: the transport passes the whole object on. `undefined` from
+  // checkServerIdentity is "the name is fine"; the pin above already decided the rest.
+  return { ca: pem, checkServerIdentity: () => undefined } as TlsOptions;
+}
+
+/** The mesh's topic matching: `*` is one token, `#` the rest. This is the module's vocabulary —
+ *  a module's `consumes` pattern is matched here, and the subject it becomes is the mesh's
+ *  business, not the module's. */
+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 {
+  if (pi === p.length) return ki === k.length;
+  // `**` is the mesh's wildcard for the rest of a name; `#` is the old bus's, accepted so a pattern
+  // written either way behaves the same while both buses ship (novox/hq design 29 §1).
+  if (p[pi] === "#" || p[pi] === "**") {
+    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 (p[pi] !== "*" && p[pi] !== k[ki]) return false;
+  return matchFrom(p, pi + 1, k, ki + 1);
+}

node-tools/src/client.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,280 @@
+/**
+ * The mesh's tools, for whoever is on a machine (novox/hq design 25 §7, design 34).
+ *
+ * Two surfaces over one thing. A command line, for somebody at a terminal; an MCP server, for an
+ * agent. Both are adapters over the same three calls — what tools are there, what does this one take,
+ * call it — because a second way of reaching a tool is a second thing to keep correct.
+ *
+ * **It uses the same client a module's runtime uses.** Not a second protocol and not a bridge: the
+ * caller connects as its own bus user — a person's, or the console's — publishes on the tool subjects
+ * that account permits, and the server refuses anything else. So "what may this ask" is answered by the
+ * same permission list that answers it for a module, and there is nothing here for an audit to read
+ * separately.
+ *
+ * What the caller may NOT do is the more interesting half, and none of it is enforced here — it is the
+ * account (design 25 §4): it cannot publish an event, so it cannot claim a module said something; it
+ * has no consumer, so there is no delivery to acknowledge; and it cannot answer a request, so it cannot
+ * impersonate a module on a bus where anyone may serve a tool.
+ */
+import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+
+import type { Broker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+
+import { connectNats, type Answered, type Credential } from "./broker-nats.js";
+import { TOOLS_VERB, type ToolsAnswer } from "./runtime.js";
+
+/** Where the catalogue answers which modules the mesh holds. */
+const CATALOGUE_MODULES = "mesh-catalog.catalog_modules";
+
+/** Where the mesh answers every role's tools, from its records: the mesh-controller seat's own
+ *  `tools` verb (novox/hq ADR 0154, design 33 §5). */
+const SEAT_TOOLS = "seat:mesh-controller.tools";
+
+/** A tool as its module describes it. */
+export interface Tool {
+  /** The module that serves it — or, for a role's tool, the seat. */
+  module: string;
+  name: string;
+  description?: string;
+  /** The JSON schema of what it takes, as the module declared it. */
+  input?: unknown;
+  /** True for a role's tool: addressed to the seat, answered by whoever holds it (ADR 0132). */
+  seat?: boolean;
+  /** A role's scope: `node` for a seat held once per machine, whose verb is asked of one machine
+   *  (design 33 §4) and takes `node` for it; `mesh` or absent otherwise. */
+  scope?: string;
+  /** Where the tool is answered, as the mesh issued it (ADR 0160): the plain subject first when the
+   *  module answers for itself anywhere, then one per machine. Absent for a runtime older than this. */
+  subjects?: string[];
+}
+
+/**
+ * What the mesh could say about its tools when asked (design 34 §3).
+ *
+ * **Silence is named, never dropped.** A module the catalogue holds and nothing answered for is in
+ * `notAnswering`, because a tool that is not offered looks exactly like a tool that does not exist,
+ * and those need different people to fix them.
+ */
+export interface Listing {
+  tools: Tool[];
+  /** Modules the catalogue holds whose runtime did not answer `tools`: not assigned, not up, or built
+   *  before the runtime answered it. Each may still be called by name. The mesh's own records are
+   *  listed here as `mesh-controller (seat)` when the control plane did not answer. */
+  notAnswering: string[];
+}
+
+/** The seats and the verbs each declares, from the last listing, so a call can tell a role's tool
+ *  from a module's when the two share a prefix (a module and a seat may share a name). */
+export type Seats = Map<string, Set<string>>;
+
+/** The roles' tools, keyed the way `toolKey` names them. */
+export function seatsIn(have: Listing): Seats {
+  const seats: Seats = new Map();
+  for (const t of have.tools) {
+    if (!t.seat) continue;
+    if (!seats.has(t.module)) seats.set(t.module, new Set());
+    seats.get(t.module)!.add(t.name);
+  }
+  return seats;
+}
+
+/** The key a call uses for `<prefix>.<name>`: a role's when the prefix is a seat declaring that
+ *  verb, a module's otherwise. Both names for one capability are deliberate and bounded (ADR 0132);
+ *  the seat wins only for a verb it actually declares, so a module's own tool is never shadowed. */
+export function toolKey(name: string, seats?: Seats): string {
+  if (name.startsWith("seat:")) return name;
+  const dot = name.indexOf(".");
+  if (dot < 0) return name;
+  const prefix = name.slice(0, dot);
+  const verb = name.slice(dot + 1);
+  if (seats?.get(prefix)?.has(verb)) return `seat:${prefix}.${verb}`;
+  return name;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A person's credential, as `operator issue` prints it.
+ *
+ * The same shape a module is handed, minus the parts a module needs and a person does not: no node,
+ * because a person is not on a machine, and no module, because they are not one.
+ */
+export interface PersonCredential extends Credential {
+  person?: string;
+  invokes?: string[];
+}
+
+/** Read the credential from the file `operator issue` produced. */
+export async function credentialFrom(path: string): Promise<PersonCredential> {
+  const raw = await readFile(path, "utf8");
+  let held: PersonCredential;
+  try {
+    held = JSON.parse(raw) as PersonCredential;
+  } catch (e) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `${path} is not a credential this mesh issued: ${(e as Error).message}. ` +
+        "It is the JSON `operator issue` printed, saved verbatim.",
+    );
+  }
+  if (!held.url || !held.user || !held.password) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `${path} names no bus, user or password. It is the JSON \`operator issue\` printed, saved ` +
+        "verbatim — not an edited copy of it.",
+    );
+  }
+  return held;
+}
+
+/** Connect as this person. The module name the runtime wants is their own user, because every subject
+ *  it derives is for a tool somebody else serves. */
+export async function connectAs(held: PersonCredential): Promise<Broker> {
+  return connectNats({ ...held, module: held.user });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Connect as the console: the module credential the mesh delivered (novox/hq ADR 0152), read from
+ * the same variable every runtime reads. It names the node and the module, so the account's inbox
+ * and subjects derive from what the mesh authorised and from nothing in this process's environment.
+ */
+export async function connectAsTheConsole(path: string): Promise<{ bus: Broker; who: string }> {
+  const raw = await readFile(path, "utf8");
+  let held: Credential;
+  try {
+    held = JSON.parse(raw) as Credential;
+  } catch (e) {
+    throw new Error(`${path} is not a broker credential: ${(e as Error).message}`);
+  }
+  if (!held.url || !held.module || !held.user) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `${path} names no bus, module or user: the console runs on the credential the mesh sealed to ` +
+        "this machine for it, and nothing else",
+    );
+  }
+  return { bus: await connectNats(held), who: `${held.node ?? "?"}.${held.module}` };
+}
+
+/**
+ * What tools the mesh has, asked of the modules (design 34 §3).
+ *
+ * The catalogue says which modules the mesh holds; each module says what it serves, through the one
+ * verb its runtime answers for it. **Asked, not configured**: a client carrying its own list would be a
+ * list that goes stale the first time a module is assigned. Every module is asked at once, and the bus
+ * refuses at once a request nothing serves, so the cost is bounded by the modules that are up.
+ */
+export async function toolsOn(bus: Broker): Promise<Listing> {
+  const [answered, roles] = await Promise.all([
+    bus.request<Record<string, never>, { modules?: { module: string }[] }>(CATALOGUE_MODULES, {}),
+    // The roles' tools, from the mesh's records (design 33 §5). Asked beside the modules rather
+    // than first: a control plane that is restarting must not hide every module's tools with it.
+    bus
+      .request<Record<string, never>, { seats?: { seat: string; scope?: string; tools?: ToolsAnswer["tools"] }[] }>(
+        SEAT_TOOLS,
+        {},
+      )
+      .catch(() => undefined),
+  ]);
+  const names = (answered.modules ?? []).map((m) => m.module).filter((m) => typeof m === "string");
+
+  const asked = await Promise.allSettled(
+    names.map((module) => bus.request<Record<string, never>, ToolsAnswer>(`${module}.${TOOLS_VERB}`, {})),
+  );
+  const tools: Tool[] = [];
+  const notAnswering: string[] = [];
+  if (roles) {
+    for (const s of roles.seats ?? []) {
+      // A node-scoped seat's tool is asked of one machine (design 33 §4): listed with its scope, so
+      // a caller names the machine and the call carries it — `seat:<seat>.<verb>@<node>`. Left out
+      // of the listing, the verb never resolved as a seat's and nothing served it (ADR 0170).
+      for (const t of s.tools ?? []) {
+        tools.push({ module: s.seat, name: t.name, description: t.description, input: t.input, seat: true, scope: s.scope });
+      }
+    }
+  } else {
+    notAnswering.push("mesh-controller (seat)");
+  }
+  asked.forEach((outcome, i) => {
+    const module = names[i]!;
+    if (outcome.status === "fulfilled" && typeof outcome.value?.failed === "string") {
+      // The runtime answered for it and serves nothing: the bundle failed to load (ADR 0175). Said
+      // with the reason, because "not answering" would send somebody to check an assignment that
+      // is fine.
+      notAnswering.push(`${module} (its tools bundle failed to load: ${outcome.value.failed})`);
+    } else if (outcome.status === "fulfilled" && Array.isArray(outcome.value?.tools)) {
+      for (const t of outcome.value.tools) {
+        tools.push({ module, name: t.name, description: t.description, input: t.input, subjects: t.subjects });
+      }
+    } else {
+      notAnswering.push(module);
+    }
+  });
+  tools.sort((a, b) => `${a.module}.${a.name}`.localeCompare(`${b.module}.${b.name}`));
+  notAnswering.sort();
+  return { tools, notAnswering };
+}
+
+/** Call one tool. The key is `<module>.<tool>`, which is what a person types and what the account
+ *  permits — one vocabulary, so a refusal names the thing they asked for. */
+/** Call a tool and learn which machine answered (novox/hq ADR 0159). `<module>.<tool>@<node>` asks
+ *  the instance on one machine; without it, whichever instance answers first does, and the answer
+ *  says which. */
+export async function callTool(
+  bus: Broker,
+  key: string,
+  args: unknown,
+  seats?: Seats,
+  listing?: Listing,
+): Promise<Answered<unknown>> {
+  const at = key.indexOf("@");
+  const name = at < 0 ? key : key.slice(0, at);
+  const node = at < 0 ? "" : key.slice(at + 1);
+  if (!name.includes(".")) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `"${key}" does not name a tool: write <module>.<tool>, as \`mesh tools\` lists them, ` +
+        "or <module>.<tool>@<node> for the instance on one machine",
+    );
+  }
+  const resolved = toolKey(name, seats) + (node ? `@${node}` : "");
+  // Where the tool is answered is the module's to say and the mesh's to issue (ADR 0160): when the
+  // listing carried subjects for it, the call goes to one of those and composes nothing.
+  const on = subjectListed(name, node, listing);
+  const asking = bus as Broker & { ask?: <Req, Res>(k: string, b: Req, on?: string) => Promise<Answered<Res>> };
+  if (typeof asking.ask === "function") return asking.ask<unknown, unknown>(resolved, args ?? {}, on);
+  return { result: await bus.request<unknown, unknown>(resolved, args ?? {}) };
+}
+
+/** The subject the listing says answers `<module>.<tool>` — the machine's when one is named, else
+ *  the plain one — or undefined when the listing said none, and the key is composed as before. */
+export function subjectListed(name: string, node: string, listing?: Listing): string | undefined {
+  if (!listing) return undefined;
+  const dot = name.indexOf(".");
+  const module = name.slice(0, dot);
+  const tool = name.slice(dot + 1);
+  const found = listing.tools.find((t) => t.module === module && t.name === tool && !t.seat);
+  const subjects = found?.subjects ?? [];
+  if (subjects.length === 0) return undefined;
+  if (node) return subjects.find((s) => s.endsWith(`.${node}`));
+  return subjects[0];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Why a call failed, said so that the remedy is in the words.
+ *
+ * Three answers a person actually gets, and they need different things done: nobody serves that tool,
+ * the mesh refused this account, or the tool itself failed. Without this they are one timeout and a
+ * stack trace.
+ */
+export function whyItFailed(key: string, err: unknown): string {
+  const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+  if (/no responders|503/i.test(message)) {
+    return `nothing serves ${key}. The module may not be assigned to any machine, or it is down` +
+      (key.startsWith("seat:") ? ", or nothing holds that seat" : "") +
+      " — `mesh tools` lists what answered.";
+  }
+  if (/permissions violation|authorization/i.test(message)) {
+    return `this account may not call ${key}. What it may call was fixed when it was issued — a ` +
+      "person's by `operator issue`, the console's by its manifest.";
+  }
+  if (/timeout/i.test(message)) {
+    return `${key} did not answer in time. Something is serving it, so this is the tool being slow ` +
+      "rather than absent.";
+  }
+  return `${key} failed: ${message}`;
+}

node-tools/src/http.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+/**
+ * The console's endpoint: MCP over HTTP, on a machine's loopback (novox/hq ADR 0152, design 34 §2).
+ *
+ * **Loopback is the authority boundary.** Whoever can connect is on the machine, and whoever is on the
+ * machine is the account that owns the mesh there (ADR 0034, ADR 0144). So there is no token and no
+ * login here, and the one thing this file enforces is that it binds nothing else: a console reachable
+ * from another machine would be authority over the mesh handed to whoever finds the port.
+ *
+ * The transport is the streamable-HTTP shape an agent host speaks: `POST /mcp` with one JSON-RPC
+ * message, answered with one JSON body. No session, because the surface holds nothing per caller; no
+ * event stream, because nothing here has anything to say unasked.
+ */
+import { createServer, type IncomingMessage, type ServerResponse } from "node:http";
+
+import type { Broker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+
+import { mcpSurface, type Reply, type Request } from "./mcp.js";
+
+/** The most a request body may be. A tool's arguments are small; a megabyte is somebody else's file. */
+const BODY_LIMIT = 1 << 20;
+
+export interface Listening {
+  /** Where it listens, as `host:port`, with the port the machine actually gave. */
+  address: string;
+  close(): Promise<void>;
+}
+
+/** Hosts that are this machine and no other. */
+const loopback = new Set(["127.0.0.1", "::1", "localhost", "[::1]"]);
+
+/**
+ * Listen on `host:port`. Refused unless the host is loopback — said before binding, so a manifest or
+ * a flag that would open the console to a network is a startup failure rather than something
+ * discovered by whoever finds it.
+ */
+export async function serveMcpHttp(bus: Broker, who: string, listen: string): Promise<Listening> {
+  const at = listen.lastIndexOf(":");
+  if (at < 0) {
+    throw new Error(`"${listen}" is not host:port`);
+  }
+  const host = listen.slice(0, at);
+  const port = Number(listen.slice(at + 1));
+  if (!loopback.has(host)) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `the console listens on loopback and nowhere else (novox/hq ADR 0152): "${host}" is not this ` +
+        "machine's own address — whoever is on the machine owns the mesh there, and nobody else may reach this",
+    );
+  }
+  if (!Number.isInteger(port) || port < 0 || port > 65535) {
+    throw new Error(`"${listen.slice(at + 1)}" is not a port`);
+  }
+
+  const surface = mcpSurface(bus, who);
+  const server = createServer((req, res) => {
+    void route(req, res, surface.handle).catch((e) => {
+      json(res, 500, { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: null, error: { code: -32603, message: String(e) } });
+    });
+  });
+
+  await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+    server.once("error", reject);
+    server.listen(port, host.replace(/^\[|\]$/g, ""), () => resolve());
+  });
+  const bound = server.address();
+  const address = typeof bound === "object" && bound ? `${host}:${bound.port}` : listen;
+  return {
+    address,
+    close: () =>
+      new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+        server.close(() => resolve());
+      }),
+  };
+}
+
+async function route(
+  req: IncomingMessage,
+  res: ServerResponse,
+  handle: (r: Request) => Promise<Reply | undefined>,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const path = (req.url ?? "/").split("?")[0];
+  if (path === "/") {
+    res.writeHead(200, { "content-type": "text/plain; charset=utf-8" });
+    res.end("the mesh's console: MCP over HTTP at POST /mcp (novox/hq design 34)\n");
+    return;
+  }
+  if (path !== "/mcp") {
+    json(res, 404, { error: "the console serves /mcp and nothing else" });
+    return;
+  }
+  switch (req.method) {
+    case "POST":
+      break;
+    case "DELETE":
+      // A host ending a session. There is no session to end; saying so is the truthful answer.
+      res.writeHead(204).end();
+      return;
+    case "GET":
+      // A host opening an event stream. The console has nothing to say unasked.
+      res.writeHead(405, { allow: "POST, DELETE" }).end();
+      return;
+    default:
+      res.writeHead(405, { allow: "POST, DELETE" }).end();
+      return;
+  }
+
+  let body: string;
+  try {
+    body = await read(req);
+  } catch (e) {
+    json(res, 413, { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: null, error: { code: -32600, message: String(e) } });
+    return;
+  }
+  let parsed: unknown;
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(body);
+  } catch {
+    json(res, 400, { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: null, error: { code: -32700, message: "the body is not JSON" } });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // One message, or a batch of them; a batch is answered as a batch. A notification gets no reply
+  // and, alone, no body: 202 is how the transport says "heard".
+  if (Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+    const replies = (await Promise.all(parsed.map((r) => handle(r as Request)))).filter(Boolean);
+    if (replies.length === 0) {
+      res.writeHead(202).end();
+    } else {
+      json(res, 200, replies);
+    }
+    return;
+  }
+  const reply = await handle(parsed as Request);
+  if (!reply) {
+    res.writeHead(202).end();
+    return;
+  }
+  json(res, 200, reply);
+}
+
+function read(req: IncomingMessage): Promise<string> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    let size = 0;
+    const chunks: Buffer[] = [];
+    req.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      size += chunk.length;
+      if (size > BODY_LIMIT) {
+        reject(new Error(`the request is larger than ${BODY_LIMIT} bytes`));
+        req.destroy();
+        return;
+      }
+      chunks.push(chunk);
+    });
+    req.on("end", () => resolve(Buffer.concat(chunks).toString("utf8")));
+    req.on("error", reject);
+  });
+}
+
+function json(res: ServerResponse, status: number, body: unknown): void {
+  const text = JSON.stringify(body);
+  res.writeHead(status, {
+    "content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
+    "content-length": Buffer.byteLength(text),
+  });
+  res.end(text);
+}

node-tools/src/launch.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,192 @@
+// A tools bundle as a process the runtime launches (novox/hq ADR 0188).
+//
+// The runtime does not run a tool's code itself when the bundle is not JavaScript: it starts the
+// bundle's executable as a child with the runtime's environment and speaks MCP over stdio to it —
+// `initialize`, `tools/list` once, `tools/call` per call. A Rust binary, a Go binary, a Python
+// script and a Node script are the same thing from here: a process that answers those. Everything
+// the mesh adds — the subjects from the membership, the held seats, the `tools` answer, a bundle
+// that failed named and the others serving — is the runtime's, outside this file.
+//
+// A tool the child lists as `<seat>.<verb>` is the module's implementation of that seat's verb;
+// any other name is the module's own tool. The same rule the in-process registration follows.
+
+import { spawn, type ChildProcess } from "node:child_process";
+import { accessSync, constants } from "node:fs";
+import type { ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+import { broker, type Envelope } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+import { atWork } from "./broker-nats.js";
+
+/** The protocol version this speaks; a bundle says the same. */
+export const PROTOCOL = "2025-03-26";
+
+/** How long a child has to answer `initialize` and `tools/list` before it is a failed bundle, and
+ *  how long a call may take before the caller is told the tool is slow rather than absent. */
+const HANDSHAKE_MS = 10_000;
+const CALL_MS = 30_000;
+
+/** Whether an entrypoint is launched as a process rather than imported: anything that is not a
+ *  plain JavaScript file, and a JavaScript file marked executable — a bundle written against the
+ *  protocol in TypeScript, served the same way as any other language. */
+export function launches(entry: string): boolean {
+  const javascript = /\.(m|c)?js$/.test(entry);
+  let executable = false;
+  try {
+    accessSync(entry, constants.X_OK);
+    executable = true;
+  } catch {
+    // not executable, or not there — importing will say which
+  }
+  return !javascript || executable;
+}
+
+/** What a launched bundle registers: the groups the in-process path would have, by name. */
+export interface Launched {
+  registrations: { module: string; tools: ToolDefinition[] }[];
+  stop(): void;
+}
+
+interface Pending {
+  resolve(v: any): void;
+  reject(e: Error): void;
+  timer: NodeJS.Timeout;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Launch a bundle and learn its tools. Rejects when the child cannot be started or does not complete
+ * the handshake, which the runtime records as the bundle having failed. A child that exits later is
+ * started again on the next call, once; a call in flight when it died is told so.
+ */
+export async function launch(module: string, entry: string, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): Promise<Launched> {
+  let child: ChildProcess | undefined;
+  let nextId = 1;
+  const pending = new Map<number, Pending>();
+  let stopped = false;
+
+  const start = async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const proc = spawn(entry, [], { stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"], env });
+    child = proc;
+    let buffered = "";
+    proc.stdout!.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      buffered += chunk.toString("utf8");
+      let at: number;
+      while ((at = buffered.indexOf("\n")) >= 0) {
+        const line = buffered.slice(0, at).trim();
+        buffered = buffered.slice(at + 1);
+        if (!line) continue;
+        let reply: { id?: number | string; method?: string; params?: unknown; result?: unknown; error?: { message?: string } };
+        try {
+          reply = JSON.parse(line);
+        } catch {
+          console.log(`[mesh-tools] ${module}'s bundle said something that is not a reply: ${line.slice(0, 120)}`);
+          continue;
+        }
+        // **The bundle asks the runtime to emit** (novox/hq ADR 0193): published on the bus as this
+        // module, and answered once the bus has accepted it, so the tool's emit means what it means
+        // in-process. Nothing else a bundle may ask.
+        if (typeof reply.method === "string") {
+          const id = reply.id;
+          const answer = (m: Record<string, unknown>) => proc.stdin!.write(JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", id, ...m }) + "\n");
+          if (reply.method !== "mesh/publish") {
+            if (id !== undefined) answer({ error: { code: -32601, message: `the runtime answers no ${reply.method} from a bundle` } });
+            continue;
+          }
+          atWork.run({ module }, () => broker().publish(reply.params as Envelope<unknown>))
+            .then(() => { if (id !== undefined) answer({ result: {} }); })
+            .catch((err: unknown) => { if (id !== undefined) answer({ error: { code: -32000, message: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err) } }); });
+          continue;
+        }
+        const waiting = typeof reply.id === "number" ? pending.get(reply.id) : undefined;
+        if (!waiting) continue;
+        pending.delete(reply.id as number);
+        clearTimeout(waiting.timer);
+        if (reply.error) waiting.reject(new Error(reply.error.message ?? "the bundle refused the request"));
+        else waiting.resolve(reply.result);
+      }
+    });
+    // stderr is the bundle's log; kept under the module's name so a fault reads where it belongs.
+    // The last thing it said is kept, so a bundle that dies says why in its own words, not by code.
+    let lastSaid = "";
+    proc.stderr!.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      for (const line of chunk.toString("utf8").split("\n")) {
+        if (!line.trim()) continue;
+        console.log(`[${module}] ${line}`);
+        if (/\S/.test(line) && !/^\s+at\s/.test(line) && !/^Node\.js v/.test(line)) lastSaid = line.trim();
+      }
+    });
+    const exited = new Promise<never>((_, reject) => {
+      proc.once("error", (err) => reject(err));
+      proc.once("exit", (code, signal) => {
+        const why = `${module}'s bundle exited (${signal ?? code})` + (lastSaid ? `: ${lastSaid}` : "");
+        for (const [id, p] of pending) {
+          pending.delete(id);
+          clearTimeout(p.timer);
+          p.reject(new Error(why));
+        }
+        if (child === proc) child = undefined;
+        if (!stopped) console.log(`[mesh-tools] ${why}; started again on its next call`);
+        reject(new Error(why));
+      });
+    });
+    const ask = (method: string, params: unknown, ms: number): Promise<any> =>
+      Promise.race([
+        new Promise<any>((resolve, reject) => {
+          const id = nextId++;
+          const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+            pending.delete(id);
+            reject(new Error(`${module}'s bundle did not answer ${method} in ${ms / 1000}s`));
+          }, ms);
+          pending.set(id, { resolve, reject, timer });
+          proc.stdin!.write(JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", id, method, params }) + "\n");
+        }),
+        exited,
+      ]);
+    exited.catch(() => {}); // observed through the race; never unhandled
+    (proc as ChildProcess & { ask?: typeof ask }).ask = ask;
+    await ask("initialize", { protocolVersion: PROTOCOL, capabilities: {}, clientInfo: { name: "node-tools", version: "1" } }, HANDSHAKE_MS);
+    proc.stdin!.write(JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", method: "notifications/initialized" }) + "\n");
+  };
+
+  const asking = async (method: string, params: unknown, ms: number): Promise<any> => {
+    if (!child) await start();
+    return (child as ChildProcess & { ask: (m: string, p: unknown, ms: number) => Promise<any> }).ask(method, params, ms);
+  };
+
+  await start();
+  const listed = (await asking("tools/list", {}, HANDSHAKE_MS)) as { tools?: { name: string; description?: string; inputSchema?: unknown }[] };
+  const groups = new Map<string, ToolDefinition[]>();
+  for (const t of listed.tools ?? []) {
+    const dot = t.name.indexOf(".");
+    const under = dot < 0 ? module : t.name.slice(0, dot);
+    const name = dot < 0 ? t.name : t.name.slice(dot + 1);
+    const tools = groups.get(under) ?? [];
+    tools.push({
+      name,
+      description: t.description ?? "",
+      input: (t.inputSchema as Record<string, unknown> | undefined) ?? {},
+      run: async (args) => {
+        const result = (await asking("tools/call", { name: t.name, arguments: args ?? {} }, CALL_MS)) as {
+          content?: { type: string; text?: string }[];
+          isError?: boolean;
+        };
+        const text = result?.content?.find((c) => c.type === "text")?.text ?? "";
+        if (result?.isError) throw new Error(text || `${module}.${t.name} failed`);
+        // The bundle's answer is JSON as text (that is what every MCP host renders); handed back as
+        // the value it encodes so a caller on the bus sees what an in-process tool would return.
+        try {
+          return JSON.parse(text);
+        } catch {
+          return text;
+        }
+      },
+    });
+    groups.set(under, tools);
+  }
+  return {
+    registrations: [...groups].map(([under, tools]) => ({ module: under, tools })),
+    stop: () => {
+      stopped = true;
+      child?.kill("SIGTERM");
+      child = undefined;
+    },
+  };
+}

node-tools/src/main.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 // The runnable entrypoint. Three modes:
 //
 //   mesh-tools                    serve — bind the broker and serve the assigned modules until
-//                                 stopped. A module entrypoint that subscribes to events (on("#"))
+//                                 stopped; as the node-tools module, also the console on loopback. A module entrypoint that subscribes to events (on("#"))
 //                                 starts consuming as it is imported, so this also runs consumers.
 //   mesh-tools emit TYPE [JSON]   emit one event onto the mesh and exit — an operable primitive,
 //                                 and what an events test uses to put a message on the wire.
+//   mesh-tools prepare            bring this module's state to the shape this version needs and exit
+//                                 — the runtime's answer to the word the mesh asks every module
+//                                 (novox/hq ADR 0135). The entrypoints come from MESH_PREPARE, which
+//                                 the module's own image names beside MESH_TOOL_MODULES.
 //   mesh-tools run ENTRYPOINT     run one compiled module entrypoint to completion and exit — the
 //                                 runtime side of a run-once step (novox/hq ADR 0052). It imports
 //                                 the given entrypoint, whose top-level code does its work — seed a
@@ -17,14 +21,19 @@
 //   MESH_BROKER_FILE   a sealed {url, fingerprint} the mesh delivered (novox/hq ADR 0043) — an
 //                      amqps account scoped to this module. Preferred: a module holds its own.
 //   MESH_BROKER_URL    a plain URL, for the bootstrap/admin case before a module has an account.
-//   MESH_TOOL_MODULES  /path/a,/path/b,…   compiled module entrypoints (serve mode)
+//   MESH_TOOL_MODULES  <module>=/path/a,…   the modules to serve and their compiled entrypoints (serve
+//                      mode; ADR 0175); a bare path is an entrypoint of the credential's own module
+//   MESH_PREPARE       /path/a,/path/b,…   compiled entrypoints that prepare this module's state
 //   MESH_MODULE / MESH_NODE                the identity stamped onto emitted events (ADR 0042)
 
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
-import { connectAmqp, fatalBrokerReason } from "./broker-amqp.js";
-import type { Credential } from "./broker-amqp.js";
-import { runTools } from "./runtime.js";
+import { connectNats, fatalBrokerReason as fatalNatsReason, type Credential } from "./broker-nats.js";
+import { takeToolEnvs, runTools, type ServedModule } from "./runtime.js";
+import { serveMcpHttp, type Listening } from "./http.js";
+
+/** The credential this process connected with, for what it says beyond the connection (ADR 0159). */
+let lastCredential: Credential | undefined;
 import { invokeTool } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
 import { useBroker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
 import type { Broker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
@@ -35,12 +44,19 @@ import { emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
  * over the plain bootstrap URL otherwise. A scoped module assumes the foundation's exchanges exist —
  * its account may not declare them (ADR 0043).
  */
+// 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);
+}
+
 async function connectBroker(): Promise<Broker> {
   const file = process.env.MESH_BROKER_FILE;
   if (file) {
     let credential: Credential;
     try {
       credential = JSON.parse(readFileSync(file, "utf8")) as Credential;
+      lastCredential = credential;
     } catch (err) {
       console.error(`mesh-tools: cannot read the broker credential at ${file}: ${err}`);
       process.exit(1);
@@ -54,7 +70,13 @@ async function connectBroker(): Promise<Broker> {
     // what the environment says.
     if (credential.node) process.env.MESH_NODE = credential.node;
     if (credential.module) process.env.MESH_MODULE = credential.module;
-    return connectAmqp(credential, { assumeExchanges: true });
+    // **The credential names the bus.** A module moved to the bus being built was handed a
+    // credential for it — `nats://…` with user, password and fingerprint beside the address — and
+    // 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.
+    // 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) {
@@ -63,7 +85,7 @@ async function connectBroker(): Promise<Broker> {
     );
     process.exit(1);
   }
-  return connectAmqp(url);
+  return connectNats({ url });
 }
 
 /**
@@ -83,7 +105,7 @@ async function connectBrokerPatiently(): Promise<Broker> {
     try {
       return await connectBroker();
     } catch (err) {
-      const fatal = fatalBrokerReason(err);
+      const fatal = fatalBrokerReasonFor(err);
       if (fatal !== null) {
         console.error(`mesh-tools: ${fatal} — waiting will not fix this; giving up`);
         throw err;
@@ -98,17 +120,68 @@ async function connectBrokerPatiently(): Promise<Broker> {
   }
 }
 
-async function serve(): Promise<void> {
-  const moduleEntrypoints = (process.env.MESH_TOOL_MODULES ?? "")
-    .split(",")
-    .map((s) => s.trim())
-    .filter(Boolean);
+/**
+ * What MESH_TOOL_MODULES names (novox/hq ADR 0175, to-be 38 WP1): `<module>=<entrypoint>` entries,
+ * comma-separated, several per module allowed — the node's runtime serving every assigned module's
+ * bundle. A bare path is the one-module form the per-module containers still set: an entrypoint of
+ * the credential's own module. Both may appear; the result is one list of modules.
+ */
+export function servedModulesFrom(spec: string, own: string | undefined): { serves: ServedModule[]; moduleEntrypoints: string[] } {
+  const serves = new Map<string, string[]>();
+  const moduleEntrypoints: string[] = [];
+  for (const raw of spec.split(",")) {
+    const entry = raw.trim();
+    if (!entry) continue;
+    const eq = entry.indexOf("=");
+    if (eq < 0) {
+      moduleEntrypoints.push(entry);
+      continue;
+    }
+    const module = entry.slice(0, eq).trim();
+    const path = entry.slice(eq + 1).trim();
+    if (!module || !path) {
+      throw new Error(`MESH_TOOL_MODULES: "${entry}" is neither <module>=<entrypoint> nor an entrypoint of this module`);
+    }
+    if (module === own) {
+      moduleEntrypoints.push(path);
+      continue;
+    }
+    serves.set(module, [...(serves.get(module) ?? []), path]);
+  }
+  return { serves: [...serves].map(([module, entrypoints]) => ({ module, entrypoints })), moduleEntrypoints };
+}
 
+/** The module that is the node's tool runtime (novox/hq ADR 0175, to-be 38 WP3): on its credential,
+ *  `serve` is also the console — MCP on the machine's loopback (design 34). */
+export const RUNTIME_MODULE = "node-tools";
+
+/** Where the console listens when the runtime is node-tools and nothing says otherwise: the port
+ *  the module's manifest declares `from: machine`. MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN overrides it either way. */
+const CONSOLE_LISTEN = "127.0.0.1:4270";
+
+async function serve(): Promise<void> {
   const broker = await connectBrokerPatiently();
-  const stop = await runTools({ broker, moduleEntrypoints });
+  // Parsed after connecting: a bare entrypoint belongs to the module the credential names.
+  const { serves, moduleEntrypoints } = servedModulesFrom(process.env.MESH_TOOL_MODULES ?? "", lastCredential?.module);
+  // Each module's environment, composed by the mesh (ADR 0192): taken before any bundle is imported.
+  const envs = takeToolEnvs();
+  const stop = await runTools({ broker, serves, moduleEntrypoints, credential: lastCredential, envs });
+
+  // The console is this runtime's serving mode (ADR 0175 §6): as node-tools, or wherever the
+  // listen address is given, the same process answers MCP on loopback for whoever is on the
+  // machine. A module's own runtime in a container on the machine's network does not — two of
+  // them on one port would be the fault, and the console is one per machine.
+  const listen = process.env.MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN ?? (lastCredential?.module === RUNTIME_MODULE ? CONSOLE_LISTEN : "");
+  let consoleUp: Listening | undefined;
+  if (listen) {
+    const who = `${lastCredential?.node ?? "?"}.${lastCredential?.module ?? RUNTIME_MODULE}`;
+    consoleUp = await serveMcpHttp(broker, who, listen);
+    console.log(`mesh console listening on http://${consoleUp.address}/mcp as ${who}`);
+  }
 
   const shutdown = async (): Promise<void> => {
     stop();
+    await consoleUp?.close();
     await broker.close();
     process.exit(0);
   };
@@ -166,12 +239,49 @@ async function runEntry(entrypoint: string): Promise<void> {
   await import(pathToFileURL(entrypoint).href);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Bring this module's state to the shape this version needs, and exit — the runtime's answer to the
+ * one word the mesh asks every module (novox/hq ADR 0135).
+ *
+ * The entrypoints come from `MESH_PREPARE`, which a module's own image sets beside the entrypoints it
+ * already lists there: the module knows which of its files prepares its state, and nothing else could.
+ * Each is imported in the order given, to completion, with no broker — preparation runs before the
+ * version that would use it, so there is nothing yet to talk to.
+ *
+ * **An empty list is a failure, not a no-op.** The mesh only asks this of a module whose manifest says
+ * it prepares something; a module that says so and names nothing has been built wrong, and exiting 0
+ * would let that version serve against a state nobody shaped.
+ */
+async function prepareState(): Promise<void> {
+  const named = (process.env.MESH_PREPARE ?? "")
+    .split(",")
+    .map((entry) => entry.trim())
+    .filter((entry) => entry !== "");
+  if (named.length === 0) {
+    console.error(
+      "mesh-tools prepare: this module was asked to prepare its state and its image names nothing " +
+        "to do it with — set MESH_PREPARE to the compiled entrypoint(s) that prepare it, the way " +
+        "MESH_TOOL_MODULES names the ones it serves",
+    );
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+  for (const entrypoint of named) {
+    console.log(`[mesh-tools] preparing with ${entrypoint}`);
+    await runEntry(entrypoint);
+  }
+  console.log(`[mesh-tools] prepared: ${named.length} entrypoint(s) ran to completion`);
+}
+
 async function main(): Promise<void> {
   const [command, ...rest] = process.argv.slice(2);
   if (command === "run") {
     await runEntry(rest[0] ?? "");
     return;
   }
+  if (command === "prepare") {
+    await prepareState();
+    return;
+  }
   if (command === "invoke") {
     const [module, tool] = rest;
     if (!module || !tool) {
@@ -193,4 +303,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   await serve();
 }
 
-void main();
+// Only when run, so a test can import the pieces.
+if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === new URL(`file://${process.argv[1]}`).href) {
+  void main();
+}

node-tools/src/mcp.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,258 @@
+/**
+ * The mesh's tools as an MCP server (novox/hq design 25 §7, design 34).
+ *
+ * **A thin adapter and nothing more.** Every tool an agent sees is one a module answered for and one
+ * this account may call; the schema is the module's own; the answer is the module's own. Nothing here
+ * decides anything, which is why it is short — an MCP surface that reshaped arguments or summarised
+ * answers would be a second definition of what a tool is, and the module's code is the first.
+ *
+ * Implemented against the protocol directly rather than through a library: the surface is three
+ * methods and one framing, and a dependency here would be a dependency on every machine.
+ *
+ * One handler, two transports. Over stdio for a program a person starts (`mesh mcp`), over HTTP on a
+ * machine's loopback for the console the mesh assigns there (`mesh serve`, http.ts). The handler does
+ * not know which asked.
+ */
+import type { Broker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+
+import { callTool, seatsIn, toolKey, toolsOn, whyItFailed, type Listing, type Seats } from "./client.js";
+
+/** The protocol version this speaks. Stated, because a host that wants another should be told so
+ *  rather than discovering it through a shape it did not expect. */
+export const PROTOCOL = "2025-03-26";
+
+export interface Request {
+  jsonrpc: string;
+  id?: number | string | null;
+  method: string;
+  params?: Record<string, unknown>;
+}
+
+export interface Reply {
+  jsonrpc: "2.0";
+  id: Request["id"];
+  result?: unknown;
+  error?: { code: number; message: string };
+}
+
+/** How long a fetched tool list is kept before the modules are asked again. An agent asks on every
+ *  turn; the mesh changes on the order of minutes. */
+export const LISTING_KEPT_MS = 30_000;
+
+export interface Surface {
+  /** Answer one request; undefined for a notification, which expects none. */
+  handle(request: Request): Promise<Reply | undefined>;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The surface over one bus connection, as one account.
+ *
+ * The tool list is fetched when first asked and kept for a short while (design 34 §3): asking every
+ * module on every `tools/list` would fan out on every agent turn for something nobody changed, and
+ * never refreshing would hide a module assigned a moment ago.
+ */
+export function mcpSurface(bus: Broker, who: string): Surface {
+  let known: { listing: Listing; at: number } | undefined;
+
+  const answer = (id: Request["id"], result: unknown): Reply => ({ jsonrpc: "2.0", id, result });
+  const refuse = (id: Request["id"], code: number, message: string): Reply => ({
+    jsonrpc: "2.0",
+    id,
+    error: { code, message },
+  });
+
+  const listing = async (): Promise<Listing> => {
+    if (!known || Date.now() - known.at > LISTING_KEPT_MS) {
+      known = { listing: await toolsOn(bus), at: Date.now() };
+    }
+    return known.listing;
+  };
+  // The roles the last listing knew, so `<seat>.<verb>` resolves to the seat. Fetched once if a
+  // call arrives before any list did; a listing that failed leaves no roles, and the name is then
+  // a module's, which is the right fallback for a mesh whose control plane is away.
+  const roles = async (): Promise<Seats | undefined> => {
+    try {
+      return seatsIn(await listing());
+    } catch {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+  };
+
+  return {
+    async handle(request) {
+      // A notification has no id and expects no answer; `initialized` is the one every host sends.
+      const notification = request.id === undefined || request.id === null;
+
+      switch (request.method) {
+        case "initialize":
+          return answer(request.id, {
+            protocolVersion: PROTOCOL,
+            capabilities: { tools: {} },
+            serverInfo: { name: "mesh", version: "1" },
+            // Said in the handshake, because an agent that knows whose authority it is acting under
+            // can say so when a call is refused — and a refusal is the one thing here that is not
+            // the mesh's fault or the tool's.
+            instructions:
+              `These are the tools of a Novox mesh, reached as ${who}. Every call goes to the module ` +
+              `that serves it; what may be called was fixed when this account was issued, so a ` +
+              `refusal means the account, not the tool. The list is what the running modules ` +
+              `answered, plus every role's tools from the mesh's records — the mesh's own verbs ` +
+              `(mesh-controller.status, .push, .assign …) among them; a module that did not answer ` +
+              `is named in the list's _meta and can still be called by <module>.<tool>.`,
+          });
+
+        case "notifications/initialized":
+          return undefined;
+
+        case "ping":
+          return notification ? undefined : answer(request.id, {});
+
+        case "tools/list": {
+          let have: Listing;
+          try {
+            have = await listing();
+          } catch (e) {
+            return refuse(request.id, -32603, whyItFailed("mesh-catalog.catalog_modules", e));
+          }
+          return answer(request.id, {
+            tools: have.tools.map((t) => ({
+              name: `${t.module}.${t.name}`,
+              description: t.description ?? `${t.name}, served by ${t.module}`,
+              // The module's own schema, passed through — with `node`, the machine to ask when
+              // the module runs on several (novox/hq ADR 0159); a seat's verb takes none, the
+              // seat's scope decides. An empty object is a tool that takes nothing, which is a
+              // real answer and not a missing one.
+              inputSchema: t.seat && t.scope !== "node" ? asSchema(t.input)
+                : t.seat ? withNode(asSchema(t.input), "the machine whose seat answers; required, the seat is held once per machine", true)
+                : withNode(asSchema(t.input)),
+            })),
+            // Silence, named (design 34 §3): the modules the catalogue holds and nothing answered
+            // for. Not a tool, so not in `tools`; not dropped either.
+            _meta: { notAnswering: have.notAnswering },
+          });
+        }
+
+        case "tools/call": {
+          const given = String(request.params?.name ?? "");
+          const args = { ...((request.params?.arguments as Record<string, unknown> | undefined) ?? {}) };
+          // The machine, when the caller names one, travels in the subject and never reaches the
+          // module's arguments (novox/hq ADR 0159) — for a module's tool. A seat's verb takes no
+          // machine from the console (the seat's scope decides), so a `node` among its arguments
+          // is the verb's own, as `push` and `assign` take one, and is handed through untouched.
+          const have = await listing().catch(() => undefined);
+          const roles = have && seatsIn(have);
+          const bare = given.split("@", 1)[0];
+          const isSeatVerb = roles ? toolKey(bare, roles).startsWith("seat:") : false;
+          // A node-scoped seat's verb is asked of one machine (design 33 §4, ADR 0170): `node`
+          // names it and travels in the subject, as for a module's tool.
+          const nodeScoped = isSeatVerb && (have?.tools.some((t) => t.seat && t.scope === "node" &&
+            `${t.module}.${t.name}` === bare) ?? false);
+          const takesNode = !isSeatVerb || nodeScoped;
+          const node = takesNode && typeof args.node === "string" && args.node !== "" ? args.node : "";
+          if (takesNode) delete args.node;
+          if (nodeScoped && !node && !given.includes("@")) {
+            return refuse(request.id, -32602, `${given} is a machine's seat's verb: name the machine with \`node\``);
+          }
+          const name = node && !given.includes("@") ? `${given}@${node}` : given;
+          try {
+            const { result, node: answeredBy } = await callTool(bus, name, args, roles, have);
+            // Text, because that is what every host renders. The content is the module's answer
+            // as JSON, unshaped: an adapter that flattened it would be deciding what matters in
+            // somebody else's answer. Which machine answered follows it as its own line.
+            const content: { type: string; text: string }[] = [
+              { type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(result, null, 2) },
+            ];
+            if (answeredBy) content.push({ type: "text", text: `answered by ${answeredBy}` });
+            return answer(request.id, { content });
+          } catch (e) {
+            // **An error the agent can act on, not a stack.** isError rather than a protocol
+            // failure, because the call was well-formed and the mesh answered it — with a refusal,
+            // an absence or a fault, and the words say which.
+            return answer(request.id, {
+              content: [{ type: "text", text: whyItFailed(name, e) }],
+              isError: true,
+            });
+          }
+        }
+
+        default:
+          return notification ? undefined : refuse(request.id, -32601, `mesh's MCP surface has no ${request.method}`);
+      }
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * A module's declared input as a JSON schema an agent can read.
+ *
+ * The sdk keeps a tool's input opaque, and the catalogue's modules write it as a bare map of
+ * property to description — `{ module: { type, description } }` — which is the `properties` of a
+ * schema rather than a schema. Wrapped here when that is what arrived; passed through when a module
+ * already wrote a schema; an empty object when it declared nothing. The module's words are kept
+ * either way.
+ */
+export function asSchema(input: unknown): Record<string, unknown> {
+  if (!input || typeof input !== "object" || Array.isArray(input)) {
+    return { type: "object", properties: {} };
+  }
+  const given = input as Record<string, unknown>;
+  if (given.type === "object" || "properties" in given) return given;
+  if (Object.keys(given).length === 0) return { type: "object", properties: {} };
+  return { type: "object", properties: given };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Serve over stdio until stdin closes, which is how a host ends a session.
+ */
+export async function serveMcp(bus: Broker, who: string): Promise<void> {
+  const surface = mcpSurface(bus, who);
+  const say = (message: unknown) => {
+    process.stdout.write(`${JSON.stringify(message)}\n`);
+  };
+  for await (const line of lines()) {
+    let request: Request;
+    try {
+      request = JSON.parse(line) as Request;
+    } catch {
+      // Unparseable, and with no id there is nobody to tell. Skipped rather than answered, because a
+      // reply to a request that was never framed is noise on the same channel.
+      continue;
+    }
+    const reply = await surface.handle(request);
+    if (reply) say(reply);
+  }
+}
+
+/** stdin as newline-framed messages, which is what MCP over stdio is. */
+async function* lines(): AsyncGenerator<string> {
+  let buffered = "";
+  for await (const chunk of process.stdin) {
+    buffered += (chunk as Buffer).toString("utf8");
+    let at: number;
+    while ((at = buffered.indexOf("\n")) >= 0) {
+      const line = buffered.slice(0, at).trim();
+      buffered = buffered.slice(at + 1);
+      if (line !== "") yield line;
+    }
+  }
+  if (buffered.trim() !== "") yield buffered.trim();
+}
+
+/** Every module tool takes an optional `node`: the machine to ask when the module runs on several
+ *  (novox/hq ADR 0159). Added to the listing, stripped before the call, never seen by the module. */
+function withNode(schema: Record<string, unknown>, description?: string, required = false): Record<string, unknown> {
+  const properties = { ...((schema.properties as Record<string, unknown> | undefined) ?? {}) };
+  if (!("node" in properties)) {
+    properties.node = {
+      type: "string",
+      description: description ??
+        "the machine to ask, when this module runs on several; else whichever answers, and the answer says which",
+    };
+  }
+  const out: Record<string, unknown> = { ...schema, type: "object", properties };
+  if (required) {
+    const have = Array.isArray(schema.required) ? (schema.required as string[]) : [];
+    out.required = have.includes("node") ? have : [...have, "node"];
+  }
+  return out;
+}

node-tools/src/mesh.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,278 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * `mesh` — the mesh's tools, for whoever is on a machine (novox/hq design 25 §7, design 34).
+ *
+ * Four verbs and nothing else. What tools are there, call one, serve the same two to an agent over
+ * stdio, and serve them on a machine's loopback as the console the mesh assigns. Deliberately thin:
+ * everything that could be a decision is one the mesh already made, and a client that grew opinions
+ * would be a second place the mesh's behaviour is defined.
+ *
+ *     mesh tools                        what the running modules answer
+ *     mesh call <module>.<tool> [json]  call one, arguments as JSON on the command line or on stdin
+ *     mesh mcp                          the same two, as an MCP server over stdio
+ *     mesh serve [--listen host:port]   the console: MCP over HTTP on this machine's loopback
+ *
+ * Who it speaks as, in order of preference:
+ *   MESH_BROKER_FILE     the module credential the mesh delivered — the console's (ADR 0152)
+ *   MESH_CREDENTIAL / --credential <file>   a person's, as `operator issue` printed it (design 25 §7)
+ *   MESH_CONSOLE / --console <url>          no credential: `tools` and `call` go through a console
+ *                                           already running on this machine, over loopback HTTP
+ */
+import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+
+import type { Broker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+
+import {
+  callTool,
+  connectAs,
+  connectAsTheConsole,
+  credentialFrom,
+  seatsIn,
+  toolsOn,
+  whyItFailed,
+  type Listing,
+} from "./client.js";
+import { serveMcpHttp } from "./http.js";
+import { serveMcp } from "./mcp.js";
+
+const usage = `mesh tools
+mesh call <module>.<tool> [json]
+mesh mcp
+mesh serve [--listen host:port]
+
+  --credential <file>   a person's credential, the JSON \`operator issue\` printed; default $MESH_CREDENTIAL
+  --console <url>       a console on this machine to ask through instead; default $MESH_CONSOLE
+  --listen <host:port>  where \`serve\` listens; loopback only; default $MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN or 127.0.0.1:4270
+  MESH_BROKER_FILE      the module credential the mesh delivered, which \`serve\` runs on`;
+
+/** What the console listens on when nothing says otherwise. */
+const DEFAULT_LISTEN = "127.0.0.1:4270";
+
+async function main(argv: string[]): Promise<number> {
+  const args = [...argv];
+  let credentialPath = process.env.MESH_CREDENTIAL ?? "";
+  let consoleUrl = process.env.MESH_CONSOLE ?? "";
+  let listen = process.env.MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN ?? DEFAULT_LISTEN;
+  for (let i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
+    const take = () => {
+      const v = args[i + 1] ?? "";
+      args.splice(i, 2);
+      i--;
+      return v;
+    };
+    if (args[i] === "--credential") credentialPath = take();
+    else if (args[i] === "--console") consoleUrl = take();
+    else if (args[i] === "--listen") listen = take();
+  }
+  const verb = args.shift();
+  if (!verb || verb === "help" || verb === "--help") {
+    console.log(usage);
+    return verb ? 0 : 1;
+  }
+
+  // Through a console already on this machine: no credential to hold, which is the point of one.
+  if (consoleUrl && (verb === "tools" || verb === "call")) {
+    return verb === "tools" ? listingVia(consoleUrl) : callingVia(consoleUrl, args);
+  }
+
+  const { bus, who } = await connecting(credentialPath, verb);
+  try {
+    switch (verb) {
+      case "tools":
+        return await listing(bus, who);
+      case "call":
+        return await calling(bus, args);
+      case "mcp":
+        // Serves until stdin closes, which is how an MCP host ends a session.
+        await serveMcp(bus, who);
+        return 0;
+      case "serve": {
+        const up = await serveMcpHttp(bus, who, listen);
+        console.log(`mesh console listening on http://${up.address}/mcp as ${who}`);
+        await new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+          process.once("SIGTERM", () => resolve());
+          process.once("SIGINT", () => resolve());
+        });
+        await up.close();
+        return 0;
+      }
+      default:
+        console.error(`mesh has no "${verb}".\n\n${usage}`);
+        return 1;
+    }
+  } finally {
+    await bus.close();
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Who this process is on the bus. The module credential first: a console is started by the mesh with
+ * MESH_BROKER_FILE and nothing else, and must not fall back to a person's file lying around.
+ */
+async function connecting(credentialPath: string, verb: string): Promise<{ bus: Broker; who: string }> {
+  const delivered = process.env.MESH_BROKER_FILE;
+  if (delivered) {
+    return connectAsTheConsole(delivered);
+  }
+  if (!credentialPath) {
+    throw new Error(
+      verb === "serve"
+        ? "no credential: the console runs on MESH_BROKER_FILE, the module credential the mesh " +
+          "delivered; to run it by hand, pass --credential <file> with a person's credential"
+        : "no credential: set MESH_CREDENTIAL or pass --credential <file> (the JSON `operator issue` " +
+          "printed, saved verbatim), or --console <url> to ask through a console on this machine",
+    );
+  }
+  const held = await credentialFrom(credentialPath);
+  return { bus: await connectAs(held), who: held.person ?? held.user ?? "somebody" };
+}
+
+function printListing(have: Listing, who?: string): void {
+  if (have.tools.length === 0) {
+    console.log("no running module answered with any tool");
+  }
+  // **What the modules answered, not what this account may call.** The two differ and the
+  // difference is the point: an account seeing only its own tools cannot tell "not installed" from
+  // "not yours", and those need different people to fix them.
+  for (const t of have.tools) {
+    const name = `${t.module}.${t.name}`;
+    const line = t.description ? `${name.padEnd(36)} ${t.description}` : name;
+    console.log(t.seat ? `${line}  (a role's tool: answered by whoever holds the ${t.module} seat)` : line);
+  }
+  if (have.notAnswering.length > 0) {
+    console.log(
+      `\nheld by the mesh and not answering: ${have.notAnswering.join(", ")} — not assigned, not up, ` +
+        "or built before the runtime answered `tools`; each can still be called by name",
+    );
+  }
+  if (who) {
+    console.log(`\nasked as ${who}; what ${who} may call was fixed when the account was issued.`);
+  }
+}
+
+async function listing(bus: Broker, who?: string): Promise<number> {
+  let have: Listing;
+  try {
+    have = await toolsOn(bus);
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(whyItFailed("mesh-catalog.catalog_modules", e));
+    return 1;
+  }
+  printListing(have, who);
+  return 0;
+}
+
+async function calling(bus: Broker, args: string[]): Promise<number> {
+  const key = args.shift();
+  if (!key) {
+    console.error("mesh call <module>.<tool> [json]");
+    return 1;
+  }
+  const parsed = await argumentsFrom(args);
+  if (parsed === undefined) return 1;
+  try {
+    // `<seat>.<verb>` reaches the role when the mesh lists that verb for the seat; `seat:` says so
+    // outright and asks nothing first.
+    const have = key.startsWith("seat:") ? undefined : await toolsOn(bus).catch(() => undefined);
+    const { result, node } = await callTool(bus, key, parsed, have && seatsIn(have), have);
+    console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
+    if (node) console.error(`answered by ${node}`);
+    return 0;
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(whyItFailed(key, e));
+    return 1;
+  }
+}
+
+/** The console's answer to one MCP request, over loopback HTTP. */
+async function viaConsole(consoleUrl: string, method: string, params?: unknown): Promise<any> {
+  const endpoint = consoleUrl.endsWith("/mcp") ? consoleUrl : `${consoleUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")}/mcp`;
+  const res = await fetch(endpoint, {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: { "content-type": "application/json", accept: "application/json" },
+    body: JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method, params }),
+  });
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    throw new Error(`the console at ${endpoint} answered ${res.status}`);
+  }
+  const reply = (await res.json()) as { result?: any; error?: { message: string } };
+  if (reply.error) throw new Error(reply.error.message);
+  return reply.result;
+}
+
+async function listingVia(consoleUrl: string): Promise<number> {
+  try {
+    const result = await viaConsole(consoleUrl, "tools/list");
+    const have: Listing = {
+      tools: (result.tools ?? []).map((t: { name: string; description?: string; inputSchema?: unknown }) => {
+        const at = t.name.indexOf(".");
+        return { module: t.name.slice(0, at), name: t.name.slice(at + 1), description: t.description, input: t.inputSchema };
+      }),
+      notAnswering: result._meta?.notAnswering ?? [],
+    };
+    printListing(have);
+    return 0;
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e));
+    return 1;
+  }
+}
+
+async function callingVia(consoleUrl: string, args: string[]): Promise<number> {
+  const key = args.shift();
+  if (!key) {
+    console.error("mesh call <module>.<tool> [json]");
+    return 1;
+  }
+  const parsed = await argumentsFrom(args);
+  if (parsed === undefined) return 1;
+  try {
+    const result = await viaConsole(consoleUrl, "tools/call", { name: key, arguments: parsed });
+    const text = result?.content?.[0]?.text ?? JSON.stringify(result);
+    if (result?.isError) {
+      console.error(text);
+      return 1;
+    }
+    console.log(text);
+    return 0;
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e));
+    return 1;
+  }
+}
+
+/** A call's arguments: JSON on the command line, else on stdin, else nothing. Undefined when what
+ *  was given is not JSON, after saying so. */
+async function argumentsFrom(args: string[]): Promise<unknown> {
+  const raw = args.length > 0 ? args.join(" ") : await maybeStdin();
+  if (raw.trim() === "") return {};
+  try {
+    return JSON.parse(raw);
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(`the arguments are not JSON: ${(e as Error).message}`);
+    return undefined;
+  }
+}
+
+/** Arguments on stdin, for a call whose JSON is too long or too quoted to type. Empty when stdin is a
+ *  terminal, so `mesh call x.y` with no arguments does not hang waiting for something nobody is
+ *  typing. */
+async function maybeStdin(): Promise<string> {
+  if (process.stdin.isTTY) return "";
+  const chunks: Buffer[] = [];
+  for await (const chunk of process.stdin) chunks.push(chunk as Buffer);
+  return Buffer.concat(chunks).toString("utf8");
+}
+
+// Only when run, so a test can import the pieces.
+if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === new URL(`file://${process.argv[1]}`).href) {
+  main(process.argv.slice(2))
+    .then((code) => process.exit(code))
+    .catch((e) => {
+      console.error(e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e));
+      process.exit(1);
+    });
+}
+
+export { main, usage };
+export const _readFile = readFile;

node-tools/src/runtime.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,384 @@
+// The tool runtime — the per-node process that makes the mesh's tools actually serve (novox/hq
+// ADR 0175). It binds the mesh broker, loads the served modules' tool bundles (each of which calls
+// registerModuleTools as it imports), and serves every module's tools on that module's subjects and
+// every held seat's verbs on the seat's. Everything hard — dispatch, collection, duplicate-name
+// safety — is the sdk's; this is the wrapper.
+//
+// One runtime, many modules. It was written for one module per process and ran that way in a
+// container per module; it now serves a list, as the one process per node the host supervises,
+// and the per-module shape is the list with one entry. A bundle that fails to import is named —
+// in the log and in what `tools` answers for it — and the others serve.
+
+import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { useBroker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+import { collectTools, toolKey, type ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+import type { Broker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+import { atWork, seatToolSubject, type Credential, type RuntimeBroker } from "./broker-nats.js";
+import { launch, launches } from "./launch.js";
+import { announce, endpointsOf, type ServedSeatVerb } from "./announce.js";
+
+/**
+ * The one verb every module's runtime answers for it (novox/hq ADR 0152, design 34 §3): the
+ * module's tool names, descriptions and argument schemas, from the code that answers them and
+ * from nowhere else. Discovery asks the module, because a copy kept anywhere else drifts.
+ */
+export const TOOLS_VERB = "tools";
+
+/** What `tools` answers for one module. */
+export interface ToolsAnswer {
+  module: string;
+  tools: {
+    name: string;
+    description: string;
+    input: Readonly<Record<string, unknown>>;
+    /** Where this tool is answered, as the mesh issued it (ADR 0160): the module's plain subject
+     *  first when there is one, then this machine's. A caller composes nothing. */
+    subjects?: string[];
+  }[];
+  /** Why this module serves nothing here, when its bundle failed to load (ADR 0175): said where
+   *  discovery looks, so a module that is silent and one that is broken are told apart. */
+  failed?: string;
+}
+
+/** One module this runtime serves: its name and its compiled tool entrypoints. */
+export interface ServedModule {
+  module: string;
+  /** Absolute paths to the module's compiled tool entrypoints (e.g. .../umami/tools/index.js). */
+  entrypoints: string[];
+}
+
+export interface RuntimeOptions {
+  /** The mesh broker to serve over. */
+  broker: Broker;
+  /** The modules to serve, each with its entrypoints. */
+  serves?: ServedModule[];
+  /** The credential's own module's entrypoints — the one-module form, which the per-module
+   *  containers still use; the same as naming the credential's module in `serves`. */
+  moduleEntrypoints?: string[];
+  /** The credential the mesh delivered, for what it says about the seats this module claims
+   *  (novox/hq ADR 0159). Absent for a runtime started by hand, which then serves no seat its
+   *  memberships do not name. */
+  credential?: Credential;
+  /** What each served module's bundles are given (novox/hq ADR 0192): module → words, composed by
+   *  the mesh per machine. A module absent here is given the runtime's own words and nothing more. */
+  envs?: ReadonlyMap<string, Readonly<Record<string, string>>>;
+}
+
+/** The variable the mesh composes every served module's environment into, as JSON (ADR 0192). Read
+ *  once at start and removed from the process's environment, so no bundle finds another's there. */
+export const TOOL_ENV = "MESH_TOOL_ENV";
+
+/** Read and remove the composed environments from an environment (the process's, by default). */
+export function takeToolEnvs(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): Map<string, Record<string, string>> {
+  const raw = env[TOOL_ENV];
+  delete env[TOOL_ENV];
+  const out = new Map<string, Record<string, string>>();
+  if (!raw) return out;
+  let parsed: unknown;
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(raw);
+  } catch {
+    throw new Error(`${TOOL_ENV} is not JSON; the mesh composes it as {"<module>": {"<word>": "<value>"}}`);
+  }
+  if (!parsed || typeof parsed !== "object" || Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+    throw new Error(`${TOOL_ENV} is not an object of modules`);
+  }
+  for (const [module, words] of Object.entries(parsed as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+    if (!words || typeof words !== "object" || Array.isArray(words)) {
+      throw new Error(`${TOOL_ENV}: ${module}'s environment is not an object of words`);
+    }
+    const own: Record<string, string> = {};
+    for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(words as Record<string, unknown>)) own[k] = String(v);
+    out.set(module, own);
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** Two environment words the mesh sets for the node's runtime and every tool reads from its
+ *  environment: whose machine this is (novox/hq to-be 37 §3, ADR 0175). */
+export const OPERATOR_ACCOUNT = "MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT";
+export const OPERATOR_HOME = "MESH_OPERATOR_HOME";
+
+/** Load the modules, bind the broker, and serve. Returns a stop function that unhooks serving. */
+export async function runTools(opts: RuntimeOptions): Promise<() => void> {
+  useBroker(() => opts.broker);
+  const runtime = opts.broker as RuntimeBroker;
+  // Whose runtime this is: the credential's module, or the connection's own when a runtime is
+  // started by hand without one — the broker was told its module when it connected.
+  const self = opts.credential?.module ?? (typeof runtime.module === "string" ? runtime.module : undefined);
+
+  // What to serve: the list, with the one-module form folded in as the credential's own entry.
+  const served = new Map<string, string[]>();
+  for (const s of opts.serves ?? []) {
+    served.set(s.module, [...(served.get(s.module) ?? []), ...s.entrypoints]);
+  }
+  const ownEntrypoints = opts.moduleEntrypoints ?? [];
+  if (opts.moduleEntrypoints?.length) {
+    if (!self) {
+      throw new Error(
+        "entrypoints were given with no module to serve them as: name the module (MESH_TOOL_MODULES " +
+          "as <module>=<entrypoint>) or connect on a credential that names one",
+      );
+    }
+    served.set(self, [...(served.get(self) ?? []), ...opts.moduleEntrypoints]);
+  }
+
+  // The operator's machine, said once so a tool's behaviour under it can be read back from the
+  // log. Tools read the two words from their own environment, which is this process's.
+  const account = process.env[OPERATOR_ACCOUNT];
+  if (account) {
+    console.log(`[mesh-tools] the operator's account here is ${account}` +
+      (process.env[OPERATOR_HOME] ? ` (home ${process.env[OPERATOR_HOME]})` : ""));
+  }
+
+  // Follow every served module's membership before loading anything, so what each is issued is
+  // known when its tools are bound. A module's own runtime already follows its own.
+  if (typeof runtime.follow === "function") {
+    for (const module of served.keys()) await runtime.follow(module);
+  }
+
+  // What each module's bundles are given: the runtime's own words, and over them the module's own.
+  const envs = opts.envs ?? new Map<string, Record<string, string>>();
+  const envFor = (module: string): NodeJS.ProcessEnv => ({ ...process.env, ...(envs.get(module) ?? {}) });
+
+  // Every bundle this runtime serves is launched as a process and spoken to over MCP on stdio (ADR
+  // 0188, ADR 0193): given the runtime's words and its module's own, and told the module it serves
+  // it as. The runtime knows no language; an entrypoint that is not executable was not built to be
+  // served, and is refused by name. A bundle that fails to start is named, and the others serve
+  // (ADR 0175: one faulty bundle must not take the node's tools down).
+  //
+  // The one-module form — the credential's own module's entrypoints, which the per-module containers
+  // still use for their event handlers and provisioners until they move (to-be 38 WP4c) — is imported
+  // into this process as before: one module, one SDK, its container's own environment.
+  // The machine this runtime serves, which an event a launched tool emits is stamped with.
+  const node = opts.credential?.node ?? (typeof (runtime as unknown as { node?: unknown }).node === "string" ? (runtime as unknown as { node: string }).node : undefined);
+  const failed = new Map<string, string>();
+  const launched: { module: string; owner: string; tools: ToolDefinition[] }[] = [];
+  const children: Array<() => void> = [];
+  for (const [module, entrypoints] of served) {
+    const imported = module === self && ownEntrypoints.length > 0;
+    for (const entry of entrypoints) {
+      const path = resolve(entry);
+      try {
+        if (imported) {
+          await import(pathToFileURL(path).href);
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (!launches(path)) {
+          throw new Error(`${path} is not executable; a bundle the runtime serves is started, never imported, and its build makes it executable (novox/hq ADR 0193)`);
+        }
+        const child = await launch(module, path, {
+          ...envFor(module), MESH_SERVED_MODULE: module, MESH_MODULE: module,
+          ...(node ? { MESH_NODE: node } : {}),
+        });
+        children.push(child.stop);
+        for (const r of child.registrations) launched.push({ ...r, owner: module });
+      } catch (err) {
+        const why = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+        failed.set(module, why);
+        console.log(`[mesh-tools] ${module}'s bundle ${entry} failed to load: ${why}; its tools are not served here`);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // A registration under a served module's name is that module's tools, served on its subjects.
+  // One under a seat's name is the module's implementation of that seat's verbs (ADR 0159, 0160):
+  // served on the seat's subjects by serveClaimedSeats where some served module claims the seat,
+  // never as a module's tools and never listed among them. A module named like its seat (the
+  // catalogue is the mesh-catalog seat) registers once and is both. Anything else is said and left
+  // out rather than fatal — on 2026-10-01 the credential of a module that had just learned to
+  // implement a seat did not yet name the claim, and the whole runtime restarted for it.
+  const claimed = seatsClaimed(served.keys(), self, opts.credential, runtime);
+  const registrations = [
+    ...collectTools().map((r) => ({ ...r, owner: self ?? r.module })),
+    ...launched,
+  ];
+  const ownRegistrations = registrations.filter(({ module, owner: by }) => {
+    if (served.has(module)) return true;
+    if (claimed.has(module)) return false;
+    console.log(`[mesh-tools] ${by} registers tools under "${module}", which is neither a module served here nor a seat one of them claims; not served until the mesh issues the claim`);
+    return false;
+  });
+  const stops: Array<() => void> = [...children];
+  const stop = (): void => stops.splice(0).forEach((s) => s());
+
+  // Refused before anything is bound if a module named a tool of its own `tools`: one name
+  // answering two things is the fault nobody can diagnose afterwards, and the runtime is the only
+  // place that sees both. Likewise two tools of one module under one name.
+  for (const { module, tools: own } of ownRegistrations) {
+    if (own.some((t) => t.name === TOOLS_VERB)) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `${module} names a tool "${TOOLS_VERB}", which is the verb the runtime answers for every ` +
+          "module with what it serves (novox/hq ADR 0152) — refused, rename it",
+      );
+    }
+    const seen = new Set<string>();
+    for (const t of own) {
+      if (seen.has(t.name)) throw new Error(`${module} exposes two tools named ${t.name} — refused`);
+      seen.add(t.name);
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Each tool on its own key, namespaced by its module (ADR 0047); where that key is answered is
+  // the broker's to know from the module's membership (ADR 0160). A tool runs attributed to its
+  // module, so what it emits lands on the module's subject and not the runtime's.
+  const names: string[] = [];
+  for (const { module, tools: own } of ownRegistrations) {
+    for (const t of own) {
+      names.push(toolKey(module, t.name));
+      stops.push(await opts.broker.handle(toolKey(module, t.name), (args: Record<string, unknown> | undefined) =>
+        atWork.run({ module }, () => t.run(args ?? {}))));
+    }
+  }
+
+  // And, for every served module, the verb that says what it serves — nothing, and why, for a
+  // module whose bundle failed. A module that registered nothing and did not fail is a pure-events
+  // module (the audit logger), whose scoped account may not declare the serve queue; it is left
+  // silent as it always was.
+  const byModule = new Map<string, ToolDefinition[]>();
+  for (const { module, tools: own } of ownRegistrations) {
+    byModule.set(module, [...(byModule.get(module) ?? []), ...own]);
+  }
+  for (const module of served.keys()) {
+    const own = byModule.get(module) ?? [];
+    const why = failed.get(module);
+    if (own.length === 0 && !why) continue;
+    const subjectsOf = (tool: string): string[] | undefined => {
+      const m = typeof runtime.membership === "function" ? runtime.membership(module) : undefined;
+      if (!m) return undefined;
+      const plain = m.serves.filter((s) => s.queue).map((s) => s.subject.replace("{tool}", tool));
+      const mine = m.serves.filter((s) => !s.queue).map((s) => s.subject.replace("{tool}", tool));
+      return [...plain, ...mine];
+    };
+    stops.push(await opts.broker.handle(toolKey(module, TOOLS_VERB), async (): Promise<ToolsAnswer> => ({
+      module,
+      tools: own.map((t) => ({ name: t.name, description: t.description, input: t.input, subjects: subjectsOf(t.name) })),
+      ...(why ? { failed: why } : {}),
+    })));
+  }
+
+  console.log(`[mesh-tools] serving ${names.length} tool(s) for ${served.size} module(s): ${names.join(", ") || "(none)"}` +
+    (failed.size ? `; not serving ${[...failed.keys()].join(", ")}, whose bundle(s) failed to load` : ""));
+  const seats = await serveClaimedSeats(runtime, [...served.keys()], self, opts.credential, registrations);
+  stops.push(seats.stop);
+  // **What it serves, it announces** (novox/hq ADR 0197), asked at the moment of the request.
+  if (typeof runtime.raw === "function") {
+    stops.push(announce(runtime, {
+      name: self ?? "runtime", id: runtime.node ?? self ?? "runtime",
+      description: `the tool runtime of ${self ?? "a module"}${runtime.node ? ` on ${runtime.node}` : ""}`,
+      metadata: runtime.node ? { node: runtime.node } : {},
+    }, () => endpointsOf(runtime, ownRegistrations, seats.serving())));
+  }
+  return () => stop();
+}
+
+/** The seats some served module claims: from the credential for its own module, and from every
+ *  served module's membership (ADR 0160) — the node's runtime holds no claims of its own. */
+function seatsClaimed(
+  modules: Iterable<string>,
+  self: string | undefined,
+  credential: Credential | undefined,
+  runtime: RuntimeBroker,
+): Set<string> {
+  const out = new Set<string>();
+  for (const c of credential?.claims ?? []) if (credential?.module === self) out.add(c.seat);
+  for (const module of modules) {
+    const m = typeof runtime.membership === "function" ? runtime.membership(module) : undefined;
+    for (const s of m?.seats ?? []) out.add(s.seat);
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** One seat's verb, where its callers ask, and which served module holds the seat. */
+interface SeatVerb {
+  seat: string;
+  verb: string;
+  subject: string;
+  holder: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Holding a seat means serving its tools (design 33 §3, novox/hq ADR 0159). What a served module
+ * claims and promises comes from its membership (ADR 0160) — and, for a module's own runtime, from
+ * its credential, which named the claims before memberships did. Each verb is served on the seat's
+ * own subject by the tool of the same name registered under the seat's name. Whether this instance
+ * *holds* the seat is the bus's to decide: only the holder's account may subscribe the seat's
+ * subjects, so a claimant that does not hold it here is refused the subscription and serves nothing
+ * — never a failure of its own tools.
+ */
+async function serveClaimedSeats(
+  broker: RuntimeBroker,
+  served: string[],
+  self: string | undefined,
+  credential: Credential | undefined,
+  registrations: { module: string; owner: string; tools: ToolDefinition[] }[],
+): Promise<{ stop: () => void; serving: () => ServedSeatVerb[] }> {
+  if (typeof broker.handleSubject !== "function") return { stop: () => {}, serving: () => [] };
+  // A seat's verbs are the role's, not the software's (ADR 0159): implemented under the seat's
+  // name — `registerModuleTools("mesh-store", …)` — and never confused with the module's own tools.
+  const implementations = new Map<string, Map<string, (args: Record<string, unknown>) => Promise<unknown>>>();
+  const definitions = new Map<string, Map<string, ToolDefinition>>();
+  for (const { module, tools } of registrations) {
+    const defs = definitions.get(module) ?? new Map<string, ToolDefinition>();
+    for (const t of tools) defs.set(t.name, t);
+    definitions.set(module, defs);
+  }
+  for (const { module, owner, tools } of registrations) {
+    const verbs = implementations.get(module) ?? new Map<string, (args: Record<string, unknown>) => Promise<unknown>>();
+    for (const t of tools) verbs.set(t.name, (args) => atWork.run({ module: owner }, () => t.run(args)));
+    implementations.set(module, verbs);
+  }
+
+  /** Every verb of every seat a served module claims, where the mesh issued it. */
+  const wanted = (): SeatVerb[] => {
+    const out: SeatVerb[] = [];
+    const have = new Set<string>();
+    const add = (v: SeatVerb): void => {
+      if (have.has(v.subject)) return;
+      have.add(v.subject);
+      out.push(v);
+    };
+    for (const module of served) {
+      const m = typeof broker.membership === "function" ? broker.membership(module) : undefined;
+      for (const s of m?.seats ?? []) add({ seat: s.seat, verb: s.verb, subject: s.subject, holder: module });
+      // The credential's claims, for the module's own runtime, ONLY until the mesh issues a
+      // membership (novox/hq issue 218). The credential names what the module claims; the membership
+      // names what it holds on this machine. A seat held once for the mesh is claimed by every
+      // machine running the module and held by one, so once a membership exists it decides: a claim
+      // it leaves out is not held here, and serving it anyway announced the seat from a machine the
+      // bus then refused it on.
+      if (module !== self || m) continue;
+      for (const claim of credential?.claims ?? []) {
+        for (const verb of claim.serves ?? []) {
+          const subject = seatToolSubject(claim.seat, verb, claim.scope, credential?.node);
+          add({ seat: claim.seat, verb, subject, holder: module });
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return out;
+  };
+
+  let stops: (() => void)[] = [];
+  let servingNow: ServedSeatVerb[] = [];
+  const serve = async (): Promise<void> => {
+    stops.forEach((s) => s());
+    stops = [];
+    servingNow = [];
+    for (const v of wanted()) {
+      const run = implementations.get(v.seat)?.get(v.verb);
+      const tool = definitions.get(v.seat)?.get(v.verb);
+      if (!run) {
+        console.log(`[mesh-tools] ${v.holder} claims ${v.seat} and implements no ${v.verb}, which that seat promises; not served`);
+        continue;
+      }
+      stops.push(await broker.handleSubject(v.subject, run));
+      if (tool) servingNow.push({ ...v, tool });
+      console.log(`[mesh-tools] serving ${v.seat}'s ${v.verb} on ${v.subject}, admitted where ${v.holder} holds the seat`);
+    }
+  };
+  await serve();
+  // A membership issued to any served module may add, move or withdraw a seat's verbs.
+  if (typeof broker.onMembership === "function") broker.onMembership(() => void serve());
+  return { stop: () => stops.forEach((s) => s()), serving: () => servingNow };
+}

node-tools/test/announce.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/**
+ * What a runtime serves, it announces (novox/hq ADR 0197): the TypeScript runtime the per-module
+ * containers still run answers the NATS services protocol's discovery in the same shape as the Go
+ * tool runtime — its module's tools on every subject issued, and the seat verbs it serves.
+ *
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/announce.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { connect, StringCodec } from "nats";
+
+import { resetTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+import { connectNats, membershipSubject } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+import { runTools } from "../dist/runtime.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+const fixture = (name: string) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`./fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+const sc = StringCodec();
+
+test("the runtime answers $SRV.INFO with what it serves, in the services protocol's format", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const nc = await connect({ servers: url });
+  const jsm = await nc.jetstreamManager();
+  try {
+    await jsm.streams.delete("ASSIGNMENTS");
+  } catch {
+    // none yet
+  }
+  await jsm.streams.add({ name: "ASSIGNMENTS", subjects: ["mesh.assignment.>"], max_msgs_per_subject: 1, allow_direct: true } as never);
+  await nc.jetstream().publish(membershipSubject("anchor", "shop"), sc.encode(JSON.stringify({
+    node: "anchor", module: "shop",
+    serves: [{ subject: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.{tool}.anchor" }, { subject: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.{tool}", queue: "serve.shop" }],
+    emits: "mesh.mod.shop.event.{event}", tools: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.tools",
+  })));
+  const shop = await connectNats({ url, node: "anchor", module: "shop" });
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: shop, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("shop-tools.mjs")] });
+    const msg = await nc.request("$SRV.INFO.shop.anchor", sc.encode(""), { timeout: 2000 });
+    const info = JSON.parse(sc.decode(msg.data)) as {
+      type: string; name: string; id: string; version: string;
+      endpoints: { name: string; subject: string; queue_group: string; metadata: Record<string, string> }[];
+    };
+    assert.equal(info.type, "io.nats.micro.v1.info_response");
+    assert.equal(info.name, "shop");
+    assert.equal(info.id, "anchor");
+    assert.ok(info.version);
+    const price = info.endpoints.filter((e) => e.metadata.tool === "price").map((e) => `${e.subject}|${e.queue_group}`).sort();
+    assert.deepEqual(price, ["mesh.mod.shop.tool.price.anchor|", "mesh.mod.shop.tool.price|serve.shop"]);
+    const one = info.endpoints.find((e) => e.metadata.tool === "price")!;
+    assert.equal(one.metadata.kind, "tool");
+    assert.equal(one.metadata.module, "shop");
+    assert.equal(one.metadata.node, "anchor");
+    assert.equal(one.metadata.interchangeable, "true");
+    assert.ok(JSON.parse(one.metadata.schema).type === "object");
+    // Ping answers with the same identity; another service's request is not answered.
+    const ping = JSON.parse(sc.decode((await nc.request("$SRV.PING", sc.encode(""), { timeout: 2000 })).data));
+    assert.equal(ping.type, "io.nats.micro.v1.ping_response");
+    await assert.rejects(nc.request("$SRV.INFO.somebody-else", sc.encode(""), { timeout: 300 }));
+  } finally {
+    stop();
+    await shop.close();
+    await nc.close();
+    resetTools();
+  }
+});

node-tools/test/client.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+/**
+ * A person's client, against a real bus.
+ *
+ * What is worth checking is not that a request/reply works — the runtime's own tests cover that — but
+ * that the two surfaces are the same thing. An agent and a person must see the same tools and get the
+ * same answers, or the MCP surface becomes a second definition of what a tool is.
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14232:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/client.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+
+// The built output, not the source: the client imports its siblings as `.js`, which is what ships and
+// what every other file here does, and cannot be loaded as TypeScript directly. `pretest` builds.
+import { connectNats } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+import { callTool, seatsIn, toolKey, toolsOn, whyItFailed } from "../dist/client.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+
+/** A mesh as discovery sees it (design 34 §3): the catalogue holding three modules, two of them up
+ *  and answering `tools`, one held and not running. Two connections, because a person and a module
+ *  are different users even in a test. */
+async function aMeshWithTools() {
+  const catalogue = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "mesh-catalog" });
+  const shop = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "shop" });
+  await catalogue.handle("catalog_modules", async () => ({
+    modules: [{ module: "shop" }, { module: "mesh-catalog" }, { module: "ghost" }],
+  }));
+  await catalogue.handle("tools", async () => ({
+    module: "mesh-catalog",
+    tools: [{ name: "catalog_modules", description: "what modules the mesh has", input: {} }],
+  }));
+  await shop.handle("tools", async () => ({
+    module: "shop",
+    tools: [{ name: "price", description: "what something costs", input: { type: "object" } }],
+  }));
+  await shop.handle("price", async (body: { of?: string }) => ({ of: body.of ?? "nothing", cost: 12 }));
+  // And the mesh's own records, served by the holder of the mesh-controller seat (ADR 0154): one
+  // role's tool, and the verb that lists every role's.
+  const controller = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "mesh-controller" });
+  await controller.handle("seat:mesh-controller.tools", async () => ({
+    seats: [
+      { seat: "mesh-controller", scope: "mesh", tools: [{ name: "status", description: "what is wrong", input: {} }] },
+      { seat: "node-dns-resolver", scope: "node", tools: [{ name: "lookup", description: "one machine's", input: {} }] },
+    ],
+  }));
+  await controller.handle("seat:mesh-controller.status", async () => ({ output: "all quiet", ok: true }));
+  return {
+    async close() {
+      await catalogue.close();
+      await shop.close();
+      await controller.close();
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+test("a person sees what the running modules answer, sorted, and who did not answer", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const mesh = await aMeshWithTools();
+  const person = await connectNats({ url, module: "person.ada" });
+  try {
+    const began = Date.now();
+    const have = await toolsOn(person);
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      have.tools.map((x) => `${x.module}.${x.name}`),
+      ["mesh-catalog.catalog_modules", "mesh-controller.status", "node-dns-resolver.lookup", "shop.price"],
+      "the list is what the modules answered plus every role's tools, in a stable order",
+    );
+    // A role's tool is marked as one; a node-scoped seat's carries its scope, so a caller names
+    // the machine and the verb resolves as the seat's (design 33 §4, ADR 0170).
+    assert.ok(have.tools.find((x) => x.module === "mesh-controller")!.seat);
+    const lookup = have.tools.find((x) => x.module === "node-dns-resolver")!;
+    assert.ok(lookup.seat && lookup.scope === "node");
+    assert.equal(toolKey("node-dns-resolver.lookup", seatsIn(have)), "seat:node-dns-resolver.lookup");
+    // Silence is named, never dropped: a module the catalogue holds and nothing answered for.
+    assert.deepEqual(have.notAnswering, ["ghost"]);
+    // And at once: a module that is not running costs nothing, or the list is unusable.
+    assert.ok(Date.now() - began < 5_000, "an absent module waited out the timeout");
+  } finally {
+    await person.close();
+    await mesh.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a person calls a tool and gets the module's own answer, unshaped", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const mesh = await aMeshWithTools();
+  const person = await connectNats({ url, module: "person.ada" });
+  try {
+    const answer = await callTool(person, "shop.price", { of: "a hat" });
+    assert.deepEqual(answer.result, { of: "a hat", cost: 12 });
+  } finally {
+    await person.close();
+    await mesh.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a tool nobody serves says so at once, and says what to do about it", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const person = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "person.ada" });
+  try {
+    const began = Date.now();
+    await assert.rejects(() => callTool(person, "ghost.missing", {}));
+    // At once, not after the whole wait: "that module is down" and "that tool is slow" need
+    // different things done, and a timeout cannot tell them apart.
+    assert.ok(Date.now() - began < 5_000, "a tool nobody serves waited out the timeout");
+  } finally {
+    await person.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a name that is not <module>.<tool> is refused before anything is sent", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const person = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "person.ada" });
+  try {
+    await assert.rejects(() => callTool(person, "price", {}), /does not name a tool/);
+  } finally {
+    await person.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("each way a call fails says what to do about it", () => {
+  // The three answers a person actually gets. Without this they are one timeout and a stack trace,
+  // and the remedies are in three different places.
+  assert.match(whyItFailed("shop.price", new Error("no responders")), /nothing serves shop\.price/);
+  assert.match(
+    whyItFailed("shop.price", new Error("Permissions Violation for Publish")),
+    /may not call shop\.price/,
+  );
+  assert.match(whyItFailed("shop.price", new Error("timeout")), /did not answer in time/);
+  assert.match(whyItFailed("shop.price", new Error("something else")), /something else/);
+});
+
+test("a role's tool is reached through the seat, and a module's own name is never shadowed", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const { seatsIn, toolKey } = await import("../dist/client.js");
+  const mesh = await aMeshWithTools();
+  const person = await connectNats({ url, module: "person.ada" });
+  try {
+    const roles = seatsIn(await toolsOn(person));
+    assert.equal(toolKey("mesh-controller.status", roles), "seat:mesh-controller.status");
+    assert.equal(toolKey("mesh-controller.other", roles), "mesh-controller.other", "a verb the seat does not declare is a module's");
+    assert.equal(toolKey("shop.price", roles), "shop.price");
+    const answer = await callTool(person, "mesh-controller.status", {}, roles);
+    assert.deepEqual(answer.result, { output: "all quiet", ok: true });
+    const direct = await callTool(person, "seat:mesh-controller.status", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(direct.result, { output: "all quiet", ok: true });
+  } finally {
+    await person.close();
+    await mesh.close();
+  }
+});
+
+// A module on two machines (novox/hq ADR 0159): a call names the machine and reaches that instance
+// and no other; a call that names none reaches one of them and says which; a seat's verb is served
+// by the claimant's tool of the same name on the seat's own subject.
+test("a tool call names the machine it is for, and every answer says which machine answered", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const onAnchor = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "store", node: "anchor" });
+  const onHome = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "store", node: "home-server" });
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  try {
+    await onAnchor.handle("databases", async () => ({ at: "anchor" }));
+    await onHome.handle("databases", async () => ({ at: "home-server" }));
+
+    const home = await callTool(asker, "store.databases@home-server", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(home.result, { at: "home-server" });
+    assert.equal(home.node, "home-server");
+    const anchor = await callTool(asker, "store.databases@anchor", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(anchor.result, { at: "anchor" });
+    assert.equal(anchor.node, "anchor");
+
+    const whichever = await callTool(asker, "store.databases", {});
+    assert.ok(["anchor", "home-server"].includes(whichever.node ?? ""), `an unnamed call still says who answered: ${whichever.node}`);
+    assert.deepEqual(whichever.result, { at: whichever.node });
+
+    // A seat's verb, served by the claimant on the seat's subject; a mesh seat's is flat.
+    await onAnchor.handleSubject("mesh.seat.mesh-store.tool.databases", async () => ({ seat: "mesh-store", at: "anchor" }));
+    const viaSeat = await callTool(asker, "seat:mesh-store.databases", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(viaSeat.result, { seat: "mesh-store", at: "anchor" });
+    assert.equal(viaSeat.node, "anchor");
+  } finally {
+    await onAnchor.close();
+    await onHome.close();
+    await asker.close();
+  }
+});

node-tools/test/conformance.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+// The TypeScript implementation, held to the shared fixtures (novox/hq ADR 0074, design 19).
+//
+// Run against a NATS server, because the question is what actually reaches the wire:
+//
+//   docker run -d --rm --name c -p 14222:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+//   node test/conformance.mjs
+//
+// **The runner lives with the implementation it exercises; the fixture does not.** It is read
+// from the sdk's conformance directory by sibling path — the same file the Go suite reads. A
+// fixture copied into each implementation is two fixtures, and two fixtures drift, which is the
+// failure the suite exists to prevent.
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { connect } from "nats";
+
+const clientPath = process.argv[2] ?? "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+const { connectNats } = await import(clientPath);
+const f = JSON.parse(readFileSync(new URL("../../mesh-sdk/conformance/events/module-event.json", import.meta.url)));
+const URL_ = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS ?? "nats://127.0.0.1:14222";
+
+let failed = 0;
+const check = (ok, what) => { console.log(`  ${ok ? "ok  " : "FAIL"}  ${what}`); if (!ok) failed++; };
+
+const admin = await connect({ servers: URL_ });
+const jsm = await admin.jetstreamManager();
+await jsm.streams.add({ name: "EVENTS", subjects: ["mesh.mod.*.event.>", "mesh.seat.*.event.>"] });
+
+const shop = await connectNats({ url: URL_, node: f.given.node, module: f.given.module });
+await shop.publish({ key: f.given.key, node: f.given.node, body: f.given.body, headers: f.given.headers });
+
+// What actually landed, read back from the stream rather than from the client that wrote it.
+const msg = await jsm.streams.getMessage("EVENTS", { last_by_subj: f.wire.subject });
+check(!!msg, `it lands on ${f.wire.subject}`);
+
+if (msg) {
+  const got = {};
+  if (msg.header) for (const k of msg.header.keys()) got[k] = msg.header.get(k);
+  for (const h of f.wire.requiredHeaders) {
+    check(got[h] !== undefined && got[h] !== "", `${h} is set`);
+  }
+  check(got["content-type"] === f.wire.headerFormats["content-type"], "content-type is as pinned");
+  check(new RegExp(f.wire.headerFormats["x-event-id"]).test(got["x-event-id"]), "x-event-id is as pinned");
+  check(!Number.isNaN(Date.parse(got["x-time"])), "x-time parses as a date");
+  check(got["x-source"] === f.given.module, "x-source agrees with the subject's module");
+
+  const payload = JSON.parse(new TextDecoder().decode(msg.data));
+  check(payload.envelope === undefined && payload.key === undefined,
+    "the payload is the body alone, not the envelope (the fixture refuses nesting)");
+  check(JSON.stringify(payload) === JSON.stringify(f.given.body),
+    "the body round-trips — semantic, not byte-exact, per the README");
+}
+
+await shop.close(); await admin.close();
+console.log(failed ? `\n${failed} failed` : "\nall passed");
+process.exit(failed ? 1 : 0);

node-tools/test/fixtures/clash-tools.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+// A module naming a tool after the verb the runtime answers for every module — refused at load.
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+registerModuleTools("clash", () => [
+  { name: "tools", description: "mine, not the runtime's", input: {}, run: async () => ({}) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/clash-tools.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for clash-tools.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./clash-tools.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/env-delta.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+registerModuleTools("delta", (env) => [
+  { name: "given", description: "what delta was given", input: {}, run: async () => ({ mine: env.DELTA_TOKEN_FILE ?? null, theirs: env.GAMMA_CONFIG_FILE ?? null }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/env-delta.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for env-delta.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./env-delta.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/env-gamma.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+// A bundle that reads what it was given (novox/hq ADR 0192): its contributor's environment.
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+registerModuleTools("gamma", (env) => [
+  { name: "given", description: "what gamma was given", input: {}, run: async () => ({ mine: env.GAMMA_CONFIG_FILE ?? null, theirs: env.DELTA_TOKEN_FILE ?? null, runtime: env.MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT ?? null, composed: env.MESH_TOOL_ENV ?? null }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/env-gamma.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for env-gamma.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./env-gamma.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/env-zeta.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Launched (ADR 0188): its environment is the child's own.
+import { serveStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await serveStdio("zeta", [
+  { name: "given", description: "what zeta was given", input: {}, run: async () => ({ mine: process.env.ZETA_URL ?? null, theirs: process.env.GAMMA_CONFIG_FILE ?? null, composed: process.env.MESH_TOOL_ENV ?? null }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/flaky.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// A long-running bundle that keeps exiting (novox/hq ADR 0198): the runtime starts it again each time.
+import { appendFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { serveStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+appendFileSync(process.env.FLAKY_LOG, "started\n");
+setTimeout(() => process.exit(3), 300);
+await serveStdio("flaky", []);

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-alpha.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+// One of several bundles the node's runtime loads (novox/hq ADR 0175): a module with two tools.
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+import { emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
+
+registerModuleTools("alpha", () => [
+  { name: "one", description: "alpha's first", input: {}, run: async () => ({ alpha: 1 }) },
+  // A tool that emits: the event must land on alpha's subject, not the runtime's.
+  { name: "two", description: "alpha's second, which emits", input: {}, run: async () => { await emit("happened", { by: "alpha" }); return { alpha: 2 }; } },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-alpha.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for many-alpha.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./many-alpha.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-beta.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// One of several bundles the node's runtime loads (novox/hq ADR 0175): a module with three tools of
+// its own and the implementation of a node seat's two verbs under the seat's name (ADR 0159).
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+registerModuleTools("beta", () => [
+  { name: "three", description: "beta's", input: { verbose: { type: "boolean", description: "say more" } }, run: async () => ({ beta: 3 }) },
+  { name: "four", description: "beta's", input: {}, run: async () => ({ beta: 4 }) },
+  { name: "five", description: "beta's", input: {}, run: async () => ({ beta: 5 }) },
+]);
+
+registerModuleTools("node-shelf", () => [
+  { name: "list", description: "what is on the shelf", input: {}, run: async () => ({ shelf: ["a", "b"] }) },
+  { name: "clear", description: "take it all off", input: {}, run: async () => ({ cleared: true }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-beta.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for many-beta.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./many-beta.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-broken.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// A bundle that throws on import — the fault ADR 0175 names as what got harder: one module's bundle
+// must not take the node's other tools down.
+throw new Error("gamma's bundle cannot find its client");

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-broken.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for many-broken.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./many-broken.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-delta.py

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# A tools bundle in a second language (novox/hq ADR 0188): MCP over stdio, no SDK, no dependencies.
+# One tool of its own, one seat verb, and one that exits the process mid-call.
+import json, sys
+
+def say(m):
+    m["jsonrpc"] = "2.0"; sys.stdout.write(json.dumps(m) + "\n"); sys.stdout.flush()
+
+TOOLS = [
+    {"name": "greet", "description": "say hello", "inputSchema": {"type": "object", "properties": {"who": {"type": "string"}}}},
+    {"name": "node-lamp.on", "description": "the seat's verb", "inputSchema": {"type": "object", "properties": {}}},
+    {"name": "die", "description": "exit without answering", "inputSchema": {"type": "object", "properties": {}}},
+]
+for line in sys.stdin:
+    req = json.loads(line); rid = req.get("id"); m = req.get("method"); p = req.get("params") or {}
+    if m == "initialize":
+        say({"id": rid, "result": {"protocolVersion": "2025-03-26", "capabilities": {"tools": {}}, "serverInfo": {"name": "delta", "version": "1"}}})
+    elif m == "tools/list":
+        say({"id": rid, "result": {"tools": TOOLS}})
+    elif m == "tools/call":
+        name = p.get("name"); args = p.get("arguments") or {}
+        if name == "greet":
+            say({"id": rid, "result": {"content": [{"type": "text", "text": json.dumps({"greeting": "hello " + args.get("who", "world"), "language": "python"})}]}})
+        elif name == "node-lamp.on":
+            say({"id": rid, "result": {"content": [{"type": "text", "text": json.dumps({"on": True, "language": "python"})}]}})
+        elif name == "die":
+            print("delta: told to die", file=sys.stderr); sys.exit(3)
+        else:
+            say({"id": rid, "error": {"code": -32602, "message": "no such tool"}})

node-tools/test/fixtures/many-epsilon.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// A TypeScript bundle written against the protocol and marked executable: served through the
+// launcher like any other language, with the in-process shortcut off (novox/hq ADR 0188).
+import { serveStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+
+await serveStdio("epsilon", [
+  { name: "seven", description: "epsilon's", input: {}, run: async () => ({ epsilon: 7, via: "stdio" }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/refusing-nats.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# A bus that refuses one subject: what the mesh's grants do to a subject they do not name (issue 217).
+authorization {
+  users = [
+    { user: "runtime", password: "runtime", permissions: {
+        publish: { allow: [">"] }
+        subscribe: { allow: [">"], deny: ["$SRV.PING.>", "mesh.seat.held-elsewhere.>"] }
+    } }
+  ]
+}
+jetstream: enabled

node-tools/test/fixtures/served-seat-first.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// A launched bundle registering its seat before its own tools, served through the SDK's loop
+// (novox/hq ADR 0193): which is the seat's and which the module's comes from the name it is given.
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+registerModuleTools("node-shelf", () => [{ name: "list", description: "the shelf", input: {}, run: async () => ({ shelf: ["x"] }) }]);
+registerModuleTools("theta", (env) => [{ name: "own", description: "theta's", input: {}, run: async () => ({ theta: env.THETA_WORD ?? null }) }]);
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/shop-seat.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// The shop again, in a file of its own: a module imported once stays imported, so a second test needs a second entrypoint.
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+registerModuleTools("shop", () => [
+  {
+    name: "price",
+    description: "what something costs",
+    input: { of: { type: "string", description: "the thing" } },
+    run: async (args) => ({ of: args.of ?? "nothing", cost: 12 }),
+  },
+  { name: "refund", description: "give it back", input: {}, run: async () => ({ done: true }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/shop-seat.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for shop-seat.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./shop-seat.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/shop-tools.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// A module's tool entrypoint, as the runtime imports one: registers and returns.
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+registerModuleTools("shop", () => [
+  {
+    name: "price",
+    description: "what something costs",
+    input: { of: { type: "string", description: "the thing" } },
+    run: async (args) => ({ of: args.of ?? "nothing", cost: 12 }),
+  },
+  { name: "refund", description: "give it back", input: {}, run: async () => ({ done: true }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/shop-tools.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for shop-tools.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./shop-tools.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/state-keeper.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// A bundle that keeps and reads state through the runtime (novox/hq ADR 0201), written against the
+// protocol with no SDK: on start it watches STATE_NAME and writes every change it is handed to
+// STATE_LOG; its tools put, get, delete and list keys of whichever state they name.
+import { appendFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { createInterface } from "node:readline";
+
+const say = (m) => process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", ...m }) + "\n");
+let next = 1;
+const waiting = new Map();
+const ask = (method, params) => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+  const id = `keeper-${next++}`;
+  waiting.set(id, { resolve, reject });
+  say({ id, method, params });
+});
+const log = (line) => appendFileSync(process.env.STATE_LOG, line + "\n");
+const text = (v) => ({ content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(v ?? null) }] });
+const tool = (name) => ({ name, description: name, inputSchema: { type: "object", properties: {} } });
+const TOOLS = ["put", "get", "del", "keys"].map(tool);
+
+createInterface({ input: process.stdin }).on("line", async (line) => {
+  const m = JSON.parse(line);
+  if (m.method === undefined && waiting.has(m.id)) {
+    const w = waiting.get(m.id); waiting.delete(m.id);
+    m.error ? w.reject(new Error(m.error.message)) : w.resolve(m.result);
+    return;
+  }
+  const p = m.params ?? {};
+  switch (m.method) {
+    case "initialize":
+      say({ id: m.id, result: { protocolVersion: "2025-03-26", capabilities: { tools: {} }, serverInfo: { name: "keeper", version: "1" } } });
+      // Watched once the runtime has the handshake: the current values, then every change.
+      ask("mesh/state.watch", { state: process.env.STATE_NAME })
+        .then(() => log("current"), (e) => log("watch refused: " + e.message));
+      return;
+    case "tools/list":
+      say({ id: m.id, result: { tools: TOOLS } });
+      return;
+    case "mesh/state": {
+      const c = p.change;
+      log(`${c.current ? "was" : "now"} ${c.op} ${c.key}${c.value !== undefined ? " " + JSON.stringify(c.value) : ""}`);
+      say({ id: m.id, result: {} });
+      return;
+    }
+    case "tools/call": {
+      const a = p.arguments ?? {};
+      const verb = { put: "put", get: "get", del: "delete", keys: "keys" }[p.name];
+      try {
+        say({ id: m.id, result: text(await ask(`mesh/state.${verb}`, { state: a.state, key: a.key, value: a.value })) });
+      } catch (e) {
+        say({ id: m.id, result: { content: [{ type: "text", text: e.message }], isError: true } });
+      }
+      return;
+    }
+    default:
+      if (m.id !== undefined) say({ id: m.id, error: { code: -32601, message: "no " + m.method } });
+  }
+});

node-tools/test/fixtures/state-sdk.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// A module that keeps state through the SDK (novox/hq ADR 0201): it watches its servers as it is
+// imported, and writes each change it is handed to STATE_LOG; one tool registers a server.
+import { appendFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { state } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/state";
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+const servers = state("servers");
+await servers.watch((c) => appendFileSync(process.env.STATE_LOG, `${c.current ? "was" : "now"} ${c.op} ${c.key}\n`));
+await servers.watch((c) => appendFileSync(process.env.STATE_LOG, `narrow ${c.op} ${c.key}\n`), { key: "anchor.*" });
+appendFileSync(process.env.STATE_LOG, "current\n");
+registerModuleTools("sdkkeeper", () => [
+  { name: "register", description: "put a server", input: {}, run: async (a) => servers.put(a.key, { url: a.url }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/state-sdk.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for state-sdk.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./state-sdk.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/store-claimant.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// A copy for the issue 218 test: a fixture registers once per process, at import.
+// A module that is both software and a role: postgres's own tools under its name, and its
+// implementation of the mesh-store seat's verbs under the seat's (novox/hq ADR 0159, 0160).
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+registerModuleTools("postgres", () => [
+  { name: "postgres_create_database", description: "make one", input: {}, run: async () => ({ made: true }) },
+  { name: "databases", description: "postgres's own listing", input: {}, run: async () => ({ software: "postgres" }) },
+]);
+
+registerModuleTools("mesh-store", () => [
+  { name: "databases", description: "what the store holds", input: {}, run: async () => ({ seat: "mesh-store" }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/store-seat-unclaimed.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// A module that is both software and a role: postgres's own tools under its name, and its
+// implementation of the mesh-store seat's verbs under the seat's (novox/hq ADR 0159, 0160).
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+registerModuleTools("postgres", () => [
+  { name: "postgres_create_database", description: "make one", input: {}, run: async () => ({ made: true }) },
+  { name: "databases", description: "postgres's own listing", input: {}, run: async () => ({ software: "postgres" }) },
+]);
+
+registerModuleTools("mesh-store", () => [
+  { name: "databases", description: "what the store holds", input: {}, run: async () => ({ seat: "mesh-store" }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/store-seat-unclaimed.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for store-seat-unclaimed.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./store-seat-unclaimed.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/store-seat.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// A module that is both software and a role: postgres's own tools under its name, and its
+// implementation of the mesh-store seat's verbs under the seat's (novox/hq ADR 0159, 0160).
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+registerModuleTools("postgres", () => [
+  { name: "postgres_create_database", description: "make one", input: {}, run: async () => ({ made: true }) },
+  { name: "databases", description: "postgres's own listing", input: {}, run: async () => ({ software: "postgres" }) },
+]);
+
+registerModuleTools("mesh-store", () => [
+  { name: "databases", description: "what the store holds", input: {}, run: async () => ({ seat: "mesh-store" }) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/store-seat.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for store-seat.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./store-seat.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/fixtures/watcher.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+// A module whose code runs long (novox/hq ADR 0198): it subscribes as it is imported, handles each
+// event once it can, fails the first time it is asked to, dies the first time it is told to, and one
+// tool asks another module's tool through the runtime. What it did is written to WATCH_LOG.
+import { appendFileSync, existsSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { on } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
+import { broker } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/messaging";
+import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+const log = process.env.WATCH_LOG;
+const once = (mark) => {
+  const file = `${log}.${mark}`;
+  if (existsSync(file)) return false;
+  writeFileSync(file, "1");
+  return true;
+};
+appendFileSync(log, "started\n");
+await on("alpha.happened", async (e) => {
+  if (e.body.fail && once(`fail-${e.body.n}`)) throw new Error(`not yet ${e.body.n}`);
+  if (e.body.die && once(`die-${e.body.n}`)) process.exit(7);
+  appendFileSync(log, `handled ${e.body.n}\n`);
+});
+registerModuleTools("watcher", () => [
+  { name: "relay", description: "asks beta", input: {}, run: async () => broker().request("beta.three", {}) },
+]);

node-tools/test/fixtures/watcher.serve.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// The launcher the builder writes beside an entrypoint (novox/hq ADR 0193), for watcher.mjs.
+import { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";
+await import("./watcher.mjs");
+await serveRegisteredOverStdio();

node-tools/test/http.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+/**
+ * The console: the same surface over HTTP on loopback, started the way the mesh starts it — on the
+ * module credential in MESH_BROKER_FILE (novox/hq ADR 0152, design 34 §2).
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14232:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/http.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { spawn, type ChildProcess } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtemp, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+
+import { connectNats } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+import { serveMcpHttp } from "../dist/http.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+
+async function aMesh(t: { after: (fn: () => Promise<void> | void) => void }) {
+  const catalogue = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "mesh-catalog" });
+  const shop = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "shop" });
+  await catalogue.handle("catalog_modules", async () => ({ modules: [{ module: "shop" }] }));
+  await shop.handle("tools", async () => ({
+    module: "shop",
+    tools: [{ name: "price", description: "what something costs", input: {} }],
+  }));
+  await shop.handle("price", async (body: { of?: string }) => ({ of: body.of ?? "nothing", cost: 12 }));
+  t.after(async () => {
+    await catalogue.close();
+    await shop.close();
+  });
+}
+
+/** `mesh serve` as the mesh runs it: MESH_BROKER_FILE, a listen address, nothing else. */
+async function aConsole(t: { after: (fn: () => Promise<void> | void) => void }): Promise<string> {
+  const dir = await mkdtemp("/tmp/mesh-console-");
+  const credential = join(dir, "broker");
+  await writeFile(credential, JSON.stringify({ url, node: "desk", module: "mesh-console", user: "desk.mesh-console", password: "x" }));
+  const child: ChildProcess = spawn(process.execPath, ["dist/mesh.js", "serve", "--listen", "127.0.0.1:0"], {
+    env: { ...process.env, MESH_BROKER_FILE: credential, MESH_CREDENTIAL: "" },
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
+  });
+  t.after(() => {
+    child.kill("SIGTERM");
+  });
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    let out = "";
+    let err = "";
+    child.stdout!.on("data", (d) => {
+      out += d.toString();
+      const m = /listening on (http:\/\/[^/]+\/mcp)/.exec(out);
+      if (m) resolve(m[1]!);
+    });
+    child.stderr!.on("data", (d) => (err += d.toString()));
+    child.on("exit", (code) => reject(new Error(`serve exited ${code}: ${err}`)));
+  });
+}
+
+async function post(endpoint: string, body: unknown): Promise<{ status: number; json?: any }> {
+  const res = await fetch(endpoint, {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: { "content-type": "application/json", accept: "application/json" },
+    body: JSON.stringify(body),
+  });
+  const text = await res.text();
+  return { status: res.status, json: text ? JSON.parse(text) : undefined };
+}
+
+test("the console answers a host on loopback, as the account the mesh gave it", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  await aMesh(t);
+  const endpoint = await aConsole(t);
+
+  const hello = await post(endpoint, { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "initialize", params: {} });
+  assert.equal(hello.status, 200);
+  assert.match(hello.json.result.instructions, /desk\.mesh-console/, "the handshake names the console's account");
+
+  const heard = await post(endpoint, { jsonrpc: "2.0", method: "notifications/initialized" });
+  assert.equal(heard.status, 202, "a notification is heard and not answered");
+
+  const listed = await post(endpoint, { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 2, method: "tools/list" });
+  assert.deepEqual(listed.json.result.tools.map((x: { name: string }) => x.name), ["shop.price"]);
+
+  const called = await post(endpoint, {
+    jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 3, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "shop.price", arguments: { of: "a hat" } },
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(called.json.result.content[0].text), { of: "a hat", cost: 12 });
+
+  // A person's client through the same endpoint, with no credential of its own.
+  const { main } = await import("../dist/mesh.js");
+  const logged: string[] = [];
+  const was = console.log;
+  console.log = (line: string) => logged.push(String(line));
+  try {
+    assert.equal(await main(["tools", "--console", endpoint]), 0);
+  } finally {
+    console.log = was;
+  }
+  assert.ok(logged.some((l) => l.startsWith("shop.price")), `the client did not list through the console: ${logged}`);
+});
+
+test("the console binds loopback and nowhere else", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const bus = await connectNats({ url, module: "mesh-console", node: "desk" });
+  try {
+    await assert.rejects(() => serveMcpHttp(bus, "desk.mesh-console", "0.0.0.0:0"), /loopback and nowhere else/);
+    const up = await serveMcpHttp(bus, "desk.mesh-console", "127.0.0.1:0");
+    assert.match(up.address, /^127\.0\.0\.1:\d+$/);
+    await up.close();
+  } finally {
+    await bus.close();
+  }
+});

node-tools/test/mcp.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+/**
+ * The MCP surface, driven the way a host drives it.
+ *
+ * **The claim worth checking is that it is the same thing the command line is.** An agent and a
+ * person must see the same tools and get the same answers, or this becomes a second definition of what
+ * a tool is — which is exactly what a thin adapter is supposed to avoid.
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14232:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/mcp.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+
+import { connectNats } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+
+/** A module answering the catalogue's list and one tool, plus a credential file the client reads. */
+async function aMeshAndACredential(t: { after: (fn: () => Promise<void> | void) => void }) {
+  const catalogue = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "mesh-catalog" });
+  const shop = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "shop" });
+  await catalogue.handle("catalog_modules", async () => ({
+    modules: [{ module: "shop" }, { module: "ghost" }],
+  }));
+  await shop.handle("tools", async () => ({
+    module: "shop",
+    tools: [{ name: "price", description: "what something costs", input: { of: { type: "string" } } }],
+  }));
+  await shop.handle("price", async (body: { of?: string }) => ({ of: body.of ?? "nothing", cost: 12 }));
+  const controller = await connectNats({ url: url!, module: "mesh-controller" });
+  await controller.handle("seat:mesh-controller.tools", async () => ({
+    seats: [
+      { seat: "mesh-controller", scope: "mesh", tools: [
+        { name: "status", description: "what is wrong", input: {} },
+        { name: "push", description: "tell a machine", input: { node: { type: "string" } } },
+      ] },
+      // A seat held once per machine (design 33 §4, ADR 0170): its verb is asked of one.
+      { seat: "node-dns-resolver", scope: "node", tools: [{ name: "lookup", description: "one machine's", input: {} }] },
+    ],
+  }));
+  await controller.handle("seat:node-dns-resolver.lookup@anchor", async () => ({ machine: "anchor", answered: true }));
+  await controller.handle("seat:mesh-controller.status", async () => ({ output: "all quiet", ok: true }));
+  await controller.handle("seat:mesh-controller.push", async (body: { node?: string }) => ({ told: body.node ?? "nobody" }));
+  t.after(async () => {
+    await catalogue.close();
+    await shop.close();
+    await controller.close();
+  });
+
+  const { mkdtemp, writeFile } = await import("node:fs/promises");
+  const { join } = await import("node:path");
+  const dir = await mkdtemp("/tmp/mesh-client-");
+  const path = join(dir, "credential.json");
+  await writeFile(
+    path,
+    JSON.stringify({ url, user: "person.ada", password: "x", person: "ada", invokes: ["shop.price"] }),
+  );
+  return path;
+}
+
+/** Drive `mesh mcp` over stdio and collect the replies, as a host would. */
+function driving(credential: string, requests: unknown[]): Promise<Record<string, any>[]> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const child = spawn(process.execPath, ["dist/mesh.js", "mcp", "--credential", credential], {
+      stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"],
+    });
+    let out = "";
+    let err = "";
+    child.stdout.on("data", (d) => (out += d.toString()));
+    child.stderr.on("data", (d) => (err += d.toString()));
+    child.on("error", reject);
+    child.on("close", () => {
+      const replies = out
+        .split("\n")
+        .filter((l) => l.trim() !== "")
+        .map((l) => JSON.parse(l) as Record<string, any>);
+      if (replies.length === 0 && err !== "") reject(new Error(err));
+      else resolve(replies);
+    });
+    for (const r of requests) child.stdin.write(`${JSON.stringify(r)}\n`);
+    child.stdin.end();
+  });
+}
+
+test("a host initialises, lists the mesh's tools and calls one", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const credential = await aMeshAndACredential(t);
+
+  const replies = await driving(credential, [
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "initialize", params: {} },
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", method: "notifications/initialized" },
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 2, method: "tools/list" },
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 3, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "shop.price", arguments: { of: "a hat" } } },
+  ]);
+
+  const byId = new Map(replies.map((r) => [r.id, r]));
+  // A notification is answered with nothing, or a host waiting on ids sees a reply it cannot match.
+  assert.equal(replies.length, 3, `expected three replies, got ${JSON.stringify(replies)}`);
+
+  const hello = byId.get(1)!.result;
+  assert.equal(hello.protocolVersion, "2025-03-26");
+  assert.ok(hello.capabilities.tools, "a server offering no tools is not this one");
+  assert.match(hello.instructions, /ada/, "the handshake says whose authority a call is made under");
+
+  const listed = byId.get(2)!.result.tools;
+  assert.deepEqual(listed.map((x: { name: string }) => x.name),
+    ["mesh-controller.push", "mesh-controller.status", "node-dns-resolver.lookup", "shop.price"],
+    "the modules' tools and the roles', named the way a person names them");
+  // A node-scoped seat's verb takes the machine, and requires it (ADR 0170).
+  const lookup = listed[2];
+  assert.equal(lookup.inputSchema.properties.node.type, "string");
+  assert.deepEqual(lookup.inputSchema.required, ["node"]);
+  const price = listed[3];
+  assert.ok(price.inputSchema, "a tool with no schema is one an agent cannot call");
+  // A module's bare property map arrives as a schema an agent can read, its words kept — and
+  // `node`, the machine to ask when the module runs on several (novox/hq ADR 0159), beside them.
+  assert.deepEqual(price.inputSchema.properties.of, { type: "string" });
+  assert.equal(price.inputSchema.properties.node.type, "string", "a module's tool takes the machine to ask");
+  assert.ok(!listed[1].inputSchema.properties?.node, "a seat's verb takes no machine; the seat's scope decides");
+  assert.equal(listed[0].inputSchema.properties?.node?.type, "string", "a seat's verb that takes a node of its own keeps it");
+  // Silence is named: the module the catalogue holds and nothing answered for.
+  assert.deepEqual(byId.get(2)!.result._meta.notAnswering, ["ghost"]);
+
+  const called = byId.get(3)!.result;
+  assert.ok(!called.isError, `the call failed: ${JSON.stringify(called)}`);
+  // The module's own answer, unshaped. An adapter that summarised it would be deciding what matters
+  // in somebody else's answer.
+  assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(called.content[0].text), { of: "a hat", cost: 12 });
+});
+
+test("a tool nobody serves comes back as an error the agent can act on", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const credential = await aMeshAndACredential(t);
+
+  const replies = await driving(credential, [
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "ghost.missing", arguments: {} } },
+  ]);
+  const result = replies[0].result;
+  // isError, not a protocol failure: the call was well-formed and the mesh answered it — with an
+  // absence. A JSON-RPC error would tell the agent its request was malformed, which it was not.
+  assert.ok(result?.isError, `expected a tool error, got ${JSON.stringify(replies[0])}`);
+  assert.match(result.content[0].text, /nothing serves ghost\.missing/);
+});
+
+test("a method this surface does not have is refused, and a notification is not", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const credential = await aMeshAndACredential(t);
+
+  const replies = await driving(credential, [
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "resources/list" },
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", method: "notifications/cancelled" },
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(replies.length, 1, "a notification was answered");
+  assert.equal(replies[0].error.code, -32601);
+  assert.match(replies[0].error.message, /resources\/list/);
+});
+
+// A seat's verb that takes a machine as its own argument — `push <node>` — keeps it: the console
+// moves `node` into the subject for a module's tool only (ADR 0159), never for a role's verb.
+test("a seat's verb keeps a node of its own; only a module's tool gives it to the subject", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const credential = await aMeshAndACredential(t);
+  const replies = await driving(credential, [
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "mesh-controller.push", arguments: { node: "anchor" } } },
+  ]);
+  const result = replies[0].result;
+  assert.ok(!result.isError, JSON.stringify(replies[0]));
+  assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(result.content[0].text), { told: "anchor" });
+});
+
+test("a host calls the mesh's own verb through the seat", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const credential = await aMeshAndACredential(t);
+  const replies = await driving(credential, [
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "mesh-controller.status", arguments: {} } },
+  ]);
+  const result = replies[0].result;
+  assert.ok(!result.isError, JSON.stringify(replies[0]));
+  assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(result.content[0].text), { output: "all quiet", ok: true });
+});
+
+test("a node-scoped seat's verb is asked of the machine named, and refused without one", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const credential = await aMeshAndACredential(t);
+  const replies = await driving(credential, [
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "initialize", params: {} },
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 2, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "node-dns-resolver.lookup", arguments: { node: "anchor" } } },
+    { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 3, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "node-dns-resolver.lookup", arguments: {} } },
+  ]);
+  const byId = new Map(replies.map((r) => [r.id, r]));
+  const answered = byId.get(2)!.result;
+  assert.ok(!answered.isError, JSON.stringify(answered));
+  assert.match(answered.content[0].text, /"machine": "anchor"/, "the machine's holder answered");
+  assert.match(byId.get(3)!.error?.message ?? JSON.stringify(byId.get(3)), /name the machine/);
+});

node-tools/test/membership.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,255 @@
+/**
+ * The mesh issues an assignment's subjects, and a runtime serves what it is issued (novox/hq ADR
+ * 0160). A runtime derives one address for itself — `mesh.assignment.<node>.<module>` — reads the
+ * membership there, serves exactly what it says, and re-serves when a new one arrives. Against a
+ * real bus with JetStream, because the membership is a direct get on a stream.
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14232:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/membership.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { connect, StringCodec } from "nats";
+
+import { resetTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+import { connectNats, membershipSubject } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+import { callTool, subjectListed } from "../dist/client.js";
+import { runTools } from "../dist/runtime.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+const fixture = (name: string) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`./fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+const sc = StringCodec();
+
+/** The ASSIGNMENTS stream as the controller asserts it: last-per-subject, readable by direct get. */
+async function anAssignmentsStream() {
+  const nc = await connect({ servers: url! });
+  const jsm = await nc.jetstreamManager();
+  try {
+    await jsm.streams.delete("ASSIGNMENTS");
+  } catch {
+    // none yet
+  }
+  await jsm.streams.add({
+    name: "ASSIGNMENTS",
+    subjects: ["mesh.assignment.>"],
+    max_msgs_per_subject: 1,
+    allow_direct: true,
+  } as never);
+  return {
+    async issue(m: object & { node: string; module: string }) {
+      await nc.jetstream().publish(membershipSubject(m.node, m.module), sc.encode(JSON.stringify(m)));
+    },
+    async close() {
+      await nc.close();
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+test("a runtime serves exactly the subjects it is issued, and the listing carries them", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const stream = await anAssignmentsStream();
+  // The mesh placed shop on two machines that are not interchangeable: each is served by name only.
+  await stream.issue({
+    node: "anchor",
+    module: "shop",
+    serves: [{ subject: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.{tool}.anchor" }],
+    emits: "mesh.mod.shop.event.{event}",
+    tools: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.tools",
+  });
+  const shop = await connectNats({ url, node: "anchor", module: "shop" });
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: shop, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("shop-tools.mjs")] });
+    assert.equal(shop.membership()?.module, "shop", "the runtime read what the mesh issued");
+    // By name it answers; the plain subject was not issued, so nothing serves it.
+    const named = await callTool(asker, "shop.price@anchor", { of: "a hat" });
+    assert.deepEqual(named.result, { of: "a hat", cost: 12 });
+    assert.equal(named.node, "anchor");
+    await assert.rejects(callTool(asker, "shop.price", {}), /no responders|503/i, "a subject not issued is not served");
+    // The tools answer says where each is served, and the client composes nothing.
+    const tools = await asker.request<Record<string, never>, { tools: { name: string; subjects?: string[] }[] }>(
+      "shop.tools",
+      {},
+    );
+    assert.deepEqual(tools.tools.find((x) => x.name === "price")?.subjects, ["mesh.mod.shop.tool.price.anchor"]);
+    const listing = { tools: [{ module: "shop", name: "price", subjects: ["mesh.mod.shop.tool.price.anchor"] }], notAnswering: [] };
+    assert.equal(subjectListed("shop.price", "anchor", listing as never), "mesh.mod.shop.tool.price.anchor");
+    assert.equal(subjectListed("shop.price", "elsewhere", listing as never), undefined);
+
+    // The mesh re-issues the membership with the plain subject too (the modules became
+    // interchangeable); the runtime re-serves on it without a restart.
+    await stream.issue({
+      node: "anchor",
+      module: "shop",
+      serves: [{ subject: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.{tool}", queue: "serve.shop" }, { subject: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.{tool}.anchor" }],
+      emits: "mesh.mod.shop.event.{event}",
+      tools: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.tools",
+    });
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 300));
+    const plain = await callTool(asker, "shop.price", { of: "a coat" });
+    assert.deepEqual(plain.result, { of: "a coat", cost: 12 });
+    assert.equal(plain.node, "anchor");
+  } finally {
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await shop.close();
+    await stream.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a seat's verbs are implemented under the seat's name, served where issued, never listed as the module's", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const stream = await anAssignmentsStream();
+  await stream.issue({
+    node: "anchor",
+    module: "postgres",
+    serves: [{ subject: "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.{tool}", queue: "serve.postgres" }, { subject: "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.{tool}.anchor" }],
+    seats: [{ seat: "mesh-store", verb: "databases", subject: "mesh.seat.mesh-store.tool.databases" }],
+    emits: "mesh.mod.postgres.event.{event}",
+    tools: "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.tools",
+  });
+  const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "postgres", claims: [{ seat: "mesh-store", scope: "mesh", serves: ["databases", "query"] }] };
+  const pg = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: pg, credential, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("store-seat.mjs")] });
+    // The module's own `databases` and the seat's are two tools: postgres's on its subject, the
+    // store's on the seat's, each answering as itself.
+    const own = await callTool(asker, "postgres.databases", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(own.result, { software: "postgres" });
+    const seat = await callTool(asker, "seat:mesh-store.databases", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(seat.result, { seat: "mesh-store" });
+    assert.equal(seat.node, "anchor");
+    // What the seat does not promise — creating a database — is postgres's tool and not the store's.
+    await assert.rejects(callTool(asker, "seat:mesh-store.postgres_create_database", {}), /no responders|503/i);
+    // And the module's `tools` lists only postgres's own, never the seat's implementation.
+    const tools = await asker.request<Record<string, never>, { module: string; tools: { name: string }[] }>("postgres.tools", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(tools.tools.map((x) => x.name).sort(), ["databases", "postgres_create_database"]);
+    await assert.rejects(asker.request("mesh-store.tools", {}), /no responders|503/i, "a seat is not a module with a tools verb");
+  } finally {
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await pg.close();
+    await stream.close();
+  }
+});
+
+// novox/hq issue 218: the store seat is claimed by every machine running postgres and held by one.
+// Where the mesh issued a membership without the seat, the claim in the credential serves nothing:
+// the module's own tools answer, the seat's verbs do not, and the runtime does not announce them.
+test("a claimant the membership does not make the holder serves none of the seat's verbs", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const stream = await anAssignmentsStream();
+  await stream.issue({
+    node: "elsewhere",
+    module: "postgres",
+    serves: [{ subject: "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.{tool}.elsewhere" }],
+    emits: "mesh.mod.postgres.event.{event}",
+    tools: "mesh.mod.postgres.tool.tools",
+  });
+  const credential = { url, node: "elsewhere", module: "postgres", claims: [{ seat: "mesh-store", scope: "mesh", serves: ["databases", "query"] }] };
+  const pg = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: pg, credential, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("store-claimant.mjs")] });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "postgres.databases@elsewhere", {})).result, { software: "postgres" });
+    await assert.rejects(callTool(asker, "seat:mesh-store.databases", {}), /no responders|503/i, "the store is not held here");
+  } finally {
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await pg.close();
+    await stream.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a module named like its seat registers once, and answers as the module and as the seat", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const stream = await anAssignmentsStream();
+  await stream.issue({
+    node: "anchor",
+    module: "shop",
+    serves: [{ subject: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.{tool}", queue: "serve.shop" }, { subject: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.{tool}.anchor" }],
+    seats: [{ seat: "shop", verb: "price", subject: "mesh.seat.shop.tool.price" }],
+    emits: "mesh.mod.shop.event.{event}",
+    tools: "mesh.mod.shop.tool.tools",
+  });
+  const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "shop", claims: [{ seat: "shop", scope: "mesh", serves: ["price"] }] };
+  const shop = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: shop, credential, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("shop-seat.mjs")] });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "shop.price", { of: "a hat" })).result, { of: "a hat", cost: 12 });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "seat:shop.price", { of: "a hat" })).result, { of: "a hat", cost: 12 });
+    const tools = await asker.request<Record<string, never>, { tools: { name: string }[] }>("shop.tools", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(tools.tools.map((x) => x.name), ["price", "refund"]);
+  } finally {
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await shop.close();
+    await stream.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a mesh that has issued nothing yet gets the derived shape, and says so", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  const stream = await anAssignmentsStream();
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const log = console.log;
+  console.log = (...a: unknown[]) => said.push(a.join(" "));
+  let lone;
+  try {
+    lone = await connectNats({ url, node: "home-server", module: "lone" });
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+  }
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  try {
+    assert.equal(lone.membership(), undefined);
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /no membership issued for lone on home-server/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    await lone.handle("ping", async () => ({ pong: true }));
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "lone.ping", {})).result, { pong: true });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "lone.ping@home-server", {})).result, { pong: true });
+  } finally {
+    await asker.close();
+    await lone.close();
+    await stream.close();
+  }
+});
+
+// A module that implements a seat its credential does not (yet) claim is not served for it and does
+// not fall over either: the runtime says so and serves the module's own tools.
+test("a registration under a seat the credential does not claim is said and skipped, not fatal", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const stream = await anAssignmentsStream();
+  const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "postgres" };
+  const pg = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const log = console.log;
+  console.log = (...a: unknown[]) => said.push(a.join(" "));
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: pg, credential, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("store-seat-unclaimed.mjs")] });
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /registers tools under "mesh-store".*not served/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "postgres.databases", {})).result, { software: "postgres" });
+    await assert.rejects(callTool(asker, "seat:mesh-store.databases", {}), /no responders|503/i);
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await pg.close();
+    await stream.close();
+  }
+});

node-tools/test/node-runtime.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,350 @@
+/**
+ * One runtime per node serves every assigned module's tools (novox/hq ADR 0175, to-be 38 WP1). The
+ * node's runtime is handed a list of modules and their bundles on the node's credential; it reads
+ * one membership per module, serves each module's tools on that module's subjects and each held
+ * seat's verbs on the seat's, names a bundle that fails to load without dropping the others, and
+ * re-serves a module whose membership is re-issued mid-run. Against a real bus with JetStream.
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14232:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/node-runtime.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { cpSync, mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, realpathSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { connect, StringCodec } from "nats";
+
+import { resetTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+import { connectNats, membershipSubject } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+import { callTool, toolsOn } from "../dist/client.js";
+import { servedModulesFrom } from "../dist/main.js";
+import { runTools, takeToolEnvs } from "../dist/runtime.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+const fixture = (name: string) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`./fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+const sc = StringCodec();
+
+/** The controller's job, done by hand: the ASSIGNMENTS stream (last-per-subject, direct get) and an
+ *  EVENTS stream for what a tool emits. */
+async function aMesh() {
+  const nc = await connect({ servers: url! });
+  const jsm = await nc.jetstreamManager();
+  for (const name of ["ASSIGNMENTS", "EVENTS"]) {
+    try {
+      await jsm.streams.delete(name);
+    } catch {
+      // none yet
+    }
+  }
+  await jsm.streams.add({ name: "ASSIGNMENTS", subjects: ["mesh.assignment.>"], max_msgs_per_subject: 1, allow_direct: true } as never);
+  await jsm.streams.add({ name: "EVENTS", subjects: ["mesh.mod.*.event.>"] });
+  return {
+    async issue(m: object & { node: string; module: string }) {
+      await nc.jetstream().publish(membershipSubject(m.node, m.module), sc.encode(JSON.stringify(m)));
+    },
+    /** The next subject an event lands on, under a pattern. */
+    nextEvent(pattern: string): Promise<string> {
+      const sub = nc.subscribe(pattern, { max: 1 });
+      return (async () => {
+        for await (const m of sub) return m.subject;
+        throw new Error("no event");
+      })();
+    },
+    async close() {
+      await nc.close();
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+/** A membership as the controller issues one on a machine, with the module's own subject when it
+ *  answers for the module anywhere, and the verbs of the node seats it holds. */
+function membershipOf(module: string, node: string, opts: { plain?: boolean; seats?: Record<string, string[]> } = {}) {
+  const own = `mesh.mod.${module}`;
+  const serves: { subject: string; queue?: string }[] = [{ subject: `${own}.tool.{tool}.${node}` }];
+  if (opts.plain) serves.push({ subject: `${own}.tool.{tool}`, queue: `serve.${module}` });
+  const seats = Object.entries(opts.seats ?? {}).flatMap(([seat, verbs]) =>
+    verbs.map((verb) => ({ seat, verb, subject: `mesh.seat.${seat}.tool.${verb}.${node}` })));
+  return { node, module, serves, seats, emits: `${own}.event.{event}`, tools: `${own}.tool.tools` };
+}
+
+/** Wait for something to be served: the bus answers "no responders" at once until it is. */
+async function until<T>(attempt: () => Promise<T>, tries = 50): Promise<T> {
+  for (let i = 0; ; i++) {
+    try {
+      return await attempt();
+    } catch (e) {
+      if (i >= tries) throw e;
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 100));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+test("MESH_TOOL_MODULES names modules and their entrypoints; a bare path is the credential's own module's", () => {
+  const have = servedModulesFrom(" alpha=/a/tools/index.js, beta=/b/one.js ,beta=/b/two.js, /mine/index.js ,node-tools=/own/x.js", "node-tools");
+  assert.deepEqual(have.serves, [
+    { module: "alpha", entrypoints: ["/a/tools/index.js"] },
+    { module: "beta", entrypoints: ["/b/one.js", "/b/two.js"] },
+  ]);
+  // The credential's own module, named or bare, is the one-module form either way.
+  assert.deepEqual(have.moduleEntrypoints, ["/mine/index.js", "/own/x.js"]);
+  assert.throws(() => servedModulesFrom("=/nothing.js", undefined), /neither <module>=<entrypoint>/);
+  assert.deepEqual(servedModulesFrom("", "x"), { serves: [], moduleEntrypoints: [] });
+});
+
+test("the node's runtime serves five modules' bundles on one credential — two of them launched, one broken — and follows a re-issued membership", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const mesh = await aMesh();
+  // Three modules assigned to the machine: alpha answers for itself anywhere, beta only here and
+  // holds the node-shelf seat, gamma's bundle is broken.
+  await mesh.issue(membershipOf("alpha", "anchor", { plain: true }));
+  await mesh.issue(membershipOf("beta", "anchor", { seats: { "node-shelf": ["list", "clear"] } }));
+  await mesh.issue(membershipOf("gamma", "anchor"));
+  // Two more, launched rather than loaded (ADR 0188): delta is Python and holds the node-lamp seat;
+  // epsilon is TypeScript written against the protocol and marked executable.
+  await mesh.issue(membershipOf("delta", "anchor", { seats: { "node-lamp": ["on"] } }));
+  await mesh.issue(membershipOf("epsilon", "anchor"));
+  // The node's credential: the runtime module's name, no claims (seats come from the memberships).
+  const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "node-tools" };
+  const nodeTools = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const log = console.log;
+  console.log = (...a: unknown[]) => said.push(a.join(" "));
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    process.env.MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT = "somebody";
+    process.env.MESH_OPERATOR_HOME = "/home/somebody";
+    stop = await runTools({
+      broker: nodeTools,
+      credential,
+      serves: [
+        { module: "alpha", entrypoints: [fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")] },
+        { module: "beta", entrypoints: [fixture("many-beta.serve.mjs")] },
+        { module: "gamma", entrypoints: [fixture("many-broken.serve.mjs")] },
+        { module: "delta", entrypoints: [fixture("many-delta.py")] },
+        { module: "epsilon", entrypoints: [fixture("many-epsilon.mjs")] },
+      ],
+    });
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.deepEqual(nodeTools.serving().sort(), ["alpha", "beta", "delta", "epsilon", "gamma", "node-tools"]);
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /the operator's account here is somebody \(home \/home\/somebody\)/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /gamma's bundle .*many-broken\.serve\.mjs failed to load: gamma's bundle exited \(1\): Error: gamma's bundle cannot find its client; its tools are not served here/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /serving 8 tool\(s\) for 5 module\(s\): alpha\.one, alpha\.two, beta\.three, beta\.four, beta\.five, delta\.greet, delta\.die, epsilon\.seven; not serving gamma/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+
+    // Five tools answer, each where its module's membership says: alpha anywhere and here, beta here only.
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "alpha.one", {})).result, { alpha: 1 });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "alpha.one@anchor", {})).result, { alpha: 1 });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "beta.three@anchor", {})).result, { beta: 3 });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "beta.four@anchor", {})).result, { beta: 4 });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "beta.five@anchor", {})).result, { beta: 5 });
+    await assert.rejects(callTool(asker, "beta.three", {}), /no responders|503/i, "beta was not issued the module's plain subject");
+
+    // Two seat verbs answer on the seat's subjects, held by beta.
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "seat:node-shelf.list@anchor", {})).result, { shelf: ["a", "b"] });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "seat:node-shelf.clear@anchor", {})).result, { cleared: true });
+
+    // A bundle in another language answers the same way, its seat verb among them; so does a
+    // TypeScript bundle served through the protocol rather than imported.
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "delta.greet@anchor", { who: "mesh" })).result, { greeting: "hello mesh", language: "python" });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "seat:node-lamp.on@anchor", {})).result, { on: true, language: "python" });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "epsilon.seven@anchor", {})).result, { epsilon: 7, via: "stdio" });
+    // A child that exits mid-call tells the caller so and is started again on the next call.
+    await assert.rejects(callTool(asker, "delta.die@anchor", {}), /delta's bundle exited \(3\)/);
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "delta.greet@anchor", {})).result, { greeting: "hello world", language: "python" });
+
+    // A tool that emits does so as its module, not as the runtime.
+    const landed = mesh.nextEvent("mesh.mod.*.event.>");
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "alpha.two", {})).result, { alpha: 2 });
+    assert.equal(await landed, "mesh.mod.alpha.event.happened");
+
+    // `tools` answers for each: what alpha and beta serve, and why gamma serves nothing.
+    const gamma = await asker.request<Record<string, never>, { module: string; tools: unknown[]; failed?: string }>("gamma.tools@anchor", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(gamma, { module: "gamma", tools: [], failed: "gamma's bundle exited (1): Error: gamma's bundle cannot find its client" });
+    const beta = await asker.request<Record<string, never>, { tools: { name: string; subjects?: string[] }[] }>("beta.tools@anchor", {});
+    assert.deepEqual(beta.tools.map((x) => x.name), ["three", "four", "five"]);
+    assert.deepEqual(beta.tools[0]!.subjects, ["mesh.mod.beta.tool.three.anchor"]);
+
+    // And discovery says so, with the reason, beside the modules that answered.
+    const catalogue = await connectNats({ url, module: "mesh-catalog" });
+    await catalogue.handle("catalog_modules", async () => ({ modules: [{ module: "alpha" }, { module: "beta" }, { module: "gamma" }, { module: "delta" }, { module: "epsilon" }] }));
+    try {
+      const have = await toolsOn(asker);
+      assert.deepEqual(have.tools.map((x) => `${x.module}.${x.name}`), ["alpha.one", "alpha.two", "beta.five", "beta.four", "beta.three", "delta.die", "delta.greet", "epsilon.seven"]);
+      assert.deepEqual(have.notAnswering, ["gamma (its tools bundle failed to load: gamma's bundle exited (1): Error: gamma's bundle cannot find its client)", "mesh-controller (seat)"]);
+    } finally {
+      await catalogue.close();
+    }
+
+    // The mesh re-issues beta's membership mid-run — now answering for the module anywhere — and
+    // the runtime serves the new subject without a restart.
+    await mesh.issue(membershipOf("beta", "anchor", { plain: true, seats: { "node-shelf": ["list", "clear"] } }));
+    assert.deepEqual((await until(() => callTool(asker, "beta.three", {}))).result, { beta: 3 });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "seat:node-shelf.list@anchor", {})).result, { shelf: ["a", "b"] });
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    delete process.env.MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT;
+    delete process.env.MESH_OPERATOR_HOME;
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await nodeTools.close();
+    await mesh.close();
+    resetTools();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a bundle carrying its own copy of the SDK registers into the runtime's registry, and its tools are served (issue 209)", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  let dir = "";
+  let stop = () => {};
+  const closing: Array<() => Promise<void>> = [];
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const log = console.log;
+  try {
+    // A bundle as the toolchain packs one: its compiled entrypoint, a package.json saying ES modules,
+    // and its dependencies copied in — the SDK among them, a second copy beside the runtime's own,
+    // and a dependency of the bundle's own that the runtime does not carry.
+    dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "mesh-bundle-"));
+    const sdk = realpathSync(fileURLToPath(new URL("../node_modules/@novox/mesh-sdk/", import.meta.url)));
+    cpSync(sdk, join(dir, "node_modules", "@novox", "mesh-sdk"), { recursive: true });
+    mkdirSync(join(dir, "node_modules", "zeta-flavour"), { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "node_modules", "zeta-flavour", "package.json"), '{"name":"zeta-flavour","type":"module","main":"index.js"}\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "node_modules", "zeta-flavour", "index.js"), 'export const flavour = "the bundle\'s own";\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "package.json"), '{"type":"module","private":true}\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "index.serve.mjs"),
+      '#!/usr/bin/env node\nimport { serveRegisteredOverStdio } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/stdio";\nawait import("./index.js");\nawait serveRegisteredOverStdio();\n', { mode: 0o755 });
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "index.js"),
+      'import { registerModuleTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";\n' +
+      'import { flavour } from "zeta-flavour";\n' +
+      'registerModuleTools("zeta", () => [{ name: "probe", description: "answers", input: {}, run: async () => ({ zeta: true, flavour }) }]);\n');
+    const mesh = await aMesh();
+    closing.push(() => mesh.close());
+    await mesh.issue(membershipOf("zeta", "anchor"));
+    const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "node-tools" };
+    const nodeTools = await connectNats(credential);
+    closing.push(() => nodeTools.close());
+    const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+    closing.push(() => asker.close());
+    console.log = (...a: unknown[]) => said.push(a.join(" "));
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: nodeTools, credential, serves: [{ module: "zeta", entrypoints: [join(dir, "index.serve.mjs")] }] });
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /serving 1 tool\(s\) for 1 module\(s\): zeta\.probe/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    // The SDK is the runtime's (the registration arrived); the bundle's other dependency is its own.
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "zeta.probe@anchor", {})).result, { zeta: true, flavour: "the bundle's own" });
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    stop();
+    for (const close of closing.reverse()) await close();
+    if (dir) rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    resetTools();
+  }
+});
+
+test("each bundle is given its own environment and none of another's, imported or launched (ADR 0192)", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const mesh = await aMesh();
+  for (const m of ["gamma", "delta", "zeta"]) await mesh.issue(membershipOf(m, "anchor"));
+  const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "node-tools" };
+  const nodeTools = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  const log = console.log;
+  let stop = () => {};
+  const before = process.env.MESH_TOOL_ENV;
+  try {
+    process.env.MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT = "somebody";
+    process.env.MESH_TOOL_ENV = JSON.stringify({
+      gamma: { GAMMA_CONFIG_FILE: "/var/lib/mesh/gamma/config.json" },
+      delta: { DELTA_TOKEN_FILE: "/var/lib/mesh/delta/token" },
+      zeta: { ZETA_URL: "http://127.0.0.1:3000" },
+    });
+    const envs = takeToolEnvs();
+    assert.equal(process.env.MESH_TOOL_ENV, undefined, "the composed environments were left in the process's");
+    console.log = () => {};
+    stop = await runTools({
+      broker: nodeTools, credential, envs,
+      serves: [
+        { module: "gamma", entrypoints: [fixture("env-gamma.serve.mjs")] },
+        { module: "delta", entrypoints: [fixture("env-delta.serve.mjs")] },
+        { module: "zeta", entrypoints: [fixture("env-zeta.mjs")] },
+      ],
+    });
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "gamma.given@anchor", {})).result,
+      { mine: "/var/lib/mesh/gamma/config.json", theirs: null, runtime: "somebody", composed: null });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "delta.given@anchor", {})).result,
+      { mine: "/var/lib/mesh/delta/token", theirs: null });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "zeta.given@anchor", {})).result,
+      { mine: "http://127.0.0.1:3000", theirs: null, composed: null });
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    if (before === undefined) delete process.env.MESH_TOOL_ENV; else process.env.MESH_TOOL_ENV = before;
+    delete process.env.MESH_OPERATOR_ACCOUNT;
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await nodeTools.close();
+    await mesh.close();
+    resetTools();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a launched bundle is told the module it serves, so its seat's verbs stay the seat's (ADR 0193)", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const mesh = await aMesh();
+  await mesh.issue(membershipOf("theta", "anchor", { seats: { "node-shelf": ["list"] } }));
+  const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "node-tools" };
+  const nodeTools = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  const log = console.log;
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    console.log = () => {};
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: nodeTools, credential, envs: new Map([["theta", { THETA_WORD: "given" }]]),
+      serves: [{ module: "theta", entrypoints: [fixture("served-seat-first.mjs")] }] });
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "theta.own@anchor", {})).result, { theta: "given" });
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "seat:node-shelf.list@anchor", {})).result, { shelf: ["x"] });
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await nodeTools.close();
+    await mesh.close();
+    resetTools();
+  }
+});
+
+test("an entrypoint that is not executable is refused by name, and the others serve (ADR 0193)", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const mesh = await aMesh();
+  for (const m of ["alpha", "plain"]) await mesh.issue(membershipOf(m, "anchor"));
+  const credential = { url, node: "anchor", module: "node-tools" };
+  const nodeTools = await connectNats(credential);
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const log = console.log;
+  let stop = () => {};
+  try {
+    console.log = (...a: unknown[]) => said.push(a.join(" "));
+    stop = await runTools({ broker: nodeTools, credential, serves: [
+      { module: "alpha", entrypoints: [fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")] },
+      { module: "plain", entrypoints: [fixture("many-alpha.mjs")] },
+    ] });
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /plain's bundle .*many-alpha\.mjs failed to load: .* is not executable; a bundle the runtime serves is started, never imported/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "alpha.one@anchor", {})).result, { alpha: 1 });
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await nodeTools.close();
+    await mesh.close();
+    resetTools();
+  }
+});

node-tools/test/node-tools-serve.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/**
+ * The runtime as the node-tools module (novox/hq ADR 0175 §6, to-be 38 WP3): started the way the
+ * host starts it — `main.js` with the node's credential and MESH_TOOL_MODULES — it serves the bundles
+ * AND answers MCP on loopback as the console, through which a tool it serves can be called.
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14232:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/node-tools-serve.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { spawn, type ChildProcess } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtemp, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+import { connectNats } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+const fixture = (name: string) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`./fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+
+async function post(endpoint: string, body: unknown): Promise<any> {
+  const res = await fetch(endpoint, { method: "POST", headers: { "content-type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify(body) });
+  return res.json();
+}
+
+test("as node-tools, serve loads the bundles and is the console on loopback", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  // The catalogue, for discovery; the node credential names the runtime module and no claims.
+  const catalogue = await connectNats({ url, module: "mesh-catalog" });
+  await catalogue.handle("catalog_modules", async () => ({ modules: [{ module: "alpha" }] }));
+  t.after(() => catalogue.close());
+  const dir = await mkdtemp("/tmp/node-tools-");
+  const credential = join(dir, "broker");
+  await writeFile(credential, JSON.stringify({ url, node: "desk", module: "node-tools", user: "desk.node-tools", password: "x" }));
+  const child: ChildProcess = spawn(process.execPath, ["dist/main.js"], {
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      MESH_BROKER_FILE: credential,
+      MESH_TOOL_MODULES: `alpha=${fixture("many-alpha.serve.mjs")}`,
+      MESH_CONSOLE_LISTEN: "127.0.0.1:0",
+    },
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
+  });
+  t.after(() => {
+    child.kill("SIGTERM");
+  });
+  const endpoint = await new Promise<string>((resolve, reject) => {
+    let out = "";
+    let err = "";
+    child.stdout!.on("data", (d) => {
+      out += d.toString();
+      const m = /listening on (http:\/\/[^/]+\/mcp) as desk\.node-tools/.exec(out);
+      if (m) resolve(m[1]!);
+    });
+    child.stderr!.on("data", (d) => (err += d.toString()));
+    child.on("exit", (code) => reject(new Error(`serve exited ${code}: ${err}`)));
+  });
+  const listed = await post(endpoint, { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 1, method: "tools/list" });
+  assert.deepEqual(listed.result.tools.map((x: any) => x.name).filter((n: string) => n.startsWith("alpha.")), ["alpha.one", "alpha.two"]);
+  // A tool the same process serves on the bus, called through the console it also is.
+  const called = await post(endpoint, { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: 2, method: "tools/call", params: { name: "alpha.one", arguments: { node: "desk" } } });
+  assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(called.result.content[0].text), { alpha: 1 });
+});

node-tools/test/patient-connect.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { fatalBrokerReason, PinMismatchError, topicMatches } 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
+// disguised as "not reachable". This is the classifier that draws the line; the bed cannot test it
+// (it starts the consumer only after the broker is up), so it is proven here.
+
+test("a broker that is not up yet is retryable, not fatal", () => {
+  for (const err of [
+    Object.assign(new Error("connect ECONNREFUSED 10.42.0.1:5671"), { code: "ECONNREFUSED" }),
+    Object.assign(new Error("connect ETIMEDOUT"), { code: "ETIMEDOUT" }),
+    Object.assign(new Error("getaddrinfo EAI_AGAIN anchor.internal"), { code: "EAI_AGAIN" }),
+    new Error("timed out fetching the broker's certificate"),
+  ]) {
+    assert.equal(fatalBrokerReason(err), null, `should retry: ${(err as Error).message}`);
+  }
+});
+
+test("a certificate that does not match the pin is fatal, by type not by message", () => {
+  // Typed, so rewording the message cannot turn an impostor back into an infinite retry.
+  assert.notEqual(fatalBrokerReason(new PinMismatchError("anything at all")), null);
+  // A plain Error with pin-ish words is NOT treated as the pin case — only the type is.
+  assert.equal(fatalBrokerReason(new Error("the pinned value was fine")), null);
+});
+
+test("a malformed broker URL is fatal — it never parses on the next try", () => {
+  assert.notEqual(fatalBrokerReason(Object.assign(new Error("Invalid URL"), { code: "ERR_INVALID_URL" })), null);
+  assert.notEqual(fatalBrokerReason(new Error("Invalid URL: not-a-url")), null);
+});
+
+test("a refused login is fatal — a wrong or revoked credential, not an absent broker", () => {
+  // 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}`);
+  }
+});
+
+test("a non-Error value does not crash the classifier", () => {
+  assert.equal(fatalBrokerReason("just a string"), null);
+  assert.equal(fatalBrokerReason(undefined), null);
+});
+
+// **A module asked to prepare its state and naming nothing is a failure, not a no-op** (novox/hq
+// ADR 0135). The mesh asks this only of a module whose manifest says it prepares something, so an
+// image that names nothing was built wrong, and exiting 0 would let that version serve against a
+// state nobody shaped.
+test("preparing with nothing named fails rather than passing quietly", async () => {
+  const runtime = new URL("../dist/main.js", import.meta.url).pathname;
+  const ran = await new Promise<{ code: number | null; said: string }>((resolve) => {
+    const child = spawn(process.execPath, [runtime, "prepare"], {
+      env: { ...process.env, MESH_PREPARE: "" },
+    });
+    let said = "";
+    child.stderr.on("data", (chunk) => (said += String(chunk)));
+    child.on("close", (code) => resolve({ code, said }));
+  });
+  assert.notEqual(ran.code, 0, "a module that prepares nothing exited 0, so its version would serve");
+  assert.match(ran.said, /MESH_PREPARE/);
+});
+
+// **One durable consumer feeds one reader, however many patterns a module registers.**
+//
+// A module has exactly one consumer, so two readers of it would each take half the messages — and a
+// reader that received one its own pattern does not match acknowledges it, which is right for a
+// filter wider than anything registered and silent loss when it is another handler's. The matching is
+// therefore pure and tested as such: what a message is for is decided by the patterns registered, not
+// by which reader happened to fetch it.
+test("a message is for every pattern that matches it, and nothing else", () => {
+  const registered = ["mesh-build-machine.built", "mesh-controller.built-before"];
+  const matched = (key: string) => registered.filter((p) => topicMatches(p, key));
+  assert.deepEqual(matched("mesh-build-machine.built"), ["mesh-build-machine.built"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(matched("mesh-controller.built-before"), ["mesh-controller.built-before"]);
+  // Nothing registered for it: the consumer's filter is the controller's and may be wider.
+  assert.deepEqual(matched("mesh-catalog.upgraded"), []);
+  // And a handler that asked for everything gets both, which is what the audit logger does.
+  assert.deepEqual(["#"].filter((p) => topicMatches(p, "mesh-controller.built-before")), ["#"]);
+});

node-tools/test/refused.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/**
+ * A refused announcement is said and never fatal (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/217): against a bus whose
+ * permissions refuse one discovery subject, the runtime's raw subscription is refused, logged, and
+ * the process keeps serving — its tools still answer.
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14233:4222 -v $PWD/test/fixtures/refusing-nats.conf:/c.conf nats:2.10-alpine -c /c.conf
+ *   MESH_TEST_REFUSING_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14233 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/refused.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { connectNats } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+import { callTool } from "../dist/client.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_REFUSING_NATS;
+
+test("a refused discovery subscription is logged and the runtime serves on", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_REFUSING_NATS unset");
+  const bus = await connectNats({ url, user: "runtime", password: "runtime", module: "alpha", node: "anchor" });
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const log = console.log;
+  console.log = (...a: unknown[]) => said.push(a.join(" "));
+  const crashed: unknown[] = [];
+  const onRejection = (e: unknown) => crashed.push(e);
+  process.on("unhandledRejection", onRejection);
+  try {
+    (bus as unknown as { raw: (s: string, f: () => Uint8Array | undefined) => () => void }).raw("$SRV.PING.>", () => undefined);
+    const stop = await bus.handle("alpha.ping", async () => ({ pong: true }));
+    for (let i = 0; i < 50 && !said.some((s) => s.includes("the bus refused $SRV.PING.>")); i++) await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50));
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /the bus refused \$SRV\.PING\.>.*serves on/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    assert.equal(crashed.length, 0, `the refusal escaped: ${String(crashed[0])}`);
+    stop();
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    process.off("unhandledRejection", onRejection);
+    await bus.close();
+  }
+});
+
+// novox/hq issue 218: a tool subject the grants leave out — a seat claimed here and held elsewhere —
+// is refused, said, and the module's other tools still answer.
+test("a refused tool subscription is logged and the module's other tools answer", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_REFUSING_NATS unset");
+  const bus = await connectNats({ url, user: "runtime", password: "runtime", module: "alpha", node: "anchor" });
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, user: "runtime", password: "runtime", module: "console", node: "workstation" });
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const log = console.log;
+  console.log = (...a: unknown[]) => said.push(a.join(" "));
+  const crashed: unknown[] = [];
+  const onRejection = (e: unknown) => crashed.push(e);
+  process.on("unhandledRejection", onRejection);
+  try {
+    const refused = await bus.handleSubject!("mesh.seat.held-elsewhere.tool.databases", async () => ({ seat: true }));
+    const stop = await bus.handle("alpha.ping", async () => ({ pong: true }));
+    for (let i = 0; i < 50 && !said.some((s) => s.includes("the bus refused mesh.seat.held-elsewhere")); i++) await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50));
+    console.log = log;
+    assert.ok(said.some((s) => /the bus refused mesh\.seat\.held-elsewhere\.tool\.databases.*serves on/.test(s)), said.join("\n"));
+    assert.equal(crashed.length, 0, `the refusal escaped: ${String(crashed[0])}`);
+    assert.deepEqual((await callTool(asker, "alpha.ping@anchor", {})).result, { pong: true });
+    stop();
+    refused();
+  } finally {
+    console.log = log;
+    process.off("unhandledRejection", onRejection);
+    await asker.close();
+    await bus.close();
+  }
+});

node-tools/test/roundtrip.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Round-trip the runtime's NATS client against a real server: a tool call answered, and an
+// event emitted and received with its envelope intact.
+import { connect } from "nats";
+import { connectNats } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+
+const URL = "nats://127.0.0.1:14222";
+
+// The controller's job, done by hand here: the stream and the module's durable consumer.
+const admin = await connect({ servers: URL });
+const jsm = await admin.jetstreamManager();
+await jsm.streams.add({ name: "EVENTS", subjects: ["mesh.mod.*.event.>", "mesh.seat.*.event.>"] });
+await jsm.consumers.add("EVENTS", {
+  durable_name: "one_audit", ack_policy: "explicit",
+  filter_subjects: ["mesh.mod.shop.event.order.placed"],
+});
+
+const shop = await connectNats({ url: URL, node: "one", module: "shop" });
+const audit = await connectNats({ url: URL, node: "one", module: "audit" });
+
+let failures = 0;
+const check = (ok, what) => { console.log(`  ${ok ? "ok  " : "FAIL"}  ${what}`); if (!ok) failures++; };
+
+// A tool, served and called.
+await shop.handle("price", async (body) => ({ total: body.qty * 3 }));
+const answer = await audit.request("shop.price", { qty: 4 });
+check(answer.total === 12, "a tool call is answered across two connections");
+
+// A handler that throws reaches the caller as an error, not a timeout.
+await shop.handle("boom", async () => { throw new Error("no"); });
+let threw = null;
+try { await audit.request("shop.boom", {}); } catch (e) { threw = e.message; }
+check(threw === "no", "a handler that throws answers the caller instead of timing out");
+
+// An event, emitted and received with its envelope intact.
+const seen = [];
+await audit.subscribe("order.placed", async (env) => { seen.push(env); });
+await shop.publish({
+  key: "order.placed", node: "one", body: { id: "a1" },
+  headers: { "x-event-id": "e1", "x-node": "one", "content-type": "application/json" },
+});
+await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 800));
+check(seen.length === 1, `exactly one delivery (saw ${seen.length})`);
+if (seen[0]) {
+  check(seen[0].key === "order.placed", "the key survives the subject round trip");
+  check(seen[0].body?.id === "a1", "the body is the payload, not the whole envelope");
+  check(seen[0].node === "one", "the node comes back from the headers");
+  check(seen[0].headers?.["x-event-id"] === "e1", "the event id survives as a header");
+}
+
+// A module cannot reach into another's namespace by naming its own event oddly.
+await shop.publish({ key: "other", node: "one", body: {}, headers: { "x-event-id": "e2" } });
+const msg = await jsm.streams.getMessage("EVENTS", { last_by_subj: "mesh.mod.shop.event.other" });
+check(!!msg, "an event lands under the emitting module's own namespace");
+
+await shop.close(); await audit.close(); await admin.close();
+console.log(failures ? `\n${failures} failed` : "\nall passed");
+process.exit(failures ? 1 : 0);

node-tools/test/runtime-tools.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/**
+ * Every module's runtime answers `tools` for it (novox/hq ADR 0152, design 34 §3): the names,
+ * descriptions and schemas from the code that answers them. Against a real bus, because the claim is
+ * what a second connection gets back.
+ *
+ *   docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14232:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+ *   MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14232 node --test --experimental-strip-types test/runtime-tools.test.ts
+ */
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+import { resetTools } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
+
+import { connectNats } from "../dist/broker-nats.js";
+import { runTools } from "../dist/runtime.js";
+
+const url = process.env.MESH_TEST_NATS;
+const fixture = (name: string) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`./fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+
+test("a module registering two tools answers three names, the third being what it serves", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const shop = await connectNats({ url, node: "one", module: "shop" });
+  const asker = await connectNats({ url, module: "person.ada" });
+  const stop = await runTools({ broker: shop, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("shop-tools.mjs")] });
+  try {
+    const answer = await asker.request<Record<string, never>, { module: string; tools: { name: string; input: unknown }[] }>(
+      "shop.tools",
+      {},
+    );
+    assert.equal(answer.module, "shop");
+    assert.deepEqual(answer.tools.map((x) => x.name), ["price", "refund"]);
+    // The schema travels with the name: a name alone is not callable by something that has never
+    // seen the mesh before.
+    assert.deepEqual(answer.tools[0].input, { of: { type: "string", description: "the thing" } });
+    // And the tools themselves still answer beside it.
+    const priced = await asker.request<{ of: string }, { cost: number }>("shop.price", { of: "a hat" });
+    assert.equal(priced.cost, 12);
+  } finally {
+    stop();
+    await asker.close();
+    await shop.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a module naming a tool of its own `tools` is refused at load", async (t) => {
+  if (!url) return t.skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset");
+  resetTools();
+  const clash = await connectNats({ url, node: "one", module: "clash" });
+  try {
+    await assert.rejects(
+      () => runTools({ broker: clash, moduleEntrypoints: [fixture("clash-tools.mjs")] }),
+      /names a tool "tools"/,
+    );
+  } finally {
+    resetTools();
+    await clash.close();
+  }
+});