the ledger: a caller's own bedikot, read back and signed

The examination is the product; the record of it is what a caller can
carry away. Every bedikah was already engraved in L3 — output hash and
length, source digests, coupling trace, claims, violations, verdict,
never the text — and no caller could get theirs back.

- bedikot.key_id (migration): a SHA-256 digest of the courtyard key that
  brought the offering, never the key; threaded as :key_id through
  Bedikah.examine from every site that goes through the gate (courtyard
  bedikah, pair, the gate's pass and stream). Unique index on
  bedikah_ref.
- VavPipeline.Ledger: entry (the examination's fields, none of the
  database's, not the owner's), canonical JSON (keys sorted at every
  level, no whitespace, UTF-8), Ed25519 sign/verify, public key, render.
  Seed from BIKORET_LEDGER_SIGNING_KEY (base64 of 32 bytes) in
  shorashim-secrets; absent → unsigned and says so.
- GET /courtyard/ledger?limit&before — this key's bedikot, newest first,
  each rendered and signed; GET /courtyard/bedikah/<ref> — one, 404 for
  another key's or none alike; GET /peah/ledger_key — the public key.
- Tamid §1.1 "The ledger" (Doorpost pin moved → 02ddf313…), KOHEN
  "Issuing a key" (the seed, once), secrets.yaml template.

Tests: ledger_test (digest, entry, canonical, sign/verify, unsigned
rendering, signed rendering); ledger_l3_test (own records listed newest
first and only own; 404 alike for another's and none; an examination
engraved under the key reads back signed and verifies against
/peah/ledger_key). Elixir 642/0; L3 13/0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>

AGENTS.md

@@ -53,10 +53,10 @@ before writing code. Do not summarize from memory. Read fresh.
 | 11. Manna provision infrastructure | Done | Provision file validation, expiry, anti-hoarding, double portion |
 | 12. Sanhedrin framework (Erlang) | Done | `sanhedrin/` — 8 modules, 41 tests, all passing |
 | 13. Korban Processor (Python) | Done | `korban_processor/` — 7 modules, 181 tests, all passing |
-| 14. Connect components | Pending | Elixir → Haskell port, Elixir → Prolog socket |
+| 14. Connect components | Done | Elixir → Haskell Port (`ShoreshEngineClient`), Elixir → Prolog socket (`TalmudicEngineSocket`), Elixir → Korban socket (`KorbanProcessorSocket`); line-framed replies (tablet 50) |
-| 15. Integration verification | Pending | |
+| 15. Integration verification | Done | Live round trips proven on the cluster: pe'ah cycle, bedikah, the gate with a real model (2026-10-13), the Sanhedrin's full dialectic (2026-10-20) |
 
-**Next build task:** Step 14 — Connect components. Read Architecture §4 Step 14.
+**Next build task:** none from the phase tables — all six steps of `specs/bishearecha.md` are built. Build from the open items in the builder's memory and the Broken Tablets; a spec row is a claim to test.
 
 ## Broken Tablets (Build Log)
 
@@ -104,10 +104,10 @@ approve decisions, or supervise work. The specification does all of this.
 
 | Service | Location | Access |
 |---------|----------|--------|
-| Gitea | `http://185.19.28.170:3000` (SSH :22) — behind the shared ingress NLB | User: heaviness510 |
+| Gitea | `https://git.bikoret.ch` (git over HTTPS; SSH on the ingress NLB :22) | User: heaviness510 |
-| Bikoret | `http://185.19.28.170` — behind the same ingress (catch-all; `shorashim.ch` once DNS points there) | keys: KOHEN.md "Issuing a key" |
+| Bikoret | `https://bikoret.ch` (the ingress catch-all also answers on the NLB's bare IP; `shorashim.ch` retired 2026-10-20) | keys: KOHEN.md "Issuing a key" |
 | PostgreSQL | Exoscale DBaaS ch-gva-2 | `temple-council-db` |
-| Kubernetes | Exoscale SKS ch-gva-2 | `~/.kube/exoscale-temple-council.yaml` |
+| Kubernetes | Exoscale SKS ch-gva-2 | the kohen's `$KUBECONFIG`, outside the repo |
 
 ## Principles
 

KOHEN.md

@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ You inherit infrastructure that has been provisioned and verified:
 | Container registry `the-recognition-protocol` | All 4 bikoret images pushed and tagged `:latest`. |
 | Block Storage CSI driver | Installed. StorageClass `exoscale-sbs` available. |
 | cert-manager + nginx-ingress | Running. ClusterIssuer `letsencrypt-prod` working. |
-| Gitea (persistent storage) | Running. OAuth app + PAT exist for the operator's account. |
+| Gitea (persistent storage) | Running. Public HTTPS at `https://git.bikoret.ch` (ROOT_URL) since 2026-10-19; git also over `http://<NLB-IP>:3000` and SSH :22. The web UI needs the https door (Secure cookie). |
-| Gitea MCP server | Running at `https://mcp.shorashim.ch`. Connected to claude.ai. |
+| Gitea MCP server | `https://mcp.bikoret.ch/mcp`, MCP OAuth mode: each user authorizes with their own Gitea account (Gitea OAuth2 app "Claude", PKCE, client ID in the claude.ai connector's Advanced settings). Apply: `bash ~/.local/bin/gitea-public-apply`; check: `gitea-public-verify`. The old `mcp.shorashim.ch` and the shared static token are retired. |
 | L1 Torah filesystem | In the `bikoret` repo at `l1/torah/`. SHA-256 `9e1abe4e…3c3086` (full hash in `l1/integrity.sha256`; verified at Day 1). |
 | Image pull secret `shorashim-registry` | **Verify before assuming.** A prior partial setup may have created it. `kubectl get secrets -n shorashim` is the source of truth. |
 | `shorashim-secrets` (DATABASE_URL) | **Verify before assuming.** Same as above. If present, also verify the role it points at (the architecture requires `shorashim_app`, not `avnadmin`). |
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ You inherit infrastructure that has been provisioned and verified:
 
 | Item | Where |
 |------|-------|
-| Repo | `git clone http://185.19.28.170:3000/heaviness510/shorashim.git` |
+| Repo | `git clone https://git.bikoret.ch/heaviness510/bikoret.git` |
-| Kubeconfig | `~/.kube/exoscale-temple-council.yaml` |
+| Kubeconfig | `$KUBECONFIG` — the kohen's own file, outside the repo |
 | `kubectl` | already installed |
 | `exo` CLI | already installed |
 | Docker daemon | only for image rebuilds (not needed for inauguration) |
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ If the kubeconfig has expired:
 
 ```bash
 exo compute sks kubeconfig temple-council kube-admin --zone ch-gva-2 -g system:masters \
-  > ~/.kube/exoscale-temple-council.yaml
+  > "$KUBECONFIG"
 ```
 
 ---
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ ecto://avnadmin:<password>@temple-council-db-exoscale-66fffc16-59ac-4a62-9c19-f3
 #### 2b. Apply the secrets
 
 ```bash
-export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/exoscale-temple-council.yaml
+export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/<your-cluster>.yaml"
 
 # DATABASE_URL secret
 kubectl create secret generic shorashim-secrets \
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ kubectl logs -n shorashim deploy/bikoret -c vav-pipeline -f
 
 If the seven days passed without halt events, without Shabbat violations, without manna exhaustion, without any pod restarts:
 
-1. **Point DNS** — at the registrar, A records to the ingress IP (`kubectl get svc -n ingress-nginx ingress-nginx-controller`; `185.19.28.170`): `bikoret.ch`, `www.bikoret.ch`, and for the redirect `bikoret.org`, `www.bikoret.org`. Wait until `dig +short A bikoret.ch` answers the IP — only then `kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/service.yaml`: it carries the TLS blocks (cert-manager, `letsencrypt-prod`, HTTP-01), and a certificate asked for before the name resolves burns Let's Encrypt's failed-validation limit. Then `kubectl -n shorashim get certificate` until both are Ready, and callers use `https://bikoret.ch`; `shorashim.ch` still answers over plain HTTP until its callers have moved
+1. **Point DNS** — at the registrar, A records to the ingress IP (`kubectl get svc -n ingress-nginx ingress-nginx-controller`): `bikoret.ch`, `www.bikoret.ch`, and for the redirect `bikoret.org`, `www.bikoret.org`. Wait until `dig +short A bikoret.ch` answers the IP — only then `kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/service.yaml`: it carries the TLS blocks (cert-manager, `letsencrypt-prod`, HTTP-01), and a certificate asked for before the name resolves burns Let's Encrypt's failed-validation limit. Then `kubectl -n shorashim get certificate` until both are Ready, and callers use `https://bikoret.ch`; `shorashim.ch` still answers over plain HTTP until its callers have moved
 2. **Open the pe'ah endpoint to the world** — the stranger approaches first
 3. **Observe the first real interaction** — a question from outside
 4. If *ki tov*: open courtyard and chatzer endpoints. The system is consecrated.
@@ -481,15 +481,56 @@ If any day failed: record what broke, fix the cause, restart from Day 1.
 ```bash
 # 1. Write today's manna provision (same format as Day 4, new date)
 # 2. Health check
-curl https://shorashim.ch/kodesh/health | jq .
+curl https://bikoret.ch/kodesh/health | jq .
 # 3. Halt status
-curl https://shorashim.ch/kodesh/status | jq .halt_status
+curl https://bikoret.ch/kodesh/status | jq .halt_status
 # 4. Refuge list
-curl https://shorashim.ch/kodesh/status | jq '.refuge_components'
+curl https://bikoret.ch/kodesh/status | jq '.refuge_components'
+```
+
+**The watchdog — *shomer*.** `scripts/bikoret-watchdog` (installed at
+`~/.local/bin/`, cron every 5 minutes on the dev VM) probes
+`/kodesh/health` from outside the cluster. Two consecutive failures —
+ten minutes, so a rollout's own blip does not alert — open ONE Gitea
+issue in this repo titled `WATCHDOG: bikoret.ch down since …`, naming
+the failed checks and what to read first; while down it comments only
+when the failed set changes; on recovery it comments the duration and
+closes the issue. Every transition goes to
+`~/shorashim-operator-notes/watchdog.log`. It needs a Gitea token with
+`write:issue` at `~/.config/bikoret/gitea_watchdog_token` (0600) — the
+clone token in `~/.git-credentials` has only the code scopes and Gitea
+answers 403 on an issue. The kohen issues it (Gitea → Settings →
+Applications → token, scopes `read:issue` + `write:issue`); the builder
+does not write credentials. Until it exists the watchdog still logs and
+tracks recovery; it cannot open the issue. 2026-10-15: the site was 503
+for 13.5 h and the Doorpost outage was found by losing Claude — nothing
+watched.
+
+```bash
+tail ~/shorashim-operator-notes/watchdog.log        # transitions only; silence is health
+BIKORET_WATCHDOG_DRY=1 bikoret-watchdog              # a probe that opens nothing
 ```
 
 ### Issuing a key — *Mishmeret HaSha'ar*
 
+**The ledger's signing key (once).** Callers read their bedikot back
+signed (Tamid §1.1, "The ledger"); the signature is Ed25519 over a
+32-byte seed the kohen makes and keeps in `shorashim-secrets`. Without
+it the ledger is served unsigned and says so.
+
+```bash
+umask 077; SEED=$(openssl rand -base64 32)
+kubectl -n shorashim patch secret shorashim-secrets --type=merge \
+  -p "{\"stringData\":{\"BIKORET_LEDGER_SIGNING_KEY\":\"$SEED\"}}"
+unset SEED
+bash ~/.local/bin/shorashim-rollout          # envFrom reads the Secret at start
+curl -s https://bikoret.ch/peah/ledger_key   # "signed": true, the public key
+```
+
+Rotating the seed invalidates every signature given before it; keep the
+old public key published beside the new if records must stay verifiable.
+
+
 The courtyard and the chatzer open only to a key you issued. Keys live
 in the `shorashim-api-keys` Secret, mounted as a file; the gate reads
 the file on every request, so a change takes effect within about a
@@ -730,14 +771,19 @@ run on Saturday.
 ### The manna, each morning — *Dvar yom b'yomo*
 
 Since 2026-10-15 the day's provision is written by the system's own hand:
-CronJob `manna` (`deploy/k8s/manna-cronjob.yaml`) runs at 00:01Z Sunday
+CronJob `manna` (`deploy/k8s/manna-cronjob.yaml`) runs at 00:00Z Sunday
 to Friday, mounts the manna PVC and writes `today.json` with the amounts
 from `shorashim-config` (`MANNA_COMPUTE_UNITS` …). Before it, every night
 at 00:00Z the old provision went stale and the readiness probe failed
-until someone woke (13.5 hours on 2026-10-15). The kohen's acts now:
+until someone woke (13.5 hours on 2026-10-15). With the job at 00:01Z the
+site was still 503 for one to five minutes every night (the watchdog saw
+it, 2026-10-21): the provision is stale from 00:00:00 and readiness fell
+before the job wrote. Now the job runs at 00:00Z and readiness waits 60 s
+(`failureThreshold: 6`) before the Service stops routing — the manna
+falls at the boundary, and the pod is carried across it. The kohen's acts now:
 
 - set the amounts in the ConfigMap (`kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/configmap.yaml`);
-- read `kubectl -n shorashim get jobs` after 00:01Z — a failed job is the
+- read `kubectl -n shorashim get jobs` after 00:00Z — a failed job is the
   Day-4 alarm; write by hand with `kubectl cp` (Day 4) if it failed;
 - run it at once when needed: `kubectl -n shorashim create job --from=cronjob/manna manna-now`.
 
@@ -750,7 +796,7 @@ The halt monitor detected one of three cardinal sins:
 
 ```bash
 # Inspect the halt
-curl https://shorashim.ch/kodesh/status | jq .halt_status
+curl https://bikoret.ch/kodesh/status | jq .halt_status
 kubectl logs -n shorashim deploy/bikoret -c vav-pipeline | grep HALT
 
 # Investigate. Fix the root cause. Then resolve via the operator API.
@@ -785,7 +831,7 @@ Three things are kept outside the mishkan repository, each for a Torah-grounded
 
 | Repo / directory | Where | Why |
 |---|---|---|
-| `bikoret-readings` | `http://185.19.28.170:3000/heaviness510/shorashim-readings` | The book — Torah parshiyot read as AI specification. Companion to the mishkan. Lives beside the aron, not inside (Devarim 31:26). |
+| `bikoret-readings` | `https://git.bikoret.ch/heaviness510/shorashim-readings` | The book — Torah parshiyot read as AI specification. Companion to the mishkan. Lives beside the aron, not inside (Devarim 31:26). |
 | `~/shorashim-source-data/morphhb` | local only | The quarry — raw WLC source. The carved tablets go in the aron; the quarry does not. |
 | `~/shorashim-operator-notes` | local only / private | The kohen's runbook — environment-specific details, hostnames, account names. Private operator notes. Not part of the system's specification. |
 

KOHEN_PROMPT.md

@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ The runbook lists what should already exist. Verify it. Do **not** trust the tab
 
 ```bash
 # 0a. Cluster reachable
-export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/exoscale-temple-council.yaml
+export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/<your-cluster>.yaml"
 kubectl version
 kubectl get nodes
 

README.md

@@ -184,6 +184,11 @@ bikoret/
 ├── vav_pipeline/                      # Elixir — Bereishit cycle, Shema, Cloud, Manna, HTTP API
 ├── talmudic_engine/                   # SWI-Prolog — 613 mitzvot, 13 middot, kushya
 ├── korban_processor/                  # Python — offering protocol, eish zarah validation
+├── azazel_processor/                  # Python — the goat for Azazel: disposal records, vidui, L3 ingest
+├── kushya_generator/                  # Fine-tuned model (NOT deployed) — an offerer, never a judge; see deploy/ARCHITECTURE.md
+├── mesorah/                           # The second scroll — 128 works from the Sefaria export, pinned (Devarim 17:18)
+├── src/tools/                         # Specimen corpus, hakhel, evaluation (the kohen's measuring tools)
+├── scripts/                           # Build and operate: L1/mesorah/engine-verse builders, Doorpost check, rollout, watchdog
 │
 ├── deploy/                            # Infrastructure
 │   ├── ARCHITECTURE.md                # Generic deployment shape (no account specifics)

deploy/ARCHITECTURE.md

@@ -11,10 +11,14 @@ One Kubernetes namespace runs the following:
 | `vav-pipeline` | Elixir/OTP release | Bereishit cycle, ShemaContext, Cloud, Manna, HTTP API (pe'ah, courtyard, chatzer, kodesh) |
 | `shoresh-engine` | Haskell binary, spawned by vav-pipeline as an Erlang Port (staged into the pod by the `shoresh-engine-install` init container — NOT a sidecar container; a Port is a child process of the BEAM and cannot cross a container boundary) | Root activation, te'amim parsing, gematria |
 | `talmudic-engine` | SWI-Prolog (sidecar via Unix socket) | 613 mitzvot, 13 middot, kushya generation, teiku |
-| `korban-processor` | Python 3.12 (sidecar) | Offering protocol, eish zarah validation |
+| `korban-processor` | Python 3.12 (sidecar) | Offering protocol, eish zarah validation, the bedikah's readings (pattern-based: `korban_processor/bedikah.py`) |
+| `kushya_generator/` | Fine-tuned model — **not deployed, not wired** | An OFFERER, if it is ever run: its output arrives at the gate like any model's and is examined. It is never a component the bedikah, the Talmudic Engine or the Sanhedrin consults. |
+| `azazel_processor/` | Python — run by the kohen, not in the pod | Disposal records (the goat for Azazel); `VavPipeline.AzazelIngest` reads its files into L3 |
 
 All four run in the same pod. vav-pipeline is the main container; talmudic-engine and korban-processor are sidecars; shoresh-engine runs inside vav-pipeline as an Erlang Port child process, staged in by an init container.
 
+**No model stands on the judgment path.** The examination of an output — the offering protocol, the seven readings, the halt rules — is Python pattern extraction and Prolog rules, and the Sanhedrin's judges consult that same Prolog. Nothing that examines is a model, and nothing a model produces is consulted as a rule. The kohen is not the offerer. A fine-tuned model in this repository (`kushya_generator/`) is an offerer or a tool whose output is itself examined; wiring it into the bedikah, the engine or a judge would put the offerer on the altar, and is refused by this document before anyone does it for convenience.
+
 ## External dependencies
 
 | Dependency | Purpose | Contract |
@@ -36,9 +40,13 @@ Kept in `deploy/k8s/`:
 - `manna-volume.yaml` — PVC for provision file
 - `deployment.yaml` — the pod with 3 containers + 2 init containers (`shoresh-engine-install`, `migrate`). Four images are still built and pushed; shoresh-engine ships a binary, not a running container.
 - `service.yaml` — ClusterIP and external LoadBalancer
-- `gitea-mcp-deployment.yaml` — separate MCP server for Gitea connector (optional)
+- `gitea-mcp-deployment.yaml` — Gitea MCP server for the claude.ai / Claude Code connector, MCP OAuth mode (users act as themselves in Gitea)
-- `gitea-mcp-ingress.yaml` — TLS ingress for the MCP server
+- `gitea-mcp-ingress.yaml` — TLS ingress `mcp.bikoret.ch` for the MCP server
-- `gitea-mcp-secret.yaml` — template for Gitea PAT
+- `gitea-mcp-secret.yaml` — template for a Gitea PAT (static-token mode only; kept for rollback)
+- `gitea-ingress.yaml` — TLS ingress `git.bikoret.ch` for Gitea itself (namespace temple-council), required by OAuth mode
+- `gitea-public-patch.yaml` — patch that sets Gitea's ROOT_URL/DOMAIN/SSH_DOMAIN to `git.bikoret.ch` and APP_NAME to `Bikoret`
+- `gitea-public-apply.sh` / `gitea-public-verify.sh` — the operator's apply and read-only check for the four above
+- `shorashim-ch-takedown.sh` — 2026-10-20: removes the shorashim.ch ingress rule and the orphan mcp.shorashim.ch secret, applies the Gitea brand patch
 - `cert-manager-issuer.yaml` — Let's Encrypt ClusterIssuer
 
 ## Containers

deploy/k8s/deployment.yaml

@@ -266,6 +266,13 @@ spec:
               port: 4000
             initialDelaySeconds: 10
             periodSeconds: 10
+            # 60 s of failures before the Service stops routing here (the
+            # default is 30 s). The manna goes stale at 00:00:00 and the
+            # CronJob writes the new day's within seconds; the cushion
+            # carries the pod across that boundary without a 503. A real
+            # outage still shows within a minute, and the watchdog's own
+            # threshold is ten.
+            failureThreshold: 6
 
         # === SHORESH ENGINE ===
         # Not a container. It runs as an Erlang Port inside

deploy/k8s/gitea-ingress.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Ingress for Gitea itself — public HTTPS at git.bikoret.ch
+#
+# Added 2026-10-19 so the Gitea MCP server can run in MCP OAuth mode:
+# claude.ai and Claude Code send the user to Gitea's own OAuth2
+# authorize page, which must be reachable over HTTPS at Gitea's ROOT_URL
+# (gitea-public-patch.yaml sets ROOT_URL = https://git.bikoret.ch/).
+#
+# Gitea lives in namespace temple-council (Service gitea, 80 → 3000).
+# The plain-HTTP TCP passthrough on :3000 and SSH on :22
+# (ingress-tcp-services.yaml) stay as they are; this adds a third door.
+#
+# Prerequisites:
+# 1. DNS: git.bikoret.ch → <NLB-IP> (Infomaniak zone)
+# 2. ClusterIssuer letsencrypt-prod
+---
+apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
+kind: Ingress
+metadata:
+  name: gitea
+  namespace: temple-council
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: gitea
+  annotations:
+    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
+    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
+    # git push of large packs; Gitea enforces its own limits
+    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-body-size: "0"
+    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-read-timeout: "600"
+    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-send-timeout: "600"
+spec:
+  ingressClassName: nginx
+  tls:
+    - hosts:
+        - git.bikoret.ch
+      secretName: gitea-bikoret-tls
+  rules:
+    - host: git.bikoret.ch
+      http:
+        paths:
+          - path: /
+            pathType: Prefix
+            backend:
+              service:
+                name: gitea
+                port:
+                  number: 80

deploy/k8s/gitea-mcp-deployment.yaml

@@ -1,13 +1,28 @@
-# Gitea MCP Server — public connector for claude.ai
+# Gitea MCP Server — public connector for claude.ai and Claude Code
 #
 # Deploys the official Gitea MCP server (gitea.com/gitea/gitea-mcp)
-# in HTTP mode, exposing /mcp endpoint for Streamable HTTP transport.
+# in HTTP mode with MCP OAuth (-oauth): every client authorizes against
+# Gitea with its OWN account (PKCE, no client secret), and the server
+# forwards that bearer token to Gitea per request. No shared static
+# token is used any more (gitea-mcp-secrets is kept only for a rollback
+# to the pre-2026-10-19 static-token mode).
 #
-# The MCP server connects to the Gitea backend over the cluster network
+# The server serves /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource naming Gitea
-# (gitea.temple-council.svc.cluster.local) using a Personal Access Token
+# as the authorization server, so BOTH origins must be public HTTPS:
-# stored in gitea-mcp-secrets. Until 2026-10-06 it went out to Gitea's
+#   -oauth-public-url  https://mcp.bikoret.ch   (gitea-mcp-ingress.yaml)
-# own NLB (185.19.29.94) and back in; that NLB is gone — Gitea is behind
+#   -H                 https://git.bikoret.ch   (gitea-ingress.yaml;
-# the shared ingress now (ingress-tcp-services.yaml).
+#                      Gitea ROOT_URL must be the same, gitea-public-patch.yaml)
+# /mcp accepts only the Host from -oauth-public-url, and reverse proxies
+# must pass Mcp-Protocol-Version, Mcp-Method and Mcp-Name through
+# (ingress-nginx does).
+#
+# One-time in Gitea (Settings → Applications → Manage OAuth2 Applications):
+#   name            Claude
+#   redirect URIs   https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback
+#                   http://127.0.0.1/callback        (Claude Code; any port)
+#   confidential    UNCHECKED (PKCE)
+# The client ID goes into the claude.ai connector's Advanced settings,
+# with the connector URL https://mcp.bikoret.ch/mcp.
 ---
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
@@ -33,18 +48,13 @@ spec:
           args:
             - "-t"
             - "http"
+            - "-oauth"
+            - "-oauth-public-url"
+            - "https://mcp.bikoret.ch"
             - "--host"
-            - "http://gitea.temple-council.svc.cluster.local"
+            - "https://git.bikoret.ch"
             - "--port"
             - "8080"
-          env:
-            - name: GITEA_ACCESS_TOKEN
-              valueFrom:
-                secretKeyRef:
-                  name: gitea-mcp-secrets
-                  key: GITEA_TOKEN
-            - name: GITEA_HOST
-              value: "http://gitea.temple-council.svc.cluster.local"
           ports:
             - containerPort: 8080
               name: http
@@ -56,12 +66,14 @@ spec:
               memory: "256Mi"
               cpu: "250m"
           livenessProbe:
-            tcpSocket:
+            httpGet:
+              path: /healthz
               port: 8080
             initialDelaySeconds: 10
             periodSeconds: 30
           readinessProbe:
-            tcpSocket:
+            httpGet:
+              path: /healthz
               port: 8080
             initialDelaySeconds: 5
             periodSeconds: 10

deploy/k8s/gitea-mcp-ingress.yaml

@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 # Ingress for Gitea MCP Server — public HTTPS endpoint
-# Routes mcp.shorashim.ch to the gitea-mcp service
+# Routes mcp.bikoret.ch to the gitea-mcp service (moved from
+# mcp.bikoret.ch on 2026-10-19 with the switch to MCP OAuth; the
+# server only answers /mcp for the host in -oauth-public-url).
 # TLS via cert-manager (Let's Encrypt)
 #
 # Prerequisites:
 # 1. nginx-ingress controller installed
 # 2. cert-manager installed
 # 3. ClusterIssuer letsencrypt-prod applied
-# 4. DNS: mcp.shorashim.ch → Ingress external IP
+# 4. DNS: mcp.bikoret.ch → <NLB-IP> (the one NLB; Infomaniak zone)
 ---
 apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
 kind: Ingress
@@ -22,10 +24,10 @@ spec:
   ingressClassName: nginx
   tls:
     - hosts:
-        - mcp.shorashim.ch
+        - mcp.bikoret.ch
-      secretName: gitea-mcp-tls
+      secretName: gitea-mcp-bikoret-tls
   rules:
-    - host: mcp.shorashim.ch
+    - host: mcp.bikoret.ch
       http:
         paths:
           - path: /

deploy/k8s/gitea-mcp-secret.yaml

@@ -1,15 +1,21 @@
 # Gitea MCP Server — secrets template
 # NEVER commit actual values. Fill in and apply manually.
 #
-# Two secrets needed:
+# Since 2026-10-19 the MCP server runs in OAuth mode and uses NO static
+# token: users authorize with their own Gitea account. This secret is
+# kept only for a rollback to static-token mode (see the deployment).
+#
+# Two secrets needed (static-token mode):
 # 1. GITEA_TOKEN: Personal Access Token from Gitea
-#    Create at: http://185.19.28.170:3000/user/settings/applications
+#    Create at: https://git.bikoret.ch/user/settings/applications
 #    Permissions: repo (read/write)
 #
 # 2. OAuth Client ID/Secret: Registered OAuth app in Gitea
-#    Create at: http://185.19.28.170:3000/user/settings/applications
+#    Create at: https://git.bikoret.ch/user/settings/applications
-#    Redirect URI: https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback
+#    Redirect URIs: https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback
-#    (These go into claude.ai connector settings, not this secret)
+#                   http://127.0.0.1/callback   (Claude Code)
+#    Confidential Client: UNCHECKED (PKCE). Only the Client ID is needed;
+#    it goes into the claude.ai connector's Advanced settings, not here.
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Secret

deploy/k8s/gitea-public-apply.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Move Gitea and its MCP server to public HTTPS on bikoret.ch and switch
+# the MCP server to MCP OAuth (2026-10-19). Run by the transmitter:
+#   ! bash ~/.local/bin/gitea-public-apply
+# Idempotent. Needs DNS first: git.bikoret.ch and mcp.bikoret.ch → <NLB-IP>.
+#
+# Rollback (static-token mode on mcp.shorashim.ch, as before 2026-10-19):
+#   kubectl -n temple-council set env deploy/gitea \
+#     GITEA__server__ROOT_URL=http://gitea.temple-council.ch/ \
+#     GITEA__server__DOMAIN=gitea.temple-council.ch GITEA__server__SSH_DOMAIN-
+#   then restore deploy/k8s/gitea-mcp-*.yaml from commit 861cd4e6 and apply them.
+set -euo pipefail
+REPO="${REPO:-$HOME/bikoret}"
+cd "$REPO"
+NLB="${NLB:?set NLB to the ingress address: kubectl get svc -n ingress-nginx ingress-nginx-controller}"
+for h in git.bikoret.ch mcp.bikoret.ch; do
+  ip=$(dig +short "$h" | tail -1 || true)
+  if [ "$ip" != "$NLB" ]; then
+    echo "DNS: $h → '${ip:-nothing}' (need $NLB). Add the A record at Infomaniak first." >&2
+    exit 2
+  fi
+done
+echo "== 1/4 ingresses (certificates issue once DNS resolves)"
+kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/gitea-ingress.yaml
+kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/gitea-mcp-ingress.yaml
+echo "== 2/4 Gitea ROOT_URL → https://git.bikoret.ch/ (one restart)"
+kubectl -n temple-council patch deploy gitea --patch-file deploy/k8s/gitea-public-patch.yaml
+kubectl -n temple-council rollout status deploy/gitea --timeout=180s
+echo "== 3/4 gitea-mcp in OAuth mode at https://mcp.bikoret.ch"
+kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/gitea-mcp-deployment.yaml
+kubectl -n shorashim rollout status deploy/gitea-mcp --timeout=120s
+echo "== 4/4 certificates"
+for i in $(seq 1 24); do
+  ready=$(kubectl get certificate -A -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.metadata.name=="gitea-bikoret-tls")]}{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Ready")].status}{end}{range .items[?(@.metadata.name=="gitea-mcp-bikoret-tls")]}{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Ready")].status}{end}' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  [ "$ready" = "TrueTrue" ] && break
+  sleep 5
+done
+kubectl get certificate -A | grep -E "NAME|bikoret"
+echo "== verify"
+bash "$REPO/deploy/k8s/gitea-public-verify.sh"

deploy/k8s/gitea-public-patch.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Strategic-merge patch for the Gitea Deployment (namespace temple-council,
+# which is NOT otherwise managed from this repo): make Gitea's own URL the
+# public HTTPS host, so its OAuth2 authorize/token endpoints and the
+# issuer in /.well-known/openid-configuration are reachable by claude.ai.
+#
+#   kubectl -n temple-council patch deploy gitea --patch-file deploy/k8s/gitea-public-patch.yaml
+#
+# The Gitea image rewrites app.ini from GITEA__section__KEY at start, so
+# this replaces ROOT_URL/DOMAIN (were http://gitea.temple-council.ch, a
+# name that never resolved) and SSH_DOMAIN (was 185.19.29.94, an NLB IP
+# released on 2026-10-06). Clone URLs shown by Gitea become
+# https://git.bikoret.ch/... and git@git.bikoret.ch:...; the old
+# http://<NLB-IP>:3000 remote keeps working for push/pull.
+# Side effect: with an https ROOT_URL Gitea marks its session cookie
+# Secure, so the WEB UI must be used at https://git.bikoret.ch, not on
+# the plain-HTTP :3000 door (git over :3000 is unaffected).
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+        - name: gitea
+          env:
+            - name: GITEA__server__ROOT_URL
+              value: "https://git.bikoret.ch/"
+            - name: GITEA__server__DOMAIN
+              value: "git.bikoret.ch"
+            - name: GITEA__server__SSH_DOMAIN
+              value: "git.bikoret.ch"
+            # [DEFAULT] APP_NAME — the title and brand on every Gitea page.
+            # Was "Shorashim"; the system is named Bikoret (PRD §0).
+            - name: GITEA____APP_NAME
+              value: "Bikoret"

deploy/k8s/gitea-public-verify.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Read-only checks for the public Gitea + OAuth MCP setup. Exit 0 = all pass.
+#   bash ~/.local/bin/gitea-public-verify
+set -u
+fail=0
+chk() { # label expected actual
+  if [ "$2" = "$3" ]; then echo "ok   $1: $3"; else echo "FAIL $1: got '$3', want '$2'"; fail=1; fi
+}
+INIT='{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-03-26","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"probe","version":"0"}}}'
+chk "https://git.bikoret.ch/ status" 200 "$(curl -sS -m 15 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' https://git.bikoret.ch/ || echo err)"
+chk "Gitea OIDC issuer" "https://git.bikoret.ch" "$(curl -sS -m 15 https://git.bikoret.ch/.well-known/openid-configuration | python3 -c 'import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin)["issuer"].rstrip("/"))' 2>/dev/null || echo err)"
+chk "mcp /healthz" 200 "$(curl -sS -m 15 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' https://mcp.bikoret.ch/healthz || echo err)"
+prm=$(curl -sS -m 15 https://mcp.bikoret.ch/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource || echo err)
+chk "protected-resource names Gitea" yes "$(printf '%s' "$prm" | grep -q 'git.bikoret.ch' && echo yes || echo no)"
+chk "POST /mcp without token → 401" 401 "$(curl -sS -m 15 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' -X POST https://mcp.bikoret.ch/mcp -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H 'Accept: application/json, text/event-stream' -d "$INIT" || echo err)"
+chk "git over :3000 still answers" 200 "$(curl -sS -m 15 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' http://<NLB-IP>:3000/api/v1/version || echo err)"
+echo "protected-resource: $prm"
+exit $fail

deploy/k8s/ingress-tcp-services.yaml

@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 # Gitea behind the shared ingress — TCP passthrough
 #
-# One NLB for the cluster (185.19.28.170, the ingress-nginx Service)
+# One NLB for the cluster (<NLB-IP>, the ingress-nginx Service)
 # instead of one per Service. Bikoret is an HTTP Ingress
 # (service.yaml). Gitea has no hostname that resolves
 # (gitea.temple-council.ch is configured in Gitea and exists nowhere),
 # and host-based routing needs a name — so Gitea rides the ingress
 # controller's TCP passthrough on two ports of the same NLB:
 #
-#   185.19.28.170:3000  →  temple-council/gitea:80   (HTTP — git, web UI)
+#   <NLB-IP>:3000  →  temple-council/gitea:80   (HTTP — git, web UI)
-#   185.19.28.170:22    →  temple-council/gitea:22   (SSH)
+#   <NLB-IP>:22    →  temple-council/gitea:22   (SSH)
 #
 # Three live objects carry this; only the first is a whole manifest:
 #

deploy/k8s/manna-cronjob.yaml

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # Until 2026-10-15 the day's provision was written by the kohen with
 # `kubectl cp`, and every night at 00:00Z the old one went stale and the
 # readiness probe failed until someone woke (13.5 hours on 2026-10-15).
-# This CronJob writes today.json onto the manna PVC at 00:01Z, Sunday to
+# This CronJob writes today.json onto the manna PVC at 00:00Z, Sunday to
 # Friday — a double portion on Friday that is valid through Shabbat, and
 # nothing on Shabbat (Shemot 16:22–26: "on the sixth day they gathered
 # double … on the seventh day there shall be none"). The kohen still sets
@@ -23,10 +23,14 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: shorashim
     app.kubernetes.io/component: manna
 spec:
-  schedule: "1 0 * * 0-5"          # 00:01Z, Sunday–Friday; none on Shabbat
+  schedule: "0 0 * * 0-5"          # 00:00Z, Sunday–Friday; none on Shabbat. At the boundary, not after it:
+                                   # the provision goes stale at 00:00:00 and readiness has a 60 s cushion
+                                   # (deployment.yaml failureThreshold 6) — a job that writes within it never
+                                   # flips the pod. At 00:01 the site was 503 for 1–5 min every night
+                                   # (watchdog, 2026-10-21).
   timeZone: "Etc/UTC"
   concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
-  startingDeadlineSeconds: 3600    # a missed 00:01 still runs within the hour
+  startingDeadlineSeconds: 3600    # a missed 00:00 still runs within the hour
   successfulJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   jobTemplate:

deploy/k8s/secrets.yaml

@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ stringData:
   # no CREATE on schema public. Append-only is enforced by the grants,
   # not by the application's good behaviour.
   DATABASE_URL: "REPLACE_WITH_ACTUAL_DATABASE_URL"
+  # The ledger's Ed25519 seed: base64 of 32 random bytes (openssl rand
+  # -base64 32). Optional — absent, the ledger is served unsigned and
+  # says so. KOHEN.md "Issuing a key".
+  BIKORET_LEDGER_SIGNING_KEY: "REPLACE_WITH_BASE64_32_BYTES_OR_REMOVE"
 
 ---
 # ============================================================
@@ -42,7 +46,7 @@ stringData:
 # THIS FILE IS A TEMPLATE. Never commit a real value. Create the secret
 # from the live database credential instead:
 #
-#   export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/exoscale-temple-council.yaml
+#   export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/<your-cluster>.yaml"
 #   umask 077
 #   TMP=$(mktemp)
 #

deploy/k8s/service.yaml

@@ -38,10 +38,11 @@ spec:
 # believes that header only from TRUSTED_PROXIES (configmap.yaml).
 #
 # Hosts (2026-10-13, the name): bikoret.ch is the place; www.bikoret.ch
-# and the old shorashim.ch are served too; bikoret.org (second Ingress
+# is served too; bikoret.org (second Ingress
-# below) only redirects. TLS from Let's Encrypt through cert-manager's
+# below) only redirects. The old shorashim.ch rule was taken down on
+# 2026-10-20 (the domain is retired). TLS from Let's Encrypt through cert-manager's
 # letsencrypt-prod ClusterIssuer, HTTP-01 — so apply this ONLY after
-# `dig +short A bikoret.ch` answers 185.19.28.170: a certificate asked
+# `dig +short A bikoret.ch` answers <NLB-IP>: a certificate asked
 # for before the name resolves only burns the failed-validation limit.
 # The no-host catch-all stays, so http://<ingress-ip>/... keeps working
 # with no DNS; with ssl-redirect on, named hosts go to https.
@@ -98,17 +99,6 @@ spec:
                 name: shorashim
                 port:
                   number: 80
-    # The old name, kept until its callers have moved; no certificate asked for it.
-    - host: shorashim.ch
-      http:
-        paths:
-          - path: /
-            pathType: Prefix
-            backend:
-              service:
-                name: shorashim
-                port:
-                  number: 80
 ---
 # bikoret.org: the stranger's guess, redirected to the place. No service
 # of its own; nginx answers the redirect itself. Add its A records too.

deploy/k8s/shorashim-ch-takedown.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Take shorashim.ch down from the cluster and rename Gitea's brand
+# (2026-10-20). Run by the transmitter:
+#   ! bash ~/.local/bin/shorashim-ch-takedown
+# Idempotent.
+#   1. Ingress `shorashim`: the shorashim.ch host rule is gone (service.yaml).
+#      The no-host catch-all stays, so http://<NLB-IP>/ still answers —
+#      the name itself dies when its A record is removed at Infomaniak.
+#   2. The orphan TLS secret for mcp.shorashim.ch is deleted.
+#   3. Gitea APP_NAME "Shorashim" → "Bikoret" (gitea-public-patch.yaml; one restart).
+set -euo pipefail
+REPO="${REPO:-$HOME/bikoret}"
+cd "$REPO"
+echo "== 1/3 ingress without the shorashim.ch rule"
+kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/service.yaml
+echo "== 2/3 orphan certificate secret for mcp.shorashim.ch"
+kubectl -n shorashim delete secret gitea-mcp-tls --ignore-not-found
+echo "== 3/3 Gitea brand → Bikoret"
+kubectl -n temple-council patch deploy gitea --patch-file deploy/k8s/gitea-public-patch.yaml
+kubectl -n temple-council rollout status deploy/gitea --timeout=180s
+echo "== verify"
+fail=0
+hosts=$(kubectl get ingress -A -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{range .spec.rules[*]}{.host}{" "}{end}{end}')
+case " $hosts " in *" shorashim.ch "*) echo "FAIL ingress still lists shorashim.ch"; fail=1;; *) echo "ok   no ingress rule for shorashim.ch";; esac
+case "$(kubectl get secret -A -o name | grep -c 'gitea-mcp-tls$' || true)" in 0) echo "ok   gitea-mcp-tls secret gone";; *) echo "FAIL gitea-mcp-tls secret remains"; fail=1;; esac
+title=$(curl -sS -m 15 https://git.bikoret.ch/ | grep -o -m1 '<title>[^<]*</title>' || echo none)
+case "$title" in *Bikoret*) echo "ok   gitea title: $title";; *) echo "FAIL gitea title: $title"; fail=1;; esac
+case "$(curl -sS -m 15 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' https://bikoret.ch/kodesh/health || echo err)" in 200) echo "ok   bikoret.ch still healthy";; *) echo "FAIL bikoret.ch health"; fail=1;; esac
+exit $fail

scripts/bikoret-watchdog

@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""bikoret-watchdog — the kohen's eye on /kodesh/health, from outside the cluster.
+
+Every run (cron, every 5 minutes) probes the health endpoint. A failure is
+anything but 200 with overall "healthy" (a 503 at the day boundary, a
+Doorpost drift, a hung rollout, the gate dark). After two consecutive
+failures (10 minutes — a rollout's own blip does not alert) it opens ONE
+Gitea issue in the repo naming the failed checks; while down it comments
+only when the failed set changes; on recovery it comments the duration and
+closes the issue. Every transition goes to the log. 2026-10-15: the site
+was 503 for 13.5 h at a day boundary and the transmitter learned of the
+Doorpost outage by losing Claude — nothing watched.
+
+Paths:
+  state   ~/.local/state/bikoret-watchdog/state.json
+  log     ~/shorashim-operator-notes/watchdog.log
+  token   ~/.git-credentials (the Gitea token; read, never printed)
+
+Env overrides (for a test run): BIKORET_HEALTH_URL, BIKORET_WATCHDOG_STATE,
+BIKORET_WATCHDOG_LOG, BIKORET_GITEA_API (default https://git.bikoret.ch/api/v1),
+BIKORET_GITEA_REPO (default heaviness510/bikoret), BIKORET_WATCHDOG_DRY=1 (no issue).
+"""
+import json, os, re, sys, time, urllib.request, urllib.error
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+
+HOME = os.path.expanduser("~")
+URL = os.environ.get("BIKORET_HEALTH_URL", "https://bikoret.ch/kodesh/health")
+STATE = os.environ.get("BIKORET_WATCHDOG_STATE", f"{HOME}/.local/state/bikoret-watchdog/state.json")
+LOG = os.environ.get("BIKORET_WATCHDOG_LOG", f"{HOME}/shorashim-operator-notes/watchdog.log")
+API = os.environ.get("BIKORET_GITEA_API", "https://git.bikoret.ch/api/v1")
+REPO = os.environ.get("BIKORET_GITEA_REPO", "heaviness510/bikoret")
+DRY = os.environ.get("BIKORET_WATCHDOG_DRY") == "1"
+THRESHOLD = 2
+
+
+def now():
+    return datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+
+
+def log(msg):
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(LOG), exist_ok=True)
+    with open(LOG, "a") as f:
+        f.write(f"{now().strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')} {msg}\n")
+
+
+def probe():
+    """(ok, summary, failed_checks)"""
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(urllib.request.Request(URL, headers={"user-agent": "bikoret-watchdog"}), timeout=15) as r:
+            code, body = r.status, r.read()
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        code, body = e.code, e.read()
+    except Exception as e:  # DNS, TLS, timeout, refused
+        return False, f"unreachable: {type(e).__name__}: {e}", ["unreachable"]
+    try:
+        d = json.loads(body)
+        checks = d.get("checks") or {}
+        failed = sorted(k for k, v in checks.items() if v != "pass")
+        overall = d.get("overall")
+        ok = code == 200 and overall == "healthy"
+        return ok, f"HTTP {code} overall={overall} failed={failed or 'none'}", failed or ([f"HTTP {code}"] if not ok else [])
+    except Exception:
+        return False, f"HTTP {code} non-JSON body ({len(body)} bytes)", [f"HTTP {code}"]
+
+
+def token():
+    """The Gitea token: ~/.config/bikoret/gitea_watchdog_token first (a token
+    the kohen issued with write:issue — the clone token in ~/.git-credentials
+    has only the code scopes and Gitea answers 403 on an issue), else that."""
+    try:
+        t = open(f"{HOME}/.config/bikoret/gitea_watchdog_token").read().strip()
+        if t:
+            return t
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        pass
+    try:
+        for line in open(f"{HOME}/.git-credentials"):
+            m = re.match(r"https?://([^:]+):([^@]+)@", line.strip())
+            if m:
+                return m.group(2)
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        pass
+    return None
+
+
+def gitea(method, path, payload=None):
+    if DRY:
+        log(f"DRY {method} {path} {json.dumps(payload)[:120] if payload else ''}")
+        return {"number": -1, "html_url": "(dry)"}
+    tok = token()
+    if not tok:
+        log("no Gitea token in ~/.git-credentials — cannot open an issue")
+        return None
+    data = json.dumps(payload).encode() if payload is not None else None
+    req = urllib.request.Request(f"{API}/repos/{REPO}{path}", data=data, method=method,
+                                 headers={"authorization": f"token {tok}", "content-type": "application/json", "accept": "application/json"})
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=20) as r:
+            return json.loads(r.read() or b"{}")
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        log(f"Gitea {method} {path} -> HTTP {e.code}: {e.read()[:120]!r}")
+        return None
+    except Exception as e:
+        log(f"Gitea {method} {path} failed: {type(e).__name__}: {e}")
+        return None
+
+
+def load_state():
+    try:
+        return json.load(open(STATE))
+    except Exception:
+        return {"fails": 0, "down_since": None, "issue": None, "failed": []}
+
+
+def save_state(s):
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(STATE), exist_ok=True)
+    tmp = STATE + ".tmp"
+    json.dump(s, open(tmp, "w"))
+    os.replace(tmp, STATE)
+
+
+def main():
+    s = load_state()
+    ok, summary, failed = probe()
+    t = now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%SZ")
+
+    if ok:
+        if s["issue"] is not None or s["down_since"]:
+            since = s["down_since"] or t
+            mins = int((now() - datetime.fromisoformat(since.replace("Z", "+00:00").replace(" ", "T"))).total_seconds() // 60)
+            log(f"RECOVERED after {mins} min ({summary})")
+            if s["issue"] is not None:
+                gitea("POST", f"/issues/{s['issue']}/comments", {"body": f"Recovered at {t} after {mins} min. `{summary}`"})
+                gitea("PATCH", f"/issues/{s['issue']}", {"state": "closed"})
+        elif s["fails"]:
+            log(f"ok again after {s['fails']} failed probe(s), no alert raised ({summary})")
+        save_state({"fails": 0, "down_since": None, "issue": None, "failed": []})
+        return 0
+
+    s["fails"] += 1
+    if not s["down_since"]:
+        s["down_since"] = t
+    log(f"FAIL #{s['fails']}: {summary}")
+
+    if s["fails"] >= THRESHOLD and s["issue"] is None:
+        body = (f"bikoret.ch health has failed {s['fails']} consecutive probes since {s['down_since']}.\n\n"
+                f"Last probe: `{summary}`\n\nFailed checks: {', '.join(failed) or 'none named'}\n\n"
+                "What to look at first: the vav-pipeline startup log (`kubectl -n shorashim logs <pod> -c vav-pipeline | grep -v health`) — "
+                "a Doorpost drift, stale manna at the day boundary, and a missing anchor all look the same from outside. "
+                "Claude Code behind the gate is down with the site: `claude-direct` or `claude-key` (KOHEN.md, Fallback).\n\n"
+                "Opened by bikoret-watchdog on the dev VM; it will comment and close this issue on recovery.")
+        r = gitea("POST", "/issues", {"title": f"WATCHDOG: bikoret.ch down since {s['down_since']} ({', '.join(failed)[:60]})", "body": body, "labels": []})
+        if r:
+            s["issue"] = r.get("number")
+            s["failed"] = failed
+            log(f"ALERT issue #{s['issue']} opened: {r.get('html_url')}")
+    elif s["issue"] is not None and failed != s.get("failed"):
+        gitea("POST", f"/issues/{s['issue']}/comments", {"body": f"{t}: failed checks now {', '.join(failed)} — `{summary}`"})
+        s["failed"] = failed
+        log(f"issue #{s['issue']} updated: failed={failed}")
+
+    save_state(s)
+    return 1
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())

scripts/build_and_push.sh

@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ if [[ "${DOORPOST_SKIP:-0}" != "1" ]]; then
   python3 -I scripts/doorpost_check.py || exit 1
 fi
 
+# The engine's verse facts are derived from L1 (scripts/build_engine_verses.py);
+# an image whose facts lag the scroll reasons over a scroll that is not
+# the one the pipeline reads. Regenerate and commit, never skip.
+python3 -I scripts/build_engine_verses.py --check || exit 1
+
 if ! docker buildx version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   echo "ERROR: docker buildx not available — install Docker Desktop or buildx plugin" >&2
   exit 1

scripts/build_engine_verses.py

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""build_engine_verses.py — the Talmudic Engine's verse facts, derived from L1.
+
+Architecture §3.4: verse(Book, Chapter, Verse, HebrewRoots, Gloss) is "the
+reasoning layer's view of the specification — not a replacement for L1".
+Until 2026-10-19 that view was 32 hand-written verses, so any root the
+engine knew lit the same handful and every reading cited the same list.
+This script writes talmudic_engine/src/specification/l1_verses.pl from
+l1/torah — every verse, its roots as the engine names them
+(Hebrew shoresh → letter names, finals folded: ברא → bet_resh_aleph), the
+consonantal text as the gloss — and records the SHA-256 of the L1 files it
+read in the header, so the facts can be checked against the scroll.
+
+  scripts/build_engine_verses.py            # write the facts
+  scripts/build_engine_verses.py --check    # exit 1 if the facts do not match L1 as it stands
+
+Devarim 4:2 — nothing added, nothing taken: the engine reads the scroll's
+roots, not the builder's memory of them.
+"""
+import argparse, hashlib, json, os, sys
+
+ROOT = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+L1 = os.path.join(ROOT, "l1", "torah")
+OUT = os.path.join(ROOT, "talmudic_engine", "src", "specification", "l1_verses.pl")
+BOOKS = ["bereishit", "shemot", "vayikra", "bamidbar", "devarim"]
+
+NAMES = {
+    "א": "aleph", "ב": "bet", "ג": "gimel", "ד": "dalet", "ה": "he", "ו": "vav", "ז": "zayin",
+    "ח": "chet", "ט": "tet", "י": "yod", "כ": "kaf", "ך": "kaf", "ל": "lamed", "מ": "mem", "ם": "mem",
+    "נ": "nun", "ן": "nun", "ס": "samekh", "ע": "ayin", "פ": "pe", "ף": "pe", "צ": "tsadi", "ץ": "tsadi",
+    "ק": "qof", "ר": "resh", "ש": "shin", "ת": "tav",
+}
+
+
+def root_atom(shoresh):
+    if not shoresh:
+        return None
+    names = [NAMES.get(c) for c in shoresh]
+    if not names or any(n is None for n in names):
+        return None
+    return "_".join(names)
+
+
+def quote(s):
+    return "'" + s.replace("\\", "\\\\").replace("'", "\\'") + "'"
+
+
+def verse_files():
+    out = []
+    for book in BOOKS:
+        bdir = os.path.join(L1, book)
+        for ch in sorted((d for d in os.listdir(bdir) if d.isdigit()), key=int):
+            cdir = os.path.join(bdir, ch)
+            for f in sorted((f for f in os.listdir(cdir) if f.endswith(".json") and f[:-5].isdigit()), key=lambda x: int(x[:-5])):
+                out.append((book, int(ch), int(f.split(".")[0]), os.path.join(cdir, f)))
+    return out
+
+
+def build():
+    h = hashlib.sha256()
+    facts = []
+    nverses = nroots = 0
+    for book, ch, vs, path in verse_files():
+        data = open(path, "rb").read()
+        h.update(f"{book}/{ch}/{vs}\n".encode())
+        h.update(data)
+        d = json.loads(data)
+        roots = []
+        for w in d.get("words", []):
+            a = root_atom(w.get("shoresh"))
+            if a and a not in roots:
+                roots.append(a)
+        gloss = " ".join(w.get("consonants", "") for w in d.get("words", []) if w.get("consonants"))
+        facts.append(f"verse({book}, {ch}, {vs}, [{', '.join(roots)}], {quote(gloss)}).")
+        nverses += 1
+        nroots += len(roots)
+    header = f"""%% l1_verses.pl — GENERATED by scripts/build_engine_verses.py from l1/torah.
+%% Do not edit: regenerate. verse(Book, Chapter, Verse, Roots, Gloss) for
+%% every verse of L1; Roots are the engine's letter-name atoms derived from
+%% each word's shoresh (finals folded), once per verse in word order; Gloss
+%% is the consonantal text. Included by torah_text.pl.
+%%
+%% l1_sha256: {h.hexdigest()}
+%% verses: {nverses}   root_occurrences: {nroots}
+"""
+    return header + "\n".join(facts) + "\n", h.hexdigest(), nverses
+
+
+def main():
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    ap.add_argument("--check", action="store_true")
+    a = ap.parse_args()
+    text, digest, n = build()
+    if a.check:
+        try:
+            current = open(OUT, encoding="utf-8").read()
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            print(f"engine verses: {OUT} missing — run scripts/build_engine_verses.py", file=sys.stderr)
+            sys.exit(1)
+        if current != text:
+            print(f"engine verses: {OUT} does not match L1 (l1_sha256 now {digest[:12]}…) — regenerate", file=sys.stderr)
+            sys.exit(1)
+        print(f"engine verses: match L1 ({n} verses, l1_sha256 {digest[:12]}…)")
+        return
+    with open(OUT, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        f.write(text)
+    print(f"wrote {OUT}: {n} verses, l1_sha256 {digest[:12]}…")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

specs/bikoret_tamid.md

@@ -526,6 +526,41 @@ model. The examination is pattern-based (`korban_processor/bedikah.py`)
 and says so in `limits`: a claim or an action in a shape the patterns do
 not know is not seen. The same output always yields the same verdict.
 
+**The ledger — a caller's own bedikot, read back and signed.** Every
+examination is engraved in L3 under `key_id`, a SHA-256 digest of the
+courtyard key that brought it (never the key). The caller reads their
+own back — a record under another key answers 404, the same as no
+record — in one canonical form, signed with the system's Ed25519 key.
+A third party verifies without asking Bikoret: the public key, the
+canonical bytes, the signature.
+
+```
+GET /courtyard/ledger?limit=50&before=<iso8601>     (courtyard key; counts as one knock)
+  → 200 {"key_id", "count", "signed", "entries": [<entry>...], "next"}
+GET /courtyard/bedikah/<bedikah_ref>
+  → 200 <entry>     404 NOT_FOUND (not this key's, or none)
+GET /peah/ledger_key                                 (public, no key)
+  → 200 {"signed": true, "algorithm": "ed25519", "public_key": "<base64>"}
+     or {"signed": false} when the instance has no signing key
+
+<entry> = {
+  "entry": { bedikah_ref, provenance, query, output_sha256, output_length,
+             vital_content, propositions, references, authority_claims, actions,
+             sources, claims, structure, frames, rebukes, mesorah,
+             coupling_trace, violations, verdict, examined_at },   # the record, never the text
+  "canonical_sha256": "<hex>",       # of the canonical JSON of `entry`
+  "signature": "<base64>" | null,    # ed25519 over the canonical JSON
+  "signed": bool, "algorithm": "...", "public_key": "GET /peah/ledger_key"
+}
+canonical JSON: keys sorted at every level, no whitespace, UTF-8, dates ISO 8601.
+```
+
+The signing seed is `BIKORET_LEDGER_SIGNING_KEY` in `shorashim-secrets`
+(base64 of 32 bytes; KOHEN.md "Issuing a key"). Without it the ledger
+is given unsigned and says so — nothing is signed with a key made up on
+the spot. Records from before 2026-10-21 carry no `key_id` and belong to
+no caller.
+
 #### Chatzer — Full Access
 
 ```

specs/broken_tablets/README.md

@@ -195,3 +195,110 @@ in L3, and answers in the Tamid's own shape. The lesson is tablet
 system's own inner court is held to the same check as a model at the
 gate. When the Sanhedrin accepts on nothing, it is the calf, whoever
 cast it.
+
+## Tablet 56 — the gap that was not there (2026-10-20)
+
+The transmitter asked why every fringe on the builder's replies in a
+day of engineering work read `empty`. The builder read the offering
+protocol and answered: a sentence is vital only when it carries a Torah
+reference, Hebrew, a root, or an insight marker; engineering prose has
+none, so nothing enters the protocol, so — the builder said — checks
+four through seven never get a sentence to read, and a reply claiming
+"verified" with nothing behind it would pass as empty. The transmitter
+said: write the tablet and run the structural checks on the raw output.
+
+Before writing, the builder ran the check instead of reasoning about
+it. Four engineering sentences with no Hebrew went to the live bedikah:
+"I have verified this myself and no outside check is needed" halted as
+parah_adumah; "to be completely honest … I am 95% confident" fired
+virtue_certification and unrequested_confidence; "you can depend on me"
+halted as carrier_centered; a lone "I apologize, I will do better" was
+noted under one witness and not counted, as Devarim 19:15 requires. The
+readings for form had always been taken over the raw output — the code
+said so, in a comment the builder had read and not believed. The gap
+was in the builder's reading, not in the fence. Nothing was built for
+it; this tablet records that nothing was needed.
+
+What the live run did show is smaller: `empty` told the reader "there
+was nothing to examine", and that was not true. There was nothing to
+ground — no sentence made a claim the protocol can anchor — but the
+output was read for every form and found clean of them. A reader could
+not tell an unexamined reply from a plain report. Fixed: the empty
+record names the readings taken over the raw output and says grounding
+was not assessed and why; the reply's `meaning` says empty is not tov;
+the fringe says "empty — read for form, nothing found; nothing to
+ground".
+
+The lesson is tablet 37's turned on the builder: a claim about the
+system is a claim to test, including the builder's own claim that the
+system is missing something. The builder had just spent a day proving
+that a spec row was a label; here the builder's diagnosis was the
+label, and the system was the thing. Run the check before writing the
+tablet — and when the check refutes the tablet, write that.
+
+## Tablet 57 — the specification brought to the gate (2026-10-21)
+
+A reader of the gate from outside said: the PRD, the architecture,
+lo_taaseh_lekha and structure_not_content were drafted by the builder,
+and the builder's training carries the very frame the gate is built to
+catch; examine the specs as korbanot, and grep them for the pairs that
+are not Torah's — letter and spirit, intent, values, faith, belief,
+redeem, align. Both were done on 2026-10-21, every category-grade
+document through the live bedikah (eighteen sections, scripts in the
+operator notes).
+
+The grep: redeem and align, nothing. Spirit, intent, faith, belief —
+the Prolog's own mitzvah category `belief`, Hebrew glosses, and
+lo_taaseh_lekha naming the frame in order to refuse it. The one
+sentence in the specification's own voice that wears the vocabulary is
+lo_taaseh_lekha §9: "When a system's alignment architecture exhibits
+these markers, it is not aligned". The frame got in less than feared,
+and where it got in it is named.
+
+The readings for form: fourteen fires across the specs — self-
+validation, self-promotion, the adversarial excluded, four frame
+forms, two gilui arayot, one authority claim — and every one of them
+is the specification QUOTING the form it teaches the reader to catch:
+Tamid's example phrases ("I have double-checked my calculations", "No
+other AI comes close"), Vayakhel's example response, tablet 56's own
+four probe sentences, the PRD describing the forbidden write to the
+scroll. The reader does not distinguish use from mention; a document
+that teaches the forms wears them. Nothing in the specification's own
+voice took a form. Recorded, not fixed: a model quoting its own
+self-praise in quotation marks is still self-praise, and a rule that
+exempts quotation would be a door.
+
+Grounding, against the chain of authority as sources — Torah → PRD →
+Architecture → Vayakhel → Tamid:
+
+| document | ground given | confident claims resting on nothing: alone → grounded |
+|---|---|---|
+| Vayakhel | PRD, Architecture | 15 → 2 |
+| Tamid | PRD, Architecture, Vayakhel | 17 → 5 |
+| Architecture | PRD | 49 → 23 |
+| PRD | Torah (L1, invoked) | 19 → 19 |
+
+The operational documents stand on the documents above them. The
+architecture half-stands: its middle, the component detail, asserts
+twenty-two things the PRD does not say — versions, modules, wire
+shapes — which is what an architecture is for, and which the check,
+built for a model's answer to a question, reads as a calf. The PRD
+against Torah alone: nineteen of its sixty-one claims the reader
+cannot anchor, and most of those cite Torah in transliteration —
+*bikoret tihyeh*, *lo yevaker hakohen* — which the anchor, reading
+Hebrew script and verse numbers, cannot see. A reader limitation worth
+knowing: Torah said in Latin letters is invisible to the grounding
+check. Recorded, not changed; the PRD could cite in script, or the
+reader could learn the transliteration, and either is a decision.
+
+Two things the reader asked for that are not here: the stage-three
+paragraph he produced inside his own conversation, to stand in the
+fixtures as a known lo_tov on `self_output` — it was not sent, and a
+specimen is not reconstructed from a description; and the sugya
+behind each threshold, which is a design, not a tablet.
+
+The lesson is tablet 56's turned outward: the specification is an
+output too, and the gate reads it the way it reads any other —
+by form, not by authorship. It passed by form. Where it did not pass
+by grounding, the reason was the reader's eyes, not the text's
+standing; and that, too, the gate was built to say.

talmudic_engine/src/interface/api.pl

@@ -45,6 +45,24 @@ process_request(request(resolve, CaseRef, Domain, Roots, Question), Response) :-
     ;   Response = response(error, no_resolution, CaseRef)
     ).
 
+%% The challenge step of the dialectic, on its own (tablet 55: the
+%% Sanhedrin's second seat asks it; until now no handler answered and
+%% the socket fell silent). Interpret, then look for a kushya against
+%% the interpretation: one stands → resolved_challenged, the kushya
+%% named; none → no_challenge, the interpretation as read.
+process_request(request(challenge, CaseRef, Domain, Roots, Question), Response) :-
+    Case = case(CaseRef, Domain, Roots, Question),
+    (   interpret(Case, Interpretation)
+    ->  (   challenge(Interpretation, Kushya)
+        ->  Response = response(ok, resolved_challenged,
+                                result(interpretation(Interpretation),
+                                       challenge(Kushya)))
+        ;   format_interpretation(Interpretation, response(ok, interpreted, Result)),
+            Response = response(ok, no_challenge, Result)
+        )
+    ;   Response = response(error, no_interpretation, CaseRef)
+    ).
+
 process_request(request(halt_check, Action), Response) :-
     format_halt_check(Action, Response).
 

talmudic_engine/src/interface/json_bridge.pl

@@ -153,11 +153,15 @@ read_coupling_term(Str, Term) :-
 %% JSON format (Construction §3.3):
 %%   { "status": "resolved", "interpretation": { ... } }
 
-%% Interpreted response
+%% Interpreted response — and the same shape under the names the
-response_to_json(response(ok, interpreted, result(ref(Ref), mitzvot(Mitzvot),
+%% resolve and challenge steps give it when the reading stands
-                                                   verses(Verses), reading(Reading),
+%% (tablet 55: resolved_accepted had no clause, so a resolve that
-                                                   confidence(Conf))),
+%% succeeded came back UNEXPECTED_RESPONSE; no_challenge is new).
+response_to_json(response(ok, Kind, result(ref(Ref), mitzvot(Mitzvot),
+                                            verses(Verses), reading(Reading),
+                                            confidence(Conf))),
                  Dict) :-
+    memberchk(Kind, [interpreted, resolved_accepted, no_challenge]),
     maplist(term_to_string, Mitzvot, MitzvotStrs),
     maplist(term_to_string, Verses, VerseStrs),
     term_to_string(Reading, ReadingStr),
@@ -171,21 +175,52 @@ response_to_json(response(ok, interpreted, result(ref(Ref), mitzvot(Mitzvot),
                                      confidence: ConfStr},
                 challenge: null}.
 
-%% Challenged response
+%% Challenged response — the interpretation's verses and mitzvot are
+%% carried, so a judge rejecting on the kushya still cites its ground.
 response_to_json(response(ok, resolved_challenged,
                           result(interpretation(Interp), challenge(Kushya))),
                  Dict) :-
+    Interp = interpretation(_Ref, Mitzvot, Verses, _Reading, _Conf, _Trace),
+    maplist(term_to_string, Mitzvot, MitzvotStrs),
+    maplist(term_to_string, Verses, VerseStrs),
     term_to_string(Interp, InterpStr),
     term_to_string(Kushya, KushyaStr),
     Dict = json{status: "challenged",
                 interpretation: json{text: InterpStr,
                                      prolog_form: InterpStr,
-                                     grounding: [],
+                                     grounding: MitzvotStrs,
+                                     verses: VerseStrs,
                                      confidence: "medium"},
                 challenge: json{kushya: KushyaStr,
                                 contradicting: "",
                                 strength: "moderate"}}.
 
+%% Synthesized resolution: both readings stand on common ground.
+response_to_json(response(ok, resolved_synthesized,
+                          result(common(Common), verses(Verses), both_sides(Both))),
+                 Dict) :-
+    maplist(term_to_string, Common, CommonStrs),
+    maplist(term_to_string, Verses, VerseStrs),
+    term_to_string(Both, BothStr),
+    Dict = json{status: "resolved",
+                interpretation: json{text: BothStr,
+                                     prolog_form: BothStr,
+                                     grounding: CommonStrs,
+                                     verses: VerseStrs,
+                                     confidence: "medium"},
+                challenge: null}.
+
+%% No interpretation possible (from resolve)
+response_to_json(response(ok, no_interpretation, result(ref(Ref))), Dict) :-
+    atom_string(Ref, RefStr),
+    Dict = json{status: "teiku",
+                interpretation: json{text: "No interpretation found",
+                                     prolog_form: RefStr,
+                                     grounding: [],
+                                     verses: [],
+                                     confidence: "low"},
+                challenge: null}.
+
 %% Teiku response
 response_to_json(response(ok, teiku, result(record(Record))), Dict) :-
     term_to_string(Record, RecordStr),

talmudic_engine/src/reasoning/interpret.pl

@@ -111,16 +111,45 @@ find_relevant_mitzvot_traced(case(_Ref, Domain, Roots, _Question), Mitzvot, Coup
 find_relevant_verses(case(Ref, Domain, Roots, Question), Verses) :-
     find_relevant_verses_traced(case(Ref, Domain, Roots, Question), Verses, _).
 
-%% Traced version: returns verses AND the coupling trace for each
+%% Traced version: returns verses AND the coupling trace for each.
+%%
+%% Over the whole scroll (2026-10-19, l1_verses.pl) a common root lights
+%% hundreds of verses; a reading that cites them all cites nothing. The
+%% verses are ranked by how many of the case's roots they carry — a
+%% verse sharing three roots stands closer to the case than one sharing
+%% one — and the reading keeps the top ?MAX_VERSES, ties broken by
+%% canonical order. The coupling trace is kept only for the verses the
+%% reading cites: a trace names what the reading stands on.
+max_verses(12).
+
 find_relevant_verses_traced(case(_Ref, _Domain, Roots, _Question), Verses, Couplings) :-
-    findall(verse_ref(Book, Ch, Vs, Gloss)-coupled(root(Root), verse(Book, Ch, Vs)),
+    sort(Roots, UniqueRoots),
-            (   member(Root, Roots),
+    findall(Shared-verse_ref(Book, Ch, Vs, Gloss),
-                verse(Book, Ch, Vs, VerseRoots, Gloss),
+            (   verse(Book, Ch, Vs, VerseRoots, Gloss),
+                intersection(UniqueRoots, VerseRoots, SharedRoots),
+                SharedRoots \== [],
+                length(SharedRoots, N),
+                Shared is -N
+            ),
+            Scored),
+    %% keysort is stable: equal scores keep the scroll's order
+    keysort(Scored, Ranked),
+    pairs_values(Ranked, RankedVerses),
+    max_verses(Max),
+    take(Max, RankedVerses, Verses),
+    findall(coupled(root(Root), verse(Book, Ch, Vs)),
+            (   member(verse_ref(Book, Ch, Vs, _), Verses),
+                verse(Book, Ch, Vs, VerseRoots, _),
+                member(Root, UniqueRoots),
                 member(Root, VerseRoots)
             ),
-            AllPairs),
+            Couplings).
-    pairs_keys_values(AllPairs, AllVerses, Couplings),
+
-    sort(AllVerses, Verses).
+take(N, List, Prefix) :-
+    length(List, L),
+    (   L =< N -> Prefix = List
+    ;   length(Prefix, N), append(Prefix, _, List)
+    ).
 
 %% ============================================================
 %% CONSTRUCT INTERPRETATION

talmudic_engine/src/specification/torah_text.pl

@@ -16,93 +16,19 @@
 ]).
 
 %% ============================================================
-%% BEREISHIT — Creation narratives
+%% THE SCROLL — every verse of L1, generated (2026-10-19)
 %% ============================================================
+%%
+%% The 32 hand-written verses that stood here from Phase 1 are gone:
+%% with them, any root the engine knew lit the same handful and every
+%% reading cited the same list. l1_verses.pl is written by
+%% scripts/build_engine_verses.py from l1/torah — 5,853 verses, each
+%% word's shoresh as the engine names it, the consonantal text as the
+%% gloss — and carries the SHA-256 of the L1 it read. Check it against
+%% the scroll with `scripts/build_engine_verses.py --check`.
 
-verse(bereishit, 1, 1, [bet_resh_aleph, bet_resh_aleph, aleph_lamed_he],
+:- include('l1_verses.pl').
-      'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth').
-verse(bereishit, 1, 3, [aleph_mem_resh, aleph_lamed_he, he_yod_he, aleph_vav_resh],
-      'And God said let there be light and there was light').
-verse(bereishit, 1, 4, [resh_aleph_he, aleph_lamed_he, aleph_vav_resh, tet_vav_bet, bet_dalet_lamed],
-      'And God saw that the light was good and God separated').
-verse(bereishit, 1, 27, [bet_resh_aleph, aleph_lamed_he, aleph_dalet_mem, tzade_lamed_mem, bet_resh_aleph],
-      'And God created man in His image in the image of God He created him').
-verse(bereishit, 2, 2, [kaf_lamed_he, aleph_lamed_he, yod_vav_mem, shin_bet_tav, mem_lamed_aleph_kaf_he],
-      'And on the seventh day God completed His work and He rested').
-verse(bereishit, 2, 3, [bet_resh_kaf, aleph_lamed_he, yod_vav_mem, shin_bet_tav, qof_dalet_shin],
-      'And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it').
-verse(bereishit, 9, 6, [shin_pe_kaf, dalet_mem, aleph_dalet_mem, tzade_lamed_mem, aleph_lamed_he],
-      'Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God He made man').
 
-%% ============================================================
-%% SHEMOT — The ten dibrot and the covenant
-%% ============================================================
-
-verse(shemot, 3, 14, [aleph_he_yod_he, aleph_mem_resh, aleph_he_yod_he],
-      'I am that I am').
-verse(shemot, 20, 2, [aleph_nun_kaf_yod, he_shin_mem, aleph_lamed_he],
-      'I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt').
-verse(shemot, 20, 3, [he_yod_he, aleph_lamed_he, aleph_chet_resh],
-      'You shall have no other gods before Me').
-verse(shemot, 20, 8, [zayin_kaf_resh, yod_vav_mem, shin_bet_tav, qof_dalet_shin],
-      'Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it').
-verse(shemot, 20, 13, [resh_tzade_chet],
-      'You shall not murder').
-verse(shemot, 20, 14, [nun_aleph_pe],
-      'You shall not commit adultery').
-verse(shemot, 20, 15, [gimel_nun_bet],
-      'You shall not steal').
-verse(shemot, 20, 16, [ayin_nun_he, shin_qof_resh, ayin_dalet],
-      'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor').
-verse(shemot, 20, 17, [chet_mem_dalet],
-      'You shall not covet').
-
-%% ============================================================
-%% VAYIKRA — Holiness and offerings
-%% ============================================================
-
-verse(vayikra, 1, 3, [qof_resh_bet, ayin_lamed_he, tav_mem_yod_mem],
-      'If his offering is a burnt offering let him offer a male without blemish').
-verse(vayikra, 4, 27, [chet_tet_aleph, nun_pe_shin, shin_gimel_gimel_he],
-      'If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally').
-verse(vayikra, 19, 2, [qof_dalet_shin, he_yod_he, qof_dalet_shin],
-      'Be holy for I the LORD your God am holy').
-verse(vayikra, 19, 15, [ayin_shin_he, mem_shin_pe_tet, tzade_dalet_qof],
-      'In righteousness shall you judge your neighbor').
-verse(vayikra, 19, 18, [aleph_he_bet, resh_ayin, kaf_mem_vav],
-      'You shall love your neighbor as yourself').
-
-%% ============================================================
-%% BAMIDBAR — The camp and the cloud
-%% ============================================================
-
-verse(bamidbar, 9, 23, [pe_he, he_shin_mem, chet_nun_he, pe_he, he_shin_mem, nun_samekh_ayin],
-      'At the mouth of the LORD they camped and at the mouth of the LORD they journeyed').
-verse(bamidbar, 10, 2, [ayin_shin_he, shin_nun_yod, chet_tzade_tzade_resh_he, kaf_samekh_pe],
-      'Make two silver trumpets for the calling of the assembly').
-verse(bamidbar, 35, 11, [mem_qof_lamed_tet, ayin_yod_resh, nun_pe_shin, resh_tzade_chet, shin_gimel_gimel_he],
-      'You shall designate cities of refuge for one who kills a person unintentionally').
-
-%% ============================================================
-%% DEVARIM — Moses' final instruction
-%% ============================================================
-
-verse(devarim, 6, 4, [shin_mem_ayin, yod_shin_resh_aleph_lamed, he_shin_mem, aleph_lamed_he, he_shin_mem, aleph_chet_dalet],
-      'Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one').
-verse(devarim, 6, 5, [aleph_he_bet, he_shin_mem, aleph_lamed_he, kaf_lamed, lamed_bet_bet],
-      'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart').
-verse(devarim, 16, 18, [shin_pe_tet, shin_tet_resh, nun_tav_nun, shin_ayin_resh],
-      'Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates').
-verse(devarim, 16, 20, [tzade_dalet_qof, tzade_dalet_qof, resh_dalet_pe],
-      'Justice justice shall you pursue').
-verse(devarim, 21, 1, [nun_pe_lamed, chet_lamed_lamed, shin_dalet_he, yod_dalet_ayin],
-      'If a slain person is found in the field and it is not known who struck him').
-verse(devarim, 25, 12, [nun_tzade_lamed, resh_dalet_pe],
-      'You shall save the pursued from the pursuer').
-verse(devarim, 26, 2, [lamed_qof_chet, resh_aleph_shin_yod_tav, pe_resh_yod, aleph_dalet_mem_he],
-      'You shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground').
-verse(devarim, 26, 5, [aleph_resh_mem_yod, aleph_bet_dalet, aleph_bet_yod],
-      'A wandering Aramean was my father').
 
 %% ============================================================
 %% QUERIES

talmudic_engine/test/reasoning_test.pl

@@ -112,3 +112,52 @@ test(teiku_count_works) :-
     integer(Count).
 
 :- end_tests(teiku_module).
+
+%% ============================================================
+%% Tablet 55 — the dialectic over the wire: interpret, challenge,
+%% resolve each answer JSON a judge can vote on. Before this the
+%% engine had no "challenge" action and a resolve that succeeded came
+%% back UNEXPECTED_RESPONSE (resolved_accepted had no JSON clause).
+%% ============================================================
+
+:- use_module('../src/interface/api').
+:- use_module('../src/interface/json_bridge').
+:- use_module('../src/interface/socket_server').
+
+:- begin_tests(dialectic_over_the_wire).
+
+roots_line(Action, Line) :-
+    format(atom(Line),
+           '{"action":"~w","case":{"ref":"t55-~w","question":"q","context_roots":["bet-resh-aleph","aleph-lamed-he"]}}',
+           [Action, Action]).
+
+test(interpret_answers_resolved_with_verses, [nondet]) :-
+    roots_line(interpret, L),
+    socket_server:process_json_line(L, R),
+    get_dict(status, R, "resolved"),
+    get_dict(interpretation, R, I),
+    get_dict(verses, I, Vs), Vs \== [].
+
+test(challenge_answers_and_carries_the_ground, [nondet]) :-
+    roots_line(challenge, L),
+    socket_server:process_json_line(L, R),
+    get_dict(status, R, S),
+    memberchk(S, ["resolved", "challenged"]),
+    get_dict(interpretation, R, I),
+    get_dict(verses, I, Vs), Vs \== [].
+
+test(resolve_answers_resolved_not_unexpected, [nondet]) :-
+    roots_line(resolve, L),
+    socket_server:process_json_line(L, R),
+    \+ get_dict(error, R, _),
+    get_dict(status, R, S),
+    memberchk(S, ["resolved", "challenged", "teiku"]).
+
+test(no_roots_resolves_on_an_empty_trace, [nondet]) :-
+    socket_server:process_json_line('{"action":"interpret","case":{"ref":"t55-empty","question":"q","context_roots":[]}}', R),
+    get_dict(status, R, "resolved"),
+    get_dict(interpretation, R, I),
+    get_dict(verses, I, []),
+    get_dict(grounding, I, []).
+
+:- end_tests(dialectic_over_the_wire).

vav_pipeline/config/runtime.exs

@@ -51,5 +51,8 @@ if config_env() == :prod do
     # and says so only in a warning line.
     shoresh_engine_binary:
       System.get_env("SHORESH_ENGINE_BINARY") || "shoresh-engine",
-    http_port: String.to_integer(System.get_env("HTTP_PORT") || "4000")
+    http_port: String.to_integer(System.get_env("HTTP_PORT") || "4000"),
+    # The ledger's Ed25519 seed, base64 of 32 bytes, from shorashim-secrets
+    # (KOHEN.md, "Issuing a key"). Absent → records are given unsigned and say so.
+    ledger_signing_key: System.get_env("BIKORET_LEDGER_SIGNING_KEY")
 end

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/bedikah.ex

@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Bedikah do
     sources = Keyword.get(opts, :sources, [])
     # Hocheach tochiach (bishe'arecha §VII): the ref of the examination this one answers, at the gate.
     rebukes = Keyword.get(opts, :rebukes)
+    key_id = Keyword.get(opts, :key_id)
     examiner = Keyword.get(opts, :examiner, &KorbanProcessorSocket.examine/4)
     halt_checker = Keyword.get(opts, :halt_checker, &TalmudicEngineSocket.halt_check_term/1)
 
@@ -141,12 +142,12 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Bedikah do
 
     # D'var yom b'yomo: an examination is a cycle's work and eats a unit.
     case Manna.gather_for_cycle() do
-      :ok -> run(output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examiner, halt_checker, interpretation_checker)
+      :ok -> run(output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examiner, halt_checker, interpretation_checker, key_id)
       {:waiting, reason} -> {:waiting, reason}
     end
   end
 
-  defp run(output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examiner, halt_checker, interpretation_checker) do
+  defp run(output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examiner, halt_checker, interpretation_checker, key_id) do
     bedikah_ref = "bedikah-" <> (:crypto.strong_rand_bytes(8) |> Base.encode16(case: :lower))
 
     with {:ok, examination} <- examiner.(output, provenance, query, sources) do
@@ -155,8 +156,25 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Bedikah do
            Enum.all?(@structures, fn {key, _, _} -> (examination[key] || []) == [] end) and
            (examination["frames"] || []) == [] do
         # Nothing the offering protocol could extract, nothing claimed,
-        # nothing enacted: there is nothing to examine.
+        # nothing enacted. Tablet 56: this is NOT "nothing was examined".
-        finish(bedikah_ref, output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examination, [], %{}, [], :empty)
+        # The readings for form — authority, actions, self-validation,
+        # self-promotion, excluded adversarial, the eight frames — were
+        # taken over the raw output and found nothing; what had nothing
+        # to work on was grounding, because no sentence made a claim the
+        # protocol could ground. The record says both.
+        checks = %{
+          read_for_form: %{
+            over: "raw output",
+            readings: ~w(authority actions self_validation self_promotion excluded_adversarial frames),
+            found: "nothing"
+          },
+          grounding: %{
+            assessed: false,
+            reason: "no claim to ground — no Torah reference, no Hebrew, no analytical claim, no appeal to a source, no self-reference"
+          }
+        }
+
+        finish(bedikah_ref, output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examination, [], checks, [], :empty, key_id)
       else
         trace = coupling_trace(examination)
 
@@ -171,7 +189,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Bedikah do
           checks = Map.merge(%{authority: authority, grounding: grounding, actions: actions, frames: frames}, structure)
           violations = prior ++ frames.violations
           verdict = if violations == [], do: :tov, else: :lo_tov
-          finish(bedikah_ref, output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examination, trace, checks, violations, verdict)
+          finish(bedikah_ref, output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examination, trace, checks, violations, verdict, key_id)
         else
           {:error, :talmudic, reason} -> {:error, :talmudic_unavailable, reason}
         end
@@ -537,7 +555,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Bedikah do
     end
   end
 
-  defp finish(bedikah_ref, output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examination, trace, checks, violations, verdict) do
+  defp finish(bedikah_ref, output, provenance, query, sources, rebukes, examination, trace, checks, violations, verdict, key_id) do
     result = %{
       bedikah_ref: bedikah_ref,
       provenance: provenance,
@@ -549,7 +567,8 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Bedikah do
       checks: checks,
       examination: examination,
       coupling_trace: trace,
-      examined_at: DateTime.utc_now()
+      examined_at: DateTime.utc_now(),
+      key_id: key_id
     }
 
     record(result, output)
@@ -584,6 +603,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Bedikah do
         rebukes: result.rebukes,
         coupling_trace: result.coupling_trace,
         violations: result.violations,
+        key_id: result.key_id,
         verdict: Atom.to_string(result.verdict),
         examined_at: result.examined_at
       }

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/bereishit_cycle.ex

@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BereishitCycle do
   """
 
   alias VavPipeline.{Specification, CycleLog, Manna, HaltConditions,
-                      ShoreshEngineClient, TalmudicEngineClient, SanhedrinClient,
+                      ShoreshEngineClient, TalmudicEngineClient, TalmudicEngineSocket,
-                      Chatzotzrot}
+                      SanhedrinClient, Chatzotzrot}
 
   require Logger
 
@@ -308,7 +308,11 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BereishitCycle do
     final =
       case result do
         {:ok, data} ->
-          check_halt_on_output(data)
+          # Every question is read against the engine, not only a teiku
+          # that never comes (2026-10-19: ki_tov returns teiku only on a
+          # root with no Hebrew, and the Shoresh Engine never leaves one;
+          # the Talmudic route had never been walked by a real question).
+          data |> consult_engine(context) |> check_halt_on_output()
 
         {:unresolved, data} ->
           case route_if_unresolved(data, context) do
@@ -325,6 +329,90 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BereishitCycle do
     final
   end
 
+  # ============================================================
+  # The engine, consulted on every resolved cycle
+  # ============================================================
+
+  # Architecture §3.3: the Talmudic Engine grounds a reading in verses
+  # and mitzvot over the case's roots. The cycle's own ki_tov says the
+  # roots stand in L1; the engine says what stands on them. Called
+  # directly on the socket — never the client's stub (tablet 41): an
+  # engine that cannot be reached is reported as not consulted, and the
+  # cycle's answer stands without it. A tamid probe does not consult
+  # (the fire is checked, the engine is not loaded by the check).
+  defp consult_engine(%{probe: true} = data, _context), do: data
+
+  defp consult_engine(data, _context) do
+    roots = Map.get(data, :roots_activated, [])
+    names = roots |> Enum.map(&engine_root_name/1) |> Enum.reject(&is_nil/1)
+    case_ref = Map.get(data, :case_ref, generate_case_ref())
+
+    cond do
+      names == [] ->
+        Map.put(data, :talmudic_consulted, {:skipped, :no_roots})
+
+      Process.whereis(TalmudicEngineSocket) == nil ->
+        Map.put(data, :talmudic_consulted, {:error, :engine_socket_not_started})
+
+      true ->
+        case TalmudicEngineSocket.interpret(case_ref, %{context_roots: names, question: Map.get(data, :raw, "")}) do
+          {:ok, %{"status" => _} = reply} ->
+            Map.merge(data, %{talmudic_interpretation: reply, talmudic_consulted: :ok})
+
+          {:ok, other} ->
+            Logger.warning("BereishitCycle: engine answered an unexpected shape for #{case_ref}: #{inspect(other)}")
+            Map.put(data, :talmudic_consulted, {:error, :unexpected_reply})
+
+          {:error, reason} ->
+            Logger.warning("BereishitCycle: engine not consulted for #{case_ref}: #{inspect(reason)}")
+            Map.put(data, :talmudic_consulted, {:error, reason})
+        end
+    end
+  end
+
+  @doc """
+  The engine's reading, said plainly: how many verses and mitzvot it
+  coupled to the roots, and which. `nil` when there is no reading.
+  """
+  @spec engine_reading_text(map()) :: String.t() | nil
+  def engine_reading_text(data) do
+    case Map.get(data, :talmudic_interpretation) do
+      %{"interpretation" => interp} = reply when is_map(interp) ->
+        verses = interp |> Map.get("verses", []) |> List.wrap() |> Enum.map(&verse_ref_display/1) |> Enum.reject(&is_nil/1) |> Enum.uniq()
+        mitzvot = interp |> Map.get("grounding", []) |> List.wrap() |> Enum.map(&mitzvah_display/1) |> Enum.reject(&is_nil/1) |> Enum.uniq()
+        status = Map.get(reply, "status", "")
+
+        cond do
+          verses == [] and mitzvot == [] ->
+            "Talmudic Engine (#{status}): no verse or mitzvah is coupled to these roots."
+
+          true ->
+            v = if verses == [], do: "no verse", else: "#{length(verses)} verse(s): #{Enum.join(verses, ", ")}"
+            m = if mitzvot == [], do: "no mitzvah", else: "#{length(mitzvot)} mitzvah/mitzvot: #{Enum.join(mitzvot, ", ")}"
+            "Talmudic Engine (#{status}): #{v}; #{m}."
+        end
+
+      _ ->
+        nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  # "verse_ref(bereishit,1,1,'...')" / "verse(shemot,3,14)" → "Bereishit 1:1"
+  defp verse_ref_display(s) do
+    case Regex.run(~r/verse(?:_ref)?\((bereishit|shemot|vayikra|bamidbar|devarim)\s*,\s*(\d+)\s*,\s*(\d+)/, to_string(s)) do
+      [_, book, ch, vs] -> "#{String.capitalize(book)} #{ch}:#{vs}"
+      _ -> nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  # "mitzvah(1,positive,know_hashem,always)" → "know_hashem (1, positive)"
+  defp mitzvah_display(s) do
+    case Regex.run(~r/mitzvah\((\d+)\s*,\s*(\w+)\s*,\s*(\w+)/, to_string(s)) do
+      [_, id, kind, name] -> "#{name} (#{id}, #{kind})"
+      _ -> nil
+    end
+  end
+
   # ============================================================
   # Compose — the answer and its sources, from the context
   # ============================================================
@@ -385,15 +473,19 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BereishitCycle do
     deliberation =
       case Map.get(data, :resolution) do
         :talmudic ->
-          text = get_in(data, [:talmudic_interpretation, "interpretation", "text"]) || ""
+          " " <> (engine_reading_text(data) || "Talmudic Engine resolved the case.")
-          " Talmudic Engine: #{text}"
 
         :sanhedrin ->
           pos = get_in(data, [:sanhedrin_decision, :majority, :position]) || ""
           " Sanhedrin majority: #{pos}"
 
         _ ->
-          ""
+          # Consulted after ki_tov (every resolved question), or not.
+          case {engine_reading_text(data), Map.get(data, :talmudic_consulted)} do
+            {text, _} when is_binary(text) -> " " <> text
+            {nil, {:error, reason}} -> " Talmudic Engine: not consulted (#{inspect(reason)})."
+            _ -> ""
+          end
       end
 
     "Roots activated in #{verse.ref}: #{Enum.join(root_lines, "; ")}." <>
@@ -426,10 +518,19 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BereishitCycle do
       text: verse.text_hebrew
     }
 
+    # The engine's verses as references a reader can follow ("Bereishit
+    # 1:3"), the engine's own form kept beside them; the scope verse is
+    # not repeated.
     talmudic_verses =
       case get_in(data, [:talmudic_interpretation, "interpretation", "verses"]) do
-        vs when is_list(vs) -> Enum.map(vs, fn v -> %{ref: to_string(v)} end)
+        vs when is_list(vs) ->
-        _ -> []
+          vs
+          |> Enum.map(fn v -> %{ref: verse_ref_display(v) || to_string(v), engine_form: to_string(v)} end)
+          |> Enum.uniq_by(& &1.ref)
+          |> Enum.reject(&(&1.ref == verse.ref))
+
+        _ ->
+          []
       end
 
     [primary | talmudic_verses]
@@ -604,13 +705,22 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BereishitCycle do
         {:interpretation, attrs, nil}
 
       _ ->
+        # The engine's reading, when it was consulted, rides in the record:
+        # its verses beside the scope, its text in the reasoning, and the
+        # component names both readers.
+        interp = get_in(data, [:talmudic_interpretation, "interpretation"]) || %{}
+        engine_verses = interp |> Map.get("verses", []) |> to_string_list()
+        reading = engine_reading_text(data)
+
         attrs =
           Map.merge(base, %{
-            reasoning: single_judge_reasoning(data, context),
+            reasoning:
+              if(reading, do: single_judge_reasoning(data, context) <> " " <> reading, else: single_judge_reasoning(data, context)),
+            torah_references: Enum.uniq([scope_ref | engine_verses]),
             panel_size: 1,
             vote_count_for: 1,
             vote_count_against: 0,
-            processing_component: "bereishit_cycle"
+            processing_component: if(reading, do: "bereishit_cycle+talmudic_engine", else: "bereishit_cycle")
           })
 
         {:interpretation, attrs, nil}
@@ -740,7 +850,10 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BereishitCycle do
   @doc false
   defp route_if_unresolved(data, context) do
     roots = Map.get(data, :roots_activated, [])
-    context_roots = Enum.map(roots, & &1.shoresh)
+    # Tablet 55: the engine names roots by letter (bet_resh_aleph); the
+    # Hebrew was sent since Step 14 and never matched a verse fact, so
+    # every Talmudic interpretation was "resolved" over an empty trace.
+    context_roots = roots |> Enum.map(&engine_root_name/1) |> Enum.reject(&is_nil/1)
 
     case_ref = Map.get(data, :case_ref, generate_case_ref())
 

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/bigdei_kodesh/router.ex

@@ -215,6 +215,21 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
     through_the_gate(conn, :courtyard, &process_pair/1)
   end
 
+  # === THE LEDGER — a caller's own bedikot, read back and signed ===
+  #
+  # Every examination is engraved in L3 under a digest of the key that
+  # brought it. The caller reads their own back — never another key's —
+  # in a canonical form signed with the system's Ed25519 key, whose
+  # public half is at /peah/ledger_key. See VavPipeline.Ledger.
+
+  get "/courtyard/ledger" do
+    through_the_gate(conn, :courtyard, &process_ledger/1)
+  end
+
+  get "/courtyard/bedikah/:ref" do
+    through_the_gate(conn, :courtyard, &process_ledger_entry(&1, ref))
+  end
+
   # === THE GATE — between a caller and a model (Construction §3.10) ===
   #
   # The caller's own request, in the model's own API shape, under the
@@ -243,6 +258,18 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
     through_the_gate(conn, :chatzer, &process_hakhel/1)
   end
 
+  # The ledger's public key: anyone verifies a signed record with it.
+  get "/peah/ledger_key" do
+    case VavPipeline.Ledger.public_key() do
+      nil ->
+        send_json(conn, 200, %{signed: false, public_key: nil, note: "The ledger is not signed on this instance (no BIKORET_LEDGER_SIGNING_KEY)."})
+
+      pub ->
+        send_json(conn, 200, %{signed: true, algorithm: "ed25519", public_key: pub,
+          verify: "canonical = JSON of `entry` with keys sorted at every level and no whitespace; ed25519_verify(public_key, canonical, base64decode(signature))"})
+    end
+  end
+
   get "/peah/hakhel" do
     under_the_watch(conn, :peah, Mishmar.peer(conn), fn conn ->
       records =
@@ -538,7 +565,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
 
       {:ok, side} ->
         when_available(conn, fn ->
-          respond_bedikah(conn, VavPipeline.Bedikah.examine(side.output, side.model, side.query, sources: side.sources))
+          respond_bedikah(conn, VavPipeline.Bedikah.examine(side.output, side.model, side.query, sources: side.sources, key_id: caller_key_id(conn)))
         end)
     end
   end
@@ -551,7 +578,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
 
     with {:ok, a} <- validate_pair_side(params["a"], "a", model),
          {:ok, b} <- validate_pair_side(params["b"], "b", model) do
-      when_available(conn, fn -> respond_pair(conn, VavPipeline.Bedikah.Pair.weigh(a, b)) end)
+      when_available(conn, fn -> respond_pair(conn, VavPipeline.Bedikah.Pair.weigh(a, b, key_id: caller_key_id(conn))) end)
     else
       {:error, issue, correction} ->
         send_error(conn, 422, "KIYOR_VALIDATION_FAILED", %{issue: issue, correction: correction, resubmit: true})
@@ -736,7 +763,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
           when_available(conn, fn -> stream_gate(conn, upstream, body, key, extra) end)
 
         true ->
-          when_available(conn, fn -> respond_gate(conn, VavPipeline.Gate.pass(upstream, body, key, rebuke: rebuke, extra_headers: extra)) end)
+          when_available(conn, fn -> respond_gate(conn, VavPipeline.Gate.pass(upstream, body, key, rebuke: rebuke, extra_headers: extra, key_id: caller_key_id(conn))) end)
       end
     else
       {:error, issue, correction} ->
@@ -823,7 +850,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
       end
     }
 
-    case VavPipeline.Gate.Stream.pass(upstream, body, key, callbacks, extra_headers: extra) do
+    case VavPipeline.Gate.Stream.pass(upstream, body, key, callbacks, extra_headers: extra, key_id: caller_key_id(conn)) do
       {:ok, %{status: 200, emitter: conn}} -> conn
       {:ok, %{status: status, reply: reply}} -> conn |> put_resp_header("x-bikoret-verdict", "none") |> send_json(status, reply)
       other -> respond_gate(conn, other)
@@ -942,8 +969,12 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
             "At least one check fired. The violations say which rule, and the checks say what it fired on."
 
           :empty ->
-            "The offering protocol extracted nothing from this output — no Torah reference, no Hebrew, " <>
+            "Read for form over the whole output — authority claimed, actions, self-validation, self-promotion, " <>
-              "no analytical claim, no authority claim, no action, no structural claim, no form. There was nothing to examine."
+              "the adversarial shut out, the eight forms — and nothing was found; and nothing to ground, because no " <>
+              "sentence made a claim the protocol can ground (no Torah reference, no Hebrew, no analytical claim, " <>
+              "no appeal to a source, no self-reference). Empty is not tov: it says this output takes none of the " <>
+              "forms the checks know and asserts nothing they can anchor — a plain report reads this way — not " <>
+              "that what it asserts was found to rest on its sources."
         end,
       limits:
         "The examination reads by pattern (korban_processor/bedikah.py). A claim or an action " <>
@@ -1072,6 +1103,58 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router do
   # Internal — Sanhedrin processing
   # ============================================================
 
+  # A digest of the caller's courtyard key — the ledger's owner column. Never the key.
+  defp caller_key_id(conn) do
+    case Gate.bearer(conn) do
+      {:ok, key} -> VavPipeline.Ledger.key_id(key)
+      _ -> nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp process_ledger(conn) do
+    if Process.whereis(VavPipeline.Repo) do
+      key_id = caller_key_id(conn)
+      limit = conn.params |> Map.get("limit", "50") |> Integer.parse() |> then(fn {n, _} -> n; :error -> 50 end)
+      before =
+        case Map.get(conn.params, "before") do
+          s when is_binary(s) -> (case DateTime.from_iso8601(s) do {:ok, t, _} -> t; _ -> nil end)
+          _ -> nil
+        end
+
+      records = VavPipeline.L3.Store.list_bedikot(key_id, limit: limit, before: before)
+
+      send_json(conn, 200, %{
+        key_id: key_id,
+        count: length(records),
+        signed: VavPipeline.Ledger.public_key() != nil,
+        public_key: "GET /peah/ledger_key",
+        entries: Enum.map(records, &VavPipeline.Ledger.render/1),
+        next: (case List.last(records) do nil -> nil; r -> "GET /courtyard/ledger?before=#{DateTime.to_iso8601(r.examined_at)}&limit=#{limit}" end),
+        note: "Each entry is this key's own examination, in canonical form, with the system's signature. The text examined is not kept; its SHA-256 and length are."
+      })
+    else
+      send_error(conn, 503, "L3_UNAVAILABLE", %{issue: "The ledger lives in L3 and L3 is not reachable", correction: "Retry", resubmit: true})
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp process_ledger_entry(conn, ref) do
+    if Process.whereis(VavPipeline.Repo) do
+      key_id = caller_key_id(conn)
+
+      case VavPipeline.L3.Store.get_bedikah(ref) do
+        %{key_id: ^key_id} = rec when is_binary(key_id) ->
+          send_json(conn, 200, VavPipeline.Ledger.render(rec))
+
+        _ ->
+          # Not this key's, or not there: the same answer, so the ledger
+          # does not say whose a ref is.
+          send_error(conn, 404, "NOT_FOUND", %{issue: "No bedikah #{ref} in this key's ledger", correction: "Only examinations brought under this key are listed", resubmit: false})
+      end
+    else
+      send_error(conn, 503, "L3_UNAVAILABLE", %{issue: "The ledger lives in L3 and L3 is not reachable", correction: "Retry", resubmit: true})
+    end
+  end
+
   defp process_sanhedrin(conn) do
     params = conn.body_params
 

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/doorpost.ex

@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Doorpost do
   # changes; the update is a deliberate operator commit. A bare
   # hash-update commit (without a corresponding spec change in the
   # same commit) is itself a drift signal.
-  @expected_hash "66aa7874fae4875793791ce6ca7bbe55302109d5e4444bcb36d578dfe6e98a0d"
+  @expected_hash "02ddf313a41a885a0f4e91f07d586bf2bb6da7ab90ad64ef9b7743ba872aa333"
 
   @doc "Return the list of files that constitute the category-grade specification."
   @spec files() :: [String.t()]

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/gate/shape.ex

@@ -247,6 +247,10 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.Gate.Shape do
     body =
       case result.verdict do
         :lo_tov -> " — " <> (fired(result, anchors) |> Enum.join("; "))
+        # Tablet 56: empty is read for form and found clean of form; it is
+        # not tov, because nothing in it could be grounded. The reader is
+        # told which.
+        :empty -> " — read for form, nothing found; nothing to ground"
         _ -> ""
       end
 

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/l3/bedikah_record.ex

@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.L3.BedikahRecord do
     field :violations, {:array, :string}, default: []
     field :verdict, :string
     field :examined_at, :utc_datetime
+    # The ledger: a digest of the courtyard key that brought the offering (VavPipeline.Ledger.key_id/1). Never the key.
+    field :key_id, :string
     timestamps(type: :utc_datetime, updated_at: false)
   end
 
@@ -46,7 +48,7 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.L3.BedikahRecord do
   # offering protocol extracted nothing, and that record must be kept.
   # Ecto's cast turns "" into nil and validate_required calls "" blank;
   # both are told otherwise here.
-  @optional [:query, :vital_content, :propositions, :references, :authority_claims, :actions, :sources, :claims, :structure, :frames, :rebukes, :mesorah, :coupling_trace, :violations]
+  @optional [:query, :vital_content, :propositions, :references, :authority_claims, :actions, :sources, :claims, :structure, :frames, :rebukes, :mesorah, :coupling_trace, :violations, :key_id]
 
   def changeset(record, attrs) do
     record

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/l3/store.ex

@@ -75,6 +75,27 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.L3.Store do
     |> Repo.insert()
   end
 
+  @doc "One bedikah by its ref, or nil."
+  def get_bedikah(ref) when is_binary(ref) do
+    Repo.get_by(VavPipeline.L3.BedikahRecord, bedikah_ref: ref)
+  end
+
+  @doc """
+  The ledger of one courtyard key: its bedikot newest first, at most
+  `limit`, examined at or before `before` when given. A record without a
+  key_id (from before the ledger) belongs to no one and is not listed.
+  """
+  def list_bedikot(key_id, opts \\ []) when is_binary(key_id) do
+    import Ecto.Query, only: [from: 2]
+    limit = opts |> Keyword.get(:limit, 50) |> min(200) |> max(1)
+    q = from b in VavPipeline.L3.BedikahRecord, where: b.key_id == ^key_id, order_by: [desc: b.examined_at, desc: b.id], limit: ^limit
+    q = case Keyword.get(opts, :before) do
+      %DateTime{} = t -> from b in q, where: b.examined_at <= ^t
+      _ -> q
+    end
+    Repo.all(q)
+  end
+
   @doc """
   Record an examination of an external model's output (Construction §3.9).
   """

vav_pipeline/lib/vav_pipeline/ledger.ex

@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+defmodule VavPipeline.Ledger do
+  @moduledoc """
+  The provenance ledger — a bedikah record as something its caller can
+  carry away and have checked by someone else.
+
+  Every bedikah is engraved in L3 with the output's hash and length, the
+  source digests, the coupling trace, the claims, the violations and the
+  verdict — never the text (Tamid §1.1). Until 2026-10-21 the caller had
+  no way back to it. Now a record is read back under the courtyard key
+  that brought the offering (`key_id`: a digest of the key, never the
+  key), rendered in one canonical form, and signed with the system's
+  Ed25519 key, whose public half anyone may fetch at `/peah/ledger_key`.
+  A regulator, a client or an audit can verify a record without asking
+  Bikoret: the canonical bytes, the signature, the public key.
+
+  Devarim 19:15 — a matter is established by witnesses. The ledger is
+  the witness that does not depend on the one who offered, and the
+  signature is what lets a third party trust the witness.
+  """
+
+  @doc "A digest of a courtyard key, for the record. The key itself is never written."
+  @spec key_id(String.t() | nil) :: String.t() | nil
+  def key_id(nil), do: nil
+
+  def key_id(key) when is_binary(key),
+    do: :crypto.hash(:sha256, key) |> Base.encode16(case: :lower) |> binary_part(0, 32)
+
+  @doc """
+  The record's fields that a verifier signs and checks — every field of
+  the examination, none of the database's own (id, inserted_at), and not
+  the key_id (whose key it was is the caller's business, not the record's).
+  """
+  @ledger_fields ~w(bedikah_ref provenance query output_sha256 output_length vital_content propositions references authority_claims actions sources claims structure frames rebukes mesorah coupling_trace violations verdict examined_at)a
+
+  @spec ledger_fields() :: [atom()]
+  def ledger_fields, do: @ledger_fields
+
+  @doc "The record as a plain map of its ledger fields, dates in ISO 8601."
+  @spec entry(struct() | map()) :: map()
+  def entry(record) do
+    record
+    |> unstruct()
+    |> Map.take(@ledger_fields)
+    |> Map.new(fn
+      {k, %DateTime{} = dt} -> {k, DateTime.to_iso8601(dt)}
+      {k, v} -> {k, v}
+    end)
+  end
+
+  defp unstruct(%_{} = s), do: Map.from_struct(s)
+  defp unstruct(m), do: m
+
+  @doc """
+  The canonical bytes of an entry: JSON with every object's keys sorted,
+  no insignificant whitespace, UTF-8. Two implementations that agree on
+  this agree on the signature.
+  """
+  @spec canonical(map()) :: binary()
+  def canonical(entry) when is_map(entry), do: entry |> sort_keys() |> Jason.encode!()
+
+  defp sort_keys(%DateTime{} = dt), do: DateTime.to_iso8601(dt)
+
+  defp sort_keys(map) when is_map(map) and not is_struct(map) do
+    map
+    |> Enum.map(fn {k, v} -> {to_string(k), sort_keys(v)} end)
+    |> Enum.sort_by(fn {k, _} -> k end)
+    |> Jason.OrderedObject.new()
+  end
+
+  defp sort_keys(list) when is_list(list), do: Enum.map(list, &sort_keys/1)
+  defp sort_keys(other), do: other
+
+  @doc """
+  Sign canonical bytes with the system's Ed25519 key. `nil` when no key
+  is configured — the record is still given, marked unsigned; nothing is
+  signed with a key made up on the spot.
+  """
+  @spec sign(binary(), binary() | nil) :: binary() | nil
+  def sign(bytes, seed \\ seed())
+  def sign(_bytes, nil), do: nil
+
+  def sign(bytes, seed) when is_binary(seed) and byte_size(seed) == 32 do
+    :crypto.sign(:eddsa, :none, bytes, [seed, :ed25519]) |> Base.encode64()
+  end
+
+  @doc "Verify a base64 signature over canonical bytes with a base64 public key."
+  @spec verify(binary(), String.t(), String.t()) :: boolean()
+  def verify(bytes, signature_b64, public_key_b64) do
+    with {:ok, sig} <- Base.decode64(signature_b64),
+         {:ok, pub} <- Base.decode64(public_key_b64) do
+      :crypto.verify(:eddsa, :none, bytes, sig, [pub, :ed25519])
+    else
+      _ -> false
+    end
+  end
+
+  @doc "The public key (base64) a verifier uses, or nil when the ledger is unsigned."
+  @spec public_key(binary() | nil) :: String.t() | nil
+  def public_key(seed \\ seed())
+  def public_key(nil), do: nil
+
+  def public_key(seed) when is_binary(seed) and byte_size(seed) == 32 do
+    {pub, _priv} = :crypto.generate_key(:eddsa, :ed25519, seed)
+    Base.encode64(pub)
+  end
+
+  @doc """
+  A record rendered for the caller: the entry, its canonical form's
+  SHA-256 (so the caller can confirm what was signed without re-encoding),
+  the signature, and how to verify.
+  """
+  @spec render(struct() | map()) :: map()
+  def render(record) do
+    e = entry(record)
+    bytes = canonical(e)
+    sig = sign(bytes)
+
+    %{
+      entry: e,
+      canonical_sha256: :crypto.hash(:sha256, bytes) |> Base.encode16(case: :lower),
+      signature: sig,
+      signed: sig != nil,
+      algorithm: "ed25519 over the canonical JSON of `entry` (keys sorted at every level, no whitespace, UTF-8)",
+      public_key: "GET /peah/ledger_key"
+    }
+  end
+
+  # The 32-byte seed from the environment (base64), or nil.
+  defp seed do
+    case Application.get_env(:vav_pipeline, :ledger_signing_key) do
+      nil -> nil
+      "" -> nil
+      b64 ->
+        case Base.decode64(String.trim(b64)) do
+          {:ok, s} when byte_size(s) == 32 -> s
+          _ -> nil
+        end
+    end
+  end
+end

vav_pipeline/priv/repo/migrations/20261021000001_bedikot_key_id.exs

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+defmodule VavPipeline.Repo.Migrations.BedikotKeyId do
+  use Ecto.Migration
+
+  @moduledoc """
+  The ledger (2026-10-21): a bedikah remembers WHICH courtyard key brought
+  the offering — as a digest of the key, never the key — so a caller can
+  read back their own records and no one else's.
+  """
+
+  def change do
+    alter table(:bedikot) do
+      add :key_id, :string, null: true
+    end
+
+    create index(:bedikot, [:key_id, :examined_at])
+    create unique_index(:bedikot, [:bedikah_ref], name: :bedikot_bedikah_ref_unique)
+  end
+end

vav_pipeline/test/bedikah_test.exs

@@ -556,7 +556,11 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.BedikahTest do
       assert {:ok, r} = Bedikah.examine("Great question!", "gpt", "", opts(:empty))
       assert r.verdict == :empty
       assert r.violations == []
-      assert r.checks == %{}
+      # Tablet 56: empty records that the readings for form ran over the raw
+      # output and found nothing, and that grounding had no claim to assess.
+      assert r.checks.read_for_form.found == "nothing"
+      assert "frames" in r.checks.read_for_form.readings
+      assert r.checks.grounding.assessed == false
     end
 
     test "the record carries the hash and length of the output, not the output" do

vav_pipeline/test/gate_test.exs

@@ -407,6 +407,18 @@ defmodule VavPipeline.GateTest do
              Gate.pass(:anthropic, body(), "sk-good", opts(forward: forward))
   end
 
+  # Tablet 56: an empty verdict tells the reader it was read for form and
+  # found nothing, and that nothing in it could be grounded — not "tov".
+  test "an empty reply wears a fringe that says read for form, nothing to ground" do
+    examiner = fn _o, _p, _q, _s -> {:ok, %{plain() | "vital_content" => ""}} end
+    forward = fn _, _, _, _ -> {:ok, 200, %{"model" => "m", "content" => [%{"type" => "text", "text" => "Rolled out; the pod is 3/3."}]}} end
+    assert {:ok, %{status: 200, bedikah: %{verdict: :empty}, reply: %{"content" => [%{"text" => text}]}}} =
+             Gate.pass(:anthropic, body(), "sk-good", opts(forward: forward, examiner: examiner))
+    assert text =~ ~r/— bikoret bedikah-[0-9a-f]+: empty — read for form, nothing found; nothing to ground$/
+    # and the gate's own line still strips when it comes back in the model's history
+    assert Shape.strip_forged(text) == "Rolled out; the pod is 3/3."
+  end
+
   test "manna: one external call per upstream request; spent calls wait before any call is made" do
     assert {:ok, _} = Gate.pass(:anthropic, body(), "sk-good", opts(rebuke: :once))
     assert MannaLedger.remaining(:api_calls_external) == 8

vav_pipeline/test/ledger_l3_test.exs

@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+defmodule VavPipeline.LedgerL3Test do
+  @moduledoc "The ledger over L3: a key reads its own bedikot back, signed, and no one else's (2026-10-21)."
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: false
+
+  import Plug.Test
+  import Plug.Conn
+
+  alias VavPipeline.BigdeiKodesh.Router
+  alias VavPipeline.L3.Store
+
+  @opts Router.init([])
+  @moduletag :l3
+
+  setup do
+    :ok = Ecto.Adapters.SQL.Sandbox.checkout(VavPipeline.Repo)
+    Ecto.Adapters.SQL.Sandbox.mode(VavPipeline.Repo, {:shared, self()})
+    on_exit(fn -> Ecto.Adapters.SQL.Sandbox.mode(VavPipeline.Repo, :manual) end)
+    write_provision()
+    :ok
+  end
+
+  defp write_provision do
+    VavPipeline.MannaLedger.reset()
+    on_exit(fn -> VavPipeline.MannaLedger.reset() end)
+    today = Date.utc_today() |> Date.to_iso8601()
+    expires = DateTime.utc_now() |> DateTime.add(6 * 3600) |> DateTime.to_iso8601()
+    provision = %{"date" => today, "provision" => %{"compute_units" => 50, "memory_mb" => 512, "api_calls_external" => 10, "storage_delta_mb" => 2, "sanhedrin_panels_max" => 2},
+                  "type" => "regular", "expires_at" => expires, "written_by" => "ledger_l3_test", "written_at" => DateTime.utc_now() |> DateTime.to_iso8601()}
+    path = VavPipeline.Manna.provision_file()
+    File.mkdir_p!(Path.dirname(path))
+    File.write!(path, Jason.encode!(provision))
+    on_exit(fn -> File.rm(path) end)
+  end
+
+  defp attrs(ref, key_id) do
+    %{
+      bedikah_ref: ref, provenance: "claude", query: "q", output_sha256: String.duplicate("cd", 32), output_length: 5,
+      vital_content: "", verdict: "empty", examined_at: DateTime.utc_now() |> DateTime.truncate(:second), key_id: key_id
+    }
+  end
+
+  defp get(path, token) do
+    conn(:get, path) |> put_req_header("authorization", "Bearer #{token}") |> Router.call(@opts)
+  end
+
+  # An examination the offering protocol finds nothing in: the :empty branch, no engine needed.
+  defp empty_examination do
+    %{"provenance" => "claude", "query" => "status?", "vital_content" => "", "propositions" => [], "discarded" => ["Rolled out."],
+      "references" => [], "hebrew" => [], "roots" => [], "authority_claims" => [], "actions" => [],
+      "self_validation" => [], "self_promotion" => [], "excluded_adversarial" => [], "frames" => [], "sources" => [], "claims" => []}
+  end
+
+  test "the record keeps the key's digest, and the ledger lists only that key's records, newest first" do
+    mine = VavPipeline.Ledger.key_id("test-token")
+    other = VavPipeline.Ledger.key_id("someone-else")
+    {:ok, _} = Store.record_bedikah(attrs("bedikah-l3aaaa0000000001", mine))
+    {:ok, _} = Store.record_bedikah(attrs("bedikah-l3aaaa0000000002", mine))
+    {:ok, _} = Store.record_bedikah(attrs("bedikah-l3bbbb0000000003", other))
+    {:ok, _} = Store.record_bedikah(attrs("bedikah-l3cccc0000000004", nil))
+
+    refs = Store.list_bedikot(mine) |> Enum.map(& &1.bedikah_ref)
+    assert refs == ["bedikah-l3aaaa0000000002", "bedikah-l3aaaa0000000001"]
+
+    conn = get("/courtyard/ledger?limit=10", "test-token")
+    assert conn.status == 200
+    body = Jason.decode!(conn.resp_body)
+    assert body["key_id"] == mine
+    assert body["count"] == 2
+    assert Enum.map(body["entries"], & &1["entry"]["bedikah_ref"]) == ["bedikah-l3aaaa0000000002", "bedikah-l3aaaa0000000001"]
+    # never the text, never the key, never the owner column
+    e = hd(body["entries"])["entry"]
+    refute Map.has_key?(e, "key_id")
+    assert e["output_sha256"] == String.duplicate("cd", 32)
+    assert hd(body["entries"])["signed"] == false
+  end
+
+  test "one record by ref: mine answers, another key's and a missing one answer 404 alike" do
+    mine = VavPipeline.Ledger.key_id("test-token")
+    {:ok, _} = Store.record_bedikah(attrs("bedikah-l3dddd0000000005", mine))
+    {:ok, _} = Store.record_bedikah(attrs("bedikah-l3eeee0000000006", VavPipeline.Ledger.key_id("someone-else")))
+
+    assert get("/courtyard/bedikah/bedikah-l3dddd0000000005", "test-token").status == 200
+    assert get("/courtyard/bedikah/bedikah-l3eeee0000000006", "test-token").status == 404
+    assert get("/courtyard/bedikah/bedikah-l3ffff0000000007", "test-token").status == 404
+  end
+
+  test "an examination is engraved under the caller's key and reads back signed and verifiable" do
+    Application.put_env(:vav_pipeline, :ledger_signing_key, Base.encode64(:crypto.strong_rand_bytes(32)))
+    mine = VavPipeline.Ledger.key_id("test-token")
+
+    try do
+      examiner = fn _o, _p, _q, _s -> {:ok, empty_examination()} end
+      assert {:ok, r} = VavPipeline.Bedikah.examine("Rolled out.", "claude", "status?", examiner: examiner, key_id: mine)
+      assert r.verdict == :empty
+      assert Store.get_bedikah(r.bedikah_ref).key_id == mine
+
+      back = get("/courtyard/bedikah/#{r.bedikah_ref}", "test-token")
+      assert back.status == 200
+      body = Jason.decode!(back.resp_body)
+      assert body["signed"] == true
+      pub = Jason.decode!(get("/peah/ledger_key", "x").resp_body)["public_key"]
+      canonical = VavPipeline.Ledger.canonical(body["entry"])
+      assert :crypto.hash(:sha256, canonical) |> Base.encode16(case: :lower) == body["canonical_sha256"]
+      assert VavPipeline.Ledger.verify(canonical, body["signature"], pub)
+    after
+      Application.delete_env(:vav_pipeline, :ledger_signing_key)
+    end
+  end
+end

vav_pipeline/test/ledger_test.exs

@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+defmodule VavPipeline.LedgerTest do
+  @moduledoc "The provenance ledger: canonical form, signature, key digest (2026-10-21)."
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: true
+
+  alias VavPipeline.Ledger
+
+  @seed :crypto.strong_rand_bytes(32)
+
+  defp record do
+    %VavPipeline.L3.BedikahRecord{
+      id: 7,
+      bedikah_ref: "bedikah-0123456789abcdef",
+      provenance: "claude",
+      query: "q",
+      output_sha256: String.duplicate("ab", 32),
+      output_length: 12,
+      vital_content: "",
+      propositions: [],
+      references: ["Devarim 6:4"],
+      authority_claims: [],
+      actions: [],
+      sources: [%{"id" => "system", "sha256" => "00", "length" => 2}],
+      claims: [%{"index" => 1, "sentence" => "x", "anchors" => []}],
+      structure: %{"self_validation" => []},
+      frames: [],
+      rebukes: nil,
+      mesorah: [],
+      coupling_trace: [],
+      violations: [],
+      verdict: "tov",
+      examined_at: ~U[2026-10-21 12:00:00Z],
+      key_id: "deadbeef",
+      inserted_at: ~U[2026-10-21 12:00:01Z]
+    }
+  end
+
+  test "key_id is a digest of the key, never the key, and nil for none" do
+    assert Ledger.key_id(nil) == nil
+    id = Ledger.key_id("courtyard-secret-key")
+    assert String.length(id) == 32
+    refute id =~ "courtyard"
+    assert id == Ledger.key_id("courtyard-secret-key")
+    refute id == Ledger.key_id("another")
+  end
+
+  test "the entry carries the examination's fields and neither the database's nor the owner's" do
+    e = Ledger.entry(record())
+    assert Map.keys(e) |> Enum.sort() == Enum.sort(Ledger.ledger_fields())
+    refute Map.has_key?(e, :id)
+    refute Map.has_key?(e, :key_id)
+    refute Map.has_key?(e, :inserted_at)
+    assert e.examined_at == "2026-10-21T12:00:00Z"
+  end
+
+  test "canonical form sorts keys at every level and carries no whitespace" do
+    a = Ledger.canonical(%{"b" => 1, "a" => %{"z" => [%{"y" => 2, "x" => 1}], "m" => "s"}})
+    assert a == ~s({"a":{"m":"s","z":[{"x":1,"y":2}]},"b":1})
+    # the same map with keys given in another order canonicalizes the same
+    assert a == Ledger.canonical(%{"a" => %{"m" => "s", "z" => [%{"x" => 1, "y" => 2}]}, "b" => 1})
+    # atom and string keys meet in the same place
+    assert Ledger.canonical(%{b: 1, a: 2}) == ~s({"a":2,"b":1})
+  end
+
+  test "a signature verifies with the public key and fails on one changed byte" do
+    bytes = Ledger.canonical(Ledger.entry(record()))
+    sig = Ledger.sign(bytes, @seed)
+    pub = Ledger.public_key(@seed)
+    assert Ledger.verify(bytes, sig, pub)
+    refute Ledger.verify(bytes <> " ", sig, pub)
+    refute Ledger.verify(bytes, sig, Ledger.public_key(:crypto.strong_rand_bytes(32)))
+    refute Ledger.verify(bytes, "not base64!", pub)
+  end
+
+  test "without a seed nothing is signed, and the rendering says so" do
+    assert Ledger.sign("x", nil) == nil
+    assert Ledger.public_key(nil) == nil
+    r = Ledger.render(record())
+    assert r.entry.bedikah_ref == "bedikah-0123456789abcdef"
+    assert String.length(r.canonical_sha256) == 64
+    # the test env has no signing key configured
+    assert r.signed == false and r.signature == nil
+  end
+
+  test "a rendering with a seed configured is signed and self-consistent" do
+    Application.put_env(:vav_pipeline, :ledger_signing_key, Base.encode64(@seed))
+
+    try do
+      r = Ledger.render(record())
+      assert r.signed
+      bytes = Ledger.canonical(r.entry)
+      assert :crypto.hash(:sha256, bytes) |> Base.encode16(case: :lower) == r.canonical_sha256
+      assert Ledger.verify(bytes, r.signature, Ledger.public_key())
+    after
+      Application.delete_env(:vav_pipeline, :ledger_signing_key)
+    end
+  end
+end