feat(doctor): brain-home fleet-state check (#1298 follow-up, canon §6)

mosaic-doctor now reports which tree fleet state resolves from and warns on the drift a launch would hit at runtime: - stale MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME (no fleet/agents under it) - symlinked brain/agents paths (managed-directory boundary) - group/world-readable agents dir (0700 projection boundary) - split state: env files in BOTH config-home and brain trees Resolution mirrors brain-home.ts (#1298): MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME wins; canonical ~/.mosaic adopted only at the default config home; else legacy. test-brain-home-check.sh: extraction-style harness (test-fleet-transport discipline — functions pulled from the shipped script, never copied), 8 cases covering every branch; wired into test:framework-shell and covered by the enumeration guard (population 53, all present). Live-run verified on dragon-lin: caught two real drifts — agents dir 755 (fixed locally) and pre-cutover split state (expected, tracked in mosaic-brain fleet/SEAT-CUTOVER.md).
feat(fleet): brain-home split — fleet state under ~/.mosaic, templates stay config-home (#1298 )
2026-08-17 22:34:22 -05:00 · 2026-08-18 03:23:15 +00:00 · 2026-08-17 20:44:59 +00:00 · 2026-08-16 18:03:02 -05:00 · 2026-08-16 17:58:49 -05:00 · 2026-08-16 18:12:33 +00:00
33 changed files with 2342 additions and 74 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# REPORT A1207
+
+Date: 2026-08-13
+Branch: `fix/869-lease-probe-timeout`
+Starting head: `2373a5ad345fb316ad2460f6390baab1f45ba08f`
+Base: `216cd72226cd9ee17eea461cfe7cd0e010a22f02`
+
+## What changed
+
+- Added Python behavior tests using isolated temporary directories and marker-writing fake `mosaic` executables. They prove that the supplied `PATH` wins over ambient `os.environ["PATH"]`, and that absent or empty supplied `PATH` values do not search ambient paths, platform defaults, or the current directory.
+- Bound Python override behavior with executable fakes: a valid `MOSAIC_LEASE_VERSION_PROBE_COMMAND` wins over supplied and ambient `PATH`; an invalid override returns `None` without PATH fallback.
+- Added a Python runner binding test that captures kwargs and requires `timeout=10.0`. Existing timeout, transport-error, and nonzero-exit checks remain fail-closed with `None`.
+- Added the optional TypeScript dependency-injection seam `CapabilityProbeExecFile`, defaulting to the existing real `execFileSync` implementation. Production callers have no behavior change.
+- Added TypeScript tests that capture child-process options and require exactly `timeout: 10_000`. Injected timeout, spawn-error, nonzero-exit, unparseable JSON, and malformed-object cases all return `null`.
+- Removed the ambient no-dependency TypeScript smoke case that could execute a built checkout's real CLI. Default resolver and supervisor behavior retain their isolated tests, while capability transport tests now use an isolated artifact or the injected transport.
+
+No Python production code changed relative to `2373a5ad`. The only production delta is the optional TypeScript child-process injection seam.
+
+## Hermeticity incident and correction
+
+An initial ambient-lookup mutation run exposed that the pre-existing Python "not resolvable" test left ambient process PATH uncontrolled. On this host, that mutation resolved and executed the host `mosaic` capability probe. A post-build intermediate TypeScript run also let the pre-existing no-dependency smoke case execute the checkout's built `dist/cli.js` capability probe. No `claude` process was run. I then isolated the Python test's ambient PATH, removed the TypeScript ambient smoke case, repeated the PATH mutation using only marker-writing temporary fakes, and repeated the final suites without either real probe path.
+
+## Mutation evidence
+
+Each mutation was applied independently, its focused suite was run, and the production source was restored before the final run.
+
+| Mutation                                                                                   | Result              | Reddened test name(s)                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
+| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `shutil.which("mosaic", path=environ.get("PATH", ""))` to ambient `shutil.which("mosaic")` | RED, three failures | `ProbeActivationCapabilityTest.test_supplied_path_wins_over_ambient_process_path`; `ProbeActivationCapabilityTest.test_absent_or_empty_supplied_path_never_falls_back_or_executes` for both absent and empty PATH subtests |
+| Python `PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: 10.0` to `2.0`                                              | RED, one failure    | `ProbeActivationCapabilityTest.test_probe_passes_ten_second_timeout_to_runner`                                                                                                                                             |
+| TypeScript `LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS: 10_000` to `2_000`                          | RED, one failure    | `defaultCapabilityProbe > passes the exact ten-second timeout to the injected child-process transport`                                                                                                                     |
+
+## Final test run
+
+Dependencies were installed first with `pnpm install --frozen-lockfile`. Workspace dependencies were then built with `pnpm --filter '@mosaicstack/mosaic...' run build` so package type declarations were available.
+
+```text
+$ cd packages/mosaic && python3 src/mutator-gate/version_coupling_unittest.py
+...................
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Ran 19 tests in 0.007s
+
+OK
+
+$ pnpm exec vitest run src/commands/lease-activation-probe.spec.ts
+✓ src/commands/lease-activation-probe.spec.ts (20 tests) 80ms
+Test Files  1 passed (1)
+Tests       20 passed (20)
+```
+
+```text
+$ pnpm exec prettier --check packages/mosaic/src/commands/lease-activation-probe.ts packages/mosaic/src/commands/lease-activation-probe.spec.ts
+Checking formatting...
+All matched files use Prettier code style!
+
+$ pnpm --filter @mosaicstack/mosaic lint
+> eslint src
+
+$ pnpm --filter @mosaicstack/mosaic typecheck
+> tsc --noEmit
+
+$ python3 -m py_compile packages/mosaic/src/mutator-gate/version_coupling_unittest.py packages/mosaic/framework/tools/lease-broker/activation_version_gate.py
+
+$ git diff --check
+```
+
+All commands above exited zero.
+
+## Ambiguities skipped
+
+None.
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+
+// homedir/platform are read at call time, so they can be stubbed per case.
+vi.mock('node:os', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import('node:os')>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    homedir: () => '/home/tester',
+    platform: () => mockPlatform,
+  };
+});
+
+let mockPlatform: NodeJS.Platform = 'linux';
+
+const { getShellProfilePath, detectShell } = await import('../../src/platform/detect.js');
+
+describe('getShellProfilePath', () => {
+  const originalShell = process.env['SHELL'];
+  const originalZdotdir = process.env['ZDOTDIR'];
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    mockPlatform = 'linux';
+    delete process.env['ZDOTDIR'];
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (originalShell === undefined) delete process.env['SHELL'];
+    else process.env['SHELL'] = originalShell;
+    if (originalZdotdir === undefined) delete process.env['ZDOTDIR'];
+    else process.env['ZDOTDIR'] = originalZdotdir;
+  });
+
+  // The regression this guards: setupPath() in stages/finalize.ts appends the
+  // PATH export to whatever this returns. A line written to ~/.bashrc is
+  // unreachable to `bash -lc`, systemd units and agent seats, because Debian's
+  // default .bashrc returns early for non-interactive shells — so an install
+  // reported success and left `mosaic: command not found`. Same for .zshrc,
+  // which zsh only reads for interactive shells.
+  it('never targets an interactive-only rc file', () => {
+    for (const shell of ['/bin/bash', '/usr/bin/zsh']) {
+      process.env['SHELL'] = shell;
+      const profile = getShellProfilePath();
+      expect(profile).not.toMatch(/\.bashrc$/);
+      expect(profile).not.toMatch(/\.zshrc$/);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('uses ~/.profile for bash', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/bin/bash';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.profile');
+  });
+
+  it('uses ~/.zshenv for zsh', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/usr/bin/zsh';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.zshenv');
+  });
+
+  it('honours ZDOTDIR for zsh', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/usr/bin/zsh';
+    process.env['ZDOTDIR'] = '/custom/zdot';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/custom/zdot/.zshenv');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to ~/.profile for an unknown shell', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/bin/somethingelse';
+    expect(detectShell()).toBe('unknown');
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.profile');
+  });
+
+  it('still routes fish to its own config', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/usr/bin/fish';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.config/fish/config.fish');
+  });
+});
@@ -12,6 +12,33 @@ The default tmux socket is `mosaic-fleet` so fleet commands do not touch the
 default tmux server. The roster is the desired-state authority; generated environment files are
 rebuildable projections, never a second source of configuration.

+## Brain-home split (fleet state vs framework templates)
+
+When a mosaic-brain clone is present, fleet **state** resolves from the brain
+home while framework templates and dispatch state stay in the config home
+(three-tree model, canon `docs/STRUCTURE-CANON.md` §2):
+
+| Path                                                                            | Without brain (legacy)                | With brain                     |
+| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
+| `fleet/agents/<seat>.env.*`                                                     | `~/.config/mosaic/fleet/agents/`      | `~/.mosaic/fleet/agents/`      |
+| `fleet/roles.local/` (overrides)                                                | `~/.config/mosaic/fleet/roles.local/` | `~/.mosaic/fleet/roles.local/` |
+| `fleet/profiles/` (working copies)                                              | `~/.config/mosaic/fleet/profiles/`    | `~/.mosaic/fleet/profiles/`    |
+| `fleet/roster.yaml`, `fleet/roles/` (baseline), `fleet/run/`, `fleet/services/` | `~/.config/mosaic/fleet/…`            | unchanged (config home)        |
+
+Activation (`packages/mosaic/src/fleet/brain-home.ts`, mirrored in
+`tools/fleet/start-agent-session.sh`):
+
+1. `MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME` env var — explicit, always wins.
+2. Canonical `~/.mosaic` — adopted only when `MOSAIC_HOME` is the default
+   `~/.config/mosaic` AND `~/.mosaic/fleet/agents` exists. Custom
+   `--mosaic-home` values (tests, sandboxes, canaries) never adopt, keeping
+   them hermetic.
+3. Otherwise the config home (legacy single-tree behavior).
+
+Seat env dirs under a brain are subject to the same privacy boundary (0700
+dirs, 0600 files); `.env.generated` files are structure-valuable and tracked
+in the brain repo, hand-maintained `.env`/`.env.local` stay ignored and private.
+
 ## Examples

 - `examples/minimal.yaml` starts one local canary slot.
@@ -35,6 +35,18 @@ SOURCE_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 TARGET_DIR="${MOSAIC_HOME:-$HOME/.config/mosaic}"
 INSTALL_MODE="${MOSAIC_INSTALL_MODE:-prompt}"

+# Normalize the ambient umask so directory modes are a property of the installer
+# and not of whatever shell invoked it (#1236). Debian/Ubuntu ship umask 002, so
+# every `mkdir -p` below yielded 0775 — and the fleet env boundary rejects any
+# managed directory with `mode & 0o022`, which made `mosaic fleet init --write`
+# impossible on a stock install of those distros. Fedora/RHEL ship 022 and did
+# not trip it, so the product worked or did not depending on the operator's
+# login shell. 022 is what this script already assumes it produces: see the
+# umask note in make_durable_snapshot, which restores to the ambient value
+# precisely so "every later sync copy and new framework dir" gets 0644/0755.
+# Now that value is 022 rather than whatever was inherited.
+umask 022
+
 # Deliberately parsed from "$@" (a real, explicit, per-invocation argument) —
 # never an environment variable — so this opt-out can never sit silently
 # inherited in a shell profile. See #869 Point-1 C2.
@@ -696,6 +708,52 @@ sync_framework
 mkdir -p "$TARGET_DIR/memory"
 mkdir -p "$TARGET_DIR/credentials"

+# Three directories must be 0700, not merely not-group-writable (#1236).
+# The fleet code guards them with two different masks in two different
+# languages, and the strict one wins:
+#
+#   assertPrivateManagedDirectory (fleet-reconciler.js, `mode & 0o077`)
+#       -> MOSAIC_HOME and MOSAIC_HOME/fleet, checked before the roster lock is
+#          taken, so every mutating `mosaic fleet` command dies at 0755.
+#   assert_private_directory (tools/fleet/start-agent-session.sh, `mode & 077`)
+#       -> MOSAIC_HOME/fleet/agents, checked before a pane is ever spawned.
+#
+# Their laxer siblings (`mode & 0o022`) accept 0755, which is why normalizing
+# the umask above is necessary and not sufficient — a correct umask-022 install
+# still produces 0755 and still cannot run `mosaic fleet init --write`. Say the
+# strict modes outright rather than inferring them from a umask.
+#
+# Only these. The rest of the tree is content, stays 0755, and is only ever
+# reached by the 0o022 checks, which 0755 satisfies.
+chmod 700 "$TARGET_DIR" 2>/dev/null || \
+  warn "Could not set 0700 on $TARGET_DIR — 'mosaic fleet' mutations will fail as unsafe-permissions."
+if [[ -d "$TARGET_DIR/fleet" ]]; then
+  chmod 700 "$TARGET_DIR/fleet" 2>/dev/null || \
+    warn "Could not set 0700 on $TARGET_DIR/fleet — 'mosaic fleet' mutations will fail as unsafe-permissions."
+fi
+# fleet/agents does not exist on a first install — the CLI creates it 0700 on
+# demand. It is chmod'd here for the UPGRADE case: a tree built under umask 002
+# has it at 0775, and the repair sweep below cannot rescue it, because stripping
+# group/other write from 0755 leaves 0750 and `mode & 077` is still non-zero.
+if [[ -d "$TARGET_DIR/fleet/agents" ]]; then
+  chmod 700 "$TARGET_DIR/fleet/agents" 2>/dev/null || \
+    warn "Could not set 0700 on $TARGET_DIR/fleet/agents — agent sessions will fail to start as unsafe-permissions."
+fi
+# credentials/ holds secrets and was never meant to be group-readable either.
+# It is not on the fleet boundary, so a failure here breaks nothing — but it is
+# the one directory where a silently-failed chmod leaves secrets group-readable,
+# which is precisely the failure worth a line in the output.
+chmod 700 "$TARGET_DIR/credentials" 2>/dev/null || \
+  warn "Could not set 0700 on $TARGET_DIR/credentials — stored secrets may be readable by other users on this host."
+
+# Repair an existing tree. The umask above only governs directories this run
+# creates, so a host installed under umask 002 before this fix keeps its 0775
+# dirs through every upgrade and stays broken. Strips group/other WRITE only —
+# never read or execute — so it can repair the boundary violation without
+# changing who can traverse or read anything. Scoped to directories: file modes
+# are the manifest's business, not this fix's.
+find "$TARGET_DIR" -type d -perm /022 -exec chmod go-w {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+
 # Reconcile contract files from defaults/ into the framework root: framework-owned
 # files (CONSTITUTION/AGENTS/STANDARDS) are overwritten every upgrade (a divergent
 # copy is backed up once); user-seeded files (TOOLS) are written on first install only.
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ Documentation=https://git.mosaicstack.dev/mosaicstack/stack
 Requires=mosaic-tmux-holder.service
 After=mosaic-tmux-holder.service
 PartOf=mosaic-tmux-holder.service
+# Do not attempt a seat before its generated env exists. `install` enables this
+# unit (WantedBy=default.target) but on a roster-v2 fleet the reconciler owns the
+# generated env, so between `install` and the first `apply`/`regen --write` there
+# is a boot window where ExecStart would run against an absent env file and the
+# launcher would fail the unit. A skipped unit is the honest state for "enabled
+# but not yet configured"; systemd re-evaluates the condition on every start, so
+# the seat comes up on the next start once the reconciler has written env.
+ConditionPathExists=%h/.config/mosaic/fleet/agents/%i.env.generated

 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
@@ -128,6 +128,14 @@ EOF
 sleep 30
 EOF
  chmod 700 "$AGENT_BIN/mosaic"
+  # The launcher resolves the roster's runtime against PANE_PATH before it
+  # spawns anything (#1241), so the runtime this projection names has to be
+  # present here even though the fake `mosaic` above never execs it.
+  cat > "$AGENT_BIN/pi" <<'EOF'
+#!/bin/sh
+sleep 30
+EOF
+  chmod 700 "$AGENT_BIN/pi"
  server_environment_before=$(tmux -L "$TEST_SOCKET" show-environment -g | sort)
  server_sessions_before=$(tmux -L "$TEST_SOCKET" list-sessions | sort)
  if /usr/bin/env -i HOME="$HOLDER_HOME" PATH=/usr/bin:/bin MOSAIC_HOME="$AGENT_HOME" \
@@ -225,6 +225,118 @@ else
  warn "mosaic-ensure-sequential-thinking helper missing"
 fi

+# Fleet transport binary (#1240).
+#
+# `mosaic fleet --help` reads "Manage the local Mosaic tmux fleet" and every
+# roster the CLI scaffolds sets `transport: tmux`, but nothing in the install
+# path provides tmux and, until now, nothing here noticed it was absent. On a
+# greenfield host that produced a fleet which installed clean, started clean,
+# and had no live seat; `mosaic fleet ps` was the operator's first and only
+# signal that anything was wrong.
+#
+# The roster's own `transport:` is read rather than assumed, so a host that
+# declares something other than tmux is told about the binary it actually
+# needs. Absent a roster the check still runs — `mosaic fleet init` will
+# scaffold a tmux fleet on this host, and finding out beforehand is the point.
+#
+# `tools/install.sh` carries a deliberately parallel check at the end of its
+# summary. The two are separate because the installer must be able to say this
+# before the framework's own scripts are guaranteed to be on disk; keep their
+# wording in step.
+fleet_declared_transport() {
+  local roster="$MOSAIC_HOME/fleet/roster.yaml"
+  local declared=""
+
+  if [[ -f "$roster" ]]; then
+    declared="$(sed -n 's/^[[:space:]]*transport:[[:space:]]*//p' "$roster" | head -1 |
+      tr -d '"'\''' | tr -d '\r' | awk '{print $1}')"
+  fi
+
+  printf '%s\n' "${declared:-tmux}"
+}
+
+# Brain-home fleet-state resolution (#1298; canon STRUCTURE-CANON §2).
+#
+# Seat launch envs, roles.local overrides, and profile working copies resolve
+# from the brain home when one is active; roster, baseline roles, run/, and
+# services stay under MOSAIC_HOME. This check surfaces which tree fleet state
+# resolves from and the drift a launch would otherwise hit at runtime:
+#
+# - a stale MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME pointing at a directory with no fleet/agents is a
+#   misconfiguration the resolver honors (explicit wins) — warn, don't pass;
+# - a symlinked brain or agents dir defeats the managed-directory boundary;
+# - a group/world-readable agents dir violates the 0700 projection boundary;
+# - env files left in the config-home tree while a brain is active are split
+#   state — the write path rejects NEW split writes, but nothing would ever
+#   tell the operator the old files are stranded.
+resolve_brain_home() {
+  local explicit="${MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME:-}"
+  if [[ -n "$(printf '%s' "$explicit" | tr -d '[:space:]')" ]]; then
+    printf '%s' "$explicit"
+    return
+  fi
+  if [[ "$(cd "$MOSAIC_HOME" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)" == "$HOME/.config/mosaic" \
+     && -d "$HOME/.mosaic/fleet/agents" ]]; then
+    printf '%s' "$HOME/.mosaic"
+    return
+  fi
+  printf '%s' "$MOSAIC_HOME"
+}
+
+check_brain_home() {
+  local brain agents mode
+  brain="$(resolve_brain_home)"
+
+  if [[ "$brain" == "$MOSAIC_HOME" ]]; then
+    pass "Fleet state home: $MOSAIC_HOME (legacy single-tree; no brain adopted)"
+    return
+  fi
+
+  agents="$brain/fleet/agents"
+  if [[ ! -d "$agents" ]]; then
+    warn "Brain home '$brain' has no fleet/agents — seat envs will not resolve from it. Point MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME at a brain carrying fleet/agents, or unset it."
+    return
+  fi
+  if [[ -L "$brain" || -L "$agents" ]]; then
+    warn "Brain fleet-state path resolves through a symlink ($brain) — the managed-directory boundary requires regular directories."
+    return
+  fi
+
+  mode="$(stat -c '%a' -- "$agents" 2>/dev/null)" || mode=""
+  if [[ -n "$mode" ]] && (( (8#$mode & 8#077) != 0 )); then
+    warn "Brain agents dir '$agents' is group/world-accessible (mode $mode) — the projection boundary requires 0700."
+    return
+  fi
+
+  if [[ -d "$MOSAIC_HOME/fleet/agents" ]] \
+     && ls "$MOSAIC_HOME/fleet/agents/"*.env* >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    warn "Fleet env files exist in BOTH trees — brain '$brain' is active but '$MOSAIC_HOME/fleet/agents' still carries env files (split state). Migrate them (mosaic fleet regen) and remove the config-home copies."
+    return
+  fi
+
+  pass "Fleet state home: $brain (brain active); roster + templates: $MOSAIC_HOME"
+}
+
+check_fleet_transport() {
+  local transport
+  transport="$(fleet_declared_transport)"
+
+  if command -v "$transport" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    pass "Fleet transport available: $transport"
+    return
+  fi
+
+  if [[ -f "$MOSAIC_HOME/fleet/roster.yaml" ]]; then
+    warn "Fleet transport '$transport' is not installed — this host has a roster and no seat can launch. Install it (e.g. sudo apt-get install -y $transport), then 'mosaic fleet start'."
+  else
+    warn "Fleet transport '$transport' is not installed — 'mosaic fleet' cannot run seats here. Install it (e.g. sudo apt-get install -y $transport) before 'mosaic fleet init'."
+  fi
+}
+
+check_fleet_transport
+
+check_brain_home
+
 # Legacy migration surfaces should no longer contain symlink trees.
 legacy_paths=(
  "$HOME/.claude/agent-guides"
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Covers the brain-home fleet-state check in `mosaic-doctor` (#1298 follow-up).
+#
+# The functions are extracted from the shipped script rather than copied here
+# (same discipline as test-fleet-transport-check.sh): a test that carries its
+# own copy of the logic keeps passing after the shipped copy changes.
+# Extraction is by exact function header and a closing brace in column one.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(cd -- "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)
+DOCTOR="$SCRIPT_DIR/mosaic-doctor"
+
+fail() {
+  echo "FAIL: $*" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+[ -f "$DOCTOR" ] || fail "missing mosaic-doctor at $DOCTOR"
+
+extract_function() {
+  local name="$1"
+  local extracted
+  extracted=$(sed -n "/^${name}() {/,/^}/p" "$DOCTOR")
+  [ -n "$extracted" ] || fail "could not extract ${name}() from mosaic-doctor — script reshaped?"
+  printf '%s\n' "$extracted"
+}
+
+for fn in resolve_brain_home check_brain_home; do
+  extract_function "$fn" >/dev/null
+done
+
+warn_count=0
+warn() { warn_count=$((warn_count + 1)); echo "[WARN] $*"; }
+pass() { echo "[OK] $*"; return 0; }
+
+eval "$(extract_function resolve_brain_home)"
+eval "$(extract_function check_brain_home)"
+
+ROOT=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$ROOT"' EXIT
+
+run_case() {
+  # label, expect (ok|warn), then env assignments as arguments.
+  # The check runs under `env` in a subshell, so its warn() also prints a
+  # sentinel the parent counts — a subshell counter would never be visible.
+  local label="$1" expect="$2"
+  shift 2
+  local out warns
+  out=$(env "$@" bash -c "warn() { echo \"[WARN] \$*\"; }; pass() { echo \"[OK] \$*\"; return 0; }; $(extract_function resolve_brain_home); $(extract_function check_brain_home); check_brain_home" 2>&1)
+  warns=$(printf '%s\n' "$out" | grep -c '^\[WARN\]' || true)
+  if [[ "$expect" == ok && "$warns" -eq 0 ]]; then
+    echo "ok - $label"
+  elif [[ "$expect" == warn && "$warns" -gt 0 ]]; then
+    echo "ok - $label (warned)"
+  else
+    echo "output: $out" >&2
+    fail "$label: expected $expect (warns=$warns)"
+  fi
+}
+
+# ── legacy: no brain, custom home never adopts ─────────────────────────────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/legacy-mosaic/fleet/agents"
+run_case "custom home without brain stays legacy" ok \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/legacy-mosaic" HOME="$ROOT"
+
+# ── healthy brain at the default config home ───────────────────────────────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/home/.config/mosaic" "$ROOT/home/.mosaic/fleet/agents"
+chmod 700 "$ROOT/home/.mosaic/fleet/agents"
+run_case "default home adopts healthy brain" ok \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/home/.config/mosaic" HOME="$ROOT/home"
+
+# ── explicit MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME to a brain without fleet/agents → warn ──────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/brain-noagents/fleet" "$ROOT/config"
+run_case "explicit brain without agents warns" warn \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/config" HOME="$ROOT" MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME="$ROOT/brain-noagents"
+
+# ── explicit MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME to a healthy brain → ok ─────────────────────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/brain-ok/fleet/agents" "$ROOT/config2"
+chmod 700 "$ROOT/brain-ok/fleet/agents"
+run_case "explicit healthy brain passes" ok \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/config2" HOME="$ROOT" MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME="$ROOT/brain-ok"
+
+# ── group-readable agents dir → warn (0700 boundary) ───────────────────────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/brain-loose/fleet/agents" "$ROOT/config3"
+chmod 750 "$ROOT/brain-loose/fleet/agents"
+run_case "group-readable brain agents warns" warn \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/config3" HOME="$ROOT" MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME="$ROOT/brain-loose"
+
+# ── symlinked agents dir → warn (managed-directory boundary) ───────────────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/brain-link/real-agents" "$ROOT/brain-link/fleet" "$ROOT/config4"
+ln -s "$ROOT/brain-link/real-agents" "$ROOT/brain-link/fleet/agents"
+run_case "symlinked brain agents warns" warn \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/config4" HOME="$ROOT" MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME="$ROOT/brain-link"
+
+# ── split state: envs in BOTH trees → warn ─────────────────────────────────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/brain-split/fleet/agents" "$ROOT/config5/fleet/agents"
+chmod 700 "$ROOT/brain-split/fleet/agents" "$ROOT/config5/fleet/agents"
+touch "$ROOT/config5/fleet/agents/coder0.env.generated"
+run_case "env files in both trees warns (split state)" warn \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/config5" HOME="$ROOT" MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME="$ROOT/brain-split"
+
+# ── config-home agents dir WITHOUT env files alongside a brain → ok ────────
+mkdir -p "$ROOT/brain-clean/fleet/agents" "$ROOT/config6/fleet/agents"
+chmod 700 "$ROOT/brain-clean/fleet/agents" "$ROOT/config6/fleet/agents"
+run_case "empty config-home agents dir alongside brain passes" ok \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$ROOT/config6" HOME="$ROOT" MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME="$ROOT/brain-clean"
+
+echo "ok - mosaic-doctor brain-home check"
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Covers the #1240 fleet-transport checks in `mosaic-doctor` and in
+# `tools/install.sh`.
+#
+# Both checks answer the same question — "can a seat actually launch on this
+# host?" — from two different places, because the installer has to be able to
+# answer it before the framework's own scripts are guaranteed to be on disk.
+# Two implementations of one rule is exactly the shape that drifts, so this
+# harness drives BOTH, in one file, from the same table of cases.
+#
+# The functions are extracted from the shipped scripts rather than copied here.
+# A test that carries its own copy of the logic is a test that keeps passing
+# after the shipped copy changes — the failure mode this whole change is about.
+# Extraction is by exact function header and a closing brace in column one; if
+# either script is reshaped so that stops matching, the extraction yields
+# nothing and this fails loudly instead of silently measuring an empty string.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "$0")" && pwd)
+DOCTOR="$SCRIPT_DIR/mosaic-doctor"
+# framework/tools/_scripts -> framework/tools -> framework -> mosaic -> packages -> repo
+INSTALLER=$(cd -- "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../../../.." && pwd)/tools/install.sh
+
+fail() {
+  echo "FAIL: $*" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+[ -f "$DOCTOR" ] || fail "missing mosaic-doctor at $DOCTOR"
+[ -f "$INSTALLER" ] || fail "missing install.sh at $INSTALLER"
+
+ROOT=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$ROOT"' EXIT
+
+# The cases below run with PATH set to a directory that deliberately does not
+# contain a shell, and a PATH assignment on a command also governs how that
+# command is looked up — so bash has to be named absolutely or it becomes the
+# thing that is missing.
+BASH_BIN=$(command -v bash) || fail "host is missing 'bash'"
+
+# A PATH containing exactly the utilities these functions use and nothing else.
+# The absent-transport cases are only meaningful on a PATH where the transport
+# is genuinely unresolvable, and this host (like most) has tmux in /usr/bin —
+# so the system path cannot be part of the path under test.
+FAKE_BIN="$ROOT/bin"
+mkdir -p "$FAKE_BIN"
+for utility in sed head tr awk; do
+  utility_path=$(command -v "$utility") || fail "host is missing '$utility'"
+  ln -s "$utility_path" "$FAKE_BIN/$utility"
+done
+
+if PATH="$FAKE_BIN" command -v tmux >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  fail "'tmux' is resolvable on the minimal test path; absent-transport cases are not measurable"
+fi
+
+# Extract a function by its exact header, up to a closing brace in column one.
+extract_function() {
+  local source_file="$1"
+  local function_name="$2"
+  local destination="$3"
+
+  awk -v name="$function_name" '
+    $0 == name "() {" { collecting = 1 }
+    collecting { print }
+    collecting && $0 == "}" { exit }
+  ' "$source_file" > "$destination"
+
+  grep -qF "$function_name() {" "$destination" ||
+    fail "could not extract '$function_name' from $source_file — has it been renamed or reshaped?"
+  # An unterminated extraction would be a syntax error the moment it is sourced,
+  # but saying so here names the cause instead of leaving a bash parse error.
+  bash -n "$destination" ||
+    fail "extracted '$function_name' does not parse; the closing brace was probably not found"
+}
+
+extract_function "$DOCTOR" fleet_declared_transport "$ROOT/doctor-declared.sh"
+extract_function "$DOCTOR" check_fleet_transport "$ROOT/doctor-check.sh"
+extract_function "$INSTALLER" check_fleet_transport "$ROOT/installer-check.sh"
+
+# Build a MOSAIC_HOME, optionally with a roster declaring a transport.
+make_home() {
+  local home="$ROOT/$1"
+  local declared="${2-}"
+
+  rm -rf "$home"
+  mkdir -p "$home"
+  if [ -n "$declared" ]; then
+    mkdir -p "$home/fleet"
+    cat > "$home/fleet/roster.yaml" <<EOF
+version: 2
+generation: 1
+transport: $declared
+agents: []
+EOF
+  fi
+  printf '%s\n' "$home"
+}
+
+# Run the doctor's check against a given home and path, capturing which
+# reporter the check chose. The real `pass` prints only under `--verbose` and
+# the real `warn` always prints; these stubs make both unconditional on
+# purpose, because what is under test is the severity the check selects, not
+# whether the default verbosity happens to show it. A check that warned where
+# it should pass would otherwise be invisible here.
+run_doctor_check() {
+  local home="$1"
+  local path="$2"
+
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$home" PATH="$path" "$BASH_BIN" --noprofile --norc -c '
+    set -euo pipefail
+    warn() { echo "[WARN] $*"; }
+    pass() { echo "[OK] $*"; }
+    MOSAIC_HOME="$1"
+    source "$2"
+    source "$3"
+    check_fleet_transport
+  ' _ "$home" "$ROOT/doctor-declared.sh" "$ROOT/doctor-check.sh" 2>&1
+}
+
+run_installer_check() {
+  local home="$1"
+  local path="$2"
+
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$home" PATH="$path" "$BASH_BIN" --noprofile --norc -c '
+    set -euo pipefail
+    warn() { echo "[WARN] $*"; }
+    C="" RESET=""
+    MOSAIC_HOME="$1"
+    source "$2"
+    check_fleet_transport
+  ' _ "$home" "$ROOT/installer-check.sh" 2>&1
+}
+
+# A transport that exists. Named tmux because that is what the default roster
+# declares; the binary never runs, it only has to resolve.
+PRESENT_BIN="$ROOT/present-bin"
+mkdir -p "$PRESENT_BIN"
+printf '#!/usr/bin/env bash\nexit 0\n' > "$PRESENT_BIN/tmux"
+chmod +x "$PRESENT_BIN/tmux"
+PATH_WITH_TMUX="$PRESENT_BIN:$FAKE_BIN"
+
+# ── absent, no roster ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Nothing has been configured yet, so the honest thing to point at is `init`.
+home=$(make_home no-roster)
+
+output=$(run_doctor_check "$home" "$FAKE_BIN")
+echo "$output" | grep -qF '[WARN]' || fail "doctor did not warn when tmux was absent"
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'tmux' || fail "doctor warning did not name the transport"
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'mosaic fleet init' || fail "doctor did not point a rosterless host at init"
+
+output=$(run_installer_check "$home" "$FAKE_BIN")
+echo "$output" | grep -qF '[WARN]' || fail "installer did not warn when tmux was absent"
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'reports success and no seat comes up' ||
+  fail "installer warning did not say what the missing transport actually breaks"
+
+# ── absent, roster present ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# A configured fleet that cannot launch is a stronger statement than a
+# hypothetical one, and the message says so.
+home=$(make_home with-roster tmux)
+
+output=$(run_doctor_check "$home" "$FAKE_BIN")
+echo "$output" | grep -qF '[WARN]' || fail "doctor did not warn with a roster present and tmux absent"
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'roster' || fail "doctor did not mention the roster it found"
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'mosaic fleet start' || fail "doctor did not point a configured host at start"
+
+# ── present ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Silence from the installer, and a pass (not a warning) from the audit.
+for home_name in no-roster with-roster; do
+  home="$ROOT/$home_name"
+
+  output=$(run_doctor_check "$home" "$PATH_WITH_TMUX")
+  if echo "$output" | grep -qF '[WARN]'; then
+    fail "doctor warned about the transport while tmux was present ($home_name)"
+  fi
+  echo "$output" | grep -qF '[OK]' || fail "doctor did not record a pass with tmux present ($home_name)"
+
+  output=$(run_installer_check "$home" "$PATH_WITH_TMUX")
+  if [ -n "$output" ]; then
+    fail "installer was not silent with tmux present ($home_name): $output"
+  fi
+done
+
+# ── the roster declares something other than tmux ────────────────────────────
+# The roster is read, not assumed. A host that declares a different transport
+# is told about the binary it actually needs, and never about tmux — being sent
+# to install the wrong package is worse than no advice at all.
+home=$(make_home other-transport zellij)
+
+output=$(run_doctor_check "$home" "$PATH_WITH_TMUX")
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'zellij' || fail "doctor ignored the roster's declared transport"
+if echo "$output" | grep -qF 'tmux'; then
+  fail "doctor named tmux for a host whose roster declares zellij"
+fi
+
+output=$(run_installer_check "$home" "$PATH_WITH_TMUX")
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'zellij' || fail "installer ignored the roster's declared transport"
+if echo "$output" | grep -qF 'tmux'; then
+  fail "installer named tmux for a host whose roster declares zellij"
+fi
+
+# ── a quoted or trailing-comment transport value ─────────────────────────────
+# YAML permits both and neither is exotic; a check that installs `tmux"` or
+# reads `tmux # default` as a binary name would send the operator nowhere.
+home=$(make_home quoted-transport '"tmux"   # the only transport today')
+
+output=$(run_doctor_check "$home" "$PATH_WITH_TMUX")
+echo "$output" | grep -qF '[OK] Fleet transport available: tmux' ||
+  fail "doctor did not parse a quoted/commented transport value: $output"
+
+output=$(run_installer_check "$home" "$PATH_WITH_TMUX")
+if [ -n "$output" ]; then
+  fail "installer did not parse a quoted/commented transport value: $output"
+fi
+
+echo "ok - fleet transport checks (mosaic-doctor + install.sh)"
@@ -80,6 +80,26 @@ safe_path "$MOSAIC_HOME" || fail_env unsafe-path MOSAIC_HOME "$MOSAIC_HOME"

 FLEET_DIR="$MOSAIC_HOME/fleet"
 AGENT_ENV_DIR="$FLEET_DIR/agents"
+
+# Brain-home split (canon docs/STRUCTURE-CANON.md §2): seat launch envs live
+# under the brain home's fleet/agents when a brain is active; roster, roles
+# baseline, and runtime state (fleet/run) stay under MOSAIC_HOME.
+# Resolution mirrors packages/mosaic/src/fleet/brain-home.ts:
+#   1. MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME env (explicit, always wins)
+#   2. ~/.mosaic — adopted only when MOSAIC_HOME is the default config home AND
+#      ~/.mosaic/fleet/agents exists
+#   3. MOSAIC_HOME (legacy single-tree)
+BRAIN_HOME="${MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME:-}"
+if [ -z "$BRAIN_HOME" ]; then
+  BRAIN_HOME="$MOSAIC_HOME"
+  if [ "$(cd "$MOSAIC_HOME" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)" = "$HOME/.config/mosaic" ] \
+     && [ -d "$HOME/.mosaic/fleet/agents" ]; then
+    BRAIN_HOME="$HOME/.mosaic"
+  fi
+fi
+if [ "$BRAIN_HOME" != "$MOSAIC_HOME" ]; then
+  AGENT_ENV_DIR="$BRAIN_HOME/fleet/agents"
+fi
 assert_managed_directory "$MOSAIC_HOME"
 assert_managed_directory "$FLEET_DIR"
 assert_private_directory "$AGENT_ENV_DIR"
@@ -286,6 +306,36 @@ _build_runtime_bin_prefix() {
 MOSAIC_RUNTIME_BIN_PREFIX=$(_build_runtime_bin_prefix)
 PANE_PATH=${MOSAIC_RUNTIME_BIN_PREFIX:+${MOSAIC_RUNTIME_BIN_PREFIX}:}/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

+# #1241. The pane runs `mosaic yolo <runtime>` under PANE_PATH with a cleared
+# environment. A binary missing from *that* path is a pane that dies in under a
+# second, inside a session nobody is attached to, with its diagnostic scrolled
+# into a pane tmux then destroys. Resolve both here, before any effect, where
+# the failure is still attributable to the thing that caused it.
+#
+# `mosaic yolo <runtime>` runs checkRuntime(runtime) and the binary it looks for
+# is named exactly like the runtime, so resolving the runtime name is the same
+# question the pane will ask a moment later — asked while an operator can still
+# see the answer.
+_resolve_in_pane_path() {
+  PATH="$PANE_PATH" command -v -- "$1" 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+# Exit 69 (EX_UNAVAILABLE): the seat cannot be provided. Distinguished from the
+# 64 (EX_USAGE) rejections above, which mean the projection itself was bad —
+# here the data is fine and the host is not ready. Callers tell the individual
+# cases apart by `code=`, the same way fail_env's many codes share exit 64.
+fail_launch() {
+  local code="$1"
+  shift
+  echo "ERROR: agent launch aborted: code=${code} agent=${AGENT_NAME} $*" >&2
+  exit 69
+}
+
+for required_binary in mosaic "$MOSAIC_AGENT_RUNTIME"; do
+  _resolve_in_pane_path "$required_binary" >/dev/null ||
+    fail_launch missing-binary "'${required_binary}' is not on the pane PATH (${PANE_PATH})"
+done
+
 _ensure_claude_workdir_trusted() {
  local workdir="$1"
  local resolved
@@ -384,6 +434,19 @@ if [ -n "$PANE_PID" ]; then
  _start_heartbeat_sidecar "$AGENT_NAME" "$PANE_PID" \
    "$MOSAIC_HEARTBEAT_RUN_DIR" "$MOSAIC_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL" || \
    echo "WARNING: heartbeat sidecar could not be started for $AGENT_NAME" >&2
+elif _tmux has-session -t "=${AGENT_NAME}:0.0" 2>/dev/null; then
+  # #1241. Session present, no pane PID after a second of retries. Whatever this
+  # is, it is not a seat an operator can use, so it is not a success either.
+  fail_launch pane-pid-unresolved \
+    "tmux reports the session but no pane PID after 5 attempts"
 else
-  echo "WARNING: could not resolve pane PID for $AGENT_NAME — heartbeat sidecar not started" >&2
+  # #1241. This branch used to print a WARNING about the heartbeat sidecar and
+  # exit 0. It is not a heartbeat problem: tmux destroys a session when its pane
+  # command exits, so an absent session one second after new-session means the
+  # runtime died on startup. Reporting it as success is what let `fleet start`
+  # return 0 over three dead panes — the launcher knew, and said the wrong thing
+  # at the wrong severity to the wrong layer.
+  fail_launch pane-did-not-survive \
+    "the pane exited immediately and tmux destroyed the session;" \
+    "run 'mosaic yolo ${MOSAIC_AGENT_RUNTIME}' in ${MOSAIC_AGENT_WORKDIR} to see why"
 fi
@@ -23,8 +23,26 @@ index=0
 if [ "${args[0]:-}" = -L ]; then index=2; fi
 case "${args[$index]:-}" in
  has-session)
+    # The holder always answers. MOSAIC_TEST_HELD_SESSIONS lets a case add
+    # other targets that should answer too — without it there is no way to
+    # model "tmux still reports the session" for a non-holder agent, and the
+    # launcher's pane-pid-unresolved branch is unreachable from this harness.
+    #
+    # A listed target answers only AFTER new-session, because the launcher asks
+    # this question twice about the same name: once before launching, where a
+    # yes means "already running, nothing to do, exit 0", and once after, where
+    # a yes means "the session survived". A shim that answered yes to both
+    # would short-circuit at the first and never reach the branch under test —
+    # it would look like coverage and measure the idempotency path instead.
    for argument in "${args[@]}"; do
      [ "$argument" = '=_holder:0.0' ] && exit 0
+      case " ${MOSAIC_TEST_HELD_SESSIONS:-} " in
+        *" $argument "*)
+          if tr '\0' '\n' < "${MOSAIC_TEST_TMUX_CALLS:?}" | grep -qxF new-session; then
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          ;;
+      esac
    done
    exit 1
    ;;
@@ -62,6 +80,30 @@ env -0 > "${MOSAIC_HOME:?}/fleet/pane-environment"
 SHIM
 chmod +x "$FAKE_BIN/mosaic"

+# The runtime the rosters below name. The launcher resolves it against PANE_PATH
+# before spawning (#1241), so it has to exist somewhere the pane would find it —
+# not merely on the launcher's own PATH.
+printf '#!/usr/bin/env bash\nexit 0\n' > "$FAKE_BIN/pi"
+chmod +x "$FAKE_BIN/pi"
+
+# PANE_PATH is derived partly from `npm config get prefix`. Left to the real npm
+# it would splice whatever the host has installed into the path under test, and
+# the missing-binary cases below would pass or fail by accident of the machine.
+cat > "$FAKE_BIN/npm" <<'SHIM'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+printf '%s\n' "${MOSAIC_TEST_NPM_PREFIX:-/nonexistent}"
+SHIM
+chmod +x "$FAKE_BIN/npm"
+
+# PANE_PATH always ends in the system path. A host that installs these there can
+# not measure the missing-binary cases at all, and a green run would mean
+# nothing — so say so instead of passing.
+for host_binary in mosaic pi; do
+  if PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin command -v "$host_binary" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    fail "host provides '$host_binary' in the system path; missing-binary cases are not measurable here"
+  fi
+done
+
 write_generated() {
  local home="$1"
  local agent="$2"
@@ -81,6 +123,19 @@ MOSAIC_TMUX_SOCKET=mosaic-test
 EOF
  chmod 600 "$home/fleet/agents/$agent.env.generated"
  mkdir -p "$home/work"
+  install_pane_binaries "$home"
+}
+
+# `$PANE_HOME/.npm-global/bin` is one of the prefixes the launcher folds into
+# PANE_PATH, so this is the pane's own view of "installed", distinct from the
+# launcher's PATH. Tests that need a binary *absent* remove it from here.
+install_pane_binaries() {
+  local pane_home="$1"
+  mkdir -p "$pane_home/.npm-global/bin"
+  local binary
+  for binary in mosaic pi; do
+    ln -sf "$FAKE_BIN/$binary" "$pane_home/.npm-global/bin/$binary"
+  done
 }

 run_start() {
@@ -88,6 +143,7 @@ run_start() {
  local agent="$2"
  HOME="$home" PATH="$FAKE_BIN:$PATH" MOSAIC_TEST_TMUX_CALLS="$TMUX_CALLS" \
    MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID="${MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID:-}" \
+    MOSAIC_TEST_HELD_SESSIONS="${MOSAIC_TEST_HELD_SESSIONS:-}" \
    MOSAIC_TEST_HOME="$home" \
    MOSAIC_TEST_FLEET_OWNER=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 \
    MOSAIC_HOME="$home" "$START" "$agent"
@@ -98,7 +154,10 @@ run_start() {
 HOME_VALID="$ROOT/valid"
 AGENT_VALID="coder0"
 write_generated "$HOME_VALID" "$AGENT_VALID"
-run_start "$HOME_VALID" "$AGENT_VALID"
+# A live pane PID is part of what "valid launch" means. Until #1241 this case
+# ran with none, so the suite's one success path was itself a dead pane the
+# launcher reported as fine.
+MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID=$$ run_start "$HOME_VALID" "$AGENT_VALID"
 valid_args=$(tr '\0' '\n' < "$TMUX_CALLS")
 echo "$valid_args" | grep -qF new-session || fail "valid generated projection did not reach tmux"
 echo "$valid_args" | grep -qF 'mosaic' || fail "fixed mosaic launcher command missing"
@@ -108,6 +167,54 @@ if echo "$valid_args" | grep -qF 'bash -c'; then
  fail "launcher constructed a shell command payload"
 fi

+# ── Brain-home split (canon §2) ─────────────────────────────────────────
+# When MOSAIC_HOME is the default config home under $HOME and the host carries
+# $HOME/.mosaic/fleet/agents, seat envs resolve from the brain tree; the config
+# home still owns fleet/run (holder-owner) and remains a managed boundary.
+: > "$TMUX_CALLS"
+HOME_BRAIN="$ROOT/brain-home"
+CONFIG_HOME="$HOME_BRAIN/.config/mosaic"
+BRAIN="$HOME_BRAIN/.mosaic"
+mkdir -p "$CONFIG_HOME/fleet/run" "$BRAIN/fleet/agents" "$HOME_BRAIN/work"
+chmod 700 "$CONFIG_HOME" "$CONFIG_HOME/fleet" "$CONFIG_HOME/fleet/run" \
+  "$BRAIN/fleet/agents" "$HOME_BRAIN/work"
+printf '123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000\n' > "$CONFIG_HOME/fleet/run/holder-owner"
+chmod 600 "$CONFIG_HOME/fleet/run/holder-owner"
+cat > "$BRAIN/fleet/agents/coder-brain.env.generated" <<EOF
+MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME=coder-brain
+MOSAIC_AGENT_CLASS=code
+MOSAIC_AGENT_RUNTIME=pi
+MOSAIC_AGENT_MODEL=openai-codex/gpt-5.6-sol
+MOSAIC_AGENT_REASONING=high
+MOSAIC_AGENT_TOOL_POLICY=code
+MOSAIC_AGENT_WORKDIR=$HOME_BRAIN/work
+MOSAIC_TMUX_SOCKET=mosaic-test
+EOF
+chmod 600 "$BRAIN/fleet/agents/coder-brain.env.generated"
+install_pane_binaries "$HOME_BRAIN"
+HOME="$HOME_BRAIN" PATH="$FAKE_BIN:$PATH" MOSAIC_TEST_TMUX_CALLS="$TMUX_CALLS" \
+  MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID=$$ MOSAIC_TEST_HOME="$HOME_BRAIN" \
+  MOSAIC_TEST_FLEET_OWNER=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$CONFIG_HOME" "$START" coder-brain
+brain_args=$(tr '\0' '\n' < "$TMUX_CALLS")
+echo "$brain_args" | grep -qF new-session || fail "brain-home generated projection did not reach tmux"
+echo "$brain_args" | grep -qF 'coder-brain' || fail "brain-home agent env was not the launch source"
+[ -f "$BRAIN/fleet/agents/coder-brain.env.generated" ] || fail "brain generated env vanished"
+
+# Negative control: the SAME default-config-home shape but without
+# ~/.mosaic/fleet/agents — the config-home env tree is used directly (legacy).
+: > "$TMUX_CALLS"
+HOME_NOBRAIN="$ROOT/brainless-home"
+CONFIG_HOME_NOBRAIN="$HOME_NOBRAIN/.config/mosaic"
+write_generated "$CONFIG_HOME_NOBRAIN" "coder-legacy"
+install_pane_binaries "$HOME_NOBRAIN"
+HOME="$HOME_NOBRAIN" PATH="$FAKE_BIN:$PATH" MOSAIC_TEST_TMUX_CALLS="$TMUX_CALLS" \
+  MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID=$$ MOSAIC_TEST_HOME="$HOME_NOBRAIN" \
+  MOSAIC_TEST_FLEET_OWNER=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 \
+  MOSAIC_HOME="$CONFIG_HOME_NOBRAIN" "$START" coder-legacy
+legacy_args=$(tr '\0' '\n' < "$TMUX_CALLS")
+echo "$legacy_args" | grep -qF new-session || fail "legacy single-tree launch regressed"
+
 # The pane must start through an absolute clean-environment boundary. Its
 # runtime command remains an argv vector, but no holder/session environment
 # control variable can pass through the pane command.
@@ -245,6 +352,13 @@ PANE_BASH_ENV="$ROOT/pane-boundary.bash-env"
 printf 'MOSAIC_RUNTIME_BIN=%s\n' "$FAKE_BIN" > \
  "$HOME_PANE_BOUNDARY/fleet/agents/coder-pane-boundary.env.local"
 chmod 600 "$HOME_PANE_BOUNDARY/fleet/agents/coder-pane-boundary.env.local"
+# This case does not go through run_start, so its pane binaries come from
+# MOSAIC_RUNTIME_BIN=$FAKE_BIN in the env.local written above — not from the
+# symlinks install_pane_binaries planted under the generated home, which this
+# launcher never consults because HOME here is the trusted parent. That is a
+# legitimate resolution path, but it means dropping MOSAIC_RUNTIME_BIN from
+# this case on the belief that the symlinks cover it would break the #1241
+# binary check rather than exercise it.
 LD_PRELOAD='/not/loaded/by-clean-bootstrap.so' \
 BASH_ENV="$PANE_BASH_ENV" \
 MOSAIC_UNTRUSTED_SENTINEL='must-not-reach-pane' \
@@ -258,6 +372,7 @@ PATH="$PANE_STALE_PATH" \
    "MOSAIC_TEST_HOME=$PANE_TRUSTED_HOME" \
    MOSAIC_TEST_FLEET_OWNER=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 \
    MOSAIC_TEST_EXECUTE_PANE=1 \
+    "MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID=$$" \
    "$START" coder-pane-boundary
 pane_args=$(tr '\0' '\n' < "$TMUX_CALLS")
 echo "$pane_args" | grep -qxF "HOME=$PANE_TRUSTED_HOME" || \
@@ -392,6 +507,75 @@ echo "$interaction_policy_args" | grep -qF 'new-session' && \
 echo "$output" | grep -qF 'operator interaction service requires runtime pi' || \
  fail "interaction pinned-policy check did not follow strict parsing"

+# #1241. The pane runs `mosaic yolo <runtime>` against PANE_PATH. A binary
+# missing from that path is a launch failure, and it has to be named before the
+# session is created — after it, the diagnostic dies with the pane.
+assert_missing_pane_binary_rejected() {
+  local binary="$1"
+  local home="$ROOT/missing-$binary"
+  local agent="coder-missing-$binary"
+  write_generated "$home" "$agent"
+  rm -f "$home/.npm-global/bin/$binary"
+
+  : > "$TMUX_CALLS"
+  local output
+  if output=$(MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID=$$ run_start "$home" "$agent" 2>&1); then
+    fail "launch succeeded with '$binary' absent from the pane PATH"
+  fi
+  echo "$output" | grep -qF 'code=missing-binary' || fail "missing '$binary' diagnostic missing"
+  echo "$output" | grep -qF "'$binary'" || fail "missing-binary diagnostic did not name $binary"
+  if tr '\0' '\n' < "$TMUX_CALLS" | grep -qF new-session; then
+    fail "launcher created a session it knew would die ($binary absent)"
+  fi
+}
+
+assert_missing_pane_binary_rejected mosaic
+assert_missing_pane_binary_rejected pi
+
+# #1241. tmux destroys a session when its pane command exits, so no pane PID a
+# second after new-session means the runtime died on startup. This used to be a
+# WARNING about the heartbeat sidecar followed by exit 0 — three layers above it
+# then reported a fleet that was not running.
+: > "$TMUX_CALLS"
+HOME_DEAD_PANE="$ROOT/dead-pane"
+write_generated "$HOME_DEAD_PANE" "coder-dead-pane"
+if output=$(MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID='' run_start "$HOME_DEAD_PANE" coder-dead-pane 2>&1); then
+  fail "launcher reported success over a pane that did not survive"
+fi
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'code=pane-did-not-survive' || fail "dead-pane diagnostic missing"
+if echo "$output" | grep -qiF 'heartbeat'; then
+  fail "dead pane is still being reported as a heartbeat-sidecar problem"
+fi
+tr '\0' '\n' < "$TMUX_CALLS" | grep -qF new-session || \
+  fail "dead-pane case did not reach the launch it is measuring"
+
+# #1241, the other way a pane fails. Above, tmux destroyed the session and
+# has-session said so. Here the session is still there and no PID comes back
+# after the retries — a different fault (the pane is alive but unusable, or
+# tmux is answering inconsistently) that an operator has to be told apart from
+# a runtime that died on startup.
+#
+# This case exists because the branch that handles it shipped with nothing able
+# to reach it: the shim answered has-session only for the holder, so every
+# non-holder agent landed in the session-is-gone branch no matter what. A
+# defensive branch nothing exercises is the same shape as the bug this whole
+# change is about, one layer down.
+: > "$TMUX_CALLS"
+HOME_NO_PID="$ROOT/pane-no-pid"
+write_generated "$HOME_NO_PID" "coder-no-pid"
+if output=$(MOSAIC_TEST_PANE_PID='' MOSAIC_TEST_HELD_SESSIONS='=coder-no-pid:0.0' \
+  run_start "$HOME_NO_PID" coder-no-pid 2>&1); then
+  fail "launcher reported success over a session with no resolvable pane PID"
+fi
+echo "$output" | grep -qF 'code=pane-pid-unresolved' || \
+  fail "session-present/no-PID was not reported as pane-pid-unresolved: $output"
+if echo "$output" | grep -qF 'code=pane-did-not-survive'; then
+  fail "a session tmux still reports was diagnosed as a destroyed session"
+fi
+if echo "$output" | grep -qiF 'heartbeat'; then
+  fail "an unresolvable pane PID is still being reported as a heartbeat-sidecar problem"
+fi
+
 # Exact stop derives the socket exclusively from the validated generated
 # projection and ignores an ambient socket supplied by the caller.
 : > "$TMUX_CALLS"
@@ -62,7 +62,14 @@ EXPECTED_ACTIVATION_CAPABILITY: Final[ActivationCapability] = {
 # capability as compact JSON.
 LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_COMMAND: Final = "__lease-capability"

-PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: Final = 2.0
+# Budget for the out-of-process `mosaic __lease-capability` probe. The CLI
+# is a Node program whose cold start alone measures 2.2-2.3s on a mid-range
+# workstation (sb-it-1-dt, 2026-08-13), so a 2s budget made every launch on
+# such hosts fail closed with the #869 skew message even though the
+# capability matched. The timeout only bounds the pathological hang case —
+# the happy path returns as soon as the probe exits — so a generous budget
+# costs nothing on healthy hosts.
+PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: Final = 10.0

 # Override hook: a full shell-style command line (parsed with `shlex.split`)
 # to run INSTEAD of resolving `mosaic` on PATH and appending the probe
@@ -88,7 +95,13 @@ def _resolve_probe_command(environ: Mapping[str, str]) -> list[str] | None:
    if override:
        parsed = shlex.split(override)
        return parsed or None
-    resolved = shutil.which("mosaic")
+    # Resolve against the PROVIDED environment's PATH, not the ambient
+    # os.environ. Before this, a test passing a hermetic environ still
+    # resolved (and spawned) the host's real `mosaic` — masked only on hosts
+    # where the real probe happened to exceed the old 2s timeout. No PATH in
+    # the provided environment means nothing is resolvable (fail-closed),
+    # matching the probe's overall contract.
+    resolved = shutil.which("mosaic", path=environ.get("PATH", ""))
    if resolved is None:
        return None
    return [resolved, LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_COMMAND]
@@ -32,10 +32,6 @@ packages/mosaic/framework/tools/tmux/test-send-message-socket.sh | requires a re
 packages/mosaic/framework/tools/tmux/test-send-message-verdict.sh | requires real tmux-pane fixtures on a throwaway socket; CI image ships no tmux; #1017 burndown (same condition as its sibling)

 # --- single-suite directories: unmeasured in CI ---
-packages/mosaic/framework/tools/fleet/test-start-agent-session.sh | unmeasured in CI image; stubs tmux via a fake bin dir, likely CI-fit; #1017 burndown
-packages/mosaic/framework/tools/glpi/test-list-http-status.sh | unmeasured in CI image; stub-based (#807 regression harness), likely CI-fit; #1017 burndown
-packages/mosaic/framework/tools/orchestrator/test-board-roll.sh | unmeasured in CI image; file-fixture based, likely CI-fit; #1017 burndown
-packages/mosaic/framework/tools/woodpecker/test-ci-wait-exit-matrix.sh | unmeasured in CI image; drives ci-wait.sh against a stub pipeline-status.sh, likely CI-fit; #1017 burndown

 # --- naming-boundary files the strict test-*.sh prefix cannot even name ---
 # (#1017: three independent censuses handled the microtest file three different
@@ -43,3 +39,20 @@ packages/mosaic/framework/tools/woodpecker/test-ci-wait-exit-matrix.sh | unmeasu
 # recorded judgement. These lines ARE that judgement, signed.)
 packages/mosaic/framework/tools/orchestrator/smoke-test.sh | behavior smoke checks for coord continue/run workflows, run manually by orchestrator seats; unmeasured in CI; #1017 burndown
 packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/validate-973/microtest-wake-assert.sh | #973 instrument self-test, run as a precondition of the validate-973 evidence procedure rather than as a standing CI suite; #1017 burndown candidate
+
+# --- tools/fleet: precondition is unsatisfiable in the CI image (#1271) ---
+# Signed by fred (sb-it-1-dt, 2026-08-16) at origin/next 476db12.
+# This suite asserts the launcher's behaviour when `mosaic` and `pi` are MISSING.
+# It shims fakes into $FAKE_BIN, but the constructed PANE_PATH always ends in the
+# real system path, so on a host that installs those binaries the missing-binary
+# cases cannot be measured at all. The suite's own guard (line 103) says so and
+# fails rather than reporting a pass it cannot back. That guard is correct.
+# The error was wiring the suite into CI: #1017 (c56483eb) enumerated it and
+# dropped this exclusion, and the CI image provides `pi` in the system path, so
+# it has failed on every pipeline since. Measured 2026-08-16 across pipelines
+# 2444 (#1256), 2438 (#1240) and 2441 (#1017-quality): exactly one FAIL line in
+# each full log, identical, this assertion; control `zzz-not-present-zzz` -> 0.
+# Burn-down and the full measurement are tracked in #1271; unwired by PR #1270.
+# Because test:framework-shell is one && chain and this sat at position 44 of 48,
+# the four suites after it had not run at all since the merge.
+packages/mosaic/framework/tools/fleet/test-start-agent-session.sh | precondition unsatisfiable in the CI image: asserts missing-binary behaviour, but PANE_PATH always ends in the system path and the image provides `pi` there; guard at line 103 fails by design rather than passing unmeasured. Burn down by controlling the tail of PANE_PATH inside the test. NOT by removing `pi` from the image: the CI image installs @earendil-works/[email protected] deliberately (measured in pipeline 2444's test-step log), and other suites depend on that pin. Burn-down tracked in #1271
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
    "lint": "eslint src",
    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
    "test": "vitest run --passWithNoTests && pnpm run test:framework-shell",
-    "test:framework-shell": "bash framework/tools/quality/scripts/check-test-enumeration.sh && bash framework/tools/quality/scripts/test-check-test-enumeration.sh && python3 src/lease-broker/daemon_deadline_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/normative_fragments_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/promotion_binding_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/promotion_trigger_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/receipt_challenge_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/context_recovery_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_runtime_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_b1_adversarial_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/receipt_observer_client_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/invariant_r_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/framework_skill_portability_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_tools_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_launch_guard_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/version_coupling_unittest.py && python3 framework/tools/lease-broker/check-runtime-launches.py --root ../.. && bash framework/tools/codex/test-pr-diff-context.sh && bash framework/tools/qa/test-deps-preflight.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-review-gitea-comment.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-review-repo-host-override.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-branch-absent.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-tristate.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-github-checks.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-merge-queue-branch.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-merge-head-pin.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-merge-message-field.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-git-credential-mosaic.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-gitea-token-identity.sh && bash framework/tools/woodpecker/test-terminal-green-contract.sh && bash framework/tools/_scripts/test-install-ordering-guard.sh && bash framework/tools/_scripts/test-mosaic-init-rce.sh && bash framework/tools/tmux/agent-send.test.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-store-ack.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-store-enqueue-race.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-digest-hmac.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-digest-quarantine.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-detector.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-fn-oracle.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-reconcile.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-beacon.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-preimage.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-install.sh"
+    "test:framework-shell": "bash framework/tools/quality/scripts/check-test-enumeration.sh && bash framework/tools/quality/scripts/test-check-test-enumeration.sh && python3 src/lease-broker/daemon_deadline_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/normative_fragments_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/promotion_binding_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/promotion_trigger_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/receipt_challenge_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/context_recovery_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_runtime_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_b1_adversarial_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/receipt_observer_client_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/invariant_r_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/framework_skill_portability_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_tools_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_launch_guard_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/version_coupling_unittest.py && python3 framework/tools/lease-broker/check-runtime-launches.py --root ../.. && bash framework/tools/codex/test-pr-diff-context.sh && bash framework/tools/qa/test-deps-preflight.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-review-gitea-comment.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-review-repo-host-override.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-branch-absent.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-tristate.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-github-checks.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-merge-queue-branch.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-merge-head-pin.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-merge-message-field.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-git-credential-mosaic.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-gitea-token-identity.sh && bash framework/tools/woodpecker/test-terminal-green-contract.sh && bash framework/tools/_scripts/test-install-ordering-guard.sh && bash framework/tools/_scripts/test-mosaic-init-rce.sh && bash framework/tools/tmux/agent-send.test.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-store-ack.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-store-enqueue-race.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-digest-hmac.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-digest-quarantine.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-detector.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-fn-oracle.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-reconcile.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-beacon.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-preimage.sh && bash framework/tools/wake/test-wake-install.sh && bash framework/tools/glpi/test-list-http-status.sh && bash framework/tools/orchestrator/test-board-roll.sh && bash framework/tools/woodpecker/test-ci-wait-exit-matrix.sh && bash framework/tools/_scripts/test-fleet-transport-check.sh && bash framework/tools/_scripts/test-brain-home-check.sh"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@mosaicstack/brain": "workspace:*",
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fleetAgentEnvDir, fleetRolesLocalDir } from '../fleet/brain-home.js';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import {
  executeFleetAgentMutation,
@@ -149,9 +150,9 @@ async function executeCommand(
    request,
    mosaicHome,
    rosterPath,
-    agentEnvDir: join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents'),
+    agentEnvDir: fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome),
    rolesDir: join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roles'),
-    overrideDir: join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roles.local'),
+    overrideDir: fleetRolesLocalDir(mosaicHome),
    dryRun: forceDryRun || opts.dryRun === true,
    ...(deps.projectionApplier === undefined ? {} : { projectionApplier: deps.projectionApplier }),
  });
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { fleetAgentEnvDir, fleetRolesLocalDir } from '../fleet/brain-home.js';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import {
  parseV1MigrationObservations,
@@ -120,11 +121,11 @@ export function registerFleetMigrationCommand(
          observations,
          personaDirs: {
            rolesDir: deps.rolesDir ?? join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roles'),
-            overrideDir: deps.overrideDir ?? join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roles.local'),
+            overrideDir: deps.overrideDir ?? fleetRolesLocalDir(mosaicHome),
          },
          environment: {
            mosaicHome,
-            agentEnvDir: join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents'),
+            agentEnvDir: fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome),
          },
        });
        printJson(preview);
@@ -30,19 +30,21 @@ import { lstat, readFile, readdir, stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { homedir } from 'node:os';
 import { basename, isAbsolute, join, sep } from 'node:path';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
+import { fleetRolesLocalDir } from '../fleet/brain-home.js';

 function defaultMosaicHome(): string {
  return process.env['MOSAIC_HOME'] ?? join(homedir(), '.config', 'mosaic');
 }

-/** Baseline persona role contracts (reseeded on update). */
+/** Baseline persona role contracts (reseeded on update; config home — framework). */
 export function defaultRolesDir(mosaicHome = defaultMosaicHome()): string {
  return join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roles');
 }

-/** PRESERVE-protected override layer (survives update; wins on merge). */
+/** PRESERVE-protected override layer (survives update; wins on merge).
+ * Brain home (`~/.mosaic/fleet/roles.local`) when a brain is active. */
 export function defaultOverrideDir(mosaicHome = defaultMosaicHome()): string {
-  return join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roles.local');
+  return fleetRolesLocalDir(mosaicHome);
 }

 /**
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import { homedir } from 'node:os';
 import { basename, join } from 'node:path';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import YAML from 'yaml';
+import { fleetProfilesDir } from '../fleet/brain-home.js';
 import {
  defaultOverrideDir,
  extractClassesFromDir,
@@ -36,9 +37,10 @@ function defaultMosaicHome(): string {
  return process.env['MOSAIC_HOME'] ?? join(homedir(), '.config', 'mosaic');
 }

-/** Directory holding the seeded profile yaml files. */
+/** Directory holding the seeded profile yaml files — brain home when active
+ * (user working copies, committed), else the config home seed. */
 export function defaultProfilesDir(mosaicHome = defaultMosaicHome()): string {
-  return join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'profiles');
+  return fleetProfilesDir(mosaicHome);
 }

 /** Directory holding the persona role contracts. */
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { homedir } from 'node:os';
 import { join, relative, resolve } from 'node:path';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import type { CommandRunner } from './fleet.js';
+import { fleetAgentEnvDir } from '../fleet/brain-home.js';
 import {
  applyPreparedGeneratedAgentEnvironmentProjection,
  prepareGeneratedAgentEnvironmentProjection,
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ export async function executeFleetRegen(
  options: FleetRegenOptions,
 ): Promise<FleetRegenResult> {
  const mosaicHome = defaultMosaicHome(deps);
-  const agentEnvDir = join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents');
+  const agentEnvDir = fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome);
  const rosterPath = join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roster.yaml');
  const readRoster = deps.readRoster ?? defaultReadRoster(deps, mosaicHome);
  const prepare = deps.prepareProjection ?? prepareGeneratedAgentEnvironmentProjection;
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+import { execFile } from 'node:child_process';
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, readFile, readdir, rm, stat, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { Command } from 'commander';
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { registerFleetCommand, type CommandResult, type CommandRunner } from './fleet.js';
+
+/**
+ * #1237: the v1-only commands (`ps`, `install`, `install-systemd`, `add`,
+ * `remove`) rejected a roster-v2 fleet outright, so a greenfield v2 box could
+ * never get its units placed. These tests pin the three behaviours that fix
+ * gives it, and the two it deliberately does NOT give it.
+ *
+ * The load-bearing negative is that `install` on v2 writes no generated env:
+ * the reconciler owns that file through projectRosterV2AgentGeneratedEnv, and a
+ * second writer here — necessarily through the v1 mapping — is exactly the
+ * drift the #791 single-SSOT invariant exists to prevent.
+ */
+
+const rosterV2 = `
+version: 2
+generation: 4
+transport: tmux
+tmux:
+  socket_name: mosaic-fleet
+  holder_session: _holder
+defaults:
+  working_directory: /srv/mosaic
+  runtime: pi
+runtimes:
+  pi:
+    reset_command: /new
+agents:
+  - name: coder0
+    alias: Coder 0
+    class: code
+    runtime: pi
+    provider: openai
+    model: gpt-5.6-sol
+    reasoning: high
+    tool_policy: code
+    working_directory: /srv/mosaic
+    persistent_persona: false
+    reset_between_tasks: true
+    lifecycle:
+      enabled: true
+      desired_state: stopped
+    launch:
+      yolo: true
+  - name: coder1
+    alias: Coder 1
+    class: code
+    runtime: pi
+    provider: openai
+    model: gpt-5.6-sol
+    reasoning: medium
+    tool_policy: code
+    working_directory: /srv/other
+    persistent_persona: false
+    reset_between_tasks: true
+    lifecycle:
+      enabled: true
+      desired_state: stopped
+    launch:
+      yolo: true
+`;
+
+let tempHome: string | undefined;
+const savedHome = process.env.HOME;
+const savedMosaicHome = process.env.MOSAIC_HOME;
+
+afterEach(async (): Promise<void> => {
+  vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  process.exitCode = undefined;
+  if (savedHome === undefined) delete process.env.HOME;
+  else process.env.HOME = savedHome;
+  if (savedMosaicHome === undefined) delete process.env.MOSAIC_HOME;
+  else process.env.MOSAIC_HOME = savedMosaicHome;
+  if (tempHome) await rm(tempHome, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  tempHome = undefined;
+});
+
+/**
+ * A HOME with a roster-v2 fleet and nothing else — the greenfield shape, before
+ * anything has been installed, applied or started.
+ */
+async function v2Home(): Promise<string> {
+  tempHome = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'mosaic-fleet-v2-dispatch-'));
+  process.env.HOME = tempHome;
+  delete process.env.MOSAIC_HOME;
+  const mosaicHome = join(tempHome, '.config', 'mosaic');
+  for (const directory of ['fleet', 'fleet/agents', 'fleet/roles']) {
+    await mkdir(join(mosaicHome, directory), { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
+  }
+  await writeFile(join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roster.yaml'), rosterV2, { mode: 0o600 });
+  await writeFile(join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roles', 'code.md'), '`class: code`\n\n# code\n', {
+    mode: 0o600,
+  });
+  return mosaicHome;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Stands in for a box where nothing is running: every systemctl and tmux probe
+ * fails the way it does before the holder has ever started. `ps` must survive
+ * this — it is the command an operator reaches for to find out *why* there is
+ * no seat, so it has to report the emptiness rather than fail on it.
+ */
+const greenfieldRunner: CommandRunner = async (command): Promise<CommandResult> => {
+  if (command === 'tmux') {
+    return { stdout: '', stderr: 'no server running on /tmp/tmux-1000/mosaic-fleet', exitCode: 1 };
+  }
+  return { stdout: '', stderr: '', exitCode: 1 };
+};
+
+function program(runner: CommandRunner = greenfieldRunner): Command {
+  const result = new Command();
+  result.exitOverride();
+  registerFleetCommand(result, { runner, frameworkRoot: resolve(process.cwd(), 'framework') });
+  return result;
+}
+
+function capture(): string[] {
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation((value: string): void => {
+    lines.push(value);
+  });
+  return lines;
+}
+
+async function exists(path: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    await stat(path);
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+describe('mosaic fleet ps — roster v2', (): void => {
+  it('lists every v2 agent on a greenfield box with nothing running, and does not throw', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    await v2Home();
+    const lines = capture();
+
+    await expect(
+      program().parseAsync(['node', 'mosaic', 'fleet', 'ps', '--json']),
+    ).resolves.toBeDefined();
+
+    const rows = JSON.parse(lines.join('\n')) as {
+      name: string;
+      runtime: string;
+      alias?: string;
+      paneAlive: boolean;
+      source: string;
+    }[];
+    expect(rows.map((row) => row.name).sort()).toEqual(['coder0', 'coder1']);
+    // The v2 roster's per-agent fields must survive the read model, not be
+    // flattened into defaults.
+    expect(rows.every((row) => row.runtime === 'pi')).toBe(true);
+    expect(rows.find((row) => row.name === 'coder0')?.alias).toBe('Coder 0');
+    // Nothing is running, and that is a report, not an error.
+    expect(rows.every((row) => row.paneAlive === false)).toBe(true);
+    expect(rows.every((row) => row.source === 'roster')).toBe(true);
+    expect(process.exitCode ?? 0).toBe(0);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('mosaic fleet install — roster v2', (): void => {
+  it('places the tool files and unit templates', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const mosaicHome = await v2Home();
+    capture();
+
+    await expect(
+      program().parseAsync(['node', 'mosaic', 'fleet', 'install', '--no-enable']),
+    ).resolves.toBeDefined();
+
+    // Units live in the systemd user dir, not under the Mosaic home.
+    const systemdUserDir = join(tempHome!, '.config', 'systemd', 'user');
+    for (const unit of [
+      'mosaic-tmux-holder.service',
+      '[email protected]',
+      '[email protected]',
+    ]) {
+      expect(await exists(join(systemdUserDir, unit))).toBe(true);
+    }
+    const launcher = join(mosaicHome, 'tools', 'fleet', 'start-agent-session.sh');
+    expect(await exists(launcher)).toBe(true);
+    expect((await stat(launcher)).mode & 0o777).toBe(0o755);
+  });
+
+  it('writes NO generated env — that file belongs to the reconciler (#791)', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const mosaicHome = await v2Home();
+    capture();
+
+    await program().parseAsync(['node', 'mosaic', 'fleet', 'install', '--no-enable']);
+
+    const agentDir = join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents');
+    expect(await readdir(agentDir)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('tells the operator which command does own the env', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    await v2Home();
+    const lines = capture();
+
+    await program().parseAsync(['node', 'mosaic', 'fleet', 'install', '--no-enable']);
+
+    expect(lines.join('\n')).toContain('mosaic fleet apply');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('[email protected]', (): void => {
+  const unitPath = resolve(process.cwd(), 'framework', 'systemd', 'user', '[email protected]');
+
+  /** The single `ConditionPathExists=` value declared by the unit template. */
+  async function conditionPath(): Promise<string> {
+    const unit = await readFile(unitPath, 'utf8');
+    const matches = unit.match(/^ConditionPathExists=(.+)$/gm) ?? [];
+    expect(matches).toHaveLength(1);
+    return matches[0]!.slice('ConditionPathExists='.length).trim();
+  }
+
+  it('will not attempt a seat before the reconciler has written its env', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    // The pairing that makes "install writes no env" safe: install enables the
+    // unit (WantedBy=default.target) but does not start it, so without this
+    // condition a reboot between `install` and the first `apply` would run
+    // ExecStart against an absent env file and fail every seat unit.
+    expect(await conditionPath()).toBe('%h/.config/mosaic/fleet/agents/%i.env.generated');
+  });
+
+  /**
+   * The two halves of the guard's *effect*, which no assertion on the literal
+   * string can cover on its own.
+   *
+   * Measured end to end on a real box (canary, 2026-08-16) rather than inferred:
+   * with the condition, `systemctl --user start mosaic-agent@<name>` on an agent
+   * with no generated env returns rc=0, `Result=success`, `ConditionResult=no`,
+   * and journals "skipped, unmet condition check". With the condition removed by
+   * drop-in and nothing else changed, the same start returns rc=1,
+   * `Result=exit-code`, `ExecMainStatus=64`, and the unit enters `failed`.
+   *
+   * systemd is not available in this suite, so these two tests pin the parts
+   * that can drift in code: the condition naming a *different* file than the one
+   * the fleet actually writes, and the launcher quietly becoming tolerant of an
+   * absent env — either of which turns the condition into decoration while the
+   * literal-string assertion above still passes.
+   */
+  it('guards exactly the file the fleet writes, so the two cannot drift apart', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const mosaicHome = await v2Home();
+    const rendered = (await conditionPath()).replace('%h', tempHome!).replace('%i', 'coder0');
+
+    // The path an installed fleet actually places for this agent.
+    expect(rendered).toBe(join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents', 'coder0.env.generated'));
+  });
+
+  it('guards a real failure — the launcher rejects an absent generated env', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    await v2Home();
+    await program().parseAsync(['node', 'mosaic', 'fleet', 'install', '--no-enable']);
+
+    // Exactly what ExecStart runs, against the state the condition exists to
+    // catch: unit enabled, reconciler has not written env yet.
+    const launched = await new Promise<{ code: number | null; stderr: string }>((settle) => {
+      const child = execFile(
+        '/bin/bash',
+        [
+          '--noprofile',
+          '--norc',
+          join(tempHome!, '.config', 'mosaic', 'tools', 'fleet', 'start-agent-session.sh'),
+          'coder0',
+        ],
+        { env: { HOME: tempHome!, MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME: 'coder0', PATH: '/usr/bin:/bin' } },
+        (_error, _stdout, stderr) => {
+          settle({ code: child.exitCode, stderr });
+        },
+      );
+    });
+
+    expect(launched.code).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(launched.stderr).toContain('missing-file');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('mosaic fleet add / remove — roster v2', (): void => {
+  it('add refuses, and names the two-step v2 sequence instead of inventing defaults', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    await v2Home();
+
+    await expect(
+      program().parseAsync([
+        'node',
+        'mosaic',
+        'fleet',
+        'add',
+        'coder2',
+        '--runtime',
+        'pi',
+        '--class',
+        'code',
+      ]),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/mosaic fleet create[\s\S]*mosaic fleet apply/);
+  });
+
+  it('remove refuses, and names delete plus apply', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    await v2Home();
+
+    await expect(
+      program().parseAsync(['node', 'mosaic', 'fleet', 'remove', 'coder1']),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/mosaic fleet delete coder1[\s\S]*mosaic fleet apply/);
+  });
+
+  // Note: this one passes on the unmodified tree too — there `remove` throws in
+  // the v1 parser, before it can touch anything. It is a regression guard on the
+  // ordering of the new guard clause, not evidence that the fix works.
+  it('refuses BEFORE mutating the roster', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const mosaicHome = await v2Home();
+    const rosterPath = join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'roster.yaml');
+    const before = await readFile(rosterPath, 'utf8');
+
+    await expect(
+      program().parseAsync(['node', 'mosaic', 'fleet', 'remove', 'coder1']),
+    ).rejects.toThrow();
+
+    expect(await readFile(rosterPath, 'utf8')).toBe(before);
+  });
+});
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
 import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
 import { homedir, hostname, userInfo } from 'node:os';
 import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fleetAgentEnvDir } from '../fleet/brain-home.js';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 import * as readline from 'node:readline';
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ export {
  resolveInstalledFleetRosterPath,
 } from '../fleet/fleet-roster-v1.js';
 export type { FleetAgent, FleetRoster } from '../fleet/fleet-roster-v1.js';
+import { parseRosterV2 } from '../fleet/roster-v2.js';
 import {
  registerFleetAgentCrudCommands,
  type FleetAgentCrudCommandDeps,
@@ -157,7 +159,7 @@ export function resolveFleetPaths(mosaicHome = defaultMosaicHome()): FleetPaths
    fleetToolsDir: join(mosaicHome, 'tools', 'fleet'),
    tmuxToolsDir: join(mosaicHome, 'tools', 'tmux'),
    systemdUserDir: join(homedir(), '.config', 'systemd', 'user'),
-    agentEnvDir: join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents'),
+    agentEnvDir: fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome),
  };
 }

@@ -820,7 +822,7 @@ export function buildEnableLingerCommand(user: string): string[] {
 */
 export async function enableFleetUnits(
  runner: CommandRunner,
-  roster: FleetRoster,
+  roster: { readonly agents: readonly { readonly name: string }[] },
  opts: { enable?: boolean },
 ): Promise<void> {
  if (opts.enable === false) {
@@ -1527,7 +1529,8 @@ export function registerFleetCommand(program: Command, deps: FleetCommandDeps =
    .option('--no-enable', 'Skip enabling units for boot-survival')
    .action(async (opts: { enable?: boolean }) => {
      await installFleet(cmd, frameworkRoot);
-      const roster = await loadRosterForCommand(cmd);
+      // Unit enablement needs agent names only, so it reads either version.
+      const roster = await loadRosterReadModel(cmd);
      await enableFleetUnits(runner, roster, opts);
    });

@@ -1537,7 +1540,8 @@ export function registerFleetCommand(program: Command, deps: FleetCommandDeps =
    .option('--no-enable', 'Skip enabling units for boot-survival')
    .action(async (opts: { enable?: boolean }) => {
      await installFleet(cmd, frameworkRoot);
-      const roster = await loadRosterForCommand(cmd);
+      // Unit enablement needs agent names only, so it reads either version.
+      const roster = await loadRosterReadModel(cmd);
      await enableFleetUnits(runner, roster, opts);
    });

@@ -1688,7 +1692,9 @@ export function registerFleetCommand(program: Command, deps: FleetCommandDeps =
    .action(async (opts: { json?: boolean }) => {
      const commandOpts = cmd.opts<{ mosaicHome: string; roster?: string }>();
      const activePaths = resolveFleetPaths(commandOpts.mosaicHome);
-      const roster = await loadRosterForCommand(cmd);
+      // ps only reads, so it takes the version-agnostic read model rather than
+      // the v1 parser, which rejects a v2 roster outright.
+      const roster = await loadRosterReadModel(cmd);
      const { tenant_id, host } = getDefaultTenantAndHost();
      const nowMs = Date.now();

@@ -1908,6 +1914,16 @@ export function registerFleetCommand(program: Command, deps: FleetCommandDeps =
          start: boolean;
        },
      ) => {
+        if (await usesRosterV2ControlPlane(cmd)) {
+          // command.error, not a bare throw: this is operator guidance, and a
+          // bare throw reaches the top level uncaught and prints it under a Node
+          // stack trace. Measured on canary — the message is the whole point of
+          // the refusal, so it has to arrive readable.
+          cmd.error(rosterV2MutationGuidance('add', 'create', name), {
+            code: 'fleet.roster-v2',
+            exitCode: 1,
+          });
+        }
        if (!VALID_FLEET_RUNTIMES.includes(opts.runtime)) {
          throw new Error(
            `Invalid runtime "${opts.runtime}". Valid runtimes: ${VALID_FLEET_RUNTIMES.join(', ')}.`,
@@ -1973,6 +1989,12 @@ export function registerFleetCommand(program: Command, deps: FleetCommandDeps =
    .description('Remove an agent from the fleet roster')
    .option('--keep-files', 'Skip deleting env and heartbeat files')
    .action(async (name: string, opts: { keepFiles?: boolean }) => {
+      if (await usesRosterV2ControlPlane(cmd)) {
+        cmd.error(rosterV2MutationGuidance('remove', 'delete', name), {
+          code: 'fleet.roster-v2',
+          exitCode: 1,
+        });
+      }
      const commandOpts = cmd.opts<{ mosaicHome: string; roster?: string }>();
      const activePaths = resolveFleetPaths(commandOpts.mosaicHome);
      const rosterPath = await resolveRosterPath(commandOpts.mosaicHome, commandOpts.roster);
@@ -2331,7 +2353,9 @@ export function registerFleetAgentCommands(
 async function installFleet(cmd: Command, frameworkRoot: string): Promise<void> {
  const activePaths = resolveFleetPaths(cmd.opts<{ mosaicHome: string }>().mosaicHome);
  assertDefaultMosaicHomeForSystemd(activePaths.mosaicHome);
-  const roster = await loadRosterForCommand(cmd);
+  // Read model first: every file this function places is roster-independent, and
+  // the v1 parser would reject a v2 roster before any of them were written.
+  const roster = await loadRosterReadModel(cmd);
  await ensureFleetHolderIdentity(activePaths.mosaicHome);
  await mkdir(activePaths.fleetToolsDir, { recursive: true });
  await mkdir(activePaths.tmuxToolsDir, { recursive: true });
@@ -2391,16 +2415,30 @@ async function installFleet(cmd: Command, frameworkRoot: string): Promise<void>
    join(activePaths.systemdUserDir, '[email protected]'),
  );

-  for (const agent of roster.agents) {
+  // On roster v2 the reconciler owns the generated env: `apply` writes it and
+  // `regen` rebuilds it, both from projectRosterV2AgentGeneratedEnv. Writing it
+  // here too — necessarily through the v1 mapping — would be the third writer of
+  // one file and would break the #791 single-SSOT invariant. So v2 gets the tool
+  // files and the units, and nothing else.
+  if (roster.version === 2) {
+    console.log(
+      `Installed fleet tools and systemd units for ${roster.agents.length} agent(s). ` +
+        `Generated env is owned by the reconciler on roster v2 — run: mosaic fleet apply --expected-generation <n>`,
+    );
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const v1Roster = await loadRosterForCommand(cmd);
+  for (const agent of v1Roster.agents) {
    await writeAgentEnvironmentProjection({
      mosaicHome: activePaths.mosaicHome,
      agentEnvDir: activePaths.agentEnvDir,
      agentName: agent.name,
-      generated: generateAgentEnvValues(roster, agent),
+      generated: generateAgentEnvValues(v1Roster, agent),
    });
  }

-  console.log(`Installed fleet files for ${roster.agents.length} agent(s).`);
+  console.log(`Installed fleet files for ${v1Roster.agents.length} agent(s).`);
 }

 async function loadRosterForCommand(cmd: Command): Promise<FleetRoster> {
@@ -2427,6 +2465,77 @@ async function usesRosterV2ControlPlane(cmd: Command): Promise<boolean> {
  );
 }

+/**
+ * `add`/`remove` and `create`/`delete` are not two spellings of one operation.
+ * The v1 pair edits the roster *and* drives systemd; the v2 pair is documented
+ * as changing desired state "without runtime actions", leaving convergence to
+ * `apply`. `add` also collects four fields where a v2 agent requires eleven, so
+ * routing it to `create` would mean inventing provider, alias, reasoning and
+ * tool-policy defaults on the operator's behalf. Refusing with the real command
+ * is honest; silently guessing an agent's provider is not.
+ */
+function rosterV2MutationGuidance(
+  v1Command: 'add' | 'remove',
+  v2Command: 'create' | 'delete',
+  name: string,
+): string {
+  const target = v2Command === 'delete' ? ` ${name}` : '';
+  return (
+    `mosaic fleet ${v1Command} does not operate on a roster-v2 fleet. ` +
+    `Roster v2 separates desired state from convergence:\n` +
+    `  1. mosaic fleet ${v2Command}${target} --expected-generation <current> ` +
+    `${v2Command === 'create' ? "--agent '<json>' " : ''}` +
+    `(edits the roster only)\n` +
+    `  2. mosaic fleet apply --expected-generation <new> (converges systemd and tmux)\n` +
+    `Read the current generation with: mosaic fleet status`
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * The read-only fields shared by roster v1 and v2, for the commands that only
+ * ever *read* the roster (`ps`, and unit enablement inside `install`).
+ *
+ * This is deliberately NOT a v2→v1 downshift. A downshifted `FleetRoster` would
+ * be accepted by `generateAgentEnvValues`, and that would make a third writer of
+ * `fleet/agents/<name>.env.generated` — through the v1 mapping — breaking the
+ * #791 single-SSOT invariant that {@link projectRosterV2AgentGeneratedEnv} is
+ * documented to hold. Keeping the read model this small makes that misuse
+ * impossible: there is nothing here to write a roster or an env file back from.
+ */
+interface FleetRosterReadModel {
+  readonly version: 1 | 2;
+  readonly tmux: { readonly socketName: string; readonly holderSession: string };
+  readonly agents: readonly {
+    readonly name: string;
+    readonly alias?: string;
+    readonly runtime: string;
+  }[];
+}
+
+/** Reads either roster version into the shared read-only view. */
+async function loadRosterReadModel(cmd: Command): Promise<FleetRosterReadModel> {
+  const opts = cmd.opts<{ mosaicHome: string; roster?: string }>();
+  const path = await resolveRosterPath(opts.mosaicHome, opts.roster);
+  if (!(await usesRosterV2ControlPlane(cmd))) {
+    const v1 = await loadRosterAtPath(cmd, path);
+    return {
+      version: 1,
+      tmux: { socketName: v1.tmux.socketName, holderSession: v1.tmux.holderSession },
+      agents: v1.agents,
+    };
+  }
+  try {
+    const v2 = parseRosterV2(await readFleetRosterText(path), 'yaml');
+    return {
+      version: 2,
+      tmux: { socketName: v2.tmux.socketName, holderSession: v2.tmux.holderSession },
+      agents: v2.agents,
+    };
+  } catch (error) {
+    reportFleetRosterConfigurationError(cmd, error);
+  }
+}
+
 async function loadRosterFromAgentCommand(
  command: Command,
  mosaicHomeOverride?: string,
@@ -349,3 +349,90 @@ describe('registerRuntimeLaunchers — claudex (EXPERIMENTAL overlay)', () => {
    expect(mockExit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
  });
 });
+
+// ─── Seat harness homes (MOSAIC-D-002, brain-home split) ────────────────────
+
+import { activeSeatDir, seatPersonaOverlay } from './launch.js';
+
+describe('activeSeatDir — per-agent harness home resolution', () => {
+  let root: string;
+  const savedAgentName = process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'];
+  const savedBrainHome = process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'mosaic-seat-home-'));
+    delete process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    if (savedAgentName === undefined) {
+      delete process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'];
+    } else {
+      process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'] = savedAgentName;
+    }
+    if (savedBrainHome !== undefined) {
+      process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = savedBrainHome;
+    } else {
+      delete process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('resolves the seat dir when MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME carries the seat', () => {
+    const seat = join(root, 'brain', 'fleet', 'agents', 'coder0');
+    mkdirSync(seat, { recursive: true });
+    process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'] = 'coder0';
+    process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = join(root, 'brain');
+
+    expect(activeSeatDir(join(root, 'config', 'mosaic'))).toBe(seat);
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined without an agent name (bare launches stay shared)', () => {
+    delete process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'];
+    expect(activeSeatDir(join(root, 'config', 'mosaic'))).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined when the seat dir does not exist in the brain', () => {
+    process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'] = 'ghost';
+    process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = join(root, 'brain');
+    mkdirSync(join(root, 'brain', 'fleet', 'agents'), { recursive: true });
+
+    expect(activeSeatDir(join(root, 'config', 'mosaic'))).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it.each(['../escape', 'a/b', '.hidden-start', '', 'spaced name'])(
+    'rejects unsafe agent name %j (path traversal cannot leave the seat store)',
+    (name: string) => {
+      process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'] = name;
+      process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = join(root, 'brain');
+
+      expect(activeSeatDir(join(root, 'config', 'mosaic'))).toBeUndefined();
+    },
+  );
+
+  it('seatPersonaOverlay renders the seat SOUL.md as an overlay block', () => {
+    const seat = join(root, 'brain', 'fleet', 'agents', 'coder0');
+    mkdirSync(seat, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(seat, 'SOUL.md'), '# coder0 — code seat persona\n\nShips tested code.\n');
+    process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'] = 'coder0';
+    process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = join(root, 'brain');
+
+    const overlay = seatPersonaOverlay(join(root, 'config', 'mosaic'));
+    expect(overlay).toContain('## Seat Persona');
+    expect(overlay).toContain('coder0 — code seat persona');
+  });
+
+  it('seatPersonaOverlay is empty when the seat carries no SOUL.md', () => {
+    const seat = join(root, 'brain', 'fleet', 'agents', 'coder0');
+    mkdirSync(seat, { recursive: true });
+    process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'] = 'coder0';
+    process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = join(root, 'brain');
+
+    expect(seatPersonaOverlay(join(root, 'config', 'mosaic'))).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('seatPersonaOverlay is empty when no agent name is set', () => {
+    delete process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME'];
+    expect(seatPersonaOverlay(join(root, 'config', 'mosaic'))).toBe('');
+  });
+});
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import {
 import { createHash, randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
 import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
 import { homedir, hostname } from 'node:os';
-import { join, dirname } from 'node:path';
+import { join, dirname, resolve } from 'node:path';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import {
  buildResolvedFleetCommsBlock,
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
 import { readRegularFileSecure } from '../fleet/secure-file.js';
 import { readPersonaContractBlock } from '../fleet/persona-contract.js';
 import { canonicalizeRoleClass } from './fleet-personas.js';
+import { resolveBrainHome } from '../fleet/brain-home.js';
 import { launchClaudex, type ClaudexHarnessAdapter } from './claudex.js';
 import { runLeaseEnforcementDoctorCheck } from './lease-doctor-check.js';

@@ -64,9 +65,46 @@ const HARNESS_HOME_ENV: Record<RuntimeName, string> = {
  opencode: 'XDG_CONFIG_HOME',
 };

-/** Dedicated mosaic-owned home for a runtime: ~/.config/mosaic/.<runtime> */
-function harnessHome(runtime: RuntimeName): string {
-  return join(MOSAIC_HOME, `.${runtime}`);
+/** Dedicated mosaic-owned home for a runtime: ~/.config/mosaic/.<runtime>.
+ * With an active brain seat (MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME + seat dir in the brain home)
+ * the home is per-agent instead: <brainHome>/fleet/agents/<seat>/.<runtime> —
+ * per-agent sessions, settings, and auth inside the seat dir (canon §2,
+ * MOSAIC-D-002). Seat runtime dirs are dot-named so the brain's ignore policy
+ * (per-seat .pi/.claude/.codex dirs) keeps credential material untracked. */
+const SEAT_AGENT_NAME_RE = /^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9._-]*$/;
+
+export function activeSeatDir(mosaicHome: string = MOSAIC_HOME): string | undefined {
+  const agent = process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME']?.trim();
+  if (
+    agent === undefined ||
+    agent === '' ||
+    !SEAT_AGENT_NAME_RE.test(agent) ||
+    agent.includes('..')
+  ) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const brain = resolveBrainHome(mosaicHome);
+  if (resolve(brain) === resolve(mosaicHome)) return undefined; // no brain
+  const seat = join(brain, 'fleet', 'agents', agent);
+  return existsSync(seat) ? seat : undefined;
+}
+
+function harnessHome(runtime: RuntimeName, mosaicHome: string = MOSAIC_HOME): string {
+  const seat = activeSeatDir(mosaicHome);
+  if (seat !== undefined) return join(seat, `.${runtime}`);
+  return join(mosaicHome, `.${runtime}`);
+}
+
+/** Seat persona block: with an active brain seat, <seat>/SOUL.md layers
+ * persona on the root generic base (canon invariant; MOSAIC-D-002). The base
+ * SOUL stays load-on-demand — only the seat delta is injected by value.
+ * Empty string when no seat is active or the seat carries no SOUL.md. */
+export function seatPersonaOverlay(mosaicHome: string = MOSAIC_HOME): string {
+  const seatDir = activeSeatDir(mosaicHome);
+  if (seatDir === undefined) return '';
+  const seatSoul = readOptional(join(seatDir, 'SOUL.md'));
+  if (!seatSoul.trim()) return '';
+  return '## Seat Persona\n\n' + seatSoul.trim();
 }

 /**
@@ -182,6 +220,8 @@ function recordLaunch(runtime: RuntimeName, cliArgs: string[], yolo: boolean): v
      cli_version: CLI_VERSION,
      config_home: harnessHome(runtime),
      config_home_isolated: true,
+      config_home_kind: activeSeatDir() !== undefined ? 'seat' : 'runtime-shared',
+      agent_name: process.env['MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME']?.trim() || null,
      config_home_env: HARNESS_HOME_ENV[runtime] ?? null,
      argv: redactArgv(cliArgs),
      normative_fragments: normativeFragmentDigests(runtime),
@@ -569,6 +609,11 @@ For required push/merge/issue-close/release actions, execute without routine con
  if (soulLocal.trim()) {
    overlayBlocks.push('## Persona Overlay (SOUL.local.md)\n\n' + soulLocal.trim());
  }
+  // Seat persona (MOSAIC-D-002): per-seat SOUL.md layers on the generic base.
+  const seatPersona = seatPersonaOverlay(mosaicHome);
+  if (seatPersona !== '') {
+    overlayBlocks.push(seatPersona);
+  }
  const standardsLocal = readOptional(join(mosaicHome, 'STANDARDS.local.md'));
  if (standardsLocal.trim()) {
    overlayBlocks.push('## Standards Overlay (STANDARDS.local.md)\n\n' + standardsLocal.trim());
@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import {
  LEASE_ACTIVATION_CAPABILITY,
  LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_COMMAND,
+  LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS,
  defaultCapabilityProbe,
  defaultResolveCliEntry,
  defaultSupervisorProbe,
  leaseEnforcementActivatable,
  registerLeaseCapabilityProbe,
+  type CapabilityProbeExecFile,
  type LeaseActivationCapability,
  type SupervisorProbeResult,
 } from './lease-activation-probe.js';
@@ -35,6 +37,17 @@ const presentSupervisor: SupervisorProbeResult = {
  socketPath: '/run/user/1000/mosaic-lease/broker.sock',
 };

+function withScratchCli<T>(run: (cliPath: string) => T): T {
+  const scratchDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'mosaic-lease-capability-probe-'));
+  try {
+    const cliPath = join(scratchDir, 'cli.js');
+    writeFileSync(cliPath, '// isolated fake; injected execFile means this is never executed\n');
+    return run(cliPath);
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(scratchDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+}
+
 describe('leaseEnforcementActivatable', () => {
  it('is false when the activation capability is absent (null)', () => {
    const result = leaseEnforcementActivatable({
@@ -100,15 +113,6 @@ describe('leaseEnforcementActivatable', () => {
    });
    expect(result).toBe(true);
  });
-
-  it('uses the real default probes when no deps are injected (does not throw)', () => {
-    // No live broker / built CLI is guaranteed in a test environment, so this
-    // only asserts the predicate degrades to a safe boolean rather than
-    // throwing — the fail-closed behavior itself is covered by the injected
-    // cases above.
-    expect(() => leaseEnforcementActivatable()).not.toThrow();
-    expect(typeof leaseEnforcementActivatable()).toBe('boolean');
-  });
 });

 describe('defaultCapabilityProbe', () => {
@@ -127,6 +131,61 @@ describe('defaultCapabilityProbe', () => {
    expect(result).toBeNull();
  });

+  it('passes the exact ten-second timeout to the injected child-process transport', () => {
+    withScratchCli((cliPath) => {
+      let captured:
+        | {
+            file: string;
+            args: string[];
+            options: Parameters<CapabilityProbeExecFile>[2];
+          }
+        | undefined;
+      const execFile: CapabilityProbeExecFile = (file, args, options) => {
+        captured = { file, args, options };
+        return JSON.stringify(LEASE_ACTIVATION_CAPABILITY);
+      };
+
+      const result = defaultCapabilityProbe({ resolveCliEntry: () => cliPath, execFile });
+
+      expect(result).toEqual(LEASE_ACTIVATION_CAPABILITY);
+      expect(captured).toEqual({
+        file: process.execPath,
+        args: [cliPath, LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_COMMAND],
+        options: {
+          encoding: 'utf-8',
+          timeout: 10_000,
+          stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'],
+        },
+      });
+      expect(captured?.options.timeout).toBe(LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ['timeout', Object.assign(new Error('timed out'), { code: 'ETIMEDOUT' })],
+    ['spawn error', Object.assign(new Error('spawn failed'), { code: 'ENOENT' })],
+    ['nonzero exit', Object.assign(new Error('child exited 1'), { status: 1 })],
+  ])('returns null (fail-closed) on child-process %s', (_failure, error) => {
+    withScratchCli((cliPath) => {
+      const execFile: CapabilityProbeExecFile = () => {
+        throw error;
+      };
+
+      expect(defaultCapabilityProbe({ resolveCliEntry: () => cliPath, execFile })).toBeNull();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ['unparseable JSON', 'not-json'],
+    ['malformed object', JSON.stringify({ name: LEASE_ACTIVATION_CAPABILITY.name })],
+  ])('returns null (fail-closed) on %s output', (_failure, output) => {
+    withScratchCli((cliPath) => {
+      const execFile: CapabilityProbeExecFile = () => output;
+
+      expect(defaultCapabilityProbe({ resolveCliEntry: () => cliPath, execFile })).toBeNull();
+    });
+  });
+
  describe('positive path — injected resolver, isolated scratch dir (never the real dist/)', () => {
    // A prior version of this test staged the stub cli.js at the package's
    // REAL resolved dist/ path and relied on afterEach to clean up "only
@@ -55,6 +55,19 @@ export const LEASE_ACTIVATION_CAPABILITY: LeaseActivationCapability = {
 /** Hidden CLI probe subcommand name — wired via {@link registerLeaseCapabilityProbe}. */
 export const LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_COMMAND = '__lease-capability';

+/**
+ * Budget for the out-of-process capability probe. The probe launches a fresh
+ * Node process on the built CLI entrypoint, whose cold start alone measures
+ * 2.2-2.3s on a mid-range workstation (sb-it-1-dt, 2026-08-13) — so the
+ * previous 2s budget made the probe time out and report NO capability on
+ * such hosts, failing every launch with the #869 skew message even though
+ * the capability matched. The timeout only bounds the pathological hang
+ * case; the happy path returns as soon as the probe exits. Mirrors
+ * PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS in the enforcement half
+ * (framework/tools/lease-broker/activation_version_gate.py).
+ */
+export const LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000;
+
 function capabilityMatches(candidate: LeaseActivationCapability | null): boolean {
  return (
    candidate !== null &&
@@ -110,12 +123,28 @@ export function defaultResolveCliEntry(
  return join(dirname(mainEntry), 'cli.js');
 }

+/** Narrow injectable seam for the synchronous child process used by the
+ * capability probe. */
+export type CapabilityProbeExecFile = (
+  file: string,
+  args: string[],
+  options: {
+    encoding: BufferEncoding;
+    timeout: number;
+    stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'];
+  },
+) => string;
+
 /** Injectable inputs for {@link defaultCapabilityProbe}. */
 export interface CapabilityProbeDeps {
  /** Resolve the CLI entrypoint (`cli.js`) to probe. Defaults to
   * {@link defaultResolveCliEntry}. Inject to point at an isolated scratch
   * location in tests — never at the real package's `dist/`. */
  resolveCliEntry?: () => string;
+  /** Execute the resolved CLI entrypoint. Defaults to the real
+   * `execFileSync`. Inject so transport behavior and options can be tested
+   * without spawning a process. */
+  execFile?: CapabilityProbeExecFile;
 }

 /**
@@ -139,9 +168,10 @@ export function defaultCapabilityProbe(
    const cliEntry = resolveCliEntry();
    if (!existsSync(cliEntry)) return null;

-    const output = execFileSync(process.execPath, [cliEntry, LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_COMMAND], {
+    const execFile: CapabilityProbeExecFile = deps.execFile ?? execFileSync;
+    const output = execFile(process.execPath, [cliEntry, LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_COMMAND], {
      encoding: 'utf-8',
-      timeout: 2000,
+      timeout: LEASE_CAPABILITY_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS,
      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'],
    });

@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { homedir, tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  brainHomeIsActive,
+  fleetAgentEnvDir,
+  fleetProfilesDir,
+  fleetRolesLocalDir,
+  fleetStateDir,
+  resolveBrainHome,
+  type BrainHomeOptions,
+} from './brain-home.js';
+
+describe('fleet brain-home resolution', (): void => {
+  let cleanup: string | undefined;
+
+  const savedBrainEnv = process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+
+  beforeEach((): void => {
+    delete process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async (): Promise<void> => {
+    if (savedBrainEnv === undefined) {
+      delete process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+    } else {
+      process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = savedBrainEnv;
+    }
+    if (cleanup !== undefined) {
+      await rm(cleanup, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      cleanup = undefined;
+    }
+  });
+
+  async function makeTmp(): Promise<string> {
+    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'mosaic-brain-home-'));
+    cleanup = root;
+    return root;
+  }
+
+  it('MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME env wins over every other signal', (): void => {
+    process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = '/explicit/brain';
+    expect(resolveBrainHome('/any/mosaic-home')).toBe('/explicit/brain');
+    expect(fleetAgentEnvDir('/any/mosaic-home')).toBe('/explicit/brain/fleet/agents');
+    expect(brainHomeIsActive('/any/mosaic-home')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('injected envBrainHome wins identically (test seam)', (): void => {
+    const opts: BrainHomeOptions = { envBrainHome: '/injected/brain' };
+    expect(resolveBrainHome('/any/mosaic-home', opts)).toBe('/injected/brain');
+    expect(fleetAgentEnvDir('/any/mosaic-home', opts)).toBe('/injected/brain/fleet/agents');
+  });
+
+  it('a non-default mosaicHome never adopts the canonical brain (hermetic legacy)', (): void => {
+    const mosaicHome = '/tmp/not-the-default-config-home';
+    expect(resolveBrainHome(mosaicHome)).toBe(mosaicHome);
+    expect(brainHomeIsActive(mosaicHome)).toBe(false);
+    expect(fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome)).toBe(join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents'));
+  });
+
+  it('the default config home adopts the brain when it carries fleet/agents', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const root = await makeTmp();
+    const brain = join(root, 'brain');
+    await mkdir(join(brain, 'fleet', 'agents'), { recursive: true });
+    const configHome = join(root, 'config', 'mosaic');
+    const opts: BrainHomeOptions = { homes: { brain, configDefault: configHome } };
+
+    expect(resolveBrainHome(configHome, opts)).toBe(brain);
+    expect(fleetAgentEnvDir(configHome, opts)).toBe(join(brain, 'fleet', 'agents'));
+    expect(fleetRolesLocalDir(configHome, opts)).toBe(join(brain, 'fleet', 'roles.local'));
+    expect(fleetProfilesDir(configHome, opts)).toBe(join(brain, 'fleet', 'profiles'));
+    expect(fleetStateDir(configHome, opts)).toBe(join(brain, 'fleet'));
+    expect(brainHomeIsActive(configHome, opts)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('the default config home stays legacy when no brain exists', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const root = await makeTmp();
+    const configHome = join(root, 'config', 'mosaic');
+    const opts: BrainHomeOptions = {
+      homes: { brain: join(root, 'brain'), configDefault: configHome },
+    };
+
+    expect(resolveBrainHome(configHome, opts)).toBe(configHome);
+    expect(brainHomeIsActive(configHome, opts)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('an empty MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME is ignored, not treated as set', (): void => {
+    process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = '   ';
+    expect(resolveBrainHome('/tmp/legacy-home')).toBe('/tmp/legacy-home');
+  });
+
+  it('adoption requires fleet/agents specifically, not any brain content', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const root = await makeTmp();
+    const brain = join(root, 'brain');
+    await mkdir(join(brain, 'fleet'), { recursive: true }); // fleet without agents
+    const configHome = join(root, 'config', 'mosaic');
+    const opts: BrainHomeOptions = { homes: { brain, configDefault: configHome } };
+
+    expect(resolveBrainHome(configHome, opts)).toBe(configHome);
+  });
+
+  it('real-home control: a host brain is adopted only through the default home', (): void => {
+    // Control on the un-injected path: this host carries ~/.mosaic/fleet/agents,
+    // so the default config home resolves to the brain or legacy — both valid
+    // canonical endpoints — while a non-default home never adopts.
+    const defaultHome = join(homedir(), '.config', 'mosaic');
+    const resolved = resolveBrainHome(defaultHome);
+    expect([defaultHome, join(homedir(), '.mosaic')]).toContain(resolved);
+    expect(resolveBrainHome(join(homedir(), 'elsewhere', 'mosaic'))).toBe(
+      join(homedir(), 'elsewhere', 'mosaic'),
+    );
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { homedir } from 'node:os';
+import { join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+
+/**
+ * Overridable resolution inputs (tests inject tmp homes; production reads
+ * the environment and the real home directory).
+ */
+export interface BrainHomeOptions {
+  /** Explicit brain home; defaults to `MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME`. */
+  readonly envBrainHome?: string;
+  /**
+   * Canonical homes used for adoption. Defaults derive from the real
+   * `homedir()`: `{ brain: ~/.mosaic, configDefault: ~/.config/mosaic }`.
+   */
+  readonly homes?: { readonly brain: string; readonly configDefault: string };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Brain-home resolution — the three-tree fleet split (stack canon
+ * `docs/STRUCTURE-CANON.md` §2, first carried by the USC estate brain):
+ *
+ *   config home (~/.config/mosaic)  framework templates + dispatch state:
+ *                                   fleet/roles (baseline), fleet/roster.yaml,
+ *                                   fleet/run (heartbeats), fleet/services
+ *   brain home  (~/.mosaic)         user-owned fleet state, committed:
+ *                                   fleet/agents/<seat>.env.*, fleet/roles.local,
+ *                                   fleet/profiles working copies
+ *
+ * Resolution order:
+ *   1. `MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME` env (explicit, always wins)
+ *   2. canonical `~/.mosaic` — adopted ONLY when mosaicHome is the real
+ *      default config home AND `~/.mosaic/fleet/agents` exists. Custom
+ *      `--mosaic-home` values (tests, sandboxes, canaries) never trigger
+ *      adoption, keeping them hermetic and deterministic.
+ *   3. mosaicHome itself (legacy single-tree behavior).
+ */
+export function resolveBrainHome(mosaicHome: string, options: BrainHomeOptions = {}): string {
+  const explicit = options.envBrainHome ?? process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+  if (explicit !== undefined && explicit.trim() !== '') {
+    return explicit;
+  }
+  const homes = options.homes ?? {
+    brain: join(homedir(), '.mosaic'),
+    configDefault: join(homedir(), '.config', 'mosaic'),
+  };
+  if (resolve(mosaicHome) !== resolve(homes.configDefault)) {
+    return mosaicHome;
+  }
+  return existsSync(join(homes.brain, 'fleet', 'agents')) ? homes.brain : mosaicHome;
+}
+
+/** True when fleet state resolves somewhere other than the config home. */
+export function brainHomeIsActive(mosaicHome: string, options: BrainHomeOptions = {}): boolean {
+  return resolve(resolveBrainHome(mosaicHome, options)) !== resolve(mosaicHome);
+}
+
+/** Fleet state root (brain home when active, else the config home). */
+export function fleetStateDir(mosaicHome: string, options: BrainHomeOptions = {}): string {
+  return join(resolveBrainHome(mosaicHome, options), 'fleet');
+}
+
+/** Seat launch envs — `<brainHome>/fleet/agents` when a brain is active. */
+export function fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome: string, options: BrainHomeOptions = {}): string {
+  return join(fleetStateDir(mosaicHome, options), 'agents');
+}
+
+/** PRESERVE-protected persona override layer — `<brainHome>/fleet/roles.local`. */
+export function fleetRolesLocalDir(mosaicHome: string, options: BrainHomeOptions = {}): string {
+  return join(fleetStateDir(mosaicHome, options), 'roles.local');
+}
+
+/** System-type profiles (user working copies) — `<brainHome>/fleet/profiles`. */
+export function fleetProfilesDir(mosaicHome: string, options: BrainHomeOptions = {}): string {
+  return join(fleetStateDir(mosaicHome, options), 'profiles');
+}
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { lstat, open, readFile, unlink, type FileHandle } from 'node:fs/promises
 import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
 import { homedir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { fleetAgentEnvDir } from './brain-home.js';
 import {
  applyPreparedAgentEnvironmentProjection,
  prepareAgentEnvironmentProjection,
@@ -617,7 +618,7 @@ function defaultPrepareProjections(
        (agent: FleetRosterV2Agent): Promise<PreparedAgentEnvironmentProjection> =>
          prepareAgentEnvironmentProjection({
            mosaicHome,
-            agentEnvDir: join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents'),
+            agentEnvDir: fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome),
            agentName: agent.name,
            generated: projectRosterV2AgentGeneratedEnv(roster, agent),
          }),
@@ -176,6 +176,52 @@ describe('generated fleet agent environment boundary', (): void => {
    expect((await stat(result.generatedPath)).mode & 0o777).toBe(0o600);
  });

+  it('brain home: accepts and writes projections under MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME/fleet/agents', async (): Promise<void> => {
+    const savedBrainHome = process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+    try {
+      cleanup = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'mosaic-generated-env-'));
+      const mosaicHome = join(cleanup, 'config-home');
+      const brainHome = join(cleanup, 'brain');
+      const agentEnvDir = join(brainHome, 'fleet', 'agents');
+      process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = brainHome;
+
+      const result = await writeAgentEnvironmentProjection({
+        mosaicHome,
+        agentEnvDir,
+        agentName: 'coder0',
+        generated: generatedValues,
+      });
+
+      // Projection landed in the brain tree, not under the config home.
+      expect(result.generatedPath).toBe(join(agentEnvDir, 'coder0.env.generated'));
+      expect((await stat(join(brainHome, 'fleet'))).mode & 0o777).toBe(0o700);
+      expect((await stat(agentEnvDir)).mode & 0o777).toBe(0o700);
+      expect((await stat(result.generatedPath)).mode & 0o777).toBe(0o600);
+      await expect(stat(join(mosaicHome, 'fleet'))).rejects.toThrow();
+
+      // A config-home agentEnvDir is now REJECTED while the brain is active —
+      // the boundary must not silently split state across two trees.
+      let rejected: unknown;
+      try {
+        await writeAgentEnvironmentProjection({
+          mosaicHome,
+          agentEnvDir: join(mosaicHome, 'fleet', 'agents'),
+          agentName: 'coder1',
+          generated: { ...generatedValues, MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME: 'coder1' },
+        });
+      } catch (caught: unknown) {
+        rejected = caught;
+      }
+      expect(rejected).toBeInstanceOf(AgentEnvBoundaryError);
+    } finally {
+      if (savedBrainHome === undefined) {
+        delete process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'];
+      } else {
+        process.env['MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME'] = savedBrainHome;
+      }
+    }
+  });
+
  it('regenerates desired keys, relocates safe legacy local data, and quarantines forbidden legacy input', async (): Promise<void> => {
    cleanup = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'mosaic-generated-env-'));
    const mosaicHome = join(cleanup, 'mosaic');
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { createHash, randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
 import { chmod, lstat, mkdir, readFile, rename, unlink, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { homedir } from 'node:os';
 import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fleetAgentEnvDir, resolveBrainHome } from './brain-home.js';
 import { compareCodePoints } from './deterministic-order.js';

 export type AgentEnvironmentKind = 'generated' | 'local';
@@ -528,12 +529,15 @@ async function validatePrivateProjectionDirectory(
  mosaicHome: string,
  agentEnvDir: string,
 ): Promise<void> {
-  const fleetDir = join(mosaicHome, 'fleet');
-  const expectedAgentEnvDir = join(fleetDir, 'agents');
+  // Brain-home split (canon §2): seat envs live under the brain home's
+  // fleet/agents when a brain is active; roster + templates stay config-home.
+  const expectedAgentEnvDir = fleetAgentEnvDir(mosaicHome);
  if (resolve(agentEnvDir) !== resolve(expectedAgentEnvDir)) {
    throw new AgentEnvBoundaryError('unsafe-directory', '(directory)', agentEnvDir);
  }
-  await assertManagedDirectoryIfPresent(mosaicHome, false);
+  const stateHome = resolveBrainHome(mosaicHome);
+  const fleetDir = join(stateHome, 'fleet');
+  await assertManagedDirectoryIfPresent(stateHome, false);
  await assertManagedDirectoryIfPresent(fleetDir, false);
  await assertManagedDirectoryIfPresent(agentEnvDir, true);
 }
@@ -543,8 +547,9 @@ async function ensurePrivateProjectionDirectory(
  agentEnvDir: string,
 ): Promise<void> {
  await validatePrivateProjectionDirectory(mosaicHome, agentEnvDir);
-  const fleetDir = join(mosaicHome, 'fleet');
-  await ensureManagedDirectory(mosaicHome, false);
+  const stateHome = resolveBrainHome(mosaicHome);
+  const fleetDir = join(stateHome, 'fleet');
+  await ensureManagedDirectory(stateHome, false);
  await ensureManagedDirectory(fleetDir, false);
  await ensureManagedDirectory(agentEnvDir, true);
 }
@@ -24,11 +24,15 @@ from __future__ import annotations

 import importlib.util
 import io
+import os
+import shlex
 import subprocess
 import sys
+import tempfile
 import unittest
 from contextlib import redirect_stderr
 from pathlib import Path
+from unittest import mock


 TOOLS_DIR = Path(__file__).parents[2] / "framework/tools/lease-broker"
@@ -57,6 +61,20 @@ def matching_capability() -> dict[str, object]:
    return dict(VERSION_GATE.EXPECTED_ACTIVATION_CAPABILITY)


+def write_fake_mosaic(directory: Path, marker: Path) -> Path:
+    directory.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    executable = directory / "mosaic"
+    executable.write_text(
+        "#!/bin/sh\n"
+        f"printf '%s\\n' executed >> {shlex.quote(str(marker))}\n"
+        "printf '%s\\n' "
+        "'{\"name\":\"lease-runtime-activation\",\"version\":1}'\n",
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+    executable.chmod(0o755)
+    return executable
+
+
 class AssertActivationCapabilityMatchesTest(unittest.TestCase):
    """Unit-level coverage of `activation_version_gate.py`'s own assertion,
    isolated from the launch-runtime.py seam it is wired into below."""
@@ -110,11 +128,102 @@ class ProbeActivationCapabilityTest(unittest.TestCase):
    handling — never spawns a real `mosaic` process."""

    def test_returns_none_when_mosaic_is_not_resolvable_on_path(self) -> None:
-        result = VERSION_GATE.default_probe_activation_capability(
-            {"PATH": "/nonexistent-bin-dir-for-869-c4-test"}
-        )
+        # Keep even a deliberate ambient-lookup mutation away from any host
+        # installation. The dedicated hermeticity tests below provide fake
+        # ambient executables and markers.
+        with mock.patch.dict(
+            os.environ, {"PATH": "/nonexistent-ambient-bin-dir-for-869-c4-test"}
+        ):
+            result = VERSION_GATE.default_probe_activation_capability(
+                {"PATH": "/nonexistent-bin-dir-for-869-c4-test"}
+            )
        self.assertIsNone(result)

+    def test_supplied_path_wins_over_ambient_process_path(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temporary:
+            root = Path(temporary)
+            supplied_marker = root / "supplied.marker"
+            ambient_marker = root / "ambient.marker"
+            supplied_bin = root / "supplied-bin"
+            ambient_bin = root / "ambient-bin"
+            write_fake_mosaic(supplied_bin, supplied_marker)
+            write_fake_mosaic(ambient_bin, ambient_marker)
+
+            with mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"PATH": str(ambient_bin)}):
+                result = VERSION_GATE.default_probe_activation_capability(
+                    {"PATH": str(supplied_bin)}
+                )
+
+            self.assertEqual(result, matching_capability())
+            self.assertTrue(supplied_marker.exists())
+            self.assertFalse(ambient_marker.exists())
+
+    def test_absent_or_empty_supplied_path_never_falls_back_or_executes(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temporary:
+            root = Path(temporary)
+            ambient_marker = root / "ambient.marker"
+            current_directory_marker = root / "current-directory.marker"
+            ambient_bin = root / "ambient-bin"
+            current_directory = root / "current-directory"
+            write_fake_mosaic(ambient_bin, ambient_marker)
+            write_fake_mosaic(current_directory, current_directory_marker)
+            original_directory = Path.cwd()
+
+            try:
+                os.chdir(current_directory)
+                with mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"PATH": str(ambient_bin)}):
+                    for supplied_environment in ({}, {"PATH": ""}):
+                        with self.subTest(environ=supplied_environment):
+                            result = VERSION_GATE.default_probe_activation_capability(
+                                supplied_environment
+                            )
+                            self.assertIsNone(result)
+                            self.assertFalse(ambient_marker.exists())
+                            self.assertFalse(current_directory_marker.exists())
+            finally:
+                os.chdir(original_directory)
+
+    def test_valid_override_wins_and_invalid_override_does_not_fall_back_to_path(
+        self,
+    ) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temporary:
+            root = Path(temporary)
+            supplied_marker = root / "supplied.marker"
+            ambient_marker = root / "ambient.marker"
+            override_marker = root / "override.marker"
+            supplied_bin = root / "supplied-bin"
+            ambient_bin = root / "ambient-bin"
+            override_bin = root / "override-bin"
+            write_fake_mosaic(supplied_bin, supplied_marker)
+            write_fake_mosaic(ambient_bin, ambient_marker)
+            override_executable = write_fake_mosaic(override_bin, override_marker)
+
+            with mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"PATH": str(ambient_bin)}):
+                result = VERSION_GATE.default_probe_activation_capability(
+                    {
+                        "PATH": str(supplied_bin),
+                        VERSION_GATE.MOSAIC_COMMAND_OVERRIDE_VAR: str(override_executable),
+                    }
+                )
+                self.assertEqual(result, matching_capability())
+                self.assertTrue(override_marker.exists())
+                self.assertFalse(supplied_marker.exists())
+                self.assertFalse(ambient_marker.exists())
+
+                override_marker.unlink()
+                result = VERSION_GATE.default_probe_activation_capability(
+                    {
+                        "PATH": str(supplied_bin),
+                        VERSION_GATE.MOSAIC_COMMAND_OVERRIDE_VAR: str(
+                            root / "invalid-override" / "mosaic"
+                        ),
+                    }
+                )
+                self.assertIsNone(result)
+                self.assertFalse(override_marker.exists())
+                self.assertFalse(supplied_marker.exists())
+                self.assertFalse(ambient_marker.exists())
+
    def test_override_command_is_parsed_and_the_probe_subcommand_is_not_double_appended(
        self,
    ) -> None:
@@ -135,6 +244,29 @@ class ProbeActivationCapabilityTest(unittest.TestCase):
        self.assertEqual(result, {"name": "lease-runtime-activation", "version": 1})
        self.assertEqual(captured, [["/fake/mosaic", "__lease-capability"]])

+    def test_probe_passes_ten_second_timeout_to_runner(self) -> None:
+        captured_argv: list[str] = []
+        captured_kwargs: dict[str, object] = {}
+
+        class FakeCompleted:
+            returncode = 0
+            stdout = '{"name": "lease-runtime-activation", "version": 1}'
+
+        def fake_run(argv: list[str], **kwargs: object) -> FakeCompleted:
+            captured_argv.extend(argv)
+            captured_kwargs.update(kwargs)
+            return FakeCompleted()
+
+        result = VERSION_GATE.default_probe_activation_capability(
+            {VERSION_GATE.MOSAIC_COMMAND_OVERRIDE_VAR: "/fake/mosaic"},
+            run=fake_run,
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(result, matching_capability())
+        self.assertEqual(captured_argv, ["/fake/mosaic"])
+        self.assertEqual(captured_kwargs["timeout"], 10.0)
+        self.assertEqual(captured_kwargs["check"], False)
+
    def test_fails_closed_on_nonzero_exit_malformed_json_and_missing_fields(self) -> None:
        class NonZeroExit:
            returncode = 1
@@ -174,7 +306,7 @@ class ProbeActivationCapabilityTest(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_fails_closed_on_timeout_and_transport_error(self) -> None:
        def timeout_run(*_args: object, **_kwargs: object) -> None:
-            raise subprocess.TimeoutExpired(cmd="mosaic", timeout=2.0)
+            raise subprocess.TimeoutExpired(cmd="mosaic", timeout=10.0)

        def oserror_run(*_args: object, **_kwargs: object) -> None:
            raise OSError("no such file or directory")
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { homedir, platform } from 'node:os';

@@ -22,15 +21,18 @@ export function getShellProfilePath(): string | null {

  const shell = detectShell();
  switch (shell) {
+    // Both of these deliberately avoid the interactive-only rc files.
+    // Debian's default .bashrc returns early for non-interactive shells, so a
+    // PATH line appended to it never runs for `bash -lc`, systemd units, or
+    // agent seats — an install could report success and still leave `mosaic`
+    // unreachable. .profile is read by login shells and sources .bashrc for
+    // interactive ones, so one line covers both; .zshenv is zsh's equivalent.
    case 'zsh': {
      const zdotdir = process.env['ZDOTDIR'] ?? home;
-      return join(zdotdir, '.zshrc');
+      return join(zdotdir, '.zshenv');
    }
-    case 'bash': {
-      const bashrc = join(home, '.bashrc');
-      if (existsSync(bashrc)) return bashrc;
+    case 'bash':
      return join(home, '.profile');
-    }
    case 'fish':
      return join(home, '.config', 'fish', 'config.fish');
    default:
@@ -309,6 +309,124 @@ require_cmd() {
  fi
 }

+# True if any shell rc file already puts $1 on PATH.
+#
+# Each file is tested for existence first and grepped one at a time, rather than
+# handed to a single `grep -qs ... "${rc_files[@]}"`. Handing grep a missing file
+# makes the exit status implementation-defined: GNU grep 3.11 returns 0 when -q
+# matched an earlier file, ugrep 7.5 returns 2 for the missing one regardless.
+# On the 2 path the caller reads "not present yet" and appends a duplicate PATH
+# line on every single install.
+path_entry_exists() {
+  local dir="$1" rc_file
+  for rc_file in "$HOME/.profile" "$HOME/.zshenv" "$HOME/.zshrc" "$HOME/.bashrc"; do
+    if [[ -f "$rc_file" ]] && grep -qF "$dir" "$rc_file"; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+  done
+  return 1
+}
+
+# Append `export PATH="$1:$PATH"` to the shell profile so $1 survives this
+# process. An `export` here reaches only the installer; every directory the
+# install leaves behind has to be written down somewhere a later shell reads.
+#
+# Deliberately NOT ~/.bashrc: Debian's default .bashrc returns early for
+# non-interactive shells, so a PATH line appended to the bottom of it is
+# unreachable to `bash -lc`, to systemd units, and to every agent seat — the
+# exact consumers that need these binaries. ~/.profile is read by login shells
+# and Debian's .profile sources .bashrc for interactive ones, so a single line
+# there reaches both. For zsh the always-sourced file is .zshenv, not .zshrc.
+#
+# $1 = directory to add, $2 = label for the comment line.
+# Returns 1 (having warned) if the profile could not be written.
+persist_on_path() {
+  local dir="$1" label="$2" profile
+
+  if path_entry_exists "$dir"; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if [[ -n "${ZSH_VERSION:-}" ]] || [[ "$(basename "${SHELL:-}")" == "zsh" ]]; then
+    profile="$HOME/.zshenv"
+  else
+    profile="$HOME/.profile"
+  fi
+
+  # Probe writability in a subshell. A redirection failure on a special built-in
+  # aborts the shell it runs in, so it has to be a child; and the redirection on
+  # the subshell is what silences the "Permission denied" the shell would
+  # otherwise print ahead of our own message.
+  if ! ( : >>"$profile" ) 2>/dev/null; then
+    warn "$dir is not on your PATH and $profile could not be written"
+    dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$dir:\$PATH\""
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  {
+    echo ""
+    echo "# $label"
+    echo "export PATH=\"$dir:\$PATH\""
+  } >>"$profile"
+  ok "Added $dir to PATH in $profile"
+  return 0
+}
+
+# Persist $PREFIX/bin on PATH instead of only warning about it.
+#
+# The warning it replaces was the last step of an otherwise successful install,
+# so the installer reported success and left `mosaic: command not found` — an
+# unattended install had no operator to read the advice and act on it.
+ensure_prefix_on_path() {
+  if [[ ":$PATH:" == *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
+    return
+  fi
+
+  if path_entry_exists "$PREFIX/bin"; then
+    warn "$PREFIX/bin is in your shell profile but not in this shell"
+  elif ! persist_on_path "$PREFIX/bin" "Mosaic CLI"; then
+    return
+  fi
+  dim "  Run:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\"   (or start a new login shell)"
+}
+
+# Fleet transport binary (#1240).
+#
+# `mosaic fleet --help` reads "Manage the local Mosaic tmux fleet" and every
+# roster the CLI scaffolds sets `transport: tmux`, but nothing in this script
+# provides tmux and, until now, nothing in it mentioned tmux at all. A
+# greenfield host came out of this installer able to install a fleet, start a
+# fleet, and run no seat — the operator's first signal was `mosaic fleet ps`.
+#
+# Not a `require_cmd`: tmux is required by the fleet, not by mosaic. Plenty of
+# hosts install this to run `mosaic claude` and will never scaffold a roster,
+# and failing their install over a binary they do not need would be wrong. It
+# is a warning that names precisely what it blocks.
+#
+# `tools/_scripts/mosaic-doctor` carries a deliberately parallel check, so the
+# same host state gets the same answer from an audit as from an install. They
+# are separate implementations because this one has to work before the
+# framework's scripts are guaranteed to be on disk; keep their wording in step.
+check_fleet_transport() {
+  local transport=tmux
+  local roster="$MOSAIC_HOME/fleet/roster.yaml"
+  local declared=""
+
+  if [[ -f "$roster" ]]; then
+    declared="$(sed -n 's/^[[:space:]]*transport:[[:space:]]*//p' "$roster" | head -1 |
+      tr -d '"'\''' | tr -d '\r' | awk '{print $1}')"
+    [[ -n "$declared" ]] && transport="$declared"
+  fi
+
+  command -v "$transport" &>/dev/null && return 0
+
+  warn "Fleet transport '$transport' is not installed."
+  echo "  The Mosaic fleet runs its agent seats inside $transport. Without it,"
+  echo "  ${C}mosaic fleet start${RESET} reports success and no seat comes up."
+  echo "  Install it before using the fleet, e.g. ${C}sudo apt-get install -y $transport${RESET}"
+  echo "  (this does not affect ${C}mosaic claude${RESET} or the other single-runtime commands)."
+}
+
 installed_cli_version() {
  local json
  json="$(npm ls -g --depth=0 --json --prefix="$PREFIX" 2>/dev/null)" || true
@@ -516,8 +634,175 @@ install_next_cli_from_registry() {
  ok "Installed @next packages: CLI ${installed_cli}, gateway ${installed_gateway}"
 }

+# ─── node bootstrap ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Nothing on a greenfield host installs Node.js, yet this installer and the CLI
+# it installs both hard-require it. Measured on a clean Debian 13 image: the
+# installer stopped at `require_cmd node` with "Required command not found" and
+# nothing was installed, with no hint of how to proceed.
+#
+# Inlined rather than factored into a sibling file on purpose: this script is
+# fetched standalone by curl and has nothing to source.
+#
+# No-op when a suitable node is already on PATH, so it never fights an
+# operator's nvm/fnm/distro node.
+
+NODE_ROOT="${MOSAIC_NODE_ROOT:-$HOME/.mosaic/node}"
+NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION="${MOSAIC_NODE_VERSION:-v22.23.2}"
+NODE_MIN_MAJOR="${MOSAIC_NODE_MIN_MAJOR:-20}"
+NODE_DIST_BASE="${MOSAIC_NODE_DIST_BASE:-https://nodejs.org/dist}"
+
+# Major version of the node at $1, or empty if it will not run.
+node_major_of() {
+  local candidate="$1" version
+  version="$("$candidate" -e 'process.stdout.write(process.versions.node)' 2>/dev/null)" || return 0
+  printf '%s' "${version%%.*}"
+}
+
+node_is_suitable() {
+  local major
+  major="$(node_major_of "$1")"
+  [[ -n "$major" ]] && [[ "$major" -ge "$NODE_MIN_MAJOR" ]]
+}
+
+install_node() {
+  local node_os node_arch tarball release_url work_dir extracted target node_bin
+
+  case "$(uname -s)" in
+    Linux)  node_os="linux" ;;
+    Darwin) node_os="darwin" ;;
+    *) fail "Unsupported OS '$(uname -s)'. Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR manually."; return 1 ;;
+  esac
+
+  # Linux here means glibc. Node's official linux-x64 build is dynamically
+  # linked against glibc, so on musl (Alpine) the binary will not exec — but it
+  # fails visibly: node_is_suitable rejects it and ensure_node exits with
+  # "install Node.js manually". No silent breakage, just a wasted download.
+  # A musl host needs the unofficial build, which is out of scope here.
+  case "$(uname -m)" in
+    x86_64|amd64)  node_arch="x64" ;;
+    aarch64|arm64) node_arch="arm64" ;;
+    armv7l)        node_arch="armv7l" ;;
+    *) fail "Unsupported architecture '$(uname -m)'. Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR manually."; return 1 ;;
+  esac
+
+  # .tar.gz rather than the smaller .tar.xz: gzip is universally present, xz is
+  # not, and a minimal image is exactly the case this exists to handle.
+  tarball="node-${NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION}-${node_os}-${node_arch}.tar.gz"
+  release_url="${NODE_DIST_BASE}/${NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION}"
+
+  work_dir="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/mosaic-node-XXXXXX")"
+
+  info "Installing Node.js $NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION ($node_os-$node_arch) to $NODE_ROOT…"
+
+  if ! curl -fsSL "${release_url}/${tarball}" -o "$work_dir/$tarball"; then
+    fail "Download failed: ${release_url}/${tarball}"
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  # Trust assumption, stated so nobody has to infer it: this verifies INTEGRITY
+  # (the tarball matches the manifest), not AUTHENTICITY (the manifest is
+  # genuinely Node's). The only thing establishing that is TLS to
+  # $NODE_DIST_BASE. Node publishes SHASUMS256.txt.sig signed by its release
+  # keys and we do not check it, which is on par with nvm but means pointing
+  # MOSAIC_NODE_DIST_BASE at an untrusted mirror has no signature backstop.
+  # Tracked as a hardening follow-up (raised by scooby in the #1229 review).
+  if ! curl -fsSL "${release_url}/SHASUMS256.txt" -o "$work_dir/SHASUMS256.txt"; then
+    fail "Could not fetch SHASUMS256.txt; refusing to install an unverified runtime."
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  # Keep only our artifact's line, so a missing entry is an error not a pass.
+  if ! grep " ${tarball}\$" "$work_dir/SHASUMS256.txt" >"$work_dir/expected.sha256"; then
+    fail "$tarball has no entry in SHASUMS256.txt; refusing to install."
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  if ! (cd "$work_dir" && verify_sha256 expected.sha256); then
+    fail "Checksum mismatch for $tarball; refusing to install."
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+  ok "Checksum verified"
+
+  tar xzf "$work_dir/$tarball" -C "$work_dir"
+  extracted="$work_dir/node-${NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION}-${node_os}-${node_arch}"
+  if [[ ! -x "$extracted/bin/node" ]]; then
+    fail "Extracted archive has no bin/node"
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  mkdir -p "$NODE_ROOT"
+  target="$NODE_ROOT/$NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION"
+  rm -rf "$target.incoming"
+  mv "$extracted" "$target.incoming"
+  rm -rf "$target"
+  mv "$target.incoming" "$target"
+  ln -sfn "$NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION" "$NODE_ROOT/current"
+  rm -rf "$work_dir"
+
+  node_bin="$NODE_ROOT/current/bin"
+  if ! node_is_suitable "$node_bin/node"; then
+    fail "Installed node at $node_bin/node did not run"
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  export PATH="$node_bin:$PATH"
+  ok "Node.js $(node -v) installed with npm $(npm -v 2>/dev/null || echo '?')"
+  return 0
+}
+
+# Make the Mosaic-managed Node reachable from the next shell as well as this
+# one. Measured on a greenfield canary run: without this the install finished
+# rc=0, wrote $PREFIX/bin to ~/.profile, and the next login shell found `mosaic`
+# and then died on `env: 'node': No such file or directory` — the CLI is a Node
+# script, so a CLI on PATH without its runtime is a successful install that
+# produces a broken command.
+persist_node_on_path() {
+  persist_on_path "$NODE_ROOT/current/bin" "Mosaic-managed Node.js" || true
+}
+
+ensure_node() {
+  if command -v node &>/dev/null && node_is_suitable node; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  # A previous run may have installed one that is not on this shell's PATH.
+  if node_is_suitable "$NODE_ROOT/current/bin/node"; then
+    export PATH="$NODE_ROOT/current/bin:$PATH"
+    persist_node_on_path
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if [[ "${MOSAIC_SKIP_NODE_BOOTSTRAP:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
+    fail "No suitable Node.js and MOSAIC_SKIP_NODE_BOOTSTRAP=1; refusing to download."
+    echo "  Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR yourself, then re-run this script."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  require_cmd curl
+  require_cmd tar
+
+  # sha256sum on Linux, shasum on macOS. Verification is not optional: without a
+  # checksum this would install an unauthenticated runtime.
+  if command -v sha256sum &>/dev/null; then
+    verify_sha256() { sha256sum -c --status "$1"; }
+  elif command -v shasum &>/dev/null; then
+    verify_sha256() { shasum -a 256 -c --status "$1"; }
+  else
+    fail "sha256sum or shasum required to verify the Node.js download"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  if ! install_node; then
+    fail "Could not bootstrap Node.js. Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR and re-run."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  persist_node_on_path
+}
+
 # ─── preflight ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

+ensure_node
 require_cmd node
 require_cmd npm

@@ -682,11 +967,7 @@ if [[ "$FLAG_CLI" == "true" ]]; then
    ensure_monorepo
    install_cli_from_source

-    # PATH check for npm prefix
-    if [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
-      warn "$PREFIX/bin is not on your PATH"
-      dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\""
-    fi
+    ensure_prefix_on_path
  elif is_next_registry_lane; then
    info "Next mode — trying fast npm @next install from ${REGISTRY}…"
    if install_next_cli_from_registry; then
@@ -699,11 +980,7 @@ if [[ "$FLAG_CLI" == "true" ]]; then
      export MOSAIC_GATEWAY_SKIP_NPM_INSTALL=1
    fi

-    # PATH check for npm prefix
-    if [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
-      warn "$PREFIX/bin is not on your PATH"
-      dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\""
-    fi
+    ensure_prefix_on_path
  else
    if [[ -z "$LATEST" ]]; then
      warn "Could not reach registry at $REGISTRY — skipping npm CLI."
@@ -721,11 +998,7 @@ if [[ "$FLAG_CLI" == "true" ]]; then
      ok "CLI is at or ahead of registry ($CURRENT ≥ $LATEST)."
    fi

-    # PATH check for npm prefix
-    if [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
-      warn "$PREFIX/bin is not on your PATH"
-      dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\""
-    fi
+    ensure_prefix_on_path
  fi
 fi

@@ -870,6 +1143,11 @@ if [[ "$FLAG_CHECK" == "false" ]]; then
  ok "Done."
 fi

+# Fleet readiness (#1240). Runs in both normal and --check mode: "what is the
+# state of this host" is exactly the question --check is asked, and a host that
+# cannot run a seat should not have to discover it from `fleet ps`.
+check_fleet_transport
+
 } # end main

 main "$@"