feat(deploy): self-host recipe, the enforced isolation flag, and the tunnel's door (P9a)

The books can live on a machine of the owner's own (plan 3.8, 8.2 P9a,
D-51). Three things make that honest instead of nominal:

- `--isolation same_user|enforced` sets `server::Isolation`, carried
  through `Served` and `BooksServer` to `books.start`. Locally the books
  stay `same_user (advisory)`; under the self-host unit the server is told
  `enforced` and reports `service_user (enforced)`. The server never
  guesses, and the literal it used to report is gone.
- `--http [ADDR]` binds the same MCP router on loopback (default
  127.0.0.1:7411) beside the Unix sockets, before the ready line, for the
  TLS proxy or tunnel in front of the server. It is the same bearer door
  and the same graceful close; a failed bind is reported and is not fatal
  (3.9). `serve` carries both flags through the host, so the system unit
  can ask for them once.

`deploy/wanderbooks-server.service` is the unit: a dedicated account, a
0700 data root, `ProtectSystem=strict`, no seccomp or Landlock (D-32), and
loopback-only networking. `deploy/README.md` is the recipe: install, setup,
move the books by `books adopt` with its head check (D-31: a copied book
is the transport), mint a bearer token, put Caddy or Tailscale Funnel in
front of the loopback door, and point Claude Code and Codex at it.

The two-account CI job (`.github/workflows/two-user.yml`) makes the
deployment and runs `crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs` as another
account: `agent_uid_cannot_read_tenant` proves the tenant root and its
journal are refused, then reads, writes, uploads, files, exports and
verifies over HTTP with the bearer (in a second book, so the moved books'
head is not advanced); `self_host_adopt_same_head` compares the moved
books' head and event count with the source clone's.
`isolation_label_is_enforced_under_the_unit` runs everywhere, including
the unit-file read that keeps the recipe from drifting.

Accounting reason for the shape: nothing here changes an entry, a report
or a figure. It changes who can reach them: the move is lossless and
verifiable at the head, and the boundary is the operating system's, not a
promise in our text. No journal code, kernel function, Kani harness or
Lean step is touched, so `just prove` is not required.

No go-ahead needed: no new journal feature or event; the live books are
unaffected.

.github/workflows/two-user.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+# The two-account, self-host deployment (plan 8.2 P9a, D-51): the books
+# server runs as one account, an agent as another, and the agent reaches
+# the books only through the server's HTTP door with a static bearer
+# token. `crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs` is the check; this file
+# makes the deployment it needs and runs it against real accounts. A
+# laptop's `cargo test` skips those two tests (WB_TWO_USER unset); this
+# job sets it, so a skip here is a failure's cousin: the job only goes
+# green when both tests ran.
+#
+# The token is minted with the test knob `file_keyring=1` (a file under
+# the root's run/, 0600, ledger-host tokens.rs INVARIANT 3), because a
+# runner has no Secret Service; deploy/README.md says what a real server
+# does instead.
+name: two-user
+on:
+  push:
+  pull_request:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+# A newer push makes an older run pointless: it is cancelled.
+concurrency:
+  group: two-user-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+jobs:
+  two-user:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    timeout-minutes: 45
+    env:
+      WB_PORT: "17411"
+      WB: /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: jdx/mise-action@v2
+      - name: Build the server-only executable and the test
+        run: |
+          cargo build --release -p ledger-cli --no-default-features
+          cargo test -p ledger-cli --test two_user --no-run
+      - name: Two accounts, one data root only one can read
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          sudo useradd --system --create-home --home-dir /var/lib/wanderbooks \
+                       --shell /usr/sbin/nologin wanderbooks
+          sudo install -d -o wanderbooks -g wanderbooks -m 0700 /srv/wanderbooks
+          sudo install -d -o wanderbooks -g wanderbooks -m 0700 /srv/desktop
+          sudo install -d -o wanderbooks -g wanderbooks -m 0700 /srv/desktop-home
+          sudo install -m 0755 target/release/wanderbooks "$WB"
+      - name: The deployment, the move, and the check
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          as_books() { sudo -u wanderbooks -H env HOME=/var/lib/wanderbooks "$@"; }
+          wait_open() {
+            for _ in $(seq 1 240); do
+              grep -q "The books are open" "$1" && return 0
+              sleep 0.5
+            done
+            echo "the server did not open:" >&2
+            cat "$1" >&2
+            return 1
+          }
+          stop_servers() {
+            as_books "$WB" close --root /srv/desktop >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+            as_books "$WB" close --root /srv/wanderbooks >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+          }
+          trap stop_servers EXIT
+
+          # The machine the books come from: books of this version, made by
+          # adopting the repository's fixture (so the move changes no event).
+          # Its own home, so the two roots are not "somewhere else" to one
+          # another (root::setup records one root per account home).
+          as_books "$WB" setup --root /srv/desktop --home /srv/desktop-home
+          as_books "$WB" serve --root /srv/desktop > /tmp/desktop.log 2>&1 &
+          wait_open /tmp/desktop.log
+          sudo cp -a crates/ledger-cli/tests/fixtures/p2-served /tmp/fixture
+          as_books "$WB" books adopt /tmp/fixture --root /srv/desktop --id acme --yes
+          as_books "$WB" close --root /srv/desktop
+
+          # The backup clone that is the transport (plan D-31): readable by
+          # the agent account, because the test reads its journal to know
+          # the head the move must keep.
+          sudo cp -a /srv/desktop/books/acme /tmp/source
+          sudo chown -R "$(id -u):$(id -g)" /tmp/source
+          sudo chmod -R a+rX /tmp/source
+
+          # The server's machine: the same books, moved, behind `enforced`.
+          as_books "$WB" setup --root /srv/wanderbooks
+          as_books "$WB" serve --root /srv/wanderbooks --isolation enforced \
+                     --http "127.0.0.1:$WB_PORT" > /tmp/tenant.log 2>&1 &
+          wait_open /tmp/tenant.log
+          as_books "$WB" books adopt /tmp/source --root /srv/wanderbooks --id acme --yes
+          as_books "$WB" books create tunnel --root /srv/wanderbooks
+
+          # Tokens for the agent account (the test), kept in the root's
+          # run/ by the test knob; a real server uses its OS keyring.
+          as_books "$WB" token create --root /srv/wanderbooks --book acme --name ci \
+                     --test-knobs file_keyring=1 >/dev/null
+          TOKEN=$(as_books "$WB" token print --root /srv/wanderbooks --book acme \
+                     --name ci --test-knobs file_keyring=1)
+          as_books "$WB" token create --root /srv/wanderbooks --book tunnel --name ci \
+                     --test-knobs file_keyring=1 >/dev/null
+          WRITE_TOKEN=$(as_books "$WB" token print --root /srv/wanderbooks --book tunnel \
+                     --name ci --test-knobs file_keyring=1)
+
+          # The check, as the agent account, over the loopback door.
+          WB_TWO_USER=1 \
+          WB_TENANT_ROOT=/srv/wanderbooks \
+          WB_SERVER_URL="http://127.0.0.1:$WB_PORT" \
+          WB_BOOK=acme \
+          WB_TOKEN="$TOKEN" \
+          WB_WRITE_BOOK=tunnel \
+          WB_WRITE_TOKEN="$WRITE_TOKEN" \
+          WB_SOURCE_DIR=/tmp/source \
+            cargo test -p ledger-cli --test two_user -- --nocapture --test-threads=1

crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,464 @@
+//! The two-account self-host deployment of the books (plan 8.2 P9a,
+//! D-51): the server runs as one account on the owner's own machine and
+//! an agent runs as another, reaching the books over HTTP with a static
+//! bearer token.
+//!
+//! ```text
+//! GOAL: two things the plan promises are checked, not assumed: an agent
+//!       with its own account cannot read the data root, and it reaches
+//!       every tool through the server's HTTP door all the same; and the
+//!       books moved to that machine verify to the head they had.
+//! SOURCE: plan 8.2 P9a (Build items 1 and 2; Done when 1), 2 I-1
+//!         (isolation: advisory locally, enforced on a machine of the
+//!         owner's), 3.3 (the static bearer), 3.8 (local vs self-host),
+//!         3.9 (the server's sockets, and `--http`), D-51 (P9 split),
+//!         D-31 (a backup clone is the move's transport).
+//! INVARIANTS:
+//!   1. The two-account tests run only against a deployment the caller
+//!      made (the job in `.github/workflows/two-user.yml`, or the recipe
+//!      in `deploy/README.md`); with no deployment they say they skipped,
+//!      so a laptop's `cargo test` stays green. `WB_TWO_USER=1` turns
+//!      them on, and then every other setting is required.
+//!   2. The test never reads the books' files in the tenant: it proves it
+//!      cannot (INVARIANT 3), then asks the server for everything.
+//!   3. The tenant root is unreadable to this account: `opendir` and a
+//!      journal `open` are refused.
+//!   4. The books say `isolation: "service_user (enforced)"`: the server
+//!      was told `--isolation enforced` by the unit or the job, never
+//!      guessed.
+//!   5. A read, a write, an upload and an export go over the tunnel's
+//!      HTTP door with the bearer; the local Unix socket is not used.
+//!      They go to a second book (`WB_WRITE_BOOK`), so the moved books'
+//!      head is never advanced by a check.
+//!   6. The moved books' head (seq and hash) and every event are the
+//!      source's: the move loses nothing.
+//! ```
+
+use common::{BOOK, Client, Home, Wire};
+use serde_json::{Value, json};
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::process::{Child, Command, Stdio};
+use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
+
+mod common;
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------- harness
+
+/// The deployment the caller made, from the environment
+/// (INVARIANTS 1 to 3). `None` when `WB_TWO_USER` is unset.
+struct Deployment {
+    /// The data root this account must not be able to read.
+    root: PathBuf,
+    /// `http://host:port`, the tunnel's door's base.
+    server: String,
+    book: String,
+    token: String,
+    /// A second book the write checks go to, so the moved books' head is
+    /// never advanced by a check (defaults to `book`).
+    write_book: String,
+    write_token: String,
+    /// The backup clone the books were moved from, readable here.
+    source: Option<PathBuf>,
+}
+
+fn deployment() -> Option<Deployment> {
+    std::env::var_os("WB_TWO_USER")?;
+    let need = |name: &str| -> String {
+        std::env::var(name).unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("WB_TWO_USER is set, so {name} must be too"))
+    };
+    let book = need("WB_BOOK");
+    let token = need("WB_TOKEN");
+    let write_book = std::env::var("WB_WRITE_BOOK").unwrap_or_else(|_| book.clone());
+    let write_token = std::env::var("WB_WRITE_TOKEN").unwrap_or_else(|_| token.clone());
+    Some(Deployment {
+        root: PathBuf::from(need("WB_TENANT_ROOT")),
+        server: need("WB_SERVER_URL"),
+        book,
+        token,
+        write_book,
+        write_token,
+        source: std::env::var_os("WB_SOURCE_DIR").map(PathBuf::from),
+    })
+}
+
+impl Deployment {
+    /// The MCP URL of `book`.
+    fn mcp_url(&self, book: &str) -> String {
+        format!("{}/b/{}/mcp", self.server, book)
+    }
+
+    /// A URL under `/b/{book}/`.
+    fn book_url(&self, book: &str, rest: &str) -> String {
+        format!("{}/b/{}/{}", self.server, book, rest)
+    }
+}
+
+/// A client of the books over the tunnel's HTTP door (INVARIANT 5), with
+/// the static bearer token.
+async fn connect_over_http(d: &Deployment, book: &str, token: &str) -> Client {
+    use rmcp::ServiceExt;
+    use rmcp::transport::StreamableHttpClientTransport;
+    use rmcp::transport::streamable_http_client::StreamableHttpClientTransportConfig;
+    let config = StreamableHttpClientTransportConfig::with_uri(d.mcp_url(book))
+        .auth_header(token.to_string());
+    let http = reqwest::Client::new();
+    let transport = StreamableHttpClientTransport::with_client(http, config);
+    rmcp::model::ClientConfig::default()
+        .serve(transport)
+        .await
+        .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("the tunnel's door refused the session: {e}"))
+}
+
+/// GET `url` with the bearer: the status and the bytes.
+async fn get_with_token(url: &str, token: &str) -> (u16, Vec<u8>) {
+    let r = reqwest::Client::new()
+        .get(url)
+        .bearer_auth(token)
+        .send()
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    let status = r.status().as_u16();
+    (status, r.bytes().await.unwrap_or_default().to_vec())
+}
+
+/// A running `wanderbooks server` on `home`'s root with `args` beside the
+/// root, ended (by its own PID) when dropped. The harness's `Server` is
+/// the same without extra flags; this test needs `--isolation` and
+/// `--http`.
+struct FlaggedServer {
+    child: Child,
+}
+
+impl FlaggedServer {
+    fn start(home: &Home, args: &[String]) -> Self {
+        let log = std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
+            .create(true)
+            .append(true)
+            .open(home.dir.path().join("server.log"))
+            .unwrap();
+        let mut child = Command::new(env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_wanderbooks"))
+            .arg("server")
+            .arg("--root")
+            .arg(home.root())
+            .args(args)
+            .env_clear()
+            .env("PATH", "/usr/bin:/bin")
+            .env("HOME", home.dir.path())
+            .env("XDG_CONFIG_HOME", home.dir.path().join(".config"))
+            .stdin(Stdio::piped())
+            .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+            .stderr(log)
+            .spawn()
+            .unwrap();
+        let mut line = String::new();
+        std::io::BufRead::read_line(
+            &mut std::io::BufReader::new(child.stdout.as_mut().unwrap()),
+            &mut line,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(line, "ready\n", "the server didn't say ready");
+        Self { child }
+    }
+
+    /// Close it as the host does (stdin ends) and wait for it to exit.
+    fn close(mut self) -> std::process::ExitStatus {
+        drop(self.child.stdin.take());
+        let deadline = Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(60);
+        loop {
+            if let Some(status) = self.child.try_wait().unwrap() {
+                return status;
+            }
+            assert!(Instant::now() < deadline, "the server didn't close");
+            std::thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(20));
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Drop for FlaggedServer {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        let _ = self.child.kill();
+        let _ = self.child.wait();
+    }
+}
+
+/// A port nothing is listening on now, for the tunnel's door.
+fn free_port() -> u16 {
+    let listener = std::net::TcpListener::bind("127.0.0.1:0").unwrap();
+    listener.local_addr().unwrap().port()
+}
+
+/// `books.start` over a wire, as the tools' answer.
+fn start_of(wire: &mut Wire) -> Value {
+    let r = wire.call("books.start", json!({}));
+    common::answer_of(&r).unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("books.start: {e}"))
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------- the tests
+
+/// The server told `--isolation enforced` says so (`books.start`), over
+/// its Unix socket and over the HTTP door, and a server not told says the
+/// local truth: the server never guesses (plan 3.8, P9a).
+#[test]
+fn isolation_label_is_enforced_under_the_unit() {
+    // The local default first: no flag, the advisory truth (D-32).
+    let local = Home::new("isolation-local");
+    let server = FlaggedServer::start(&local, &[]);
+    local.create(BOOK, "USD");
+    {
+        let mut wire = Wire::new(&local, BOOK);
+        wire.initialize("self-host-check");
+        assert_eq!(start_of(&mut wire)["isolation"], "same_user (advisory)");
+    }
+    assert!(server.close().success());
+
+    // Told enforced: `books.start` says so, on both doors (INVARIANT 4).
+    let home = Home::new("isolation-enforced");
+    let port = free_port();
+    let server = FlaggedServer::start(
+        &home,
+        &[
+            "--isolation".into(),
+            "enforced".into(),
+            "--http".into(),
+            format!("127.0.0.1:{port}"),
+        ],
+    );
+    home.create(BOOK, "USD");
+    let over_socket = {
+        let mut wire = Wire::new(&home, BOOK);
+        wire.initialize("self-host-check");
+        start_of(&mut wire)
+    };
+    assert_eq!(over_socket["isolation"], "service_user (enforced)");
+    // The HTTP door is the same service with the same bearer token.
+    let d = Deployment {
+        root: home.root(),
+        server: format!("http://127.0.0.1:{port}"),
+        book: BOOK.into(),
+        token: home.token(BOOK),
+        write_book: BOOK.into(),
+        write_token: home.token(BOOK),
+        source: None,
+    };
+    let rt = tokio::runtime::Runtime::new().unwrap();
+    let over_http = rt.block_on(async {
+        let client = connect_over_http(&d, &d.book, &d.token).await;
+        let answer = common::call(&client, "books.start", json!({})).await;
+        let _ = client.cancel().await;
+        answer
+    });
+    let over_http = over_http.expect("books.start over HTTP");
+    assert_eq!(over_http["isolation"], "service_user (enforced)");
+    assert_eq!(over_http["book"]["name"], over_socket["book"]["name"]);
+    assert_eq!(over_http["head"], over_socket["head"]);
+    assert!(server.close().success());
+
+    // The unit's own line is what starts a server that way (P9a step 1):
+    // it passes the flag this test exercises, and the tunnel's door.
+    let unit = std::fs::read_to_string(concat!(
+        env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"),
+        "/../../deploy/wanderbooks-server.service"
+    ))
+    .expect("deploy/wanderbooks-server.service");
+    for line in [
+        "User=wanderbooks",
+        "--isolation enforced",
+        "--http 127.0.0.1:7411",
+        "IPAddressDeny=any",
+        "IPAddressAllow=localhost",
+    ] {
+        assert!(unit.contains(line), "the unit lacks {line:?}:\n{unit}");
+    }
+}
+
+/// An agent with its own account cannot read the books' data root, and
+/// every tool it needs still answers over the tunnel's HTTP door with the
+/// bearer (INVARIANTS 2, 3, 4 and 5).
+#[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
+async fn agent_uid_cannot_read_tenant() {
+    let Some(d) = deployment() else {
+        eprintln!(
+            "SKIPPED agent_uid_cannot_read_tenant: no two-account deployment (WB_TWO_USER unset; `.github/workflows/two-user.yml` or deploy/README.md makes one)"
+        );
+        return;
+    };
+    // INVARIANT 3: the root, and a journal inside it, are unreadable.
+    match std::fs::read_dir(&d.root) {
+        Err(e) => assert_eq!(
+            e.kind(),
+            std::io::ErrorKind::PermissionDenied,
+            "the tenant root is not refused for the wrong reason: {e}"
+        ),
+        Ok(_) => panic!(
+            "this account can read the tenant root ({}): the deployment did not make it private",
+            d.root.display()
+        ),
+    }
+    let journal = d.root.join("books").join(&d.book).join("journal.jsonl");
+    match std::fs::File::open(&journal) {
+        Err(e) => assert_eq!(
+            e.kind(),
+            std::io::ErrorKind::PermissionDenied,
+            "the journal is not refused for the wrong reason: {e}"
+        ),
+        Ok(_) => panic!("this account can read the books' journal"),
+    }
+
+    // INVARIANT 4: the books were told enforced, and say so.
+    let books = connect_over_http(&d, &d.book, &d.token).await;
+    let start = common::call(&books, "books.start", json!({}))
+        .await
+        .expect("books.start over the tunnel");
+    assert_eq!(start["isolation"], "service_user (enforced)");
+    assert!(
+        !start.to_string().contains(&d.root.display().to_string()),
+        "the answer names the data root"
+    );
+
+    // The write checks go to a second book, so the moved books' head is
+    // never advanced by a check (`self_host_adopt_same_head` reads it).
+    let client = connect_over_http(&d, &d.write_book, &d.write_token).await;
+    let write_start = common::call(&client, "books.start", json!({}))
+        .await
+        .expect("books.start over the tunnel");
+    assert_eq!(write_start["isolation"], "service_user (enforced)");
+
+    // A read.
+    let chart = common::call(&client, "books.chart", json!({}))
+        .await
+        .expect("books.chart over the tunnel");
+    assert!(chart["accounts"].is_array(), "{chart}");
+
+    // A write: an account added over the tunnel, then read back.
+    let code = "1999";
+    let added = common::call(
+        &client,
+        "books.add_account",
+        json!({"code": code, "name": "Over the tunnel", "account_type": "asset"}),
+    )
+    .await
+    .expect("books.add_account over the tunnel");
+    assert!(added["account_id"].is_number(), "{added}");
+    let chart = common::call(&client, "books.chart", json!({}))
+        .await
+        .expect("books.chart over the tunnel");
+    assert!(
+        chart["accounts"]
+            .as_array()
+            .unwrap()
+            .iter()
+            .any(|a| a["code"] == code),
+        "the account written over the tunnel is not in the chart"
+    );
+
+    // A file in: an upload through the tunnel's own route.
+    let bytes = b"a receipt filed over the tunnel";
+    let begun = common::call(
+        &client,
+        "books.begin_upload",
+        common::upload_args(bytes, "tunnel.txt", "text/plain", "receipt"),
+    )
+    .await
+    .expect("books.begin_upload over the tunnel");
+    let upload_id = begun["upload_id"]
+        .as_str()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("no upload begun: {begun}"));
+    let sent = reqwest::Client::new()
+        .put(d.book_url(&d.write_book, &format!("u/{upload_id}")))
+        .bearer_auth(&d.write_token)
+        .body(bytes.to_vec())
+        .send()
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(sent.status().as_u16(), 200, "the upload route refused it");
+    // And file it, so it is a stored, named attachment the books verify.
+    let filed = common::call(
+        &client,
+        "books.file_document",
+        json!({"category": "other", "upload_id": upload_id,
+               "file_name": "tunnel.txt", "mime_type": "text/plain",
+               "description": "filed over the tunnel"}),
+    )
+    .await
+    .expect("books.file_document over the tunnel");
+    assert!(filed["attachment_id"].is_number(), "{filed}");
+
+    // A file out: an export handed over, fetched through the tunnel.
+    let exported = common::call(
+        &client,
+        "books.export",
+        json!({"format": "csv", "report": "trial_balance"}),
+    )
+    .await
+    .expect("books.export over the tunnel");
+    let file = &exported["file"];
+    let command = file["download"].as_str().expect("a download command");
+    let id = command
+        .split(' ')
+        .find(|w| w.starts_with("ex_"))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("no export id in {command}"));
+    let (status, fetched) = get_with_token(
+        &d.book_url(&d.write_book, &format!("x/{id}")),
+        &d.write_token,
+    )
+    .await;
+    assert_eq!(status, 200, "the export route refused it");
+    assert_eq!(file["size_bytes"], json!(fetched.len()));
+    assert_eq!(
+        file["sha256"],
+        json!(ledger_store::journal::sha256_hex(&fetched))
+    );
+
+    // And the books verify, stored files included: the upload landed.
+    let verified = common::call(&client, "books.verify", json!({"blobs": true}))
+        .await
+        .expect("books.verify over the tunnel");
+    assert_eq!(verified["status"], "ok");
+    assert!(verified["blobs_verified"].as_u64().unwrap_or(0) >= 1);
+
+    let _ = client.cancel().await;
+    let _ = books.cancel().await;
+}
+
+/// The books moved to the server verify to the head the source clone had:
+/// the same events, the same seq and hash (INVARIANTS 2 and 6).
+#[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
+async fn self_host_adopt_same_head() {
+    let Some(d) = deployment() else {
+        eprintln!(
+            "SKIPPED self_host_adopt_same_head: no two-account deployment (WB_TWO_USER unset)"
+        );
+        return;
+    };
+    let Some(source) = d.source.as_deref() else {
+        eprintln!("SKIPPED self_host_adopt_same_head: WB_SOURCE_DIR is not set");
+        return;
+    };
+    let (seq, hash, events) = source_head(source);
+    let client = connect_over_http(&d, &d.book, &d.token).await;
+    let start = common::call(&client, "books.start", json!({}))
+        .await
+        .expect("books.start over the tunnel");
+    assert_eq!(start["head"]["seq"], seq, "the moved books' seq");
+    assert_eq!(start["head"]["hash"], hash, "the moved books' head hash");
+    let verified = common::call(&client, "books.verify", json!({}))
+        .await
+        .expect("books.verify over the tunnel");
+    assert_eq!(verified["status"], "ok");
+    assert_eq!(verified["events"], events, "every event moved");
+    assert_eq!(verified["head"], hash, "the verified head");
+    let _ = client.cancel().await;
+}
+
+/// The source clone's head and event count, read as the move's transport
+/// is read (plan D-31): the journal's last line's seq and canonical hash.
+fn source_head(source: &Path) -> (u64, String, u64) {
+    let lines = ledger_store::journal::read_and_verify_journal(&source.join("journal.jsonl"))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("the source clone doesn't verify: {e}"));
+    let seq = lines.last().map_or(0, |l| l.seq);
+    let hash = lines.last().map_or_else(
+        || ledger_store::journal::GENESIS_PREV.to_string(),
+        |l| ledger_store::journal::sha256_hex(l.to_canonical().as_bytes()),
+    );
+    (seq, hash, lines.len() as u64)
+}

crates/ledger-host/src/commands.rs

@@ -231,16 +231,44 @@ pub fn serve(
     args: impl IntoIterator<Item = String>,
 ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     let mut common = Common::default();
-    let mut args = args.into_iter();
+    let mut server_flags: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
+    let mut args = args.into_iter().peekable();
     while let Some(arg) = args.next() {
         if common.take(&arg, &mut args)? {
             continue;
         }
         match arg.as_str() {
+            // What this server is told (P9a): passed through the host.
+            "--isolation" => {
+                let level = args
+                    .next()
+                    .ok_or("--isolation needs same_user or enforced")?;
+                if !matches!(
+                    level.as_str(),
+                    "same_user" | "advisory" | "service_user" | "enforced"
+                ) {
+                    eprintln!("error: --isolation takes same_user or enforced, not {level:?}");
+                    return Err(exit(2));
+                }
+                server_flags.push(arg);
+                server_flags.push(level);
+            }
+            "--http" => {
+                server_flags.push(arg);
+                if let Some(v) = args.peek()
+                    && !v.starts_with('-')
+                {
+                    server_flags.push(args.next().unwrap_or_default());
+                }
+            }
             "--help" | "-h" => {
-                eprintln!("usage: {prog}");
+                eprintln!("usage: {prog} [--root DIR] [--isolation LEVEL] [--http [ADDR]]");
                 eprintln!("  Opens the books and holds them open until Ctrl-C. They close 10 s");
                 eprintln!("  after nothing else (the app, an agent session) holds them.");
+                eprintln!("  --isolation same_user | enforced: how books.start says these books");
+                eprintln!("    are kept from agents (enforced: the owner's own machine, P9a).");
+                eprintln!("  --http [ADDR]: also serve the MCP door on 127.0.0.1:7411 (or ADDR),");
+                eprintln!("    for a TLS proxy or a tunnel in front of it.");
                 return Ok(());
             }
             other => {
@@ -259,7 +287,8 @@ pub fn serve(
             common.knobs,
             Kind::Serve,
             None,
-        )?;
+        )?
+        .starting_with(server_flags);
         // Ctrl-C, SIGTERM and SIGHUP are heard from the start, whatever
         // serve is doing (opening, waiting to try again): none is missed.
         let stop = std::sync::Arc::new(tokio::sync::Notify::new());

crates/ledger-host/src/host.rs

@@ -244,16 +244,32 @@ struct Args {
     /// server finds the root itself, and no command line names it.
     root: Option<PathBuf>,
     knobs: Knobs,
+    /// Flags the server is started with (P9a): `--isolation`, `--http`.
+    server_flags: Vec<String>,
 }
 
 fn parse_args(prog: &str, args: impl IntoIterator<Item = String>) -> Result<Option<Args>, String> {
     let mut root = None;
     let mut knobs = Knobs::default();
-    let mut args = args.into_iter();
+    let mut server_flags: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
+    let mut args = args.into_iter().peekable();
     while let Some(arg) = args.next() {
         match arg.as_str() {
             "--root" => root = Some(PathBuf::from(args.next().ok_or("--root needs a folder")?)),
             FLAG => knobs = Knobs::parse(&args.next().ok_or("--test-knobs needs a value")?)?,
+            // Passed through to the server (P9a).
+            "--isolation" => {
+                server_flags.push(arg);
+                server_flags.push(args.next().ok_or("--isolation needs a level")?);
+            }
+            "--http" => {
+                server_flags.push(arg);
+                if let Some(v) = args.peek()
+                    && !v.starts_with('-')
+                {
+                    server_flags.push(args.next().unwrap_or_default());
+                }
+            }
             "--help" | "-h" => {
                 eprintln!("usage: {prog} [--root DIR]");
                 eprintln!("  Holds the books open while anything holds a lease on it; started by");
@@ -263,7 +279,11 @@ fn parse_args(prog: &str, args: impl IntoIterator<Item = String>) -> Result<Opti
             other => return Err(format!("unknown argument: {other}")),
         }
     }
-    Ok(Some(Args { root, knobs }))
+    Ok(Some(Args {
+        root,
+        knobs,
+        server_flags,
+    }))
 }
 
 /// `wanderbooks host`.
@@ -395,6 +415,8 @@ struct Host {
     root: Root,
     run: PathBuf,
     knobs: Knobs,
+    /// Flags the server is started with (P9a).
+    server_flags: Vec<String>,
     leases: BTreeMap<u64, Held>,
     next_lease: u64,
     ready: bool,
@@ -417,6 +439,7 @@ impl Host {
             root,
             run,
             knobs: args.knobs,
+            server_flags: args.server_flags,
             leases: BTreeMap::new(),
             next_lease: 1,
             ready: false,
@@ -655,6 +678,8 @@ impl Host {
         if self.explicit_root {
             command.arg("--root").arg(self.root.path());
         }
+        // What `serve` was told, for the server (P9a).
+        command.args(&self.server_flags);
         let d = Knobs::default();
         for (flag, now, default) in [
             ("--backup-quiet", self.knobs.backup_quiet, d.backup_quiet),

crates/ledger-host/src/opener.rs

@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ pub struct Opener {
     opened_at: Option<std::time::Instant>,
     /// Whether this holder has held a lease (INVARIANT 5).
     has_held: bool,
+    /// Flags the server this opener starts is started with (P9a):
+    /// `--isolation` and `--http`. Empty for every ordinary holder.
+    server_flags: Vec<String>,
 }
 
 /// A held lease: the books stay open while it lives.
@@ -146,9 +149,20 @@ impl Opener {
             failures: 0,
             opened_at: None,
             has_held: false,
+            server_flags: Vec::new(),
         })
     }
 
+    /// Start the server this opener brings up with these flags (P9a:
+    /// `--isolation`, `--http`). Only `serve` uses it: on the owner's own
+    /// machine it is the one holder, so the host it starts is the server's
+    /// only one. A host already running was started with other flags, and
+    /// this one has no way to change it.
+    pub fn starting_with(mut self, flags: Vec<String>) -> Self {
+        self.server_flags = flags;
+        self
+    }
+
     /// The timings in force.
     pub fn knobs(&self) -> Knobs {
         self.knobs
@@ -256,9 +270,12 @@ impl Opener {
     async fn start(&self) -> Result<(), String> {
         let root = self.root.clone();
         let knobs = self.knobs;
-        tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || crate::start::start_host(root.as_deref(), &knobs))
+        let flags = self.server_flags.clone();
-            .await
+        tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
-            .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?
+            crate::start::start_host(root.as_deref(), &knobs, &flags)
+        })
+        .await
+        .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?
     }
 
     /// Say hello on a connection and read the host's first word.
@@ -457,6 +474,7 @@ mod tests {
             failures: 0,
             opened_at: None,
             has_held: false,
+            server_flags: Vec::new(),
         };
         for _ in 0..MAX_TRIES {
             o.failed().await.unwrap();

crates/ledger-host/src/start.rs

@@ -174,8 +174,12 @@ fn systemd_run() -> Option<&'static str> {
 }
 
 /// Start a host for the root (`root`, else the one the host finds
-/// itself), with these knobs (INVARIANTS 1-5).
+/// itself), with these knobs and these server flags (INVARIANTS 1-5).
-pub fn start_host(root: Option<&Path>, knobs: &Knobs) -> Result<(), String> {
+pub fn start_host(
+    root: Option<&Path>,
+    knobs: &Knobs,
+    server_flags: &[String],
+) -> Result<(), String> {
     let found = ledger_store::root::Root::find(root).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
     let run = found.run_dir().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
     let home = ledger_store::root::account_home().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
@@ -187,6 +191,9 @@ pub fn start_host(root: Option<&Path>, knobs: &Knobs) -> Result<(), String> {
         args.push(found.path().as_os_str().to_os_string());
     }
     args.extend(knobs.args().into_iter().map(Into::into));
+    // What the server this host starts is told (P9a): the same flags
+    // `serve` was given.
+    args.extend(server_flags.iter().map(Into::into));
     let log = || {
         let path = run.join(HOST_LOG);
         // A large log is moved aside first (to `.1`), never from under a

crates/ledger-mcp/handbook/self-host.md

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# On a machine of the owner's own
+
+These books may live on a machine the owner controls, not on the computer
+an agent runs on. The server there runs as a separate account, and the
+agent has no account on that machine: `books.start` says
+`isolation: "service_user (enforced)"`. Locally it says
+`same_user (advisory)`, which is honest: hidden, not locked.
+
+What that means for you:
+
+- Reach the books only through these tools. The machine they live on is
+  not yours to inspect, and you have no way to reach it except through
+  the server.
+- The owner moves the books there with a verified copy or a backup, and
+  the move is confirmed at the head the preview read. If `books.verify`
+  or `books.start` reports a head the owner does not expect, say so and
+  stop; do not touch the books until the owner has looked.
+- Each client has its own token. Never ask the owner for one, never print
+  one, and never put one in a note, an entry, a receipt or a file in the
+  books. If a tool says the token was refused, ask the owner to make a
+  new one for that client.
+- Everything else is the same as on the owner's computer: the receipt
+  rule, the preview before a post, the books' own settings and
+  conventions. The machine changes where the books are, not how they are
+  kept.
+
+If the owner asks how the machine is set up, point them at the deployment
+notes that came with the app; do not invent steps for them, and do not
+try to run any yourself.

crates/ledger-mcp/src/handbook.rs

@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ pub const SECTIONS: &[(&str, &str)] = &[
     ),
     ("viewer", include_str!("../handbook/viewer.md")),
     ("backups", include_str!("../handbook/backups.md")),
+    ("self-host", include_str!("../handbook/self-host.md")),
     (
         "format-upgrade",
         include_str!("../handbook/format-upgrade.md"),

crates/ledger-mcp/src/local.rs

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
 //! ```
 
 use crate::admin::{self, Request, Response};
-use crate::server::{BooksServer, Served, SharedStore};
+use crate::server::{BooksServer, Isolation, Served, SharedStore};
 use ledger_store::Store;
 use ledger_store::access::{Access, AccessLog, Outcome, Principal};
 use ledger_store::auth::{Principals, Scope, Token};
@@ -187,6 +187,9 @@ struct Books {
     drill_first: Duration,
     /// Held through a restore: one at a time.
     restoring: Mutex<()>,
+    /// How these books are kept from agents (plan 3.8, P9a): what
+    /// `books.start` reports (`--isolation`).
+    isolation: Isolation,
 }
 
 impl Books {
@@ -294,7 +297,7 @@ impl Books {
         }
         let waiting = Arc::new(Mutex::new(store.journal_format().upgrade()));
         let database = (store.database_file(), store.other_databases());
-        let served = Served::open(store).map_err(|e| self.hide(e))?;
+        let served = Served::open_with(store, self.isolation).map_err(|e| self.hide(e))?;
         let config = StreamableHttpServerConfig::default()
             .with_json_response(true)
             .with_legacy_session_mode(true)
@@ -1853,9 +1856,13 @@ fn bind(run: &Path, name: &str) -> std::io::Result<tokio::net::UnixListener> {
 }
 
 fn print_usage(prog: &str) {
-    eprintln!("usage: {prog} [--root DIR]");
+    eprintln!("usage: {prog} [--root DIR] [--isolation LEVEL] [--http [ADDR]]");
     eprintln!("  The books server for the data root: started by the host, not by hand.");
     eprintln!("  It runs until its standard input ends, or SIGTERM, SIGINT or SIGHUP.");
+    eprintln!("  --isolation same_user | enforced: what books.start says of how these books");
+    eprintln!("    are kept from agents (enforced on the owner's own machine: P9a).");
+    eprintln!("  --http [ADDR]: also serve the MCP door on 127.0.0.1:7411 (or ADDR), for a");
+    eprintln!("    TLS proxy or a tunnel in front of it. Off unless given.");
 }
 
 /// `wanderbooks server`: serve every book in the data root until told to
@@ -1867,10 +1874,34 @@ pub fn run(
     let mut root: Option<PathBuf> = None;
     let mut backup_quiet = BACKUP_QUIET;
     let mut drill_first = DRILL_FIRST;
-    let mut args = args.into_iter();
+    let mut isolation = Isolation::SameUser;
+    let mut tunnel: Option<std::net::SocketAddr> = None;
+    let mut args = args.into_iter().peekable();
     while let Some(arg) = args.next() {
         match arg.as_str() {
             "--root" => root = Some(PathBuf::from(args.next().ok_or("--root needs a folder")?)),
+            // How the books are kept from agents (plan 3.8, P9a): the
+            // system unit on the owner's own machine passes `enforced`;
+            // the server never guesses.
+            "--isolation" => {
+                let value = args
+                    .next()
+                    .ok_or("--isolation needs same_user or enforced")?;
+                isolation = Isolation::parse(&value)?;
+            }
+            // The tunnel's door (plan 3.9, P9a): the same MCP service on
+            // 127.0.0.1, for a TLS proxy or tunnel in front of it. Off
+            // unless asked for; the bearer token still guards every call.
+            "--http" => {
+                let addr = match args.peek() {
+                    Some(v) if !v.starts_with('-') => args.next().unwrap_or_default(),
+                    _ => "127.0.0.1:7411".to_string(),
+                };
+                tunnel =
+                    Some(addr.parse().map_err(|e| {
+                        format!("--http takes an address like 127.0.0.1:7411: {e}")
+                    })?);
+            }
             // How long the books stay unwritten before a backup (tests).
             "--backup-quiet" => {
                 let ms: u64 = args
@@ -1967,6 +1998,7 @@ pub fn run(
         backup_quiet,
         drill_first,
         restoring: Mutex::new(()),
+        isolation,
     });
     {
         let loaded = books.load_principals();
@@ -1984,7 +2016,7 @@ pub fn run(
         eprintln!("wanderbooks server: told to close while opening: closed");
         Ok(())
     } else {
-        rt.block_on(serve(books.clone(), &run, &stops))
+        rt.block_on(serve(books.clone(), &run, &stops, tunnel))
     };
     // No request is running now (serve waited for each); the stores go
     // before the lock, and the process exit would release both.
@@ -2024,9 +2056,26 @@ async fn serve(
     books: Arc<Books>,
     run: &Path,
     stops: &Stops,
+    tunnel: Option<std::net::SocketAddr>,
 ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     let mcp_listener = OwnerOnly(bind(run, MCP_SOCKET)?);
     let mut admin_listener = OwnerOnly(bind(run, ADMIN_SOCKET)?);
+    // The tunnel's door (plan 3.9, P9a): the same service on 127.0.0.1,
+    // for the TLS proxy or tunnel in front of it. Bound before ready, so
+    // what starts beside the server finds it; a bind that fails is said
+    // and is not fatal (3.9: the books' own sockets still serve).
+    let tunnel_listener = match tunnel {
+        Some(addr) => match tokio::net::TcpListener::bind(addr).await {
+            Ok(listener) => Some(listener),
+            Err(e) => {
+                eprintln!(
+                    "wanderbooks server: the tunnel's door at {addr} can't be bound ({e}); serving the local sockets only"
+                );
+                None
+            }
+        },
+        None => None,
+    };
     let stop = stops.close.clone();
     {
         use std::io::Write;
@@ -2083,11 +2132,21 @@ async fn serve(
     // close is done: a client is never cut off mid-request by it.
     let shut = CancellationToken::new();
     let graceful = shut.clone();
+    let tunnel_app = app.clone();
     let mut http = tokio::spawn(async move {
         axum::serve(mcp_listener, app)
             .with_graceful_shutdown(async move { graceful.cancelled().await })
             .await
     });
+    let tunnel_http = tunnel_listener.map(|listener| {
+        let app = tunnel_app;
+        let graceful = shut.clone();
+        tokio::spawn(async move {
+            axum::serve(listener, app)
+                .with_graceful_shutdown(async move { graceful.cancelled().await })
+                .await
+        })
+    });
     let admin_jobs = TaskTracker::new();
     loop {
         tokio::select! {
@@ -2172,6 +2231,14 @@ async fn serve(
         Ok(Err(e)) => eprintln!("wanderbooks server: {e}"),
         Err(_) => http.abort(),
     }
+    if let Some(mut tunnel) = tunnel_http {
+        match tokio::time::timeout(HTTP_GRACE, &mut tunnel).await {
+            Ok(Ok(Ok(()))) => {}
+            Ok(Ok(Err(e))) => eprintln!("wanderbooks server: {e}"),
+            Ok(Err(e)) => eprintln!("wanderbooks server: {e}"),
+            Err(_) => tunnel.abort(),
+        }
+    }
     eprintln!("wanderbooks server: closed");
     Ok(())
 }
@@ -2599,6 +2666,7 @@ mod tests {
             backup_quiet: BACKUP_QUIET,
             drill_first: DRILL_FIRST,
             restoring: Mutex::new(()),
+            isolation: Isolation::SameUser,
         });
         let loaded = books.load_principals();
         *books.principals.write().unwrap() = loaded;

crates/ledger-mcp/src/server.rs

@@ -74,6 +74,46 @@ pub struct BooksServer {
     exports: ledger_store::exports::Exports,
     /// The books' backups (backup.rs).
     backups: Arc<crate::backup::Backups>,
+    /// How these books are kept from agents (plan 3.8, P9a): what
+    /// `books.start` reports.
+    isolation: Isolation,
+}
+
+/// How the books are kept from agents (plan 3.8, 2.1; D-32, D-51).
+///
+/// Locally the server runs as the human and the books are hidden, not
+/// locked: `SameUser`. On a machine of the owner's the server runs as a
+/// dedicated account and agents have no account there: `ServiceUser`.
+/// The server never guesses which; `--isolation enforced` says so
+/// (`serve --isolation enforced` under the system unit, P9a).
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum Isolation {
+    /// Hidden from the agent in the owner's own account, not locked.
+    SameUser,
+    /// A separate account on another machine; the agent has none there.
+    ServiceUser,
+}
+
+impl Isolation {
+    /// What `books.start` says (the strings plan 3.8 names).
+    pub fn label(self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Self::SameUser => "same_user (advisory)",
+            Self::ServiceUser => "service_user (enforced)",
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// What `--isolation` takes: `same_user`, `advisory`, `service_user`
+    /// or `enforced`.
+    pub fn parse(text: &str) -> Result<Self, String> {
+        match text {
+            "same_user" | "advisory" => Ok(Self::SameUser),
+            "service_user" | "enforced" => Ok(Self::ServiceUser),
+            other => Err(format!(
+                "--isolation takes same_user or enforced, not {other:?}"
+            )),
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 /// One book as the books server serves it (local.rs), shared by every
@@ -88,15 +128,23 @@ pub(crate) struct Served {
     pub(crate) uploads: ledger_store::uploads::Uploads,
     pub(crate) exports: ledger_store::exports::Exports,
     pub(crate) backups: Arc<crate::backup::Backups>,
+    pub(crate) isolation: Isolation,
 }
 
 impl Served {
+    /// [`Self::open_with`] for books served the local way
+    /// ([`Isolation::SameUser`]): how the server's own tests open them.
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    pub(crate) fn open(store: Store) -> Result<Self, String> {
+        Self::open_with(store, Isolation::SameUser)
+    }
+
     /// What serving the books `store` holds needs, opened beside them:
     /// the settings in force (the books' own), the access log, the uploads
     /// and exports, the viewer's side channel, and the backups. The books
     /// server opens every book this way (local.rs), the only way books are
-    /// served (plan D-44).
+    /// served (plan D-44), saying how the server runs (plan 3.8, P9a).
-    pub(crate) fn open(store: Store) -> Result<Self, String> {
+    pub(crate) fn open_with(store: Store, isolation: Isolation) -> Result<Self, String> {
         let mut live = Live::own();
         live.sync(store.ledger().settings(), store.base_currency().code());
         let access = Arc::new(
@@ -130,6 +178,7 @@ impl Served {
             uploads,
             exports,
             backups,
+            isolation,
         })
     }
 }
@@ -498,6 +547,7 @@ impl BooksServer {
             uploads: served.uploads.clone(),
             exports: served.exports.clone(),
             backups: served.backups.clone(),
+            isolation: served.isolation,
         }
     }
 

crates/ledger-mcp/src/tools/kept.rs

@@ -266,9 +266,11 @@ pub struct StartOut {
     pub format_upgrade: Option<FormatUpgradeOut>,
     /// What to do next, in order.
     pub next_steps: Vec<NextStepOut>,
-    /// How the books are kept from agents: "same_user (advisory)", hidden
+    /// How the books are kept from agents: "same_user (advisory)" locally
-    /// from them in the human's own account, not locked against them
+    /// (hidden from them in the human's own account, not locked against
-    /// (plan D-32): reach them only through these tools.
+    /// them: plan D-32), or "service_user (enforced)" when the books run
+    /// on the owner's own machine as a dedicated account (plan 3.8, P9a).
+    /// Either way, reach them only through these tools.
     pub isolation: String,
 }
 
@@ -921,7 +923,7 @@ impl BooksServer {
                 how: "only the owner, with the owner passphrase: in the app (it asks when it opens the books) or `wanderbooks books upgrade ID` at a terminal; a verified backup with the keys is made first. No tool can.".to_string(),
             }),
             next_steps,
-            isolation: "same_user (advisory)".to_string(),
+            isolation: self.isolation.label().to_string(),
         };
         // Fit (INVARIANT 4): whole lists if they fit; else summaries go,
         // then the lists shorten from the end, each saying how many more.

crates/ledger-mcp/src/types.rs

@@ -4719,7 +4719,7 @@ pub struct ReconciliationsOut {
 /// Parameters for `books.handbook`.
 #[derive(Debug, Default, Deserialize, JsonSchema)]
 pub struct HandbookParams {
-    /// The section to read: contract, entries, drafts-and-reversals, evidence-and-receipts, attachments, files-in-out, reconciliation, fixed-assets, prepaid-and-recurring, revenue-and-payouts, projects, parties-and-tins, 1099, cpa-handoff, settings-and-conventions, viewer, backups, format-upgrade, rules-that-change, control-roles, tracing-figures, or "all" for the whole handbook in order. Omit for the index.
+    /// The section to read: contract, entries, drafts-and-reversals, evidence-and-receipts, attachments, files-in-out, reconciliation, fixed-assets, prepaid-and-recurring, revenue-and-payouts, projects, parties-and-tins, 1099, cpa-handoff, settings-and-conventions, viewer, backups, self-host, format-upgrade, rules-that-change, control-roles, tracing-figures, or "all" for the whole handbook in order. Omit for the index.
     #[serde(default)]
     pub section: Option<String>,
 }

deploy/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,258 @@
+# The books on a machine of your own
+
+Plan 8.2 P9a, section 3.8. This is the recipe for the enforced deployment:
+the books live on a machine you control, in a folder only a dedicated
+account can read, and agents reach them through the server with a token.
+Locally the books are `same_user (advisory)` — hidden from the agent, not
+locked against it; here they are behind an account and a machine boundary.
+
+Nothing here needs the owner's books: every step works on a copy.
+
+The pieces:
+
+- `wanderbooks-server.service` — the system unit (one account, one data
+  root, loopback only).
+- `wanderbooks` — the server-only build of the one executable
+  (`cargo build --release -p ledger-cli --no-default-features`).
+- Caddy (or Tailscale Funnel, or cloudflared) — TLS and the door from the
+  internet.
+- `crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs` — the two-account checks the CI job
+  `.github/workflows/two-user.yml` runs, and which you can run on one
+  machine (step 9).
+
+## 1. The account and the folder
+
+```sh
+sudo useradd --system --create-home --home-dir /var/lib/wanderbooks \
+             --shell /usr/sbin/nologin wanderbooks
+sudo install -d -o wanderbooks -g wanderbooks -m 0700 /srv/wanderbooks
+sudo install -m 0755 target/release/wanderbooks /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks
+sudo install -D -m 0644 deploy/wanderbooks-server.service \
+             /etc/systemd/system/wanderbooks-server.service
+```
+
+The executable is the server-only build: no viewer, no window libraries.
+On a Linux package install (P11) this is the same binary and the package
+manager writes the file; until then, copy it as above.
+
+## 2. Make the data root, once
+
+```sh
+sudo -u wanderbooks -H /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks setup --root /srv/wanderbooks
+```
+
+`setup` makes the folder private (0700), records it for that account and
+asks for the owner passphrase when a terminal is attached. Self-host has
+no `/h/` pages (D-28, D-51); the passphrase guards a format upgrade only.
+Set it at a terminal if the machine has none:
+
+```sh
+ssh -t you@server 'sudo -u wanderbooks -H /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks passphrase'
+```
+
+## 3. Bring the books over
+
+The transport is a backup clone or a copied data folder (D-31: there is no
+`fetch`, and no separate archive verifier). On the machine the books are
+on now:
+
+```sh
+wanderbooks close                 # nothing writes while it is copied
+wanderbooks books list            # note the id, e.g. acme
+cp -a "$XDG_DATA_HOME/wanderbooks/books/acme" /media/usb/acme
+```
+
+The copy must hold the journal, the stored files, the vault and its key;
+`cp -a` of the book's folder holds all four. If you would rather move a
+verified backup, make one (`wanderbooks books back-up acme`) and clone the
+repository it wrote; both are the same books.
+
+Bring that folder to the server, start the service, and adopt it:
+
+```sh
+sudo systemctl daemon-reload
+sudo systemctl enable --now wanderbooks-server
+sudo -u wanderbooks -H /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks books adopt /media/usb/acme \
+     --root /srv/wanderbooks --id acme
+```
+
+The preview names the source's head (`Head: event N (short hash)`); with
+`--yes` (or a `y` at the prompt) the move is confirmed against exactly
+that head, so a source that changed after the preview is refused. The
+original is left as it was; nothing is deleted.
+
+**The head check.** Ask the agent on the server for `books.verify` (or
+`books.start`): both report the head. Compare it with `books.verify` on
+the machine the books came from, taken before the move. They are the same
+event count, sequence number and hash: the move loses nothing. (The copy
+is written in this version's journal format; a source written by an older
+version gains one format event at adoption, and then the counts differ by
+exactly that event, which the preview says: "The copy is in this version's
+journal format".)
+
+## 4. Keep the machine's hardening
+
+The unit says `--isolation enforced`, so `books.start` reports
+`service_user (enforced)`: the server is told, it never guesses. The unit
+also sets `ProtectSystem=strict`, `NoNewPrivileges=yes`, `ProtectHome=yes`
+and `IPAddressDeny=any` with `IPAddressAllow=localhost`, and no seccomp or
+Landlock lines (D-32, D-51).
+
+The loopback-only rule is deliberate: the server reaches nothing out. A
+book whose backup target is a **remote** git repository needs that host
+allowed, or its backups fail:
+
+```ini
+# /etc/systemd/system/wanderbooks-server.service.d/backup.conf
+[Service]
+IPAddressAllow=203.0.113.10
+```
+
+A backup to a folder on this machine needs nothing. The tunnel and Caddy
+run as their own services and reach 127.0.0.1:7411, which the rule allows.
+
+## 5. A token for each client
+
+The token is a static bearer (`wb_` and 32 random bytes); the server keeps
+only its SHA-256. Mint one per client, named for it:
+
+```sh
+sudo -u wanderbooks -H /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks token create \
+     --root /srv/wanderbooks --book acme --name laptop
+sudo -u wanderbooks -H /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks token print \
+     --root /srv/wanderbooks --book acme --name laptop
+```
+
+`token create` keeps the text in the server account's OS keyring and
+`token print` shows it once; copy it to that client and nowhere else.
+Revoke it with `token revoke --book acme --name laptop` when a client is
+lost.
+
+A headless machine has no Secret Service by default, and `token create`
+refuses to mint a token it cannot keep. Run the two commands inside a
+session that has one, for example:
+
+```sh
+sudo -u wanderbooks -H dbus-run-session -- sh -c '
+  gnome-keyring-daemon --unlock --components=secrets >/dev/null
+  /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks token create --root /srv/wanderbooks --book acme --name laptop
+  /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks token print  --root /srv/wanderbooks --book acme --name laptop
+'
+```
+
+The keyring lives only for that session, which is enough: the text is
+copied to the laptop, and the server checks the token's SHA-256 from the
+books, not from the keyring. (Making a token without keeping it anywhere
+is not a command; if your machine has a persistent Secret Service, use it.)
+
+## 6. TLS and the door
+
+The server listens on 127.0.0.1:7411 for the tunnel, and on its own Unix
+sockets for anything running as the same account. Put TLS in front of the
+loopback port. Two ways that need no open inbound port:
+
+**Tailscale Funnel** (a tailnet name, TLS included):
+
+```sh
+sudo tailscale funnel --bg 7411
+```
+
+The books are then at `https://<machine>.<tailnet>.ts.net/b/acme/mcp`.
+
+**Caddy** (a domain you own, automatic certificates):
+
+```caddyfile
+books.example.com {
+    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:7411
+}
+```
+
+with `cloudflared tunnel --url http://127.0.0.1:7411` instead of Caddy if
+you use a Cloudflare tunnel. Either way the path is passed through
+unchanged: the MCP endpoint is `https://<host>/b/acme/mcp`.
+
+Nothing else listens. Do not forward 7411 on the router, and do not put
+the Unix sockets behind the proxy: they check the caller's account (3.9)
+and a proxy would hide it.
+
+## 7. Point the agent at it
+
+**Claude Code** (a client that sends headers):
+
+```sh
+claude mcp add --transport http wanderbooks-acme https://books.example.com/b/acme/mcp \
+  --header "Authorization: Bearer <the token from step 5>"
+```
+
+**Codex** (`~/.codex/config.toml`; the token stays in the environment, not
+the file):
+
+```toml
+[mcp_servers.wanderbooks-acme]
+url = "https://books.example.com/b/acme/mcp"
+bearer_token_env_var = "WANDERBOOKS_ACME_TOKEN"
+```
+
+```sh
+export WANDERBOOKS_ACME_TOKEN='<the token from step 5>'
+```
+
+The plan's local rule is that no client configuration holds a token (the
+bridge reads the keyring). For a remote machine there is no command yet
+that keeps a remote token in the client's keyring, so this recipe puts it
+in Claude's configuration (mode 0600) or in Codex's environment. That
+gap is recorded in `plan/served.md` 8.2 P9a's As-built block.
+
+## 8. First start
+
+Start a session and ask for `books.start`. It answers
+`isolation: "service_user (enforced)"`, and every tool works over the TLS
+door with the token. Logs:
+
+```sh
+journalctl -u wanderbooks-server -f
+```
+
+The server runs no jobs in the background: `serve` holds the books open
+until systemd stops it. On a stop it finishes the call in progress, makes
+a last backup and closes (3.9), so `TimeoutStopSec=600` is generous rather
+than needed.
+
+Backups still run on their own, from the books' settings, as on the
+desktop (3.7, D-30, D-31); this machine runs git itself.
+
+## 9. Prove the boundary (what CI runs)
+
+`.github/workflows/two-user.yml` runs the same job on every change:
+
+1. makes two accounts, `wanderbooks` (server) and the runner (agent);
+2. makes books with this version in a desktop root, copies them, and
+   adopts the copy into `/srv/wanderbooks`;
+3. serves them as `wanderbooks` with `--isolation enforced --http
+   127.0.0.1:17411`, and mints a token;
+4. runs `crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs` as the runner with
+   `WB_TWO_USER=1` and the deployment's settings. The test proves the
+   runner cannot open `/srv/wanderbooks` or its journal, then reads,
+   writes, uploads, files, exports and verifies over the HTTP door (in a
+   second book, `tunnel`, so the moved books' head is never advanced), and
+   compares the moved books' head with the source's.
+
+`agent_uid_cannot_read_tenant` and `self_host_adopt_same_head` skip
+themselves when `WB_TWO_USER` is unset, so an ordinary `cargo test` on a
+laptop stays green; `isolation_label_is_enforced_under_the_unit` needs no
+second account and always runs.
+
+On one machine without a second account, run the client side in a user
+namespace (a different user ID than the server's):
+
+```sh
+WB_TWO_USER=1 WB_TENANT_ROOT=... WB_SERVER_URL=http://127.0.0.1:17411 \
+WB_BOOK=acme WB_TOKEN=... WB_WRITE_BOOK=tunnel WB_WRITE_TOKEN=... \
+WB_SOURCE_DIR=... \
+unshare --user --map-auto --setuid 0 --setgid 0 -- target/debug/deps/two_user-<hash> --nocapture
+```
+
+The two books and their tokens are made by the job (or by hand as in
+steps 2 to 5): `acme` is the moved books, and `tunnel` is empty, so the
+write checks never move `acme`'s head. `WB_SOURCE_DIR` is the journal the
+books were moved from, readable by the agent account.

deploy/wanderbooks-server.service

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# The books on a machine of the owner's own (plan 8.2 P9a, section 3.8).
+#
+# One server, one account, one door. It runs `wanderbooks serve` as the
+# dedicated account `wanderbooks`, over a data root only that account can
+# read, and says `service_user (enforced)` in `books.start` (the flag; the
+# server never guesses). Agents have no account on this machine and reach
+# the books through the TLS door on 127.0.0.1:7411 (a tunnel or Caddy in
+# front of it), with a static bearer token.
+#
+# No seccomp or Landlock lines: D-32 (no self-confinement) and D-51 (P9a
+# is the recipe and the boundary between accounts, nothing more). What is
+# here is the unit's own hardening of the account and the filesystem.
+#
+# Install: /usr/local/bin/wanderbooks is the server-only build
+# (`cargo build --release -p ledger-cli --no-default-features`), and the
+# root has been made once by `wanderbooks setup --root /srv/wanderbooks`
+# as the wanderbooks account. See README.md in this folder for the steps.
+
+[Unit]
+Description=wanderbooks: the books server
+After=network-online.target
+Wants=network-online.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+User=wanderbooks
+Group=wanderbooks
+DynamicUser=no
+# The account's own home (the keyring, when one runs; the recorded root).
+StateDirectory=wanderbooks
+Environment=HOME=/var/lib/wanderbooks
+WorkingDirectory=/
+# The books' data root, and the tunnel's door. `--isolation enforced` is
+# what `books.start` reports; `--http` serves the same MCP service on
+# 127.0.0.1 for Caddy or a tunnel. Drop `--http` if this machine has no
+# TLS door.
+ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/wanderbooks serve --root /srv/wanderbooks --isolation enforced --http 127.0.0.1:7411
+# `serve` hears SIGTERM and lets go: the server finishes the call in
+# progress, makes a last backup and closes. A long call is never cut off.
+KillSignal=SIGTERM
+TimeoutStopSec=600
+Restart=on-failure
+RestartSec=2s
+
+# The account and the filesystem (plan 3.8, 3.9).
+NoNewPrivileges=yes
+ProtectSystem=strict
+ReadWritePaths=/srv/wanderbooks
+ProtectHome=yes
+PrivateTmp=yes
+PrivateDevices=yes
+# No network but loopback: the tunnel reaches 127.0.0.1:7411, and the
+# server reaches nothing out. A book whose backup target is a remote git
+# repository needs that host allowed here (`IPAddressAllow=` its address)
+# or its backups fail; see README.md.
+IPAddressDeny=any
+IPAddressAllow=localhost
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target

docs/architecture.md

@@ -220,3 +220,35 @@ Neither bookspec crate depends on `ledger-core`; the dependency points
 inward from the adapter. `just check` runs the bookspec workspace's
 format, clippy and tests beside the wanderbooks workspace's, so an example
 cannot rot (P13 step 1).
+
+## Self-host: the same server, another account (P9a, D-51)
+
+The books can live on a machine the owner controls (plan 3.8). It is the
+same `ledger-mcp` server, the same store and the same tools; only the
+process boundary changes. `wanderbooks serve` runs as the dedicated
+account `wanderbooks` under `deploy/wanderbooks-server.service`, over a
+data root only that account can read (`/srv/wanderbooks`, 0700). Agents
+have no account on that machine, so the isolation is enforced by the
+operating system rather than advisory: the server is told
+`--isolation enforced` (the flag, never a guess) and `books.start`
+reports `service_user (enforced)` (`server::Isolation`).
+
+The door is the same HTTP service on a second listener:
+`--http 127.0.0.1:7411` binds the MCP routes beside the Unix sockets
+(3.9), and Caddy, Tailscale Funnel or cloudflared puts TLS and the public
+name in front of it. The bearer token guards every call exactly as on the
+socket; the tunnel only forwards. The socket's peer-credential check
+(`OwnerOnly`) is for local callers and does not apply to the loopback
+door, which is why the bearer and the loopback-only bind matter there.
+The flag travels `serve` → `ledger-host`'s host → `server`
+(`Opener::starting_with`, `start::start_host`, `host::Args`), so a host
+already running with other flags keeps them; on a self-host machine
+`serve` is the unit's only holder.
+
+The unit sets `IPAddressDeny=any` and `IPAddressAllow=localhost`: the
+server reaches nothing out. A book whose backup target is a remote git
+repository therefore needs that host allowed in a drop-in (D-31 backups
+still run on the server). The recipe, the head check for the move and the
+two-account CI job are in `deploy/README.md`, `deploy/wanderbooks-server.service`
+and `.github/workflows/two-user.yml`; the checks are
+`crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs`.

docs/mcp-interface.md

@@ -115,9 +115,12 @@ settings-and-conventions section says how to use them.
   (below); its next step comes first, before anything else, at every
   start until it is done: `books.handbook {section: "format-upgrade"}`,
   "Tell the human first: …".
-  `isolation` is `same_user (advisory)` (D-32): the books are hidden from
+  `isolation` is `same_user (advisory)` locally (D-32): the books are
-  agents in the owner's own account, not locked against them. Lists cut
+  hidden from agents in the owner's own account, not locked against them.
-  to fit say so in `truncated` ("conventions: 4 more (books.conventions)").
+  On the owner's own machine, where the server runs as a separate account
+  and agents have none, the unit passes `--isolation enforced` and it is
+  `service_user (enforced)`; the server never guesses (P9a, 3.8). Lists
+  cut to fit say so in `truncated` ("conventions: 4 more (books.conventions)").
   `projects` lists the active and paused projects by name, at most 20
   ("projects: N more (books.projects)" past that).
   `next_steps`, in order: the format upgrade's (when waiting); the
@@ -326,8 +329,8 @@ The long guidance is the **handbook**, compiled in from
   contract, entries, drafts-and-reversals, evidence-and-receipts,
   attachments, files-in-out, reconciliation, fixed-assets,
   prepaid-and-recurring, revenue-and-payouts, parties-and-tins, 1099,
-  cpa-handoff, settings-and-conventions, viewer, backups, format-upgrade,
+  cpa-handoff, settings-and-conventions, viewer, backups, self-host,
-  rules-that-change, control-roles, tracing-figures.
+  format-upgrade, rules-that-change, control-roles, tracing-figures.
 - The same as resources: `books://handbook` (the index, JSON) and
   `books://handbook/{section}` (Markdown, `text/markdown`), one listed per
   section.

docs/parity.md

@@ -91,3 +91,16 @@ trait), the runner (`bookspec/runner`: pass, fail or not claimed per rule),
 and the rule index from B-1 to B-45 (`bookspec/spec/rules-index.md`). Every
 existing bookspec example still runs on every `cargo test`, through both
 the loader's own checks and the `Engine` trait.
+
+### P9a self-host deployment (2026-10-26)
+
+P9a is a deployment, not a semantic feature: the same engine, store, MCP
+surface and reports on a machine of the owner's own. No row above changed
+status and the floor stands. What it adds is the enforced isolation the
+catalog's parity claims rest on in practice: a dedicated account, a data
+root only that account can read, `books.start` saying
+`service_user (enforced)` (`--isolation`), and the same bearer-guarded MCP
+door on loopback for Caddy or a tunnel. `crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs`
+proves the account boundary and the move's head in CI
+(`.github/workflows/two-user.yml`); the recipe is `deploy/README.md`.
+The cutover rule in `docs/capability-parity.md` is unchanged.

docs/testing.md

@@ -2970,3 +2970,75 @@ negative-zero test; `filter(|a| a.tool.is_some()).take(12)` and
 intact-blob set (a damaged blob reported per attachment) and `Store::
 disk_check`'s snapshot load and `Unreadable` arm; the viewer wrapper's
 `Target` arms.
+
+## P9a: self-host, the move, and the static bearer over a tunnel (2026-10-26)
+
+Plan 8.2 P9a, D-51. The books on a machine of the owner's own: the same
+server as a dedicated account (`deploy/wanderbooks-server.service`), a
+data root only that account can read, `books.start` saying
+`service_user (enforced)` when the unit passes `--isolation enforced`, the
+move by `books adopt` with its head check, and the same MCP service on a
+loopback door (`--http`) for Caddy or a tunnel.
+
+- **ledger-mcp:** `server::Isolation` (`label`, `parse`), carried from
+  `--isolation` through `Served::open_with` into `BooksServer`, and read by
+  `books.start`'s `start_out` (`tools/kept.rs`); `--http` binds a second
+  `axum::serve` listener over the same router and the same door, before the
+  ready line, and closes with the same graceful shutdown (a failed bind is
+  said and is not fatal, 3.9). `common/mod.rs`'s harness is unchanged; the
+  local flag test starts its own server (`two_user.rs::FlaggedServer`)
+  because `common::Server` takes no extra flags.
+- **ledger-host:** `serve --isolation/--http` → `Opener::starting_with` →
+  `start::start_host` → `host::Args` → the server's command line. A host
+  already running keeps the flags it was started with (documented in
+  `deploy/README.md` and the opener's comment).
+- **`crates/ledger-cli/tests/two_user.rs`:**
+  `isolation_label_is_enforced_under_the_unit` (a server with no flag says
+  `same_user (advisory)`; with `--isolation enforced --http` it says
+  `service_user (enforced)` over the Unix socket and over the loopback
+  door, and both report the same head; the unit file itself is read to
+  require the `--isolation enforced`, `--http` and `IPAddress*` lines the
+  test exercises);
+  `agent_uid_cannot_read_tenant` and `self_host_adopt_same_head` (two
+  accounts, run by `.github/workflows/two-user.yml`; they skip with a line
+  when `WB_TWO_USER` is unset, so a laptop's suite stays green). The first
+  proves `read_dir` and a journal `open` are refused with
+  `PermissionDenied`, then reads (`books.chart`), writes
+  (`books.add_account`), uploads (`books.begin_upload` + the `u/` route),
+  exports (`books.export` + the `x/` route, checked against its SHA-256)
+  and verifies (`books.verify {blobs:true}`) with the bearer over HTTP, in
+  a second book so the moved books' head is never advanced; the second
+  reads the source clone's journal, computes its head from the last line's
+  canonical bytes, and requires the moved books' `books.start` and
+  `books.verify` to report the same seq, hash and event count.
+- **The job:** `.github/workflows/two-user.yml` makes the accounts, adopts
+  the repository's `p2-served` fixture into a desktop root at this version,
+  copies the book as the transport (D-31), adopts it into
+  `/srv/wanderbooks` behind `--isolation enforced --http`, mints a token
+  with the `file_keyring` test knob (a runner has no Secret Service), and
+  runs the test as the runner. `deploy/README.md` is the same recipe by
+  hand; the job does not install the systemd unit (it drives `serve` with
+  the same flags), so the unit's lines are checked by the test's file read
+  and by review, not executed as a unit.
+- **Not covered:** the recipe walked on a clean VM by someone other than
+  its author (Done when 2), a real TLS tunnel (Tailscale Funnel or Caddy)
+  and a real Secret Service on a headless server. Those are the owner's
+  and the EM's checks; the As-built block says so.
+- **Docs:** `docs/architecture.md` "Self-host", `docs/mcp-interface.md`
+  (`books.start`'s two `isolation` values), `docs/parity.md` (no semantic
+  row moved; the floor stands), the handbook's `self-host` section, and
+  `deploy/README.md`.
+
+**For P12 (mutation targets, none run, D-33):** `Isolation::parse`'s
+`same_user`/`advisory` and `service_user`/`enforced` arms (a wrong arm
+would report the advisory truth on the enforced machine);
+`Isolation::label`'s two strings; `start_out`'s `self.isolation.label()`
+(it replaced a literal, and a mutant that restores a literal must fail the
+two-door test); the `--http` arm's `args.peek()` guard and the default
+`127.0.0.1:7411` (binding the wrong interface, or consuming the next flag,
+must fail); `tunnel.is_some()` and the bind failure path (ready must still
+come after the try, and a failed bind must not be fatal); `open_with`'s
+`isolation` into `Served` and `BooksServer::new`'s copy (a dropped field
+must fail `isolation_label_is_enforced_under_the_unit`); the host's
+`server_flags` extension and `parse_args`' passthrough of `--isolation`
+and its optional `--http` value.