diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 78943d1..f754cf9 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ Revisit only if the stated reason stops holding.
   - **Plugin storage hands over credentials, not a client** (README → Plugin storage). The host takes
   `postgres` to run the provisioning DDL, and `storage-provisioning.ts` is the only module importing
   it — `storage.ts` beside it stays pure so `web` never loads a driver (`src/postgres.test.ts` guards
-  both halves; the claim silently went false once already). It is never re-exported through the
-  barrel, so no driver shape enters the contract. Three properties hold the design together, so
+  both halves, because one value imported from the wrong module breaks it invisibly). It is never
+  re-exported through the barrel, so no driver shape enters the contract. Three properties hold the design together, so
   don't trade one away in isolation: passwords are `HMAC-SHA256(PLUGIN_DB_SECRET, id)` rather than
   stored, which is what keeps the host stateless — whoever holds that secret holds every plugin
   database, so it ranks with the DB password itself; the provisioning DSN reaches `bootstrap` only
@@ -101,13 +101,12 @@ Revisit only if the stated reason stops holding.
   after `loadConfig`, which is before discovery imports any plugin module — the ordering is the whole
   point, so move it earlier if anything, **never later**. **Valid while plugins are
   operator-installed code, not third-party uploads.**
-- **`ory/postgres/init/init.sql` is the only home for the Ory databases' ACL.** Re-asserting the
-  `REVOKE CONNECT` from `bootstrap` each boot was tried and removed: `REVOKE` only *warns* when the
-  caller doesn't own the database, so under the least-privilege provisioning account the README
-  recommends it reported success while changing nothing — and it hard-failed whenever
-  `PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL` named a server with no `kratos`. A volume created before that file gained the
-  revokes keeps the default grant; `docker compose down -v` is the dev remedy. **Valid while
-  pre-release, with no deployed volumes to migrate.**
+- **`ory/postgres/init/init.sql` is the only home for the Ory databases' ACL** — don't re-assert the
+  `REVOKE CONNECT` from `bootstrap`. `REVOKE` only *warns* when the caller doesn't own the database,
+  so under the least-privilege provisioning account the README recommends it would report success
+  while changing nothing, and it hard-fails whenever `PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL` names a server with no
+  `kratos`. A volume created before that file gained the revokes keeps the default grant;
+  `docker compose down -v` is the dev remedy. **Valid while pre-release, with no deployed volumes.**
 - **`bootstrap.ts` stays under `src/auth/`** even though it now provisions plugin databases as well
   as seeding Ory. It is the one-shot service's entrypoint, not an auth module; moving it to
   `src/bootstrap.ts` would edit `compose.yml`, five e2e compose files and `src/compose.test.ts` for a
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 33fcac1..e104215 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -781,11 +781,12 @@ What the host does guarantee:
   boundary: plugins share the `web` process, so a plugin that goes looking can reach another's
   credentials. Install plugins you trust ([Security model](#security-model)).
 - **Provisioning is idempotent and runs every boot**, so a plugin dropped in later is picked up by
-  the next `docker compose up -d` — the same rule as permission seeding. Role attributes are
-  re-applied each time, so a privilege granted by hand out of band does not quietly persist.
+  the next `docker compose up -d` — the same rule as permission seeding. Each boot re-applies the
+  role's password, connection limit, and `NOCREATEDB`/`NOCREATEROLE`.
 - **Your data is never dropped.** Removing a plugin folder leaves its database untouched; deleting it
   is a deliberate act by an operator. Each boot logs any `plugin_*` database no installed plugin
-  claims, so what you left behind stays findable.
+  claims, so what you left behind stays findable — read that list before dropping anything, since a
+  second Plainpages stack sharing this server will have its databases named there too.
 
 **Passwords are derived, never stored** — each is `HMAC-SHA256(PLUGIN_DB_SECRET, <plugin id>)`, so
 `bootstrap` and `web` compute the same value independently and nothing has to be written down.
diff --git a/compose.override.yml b/compose.override.yml
index 4f8202a..2b9de80 100644
--- a/compose.override.yml
+++ b/compose.override.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Development overrides, merged automatically by `docker compose up`.
 # Mounts the source for live editing and restarts on change via `node --watch`.
+
+# web connects with it and bootstrap provisions against it, so the two must agree — one home.
+x-plugin-db-url: &plugin-db-url postgres://postgres:5432
+
 services:
   web:
     command: node --watch src/server.ts
@@ -15,7 +19,7 @@ services:
       LOG_LEVEL: "debug" # verbose by default while developing (base defaults to info)
       # Point plugin storage at the bundled Postgres, so a dropped-in plugin declaring `storage`
       # works with no further config; the secret falls back to the dev throwaway (config.ts).
-      PLUGIN_DB_URL: postgres://postgres:5432
+      PLUGIN_DB_URL: *plugin-db-url
       REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS: "false"
       SECURE_COOKIES: "false" # dev serves http — Secure cookies wouldn't be sent
       SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM: "http://shifts-upstream:4000" # backs the reference plugin once you copy it into plugins/
@@ -35,7 +39,7 @@ services:
     # Provisions the plugin databases web connects to above, as the dev superuser.
     environment:
       PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL: postgres://${POSTGRES_USER:-ory}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-ory}@postgres:5432/ory
-      PLUGIN_DB_URL: postgres://postgres:5432 # must match web's above
+      PLUGIN_DB_URL: *plugin-db-url
       REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS: "false" # dev derives from the throwaway, as web does
     volumes:
       - .:/app
diff --git a/src/auth/bootstrap.test.ts b/src/auth/bootstrap.test.ts
index 2a0c769..f57655b 100644
--- a/src/auth/bootstrap.test.ts
+++ b/src/auth/bootstrap.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import { test } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
-import { differentServer, ensureJwks, firstRunBanner, identityPayload, permissionTuple, provisionPluginStorage, seedAdmin, seedPermissions } from "./bootstrap.ts";
+import { ensureJwks, firstRunBanner, identityPayload, permissionTuple, provisionPluginStorage, seedAdmin, seedPermissions, serverMismatch } from "./bootstrap.ts";
 import { createLogger } from "../logger.ts";
 import type { Plugin } from "../plugin-host/plugin.ts";
 import type { ProvisionOptions, ProvisionResult } from "../plugin-host/storage-provisioning.ts";
@@ -200,16 +200,17 @@ test("the connection limit and derived secret reach the provisioner", async () =
 });
 
 // bootstrap creates the role on one server; web tells the plugin to connect to another. Left
-// unchecked it surfaces inside a plugin as "password authentication failed", naming neither.
-test("provisioning refuses when the two storage URLs name different servers", async () => {
+// unsaid it surfaces inside a plugin as "password authentication failed", naming neither. Warned
+// rather than refused: web reaching a pooler bootstrap cannot provision through is legitimate.
+test("a storage URL mismatch is reported, and provisioning still runs", async () => {
   const { calls, provision } = recordingProvisioner();
   const env = { PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL: "postgres://ory:ory@db-a:5432/ory", PLUGIN_DB_URL: "postgres://db-b:5432" };
-  await assert.rejects(provisionPluginStorage(env, [storagePlugin("things")], SILENT, provision), /one server.*db-a:5432 vs db-b:5432/s);
-  assert.deepEqual(calls, []);
+  await provisionPluginStorage(env, [storagePlugin("things")], SILENT, provision);
+  assert.equal(calls.length, 1);
 });
 
 test("the same server spelled with an implicit port still agrees", () => {
-  assert.equal(differentServer("postgres://ory:ory@db:5432/ory", "postgres://db"), null); // 5432 is the default
-  assert.equal(differentServer("postgres://ory:ory@db:5432/ory", undefined), null); // web's own boot error to raise
-  assert.equal(differentServer("postgres://ory:ory@db:5432/ory", "postgres://db:6543"), "db:5432 vs db:6543");
+  assert.equal(serverMismatch("postgres://ory:ory@db:5432/ory", "postgres://db"), null); // 5432 is the default
+  assert.equal(serverMismatch("postgres://ory:ory@db:5432/ory", undefined), null); // web's own boot error to raise
+  assert.equal(serverMismatch("postgres://ory:ory@db:5432/ory", "postgres://db:6543"), "db:5432 vs db:6543");
 });
diff --git a/src/auth/bootstrap.ts b/src/auth/bootstrap.ts
index d693f01..137ef59 100644
--- a/src/auth/bootstrap.ts
+++ b/src/auth/bootstrap.ts
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ export function firstRunBanner(opts: { appUrl: string; email: string; password:
 // --- CLI (the bootstrap container entrypoint) ----------------------------------------
 
 async function main() {
-  const env = process.env;
+  const env = { ...process.env }; // snapshot: the storage credentials leave process.env before discovery
   // Structured like the web app so prod logs stay uniform; honour LOG_FORMAT/SERVICE_NAME.
   const log = createLogger({
     format: env["LOG_FORMAT"] === "json" ? "json" : "text",
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ async function main() {
   // runWithLog makes `log` ambient so seedAdmin's tracedFetch traces the Kratos/Keto seed calls.
   await runWithLog(log, async () => {
     if (ensureJwks(env["JWKS_FILE"] ?? "/etc/config/kratos/tokenizer/jwks.json")) log.info("generated a JWKS signing key");
+    // Discovery imports every plugin module — and its dependencies — into *this* process, which holds
+    // the credential that may CREATE DATABASE/ROLE. Same move as server.ts, on the stronger secret.
+    delete process.env["PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL"];
+    delete process.env["PLUGIN_DB_SECRET"];
     const plugins = await discoverPlugins();
     await provisionPluginStorage(env, plugins, log);
     await seedAdminAndPermissions(env, plugins, log);
@@ -172,10 +176,11 @@ export async function provisionPluginStorage(env: Env, plugins: Plugin[], log: L
   // last storage plugin is exactly when an orphaned database needs naming.
   if (ids.length === 0 && !adminUrl) return;
   if (!adminUrl) throw new Error(`bootstrap: PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL must be set — these plugins declare storage: ${ids.join(", ")}`);
-  // Provisioned here, connected to from web: a different server means the role exists in one place
-  // and is looked for in another, surfacing as "password authentication failed" inside a plugin.
-  const serverMismatch = differentServer(adminUrl, env["PLUGIN_DB_URL"]);
-  if (serverMismatch) throw new Error(`bootstrap: PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL and PLUGIN_DB_URL must name one server (${serverMismatch})`);
+  // Provisioned here, connected to from web: a different server means the role is created in one
+  // place and looked for in another, surfacing inside a plugin as "password authentication failed".
+  // Warned, not refused — web reaching a pooler that cannot run CREATE DATABASE is a legitimate split.
+  const mismatch = serverMismatch(adminUrl, env["PLUGIN_DB_URL"]);
+  if (mismatch) log.warn("PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL and PLUGIN_DB_URL name different servers", { servers: mismatch });
   const result = await provision({
     adminUrl,
     connectionLimit: resolvePluginDbConnectionLimit(env),
@@ -191,7 +196,7 @@ export async function provisionPluginStorage(env: Env, plugins: Plugin[], log: L
 
 // Describes the disagreement, or null when they agree (or when web's URL is unset — that is web's
 // own boot error to raise, naming the plugin that wanted storage).
-export function differentServer(adminUrl: string, webUrl: string | undefined): string | null {
+export function serverMismatch(adminUrl: string, webUrl: string | undefined): string | null {
   if (!webUrl) return null;
   const [admin, web] = [safeHostPort(adminUrl), safeHostPort(webUrl)];
   if (admin === null || web === null || admin === web) return null; // a malformed URL fails in config.ts
diff --git a/src/compose.test.ts b/src/compose.test.ts
index 6542ce5..fc930ed 100644
--- a/src/compose.test.ts
+++ b/src/compose.test.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ test("the provisioning superuser DSN reaches bootstrap only, never web", () => {
   const boot = compose.slice(compose.indexOf("\n  bootstrap:"));
   const overrideWeb = override.slice(override.indexOf("\n  web:"), override.indexOf("\n  bootstrap:"));
   assert.match(boot, /PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL:/, "bootstrap is given the superuser DSN");
+  // Reordering the override's services would empty this slice, and every doesNotMatch below would
+  // then pass against "".
+  assert.ok(overrideWeb.includes("PLUGIN_DB_URL"), "sliced the dev override's web block");
   for (const [name, block] of [["base", webBlock], ["dev override", overrideWeb]] as const)
     assert.doesNotMatch(block, /PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL/, `${name} web never sees it`);
   assert.match(webBlock, /PLUGIN_DB_URL:\s*\$\{PLUGIN_DB_URL/, "base wires web's base URL from env");
diff --git a/src/plugin-host/storage-provisioning.ts b/src/plugin-host/storage-provisioning.ts
index e228e1f..c58d422 100644
--- a/src/plugin-host/storage-provisioning.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-host/storage-provisioning.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ export interface ProvisionResult {
 }
 
 export async function provisionStorage(options: ProvisionOptions): Promise<ProvisionResult> {
-  const sql = postgres(options.adminUrl, { connect_timeout: 10, max: 1, onnotice: () => {} });
+  // Notices are left to surface: a REVOKE the account cannot perform only *warns*, and silencing
+  // that would mean reporting a locked-down database that is still open to PUBLIC.
+  const sql = postgres(options.adminUrl, { connect_timeout: 10, max: 1 });
   try {
     const provisioned: string[] = [];
     for (const pluginId of options.pluginIds) {
diff --git a/src/plugin-host/storage.test.ts b/src/plugin-host/storage.test.ts
index f04f03b..3bc49c1 100644
--- a/src/plugin-host/storage.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-host/storage.test.ts
@@ -63,8 +63,6 @@ test("quoting doubles an embedded quote", () => {
   assert.equal(quoteLiteral("we'ird"), "'we''ird'");
 });
 
-// No NOSUPERUSER: naming it in an ALTER is superuser-only, so re-asserting it would break every
-// boot after the first under the least-privilege account the README recommends.
 const ATTRIBUTES = "LOGIN NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE CONNECTION LIMIT 10";
 
 test("only the plugins that asked for storage are provisioned", () => {
diff --git a/src/plugin-host/storage.ts b/src/plugin-host/storage.ts
index 361ed8e..3516a68 100644
--- a/src/plugin-host/storage.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-host/storage.ts
@@ -76,9 +76,7 @@ export function provisionSql(plan: ProvisionPlan): string[] {
     throw new Error(`storage: connectionLimit must be a positive integer, got ${plan.connectionLimit}`);
   }
   const identifier = quoteIdentifier(plan.name);
-  // No NOSUPERUSER: only a superuser may name SUPERUSER in an ALTER, so re-asserting it would fail
-  // every boot after the first under the CREATEDB+CREATEROLE account the README recommends. CREATE
-  // defaults to NOSUPERUSER and a non-superuser cannot grant it, so nothing is given up.
+  // No NOSUPERUSER: naming SUPERUSER in an ALTER is superuser-only, and CREATE defaults to it anyway.
   const attributes = `LOGIN NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE CONNECTION LIMIT ${plan.connectionLimit} PASSWORD ${quoteLiteral(plan.password)}`;
   return [
     plan.roleExists ? `ALTER ROLE ${identifier} WITH ${attributes}` : `CREATE ROLE ${identifier} ${attributes}`,
diff --git a/src/postgres.test.ts b/src/postgres.test.ts
index ffa2c23..e636e92 100644
--- a/src/postgres.test.ts
+++ b/src/postgres.test.ts
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ test("init SQL gives each Ory service its own database, and leaves plugin databa
   }
 });
 
-// AGENTS.md records that the driver runs the provisioning DDL in bootstrap "and nothing else".
-// discovery.ts once imported a validator from the module that held it, quietly putting the driver in
-// web's graph — the claim outlived the fact, which is what this catches.
+// AGENTS.md records that the driver runs the provisioning DDL in bootstrap and nothing else. A
+// single value imported from the wrong module puts it in web's graph without changing behaviour,
+// so nothing but this would notice.
 test("the Postgres driver reaches bootstrap only, never web's import graph", () => {
   const files = sourceFiles();
   assert.ok(files.length > 40, "walks the source tree");
diff --git a/src/server.ts b/src/server.ts
index e693de0..b489926 100644
--- a/src/server.ts
+++ b/src/server.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ const storageCredentials = new Map<string, StorageCredentials>();
 if (pluginDbUrl !== undefined) {
   for (const id of declaresStorage) storageCredentials.set(id, buildCredentials(pluginDbUrl, id, config.pluginDbSecret));
 }
+// onBoot is the only way credentials are handed over, so without one the database is provisioned
+// and unreachable. A warning, not a refusal — the plugin still works, it just cannot store anything.
+const unreachable = plugins.filter((plugin) => plugin.storage && !plugin.hooks?.onBoot).map((plugin) => plugin.id);
+if (unreachable.length > 0) log.warn("plugins declare storage but have no onBoot to receive it", { plugins: unreachable.join(", ") });
 
 // plugin onBoot — after discovery, before listen; a throw aborts boot.
 await runBootHooks(plugins, (plugin) => {